SHSL Perfection

Reminder: I remade

Holding onto his arm tightly as the two of them set out into the streets, she was admittedly a bit overwhelmed at first by how many people were there and how they didn’t seem to notice or recognize them in the least–perhaps it was due to them almost always being driven to work, but walking almost seemed to be a dangerous activity. Of course, the streets of Tokyo weren’t much different, so she really had no reason to be worried…but at least there people knew who they were with a single glance and knew not to bump into them or act rudely, whereas the people of Paris seemed to move along with the wind, not caring much as to where their feet would take them. What was it like, living a life so full of freedom? She couldn’t possibly imagine it in the least, and yet they were experiencing it in that very moment. As exhilarating as it was, it frightened her; after being raised on schedules and concrete plans, living in the moment was a completely foreign concept. Perhaps she would grow to enjoy it with time…

“Well, I must agree with the ones you’ve chosen, as your taste is impeccable. As for myself....” Perhaps he shouldn’t have asked such a difficult question of his twin, knowing she would turn it back on him; he was forced to stall in silence for a moment, taking another deep breath of the spring air. “Well, I’ve always been partial to The Oath of the Horatii, because of the depth of emotion portrayed, as well as the masterful technique. However, I must admit that I do enjoy the Mona Lisa, although it is the most commonly known, and La Liberte guidant le peuple is a favorite of mine as well. I can easily admit that I’m no artist myself, but I feel a bit more centered in the presence of such talented works.” He slowed naturally as they approached the mill of people on the museum grounds, and guided them along its outer edge. For a weekday afternoon, it was fairly busy, but even that wasn’t half as much as it would have been during peak tourist seasons. 

      RUNNING from one of the many local high schools to hope’s peak academy in the time she had was definitively something kanon knew should be in a record book. of course, were anyone to ask her to do it again – without her original motivation to back her up – a guaranteed failure was to be expected. whenever it came to her older cousin, it was as if someone was turning on a switch in her mind, making her bloom from a normal, slightly ditzy good to someone with enormous potential and delivered promises of growth with every action.

“And you, Nakajima, although I can’t promise that your cousin would feel the same. I believe he’s hiding in the music room at the moment, pretending he knows how to play an electric guitar--at least, I presume that’s him I heard from the math hallway, because he’s even worse than Mioda, the resident ‘punk rocker’.” His voice practically dripped with annoyance, although it wasn’t intentional. He was just naturally that peeved by the existence of Leon Kuwata, and trying to speak positively about him was nearly impossible. 

Shiori almost giggled at his logic; the fact that he was taking her suggestion so seriously was both touching and a bit concerning, but she couldn’t help but be impressed by how quickly he was able to deduce the amount of time he had lost and would gain. Math truly was his passion as well as compartmentalizing and saving time; though she hadn’t quite meant to light a fire within him it was better than watching him get into more arguments and fights, as she knew the other boys in his class wouldn’t let up as long as he didn’t. At times his self-righteous attitude could be worrisome, but she had learned to take it in stride; as long as she carefully guided him towards what was best without being too overt things would be fine, as he valued her advice just as much as she did his.

While she was gone, the heir had to fight the urge to lie down and resign himself to his fate. He may be injured, but he was still a Togami; he couldn’t let himself slack off, even now. He was grateful, however, to hear her return, and turned willingly towards her as she moved the ice pack towards his wound.

“Then we’ll do just that–it sounds like an excellent plan, though I’d prefer to go to the Louve, at least first,” Byakuren admitted, trying not to draw attention to the reason why she didn’t want to go to the tower–while it was beautiful and a structural masterpiece, she was terrified of heights and would rather not look down upon the city with fear creeping up her spine. They could always walk by it, of course, perhaps buy a few souvenirs for Shiori and their friends back at home…but she would rather today be a relaxed day, and they could always visit the Musée d'Orsay or the Arc de Triomphe to make up for it. However, if he was set on going, she wouldn’t hold him back–as long as he was willing to hold her hand the entire time while she kept her eyes squeezed shut…

“The Louvre it is,” her brother agreed, with a matching smile playing on his own lips as he rose to his feet, “It’s only a few blocks from here, so it shouldn’t be much trouble to walk, as long as you don’t mind.” He took a moment to stretch, sighing in contentment as the sun rested lightly on his head and shoulders, and the smell of fresh bread and coffee swirled around them. It was a beautiful day in Paris, and he, like his sister, couldn’t be happier to be there. No matter where they went, it was sure to be a good experience simply because they had the chance to do as they pleased without interference from the company. As much as the two of them loved their work, they also loved being free. 

Shiori nearly laughed at how stubborn he was, but instead she held it in and a smile passed across her lips–she should have known that he would refuse to admit he was wrong in a straightforward manner, but he still recognized his mistake if nothing else. That was progress, especially since he was willing to be on his best behavior for her sake and no one else’s; when they first met he probably would have gotten himself into more trouble, and she wouldn’t find his hesitancy as nearly as amusing as she did now. It was strange, to think that him getting into an argument and holding back would be so touching, and yet–it showed how much he cared about her, that he would allow his pride (and face) to become wounded just so that she wouldn’t worry. Of course, it was also likely that he was doing so to maintain his reputation, but it couldn’t hurt her to think that she had been able to facilitate some change, right?

“If I spent all my time correcting...actually, that’s quite brilliant, Shiori. I can only imagine how many weeks of my school year I’d gain back by simply cutting out all the time I have to spend correcting others. If I simply let the teachers handle it, I can use the extra time to finish my work for The Conglomerate earlier, which in turn will leave me more time to spend with you.” Mentally he was already doing the calculations. He had seven classes a day with fifteen incompetent classmates, one of which generally contained a ten minute correction or argument at least, and there were five days in a school week with approximately forty-eight weeks in a school year...that meant he could save more than eleven days worth of time in a year by not correcting the idiots around him.

Byakuren couldn’t help but flinch a little as her door flung open without any warning and promptly slammed afterwards, her brother storming in with a terrible look on his face that surely reflected the fowl mood he was in. She could only imagine what had happened to him considering the whims of their classmates during lunch hour, but before she could even ask he blurted out some of the most ridiculous insults she had ever heard, causing her own face to twist into a grimace. Where on earth had they gotten such outlandish ideas from? Strangely enough she was more confused about the former comment than the latter, as she knew most everyone at Hope’s Peak thought them to be heartless, uncaring, and cruel–but most everyone also knew that they–he, rather; her side of the relationship was kept secret–had a steady girlfriend, so why would they accuse him of being a…what was that, again? 

“I’m glad you think so at least. The first year who poured a glass of punch over my head doesn’t seem to agree. Apparently she had been leaving me love notes in my locker, and somehow my silence meant that I was eagerly awaiting the next letter--not throwing them away in the nearest dumpster without a second glance. So, when she came up to me and tried to confess her love, and I told her to leave me alone, that turned me into a heartless monster.” He rolled his eyes and threw his hands up in utter exasperation. “These girls should know by now that I’m happily taken, and I don’t want anything to do with them, but somehow they just keep coming.”

The heir’s room was much… neater than Chihiro had expected. Not that he thought Togami was a particularly messy person, but he was in slight awe at how ordered everything appeared to be.

A hard reset? Was the programmer actually trying to tell him that the only option was to completely remove all the files on his computer and perhaps even some from the Conglomerate main frame? There was no easy way to do that, even with the programmer’s elite skills. The network was massive, with data stored and sent across three continents. The heir might not be a computer expert, but even he knew that was a monumental task--and absolutely horrendous news for him. All the work, information, and photos he had stored on the computer would be lost completely if ther programmer went through with the reset...

Shiori couldn’t help but giggle softly as she watched and listened to him speak, comforted by the familiar furrowing of his brow, the intensity of his eyes as he took the time to think–and was most likely carried away by his thoughts, falling silent before shifting the topic onto her. It wasn’t surprising at all that he would dream of work; judging by the look on his face, he was probably thinking about it outside of his dream. His obsession with work was a bit concerning, enough to have various medical professionals chide him and suggest a vacation or a day off–but he brushed them away, continuing to spend too many hours at the office. When they had first met it had bothered her a bit, but she had learned to take it in stride; just because he loved to work didn’t mean he loved her any less, even if she was lonely at times. However, she had been subtly attempting to guide him towards a healthier lifestyle, packing a lunch for him to eat and asking him to take breaks to see her while she worked–and while it had taken a few years, she could tell that she had made at least some progress…

“Well, if you’re up for it, I don’t mind. After all, this day is dedicated to us spending time together...” he felt his cheeks grow warm, but forced himself to stay steady with what he was saying instead of flinching away from being sensitive. After all, Shiori was the one person he could show his feelings around, even if he still wasn’t very confident about it. Not only that, but spending the day relaxing really did sound like the perfect weekend. It wasn’t his usual style, but after the kind of week the two of them had, they deserved the rest. Especially Shiori--she hadn’t wanted to tell him, but he had managed to find out that she had been attacked by bank robbers and by a kidnapper this week, which meant that he was going to pamper her today whether she liked it or not.