Danganronpa 2.5: Hostage Life Of Mutual Killing

Chapter 11: Officer Ishimaru

-Third Person P. O. V.-

Yuta and Komaru ran out of the gym, into the trophy room. They ran right through, into the hallway.

"So, where should we start?" Yuta asked.

Komaru thought for a moment, but was interrupted by a loud voice.

"Hey! You two!"

The two kids turned their heads towards the voice to see Takaaki walking towards them. Well, it was more of a shuffle, like he was trying to go fast, but refused to run.

"I saw you two!" He reached the pair. "You two were about to run in the halls! You shouldn't run unless it's an emergency! Like a killer is chasing you down!"

The two hung their heads. "We're sorry, sir." They said together.

The policeman saw their sorrow, and sighed, mentally kicking himself. "I'm sorry. Yuta, Komaru, I'm real sorry about everything I've done. I'm usually a very nice and kind person, but whenever I'm in 'work mode' I tend to get serious and grumpy. So, I apologize for being so grouchy."

This brightened their faces. Yuta and Komaru instantly smiled at Takaaki's apology. "It's okay, Takaaki!"

Takaaki smiled. "That makes me feel better. Oh, by the way, as a word of warning, you kids can call me 'Takaaki' when I'm not being so serious, but whenever I get serious, you should call me 'Officer Ishimaru' or refer to me as 'sir', to keep my serious persona at ease. Is that too much to ask?"

The two shook their heads. "No, we're perfectly fine with doing that."

Takaaki sighed with relief. "Thanks. Anyway, I'll let you two get to whatever you kids do."

He turned to leave, but Yuta stopped him. "Hey, wait! Hold up, Takaaki!"

The policeman turned back to the two of them. "Hmm? What is it?"

"I was going to go around and 'officially' introduce Komaru to everyone. You remember how we first introduced ourselves, back in the auditorium?"

Takaaki remembered. "Ah, right. So, you want Komaru to do that, too?"

He nodded.

"Well then." Takaaki extended a hand towards Komaru. "Nice to meet you, young lady. My name is Takaaki Ishimaru. I'm a policeman."

Komaru shook his hand. "Nice to meet you, Takaaki. I'm Komaru Naegi. Just a normal girl."

"Takaaki here told me a bunch of his police stories while we waited for everyone. He was the only one here when I got here." Yuta told the girl.

Komaru listened as Yuta and Takaaki spoke.

"You've got to always be punctual! Follow the rules exactly! I have a very strong sense of justice."

"You also mentioned you're actually very nervous around people."

Takaaki shrugged, embarrassed. "Yeah. But, I blame my father for that."

Komaru tilted her head to the side confused and decided to speak up. "Your father? What did he do?"

The man looked away. "That's... for a later time. I don't feel like talking about him now..."

There was a small awkward silence until Yuta decided to ask the important question.

"So, Komaru's brother and my sister went to Hope's Peak Academy. That's why we're here. Why are you here?"

Takaaki brightened up a bit, pushing his father out of his thoughts for the moment. "Oh. Well, my son, Kiyotaka, enrolled here. He was asked to join as the Ultimate Moral Compass. I can see why. He's so obsessed with the rules, but he's got his heart in the right place, just like his old man. Though, I'm more obsessed over laws while he takes care of the school rules. I swear, sometimes he acts like running on the hallways would kill you. Ridiculous."

"Sounds like he deserved his title." Yuta said, laughing a bit.

That's when Komaru had an idea. "Say, Yuta?"

The boy looked at her. "What is it?"

Komaru took out her handbook and pulled up the report cards.

"Oh right!" Yuta said, catching on. "Takaaki, we found out what the report card section was about!"

The man was impressed. "Good for you two! I guess we all forgot to take a look at it. What's it about?"

Komaru and Yuta spent a few minutes explaining the report cards to Takaaki.  The report cards are like a sort of set of profiles about each of the hostages. Each hostage is given an Ultimate talent for currently unknown reasons. After some sort of event, a profile is updated with information about the person and a reward that currently has no use or explanation is given to everyone. Everyone's handbooks are updated when a profile is updated.

"Ah, I see. I don't mind anyone reading my profile. Except maybe Hiroko."

"Why her?" Komaru asked.

"She's got that delinquent attitude about her! I bet she's here because her kid came here as some kind of Ultimate Drug Dealer or Ultimate Delinquent."

A light bulb went off in Yuta's head. "Takaaki! We should check your profile to see what your Ultimate talent is!"

"Smart idea." Komaru said.

The three pulled out their handbooks and looked at Takaaki's profile.

His special ability was listed as Ultimate Police Officer.

"I guess it fits me. Though, I'm not really the best at my job. I'm getting older and older. I'm sure there's plenty of other people that are better than me."

"Well, I feel like there's something more to these talents than being an Ultimate ability. Like, you think Hope's Peak would ever seek out the Ultimate Manga Fan? And the title itself is pretty weird." Komaru added.

"It doesn't make sense. We should ask those crazy kids the next time we see them." Yuta commented.

Takaaki scoffed. "Those kids. They're behind all of this! We need some answers! And I would get some if they didn't take my gun!" The officer sighed. "Well, I'm gonna go get a fruity drink in the kitchen."

"What happened to patrolling the halls?" Komaru asked.

"For now, I'm officially off duty." Takaaki said, leaving the two kids.

Yuta and Komaru looked at each other.

"So... who next?" Yuta asked.

"Let's just walk and see who we find." Komaru replied.

The two kids walked off towards the hotel.

-Elsewhere in the school-

"They seem to be settling in well." Nagisa said, watching the monitor.

"I'm so happy that that police officer guy hates me! Oh, I hope the other demons hate me." Jataro added.

"Oh, forget about that. Just look at Big Sis Komaru and Big Bro Yuta! They are so adorbs together!" Kotoko added, gushing over the kids walking together.

"Yeah, I guess they can be kinda cute. But they're still just smelly demons! Monaca, when can I give them my motive? We agreed that I was first!" Masaru boasted.

Monaca giggled. "All in due time, Masaru. Let's give them... two more days. After Big Sis Komaru spends time with one person on that day, you can reveal your motive."

"That should work very well, Monaca." Nagisa said.

"Woah, woah, woah, wait a second dere! You kids haven't forgotten about me now have you?"

The five kids turned around and looked at the headmaster.

"Of course we haven't. You do realize that you'll be the judge, right? And your brother will be there to provide assistance during the investigations. We will act as a jury of sorts, or more of a peanut gallery, as we won't be voting, and I'm sure that Masaru and Kotoko won't be able to shut up during the trial. Of course, after they all meet you, you and him will be free to pop in to see them whenever you feel like it." Nagisa explained to him.

"Aw yeah! The Kuma Brothers are comin to town! I'm so happy I could burst a stitch!"

Monaca giggled to herself. "This will be a lot of fun, meow!"