Thursday was mostly an uneventful but long, restless day that made Yuriko want to throw herself from a window out of pure boredom. Even so, she kept her composure as always. If she did not, she was well aware of what would happen. So, when Friday came, she became unsure of herself. Was she ready for whatever strange plans the boy, Jayce, and his friend had in store for her? She considered not even going, but she was always too curious for her own good.
Yuriko thought of the consequences of her actions as she stood outside the door to room 301 and stared hard at the sliding door's bronze handle. Her grey eyes were darting back and forth, each taking turns focusing on the entrance, one hand gripping the satchel's strap over her shoulder. Her mind was just as rampant as her gaze.
Would she dare? Could she? There were other people like her, and she had a full two days to think about it all. She wanted to, but at the same time, didn't. They could be useful to her missions, so it was more like she needed to rather than anything else. Yet, she hated getting close to people. Was it really worth it?
"Don't you know how to operate a door?"
She looked up, confused by the voice, lost in her own thoughts. The black haired American was standing to her right, blue eyes watching her, smiling a bit in a joking manner. Jayce reached past her, sliding open the door. Yuriko watched him, almost perplexed, before snapping back to herself and looking into the room. The red haired girl was inside sitting in the same spot as if she never moved since Wednesday – Mystic – and the place looked exactly the same as last time. Mystic looked up at Yuriko with curiosity, then glanced at the entrance.
"So now you can open sliding doors with your freaky mind powers?" She scoffed, though it almost seemed playful rather than serious.
"No," Yuriko countered, but her voice was flat as always. "He opened it with his hand."
"Hello!" Jayce popped in beside her with his English greeting, just his smiling face and waving gloved hand showing through the frame. "And if she had telekinesis, too, I would be ten times more excited to let her in the club."
Jayce pulled the door open further, motioning for Yuriko to enter first. She obliged, walking into the room and taking a look around. As before, it all looked the same, except for one difference – there were chairs around the organised desks in the middle of the room. She noted it, but still stopped to stand to the side. Jayce came in behind her, sliding the entrance shut and walking over to one of the desks. Scooting the chair back with a loud screech from the legs, he plopped down haphazardly with a huff.
"We'll wait for Vinhatri to come along now," Mystic said, looking outside the window. Her legs were crossed, her arms folded, leaning back in the chair. "And-"
"Who is Vinhatri?" Yuriko inquired, glancing over to her.
"Another member of the party," Jayce answered for Mystic. "He doesn't come on Wednesday – only on Friday."
"You will see why," The red-haired girl chipped in, adjusting her position.
"And where are we going?" Yuriko questioned.
"Our weekly field trip," Jayce responded, hiking his feet up onto the desk and leaning his chair back on two legs.
"You will see," Mystic repeated herself, causing Yuriko to glance at her suspiciously.
There was a moment of agonising silence. At least, for the two others in the room. For her, she heard their thoughts – mostly Jayce's curious wonderments that made no sense, like goblins and how they would react to spicy food, as if it was of any importance. Yuriko closed her eyes for a moment before opening them and turning to face the American boy.
"Miller," She addressed him.
"Hm?" He looked up, snapping to attention.
"How did you know I could read thoughts?"
The question made him narrow his eyebrows, his eyes widening a bit, and she didn't have to know his mind to realise he was surprised by such an inquiry. Though why he was, she had no idea – it was a simple question, and worthy of its stature, being the fact that it was still unanswered and no one had found out about it yet. That being said, she wasn't actively trying to hide it, she was just curious as to how he found out when she hadn't done anything specific to show her ability.
"Well," Jayce hummed, letting his chair rest on all fours again. "You didn't react to the other two." When she raised an eyebrow that showed she didn't understand, he went on. "After you beat the hells out of Akihiro Takahashi, there were three left. You only looked at Haru Suzuki, and right before he attacked. Like you knew he would. Y'know?"
She gazed at him strangely, tilting her head. Yuriko tucked her pitch black hair behind her left ear, as if listening to something. Doing so helped her hone in on a specific person's thoughts, and as she did, she knew he was lying. However, she didn't care enough to tell him that she knew, and simply turned away from him to look back out the windows.
Nothing was really said after that. Only the quiet wonderments that seeped into her head from Mystic on if Yuriko was aware that Jayce wasn't telling the entire truth. Which, of course, she was. She knew Jayce's real reason, as idiotic and stupid as it was. Apparently he guessed people were telepathic all the time, like a child.
About ten more minutes went by in the hardly-quiet-room for Yuriko, before she heard a third mind enter the fray. However, even more strange to her, they weren't thinking Japanese – or English, for that matter. It took her a few seconds, but she finally deciphered the thoughts as Icelandic. She couldn't make it out; mostly because she didn't know Icelandic, but also because he was thinking faster than Jayce. The thoughts became stronger as he approached, and she turned right when the door slid open.
Surprised wasn't an emotion that Yuriko was all that used to. So when she felt that disorienting feeling rolling in her chest, she wasn't only confused but also mesmerised by the person who had just entered the room. He didn't only break the dress code the school preferred like Jayce, but he absolutely shattered any appearances of normal.
His white shirt was unbuttoned by one at the top, the bottom untucked from his pants. His blazer, which was supposed to be blue, was actually black. His dark tie was undone completely, simply hanging loosely around his neck. What were supposed to be neat leather shoes were actually dirty, torn up boots that rose up only fourteen centimetres (five and a half inches) up his calf.
He was obviously not Japanese, either. He had a round face structure, with a highly risen forehead. His malar bones stuck out and were elevated more than usual, his cheeks sunken in slightly. He had bright green eyes, tinged with curiosity as they settled on Yuriko. Yet, the strangest part was his hair. How he was still in this school with such a mane, she had no idea – it was black mostly, but the bottom undercut was pure white.
The male stared at Yuriko in pure silence, Jayce and Mystic quiet as if watching two rabid animals preparing to fight. He twisted his head to the side, wrinkling his nose as if something putrid entered his senses. His thoughts ended in a questioning higher pitch, and her eye twitched. She tucked her hair behind her left ear again, tilting slightly, listening in. However, nothing in his mind was in any language she understood.
Finally, his verdant gaze snapped to Mystic, and he spoke in his unfamiliar Icelandic words. Surprisingly enough, she spoke in the same harsh language as a reply, but Yuriko's eyes never wavered from this stranger. She was not one to fall back on her statements, but even though most of the time she wished for no thoughts in her head besides her own, she was starting to feel the need to understand the boy's mind.
A few more exchanges between Mystic and this unknown male, before he huffed and narrowed his dark eyebrows. He turned to Yuriko and stepped into the room, closing the door behind him. She didn't move as he approached, and the short girl noticed he was barely taller than her. His steps echoed in the room, as did Jayce's feet as he set them on the ground. His mind said something in English, but she wasn't paying any attention to him.
The male stopped in front of Yuriko, and extended a hand in greeting. "Hello," He said in perfect Japanese, better than Jayce's pronunciations. "I'm Vinhatri Einarsson, third member of the book club," He said mockingly, raising an eyebrow. "Nice to meet you…?"
His sentence ended with a rise in pitch, as if asking her for her name. She didn't even glance at his hand, nor take it in response. Simply staring at him, she could hear his quick translations in his mind. He was fluid in it, as if he had been doing it his whole life. He seemed to be the same age as Mystic, perhaps a bit older – or maybe he just looked more mature with the freshly shaved stubble on his face.
"Yuriko Romanov," She said flatly, still not taking his hand. "What can you do?"
"Pardon?" He seemed confused, then a light went off in his eyes as he lowered his hand finally. "Oh, you mean…" He went quiet for a moment, glancing at Mystic. Yuriko didn't need to turn to know she nodded. The boy took a deep breath, looking up then back at Yuriko. "Shapeshifting."
She blinked at him, wondering if she heard him correctly. "Shapeshifting?" She repeated, curious if he translated the words incorrectly.
"Yes," Vinhatri said slowly. "That is what I said."
"Define shapeshifting," Yuriko said in the same muted voice.
"Well," He started, glancing to the side as if nervous. "The simple way to explain it is, if I know the anatomy of an animal, I can turn into it."
Yuriko blinked at him again. She was slowly realising how much more useful this ability was than Jayce's or Mystic's. However, there was always a downside to abilities – as she found out. For instance, Jayce and Yuriko could not turn their so-called power off, and Mystic was only good for anything when she was holding her breath. In other words, there was no switch to it for her to simply do it immediately. So, that meant Vinhatri had a downside, too.
"What is the disability?" She asked without hesitation.
"Disability?" He said the word slowly, then glanced to the lower right and frowned. "I suppose that would be… I start to gain the animalistic instincts of the creature after a certain time. If I do not turn back into my human form soon after, I am not sure what will happen."
Yuriko stared deeply into him, as if trying to decipher something about him that even he could not comprehend. Then, her head turned to Jayce, asking him with her dull grey eyes. He shrugged lightly, then looked at the Icelandic teenager as Vinhatri turned to where Yuriko was staring. When he looked back at her, she shared his gaze, and gave a simple. "Hm." With that, she swivelled on her heels and walked towards the chair opposite of Jayce, and sat down lightly with her knees together.
Silence filled the room as she took off her satchel and placed it neatly on the desk in front of her. She could feel the three pairs of eyes on her, before they curiously looked off at each other in unison. Alas, she didn't care all that much. In fact, she didn't care at all. She simply sat there, staring out the windows, waiting for what was to come. A few minutes passed, before she looked over to Mystic.
"And who?"
"What?" The reddish brown haired girl turned to Yuriko in confusion.
"You said we would wait for Einarsson," She responded. "And someone else. Who?"
"Uh," The Icelandic boy chimed in. "You can just call me Vinny-"
"Don't bother," Jayce waved him off. "She calls everyone by their last name, unless you're weird and only go by Mystic."
Mystic sent a glare Jayce's way, who put up his hands in fake surrender. Then she frowned at Yuriko. "Our mentor."
"Mentor?" She continued to inquire.
"You ask too many questions," She responded as she looked back out the window.
Yuriko went completely silent, returning her gaze to the desk's surface in front of her. The others were quiet as well, the buzzing sound of the lights getting even louder right then. Jayce let out a sharp whistle, high and then low as it was drawn out. He drew everyone's attention to himself – everyone, except of course, Yuriko.
"So, change of subject," The American boy spoke, leaning forward as his chair relaxed on all fours again. "Anyone else hear about Wakizashi the other night?"Yuriko stiffened.
"Yeah," Vinhatri spoke this time, pulling out a chair near Mystic and sitting down. "Something about a car crash on Aniha Bridge?"
"Not just that," Jayce pointed at him with a grin. "She saved a little kid. He was three or four, somewhere around there."
"Really?" The Icelandic male raised his eyebrows in curiosity. "Well, that's good…"
"And she was, of course, with Tanaka," He smiled. "Her policeman sidekick."
"Why are you so obsessed with her?" Mystic hissed, turning to glare at Jayce.
"What?" He mumbled in English, before switching back to Japanese. "I'm not… obsessed with her."
"Really?" She scoffed. "Could've fooled me."
"What's your problem with her?" Jayce frowned, looking rather upset.
"Well, let's see," She leaned forward, counting off her fingers. "She's a vigilante, she takes work away from our police force, she is literally outlawed, they will definitely arrest her when they find her, how in all the worlds Tanaka isn't fired I'll never know-"
Yuriko felt a surging anger in her stomach, writhing and struggling to be set free. Her throat burned. Her eyesight churned into black orbs clouding her vision. It looked like the desk was shaking and vibrating. Her ears were ringing very loudly. Was that real? Or… was it coming back full force?
"Yuriko?"
She shot to her feet, backing away as fast as she could as the chair behind her fell over. The table stopped shaking. Her vision returned. The ringing ceased. The writhing anger turned to harrowing fear as she looked up to Jayce, who had spoken her name in a worried tone. She panted, then looked down at the desk again – as if to make sure it wasn't trembling like she was.
"Yuriko, are you okay?" Jayce asked cautiously, standing up to round the desk. "You started shaking..."
Yuriko backed up again, disregarding the bag she left behind as she turned and strode for the door. She had to leave. To get out of there. Before… Before-
As she reached for the handle, the sliding door shot open. She stumbled back, her eyes travelling up to see a man standing before her. He remained there, brown eyes looking into her with growing curiosity. Long hair fell to his shoulders in black waves, a slight stubble on his face as he looked a bit tired, his skin pale. He looked up and past her, raising an eyebrow.
"New student?" He asked. She glanced over her shoulder to see Mystic nod, then back forward again to find the man outstretching his hand to shake hers. "Hello. I'm Matsuda. You can call me Sensei."