Prologue: Introductions III
I spin round, alarmed by Hikari's odd behaviour, and stood against the far wall behind me is a girl wearing a long black coat with a fur trim. The hood is pulled right up over her head, which makes it difficult to see her face, and her coffee-coloured hair hangs over the right side of her face, further obscures her features. Underneath the coat are a maroon tank top and a black skirt, which really was the only thing that gave her gender away.
"Oh, I see I've been discovered," she says, rather lacking in emotion. There's always got to be a dark, brooding and mysterious type in these situations, hasn't there?
"How long have you been following me?" I ask, perplexed as to how I could have been tailed around the hospital without noticing her once.
"You recall when you awoke in the waiting room, correct?" No way, she couldn't have been in there. That place was still and silent as the grave, apart from Hikari's singing. Where would you even hide in a waiting room?
"That's not possible," I tell her, still in disbelief. "I'd have heard you, or seen you, or… something."
"Well, I'm incredibly surreptitious, Shinji Yoshida, Ultimate Insomniac. That's right, I know exactly who you are."
"Fancy telling me who you are?" I ask, slightly irked by the fact I've essentially been stalked around the hospital this whole time.
"Very well, as you wish. My name is Rin Hinamoto, and I am the Ultimate Librarian." Librarian, eh? No wonder she's so quiet. I fire up the tablet thing again to see if it'll shed some light on this enigmatic girl, but of course, I get nothing of use out of it. She's even still got the hood up and the hair over her face in the provided image. Did the designer of this thing make it deliberately obtuse or something? And how does it know who I'm interacting with anyway?
"Well, you obviously don't work at my local library or I'd have seen you before," I remark. You can never have too many books. Books are one of the best ways to pass time in the dead of night. As a medium, books have thrived since Gutenberg's invention of the printing press in the 1400s, and the fact we have an Ultimate Librarian even in an age where technology has prevailed on so many other fronts is testament to their greatness. If Rin ever decides to lighten up a bit, we'd have a lot to discuss.
"It's only a small library," Rin says, and I fully expect her to follow up with 'you've probably never heard of it,' but she doesn't. A hipster library would certainly be something.
"All those books, they'd probably burn pretty well," Hikari says. Seems she's finally recovered. Is that good or bad? I really don't know. One thing I do know is I don't like being followed.
"Look, have you not got other people to be stalking?" I ask Rin. "Maybe try tailing that critic." If he spots her, she can tell him to go and see a proctologist.
"Very well," Rin says humbly, pulling the hood even further over her face before skulking off down the corridor. If my maths is correct, and it should be, she was the thirteenth student, so I still have three more to meet.
"Hikari, did you meet anyone else around here or was that phone too much of a distraction?" I ask my unlikely companion.
"Hmmm… Oh! There're some more rooms over there! They might have people!" Once again she grabs my hand and forcefully drags me along the corridor until we come to a stop. Hikari barges through the door, revealing a storage room, not for medical supplies as such, but just for general items such as food, alternate clothing and other essentials. I suppose they do need somewhere to store it all, but doesn't it all seem a bit idiosyncratic?
On the floor, sat propped against a shelf with some sort of handheld gaming system in her hands, is a girl I know I've seen many times before. The long dark brown hair, those yellow eyes, that set of white headphones and the distinctive grey and black hoodie matched with other black items of clothing are all such familiar features. It's none other than Nanima Shirogani.
She got really popular on Nico Nico Douga doing all sorts of gaming and music videos, and her weekly stream regularly pulls in hundreds of thousands of viewers from around the world, myself included. I first discovered her one dreadfully dull night when I just couldn't settle down, and her infectious enthusiasm and confidence on screen won me over. Right now, that's not really coming through though, as she continues to huddle in the corner playing her game.
"Yo, Nanima," I say. The headphones must be blocking out my voice as she doesn't react. I try a bit louder, and there's still no response. Hikari leans in close, hovering over Nanima's shoulder and watching the screen of her handheld. When that also fails to elicit a response, Hikari playfully removes Nanima's headphones, which seems to do the trick.
"Huh? Who are you guys? And why did you touch my stuff?" she asks. She seems a little bit distant. I guess her online persona is just that, a carefully-constructed personality designed to bring in a multitude of viewers to her channel and streams. Doesn't surprise me too much though, considering some of the wackier personas you see on Youtube and the like.
"I'm Shinji Yoshida, Ultimate Insomniac, and this delightful character is Hikari Himura, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician," I answer. "Don't mind her. She's harmless. At least, I hope she is…"
"Yeah, what he said!" Hikari says, dancing around Nanima in a sort of semicircle, the shelf not allowing any more movement than that. "Nice to meet ya!" Nanima pushes a button on her gaming device, which I assume will put it into sleep mode, and puts it away in her pocket before rising to her feet. She spends a bit of time composing herself before offering a full introduction in the style of her usual video opening.
"Hey hey, it's Nanima Shirogani, the Ultimate Internet Star here! Let's go!" Hikari cheers for some reason, and even though I don't particularly need it, I check my own electronic device for more information. Who would've guessed she likes video games and Tumblr, eh? Certainly not the millions of people who visit her channel for exactly that, I'm sure.
"You seem a bit… different in reality," I say. That doesn't sound great. Better backpedal a little. "Not in a bad way or anything, though. Just different from your videos. Umm…" Her eyes seem to light up even though I think that could easily be misconstrued as an insult of sorts.
"Oh, you're one of my fans? Thank you so much for the support! I do it all for you guys! Yay!" It seems like I've cheered her up slightly.
"Why do you spend so much time blowing up imaginary things when the real thing is just so much more fun?" asks Hikari. She clearly doesn't understand that not everyone is as gifted at pyrotechnics as her, or as willing to take ridiculous risks.
"Because it's much safer," Nanima replies, handling the dumb question pretty well. "Plus, my viewers aren't interested in firework displays, they wanna see bullet hell and dungeon crawling action!" Again, the persona is shining through.
"Oooooh, I've never been in a dungeon before!" Hikari reveals giddily. "What's it like? Is it scary? Is it full of ghosts and men in porkpie hats with knives for fingers?" I will never understand what goes on in that girl's head.
"Pretty much," Nanima says. "Now, this has been nice and all, but can I please get back to my game? I just got to a really exciting part! Man, if only I was recording…" I suppose we should leave her to her own devices.
"Sure thing," I assure her, making a move towards the storeroom door.
"Thanks for dropping by, you two! I'm sure we'll have fun again soon!" She waves at me, and Hikari surprisingly gets the message and runs out of the storeroom while Nanima settles back down in her secluded spot by the shelf. Even though she's not exactly the same as she comes across on the internet, I can tell she's a sweet girl at heart, and I hope she can find it in herself to open up a bit more. Having to act infectiously enthusiastic for hours on end must be so exhausting. Not something I could do, that's for sure.
I can't risk losing Hikari again so I don't hang around long, and thankfully this time I don't have to go chasing her around the hospital. She's come to a stop a little further down, and I can just about see the outline of someone poking their head out of a door. I move closer, sensing we're on the verge of finding the last remaining students, and indeed there's a bit of a confrontation between her and a fierce, militaristic-looking guy. His brown hair is slicked back with what looks like an entire tub's worth of hair gel, but other than that he's your typical soldier type, in a tight black t-shirt, camouflage pants and black boots, with a little silver dagger on a chain around his neck.
"I'm sorry, ma'am, but I can't let you in to see our esteemed guest without frisking you first. It's a precautionary measure, you see." Hikari steps back as the militaristic gentleman approaches her with his hands outstretched, a natural reaction given the situation. With alarming reactions he's able to stop her retreat and begins to pat down various parts of her body. His expression remains stoic as he reaches all around her, attempting to find traces of any weapons or explosives on her person, giving off a sense of complete detachment from the actual person he's searching. Once satisfied that Hikari's no danger, he stops and straightens up; finally noticing me stood watching like some voyeuristic pervert.
"Your turn next," he says to me. I tell Hikari to move so I can be frisked and oblige his request, lifting up my arms as he runs his hands down my side. I don't particularly like this, but I don't have much choice. Very quickly, he finds the device I've been carrying with me and examines it very carefully before handing it back. His examination thankfully doesn't last much longer after that.
"You gonna bother introducing yourself, man?" I ask.
"Of course. You're a fellow student, after all, so it'd be rude not to! I just wanted to ensure safety protocol was followed." Boy, this guy's a real stickler for the rules. I bet he was a prefect before he ended up here. "Ryusuke Takeyama, the Ultimate Bodyguard, at your service, sir!" He follows up this introduction with a lively salute. I'm able to look him up on the device since he was kind enough to give it back, and his life seems to revolve around keeping himself in shape, protecting people and very little else. Suppose that's fitting for an Ultimate Bodyguard.
"Hey, can we go in yet?" Hikari asks impatiently. The room Ryusuke is guarding appears to be some sort of consultation room, bigger than those offices from earlier and a lot more bare, with just a counter, a hospital bed with a metal tray full of tools next to it and an occupied wheelchair in it. Is this linked to why we're all here?
"I see no reason why not," says Ryusuke, and Hikari whoops loudly, punching the air. He barely has time to move out of the way before she charges in through the open door.
"Ooooh, shiny things!" she exclaims, totally ignoring the wheelchair-bound person and making a beeline for the tray of basic surgical instruments.
"Yes, she is always like that," I say to Ryusuke. He simply stands and stares at me, apparently waiting for me to enter the consultation room. I do so without another moment's hesitation, primarily to stop Hikari messing with things she shouldn't be and secondarily to greet this 'esteemed guest.' Thankfully when I actually get close to the bed, I see that Hikari only has access to basic tools like otoscopes and stethoscopes, with not a scalpel or deadly explosive chemical in sight. Satisfied that she's not going to do any harm to herself or others, I can finally greet the person in the wheelchair, who's been watching us since we entered.
"What do you want?" he asks, in a very stilted and monotone way. He dresses very simply, with a white shirt, blue undershirt, blue jeans and trainers that look brand new, with his only accessory barring the chair being the black watch on his wrist. His blond hair and pale complexion combined make him look anaemic and almost lifeless.
"To know who you are, of course," I say, avoiding adding 'you miserable git' to the end of my statement. "Name's Shinji Yoshida. I'm the Ultimate Insomniac. The big guy out there tells me you're someone important."
"Oh, you don't know? Then again, I guess nobody does now," the defeated-looking disabled student says with a sigh. "I'm Haru Nishishoka. Not that that matters …" Wait, the Haru Nishishoka? Holy shit, I knew there'd been an incident but I never knew it was quite this bad. No wonder he's depressed. For the last time, I consult the device and discover Haru Nishishoka got in as the Ultimate Hero. No surprise given the guy was essentially a living legend in his prime.
"Wow, I didn't expect to see you here," is all I can muster. There are so many thoughts running through my head right now. Where has he been all this time? How did Hope's Peak Academy find him? How on Earth do you even cope with going from being idolised by everyone in Japan to suddenly becoming a total outcast, all because of one slip-up?
"I shouldn't be here," Haru laments. "And I hate my title. It just reminds me of everything I'm no longer capable of. Do you know how that feels, to lose everything you had, to feel completely unwanted by society, to have no role to play in anything anymore, all because you tried to be a good person? In the end, everything I accomplished is a waste of time, and every minute I spend around you people just reminds me of that even further." At the absolute worst possible time, Hikari starts singing, and I hope to Marduk that Haru has no understanding of English.
"I'm walkin' on sunshine, whoooooooa! I'm walkin' on sunshine…!" If anyone else finds out about this, she is gonna be in some deep, deep shit for this later. Worse still, not only does she not stop immediately, she actually comes over with a stethoscope in her ears and starts listening to the wheels of Haru's chair.
"Haru, I'd like you to meet Hikari Himura, the Ultimate Pyrotechnician." She's studying the wheels quite intently. Maybe she thinks they're dead since they don't have a heartbeat.
"Oh," Haru says quietly, although it's more like an exhalation than an utterance.
"These wheels are rusty," Hikari observes. "Mr. Rusty Wheels, you need to sort that out!"
"Hikari, he kind of can't," I tell her gently. "Maybe Feminism could. Did you ever find her, by the way?"
"Nope, but Rusty Wheels is the only other person I haven't talked to yet because the big scary guy wouldn't let me in before." I really hope that name doesn't stick.
"Don't you recognise him? It's Haru Nishishoka. You know…"
"Please don't bring that up," Haru interrupts. Makes sense he'd be uncomfortable with people talking about his past because it'll just remind him of what he used to be capable of.
"This guy can't be Haru Nishishoka!" Hikari declares. "Haru Nishishoka can walk! And he doesn't have those bags under his eyes like you do! And he'd never be in a hospital because he's invincible!"
"Yeah, I used to think that too," Haru says solemnly. "Turns out, that just ain't the truth." Well, this got depressing rather quickly. A fitting final introduction for a fallen hero. Hikari runs back to the tray while I look about the room, no longer knowing what to say or do with myself. I spy another one of those yellow screens over by the door, but this one's different. The others had a completely blank display, but this one's full of static. All of a sudden, from out of the silence rings a voice, the likes of which I've never heard before.
"Ahem, ahem! Testing, testing, one two three! Am I coming through? Can everyone hear me?" There seems to be some kind of shape forming in the grey static, but it's so fuzzy I can't really make anything out. That voice is giving me the creeps, too. It sounds like some crap from a children's TV show or something.
"Well, let's begin, then! All of you students have an urgent appointment immediately in the reception area! I repeat, all Hope's Peak Academy Students have an urgent appointment immediately in the reception area! Chop, chop, don't be late! I'll be waiting!" I don't trust this. I've just been left with even more questions than before. Whoever made that announcement certainly knows more about the current situation than we do, at least, but even so, something about that message was just unsettling.
"You guys go on ahead," Haru says. "I don't particularly feel like going." I feel a shadow being cast over me, and I turn to see Ryusuke stood right behind me.
"But the message was very clear, Haru, sir! All students must attend!" Ryusuke isn't going to let this drop, is he? I leave him to convince the fallen hero to go to his mandatory appointment, just in time to see Hikari racing down the corridor. At this point, all I can do is follow her lead, go to the reception and finally get some answers as to why sixteen Hope's Peak Academy students have been trapped inside a hospital.
A/N: Thanks once again to all you lovely people for your reviews. It really is nice to know my story's going down well with its audience.
Now, time for an update on my upcoming schedule. Tomorrow I'm off into the heart of Manchester to play some Smash Bros, then for the next two weeks I'm off on a course in retail and finances, so the next chapter might be a while. Certainly won't be keeping up the current run of two a week. Regardless, I hope you all stick with it and I'll make sure the next chapter is extra-despairing!
