Danganronpa One Shots

Mahiru/Chiaki angst

A/n this is set post-despair.

Mahiru and Chiaki are celebrating their anniversary but one of their surprises is not received as well as they'd hoped.

Chiaki's POV:

Chiaki Nanami sighed as she finished wrapping the large object in the center of their living room. It was her and Mahiru's 1st anniversary today and they'd promised each other they would get something special.

Unfortunately, Chiaki didn't really know what 'special' implied so she had to really rack her brain for this one - which was weird because she was usually quite good at problem-solving, at least most people seemed to think so.

On any normal occasion where gifts were expected, Chiaki would know exactly what to get for Mahiru, they were married for goodness sake, she at least knew what her wife's likes and dislikes were.

But this wasn't a normal occasion. They were celebrating a year since their wedding. This was something Chiaki had never done before and though she understood most social conventions, that was through years of repetition and trial and error.

Although she wasn't informed on what best to do in this situation, she still put a lot of thought into this gift and thought it quite fitting. She tried her best, really, though would her best be enough? Chiaki wasn't so sure.

Mahiru's POV:

Mahiru tried to contain her glee as she walked through the streets from the office to her house, where her wife currently was waiting for them to celebrate their anniversary together.

The gift under her arm jostled slightly as she walked, reminding her of its presence. She was so excited for Chiaki to open it, there was no doubt in her mind that she would love it.

Through hell and back, was where Mahiru had been to get this, it had been no small feat. Nestled under her arm was a device that no one in the world owned until today.

First of all, Mahiru had to do some sleuthing and find some dirt she knew the head newspaper in Japan would kill for. Once she had the information, she needed proof so Mahiru did what she does best, she took photographs. High resolution, with a perfectly clear view of everything going on at that.

With the photographs in an envelope, she personally took them straight to the head honcho of the paper and watched his face as he positively drooled over the possible articles.

There was more where that came from, she had told him, and gave him an offer he could not refuse. For the next month she spent hours after dark sneaking around capturing moments of vulnerability of celebrities and millionaires - it was a good job Chiaki was such a heavy sleeper or she surely would've heard her getting in and out of bed at all hours of the night.

As she did this for the company, they sent their top information gatherers into the Nintendo HQ to gather information on the latest console they were developing.

Nintendo were pretty good at discovering these agents and sending them away, but they weren't ultimate and before long Mahiru had photo evidence of some shady business of theirs and the next time the agents went in, they returned with a prototype of Nintendo's newest console, along with the alpha versions of the compatible games.

None of this would hit the shelves for at least another year, and even Chiaki, being the ultimate gamer and all, would not receive it for free for another 3 months.

Mahiru did consider that simply telling them it was for the ultimate gamer, that would probably have made her life easier, but this surprise was supposed to be special and it would be meaningless if she hadn't worked hard for it.

Arriving back home, Mahiru could no longer contain her smile, opening the front door and rushing to hug  her wife.

"Happy anniversary!" She had to sway from foot to foot to keep her balance.

Mahiru held the back of Chiaki's neck and stared straight into her eyed to pry them away from the large object in the middle of their living room. "We should open our gifts at the same time, then there's no suspense, it's fairer that way."

Chiaki made for the parcel under Mahiru's arm suddenly, "It was about to fall, I think." She looked unsure about whether to draw it towards her or not, then she made her mind up and pulled it close. Mahiru's arm did feel and awful lot lighter now, "Thanks for taking that, I think it made my arm go numb."

She nodded at the parcel in her wife's hands then at the large object, "That's for you, is that one for me?" Chiaki nodded while studying the wrapped box in her hand, "I hope you like it."

Slowly as to not show how eager she was - though she was eager - Mahiru moved over to the present and began peeling back the wrapping paper as Chiaki did the same to her's.

At the same time, after spending enough time being slow, they both ripped away the rest of the paper and wore completely different expressions.

"Oh wow!" Chiaki wore an expression of pure amazement at the console before her.

"What the... WHAT THE HELL!" Mahiru wore an expression of utter horror, "Chiaki what is this?"

Before her, an arcade machine loomed ominously, incapable of actually causing harm, yet completely terrifying with memories nonetheless. "It's a Twilight Syndrome Murder Case arcade machine." Chiaki answered the question so nonchalantly making Mahiru wonder if what she was seeing was real.

The ultimate gamer turned her head like a puppy, "Do you not like it, maybe?" Mahiru looked at her, incredulous.

"This is the same video game from, from... from the killing game."

"Yup, with the exact same gameplay as before... I think."

"This is what motivated... what motivated Peko to, to... KILL ME." Flashes of her time spent inside the neo world program appeared in her mind as she fell to the floor not being able to stop thinking back.

Chiaki followed Mahiru to the floor and held her shoulders, "Hey, it's alright, we're not there anymore, we're at home, it's our wedding anniversary."

Then Mahiru's horror turned into anger and pushed Chiaki off her, "Yeah, you're right. We're not there anymore and it is our anniversary, so why would you make me think about that place again. I blocked those memories from my mind... I don't know if I can do this today, but I do know that... I want you out of my sight."

Mahiru wasn't looking at the girl on the floor so Chiaki didn't think she was being serious, "I thought it was poetic, I should've been more considerate, I think."

"Yeah you should've, now go." Mahiru faced her back towards her.

"I'm truly sorry, Mahiru."

"GO!"

So Chiaki left the house and took a walk round the neighbourhood wondering how long until Mahiru would forgive her for this, or to what lengths she would have to go to make up for her actions.