We've gone through twenty-four chapters of this story so far, and now we're introducing the characters from the very first Danganronpa. Man, was that a psychological thrill-ride. By the way, big announcement. Events during the second year will coincide with events for a new story I'm writing, a Persona 5/Akiba's Trip crossover. Look forward to it. Disclaimer: I don't own Kamen Rider, Danganronpa, the Persona series, or Super Sentai.
Chapter 25: The Fifth Mirror, a Detective, and the New Year
Makoto took a deep breath of pride. As he stepped into the main hall of Hope's Peak Academy, he saw the remaining students all there, save for one. "Oh hey," said one young man, who Makoto recognized as Yasuhiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant. Makoto had already been briefed on his classmates and their talents by Kogami. Makoto remembered Yasuhiro had to skip two years of school due hiding from the Yakuza, and made a personal note to speak with Fuyuhiko about clearing that up. "So," said another student, identified as Hifumi Yamada, "Is this everyone?" Hifumi was the Ultimate Fanfic Creator, not only skilled enough to do all the work on his doujin himself, but also created a work so spectacular he sold ten-thousand copies of it at a school festival.
"Not quite," came the voice of Kiyotaka Ishimaru, "Hope's Peak Academy regulations dictate that all classes have at least sixteen students, and we seem to be short one." No surprise that Kiyotaka was supposed to be the Ultimate Moral Compass, a straight-laced prefect during his own school life up until high school who was so good that the last school he was in boasted perfect attendance. Makoto then spotted Mukuro, who had been given the title of Ultimate Soldier. Given her history with the mercenary group Fenrir, it fit, but he had yet to fight her personally as Birth to gauge whether her strength as an Armored Rider matched her reputation.
"Hey there," said Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer, "I think I've seen you before. Have you ever worked at the Kogami Foundation?" Makoto chuckled. Of course Chihiro would know of that. Having been working on computer programming since he was a child, Chihiro had worked with many major companies, Kogami included. Makoto wondered if he should mention Chihiro being a young man who was cross-dressing, but decided against it due to Chihiro's reasons being personal. "Actually, yes," Makoto replied, "I have been doing work with that company."
He observed Hifumi speaking with a woman named Celestia Ludenberg, who was known as the Ultimate Gambler. According to Kogami, her real name was Taeko Yasuhiro, a fact that amused Makoto greatly. Still, she was scouted due to her incredible gambling skills, at one point winning the equivalent of ten million American dollars, approximately one billion yen. She was well known in the underground circuits as the "Queen of Liars". Makoto then spotted Kiyotaka getting into an argument with another student, Mondo Owada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.
It was inevitable. Kiyotaka's sense of morality would easily clash with the more street tough Mondo, the current leader of the Crazy Diamonds, Japan's biggest biker gang. Though he did notice Chihiro managing to break up the fight rather easily just by admonishing the two of them. Also joining in breaking up the fight was Leon Kuwata, the Ultimate Baseball Star. If Makoto was remembering correctly, Leon was already well acquainted with their upperclassman Nekomaru. He was certain that Leon's baseball skills were legit, being a star pitcher on his team.
"Oh hey there," came a young woman's voice. Makoto recognized it as Aoi Asahina, the Ultimate Swimming Pro. "I overheard you saying you worked with Kogami?," Aoi asked, "'Cause I've also been asked to do some work with him. Something about a drive system, or something like that?" 'A possible new Rider ally?,' Makoto wondered. Regardless, he knew Aoi was a champion level swimmer and also a member of five other sports clubs at her own school. She was even set to represent Japan in the Olympics in the near future. Aoi soon got to talking excitedly with Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist.
Makoto remembered Hajime mentioning how Sakura's father had trained him in martial arts, and Sakura was reportedly even stronger, maintaining a 400-win MMA streak. Alone in a corner of the entrance hall, Makoto spotted Toko Fukawa, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy. Most well known for her romance novels, her latest work, 'So Lingers the Ocean', was good enough to make high school girls find fishermen desirable for a while. Her appearance didn't really live up to people's imagination, but Makoto knew from experience that it was never a good idea to judge a book by its cover.
Kogami had mentioned a secret regarding Toko. He gave no details, only that it could prove useful to their cause. "Excuse me," another young man said as he approached Makoto. This was Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. "You said earlier you do work for the Kogami Foundation. Out of curiosity, how much is Kosei paying you?" "Oh that," Makoto said, "It's about a million yen per job." Byakuya gave a look that indicated he was impressed, something rare for him. "Rather generous of him. You must possess considerable skill."
Makoto grinned. Even among Ultimates, Byakuya was in a league of his own. The Togami Empire had an interesting, yet quite effective means of producing strong heirs from one generation to the next. They disliked inbreeding, and instead went in the completely opposite direction, the head of the family having numerous high-quality partners from across the world, with the potential successors competing to see who would be the next heir. And apparently, Byakuya, the current heir, was the youngest of his generation, a first in the family.
"Interesting," said a young woman who approached, "I wonder what sort of job pays out so well." This was Kyoko Kirigiri, the Ultimate Detective and the daughter of the academy's headmaster, Jin Kirigiri. Her family had a history of famous detectives, and Kyoko was said to be an excellent detective in her own right, rivaling the legendary Detective Prince Naoto Shirogane. He then heard a voice he never thought he'd hear. "Makoto? Is that really you?" He smiled as he turned around. Sure enough, there was Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Sensation.
Sayaka was blessed with a mesmerizing voice and was the leader of Japan's most popular idol group, the Kawaii Choir. Also, Makoto had gone to middle school with her. "I can't believe we're meeting here," Sayaka said, clearly excited, "I finally get to talk to you." Makoto blinked. "So wait... You actually remember me?" Sayaka giggled. "Well of course, we did go to school together for three years." "Yeah," Makoto said with a shrug, "But we never really got to know each other." What he didn't realize was that his newfound confidence from becoming a Kamen Rider was showing in his speech and body language, causing Sayaka to blush.
As Makoto showed Sayaka his Birth Driver, the final student, and the one Junko was expecting, showed up. "All right! Cover you butts people, 'cause Junko Enoshima's ready for her epic entrance!" Makoto noticed Junko glare at him and he realized he was still showing off his Driver. Not that he cared. Suddenly there was a call of, "HAPPY BIRTHDAY!" The group of students turned to see Kogami standing in the entrance hall, with Erika and Goto nearby, a large cake in-between them with the words "Happy Birthday 78th Class of Hope's Peak Academy".
Most of the students looked confused, only Makoto, Byakuya, Chihiro, and Aoi understanding what Kogami was trying to accomplish. "Dude," Leon said, "Is it even any of our birthdays?" Yasuhiro just helped himself to a slice. "Who cares about that? Free cake, man." Kogami chuckled. "This is to celebrate your birth as students of Hope's Peak Academy." Makoto shrugged at Sayaka's confused expression. "He's a bit eccentric, but he truly does have humanity's best interests at heart." Sayaka just smiled and nodded as the whole group, even Junko, enjoyed the cake.
Junko was so brought to tears by the taste, she was still taking about it a few days later. Finally, she was able to get her focus back as she and Mukuro got ready for their next move. "Now that we have the resources we need," she noted, "We can start with our plans. I have the rough draft all written out, now we just need to iron out the details. And to start, we need to perform a little experiment." Mukuro nodded. "So, what's the first move?" Junko smiled as she revealed a document.
"Good and bad news for this," Junko said, "Bad news is the Reserve Course is less malleable than I was hoping, meaning we'll need to almost rely on some mass brainwashing to convert them. And finding the means will take a while. They're more like a wolf pack than a herd of sheep. Good news is they still work for Ultimates, only now its voluntary, as they use it as a means of furthering their own goals. I managed to swipe this document from a student working with Yasuke." Her tone seemed to break towards the end.
After shaking herself out of it, she continued. "Still nothing on his memory alteration procedure, but I was able to find the full procedure for the seamless lobotomy. I'll track down an Ultimate that's still viable for the Black Medals, then lure them into the hospital wing. From there I'll create the Despair and have you destroy it. While the victim is still recovering I'll perform the procedure and see if the results are what we need." Mukuro looked confused. "Why not just kidnap someone who's already been affected?" "As good an idea as that is," Junko noted, "There's one problem with it. Most of the Kamen Riders are students in the academy, and they know about us."
Mukuro nodded in understanding. While the Kamen Riders wouldn't go out of their way to hunt down the two sisters, knowing that any proof they had regarding them would be rejected by the Steering Committee, they would recognize it if Junko was trying to lure in a former victim for some sort of experiment. Their best chance for success was to use a fresh victim. "The procedure will still take some time," Junko said, "And I'll be using one of my normal Medals for the experiment, so you'll have to come back when I call you. And I know just who to use for the distraction." She held up a picture of Peko.
Kyoko walked through the hallway, a little distracted. Shortly after the entrance ceremony, she had immediately confronted her father, only to find Jin holding a picture of him and her when she was a little girl. Her ever-analytical mind pieced together that Jin still cared deeply for her, and what was meant to be an angry berating turned into a tearful Q&A as to why Jin left in the first place. After that, she threw herself into her current investigation. "That Akechi is so useless. Yes, the cause of these being supernatural is valid given the world we live in, but he's far too vague about it."
She was so distracted that she wound up bumping into Makoto, causing her to drop her files while he dropped his carrying case. As his Gorilla Candroid scurried to pick up the dropped Cell Medals, Makoto helped Kyoko pick up her dropped case files. Taking a look at one, he noted, "Mental shutdown cases?" "A bizarre series of incidents involving people literally shuting down and committing acts they normally wouldn't," Kyoko stated, "Recent events include a subway driver inexplicably driving his train out of control, causing serious injury to over fifty passengers. No fatalities thankfully, but the incident may cause the Minister of Transportation to resign."
Makoto nodded as he went for another file, Kyoko absentmindedly reaching for the same one. Their hands touched briefly, causing them to pull away, Kyoko actually blushing. "Sorry...," she muttered, "I've been distracted recently. My efforts to cut ties with my father wound up getting derailed... And that was too soon... And my workings with the so-called 'second Detective Prince' Goro Akechi aren't helping matters. Honestly, he's nothing compared to Naoto." "You seem to hold her in high regard," Makoto noted.
Kyoko nodded. "The Kirigiri family and the Shirogane family have both been in the detective business for quite some time and share a friendly rivalry. Naoto has been equal parts inspiration and rival to me since childhood." Suddenly, the Gorilla Candroid started going crazy. "Ho boy, looks like I'm on the clock," Makoto said, grabbing his Driver and the Cell Medals canisters. Kyoko then noticed the open case also has another Driver, very different from Makoto's, and thirteen USB-looking devices. Seeing a manual nearby, she grabbed it and noted the cover said "Kamen Rider Joker".
Brith came in to see OOO tangling with the newly created Swordswoman's Despair, their sword duel being punctuated by the occasional shot from Skull. "Is Peko alright?," Birth asked, concerned. He had earlier been told about Skull's relationship with her. "Barely," Skull replied, "But until that monster's dealt with she ain't waking up." As OOO knocked the Despair aside with his Medajalibur, Yuto came in on his Ridevendor and readied another Card Case. "Henshin!" "Evildiver! Raia!" "OOO," Mirror called out as he held up a card, "Need a second blade?"
"Thought crossed my mind," OOO mentioned as he and the Despair clashed again. Mirror slotted the card into his shield-like Visor. "Copy Vent!" The group looked on as the Medajalibur manifested a transparent look-alike, which flew into Mirror's hand and became solid. He used this copy to take Swordswoman's Despair by surprise, slashing it and knocking it backwards. Noticing the creature coming for him, Birth readied one of his CLAWs. "Haze Crawlers!" Birth used the purple highlighted caterpillar treads to kick the Despair and grind into it, dislodging many Cell Medals which stuck to the treads.
As the monster recovered, the group heard another Ridevendor coming in. "I thought it was just the four of us," Mirror noted. Birth gasped when he saw Kyoko was the one riding. "You guys aren't very subtle in how you operate," she noted, holding up Driver she left behind, "Don't worry, I read the manual." Birth chuckled. "That's the J Diver Kogami had invented. It's basically a reverse version of the Lost Driver Skull uses." Kyoko slipped on the Driver and held up the main Gaia Memory. "Henshin!" She immediately inserted the Memory and flipped it into position. "Joker!"
Now donned in the purple armor of Kamen Rider Joker, Kyoko pointed at the Despair. "Now... Count up your crimes." She immediately rushed in and delivered two strong blows to the Despair while it was still stunned from earlier. Before it could recover, Joker pulled out another Memory. "This one should even the playing field." "Sword-Joker!" She swung the giant sword around as if it were light as a feather, dealing good damage. Seeing a chance to attack, OOO swapped out for a combo. "Taka! Kujaku! Condor! Ta~Ja~Dor!"
The Despair was blindsided by the storm of feathers OOO shot out, as Joker went for a more specialized and faster Memory. "Pirate-Joker!" Using the new Memory, Joker blocked an attack from the Despair with her cutlass, then blasted it with the flintlock she also carried. Mirror joined in, slotting a card to contain the Despair. "Swing Vent!" A quick lash from the Evil Whip and Swordswoman's Despair sword arm was useless, leaving her wide open to Skull and Birth's gunfire. The Despair quickly broke off, only to have Mirror slot another card while Joker swapped Memories. "Advent!" "Nasca-Joker!"
Joker used her new speed and sword-skills to knock the Despair into the stringray-like Evildiver. "One last attack to finish it," Mirror noted, slotting his next card. "Final Vent!" He leapt onto Evildiver's back as it approached Swordswoman's Despair. "Hide Venom!" The attack sent the Despair sprawling, but it still somehow survived. Before any further damage could be done, a sudden hail of gunfire from Fenrir got the Riders scattering. "Come on Despair, we still need to buy some more time." The Despair nodded and leapt after Fenrir. "You ain't getting away so easily," Skull muttered as he opened a few Candroids and sent them to track the two escapees, "I ain't gonna lose Peko to the likes of you."
During the time of the Tragedy, Kyoko used her newfound Kamen Rider powers for the sake of those that were suffering. By now the growing number of Riders was causing them to be a separate faction from the Future Foundation, yet Kyoko and Makoto still got caught up in the Final Killing Game. However, one of Kyoko's Gaia Memories rendered her immune to poison. She also was a lot warmer with Makoto during the School Killing Game, sharing much information with him. Beyond that, her fate didn't need much changing.
To be continued...
Cliffhangers Joel, cliffhangers... Sorry. Anyway, keep an eye for the prologue of my Persona 5 fic. Read and review.