The Greatest Japanese Hero
Disclaimer:
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft and Lerche
The Greatest American Hero is owned by Stephen J. Cannell
First off, many thanks to those who reviewed this fic, I really appreciated it and this gave me inspiration to work on the next chapter and here you are treated to a new story arc, where baseball will be the theme here, and of course, Leon Kuwata will be the main plot star here due to his title of Super High School-level Baseball Player, but he's not the only Danganronpa character to take the spotlight, as two more characters will be included here as their involvement will be pivotal to the story.
The Leon Kuwata arc commences...
A few days ago...
The scene shifts to a basement parking lot of a baseball stadium located within Tokyo, and there you can see a professional baseball player, aged 23, and is the star player of his baseball team and he is due to play in a baseball match tonight, which the game will commence in 30 minutes, and as the player alighted from his car, he opened the compartment of his car to get his baseball uniform but he is being approached by unidentified men and there they grabbed him from behind and the two men are ready to do something to him despite the player's pleas.
"Hey! StoP!"
"We warned you..."
"But you didn't heed them..."
"No...please don't...!"
"Sorry...no second chances..."
"We told you to back off...yet you ignored it..."
"Don't...!"
"Sorry...it's "lights out" for you..."
"Bye, bye..."
As the first guy held the player, the second guy puts a packaging tape on his mouth to silence him, then taped his wrists from behind, and then pulls out a knife and slashed his neck, slowly killing him before they dumped him inside the compartment of his car, locking him before the men took their leave after making sure no one saw their actions and they boarded their car and leaves the scene of the crime, and soon the baseball match started and within two hours the match ended and the dead player's team lost the match and within an hour the baseball club owner saw the player's car though he thought that his star player was somewhere around until he noticed some blood stains and sensed that something is up and used his cellphone to call security, and within 10 minutes the missing player's corpse was discovered and it would soon turn into a media frenzy and news item which would plague the baseball industry as this was the third time that a popular baseball player was found dead in a span of five months.
Believe It Or Not by Joey Scarbury
(Opening Song from The Greatest American Hero)
Look at what's happened to me,
I can't believe it myself;
Suddenly I'm up on top of the world,
Should've been somebody else.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Just like the light of new day,
It hit me from out of the blue;
Breakin' me out of the spell I was in,
Makin' all of my wishes come true.
Believe it or not,
I'm walkin' on air,
I never thought I could feel so free;
Flyin' away on a wing and a pray'r,
Who could it be?
Believe it or not, it's just me.
Ch. 27: Yakyū no Seishinkabyōin
Several days later, the scene shifts to Hope's Peak Academy, where classes are in session and things went peaceful and Naegi is seen doing his homework and he glances at Kirigiri, seeing that she has recovered from the recent events, as she is back to her usual self though her stoic appearance is still the same, and yet she showed signs that she has gotten over Yui Sumidare's death, and she is seen turning down romantic proposal from avid suitors.
Naegi, on the other hand, was also recovering, as he is glad that his younger sister, Komaru, is safe and unharmed, and that both he and Komaru agreed not to let their parents know that she got abducted by mafia men and Naegi stopped them himself and Kirigiri made her swear to keep a secret the fact that the RED SUIT that Naegi is using gave him super powers, and this resulted him him doing SOME good deeds, and Komaru kept her promise since then, while at the same time inspired her to work on her ongoing manga.
Meanwhile, as lunchtime approaches, Naegi is approached by Maizono and there she invited him to go on a date this weekend and showed him something much to his surprise, seeing that these are tickets to a baseball game, and he wondered how she was able to get a pair given that the tickets are quite expensive as these tickets are for the Japanese Major League Baseball match, where a tournament is ongoing.
"Eh? A baseball game?"
"Yup..."
"Err...is it okay...? I didn't know you like baseball games..."
"Actually..."
"Huh?"
"I'm inviting you to a date...and it's all thanks to Kuwata-kun..."
"Really...?"
"Yup-yup..."
Maizono told Naegi that the tickets were given to her by Kuwata, which he said was his way of showing his appreciation for helping him start his music career, and said that the tickets were given to him by his club manager and seeing that he has no use for it he decided to give it to her and told her to invite a friend to watch his match, which is due in two weeks, but also said that she can watch his practice game this weekend, and Naegi decided to accept the date seeing that he wanted to watch Kuwata's practice game with Maizono.
"Hmm...okay."
"Really?"
"Sure."
"That's great!"
"This weekend?"
"Uh-huh!"
"Okay."
"See you this weekend, then!"
By then lunchtime was over and classes resume and both Naegi and Maizono return to their seats and prepared themselves for the next subjects, and as the hours passed both are ready to go home when Naegi realized that he has to give something to her regarding an item and asks her if she is okay with coming to his house so he can give it to her personally, which she is more than willing, as she wanted to spend a bit more time with him and the two teens left Hope's Peak Academy and are heading for Naegi's house.
-x-
Later, Naegi and Maizono arrived, and her appearance attracted some attention, as neighbors are astounded to see her going to Naegi's house and realized that she is classmates and friends with the Luckster and they began whispering among themselves as they speculate her relationship with Naegi, wondering what the "score" is between the two teens, some suspecting that they are a couple in secret or if Naegi brought her to his house to flaunt to his neighbors.
Inside, Naegi's parents are surprised, and delighted, to see their only son bringing a girl home and learning that she is a popular idol, they gave her a warm welcome and accommodated her while Naegi went to his room to fetch the item he intend to give to her, and while at it, his parents began asking Maizono about her status with their son, much to her surprise and embarrassment, even though she has actual feelings for him.
"My...you really are pretty..."
"It's nice to have you as our son's friend..."
"Eh-heh-heh...thanks..."
"So then..."
"Are you and Makoto in a relationship of sorts...?"
"Um..."
"It's okay...no need to be shy..."
"Makoto is a good boy..."
"Um..."
By then Naegi came down and blushed after overhearing the conversation and told his parents not to make her feel uncomfortable, but his dad teases his son and urged her to confess to Maizono and this only made her blush even more and so was Naegi, and the Luckster gave her the item and she thanked him and is ready to leave, but Naegi volunteered to walk her home which she accepted and his dad told him to take the chance and admit his love for her and Naegi blushed even deeper and both teens leave the house, where they are greeted by a lot of fans as they lined up and asks for her autograph, which she accepted while the other neighbors began asking about his relationship to Maizono, much to his embarrassment.
"Hey, Makoto!"
"Is it true?"
"Are you and Sayaka dating?"
"Tell us the truth!"
"We want to know!"
"Yeah...what's the deal with you two?"
"Are you her boyfriend?"
"EEEEHHH?"
-x-
While on the road, the two teens are walking and are being eyed by several people who recognized her, and they are astounded to see that she is walking with what they deemed as an "ordinary boy" and they began whispering among themselves on why she would associate with someone of "less stature" and not associate with a "high-profile" celebrity, and Naegi felt a bit annoyed at hearing them though she is quick to assure that she has no qualms in being friends with him, which he is grateful for.
"..."
"It's okay, Naegi-kun...just ignore them...I don't care what they think about you..."
"Maizono-san..."
"I'm glad...that I met you..."
"Maizono-san...thanks..."
"I did not regret choosing you as my friend...I'm happy to be with you..."
"Same here..."
"Good to hear..."
As they passed by a snack bar, they saw Kuwata eating some snacks and there they greeted him and they began having a conversation, in which Kuwata was told that they planned on watching his practice game this weekend, and Kuwata said it is okay, as he told them that in two weeks he will win for his team and use portions of his winnings to help in his music career, and Maizono encouraged him to do both, and Naegi is astonished that Kuwata is planning to pursue both a baseball and a music career.
"Huh? You're pursuing both a baseball and music career?"
"Yeah...I think I could manage both..."
"Are you sure? You excel more on baseball..."
"True...but thanks to Maizono-san...I think I want to switch titles...and doing songs...mostly punk-rock...might help me earn more money..."
"I see..."
"Don't worry about me..."
"Okay..."
"Good..."
However, a car with a tinted window is parked nearby, and a pair of eyes are shown where they are eyeing Kuwata, and they seemed to have a devious ploy in mind, and there one of them brought out a cellphone and contacted someone and a conversation took place and the topic is none other than Leon Kuwata himself, and this spells like a disaster in waiting, in which the conversation is aimed towards Kuwata.
"We saw him...Leon Kuwata...he's just a high school kid..."
"Good...you now know your target..."
"Are you sure about this? Targeting a kid...?"
"Yes. Do whatever you have to...just eliminate him. No witnesses...and make sure you don't caught..."
"Okay."
"Good. Now make sure you know where he heads...where he hangs out...the important thing is he is out of the way before the game commences..."
"Got it."
"Good."
-x-
Elsewhere, the scene shifts to a morgue where Kyoko Kirigiri is at the scene, and she has something to do and she is taking this case after her grandfather told her that an investigator friend of his asks for her help and when she queried about it, she discovered that the case she is taking is related to the incident where a popular baseball player is found murdered at the compartment of his car, and the crime scene is located at the basement parking lot of the stadium where the dead player's baseball team are having a match.
The coroner then told her that this is the third corpse being brought here and it is a baseball player, and admitted that he was quite a fan of baseball and lamented that it is a waste that someone of such talent got brutally murdered, and Kirigiri asks him if the previous corpses are also victims of such crimes.
"Yes...two of the corpses brought here were also baseball players."
"Really?"
"Yeah...professional players at that...it's really a shame...when they got killed...the victims' teams went on to lose the game...and that's that..."
"And they were killed in a brutal fashion just like the recent one?"
"Yeah...makes me wonder what kind of sick people they are...killing players who only play for the love of baseball..."
"I see..."
"Anything else you need?"
"No...thank you..."
After the discussion, Kirigiri would deduce that something is up as she slowly sees a pattern wherein when a baseball player was murdered, his team would eventually lose the match, which the team's opponent wins, and the recent murder is the third time in five months, and the police are facing a blank wall on who the culprit is, and now Kirigiri thought hard as she is figuring out if the murders are carried out by the same culprit or not, until she saw a poster of an upcoming baseball match due in two weeks, and saw Kuwata's picture among the players being advertised, and there she deduced that Kuwata is likely being the next victim in line due to his status as Super High School-level Baseball Player.
"He's likely to be the next victim...and if that is the case...I have to figure out who the would-be culprit is...and I don't think I could do this alone..."
Kirigiri then took out her cellphone and sent a text message to Naegi and told him that she is to discuss something with him the next day. After that, she leaves the morgue and is starting to formulate a plan on trying to figure out when the assailant would strike next and when he would strike, and she is tempted to figure out about Kuwata's scheduled activities that would involve baseball.
-x-
Later that night, Kuwata arrived home and he is being greeted by his parents, and then his cousin, Kanon Nakajima, who also acts as his baseball manager and tries to make him notice her, but Kuwata would gently reply that he sees her as a "little sister-type", in which drove to to strive to make herself more attractive, and even went as far as becoming his manager in order to stay close to him, and reminded him to be careful, which he assured to her that he will.
"Leon!"
"Ah, Kanon..."
"Please be careful..."
"Huh?"
"I just got news that another baseball player's found...murdered and all..."
"I see...I'll be careful..."
"Really?"
"Really."
-x-
Elsewhere, the scene shifts to an unidentified hideout, where the people who "converted" Hajime Hinata into Izuru Kamukura, are assembled, and are pleased that their "guinea pig" succeeded in secretly stealing documents from Hope's Peak Academy and with the documents in their hands, they can start creating THEIR version of Hope's Peak and compete with the ORIGINAL academy, but Izuru, who now sports a flowing black hair, red eyes (as opposed to the green eyes of Hajime), and wears a black suit with a black tie and a white dress shirt inside and black loafers, was starting to act rather unstable and began attacking his captors, brutally murdering them.
"AAAAIIIEEE!"
"GGGGYYYAAAHHH!"
"AAAARRRGGGHHH!"
"AAAAHHHH!"
"KKKKYYYYAAAHHHH!"
"HHHEEELLLPP!"
"GGGRRRAAAHHH!"
"UUUURRRRGGGHH!"
Within minutes his captors are all dead, and Izuru was all that's left, and he began shredding the documents he's stolen, and looks around to see if there is someone still alive, so he can kill him with his bare hands. However, someone came in and stood before him, and Izuru glared at the person, ready to assault the person, but the person, who is female, just stood there and smirk before talking to him, though he just glared at her.
"Hello, Hinata-kun..."
"..."
"Oh, sorry...you're Kamukura-kun now, right?"
"..."
"I know...you've been used...but I have some use for you..."
"..."
"Unlike them...I will treat you fairly...and not like a guinea pig...so what do you say? Why don't we become allies...I'm sure you can do things better that those idiots who simply exploited you?"
"..."
The person turn out to be Junko Enoshima, and she is inviting him to come with her so she can HELP him find what he wanted, and despite the silent treatment he showed, Izuru seemingly accepted her offer as Enoshima leaves the room with him following her, and in a few minutes a van left the scene just as the hideout exploded in flames and all the evidences, and the corpses, were charred beyond recognition.
To Be Continued...
Hope you like the opening chapter, in which it featured Leon as this arc's central plot, and the next likely victim which Kirigiri deduced that he is the next victim in waiting, and she is likely to enlist SOMEONE in finding out the culprit before something bad would happen to the SUPER HIGHSCHOOL-LEVEL BASEBALL PLAYER.
Romance is in the air as Maizono and Naegi get to spend some time together and so far she did not do something yandere-ish, since Kirigiri is not around...and this would set up a humorous angle if Kirigiri were around Naegi and Maizono...
Another character from Danganronpa game appeared and it's from Danganronpa: Another Episode, as Kanon Nakajima appeared and acts as Leon baseball manager and "love interest", and she would play a part in this arc in the coming chapters.
Izuru Kamukura resurfaces, and he is now getting more antagonistic than before...and FINALLY...Junko Enoshima showed up, and she seemingly succeeded in recruiting Izuru ti join her organization...and this would mean that he would be a foil to Naegi's adventures in the coming chapters...
Preview:
The next chapter shows that Naegi is going to join the baseball team that Kuwata is in...
Naegi playing baseball...? See the next chapter on why and how this would help in the case...