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Emu had an important decision to make… it was the time of year for third years, like herself, to decide where they’d be applying to for university. Tsukasa and Rui were already enrolled in a theatre program at a nearby school, with Nene intending to go to the same place.
But Emu had a tough decision to make…
Kidding, it’s actually a super easy decision! One she’d made a while ago.
Emu Otori was going to business school! Well, a business program at another nearby university. It had other programs as well, her old… friend? Acquaintance? Uh… Mafuyu was going there, enrolled in a nursing program. Apparently her mother had wanted her to go to a dedicated medical school and become a full fledged doctor, but she followed her own path instead. SUPER INSPIRING!!!
That was the sort of thing that made her question at the time… what did she really want to do? What did she need to do to get there?
A theatre program sounds fun… but her dream isn’t to be found there. She wants to fulfill her grandfather’s wishes… she wants to do what he did, run the park, spread joy to everyone!
She’d always known she had some spark, some desire to see further than what meets the eye and imagine a more wonderful world, putting a bit of wonderhoy anywhere she could.
However, as she grew up, she realized her grandfather didn’t build the park from that alone, he was also a wonderful businessman. He knew the finance stuff and investa something that he needed to truly spread the joy he envisioned. That’s what Emu needed, it’s what she was really after.
Ever since he’d passed away, there hadn’t really been anyone to take his place, no one holding both that spark and the business acumen, just lots of stern businessmen trying to make joy on a calculator.
She would be that person, and that meant…
“Business school! I’m applying to business school, I’ve been studying super duper hard from my older brothers’ old study guides!”
Kohane stared back at her, the only one of her Miya friends she shared a class with for third year. “Emu-chan… business school? That seems so… opposite of you.”
“Exactly!” She whipped an arm forward to bop the girl on the nose, “You’ve got it spot on. It does seem opposite to me… that’s why I need it! I need to learn what I’m not so good at, so I can be the next grandpa!”
“Studying what you’re bad at… I suppose that makes sense, but won’t you hate it there?”
Emu shook her head back and forth with the strength of a dog just coming in from the rain. “Nope! I’ve learned little bits from my brothers… I think it’ll be fun! It’s like… a big puzzle. How do I bring people more fun! What do they want, how can I give it to them, and do it in a way that lets me keep giving it to them!”
“Emu, I think business school is more about… selling than giving.”
“Pfft, whatever. Selling, giving, the point is PROVIDING joy. Don’t worry Kohane-chan, I’ve super thought this through.”
Kohane gave her a smile, “Ok then! Do your best, Emu-chan!”
Emu aced her entrance exams, of course. She’d always been a good student (surprising those who only knew her personally), and with the guiding hand of two graduates of this exact program, passing was always inevitable. These were the thoughts that passed through her head as she waited for the results to be announced.
Sure, she’d done well on the exam! She definitely remembers thinking ‘I did super well at that’ while leaving the exam hall. There was nothing to fear.
This was also what she repeated about fifty times to Nene, as they slept over at Emu’s place the night before the results would be announced.
She managed to calm Emu down… though that was more likely due to Emu starting to run out of energy. She was tired, it was 2 AM, maybe Nene was right… it’s better to sleep. She’d never run out of every before, her family had always assumed she had a never ending supply… guess not.
She woke up a bit later than usual, Nene was already awake on her laptop.
“Hey Emu… I got in!”
She had just woken up, still a bit groggy, but none of that stopped her from leaping to her feet and tackling Nene in a celebratory hug!!!
“Congratulations omg omg!!! You totally super super duper deserved it!”
“Thank you… Emu. Um, do you want to check yours now.”
She froze… yes but, it was a bit scary. She nodded and took a seat next to Nene.
…
She got in…
“YES YES!!! ONEE-CHAN I GOT IN I GOT IN!”
She shot out of the room, practically leaving Nene in a cloud of dust.
Day One of business school… she had her ten glitter pens, one plain pencil (just in case), and a bag full of multicoloured notebooks.
Her first class was a financial basics course. The professor asked if anyone was unfamiliar with excel spreadsheets… and people raised their hands? Only a few, but that was surprising. Busy businessmen in busy business spreadsheets was like… their whole thing!
Of course, Emu was deeply familiar with these. They’re the best way to organize data! Like line counts in scripts, or cataloguing different items based on their level of wonderhoy (a score produced by adding their wonder score and hoy score together).
Her most important usage was when her brother’s were discussing which rides to renovate. She knew exactly how to show them, convince them she knew what she was talking about!
She came up with four essential criteria for judging an attraction’s fun factor. Wonderhoy, Boom boom pow, Woah factor, and the giggle index. She then extensively analyzed each ride, giving each a grade from 1 to 15.
Presenting her scientific findings to her brothers… had actually worked! She’d shown the Boom Boom Pow levels of the park were low overall, so the focus should be on rides that scored low on this.
First she’d needed to explain what that all meant… Woah factor was the big joys of a ride, while the giggle index measured smaller joys. Boom boom pow was how big of an impression the ride left (how likely was it to be told as a story later), and wonderhoy… well that was pretty self explanatory.
The point was, she knew her spreadsheets, plus you could make them all colourful! What’s not to love?
Her other classes weren’t as simple… supply and demand made some sense, but how was she supposed to use that?
Stock market trends made even less sense… they were just random!
In one class they discussed something called a SWOT analysis, strengths weaknesses opportunities or threats.
“Can anyone name an example of a threat for say… a movie theatre?”
Her hand shot up, this was super easy!
“Like, if they movie people make movies that aren’t as wonderhoy, then no one comes to watch them!”
“Wonderhoy? Uh… well, that would likely fall under the weaknesses section, reliance on their suppliers to make products worth selling. A threat would be more like… movie piracy, or a competitively priced neighbour theatre.”
She almost objected to the movie being called a product… but she’s learned by now these business people have no NUANCE. It might be TOTALLY different to a product like… a shoe, but the business schematics behind it shared enough similarities.
But she took her notes anyways… weakness is bad movies, threat is pirated movies…
“Woah wait, what’s the difference? Aren’t they both threats to the money people?”
The people around her were staring at her… strange looks in their eyes. This really wasn’t her environment, but dammit she was here to learn.
“Well, a weakness would be some issue for… the money people, but one within the company. Internal issues are weaknesses, external threats are… well, threats.”
“Ohhhh… so like, the carnival coming to town threatens Phoenix Wonderland cause some people go to that instead, but a ride shutting down midday is a weakness cause then people don’t have as much fun!”
“Yes, something like that.”
Business was so easy.
As she ran around campus exploring (one of her favourite pastimes between classes, what’s homework), she ran into someone familiar. Literally.
Emu bounced off the figure, who didn’t move an inch. Toppling to the ground, she looked up to see an outstretched hand extended towards her.
“Otori-san, is that you?” Mafuyu Asahina grabbed her by the wrist, helping to pull her up. She looked quite different, and with… much shorter hair.
“Woaaaah, Asahina-senpai did a buzzsaw hit you or something??? The hair’s all fwooosh… gone.”
Mafuyu looked up at her hair, “Oh this? No, I simple had it cut when I moved into the dorm. I’m trying to be a boy now, is it working?”
“It super is!!!” Emu sparkled. He didn’t have that fake smile stuck to his face, only a blank expression… this was definitely better. “Hey hey, so you’re in the dorms? That’s so cool!”
“Yes, though I may be getting a new roommate soon. My current one is moving back home.”
“Awesome!” The dorms were something Emu had considered… it was such a cool part of university life! Still, she wasn’t completely sure…
But if Mafuyu was there… “Hey, Asahina-senpai? Could I be your new roommate?”
“Sure. You should contact the dorm people about it…”
The two exchanged numbers, and Emu bolted off to class.
“You want to room with a boy? But you knew him from Miya?” Emu’s father seemed a bit confused by Emu’s description of events.
“Yeah? He was a girl, but he’s trying out bring a boy!”
“So he’s transgender?”
“What’s that?”
“Whatever, that’s alright. If he’s someone you know, it should be alright.”
Within a week, her father had settled whatever paperwork was needed, and she was ready!
The dorm itself wasn’t too small! It had a little couch and table, a decently sized bathroom, and two little bedrooms.
First and foremost, Emu needed to decorate her room. Fairy lights, posters, pictures… it needed to metaphorically sparkle. How else could she get any work done?
“Otori-san… oh, this is a bright room.” Mafuyu was standing at the door, taking it all in.
“Yeah yeah!! Do you like it?”
“It’s fine… thank you for filling the vacancy, living with someone I don’t know is… not fun.”
“Of course!!!” She gave him a wink, “I wanted to know how you’ve been doing too! Come on come on, tell me!”
Emu launched herself onto the bed, patting the spot next to her in an attempt to summon him over.
Mafuyu sighed (with something like… a small smile? Maybe she was imagining things), and took a seat on the bed.
“Well my mother wasn’t happy with my choice of program… nor my haircut.”
“Whaaaat, but it’s cool!”
“Yes well… my friends said something similar. The program itself is nice, learning practical skills about how to help people when they’re struggling… I think that’s what I really want to do.”
“WOAH SAME!!! I just wanna make people super duper happy! So I’m here to learn money and business stuff so I can make a real wonderland! That includes you by the way, I’ll be the most best roommate and make you have a fun time!”
“I’m sure you will. I’ll let you continue unpacking.”
He walked out without another word. Late in the night, Emu heard him on call with some friends. He sounded happier.
The next month got busy busy. She had five classes, and suddenly they all had assignments due within the next week!!! She should’ve looked ahead in the syllabus… but it was too late now.
A market analysis assignment… customer journey… more SWOT analysis stuff? She definitely understood it but also definitely did not.
There was something about the four Ps of marketing? Uhh Product place powpow and uhh… no that was wrong.
Midterms were next month too, where was the respite! This was definitely her weak point, but she was slowly improving. Study sessions with Mafuyu helped keep her focus, he was really good at… well just sorta sitting there.
His vibes were extremely different from his he was in high school, no more fake smiles, just unfiltered Mafuyu. He was kinda gloomy… but in a way that had some hope still.
He was also super cool, and those cool vibes made Emu want to… behave. Not wiggle around TOO much while studying, less dance party breaks… just actually focusing on the work.
Though she’d never completely give up the dance part breaks… they were essential to business.
It was a few months into the semester, and Emu had noticed something that surprised her. A lot of the other students in her program were a bit weird! They weren’t the stuck up business people (though some were), but there were lots of dreamers like her! Though… lots of their dreams focused on how to build a business rather than spread joy, but it was still nice to talk to other creatives.
Mafuyu was a nice roommate too. He’d often cook for them at night, with Emu taking care of dishes in return.
Plus, their place had visitors! A girl with long silver hair would come sometimes, her and Mafuyu would have tea together sometimes. The two gave off an elegant vibe at first… but Emu started to suspect this new girl might be a bit of a disaster.
Another person would visit sometimes… a friend of Rui’s, and another pink haired cutesy person! They were a perfect match with Emu!
Lastly, Ena would sometimes visit! Emu had met her a few times in high school, she was a super amazing artist. Emu managed to get her to draw Emu and Mafuyu together! She pinned it on the fridge… marking their territory.
Some of her classes were starting to get a bit deeper into marketing, focusing on the customers and how to plan a market strategy around their needs. No subject before had made as much sense to Emu as this one.
“So, can anyone name an example of a customer problem statement for this business?”
This was easy. The business was a laser tag center… it was clear the problem.
“Oh how about something like ‘I’d like to have a happy peppy sparkle sparkle wonderhoy time! But where to find that???? I don’t know!!!’”
“Uhh… phrased a bit strangely, but sure. The customer wants to have fun recreational time, but doesn’t know how to accomplish that. The important thing for your business to do is answer that question. Not just being a place where they can have that recreation, but making it known to the customer that you’re their solution.”
Like her troupe’s ambassador shows from a few years back… this made sense.
Emu was so good at this.
It was the calm before the storm… midterms were done, a wave of assignments had just been turned in, now was the small bit of downtime before the FINAL assignments of the semester hit the department with full force. The perfect time to have some fun!!! While she still could…
She’d gotten invited to a party some people in her program were holding… but Nene had warned her these sort of college parties weren’t like she was used to, lots of drinking and scary stuff.
AND NO PARTY GAMES??? Not even pin the tail on the donkey??? Just beer pong and spin the bottle… Emu didn’t want to spin any bottles, nor suffer the consequences of where one may land.
Instead… “Hey Mafuyu! Let’s go out somewhere and have fun! I’ve been working too mucchhhh.”
“I could’ve sworn I’ve heard you dancing around the room most nights…”
“THAT’S NECESSARY, AND SO IS THIS!!! Come on, let’s go!!! I found an escape room place nearby… that should be fun!”
“Hmm… I should have some time this weekend.”
Emu practically bounded around the room in excitement… which is to say she literally did so. Mafuyu, as different as he was now, was still just as diligent, ever the good student. As such, getting him out of the dorm had proven difficult.
Booking the escape room was vital now… would it be all booked out? Hopefully not…
The place had different themed rooms. One was a horror room, one was themed around a science lab… but one was a WONDERLAND??? That was the obvious choice, and there were spots open!
“Mafuyu! Does 4:30 on Sunday work for you?”
“Yes… I should be free.”
Emu had never booked something so fast before in her life.
The room itself was a bit small, but it was beautiful! A fancy looking fake tree, little flower designs, and… A GNOME?!?!?
“Hello Mr. Gnome!!!” She ran over to check it out as fast as she could. It was so cute… and GNOME. She gave it a little pat on the head, it deserved it…
Well, no good deed goes unrewarded, that was definitely the saying, as the gnome dropped… a rolled up piece of paper.
“Emu… this wall says something about gnomes. Is it-“
“MAFUYU LOOK MR. GNOME GAVE ME A PRESENT!!!”
She presented the paper to the boy, unrolling it as she did.
“Hm… another clue. These things are… for puzzles right?”
“Yup! But Mr. Gnome wasn’t a puzzle, I just gave him little petty pet pet.”
“Oh… well the wall said to give gnomes pats on the head… so it was a puzzle.”
The paper led to another puzzle, and another and another. Signs on the wall stylized with fantasy wooden textures.
Eventually, some fancy wooden combination lock on the tree made… “Something clicked??? Helllooooo, click???”
Emu darted around, so far the puzzles had given them clues directly…
“Emu, here.” Mafuyu pointed to the base of the tree… which had swung open???
“WHAT??? IS IT A DOOR???”
Before he could answer, Emu crawled across the room through the opening. On the other side was a mystical forest, filled with glowing mushrooms.
Their puzzle solving romp continued. Mafuyu was better at the complicated stuff… but Emu caught the smaller stuff, especially stuff hidden around the room.
They weren’t the best time the place had ever seen, but the two escaped the room with 12 minutes remaining of their 60 minute limit.
“Mafuyu Mafuyu, did you like it? Were the puzzles hard? I think they were. Did you have a wonderhoy sorta time???”
“Hmm…” Mafuyu took a pause, “It was nice. The theme seemed to make you happy… and the puzzles were interesting. I did need a break from my studies, so thank you.”
A customer problem statement… Mafuyu needed a way to escape her studies, but didn’t know how? The solution: an outing. Emu just had to make it known that she was the solution.
Final projects were rearing their head, with one in particular needing a larger analysis of a chosen business, in Emu’s case a fashion store. However, this was a group project, she loved people!!!
They helped her see stuff she wasn’t quite understanding about the analysis, and eventually they’d divided the projects into sections, one for each person.
For Emu’s, she mostly understood… however, one section still confused her: Stakeholders. She’d heard a lot about these from her brothers, about how important it was to please the shareholders… or stakeholders. They used those two interchangeably, Emu had always thought they were interchangeable.
But NOW she was learning they WERENT??? Shareholders were just ONE kind of stakeholder… she’d have to consult her textbook for more details, she’d forgotten.
So… a stakeholder was anyone who had stake in the company, anyone who would have an interest in a business’s operations and outcomes.
Well that was pretty self explanatory… but it was more broad than it sounded! Shareholders were stakeholders, and so were suppliers and distributors, as well as the owner, and even the customers! Governments setting business regulations also counted as stakeholders… it was so confusing!
But that made some sense. If the fashion store changed who they got their clothes from, then that would affect the previous supplier since they’d lose business, the employees since it changed how they handle day to day operations, and customers since the store’s clothes may be of different qualities, or be different clothes entirely.
Thank you textbook!
Emu was so good at business.
Finals went by in a breeze, nothing Emu couldn’t study ahead of time with ease. The concepts were starting to make sense to her. It was more logical than she was used to… but she could see why it was important for learning how to spread joy.
Her midterms had come back with solid grades, and she expected the same for her finals, both exams and assignments. She’d completed her first semester!!! Of… eight. Still, that meant she had a lot more to learn.
The dorms would be empty over the winter break. Emu was headed home, and Mafuyu was planning on staying at his friend’s apartment, the silver haired girl. He hadn’t spoken much about his family… but she got the sense they were meanies, how could they be mean to him??? That was mean.
“Hey hey, Mafuyu! You think you can come for dinner some time this break? My family wanted to meet my roommate, and that’s you!”
“It is me… I’ll see if I can, but I’d like that.”
He gave Emu a smile, a real genuine smile.
They went separate ways… Mafuyu to his friend, and Emu to her brother’s (who she just HAD to brag to about how amazing at business she was).
Next semester would be nice, she was sure of that.