Take My Breath Away | Peko Pekoyama

01 | Yellow Begonias

     Misa Namura smiled widely as she waved at the passing car. Her little brother's head peaked out of one of the car windows as he waved back at her. Misa kept waving until the car disappeared from sight and then turned to face the giant building.

Hope's Peak Academy.

Being selected to attend this prestigious school practically guaranteed success in life. To be chosen, you had to be the very best at what you do. The talented young students selected were called Ultimates. For some people, it was impossible to tell what an Ultimate's talent was by simply looking at them. For others, it was impossible not to. Misa fell into the second category as the Ultimate Florist had small flowers embroidered on all of her cardigans and always had a bright yellow begonia tucked behind her left ear.

Misa was practically bouncing as she walked through the front gates of Hope's Peak Academy, her face beaming with excitement.

-

When Misa entered the classroom, she stopped and glanced at all of her new classmates. By the front of the classroom she saw a pretty girl with long blonde hair talking animatedly with a tall boy wearing a very long purple scarf. Across the room, a boy with vibrant pink hair and pointy teeth watched the blonde girl with stars in his eyes. A small clump of girls sat in a few of the desks talking to each other excitedly. Misa frowned as the small blonde girl with pigtails said something rude to the girl with long black hair and made her burst into tears. Misa squeaked and dove to the side as two students rolled into the classroom, clearly trying to kill each other. One of the two students, a brunette wearing a white top and a red skirt, stood up and growled like an animal. The other, an extremely buff dude with a big silver chain around his neck, held his stomach and laughed so loudly that it nearly shook the entire classroom. If he weren't so damn scary looking, he would almost remind Misa of Santa Claus when he did that.

"Good work, Owari! With a bit more training, you'll soon be strong enough to defeat me!" the giant man boomed. His comment made the brunette's eyebrows narrow.

"Yeah, right! I could kick your ass any day, old man!" she retorted. It looked like they were about to start fighting again when a girl with multicoloured hair bounced in holding several boxes.

"Ibuki brought donuts for all her new friends!" she shouted as she walked to the front of the class. The brunette's eyes glazed over and she seemed to float towards the food, completely forgetting about the buff dude and their little wrestling match. Misa watched as all of her classmates got up and moved in to grab themselves a donut. Just as she was about to go get one herself, she noticed a girl with silver hair sitting at the back of the classroom by herself, staring out the window. Misa looked over longingly at the donuts before shaking her head and taking a seat by the girl. She was very pretty. Her silver hair was pulled into two neat braids on either side and her bright red eyes were hypnotic behind her glasses. She wore a black long sleeve top, a grey skirt, and black tights. An ascot the same colour as her eyes was tied around her neck. Misa almost didn't notice the sword strapped to the other girl's back.

Misa cleared her throat, brushed off the front of her yellow skirt, and extended her hand to the silver haired girl.

"Hello! My name is Misa Namura," she chirped, "what's your name?"

The other girl looked at Misa and blinked. For a moment there was just silence.

"My name is Peko Pekoyama." she said.

"I'm the Ultimate Florist," said Misa, desperately trying to keep the conversation going, "What's your talent?"

"I am the Ultimate Swordswoman." she said. Without another word, Peko returned to staring out the window in silence. Misa's smile drooped and her arm fell to her side. Quietly, Misa turned to face the front of the classroom and placed her elbow on the desk, her chin resting on the palm of her hand.

Class began shortly after that and Misa spent the entire time trying to make conversation with Peko. It didn't seem to work though as Peko would only ever reply with one word answers. By the time class was over, Misa felt she was no closer to being able to call Peko her friend. Sure, she could always go and make friends with someone else, but there was something about Peko that the others just didn't have. As Peko silently stalked out of the classroom, Misa groaned and dropped her head onto the desk.

-

When Misa arrived to class the next day, Peko was already there. She took a deep breath, gave a big smile, and took her seat beside her.

"Good morning, Peko! How are you today?"

"I am doing well, thank you. How are you?" Peko asked without looking up from the book that she was holding. Misa's jaw dropped. That was the first time that Peko had chosen to continue the conversation rather than just let it die. Realizing that she hadn't responded yet, Misa blushed.

"I'm - I'm doing good, thanks!" she stuttered out, "Uh, beautiful weather we're having, isn't it?"

Peko glanced out the window before giving a small nod and returning to her book. Misa mentally smacked herself. Who gives a damn about the weather? Stupid Misa!

Similarly to the day before, class went on with Misa making quiet comments and failed attempts at conversation with Peko. She didn't see the few times that Peko would look over at her with a calculating stare. When class was over, Misa stood up with a sigh, slung her bag over her shoulder, and took a step towards the door.

"Namura," Peko said from behind her.

Misa looked back at the silver-haired girl and cocked her head to the side.

"The flower in your hair. It's... pretty."

Peko left the classroom in a rush so she didn't see Misa's face turn scarlet as she gave a small smile and gently brushed her fingers against the yellow begonia tucked behind her ear.