The Talent Show: Our Other Lie in April

Miura's POV

Warning: Spoilers through the end of Chapter III, as well as for V3's first chapter

Once again, I sat in my chair in the recording studio. I wore my old school's winter uniform for old times' sake, even though there was little to be nostalgic about from my time in the killing game. It hadn't been entirely bad, but if I'd had the choice, neither it nor the tragedy that consumed our world would have happened. Knowing that the killing game had started yet again only reinforced that belief...

Of course, I had other things on the agenda this time, so I couldn't get distracted. If nothing else, the killing game had taught me to keep focused even in difficult situations, or perhaps I had always known how to do that. Whatever the case might be, I decided to get the show started.

"Hello, and welcome to the Talent Show," I said. "Please welcome Himeno Himemiya, who has an announcement."

Himeno-san walked forward, dressed in her archery training outfit. Since she wouldn't be here for long, she remained standing.

"Thank you for stopping by, Himeno-san," I said.

"'Himeno-san?'" Himeno-san said. "I don't believe we've met..."

"Miura," I said. "Kaori Miura. I'm terribly sorry for being overly familiar, Himemiya-senpai."

I bowed to Himemiya-senpai. Maybe calling her my senpai wasn't the best idea if she didn't remember going to the same school as me, but it seemed like the best way to save face after that faux pas.

"It's fine, Miura-san," Himemiya-senpai said, "since I know you weren't trying to be rude. In fact, I'm the one who's here to apologize."

Himemiya-senpai turned to the camera broadcasting our show.

"It has come to my attention that somehow, the delays associated with the next installment of this fanfic are my fault," Himemiya-senpai said, "apparently because my character changed during the story's development. For that, I sincerely apologize."

Himemiya-senpai bowed deeply.

"Please don't apologize, senpai," I said. "If the story's taking longer than usual to come out, it's the author's fault; Sae doesn't blame other people when her novels take longer to come out than usual."

Himemiya-senpai seemed to agree, which made me wonder if her initial apology had been mandated. While she'd always struck me as a well-mannered young lady, she never thought much of apologizing. She would do it when it was expected of her, but she'd always believed it was a rather hollow gesture.

"Fair enough," Himemiya-senpai said. "I may not know much more about literature than the average person, but I'd argue that taking the time and making the finished product as good as possible is preferable to rushing through it. After all, I wouldn't be the Ultimate Archer if I never took the time to carefully aim my arrows."

I nodded and conceded Himemiya-senpai's point. I'd long admired Sae because she'd succeeded where I'd failed- at becoming an author- and believed that she had talent I lacked. This wasn't necessarily wrong, but the truth was that she'd worked extremely hard, something that made her accomplishment even more significant.

"Still, I'm curious," I said. "What is this other version of you like?"

"More coarse and unrefined," Himemiya-senpai said. "She'd probably call you 'Miura' without honorifics, and would be rude in other regards; Mother and Father would be ashamed. Unlike me, she... is heterosexual."

"Oh, so you're a lesbian too?" I said.

Himemiya-senpai seemed surprised, which more or less confirmed that she didn't know me. Before the school was sealed, she'd spoken to me about my sexuality, something she'd known about for months.

"Good guess," Himemiya-senpai said, "although the way I danced around the subject didn't make it very difficult. I assume you already have some idea of how people might take this, especially my highly traditional family, so please don't tell anyone."

"You have my word, Senpai," I said.

Himemiya smiled appreciatively, and said, "Thank you, Miura-san."

"But I suppose I've taken enough of your time," Himemiya-senpai said, "since this is meant to be Nagato-san's debut."

"Very well," I said. "Thank you, Himemiya-senpai; you may go now."

Himemiya-senpai bowed and excused herself.

"Without further ado, we shall begin our interview," I said. "Please welcome our guest, Chiyuri Nagato."

Nagato-senpai arrived, wearing a white dress shirt, a gray blazer, a red plaid skirt and a red necktie, the uniform for Saint Mary's Catholic High School. At my invitation, she took a seat near me.

"Thank you very much for coming, Nagato-senpai," I said. "I'm Kaori Miura, your kohai from Talent High School, and host of the Talent Show."

"Thank you for having me, ma'am," Nagato-senpai said.

I blushed a little. Since Nagato-senpai was older than me and my senpai, the onus was on me to be polite. That didn't mean I wouldn't have to be polite to her if our positions were reversed, since I'd still use '-san' on her family name. Her status as an older girl in a higher grade merely meant that I was expected to go the extra mile for her.

"You don't have to call me that, Senpai," I said. "If you want to be polite, please just call me 'Miura-san.'"

"All right, Miura-san," Nagato-senpai said. "May I ask what sort of questions you have for me?"

"A few kinds," I said, "about you as a person, your talent and what you might bring as the new protagonist."

Nagato nodded and listened attentively.

"My first question is about your talent," I said. "How did you become known as the Ultimate Tech Support?

Nagato-senpai sighed.

"Truthfully, because of familial connections," Nagato-senpai said. "Because I'm the illegitimate daughter of the chairman's son, the chairman offered to let me come to the school. They needed a talent to give me, so they decided to call me the Ultimate Tech Support, since I helped my mother and my schoolmates with their problems."

I'd heard of people being awarded their titles for similar reasons- Mitamura-san(who seemed to be Nagato-senpai's cousin) and Iwasawa-san were among them. That being said, it seemed as though Nagato-senpais nomination wasn't completely baseless.

"But you did prove that you had talent, though, didn't you?" I said.

"Maybe I did," Nagato-senpai said, "but I don't feel as though I deserve the title as much as some of my peers do."

I nodded in understanding, since I knew the feeling somewhat. Of course, there was a difference between having a pseudo-talent like mine and feeling as though I didn't actually earn my position, so any words of sympathy I had would likely ring hollow to Nagato-senpai.

"How do you feel about coming to Talent High School?" I said. "That is, before you reaized the killing game would be happening?"

"It's complicated," Nagato-senpai said. "On the other hand, it will be an adjustment to treat my mother as a teacher. On the other hand, it was a great opportunity to prove myself as something other than an illegitimate child."

"I see," I said. "My parents would probably have similar expectations if I ended up working for them."

Nagato-senpai nodded.

"I'm curious about something, Senpai," I said. "Do you call everyone 'sir' and 'ma'am'?"

"No, ma'a- I mean, not exactly, Miura-san," Nagato-senpai said. "I use those when speaking with my teachers or other adults and reflexively use them when I'm nervous, but not to everyone."

"I understand," I said. "Personally, if you were older than 18, regardless of whether you're older than me, I'd probably use 'ma'am' instead of all the times I call you 'senpai'. I wouldn't insist on being called that, but I'll probably have to get used to it someday."

"There's no time like the present... ma'am," Nagato-sensei said.

I giggled softly, then composed myself and got back on subject.

"I like your uniform," I said, "since it looks quite nice on you and is similar to mine. Is it from your old school?"

"It is," Nagato-senpai said. "It's from Saint Mary's Catholic School, an all-girls Catholic school that's close to Talent High School."

"I see," I said. "So, are you a practicing Catholic?"

"I am," Nagato-senpai said. "For me, being a Catholic not only means living according to the Bible's teachings, but being the best person I can be."

"Ah," I said. "I'm curious because one of my classmates was a Christian, too. I don't know what denomination she was part of, but I don't think she was Catholic."

"I can't speak for other Catholics," Nagato-senpai said, "but to me, one's denomination doesn't matter. I'd be interested in meeting a fellow Christian, even if our beliefs differ, and the same goes for my non-religious classmates. After all, I'd be severely limiting myself if I only associated with those who have the same beliefs I do. To me, it's better to focus more on what we have in common than our differences."

I smiled. The world would be a better place if more people were as tolerant as Nagato-senpai was.

"I'd like to know more about your classmates," I said. "Do you have many friends?"

Nagato-senpai sighed and shook her head.

"Not exactly," Nagato-senpai said. "I get along reasonably well with most of my classmates, with some exceptions- namely Asakura…-san-, but I'm not really friends with them. I'm Higurashi-san's assistant, but it's mainly a professional relationship. Akira-san and I were friends, but..."

Nagato-senpai trailed off, and all I could say was "I'm sorry." Getting over the loss of a friend was not easy even in the best of times, but it was especially hard in the killing game. There was little advice I could give that wouldn't come off as a platitude, so all I could offer was support.

"Do you have any other questions, Miura-san?" Nagato-senpai said, to change the subject.

I shook my head.

"I've asked all my questions, Senpai," I said, "so now it's your turn. Please ask me whatever questions you'd like."

"I'm curious about something, Miura-san," Nagato-senpai said. "How would you act if you had your mother as your teacher?"

"I'd treat her the same way as my other teachers," I said, "which would involve calling her 'Miura-sensei,' 'sensei' or 'ma'am.' Mom would call me 'Miura-san,' although considering that she already calls me 'Kaori-san,' it wouldn't be as much of an adjustment."

Nagato-senpai chuckled.

"It sounds as though your mother's cut from the same cloth as mine," Nagato-senpai said. "Do you take after her?"

"In some ways," I said. "I do try to be polite to most people, although I use '-kun' for boys who are my age or younger. Of course, if I became a teacher, or got an office job, I'd probably use '-san' on everyone who doesn't warrant a special title."

Nagato-senpai seemed satisfied with my answer. After pausing a moment, she decided to move on to the next question.

"I suppose the answer to my next question is 'no,'" Nagato-senpai said, "but do you believe in God?"

"Not at all Senpai," I said, "but while I'm an atheist, I do respect those who have strong religious beliefs. After my third class trial- like you, I lost a friend around that time- Iwasawa-san prayed for me, hoping that her god could help me in my time of need. The fact that I don't believe in God doesn't matter- the fact that Iwasawa-san did was what gave her gesture meaning."

"I'm glad to hear that," Nagato-senpai said, "and I'm sorry to hear about your loss."

I smiled and said "Thank you very much, Senpai," in response. Nagato-senpai hadn't heard of Ami-chan, but that didn't make her words any less sincere.

"This may sound like I'm breaking the fourth wall," Nagato-senpai said, "but do you think of yourself as an empty vessel for readers to project themselves onto?"

"Not really," I said. "As a relatively ordinary person, I'm probably easier for most people to empathize with than the talented and eccentric Ultimates, but I don't think I could be a vessel for anyone. No matter who the reader is, I'm sure they would do things differently from me at certain points."

"I'm sure they would," Nagato-senpai said. "I think that as far as vessels go, you'd certainly be more desirable than me."

Nagato-senpai tried to laugh off the comment, but I couldn't help but notice some disturbing subtext in it. While there were many people who were far more impressive than I was, did Nagato-senpai really think herself to be that much inferior to most people? Before I could get an answer, or even consider whether to ask the question, she changed the subject.

"One last question," Nagato-senpai said. "Do you have any advice for me?"

"Let's see..." I said. "You'll have to make many hard decisions from here on out, just like you have until now. You will have regrets, but the only thing you can do is keep pressing on and trying to save as many as you can. You won't remember what we discuss here today, but I'm sure you'll learn that lesson sooner or later."

"I hope so," Nagato-senpai said. "Thank you very much, Miura-senpai; I don't have any more questions."

I chuckled.

"Senpai, huh?" I said. "Even if your memories of our time together were wiped, you're still a year older than me, as well as a year ahead of me in school."

"That was just a slip of the tongue," Nagato-senpai said, "but I still think the senpai role fits you. You mentioned the possibility of becoming a teacher, and I think you should give that career path some serious thought."

I nodded, and said "I'll think about it." I hadn't been anyone's senpai since I graduated from middle school, but maybe Nagato-senpai had a point.

"That's all for the interview," I said. "We have a few other things planned, so stay tuned."

We took a short break, during which time Nagato-senpai told me a little about herself. While we had more than a few significant differences, we also had some similarities, and her situation was fundamentally the same as the one I was facing. As Nagato-senpai said, our commonalities were more important than our differences, so we could lear a lot from each other.

After the break, Nagato-senpai and I were joined by Azuki-senpai, who wore her Talent High School uniform. While the two were friends, Nagato-senpai seemed rather uncomfortable to see Azuki-senpai, who seemed fairly confused about it.

"Something wrong, Chiyuri?" Azuki-senpai said. "You look like you've seen a ghost."

"You... could say that, Akira-san," Nagato-senpai said. "But how do I put this...?"

As Azuki-senpai looked on with a puzzled expression on her face, I pulled Nagato-senpai aside and whispered to her.

"I don't think Azuki-senpai knows what's going on," I said. "There may come a time when she will experience the same things you did, but for now, she deserves to be blissfully ignorant- not that she'll remember anything she hears here."

As Nagato-senpai nodded, and apologized, I had to wonder what we might have done if we'd known about the upcoming calamity and everything we'd suffer inside Talent High School. Could we have stopped the Tragedy? Would our efforts have only made things worse? Or had things always been entirely out of our hands? If we were intelligent enough to know the answers, we probably could have achieved a better outcome.

I turned back to Azuki-senpai.

"I apologize for the wait, Azuki-senpai," I said. "Do you have something to share with us?"

"I have an announcement to make today," Azuki-senpai said, in an unusually formal tone. "I believe I owe you an apology for deceiving everyone. You see... I am male."

Nagato-senpai let out an unusually hammy "Whaaat?!" While Azuki-senpai had a good track record of voicing male characters- not just prepubescent boys or androgynous men- Nagato-senpai probably didn't have much potential as an actress.

"It is true," Azuki-senpai said. "As such, I would like to apologize to everyone who expected a female protagonist and ended up being disappointed. I apologize to Chihiro Fujisaki-san for ripping off his plot twist- in his case, the reveal about a girl being a boy tied into a story about how difficult it can be to live up to gender roles, but here, it's just a plot twist for the sake of a plot twist. I apologize for ripping off another Danganronpa fan work with a crossdressing boy as a main character... because really, that wasn't even a good idea the first time."

I couldn't help but chuckle. Public apologies often were motivated by saving face rather than genuine repentance, so it was refreshing to see Azuki-sennpai's candor.

Azuki-senpai cleared "his" throat and continued.

"And I have one last apology to make," Azuki-senpai said, "...to all the suckers who thought I was being serious. Two words, folks- December Fools."

Azuki punctuated the end of her faux-apology with a smirk.

"That's a wrap, Nagato-senpai said. "Thank you, Akira-san."

"You're welcome, Chiyuri, but I don't get why I had to do it," Azuki-senpai said. "What about Miura? Isn't she the original female protagonst in the series?"

"She is," Nagato-senpai said, "but she can't pass as a boy nearly as well as you can. Even if you cut her hair and gave her boys' clothing to wear, it'd be harder to cover up her breasts."

I blushed and nodded. My breasts weren't all that big- only barely C cups- but it would be difficult to hide them. My clothes weren't too form-fitting or revealing, but anyone who looked at me from the side could see them.

"P-Point taken, Senpai," I said. "Let's move on to our final act. We're going to stage a re-enactment of a certain scene from Danganronpa V3: Killing Harmony- namely, just before the first murder- as an exercise of sorts. Let's get moving; we've got preparations."

Nagato-senpai and Azuki-senpai nodded, then followed me into the hall.

Azuki-senpai, Nagato-senpai and I stood together in a room inside the studio that was a replica of the classroom. Nagato-senpai had exchanged her blazer for a pink sweater vest, hanging the former on the back of a chair, while Azuki-senpai had put on a blue gyakuran top and a baseball cap.

"So let me go over the scene one more time," I said. "Nagato-senpai will play Akamatsu-san, while Azuki-senpai will play Saihara-kun. When I activate the receiver, which will sound a series of loud beeps, Azuki-senpai will run out of the room and into the hallway. A moment later, Nagato-senpai will drop everything she's carrying, then follow Azuki-senpai. Do you have any questions?"

"I do," Nagato-senpai said. "This backpack seems unusually heavy- why is that?"

"It has a spare sweater vest and a shot put ball inside," I said. "The latter's probably the main reason."

Nagato-senpai looked at me skeptically.

"I see," Nagato-senpai said, "but I honestly don't see why. Students generally carry their books and school supplies in their backpacks, not athletic equipment or spare clothing.. My school allows students to wear approved sweater vests under their blazers but over their shirts and ties during the winter months, but students wouldn't need to carry theirs around."

"And what if yours gets dirty?" I said.

"Then I'd probably have to go home to change," Nagato-senpai said. "It would be inconvenient, but since I live within walking distance of Saint Mary's, it wouldn't be the end of the world. Besides, while my school's strict about the dress code, I've never gotten sent home."

"I see," I said. "If both of you are ready, I'll activate the receiver in a few moments. Be prepared to get moving the moment it sounds."

Both of the others, nodded, then stood attentively listening for the cue. A couple minutes later, the signal sounded, and I ran out of the room. After a moment, Nagato-senpai followed me, leaving the backpack behind. Once both were out, I followed them into the hallway.

"Good work, you two," I said. "Out of curiosity, though, Nagato-senpai, what did you do with the backpack? Specifically, the shot put inside it?"

"As you can see, I just dropped the backpack on the floor," Nagato-senpai said, "sweater vest, shot put and all. Was there something I was supposed to do with it?"

I shook my head.

"No," I said. "That's a valid interpretation of the script, as well as what most people would think of when they read the instructions. In the game, however, Akamatsu-san took out the shot put and rolled it into the duct, through the vents, and supposedly onto Amami-kun's head."

Azuki-senpai sighed.

"So they simply decided to obfuscate the twist with misleading word choice?" Azuki-senpai said. "Talk about lame."

"What would you have them do, Senpai?" I said.

"For starters, I'd write a better script," Azuki-senpai said. "Something like the following."

Azuki-senpai borrowed a notepad and a pen, and after a moment of brainstorming, started writing. After discarding one preliminary draft, she wrote up another, then presented it to me.

"Here's my best shot," Azuki-senpai said. "Just keep in mind that I'm the Ultimate Actress, not the Ultimate Director or Ultimate Scriptwriter."

INT- CLASSROOM

As SAIHARA dashes out of the room, AKAMATSU pauses for a moment. She surreptitiously removes the shot put from her backpack, and after quickly checking to see that no one is looking, rolls the ball into the ventilation duct, its final destination being the suspected mastermind's head.

Her grim task completed, AKAMATSU quickly rushes to join SAIHARA, resolute and unsmiling. She takes no pleasure in what she just did, but believes doing so is necessary to protect her friends. All she can do is hope that she was right.

"That's quite good," I said. "It more or less describes what you're aiming for, and how the actress playing should playing Akamatsu-san should play her part."

"Thanks, Miura," Azuki-senpai said. "Of course, the challenge would be to show Akamatsu rolling the ball without making it too obvious, although that's the cameraman's job. Then again, since movie characters' thoughts aren't shown, it wouldn't come out of nowhere."

"Speaking of which," I said, "if you came across the body of someone you'd killed, and you knew you were responsible, then what would be the first thing going through your head?"

Azuki-senpai paused to think for a moment, since she'd probably never been asked that question before.

"It depends," Azuki-senpai said. "If it was an accident and/or I didn't want to kill them, I'd feel awful about it and probably confess. If I intentionally killed the person, I'd probably try to keep a poker face, but inside, I'd be thinking, 'If I screw up, I'll get caught.'"

"That sounds fair enough," I said. "Of course, I think anyone would be unsettled upon seeing a murder victim, unless they've seen them so often that they've gotten numb to it."

"Probably," Azuki-senpai said. "Of course, I've never seen a real murder victim, so I wouldn't know."

Azuki-senpai soon said goodbye to me, and while I thanked her for answering my questions, my heart was heavy. While she was blunt and a bit cynical by nature, she still had a certain amount of innocence to her. I hoped she would never lose that innocence, or her sense of right or wrong; after all, even after everything that had happened, I hadn't, either.

As our program came to an end, Sae and I, along with the four surviving female members of Class 32 and our teacher, met up in the lounge of the recording studio, all wearing fancy kimonos as pre-New Year's fanservice. I wore pink, Sae wore blue, Sayuri-san wore red, Himemiya-senpai wore purple, Nagato-senpai wore yellow, Tatsuki-senpai wore sky blue, and Nagato-sensei wore orange.

Naturally, introductions were in order. Sae and I had to re-introduce ourselves to a close friend, a girl who'd opened up to us enough to trust us with her most closely guarded secret, our homeroom teacher, and a couple others who, while acquaintances rather than friends, knew our names; the only reason why Sayuri-san agreed to let us call her by her first name was because she was naturally amenable to the idea. I knew it wasn't their fault, and so shouldn't take it personally, but it still hurt to be treated as strangers by my schoolmates and friends. In fact, Sayuri-san and Himemiya-senpai seemed unusually distant toward each other, and the only difference was that neither of them was aware of what they'd forgotten.

"Wow, I don't think I've worn a kimono since my last New Year's show," Tatsuki-senpai said, "but don't you think it's a little early for this?"

"Or a little late, depending on when you're reading this," Sayuri-sani said. "One manga artist I know published a chapter that takes place on Christmas in the middle of May. If I recall correctly, the tankobon release came out in January."

"I have the same problem," Sae said. "Since some of Aiko's longer mysteries take two volumes to cover, and are released months apart, time in-universe advances at a slower rate than in real time. Aiko was actually older than I was when I started the series. Maybe one day you'll become older than your main couple, too."

Sayuri-san giggled and shook her head.

"Good one, Sae-chan," Sayuri-san said, "but I don't plan on having Breakneck Canyon go on that long."

Sae silently concurred with the sentiment, as did I. While a part of me would like seeing new Aiko Aizawa novels for years to come (assuming Sae was able to get them published again), I had no desire to see the series become a cash cow that would inevitably wear out its welcome. What I did hope was for Sae to see the story, too large for a single book, to the conclusion she wanted, before either moving on to her next dream project or retiring, depending on her preferences.

"In any case," Nagato-sensei said, "while Chiyuri and I, being Christians, don't partake in the shrine visits, I'm always glad to celebrate the start of a new year with my students. Let's do our best in the new year."

I nodded, and made a silent prayer to whatever god was willing to hear it. I hoped that these girls, their male classmates and the teacher in charge of them would escape safe and sound, without having to lose any more friends to the killing game.

Author's Notes

Unlike other Talent Show installments, this features the characters as they currently are in the story, rather than from high school. Azuki, however, is from her time at Talent High School, and is unaware of her eventual death.

For your reference, Miura and Edogawa quickly became friends with Sasaki, and later befriended Tsukimura and Himemiya, the latter of whom came out of the closet to Miura in March. They didn't have any other close friends in Class 32.

While it's barely after Christmas, I decided to keep the April Fool's motif from the fic's counterpart for Where Talent Goes To Die, and also have the surviving girls get dressed in kimonos for New Year's.