Danganronpa Extra Life

Confessing and Parting Ways

It was only a few days after Kamukura-kun left that Gekkogahara-san called the interns and their supervisors to a meeting. It was in the same room she'd first met them in, the fourth-floor conference room with the large projector. Around Chiaki, the other interns were chatting, wondering what Gekkogahara-san could want this time. But there was fondness in their voices; the Ultimate Therapist's slightly silly but gentle aura and the steps she took to personally know her employees had endeared her to many, to the point some of the younger ones actually called her 'onee-san'. Though Honda-kun gave Chiaki a smile and a wave when she came in, everyone else ignored her.

Once Chiaki took her seat—last one in as usual—Gekkogahara-san clapped her hands for their attention. "As I'm sure many of you have heard by now, the crisis in Towa City has reached a conclusion. Togami-kun, who was being held hostage, has managed to escape, and on his way out he picked up many of the captives our forces originally went to save."

Usami paused, her ears drooping. "Unfortunately, some were unable to be rescued, and Fukawa-san, who went in to save Togami-kun, has also not returned... Our intelligence has deduced they've all been captured again, so we can't risk taking any further action against Towa City. That said, I'm sure we'll eventually find a way to save everyone trapped, so for the time being please focus on doing your best.

"Our focus, now more than ever, must be on helping those rescued. Interns, consider this your first real case. You will each be assigned a Towa City captive to counsel, under supervision. I will email you the profile of your assigned individual once this meeting is concluded. Please review them with your supervisor later, and as always you can come to me for questions..."

Those memories were fresh in her mind as Chiaki looked at the picture of the girl she'd been assigned, that night in her apartment. She was still a teenager, maybe three or so years younger than her. Pretty, with short chestnut hair and pale eyes, but the heavy layers of makeup she wore were too reminiscent of Enoshima for Chiaki's comfort. Nakajima Kanon was her name, cousin of Kuwata Leon. Also attached was a short psyche profile and extra notes, and she made a mental note to read them more thoroughly tomorrow morning.

Sighing, she put her phone back in her pocket and returned her attention to her pansies. Chiaki frowned unhappily as she gently fingered a thin petal. They'd started wilting yesterday, and nothing she was doing was perking them up. She supposed they were reaching the end of their lifespan; it was probably thanks to Kamukura-kun's formula they'd lasted as long as they had.

Contemplating whether or not to buy replacements—she did like the color, but flowers were so hard to take care of compared to a rabbit—she threw on a Pac-Man t-shirt and a pair of shorts for the night. She'd just settled down to finish her latest rerun of Fire Emblem Thracia 776 when a knock came on her door. Chiaki hesitated, indecisive; she wore her wig and glasses everywhere, even answered the door in them, just in case she encountered someone she knew. But she'd already taken them off for bed and didn't feel like putting them back on.

You know what? She spent almost all her time pretending to be someone else. This was Nanami Chiaki time. Gaming time. They could come back at an earlier hour. She nodded firmly and decided to ignore the knocking. Let's see, when she last left off she'd been marching on the Empire's detention center...

She huffed in annoyance at a second knock. She'd just reached over to turn up the volume when a familiar voice spoke on the other side. "Nanami, open the door."

Chiaki brightened, irritation instantly forgotten. Immediately she placed the controller down and rushed over.

"Kamukura-kun!" she chirped, throwing the door open. "Welcome ba—what happened to your hands?!"