The Woman began leading us down a flight of stairs. While we were heading down the stairs, I couldn't help but wonder who the instrumentalist was.
"Umm... Miss, who's the instrumentalist and what does he do?" asked Sayakou.
The woman sighed in relief and frustration. "The instrumentalist is the one that helps you to pick your soul instrument."
"Soul instrument?"
"What's that?" I asked.
"All artists with abilities have an energy form called soul and need a medium through which they can channel it."
Sayakou looked at me, clearly confused. "But Minoru, can't we just use any art instrument? That's what Minoru and I always do."
The woman stopped abruptly. "What did you notice happens after you use a normal pencil?"
I tried to remember and noticed something. "That they always wither after use."
"Yeah," agreed Nanakou.
The woman resumed walking. "Correct. You can't just use any normal art instrument, but you must use a soul instrument which can withstand the power of your soul. The instrumentalist is also able to make them."
"What is a soul instrument made of???" asked Nanakou.
"That's classified, and only the higher-ups, the principal, and those who make them know," she answered.
We arrived at a huge door. It looked like a door built for giants, and there were brush strokes and graffiti on it.
It makes me wonder the type of person the instrumentalist...
BOOM!!
Smoke began oozing from under the door.
The woman had an irritated look on her face. "What's she up to now?"
The door opened with deafening creaks, like it had been used for years.
Smoke began gushing out, forcing me and Nanakon to cover our noses.
The scent of smoke still somehow managed to reach us.
When the smoke finally dissipated, before us stood a woman who looked to be in her 20s.
Her hair was unkept, and she was in dirty baggy trousers and a half vest revealing her stomach, with the right strap loose. She had dull red eyes that seemed to be fully aware of everything around her.
"S'up, Yuzu." She spoke in a laid-back, cheerful voice.
It was almost too cheerful. It made me wonder why the woman... Now we know her name. Miss Yuzu, I wonder why she said we should stay close, close.
"Your experiments are getting out of hand, Su!" scolded Miss Yuzu.
"Chill, Sis. You know I have permission for this."
Nanakou and I looked at each other in disbelief.
...Sis?
How are these two related? One is strict, while the other is laid-back and reckless.
While Miss Suzu was lecturing her, she caught a glimpse of Nanakou and I.
"Who're those two?" she asked.
Miss Suzu turned to look at us. "Those are the two new students joining the project."
She sighed. "I really pity these kids. They never get to fully enjoy their youth."
"Hey, we're here because we wanna be!" yelled Suzu.
"That's what they all say," she said in a quiet but serious tone.
This is the first time she's said something serious.
"Well, let's get to choosing your soul instrument."
We followed her into the workshop. It had different types of metal and equipment scattered around. The room was shockingly as huge as an auditorium.
But... one thing stood out to me.
There were duplicates of herself everywhere.
"How are there so many of you?" I asked.
"It may or may not have something to do with my abilities." She replied.
Just then, another explosion occurred behind us. This must be why we were told to stay close.
We arrived in front of two glowing round plates on the floor.
"Stand on it, you two," she ordered.
"Is this how we choose our soul instruments?" Nanakou asked.
She began laughing rather loudly. "R-Really? You-you thought you can just magically choose instruments? What do you think this was? Harry Potter?"
"Then what was it for?" I asked.
"There are many types of soul attributes, like the painter soul, the calligrapher soul, and the music soul," she answered.
Hearing her say that made me curious of the abilities of other artists.
"Since soul is our energy, we need equipment made from materials that can channel our soul," she added.
Nanakou gave a slight nod.
"Just hurry up and stand on the plates!" yelled Miss Yuzu.
I guess she was getting tired of our questions.
Nanakou and I both stood on a plate. The plates shot a tiny drone. The drone scanned us and went back into the plates.
"...That's it?" I asked.
I expected more.
"Yeah," responded the Instrumentalist.
"If that was it, what was the point of standing on the plates?!" shouted Nanakou, with her fists clenched.
"Just thought I'd look cool," answered the Instrumentalist.
Nanakou started walking towards the instrumentalist with her fists clenched.
I quickly grabbed her wrist to stop her.
"Don't do it, Nanakou," I pleaded.
She tried to struggle out of my grip. "Let me go, Minoru. All these people have a screw loose and need sense punched into them."
One thing Nanakou hates is doing something totally useless.
"Just calm down. Punching people doesn't fix everything," I scolded. "And look at how she's smiling. Clearly meaning she knows she's stronger than you."
Nanakou looked up at the instrumentalist to find her with a smile as unsettling as the principal's, if not more. She did not blink and the room was silent. This is the first time, too, she's smiled since we've gotten here.
We heard a beep.
"Well, now that you're done with whatever that was, let's check your attributes."