The circle was quiet for a long time. After Flower had so openly proclaimed one of them was, in fact, evil, Yuriko didn't know how to react. She stared at them for what felt like a full minute, contemplating, wondering how it worked. Was she a serial killer? Yuriko tried to slip in her mind, maintaining eye contact with the silent individual, but nothing of use came to the surface.
"Well," Matsuda sighed, interrupting them. "Now that it's out of the way-"
"So who is which?" Yuriko asked.
"Pardon?" Flower raising an eyebrow.
"Which one is good, which one is bad," She further explained her question.
"Oh!" Petal chirped up. "Well, it's not exactly pure evil, pure good. See, one of us is just more prone to selfish acts."
"But if you must know," The other twin pressed her hand against her chest below her throat. "I am the evil one."
"Yes, yes," Matsuda interrupted them. "Now then, on to the assignment for today-"
"And what about you?" Yuriko looked up to the rather shambled looking man.
"Hm?" He looked at her with a tired gaze.
"We have all shared our abilities," She said with her arms crossed. "I am positive you do not only pertain to teleporting unsuspecting children to islands."
"Um," Jayce shifted his standing position. "Sensei doesn't like talking about his ability-"
"Trust is a two sided bridge," Yuriko responded, without removing her gaze from the teacher. "I'm sure Matsuda can-"
She paused, seeing the bright flash as she turned around, a trail from where Matsuda once stood to exactly behind her. Hearing his thoughts before his action took place, she was staring at his new position right over her shoulder, matching his tired eyes with her cold grey ones. He got there exceedingly fast – it was surprising.
"Impressive," He spoke. "You are quick to take action."
"So are you," She responded. "Super speed?"
"Indeed," Matsuda nodded. "My weakness is that I cannot see when using it. Any more questions?"
"Many," Yuriko watched as he walked back to his previous spot in the middle. "Such as, why are you collecting us?"
"Collecting?" He repeated, seemingly thinking, looking up. "When I was young-"
"I did not ask for a life story," She interrupted.
A small smile came across Matsuda's face. "When I was young," He started again. "I was alone. I am collecting you all to let you know, you are not alone."
"Does not sound as simple as that," Yuriko raised an eyebrow.
"You are right," He grinned. "Maybe I want to turn you into super soldiers." When she didn't respond to the joke, he sighed and continued. "My main goal, as I've shared with some of you before, is… to make us public."
"Public?" She asked.
"Yes," Matsuda nodded. "As in, reveal ourselves. Of course, when the time comes, I will give you all a choice of whether you want to do it or not. This is nothing I am forcing you into."
Yuriko stayed silent for a time, staring at him. Making supernatural powers… public? That sounded… Dangerous. Experiments and hatred and despicable newspaper articles. It wasn't her cup of tea at all. She turned her head to look at Jayce – he smiled apologetically. Did he know that when he asked her to join the club? She snapped her attention back to Matsuda immediately.
"Take me home."
"What?" He said.
"Now."
Yuriko turned on her heel and uncrossed her arms, storming off to the building. She could hear Jayce calling after her, Mystic scoffing, Flower laughing. However, she didn't stop, continuing up the hill as she heard footsteps follow after her. She didn't care who it was, as long as it was someone who could get her out of this place.
As she reached the door, she swung it wide open, throwing the jacket she had onto the rack. Turning back around, she was a little surprised to see two people were following her up the hill – Matsuda and Jayce. Matsuda was listening as Jayce was apologising profusely, and Yuriko closed the door behind her so she was outside. She waited for them to reach her silently, arms crossed.
"Romanov," Matsuda said as he came up to her. "Are you sure-?"
"Yes," Yuriko responded. "I don't want to be connected to your studies, your revelation to the world, or your book club. I never want people to know I can look inside their heads."
"May I ask why?" He questioned.
She paused, her mind flashing back to when she saved that child in the car. "No," She finally replied.
"Very well," He sighed. "I will send Jayce with you to make sure you get home safe."
"I don't need company-" Yuriko started.
"Think of it as I want to go home, too, instead of me keeping you safe," Jayce said with a smile. "You obviously don't need my protection."
She stared at him for a moment, then looked away. "Fine."
(¯`·.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.-> 🖋 <-.¸¸.·´¯`·.¸¸.·´¯)
Within moments, and another whirling minute later, Yuriko was standing in room 301 again with Jayce. That time, there was no transcending understanding of the world beyond. Her bag was over her shoulder once more, having retrieved it from the house earlier. She looked out the window – not much time seemed to have passed, maybe a few minutes since they had teleported away. Glancing at Jayce, who picked up his own bag, she started heading out of the room.
"Eh, wait!"
She stopped and turned around, watching as Jayce ran after her. He smiled. "Wanna… Get something to drink?"
Yuriko stared at him for a second, then turned away. "No."
"Come on!" He walked up beside her, adjusting his bag. "Just, like, a coffee or something."
"I don't drink coffee," She countered.
"The place I go to has tea," Jayce suggested.
Yuriko continued to walk, but sighed. "You are not going to give up, are you?"
"No," He said with a grin.
She glowered at him. "Alright. One drink. But I have to make a call." With that, she dug into her pocket and pulled out a small touchscreen phone, pulling up one of two contacts she had on it. Tapping on it, she brought it up to her ear and listened to it ring, before it picked up. "Hello, jiichan… I am going to be late today… I'm getting a drink with someone… It is that strange boy I told you about… We're getting coffee… I know, I'm getting chai… Yes, I will be careful… Goodbye."
With that, she shut the phone and looked at Jayce, who was giving a sly smile. "What?"
"You told your grandfather about me?" Jayce mused.
"Yes," She said slowly.
"And described me as strange?" He continued to tease.
"Shut up," Yuriko looked back forward.
Jayce simply laughed as they continued down the halls. Yuriko could hear his thoughts, something that described him being proud and happy she said something to her guardian about him. Maybe he felt praised or something, but she found it rather odd. Or perhaps, as his thoughts gave away, he thought he was getting closer to her as a friend… Which was completely impossible. She would never be friends with anyone – especially not him.