The first thing Natsumi did the next morning was drag Hinata to the Main Campus. Well actually that's the second thing. The actual first thing she did was place her lion plushie sitting up on her bed. When she barged right into Hinata's room after picking the lock, she saw his rabbit toy on his desk. Hinata still looked spooked from their revelation last night. Chances are Hinata drank the orange juice thinking it was safe, but now Natsumi wants to take some extra measures to be sure.
Her intuition is telling her that Apollo is behind this. So far his tactics are to make his target lower their guard and surprise them; this matches a lot of previous encounters with Nero's men, meaning that Apollo has been with Nero since the beginning. There have been reports that the Nero gang poisons their targets and even though Hinata says he doesn't feel sick, Natsumi taking him to an old contact in the Main Course building.
Sneaking over the fence was the easy part; the hard part has to be the security. She may not be the Ultimate Hacker but she did her best to find out that about the faculty members and blueprints of the school. If the head of security, a mister Ultimate Boxer, finds them he will overpower them but with knowledge of the exits and entrances, Natsumi safely lead Hinata inside the academy.
By safely she means that there was an open window on the second floor and a tree branch has conveniently grown near it.
"Why are there so many missing dog posters around the school?" Hinata wondered as he helped Natsumi climb through the window. The wall right next to them practically had the Pomeranian posters as its new wallpaper.
"Ultimates are weird," Natsumi answered and lead Hinata down the hall. After a few wrong turns, going up and down the staircases, and almost getting caught by wandering staff members, eventually they reached a door labeled as the Chemistry Lab. The door easily slid open and there was only one student working on chemical mixtures. "Oi, Kimura, you should lock the door more often," the shout shocked the student out of her focus and she accidentally added too much of one chemical into a test tube. The chemical reaction was immediate and pink smoke went off.
"Ah, don't yell at me when I'm working!" She screamed and waved away the smoke then froze when she saw who she yelled at. "Miss Natsumi, I'm so sorry for yelling! I didn't know it was you."
"Eh, it's fine," Natsumi shrugged and began the introductions. "Hinata, this is Seiko Kimura the Ultimate Pharmacist, Kimura this is Hajime Hinata. Kimura, we're here for business. We need one Wonder Cure, well sort of."
Kimura set her experiment aside, corking the test tube and turning off the Bunsen burner. "I've told you it's called the Physician's Cure. Also what do you mean by sort of?"
"There's a possibility my orange juice was poisoned," Hinata tried to say without making the room feel awkward. He failed. Even though her mouth was masked, her eyebrows gave away her confusion as she squinted at them.
"He means," Natsumi glared at Hinata for his lack of professionalism, "the juice might have been poisoned by Nero. But since he drank it months ago, it probably wasn't poisonous but hopefully there wasn't any nanotechnology in the juice."
"That's your theory? I might have microbots in me?"
"Look how weird the world is with Ultimates! It's a legitimate possibility in this day and age."
"Miss Natsumi, Mister Hajime," Kimura meekly interrupted and flinched when the bantering friends looked at her, "I don't think the Physician's Cure would be necessary but I can whip up another chemical to clean up Mister Hajime's immune system."
Natsumi resume her composure and said calmly, "Alright, you're the Ultimate here. You know what you're doing."
The pharmacist explained that it won't take too long so Natsumi and Hinata sat on the couch as she cleaned up her station a bit and went to the back room to gather new supplies and chemicals. Once again, Seiko Kimura was in complete focus on her work.
Hinata had this confused look on his face so Natsumi decided to take pity on him. "Hinata, would you like a story." At his nod she began, "Okay so once upon a time there was a boring boy, he was so boring that everyone died, the end."
Frowning, Hinata stared blankly at her, "Once upon a time there was an annoying girl, she was so annoying that everyone died, and that's the sequel."
Their serious faces cracked and they both laughed at each other. Natsumi plopped back into the couch and got comfortable, "So the story of how Kimura is connected to the Kurzuryuu Clan begins about a year ago."
"A year and a half," Kimura corrected, adding a powder to a mixture.
"Yeah, anyway, Nero had set up a trap against us and in the end ten of my men were unknowingly poisoned and they collapsed right there in the base when giving out their reports. Our medical team didn't know what to do. The poison seemed incurable at that point until we got the idea of asking an Ultimate for help. So we kidnapped Kimura here. We told her the situation, paid her upfront, and she got to work."
"And she made the Wonder Cure?" Hinata asked.
"The Physician's Cure!" The one in question yelled.
Once again, Natsumi shrugged, "It's easier to say Wonder Cure, Kimura. You got to admit, it'll be easier to write Wonder Cure on the bottle rather than that long name."
"She's not wrong," Hinata agreed and Natsumi smiled with satisfaction.
The blonde expected another refute but Kimura said quietly, "I suppose it'll be easier to write Cure W."
Grinning, Natsumi turned to Hinata, "And so, she saved all ten people, the Clan kept her contact info, and now she lets me name the cure. The end."
Like Kimura said, the medicine was done in no time and she had Hinata drink it, no matter how much he gagged and complained. His breath now smells like rotten fruit, nothing can be done about it. Natsumi gave the Ultimate Pharmacist a thumbs up behind Hinata's back.
Now with that ordeal out of the way, there's still the looming threat of Apollo. From the research she did on the academy, Natsumi has no idea on how to find any of Nero's rats, there are so many scientists employed here and she's willing to bet that most of them have done something illegal in the name of their research.
And since she's here she'll be able to find more information on the Kamukura Project.
She and Hinata thanked Kimura for the medicine and she gave her a warning that the Nero gang might be in the school before leaving the lab. Hinata surprisingly accepted her plan of more trespassing, reminding her of the first day they met when he helped her out.
With the plan in motion, Natsumi checked the school map on her phone and led them to the computer lab or in other fancy words, the Data Processing Room. Fortunately it was empty but they didn't have all the time in the world. Kimura warned them that most Ultimates don't attend class so the possibility of getting caught is high. Hinata locked the entrance while Natsumi got to a computer and did her magic. The yakuza connected her phone to the computer and started the hacking program.
As she sat back and watched the progress bar load, Hinata pulled up a chair and sat beside her. "When you said hack the system I expected you to actually type in command codes."
"Oh please, all those hacker movie tropes are inaccurate. I got this hacking software off the black market." The progress bar reached one hundred percent and Natsumi typed in the search bar window for any reference to the Kamukura Project. New windows popped up with what looks to be theory papers, emails, and journal entries.
"Wait," Hinata pointed at an email between two scientists. "The Steering Committee, they're the ones who reached out to me for the project."
The email referenced the committee as the supervisors of the project and how they've been planning it for years, saying that the project is the dying wish of the academy's founder, Izuru Kamukura. The theory papers mentioned studies belonging to a teenager that's scouted to be the Ultimate Neurologist. Other attachments to the theories included schematics for brain scanners and other medical machinery that clearly means one thing.
"This is human experimentation," was the boy's breathless conclusion. A side glance confirmed his face was really pale. Natsumi had similar feelings, like after every stab wound she inflicts, she feels a little sick and her world becomes a bit darker with the blood that gets on her hands.
Natsumi took a deep breath and threw Hinata a smile, "Look at the bright side, you turned down this crazy thing and the journals say that they haven't started anything." With a quick look at the clock, she clicked on some documents to upload on her phone, "I believe we've spent enough time here, it'll take a while to copy and delete our traces."
Hinata regained some of his skin color and calmly asked, "Do you still think that Nero is behind this?"
"He has ties to this school, I know it. There's also this Apollo guy in the gang, he's the one who threatened you. At first I thought he just a clever prick but he might be smarter than I expected, but this?" She gestured her hand at the monitor and the sickening things written, "I was not prepared for anything like this. Gun fights and turf wars are no problems for me but I don't know what to do with this corrupted school, it's far darker than I imaged. Seriously, all thought was that Nero would be a chairman to the school, I find out his real identity, and kill him."
"That sounds almost too easier for you," he joked.
The monitor blinked that the transfer is complete, now it's cleaning up the history and terminating any trail connecting to Natsumi's phone. She's pretty sure that's how hacking works but she'll just let the hacking software do its work. "Yeah, well fuck the easy route."
Both of them remained quiet, watching the software slowly finish its work and then the door abruptly opened. They both froze and stared at the one who opened the locked door. Instantly they thought that a teacher entered but instead an albino student walked in.
"I guessed the override password, how lucky of me." The student smiled at them, not bothered by their shocked faces. He looked around the room and frowned, "But wrong room, I really do have bad luck."
How unlucky for them, Natsumi thought, they now have a witness. She nudged Hinata and hoped her raised eyebrows and little nod at the Ultimate gave him the message to distract the guy.
"Hi there," Hinata quickly got up and stood in front of the computer, blocking the albino's view of Natsumi's phone with the hacking software still in progress. "You weren't looking for the computer lab?"
"No, I looking for the chemistry lab but I forgot to ask for directions and I misplaced my handbook. So I thought that I just pick a random door but it appears I'm unlucky." Luck, it's like all the guy has to talk about. Natsumi never liked people who relied on luck, it was too unpredictable.
"And you open a locked door through luck," Hinata said slowly, stalling for time and making sure the conversation never lead to them and their purpose here. "You're the Ultimate Lucky Student, right?"
The guy smiled that too innocent smile, something about this guy felt off to Natsumi. "Yes, that's correct, I'm Nagito Komaeda. It still doesn't make a lot of sense to call me an Ultimate. After all I'm just worthless scum." He said it as if it's normal to insult yourself, still smiling and then he looked at them and his next words felt like ice. "Just like you two. You're both Reserve students, talentless people who are nothing compared to the Ultimates at this academy, the hopes of the world." His laugh held unnatural joy. "Isn't funny? How we worthless people are right here where the talented should be?" Komaeda stopped laughing and keep smiling at them, "Why are you two even here?"
Natsumi saw her phone display a thumb's up with the report that the software has been completed. She quickly unplugged the cord and said loudly to cover the noise, "We got lost too. It must be luck that you found us, we passed by the chemistry lab, we can lead you there."
The Ultimate Luck's smile remained creepy, "But why was the door locked?"
During Komaeda's little speech, Hinata had his shoulders tense up but now he forced himself to relax. "I must have done it on accident. I don't know how to close the door so I just pressed random buttons." His lie seemed good enough to be convincing, anyone would be confused by the high-tech keypad that controls the doors.
Komaeda accepted his answer, "Ah, well then, I guess I really am lucky. Please lead the way." Natsumi tucked her phone and cord into her pocket and they all exited the computer lab. When she got closer to the Ultimate he stared at her, practically analyzing her, "You wouldn't happen to be Kuzuryuu's sister, yes?" He didn't wait for a confirmation, he just laughed again excitedly. "What luck it is to meet you, Natsumi Kuzuryuu and you must be Hajime Hinata. Nanami talked about you two sometimes."
It didn't take long to walk Komaeda to the chemistry lab but before they left him to bother poor Kimura, Hinata just had to have the final word. "Hey Komaeda, you shouldn't say that kind of stuff about yourself and I doubt you really want to smile while saying all of that. You may feel like you shouldn't be with the Ulitmates but your life doesn't have to revolve around talent. Nanami told me that you all learned from Miss Chisa that there's more to life than just talent, that you should make memories with your classmates."
The Ultimate didn't seem affected by Hinata's words, he just smiled. "You're right Hinata. I do care a lot for my classmates." Komaeda went into the chemistry lab without another word.
"Hinata, I get that you want to make him feel better but something felt off with him," Natsumi said, leading him back to the window they entered from.
"Yeah, I just wanted him to stop putting himself down. No one should be smiling when they call themselves trash."
They climb out the window, then down the tree, and made their way back to the Reserve Course campus. Natsumi remembered when Hinata was counseling the both of them and their obsession with talent. If he didn't have that resolution about how unhealthy their obsession was and thought about self-respect then he might have accepted the Kamukura Project, he might have done anything to be in the Main Course. It was uncomfortably similar to how determined she was to bully and hurt Koizumi.
And then there's Nagito Komaeda, an Ultimate who gladly insults himself and praises the talented. He's another level of unhealthy obsession that she does not what to be involved with. Hinata on the other hand seems like he'll at least try to befriend Komaeda.
Once back to their side of the academy, Hinata decided to go back to class. He probably wanted something normal after reading all that the crazy stuff. She doesn't blame him, after all everyone needs a coping mechanism after processing something unimaginable. As for herself, she needed to go over the documents she copied.
In the privacy of her room and tossing the toy lion up and down, Natsumi reread the emails and notes. The science behind the technology didn't comprehend easily, it was too insane. A machine that would directly operate with the brain to download knowledge was out of their era. The scientists talked to each other as if this is a glorious achievement; to change a person no matter the cost into something they called the Ultimate Hope. What made Natsumi feel a bit queasy was the fact that these documents were dated back to almost a month ago.
Anything can happen within a month. The Steering Committee might have even done something to the academy by now and no one would ever know. Well there's was only one thing left to do, Natsumi thought as she sent a text message to her brother.
With a time and place set, hours passed and the Kuzuryuu siblings meet up at the bench by the fountain two hours before any of the classes were dismissed. She knows that Fuyuhiko isn't one to break rules but she's almost always gets him to make an exception for her, especially when she's serious.
"You didn't bring Peko?" She already scouted the area, it was completely empty but it doesn't hurt to look around again.
"It'll be suspicious if we're both absent at the end of class," Fuyuhiko surveyed the area with more subtly. "I don't want our classmates assuming anything."
"Assuming that you two are making out?" It was so easy to tease him. She was tempted to laugh at his red, blushing face but she settled for snickering. "I know about your plan, Fuyu, it's not terrible but it might take a long time."
His face cooled down a bit, redness still lingering on his cheeks as he quietly said, "Who cares if it'll take long. I will wait for her. She needs this, she deserves to feel normal." Selfless as always, Natsumi smiled at her blushing brother. He only gets like this when thinking about Peko. "Natsu, I know you didn't ask me to ditch class to talk about my love life. What's really going on?"
She handed him her phone, its screen displaying the illegal plans. "Ever since my friend Hinata got threated by Apollo, I suspected that Nero's men were in the academy. Then Hinata tells me that he got an invitation to become a test subject to this Kamukura Project. I hacked system and found these files detailing how it's all human experimentation."
If Fuyuhiko felt sick, he didn't show it, instead it looks like he has reached a conclusion, "This makes sense actually. All the teachers and faculty members here are scientists to some extent. Their job isn't to teach us, it's to observe us. I always thought it was strange how attendance wasn't mandatory or how our grads are based off the semester exams. In fact, our exam is coming up, they're testing to see if we're still worthy to be Ultimates, if we're still worthy to studied."
"So in the end, you're all lab rats while the Reserve students are unknowingly paying for the experiments." He handed back the phone and they both leaned back, staring at the clouds slowly traveling the sky. "This is all fucked up."
"Damn right."
It appears it's time to brainstorm. "If we exposed the project the academy will close down, the staff will get arrested but some of them might be protected by Nero."
"We got to do this quietly," his voice got soft again, like he's hesitating. "I don't think all the teachers are involved with the project, they could be innocent."
"You're thinking about your teacher, Miss Chisa."
"She genuinely is a caring teacher but she's also dangerous."
Natsumi poked his cheek, "And you love dangerous woman."
Fuyuhiko slapped her hand away, blushing once more, "Shut up, that's inappropriate!"
Her hands went back over her stomach, drumming her fingers, "What did Apollo tell you?"
For a while he stayed quiet but just like how he'll wait for Peko, she'll wait for him. "He was jealous of my title. All he did said was that I didn't deserve to be the Ultimate Yakuza; that I didn't deserve to be a Kuzuryuu. Then he had the nerve to threaten you and Peko. His threats didn't bother me too much but I had a feeling that he'll still try to get to you."
"Yep, he's been threatening Hinata to get to me. I can't let him get hurt because of me. He's just a normal guy caught up in a bad situation."
In her previsualize vision, she saw Fuyuhiko staring at her like she's a puzzle. "Peko told me about this Hinata fellow, you care about him."
"I guess."
"What do you fucking mean by that? Do you like him?" Even though Fuyuhiko said his words harshly, his face showed that he was concerned.
This time it was Natsumi who was quiet. "Hinata's my first friend. At first I just felt guilty that I put a target on his back but now he's been getting to know me and I'm starting to understand him too," it felt so easy to her to smile and think about Hinata.
Her smile instantly fell apart when she heard Fuyuhiko whisper, "I thought I was your first friend."
The siblings stared at each other, frozen, and Natsumi could see the hurt and betrayal in her brother's eyes. She didn't know what to say and her throat felt dry and her tongue weighted like lead. For years she has always put her brother on a pedestal, believing that he deserves the world and more. Not once did she think about Fuyuhiko's perspective. That he thought of her as his world. Now Fuyuhiko is heartbroken, all because Natsumi never considered him as a friend, as an equal. Because all her life she's been thinking lowly of herself and that she doesn't deserve her own brother.
"I always thought of you as the most amazing person in the world," she began. "You're the most important person in my life, Fuyuhiko. I just never thought about calling you a friend because I always believed that talentless people shouldn't be with you."
The sadness in his eyes shifted to confusion, "And you think that you're not talented? Natsumi, that's bullshit! I have told you so many times that you should be the Ultimate Yakuza. Not because I don't believe in myself but because I believe in you. If you think that some title separates us than you're wrong. Some stupid school shouldn't make you think that you're not an amazing person. You've helped me out so many times, either when we're pinned down or when I doubt my right of being the yakuza heir." Natsumi felt like she's mirroring his shock from before. Fuyuhiko grabbed her shoulders, "The title of Ultimate Yakuza or Ultimate Little Sister shouldn't matter to you. You are Natsumi Kuzuryuu and you are important to me, Peko, and the rest of the Clan." All his words struck her like a shotgun but then he's eyes went soft and he smiled, "Ya know, I always thought you were the strongest out of the two of us. You are better than me at practically everything."
"No," Natsumi took his hands off her and held his. "You shouldn't compliment me by insulting yourself. I've been doing that for such a long time because I never gave myself any praise and I never felt proud of myself. I never thought of myself as your friend because I always thought that you and Peko were on another level. You're right, the way I've been thinking has been wrong and I've been ruining myself in the process."
Natsumi's not sure who initiated it first but now they're hugging and her shoulder is getting damp while she's crying into his neck.
"I should have told you all of this before," Fuyuhiko's words were muffled. "You're fucking important to me, okay. I would gut anyone who insults you but I can't because it's you who's calling yourself crap."
She laughed against his skin, "I would do the same. And hey, you're telling me this now at least, before any shit happens."
Once their tears were dried they ended up talking about the past. Old memories like Fuyuhiko getting stuck in trees and stubbornly saying he wasn't stuck, the first time he tried to braid her hair, and Peko nursing their wounds after numerous training sessions. Most of the memories they remembered had each other in near death experiences but they talked about how they survived them, how they had hope because of each other.
To get away from the topic of gunfights, Fuyuhiko asked, "So Natsu how's the Reserve Course?"
"I hate it. It's basically like every other high school. Hinata's even making sure that I study for the upcoming exams since I barely do the homework." Nastumi propped her elbow on the bench and laid her head in her hand, "How's everything on your end?"
"Things could be better. Right now, everyone is nervous about our practical exams, we've been given a lot of expectations and pressure. Even though all of us are confident in their talents, we're still teenagers. The whole class is pretty worried that they'll get kicked out, especially after Miss Chisa told us stories of past Ulitmates failing the test."
"So Fuyu, what are you going to do for your exam as the Ultimate Yakuza?"
He shrugged, "I don't know, threatening the judges is all I got right now."
"You're kidding right?" She knows he's not. Now he's red in embarrassment. "That's a terrible idea, albeit a hilarious idea, but it'll look like a joke compared to whatever Peko has prepared."
"Well you're smart, what do you suggest?" When she snapped her fingers and had joy written all over her face, Fuyuhiko instantly shot her down. "And do not suggest anything illegal."
She pouted, "Fine. Okay a better idea would be a gunfight." Fuyuhiko raised an eyebrow. "A mock gunfight, like with paintball guns or whatever."
Fuyuhiko crossed his arms and smirked, "Alright, that's not a bad plan. I'm assuming that you're the one I'll be against?"
"It'll be too easy for you if you don't pick me."
Sure neither of them was an Ultimate in aiming and some teachers might not like the idea of a family member helping out but that's their problem. As a Kuzuryuu, family is a part of being a yakuza so nothing is in their way from getting paint gun equipment and other preparations. When Fuyuhiko told his teacher that Natsumi's a part of his exam, she was more than happy to convince the other faculty members to let them have their way. If Miss Chisa used a sword for persuasion, the siblings will never know.
Finally on the day of the exam, the 77th class and Natsumi were waiting in their classroom for their scheduled examination time. Currently, the 76th class is taking their exam and only the judges and handpicked spectators were allowed to watch.
So while she has the time, Natsumi gave Koizumi an apology. Just a simple apology where she admits that everything that she did to her and Sato was horrible, she was jealous and she'll leave them alone. Koizumi still looked uncomfortable, maybe doubtful, but she accepted the apology nonetheless.
As Fuyuhiko introduced Natsumi to the rest of his classmates, she saw Miss Chisa smiling proudly at them and she chirped, "See, this is how you spend your youth! Making friends and memories and hope," she paused and surveyed the room. "Wait, has anyone seen Komaeda?"
The class gave a unanimous no and then a loud boom rumbled the air. No one said anything. They all looked out the window and saw the gymnasium had exploded.
Thanks for reading!