Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer/Chapter 1

Murder for Murder  is the debut chapter of the manga Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer.

Chapter 1 was published in Bessatsu Shōnen Magazine on March 8, 2016, and later re-published in Danganronpa Gaiden: Killer Killer Volume 1 on July 8, 2016.

Summary
Misaki Asano joins the Special Case Criminal Investigation Unit, and meets her new partner, Takumi Hijirihara. While working security at an Idol's performance, they find themselves in pursuit of a mass murderer who has killed and dismembered 42 people and turned their corpes into grotesque Asura statues.

Plot
Chapter 1 first begins with an introduction of Misaki Asano, who is a brand new member of the Special Case Criminal Investigation Unit. She meets the section chief, “hairpin demon” Ikue Dōgami. Misaki idolises her. Chief Dōgami explains that SCCIU specialises in strange and grotesque cases, for example cases involving mass murders, dismemberments or cannibalism. Although Misaki isn't ok with gore, she is prepared to do her best. Chief Dōgami tells her that her predecessor died in only three days.

Abnormal crimes are on the rise - Chief Dōgami tells Misaki that in the previous month, there were 17 cases involving 118 casualties. Misaki joined the SCCIU because she wants to change that situation, and considers SCCIU the heroes in a despair-ridden world.

Misaki finds Takumi Hijirihara sitting inside a locker. Shocked, Misaki leaves and tries to explain the situation to her colleagues, who tell her that a locker is a relatively normal place to find him compared to some of the stranger places he has hidden. Chief Dōgami then tells her that Takumi is to be her partner, and the colleagues joke that she's been stuck with him because she's a rookie.

Chief Dōgami briefs the two of them on their case: “Idol Monk” Momomichi Itō received a threatening message regarding his upcoming live performance. It appears to be just a yonkoma manga, but on the back is a fifth panel that declares that in four days, the “depraved monk” will be dropped into hell. Misaki and Takumi's job is to stand guard and ensure Momomichi's safety. After the briefing, Takumi complains he's tired and tells Misaki to go on without him. When she presses him to come, he insists that he has a special condition that means he could age ten years if he goes outside.

He gets dragged anyway to the rundown old temple where the concert will take place. After mistaking an old man for Takumi, Misaki discovers Takumi hiding out in the offering box. When asks why, he replies that it’s cozy. She questions how someone like him can be part of SCCIU.

They meet Yoshihiko Hayashi, the Monk Idol's producer. He explains that ever since The Tragedy religious cults have increased, and that whenever the Monk Idol stages events at places of religious significance, like temples, he attracts some enemies. Misaki assures him that police will be stationed around the area to keep anyone suspicious away.

The concert starts and during the performance, Momomichi announces that the next song is called "pink asura", and several asura statues are revealed. However, it quickly becomes clear that the statues are not the wooden asura statues which Misaki had spotted earlier, but instead the statues have been switched for grotesque versions made from the stitched up body parts of 42 people. This makes Takumi angry, for a reason that Misaki doesn't understand.

They gather everyone who had access to the backstage during the concert: Momomichi the idol, Yoshihiko Hayashi the producer, Osamu Yamada the stage designer, and Kōichi Ogawa the assistant stage designer. Misaki discusses the incident with her colleague, special investigator Yūjirō Īda, and concludes that someone must have slipped through their perimeter and has already gotten away, but Takumi whispers to her that the culprit is still on site. He asks her to tell the suspects that and she wants to know why he can’t do it himself. He answers that it's too scary to talk to strangers, and then goes on to say she should point out the culprit like . Takumi tells her to swear on her grandfather’s name, but Misaki retorts that her grandfather was a farmer. Takumi asks her to clear away his grandfather’s regrets, prompting Misaki to wonder about his grandpa. Getting into the spirit, Misaki emulates Kindaichi, saying that she got it all figured out and the culprit is… the culprit is… At that point, she realizes she doesn’t know yet and Takumi is leaving. She yells at him to tell her who it was, and he replies that when his grandfather was on his deathbed, he was convinced he was Kindaichi.

Back at SCCIU HQ, Misaki is complaining about Takumi and asks why he hides in small spaces. Chief Dōgami asks her if she remembers the Giboura Junior High Massacre Case, and Misaki says of course she does. She remembers watching it on TV and being disturbed that kids her own age were killed. Chief Dōgami explains that Takumi was the sole survivor of that massacre. He got away by hiding in the cleaning supply closet in the classroom, where the killer never thought to look. This means he feels more strongly about murders than the average person.

Meanwhile, Takumi has called Momomichi the idol out to meet him. He accuses Momomichi of committing the murder and asking if his goal was blood. Momomichi seems surprised at first, then asks for proof. Takumi says he doesn’t have any, but when it comes to abnormal crimes like murder, he loves them more than anything. He explains that a man who maims for blood is making light of what it means to murder. Takumi suggests that Momomichi is drinking the blood to keep his skin beautiful. Momomichi cracks under the suggestion that his skin isn't beautiful, and tells Takumi that he discovered a way to never deteriorate as an idol and obtain eternal youth by drinking blood. In his opinion, human beings start to wither away when they stop weaning - a fetus receives blood through it's umbilical cord, and then drinks breast milk from its mother. He believes if humans never stopped drinking their mother's milk, they would never grow old. Takumi tells him that he's managed to reduce a murder to nothing but a means to an end. Momomichi attacks Takumi with a giant syringe, but Takumi avoids him, and slices him into cubes with a knife.

Takumi notices cherry blossoms, and we see a flashback, in which Takumi remembers witnessing the Giboura Junior High Massacre as a child, where he also witnessed cherry blossoms blooming. On that day, Takumi resolved that one day he would also become a "cool murderer" like the Giboura Massacre murderer.

Chief Dogami and Misaki investigate the scene of Momomichi's dismemberment, and find a letter addressed to the SCCIU signed by someone calling themself "the evangelist of murder" "Killer Killer", written on cherry blossom themed stationary. In the letter he calls the murder his "piece" called "Super Dismemberment".

Back at the SCCIU, Misaki muses that even though the culprit was killed, Takumi had still managed to intuit who the murderer was, and is finally understanding why Takumi hasn't been fired despite his strange behaviour. She joins Takumi hiding inside a cupboard to try and understand him more.

Characters
In order of appearance: