Um… Hello. So I decided to start writing a fanfic and this is my first one. It'd be wise to keep your expectations low because I think this is bound to be amateur/experimental stuffs. I'll actually be surprised if I ever finish it. I mean I have quite a few ideas where I'm going with this but I don't know if I have the skills or dedication to pull it off properly.

Right, so this will contain spoilers for the whole game/anime so I suggest you don't read this before you finish either of those (go for the game if you can, it's great). The purpose of this is to A. go through the whole Dangan Ronpa storyline again but with a Protagonist (an OC) who is more of an anti-hero and is more proactive and B. attempt to flesh out and develop the character of Celes in a believable fashion that stays consistent to her character in the game. Rated T for "Minor Coarse Language" for now.

I also have not played the second game nor read any of the Light Novels (I don't speak Japanese) so I'll apologize for any inconsistencies with the source material in advance. English is also not my first language so don't expect perfect grammar/spelling. I will also be taking a few liberties with the plot or characters I think.

Also I own nothing here except my OC.

And… eh… yeah. Enjoy and leave a review if you don't mind, I'd appreciate it very much.

edit (19th February): A thought just occurred to me that some of you may be reading this after playing the official translation of Danganronpa rather than the fan-made one. Since I don't currently own the Official English Vita version, I'm not entirely sure what discrepancy there may be (likely very little) between the two versions so do tell me if there is. The only one that I know of is that the "Super High-School Level" in the fan-made version is simply "Ultimate" in the official version. I will continue to use terms from the fan-made translation for the sake of consistency so do bear that in mind, though I doubt this would cause much confusion anyway beside the one difference mentioned above.

Smoke and Masks

Prologue

Hope's Peak Academy.

Quite an elitist name, if you think about it. Not that it's really inaccurate in any way. Basically a school for the elites. Elites in any field, as it turns out. I mean they have a girl here for being an elite mercenary or something. Lord knows why they were willing to let in a paid-killer because apparently she's really really good at her job…

It's also where I'll be spending my school year it seems. For what reason you ask? In which field do I excel at? Or, if you were blunt, direct, unoriginal and entirely boring, which Super High-School Level am I? I can tell you it's not something as grand and adventurous as Super High-School Level Mercenary (seriously).

No, friend, I'm afraid my field of expertise is quite humble. Secrets are my trade. I excel at finding skeletons in people's closets. And then I sell those secrets, to them if they are rich enough, to their enemies if they are richer. In short, I'm the Super High-School Level Informant.

I'm going to make a lot of enemies in this place real quick am I? Right off the bat I've already dabble myself in most of my classmates' dirty secrets (I mean who could blame me, I have a paid-killer in my own class). The mercenary's threatening status became real tamed real quick I'll tell you. They got a serial killer, a biker who killed his own brother, and a cross-dresser of all things... not that there's anything particularly wrong with that, the cross-dresser that is, there's plenty wrong with serial killing. Mental note, must watch myself while I'm among all these lunatics, I'm not the sturdiest of men after all. Not that the school let them in knowingly mind you, they're all here for different purposes. If only that made me feel any safer. I sigh, mentally going through the list of all my classmates in order to pick out the ones to watch out for.

Whatever, I'm not here for a rose colored school life, although if that was true for once I would be eternally grateful. I'm here for business.

With that in mind, I reluctantly made my way…

Light footsteps. Behind me. Who's this? A staff? A student? A client? I stopped dead in my track, which might not have been the best idea in retrospect, and prepared myself.

"Celestia Ludenberg. Delighted to meet you."

Ah, a classmate, much better than an impatient or unhappy client. I turned to face her.

"Nakahara Shiki, pleased to make your acquaintance, Ludenberg-san"

She smiled. Not the natural, honest smile of an average high-school girl, but the carefully practiced smile of an experienced gambler. Of course it was, this is the Super High-School Level Gambler, Celestia Ludenberg, aka Yasuhiro Taeko (a name, if my sources are to be believed, that she's trying to wipe clean from the face of the planet), Queen of Liars, more dashing in person than in any photographs I've got of her (purely for RESEARCH reason mind you). I returned the same kind of smile she gave me, and if my instinct was correct, she saw through it just as I did hers.

"Celes is fine. A fellow classmate I take it?" she said, still with that carefully controlled smile of hers.

Catchy doesn't even begin to describe this one, what with the characteristic Gothic dress, the unusual but weirdly fitting bonnet, the eccentric silver metal finger stall and that fabulous, fabulous red, matching tie (Piss off, I have a thing for ties). Very, very nice, someone who dresses in good taste, we definitely need more of those.

And that gracious slim figure, characteristic twin-drill pigtails and frighteningly deep red eyes…

"I would certainly hope so, Ludenberg-san." I replied. Yes, I would like that very much.

She smiled, somewhat amused perhaps. I think she's measuring my worth. That's what I get for unprofessionally showing my fascination. Good call Shiki, quite an informant you are, giving away a secret as soon as you meet a pretty girl. I mentally slapped myself.

"Shall we head in?" I asked, after spotting a figure in the distance heading toward the school. "Having other people near me during a conversation makes me feel unsafe, a usual mindset for people in my line of work you understand."

She nodded, still with that icy mask of hers, before walking ahead of me toward the school. This one might be dangerous, I thought, a flawless liar and, by reputation at least, a ruthless gambler, but damn doesn't she look fine, and it's not like I'm much better. Tee. Hee. I shook the thought out of my head, business first, pretty girls later.

That figure in the distance is still quite far away, and doesn't seem interested in either me or Celes, which I always take as a good sign. Long lavender hair, dark purple collared jacket, black gloves, clean tie (nice!). That would be Kirigiri Kyouko, daughter of the principle, member of the relatively secret (and evidently not so secret, to the right people) detective family. This will be one to watch out for, let's not cross path with a Kirigiri just yet.

With that thought, I followed after Celes into the school. I'm here for…

Here for…

For…

What?

What the hell?

What the hell am I doing here?

So yeah, predictable stuffs for the most part. I promise it'll diverge from the original story (apart from the OC) at some point. I think I'll flesh out the "important" characters first.

Again, I'd very much appreciate your opinions on this as this is my first time. I have the next few chapters written but I'd like to see feedback for this one first. Thanks!