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Ibuki Mioda hadn’t met her soulmate yet.
It wasn’t like she wasn’t actively looking for them- Ibuki had been waiting for the day when she could see the world in full color for her entire life. She just hadn’t had any luck in finding them.
Now she was a second year at Hope’s Peak Academy- the Ultimate Musician. With the amount of people she had locked eyes with, you’d think she would’ve found her soulmate once her first year was over, right?
Nope.
Locking eyes with every one of her new classmates didn’t do squat. All it did was make them look at her weird. (It doesn’t help that some of my classmates actually ended up being soulmates with each other. )
So, yeah. Ibuki Mioda, the Ultimate Musician, didn’t have much hope that she’d ever see the world in anything other than black and white. That didn’t stop her from living life to the fullest, though! (Maybe.)
—
“You should go and greet the new class, Ibuki! I think they will like you.” Sonia told the musician, smiling. (She’s already found her soulmate. I wonder what I look like to her?)
“Okay! Ibuki’s gonna sweep them off their feet!”
The chatter of the 77th class’s homeroom grew softer as Ibuki leapt out of her seat and bounded out the door, away from earshot. (None of these people are gonna be my soulmate. It’s too late for that, isn’t it?)
Ibuki slowed as she walked down an empty hallway. Why did the 78th’s new classroom have to be so far away? (And why didn’t I greet the class with the rest of my friends? ‘Cause I’m scared I’ll start seeing in color?)
77 was a few doors away from 78. It wasn’t a long walk if you did it normally, but Ibuki hadn’t felt like walking normally. Instead, she’d taken the ‘I Am Stalling For Time’ approach. So, the walk had taken approximately five minutes.
The door to the 78th class stood in front of her now. (Why am I even nervous?) she reached out for the doorknob, paused- then gripped it and yanked the door open. Ibuki recoiled, because why did she open it so loud?!
Only, the class inside didn’t seem to notice. Only a few, more inquisitive students paid her any mind. (Geez, are they like, detectives or something?)
There were sixteen students inside. They all had different body types, different hairstyles, different clothing- Ibuki found herself categorizing them by everything except color. (They’re all grayscale, what’s the point?)
”Who’s that? Someone from 77?”
A loud voice jolted Ibuki from her thoughts. It was harsh and abrasive. She looked around the room for the source of the voice, locking eyes with many of the students that had just taken notice of her. (I can scratch them off the list.)
”Ah- Ibuki Mioda! Ultimate Musician! At your service!” She did her best smile and introductory pose- causing quite a few of the students’ faces to turn a little darker shade of gray. The one that had spoken rolled his eyes. (So the voice came from that boy that doesn’t know the difference between corn and a hairstyle?)
“At whose service?” Another kid spoke. Ibuki looked around for the source, and found him, sitting on top of a desk that didn’t appear to be his. He was wearing a jacket, had several piercings (Like me...), and a hairstyle that actually kind of worked. She looked him in the eyes to reply and-
And.
And her eyes suddenly saw all the color in the room.
Ibuki couldn’t take her eyes off the boy. The boy and his bright red hair, his pale skin, his white jacket, his icy blue eyes-
From what she could tell, the boy’s world had suddenly taken on color, too. His eyes (blue) had widened, he gripped the desk (brown) he was sitting on, and he gritted his teeth (bright white).
The corn-haired boy looked down at his friend (Friend?) and asked, “You okay?”
And...
And Ibuki ran.
Ibuki ran right out of the classroom.
——
“How come you don’t wanna tell anyone yet?” Leon asked. Of course, Ibuki didn’t know the answer to that question. How could she?
“I dunno. Want us to be official-official before telling the whole school.” (That’s a lie, we’re already going out, aren’t we? Why wait?)
”I think you’re just stalling or something,” Leon said, shifting his position. At the moment, the two ultimates were sitting, cross legged, inside a cramped storage closet. Brooms and buckets had been shoved aside to make room for the two. ”’Cause you’re usually telling everyone you’ve ever met about things by now.”
”Ibuki doesn’t feel like telling people right now.” She looked away- something that was hard for her to do, considering just how bright and pretty his eyes were because of their color.
Everything seemed bright and pretty now, didn’t it?
It was like this dumb kid that didn’t like his talent had given her world color. (Mostly because he did.)
So why didn’t she want to tell anyone yet?
(Because I want to keep him for myself?)
(Or maybe because....)
(Because...)
Ibuki looked over at the boy sitting next to her. He was fiddling with one of the brooms that had been shoved aside, like it was a guitar and he was a famous musician. Without turning to her, he started to reply.
“That’s fine. It’s pretty cool bein’ in a secret relationship and stuff, even though everyone knows I can see color now. They’re all asking, ‘Who’s your soulmate, Leon?’ and ‘Why won’t you tell us, Leon?’”
He set down the broom and stared into her eyes. (Bright red and icy blue is probably the best color combination ever- or maybe that’s just because it’s the first color combination I ever saw.)
Leon grinned. ”It’d be really cool to like, throw a huge party or something when you do wanna tell everyone. Like, with a cake and stuff!”
Ibuki snorted. Was this why she wanted to keep him all to herself for a little bit longer? Because he was just... he was just perfect and she wouldn’t change a thing. “And everything’s gonna be all colorful!”
”Yeah!” Leon moved once again, just enough so that he could hug her. (He’s so warm, it’s like his hair isn’t hair, it’s fire and that’s really cool-) “I love you.”
Ibuki’s face immediately reddened.
“Me too.”
———
You could ask anyone what made them experience the worst despair in their life, and they’d all come up with different answers. Until the Tragedy came along.
Ibuki’s moment of true, absolutely horrific despair was the day when her color went away.
She’d already been deep in the throes of despair by then. Causing a tragedy across the world was her goal, something that gave her purpose. (I wonder how baseball boy is.) Killing people left and right, watching them die in front of her. By her own hands.
That was the best and worst feeling in the world. (He’s doing alright, in that big stupid school.) Ibuki was constantly chasing that high, and she never wanted the despair to stop.
Then came the day when, in the corner of her eye, what once used to be the bright pink, bloodstained body of a person turned into a black and white corpse.
(He’s doing great in the school.)
Ibuki walked around with a nightmarish grin on her face- all the despair all around her was so, so amazing! One person who had bright yellow hair suddenly had no color at all, and she didn’t have a care in the world! Right!
(He’s doing amazing in the school.)
Ibuki felt her eyes begin to water from the stench of blood and tears. She blinked, and-
And.
And...
And all the color that had been brought into her life so, so, so long ago was gone. And there was nothing she could do about it. And she knew, she just knew that the boy that supposedly hated his talent so much wouldn’t ever have to play baseball again. And she felt something wet run down the sides of her face.
And somehow, Ibuki Mioda fell even deeper into despair.