Since they got out of the airport not too long ago, it didn't occur just how big this island was to Chiaki until now. Then again, this is the first time she's ever been to one, so there's a chance her observations might be off. Maybe.
In any case, it all feels really overwhelming, to be honest.
The three of them went on, following along on the road straight ahead until some sort of convenience store comes right into their view. The store's structure is…well...it's kind of unusual. Compared to the more rectangular ones that she's familiar with, this one's a bit more on the curved side. Literally, in this case.
Though they haven't gone that close to it yet, the store's tacky big letters manages to catch her attention even at this distance. Chiaki lifts her head, noticing that it's written in the English alphabet. Tilting her head to the side, her eyes squint, trying her best to read it out loud.
"Rocket…punch...Market?" She frowns, unable to keep herself from slightly cringing on the inside. 'I don't think I pronounced that right.' She takes a look at the large, bold letters once again. 'That aside, I guess it is a pretty catchy name.'
"Rocketpunch Market, huh? So that's what it's called." Komaeda says, also staring and slightly squinting up to check at the store's big, flashy name. He turns to face her with a smile. "I'm surprised you were able to read it so well."
She slightly shrugs her shoulders. "I don't know. I feel like I might've gotten it wrong, though. Besides, it's not that much of a big deal. I think."
"Ah, you shouldn't be so humble. Personally, I think that's rather amazing. I'm obviously not a native speaker, but I think you've read and pronounced it quite nicely."
Her cheeks heat up a bit. Turning away from him for a bit, she half-mumbles, "I'm sure there are plenty of other people who are way better at English than me."
"You shouldn't say things like that." Komaeda sighs, shaking his head. "You really should learn to take other people's compliments, Nanami."
"But…"
Komaeda stares at her with narrowed eyes. "Nanami…"
On a subconscious level, she finds herself wilting at his disappointed look. She can't say no to that. Sighing, she gives in and says, "Okay. I'll try to remember that."
"That's good." Komaeda's relaxed smile returns. "I'm glad you're considering that at least."
Hinata steps forward ahead of them, raising his head as if to check at that store too. He then turns to them and asks, "So, do you two think we should check that out?"
Chiaki hums, considering it for a second before immediately replying with, "Yeah, I think we definitely should." As soon as she said that, she quickly remembers something, and so, she turns to her other companion. "Oh, what about you, Komaeda?"
Komaeda waves them off with a smile. "If it's alright with both of you, then I have no problems with going along too."
"That's settled then." Hinata confirms with a small smile.
Since everyone agreed to checking Rocketpunch Market out, it didn't take long for them to make their way towards it.
Now that they're a lot closer, they notice a pair of new kids, a red-haired girl and a blonde girl, respectively, standing right by the store's side. The red-haired girl is wearing something that's like a mish-mash between a pair of overalls, an apron, and a skirt, all at the same time, on top of her plain white blouse.
As for the blonde girl…
Chiaki's feeling really, really confused about her. The blonde girl's at least half the size of the red-haired girl; she's got a soft, baby-like face with rosy cheeks that puts even more emphasis on her childish appearance. Her uniform looks like something that someone would wear in a clinical setting, and she has her hair done in a long ponytail. She just looks so young, maybe even too young to be a high schooler like everyone else is.
'Does Hope's Peak let their students skip grades if they're that good at their talents?' Chiaki wonders, before deciding that it's too silly to be true.
Their completely different appearances aside, watching them interact with each other feels like she's seeing a big sister and a little sister spending time together.
Even from here, it's easy to see that the two are chatting with each other. The shorter girl is waving her arms around while looking kind of annoyed. Meanwhile, the red-haired girl has a slight smile on her face, looking kind of amused at her current companion's…situation.
Chiaki doesn't know what's the context behind whatever those two are talking about, but if she's got to make a guess, it probably has something to do with the sudden school trip. Though, she's got a feeling it's probably something else entirely, in which case, she has no right to pry herself into.
It's probably just her, but somehow she suddenly got a familiar feeling about this. Without even a second thought, she turns to take a look at one of her companions, and sure enough, Komaeda's demeanor brightens once more. Judging by his similar reaction to Hinata not too long ago, it's clear that he recognizes those two girls too. Yep, it looks like those two girls are Ultimate students, just like them.
Those two immediately stop talking to each other, and then they turn to face towards the three's direction with surprised looks.
'Ah, they must've noticed us.'
"Um…hi there?" Chiaki awkwardly says while doing a little wave, in an attempt to try to start off a conversation to those two girls.
Plain silence passes by them.
Those two girls didn't say anything. All they did is to just kept staring at her with blank looks on their faces. Though, it looks like the blonde girl is starting to cringe from second-hand embarrassment.
'Great job, you blew it already.'
The red-haired girl begins moving towards their direction. The blonde girl tries to follow her, but the red-haired girl holds her hand out, signaling her to stay behind for now.
She turns her attention back to her, gently pulls her aside and then whispers right into her ear, "Those two boys didn't do anything to you, did they?"
Chiaki blinks in confusion. "Uh…what? I'm sorry, but…what do you mean by that?"
The red-haired girl blinks back, looking like she's really dumbfounded by that. She turns, probably to glance over the two boys she's talking about, and then she reiterates what she said in an even softer whisper. "Did they do anything that made you uncomfortable?"
"Huh?" Chiaki thinks back on the brief moments Komaeda and Hinata have spent with her, trying to remember if there's a single time when they, as this girl put it, 'made her uncomfortable'. Aside from agreeing to help her and that small talk not too long ago, they barely talked or even walked near each other. "Uh, no. At least, I don't think so." She shakes her head with a slight frown.
"Are you sure about that?" The other girl narrows her eyes.
Chiaki awkwardly nods. "Yeah, I think I'm sure about that. They haven't done anything, really." She hurriedly adds that last part in a slight mumble.
The red-haired girl looks away from her for a while, checking on the boys again, before turning back to her. "Alright, I guess I'll believe you for now." She finally says, as she then steps back from her. Though, it looks like she's still not completely warm to them just yet.
She then clears her throat for a moment. "I think we should introduce ourselves." She puts an arm over her chest, starting off with, "I'm Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Artist." And then, she gestures an arm to her much smaller companion.
A moment of silence passes by. Koizumi regards the blonde girl with a stern look, causing her to grumble. "Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Nurse." She says that plainly in a pretty disinterested voice. She then huffs and crosses her arms.
Chiaki tilts her head, looking over them one more time, and simply nods. "Huh, okay."
Saionji clicks her tongue. "What do you mean by 'huh, okay'? What's up with that underwhelming reaction you got there?" She further comments in a somewhat angry tone.
She felt kinda tempted to reply with, 'What else do you want me to say, then?' but then, that'd be uncalled of her to say, so she held that in. So, she sorta shrugs instead. "Ah, you two are famous, right? Sorry, this is actually the first time I've seen and heard of you two."
Komaeda suddenly interjects. "Wait, you never heard of them before? I can understand not knowing about Hinata since he's almost unknown even among the most hardcore Hope's Peak Academy fans, but someone like Koizumi?" He marvels, looking genuinely surprised by that. Almost as if it's impossible to not know or at least hear of those kids.
Chiaki shakes her head. "Uh…no. Sorry, but I don't really—" She bites down on her lip; she was about to say 'care', but then she realized that might end up sounding unnecessarily rude. She clears her throat before continuing it with, "I mean, I don't really pay a lot of attention to these kinds of things."
"Is that so?" Komaeda presses on further. "Even then, she's appeared as a guest in some TV programs, most of which that are pretty well-known in the country. I'm honestly surprised you never saw her before."
"Hey, wait a minute, why are you talking like I'm not even here at all? I'm still standing right here, you know." Koizumi points out, putting her fists on her hips.
"Oh, yeah," Chiaki thinks back to what Komaeda had told her just now, and she shrugs. "I don't watch that much TV, actually."
"Ah, I guess that explains it, then." Komaeda notes with an amused chuckle. He shakes his head with a sigh after that, though. "Still, it's a shame you've missed out on those. Her artworks are already stunning by themselves, but watching her work her hands through them in a live broadcast was truly something else entirely." Shortly after that, he then starts hugging himself, all while letting out a breathy, blissful sigh. "My words alone aren't enough to describe them."
'Wow, were they really that breathtaking? The way he reacted does imply a lot…' If she's assuming things correctly, it's like talking about those paintings suddenly made him remember them in vivid detail.
"Uh…can you please stop that?" Koizumi grimaces, who's now understandably a bit weirded out by the volunteer's…uh, kinda overly enthusiastic reaction about her paintings.
"Yeesh, that guy's definitely one of those kinds of weirdos." Saoinji snappily adds in a half-whisper, which definitely didn't help this case at all.
Thankfully, it looks like their comments are enough to snap Komaeda out of his blissful daze. "Ah! Sorry about that. I tend to get lost while remembering just how amazing Ultimate students are." He laughs while sheepishly apologizing.
"Anyways," Koizumi begins, completely ignoring the brown-haired boy while turning her attention back to Chiaki. "Do you want to introduce yourself too?"
"Oh yeah, I almost forgot about that, sorry about it." She sheepishly looks away for a slight moment, before turning back to her and gesturing to herself. "I'm Chiaki Nanami."
Koizumi smiles and then holds her hand out. "It's nice to meet you, Nanami."
She blinks, tilting her head to the side.
The red-haired girl frowns, but she keeps her arm in front of her. "Is there something wrong?"
Chiaki looks at her, then back at the other girl's hand. "Oh, yeah." Now that she got the message, she holds her hand out as well, recalling how Komaeda shook hands with Hinata back then.
For a split second, she can feel herself hesitating for a moment, retracting her hand by a few centimeters. She silently swallows, and before she knew it, she grasps Koizumi's outstretched hand and gives it a weak shake. "It's nice to meet you too, Koizumi."
The redhead curiously raises a brow. "No offense, but is this your first time shaking hands with someone?"
"Uh…I guess so?" Chiaki admits with a slight shrug. "I haven't talked this much in a while, I think."
"Oh…I see." Koizumi looks like she's about to ask some more about it, but thankfully, she doesn't prod any further. Instead, she turns her head to directly address the so far, only boys around them. "And you two are?"
Hinata seems to shrink back just a little bit from her glare somewhat, though that only lasted for maybe less than a second. Making himself stand straight, he returns eye contact with the artist as he introduces himself. "I'm Hajime Hinata, and I'm the Ultimate Counselor."
Komaeda's turn to introduce himself came in. Unlike Hinata, he's smiling, despite the cold, and now, harsh reaction he's getting from her. "I'm Nagito Komaeda. I'm afraid my talent isn't much compared to yours, but I'm the Ultimate Volunteer. It's an honor to finally meet you in person, Koizumi!"
Just like what happened a couple of minutes ago, Koizumi pretends she didn't hear what he said, and glances back at her. "So Nanami…"
There's something about the way she carries her tone that made Chiaki snap her attention back to her. It's kinda hard for her to put it into words, but for now, she replies with, "Ah, what is it, Koizumi?"
"If it's okay for me to ask, what's your talent?"
'Oh…it's that question again.' Her lips suddenly close upon themselves. 'My talent, huh. What am I supposed to say to that? I still have no idea what it is, but it'd be really rude if I don't answer her properly.' She mulls over it some more. 'It'd be so much easier if I had some dialogue options to choose from.'
"Hey, big sis Mahiru's asking you something! Why don't you go and answer her already?" Saionji suddenly butts in.
'Was I quiet for that long already? Well, it looks like I don't have much of a choice here, then.' She refocuses herself. "Oh, sorry. It's just that," She pauses, trying to think of some way to explain that, and after some more internal debating, she decides to go with a simple, "Well, I don't know what it is."
"You…don't know what your talent is?" Koizumi repeats in a disbelieving tone.
"Huh?! Did you hit your head when you got here? How the hell can you not know the thing you're supposed to be good at!"
This girl is starting to tick her off real fast, Chiaki thinks to herself. Without giving her emotions away as much as possible, she half-explains, half-grumbles to the blonde, "It's not my fault the invitation letter I got didn't mention anything like that. The only thing I remember it mentioned is that I got accepted in Hope's Peak."
Koizumi makes a face. "That's really weird. When I got mine, the letter mentioned that I've been scouted as the Ultimate Artist." She ponders, while putting a finger over her chin. "I wonder why the school didn't let you know what yours was."
Chiaki hums in thought, trying to think about any possible reason why, and then blurts out, "Maybe it's a surprise?"
She realizes too late that it came out a lot lamer than she intended it to be.
"Ah, yes, the Ultimate Surprise Transfer Student. That's a fantastic talent you got there." Saionji replies with a slow clap.
"Actually," Komaeda cuts in once again. "Hope's Peak Academy does have something that works just like that, though they're called Ultimate Lucky Students."
"Ultimate Lucky Students?" Chiaki repeats. "I've never heard of anything like that before."
"Ultimate Lucky Students are those who were picked out at random with a lottery, and from what I've heard, you don't even need to sign up for it. It covers the entirety of Japan, too, so anyone lucky enough to get picked would be allowed to enter Hope's Peak Academy as one of their own Ultimates." Komaeda "So maybe that's why Nanami's invitation didn't mention anything about her talent."
"I guess that would make sense." Koizumi admits.
"Okay," Saionji pipes in, "So, no offense, but why the hell would 'luck' be considered a talent?"
"It's a fairly new thing they're trying." Hinata shrugs.
As for Chiaki, she rethinks about it, trying to make some sense of that explanation. 'I'm not very familiar with how Hope's Peak works in general, but that probably sounds like a good explanation as any. Still, I don't think I'm lucky enough to get into the school just like that. It just feels…wrong, I think.'
For now, that's a completely different matter she'd rather not think too hard about for now. There's something else far more important to focus on at the moment.
"Oh yeah, by the way, have either of you two seen my hoodie?"
Saionji frowns. "Your what now?"
"A hoodie?" Koizumi repeats.
For the third time now, Chiaki relays the same thing she told to Komaeda and Hinata from a while back, describing her hoodie in a slightly more simplified way, and by that, she narrows its description down to at least one sentence. She's got the feeling that she'd probably have to repeat this several more times in case if those two haven't seen it either.
After hearing that, Koizumi hums, and then she frowns, shaking her head. "I don't think I've seen a hoodie like that before. Sorry about that."
"Same, didn't see anything either." Saionji admits with a slight shrug.
Chiaki softly sighs, careful to not let anyone hear it. "It's fine. Thanks anyway." She kinda expected this answer.
"You know if you want to, Hiyoko and I can help you look for it." Koizumi offers with a slight smile.
Right after that, Saionji shoots a big 'I did not ask for this' look towards the redhead. Other than that, she didn't do or say anything more about it.
"I don't know. I'd rather not trouble you two about it." She bites her lip. 'Well, any more than I already did.'
Koizumi shakes her head. "It's no trouble at all, don't worry about it. We've already introduced ourselves to each other, we could join up with your group, and I think we should be able to cover more spots you might've missed out on."
Chiaki thinks about it. 'She does bring up a good point. It'd be easier to travel in one group, and we're less likely to let lost too.' Before she knew it, her head lowers a bit as she gives in. "Okay, I guess it should be fine. Thanks again."
"Don't tell me we're just going to wander around all over this island until we find wherever that hoodie is." Saionji grumbles.
"Maybe we can check inside the store first? There could be a chance it'd be in there." Komaeda suggests.
Koizumi looks conflicted for a couple of moments, like she didn't want to entertain him. In the end, she replies in a rather strained tone, "Hiyoko and I were about to go in anyway, so we might as well start there."
As expected, Komaeda's more than ecstatic to hear that.
The group that used to be three a while ago, which recently turned into a group of five right now, are searching inside the store for now. Chiaki got herself pulled along with Koizumi, so now she's walking by the redhead's side along with Saionji.
Yeah, Koizumi still didn't warm up to Hinata and Komaeda, even now. While Chiaki thinks that Komaeda means well, she guesses she can understand why. Though, she can't say the same for Hinata.
In any case, putting that weird first impression and her disliking those two boys aside, Koizumi seems like a nice person after all. In a way, she sorta reminds her of those big sister-like figures in some of her games. It feels like she could rely on her whenever she needs a bit of help, just like how she's helping her find her hoodie right now. And not to mention, there's also something about the red-haired girl's presence that helps in keeping her calm somehow.
At the same time, though, she still can't help but feel bad for troubling her, along with the other three, right now. Yeah, Koizumi did offer to help, and she seems fine with it, but still.
For now, it's back on the quest for her missing hoodie.
The first thing that got her attention are the rows and rows of all sorts of goods in front of them, including stuff like snacks and even sodas. It reminds her so much of those convenient stores she often went with.
"Huh, no one's in here." Hinata comments with a frown.
"Yeah, it's kinda creepy." Koizumi agrees with him in a half-mutter.
After that, everyone else has decided to go and split up for now. Since they're in one enclosed space, it's practically impossible for anyone to get lost.
Chiaki looks back to check on how the others are doing, and she ends up sees Saionji grab a bag of gummy bears and stash it away in one of the baskets she took just now. Since the nurse didn't notice her at all, she pretends that she didn't see anything for now and go back to looking for her hoodie.
It might've only been minutes by now, but so far, none of them had any luck in finding on where it might be, not even a slight lead.
The store's door opens, startling everyone with how sudden it is.
Out of instinct, Chiaki finds herself going slightly forward compared to everyone else. She gets herself in a slight fighting stance, and yet, her form's also somewhat slouched at the same time. Saionji yelps for a bit and immediately gets behind Koizumi, the redhead now standing protectively over her.
Hinata tenses up as well, a tiny bead of sweat running down his forehead. Komaeda stays right where he is, behind everyone else. His face is something of a mix between anticipation and uneasiness, but other than that, it's hard to tell exactly what he's thinking right now.
Everyone keeps still right there for a moment, preparing themselves for whoever might come in. And then…
"…Did I come in at a bad time?" The newcomer asks.
It turns out that person's just a short, pudgy guy. Even from here, she can estimate that he's even shorter than Saionji herself. The boy is dressed in a red checkered shirt, with green pants. He has some black gloves on, and it looks like they might be made out of leader. His brown hair, styled in a slight pompadour of some sort, is peeking out from underneath his straw hat.
Chiaki sneaks a glance at Komaeda, and sure enough, he looks pretty excited, though it's not as obvious as that time with Hinata and Koizumi. He's even quiet about it right now, surprisingly. Perhaps Koizumi asking him to stop it was a lot more effective than anyone realized.
Saionji's the first one to speak up. "Who the hell are you?" She asks rather bluntly.
It took the pudgy guy a couple of seconds before he recovers from the awkward silence.
He looks a lot more chipper than how he not too long ago as he goes ahead in introducing himself. "My name is Teruteru Hanamura! On the streets, I'm known as the Ultimate Gardener." He then flashes everyone with a suave smile and tips his straw hat.
"Ugh, gross. Another creepy guy." Saionji mutters. "Why are there so many weirdos in here?"
For once, Chiaki can share just a tiny bit of that sentiment. She's seen this kind of character archetype so many times before. It's still too early for her to say for sure, but there's a lot of stuff behind the gardener that's just really…off-putting, if she were to say it in the nicest way possible. 'I think I'm definitely going to stay away from that guy as much as possible.'
Actually, if she's being honest, she'd rather not talk to Hanamura about it, but she can't let herself miss out on any potential clues or leads, even if the source is…someone like him. And so, she's going to have make this little sacrifice for now.
Suppressing any reluctant she might have, she calls out to him, "So, Hanamura, have you seen my hoodie?"
"Ah, your hoodie?"
She tells him about what it looks like, somehow managing to shorten the explanation even more to just a phrase by now. Then again, she really doesn't want to make it any longer than she has to, especially not with someone like him.
Hanamura has a thoughtful look on his face for a moment, then he shakes his head. "I'm afraid I haven't seen it anywhere." His expression then changes into that suave look again. "But, if you'd like to, perhaps I could—"
Her hand raises to shush him before he can say anything else. "Okay, no, thank you. I think I've heard enough already."
"Wait, but I haven't even—"
"It's fine, really." She sighs inwardly. 'I get the feeling I already know what he's gonna say anyway.'
The gardener lowers his head in defeat. "You didn't have to so cold about it, you know?"
The door opens once again. Everyone turns their attention, checking out whoever might've entered in.
It's another boy, though this time, he's way taller compared to Hanamura, around the height of Hinata, maybe even slightly shorter. His outfit, composed of a cargo shirt, cargo pants, and combat boots, makes her think of a zookeeper. The red pin on his shirt's collar, which does have an animal pawprint on it, adds more to that impression.
Other than that, another she notices from him is that his teeth is filed up to look sharper, sorta reminding her of how shark teeth looks in a way. He has wild hair that's been obviously dyed in a hot pinkish hue, sticking out underneath his beanie.
For a couple of seconds or so, she thinks she sees one of his pockets shake, but when she blinks again, it's like nothing was in there at all. 'Huh, must be my imagination, then.'
"Hey there!" He eagerly starts off. "I'm Kazuichi Souda, and I'm Ultimate Animal Breeder."
Everyone else begins introducing themselves to him too. Now that Chiaki thinks about it, aside from Souda, they all kinda didn't introduce themselves to Hanamura until now, albeit indirectly.
As soon as her turn comes in, she's resigned herself by now and tells them that she doesn't know what her talent is. At the very least, she's thankful that Hanamura and Souda didn't try to prod any further than that.
Now that introductions are over, Souda takes a look at the surroundings, before turning back to their group. "So, what are you guys doing in here?"
"Ah, about that…" Komaeda steps in to explain. "Nanami lost her hoodie some time before we arrived at this island, and we're helping her look for it. We haven't had any luck so far, however."
A look of sympathy comes over his face. "Oh, so that's why. Sorry, I don't know either. I just got here too, so I haven't seen anything like that."
"That's okay, I understand that." Chiaki forces herself to smile. "Thank you anyway."
"So," Souda turns to them. This time, he looks kinda bashful as he asks them, "You guys wouldn't mind if I tag along too, right? I honestly have no idea where this place is, and I got lost once already."
Saionji opens her mouth, only to close it back and cross her arms instead. She huffs around, grumbling out her dislike towards him.
"Sure, why not?" Hinata answers back with a smile.
With that, it looks like four more members (yeah, even Hanamura managed to squeeze a spot for himself somehow) have joined their party. And from the looks of it, Saionji doesn't seem to very thrilled about it at all.
'Ah well, the more, the merrier. Just like what some people often say in these kinds of situations.…maybe.'
A/N: And here we go! Apologies for taking a while to get back to this. But hopefully, I should be keeping up with regular updates for this one too, especially now that this fic is the big priority at the moment.
