Danganronpa Extra Life

Kamukura's Birthday

And so the year came to a close. It ended with a whimper; there were no wide-spread New Year's festivals, an oddity for Japan. But Ultimate Despairs and terrorists alike had taken to attacking public celebrations, and no one dared risking their attention. Chiaki spent the evening curled up on her bed, staring out the window at the night sky and missing the fireworks that normally bloomed across it.

But there was something else on the gamer's mind, something just as important. Hinata-kun had mentioned once, before he left, that his birthday fell on New Year's Day.

She remembered—she remembered waiting in the snow by the fountain, shivering and clutching his present in mitten-clad hands. It had been part of winter break, and he'd surely gone home, but she'd still clung to the hope he might stop by the school. So she'd waited and waited for him to show up, waited until the sun had gone down; only then had she conceded defeat and brought his gift to the post office.

Chiaki tried very hard not to think about what had actually been happening to him during that time.

She hadn't been able to celebrate with him then, but she could celebrate with Kamukura-kun now. The problem was how. Chiaki didn't have the supplies to set up a big birthday party, and she got the feeling Kamukura-kun wouldn't like one anyway. She didn't even have a way to get him a present, or any idea what he'd even want. But she still wanted to try to show him she was grateful he'd been born, so she set her alarm to wake her bright and early January 1st.

Which turned out to be unnecessary, as her nightmares woke her up first. She was already laying on her back, breathing heavily and chasing the images of that damned maze out of her head, when the annoyingly loud ringing started. Chiaki jumped and swore, glaring at the red numbers as if they'd personally done her wrong as she slammed the alarm off.

I hate alarm clocks, she thought grumpily.

Popping the stiff joints out of her back, she slowly dressed. Skirts, buttons, ties; she could do that all on her own now, fingers only slightly clumsy. Chiaki still marveled at it sometimes; it felt like not long ago that Kamukura-kun had to do this for her. She grabbed a piece of paper off her dresser and slipped it into her blouse packet. Then, leaning on her cane, she tiptoed out into the hall, to the stairway. Her eyes darted to Kamukura-kun's door. It was closed, the lights off. Good.

Tentatively, Chiaki sat down on the top step. Kamukura-kun had her doing exercises to strengthen the anti-gravitational muscles in her legs, but she still couldn't quite manage to go up and down the stairs, especially not on her own. It was the one thing he still needed to carry her for. But if there was one thing video games had taught her, it was problem-solving.

Placing her cane on her lap, she very carefully scooted forward and down, bracing for the slight jolt. She took a moment to catch her breath, and then she repeated the motion. This odd slide-bump down each individual step scrapped her bottom and thighs, but it worked; she made it downstairs without making too much noise.

Chiaki didn't know how early Kamukura-kun got up—she liked to sleep in, and he was always awake by the time she was. So she'd set her alarm for six AM, hoping that he would be like a normal young man for once and not want to get up before then.

Unfortunately, he was.

"It is unusual for you to be up this early, Nanami," he commented idly from his position on the sofa, where he was dispassionately watching the morning news. The television's display was par norm, a news report tallying last night's murders and arsons. In the corner of the room was Yumigami's hutch, where even the rabbit was blinking as if she couldn't believe what she was seeing. "I do not believe it has happened before."

Chiaki's shoulders slumped. Kamukura-kun's face was cast in eerie blue light from the TV screen, which, combined with his blank expression, made him look practically alien. Had he been there all night? But his eyes showed no sign of tiredness, just slight curiosity. All that effort to wake up early and surprise him, and he'd beaten her to it.