"Oh, Gundham, no…! What's happened to you…?" The Ultimate Horror Enthusiast looked into the angry, glowing red eyes of the Ultimate Breeder. As per her Talent, she already knew the answer to her question. He'd been brainwashed, seduced to the side of Despair by the one responsible for the Tragedy. Little Miiko Takeshita's heart wrenched. This was the man—who was really only a boy himself—she used to look up to (literally and metaphorically) as a big brother. Now she, as an Ultimate Hope, stood on the opposite side of the war as him.
She heard soft chittering first, then glowing, beady eyes flashed from the folds of Gundham Tanaka's scarf and robes.
The Four Dark Devas! Miiko's heart wrenched again. Even in the midst of such Despair, he still took excellent care of his beloved hamsters.
"Suffering…" The Supreme Overlord of Ice and Hellfire Frozen Over finally answered Miiko's question. "This is but a consequence of truth, reality, growing up. It is a natural part of life and progression. Even the most Hopeful times succumb to Despair…" His red eyes spiraled with madness, reflecting the death of a once-beloved classmate.
"No!" Miiko's emerald eyes flashed as she shook her short, golden tresses. "Growing up is learning that we choose our reality! Or, well, some of it, at least." She could not deny that much of life was left up to the hands of fate, and not just because of the Tragedy. But they could do their best to choose the best. True, one could not "happy think" their way out of a bad situation, but the only way to survive was to try to see opportunity in all things. It wasn't just naive Hope, but critical pragmaticism. Humans did not survive for centuries without ingenuity, seeing things another way, the very definition of seeing opportunity in all things.
"Benevolence! Miiko chooses benevolence!" That was why Miiko was roaming the cities even though all of them were dangerous, wracked by Tragedy. But that was the Ultimate Hope and Horror Enthusiast for you. She could see beauty in ugliness, opportunity in all things. She refused to let bad thoughts arise in her, and it was her intention to return to the cities until she'd liberated everyone from the jaws of Despair.
But Gundham simply did not share Miiko's worldview. As one on the side of Despair, there was no sense to or in Miiko's philosophy. There was no room for, or point to, benevolence in Gundham's world. The last two girls he loved who were so Hopeful and kind were… well, one was dead, and the other was a Despair like him. It was only a matter of time for poor little Miiko. That much, he was certain of.
ooo
In the end, the two old friends were forced to part ways with no resolution. Gundham strode off alone while Miiko fled to the arms of Aoi—Miyake, not Asahina—and Chihiro as she sought comfort.
"Oh, Miiko, it's not your fault!" Chihiro patted the girl's back. "It's whoever caused the Tragedy! It's easy to forget how much you've already done, but remember that every person you reach out to—whether on the side of Hope or Despair—that's one more helping hand they didn't have before!"
Even though Chihiro was as young as Miiko, both of them first-years—although not in the same class (because of that, Miiko didn't know Chihiro was actually a boy)—Chihiro was wise and compassionate beyond his years.
I have HER to thank for that… His grateful gaze drifted to Miyake, oldest of the trio, third-year. Unlike Miiko, she did know Chihiro's secret. She was biologically female, and comfortable with she/her pronouns, but she was equally comfortable with masculinity and androgyny and other pronouns. She told Chihiro she identified as genderfluid and genderqueer, and that was what inspired Chihiro to come out to her.
"I know Gundham said suffering is the root of all of this, but I disagree! It's attachment!" the Ultimate Programmer insisted. It was attachment that bound him to his secrets, and it was only when he finally gave those secrets up that he was set free. The cliché existed for a reason. Overused as it could be, there was a grain of truth in it. Truth really DOES set you free…! Even though… Oh Miiko, I'm sorry I'm such a hypocrite! I haven't come out to YOU yet… I guess I'm not as brave or ready as I thought… Do I have any right to give you a pep talk like this?
"Please, Miiko! If you're thinking any Despairful thoughts, run away from them! It's ok to feel down, but don't feel bad! You're doing such good works!" Chihiro continued. Miiko could only sigh and stare at the red sky in the distance. Past Towa City lay another prefecture since taken over by a shadowy organization that called itself "Team Danganronpa".
"Despair is like a disease," she whispered, but too softly for the others to hear. One of Miiko's own beloved classmates and unit-mates—Haruna Kasuga, Ultimate Chairman—was partially responsible for the hostile takeover. Were any of them strong enough to survive the Despair?
ooo
Eventually, the trio took shelter in a crumbling, abandoned ruin of what looked like a warehouse or factory. It was owned not by the Towa Group, but Shimizu Corp. As the eldest of the trio—and Ultimate Hope of her unit, RONDO—Aoi felt a sense of responsibility to keep watch while Miiko and Chihiro rested. Aoi's golden eyes drifted shut, but she was not falling asleep, rather, she was going as far into her mind-space as she could. Waiting in the shadows, resting on a ratty old couch in front of a tiny, old TV, was her alter, Shiyake.
"Ready to give up?" he smirked, sneering when he sensed her—his "little sister—drawing near. "Give ME control instead?"
"Never." Aoi crossed her arms, eyes flashing. She knew her alter—as a Persecutor—was just trying to get under her skin. He was not technically a creature of Despair, he just opposed Aoi. Since she was a creature of Hope, this sometimes put them at odds. That was why Shiyake considered himself Aoi's "big brother". As all siblings, they tried their best to differentiate, opposite in every way, ever butting heads.
As Shiyake joked, if Aoi was a masculine lesbian, then he was a feminine gay man. Even his name was an act of differentiation from his host. "Shiyake", of course, was based on their surname "Miyake", but it translated to "four houses" rather than "three houses". If Aoi and her parents were the first three, Shiyake was the fourth.
Fittingly too, "four" sounds like "death", Shiyake thought with a grim, dark smirk. Aoi, however, continued to renounce him, opposite in every way, ever butting heads. If he was death, she was life. That was why she kept trying to save everyone; she still saw it as worth her time.
"No, we are life!" Aoi gestured between herself and Shiyake. He was only "born" in the face of death, to bear the trauma of the car crash that took Aoi's parents too soon, and to protect her until help could arrive. That was where his role as her grouchy, overprotective big brother truly began.
As the flighty "little sister", Aoi played her role well, convincing Shiyake that saving people was worth their time, to choose to be good.
"Our Talent too, remember?" Ultimate Jam-Maker. Yes, it was laughable. In fact, when Aoi first started working as a DJ at ALTER-EGO, Shiyake embarrassedly tried to convince her to say that her Talent was related to music rather than food. But Aoi was certain that her Talent was also born from her trauma. She enjoyed making jam because it was sweet and tasty, and she loved the feeling of working with her hands, not always trapped in her mind like she was in that car. To her, her Talent symbolized survival, and flourishing after, spreading the joy.
Besides, what feels better than breaking bread with family and friends? Or sharing food with the hungry? Aoi thought with a smile. That was why she was roaming the cities, dangerous as they were. Post-Tragedy, she more than proved capable of swinging both ways when it came to the double meaning of her Talent. With food and music, she sought to nourish people's bodies and souls, that their minds stayed as clear as possible.
"So long as you cling to these attachments," Shiyake warned, "good or ill, the suffering will continue…" For a moment, Aoi faltered.
He was right. But… "I still reject that. I will continue to move forward!" As the RONDO lyric went, "Can you see the light of Hope?"
ooo
So. Tis true. There really is no such thing as justice… Damned or Divine. Gundham crossed his bandaged arms and looked away, but only to try to hide his watering eyes. Standing before him, beaming, was Miiko! Except now, she was a robot. It sounded comedic, but it was as tragic as it was true. She and Gundham were both forced through Killing Games—hers was the Killing School Transfer of Monochio, Headcatster of Hope's Pinnacle—and they both died and came back, but while Gundham was returned to his mortal coil, Miiko had only a metal shell.
Why did Miiko have to die while Gundham didn't? His execution was only a simulation. Miiko's consciousness was also uploaded in a Neo World Program (unwittingly powered by the Ultimate Hope AI—LumiNeo—who now consciously powered the restored Hope's Pinnacle), but unlike Gundham, Miiko was physically slain. That was why she could only come back as an AI in a robot body. Even more, she could not leave the bounds of the restored Hope's Pinnacle, at least not until LumiNeo figured out a way to power their AI consciousnesses past the campus borders.
Aoi was in the same predicament, though in a strange way, she was able to reap a positive from it. Now she had the ability to do something she was never able to do before, and that was give her alter a body. They could separate their minds in LumiNeo's restored Neo World Program. Poor Chihiro came out it worst of all. He didn't. His body was destroyed, then all traces of his AI-self were erased when the other Killing Games were shut down. So Gundham was correct. There was no justice in the universe. It was all random chance. Luck.
Though perhaps the universe at least had a sense of poetry. It had a sense of humor—very dark humor—but even if there wasn't justice, maybe there was something. Gundham's sharp eyes caught sight of the logo engraved on Miiko's new, metal form. Shimizu Corp.
Esora. Mastermind 2 of Headcatster Monochio's Killing School Transfer. She, too, was now a robot, slain in Stage IV of her Killing Game, brought back by her own family company, using that power to save the rest of her peers. The metaphor of redemption and resurrection spoke for itself.
"I'm so… sorry…" Gundham muttered, growling through his teeth as tears almost slipped down his pale cheeks.
"Miiko doesn't mind," Miiko promised him softly as they embraced, warm flesh touching cold metal. Miiko is just happy to have her big bro back.
Had she been able to cry, she would've. She knew he had to go away again soon, but it was so nice that he'd come by to visit. They would be able to stay in touch digitally, but it wasn't the same. Gundham's four Dark Devas skittered along his arm to embrace Miiko too.
How similar they are to us… Have I truly never realized before…? San-D had Miiko's sunny but sparky personality. Jum-P was Chihiro's laidback nature. Maga-Z was Gundham's ferocity and temper. And Cham-P was Aoi's intelligence and understanding of the darkness of the world. Mmmm. We were much like the Four Heavenly Kings as well, were we not? At least in the end.
There was Aoi, Chief of the Four Kings and Protector of the North. Then Chihiro, King of the South and one who caused good growth of roots. Even though he was dead by the time the other three reunited, they carried his spirit with them, for he was one of the roots that gave them a strong, solid foundation of Hope. Then there was Miiko, King of the East and God of Music, harmonious and compassionate, friend to all.
Lastly was Gundham himself. I humbly submit myself as Fourth, King of the West, All-Seeing Eye, for much have I witnessed during this Tragedy. And as he looked into Miiko's robotic green eyes, his hamsters' claws skittering metallically up and down her arms, he saw Hope. Together, their stories were the Four Noble Truths, and as Chihiro knew about the truth…
Another philosophy casts the human soul into four: Mind, Opinion, Science, and Sense. For the first time in far too long, I feel that even my Hellish soul is whole once again.
AN: Shameless self-promo, read my Danganronpa/D4DJ crossover: D4 V4 Despair Jockeys.
This was based on a bunch of Buddhist principles divided into four including: the Four Noble Truths, Sights, Foundations of Mindfulness, Right Exertions, Bases of Power, Divine Abidings, Stages of Enlightenment, and Heavenly Kings:
Miiko: Dukkha, Senescence, Body, preventing unarisen unwholesome thoughts, Zeal/intent, Benevolence, Stream-enterer.
Chihiro: Samudaya, Disease, Feelings, abandoning arisen unwholesome thoughts, Will/effort, Compassion, Once-returner.
Aoi: Nirodha, Death, Mind, arousing unarisen wholesome thoughts, Consciousness, Empathetic joy, Non-returner.
Gundham: Marga, Asceticism, Principles, maintaining arisen wholesome thoughts, Investigation, Equanimity, Arahant.
