Day 5. "Regret" @kaemakiweek2020
(Danganronpa V3 Chapter 1 Spoilers!)
Maki Harukawa was never good at hiding secrets. She was volatile, cold as ice, and found it uncomfortable and draining working with other people. She preferred quiet activities over games of imagination, never sugarcoats anything, and hardly showed any emotion. Even the kids at the orphanage drained her. None of these fitting for a child caregiver. It always felt weird and unnatural to put up a facade that otherwise would clash with her appearance. Her classmates would get suspicious of her contrasting behavior to her talent if she hung out with them, so she supposed that distancing had it's advantages. It would only be a matter of time until her secret was out, isolation slowed down the process. However, no matter how much she distanced herself, there was one person she couldn't ignore.
Kaede Akamatsu was a leader. She kept the morale of everyone in the academy up and always seemed to not be affected by any criticism thrown at her. She also tried to see the best in other people no matter how irredeemable. No matter what, Kaede aimed to stop the mastermind and end the killing game. Maki found her annoying. The idea of escaping with everyone, let alone end a killing game was too tall of an order. Maki was unnerved by her constant pep and swore that the despair of the situation would eat her alive. Shaking other people off her back was fairly simple even at the expense of others feelings. However, Kaede made this impossible. She was curious about her and always found time to spend time with the brunette. Maki didn't want to admit it to herself at the time, but despite being sharing only the bare minimum and not agreeing with Kaede's ambitions, she found herself getting attatched to the blonde haired girl. She was an overall good person and Maki seemed to look foward to seeing her. Kaede never seemed to leave her mind- her smile, her warm hands, the silly music note hairpins that the pianist seemed attatched to, and those violet eyes of hers left an imprint on the ruby eyed girl. Some repressed part of her mind felt longed for her touch and felt that Kaede could potentially learn about every part of Maki and still not leave her side.
Which was why Maki found herself curled into a ball at the entrance of the late pianist's dorm at Night Time. Maki took out a torn music scroll that she found crumpled in the back of the Mono Mono Machine from her breast pocket. She had no use of it, but she felt that Kaede would appreciate it. It could've potentially been an opportunity for the two of them to bond. Kaede talked about playing the piano, but Maki never had the chance to hear it for herself. Maybe Kaede would've played the what was on the score for her. However, after the previous events, she couldn't bear to look at the tattered score without thinking of the countless music sheets that fluttered through the air as the iron maiden piano lid slammed shut on the pianist's lifeless body or the cheerful tune that the bastard monochromatic teddy bear and his annoying kids crudely made Kaede play that aimed to mock the remaining students. Maki pulled herself tighter and held the score in a vice grip as tears spilled out of her eyes. She ran her fingers through one of her twin tails in an effort to soothe herself, but even the smooth texture of her hair couldn't take her mind off of Kaede. From the time that she spent with Kaede, she didn't allow herself to truly open up to the pianist, now she would never get the chance.
