Rika Fujiwara is a girl that loves Danganronpa, a very famous anime and videogame all over the world. Out of curiosity, Rika will enter in a small shop in her town, just by case. By a strange man, she will buy a little box. But she doesn't know that...
It was 11.23PM in the evening, I was still on the street as I walked on the sidewalk to return home after going out with a group of friends, while the darkness became increasingly pitch black. Before eight in the evening the people on the street are quiet, people walk with food in their hands talking about what happened to them during the day. Around ten, however, the kids return home while the adults and older boys go down to dance or with their cars to conquer girls. Just after that time you have to be careful walking on the sidewalk, if you don't want to die prematurely from someone that is drunk or someone that is a total idiot.
I crossed the bridge that spanned the river in my city, being careful not to stumble on the dark road, and kept walking on my way. I passed some shops as I saw some lights go out and shopkeepers raising their curtains before returning home as well. When I looked at them, I thought what it was like to stay a whole day in a store, and at the end of the day coming home with someone you love to wait for you. Maybe a husband, a wife, children, or maybe just a cat curled up on the sofa and who when he hears the door of the house open he gets up stretching and starts meowing as if to welcome you, expecting a caress from him. I would have liked, or maybe not, to try to enter one of those lives, the happy ones. Because not everyone has a person who loves them or at least gives them the right attention.
A shop still had its lights on, but I kept walking. But I thought better of it, knowing that I would regret it as soon as I got home and went back. I looked at it from the outside and saw that it was a manga and accessories shop. And a smile appeared on my face. So I decided to enter, whispering a faint 'good evening' and closing the transparent door behind me. It was a very large shop, which had a lot of manga in order on my right, from the most popular to the least known. On my left instead were various gadgets and the cash desk, where there was a man in his fifties with square glasses resting on his nose, the brown hair was few and very curly, with an orange shirt matched with black jeans and quite wide glasses, and brown sandals. He was busy at the counter with some papers he was filling out, I assumed he was the owner.
After a while, he noticed me. <<Good evening.>> he greeted me and I greeted back to him. Having never entered there, I began to browse around the shop approaching the manga and I began to place a finger on a manga and to walk, looking for a specific manga: Danganronpa. It was my favorite anime. I started seeing it about a year ago and I started to like it and watched it in three months, but it didn't interest me that much. 'It's cute as anime' I only thought, knowing that it was quite a violent anime. Then a few months ago, I discovered that the creator had also created the video games for the first and second Danganronpa. And I discovered, in addition, that there was also a third. And I became very interested in the latter and watching various gameplay, and I fell in love with all the characters. Especially one in particular. One of short stature, thin build and very pale skin. He had purple eyes and moderately long wavy blackish purple hair, with the tips dyed a brighter purple. Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader.
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I could not find the manga of my favorite anime and I went to the counter where the owner was still with a pen in his hand, intent on writing something on those documents. I approached hesitantly and cleared my throat <<ehm... excuse me...?>>. The owner raised his head to look me in the eye. He had a fairly concentrated expression, with furrowed brows looking up at me. <<Yes? >> he said, as if he had given me consent to continue talking. I was quite anxious to talk to adults, due to my shyness which I hate so much. But I started playing with my own fingers and tried to talk without interrupting <<Here... I was just wondering if there was any manga of Danganronpa>> He looked at me again adjusting the glasses he had on his nose <<Sorry?>> he made me understand that he had not understood well, or that perhaps he had never heard of it. <<Danganronpa. Da-nga-ro-n-pa >> I scandii the title in syllables, not even knowing if I had done it right. The owner put down the papers he was holding and jumped up. I just flinched, thinking I had something wrong or bored him already. A huge smile spread on his face and he came out from behind the counter <<Yes I have it>> and walked towards the manga, already knowing where they were. He moved various Attack On Titan manga and placed them on a shelf dedicated to those of Demon Slayer. When he moved them, I saw the various manga I was looking for <<You are the first person who asks me about this manga>>. I nodded and took the first two of Trigger Happy Havoc. I flipped through them and noticed that the characters were gorgeous, better than the anime. Kirigiri looked much colder, Makoto physically looked like a seven-year-old boy, but he was to be my favorite protagonist. Asahina-san was much more energetic in the manga and Toko version of Genocider Jack was a loooot more creepy. Before buying it, I stopped a little longer in that comic store and talked to the owner of the shop.
<<What is your favorite character ever?>> he asked me, while he was busy putting in order and in their place the manga of a short while before. And I agreed with him <<Ehm... my favorite character is Kokichi Ouma, from Danganronpa v3. I mirrored him in me, even the way he behaves. It is not known what his true emotions are, but surely the ones they displayed were not true. Then from his backstory of him there is a headcanon you know he was bullied at school, and even at home by his parents. And then he had an organization called 'D.I.C.E.', where for him there are more than ten thousand people. But it is not known if this organization really exists or even if there are all those people. He's definitely a really hard person to understand, unless you put yourself in your shoes and start thinking like him. Maybe there we can understand him, even if only for a little.>> I continued <<But in the end he is an interesting character, irritating several times but intelligent.>> I stopped when I noticed that the owner had his eyes wide open, as if he were interested <<You talk about him as if he were a real person>> he pointed out <<and I am really impressed.>> He was right, many people pointed this out to me. And they called me crazy and a person "who cannot distinguish fiction from reality". But the owner didn't seem to mean that. <<I have something for you>> the owner said, with a genuine smile on his face.
I didn't know that what would happen next would turn my life upside down.
