#kazouda

"Nevermind-san, would you mind telling Souda-san it's time for lunch? He is on cleaning duty today so it is important he's here on time," Yukizome asked politely to Sonia, who had just down to her own meal with her friends.

She wasn't one to refuse a request from a teacher. Sonia sighed, said a quick apology to Peko and Fuyuhiko, and left. Quite frankly, she felt rather extraneous around them, but that wasn't uncommon. They finally saw the world in color after admitting their feelings to one another. So did most of Class 77-B and Hope's Peak Academy at this point, leaving Sonia as one of the last few in their grade to see the world in shades of gray. Though it hadn't been for lack of trying.

The King and Queen of Novoselic hadn't begun to panic when their daughter saw every eligible member of the kingdom's aristocracy in black and white. They even had kept their concerns at bay when, after a week-long celebration of parties and balls, their only daughter and heir to the throne saw every future earl, duke, and second-in-line prince across Europe in the same limited color palette as she saw her favorite films, anime, and comic books. But when they'd paraded their daughter like Prince Charming in Cinderella, encouraging every eligible bachelor in Novoselic to meet the Princess and still her sight remained limited, they began to worry for both the future of the country and their daughter's mental stability.

Sonia walked briskly down the hallway, keeping her gaze on the door and avoiding the windows. Deep down she was happy for her peers, including those like Sayaka Maizono and Leon Kuwata who were sprawled underneath a tree in the front courtyard with a guitar and a stack of sheet music. But for now, she had to control her frustration, her anger, at not only feeling like an inadequate leader but an inadequate person. Sonia gritted her teeth, pushing open the heavy door to the stairwell as she made her way to the ground floor.

She took the stairs three at a time, her quickened pace forcing her to focus on the task at hand and instead of her own thoughts. Her place at Hope's Peak Academy was already a precarious one: The headmaster, though impressed with her linguistic, mathematical, and negotiation skills, had raised initial objects due to her transfer. Her previous boarding school, In Utero, had decided to expel Novoselic's future queen after a viscount had publicly humiliated Sonia in front of her entire class.

"Those colors don't go together!" Frederick, viscount Hanworth, sneered at Sonia's painting. The viscount had been fortunate: at nine, he had met his soulmate early on and had been a proud authority on the beauty of color. Due to resources and connections, most of the students of In Utero had followed suit by age 14: everyone except their future Queen.

"They're fine!" Sonia proclaimed, dipping her brush into a shade of gray to add to her painting of Novoselic's castle. She hadn't wanted to be excluded from a class just because she could not see colors, but it wasn't without its problems.

"Don't be an idiot! What castle has hot pink walls and neon yellow and blue turrets?" Frederick rolled his eyes, grabbing the canvas off of Sonia's easel and holding it high in the air, prompting the laughter of a class of middle schoolers.

It had been like this for years, the sons and daughters of Novoselic's esteemed peerage and newly rich alike picking on the one who outranked them all. A future monarch who couldn't even see the rich green hills, slate blue mountains, and pink Edelweiss flowers that dazzled inhabitants and tourists alike was a joke.

"Shut up! SHUT UP!" Sonia screamed, tears running down her face as she ripped the canvas from his hands before punching him squarely in the jaw. Her extensive training on modern warfare, including basic martial arts, had resulted in a broken nose and the loss of two teeth for the viscount. Despite Sonia's title, both the school and her family felt it would be best for her to transfer: out of In Utero, out of Novoselic, and out of Europe, in the vain hope there was a hidden baron or conglomerate heir who would allow her to open her eyes for the very first time.

"Why does Yukizome insist I find him all the time. He does have other friends," Sonia questioned aloud, pushing open the door on the ground floor and stepping out into the late spring sunshine. Kazuichi's preferred workspace was kept far away from the main school building, primarily for everyone's safety. The garage was prone to explosions from various projects, some strong enough to shake the school's foundations.

When she'd arrived at Hope's Peak, her reputation had preceded her. After a cold, embarrassing introduction to Japan's wealthiest heir, Byakuya Togami, her family thought it was best for her to remain at his academic institution in the hope of meeting more exceptional potential soulmates. Whispers from her fellow students as well as the news coverage of Europe's most eligible princess being whisked away nearly every weekend for a social obligation had turned her presence at Hope's Peak into continuous gossip. It had been only Kazuichi Souda who had shown any interest in her outside of her condition. Instead he'd focused on her crown after they met, which had irritated her more than her inability to appreciate a rainbow after thunderstorm. But he had shown her kindness when no one else did, introducing her to his closest friends, Nagito Komaeda and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu. The trio had then welcomed the company of Peko Pekoyama, Chiaki Nanami, and a reserve course student, Hajime Hinata, to form a merry band of Ultimate Misfits. It became only natural for them to take Sonia under their protection, and instead of dutifully studying outside of class hours, the group embraced frivolity at the arcade, karaoke, cafes, and more. The Ultimates relied on Hinata to introduce them to the life of normal students and in turn, they welcomed him into their friendship just as he was. And Sonia had been grateful: their loyalty was perhaps the only thing that kept the whispers and jeers from eating away her heart.

"Souda!" Sonia shouted, approaching the garage. Whatever he was building, it was too large to be contained in the enclosure so Sonia squinted up, attempting to find him on top of a mountain of junk and spare parts. "Yukizome-sensei is going to assign detention, again, if you don't come back to the classroom for lunch! You understand that if you receive one more, you won't be able to attend the summer festival!?"

The Ultimate Misfits had already begun their summer plans: trips to the beach, the amusement park, anything to celebrate their final summer as high school students. The local summer festival was also not to be missed, full of food booths, carnival games, and most importantly, a fireworks show. Fireworks weren't foreign to Sonia, but they were supposedly best experienced in color. Peko and Fuyuhiko certainly wouldn't have trouble seeing the kaleidoscopic display in the night sky, and while they were less forthcoming about it, Naigto, Chiaki, and Hajime did not seem concerned about their enjoyment of the festival's main event.

It had been Kazuichi who'd listened to her qualms. In an attempt to mollify her, he'd insisted that it wouldn't be a problem for 'Miss Sonia,' and that they'd all miss her company, he'd miss her company, if she stayed behind in the dorms to watch Bela Lugosi as Dracula for the millionth time. It wasn't the colors of the fireworks that had made the summer festival important, he'd explained, but the time spent together.

"Souda, are you listening!?" Sonia's yell grew louder in an attempt to talk over the loud engine that had picked up speed and volume. She was no expert, that was his forte, but even she knew something didn't sound right. "Yukizome-sensei will keep you after school into the summer vacation and you'll miss everything!"

It all happened in an instant. The engine on top of the pile continued to roar until it exploded into a cloud of smoke and oil, splattering the junkpile and Sonia herself. She fell to her knees coughing, grease covering her hair, her face, and all over her uniform. Due to his work, she was now a complete mess.

"S-Souda!" Sonia gasped, rubbing her eyes furiously in an attempt to see clearly, "You need to be more careful! Look at what you've...done..."