Free Time Events: Taiga Tachibana (Side C)

EVENT 1: Taiga-san is interested in how I get along with Nagato-sensei. After all, she once was in a similar situation.

I struck up a conversation with Taiga-san about how things were going right now. Taiga-san had a few things she wanted to discuss with our teacher.

"Thank you for sharing, Tachibana-san," I said. "I'll pass it along to Mom...er, Nagato-sensei."

Taiga-san chuckled.

"You don't have to call your mom that when you're around me," Taiga-san said. "I don't think any of us would judge you for calling her 'Mom'."

"Maybe not," I said, "but it's a matter of principle; namely, showing that I don't expect special treatment just because I'm her daughter."

Mom had made a deal with me. In order to get me into the habit of showing her respect, I would have to call her "Nagato-sensei" all the time while at school. If I was able to do so consistently, she offered to relax the rules, and let me call her "Mom" when we were alone at school. For now, though, she wasn't going to bend on the rules.

"Fair enough," Taiga-san said, "but I think there are a few groups of people at this school. The first group is skeptical of you, and needs some proof that you can show Nagato-sensei the respect she deserves. The second group, like me, either don't care what you call her, or don't think you have to treat her any differently than usual. The third group probably won't change its mind under any circumstances, and will probably think Nagato-sensei plays favorites with you, even if she doesn't."

"I know," I said. "There are always those who, like the third group, cannot be persuaded otherwise. That being said, if I can win over the people in the first group, I will try to do so."

"I wish you the best of luck with that," Taiga-san said, "but please remember that there are those in the second group who accept you unconditionally."

I thanked Taiga-san for the kind words. While she seemed like the shy and timid one of the Tachibana sisters, even she had a certain level of confidence that I lacked. Maybe it was because she had an Ultimate talent, or more people who believed in her- I had my mother, but she had her parents and sister. Perhaps she didn't fully believe in herself, but I could learn a little from her.

EVENT 2: Taiga-san having her mother as a teacher presented some unique complications, but in the end, she only had to fulfill her duties, and everything else worked out.

Taiga-san and I talked about her old school. While statistically speaking, it was quite rare for two Ultimates to come from the same high school, let alone in the same year, there were cases when a talent scout came to a school to investigate one talented student and heard about another while there, essentially catching two bugs in one swing of the net.

"You know, Tachibana-san, I just remembered something you said when we first met," I said. "You said you had your mom as your teacher before you came here, didn't you?"

"That's right," Taiga-san said. "It was back in middle school, for composition class."

"Ah, that's right," I said. "What was it like?"

"Probably a bit like you and Nagato-sensei, I'd imagine," Taiga-san said. "I was a bit of an adjustment to have to call her 'Sensei' or rather than 'Mom.' Mom using our surnames is pretty weird, too, especially when we share them; because of that, she was fine with us just calling her 'Sensei' rather than 'Tachibana-sensei'."

I nodded. There were two Yamadas in my class at my old school, but they apparently weren't related. They did, however, find it a bit awkward having to call each other by their family names, so they became surprisingly good friends.

"I agree," I said. "Of course, in my case, whether I'm dealing with Mom or Nagato-sensei, she's an authority figure, so it's only natural that I'd have to do as I'm told. After all, with about a decade of schooling, I'm used to obeying my teachers."

"Me too," Taiga-san said. "Mom isn't all that strict as a parent, and neither is Tachibana-sensei compared to her fellow faculty members, but my sister and I learned the value of doing what I'm told while I was growing up."

I sensed a note of discomfort in Taiga-san's voice.

"There is one difficult part, though," Taiga-san said. "Namely, having Mom treat me as just another student, treating me with formal professionalism, rather than motherly love. I know I shouldn't take it personally, but it's a bit harder to think of her the same way as the other teachers."

"But in the end, you do treat her that way, right?" I said.

"I do," Taiga-san said. "Her own daughters not respecting her authority would reflect badly on her as a parent and a teacher, so that's why I strive to be a good daughter and a good student, as does my sister. Our efforts weren't lost on our parents; after we got through the year, Mom and Dad took us out to dinner to celebrate."

"That's nice of her," I said. "Mom will probably hold a similar celebration for me once I get through my first year of Talent High School, and again when I graduate. My grades aren't especially good, either, but Mom's sure 'll pass, and with good reason."

Taiga-san smiled, but I could sense that there was a certain other issue on her mind. It wasn't hard to figure out what, so it probably went without saying, but if she ever wanted to talk about it, I was willing to listen.

EVENT 3: Working with friends and family can be a complex matter, as Taiga-san and I are well aware.

Taiga-san told me a little more about her old middle school, which was serious about the rules but wasn't oppressively strict. Mom would probably do well as a teacher there, and Tachibana-sensei would also be a good fit for Talent High School.

"I'm curious about something, Nagato-san," Taiga-san said. "Have you ever gotten into any serious endeavor with your siblings or friends?"

"Unfortunately, no, Tachibana-san," I said. "First, I'm an only child. Second, I haven't had any real friends, at least not before coming here."

Taiga-san seemed a bit sad. She seemed a bit shy, but it seemed as though she'd been more fortunate than I was. Maybe Tatsuki-san had introduced Taiga-san to her friends, or Taiga-san had made some herself, but she was certainly more popular than I had been, not that it was saying much.

"I'm... sorry to hear that," Taiga-san said, "not to mention unsure how to put what I'm about to tell you in a way that would be easy for you to understand."

"Just give it your best shot," I said, smiling encouragingly.

Taiga-san nodded, and after taking a moment to think, proceeded.

"Let's say that Nagato-sensei isn't a teacher, but an owner of a small business," Taiga-san said. "It's, um... a coffee shop, and you're a barista. Are you following me so far?"

I said "I am," much to Taiga-san's relief. Neither of us knew much about the inner workings of coffee shops, but it was as good of a hypothetical example as any.

"Anyway, your job is to make cups of coffee and serve them to the customers," Taiga-san said. "If you give customers a bad cup, or if you offend them, your coffee shop's reputation will suffer and you'll lose business. If you can't do your job well, then it'd be in Nagato-sensei's best interests to replace you with someone else who can, even if you're her daughter."

"Absolutely," I said. "It wouldn't be a very pleasant decision, but I know she'd do what she'd must. In order to keep it from coming to that, I'd do my best."

I thought about my mom's job as a teacher. Talent High School rarely expelled students unless they were guilty of severe offenses, like one student in the year ahead of me. The decision wasn't up to Nagato-sensei, but if I did something that warranted being kicked out of school, she'd report me to the headmistress, who would almost certainly show me the door.

"Good answer," Taiga-san said, "but what if your best isn't good enough?"

"Then I guess Mom would probably call me in to discuss my performance," I said, "and if I couldn't improve, I'd probably be fired. If it came to that, I'd realize that it wouldn't be any easier on Mom than it would be on me, and accept the decision gracefully."

"I'm sure you would," Taiga-san said. "I hope I could do the same if I ended up in that situation."

I paused for a moment, wondering how Taiga-san might end up working with a family member. Just as the answer occurred to me, Taiga-san changed the subject.

"In any case," Taiga-san said, "while my sister and I are not very good students, we attend class, do our homework and get passing grades, fulfilling all our academic obligations. Mom probably wishes we could do better, but Tachibana-sensei has no complaints, nor any reason to believe we're angling for special treatment, so she's satisfied with that."

"That's the first I've heard about your grades," I said.

"Well, as you can tell, we're not exactly keen on bragging about them," Taiga-san said. "They haven't exactly gotten any better since Dragon Girl took off, but our parents say that as long as we pass all our classes, we can keep on doing music."

Once again, I was reminded that if school was a race, there were those who competed for first place and those who, like me, could barely cross the finish line. I'd never expected that any of the Ultimates, even those whose talents lay outside of school, were fellow members of the latter group, but Taiga-san was the exception. Both of us were individuals living in the shadow of more talented family members, so her insecurity was unsurprising... and all too familiar.

EVENT 4: Taiga wants to be sure that she's of use to her sister. She's more than proven herself by now, and I hope she understands this.

Taiga-san asked me about the times I took part in group assignments in class. Since my grades weren't the best, my classmates weren't especially thrilled to have me, but the more understanding ones did concede that I had a good work ethic and was a strong team player.

"I'd like to know something, Taiga-san," I said. "The last time we spoke, you were thinking about your sister, weren't you?"

"Quite perceptive, Nagato-san," Taiga-san said. "While I was talking about my mother, both my sister and I knew that if we passed our classes- not an unreasonable assumption, even considering our grades- we'd move up a year. As for my sister, however, Dragon Girl is quite possibly the most important thing she'll ever do."

"But she's doing well so far, isn't she?" I said.

"So far," Taiga-san said. "Success is never guaranteed to last in the music world, even for a performer of her caliber, since it's possible that someone will upstage her, or the public will get sick of her. Because of that, and because she's so talented on her own, I can't tell whether I'm helping her or dragging her down."

I shook my head. Some people got in through family connections, but only those who were related to the school's leadership.

"If you weren't, I don't think the school would have acknowledged you as the Ultimate Songwriter," I said. "I think I once read a review of someone who did a cover of one of your sister's songs- I think it was Breathing Fire, right?"

"That sounds familiar," Taiga-san said. "Personally, it's one of the songs I'm most proud of."

"I'm glad to hear it," I said. "Anyway, the review was not very flattering."

"Wh-Why?" Taiga-san said, looking crestfallen.

"It didn't have anything to do with you," I said. "It said that the performer wasn't nearly as good as your sister, and more importantly, that she failed to capture the energy behind your song. Your lyrics and melody were said to be the only good thing about the performance, and the problem was that the person performing them didn't do them justice."

Taiga's eyes lit up.

"Really?" Taiga-san said. "Where was this?"

"In the local paper," I said. "I've long since recycled it, but if we get out of here, we can look it up online."

Taiga-san asked me for my paper's name, and the name of the person who performed the cover of her song, and wrote both down. Since it was clear she didn't just take my word for it, I decided to drive my point home.

"In any case," I said, "my point is that people do take notice of the work that you do, even if it's less apparent than your sister. Your sister's a great performer, but she'd have never gotten this far without an equally great songwriter."

"I'm glad you think so, Nagato-san," Taiga-san said. "Any time I ever start wondering whether my sister only keeps me around out of pity, I'll think back to what you and that article you mentioned said.

I smiled, relieved. Taiga-san's belief in her inferiority wouldn't go away overnight, but I hoped that I could foster a healthy sense of confidence in her, one that I hoped to eventually possess myself.

EVENT 5: Taiga-san

Taiga-san invited me back to her cabin.

"Thank you for coming, Nagato-san," Taiga-san said. "I spoke with my sister, and she agreed to let us have some time alone."

"That's good," I said. "As close as Mom and I are, we aren't joined at the hip all the time, either."

"In my case, there's a bit more to it," Taiga-san said. "My sister recognizes that even though we were born at almost the same time, we're our own people and do our own things. Because of that, she told me that she only wants me as her songwriter under two conditions. The first is that I must be up to the job which is her way of saying that she doesn't just take me on out of pity. The second is that I must want to do the job, and enjoy doing it."

"Fair enough," I said. "So, Tachibana-san, are you happy with your songwriting career?"

Taiga-san smiled and nodded.

"I am," Taiga-san said. "If my sister needs me, I'm happy to help. I want her to succeed, and I'm glad that I played a role in her success."

"Good for you," I said. "As for me, I don't know what I can do to be of use to my mom, so I'm a bit jealous of you."

Taiga-san sighed and shrugged, before adopting a more reassuring expressing.

"I don't know what advice I can give to you," Taiga-san said, "but if you try your hardest and be the best person you can be, I think that she'll be proud of you, just as my mom and sister are of me."

"Thank you, Tachibana-san," I said. "That means a lot coming from you."

We shook hands, having come to realize how much we had in common, and becoming friends in the process. Maybe there wasn't anything Taiga-san and I could work on together, but I felt I'd be happy having such a trustworthy friend by my side.

Author's Notes

Since Cruise Mode, the setting for Chiyuri's Free Time Events with the first six students to die, does not involve Monokuma hijacking the trip, Chiyuri's mother remain the official chaperone and still insists on being called "Nagato-sensei."

While this Free Time Events chain focuses on Taiga's sense of inadequacy compared to her sister, I decided to approach it from a slightly different angle, and also go into Chiyuri's similar situation.