A/N: Well, here's the next entry in my Danganronpa Gaiden series, exploring the two years prior to the events of Trigger Happy Havoc. Please read and review as we embark on this long journey, and enjoy!

The Ultimate Detective and The Ultimate Hope Gaiden: How I Met Your Mother (And How I Met Your Father)

Prologue: Paths Crossed

"Kiki! Kiki, get back here!"

The topless young girl hid behind the kitchen counter as her father walked in, scanning the kitchen for any sign of his daughter. After a few tense minutes of silence, the girl sighed in relief, thinking that she had outwitted her father, only to immediately afterwards find herself being hoisted off the ground and into the air, her father's exasperated gaze focused on her eyes.

*Sigh* "Must we play this game every single time, Kiki?"

Giggling, the five-year-old girl grinned as she replied "But it's so fun having you chase after me, Daddy!"

Chuckling, Makoto moved to cradle Kiki in his arms as he replied "Alright, young lady; you've had your fun." Wiggling his fingers in her sight, he teased "Now it's time for your punishment for resisting taking your bath."

Kiki trembled in mock fear as she playfully begged "Oh noooo, please, anything but that, Daddy!"

"Sorry, Kiki; you know how this goes. First you break the rules, now…" Makoto grinned as Kiki playfully squirmed in his hold as his spidering fingers lowered closer to her exposed tummy. "…It's time for…" Kiki froze just before Makoto's fingers made contact with her skin, scribbling all over her belly as he exclaimed "for your belly to be tickled! Tickle, tickle, tickle, Kiki!"

Kiki burst into adorable laughter, a joyful smile spreading from ear to ear on her face as she playfully begged "Nooo! Pleheheheheassse! Naaahahahahat the behehehehllyyy tiiihihihihicklessss! HaHAHAHAHA! Dahahahadddyyyyy! Stahahahahahap, pleeeeheheheheheseee!"

Makoto grinned as he ignored his daughter's fake pleas. Kiki had inherited both of her parents' extremely ticklish nerves, but unlike Makoto and Kyoko who only enjoyed being tickled when they were in a bad mood, Kiki absolutely loved to be tickled. Her love of being teased and tickled was so great that ever since she could run consistently, she would struggle against bath time just so her parents would punish her with tickles. She had pulled this stunt so many times that Makoto had long since learned to differentiate between her playful "Stop", which translated more or less to "Whatever you do, PLEASE don't stop!", and her serious "Stop", which meant "I've had enough for now!"

As Kiki continued to squirm and bellow in his grasp, Makoto continued spidering her belly, walking towards the bathroom as he informed her "Your punishment will end when we get to the tub. In the meantime, you'll just have to endure it."

Kiki continued to giggle, laugh, and squeal, playfully squirming as her father carried her to the bathroom where his wife was waiting for them.

XXX

A now naked Kiki leaned backwards, sitting in the laps of her equally nude parents as they soaked relaxingly in the lukewarm water of the tub.

"Alright, Kiki, a few more minutes in the tub and then it's story time, okay?"

"Okay, Mommy. Ooh, I know what story I want tonight!"

Chuckling at his daughter's enthusiasm, Makoto replied "Alright, Kiki. What story do you want us to read to you?"

Grinning, Kiki turned her head to look at her parents as she answered "I wanna hear how you and Mommy met and fell in love!"

Makoto and Kyoko looked to each other with surprised expressions on their faces, caught off guard by Kiki's request. The story of their romance was…complicated, to put it lightly, containing struggles that no five-year-old should ever know about.

In an attempt to dissuade Kiki from her course, Kyoko replied "Kiki, that's not exactly something that can be told in an hour. It would take many, many bedtime stories to tell you about how we fell in love."

Pouting, Kiki dug in, retorting "I don't care! That just means I'll have something to look forward to every night." Turning around in her parents' hold, she crawled up to kneel on their laps, pressing her hands against their bellies for supports as she begged "Please, Mommy? Please, Daddy? I promise, until your story is fully told, I won't struggle during bath time!"

Makoto and Kyoko blinked in surprise; for their daughter to prioritize hearing their life story over receiving the near-daily tickles that she craved, proved just how much she wanted to hear their tale.

Makoto was the first to cave, compromising "We can tell you about the first two years that your mother and I knew each other." Looking to his wife, he murmured "That timespan is largely innocent, so it should be okay for her to hear if we edit out a few things."

Nodding to her husband, she turned back to her daughter and caved "All right, Kiki. We'll tell you about our first two years together, but that's it. Do you understand, young lady?"

Nodding energetically, Kiki embraced both of her parents as she exclaimed "Thank you, Mommy! Thank you, Daddy!"

Smiling, Makoto and Kyoko returned the embrace, hugging their daughter close before standing up, Kiki being eased into her mother's grasp as Makoto reached for a towel to dry himself and his two favorite girls off.

As soon as all three of them were dry and dressed in their pajamas, Makoto eased her into his grasp, putting her down on the floor before exclaiming "All right, Kiki. Let's head to your room for story time,"

"YAY!" Kiki exclaimed before running off, leaving her parents in the dust as she hurried to her room.

Smiling amusedly, Makoto and Kyoko walked out of the bathroom at a leisurely pace, following their daughter to start recounting the start of their shared past.

XXX

Not long after they arrived, all three Naegis were soon snuggled under the blankets, Kiki nestled between her mother and father.

"Alright, I'll start us off for tonight. Get ready, Kiki, because I'm gonna tell you a part of our story that even your father doesn't know!"

Makoto looked to his wife in surprise, his eyebrow raised as his curiosity was piqued, exclaiming "A part of how we met that I don't even know about? This I've gotta hear, honey!"

Kyoko giggled as Makoto and Kiki leaned closer as if on the edge of their seats before beginning "Alright, alright. Now, our tale begins twelve years ago, conveniently enough on your birthday. It was a day that your father would later label his "Worst Day Ever"…"

XXX

March 15, 2014

"Well, here we are; Tokyo Police Station. That'll be 3,000 yen."

The passenger wordlessly fished for a fistful of bills in their jacket and placed them in the waiting palm of the cabby. They then stepped out of the cab and turned around, about to walk to the station when they were caught off guard by a maternal shout.

"MAKOTO NAEGI, SLOW DOWN! WATCH OUT!"

Before they could process what just happened, an unseen force barreled into them, almost knocking the wind out of them in the process. They looked down, spotting a young child with spiky brown hair, tears leaking out of his eyes.

"Makoto!"

Their gaze adjusted from the young, crying boy to the frantic voice that was getting closer and closer. A youthful woman with wavy, long brown hair skid to a stop panting as she scolded "Makoto!" *pant* "You need to watch where you're going," *pant* "You just bumped into someone!" Finally catching her breath, the woman looked to the former passenger apologetically, explaining "I'm so sorry about this. My son here accidentally stumbled into a robbery and he just finished giving his testimony to the police. We were on our way to pick up a cab, and I guess my boy here was so eager to get out of there that he didn't watch where he was running to." Glaring down at her son, the woman urged him "Makoto, you apologize right now for…"

"It's fine…" they cut her off, confusing the young woman. "I have to head into the station myself, and I don't have time to dilly-dally. I'll just forget this ever happened." Walking off, they called back "Good-bye", not bothering to look back at the stunned mother nudging her son into the cab as they walked through the doors of the police station.

XXX

"Detective!"

The Detective in question walked up to the desk as the officer in question held up a case file in a manilla folder, informing them "I've got the case file here for you; the suspect is in the interrogation room waiting for you."

They nodded, wordlessly taking the file with them and flipping it open, beginning to read up on the suspect.

"Jutaro Akafuku. Thirty three years old, wanted for several cash and jewel robberies across the Tokyo Prefecture. Apprehended when attempting to hijack a bus, using 17-year-old Makoto Naegi as a hostage…" Wait…Makoto…Naegi?

They flipped through the file; surely enough, a picture of a boy exactly matching the one they had just run into stared them in the face, his picture labeled "Key Witness" in red ink on the back when they further examined it.

So I ended up running into the key witness for this case. No matter; his testimony has already been written in here, so there's no need at present for me to cross-examine him.

With that thought tucked away, they continued where they left off.

"After disembarking from the bus, Akafuku stole a mailman's motorcycle, then crashed it when running over a soda can earlier dropped by Naegi."

The Detective smirked at the slightly humorous end of Akafuku's attempted escape.

Right up there with slipping on a banana peel…

Closing the file, they soon approached the interrogation room, opening the door and sitting down across from a young, well-built man with angry red eyes and singed, black hair; Jutaro Akafuku.

XXX

"I'm the Detective in charge of this case."

Jutaro scoffed, disbelieving as he exclaimed "No way, a chick? The fuzz sent a goddamn chick as the Detective to interrogate me? Wow, they must be shorthanded today!"

She resisted the urge to respond to the crack at her sex, having had plenty of practice and training in resisting expressing her emotions to criminals.

"Let's get started. I suggest you confess to the truth now; it'll make a plea deal much easier to orchestrate." Opening the case folder, she began "Akafuku Jutaro, at 6 A.M., you robbed a jewelry store in the Akihabara District."

"Well, duh, sweetcheeks."

Ignoring the crack, the Detective continued "You then picked up a bus and rode it all the way to Kojimachi, during which an old man and this boy" she slid Makoto's picture across the table as she continued "boarded the same bus as you. Correct?"

Jutaro looked at the photo, scowling and growling "That damn…that bastard Makoto Naegi!"

Raising an eyebrow in surprise, she inquired "Oh, I see. You knew Naegi prior to this encounter, then?"

Right as she was making a mental note to herself to bring Makoto back the next day for more questioning, Jutaro scoffed "No way, princess! I don't associate with high school kids. I just overheard one of the cops say his name when they were booking me, that's all."

Discarding the now unnecessary thought, she cleared her throat and continued "I see…moving on. During the bus ride, Naegi tripped and fell on you, exposing the jewels you stole. Realizing you had been caught, you took Naegi hostage, holding him at gunpoint and forcing him into the driver's seat to you could make your getaway."

"That's right, sweetheart, and I would have gotten away with it too, if that meddling kid hadn't gotten up to try and stop me and caused the bus to barrel out of control!"

"Then it would seem you picked the wrong hostage, Akafuku. Moving on…after Naegi had stopped the bus, you took the opportunity to make your escape, stealing an unoccupied mail bike and crashing it once you ran over a discarded soda can."

Gritting his teeth, Jutaro clenched his fists and yelled "That damn Makoto Naegi! It all would have gone perfectly had I not run into him and his accursed luck!"

Snatching the photo back from Jutaro and placing it back in the case file, she closed it before responding "You failed because of your own incompetence. Whatever luck or misfortune Naegi may have brought into play was likely of little consequence." She then got up, tucking the folder under her arm as she finished "Well, our time here is done."

As she started to walk away, Jutaro called back "Wait! What about my plea deal?"

Without even turning to look at him, she finished "I'll inform my supervisors about your cooperation and they'll determine whether a plea deal is in order. Goodbye."

XXX

Dropping the manilla folder back on the desk, she looked the slightly startled officer in the eye as she addressed him "Inform the Chief that Akafuku Jutaro was cooperative during my interrogation and that I will be returning home."

As she turned to go, she turned back around when the officer manning the desk called back "Wait, Detective!" Removing a large, white envelope with the black symbol for the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy on the top left corner, the officer continued "Your father came by while you were in the interrogation room. I told him you were busy and he left this, asking that I make sure you receive it."

My…father…?

Equal parts curious and aggravated that her father would try to show up at her workplace, she snatched the envelope from his grasp, opening it and removing a single white letter from within.

"Ms. Kyoko Kirigiri,

We are pleased to inform you that you have been selected to join the 78th Class of Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Detective. Included is an orientation guide for Hope's Peak Academy.

-Signed, the Hope's Peak Academy Steering Committee

P.S. I'm so proud of you, Kyoko!

-Papa"

Initially filled with relief at having officially accomplished her goal of enrolling in Hope's Peak Academy, Kyoko became filled with irritation at the handwritten addendum scribbled at the bottom of the form letter by her father.

…How like that man to ruin it for me by saying something so sentimental…

"Uhh…Detective, are you okay? You're wrinkling the invitation."

Taking a deep breath, Kyoko regained control of her emotions and assured him "I'm fine, officer. I'd best be on my way. I have to inform my grandfather of the news and inform my school about my transfer."

As she exited the door and hailed down a cab, she looked down at the envelope in her hand, eyes blazing with determination as she buckled herself in and gave her directions to the driver.

I'm now a student at Hope's Peak Academy. Prepare yourself, Headmaster Kirigiri; I'm coming for you. You can't run away from me this time!

XXX

Present Day

Stunned, Makoto asked "Wait, hold the phone here! You're telling me…that not only did you bump into me before we even went to school together, but you were even in charge of my case? Why don't I remember any of this? And why didn't you mention it before?"

Adopting her signature thinking pose with her chin resting in her hand, Kyoko explained "I imagine that because it was a day that you yourself said you wanted to forget ever happened, you just blocked out running into me as a consequence. Besides, your eyes were trained on the ground the entire time, so you didn't even know what I looked like."

"…Yeah, you got me there…" Makoto scratched his cheek sheepishly.

"As for why I never brought it up…well, you remember how anti-social I was when we first met officially, and I didn't expect the case to come up again, so I saw no reason to tell you of our prior meeting."

Nodding Makoto reasoned "Yeah, that makes sense, I suppose."

Meanwhile, Kiki was bouncing in her seat as she exclaimed "Wow! That was so cool, Mommy! What happened next?"

Smiling at his daughter's enthusiasm, Makoto looked to the clock and ruffled her hair, answering "Sorry, kiddo; it's just past your bedtime. We'll have to save our official first meeting for tomorrow."

"Awwww!" Kiki groaned, putting as she mumbled "No fair!"

Chuckling, Kyoko leaned down to kiss her cheek, assuring her "I know it's hard, but I promise, we'll have plenty of story time tomorrow, okay?"

"…Okay, Mommy."

"That's my girl."

Getting out of bed, Makoto and Kyoko brought the blanket up to Kiki's chin, taking turns kissing the tip of her nose as they said "Good night, Kiki. We love you."

*Yawn* "…Love you too…"

Smiling, Makoto and Kyoko made their way back to their own bedroom, the two parents reminiscing in bed about their year of peace as students of Hope's Peak Academy.