Chapter Text
Damon had always been given the same piece of feedback from his teachers growing up: struggles with sharing.
In his defence, it seemed a pointless skill to work on. When he wanted something, he took it, and he kept it. It was a trait that came with ambition— one he shared with many of the world’s most successful people. Why should he bother with niceties when he’s clearly in a league above most other people?
Of course, his high self esteem wasn’t unwarranted. At fifteen, he was determined by the Ultimate Talent Program to be the Ultimate Debater; it was a title he held above almost anything else. To be an Ultimate was to be recognized as being the greatest in your respective field of study; it was an honour that most only dreamed of, and proved that he was simply a step above his peers.
Naturally, once he graduated high school he decided it was about time he finally surrounded himself with his true peers (rather than the mediocrity that his high school normally produced).
When Eden’s Garden Academy accepted his application, he had been delighted. With that, he had secured a spot amongst the brightest youth the globe had to offered offer (and for free). Eden’s Garden would serve as his stepping stone to the upper echelon of society where he would finally be recognized for his intelligence and dedication to his craft.
It was supposed to be one of the most prestigious schools in the entire world— which was why he was so taken aback to discover that he would be accepted expected to share his dorm room with another student.
“I’m sure there’s been a mistake,” he insisted to the orientation volunteer who handed him his schedule, and the information about his room (including his supposed roommate). “I wasn’t told I’d be sharing my dorm.”
“It’s Eden’s Garden’s policy,” she explained kindly. “Unless you purchase a private suite, all first years are assigned a roommate. Next year you’ll have to find your own, or request for the Academy to find one for you.”
Internally, Damon scoffed. How could a school of this calibre treat its students this way? Still, there didn’t seem to be any means of fighting it so he walked away from the welcome desk.
At least a worker had taken his luggage as he exited the train, so he didn’t have to lug it around.
The slip of paper with the information about his room contained some vital information: their room number, and his roommates’ name. No key, however, since his student ID would apparently work to unlock the door.
His eyes scanned the page until he found his roommates’ name and ultimate title. It turned out that Damon would be rooming with:
Kai Monteago - The Ultimate Influencer.
The Ultimate Influencer? In what universe was that title even worthy of being called an Ultimate? What talent was there in being an influencer? The only ones Damon had ever witnessed were vapid, hot, outgoing, and not much else. He didn’t exactly have anything against them, but one certainly didn’t belong at Eden’s Garden.
Perhaps he had misinterpreted the title.
There was no use in dwelling any longer on hypotheticals, so he decided to make his way up to his new room. On his door he was surprised to find a dry erase board with his roommate’s name written already on it in pink marker. The handwriting was large and sprawling with a little heart drawn over the “i” in Kai.
Ugh. Though neat, his roommate’s penmanship signalled that he would not be the type of person Damon got along with.
With a deep breath, Damon tapped his ID to the lock, then opened the door to his new room.
Inside was more spacious than he’d been expecting. The large room had a simple layout: two double beds facing the door with nightside tables tucked into either corner, two desks in the middle of the back wall underneath a large window, one trunk at the door of each bed, and a bookshelf and dresser against both side walls. There were also two doors on either side: one was propped open so Damon could see that inside contained a bathroom. At least the room itself seemed luxurious, even if he would have to share it.
One half of the room was already decorated; apparently his roommate had the time to not only unpack all of his belongings and make his bed, but also put up his own wallpaper.
Everything was pink. The duvet, the wallpaper, the pillows- every single item that the school hadn’t provided. It looked completely out of place considering the green colour scheme that the empty side of the room had.
“Oh, hello!” His new roommate greeted cheerily, spinning around on the spot. “Damon, right?”
Even his hair was pink.
Somehow, his roommates’ appearance surprised him. He wasn’t sure what exactly he had been expecting, but it wasn’t such a normal looking man. Perhaps he had been expecting someone unbelievably beautiful: though the man in front of him was handsome enough, he wouldn’t draw extra attention in a crowd.
“Yes,” he replied. “Kai, I take it?”
“Yup! Kai Monteago- The Ultimate Influencer at your service!”
“I’m aware.”
Damon’s luggage had already been placed in the non-pink half of the room; not wanting to waste any time, he walked over and began unpacking.
“Oh! Have you seen my stuff online?” Kai questioned.
“No,” Damon scoffed. “I read your name and title on the room assignment paper.”
Bizarrely, this caused Kai to start sniffling, “What? That’s so mean. You really haven’t seen any of my posts?”
“I don’t exactly waste my time on that sort of thing,” Damon explained coolly.
“There’s no need to be a jerk!” Kai wailed. “I haven’t heard of you either!”
“That doesn’t surprise me. You don’t strike me as the type to watch the news, or to consume much intellectual content in general.”
“Are you calling me dumb?”
“No. I only implied that you don’t come across as the kind of person who’s very interested in cerebral pursuits.”
“Oh yeah? Well I think you’re a dick!”
“I think I’ll live.”
Thankfully, his roommate grew quiet after that. Damon focused on putting away all of his belongings; he hadn’t brought much so it wouldn’t take too long. Unfortunately, he found himself interrupted by the sound of his roommate moving around. After the noise continued for about a minute, he turned his head to see what the fuss was about.
Kai was holding a roll of tape in his hand, presenting it proudly. On the floor he had taped a vertical line down the centre of the room, perfectly separating the pink from the green.
“What’s this?” Damon sighed.
“A line,” Kai explained. “I’m standing in my territory, and you’re standing in yours. Under no circumstances are you allowed to cross that line.”
“Fine,” Damon agreed. Though childish, he wouldn’t complain about an arrangement where they both kept to themselves.
It didn’t take long for him to finish unpacking, though the window showed that it had grown dark outside. Not in the mood for dinner, he crawled into his bed and read on his phone for a while. Thankfully, his roommate stayed quiet enough that he wasn’t a distraction. Damon didn’t bother checking what the other man was getting up to, grateful for the quiet.
After a couple hours of reading he readied for bed, then promptly went to sleep. Classes would start the next day, and he wanted to be well rested.
When he awoke the next morning, he took his time getting ready. He wanted to ensure that he made a good impression, so he carefully groomed himself to make certain that his classmates wouldn’t find a single hair out of place.
If he wanted, he could head to the dining hall for breakfast. However, he wasn’t hungry so he walked straight to his homeroom class.
Given that only highly specialized students attended Eden’s Garden Academy, their class schedule differed from a normal college. Their mornings would be spent in homeroom with the 15 other Ultimates that made up their class. On the surface it was a general studies class, though it truly acted as the networking opportunity that most students went to the academy for. It would be Damon’s opportunity to rub elbows with some of society’s elite, and he was not going to mess it up.
After lunch they’d all separate to focus on their individual studies; what that meant was different for each Ultimate. Damon would simply be researching as many topics as possible, as to have a wider breadth of knowledge to pull from in his debates.
Despite his excitement, Damon had made the conscious decision not to research any of the Ultimates that could be attending Eden’s Garden Academy. Not only would it have been difficult to tell which of the hundreds of Ultimates would end up in his class, but he didn’t want to put them on a pedestal. He would meet them as equals.
It wasn’t difficult to find their classroom. Damon entered and saw that he was one of the first to arrive; only a thin boy with glasses, and a girl that had long black hair with white tips were already in the classroom. Both were sitting at desks (or sleeping, in the boy’s case), so Damon followed their lead and took his own seat.
Slowly, more students began to flood in. Every single one of them seemed to have some sort of distinct feature, which he supposed made sense given they were all ultimates. Eventually, Kai entered as well; he was speaking to a girl who also had pink hair, though he still managed to shoot Damon a dirty look as he entered.
Whatever. Damon had no issue with his roommate disliking him, it would only allow him to bond with ultimates whose talents actually mattered.
Not long after the final desk was filled, the bell rang. On cue, a tall man in a goat’s mask entered the classroom.
“Hello, Ultimates!” the man greeted cheerily, flourishing his arms in dramatic fashion. “Welcome to Eden’s Garden Academy! My name is Tozu, and I shall be your homeroom teacher for the duration of your time here. Now, since I’ve introduced myself I believe it’s your turn. You can share your name, as well as your Ultimate Talent. We’ll start with you.”
He pointed to the student sitting in the front row closest to the window, who ended up being the girl with black and white hair.
“Hello,” the girl said as she stood up, pushing her glasses up the bridge of her nose. “My name is Eva Tsunaka. I’m the Ultimate Mathlete.”
Snickers broke out amongst the rest of the class; Damon didn’t join in, but he couldn’t blame them. Ultimate Mathlete? What a pathetic title; perhaps if had she been the Ultimate Mathematician it would have been impressive, but Mathlete was such a juvenile term. Still, his classmates could show a little more compassion.
Eva sat down as soon as she finished saying her title. Tozu waved his hand to quiet the class, then pointed to the student sitting on her left.
A buff woman with pink hair stood up and cheerfully greeted, “Hey there! I’m Ingrid Grimwall, the Ultimate Blacksmith.”
Finally, Ingrid was the first Ultimate Damon had met who seemed worthy of her title. Though, it wasn’t as if blacksmithing was very relevant to modern day.
“Greetings,” a child in a full kimono waving a fan went next. “My name is Toshiko Kayura, and I’m the Ultimate Matchmaker. When you are ready to find love, please come find me. I will find you an excellent match.”
And just like that, they were back to useless Ultimates. How was a child supposed to be incredible at matchmaking, anyway? The girl couldn’t have had any first hand experience in love.
Unfortunately, none of his questions were able to be answered before Tozu’s attention moved onto the last person in the front row. A large man wearing a ridiculous getup stood up and announced, “Ahoy! The name’s Jean Delamer- the Ultimate Ship Captain.”
The man looked like a pirate, though Damon assumed that he was a more professional captain. A bizarre talent, to be sure, though one with some practical uses.
“Ulysses Wilhelm- the Ultimate Historian,” the sleeping boy from earlier yawned.
Ulysses seemed to be the first classmate that Damon had any real interest in speaking to; he wondered what sort of wisdom the Ultimate Historian could offer him. They could likely have some riveting conversations about the world.
Sitting to Ulysses’ left was a man who carried an immense amount of confidence; Damon could tell just from the way he rose from his seat to stand up. The black haired man brushed some invisible dirt off the front of his jacket, then confidently spoke, “It’s nice to meet you, everyone. My name is Wolfgang Akire, I am the Ultimate Lawyer. I look forward to the rest of our time together.”
There. That was the kind of person Damon wanted to meet; he imagined that the two of them would become fast friends. Their Ultimates complimented each other quite well, after all.
Completely contrasting Wolfgang, the girl beside him was shaking while she stood up. She pushed some of her short brown hair out of her eyes as she stuttered out, “H-hello. I’m Eloise Taulner, the Ultimate Fencer.”
Damon never would’ve been able to guess Eloise’s talent; he was curious to see her in action. He didn’t suspect fencing was a sport where one could afford to hesitate, or show any nerves.
“Hi guys,” the boy next to her (and in front of Damon) greeted. “I’m Desmond Hall, the Ultimate Marksman. But don’t get the wrong idea! I only shoot static targets, alright?”
That peaked Damon’s interest: how could you be called the Ultimate Marksman if you didn’t even hit moving targets? And why did Desmond have that rule?
He realized that he didn’t have time to think any further about it because it was his turn to introduce himself. As smoothly as he could manage, he stood up and spoke with all the confidence he could muster, “Hello. My name is Damon Maitsu, and I’m the Ultimate Debater.”
Short, simple, and smooth. He didn’t need to overcomplicate it with any other niceties, so he gave them a curt nod and sat down.
To his right, a man in a full body suit and helmet stood up. When he did, an odd stench wafted over to Damon. He had to do everything in his power to stop from gagging.
“Yo, dudes!” The strange man cheered, “Jett Dawson here- the Ultimate Drag Racer!”
A ridiculous name, as well as a ridiculous talent. Damon would not be seeking Jett’s friendship.
“Hello!” The girl who walked in with Kai spoke next, “I’m Diana Venicia - the Ultimate Cosmetologist.”
Diana’s name prompted a few gasps around the classroom, but it was her talent that Damon noticed. Now her friendship with Kai made sense; two Ultimates with such pointless talents would certainly find things in common with each other.
Speaking of his roommate, it was Kai’s turn next. “Hi everyone! The name’s Kai, Kai Monteago! I’m known as the Ultimate Influencer!”
“Ugh.”
At first, Damon thought it had been his own voice groaning, but Kai didn’t turn to glare at him. Instead, he turned to a girl in the back row who had yet to introduce herself. The influencer didn’t say anything, though, instead opting to sit down as his eyes welled up with tears.
What a crybaby.
“My name is Wenona, and my title is The Ultimate Entrepreneur,” the girl behind Kai introduced herself shortly.
The name was vaguely familiar, though Damon couldn’t figure out where he had heard it. From the way she carried herself, Damon could tell that she was another person he’d be interested in speaking to.
“What’s up, soybeans?” The girl who had groaned at Kai’s introduction said brashly. “You should recognize me, but in case you don’t, I’m Grace Madison- The Ultimate Golfer.”
Ugh. Ultimate athletes always had this ridiculous ego to them. While Damon was sure that Grace was talented, he didn’t understand why she expected them all to recognize her. Damon didn’t exactly keep up with golf, and he was sure he wasn’t the only one.
“Yo!” A girl with a stupid hat and bright red hair cheered. “Cassidy Amber here- The Ultimate Pro Gamer!”
Another pointless talent; it sounded like something a child would aspire to be rather than an actual talent that could help the world.
“Mark Berskii- Ultimate Music Producer,” the final student said, a boy with an alligator hat.
With that, every single one of his classmates had been introduced. Damon found himself disappointed; not even half of the Ultimates Talents were impressive in any way.
“Thank you all for those introductions,” Tozu applauded them. “As stated earlier, I will be your homeroom professor. In this class we will learn all the general education that the state requires, but most importantly we will be focusing on networking; collaboration, people! With 16 incredibly talented individuals in this room, you should be able to work together to create wonderful things.”
The whole class made noises of agreement, though Damon didn’t chime in. Could they make wonderful things? What could the Ultimate Influencer really offer the world? It was a ridiculous notion.
“Now, for the rest of this morning, I’ll give you a chance to get to know your fellow classmates. I’ll begin my lessons tomorrow; toodaloo!” Tozu clapped, then seemed to disappear into thin air.
What an odd man.
There was a moment of silence after he left; clearly everyone was a little nervous to be the first to start speaking. Until Cassidy asked, “So does anyone like video games?”
“Dude, heck yeah I do!” Jett cheered. “What games do you play?”
Ugh- Damon tuned out the inane conversation. Instead, his eyes found the back of Wolfgang’s head. He would have to find a moment to speak to the other and properly introduce himself.
A group broke out from there: Cassidy, Jett, Jean, and Eva all gathered around the back corner to chat about gaming (with poor Mark stuck at his desk). A few other duos stuck with each other (like Eloise and Desmond quietly chatting from their desks), but most of the others kind of milled around.
There was no need to be nervous, really, so Damon rose from his seat and crossed the room to Wolfgang’s desk.
“Hello,” he greeted the lawyer. “Damon Maitsu.”
Wolfgang turned to look at him, titling his head to the side, and narrowing his eyes in a confused manner. He stated, “Yes? You introduced yourself only a few minutes ago.”
Right. Obviously. What a foolish thing to say.
“Of course,” he replied, willing his cheeks not to turn red with embarrassment. “I just wanted to greet you properly. I assume that we’ll have to get to know each other if we want someone to have intellectual conversations with.”
Something dangerous flashed in Wolfgang’s eyes; the confusion in his eyes turned false, somehow. He asked, “Oh really? How so?”
“I just mean, I was hoping to meet more classmates with talents of our calibre,” Damon explained, though there was a strange feeling in his gut.
Wolfgang smirked like a predator- though, only for a second. He raised his voice loud enough that every person in the room could hear him say, “Are you implying that our classmates don’t have respectable Ultimates?”
The class went silent; every eye in the room turned to stare at the two of them. Damon began to panic as he realized he had said too much.
“No. I-.”
“Well then what did you mean by ‘talents of our calibre?’”
The lawyer was poking at Damon, and he was already in a terrible mood. He couldn’t help himself but answer, “You know exactly what I mean! Half of the Ultimate titles in this room are an embarrassment to the entire concept! I mean really, how are these people going to change the world?”
There were gasps across the room. Wenona, the entrepreneur, prodded, “Excuse me?”
“Obviously that doesn’t apply to everyone,” he said quickly.
“And what good is your talent?” Cassidy accused. “You’re just a bargain bin version of him!”
The gamer gestured to Wolfgang. That pissed him off more than anything else: how could this girl say something like that when her talent was as useless as they came!
“I can change the world!” He exploded. “I can argue policy, consider ethics and morality. All that most of you are good for is leeching off the public for your own goals!”
“You know what I think?” Kai spoke up, his voice deadly calm and his eyes free of tears. “I think that you’re a self obsessed dickhead who’s insecure about his place in the world, so you have to bring the rest of us down with you.”
There was silence as Damon stared at his roommate, unsure of what to say.
“Woah! The crybaby got you good, soybean!” Grace cheered.
“Maybe you’d be best to take a breather,” Wolfgang suggested unkindly. “If you don’t want to waste your time with us, we won’t ask you to.”
Without anything left to say, Damon exited the room in a hurry. Fantastic, he had failed at his one goal for his time at Eden’s Garden within one fucking hour. If it wasn’t for that asshole Wolfgang, or his idiot roommate, things could’ve been fine.
Whatever. Fuck everyone.
He stomped to the dining hall to grab some lunch, then went straight back to his room. For spent the rest of the afternoon and the evening he researched and read in solitude. If those were the kind of classmates that he was given, then he wouldn’t miss getting to connect with them. It would all be a waste of time, anyway.
Long after the sun went down, Kai skipped into the dorm. “Good evening, roommate,” he greeted.
Damon ignored him.
“I had a wonderful time today. The whole class hung out, and got to know each other. Or, almost the whole class. What did you do today?”
“I developed my talent,” Damon replied curtly. “After all, that’s what we’re at Eden’s Garden Academy for. Not to waste time with frivolous things.”
“If that’s what makes you feel better about having no friends, you can tell yourself that!”
“I have no friends?” Damon snapped. “That’s rich, coming from you. I read some interesting things about you, this afternoon. I mean, talk about someone who would know what it’s like to be hated. Are you going to send your cult to harass me for insulting you? Do you think they’d still listen to you if I shared a picture of what you really look like?”
Kai’s eyes began to well up, predictably. The influencer sniffled, raised his head high, and responded, “You can say whatever you want. Today, 14 people saw who you really are and said they want nothing to do with you. You can repeat as many internet talking points as you want, nothing will change that.”
Damon loathed not having the last word, but there was really nothing he could reply with. Instead, he purposefully put his nose back down and went back to ignoring his roommate.
It really had been a day of losses, hadn’t it?
Eventually, he readied for bed and laid down. He racked his brain for a way to fix the situation, but struggled to find one. Perhaps some of the class would respect him if he came back groveling and apologized, but no one whose opinion he would care about. No, the only thing he would be able to do was wait for someone else to make a social faux pas and jump on that opportunity.
Ideally, that person would be Kai.
With that thought in mind, he allowed himself to drift off to sleep.