Hello everyone! I am GamerFan369, and welcome to A Forever Hidden Truth! This is an OumaSai fanfiction that's been in my head for a while now, and I've finally gotten the chance to write it down!
I'm not quite sure what to write in this author's note, so I'll tell you right here and right now that this is simply being written for my own enjoyment. It currently has no updating schedule other than when I'm done with a chapter. I'm writing this mostly to satisfy my inner fangirl. But hey, if you like it and want more, simply tell me. Even though I'm writing this for myself, I would be happy if other people liked it!
A couple more things before we start. Personally, I prefer the Japanese spelling of the characters' names opposed to the English (for example, spelling Kokichi's last Ouma instead of Oma), so that's the way you will be seeing character's names spelled.
Places will also have Japanese names, just to keep with the feel of things.
Finally, I have no idea how to use Japanese suffixes (like –chan and –san) so I'm just not going to be using them. I'm sorry if some of you like the suffixes, but I'd rather not use them at all than use them incorrectly.
So, with all that out of the way, sit back, relax, and enjoy the first chapter!
Disclaimer: I, in no way, have any rights to Danganronpa. The series is owned by Spike Chunsoft and they have all the rights to it.
Once upon a time, as all fairy tales start, there was a local village boy named Shuuichi Saihara. He lived in the town of Kioku with his Uncle Souji. He moved to the town when he was young because his parents thought it would be a better environment for him to grow up in. There, Shuuichi worked as his Uncle's apprentice, training to become a great detective just like his relative was. And, if his Uncle's words were anything to go by, he was learning fast and was a natural born investigator.
The town was very accepting of him too. From the first day he moved in, they welcomed him with open arms. They were always there to help in case Shuuichi or anyone else needed it, and it was very easy for the boy to make friends with a whole number of people.
All in all, Shuuichi's life was pretty great. He had amazing friends, a good job, and a kind and safe town to live in. He couldn't have wanted anything more.
However, something more is exactly what he got.
"Shuuichi!"
Said boy jumped at his name being called and the front door being thrown open. Luckily, Shuuichi was the only one home at the moment since his Uncle had to go away for business, so he was the only person bothered by the noise. Quickly straightening his clothes out and swallowing the bit of breakfast he was still chewing, Shuuichi turned to the source of the sound. "Kaito? What are you doing here?"
Kaito Momota, Shuuichi's best friend since he first came to town, grinned and leaned against the door frame. "Did you forget? We're meeting Maki Roll at the school to practice for the play."
The detective raised an eyebrow. "No, I didn't forget. But it's only nine o'clock. We don't need to be there for another hour."
Kaito shrugged. "There's nothing wrong with being early to something. The early bird gets the worm, after all."
"...You just want to spend more time with Maki, don't you?"
The only answer he got was a grin.
This was normal behavior for Kaito as of late. He, Shuuichi, and Maki Harukawa have all been best friends for the longest time, so it would make sense that the three of them would hang out a lot. However, ever since Kaito and Maki became a thing...well...let's just say Shuuichi has gotten used to waking up at early hours in the morning. Why the purple haired boy didn't just go to Maki by himself, the detective didn't have the slightest clue.
Shuuichi sighed after a moment. "Fine. Just let me finish my breakfast first and we can go." Then, within ten minutes, both boys were out the door.
Walking down the streets of town, the two friends made small talk.
"Did you hear that Angie is coming back from her travels next week?"
"Apparently there have been a large amount of thefts the next town over."
"I saw that Miu is working on another weather invention. I hope this one works just as good, or even better, than her last. It would be nice to have an even better weather indicator, not that the one she already made isn't good or anything."
These non-important conversations continued on for the remainder of their journey to the school. Maki currently worked there to be able to get some extra money for her dad. Her job was being a teacher's assistant to the little kids. She said she hated it, but it was easy to tell that she got a little enjoyment from the job.
"There it is." Kaito stopped their conversation by pointing to the small, wooden building. The outside looked rather bland, but Shuuichi knew that the inside was anything but. Multiple drawings, hand prints, and other art and messes from kids throughout the years littered the walls. The teacher seemed to have just given up on trying to clean it all.
With a nod, the two walked up to the door, but then stopped, attempting to hear what was going on inside before actually going in. They learned from experience that this was usually a good thing to do.
They could hear the muffled voice of Maki and nothing else. Must be story time, Shuuichi thought. It was the only time he ever heard those kids be quiet. The detective turned to Kaito. "Should we go in?"
His friend shrugged. "I don't see why not."
Quietly opening the door, as not to disturb anyone and get the kids hyped up by accident, the two best friends slipped inside the room and shut the door behind them.
After a quick survey of the room (and a not so quick glare from Maki) the two found an empty area near the back of the group of one dozen children. Moving to the side, Kaito leaned against the wall and Shuuichi simply stood with his arms crossed. They didn't see the teacher, so they guessed that meant she had to step out for a moment and she had left Maki in charge.
Tuning into the story, Shuuichi immediately deduced that it was almost finished. After all, it was a tale he and everyone else in the town had heard many a times before. It would be impossible not to know it by now.
"And just like that, the witch was gone, leaving behind an enraged beast and a handful of ghostly servants. The last thing the group ever heard from her were these words, which would stay fresh in their mind for all eternity: Until you learn to love another, and she loves you back in return, you will remain a hideous beast, a form that truly reflects your heart."
Then Maki stopped, sitting back in her chair and letting out a little sigh. Most of the kids applauded, but a few, mostly the girls, looked around in fear.
"I don't want to love a beast!" one of the girls shouted.
Maki sighed again and got up. Walking over to the child that had screamed, she crouched down, put her hand atop the girl's head, and gave it an affectionate nuzzle, a soft smile gracing Maki's features. "You don't have to marry a beast if you don't want to, Ayane."
She shivered. "I don't?"
"No. Whoever you decide to marry is completely up to you." That seemed to calm the girl down. She looked a lot more relaxed now. "Besides," Maki continued, "it was just a story. There is no beast."
"Yeah!" one of the boys cheered, jumping up. "And even if there was one, Maki would just defeat it!"
"Yeah!"
"She totally would!"
"She would punch it into a pile of mush!"
"No, she would punch it so hard; it would be va- vaderize-"
"Vaporized?" Maki supplied.
The boy nodded enthusiastically. "Yeah, that! It would be vaporized into nothing!"
With that declaration, most of the kids got up and started imitating Maki killing a monster. With a laugh, even Ayane joined in. Maki couldn't help but chuckle softly at the sight, even though she knew she was going to have to calm them down in a minute or two.
"See, Maki Roll. You really do love this job!" Kaito and Shuuichi made their way up to their friend and the former slung an arm around her in an affectionate half hug.
Maki's face immediately darkened and she turned around to glare at the two, pushing the arm off her in the process. "No, I do not. And what are you two doing here? I said practice was at ten. It's only nine-twenty."
Shuuichi sighed. "I said that too. Blame Kaito. He was the one who made me come right now."
Both turned to look at Kaito and said male grinned sheepishly. "What? Is it wrong to want to spend time with my girlfriend?"
"If you really want to spend time with me, you can help me take care of these kids."
Kaito sighed. "Okay. Fair is fair."
The female turned to Shuuichi. "That includes you too."
Shuuichi's eyes widened. The last time he helped Maki with the children, his hair had barely survived. The clump he lost had just finally grown back too…
"But-" he tried to say in protest, but another of Maki's death glares stopped him. He sighed once more and then put on a small smile. "Fine, I'll be happy to help."
Her face calming, Maki nodded. "Good." She turned her back on the two and made her way towards the chaos happening in the center of the room. "Okay everyone, get some paper and a pencil and we'll start a new activity."
With the chattering only increasing, a dozen kids made their way over to a cabinet and began rummaging through it, knocking down books, chairs, and jars (thankfully none of them broke) in the process.
Seeing the mess the children were making from a task as simple as getting paper and a pencil, Shuuichi and Kaito looked at each other. "This is going to be the longest forty minutes of our lives, isn't it?" Shuuichi asked with a nervous chuckle.
The purple haired boy rubbed his neck. "Yep. But hey, look on the bright side! At least we can help each other out and have some fun with the kids."
The sound of something finally shattering made the two rethink the latter part of Kaito's statement.
Well, that's the end of the first chapter! Here's a bit more information in case any of you were confused:
The setting of this is medieval times-ish, except it has the rules of current day society. What I mean by that is, for example, both girls and boys can go to school, but people still ride horses and live in tiny cottages. They also all wear medieval-ish clothing (I'll probably go into more detail about that later). However, the era does have a tad bit of advancement from what might have been seen in real life in that time period (which is why I say medieval times-ish). You'll see what I mean later on.
Yes, I did give Maki a father in this. It's an adopted father, but a father nonetheless. I couldn't really write her the way I wanted to unless she had a father. Someone needed to teach her how to fight and be able to survive, and I just don't think she could have gotten as far as she could in that aspect by teaching herself to fight. I hope you guys don't mind.
And that's the entire information dump I have! Some of it may sound confusing now, but hopefully it will make sense later on. I just couldn't write the story the way I wanted to if I stuck to the actual rules of the time period, so I hope you all can just roll with it.
Well, I hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter! If you did like it, please follow, favorite, and perhaps leave a review. Those always make my day! Again, I am just writing this for my own pleasure, but if you do like it, that just makes writing this even better!
I have no idea when I will update this again, so we'll just have to wait and see.
Until then…
Peace! GamerFan369