Naegi's introduction to such a charming school... (CW:Danganronpa Spoilers!)

[cloversandcranes]

Bathroom Woes (TW:Mention of unpleasant memories of bathrooms)

[When Makoto opened his eyes, he had expected to see the ceiling of his room on the ship. He had been on the way to the Future Foundation for his trial and had turned in for the night, anxious about the charges he would face. He didn't feel like what he did was wrong but he knew that the Future Foundation wouldn't see it that way.

After all, he did take international terrorists under his wing to save them from their deaths. And when the foundation found out he had let them go to live on an island without supervision? Well, he certainly didn't expect them to look at his situation favorably, despite what some of his friends told him.

He expected to see one of his friends waking him up when he opened his eyes. What he saw instead, filled him with dread. This wasn't his room on the ship. This wasn't even somewhere else he recognized. It was a surprisingly clean bathroom, no blood smears on the walls and floors like the ones he had seen in the broken world.

Groaning in pain and confusion, he rubbed the sides of his head in an attempt to stop the pounding of his head. He felt terrible. His throat was dry and scratchy, his head throbbed in pain and his fists felt raw for some reason. He lifted his hand to his eye level but saw no injuries that would explain the pain he felt. What he saw instead made him pale. Six tally marks were on the inside of his wrist and were sensitive to the touch. They also itched.

Staring at his reflection in the broken mirror, he looked down at his sore knuckles and flexed them, wincing at the pain that radiated through his hand at the movement.]

What...happened here?


Breathe

[Exiting out of the bathroom did little to curb his panic, as the halls outside reminded him of the halls in Hope's Peak Academy. With the anxiety clouding his mind, the halls looked ominous and foreboding as conflicting memories filled his head. The first year at Hope's Peak, walking with his friends...The killing game, finding corpses of those friends, and walking to the elevator to commence the trial...

His panic rose as he took in the surroundings. Muttering to himself, he tried to calm his breathing as his breath quickened in fear. Focus Makoto...It's not Hope's Peak. You're fine...It's not...The windows! The sight of the unblocked windows brought hope to Makoto as the dread slowly left him. It wasn't Hope's Peak! He wasn't back in that school!

Closing his eyes, he put a hand to his chest and tried to smooth out his breathing, remembering The Ultimate Therapist's teachings as he calmed down. Breath Makoto...That's it...You're not there...It's okay.

Opening his eyes, he decided to walk to the windows to see if they could be opened. Tugging on the windows, he tried opening them to no avail. Why wasn't he surprised...Sighing, he put a hand to his chin in thought, completely missing the sound of someone walking towards him.]



((OOC:Sorry for only having two prompts. It's my mother's birthday and I wanted to finish this before I burned out. Wildcards are very welcome. You can contact me at CeyahWolfsong or at Discord at Anne#6966))

Comments

[rearranger]

The bathroom? That sucks.

[ That seems like the worst possible place to arrive. He almost feels bad for the guy. Ranger at least came to on the roof. But nevermind that, he'll answer the questions. ]

You're here 'cause purgatory's a high school. We're all dead, and we're here to try and earn the right to be reincarnated or whatever.

[ He finishes collecting the last couple pages before standing up. It sounds like it should be a joke, but he sounds serious enough. ]

Couldn't tell you why though. I don't think anybody's really figured out the whole truth of it.

[cloversandcranes]

Purgatory?! You're serious?!

[Makoto gaped at the stranger, stopping from picking up papers with the stranger. He didn't remember dying! And what about his friends? Were they okay?!]

I...What?

[So many thoughts flickered through his mind as he tried to comprehend what was happening. He was dead. This was purgatory. They had to earn their right to be reincarnated? What?!]

[rearranger]

Yeppers, that's what I said.

[ No sense in beating around the bush. It was one of those things that couldn't be changed, and a person might as well deal with it upfront. But he's at least gotten a little better at understanding the feelings of others, at least enough not to leave it at that. ]

I can't tell you the hows or whys about why you died or why you got dragged here or any of that. It could be anything. But there's conflicting ideas on what ccan be done about it. Some of the kiddos here seem to think that there's a way to go back though...

[ He switches the rectangular expression card for what appears to be a colorful ice cream cone with a wing. ]

I dunno how that works, but y'know, might be reversible for some of you guys. Or maybe you weren't actually suppsoed to die? Ahahaha.

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto stared at the stranger in shock before nodding slowly. This was a lot to take in, waking somewhere unknown, his friends missing, him dying for real... Taking a deep breath to calm himself, he looked down and returned to pick up the papers as he talked.]

I-I see...Well, this isn't what I expected the afterlife to look like...

[Giving a weak smile to Ranger, he continued.]

I thought I would at least live to see my trial before I died.

[I hope the others are okay...]

[rearranger]

[ Ranger found himself looking at the person in front of him more closely now, finding it hard to believe that he was any sort of criminal. Then again, looks could be deceiving. ]

Hmm? Whatchya going on trial for? You kill somebody or something?

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto paused from his activity to stare at Ranger before letting out an awkward chuckle and continuing.]

Well no...But I disobeyed orders...And rescued some people from their fate.

[Now those people were terrorists and schoolmates but Ranger didn't need to know that.]

I...didn't agree with the heads with their decision to kill them so I rescued them and hid them from the Foundation's eyes.

[rearranger]

[ He blinks. That's an odd choice. If it were ASUNARO, they wouldn't have bothered with something as a trial - they simply would have killed him. ]

That a government agency or something? It seems pretty weird that they're gonna have a trial if not. Anyway, you probably shouldn't have done that.

[ Sorry Makoto, loyalty and a desire to follow orders is pretty deeply ingrained into him. ]

Why didn't you wanna kill 'em? You know the guys that were on the chopping block or something?

(Danganronpa 3 Spoilers)

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto chuckled awkwardly at the response. Yeah, he was sure a lot of people would say that. But he couldn't let his schoolmates die just like that. Especially when they were brainwashed...]

Well, they were probably attempting to keep it just. Or at least the image of it.

[He hesitated at the question, thinking about it.]

...They did terrible stuff but it wasn't their fault. They were brainwashed. Someone...terrible did something to them that changed them.

Re: (Danganronpa 3 Spoilers)

[rearranger]

... Brainwashed?

[ Ranger perks up at the word, and there's a flicker of recognition. It wasn't quite the same, but ASUNARO dabbled more than enough with memory modification and other procedures. ]

Sounds pretty bad. What happened for 'em to wind up like that?

[ And maybe more importantly - ]

Was it actually possible to help 'em after? Seems like they'd be a lost cause if they were that bad off.

(Danganronpa 1/2/3 Spoilers)

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto paused for a moment to think. Should he tell him? Telling some stranger sensitive information could be a mistake. What if something happened because of this?

Ultimately he decided to trust Ranger and sighed before replying.]

...We don't know exactly what happened. They used to be my schoolmates, upperclassman at that! But after The Tragedy...they changed. They became obsessed with despair, helping fill the entire world with it. The person who brainwashed them...she was proud of this accomplishment.

[Talking about Junko made his stomach churn slightly as he saw images of what the remnants did in her name flash in his head.]

Most...Most people wanted to simply kill them, their crimes too terrible to speak of let alone ignore. But I couldn't let that happen! Not when it wasn't their fault! We used some technology the Foundation was using and with the help of Alter Ego, we used it to put them in a simulation that took away their memories of that person. So they could recover and heal.

[He sighed again as memories of Monokuma's laughter filled his head.]

But things...went wrong. We nearly lost them. My friends and I even entered the simulation to help them. But by the time we arrived, it was almost too late. But their memories of their friends helped them from falling back into despair, they ultimately saved us! They're not cured but I believe in them.

(Danganronpa 1/2/3 Spoilers)

[rearranger]

[ His eyes widen a little in recognition as the explanation goes on, allowing Ranger to slot the pieces of the puzzle into place. The word "Foundation" is vague enough, but if he matches up what he knows, then it seems likely that the simulation he speaks of is the same one that Komaeda had told him of.

He leans forward a little, showing a genuine interest that hadn't quite been there before. ]

This foundation you're talking about, is that the "Future Foundation?" We had a device like that appear here, and from what I got told, it sounds like what you're describing... Giant machine, creepy green coffins, lots of fancy features that allow a person to live and relive parts of their lives.

[ It's not like him to be so reactive, much less with a stranger, but it's not very often that he's offered a few more pieces to a puzzle he'd been trying to solve. If he's right, then this is about his partner and the person he cares for more than any other, and so... ]

What do you mean they're not cured? How do you cure somebody like that?

[ He blinks, suddenly aware of how strange all these questions must seem. Ranger straightens himself up, shaking his head, and at least offering a bit of clarification in hopes of not cutting off any further answers, ]

Ah, my partner - Nagito - told me about a device kinda like that, so I thought maybe it was the same one...

[ He looks down to the papers in his hand, rubbing them with his thumb, any reservations he had about Makoto's actions having swiftly disappeared. It's not that he changed his mind, but that he can't bring himself to criticize the actions that brought his partner to him. He's capable of that kind of selfishness. ]

Anyway, I don't really understand things like hope and despair, but if there's a way to help him, I wanna know... Er, if you'll tell me.

[ That's part of being somebody's partner, too. He seems to be genuine enough, if a little overenthusiastic. Enough that he's willing to make a token effort to be polite. ]

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto blinked in bewilderment at the change of interest in Ranger before slowly nodding.]

Yeah, that's its name? And the Neo World Program was here?

[His bewildered expression only continued as Ranger continued. It couldn't be could it?]

Are you...talking about Komaeda Nagito?

[What was Komaeda-kun doing here? What happened to him? Are the other Remnants okay? As he listened to Ranger struggle with his words, his expression softened in understanding as things started to make sense. This must be someone who cares about the remnant a lot.]

I don't know how I can with Komaeda-kun. The others weren't like him before the Tradegy. Most were normal students and didn't have the strange fixation with hope that he has. According to the others, he's always been like this. I think the brainwashing only brought out some of his darker side out more.

[He gave a sad smile to Ranger before continuing.]

Just...keep caring for him. He needs that compassion and understanding to help him through this. Even if he doesn't believe he deserves it.

[rearranger]

[ Ranger nodded in response to confirm the presence of the Neo World Program, then again for Komaeda. It didn't surprise him at all to hear that Komaeda was always different. Based on what he knows about his partner, he was always a lonely person. He wouldn't dare pity him for that, but that didn't mean blinding himself to the facts. ]

Yeah. Him. That machine showed up one day, and he told me a little about it.

[ It brought out his darker side more, huh... Then things went wrong when they tried to help him. There's something uncomfortably familiar about that story. But more than that, he found himself thinking about what he's supposed to offer: Care, understanding, and compassion.

How do you give a person something that you were never given? It seemed as though everyone here was too earnest and too kind. ]

Ahahaha, well, he's kinda dense, you know? Think the guy's tried to scare me off about a dozen times by now.... Well, I'll do my best, anyway. I'm sure he'll be happy to see you around.

[ He briefly considered asking about the Tragedy, but he thinks that perhaps he's already dug into Komaeda's life a little too deeply. It's not his place.

He paused instead, collected his thoughts, and then softly added: ]

Uh... Thanks. I'm sure it's weird getting grilled about something like this by a stranger and all. I'll make sure to return the favor.

[ That would at least make it fair, right? ]

[cloversandcranes]

[Makoto's mind raced as he thought of why the Neo World Program would be here? Was this place really that powerful to be able to copy such technology? Was Alter Ego here? Or Usagi? Or was it only copying the machine itself?

Still, he listened intentively to Ranger as he spoke. The mention of Komaeda's reluctance to get close to people made him nod in sad understanding. He definitely knew that. Even with Makoto, his ultimate idol, it was hard to get close to him. He always would change the subject when it came to him or insist that he was trash or worse. It worried Makoto a lot.

He blinked at the gratitude that was expressed to him. Did he do something strange? He didn't think that trusting people with information was that strange. Still, he smiled at Ranger and nodded.]

You're very welcome. I'm glad Komaeda has someone like you to watch out for him. He needs it.

[He let the warmth that Komaeda wasn't alone here fill him and made him relax. Whatever this place was and why he was here, they would be fine.]

Only if you want to. I've taken a lot of your time already...

[rearranger]

Ah... Yeah, he needs somebody to look out for him.

[ Though Ranger wasn't certain that person should be him. But he'd never been given such words before, and so it didn't feel as though he could refuse either. It was something he wanted, and he supposed it was part of being a good partner. They kept each other from making mistakes. For now, he would file the information away for future use.

There were other matters to discuss, and he didn't really wanna leave this guy high and dry after being given useful information. ]

Nah, it's fine. You gave me a lot to think about, so I don't mind... Actually, I've got a pamphlet that explains a lot of what's going on. I don't have it on me, but I can probably get yo a copy later.