>>3578>Mikoto<Do you like clowns?"Hm?" -her face didn't stop looking forward, but her eyes sought you out, sketching some curiosity that she finished drawing with her slightly pursed lips- "yeah, why?" -she asked, totally oblivious to your initial confusion-
<Isn't that very 21st century?"...?" -Mikoto didn't change her expression, but she quickened her blinks as she processed your summary, and what she understood is that... she didn't understand- "Huh?" -she finally raised an eyebrow. It sounded like you had just tried to explain the streets to her very poorly-
The path led them to the exit. The gloomy atmosphere of the school loomed over them like in one of those storms where the clouds seemed to be barely at kite height. The scene irritated Mikoto, making her strangely alert to what should have been mere masonry.
<You noticed it too...?The girl nodded her head. Her eyes turned into tilted crescents of pure seriousness. Her response came barely as a dry huff that respected the growing seriousness in the environment.
<Confirm something for me, if you know..."What is it, sensei...?"
When she finally spoke, her voice denoted caution. It was raspy, as always, but she asked the question with a slight, careful slowness and a serious tone.
<How many of them are in this school?Her eyes widened before returning, almost dragged by force the next instant, to a position of anger.
"Them?" -her voice came out almost urgently-
<I don't want to bet on this, but... If there are fewer than 2 janitors in the school, I think I can earn extra credit."..." -her eyebrows, which were violent diagonal earrings, soon arched in confusion- "Janitors?"
<A single janitor is going to have to clean up all these decorations between today and tomorrow. What if I help him? Will it count towards some reward? Maybe I'll get an extra point on some exam... Teachers notice things like that."..." -Mikoto ended up staring at you, losing the thread of this more and more as you spoke-
The girl scratched her head with a single finger once you fell silent. If you looked at her, you could see beyond her scowling facade, a certain contained disappointment in that puffed-up cheek.
"I wasn't talking about that..." -she murmured before shaking her head, realizing you weren't on the same wavelength- "no, sensei..." -her eyes closed, and her head slightly bowed gave her an air of solemnity with which she tried to leave the general silliness behind, after all, they were still teacher and student- "I have no idea, but I could find out if you want." -she even drops the informal 'tu'-
The school bids them farewell with a gate that sounded strange.
<A door shouldn't sound like that. Unless...Mikoto sweated, maintaining her alert state.
<They're made in re-china"..." -Mikoto blinked a couple of times without abandoning her pose, which had her almost on tiptoe, your explanation, so serious and laden with knowledge that escaped her, like areas of the planet where doors have an ominous characteristic sound, reminded her of your guru-like wisdom sitting bare-assed on a supernova- "Re...china?" -she asked, it sounded like China to her. But... Squared- "What is that...?, Is it like... part of China? Or like... Hong Kong...?" -Mikoto was in favor of Hong Kong's liberation or something like that-
...
The 500 dollars on the floor are ignored, the mustachioed dandy who dropped them turned around, more surprised that no one took them than by not finding his bills, which he was able to recover and everyone was happy.
Meanwhile, you who had entered the employment center were looking to earn a living like any young worker. Like Chip 'n' Dale.
<Just play along."Hm... Alright." -he nodded without knowing that accepting that would entail the ultimate anger management test-
Apparently Mikoto was a feminist -according to the soldier- and the soldier was misogynistic -according to the soldier- which generated some friction. Unilateral, one could say, because although Mikoto seemed to want to scream, she held back.
<I don't understand a damn thing you're saying, old man... Don't bother her too much. I won't defend you if she does something crazy.Mikoto calmed down for a second, glanced at you out of the corner of her eye like a cowboy understanding his outlaw partner. With narrowed eyes and lips slightly raised like those who weigh something exaggeratedly.
"Seriously?"
>Soldier"Ha! Don't worry, Tribilin. I know how to deal with crazy chicks who think they're too much! You kill them! And then you lobotomize them!" -he brought his index and thumb to his chin- "Or was it the other way around? Or both at the same time?" -he let out a single thunderous laugh with which he straightened up as if in an epiphany, raising the same finger that had just held a thoughtful expression- "THAT'S IT! YOU KILL THEM DURING THE LOBOTOMY!"
Mikoto was compared to a perfect RPG boss, the open secret of Cambodia's dark tourism. You finally chimed in.
<Did they have RPGs in the 1600s, old man?"Nah! Back then they were just Gs! And they threw them with their hands." -he mimed throwing something- "Like arrows! They invented them BEFORE the bow, so only the strong could use them. They threw them so hard, they killed bison." -he slammed the table- "But then they invented the bow, and everyone became weaklings who didn't throw their own arrows!" -he straightened up- "But then God said: Let there be gunpowder! In America!" -he put his hand to his forehead in a military salute- "And George Washington invented it, to massacre all those Indians with bows! It was great... enough to make a man cry..." -a tear ran down his cheek-
>Mikoto"That doesn't even make sense..." -Mikoto was a bit of an idiot, but not so much that she believed all that, her hands were trembling with anger-
<What you're describing is a sure death. Your toy would explode in your face just to avoid messing with her."Oh?" -the girl looked at you with such surprise that she paused her anger-
>Soldier"I don't know, Tribilin! I've only ever trusted two things in life: the president, and guns!" -he said before resting his forearm on the counter, leaning on it with a smug smile-
<It's not one of your starving commies-"Hm?"
Arrows, RPGs, a memory pierced you with more force than any of the weapons mentioned or not mentioned here.
>Mikoto<...???"Uh?, Sensei...?, Are... you okay?"
Soldier
"Hmm... Did they get confused and lobotomize Corporal Tribilin?! And he allowed it because it's impossible not to trust a white doctor!" -he pulled out a pistol- "BUT I'M ALSO WHITE, AND I WON'T LET A MEMBER OF MY PLATOON GO UN-AVENGED!"
Mikoto looked at him with all the disdain she had accumulated, and to which the soldier was completely oblivious. Once she turned to look at you, you had already disappeared.
"Huh?!, Sensei?!"
She ran out the door, which was still swaying like a fan in summer. She looked in all directions, and only saw tire tracks of a car disappearing around a corner.
"Sensei!"
Mikoto ran off after the trail, leaving a gust of wind that peeled trees, swapped the clothes of people she passed, broke windows, and overturned parked cars while making active-duty soldiers look ridiculous. She was fast, like few others, but still, she wasn't going to catch you.
"Where did he get a car?!" -she exclaimed, but that wasn't the most important thing- "And how is he so fast?!"
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