Chapter Text
Chihiro Fujisaki admired Hope's Peak Academy. She never imagined that now, she'd be standing at its gates, staring into its vast majesty.
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Chihiro Fujisaki was not a particularly interesting high school girl. She liked whatever shows and music were popular. She was more surprised than anyone when she received her acceptance letter into Hope's Peak as the Super High School Level Luck of the 78th class.
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The young girl knew about the prestige and famousness the school had acquired - who didn't? It wasn't very hard to find the forums and discussions about Hope's Peak, they were everywhere. Chihiro researched her soon-to-be classmates with awe and aspiration.
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The Super High School Level Idol - Aoi Asahina. The Super High School Level Baseball Player - Yasahiro Hagakure. Even the Super High School Level Biker - Celestia Ludenberg. Chihiro eventually spotted a familiar face on the forums - the future Super High School Level Model - Kyoko Kirigiri. Kyoko was very popular among high school girls, and every girl wanted to be like her. Including Chihiro Fujisaki. What would she say when she met her? Would Kyoko be nice? Would they maybe even... become friends? No, no. That'd be impossible. An ordinary girl friends with the Kyoko Kirigiri? Chihiro shook her head, dismissing the thoughts. The legs of her chair slid across the carpet as she stood up. She gazed outside at the night sky, anxious for her first day the next morning.
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Chihiro Fujisaki took a deep breath. Clutching her bag, she took her first step into the school. Little did she know, she was going to start a life of despair. As her shoes tip-tapped on the tiled floor of the main hall, she felt a strange sensation. All she saw next was spinning spinning spinning spinning spinning-
And then it all went black.
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Chihiro felt her face resting against a cold, hard surface. It felt as if she had been sleeping for years and had only just awoken. She lifted her head, slowly and lethargic-ly, and proceeded to examine the room. It appeared to be an ordinary classroom, but its windows were bolted shut with steel plates. Upon closer inspection, she spotted a large security camera scanning the room. Chihiro looked down at the desk she had been laying on to see a small puddle of drool, and a note. It was written in crayon, with a crude drawing of what appeared to be Hope's Peak. The childish scribbles read;
"HEY THERE NEW KID!
The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world. Join everyone in the main hall!"
"H-huh?" Chihiro stuttered. "This has to be a joke, o-or some kind of creepy entrance ceremony..." She stood up, shaking slightly from nerves. The girl meekly tapped the solid plate covering the window with her knuckles. Yep, definitely metal. There was no way she could open it. Remembering her objective, she warily exited the classroom of what appeared to be a part of Hope's Peak Academy, nauseous with anxiety.
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The hallway was dark but it felt oddly familiar to Chihiro. She rushed to the main hall-she could explore later. Wait, how did she know where the hall was? She probably just saw a map of the building when she was browsing those forums. Yeah, that had to be it.
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The main hall radiated with the auras of the Super High School Levels standing in front of her. People began to chatter about the new arrival.
"Is this another new arrival?"
Chihiro tensed up at the rough voice, and quickly spoke.
"O-oh! Yes! Then you all must be..."
The girl was interrupted by a blonde man with glasses, who seemed like he had better things to do.
"Yes, we're all students here. Today is our supposed to be our first day of class."
Another person piped up, a girl with short black hair.
"That makes fifteen, counting her. I think that's everyone." Chihiro scanned the crowd. So many different faces, all of them confused. She decided to break the silence.
"M-my name is Chihiro Fujisaki..! It's an honor to meet y-you all! I'm sorry I'm late I was...asleep? Please don't be mad!"
The rough voice from before spoke up, and Chihiro caught a glimpse of the woman behind it. She looked tough. She dark skin and white hair. Chihiro wondered what her talent could be.
"Hmm, so you also experienced that."
An unfamiliar voice joined in. Her clothes looked expensive and her hair was a strawberry blonde in two large ponytails.
"Jeez, things are just getting more confusing."
"This is very strange... This is without a doubt, very strange," The black haired girl spoke up again.
Chihiro fiddled with her sleeves and interrupted them.
"I-I'm sorry, I don't know what you're talking about. I really don't know what's going on-"
A heavily built boy cut in. "Hold on! There's something I gotta talk about!" He pointed at Chihiro. "Chihiro! You are tardy! You knew that the meeting was gonna start at 8! Late on your first day, I'm gonna hafta report you!"
"W-wait a minute! I d-doubt she wanted to be late." A familiar, lavender haired girl spoke up.
"Everyone please remain calm! Why don't we all introduce ourselves, first?!" This new voice was loud and commanding.
A calmer, yet sinister voice intervened. "Haha, I doubt we have time for silly introductions."
The strawberry blonde girl from earlier piped up.
"I mean, I guess, but shouldn't we, like, figure out who we all are before tryin' to solve the bigger problems? How are we gonna, like, talk to each other if we don't know everyone's names?"
"'Kay, let's introduce ourselves! Then we can move on to other stuff? Sound good?"
Chihiro nodded. She hoped everyone was nice. Even though she looked up mostly everyone on that forum, she didn't know what kind of people they were.
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She approached the boy who called her late earlier.
"I'm Hifumi Yamada! Remember, this is a school, so I'll be watching you, Chihiro-chan!"
So thats Hifumi.. Chihiro thought. I think he's the... Super High School Level Hall Monitor? I heard he gets top grades in all his classes. He's a flawless honor student.
"You have such a lovely name, you must devote yourself every day so it does not lose its value!"
This guy... is kind of creepy. Chihiro tried to forget him and moved on to the next person.
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This student was pretty average, like herself. He had light brown hair and kind eyes.
"H-hello! I'm Makoto Naegi! It's nice to meet you!"
Oh! That's Makoto. I heard he's the Super High School Level Author. They say he wrote a book when he was ten that got everyone talking! He released a romance novel two years ago that they call his masterpiece. How incredible... I assumed he'd be more... lovey dovey, based on his writings... Chihiro brushed off the thought and looked for someone else to talk to.
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She felt a tap on the shoulder and turned around, startled. Behind her was another girl, tan and blue eyed. Her ponytail curled into a perfect, happy swirl, which seemed to fit her personality.
"I'm Aoi Asahina! I hope we get to be friends, Chihiro!" Aoi smiled. She had this positive vibe about her. It made Chihiro feel... safe. Aoi Asahina... The Super High School Level Idol. I was surprised to see her name on the forums. I remember we used to go to-
"Aoi-chan! Chihiro-chan! What are you two doing chit chatting idly?! We gotta finish our introductions!" Hifumi snapped.
"O-oh. Sorry Hifumi. We got a bit carried away I guess." Aoi apologized, embarrassed. Hifumi continued to shout at her, making her face turn a rose red. "Sorry, Chihiro... Let's talk about this later." Chihiro hesitated for a moment before nodding to Aoi and continuing through the crowd of students.
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She stumbled across a rather tall student. Too tall to be a student, to be exact.
"Yo! I'm Yasahiro Hagakure! Let's get along, yeah?"
Oh! I've seen him on the forums!
"Um, you must be the Super High School Level Baseball Player!" Chihiro tried to make small talk.
"Haha, yeah, I guess I am!" Yasahiro laughed. "Baseball isn't really my favorite thing to do though. I'd rather do something sweet like sing or... nevermind." He suddenly seemed embarrassed and Chihiro assumed he wanted to end the conversation.
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The last in this area of the hall was the black haired girl. Up close, you could see her many freckles very clearly.
"Hello. I am Mukuro Ikusaba. I am the Super High School Level Doujin Creator." Mukuro began pestering Chihiro on what she knew about the world of "2D." Not wanting to be rude, Chihiro answered the awkward questions, carefully dodging the inappropriate ones.
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"Hello! My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! It's an honor to meet you!" His voice was loud that Chihiro almost felt like she needed to cover her ears. "I'm sorry, but what was your name again?"
"Ch-Chihiro Fujisaki."
"Haha! Of course! How could I forget?" Kiyotaka laughed. They continued with some small talk but it felt as if he was the only one talking. Chihiro quickly dismissed herself from the conversation.
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The next one to introduce themselves was the blonde one with glasses. He glared at Chihiro as she approached him. Chihiro cleared her throat.
"Hello, I'm Chihiro Fujisaki! It's nice to-"
"I already know your name. You said it earlier."
"O-oh."
The two stood in awkward silence for a couple seconds before Chihiro spoke up again, "So, um, what's your name?"
"My name is Byakuya Togami. I am the Super High School Level Programmer. Pleased to make your acquaintance." The tall boy scanned Chihiro. "Have we met before?"
The question took her by surprise. "O-oh! No, no we haven't," she stuttered, despite feeling the same familiarity towards Byakuya and many others here.
"My mistake. Carry on." He leaned against the wall, almost shooing Chihiro away with his sharp gaze.
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Chihiro didn't recognize this next student. She had long blue hair and soft blue eyes. Chihiro thought she was kinda cute. The mysterious girl smiled and piped up. "I'm Sayaka Maizono. Nice to meet you!"
I wonder what her talent could be. I didn't see her on any of the forums.
"My talent's a secret," she put her finger on her lips to symbolize it. Chihiro was shocked!
"H-how did you know I was thinking about your talent?"
"I'm psychic."
Chihiro's mouth opened to say something, but nothing came out.
"Just kidding, I just have a good intuition." Sayaka laughed.
I should keep an eye on her. She seems interesting. And really cute.
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Chihiro suddenly felt her hands get sweaty and her face turn red. "H-hi! I'm Chihiro Fuj-"
"Yeah I know. I'm Kyoko Kirigiri, but you probably already knew that."
"Y-yeah you're my favorite, I-I love your work a lot!"
"It's always nice to meet a fan," Kyoko didn't even smile as she said it. Chihiro noticed a beauty mark below the model's mouth that she never saw before. "You look, uh, a little different. Not in a bad way of course but-" she stopped herself before she said something she might regret.
"Y-you're talking about my cover photos? Those are photoshopped to hell and back."
"O-oh." Chihiro felt intimidated by her idol's presence and thought it would be best to move on, legs shaking and all.
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Almost done, Chihiro thought, just a few more people to go. She had seen this next girl a few times on the Hope's Peak forums. "I'm Celestia Ludenberg. But you may call me Celes. I am the Super High School Level Biker." Her voice was elegant, very different from what Chihiro had imagined. "Let's all get along, hmm?" Chihiro nodded quickly, frightened by the biker's calm demeanor.
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Chihiro approached a tall man with silly, corn-shaped hair. "Hello!"
He turned around and stared down at the short girl.
"Mondo Owada. Nice to meet'cha."
He must be the Super High School Level Martial Artist. I heard he's competed in over 400 matches, and never lost a single one. The forums warned readers to avoid him at all costs.
"Yo, kid."
Chihiro nearly jumped when she heard the martial artist spoke to her. "Y-yes?! I-I'm sorry!"
He let out a quick "Hmph," and began to poke and prod at her body.
"U-um..?! What are you doing..?"
"Huh. Your muscle quality ain't out of the ordinary. You aren't fit to be my training partner."
What a relief... Chihiro sighed in reassurance.
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Chihiro quietly approached the next person. Before she even reached an appropriate distance for a private conversation, he started and finished his introduction.
"Name's Leon Kuwata."
"..."
"..."
"...You're the Super High School Level Heir, right?"
"...Yeah."
"......Well, um, it's nice to meet you..?"
This conversation wasn't going anywhere.
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Chihiro felt as if if she talked to the next girl, she'd lose all her money. The strawberry blonde was the Super High School Level Gambler, and you could definitely tell where she spend her money. She wore all designer, lolita dresses and expensive jewlery. Not even a year of Chihiro's part time job could pay for even one of her bracelets. The busty girl spoke up. "Hi, I'm Junko Enoshima. I'm the, like, Super High School Level Gambler. Nice to meet you, Chihiro," she grinned a decisive grin, showing off her perfect teeth. It wasn't hard to imagine this girl being the so-called "Queen of Liars."
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Chihiro wasn't sure what to think about this last girl. She was big and buff but she didn't seem like her talent involved anything sporty. "I am Sakura Ogami," her strong voice boomed. "I am the Super High School Level Clairvoyant. I see promising opportunities in your future."
"That's good to hear!" Chihiro had been worrying about the upcoming school year, but felt better hearing reassurance from the fortune teller. "I was scared something bad was going to happen today..."
"No need to worry," Sakura smiled. "Everything will turn out alright in the end."
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Finally done with introductions... Everyone's so... unique.
"'Kay, let's get down to business. We don't have any time to make friends," Leon scoffed.
Chihiro chewed on her hair nervously, "Oh, you're right. Didn't someone say something about a bigger problem? What is it?"
"Um, well," Aoi crossed her arms. "Chihiro, you said you were asleep, right? The same thing happened to everyone else"
"Huh? Really?"
Yasahiro joined in, "Yeah, after each of us got to the main hall, we all, like, fell asleep too. And when we woke up, we were somewhere in the school, right?"
Chihiro nodded quickly. "Mhm. B-but it's weird we all got knocked out somehow."
"That's exactly right," Celes laughed. "That is why most everyone is scared."
"Y-yeah!" Hifumi commanded. "You guys all saw the windows in the halls and classrooms? They're all bolted down! What's up with that?"
"P-plus, all my stuff's gone! Even my ph-phone..." Kyoko yelled as if she was accusing someone.
"You're right. I can not find my PDA anywhere, either." Byakuya spoke calmly, despite the situation.
"And check out the main hall here," Hifumi pointed at what was supposed to be the front gate with a large finger. "The front entrance is blocked by some huge metal..thing! It sure wasn't like that when I got here. W-what the heck?"
Kyoko shuddered. "What i-if we're caught up in some sorta.. crime? Or something?!"
"No," Sakura's loud voice broke up the chatter. "I have a feeling this is a sort of...entrance exercise." Everyone sighed in relief. The tension slowly melted away.
But soon,
it began.