Redeemable Mastermind (a mastermind Saihara story, Danganronpa)

God, I'm sorry... so very sorry

"Hello? Is anyone here?"
A female voice rang out. One that Shuichi could recognize immediately.

Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist. He met her a few times before they were transported to the fictional world...

Not that she remembers anyway...

The first impression he had from her was that she was a kind and sweet girl who saw the best in anyone.
That was further cemented in by her audition tape. In the tape, she explained that, although she was a quite well known pianist (even performing for Royalty, which after a quick internet search Shuichi confirmed was true), her parents made a lot of sacrifices for her and most likely won't be able to retire. Thus, she joined Danganronpa in hopes of winning enough money that will help her take care of her parents when they get older, just like they did with her.

It was an honorable goal indeed.

...

However...

According to the script he was provided with...she won't make it anywhere far enough for any financial reward...

It hurt Shuichi to no end... He's met ALL of those people. He knows what they're like... Okay, not a whole lot, but enough to get a grasp on their personalities. Not of them deserved this...

Worst is...some of them have altered memories.
Although everyone (mostly) has the same life stories they had before entering this place, some of them have overexaggerated false memories.

...Especially Maki and Ryoma.

He felt so... Terrible. They all had lives... Families even, who were waiting for them to come back home but... Most of them won't make it out of here alive.

He was so lost in thought that didn't even realize what was going on outside of the locker he was trapped in. That was until he hurd creaking of the door leading outside of the room, meaning that Kaede was leaving.

Crap, he was supposed to meet her, but now she's left the room... Fuck... Now he'll definitely get chewed out by the producers.

Nevertheless, he had to stay in character... Actually, he only needed to be himself and pretend like he doesn't know what's going on so... Honestly not much work.

He waited a few minutes, them mingled himself out of the darn locker. Monokuma made sure it was stuck on purpose so Shuichi would be more convincing.

He went into the hallway, looking around. He purposefully didn't memorize the maize that was this academy, just to seem more clueless then he actually was... Though he still wasn't dumb.

He found a huge poster board. On it, a message to all "students" to make their way to the gym. It wasn't hard to find and he made it in time.

The moment he entered, all heads turned towards him. All fifteen.

"Umm...hello there... Is this the right place?"
Shuichi asked with slight shyness in his voice.

Honestly, he was naturally shy, however, it was mostly around huge crowds. He can hold a decent conversation one on one, like he was able to do with pretty much everyone in the room. He DID talk to them a few times after all.

"I think so. The note on that poster board said to meet here."
Kaito Momota, the Ultimate Astronaut.

Shuichi knew how optimistic Kaito could be. He enjoyed the interactions they had together. How passionate Kaito was about the things he enjoyed and encouraged others to try their best.

Despite the fact that Kaito is supposed to be the blackened in the fifth chapter... Shuichi knew he was trustworthy.

"I've seen it too. But why are we here?"
Keebo Aisuru, now the Ultimate Robot.