Prologue #6

Midnight Disaster

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DAYTIME

OST - Despair - Syndrome, Beautiful Lie

FROWNING, I scratched my head awkwardly, glancing towards the white wall instead. "My talent is bounty hunting, alright?" I informed them in annoyance, "I'm the Ultimate Bounty Hunter. If anyone should be the most concerned about any dangerous talents here-- it's me."

Both Sarada and Pandora also seemed to fit the bill.

Hayato sighed, throwing his hands up in surrender. "I have to say, you make a good point," he raised his eyebrow, returning to his original spot, waving me off carelessly, "Sorry for suspecting you. Carry on."

I made a mental note to keep an eye on him for future reference... That guy was unpredictable.

"So what should we do?" Niou returned to the subject at hand, "I still stand by my opinion."

Shion ran a hand through his hair as he approached the tallest guy in the room. "Hey, mind if I use your talent as an example?" he asked him, opening one eye.

The man shook his head silently.

"This here's Iwane Ueda," the drug dealer introduced, "He's the Ultimate Gladiator."

The group instantly quieted at the news.

I didn't blame them, Iwane looked as if he had the physical strength to twist a person's head. Regardless, I had to respect him for letting Shion do that to him. The same went out to Shion for actually walking up to him and asking if he could.

With calm, cool eyes, Shion scanned the faces of the other people in the room. "So, how will you all operate now that you know this information?" he prompted them, "I'd like to see a show of hands for all those in favour of doing talent introductions.

Nearly all of the students raised their hands, with the exception of the ones that had previously announced their displeasure at the idea.

Observing the result, the drug lord handed things over to the greenish-brown-haired man and his pink-haired companion.

"We'll go with your idea," he nodded towards them as he returned to stand next to my left.

He breathed a sigh of relief.

"You did well," Sarada placed a hand on teenager's shoulder comfortingly, giving him encouragement.

"Thanks," the drug dealer smiled in appreciation, still seeming pretty unnerved.

Thinking about the introductions I would now have to do, I decided to tick off in my head the persons that I had met already. Sarada, Shion, Ritsuki, Tahara and Pandora-- that made five people. I had heard about Hayato, Nahoko, Niou and Iwane... That meant that there were eight more students I didn't know much of anything about, though it couldn't hurt to talk to some of the ones I hadn't really spoken to properly.

Glancing at Iwane, I figured that it wasn't really fair to deprive the Ultimate Gladiator of a proper introduction just because of his stature and his talent. However, I wasn't really sure how to approach someone who seemed to ooze such an intimidating aura.

Noticing my conflicted stare, the fighter clicked his teeth in exasperation as he unfolded his arms, making his way over.

Internally, I panicked.

"Do you need something?" the man asked, raising an eyebrow at my clearly shaken demeanour.

Forcing myself to speak, I nodded. "Yeah," I agreed, "It was pretty brave of you to let Shion use your talent as an example for the rest of us. If I were in your shoes, I probably wouldn't."

Iwane nodded. "I believe honesty is the best policy," he informed me, "After all, I hold no ill will towards any of you. I would like all of you to keep your best interests at heart-- even if that includes revealing my talent."

I was shocked. Now that I was actually speaking to him, Iwane seemed to be a pretty chill guy. 

I felt ashamed that I had dared to think badly of him.

"Shion Raniero might be brave, but I think you also hold some courageous qualities," the tall man continued, patting my white hair with his large hand, "Not many would be willing to consider speaking to me. You should be proud, small person. What is your name?"

I wasn't sure how I felt about him immediately deciding to call me, "small person." Still, I wasn't too annoyed at him.

"I'm Murano," I introduced myself, fixing my hat back into place on my head, "To be honest, I wasn't really sure I wanted to. When you came over, I was still in the process of deliberating."

Iwane acknowledged this. "Murano, huh? I shall make note of it," he stated, making his way back over to his original spot.

He wanted to make a note of it? For what reason?

Slightly confused, I felt a bit apprehensive at the thought.

***

Shaking my head, I decided to go to a more positive-looking individual, choosing the pink-haired girl from earlier.

Walking over to her, she appeared to already be waiting with furrowed eyebrows. "You're troubled," the brown-skinned girl commented, tilting her head as she clasped her hands in front of her lap.

She wore what appeared to be a teal sailor uniform top over a white skirt with aquamarine frills at the bottom. On her feet, were a pair of teal-coloured heeled boots with aqua bows that barely hid a part of the dark teal tights that she had on underneath her skirt. Long, thick strands of pink hair seemed to frame her face on each side.

"How did you know?" I inquired, looking down at the girl.

She was only a bit shorter than my own height.

"I know, for it is my job," she smiled secretively with a wink.

"Really?" I raised an eyebrow in surprise at the declaration.

"Not really..." she admitted sheepishly with a laugh, closing her orange eyes and rubbing the back of her head, "I only happened to overhear a part of your conversation. Apart from that, it's practically written all over your face."

That explained it.

"So what's your name and talent?"

"Well, my name's Yuhara Mitsugi," she introduced herself, "I'm the Ultimate Missionary. Murano, right? It's a pleasure to meet you."

I nodded, assuming she had overheard that too. "Likewise."

"The Ultimate Missionary, huh?" I mulled over the title, "What exactly do you do?"

Yuhara placed a finger on her chin. "Well, I often travel around the world to different religious communities and lend a helping hand, preaching the word of their gods to them. I often do it while serving them food or volunteering at health clinics among other things. Sometimes, I listen to their confessions, and occasionally, I may mediate between religious conflicts," she informed me peacefully, "Every now and then, there have been cases where I am asked to perform miracles with their god's assistance."

"You've performed miracles?"

"Yes," she affirmed, "Have you heard of the pope's illness?"

I nodded. "Yeah, I have. It was a horrible disease that nobody knew how to cure," I recalled, holding a hand to my chin, "It was the first of its type, I think. Even established doctors said that he wouldn't last more than another week, at most. Despite all of that, he still recovered."

"He was healed with a blessing," she calmly revealed, her expression clouding with nostalgia, "It was actually a pretty draining experience, to be honest."

Unsure how exactly to respond to her claim, I gave her a disbelieving gaze.

She hummed softly. "I can tell that you don't believe me."

"Who would?" I pointed out incredulously, furrowing my eyebrows, "You're trying to tell me that you healed the pope with a prayer. The world's best doctors couldn't heal him, yet you're telling me that a sixteen-year-old kid can?"

"I'm actually a year older than you, you know?" she corrected my assumption.

"Oh. Sorry about that."

Now that had surprised me.

"It's no problem," the Mitsugi smiled, "I am among the shortest members of our group, after all."

So was I, for that matter.

"There are a lot of things in this world that can be accomplished through faith that science can't," Yuhara continued, "For example, if I wished to, I could find out more things about you than you may want. Were I to reveal them, you'd believe me in an instant."

"I really doubt that."

She hummed once more before proceeding to make her point. "Sorry for bringing up bad memories, but I've noticed you've taken to introducing yourself without the use of your last name, Varamatsu," she nonchalantly observed, shocking me as her gaze seemed to pierce straight through my soul.

Laughing bitterly, I calmed myself. "That wouldn't take much to realize," I rolled my eyes, "You could probably find that out from TV."

 "Yes, I suppose I could," the pink-haired girl agreed somberly, thinking once more, "Maybe your younger sister, Chieko, then. She disappeared, right?"

I was starting to believe that maybe Yuhara did miraculously heal the pope. After all, I hadn't told a single soul that Chieko had gone missing.

Giving up, I covered my mouth with my hand as I walked towards that Heiji kid next, wishing for a change of pace. Right now, my brain was filled with too many unanswered questions.

"We'll continue our conversation later," I informed the missionary sternly, leaving her no choice in the matter.

Yuhara simply waved with a smile. "I know we will."

***

"Heiji Obara," the green-haired man responded upon seeing my approach, his hand outstretched, "The Ultimate Bomber."

Instantly I whirled around on the balls of my feet, ready to head back to Yuhara.

Heiji grabbed me by my shoulder with a laugh. "I'm just joking!" he explained, attempting to keep me from running away, "I'm actually the Ultimate Bomb Maker... though my formal title is a technician."

"Why would you do that?" I shrieked, "I thought I was going to die there for a second. You know that moment when you make the wrong choice in a game and you get a bad end? That's what literally flew through my head!"

"I'm sorry, I'm sorry," the tall man apologized with no sign of actual sympathy, "It's just, that tends to be the first thing in people's minds these days when they see someone like me. So I decided to make a joke out of it."

Taking in the man's state of dress, I observed the yellowish-green bandana that the man had tied around his messy brownish-green hair. He wore a bronze-coloured sweater over a white button-up shirt and camouflage green-coloured pants. On his feet, he wore a pair of black combat boots.

If anything, it felt like he had deliberately worn his outfit in order to get that kind of reaction.

"Please don't do that again," I begged, attempting to calm my racing heartbeat.

"I won't, I won't," the Obara agreed, "But your reaction was one of the best ones I've ever seen-- well aside from that Pandora girl, of course. She went as white as a sheet. Ha, ha, I think she might be avoiding me now..."

I immediately felt bad for the poor witness. The girl hadn't caught a single break since she had gotten here.

"So bombs, huh?" I continued the conversation, "Isn't that job pretty dangerous?"

"Oh, it is," Heiji agreed, rubbing his temples at the thought, "Especially when I need to deactivate them. Man, it's pressuring... Sometimes I think they might go off! Say, wanna switch jobs? I wouldn't mind being a bounty hunter."

"Uh... no thanks," I immediately shook my head, "I really don't think I can handle deactivating bombs. I'd probably set them off quicker."

"Hmm..." he pondered this, "Suit yourself!"

If anything, it seemed as if he was the one who wanted to quit.

"Um... nice meeting you, Heiji," I finished our conversation there, "I'll see you later."

***

Seeing as he was nearby, I reluctantly made my way over to the blonde-haired man from earlier. He was dressed quite smartly in the brown suit of what I assumed to be an Englishman, a navy blue bowtie wrapped around his neck. Brown boots clacked impatiently against the ground as he checked his watch, grunting his displeasure.

"What do you want?" he raised an eyebrow without looking, "If you have the money, I can give you all the information you need about these people, shortening your strange meet-and-greet."

I raised an eyebrow at his query. "Uh... I'm actually here to get to know your talent and name," I cleared up the apparent misunderstanding.

Realizing his mistake, he cleared his throat apologetically. "Oh," he murmured in surprise, glancing down at me curiously, "In that case, my name is Kyoden Ichibei and I am the Ultimate Blackmailer-- You're what exactly? Five feet, three? two?"

I frowned in irritation. "I'm taller than 5'4". Can you not judge me based on my height? It's insulting," I informed him.

Kyoden looked at me in utter bewilderment as if I had three heads. "No, no, I'm not judging you, boy!" he clarified,  shaking his head incredulously, "I'm making profiles of each of our classmates! Do you have any allergies?"

"Um," I furrowed my eyebrows in confusion, "I get that you're making a profile thing... but what exactly are you going to do with this information?"

"That depends," he tapped his finger against his chin, answering cryptically, "If I'm asked... there's a chance that you may see."

"Alright," I nodded slowly, backing away in suspicion as I pointed at someone else, "I think I'm just going to go talk to that blue-haired kid over there."

"Ahhh..." he acknowledged this, waving me off absentmindedly, "Have fun with the rest of your little introductions."

***

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