Time now for an interesting development. Disclaimer: I don't own Dagan Ronpa or Ace Attorney.

Chapter 2: Three-way Battle for Naegi's Heart

Four months had passed since the school year started. The students were all enjoying their lunch together. For now, they had decided to keep Fujisaki's true gender a secret from Genocider Shou for as long as possible. A cross-dressing boy would have certainly turned her on, but there was something interesting about her personality. If Genocider knew a person well enough to call them a friend, she wouldn't kill them, no matter much their appearance aroused her. Luckily, Fukawa and Genocider did not share memories, only knowledge, so letting Fukawa in on the secret was okay.

As the gang went through their usual conversations, Komaeda and Nanami came in arm-in-arm. It was clear they had fallen in love. "Whoa," Souda said approvingly, "When did this happen?" "Well," Komaeda said, "It started when Nanami came to me asking for help on some of the dating sims she was playing." "It's the one genre of gaming I've never been good at," Nanami said, "I've always found myself to be socially awkward. So Komaeda agreed to help me, relying on his good luck and common sense to help with all the difficult questions. As we kept playing, we found ourselves..." She blushed. "Getting closer..."

"That reminds me," Enoshima said, "Ikusaba mentioned she had developed a crush on someone." Ikusaba suddenly blushed, and Tora raised an eyebrow. "Who?" Enoshima grinned. "I would tell... Except this guy's already caught between two girls. I'm not sure how that would go down." Both Kirigiri and Maizono looked shocked, already guessing who Enoshima was talking about. "I didn't even think Ikusaba even had those feelings," Oowada said, "Being the tough mercenary she is." "I can have those thought too!," Ikusaba said defensively, "And he... He smiled at me... No other boy has ever done that." 'Uh oh...,' Naegi thought, 'I think she may be referring to me.'

Some time later, Tsumiki approached Enoshima. "I have a question to ask you, Enoshima. How do you feel about Tora?" Enoshima blinked. "I'd have thought that was obvious. That dashing suit, that serious expression, that no-nonsense attitude. When I saw him standing there like that..." She sighed dreamily as her face turned red. Then she had a thought. "Wait, you're not gonna say you like him too?" Tsumiki blushed. "Well, that too... But more importantly, there is someone else I have a crush on."

Enoshima blinked. "Who?" Tsumiki nervously pointed to Enoshima, causing her to blush. "Wow... This is a first. I've had of plenty of guys fall for me, but you may be the first girl whose told me this." She crossed her arms. "I gotta admit, it's making me a little curious to try it. However..." She closed her eyes. "If we're together, Tora comes with. Okay?" Tsumiki smiled and nodded. "This... Is going to be a little interesting. I don't think I've ever had this sort of relationship before. Then again, I've never really had a relationship before at all so..." Enoshima smiled and placed a hand on Tsumiki's shoulder. "Then we'll take it a step at a time."

The next day, people were a little surprised to see Tora walk into the room with Enoshima and Tsumiki on either arm. They were not surprised to see Ikusaba, Kirigiri, and Maizono arguing over who should have Naegi. "He should really just pick all of them and end this arguing," Togami said. Naegi said. "Believe me I've tried. All I've succeeded in doing in getting them to argue about who I love more." With Asahina deciding she liked Hagakure, Nidai and Owari pretty much being into each other from day one, Fujisaki having earned Saionji's affection, Koizumi having convinced Souda to date her, and Ooshida getting Hanamura's attention by showcasing her ability to pretend to be all the other girls that turned him on, which was all of them except Oogami, that just left Oogami herself to be paired up. And apparently even she had a boyfriend outside the school.

Sonia and Celes soon overheard more of the same from the so-called "Naegi trio" about a week later. "I've known Naegi longer than the both of you," came Maizono's voice, "Combined even." "Yet Naegi was only aware of your feelings recently," Kirigiri said in response, "Thus we are on even ground." Eager to see Maizono's reaction, Celes peaked around the corner, and was pleased to see Maizono turn red with anger. Giggling, Celes turned back to Sonia. "I'm certain Naegi loves all three of them equally, but that's how a girl's heart works. When we find a rival in love, we look for any advantage we can get."

Sonia laughed. The two of them had become fast friends from the start of the year, with Sonia being fascinated with Japanese culture and Celes desiring the romanticism of European culture. "Is that why you take on a Western name?," Sonia asked. Celes nodded. "My real name is Taeko Yasuhiro. I grew up on romance novels taking place in the Western countries and desired that lifestyle. When my talent for gambling became apparent, I decided to use that as a slow and steady means of achieving my dream. To date I've only lost once, to Tora's father Phoenix Wright."

"Really?," Sonia said, surprised that someone with Celes's skills would lose at all. Celes nodded. "This wasn't really gambling per se, just a simple game of poker. But at that time Phoenix had been temporarily disbarred and had taken to challenging champions to pokers games, betting a modest sum that he would win. I was a child at the time, young and arrogant. I thought there was no one who could beat me. I remember seeing a much younger Tora there, along with his adopted sister. The two of them stood back while their father won hand after hand. It was the only time it's happened, facing an opponent whose face was so nonchalant it was impossible to read."

"And I keep finding myself experiencing periods of missing time after each experiment," Enoshima said to the group. She had apparently been selected by an individual named Yasuke Matsuda, the "Super High School Level Neurologist". He had been asking several students from other classes to partake in experiments involving artificial memories, which he said was to help people suffering from various mental afflictions by giving them a completely different mindset. However, Enoshima found herself missing so much time afterward she would check to make sure Matsuda didn't do anything weird to her.

"I spoke to the headmaster just in case," Enoshima said, "He was able to confirm that Matsuda's actions were purely focused on his experiments, but insisted he stick to male test subjects from now on. He hasn't come near me since." "And he would do well to continue to stay away from you," Tora said, "Just because the headmaster didn't find any evidence of Matsuda taking advantage of you doesn't mean he wasn't trying to. He may simply have been waiting for the moment his experiments were complete." Kirigiri put her hand on her chin. "Why choose subjects who have no mental issues? I'd think Fukawa would be a better test subject than Enoshima." The others looked really thoughtful.

The next day the class decided to watch a movie in the AV room. Sonia had somehow managed to convince everyone to watch "Friday the 13th", translated to Japanese of course. Naturally at the first victim Fukawa had fainted and Genocider emerged again. "Well, that was just as scary as the sequels," Souda said, "Though I had no idea that it was Jason's mother who was the killer in the first movie." Tora chuckled. "Well, Jason is the more famous killer." "He's nothing," Genocider said, "He'd be easy if he wasn't immortal. And those kids made so many mistakes. None of my victims tried running up the stairs instead booking it out the door. They were at least smart enough not to corner themselves."

"I'd wager they also didn't keep stumbling over their own feet every two seconds," Togami said, "I'm certain you did have to book it just to keep up with them. Seriously, with how slow movie killers tend to be, I'm surprised they even claim any victims." The others all laughed. Tora then turned very thoughtful. "Say guys, did anyone else get an invitation to help continue Matsuda's experiments?" There was a general shaking of heads indicating he was the only one. "Well he said he needed me for something involving his current project," Tora said, "And I would have obliged except just before I got to the room he called me too, my stomach pains acted up and I headed for the kitchen to deal with it."

"Why does that make you so worried?," Oogami asked. Tora closed his eyes and crossed his arms. "Because the next day the headmaster called me to his office and showed me a surveillance video of the room I was to meet Matsuda in. It was hard to see, but it looked like there was someone in there set to attack me." "There's something else bothering me," Kirigiri said, "You all know about the reserve course father set up in order to get more funding for the school, yes? Well, apparently there has been suspected unrest from them." "Not surprised," Hagakure said, "Unlike us normal students, who actually get paid to go school here, the reserve students have to pay a fee. Not to mention most of the normal students look down on them."

"Didn't you say something about seeing a vision involving them in your crystal ball?," Togami asked Hagakure. Hagakure nodded. "Take this with a grain of salt, after all even my predictions aren't always correct, but I could swear I saw the reserve students donning these weird bear masks and staging a riot of sorts. They were being led by some guy with long white hair and piercing red eyes." "The only person who fits that description is Izuru Kamukura," Kirigiri said, "The 'Super High School Level Despair'. Father has always been interested in intangibles, regardless of what they represent. This is why Naegi and Komaeda were selected."

Naegi closed his eyes. "We were all selected so that we could bring hope to future generations. Maybe he's allowing the epitome of despair in as a means of trying to avoid it. By understanding it, despair can be thwarted." "And it's not like we have to worry about despair here in this school," Komaeda said, "Especially since our group contains the 'Super High School Level Hope'." Naegi nodded. "Even the headmaster does not seem too concerned," Togami said, "Granted he's prepared for the worst case scenario but he's hoping his plan won't have to be used."

The two mysterious students met again in a hidden location. "Don't you think it was a little risky?," one of them said, "Despair cannot be rushed." The other student shrugged. "My apologies. I was hoping to turn her into the perfect girlfriend for a while before we got started. I needed something to keep me occupied while we wait for the right time. Unfortunately, it seems one of our set-ups must be canceled. We lost our one and only chance to fake my death." "We could always manipulate their minds to make them think you're dead." "No need, once their memories are gone it will be moot." "If you say so. But this decision may come back to haunt us if we're not careful."

To be continued...

Well, things are already turning dark, but we're not quite there yet.