The second day of our forced theatre lessons was already underway.
Left to my own devices, it was time to figure out a way to kill time until the final day. But what?
I could always...write? That's still my talent. That zombified bear wouldn't like it if I just sat in my room all day though, he made it clear that he wanted us to interact with one another. It might be a good time waster to keep in mind and I did need a few hours to kill.
It didn't take long for something to happen though. Not long after leaving the cafeteria and watching Junkuma follow Kyogen in case he broke more pots or something, I heard Maria's voice.
"Quickly, quickly! For our dark lord!"
There she was, dragging Renji by the wrist as he clutched tightly to the photo frame. I still couldn't believe that he had to cry and mourn over that damned roach.
It seemed whenever he couldn't cry anymore, he shot the frame a quick look. Like just now.
"And what are you two fools doing?" I asked, watching them stop in their tracks.
With the biggest grin that she could force, Maria boldly stated, "Renji here is going to be my sacrifice for the darkest of lords! His body shall be the offering that will please the unholy deity!"
...what?
Sacrifice?!
Renji however just sniffled, "I don't care what happens. As long as I get to see him again!"
Maria's smile didn't sit well, for either of us. "See! This poor man has given his life to the purest of causes, or should I say impurest?"
"...So you're going to kill him then?"
The look she (and Renji) gave me said it all. All I could see was fear. "It's sacrifice, there's a difference."
I huffed, "I don't see a difference, just turn yourself in when you do sacrifice the dead weight mourner."
Renji seemed too preoccupied being huddled in a ball, crying or faking it, either one. Maria on the other hand pouted, but it looked like she was holding something back.
"Sacrifice is meaningful. The way you're describing it is just mindless killing with no real impact!"
We shot each other a dirty, awkward feeling glare. This conversation would have probably continued if left as it was.
It was then that a soft muttering tried to make itself known, "please, end it so I can meet him once more."
"I would tell you to stand up from your pathetic display, but it seems quite fitting for you." Once again, I reminded myself to apologise to the others after this motive was over.
Maria waved her hand, trying to shoo me away. "Can you leave now. I got a ritual to perform."
And let Renji be sacrificed? No, I don't think so.
"Don't tell me what to do, witch. I'd rather watch. It might be useful to see a sacrifice in action."
Her face scrunched up at that, but in the end shrugged. "Fine, whatever. Maybe then you'll believe in the powers of the dark lord once you bear witness to it yourself."
It was then I noticed that we were both avoiding eye contact with the sobbing Renji. I wouldn't like to be in his shoes right now.
So, as Maria continued to drag the mixologist to the gymnasium, where she had drawn her pentagram the day before, she ordered him (aka moved him) into position.
"Kind of ironic that a satanist is the Ultimate Bishop. I'm curious to hear about how far you've fallen, or maybe, how much faith have you lost."
She gave a chuckle, clearly fake but god bless her she was trying. "If Sister Margaret could see me now," it came out much softer than what I was prepared for. "I guess you could say it was due to my lack of faith, or maybe something else. It doesn't matter now, does it?"
"Then why still be called a bishop when you're clearly aren't then?" I shot back, hoping that she would continue. Thankfully, she decided to take the bait. Whether or not she was aware of the plan.
"Just cause I'm a bishop, that doesn't mean I only have one belief."
I scoffed, "doesn't that go against the whole: thou shalt have no other gods before me, commandment?"
That seemed to spark something in those striking green eyes of hers. "Ah, so you know of the ten commandments? Then again, you are a ghostwriter after all."
"I think most people know of the commandments, just not the specifics of each one."
"True, true," she nodded, "I guess I'm a bit of a sinner in the eyes of the Catholic church then."
It was getting harder to hear her thanks to Renji. I watched as she dug through her satchel as she pulled out a pair of reading glasses before going through the bible she had also pulled from out of there.
Maria wearing glasses was sort of like seeing a whole new person. The old Maria (not including the devil worshipping) from the days we've spent together, was a gentle soul but now with glasses, she seemed a lot sharper, like her whole aura had changed. I suppose that's what glasses could do to an image I suppose.
I had no idea if she memorised the whole thing or not but once she stopped at a certain page, she immediately ripped it out. "There, now there's nothing wrong with me breaking a commandment, right?"
"Don't think it works that way, idiot."
When she pulled her glasses down, she gave me an almost pitying look, "you're not very pleased, are you?"
I returned her look with one of my own scowls. "You're going off track with your story, false believer."
"Ah, that's right! You wanted to know why I'm still a bishop."
As she was talking, I gave Renji a kick. "Get out of here, I can't hear her with all your stupid sobbing."
Sniffling, the orange haired roach mourner ran off, leaving me alone with the satanist.
"As I told you before, I don't have a singular belief. I believe that all beliefs, whether they be along the lines of christianity, buddhism, shintoism or even something others might call pagan, like satanism. People of multiple faiths and walks alike should be able to coexist without some hatred over the other or belief that they're the one true religion. Believing in the dark lord is just one religion I'm devoted too in order to link all of them together."
It was incredibly hard to tell if this was just her forced role or something that came from the heart. Either way, I wish her luck with that. As long as it didn't involve killing people that is.
"You really are a sinner, huh." I sneered, but sadly, I was ignored once she 'noticed' that Renji was gone.
"Now you owe me another sacrifice now that the bartender wimp ran off. How am I supposed to call on a higher power now?"
"I don't owe you shit, and why bother with summoning your so-called 'dark lord' when there's already a spirit running wild around here?"
The pig-tailed bishop bit her lip. "Because it was brought here by other means. I can't control a damned spirit from the dregs of hell if they were brought into the world of the living by some other force, whether that is by another summoner or their grudge."
She tapped her foot in frustration, though she didn't look the part in the slightest. "In order to control a wandering spirit, I need a higher power to control that spirit. A chain of command among the unrest souls of hell! Summoning the dark lord is the ultimate power for that goal."
This was going on a bit too long for me, but as long as a possible murder had been avoided, I guess it was fine. "And pray tell, how were you going to even perform a sacrifice anyway?"
"Simple! First I get them in the pentagram, laying down of course, then I make sure they get stabbed as I chant a cursed verse to summon spirits from beyond the grave!"
...
I couldn't believe what I was hearing. Thank god she didn't even have a knife on her, just that bible and a teddy bear that I saw a glimpse of in that bag of hers.
"Hey! Why so silent?"
"Have I told you that you were an idiot?"
From there, she tried to convince me to be her new sacrifice for her dark lord. To cut a short story shorter, I left her alone. Like hell I was going to be a sacrifice! I just hope that she doesn't try and sacrifice anyone else any time soon.
Leaving the gym and the satanist, the first thing I saw when I got back into the corridor was Anju running to Junkuma's store, camera in hand. Now what was she up to? Curiosity won me over as I followed right behind the timid reporter.
Entering the door to the store, the flash from a camera went off.
Anju stood in the centre, timidly holding her camera up as Junkuma was nowhere in sight. In fact, parts of the store seemed to be in the middle of cleaning up from Kyogen's latest parade. However, Anju wasn't alone here. There, on the store's front desk, sat Astin as she posed for a photo.
As Astin sat in her pose, the first thing I noticed was the change of wardrobe. Her long powder blue hair was now free flowing instead of being in a curled ponytail and instead of her pink button up, detached belle sleeves and grey skirt with fur boots combo, it was replaced with a brand new attire.
Now she wore a black leather jacket left open with a simple red t-shirt underneath and looked like it had room for a hoodie too if it got too cold for her. She also now wore a pair of light, brown cargo pants that were tucked into knee-high dark brown leather boots. She also sported a belt with a golden buckle.
In short, it all worked well for her.
Noticing the type of camera that Anju held, a polaroid, she took the photo and gave it to the idol, who inspected it with a smile. "It came out perfectly!" she grinned, eyes now glued onto it. "Take another."
Another click and a photo came out. I took the time to look over Anju's newest photo of Astin looking at her own photo. Damn, the camera really loved her.
"So you're wasting time taking photos, huh. How boring."
Anju jumped as Astin didn't even budge. "S...SUISEI?! When did you get here?!"
"I walked in, stupid." I turned my attention to the idol. "And how are you Narcissus?"
She didn't even spare me a glance. "Better. Now, while you're here, help Anju out. There should be a spare camera around here somewhere."
"As I told you before, I am NOT doing shit."
"Then leave."
"Make me."
All the while, Anju looked back and forth between us. "Um…"
"Pay him no mind Anju," Astin called out to her as she got into a new pose, "keep taking photos."
"Okay…" and off she went, taking another photo.
I waited a while until Astin was entranced by the latest photo. "And you're fine with this?" I asked as Anju nodded slowly. "Really? Just being dragged around and used for your skills? Pathetic."
She looked down at her feet. Shit. Remember Suisei, it's just acting. "If it makes her happy, then...then it's fine, right?"
I shrugged. "Try asking someone else who might care."
"I'm...I'm fine."
"Sure."
We stood in silence for a while until Astin spoke up, seems she was done with that photo.
"Anju. Photo, now."
"R...right!" Anju rushed over with her camera, leaving me with a pile of photos, all of them being Astin to no one surprise.
Looking at the combination of camera work from Anju and the modelling from Astin, the photos turned out very well! The teen idol was quite photogenic to the point I found myself looking a little longer than I had expected.
I could see why she was glued to Anju's photos of herself, if only a little.
Placing the photos on a shelf, I checked in on what the two were doing. It was as I expected, the same thing as before. Anju taking photos with Anju posing for said photos with some of the 'poses' being just her looking at some of the taken photos.
As Anju continued to take more photos while Astin posed some more, I took the time to leave. It wasn't like I was needed anyway.
Not too far around the corner after leaving the store, out appeared the same person that I saw the other day.
There was only one real person that I could think of, but at the same time, it wasn't the best to lower our guard.
As soon as he saw me, he fled. "Running is useless, filth. There is nowhere to run to!" I called out, watching him flee. What he did next surprised me.
He barrelled straight through the window!
The sound of shattering glass was the only thing I could hear as scar-face disappeared. Walking to the window, he covered his tracks well as despite being a window closer to the open sports field, I couldn't see him anywhere.
Not even a single footprint was left in the dirt. He must have ran pretty far.
"Leave me the fuck alone!"
Spinning around on my heels, I saw Kyogen trying to out walk the girl that looked like she climbed out of a CRT television. She was standing awfully close and despite Kyogen's best efforts, she was like glue. Super glue even.
"Fuck off already!"
I wasn't really expecting to see him so soon, but seeing as the bear was no longer chasing after him, it wouldn't be long until he popped up at the window to shout and complain.
The troublemaker's face was bright red, formed into a nasty frown as he didn't even spare the haunting spirit a glance. I would almost say he was shaking in 'anger'.
Poor guy.
"That spirit giving you trouble? Why don't you do what you usually do and punch it away?"
In response to my taunt, the troublemaker just turned his anger towards me. "Spirits don't exist! Fuck off with that shit!"
Sunako placed a hand on his shoulder. "The spirits moan for your soul..." she whispered in a cold tone as the troublemaker just shrugged her hand off.
"If you think spirits exist, you're stupid. Absolutely, fucking stupid."
He ignored her.
"Hand over that thing, that rotten thing you call a soul." the spirit medium just stared at the messy red haired teen, who continued to shrug off her attempts of grasping his shoulder. "Can you hear it? The souls of the damned that you let perish?"
Kyogen, still red in the face, asked me, "what the fuck are you doing anyway?"
"None of your business, filth."
"Heeeeyyyyy, listennnnn." She was poking his face now.
It didn't look like he enjoyed it.
"Just acknowledge her already. This comedy act is getting boring?"
"Acknowledge who?" he crossed his arms, looking everywhere that seemed to be in the opposite direction Sunako was. No matter what Sunako did, Kyogen always looked the other way. "It's just me and you, dumbass. Don't tell me you believe in spirits."
"So you're ignoring her now. A surprisingly wise move coming from you," I scoffed, giving him the most condescending look I could muster.
At least I hoped I did.
"Who the fuck are you talking about?! Stop looking down on me, damnit!"
Ah, I did it then.
The long haired looking spirit placed her hand onto the poor guy's face. "Look...at...me..."
Kyo could only shake as he suddenly kicked out of the blue!
The poor wall. It didn't deserve to get kicked like that. "THAT'S IT! I'M GONNA FUCKING BREAK SOMETHING! LEAVE ME ALONE!"
A quick shove to Sunako, he bolted off down the halls. It was the fastest I've ever seen him move. The ghost next to me however, just got down on all fours like some deranged wall and ceiling crawling creature and gave chase.
Yeah, that bear's definitely fucking with us, wasn't he?
"Man, I never saw Kyo run that fast before! He could become an Ultimate Sprinter if he keeps that kind of pace up."
That he could, that he could.
Also, "where the hell did you pop out from?"
The green haired girl just smiled at me and just showed me her nails, ignoring my question entirely. "Look!" Her nails were now all varying shades of green. "Isabi had her nails done by Seiren! Don't they look pretty!"
"Remove your sticky fingers out of my face!" When she didn't move immediately, I slapped the hands away.
"Aw, why the frown, chum?"
"It's not important. What are you even doing anyway?"
"Just going for a walk!" to make a point, she began to walk around me. Why was she circling me like a shark? No clue.
"My, aren't you lax," I said as I grabbed her shoulder. Stopping her from circling me for the sixth time.
Isabi looked back down to her painted nails. "Oh! Isabi saw the maskless man earlier! It looked like he came from a battle, a war even! All bloody, scarred, covered in broken glass!" she flung her arms everywhere, exaggerating Takeo's appearance. She kept mentioning details that didn't seem to matter like how he ran up the side of a building or used some cloaking device.
I placed my hand on her mouth, thinking it would cease her rambling. "Enough." It didn't work. She kept rambling, just incredibly muffled. "Go solve some puzzles or something."
"But puzzles are booorrrrriiiiiing!" she whined once I removed my hand.
Jabbing my finger down the corridor, I told her, "go annoy somebody else."
She paused for thought there, her sky blue eyes shined like an idea had popped off. "Nah. Isabi think she's fine here. Don't really wanna hang out with the others."
"Great…"
"Stop it. Now." Isabi and I both looked in the direction of Fumi's voice. It was quite loud, louder than we had heard her before. It only meant one thing though...
"...Fumi's mad again..."
I sighed, sending a judging look at the puzzle solver. "Again? What did you do now?"
Pouting, she stomped on the ground. "Isabi did nothing! Isabi was minding her own business! Isabi doesn't wanna get yelled at again!" Isabi hightailed it out of there, just as fast as the troublemaker. Time to check it out then.
Following Fumi's short lived demanding shout, I found myself outside, heading towards the garden which answered all my questions. Well, some of them.
There stood Fumi, glaring at the wolf pelt wearing Akahana. Now it all made sense.
"Disciplining your dog I see. Good."
That earned me a glare. "Don't you start. I already have my hands full with Akahana here."
Akahana, meanwhile, just growled. Thanks for the input.
"Tch. Have you tried giving her treats."
Now any lingering attention that was on Akahana was now solely on me. "She's not a bloody dog, Suisei."
"No shit. She's a wolf."
Fuming now, she hissed, "I. Know That." she then stepped forward, jabbing her finger into my chest. "If you're going to keep being childish and idiotic too, then leave."
"Don't tell me what to do," I swatted the hand away as lightly as I could. "What are you even trying to accomplish, anyway?"
"I'm bringing her back to her humanity instead of her acting like some girl who was raised by a pack of wolves." she shot back.
I didn't back down however. "So domesticating her like the common man's best friend?"
All she had for that was a loud groan. "Urgh."
As we talked, Akahana just tilted her head like a wolf that was used to being handled by humans would.
"Looks like you're one step closer there, dog trainer."
"Don't even joke about that."
Looking back at Akahana, the forager growled up a storm, snarling the best she could. Being on all fours, mimicking a wolf, must be pretty hard and tiring on her. She looked pretty uncomfortable here and there.
Fumi stepped forward, which caused Akahana to jump a bit towards her. Seeing that, I quickly pulled the promoter back as all of a sudden Akahana clamped down, thankfully just on air. "She...she tried to bite me!"
"Are you an idiot? She's a wild wolf!"
The 'wolf' headed back into the tall grass, glaring at the both of us. I noticed my words didn't set well with Fumi. After dusting off her green turtleneck, she shot the wolf a glare.
"Need a muzzle? Maybe a leash?"
"Shut. It."
Ouch.
We now had a staring contest, her vibrant green eyes clashing with my (probably dull) orange. As we had the said staring contest, we both heard a yawn and turned to see Akahana going deeper into the garden.
"Akahana! Come back here!" Fumi called out, already giving chase.
Hopefully Fumi would be safe with Akahana's bites. "Have fun teaching your dog new tricks."
The last thing I heard as I went back inside was, "SHE'S NOT A DOG! AKAHANA GET UP!"
Man, what a world we live in.
Now back inside, I decided to walk around a bit longer. I spied a familiar face lingering outside of the laundry. It was the cheeky chemist himself.
"Hey Sui-chan!" he waved immediately upon seeing me. Great.
Preparing myself, I turned to him. "What do you want?"
"Fo-" he stopped himself then and there and turned his attention elsewhere. "Just wanted to say hi..."
I would have left if he didn't yell out, "wait! wait!"
"What now?!"
He only pointed to the laundry room. "Didn't want to go in..." he looked...terrified. Like he just saw something he wasn't supposed to see.
Why? Was it because who was in there? Fox just continued to point at the door. Fine. I'll have a look then...
So I decided to have a little peek into the laundry room and see what was up.
Lo and behold, there was Hudson and Charlotte, doing the laundry. Rather, Charlotte doing the laundry as Hudson seemed to refuse to do a 'peasant's job'.
"You think you're good enough for me? You're nothing more than a filthy commoner. Now hurry up finishing my laundry and get out my sight."
Charlie winked however, "hard to get eh?"
What the…
Charlie faced away from the split singer as a grin formed. "Hey..."
"What now?"
"Do you think...I'm pretty?" she gripped one of the laundry baskets as Hudson scoffed.
"You're a peasant. Any beauty you hold is nothing compared to mine."
And despite it all, Charlotte grinned with her glasgow smile, slowly standing up until the noisy washing machine fell silent. "Oi, peasant. The washing machine is done, get to work."
The grin slowly faded as she carried the basket to the washing machine.
...
Leaning back, I tired to think why Fox found it so scary. Was his role uncomfortable with their acts? Was it Hudson or Charlotte?
I looked back to Fox who seemed to be wary of what was in the room, "that's your own problem."
"No! Sui-chan, you don't understand! You didn't see it! Keep-"
He tried to grab hold of my leg, but thankfully I dodged him as he landed flat on his face. All I did to help him was walk away.
Now, as I headed towards the cafeteria, I thought I might get a drink while I was here, but when I pushed the door open slightly, I immediately spied the long, black hair of the pyrotechnician as she sat at the bar, next to her however was the stewardess, checking her French manicured nails while the other focused on the bottle of booze in her hand.
It felt like I intruded on something, so I found myself hanging back.
"So...yeah, that's how it was." the drinker mumbled.
"To hear that you grew up in the Kamagasaki district, that was surprising. It must have been hard."
Nanako took a swig of the alcoholic beverage. "It might have been one of the biggest slums, but I've met some good kids." The flight attendant giggled, which caused the drinker to look back to her 'drinking' buddy.
"Sorry, sorry. It's just that the way you acted here and there during this predicament, well before this one, I see where you got that from then."
It was hard to tell if Nanako was red from embarrassment or it was the work of the bottle of booze.
"And you picked up the firework trade there?"
"Mhm. Since they were all younger than me, I needed something fun for them and one day, I made fireworks for them. The way that lit up the night sky...it sure was something."
The tired girl smiled as if daydreaming about it. "I'm sure it was."
Yeah...it felt like I was eavesdropping- no, I was eavesdropping. I should really back off now…
"I guess you could say, it lit up the sky. It certainly did grab people's attention with it being in the city and all that." she had a far-away look in her eye as far as I could tell from this distance away. "Despite all the...hardships, now here I am."
Yozora grabbed a glass filled with what I think was orange juice. "I did hear about Osaka gaining a new tourist attraction, guess that was you eh?" and with that, Nanako turned away, red faced once again, but not without firing back.
"Enough about me, how about you?"
Now under fire, Yozora just waved her hand. "There's not much to tell, really."
"Come on, you heard my shit."
Getting a yawn out, Yozora nodded. "I suppose it's only fair."
Maybe I should leave now…
"There's not much to say, it was mostly just my father and me. I sort of followed in his footsteps in a way."
The probably drunk pyrotechnician noticed the bottle was empty and reached for another that had yet to be popped open. "Was he a flight attendant too?"
"No. No. He was a commercial pilot, he...worked a lot."
"Ah."
"And one day I decided to work to become a flight attendant," she yawned as she ran her finger around the top of her glass, "it was so I could work alongside him and look at me now. Ultimate."
"Oh. Really? You must have been to some pretty nice places then!"
The slightly taller girl frowned a bit, drinking the last bit of juice left. "Yeah...though the people were the worst."
Nanako fumbled a bit, but managed to squeeze something out. "I'm sorry. Must have been rough..."
"It's fine."
Looking down at her now empty glass, her light blue eyes locked on with Nanako's brown eyes. Despite the glare that her eyes seemed to portray something softer.
"It was nice talking with you. Sorry to hear about your mother."
"No. Don't be." Nanako huffed with a frown, eyes lingering on the bottle. Taking another swig only to find that her bottle was empty. Once it was empty? Threw it to the side with a resounding smash.
Junkuma wasn't going to like that that much.
Yozora was about to leave, until a hand grabbed hold of her dark blue blazer. "Please stay. Just a little while longer, until I sober up at least."
"Very well, just make sure I don't fall asleep."
And that was my final cue to leave them alone now. I heard a bit too much. I was surprised that they never noticed me either, then again, I never noticed Isabi until she opened her mouth.
Leaving those two alone now, I didn't get too far as I ran into the Mad Dog of Shibuya himself. "Oh! Suisei, it's good to see you. I hope you're doing well with these roles and such."
I had to admit, despite how forced it seemed. Tadakatsu felt a lot more...used to the role now, I guess?
"Can't say the same for you."
He just laughed, like I just told the world's greatest joke. "Easy now Suisei, don't want you to pop a vein!" Stop it. "By the way, and if you don't mind me asking, what are you doing out here?"
"It's none of your business."
He laughed again. Fucker. "Hahaha, so you're just taking a stroll. I suppose that is a decent way to spend your time. It does count as some exercise."
I immediately snapped back at his tone. "And what you're doing is much better?!"
Tadakatsu threw his hands up in a defensive manner. "I didn't mean to anger you, Suisei. To answer your question, I'm looking for Takeo."
"...you're not seriously wasting your time like that, are you?"
The red eyed yanki just nodded. "Some of the others might be uncomfortable or worried about Takeo, so I'm here to have a look for him. I even enlisted some help."
"Sounds like a bloody waste of time to me." I huffed as Tadakatsu held his smile.
"It might end up a pointless endeavour, but that doesn't mean it's pointless! Checking up on a friend is important. We don't want him injuring himself, we need him to be well fed too. I do hope he's been eating."
I started to walk away, but I felt a hand grip my shoulder. "Where's the fire, Suisei? I apologise for taking up your time, but please hear me out for a little bit longer."
"Just make it quick." I barked.
What surprised me next was that Tadakatsu bowed! Tadakatsu of all people! "If you know anything that could help me find him, please. Tell me."
I decided if I wanted to tell him no straight out or fuck with him a bit, but in the end, I relented. It was very tempting however. Incredibly so.
"If you wanna know where that stalker is, go ask the laidback puzzle solver. She apparently saw him last. Now stop wasting my time asshole."
Tadakatsu smiled, showing his split teeth as he stood back up and boy did they look like sharp fangs. "Thank you Suisei. I shall go find her at once."
"Whatever, trash. Just get out of my sight."
As Tadakatsu left, he gave me some 'advice' all of a sudden. "One last thing, Sui. Don't push others away. It's not healthy."
Like your one to talk…
And with that, Tadakatsu was gone and I decided that I was done for the day. It was a bit too much. So, I headed back to my room. The closer I got to my room, the more someone else came into view.
Seno.
Seems like I was going to see everyone today.
The closer I got, the more that I saw that he looked completely and utterly lost. The hazel eyed internet personality scratched his head, tapping his foot wondering where the hell he was supposed to be heading.
"You lost? Doesn't surprise me."
As soon as the words left my lips, Seno gave me a wave as he walked over. It was that I noticed that he had someone trailing him. Seiren.
"And what are you doing you little imp."
"Seno wanted some help finding someone and he promised me a bunch of nice, tasty food if I help him out!" she ignored the imp comment as I noticed that she was sucked into a daydream, drooling at the thought of some large meal. "Home cooking..."
Looking back at Seno, he simply scratched his neck. Unsure of what to say.
Not like he could say anything.
"...you helping that yanki bastard?" Upon hearing my question, Seno nodded vigorously. "I see...then you're unlucky. That slippery mongrel won't show himself, ever. You're better just waiting for a chance encounter instead, but by all means, waste your time."
When Seiren jumped in front, I sort of understood just why the internet personality didn't walk alone. "Ah, that's a shame BUT I HAVE FOOD ON THE LINE! I CANNOT LOSE MY GRAND MEAL TO SOMEONE PLAYING HIDE AND SEEK!"
"Still, searching is a wasteless use of time. It's useless, just like you." Despite my words, it just seemed to fire the small entertainer up as she broke contact with the ground.
"Don't worry, Seno! I'll find that missing person for ya!"
The both of us watched Seiren run off to god knows where. When I turned back, I was greeted to a pleaful sight.
"No."
He shifted his glasses up slightly as he just pointed in the direction Seiren ran in.
"If you care so much, you follow the imp."
Seno just bowed and began to walk in the other direction. Geez thanks. Well, it wasn't like I could keep a conversation running with him, but I might just keep an eye on her for a little while.
Now, following where Seiren ran off too, I returned to the dorm rooms right as I heard a door swing open. Quickly following the sound, I saw the white haired living doll slip into her room, failing to close her door properly.
Huh, thought she was supposed to be helping Seno out. Taking the open opportunity, I followed right behind her.
Looking in Seiren's room, the first thing I noticed about it was that it was chock-a-block. Not to the extent of being unable to move around, but the walls and floors were filled with a little bit of everything.
Fitting, for an Ultimate Entertainer.
Costumes, juggling clubs, make up, sheet music...there was a ton of stuff, but what really stood out among it all was a small little space filled with awards with the main focus of the display looking quite worn down by time. Even that wasn't scratching the surface, and I don't think I would even have the time to go over everything fully, but one thing was for sure. She wouldn't go bored with all of this in her room.
"Oh! So you followed me," I blinked when I looked at the entertainer, sitting on her bed as she kicked her feet as she wiped her mouth with her sleeve. "You got any snacks on you?"
"Aren't you supposed to be looking for Takeo? You really are useless, aren't you?"
She bit her lip. "I can't work on an empty stomach!"
"Weren't you promised a meal out of it? You cannot be this gluttonous can you?"
Sei just turned towards the wall of awards. "I noticed you were looking at it, yeah?"
"Trying to change the topic won't save you."
Just then, the sound of growling filled the small room. Seems like one of us was hungry and it wasn't me.
Now a bit red, Seiren just kept her eyes on the aged award.
"I don't care if you're hungry. Just eat something if you need to, I'm not your damn mother."
"I…" whatever she tried to say died there. It took at least a minute for the doll-looking girl to even turn to look at me with a simple question. "I can?"
"Of course, idiot. What kind of dumbass question is that..."
Sei had long seized her kicking and now preferred to play with her thumbs, conducting a thumb war with no clear victor. "But...I eat a lot don't I? Didn't you all get angry at me for eating?"
God damn it. "I don't have the time to deal with this. That issue was that you hoarded it for yourself you bloody-" No, you're getting a bit into it there Suisei, stop it.
"Oh...so it's fine for me to eat then?" This time, I just chose to nod. "I see...and if I get fat...?"
"What does that have to do with anything? No one cares."
It was like a light had blinded her. What was she? A deer in the highlights of an oncoming car? "I can gain weight?"
The fuck is going on here?
"Huh...Mother said that I was putting on weight, I'm already quite-"
"...are you serious? Wherever that weight is, I can't see it. Keep eating like you always do and then we'll talk." Where did that even come from? From the looks of this doll-like child, she was quite thin.
Before Seiren could even continue, I quickly changed the subject, looking over towards the old award. Sorry Seiren, but you're going to end up cornering me with my role. I can't have that.
"So why are you fond of that old award? Was it the last time you were ever good at anything?"
I thought she would give me an answer, but all I got was the sound of munching. "Where the hell did you get an apple from?"
"Oh. I took it from the cafeteria early just as Seno came and asked for my help, or I guess it would be signed for my help." swallowing the chunk she took from the smooth, green apple, her dark onyx eyes lingered on the dusty award. "That one? The old one?"
"Of course it's the one that looks like complete garbage, it's the only one that stands out."
Upon hearing that, she smiled a bit. "Glad to know. Well, it was the award that kicked off my talent as the Ultimate Entertainer."
So sentimental value, huh.
"Would you believe me if I said that I was a ghost growing up?" I gave her a look as she took another bite from her apple. "When I was younger, much younger, it was like I didn't exist. I had to remind people I was there you know. My classmates, parents, teachers... but then, I saw a talent show on the TV!"
"And it kicked off everything then?"
"Mhm! I took everything I learnt from that show and entered my school's talent show. Safe to say, I won first place!" it didn't take much to realise just how much pride she had in it. "I still remember the applause of the audience, the praise and attention. Even my parents came to congratulate me!"
Oh...
"It was great! They even helped me hone my talent and supported me when I pursued it. So if it wasn't for that award, I wouldn't even be an ultimate, I wouldn't even discover my love for being an entertainer. Without it, I'd probably still be ignored..."
"That's enough. I don't care, we're getting back on topic. That story won't save you, now get back to work."
Sei slumped a bit, but perked back up once she started to drool. "Oh right! Seno's got a bunch of food for me! I can't wait!"
"Right, just keep in mind not to eat everything pig."
As I went to leave, calling the day done (and might get some writing in if I couldn't fall asleep) I heard the white haired doll speak up.
"Suisei," Seiren's voice was softer than before. "Am I...forgettable?"
No, you aren't Sei.
"I wish."
I'm sorry.
"...thank you."
Upon calling it quits for the day, a bit earlier than usual, I opened my door to quite a sight.
"Welcome home!" I was greeted to the sight of Junkuma...in my room... "My, you're home early. How was school?"
"What the hell are you doing here? Get out."
Immediately, the robot sighed. "Rebellious phases are always hard to deal with," he said more to himself before addressing me, "I'm here because I was making your bed. Also, you're one to talk."
Sure enough, he was. Why thank you for making my bed but why?
"Why..?" I said, trying not to get too into character. Don't want to break that one rule of his. Speaking of which, had to make sure that bear didn't add any more that weren't motive related.
As the ruined scrap metal fluffed my pillow, that one bulging eye of his swivelled around to look at me. "It's about you're little friend," he began, "he made a mess of my store again! Not only did he make the first time a painful hell, but he came back again WITH A DAMN GHOST WHO DID NOTHING TO STOP HIM! NOT TO MENTION THE PHOTO CREW DIDN'T EVEN MOVE AND I GOT A BROKEN WINDOW!"
Now faced down on my pillow, I couldn't even hear what the bear was trying to say. All muffled by my pillow. He better not get that ruined with his grease and oil or whatever is in him.
"Why are you really here? This is clearly not a friendly visit."
Junkuma just lifted his head, sighing. "Fine. Fine. It's about your roles, shall we say. Just to keep you kids on your toes, you better stick to the script. I'm going to go to the others now, but remember this scrap metal," I watched the bear drag himself over to the door, staring me dead in the eye. "Follow your role exactly, don't try and find some loophole of using your character. You understand where I'm going, right?"
The once big blue eye that swirled around unhinged in his head on occasion had turned a bright scarlet as it locked onto me. It was almost like he was about to punish me then and there.
"I know that you piece of scrapped electronics. Go waste your meaningless words elsewhere."
It was hard to tell if he was smiling, seeing as he already had a permanent, toothy smile to begin with. "Glad to know that some scraps are worth salvaging. Now, if you excuse me. Adios."
Once the bear was gone, I immediately booked it into the bathroom. My reflection was that of a ghost. Pretty sure I was stealing Sunako's role now. A weird feeling ran its course through me. I had no idea what or how to describe the feeling. It was something foreign yet, familiar all the same. I knew it wasn't what the bear said that struck me with this feeling.
"He was serious..."
That eye, I had no idea why but I knew that bear was going to actively punish me, us, for playing it safe.
For survival's sake, it might be better to fully accept the role for now. No more dancing on the line.
It was an oddly quiet night as I could have sworn I heard a bad impression of a wolf howling as I finally managed to doze off.
By the time I awoken, it seemed that I had just missed the general morning announcement and made my way down to the cafeteria.
Only to be greeted by the sight of almost everyone standing in front of it. With a quick check, the only ones missing were Akahana, Renji, Takeo and Seiren.
"The hell are you fools doing?"
The first one to reply was Fumi as she ran a hand through her short wavy hair. "The cafeteria is locked." yep, just like yesterday's tone. The glare too I suppose.
Wait...locked?!
"We have tried opening the door," I looked towards the tired flight attendant, "but Kyogen couldn't break it down."
The troublemaker just huffed. "If I had some fucking help busting it down, then maybe we would be having breakfast by now!"
The (creepily) smiling Tadakatsu shook his head, "I apologise, but I cannot extend a helping hand in your endeavour."
"But couldn't you have gotten us in there if you helped?" Isabi pointed, focusing more on her hat than anything.
Timidly, Anju spoke up. At first it was just soft mumbles none of us could hear clearly. That was, until a slight nudge from Fumi caused her to speak up, louder and clearer this time.
"Breaking down the door...wouldn't that count towards the third rule?"
We all paused to look at her. Having a quick glance to check the rules, and there it was. It would count as destruction of property.
"I know some things had been destroyed, but do they count as school property?" Anju whispered.
"I don't think so," I found the words rolling off my tongue, "school property would mostly be cameras, monitors and doors. Otherwise, Kyogen would have been punished by now."
Kyogen, however, kicked the door as hard as he could. "That fucking bear! 'Cause of that shitty rule, we-"
"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Slow down there." a voice we were more than familiar with entered the fray.
Dropping from the ceiling, somehow, Junkuma raised his already long arm high into the air. "OBJECTION!"
"Great, here we go." I made sure that my groan was loud and irradiated as the bear pointed.
"Why would I do such a thing like that? Sure, I want you kids to kill each other, but not even I'm that horrid to deny you access to food. Otherwise, you fucking brats will just go on a hunger strike and all die hand in hand!"
The voice distorted more than usual, making it harder to tell the tone. Maybe it was malfunctioning? We could only hope so.
"Aww, it's good to hear that you're looking out for us!" Isabi received a nice friendly whack behind the head.
"You fool."
The witch walked around the bear, jumping into the beast's vision. "Hmm, then are you here to help unlock the doors?"
The sound of metal scratching metal filled the corridor. "Well... I wouldn't say that-"
"Then what are you here for?" asked the pyrotechnician, grasping for a bottle that wasn't there. "Just to defend yourself?"
"That's right!"
"You piece of shit!" Kyogen went to kick the little robotic monster and he would have if it wasn't for Tadakatsu having a good grip on him.
Junkuma coughed into his paw, hand, whatever. "While I cannot personally open the door for you without causing property damage myself, I do hope you all will be able to hang on for a while until the cafeteria is reopened."
Seno silently scratched his chin as Sunako stood away from the group in her own little corner. Maria on the other hand, sighed. "I can't sacrifice any souls for the ritual on an empty stomach. Both for me and the sacrifice..."
"You surely don't expect me of all people to go hungry, do you peasant?" the split singer scoffed, glaring down at the mobile monochrome wheelie bin. "I will not go forage for the little pickings of commoners."
...forage.
That gives me an idea, and it seemed that a few others picked up on it too.
The glass-less Charlotte, now with her mouth covered from view with what seemed to be a scarf stood up from the bench she was sitting on. Wonder where she got that? "You're quite clever, you know." she sent a wink towards the split singer who just looked down at her. "Surely there are other ways to find food, I believe some of us have figured it out."
It was then that Astin threw her hair back. "Of course. It's simple, really." with that tiny contribution, she had turned back to a photo of herself, admiring the view of her new look.
"I...rather not forage for my own food…" muttered a sober Nanako as Seno didn't look pleased with the idea of foraging either.
If I remember correctly, the garden did have some fruit and vegetables growing. "Assuming that garden can last us until the cafeteria opens." I grumbled.
"Ah...with nineteen of us and a growing garden, we'd have to ration it out." Fumi nodded as she looked over all of us. "We'll have no idea when the cafeteria will reopen."
"And the garden is small..." mumbled Isabi.
"Oi, did you guys forget that your lovely and totes adorable headmaster is here?"
I think we're trying to ignore you actually and speaking of that. "Shut up."
The bear with elongated arms slumped.
Do not feel bad for this shitty bear.
Tadakatsu coughed loudly, gaining our attention and any who might have given the bear their attention (like I did) now had their attention focused on the yanki. "If I might interject, I believe Anju wants to say something again."
He gestured over to the reporter, who revealed something that we had to check out. "Wouldn't...wouldn't Junkuma's store have some snacks?"
Nanako would have dropped her bottle if she was holding one. "That's right!"
We all targeted the small tiny bear then. "Yep! Yep! Glad one of you remembered!" the bear beamed. "Sadly though, at the end of the day, a store is a store. It's gonna cost you monocoins."
"You fuckin-"
"Now hold on you bloody vase breaker!" fumed the bear. "It's just business! Like buying out a small family owned store on Christmas! If you want food you work for it!"
Tadakatsu stepped forward now. "Do you mind if I ask the prices of said food?"
Fox immediately jumped on afterwards. "And what kinds of food are you selling?"
Junkuma, surrounded by growing gazes and questions, rubbed the back of his head. "Well, you see. I didn't think you guys would actually buy the snacks since the cafeteria's food was free and all..."
"Get on with it," the billiards player groaned, causing the bear to cough.
"It's mostly snack food, and not much in that regard I'm afraid. I have a strict daily restock policy and can't back down now, plus I'm still mad about my pottery which by the way you guys are lucky that it didn't count as school property, but since I'm the cutest here I'll give you a slight discount on the original price of a thousand monocoins."
"A thousand?!" Isabi spat wide eyed, looking down at her e-handbook. "Isabi doesn't have that kind of cash!"
Looking at my own, I barely had that much, and just by looking at the faces around me, it seems that they didn't have it either.
"This is bullshit, utter bullshit!"
"I refuse to get on my hands and knees and do a peasant's job."
"How am I supposed to drink? Does the store even sell alcohol?"
As everyone muttered about the deal with food, Junkuma just shook his head. "Did you forget already? I just said I'll give a discount."
"The real question here is how much." The bear and I shared a look with one another with that.
"As a savvy businessman and responsible headmaster with a budget in this scrapyard, I'll drop the price down from a thousand coins to a nice, simple nine hundred! It's a win-win really. You'll work for your food like the actual human beings you are and I'll get a fat wallet!"
We all just shared looks around the corridor. I just wished that the cafeteria was open.
Hudson put his foot down, literally. "I will not work like some dirty commoner."
"Then starve," Junkuma waved his hand, trying to shoo away the singer. "Just because you guys are ultimates, doesn't mean you aren't human. I'm not like any other headmaster that treats you brats like you came from the heavens. I'm treating you as actual human beings, not entitled little shits."
"Ouch, harsh." laughed Isabi, but that only spurred the bear further.
"Harsh? Far from it. You guys wouldn't last a day in the real world. The only place that could count as your heaven is my esteemed academy. Now get this through your thick skulls before I raise the price to over a thousand monocoins. You guys are nothing that unwanted scrap metal, thrown trash that will rust away behind these walls. Now if you ever want to be recycled back into the world outside my walls, you know what to do."
"Stop calling us that when you're not even that better," I spat towards the bear.
"You said the exact same fucking thing as soon as you introduced yourself to us dumbass! We don't need a shitty reminder!" Thank you, Kyogen.
The bear huffed as he dragged himself away. "Damn brats, you lucky I like you." It didn't take long for him to vanish from our sights.
"I...I hope that didn't ruin our chances of getting the cafeteria open..."
Thanks to Anju's mumbling, it got the cogs working in my mind. I really hope it didn't, then again we could blame our 'behaviour' on the roles or lack of breakfast.
Nanako sighed, "I really hope that isn't the case. I really need a drink..."
"Hm...what if he planned on making us angry?" offered Fox, holding his witch's hat, a wide smile on his face as he did. "Give him a reason to not open the cafeteria for us?"
"Fox," Yozora began, "I prefer if you keep those thoughts and theories to yourself."
Silence fell not too long after.
During this time, Kyogen went back to kicking the door as Sunako decided to walk off, shuffling like a zombie away from the cafeteria joined by Hudson, who huffed right before he left.
Fumi shook her head, looking pretty irritated (the best that she could at least). "It doesn't matter if Junkuma planned this or not. All that we know is that we have to survive without the cafeteria for now."
"Mhm, we need to ration our meals from now on. I believe our first course of action is utilising the scrapyard provided to us and begin to work up enough monocoins to buy food and drinks and only food and drinks."
"Making the coins is busy work, but sharing as much as we can will be the way to go about it." Astin mentioned, not even looking at us. "You can deal with the garden."
Seno waved as he pointed towards the entrance to the school. It took a while to figure out what he was trying to mention, but from the signs it seemed like it was trying to limit ourselves. I think?
The yanki clapped his hands together, "perfect. We shall cultivate the garden's crops only as a last resort and limit the fruit of which we can all eat."
It was odd to see Tadakatsu helping out. I don't like it, it's too weird.
"We should probably go tell the other four about it…" mumbled Yozora, looking like she would fall asleep at any second if it weren't for Charlotte's nudge.
"Good idea, I shall go inform Akahana. I do not want any of you to get bitten by her." smiled Tadakatsu (or at least he tried to smile in a non-threatening manner) before he walked off.
"I'll go get my scari- I mean, check on the roach mourner!" beamed the satan worshipping bishop. "See ya!"
As those two left, Charlotte was the one that went next, already on her way out. "I'll have a look for the little gluttony. She'd be upset if the cafeteria was closed."
"And that just leaves Takeo, then," Nanako stretched as she leaned back on the bench. "Who's gonna tell him?"
The puzzle solver's hand went straight up. "I can go look for him!"
The promoter shook her head, a stern look caused the puzzle solver to lower her hand. "Don't bother. If he doesn't want to stop playing that childish game of his, then let him."
"I agree. If that stalker doesn't want to show his bloody face, then I say to just fucking leave him out of it. More for us then." agreed the troublemaker.
Yozora, tired as she was, yawned as she fixed up her bunned hair. "I would say that is a bit harsh, but nothing we can do with him."
The grin of the chemist said it all really. "That guy will probably figure it out, right? It wouldn't take a genius to figure it out."
"So we're all good? There's a book in the library I wanna check out- ow!"
Fumi pulled on the deep green haired idiot's ear. "You're working with the rest of us. No slacking off."
The promoter walked into the middle of the corridor, becoming the centre of attention. "Now. Are we all in agreement?"
"Not like we have any choice," the messy red haired punk lowered his leg, unable to dent the door with his white slip-ons.
"Then let's continue to survive."