Closed starter for @handbittcn !
Plenty of Hope's Peak Academy was a mystery. For the Main Course students, that often was the Reserve Building, a place they did not have permission to trespass unless it was under the most dire of circumstances. For many pupils, that also included an unmarked door not too far from one of the sports fields. While students were given access to the libraries, the cafeteria, the common rooms and more, the unmarked door required a key. And the key required special permissions for students whose talents necessitated it.
Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess, was one such student blessed with a key and the privilege it afforded: the privilege of using Hope's Peak's underground shooting range. Due to its compact size and single range, students needed to use it in shifts if their courses necessitated it. That was how she had ended up there that afternoon, clad in her black Novoselic army fatigues and an array of assault rifles and pistols in the open cabinet at the back of the room. The table, however, was far less threatening: it simply contained her bag and a thermos of hot tea, some of which still had steam rising from the aluminum cup. She could've brought a proper hamper and proper pot, but this felt more like home. With military-grade canteens and military-grade weapons that Novoselic had ensured the school agree to Sonia keeping, in order to maintain her skills.
It also came with an additional bonus: the lack of prestige and pedestal that her military lessons had at home. Constant praise and adoration simply due to her birthright, nothing she truly did or accomplished, tended to vex her more often than not. Enough for her to focus readily on the targets at hand as she set down the rifle and pressed the button that would recall the pinned-up paper bullseye back to her. But as the motor ceased and gloved hands reached up to unfasten the target, the unmarked door opened.
"Oh!" Sonia called, quickly turning towards the entrance. It happened sometimes: random students came across the range and were left in various stages of shock: some were nonplussed, others feared for their safety. But she sighed in relief, a soft smile on her lips, when she noticed who had descended upon her. "Ah, it's you, Ikusaba-san. I apologize, is it your time to utilize the range? I shall depart and leave you to it if that is the case."
