First Impressions
It was a cool spring afternoon as a girl with long lavender hair, wearing the customary brown Hope's Peak Academy uniform, combed the courtyard for and found an unoccupied bench under a cherry tree. She absently flipped her hair and the long braid on the left side of her head back so that she could concentrate on the information contained within the file folder that she had been carrying with her as she walked.
All of this had not gone unnoticed by another occupant of the courtyard, who was a brown-haired and unassuming sort of fellow who wore a green hoodie underneath his brown uniform. He recognized the girl as one of his classmates, and since he hadn't talked to her very much (and neither did any of their other classmates, to be honest) he decided that since he and she were alone that this might be a good opportunity to break the ice.
He walked over to where she was seated, her attention so focused on the contents of the folder that he had to softly clear his throat so that he wouldn't startle her. When she didn't look up, he shrugged and cleared his throat once more. A passing look of mild irritation came over the girl's face as she, not looking up from her task, stated, "If you keep doing that, you should probably go to the nurse's office."
"Huh? Oh, I'm sorry. It's just that you were so focused I didn't want to scare you," he replied with a smile.
His genuine, innocent reply to her remark intrigued her enough to close the folder and look up. "Can I assume that you're here for a reason, then?" she asked.
His cheeks flushed slightly, having not seen her this close before to notice that her eyes were a deep shade of purple. "U-um, well, I wanted to see if it was okay if I sat with you first off."
His pink cheeks not escaping her now rapt attention, she relented and gestured to the unoccupied portion of the bench. With an emotion that can only be described as delight, the brunet sat before the offer to was rescinded. After he sat down, he looked to her and stated, "I've seen you here at the Academy and in our homeroom class, but I haven't had the chance to introduce myself." He extended his hand as he continued, "My name is Makoto Naegi."
Unable to wipe the smirk from her face, the girl also extended a dark purple gloved hand to meet his for a handshake as she plainly replied, "Yes, I remember. I'm Kyoko Kirigiri."
The handshake and proper introduction out of the way, Makoto decided to take a bold leap and asked, "So, what was it that had you so occupied before? If you don't mind me asking, that is."
Once again noticing his genuine concern, which he'd also shown to their classmates, she soon began to realize why they overwhelmingly said that he was a nice person, a good friend, or 'a hell of a cool friggin' guy' as the Ultimate Motorcycle Gang Leader had stated. Resisting a sudden urge to reveal everything about what she was doing, she merely replied, "I'm assisting my father with a matter here at the Academy." What she didn't say, but what was implied, was that her "assistance" was more than a bit reluctant.
Not catching the nuance, Makoto just nodded and replied, "Oh, that's right. Your dad is the Headmaster and you're.. you're the Ultimate.. " His statement trailed off. With fifteen other classmates and their respective talents to remember, Makoto was more than a bit overwhelmed with the whirlwind that had been his first few weeks at the Academy.
"Detective," Kyoko finished. "My father seems to think that I'm the best qualified person for this." As she spoke, Makoto finally noticed a bit of an edge to her voice, as if she was either frustrated or overly tired.
He hesitantly asked, "Do you not agree with that?"
She looks to him, incredulous at first, then nods in spite of herself. "I have the feeling that this case is more of an albatross or a red herring than anything else."
Confused, Makoto asks, "Albatross? Red herring?"
She shows him a rare smirk before she replies, "What that really means is that I don't think I was meant to solve anything. It's more like.. busy work."
Makoto nods, then states, "But, Kyoko.. forgive me for saying this, but you're an Ultimate. The Ultimate Detective, for that matter. For you to say that you weren't meant to solve the case, that just tells me that I think that you should persevere and do the best that you can."
Kyoko, more than a little dumbfounded, responds, "But then that means that you wouldn't be here if you weren't an Ultimate. You were the lottery winner, if I remember correctly."
Makoto sheepishly nods, absently moving his left hand to fidget with the hair on the back of his head. "I'd say it was more dumb luck, honestly. I'm pretty average, as far as talent or anything else goes."
With a fire rarely shown to people other than herself or her father, Kyoko vehemently retorts, "If that were true, you wouldn't have just told me that I shouldn't give up on a case." What she didn't say is that his encouragement gave her hope. How was that even possible?
Without realizing what he'd done, Makoto asked, "So, I think I can assume that you're still on the case. Right?"
Kyoko sighs, more in relief than exasperation. "Correct. Listen.. I.. never expected that I would think one thing, then think the completely opposite thought no more than five minutes later. Thank you."
Dumbfounded, Makoto just shrugs and states with a smile, "Well, I'm glad that I was able to help."
Kyoko stands from her seated position and apologetically offers, "I'm sorry to cut this short, but I do have something pressing that I need to take care of before the end of the school day. Thank you again for sitting with me, and.. I hope that we can talk again like this sometime."
As she briskly started to walk to her destination without waiting for his response, Makoto sighs happily and leans back on to the tree. 'That went a LOT better than I expected.'