(A/N) Disclaimer: This chapter includes things like abandonment, manipulation and abuse.
I was currently sitting in class, listening to a lesson as per usual and having to write down notes and stuff.
Normally, I wouldn't mind writing notes and stuff for lessons however, because of the game tournament yesterday my hands were hurting.
Luckily, I found a few tips and things online to help with joint pain, but of course my pain wouldn't just magically disappear overnight.
Not to mention, every time I did some kind of slight movement, my bones would just crack.
Like that one meme said:
Everytime I move I crunch like popcorn.
But anyways, enough about my joint pain and about the game tournament.
I was still getting a shit ton of attention from the students here about my win yesterday.
I didn't know what the hell to say everytime someone passed me in the halls and made a positive remark about me, so most of the time I'd either just say a quick thanks or just give some kind of gesture, and there was literally no in between.
Another thing is, I was on a nostalgia rush ever since I played that one Kirby game with Chiaki yesterday, Kirby's Epic Yarn, so because of that, I ended up waking up randomly at like 3AM and I just listened to the sound track of that game along with the sound track of Kirby's Return To Dreamland.
I remember playing Kirby's Return To Dreamland with Eito once and I remember just absolutely falling in love with Magolor, heck I'm pretty sure I still have that one plushie of him lying around on my desk in my house.
After about a while, class was over, I decided to go back to my dorm and go on my phone while listening to soundtrack from various Kirby games, also a little bit of The Neighbourhood in there too.
A couple of minutes later, I got a text on my phone, from Kyoko.
KyokoKirigiri: Hey. Are you available at the moment?
Y/N_L/N: Hi
Y/N_L/N: And yeah, I'm available
KyokoKirigiri: I was wondering if you'd wanted to spend time together, considering I asked you a while back.
Oh yeah, it was like a few days ago, aka a few chapters ago, after I'd given Kyoko her gift.
Y/N_L/N: Yeah, of course
Y/N:_L/N: Uh, right now I'm guessing?
KyokoKirigiri: Yes, I'll meet you outside the school, goodbye.
Y/N_L/N: Bye
Anddd just as I was about to ask her where it was we were going...
Welp, I'm just gonna go I suppose.
I get up from my bed with a sigh and I walk out the door and went to the outside of the school.
And there I see Kyoko.
"Hey, are you ready to go?" She asks me.
I nod.
She led the way because, y'know, I have no goddamn clue where we're even going, and things were pretty much quiet as we walked together, the only sound being our footsteps and the occasional sound of the cars passing by.
Honestly, I enjoyed the silence, but just out of simple curiousity, I couldn't help but ask.
"Hey, Kyoko? So, uh, where are we going exactly?" I ask while looking at her.
"This nearby trail I often go to sometimes, no one really knows about it so you're the first person I'll ever bring" She says.
"Ah, ok" I say.
Dang, I'm... kind of honored to be honest.
After some more time of talking and also some peaceful silence between us, we reach the trail.
It was pretty much like a usual trail, dirt ground, shit ton of trees surrounding everything, people occasionally walking by, it was beautiful.
So because of that, I quietly say in amazement:
"Woah..."
Kyoko notices my expression and I can see her smiling while looking at me.
"Beautiful, isn't it?"
I nod.
Kyoko walks up ahead, meanwhile I kind of slow down my walking pace a little to sort of admire everything.
She notices that and looks back at me.
"Don't slow down, there's still a lot more to see" She says, with that same smile.
"Right" I say with a nod and running a little to catch up.
This is... honestly really great, the walk was really peaceful.
As per usual, we had some silence between us as we walked further into the trail, and when we would talk, it was mostly about random but meaningful things, and also Kyoko telling me something about the trail.
It was then I started to realize, Kyoko's... usually stoic around... heck literally everyone in our class, the only time she really ever showed like her genuine emotions was around Makoto, Hina and I.
Not to mention, she's mentioned like nothing involving her past and stuff.
Which y'know, I understand, I mean I've literally said NOTHING about myself to anyone other than the fact that I'm an Archer, I like video games, and like heck, I think that's it.
Also, I did kiiiinda lie that one time about me going home to see my family.
But, anyways, going back to the whole thing about Kyoko, I can't just straight be all like:
'Hey! Mind telling me about you and your past and why you're so stoic, because I don't know, I just got a sudden realization and I want to know more about you!'
Yeah, no.
Taking advantage of the current silence between us, I decide to come up with something in my head while it still lasted, of course, I had to be lowkey about it.
And so I came up with:
"Hey, uh, Kyoko?" I ask, nervously.
"Hm?" She says.
Hoo boy, here we go.
"I was, uh, just wondering, because y'know, you said you're the Ultimate Detective, how long have you been doing detective work for?"
Ok, going good Y/N, but holy shit I hate myself for being so hesitant in the way I talk.
Goddamn I hate the way I talk sometimes.
Before I could mentally self deprecate myself further, she responds.
Thank. God.
"How long...? Ever since I can remember. I come from a long line of detectives. Detective work is in my blood. There was a time when being a detective was considered a sacred duty. My family's always seen it that way."
Oh damn, that's genuinely cool.
"Oh, so is your family like, y'know, well known?" I ask with a shrug.
"Quite the opposite, actually. Even among actual detectives, many people haven't heard of us."
"Hm, how come?" I ask.
"Because we take pride in it."
"Pride?" I ask while furrowing my eyebrows.
"A detective is neither light nor shadow. We represent neither justice nor evil. That is how we can uncover the absolute truth. We stand neutral in all things. And to do that, we have to stand separate from the rest of society. Which is why we've made a conscious effort to conceal our existence."
"Conscious effort?" I mutter quietly.
"It's kind of old-fashioned, and I can't say it's entirely rational... But it's our family creed, and we do what we must to protect it. Because, like I said, it's our source of pride."
"Oh" I quietly say with a nod.
I guess that kind of explains it.
Heck, when I was at my old school and people were talking about the students of Hope's Peak, not one word was mentioned about Kyoko.
But now I know that she hid herself on purpose to protect the pride of her family.
Dang, this is kind of hard to process not gonna lie.
But, hey, at least I'm learning more about her, and that's what I was wanting to do.
"And yet... I...gave up some of that pride." Kyoko spoke up all of a sudden.
"Hm?" I ask.
"In order to enter Hope's Peak, I had to reveal myself to the school. I did it knowing it was something a true Kirigiri detective would never do." She continued.
"I'm... gonna try to phrase this in the best possible way without giving you the wrong idea but, was... there a reason of some sort you wanted to go to Hope's Peak?" I ask her hestaintly.
She took a long pause at that, I don't know if it's because I royally fucked up with phrasing, or she was just thinking of a way to respond.
Gosh I hope it wasn't the first one because that would be reeeeally bad.
But then she said:
"The headmaster... he's my father"
Oh... yeah, I kinda figured but at the same time I didn't want to say anything to Kyoko about it because y'know, she never really talks about her past.
"Although, I haven't spoken to him in years" She says.
"Oh, so did you like... I don't know... have plans to reconnect with him?" I ask hesitantly while making random motions with my hands trying to figure out how the hell to phrase this.
"...Reconnect...? I had absolutely no desire to reconnect with my father."
"Huh, but wouldn't you wanna like, talk to him about stuff?" I ask, still hesitant as ever.
"There's nothing I want to talk to my father about. There is something I want to say to him, though." She says, adding emphasis to 'say'
I look at her with some kind of expression on my face, as if to say: continue.
"I want to talk to him, and tell him face to face"
"Huh?" I say.
"I want to sever all ties with him" She says, her expression and tone of voice suddenly becoming more serious.
"The last time I saw him...I was still very young. So I don't remember myself, but apparently he was extremely intelligent. He was in line to become the next head of the Kirigiri family. He was talented, he had a promising future. But he had no interest in detective work. So he cut himself off from the family. Not long after that, my mother died, and he simply...ran away. He went to my grandfather, and they had a huge argument. And young as I was...he left me behind."
Oh... dang...
"Was there some kind of... reason? As to why he did that?
"I don't know, but if that's true, then I need to thank him. Thank him for leaving me... Because unlike him, I take pride in the work I do. I take pride in my family name. So every last part of me is happy he didn't take me with him. If I'd gone with him, I never would have had the chance to become a detective."
I just simply nod at that, because it was at this point in the conversation I was kind of at a loss for words, despite me being eager, in a way, to learn more about her.
"I don't blame him, you know. He had his own life to live. That's what anyone in my position might say, right? But it's not true... There's one thing... One thing I can never forgive." She says chiming in once again.
"What is it?" I ask her.
"The way everyone else looked at me. I was never sad about being left behind. Like I said, I think it was a good thing. But when the rest of my family looked at me, they saw something different. They only saw me as the little girl that was abandoned by her father. That's how they see me even to this day. His shadow has been following me my entire life. I'm sick of it. I need him out of my life. I need to step out of his shadow. That's why I have to talk to him eventually, and tell him we're no longer family. In order to settle the past... In order to remove him from my life forever. I have no doubt he forgot about me years ago."
Dang...
I know that's all I've been basically thinking this entire conversation, but seriously, dang...
"I know a lot of people would wonder why I'd cut him out like that if he was family... but our only connection is through blood, nothing more. Are we connected by heart and soul? No. Is blood really enough to call someone family?"
Anddd not only was I at a loss for words but now a loss for thoughts.
Awesome, how convenient.
"Although... that's kind of what I thought before" Kyoko said all of a sudden.
"Huh?" I ask.
Holy shit, that was not what I was expecting.
"I mentioned how my father and grandfather had an argument together, right?" She says.
"Yeah" I say while nodding.
"I found out just recently that my grandfather was actually lying to me about why my father left me all this time, for some reason, my grandfather hated my father, and my father hated him back for not showing any sort of care when my mother died"
"Wh- Holy shit, that's horrible!" I exclaim.
God, I can't imagine how that must've felt for her, I mean she practically got manipulated!
"It is, I guess I should've noticed the signs when I was younger" She says, while her tone of voice changed to a regretful one.
"What do you mean?" I ask.
"My grandfather used to always tell me as a young child that being a detective is more important than death"
Wh-
That's a little-
OK I'M SORRY, I CAN'T BE THE ONLY ONE WHO THINKS THAT THAT'S A MAJOR RED FLAG?!
"Yeah" I start by saying with a sigh.
Then I continue.
"I don't blame you for not noticing the signs, I mean you were still young" I say, mustering up an understanding tone of voice.
"Matter of fact, I've honestly forgotten how he reacted when I burnt my hands" She says, looking down at her gloved hands.
Burnt her hands? Wait a sec-
"Is that why you wear those gloves?" I ask her while pointing to her hands.
"Yes, it is, I don't show my hands to anyone, only someone I could call family would be worthy" She says, looking back up at me, her tone of voice changing to her usual one.
"How did you burn them? If I may ask"
"Yeah, it's fine, It happened when I was first learning to be a detective. I was inexperienced" She says.
We talked more about her hands and stuff, and eventually, she even ended up showing me her hands, which honestly was shocking.
"So, it's your turn now" Kyoko suddenly says.
"Huh?" I ask.
"I told you how I got my Ultimate Talent, now it's your turn"
"Oh, right, sure" I say.
Yeah, that seems fair.
"It's nothing special, really" I begin by saying with a shrug.
"I was always pretty much shy and stuff, and one of my friends said I should join some kind of sport team because that's was my middle school was kind of into, so I decided to do Archery, not gonna lie, probably one of the best decisions I made" I continue.
"I see" Kyoko says.
"How did your parents react?" She asked while looking at me.
"My parents... It's... kind of... complicated? I guess? You wanna hear it?" I ask her.
"I'm fine with it if you are" She says.
"Alright, my parents, honestly weren't really the best, they were honestly really two faced"
"It kind of felt like walking on eggshells around them, they appeared to be nice and all, but one wrong move to set them off, they were... honestly abusive and stuff, emotionally, like they were extremely manipulative, dismissed my feelings. That wasn't all the things they did, of course, but that sums up some of it" I say shrugging.
"The thing with them, is that they praised me on things that benefited them, when they found out I was doing Archery and getting rewards from it, they literally kept on praising me for it and saying things about how I could be in the Olympics or something, which then led them to brag about me to other people.
"I hated every moment of it, there were times where I considered leaving the Archery club at my school just for that, I know it may not seem like that much of a big deal, but it honestly was, heck, if it weren't for that same friend I had convincing me to continue doing Archery, I probably would've left"
"And uh, yeah, that's like, pretty much it" I say with an awkward smile and a shrug.
"That sounds awful, and don't say it doesn't seem like a big deal, if was to you, then that's all that matters"
"Heh, thanks Kyoko" I say with a smile.
"Of course, I'm just telling the truth" She says, returning the smile.
It was honestly nice to talk about family and stuff like this, it definitly feels like I have someone else who slightly understands me, and I understand them too, it's honestly a great feeling.
"I do just have one question though" She said, speaking up.
"Yeah, what is it?"
"Didn't you say one time you were going to visit your family? Were lying to cover up?"
"Yes and no"
"Basically, I live with my 3 other friends that I met back in Elementary School, their names are Eito, Koto and Haku, we all have not so good parents , and because of that Haku made a recommendation that when he's old enough, he'd get us a house so we would've have to be around our parents anymore, so we all pitched in to help him and that's what we did, and we eventually got a house, ever since I met them and we all kind of opened up to each other about our home life, we considered each other family, and the fact that we all got a house together just proves that even more" I say.
"It's good that you're able to find a family" Kyoko says with a smile.
"Yeah..." I say while nodding.
We walked in silence for a while, and by the time we were done with our discussion, we noticed that the sun was starting to set.
Dang, even though we may have talked for a really long time for the sun to be setting like that, it really doesn't feel all that long ago. Time really flies fast, huh?
"Oh, hey, I think I can see the end of the trail" I say while pointing up ahead.
"Oh, you're right" She says.
"Y/N" She says all of a sudden.
"Yeah?" I ask while looking at her.
"I just wanted to say, thank you for spending time with me, I had fun" Kyoko says with a smile.
"Yeah, of course, I had fun too" I say while also smiling.
And with that, we continued walking until we got to Hope's Peak, and we also seemed to talk a lot more than usual too.
This really was fun despite all the things we talked about.
(A/N) Hey, thanks for reading Chapter 15 of this book, I seriously underestimated how genuinely long this chapter would be, especially since for Kyoko's part I had to do some deep diving into the Danganronpa wiki for Kyoko's dad and also Danganronpa Kirigiri, which I've been reading a translated version of, it's honestly really good and I definitely recommend you guys read it if you're a Kyoko fan, I just can't seem to find a full translated version of volume 2 so that kinda sucks. But anyways, that's all I have to say for now, a little spoiler alert for this book, these 5 chapters, this one included, will be a buildup leading to certain events, so get ready for that. I'll see you all in the next chapter, bye.