"That's who he is?" I repeat. Her blue eyes meet mine and she nods. "But who's Super High School Level Despair?"
She looks down in thought, and I remember. "Wait, this kid called that man 'dad'. His 'dad' mentioned someone named Junko, and the kid called her his 'mom'. That must mean that one of if not both of those are Super High School Level Despair." Wait, I can check. I walk over to my notebook and grab it, looking through the list of names. At the very bottom are two names with two titles each. "Mukuro Ikusaba, Super High School Level Soldier/Despair. Junko Enoshima, Super High School Level Fashionista/True Despair."
Looking up from the page I see Gekkogahara typing, and the ever-so-cheerful Usami speaks. "So the question now is who of those two is the mother."
"Yes, but I think I can already answer that." I say. She turns to look at me expectantly. "It has to be this 'Enoshima'. Ikusaba is... deceased."
Her neutral expression turns into a frown, and she turns back to her computer to type. "I see... But either way, something doesn't make sense."
"What?" I ask.
"Even if she and the man you met are the child's parents... well, Enoshima must be part of that class, so how can the child be a teen or adult when his parents, or at least his mother, is still a teenager?"
That's valid. Enoshima must still be a high school student. So how can a child she give birth to be a teenager when she isn't even twenty yet? Dammit strategist, think. You have one talent you better use it. Look at the situation from all angles, never dismissing even the most ridiculous of ideas. Could it be? Might as well throw it out there. "Hey, what if he isn't actually their son?"
"What do you mean?" Usami asks. I take a deep breath and look at her.
"What if he's adopted? If Enoshima couldn't have given birth to him, it's possible that he was just another teen and the people he sees as his parents just indoctrinated him." I say. Damn that's horrible. He could've had a regular, happy life. But he ended up meeting Enoshima somehow. And if he was up for adoption, that means he was thrown from loneliness into the hands of despair itself. Poor kid.
"That makes sense. The idea seems to have slipped my mind. Nice work Strategist! But it's quite sad, isn't it." Usami says, and Gekkogahara looks at the floor. I sigh, and walk over to her, squatting beside her until I'm at eye level.
"It may be sad, but that doesn't mean it's over for him. It seems he's been made to love seeing despair. But that doesn't mean he's hopeless. We have to try and save him. It appears he has talent with how fast and strong he is. We have to show him that he can help fix this mess." I say, smiling. She relaxes a bit, and she sighs, nodding. "C'mon, let's go to the cafeteria to get rid of this horrible mood."
As soon as I finished my sentence, her head shot up and she locked eyes with me, shaking her head. Realizing how confused I am, she turns to her keyboard and types. "Sorry, I don't feel like eating right now."
"That's a lie, isn't it?" I ask rhetorically. She sighs and nods, typing again.
"Yes. I'm sorry, but I don't ever go there. It's scary being around so many others, and lots of things can happen in a room full of people." Usami says as the therapist frowns. So she's afraid of something going wrong, and true, bad things often happen with large groups of people.
"Well don't worry, Gekkogahara. As the Ultimate Strategist, I swear to you that nothing bad will happen. We'll just go down there and chat over a meal." I say, maintaining my smile. She looks at me and relaxes, nodding. "Right then. I'll wait in your office."
I turn and as I walk to my bag I hear her turn off her computer. I grab my bag and leave the room, entering her office. I sit on a soft office chair and pull out my notebook. Better write down everything that happened in case I forget.
"How's it going, mother?" He says excitedly, beaming at the camera.
"Oh, it's going well. Lots of wonderful despair is happening, but that damn luckster and the nosy detective are being a real pain in the ass!"
"Oh they're still alive? You'd think someone would've killed Kyoko by now but I guess not." He says, looking down in sadness. "They can't even figure out her title after she discovered things so small that her talent is obvious. They're all so hopeless."
He raises his head to lock eyes through the screen with her, grinning and tearing up. In a voice of pure despair, he laughs, speaking between laughs. "Isn't it... hahah... isn't it wonderful?"
"Yeah, yeah. Hey, Izuru~!" She says, exaggerating her excitement. "It's so lonely here without you... Don't you want to come and comfort me~?"
"No." I say, walking out of the small room and leaving the two to their despair.
The door clicks and I look at it as it swings open, revealing Gekkogahara standing with her tablet in hand. She's just wearing her usual attire, but for whatever reason she's visibly nervous. "You okay?"
"Do I look okay?" Usami asks through her phone. She looks as she normally does, but I suppose she's nervous about stepping out of her comfort zone.
"You look great, Gekkogahara. C'mon, our free day isn't getting any longer." I say, smiling. She looks down and murmurs to herself, but I just put on my bag and hold open the office door for her. A few seconds pass and she looks up, and upon realizing I've been standing holding the door she quickly walks over. She leads the way as we leave the area, going to the elevators. We enter one and she presses the button for the second floor. The doors close and the machine begins to descend. I should probably start a conversation to keep her calm.
"So... Any reason you haven't been to the cafeteria despite working and living here?" I ask.
"Not really... I'm just uncomfortable in those types of social places." Usami says, and her eyes are glued to the lower part of the wall.
"It's fine, Gekkogahara. I'll show you how much nicer it is than you think." I say, putting my hand on her shoulder. Upon touching her, she freezes and her face turns very slightly red. Her fingers type, but much slower than she usually does.
"Thank you, Strategist." Usami says, and thankfully the lift stops and the doors open. She walks out as soon as she can and I follow, and after a few turns we arrive at the cafeteria. It looks like a standard one, tables and chairs everywhere, a couple of counters to buy your food from. Lots of people sitting around, some eating in silence and others chatting loudly in large groups. This area on its own doesn't give any Future Foundation vibe at all. Well, except for the fact that most of these guys are in matching black suits.
"So, where do you-" I start, turning to my partner, but I stop upon seeing how uncomfortable she is. She's fricking shaking. I guess the only way I can calm her down is to make her focus on me. Making my decision, I pick up my courage and take a deep breath. Then I smile, making myself feel as happy and hopeful as I can, grabbing her hand. "Come on Gekkogahara! Let's sit over here!"
As I step in front of her and lightly pull her hand, I turn around and lock eyes with her, mine full of life and joy, and hers in a mixture of confusion, embarrassment and shock. A light blush has formed and I smile brighter, putting my other hand on hers. She looks down at our hands, and after a short pause she looks up at me and smiles. I turn back around and release her, jogging to an empty table. She follows and sits opposite me, the blush not leaving and a smile planted on her face. "You look great, Gekkogahara."
Her smile falters, and she looks down, turning an even brighter shade of red. Her hand reaches for her pocket, probably to get Usami. I reach over and stop her, locking eyes. "Don't worry about it, I'll get our food. Save my place, okay?"
Her eyes still glued to the table, she nods slightly and I stand up, heading for the counter. Looking through the menus hanging above it, I realize I have no idea what she wants. I'll just pick one and hope she likes it. I walk over to the counter and tell the man our orders, and he hands me a number on a stand. "Put this on your table. Make sure it's visible. Someone'll bring your food in roughly 20 minutes."
"Thanks." I say, grabbing the object. Walking back to the table, I see some people sitting next to Gekkogahara. Sitting down, I place the number near the side and smile at the strangers. "Good afternoon, you are?"
"Huh? I already told you who I am when we rescued you." The woman says, taking out a piece of candy and putting it in the mouth of the man beside her. "What, is your amnesia so bad you can't even remember that?"
"Well yes, actually. I've forgotten everything that happened yesterday." I say, ignoring the man's comment on how great the candy tasted.
"Seriously? Well can't be helped I guess. I'm Ruruka Ando, and this is Sonosuke Izayoi. We're the 8th and 9th division heads respectively." She says, the man silently nodding. If it weren't for him calling that candy 'delicious', I'd be fairly intimidated by this guy. Not as much as Munakata makes me feel, but definitely up there. "So, what are you two doing here? I've literally never seen Gekkogahara in here, and one day partnered up with you and here she is. What the hell did you do?"
"I didn't 'do' anything, I just asked her to join me down here. I'm still new after all, and this is a pretty good learning experience for both of us." I reply. I look over at the therapist, and smile at her. She nods, and closes her eyes, breathing deeply. "Well, how about you two?"
"We come here sometimes on our free time. None of the regulars are here though, so I guess we'll be going." Ando says, and the two stand up in almost perfect synchronization. As she's about to walk, she locks eyes with me. "You're a pretty nice guy, you know? Good luck dealing with Munakata though, he's a pretty big pain in the ass to work for from what I hear."
"I'll take note of that. See you around, Ando." I reply as she starts to walk away, chatting with Izayoi. I turn back to Gekkogahara, and she visibly relaxes. "it wasn't too bad, was it?"
She nods, smiling at me. My smile disappears, and I think for a few moments, before sighing in relief and looking at Gekkogahara again. "They seem like decent people. They don't look like despair material, and nothing she said sounds suspicious."
My partner sighs too, and nods. A few more minutes of this pass, with me asking some yes or no question and her responding with a shake or nod of the head. By the time our food arrived, we managed to hold a few conversations despite her still being too shy to speak. Sometimes she laughed lightly at a joke I made, and she just seemed so much happier and more relaxed compared to earlier today. It's like she's never been able to just sit back and chat like this, which is entirely possible considering she's too shy to speak. We ate in silence, and once we finished we left the cafeteria heading back to the room. When we entered our room, I sat down next to her on her bed, smiling.
Glancing at her, she looked confused. "Hey, you don't understand why I'm smiling right?"
She nods, and I chuckle. "I just went to the cafe with you for the first time for both of us, and not once did you have to use Usami to talk to me."
Upon realizing this, her face turns to that of amazement and happiness, and she smiles at me. She pulls out her tablet, typing quickly. "Yeah, it was great being able to do that. No one really just relaxes and talks to me like you did because I can't talk, but you still did. Thank you, Strategist."
I feel my face heat up slightly and I realize she's blushing too, her eyes glued to her tablet, still smiling. "No problem, Gekkogahara."
AN Stuff
Okay so I know I took a 2 week break, and this chapter's another uneventful chapter plot-wise and also another short chapter. However, I have to stop for awhile. I won't be posting another chapter until the last Wednesday of November, November 30. I'm so sorry, but I just had to type this chapter so as to satisfy you guys for now. I hope you'll stick around that long and as always, feedback is greatly appreciated.
A picture is worth a thousand words
But a thousand words can paint a picture