Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

3.6 - Someone Else's Face

A/N: The above art is my own work and for my own use only!

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After that incident throwing my keys to Timbuktu, Rantaro surprisingly doesn't leave me alone about them despite the fact that we've continued to refuse verbal engagements between one another. In fact, he's now seemingly determined to return them to me, giving me even more attention now than he had earlier today after our initial dispute. Does this mean I think our friendship is on the road to recovery?

No, I think the opposite, actually.

Rantaro may be focused on me right now, but I presume he'll be on his merry way once I get my keys back and then he'll never bother himself with me after. If him keeping my stupid keys is the only thing left connecting the two of us, I sure don't want them back.

Either way, Rantaro surprisingly fetched my keys after I threw them and tried to corner me when I visited the dining hall kitchen for a snack. He tried to sneak them next to me while I was looking in the library for a way to open that hidden door behind the moving bookcase- heck, he even attempts to straight up chase me down to get my stupid keys back to me.

I run up the stairs to the second floor and make a mad dash for the Ultimate Pianist's Lab so I can hide out in my secret perch, only to feel unfounded dread fill my heart when the knob refuses to turn.

I don't know exactly what's making me nervous, the rush of being chased by someone I half want to avoid and half want to run to, or the fact that the end of this chase may result in some chastising...if he actually decides to start speaking to me again willingly, considering we haven't spoken a word to one another since he came knocking on Tenko's door to reluctantly ask for my help with the flashback light.

Shaking the knob a few times, I eventually deem it a lost cause and turn to run. Upon spinning around, my escape plan falls flat when I find Rantaro blocking my only exit and breathing unevenly from the exertion of the run. He looks irritated, eyeing me and promptly holding out my keys in a silent demand for me to take them.

My response is to back away, but he takes a step forward despite my clear refusal to take the keys. I want to scream that I don't want them, but I instead turn and try the door again, making him take another few steps closer. At that, my eyes flick around him to find the best path away from him.

Maybe I can try to slip past him!

I bolt to try and skirt around his tall frame, mostly counting on him being a clumsy tower as per usual. Unfortunately, he unexpectedly snaps both arms around my waist with a lightning speed I hadn't taken into account he'd have. It's so quick that I barely manage a grunt of vexation when he shoots me a look and holds up my keys for me to see, making me audibly groan and try to pull away when he attaches my keys to one of my belt clips.

As soon as it's attached to my person, Rantaro unceremoniously drops me on the floor and casually walks away, leaving me to squeak when I land belly down on the dirt ridden ground and shoot his back a scowl of disdain. Sure, it wasn't that much of a drop and it didn't hurt at all. But my feelings hurt, so-

"I hate you!" I impulsively shout, breaking my own silence between us first and watching his complete indifference about it. He doesn't even acknowledge I've yelled at all, choosing to ignore me as he makes his way down the stairs to the first floor. Once I'm alone, I roll over and stare long and hard at the ceiling. I feel lame. Like a forgotten pancake left to go stale on someone's kitchen stove.

He didn't even say "that's okay" or "no, you don't". That jerk...!

After a minute of wallowing for a few moments, I eventually sit up with a reinvigorated furious growl and wrangle my keys off of the belt clip they're attached to, storming back to the Ultimate Pianist's Lab to try and open the door. There's a lock for a key, so I first try my own keys to see if I have any dumb luck in that maybe one of them works to open it.