Shinto Kodama

Art of Shinto Kodama featured on the official tumblr

**Shinto Kodama** (木魂心登（コダマ・シント）) is an alumni of Hope’s Peak Academy Class 75, and a participant of the Killing School Reunion featured in Danganronpa 4: Paradise on the Hopeful Planet . His title is the Ultimate Lucky Student.

## Personality

One of Asuka’s best friends from high school. A friendly young man who thinks seriously about what he can do to help others. Though he tries to stay positive, at heart, he’s a worrywart who can’t stop fretting about various things, usually the safety of his friends. He feels somewhat out of place as an alumnus of Hope’s Peak Academy. He admires Asuka greatly for her emotional resilience and optimism. Also best friends with Chizu Tomiyoshi.

## Free Time Events

### Inclusion in the story

Sadly, Shinto did not receive enough votes to be selected for Free Time Events prior to his murder. His free time events were released in full in Chapter 15, starting a tradition in which the victim and blackened would have their Free Time Events revealed at the end of each case's Chapter.

### Transcripts

“Shinto? Are you in there?” I ask.
“Coming,” I hear him call from the other side. Within a moment, he opens the door. “Hey, Asuka,” he says, giving me a warm and easy smile. “Do you want to go somewhere?"
I nod, and we set out into the ship again. We end up at the supply room, where Shinto racks up a ridiculous number of lucky bonus pulls from the MonoMono Machine... It feels a little nostalgic. I remember a time I had to get a bag to help someone carry a bunch of pachinko “special prizes” across the street after graduation, but I can't remember who I was with... Was that Shinto?
“This really takes me back,” he notes, increasing my own certainty. “I wish I'd get the kinds of things I want, though...”
Immediately, I reach into my pack and fish out a chocolate snack--something I got the last time I tried the MonoMono Machine by myself--and offer it to him. “Hey, how about this?”
[ Lost: Segmented Chocolate x1 - An American treat in a bright red package with four distinct breakable segments. Often given to students for good luck on exams. ]
His expression warms as he accepts it. “Hey, this is my favorite candy! You always were really thoughtful... Thanks, Asuka. I guess if we have to be here, being here with you isn't so bad...”
I smile. “Right back at you.”
He opens it up and snaps it into two, then offers half to me. I accept it, and we munch the wafer-chocolate sticks together. Once we polish it off, he stuffs the empty wrapper in his pocket, presumably to throw away properly later.
“So, Shinto,” I say. “I know you said you didn't want to go into how we all met and stuff without Chizu here, but... could you at least tell me how you and I met?”
“Huh?” He blinks at me, then rubs the back of his head again. “I'd love to, but... we kind of all met at the same time.”
“Aww, pleeeease?” I beg, clasping my hands under my chin and giving him my best puppy-dog eyes. “I'm sure Chizu wouldn't mind that much!”
“Ahaha, stop, stop!” He holds his hands out in surrender as he grins. “All right, all right... Maybe if I tell you that much, you'll remember something. That'd make Chizu happy for sure, so I'm sure she'll forgive me.”
Yesss! Success!
“Let's see... It was the first day of school at Hope's Peak,” he begins. “I'd made sure to show up early because I wanted to make a good impression, but the only other people there were Daichi, Otome, and Yuzuru, and, uh, none of them were that friendly to start, so I was nervous and feeling out of place. Oh, and Chizu was there too--I was in the second-to-last seat next to the windows, and she was in the chair behind me--but she was so absorbed in building a robot model she wouldn't even look at me.”
“Wow,” I say, and not in a good tone. “That must've been a terrible first day.”
“Ahaha... Well, it was only the morning before everyone arrived. It did make me feel really lonely, though. And, uh... kind of too intimidated to try to start up a conversation with anyone else.”
I nod. “So then what happened?”
“Classes started, and I managed to get through the day until lunch. I was feeling pretty bummed out, though, so I started looking at pictures of my dog on my phone to cheer myself up.”
I clap my hands. “Ah! I already see where this is going! I saw you looking and I just had to scoot over and say what a cute puppy they were, right?”
He laughs with more than a little delight. “Exactly! You were seated next to me and you happened to notice. My dog--her name was Maron--she was a Newfoundland.”
“Oooh! Newfs are such sweet dogs! They're so big and friendly!”
He laughs again, even harder. “That's what you said back then, too!” His smile turns bittersweet. “I wish I still had my phone so I could pull those photos out again... But yeah, we struck a conversation about her, and you were so enthusiastic and friendly you made me feel like I fit in for the first time.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Then Chizu saw us gushing and asked to see Maron's photos too, and before we knew it, the three of us were friends.”
“Aww...! That's really nice!”
“And that's how the three of us started talking,” Shinto concludes. “Does it ring any bells?”
I tilt my head up and think. “It definitely feels familiar,” I say slowly. “But... it's like a soap bubble in the bath. You try to reach for it, and it just floats out of your grasp...”
He nods, sobering. “Oh, well... At least we tried.”
“We can try again!” I say, pumping my hands. “Maybe if you tell me more about Maron, that'll jog something! It's about your dog, not our friend trio, so Chizu won't mind, right?”
Shinto hesitates, then nods. “Yeah. I think you're right. And you always have been an animal lover, so... who knows? Maybe it will work.” He rubs the back of his neck. “Let me have some time to think of some good stories. I could talk about Maron all day, but it wouldn't help you much if I talked about her pulling me around in carts when I was a kindergartner.”
I could just scream. That's such an adorable mental image!! “Okay!” I enthuse. “But just so you know, I'm down for anything you can tell me about your puppy!”
Shinto laughs warmly. “I'll keep that in mind.” He looks back over at the MonoMono Machine. “So, uh... shall we give this thing another shot?”
“After you!”
And so we spend a little more time fooling around with the MonoMono Machine. It gets stuck in what seems like an impossible loop of lucky pulls, and Shinto tells me that this could be a while and I should probably head back to my room. Ahaha... Maybe I shouldn't have told him to go first. I agree to leave him to it, but I can't help but wonder, will he end up cleaning the machine out?

For my part, I put on my PJs with a spare pair of undies and take the rest over to the laundry room. To my surprise--not that it really should be a surprise, all considered--Shinto's already there, in the middle of putting in a load, when I arrive.
“Oh, hey, Asuka,” he says, looking over his shoulder at me. He's even wearing his jammies too! “Nice timing! We can keep each other company while our stuff washes.”
I grin. “Yeah, lucky us!”
He laughs faintly. Once we've both started our loads, we both sit at the table in the center of the laundry room. It'd be nice if there were dryers and washers, but no, we've got clotheslines hanging across the ceiling... How Japanese.
“So how'd it end up going with the MonoMono Machine?” I ask. “Did you ever get anything you liked?”
He shakes his head. “Nah... There was some good stuff, just nothing I was into. I got tired of doing pulls, so eventually I walked away.”
One of the things I hadn't put in the wash was my camera bag. I rummage through it and pull a prize I'd won earlier out. “How about this, then?”
[ Lost: Animal Calendar x1 - A monthly calendar featuring colorful portraits of adorable puppies, kittens, and other animals. Such fluff. Much cute. Aww. (Wait, didn't you take these photos?) ]
He lights up as he accepts it. “Hey, I love these kinds of things! And aren't these your photos?”
“They sure look like it!” I grin. “It really is no wonder we became such fast friends. Speaking of, can I ask you more about Maron?”
“Sure! She's the only dog I ever had...” He laughs, little rueful. “Well, technically she was the family dog, but we got her as a puppy right when I was born, so we'd been together ever since we were babies.”
“Oh wow! That's amazing!” I pause, something clicking. “Wait. You said she was a Newf, right? If I remember correctly, they usually only live around nine to ten years...”
“Ah...” He sobers. “Yeah, she lived a really long time for a dog her size. She passed away at age eighteen, a few months before we graduated.”
“Wow,” I breathe. “That's a really long time for a dog. Not the longest ever, but...”
He nods. “Yeah. It messed me up bad at the time, but looking back, I'm glad it happened the way it did. She died peacefully, surrounded by family, well before the Tragedy started. And before she passed away, my big sis brought her to campus so we could all meet her. It was really... really nice.”
“Ohh, man, I'm sure it was,” I murmur. I can just imagine all the photos I must've shot of Maron and Shinto together. “Do you still miss her?”
He chuckles ruefully as he averts his eyes. “I'd be lying if I said I didn't, but it's been about five years now. I've got the rest of my life ahead of me now.”
“That's the spirit!” I cheer--and then pause. Despite what he says, Shinto still looks gloomy. It is a morbid subject... “While we're reminiscing, can you tell me about the good times with her?” I prompt. “If you grew up with her, I'd bet anything you rode on her back when you were little!”
He laughs again, this time bubbling with happy memories. “Guilty as charged! God, she was such a patient dog. One time, while we were playing in the mountains near my uncle's place...”
We wile away the time with stories about Li'l Shinto and Maron the Wonder Dog. Some of them are hilarious; some of them are sad; some of them are scary; all of them are heart-warming. If he wrote a book about his childhood with her, I'd read the hell out of it. Maron was such a good dog...! I wish I could've seen the time she jumped into the river to save him from drowning when he was seven! Or the time she ate Shinto's little brother's sandwich right out of his hand, then coughed it up when it turned out the deli meat had gone bad, or the time she backed up Shinto's big sister when she had to babysit her kid brothers all by herself, or all the belly rubs Shinto's parents gave her on the couch. The way he talks about her, it's like Maron was part of the family herself. Which is the way it should be!
Eventually, the washers finish and we pin up our loads to dry, but I'm loathe to have him stop, so we end up chatting until our laundry's dry, too. After that, though, we gather our stuff, promise to hang out again sometime soon, and part ways.

## References

1. ↑ 1.0 1.1 1.2 1.3 1.4 1.5 Danganronpa 4: Paradise on the Hopeful Planet on tumblr