Danganronpa Kirigiri/Volume 1

## Danganronpa Kirigiri

***Danganronpa Kirigiri Volume 1*** (ダンガンロンパ霧切（１）) is the first volume in the *Danganronpa Kirigiri* light novel series written by Takekuni Kitayama. It was first published by Seikaisha on September 13th, 2013.

## Official Synopsis

* Kanji
* Translated

これぞ“本格×ダンガンロンパ”！！

謎の依頼を受け集結した五人の探偵たちを待ち受けていたのは

「犯罪被害者救済委員会」が企む

「黒の挑戦デュエルノワール」を通じた連続探偵殺人事件の幕開けだった……！

原作ゲーム『ダンガンロンパ』のシナリオライター・小高和剛からの直々の指名を受け、「物理の北山」こと本格ミステリーの旗手・北山猛邦が描く、霧切響子の過去??！

This is "Kitayama x Danganronpa"!!

"Waiting for the five detectives who gathered at the request of a mystery was the dawn of a series of detective murders through the "Duel Noir Challange" planned by the "Victims Catharsis Committee"...!"

Personally appointed by scenario writer of Danganronpa, Kazutaka Kodaka, "Kitayama of Physics" Takekuni Kitayama, a leading figure in the mystery genre, writes a tale of Kyoko Kirigiri's past??!

## Summary

Yui Samidare, a High School Detective wakes up at the Sirius Astronomical Observatory Murder Case after being called by the Detective Library along with fellow members: Kyoko Kirigiri, Eigo Amino. Kou Inuzuka and Shiita Enbi.

## Volume Plot

*Main article: Sirius Astronomical Observatory Murder Case*
### *Sirius Astronomical Observatory Murder Case 1*

A young girl awakes on the ground with tears streaming down her face and her right arm handcuffed to a bed. She doesn't remember if she is crying because of a sad incident or because of 'that' dream. She tries to gather her thoughts and remembers that she arrived with 4 other detectives at Sirius Astronomical Observatory to meet a client. A sign that read “Welcome to the Picturesque Sirius Astronomical Observatory” is crossed out to read “Welcome to the Despairesque Sirius Astronomical Observatory.”

She gradually remembers that her name is Yui, and that she and the other detectives must have been tricked as the client never showed up, but instead, they ended up in this situation. Yui frees herself by lifting the bed a little and releasing the chain and goes to examine her surroundings. She spots Kyoko lying unconscious on the ground next to blood-stained hedge clippers and hesitates to go near her.

Yui finds the other detectives lying on beds; decapitated with their bodies switched around. With a heavy snowstorm outside to prevent anyone from getting in or out, and the fact that only she and Kyoko are alive, Yui suspects the unconscious girl of killing them. Her suspicions deepen when she spots the key for Yui's handcuffs in Kyoko's grip.

Kyoko awakens at the sound of the handcuffs click, and after spotting the clippers, slowly reaches out for them. Yui quickly handcuffs Kyoko's left hand to a chair, afraid of what Kyoko would do with the clippers and confronts Kyoko on her suspicions of her being the murderer. Kyoko denies killing anyone and begins recalling of what she remembers from before the current situation: All five of them were alive and chatting in the hall when a white smoke fills the room. Everyone apart from Kyoko drops to the ground unconscious, and she quickly pretends to be knocked out to see how the events proceed.

However, the murderer comes up behind Kyoko and places a cloth drenched in a chemical to make sure she was knocked out for sure. Kyoko recalls how she gripped the culprit's hand before blacking out, which was a mans hand, and concludes that Yui being the murderer was out of the question.

Yui then ties Kyoko's other hand to the chair with her hair ribbon and continues to investigate her surroundings to make sure no one else apart from her and Kyoko were in the room.

Yui thinks through the details of the murder and how they resemble a black letter which was delivered to her a few days ago. Kyoko asks to read it, which Yui complies with, and announces that this wasn't a normal murder scene, but instead, they were pawns in a game.

### *Duel Noir 1*

This chapter is the only chapter written from the criminal’s point of view. The unnamed criminal is in the hospital waiting room, waiting to receive painkillers because his leg hurts. An old man sitting next to him strikes up a conversation, hinting that he knows more about Unnamed than he ought to. Unnamed thinks that the old man is part of some religious cult or the press, but the old man gives him his business card which reads “Victims Catharsis Committee — Tōkichirō Endo.” Tōkichirō wants Unnamed to think of the Committee as a non-profit organization that has no connections with the government. Unnamed scoffs, thinking they’re probably like a religious cult anyway — they get close to victims with promises then ask for a ton of money.

Just as Unnamed is about to leave, Tōkichirō asks him, “Don’t you want revenge?”

It seems that five years ago, Unnamed was living an average proper life with a proper job, until everything was taken from him. Unnamed was living in a neighborhood where arson occurred continuously, with no one able to catch the arsonist. One day, Unnamed too got caught in the fire along with his wife and two-year-old son. While they all came out with heavy burns, he was the only one to survive. A detective eventually caught on that the arson was made in locations that formed a star on a map, and easily deducted that it was the work of an astrologist who lived in the center of that “star.” However, when the detective came down upon the astrologist’s residence, the astrologist had already burned to death and the case was wrapped up as an arson-ending-in-suicide.

Unnamed had let his hate grow since the time of his accident, because he wanted to take it out on the criminal, but with the astrologist dead, he didn't know where to vent his hatred at anymore. Because of his physical state, he lost his job and now spends his life on government funds. Here he was filled with hatred, disgust at how his life was like now, as well as a strong desire to start a new life. And here was an old man who said he would be able to give him the very things he wanted — revenge and a new life. Unnamed decides to hear Tōkichirō out.

Tōkichirō tells him that the real criminal is still at large. But before he is to tell Unnamed who that criminal is, Unnamed is to accept certain conditions first. Unnamed suspects money, but Tōkichirō says that the condition is that he must exact his revenge on the real criminal and kill him. “Revenge” is what their Committee calls “Catharsis.” To achieve this catharsis, Unnamed must have “determination” to kill, the “money” to kill, and the “technique” to kill. But since many people, including Unnamed, are amateurs when it comes to technique, the Committee will formulate the perfect murder scenario for him for a fee. Unnamed scoffs and goes to leave again, thinking that this is some elaborate story to get money out of him, but Tōkichirō says that the Committee will gather up funds for him and thus Tōkichirō will not have to pay anything.

The reason for this, Tōkichirō says, is because there are certain people in the world who love to gamble — not on horses, but on people with revenge in their hearts who strive to get away with the perfect crime. When the Committee recruits promising people like Unnamed, they get sponsors who provide for the funds for the “catharsis” process. For the Committee to formulate a plan for Unnamed, he would use his funds to buy “cards” from them that contain the various elements that become his murder plan. These “cards” are particularly pricey — for example, in a previous murder plan the Committee formed for someone else, the card for “metal bat” was worth 300,000 yen. Unnamed wonders who the heck would pay 300,000 yen for a metal bat that they could just buy in any sports store, but Tōkichirō says that that is because this metal bat is worth that price. This metal bat would not have any lingering hints attached to it, such as the make or origin that it can be traced to, security cameras in the store that could catch you buying this bat, etc. All for the perfect crime.

However, with every gamble there must be a thrill. And so, after the Committee forms the “deck” of cards that make up the murder plan, they will also choose a detective to be assigned to this case whose rank is the equivalent to the total cost of that “deck.” By having a detective, the Committee believes that this will lead to a most pure form of “catharsis.” Unnamed is to send a letter of challenge to the detective who is assigned, exact his revenge, and then avoid being caught by the detective for 168 hours. If he succeeds, the total cost that made up his “deck” will be given to him to use freely. They would even erase his past history so that he can start a new life. However, he must not kill or even as much scratch the detective assigned to him (anyone else is fine), and if he loses, his connection with the Committee is severed for good. He will be treated as a common criminal and he must pay the funds that were provided for him. Since Unnamed obviously can’t pay them back, Tōkichirō implies that he then best be prepared to kill himself.

Unnamed knows that Tōkichirō is baiting him, because after all this explanation, Tōkichirō will absolutely not tell Unnamed the real criminal’s name until he accepts. To add more incentive, Tōkichirō says that so far the detectives have only achieved a 28% success. The plans that the Committee formulate are that perfect. Tōkichirō can see that Unnamed is ready to make his decision, but suggests that Unnamed think about it for another night.

### *Sirius Astronomical Observatory Murder Case 2*

Yui tells that she is a high school girl, who goes to an all-girls school. It’s a really well-known mission school for rich girls, except the religious part of the school has died down quite a lot. Although working part-time is forbidden in the school, she petitioned to be a detective which the headmaster Sister agreed to joyously because the Sister saw being a detective as “volunteer work.” Yui is the only detective in the school. She also lived in the school campus dormitory, ever since she entered this school. After some description, Yui mentions that she noticed the black envelope in her post box on the winter of her first year in high school, in December. So far Yui has received 2 love letters in her all-girls school, one of which she has turned down and the other she didn't know who was from.

The black envelope contains the black letter, along with another letter written by “Yoshizono Ōe” who says that he is speaking on behalf of his client. He wants her to meet at Hatesaki station on December 22nd, 3pm to be picked up, so that she receive an interview with his client at Sirius A.O. and, upon his approval, become privy to details of his very important case. Yui looks up information on Sirius A.O. online but finds limited information.

Yui takes absence from school and arrives at Hatesaki station. At this point is when the snowstorm is slowly beginning to fall. Because the station is pretty empty, she learns quickly that the other people who gradually join her at the station are other detectives who have also been called to this case. They are Eigo Amino, Shiita Enbi and Kou Inuzuka.

Yui, judging from Kou’s looks, thinks that he is a poor drunk but changes her mind when Kou deducts her lifestyle simply by taking a look at her. Despite his love for drink, Kou is a keen detective.

Arriving on the dot of the appointed time at the station, last of all, is Kyoko. The other detectives are surprised that such a young girl is part of their team, with Yui being probably the most surprised because Kyoko is wearing her school’s uniform. Her school also has a middle school section, and Kyoko is wearing the uniform for 7th graders. Yui has never heard of a detective in their middle school. She talks a bit with Kyoko as they are driven to Sirius, learning that Kyoko is a new transfer student who just entered her school.

The driver drops them off a bit away from Sirius O.A., telling them that his orders were that he drop them off there and they are to walk the rest of the way. Along the way, Kyoko and Yui talk some more. Kyoko thinks something is wrong and suggests to Yui that they leave, but seeing the three men walking ahead in front of them, she whispers “can’t leave them to die” and decides to stay on board.

From here they reach Sirius and investigate the building and its furnishings. The detectives investigate the place while waiting for their client to come, who doesn't appear. Eigo thinks they should leave, but Kou thinks this is part of the interview and says they should wait it out. They all pick a room in the observatory to stay the night, with each person more or less with or without a change of clothes, when white smoke fills the hall and Yui falls to the floor unconscious, leading to the current situation.

### *Duel Noir 2*

This chapter only contains a picture of each detective’s DSC.

### *Sirius Astronomical Observatory Murder Case 3*

This chapter is a continuation of chapter 1, with Yui still not believing that Kyoko isn’t the murderer. While Kyoko is tied to the chair, Yui investigates in Kyoko’s place, doing as she instructs until Yui is basically the “helper” reporting to the “all-mighty princess detective” sitting in her chair. Through her investigations, Yui learns that the corpses of the three bodies are actually cut into smaller pieces— the arms and legs are cut into three pieces, with all body parts rearranged.

In this chapter we first hear something about Hope's Peak Academy. There is a moment when Yui jumps up to the roof to investigate, showing off amazing jump power that even surprises Kyoko. Yui says that she set records with her perpendicular jumps, and if she had gone into a sport or competition of some kind, she could have been able to get into Hope's Peak Academy. However, since she chose to become a detective, which doesn’t involve that much jumping, she is not a Hope's Peak student.

Through Kyoko’s deductions, they get down to the conclusion that Yui is put up to play the role as detective, while Kyoko was set up to play the role of the murderer, by the real murderer. Therefore, if neither Yui or Kyoko are the murderer, the real murderer had to have been one of the three dead men. Yui says that isn’t possible, but with Kyoko’s thought process, they conclude that another man — someone who looked exactly like one of the three men they’d seen — was murdered beforehand and cut into smaller parts for easy transportation. Then when the murderer killed the other two men, he could use these smaller body parts he’d transported to succeed with the three-body crime.

However, there is no place in the building for the criminal to hide. Yui has searched everywhere, and even when the rest of the detectives were alive, they had searched the building thoroughly to find no place for a full-bodied man to hide in. So, Kyoko suggests, what if it *isn’t* a full-bodied man?

To prove her point, she asks Yui to trust her and untie the ribbon around her right hand. Yui does so, because a part of her can’t really believe that such a small child can be the murderer. Kyoko, still sitting with her left arm chained, takes a bottle of whisky from Kou’s bag and pours it over her legs. Then she takes a lighter from Eigo’s bag and holds it up, saying that she will light herself up in five seconds unless the murderer reveal himself. Yui thinks she’s gone nuts, but Kyoko tells her to be quiet and counts down. Just as she reaches to one, a man’s voice calls out “I’ve lost” and Kyoko, standing up, tells him to come out from there. A man, who looks very much like Shiita , comes out from inside the small easy chair. Both of his legs are amputated from the thighs down because he lost them in a fire. But they still hurt.

### *Duel Noir 3*

The real murderer’s name is Tadashi Asakura. He is holding a knife, which he kept at Kyoko’s back the whole time in case something went wrong and he had to kill her straightaway. Tadashi asks Kyoko when she first noticed that the chair she was sitting in was hiding him, and she says that it was part of her analysis from the very beginning. Since Tadashi’s lost the game now though, he’s pretty much given up on any hope and reveals to Yui and Kyoko what he knows about the Committee. It’s his way of getting back at them, with the hope that the two can end their game and stop other people like him from going down this path.

Tadashi had chosen Detective Shiita through the Detective Library because they looked so much alike, calling him out with the same letter he’d given the other detectives but with an earlier time so that he could kill him before the other detectives arrived. Tadashi uses prosthetic legs to get around, which Kyoko noticed when they were walking to Sirius but made no connection with the murder at first. Tadashi killed Kou, who was the real criminal in the arson case — Kou was a detective who committed the very crimes that he later solved so he could increase his rank. This shocks Yui very much because she has the image that detectives should be honorable and defenders of justice. Eigo he killed to complete his murder scenario. He chose Kyoko as his scapegoat because he thought she would be the most useless one of the bunch, but it turns out that this was his fatal error.

Police sirens are heard, and the police arrive to collect Tadashi. However, when Yui and Kyoko turn around next, the police that they thought had surrounded the building are nowhere to be seen. One hour later, the real police arrive and Yui and Kyoko are driven back home. The police that had arrived first had been working for the Committee.

Later on that day, Yui hears on the news that a black car was found crashed from sliding down the side of the mountain road. The man inside died from severe injuries due to the crash, and the police wrapped it up as an accident. The man is identified as Tadashi Asakura.

### *Normal Days*

Normality returns to Yui’s life despite such a severe murder case. Kyoko attends school like normal, and Yui corners Kyoko to set up a date at the Detective Library. From their talk with Tadashi, Yui is interested in finding out more secrets on the Committee and thinks looking up info at the library will be a good start.

Yui’s impression of Kyoko has greatly improved since the first time they met, and Yui thinks of Kyoko as really cute and admirable.

At the library, they learn that they have increased in rank, with Yui now rank 7 and Kyoko also rank 7. Kyoko states here that she aims to be zero-class, if she is to be acknowledged as a detective, and in order to raise in rank, she will have to solve four more cases similar to the Sirius one. But waiting around for these cases to fall into their laps isn’t going to happen, which means she will have to actively find these cases. To do this, she investigates detectives that are of triple-zero-class with not much case history, meaning that they must have solved Committee murders to achieve such rank, but doesn’t find much info she can use, so she moves on to the double-zero class. Even then, the two don’t find much info, so they write a note to the detectives, saying that they wish to know more about the “Victims Catharsis Committee, please contact Yui Samidare.”

While they wait for someone to contact them, Yui learns a little more about Kyoko. She was born into a family of detectives and is raised by her grandfather; according to Kyoko, she has no father or mother. Yui calls Kyoko’s residence to ask her to meet her at the school on Christmas at 7pm (Yui stays in the dorms for the winter holiday, saying she has a reason for not going back home)

Yui takes Kyoko to the school rooftop, showing her a brilliant sight of the campus. There, Yui reveals to Kyoko that she lost her younger sister when she was young. Her younger sister was kidnapped and killed, and it is still an unsolved murder case. This became Yui’s reason for wanting to become a detective. Yui feels that being a detective is her duty because Yui could have been the one who was kidnapped instead, since she and her sister looked so alike. Yui feels that she sometimes is unable to see her reason for continuing to be a detective, but seeing Kyoko and how she acts inspires her. Yui tells Kyoko that if, one day, Kyoko is also troubled like her over her reason for being a detective, then Yui wants Kyoko to stay her true, pure self.

Yui gives Kyoko a present, Rose In Vitro, which Kyoko is very pleased with. Kyoko asks Yui if she sees Kyoko as a replacement to her sister, which Yui denies. Kyoko is Kyoko, and no one can replace her dead sister, Yui says. While Yui is grateful to Kyoko, Kyoko also says that she is grateful to Yui for believing in her during that murder.

The two shake hands when Yui’s phone goes off. Yui answers it to hear Wagner’s Die Walküre playing on the other end, including a live trumpet. A helicopter arrives above them, where this song is being played. A man’s voice on the other end tells Yui “Merry Christmas,” and the owner of this voice jumps out of the helicopter onto the rooftop they are on. Yui recognizes him as Suisei Nanamura, whose ID number is 900. A double-zero class in 9 distinction is pretty rare.

Yui guesses that this has to do with the Committee, and Suisei agrees, taking out a black envelope from his inner suit pocket. Suisei invites them to join him, which the two agree.

The book ends with another black letter, this time addressed to Suisei Nanamura. Because this Duel Noir comes at such a high cost, Suisei says it is a sign from the murderer that they fully intend on winning.

## Novel Illustrations

* Insert Illustrations by Rui Komatsuzaki.