One Shot Collection

hope still finds us in the dark (Dangan Ronpa)

Seeing the closed laptop on his desk, Kiyotaka could only muster up one thought:

Holy shit.

He wished he could say that it was planted there by someone else in order to make him seem less trustworthy in the eyes in the group, should he be discovered. He even would even prefer the idea that it was Kiyondo Ishida that compelled him to steal it as one last act of desperation to see his best friend again.

To Kiyotaka's horror and shame, those were not things he could say honestly. The Ultimate Hall Monitor, the ideal student who had never uttered a lie nor stolen something that wasn't rightfully his to begin with in his life, had stolen Alter Ego. Chihiro Fujisaki's legacy and, more importantly, the one thing his classmates could utilise to escape this wretched place.

It wasn't his fault entirely, he rationalised. It was Celestia Ludenberg's doing, wasn't it? If she hadn't dropped that key... he wouldn't have found it.

No, that's wrong. It was all wrong. He had broken out of his Kiyondo fury mere minutes before. He was of as sound mind as he could be when he picked the key off of the ground and spent nearly a half an hour in the bathhouse searching for the locker it belonged to. He could have easily returned the key to her. He could have walked away with what little pride he had left. But what would have become of him then? It was no secret that Celestia despised Hifumi Yamada, but what if she gave Alter Ego to him for something in return? He couldn't just be compliant in letting Chihiro's pride and joy be used for such a scheme, let alone Hifumi's perverted personal gain.

Fifteen minutes had passed as Kiyotaka just stared at the closed laptop, both assuring himself that what he did was just and scolding himself for even considering that to be true. He had to take some damn responsibility. That was who he was, right? The moral backbone of everyone here?

How could he be the group's morality when even he could not decide whether his actions were right or wrong?

Perhaps there was no straight answer. Maybe it was just a matter of picking which was the lesser of the two evils. Kiyotaka no longer knew the difference, but he shouldn't just sit there and wait for an answer to appear.

Maybe... Maybe Alter Ego could help.

He opened the laptop a little more suddenly than he would have liked and pressed the power button. The screen blinked to light and a familiar green tone appeared on the computer, following by the painfully bright face of Chihiro Fujisaki.

"Hello! How can I be of assistance--" the cheerful face of the A.I. shifted into an expression of surprise. "Ishimaru! This is a surprise. How did you get the laptop?"

"I-- Celestia dropped a key for the bathhouse," Kiyotaka replied, shakily typing back. "I picked it up and found you in a different locker than last time. I think-- I think she intentionally hid you from the rest of us."

"That's certainly strange," Alter Ego said, thoughtfully.

"I didn't mean to steal it! Or you!" Kiyotaka continued, panicked. "I would never! It's just--"

"It's quite alright, Ishimaru," Alter Ego reassured him with a small smile. "Based on the feedback Master gave me before he passed and the data I retrieved from our last encounter, I can conclude that whatever decision you came to was made with good conscience."

"I'm not so sure that's true..." Kiyotaka whispered, quiet enough that even the A.I. could not pick up on it.

"Are you alright, Ishimaru? The last time you used my technology, you grew quite upset."

"That was not your fault, Chihir--" He stopped himself abruptly, a reminder that this was not the boy he had grown to care about over their time in this hellscape. "Alter Ego," he corrected, maintaining the soft, assuring tone he had meant to use, "that was not your fault. I was... I am hurting, and you wanted to help me. You meant well and Chihiro would be proud of you for what you did. I'm the one who went overboard."