Mended Branch (Danganronpa 3 x OC)

Chapter 2: Dedication

Katsumi covered her mouth as a yawn escaped. She rubbed her tired eyes.

This week's really gotten to me.

More objects were flying around, each narrowly dodging Nagito as he continued staring with an unbothered smile. Since Katsumi was right behind him, the objects flung in their direction were also missing her.

The louder the crashes got, the more annoyed she felt as she continued to stare at her laptop, tapping away.

Maybe peace was never an option...

All of a sudden, a book came whizzing right at her from her left, which she nonchalantly raised her hand to catch.  She finally looked up completely, taking in the scene in front of her in its full glory.

An exasperated sigh was let out. "For goodness sake..." She looked at Nagito. "I'm going outside, Komaeda-kun. Are you sure you want to stay in the classroom?"

"Ah... I'm fine."

"...Okay." She placed her laptop into her bag and walked out of the classroom.

As she stepped out into the hallway, closing the door and muffling the crashing noises behind her, she saw Ryota, sitting at a desk outside, drawing on his tablet. Chiaki was also there, standing in the hallway, playing video games on her game console.

"Did you run away too?" Ryota asked, not peeling his eyes away from his drawing tablet.

Katsumi sat down against the wall, taking out her laptop. "Sure... you could say it like that."

"Everyone's crazy." Chiaki frowned. "They don't come together as a group at all.

"Hmph... Well, people like us don't need to group together, anyway," Ryota said matter-of-factly. "If you have talent, your future is peachy. We're a bunch of elite kids, gathered from across Japan, with that motto. If we graduate, we're set for life. We have no trials we need to overcome by uniting. No reason to make friends, either."

Friends...

That word momentarily struck Katsumi before receding just as quickly.

Then again... I doubt it'd be worth it, would it?

Katsumi opened her laptop and started typing away again. "Yeah... making friends... It's a real hassle, too..."

Chiaki continued staring at her game console, looking slightly sad. "Either way, my gaming talent won't earn me any friends."

"That's totally untrue!" Chisa's voice came out of nowhere, momentarily startling Katsumi. "You shouldn't just say you can't make friends!" She placed her hands on Chiaki's shoulders. "You can't make friends through gaming?" She moved closer, seemingly challenging her with her smug smile. "The games you love are so worthless?"

"They're not!" Chiaki blurted.

Chisa looked at her blankly for a moment before letting out a smile. "If games are fun to play alone then they'll be even more fun to play with everyone."

"Play with everyone..." Chiaki repeated those words as she held her game console closer.

Video games?

Katsumi stared, a slight feeling of general contempt and disapproval washing over her, though only on the surface of her mind. Right underneath was a slight longing and excitement that she desperately tried to snuff out.

No, they're just a waste of time, right? Especially now. They don't help me with doing anything useful so why should I bother...?

Chisa's eyes suddenly fell on Katsumi, seemingly reading her mind. "Hirata-san! You mustn't underestimate the power of games!"