Danganronpa: Hope Reborn
Chapter 1
"No! No! No! No! Noooooo!" were the last words echoing throughout Leon Kuwata's mind as he found himself chained to a pole with an automatic pitcher aimed at him. He had never imagined things would spiral out of the control for him. He had taken a life out of fear and now was about to pay the price. His heart pounded in fear when the ferocious rumble of the automatic pitcher turning on and loading many baseballs filled the air. There was no more doubt in the teenager's mind; he knew he was about to die. His pale-blue eyes glanced at the remaining survivors of the deadly killing game, seeing them watch in both horror and sadness from behind the metal fence.
He only wished he could make up for his mistake; he wished he could start over. His thoughts were shattered by the intense feeling pain as hundreds of baseballs were fired at his body at top speed. He could do nothing more than scream in silence until his world finally fell into darkness. A few seconds later, Leon slowly opened his tired eyes, finding himself floating in a dark void. The teen raised a brow in confusion, not expecting the afterlife to be nothing but an endless voice of despair.
"I suppose in the end I did deserve this." he muttered to himself, not caring that there was no else to listen, "They were all right. I did had the choice to not murder Sayaka. But I had to let my damn cowardice get the best of me, I had to be paranoid about the possibility of her trying to kill me again instead trying to calm her down. To think that I would be stuck playing baseball for the rest of my life was my worst fear, turn's out I didn't even have a future in the first place."
He grunted as he squeezed his eyes shut, finding it quite strange that despite being a spirit now, he could still feel the pain from his execution. The nineteen year-old figured it was only to serve as more punishment for his deed. But when he reopened his eyes, he nearly jolted back from what he saw. Floating in front of him a small girl that was surrounded by an unearthly blue glow. Upon quick examination, he noticed the girl looked like she was in a mangled state with torn clothes and bullet holes that ripped through her neck and chest.
Leon was puzzled by the girl's appearance until he finally heard her speak in a raspy whisper "I've been watching you."
A pang of fear would have ran through the teenager's heart if he had still been alive. The sound of the girl's voice chilled him to the bone, frightened of the large amount of despair it carried, something not normal for a child of such a young age.
"I've been watching you and your friends, ever since I felt despair in that school. Then I felt your despair... it made me feel sympathy." the girl stated.
Leon's mouth slowly opened in shock as the girl began explaining the events that led up to her death. While he didn't understand what she meant by "The Tragedy", it deeply disturbed him to hear how she was shot down by multiple killers for trying to flee. He felt uneasy hearing about how the girl's mother was so horrified by the sight of her dead daughter, she became filled with despair and turned just as murderous as her attackers.
"My last moments alive were seeing my mother viciously attack our attackers. She was filled with too much despair to understand that she had only made herself just as terrible as them. I don't want people's last moments to be those of despair. Which is why I want to help you." she finished in a stern tone.
The red-head couldn't help, but let out a bitter laugh in response.
"You say you want to help, but in case you didn't notice, we're both dead. Doubt you can be that much help, you're just as powerless as me in this situation." he commented with a small sneer.
But much to his surprise, the ghostly girl didn't show any kind of anger toward his statement. He saw she instead simply stared at him with her unnerving and despair filled frown. Suddenly he saw the girl hold out her hand for him without saying a word. While the girl was mostly filled with despair, the teenager could have sworn that he saw a small bit of hope was shining in the girl's eyes. He still doubted the girl could truly help him like she claimed, but he couldn't deny that he was drawn to that small chance of hope. The hope to have a second chance; the hope to be allowed to start anew.
Unable to resist the hope for a chance to makeup for his deed, he sighed before taking the girl's hand. Suddenly without warning, the black void begin to crack, causing white light to leak through it. He was confused about what was happening only for that confusion to turn into panic when he felt gravity take a hold of his form. The nineteen year-old inhaled sharply as he desperately clung onto the girl's hand.
"He-Hey! What the hell is going on?!" he demanded, still too terrified to let go.
His eyes widened when he saw a small smile formed on the ghostly girl's face, finding it surprising she was capable of another emotion aside from frowning.
"I'm letting you have your second chance. Normally rebirth is reserved for certain souls, but during my time here I was able to finally open up the path. Just a warning, since this is an improper rebirth, you will have all your memories of this life. Also be warned, should you die again, I cannot save you for your soul will be lost in this very void forever." the girl explained.
"You didn't exactly tell me that's what you meant by second chance!" Leon shouted through clenched teeth.
The girl did not utter a single word in reply, instead she simply shrugged her shoulders and let go of the teen's hand.
The red-head's eyes were wide in both fear and uncertainty as his body fell toward the white light at top speeds. He could see it was too late to consider if taking a second chance and risking his soul being lost upon death was a bad idea. It was too late to turn back and the only thing he could do was move forward. Within seconds, his vision was consumed by a blinding bright light before, once again, his world slipped into darkness.
Nine months later, a young red-headed woman breathed heavily as sweat dripped down her body. Her fingers were scrapping across the cement, doing her best from screaming in pain. She glanced over at her husband whom was kneeling down next to a wrecked car with a shot gun in his hand. Worry filled her as her eyes drifted down to her swollen stomach. She never wanted to give birth during the worst and most despairing inducing event that has been plaguing the entire world for almost two years now.
Trying to focus on staying quiet as possible, she breathed through her nose as her husband ran over to her.
"Okay, I don't see any sign of anyone else. We need to get moving and find a doctor." the pale blue-eyed man stated.
He tried to help his wife sit up, but despair filled him when he saw her yelp in pain before rapidly shaking her head.
"I can't." the young woman managed to gasp out, "The baby is coming now. Honey, you have to deliver our child now."
"You can't give birth here! We'll surely be caught and killed if we do!" the man exclaimed whilst grabbing his wife by the shoulders, "The last thing I want is to lose you and our child."
The woman frowned while tilting her head down in guilt. She knew it was dangerous to try to deliver a baby in a spot that offered little to no shelter from killers, especially the Remnants of Despair. But unfortunately, she had little choice in the current situation. A painful contraction washed over her, prompting her to nearly cry out in response.
Seeing that it was far too late to try to flee with his pregnant wife, the pale-blue-eyed man sighed as he leaned the young woman against the wrecked car. He only hoped that he could deliver his child safely without drawing the attention of the despair filled killers.
It felt like a process that took forever, especially with the constant paranoia of getting caught, but finally the silence was shattered by the sound of small crying. The red-headed woman was practically crying tears of joys at seeing her husband held a small baby boy in his arms, quickly taking the precautions with newborns before wrapping him up in his jacket.
"Please... let me see my baby." she managed to utter in a weak tone.
The man nodded before he gently placed the baby in his wife's arms.
For the first time in two years, the young woman felt like she finally had hope again as she gazed upon the child in her arms. She stifled back her tears of joy when she saw the baby had a bit of red hair on his head, indicating he had inherited it from her, and the pale-blue eyes from his father. She lifted her head up just in time to see her husband sit down next to her.
"I hadn't expected him to be so healthy despite what's been going on. I'm... I'm just so relieved." the young man sighed in relief, glad to finally have some hope break through the despair, "So what shall we name him?"
The red-headed woman smiled as she held her baby close to her chest.
It didn't take her long to finally answer "Leon. I want to name him Leon."
"Leon?! What ever happened to naming him after my grandpa?" her husband asked with a frown.
"I know we agreed on naming him after your grandfather, but..." the newly mother started, taking a pause to gather her thoughts before continuing, "I feel like the name Leon is special. I can't quite explain it, I just have a strong feeling in my heart that his name should be Leon. I hope you're not angry."
The man pursed his lips as he glanced down at his newborn son. He couldn't understand why, but he felt his wife was right to name their child Leon. Almost as if he was always meant to have that name. With a sigh, he smiled while wrapping one arm around his wife, agreeing to the name.
The red woman sighed in relief that that her husband agreed with her choice. Without a word, she held her baby close, gently pressing her cheek on top of his head. She couldn't help herself, with her son's birth came her newfound hope, something she desperately wanted to live for. She had hope once again through her newborn child, Leon Saisei.
Nineteen years had passed since that day with the days of the great Tragedy now long gone and society back to normal. Leon had grown into the teenager he once was before his death. He silently walked down the busy streets of Tokyo with his hands stuffed into the pockets of his black jeans that had a few large holes around the knees. His pale-blue eyes were filled with deep thought as he looked back upon his new life as a reborn person. He found it quite strange to have two sets of memories in his mind, one before his death and the other after his rebirth.
Upon thinking about the word "rebirth" he slightly chuckled to himself as he ran his hand through his spiky red hair.
"Leon Saisei huh. That girl didn't say anything about being born into a family that has a last name that literally means rebirth. Talk about irony at it's finest." he thought.
His thoughts were cut off when he felt a small round object hit his shoulder. Immediately his breath hitched and his heart raced in panic; the images of his deadly punishment from Monokuma racing through his mind. Without hesistation, he quickly jerked away from the ball, just in time to see a young boy run toward him to grab the baseball on the ground. He couldn't hide the visible fear on his face as the boy picked up the ball. Much to his relief, the boy only gave him a puzzled look before running back to his friend.
"If I wasn't still playing baseball to serve as a reminder not to repeat mistakes, I would swear it off all together. Especially after that horrifying execution." he grumbled himself while brushing the dirt off of his black jacket.
The red-head only paused to glance at the shirt he now wore which was a white shirt with a red phoenix on it. He recalled how his mother bought it for him due to his strange attachment to the story of the Phoenix, before he was able to fully remember his past life and how the ghost of that girl gave him a second chance at life. In a sense, he found it to be amusing his amnesiac young self was interested in a story connected to rebirth without yet being aware of the fact he was like the Phoenix himself.
Unfortunately his thoughts were interrupted by the sounds of a struggle down the street. Curiosity getting the best of him, he quickly ran toward the sounds of the struggle. There he was greeted with the sight of men in black suits trying to force a girl with light-brown hair around his age to get into a black van. Then teen could see the girl was doing her best to escape from her captors, but unfortunately they were too strong for her.
"This is going to be a bad idea... but I can't exactly just sit by and watch." Leon muttered with a frown.
Without warning, he quickly grabbed a discarded board near a trash can and charged toward the men in black suits. Thankful he still managed to retain his expertise swings in baseball, he smashed the board against one of the men's head. Much to his annoyance though, the moment the board hit the man's head, it shattered. He clenched his teeth in anger, tossing away the shattered board as the men in black suits turned their attention toward him.
"Get her into the car, the rest of us will deal with this damn kid." one of the men grunted to the one still holding the school girl.
The girl let out one shriek before a cloth was slapped over her mouth, causing her to slip into unconscious.
Leon's hands curled into two firm fists as he charged toward the men, hoping he could reach the girl before she was placed into the black van. With adrenaline racing through his entire body, he swung his fist. Unfortunately, his confidence quickly crumbled when the man was able to easily dodge his punch. Within an instant, the teenager found himself on the receiving end, grunting as he was punched in the face.
The red-head stumbled backwards, trying to regain his balance once more. But his attempts were to fail, as he ended up accidentally stumbling into the other man in black. Before he could even react to try to move away, he felt the man behind him grab firmly a hold of his arms, preventing him from running. Leon grunted in rage as he frantically tried to get out the man's grip. Though no mater how hard he pulled and jerked, he wasn't able to free himself from the man's iron grip. Suddenly he felt something hard hit him in the stomach. The nineteen year-old gasped out in pain, immediately slumping in the man's grip. With a groan, he lifted up his head to see the man that had punched him before.
"You shouldn't have gotten involved kid." the man snarled as he reared back his fist.
With that said, Leon felt nothing but immense pain as he received another punch to the face and slipped into unconsciousness.
The man smirked in victory as he watched the teenager collapse on the ground. While it did annoy him that pain still lingered in the back of his head where the teenage boy had hit with the board, he was glad he managed to get pay back. He was about to walk away until his partner shouted for him. The man in the black suit turned around to see his partner kneeling down next to the nineteen year-old with a wallet in his hand.
"You realize who you just knocked out, it's that Leon Saisei kid." the partner stated as he tossed his companion the wallet.
The man in the black suit raised his brows in surprise as he studied Leon's ID in his wallet, now understanding how the teenager was able to hit him so hard with a wooden board.
"His batting is questionable considering he always freezes up when the ball is headed toward him, but I've heard about his pitching. Fastest pitcher on his team, would be the all-star on the team if not for that batting problem of his. Now that I think about it, he's one of the teenagers on the list." the man commented.
His eyes behind the sunglasses glanced down at the unconscious boy.
"I think he just made a search a whole lot easier. Toss him in as well. We'll take both of them to the boss." the man commanded.
His partner nodded before picking up Leon's unconscious body and placing it in the black van. Making sure they don't get caught, the men quickly climbed into their van and speed off, leaving no one aware of the events that had conspired.