Ambition and the Foreign Girl

Today’s UN Training --- Accepting where you are now

Did you think that at the top of the ladder, one is at their final destination? We assume not, but if you did, you’d be wrong. There’s levels to each rung, starting where Akihiro Tani was when he decided to go down this path to where he is now, he’s still a beginner at best. It’s a long road to the top of the world after all, one by one he’ll need to apply all he's learned in order to handle the obstacles that come next.

In the beginning of this school year, it was used to create the very club needed to give him the best chance at succeeding in the next step in college. It was applied by enacting mental gymnastics on Shirai-sensei to sponsor his club and recruit members. Carefully used by disguising himself as an Italian mobster to bribe Wakanda-sensei into promoting his club. A master class was crafted in the blackmail of Principal Togashi, forcing him to greenlight the club overnight. 

But the formation of the Languages club was just one piece of the puzzle, now it is imperative that it becomes a rousing success story.

Every rung of the ladder will be used to ensure that his members accomplish the objectives they’ve set out for themselves.

Ambition will do whatever it takes to see that through.

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One week after the achieving all 5 members, this particular Monday afternoon seems more vibrant than normal, a new found energy permeates the Languages clubroom like an electric charge. Anita is writing on the black board, and Kimura Ume is helping her pronounce the Japanese words and sentences she has written down with enthusiasm. An onlooking Emilia is feeding off of Ume’s dancing tone of voice, and is trying to mimic the inflections she’s hearing underneath her breath, little ‘oohs’ and ‘aahs’ escaping her lips make her perk up with a sense of accomplishment.

Mariko Pershing has set up a basket on the door, and is shooting wads of paper through the hoop, all the while she’s dramatically announcing the play by play in English. Charl is watching her intently, asking about the words she’s saying in his own attempt to grasp that language better.

Five members, four of them foreign, are enjoying their time together in the orange hued classroom, taking in tips from one another that will most certainly help them in the long run.

What a perfect way to learn. It is said that the easiest way to grasp another language is to surround yourself with people who speak it, nothing could be better than this.

However, we’re missing someone who would most certainly disagree with that statement. He would instead insist that he has the answers needed to expedite the whole process.

And in he comes, sliding the door open in a wooden bang.

“I come bearing the gift of knowledge!” Akihiro Tani declares.

He happens to rush in right when Mariko is shooting her shot towards the basket, and the wad of paper hits him square in the face.

He came in with a devilish smile, but the unexpected impact of the paper had flipped a switch within him and replaced that smile with an agitated frown. The entire clubroom freezes.

“Oops, sorry dude!” Mariko presses her palms together and sheepishly grins.

“I step out for a few minutes, and this is what I return to? Ha! I’ll have to teach you a lesson in discipline.”

“Ehh, please don’t.”

“Thankfully I have just the thing for that.”

Tani is carrying a box full of items, and he makes his way to the U shape desk, dropping it in a thud and puffing proudly. The contents of the box seem to shine like an open treasure chest, and he presents it to them as something with equal value.

“Feast your eyes on the tools of your trade!”

Ume seems to be the most excited about this, and doesn’t hesitate to reach inside the box. “Uwa! These are the new Oculus Quest 2 VR headsets! So cool!”

“That’s right, my nerdy student. I have procured these beauties from the Video game club, and they have offered me one full day a week to use them.”

When he says procured and offered, he most certainly means stolen and blackmailed. But that’s neither here nor there, because what is important is how they’ll be used to benefit his club’s activities.

“Are we going to be playing games today?” Emilia asks, pulling a headset out of the box and examining it with her dark green eyes.

“If you call learning a new language a game, then sure.”

She tilts her head dejectedly.

Mariko speaks up and adds, “But I haven’t even chosen a language to learn yet.”

“Your wishy-washiness on the matter forced me into making the choice for you.” Tani points at Charl and finishes, “You’ll be learning French, and the two of you can bounce notes and techniques off each other since he’s so terrible at English.”

Mariko doesn’t protest, she almost looks relieved to have that decision made for her.

“What about me?” Ume asks, she has put the VR set on and is flailing the wand in her hands as though she’s already found a game to play.

“Ume, you’re going to learn Italian. Emilia here needs help with better understanding how to communicate in Japanese, it’s a perfectly beneficial relationship that can help both of you out.”

Without sparing a moment's hesitation, Ume says, “Sounds good to me!” 

Emilia has known of Ume's famous Instergram model persona since before they even met, the friendless Italian girl can’t think of a better tutor to have to help her through her issues. Between Tani and Ume, she has no doubt she’ll be able to come out of her social cocoon and spread her wings up towards a normal life.

“I like that idea.” Emilia says, her current maximum strength smile pushing up the edges of her lips slightly.

Tani smirks and says, “Now that those issues are settled, let’s get down to business.”

The club’s attentiveness hangs onto whatever he is about to say.

“I’ve done a lot of research on the extent of VR technology, and found myself diving headfirst into the many hidden apps online developers have created specifically for them. It’s quite the booming industry, many of these developers score contracts to make apps that the military uses for training, or for airline pilots to help simulate flight. The possibilities are endless. And if you can believe it, for pennies on the dollar there are developers out there who will even make apps that geniuses like myself can use for interactional problem solving.”

“Oh?” Charl’s interest is piqued, and he gravitates towards the box as well. “Interactional problem solving is something I have a bit of a passion for. Alas, that’s why I follow you around, Akihiro-kun.”

“I’m going to pretend you didn’t say that.”

Tani looks up to the clock above the blackboard, and then to Anita. Grabbing another headset, he hands it to her. She accepts it with a smile.

“I hope all of you don’t have any plans after dark tonight. Our club has been given permission to use the school facilities for my VR project once everyone leaves.”

“We’re allowed to have free access to the school after dark?? How did you pull that off?” Mariko asks.

“Let’s just say, the Principal has a vested interest in the smoothness of our club’s operation. I gave him an offer he couldn’t refuse.”

If one looked carefully, Tani had taken the shape of a Godfather when he said that.

“I’m in!” Ume exclaims, raising the wand in her hand emphatically.

“I have nowhere to be.” Emilia adds.

“Same here.” Charl says with a carefree shrug.

Mariko looks a little reluctant however. “Um… the dark kind of creeps me out.”

“’l'll be connected to all of your VR headsets, you won’t be alone.”

That doesn’t do enough to appeal to her unease. What does he mean he’ll be 'connected'? Could it be that they won’t be in the same room during this training? These questions linger, but not wanting to be the only one left out, she relents. 

“Okay, I mean, I have nothing planned after all I guess.”

“Good!”

Tani turns to Anita, holds his hand up to her and asks, “Anita, can I count on you as well?”

She smiles at him and asks, “Will it be fun?”

She’s learning so fast, every time she says something understandable in Japanese, Tani beams with pride. It fills him with butterflies, it makes his legs feel weightless, it makes him feel that his efforts have all been worth it. 

It tickles him to the point that...

Tani laughs.

Everyone present can't believe what they're witnessing.

They have never heard Akihiro Tani laugh like this before, it’s always been villainous or exaggerated to prove a point; this laugh sounds much different than normal. It’s as real as something that could be touched. The genuine smile on his face makes him glow in a radiance so bright that it replaces the sunlight coming through the windows.

“Haha yes, Anita." he says.

The two high five each other, but Tani gently clasps her hand in the process and holds onto it.

They stare at each other, transmitting a special something that words are not needed for.

“This will definitely be fun.”

The clubroom is silent, the sight is that confounding.

 But the atmosphere is broken when Ume asks, “What did I just miss?”

Wearing the VR headset, she didn’t see any of that.

“You didn’t miss anything.” Tani says, letting go of Anita’s hand and returning to his normal self. “Operation ‘Haunted Mansion’ will commence at 19:00!”

“Operation what!?” Mariko bemoans, “That sounds super scary!”

“Muahah, there’s no need to worry, my cowardly American student. Because at the end of this, you’ll be one step closer to obtaining knowledge!”

“Why do I feel like I won’t be obtaining anything of the sort??”

Mariko flees and tries to hide in the corner of the room. Tani pursues her, wriggling his fingers and laughing maniacally in the process as if purposefully antagonizing her.

Charl is still frozen, what he just saw enlightened him to a truth he can't believe he didn't see before now. As he looks towards Anita, he notices that she is looking towards Tani so tenderly that it makes his heart flutter.

He rushes to his backpack and pulls out his notebook.

“I have been following the wrong lead this entire time, it was never Shirai-sensei!” he says excitedly to himself. “The true theme of my masterpiece has been in front of me all along!”

As if fearing that the energy of the moment he had just witnessed would fade away, the lingering inspiration brings haste to his hands as he flips through his book to capture a blank page.

Not wasting a second once he finds one, he quickly writes down what popped into his mind.

Once finished, it seems to reflect a golden light onto his face.

“It’s perfect… They are perfect.”

Written on his notepad, the title reads:

‘Ambition and the Foreign Girl'

Today's UN Lesson --- Onwards and upwards!

Volume 1: End