Here's another chapter. This one is slightly different. A lot different.

Duskzilla: Of course it's a hard choice. But it's a choice people often find themselves having to make. Weighing happiness is never easy.

JoshGamerV: It's not exactly a continuation, but the next chapter is here.

Pokemon Academy: Beginning of Beginnings

Chapter 158

This world is filled with boring things.

When did I first start thinking that way? As far back as I could remember… life has had nothing of interest in it.

My name was Murasaki Kanou. This is the story of how I killed myself.

Murasaki Kanou was by all metrics an exceptionally ordinary girl. A fact that could be recognized by a single glance. This wasn't some sort of anime. Her long hair was the exact same black color as every other girl in her middle school. She didn't wear glasses because of something interesting like a video game obsession, or studying too hard, she just had an ordinary genetic predisposition to faulty eyesight as a result of a deficiency shared with her parents. She was a regular height, and her chest might have been slightly too big, but that was because her waist had a few more pounds on it than average, which evened everything out. She lived in a rather ordinary family, with an older brother and a younger sister. Her father was a salary worker and her mother a housemaker. They were entirely loving and ordinary parents, providing her with a home environment as stable and regular as any normal family.

If there was one thing about Kanou that could be said to be extraordinary, it was that she was smart. Kanou wasn't just smart. She was smarter than every other person she knew. Most eighth graders who felt this way were just suffering from eighth-grade middle-school syndrome. But for Kanou, it was just an objective fact.

And there was nothing that made life more boring than being smarter than everyone else. People often think that smart people are ostracized and bullied, or respected for their intelligence. At the very least, they gather together with other intelligent students. But Kanou was not on a level comparable to that. She had no ability to connect with others that she could not relate to. She had no friends. Although she was the smartest student in her school, no one in her class would be able to point her out of a crowd. She was the quintessential background character.

"Kanou? Is there a person with that name in this class?" Those were words that she would hear, whenever someone was looking for her. Which of course seldom happened. No one would need something from someone like her. She could say more about this, but what would be the point?

Every day went exactly the same.

Wake up.

Go to school.

Come home.

Pretend to study (she didn't need to).

Watch the same boring shows with her family.

Go to sleep.

Repeat.

That was what life was. The others around her seemed like they were living more interesting lives. Talking with their friends about boys, or the newest pokemon, or who was the cutest gym leader.

But were they really? Their conversations… they were all so predictable. So boring. Not a one of them drew her in at all. And even if she were to join in with them…

"Kanou is just so boring."

"I completely forgot she was there."

"She never talks to anyone."

"She's always just looking down on us because she's a little smart."

"If she's so smart, why doesn't she just transfer schools?"

"Would anyone even care if she died?"

"Let's just forget about her."

"Forget about who?"

It was all so predictable.

A wise man once said "the question of how long someone believed in Santa Claus is a worthless topic that would never come up in idle conversation. Having said that, if you're going to ask me how much of my childhood I spent believing in an old man in a red suit, I can confidently say that I never believed in him to begin with." This was the level of incredulity with which Kanou approached every aspect of her life. It was all so ridiculous. So boring. Other kids her age would be out adventuring the regions, capturing pokemon and fighting battles with other trainers. Would that be something exciting? No, that would be a life just like any other. So why bother? Why try becoming a pokemon trainer, if there was nothing that would set her apart from the others?

If there was something that Kanou took pride in, it was her ability of predicting the outcome of a situation. All she needed to do was study something for a little while, and in no time at all she could see how events would play out. If she became a pokemon trainer, then her course would be obvious. She would go to a school, perhaps? No, that would be basic. Then perhaps instead, she would strike out on her own. Everyone else did that. Capture a few pokemon. Her intelligence would make her a very effective trainer. Nothing was easier than predicting the actions of humans and pokemon that were less intelligent than her. She could easily see herself becoming the champion, with no real effort needed on her part. It was such a boring future. And the future ahead of her was no different. She would graduate at the top of her class. Attend a prestigious university and discover something revolutionary. Within the next seven years, she would achieve fame and prestige the world over. And to what end? Would wealth and fame make things more interesting for her? She could not imagine a future where that would be the case. Rather, it was far more likely that she would continue the same path, more discoveries, more laurels, and all of it would mean nothing. That was the problem when you're smart enough to see what the future holds. There's no enjoyment to be found by walking that path.

I wonder… if I had been born an idiot, would I have more fun with my life?

Kanou often thought this when she observed her classmates. None of them were at all interesting to her. But they all seemed to take such great pleasure in what they were doing. The only possible reason for that would be they were not smart enough to see how boring and predictable their actions really were.

They're like characters in a video game. Only speaking preprogrammed dialogue written by a designer working with a limited number of possible combinations. And once you've discovered all the possible conversations and the algorithm that generates them, what point is there in continuing the conversation?

Isolation was quite boring in its own way, but at least it was quiet.

Kanou sighed and closed the book she'd just finished. Mysteries were the most boring books of all, except for all the others. Once again, she had seen the ending coming from the start. And this one had been purported as one of the best.

How meaningless… if you're going to write a mystery, at least make it difficult to solve.

She turned in her desk seat and looked out the window.

Sorry, Kyon, but even if aliens, time travelers, ghosts, demons, evil organizations, or espers existed, this world wouldn't change very much. It would still be the same boring, predictable nonsense. Kanou sighed. Even in a world that was filled with such wonderous things as pokemon, there was nothing to break up the tedium of a life with nothing of value.

I wish my Haruhi Suzumiya would come someday…

But no, the boring days of life continued on, unwilling to abate for even a moment.

For a brief moment in time, Kanou wondered if having another person in her life would make things interesting, at least for a little while. So she decided to seek out a companion. A romantic partner would be an acceptable place to start. Friends required far too much upkeep to maintain, but a middle-schooler boyfriend could be kept in her life through sexual favors, which would require no real effort on her part. It might even be enjoyable.

"Sorry, but I don't think I can go out with someone so… plain."

"I see…"

Her first attempt was an exceptional failure. Which was strange. For the first time she could remember, events had not gone in the direction Kanou had anticipated. This required further study.

After asking out more boys, the answer remained the same. Rejection after rejection. By the time she had worked through four of the viable candidates on her list, a pattern had become apparent. It isn't just the world that is boring and predictable.

I'm boring and predictable.

No one would want to go out with such a boring and empty person. It was a conclusion she had refused to see because she held such a high opinion of herself. But really, she was no different from the other humans that surrounded her, she was just a little smarter than they were. Why would that make her in any way interesting? She really should have seen it coming. Someone who was interesting wouldn't be so bored with their life. But now that she could accept that truth, she understood that there was really nothing of worth to be found in the person she saw in the mirror.

It was all meaningless. The future she saw for herself would just be more of the same.

So was there any reason to keep going?

Standing atop a large bridge, Kanou contemplated these thoughts while staring down at the rushing river below. It was winter time, so the water was freezing and the level was very shallow. If she went in headfirst, then it would be over quickly, she was sure.

"Well now, get on with it!"

Kanou glanced aside. She hadn't even seen the woman walk up to her. She was short, wearing a backless tight black dress that clung to her curvaceous figure. A long cape was draped over her bare shoulders, and she had bright pink hair tied into two long pigtails. Atop her head was a black hat with a wide brim and a bent point, like that of a witch. Her sapphire-blue eyes were sparkling, and she held a video camera in her hands.

"I've never seen a real suicide before! I'm gonna beat out Logan Paul with this video for sure!"

"Who are you?" Kanou asked.

"My name is Luna Lunark!" The witch girl replied, walking closer to her. "But you can call me Lulu!"

"Are you here to stop me from killing myself?" Kanou asked. "If so, don't bother."

"Nah, I'm good," Lulu said, walking around her, trying to find the right angle. "Oh, but if you don't mind, could you try and make your jump a little interesting? For the viewers. Maybe do a double spin or something. Try and land in a pose, too! Like a double-peace sign or something!"

Well this was certainly strange.

"It's not so easy to see, is it?"

"What?"

"My actions," Lulu replied. "Right now, you're troubled by trying to figure out my thoughts and actions. Am I really eager to see you kill yourself? Or is it a smokescreen? Who can say?"

Kanou scowled.

"How did you know that?" Kanou asked.

"Do you think you're the only one who's thought the people around her were so boring and predictable?" Lulu asked. "You're no different from anyone else. Just another poor, predictable human."

"If you think that makes me mad, then prepare to be disappointed," Kanou replied. "I don't care about that. I'm already well aware of how boring a person I am."

"Oh, poo. That's no fun," Lulu huffed, closing her camera. "And I had this big explanation all set to go, too! You really know how to spoil the mood!"

"I don't need something like that," Kanou said. "I don't really care."

"How did I know what you were feeling? I'm so glad you asked!" Lulu said, smiling.

This girl does not listen!

"You see, my eyes are quite special!" Lulu replied, her eyes shining. "I can see the auras of other people! It's all radiating out of you, like the afterglow of sex! Not that you've ever experienced that… This gives me unparalleled insight into the feelings of others. And right now… that aura of yours… it stinks. It's reeking the darkness of someone with nothing to live for. Someone ready to throw it all away."

"It's honestly boring," Lulu sighed, closing the camera. "No sense in watching someone kill themselves like this… so predictable. It won't get any views at all."

"Sorry for being predictable, then," Kanou replied, turning back to the water. "But I still-"

Suddenly, there was no more bridge beneath her feet, and the water was coming fast. The wind whipped across her face. Before she hit the river, Kanou managed to turn around and look up to see Lulu, a wicked smile on her face, with her hands extended out over the edge.

Then everything went black.

Kanou woke up, panting.

So I'm still… in this world…

"Oh, good, you're awake," Lulu's annoying face popped up in front of her, a broad smile spread across it. "It was a real pain to pull you out of that river! I'd be in a real tight spot if you died after pushing you in!"

"So you were pretending to kill me, to see if the sudden confrontation with my mortality would cause me to change my mind?"

"I mean, basically?"

"Sorry to disappoint you again, then," Kanou said, sitting up. "But there's still no point in living in a boring world like this. Next time, don't bother pulling me out of the river."

"Oooh, big talk," Lulu smirked. "It's real easy to kill yourself when you don't even bother living in the first place."

Suddenly, Kanou was pushed back down into the bed. Lulu straddled her, wrapping her slender hands around Kanou's throat, pressing her down into the pillow.

What… what is this? Kanou coughed as Lulu's grip tightened, darkness creeping up into the corners of her eyes.

Kanou reached up and clenched Lulu's wrists, trying to pull her hands off. But Lulu was deceptively strong for her small form.

"You can't hide anything from my eyes… didn't I already tell you that?" Lulu asked, smirking down at the suffocating girl. "Silly girl… if you want to die so badly… then why are you struggling like this?"

Wh-why?

"You don't want to die, little girl. You're just too scared to really try living."

Lulu ripped her hands free, Kanou letting out a gasp, air flowing into her lungs. She raised her fingers to the bruises forming on her throat, coughing.

"If you really think that life is so empty and boring, then why don't you come with me for a little while?" Lulu asked, getting off the bed. "I might be able to make things a little more interesting for you."

Kanou blinked, and followed Lulu with her eyes as the girl walked out of the room.

How pointless…

But I guess there isn't any reason to refuse…

Kanou glanced around the room. It was rather strange. Parts of it were drab and empty, and other parts were piled to the brim with occult paraphernalia. Her bookshelf was a bizarre clash of contrasts, with old and dusty tomes in foreign languages placed cover to cover beside shoujo manga. Kanou got out of bed and left the room, walking down the dusty hallway that the girl must have taken. When she reached the end of the hallway, she arrived in a den.

This place was rather old and dusty as well, it seemed the entire house was. The carpet was an eerie black, and so was the wallpaper. And the furniture. And the curtains.

Wait. And the fucking window pane. It had been painted black.

Except for her pale skin, Lulu was practically invisible. She was a head made of various shades of pinks, with two blue eyes, hovering in midair above an armchair. The only other source of color in the room were a pile of old newspapers, spread haphazardly across the floor.

"Welcome… are you… our newest guest?"

A voice echoed behind Kanou, cold breath tickling the side of her face. A clammy hand brushed through her hair. She whirled around, but there was no one behind her.

"Oh, don't bother with that," Lulu called. "That's just Yomi."

"Yomi?"

"My roommate. Don't worry about her, you won't be able to see her yet. It takes training to see ghosts, after all."

The hair on the back of Kanou's arms pricked up. A real ghost?

"So I was wondering what I could show you that might possibly get you to start having an interest in things…" Lulu sighed. "But I'm really drawing a blank. Thankfully, I dug through your backpack, and found this!"

Lulu held up the mystery book that Kanou had been reading. Its pages were wrinkled from being dumped in the river, and it smelled a little moldy.

"You like mysteries?"

"Not really," Kanou replied, shaking her head. "They're-"

"Boring and predictable, right?" Lulu sighed. "Geez, if you're so smart, don't you have any other vocabulary? The readers must be getting bored out of their skulls by your repetitive dialogue."

Lulu smirked.

"How would you like a mystery that isn't so boring and predictable?"

Kanou raised her eyebrow.

"Have you ever heard about the 'Village of Demons'?" Lulu asked, narrowing her eyes. Her playful smile had vanished. Kanou felt another chill run down her spine. She had begun to realize that she had no idea who this strange girl was. She had pushed her into the river, pulled her out, taken her to… wherever this was, and then began choking her the moment she woke up.

Kanou got a bad feeling. Her life might seriously be in danger.

But… so what? For once, this was a situation where she couldn't see the outcome. And it was all because of this loony, unpredictable girl.

Ah, well. She'd been ready to kill herself just a short while ago, so who was she to complain, really? If she was going to die, at least this girl would probably make it interesting. That could be something she'd be able to get some feeling of enjoyment out of, at the very least. So she might as well indulge this Lulu's strange words, at least a little.

"There was a small village," Lulu said, digging through the newspapers. "Ah! Here it is!"

Kanou walked over and took the paper, looking over it. It wasn't in Kantonese, but she could still translate it easily enough. From what she could see…

An entire village… driven to madness… killing themselves… a town that died in one night…

"It's interesting, isn't it?" Lulu asked. "What made them decide to kill themselves? Why did they all go crazy? And the survivors… by the time the authorities got there, only about twenty people were still breathing… ranting and raving about demons and horrors beyond imagining. Some slit their throats while in custody, one girl would scream whenever the lights went out, and one woman even went as far as slicing off her own eyelids… Pointless death after pointless, violent death… and in the end, they were all dead, with only one person still whole and hale, all these years later."

Lulu's eyes were brimming with a light that Kanou almost felt herself sympathizing with. She didn't realize how tightly she'd been clenching the paper in her hands.

"I wonder, that kid… why are they the only one to survive? Why did all the others go mad? Was it really a demon? Some sort of mass hypnosis by a wild pokemon? Some people even theorize that it might be a government experiment that went bad, or some sort of evil doomsday cult… but no one knows the truth! And the one person who could say something, they're not talking! Doesn't it make you just want to figure it out?!"

Kanou bit her lip. It didn't make sense. There had to be more…

"Is there anything else?" Kanou asked. "More pages? Something, anything!"

"Oho, interested, are we?" Lulu smirked. "I thought you might be. I've been researching this case for the last five years. Would you like me to see what I've come up with? I'll be happy to show you!"

Lulu rose from her seat and gestured for Kanou to follow her.

Wait a minute…

"You said you've been researching this for the last five years… how old are you, really?" Kanou asked. From her looks, she thought that Lulu was the same age as her, maybe a little older, but…

"Kanou-chan…" Lulu smiled, the air around her growing ominous. "You should never ask a woman her age."

"R-right, yes ma'am."

"Not 'ma'am', call me Lulu."

Kanou spent the weeks of winter break living with Lulu, and learning from her. She let her parents know where she was, but she probably didn't need to bother. In the meantime, she studied more and more on the case about the "Village of Demons" case. But no matter how much she read on the topic, she still didn't arrive at an answer.

And she'd never had more fun.

"Isn't this something worth living for?" Lulu asked, smiling. "Something you can really devote your time and energy to? Rather than killing yourself? An intellect like yours, Kanou-chan, is better spent on something more… exciting."

"Yes, you're right," Kanou said, smiling, looking over the testimony of the victims who'd managed to make it through the first night and survive in police custody for a time. "Everything around me… it's all so boring… but this-!"

"Ah! You smiled!" Lulu beamed. "You're really cute when you do that!"

"O-oh, really?" Kanou said, looking down in embarrassment.

"Yup! You know, Kanou, you're always so gloomy, and you've got such a negative outlook! Of course things seem boring to you like that!"

"Well, I mean… that's just who I am…"

"Pfft. That's dumb. You were about to kill yourself a few weeks ago, remember?"

"Well, yes…"

"Honestly, I think killing yourself is dumb to begin with," Lulu sighed. "If you're going to die, why not become a new person, instead? Becoming someone new is essentially like dying anyway. There might be an afterlife, but why not try and make the most out of this one, first? You're always going off about how everything is so predictable and boring, but have you ever tried changing yourself, first?"

"Changing… myself?"

"Yup!" Lulu said, skipping over to Kanou. She put her fingers on the sides of Kanou's lips, and pushed up, forcing her mouth into a smile.

"If you hate yourself, then just change. Become a brand new Kanou-chan!"

"Maybe… I could become someone else…" Kanou said quietly. "Someone who wasn't so boring…?"

"Of course you can!" Lulu laughed. "It's worth a shot!"

The next day, Kanou began the process of killing herself once again.

If I'm going to become a new me… then I wonder if someone with an attitude like Lulu might be more exciting… Lulu seems to live an interesting life… but if I'm just copying her, then wouldn't that make me predictable, too?

The first change was a small one. She traded in her ugly pair of glasses for some contacts. But that was something everybody did. Not a big change there. If no one was looking at her to begin with, they wouldn't even notice. She would need something a little more drastic if she really wanted to become a new person. Something eye-catching, something to draw the attention of others, so she'd never be mistaken for her previous self.

Well… everyone says blondes have more fun… right? Kanou asked herself, swallowing nervously as she entered the hair salon.

She stepped out two hours later with freshly curled golden locks and a broad smile to go along with them. Looking in a mirror, she looked nothing like her former self. Sure, she could still lose a few pounds, but that was the price that a sweet-tooth like hers would have to bear with. Of course, if she began exercising, and using makeup… that would kill off any traces of her former self, wouldn't it?

Of course, there was still the problem with her wardrobe. Drab old sweaters and sweatpants didn't suit the glamorous look her new hairstyle seemed to support. She supposed that the next stop she'd make would be to the mall.

Nope. No good. No good at all.

She could throw together an ensemble that would make the most stylish girls in school mad with envy, but… why?

Copying things from the latest fashion magazines, that wasn't something the new her would do. That would just make her the same as all those other vapid, flashy girls in class. No, she needed to find something else… something to really make her stand out…

Unfortunately, she couldn't find a damn thing. All the clothing stores in the shopping centers carried the exact same bland apparel. Wasn't there anything appealing? Anything unique or original that she could-

Her train of thought was derailed as she turned a corner, coming across a hobby store. It was the kind of shop you'd find in akihabara, selling anime merchandise and cosplay clothing. But there it was in the window, wrapped around a mannequin, exactly what she'd been looking for.

Kanou didn't have anything even close to being like it at home. It was a dress made of black fabric, divided into two connected sections. The skirt was flowy and would probably reach down to her knees, but billow out just enough thanks to the petticoat underneath. It was hemmed with white lace, and the sleeves were made entirely of white, going down to the elbows, and were hemmed with black lace instead. It gave the outfit an almost sleeveless look. More designs of white lace made up the detail work, including large crosses over the skirt section, which coordinated well with the crosses lining the black tights and the crosses on the toe of the shoes. The front was tied up with white ribbons, all the way up to the throat. There was even a headdress made of black cloth and white lace, like the kind worn by a maid.

Kanou's eyes were shining, and she let out the breath she didn't know she'd been holding.

It was perfect. She couldn't get in there to buy it fast enough. It would set her back substantially (the contacts and the hair were already pricey, to say the least!) but it was so worth it.

When she looked at herself in Lulu's mirror that night, she couldn't even recognize herself.

"It's like an entirely new Kanou-chan!" Lulu cheered. "You really blew me away! I said to change yourself, but this…"

"No…" Kanou said, shaking her head. "It's not done… not really."

"Oh?"

"I'm not a new Kanou…" Kanou corrected her. "No… 'Murasaki Kanou' was a boring, empty girl whose very existence accomplished nothing of value… this girl isn't her… I don't see a speck of her when I look at myself anymore."

"Murasaki Kanou fell into the river and died two weeks ago… what you've known until now was only her ghost. But now… I'm here."

The girl who was no one stared at her reflection. She turned on her heels, looking at herself from all angles. Remember Lulu's advice, she decided to try out a smile. Smiling had always looked out of place on Kanou's face, but on her face… it went quite well.

"Lulu, I need to come up with a new name for myself. Something interesting, exciting… A name that stands out… Something… suitable for my new self."

"Those clothes… you look almost like you're taking a page from my wardrobe," Lulu mused. "Maybe you'd be rather suited for something witchy… I'm quite the expert, not to brag, but…"

"Not necessarily… it needn't be so high like that… rather, a name fit for an odd girl… I think 'Sylvia' has a certain… panache to it. An air of mystique."

"Not bad, not bad…"

"And of course, I can't go with a family name like Murasaki… that's so… pedestrian. Something out there would be good."

Her eyes fell on the old, wrinkled book on the floor, discarded weeks ago. The detective was quite an amateur, but his name had stuck out to her at the time.

"…Driscoll, yes, that goes quite well with 'Sylvia' indeed…" She smiled to herself.

Rest in peace, Murasaki Kanou. Your life may have been boring, but it wasn't meaningless. Thank you for struggling for all these years… but now you're no longer needed. Don't regret on the other side, though… I won't forget your sacrifice, all so that I could be born.

"Sylvia Driscoll… yes, that's quite an interesting name indeed…"

Sylvia stared at herself, and placed her fingers on the sides of her lips, forcing a smile to her face. It would come to her more naturally, with practice.

Haruhi really did have the right idea. If the world is so boring… then you just have to do your part to try and make it interesting.

So the boring Murasaki Kanou has left this world, and in her place, a shiny and new Sylvia Driscoll!