Danganronpa: Once Upon an Smiling Priest

After getting away from Mrs Maizono, I walked towards a guy with spiky red hair and pale blue eyes, with his whole clothing screaming punk. Hmm. Clothes, attitude, posture... everything about him screams impusive.

"Oberon V. Voyager. Greetings." I said simply. I wasn't planning to prolong this encounter any longer than necessary.

The redhead greeted me with a smirk and a wave. "Yo! What's up, the name's Leon Kuwata, nice to meet ya!"

Leon Kuwata...

Hmm...

...

...

...

...

Who?

That first name sounds familiar though.... Oh well! Not my problem.

"Hmm." I hummed in thought before asking the red hair a question. "I feel like I know you from somewhere. Not personally but you look familiar."

The fake punk looked shocked for a bit before looking off to the side a bit anxious. "Oh." Then he seemed to get an idea as his face brightened up. "Oh don't worry about it man!" He said giving me a thumbs up. "It's not all that important is it?" He seemed to get pumped up further. "What is important is what I'm going to become!"

Oh? He's quite excited about... whatever this is.

"And that is?" I asked absentmindedly.

"To go down the path of music dude!" The punk rocker smirked at me. "You can feel that rock star-quality aura I have, right!? I feel you have some of it too, y'know?" No... no you don't ya dullard. Neither you nor I have such qualities. It's not in our scripts. "I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar, then we're set! This new version of me that's chasing after my dreams. is like… super cool to the max!"

While the subject of whether it's possible or not to just reject your talent and focus on something else once inside Hope's Peak was admittedly interesting, it was completely irrelevant at the moment.

Feeling that we were done with the conversation, I gave a simple nod and went to find another person.

=======

The next individual I met was the girl from earlier who thought that I was hurt in the stomach.

How she came to that conclusion, I don't know and I don't care enough to find out. It'll just be a waste of time anyway.

She had tanned skin and brown hair, with the latter tied into a gravity-defying ponytail. Her clothing consisted of a white tank top, a red tracksuit, and some short pants.

A somewhat interesting attire I suppose.

"Hey, hey! I'm Aoi Asahina! But my friends just call me Hina. 'Sup?"

Aoi Asahina. Another one I have no knowledge of. Oh well. Not like I needed to know every single person here. And besides... that might ruin this story.

"So uh... what's your name?" Mrs Asahina questioned with a tilt of her head.

"Oberon V. Voyager."

"Aha! I knew it was something like that!" Did you? I don't exactly look like someone who'd have such a name. "Oberon V. Voyager. I'll hammer it into my brain right now!" She gave me a thumbs-up while sticking up her tongue to the side slightly. "Oberon V. Voyager... Oberon V. Voyager... Oberon V. Voyager..." She began to move her finger on her hand as if she were writing something, muttering my name repeatedly. Must be how she remembers names.

"Alrighty... Hey, how do you spell your first name?"

"The same way it sounds, O-ber-on." I said plainly.

"Obearon got it!" She said satisfied.

"...There is no 'A' in my name." I replied flatly.

"Got it!" She said with just as much energy as before. I don't think she actually did get it, unfortunately. "Anyways, glad to meet ya!"

"Indeed."

She's an easygoing person, bursting with energy. It's almost annoying.

With nothing else to say, I took that as my cue to leave.

=======

The next person I approached was a tall and bulky man with a pompadour. Not the best option but might as well get it over and done with.

His outfit couldn't be more stereotypical of what you would expect from a member of a biker gang. On the back of his black overcoat, there was the symbol of what most probably was the gang he belonged to, with different kanji writings on the sides.

"Mondo Owada, nice to fuckin' meet ya." The biker growled.

The way he said that.

That gruffness in the tone of his voice.

Each combined with the scowl on his face, and his body language… yep, he's definitely someone who'll easily fall to provocations. I'd bet requiring little prodding or pushing of the wrong buttons to make him explode. An easy target, easily exploitable. The best crash test dummy.

Although...depending on our current and future situations he could become a problem.

That being said though... Although the chances of him being a threat against me are considerably low… His hair is quite... interesting though.

"Oberon V. Voyager, greetings Mr Owada."

Guessing from his appearance I'd guess he was the Super High School Level Ruffain or Thug or... Maybe a Gang Leader, something like that.

Back with the gang leader, he gave my introduction a grunt in acknowledgement before speaking up.

"Hell yeah." He said with a tone of finality to it. Understating the cue, I nodded at him and went my way.

That was probably the quickest introduction I had so far, which was completely fine for me. Less time spent with someone who might not even matter in the long run.

=======

Oh? Well isn't this interesting?

I couldn't help noticing that the person in front of me was probably the complete opposite of Owada, both appearance and personality-wise. I wonder how those too would get along. Something not good I bet.

"H-Hello, nice to meet you," The small brown-haired girl I recognized earlier said. Fidgeting in a manner no doubt most people would consider adorable. "I-I'm Chihiro Fujisaki." I'm not one of those people.

Briefly, I wondered if I should change how I've been introducing myself so far.

…

...

...Nah!

"Oberon V. Voyager, greetings Mrs Fujisaki."

"S-Sorry, I get embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this." Mrs Fujisaki said, her voice growing squeakier with each word. "In any case, I hope we can get along!" She said the last part with as much confidence as she could muster.

"Sure." I said with a nod.

For some reason, the next thing Mrs Fujisaki did, was to stare intently at me, almost as if gauging something. Quite rude I might add. Kids, never follow Mrs Fujisaki's example.

I opened my mouth to ask why she was staring, but she spoke first before I could ask why she was doing that.

"U-Um… this may sound weird and it may be just my imagination, but… have we met before?"

...

...

! ! !

What?

I was about to react similarly to when I did back Hagakure or Fukawa. Though thankfully for me, unfortunately for a reader, I was not in the mood to make the same mistake twice. I managed to control myself just in time. After all, it may ruin the story or get on the reader's nerves if I have another outburst.

Odd, very odd. Judging from what I've seen from her so far. If she did recognise me for what I've done then she would have asked that very differently... Perhaps they met someone like me? Or at least, resembling me?

...

...

...Nah!

"I don't think we have."

"O-Oh, okay…" She looked down and dejectedly away. Apparently, even that was too much for her. Otherwise, I couldn't explain the sudden tears threatening to travel down her cheeks. "S-Sorry…"

"You don't have anything to apologize for, it was just a simple question." I brightened my signature smile and patted her head.

"Oh, right…"

Geez, what a shy girl.

…

…Wait a moment.

Something's off.

Chihiro Fujisaki, the Super High School Level Programmer, and honestly, one of the most interesting SHSLs if I'm being honest. And well, how could she not be?

Her relevancy in the software world is so remarkable that in practically every area related to programming. Be it coding, databases and… that's as far as my knowledge extends.

Although I did hear that she was responsible for a large number of cutting-edge advances in most of its related fields. It's gotten to the point where there were rumours about some progress in the development of A.I. technology, in no small amounts through contributions made by her. Truly, it was no exaggeration to say that she alone had made revolutionary achievements that would change the world.

Although... this information is from my followers. And while I trust them I don't know about the A.I. stuff. I don't doubt that it's possible. But rumours are rumours. Maybe they'll be proven true during our kidnapping.

Hmm... Something feels... Off? What could that- Oh! I opened my eyes slightly to make sure my suspicions were correct and- Yep! My, my! What an interesting thing to stumble upon so early into this play. I would be lying if I said my constant smile wasn't getting wider. This story is finally starting to get interesting. Well... More interesting.

"I-I'm really sorry." Mrs Fujisaki suddenly spoke up.

Snap, was I that obvious? I thought I did well enough to not be obvious about it... Oh, that sounds bad, doesn't it?

"What are you apologizing for?" I wasn't going to jump to conclusions. I hadn't been looking them up and down nor was I looking at them leecherously.

"W-Well, you seem upset about something." The small programmer muttered, already on the verge of tears… again. "You… You are mad at me, right?"

Ah, so that's was what got Mrs Fujisaki so bothered. Well, so long as the programmer wasn't suspecting I noticed that, I could work things out.

"I am not upset." I tried to say as sweetly as possible. I knew I sucked at reassuring people, well... in comparison to her. So might as well keep it simple. "I was simply deep in thought about something. Nothing to worry about I assure you." I said giving them the most apologetic look a failure like me can accomplish.

...

Why did you have to leave us like that?

"H-Huh? Deep in thought?" Mrs Fujisaki shyly asked.

"Mhm, don't worry, I don't hold any sort of negative thoughts about you."

I was surprised, yes, but that's about it.

"Oh, that's good. I was afraid maybe you didn't like me." Mrs Fujisaki said, a cheerful smile tugging at the programmer's lips as she wiped away her tears. "Hehe, I'm glad!"

…Well, for what it was worth, I could recognize Mrs Fujisaki had a killer disguise. I almost missed it. And I'm sure most, if not all will miss it.

Bidding each other farewell, I departed away from the programmer, intending to end my introduction with the remaining students.

A few feet forward, though, I momentarily stopped myself. At the same time, my eyes lingered on the mounted weapons.

It was likely they took measures considering her talent…but if there's a breach in the security of this place, Fujisaki would be vital in having any kind of opportunity. However, that would be in the case that the person or people who kidnapped us slipped up like that.

Maybe I should think of 'her' as a V.I.P.? Perhaps... Nah! Let's wait and watch. It'll all depend on how things proceed.

With those last thoughts put into consideration, I moved on.

=======

Hmm. Who to visit next?

Well, no one seems to be the most interesting person I could talk to. Sigh.

I began to pace around aimlessly and observe the room we were all standing in a little more closely. Fortunately or unfortunately, depending on your viewpoint, a familiar face came up to talk to me.

"Voyager-san." Celes spoke my surname as she approached me, her tone barely hiding her malicious intent. Her ever-present smile decorates her face. Though her eyes showed a completely different demeanour.

She always referred to me by my surname whenever she was mad at me; like a parent with their child.

"Celes." I replied quite a bit more cheerfully than her own words. My smile brightened ever so slightly as I spoke. Though I knew she would have noticed.

"Unfortunately this isn't a cheerful visit" Oh? "If you don't mind me asking-" She leaned forward slightly though enough to get into my face, well as much as she could given the height difference. Her smile dropped as she spoke to me. "What did you do to me back then?"

Huh? What is she- Oh! A perfectly reasonable assumption, but…

"Well-" I started, opening my eyes slightly; My smile widening in the process. Well isn't this plot getting interesting? "If I recall correctly you were completely fine right at the moment I passed out, so perhaps I should be the one to ask that question." My smile grew slightly as I turned the question back on her. "Since you were in front of my when it happened."

"A likely tale."

I shrugged, looking off to the side for a brief moment before looking back. My expression fell to a neutral state. "I saw the purple-haired girl approaching the school in the distance back then, you could ask her to confirm my 'tale' if you really must."

She placed her finger to her chin and considered what I said. Her expression brightened slightly as her smile returned to her face. "Fair enough, I'll let you off the hook for now. You should be grateful." She covered her mouth as a chuckle left her lips.

"My eternal gratitude mistress Ludenberg." I bowed playfully, one hand on my chest and one arm behind me. She's always been pleased by things like this. Celes likes it when people play along with her public persona.

Something I can understand more than anyone else.