Era

41

Era eyed him warily over her cup, pressing it to her lips before deciding that she wouldn't drink it. The thought left her a bit too queasy, and he wasn't pressing her about it. She set it down again with a smile.

"It was kind of stressful, but I think I'm learning how to handle myself. The classwork here is intense, though of course that's what I'd expect from UA."

Nedzu hummed thoughtfully, taking a sip of his own. Behind the animal features and the beady eyes he was near unreadable, and that left Era unsettled. She was used to certain tics and tells, twitches of muscle that danced across the face and betrayed what lay beyond, but here... he wasn't human, and she felt very much out of her depth whenever she tried to parse his micro expressions. It was like learning another language, with a completely different alphabet. Except instead of starting with a children's book she'd been handed a treatise on metaphysics.

"How long have you wanted to be a hero, Suzuki?" he said at last. "You seem to have some extensive training already."

Era shrugged. "Hard to tell, really. I've been training for a while now, but I don't think I always wanted to be a hero."

"Really? Why did you train, then?"

Yeah, she'd walked into that one, but fuck she really didn't want to lie to him. Not out of any sort of loyalty of course, but because she had the faintest suspicion that, out of anyone at this school, Nedzu would be the most equipped to see through her falsehoods. Half-truths it would be, then, until she figured out how to better read him.

"My... parents encouraged it. A good outlet, I think? And I was good at it, enjoyed it well enough."

"Your parents... and they're still in America, aren't they?"

Era felt a strain at her smile and had to force it to remain natural. "Yes, they're doing some business there."

"Unfortunate. I imagine they would've enjoyed seeing you compete live in the festival, but I suppose life doesn't always grant us what we want."

Wise words. "They're not super invested in my school life, honestly."

"Is that so?" said Nedzu. "Well, that's quite a shame. I'm sure they're proud of you regardless."

Era twitched, unable to repress the entirety of her wince. "I'm sure they are."

"Well! There is some paperwork that I would have liked them to sign in person, but given the circumstances I can pass them off to you. As long as you get them back to us soon everything should be in order. And, of course, there is the matter of your prize..."

Era blinked, staring at him across the table. "Prize?"

Nedzu's eyes glimmered, and for a moment her own gaze was drawn to the only obvious scar across his face. It was unsettlingly similar to a surgical scar, like a scalpel dragged throughs the flesh. She was sure she shouldn't ask where it came from, and almost certain she didn't actually want to know.

"Prize!" Nedzu crowed, leaning over to rifle through the drawers of his desk. "The top-ranked competitors this year are receiving a monetary prize, courtesy of UA!"

"I... don't recall that being the case in previous years." Even though she'd been ignorant to the UA Sports Festival up until a few weeks ago, Era had made sure to watch all the previous competitions to get an idea of what would be thrown at her. She was almost positive that there had never been mention of any sort of award.

"Oh, we've just begun implementing it this year. I believe we announced it a couple times, but we didn't want to put too much pressure on the students..." Nedzu emerged, triumphantly waving an envelope in his paw. "Here we are! Eight hundred thousand yen all told, not bad for your debut!"