Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

4.24 - Echo of a Person

"Are you okay?"

I look up to see Himiko come in beside me, leaning against the side of my vanity with an inquisitive look. My heart lurches a little, but I eventually relax when I realize my face isn't warm anymore. It probably hasn't been warm since the moment I stepped into the room.

"I'm fine..." I reply, biting my lip as I figure out a way to say what I need to say. "This is all pretty weird, right? It's not just me?" I ask, gesturing to myself, Rantaro, and to the doorway. "Kirumi made things really complex between Rantaro and I when she could have killed me outright in the snow. But instead, she drugged me after getting Rantaro out of the way and dragged us both to her lab to...finish the job? It's just weird, right?"

Himiko purses her lips, blinking up at the ceiling in thought.

"You know...I don't remember what happened when I was injected. I don't know who did it, but I know after I was injected, there were tiny things I recall of what happened. I mostly remember things that...I don't want to think about. It makes my skin crawl...but one odd thing that really sticks out is that after the injection, I was able to stand up fine after. I remember walking, but I don't remember where I was going. So..." Himiko lets her words trail off insinuatingly as I process her statement.

She remembers standing up after...what if I didn't pass out after the injection then? Moving to find the 'guest' in the Love Hotel is part of the effects the drug causes- though we don't know how it changes behavior now that Hotel Kumasutra has been destroyed.

"So maybe I took myself to her lab? Maybe she was forced to grab Rantaro and give chase?" I suggest, making Himiko nod with a shrug after.

"That's just my speculation though...if you want a better opinion, you should reflect it to Shuichi and see what he thinks about it," she adds sheepishly, scowling and turning her gaze to Rantaro. "Shuichi said the watch injected you again, right? Do you still feel tired from the tranquilizer?"

At that moment, it occurs to me that when Shuichi mentioned the drug from the watch, he never specified what was injected between the tri-loaded tranquilizers or the body-rot drug in the reserve. Which means Himiko doesn't know how bad it is.

Do I tell her? What if it gets back to Rantaro? No, lying would be a dumb move, Shuichi, Kokichi, and Gonta also know it injected that drug in my arm, right? Even if I hide it now, there's no way it's going to stay hidden.

"No...I'm not tired," I eventually say. "I was actually thinking along the lines of the backlash caused by the Love Hotel syringe's unfulfilled fantasy too. Walking away from Kirumi made me realize I feel totally fine. If Kirumi was trying to kill me, that would go against any possible fantasy we could think of, right? Shouldn't I feel awful right now?"

"Hmm..." Himiko trails off, somewhat perplexed as I bring this up. As she rests a hand under her chin in thought, Kiibo who was following our conversation along with mostly silence finally speaks up.

"I hate to suggest it in light of the implications...but perhaps your fantasy was fulfilled in some way?" Kiibo says, making my stomach roll.

"Yeah, that's what I thought, but...I don't know if I want to find out how, even though it's important. I was half naked when I woke up. All my clothes were torn up and the Maid Lab was pretty much turned inside out," I explain. "And Kirumi, the whole time I was getting my bearings and to the point in which I freed Rantaro from the laundry room, was just sitting in a corner fidgeting with a spoon. She was muttering things to herself like she'd just seen a ghost or something."

"Wait, what?" Himiko drops her arms back to her side, gaping at me. "She just let you two walk out then?"

"Y-Yeah...it was really weird. When Rantaro tried to get her attention, she pretty much ignored us altogether. We even sat in Ryoma's lab for a while to rest since Rantaro was in such bad shape, but she didn't try to come after us-"