Danganronpa: Poisoned Hope (Fanganronpa)

A Checkup Call to the Outside World

They stood in the classroom, fiddling with their white school blazer as they stared at the computer screen in front of them. The specific camera they were looking at was the one in Kuro Baiorin's room, so they watched tossing and turning in bed to pass the time. Nothing really interesting was happening on the cameras despite that as it was nighttime, so they used this time as a break from constantly checking on the participants. They drummed their fingers against the desk before the abrupt ringing of a phone blared from their pocket.

Their hand dived into the pocket of their school blazer as they pulled it out and read the name of the person calling them. After briefly nodding, they pressed the answer button and held the phone to their ear.

"Hey? You there?" They called out to the person on the other line and waited for a response.

"Oh, sweet! I was getting kind of bored..."

The person on the other end said something that caused them to shoot up in their seat. "I'm kidding, I'm kidding! I'm not irresponsible. Don't worry sir..." they quickly changed the subject before they could get scolded again. "You want to hear how things are going right?"

The person on the other end replied.

"Er...everything's good." They nodded, trying to not sound rude again so they wouldn't get yelled at. "There have been some ups and downs but all is going smoothly. Totally! Monitoring them has been fine."

"Huh?" Their eyes widened at the mention of the change in subject. "Your...son? Oh! Oh! You mean...uh..." they scrambled through the notes and papers in front of them before landing on the file and student ID of the person they were looking for. They quickly read over the file before responding. "...Kei, right? He's fineeeee! Completely fine! He's getting along great with the others! He's not some weird outcast anymore. Everyone else is doing great too. It's good to see their talents finally flourish. I'm glad you gave me this responsibility, sir."

"Any casualties?" They tilted their head and wondered for a moment. "Nope! All 15 participants are all alive and doing swimmingly! No problems whatsoever. They're all comfortable in the academy.  Even Arisu is doing great. I thought she'd still be acting as Hinami, but turns out she's getting along well with the others. They've come to accept her."

The person on the other end spoke.

"You still want to check it out? You're...going to send someone in?" They repeated what the person had said. "O-Oh! No need to do that! I got this under control. I mean...you did trust me with this job...

Isn't that right, Mr. Shizuka?"

The person on the other end revealed to be Mr. Shizuka, sighed, before agreeing.

"Great!" They exclaimed. "Now we've got that out of the way, is there anything else?"

Mr. Shizuka brought you a problem the school had faced as they listened.

"There's something wrong with the school? I haven't noticed anything. Sure, I've been in this classroom for a while, but everything looks fine to me..."

The man acknowledged what they had said and didn't continue the subject further. Instead, he asked about the other participants.

"Oh...Kuro? Oh, she's good. I knew I could trust her with the biggest role. Even Ryuto got to take over her role for a bit. It was a great way for the two to develop independently."

Mr. Shizuka began speaking about responsibility and just saying a bunch of things that they didn't really pay attention to. They just blindly nodded and agreed.

"Yup. Mhm. Yeppers...What do you mean?" They stopped daydreaming once Mr. Shizuka brought the safety of the participants up. "Dangerous? No, no! I've already told you, I'm monitoring them every hour of every day. I've even got someone further monitoring them inside among the others. There's nothing to worry about. No one's hurt."

"Danganronpa?" They repeated. They didn't expect some 40-year-old man to bring up an anime. "Junko Enoshima? Who told you that? It's just some boring weird anime and video game, you wouldn't understand. I'd never let stuff like that get in the way of this. This is my passion remember! I care for my classmates, you know?"

They sighed as Mr. Shizuka continued. "Ugh...Yes, sir. No, sir. Mhm. Ok. Got it. Are you done? N-No! Not in a rude way! I just need to get back to monitoring the participants."

"Ok, great." They began to say their goodbyes. "Talk to you soon, sir! Oh...and I believe we're reaching the end of this, so I'll keep you updated. A few more days at it will finally be finished. Now, goodbye!"

They hung up the phone, slid it back into their pocket, and stared at the computer screen. They noticed that Kuro was now missing from her dorm and that she was nowhere to be found on any of the other cameras. Instead of panicking or going mad, they smirked.

"Yep...Very soon."

-

Happy Birthday to a character who deserves better and a massive hug, Arisu Dayo! 💖💖 (April 1st)
(Ignore now I'm publishing her birthday chapter a little earlier before April 1st)