Shuichi transfers to a new school called Hopes Peak Academy. He meets a lot of interesting people (mostly boys). Little did he know this school wasn't as nice as it looked...
Rantaro dragged me away from a guilty looking Kaede with a pissed expression on his. How did I get caught up in this bullshit? None of this was my problem, being around these nuisances is putting a dent in my plan! I should've just sat with that weird Kokichi kid...
It wasn't long until I found out where Rantaro was taking me, it was an empty skate park...? "Hey Rantaro...we have school today, why are we at a skate park?" I asked. Rantaro chuckled at me. "Well Mr. GoodieTwoShoes, We're skipping if it isn't obvious enough. The teachers won't care, just trust me." At this point I didn't care, at least now I can get away from Kaede. I then thought of a question I've been meaning to ask from the beginning. "You and Kaede act like you hate each other. Why don't you guys distance yourself?" Rantaro sighed and sat down at one of the benches. "...Believe it or not, Kaede wasn't always like this, Y'know?"
I didn't really believe it. To me she just seemed spoiled...privileged. All of them did. But, I did want to know more about Kaede for some strange reason. "What do you mean?" I asked, sitting beside him. "Well...she used to be sweet. She was kind and considerate, everybody at our old school looked up to her. She was...better back then. Hell, I might've even had a crush on her. But that all changed." He stated, the annoyed look appeared on his face again. "Why is that?" I inferred. I wanted to know all the details about all of those popular kids, so I could use it against them...
"She sold her soul for popularity. Nothing has ever been enough for Kaede, she always needed more...she was never satisfied with the good friends she had. She became bitchy and "real" so people would respect her more, but in reality she was just being an ass." Rantaro added bitterly. Well that explains all of it. She's just another wannabe in this world, unoriginal, insecure, bland...
"Well if you know that she's like this, why don't you just unfriend her?" I questioned. Rantaro sighed again and then laughed. "Honestly, I don't know. Whenever I try to, she starts crying and apologizes. She makes me feel like I'm the one who did something wrong and I feel like garbage afterwards..." I honestly felt kinda bad for him at this point. We've all had a toxic friend once or twice in our life. "So she's a toxic friend. She does something wrong and you confront her, than they manipulate you into feeling like you were in the wrong, then once they realize they can walk all over you, they repeat the cycle." I concluded.
"The only way to get rid of a toxic friend is to break the cycle, get rid of her for good this time." I advised. When did I start giving such good advice...? Ew, I'm becoming a real friend...it's disgusting... Rantaro looked at me and smiled. "You're right. I'm sick of her taking advantage of me over and over again. This time I won't let her." I was glad that I could help, believe it or not. Especially when your giving advice to someone who was on Danganronpa! *Insert Fanboy Attack Here* "O-oh it's nothing...I'm just trying to h-help..." I replied, trying to collect my thoughts. Now's not the time to have a fanboy attack.
"Hey Shu-erm Shuichi...can I ask you a question?" He asked. "Uh, sure. What is it?" I answered.
"I feel like I've seen you before...Like on the news or something." He said.
Well...Fuck. Please don't ask what I think your gonna ask...
"You look like this one kid. Y'know...that one who burned down his school with everyone inside it? No one was able to find out who exactly it was because the cameras were destroyed but...whoever it was..."
"They had the same hat as you."
I felt my heart beat rapidly, and sweat drip down my face. It was getting hot...it was burning. I could feel it again. The sensation of the fire behind me, and the deadly smoke in the air. I could hear the screaming and crying of the students and teachers, and the sounds of the sprinklers, their only hope of survival. It was almost as if it was happening again. I felt myself disengage from reality as I thought about the terror I brought upon the innocent school. I remembered it as if it was yesterday. The day I set my school ablaze for no particular reason other than to cause chaos...hell...despair. As terrible as it sounds, it felt euphoric to me. I couldn't help but grin reminiscing about my sins.
"Shuichi."
"Shuichi!"
"Shuichi!"
I quickly snapped out of my despair-like state after hearing Rantaro's voice. He looked at me with confusion, or was it suspicion? I couldn't tell. "Are you alright? You seem sick or something. Should I take you home?" He questioned placing his hand on my forehead. I felt my face heat up a bit from the sudden touch. "I-I'm fine I just z-zoned out!" I struggled to explain myself. "You still didn't answer my question though." He interrogated. Damn it, is he really on to me? When did I get so sloppy?! Junko would be disappointed...
"O-oh that! That was all a misunderstanding on the news people's part!" I tried to make an excuse. "You see...I was one of the survivors of the fire....when I was escaping the building I dropped my hat at the gate. This is a spare one though." Rantaro's face softened and he sighed in relief, though I was way more relieved then he was. "Oh! Whew, that's good. Sorry for accusing you like that, though I couldn't see you committing any crimes anyways." He apologized. Thank goodness he bought that. I would hate to have to...eliminate him. I decided to take my lie a bit further just to make it a bit more interesting.
"I really don't to t-talk about it...whenever I do I just get h-horrible flashbacks...It's all I can think about now. I think I have PTSD about it..." I mumbled with a fake terrified face. Rantaro looked at me sympathetically, just like how I wanted him to. "T-That's terrible. I'm really sorry for bringing it up, I didn't know-" he apologized.
"It's fine, you didn't know." I said as I tried to hide my sinister smile.
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