Danganronpa: Painful Truth

Honesty

"Holy shit, you kidding?"Natsumi cackled as her passengers recounted the specifics of their adventure. "That's fucking great. Sounds like you almost blew the whole goddamn mission, Banshee."

"HEY!" Tenko protested indignantly. "I did my best! If you wanna blame someone, blame Ryu! He got taken down by a degenerate half his size!"

Despite her aggressive accusation, Ryu simply roared with laughter, causing the rattled redheads on either side of him to jump in surprise. "That skinny fancy guy was pretty damn fast!"

"Yeah, yeah, save the excuses for the boss, I don't give a shit." Natsumi waved a dismissive hand. "The fact is, from the sound of it, you assholes would've been screwed if not for that phone call. Plus some smooth talking from Yoshi and Himiko, I guess," she added with a shrug.

"Nyeh?" Himiko's brown eyes sparkled. "Really?"

"Don't get all excited, but yeah," Natsumi confirmed, shifting gears as the incline of the road grew steeper. "Makin' shit up under pressure is one of the hardest and most important kinds of lying. It's the difference between a valuable team member and a fuckin' liability." She shot a quick smirk at Tenko. "Can't have everybody running up like 'oh excuse me, we're here to rip your whole goddamn operation apart, mind letting us in, showing us around a bit?'"

"I'm working on it, dammit!" Tenko wailed.

A sudden peal of laughter burst from Natsumi's throat as she accelerated around one of her favorite curves in the mountain road. The gasps and shouts from her passengers only brightened her smile. Now that they were almost home, after their foolish, unplanned mission had gone shockingly well, she couldn't describe her relief. She felt as though nothing could disrupt her positive mood.

She was abruptly proven wrong as her garage loomed into view. Three people stood silhouetted against the carport door, watching their approach. Ayu stood to the right, wearing an expression of discomfort.  To the left, Shigeri slouched casually, their smirk full of lazy anticipation. Kokichi, of course, stood between them, clearly trying far too hard to maintain his pleasant smile.

"Goddamn it, he ain't even gonna let us get settled," she groaned, releasing the gas pedal entirely and applying the brakes. "Hope you dumbasses are ready."

Himiko squeaked and sunk low in her seat, removing her hat so no part of her would be visible through the windows.

The car finally stopped, eliminating their last excuse to avoid the consequences of their actions. With a chorus of groans (and one irreverent chuckle from Ryu), they exited the relative security of the vehicle. Setting her face into her most defensive glare, Natsumi charged ahead until she was face to face with Kokichi. "Yeah yeah, we get it, we fucked up. Let's get this shit over with."

His patient expression melted away as he cackled loudly. "Now now now, you're always in such a hurry, Natsy-Watsy~!" He shook his head, a malicious smirk lingering on his lips. "There's a process to these things, ya know! First of all, I assume you at least came back with a report of some kind? Don't leave out any details, or else!"

"Poor Sushi," Shigeri snickered.

Despite the tension, and Kokichi's obvious frustration, Natsumi had no problem matching his smirk. With flawless timing, she heard Yoshi, Ryu, Tenko and Himiko fall into place behind her. It was exactly the opportunity she'd been hoping for. A chance to mollify the supreme leader before his rage could properly form.

"Damn right I do," she began, her red eyes glowing with enthusiasm she rarely showed without a steering device in front of her. "Your favorite little new recruit's got some spirit, that's for sure."

"Nyehhh?" Himiko stared up at her apprehensively.

Kokichi raised an eyebrow, clearly curious, but not quite convinced. "Ohhh?"