In order to fully enjoy the Danganronpa 4 Series, you must have played Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Ultra Despair Girls (Optional). You also must have some knowledge on Danganronpa/Zero and Danganronpa: Killer Killer.
Just to be friendly, since we know many haven't gotten into the novels, we'll try to explain when anything relating to them appears in the DR4 Series.
Danganronpa is owned by Spike Chunsoft. All we own are the original characters we created for Former, Apprehension, and Amiken Arcs. We're just fans who want to make a continuation of the Hope's Peak Series.
Thank You, and Please Enjoy Danganronpa 4: The Aftermath of Hope's Peak Academy.
-PROLOGUE-
Hope's Peak Academy - The Academy that shut its doors after "The Biggest, Most Awful, Most Tragic Event in Human History". The same tragedy brought upon by the Ultimate Despairs. Most notably, Ms. Despair herself: Junko Enoshima.
The Incident killed off many innocent lives. However, Towa City, the setting of a small game held by the Warriors of Hope, has now become a home for the survivors of this large and violent fracas.
Junko also created the Ultimate Despairs; Students that were of Hope's Peak Academy's 77th Class. This group helped spread Despair across the world. Junko initiated the killing game between the 78th Class where only Makoto Naegi, Kyoko Kirigiri, Byakuya Togami, Toko Fukawa, Aoi Asahina and Yasuhiro Hagakure remained as the survivors. Makoto received the Ultimate Hope title. These six were then rescued and taken in by the Future Foundation created by the Former Ultimate Student Council President among others. This foundation was created in order to stop the spread of Despair across the world. Its branch heads consisted of Former Ultimates who were students that attended Hope's Peak Academy. With the help of his fellow survivors, Makoto Naegi, Future Foundation 14th Branch Member, placed the Ultimate Despairs in the Neo World Program in order to return them to how they were before being influenced by Despair. In the end, it turned into another death game set up by Junko. Hajime Hinata, Kazuichi Souda, Sonia Nevermind, Akane Owari and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu: The sole survivors of the killing game that took place within the Neo World Program.
These are the events that took place before Amiken Academy was founded.
This is a story about the survivors of the Neo World Program Killing Game and their new life as teachers in a middle school at Jabberwock Island known as Jikiden Middle School.
. . . . .
Future Foundation - Main Room
[Beautiful Dead - Danganronpa 1 OST]
The members of the Future Foundation sat on multiple sides of the large table. At the end of said table that faced the large monitor, sat an older man with a brownish colored jacket very similar to Kazuo Tengan, khaki pants, brown shoes and black hair that was moved to the right.
"... So... Is everyone already here?"
Hijeshita Yakuten - Future Foundation 13th Division Member and Jikiden Middle School Principal
Hijeshita looks around. Two empty seats. He sighs as he clasps his hands together.
"Hm... Those two are taking their sweet time..."
States a member with their arms crossed signifying that they're against the direction of the meeting.
"We should start without them."
They continue. Hijeshita shakes his head.
"Why should we? They're important for our discussion."
He closes his eyes, but then opens them again as the sound of a door opening catches his attention. All the members look towards the door.
"Sorry that we're late..."
A familiar face steps in the room alongside a female.
Makoto Naegi - Future Foundation 14th Division Head and (Ultimate) Absolute Hope
Kyouko Naegi - Future Foundation 14th Division Member and Former Ultimate Detective
Hijeshita smiles and nods.
"No need to apologize, we understand. Glad the Naegi's had the time to participate in this meeting."
As the two sat down, Makoto gets close to Kyouko in order to whisper to her about something.
"Hey, Kyouko? What about Hirai?"
"Since we can't have her here, I had Asahina take care of her until this meeting is over."
Naegi nods as Yakuten turns to face the large monitor. After the press of a button, pictures of the Remnants of Despair appear on screen.
"The Remnants of Despair. The people who assisted Enoshima Junko during The Tragedy by spreading Despair to everyone they encountered. Naegi, with the help of his wife and other allies, managed to place them into the Neo World Program and delete Despair from their minds. In the end, however... It became another killing game set up by Enoshima. As a result... Only five were able to survive..."
He hovers his finger over five of the portraits and maximizes the size of them; Yakuten continues.
"Souda Kazuichi, Kuzuryuu Fuyuhiko, Owari Akane, Sonia Nevermind, Hinata Hajime, and to an extent… Kamukura Izuru. They are the five sole survivors of the Neo World Program Killing Game. After they had awoken, they were sent off to the real Jabberwock Island."
One of the members spoke up.
"Which was a bad idea. You do realize that Jabberwock Island is a safe haven for the people there, right? What's the point in calling it that if the Remnants of Despair are there?!"
Makoto places his hands on the table and stood up.
"W-Wait a second! They're not what they used to be now! They're... Essentially nicer now! I think we should give them an opportunity to redeem themselves!"
"Give them an opportunity to redeem themselves? Hell no! No matter how nice they become, nothing's gonna make people forget that they started the damn tragedy!"
As he said this, he slammed his fist down on the table much like a certain former Boxer.
"Enough. I agree with Naegi here."
Most of the other members turn to Yakuten in shock.
"W-What?!"
"We should give them a second chance. After all... We can make them Teachers for Jikiden Middle School."
Once again, the other members stayed in shock. They couldn't stand the idea of Ultimate Despairs taking care of children.
"With all due respect, Mr. Yakuten. Why don't we just give that job to people who are more qualified to teach?"
On another side of the table, a male who was actually on Makoto's side spoke up.
"I'm up for giving them a second chance... But I don't think letting them become teachers is the best... Why not make... Uh... I don't know, the 78th Class Survivors be their teachers?"
As soon as he said that, a female who wore lots of pink stood up.
"But why? You do realize that us Future Foundation members have more important things to do than just become teachers, right?"
Ruruka Andou - Future Foundation 8th Division Head and Former Ultimate Confectioner
"Hm... That's correct, Andou. With the Naegi's having to deal with both the Future Foundation and the caring of their child, they can't possibly be teachers. That'd put too much strain on them. Togami Byakuya and his men are off helping people in Towa City alongside Fukawa Touko so they can't help either."
Hijeshita speaks as photos of Towa City pop up on the monitor's screen.
"That just leaves us with Asahina Aoi and Hagakure Yasuhiro..."
Andou says with a bit of discomfort in her voice.
"And I don't think they're good enough to be teachers..."
Hijeshita nods a bit.
"The Remnants of Despair are all we have now... They're humans too. No matter how big the problem they caused is, they still deserve to get redemption. For them being teachers... As long as they treat my students well, it's all fine. Don't worry, we'll make sure to add security cameras so we can constantly supervise their actions. Besides… Maybe the rest of you will change the way you'll look at them."
The principal of Jikiden stands up and shuts off the monitor.
"Any objections?"
The room becomes silent. Hijeshita looks around before continuing.
"I'll be going to Jabberwock Island myself in order to discuss this subject with the Former Remnants of Despair. I'd like the both of you to come with me as well."
He says as he faces Makoto and Kyouko.
"It'll make things a whole lot easier."
The two Naegi's stared at each other for bit and nodded before looking back at Hijeshita.
"Right..."
"Hm. Meeting adjourned."
He left a bad taste with most of the other members who also thought he was crazy because of it. One of them eventually spoke.
"You're just like Munakata, Yakuten..."
Shinizou Kuwayouri - Future Foundation 3rd Division Head and Former Ultimate Carpenter
Shinizou's statement has Hijeshita stop before leaving the room.
"Don't even compare me to scum like him."
"Weren't the both of you old friends?"
"... I lost my respect for him a long time ago..."
With that, he finally left the room. Makoto would soon follow suit. Shinizou would stop him before actually letting him leave.
"Just don't try and betray the Future Foundation again. I'd rather not go against my own allies."
With that, Shinizou left as well. Makoto froze. For him, the thought of him actually betraying the people who saved him stung. Especially after he was considered a traitor when really all we wanted to do was help. He shook his head as he didn't want to overthink it. He was at least proud that Hijeshita was in agreement with him. One thing did catch his attention however, was the new fact that Yakuten and Munakata knew each other and were close friends before the Tragedy happened. Just what happened that caused the two to drift apart?
Future Foundation - Main Lobby
[Re: Beautiful Morning - Danganronpa 2 OST]
"Ow, hey don't do that!"
A female says as she moves a child she's holding away from her facial area.
Aoi Asahina - Future Foundation 13th Division Member and Former Ultimate Swimmer
The child she was holding let out a bit of a giggle.
Hirai Naegi - Young Daughter of Makoto Naegi and Kyouko Kirigiri
Asahina let out a smile. The small girl has light-purple hair and purple eyes like her mother. She has pigtails that have purple ribbons on them and also wore almost all purple.
"You better be careful. She's young so she's a fragile one… I'm worried we'd get a huge dock off our pay…!"
Yasuhiro Hagakure - Future Foundation 14th Division Member and Former Ultimate Clairvoyant
"What are you saying? Not like I'm gonna drop her! What kinda friend do you think am I?!"
As Aoi says that she holds Hirai closer to her. The little girl places her head on the swimmer's shoulder before pointing to her parents who finally exited the meeting.
"Mama! Papa!"
She says excitedly. Asahina and Hagakure turn around to face Makoto and Kyouko. Asahina handed the purple haired girl back to her mother.
"Did the meeting go well, Kyouko-chan?"
"Yeah. Though, we won't be here for long."
The Swimmer and Clairvoyant make confused expressions before Makoto spoke.
"It's about the Former Ultimate Despairs. Hijeshita has agreed to let them redeem themselves."
"Huh? How so?"
"We're gonna let them become teachers at Jikiden. We can only hope they'll do it."
"But... Are you sure that's a good idea, Naegicchi?
"We won't know until we try it, Hagakure. Kyouko and I will be heading out soon along with Hirai. Hagakure-san, it'd be great if you looked after the 14th Branch while we're gone."
Yasuhiro gives off an overconfident smile.
"You got it, dude!"
"We won't be gone for long unless something happens."
He can only hope that his idea works well. Hagakure and Asahina nod as Makoto faces the entrance doorway and takes a deep breath.
"Next stop... Jabberwock Island..."
. . . . .
Jabberwock Island - Airport
[Beautiful Ruin - Danganronpa 2 OST]
"So… Who are we waiting for again?"
States a female as she stepped next to a male who was about her height.
Misaki Asano - Future Foundation 6th Division Member and part of the Special Cases Bureau
"... When are you gonna stop asking so many questions?"
Mishitou Kuzetokuden - Future Foundation 7th Division Head and Former Ultimate Programmer
He sighs.
"We're waiting for Yakuten who should be arriving in a few minutes."
Asano crosses her arms and mumbles.
"Geez, no need to be so rude… Even Hijirihara-san's not like that and that's saying something…"
The two continued waiting in silence for the plane to arrive… Mishitou looks up at the sky and notices the large plane coming closer to the ground.
"About time."
It, of course, took awhile for it to finally land. The two stepped closer to the large vehicle before its side door leading to the inside opened. The first to exit was Hijeshita as he fixed his tie.
"Kuzetokuden. Asano."
The two nodded. After that, the two Naegi's and their daughter stepped outside as well. Misaki nervously saluted them.
"Ah! N-Naegi M-Makoto, Sir!"
Makoto chuckled nervously.
"Ahaha… Please, no need to salute. I'm not that special…"
"Are you kidding?! You're the Absolute Hope! I mean, you-"
"*Ahem*..."
Hijeshita clears his throat which got Asano to stop talking. She bows to Makoto.
"I deeply apologize to how I reacted, Sir…"
"It's fine. Just call me Naegi… Uh…"
"Asano Misaki, Si- Naegi!"
Makoto smiled as Hirai tugged on his pants. He looks down.
"Papa?"
"Yes, sweetheart?"
She points to a store in the opposite end of the building. Upon closer inspection, they had several different colored bear plushies. Makoto picked the young purple-haired girl up.
"You want one of them?"
The girl nods at her father. As Makoto holds her tight to keep her from falling, he travels with her to the aforementioned store.
"Naegi Makoto's a good man, Mrs. Naegi."
Hijeshita says to Kyouko as they face the Father and Daughter duo from afar. After Makoto got the white bear plush, he gave it to Hirai. She then started to snuggle it which left Makoto smiling. Kyouko smiles and lifts her left hand to look at the wedding ring that wrapped around her ring finger nicely.
"Yeah… He sure is…"
She lowers her hand back down to reach for a small picture she always keeps with her. A picture of her next to her husband and beloved daughter.
"I'm happy for the both of you really!"
Misaki says to the purple haired sleuth which makes her give another smile.
"Mama! Mama! Look what Papa bought me!"
Hirai says as she ran towards her mother and lifted her plush bear for her to see it clearly. Kyouko picks her daughter up, the bear held tightly in the little girl's arms.
"Oh, did he now?"
"Mhmm!"
Hirai nodded with a smile as Makoto walked closer to them.
"I don't mean to ruin the moment, but weren't you guys going to see them?"
Mishitou asks Hijeshita.
"That's right. Well, if you can excuse us."
Mishitou and Misaki nodded as Makoto, Kyouko, and their daughter followed Hijeshita who lead the way. During the walk, Hirai looked around like a curious child would do.
"Where exactly are we going?"
Makoto asked Hijeshita.
"The old building next to the hotel restaurant. That's where they are."
"..."
They walked before stopping in front of the hotel gates. Hijeshita spoke through the intercom.
"Yakuten Hijeshita; Future Foundation 13th Division Member."
With that, the gates opened for them. After passing through the many small houses with single rooms, they came to the pool area where a few others were just having fun. Of course, they weren't there for that.
"We managed to clean the place up and upgrade the A/C. Fixed the electricity as well."
Yakuten spoke as he opened the entrance doors and walked in with the Naegi family. The group stood in front of the two larger doors that would lead them to the dining room.
"Gonna be the first time I'll see them in a long while…"
Makoto stated as he curled his hands into fists, still upset at Enoshima Junko for doing what she did to them.
"Hm… Well, for me… this'll be the first time…"
[Re: Despair Syndrome - Danganronpa 2 OST (Disc 1, Track 11)]
Hijeshita says. He closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, places his hand on the door, and finally opens it. The only light in the room is the sunlight coming from the small rectangular windows on the walls. There, four of the people inside turn to look at Hijeshita's group.
"It's a pleasure to finally meet you…"
There was also the fifth and final person who is sitting against the wall in, what seems to be, an uncomfortable pose. He has brown-ish hair along with an ahoge similar to Makoto, a tie, a plain white shirt with the emblem belonging to a high school, blue jeans, and red-white sneakers. He opens his eyes which show one greenish-yellow eye with the other being red.
"... Former Ultimate Despairs…"
Hijeshita and the male on the opposite end of the room stare at each other.
[INTRO]
Zetsubousei: Hero Chiryouyaku - Danganronpa: The Animation OST
[Build-Up]
The sky turns from Red back to Hopeful Blue as the "camera" lowers to the 78th Survivors who stand in front of the Future Foundation headquarters. It switches to Makoto who looks at the tall building with a confident smile.
It goes through the faces of the survivors for Danganronpa, Danganronpa 2, and Danganronpa 3 quickly, then to the camera zooming away from the front of Jikiden Middle School and finally switches to a bird's eye view of Jabberwock Island.
The Logo slides in. The 4 forms after it and with 前者編 (Zensha-Hen / Former Arc) sliding in after the 4.
ダンガンロンパ４- The Aftermath of 希望ヶ峰学園 - 前者編 (Danganronpa 4: The Aftermath of Hope's Peak Academy - Former Arc)
Kimi no nozomu mono wa nani?
Miminari uso mitai na hanashi
The "camera" appears in different Future Foundation rooms and scans the room from right to left before transitioning to Hijeshita at the opposite side of the Meeting Room.
Douyara boku no sekai wa bagutte shimaimashita
Hijeshita turns his head slightly to look over his shoulder.
Saegiru bonnou soitsu ga iu ni wa touka koukan da to
It transitions to Makoto who closes his hand into a fist while smiling along with a large 14 behind him. Then, it transitions to Izuyana who elegantly takes out her paint brush with a large 4 next to her and Shinizou who places a huge piece of wood over his shoulder with a large 3 behind him.
Yuuwaku shitagai zaregoto ni oboredashita
It transitions to Yoshino with her hands behind her back while smiling along with a large 5 behind her, Mishito who has his hands in his pockets with his eyes close before opening them a bit with a large 7 appearing behind him, Kyousuke with his sword stabbed in the ground; both hands on the top of the handle along with a large 2 behind him, and finally Hachigorō who has his hands behind him while standing "proudly" with his emotionless expression; a large "未来機関 CEO" behind him.
Ousama GEEMU kyousei sanka
It zooms in on a broken down Monokuma.
Kyohiken nante kiicha kurenai
Kaserareta KUESUTO ni wa ano MOBU wo korose
It changes to the front of Jikiden Middle School where Hajime, Sonia, Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko and Akane in their new outfits stand as they face around a group covered in shadows except for Katsura who slowly walks closer to them with his sword in hand. Then Hijeshita, Izuyana, Mishito, Yoshino, Ruruka, Ishara, Makoto, Hekashi jump in front of the Former Remnants of Despair to protect them and signifying that they're ready for a fight before the two groups charge at each other.
Zetsubou DANSU yabou mamire shounen ni
A member of the opposite side aims their knife at Makoto only to be protected by Ruruka who threw a single dagger that belonged to Sonosuke and then charged at the opposite member with 2 other daggers.
Nigekonda genjitsu waratta
Yokubou nai to ka itsuwari
Shinizou aims his large piece of wood at Sasha of the opposite side who dodges it and takes out her own daggers.
Gizensha butte mo shikatanai ya
Shinizou takes out his hammer to protect himself from her weapons.
Akogareta yume nandakke
Hijeshita and Katsura face each other with their own swords in their hands as they lift them up; The sharp edges facing each other.
HIIROO ni naritai no? Uppuppu
Negai kuchi ni suru
The two charge at each other as they lifted their weapons and aimed at one another.
Ainiku baka ni tsukeru kusuri wa nai yo
Their swords clash which causes an intense sound of metal against metal.
It ends with the entire group of Future Foundation heads taking a picture. At the last second, Hirai runs up to her parents, Makoto and Kyouko, as Makoto picked her up and smiled. So did the rest as the camera finally clicked.
How did you all like the prologue of Danganronpa 4: The Aftermath of Hope's Peak Academy - Former Arc? We'd like it if you have a review that way you can let us know what you think of it and what you think we should try and improve upon!
Below are special messages!
Message from the Author(s)!
Erick- Hello! I'm Erick! I'm the main director and writer of this story! We've been working on this since the beginning of July and we're proud to finally reveal it! For Danganronpa 4, we'll update it whenever we think it's the perfect moment. We're not going to update it every single Monday, because that'd be too much work for the three of us haha! I myself think, I really should try and do better with the future chapters, not that I'm saying I didn't for these two. If you feel like it's pacing is slow, fast or what-not, please tell me/us and I'll see what I can do! For now, I hope you enjoy Danganronpa 4: The Aftermath of Hope's Peak Academy as a whole. See you in Chapter 1!
Sly- Hey everyone! I go by the name Sly! I'm one of the editors and the social media guy for Danganronpa 4! I've been a fan of the series for awhile now, and when I was approached by Erick, I was very excited to work on the project with him. Erick, Nitsua and I have been hard at work to create this story, and I hope everyone here enjoys what we have in store.
Nitsua- Hey all, I go by Nitsua or on this site, Sorata Shioya, and I'm just another guy who likes Danganronpa. The other 2 gents with me asked if I wanted to lend a hand with Danganronpa 4 and I accepted. I hope you all will enjoy what we have to offer.
Ryan- Hello everyone, name's Ryan or Darkclaw643 if you want to call me that. I've been a fan of Danganronpa for a while and when I saw Erick and the others doing this I thought it would be fun to help and so I help out with the Art and Character designs.