Chapter 21: Seiko's Somberness, Chiaki's Cheeriness

Hope's Peak Academy

Main Course

Tuesday, September 14th, 2010

Afternoon

Seiko Kimura was having a perfectly normal day. By normal, that meant not going to the classes and spending virtually all of her time in the science laboratory working on her talent.

She was already working on her drug for the practical exams. This year, she had decided to showcase a reanimation drug for her targeted practical exam. To be more specific, the drug would promote growth to an almost comical degree. If her calculations were correct, then there should be no side effects, but considering this was basically a prototype medicine in its early stages of development, who knew what could happen?

Realistically, developing a new type of medicine or drug could take years, maybe even decades. To get it approved for use by the public could take up more time. It was only thanks to her being the Ultimate Pharmacist that she was able to successfully develop any sort of medicine in such a short span of time. That, and Hope's Peak Academy gave her the go-ahead to develop whatever she felt was necessary for the practical exams. Basically, she didn't have to worry about the law bearing down on her in any way.

Which was a good thing for Seiko. She was not a people's person. She was shy and she generally avoided groups if at all possible. If it really came down to it, she could hold a conversation perfectly fine, but if she could get through her day without conversing with anyone, it would be a good day for her. All she wanted to do was accelerate the growth of her talent and graduate from the academy. Then she would never have to worry about her life ever again. After all, this place guaranteed success after graduation.

The problem with knowing only a few people on a personal level was that she didn't have many people that could help her test her medicines and drugs. That was not good considering that the practicality of all items in the pharmaceutical world depended highly on trial and error. If a drug hadn't been properly tested by a certain amount of willing individuals, then it couldn't even be considered for commercial usage. Her saving grace was that her talent was so prodigious that she usually got it right the first time around.

But there was also the fact that many people in the Main Course knew about her talent, often seeking her out for drugs or medicine or some kind. Not being the kind of person that could say no easily, she set aside a considerable amount of time in her day to work on personal requests. As a side effect, she would often ask about the results of her work from the person who made the request in order to obtain as much information about her success rate and any other side effects.

Speaking of which, I haven't seen Ruruka or Sonosuke yet this week. Seiko thought with mixed feelings. But the week is still young.

Perhaps she would have spent the rest of the afternoon here alone if not for the knocking on the door suddenly.

"A request?" Seiko wondered who it was. "Just a moment!"

She made sure that nothing would go wrong with her equipment and material before making her way to the door, unlocking it. She was expecting either the standard Hope's Peak Academy uniform or some other unusual attire in addition to defining features. Instead, in its place was a uniform from the Reserve Course and a boy who appeared normal in every sense of the word.

"Hello." The brunette even greeted her normally. "Are you Seiko Kimura, the Ultimate Pharmacist?"

"Um, yes." Seiko nodded her head a few times. "And you are?"

"Hajime Hinata, and before you ask, I'm a Reserve Course student." Hajime stated as if he expected her to ask her about his uniform. "I have permission to be here, so don't worry. Anyway, I was sent here by a friend, Chiaki Nanami. She asked me to ask you if you had anything to counter the effects of an aphrodisiac."

He didn't sound too sure about what exactly he was asking for. Luckily, the Ultimate Pharmacist did know what he meant.
"Ah, yes, I do know what you're talking about." Seiko felt herself relax slightly, then she pointed to the storage room. "I've labelled it as a 'Counteractive-A.' It's to the right of the door. It shouldn't be hard to miss."

"Alright. Thanks." Hajime smiled. "I'll let you get back to work."

"Alright." Seiko hummed in acknowledgement.

The girl with white hair regarded his form for a moment, then returned to her seat where she resumed what she was doing.

He seemed like a nice person. Of course, she wasn't able to see much about his personality from that brief exchange, but he was polite and he did smile, so at least he appeared to be the sort that valued friendliness. That was nice.

Once her appraisal of him was over, she refocused her mind back to the task at hand. She had to carefully monitor the mixture. The amount of liquid in her beaker was measured down to the mililiter. She had to be that precise, otherwise the results that she produced wouldn't even exist.

Whenever Seiko was this focused on measurements, she often ignored her surroundings to such a degree that even the loudest people in the Main Course could sneak up on her and she probably wouldn't even notice. It wasn't uncommon for her to stay at school late into the night and not realize it until she looked at a clock by coincidence.

Right now, she was exactly in this almost trance-like state of concentration. It never occurred to her that she was being watched by someone. She had almost forgotten that someone had come in to ask her for a counterractive agent to her aphrodisiac. Maybe she would have been left unaware of him for a longer time if not for when he spoke suddenly.

"What are you making?"

That prompted a shout of surprise as she spilled the contents of her work onto the lab table. Thankfully, there wasn't anything dangerous or inherently dangerous. All the same, she wasn't pleased that she had messed up. Didn't this kid know about the way to safely alert her to his presence?

"What are you doing?!" Seiko's voice was barely above a whisper, yet her urgency lent her words weight. "Are you trying to get yourself killed?!"

"Okay, okay." Hajime backed up and held his hands up. "Sorry. I was just curious. You seemed really absorbed in your… work."

"That's what happens when you have a talent." Seiko calmed down, now feeling guilty for her outburst. "It takes many hours of the day to get better at it, perfect it."

"I can't say I understand that feeling." Hajime rubbed the back of his head. "I mean, I'm a Reserve Course kid. I've got nothing but an empty cup to show."

He said the words, yet they somehow didn't click with her. It felt like he was intentionally degrading himself while also hiding his true self. Or it could be that he simply had a low opinion of himself to such a degree that it would surprise him to know that he might have more to himself than he realized.

"Why are you interested in my work?" Seiko got back to the matter at hand. "Why are you interested in my talent?"

"Just curious, mostly." Hajime shrugged. "I don't know, I've never really thought about this stuff all that much. Instinct, that's the only word that I can use to describe what this is."

"I… understand." Seiko didn't really, but she felt the need to say something.

It was strange that this conversation had lasted for as long as it had. Normally, she didn't talk to anyone for this long, not even with Ruruka or Sonosuke. Even more interesting was that she didn't feel all that off-put by it. Her initial defenses and caution was slowly being eroded away.

"But now that I'm thinking about it, what exactly does the pharmaceuticals involve?" Hajime asked with clear intent. "I only know that it's all about drugs that help us get better and whatnot."

"Well, that's more or less what it's all about." Seiko replied. "But there are a lot of details surrounding the industry that most people aren't aware of."

It wasn't until much later that the Ultimate Pharmacist realized that for the first time in a while, she had sacrificed an entire afternoon and evening of research in favor of talking to this stranger, now an acquaintance. That was something new for her, or at least it felt new considering that this sort of experience had only happened to her once to the best of her memory, years ago.

If she was being honest, it wasn't an unpleasant feeling at all. Still, she wasn't quite used to a one-on-one working out like this. She just didn't know enough people to judge encounters in the detail that she did her work.

Seiko decided that it was what it was.

Hope - - - Despair

Hope's Peak Academy

Main Course

Wednesday, September 15th, 2010

Afternoon

Chiaki had made a habit of spending time gaming in the general school grounds, waiting for Hajime to show up to join her. He couldn't always make it, which was understandable. He had his own classes to attend not to mention her classmates were doing all sorts of things with him. She could only occupy so much of his time.

Thankfully, she still had some time with him. They could at least afford a couple days a week to do nothing but play games. To some, that might seem a strange way to develop any sort of relationship, but it was simply part of how they worked. Just as important as it was to talk to each other about their shared friends was their shared desire to pick up a console and play an hour or two.

Hajime had proven himself to be a pretty good gamer. With a little more time, she was confident that he could reach the levels that she wanted. Their co-op was working well right now all things considered. She just needed to push him a little further.

Chiaka, while thinking about the time they would spend together, couldn't help but reflect on how 77-B as a whole was changing thanks to their mutual friend and teacher.

On the whole, things in class were much better than they were to start the year. They had all begun as strangers, most not bothering to come to class, but it was thanks to Miss Yukizome that they did things together. She encouraged a level of positivity and energy that none of them had anticipated. Naturally, it was easy to gravitate towards her. She was nothing if not an attentive teacher and very friendly, so much so that the woman was testing the limits of professionalism.

Hajime was also a major contributor to the changes in class. Although he saw each of her Ultimate friends separately, the bonds that he had developed with each of them were unique and meaningful. This shared friendship with the Reserve Course student seemed to be changing how 77-B interacted with each other. They now had a common topic with which to talk about. Some discussed Hajime as he attempted to learn some of their talent. Others spoke about him as a person. The topics about him would vary, but they all pointed to at least a certain degree of caring.

Chiaki couldn't help but feel happy for her friend. He was now getting opportunities that he didn't have in the past. He appeared to be more happy than when she had first met him. Hopefully, all of this was having a lasting impact on him. Perhaps he would be inspired to find something that he was good at. Maybe he could develop a talent of his own.

"Hey, sorry to keep you waiting." Hajime appeared to her right. "I got caught up with some school stuff."

"It's alright." Chiaki quickly checked the time. "I honestly didn't notice the time, so you're okay."

"Cool. Thanks." Hajime smiled. "Oh, yeah. I brought the thing you asked for yesterday. I've got it right here."

He fished into his bag for a few seconds before retrieving a small clear bottle labelled as 'Counteractive-A.'

"Thanks." Chiaki graciously accepted the item. "I hope that I never have to use this thing, but considering that Terteru has an aphrodisiac, I can't be too careful."

"I hear that." Hajime laughed in earnest with a tint of awkwardness. "So, what are we playing today?"

"Actually, I thought we'd try something different." Chiaki put away her Game Boy Advance and retrieved a different console, offering it to Hajime. "Here, you can have this one. I've got one for myself."

"Wow, um, thanks." Hajime accepted the gift. "You've got a surprising amount of stuff for games. Do you buy it all?"

"Actually, no." Chiaki shook her head. "Since I'm the Ultimate Gamer at Hope's Peak Academy, I get access to tons of games, consoles, and other stuff before other people."

"Right. That makes sense." Hajime nodded in understanding. "So someone gave this to you, kind of like a beta-tester, right?"

"Yeah, you get the idea." Chiaki patted the spot next to her. "Come on, let's get started."

Although she normally spoke in a soft and monotone voice, there were times that she found emotion in her tone. Right now, this was one of those moments. Playing games with other people really did make all the difference in the world, especially if it was her friend that was playing with her.

"So what are we playing?" Hajime asked her. "I take it something new?"

"New?" Chiaki regarded him. "You could say that. Or rather, you could say it isn't even released to the public."

The gamer girl reached into her pocket and quickly retrieved the game in question, holding it out for him to read the label.

"FIFA 11." Hajime tilted his head. "It looks like a sports game."

"It is." Chiaki's reply was followed by more. "It's actually developed by a company in Canada, Electronic Arts. It's not even supposed to be released for another few months, but they sent me a prototype copy. It's like an early release of sorts. It's not the final game, but I think that it works."

"Oh." Hajime understood what she was saying. "So what kind of sport? Judging by the cover, I'd say it was soccer."

"Yeah, it's the first FIFA game since FIFA in a while to be officially released in Japan." Chiaki explained. "That's why it's kind of exciting. It's been a while since I've played the last FIFA that came out."

"I've never really done anything related to soccer." Hajime commented. "Maybe I can learn something. I wonder if Nekomaru might get me to play down the line."

"I'm sure he's thought about it." Chiaki agreed with her companion. "He must've coached at least one team."

"Knowing him, I wouldn't put it past him." Hajime could imagine that. "He's probably coached at least one professional team in each sport in Japan."

In all honesty, playing sports was something of an unusual paradox. While there was no physical exertion, the games could become so intense that it almost felt like a sport in the mind. If one concentrated enough, it could make a player sweat and tense up, sort of like how a real player might feel, not that the Ultimate Gamer would know much about doing actual sports in real life. She wasn't that good at physical activities in general.

"Okay, so since this is a new game, we should probably get some practice in." Chiaki loaded up the game. "How about the Practice Arena?"

"I'm guessing that's where you go to train" Hajime deduced. "Makes sense."

"Yeah. Oh, yeah, here's your copy." Chiaki handed him his own game. "Just give me a minute to figure out the controls."

She loaded the game with a more focused expression. Already, as the game displayed its main menu, she was already in the process of examining its aesthetic and feel. So far, it felt familiar. There wasn't anything exactly ground-breaking or otherwise innovative, but it was a good-looking game, getting a little closer to more photo-realistic graphics.

Loading up the Practice Arena, Chiaki struggled for a few minutes to get down the initial controls. Thankfully, countless hours of playing had given her the ability to quickly adapt. Her hand-eye coordination was actually far better than the average person, allowing her to both watch the screen and also memorize the controls and how they responded in relation to what she wanted.

"That's good." Chiaki's character dribbled the ball between his feet. "Now for a little spin. And go for the goal."

The first few times she tried to score against the A.I., she miscalculated the distance between her avatar and the net. The first time, it went overhead the net. The second time, she underestimated the reach of the goalie and she was prevented from scoring. It was the third time that saw her score a clean goal.

"Yes!" Chiaki did a fist pump. "I've got this."

She took a moment to celebrate her achievement before remembering that she now had to guide Hajime a bit seeing as he was new to all of this.

"Okay, so here's what you do." Chiaki leaned over to see his screen. "So go to the Practice Arena. Don't worry about anything else. If it prompts you, just say yes or skip it. Now let's take it one step at a time."

For the next two hours, she would slowly get him used to the controls. If they dedicated enough time, they could be playing this game nonstop for the better part of a month and still have plenty more to do.

Really, there weren't enough hours in the day for gaming.

So Chiaki would have to settle for the time she did have.

Despair - - - Hope

Hope's Peak Academy

Main Course

Saturday, September 18th, 2010

Late Morning

Mahiru had come to a revelation regarding her latest batch of photos: she had struck a potential goldmine of moments to capture.

Recently, she had gotten some of her photos developed and when she began placing them in a photo album, she looked over them with a very critical eye. Despite taking some measure of pride in what she did, the redhead was always finding new ways to improve on her previous work. Thus, she always scoured each of her photos and found even the most insignificant flaws to bear in mind for her next shot. She was getting closer to a perfect scene that would encapsulate a moment at its best, capturing with it all the emotions, thoughts, and feelings necessary to convey what a thousand words couldn't.

The Ultimate Photographer took note of the person that represented perhaps her best opportunity at capturing moments at their most pure: Hajime Hinata. He was, in her opinion, her best subject yet, her gold mine of memories so to speak. The reason that she believed this was because of his lack of talent.

Mahiru knew fully well that deep inside, the Reserve Course student was bothered by his lack of any outstanding abilities or talent of any kind. In more ways than one, she felt bad for him and understood him. However, just because he didn't currently possess any noteworthy traits or skills, that didn't invalidate his worth on the spot. In fact, because of his lack of talent, she thought that he could make an ideal subject, able to theoretically become part of any subject, activity, or event, and he could make them all work.

While she could sincerely appreciate her classmates and their varied talents which made for interesting scenarios to record not to mention the synergy of two or more of them coming together, the one glaring weakness of talented individuals was that they weren't versatile. A specialist tended to sacrifice all other paths of competence in favor of the one thing that they excelled at and liked. That led to more detailed and specific moments in photography that weren' necessarily understandable to the average person.

But people like Hajime who were blank slates? His lack of any defining talent lent to his ability to blend into any scenario with ease.

To that end, Mahiru decided that she would approach him and ask for his help. She had some ideas in mind for photos that she could take. After learning that many of her classmates in 77-B were interacting with the brunette boy via their talent, it seemed a good idea to find more moments like the one with him playing the bass.

It all came down to a matter of finding him, not an easy prospect considering that he was a busy body as of late. Compared to his classmates, Hajime looked like a one-man show going back and forth from the Reserve Course to the Main Course.

Fortunately, the Ultimate Photographer had come upon good fortune; he was currently training with Akane and Nekomaru.

"Mahiru!" Akane recognized her and waved.

"Hey, Akane!" Mahiru nodded her head and smiled. "Don't mind me! I'm just doing my thing!"

On a random side note, the Ultimate Gymnast was getting better at remembering names now that she spent a lot more time with everyone in their class.

"COME ON, HAJIME!" Nekomaru screamed as he ran alongside his trainee. "PUSH HARDER!"

"ARGH!" Whether from his own motivation or that of his coach, Hajime growled loudly while pushing his running speed. "GRR!"

Right now, Mahiru was currently too far away to capture faces in clear detail, but that wasn't a bad thing. She held her camera at the ready and began snapping pictures. She didn't just do so rapidly. She trained her eyes on the scene and watched every move within her view. Years of doing this had honed her ability to spot even the most minute of details, things that most people wouldn't notice.

For example, Hajime didn't have his mouth open very widely, indicating that he was most likely breathing heavily through his nose. That could mean that he was either training himself to breath in intervals or maybe he was finding a way to make the most out of the oxygen that he was breathing in. Regardless of what it meant, the intent was to help with his overall ability to run.

Mahiru would only know about this stuff because she heard Nekomaru talking constantly about techniques and tricks for training the body in different sports. Although she didn't hear most of them due to him either being too loud or her tuning him out, she did occasionally hear some nuggets of wisdom from the Ultimate Team Manager.

Clearly, Hajime took this training seriously. He appeared to be exhausted, indicating that he had been running laps around the track for some time. The shirt that he was wearing clung to his back courtesy of the sweat that he was generating, yet he was still able to process things around him with the same clarity as he would if he wasn't running. That meant he wasn't experiencing tunnel vision right now.

That's good. He can switch gears on a dime if he needs to. Mahiru noted that detail. I've got a minute and some change before they come back around. What's Akane doing?

The Ultimate Photographer noted that Akane was doing some basic calisthenics exercises, something to get into the groove of working out. To a normal person, this would be seen as a regular workout, but this was different. The gymnast girl had workout routines that would make a normal person fall over and die. That was how serious things were for the shapely girl.

Mahiru would be lying if she said that she didn't wish to have a body like her classmate. Compared to some of the other girls, she was plain by comparison. At times, it made her feel just a little bit inadequate, but then again, it wasn't like she was pining for a guy nor was a guy chasing her, so it really didn't matter in the end.

Not that it mattered now. She was here for photography, not to compare bust sizes.

The redhead saw Hajime and Nekomaru coming around again. Just to get herself ready, she snapped a couple shots, then held her pointer finger, ready to press the button again. Just a dozen meters or so. Her finger hovered closer.

"Hajime!" Mahiru called his name. "Keep it up!"

A little bit of encouragement seemed called for. After all, the guy was doing his best out there and she couldn't help but admire his perseverance. Even though he could easily refuse to take on these new hobbies, he chose to do so. Maybe he couldn't exactly contend with the strong personalities that comprised 77-B, but he seemed to be finding ways to make the most out of the opportunities given to him.

Hajime saw her shouting and he managed a quick smile while flashing a thumbs-up. That was a moment she captured too while mirroring his thumbs-up. She then proceeded to snap photos, maybe ten in five seconds or so. She had a really fast finger. All the while, she did a bit of running with them to get some more shots. She must've gotten some twenty or more before she felt a little winded and stopped following.

But Nekomaru would have none of it. "MAHIRU! SHOW SOME SPIRIT! RUN WITH US!"

"NO CAN DO!" Mahiru managed to shout back. "NOT MY STYLE!"

"SUIT YOURSELF!" Nekomaru was growing farther away, yet his voice was still loud. "BUT YOU'RE MISSING OUT!"

Boys and their need to always prove their worth. It was a miracle how the Ultimate Team Manager could operate with such high intensity every single day. Mahiru supposed that he was simply just like that, nothing to be done about it. She could only hope that Hajime remained the same. Any other personality besides the one he currently had wouldn't really fit with him. She couldn't see him as anything other than mellow and thoughtful.

A cloud from above blocked out the sun's rays, leaving her a brief moment of shade from the intense heat. Now that she was thinking about it, she was slightly sweaty. She ought to get some water before she became dehydrated. A lack of water could sneak up on a person so easily in the summertime.

Enduring for another couple of minutes, she snapped a few dozen more photos before deciding to call it quits and head for shade and water. She had gotten what she wanted and now she needed to to check them out and develop the best ones to put into her album.

How many more fun memories are waiting for us? Mahiru couldn't help but reflect on the words of her homeroom teacher. What kind of hope will we create?

Hope - - - Despair

Hope's Peak Academy

Main Course

Sunday, September 19th, 2010

Evening

Jin Kirigiri was usually a busy man, but recently, he had been busier than usual, but there was a perfectly good reason for that.

Today was the final day for Hope's Peak Academy's talent scouts to submit their findings. They would need the time between now and the next upcoming school year to prepare for the 78th class.

Already, the talent scouts were making their way all across Japan and searching for the best boys and girls in high school. Even as the Izuru Kamukura Project was still undergoing changes and entering into its final stages, the academy still had to keep going on, business as usual.

In fact, a number of personal requests had already been made regarding some very exceptional individuals, even by the standards of the most prestigious high school in all of Japan. The most interesting one of all came from the Togami Corporation. Their young heir, Byakuya was already being groomed to take over the family business, but to make sure that he could assert dominance over all of his half-siblings, graduating from Hope's Peak Academy was the final nail in the coffin. In essence, a stepping stone.

But talent existed in so many areas in the world and not necessarily in the more traditional industries that most people thought about. Even hobbies and activities simply made for entertainment were considered. Anything that could add value to society in any meaningful way was up for consideration.

In any case, Jin was expecting great things this year, just as in years before. That was hardly anything new, but there was always a sense of anticipation that he always felt during this time of year.

It seemed unlikely that any of the students of the 78th class would be in the academy long enough for their talents to be analyzed and implemented into the project, which was a shame in many ways, but if everything went as planned, the Ultimate Hope wouldn't even need to have any unknown talent within him. He would be able to learn it perfectly and enhance it by his own abilities.

And speaking of the project, the weekly reports painted a fairly complicated picture. Preliminary research suggested that even with the changes in the subject, there would be no impediment in the surgery overall. After all, as much as Hajime Hinata was learning about talent and picking up a few things here and there, he would never be able to reach the level that his peers already had.

And that was exactly the lure that was going to be used in order to reel him back in. As idealistic as the boy was, he had to know that deep down, his efforts would never amount to real talent in the end.

Except for one place: his ability to connect with others in profound ways, but that wasn't a bad thing. If anything, it might very well help with the Hope Cultivation Project in more ways than one.

After all, having an Ultimate Hope with a very defined talent to connect to others on a deep level might just be the most important one of all.

THIS IS A GENERAL REMINDER TO ALL OF MY READERS. I WILL BE LEAVING FOR BASIC COMBAT TRAINING ON AUGUST 4TH. JULY, THIS MONTH, WILL BE THE LAST MONTH THAT I POST CHAPTERS FOR ANY OF MY STORIES. UPDATES WILL RESUME IF AND WHEN I AM ABLE. UNTIL THAT DAY COMES, EXPECT NO FURTHER UPDATES FROM THIS STORY.

ALSO, WHILE I'M GONE, I'LL PROBABLY DEVELOP SOME NEW IDEAS ABOUT STORIES, NEW AND EXISTING. I'VE GOT SOME IDEAS CURRENTLY ON MY PROFILE PAGE. IF YOU'RE INTERESTED IN ANY OF THEM, MAKE THAT INTEREST KNOWN BY VOTING ON THE POLE WHICH IS ALSO ON MY PROFILE PAGE.

Back to the author notes.

Many of you have been asking if the 78th class was coming. Now you've got your answer, but it's still going to be a few months. For all intents and purposes, the school year at Hope's Peak Academy begins in April in this story. Keep an eye on the dates with each section break. That way, you readers can keep track of when things happen.

In the meantime, Hajime has to do all sorts of soul-searching, learn some new tricks, and become a little more wise. All the while, he's got a choice to make. Which one will he make?

Thoughts? Reviews and feedback are appreciated.

Thanks for reading and I hope to see you all soon.

-Ktyou