Danganronpa: Journey To The West

Disclaimer:
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Lerche
Journey To The West is owned by Wu Cheng'en
Saiyuki is owned by Kazuya Minekura

Many thanks to those who read and reviewed this fic. I am really happy and this inspired me to bring in the next chapter, and here the story officially begins, which will highlight our very own Luckster himself - Makoto Naegi.

And here you will get to see what Naegi is like in this version of the classic novel.

With all that said and done, go on ahead, read on and enjoy!

Ch. 2: Monogatari wa Hajimarimasu

As Aoi Asahina came and said she saw Naegi and Maizono entering the classroom of Class 78, she asks what is going on, and there Naegi told Asahina the reason, and this made her curious and decided go join in. With everyone in agreement, the students locked the door and sat on the floor as Soda loaded the tape and await the first scene as the tape that contains the anime version of Journey To The West is about to be played, the Class 77 students, as well as Class 78's Naegi, Maizono and Asahina joining in, the students are now ready to watch the tape's content and see if the story is good and safe for viewing to everyone.

Teruteru began serving food while the rest awaits the opening scene of the tape, and Mitarai is a bit worried as he told the rest that the studio where his understudy worked at is known for producing and collaborating in making R-18 anime, and he is worried that if the tape do contain some risque scenes, it might get him and his understudy in trouble, but Naegi assured him that things will be okay, saying that they will see what the tape's contents are and if there are any offensive materials they will stop watching it and will surrender the tape.

"...and that is that, so don't worry, Mitarai-senpai..."

"But..."

"It's fine...we'll just see what kind of anime we are about to watch..."

"..."

"Relax..."

"How can you be so...?"

"My optimism is my only saving grace..."

"Naegi-san..."

By then Owari told the two boys to be quiet as the opening scene is about to commence, and everyone began watching the screen as the anime is about to be shown.

-x-x-x-x-x-

The scene shifts somewhere within the heart of Asia, where you can see it in a form of a map, which displayed several Asian countries, such as China, India, Korea, Singapore, Malaysia, Philippines, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Tibet, Vietnam, Indonesia, and the like, and the scene zoomed around until an ARROW pointed towards Japan, and the scene zoomed closer where it shows that the you can see a rather huge temple at heart of the country, which is situated in the middle, surrounded by a mixture of ancient and modern structures, and yet you can see that the area resembled a desert, and one day, a monk is seen walking by a nearby river, and is looking around.

The person is seen dressed in yellow robes, and is wearing what appeared to be a sutra, and as he is meditating, seemingly heard the cries of a baby, and he looked around until he saw a basket that is on the verge of submerging, and the monk went towards it and picks it up, and he opened the basket where it revealed that a baby is inside, abandoned and crying, and the monk smiled seeing that this is a BLESSING and decided to adopt him so as to raise him as a pupil at the temple he is staying.

"My...you poor little one..."

"WAAAHHH!"

"There now...you will not be alone anymore..."

"WWWAAAHHH!"

"I will raise you..."

"WWWAAAHHH!"

"Let us be off now..."

"WWWWAAAHHH!"

The monk carried the basket where the baby is inside, crying, and soon he returned to the temple, where it is revealed as Hope's Peak Temple, and there the monk, who found the abandoned baby, is identified only as Sanzo the 30th, and he told the chief priests about what he discovered and entertained the idea of adopting the infant which the chief monks are pondering, while other temple students said he is nothing but trouble, suggesting that they should throw him out, deeming him a trash.

But Sanzo the 30th glanced at the arrogant pupils and they immediately went silent, showing that Sanzo the 30th is their high-ranking priest, and they apologized immediately to save themselves from his wrath, knowing that he is very serious and strict, the elder monks are divided, and said they will consult the THREE GODS for advise, and they went to the room where it shows that a huge monitor is stationed, and one of the pupils began typing, and one of the elder monks asks if its ready.

"Is it ready...?"

"Almost..."

"What do you mean almost?"

"The signal is weak..."

"But the temple is equipped with WI-FI..."

"I think we need to adjust the sim card...there...I adjusted it..."

"Good...open the browser...use Google and not Yahoo..."

"Okay..."

After a few minutes, the screen lit and the image is shown, where you can see the THREE GODS' faces which appeared, and they resembled Kazuo Tengan, Jin Kirigiri and Kyosuke Munakata, and there they were told about the infant that Sanzo the 30th has found, and the trio huddled for a few minutes and soon they came to a decision, which they say that Sanzo the 30th can keep the infant, and the elder monk told Sanzo the 30th that he can keep the infant.

Sanzo was pleased with this and glanced at the infant, and said that he will be his FIRST disciple and gave him the name Mako, and while the elder monk watches the scene with happiness, the other pupils are not pleased, seeing the infant as mere trash and deemed him a heretic, and they questioned among themselves why Sanzo is willing to adopt a mere trash that is not born within the temple, and they treated the infant with disdain, feeling that they are above everyone else.

"What is Master Sanzo thinking...?"

"Why bring home a baby...?"

"Yeah...this isn't a daycare center..."

"And neither is the temple a nursery..."

"Master Sanzo is too soft..."

"I agree..."

"Maybe we should..."

"Don't...if he finds out we'll be kicked out..."

As Sanzo the 30th took Mako to his quarters, the pupils glared at the infant, and gritted their teeth as they view him as a mere eyesore, but the elder monk told the pupils to resume their lessons, which they did, flustered and trying to regain their composure as they went back to their stations, resuming their lessons to become a high-ranking monk, which they were aspiring as they believe it would grant them great privileges and fame.

-x-

The following years, Mako, currently aged 5 years old, his appearance has a rather thin and petite build, being shorter than almost all of his fellow children, and displays characteristics, such as spiky, desaturated brown hair with a prominent ahoge, and washed-out hazel eyes, spent most of his childhood living and studying inside Hope's Peak Temple, and he is studying directly under Sanzo the 30th, in which they bonded more like father-and-son instead of master-and-pupil, and Mako diligently studied all the lessons taught to him, and despite being bullied, ridiculed and taunted by his seniors, he remained humbled and down to earth, and and unlike the previous monks who received the title of Sanzo, he did not follow the traditions of what the Sanzo priests do, much like what the current Sanzo did, as Sanzo did not deliver sermons, and instead he teaches Mako how to face hardships and not let anything hold him back.

Despite this, Mako had a rough childhood, as other child pupils were taunting and teasing Mako, calling him with a lot of degrading names and even the senior pupils were encouraging the other children to mock Mako in hopes of causing him to leave the temple, but Mako's optimism kept him from giving in, and stood his ground until the senior pupils began to manhandle him and make fun of his features, such as his ahoge.

"You trash!"

"You're an eyesore!"

"What does Master Sanzo see in you?!"

"You're just a garbage...Master Sanzo should have let you drown!"

"You river drifter!"

"Lets feed him to the sharks!"

"Lets set him on fire!"

"Good idea!"

The taunting stopped when Sanzo the 30th came, having witnessed what the bullies did, and began chanting a prayer which caused his sutra to expand and wrap around the adult bullies, holding them, and the other children became terrified and froze in fear, and Sanzo told the senior pupils that he will not tolerate any form of harassment and bullying inside the temple, and gave them a warning never to look down on other people.

Sanzo then glanced at the other children and gave them a stern warning never to bully anyone again, reminding them that this temple is sacred and everyone living here are of equal stature, and made it clear that if anyone does something against the teachings, they will face a severe penalty, and the children began to sob and pleaded for forgiveness and promised that they will not tease Mako again.

"WE ARE SORRY!"

"FORGIVE US!"

"WE WON'T DO IT AGAIN!"

"WE PROMISE!"

"PLEASE...DON'T PUNISH US!"

"HAVE MERCY!"

"WWWWAAAHHH!"

"MMMOOOMMMYYY!"

After that, Sanzo the 30th nodded and released his hold on the senior pupils, which they ran off in fear as did the other children, and he checked on Mako, who was sporting a lot of bruises on his face yet he was not emotionally deterred, and Sanzo nodded seeing that Mako is strong, mentally though, and he has a feeling that it was fate that led him to adopt Mako, seeing that there is something about the boy who appeared ordinary outside, but extraordinary on the inside.

-x-

Another several years have passed, Mako has grown considerably, though he physically has a slim and petite build, his mental fortitude was a bit stronger, such as his optimism and humbleness, and right now he is 10 years old, and still serves under Sanzo the 30th, and he steadily learns much from his master though he also follows his advise which he did not follow the traditional teachings of the previous Sanzo priests, which earned the ire of other servants of the temple and other senior pupils.

As Sanzo and Mako continue to bond, disgruntled pupils were starting to get agitated because the current Sanzo is spending too much time with an impure being like Mako, seeing the boy as a mere ordinary object and they wondered what Sanzo sees in Mako and why he gives the boy so much attention, and they began to conspire and think of a plan to get him kicked out of the temple so that they can get rid of an eyesore like Mako, seeing him unfit to stay inside the temple.

"That river drifter..."

"He's getting on my nerves..."

"Makes me want to kill him..."

"Say...I got an idea..."

"Really...?"

"What's the plan...?"

"Tell us..."

"Lets set up a secret meeting...then we will make the plans..."

The disgruntled pupils would soon form a secret meeting somewhere within the temple and are discussing on how to make Mako look like a threat to the temple's security and how to give the high priests the reason to expel the boy, as they needed something to convince them that Mako is a threat, and that he is not fit to be a pupil here, and there they began to formulate a plan to frame Mako, and they soon came up with a plot on how to frame the little boy, which the leader of the posse smirked as he said that his plan is fool-proof and this would cause Sanzo the 31st to regret his decision and will be forced to banish Mako.

However, what they did not know is that someone is watching them, and the person appeared to be among the senior officials of the temple, though he has a habit of drinking and ended up having a hangover, but his keen senses make up for it. He is identified as Koichi Kizakura, and is a confidant of one of the THREE GODS, and after hearing everything, Kizakura secretly left the scene and intends to report this, but stopped when he heard another additional plot from the dishonest senior pupils.

"We are gonna stage a theft..."

"And...?"

"We put the stolen goods inside the brat's room..."

"What good would that do...?"

"The priests will think that the brat did it...and he will be expelled..."

"Wow...good idea..."

"I like it..."

"Sounds good..."

Kizakura sighed as he has heard enough, dismayed that despite the place being a sacred temple, there are some ROTTEN elements that existed here, and he felt sorry for the chief priests here and Sanzo the 30th, knowing that they would be dismayed once they are told about what he has discovered, and yet this is for Mako's good, knowing that he is an innocent boy, and feels bad that Mako has to endure the emotional hardship of living inside the temple at a tender age of 10.

As Kizakura is walking, he saw Mako sweeping the ground, and he smiled at him and waved his hands, and Mako just nodded, and there Kizakura asks if he has seen Sanzo the 30th, which Mako said that he is inside the main temple, and Kizakura decided to entertain the little boy, asking him if he has any regrets about growing up here, which Mako just smiled and optimistically said that he has no regrets, saying he is glad to meet someone like Sanzo.

"Really...?"

"Yeah...really..."

"You sure are one heck of a kid..."

"..."

"Keep up the good work...one day you will be rewarded..."

"Really...?"

"Who knows..."

"..."

After that, Kizakura left and went to the main temple to meet up with Sanzo, and Mako continued to sweep the ground, unaware of the plot to frame him by the dishonest pupils of Hope's Peak Temple.

To Be Continued...

Hope you liked this chapter, and though there is no action here, apart from a lot of cameo and character references from other Danganronpa series, the story is kicking off, and here you get to see what Naegi is like being portrayed here, and the next upcoming chapters will show what awaits him and where his role in this fic would take him.

Preview:

The next chapter will reveal what fate awaits Naegi and what would happen once he is PROMOTED...and what he would do next...

See you in 2 to 3 weeks...

Reviews are welcomed...