Piano lab sounds grand.

Thinking it over, being Mukuro's lab partner did make some logical sense. First, perhaps due to my influence, she seemed unexpectedly testy about not getting her way. Kaede did, too, but only one of those two seemed capable of hurting someone. Second, as I'd already noted, Mukuro had basically offered herself up to me (Junko, too, in a sense), which would make her a guilt-free test run. Third... If I was being honest with myself, I thought of Mukuro as the 8, Junko as the 10, and Kaede as the 11. A part of my brain was telling me it was better to save dessert for later and give Mukuro a run if I was still practicing.

But whatever! I hadn't gotten magic reality-changing powers to think hard about things and always make the right decisions. I wanted to spend more time with Kaede, so that's what I was going to do. I was self-aware enough to recognize that, ring or no ring, this was just a textbook case of a wallflower in a new environment clinging to the nicest person they met at the start. Eventually, I hoped to be spending time with the whole class, one way or another... Still, I'd take it one step at a time.

I said Kaede's name. For a second, I thought I'd overestimated how long I'd be living for those future plans, as Mukuro released Kaede to spin at me with a glare in her eyes. "Minnie!"

I searched for something to save myself, found it, and settled on it. "Mukuro. Do you have any right to question me?"

I could see in their eyes that while Kaede didn't know what that meant, Mukuro did. The soldier shrugged sullenly. "Fine. Start there, if you have to. Just make sure you do what you need to in the end. If I get the idea you're backing down..."

"Oh, calm down," Kaede shushed her. The blonde approached me, and I felt my heart rise to my throat as she wrapped her arms around one of mine to possessively pull me up, pressing me into the softness of her sweater-clad chest. "Mukuro throws threats like that around, but she's never hurt anyone."

"Here." I heard Mukuro mutter. "Yet."

"Anyway, picking me is sound judgment." Kaede released me, against my will. "Whether you know a little or a lot about piano, my lab will definitely put a smile on your face."

"I bet," I agreed, giving Mukuro one last glance before picking up my bag. The teacher seemed to have realized she'd lost control of the class in the strange spat that started up a moment earlier, and was dismissing everyone to head to the next session. I wasn't going to object to keeping things moving: the idea of spending time alone with Kaede, learning about piano, friendship, and- hopefully- a lot more about the ring, was filling up my brain.

In fact, my brain had gotten so full that I didn't understand when the woman who'd been the last to introduce herself, the one at the opposite corner of the class from me, rose and approached us with a neutral frown. Maki, the Ultimate Child Caregiver, didn't give me a surprise hug. Rather, she didn't even give me a glance, turning and exiting the classroom walking ahead of us. "Come on."

I'd forgotten that Maki came as part of a package deal. It was pretty plain to see that unlike Kaede, the dark-haired girl had no intention of getting off on a good foot with me, and didn't care if I cared. Actually, she'd made a sharp comment before finishing the goofy introductions earlier. Was it possible she suspected I'd had something to do with that shitshow?

As we walked through the hallway, Kaede kept close to my side. "You're worried about Maki? Don't be. She might look dangerous, but, unlike Mukuro, Maki's as sweet and harmless... and shy... as a bunny rabbit."

"Wait, you said Mukuro never hurt anyone..."

"Oh, yes, well... I suppose that's probably true!" Kaede agreed, not at all convincingly enough for me. "I mean, people call her the Ultimate Soldier, but that's probably just her talent. It doesn't necessarily mean she... you know. Has done soldierly things." she trailed off. Wanting to change the subject, Kaede called ahead. "Maki! Wouldn't it be nice to introduce yourself to Minnie here?"

"As I recall, I already did introduce myself. More than I meant to, in fact." Maki glared back to me as if it was my fault (which, of course, it was, but you don't win points for being right by accident). Still, she sighed and slowed her pace enough that she could walk beside me as well... Very close, as a matter of fact. For some mysterious reason, both Kaede and Maki had chosen to walk with their arms looped around mine, putting me in a nice pretty girl sandwich as we all kept pace with each other.

When Kaede spoke, she did so without turning her head: doing so would have put her talking directly into my ear or kissing my cheek. "Maki might be a little hard to harmonize with, but she's a good friend with a great ear for kids."

"You and I both know that's a lie," Maki muttered, glancing to the side away from me as she played with her hair using her free hand. "Kids hate me, and I can't deal with them."

I couldn't say if that was humility or not, but it felt like the truth. Even with her walking strangely close to me, and in spite of her good looks, she had a strange, tightly-wound aura. Once I noticed it, it was like feeling the eyes of an unfamiliar animal on me. I'd been thinking of taking this odd walk as an invitation to try and flex my ring powers some more: now, suddenly, I felt sure that if I tried something and screwed up, she'd break the arm she was holding. It was a bit intense, so... yeah. If she said kids were scared of her, I believed her. If that was the case, though, her Ultimate Talent didn't make sense... Not that it mattered to me. Hell, I didn't even care if Kaede turned out to be charmingly clumsy as a pianist. How good they were at their talents barely mattered to me.

I thought about that for a second. What a thing to say... Hope's Peak Academy, the pride of the nation where prodigious talents gather, and I couldn't seem to give a damn about what they do as long as they have a pair of tits, a nice face, and a decent skin regimen. No, let me reframe that- I can see past the talent the whole world cares about to the cute girl beneath! That makes me sound much better.

Pretty soon, I'd learn whether Kaede's talent was for real or not. We'd made our way to what seemed to be a building for housing labs of the arts. This single, specific building was, by itself, nearly as impressive as the homeroom building we'd just been in. Kaede's lab was the first door on our right when we got inside, although there were a couple of floors. And inside that room...

Room? Was room the right word? "This room... is a fuckin' concert hall!!"

That was probably an exaggeration; ordinarily, I'd think of a room like this in a school building as an auditorium. However, it was decked out with all of the fancy finery you'd expect from a concert hall, including busts of composers and more seats to fill than I'd see students. The grand piano in the center of the stage was polished to a shine. Small but ornate chandeliers served as the lighting. I imagined there were award-winners who'd give both legs to play for an audience here, never mind using it for private practice!

"Impressed?" Kaede smiled broadly, breaking link with my arm and nearly skipping through the narrow aisle towards the stage. "Of course, I can't take credit for it. This is all the school's doing. There's one thing I can take credit for, though. I'll happily give you a live performance!" It seemed like that was as much for her benefit as for mine; as she hurried up the stairs on the right side of the stage and made her way to the piano, her fingers were wiggling with excitement before she even took a seat on the wide bench in front of her sheet music. "We can talk about the lab after. For now, I have a guest to entertain."

I started to ask if that was really necessary. I wasn't going to come out and say it, but I'd never really been a fan of classical music. Also, frankly, I didn't see how I was going to have a chance to flex my ring powers sitting and watching a piano performance.

As if she realized what I was thinking, Maki grabbed my arm, shook her head, then motioned with her eyes towards the front row of seats. I shrugged and went along with it, figuring Maki was being polite to her friend.

Well, I owed Kaede, so I supposed I'd sit through her stuffy performance.

... As I sat, I felt a sudden gravity as Kaede prepared herself and Maki watched, almost unblinking. Was my ring doing something I wasn't aware of? Was I in for a nice surprise?

The next second, Kaede's slender fingers hit the first note, and I felt the room change. Kaede was playing like she was in a trance, Maki was watching like her life was being changed, and I was feeling like an idiot. I felt shame. Shame for thinking that my ring could have anything to do with the piano performance that I was now experiencing, disbelief that I was experiencing it for free, and horror that it might just be a short demo instead of a full performance. I put a hand to my cheek and found it wet. At some point, I'd begun silently crying. This... was true Ultimate Talent!

I couldn't believe I thought of Kaede or anyone else as an angel before hearing the incredible music she was creating with what looked like relatively little effort. I realized that as she'd gotten into it, she'd closed her eyes, looking at neither the piano nor the sheet music ahead of her, a relaxed smile on her face. Maki, who'd been sour moments earlier, had a helpless smile, as though she was hearing it for the first time. Needless to say, there was a huge smile on my face too.

I could feel my big, crooked grin creeping across my face, and as Kaede opened her eyes and glanced at us from her bench, I knew she was looking for exactly that, returning a proud smile. I knew without being told that for her, my smile was my payment for her performance.

I was smiling because I'd finally seen it... True talent. A gift from God. A crystal of perseverance and hard work. The ultimate goal of whoever practiced the art. The kind of thing so humbling I wondered if my years as a performer in the ring could possibly compare. The acoustics of the hall amplified the sound of the piano, and next to it, my own achivements, thoughts, and desires felt small and far away.

"I... can't do anything to this," I muttered quietly. Forgetting the way Mukuro and Junko had talked about my power for a moment... Even if I limited it to my juvenile pranks, was I going to deface a modern musical masterpiece by having Kaede say dirty words or show me her panties? How could I? Could I call myself a human after doing that?

Regina suddenly spoke from beside me. In spite of the piano, her voice seemed to cut through, clear to me and me alone. "Nope. You can't call yourself human." I hadn't heard her enter or take a seat, and only now did I realize she was loudly munching a bucket of popcorn she'd gotten from somewhere as Kaede's piece hit its emotional crescendo. "Did you forget you're not an ordinary human anymore? You're not simply an Ultimate like your classmates, either. You're a Ringmaster." She smirked, but kept her eyes on the show. "You're gonna get what you want, Minnie... whether you want it or not."

I knew it was crazy to say, considering Kaede was merely a genius prodigy pianist and I had a ring that controlled reality, but if it came down to what I wanted... What I wanted was to listen to my amazing new friend's generous and life-changing performance! Right? Of course it was!