Sakuya has to cope with the isolation of being away at school. What's her daily life like without Yumi?
Over 100 miles from Chiba stood Togami Private Academy, one of the premier dueling schools in Japan. People would kill (at least, one person nearly did) to attend here, with admissions numbering in little more than 100 students per year. Of all people, one of them happened to be a middle schooler.
As one would imagine, hearing that news that the newest grade 10 student wasn't even 13 yet came as quite a blow to some people's self-esteem. If the school went out of its way to get this child admitted at such a young age, what did that mean for them? This school was competitive enough as is.
Because of this (and her general unfriendly attitude), Sakuya was having a rather difficult time making friends. This was fine, at least on the surface. She'd never been particularly social as anyone would tell you, though she couldn't deny it was a bit lonely here. More than anything, she missed her home in Chiba. She missed Yumi.
The day began fairly typically, waking up early to prepare for class, fix her hair, and so forth. It was a little before 7:00 when she was heading out to get breakfast. As usual, she fruitlessly tried to wake her roommate with no response. Despite having shared a dorm for close to half a year by now, Sakuya barely ever saw Eriko awake, let alone knew anything about her. How she stayed enrolled in this school when all she seemed to do was sleep and stay over at other people's rooms was a mystery.
The two had been paired up specifically because of their ages. Eriko was an 18 year old grade 12 student whereas Sakuya was a 12 year old special case, the powers at be seeming to think that the older student would help guide their youngest in the transition. This, of course, proved to be completely off base, as the two rarely spoke to each other or interacted beyond grunts and gestures.
Her uniform, having to be special ordered in a smaller size, was still just slightly too big for her. It hung off her body awkwardly, the blue blazer appearing overstuffed as it threatened to fall off her shoulders at any moment.
Walking across the courtyard towards the cafeteria, Sakuya could already feel herself being watched. The general reaction to her presence upon first arrival ranged from annoyance, disgust, exasperation, and sometimes even flat out fear. These days, people settled for gossiping about her behind her back and avoiding her. Still, she preferred that over having rocks thrown at her.
Entering through the double doors, Sakuya made her way to the serving counter. She usually avoided being too adventurous with her meal options, going for simple items like white rice, some scrambled eggs, a few sausage links, and miso soup, plus a cup of coffee (splash of milk, no sugar).
She found an empty table near the back wall of the building, pulling out the white plastic chair after setting her tray down on the wood-patterned circular table. As usual, she'd be eating alone. Taking a few bites of her food, she looked to her phone to check on the message from Yumi dated half an hour ago. Her class had taken a test recently and now she was worried about getting it back today, afraid she didn't study hard enough despite trying as hard as she could.
"I'm sure you did fine," Sakuya texted, remembering just how intensely she'd prepared for the exam, up to and including putting off one of their nightly phone calls for almost ten minutes to finish her work. If that wasn't dedication, nothing was.
Yumi was likely riding her bike given she didn't reply. It was probably for the best, as she didn't exactly have a very good record when it came to multitasking. While Sakuya waited, she resumed her meal, still feeling the sensation of being watched despite everyone in the immediate vicinity seeming to pay her no mind as they ate or conversed at the surrounding tables. Might just be paranoia brought on by how isolated she was, though if that was the case, she had much bigger problems to worry about.
She finished eating quickly, busing her tray and stopping to drink from the water fountain before heading out to the classrooms. She took her time getting there, walking slowly across the pavement and admiring the trees that surrounded half the school. She even contemplated stopping to smell the white lilies planted next to a window, though ultimately decided against it for obvious image-related reasons.
The design of Togami was always a bit interesting, she thought. She'd heard some people around campus call it "The Pyramid" with how the three main buildings – dorms, classrooms, and commissary – where arranged in the shape of a triangle, pavement connecting all three with a large obelisk clock in the center, all of it overlooking the rest of Gunma from on top of a hill. She quite liked the aesthetic to be perfectly honest.
Before entering the class building, she actually managed to catch a glimpse of Eriko out of bed, currently in a mad dash towards food. Whether she was motivated by hunger or the realization she only had about ten minutes before the start of classes was hard to discern, though she definitely had good running form.
The wall space between classroom doors inside the build was shared between photos of different teachers, school staff, and alumni who'd managed to make it to the pro leagues, plus a trophy case or two to represent the accomplishments of the students. Even for Sakuya, it was a bit intimidating to just be tossed into the fray, the expectation of just about everyone around her being that she'd match or surpass at least half of these people one day regardless of what she wanted to do with her life.
Her classroom was on the third floor of the three story building, third door on the right after making it up the stairs. Despite the relatively small class sizes, most of the classrooms at the academy were designed as lecture halls, which was fine for her given how much space students would have to work during classes. Taking a spot in the upper left next to the window, she set down her bag and prepared to start.
Yumi texted her back as she was getting set up, loudly(?) declaring she'd gotten a 93, outdoing even her wildest fantasies. They'd have to find a way to celebrate it later, but for now she'd have to make do with just a kissing emoticon, which would probably seem weird to an outsider but was just something they did with each other with no deeper meaning, meaning there was no reason to think too hard about it.
Class itself finally began not long after, Mrs. Ogawa taking roll before they breezed through homeroom, almost immediately moving on to math. Duel school or not, the more typical curriculum was just as impressive and complete. It was one of the reasons she agreed to attend in the first place, knowing she'd be getting a quality education even if she was forced to duel almost every day.
Funnily enough, Sakuya would be taking a test only a day after Yumi, breezing through most of it without much difficulty. As she adjusted her suspenders that held her skirt up to keep them from digging into her shoulders, she felt that same sensation of being watched once more. Scanning the room, though, only showed a group of 20 or so other students focused on their classwork.
Though she was becoming increasingly more unnerved by this feeling (it started happening about a month after she first began attending), the best she could do was ignore it. No sense in worrying over an overactive imagination.
After that was English, a class she was actually fairly interested in. Learning languages was always something of interest for her, so she was a bit excited when it came time for it. Unfortunately, given she'd only taken what amounted to about a year's worth of the language before being tossed into a crash course and left to fend for herself in the class itself, it was one of the few areas she struggled with.
Frankly, though, she welcomed the challenge. She'd normally be unable to cope with not immediately being the best at something, but this was different. She found the battle to catch up in English somewhat refreshing even if she couldn't really explain why. Given it was something she genuinely wanted to learn for herself rather than to simply master for the sake of it, she had a much easier time coping with the setbacks, too.
After that was social studies, then Japanese. Then it was finally time for lunch. Deciding to skip out on it (she was still full from breakfast), Sakuya left the building, bypassing the courtyard and maneuvering around the back of the cafeteria until she found the treeline. They were a towering row of oaks pressed up against the side of an imposing iron fence that surrounded the campus. Nestling between two of them and pressing her back against the metal, then took out a book and began to read.
Yumi was evidently busy, otherwise they'd be texting. Since they weren't, Sakuya's phone only served as an alarm to warn her of ten minutes before the end of the break, tucked safely into the breast pocket of her white collared shirt. Despite her intention of finishing off this novel, she quickly found herself drifting off to sleep in the shade.
Rather than the pleasant tones of her alarm, however, she was awoken by the shrill screams of Eriko. "Creepy girl who lives in my room!" she shouted, approaching her at alarming speeds in a dead sprint. Screeching to a halt directly in front of Sakuya, she pointed a finger accusingly and squatted down to her level. "You stole them," she said, not even framing it as a question so much as a statement of fact.
Blinking in confusion, Sakuya couldn't so much as ask for an explanation before she started up again. "My special magazines under my bed. They're in that bag."
"What are you talking about?" she asked in utter bewilderment. "I've never seen any of your magazines."
"Oh, no way." Amazingly, this seemed to be all it took to placate her. "Never mind, then." Just as quickly as she arrived, Eriko sprinted off towards her next suspect, bright blonde ponytail like a streak of lightning behind her.
With all hope of sleep or reading dashed, Sakuya checked the time. She still had about twenty minutes before class started, though what she'd fill that time with wasn't clear. As she got up to leave, she thought she heard a branch rustle off to the side, though spinning around revealed absolutely nothing besides more evidence she was slowly losing her mind.
Had she just waited a few more moments before walking off, though, it might be a different story. From behind a tree emerged the stalker she'd briefly contemplated might be following her, watching her wander towards the school buildings through the wiry black hair that covered his face. He'd been eyeing her ever since she started attending, deciding almost immediately to pursue her.
Sakuya was, of course, completely unaware of Toshikazu's existence. The gaunt, greasy teenager had never actually tried to interact with her before, preferring to simply follow and observe from afar. He had to learn more about her to make a good first impression, he told himself, believing that if he just knew an arbitrary amount of information about her she'd fall for him in an instant.
This was, of course, a complete fabrication. In truth, he was just a coward too afraid to speak to a girl three years younger than him, fearing rejection more than even the numerous ethical issues his obsession presented. Really, he was just looking for a weakness, something he could exploit that would give him some kind of "edge" against her, ensuring he'd get what he wanted if he played his cards right. This was, after all, a school about playing cards.
The next class of the day was literature, unarguably Sakuya's favorite. She'd always loved to write even if she didn't find herself particularly good at it, meaning the opportunity to learn the fundamentals at this level was something she could look forward to. The real reason to show up to class was the teacher, though.
Maki Nobunaga, acclaimed young adult author, renowned recluse, and proud socks-with-sandals wearer, had decided to take a job teaching at the school a year ago. He declined to answer why he'd done as such, even his editor having no prior warning before the announcements showed up in the news. Just like the origins of his name (he refused to tell anyone whether or not Nobunaga was a pen name or a real one), it seemed like a mystery no one but a select few would ever get a straight answer to.
A lot of things about this man were unclear if she was being honest. His reputation from the minimal interviews and public appearances he'd made in the past pegged him as cold and disinterested, and while he certainly wasn't sunshine and rainbows in the classroom, he seemed altogether more lively than in any video she'd ever seen of him prior. When he spoke of his books, as well, it felt like he had a genuine passion and love for what he'd written despite how often he rather brutally mocked his style and the flaws he'd found in his work over the years.
Time always flew by when he taught, at least from Sakuya's perspective. Mr. Maki seemed to have a talent in making just about any subject matter from contemporaries to classics seem all the more interesting, pointing out tiny details and bits of trivia that made it seem like he'd sat down with the authors themselves for a chat and learned every secret the narratives held. She could tell not everyone felt the same, though, plenty of students understandably being more than a bit fed up with his eccentricities. He never gave off the impression he was someone who cared for what others thought, though, which only made her like him more.
Before she knew it, class was over. "Do the reading and get lost," he said gruffly as students began to leave, the next class for Sakuya's group being held at the duel arena instead of the usual classroom. "Really, get lost. Nature can be inspiring, and maybe something interesting will happen to make your boring lives more exciting."
She was nearing the door when someone called out to her. "You, hold on," Mr. Maki ordered, Sakuya stopping in her tracks as the rest of the class left for the dueling stadium. "I read the manuscript you left me."
Another thing of note about Mr. Maki was a policy he made on the first day of class – anyone who wanted feedback on their personal writing could leave a copy on his desk. Obviously, Sakuya hadn't been the first to try this. The whole class had seemed a bit hesitant when they first began last semester, but after about a week, some brave soul was spotted handing him a small stack of papers at the end of class. After that happened, it was open season on reviews, with dozens of different students from all classes submitting their stories for critique.
And now he'd read hers. In only a single night, though? It wasn't exactly small. "What did you think?" she asked nervously, trying hard to keep her voice from cracking or otherwise showing her nervousness.
"Frankly, it's crap." Sakuya bit her bottom lip at hearing that, steeling herself to keep her disappointment in check. "There's no coherent theme, at least not one I could make out, you underdescribe things like scenery but always manage to focus too much on appearances, you don't vary your descriptors or sentence structure enough, and the plot is an incoherent mess half the time before becoming too up its own ass the next."
He leaned back in his chair and scratched his dark mustache, continuing on his with his appraisal as if he hadn't just torpedoed a small child's dreams. "That having been said, your characters were genuinely inspired. If not for the interpersonal chemistry between them, I'd have given up after three chapters, but you managed to invest me enough in them that I suffered through the rest of it to see how they turned out."
She blinked, unsure of what to say next. "Th...thank you. Is that true?"
He nodded, leaning further back and kicking his feet up on the desk. "You managed to instill a genuine sense of camaraderie and friendship between these really mismatched people, and that made it interesting to watch them play off each other. Your villain was appropriately threatening with a fair amount of nuance even if his motives didn't make any damn sense, and the way you wrote the side characters made me want to see their stories as much as the protagonists'. Be proud of that, since it takes most authors a decade to finally get all that down right."
Sakuya was speechless. He'd torn her work to shreds immediately before heaping this level or praise on her. She wasn't sure how to react beyond a blank stare and heavy breathing. "Want some advice?" She nodded quickly. "Plot is the least important part of a story. I mean, you still need one that works, but characters come first. Good characters can make even the worst story work, which is what you've got here. Get a good cast and you can tell pretty much anything you want as long as you do it well." He held out her manuscript to her. "Keep doing that and I'll be happy to read a second draft."
She quickly took the papers and bowed to him. "Thank you, sir. Your advice is invaluable to me."
"Don't be a kiss ass," he said, pulling a pair of black headphones onto his ears from around his neck. "If you want to thank me, just keep improving. Now get out of here so I'm not responsible for you being late to class." She nodded once more, thanking him one last time (not that he'd hear over the Korean lounge music blasting far louder than it was intended to be played) before running off down the hall to try and make up for lost time, all the while trying unsuccessfully to keep a smile from creeping its way across her lips.
Despite the utter evisceration her work received initially, the fact she'd managed to do something well enough – so well she deserved praise for it, even – that a real author supported her made her positively ecstatic. She resolved to keep working to hopefully make her story better the second time around. She'd have to tell Yumi about this when she got back to the dorms.
Was a bit apprehensive to go ahead and post this since it's shorter than the usual, but when I was going back over it all I kind of realized there wasn't a lot more I could possibly add. I could finish up the rest of the day, but a lot of that would be kind of perfunctory like doing homework, and the spot I ended on seemed like a good place to stop. The only unanswered question would be whether or not Eriko found out who stole her stuff (she did). Do kind of regret not having any card games in this one.
It wasn't exactly planned when I started all this, but somehow I've ended up with guys not dissimilar from Present Mic and Eraserhead in here now. Very small chance of this suddenly becoming a superhero story, though (any more so than your average card battle anime already is).
I'd always planned to do a few chapters in Gunma from the outset, mostly since I didn't want to give the impression I'm just burning off characters as soon as the new arc began. Kind of became even more important for me to get this one out given that VRAINS has been on a thing where they have Soulburner kick every member of the old cast out of the show to make sure everyone loves him prior to revealing he's a Vector (or, even worse, a Crow and they really do expect us to forget about everyone else). Going to check in with some more people next chapter, too.
Not much left to say here. Thanks for reading. Always remember to not trust Soulburner.