"Confusion and Familiarity" Prologue [PART 2]
Written by the amazing Mod Tai!
Darkness surrounded him.
Where am I?
He opened his eyes, but his vision stayed blurry.
What happened?
He tried to move, but he quickly realised it was impossible. I'm locked inside something?
he pushed the door in front of me as hard as he could. It took a few tries the door opened and he stood in a classroom.
"Classroom?" He talked with myself, carefully inspecting the room, trying to remember how the hell he got stuck in a locker in the first place.
Well- it doesn't really matter now, does it?
A rumbling interrupted his thoughts, he turned his head towards the second locker and in less than a few seconds another person stumbled out of it.
He rushed over. "Are you alright?" he asked and offered his hand to the other person to help them get up.
Wait-
"W-Who are you? Where am I?" the person started panicking and refused to take the hand offered in front of him and rather pushed himself back against the lockers door.
Something feels wrong? Did this happen already? It feels familiar…
"Hey, did we already meet somewhere?" Rantaro asked bluntly and Shuichi started thinking.
"No, no- I don't think so, but something feels wrong" he confessed with his finger pressed on his chin.
"Ah! I'm Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective! Nice to meet you…?" Shuichi reached out to shake Rantaro's hand.
"I'm Rantaro Amami, Ultimate- eh? Hmm, to be honest- I can't remember my talent..." Rantaro stopped in his tracks, confused.
Why can't I remember my talent? Something is definitely wrong, but what? Hm, maybe I don't possess a talent at all?
"Oh, you can't remember? Hmm, maybe it's because of something that happened before we woke up in these lockers?" Shuichi pointed towards the lockers with a serious expression and Rantaro shrugged.
"Maybe, but if that's the case then- what happened before?" Rantaro thought out loud and this time Shuichi shrugged and walked towards the door.
"Let's go out of here and look around" he suggested and Rantaro agreed without hesitation.
The two boys walked through the seemingly endless hallway. Rantaro tried opening ever door they passed. Sadly, without much success. He sighed frustrated.
Why is every door in this building locked? Can't it be easy for a change?
Rantaro complained in his thoughts, not showing any of these emotions on his face and kept going, until they found a weird looking dragon statue in the hallway of the school.
"Hmm, interesting" Rantaro thought out loud. "I wonder why the statue is placed in this hallway and what meaning it has" he continued and carefully, but curiously stepped closer to the statue to inspect it.
"You're awfully interested in that statue, Rantaro" Shuichi commented and stepped closer as well.
"Are you secretly a detective as well?" he asked and Rantaro tilted his head to the side and thought for a few seconds.
"Hmm- no, I don't think so" he answered in the end and smiled apologising.
They turned around to leave, but to their surprise stood a blue haired girl in front of them.
how did she even get here? I'm sure, she wasn't here before! Seriously, what's this? Anime logic?
"Hey?" he called out, but she didn't responded.
"Heyyy?" Rantaro gave it another try, but again- no responds.
"Excuse me, miss!" Rantaro stood in front of her and put his hands on her shoulders.
"Are you alright?" he gently shook her shoulders and she blinked once, twice-
"That you would start shaking me- that was truly unexpected! I thought if I ignore you, you would leave" she explained, her expression calm and neutral.
Isn't that a bit rude? And I was worried about her not responding- oh well…
"But you seemed worried about me, that was kind of you... so let's talk now!" her voice and expression changed so fast that Rantaro blinked in surprise, but he shrugged it off and smiled.
"What do you want to start with? My favourite Doraemon episode is 53! The one with security cameras and target practice and-!" she started talking, but Shuichi quickly cut her off.
"How about we start with introducing ourselves? I'm Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective" he started and Rantaro continued.
"And I'm Rantaro Amami, Ultimate- Well, I can't remember my ultimate talent, sorry about that" he scratched the back of his head and chuckled a little embarrassed.
"Oh, my name is Tsumugi Shirogane. I'm the Ultimate Cosplayer!" She placed her hand on her hip and smiled nicely.
"And you can't remember your talent, Rantaro? That's too bad! I was really curious to know, since you surprised me with your actions right from the start" Tsumugi placed her hand on Rantaros shoulder this time.
"I'm sure, you will remember someday" that's all she said, before leaving.
They both looked back at the dragon statue.
I wonder what she was thinking about while staring at this statue- guess I have to ask her later.
"Hey, Shuichi I think we will be faster investigating this whole building if we split up" Rantaro suggested and Shuichi nodded.
"You're right" with that Shuichi left as well and Rantaro kept exploring the school and tried opening every door he could find and this one time- he was successful!
Rantaro walked into the room and was greeted by a boy yelling "Wait for mee!"
What is this? the toddler group?
"Please stop! Don't come any closer! I'm going to call the police!" the boy in white is chasing that other boy in funny clothes.
"Aw, c'mon lemme touch your body a little~ I always wanted to have a robot friend!" the eyes of the boy in white clothes sparkled and he jumped up and down in excitement.
"Stop this! It's robophobic!" the boy in funny clothes turned towards Rantaro and pointed his finger at him.
"Are you another robophobe? Just to let you know I have a recording funktion. If you make a robophobic remark- I will see you in court!" He kept pointing at Rantaro with a judging look and he raised his hands in defense.
"Actually, I just wanted to know your names?" Rantaro laughed and the robot's eyes widden in surprise.
"Ohh, I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot! But please, call me Keebo!" Keebo smiled happily and reached out his hand to shake Rantaro's.
"Nice to meet you, I'm Rantaro Amami! To be honest I-" Rantaro got cut off by the boy in white clothes.
"That's not fair! I want to show off as well! I want to introduce myself too! I'm Kokichi Ouma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader! and by the way, Rantaro don't step too close to Keeboy here- I learned the hard way that a robot's breath smells like gasoline!" Kokichi stated and placed his hands behind his back, waiting for an answer.
"My breath does not smell like gasoline! I'm powered by electricity! your remark makes no sense!" Keebo was obviously annoyed by Kokichi and sighed in frustration.
"Nihishishe~ I know that! I was only kidding~ but of course you wouldn't think it's funny, robots can't understand humor anyway" Kokichu played with his hair, while obviously making fun of Keebo. Rantaro sighed.
They kinda reminds me of my sisters-
Rantaro shook his head. That's not the right time for that.
"Don't you dare mock me! I have studied the whole history of stand-up comedy!" Keebo protested, but Kokichi only laughed more.
"Well, maybe you should have watched it instead of studying, Keebo?" Rantaro commented and Keebo gasped offended.
"That's- That's! Urgh! You know what? Nevermind! But let me tell you this- I was created by professor Idabashi, the leading authority in the field of robotics… he installed in me a strong AI capable of maturing like a human brain, that's why, when I was created, I didn't knew anything, I was like a baby and the professor raised me! That means I am just like all of you!" Keebo stated proudly and to be honest? Rantaro was impressed and listened carefully, but Kokichi didn't seemed interested at all.
"Hey, do robots have dicks?" Kokichi asked with a mischievous expression on his face, stepping closer to Keebo. "Dooo theyyy?"
"I'm not going to answer such questions!" Keebo yelled, before leaving as fast as he could and Kokichi hurried after him.
They are weird, but they seem pretty harmless. They remind me of little kids.
Rantaro chuckled to himself, before leaving himself and decided to visit the warehouse next.
"Dammit! Where is it?" a blonde girl groaned in frustration.
What is she doing there? Seems suspicious.
She turned around and gave him a knowing look. "Hah! I can identify pervs on sight! And you definitely fuckin' are one!" She pointed at Rantaro, but he only shrugged it off.
"Maybe, you should introduce yourself, before pointing at someone and calling them a perv- by the way, I'm Rantaro Amami" he introduced himself and smiled at her.
"Huh? S-Seriously? You don't know me? I'm the gorgeous genius whose good looks and golden brain will go down in history! I'm the one and only Ultimate Inventor herself- Miu Iruma!" Miu ended her small speech, but she continued talking like there was no tomorrow.
"I can make all kind of gadgets- ones that let you type while you sleep, read while you sleep, eat while you sleep! And now you ask yourself- why? Because I was inspired after I realised how much time we waste while sleeping!" Miu explained and it seems like she got some criticism for her do-while-you-sleep inventions judging from her performance.
"Wow, that's amazing though! You're right- people really waste a lot of time while they sleep!" Rantaro was impressed by Miu's invention ideas and smiled at her. She took a step back, not knowing how to react to that. She didn't seemed to be used to such praise.
"Oh right! You were looking for something earlier- what was it? Maybe I can help you find it?" He suggested with a friendly smile, but Miu looked annoyed.
"Are you dumb? In this kind of situation I gotta find some meds cuz I wanna trip my fuckin' balls off! I want to set my mind free and forget this shitty situation as fast as possible" Rantaro stared at her in disbelief.
What the hell
"Are you crazy? You can't use drugs to get high! You really shouldn't do that, especially not in this situation!" Rantaro crossed his arms and looked displeased.
"EHH! I won't do it! Really, I won't! So stop being m-mad at me" Miu quickly apologised and Rantaro blinked in surprise.
There is a small line between genius and insanity, but I'm not sure where to put Miu yet…
Miu and Rantaro parted ways and he kept investigating the big warehouse, until he heard more voices from the back.
"Nyeh, are we stuck? What a paiin"
Rantaro looked around the corner and found two girls talking with each other. One was very small with red hair and tge other one had a big green bow-kinda thing in her hair.
"Oh, I haven't told you yet, Tenko- prepare to be amazed. Fall to your knees. I am Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Mage!... But officially I'm called the Ultimate Magician" the short, red-haired girl presented herself with a lazy pose and well- lazy voice as well. The other one clapped excited.
Ultimate Mage or Magician now? There's quite the difference y'know?
"Please, tell me more!" the other one, Tenko, said with shiny eyes.
"Alriight, what a paiin- People are keeping my magic a secret by disguising it as a tricks and because of that… I became famous all over the world for performing tricks, but- but I'm not a magician! I'm a mage… nobody believes me..." she sniffed a little and the other one hugged her.
"It's fine, Himiko! I BELIEVE YOU!" she suddenly yelled as loud as she could and Rantaro almost jumped in surprise,but he decided that hiding isn't a good idea in this situation.
"Hey- I believe you too, y'know" Rantaro walked around the corner and waved with his hand. "I'm Rantaro Amami, nice to meet you Himiko and… Tenko, right?" He scratched the back of his head.
"Ah, yes! I'm Tenko Chabashira! HAIYAH! The Ultimate Aikido Master and I will protect myself and Himiko with my Neo-Aikido!" Tenko quickly finished introducing herself.
"Neo-Aikido? Do you mind explaining? I have never heard of it-" Rantaro asked curiously and Tenko didn't hesitated for a second.
"Neo-Aikido is an original form that my master and I completely made up ourselves!" she explained and he gasped a little.
"Really? That sounds amazing!" Rantaro answered, but Tenko didn't reacted the way he thought she would.
What's with the scary face?
Rantaro looked at her confused and Tenko only groaned annoyed. "I don't like being praised by degenerate males"
"degenerate males? Do you mean men? Are you uncomfortable around them?" Rantaro asked worried, but Tenko shook her head.
"It's a bigger problem than that! If any degenerate male tried to touch me my reflex is to grab them and throw them across the room!"
"Across the room? Can you really do that? that would be really cool! no wait, I mean- hm nevermind, forget it! I don't want to be thrown across the room or worse!" Rantaro held his hands up in defense and laughed awkwardly, but Tenko only chuckled.
"You didn't do anything wrong- until now" she gave him a warning look and both, Himiko and Tenko, left.
Rantaro did too shortly after.
Where should I go next? Hmmm...