Hope's Peak, despite all the time I'd spent away from it, looked the same as it had ever been. A massive school of brick, metal, and glass that broke into the skyline like no other school I'd ever been to had; I doubted no other schools would ever match it. Although it would have been dwarfed by the buildings in the center of Yokohama, out here in the outskirts of the city, it was one of the biggest complexes in sight, although I could still see the Yokohama skyline out in the distance.

Mae was still driving as we approached the school gates; we were silent as she drove up to the curb by the school. She was focusing on getting her parking correct as I gazed at the school, deep in thought.

Mae stopped the car and asked, "You sure you want to stop here?"

"Yeah, I can walk the rest of the way. I know how to get there." I said, looking at her as I grabbed my bag from the car and started reaching for my surfboard as well.

Mae looked at me with an arched eyebrow and asked, "Are you really taking your surfboard with you?"

As I finally got ahold of my surfboard with my bag in the other hand, I said, "It's my date for tonight, clearly."

Mae laughed a bit at that, still looking at me as I was getting out, wrapping the bag around my shoulder and dragging the surfboard out of the car as I opened the door and exited.

Once I was outside the car Mae asked me, "Are you sure about that?"

I answered, "Not seriously. It just felt fitting to bring it tonight, since I always dragged around back when I was at Hope's Peak. I'm not sure I'm actually going to carry it around the whole night, but I think some people might find it funny."

Mae, glancing at me, tossed me a bunch of metal cables from the car, which I caught easily. I immediately recognized it as the one of the locks she had me use for my surfboard; I could see the black lock attached, four digits where on the wheels of the lock.

Yeah, I probably should.

As I walked away, I heard Mae's car start up and go. I looked back at the road after a moment and saw her car had already gone from the school and onto the main road, where I could no longer see her.

I looked back at the gates, familiar as ever, and yet the school seemed to loom over me.

I knew the way to the gymnasium by heart, even after all the years I'd been away. Strolling in through the lobby, with its columns and arches standing over me, I took a left. After taking a quick peek in the nurse's office in hopes of seeing Ms. Takahashi, the nurse who'd been at Hope's Peak, I went to the gym lobby, still lugging around that surfboard I'd brought from the car with Mae for the sake of a joke.

I was starting to regret it a little, but I couldn't just go back to the car and say, "Hey, Mae! Take this back for me, will you?"

As I made it to the gym entrance, with trophies of all kinds littering the walls and a banner saying "Welcome back, Sixty-Seventh Class!" hanging on the ceiling, I stopped and contemplated what I should do with my surfboard.

I know there are a bunch of storage closets are around, but I imagine most of those are locked, or will be by the end of the night. I don't want to risk losing this.

I sighed out loud, letting out my growing frustration with the situation; as much as I loved my surfboard, I did not want to be stuck carrying it around at night, although I'll admit it would've been a funny story to tell later.

But as luck would have it, an old classmate had been standing nearby had taken notice of my frustrations.

A soft male called out to me, "O-Oh, Namika! That looks quite bulky and heavy, d-do you need assistance carrying it anywhere?"

I turned to the voice and saw exactly who I expected to see.

Ren Ikeru, the Ultimate Dollmaker.

He was slightly taller than me, with wavy blonde hair that covered his forehead and went to his shoulders. He had a fine, oval-shaped face dusted with freckles and soft, light blue eyes. I always liked thinking of them as puppy-dog eyes. In contrast, his other features were thin and sharp, with an upturned nose and thin lips. He was wearing a black top hat with a blue ribbon around it as well.

That was only part of the getup he was wearing that let me know this man was Ren, though.

Although I hadn't known him well, the soft stuttering voice and the old-fashioned style of dress made me one hundred percent sure of to whom I was speaking. He wore a teal waistcoat with wavy silver embellishments. Silver buttons kept the jacket closed over a crisp white shirt. He wore a silver necklace with garnet gemstone around his neck, which laid on what little of the white shirt was exposed by his jacket. He wore simple grey pants and black leather shoes, in contrast with the extravagance of the rest of his outfit.

Thinking quickly, I answered, "I should be able to carry this on my own, but do you know where I could put this down?"

Ren's reply was prompt. "A-Absolutely. Are you sure you don't need help?"

He came towards me, as if he was about to help me carry the surfboard or take it out of my hands.

"I'm sure, I'm sure! I'd really prefer to carry it myself, if you wouldn't mind."

Ren stepped in his tracks and paused, in thought. "I only meant to help, but I s-suppose that I did overstep there. Many people have things in their lives they don't want other people touching. I apologize."

Not wanting to dwell on the moment, I said, "It's fine, really! Let's just take care of this so we can get to the main event."

"U-understood."

Walking out of the gym entrance, Ren led me up the stairs to the second floor, stopping at the first classroom in front of the stairs. He opened the door for me, leading me inside. It was the same classroom we'd been together in during our second year of Hope's Peak. Although the school had undergone the remodeling and now had a new chalkboard, they were still using the same wooden desks in the classroom. They were even arranged in almost the same way.

"N-Namika, do you want m-me to set aside an area for you to place it down?"

Ren's voice broke me out of my reminiscing, bringing me back to the task at hand. I quickly answered, "I have somewhere in mind. Give me a minute."

Walking along the column of desks closest to the door, I counted down the rows until I reached the second from the back; this was my old desk. Placing my surfboard on it, I slipped the lock Mae had brought me out of my jacket. Ren was busying himself checking a suitcase he had left here earlier, filled with what I suppose were dollmaker supplies and notes.

I quickly input the code to myself, quietly mouthing the digits "2-3-0-5" to myself as I put them into the lock. I quickly lashed my surfboard to my old desk, wrapping the wire cord around it and connecting the interface on the lock with the board to put the lock into place. Just before I got up, I remembered to wipe my fingers over the lock, scrambling the numbers.

That should keep anyone from taking it.

"Okay, I'm done, Ren. We can go now."

Getting up, I walked out of the classroom, with Ren following close behind me. Although we had been focused on the task at hand before, as we walked back, we segued back into more casual conversation.

It was Ren who spoke first.

"I t-truly am looking forward tonight. It's been so long since I've seen some of our old classmates. Including you!"

Slowing down to meet his pace, I replied, "Yeah. It has. How've you been?"

Ren went into thought for a moment, only replying as we started going down the stairs, back to the first floor of the school. "I'm doing well, but I've been better."

"I feel that," I answered, empathizing with Ren's reply.

Continuing on, I tried to put on a smile and segue the conversation to a topic I hoped would be a little lighter. I remembered that he'd gotten a girlfriend just before getting after Hope's Peak. "So… how's Aya?"

Ren froze on the spot, "I-I would r-rather not talk about that. If you m-must know, w-we split up. For p-personal reasons. B-before you ask, she's not here tonight. She decided not to come."

Note to self: Don't ask people you haven't seen in ten years about their romantic partners unless you know they're still together, even if they were cute together.

Think things through more, Namika, dammit.

Quickly trying to salvage the situation, I panicked and replied, "Fuck, I'm sorry, I didn't know—"

Ren interrupted. "Namika, it's not your fault, you didn't know. You didn't do anything wrong."

We continued down the stairs in silence, neither of us saying a word to cut through the tense atmosphere. He led me back to the door to the gymnasium, returning to his previous position next to the door.

"You can go in now, Namika. I hope you have a good night."

Lingering for a moment, still feeling the weight of guilty on my shoulders, I reciprocated with, "You too."

Rushing out of that awkward situation through the doors, I proceeded into the gymnasium, where the main event was being held.

It looked like the old Student Council and the Office of Special Events had made an effort for this event; white cloths draped from the ceiling covered each side of the gym, with two tables of food and drink under each one. A few round tables were placed to the side, with empty space between them leading up to the stage. Green and gold balloons were hung from the tents and on the table chairs. It was very festive. Light music played in the background, although I couldn't tell well-from.

Looking around, it took me a only a few moments to pick someone I recognized from the crowd. I picked him out from the back by his yellow jersey with green stripes lining it.

Rafael Sasaki, the Ultimate Soccer Player. I suppose he'd prefer Football Player, though.

There's some debate about the title okay? If you want an official title from Hope's Peak, I suppose last time I spoke with Sasaki, it was Soccer Player, to his dismay.

The loosely worn, almost shoulder length, beachy black hair and medium-dark skin only further confirmed who it was; it'd be difficult for me to miss him, even without the jersey.

He was an old friend, after all.

I approached him from behind as he stood under one of the tents, looking out over the crowd, if you could call it that; I would have guessed we had around twenty people here tonight, give or take a few.

As I got close to Rafael, I went around this front and waved. "Hey, Rafi! It's been so long! I haven't gotten a letter from you in a while. How've you been?"

Rafael turned to me and replied as he pulled me into a quick hug. "Good, good! I'm still at it!"

As we let go, I looked over him and said, "I can tell by the jersey. That's not the one I saw you playing in back in 2009. What gives?"

Laughing a little, he replied, "I'm still on that team. I just figured this would be more recognizable to the rest of my classmates, you know? Most people know the Brazilian national football uniform."

"Yeah, I know what you mean, " I said, looking at his pants, "but what's with the black jeans? I'm pretty sure those aren't regulation for soccer."

"True, true, " he answered, "I guess I'd say these are for style."

"Makes sense. Not that I've ever gotten style."

As we looked over the crowd, I asked him again, "So, how's life back home been? You haven't written in a while."

He continued from his previous answer, saying, "Not much asides from what I told you. I'm doing well on the SPFC, although I already told you about that and how my family reacted."

I said, "Yeah, yeah. It was a funny story. I can't remember all of it, though. It's been a while since you told me about playing for Sao Paulo. They were pretty shocked, right?"

He laughed again, "Yeah. Guess they weren't expecting a son from a family of Corinthian fans to join the rival team. They took the suffering well, though."

"What have you been up to besides soccer?" I asked him.

He paused for a moment, wrinkling his brow as if deep in thought, and answered, "Not much. A lot of people asking for interviews that I ended up having to turn down. I've got a small philanthropy project going on, but that's a lot of work too. Haven't really had much time for anything."

"I get that," I said, putting my hands behind my shoulders and stretching a little, "life really does get busy once you graduate, huh?"

"Yeah," he said, "You seem to be doing better than when I last heard from you, by the way."

"Yeah, I am," I told him, trying not to think too long on it.

Trying to change the subject, I asked him, "Who've you seen tonight, Rafael? I just got here."

Rafael said, "I think I've talked to nearly everyone in the class so far. There are still few people I'm looking to talk to, though. I talked to Setsuna and Kaizen earlier, then James, Alfie, then some of the old Student Council members. There is someone I'm looking for, though."

"Who?" I asked.

Looking over the crowd and placing his hand on his forehead as a visor, he said, "Penelope Breton, the Ultimate Surrealist. She sat behind you a lot in second and third year, remember?"

One thought occurred to me as he said this statement.

I'm not even sure if I even remember this person. This is bad.

I'll try to act like I have a vague of idea of what he's talking about.

"The girl?" I said.

"The shy girl from France? Light brown hair, blue eyes. Does that ring a bell?"

Thinking out loud to myself, I muttered, "Maybe? I can't tell."

As he looked over the crowd, Rafael pointed to someone. "I think that's her, over there. The one who just went to sit down by herself at that table."

Following Rafael's finger to where he had just pointed, I saw a woman sitting at the table as he had described. Her hair had been dyed with light blue streaks and cut into a short, messy style with sharp streaks and sideswept bangs. She wore a dark blue shirt with a white X on it; one of her sleeves was rolled up to her elbow. As I noticed she was tapping on the table, I noticed she had a bead bracelet on the hand she was tapping against the table. I couldn't see what else she was wearing from the angle I was at, although I thought I saw her wearing tan shorts and with knee high black shoes and blue slip ons before sitting down.

"Let's go and talk to her," Rafael said as he put his arm down and took me by the hand.

"I'm good with that," I replied, my hand already having been taken by Rafael, possibly dooming me to an awkward conversation to a classmate I hadn't even managed to remember. Even so, I'd come to this reunion planning to see everyone I could, even if it was awkward, so I went along with it. What's the worst that could happen?

As we approached her table and waved, she looked over and loosely waved at us, one of her legs tucked under her legs as she sat. Taking that as an invitation, we came and sat at the table, both across from Penelope and a seat away from each other.

Rafael quickly broke what little awkward silence there was at the table. "You're Penelope Breton, right? Ultimate Surrealist. It's Rafael Sasaki, Ultimate Football Player."

I always envied the way Rafael could jump right into things and make them flow so smoothly. I don't get how he makes it seem so … effortless.

Shoving that spark of envy down my throat, I focused back on the conversation at hand, listening to the two of them talk.

Penelope's eyes widened for a second, but she quickly recovered. "Wow, you actually recognized me! I was kind of worried people were going to accuse me of gate crashing the reunion; I'm surprised you remember me, Rafael. What gives?"

Rafael promptly answered, "Nothing really, I just prepared to make sure that I knew the names of everyone that was coming tonight. I had to check some, but I remembered you, actually. I remember all the other non-Japanese students from our class."

Interrupting, I said, "Namika Kiritani, Ultimate Surfer. I'm not sure if we've seen much of each other, but it's nice to meet you again."

Penelope closed her eyes in thought, swaying a bit, and said, "Not much, I think. We were in different classes the first two years. I sat in the seat behind you."

Trying to dig through my head, my mind suddenly digs up something on Penelope among the jumble of memories. Only a small memory, to be sure, but a memory.

It's the first day of my third year at Hope's Peak. Class has only just started and as I pass it back to the girl behind me, I ask her name. She replies with, "Penelope Breton, Ultimate Surrealist," and goes silent, leaving us in lingering silence.

We'd barely spoken to each other, but something about that little mention had sparked that thought. Although the name had slipped my mind, something had clicked when Penelope mentioned the seat. It was small, but I'd seen that girl's face so many times.

And yet I'd forgotten her name.

Penelope broke me out of my thoughts. "Yo. You thinking about something in particular? You've got that look on your face. You know the one."

Looking to her, I said, "Yeah. That actually sparked a little something. I had a lot of trouble remembering your name, I'll admit, but what you just said sparked something. Thanks!"

Penelope leaned back and said, "No need. I appreciate that you remember me and all, but I wasn't expecting anything from people, in all honesty. A lot of things have changed, you know? I'm having a lot of trouble recognizing everyone, actually."

Rafael jumped in, saying, "So, what have you been up to these past ten years? No one's really heard from you."

Penelope, sighing a bit, said, "Nothing much. Mostly a bunch of travelling, seeing the world. It's been a learning experience. Expenses are tight, but it's cool. I'm thinking about going back home soon, though."

Thinking about it myself, I said, "Yeah, travelling is really expensive. It eats into your savings."

Penelope answered, "I suppose, yeah. It just feels like the right time to go back home."

Rafael asked, "Where'd you come here from, anyway?"

Penelope paused for a moment to think and said, "South America. I visited a lot of countries while I was there, but I flew here from Argentina. Picked up a book to read on the flight while I was there, since someone I'd met while I was down there recommended them. I like checking out works from different cultures."

Rafael asked, "Was it Borges?"

Penelope nodded.

Rafael went with the flow of the conversation he started, making a joke. "Funny that a Brazilian would remember an Argentine author, of all things. I'm trying to remember where I even learned about him. I can't place it."

Confused, I went, "Wait, Borges? Who's that?"

"Jorge Luis Borges, an Argentine author and magical realist. The boss at the last job I worked at down in Argentina mentioned him, so I decided to have a look. Not sure what to make of him," Penelope mused to herself.

Turning to Rafael I asked, "I'm surprised you know it, Rafael. Is he well known in Brazil?"

Rafael replied, "He's pretty well-known in South America in general, but I am surprised I remembered him. I can't say I read fiction often, though. I mostly stick to the news. I'm surprised too."

Penelope told us, "The person that recommended him to me called him a surrealist, but I think a magical realist is a much better word for what he was. It's sad, but a lot of good Surrealist writers and artists get overlooked. Most people I know only remember Dali. There was one story…"

She trailed off, going deep into thought, swaying gently.

She suddenly stuck her finger up, though, as if she had an idea, and took on a more serious tone of voice as she explained things to us, "There was this one story that I read I've been thinking about 'The Garden of Forking Paths', like a puzzle I'm trying to take apart. A lot of different ideas to dissect, you know? It's best if you read the story yourself to understand, but I suppose you could picture it as a story about several possible futures happening simultaneously, each as irrevocable as the past it came with."

Penelope paused. "But I'm rambling now. Mostly wanted to speak up and get those thoughts of my head. I'm not sure how to feel about Borges as an author so far; I need some time to get my thoughts in order, but I thought speaking a little might help, so thanks."

As Penelope continued her lecture, with Rafael asking questions here and there, I zoned out, my mind wandering to the other people in the room, when I saw another woman lingering by us, who happened to choose that very moment to approach our table. I cast a sidelong glance at her, trying not to show that I was looking at her, but I couldn't help it. Something about her just struck me; she just looked so old.

She was about my height and had long, wavy grey hair pulled back into a ponytail with a grey bow. She had a rather curvy build, but nearly all of her skin besides her face was covered. She was wearing a long sleeved, dark red turtleneck shirt and a grey skirt with suspenders. She was wearing grey leggings and ankle boots as well. Her outfit wouldn't be the only thing that gave me odd vibes.

As I looked at her, we made eye contact; she looked away at first, trying not to look at me, but she made the sudden decision to approach our table. I got a better look at her face; she had red, bagged eyes. She was wearing red, square-framed glasses. Although her skin looked rather nice, she wore excessive red lipstick, blush, and grey eyeshadow. But, more importantly, there was this quality to her expression as she approached us; something about her expression just looked so despairing and sad. Almost as if there was no light in her eyes.

Not a single one of us could tell who the woman who approached us was, although she was an obviously a former classmate by the way she was talking. She came to our table, but did not sit down, looking over the table, although her eyes seemed drawn to Penelope.

She started up, facing towards Penelope, "H-Hello, d-do you remember me?"

Penelope startled by the woman's appearance, answered, "I-I don't actually. Were we in the same class?"

The woman paused, taking in Penelope's response, and slowly started up again, "Yes, but it makes sense that you wouldn't recognize me. I was … Mai Rikimaru. Now Mai Manabe. Ultimate Forger… no, former Ultimate Forger. I threw that title away."

I think everyone stopped breathing for a moment in shock when the woman said her name; no one here recognized this woman, but everyone remembered Mai, for better or for worse.

She was the Painting Terror of the Sixty-Seventh class, infamous for undermining other people's Ultimates by mimicking them and for her incredibly malicious pranks.

Luckily, I've never been on the receiving end of one, although I nearly did get paint bucketed by her in my first year at Hope's Peak. She pranked and bullied a lot of people, from what I've heard. She had a lot of victims, particularly among her own classmates; a lot of bad blood to deal with.

And thinking about it now, I'd heard rumors back in my second year that Mai had been targeting another artist in her class. I'd heard rumors about her targeting specific students frequently throughout the year, although she did often change up her targets. She was infamous for the paint bucket pranks she pulled, but when that got old, I heard she started doing more malicious forgeries to get people in trouble.

This is all just hearsay, but I was pretty sure that of all that was true when Mai revealed herself to us; to say we were shocked was an understatement. It was a totally different Mai from the one we'd known, the menace of a girl who was always wearing a smock. I almost didn't believe it.

Rafael looked at Mai with a guarded gaze as I held a strained smile, trying to act as if nothing was wrong as I scanned Penelope and Mai's faces. Penelope looked long and hard at Mai for a moment.

She asked Mai a single question, her tone hovering between casual and serious, "Why are you here?"

Mai, looking down and away from Penelope, and from all of us, barely whispered her response, "I-I wanted to apologize … for everything. All the pranks, all the cruel things I've ever done to you, everything. I wasn't going to … come tonight, but I w-wanted to make things right."

Penelope looked at Mai steadily, her face flickering through various emotions; her brow was furrowed, but her face had a softer quality than anger would. She didn't respond to Mai, leaving this strong tension in the air.

Mai forced herself to continue, her face looking as strained as ever, "I-I don't expect you to forgive me. I j-just wanted to say it."

Penelope looked at Mai and said, "Listen, I get it. I know more than anyone that people can change. But I can't let go of everything you did to me so easily."

Mai tried but failed to look at Penelope, instead looking beyond her and said, "I understand."

Penelope got up from the table pushing in her chair, speaking much more seriously. "That said, I'm going to go off my own for a while. I have a lot to think on right now, so I'd like some time to myself right now."

She turned to me and Rafael. "It was good speaking to you two, but I want to be alone right now, you know?"

Leaving us alone with Mai, Penelope headed off to the other side of a gym, although I suspect she wasn't headed there with any goal in particular as she ambled through the crowd.

Rafael got up next. "Namika, I'm going to meet up with a couple of our old buddies in that bar area they set up in one of the tents? You wanna come with?"

I paused, feeling my heart rise up in my throat as I asked a question. "Maybe, but I'm not going to drink. Who's going to be there?"

Rafael listed out the attendees to me. "I talked with them earlier. I think it's going to be Alfie, Setsuko, maybe James, and Beni—"

"I think I'll stay at this table for now," I said, interrupting him, "but I might stop by later. That good?"

Rafael nodded and said, "Yeah. I'll see you later."

And with that, he headed off towards the tent on the other side of the gym, where a few people I recognized were lined up in front of the table.

And instead of going to them, I decided to turn to Mai and ask her a simple question, mostly to satisfy my own curiosity but also to check in on her.

"How have things been?"

Mai remained quiet for a long time, then said, "Not good, but I'm feeling a little better today."

"That's nice," I told her, my heart lightening a bit at those words as I looked at her. She still had that sad quality, but even then, it felt good to hear her say that.

Even so, we fell into a tense silence for a while, neither of our eyes quite meeting as I desperately tried to think of another question I could ask her to keep the conversation going. She still hadn't gotten up, much to my surprise.

With that thought, I knew what I wanted to ask her. Glancing at her, I built up to courage to ask a more risky question.

"Mai, what are you doing, since you gave up your talent? I know I shouldn't ask, but… I wanted to know. You don't need to answer."

Mai went silent, not looking at me for a long time, but she eventually replied despite my expectations.

"... I'm a housewife now. It's tough, with three kids and all..."

"Oh," I thought out loud, "You have kids? Wouldn't have thought you the type to become a mother?"

Mai only replied after a long moment. "M-My kids m-make me very happy."

And for a brief moment, I saw Mai smile, her cheeks raising up, only for it to settle back down into that pained, sad expression again. It was then that a husky male voice called out to us, interrupting our conversation.

"Mai, I'd like to speak with you again about what we discussed earlier. Would you mind stepping away for a second?"

We both turned to the voice; he was another person in the class I had a lot of history with.

Michika Imai, the Ultimate Career Counselor.

The main thing that tipped off who he was his dark blue hair and olive skin, as well as the glasses he wore. Not to mention, his semi-formal attire, a black collared shirt, white jacket, black dress pants, and leather shoes, was also something I could see him wearing, even back in high school. The expression was stiff, cold.

Classic Michika.

I kept quiet for now, observing the two and hoping to avoid a conversation with him; I'm pretty sure the last time we talked before this was when I flooded the school before graduation. I'm not sure why the Student Council Secretary was always the one to scold me, but he was.

Mai lingered for a moment, thinking on those words, her brow furrowed, and answered, "I'd move if we have to, but I don't feel like having a one on one conversation right now."

Michika stared at her, his expression softening a little, "Listen, I respect your decision to reform yourself; it's a big decision and you're brave for making it and I want you to know that if you ever need my advice, I'm there."

He took out what looked like a business card and laid it in front of Mai. Mai picked up the card and looked it over, then put it down and pushed it away.

Mai said, "The thought's appreciated, but I don't need this..."

Michika furrowed his brow again and sighed. "So you do have plans for the future?"

"Yeah," Mai said, "I'm planning to go see someone after the reunion. I'd rather not go into it any further than that; it's still a little up in the air right now. I'm not sure how it'll work out."

Mai got up from the table. "That said, I think I want to be on my own for a while, so I'm going to go, if neither of you mind."

As she walked away towards the entrance door, both of our eyes lingered on Mai's back. I could just tell Michika was looking her out of the corner of my eye, scanning his face for his reaction and to see if he'd turn to me now that Mai was gone.

Michika turned to me and spoke. "I suppose this works out. There was actually something I wanted to talk with you about."

His stare was cold and this whole situation set off alarm bells in my head about past arguments with him, but something in his tone of voice made me decide to linger for just a little longer, just to hear him out.

I stayed silent, so he continued. "Listen, Namika. I know we didn't get along at all in our school years, but I want to talk about settling things, if we can. We caused each other a lot of trouble back then. I know this may sound strange, but I've been keeping an eye on everyone for the last years and that's part of why I'm doing this now."

A little wary, I looked at him and asked, "What do you want to do?"

He promptly replied, "I want us to start over with a clean slate. Settle things like adults."

I loosened myself a little, rolling my shoulders, and said, "I guess I'd be fine with it. Let bygones be bygones, right?"

"Yes, even that time you tried flooding the school. You were very lucky things turned out the way they did, you know? You could have caused a lot of damage, even if things did work out in the end."

And now he's right back to lecturing me.

This was not a part of high school life I wanted to relive.

I tensed up a little again, rolling my shoulders immediately afterwards to loosen them again. "I guess."

Michika arched one of his eyebrows. "That's your noncommittal reply, Namika. Every time you said, 'I guess' back in high school, it meant you took nothing in."

"I'll admit that I didn't listen to you much and that you did have some important points, but can I be honest, Michika?"

"What is it?" Michika barked, his voice tensing up again. He obviously suspected something had gone wrong in his plan.

I looked at his eyes, his gaze piercing me as I spoke, although something burned in me. "I'm starting to feel like this more an attempt to dress me down and get me to apologize for the reckless things I did back in high school than it is to actually help create peace between us."

Michika sighed. "Is that a no, then?"

Looking away from him and off in the distance, I said, "I suppose so. I'd like to move on from that more than anyone, but it doesn't feel like you are and I'm not sure if I am either."

Michika looked at me again, scanning my face. "Fine. Can we at least agree to try not to get into any more fights tonight? I'd rather not deal with reunion drama if I can help it. There's enough potential for that as it is, knowing this class."

"Yeah, I can agree to that," I replied, pushing myself back to get up and leave the table.

However, at this very moment, I felt something suddenly impact my right side, staggering me a little, although I managed to keep upright. I looked to the right to see what had hit me.

It was a child, of all things. He had messy indigo hair and he was a few feet shorter than me. If I were to guess, I'd say he was around elementary school age. He was wearing a light blue cardigan over an orange shirt with grey shorts. He was wearing black sneakers.

He had two different colored eyes, dark blue and sky blue. And that made me almost sure I knew who this kid's father was, and that thought brought back a mix of memories that I'd been trying to hold a back. I held them back just a little longer to ask a single question.

"Are you Benito's kid?"

The child's response was prompt. "Maybe! I'm Kyanite!"

Despite the boy's response, it was still obvious that this was Benito's kid; the resemblance was too close. Something about looking at him made something hurt. I'm not sure whether it was my head or my heart. A few memories bubbled up from somewhere as Michika came over to talk to Kyanite, ignoring me.

I'm laying back in the gymnasium, having come with Benito to watch one of his sparring matches. It's only a week until graduation.

It's been smooth sailing for the past few months.

Another acquaintance of mine, Harper Adair, has challenged him to a casual sparring match. They're doing a sword fight, of all things, and both are decked out in armor. A teacher is here to supervise, as are a few of the students.

The two fight rather cautiously at first, testing each other to see when they'll strike, playing with different moves. But suddenly, Benito's moves take on a more aggressive tone and he moves wildly and unpredictably, determined to win.

Harper defends, successfully warding him off, but only for a time. She steps back, parrying him again, but then he swings sideways-

I suppress the memory there, not going any further, trying to suppress all the questions rising up in my head.

Had I known what would happen, could I have prevented it?

Was there anything I could have done?

Did I do the right thing after all's said and done?

I still don't know. I don't know. Not at all. Don't wanna think about it. Stop.

A sudden exclamation of "Shit!" brought me out of my brooding thoughts.

For whatever reason, Kyanite had jumped onto Michika's back and was now forcing Michika to give him some kind of piggy back ride, although Michika hadn't taken one step from where's he'd been when he'd started talking to the kid.

The boy repeated what Michika had said as loudly as he could.

"Shit!"

Michika, clearly flustered, "Don't say that word! It's not for children!"

The boy paused for a moment, in contemplating, then said something very quietly, barely a whisper.

"Shit."

Michika, clearly annoyed, tried to grab the child off his shoulders and put him down, but the boy wriggled out of his grasp. Michika started the beginnings of what I suspect was another curse, but he stopped himself. Instead, he continued grasping for the child, struggling to get him off.

Michika kneeled down and finally forcing the child off his back, although he was careful to make sure he didn't fall over. A little frustrated, he called me. "Namika, I'm going to take care of this! I'll go get Benito, or at least someone who knows how to handle this kid!"

And with that, he ran off before I could even reply to him, dragging the boy off with him and leaving me to my own devices for what I figured would be a few minutes.

My stomach started to growl.

I went back over to one of the tents on the sides of the gym, where a surprising array of food was presented to us on a table that had been pushed against the wall. Plates of bread, cheeses, and meats were spread across the table, alongside a giant, towering cake with a big model ten at the top of it. There was a plate of sandwiches for people to eat as well.

However, my eyes were drawn to a very special platter. Right before the cake, towards the end of the table, there was a platter of maki sushi rolls. Although I couldn't tell what all the rolls were right off the back, I could see eel, tuna, and salmon, alongside many others. Rushing to grab a plate and a pair of chopsticks from the other end of the table, I rushed in and grabbed a roll or two of each kind. Most of it was already gone, which wasn't a surprise.

That done, I grabbed the first sandwich I saw and added it to my plate, then headed over to the nearest unoccupied table, not really caring where I sat. I just wanted to sit down for a few minutes and eat in peace. As I ate, I was finally able to relax a bit, the stress I had been building leading up the reunion finally dissipating a bit.

However, my meal would soon be interrupted by the same person that had left me to my own devices.

Suddenly, I saw Michika running back with someone; I could clearly tell it wasn't Benito, even from this distance. Although he was clearly on the tall side as Benito was, his short dark hair and beard made it immediately clear that this was not him. He was tall and toned, with a few scars here and there.

He was wearing a black leather jacket with a grey tank top and monochrome camouflage pants. I couldn't tell who he was at first, but I put it together quickly once I saw the dog tags around his neck.

James Vega, the Ultimate Soldier. Something seems different about him. I can't tell what, though.

As they approached me, the boy I'd seen earlier now absent, I quickly tried to gobble down the few sushi rolls I had remaining. They approached me as I still had food stuck on my mouth.

They both sat down at the table, right across from me. Michika coughed obviously, in a ploy to draw my attention. I looked at him.

I asked the first question that came to mind.

"What happened to the kid?"

Michika paused for a moment, a little frazzled by the question, but James came in to save him by saying, "We found the boy's dad. Apparently Benito's been looking everywhere for the little guy. I've never seen the man that frazzled. I get the feeling, though; dealing with lost children is never fun."

His expression darkened for a moment, but lightened up again soon after as he said, "It was good once we got the boy back with his dad, though! Michika even got a chance to lecture Kyanite on proper language."

Michika frowned, his shoulders slumped as he said, "Of all the times for a kid to hear me say something like that, it had to be today. It could be worse, though."

James started up, "Don't beat yourself up over it, Michika. Benito wasn't upset, so why should you be?"

Michika started up and said, "I never would have pictured Benito trying to explain the definition of a word without being too explicit. I always thought he was a blunt type."

I interrupted. "So everything's taken care of, then?"

"Yep," James answered.

Michika coughed again.

James glanced at him and asked, "What's up, Imai?"

Michika glanced at me and back at James, then said, "I need Namika for something, actually. I was occupied with other things I needed to take care of earlier, but now that we're free and we've got our own talks over with, I figured I should let you know that Yusa wants to talk to you."

"Why?" I asked.

"Apparently, she considers you a good friend. She's pretty busy helping run the reunion tonight, but she did ask me to take you over there whenever I have the chance. So we're doing that. Now."

Michika gestured for me to follow him as he got up. I paused for a moment, reluctant, but the thought of seeing Yusa was just enough for me to bear dealing with Michika for a little while longer. I got up and pushed my chair back into the table.

Michika turned back to James and said, "It was good to see you and catch up, James. How long will you be around tonight?"

James answered, "I'll be around all night, but I want to catch up with everyone first. Speaking of which, Kiritani, if you've got time, can we meet up and catch up later? I don't feel like we've gotten the chance to properly talk yet."

I answered, "Sure. Where?"

James answered, "I was figuring somewhere by the bar tent, sometime later in the night. Me and a few others are still trying to figure things out, but we're planning on meeting up and talking at one of the tables or by the bar around ten or so? You interested?"

"Yeah!" I answered, not really thinking about it. There were still a lot of classmates I had left to meet, so the idea of a meetup sounded great, even if it was last minute.

James said, "Sounds great, I'll see you there, Kiritani!"

A random question popped into mind and I asked it, not really thinking.

"How was it, taking care of the kid?"

James laughed a little to himself, "Not bad. I deal with my own kid all the time nowadays, so dealing with a different one isn't a difficult task. I can't say it was easy, but I liked doing it."

I asked, "Wouldn't it be tough to deal with that and the whole being a soldier thing?"

James expression turned a little grimmer for a moment, his brow furrowed, and he said, "I don't really do much soldiering, nowadays. It's mostly just training work, among other things, but I can't complain. I'm doing pretty well, actually!"

He laughed.

"James—"

Michika coughed, still standing where he was and barely trying to hide the fact he was glaring at me.

The realization of what I'd just been doing came to me immediately, before Michika could even say anything.

Oops. I got distracted.

"Namika, we need to go. I'm not sure how long Yusa will be free for." Michika interrupted, getting impatient with our ongoing conversation that had probably gone on for far longer than he would have liked.

He looked to James, "Sorry to interrupt your conversation, but hopefully I'll see you later. Are you fine with being on your own for a while?"

"Yes, sir." James said, nodding to the both of us. He looked oddly relaxed nowadays, especially compared to his high school years.

We turned to go, walking away from the table. As we started, Michika said, "Thanks again for the help dealing with the boy, James!"

"Like I said to Namika earlier, it's no problem. I've got some experience dealing with my own daughter, so I know how to handle these things. She's younger, but I can handle these scenarios when they come up. Let me know if you need anything else done tonight, okay? I know you and the rest of the Student Council have been pretty busy." James said.

Michika said, "Thanks, I'll keep that in mind," and started walking away from the table. I followed him, rapidly catching up despite his slightly earlier departure.

James called out, "I'll see you around, Kiritani! You too, Michika!"

"See you!" I called back.

"He's way more relaxed now," I remarked to Michika.

"True, but he's still the same old reliable Captain James Vega. Don't disrespect him." Michika replied.

"I didn't mean any disrespect," I answered. Michika didn't reply back, seemingly deep in thought as he focused on what I assume was looking for Yusa.

I couldn't help but wonder about how many people I'd be able to see by the end of the night; I wondered how everyone was doing, especially since I hadn't heard from many of them in a while.

I was going to see Yusa now and I planned on meeting up with James and a bunch of my former classmates later in the night, so I figured this was going to be a good night from here on out.

Let's just say that my prediction missed the mark.

A/N: Welcome to the first cast introduction chapter of BAF! We're not in the Killing Game quite yet, but hopefully these next few class reunion chapters will give everyone a good chance to get to know the cast. Let me know what you think of everyone we've met so far.

I apologize for taking so long with this first chapter, but hopefully I'll be able to pick up a more rapid updating speed as I get a feel for everything. Sorry for the long wait! Here's the character list for those who've yet to see it. Most of you have probably already seen it on my profile by now, but here it is again!

Cast list:

Males:

Rafael Sasaki, Ultimate Soccer/Football Player (Treeja)

Michika Imai, Ultimate Career Counselor (RioA)

Kaisuke Kadokawa, Ultimate EOD Technician (Trust Me I'm Here)

Ren Ikeru, Ultimate Dollmaker (Abicat Eco)

Alfie Lenora, Ultimate Tap Dancer (Wolffang1795)

Benito Tendou, Ultimate Combatant (ShyJoker)

Kaizen Hyakutake Ultimate Bowler (KISL)

Captain James Vega, Ultimate Soldier (tobi-is-an-artist-too)

Moses Salamanca, Ultimate Luchador (Orlando Butler)

Females:

Namika Kiritani, Ultimate Surfer (me)

Penelope Breton, Ultimate Surrealist (irwegwert)

Mai Manabe, Ultimate Forger (SanityRequiem)

Harper Adair, Ultimate Renaissance Fair Actress (Ziggymia123)

Yusa Sugiura, Ultimate Local News Reporter (TheRoseShadow21)

Yumeko Murata, Ultimate Genealogist (Crimson Spider Lily)

Chisaki Hoshimoto, Ultimate Mathematician (zephryr)

Maya Toono, Ultimate Musical Theater Actress (mayurie)

Midori Kaidokuzai, Ultimate Chemist (liammarklh88)

Setsuko Setsushi, Ultimate Remixer (PainX65)

With the final cast list revealed, I'll get right back into working on this story! Thanks to everyone for their submissions. If anyone has questions, please feel free to PM me!