Danganronpa v1 [Talentswap] [Female reader: You are Mukuro]

Chapter 2.3: Two Bros Chilling in a Sauna

"—No, no, no, those conspiracy theories are so pedestrian. I mean, assuming all architecture from ancient civilizations was secretly built by aliens? Gimme a break. It's all just a bunch of occult bullcrap."

"Is that so?" I asked Hiro in a mixture of amusement and genuine curiosity. I didn't exactly follow his line of logic. The occult seemed like his exact wheelhouse, so of course I had to know more.

What could I say? As a detective, curiosity was my achilles heel.

"Hell, yeah!" said Hiro. "They can't pull the wool over these eyes." He made the "I'm watching you" gesture with his hand. "Besides, you can't just recite the same old tired crap over and over again. You gotta think bigger, yeah?"

"Oh, absolutely." I did my best to nod in earnest, but it wasn't easy. I suppressed a laugh, but a small smile slipped through, my lips a thin line as I fought back the urge.

"Faking the moon landing? Pedestrian. Hiring Stanley Kubrick to fake the moon landing, but Kubrick being such a perfectionist that he made them shoot it on location? Eh, okay, but still could use some imagination."

"How about this," I suggested, "'We actually are living on the moon... but are brainwashed to think we're still on Earth'?"

He laughed jovially, loud and raucous and with his entire body. "Now we're talking!"

I was humoring him, just a little. I loved spending time with Hiro. Everything he said was absolute nonsense, but that was the charm. I really couldn't help but be entertained. Maybe that was the real reason I enjoyed myself, like the way someone enjoys a bad movie. Or maybe it was more like a mystery novel? In the sense that you just never knew what he was going to say next. Hearing him talk just filled me with such a unexplained glee. I could practically see the cogs turning in his head. He just had endless gems. The gift that kept on giving. And that wasn't even touching on the absolute conviction in his delivery.

The best part was that I was absolutely sure that the things Hiro said meant nothing to him. But they meant everything to me.

I was too distracted by my own musings to notice when Hiro pulled out a deck of cards and began to shuffle them.

"Where do you keep those?" I asked him.

"In my coat pocket, man. I never go anywhere without my deck." Hiro said all this while performing all those fancy shuffles, the kind I had no idea how to pull off. The cards seemed to practically fly. "I'm down for anything: shogi, othello, poker. Hell, mahjong then drinks and call it a day—an afternoon of that and we're friends for life. But you can't just carry around a giant case full o' tiles, yeah? Cards are just a classic. Never know when anyone might be down for a game! Plus, I've been trying my hand at readings, so we could give that a shot."

"You mean cartomancy?" I asked.

"Yeah!"

I nodded, hoping to convey just how absolutely invested I was in the... the everything he was saying. "I see."

He had a mischievous grin on his face, cards flying between his fingers. "You ever played a game of 52 pickup?"

"Oh my god."

I turned at the sound of a familiar voice dripping with disdain. Junko was approaching our table, rolling her eyes and giving us a look.

"Hello, sis," I said, offering her a smile.

Junko ignored me. "Not that old trick again." She looked to me, "Look, 'Kuro, don't fall for that bullshit. 52 pickup? Come on, Hiro."

I shot him a confused look, and he chuckled nervously.