You are Y/N L/N. You are a student who was accepted into Hope's Peak and a member of the 76th class. Your ultimate talent is the following: Ultimate Marine Biologist. For the last few months since you first arrived at Hope's Peak, you've gotten to know some of the other students attending with you. For example, you met that animal loving dark arts master Gundham Tanaka from Class 77-B, as well as the Ultimate Lucky Student, Nagito Komaeda. You also got to know the rest of the people in class 76.

Among these people, you got to meet up with Sonosuke Izayoi, the Ultimate Blacksmith, with a badass-looking red trench coat, slightly pale skin, and spiky blonde hair. He could probably throw a blade from forty feet away and still perfectly hit his target. He wasn't exactly the social type, and more of a "silent type" of person. Of course, you and him at least got along with each other. Besides you, Sonosuke usually spent most of his time with his girlfriend, Ruruka. She was the Ultimate Confectionist, which meant that she could create all kinds of different delicious candies. He was incredibly protective of her; That cannot be understated. One time you tried to speak to Ruruka by yourself and he literally pulled a knife on you.

(Not the same image, but a good example of his over-protectiveness) 

Ruruka had a standard brown Hope's Peak Academy uniform with some fur trimmings, thigh high white socks, and pink boots with several straps. She had short, strawberry blonde hair, lilac eyes, and looked very cheerful. She also had a small pink hat, with green ribbons, which looked something like a strawberry. What made her treats so special were how addictive they were. Sure, they were often incredibly delicious, but most of the time, you felt like you couldn't have just one of her treats. Funny enough, Sonosuke told you that at times, she even smelled like strawberries, too. You swore that those two were practically inseparable.

 Yet there was someone in your class that always seemed to stay away from the other students. There was always one girl in your class that you never really got to know quite well before. Mostly because she was very shy towards everyone else, except Ruruka for some reason you didn't know. You tried to talk to her during classes, but you barely got the opportunity to do it. Even when you did, she was always busy doing her important work. You wanted to at least get the chance to get to know her better. She seemed to be a bit lonely, so you wanted to see if there was any way you could provide her company. Also, you thought that she looked incredibly adorable, and it wasn't like you had too much on your to-do list at the moment, anyway.

Today was that day. The day you made an effort to go and speak to her yourself. Of course, you didn't know where to look for her, so you went around the school to find Ruruka. If she was the only person you knew that was close to her, then she at least had to know where she might be. You made sure to wait until Sonosuke was with her to approach her. I DO NOT want a repeat of that incident. "Hey, Ruruka, if you have the time, I have something to ask you."

"Better make it quick," Sonosuke said tensely to you. He made sure to give you a long stare. Just because you were friends didn't mean that he trusted you completely.

"Don't worry, Yoi-Yoi, this will only take a moment," Ruruka told him. "Alright, so what do you want to ask? I'm in the middle of coming up with a new sweet recipe, so ask away."

"Do you know where that girl in class is? The one with the facemask, I mean? I'm sorry, I just never got her name. She seemed to be used to you, so I figured you might've known," you told her.

"Oh, Seiko? Of course! She's one of my besties. She's probably working in her chemical lab near the west side of the building. Why are you asking?", she told you.

"Well, I didn't really know where to start. I was just trying to talk to her, but I couldn't find out where she was. Thank you so much for the help, Ruruka." Once you were done speaking to her, you headed straight to the west side of the building. You made sure to find the right time when you could meet up with her before going.

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You find yourself walking down the hallway of the west corridor, following the instructions that you received from a few other students along the way. Thanks a lot, Ruruka, you could've told me on what floor she was on, you know. It wasn't that big of a deal to you, but you were still slightly ticked off by it. You keep walking until you reach a sign that read out the word, "Laboratory". Yep, this is the place, all right. You decided to knock on the door, but nobody responded. Is she not here yet? You tried to open the door to be sure, and it opened up. You went inside of the lab to find the girl you were looking for.

Seiko was a bit of a short girl, with pale grey hair that curled together in a partial pig-tail-looking hairstyle. She had very light purple eyes, and her skin was incredibly pale, as well as a purple respirator mask covering her mouth. She was wearing a regular brown Hope's Peak Academy uniform, long black leg stockings, and a pair of purple gloves. You thought that she looked absolutely precious, like you just wanted to give her a big warm hug. At the moment, Seiko was in the middle of working with a handful of different chemicals. She was carefully measuring one chemical using a dropper, trying not to add too much to the experiment. You couldn't tell what she was experimenting with, and frankly, she didn't even notice you had entered the room at all. That's how committed she was to her work.

"Uh...you wouldn't happen to be Seiko, would you?", you tried to ask as calmly as you could. She was a little surprised at your presence, and jumped back scared for a few moments.

"W-What do you think you're doing?! You can't just interrupt my work without permission! Don't scare me like that ever again!," she said to you. Even though she was yelling, her voice was so gentle that her yelling wasn't too loud. But you certainly didn't want to make her mad, either.

"Oh my God, I am so sorry, I was just looking for you, that's all!"

Seiko looked at you, surprised. She put down the dropper on her workspace. She seemed to consider something in her mind before she went over to you. "Alright, you're lucky. You caught me right as my break started. So who are you, and what do you want from me?"

"I'm Y/N L/N. I'm the Ultimate Marine Biologist. We're actually in the same class, you know. I think I saw you in the back several times throughout the semester, right? Do you remember me?"

"Actually, now that you mention it, I do recognize you from a few days ago. My name is Seiko Kimura. You can just call me Seiko. I'm the Ultimate Pharmacist, but that's probably not something you'd be inter-". As she spoke, you interrupted her at one point.

"Oh, you're a pharmacist? So, you're, like, a doctor then? Or a scientist? What kind of things do you do? Please, tell me more," you eagerly told her. She was actually kind of surprised you asked her that. Of course, it was hard for you to tell due to her mask covering her facial expressions. She didn't exactly get many visitors, nor people who seemed to take an interest in what she did, so she looked relieved to finally meet someone interested in her work. Under her mask, she formed a weak smile.

"Me? Oh, well, I, uh, I'm sort of a doctor. I'm no nurse, but I-I-I make medicine. All different kinds of medication, actually. From cold medication, laxatives, healing meds, stimulants, antidepressants, you name it. You could say I, uh, I'm an expert on drugs and medicine. I can even make drugs that can make you stronger and faster. I even work on some food concoctions, too," she said nervously.

"You can do all of that? That's an amazing talent! Most of the time, I struggle to even understand what's going on in Chemistry. How do you even memorize all of that?", you asked her. You could tell she was happy to hear that.

"Oh, uh, it's much harder than you'd probably think. A good memory definitely comes in handy. You have to make sure to remember side effects of different dosage amounts, and you need to keep track of every minute detail so you don't overlook a patient's conditions and give them the wrong dosage by mistake," she told you, as she showed him several vials and prescription cases with different dosage amount as an example. She even took you behind the medical cabinet. You looked in awe at her shelf, and the wide range of different drug medications, most of which you didn't even know existed. Sweet Jesus, this girl is dedicated to her work. Seiko continued speaking to you.

"Patience is another big thing. You also have to be good at multitasking, because you never know when you're going to face different tasks at the same time. I've made lots of trial and error, so I'm patient when it comes to my work. I try to put all of my energy and focus into getting it done efficiently, so that's why I get startled or angered whenever I'm interrupted. Especially if it's unexpected. Don't take it personally, though, Y/N. I only snapped because I was so focused on this latest drug, and I didn't want to screw it up," she said. She slowed down from her rambling to more of a softer, sympathetic tone.

My goodness, the things she has to do for her talent. She must be incredible if she can work like this on an average day. My brain would probably catch on literal fire if I had to work at her rate for a month, or maybe even less. You admired her persistence and prioritization.

"Well, thanks, I guess. Say, uh, random question, and I don't want to be rude or anything, but what's with the mask?", you asked her. "Listen, I don't want you to take this the wrong way. I was only wondering, that's all. I wasn't trying to make you feel-"

"I know you mean well, Y/N. It's not due to that cursed virus whose name we will not speak of. It's for...a couple of reasons. I'm not really comfortable sharing all of them, but to keep it short, one reason is that it hides my face," she said, in a slightly more depressed tone.

"What? Don't talk like that! I'm sure your face is perfectly fine!", you try to reassure her.

"Oh, no, I didn't mean it like that," she replied, with a little chuckle. "I-I-I meant that it hides my expressions. Look, it's...it's complicated to explain, okay? I don't want to talk about it now."

"Oh, okay. If you don't want to talk about it, that's fine."

"If you don't mind me asking, Y/N, why are you here?", she asked you, as you two made your way back to her work desk. She set up her chemistry tools as she spoke. "People usually don't come to me unless they need some medication or other crazy favors. Do you need any prescriptions from me? Wait...now that I mentioned it, how did you know where to find me?"

"Ruruka told me about you. She was the only one that I saw you getting along with in class, so I thought she might've known."

"Ruruka??" She quickly stopped what she was doing and stared directly at you. "What did she tell you about me?"

"All she told me was where to find you and that you two were friends. That's all," you told her. She seemed to act less paranoid once you said that. "I didn't come here to get any drugs from you Seiko. Although, I might want to come back here if I need anything, but that's not why I'm here. I'm here because..." You awkwardly tried to find a way to explain it to her without sounding too mushy. "..., well, I wanted to see if you were okay."

"Huh?" Seiko looked confused. "Okay? W-W-Why did you want to do that? You barely even knew I existed, didn't you?"

"Look, Seiko. Since the time I started here at Hope's Peak, I never got a chance to talk to you like this before. Every other chance I get to catch a glimpse of you during the day, you're either in a hurry, in the middle of doing important work, staying away from the other students, or talking to Ruruka. To me, it looked like you were overworked. I, uh, I wanted to see if there was anything I could do to help. I wasn't sure if you were depressed or not, but I usually see you acting very anxious in class." You gave out a sigh as you tried to explain it as best you could. "I just wanted to know if you were doing alright, or if you needed any help, and I also wanted to get to know you a little better, too. I mean, I don't have much on my plate today, so I figured I should use my free time wisely."

For a moment, you swear you could see Seiko's eyes light up, and started acting much more nervous. Not the usual nervous, no, more like a surprised nervous. She even slightly giggled, as she began twitching her fingers uncontrollably. "Oh, oh, uh...I mean, well", she repeatedly mumbled, blushing under her mask. She was at a loss for words. What is this I'm feeling, she thought. She didn't even know how to describe it. Suddenly, she realized that her break time was going to end in a few minutes, so she tried to snap out. "Oh no! My break time's about to end in a couple minutes, Y/N. I-I-I should probably try to set up my lab again," she said nervously.

(To be continued in Episode 2...)