This chapter took a little longer than I thought... I've been busy lately. But it's here!
The second set of drawings have also been uploaded (which again, you should totally check out). There is a link on my profile!
We didn't go much further before it became apparent we were about to come across another clearing. Before we moved forward, however, I pulled Mio back. I needed to set the record straight.
"Er, Mio... You didn't really think she was the protagonist, right?"
"Aren't most things contractual these days? I mean, she's got the papers. It sounded pretty legitimate to me," she replied. That was true, but she was also a teenage businesswoman with pointy teeth and anchors in her hair. Call me old fashioned, but I felt like a protagonist was a more elusive quality than that.
"You're very caring, aren't you? Don't worry, I can take care of myself," Mio added, sensing my dissatisfaction. She patted my shoulder reassuringly. "I'll read through the contract carefully, okay? It's not like I've never done that kind of thing before."
Caring? ... Heh. Too caring, as I've been told before, but I decided to take it as a point of pride long ago.
"Alright... fine," I replied. I didn't want to push the subject, so I let go of her wrist and we resumed walking, moving forward into the new area.
This clearing was much larger than the one we had just passed through, expansive enough to house a pair of streamlined, modern-looking buildings. The one on the left looked like some sort of cafe, with tables and chairs visible through the glass doors. The righthand building, however, was very plainly decorated. There was only a simple wooden door and small windows lining the upper walls, so at a glance its purpose wasn't immediately clear.
Just as Yuuta said, there was a student here; a boy with black hair was loitering near one of the cafe doors, crouched close to the ground and hugging his knees to his chest while drawing shapes into the ground.
From what I could see, he was short and had a distinctly dishevelled look about him; his white shirt, the brown and yellow apron he wore over it, and his oversized work boots were all crumpled and half untied. Even his short half ponytail had a few stray strands of greying hair messily brushed back over his head.
"Excuse me! Can we talk for a moment?" Mio called out as we approached. It seemed he was unaware of our presence as he started, his head jerking around to face us.
"Y... You want to talk to me?" The boy mumbled nervously. He hastily straightened up and turned around properly, gloved hands clutching at the massive goggles hanging around his neck.
"That's right," Mio replied, but her smile faltered as he stared at her like a deer caught in headlights. "Um... Or is this a bad time?"
"No, it's just that..." He bit nervously on his gloves, evidently uncomfortable with the attention. "I... I don't have any friends, so I didn't think that anyone would want to talk to me..."
"Oh, it's nothing like that. We're doing this on pain of expulsion," Mio joked. Seeing his crestfallen expression, she patted him on the shoulder and renewed her smile. "Kidding, kidding! But if you're a Hope's Peak Academy student like us, then everyone's got no friends here. We're on an even playing field."
That was an... interesting consolation tactic, especially with someone who seemed so fragile. It's not how I would have gone about things, but he did look a little more relaxed at Mio's teasing.
"Yeah, this is like a fresh start," I added, giving my own encouragement. "It's a good opportunity to make friends."
"E-eh? You want to be friends... with me...?" He asked hesitantly. Slowly, his expression morphed into a small, tentative smile.
"Oh, but we should introduce ourselves first," Mio said. "I'm Mio, and that's Shinji. Can I guess who you are?"
He nodded quickly, prompting Mio to gleefully flip open her notepad and scan down the list.
"Are you..." There was a confused pause. "... Genichi?"
Immediately, the hopeful look our promise of friendship had instilled in him fell away. His eyes unfocused, and he clutched his head as he stared off into the distance with a look of despair. "Uuu, I'm so invisible... I might as well not even exist..."
"Whoops, I got it wrong again..." Mio said sheepishly, staring at the boy with a mixture of surprise and worry as he started to drift off into his own world of self-pity. I think that was a minor stuff up, so he'd be okay... right?
"... You know, for a journalist it feels like you're getting a lot of these wrong," I poked, unable to resist the urge to tease.
"Hey, I'm doing my best here!" She replied defensively. "They didn't actually provide pictures, so I'm just guessing."
Turning back to the boy, she gave him an apologetic look. "Sorry. Can you introduce yourself?"
"M... My name is Asahara. Um... I... That is, my name is Takumi Asahara, the Ultimate Toymaker. N-no! Wait! Not the toymaker part! That's not... my name..." He stumbled over his introduction, slumping his shoulders in defeat. "I give up, it's too hard... please just call me Asahara."
Takumi Asahara
Ultimate Toymaker
"I can't even introduce myself properly..." Asahara sniffed, already starting to wallow in self-pity. "When I die, nobody is going to know what to write on my gravestone..."
"Don't worry!" Mio said confidently, eager to make up for her mistake. "I'll put what you just said on your gravestone, okay?"
"Wait! Y-you can't do that!" His eyes widened, shooting down her suggestion in a panicked voice. "What if someone reads it and laughs? And then they're so busy laughing they don't look when they cross the road and get hit by a truck...!"
"Ah, you're right. That would be pretty tragic," she replied. I was searching for an appropriate phrase to express my condolences, but I guess that works too.
He sighed, managing to slide further into depression with every passing moment. "Uuu... It'll be all my fault I couldn't think of something poignant to put on my gravestone..."
"Don't sweat it, I'll help you! Just let me do some research on you first, and then we can do an interview," Mio volunteered. "Until then, I've only got moral support, so try not to die in the meantime!"
"T-try not to... Ugh... I can feel the pressure building..." Asahara mumbled, looking on the verge of a breakdown. "Survival is too hard for me..."
Wait a minute. Something Mio had said was strange.
"Hey, Mio... didn't you tell me you did research on everyone? That should include Asahara," I asked. Mio's list of names wasn't complete, so it was possible he could have been the other name she was missing, but he wasn't anything like Lana. A toymaker wouldn't wield enough influence to have his information removed from the Hope's Peak website, would he?
"Hm? Oh yes, his file should have been on the message board... I wonder why I missed it?" She pondered the thought briefly, before brightening up. "Wait! Now that you mention it, I think there was a file on Asahara there after all!"
"And?"
"I didn't read it because it didn't seem interesting enough!"
"Sigh... It's the same everywhere..." Asahara lamented, sinking into a self-pitying monologue again. "I'm too forgettable... I was probably left in the enrolment list by accident..."
"Now's the time to make up for that, right? If you can make an impression, I'm sure everyone will remember you," Mio countered. "Actually, never mind. You have that already down."
I watched Asahara as he stared down at the ground, not looking at all convinced by Mio's words. At this rate, staying positive around this guy was going to be a full time job.
Plus, I wasn't entirely sure he was going to manage by himself in his current state. Somebody was going to have to keep an eye on him. "Hey Asahara, Mio and I are going around to introduce ourselves together," I told him. "Do you want to come too?"
He looked like he wanted to say yes but he hesitated, pulling at his goggles anxiously as he tossed the idea around in his head. Although no doubt a quality piece of equipment, they were pretty worn, and I couldn't help but wonder how much abuse they endured on a daily basis.
"I, I can't... three is my unlucky number," he eventually admitted. "If I come with you, I definitely won't survive long enough to get a quote for my gravestone..."
... Well, there's wasn't much point in fighting his superstitions. "Hmm, I guess there's not much we can do about that. Will you be okay by yourself?"
"I think so, it's just that... I can't find my way around. What if I get lost in the forest forever? I don't want to have to eat my own flesh to survive..."
It was certainly hard to find your way around here... but it wasn't that big. It seemed Asahara had the ability to stress himself out down to an art form.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine. Just follow that path," I said as reassuringly as I could muster. "There's a lot of turns, but it's a straight shot to another clearing. I promise."
"O... okay," he said, nodding reluctantly. I wondered if he was worried because he did have a supernatural ability to get lost, but it probably wouldn't hurt if I trusted him a little. We still needed to check out the cafe, too, so I walked past him and headed for the nearest door with Mio close behind me.
"Take all the time you need. I'll see you later, Asahara," sliding open the door, I bid goodbye to the Ultimate Toymaker and slipped inside.
Despite the modern exterior, the inside of the cafe maintained the wooden theme of the sector; it was positively packed with square wooden tables that were the perfect size for two people to sit opposite each other. Plants and beautiful landscape paintings served as the interior decor and there was even a rustic fireplace in one corner of the room, giving the place a cozy and inviting feel while still being big enough to be spoiled for choice as to where to sit.
Now we were inside I could just barely hear the muffled clinking of glass that wasn't audible before, as if someone was moving things around nearby.
"Well, at least someone's here," Mio spoke up, listening intently to the faint noise. "Sounds like they're in the back."
We walked inside, heading for the counter on the far side of the room. It was much like one you'd find in a bakery, with rows of cakes and desserts proudly displayed to the world behind the glass. Behind it was a door that led further into the building, so I led the way past the counter with my gaze averted to avoid temptation.
The doorway gave way to a plain narrow corridor, with simple beige walls and warm yellow lights shining down from above. Directly ahead was a wooden door clearly labelled 'KITCHEN', but it didn't sound like the noise was coming from there. I ventured further into the corridor in an attempt to pinpoint the source of the sound, almost walking straight past a sudden unmarked turn that lead off to the right about halfway down. There was another door at the end of this passageway, so I walked towards it while wondering why anyone would decide to put in a passage that was so invisible from the entrance.
The door was ajar. Curious, I pulled it open and stumbled into what looked like a storage room... but to be honest, it was closer to a warehouse. Shelves stuffed with ingredients occupied every inch of the room, while shining stainless steel pots and pans hung off hooks on the walls above. This didn't leave a whole lot of space to walk, only makeshift corridors formed in the space between the shelves.
Someone was definitely here so I looked around, careful not to accidentally bump into anything. It sounded like they were... over to the right?
A few shelves down, I finally caught sight of someone with short straight-cut black hair crouched on the ground and surrounded by jars carelessly scattered around her. I could see black thigh high socks and the hint of a short skirt, but it was hard to tell what she was wearing under the lab coat draped over her shoulders.
Mio followed me down the aisle, but it was too narrow for us to stand next to each other so I stood to the side to allow her to see the student we were meeting properly.
"Don't you know it's rude to come in without knocking?" The girl asked. She turned to us, revealing her face— she had deep green eyes and was pretty in an unremarkable way, with no particularly distinctive features other than an unusually focused gaze, as if she was thinking deeply about something.
She was quite short, much like Asahara was, and seemed totally at home in the cramped space we had found her in. Now she was facing us her skirt was also properly visible, along with a white button down shirt with a blue ribbon, and a matching blue wristband.
More to the point, her expression was deadpan despite her joking. At least I think she was joking. "Oh... uh, sorry. I'm Shinji Tezuka, the Ultimate Therapist, and this is Mio Kita, the Ultimate Journalist."
The girl merely nodded in response, more interested in finishing her inspection of the glass container she was holding. She shook it a few times experimentally, but quickly lost interest and put it down on the floor with the others.
"Nice to meet you. Are you looking for something?" Mio asked, crouching down to pick up a jar that had been placed on the ground. From what I could see, it was full of hard candy. It actually looked pretty appetising, even though I wasn't feeling particularly hungry.
In fact, this entire aisle was filled to the brim with chocolates and lollies. The cacophony of bright colours strangely blended together into a rainbow backdrop.
"Lollipops," the girl replied.
"... Lollipops?"
"Took me a while to find the candy section. For a while there I was worried they didn't have any," she said, clearly not thinking much of my confusion as she carried on as if she hadn't heard me. She pulled a pair of yellow lollipops out of one of the lab coat's pockets and offered them to us. "Want one? I'm Nichira Matsubaki, Ultimate Reseacher."
Nichira Matsubaki
Ultimate Researcher
"I'm good, thanks. I'm not that great with sweets," I politely declined, figuring that I would just leave them to her, and Mio shook her head as well. Shrugging, Nichira put one back into her pocket and pulled the wrapper off the other one in a clean motion, sticking it into her mouth.
"So this is the Ultimate Researcher. She, uh... researches stuff," Mio concluded lamely. "The file didn't say much."
She smirked. "I research things... for the right price, of course. People too, sometimes."
"Is that scientific research? Or like, detective research?"
"Yes," Nichira replied. Probably knowing I was about to point out that didn't answer the question, she sighed in annoyance. "Well, what do you want me to say? Finding information is my talent, so it depends on the job."
"Oh really? Did you research us?" I asked, suddenly curious.
The question made her pause, pulling the lollipop out of her mouth and looking straight up at me. For some reason, I didn't like the glint in her eyes as she spoke. "Oh? Do you really want me to answer that?"
"... Yes?" I answered, silently hoping that this wasn't somehow a horrible idea. Nichira stepped over the jars on the ground and walked right up to me, coming up uncomfortably close.
"Well then, I'll tell you. It's strange..." She looked up at me with an inscrutable expression, eyes narrowed, "I researched you, but why can't I remember what I found? Same for you, red hair."
With nowhere to escape to in the cramped confines of the shelves, I had no choice but to endure the analysis under her distrustful gaze.
I didn't think I had any particularly dirty secrets, but it still made me nervous thinking about what she could have dug up. If she really had forgotten the research she'd done on me... well, maybe it was better it stayed that way.
"Anyhow, this cafe is weirdly well stocked," Nichira abruptly changed the subject, breaking eye contact and returning to the fort of jars she had carved out for herself, "we might be Ultimates, but we're still high school students. This stuff is getting a bit gourmet..."
"I did see a shelf full of saffron back there... I'm pretty sure there was enough there to buy a house," Mio said thoughtfully. "They really aren't sparing any expenses."
"Yeah, it's strange... I guess it's really true that Hope's Peak Academy moves in mysterious ways," I mused. I didn't really see how expensive spices would help us learn anything, but it's not like I was complaining.
"Now, are we done?" Nichira asked, raising an eyebrow. "If you don't want to help me, you're getting in the way."
"We still need to meet everyone else, so we'll get going," Mio said, carefully starting to back out of the aisle. I started to follow her, nodding along with what she was saying. "It was nice to meet you."
"Mm," Nichira hummed in agreement, returning to her work.
We carefully weaved our way out of the storeroom and left the cafe, once again confronted with a choice of paths to take. It seemed Asahara had gathered the courage to move on, as he was nowhere to be seen.
"We came from there, and going off my sense of direction, that path probably leads out of the gardens," Mio said, taking the initiative. "Let's take this one."
I nodded quickly, following her lead back into the forest.
As we walked I found myself wondering about the layout of this area; in big gardens there were usually different types of trees in different areas, but as I didn't know my plants I honestly couldn't tell if this was a place we had been to before.
Mio had chosen a good direction, though, as before long we almost crashed right into a male student who rounded a corner at the same time as we did.
The first thing I noticed was his impressive height - physically he was even bigger than Yuuta, but his ruggedly handsome features didn't give off the same menacing aura. His standout feature, however, was his crystal blue eyes, which jumped out against his tan skin and short, neat dark brown hair.
He dressed quite plainly, wearing a basic red shirt with a star insignia on one shoulder, simple black pants and brown hiking boots. He had a necklace on under his shirt and a watch on his left wrist, but that was about it for accessories.
"Oh! Just when I thought I was alone in here! Good to see some friendly faces," he greeted, looking down at us with a smile. His voice was rather nice to listen to, warm and amicable as he spoke to us like we were old friends.
"Okay! I know this one," Mio exclaimed confidently. This time, she didn't even get her notepad out. "I can't get this wrong twice. You must be Masanori, right?"
His face lit up when she said his name. "Right on! You've heard of me before?"
"Of course! The fire department put out that factory fire two weeks ago in record time!" She replied happily. "I'm more of an investigative journalist, but I keep in touch with a coworker who always followed your stuff."
"Gyahaha! Am I that famous?" He let out a hearty laugh, pointing at himself with his thumb proudly. "I'll say it for the records, then! Masanori Yokoyama, Ultimate Firefighter!"
Masanori Yokoyama
Ultimate Firefighter
"Nice to meet you, Masanori," I said. "I'm Shinji Tezuka, the Ultimate Therapist."
"And I'm Mio Kita, Ultimate Journalist!" Mio chimed in.
"Gyahaha, don't be so formal with me! C'mere!" Skipping straight over notions of personal space, he flung one arm around my shoulders and the other around Mio, enthusiastically pulling us both into a bear hug.
In fact... it was so enthusiastic, it was getting hard to breathe.
Jesus, this guy was buff. It was like being pressed against a wall, and it didn't help I could feel something even harder than his muscles pressing against the side of my head through his shirt. Whatever was on the end of his necklace was quite chunky.
Thankfully he quickly relented when he noticed my struggle to escape, backing off with a slightly sheepish expression to give us a bit of space. I quickly ran a hand through my hair to make sure it wasn't too messed up, while Mio bent down to retrieve her fallen notebook.
"Heh, sorry, I got a little overexcited..." He quickly apologised, rubbing the back of his neck. For such a big guy, he sure had an incredible amount of energy. "But man, how cool is this place!? I thought we'd be in a classroom, but this is way better!"
"It's a nice surprise, isn't it?" I agreed. "You'd think this would be the star attraction... I wonder why they didn't mention it?"
"They must have a good reason. I never heard anything about this, so all information on it must have been totally locked down," Mio said, spinning her pen around her fingers absently. "I even did an interview with an alumnus, but they didn't say anything about gardens like this."
"Well, ain't that strange... maybe they have to swear to secrecy?" Masanori wondered, but he laughed it off. "Either way, I'm doubly glad I accepted that invitation now!"
"Administration will probably tell us what's going on... wherever they are," I said. At my old school, we never would have gone this long without teacher supervision... but then again, I couldn't really complain. It was a strangely free feeling, being able to move around by ourselves.
"Betcha they'll come out to play sooner or later. Let's enjoy freedom while we can!" He laughed again, suddenly changing the topic. "Though I've been wondering... I can guess journalist, but you said you're a therapist? Like the 'lie on a couch and tell me your problems' kind?"
Masanori's question caught me off guard. I'd never considered my talent anything special so I hadn't expected anyone to ask me about it, especially not with the genuine interest I could see in his eyes.
"Ahaha, I guess so... only we don't actually have those couches at the clinic," I answered quickly, "I just talk things through, and help them come up with strategies to deal with their problems."
"Jeez, just listen to you... such a good person," he smiled, looking down at me affectionately. "I like what you guys do. Firefighting can be ugly work, but I've seen therapy really help some of my men. Who knows, maybe I'll need it some day!"
W... Why did he say that with such a cheerful face? Well, that aside he seemed very stable to me, so hopefully it wouldn't come to that.
"So firefighters help people, and therapists help firefighters. Isn't that poetic?" Mio mused. She was jotting notes down on a new page in her notepad... ideas for an article, perhaps.
"Right? And the journalists shower us with glory, of course!"
"Ah, my talent is too easy to predict..." She lamented jokingly. "Hmm, but I guess there's not much to say about the Ultimate Firefighter either. It's pretty self explanatory."
"Yep, I put out fires!" Masanori replied with a laugh. "I think Hope's Peak said something about leadership skills, but that's just part of the job, you know? Whatever saves people at the end of the day."
"Ooh, fancy. Though I suppose there has to be something putting you above the rest—"
Mio stopped talking mid sentence, listening to the sounds of rustling branches and a familiar voice shouting at the top of her lungs from not too far away.
"Sounds like Asuka's been busy," I said dryly, drawing a giggle from Mio, "and actually, speaking of that... Masanori, you got that mail telling us to meet everyone too, right? How are you going?"
His hand reached up to rub his neck again. "Ahaha, about that... I've been walking around, but those little bastards are hiding from me!"
He hadn't met anyone else yet? Either we were getting lucky, or he had a hidden talent for accidentally missing people.
"Let's see... you're number 7 or 8 for us, I think," I wondered aloud, realising that I should probably point him in the right direction. "Oh, we just left the cafe. Head back that way, Nichira should still be there."
"Alrighty, thanks a bunch! Sounds like I'm a bit behind, so I'd better go introduce myself," Masanori replied. He squeezed past me, flashing us a grin as he headed off in the direction we had come from. "I'll see ya 'round!"
"Hm, what a nice guy," Mio mused with a smile, watching him go.
"Yeah... you can say that again," I agreed. Wordlessly we started walking again, heading down the path as I tried to steal glances at the cavernous ceiling without crashing into anything.
We didn't get far, though, before Mio's voice brought my eyes back to the ground. "Oh, look! It's a little stream."
Just in front of us, we had come across the source of the sounds of trickling water. A small channel lined with white limestone had been carved into the ground, carrying a thin stream of clear water across our path and into the gardens. It was clearly decorative, but it also seemed to serve as this place's watering system.
"That's kind of cute," she said with a smile, her eyes tracing the creek's path into the foliage. "Looks like it's flowing from up ahead."
The end of the path wasn't far to walk, and just like Mio said this clearing was the source of the running water. The creek we were following ran across the clearing and disappeared into the base of a large fountain that was featured prominently on one side. It was large and multi-tiered, cut from pearly white marble into elegant shapes that glistened from the shimmering blue water that cascaded down from the top.
From the antiquated style of the stone you'd normally expect to see some kind of greek statue at the top, but in this case a large sculpture of a sunflower had been placed there instead. The style was clearly done with the intent to imitate the workmanship of the rest of the fountain, but it was obvious even to a layman like me that it was the work of somebody different.
There was a girl with light brown hair tied into a shoulder length ponytail standing by the fountain too, who looked our way as we came over. She was very pretty, and stood at around the same height as Mio, but what struck me most about her is that she seemed very unimpressed with the amazing scenery. In fact, going by her facial expression she looked more like she didn't really want to be here.
"Ah, hey. You look like you've got a good head on your shoulders," I greeted. "Mind if we talk for a minute?"
"Of course. Hello, to both of you," she replied, giving both of us a once-over with her bright orange eyes. Her judgement seemed to be a positive one, though, as she smiled to us.
Unlike many of the other students we had met so far, she was wearing a very organised-looking school uniform; a pale brown blazer over a white collared shirt. The coloured lapel of her jacket was a dark purple, in an identical shade to her skirt.
The few accessories she had were matching, too; the buttons on her jacket, the pin on the red bow she wore instead of a tie, and a small wing-shaped clip in her fringe were all a matching pale gold.
"Are you two part of the new Hope's Peak Academy class?" The girl ventured.
Mio nodded. "Yep, that's right."
"Oh, I see. I guess we're classmates then," she replied thoughtfully. "I'd better introduce myself, then. I'm Kaede Kusunoki... um, the Ultimate Sniper."
She seemed oddly reluctant to give her talent, studying our faces carefully as she waited for us to respond.
Kaede Kusunoki
Ultimate Sniper
"Nice to meet you!" Mio said brightly. "I'm Mio, and that's Shinji. Ultimate Journalist and Ultimate Therapist."
"Um, wait a second," Kaede interrupted, "what was that just now?"
"Just a little something I picked up," Mio replied breezily. "Don't worry, it's standard procedure for introductions."
"Thanks... I think," Kaede didn't seem entirely convinced, but she went along with it anyway. "Well, that's me - just call me Kaede. Nice to meet you."
"So... you're a sniper?" I asked. From the second I heard her talent, something had been bothering me. "I have to say, you don't look very much like one."
I didn't want to judge, but I would have imagined the Ultimate Sniper to be a bit more warrior-like, or... well, something other than the very ordinary schoolgirl that stood before me. She didn't have any guns on her, either, and came off more like a person who'd be very uncomfortable around weapons.
"Hey, isn't that stereotypical? I'm not on the shooting range, so it's not like I need any special equipment," she answered crossly.
"Oh... right. Sorry," I apologised. Whoops... that probably wasn't the best question to start off with.
"True, true... appearances can be deceiving, after all," Mio said enthusiastically. Presumably following her journalistic instincts, she proceeded to dive straight in with a question of her own. "By the way, is it true you have confirmed kills?"
"Confirmed—!?" Kaede let out a scandalised gasp, eyes wide. She recovered after a moment, looking torn between expressing shock and indignant anger. "Hey, I'm not that kind of sniper!"
"Eh? Really?" Mio asked, looking surprised by this new piece of information. So much for having done her research... "But you can nail someone in the forehead with a rock from a kilometer away, right—"
"No! Don't be ridiculous! It's not even possible to throw something that far!" Kaede bit back angrily. Going by her pained expression, this must be a sore spot for her.
"Mio, where are you getting these from...?" I asked. She was the Ultimate Journalist, so I was pretty surprised to hear her spouting off apparently inaccurate information.
"Kaede's file, of course. Her achievements were really interesting to read about," Mio answered, frowning. "Hope's Peak Academy was the most legitimate source, but it sounds like a lot of the info isn't accurate..."
"Ah, you read that..." Kaede let out a long-suffering sigh. "Ugh, I'm going to make a complaint to whoever made that. I think they're trying to make me sound like the other weirdos in this place."
"Other weirdos?" I replied automatically. On second thought, I could probably name a few myself...
"Haven't you met them?" She asked, looking surprised. "The toymaker and that servant are total nutjobs. And that girl..."
"Lana?" I prompted.
"No, that's not her name. Maybe you haven't met her yet. Hmm... how should I put it..." Kaede trailed off, struggling to find the right words... or polite ones.
"You know, I think you should find her yourself," she finished brightly. "I'm sure that would answer all your questions."
That was a... less than satisfactory answer. My interest was officially piqued, but Kaede continued speaking before I had the chance to ask more about 'that girl'. "Oh, but I shouldn't be so judgemental... I think this place has me in a bad mood. I don't even remember how I ended up here..."
"Same here. I remember entering Hope's Peak Academy, but then I ended up in here," Mio volunteered. That was pretty much my story as well, so I nodded along.
"So it's the same for you guys, too. Don't you think that's weird? I hope we haven't been kidnapped or something..." Kaede pondered, looking horrified at the prospect. "I think this place is a bit too weird for me. Maybe I should just go home."
"You want to leave? But it's so nice!" Mio gasped. I had to agree with her - it was difficult to imagine wanting out of this place.
"Don't get me wrong, this place is really amazing... but I'm not the kind of person who'd enjoy a wild adventure. I mean, just look at the fountain. Isn't a giant sunflower statue really tasteless?" Kaede pointed at the fountain, drawing my attention to the water feature again. Maybe I was just being influenced by her critical tone... but on second thought, it did look pretty ridiculous. "They probably replaced an actually nice statue to put it in."
"That is pretty tacky, now that you mention it... I bet they'll let us knock it down if we ask nicely," Mio replied.
"That's not exactly what I meant..." Kaede muttered, before sighing again, "the point is, there's obviously been some kind of mistake. I want to go to Hope's Peak Academy, not wherever this place is."
There was a short pause, so I took the opportunity to organise my thoughts about Kaede. Her intention of studying was pretty admirable, but I couldn't help but wonder if there was another reason for her lack of enthusiasm. Other than that, she seemed pretty well adjusted.
I certainly didn't agree on her preference for a classroom, either, but it was nice to see there was another person who was at least a bit concerned about how we suddenly ended up here.
"Anyway, I'm glad that I met you two. At least this place isn't a total pit of insanity—" Kaede started, but her face suddenly turned into a grimace as she caught sight of something behind us. "Oh no..."
I followed her gaze, spotting a girl dressed in pink heading towards us from the other side of the clearing. Judging by her reaction, this was the girl she was talking about earlier.
"Um... I think I'm going to go somewhere else now," Kaede said abruptly, giving us a friendly smile as she backed away, "I'll see you 'round."
"See you later," I bid her goodbye, and Mio waved her off from beside me as we watched Kaede make her escape.
The girl was halfway across the clearing now, so I turned back to look at her. Kaede seemed to have a low tolerance for weirdness, but I was still interested to meet the kind of person who could incite that kind of reaction from her.
She was very short and noticeably younger than the other students we'd met - she couldn't have been older than 15. Her light brown hair was pulled into a mind bogglingly elaborate rendition of pigtails, held together by two prominent heart shaped hair pins.
The girl turned her attention towards me once she was within conversation distance, staring at me with her large, piercingly light blue eyes. Wearing a princessy-pink dress liberally decorated with ruffles, ribbons, and love hearts, she was the picture of a polite and wholesome child.
... And then she opened her mouth.
"Who the hell are you guys?" The girl snapped. As if to make up for her tiny frame, her voice was very loud and sharp. "Grr... I always have to do all the work. Aren't you supposed to be introducing yourselves to me!?"
"Uh... hello to you too," I said. She glared at me impatiently in what was probably a silent prompt to introduce myself properly. "This is Mio Kita, the Ultimate Journalist, and I'm Shinji Tezuka, the Ultimate Therapist."
"Therapist? Ihihi! What a boring talent!" She scoffed, laughing derisively. Her laugh was a very distinctive sound, and one that I had the feeling I'd hear a lot of in the near future. "But then again, it matches your face."
... Well, this was off to a great start. I was quickly starting to see why Kaede had fled at the sight of her.
"So this is the insufferable personality I read about..." Mio said thoughtfully, once again consulting her list. She didn't seem overly bothered by the girl's abrasiveness, but maybe that's because she had managed to escape disparaging comments about her talent. "Okay Shinji, I actually know this one. This is—"
"Who do you think you're talking to!? Watch me do a better job than you ever will!"
Beatrice Onizuka
Ultimate Genius
"Did you get that? Don't even think about forgetting it!" Beatrice commanded. "It won't come cheap... but I'll say it again, just for your benefit!"
Beatrice Onizuka
Ultimate Genius
"You owe me ten thousand yen each," she finished.
This was giving me flashbacks to Lana. What's with these people and money!?
I had promised myself I would meet my classmates with an open heart and mind, but I was really struggling not to pass judgement here.
"Sorry, but we had our wallets taken," I explained diplomatically. Wait a sec... she'd probably use that against me later. "... Not that we actually owe you anything."
"Don't think you're getting out that easy! I accept delayed payment. With interest, obviously," Beatrice replied with a grin, conveniently ignoring my addendum.
"Oh... sure. Whatever floats your boat!" Mio said cheerfully, brushing her off. I didn't usually think ignoring things was a healthy way of dealing with problems... but taking the easy way out was probably okay in this case, so I took that as a cue to move the conversation forwards.
"So this is what the Ultimate Genius is like... what kind of things do you do?" I asked. Besides being insufferable, of course.
Beatrice shot me an arrogant grin. "What kind of things don't I do? Everything I touch turns to gold!"
Well, she was the Ultimate Genius, but she was also so full of herself it was hard to take her word for it. Out of a habit I hadn't even realised I'd formed, I looked to Mio for confirmation.
"I guess it is a pretty general talent... honestly, that's about what her file says too," she said, frowning as she recalled the information. "Making technological advancements, solving those math problems research institutes pay you big money for working out... you know, that kind of thing."
It sounded like Beatrice did have the brains to back it up, then. I shouldn't be so petty, but that made her smug attitude even more aggravating.
"Ihihi... Superior intelligence has a lot of practical applications, doesn't it?" Beatrice replied. She was clearly proud of her talent— perhaps a bit too proud, but on the bright side she wasn't running around calling everyone else peasants.
... Not yet, anyway.
"Now, is that all? I have more people to find!" She continued, putting her hands on her hips. "Time is money... and my time doesn't come cheap!"
"No, I think that's about everything. There are still people we need to introduce ourselves to," I said, figuring now was a good time to escape before she got any ideas about charging money for time spent talking to her. I looked around, randomly picking a path that I was pretty sure we hadn't gone down yet.
Of course, Beatrice seized the opportunity to take a potshot at me. "What's this? Finally pulling your weight?"
"Hey, we introduced ourselves to everyone else we came across," I replied, doing my best not to come off as defensive. Lana had approached us, so it wasn't technically the whole truth, but I wasn't about to tell her that.
"What, so you save everyone else the effort but not me!? Grr... You're lucky I only heard about that now, or I would have charged extra!" She complained.
Damn it. I was hoping she'd forgotten about that.
I decided to ignore her, heading off with Mio in tow. Beatrice made no move to follow, instead shouting her goodbyes at us as we moved to another part of the gardens.
"Ihihi... interest is 200% per day, so don't forget!"
As you might expect, one more chapter to go and we'll have the full cast!
Recap, in case anyone wanted it:
Takumi Asahara - Ultimate Toymaker
Nichira Matsubaki - Ultimate Researcher
Masanori Yokoyama - Ultimate Firefighter
Kaede Kusunoki - Ultimate Sniper
Beatrice Onizuka - Ultimate Genius
