I'm sure most of you weren't expecting to see me here again, but here I am! I have finally wrapped up the second chapter after going off and on writing for the past few months, so I hope you guys like it! I just wanted to say thank you to everyone for waiting patiently, and I hope this chapter exceeds your expectations! Also, I'm still working on character descriptions, so I apologize if they may not be as creatively written as the other elements in this chapter. This is also partly why Tsurugi's outfit was so basic in the first chapter, haha, most of the clothing mentioned in your character descriptions I had to get visual references of. One more note, please let me know if I wrote your character wrong, it would really help me improve writing them in future chapters. Once again, I apologize for the long delay of the chapter, and I hope you enjoy! :D
Closing the door behind him, Tsurugi entered a narrow hallway that was densely lit with plain gray walls. To the right of the hallway was a door facing him and he found a blank wall to the left. He also noticed five doors aligned across the hallway identical to the one he had come out of. With a closer inspection he realized that each had a pixilated photo attached. On the door he had come out of was a pixilated photo of himself, like the one shown on the tablet, indicating that it was his own room.
These other doors must lead to the other Kusanagi students' rooms he realized. Nothing else catching his attention, Tsurugi opened the door to his right, the room ahead bestowing a significantly different atmosphere from the hallway he had just left.
The walls were made of brick, below a ceiling made of glass in a mesmerizing pattern bringing in plenty of sunlight that there was no need for a light bulb or any other source of light in the room. The floors were made of hardwood flooring, giving the room a rather mellow and welcoming appearance overall. In addition to this, the walls were covered with many plaques, awards, and framed photos of a variety of people, the latter of which some Tsurugi recognized as well-known alumni of the academy. In the center were two couches with velvet cushioning; similar to the chair in his room, and below was a carpet that stretched over most of the floor that was thick enough that if you were to sit on it, it would feel comfortable. Finally, on both walls to the right and the left of where he had come in, there were two large mahogany bookshelves each holding many contents. At one of the bookshelves to his right was a tall man facing away from him, seemingly staring at an open book in his hands.
Once he reached the man, Tsurugi tapped him on the shoulder, but before he could speak the man had already turned around to face Tsurugi.
"Why hello there," he said as he took off a white fedora and placed it on his chest while bowing, "I'm quite sure we haven't met before, now have we? I can see by your face that you would like to know of my given talent as the Ultimate Journalist."
Astonished, Tsurugi simply nodded. Now getting a better look at him, the man was at least a few feet taller than him and had smooth tanned skin and cat-like red eyes that seemed to stare into his soul. He had naturally wavy lilac hair, that parted in the middle and reached down to his neck. He was currently wearing a white trench coat, with black buttons, that he had left open over a red vest that partially covered a black shirt, slightly unbuttoned, as well as a red tie that was loosely hanging around his neck. Moreover, he wore white dress pants and red snakeskin shoes, and his white fedora, which he had now placed back on his head. Tsurugi also noticed the fedora had a red ribbon tied around it, with the addition of two playing cards, the ace of diamonds and the seven of hearts. Lastly, he was wearing a floral engraved gold pocket watch that had a chain connecting from his vest to one of his trench coat breast pockets.
Still somewhat bewildered, Tsurugi introduced himself as the Ultimate Screenwriter and a Kusanagi student.
"If you don't mind," he continued after his introduction, "could you tell me your name?"
"Ah, everybody always wants a title to match with a face, don't they," The man smirked and once again bowed as he spoke, "You may refer to me as Horitsu for the remainder of our stay here, but that wasn't quite what you expected to hear, was it?"
Tsurugi was again astonished with the way the man, Horitsu, spoke, and was about to respond when he felt a small vibration from his pocket. The source of the vibration was the tablet which he had placed in his pocket earlier, which had a notification from "Profiles". Opening the app, he found a pixilated picture that looked like Horitsu underneath the Kusanagi column. It also displayed a list of general info just as his own profile had.
"HORITSU"
HEIGHT: 5'11"
WEIGHT: 162 Ibs.
BLOOD TYPE: A+
D.O.B: December 13th
LIKES: Rube-Goldberg experiments, Oneirology, Apple Pie
DISLIKES: Corrupt authority figures, Organized crimes, Mint flavored things
NOTES: Ultimate JOURNALIST
Interesting…it appears as if not even this device seems to know Horitsu's full name. Tsurugi mused. Pocketing his tablet away, Tsurugi found Horitsu looking at an identical tablet to his own, presumably reading his own info.
"According to this tablet, I believe you are the last of the Kusanagi students that I have met." Horitsu stated.
Could this have to do with the reason I found myself in my bed, not remembering anything previous to entering the academy? Tsurugi wondered, and then replied, "Actually, you're the first student that I have met. I'm sure you noticed that I just have came out of my room…but the thing is, I was asleep, and when I came to consciousness, I had no memory whatsoever besides entering the school. Do you have any idea why this is?"
Horitsu gave a sudden grave expression and shook his head, "Unfortunately, none of us know what has happened. That is, the other student's I have met. The same fortune came upon each one of us; waking up with no recollection of the previous events that lead to the reason we were asleep. At this moment, I myself am trying to figure out our current predicament, but for now there has been no signs of life other than us students in the school, at least according to what some of the other's told me, although I'll have to see for myself soon."
Tsurugi furrowed his brow, as the information given made the whole situation even more confusing, but nonetheless listened as Horitsu continued to speak.
"As for now, there are still many questions, which I hope will be solved with an explanation in the near future." Although this was unsettling, Tsurugi decided to change the subject.
"By the way," he remarked, "earlier on you mentioned a few times how you had met some of the other students – where would they be now?"
"The others and I had woken up around the same time, but after introducing ourselves, each of us parted and went their separate ways. I, for one stayed here to learn about our current predicament, as you know." he recalled.
"In case you haven't noticed, behind me is a door that leads to the dojo, which is part of the Kusanagi dormitory. There is another student inside there, although I particularly despise the person for who they are." Horitsu scoffed.
How could he say such forceful words towards a person he just met…I wonder why he dislikes them so much…
Nonetheless, whether the person was someone he would enjoy being around or not, Tsurugi still would like to meet this person.
"Thank you for all the information," Tsurugi smiled, although noticed Horitsu still seemed bothered about the present thought of the other student. "But I should let you focus on trying to figure out what's going on."
"No need to thank me, although you are right. I need to concentrate in order to find our conclusion. Goodbye for now," he said with a bow, as Tsurugi nodded and then opened the door which apparently to Horitsu, led to the dojo.
Although not as large as the previous room, the dojo itself was quite spacious. The floors were lined with wooden tiles, and it was spotless besides the fact that there was a large box in the corner. The walls to his left and right were covered with traditional shoji screens and the wall in front of him had two scenic paintings hung on it. Additionally, above the shoji and the paintings on each wall were bamboo panels.
Another notable discovery was that attached to a few of the walls were a collection of weapons; from swords to spears, which was a rather interesting addition to the room.
In the center of the room was a young lady, strands of her dark brown hair framing the right side of her face, the rest in a ponytail which Tsurugi also noticed had a single red streak. She was wearing a black leather jacket over a gray turtleneck sweater and had a silver locket necklace around her neck. She also wore black jeans and black combat boots, with the extension of a brown belt containing some covered items, as well as blood red fingerless gloves. She had a noticeably lithe body and obvious muscle in her arms and legs. There was also a long scar right across her right cheek which continued downwards across her body which gave her a rather menacing look. To top it off, she had stern facial features and stark gray eyes staring right at him.
"What are you looking at," she spat, her voice rough, but confident and assertive. Slightly frightened, Tsurugi stumbled backwards, but still did his best to answer.
"Um, hello…I'm Tsurugi Matsumoto, the Ultimate Screenwriter. I just woke up and well, I would like to know a bit about you." he responded, nervous about her reaction.
"Of course, you would," she glared, clearly annoyed, "Everyone here has to be so fucking nosy and persistent." Um…where should I go with this…Tsurugi wondered, though he knew this woman was not the type to be easily pleased.
"Erm…well…I could leave if you just told me who you were," he responded, hoping he took the right direction with his words.
"Fuckin' fine. I'm Ichika Yamazaki, the Ultimate Mercenary. Yeah, my Ultimate doesn't stand as a role-model to society. Whatever. To you I'm just a lousy antagonistic Ultimate that doesn't give a shit. Now leave me alone."
Although Tsurugi did want to learn more about Ichika, he did not want to break his promise. He also noticed that this may've been why Horitsu disliked her, whether because of her personality and occupation, or both, but was still confused how he disliked her as strongly as he did.
Just as before, the tablet dinged which now had a pixlilated photo of Ichika shown beneath Horitsu,
ICHIKA YAMAZAKI
HEIGHT: 5'6"
WEIGHT: 130 Ibs.
BLOOD TYPE: A+
D.O.B: March 25th
LIKES: Money, Quiet, Reading, Training
DISLIKES: Laziness, Abuse, Alcohol, Loudness
NOTES: Ultimate MERCENARY
Despite her personality, her likes and dislikes seem to make her more approachable. Tsurugi noticed. Though he found her very intimidating, Tsurugi couldn't help but wonder what a mercenary would be doing at a prestige academy such as this.
"Forgive me, but I would like to know how you managed to, you know, apply for the academy."
Ichika rolled her eyes at this, clearly annoyed. "Didn't you promise me you would leave now? Unless you're stupid, you would know by now that I like to be alone." She emphasized, scowling at him
"All I wanted to do was to get to know you a bit better," Tsurugi reasoned, "I mean, you don't meet a mercenary every day…" he added, chuckling nervously.
"If you think you are, you're not convincing me, but since you won't fucking leave me and my bullshit alone I might as well just get this over with. I publically killed an important figure which served as part of my application. It seemed as if the school was not biased over my talent, which I acknowledge them for, and sent me an invitation. Happy?"
Although quite startled that she had killed an important figure in the society, even though it would be expected from a mercenary, Tsurugi was nevertheless satisfied with the answer. He would, however, like to discuss it more in depth with the woman another time.
"Well, it was nice meeting you." He altered a smile as he took to the door behind Ichika. Even if she had a rather crude personality, which was quite stereotypical for a mercenary, Tsurugi was still curious what had made her act this way. Again, this was for him to delve into another time, when he was more closely bonded with her At least I hope I will be… he thought.
Just as he was about to leave Ichika abruptly signaled him to stop.
"Wait…Before you leave, I would like to know…how are you a member of Kusanagi? You don't show any qualities of a Kusanagi student to me," Tsurugi, surprised Ichika was willing to speak to him again, was lost at her words. When he was put in the Kusanagi house, he never really took into consideration why, although he did think of it as an odd choice. Why am I in the Kusangi house? he asked himself, as Ichika waited for her answer.
"I…I don't know," he answered, more quietly than before. "I don't think of myself brave and feel as if I would fit a house such as Yasakani No Magatama instead. I…I'm sorry, but I can't answer your question. Goodbye…" feeling fatally lost, he then closed the door behind him.
The following room he entered was more like a small, crammed hallway, but it shimmered with light as above two glass cabinets on either side of the room were long strips of golden light. Moreover, the glass cabinets were filled with trophies, medals, ribbons, and the likes. Although not as interesting as the previous two rooms, it would be a great place to learn the achievements of the Kusanagi house, at least Tsurugi believed so as he noticed most of the awards had the Kusanagi house's symbol on them.
Though wanting to know more about some of these awards, Tsurugi ultimately decided to move on as he wanted to meet the rest of his peers – at least until he knew what was going on. Leaving the room, the door returned him to the first room he had been at. Going through the room again, he realized Horitsu's presence had disappeared. I guess he went back to his room or, to the left was a double doorway, one that he hadn't noticed the first time he had passed through the room. He could've left the dorm through those doors, he thought, as it seemed they were the only way out of the Kusanagi dorms.
Turning the handle, he found himself in a hallway like the one between the dorm rooms, split left and right. There was a door in front of him, as well as more doorways alongside the right hallway. Turning around, he was surprised to see the double doorway he had just left had a totally different appearance on the outside. It was decorated with a carved sword out of what looked like pure gold. The rest of door had décor such as carved flowers surrounding the sword. Above the sword was a format of text in what looked like some ancient form of Japanese text, although Tsurugi assumed that it would translate to 'Kusanagi' as that was where the door led to after all.
After taking a minute to admire the prestigious artwork presented in front of him, he opened the door across the hallway. He immediately understood that the room he had entered was some a sort of medical room or infirmary as there were lots of medical equipment, as well as a large red cross posted on the wall. It took him a minute to adjust to the brightness as not only the floors and walls were white, but he also found that a desk to the right side of the room and four to five beds that were to the left of the room were also the same blinding white color. Once his vision was more focused, he noticed a shelf filled with an assortment of drugs and medicine of kinds that for a strange reason made him feel uneasy, although assumed these were a normal addition to such a room. Not finding much else in the room, he realized there were voices nearby, and spun to his left to find two girls leaving a room he hadn't seen that was seemingly connected to the room he was in.
"Hatsu, are you sure you were able to climb that? I mean I don't judge, but you don't look like you're in the right shape," the taller of the two girls asked the other with a quizzical expression.
As he had noticed she was quite a tall girl with green eyes and darkly tanned skin. Her long blonde hair was styled in a half perm, and she was wearing pink eyeshadow and lip gloss, with the addition of small star and heart stickers on her cheeks. She wore a white sports bra which was partially covered by an open bubblegum pink jacket that reached down to her feet, with one of her shoulders seldom exposed. Moreover, the jacket itself was also covered with embroidered flowers and calligraphy, as well an emblem of sorts on the back. She also wore a dark brown skirt that looked to be part of the uniform, except the skirt was so long that it reached her ankles. Finally, she wore a bubblegum pink fanny-pack and matching pink platform boots which made her look even taller than she already was, plus most noticeably she was carrying a baseball bat over her shoulder. Overall, her clothing style and looks made her come across as a part of the gyaru sub-culture known in Japan.
"Oh, but I did! I used a kagi nawa to grapple onto the top and then climbed up. I made it safe and sound and exposed the enemies' hideout just like that! It's really simple, maybe I could teach you sometime!" the shorter of the two, apparently named "Hatsu" by the gyaru girl responded.
"Hatsu" was at least a foot smaller than the gyaru girl, and a few inches smaller than Tsurugi himself. She also had a somewhat stringy body appearance with underdeveloped breasts and white skin with a light tan. Her hair was charcoal black, done up in pigtails. She wore a faded pink gi, but without a belt and matching pink socks and sneakers. All of this, plus the part of the two girl's conversation he had just heard made it clear that she was martial artist.
Not wanting to interrupt, Tsurugi decided to wait until they spotted him, in which they did soon after.
"Oh, hiiii, I'm Bankei Ban, nice to meet you!" the gyaru girl said and then after approaching him, vigorously shook his hand. After introducing himself, Bankei gave him a quizzical look.
"Screenwriter, you say…. can't say I like movies for that matter. But mostly, I would expect more of a wardrobe from someone with a talent like yours. I mean, c'mon just a simple sweater and pants. Yeuch!" she commented with a frown.
"Um, well I don't care too much about my clothing choice," he answered slightly flustered. But, before he could continue, the smaller of the two also spoke up.
"Ooo cool you're a screenwriter! I tell stories as well, mostly about my escapades as a ninja, but I'm sure even if your stories are on different topics, I'll still like them! Or have you made a story about ninjas too? Oh! I almost forgot! Hello, I am Hatsume Chiyome, the Ultimate Ninja! Do you like ninjas as well?" the girl phrased excitedly. It was certainly a lot of information, considering how fast she talked and that she was also very fond of her talent. Both girl's themselves were overwhelming, although it was how he had expected them to act.
"Well… it's nice to know that you also enjoy creating stories, whichever it is writing them or telling them! I haven't written any screenplays about ninjas, and don't know too much about them, to the extent that they are part of ancient Japanese culture, but maybe if you told me one of yours, I may be more intrigued to write about some in my screenplays."
"Oh yes, I have lots of stories! I'm sure you'll like them! I know some people believe ninjas to be bad, but they really aren't!" Hatsume responded. Tsurugi was rather appealed by how these stories would go, and how he could incarnate them into one of his screenplays.
"Yep, Hatsu does have some pretty interesting stories," Bankei added, putting an arm around her newfound friend.
"It seems you two have got to know each other for a while now," Tsurugi responded. Wait a second…Bankei never told me her own talent! "By the way, what's your ultimate talent?" Tsurugi asked.
"Oh, I don't have a talent," Bankei nonchalantly answered, "I simply won a lottery to get into the school!"
Huh. I never knew that was a thing… Tsurugi discerned.
"That sounds pretty lucky," Tsurugi answered with a smile. Unfortunately, his answer seemed to have angered Bankei as her neutral expression quickly changed into an agitated one.
"Eeeeehhhh?! LUCK?! Why the heck would I ever rely on and trust such a dirty wish-washy thing such as that?! This is 100% gosh darn goddam full-blown righteous FAITH right here! The assured expectation of things yet to come!" slightly shocked at her sudden comeback, Tsurugi stumbled backwards, and afterwards quickly apologized.
""Erm…sorry, I'm guessing you don't believe in luck that much." Bankei still looked quite annoyed at his words, but reluctantly responded.
"Not at all!" she stated defensively, "In fact, nobody should believe in it. Why should they when you can have faith!" Now that she had explained this, Tsurugi was curious of what she was so passionately faithful in to begin with.
"Wait, if that's so, what faith are you a part of then?" he asked.
"I'm Christian!" she answered triumphantly, "As long as I place my faith in God, I'll always succeed."
Tsurugi was intrigued, as he had only heard of Christians but never met one. It was especially interesting considering her appearance and personality, although he knew there must be a good explanation. He was sure to ask Bankei about their customs and more later. Suddenly
, he was reminded that by now Bankei's and Hatsume's profiles must've been updated, considering that the other two's profiles had come around this time during their introductions. Sure enough, there were two new profiles. Not wanting to be rude, Tsurugi excused himself to do so, in which the other two did as well to read his own profile. Skimming through, Tsurugi was quite confused with the results, Hatsume's specifically.
HATSUME CHIYOME
HEIGHT: 5'04"
WEIGHT: 90 Ibs.
BLOOD TYPE: AB-
D.O.B: May 4th
LIKES: Shuriken, Candy, Weighted Blankets, Routine
DISLIKES: Loud Noises, Flashing Lights, Vegetables, Doubters
NOTES: Ulitmate NINJA FANGIRL
BANKEI BAN
HEIGHT: 6'0"
WEIGHT: 140 Ibs.
BLOOD TYPE: B
D.O.B: July 23rd
LIKES: Baseball, Motorcycles, Watermelon Bubblegum
DISLIKES: Carbonated Drinks, Luck, Movies
NOTES: Ultimate LUCKY STUDENT
That's weird …it seems not only Bankei lied about her talent, although for obvious reasons I now know, but Hatsume has as well… I'm not sure how an Ultimate Ninja Fangirl can be a talent, and why Hatsume claims she is an actual ninja…I guess I might as well ask her...
"Oh hey, Hatsume," he said, catching her from thought, as it seemed she had already finished reading his own profile, "I was wondering why it says that you're the Ultimate Ninja Fangirl here when earlier you told me you were an actual ninja."
"Well, it must be wrong!" she replied confidently, "I'm defiantly an actual ninja!" Hmm… it seemed that she too did not like the title placed on herself, and even though Tsurugi was curious why she was so persistent that she was an actual ninja, he decided not to bring it up anymore, at least for now.
"Uh, hey, Tsurugi sorry to break it to you, but we've got to get going. We just finished exploring most of the first floor and are going to try to go up to the second floor, right Hatsu?" she asked the self-proclaimed ninja.
"Right!" Hatsume answered, "And I can tell you another one of my adventures on the way! You can come too, Tsurugi, if you want!" Although he would like to spend more time with the two, Tsurugi decided that he would want to explore the rest of the bottom floor before continuing to the second floor.
"Thanks for the offer, but I haven't seen everything down here yet!" he answered.
"Well then, do whatever suits you Rugi." Bankei responded, seemingly fond of nicknames, "But see ya later."
"See you later!" Hatsume repeated, "I'd be happy to share one of my stories with you as well."
The two then left just as they had come. Tsurugi was happy to meet pleasant enough people, but was also curious to further talk with them, as they had secrets that he would like to uncover, just like the characters in his screenplay's progressed over time.
He then quickly scanned through the room Bankei and Hatsume had come out of, which seemed almost identical to the other room, with more medical beds, equipment, and such. This must be the infirmary then Tsurugi guessed as he left, finding nothing else notably interesting in either room. Across the hallway next to the Kusanagi entrance was yet another door, in which Tsurugi headed next. Inside the room it looked as if it was a games room or arcade of some sort.
There were many arcade machines scattered across the room, which Tsurugi noted was rather spacious itself. The atmosphere was also rather different from the other rooms he had been to, as it had a darker appeal although exquisite enough to be taken as a greater than average games room. The floors were tiled with monochrome colors while the ceiling was dark besides a few overhead lights that had been turned off. Even so, the glow from the game machines were illuminacent enough to light up to room with a palette of bright colors. In the middle of the room were many other games such as pinball, 8 ball, foosball and more. The walls themselves had no windows and were covered with posters of anime, video games and such of the likes. Taking another look around he found a girl stationed at one of the arcade machines, and with not much else to see he then approached to meet her.
Now able the see her more clearly in the bright incandescent of the room, the girl was somewhat disheveled looking with curly bubblegum pink hair messily strewn around her head, with her hair also being quite tangled as well. Let loose, her hair stopped just around her shoulder blades, although some was spilled over her shoulders. Additionally, her bangs were shaggy, reaching her chin and curling inwards to frame her face, swept to the left to veil that half of her face. She had a narrow nose, a small chin and finally large round bright pink eyes. Though the soft facial features, the side of her face Tsurugi could see (as she was still focused on the game machine she was playing on) had an expression with such intensity that gave off a rather unfriendly aura.
Her outfit almost seemed intentionally simple – simple enough that some components looked as to be nightwear. Her top consisted of an over sized off-white blouse with a Chelsea collar, with baggy sleeves that stopped around her elbows with the addition of long cuffs. Beneath the collar were a row of three decorative buttons, topped with a thin white ribbon. Moreover, unlike the main body of the blouse, the cuffs and collar were pure white. He also noticed on the on her left side in which he was standing behind, the blouse had fallen off her shoulder, revealing a blank tank top underneath, which also had a black choker attached. Although mostly obscured by the blouse, she was wearing a pair of navy blue drawstring shorts with white accents lining them underneath. On her feet were a pair of black ankle socks and dark red low top sneakers with white soles and shoestrings. For accessories, on her right wrist she wore two matching charm bracelets, that were both kumihimo, being composed primarily of two-tone woven rope. One bracelet was sky and powder blue while the other one was peach and pink colored. Dangling from the blue one was a white glass charm in the shape of a star, and from the pink one a heart of the same material. Finally, he also noticed under her arm was a hooded gray calve sweater with brown buttons.
Tsurugi also noticed that she looked vaguely familiar. Had he seen her on any media platform before? After standing right beside her for at least a minute he realized it seemed like she didn't bother to move or even glance his way; he was being ignored. Nevertheless, he tried to converse, even though it was quite awkward.
"Uh…excuse me," he said, tapping her on the shoulder, even though he knew by this point that she already knew he was there, "Sorry to interrupt, but I would like to know a bit about you." Finally, the girl side-eyed him after pausing the game she was currently in the middle of, pushing a strand of hair to the side to show an apparent glare.
"Suzuka," she relented, "Suzuka Sawane, the Ultimate Child Star. I take it you know the rest."
Ah, finally gaining recognition, he remembered where he had seen her from. She was a popular child star known across Japan, and he had actually seen a couple of the movies she had starred in, as he watched countless movies for inspiration.
"Ah…I saw some of your movies, you were an amazing actress!" he complimented, although the girl's frown didn't seem to falter.
"Go." Suzuka bluntly replied, slightly surprising Tsurugi. That was…harsh. But what can I expect, all these students so far have been so interesting and different, surprising in their own ways…having personalities such of a vast television cast. As he thought, he couldn't help but realize that he seemed the most "ordinary" out of everyone he had met so far…of course he was already special as a student in the academy but some part of him felt…out of place at this point. Like a character randomly written into a story that felt different from the rest.
Dismissing the thoughts for now, he had almost forgot that Suzuka was there, glaring impatiently. Just like Ichika it seemed she was in no mood for company but was blunter about it than angry, making her slightly more frightening because of that, her glare never faltering.
"Look, I know you were in the middle of that game, but I just wanted to introduce myself and get to know you!" he reasoned.
Her look now held even more annoyance than before. "You already introduced yourself and got to know me. Leave." He wouldn't call that exactly getting to know her but still wanted to try to get something more out of her.
"Um…it's cool that you're an actor, maybe we could do a project together in the film industry." he tried, in which she immediately responded.
"So, you say you're the Ultimate Screenwriter…why are you the Ultimate Screenwriter anyways then? I've never heard of your involvement in anything decently popular and I know many other screenwriters around our age that are a lot more well-known than you. In fact, Usui Yasuo co-wrote "Flowering Springs" one of the most mainstream movies in Japan last year, at only nineteen years old." Even though Tsurugi already knew this, Suzuka's words were enough to plant the seed of doubt in his mind. Why was I chosen over others…Why am I here… Again, he had lost conscience of the conversation, although it wasn't much of a conversation in the first place.
"Because…because…" he had no words and although he knew she had probably done this only for him to leave her alone, her words had a powerful impact, no matter how cooly and bluntly they were said. With that Suzuka turned back to her game as if nothing had happened which he believed meant she was done talking. He was as well…even though he had persisted the others such as Ichika, Suzuka…was one to be left alone. What the most interesting thing about it all was, that on television the likes such as talk shows she had such a bright and bubbly personality.
But what he had just witnessed was…different from what he expected from her. Just as he began to make his way out of the room, he remembered to check his tablet as he had heard a notification earlier, likely the updated profiles with Suzuka's information. Reluctantly, he took it out and found Suzuka as the final student in the Kusangi household. Wanting to get out of the arcade, he quickly skimmed through it.
SUZUKA SAWANE
HEIGHT: 5'5"
WEIGHT: 112 Ibs.
BLOOD TYPE: A-
D.O.B: January 24th
LIKES: Children's Television, Energy Drinks, Blankets
DISLIKES: Sports, Crowds, Spicy Foods
NOTES: Ultimate CHILD STAR
Knowing that she was the final Kusanagi student that he was to meet, he sat down on a nearby bench for a small break, as he still had the other students from the other two houses to meet. He thought about all the students he had met so far; "Horitsu", mysterious and charming, Ichika, cold and aggressive, Bankei, feminine and gyaru-like, Hatsume, absentminded and energetic, and finally Suzuka, apathetic and blunt. They were sure an interesting group…and again it seemed like Tsurugi wasn't meant to be part of them.
"…how are you a member of Kusanagi? You don't show any qualities of a Kusanagi student to me,"
"…why are you the Ultimate Screenwriter anyways then? I've never heard of your involvement in anything decently popular…"
"Why was I chosen over others…Why am I here…" Remembering all these thoughts and comments from the other students, Tsurugi gained a worsening headache. He wasn't sure if he deserved to be at the school at all…Why am I here he repeated in his head again and again. And remembering his answers to Ichika and Suzuka, "I-I don't know," "Because, b-because…" he simply couldn't figure it out. And so, after sitting for a few minutes in the silence of the empty hallways, he continued his journey across the school to find more students, even with these troubling thoughts on his mind and a still waning headache unlikely to go away anytime soon.