///

“The United Industry Corporation has sent a shipment of forty thousand N-9 vaccines to the sub-Saharan region, to deal with the sudden outbreak of cholera. The vaccine is developed and distributed by the international corporation. The actions of the UIC are approved by the League of Nations.”

I read some news on my phone while eating lunch at the cafeteria. As usual, if I was sitting and peacefully munching on my noodles, it meant that the building was empty with no one to stand by my ear and scream ‘eat faster’.

Slurp

Pork broth ramen is a specialty of Kyushu, so it’s no wonder that it tastes better than the ramen back home. I would even say, that my preference goes to the tonkatsu ramen here than the miso ramen in Sapporo.

Slurp

Still, the cafeteria ramen tastes stale compared to the one they serve in restaurants. The noodles don’t have that smooth flavour that combines with other tastes. While the stock uses cheaper ingredients, therefore it lacks texture and tastes a bit watery. At the very least it’s cheaper if nothing else.

Maybe going to eat some ramen after school would be a good idea.

I look over to the girl sitting in front of me, and eating ramen for the first time. She is intently staring at the bowl and moving the spoon in her hand.

Slurp

Slurp

Slurp

I should mention, Harumi is moving her spoon very quickly as she finishes up the last drops of soup in the bowl. The soup is disappearing very fast.

I’m reminded again of how fast she eats and how inexpressive Harumi remains. Yesterday was the same as the soba I gave her. The only signs that something surprises the girls are verbal questions.

It would be easier to understand if I could read her facial expressions and if Harumi’s voice would at least show some intonation. For the most part, Harumi is utterly unfathomable.

I take some noodles with my chopsticks.

Slurp

The noodles are a bit chewier than I prefer them, the broth is also not as sharp as I’d prefer it to be.

But beggars can’t be choosers, in the sense that only cafeteria serves ramen in Hashima. What a shame. I’d pay a lot to eat quality ramen every day for lunch.

“Don’t stare at people like that.” After gulping down all contents of my meal, I start talking with Harumi.

When she finishes eating, the girl just starts staring at me. I guess she doesn’t have much to do, or maybe it would be more accurate to say that she lacks interest in doing something.

It’s unsettlingly uncanny, the girl needs a hobby as much as I need a new one.

Wait why do I need a new hobby again?

…

…

Oh yeah, I lost my revolver... Where did I put it again? Did I even bother to look for it in the first place? Did I look for it and just forgot again?

Well, I’ll figure it out later.

“What do you mean?” Harumi responds while cocking her head.

...Did she ever do that before? I don’t remember seeing that kind of body language ever coming from Harumi.

But then again, I don’t remember many things.

“It’s impolite to stare at people eating, so don’t.” Especially when you have that blank stare constantly.

At least show some emotion.

…No wait, for Harumi to suddenly show emotion would be creepy in another way.

“What should I do then?”

“I don’t know. Look away or close your eyes. Just don’t stare at me or other people, it’s not very… pleasant.” It makes me feel weird and unsettled.

“Affirmative.” Harumi closes her eyes shut. “Is this satisfactory?”

With her eyes closed, Harumi really looks like a statue. Her body barely sways and moves, the only signs of life were the blinking of the girl’s eyes. Now she really looks like an inanimate object.

“…Yeah, sure, whatever.” I can only comment half-heartedly at the girl taking everything I say so seriously and innocently.

Harumi continues sitting with her eyes closed, which is more unsettling than before.

Continuing digging into my meal, I finish up eating my noodles and start drinking the soup straight from the bowl. The broth is usually a bit tastier in other places, but I should stop complaining and just finish eating.

“Phew.” I finish drinking the liquid and let out a satisfying sight. My stomach is full now, I can keep working for the rest of the day.

Harumi’s eyes are still closed, and it doesn’t look like she’s even alive in the first place.

Spooky.

“You can open them now.” I take a napkin and wipe away the food stuck to my face.

“Was that polite?” It looks like that’s what is bothering the girl to no end.

Or maybe she’s just that curious to hear my opinion.

“You need to keep working on that.” Making the napkin into a ball, I throw it into a nearby rubbish bag without looking.

After hearing a weak thunk sound I knew that it hit its mark. Good thing I practiced doing this.

“Understood I will keep working on ‘being polite’.”

Stop being so naïve and at the same time awkwardly earnest.

I look outside the window while sipping the bottled green tea I bought. Black clouds have been menacing the landscape since this morning. It will rain soon.

The weather made me wonder, will Harumi keep acting so wooden all the time? Her emotional states range between being a plank of wood or a human-sized boulder. Not much range, at all.

“Do you know what an umbrella is?”

“Umbrella?” She doesn’t know.

Of course, why am I even bother asking that?

“Forget about it then.” No point in talking about this then.

I guess we’ll see how the rain effects the girl, maybe she’ll show some sort of reaction.

I’m kind of looking towards that, but the feeling I get is that I’ll be disappointed.

I need to start heading to the changing room, today we’re working marksmanship and physical exercises. Plus, I need that attendance after all.

Harumi is waiting for me to finish. This is the third time she’s done so; I wonder what made Harumi change the way she acts.

Well, that doesn’t matter.

“Let’s go.” I say as I get out of my chair.

The two of us start going to the dressing room.

///

“SUZUKI WHAT’S WITH THOSE TIRED MOVEMENT’S! RUN! RUN! RUN! YOU ALREADY DIED SIX TIMES!” Munataka-sensei keeps screaming in my ear as loudly as he can.

Damn it, this old coot keeps looking after me like a hawk. Running right next to me for the whole lesson.

This doesn’t give me a chance to run away from class, with Munataka-sensei being constantly on my ass.

…Hey, that rhymes.

Right now, we’re running around one of the larger outdoor exercise fields. To train our stamina and endurance, the cool rain only adds to the feeling of tiredness. I just feel miserable considering doing this for three years.

“Huff… Huff… Huff...”

My stamina is lacking behind most of the students in this academy, and my classmates can still keep up their tired but still somewhat moving bodies to go forward. While pitiful old me is much more tired than the rest.

For that reason, I’m two laps behind the rest of the group, and the technical distance is only getting larger. I’m barely keeping myself moving. At this point I’m barely standing and moving my feet, breathing is a chore. Compared to everyone in this class I’m the only one sticking out like a sore thumb.

Well not exactly there is one person is moving much, much more energetically, or to be more precise robotically. Harumi is moving quickly and without any sight of fatigue. Everyone including me looks like walking corpses compared to her.

“SEE THAT’S HOW YOU DO IT, RUN, RUN AND RUN AGAIN.” Munataka-sensei is running endlessly and screaming at the top of his lungs.

“Sh-She…” Talking while running is painful, I barely have any strength to run. But talking back is even more painful, the lack of oxygen in my body doesn’t help. “…How… can… you act… as if… Harumi is not… a walking… health hazard…”

“That’s how a soldier should act and be. A health hazard destroying the enemies of the Emperor. That girly is quickly becoming my new favorite student.” Munataka-sensei seems completely unaffected by the rumours and actions related to Harumi.

But damn.

I can’t understand how this damn old man got hired with an attitude like that. Maybe they needed someone who is part of the old guard. To show how good soldiers have it right now.

“HEY, TAKAMURA ARE TIRED ALREADY! OR ARE YOU GOING TO RUN SLOWER THAT A LITTLE GIRL!” Munataka-sensei screams at someone else. The old teacher's voice is full of energy and even though the guy is old, he is not lacking in motivation. Where does he get that all of that oxygen, maybe there’s a separate lung for screaming at someone…?

…

…Screaming at someone?

Wait a minute…

Is he distracted? He must be. Munataka-sensei is completely focused on shouting to other students now.

This is my chance to run away. I’m not going to keep running for another twenty minutes, I’m getting the hell out of dodge right now.

While Munataka-sensei is distracted, I find what little strength there is left in my body and burst into a desperate sprint.

“SUZUKI, WHERE DID THAT DUMBASS GO?!” the old teachers seemed to notice my absence.

I continue sprinting, wasting my final remains of energy to get to the dressing room. If Munataka-sensei catches me, I’m might not get off easy. Cleaning toilets is not something anyone has much enthusiast towards.

A lazy ass like me who especially has no motivation to do that. Or anything for that matter.

Grabbing my umbrella and moving for the exit of the dressing room, heading outside, and trying to avoid getting caught.

“SUZUKI! SUZUKI! I’M GOING TO KILL YOU SUZUKI!!!” I can hear the blood-curdling screams reverberating through the hallway and speed up my feet.

As I get outside, my feet don’t stop, I ignore the discomfort from the heavy rain and wind. Running for a good minute until there is no chance for the old man to find me. Until I find a place where I slump down on the ground.

“Gah… thi… thirsty… ti… tired…” I can even barely whisper or form words.

The rain keeps falling on me, and as the cold starts to become more noticeable. I understand that my body is recuperating and going back to work.

After breathing from my tiredness, I stand up on my shaky yet working legs. Unfold my umbrella and cover my head.

Now the rain is making thumping sounds as the droplets hit my parasol.

I breathe deeply even though it’s raining heavily right now. I’m incredibly thirsty and the rain is only making me feel more tired.

Nearby there are a couple of wending machines with snacks and drinks. Something for my parched throat would be good.

Stumbling in a what seems to be a drunken walk, to the nearby wending machine and leaning against it. My feet steel shake somewhat and my muscles are still tense. I look at the contents of the wending machine.

Soda, various bottled teas, coffee of various kinds, and simple bottled water. No need to think about what I want to drink.

I reach for my school bag and take out a five-yen coin, the smallest change I have and throw it into the machine. Starting to put in the product code for the green tea.

“What is that?”

“Gah?!”

A sudden voice makes my tired body tense up for a second and presses random buttons for the products.

There is a strange bumping sound in the wending machine. Meaning that I accidentally bought more than one drink.

...

She snuck up on me… Maybe she was even following me since the beginning when I ran away from the lesson.

She did this once before, right?

...Either way, I’m already used to this, no need to be surprised.

I look inside the vending machine and see that there are two different kinds of drinks. A can of black coffee and a bottle of green tea.

Picking the bottle and the can I turn around to Harumi.

She is just standing there with her school bag completely drenched under the rain. Harumi’s short hair is moist and stuck to her help. The same with her clothes, their completely drenched and stuck to the girl’s body. Her figure is shown off very well, it was slim and for the lack of a better term, girly. Many female students here are, how do I put this, too muscular for my taste. I pay extra attention to her more… attractive… and juicy… features.

Those feature’s being Harumi's very plump and shapely thighs.

Her legs also have a nice shape.

When people ask ‘boobs or buts’ I take the third option. Legs and thighs are where it’s at.

…

…legs…thighs…

…leghs…

…

…

…Shit, no need to ogle her legs now, I can find material in a magazine or the net for later.

…By the way…

“…Where is your umbrella?”

Harumi tilts her head slightly.

“Once again you speak of this umbrella. What is that?

Oh yeah, she doesn’t have one or even knows what the word means. I forgot about that.

“Would you like to find out?”

“…Affirmative.”

Well, that’s her answer.

I could share my umbrella with her, but I don’t want to get too close to her. It’s kind of funny to have the answer she’s looking for being right in front of her, in my hand. There is a convenience store nearby, so I know where I’ll a umbrella for Harumi.

Hmm. First things first I need to get rid of the coffee.

“Here take this.” I extend my hand and give her the can of black coffee. My preference in bitterness does not extend to coffee, coffee is something I prefer to be sweet.

Harumi takes what I gave her and just stares at the can from all sides. Flipping it from side to side, touching it and smelling it. In the end, she gave me what seems to be a questioning look.

“Is this the ‘umbrella’ you have mentioned.”

“…” It takes everything I have not to facepalm.

What a dork.

“Aren’t you feeling uncomfortable because of the rain.” I wiggle my umbrella slightly to give Harumi a clue.

“Uncomfortable?” Harumi looks up and stares at the sky for a few seconds. Then she looks at me again. “I do not feel ‘uncomfortable’.”

So, she says, I don’t really feel surprised. I guess Harumi isn’t bluffing with that look on her face.

“This is how you open this.”

A cracking sound comes from the can and Harumi starts to stare at the opening in it.

“Now try drinking it.”

She looks up to me, the rain still keeps falling down on the girl.

“Is the inside of this drinkable.”

I nod.

Harumi, who is still not bothered by the rain, puts the canned coffee to her lip.

But suddenly she pulls the can away from her mouth. And Harumi’s face, for the first time, changed to a different expression. Her eyes were shut tight and the girl is shaking her head vigorously as if she’s trying to shake something unpleasant.

It was apparent that she’s feeling incredibly uncomfortable.

…This is a first.

“…How was it?” I feel completed to ask.

“I do not understand. But this ‘flavour’… I cannot drink it...”

“Is it difficult for you to drink?”

“That might be the case.”

Well, I can guess why she’s reacting that way. Maybe we can agree on not having a fondness for canned black coffee. Or just black coffee in general.

“Maybe you just don’t like it.”

“I do not like this?”

“Yeah, every person has something they tend to have an easier time eating, drinking, or doing. Some people have better taste than others of course. So, it just happens that black coffee is not something you like.”

I should probably figure out how to explain things to her more properly.

“I do not like this.” Harumi stares at the can of coffee as if an epiphany had hit her.

And tried to drink it again reacting the same way with the same facial expression.

Yeah, I can understand that. Black coffee is not really my cup of tea either. And the canned brands are straight out disgusting to drink.

So, drinking green tea is my preference.

Harumi does the same action with the same result. As the rain continues to fall on her.

I should probably get her an umbrella. That was my intention in the first place.

“Come on, follow me.” I start making my way to the nearby convenience store.

Harumi only tried drinking coffee again with the same response, as she starts going after me.

I enter into a nearby convenience store with Harumi, who still is very confused by ‘not liking’ the canned coffee. I grab a five-yen coin, buy an umbrella, and head outside.

Harumi continued to mess around with the can and not pay attention to the rain.

She really seems to not care about getting drenched.

If only everyone had that type of iron will.

“Here.” I extend my hand with the parasol to her.

“What is that?”

“Can you guess?” I answer while wiggling my umbrella slightly.

“Negative.”

She still doesn’t get it, what a dork.

“It’s an umbrella. People use it like this.” I unfold it for her and put the umbrella over Harumi’s head. “Move your hand, I can’t hold this for you forever.”

The girl finished all the contents of the can. Something that I find very difficult to do, I much prefer drinking sweeter types of coffee. And these big companies somehow manage to make the canned type of black coffee even more disgusting.

“Can you guess what an umbrella is used for now?”

“Is this for avoiding the rain.”

She finally got it, way to go.

“Yeah.”

“Why do you need to do such a thing.” Harumi said as she used the umbrella.

“Because it’s annoying to get drenched in the rain.”

“Does that mean, you do not like the rain?”

So, she’s looking at the umbrella from that angle.

“Yeah sure, let’s go with that. You like rain?”

“I think that I like the rain.” So, she likes rain and dislikes canned coffee. Probably should commit that to memory.

…

...

Wait. L-like I care what she thinks about anything.

…

Yeah, I don’t care.

The girl continues to stare at the fabric that is above her head.

Seemingly continued to be baffled by the concept of hiding away from the small droplets of water.

…

…

…She’s like a little child who does not understand anything.

“Let’s go, I don’t feel like standing here.” I want to go home enough of standing around.

We got into a bus, which immediately became empty as Harumi walked in, and rode to the ferry terminal. The girl herself was too interested in the umbrella to notice.

When we got into the ferry, scaring everyone around, while Harumi stared at the parasol.

On the ferry, she continued tinkering with the object in her hand.

The girl even continued to play with the umbrella until we arrived at Nagasaki and separated.

///

Harumi was walking through the city, just a couple of moments ago she separated from Suzuki. The girl walked in the usual direction. With the new discovery of the umbrella, her worldview widened. Ramen, curry, soba, rice bowls, politeness, and many other things she never knew about. Lately, Harumi has been ‘discovering’ what is the meaning of those words.

And as she spent time with ‘him’ something in the girl began to change.

The maiden kept walking, unlike school where she was avoided in the streets, she was seen as just another regular student of the Gunkanjima Academy.

Surroundings around her are very lively even in the rain. People of various ages and professions were wandering around. Eating at various establishments, visiting shops, hanging around, working in the various establishments to earn money, and other leisurely or annoyingly necessary things. Here Harumi seemed to be just another part of the crowd, someone who is just wasting time.

The girl kept walking, thinking what else will she ‘discover’ tomorrow.

The liveliness of the surroundings started to dissipate and change to a calmer and homier atmosphere.

The surroundings were comprised of smaller buildings, that mainly served for housing people and their families. There were a couple of smaller shops and restaurants around this area. The people here were walking around back to their house or taking their families out for walks and restaurants for dinner. They did not pay attention to Harumi, to them she was just another person going back home.

After another hour, the surroundings change again.

Harumi walked on a road, surrounded by trees and fields. The sun has already set, and the only thing that lit the path were streetlamps.

The girls seemed to be completely lacking in worry or fear. Because Harumi was sure that no one was a threat. And she has used this path since arriving in this city. No one should be around to question her this far out of the city.

Yet six figures broke the expectations of reality.

They were not dressed in Japanese clothing, but western-styled suits. The girl could understand that this was irregular.

All of them had blades as their arms. Some smaller others larger, all these weapons were made to kill Superhumans.

“Listen to what I’m going to say.” One of the men came closes to Harumi and put his blade to her throat. “If you want to keep breathing do what I say.” The blade came close to digging into the girl’s skin. There was no blood, even a Superhumans skin will not be cut so easily. And she was no Superhuman.

“Do you understand? Don’t do anything stupid or you will lose your head.” He needed to swing the Sword Breaker in a wide arch to cut the girl's head off.

Harumi was unconcerned about the blade. It could not hurt her; she was more concerned with how to keep moving.

‘Harumi, do you know what being polite means?’ She remembered what she was told once.

“Could you please move.” Harumi tried to be ‘polite’, something that always works at the Gunkanjima Academy.

“Didn’t I tell you to shut up.” The umbrella was knocked out of Harumi’s hand.

But for whatever reason, it didn’t work this time. And Harumi started to wonder why…

There was another thing, a new discovery. When the umbrella was knocked away something appeared inside the girl's chest.

…

“Looks like we really didn’t need any back up from Carol after all.”

“This job was easy money; I was suspicious of the high pay but this was easy as slicing butter.”

They dropped their guard, after realizing that they won’t move away...

“All right let’s take her back to-”

Harumi moved.

Whatever one of the men was going to say will never be heard. Harumi swung something in her arm, with the sound of wind being cut came a sound of something being squished.

All of these six people had many different features from each other. They were from different countries. Had different views. Believed in different gods. Have or don’t have families. Different appearances.

But now those differences didn’t matter.

All of them became the same, torsos lacking upper bodies.

The fragile little thing, these people called ‘their life’ was over.

After a second the ‘body remains’ collapse, leaving nothing but torsos for the world to see. An almost comedic scene if not for the blood. But tonight is a bloodless night, the rain will wash the liquid away.

In the girl’s hand, there was a silver spear-like weapon as the rain continued to fall. And within a second the weapon twisted into a liquid shape and disappeared into the girl’s body.

Harumi began to walk again, wondering why didn’t these people respond to her politeness. And what was this new discovery inside her chest?