Kirumi sipped vintage tea, checking her brand-new phone. Her schedule was clear today, a rarity. Deciding to take advantage of her day off, the maid hit the city streets for a walk, her heeled boots clacking on the cobblestone. Before long, she realized why her schedule was empty. It was Valentine's Day, so everyone was off celebrating with their special someone. A few of the happy couples out and about were surprised to see Kirumi walking alone. Didn't she have a date? She was such a gorgeous girl, surely must've had someone!

"No, but I have never felt any such desire for romance or physical intimacy," Kirumi said with a disarming smile as a few of the couples stopped to ask her where her lover was hiding.

"What?!" The very idea seemed a foreign concept to them. A high school girl without a crush? Impossible! Every young lady was in love with someone, male or female! But Kirumi was adamant. She was not in love with anyone and had never been.

"And I don't think I will ever be," she continued. This was not a deprecating or arrogant remark, as some took it. It was a simple statement of fact. She simply did not feel those types of urges.

"Oh, you're still young, dear, there's still plenty of time!" one elderly couple said. "You just aren't old enough to have met the right person yet, you don't know better." Kirumi only gave them a shining, plastic smile. She noticed she was the only female in the current crowd not wearing lipstick. Everyone else was dressed to impress, and to kiss. A few more people approached the maid, trying to figure out "what was wrong with her" and why she didn't have a date, or even a crush! They wondered what her labels must've been.

It was sensual politics at its finest, people addicted to pulling her apart and seeing what was inside. Fittingly, Kirumi did not like sensuality, nor did she like being spread wide apart for the whole world to inspect and judge. They assumed that because she was young she knew nothing, but she knew everything! It was them who knew nothing! She knew herself, her real self, they just didn't want to believe her.

How unfortunate. Even on my days off, I am still slave to others' perceptions of me. Yes, it was her job as a maid to conform to the desires and beliefs of others, like a mirrorball, but that didn't mean it wasn't exhausting sometimes, especially when it was about something that should've been private or personal. The one piece of her life that should've been hers to control was still on display for everyone else to have an opinion on. That was part of why she always tried to insist she had no opinions of her own.

"My only job is to show you every version of yourself tonight," she told one of her previous masters. It was not her job to expose herself, not that there was much to expose anyway. At least, not anything he would've cared to see. "I'll get you out on the floor, shimmering beautiful," she continued to entice her master to the dancefloor, placing his arm into the hand of another.

He wanted her, that much was clear, but she didn't want him, so she did everything she could to find him someone else, to get his attractions and flirtations off her back. Although her plan worked, when everyone else came out to celebrate the master's new lover, the same questions bombarded the maid. Her master had someone, so why didn't she? They were roughly the same age, after all! She dodged the questions with expertise and grace, but after long enough, they became too heavy to carry and a tiny part of her heart broke a little on the inside, fearing that she would never be accepted as she was. And when I break it's in a million pieces...

So she quietly dismissed herself from the ballroom, leaving her master and new mistress. She snuck away to her private chamber, dancing to music all her own. There, she did indeed imagine someone, but it was not a real person, nor one she could even put a face to, but she didn't need to. The important part was their essence, their spirit. She imagined someone kind, gentle, wise, understanding, and caring. One who didn't judge or mind her distaste for romance or sexuality. It was her ultimate imaginary friend, one who would love her platonically, but with just as much power and passion as any romantic partner could muster.

"Hush, when no one is around, my dear," she told the phantom figure. "You'll find me on my tallest tiptoes, spinning in my highest heels, love, shining just for you! Hush! I know they said my time is here, but I'm still on my tallest tiptoes..." No matter how they came knocking or what they insisted, Kirumi knew the life of marriage and consummation was not the one for her. They'd say she needed to grow up, or risk being Peter losing Wendy, but she honestly didn't mind the thought. She'd stay in Neverland forever if it meant she could be happy and free, and herself.

"I...want you to know...I'm a mirrorball. I can change everything about me to fit in," she told her phantom friend. She loved her job as a maid more than anything. She was married only to her post! But, as noted earlier, sometimes having to constantly change every version of herself to please the world and fit their world view was tiring. She didn't want to have to hide in the closet forever.

But if she couldn't come out to the world, because they would never understand, she could still come out to her imaginary friend. She never got the appeal of romance anyway, with how many seemed to end in tragedy. And yet, people seemed to love that type of despair. Chasing two girls only to lose the one, or watching someone leave like a father, running like water, or tears streaming down faces; screaming and crying and kissing in the rain. It was something Kirumi could never see herself enjoying, except in the world of fiction.

"You are not like the regulars," she told her phantom. "The masquerade revelers downstairs who love to get drunk and watch my shattered edges glisten, picking me apart with their eyes, trying to understand the way I work, and trying to make it fit their narrative." And that was the best part about her phantom partner, their essence, their spirit! They'd draw stars around her scars whenever the rest of the world left her bleeding.

"Hush, when no one is around, my dear," she sang quietly, still dancing for and with her phantom friend. Together, they were shining under a streetlight and Kirumi could feel their hand reaching through her chest and touching her very heart, making it feel better.

But the end soon drew near and Kirumi was required to return to the ballroom down below. They called off the circus, brought the disco down. Then they sent home the horses and the rodeo clowns, but Kirumi was still on that tightrope, still trying everything to get the others laughing at her. It was her job as a maid to be a likeable entertainer. She thrived on the positive feedback from others. It was not the happiest or healthiest of arrangements for her, but what could she say? I'm still a believer but I don't know why...She'd never been a natural at anything she'd ever done, no matter how much Talent she had. All I do is try, try, try...

Whether it was pleasing her master, fitting in with the world, or still holding out the hope of finding someone who'd love her for her, she was still on that trapeze and still trying everything to keep them looking at her. Maybe someday...she'd find someone...Not a romantic partner, mind you, but someone...And she imagined their face in the crowd, even though it was only a silhouette.

She sang to them in her head. "I'm a mirrorball...And I'll show you every version of yourself tonight, shimmering beautiful..." And for the first time that night, pretending she had someone worth singing to, she smiled.

She was still a believer, even though she didn't know why, and when everyone else called off the circus, went home, and turned the disco down, Kirumi waited for her imaginary friend. They were the last to leave the ballroom once the cleanup was over.

"No, you're not just a phantom companion. You're the symbol of all my hopes and dreams, of the real person I still want to find someday, even if it only happens once in 20 lifetimes! I know that because I am young they assume I know nothing, but I know you will haunt all of my what-ifs. I can see you standing there, even though I do not yet know who you are...

"After the thrill of romance expires for the others, as it always does, I'll be the one who comes out on top in the end because I'll still have you, a platonic love even more powerful than any of us could imagine...And you'll be standing in my front porch light, and I know you'll be there for me. And when I feel like an old cardigan under someone's bed, you'll put me on and say I am your favorite, and you'll be my favorite, too..."

Someday, she'd find someone who'd wear her with pride. She was still a believer, even though she didn't know why. And then, once she found that special someone, her own type of special someone...I'll be your mirrorball...And I'll show you every version of yourself tonight...

AN: I know this wasn't very Danganronpa-y, but Kirumi is absolutely an ace icon to me, and this fic embodies my own greatest hope: a love just as strong as any romance, but without the...romance/sex. LOL!

I also know this wasn't very Cardigan-y, since the story of that song is set to a love affair. I just really liked the line "When you are young they assume you know nothing!" Every queer kid feels that.

I also think Kirumi's aesthetic fits Folklore (especially Mirrorball) and not just lyrically. It's probably just because of the gray and silver color, along with the old-fashioned and melancholic tone.