danganronpa - deluded | fanganronpa

[ prologue - chip bags and coconuts ]

Next, Akira saw a young lady sitting on a bench.

She had glasses and light skin. Her hair was brown with teal highlights and went down to around where her earlobe ended. Akira could only see one light blue eye. She wore a plaid, button-up shirt and a knee-length brown skirt with white stockings. A pair of wireless headphones was slung around her neck.

Akira walked up to her and tapped her shoulder, causing her to look up.

"Wha- your eyes-" Akira started in shock.

The woman laughed. "Yeah, that's usually the first thing I get when I meet someone."

One of the woman's eyes was a light blue and the other was a deep brown. Akira read about heterochromia somewhere, but she never imagined she'd see someone who actually had it. In bewilderment, the question, "Are they real?" spilled out of her mouth.

The woman nodded. "Sure is. It's heterochromia. My name is Shinako Higuei, the Ultimate Foley Artist. It's nice to meet you!"

SHINAKO HIGEUI

ULTIMATE FOLEY ARTIST

"Wow. That's incredible, Shinako!" Akira complimented with a smile. "It looks really nice. Does it hurt your vision?"

"Oh, no," Shinako replied quickly. "It's not painful at all. My vision is perfectly fine - the fact that I need glasses is a genetic thing."

"That's good," Akira sighed. "What's a foley artist, though?"

"In simple terms, they're the people who make sound effects for movies," Shinako explained, "like... a horse walking on dirt can be made by stuffing some coconut shells with fabric and hitting it against some sod. Fire noises can be made by crinkling potato chip bags. Raw beef can be used to make slapping sounds and more."

"Oh! That's cool!" Akira chirped. "What movies have you worked with?"

"Uh... let me see... Souls of the Moon, The Hustler's Flame, The Edge, and some others."

"What? Really? Those were all super popular! I even saw The Hustler's Flame when I went to visit a city for the first time!" Akira gasped. "The sound effects were amazing! How'd you do that snow noise so well?"

"Oh! It was really simple!" Shinako laughed. "Corn starch in a leather pouch or glove. Then, just squeeze it, and it makes a really realistic snow crunch. I made the creaking sounds with my mom's old rocking chair. The grass was made with balled up audio and electric tape, but sod works too because it's actual fake grass."

"Wow. Foley art sounds like it's really tricky," Akira murmured.

Shinako nodded in agreement. "Yeah. The first few times, I totally messed everything up. It takes practice to make sure your coconut isn't too hollow or thin, but once you get it down you become so used to it that when it's even a bit hollow it sounds weird to you."

Akira pulled one of her arrows out of the pouch on her back, handling it gently and staring down at it as she spoke. "What about arrows? Are they useful?"

"Of course! Waving an arrow around can make a great whooshing sound. It kind of sounds like a gentle breeze. Try it."

Akira nodded and waved the arrow around in a circle. A smile formed on her face as a soft ' whoosh! ' slowly filled the air. Shinako was nodding and smiling along with her. "Yeah. That sounds really authentic. If you don't mind, someday I may need to borrow those!"

"Oh! That'd be great," Akira said with a smile, "it'll be great to see my stuff being used in a great film like The Hustler's Flame. I think I should get going, though. I still want to say hello to all my classmates. It was nice meeting you, though."

Shinako nodded and waved as Akira started to walk away. "Yep! Bye, Akira!"

OBTAINED TICKET FRAGMENT!