Front Note:
Oh boy, it's been a long time, but I finally managed to get through my paranoia and finish this work. I'm not good with slice-of-life stuff, so it was really hard for me to find a direction to write in. Anyways, here's the end result and hope you guys like it!
See end notes for more of my rant and future plans.
Lost In Tranquility - Part One
"Weather is clear, sightlines visible up to 500 meters, structural integrity of the building is acceptable. No immediate signs of danger." Mukuro assessed as she looked out the window. She wasn't paying too much attention in class, since it's covering a topic she already knew much about: The Battle of Thermopylae. It was history class, and the teacher was rambling about the heroic sacrifices of the Spartans and how they bought the rest of ancient Greece enough time to formulate a proper defense against the invading Persians. Although it ended as a defeat for the Spartans, it was still widely considered a military victory in the long run. Many years ago, this topic would've made Mukuro excited to learn about, but now, it was rather boring.
She returned her focus to face forward, appearing as if she's still paying attention. "VIP is still secure, no immediate signs of potential danger, but…." She didn't have time to finish that thought, her instincts telling her something was wrong. Before she knew it, she shot her foot forward towards the chair in front of her, holding it up from collapsing. Makoto wobbled for a second before gripping the sides of his desk and standing up in a shocked manner.
"It just doesn't make sense does it?" Junko whispered from beside her. "Everything always seems fine but some force of nature always fucks something up leading to this."
"Is something wrong Naegi?" The teacher asked him, confused as to why he suddenly stood up in class.
"I…I thought my chair was going to collapse for a second…" Makoto replied, confused and embarrassed.
"It looks fine to me." The teacher said, crossing her arms and noticing that the chair was still up.
"Well that's because Mukuro here is holding it up with her foot!" Junko proudly blurted out, bringing Mukuro back to reality, and with her, the chair came crashing down. Makoto took a step back in shock, the teacher raised a brow and the rest of the class had a small laugh.
"I..I see. Well, this is a good stopping point for the class anyways. For next week, I'll expect all of you to have done your readings on the rest of the topic as well as the assigned homework. Also, get rid of that chair and get a new one." The teacher said as she began packing up her materials. Makoto turned a bit red from embarrassment as he finally absorbed what had happened in the last 20 seconds.
"Erm, thanks Ikusaba-san, I guess I owe you one again." He said, to which Mukuro shrugged.
"It's no problem, you're not that heavy anyways." She replied, causing Makoto to turn a bit red. He was fairly average, but a bit on the short side.
"Awww look at you, you made him embarrassed again!" Junko cried out, making Mukuro uncomfortable that it was her fault.
"O-oh, I'm sorry, I didn't mean to." Mukuro stammered out. Having nothing else to say, she turned to the side and started packing up her stuff.
"H-Hey, it's not your fault!" Makoto said, shooting a look at Junko who was holding back a giggle. "I-It's a natural reaction, no one's at fault here."
"O-Of course." Mukuro said, putting the last of her books into her bag.
"C'mon sis, you've gotta learn when I'm messing with ya and when I'm not. Jeez, you're easier to play with than a child." Junko huffed.
"Hey now, she's getting better at it right? That's all that matters." Sayaka said, chiming in from the side. Mukuro turned to face the idol, unsure of how to respond. She didn't exactly welcome her interruption, but it didn't seem as if Sayaka had ill intentions either. The idol returned her indecision with a smile before turning back to Makoto. "You alright though? It seems like you had quite a scare."
"Well, I can't say it didn't get me, but I guess I can't help it." Makoto said. "It doesn't even make sense sometimes."
"Considering the streak you have, no argument there." Sayaka agreed with a smile. "But it is kind of funny sometimes. I mean, the chair could've collapsed at any moment but it decided to collapse when someone, had their eyes on you." She said, stressing out the word 'someone' while motioning her head over to the soldier.
Both Mukuro and Makoto immediately flushed red with embarrassment as they knew what she was implying at.
"W-What do you mean?"
"T-That was just a coincidence!"
Sayaka sighed. "You see? This is exactly what I'm talking about." She said, gesturing to their in-sync reactions which only furthered their embarrassment. "Well, I'm not going to stick around today, my group has some more practice today, so I'll be going now."
"A-Ah, you have quite the busy schedule don't you." Makoto said, understanding her title of an idol.
"Yup! Though I guess it can't be helped. That's just the way things are." Sayaka replied with a half-sigh. "Well, if there's time to hangout, I'll let you know."
"S-Sure. That sounds good. Good luck Maizono-san." Makoto said, watching her make her way to the door. Before she disappeared into the hallway however, she turned around with her arms behind her back and a smile on her face, the same smile he has been seeing all year round.
"Yeah, see you next week. And you two as well!" Sayaka said, shooting a wink towards Makoto before walking off. Mukuro twitched at the gesture with an unknown feeling within her. She was never one to rouse at the taunts of others as it was a trait that was detrimental on the battlefield. But here, she was surprised to find herself agitated. Though it made her blood boil a little bit, Mukuro gave a small wave at the retreating figure of the idol before instinctively turning to Junko, a silent "what now?" gesture.
Junko returned her look with a shrug and a sigh. "Haaaaahhh… Why don't you help Naegi-kun here with his homework?" The sudden mention of his name had Makoto tense up in the middle of packing up his books.
"W-What? I'm fine! You don't need to!" Makoto said, fumbling with his pencil case.
"You're telling me you're fine with the notes you took? Man, I thought you were a honest guy too." Junko pointed out, leading to Mukuro standing up and peeking over Makoto's shoulder in curiosity.
Sure enough, his notes were incoherent. Though he managed to write down all of the major topics, he was missing several important details from each one. On top of that, judging by the way he worded his notes, he seemed to not understand a few other events and details leading up to today's lecture in history. Most importantly, he did not understand the importance of the entire battle. How could someone miss something as significant as that?
"Naegi-kun, those notes are barely adequate for studying." Mukuro pointed out with slight disappointment, causing Makoto to concede, slump onto his new chair with his face down on his note book.
"Ugh yeah. I'm going to need some help with this. Er.. maybe a lot of help. But if you're busy, I'd rather not take more of your time. You help me out enough already. I'm considering to study with Togami-kun this time but…..." He groaned, not really looking forward to the idea of studying with the heir while also regretting his last study session with Kiyotaka. Again, Mukuro looked over at Junko, silently asking for permission. She was promptly confused when Junko responded with a mischievous smile instead.
"You know, I'm sure Kirigiri-san will be more than willing to help you out if you ask her." Junko said, stressing the later half to drive the point home.
"T-That's true… I hope she's not bus—"
"That won't be necessary, I can help you with that." Mukuro firmly interrupted. Junko hid a smile as Makoto flinched from her unprecedented interruption. "With my extensive knowledge of past militaries, I should be more than qualified to help you with this subject." She continued.
"E-Eh but you already help me out enough! I would feel pretty bad if I were to ask you for even more help…." Makoto politely declined, waving his arms about.
"Don't worry, it doesn't bother me." Mukuro said with determination.
"Well, I-I still feel bad about it… and also, aren't you going out with Junko right now?" Makoto countered, causing Mukuro to once again, instinctively turn to her sister. He was not wrong as Junko did originally plan to take a walk around the shopping district again. But knowing Junko….
"I don't care what she does." Junko replied with a shrug. "I'll just grab Yasuke-Senpai and it'll be even better! Ohohoh just the thought of dragging him around and having him do my bidding is making me excited!" She squealed, wrapping her arms around herself as if she's hugging herself.
"Are you sure about that? I don't want to break up any plans you two had beforehand." Makoto replied, sending an apologetic look towards Junko.
"Plans?" Junko laughed, clutching her stomach. "Aw man, you wouldn't be able to foil any plan I come up with! Don't worry about it! I can make do without Mukuro for a day! It's not like this is the first time."
"I almost feel bad for Matsuda-Senpai…." Makoto thought out loud, trying to imagine the possible things Junko does to him. Mukuro wasn't fazed by the possibilities as she was completely used to seeing them together. Though their dynamics wouldn't be considered the most healthy as a couple, those two wouldn't be terrible enough to start some kind of trouble they can't fix themselves.
"You have other things to worry about." Mukuro said, nodding towards his books that were still spread out on his desk.
"Oh! Of course!" Makoto realized, and resumed packing up his mess of a table. Mukuro took the chance to turn to Junko, who gave her usual peace sign. Though neither of them spoke a single word, they were able to converse with just facial expressions.
"So, do you like the new plan?"
"Was that really necessary?"
"Oh? Am I seeing a bit of jealousy there?"
"You of all people should know that Kirigiri-san is actually busy since your scheme with Yasuke-Senpai yesterday."
"Heeeyyy come on! You just needed a little push! You weren't going to offer help by yourself anyways. Also, in my defense, it would have been fine if he listened!"
"I-I am capable of handling my own situations by myself."
"Not social situations!"
"….."
"Aww relax! Things worked out anyways right? I get Yasuke-Senpai all to myself, and you get Naegi-kun all to your-"
The silent conversation was abruptly ended when Mukuro broke eye contact and placed her hand on Makoto's shoulder.
"Let's get going. There's a lot to cover for this topic." Mukuro suddenly said. Though she's surprised she blurted that out, it also technically wasn't a lie, and Junko probably caught that as Mukuro felt Junko's aura change a bit behind her.
"Oh yeah! I'm just about done. Where do you want to go?" Makoto asked.
"Anywhere you can focus is fine." Mukuro replied, prompting Junko to laugh once again.
"Handle…your…..situations…." Junko sputtered out while laughing. When she calmed down, she stretched and got up, walking towards the door. "Welp, I'll catch you both later. I'm gonna go find Yasuke-Senpai."
"See you later Enoshima-san, try not to get in trouble this time?" Makoto said, waving good-bye with Mukuro.
"No promises!" Junko winked before disappearing from the door, leaving Makoto and Mukuro alone in the classroom. There was an awkward few seconds of silence as Makoto stuffed the last of his books into his bag and hoisted it onto his back while Mukuro watched him. These seconds however, lasted much longer than usual for Mukuro. "What am I supposed to do now? Do people usually do something at this point?" She thought, completely unsure of how to handle this social situation. In the end, she decided to stay quiet, there was no reason for her to speak up right now.
"Alright, so… somewhere I can focus…. Oh! I nearly forgot I that I need to get some groceries for Komaru since my parents won't be home for a while. We can study at my place afterwards if that's alright with you."
"That should be fine." Mukuro automatically replied, though, she almost immediately regretted doing so. Was it alright to study at his house? Wouldn't it still count as intruding? What about his sister? Would she be fine with it? What if they would be bothering her? It was too late to go back now, and for once, she hated herself for her habit of automatically agreeing with everything Junko or Makoto said. "What do you need to buy anyways?"
"Well, I'm stocking up on food and snacks for the most part since my parents aren't here, and Komaru did ask me to get the latest edition of her girl's manga." Makoto said. "It's a block away from my house, and the bus stop isn't too far either. Don't worry, it's not that big of a detour."
"You still live quite a way from the school if I recall correctly." Mukuro said as they both left the classroom and started making their way out of the building.
"Yup. We're a normal family, so we don't live in the richer areas. Just your typical suburbs across the city." Makoto said. "It's not all that bad though, I have everything I need, and it's less congested than it is around here. The neighbours are nice too. They sometimes come over and help us cook whenever my parents are out."
"That sounds….. nice." Mukuro thought out loud, a tiny warm feeling within her. She haven't heard Makoto go off about any topic before, and the idea of him living in a peaceful neighbourhood did sound reassuring. However, that warm feeling was quickly replaced by a hollow one. Perhaps it's because she never understood the feeling of being in a peaceful house that she yearns for it.
"All the more reason I should show you around there. The peace and quiet is quite soothing when I take walks to the bus stop, and the air feels more refreshing than it does in the busier parts of town." Makoto continued.
"You make the richer areas pale in comparison the way you're making it out." Mukuro noted, a slight tinge of sadness in her voice.
"Well, I grew fond of the suburbs since I grew up like that. I mean, it's not bad out here as well. It's so lively, and there's tons of stuff to see and do around here. Where it's relaxing back near my area, there's just about everything you can ask for around here. So really, it's not too bad." Makoto said. "You know, I never asked but since we're on this topic, where do you live Ikusaba-san?"
"Junko and I live together in a normal house as well. While there's more than enough room for just the two of us, Junko still complains she doesn't have enough." Mukuro answered.
"A normal house? I would have thought you would live in a mansion or something." Makoto thought.
"I suppose that's a fair guess. Despite her fame, the modelling industry does pay nice, but not enough to sustain a huge property such as a mansion. Especially when Junko is also pulling around some strings so I can keep my hardware, and her strange needs as well. My income comes irregularly due to the fact that I only get paid if I got the job done. Well, it doesn't really matter anymore since I'm not taking any jobs right now. Anyways, since it's just Junko keeping the finances together, a normal house is really as much as we can get." Mukuro mechanically explained.
"Wow. I didn't know she worked so hard." Makoto said, very surprised of Junko carrying that much weight.
"Yeah. I really am a useless older sister." Mukuro nonchalantly said, dipping her head a bit in shame.
"Oh come on! You're not useless! You've proven that time and time again!" Makoto cried. Then his eyes shot wide as he looked ahead. "Oh no, the bu-ssswwaaahhhh?"
Makoto didn't finish his sentence as Mukuro instinctively grabbed him by the wrist and bolted forward. The bus ahead had just finished loading it's last passengers and the doors were just closing. For any normal person, they wouldn't have been able to reach the bus in time to convince the driver to take them too, but for Mukuro, it was a trivial thing. Closing twenty metres of distance in seconds, her fingerless gloved hand grabbed the door just before it closed, causing the driver to yelp in surprise.
"Sorry, just two more." Mukuro said, taking out Makoto's bus pass that she had swiped from his pocket, and her own. When she turned to give him back his bus pass, Makoto was completely out of breath and looked like he was about to collapse. She was immediately reminded that Makoto's physical abilities were on the average side. "Uh, hey, are you alright?" She asked, even though Makoto was only obviously winded. Mukuro bit the side of her lips as she visually reassessed him multiple times.
"Yeah…haaa…haa.. I just… haa… need a breather… haa…" He weakly replied in between his breaths. The bus was full so there weren't any seats for them, which left Makoto holding onto Mukuro's arm as he slowly recovered. Mukuro sighed in relief when she confirmed for the nth time that he was just winded.
"You know….haa.. maybe next time…. You can give a little warning?" Makoto said.
"I-I'm sorry. I just thought –"
"Hehe, don't worry about it. I'm just kidding. Thanks though. This bus doesn't come often so you did save a lot of time." Makoto smiled.
Mukuro looked away, hiding her smile from him. It was extremely difficult for her to not reciprocate the positivity that was radiating from him. Even more so, she couldn't figure out how to properly respond from the joke. It was the first time he ever made a joke with her. Though she had heard him made plenty of jokes with other classmates, experiencing it first hand was completely different, and she can't help but to smile.
The bus ride went on in silence. People passed by on and off the bus, with neither ultimates moving from their spot. It was a comfortable silence that they both lapsed into, something that always happened whenever Makoto spent time with Mukuro. It was a satisfying silence for Mukuro, but sometimes, she wouldn't mind if it was a bit more lively. She quickly found herself lost in thought as she pictured all the normal situations she can get herself in. It wasn't until she felt a tug on her sleeve that brought her back to her surroundings.
"Hey, our stop is here." Makoto said, tugging Mukuro's sleeve and moving towards the exit.
"O-Oh right." Mukuro stammered, following right behind. As soon as she left the bus, she was met with a light breeze, her uniform and her hair fluttered along the flow of air. In response, she immediately noticed the lack of tall buildings and busy traffic. The roads were smaller, and there were a lot more green in the area that brought around a strangely relaxing atmosphere. She instinctively took in a breath of air as another refreshing breeze blew by. It felt like she had stepped into a completely different world.
She looked up at the rustling leaves, captivated by the peaceful aura emanating from a nearby tree. Rays of sunlight pierced the small green canopy, giving shape to the all too familiar shadow that extended from the soldier. Mukuro naturally relaxed into the soothing atmosphere, the clean air revitalizing her. For once, she felt completely safe. It was safer than when she was around her entire squad in Fenrir, safer than how she felt when she finally got home, and holed herself up in her room full of weapons. Perhaps this was what she had missed her entire life: the feeling of peace.
"So this is where he grew up? I can't imagine…" Mukuro thought to herself. She still can't make out why she's so relaxed. The open space and the normal surroundings screamed innocent at her. The happy chirping of the birds above reflected the hearts of those who inhabited the houses all around her. She couldn't help but smile as she caught side of a few children laughing and running around carelessly, as if they never knew of the word danger.
"Hey Ikusaba-san! The store is this way!" Makoto called out, motioning the other way with his arms.
"Ah, right. Sorry." Mukuro replied, making her way over.
Makoto blinked as he watched the soldier walk his way. He could have been imagining things, but Mukuro seemed different ever since she stepped off the bus. Her usual rigid strides now much more relaxed. It was strangely mesmerizing for Makoto as he tried to see the differences from the soldier. He was snapped out of it when she gently grabbed his arm.
"Come on, we'll be late if you stand there staring." Mukuro said with a softer tone than usual and a light smile.
Makoto didn't respond and simply let himself get pulled along. He looked down at his arm, it wasn't the usual grip of a soldier, but that of a girl's. Perhaps it's the fact that he has never considered looking at her this way, but the girl leading him right now is very different from the one he knew of at school. To the eyes of strangers, it seemed as if an older sister was leading her younger brother around, a completely normal sight for where they were.
The soldier turned around, and their eyes met. Both unsure of what to make out of that situation, Makoto offered his usual smile. Mukuro could only smile back in return. How long has it been since they have met each other? She smiled not because she was returning the gesture, but because of the fact that he was with her. How did they meet? Was it an accident that they had met? Mukuro smiled not because of his positivity, but because she was grateful. Why did they meet? Why did things turn out this way? The girl smiled not because he was the only one to treat her differently, but because he was able to show her things no one else was able to.
End Notes:
Ok fellow authors and readers, it's been an extremely long time since my last work and almost a month since my last status update (on my profile). Here's what has happened since:
-School and work has been relentless since November. Winter break has been a nightmare with my work schedule
-Managed to marathon DR:V3 in 5 days. Completed that and everyone's FTEs. I also documented my thought process as I played the game on reddit. Here's the thread if anyone's interested in reading about my thoughts:
r/danganronpa/comments/7mjb3f/v3_documented_thought_process_spoilers_for_sure/
-Got roped into a Gaming Community, started to get involved in some minor development and community work there.
-Touhou 16 released on Steam, spent some time playing that
-Got roped into the Fate series, marathon'd Fate/Stay Night VN and Fate/Apocrypha (Didn't like the Protags too much, but the music is pretty bomb)
That's basically what happened to me since then. On top of that, I feel as if my spirit for writing has dwindled. It's not at the point where I'd consider retiring, but I only find myself writing if I can force myself to sit there and write. I'm constantly distracted by other thoughts while writing now, so it's very hard to even spend a full hour on writing proactively. Apparently, I also learned that setting deadlines for myself doesn't help so unfortunately, I can't trick myself into thinking "I need to finish this by X date since I said so" ): .
Anyways, self deprecation aside, I will be starting part two of this once I settle down into the new school semester as well as all my extra curricular stuff I'm involved in. I still have a larger work that has been suspended, but that will come after part two of this. I can only pray that I can motivate myself enough to write more.