Riona (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
rionaleonhart) wrote2016-08-13 10:02 pm
rionaleonhart) wrote2016-08-13 10:02 pm
Entry tags:
Fanfiction: Worth Something (Danganronpa 3)
The third Despair Arc episode of Danganronpa 3 waved around the prospect of a Hinata-and-Koizumi meeting and then refused to deliver. This is outrageous, frankly, and I have attempted to remedy it through the medium of fanfiction.
Title: Worth Something
Fandom: Danganronpa 3 (Despair Arc)
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,400
Summary: After the Twilight Syndrome events, Hinata tried to speak to Koizumi. Maybe he managed it.
“Koizumi?”
He has to say it a second time before she looks up. Her eyes are bloodshot; her face is red. It’s clear in an instant that she’s been crying.
Hinata suddenly feels uncomfortable. He shouldn’t be intruding like this. But he saw her sitting by the fountain, and... he couldn’t pass it up, the chance to find out what really happened to Natsumi Kuzuryuu.
“I know you,” she says, with the ghost of a frown.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “I’m only a Reserve Course student.”
“You’re in Sato’s class.” Her voice almost seems to flinch away from the name.
He wouldn’t have expected her to remember his face. He knows hers, of course; she visited their classroom to speak to Sato often. But she’s from the Main Course, and he’s a nobody.
“My name’s Hinata,” he says. “Can I talk to you?”
She looks blankly at him for a moment, then shrugs. Hinata has the distinct feeling she doesn’t have the energy to object. It makes him a little uneasy.
He sits down next to her and waits for her to speak first. If she doesn’t, he guesses he’ll leave.
“If you’re going to talk, talk,” she says eventually. “You didn’t ask if you could sit with me in creepy silence. That’s a different question.”
It throws him off a little. She seemed so timid in front of Kuzuryuu, but he guesses there was a lot of history there. “Sorry. I wanted to give you a chance to change your mind.”
“It takes a lot to change my mind.” She’s been kind of staring into space; he’s pretty sure she’s mostly seeing Sato. Now she actually seems to focus on him for the first time, and a frown crosses her face. “You’re bruised.”
Hinata swipes a hand across his cheek, self-consciously. His whole body still aches. “Guess so.”
“What happened?”
“I tried to get into the Main Course building.”
Koizumi raises her eyebrows. “And you missed the door?”
“It was a security guard,” Hinata says. “He wasn’t happy about a Reserve Course student trying to get into the Main Course. He decided to express his unhappiness by stepping on me.”
“Oh, God, I know the one you mean,” Koizumi says. “He always gives me and Sato a hard time for hanging out together.” She seems to realise, halfway through her sentence, that she’s used the wrong tense, and her voice wavers. “Were you meeting someone, or were you planning to spy on the classes?”
Hinata hesitates briefly. “I was trying to see you.”
Koizumi’s eyes widen. She touches her cheek, the spot where Hinata’s bruising is worst.
“I’m sorry I got you stepped on,” she says, after a moment.
“You don’t have to apologise,” Hinata says. “I’m guessing you didn’t employ that guy.”
“It looks really bad. You should tell the headmaster he attacked you.”
Hinata shrugs. “He wouldn’t be interested. I’m only a Reserve Course student.”
Koizumi frowns. “Stop saying that.”
“You don’t think this school treats us like dirt?”
“You don’t have to sound like you agree with it.”
He doesn’t have anything to say to that.
“Sato was in the Reserve Course,” Koizumi says. “She was worth something. And she made me feel like I was worth something too.” It’s clear that it costs her something to say it. “Don’t talk like she didn’t matter.”
Hinata looks at her for a moment.
“I always kind of assumed that everyone in the Main Course was really confident,” he says, eventually. “You’re talented. You know you have talent. You’ve had it officially recognised.” It’s the feeling he’s always craved: walking through those gates with pride, knowing he’s not just one of the faceless horde.
“I’m nothing special,” Koizumi says, looking down at the camera slung over her shoulder. “I just take photographs. And it’s not like mine are the best out there. I think they probably just pulled my name out of a hat.”
Hinata shakes his head. “Anyone could see you’re talented. You, Nanami... there’s something real there. It’s almost like a glow. We don’t have that in the Reserve Course.”
Actually, that’s not entirely true. He’d got the same sense from Kuzuryuu, the feeling that this person was someone special. Maybe she really did belong in the Main Course.
Koizumi gives him a sidelong, suspicious look. “Is that meant to be some kind of pick-up line?”
Is it? Is it possible that the ‘glow’ really just marks out everyone he’s attracted to? It’s an uncomfortable thought. He tries to push it away. “I’m not going to try to pick you up when...” He gestures vaguely, because when your friend’s just been killed seems like a harsh thing to say. “I’m not a vulture.”
“If you’re saying you might try to pick me up later, I’m going to find it really hard to trust you.”
“I’m not saying that,” Hinata says.
She looks narrowly at him for a moment longer. “Okay.”
There’s a moment’s silence. Hinata shifts awkwardly.
“You mentioned Nanami,” Koizumi says. “You know her?”
It somehow feels presumptuous to say he knows her. “We play games together sometimes.”
Koizumi actually smiles a little at that. “I suppose that makes sense. So what did you want to talk about?”
Hinata pauses. They’ve kind of been having a conversation, and... it’s been good, even if Koizumi’s prickly and grieving. Talking to Koizumi, talking to Nanami... maybe it’s pathetic, but just being around talented people like that makes him feel more real. Again, he got the same feeling with Kuzuryuu, even if she was a Reserve Course student.
And now he has to come to why he’s actually here, and he doesn’t know if she’s going to want to keep talking.
“It’s about Kuzuryuu,” he says.
He hears her breath catch.
“Natsumi or Fuyuhiko?” she asks, after a few seconds.
Is Fuyuhiko the brother she adored? “Natsumi.”
Koizumi closes her eyes for a moment. Nods.
“I heard you talking to Sato just after the murder,” Hinata says.
She flares up in an instant. “You were listening in?”
There’s fear beneath the anger in her voice. Hinata winces. “I wasn’t hiding in the bushes or anything. I was just there.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head. “I can’t talk about this.”
He was half-expecting it, and he’s not about to push her, not when she’s in more pain than he is over this. Sato was obviously really important to her; Kuzuryuu was someone Hinata was only just starting to connect with. But it still stings, knowing he’s not going to get any answers. “I understand.”
“You don’t,” she snaps, and for a second she breathes like she’s about to leap from a precipice before she says, “I think one of my classmates killed Sato.”
Hinata has his own ideas about what happened to Sato. When a member of the Kuzuryuu family is killed, and someone looks like a possible suspect...
“You’re in the same class as Kuzuryuu’s brother?” he asks.
She nods, and then she looks up at him, her eyes strangely bright with tears. “Maybe he heard me talking to Sato,” she says. “Maybe he saw my photographs. Maybe I caused this.”
Photographs? Does she have evidence from Kuzuryuu’s murder?
But her voice is breaking, and he can’t bring himself to pursue this right now. “You didn’t kill anyone.”
“But they died because of me,” she says. “Both of them.”
Hinata hesitates.
“So you think Sato was the killer,” he says.
She glares at him through her tears. “And I suppose you’re the Super High-School Level Detective they’re supposedly trying to scout?”
Her tone is so vicious that he edges away. “Sorry. I’m just trying to understand why two of my classmates were killed.”
“Right now, all I know is that I talked about the Kuzuryuu murder with a friend of mine,” Koizumi says. “And a few days later my friend was dead. And now you want to talk about it. How do you think I’m going to feel if the same thing happens to you?”
Hinata stares at her.
According to the security guard, she wouldn’t care. Nobody would care. They’re just Reserve Course fodder; does it matter if a few of them get killed off?
But this girl who barely knows him is worried about his safety, she’s sitting out here crying over her friend in the Reserve Course, and, just for an instant, he catches himself wondering if the security guard was wrong.
“We could talk about Sato instead,” he says, eventually. “Not what happened. Just... what I remember of her. If you want.”
She takes a moment to compose herself, then gives him a half-smile. “That sounds good.”
Title: Worth Something
Fandom: Danganronpa 3 (Despair Arc)
Rating: PG-13
Wordcount: 1,400
Summary: After the Twilight Syndrome events, Hinata tried to speak to Koizumi. Maybe he managed it.
“Koizumi?”
He has to say it a second time before she looks up. Her eyes are bloodshot; her face is red. It’s clear in an instant that she’s been crying.
Hinata suddenly feels uncomfortable. He shouldn’t be intruding like this. But he saw her sitting by the fountain, and... he couldn’t pass it up, the chance to find out what really happened to Natsumi Kuzuryuu.
“I know you,” she says, with the ghost of a frown.
“I don’t think so,” he says. “I’m only a Reserve Course student.”
“You’re in Sato’s class.” Her voice almost seems to flinch away from the name.
He wouldn’t have expected her to remember his face. He knows hers, of course; she visited their classroom to speak to Sato often. But she’s from the Main Course, and he’s a nobody.
“My name’s Hinata,” he says. “Can I talk to you?”
She looks blankly at him for a moment, then shrugs. Hinata has the distinct feeling she doesn’t have the energy to object. It makes him a little uneasy.
He sits down next to her and waits for her to speak first. If she doesn’t, he guesses he’ll leave.
“If you’re going to talk, talk,” she says eventually. “You didn’t ask if you could sit with me in creepy silence. That’s a different question.”
It throws him off a little. She seemed so timid in front of Kuzuryuu, but he guesses there was a lot of history there. “Sorry. I wanted to give you a chance to change your mind.”
“It takes a lot to change my mind.” She’s been kind of staring into space; he’s pretty sure she’s mostly seeing Sato. Now she actually seems to focus on him for the first time, and a frown crosses her face. “You’re bruised.”
Hinata swipes a hand across his cheek, self-consciously. His whole body still aches. “Guess so.”
“What happened?”
“I tried to get into the Main Course building.”
Koizumi raises her eyebrows. “And you missed the door?”
“It was a security guard,” Hinata says. “He wasn’t happy about a Reserve Course student trying to get into the Main Course. He decided to express his unhappiness by stepping on me.”
“Oh, God, I know the one you mean,” Koizumi says. “He always gives me and Sato a hard time for hanging out together.” She seems to realise, halfway through her sentence, that she’s used the wrong tense, and her voice wavers. “Were you meeting someone, or were you planning to spy on the classes?”
Hinata hesitates briefly. “I was trying to see you.”
Koizumi’s eyes widen. She touches her cheek, the spot where Hinata’s bruising is worst.
“I’m sorry I got you stepped on,” she says, after a moment.
“You don’t have to apologise,” Hinata says. “I’m guessing you didn’t employ that guy.”
“It looks really bad. You should tell the headmaster he attacked you.”
Hinata shrugs. “He wouldn’t be interested. I’m only a Reserve Course student.”
Koizumi frowns. “Stop saying that.”
“You don’t think this school treats us like dirt?”
“You don’t have to sound like you agree with it.”
He doesn’t have anything to say to that.
“Sato was in the Reserve Course,” Koizumi says. “She was worth something. And she made me feel like I was worth something too.” It’s clear that it costs her something to say it. “Don’t talk like she didn’t matter.”
Hinata looks at her for a moment.
“I always kind of assumed that everyone in the Main Course was really confident,” he says, eventually. “You’re talented. You know you have talent. You’ve had it officially recognised.” It’s the feeling he’s always craved: walking through those gates with pride, knowing he’s not just one of the faceless horde.
“I’m nothing special,” Koizumi says, looking down at the camera slung over her shoulder. “I just take photographs. And it’s not like mine are the best out there. I think they probably just pulled my name out of a hat.”
Hinata shakes his head. “Anyone could see you’re talented. You, Nanami... there’s something real there. It’s almost like a glow. We don’t have that in the Reserve Course.”
Actually, that’s not entirely true. He’d got the same sense from Kuzuryuu, the feeling that this person was someone special. Maybe she really did belong in the Main Course.
Koizumi gives him a sidelong, suspicious look. “Is that meant to be some kind of pick-up line?”
Is it? Is it possible that the ‘glow’ really just marks out everyone he’s attracted to? It’s an uncomfortable thought. He tries to push it away. “I’m not going to try to pick you up when...” He gestures vaguely, because when your friend’s just been killed seems like a harsh thing to say. “I’m not a vulture.”
“If you’re saying you might try to pick me up later, I’m going to find it really hard to trust you.”
“I’m not saying that,” Hinata says.
She looks narrowly at him for a moment longer. “Okay.”
There’s a moment’s silence. Hinata shifts awkwardly.
“You mentioned Nanami,” Koizumi says. “You know her?”
It somehow feels presumptuous to say he knows her. “We play games together sometimes.”
Koizumi actually smiles a little at that. “I suppose that makes sense. So what did you want to talk about?”
Hinata pauses. They’ve kind of been having a conversation, and... it’s been good, even if Koizumi’s prickly and grieving. Talking to Koizumi, talking to Nanami... maybe it’s pathetic, but just being around talented people like that makes him feel more real. Again, he got the same feeling with Kuzuryuu, even if she was a Reserve Course student.
And now he has to come to why he’s actually here, and he doesn’t know if she’s going to want to keep talking.
“It’s about Kuzuryuu,” he says.
He hears her breath catch.
“Natsumi or Fuyuhiko?” she asks, after a few seconds.
Is Fuyuhiko the brother she adored? “Natsumi.”
Koizumi closes her eyes for a moment. Nods.
“I heard you talking to Sato just after the murder,” Hinata says.
She flares up in an instant. “You were listening in?”
There’s fear beneath the anger in her voice. Hinata winces. “I wasn’t hiding in the bushes or anything. I was just there.”
“It doesn’t matter.” She shakes her head. “I can’t talk about this.”
He was half-expecting it, and he’s not about to push her, not when she’s in more pain than he is over this. Sato was obviously really important to her; Kuzuryuu was someone Hinata was only just starting to connect with. But it still stings, knowing he’s not going to get any answers. “I understand.”
“You don’t,” she snaps, and for a second she breathes like she’s about to leap from a precipice before she says, “I think one of my classmates killed Sato.”
Hinata has his own ideas about what happened to Sato. When a member of the Kuzuryuu family is killed, and someone looks like a possible suspect...
“You’re in the same class as Kuzuryuu’s brother?” he asks.
She nods, and then she looks up at him, her eyes strangely bright with tears. “Maybe he heard me talking to Sato,” she says. “Maybe he saw my photographs. Maybe I caused this.”
Photographs? Does she have evidence from Kuzuryuu’s murder?
But her voice is breaking, and he can’t bring himself to pursue this right now. “You didn’t kill anyone.”
“But they died because of me,” she says. “Both of them.”
Hinata hesitates.
“So you think Sato was the killer,” he says.
She glares at him through her tears. “And I suppose you’re the Super High-School Level Detective they’re supposedly trying to scout?”
Her tone is so vicious that he edges away. “Sorry. I’m just trying to understand why two of my classmates were killed.”
“Right now, all I know is that I talked about the Kuzuryuu murder with a friend of mine,” Koizumi says. “And a few days later my friend was dead. And now you want to talk about it. How do you think I’m going to feel if the same thing happens to you?”
Hinata stares at her.
According to the security guard, she wouldn’t care. Nobody would care. They’re just Reserve Course fodder; does it matter if a few of them get killed off?
But this girl who barely knows him is worried about his safety, she’s sitting out here crying over her friend in the Reserve Course, and, just for an instant, he catches himself wondering if the security guard was wrong.
“We could talk about Sato instead,” he says, eventually. “Not what happened. Just... what I remember of her. If you want.”
She takes a moment to compose herself, then gives him a half-smile. “That sounds good.”