The final introduction chapter is here, which means the final drawings are out too - the full cast has now been drawn, so you should totally check it out! There's a link to it on my profile.
Also, thank you everyone for leaving such nice reviews! They keep me motivated haha. I think my policy this time round will only be respond if I can think of something more than 'thanks for the review', but I encourage you to leave one! I really enjoy reading them.
Arcana of the True Self - There is a second floor (as you'll see in this chapter), but the plants hanging from the roof are inaccessible to the students. That being said though, it's a big area... who knows, they might need to split up. We'll see what happens in the case of an investigation!
"That was... interesting," I remarked, quickly glancing over my shoulder in case Beatrice was following us. Our meeting was short, but talk about an overwhelming personality...
"Ahaha, that's one way to put it," Mio laughed, her tone more positive than I expected. "She'll probably be a pain, but in a way that's part of the fun. There are so many kinds of people here!"
... She sure knows how to look on the bright side. I had to admit that if nothing else, Beatrice would definitely help keep things lively. I could already imagine all the personality clashing that was going to occur, but if everyone somehow managed to get along it probably would be a fun ride.
"Hey."
Suddenly, a male voice called out to us. I shared a confused glance with Mio - the voice definitely came from somewhere nearby, but there was nobody but us in this little pathway.
There was a sigh. "Look up, idiots."
I automatically looked upwards, spotting a male student with cropped blond hair and a stud earring in his right ear languishing on the glass walkway above us. He had sharp facial features and his arms dangled over the railing as he slouched forwards, his green-gold eyes looking down at us like he was trying to decide whether we were worth his time.
In contrast to his relaxed posture, he wore a tidy and formal looking black three piece suit—bar the jacket, which lay on the railing beside him—cut slim enough to suggest a lithe physique with some muscle beneath it. He would no doubt be quite tall, too, if he wasn't so bent over.
Now my attention was called skywards, I also took proper notice of the walkway itself. Cables attached to the ceiling supported the transparent catwalks hanging several meters above us, built in a cross shape big enough to be another floor in its own right. Not far from where the student stood, the area where the walkways intersected formed a wide plateau, mirroring the circular edge of the clearing below it.
"I just have to introduce myself, right?" The man drawled eventually. He seemed quite comfortable where he was, making me wonder how long he'd been watching us for. "Toranosuke Takasu. Ultimate Stunt Driver."
Toranosuke Takasu
Ultimate Stunt Driver
"Oh, nice to meet you," Mio replied. "I'm Mio Kita, and this is Shinji Tezuka. Ultimate Journalist and Ultimate Therapist."
"Nice to meet you," I added politely.
"Hm." His voice had a strange quality to it, making a sound almost like a low purr. I waited for a proper response, but he seemed content to leave it at that.
"Let's see... Ultimate Stunt Driver..." Mio murmured to herself as she crossed Toranosuke's name off her list. "Known for crazy vehicle stunts, and generally getting in trouble with the law. The file said he's been held back in school twice, so he's older than us."
I winced, hearing her words. Toranosuke didn't even bat an eyelid, but it still felt like information I wasn't supposed to be hearing. "Isn't that kind of private? I'm surprised they put that on there."
"Like I care. School's a waste of time anyway... doesn't get the blood pumping, you know what I mean?" Toranosuke said. He looked like a guy who didn't concern himself with gossip and rumours, so it made sense his words were as dismissive as his expression. It made me wonder why he was even here, but I guess Hope's Peak Academy was too good an opportunity for even a delinquent like him to pass up.
"So why did you come, then?" Mio asked with interest, predictably not content to leave it at that.
He sighed, folding his arms. "I got arrested at the same time I got scouted for Hope's Peak. The cops had enough of me after all these years, so it was here or the slammer."
So, he didn't even really want to be here.
It made me hesitate. I wasn't sure how to feel about that - my thoughts immediately jumped to the thousands of people who'd practically kill to get into this school. I wondered how they'd feel, knowing they were beaten out by a guy who only came to avoid jail time. Life was just unfair, sometimes...
"Sounds like you've been at it a while. How long ago did you start driving?" Mio asked. Toranosuke kept his mouth shut tight at her attempts to probe further, lips curling into a sly grin as his only answer.
"Oh yeah... aren't you still a high school student?" I added my own voice to her line of questioning. Something wasn't adding up... "If you're 18 or 19, how are you a stunt driver if you're only just old enough to get a licence?"
"I've had one for years. I didn't realise it was any of your business, but you'd be surprised what you can get with a fake ID," Toranosuke replied. He sounded like he was falling asleep, right up until he suddenly switched to a more accusatory tone. "Besides, I'm 19 now. Old enough for you?"
I shrugged, keen to avoid conflict for the moment. I didn't think that really canceled out driving while underage, but for the sake of my conscience I decided to pretend that stunt driver also meant he was a safe driver.
"Anyway, I'm out of here," Toranosuke said. He yawned and picked himself off the railing, slinging his jacket over his shoulder. He moved with surprising grace, considering how lazy he appeared to be.
"Wait, how'd you get up there?" Mio asked quickly, realising he was about to leave.
"Aren't you supposed to be exploring?" His smug grin came out again, no doubt reveling in lording his knowledge over us. "I'm sure you can find it yourself. See ya."
"Hey, wait—! Toranosuke!" She shouted after him indignantly. He didn't turn back, raising a hand in goodbye as he walked off. "Hey, talk about unhelpful..."
"He probably just wants it for himself," I said truthfully. I'd met enough lone-wolf types to know one when I saw it. "Let's look around for it later."
"Yeah... let's," she huffed in annoyance, casting a lingering glance at the observation deck as we kept walking.
We continued down the path we'd chosen in a comfortable silence, following it to the end which brought a new clearing into view. This one had two buildings, but it was smaller than the clearing with the cafe and storage room; the building to the right with the domed roof was the dominant one here, an odd looking structure that looked to be completely made out of glass. The other building was located off to the side, constructed with geometric wood panels and painted a metallic white to mimic the sheen of its neighbour. I wasn't entirely sure why, but there was something about it that screamed 'tool shed'.
"Hey, check it out. Is that a greenhouse?" I asked, returning my attention to the glass building. From what I could see on the inside, it was filled with vibrantly coloured plants that glowed in the light shining down on them.
"So it is. Because more plants are totally what's missing here," Mio joked, getting a chuckle out of me. "Ooh, looks like there's someone inside. Let's go!"
I hadn't seen anything myself but I followed her as she moved ahead of me and made a beeline for the greenhouse door. She reached it and pulled it open, her face pulling an odd expression of sudden regret as she went inside with me close behind.
As you'd expect from a greenhouse, it was filled with the kinds of plant life more suited to a tropical climate; a mishmash of exotic looking plants I couldn't even begin to identify were neatly lined up on multi-tiered metal frames, planted in wide individual pots for convenient watering. There was even a small palm tree in one corner of the room, half of its leaves pressed up against the glass walls.
It definitely felt like we were in the tropics, too, and I instantly understood why it was the source of Mio's discomfort. The glass did its job trapping heat exceedingly well, creating an uncomfortably warm and humid environment. To my surprise, however, the girl I could now see standing a few rows down seemed totally unaffected despite the dark blue blazer she was wearing. She looked so content examining the plants while off in her own world that I felt confident in calling her an unassuming kind of person, with the quiet air of someone who preferred to blend into the background.
"Excuse me, we're Hope's Peak Academy students here to introduce ourselves," I called out to her, hoping I wasn't interrupting anything. "We're not bothering you, are we?"
"Hm? Oh no, not at all. I'm just looking around," she said pleasantly, dark blue eyes peering at us through her thin framed glasses. Her brown hair was tied up into a neat bun, and she was wearing a white button up shirt under her jacket—both of which were rolled up to her elbows—tucked into a black skirt, white stockings, and black shoes.
"Okay Shinji, on the girl's side we've only got two left to meet. Parkourist and Mycologist," Mio informed me, tapping the notepad with her pen. "You don't look like much like an athlete... so you must be Ayano, right?"
"You know who I am already? I'm very impressed," she sounded genuinely surprised, clasping her hands together. "That's correct. My full name is Ayano Shiyami."
Ayano Shiyami
Ultimate Mycologist
"It's very nice to meet you both. I hope we can get along well," she said, smiling pleasantly.
"Hey, aren't we just doing orientation?" I spoke up on a whim. Politeness was good and all, but too much of it made things too detached for my liking. "You don't have to be so formal."
"Oh! I'm very sorry, does it bother you? Please forgive me, I'll do my best to be more informal in future," Ayano apologised profusely, somehow managing to entirely miss the point in the process.
Mio seemed amused, but she brushed it aside. "Well anyway, I'm Mio Kita! The Ultimate Journalist."
"And I'm Shinji Tezuka, Ultimate Therapist. Nice to meet you," I added.
"Therapist and journalist?" Ayano repeated the titles to herself thoughtfully. "They sound like wonderful talents. In comparison, mine is quite obscure."
"Er... I guess so?" I wanted to disagree, but it was true I didn't actually know what a mycologist was. Thankfully, Mio came to my rescue.
"It's okay Shinji, I've got you covered. Mycology is the study of fungi— or as I like to call them, mushrooms and stuff," she explained. "As you might expect, Ayano here is a specialist in them. Discovering new species, making discoveries about already known ones... according to the file, she even found a new medicinal application for a compound produced by one of the new species."
"Oh, you read about that? I originally assumed that compound was just a toxin, but it can be converted into an anti-bacterial agent," Ayano replied, looking happy someone was taking an interest in her field. "It's quite cheap to produce as well, so it will be very accessible medication once the test trials are finished."
"You did all that by yourself?" I asked. I think I remembered some articles about that one... it was big news in the medical world at the time, but I had no idea that a teenage girl was the one behind it. "Wow, that's pretty amazing."
I knew enough about biology and disease from science class to know that discovering and developing new medication—especially alone—was a huge deal. Just thinking about the sheer amount of people her work would help was starting to make my own achievements seem insignificant.
"Oh, I'm sure there was some luck involved. If I hadn't done it, somebody else probably would have," Ayano brushed off my praise with a smile. She was selling herself short, but I knew better than to start a spiral of trying to convince her otherwise. In a way, she was like Beatrice's saintly twin.
"Anyway, a lot of fungi grow well when it's humid, right?" Mio asked, changing the subject. "I guess it makes sense we'd find you in a place like this."
"Yes, I'm afraid I can be quite predictable. It caught my interest as soon as I saw it," she admitted. "Unfortunately, there are no fungi here... but I don't mind. Botany is also a worthwhile pursuit."
"Oh really? I thought they'd have at least some mushrooms or something," I replied. It was true there were only bright flowers and leaves as far as the eye could see, but I was surprised they left out fungi of all things, especially with the Ultimate Mycologist in our class. "They have god knows what in the kitchen, but apparently mushrooms are too out there."
Ayano shrugged, not looking overly bothered. "Really, I'm just glad it's here at all. It reminds me a little of the research lab I work in."
"Geez, but it's so stuffy... how do you even survive?" Mio fanned herself with her notepad as she spoke, gazing longingly at the outside of the greenhouse.
"You adjust eventually. I work in this kind of climate most of the time, so I'm quite used to it," Ayano trailed off, casting a lingering look at the bright red flower next to her. "Oh, I should really get to meeting the other students, but I want to stay in here a little longer..."
"You've got time to spare... probably. We've got more people to meet as well, so we should keep moving while we're on a roll," Mio said, already backing towards the exit. "I don't know how it's possible, but enjoy the greenhouse!"
We waved goodbye to Ayano, wasting no time escaping the suffocating heat of the greenhouse. I pushed open the door as soon as I could reach it, grateful for the rush of cool air that greeted us.
"Sheesh... worst area in here by far," Mio complained. "I know where I'll be avoiding from now on. Ayano was nice, though."
"Yeah... almost too nice," I replied. I'd never met someone with such impeccable manners - she was polite to a fault, if you asked me. I was sure she was a perfectly nice person, but I felt a bit more distant with her than I did, say, Masanori.
"Well, being a little less formal probably wouldn't kill her... but that's just how some people are. Isn't it interesting?" Mio said. Now we were out of the heat she had recovered a bit, playing around with her pen with her usual energy. "She must be very well brought up. I wonder if she went to a special school for etiquette?"
"I wouldn't be surprised. Maybe you should interview her about it," I replied, looking around for where to go next. We had visited the greenhouse, but there was still the shed to investigate before we could move on. From what I could see, the door was open. "Hey Mio, think someone's in that shed? The door's open."
Whoever had opened it had left it wide open, so even from here I could get a good look at the inside. It was very spacious, but otherwise exactly what you'd expect for a tool shed; metal shelves similar to what we'd seen inside the greenhouse were lined up against the grey walls, used here to hold a wide array of toolboxes neatly lined up next to each other.
"Probably," Mio said brightly, falling into step with me as we walked over. "You know, it feels like there's someone new to meet everywhere we turn. Maybe this place isn't so big after all."
"We're probably just lucky. We haven't run into anyone twice yet, either."
She considered my answer for a moment, clicking her fingers in recognition. "Oh, maybe it could be. We do have an Ultimate Good Luck classmate..."
"An Ultimate Good Luck?" I asked, puzzled. Honestly, I didn't really see what that had to do with anything. "I thought they were just super lucky. That doesn't affect our luck, does it?"
"Didn't you hear? Never mind, I'll explain later," she said. Brushing off my question for the moment, Mio tentatively poked her head through the doorway. "Hello?"
Her voice drew out a male student with tousled copper hair from behind a shelf that had been wheeled away from the wall. He had a pair of secateurs in his hands and was wearing a very noticeable white eye-patch over his left eye, but it was hardly the strangest wardrobe choice I'd seen today. His face drew into a smile as he caught sight of us, speaking in a friendly tone. "Oh! People. We're probably classmates, right?"
"Right! I'm Mio Kita, Ultimate Journalist. Nice to meet you!" Mio greeted. The male student disposed of the blades in a nearby tool bin, walking closer to speak to us.
"What, not going to guess who it is?" Noticing she didn't have her notepad out, I prodded her with a grin.
"Oh shush. There's only two guys left, so I didn't think it was worth it," Mio replied, sticking her tongue out at me. "Besides, I think I know it. You're Genichi, right?"
He nodded. "Bingo. The name's Genichi Azai, the Ultimate Urban Strategist. Nice to meet you."
Genichi Azai
Ultimate Urban Strategist
"I'm Shinji Tezuka, Ultimate Therapist. Nice to meet you, but, uh... what's an urban strategist?" I asked. Genichi was wearing black pants, a striped green vest over a white dress shirt, a belt around his forearm and a glittering gold wallet chain. I immediately assumed he was dressing the part, but his clothes were also way too wacky to be a proper uniform.
"Ah, it's complicated... and I've done some top secret things, or so I hear," Genichi replied. He smiled mysteriously, although I got the feeling he was hesitant about answering the question. "I wonder if I should be talking about it..."
"I've read your file, so anything on there is probably okay. Strategist, tactician, whatever you want to call it - it's planning troop movement and stuff, like the military generals do in the movies," Mio said, stepping in to explain. "Just... urban? Apparently some of the stuff he's done is classified, so the file was pretty vague."
"Sounds intense," I replied. I found myself wondering what kind of work would need to be suppressed... national security, perhaps? "Why the 'urban', though?"
"Exactly what it says on the tin, I'd say," Genichi replied simply. "The kind of warfare that takes place in an urban environment... buildings, streets, that kind of thing."
"Is there really that much of a distinction?" I asked dubiously. It seemed awfully specific, especially compared to some of the other talents we'd seen.
"Hey, I'm not the one making these titles. Maybe there's an open field strategist out there?" He wondered aloud. "Anyway, you came at a good time. Interested in what they've got here?"
It sounded like his talent was going to be pretty hard to discuss, so I decided to go along with it. "Oh, sure. Looks like a lot of stuff..."
"It's very well stocked. There's a ton of equipment - name any tool, it's here," Genichi explained, waving an arm at the rows of shelves, "there's even tarps and cleaning products... no sign of school books, though. Really, it makes you wonder what they're actually expecting us to do here..."
To be fair, a tool shed isn't where I'd expect to find school supplies, but he did have a point. We must have explored a good portion of this area by now, but we hadn't seen anything that could be remotely classified as school related.
On one hand I wouldn't expect them to provide us with textbooks and stationary, but it was specifically mentioned in the acceptance letter that we didn't need to bring anything...
"Oh no, I hope they don't want us to tend to all of this..." Mio clearly had other things on her mind, gasping in horror. "I get there's been a trend towards out of classroom learning, but this is taking it a little far."
"I doubt it. The plants here were probably designed to grow with the minimum maintenance required," he replied. Genichi didn't seem bothered by the prospect, refuting her with a confident tone.
Mio's brow furrowed slightly, looking curious. "Eh? How do you know that? You don't look like much of a green thumb."
"Haven't touched a spade in my life. It's common sense, isn't it? Otherwise tending to this place would need a small army of gardeners," he explained, tilting his head slightly. "Unless we have an Ultimate Gardener, of course... but I can't say I've met one yet."
"Oh yes, that makes sense," she replied, accepted his reasoning with a victorious smile. "And you'll be happy to know there's no Ultimate Gardener. Disaster averted!"
"Just saying, but 16 high school students could probably do it," I interjected. It was totally true, but I still earned an elbow to the side for my troubles.
"Don't ruin this Shinji, we're going with the self-sustaining theory!"
Genichi chuckled at our little exchange. "I see you two are getting buddy-buddy already."
"Nothing wrong with getting along quickly, right?" Mio countered with a grin. "Don't worry, just ask and I'll elbow you any time."
"Heh, I'll keep that in mind. Anyway, I'd love to talk more but I think I need to get going," he changed the subject, sidling past us and out of the shed. "Now I'm done here, I have some future classmates to meet before our orientation time is over."
"Alright, see you later," I said. We still had a few more people to meet so I considered asking if he wanted to come with us, but he was already headed off down the path we'd come from.
"Hey Shinji, should we go this way?" Now that Genichi was gone, Mio took the initiative to move on, pointing at a path that lead off to the right. "If I'm right, there's a bit of a curve up ahead."
"If it's where you think we should go, then I say we try it," I agreed, sensing she had a way better idea of where we were than I did. "Sounds like you're getting a handle on this place."
"Well, sort of. If we say that the greenhouse here is north of the fountain, the cafe was further south of that..." Mio recounted her logic out loud, frowning in concentration as she retraced our steps. She turned around to face the greenhouse as she spoke, shifting direction with each new location she recalled. "I think the well was somewhere east of that, and we entered the gardens from the northeast somewhere... so going left should take us to a new area. Probably."
"Wow, you remembered all that?" I asked, thoroughly impressed. I always found it amazing that some people could map out their surroundings so well.
"Oh... I guess I did," she smiled happily, basking in my praise. "I have to go to a lot of new places when researching an article, so I must have picked it up along the way. It's a pretty useful skill, isn't it?"
"Yeah, definitely," I agreed. Maybe I should look into it myself sometime...
Without further ado we set off down the path as per Mio's guidance. Following the now-familiar structure of the twisting path that lead us forward, I was taken by surprise when a strange, shrill cry suddenly rung out from somewhere up ahead.
"Is that... an animal?" Mio asked hesitantly, and I nodded. I didn't see what else it could be.
Interest piqued, we quickly moved into the new area. It wasn't a clearing like the other main areas had been - there was much less of a distinction from the rest of the gardens, but the plants in this section were on a noticeably higher plateau. It seemed there were also more shrubs around, but of more interest was the variety small wooden kennels spread around the area; some were painted green and brown to blend in with the surrounding area while others stood out sharply in vibrant colours.
Curiously, there were also chain link fences closing off the raised plot of land from the rest of the gardens. They were about waist height, much like the ones you'd see in a zoo. That, combined with the cry we'd heard...
"Animal enclosures?" I wondered aloud. They really had everything in here. "Honestly, I'm not even surprised anymore."
"I know, I'm expecting anything at this point," Mio agreed, eyeing the kennels with interest. "More importantly, who doesn't love animals? I bet there's someone around here."
The curved path continued on ahead of us, cutting between the two sides of the enclosure. Just as Mio predicted, a female student was up ahead, the light grey jumper knotted around her waist carelessly dragged along the ground as she crouched, cooing at a little critter staring up at her. She had a basic school uniform on, consisting of a white button up shirt, black skirt and thigh high socks, while a bright orange tie dangled loosely around her neck.
"Oh look, it's the last girl. Was I right or what?" Mio asked, crossing a name off her list before we even came up to her. "Hello! Are you Riley?"
"That's me! What's up?" The girl greeted us with keen eyes and a big smile. She had the light tan and toned body of an athlete, with pale brown eyes and matching hair tied into a ponytail and a white ribbon.
"We're your classmates, here to introduce ourselves! I'm Mio Kita, the Ultimate Journalist."
"Oh, right... we have to do that, don't we? Thanks for saving me the trouble!" She spoke enthusiastically, flashing us a peace sign. "I should introduce myself, then. I'm the one and only Ultimate Parkourist! Riley Hamacho!"
Riley Hamacho
Ultimate Parkourist
"Nice to meet you. I'm Shinji Tezuka, the Ultimate Therapist," I replied, trying but failing to match her enthusiasm; by this point it felt like I'd introduced myself a hundred times.
"So, the Ultimate Parkourist... parkour, a.k.a. free running. It's kind of like a glorified obstacle course - bypassing the environment to run from point A to point B as fast possible. Climbing buildings and stuff like that," Mio explained, prompting the sudden realisation that relying on her for information—as much as I appreciated it—probably made me look like an idiot. Hopefully she wasn't explaining this thinking that I didn't know what parkour was. "As you might expect from an Ultimate, Riley is super good at it. According to the file, she's very well known in the community."
"Ahaha, well thank you!" Riley grinned widely, clearly revelling in Mio's recount of her talent. "It's got real world application too, you know. I can totally beat a bus when I need to get to school on time!"
"I wonder why they used 'parkourist', though?" Mio wondered. "I thought the proper term was traceuse."
"Don't you think that's getting a bit fancy? They probably thought no one would know what it was," Riley cupped her cheek with one hand, directing a question at me. "I mean, have you heard of it, Shinji?"
"Well, no... but wouldn't a prestigious academy be the most likely to use the proper terms?" I pointed out dutifully.
"Oh, true... maybe they wanna be hip?" She suggested, after giving it approximately zero thought. "Don't give me that look! Like I know what they were thinking!"
"Hmm... that's one more mystery to add to the pile," Mio concluded. Kind of lame for a mystery if you ask me, but I suppose it was still one in the strictest sense of the word. "Anyway, have you looked around this place? What's it like?"
"Well, I only just got here, but check out the animals— it's like a zoo! A little possum thing came over, it's actually kind of—" Riley cheerfully directed our gazes to the ground, stopping herself when she realised there was only empty space. "Oh, it ran away. Good job, guys."
"Oi, don't blame it on us. Your shouting probably scared it away," I retorted.
"Whatever, I'm a parkourist! Indoor voice isn't in my vocabulary!" Riley scoffed, casually waving off my reply. "But you know, there's only little rabbits and stuff here. I wonder where the other animals are?"
"This area is pretty small, so I think it's all we'll get. It's probably more like a nature reserve than a zoo," Mio answered, and I was inclined to agree; considering the habitat here, the selection was probably going to be limited to cute woodland creatures and possibly birds.
"Oh, you're right! Damn it, I should have looked around some more..." She huffed. "Bah, isn't that boring? Where are all the lions and tigers?"
"I think these enclosures are too small for them... besides, wouldn't that be scary? They'd easily be able to get through those fences," I pointed out. I knew the enclosures would probably be constructed differently if there were lions, of course, but it still seemed like asking for trouble.
"That would be pretty bad... but you know, I think we'd make it out okay," Mio replied thoughtfully. "I bet Masanori or Asuka could take them down."
The mental image of one of them body slamming a lion was surprisingly easy to conjure up. "... That does sound like something they'd enjoy, actually. You should put it in the suggestions box."
"Hold up, there are people who can wrestle lions here? I bet I can do that too!" Riley exclaimed, puffing out her chest proudly. "Wait, but I can't even try it... gah, now I'm even more annoyed there's no lions!"
"Hm, too bad..." Mio hummed, momentarily distracted as she jotted something into her notepad. She abruptly turned to me, showing me a page which was now full of crossed out names. "By the way Shinji, check it out. We've only got one more person to meet."
"Wait a sec, you've almost met everyone already!? Oh crap, I'm so behind!" Riley shouted, her eyes wide. "Time to start winging it! See you guys later!"
She dashed off in a panic at impressive speed, not even leaving us a proper chance to bid her goodbye.
Mio turned to me as soon as Riley was gone, clapping her hands together dramatically. "Shinji, let's keep moving too. We're almost done!"
"What are you so excited about? Is it something about the last student?" I asked. It was subtle, but her attitude had changed the moment she'd brought up the last student... Mio was up to something, I was sure of it.
"Of course, it's Xin Sakai! He's our class's Good Luck Ultimate," she said. She suddenly walked behind me, pressing my spine into shape. "C'mon, stand up straight and smile! We've only got one chance to make a good impression."
"Hm? Why?" Not that I had anything against making a good impression, but we didn't have to specially prepare ourselves for the others...
"What do you mean, 'why'? I can't believe you never heard about it. There was such a huge stir about how unusual his talent is."
"Really? I mean, I agree that luck can't exactly be described as a talent, but they have one every year. I didn't realise it was still considered unusual."
"No, it's not that. I'll give you the short version," Mio replied, gesturing for us to start moving as she continued to talk. "You know how the Ultimate Good Luck students are usually picked through a nation-wide lottery? Well, they specially picked this year's one. It caused a bit of an uproar - as it turns out, there were quite a few people who were hoping to be selected that way."
She stepped a bit closer, starting to fuss with my hair and clothes. It was a weirdly intimate process, although the critical look on her face kind of ruined the effect. I thought about protesting, but in the end I decided to let her do as she pleased. "Remember how I said his luck might be affecting us? Hope's Peak has theorized that luck comes in two cycles; good and bad. The problem is, though, Xin's punched a hole in that theory. You see, he doesn't have bad luck cycles."
"What, so he's lucky all the time?"
"Nope, better. His two luck cycles are regular old good luck... and giving good luck to people around him. Fascinating, right?" Her voice was animated with excitement, pulling on my necklace to straighten it out. "He must be a major outlier in this whole luck business, so it figures they sought him out specifically. Apparently they've had his name on file for years."
"So he's periodically a good luck charm to other people? I wonder how that works?" I was honestly rather dubious, but if Hope's Peak was convinced that was his talent, I didn't really have any basis to argue it. "And... I guess that means we're all gonna get really lucky?"
"Yep, that's the crux of it. Which is exactly why we should be trying to get onto his good side!" Finally satisfied with my appearance, she enthusiastically clapped my shoulder. "So, how good are you at sucking up?"
Uh oh. The calculating glint in her eyes was giving me a bad feeling about this. "... What happened to making a good impression?"
"But sucking up IS making a good impression. Take it from me: play your cards right, and you can get anyone wrapped around your finger."
I wasn't convinced - brown-nosing one of our classmates right off the bat was a demeaning prospect, but I could at least get where she was coming from. Being able to utilise the Ultimate Luck was certainly nothing to scoff at. Still...
"You do know we're going to be classmates, right?" I asked. "We're not supposed to be mining him for good luck. I feel like we shouldn't need to put in so much effort."
"I know that. But you never know, he could have a terrible personality— and if we don't get along with him, we might miss out on it. This is a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity! Trust me, it'll be fine."
Famous last words... not that it was going to dissuade her. I decided to try a different line of questioning.
"How are you planning on finding him, anyway?"
"Easy. We look around and keep an eye out! How hard can it be?"
"Very. I dunno about you, but I can barely make sense of this place," I replied. I was honestly surprised we hadn't managed to accidentally backtrack as we walked around. Of all the things Hope's Peak could have given us to start out, we could really have used a map more than a glorified email service.
"Good point. Maybe we'll get lucky?" Realising what she just said, Mio repeated it with more conviction. "In fact, that's his talent! I believe in his Ultimate Luck to guide us to him!"
"... You're joking, right?"
"Nope. C'mon, let's go!"
It took a little bit of effort, but we eventually managed to identify a section of the gardens we hadn't been to yet. Having completed a full transition into journalist mode, Mio insisted on scouting ahead beforehand, forcing me to crouch with her behind a nicely sculpted hedge and attempt to peek through the gaps. Sure enough, there was a male figure lounging around on a set of marble garden seats. Though his back was turned to us, I could see golden blond hair, a red tassel earring and a gratuitous amount of jewelry adorning his arms, currently occupied with restlessly tossing around some kind of ball.
"That's him? Are you sure?" I asked. "Considering your track record on identifying the other students..."
"Oi," she chided, pinching my arm. "I can't be wrong this time, he's literally the only person we haven't met. Besides, who else could that golden aura belong to?"
Now that she mentioned it, there did seem to be a golden tint to the light that reflected off him... but describing it as an aura was downright ridiculous. "Right, but I still really don't think we should be sucking up to him. How are we going to make friends with him if we're not being genuine?"
"Shinji," Mio gave me a look, "I think it's pretty clear that you're never going to be the Ultimate Journalist with an attitude like that. Let me tell you, a little flattery goes a long way."
She started to head off, but I grabbed her wrist. "Seriously, I really think this isn't a good idea."
"Shush, it's gonna be great. Just sit back and watch the master at work!" Waving off my hand - and my protests - she broke her cover and started to head towards our classmate.
"But he's going to— Mio!" I scrambled after her, trying not to be too loud. The last thing this potential train wreck needed was the knowledge that we were creeping on him beforehand.
I managed to fall into step beside her just as he turned to the sound of our footsteps, staring at us with curious purple eyes. He was very handsome in a pretty kind of way, wearing a large sweater, shorts, and socks pulled up to his knees. Honestly, golden aura and gratuitous jewellery did actually just about sum it up; a multitude of earrings, bracelets, anklets, rings, even his belt and a giant, ancient-egyptian styled necklace shone a glorious gold in the morning sun, all studded with brilliant red rubies. No doubt the entire outfit was as ridiculously expensive as it was gaudy, but he did seem nice enough. His mouth curled into a charming grin as we approached.
"Sorry, I don't mean to bother you, but I couldn't help but notice... Are you Xin Sakai?" Mio's adoring tone was a jarring contrast to her other greetings, and disturbingly convincing. If it weren't for the conversation we'd just had before, I might have been taken in.
"Yep, that's right. You're here to do introductions for me, right?" He replied, eyeing her curiously. His response struck me as strange, but she ploughed on before I could ask about it.
"O-oh, can I really?" She said excitedly. Personally, I found the amount of gusto in her voice to be slightly unsettling, but he didn't seem to notice at all. "I'll do my best!"
Xin Sakai
Ultimate Good Luck
"I'm Mio Kita, and this guy is Shinji Tezuka! I'm so happy to finally meet you!" She sounded rather unnervingly like a fangirl.
"Cool, thanks! Nice to meet you, too," Xin replied. His smile dropped for a more questioning look, and he directed his next question at me. "Oh, I've been meaning to ask... this is actually Hope's Point, right? Are you in this year's class too?
"Yep, right on both counts," I said. Sounds like he was just as confused about the situation as everyone else, but wasn't what caught my attention. "But, er... don't you mean Hope's Peak?"
My impudence earned me a sharp elbow in the stomach courtesy of Mio, but Xin didn't seem to mind being corrected - in fact, he snapped his fingers in recognition, eyes brightening.
"Yeah, that's the one! Damn it, I knew I was close," he laughed. "I'd never heard of it 'til I got the invitation, had you? I thought it was some kind of scam at first."
I sensed Mio was about to enthusiastically agree, so I just talked over her. "Hm, really? You've never heard of Hope's Peak?"
Mio's glare burned into the side of my head as Xin replied to me. "Sure. I mean, the whole title thing is pretty unbelievable, right? I'm still confused about why I'm the 'Ultimate Good Luck'... seems a little random. I was shocked to find out it was actually a thing."
... It was slowly starting to dawn on me as to what kind of person Xin actually was.
"Still, I wish I was given something cooler. Like... 'Ultimate Helicopter Pilot', maybe?" He continued, oblivious to the confusion that must have showing on my face. "Hey, what title did you get? Want to swap?"
"Sure, I'd be happy to swap! Ultimate Good Luck is a pretty amazing title, if you ask me!" I thought Xin was asking me specifically, but Mio cut in rather brazenly.
"Wait, you're a student too? Oh no, I'm so sorry! My bad," he smiled apologetically at her, rubbing the back of his neck sheepishly. "You did the introduction, so I thought you were a servant..."
"No worries! Happens all the time!" She said brightly, and I held back a disbelieving snort. We actually had the Ultimate Servant in our class, and they both sounded about equally servile at the moment. "I'm the Ultimate Journalist."
"Journalist? Hey, that sounds cool! What is it?"
...
Both of us stood in stunned silence as we processed what he actually asked. Surprisingly, Mio was the first to respond. "Um, you don't know what a journalist is?"
Despite his naive nature it seemed even he picked up on her tone, as his next words sounded a little defensive. "What? C'mon, that's not fair. I really don't know."
"Journalists investigate current events and write articles about them for the public to read. It's basically distribution of information," she explained hesitantly, watching carefully for any signs he was joking. "Does that ring any bells?"
I could barely believe my eyes, but Xin shook his head with a blank expression. If he didn't know what a journalist was, then that would mean he had probably never read the news.
At least, I thought so. Was it even possible to be that sheltered...?
"Woah, that sounds pretty complicated. You must be really smart, right?" Xin's fingers suddenly slipped as he talked, accidentally letting the ball drop to the ground— or so I thought, but he left it lying there after giving it a passing glance. His relaxed posture hadn't changed at all, and it didn't look like he had any plans to pick it up.
Curiosity quickly got the better of me, and I picked up the ball myself. "Xin? You dropped your ball."
I held it out for him, but on closer inspection it wasn't a ball at all; artfully crafted from gold and studded with all kinds of precious gems, it was more like an imitation of a royal orb. That said, imitation was probably a poor choice of words - it seemed to be made with legitimate materials, so it was probably just as expensive.
"That thing? It's okay, the servants will pick it up later. ... Wait, do people normally have to clean up after themselves?" I tried to pass it to him when he didn't move to take it back, but he waved my hand away. "Nah, you keep it. If I take it, I'll probably leave it somewhere again..."
"Really? Are you sure?" I asked.
He seemed to misinterpret my disbelief, and began to hastily apologise. "Oh, I don't want to bother you! I know I shouldn't dump something so cheap on you, so you can throw it away if you want. I'll buy you something later to make up for it. What would be good? Should I buy you an island?"
I struggled to come up with anything coherent, as he seemed to be entirely serious. "An... an island?"
"Really? Wow, Xin, that's amazingly generous!" Mio had no such problems, gushing with an expression so full of adoration it bordered on predatory.
"Oh no, it's nothing! Honestly!" Xin smiled again, happily. Well, at least she was fooling someone. "I'll need to look into the paperwork, though. Sorry, but I should get going..."
He waved a short goodbye, and with few quick footsteps disappeared into the gardens. Mio's normal personality snapped back into place as soon as he left.
"Who's against sucking up now, Shinji? You just scored yourself an island!" Mio said, looking triumphant on my behalf.
"Uh huh. You do know he was obviously joking about that, don't you?"
"He seemed pretty serious to me," she replied. "Although you must have some pretty serious cash to throw it around that easily..."
The clothes he was wearing did look awfully expensive... I had to admit if anyone was going to be serious about it, it would be Xin.
"I guess I didn't need to worry impressions in the end," Mio mused. "He's nice, even if he is really sheltered."
Before I had the chance to respond, however, a disembodied voice suddenly assailed my ears. There must have been speakers all over the place because it felt like words were coming from every direction at once, disorienting me so much I barely registered the words being spoken.
"Hello everyone, are you enjoying yourselves? Orientation time is now over!" The chipper voice was clearly feminine but not entirely natural, as if it was the product of a voice changer or manufactured completely. "Please make your way to the fountain in the center of the Sector!"
Painful voices aside, that was our cue to get going. The fountain... if memory served, that's where we'd met Kaede and Beatrice.
"Sounds like introductions are over. Shall we?" Mio asked me with a voice full of anticipation, seemingly much less bothered by the strange voice effect than I was. Our previous conversation forgotten, she eagerly looked around for the path that lead back to our destination.
I nodded and fell into step with her when she picked a direction, trying to decide whether my own feeling of anticipation bubbling in my gut was the good or bad kind.
I had no way to tell what lay in store, but I knew one thing for sure - something had begun.
And that's it for the introductions! Things have been moving pretty slow cause I've folded in most of the exploration of the area into it as well, but we can get to the good stuff now.
Now I also don't have to write 6k+ word chapters (at least until the trials...) to get all the characters introduced, I'll be aiming for shorter, more regular updates.
Handy recap, part 3:
Toranosuke Takasu - Ultimate Stunt Driver
Ayano Shiyami - Ultimate Mycologist
Genichi Azai - Ultimate Urban Strategist
Riley Hamacho - Ultimate Parkourist
Xin Sakai - Ultimate Good Luck
