Danganronpa 3 IF: Natsumi Story

Episode 1: Change

It was a cruel moment, the daughter of the great Kuzuryu was about to be murdered by someone lower than her. In the moment she started to panic at the sight of Sato holding that bat in her hands and lifting it over her head.

"Sato… stop I won't hurt Mahiru I promise please stop." Said Natsumi in fear as Sato's left eye started twitching.

"To Save Mahiru… I will kill you now. Mahiru will live in peace." Said Sato as she swung the bat fiercely barely missing Natsumi.

Natsumi could not accept it Sato was going to kill her but, she knew she was a Kuzuryu and she won't take death like this. With all her strength she tackled Sato down while managing to avoid the bat she had and then pinned down Sato by pushing her hands down on her wrists locking them on the floor.

"Sato…Why do you do this. I promised to stay away from Mahiru." Asked Natsumi trying to reason with the now insane Sato.

"Why would I trust a daughter to the Yakuza? All you'll do is kill me after I let you go. You'll then torture Mahiru until you get her ultimate title." Said Sato with rage as she managed to push Natsumi off her.

Natsumi panicking decides to bolt out the door but, as she reached the door and opened it Sato just pushed her straight to an open window trying to push her out.

"Sato…Stop…" Cried Natsumi as Sato is currently chocking her over the open window.

"It's over Natsumi. Mahiru will no longer suffer…Hahaha! Then she will be all mine hahaha!" Said Sato laughing hysterically.

Natsumi crying her eyes knows that it is the only way. She pulled Sato's hands off her throat and with a blink of an eye Natsumi jabs her finger into Sato's left eye releasing her as Sato panics over the injury. Natsumi had the opportunity to run however, she is afraid of leaving Sato alone and decides to try once more to convince Sato to stop her assault.

"Sato knock it off now. This is not what Mahiru wants." Said Natsumi now angry.

"Shut up! SHUT UP AND DIE YOU BITCH!" Yelled Sato as she pulled out a knife.

Natsumi didn't want any of this… why is fate so cruel to a child who just wanted to be close to her brother. Just as when she thinks she's at her wits end. She looked up to see Sato her old friend dead on the floor with blood gushing out of her neck. Natsumi Froze at the sight of Sato's Corpse someone actually killed her. Sure she has seen her fair share of dead bodies but, this one and the sight of the fear in her eyes puts Natsumi in a position that she is considered no longer safe.

"..." Natsumi could say nothing. Everything around her started to feel like fate is playing its role.

"Why…are you frozen?" Said a familiar voice.

The voice sounded familiar to Natsumi. Of course it was her Big brothers bodyguard as well as the Ultimate Swordswoman. Peko Pekoyama.

"Master Kuzuryu are you okay?" Said Peko.

She didn't respond. Just then they both heard footsteps coming from the hallway. Peko prepared for whats to come. From the end of the hallway Natsumi finds a rather odd student coming towards them. From Natsumi's description this student had short brown hair reaching only a quarter of his neck, has brown coloured eye color, and a characteristic she noticed was that his left hand was bandaged from the waist up. In Addition, he wore a black dress shirt with a matching light purple lab coat to go with it, as well as typical blue jeans, and white dress shoes to finish the outfit. At first glimpse of this student Natsumi was afraid to respond first thing knowing that he saw the crime scene. As he finally walked up to the two students he took a look at the dead body of Sato as if an autopsy was being performed.

"I see that you did a lot of damage to this one student." Said the unknown student as he bends down and lifts Sato's left hand up.

"I had to do my job. I'm sorry…" Said Peko not looking at the unknown student.

"She tried to kill me!" Said Natsumi as the unknown student finished checking on Sato.

"It's impossible to save her the most fatal part of the neck was sliced right open. On top of that she would have possibly died from shock of the severe damage in her left eye" Said the unknown student as he stood up once again...

"…I didn't want this to happen. All I just wanted was to be near my brother." Said Natsumi realizing the horrible actions done from both her and Sato in this whole situation.

"I wouldn't blame you for your actions but, there could have been ways to handle this without having to murder her. I believe we will encounter each other again at another time." Said the unknown student as he departed from the scene.

As he left the Scene Natsumi looked back at Sato once again with the eyes and shaking of a guilty person. Without anything left to do Natsumi and Pekoyama left the scene as security was drawing near.

- (Segment 2)-

Classes were cancelled today after security found out about the murder of Sato. Despite the culprit being found the school did not decide to suspend Pekoyama using self defense as an excuse. The murder clouded over Natsumi's Mind as her whole life she's been living a Façade only to fulfil her wish. In the midst of her thoughts she hears a familiar voice.

"Natsumi Are you alright?" Asked Hajime.

Natsumi looks back to a now worried Hajime and with him another unfamiliar student this time a girl. This girl was described by Natsumi as rather plain looking but, pretty enough. She wore the standard school uniform given by hope's peak but, wares a rather cherry red hoodie with a blue paintbrush pin clipped on to the sweater. Her hair colour was a rather light red to match her blue coloured eyes and a smile as bright as a sun. Natsumi's thought at first was that she seemed like an idol but, thought instead that she must be an artist of some kind with the clue given to her by the pin on her sweater.

"Hinata… I'm fine not that you need to ask!" Said Natsumi in an aggressive tone.

"Hinata a friend of yours? She seems really shy to talk to you? " Asked the unknown student giggling.

"Yeah… she's just a little stubborn is all." Said Hajime with a smile.

In that girls mind she never heard of the word friend due to everyone fearing her outside of just one person who had the courage to stand with her; that person was once a friend to her: Mahiru Koizumi. However she still stunned to this day that Mahiru still talks to her after the horrible deeds she has done.

"F…Friend...Me? You…you're KIDDING right? Why…would I be friends with a no…" Natsumi stopped what she was saying as she thinks that this would not be the best time to tell the truth.

"Natsumi are you okay? You're acting weird? Is there something you want to tell me?" Said Hajime worried.

The guilt continues to eat up Natsumi as she feels responsible for what happened. Despite Sato deserving death for attempting to take her life she felt that something could've been done to not result in death. To a normal person they try to forget the event and move on with life but, Natsumi for reasons she finds herself still haunted by everything that happened that day. In the moment she couldn't keep it in anymore.

"I'M SORRY MAHIRU! I KILLED SATO!" Said Natsumi who blurred it out.

"WHAT!?" Said the two students in front of her with shocked expressions.

Natsumi with a scared expression on her face doesn't know what to say anymore at this point.

"Natsumi…You…Killed Sato?" Said a familiar voice

Behind her was Mahiru her old friend. Natsumi's poor mind slowly broke in the moment in a state of shock and not able to say anything. She felt as her life as a Yakuza is slowly becoming the fate that she wished to avoid. Her world slowly feel into a feeling that was known as Despair.

"Mahiru…She….W…W…W…" Said Natsumi trying to muster up the strength from her shocked state to tell what happened.

"Why….Why did you have to do this…." Cried Mahiru as the red haired girl runs to Mahiru to try to comfort her.

Natsumi felt it. Actual tears falling from her eyes but, not out of fear instead though it was tears of regret and pain as she felt this wasn't supposed to happen. Just as Natsumi was about to accept whatever harsh words she was going to receive someone appeared in front of her

"Mahiru…I apologize but, Natsumi was not at fault for killing Sato… the person you should direct your absolute anger towards is me. I was the one who ended her life." Said Peko appearing in front of Mahiru.

Natsumi managed to snap out of her shocked state and realize the situation at hand now. And behind her next to Hajime was that unknown student once again. However at second glance he had a few items with him with one of them seems to be a scrapbook.

"Mahiru. You should know that Sato was planning to kill Natsumi this whole time believing that Natsumi would try to inflict more humiliation and harm to you. I got this information from her hidden notebook and from her conversation from Natsumi before setting off her plan." Said Kazuki as he presents Sato's Notebook to Mahiru.

"Why?" Asked Natsumi.

The unknown student doesn't respond as Mahiru flips through the notebook with each passing page changing her expression to the worst possible. Nanami looking at the notebook at all felt that the situation was too much for her to handle. Hinata was just shocked about the whole situation but, couldn't speak out. Peko was the worst though. Peko felt not only regretful but, felt as if her life as a tool was meant to be as it's the only thing she knows what to be despite Fuyuhiko's many attempts to tell her that she is more human than a tool. She believe it is right for Mahiru to get angry with her as she clutches her fist hard to a point of her bleeding. The unknown student all of a sudden hands me a roll of medical bandages to wrap up the hand as he watches Mahiru once again.

"…I…can't believe this." Said Mahiru as her world crashed inside.

Natsumi looked at her old friend in despair and decided that enough is enough. The Natsumi from before is gone as she sits next to Mahiru and beings to finally speak without any more Hesitation.

"Mahiru I'm sorry about how this turned out. I never had any intentions for this to happen. I was going to make amends with you after someone convinced me to a new path. Until this, I didn't expect for Sato to just bring a bat and attack me. You can hate me if you want Mahiru but, please understand that I didn't want any of this to happen." Said Natsumi in the first time in a long time being sincere.

"Natsumi…" Said Hinata surprised of her change in attitude from their last encounter.

Mahiru dropped the notebook and Hugged Natsumi crying her eyes out. Natsumi reminded of a similar situation in her life puts her arms over her shoulders to comfort her.

"Mahiru…Be strong! This is what she would have wanted! She wanted for you to be safe and damn it if I have to then I will make that promise that you are never to be hurt this way again!" Said Natsumi with confidence and her conscience put to the side for the sake of her old friend.

"…Natsumi. Hinata you can be incredible." Said the red hair girl to herself surprised that the influence of Hinata was possible to redeem a seemingly rough person.

"…Natsumi..." Cried Mahiru as she clutched Natsumi's hands further onto Natsumi's arms crying her eyes out.

Peko was genuinely surprised about how much she changed in just one day. The unknown student was seen now with a smile on his face as believed by Peko and Hinata that this is what he desired. unknown student walked towards Hinata and held out his hand.

"I thank you Hinata. I can see from this observations and from both of your last encounters that you have a gift in showing people their potential to change." Said the unknown student smiling.

"Uh thank you but, I'm just a talentless person." Said Hinata nervously.

"So what. Everyone becomes talentless at first until they find something they are best at. I didn't become skilled at what I do just out of nowhere; I practiced until my fingers broke multiple times. Some who become ultimates can achieve it still through extremely hard effort." Said the surgeon.

Hinata was astounded but, realized his words were true as his hand was still bandaged up. After they shake hands the Unknown student went towards Mahiru and gave her back her camera that was dropped.

"Look into the camera and there lies a photo that you should back on." Said the Unknown student as he took his leave.

After all of that emotions given in this moment the whole group decided to split and meet up with each other in the morning now that the past is behind them. Lest we forget though that the world is still cruel and something still bothered Hinata though. In the midst of his thoughts he realized he forgot about the Izuru Project and wonders if he still wants to become Izuru Kamakura. He decides to discard the idea of becoming Izuru thinking about the words every ultimate around him said especially that line about talentless can become an ultimate through effort. Though he worries about his families faineances since the tuition is extremely high. Is it worth it though… for Hinata it becomes two sides that continue to clash. But the word effort continue to echo much further in his mind. Maybe what that student said is right.

- Meanwhile -

Natsumi felt different than before as if she saw a side to herself that she fears to express. To her being strong and dominant is common for those of the Yakuza to express as they take crap from no one. However at the same time she feels ashamed for showing a side of sensitivity that is considered a weakness to them. While walking on her way home she discovered waiting for her was the unknown student.

"It's you again? Why do you keep following me around?" Said Natsumi as her cheeks puffed up.

"It's not that I follow you around. I just want to give you my name and be on my way." Said the Unknown student smiling.

Natsumi finds it weird now that this mysterious student has been smiling for being the type that is very serious. Natsumi on the other hand has to thank him for the little help he gave her to confront Mahiru.

"Okay then, what is your name?" Asked Natsumi.

"Kazuki Middonaito. In this case I am the Ultimate Surgeon." Said Kazuki as he lend his hand out.

"So that explains the bandages I guess." Said Natsumi giggling alittle.

"Either way, I'll see you whenever I do." Said Kazuki as he walks the other way.

Natsumi smiles knowing that her time in Hope's peak will become a long and interesting journey with all the past behind her. Just as she becomes lost in thought, her brother Fuyuhiko appears before her with a serious face going on.

"Fuyuhiko." Said Natsumi softly worrying.

"I heard everything about the Sato incident. I also heard about your situation with one of my classmates. All I can say was…Thank You." Said Fuyuhiko with a grin on his face.

"Wh…What?" Said Natsumi surprised about her brothers reaction.

"Honestly I'm pretty pissed that a bitch was attempting to kill my Sister. Then I saw how much it affected Mahiru and… it hurts me a little. That damn teacher's influence is getting to me. Look I just don't want any more shit to happen until the end of the semester." Said Fuyuhiko fumbling a little on his words.

"Brother…I promise I'll change" Said Natsumi looking down.

"Do what you want. If you want to change go for it then maybe you'll find a path without bloodshed." Said Fuyuhiko grinning.

"Yes! I will surpass you as a yakuza boss but I will find a way that you desired." Said Natsumi with a cocky smile on her face.

"Interesting…it's like you changed in one day. That boy must have done the impossible." Said Fuyuhiko as he is surprised by the change.

"Fuyuhiko…" Said Pekoyama confused.

"Oi, just remember what I say, just because I'm the future heir to the clan doesn't mean I'm a man without emotion or morals." Said Fuyuhiko smiling.

"Brother..." Said Nastsumi seeing the side of her brother she's never seen.

Peko can be seen showing a slight smile on her face as the two changed in such a short time. Believing that Fuyuhiko and Natsumi will retain the side she loved the most about them two: Their Kindness. With this they go home and looking forward for what's to happen next.

- (Segment 3) -

"The Izuru project…Should we actually go through with it?" Questioned Tengan.

"I believe it would benefit our school. However due to circumstances we shall postpone the project until we clean up the mess that happened yesterday. The media got a hand of the murder and it doesn't look any good that one of our students had psychopathic and murderous behaviour. I already send my apologies for Sato's family and took the punishment for our security not preventing the murder." Said Professor Miyo.

"I apologize for any harsh words towards you Mrs. Miyo especially since you had no involvement with security. However I apologize more about keeping you here for long hours and giving you sadly no time to see your sons or daughter." Said Tengan bowing his head.

"As much as I love to see them. I believe independence would be fine for them. The same could be said for President Kirigiri. His daughter is rather intelligent and strongly independent." Said Professor Miyo smiling.

"Indeed. Poor girl though grew up without her father for a long time. It hurts me that he abandoned her." Said Tengan clutching his fists.

"I understand but, President Kirigiri must have had his reasons." Said Professor Miyo.

"He didn't though professor Miyo. He only fulfilled his selfish ambitions! Miyo Kyoko is not the same girls that you taught years ago. You know that well." Said Tengan to what seems to be frustrated.

"Tengan, with all due respect, he still deeply loves his daughter no matter where he goes he still thinks and cares about his daughter." Said Professor Miyo.

"…His influence got to you." Said Tengan in a disappointing tone.

"…" They both ended the conversation there and left without one more word.

- (Segment 4) -

School was out today for the Hope Peak students today as teachers review for what to do with their students for their field trip. As usual though Natsumi doesn't know what to do. With nothing to do around she decided to take a walk around the city when she ran into a familiar face.

"…Hmmm? Natsumi was it? You seem bored." Said a girl in a hoodie.

Yep that defiantly fits the description Hajime gave me before of someone he knows. The pink hair, sleepy eyes, short, and soft voice. Her name is Chiaki Nanami if I recall correctly.

"Y…Yeah? I have nothing really much to do." Said Natsumi.

"Wanna head out to the arcade…A group of friends from the school is meeting up with me there inn about 20 minutes. Hajime wanted me to invite you." Said Nanami with a smile.

"Sure I guess. How did you know who I am though" Said Natsumi as she walks with Nanami to the arcade.

"Hajime told me your name and showed me a photo of you." Said Nanami.

Natsumi was surprised that someone actually invited her to go somewhere. She felt Nanami was special as someone was not afraid of her and surprisingly treated her more human than a monster. Natsumi believes that her promise from yesterday may lead for the best future. Deep into her thoughts she continues to hear those word, "Promise". Can she really keep her promises this time around? She then arrives at the arcade with Nanami and waiting for her there were some people that Natsumi knew and didn't knew. Amongst the one's that Natsumi knew were there she had difficult even wanting to see due to the situation that happened a few days ago. That person was Mahiru.

"Koizumi…Have you been well…" Said Natsumi nervously.

"Ye…yeah I've gotten better. Thank you for asking." Said Mahiru who seemed to have recovered.

"Hmmmm…I see you've finally got more social Yakuza." Said Kazuki with the red haired girl next to him.

"You again. It seems you appear when I do." Said Natsumi.

"Coincidences. My sis dragged me here today anyways." Said Kazuki with an annoyed expression.

"Oi! Don't be so glooooomy! You just can't just keep working yourself to death until you break your fingers for the 50th time now." Said Kazuki's Sister.

"So much for being social on your end." Said Natsumi poking fun at Kazuki.

"Sorry I didn't introduce myself! My name is Nariko Middonaito. Also known as an ultimate painter! A pleasure to meet you." Said Nariko with a pleasant smile.

"Uh…" Said Natsumi not knowing what to say.

"Heh. You seem to have a complexion perfect for a portrait. You would go well with Mahiru and Nanami!" Said Nariko.

"Complexion?" Questioned Natsumi.

"It's complicated to explain. Anyway I didn't expect you to come to a place like this." Said Nariko.

"Well…I was invited and… Ugh…" Said Natsumi fumbling on words.

"It's okay…Now just have some fun." Said Nariko with a smile.

Despite the lack of experience that Natsumi had for Video games she managed to hold up okay. Natsumi was generally surprised on how much fun it was to play video games but felt it was more fun playing it with other people. However she was just satisfied that Mahiru was at ease and enjoying herself. With all the past now aside at least for the day Natsumi found herself enjoying interacting with other ultimates and Hajime. She found herself not worrying about being an ultimate no more and rather instead making memories from her experiences. In general that old world of hers is slowly disappearing.

"…Thank you Nanami for inviting me. It was a lot of fun." Said Natsumi smiling.

"No problem. Just ask anytime and we can hang out." Said Nanami.

"Thank you. I should be heading back home now. My brother is probably wondering where I went." Said Natsumi heading off home.

"Hmph. It seems like the job here is done." Said Kazuki with a smug smile.

- EPISODE 1 COMPLETE-

Next Episode: Project Izuru.

Thank you for reading the chapter!

*Newly introduced this chapter

*Kazuki (Ultimate Surgeon) – Class 76 class rep.

*Nariko (Ultimate Painter) – Class 77-A class rep.

* Professor. Miyo (Ultimate Gunslinger) Teacher at Hope's Peak academy.