Part 1 - | Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, Investigating |
I wake up, look to my right and see Kiyone. She's also looking at me, and something tells me we woke up at the same time.
That's not unusual: we tend to have a very similar, if not the exact same, circadian rhythm. However, from the sliver of light leaking through the window, my own internal clock, my current level of lucidity and my sister's complicated expression, I can tell. It's happened again.
"It's 5:30."
The White Room's curriculum was a balancing act between the outrageously demanding "learning" periods and the necessary "recuperation" periods, and each successive generation leaned more to the former than the latter. The 4th generation leaned far, far into the "learning" portion: days straight of the most demanding regime ever introduced to the White Room, all with the absolute minimum downtime.
This affected our sleep schedule as well, and one of the first priorities was to reduce performance loss from lack of sleep. We were trained to fall asleep quicker, trained to react immediately upon waking up, exposed to high-intensity training suddenly and without notice at ungodly hours...
However, the White Room's daytime operations began, without exception, at 5:30 AM on the dot. That was the one constant in our deliberately random schedule.
To this day, we find ourselves waking up at this time. Sometimes before, when something alerts us, but never after.
Whether we fall asleep at 9, 10, 11, 12, or past midnight, no matter how tired or rested we are, beyond 5:30 we are always wide awake. Our body knows exactly when, and the fact we must wake up at that time has thoroughly been ingrained in us. During the early stages of our training, we even believed all of humanity simply woke at this time. We thought this was just the way the world worked, how humanity lived.
When we came to the Mansion, it took us nearly a year to wake up past 5:30, with our record being 5:41.02. Our efforts in the Mansion wore down our many White Room habits, and after a while our sleeping condition started seeing regular variance between 5:30 to 5:40.
We expected it wouldn't be as easy once we came to ANHS: no matter how safe the place is, it's still a new environment. No matter how much people tell us it's safe, our instincts, so used to constant tension and danger, rear its head strongly in reaction to any change to our environment, especially so to something drastic like this.
We held vain hopes that our efforts in the Mansion would've somehow completely killed this condition of ours, but of course 14 years don't disappear so easily.
We are awake, we are wary and we are constantly expecting danger, as if we are in the White Room. That's what this time means to us.
"We still have plenty of time." I communicate to Kiyone. She nods in understanding.
We have three years to wear down this condition and many others. We are determined, if nothing else, and will not get discouraged nor rush blindly. We have time, and eventually we will have our whole lives.
"Let's go for a run." I feel her reply to me. I nod, and we change into our gym clothes.
We feel the chilly morning air embrace us upon opening the door and take a moment to admire the new environment, making use of our current hyper-awareness. The sun, leaking light just above the female dorms; the park's flowers, slightly drooped but glistening with raindrops; the slight, tiniest chirping of birds, and the presence of one just down the hallway, eating off a leftover bag of chips.
I walk over to the bird with slow movements, crouching down low and silencing my presence as much as possible. Once close, I pick up a stray chip, crush it (which catches the bird's attention) and offer it to the bird.
It looks at me with beady eyes, tilts its neck for a second, then pecks away with vigour.
After eating everything off my hand, it looks up at me with a look I've somehow become familiar with. I raise my arm, holding it parallel to the ground, and dust off my shoulder. The bird chirps, than flutters up and perches itself on my shoulder. It turns its neck to look at me, and I stare back.
"Never could figure out why birds like you so much." Says Kiyone, looking curiously at the bird from behind me.
"They like you too." I say, and offer my shoulder to her as proof. As she raises a finger, the bird just keeps staring with beaded eyes. She rubs it with the flat space in between her knuckles and the first joint, and the bird coos. It stays there for a bit, seemingly enjoying the rubbing, before expanding its wings and flying off.
"I wonder what birds see in us?" She asks with her hand on my shoulder. I bend my arm back and she knowingly turns her hand, offering me her palm.
"Who knows. Maybe they just see us as a free source of food?"
"I don't think the White Room accounted for making its subjects bird-edible."
"...You know that's not what I meant."
"And you know I know you know I know, so why mention it?"
"Cause this is fun."
It's surprising how fun this little "handshake-talk," as she calls it, is. Its main purpose is for communication and was developed out of practical necessity, but it also has some entertainment value for us. I like it, in a kind of secret-treehouse style.
No one can know what we're saying. Our little secret treehouse fort.
"Then keep talking, bird food-man." She replies, and I see a minute smirk out of the corner of my eye.
It's surprising how childish my sister can be sometimes.
After returning from our run, Kiyone goes first for the showers while I begin preparing breakfast. We used to bathe together, but Matsuo was really adamant about changing that so we try to oblige his wishes most of the time. We know how unusual that is for our age: we just don't care. We won't go out and announce to people we bath together, because we know "common sense", but general notions of normality scarcely influence our private lives.
Anyway, she exits the shower after about 20 minutes, and I head in while she takes over cooking. It's fine: she knows exactly where I've left off and what to do next. She knows everything I know and I know everything she knows, after all. And as she said before, if "you know I know, why mention it?" There's not a lot that needs mentioning between us.
Though, we sometimes do anyway, especially if it's with "handshake-talk."
I really need to change that name.
Anyway, after finishing my shower we eat breakfast, traditional Japanese style. Rice (cooked in a pot), miso soup, cooked salmon, okonomiyaki, pickled radish (store-bought, unfortunately), and salt-grilled mackerel. All portioned specifically for us.
I take a peek at Kiyone sitting opposite to me and notice a smile that's a smidgen more pronounced than normal, one that gets brighter with a sip of miso soup. Food is an absolute blessing and cooking is a skill I am extremely thankful for, by no small amount because of what it reminds us. If I had no other aspirations, I would love to become a full-time chef, and no matter what I do in the future I see myself being a cooking enthusiast. Maybe I would even start a food blog.
In my head, the image of Matsuo in the kitchen comes up, making me feel emboldened to accomplish one of our main objectives today.
We finish eating, change and head out bright and early. It's a good morning, all things considered.
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After exploring the school until 5 minutes before classes, we arrive to a bustling classroom filled with chatter. Looks like some groups have been established already, mostly based who's around your seat.
"Oh, good morning Ayanokouji-kun, Kiyone-san!" Suddenly, the brown-haired girl I saw on the bus comes up to us with a large smile. Kushida Kikyou, if I recall.
"Morning."
"Good Morning."
"You actually came at a good time. Do either of you have interest in eating lunch with us? We decided getting the class together for lunch would help break the ice between a lot of people. Just about half the class is coming right now!"
True, a lot of the talking is currently happening in big, centralized groups, mostly of the female gender. A few guys are talking together, but most of those not in the big group are kind of silent outliers that seem to be having trouble making friends, with only a few making some strained conversation. An icebreaker over good food would probably... help. Somewhat. Maybe. Possibly? Probably.
"Oh, I can go." Answers Kiyone. She was supposed to socialize today, so this falls in line with our plans.
"That's great! And you, Ayanokouji-kun?"
"I have plans for lunch, so I'll decline. Thanks for inviting me, though."
"No problem, Ayanokouji-kun. You can come join us if you change your mind. Anyway, do you two want to exchange numbers?" She asks with what I could only call an angelic smile, and after she pulls out her phone she transitions into a looking-up beady-eyed puppy look. Very effective.
Unfortunately, neither angels nor puppy eyes are effective on me.
Well, I'll still give her my number. Why not? I pull out my phone and Kiyone also does the same.
"Yay~ Oh, and, there's just one more thing I want to ask... but it's more of a request."
"What is it?"
"Well... I've been going around, asking people their contact info, but there's just one person who hasn't told me hers."
She discreetly gestures towards a dark-haired girl in the back row who's currently reading a book. Crime and Punishment... Interesting choice.
"Of course, I don't plan to pressure her and it's okay if she doesn't want to, but I don't think she's talked to anyone else either. I'm a bit worried for her. I don't think she's even shared her name with anyone."
"Since you guys sit next to her, I was just wondering if you could... talk to her and help me become friends with her? I really want to get to know everyone in class." She says, once again using the angelic-smile and puppy-eye combo.
"Well, we can at least try and talk to her, but whether she wants to be friends with you is really up to her, I think." Kiyone replies.
"I know, but I would still like to try. I'm also a bit worried for her, and I would like to at least know her name."
"We'll see what we can—"
Just as Kiyone is about to reply, Chabashira-sensei walks into the class and ushers everyone into their seats.
Just as well: I was losing interest in the conversation anyway.
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Come lunch, Kiyone heads off to eat with a bunch of girls, and it's about time to begin my portion of our plan in earnest.
But, seeing as Kiyone is being the star socializer and I essentially gave off no introduction, I might as well talk to some people.
Specifically, I might as well recruit some people.
Speaking of, I see a certain black-haired candidate.
"Hey Horikita, could I talk to you for a second?"
My one-seat-over neighbour looks at me with a striking glare which may have been scary to others but to me, who has experienced Kiyone's 100% glare which could freeze oceans, hers feels like a cool breeze. I like it: it's endearing how she thinks she's so cool.
"What? I hope you didn't take me giving you my name as permission to talk to me. And could you tell your sister to stop playing with birds during class?"
"I have no idea what you're talking about with the second one, but for the first thing, what else am I supposed to do with your name?"
"Leave me alone, of course. I only told you because you were so insistent at the convenience store. It was meant to get you off my tail, and I want it to be a permanent thing."
"Want to spend lunch together?"
"It's seems you're deaf as well. No. I'm rather quite content like this, so if you could st—"
"I'm going to investigate the school."
She takes a second to process as my tone shifts minutely from light to serious, and turns to face me with a slight hint of interest.
"...What do you mean?"
"You've pointed out at the convenience store you think the school is being overly generous, and I agree with you. 100,000 points per month, per student, per our entire stay is extremely extravagant. Isn't it suspicious?"
"Well... yes, it's very suspicious as you've said."
"And I plan to investigate my suspicions. We need to remember this is an elite school whose inner workings are a complete mystery. I want to make sure this isn't indicative of something that could damage our continued stay or future prospects in this school."
"...You're more well-spoken than I gave you credit for."
"Thanks for that. So, want to come with? I have some ideas in mind and would like a witness—and helper—for everything."
She considers things for a moment. "...How long do you think this will take?"
"Maybe the whole lunch if we're through. But you don't have to join me for the whole thing."
"...I can at least hear your idea out, seeing as you've put some thought into this. May as well spend the time now and avoid a potential headache in the future, whether that be from you bothering me or the school bothering me."
"Alright then, let's go."
As I leave the classroom, I note Koenji's absence with some satisfaction. He left for the bathroom a few minutes before class ended and was nowhere to be seen once the bell rung. This, alongside the smirk he gave me as he left, tells me he's following the plan.
Alright then, let's tear this school wide open.
As cheaply as possible, that is.
"Oh, if you're hungry, you can have this."
"Temaki? When did you have time to make this?"
"This morning. It's my lunch. Here, have some."
...
...
"...Delicious."
"Right? Here, your portion."
"...Why do you have a portion for me?"
"Cause I was going to drag you around and didn't want you to starve."
"So you made an entire second portion? What if I said no?"
"If you didn't come with or didn't want it, I would just drop it off for Kiyone. If not, she wanted to try cafeteria food so it's a win-win."
"...I know not to look the gift horse in the mouth. I'll take it."
Heh, the food strategy always works. - Ayanokouji Kiyotaka.
...Why does it look like one temaki is missing from this container?
- Horikita Suzune