[A/N] Okay so I'm posting this one as well today... but don't expect anything tomorrow, please.

Edited as of 12/2/22

Wakumi

"That there sign's tellin' us to get ready ta run. I betcha this is gonna be a race! Ye better not hornswaggle! No runnin' any rigs on me, savvy?!"

'E stares at me blankly. I guess 'e ain't savvy. "I'm telling ye that ye better not pull any tricks on me! This is gonna be a fair and square race! Why're ye hangin' the jib like that?!" 'E raises an eyebrow, 'n I groan. "I said, why're ye scowling like that?"

"What if it isn't even a race?" 'e asks quietly.

"Course it be a race! There's no other option, laddie! What be yer name again?"

"Monterio Mukai. Ultimate Ballroom Dancer," 'e answers flatly. Sink me, this lad is dull!

"Aright, I'll remember this time. Name's Wakumi Furutani! Ultimate Pirate!"

Pokerfaced. "I know."

"I dunno what these landlubbers could possibly teach me 'bout the sea, but an ol' salt I gotta lot o' respect fer told me ta come."

"I share my position. We agreed to it," he shares bluntly.

"What's she like?"

"Bold. Funnier than me." For the first time since I met 'im, 'e smiles a bit.

"Well then, ye gotta get back ta yer wench! Let's not waste anymore time 'ere!"

'E gives the slightest nod of approval, still seeming a wee bit skittish. We ready ourselves and count off from three, then book it 'cross a series o' pressure plates. I know, I know, it reeks o' traps. But we couldn't rightly jump o'er or around 'em; there're too many. Various blockades start slammin' together like all those spy movies n' whatnot. I turn me head to check on 'im. 'E's farin' surprisingly well. Something between grim determination or maybe annoyance is on 'is face. That's more like it!

'E keeps bobbin' 'is head ta some inaudible rhythm 'n flow as we jump, or slide, or run through the blockades. 'E's a bulky lad, so I guess I'm not surprised he's got stamina, and a dancer'd be particularly keen on the timin' o' stuff like this. 'E runs slow, but 'e doesn't hesitate, so 'e catches up ta me each time I stop ta readjust. It's lively competition, n' I'm rarin' ta go! If this is what the rest o' the program is like, sign me up! Though I am a wee bit curious why I passed out like that. Me sea legs, mayhap?

'E gets a leg up on me when 'e takes a risky shot I wasn't keen on tryin'. I expect him to keep on runnin', cause it's a damn race! But he friggin stops for me! "Stop holdin' back or I'll blow a damn gasket!" He shakes 'is head. "Why're ye so sure this ain't a race, then, if ye're so smart?"

"Gut instinct. It feels like we're supposed to cooperate."

"Ye're throwin' away yer victory for a gut instinct?! I dunno whether I respect that or not, ye scallywag!" I yell, jumping through. Before I can do anythin' about anythin', he friggin swoops me right up and starts runnin'! "Ay!!! Put me down or I'll flog ye!!! Yer next dance'll be with Jack Ketch, ye bilge-sucking galley slave!!!" I shout, flailin' about. 'E looks too dog-tired to be confused. "Ye don't get the privilege of a translation fer that one!"

"Would you rather I wait or carry you?"

"Stop patronizin' me, ye absolute buffoon! I'm swifter than ye anyway!" He sets me down gently and catches his breath for a few seconds, even adjustin' his tie. I find meself annoyed that I'm hangin' back waitin' fer 'im. 'E gives me an expressionless thumbs-up, and then we start runnin' again. After some calls that're so close I can feel e'ery hair on me body stand up, we reach a circular room.

"What's next, ye madlads?!" I shout to the sky. And I'm instantly answered when a buncha homogenous shorties in armor come chargin' at us. There're weapons hangin' from the wall. All he can do is stare, wide-eyed and bewildered. "Aye, don't worry laddie! I got this one!" I wink, crackin' me knuckles. I'm pleased ta see a cutlass waiting there fer me. "I'll cleave 'em ta the brisket!!" I holler confidently. I take on these weirdos, and I quickly realize that they're bots o' some kind! Blimey!

'E backs up so that our backs are covered. 'E seems jittery. "Not used ta good ol' fashioned scraps, lad?" I ask. He grimaces, pickin' up and drop-kickin' a bot hesitantly. "Aha, I'm better than ye!" I cackle, slashing a bot through a slit in its armor. They land a good slash on me arm and on 'is ankle, but they be but flesh wounds. I can wrap it later. Eventually the hoarde is done for and a big heavy door opens up wide.

"Yar!! Onward, lad! Full steam ahead!!"

A crackly, annoyin' voice screeches out from some loudspeaker. "You don't get to keep the cutlass! If you do, I'll fry the hell out of you!" Giant tasers burst outta the wall.

"Who are you?" me ship hand asks, suddenly alert.

"You don't need to know that part yet! That would be a spoiler! And what fun is a story when you get information too early?"

He glares daggers at the speaker. "Darn, guess I can't have it." I toss down my weapon. "But ye ain't gonna keep Wakumi Furutani down forever! Sword or not, Imma just keep comin' for ye! Now c'mon, ye tar, we got work ta do!" I yell, grabbin' his wrist and tuggin' him outta the room. "Hmm... where do we go?" I ask.

"Let's look for the infirmary. I wanna wrap these up."

"Hey! I'm the captain here, ye knave! And I say... let's look for the infirmary! Full sail ahead!" I order, fixin' me hat.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Gou

"This is such a waste of time," my partner complains, running his hands through his silver hair anxiously.

"Don't worry so much! Not like we have anything we've gotta do right now, since our priority is getting outta here! And you're doing great, Yuu!" I encourage, slapping him on the shoulder.

"This material is so much harder to deal with than the stuff I use to make shoes. It moves so much!"

"You've got this! Once you make the doll for our little remote control car, I can make it fly through a couple laps no problemo! I wonder if it'd be on a timer..."

"I doubt it'd matter much to someone like you, Gou. You ARE the Ultimate Racecar Driver, after all," he states matter-of-factly.

We're in a game room, full of arcade games, board games, all sorts of stuff. There's a small little race track for toy cars, but I'm itching to get my hands on a real one. "They'll have stuff for us, don't you think? I mean, this is an enrichment program, right?"

"That's what was promised to us. But honestly? I'm a little freaked out. I dunno why we passed out like that, and, for all we know, we might be like halfway across the world."

"That might be a little extreme. But you're right. I don't exactly understand this. Is this some sort of secret entrance exam? Where is everyone else?"

"Maybe they're doing something similar?" he offers as a suggestion before suddenly throwing down his in-progress doll. "Screw it. There's GOTTA be some synthetic leather around here. The dumb drawings that we have for instructions don't indicate that I have to use this flimsy fabric. Even something like burlap would be better. I have my tools in my belt, so I can make this work."

"Burlap or leather, huh? Well, let's look around then! Maybe there'll be something like that in here," I suggest. He ditches the sewing machine and we scour through a bunch of cabinets, finding random little things made out of strong materials. A dice bag. A pouch for a portable game console. He rips the seams out of those and essentially starts bending the materials to his will like a madman. It's seriously impressive just how much his speed picks up once he's got the stuff he prefers. Soon enough, he's enveloped the stuffing into a doll that fits perfectly into the little car.

"Tada! See? Button eyes, yarn hair, burlap dress! I have an eye for detail even when I'm not exactly in my element. So imagine how proficient I am when I'm making shoes. I'm eager to learn here!" He seems to be showing off to me, which makes me laugh a little. Right after, though, his shoulders slump and he crosses his arms over himself. "That is, I'd feel that way if this was normal. But it's clearly not. My guess as to why we fainted is that we got drugged, so even if we're in the right place, that's suspicious and I dunno if I trust these people."

"Those are valid worries. I'd feel super wrong knowing somebody messed with my body without my consent," I admit, pulling a non-existent seatbelt over the doll.

"Dang, that's a lot of steps."

"Oh, yeah! Normal automobile seat belts won't cut it for a race car! Those babies can get up to a g force of 6! I'd be happy to teach you about my talent if you teach me about yours! That's the best way to make friends; my parents taught me to always show interest in others!"

"That's cool. I'm sure you're a really well-rounded person. Honestly, my talent's pretty much the only reason you'd want to talk to me, anyway. I always take pride in my work and do the best that I possibly can. The world doesn't give you any slack, after all."

"That's a bit pessimistic, don't you think?"

"That's called realism, my dude," he responds, giving me finger guns.

I clutch the controller in my hands. "GO!!" I yell, blasting full speed ahead. It flies off the track. "I was NOT expecting it to go that fast!" Suddenly, a shower of darts barrels towards us. "Holy SHIT!" I exclaim, pulling Yuu out of danger's way. The darts scatter across a variety of dartboards.

His blue eyes are wide and he has this mildly crazed smile. "Ha! Hahaha! This is totally a death trap! I hate this so much! All I wanted was a month-long program but I guess that was too much to ask for!"

"Okay, lemme handle this. Now that I know the speed, I can handle this." Unfortunately, Yuu's jumpiness isn't particularly helpful, and we wind up having to dodge a couple traps. But hey. Race car drivers need serious reflexes if they're gonna be even remotely effective. One gets so close that it probably would've scraped my face if I didn't constantly have my helmet on. "Dude, dude, calm down. Okay... sit here in the corner. None of the darts hit that area. I need to be a little closer so I can see. But we'll be fine," I try to convince him, not entirely sure if I'm lying about that last part. But once he manages to settle himself a tad, I can focus fully and calm my shoddy nerves down. I make sure to lean into the curves enough but not too much. I control the drift, and the acceleration, and I swerve away from the tiny little obstacles in the way, all of which have messed me up a little. Who knew RC driving was so difficult? I feel bad for this doll, man. Yuu put so much effort into it.

When I actually succeed, a door opens up. "See? It was inevitable that we'd manage it eventually! You should keep the doll as a souvenir!"

"Are you kidding? That was crazy!"

"Nah! I'm serious! We just survived some wild stuff! Plus, it's a testament to your adaptability, hard work, and care!"

He chuckles nervously but avoids making eye contact. "You sure do know how to stroke a guy's ego."

I help Yuu to his feet (since he's trembling a little), and he hobbles over to the car to get the doll. He even bothers to unbuckle all the non-existent buckles keeping her secure, which makes me laugh. "Thanks for remembering!"

"Hey, proper automobile safety is important. I'm not simply going to let it slip my mind. Attention to detail is my pride."

We walk out of there, joking all along the way.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Keiji

One of these two women is respectable: intelligent, seemingly responsible, prepared. The other is an airhead and she's making this freaking impossible. She keeps wandering off, randomly stopping, and derailing the conversation out of nowhere. "Hachi, come here," the respectable one beckons, pulling at the yellow romper of the loon and pulling her back on track.

"Sorry. I just wanted to climb that tree. It looked so inviting."

"Of course it does. It's a weeping willow. The branches are low and sturdy. And the droopy leaves have a certain appeal. They're not called weeping for nothing," Nari, the Ultimate Meteorologist, admits.

"Its scientific name is Salix babylonica. Native to dry areas of northern China, but it was one of the goods traded along the Silk Road," I explain.

"Are you gonna do this every time, Keiji? You know she isn't even listening," she rolls her eyes.

"Ugh. I figured at least you might be interested."

"I am. Just... maybe not every time she distracts us." She pauses for a second. "Hachi?"

"Oh, sorry. I just got to thinking about giraffes. They'd have a lot of treats to munch on here. How tall do giraffes get, Keiji?"

"Roughly fifteen to twenty feet. And actually, they mostly eat acacia and mimosa trees. I haven't seen any of those."

We're in a courtyard with a dome hanging ominously above us. We received a map with a particular spot to find, but the unfortunate part is that it is exceptionally far. And with our handicap, we're inching along at a snail's pace.

"How did you get those?!" Nari suddenly asks. I whip my head and find that Hachi is cradling some snapdragons in her arms. I guess I shouldn't be surprised. The Ultimate Florist would find any excuse to admire some flowers.

"I picked them, of course. How else would I have gotten them?" she asks obliviously. Nari and I groan. We were seriously watching her intently. How did she have the time?!

"If I knew I'd have to babysit, I might not have signed up for this shit. At least they have a place in nature like this. Not like I can observe the atmosphere much with that dome, though," Nari vents, "You've got it easy. Trivia Champion is an easy talent to find materials for; you can learn new stuff with pretty much anything."

"True. Which is exactly why it bothers me so much when people choose to be flagrantly ignorant," I glare at the shorter girl. She's not even looking at me to notice.

"Don't be such a dick. We're both being too hard on her, I think. I'm just tired. And HUNGRY. Damn, my metabolism is always way too fast."

"No wonder you're such a twig. I was worried you had an eating disorder."

She blows a strand of hair nonchalantly. "I don't have time for something like that. I do have to eat a lot, though, and it's been roughly three and a half hours since I ate anything."

"How can you tell?" Hachi asks, somehow bearing plum flowers as well.

"The sun. It's a bit distorted through the dome, but it's around 9:30 right now," she explains. She has far more patience than I do. Practically a saint.

"Why did you eat so early?" I inquire.

"Home is pretty far from here. Not that I'm exactly sure we're in the same building." She tilts her head to duck under some low branches. "You're sure we're going the right direction?"

"I'd never make so amateurish a mistake," I scoff.

"Okay! Touchy!"

"Guys... Anpanman was wild. I remember watching that a lot as a kid. But like... an anpan-head fighting a germ? And that's what became the most popular character in Japan?" the girl rambles. I'm not even surprised to see that she's added honeysuckle flowers to the bunch.

"Interesting, considering he's so little-known in the West compared to Hello Kitty," I point out.

"God, I'd kill for anpan right now," Nari gripes, holding her stomach. Her steps are starting to slow a bit.

"Don't rest. It's better that we get out quickly and find you some food. Otherwise you might not be inclined to get moving again. And if you give up, I won't stay behind with you," I urge. She sighs, stroking at her long hair.

"I think it's pretty much every kid's dream to make or be on a cartoon."

"I'd never have such a useless dream, even in childhood... My dream was to get a Guinness World Record. Still is, I suppose. That's why I'm here. If I win enough trivia game shows, I'll make it eventually," I explain. I don't exactly know why I'm mentioning this to them, but, as much as I loathe to admit it, the conversation is keeping me from noticing any weariness I may feel.

"Mine was to have a house in the clouds. It depressed me for months when I learned how impossible that is. But eventually, I figured studying them would be the next best thing."

"Oh... maybe it was just my dream then. But a lot of my friends agreed!"

Nari rubs at her head. In the instant I take my eyes off Hachi, she leaves and comes back with cornflower.

"Wait. Look. I see something. It looks like a bunch of baskets," Nari points out, squinting.

I push my glasses further up my nose to see. "You're right! And that's our destination!" We all start running. Nari lags behind a bit, so we wait for her. The baskets are made of tightly-woven straw, and they have little bows in different shades of pastel. There's also some weird ass robotic dog, as if today couldn't get any stranger.

"Hiya! I'm Monoinu! I'm here to present your challenge! In this garden, you will find flowers of all sorts. In the leftmost basket, can you please put flowers that supposedly help acne and tired eyes? In the next, could you put ones that help with skin rashes? In the next, you need flowers that are said to act as a sedative, and in the last, ones that supposedly help promote digestive health!"

Nari and I stare at each other incredulously before we turn to look at Hachi. She has so. Many. Types of flowers right now. And I'm dumbstruck. She's just casually staring at the sky as though she wasn't just accidentally our savior. "How do they even make domes, anyway?"