Disclaimer: Danganronpa and Persona franchise belong to their respective creator. I don't own anything. Besides I don't have the guts of killing my own character in Danganronpa-ish way.
Enjoy
Prologue: Bye Hope's Peak
Do you have anything you like?
Food, maybe? Hobbies? Friend? Artist? Idol? Place? Weather? Holiday? Animal? Sports? Music? Fashion brand?
That's a stupid question. Of course, you have at least something, right?
How long have you liked them?
Seconds? Minutes? Hours? A day? A week? A month? A year? A century? 12 years perhaps?
If you like something for at least six months, I think you can safely say that you like them for real. It's not a fad, it's not a fling, it's not a passing fancy.
Well, this is a personal opinion though.
What's the point of me asking all this question? Hmm… No reason at all (lol)
… No, that one was a joke. Please come back.
Truth to be told, I have something I liked. I had liked it so much for so long. I even forgot about when I started liking it. I liked it to the point that it won't be an exaggeration to say that it mould me into the person I am now.
What do I like?
No, no please read properly. I said that I have something I liked, right? You should ask 'what did I like?' since…
I hate that thing more than anything right now.
xxxxx Hope, Despair, Future xxxxx
"Hajime-nii! Hey! Can you hear me?" A loud voice slaps me out of my musing.
"Loud and clear, so stop yelling my ears off." I respond to the earpiece. Cursing in silence, I turn down the volume a notch. "Is everyone else gathered on the site?"
"Yes, they are doing the decoration right now. Some of them did get the time wrong and came late, though." Come the respond from the earpiece.
"Okay, I'll head there as soon as you guys are ready. Make sure to keep me up to date. I'll act as surprised as I could when I arrived."
"Roger! Bye-bye, Nii-chan."
"Yeah, bye." With that I finished the call and take another sip from the canned hot coffee. The warm drink went down my throat, prolonging my will to withstand the chilly air of December. Turning my eye upward, I saw thick cloud overhead. It's going to snow soon, Huh? Getting off the park bench, I walk out of the now deserted park. Glancing down at the smartphone in my hand, I look at the time displayed on the screen.
31 December 201X 15:00
ETA 9 hours until the changing of year and the celebration for my birthday. Apparently some of my friends have decided to throw a surprise for my birthday party along with the new year celebration. Surprise? Yeah, no. The loudspeaker called Kazuichi and Nekomaru will guarantee that any surprise you held to be as surprising as wrapped bubble popping.
Normally, I'll just kick back in some arcade or hang out with one of my pals somewhere until two to one hour before the event. But not now. Not today. I can't afford to be late for this event.
ETA 1.5 hours before operation start.
Time to head out.
I head toward a manga café I've been going to for a year. Going to the clerk, I quickly pay the bill for five hours stay in a private booth. The now familiar clerk gives me a teasing smile. This guy probably thinks that I am a sad loser who has no friend to hang out with on new year eve. Well, to be fair only those type of people, excluding the large number of net café refugee, would go to a manga café at this time of year. Knowing that explaining my circumstances to him would only elicit grudge for being a real-lifer, I simply nod my head politely and purchase some snacks and drinks to accompany my stay.
With some manga I haven't read before, along with a bag of potato chip and two bottle of oolong tea, I quickly enter my booth. Making myself comfortable on the cheap reclining chair, I place my stuff on the desk and start to read.
After some time has passed, I put down the last manga and check out my phone. Accessing the chat function from a social app, I quickly bring out a certain contact of mine.
Monaca Towa.
Hajime: [Monaca, forgot. tell them to stay out of my room.]
I typed the message that we have decided on before, signalling that I have arrived at the designated spot. Outsider who read this wouldn't notice anything wrong with this message. It was a question of affirmation between the two us. I lean back to the chair and wait for the respond.
Monaca: [Too late Onii. Porn's out. ;D]
I fall backward, chair and all. Needless to say, this wasn't the respond I was expecting.
Monaca: [Tsumiki-san is the culprit btw. ~(˘▾˘~)]]
I took a long breath and try not to scream in frustration. She's lying… right? This is just some kind of code of affirmation to our planned message, right? My private live isn't being observed by my close acquaintances, right? With heart brimming with hope that those chats were a ruse and not going to cost me my social dignity, I type a respond.
Hajime: [You're ling rite?]
Monaca: [Aww, I am Monaca not Ling.]
This damn Loli…
Hajime: [Lying]
Monaca: [Yeah, lol]
Hajime: [┻━┻ ︵ ＼( °□° )／ ︵ ┻━┻]
Calm down myself. She's a kid. No use on getting mad to a kid. More importantly, Tsumiki's name is out. That mean the surveillance camera has been successfully hijacked. Monaca will need some variation in the feed so I guess I'll hang out for a while, use the restroom, stretch, and pretend to nap. After doing those I confirm the time on my phone one last time.
31 December 201X 16:09.
I still got some time to spare, but getting there earlier means the more time I got to prepare for the more practical and dangerous part of the operation. As they say, "better early than on time". Eh? No one had said anything like that? Well, that's simply mean that I am the founder of that saying. This kind of put me in the same level as those philosopher, no?
Opening the menu on my smartphone, I scroll down to find the familiar monochrome icon. With practiced motion I tapped the eerie icon and start up the application.
Welcome to Monomap.
Accessing history…, previous destination found
Lab of Supreme Hope
Distance: 4.76 km
Caution: Attempt to enter outside palace perimeter. Distance might change upon entering.
Ready to go?
-Cancel
Cancelling…
Enter destination
-Crime Nest
Accessing history…, previous destination found
Distance Nil.
Ready to go?
-Ok
Entering…, Please hope for despair.
Closing my eyes as the world around me fade away in black and white haze, I feel the now familiar sensation of freedom coursing through my body. Opening my eyes, I found myself standing in a corridor right before a large wooden door. Without a pause, I walk towards the door and push it open.
The double door opens with a creaking sound and soon after I enter through it, the door closed by itself. Yeah, automatic door is a thing right now. It's nothing special. As I glance around the room, my sight automatically rests on the lounge in the centre.
There, sitting calmly on the couch are four people with mask of different design. A blonde woman wearing a red scaly mask. A short statured kid wearing a gas mask. A pale haired woman with jackal shaped mask, and a chubby man wearing night vision google.
This looks like a gathering of weirdoes to be honest. The only reason why I don't escape immediately is because I know all of them. Besides, outsiders will see me as one of these weirdoes. I can feel the iron mask sitting securely on the upper half of my face.
"Have you all finished your own preparation?" I walk down to the lounge and sit on one of the couch. Acknowledging my presence, all of them turn their attention to me. While the rest still stay seated, the woman with the jackal mask stood up and come to stand beside me just like a servant in waiting.
This woman act like it was a matter of course, but I who received this overbearing treatment can only pretend to stay calm while hiding my awkwardness. She might act servile, but I know the moment that I messed up she will lecture me like there's no tomorrow.
"Yes, we finished our preparation around half an hour ago" She bring up a metal suitcase and open it up, revealing a dagger and a revolver.
"I have personally token care of your equipment. All of your gear has been accounted for."
Picking the two weapon, I gingerly inspected it. From the knife grip, the blade sharpness, the barrel of the revolver, the cylinder, the bullets, everything is in perfect condition. Noticing no flaw to both weapons, I put them in their respective holster.
"Good work. As expected of you Hound."
"It is simply my duty, Master Prime." She responds with the same line that I have gotten used to. Typical of her.
Giving her a nod to express my thanks, I turn to the man in suit and night vision googles. Noticing that my sight is resting on him, he finished up the chicken wings he has been eating and straighten his posture.
"Iuvo, how is the security of the palace?"
"They are increasing the security as we speak." He replies as he spread out a map on the table. He placed stone pieces at several points before continuing to speak. "Be it the sewer line, the air duct, the water treatment pipe, all of the routes we previously entered from is guarded rather meticulously. Forcing our way in or sneaking from there is impossible. I think roughly three-fifth of the guards are dedicated to those points."
"And I trust that you have planted the bombs on those very point?"
"Of course. The bombs could be activated remotely, though for back up I also set a timer so the bomb would go off roughly 5 minutes after our predicted arrival."
I could feel my heart calmed down from relief. The said bomb is an integral part to our plan. We have been doing guerrilla tactics repeatedly for two weeks. Provoking the guards, throw our flashiest attack at them then retreating immediately, we have been doing stuff like that at three entrance point we used before for infiltration. All for the sake of this moment.
"Those idiots fall into our trap pretty easily." The blonde girl with the red mask scoff. Her voice is dripping with conceitedness as usual, though I could hear a hint of frustration in her tone too. Guess that's just a prove that I have been with this woman for too long.
"Tsk! I can't believe we actually struggle for a year just to take down a palace filled to brim with imbeciles."
"Imbecile they might be, but their might in battle surpass us in both quality and quantity." A calm yet childish voice responded." I believe you have experienced it first hand, Drake-Nee."
"Oi Rascal are you picking a fight with me right now?" The red mask girl scowl at the kid with the gas mask. Ah… you should have let Drake say her piece and make the remark inside your head, kid. She says those stuff to calm herself down you know? No need to ruin her moment with wiseass crack like that.
"No, of course not. I am just stating my evaluation. I wasn't thinking of antagonizing you, Drake-nee" Fortunately, Rascal, in contrast to his nickname, is actually smart enough to back down. That's right kid retreat when you can't win, not losing means you win.
"Well whatever, be thankful that I am kind enough to let you off this time brat." As she said that it seems that she noticed that I have been staring at her for a while. Lifting a glare at me, she addresses me in a tone which she probably considered as polite and say, "What, got something to say, Prime?"
"If you have done unwinding your nerve, suit up. We'll move out immediately" I calmly said as I put up the hood of my uniform overhead, and turn around so her glare is directed to the back of my head instead. Adjusting the outer belt where my weapon holster and gear pocket is located, I tighten it to avoid stupid occurrence where it falls down mid-run… It happened once okay. It was an accident. Long story. So let's just leave it at that.
I walk towards the wooden door again, continuing down the corridor. I can hear four set of footsteps coming from behind me. Thank god they actually follow me out, it will be quite lame otherwise.
"We'll enter through the front door via the transport truck. Once we are in, we'll wait until the bomb went off. After that we'll quickly move toward the treasure room. Iuvo, you know your job. Once we're in the treasure room, commence the lock down sequence and bail out. Follow Tech instruction once you are on the other side."
"Understood."
"Drake, Hound, Rascal, make sure to prioritize stealth above all else. We can't deal with their number if we are compromised. In case we are separated, meet up on the safe room on the seventh level. If you get found out, eliminate the witness. I don't care how you do it as long as it doesn't alert the other guards. Do you understand?"
"Okay boss." "As you wish, Master." "Sir yes sir."
Come the various respond of affirmation which show that while our group are united we aren't by any means disciplined. Oh well, we are just a bunch of suicidal tugs anyway.
I am Hajime Hinata. Previously an untalented Reserve Course Student.
I am also Prime. I am the leader of this mismatched group of outcast.
This is my story. The one betrayed by his own hope. The one thrown away into despair. The one who is actually hard-headed enough to raise above it.
"That twisted hope of theirs. Let's trample them underfoot."
Failure isn't an option.
Operation: Bye bye, Hope's Peak. Start now.
Author Notes.
It's been a long long time since I last write anything.
Yeah, hey to old reader who probably think that I am dead. Sorry, I've got no excuse about my absence. It's just… writer block? Oh and my old laptop got stolen and I am stupid enough not to back up the data to google drive, so yeah that's one of the reason too.
Anyway, this is Danganronpa crossover with loose Persona 5 element. It is done in DR universe, so don't hope getting easter egg, let alone a cameo from Persona Series. Hajime is the protagonist this time, since I am unconfident on writing someone as awesome as Kokichi.
I already decided the "Playable" character and their persona, though if you want to give an idea I am all ears. The current group consist of Prime, Drake, Hound, Iuvo, Rascal and non-Persona User: Tech. 6 Member in total. Excluding Hajime, I am sure that you all can guess who the rest are.
So that's all from me. I hope I can get the ball running for this story… Please read this with low expectation for continuation okay?
Toraemon signing off.