Of course, as naturally as those lies came to the model, itâs no surprise that they whiz right past Kawano. She doesnât detect any insincerity in those words at all, so the logic tracks, and she canât recognize any of the scheming that lay underneath the surface. Instead, she seemsâŚflustered? Maybe thatâs not entirely correct, but itâs close. Sheâs embarrassed to be lavished with such direct praise. The words of critics, magazine columnistsâŚthose didnât really fire her up anymore. Film critics, in fact, were some of the worst people she had ever had the displeasure of interacting with. She didnât really care about their praise, no matter how abundant it was. The idea of her films resonating with an actual, human audience, though? Thatâs what mattered.
Sure, Junko Enoshima wasnât exactly what you would call commonfolk. She was just as prestigious and popular as any film critic â if not much more, but she still felt as though she wereâŚdown to Earth, by Kawanoâs estimation. She felt more like an actual person with an internality that she could appreciate, and whose words were straightforward enough not to seem like simple flattery. Perhaps that, combined with the admission that sheâd watched Kawanoâs work so many times, is a good explanation for why she felt so presently sheepish.
âAhâ t-thank you. IâŚwouldnât have imagined it would be that captivating, butâŚâ She trails off, her fingers twiddling idly in her lap as she tried to politely maintain eye contact. There was a certainâŚpressure to that, though. She wasnât very good at it.
âItâsâŚchallenging. When I film something I guess itâs likeâŚIâm trying to have a conversation without words, right? Iâm trying toâŚplant some kind of idea, or message to the person watchingâŚbut I canât just sit down in front of the camera and spell it out, because thatâd just be annoyingâŚâ She wasnât the type to stand on a soapbox, after all.
âSoâŚitâs always important to find ways to get what I want to say across. And pictures sometimes speak louder than a thousand wordsâŚsoâŚâ Yeah, sheâs not maintaining that eye contact. âAghâ s-sorry, I donât meant to ramble.â
Junko had listened very closely, she seemed genuinely interested in Kawanoâs words. And she was, she didnât start a conversation for nothing after all, she just needs to make sure Kawano doesnât get the wrong idea or think that Junko wasnât interested. A lot of people seem to think that Junko wouldnât care for what theyâre saying.
âNo worries!â She waved her hand, âIâm the one who asked about it after all! So like, a conversation without words, yeah? Thatâs soo cool!! I never actually realized that much went into movie making!â She moved around excitedly, âSo movies mean that much, like if you wanted to make all these people have the same or a certain idea youâd just make your movie like that? Or is it more complicated?â Junko seemed to talk with her hands a lot.
She tilted her head, âActuallyâŚwhat was your favorite movie youâve ever produced? We should totally meet up sometime and watch it together!!â She bounced in her seat, her formally made pigtails getting a little messy, âOf course, if you want to, Iâm not like, the kind of person to pressure people into things, y'know? I hate creeps like thatâ
 That was only a half lie from Junko, she did run into a lot of creeps from the industry like that. At the start she had to just accept it since she was a smaller star then, just starting out. But now she can basically just get them fired no problem, and thank god for that.Â
Junko shivered slightly, the cold of the outside finally catching up to her. With her wearing clothes that hardly suited the weather, she supposed she shouldnât have been too surprised, especially considering they were slightly revealing.
