#hiro tagged since he was mentioned though briefly

[theultimatekamehamehavoc]

Spoilers I suppose though I honestly dunno what this post even is...??? Warning regardless though.

Honestly, the more I stare at Danganronpa 3 anime Makoto, the more I realize why I don't like his design. Besides "Oh shoot! He's even MORE generic now!" and the "Everybody's in suits" thing which I get but it's still boring, it's both the hair and his face. Like, me no likey the short hair but it's also his face. For the short hair reason, like, he looks even more similar to Hajime and all. The egg deserves his own time to shine! No diss to Hajime though! Unless you wanna ;) I dunno. Bully his tie and orange addiction or something.

Regarding this design of Makoto and his face though, there is this He's no longer a baby faced boi anymore! Which again, I get. He's older. He's... wiser??? Definetly more traumatized. DEF that. But also, also I dunno. He still could've kept it. And his short hight. Like, his 5'3 lil self gave him charm! He doesn't have to be closer to Kyoko's hight to still be a boss! Then, moving into headcanon territory, there is this as well. Internally, for me, Makoto gives that energy that he would have a baby face until he dies. Like, he just perpetually looks younger than his actual age. Like, the guy's that type of person who'd be in his 30s, going to a bar and he's STILL have to show his idea cus everyone is still convinced he's 13 and forging documents. Not that he'd... go to a bar? WOULD Makoto go to a bar??? What would he even get? Hmmm... Honeslty though, the image of Makoto getting hard freaking liquor IS a tempting concept. Hmmmm... I digress Take this Makoto who may or may not be an alcoholic

Tldr, think kinda like Chihiro in a sense though I can see Chihiro having it worse cus small peep be small and pocket sized Also, dumb thought. Hiro accusing Makoto of being some immortal deity. Or just, any young looking friend of his. Hiro just rolls that way. Just, constantly pointing at his classmates and accusing them. He'd probably call Kyoko or Byakuya vampires or something. Like, GOODNESS! My gorl Kyoko is WAY paler than I thought! Like, look at that! Got a bit of her eye so it is a BIT more noticeable but the one where it is the easiest to see the difference between the whites of her eye and her skin is the top right which is from Danganronpa the Animation. Kyoko secretly albino??? Potential headcanon???

But, yeah. This random Yasuhiro headcanon can be applied to like, anything. Despair, non-despair, Dangarnonpa S, zombie apocalypse, the bad ending, doesn't matter what au or canon context! I shall say this again. No clue what this post even is but it shall LIVE. Dunno what the take away shall be. Insert moral lesson here! :)

[writingpaperghost]

There is a Me Who Can Become Strong (Chapter 19)

Chapter 19: A Sudden Fantasy!?

It's time to defeat Kuroto's Bugster! But something's weird about this one...

I have updated the tags. For this chapter at least, the Suicidal Thoughts, then we have mentions/implications of the Experimentation and the Emotional/Psychological Abuse. If that bugs you, just skip Emu's scene at the end of the chapter, it's the only one he has so it's easy to find. I'll summarize it at the note at the end.

AO3: https://archiveofourown.org/works/32857183/chapters/84134380

When Emu Hojo was eight, his life changed, due to several events. First, he was hit by a car, then he met Doctor Kyotaro, then, he made a new friend. He’d been alone in the hospital, still unsure of what to think, when a voice that had interrupted his surprise of being at the hospital, spoke again.

“Is this what you do all day?” The voice asked, “Sit around in a bed and do nothing but play games?”

“No,” Emu said quietly, “I’m usually at home.”

“…Then why are you here?” The voice asked in a bored tone, “Why don’t you go home?”

Emu just frowned, “I’m not allowed to leave until they’re sure I’m all better,”

“That’s boring,” The voice said, “I can’t wait until you get out of here.”

At that comment, Emu’s brow furrowed, “Who are you?” He asked, “And why don’t you leave on your own?”

The voice didn’t immediately respond, “Well… I can’t leave? I guess I’m just in your head, so I can only go when you go.” He’s quiet again, before finally introducing himself, “Uh… I guess I’m… Huh… Uh, Parad? Parad sounds nice.”

That was the day that Emu and Parad first met. The day they last saw each other was much different. Genius Gamer M had just won a tournament, his opponent a twelve-year-old going by Genius Gamer N. They were leaving, when for one reason of another, most likely the doing of some outside force, he fell and was knocked out.

When Parad awoke, it was in a static haze. He’d shaken his head and it finally cleared; he realized a strange thing. He had a body – that obviously wasn’t Emu’s – and then he saw a horrifying sight. There were people dressed in all white, on the ground, glitching. He stared at them and then they’re gone.

Looking around the room, he can’t see Emu. He makes the logical assumption, no matter how painful it was for him. Parad assumes that he killed Emu, because that was the logical conclusion given his information.

At that moment, he made his decision. Emu had held the dream to be a doctor, to make people smile, to be the beacon of light to children that Doctor Kyotaro had been to him. Parad would fulfill his dream, even if he had to do it as Emu.

When would be the next time that Parad and Emu met? Next it would have been… Perhaps one of Gemn’s appearances, certainly no later than when Kiriya had tried to prove that Kuroto was Gemn. Yet Parad hadn’t realized it. The very person he’d built his life around, for the past six years, had been alive the whole time and when he was finally faced with him again, Parad hadn’t realized. It took Kuroto telling him, Kuroto declaring to everyone…

“M – Parad,” Nico placed her hand on Parad’s shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts, “I know this is a lot but… But we have to do something about Kuroto.”

Saki already knelt at Kuroto’s side, saying something. Nico leads Parad closer and he begins to focus on what Saki is saying. “Kuroto, you’re our patient now, regardless of what you’ve done,”

“Don’t bother,” Kuroto quietly said, “It’s a waste of your time.”

Nico huffs, “Idiot, we’re going to fight the Bugster infecting you and then we’ll cure you.”

Kuroto pulls himself into a sitting position, “No, you won’t. It doesn’t matter if you defeat the Bugster-” He grunts in pain as the glitching continues, “-I’ll die either way.”

Parad can see the screen displayed by Saki’s Gamescope. Kuroto was infected with Shakariki Sports, but that wasn’t the strange part, given it also showed he was infected with Perfect Puzzle and Knockout Fighter. Unless the stethoscope was wrong, his infection level was already at sixty-five percent and rising.

“What do you mean?” Saki inquired, deep concern flashing on her face.

Grimacing, Kuroto answers, “I was infected by Mu. That’s all there is to it. Just… Just know I didn’t have a choice in this.” Looking away, Kuroto pulled the double Gashat out of his coat pocket, holding it towards Saki. “Take this, it should help you.”

After staring at the Gashat for a moment, Saki takes it, “I don’t understand,”

“You don’t have to,” The laugh that accompanies that statement is bitter, “We’re all pawns in a game that we don’t have a choice in playing.” He gasps.

The infection’s rose to seventy-five percent. “Please, just… just try to help Emu, He doesn’t know the truth of what’s going on. He doesn’t understand the stakes of the game – not as well as he thinks he does.”

With one last cry, a Bugster, Charlie appears, already separating from Kuroto. Yet, something was wrong with Charlie. Visibly, he still had a large amount of glitching over his body. But there was something else, nagging at Parad. There was something just… Just wrong, about Charlie.

Nico glances at Parad, “Hey, you gonna be good, or should Saki and I handle this?”

He shakes his head, “No, no, I can handle this.” He pulls out his double Gashat, Saki takes out the Gashat that Kuroto has just given her, and Nico holds Drago Knight Hunter Z and Bang Bang Shooting.

Perfect Puzzle!

Taddle Fantasy!

Bang Bang Shooting!

Drago Knight Hunter Z!

Dual Up! Get the glory in the chain, Perfect Puzzle!

Dual Up! Tadoru Meguru RPG! Taddle Fantasy!

Do-Do-Drago Kni-Kni-Kni-Knight! Dra! Dra! Drago Knight Hunter! Z!

The armor of Brave Level 50 was not unlike the armor that was Fantasy Gamer. It was dark red and purple, with a long cape in the same colors. Ready to face Charlie, Nico jumps forward, slashing at Charlie, who dodges out of the way.

Parad’s about to join, when a strange sound comes from Saki. She grunts and the eyes on her helmet flash red. Around her, Bugsters appear, quickly turning their attention towards Nico and Parad. She grabs her head with a grunt.

From behind them, Parad can hear Kuroto call out, though weak, “She’s being influenced by the Gashat. Since she’s unused to using such power, it’ll be taxing on her body and hard to control.”

Shaking her head, the red disappears from Saki’s eyes and she turns her attention back towards Charlie, the Bugsters following suit. Nico hadn’t initially noticed what happened and now stared at the Bugsters in confusion, then shook her head and returned to dodging Charlie’s attacks.

Refocusing, Parad watched for a moment as Charlie destroyed all the Bugsters with little issue. That was another thing. Usually, the Bugsters they fought were Level 5, that had been the case with the past three, at least. But Charlie didn’t seem like he was only Level 5, it seemed like he was stronger than that.

Charlie rushes at Saki and Parad, prompting Parad to dodge out of the way. Instead of dodging, Saki raises her sword and blocks, then pushes Charlie back and slashes him. Parad begins to arrange the power ups, while Saki continued to fight Charlie.

Off to the side, Nico huffed, “You two are getting all the fun,” Then she glances back at Kuroto, who at this point was lying on the ground again, his body glitching more than ever before. “We’re… we’re going to need to be quick.”

Parad just nods, focusing on the arranging the power ups into the perfect combo. Charlie briefly knocks Saki back, prompting Nico to fire at the Bugster, attempting to hold him back. Finally, Parad’s has his combo in order, combining strength and flexibility power ups. Saki inserts the Gashat into her Gashacon Sword.

Perfect Critical Combo!

Taddle Critical Finish!

The two attacks land on Charlie, who briefly glitches, before being destroyed. A cloud of purple data rises from him, then seemingly rushes off in a direction. Dropping the transformation, Parad sighed and relaxed slightly. Though the attempt at relaxation is interrupted by Nico.

“Uh, now I’m no expert,” She calls, “but I don’t think he’s supposed to keep glitching, right?”

Saki and Parad both whirl to face Kuroto, Saki rushing over to him, Gamescope already in hand. She scans him, only to see that the infection has continued to rise, even though they’d just defeated Charlie. He should be cured but…

“I told you,” Kuroto grunted, “I would die no matter what you’d do.”

“Why?” Nico groaned, “Would it kill you to be less vague?”

While Parad thought it was probably a poor choice of words, he also thought he knew the answer. “Because Emu was the one to infect him. And Emu’s Patient Zero, so the strain is different than any other time we might have encountered the Shakariki Sports strain,” He takes a few steps towards Kuroto, looking at the man, “Emu infected Hiro, right? That’s what he said to Saki.”

Yet instead of answering, Kuroto just sighed, “You need to find him,” He insisted, like that wasn’t already a high priority on Parad’s list, now that he knew that Mu was Emu and he was still alive. “Before… find Emu before he does.”

That’s the last thing that Kuroto said, before he too disappeared in a cloud of glitching pixels. At first, no one’s sure what to say.

Finally, Saki quietly says, “He disappeared so quickly,” She looks down and her fists clench, “Just like Hiro.”

There’s a silence again, until Parad just falls to his knees.

“M?” Nico called, “Are you alright?”

“I… I thought he was dead. I thought I’d killed him.” He’s trembling, his shoulders shaking as he continued, “Everything I’ve worked for, becoming a doctor, a Rider… It was because I wanted to make Emu proud. I wanted to fulfill his dreams for him. But now… Now he’s just been alive the whole time?”

Saki takes a step towards him, “Parad…” She quietly begins, “You couldn’t have known.”

“I should have known. I should have looked for him, after we were separated. I just saw the scientists and assumed!” Though his head is facing down, making his face hard to see, Saki saw the glistening tears that began to fall down his face, “He doesn’t even – I’d have never of even – what happened to him? Why would he work with Kuroto? It’s just not like him!”

“We don’t know what happened to him,” Nico reminded, “It’s very possible that whatever’s happened to him may have changed how he feels about certain things. Besides, didn’t Kuroto say that Emu doesn’t know what’s really going on?”

Though Saki soon added, “Though we don’t know how true anything Kuroto said is.”

Parad just shakes his head, “I just… I…” He sounded almost defeated when he finished, “I don’t know what to do.”

Walking to his side and placing a hand on his shoulder, Saki responded, “Neither do we,” Then she reaches in front of him, holding her hand out to help him up, “But we’ll figure something out. We’ll find Emu and we’ll learn what’s going on, we’ll find a way to help him, to show him the truth about what he’s doing and what we’re doing.”

Hesitantly, Parad takes her hand and stands. “Let’s… I need to go home. Today’s been… Way to long.”

Nico grins and walks up, gently hitting him on the arm, “You do that,” She gestures to Saki, “We’ll tell Kagami and Taiga what happened.”

---

Emu doesn’t know what to do, he just ran and ran until he just couldn’t run anymore. He killed Kuroto. Just like he’d caused Graphite’s host to die, or more accurately, like how he killed Lazer. But his legs couldn’t keep going anymore, so he just falls to his knees, panting. He’s tired, his head hurts, he wants to pass out but he knows how dangerous sleep could be and he knew he couldn’t just do it anywhere.

He wanted Graphite; someone he could depend upon. But he didn’t know where Graphite was and he knew that if Graphite had been watching he most likely would have already appeared. So Emu would just have to make it back to his and Kuroto’s – to his base on his own. He just had to make it a bit further…

But he couldn’t get up right now, all he could do was take solace in the fact that the Riders hadn’t followed him and were instead dealing with Kuroto’s Bugster.

He was so terrible. He’d infected Kuroto, his own brother. Kuroto wasn’t even wrong about how he was a disappointment. Emu was more than a disappointment, surely. He was a failure. God. He didn’t even want to think about how he’d have to talk to Masamune about this. Emu would have to tell him that he killed Kuroto. Certainly, Masamune would be upset.

Emu shivered, he didn’t like Masamune when he was upset, or more accurately described, disappointed. He could already see the look in Masamune’s eyes, and he could already see the scientists and the doctors with their cruel expressions and excruciatingly slow actions. He could feel the punishment already, the heartless laughter as the scientists and the doctors slices into his skin with slow and painful cuts, all across his body.

And that was only from the scientists… the only time Masamune ever did something himself was his punishments. Given how badly he must have messed up, Masamune’s punishment would surely be so terrible. It would be so much but… But it would be deserved, he’d done something wrong and that meant he had to be punished.

There was no avoiding it, Emu had accepted that long ago.

He wasn’t calm, not in the least. But he’d managed to get himself under control enough that there weren’t Bugsters everywhere, at least. Though he began to tremble the more he thought about it, the more he realized how badly he messed up. Not like he didn’t do that a lot, but he was certain that this is one of the worst times.

The first time had obviously been Zero Day, and now he’d messed up terribly again. No one would be happy with what he did. Maybe even Graphite would shun him for this. Emu was so terrible, he almost hoped that no one would find him, so he could just – just…

Emu should just die.

He’d accepted that too.

Footsteps echo in front of him, making him freeze. He was still so tired, but he knew he shouldn’t have stayed here so long. Now someone had found him. At best, he could just convince whoever it was to leave him be. The far more likely and worse outcome was that they’d do something and touch him. He wasn’t sure that he could keep himself from infecting them, there was no way he was that calm.

“Emu,” He recognized that voice. Emu’s head whips up, wide-eyed, seeing that Masamune stood before him. “What happened?”

Emu shakes his head frantically, “I’m sorry!” He sobs, “I’m so, so, sorry! I-I!”

“Emu,” Masamune repeats, holding his hand out to Emu.

He stares at the hand a moment, hesitantly raising his hand, about to take it, before he shakes his head again and remembers whathe is. Emu would certainly infect him if he took his hand, just like he’d done to Kuroto. “I’m sorry! I infected Kuroto!” He’s probably shaking worse than before, now, “I killed him! I’m sorry! I’m sorry!”

At first, Masamune is silent. Emu’s certain that he might have messed up even worse than Zero Day. He’d messed up so badly, Masamune probably wouldn’t even want him around. Masamune would probably just give him to the scientists and doctors and then that’s all Emu would ever know. They’d just try to cure Game Disease that way.

Maybe it was the better way. Finishing this game was hard for a lot of people and put so many people in possible danger. Maybe Emu should just take it. Just take the pain and everything that the people dressed in white did to him. Surely it would be better. They’d be able to more easily find a cure. Emu shouldn’t be so selfish, to not want to experience that. To rather try something that was no guarantee when it was at least partially, if not more, his fault that Game Disease was as bad as it was.

Masamune grabs his hand, eliciting a startled gasp from Emu as he was pulled up. Emu can feel Masamune’s eyes on him, “Emu. My son threatened you, did he not?”

Slowly, trying to keep himself from shaking too much, Emu nods. Masamune continues, “Then there is no one to blame but himself, certainly not you.”

“But-!”

“Emu. You are far more important than him anyway. I’m not mad, if that’s what you fear,” Emu realizes that Masamune’s began to lead him somewhere. He’s not sure where and frankly, he’s too tired to care too much. If it was somewhere safe, where he could rest, then that was all that mattered, at this point. “We still must complete the game, after all.”

“Of- of course!” Masamune still has ahold of his hand when Emu answers, “So we can cure everyone!”

Nodding, Masamune glances at Emu, “Yes, including yourself. Then you won’t have to worry about this ever happening again.”

“It… It won’t take much longer, will it?”

“No more than a couple months, I’m sure,” Masamune’s answers makes Emu feel a bit better. Really, knowing that Masamune wasn’t mad at all was a great relief. That meant that he probably wouldn’t be sent back to the scientist and the doctors. That he wouldn’t be punished for killing Kuroto.

Maybe… Maybe Emu wasn’t so terrible.

---

The summary for Emu's scene:

Emu's upset and is taking infecting Kuroto badly, fearing that he'll be put through more experiments. Then Masamune shows up and assures him it's fine, he doesn't mind that Kuroto has died, Emu's more important. Then he reminds Emu the game must be completed, to which Emu agrees, ready to get back to work soon enough.