Danganronpa: Once Upon an Smiling Priest

The second to last student I needed to introduce myself to was a strawberry blonde-haired girl with light violet eyes and pale skin. Unless I was misremembering something, her outfit certainly went along with the title she was possessor of.

Its core piece was a black cardigan over a white dress shirt, accompanied by a white tie painted in black dots that resembled a bunch of kitties. How typical. The lower half of her body began with a red miniskirt, while mid-size black boots made for her footwear. Her pigtails were held up by a white rabbit charm on her right pigtail and a Large red and white bow was tied around her other.

As I approached her I didn't think too much of it. Though she didn't seem like someone qualified for this kinda of situation. She's like the dumb (typically blonde or brunette) girl in a horror movie. The one you know has nothing going on upstairs; trips over at JUST the most inopportune times and is just there for the horny teenagers.

How sad... How very sad.

Even as she turned in my direction and I finally got a good look at her face i-

! ! !

It was only for a split second, a second after locking eyes with her that every misconception of her shattered into little atom-sized pieces. The aura I felt from her was in many ways similar to Sakura's. Well, in the case that it belonged to someone very powerful... physically speaking.

Though that's where their similarities ended, however. While Sakura gave off a brutal and oppressive force, the person in front of him held one of refinement. A lethal refined aura, promising a swift execution should one dare make an enemy of her.

In that single second, I got to reenact a period of my life all in a brief moment. Unfortunately, that stage had long since withered away, never to be acted upon ever again.

Even after those feelings passed, I couldn't suppress the shiver that crossed through my spine. The only other time this had happened was when I met her. Not even when my life was under threat had I ever felt like this before. A storm of feelings flung through my mind. So many that I couldn't make out any of them.

And I knew that all had the girl in front of me to blame.

"Hiiiii!" If she saw or noticed anything weird about me, she didn't mention it. Thankfully she took my silence as a cue to speak up first. "Junko Enoshima, charmed, I'm sure!"

"Hello there Mrs Enoshima." I returned her greeting with my signature closed-eye smile. "A pleasure to make your acquaintance."

Junko Enoshima, the Super High School Level Gyaru or the Ultimate Fashionista. She's just as, if not more well-known than Mrs Maizono. Every magazine she was involved with had become a trend around the globe. No matter how extravagant or unpractical the product was, any brand with her name on it was a secured commercial success. How drab.

And while my interest in such a thing was infinitesimally close to zero. So, although fashion was as far away from my field as it could be, I took the liberty to go out of my way to acquire some magazines in which she was most prominent. You know, for intel gathering and stuff. And nothing else, promise.

That being said…

There was something strangely off about the woman in front of me.

Perhaps I should do the same thing I did with Fujisaki? It would at least help me understand why I feel this way. Though I probably shouldn't do it in a way that looks like I'm creeping on her, that's the last thing I want to do.

...

! ! !

Woah not like that! Damn, that made me look even worse!

"You look different."

...

...Huh?! Did... did I just blurt that out?

"E-eh? Do you..." There was a slight moment of panic in her voice. It lasted for no more than a moment before she recomposed herself. "Oh! Are you talkin' bout my covers and junk? That's what ya mean right? Hahahaha! Those are, like, totally photoshopped!" Mrs Enoshima said with a cheeky grin while holding up a peace sign.

"Photoshopped?" I echoed slowly.

"Yeah, you know… edited to hell and back. Using, like, computers and other related junk?"

...Should I say something about how hesitant that response looked like?

...Nah! It's not my place to ask such things.

"I see, does that go along with… no, never mind." I said dismissively while shaking my head.

Good thing I recovered most of my wits by now. Otherwise, I knew my unusually talkative mouth would have let out something I was sure wasn't meant to be said aloud.

After all, similar to Mrs Fujisaki, it appeared Mrs Enoshima carried some figurative skeletons in her closet.

And... perhaps some actual ones as well. Who knows, I sure as hell ain't snooping.

Putting that aside it was well put together. Her appearance I mean. To the point that it's almost unnoticeable. And yet... For some reason, when I looked at her hair. It just felt like it didn't fit her, as if a whole different hairstyle would've looked more appropriate.

As strange as that sentiment was, it did allow me to give enough attention to that particular area to open my eyes ever so slightly and see it.

Mrs Enoshima was wearing one of those.

A Wig.

My fingers twitched slightly as I saw it. This reaction was unprecedented. I've never had a problem with wigs before. So why now of times?

Why was I having such a reaction to a simple stage prop?! And one so shotily put on I must add!

"Oh, don't be like that! You're gonna make me all sad and depressed with that low-energy answer." Mrs Enoshima pouted. It was a rather… interesting pout I must admit.

"I mean, like, it's totally normal these days to photoshop the crap out of cover photos, y'know?" Mrs Enoshima commented, twirling a strand of her 'hair' as she gave me a conspirative look. I'm going to rip that thing off if I have to look at it for a second more.

"If you get surprised by that, you'd be so blown out of your mind by a certain dangerous little diva of ours. They make the eyes and junk super big, also tweaking the skin so it looks all like ceramic porcelain! Crazy, right?"

...

Well... I suppose it wouldn't be too far-fetched given what I've gathered from Mrs Maizono about the industry and how demanding it can be. And I guess it shouldn't come as a surprise that things like this can happen and given the high if not superhuman standards of the beauty industry, it could have possibly been even more taxing for Mrs Enoshima than Mrs Maizono given she's the Ultimate Fashionista.

If they made those changes she talked about to her image, they probably didn't think her natural hair would gather enough interest. Thus, going for that blasted strawberry-blonde wig of hers.

It would make sense… right?

Although... if we were to talk about traits that would enhance one's appearance and charm and make them more generally appealing...

"What about your freckles?" I asked. If even her freckles were fake I might just kill her right here.

"What about them?" She responded confused. Her head tilted as she spoke. Although, there was something else, another emotion well hidden in her voice. There was a ting of vulnerability to it. A stark contrast to her usually bubbly and lively. At least that I've seen so far.

Though I was at a loss for its meaning. Was she ashamed of them? Was she scared that they were visible?

"Well..." I started getting a good look at her reaction by opening my eyes slightly. "You said that they made changes to your appearance to give you a... better... image." I finished saying with a bit of venom in my voice. "So, I ask again Mrs Enoshima." I started while leaning forward slightly with my smile growing as well. "What about your freckles? As far as I can see they look good on you. And I would hate for them to be fake."

...

...

...

Wha-Wait! I didn't mean to say that!

While I was panicking on the inside I remained as I was on the outside. And it seemed that Mrs Enoshima had a similar reaction though hers was very much so on the outside. Her face shifted from one of confusion and suspicion to a surprised one.

And then... She... She blushed. No. "E-Eh!? S-so... you think, like, my freckles are... they look cute?" She asked with a nervousness that, genuinely made me wonder if such a thing was normal for a fashionista of all people.

Additionally, I could have sworn that her voice carried some kind of... expectancy? Don't do this to me! I don't want this role!

My mind froze for a minute as did my expression, shifting to one of shock. Or at least for what felt like a minute before I gave a response. Or rather and more accurately my body did.

A stiff and robotic nod. Why me!?

"I-I see." Mrs Enoshima muttered. Her skin turned a tone or two livelier. "Truth is... people usually don't like them." She started. Her expression turned a little gloomy as she continued without meeting my sight. "They prefer the other me. The one on covers and in edited photos." She paused for a bit before becoming slightly livelier as she looked up at me while using her right arm to hold onto the other. "But, um, if you think otherwise then... thank you, I appreciate it." She finished with a smile, but not one reminiscent and noticeably fabricated of the Cheshire Cat from earlier.

I hate it. Whoever put me in this shitty stage I'll kill you.

Far from it in fact, as a small but sincere smile was not present on her face.

Despite everything...

Despite how angry I feel on the inside and how long since I've done it.

I couldn't help but smile back at her. A genuine smile.

My entire face lightened up as I looked at her with open eyes. I've... "You're welcome Mrs Enoshima." I've helped someone. Not as fast or as well as her but it's something. And with that finishing sentence, I left.

As I walked away my gaze drifted to the weapons attached to the ceiling. A constant but silent warning of what could happen. It wasn't until I got away enough from her and my mind and gaze wandered off from the weapons that I remembered a particularly important detail that made me slightly widen my eyes.

Mrs Enoshima was one of the only two people who paid attention to the weapons when my eyes were on them.

Of everyone that I have met up to now, she is the most… interesting one by far. Yes, interesting. let's go with that. It's the nicest word I can give them right now.

I will have to keep an eye on her. To confirm if she's more than what it looks in plain sight, of course. In other words, is she another one who wears a mask?

=======

The last person that I needed to introduce myself to was the pale girl with long lavender and slightly silver hair that I saw with Celes. A single braid tugged on her left side, tied with a black ribbon. Her purple eyes, a tone deeper than Mrs Enoshima's, didn't waste any time and began scrutinizing me the moment I was in her range of vision. How nice of you.

Her clothing consisted of a dark purple blazer jacket over a zipped-up white blouse and a brown tie. She also was wearing a dark-purple short skirt and heeled knee-high dark-purple boots.

Could it be me or could her favourite colour be purple?... Nah!

Sighing to myself internally I approached her. Might as well get this over with as quickly as possible.

"Oberan V. Voyager. Greetings." I said in my usual upbeat tone.

"…"

"…"

"…"

"…Can you tell me your name?" I asked her after a while.

I guess I will be the one doing the talking for this introduction.

"…My name is Kyoko Kirigiri."

Oh? I opened my eyes slightly as I looked at her. So she's not going to reveal her talent... fascinating... perhaps she doesn't say anything unless specifically asked to. And she'd probably ask mine in return and it's not like I want to reveal mine. So we're skipping that!

Kyoko Kirigiri, Super High School Level ???... That's about all I had on her, and seeing such was the case, she's likely a similar case to mine. The mysterious and discrete way she acted, and how she refused to give anything that wasn't strictly necessary, greatly increased how likely was that how she got into Hope's Peak wasn't by ordinary means.

That being said, while it was true I didn't have any more information about her, in a way, there were two things worth pointing out about the mysterious girl.

Firstly, I believe I've heard of the name before. From where I couldn't say.

Secondly, besides Enoshima, she was the other person who followed my sight when the hanging Gatling guns came to my attention.

It might not seem like an overly important detail at first glance. However, not only was I at a relatively far away distance from the entire group when that occurred, but apart from tensing up, I was confident I didn't reveal any other sign or signal of what I was doing at that brief pause of mine.

So to notice where I was looking they would have to been paying very close attention to me from the beginning.

As the stagehand, I cannot leave such things ignored. Back to Mrs Kirigiri, I wasn't going to get anything about our current situation or really anything for that matter for the time being.

So I bid farewell to the little lavender and went on my way with a smile.

"You haven't told anyone your talent."

With such a bold declaration like that I had no choice but to stop in my tracks. "I haven't?" I pondered aloud to myself. My smile dropped as I pretended to think about it. Before a small smile came to my face as I looked over my shoulder to her with closed eyes. "And neither have you, Mrs Kirigiri."

Considering that I hadn't put the same level of attention on Mrs Kirigiri as she had done on me, which, I'll admit, was a small oversight of mine. I wasn't too sure if my claim was true or not. She could have mumbled it while I preoccupied.

Given how secretive she had been acting so far about her talent, though, I was confident on my wager.

"That's true…" Mrs Kirigiri admitted, her firm eyes never stopping her study of my person for a moment. "Before you leave, there's something else I would like to ask you."

"Hm?" I tilted my head, feigning as much slackness as possible in my body language.

"The weapons mounted in the entrance… you think they are real, am I right?"

"They are." I said as a matter of fact.

It's not a guess, I knew they were the real deal.

"I see." She said, mostly to herself. Whether she believed me or not wasn't my concern. "Then, what do you think of our current situation?"

Oh? Another question? From what I've gathered from you I would've expected you to be the strong silent type, no?

Regardless, I began looking around. My limited sight assessed every one of my 'classmates'. Some were having enthusiastic talks. Others were laughing. Apart from Mr Togami, and Celes to some degree, everyone else was fooling around one way or another.

It almost irked me. Almost.

"No one is taking this seriously enough." Was what I eventually responded with. I didn't expect them to panic and start crying at their own shadow, but it's plenty obvious they haven't become aware of how dangerous our current situation is. Not like I could really blame them too much. "That could become a fatal mistake down the line."

I was also aware that it might sound somewhat hypocritical of me, considering the… circumstances with Mrs Enoshima, and my own somewhat not-so-serious thoughts and reactions thus far.

Unlike them though I had the experience and luxury to behave like this. One doesn't live as long as I do with my reputation without superb situational awareness.

"So that is your view on this matter." Mrs Kirigiri said. Why did she say it like that?

She lowered her head while also bringing her finger up to her chin, all the while a thoughtful expression adorned her face. "I will take what you said into consideration." To which I simply nodded. Neither of us had more to say and we both knew that.

With Kirigiri dealt with, that marked my official conclusion for the introductions. Leaving me with only one thing left to do. Wait.

Moving off to the side I leaned against one of the nearby pillars and waited for everyone else to finish.

Was this the safest position considering I'm quite close to the turrets? No. But it allowed me a good view of everyone else without drawing too much attention to myself. And the ability to quickly get out of harms way should the need arise.

And besides. I'm not supposed to be the main character.