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ᴍɪɴ ᴅɪᴅɴ'ᴛ ᴡᴀɴᴛ to play with Ace every day during recess. Sometimes, she did, while other times, she was reading something she brought from her house. He never knew when she wanted to play and when she wanted to read, but she read more than she played with him, so he would assume she would rather read than play with him. He still asked her if she wanted to play with him at recess every day, though, for the chance the answer was yes, no matter how slim it might have been.
Ace couldn't remember it, but one day, Min said she didn't want to play. She had a book from home in her hands. It looked a lot thicker than the books their teacher and the elementary school's librarian had the first-graders read. Curiosity got the better of him, and he asked, "What are you reading?"
"Emotions," she answered. "Simplified."
"What does 'simplofy' mean?"
"Simplified. It is easy to know."
"Why are you reading it?"
"To study."
"For what?"
"The Ultimate Contest for Eminent Students."
"What's that?"
"A test to see who can go to Hope's Peak Academy."
Even back then, Ace knew about Hope's Peak Academy. Only the best of the best in a specific field went there to study and make their skills even better. But there was one problem with Min saying that. "Only grownups go there."
"I know," she replied. "I have to take it when I'm 17."
"That's a long time away."
"No. I need to study."
"Why are you doing a test to get into Hope's Peak Academy?"
"I need to be the Ultimate Student."
"We don't play a lot so you can be the Ultimate Student?"
"Yes."
"Can we play more after you're the Ultimate Student?"
"The Ultimate Student goes to Hope's Peak Academy. I won't see you anymore," Min answered.
Ace gasped. "But that's not fair!"
She didn't say anything.
Something must have made him decide he needed to make sure they could spend time together when they were grownups because he said, "I will take the Ultimate Contest for Emi-mi-mi-ni Students—"
"Eminent Students."
"I will be the Ultimate Student with you!"
She glared at him. "There is only one Ultimate Student."
Since that plan didn't work, his young brain created a new one and asked, "Other Ultimates go to Hope's Peak Academy with the Ultimate Student?"
"A lot of them," Min answered, still glaring at him.
"And you see them every day?"
"Every day."
"Okay, I'll be a different Ultimate!"
Min's glare broke with a startled look. "What?"
"I'll be really, really, really, really, really good at something. And then, I can go to Hope's Peak Academy with you. I'll see you every day, and we can play all the time!"
"You really want to play with me?"
He smiled. "Because we're friends!"
Min had told him she didn't expect him to say that. She never had anyone call her that before, which helped her smile and say, "We're friends."
That moment officially made Ace and Min friends. At least, it did for Min. For Ace, he probably thought of them as friends from the moment she agreed to play with him.
