abyssal_sylph | Bouquet Of Red Spider Lillies {Fic} (Reply)

Fandom: DanganRonpa V3
Rating: Mature
Warning(s): Joining TDR as a metaphor for suicide, the main couple do this. Also heavily implied dystopia.
Relationship(s): Shirogane Tsumugi ♥ Akamatsu Kaede (both pre-game)
(additional) Tags: Tsumugi POV, no smut, angst, 2nd person POV, TDR sucks but what else is new?, tragic romance, unhappy ending.
Word Count: 820 words

Summary: In many ways you were delusional, but even you knew you deserved no happy ending. And yet you yearned.

AO3 echo [Note: fill for the prompt "second person" for

femslash100100 {fill page}]

You knew from the start this story would never have a happy ending.

You were, after all, Shirogane Tsumugi, one of the most infamous writers of the show DanganRonpa. Since you were thirteen you worked tirelessly for TDR. You've interviewed hundreds of people, you've coerced others to agree silently, you've rewritten people to be the most disgusting versions of themselves. In many ways you were delusional, but even you knew you deserved no happy ending.

And yet you yearned.

Akamatsu Kaede was a beautiful girl your age. Known across the wide web for her saccharine fluff content and pretty voice. You were pleasantly surprised when she was honest as can be when she admitted to having no faith in humanity. In those opening lines she ended being a highlight in a mostly dreary audition season. A week later you send an acceptance letter to her.

When you two met up again afterwards, you noticed things about Akamatsu you didn't before. Dark roots growing in, sunken-in eyes, bitten fingernails. All flaws that would be fixed once you figured out what kinda character Kaede would be.

You prodded Akamatsu for as much information about her skills as you could force out of her. In the end you decided to her talent piano, since Akamatsu demonstrated that she was actually quite good at the instrument. You'd be the first to admit that you didn't think too deeply while designing Kaede, at least in ways to show her talent. Nor did you think too deeply about her backstory. Why bother when you've gotten Akamatsu to agree to her role in the story?

Still, you needed to make sure her character was likable, to get the audience to buy into the bait of the later switch. You ended up writing Kaede to be a parody of Akamatsu's online persona; an optimist to the point of detriment. Caring for others even when she bossed them around. So sure she could fix things that she couldn't take back her actions. You discussed these aspects with Akamatsu, who gave a few suggestions herself on how to make Kaede seem more lifelike. When she was still here Akamatsu would always called the quirks she suggested boring or stupid. You didn't say anything when you noticed she hummed Clair de Lune herself. Or when she played with the straps of her back-bag. Or when she gave compliments which betrayed her interest in you.

Sometimes you'd invite Akamatsu to your apartment. She'd been surprised at how small and unfurnished it was. You simply replied that you were too stressed to think about where you lived. You two would gossip, eat junk-food and play dumb card games. You got used to what Akamatsu's voice sounded like, her footsteps, her breathing. You got used to her warm touch and kind words like a sucker.

The day of the premiere arrived and Akamatsu couldn't be more ecstatic.

You know how happy she was to be in DanganRonpa. You saw and conducted her addition. You kept track of her socials while she excitedly chatted about theories her fans had about her character. You knew from the start this story would have no happy ending. That it was your fault anyway. And like a sucker your heart still broke into a thousand tiny pieces.

You've heard stories about family, friends, lovers who had changed their minds about how okay they were about their loved ones joining. How they pleaded and begged them and/or TDR to remove them from the season. One person even being desperate enough to break into TDR's security to remove the person they wanted to live.

You did nothing.

You still are doing nothing.

You wiped away Akamtsu's tears as she admitted to why she joined DanganRonpa. How she wanted to make their shitty world a better place. How she decided to start being a influencer to share more joy into peoples' lives that wasn't depended on the most popular show on the air. How people have been taken advantage of that dream from the start. Akamatsu had grown tired of the world that refused to become better, that saw the hope a young girl had at tore it from her body with harassment and doxxing. In the end; there's was no kinder thing you could do but allow her this acceptable escape.

Akamatsu, for likely the last time she'll do this genuinely, was holding your hands. Tears in her eyes as she thanked you for fulfilling her last wish. You couldn't get a word in before two different producers came in to escort you two to your separate graves. You looked at Akamatsu (not Kaede, not the character, Akamatsu), for the last time you will ever. You hugged her and thanked her for spending what little time she had left with you.

You left her embrace. And while you left, you were glad you wouldn't live in a world without her.