Chapter 21 Ayano Aishi: The calm before the storm, the cooking club and a culture festival

By now it was still early to mid-June, and I defeated Budo Masuta most of the time now. I am glad that he took it in stride. He has improved a lot too, but I am somehow faster than him.

Raibaru Fumetsu on the other hand…I can hold out on my own against her for a very long time but have never defeated her yet, she always got me in the end.

Today however…everything changed. When I fought her, I held out, and when I was about to give up, I gave her the last blow I could and she went down. WHAT?

I. Defeated. The. Mysterious. Obstacle!

She looked thoughtful and asked me if I wanted to become the president of the martial arts club, since I broke her 100% winning streak. She only stayed in the martial arts club so far because she thought that she was obligated to do so, because of her winning streak.

"What?...No! No…I can´t …My home is the science club!"

She was upset about this, but I challenged her to a rematch and as expected, she defeated me this time again.

"See? You are still stronger than me and deserve your rank"

She deflated and told me that she wanted to leave the martial arts club eventually and explore new hobbies and make more friends. I told her that she should train Budo Masuta well, so he could take over that role as club leader. It would be for the best.

Raibaru Fumetsu decided that she would let Budo Masuta take over more functions as the substitute president, so she had more time for other hobbies, but would still remain in the martial arts club to train Budo Masuta and anyone who wanted for now.

Ah, Raibuaru chan, you don´t have the same interest as me, but you agree with my opinions on Justice, Gossip and violence. So you can help us, if ever dangers appear.

I need to state that defeating Budo Masuta or Raibaru chan is not a thing to be taken lightly, other people have trained for far longer than I have and haven´t come nearly as far as me, but apparently my motor skills and speed are nearly unmatched.

By the way I have brought Oka chan to the martial arts club with me, she wanted to try martial arts out, but she was super weak and had to be taught the very basics of self-defence. However she is very eager to improve, and has enjoyed it a lot and I think she will go training regularly in the future.

As for me, I am going to the cooking club next and try my luck there, I hope I don´t get sent to the counsellor again…

It is the cooking club, and I heavily doubt that I would start a fire or anything like that, so it very unlikely that I would cause issues, but you never know what you could do wrong … Ugh…

So I went there and offered my help. You know, with the whole culture festival thing coming up, it is good to have some extra helping hands. The science club has prepared too, we have mechas and holographic displays and some chemicals to present. Kaga Kusha appears increasingly approachable and less mad, and I could even talk to him about some subjects, mostly what I have read in books and some of the things father had taught me, and he did not disagree with me, I think it is a good sign. Kaga Kusha doesn´t not only like money and justice, he also likes video games. Unexpected but cool to know. I think Kaga Kusha wants to be on my good side.

When I went to the cooking club, Yaku kun went with me too, because he likes cooking too.

The important cooking club members are:

Amai Odayaka-she is kind and sweet and is good at making food an enjoys seeing people enjoy her food. She likes cooking and cats, but dislikes the occult. I can get along with her well. She also likes cooking many western dishes, mostly the main courses, but obviously prepares Japanese dishes too

Shoku Tsubaraya-he is extremely similar to Amai Odayaka in his interests, just like I am similar to Yaku-kun. This is interesting. Are they candidates for matchmaking or something?

Kenko Sukoyaka-he likes healthy food. That is recommendable. He also likes cats and nature.

Seiyo Akanishi-he is in the same class as I am and he is a big fan of everything western, he believes to have been a cowboy in his previous life. Dislikes the occult though. Hmm, I like western food too, but wouldn´t want to miss the Japanese food out either. The west…English…I have learned the English language, because so many books are written in English and I would never want to miss out on that.

We helped them prepare the food as the culture festival was starting soon. Normally culture festivals would be held on the 3rd November, but for some reason we do it differently here. I don´t know why.

The weekend of the culture festival was – lively- there were stands everywhere and much action to be had.

It was of course not only the science club and the cooking club who were active. The drama club had performances too (I could scoff and roll my eyes at that), and the music club and the sports club had fun too.

I like how nothing went wrong at the cooking club so far, unlike with the science and the occult club in the past.

Of course the cooking club does not make many main courses and mostly just snacks and sweets.

I don't enjoy sweets really much, the give you a sugar rush, but don´t satiate like normal food, and I think I don´t enjoy them, just like I don´t enjoy nature, music and art. However if you need to be alert, for example after eating a tiring main course(the body needs to digest the food and has less energy for the brain), a sugar rush can be useful to get the mind active again.

Hmm the occult club is interesting, but I might just like lighter things over dark things. Of course the pink and white of the cooking club is exaggerated, but nonetheless. My favourite colour has shifted from dark grey to a lighter shade of grey over the past months, and when I was small I liked dark grey the most.

Strange.

Anyways, while I was helping with selling the food, I met old friends again! Not just Midori chan and Kuu chan, but the Kurusu sisters themselves! I was so happy to see them! They would only come here next year, but during the culture festival you can visit other schools so they visited Akademi.

I chattered with them excitedly like never before and told them of all my friends I met, I introduced Yaku Zaishi to them and told them of all my adventures and misadventures, and on this special day I also put on my emotion reading Visor again (at least while at school) to look cool. The Kurusu sister found the visor funny and I was very happy.

My parents were here too, Mother was happy and gushed, about how good of a daughter I am, and how amazing her husband is, but father was relatively withdrawn, I hope he is alright.

Mother noticed me wearing the visor but while she looked at me, she did not say anything about it and let me have my fun. As long as I am not at home, I can wear the visor if I want.

I also noticed that Raibaru Fumetsu has made a new friend, namely my classmate Osana Najimi, the girl with the long orange hair. She has plain interests, Cooking, Music, Sports, Gardening and Cats, but I think she is one of the people who can actually enjoy their life more than I ever could. There is no point in being envious of her, eventually I will unlock my full range of emotions, I have noticed that I reacted increasingly well to pleasing things (music, sweets, art, nature), it is just a slight effect so far, but I have observed it, so eventually I will enjoy life to my fullest too.

Osana chan´s dislikes are: Drama, Occult, Science, Video Games and Violence

This fits in well with my theory that she can feel life much more than I can. I might have most emotions now, but I still can't feel as much as normal people do.

At least I can talk Osana chan about Cooking and cats, and she is not one of those bullies. Ugh speaking of the bullies, they have never harassed me personally, but some of the occult club members were harassed by them. I can´t stand them!

Also, I think Osana chan is cute and I want to protect her. Ugh, why am I thinking of everyone I meet as cute and in need of my protection? This is getting ridiculous now! The aren't my family!

Osana chan has a childhood friend, it is some plain guy, he looks a bit like Budo kun- but he is - like- super plain and has no special traits. He is interesting, but only because he looks so much like my father. Hngh, why do I get excited thinking about this guy? He is just a normal upperclassman and the most generic person you could find. His hobbies, his grades and his interest- all average. A bit like that one guy in the Anime "The Disastrous Life of a Psychic"*. The extraordinary anime protagonist was really envious of that plain guy because he could – unlike him- live a completely average and normal life…

From what Osana chan has told me, her childhood friend has the same moral alignment as I and Raibaru chan have (likes Justice and dislikes Gossip and violence), and he likes reading and nature. He is not interested in the things I am interested in the most (science and cooking) and even dislikes the occult.

So why is Taro Yamada captivating my attention ? I looked at him with my aura vision and he is the guy with the pink in his aura.

He also has a clingy sister, which visits him during the culture festival. Ugh, I must think of how mother clings to my father at times and I feel uncomfortable looking at them together. It is cute, yet at the same time unsettling. Doesn´t his sister understand personal space? Anyways, that is his problem, not mine, and he tolerates her clinginess, from what I have seen.

Osana chan speaks well of his sister, and knows her since childhood too.

His sister is named Hanako Yamada and she is a lot like him and Osana chan.

Anyways, I got distracted thinking about these plain people, I enjoy my company with the science club members much more. My head got warmer than usual, when I thought of Yaku zaishi and looked at him, and my heart beat a bit faster than normal, indicating excitement, but it made me happy.

Suddenly Maigo chan asked me "Ayano-chan, why are there hearts on your visor?"

Wait, what, hearts?

No, this can´t be. Am I in love? Bah, I doubt it. Don´t get the wrong idea!(Kanchigaishinaide!)

"Uuuhm… I don´t know why there were Hearts on my visor."

Homu chan told me that now there are ! and … and ? signs on my visor.

Thankfully they did not press on that matter further. However I put off the visor again and placed it in my bag. Having ones true emotions uncovered can be embarrassing after all.

I sold many snacks, hotdogs, cakes, tarts and pies and that day and talked to many people. It was fun.

I approached the plain guy, while his sister was away and talked with him about books. He likes to read fanfiction amongst other things, but he is really a boring, plain person. He is nothing cool like the science club members but nothing annoying or bad like the bullies, Osoro Shidesu or Megami Saikou. Somehow I think Osoro Shidesu is nicer than Megami Saikou, she always wants to be left alone but is not as hostile as Megami Saikou is. Seriously, the way Megami Saikou looks at me like I am some kind of abomination (like that monster in my nightmare)I s really unsettling me and I don´t want to think about it…

Taro Yamada fits with Osana chan and his sister I think. Taro Yamada can also cook basic meals, but is not too interested in cooking.

Then his sister came back and was annoyed at him for speaking with me instead of her. I was annoyed about her neediness and Osana chan scolded her for this. Thank you, Osana chan, you are a decent person.

I talked a lot with the Kurusu sisters and the Science club members, and had fun.

I also saw Kaga Kusha´s parents, they are just like him and work in the Saikou corp. His father works developing artificial intelligence, and his mother works in the robotics division.

I like how Kaga Kusha is more approachable than in the past, he still rambles on about his plans for world domination, but behaves…somehow more politely, despite his eccentric nature.

Good luck wooing over Megami Saikou, you will really need it, that girl is rumoured to be as strong as Osoro Shidesu, and from what I have observed she is much ruder than her(at least to me).

I also saw that red haired artist guy with his parents and they are so much like him, it is fascinating.

The same can be said for that girl with a flower in her hair from the gardening club.

Other students parents are usually not as similar as the parents of those I mentioned here.

Yaku Zaishi´s parents for a starter. They think he is weird. They don't understand, do they? Science is amazing!

Speaking of the girl with the flower in her hair, she is named Uekiya Engeyika and Oka chan talked to her, It was funny. Oka chan was worried that Uekiya Engeyika was wearing flower in her hair to ward off evil spirits and that she "slaughtered" the flowers for it, but Ukeikya Engeyika said she does it only for decoration and asked Oka chan if she was alright, Oka chan said yes, like always.

Hmm, that gardening girl really likes plants and shovelling dirt.

The day was really nice and I fell asleep and dreamed of lots of nice things-socializing in the science club, talking to Oka chan, cooking in the cooking club, talking about book preferences with other people and mother and father being happy together. It was such a beautiful dream - but alas - good things won´t last forever.

Next club of interest for me other than the science club and the martial arts club is the art club for me. Why, if you may ask? I don´t really enjoy art after all. Well… I got curious despite my general disinterest in art and wanted to try out new things.

I bribed the leader of the Arts club, Geiju Tsuka with food from the cooking club, so I could draw art during my spare time.

Geiju Tsuka is a man…of extremely few words. He is probably just obsessed with drawing, and doesn't want to get distracted form his art by people.

I told him that he looks like the Pyschic protagonist from the anime "The Disastrous Life of a Psychic"*. This particular Anime is about a guy with superpowers who tries to live a normal life like normal people, but always gets trouble. It's kind of sad, how the protagonist can never have his peace.

Geiju Tsuka smiled and showed me a drawing depicting said protagonist. Then he said that he just likes drawing and anime and has no superpowers.

The we have Borupen Saishiki, who likes the occult and art, he is obsessed with drawing dead things and likes solitude. Hmm, interesting.

The we have Enpitsu Byoga, just some stupid narcissist obsessed with his own beauty, he is worse than Kaga Kusha was, when I first met him. Oh, and Joho Teikyosha does talk to him frequently, highly unusual for such a reclusive person as her, she has talked with him positively about Gossip, Money and Solitude and negatively about Sports. However considering that she is weird in a similar manner, they may be fitting together…

Well you can guess how the people of the art club are, most of them are extreme loners, heh…

Unimportant to me, I will draw some stuff. I drew construction blueprints of mechas and aerial drones and drew pictures of science labs, and of things that scare me the most. An insane young women with grey hair, bloodstained clothing and knife and wide, crazy eyes. The same mad women holding a severed head. Drawings of demons. A mind-slave being tortured and begging to go.

A vengeful spirit of someone murdered in cold blood. Borupen Saishiki really likes my art.

However the art club leader approached me and told me to stop drawing such stuff , because the other students got scared. Fair point, I don´t ever want to go to the counsellor for misconduct again.

I drew an image of Nemesis, a young, angry, vengeful and broken woman, who wants to avenge her brother, who got killed by a vile assassin. She has trained vigorously and is now ready to find the perpetrator to kill him. Nemesis is a character from an edgy Manga with an Anime adaptation, both called "Retribution". I found the story extremely fascinating so I decided to draw her.

Then I got bored of drawing eventually and felt the need to explore Akademi´s mysteries together with the Occult club.

Authors Note: "The disastrous life of a Psychic"*-In this fanfic this anime is our universe´s Equivalent to "Saiki Kusuo no Psi Nan"/ „The Disastrous Life of Saiki K."