A Borrower’s Hope
Pt.1
Notes: This is a borrower inspired danganronpa au where Naegi is a borrower (a tiny person who lives off of stealing things from humans) during the first game. I plan on writing more soon so stay tuned >:)
Makoto could confidently say he’d never waken up to anything weirder. Even as a borrower who’d woken up before to the horrified eyes of a human, this took the cake. Waking up in an air duct in a building he had no memory of coming to was definitely not good. Especially when every time he tried to remember where he was or how he’d managed to get there his mind strained like a rubber band about to snap.
‘At least there was no one there,’ his mind supplied, ‘it could be worse.’
Slowly, stretching his tense arms above him, Makoto pushed his way up from the cold metal beneath him. Both his brain and body felt heavy like he’d been asleep for ages, and his legs wobbled under the weight. He had no time to sit though, he had to figure out where he was. It would be dangerous to stay put where a human could find him if he wasn’t careful. As far as he knew he could have already been caught. It would explain the feeling of dread curling in his chest after all.
With a new resolve at the thought, Makoto pulled his jacket tight to his body to fight the cold air blowing past. His skin prickled in argument, but it wasn’t like he really had a choice.
Ignoring his body’s protests he quietly started his walk through the mysterious vent. It wasn’t his first time of course, being a borrower; however, usually he knew where he actually was. In a place where he knew which humans were present and every inch of the building they lived in, being tiny was much easier. This was different.
His stomach groaned as if in agreement and he quickly realized he’d have to figure this out fast. He still had to find a way to meet his needs regardless of the unknown situation. Even so, every creak of the metal under his feet sent a spike of fear through his heart. As if he was expecting a human hand to grab him from the shadows at any second.
At every grate he stopped and knelt down to inspect anything he could see in the rooms below. Oddly enough after the first three gates he realized it was a school. Every room having rows of desks- all empty. It was odd but he’d been in a school before. The life of a borrower wasn’t an easy existence and schools were sometimes the safest place. No one was there at night after all. Vaguely he wondered if maybe that was the situation, if so he’d have a chance to investigate more while the usual bustle of students was absent.
However, he didn’t have much time to sit on the thought before a loud blaring sound echoed through the rooms below. He jumped, the fear of the worst still heavy in his head, before a blueish light through the grate below caught his attention.
Cautiously he poked his head through to see more. In the empty classroom the desks were now illuminated by a screen hanging just barely out of sight on the wall. If he strained his head further he could make out just a bit of movement on the television.
“Welcome new students to hopes peak academy,” a loud grating voice suddenly started, “When you sleepy heads are ready move your asses over to the gym. It’s time for your entrance ceremony. And you wouldn’t want to be late. Puhuhuhu.”
With that the screen cut off again leaving Makoto to sit in silence staring down into the classroom, the dread in his chest threatening to choke him. His hands gripped his borrowing hook, thankfully still with him, with barely contained fear. In a way it was comforting to know it could at least hurt a human a little bit if push came to shove.
He didn’t have time to linger however as the sound of footsteps started to echo through the building. Quickly, he backed away from the grate to avoid being spotted, but thankfully no one came into the classroom.
‘They were probably trying to see what was going on as well,’ he thought.
Still careful but with a little more urgency he made his way through the maze of vents. Several sets of booming footsteps helped guide him on where to go, and regardless of the terror curling up in his chest his feet moved forward as if in a trance. Before long, he found himself over a larger grate in what seemed to be the gymnasium.
As he peaked through the grate the sight below him made him freeze. Fifteen people, humans, stood still below. Each looked nervously at the others as if they too had no idea what was going on. It was very likely that was true, he decided, as none of them appeared to talk to each other. His eyes flitted back and forth among the faces far below, but still he couldn’t recognize anyone or any way he could have gotten here.
He didn’t have long to ponder it though before the booming voice was back, this time echoing throughout the gym. The faces below shot up at the stage and Makoto held his breath in wait.
“Hello sleepyheads, nice to see you up and early,” the voice boomed, “Finally got your asses up so we can start.”
And that was when everything Makoto thought he knew went out the window. Gasps filled the room as a small black and white stuffed animal popped up onto the stage. It moved naturally as if it was actually alive and something about it made Makoto’s hair stand on end.
The odd stuffed animal explained that they had to kill each other to leave- that they were prisoners here- with his upbeat grating voice that sounded a bit too much like nails on a chalkboard. All the while the people below seemed to get more and more aggravated. One especially tall one yelled at the bear and grabbed it only to find out that that too was dangerous. The ringing from the explosion left a dull ache in Naegi’s ears even from so far above.
‘This must be hell,’ he thought.
His heart beat fast as the people below scrambled to figure out another way out from their absurd situation. Sweat dripped down his face and although no one knew he was there every sound made him jump. Before long the humans had split into groups to investigate, and Makoto found himself jumping from grate to grate to see what they would find- hopeful there would be an exit.
It was a few hours before they seemed to give up. With disgruntled goodbyes the group dispersed, edged on by Monokuma (which he had finally learned the name of when one of the smaller humans had went to investigate the kitchen) who ushered them to their permanent rooms.
As soon as he was sure everyone was gone Makoto decided he needed to get supplies. Even if the situation felt unreal, he still had to keep himself going. To his benefit, he was pretty sure no one knew about him being there, given that the psycho bear didn’t say anything and he didn’t appear to have his own room. While it meant he’d be stuck sleeping in the air vents he decided there were much much worse options. And if somehow he was included in this awful game he knew he’d be quick work. Any of them could kill him with just one hand.
Makoto took a deep breath, trying to calm his swirling thoughts, and unwrapped his hook from his back. Thankfully he hadn’t lost that even if his memories were still hazy at best. He didn’t think he’d have any chance without the small metal hook with several feet of line attached. It was his only way of getting around after all, in a world built for humans.
Egged on by his grumbling stomach, Makoto made his way to the grate above the kitchen and latched the hook onto one of the bars. Cautiously he let the string unravel to a table below. He waited a few seconds to make sure no one saw before squeezing through the grate and propelling himself down.
The moment his feet hit the table everything seemed so much more real. It was almost dizzying how strange everything was, and although the situation was horrifying he couldn’t help but be a little thankful for the mounds of food available.
With his head on a swivel, always ready for one of the humans to show up, Makoto shovelled as much food as he could into his pockets. It wasn’t much since the bag he’d usually take with him for food had been missing since he woke up, but it would make do for at least a day or two. When his pockets were sufficiently stuffed he grabbed back onto the string hanging from the grate and climbed his way back. The shock of the cold metal made his skin crawl after being down in the warm room.
It took him a while of crawling through the vents but eventually he found a spot that felt a little warmer. The room below seemed to house the heater for the building so it would have to do as his temporary home. His stomach growled as Makoto sat down, back against the metal walls of the vents. Immediately, he tore into the crumbs he’d managed to grab, and before long it was all gone. His stomach still growled in distress even after he was done but he was too tired to go back for more.
‘He’d just have to go again tomorrow,’ he sighed at the thought.
As awful as this was he still had to survive. He just had to pray the humans he was stuck with wouldn’t cause too much trouble…
It truly was unfortunate that as he fell asleep, still hungry and tired, one restless girl was staring at a table in the kitchen wondering just how footsteps that small got there.