A/N: Well, here's the first chapter of my next entry in my Danganronpa Gaiden Series, taking place about a month or so after Makoto and Kyoko explore her grandfather's mansion. This fic is going to be a three-shot. Please read and review, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: Kyoko's Maternal Insecurities!

Chapter One: Nightmares of Rejection

"Where…where am I?"

Kyoko rubbed her head as she stood up a little too quickly, taking in the sight of grassy plains and trees as far as the eye could see.

"I shouldn't be able to stand up this quickly…I shouldn't be able to stand up at all by myself; I'm over seven months pregnant. So why…"

It was then that Kyoko looked down and found her answer; her baby bump had completely vanished, leaving her with the toned, slim stomach that she had during her teenage years. Her eyes widened, shock overcoming her as she just barely resisted the urge to scream.

"M…my baby…where's my baby?! There's no way I could have given birth already!" Kyoko forced herself to close her eyes, taking a deep breath as she forced herself into Detective mode, telling herself "Calm down, Kyoko Naegi. Just calm down. Now think; you were in your eighth month of pregnancy when you went to bed last night, in your own bed, and you had no signs of contractions during that day. Given the evidence, the absolute truth must be that this is a dream."

The last time she could remember having such a vivid dream was the night of her wedding, when her father Jin had walked in her dreams to dance with her. For good measure, she tried calling for him.

"Daddy?" When she was met with silence, she tried "Mommy? Jii-chan?" When she was only met with further silence, Kyoko mused "Alright, so I'm clearly not dreaming about my parents or my grandfather. So…why am I here?"

"Mother…"

Kyoko's eyes widened as she spun around, facing the source of the distinctively feminine, hard voice that had just a hint of boyishness to it. Standing five feet away from the former Detective was a short child who couldn't be any older than eight. Brown hair framed her boyish face in a long, elegant curtain that extended to the middle of her back, and atop her head was a lavender ahoge in a style that Kyoko immediately recognized as that of her husband. Further evidence of the child's heritage was shown in her irises; her left being green and her right being purple.

Kyoko gasped at the realization, a happy, beaming smile hidden beneath her palm as she uttered "My…my baby…my daughter…"

At that, the nameless child glared back at her mother, dual-colored eyes glaring hardened ice straight at their intended target. Kyoko stepped back involuntarily, frowning and dropping her hands as she felt unnerved by how much she recognized that glare, having used it on her own parent so many years ago.

As Kyoko felt her heart clench and ache, she wondered Is this how my father felt when I used to glare at him during that year at Hope's Peak?

"Mother."

Startled by the cold greeting by her own daughter, Kyoko asked, nervously "What…what's wrong, darling…"

"Don't call me darling!"

With that outburst, Kyoko felt her heart start to crack as her unnamed daughter started to walk closer and closer, Kyoko suddenly feeling like she was suffocating in the presence of her daughter.

"What…what did I do?"

It was all Kyoko could answer, but it wasn't enough for the little girl, who seethed as steam whistled from her nostrils, making her appear like a raging bull "What did you do? It's more like what you didn't do! You weren't there! You were never around!"

Gasping, Kyoko stumbled backward, falling on her butt as she begged "What do you mean?"

Snorting, the young girl glared at her mother as she revealed "I mean exactly what I said. You weren't there for me! You always made time for Daddy or Aunt Komaru or Jii-chan or Baa-chan, but when I needed you for something, you were never there! It was always "Somebody has to run the school, darling!" or "Your father needs me more than you right now, darling!" You only took care of me when it was convenient for you, but when I really needed you, you weren't there. You made Dad do all of the heavy lifting when it came to raising me. Dad always defended you, saying how you always wanted a baby with him, but you never tried to be a mother to me!"

Tears escaping from her eyes, Kyoko weakly defended "I…I'm sorry, my little girl…"

The child's face turned red with anger at Kyoko's weak apology as she screamed at her mother, making the former Detective's heart shatter.

"I WISH I'D NEVER BEEN BORN!"

All of the trees around them collapsed to the ground, as though sliced by the girl's words, just like Kyoko's heart felt. With only a "humph", she turned on her heel and stomped away, leaving a now sobbing Kyoko, who curled up in a fetal position, her worst fears apparently having been realized.

"I'M SORRY! I'M SOOORRRRYYYYY!"

XXX

Makoto's eyes snapped awake as he practically leapt into a sitting position, awakened from his slumber by his wife's wailing sobs. He immediately crawled over to lightly shake his wife back to her senses.

"Kyoko? It's me, Makoto. Can you hear me, honey?"

As her cries subsided after becoming aware of her voice, Kyoko nodded, sitting up as she wiped her eyes with her wrist. She turned her head to face her husband, who was staring at her with fear and concern in his eyes.

"Ma…Makoto…" Kyoko croaked.

Without another word, Makoto shuffled until he was behind her, his legs laying on either side of his wife as he wrapped his arms around her waist, palms resting on her swelling belly. Ever since she had entered the third trimester, their growing baby resting in her womb made snuggling awkward and impractical. So as a compromise, Makoto transitioned to spooning his wife in bed, kissing her cheeks and relaxing his wife by rubbing her tummy until she fell asleep.

It was this approach that was allowing Kyoko to calm down until she winced, feeling her baby kick frantically, as though scared for their mother.

Makoto leaned downward, under her arm until his face was adjacent to the side of her swell, cooing "Shh…It's okay, little one. Mommy just had a bad dream, but she'll be alright. Daddy will take good care of Mommy, so please, settle down and go back to sleep."

Once she felt the storm of kicks recede, Kyoko sighed in relief, allowing her husband to return to where he was, caressing her belly while peppering her cheeks with gentle kisses to soothe the nightmare away.

"Ano…" Makoto hesitated before continuing "I know I told our baby that you were having a bad dream, but was that really what happened? Did you have a nightmare?"

Twisting her neck to face her husband, Kyoko could only nod in confirmation. Frowning, Makoto leaned forward to nuzzle his nose against her own.

"Do you want to tell me about it? I'll understand if you don't, but I do think it'll help. It did for me."

Makoto and Kyoko's thoughts both wandered to his string of Post-Traumatic Stress-Induced nightmares, and how she had gone to great effort to ease his suffering.

"I…" she admitted. "I don't…want to…but…I think I need to. Can you just continue holding me, so I don't lose my resolve?"

Makoto stared into her eyes, the violet irises swimming with fear and pain, as well as the desire to be wrapped in a protective embrace. Makoto smiled, continuing to rub soothing circles into the sides of her belly as he nodded, leading Kyoko to take a deep breath and begin her tale.

"I woke up in a field of grass, in one of my maternity dresses, but I wasn't pregnant. After I deduced that I was dreaming, I called out for my parents and my grandfather, thinking that one of them was trying to talk to me in my dreams like on our wedding night."

Makoto nodded, remembering how Hibiki had walked in his dreams to dance with him. Without any verbal response from him, Kyoko continued.

"None of them answered, though; instead, I heard a voice that I had never heard before, yet it seemed too familiar to forget. I turned around, and I saw…" Kyoko placed her palms over her belly button as she finished "I saw an eight-year-old version of what could have been our baby, Makoto."

Makoto's eyes widened, starting to come to some basic understanding of the theme of her nightmare.

"I tried to talk to them, and that's when it became a nightmare. They rebuffed my calls of affection and started talking about how I was never there for them. And then they…" Kyoko started to sob again as she cried "They screamed at me that they wished they had never been born!"

"Kyoko…"

Makoto tried to rock her in his lap as best he could, determined to soothe his wife despite her expanded frame.

Somehow, through her torrent of sobs, she asked "Makoto? What if…what if I'm not ready to be a Mom? What if the baby comes and I just completely suck at it? What if I just end up repeating my father's mistakes?"

"Shh…Kyoko, don't say that! You're gonna be a great Mom, I just know it! I mean, ever since the baby started kicking, you've been talking to them every night before we go to bed. And you've always sounded to loving and affectionate with them! You're a total natural!"

"…Actually…" Kyoko blushed as she confessed "I've only been saying what I imagined you would say to them. None of those are my own words. I just thought…since you're going to be such a perfect father…*hiccup*, that you'd be the perfect role model when it comes to parenting."

…Me? A role model?

Astonished that Kyoko held him on such high of a pedestal, Makoto flashed back to the time they spent together before their engagement, when he viewed her as an unshakable pillar of strength that he aspired to be worthy of.

To think she holds me in similarly high esteem… "But, Kyoko…I'm still learning. Why wouldn't someone more experienced be your role model for this?

"Because I don't have anyone else! My mother's dead, my father was never around, and my grandfather put more importance on my Detective training than on how to be a good parent." Kyoko took a deep, shaky breath before staring into her husband's wild-eyed expression and continuing "Makoto, you've made me feel warmer and bubblier than anyone else has! You're the only one I've ever opened my heart to. Why wouldn't you be my role model? You're my only assurance that I won't end up ruining this baby's life!"

Moving one hand from her torso to stroke against her cheek with his thumb, Makoto asked worriedly "Kyoko…how long have you been feeling like this?"

"…Since we left my grandfather's mansion about a month ago…"

Appalled, Makoto asked with a hurt tone "Kyoko, why didn't you tell me you were feeling so insecure?"

"I…I didn't think it would get so bad…"

Taking a deep breath, Makoto cooed "Kyoko…I'm not perfect at this; I'm still learning, just like you. And just because I'm warm and affectionate, it doesn't mean I'll succeed as a father. I have my own insecurities about parenting, too. But I…I know that together we'll figure this out! We're a team, Kyoko, and I know that together, we can do anything. And I know that we'll be parents that our baby will be proud of when they grow up!"

"Ma…Makoto…" Kyoko uttered, her insecurities being partially flooded by the power of Makoto's hope, reminding her of the sixth trial of Junko's Killing Game.

"But, if you're still feeling uncertain, why don't we go visit Mom tomorrow and ask for her advice? After all, she's managed to make both of us feel better when we talked to her, and given how she's the one who raised both me and Komaru, she'll have the experience to give sound advice."

Sniffling, Kyoko leaned her head to kiss her husband before admitting "I'd like that. Thank you, Makoto. Let's go back to sleep for now; I'm sorry for waking you up."

Shaking his head, Makoto assured her "It's oaky, Kyoko! I'm always here for when you need me. Never forget that!"

Beaming, Kyoko twisted in his grasp, pressing her baby bump against Makoto's belly to snuggle him as best she could, his arms awkwardly tightening their grip.

As Makoto rubbed her sides, Kyoko moaned drowsily "Good night, Makoto. I love you."

Smiling, Makoto kissed her forehead as he whispered "I love you too, Kyoko Naegi. Sweet dreams!"