A Destructive Prank (An Oumeno story)

Chapter 15 - A New Place

The school's administration reached a decision concerning the furtherance of study soon after. The students would be relocated to one of Hope's Peak branches situated outside the city and there, through a mixture of study and varied outside activities, would continue to develop their talents. Most students were excited about this scheme, since the events of the last week were too surreal and unnerving not to leave them in an agitated state while they resided in the dorms, so this truly had the potential for allowing them to relax and to ease their minds. 

On the day of the announcement Himiko was immediately visited by Tenko, followed by Kaede, Chiaki, Maki, who was likely brought along by Kaede, and Sonia. Himiko suspected that the girls congregated at her dorm for the sake of cheering her up, and so felt rather warm upon seeing them all. 

''Hello, Himiko!" 

''Himiko, Himiko, aren't you excited about our trip?'' 

''Himiko, how have you been doing, dear?''

''I'm quite certain that our transfer to the other branch is not a trip.'' 

She looked at them quizzically, unsure about to whom she should respond. 

''Hi, guys, thanks for coming,'' she finally said, smiling sincerely. ''What brings you here?'' 

''Well, others were meant to come as well, I mean Mahiru, Sayaka and Tsumugi, but they were busy. Anyway, we thought that it would be a good idea if we decided among ourselves how the dorms will be shared.'' Kaede said.

''What do you mean shared?'' Himiko asked.

''Unlike our regular dorms, the dorms in that place were designed for two people each. Of course, convincing the headmaster to allow mixed dorms would be an impossible task, heh,'' Kaede smiled weakly as if to cover her disappointment and continued, ''so we preferred to simply group up together to settle our choices – what do you think, Himiko?''

''Sounds great-''

''W-will you share a dorm with me, Himiko?'' Tenko interrupted her, fidgeting while waiting for Himiko to answer.

''Sure.''

They were informed by the headmaster that they would move there in two days, with the lessons and activities starting next week. Regarding the restoration of Hope's Peak Academy itself,  they were told that it will take an indefinite amount of time since the work that had to be done now was to be more thorough than before, improvement of security measures being of utmost concern. Consequently, the students didn't know whether they would study there again, yet the sadness resulting from this was quickly overcome by their anticipation of novelties that a new place may bring. 

Himiko took great care to pack everything, which, as she reckoned, she did too early. She then unpacked some clothes, only to find herself putting them back in later on. Determined to focus on something, she also cleaned her dorm several times, each time regularly glancing at the clock while doing so. She was even willing to go out to meet with Tenko and others, however, the others, except Tenko, were usually busy. She wanted to make the last good memories of this place, lest they wouldn't study here ever again, but, whenever she tried, memories of Kokichi's various pranks that he pulled on her almost bombarded her thoughts. At times, she was seized by such a strong sense of disbelief concerning recent events that she rushed to the window to see the school's state, or, when no one was around, she would pass Kokichi's dorm, listening for any sounds coming from the inside, sometimes stopping by the door altogether to make sure that it was in fact silent inside. Himiko was partly motivated to do this after her encounter with that stranger in her dorm. She could not recall much about how they looked, but some sense of familiarity did impress itself on her memory. Eventually, she began to doubt whether she saw anyone and that that was not a dream, understanding that her doubts were better grounded in this case than in the instances of her occasional uncertainty about the fire. Why would some stranger go to her dorm at night to do absolutely nothing? How did they acquire a key? Why didn't they kidnap her? The event seemed increasingly ridiculous, and so Himiko was reluctant to mention it to anyone, even if it was only a dream.

*

The bus journey to the new school was quite long and took place in the morning. Himiko hoped to fall asleep to get it over with, but Tenko constantly asked her what she thought the new place would look like and what she wanted to do once they get there. Chains of impenetrable gray clouds weaved the sky, the sun rarely able to peek through – marking the earth with hazy strips of light when it did.

Himiko was woken up by Tenko when they reached their destination. Initially, it was hard to see the school from the bus because the students crowded the bus windows that were directed at the school, then, when she left the bus, Himiko found herself in a similar situation as bands of students flowed out of the other buses making it hard to see anything due to her size. This left her impatient and irked her curiosity when people started to share their opinions about the place. Whether it was due to the expectations raised by the headmaster before their arrival, or due to the impatience that grew in Himiko at that time, she felt an unusually strong feeling of disappointment when she saw the school. The front of the building had a single distinguishing feature which was an extensive circular portico with a pediment decorated with the logo of Hope's Peak Academy and other engravings, the structure itself being propped by rows of columns. The rest of the building was plainer, with limited decorations about the windows. What surprised Himiko the most was the school's size, as it didn't seem to exceed three floors, including the ground floor.

''Himiko?'' She heard someone say and turned her head. Most of the students were heading inside already; it was only her and Tenko that stood by the buses. ''Are you alright?'' 

''Yes, I'm just tired after the journey,'' Himiko replied. 

''Well, you better... un-tire yourself quickly because there's still a lot of time left for us to see this place today!" Tenko said enthusiastically and dragged Himiko towards the building.