Danganronpa: ReProgrammed

A Next Generation Legend: Part 8

The day went by without anything major happening. However, it should be noted that nobody saw Sakura that whole day. It was rather strange. Sakura never ever seemed like the type of person who would spend a lot of time mourning. Sure, it made sense that she was upset, given her relationship with Hina, but she was arguably the strongest human being anyone had met. Surely she'd faced greater challenges than this?

During the evening, Chihiro sat on his back. Night time was drawing closer, and he'd already made the choice to go and check up on Alter Ego before he went to bed. Mondo wasn't in the mood for training that night, and whether or not Taka would be on patrol was out of Chihiro's knowledge. Regardless, it didn't take long for the programmer to begin to get a little hungry. In a rather silly train of thought, Chihiro had only had a small dinner and now he was feeling peckish. However, upon entering the cafeteria, the aforementioned gentle giant was sitting there, on her own, staring off into space.

"Sakura?" Chihiro asked. The Martial Artist didn't seem shift from her position, but spoke to let Chihiro know she knew he was there.

"What brings you here?" Sakura asked.

"I was...just hungry..." Chihiro told her honestly "are you alright? Nobody saw you today..."

Sakura did not respond. Chihiro didn't know if he should press the conversation any further, but in the end, decided that he couldn't leave her like she was.

"Sakura..." Chihiro said "are you still sad...?" 

At these words, Sakura finally turned to face Chihiro. The look in her eyes was not that of one who was depressed, but of something...different.

"Yes...I am still sad...I doubt I will ever truly be happy when I remember that ghastly scene...but right now, I have had enough time to mourn...I do not want to drag the group down with me..."

"If you're so scared of dragging us down..." Chihiro asked "then why are you avoiding us?"

Sakura returned to her silence for a moment. However, her eventual response to this question made Chihiro's heart sink.

"It is because...I am scared..."

"Scared?" Chihiro repeated "of what? You're scared one of us will kill you?"

"No...not that..." Sakura explained "when Leon died, and we discovered Sayaka had killed him, I already felt terrible that I was unable to help him, despite hanging out with him that same night...But more to the point...I am ashamed that I was unable to protect Hina from Toko...Or protect Toko from Hina...Or that I couldn't help Hina out when she needed it most...I'm scared that...that I won't be able to protect the rest of you...I swore to it that Monokuma would have to go through me to even touch any of you but...I..."

Sakura trailed off. She felt that she'd made her point, and that she didn't need to say anymore. She was right. Chihiro already understood what it was she was getting at. She was supposed to be the greatest defence and offense for the group against Monokuma, and yet twice now, she'd failed to prevent a murder. Still though, it was wrong of her to push all the blame on herself...Chihiro always looked up to Sakura...She had the strength that Chihiro wanted. That Chihiro needed. But when it came down to it, Sakura was only the strongest human...a human. She wasn't a strange, unidentifiable, almost empowering creature that Monokuma was. She bleeded red, just like any other human, she lives a life like anyone else, and...she had doubts about herself...Chihiro was left wondering if there was anything he could do to help his friend...but he came up short...

"If only...if only I was able to face Hina...and talk to her again..." Sakura said "I may be able to put these emotions aside and look at things from a better perspective..."