Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa.
When Kyouko woke up the next day, she wasn't expecting anything to have changed. It was simply a normal day, where the sun rose in the east and every minute was to be consumed with work. To hope for anything more seemed unreasonable -like banking on a clock being out of time -and yet, when Munakata came to her side shortly after she'd woken up with news, the only thing she could think was that time had moved too fast.
"Mitarai is ready to speak to you again."
Though it was at least fast in a pleasant way.
"Already?"
"Already," he confirmed, "I wouldn't be surprised though. Mitarai has proven himself to be rather impressionable."
His voice was carefully empty, but she could feel a dreg of distaste within it that gave her the urge to frown.
"Perhaps, but that has suited us well today, hasn't it?"
"I suppose, but if we want to trust him, I'd rather he have a semblance of critical thinking skills," he shook his head, "but I suppose I'll be leaving that in your hands, if you're willing."
"I'd have done it even without you asking."
She'd left soon after that, but his words had stuck with her. The truth was that she was indeed a little worried about Ryouta's actions. To turn over so easily… while there was always the chance that he'd finally realised the errors of his ways and he'd decided to admit that...it seemed too fortunate.
It was just as likely that something had been lost in translation -that he had concerns, still -or that he was being manipulated yet again by someone else. If so, how? Had he been hurt, had he grown listless? The worries branched out further and further, rooting themselves carefully in every part of her so she was left breathless when she finally reached him.
Thankfully, that breathlessness was relief, not hurt, because Ryouta looked just fine. Although the cell itself was strewn with torn paper and crumbled seals, not one letter itself had been destroyed. Similarly, Ryouta also looked poor, but not as though he'd been hurt. There wasn't a scratch on him that could be suspected as being inflicted by another, and his eyes seemed to contain a real determination despite his surroundings.
It's good that he read them, she thought, "you wanted me."
"How many are alive?"
She blinked, "that...is impossible to know at this time. We'd have to connect to the database-"
"So all these people," he said, gesturing toward the room around him, "they could all be dead."
"I doubt that every fan of your is so. There are quite a few of them, after all, truthfully this is only a fragment-"
"It still proves that I can't save them!"
"You can save some."
"Some isn't good enough-"
"For one man it is," she responded, shutting him down, "you've saved enough souls making stories. Bullets are the security forces responsibility."
He shifted, "but my video -could it have-"
"No," she cut him off, "and even if it could have, it would still have been wrong. Isn't this good enough for you-"
He scoffed, "this could never make up for what I've done, it's only a fragment compared to the lives I've destroyed-"
"So you'd genuinely rather brainwash the world again than just make people's lives better now?" she fired.
His eyes flashed, "that's the only thing which would save as many people as I hurt."
"So you still don't count it as hurting people who don't want to be brainwashed!?"
The words, disappointed, bitter words left her deflated and closed as she waited for the response. It had to be coming, another shot in a regular volley, but instead the world defied her and she received nothing. Only a silence so deafening it made her stiffen. She didn't know what it meant. Was he reneging, returning to silence until she left or-
"You know, you might be right about that," he sighed, "but people deserve a right to choose. Just because it's brainwashing doesn't mean it should be destroyed."
She felt her eyes widen, "so you won't try to broadcast it again?"
"No," he said quietly, looking down tiredly, "not globally."
His last words rang sour, but it didn't dispel the relief that preceded them. Kyouko allowed herself to relax slightly, and took a long hard look at the man in front of her.
Despite his surrender, he was still tight, and the listlessness had drained out of him, he spoke through gritted teeth, "that's all I'm going to say until Munakata is here."
"You want to have us let you continue researching brainwashing?" Munakata said incredulously, "after everything you've already done?"
Ryouta nodded "I was trying to fix what I'd done, but that video was the best that I could do without giving myself away," he explained, "but now it's in the open I… I can put real work into mitigating what I did -maybe even reversing it-"
"Or covering it up with another attempt," Munakata interrupted sharply, fixing Ryouta with a glare that made him wither in on himself. Kyouko shifted at it, starting to wonder if acquiescing to Ryouta's demands had truly been the best answer if he'd crumble this easily.
"Not if you don't want me to," he replied, halting, yet desperate, "can't you see I'm trying to compromise with you!?"
"What I see is a man who's unable to give up even in chains," Munakata spat, "isn't it obvious that this brainwashing has done nothing but harm?"
"Of course it's obvious," Ryouta exploded, "but thats why I have to do it -if I don't figure out something to do about it then what am I even alive for?"
Kyouko's blood froze at the sound of those words, freezing in her veins so that she was driven speechless for the next few seconds. Of course, by the time she could speak again it was too late -"I was under the impression you were supposed to be telling me that," Munakata snarled, voice ice cold, "and if this is the best you can do then that might change things."
"Well what do you want then," she interrupted hastily, not liking how quickly things were spiralling out of control, "what would make this...acceptable."
Ryouta's voice erupted behind her, making complaints of duty and keeping out, but she paid no mind. Munakata clearly wasn't going to make any compromise that Ryouta was at the head of, and Ryouta was not going to make any concessions in his state of mind. She had to do this, for his sake.
"He'd need to be under close watch, naturally," she began, voice falsely casual and quick as though that would make Munakata any more likely to accept a thing she said, "and all his devices would need to be monitored and regularly checked, but that all seems like a small cost compared to the possible gains of being able to aid against despair."
Sadly, he remained unconvinced, "What would make this 'acceptable' is if you told me how this is any different than the video you were desperate to have me help stop."
"It -I -I don't know," she turned stiffly to Ryouta, "why don't you explain, since you are the expert."
Both their eyes turned to him with immense pressure, but Ryouta didn't buckle. There was something lifeless in his eyes, and it seemed to have freed him somehow. "I won't be manipulating people's free will," he explained calmly, "I'll limit myself to procedures that calm the mind or decrease anxiety and depression -and if you want, I'll limit myself to visual only stimuli… you can think of it as a sort of visual chemical antidepressant."
Munakata scoffed, "and the despair video could be thought of as a psychoactive substance -please don't try to distract from the truth of the matter. This brainwashing is dangerous because it is too effective and it spreads too easily."
"That won't happen. When I made that -that video Enoshima forced me to specifically have it work instantaneously and permanently. I- I don't have to do that this time-"
"And you would accept that?"
"Huh."
"Say my terms were that it would have to work for a period of no more than five hours and that only one copy were to ever be produced" he said sharply, "and that it would be incompatible with any network and that it would be constantly vetted by a team of trusted superiors -would you accept that."
The list went on for too long and Ryouta didn't seem to like it at all. Kyouko's heart beat unabashedly fast, hoping desperately that he would simply agree without making it more complex. If there were any problems then they could deal with it when relevant heads had cooled.
Thankfully, he seemed to humour her. But as his hair tipped over his eyes as he agreed, she could only feel that she was missing a piece of the puzzle. A single solitary note that kept everything from feeling finished.
It haunted her, keeping her rooted to the spot in worry and instinct until Munakata finally left, and as the footsteps vanished into the background and Ryouta looked at her with hard, betrayed eyes, she suspected that things weren't quite over.
Welp heres chapter twenty something! Sorry for the long ass wait! I got really drawn into several things all at once and after the other, so work was slow :I .
As I wrote this, (and kinda disliked it since while it got a lot out of the way it's still got more to go) I slowly realised I'd never be able to end it in a way that satisfied my self since that would require timeskips and effort, but I hope I can still make something okay for the rest of you. This fic has been super fun for me and I'm surprised at the amount of love it's received and I hope to repay that! Thanks and see you next chapter!