Danganronpa: Sunken Despair - Free Time Events

Mitsumi Honda Free Time Event (2/5)

Later on I found Mitsumi in the kitchen's pantry, writing a notepad as she counts the amount of food we have before it gets restocked. I go up to her and say "Hey Mitsumi, hope I'm not interrupting."

"Hey Haru, not at all actually. Almost done with taking inventory, so a small break wouldn't hurt," she said back, closing the pantry door before turning to me. "How can I help you?"

"Hoping to chat with you, remembering your offer from last time."

"Ah, right! What do you wanna talk about?" she asked.

"If you don't mind me asking, what made you want to become a police officer?" I asked in return.

"Uh..." It seems Mitsumi wasn't expecting me to ask that, but I didn't notice it at first as I kept talking.

"I mean, I can't help but admire you! You're strong, brave, kind, and never look away from the right thing to do!" I praised.

"I-I, uh...w-well..." she struggled to find the words to respond to me as a faint blush was painted on her face.

"Are you ok?" I asked, finally stopping with my rambling.

"I-I'm fine...I j-just don't respond to praise that much," she replied, still blushing to herself as she slowly smiles. "I-I guess I could tell you..."

She took a bit to breathe in and out to regain her mature composure. "Well, it's not that I just wanted to be an officer, but more like I earned my position to prove a point."

"What do you mean?" I asked.

"Well...I'm the youngest child in my family, as well as the second female. My dad and three older brothers outnumber my mom and I. My dad and two of my brothers are in the police force themselves, and my father...well...let's just say he solely believes that men should have jobs meant for men, and the other way applied for women."

"What you're trying to say is that your dad's slightly sexist?" I asked.

"He's a good man and good police chief...but yeah, he slightly is."

'Not sure if slightly is the word I'd use...' I thought to myself.

"There are points where he lets it slide, of course, but he didn't like the thought of his only daughter joining the force. I admired my father for the work he's done and wanted to follow in his footsteps, but he'd prefer if I did something like cooking or cleaning, but I didn't want any of that bullshit."

"Yet you did so and proved him you're capable, right?" I asked.

"Well...I will say the road to where I am now definitely wasn't easy. My dad wanted to see just how committed I was to become a cop, so he and my brothers put me through intense training, testing my will and determination. They tried to force down two years of training in merely two months, and if I let out even a single complaint, then all bets were off."

"Holy shit, that does sound intense," I replied, unsure how long I'd even last if I was in her shoes.

"But despite their best efforts, they didn't break me," she said, smiling with confidence. "And when I took the exams at the academy, both physical and written, I managed to get a perfect score at the age of 15."

"Damn, that's awesome!" I exclaimed.

"Yeah...and I'm sure you can imagine the look on my dad's face when he saw that his own daughter was better at being an officer than he was within the next few months after graduating, and not to mention being scouted by Hope's Peak a couple years later," Mitusmi laughed.

"Oh I bet," I said, laughing as well. "I gotta say Mitsumi, you might be the strongest person I know."

However, Mitsumi stopped laughing for a brief moment before recovering with what I thought was fake laughter. "O-oh come on, you're just giving me too much credit," she said, playing that pause off.

"I mean it! Out of everyone here, you seem to be handling the whole killing game rather well!"

"I mean...I-."

"You're also doing everything around here to keep us all together! Who can do all of that and-."

"I'M NOT STRONG!!" she cried out, showing an expression mixed with fear and sadness, tears starting to flow as she suddenly bolts out of the cafeteria before I could even say anything...did...did I make Mitsumi break? What was all of that about...?

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Haru Notes:  Mitsumi revealed to me how her family had involvement with her being the Ultimate Cop.  I admired her for being so strong...but the moment I said all of that she panicked and bolted out of the cafeteria before I could understand why...could she not be handling this entire situation as best as I thought she was...?