Chapter 1: Byakuya-sama is G.o.d
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Once it is fired from a gun, a bullet cannot be reused.
(Atsushi Oonami, Ill.u.s.trated Hand Weapon)
This text was written using the following note-taking system.
k2k-system ver2.3
Adulterations. Fabrications. Imitations. I think that one must often tolerate these in a world rife with copies of copies of ma.n.u.scripts. I am left speechless by the solidity and sheer veracity of a system.
Therefore, my job is only to make a few corrections. I know my place. I have no intention of joining the ranks of those monks who ruined Old English poetry.
All the best to the spirit of the original.
That is, if there is such a thing.
Danganronpa Togami Volume 1: Multiple Counts of Attempted World Domination
Chapter 1: Byakuya-sama is G.o.d
1
The story is simple. A young man tried to take over the world.
A young man had extraordinary adventures one after the other, until finally, he got what he wanted, and was able to return home safely. And he lived happily ever after.
The problem is all of the means that were taken to that end.
2
I heard the World Domination Proclamation from a back alley, as it played from inside the Church of Bones[1]. I was chewing on some hard bread.
Maybe this is how it felt to hear the blank shots firing from the black ships[2], or the Black Hawk being shot down over the radio[3]. If I were a certain princess, I would have probably let out an elegant scream: "G.o.d d.a.m.n it! You mother f.u.c.ker!"
There was something I needed to do. There was someone I needed to observe and depict. I am the verb "to write" made manifest. I am the act of "writing" made manifest. A writing machine. A word puppet. But still.
Still. I pushed countless thoughts aside, well aware of how I was blushing.
He had everything stolen from him. His name. His status. And then, to add insult to injury, he had had his clothes stolen too, leaving him asleep as naked as he came. Right next to me.
So, basically.
Right in this moment, am I the only one in the world who knows that he exists? Do I have a monopoly on him? I"ve come to realize this fact.
So I"ll just tell the world about how the bread tasted, instead. It was real s.h.i.tty.
3
Plane hijackings. Company hijackings. Lately there have even been family hijackings, but what he had hijacked was his ident.i.ty.
4
Right after the World Domination Proclamation ended, a number of helicopters started flying overhead. They buzzed around the city of a hundred spires like metal beetles.
Was this their work, too? Or were these from the Czech government? With Borges I could probably have looked up the helicopter specs, but when the whole world was gunning for us, I didn"t really see the point.
In the whole wide world, the only ones we can rely on are each other.
"Byakuya-sama."
I finally said his name. I realize it"s taken a while for the protagonist to arrive. Sorry to keep you waiting for so long. But I hope you can understand.
Robbed of those golden medals of "Super High School Level Heir", "Megacorporate Successor", "The Togami Family"s Greatest Weapon", "Forty Billion Yen in Personal a.s.sets", "Walking Talent", "Walking Emperor-in-Training", and "Walking Gla.s.ses", he was left entirely in the nude, and so I didn"t want to roll him over so that he was facing upwards.
Despite my worries, when Byakuya-sama opened his eyes, his whole being was nothing but beautiful.
He sat on a wooden box, showing his naked body without any embarra.s.sment, reminiscent of a Roman sculpture. His flaxen hair was glossy. His skin was as smooth as porcelain. Even the fingers that touched his gla.s.ses were perfect. Byakuya Togami was a perfect 10 out of 10. Even after losing everything, he was still overflowing with as much elegance as ever.
"Byakuya-sama, are you feeling all right?"
"I"m perfectly fine." Even his voice was beautiful. "Why was I sleeping in the nude? Explain."
"The Church of Bones was attacked. You lost consciousness when it happened, so I carried you to the alley to escape, and now, here we are. Take this."
"What is this thing?"
"It"s a towel."
"Are you an idiot? I can tell that much by looking at it."
"One of the locals was kind enough to give us this towel, along with the bread that I"ve been eating."
"Go find them."
"Are you going to kill them?"
"I"m going to reward them with a castle." Byakuya-sama wrapped the towel around his waist. "Have you identified the attacker?"
"Not yet, but uh..."
"Do not hesitate without my permission."
"Um, well, somehow or another, it looks like someone has taken your place, Byakuya-sama."
"Taken my place? Taken my place? The place of the one and only Byakuya Togami? You"ve become quite the comedian." Byakuya-sama pushed up his gla.s.ses with his fingers like he always did.
Oh, quick correction. Earlier I got a little too excited and said he was "as naked as he came", but actually his gla.s.ses were the only thing left intact. And another correction, since the nickname Walking Gla.s.ses wasn"t actually a compliment at all. I guess I"m a little off today, too.
I have to get back on the ball as soon as possible. I have important work to do. I"m writing a biography on par with Shinchou Kouki and Taikouki.[4] That"s what I was put on this Earth to do.
The t.i.tle of the biography is Journey Under the Midnight Sun.
And it is not a ripoff![5]
"A funny joke... That"s right. It must be a joke. A hilarious joke." Byakuya-sama nodded several times, as if moved by his own words. "This event will make a very momentous chapter in Journey Under the Midnight Sun. After all, this is the only time in my life to date that I have faced a setback. It is the first time in my life that I have encountered adversity. Of course that would be of interest. How lovely. How refreshing."
Heheh. Heheheh. He laughed. As if he"d encountered a challenging game. As if he were a child who found a frog he hadn"t squished yet.
It was a beautiful sight. It was a divine scene.
Byakuya-sama is a G.o.d.
In order to record these impressions before I forgot them, I pulled out my beloved fountain pen, along with the book I always carry around.
This is Journey Under the Midnight Sun. I color the blank white pages with blue-black ink, getting closer every day to filling it entirely with records of Byakuya-sama"s magnificence.
The pen flew across the page, gliding on my happiness.
"Hmph. It seems you"re already getting started on writing it. Splendid. I expect no less from one of my possessions. No less from my Blue Ink."
"Your praise is the deepest honor I could receive."
"Dedicate yourself to your writing, and make it full of emotion, grandiose, and yet without belaboring the point, without licentiousness, without excessive sentimentality, your words cool and collected. I will resolve this incident without fail. Yes... I stake the Togami name on it."
Translator"s Notes
[1] Church of Bones - a nickname for the Sedlec Ossuary. Incidentally, the novel seems to place this in Prague, but it appears to actually be about 1 hour away from the city.
[2] black ships - this part of the sentence refers to Commodore Perry"s arrival in j.a.pan.
[3] Black Hawk down - like in the movies.
[4] Shinchou Kouki and Taikouki - two biographies.
[5] Journey Under the Midnight Sun - it has to be specified that it"s not a ripoff because it"s already the name of a mystery novel. In terms of it being a biography of Byakuya, it is a pun - the j.a.panese t.i.tle is "Byakuyakou" because Byakuya"s name means "Midnight Sun". So the biography t.i.tle should also be taken to mean something like Byakuya"s Journey.
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