Danganronpa: String Theory (DrV3)

3.8 - Capricious Emotions

Somehow I feel more attacked now than I have during situations when I was literally being attacked, and neither of them have even registered my presence yet.

"Hm...you sure little tiny Mousey would be down this tunnel? I mean, didn't you and Kirumi tell everyone to hide the fact there was a tunnel here from her in the first place? I didn't know you thought so highly of her...but aren't you overestimating our innocent little Prairie Dog?" Kokichi asks, his tone of voice sweet like he's trying to play on Rantaro's good side.

"Very funny. Don't play dumb, Kokichi, it's not fitting when we all know you're smarter than that. Besides, it's not like you to check out when Prairie's concerned...actually, why are you so invested in bugging her specifically?" I hear Rantaro's voice drift from afar, causing my heart to clench painfully. Stupid Rantaro...

"Because...I wanna harvest Prairie Dog's organs and sell them on the black market! Do you know the kind of money I could get from a celebrity like that?"

...

"Hah! Don't glare at me like that, you know I'm only lyyying! Aah, I guess the protectiveness is a two way street. She gets irritated when I make bad jokes about you and you get irritated when I make bad jokes about her! You two are such a cute couple," Kokichi snickers.

"Remember how I didn't invite you to tag along with me down here?" Rantaro asks, making me crack a weak smile before realizing what I'm doing and biting down hard on my lip to make it go away. I shouldn't be finding the jokes of a potential murderer funny. He's the most suspicious one of us here. The possible mastermind under Danganronpa's control that concocted the killing game.

I bite a little too hard on my lip and taste blood, wincing as I steady my breathing and force myself keep hanging there. The sliver of a good mood is nice...but I need to be careful. I can't just throw my trust at anyone in here, not after the video of Rantaro that basically debunks why I should trust him.

It would make sense if he was the mastermind. He knew just enough about the killing game during the second reset- about Junko Enoshima, about the workings of the killing game, about expecting Monokuma to be among us after learning there were at least sixteen teenagers present.

What else did he say in the video? "This is the killing game you wished for"...that part is a bit perplexing.

So Rantaro wanted the killing game...but he also wanted to actively participate in it, fully aware of the murder and suicidal aspect of it all? Keeping that in mind and momentarily putting aside the possibility that the mastermind is Rantaro, why would any mastermind walk into the killing game as a "participant"? How could they do that to themselves? It's gambling their own life away, isn't it? They're in on the whole thing and working for Danganronpa, the group behind Monokuma and the killing games, so why essentially throw an employee as a character in it? Is the employee being tricked into it, or are they just that delusional?

Now, bringing Rantaro back into the mix...why erase his memories if he's the mastermind? Sure, he could totally be faking it and he could remember everything, but the tablet message he supposedly sent to himself completely debunks that. Heck, even Monokuma through the Monokubs said it wasn't meant for me, so if that's true, there's no reason for it to be some sort of trick.

Hopefully...

...Boy, Shuichi was right. Using a little logic definitely helps. No, I don't think I'll be jumping into Rantaro's arms anytime soon, but...at least I'm not about to lose my head over the video again either.

Maybe it's for the best we still stay apart. Whether or not he's the mastermind, he still stated he was in a previous killing game. A survivor of it by unknown means, to be exact. That means he still might not be the healthiest or safest of company. I can admit it's crushing. It hurts thinking about it and how he lied to me in the beginning. Maybe he didn't want to scare me, but...