Danganronpa: Return of Despair

Chapter 7, Part 2

I was back in the lobby. It was still as busy. I wondered when we were going to be released. I looked at the clock, it was 2pm. I wonder what day it was. I walked back up to the lady at the reception. She noticed me and smiled.

"Hello, again!" She waved, "How may I help you?"
"Um, it may seem like a weird question, but what day is it?" I asked.
"Oh, that's not a weird question, a few of your classmates asked as well! It's understandable for how long you were in there! It's February 20th," She replied with a smile.
"Wait, how long were we in there..?" I asked.
"...Believe it or not, you left for that...test...on September 10th," Her smile was gone, "I'm terribly sorry they put you all through that, and I mean that genuinely,"
"...So it's been 6 months..." I was realizing.
She nodded, "You're the first to ask, it seemed like none of them wanted to face the facts,"
I sighed, "Do you know when we'll get out of here?"
She shook her head, "I'm sorry, sir, but I'm not sure,"
"Ah, alright," I replied, "Also, you don't have to call me sir, my name's Mamoru Kakahashi,"
She smiled, "Well, if you need me again, I'll keep that in mind,"

I smiled and walked away. I saw Daisuke sitting alone. I walked over and sat next to him.

"Hey, Daisuke," I smiled.
He looked up, "Oh, hmmm....Mamoru right..?"
I nodded and my face lit up, "Yeah! You remembered me!"
He smiled, "I guess I did!"
"Have you talked to anyone else yet?" I asked.
He shook his head, "No, not yet, I just feel kinda...alone here, in a way,"
"Why do you feel like that?" I asked.
"I feel...out of place? Unwelcomed? I'm not sure, just not good," He sighed.
"Hmm, did you have a good relationship with Yokichi at all?" I asked.
"Um, I don't exactly remember," He pondered.
"Well, he's in the cafeteria if you wanted to head down, it's quite empty in there, 'cause he's the only one there," I replied.
He nodded, "I might go check it out, maybe later, I kinda wanna go back to sleep, I'm tired,"
"Really? Well I hope we get out of here soon then," I said.
He nodded, "I hope so, too, I wanna go home,"
"Well, I hope you don't feel so bad later on," I patted his shoulder and stood up.
"Thanks, Mamoru," He nodded.

I walked away. I saw Asa and Seiko banging on a nearby vending machine. I sighed and walked over to them.

"What are you guys doing?" I asked.
"We want snacks! We're hungry!" Seiko complained.
"Y'know, the cafeteria is open," I stated.
"Their food isn't good, we want this!" Asa replied and gestured to the vending machine.
I laughed a little, "I think you need money for that, and neither of you look like you have any,"
"That's why we're tryna break it!" Seiko exclaimed.
"Yeah, like that's a good idea," I sighed.
"Exactly!" Asa cheered.
"I meant that sarcastically, but okay," I laughed a little.
"Maybe we should ask Kaz for help!" Asa suggested.
"Yeah! She's good at smashing stuff!" Seiko replied.

They both ran off to find her. I sighed and walked off again. I saw Isamu making her way down to the cafeteria, she wasn't a very extroverted person, I nodded. It was like her to go be alone, like Yokichi. I saw Shin and Takahiro were hanging out again. That brought a slight smile to my face. I walked over to them, they weren't gone for much longer than I was, but I still missed them. Shin hugged me as soon as I walked over, Takahiro patted my shoulder, smiling with her eyes.

"Mamoru! I missed you!" Shin smiled.
I smiled back, "I missed you, too! Even though it wasn't that long,"
"Yeah, but this might be the last time we see each other ever," He sighed.

I realized that. If I had never seen them before in my home country, then I probably wouldn't ever see them again. Is that why everyone's talking so much? This will be our last memory together. I sighed.

"I guess you're right," I laughed a little, "It's so weird that we spent all that time together, now we're all gonna go our separate ways,"
"It's gonna be weird without you," Shin said.
I nodded, "I'm gonna miss you,"
Shin nodded as well, "I'm gonna miss you, too, you were my second favorite person,"
"Second favorite?" I laughed, "Wow, thanks,"
"It's no offense to you, Takahiro's my favorite person, and my best friend!" Shin smiled.
Takahiro nodded.
I smiled, "That's nice,"
Shin nodded, "I'm gonna miss her,"
"Maybe you guys will see each other again," I suggested.
Shin shrugged, "Maybe, but being a knight I have lots of duties, and I'll have even more once I go home,"
"Ah, I get that," I nodded, "Well, I'm gonna be on my way now,"
"Alright, see ya around, Mamoru," Shin smiled.
"See ya, Shin," I smiled back.
Takahiro quickly took out her notebook and wrote, "Mamoru, you were really nice, and I liked having you around, I will miss you a lot, goodbye!"
I hugged Takahiro, "Goodbye, Takahiro,"

I let go of her and went on my way. I went back down to the cafeteria. Isamu was in there, she was sitting with Yokichi. They looked like they were talking. That was sort of a surprise. I walked over to them.

"Hey, guys," I waved.
Yokichi waved back, "Hi, Mamoru, uh, I-Isamu and I were talking f-for a while and we have lots in c-common!"
Isamu nodded, "I didn't expect to have anything in common with anyone, but turns out I did,"
"Y-Yeah! We gave each other our, uh, contact information, and n-now we're gonna stay in touch a-and we're gonna make something together," Yokichi smiled.
"We plan on making an anime, he's gonna design the characters, I'm gonna animate it, but we need to have a plot of some kind," Isamu explained.
"Oh! You can ask Shichiro! He's a novelist, so he could help," I suggested.
"Th-That's actually really, uh, h-helpful," Yokichi replied.
Isamu nodded, "I think we'll go find him in a bit, hopefully,"
I smiled, "Well, I wish you both the best of luck!"
"Thank you, Mamoru," Isamu replied.

I waved and walked back down to the lobby. I saw Rokuro talking to Daisuke. I decided to talk to them. They didn't seem like they'd be too wild, plus I didn't want to reconnect with Arisa or Ayu yet, I don't think I was ready for that.