Chapter 17: Mahiru's Media, Mikan's Matter

Hope's Peak Academy

General School Grounds

Friday, August 27th, 2010

Afternoon

Mahiru went through her entire photo library on her camera and she couldn't help but feel that something was missing from her collection.

By themselves, her photos were the same as they always were. She took pictures of people doing their thing. Her focus was to capture people in their most joyous moments. She always captured moments of people when they were smiling; that signified an ideal moment for them, a point where her subject was at their best. Being able to catch a glimpse of that moment was a skill she learned through constant practice. Anticipation demanded intense concentration and focus, especially when capturing an expression of happiness.

Yet despite her pictures turning out no different than the past month's batch, there was something that felt incomplete. No, that was the right word to describe the feeling that she felt. It was more like something was different.

The Ultimate Photographer quickly scrolled back to last month's photos and in them, there were a mixed bag of pictures. Despite Class 77-B coming together and being in each others' company often, it wasn't all that long ago that they were going their separate ways. Her photos from earlier in July reflected that much. She had at least one photo of each of her classmates before they came together under Miss Yukizome's guidance. The looks then were a lot different than they were in the latter days of the seventh month of the year.

August had proven to be nothing but smiles and sunshine all around. Even the disagreeable characters seemed to be growling and scowling much less. The group photos in particular painted an image of high schoolers doing their thing and having a blast while doing so. Who knew that starkly different talents coming together would create such interesting scenarios and situations?

Now that Mahiru was reviewing her library for a third time, a new detail came to the forefront of her mind, something that she had missed in her first two viewings. It was such a small thing, but she was noticing that as her photos moved towards the present, there was an abundance of positivity on display and not just in the form of smiles. It was especially apparent in photos with two or more individuals. There appeared to be lots of energy and intense vibes all around.

There was the one of Sonia and Gungdham speaking in such as they chanted one of the latter's non sequiturs.

Another displayed Hiyoko and Ibuki horsing around, the former being her mischievous self as she disrupted Ibuki's hair.

A third showed Mikan trying to wake up Akane after having accidently given her anesthetics instead of a specialized protein.

Everything that was taken as of late was of such high-caliber that even she could tolerate taking more pictures of guys and not get bored while doing so. It was simply that good.

Perhaps positive might not be the right word to accurately describe the scenes that were unfolding, but it was clear that there was lots of energy powering each photo. Not only that, but there were even more of these types of scenarios to capture. Everything from the absurd to the heartwarming, her SD card was filling up with much more content as time passed, which was exactly what a photographer wanted and needed.

Mahiru's fingers stopped moving once her screen rested on a particular picture of a certain student. With all that was on her mind at present, something else clicked in her mind. All of the changes she was seeing in her classmates via her photos had to be happening for a reason. Changes like these didn't just happen in a void. There was a spark to light the fire and the spark in question could be the very boy in this photo.

Hajime Hinata.

She had captured his stupid face, laughed at it even, and kept it as was her policy of retaining all pictures regardless of what it contained. As far as she was concerned, this was as much a natural expression as a smile was.

Her eyes continued to observe his frozen face in time for a moment before deciding that it was time to get out there and get some more moments. She switched from her camera's viewing mode back to normal and resumed her never-ending journey.

Mahiru had only taken a few steps forward before she heard the sound of an instrument softly flowing into her hearing range. It was a simple little tune, but it was undeniably pensive that was clear and crisp. This was something much different from the conventional pop songs that were overplayed, but it wasn't the same as Ibuki's tastes either. Nevertheless, it was clear what sort of emotions were being conveyed.

The red-haired girl ventured forward to find the source of this sad tune playing. It was close, that much she could tell already, but she wasn't trained like a musician to hear the most minute of details in sound, so she was constantly looking left and right to triangulate the source of the musical notes as they passed by her.

The Ultimate Photographer found herself making her way to the fountain situated at the center of the general grounds. This place strangely saw little traffic and more often than not, this place was considered ideal for anyone who wished to spend time alone for whatever reason. She knew that she had done so a few times with Sato.

She spotted the fountain and just behind it, she could spot a head of hair and what looked like the neck of a guitar or was it a bass? She listened for a few more seconds before determining that it was a bass. Being friends with the Ultimate Musician gave her at least a basic understanding of music and instruments from osmosis.

Mahiru shifted to get around and see the face of the person. She could only make out some brown hair. Circling around, she rotated herself some twenty meters or so, the sound of the music shifting so that it was to her three o'clock. She got a good like.

It was Hajime, but instead of that stupid face she remembered him by, he was instead sitting with a bass in-hand and strumming, his eyes focused on what he was currently doing. He appeared to have no concept of his surroundings, only the bass that he held in his hand and played freely.

Something about this moment seemed awe-inspiring despite the mood surrounding it and the girl couldn't help but watch it for a few more seconds before remembering the weight of her own camera in her hands. When that came to the forefront of her thoughts, she quickly and quietly began to aim her camera.

This scene was too good to pass up. Although she heavily favored capturing smiling moments, she would be a poor photographer if she could only take photos in one category. Positioning her camera, she made sure that she wouldn't disturb the scene by not using flash. She also made sure to silence her camera as well.

The first shot was from a conventional angle. Hajime's body was positioned so that he was at the center, the bass held straight and his fingers were moving up and down. Those blurring motions made this an inadequate photo. She had to do it again.

Moving to her right, Mahiru went for a medium shot this time, favoring the boy's left side. This time, she managed to snap a photo with the sun providing more light. It presented a more majestic subject as he performed. It was better, but she wanted another one.

The Ultimate Photographer distanced herself and went for a wide shot. This one was helped by painting a scene, but not to neglect the primary subject. Even though he was much smaller in this image, enough detail could be seen. Another one.

As silently as she could manage, the girl moved for a closeup with a slight low angle to it. The sun wasn't directly a part of the scene this time. More shadows could be seen. Half of his face was obscured by the dark while the other half was covered in light.

It was for the first time since she had arrived that Hajime looked up and saw her there. His only reaction was a widening of his eyes before returning to normal, nodding his head in her direction before resuming his strumming.

For a moment, she was surprised at his rather tame reaction to her snapping pictures of him, but judging by the way he handled himself, he was simply accepting of the situation he was currently in. Maybe he wouldn't mind if she did take a few more images.

Mahiru quickly looked at the four photos that she did have. They all had their strengths and weaknesses, but this was a limited quantity and as a photographer, she would be disrespecting her talent if she simply accepted what she had now.

So began looking for another angle.

Hope - - - Despair

Main Course Building

Infirmary

Saturday, August 28th, 2010

Noon

Mikan came to a revelation rather quickly today, something that instantly made her upset: she had not seen Hajime for a long time.

Her mind began to work out the reasons as to why. He must not like her anymore. She had not done a good job of providing him with the means of hurting her so he left her because she was boring and a pain. When it came to people leaving her, that hurt her even more than the notion of the, bringing harm to herself. At least when she was abused, humiliated, or otherwise harmed, people were paying attention to her.

But when people ignored her or went out of their way to avoid her, that meant that they no longer wanted anything to do with her. When people actively sought to shut her out, that was when she felt at her worst.

The Ultimate Nurse then realized something else: she was being childish and selfish. She did have female friends of all sorts in 77-B. It wasn't as though she had no one else that would give her attention. In that regard, she hardly had a reason to complain about a single boy not paying her any mind.

But Hajime was different. Even though they had met terribly, he had chosen to take time out of his day to spend time with her. It was an action undeserving and unearned for herself. More than anything, she had to find a way to repay such kindness. It wasn't fair of her nor was it right to take from others.

Now she wouldn't even get the chance because he seemed to have forgotten about her. Now here she was in the infirmary all alone and with no one. The rest of her classmates were already doing their own thing with others and the timid girl certainly didn't have the courage to interrupt what everyone else was currently doing.

Mikan surveyed the entire room, taking stock of all the items at present. All the equipment, vitamins, chemicals, supplements, medicines, and pretty much anything that could relate back to her talent. It was all she could to keep her mind occupied and to stave off her the feelings that she didn't want to feel.

But this did little in the end because it took her all of five minutes to mentally sort out and go through all relevant items of nursing people. Once she did this, she went right back to feeling sorry for herself and she began to break down into tears again.

"I-I'm sorry!" Mikan sobbed to no one in particular. "H-Hajime, I-I'm sorry! P-please don't go!"

Her crying out to him didn't amount to anything seeing as he wasn't here nor would he ever come back. He didn't want to see her again, which was perfectly understandable to her. Given who she was and her past, it wasn't all that surprising. It was to be expected and she was a fool to believe that he would give her more of his energy.

"Hey, Mikan!" Hajime's voice cut through her thoughts as he opened the door. "Are you in here?"

"YAAAH!" Mikan shouted at this unexpected visitor and tumbled to the ground, causing her to slam into the nearby table and disrupting its contents, which promptly splattered all over her.

"Mikan!" Hajime's voice grew louder and she could see him quickly making his way over to her, kneeling by her side. "You okay?"

"H-Hajime!" Now Mikan felt ashamed of herself. "I-I-I'm s-s-s-orry!"

"For what?" Hajime hovered over here, taking a minute to look her over. "You haven't done anything to me."

"B-b-but you have to s-s-see me like this!" Mikan really wished that she didn't have to fall like this in front of her friends. "I-i-it's embarrassing!"

"Forget about me. How are you doing?" Hajime grabbed a nearby roll of towels and carefully began to wipe her down. "Are you hurt anywhere?"

The Ultimate Nurse gazed at him, finding it amazing that he wasn't laughing at her, hurting her, or otherwise humiliating her. He immediately went into a concerned state upon her happy little accident. He really did intend on making good on his promise to be her friend and she had doubted him.

"W-why do you w-want to be my friend?" Mikan didn't know how to cope with this. "I-I'm not a good p-person."

"The Ultimate Nurse should not be talking like that." Hajime paused what he was doing to look her in the eye. "Your talent helps people get better. What more reason do I need to be your friend?"

"B-but-" Mikan began.

"Mikan, a friendship is a mutual relationship. When one person gives, the other should do the same. I chose to become friends with you because I want you to be my friend and I hope that you want me to become your friend."

"O-oh."

When his perspective was framed as such, she found herself calming down a little bit. His interpretation of friendship was a far different cry than her own. She was always firm in her belief that her worth was very little to begin with and the only way she could ever hope to maintain a relationship was to be willing to do anything and everything.

Even with the new friends she had made in her homeroom, she often found it difficult to interact with them normally. She was aware of what most people did, what was considered to be normal, but the notion that she could take part in it, that she was allowed to, felt wrong to her. It certainly went against her numerous years of treatment prior to entering Hope's Peak Academy.

For Mikan, this entire school was a different environment from the ones that she had experience in. She was allowed the resources and the resources to vastly increase her talent's effectiveness, she was making friends where there were none before, and she was actually happy with life here.

Was this fate paying her back for all the hardships that she had endured? Was it because some deity above decided to lift her suffering? Maybe her life was just testing to see if she deserved a good life?

It was difficult to pinpoint what exactly was the reason behind her very fortunate circumstances at this academy, but she knew that she wanted to know what this felt like for an even longer period of time, even though she probably didn't deserve any of it. So many wonderful things were happening in her life that she couldn't help but entertain what other possibilities might exist for her, however unlikely and unrealistic.

"And also, I did make a promise." Hajime voiced. "And I intend to keep that promise, otherwise I couldn't call myself a friend to you."

"I-I see." Mikan couldn't offer any other words. "T-thank you."

"All in a day's efforts." Hajime finished up cleaning her, then stood up and offered her a hand. "You should probably go get changed. You can't very well go around looking like that."

"Y-yes, I understand." Mikan nodded, graciously accepting his hand and felt herself getting pulled up. "I-I'll do so right away."

The Ultimate Nurse immediately moved her hands to the hem of her shirt, a move that was instantly ceased by the Reserve Course student.

"I didn't say get changed in here!" Hajime's tone was loud, but not overly so. "Why don't you go back to your dorm and find a new change of clothes."

"O-oh." Mikan deflated at having misunderstood what he meant. "I-I'm sorry!"

"And please stop apologizing." Hajime's expression tightened. "You've done nothing wrong and I'm not blaming you for anything. You should only apologize if you've done something wrong without question."

"O-okay." Mikan agreed. "I-I-I'll try to remember that."

"Yeah." Hajime looked her up and down. "We'll work on it."

That look currently adorned on his face appeared to her like a jeweler appraising a ring in-hand. It wasn't something that she was often subjected to. It made her unsure about how to respond.

But it looked like her friendship with him was still intact, which was a big relief for her. She liked being around him; he just had this aura that was easy for her to get behind. She couldn't logically explain it right now, yet she hoped to be able to one day. Perhaps that would help her get more friends or at least help her better discern the people that had the greatest potential to be friends with her.

Mikan and Hajime picked up what remained of the clutter on the floor and wiped down the mess area before quietly departing the infirmary before heading out to the dorms. Along the way, they said nothing to each other, not exactly what she had thought would happen. She hoped that there would be more to talk about.

Looking at his eyes, he saw them staring forward, but not necessarily because he was focused on where he was walking. It was the sort of stare that indicated a person deep in thought about some matter of importance.

What was he thinking about?

Despair - - - Hope

Reserve Course Building

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Noon

As lunchtime rolled around, Natsumi automatically moved from her desk and sat herself right on Hajime's desk. The first few times she did this, he was frustrated that he was deprived of a flat surface to put his lunch on. When he realized that she wouldn't move, he just adapted and carefully held his food in his hands.

Sometimes, the two of them talked to each other and sometimes, silence reigned between them. In general, they knew when to talk and when to shut up when they first made eye contact. Today, they were probably going to eat first, then talk later.

As always, the two of them were isolated from their peers. The passing days saw them become even more alienated from the boys and girls as impossible as that sounded. It wasn't enough that their class chose to distance them. If anything, the whispers and insults seemed to be getting louder.

From what she could understand, Natsumi gathered that Hajime was spending time with the Ultimates, the lucky bastard. The thought that he was spending time with him annoyed her, but it didn't anger her, which confused her. She figured that being unable to be with her brother would put more of a dent in her spirit, yet here she was.

In any case, her only companion in the Reserve Course wasn't doing himself any favors by hanging out more with the true students of the academy. The yakuza girl had a feeling that this newfound lowkey hostility was a result of inadequacy and insecurity being brought to the forefront of everyone's minds now that there was living proof that maybe there was a chance for one of their own to get a talent.

That was yet another rumor floating around concerning Hajime. It was said that he could be the first normal student here to receive a talent. It was baseless conjecture at best, but if it were true, that might explain why everyone hated his guts.

Natsumi's legs dangled off the edge of the desk she was sitting on, so she began to swing them slightly. The movement entertained her for all of fifteen seconds and then stopped. She then rolled her head on her neck to get a crick out. She crossed her legs, careful not to position herself in a way that would reveal too much. Then realizing a way to reduce the risk to zero, she swung her entire body around so that she faced the wall.

The weather outside was absolutely beautiful. As far as her eyes could see, it was nothing but blue skies. The light of the sun danced on the world, painting everything with bright and vivid colors. It was a good enough scene that a painter or a photographer could take it.

Then Koizumi's face came to mind and she could only grit her teeth mildly. Whenever that girl came to mind, so did the love-obsessed Sato. Those two really grinded her gears like no one else did. It was like they existed solely to test her ability to keep her cool for all the years that she had gone to school with them.

"What's got you mad?" Hajime could read her mood based on her face.

Natsumi blinked, then glanced in his direction. "Nothing important, just a certain bitch that won't stop being, well, a bitch."

"...who are you talking about?" Ever the gentleman, Hajime asked his question.

"...one of us." Natsumi was reluctant to admit it, but she did. "Sato."

"I know the name, but I don't know the face." Hajime spoke. "So what's your deal with this person?"

"...we go back. We were even in the same photography club with her friend, Koizumi, the photographer girl." Natsumi found the words coming out of her. "God, I hate that redhead."

Any one of them could have become the Ultimate Photographer, that's what the blonde gangster believed, but she wasn't chosen at the end of the day. That had always been a source of resentment ever since coming to the academy and in hindsight, part of the reason that she had come her was to spite her longtime classmates, not exactly her brightest moment of clarity once her mind was clear and focused.

"We were in the same photography club before coming here." Natsumi briefly explained the circumstances. "Me, Sato, Koizumi and now we're here."

"Oh." Hajime got the message, turning his head. "Well… that sucks."

"Yeah, that fucking sucks." Natsumi augmented. "And don't I know it. Every day that I'm here, it's just another shitty reminder of that fact."

"I don't know what to tell you." Hajime leaned back into his chair. "Except maybe don't let grudges decide things for you."

"Yeah, thanks for the lecture, dad." Natsumi flicked his forehead. "I'll be sure to go everywhere with unicorns and rainbows."

"Okay, smartass." Hajime brushed her hand aside. "If you're so awesome, then stop complaining and do something."

"What, like you?" Natsumi remarked with a crooked visage. "I don't do nice, you know that."

"You're probably not as bad as you think you are." Hajime reasoned with a shrug. "Besides, living like you do? That's got to be a tough way to live."

Natsumi smiled, but what she said next didn't match. "It's a good way not to die."

"That sounds like another story." Hajime was getting better at picking up the smaller details of her behavior. "You want to talk about it?"

"No." Natsumi flicked the ahoge on his head. "I didn't even want to talk about this whole Sato-Koizumi bullshit."

This time he chose not to prevent her from doing as she pleased. That gave her a snippet of satisfaction. Once she had her fill of messing with the hair standing tallest on his head, she breathed in and out. They still had time before their next class and for some reason, the lunch period seemed a lot longer than normal, but she still wasn't bored. She merely fixed her gaze at a certain point on the wall and let it stay there.

Hajime did have a point though, loathed as she was to admit it. She was getting nowhere doing nothing and she certainly wasn't going to do anything more than issue empty threats to school girls, but that didn't help her think about what she could do to make her situation any better.

Natsumi's goal was simple: she wanted to be named an Ultimate by Hope's Peak Academy and the reason she wanted to do this was because she wanted to spend more time with her brother. In order to be an Ultimate, she needed to be good at something. The problem itself was straightforward to see; she had nothing that could be considered a talent and she couldn't be the Ultimate Yakuza.

With all of that said, she wasn't about to go back home. She had her own pride to maintain. Even so, her issue remained and trying to conceive of a way forward wasn't within her range. She simply didn't possess the ability to see that far.

What could she do?

"Hajime, let me ask you a question." Natsumi recalled him once saying he would listen to her problems, so it seemed like the best time to cash in. "What is talent to you?"

"What is talent to me?" Hajime laid eyes on the main building. "I… I think it's… I…"

"Just spit it out, man." Natsumi was getting impatient. "What is it?"

"... I don't know." Hajime appeared perturbed by his own admission.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Natsumi leaned in closer to him. "What do you mean you don't know?"

"It's that simple. I don't know." Hajime repeated. "I just… I thought I knew. It seemed easy to define talent when I first got here."

"So what did it mean to you first?" Natsumi pressed.

Hajime stared at her. "I used to think it meant having the ability to do something that no one else could do, something that was simply unachievable, but I'm not so sure about that now."

"Why?" Natsumi was only ten centimeters away from his face as she questioned him.

Hajime gathered his thoughts before answering. "Because all the Ultimates I've talked to, even your brother, they're cool and their talents are amazing, but the more I spend time with them, the more I see who they are. They've got something that no one else has, but they're still human. They're still high school kids like us, so… maybe that means they aren't as far away from us as we think they are."

The connection he was making clicked in her brain and it made her eyes widen in understanding. Talent was generally considered to be something wielded by special people, individuals who were just better than everyone else by default. It became easy to idolize that part of a gifted person and it was also just as easy to forget that they were human, something capable of making mistakes.

Now Natsumi wasn't sure if she knew what talent was either.

Hope - - - Despair

Main Course Building

Monday, August 30th, 2010

Late Afternoon

Chisa really missed seeing Kyosuke. Having him around would have definitely given her a much-needed boost in energy. As much as she tried to live everyday with all that she had for the sake of herself, her students, and the future, it was tiring.

To bring Hope's Peak Academy into the next stage of evolution, substantial change was necessary, not all of it agreeable with those comfortable with the current status quo, but that was the very nature of change itself. Everyone was afraid of it because it meant new potential for horrible things to happen. Remaining in the same place guaranteed stability and most people wanted that. That would suffice for most places.

Not this one. Not the place where hope itself was the focal point. Hope demanded people who could carry the responsibility of spreading it across the world, but churning out truly remarkable graduates was far from easy especially given the backgrounds of each student that had come and gone.

The former Ultimate Housekeeper had involvement as both a teacher and a student and having those two perspectives to draw upon gave her greater understanding and wisdom of things done here that she would have never discovered otherwise. For example, when she was a student, it never occurred to her just how much each teacher had to work to oversee students with varying talents and quirks. Now that she was one of those teachers, she had a greater appreciation for those that had come before her.

Chisa thought about these things as she finished writing her monthly report to the headmaster. She was sure that he would read through it very carefully as he most likely did with all the other teachers' reports. Jin Kirigiri's passion for talent was one of the reasons why he had a place here among other factors.

Now it was time to make a short phone call to Kyosuke. She really wanted to hear his voice. It might even give her an idea or two going forward. Flipping open her phone, she quickly found his number and waited. The first ring came and went, and then the second one sounded.

"Chisa, you have something to report?" Kyosuke was as professional as ever.

"Let's just talk for a bit." Chisa wished he could greet her differently. "Listening to you isn't something I'm getting to do more often."

"Do you really miss me that much?"Kyosuke now sounded amused.

"Everyday, you jerk." Chisa pretended to sound pouty. "Am I not good enough for a pick-me-up every now and then?"

"I wouldn't say that." Kyosuke shot back. "But I always believed you were your own guiding light."

"You flatterer."

"I try."

He was more serious than during their school days, but it was for a reason.

As long as she remembered that, she could forgive him.

I don't have much to say about this chapter, so I'll be brief.

Certain characters have received quite a few moments to shine in this story and I need to shift focus to the less-seen characters. It's easy to balance a cast of a handful or two of characters, but when you've got some twenty-plus characters, that becomes tough to deal with on top of sticking with the main protagonist.

Thoughts? Feedback is greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading and I hope you're all staying healthy and doing as well as you can.

"He who has a why to live can bear almost any how."

Friedrich Nietzche