"and back into despair again" is a Danganronpa AU fanfiction by ikuzonos
where the roles of Class 77-B and Class 78 are swapped. The Killing School Life follows the point of view of Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Team Manager, while the Killing School Trip follows Mondo Oowada, the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader.
The story assumes you have played both Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc and Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair, so be wary of any spoilers from the game
You can read the story at Fanfiction.net or at Archive of our Own.
This page is currently under construction; any contributions are appreciated.
and back to despair contains examples of:
- Accidental Murder:
- The Ultimate Imposter when trying to get answers from the recluse Hajime.
- Hifumi when trying to stop Mukuro from ending her life to free everyone from the Fun House.
- Adaptational Heroism: No longer the Ultimate Despair, Junko Enoshima is now a Genki Girl that tries to keep up everyone's hope during the Killing School Trip, even when she starts breaking apart after her sister's death.
- Adapted Out:
- The Killed Among Love Ones motive does not appear in the Killing School Life. Instead, the first kill occurs because the Imposter was suspicious about Hajime and unintentionally killed him in the struggle.
- Alter Ego does not appear. Justified as he was created by Chihiro, who would be one of the Ultimate Despairs at the time.
- Adaptational Villainy:
- The Mastermind of the Killing Game is revealed to be Peko Pekoyama.
- Hiyoko Saionji is revealed to have worked for the Mastermind, taking their place at the start of the game.
- Fuyuhiko, Nagito, and Ishimaru both intended and succeeded to kill their targets.
- Surprising out of all the characters was Makoto, who killed Chihiro to escape the killing game.
- Ambiguous Situation: No reason was given why Nagito killed during the third motive of the Killing School Life, given the wealth he already possessed that would make the million yen reward trivial.
- Death by Adaptation:
- For the Killing School Life, Hajime, the Ultimate Imposter, Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko, Mahiru, Teruteru, Nagito, Ibuki, Hiyoko, and Peko.
- Downplayed with Makoto, Kyoko, Byakuya, and Toko, in the Killing School Trip since they were in the Neo World Simulation.
- It is implied that the real Aoi Asahina died since an AI takes their place in the Neo World Simulation.
- Die Laughing: Both Nagito and Makoto laugh during their respective executions.
- Driven to Suicide:
- Ibuki poisons herself out of guilt over being the traitor to the group
- In order to escape the Funhouse, Mukuro tries to slit their throat in order to help everyone escape.
- Graceful Loser: Hifumi confesses to his Accidental Murder of Mukuro as soon as the trial begins.
- Heroic Sacrifice: Mukuro attempted to kill herself in order to help everyone escape the Funhouse and so she could be with Sayaka again.
- In Spite of a Nail: Sonia, Akane, and Hiro all still survive their killing games.
- Implied Love Interest: Because Chiaki and Mikan take Kyoko's role in recovering Nekomaru from the trash after he is framed, it's hinted they
might be this to him. - The Lost Lenore:
- Mukuro undergoes depression following Sayaka's death.
- Following Byakuya's execution, Toko attempts to blow up the island to flush out the traitor, blaming them for his death.
- Mood Whiplash: Following the first trial, Mondo tries to spend a normal day with Kiyotaka, which lasts until they find Sayaka's body.
- Mythology Gag: All of the executions are references to either the doujin oshioki fever (which many fans thought was official) or to the canon executions in the fanbook.
- No Good Deed Goes Unpunished:
- Mahiru finds Nagito and thinks he's about to hang himself, so she tries to stop him. In return, Nagito slashes her throat.
- When trapped in the Fun House, Mukuro attempts to kill herself so the others can escape before dying from starvation. Hifumi finds her and tries to stop her suicide pact, but ends up killing her in the struggle.
- Out-of-Character Moment: The Despair Disease makes Toko super confident, Leon a complete slob, and Yasuhiro making complete sense.
- Power Trio: Nekomaru, Chiaki and Mikan take the role of the three future foundation agents who come to save the cast in the Neo World Program from Makoto, Kyoko and Byakuya.
- Role Swap AU: A general swap between Class 77-B and Class 78.
- Ship Tease: Mukuro and Sayaka are implied to been in a relationship before Sayaka's murder. This can be counted as the norm for Ikuzono's stories.
- Spared By Adaptation:
- The entirety of Class 78 excluding Aoi is implied to be alive by the end.
- Chiaki Nanami is also alive during and after the Killing School Life.
- Downplayed for Nekomaru, Mikan and Gundham as while they didn't survive the Neo World program, they did survive overall. Here, however, they reach the end of their killing game.
- Stepford Smiler: Like in canon, Mondo carries the guilt of his brother Daito's death.
- Because of this, Mondo suspects Junko is the same after Mukuro's death.
- Taking the Heat: Sonia tries to blame herself for Ibuki's death, and it's implied to be for reasons similar to Aoi in canon.
- Together in Death: Mukuro's secondary motive for trying to kill herself in the Funhouse, with her main reason being so that Junko wouldn't starve, was so she could be with Sayaka again.
- Well-Intentioned Extremist: Byakuya claimed that the reason he killed Kyoko was that she was actually the spy, and he had to kill Sakura when she witnesses his act. However, when Monokuma states that the spy is still alive, Byakuya remains nonchalant. It is implied that the reason he killed was to bring a stop to the Despair Disease.
