#i cannot die: teruko tawaki

[divineluckfuckoff]

An odd one in

DRDT self-insert AU:))

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"Alright, we have a few more people to meet." Teruko mused as she and Xander looked over to the corner of the room. There was a person there.

"Ah, there was someone there? I didn’t even notice!” Xander exclaimed before the two headed over there.

The person in question was a girl in a wheelchair. She has long, black hair with two blonde strands, her bangs covering her right eye, while her left eye was a dark shade of brown. She wore a beige sweater over a white shirt, a bow around its collar, a gray skirt, black thigh high socks and brown mary janes. She was reading a book, like Min did.

Upon hearing their footsteps, she perked up, marking the page and closing the book. “Greetings. You must be here to introduce yourselves, correct?” she asked.

“Yeah. I’m Teruko Tawaki, the Ultimate Lucky Student.”

“And I’m Xander Matthews, the Ultimate Rebel!”

“Someone must be excited to meet everyone, huh.” she mused, eyeing Xander for a second “I’m Togo Togawara, and I was enrolled as the Ultimate Novelist.” she introduced herself. Xander’s eyes widened.

“Y-You’re THE Togo Togawara?! The writer of Tales of Plumeria?!” he asked, shocked. The novelist chuckled.

“Indeed, that is me. I was expecting that someone would recognize me because of that book.” she admitted.

“H-How could I not?! That book is, not only your best seller, but it completely changed the genre of fantasy!” the rebel exclaimed “I read it, a-and I loved completely! Oh man, I could rant about it for hours!” he rambled.

“I didn’t know you were a fan of fantasy books Xander.” Teruko pointed out.

“I-I don’t usually read fantasy... Only her books are the exception...” he mumbled the last part, but the other two still heard it.

“Hehe. It’s nice to meet a fan once in a while.” she smiled.

“A-Ah, c-can I get your autograph?! W-Wait where is-”

“Here.” Togo handed him a copy of Tales of Plumeria signed with her name. Xander’s eyes sparkled.

“Aaaaaa thank you so much Ms. Togo!” he thanked, shakily holding the copy like if it was some ancient relic.

“Wait... Now I remember your name!” Teruko chimed in “You wrote ‘Keraunos’, right?” she asked.

“Mhm. I’ve written novels in a wide variety of genres.” Togo mused.

“I-I really liked that one. The cases you wrote there were... while incredibly gorey and detailed, it got me really hooked. A-And I loved the protagonist and his sidekick too.” she admitted “They... remind me of Xander and David, now that I think about it.”

“Wait they do? I... still need to read that.” Xander laughed nervously.

“Well, before I started writing it, I already had the cases, murderers and motives planned. However, I needed to make the duo. But I kind of got... stuck in their personalities. So, I decided to browse and investigate. And I stumbled upon you two.” Togo explained, pointing to Xander and David, who was busy eyeing the podium “You two had personalities that could make a good dynamic, so I did base them off of you two.” she concluded. Xander’s face went beet red.

“aaaaaaaaaaiwastheinspirationforacharacterinanovelsomeonehelpmeeee-” he wheezed out, hiding his face in embarrassement. Teruko sweatdropped.

“Xander breathe-”

“R-Right right, sorry.” Xander apologized.

“There’s no need to apologize Mr. Matthews.” Togo said.

“Ah, we got really sidetracked. Um, Togo- God it feels weird standing in front of you- um, do you perhaps happen to know anything about our current situation?”

"Sadly not, but this situation is quite interesting. 17 ultimate students held captive in a random, unknown location? It seems like we may be being held for ransom perhaps?" she suggested.

"That's a good theory, but we don't have a way to confirm that..." Xander sighed.

"I know. Either way, you two have more people to meet, correct? I don't wish to hold you guys around any longer." Togo said.

"A-Ah, right. Goodbye Ms. Togo!" Xander waved as he and Teruko walked away.

"..."

"..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-" Teruko wheezed, feeling her soul leave her body.

"Ican'tbelievewemetTHETogoTogawara!!!!" Xander whisper-yelled.

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"They're so adorable. Almost like children." Togo mumbled to herself, hiding her smile with the book she was reading.

'Damn, they are like children.' Alastor said from Togo's mindscape.

'Oh, you big child, be quiet.' She deadpanned. Alastor gasped.

'YOU'RE SO MEAN!' he dramatically cried out. Togo rolled her eyes.

'Let the plan begin.' she thought.

[mocha-tapioca]

spoilers for drdt beyond the prologue utc

funniest plot twist guys actually wouldn’t it be funny if teruko was actually the rival this whole time. like if david (the guy we all collectively love and hate atp) was actually the protagonist because he still clings onto the hope that there is still some good in this world while teruko has all but given up on it because nothing good has ever come out of hoping for her. like what if this is david’s world and we’re all just living in it

okay i typed this all out for fun n i was gonna say goodnight but now that im like. writing this out. wait lowkey why is this clicking a little. something something teruko “i keep losing everything i love so i have no choice but to slowly rot in my own despair while shielding myself from letting things get worse for me. but i’m still alive anyway so i’ll survive quietly” tawaki vs. david “there is something (maybe even someone) beyond this sadistic game show that allows me to cling onto hope despite it all, and if that means everyone else including me will die then so be it” chiem

the ways they cope with loss—lashing out only to bottle it up in the end vs bottling it up only to lash out at the end—oh i love them. i love them so dearly thank u for these compelling dynamics drdt dev

is teruko actually the protagonist? she should be—we’ve been following her perspective this whole time after all. but at the same time she is constantly having her cynical worldview challenged by other people, like charles and eden and whit and david, who all cling to hope and happiness despite it all. for all the cast’s eccentricities, they have the luxuries of being able to wish for something teruko doesn’t have: a life worth living outside of this killing game. something that, as she slowly loosens up during this trial, makes her realize that oh, maybe i could have a future like this too. it’s something that i’ve noticed rivals in the canon games have too (maybe minus nagito but he was not someone whose personality i’d analyzed back in middle school where my danganronpa roots lie. also he lowkey freaks me out). maybe with these guys by my side, i can finally learn to hope again. idk power of friendship guys wahoo

david is surrounded by people who love him, who he encourages like a knight in shining armor—like a main character, perhaps. we don’t fully know how much of act it is, especially considering how this is chapter two and we got our current emo eyebag loser literally one episode ago. but what we do know is that he treasures xander a lot, though the nature of that relationship right now is unknown—romantic? platonic? parasitic, even? im not rlly into the drdt ship culture so i couldn’t tell u. the fact that david’s memories are also starting to return can help us assume that in both the current killing game and during hope’s peak, they’d idolized each other. could david be connected to the sterlings, that business family we keep seeing within the drdt universe? could the sterlings be the true mastermind and the reasons behind this place’s existence?

idk how to continue this but something something “i am the protagonist and i cannot die” seems like some sort of vague setup for a 5th/6th chapter death involving teruko that will involve david needing to take over. ties it back together for her essentially being the reason behind the first murder