Chapter Text
Yuna woke the next morning, stretching but feeling a little nervous as she started to get ready for school. She pulled on her outfit for the day and packed her bag. Once she was done, she went downstairs and saw her housemates were already ready to go, Hajime pulling his shoes on.
[Yuna]: 😓! 🥱! 🔉🕓? (I'm sorry! I overslept! Are we late?)
"Ah, a little, but since you already look ready, we should still make it in time," Hajime explained. This was one of the good parts of living near the school. "Class is only mandatory for people in the reserve course anyway, so I'm really the only one who needs to worry about being late."
"Though I'm sure you wouldn't want to miss your first day of school at Hope's Peak." Nagito chimed in with a smile.
"Oh, Yuna. Do you know what classes you have yet?" Chiaki asked, putting on her backpack as all four of them left the house together.
Yuna thought for a moment before taking out her phone.
[Yuna]: ⛹️, ➗, 🖌️ + 🍴 (Gym, Maths, Art, and Home Economics)
After a short ten-minute walk, they reached the huge gates of the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy. Yuna looked around and noticed just how many students were here. She looked around at the people exchanging casual conversation with her housemates as she looked around at all of the people. She felt a little nervous if she was honest. She wasn't all that good at making friend as it was, but seeing how many people here were so social was scary to say the least.
[Yuna]: 👥 🕓? 📚, 🔐. (Let's meet up later. I need to put some books in my locker.)
"Yup, that works fine," Chiaki said before they both separated.
Yuna headed inside the building and toward her assigned locker. She opened her locker and just as she did, she noticed a small group of four people heading in her direction. Leading the group with a certain confidence about him was a short boy with purple hair and a flashy white suit, checkered patterns in some places. He looked pretty mischievous, from what she could see.
If she'd been with her housemates, she might've felt better, but being alone in this situation was a lot scarier. Especially when she noticed that she'd caught the attention of the leader of the group.
Kokichi had been on his way to class, a few members of DICE trailing behind him when he spotted an unfamiliar face standing near the lockers.
"Hm? Ohh, you must be that new kid, right? I've heard sooo much about you." Kokichi tipped his head and looked up at her while approaching her.
Heard a lot about me? From who?! Yuna thought to herself. Who the hell had already been gossiping about her?
"That's one hell of an outfit you have there. Did you buy it at Hot Topic?" He asked sarcastically. Aiko, one of the members of DICE, a short girl with a ponytail, laughed quietly.
Kokichi grinned at her wary expression. "You don't need to look so scared you know. I don't bite."
"Or maybe that's a lie. Maybe I'll send my organization after you if you get on my bad side! I have over 1000 members, you know?" He felt amused when she looked worried, probably trying to figure out if he was being serious.
Though he wasn't particularly interested in having a conversation right now, and it didn't seem like Yuna was all that receptive either. He just wanted to make his presence known to any new students. He had a gym class to head to. Slowly his group dispersed and headed to their own classes. Kokichi waved at the new girl one more time before turning his back to her.
"Aaanyways, I'm bored now so I'm going to class. Don't miss me too much."
Yuna was glad she was wearing a mask, her eye twitching slightly in annoyance at his rude comments and very annoying voice... Her grip on her locker door clenched the more he spoke, frustration building up inside of her. She was worried she would bend the metal if she kept this up. Thankfully, the group disbanded and the short guy walked off too before she could do any real damage. She sighed and was able to put her books away in peace. She slammed her locker door shut as she headed to her next class. However, she soon realized she was following behind the purple-haired boy toward the gym changing rooms.
Oh no... She thought.
She could already feel it coming. The same rumours she had to face every time she went to a new school would start again, wouldn't they? 'She's creepy!' 'She's a serial killer!' And now this guy probably assumed she was a stalker... Brilliant.
Kokichi, perceptive as he was, noticed Yuna was trailing behind him but he didn't pay much mind to it. Maybe they shared a class. If not, she'd probably go away if he just ignored her.
He entered the gym changing room. Looks like I'm early. There are only two other people here. He thought when he noticed that. He started to get changed into something more gym appropriate and from somewhere beside him; he heard the two boys saying something in hushed voices. It seemed like they were trying to be sneaky with how close they were huddled together.
Kokichi pulled out his phone, tapping on it and pretending he wasn't listening as he heard murmurs of, "-Paint filled dodgeball." And "-Gym class tomorrow." The voices were so quiet that he hardly made out anymore of what they were saying, but he heard enough to get a vague idea of what they were talking about. Ohh, it's been a while since someone other than me played such a risky prank. That'll be hilarious as long as it doesn't get thrown at me. Those two though? I'm surprised.
He walked up to the two boys, watching as their eyes flicked toward him, looking distrusting. "I heard you guys talking about some awesome prank you're gonna pull." He laughed, grinning cheekily. "But you two wouldn't be able to pull off something like that and make it good, so you should totally recruit me!"
The taller boy looked offended by his comment, but then attempted to brush past it, sighing and shaking his head. "Um, no, it's not us doing it. I heard rumours around school that a girl in our gym class is planning to fill some dodgeballs with paint or something, but it's probably just a dumb rumor."
Kokichi tipped his head. "Oh, well that's disappointing."
He pouted dramatically, staring at them with unbelievably fake puppy dog eyes. "Any chance you could tell me if you know who it is?"
The shorter boy responded this time, giving Kokichi a dubious look. "It never goes well when you try to get involved in pranks. And I don't even know who it is. All I heard is that it's supposedly a girl."
Kokichi hummed. Who could it be? I guess I'll have to meet everyone before I decide that. I might not be as good at detective work as Saihara-chan, but I can probably get some clues if I investigate around a little, right?
"Alright, great! I'll combat this horrible prankster by just blowing up the gym instead!" He grinned wide and mischievously. He turned his back to them and skipped off out of the room toward the gym area, not giving them any room to speak or ask questions.
Every school that Yuna had ever attended, she pulled this prank. It was definitely her mark on the education system as a whole. She had been to thirteen different schools across her life and at every single one, she splattered the school's gym with paint filled dodgeballs. When she finally got accepted into Hope's Peak Academy, well... She wasn't about to let such a rare opportunity go to waste. It was such a common occurrence that she'd made the local news a few times about a student paint bombing the gym. Because of this prank, she continuously got expelled and was forced to change schools. This time, however, she knew that she couldn't possibly get expelled. Hope's Peak would just see it as an expression of her skills as an Ultimate. That made her think and hope that there was a possibility of finding some friends here. Usually, she felt like the odd one out, but everyone here was so unique that it made her feel a lot more comfortable.
She got changed and headed into the gym, gas mask still firmly on her face. Her hair, however, was tied back in a ponytail instead of their usual pigtails. She looked around the large gym at all of her new classmates and noticed the short purple-haired guy from earlier. Great... She thought. The gym teacher set up everyone in the class in pairs of boys and girls to do some team exercises, sit-ups first. The girls would sit up first while the boys held down their feet. Unfortunately, Yuna ended up getting paired... With him. She already hated this.
"Ohh, hey. It's you again." Kokichi looked up at her with a mischievous smile as she walked over. She didn't seem all that interested in being around him. As she started trying to stand, obviously wanting to leave, he interrupted her, moving around to stand in front of her and block her path.
"Hey, hey, did you hear that rumor that someone's gonna paint bomb the gym?" He asked excitedly. "I was actually looking for the culprit to see if I can offer my expertise, but for now, no dice. Do you happen to have any ideas?"
Yuna blinked at him without a response, so he assumed she must not know. He moved on.
"Better stay on your toes though so they don't get you. It'll be hilarious to see some poor saps on the receiving end though."
"Since we share a class now, you might as well tell me your name then. Mine's Kokichi Ouma, Ultimate Supreme Leader. And what're you, the Ultimate Emo? Oh, well, you couldn't possibly take that title from Shuichi. Except he did already ditch that emo hat, and now all you need to do is get rid of that mask!" He teased. Yuna took a nervous step back from him at that last comment. Kokichi seemed like the type to snatch her mask at a moment's notice, and he didn't want to take her chances. Kokichi laughed and finally moved out of the way.
Yuna was used to comments like being called emo by now, so it didn't phase her. Though it seemed like Kokichi wanted to be involved in her prank. She thought about it for a moment. She didn't know if she could trust him, but then again... Who knows? He could end up being useful.
"Aww, it's my first time meeting the new student and she already hates me! This is... So, sooo, sad." He pouted in a childlike manner, voice drawled with sarcasm.
His expression returned to normal as quickly as it had fallen into that fake expression seconds ago. "Oh, right. Okay, I won't keep you waiting for too long. You go do whatever it is you need to do. The teacher probably won't mind us not doing the exercise. It's not like he can make us do it anyway."
Yuna rolled her eyes before she took out her phone, scrolling and tapping on it for a minute before she turned the screen toward Kokichi. On it was her student profile. It said "Yuna Iwamine, Ultimate Graffiti Artist." She shoved her phone back into her pocket. She looked around for a moment to see if anyone was looking.
"Ultimate Graffiti Artist? Ohh, is it possible that you're our mystery prank-"
When she realized no one was looking, she grabbed Kokichi by the front of the shirt and pulled him toward the storage closet. Because no one was watching, they slipped in with ease. She shut the door behind her, leaning back against it, and ended up blocking the only way out. She didn't mean for it to come off as intimidating at all, especially with the height advantage she had over the other, but it just happened. She took out her phone again.
"Are you gonna kill me now for revealing your secret, hmm? If you let me help, maybe I'll consider keeping my mouth shut." He said teasingly.
She typed in her messages since she didn't have Kokichi's phone number yet. She showed the text to Kokichi. 'You wanna help with this prank?'
Kokichi looked at the emojis on screen as she shoved the phone toward him, tipping his head as he tried to decipher the message.
I guess she's not much for talking. Why the emojis though? He thought.
"Great, looks like you took up my offer, after all. You definitely won't regret this."
After a small pause where he looked around the area before spotting the dodgeballs, he asked, "Soo... Do you have them set up already or what? Well, even if you do, I think I have a good idea. It'll make the element of surprise even greater since no one will know who did it." He started, not stopping to ask first what her plan might've been.
"Okay, so hear this. When the gym is empty, we can come back and I'll use my lock picking skills to break us in. We can put a tarp on the ceiling full of paint dodgeballs, and you can inconspicuously pull a rope that'll make all of them drop. Which meeeans you can make an even bigger mess than just throwing one or two before you get caught."
"Oh, unless part of your plan is actually to get caught if that floats your boat. In that case, you can just throw them and I'll watch from the sidelines." He walked over to the basket and picked up a normal dodgeball, spinning it in his hand before he tossed it at Yuna. It bounced off the wall directly next to her head before falling to the ground. He was surprised that she barely flinched at the sudden action.
Yuna wanted to interject, but she soon realized that his plan actually sounded a lot better than her original plan or just throwing them. Coming back at night might be tricky though since she'd have to sneak past her housemates. She had a feeling Nagito wouldn't keep his mouth shut if it had to do with her talent.
She made a short humming noise as she thought before she looked back at Kokichi and nodded. Yuna held out her hand to shake his, sealing the deal on their newfound pranking partnership. He sure was a sneaky dude, but... He seemed like a lot of fun. She wanted to learn more about him.
Yuna reached into her pocket to pull out her phone again and handed it to Kokichi so he could put in his contact details.
It's times like this where my talent can be really useful. I ended up getting her to listen to all my plans. Even though it's just a prank, it definitely won't be boring.
Kokichi took the phone as it was handed to him, seeing the contacts list already open. He entered his number, opened the contact photo and took a blurry selfie, set his contact name to "Grape Panta" and handed it back to her with a grin.
"There you go. I made it unique so you'd make sure to remember me."
Kokichi handed it back to Yuna, and she looked at it. She smiled a little under her mask at the silly name and picture. She certainly didn't think she could forget him. Especially after this. For some reason she felt like there was more to him than met the eye and she wanted to discover what exactly that was.
Just then, the gym teacher opened the storage room and peered in, looking around before he spotted the two. Since they were Ultimates, they couldn't exactly get in trouble for skipping so the teacher just gave them both an annoyed look.
"Class is over for the day. You two should head to your next classes."
Kokichi's eyes immediately filled with fake tears as he looked over at Yuna. "Whoops, looks like we missed the whooole class."
His expression suddenly turned to one of disinterest as he examined his nails. "Oh well. We'll head off soon, teach, so don't worry too much."
The teacher just sighed and nodded before he left, making sure to leave the door cracked open.
Yuna put a hand on Kokichi's shoulder, gently squeezing it before the two walked out of the storage room. Yuna gave Kokichi a pretty serious look. In this light, Kokichi could see her eyes behind her black tinted lenses for a moment before she looked down at her phone.
[Yuna]: 🍇+🖌️. ❌👥, 🎨💣. 🤫. 💬🕔. (Just you and me. No one else can know about the paint bomb. It's a secret. Text me later.)
After reading the text, someone burst into the gym. She was easy to spot from her brightly coloured pink clothing and long blonde hair. "Haha! Cockichi and the new goth bitch?! Were you two making out in there or somethin'? Fuckin' gross!" She laughed boisterously. She seemed pretty proud of herself for 'catching them.' "Word of advice for you, gas mask! I wouldn't get involved with a lyin' lil shit like him! Cockichi here is a bastard!" Miu hissed out the insult.
Yuna looked back at her partner, who seemed to be grinning, more amused than upset by Miu's crude comments. So her new partner in crime was a liar, huh?
"Aww, Miu are you just deflecting because I caught you with Kiibo in the bathroom that one time?" He asked her with a huge grin, not caring at all about her comments toward him. Her insults were a light slap at best, and he knew she'd break down easily.
Miu ruffled, cheeks going red. She looked defensive for a second before she immediately started to look embarrassed. "I-I was just doing... Maintenance..." She said nervously, blushing and twirling her hair with her finger.
"Sure, sure. We all believe you, Miu. Totally. And wow, you're calling me a liar? Miu, you're so cruel!"
Kokichi suddenly burst into extremely dramatic tears. "Waaah! Can't you s-see these..." He took a moment to sniffle dramatically. "These are the most honest tears I've ever shed!"
Just like he always did, he shut off his tears as easily as turning off the faucet. "Anyway, isn't it about time you leave, Miu? Got more 'maintenance' you need to do?"
Miu huffed, glaring at him. "Y-Yeah, I think I fuckin' will, Shitichi!" Miu stormed out of the gym, her expression a mixture of flustered and angry.
Yuna was surprised by how quickly Miu could go from cocky to scared... It was almost impressive.
Kokichi turned to Yuna, looking up at the taller girl. "Well, now that the ugly bitch is gone, why don't we go to class? Message me if there are any updates on the plan. I'll make sure to keep a secret."
Yuna nodded, and they both went their separate ways. As she walked to class, she messaged him a few times. Mainly, she asked him questions about himself. She thought she might as well get to know her partner in crime if they'd be working together. She also occasionally asked him how to get to certain rooms.
Any time Yuna asked a question beyond objective information like birthday and classes, though, Kokichi dodged them like wildfire, either spitting out an obviously over-exaggerated lie or completely changing the subject. Yuna was a bit frustrated by that, but she supposed she shouldn't expect someone to open up to a person they just met. But even so, it seemed like he lied for the most innocent questions. What a weird guy.
About halfway through her math class, her phone kept buzzing against the table over and over, which almost made her turn off her phone, but she just checked it instead, seeing various messages from Kokichi. She decided to just send one text and hoped he would stop messaging, at least for now.
[Yuna]: 🖕🍇. ➗. 🍱? (Fuck off, Grape Guy. I'm in class. Wanna meet at lunch though?)
Right after sending that, she also noticed she had a text from Chiaki inviting her to have lunch with her and the boys after class.
[Yuna]: ❌. 🖌️+🍇 = 🍱. (No thanks. A friend and I have lunch planned.)
As lunchtime was approaching, Kokichi got another message from Yuna asking him if he wanted to have lunch with her. Hmm, not a bad idea. I was going to sit with Shuichi and Kiiboy today, but I can just skip for today. This way, I can probably learn more about her. It wouldn't be bad to have someone like that on my side. She could end up being useful to me.
[Kokichi]: Sure. As a trade-off, though, you have to help me hide a body 🧟
He laughed at his text and turned his phone off, waiting for the bell to ring. Once it did, he headed outside to where Yuna asked to meet, which was a large cedar tree in the schoolyard. Luckily, it was a nice day. It was late spring, so the weather was warm and the sky was almost perfectly clear with only a few fluffy white clouds dotting along it. The wind was just light enough to make sure they wouldn't get overly warm from the sun, either. Kokichi arrived first and took off his backpack as he sat at the picnic table there, pulling out his lunch.
He quickly messaged Shuichi.
[Kokichi]: Sorry, my beloved detective, but I found a replacement friend for today, so I'll be sitting with someone else today
When Shuichi received the message, he was a little confused since he didn't know Kokichi had even managed to find another friend that he was actually willing to sit with. He was a bit suspicious of Kokichi's motives, wondering if he was up to anything, but it wasn't really any of his business, so he responded casually.
[Shuichi]: That's fine. I hope you have fun.
Kokichi put down his phone and lay his head down on the wooden table, continuing to wait for Yuna to arrive.