Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Hajime remembered that day.

He remembered how the envelope tucked between his fingers felt unreal.

He had to admit it; when the envelope first arrived to his residence with a rather familiar insignia stamped on the front, he might have rubbed his eyes a bit too much. There is no way that Hope's Peak Academy, the best school in the country, would actually send a letter to him, right? Logically speaking, there was nothing remotely special or noteworthy about him that will convince the school to bother taking a look at him. He was plain in appearance, his grades were average, and as far as he knew, he didn't have any talents.

It's only after holding the envelope while simultaneously pinching the crook of his arm a couple of times he then realized he wasn't dreaming. This was reality.

His hands shakily opened the envelope, like it might suddenly disintegrate at the wrong touch. Reaching his hand inside, he managed to pull out two items: a booklet with the picture of Hope's Peak and a piece of paper. He tucked the booklet away into his pocket, reminding himself to check it out later, and then he unfolded the piece of paper. As he thought, it turned out to be a letter addressed to him. Unsure whether that was a good thing or not, he began to read it.

Mr. Hajime Hinata

We would like to inform you that you are one of the students observed by our scout. As a result, you have been selected, and we would like to invite you to join us as the Ultimate Counselor.

Included is an orientation guide for Hope's Peak Academy.

He read the whole thing, word for word a few more times, all while wondering if this is some sort of sick joke, and if it weren't for the orientation guide, he'll be convinced that it was just an elaborate prank. Since when was he the 'Ultimate Counselor'?

Now that he thought about it, he did remember attending a class or two in giving advice, and as his former classmates attested, he supposed that he is good at speaking with others, but that's about it. The best he did was making his schoolmates feel better by listening to them, and even then it's not very impressive; anyone can do that.

'The school didn't make a mistake, right?' Hajime thought to himself, turning the letter over. 'I mean, mix-ups don't happen very often, but it's not impossible. This has to be a fluke-'

'No, that's not it.' He sighed as he cut any similar thoughts off, allowing his arm, still clutching the invitation letter, to fall limp. "I'm just making excuses up, aren't I?"

It's really funny, isn't it? He spent years of admiring Hope's Peak Academy, wishing that he can walk its halls as one of their proud students one day; this is the very moment he's always been dreaming of. He should be happy and grateful for the fact that the school scouted him of all people, and really, he is.

But, if that's the case, then why isn't he feeling as excited as he should have been? He'd always imagine that when this day came, he'll be jumping around in joy and not care if he woke his parents and neighbors up from all his yelling, but now that it actually happened?

Here he is, standing still and remaining unsure of what to make out of this.

"Hajime, is something the matter?"

As though to help him with his dilemma, the voice of his mother snapped the boy back to reality; turning around, he saw that his parents, his father especially, were now staring at him.

'Just how long have I been standing here like an idiot?' He berated himself as he turned to face his parents. He can't exactly tell how his mother is feeling right now by her expression, but he can feel the stern gaze coming from his father.

"I...Well...it's just that..." The glare from his father grew.

'Great, I can't even say anything without blubbering like one too.' Against his better judgement, Hajime held the letter out; he didn't even flinch when he felt his father snatch it out of his hand.

The man's eyes scanned over its contents, the features around his face growing dim as he finished. Without any warning, the older man placed a hand on his shoulder, and Hajime swore that he saw him crack a smile for a split second. "Don't let this opportunity be wasted."

Months has passed since then.

Hajime readjusts his tie as he got off to his destination. As soon as he accepted the invitation, for the first time in years his mother fussed over him; she wanted him to look his best when he got in Hope's Peak, and downright refused to let him wear only his plain white shirt and pants, not when she wanted him to make a good first impression. Which is why alongside his casual clothes, he has a brown button-up vest over his shirt. It wasn't that much different compared to what he's accustomed to.

At least his parents let him wear his favorite tie, especially now that he's actually attending as an Ultimate.

If he's going to be honest here, this isn't the first time he's seen the school building; he's seen plenty of pictures about the prestigious school before (who hasn't?), and even the orientation guide given to him alongside his letter has shown a good picture of Hope's Peak.

But, now that he's here at the school gates, all those pictures of the school simply don't...they just can't do it justice. Hajime lifts his head up; the academy feels quite intimidating now that he's seeing it in person. With the way it towers over its surroundings, its size made him feel like an ant in comparison. Who knows, that might have been the intention.

'So this is it.'

Hope's Peak Academy.

Can he really live up to the school's high standards?

This is his last chance to back out if he wished to, he now realizes; the boy pauses in his tracks, thinking for a moment. What will do next? To go back to living in normalcy with only the simplest problems to worry about, or to go forward and spend the rest of his school years among the best of the best?

Hajime shakes his head with a smile passing over his face. "Well, what do I have to lose?" With his eyes closed, he takes a deep breath, before stepping onto the grounds of the academy.

He can only hope his time at Hope's Peak will be different from how his time was like in his last school.

..

…

….

Hajime trudges his steps along the way to his classroom.

Looking back on it, it didn't take too long before he got used to walking along the pristine halls of the academy. The school gave him a few surprises which defied his expectations (for one, classes were only optional, and for two, their homeroom teacher isn't in the best shape for teaching), no doubt about that. With that said, it only meant that Hope's Peak wasn't as completely flawless as much as he believed in the past.

Speaking of that…

Before he can even reach the door, a few voices are loud enough to reach within his hearing range; he manages to recognize one voice with a particularly harsh tone as Koizumi.

"I swear, if it's what I think it is…" He gave the door a light push, confirming his suspicions as he placed a palm over his face.

Mr. Kizakura, the man responsible for scouting potential Ultimate students as well as serving as their homeroom teacher, is there in all his glory. By glory, he actually means heavily drunk and slumped over the teacher's table, with Saionji deciding to literally poke fun at him while Koizumi continues to grumble at her teacher's conduct. It's only resolved after Pekoyama was ordered to haul the drunk scout out of the classroom to…somewhere, he can guess.

At this point, Hajime isn't even surprised anymore, not after the fourth time it happened this week. In a row.

"About time you showed up."

He turns towards the direction of that voice, and he's greeted with Kuzuryu casually leaning on the wall a few feet away from him.

"I was honestly thinking you're about to bail on us." She says to him with a smirk.

"Well, I can't exactly leave you alone with Saionji, not after what happened during the first day." Hajime replies as he closed the door behind him.

From what he can recall, Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Nurse, found out that Natsumi Kuzuryu once bullied Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Artist and her best friend in class. Even though Saionji's hopelessly outclassed because of the fact that Kuzuryu is the Ultimate Yakuza, somehow she found it in her life's goal to be as unpleasant to the heiress as possible, whether it be through annoying her to death to making not-so-subtle threats to putting her through her infamous treatments. Since then, they've been at each other's throats, forcing him and Koizumi to alternate as mediators between the two.

She grumbles, crossing her arms in response. "Don't remind me."

Hajime lightly chuckles at that. Now with that out of the way, he makes a quick investigation inside the classroom. So far, there aren't any signs of struggle or damage; nothing was out of place. As for his classmates, it's usually just the five of them not counting him.

'Let's see if everyone's here. Pekoyama left for a while to get our drunk teacher out.' He looks back at a certain blonde. 'Kuzuryu got here before I did.' His attention turns to the two girls now conversing with each other. 'And Koizumi and Saionji are right there.'

'Pekoyama, Kuzuryu, Koizumi, and Saionji.'

Taking another look at their classmates made him realize something. "Hm, now that I think about it, where's Tsumiki?" His eyes dart around to find any sort of clue to the whereabouts of the currently absent classmate. Knowing her talent, the fact that she isn't here yet made him a little concerned; hers is dangerously unpredictable compared to the rest.

His reaction isn't mutual with Kuzuryu's, however, as her eyes start to widen in panic.

"Hinata, don't jinx-"

Kuzuryu finds herself interrupted by a frightened scream which, she now realizes with dread, slowly make its way towards her. She tries pushing herself out of the way, but by then it was already too late.

*CRASH*

Since the crashing noises came from their class, it ends up catching the attention of the other two. Koizumi cautiously makes her way towards the mess their classmates made, her friend tagging alongside her.

When the debris clear, the end result is that somehow, the walls manage to leave a hole in the shape of a person with their limbs as they collided (as well as the outline of their hair, baffling everyone still conscious). Poor Kuzuryu had the wind knocked out of her, eyes comically dazed with swirls, with the now-present Mikan Tsumiki lying on top of her, a bit dazed herself and her face buried in the other girl's chest.

Hajime inwardly grimaces. 'That answers my question a little too well.'

He immediately helps his nurse classmate pull the lucky student off the unconscious yakuza and had her sit down, leaning against the wall. After that, Saionji did a quick examination on Tsumiki, checking her classmate's arms and legs for any signs of injuries. "Only a few bruises here and there, so you'll probably live." She scowls, turning to look at her classmate in the eye. "Do you enjoy being my patient that much, you masochist?!"

"I'm s-sorry! I-I didn't mean to—" Tsumiki cries. "—I-I got hit by a t-truck along the way, h-honest!"

"How the hell can someone as skinny as you get hit by a truck, then get flung all the way here, made a goddamn hole in the wall, which I need to remind you, is made of concrete, and only got a few bruises?!"

Sighing, Hajime focuses his attention towards his downed yakuza classmate, helping her in a more comfortable position. It'll take a while before she can completely recover.

'Oh boy, this is going to be a long, long year ahead for me.'

A week has passed. Throughout that time, the school's headmaster finally decided to look at the current problem in a certain class.

Inside his office, Jin Kirigiri skims over the many, many reports on his desk, signs of weariness and unamusement slowly coming over his features. He sighs, pinching the bridge of his nose as he shot a not-so subtle look towards the subject of the papers' ire. "Koichi, this is exactly why I've told you to not bring your alcohol to class."

Said scout, who is currently (somewhat) comfortably seated on a chair next to his desk still recovering from the influence of alcohol he had the previous day, grimaces. "What can I say, I've told you before, Jin; the life of a teacher just isn't suited for me." Koichi replies with a slightly slurred chuckle.

"Either way, at this rate we'll be forced to find a replacement for you. At best, it will only take a few days before we can find someone suitable and have you moved afterwards." Jin says with a stern tone in his voice.

His friend only shrugs at that. "That's fine by me. As long as it gets me off teaching duty, I'm good."

'He's never going to learn, is he?' The headmaster opts to turn his attention back to his paperwork, until he hears his friend hum in thought.

"Now that you've mentioned it," The scout straightens himself in his seat, grabbing the stack of reports. "Jin, you won't mind if I take a look at these reports, right? I'm curious on what kind of stuff they said about me—oh." He squints.

As expected, most of them consisted of, to put in more pleasant terms, 'criticisms' towards the scout's conduct. One particular report about him isn't in any way flattering, to say the least.

"Huh, guess that Koizumi girl doesn't really like me, then." Koichi comments.

Just as he set the papers down, another one catches his attention. With a thoughtful "Hmm?" he glances at the student's file, picking it up in his fingers to give it a closer look. He gives careful attention towards the student's photo, studying their features, but what drew his attention the most is their name. "Oh, so this is who they are."

This, too, catches the headmaster's attention, causing him to set the rest of his paperwork aside. "I take it that you've spoken with them before?" He asks, a brow raised.

Koichi shakes his head. "I've seen her name a couple of times while scouting, but no, I never talked to her; never really had the chance to after I scouted Hajime Hinata." The scout sets the student's file back on the desk, deep in thought.

"I guess that in a way, it's ironic she ended up attending Hope's Peak after all. Even if it is at the reserve course department."

Chapter Text

It was all too easy to remember.

Life was so simple back then. For most of the middle schoolers, there's nothing that helped their repetitive days better than waiting for sweet release at the end of the classes. No more of those headache-inducing quizzes and stress-inducing activities for the rest of their time later at night.

If only the same can be said for a certain boy, Hajime, who was washing his hands after a long day of school. Unlike most of his schoolmates (but like a few others), the young boy still had to attend a tutorial session after classes. It's something he's not looking forward to that much. Mr. Koda's lesson plans were exhausting in the weird sort of way. Which now that he thought about it, isn't surprising at all when he remembers what kind of person his tutor is: an eccentric, mischievous troll who isn't very popular with fellow teachers.

He turned the faucet grip on its side, the single stream of water immediately reduced to a droplet. Quickly patting his hands dry, he turned his way outside of the bathroom. It won't take long for him to get back to the classroom; if he's lucky, he might even get there before his tutor can.

If it weren't for the sounds of crying that caught his attention, that is.

That made him stop his way for a moment or so to listen in. The sobs weren't that loud, meaning that the person behind it probably didn't want to be found out. With that assumption, curiosity guided his way towards the sobbing's source. When he got there and heard them grow in volume, the sobbing's source of origin was from the bathrooms, the place he was in not too long ago.

On one hand, the more sensible part of him wanted him to not stick his nose in other people's business, otherwise, he might be considered as a rude guy who unnecessarily disturbs someone's peace and quiet. Not to mention, he still has his tutor to worry about.

On the other hand, however, he wondered, what if it's someone who really needs help, but can't do anything about it for several reasons beyond their control? A part of him can't help but want to investigate further, find out the situation behind it, and if it's that serious, maybe give some much-needed help.

After considering his options for a while, he made his decision.

"It's none of my business." He turned away, figuring that he'd already wasted enough of his time on this. There are more important things for him to do, after all.

Perhaps, in a different world, he continued on his way, arriving just in time for his afterschool tutor lessons.

But the reality is, this isn't that world.

Just as he decided to step forward, at the last second, what's best described as a sense of something overcame him.

Was it concern? Guilt, even? Whatever it was, it only resulted in one thing:

He turned around and immediately stepped back.

The afternoon sun's warmth outside did well in distracting him from his surroundings. A bit too well, someone might even say. Remembering how things used to be, it makes people think about how different today is compared to it, which is why it can be a shame if the past and the present are barely distinguishable from each other.

'Funny how one simple thing led to this, huh?'

It's really funny now that he looked back on it. Who knew that it wasn't any sort of extraordinary talent or heritage, but one simple act of decency, the one that earned the annoyance but also the understanding of his old tutor, was all what he really needed?

Sure, it got him a bit of pseudo-popularity for a while, but never did he know about the way it'll pay out in the end.

If anyone had told him years ago that he'd become a student of Hope's Peak Academy, he'd rightfully think that whoever told him that BS had gone nuts. But here he is, having spent at least months now on the school's grounds, alongside other proud Ultimate students, which also includes the same kids he's been stuck with since day one.

Well, discounting the majority whose names or talents he couldn't recall that much, no thanks to the fact he's seen them exactly only once.

Speaking of his classmates...

He might have spent months with these people, but he won't be lying at all if he said that he barely knew any of them, including the ones he actually sat down in class with.

Yes, they're classmates and all, but from what he's seen, no one made any sort of effort to try and get to know everyone better. There are some who did, that's true, but it's mainly limited to just one or two acquaintances. No more, no less. If that wasn't enough to make him lose interest in knowing them better, then maybe the fact that at least more than a half of them don't even bother to attend classes, isn't going to convince him to change his mind anytime soon.

And so, he thought that, if no one's really interested in at least trying to talking to their classmates, then why bother?

Which brings him to his current situation. Mr. Kizakura hadn't been present around on class this morning. His only classmates who bothered to attend class up to that point decided to ditch their daily routine for once; they've figured that without a teacher to pity, then they might as well have a day off today too. But not before the yakuza classmate decided to have some shred of decency.

And by that, it actually meant leaving a small note to inform him instead of telling him in person.

Don't bother coming in. Our useless drunkard of a teacher isn't going to show his face anytime soon.
You might as well have better use for your time other than just waiting for us to show up. Which we won't.

Yeah, he can already hear the yakuza heiress's voice in his head when he skimmed over the brief note. For all her talk of him bailing on their class one day, his classmates were the ones to end up bailing first.

'And I might have laughed it off, if that didn't make the rest of this day feel worse than it should be.' His eyes shut, his frustration only increasing. He's been walking outside for a good while now, maybe even getting a bit farther than he should be, but not that it matters. It got rid of some stress.

Aside from lunch break, most of his time is spent exploring and revisiting a few places within the school grounds, but they eventually grew tiring; not really in the physical sense, but rather leaning more on...

To be honest, he isn't sure at all.

'To think that I hoped school life here will at least be an improvement from my last one. I guess I shouldn't have expected too much.'

That didn't sound right...

His fists clench tighter.

'Snap out of it, Hajime. There are so many who deserved a spot in Hope's Peak Academy better, and out of all those potential Ultimates, they picked someone like  you . You got what you wanted and you didn't even do anything to deserve it. You should be grateful.'

'You should've been grateful.'

He grits his teeth.

'You should've been grateful.'

'You should've been grateful.'

'You should've been grateful.'

'You should've been grateful.'

'You should've been-'

A bump to his chest; it didn't hurt or feel heavy in any way, but it did its job in snapping him out of those doubts. He opens his eyes, not prepared for another person, a stranger to add at that, to be so up close to to the point he might as well use their head as a chin-rest. He's in the process of telling them a word or two about personal space, only for the words to stay inside when he realizes,

'Oh you've got to be kidding me' Said person whom he's currently stuck with isn't even acknowledging his presence in any way, having been way too absorbed in some sort of game they're playing. The handheld console is that of an old model, which tells him that either this person is a fan of the classics or the modern consoles were too expensive, in either case, he can sympathize with.

Eventually, that person then realizes that yes, they've bumped into someone and it took them a minute to figure that out. That person makes a quiet noise in surprise, tilting their head up, which also allows Hajime to have a better look at their face.

A girl who is more or less around his age; her facial features are nothing too special, just a bit round and soft-looking; her hair looks to be a blend of light cream brown or dusty pink depending on the lighting, and its tips curled up in some way. Her uniform appears to be a bit different from the standard one that Ultimate students wear; it's a bit hard to make out its exact features or even tell whether it was customized or not from this angle.

Those wide pink eyes stare back at his narrowed green ones, which only mirrors the awkwardness of their current situation. Neither of them try to speak up or make ways to break the ice.

It felt like a minute, but after a few seconds has passed, the silent tension is broken when that girl got the message. She steps back, giving back much of his personal space, and quietly leaves him be, immersing herself again in the game she was playing as a way of forgetting the chance encounter that happened only a moment ago.

He supposes he should do the same as well. He wouldn't mind forgetting about this odd encounter soon. Except that, there’s something about the game she was playing, as well as the hairpin she's wearing, that stirred up a memory or two. Maybe even a dozen.

Those were memories he held on so fondly. Nostalgic times flooded back in his mind as he immediately recalled the game's name. It's unmistakable.

"Gala Omega, huh?" Hajime lets the edge of his lips curve upward for a bit. Those lovely 8-bit noises as the enemy AIs are shot down were a dead giveaway. "It's been a while since I last played that."

The girl who by complete accident, got too close within his personal space, the same one who was also more than willing to forget their encounter shot right back towards him. Excitement and joy are evident in her voice as she spoke to him. "You played Gala Omega too?"

Hajime wants to answer her question, but thanks to her overwhelming enthusiasm, he's only able to reply with an "Uh..." And immediately after that, he's bombarded another question before he even manages to think of a proper answer for the first one.

"It's a classic, don't you think!?"

Once again, she clearly has never heard of the concept of personal space as she's meeting and talking him up almost literally face-to-face.

He defensively places his hands in front of him. "Yeah, yeah. I think I remember beating my high score a few times. Five times or so, actually."

"Really, you did?!" She actually looks surprised for a second there, backing up a bit and giving him space. "I've never met anyone who played that game as much I did before."

He inwardly shrugs. "To be fair, I haven't met a huge Gala Omega fan in a while either. I mean, the game's pretty old and obscure nowadays."

"I guess you're right about that last one." She admits, her stance relaxing as she goes back to her game. The game's high-pitched sound effects that played in the background serves as white noise. "It's simple in graphics and gameplay, so of course it's going to fall out when newer and more advanced games come out after it. But," She wistfully adds, "At the same time, even when it isn't as popular as it used to be, I'm sure there are still people who appreciate Gala Omega for what it is: a fun shooter game of its time. Even now, that game still holds a special place in my heart."

He swears he saw a small smile on her face.

He isn't sure what to say now after hearing such a heartfelt thought, so he kept quiet for a while, using a bit of that moment to investigate his surroundings. As he'd suspected, he did end up wandering further than he noticed, and when he looked up, he sees a building that might've been just as big as the main building of Hope's Peak.

His attention returns to the girl with him, now having a better sight on her uniform. White, long-sleeved blouse, red ribbon at the collar, and grayish black skirt. In addition to that, she also has a relatively simple, if a bit childish cat schoolbag with her. Aside from the difference in the outer uniform's fabric color, there's an uncanny resemblance to that of the Ultimates' style in uniforms.

"Hey," He calls her attention.

She responded with a "hm?" and turns to face him back, pausing her game.

"If you don't mind me asking, are you a student from here?"

Her shoulders shrug in response. "I've been here for months now, so I guess so."

"Then, can you tell me; are we near the Reserve Course Department?" When those words came out, the girl who's been somewhat neutral up to that point freezes up on the spot, something that isn't lost on him. It only lasts for a second or so.

After that, she sighs in resignation and nods. "Yeah, thanks for reminding me."

Hajime immediately realizes the mistake he made. He knows of how the reserve course classes were unlike that of the Ultimates'; of how they were all basically glorified ordinary kids who paid a huge sum of money just to get in without the need for being invited. Because of that, however, they don't have the same privileges as the Ultimates do.

He also knows how some reserve course students came to resent the Ultimate students for that.

'Shit, I must've hit something too close to home.'

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean that in a bad way." He lightly bows his head in apology.

She didn't look too upset about that, and he doesn't know if that made things better or worse. "It's fine, I got that a lot." She replies rather neutrally. "I'll get used to it, I think."

The girl he's with decides to take a seat on the nearby public bench that's in front of a fountain, opting to resume her game once again. At this point, his legs are a bit stiff and weary from walking and standing for hours now. "Hey, uh, you wouldn't mind if I take a seat there?"

"Sure, go ahead." is her simple reply. Hajime quietly thanked her and then occupies the vacant spot on the public bench, relaxing his stiff legs at last.

A minute of silence passes by. Neither made any sort of contact towards the other, aside from acknowledging the other's presence. The silence breaks when the girl beside him asked, rather bluntly and suddenly,

"You're an Ultimate student, right?"

Hajime hesitates to answer at first; he doesn't know how she might react if he told her the truth, or if he can make a convincing lie to someone's who's been civil up to now. Though, even if he tried, his uniform won't help to cover him up, anyway.

He eventually gives in to the first option. "Yeah, you're right about that. I am from the main course."

"What's it like?"

He isn't sure exactly what that question meant; it could mean anything from the privileges to just what it's like in general. As if reading his expression, she then clarifies, "Your classes, I mean."

It's tempting to laugh bitterly at that thought. "They're not as special as you think. I mean sure, having no mandatory classes at all is sweet, but on the other hand, our teacher's a useless drunk idiot, there's nothing much to do aside from that whole 'honing and bettering your talent better' bullshit, and my classmates..."

He takes a deep breath. "To be honest, I...I don't even know most of them. Plenty decided to do exactly that talent enhancing stuff. And the few who stuck around in classes, well, I know their names and talents and we get along for the most part, so I guess it's somewhat of an improvement. Until they decided to ditch class today before I got there, and, well...I guess I just went on my own."

"Was it really that bad? I can't imagine having friends do that to you."

"They're not my friends." He corrects in a tone lower than usual. He didn't have the heart to add 'Not even close.'

She stops pressing more on that topic, something he's grateful for. His head shaking, he then says, "You don't have to worry about it. As a whole, I can say they're still better compared to my old classmates."

"I'm guessing you don't want me to ask you about them?"

"Eh, there's nothing much to be talked about them." A low growl forms from his throat. "Of course, if you ignore the fact that for all the times they've called me a friend, they only really talk to me if they have a problem and want someone to hear them, but God forbid I ask the same from them."

She pauses her game, tucking it away in her bag as she realized the seriousness of this conversation.

"In other words, you're less of a true friend for those people, and more of someone they can personally use to vent with to make them feel better about themselves."

He chuckles bitterly. "When you put it that way, I guess that’s exactly what it sounds like!" He knows that he's slipping out more bitterness than he should, but he doesn't care anymore. All those bullshit he had to put up with had been repressed in for too long; it felt great to let out how he's really feeling. It's always, always, always all about putting others first. What about him? Who cares about the way he feels?

It's only until after he took several deep breaths that the realization sinks deeply in.

"And here I am," Hajime slumps over, shame slowly making its way to him. "Venting out my frustrations to someone who barely knows me." He places a palm over the side of his head. "Isn't that great? It makes me a goddamned hypocrite right now."

She replies in the firmest tone she can muster, "No, I don't think it does."

That simple platitude isn't enough to convince him. "Yeah right, what makes you say that?"

"I think it just means after listening to other people's burdens, you couldn't find someone who'd do the same for you. It's understandable to feel frustrated about it, especially after what you've been doing for them. I think."

He pauses. He can't deny the sincerity in her words, no matter how hopelessly naive it sounded.

Allowing himself to relax with a small smile, he then tells her with a hand stretched out for a handshake, "In that case, then I should thank you..."

'Crap, I forgot to ask her name earlier. Damn it, why did I forget something as important as that?!'

While he's mulling over it inside, thankfully the girl finished his sentence for him, placing her hand in his stretched out one. "Chiaki Nanami, just a simple reserve course student. And you're..."

"Hajime Hinata, the Ultimate Counselor." He introduces himself, taking her hand and gently shaking it. He notices Nanami's look of bewilderment and places a free hand at the back of his head. "Yeah, I know, it's really ironic. You can laugh if you want to."

She adamantly declines that offer. "I don't want to."

He lets out a laugh of relief. "That's great; if I'll be honest here, I don't want that either. Anyways, nice to meet you, Nanami."

"Nice to meet you too, Hinata."

The counselor catches uncertainty in her voice but decided to let that go. After that handshake, their hands departs from each other.

Hajime can definitely say that he's in a much, much better mood now. It helps that along with having a decent conversation that ended better than expected for the first time in months, years of repressed resentment are let out of his chest. Nothing can ruin all the great feelings he has at the moment.

"Wait," Nanami suspiciously glances over their surroundings. "Did you hear anyone screaming?"

That remark makes him check the area as well, but there's doubt at the back of his mind. "Screaming? No offense, but I'm sure it's just you—"

"Mitarai, please get back here!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCHO"

...And he's swiftly proven wrong by a chubby Ultimate student running in between him and the reserve course student in a flash. He's not sure which one's more ridiculous; the fact that the good mood he had just for a few moments at best was immediately ruined within less than a second or the fact that someone that heavy managed to give Olympic runners a literal run for their money. As if to rub salt in, not even a millisecond in, trailing up after the boy was a woman who's somewhere in her 20s he hadn't seen before, at least not around from here.

The woman only has an "Excuse me!" to say to him, sidetracking him as quickly as the student she'd been chasing. The force alone is enough to make Hajime fall forward from the bench. He's thankfully pulled up by Nanami before he can kiss the cold hard ground. He's close to cursing a thought out loud.

As the two remain standing, they aren't even given any time to recover from that trippy scene they've witnessed. The same woman from earlier comes back with an exhausted but beaming grin on her face, dragging along the now bound and gagged student by a rope on his feet, all while playing deaf to his muffled protests. "Whew, fourteen rotten oranges down, just one more rotten orange to go and I'll be—"

And then her eyes go over the duo, abruptly cutting herself off and pausing as if to recompose herself. She says while laughing awkwardly, "Oh, wow. That's awfully convenient!"

Freaky the way this lady's acting, there's something about this woman that's familiar, like he saw her face from somewhere before. It didn't stop Hajime's internal debate on whether he should call the police or not.

"Rotten...oranges?" Nanami lightly tilts her head.

"That's right!" The weirdly kind of creepy lady replies affirmatively. "The students I've been assigned to are a whole bunch of them; no one was even present in class to say hi to me." She mutters that last part, her eyes shaded while a menacing aura formed around her, unnerving the present students with her. Her cheery disposition returns not long after. "That being said, with enough rotten oranges, we can still make a big and nice youth jam, no matter how rotten they are!"

"Okay, first of all, I don't think that's how jams work." The counselor deadpans. "And second of all, what do you mean by 'students you've been assigned to'?"

She bumps a hand at the back of her head. "Oops, I almost forgot about that one. How silly of me." She clears her throat and places a fist on her chest, introducing herself. "My name is Chisa Yukizome, but you can call me Ms. Yukizome. And, as of today, I'm your new homeroom teacher!"

"..."

"..."

"...mmrrph..?"

Ms. Yukizome's once cheerful exterior gets flattened by the students' lack of a reaction. "...Was it something I said?"

It's most definitely the case for those two.

In Hajime's case though, his lack of a reaction is less because of the weird introduction and more on the fact that something about this lady's appearance is nagging on him, the said introduction only added more fuel onto it. There's the long auburn hair tied in a ponytail, the precise movements while running, the no doubt insane amount of strength appropriate for subduing and then dragging someone that heavy without breaking a sweat, her name being Chisa Yukizome...

It clicked.

"Wait a minute, I've seen you on TV before." He ignores the look of incoming nervousness from his presumed new teacher. Said teacher looks like she's a second away from yelling when he asks her, "You're the former Ultimate Boxer, Chisa 'The Feral Woman' Yukizome, right?"

And yell she did.

"EEEEHHH! People still call me by that RIDICULOUS TITLE!?" Miss Yukizome, who's also embarrassingly known as 'The Feral Woman' in the ring, as well as the former Ultimate Boxer of Class 74, screeches with a high pitch in indignation.

"It's not really a big deal."

"That actually sounds neat, I think."

"Yes, it is! And NO, it's not! Please, no more talking about it!"

The topic is then dropped, partly because it'll get nowhere if it's kept up, and partly because offending someone who's not only a former boxer, but the former Ultimate Boxer is a universally agreed Bad Idea. She thanks them for that and exhales in relief.

"Now that I've introduced myself," Ms. Yukizome moves over to the male student. "You must be Hajime Hinata, right?"

"That's me."

Ms. Yukizome momentarily lays her focus on the other one, taking notice of her different uniform. "And your friend here is..?"

In contrast with Hajime who replied almost immediately, it takes her a moment to do the same. When she did reply, she avoids meeting the adult's gaze. "Chiaki Nanami. I'm...I'm from the reserve course."

The teacher regards her with a kind smile. "It's nice to meet you too, Nanami." The reserve course student didn't return it.

Refocusing on her targeted student, she then tells them both, "Anyways, I'd hate to cut your meeting short but I need to get Hinata back to class, okay?" She taps a finger at her right wrist. "We can't keep everyone back in class waiting for too long, you know."

Ms. Yukizome expectantly looks over the two students once more, patiently waiting.

"I guess this is goodbye, then." Nanami didn't face anyone in particular, absentmindedly staring on the pavement.

Hajime had a feeling there's more to those words. His mind went back to the conversation they had earlier. Short as it was, it did more than enough easing up both parties. He won't mind talking with her again; she's nice enough and actually willing to hear him out.

"Even if it is, I don't think it has to stay that way if you don't want it to." He faces towards her direction and tells her with the utmost sincerity, "I mean, I can go and see you here again, right?"

Though not returning eye contact, she replies with a simple, but perhaps a bit hopeful, "Maybe."

"Then it's settled. I'll see you tomorrow."

Hajime turns to leave; Ms. Yukizome raises an arm in a way which suggested she'll carry him over her shoulder, only for him to hastily put her arm down with both of his hands, right before she can make any attempts to do so. "Thanks, but I can walk."

"That's fine with me." The teacher then grabs hold of his hand like that of a parent to a child, gently dragging him along with Mitarai, the round student now silent as he's dragged ungraciously over the ground.

After they're at least a meter away, Hajime looks back to see Nanami staring back at him.

She lightly raises a hand, slightly higher above the level of her shoulder, shyly waving at him.

Her eyes widen when he waves back at her.

"Didn't think you'd actually bail on us one day, but here you are." Kuzuryu grumbles, arms crossed. Hajime didn't even bother to make a smart retort towards his classmate when he got back inside with Ms. Yukizome in tow.

At the same time, he notices the dirty look Kuzuryu directed towards not him, but the adult; he should probably ask her what he missed later. Also, was it just him, or did the classroom look ten times cleaner than it was during the past months? Suddenly Kuzuryu's moodiness became a whole lot clearer.

He wastes no time taking a spot on one of the vacant seats; the seat is at the last row on his left side with a window facing that same side. This seat also happens to be the same one he'd grown accustomed with since the first day. During that time period, Kuzuryu poked fun at him a few times for that. ("Are you thinking of yourself as the main character of a light novel?" She once told him with a snicker.)

The counselor also notices that compared to the past months he'd spent in here, the classroom is unbelievably filled to the brim with various Ultimate students. There are those, of course, he'd already been in presence with, others whom he only faintly remembered after seeing them in person again, and a few whom he didn't recall at all.

Their new teacher stands in front behind her desk. "Alright, everyone. I know that you've all—" The students only hear, "Blah blah blah rotten oranges blah blah blah wasting your youth blah blah blah spending time together blah blah blah blah—"

After they mentally skim over most the speech directed towards them, Ms. Yukizome concludes her grand speech with a cheerful, "Now with all of that out of the way, why don't we all start over and re-introduce ourselves to make everyone more familiar with each other?"

A collective set of groans resonate within the class.

"Hey, don't give me that! Show me some more enthusiasm, everyone! Come on, where's your spirit of youth?"

In the end, everyone, a few reluctant, comply with their teacher's pestering and introduced themselves for the second time. Hajime tunes out the introductions of those whom he already knew but he did pay a bit more attention to others he didn't. If Ms. Yukizome is serious about her goal, then it's a good idea for him to remember his classmates' names and talents.

Once his turn came, he stands up, walks to the front facing his classmates, and says for the second time since he came to Hope's Peak Academy,

"My name is Hajime Hinata, and I'm the Ultimate Counselor."

'I know it's not much, but here's to hoping we get along a bit better. At the same time, I'll be lying if I said my fingers aren't crossed.'

Chapter Text

"Miss Chisa Yukizome, correct?" Mr. Kirigiri stares at the application form before him with a raised brow.

The bright young woman who sat in front of his desk nods. "Yep, that's me."

The headmaster hums, trying to think on how to tactfully voice his thoughts without offending her. "So, Ms. Yukizome, I'm not saying there's anything wrong with it or that I doubt your abilities. It's just that, it's a little unusual for a graduated Ultimate like you to...uh..." He clears his throat. "Well...choose this kind of career path that's so different from their comfort zone."

"Oh, is that so?" Chisa's chipper tone remains the same, but it didn't mean that the headmaster's words flew over her head, far from it, actually. "I don't see any problems with that, honestly. Personally, I feel that teaching the next generation of Ultimate students would be a lot more productive use of my time rather than spending most of it in the ring."

Mr. Kirigiri nods and clasps his hands. "I see. Either way, I truly appreciate you coming in to take over Kizakura's teaching duty."

As soon as the scout heard his friend mention him by name, he chortles. "I've told Jin many times before, I'm just not cut for a teaching role. Didn't listen, and now look what happened."

Deciding not to entertain his old friend, Mr. Kirigiri then asserts, "A friendly reminder for you, Ms. Yukizome. Starting exactly next week, you'll be replacing Kizakura as the homeroom teacher of Class 77-B."

Chisa gratefully bows in turn. "Thank you, Mr. Kirigiri." As the former Ultimate turns to leave the room, Kizakura catches her attention with a,

"Hey."

The woman turns her head back towards him.

Kizakura tells her with a little bit of weariness in his tone, "Yukizome, if you're truly serious about taking over next week, I'm gonna have to give you a little reminder. A helpful tip from one teacher to another, if you will."

"Go on, I'm listening." She affirms as she retains her eye contact with him.

"Once you see the kind of things those kids get into," Kizakura raises an empty flask and shakes it to further emphasize his point. "You'll probably start wanting to have a drink or two. They're crazy even by Ultimate standards."

Judging by how the soon-to-be teacher responded to his piece of wisdom, he isn't sure whether Chisa took him seriously or not. Meh, not like it'll matter next week; he'll surely know by then.

"Thanks for the advice, Kizakura," Chisa says with a short laugh as she confidently raises a fist up. "But I know I've got this handled in a jiffy!"

And just like that, she's gone off of the office.

'Huh, that's a bold statement for someone who never taught a single batch of students before to say.' Koichi closes his eyes as he heard the former Ultimate leave the headmaster's office. He sighs out loud. 'Hopefully, Yukizome has whatever it takes to back that claim up.'

Handling troublesome teenagers are a completely different set of beasts compared to bigger, more experienced boxers, after all. He knows for certain that one of them is less complicated to handle with fewer packs of canned worms to boot.

A week later, Chisa thought it'd be a good idea to make her grand entrance by slamming the door open with enough force and flair, but not so much it'd make the door fall off its hinges. A big, cheery grin goes wide on her face as she announces, "Good morning, everyone!"

The newly-appointed teacher expected the great silence that came after. Her new students must be very confused right now; she can picture a couple of them wondering what the heck happened to Mr. Kizakura even with her eyes closed.

'Huh, that's weird.' Her new students are oddly quiet, maybe a little too quiet for her comfort, for quite some time now. Were they a little too shocked to say anything? How awkward; she knew she should've toned her introduction down quite a bit.

When she opens her eyes, she expected to see small groups or even a couple or handful of students around on their desks. The outlines of where the students should've been continuously blink once or twice in her mind.

"Where is everyone?!" She screams. If no one has heard of what pure indignation sounded like before, they'd surely do know if they heard her right then.

Kizakura did warn her a few times that most of his now-former students barely showed up to class, and only around a quarter of them stuck around because they felt bad for him. She expected to at least see those same students, only for them to be gone as well! As upsetting all of that sounds, that's only the beginning.

If there is truly one thing that gets on her nerves more, that same thing inside the classroom is what triggered Chisa even worse than her new students' total absence for the day. Oh no, there's something so bad it overtook that aspect. Simply put, the classroom is filthy in more ways than one!

The student desks? Dusty! The teacher's desk? Even dustier! The blackboard? Chokeful of chalk and dragged in dust! The wall and the floor? All of those messes above coupled with even more dust!

Most importantly, how did a cricket or even more of them managed to get inside the classroom? Were the students of this class so, so bad, they even started to neglect their own cleaning duties?!

'Unacceptable!' Chisa fumes on the inside so much, smoke might as well rise out of her ears and her forehead can be used to heat some tea while she's at it. 'Completely unacceptable!'

The former Ultimate rapidly shakes her fist towards the ceiling. "I'll get those rotten oranges out of their funk, even if I have to drag them out there myself!"

Somewhere within the school grounds, a handful of Ultimates can't help but feel something run down their spines at the exact same time. They all have one collective thought for that.

'Where did that come from?'

To start things off, Chisa had decided to start things off with at least four of the missing students. Once again, according to what Kizakura had mentioned once or twice in passing prior, only six of them bothered to show up to class. She conveniently left out two of those students, intending to save them for later if she can.

For now, her targets are the following but not necessarily in order: Natsumi Kuzuryu, Mikan Tsumiki, Mahiru Koizumi, and Hiyoko Saionji.

One half of them were easy to pick up. Tsumiki was such a dear to handle (even though she wouldn't stop squealing in fear and apologizes so much) and although Koizumi had been suspicious of her at first, she eventually came around and agreed to follow her back to the classroom. The other half, however...

Chisa will have to say it's a good thing that Kuzuryu separated herself from her bodyguard for today, otherwise, that'd make things harder. The yakuza may have barked a lot, but without Pekoyama around, she could only grumble as she resigned herself to following the odd group back.

As for Saionji, well, on the plus side, Kuzuryu took great satisfaction in hearing the nurse goblin's unholy screaming as wriggled around the teacher's surprisingly strong and steady grasp. That same nurse goblin had countless attempts to try and free herself by repeatedly smacking the back of Ms. Yukizome. The former boxer didn't react to those attempts and if anything, she didn't seem to mind at all.

That fact didn't please Saionji at all and only made the nurse double down her efforts even more.

The weird group isn't even close to going at least halfway back to their classroom when Saionji gave up, though it isn't out of willingness on her part.

"What the hell, is her back made of cement or something?" Saionji curses out loud, refusing to let her tears fall through. "Why did Hope's Peak let a monster like her in?!"

Koizumi sympathetically glances at her friend. Tsumiki might've felt a little bad seeing the nurse's petite knuckles turn red and swollen. Kuzuryu internally milks the sweet dish for all its worth.

Saionji didn't stop pouting around even after Chisa graciously let her go inside the classroom.

For now, Chisa only told them the basics. Yes, Kizakura will no longer be their homeroom teacher as of today. Yes, starting today, she's taking over his position and it'll stay that way until their graduation. No, it isn't negotiable.

Full introductions can wait later, once everyone else had been picked up too. Before turning to leave, Chisa wipes the desk's surface with an index finger and grew positively miffed at the thick layer of dust that coated it. "By the way, the classroom better be spick and span before I get back here, which should be around noon after lunch."

"After lunch?!" Kuzuryu balks, eyes wide. "That's insane. You can't make us do that!"

As much as Saionji hates to admit it, for the first time since they've met, she finds herself agreeing with the yakuza heiress, even if internally. She didn't dare to voice that out loud; she's not as dumb as that braindead blonde.

That immediately prove to be a wise decision when their new teacher turns around, facing down Kuzuryu with a smile.

"Oh my, oh my." Chisa's facial expression remains completely unchanged. While inching her face closer, she continues to wear the same friendly smile with the equally inviting closed eyes as she definitely, non-maliciously asks, "Will you kindly tell me why I can't do that, Kuzuryu?"

The yakuza heiress would've, should've made any sort of aggressive retorts by now. She tries to say a word, anything, but no matter how hard she tried, her mouth remains shut.

It didn't make things better when she feels the new teacher grabs onto one shoulder with enough force to tell her she's only warming up.

"Come on, you shouldn't feel so shy." Her tone still remains so sickeningly sweet. She opens one eye, as if to size her up. "Don't tell me you're getting cold feet right now."

That's the first time Koizumi heard Kuzuryu squeal with a high-pitched "Eeeep!" That's also the first time Koizumi, or anyone in that room for that matter, sees the usually haughty yakuza heiress to completely break down and lose all color.

If what Ms. Yukizome said turned out to be true, and she'd be their teacher until they graduated, it won't be the last time either.

The yakuza metaphorically gave up the ghost, so to speak, around the same time Chisa confidently left them to do their new task. No one comforted Kuzuryu about that in any way.

As for the remaining students currently left to their own devices, the new teacher is on her way to pick and send them back to their classroom. It won't be easy, not with the school being so big; each and every single one of those students could be anywhere. But hey, that's totally fine! She's used to this.

The exact details all about rounding up the rest of Class 77-B will probably get old real quick, especially if done in rapid succession, so it's best to skim to the main points as to not bore people out with repetitive details.

At least around ten or so students were completely by themselves. The rest were in a small group of two. The latest wrangles, Sonia Nevermind and Gundham Tanaka, Ultimate Swordswoman, and Ultimate Team Manager, respectively, fell into the latter group. Chisa found them inside the gym, presumably training, no, scratch that, they were definitely training. The gym equipment might've been wrecked and the walls were lined up with all sorts of strange-looking symbols, but it was really cool and exciting to watch them go at it!

Chisa mentally checkes over the students she'd met and then promptly sent back. Once she mentally tallied over their names, she then says to herself, "Alright, two more rotten students left to go."

Which now leads her to one of the student's dorms. She politely but firmly knocks onto the wooden door, calling out, "Hellooo, is Mitarai in there? If you're not in there, just let me know."

A beat.

Chisa waits.

Another beat.

As expected, she hears a voice call out, "I'm not here!" She smiles as she fondly shook her head. Ryota Mitarai, the Ultimate Mangaka, is one of those classic recluses, or so she'd heard.

Back inside his room, Mitarai hastily puts away his endless supplies of papers and pens. He nervously glances back and forth between his room's door and windows. After thinking about it, he opens his dorm's window, preparing to jump out of there himself—

"Huh," The round boy stops himself mid-step, dumbfounded as he meets almost face-to-face with Chisa. "How did you get there so fast?"

She shrugs. "I was about to jump in since you didn't want to answer the door, but it looks like you beat me to it."

The mangaka takes a step back. "Oh, in that case..."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH"

Chisa keeps up with him. She never thought that a guy like Mitarai somehow managed to outrun someone like her even with a headstart. And now, they're both outside to who knows where. "Mitarai, please get back here!"

"GET AWAY FROM ME YOU PSYCHO" Mitarai screams.

Currently, he's roughly two meters away from her in distance. He's a good runner, she'll admit that. Too bad for him, it isn't good enough. It didn't take long for her to zero closer onto him.

While in doing so, she narrowly tries her best to avoid the two students who happened to be in the way. "Excuse me!" She didn't stop even for less than a second to check on them; she'll apologize later, she swears.

"Don't worry," Chisa calls out, closing in at least a foot behind the student she chased. "It's not like I'm carrying anything sharp!"

Mitarai turns his head back behind her to screech, "THAT'S NOT THE POINT AND YOU KNOW THAT"

In the end, no matter how fitting his running skills will be in a future Olympic event, a mangaka still isn't a match for a former boxer in terms of endurance.

Chisa unwittingly steps back into the view of the two bystanders she nearly crashed over, all with an exhausted but beaming smile on her as she drags the now tied-up and gagged Mitarai. It might've been a practical joke gift, but who knew that these items Juzo gave her a year ago will come in handy one day?

Wiping her forehead, she exclaims, "Whew, fourteen rotten oranges down, just one more rotten orange to go and I'll be—" And then her eyes goes over the duo, the same pair she and Mitarai passed by a moment ago. Now that she's no longer chasing after Mitarai, a big revelation comes over her as she closely examined the two. She ends up abruptly cutting herself off and pausing as if to recompose herself. She says while laughing awkwardly, "Oh, wow. That's awfully convenient!"

"Rotten...oranges?" The girl beside Hinata repeats in confusion.

Chisa ends up nodding without thinking first. "That's right! The students I've been assigned to are a whole bunch of them; no one was even present in class to say hi to me." She mumbles that last part; the memory, as recent as it might've been, has not left her. Shaking that off, she returns to her chipper self. "That being said, with enough rotten oranges, we can still make a big and nice youth jam, no matter how rotten they are!"

The boy snarks, "Okay, first of all, I don't think that's how jams work. And second of all, what do you mean by 'students you've been assigned to'?"

She bumps a hand at the back of her head. Of course, she nearly forgot to do the most important thing. "Oops, I almost forgot about that one. How silly of me." She clears her throat and places a fist on her chest. "My name is Chisa Yukizome, but you can call me Ms. Yukizome. And, as of today, I'm your new homeroom teacher!"

"..."

"..."

"...mmrrph..?"

The awkward tension that set in flattens Chisa's cheerful demeanor. "...Was it something I said?"

It didn't help when she sees the male student had a look of recognition on his face. "Wait a minute," He begins, directly looking into her face. "I've seen you on TV before."

Within her mind, Chisa repeatedly begs the student not to remind her. 'No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. No no no no no no no no no please don't say it please don't say it please don't say please don't pleasedon'tsayit I'm begging you—'

"You're the former Ultimate Boxer, Chisa 'The Feral Woman' Yukizome, right?"

Annnndddd he did anyway.

Moments of humiliation and embarrassment came flooding back to Chisa harder than a train. She’s inches away from screaming into his face, "EEEEHHH! People still call me by that RIDICULOUS TITLE!?" Sure, it's not as bad as a few other titles she received, but still!

"It's not really a big deal."

"That actually sounds neat, I think."

"Yes, it is!" She desperately counters. "And NO, it's not! Please, no more talking about it!"

Rather mercifully, none of them decided to press the topic any further. Chisa sighs gratefully. "Now that I've introduced myself," She moves over to the male student. "You must be Hajime Hinata, right?"

"That's me." He confirmed.

Chisa momentarily laid her focus on the other one, taking notice of her different uniform. Instead of being a bright brown like the Ultimates' uniforms, this new student's leaned on a borderline black. It lets her know that this student, unlike Hinata, is from the reserve course. "And your friend here is..?"

In contrast with Hinata who replied almost immediately, it takes her a moment to do the same. When she did reply, she avoids looking Chisa in the eye. "Chiaki Nanami. I'm...I'm from the reserve course."

With that fact confirmed, she then says in turn, "It's nice to meet you too, Nanami." Chisa flashes the student with a friendly smile. She inwardly wilts when the student doesn't return it.

Refocusing onto Hinata, she then tells them both, "Anyways, I'd hate to cut your meeting short but I need to get Hinata back to class, okay?" She taps a finger at her right wrist a few times to mimic a wristwatch. "We can't keep everyone back in class waiting for too long, you know."

She sees the reserve course student, Nanami, look away from them both. "I guess this is goodbye, then."

"Even if it is," Hinata did his best to look towards her to convey his genuine words. "I don't think it has to stay that way if you don't want it to. I mean, I can go and see you here again, right?"

Chisa decides not to interfere between the two, letting them say goodbye to each other first. As soon as she hears them promise to see each other again tomorrow, the teacher went over to Hinata.

While holding the rope that kept Mitarai by her side, she raises her other arm to try and carry him over her shoulder, only for Hinata to hastily put that arm down with both hands. "Thanks, but I can walk."

"That's fine with me." is what she replies with while taking a hold of one his hands, gently pulling Hinata with her alongside the still-tied up Mitarai, who's also still being dragged on the floor.

While on their way back to class, Chisa thought back about earlier. 'That reserve course student looked so miserable. I can't imagine what their classes are putting them through.'

As much as she felt sorry for that kid, Chisa didn't have precious time to spare to dwell on that. It's not like she could do anything, as much as she wanted to do something.

She has her own class to worry about now, after all.

Once she led Hinata and Mitarai (now untied and thankfully wouldn't try to run away again anytime soon, not unless he wants to re-experience that) back inside, Chisa mentally did a headcount on everyone inside. Fifteen of them in total, and from what she'd seen so far, no one tried to leave while she was gone.

In addition to that, not a single speck of dust is stuck anywhere anymore. She pretends not to pay any attention to the death glare Kuzuryu is directing towards her.

Now that the classroom's all tidied up and everyone is back here again, surely everything will go swell for this class now. Chisa knows it.

Chisa steps right in front of her desk and begins her heartfelt speech. She can easily tell that no one's truly paying attention to her, that's what teenagers do at that age; even she was guilty of that at some point. It didn't stop her from pouring as much passion as she can into it, however.

She ends her heavily underappreciated speech with, "Now with all of that out of the way, why don't we all start over and re-introduce ourselves to make everyone more familiar with each other?"

The teacher has already prepared herself to hear unenthusiastic groans from her new students. That's okay, though.

"Hey, don't give me that!" She calls out to them. "Show me some more enthusiasm, everyone! Come on, where's your spirit of youth?"

Chapter Text

Today is officially the second day Ms. Yukizome had arrived, replacing Mr. Kizakura's role as Class 77-B's homeroom teacher. Compared to her predecessor, well…she's definitely had some very, VERY different ideas on approaching students. As far as everyone's first impression of her went, all they can say is that it left a pretty damned big impact during her first day's (mandatory, if Hajime might add) redone class introductions.

Speaking of first impressions, when he sees the way some of his classmates flinched towards Ms. Yukizome before the start of class, Hajime thought his mind was playing tricks on him at first. Sure, she used to be a boxer and a former Ultimate student at that, but she can't be that bad, right? He can understand why Mitarai still feels nervous around her (and honestly, who wouldn't be after being tied up, dragged along the ground, and overall being manhandled by someone who looks silly and harmless at first?)

But for someone like Kuzuryu? He isn't sure if he wanted to know. Then again, neither he nor his classmates know what to expect from their new teacher anymore. One thing is for certain, one that he's sure he'll keep in mind for this school year and the next ones if he survives this one.

'Never let my guard down.'

Hajime continuously reminds himself about that as he and everyone else in the class stared at Ms. Yukizome's next oncoming hjink. Whatever is in store for them, he's sure everyone else had a bad feeling about it too.

"Uh, Ms. Yukizome?" Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Volunteer if Hajime remembers correctly, raises his hand. "...what's up with the box?"

The counselor figures that it felt fitting that a guy like Komaeda is the one who spoke up first about that. It helps that his talent is, well, it's pretty self-explanatory.

Ms. Yukizome turns towards the volunteer with her typical attempt of a motherly smile. "Oh! You're the first one to point that out. I'm surprised no one commented about it."

'Maybe it's because no one in here wants to somehow piss you off or worse?' The counselor inwardly deadpans. He didn't make an outward show of it, though; there's no harm in being too careful.

"To answer your question, Komaeda," She begins, gesturing an arm towards the box. "I've placed several pieces of paper inside. Each paper is folded in half and inside each one, is a number. I could tell you what it's for but—" Their teacher playfully places a finger over her lips. "There'd be no fun in that, don't you think?"

'Great. Now I'm even more concerned.'

Ms. Yukizome then gestures towards the student who asked about the whole thing first, complete with sweetness laced in her tone. "Komaeda, if you'll be so kind, would it be okay for you to go first?"

There isn't even a second of hesitation. "Oh, sure." Komaeda gets up from his desk. "I don't mind."

'Don't worry Komaeda,' Hajime salutes in his mind. 'I don't think your selflessness will backfire on you for today.'

"Oh, and by the way," Ms. Yukizome asked, "Is it alright if no one opens the papers until I make sure everyone has one?"

Though the question wasn't personally directed towards him, Komaeda answered with a smile and shrug. "It's okay. That sounds reasonable."

Call it paranoia, call it a gut feeling; Hajime can't help but have a feeling their teacher set Komaeda to go up first on purpose. If it were anyone else, they wouldn't be as willing and so, make everyone else just as uncomfortable. It'd be even worse if it was someone like Kuzuryu.

Once the first bite is in, it's only natural the others would follow. When his turn came, Hajime inwardly sighs as he quickly plucks one folded piece of paper from the box to get things over with.

As soon as everyone's accounted for, Ms. Yukizome then tells them, "Alright, everyone! You can open your papers now. If your number matches, please group together as soon as possible!"

When everyone eerily began opening up their folded papers, Hajime resigns himself to his fate. He can only hope things don't end up a train wreck today.

"I-I'm so s-sorry!" Tsumiki wails. "I-I shouldn't h-have i-imposed!"

"No, it's okay." Komaeda is trying his best to placate her. "It's alright, really. No need to apologize, please."

Souda, the Ultimate Animal Breeder, repeatedly chants a mantra to himself. His fingers twitch in a mix of anxiety and anticipation as he slowly unfolds his chosen piece of paper. "Please be Miss Sonia." He softly repeats, "Please be Miss Sonia. Please be Miss Sonia. Please be Miss Sonia—" His head shoots up with a full grin, fully expecting to be paired up with her—

His grin dramatically drops and deforms as quickly as it was made.

Ms. Yukizome, completely oblivious to the spoiled mood, sneaks in to take a peek towards his partner, and then towards their unfolded papers. "Oh, looks you like you got Hinata as your partner for today, Souda!" She delightfully clapps her hands.

Hajime has no idea how to feel towards this weird arrangement.

Souda has a face that wanted to scream at the heavens.

For the next pair that shortly followed, Sonia graces her chosen partner with a polite smile. "I believe that this shall become the start of a beautiful friendship between us, Koizumi." She holds her hand out. "This is the standard custom in greeting, correct?"

"Sure." Koizumi takes her hand, replying fairly amicably. "Guess so."

Souda sulks into the corner, the color drained from his body even when his two rats kept rubbing their tiny noses against his neck to try and cheer him up just a little bit. Hajime feels awkward throughout the whole phase.

Hajime visibly winces when he saw the next pair that formed.

"What in the actual fuck!?" Kuzuryu shoots a glare towards the pint-sized nurse. "There's no way in hell I'm going near that lolicon bait!"

The feeling is mutual, as Saoinji protests just as loudly, if not more. "Ms. Yukizome, you can't seriously put me next to that bitch! Especially not after you just heard her call me that!"

"Oh?" Ms. Yukizome somehow looks genuinely confused, but for all they know, it could be just an act. "But look how well you two are getting along."

"NO! WE'RE NOT!" The two equally bratty and childish blondes insist. Their agreement only sparks an even more heated argument.

Meanwhile, as Tanaka introduces himself in his usual bombastic Eighth Grader Syndrome way, Pekoyama hadn't fully paid attention to that. Instead, she looked as if she wanted to leave right away to help the young mistress. Except, somehow Tanaka took that either as a challenge or a big offense towards him. Maybe even both.

Either way, it was obnoxious, and so, Hajime tunes out their one-sided conversation. It's too damned early for him to get migraines on this day.

It's kind of creepy, to watch the way Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Gardener, talk and make suggestive moves towards Nekomaru Nidai, the Ultimate Cook. Hajime has no idea whether to feel bad that Nidai got stuck with the creepy gardener, or feel relieved that it's Hanamura who got stuck with the muscle-bound cook instead of anyone else.

Compared to everyone else, the last group that formed is composed of three students rather than two. It felt less like they're together due to matching numbers and more like because they're the only ones left, and so they had to stick together or else one of them would be left out. If other guys saw Mitarai, they'd probably remark how lucky he is to be grouped with two girls. Those two were Akane Owari and Ibuki Mioda, Ultimate Blacksmith, and Ultimate Pianist, respectively.

And so, that concludes their haphazardly-made groups.

He can't understand what the hell their teacher was thinking. Somehow, Ms. Yukizome thought that 'having a random tag-along buddy' might've sounded like it could be a good way to start fostering friendships between his classmates. To be fair, it did sound good on paper.

In actuality, Hajime felt like he doesn't need to explain why he knows that idea will fall flat on its face sooner than later.

Now that their respective groups have been settled, things have been a bit-okay, a lot-awkward ever since. Well sure, some are coping with it better compared to others (he can hear a few of the disastrous groups going off in the background), but as for him?

Hajime stares at the window that's right by his seat's side, pretending to pay attention to what's happening outside instead of the guy poking his shoulder.

His classmate didn't stop with the poking. "Hey, so you're Hinata, right?"

Poke. Poke. Poke.

"This is kinda weird to ask since we've had to redo our introductions yesterday, but do you remember me?" That same classmate asks. The pokes haven't slowed down even a bit. "You remember me, right?"

He had a feeling that those pokes won't stop anytime soon. As he questioned all of his life choices that led to this, Hajime takes a deep breath but doesn't turn around to face that classmate.

"You're Kazuichi Souda, aren't you?" A little bit of annoyance is laced in his voice as he says that. "Ultimate Animal Breeder?"

"Ah, so you did remember!" That classmate lets out a relieved chuckle. "That's good. I was about to go and tell you my name again."

'Do I look like a goldfish to you?' is what Hajime had been tempted to reply with. But since he's in a classroom and that classmate's pretty harmless for now, he reins that biting reply in. Instead, he replies with, "No, it's okay. It'd be rude of me if I forgot about it after you've told everyone twice now." On the inside, he follows it up with, 'Then again, I did forget about you the first time, but that was months ago.'

That boy adjusts his seat, leaning a bit closer to him. "So, you're the Ultimate Counselor, right?"

Okay, maybe a bit too close. What's up with everyone and their lack of personal space when it came to him? "As far as I remember, that's what the school assigned my talent as. Why did you ask?"

"Well, I was wondering…" That classmate follows it up with, "Your job is to talk to a lot and different kinds of people, right?"

"I'm pretty sure that's what a counselor is." He deadpans.

That flies over that classmate's head. "Then," That classmate grabs onto his shoulders without warning, nearly making them meet from eye-to-eye. "Can you help me with approaching Miss Sonia?!"

Even for a whisper, that was pretty loud; it's kinda impressive no one else in the class heard that. "The Ultimate Swordswoman, right? You ever tried talking with her before?"

"I can't do that!"

He raises a brow. "Why not? I mean, yeah, carrying a fake weapon around would make anyone a little bit intimidating, but she's still our classmate—"

That classmate interrupted him with a quarter-whisper, mostly-screech, “Are you forgetting she’s from another country? I’d look stupid in front of her if I did that!”

A few beats of silence goes by them.

'Oh, that explains everything.' He mulls over that, before going with, 'Except it doesn't!'

"Come on, Hinataaa," That classmate begins to rapidly shake his shoulders, voice full of desperation. "You've got to help meeeee…"

Thankfully, the shaking wasn't strong enough to make him dizzy, but it still didn't feel nice to have that happen in the first place. "Okay, okay, I'll see what I can do."

"You mean it?" That classmate immediately stops shaking him. Light shines in his eyes. "You really mean it?"

He nods. "Yeah, I mean it." Inwardly, he grimaces at the situation he got himself into. 'Please don't make me regret this.'

The plan should be simple. It is simple; all that classmate of his has to do is approach Sonia like a normal person does; overall, he must act natural. It'll happen right before lunchtime.

It's so simple; it should be doable even for a guy like that classmate he's stuck with.

He doesn't want to jinx things but come on. No one is dense enough to screw that up, right?

Right?

It's right around fifteen minutes before noon.

Hajime remains in his seat, observing from afar as he watched that guy walk over to Koizumi and Sonia's seats. 'So far, he isn't freaking out like I thought he would by now. That's good.'

"Yo!" Souda greets as he waves a hand. "Hey there, Miss Sonia!"

At the sudden greeting, Sonia momentarily pauses her lively conversation with the artist. She faces him. "Oh, Souda, what brings you here?"

"Well, I—uh," Souda nervously begins, twiddling his thumbs around, "I was wondering if, you know, maybe we can—"

Koizumi rudely cuts in with a dismissive gesture, "Whatever you're about to say, she's not interested."

'Well, that looks bad.' Hajime notes. 'There's always next time, so I think backing out, for now, would be the safest option.'

"Hey, I wasn't talking to you!' Souda suddenly snaps towards the artist.

Just as Koizumi is about to retort back, Sonia places a hand in front of her. "That's alright, Koizumi, allow me to handle this." Refocusing on the boy, she doesn't notice the hope that she unintentionally built up for him. Clearing her throat, she then tells him, "I hate to sound rude at the moment, I truly, truly do, but would you kindly leave us be?"

The hopeful smile that was once on Souda's face starts to falter. "Oh, um, uh, why? Was it something I said?"

The counselor remains completely stumped in his seat. 'What the hell are you doing?' If things get worse, the swordswoman could easily bat or even whack her fake weapon against Souda if she wanted to; not hard enough to cause serious damage, but firm enough to send a warning.

Thankfully, it didn't come to that, but at a cost.

"Hey, will you quit that already!?" Koizumi shouts at him so suddenly and forcefully. "Can't you see she doesn't want anything to do with you, you creep!"

"You creep."

Those two words held so much impact on Souda at that moment. The animal breeder's mouth is agape, his body completely still, and his mind, totally blank.

"You creep. You creep. You creep. You creep. You creep."

"Creep. Creep. Creep. Creep. Creep. Creep. Creep."

Those words repeatedly echo, taunting him in his mind. And then, those very words shot straight into his chest.

That classmate collapses onto the floor by his knees. The two girls he was speaking with only seconds ago completely forgot about him.

From his seat, Hajime puts his palm over his head as he shakes in disapproval.

'Well, first of all, that was a disaster. Second of all, my God, this guy is more hopeless than I thought.' Hajime sets his sight towards the moping boy. 'I don't know whether I should feel revolted or sad for him.'

Souda gives up his ghost shortly after that.

.

..

...

Lunchtime came shortly after that disaster.

For the trouble his classmate stirred up (plus Koizumi's overzealous complaints, which didn't help their case), Ms. Yukizome sent them on an errand to go and buy some snacks and drinks for everyone.

At least she was nice enough to provide them with money for it, instead of making them pay with their own pockets.

It doesn't mean he's happy with the 'assignment' of getting meals for everyone. Now that he thought about it, it's unnecessary because they have a classmate who's literally the best chef in there with them.

"Hinata," Souda mumbles right next to him. His arms hang limply as his body carelessly slouches over; he's still sulking over it. "I'm sorry. I screwed it up so bad."

Sighing as his classmate wallows in self-pity, Hajime lightly pats his back. "Hey, don't beat yourself over it. It's kinda my fault too; I didn't warn you about Koizumi beforehand."

Souda lets his lips tug up into a small smile. "Heh, you're right." The animal breeder pumps his fist up. "Next time, I'll get to ask her out! Just you wait!" His two rats squeak from his pockets, cheering him as well.

'That was fast.' Hajime then remarks, "I think you should focus on making Sonia less uncomfortable around you first, and then getting to be friends with her."

"Right, you're right." Souda nods his head in complete agreement.

At the moment, the two are outside of the buildings but remained rather close to the school's property. As they look for any nearby vending machines, something pulls at the back of Hajime's mind. He can't help but think, it feels like he's forgetting about something. But, what was it?

He closes his eyes, rummaging the deepest parts of his mind to try and look for what it was. He wonders if he should forget about it altogether if he can't figure out what it was.

"Hey, I found a vending machine! Let's go over there!"

It's only once he hears his classmate's voice call out to him that he finally remembers. As soon as he did, Hajime mentally kicked himself in the head a hundred times over. 'Crap, I was so caught up with everything today, I almost forgot about what I've promised!'

He doesn't follow his classmate. "Hey Souda, mind if you pass the drinks to everyone first?"

"Wait, what—" Souda stops himself mid-run, turning his head back towards him. "What's wrong?"

Hajime tries to think of a perfectly good excuse. Scrunching his face up the best way he could, he clutches his stomach. "I'm sorry, but…" He fakes a grunt. "I…I have to use the bathroom. Don't worry, I'll…I'll try to be back as soon as I can."

"Is it that bad?" At his nod, Souda holds a thumb up. "Go on right ahead, Hinata! I'll explain everything to Ms. Yukizome when I get back!" As he runs towards the vending machine, he also adds from a distance, "Take your time!"

"Thanks, Souda!" Hajime replies as he hurriedly dashes out of the place.

Once Kazuichi got everyone's drinks accounted for (he saved two, one for him and one for Hajime), he can only say a quick "Sorry, excuse me!" to Ms. Yukizome as he dashes through the hallways and into one of the men's restrooms.

His two rats are a little fussy during his mad dash; he'll make it up to them later with lots of treats and an hour-long petting session. But right now, there's a friend who needs him!

He knocks on the restroom's door. "Hey, Hinata? Are you feeling alright in there?" When he dosn't hear any reply, he goes over inside. He expected Hajime to be in one the bathroom's stalls, and so, patiently waits for him.

When there are no signs of him coming out any time soon, he begins to knock on the stall's door, only to jump back when it opens.

"Huh, Hinata?" He says, thoroughly confused as he then checks each remaining stall. "Hinata?"

They all turn out to be as empty as the first one.

Kazuichi's next outburst has enough impact to send a couple of sparrows to fly off in a hurry.

"HINATAAA!"

'Almost…Almost there!'

Yeah, he knew that technically abandoning Souda to fend for himself during lunchtime is not only very mean-spirited but also a dickish move of him to do. Then again, it's not like the choice was easy to make.

Either let Nanami wait out in the cold and turn himself into a dick that way, or let his classmate go with him to a very private meeting with someone he made a promise to, which will result in more misunderstandings than a standard shoujo manga can contain. There was no way out of the hole he dug himself into.

To be fair, he never thought that Ms. Yukizome would do something as crazy as this.

Hajime sprints as quickly as he can. He shouldn't be too late. He can't be too late. The reserve course's building grows closer and closer. He dashes by a handful of surprised reserve course students along the way; he didn't pay any attention towards them.

He soon spots the familiar fountain. Right in front of the fountain is the public bench, and right on that bench, is the girl who's been waiting for who knows how long.

It must've looked awkward in her point of view, to see a guy like him running and look like he's almost out of breath as he forced himself to get there.

"Sorry…" Hajime places his hands over his knees, keeping himself from looking directly into her face. "Sorry…I kept you…waiting." He manages to say in-between his constant huffs and puffs.

Nanami stares at him in total bewilderment; the game she was occupied with has been lost since, evident by the beeping 'game over' tone that followed. "You..." She visibly swallows. "…You really came."

"I…" He takes a deep breath, putting himself up. "I…did promise that I…would." His breath steadies. "It'd be crappy of me to not go through with it, won't it?"

She pauses for a second or so before replying, "I guess it would."

"Anyways, again, I'm sorry I was late." He takes a seat next to her. "Something came up today."

"It's fine." Her shoulders shrug, her tone remains neutral. "You could've explained it tomorrow. Maybe."

"But," He counters, "Then I'd leave you hanging there for more than an hour. Sure, I could've explained it to you tomorrow, but it won't change the fact I made you wait here for nothing."

"You have a point there."

Hajime leans himself back onto the bench. "Tough day today, isn't it?"

"Hm, maybe."

As he lazily placed his arms behind his head, he glances at her from aside. "So, how was your day?"

She yawns, rubbing one eye with the back of her hand. "Same as yesterday." She starts up a new game. "So, what happened to you today?"

He closes his eyes in thought. "Do you remember the woman from yesterday?" The counselor let out a chuckle. "She's the thing that happened today."

"She did something crazier than tying one of your classmates up?" It's probably just him, but he swore he hears her lightly chuckle back.

"It wouldn't be unbelievable if it was, but nope. Sorry to disappoint you, but it's less insane compared to that. I don't know why, but somehow Ms. Yukizome thought it'd be a good idea to randomly group everyone up."

"Did she give out a reason for doing that?"

"My memory's a bit hazy, but I think she explained it yesterday with a long-ass speech. I'll be honest; the only thing I remember from that is 'youth spirit' this and 'rotten oranges' that."

Nanami unapologetically lets a snicker out of that. "Well, with the way you're talking about your teacher right now, Ms. Yukizome sounds rather lively today."

The boy lets out a relaxed grin as he admits, "You have no idea. You'll probably think I'm crazy for saying this, but I think I'm starting to miss Mr. Kizakura. You know, just a little bit."

"Huh? Wasn't he the guy you called a 'useless drunk idiot'?"

"Uh, well, yeah, but now that I think about, that was pretty dickish of me to say. Sure, he has a problem or two when it comes to holding his drink—actually, scratch that, he has a lot—but he's still.." Hajime's brain struggles right there. "Well...what was that word...?"

"Laid-back?" She suggests.

He thought about that word for a moment, and after deciding it was the one, he nods. "Yeah, that one. He's more laid-back compared to Ms. Yukizome. I don't miss that 'drunk at random times' part of him, that much I'll say."

"Yeah, I can understand why. Do you think that maybe Ms. Yukizome won't be so bad after a while?"

"Maybe. I hope so. At most, everyone will probably just have to get used to her enthusiasm." He shrugs. "Then again, most of my classmates are around the same level as her, so who knows?"

'I guess it's because I was so used to a normal life, it feels weird to be surrounded with so much craziness.'

As their conversation went on, Hajime hears the beeping game over noise from her game once again. "Hey, Nanami," He calls out from her side.

The reserve course student turns towards him. "Yeah?"

"Um, how do I put this...?" He pauses, mumbling for a moment before asking, "Would you mind if I try that?"

Nanami's a bit taken aback by this. She looks down at her console, and then back at him. "Oh, uh, sure." Without much hesitation, she hands that pink console over. "Here you go, Hinata."

Hajime graciously takes it in his hands. "Thanks." He looks down on the console's screen to check on the game's title. He exclaims as another rush of nostalgia hit him, "Potholer? Wow, I remember this one too!"

"You do?" She says in a mix of awe and disbelief.

"Yeah." He nods. "But, I never managed to beat it because it was way too hard for me back then." The counselor lets out a good-natured laugh as he recalled faint memories. "I kept dying so much."

Nanami leans a bit closer, peeking on the screen. She watches his in-game avatar navigate through the area. "I don't know. Looks like you're doing well so far."

His avatar falls through the crevices shortly after that, losing a life. "See? Told you so." Although he lost that part, he keeps his smile and such.

The rest of their time is spent on that old game, with Hajime slowly getting a bit better at it as Nanami gave him a few tips now and then. This might've been the longest he lasted on this game.

They had so much fun, time pretty much became a blur to them. The counselor only remembers as soon as his game character died once again. "Ah, crap! Lunch is almost over." He looks back at her as he stands up. "Sorry, Nanami, but I've gotta go now."

"It's okay, Hinata. I understand." She reassures him. "You don't want to get on your teacher's bad side, right?"

He nods, mouthing an almost quiet "Yeah," in response. Just as he's about to sprint back to his class, he hears her ask,

"So, same time tomorrow?" A bit of hope slipped in through her voice as she asks that.

Hajime thought about it, and without wasting a second, nods once again, "Yeah, let's go with that." He's about to take off once again until he looks onto his hand and remembers, "Oh, before I forget, here's your GGA back." He turns back, placing the console back into her hands.

Waving his hand goodbye to her, he rushes out of there with a, "Well then, see you tomorrow!"

Chiaki watches him hurry off into the distance. Hinata's silhouette became smaller and smaller as he scurries further away, until she can no longer see a single sign of him. She glances down on her GGA.

She wonders if she should bring the blue one tomorrow.

Hajime never thought he'd be running at the speed that would've made a blue hedgehog turn red in envy twice in a day now. He wondered how the hell Mitarai managed to do it with a former Ultimate Boxer just a day ago.

He hurries back into the main building, with only a few minutes left to spare if his estimations were correct. He hasn't entered the building yet when he bumped into someone.

Both he and that someone collided with each other so much, they bounced apart from each other and caused them to land (rather painfully, if he may add) on their rears.

Hajime's reaction is a bit subdued compared to the normal person. He winces; he bites his lip as the dull ache throbs down at that lower region.

As for that someone, their voice is decidedly masculine. That someone groans out, "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow," while one of his hands reach back to soothe the rear that's fallen hard.

The counselor forces himself up, having recovered enough from his momentary stupor to recognize that someone right before him. "Souda?"

That someone, who turns out to be that classmate of his, also got up once he hears his name. In his case, it's a bit less graceful, as he visibly winces and ends up showing off his sharp teeth. "Hinata! I finally found you!"

Hajime hates to think this, but it's a little hard to take Souda seriously, not when he's still rubbing his hand over that sore spot.

"Where have you been, Hinata?" Without any warning, that classmate grabs onto his shoulders for the second time today. "I've been looking everywhere for you!" He vigorously shakes the counselor, also for the second time that day.

As he went through that rough treatment again, Hajime can only think, 'Uh, yeah. About that...' He barely hears whatever else his classmate was ranting about. "Please…stop that…"

"Oh, sorry!" Rather mercifully, Souda lets his shoulders go. "But really, where have you been? You took an awfully long time out there."

'He does have a point.' He inwardly admits. "Uh, well, you see—"

"Wait," Souda holds a hand up to interrupt him. "Don't tell me," He suddenly yells, "You have a secret girlfriend around here, don't you!?"

It takes him a while to process that classmate's words, and once he did, he didn't like it one bit. 'How the HELL did you get to that conclusion?!'

Hajime sputters, "Wha—no, I don't!" The counselor clamps Souda's mouth shut with both of his hands, ignoring that classmate's noises of protest. "And not so loud, you idiot!" Hajime searches around to check if anyone had heard that.

That classmate says, "Well, I think I know where this is going," but it's somewhat muffled by the counselor's hands.

After a while when that classmate calmed himself down, Hajime lets him go.

"Don't worry, I won't tell anyone." Souda wildly gestures his hands to make a point. "Not even Ms. Yukizome, I swear!"

Hajime lets out an exhausted sigh. "Again, I don't have a secret girlfriend or whatever you're thinking of."

That might've gone straight through Souda's ears. That classmate looks around their surroundings and then whispers, "You know, it's no wonder you knew what to do with winning Miss Sonia over. I mean, you look like the kind of guy who had plenty of experience with girls and you're probably hanging out with one—"

"For the last time, Souda," Hajime irritably reminds, "I don't have a secret girlfriend."

When they finally got back to class, they'd been late by a minute. However, since it's their first offense (and again, it was only by one minute), Ms. Yukizome had been nice enough to let it slide for that.

That said, she not-so-subtly implied a threat towards them, as well as everyone else in the class, not to be tardy so carelessly and repeatedly without valid reasons to back it up.

Chapter Text

The sounds of boots over neat tiles mix into a brief cacophony of unsteady thumps and thuds.

"Miss Sonia, please! Wait!"

Something about that grating voice sounds quite familiar. Sonia is sure she heard that person before, but she can't put her finger on it. She's spoken with so many kinds of people before. Perhaps she's hearing things—

Something—no, someone grabs her shoulder. Or rather, they would've had, were she not quick enough to dash forward and immediately turn herself around afterward.

The suspicious person who would've touched her stumbles upon them—no, himself with a gasp. His hands are placed over his bent knees in some sorry attempt keep his balance.

Her eyes narrow so slightly when she sees the person who trailed after her. She knew him if only because of the catastrophe that occurred only a day ago. "Oh, it's you." She remarks with casual disinterest. "Is there anything else you wish to bother me with?"

That suspicious person, Souda, if she remembered his name correctly, shakes his head. He struggles to find his words in between his exhausted pants. "Just…please…hear me out..." He gasps heavily. "T…That's all…I'm asking for…"

Although she remains skeptical of his true intentions, she slowly nods. "Very well, then."

No amount of foresight would've prepared her for what he did next.

Souda kneels, and before her very eyes, he places his hands onto the floor, which are then followed by pressing his forehead onto the ground as well. "I'm sorry!"

'Is…Is he seriously prostrating before me?' Sonia is completely taken aback by this new development.

"I'm so sorry!" Souda's voice remains loud and clear even in such a humiliating position. "I'm very sorry about what happened yesterday, Miss Sonia!"

More apologies comes out of him, most of which are quickly becoming more embarrassing than the last one. She raises a hand to stop him from saying anymore; she had heard enough.

'Perhaps, I may have been too harsh on him.'

"Souda," Her tone remains completely neutral as she requests him, "Please rise."

It was a request, but from the bewildered look on his face, it looks as if she might have as well commanded him instead. Souda hasn't fully risen to his full height; instead, he remains on his knees. "U…Uh, yes?"

Sighing, she then admits, "You weren't the only one at fault. I believe I must apologize to you as well. What I've said to you a day ago was uncouth and unbefitting of me." She bows her head. "For that, I am sorry."

"No, no, no!" Souda wildly waves his hands around. "It's okay, really. I mean, I was the one who waltzed in on you like a creep; I might as well be asking for it! You shouldn't have to apologize at all!"

For a split second, Sonia let hers lips crack a small, relaxed smile. A soft chortle erupts from her throat to relieve tension. "In that case, I'd be willing to forgive you, if you let me acknowledge my own shortcomings as well."

"But—"

"What did I just tell you, Souda?"

"B..." At her stern look, Souda takes a deep breath. "Okay, okay. I," He visibly struggles as if the next set of words didn't fit on his tongue. "It's okay. I don't hold it against you or anything like that."

"Before I say what has to be said, will it be alright if you stand up?"

"Uh, sure."

Once he plops himself up, Sonia then tells him, "I completely forgive you, Souda."

Rouge tints the boy's cheeks. He mumbles out, "Thank you so much, Miss Sonia."

Sonia inwardly sighs. She turns away from him, but before she can leave for her dorm, she tells him one last thing. "With that said, I beg of you, don't get any ideas about this. I am treating you as I would with any of my peers."

She allows for a few moments of silence, to let her words truly sink in Souda's mind. When she didn't hear any more remarks from him, she turns her head towards him. Her friendlier tone soon returns. "But I'm sure you learned your lesson, right?"

"Y-Yeah. Right, of course." Souda scratches the back of his head, bashfully averting his gaze towards her. "It won't happen again."

"Well then, I shall be off."

This time, she doesn't hear his steps follow after hers.

It's too early to say anything for now, but Sonia wonders if perhaps, Koizumi had been too quick to judge.

Things are pretty awkward on the following week after, to say the least. Ever since his impromptu apology (which he definitely messed up in more ways than one), Kazuichi hadn't been looking towards Sonia's seat, which he hadn't truly realized until now.

He had no idea why the hell did it happen.

He quickly shakes his head. 'Stop it. Get a hold of yourself, man.' His hands grip both sides of his head. 'Quick, think of something to distract yourself with before you slip off.'

Kazuichi's frazzled thoughts immediately went and subsequently locks on to the guy in front of him, the same guy who's the first friend he made in Hope's Peak, Hinata.

For the past days, Hinata's 'bad stomachache which somehow always happens during lunchtime' has become something of an inside joke between them, although Hinata isn't always happy to hear about it; he's way too serious about it. It also served as a discreet way to try and ask him about his new friend's secret girlfriend.

Hinata can try and deny it all he wants, but he knows what that bastard's satisfied smile means whenever he comes back to class afterward. Nidai thought that it meant, well, obviously Kazuichi's not going to elaborate on that thought any further than it should be.

Anyways, they might've only been friends for maybe a week now, but damn is Hinata lousy at keeping things like this as a secret. Kazuichi's sure that Hinata's secret girlfriend was real. Well sure, he never actually saw her nor did he have any evidence for that, but it doesn't matter; he'll just have to find and catch them in the act someday!

"Souda, you're in an awfully good mood today." Hinata points with so much nonchalance in his tone, it might as well be sarcastic.

Hearing his friend's voice is enough to snap him out of his thoughts. "Huh? What made you say that?"

Hinata turns himself from his seat to better talk to him. "I can hear you giggling from over here, you know."

"Was I that obvious?" Kazuichi shuffles in his seat, looking away from him.

"Yes," Hinata sucks in a sigh. "You really were that obvious. It's a good thing no one else noticed it before I did."

Kazuichi slumps in his heat, face landing first on his desk. "Why do you have to be so cold, Hinata?'

"Because you wouldn't take me half as seriously if I wasn't?"

"You didn't have to answer that, you know…"

'God, please let lunch get here soon. Let Hinata frolic with his secret girlfriend, you know, the same one who definitely exists, and end my suffering right then and there.'

Long hours went by; Kazuichi helplessly groaned and grumbled throughout that period. It felt like God took his time granting that selfish request of his (because of course, the bastard does), but pretty soon, the lunch bell rang through their class.

Kazuichi dramatically yawns, stretching the limbs that have gone stiff throughout the long day. While he's in the middle of doing just that, his eyes went over to Hinata, who of course, decides to go out of the classroom for less-than-pure intentions.

He gets up from his seat, well on his way to discreetly follow his friend, only for a sudden tap on his shoulder that came out of nowhere made him suddenly stop right where he is. He yelps and turns around.

What little shock remained in his body left him once he saw who it was. Or rather, the shock is instantly replaced with giddy excitement.

Sonia's angelic face eases him in more ways than one. Her sweet, sweet smile is a godsend. She's saying something to him, but his ears are so clogged up by love, it felt like he didn't need to hear exactly what she's saying to know how she feels.

"Souda," Sonia's voice that came from heaven itself calls out to him. "Souda. Souda."

"Souda?"

Kazuichi blinks once or twice, now fully aware and back to the waking world. "Oh, yes?" Now that he thought about it, he internally screams at himself; what in the actual hell was he thinking? That was so embarrassing!

"If it's alright with you," Sonia says with a beaming smile that can rival the sun itself. "Would you like to join us for today, around an hour from now?"

"Wait—" Kazuichi internally curses as his mouth screwed himself over, stumbling over his words in the worst time possible. "—W-Wha…really? You really mean it?"

Her nod combines with her reply of, "Yes, I do mean it."

Kazuichi mulls it over. 'Let's see.' He has two choices presented to him. The first choice is to go on with his plan to stalk—er, 'watch over' Hinata and his secret girlfriend. The second choice is to go on a (most probably) date with the girl he's had an interest with for quite a while.

'Wait, can this even be called a dilemma? The answer is pretty obvious! I've only got one chance at this!'

"Yeah, sure!" Kazuichi exclaims, pumping and hyping himself up. "I'll be happy to go out with you today!"

Sonia lets out a laugh in delight. "That's great to hear! I'm so glad you've accepted."

Well, with someone like her, it's hard to say no.

Maybe Kazuichi should have toned down his expectations down a notch. In hindsight, the gym should've been a big tip-off. That place would've been the last and least suitable place for a one-on-one date!

It doesn't help that this other guy is starting to tick him off real fast. Yeah, sure, that other guy thinks he's soooo cool with that impractically long scarf and contact lenses. Out of all people Sonia likes to hang out with, it had to be this guy. Even worse, he's one of those kinds of people!

It also doesn't help that this guy has a penchant for vandalizing said gym in way too much red liquids. As for the red liquid, Kazuichi is desperately hoping it's actually paint or tomato sauce and not…something else.

'Sonia is not the kind of person to sacrifice virgins, right? That isn't the only reason why she asked me out today, right? Right? Right?'

He'd been so busy in his thoughts, he only returns to the real world once he heard Sonia's sweet voice turn harsh. Except for this time, this isn't directed towards him. Kazuichi rotates his head to the side and sees his princess scold the weird guy they're stuck with.

"Tanaka," Her tone is as firm as it'd been on him a couple of weeks ago. "Be kind to him."

'Did…did she just defend me?' He never thought his heartbeat would race this fast before. 'She's way too kind!' If he wasn't swooning over her before, then he sure is right now.

The other guy grumbles. "If the Dark Queen of Blades so requests it, then it appears I have no choice," Tanaka turns his face away from Kazuichi, most likely in disgust. "But to submit myself to her wish."

If that guy wants to intimidate him, it would've been a lot more effective if the scowl he so-obviously prepared for this special occasion isn't half-heartedly hidden by that ridiculously long scarf of his.

'Does this guy seriously talk like that every day?' A bead of sweat rolls down Kazuichi's forehead in a mix of awkwardness and irritation. 'What a weirdo.'

If things continue on this way, he has no doubts that someone will end up as a third wheel soon; he's determined not to become that third wheel. He's gotta think of something fast if he wants that other guy out of here.

'Wait,' Kazuichi realizes as he recalled the day where everyone had to pull out papers from that box. Taking advantage of that regained knowledge, he wonders out loud, "Hey, where's Pekoyama?" He jabs a thumb towards the other guy's direction. "Isn't she supposed to be with that guy?"

Sonia strokes two fingers over her chin, answering for the other guy. "I believe she informed us that she had an important errand to run. I understand. Her duty comes first and foremost, after all." She lets out a sigh in mild disappointment. "That said, I was looking forward to sparring with her. Perhaps that can be arranged for another time."

'Woah, Miss Sonia is so cool!' Kazuichi not-so-inwardly squeals at that thought. He has no doubts that Sonia would win in a spar against Kuzuryu's bodyguard. He won't entertain the fact it'd end very differently in a real fight. 'Wait, I'm getting sidetracked!' He quickly shakes any further thoughts away. 'Get yourself back there!'

Something rustles in one of his breast pockets. It wasn't the gentle kind either; it's almost like there's an angry little being that's snapping for being unjustly trapped in there.

Beating silence goes by for at least three seconds. Sonia was the first to speak up after that awkward pause. "What was that?" She points towards his jumpsuit's breast pocket.

Kazuichi remains in his place, completely mortified at the directions everything was going. 'Crap, I was so excited about Sonia asking me out, I almost forgot about them!' If there's one thing everyone knows about, it's that rats have always been one of women's natural enemies, second only to cockroaches. It doesn't matter that the ones he had were domesticated, a rat is still a rat!

Tanaka, the bastard that he is, didn't give him a chance to defend himself. "I don't believe my eyes have deceived me."

Kazuichi hadn't liked this other guy from the beginning, not at all, and so, as soon as that other guy thought it's a good idea to approach them with a menacing aura, his first instinct is to step back in reflex and scream, "Will you quit that, you'll scare them!"

He didn't realize the mistake he made until Sonia sneaks a look towards him and then says in concern, "Souda, what do you mean by 'them'?"

"Well, uh…"

She might've noticed how awkward things are getting, and rather mercifully of hers, decided to end the matter at hand. "If it isn't too much trouble, would it be alright if you introduce your companions?"

He wants to hightail out of there; he had no idea how bad she'd take to his pets. She'd probably reject them…and he isn't sure if he'd be okay with that fact. He dug himself into this hole, and it's up to him to climb himself out.

At her request, Kazuichi tenderly fishes his two companions out of the pockets they've nested themselves in. When he didn't hear any screams or see a distressed reaction from her, he figures that it's safe, for now. "Oh, uh, in that case, let me introduce them to you two. This one's Speedy," The rat on his right hand twitches his nose. "And this slightly-bigger guy is his partner-in-crime, Jerry." The other rat squeaks in reply.

He never thought that out of all scenarios that'd happen, this one did. Then again, he never thought he'd live until the day he heard Sonia squeal for the first time. And by God, it's so adorable. It's even more adorable when she's doing it because of his not-conventionally-fluffy-but-still-damned-adorable rodent pals. He's so relieved she wasn't scared of them at all. He's giving them extra treats later. Just for today, of course.

"Could it be?" For a moment there, it's almost like Tanaka's obnoxiously narrow eyes soften their look. "It has been a while, since last I've been in the presence of such magnificent beings." Tanaka tentatively raises a hand to try and pet them.

It's only when Kazuichi glances towards his direction, the team manager retracts that hand almost immediately.

'Oh, so he likes animals? Huh, never pegged him to be that kind of guy at all.' He inwardly grimaced.

"Oh my, they're so adorable!" Sonia cooes over Jerry, gently stroking over his back with a finger. Jerry, even though he's the bigger and even shaggier rat, didn't seem to scare her off at all. Not to mention, that lucky bastard's looks like he's enjoying himself too.

At their owner's slightly hesitant nod, Tanaka tries to do the same thing with Speedy, but he pulls that finger away when the rat hissed in warning. He darkly chuckles, unfazed by the squeaky threats, if they can even be considered as such. "Huhu, it appears the one you called 'Speedy' is a fierce warrior in his own right. Though bound to a small and unassuming form, I can feel the sheer amount of aura he is emitting! Truly, he shouldn't be underestimated."

'Really…' Kazuichi is starting to think he's in a very surreal fever dream of some sort. Maybe he's still back in his dorm, snoozing the day away, because there's no way Sonia would actually ask him out. 'Speedy, a fierce warrior? You mean Speedy, the same Speedy who'd gladly and shamelessly beg me for treats even after I've already fed him before that, is a fierce warrior?'

…Why is he somehow picturing a homely-looking rat with a not very impressive sword?

Once again, that weird guy barges in, putting all his thoughts to an effective stop. Kazuichi's sure he'd never get used to that other guy's antics.

"Do you, perhaps," It already sounds weird enough, but Tanaka hasn't been looking him the eye as he, surprisingly, asks in a more polite tone, "Desire to form a blood contract with us, The One Aligned with Beasts?"

"Huh?" Kazuichi blinks once. He blinks one more time. "What?" 'The one ali-something with what now? What the hell is he talking about?'

Sonia, the angel that she is, immediately ses how confused he was, and so, she opts to helpfully translate what that weird guy just said. "If it isn't too much trouble on your part, would you mind hanging out with us starting today?"

He wonders if he was feeling a bit light-headed, since he'll admit he did ignore the first question and his mind went instantly towards the one said by the cute girl. "Sure!" It's only when he let that one word go that the ramifications hit him harder than a truck. 'Damn it, I said it way too quickly!'

"That's wonderful to hear!" Sonia clasps her hands together in delight.

At the same time, Tanaka is doing that weird laugh of his again. "Very well then, from this day forward, you, The One Aligned with Beasts, shall henceforth be allowed to traverse the mortal plane with us, The Dark Queen of Blades and I, The Supreme Overlord of Ice!"

"Welcome aboard, Souda!" Sonia helpfully supplies. After saying that, she glances around and adds, "That's what you'd say in a situation like this, correct?"

Kazuichi isn't given a chance to answer her question as the weird guy who's still stuck in eight grade interrupts him with an even more bombastic voice.

"We shall be known to the mortals as," Tanaka pauses—yes, he seriously paused for dramatic effect—and then loudly proclaims, "The three most unlikely of companions, 'The Crossed Realm Trinity'!"

While on the outside, Kazuichi kept on with his smiling and waving, on the inside, he isn't as bombastic as the other two. 'Holy shit, what the hell did I get myself into?!'

Maybe it would've been better if they turned him into a virgin sacrifice. At least that one would've been easier to explain.

Kazuichi will shamelessly admit this to himself and Hinata if they ever talked about this someday: this is one of the, if not THE most exhilarating stuff he's ever seen. Hell, this is way more exciting than it had the right to be! He'll never find anything on TV to be just as fun ever again!

He remains on the edge of his seat, watching Sonia dodge another strike from her opponent. She then returns with a counterattack, raising her practice sword that aimed towards her opponent's head. The team manager ends up deflecting that counterattack with his own practice sword with a smirk.

Kazuichi's fists are clenched in anticipation of both parties' next move. He can't wait for the swordswoman to wipe that guy's smirk off his face. 'Come on, kick his ass!' This is purely in support for her, totally not because he personally has it out for that weird guy or anything like that. He isn't that petty.

That weird guy—er, Tanaka—he mentally reminds himself to start referring to him by name if he wants to get on their good sides (especially Sonia's) starting today, laughs in that trademark three-staged laugh. The exact same kind that stereotypical kinds of characters like him tend to have, if he remembers correctly.

He didn't pay close attention to what they're saying; he's way too immersed in the action they brought. It's not because Tanaka's grand speeches during the whole thing are too hard for a mere mortal like him to understand or anything like that. It's also not because his ears get clogged up if Sonia so much as breathes in front of him.

Nah, it had nothing to do with those at all.

Their movements are so impossibly fast, much too faster than a normal human should ever be able to accomplish. He hasn't blinked ever since they started their training; he dutifully kept his eyes on each swish and swoosh, along with the occasional swish-swoosh motions.

And then, it ended at a tie. In his personal opinion, just by performance alone, Sonia wins by a landslide in his heart. "You did really great, Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi shows a big grin alongside two raised thumbs up.

Sonia takes his compliments in stride. "Why, thank you, Souda! Although, I admit that my form needs better work at the near end."

"You shouldn't be so modest about yourself. You really were that great!" Kazuichi counters against her. "I think you almost had him in the end if he didn't pull that stunt out!"

"There is some truth behind your words. As she noted, I would've been swept off my feet. That is if her form had been more stable, just as she pointed out." Tanaka barges into the conversation, the one that's supposed to be just between him and Sonia, again.

'Hey, I wasn't talking to you!' is what Kazuichi wanted to snap at Tanaka at that moment; he quickly reminds himself that he was right in front of Sonia and that doing that would ruin the budding good vibes he's building up with her. He takes deep breathes to relax himself; after the incident with Koizumi, he isn't repeating the same mistake again. He's not an idiot, and he's not going to disappoint Hinata again with the same failure.

"Yeah, exactly." Kazuichi forces himself to nod in a natural way with the friendliest grin he can muster, at least when directed towards Tanaka.

Somehow, it ends up devolving into a friendly banter between the two about sword techniques and stances and forms and other stuff he couldn't really understand, and so, he ends up getting quietly phased out of their convo.

He still did his best to listen, though, even though as mentioned earlier, he didn't understand most of the stuff they enthusiastically talked about.

And just his luck, both of them turn to him with glints in their eyes as they both say in unison, "Don't you think so?" and "Do you believe my words?"

Kazuichi did the best thing he can, and that was to nod, smile, wave, and say, "Yeah, I think so. It's pretty cool, yeah?"

When Hajime got back to class after meeting up with Nanami that day, the last thing he expected was for Souda to run towards him like he was one of those crazy fans at a convention. The second last thing he expected for that day was for Souda to scoop him up in an unwanted hug, just like one of those crazy fans at a convention.

Hajime couldn't voice out any concerns he had, and even if he did try to do so, it's highly likely that this self-proclaimed 'friend' wouldn't have it in him to listen anyway. It's not like it didn't happen to him before.

"I did it, Hinata!" Souda's surprisingly tight hug squeezes him more as he laughs. "I finally did it!" Souda continues to whoop out loud in tandem with that.

"That's…urk…great to hear." Hajime strains himself while saying that. It's a good thing Souda isn't as well-built as other Ultimates who specialized in more physical-oriented talents, otherwise, he'd have big trouble with breathing right now.

"I know!" Souda's happy comeback sounds like it'll be mixed in with gross sobbing soon. To make things better, he even begins to lean his face closer with his eyes closed. "And it's all thanks to you, Hinata!" And just as he thought, that's where the gross sobbing came in. "What did a lousy guy like me do to deserve an amazing guy like you?"

"Please, I'm honestly not that great. I didn't even do that much."

"Don't sell yourself so short. Of course you're that great of a guy!"

There's no more point in dragging this out, not when breathing while being squeezed isn't a good way to go. "Souda, can you let me go now?" He wheezes to further emphasize his point. "Can't breathe…"

Upon realizing the trouble he brought, Souda lets go of him with a gasp. "I'm so sorry, Hinata! I didn't do it too hard, did I?"

'If Hanamura was here, he'd get the wrong idea.' Hajime looks aside to check on the perverted gardener. 'It's a good thing that Nidai's keeping him occupied. Still, the constant meat and sausage jokes are getting old fast.' He simply shakes his head. "No, it wasn't that bad. If it were anyone else, I wouldn't even have the strength to let them know about that."

Souda's face darkens in horror. "Is that supposed to be a good thing?"

'Of course not.' "Sorry, I was trying to lighten the mood up. Just forget about that."

His self-proclaimed 'friend' sighs in relief. "Whew, I thought that something was seriously wrong. I'm glad you're fine, Hinata."

"Don't mention it." He tiredly ends that topic.

"Souda!"

Another voice came in. He recognizes that voice; he did remember hearing her before, back at the infamous incident with Souda. It looks like his classmate isn't kidding when he said he did it.

Souda calls back out to her immediately. "I'll be right there!" He then faces him with heavy remorse on his expression. "Sorry, Hinata, I really am, but Miss Sonia and Tanaka want me to get there. Is that okay with you?"

"It's fine. Don't mind me at all." Hajime dismissively waves a hand. "Just try not to do anything to piss either of them off."

"Hey, I'm not that hopeless, you know." Souda huffs. Turning to him last time, he waves a hand at him. "Well then, I'm going to see you later, then."

And so, Souda goes off to walk back to class with his two new friends.

'Looks like even Souda got tired of me too.' Hajime sighs, ignoring the dull ache in his chest. It's not hard to see it coming. It's not like it's the first time it happened.

When he got back to class by himself, he can say that this kind of feeling was familiar to him. He's used to it, anyway.

As he got in, he mentally counts over the room's occupants by head and determined that he was the last person to arrive in there.

If anyone told him a week ago that he'd see all of his classmates actually attended class and happily chatted among themselves, he'd think that someone must've had a bottle of whatever Mr. Kizakura was having by mistake. And yet, right in front of his sober eyes was that very scene. It's all so hard to believe.

Hajime shuts the door behind him. If anyone else was in his place, they would've jumped back in surprise at what happened next.

Ms. Yukizome's voice cheerfully comments on the scene, the same one that would've been impossible months ago. "Aside from a few exceptions, I can see everyone getting along so well."

"It looks like they are." He has no idea what else to say other than to agree with that.

She nods. "Yeah, they really are. I'm so glad."

Hajime thought that after that, she'd let him get back to his seat. It looked like she's not going to do that just yet, as she sneakily blocks his way. He wonders if all the times he skipped lunch with the class has come back to bite him hard.

"But, Hinata," Her sweet tone hadn't changed a bit. "I can't help but notice you haven't been hanging around your classmates as much."

He exhales, resigning himself to his fate. Denying everything won't make it better. "I'm guessing you're not happy to hear all about that, huh? I figured so." He shouldn't have been surprised by that.

Except, he did get surprised, and that was when Ms. Yukizome visibly balks at him suggesting that. She wildly waved her hands around as she disputed that claim. "Oh no, that's not what I meant at all! You don't have to get yourself acquainted with everyone so fast. I don't expect you to do that."

"You never did? You seriously never did?" Hajime asks, disbelieving.

Ms. Yukizome shakes her head. "Of course not. I don't expect anyone to do that either. I know how hard it'd be." In the last part, she lets out a soft respire.

It's almost as if she remembered something from some time ago. It isn't in his business to question her on what it was, and additionally, he might've been a crossing a line when he then asked her,

"Ms. Yukizome, did you," Hajime stops himself short for a second there before taking a deep breath. "Did you have any trouble with your classmates back then?"

He had no idea what to expect once he said that. Maybe she'd get offended. Maybe she'd deny everything to hell and back. Maybe she won't even answer that stupid question and pretend he never said it at all. He shouldn't have assumed something like that.

In any case, he never expected her to softly hum in affirmation.

"Mmm, I think you can say that." She admits with a slight laugh. "But that's a story I'll be saving to tell everyone for another time. For now, all I can say to you is this," Ms. Yukizome turns to face him. "It's okay. It's really okay. Take as much time as you need, Hinata."

Their teacher flashes him what he thought was the most damnably sincere smile he ever saw in his life.

"I'm sure everyone is more than willing to wait for you."

Chapter Text

Koichi yawns as he steps inside the office. He rubs his eyes; his eyelids are drooping somewhat and there are light bags over them. Still, even though his morning state isn't the best, he isn't that surprised when he sees a certain teacher inside.

"You look a lot more pumped than usual." He remarks as he took a seat right beside her.

The newbie turns her head towards him. "That's because I am." Yukizome cheerfully hums in reply to him. From what he can see on his spot, he could see that she marked down another day off the calendar with a pen. "I can't believe it's been over a month already since I got here!"

He leans his head back onto one of his hands, letting one of his tired eyes close just for a moment there. "In that case, congratulations; you just survived your first month here. Not bad for someone who's only been a teacher for the first time."

To his nonexistent surprise, she didn't so much as even flinch at the backhanded comment. "Oh, thanks, Kizakura." She turns back to face him, eyes closed, and with a smile on her face.

The scout coughs, "Okay, that wasn't supposed to be a compliment, but alright."

"Speaking of," Yukizome begins, changing the topic. "Everyone's starting to get along with each other so well. I can't help but feel so proud of them. It's like they're growing on me so fast." She looks at him with a slightly concerned face. "Well, sure, I've only been with them for such a short time, but, don't you think it's normal to feel that way?"

Koichi opens his mouth to answer, only to close it just a second later afterward. 'Exactly how am I going to reply to this? They're good kids, I know that because I scouted them myself, but I never talked with them that much.' The silence is starting to look bad for him, and so, he solves it the best way he can; bullshitting his way out.

"Sure, it is. Oh, and by the way," He mentally pats himself on the back for the nice save as he effortlessly changes the subject, "Now that you've mentioned those kids, shouldn't you be heading off to your class by now? It'll start pretty soon, you know that?"

Yukizome puts a finger over her lips in thought. She crosses her arms and nodded. "I can understand your concerns about it, but it's fine. I was going to give everyone a small head start today anyway. At least, just by a few minutes or so."

"Uh-huh," He blankly replies, having already gotten himself used to the newbie's penchant for weirdness. "Sure, if you say so." He stretches his arms as he yawns.

Koichi supposes he should have little more faith for the newbie. She did make it this far. It won't be a stretch to believe that she was better suited as those kids' homeroom teacher instead of him. Maybe.

To be fair, anyone would've made a better teacher than him.

Call it culture shock, but it feels weird to know that Hope's Peak didn't have a morning bells like any other normal high school. At the same time, it makes sense; there's no need to worry about getting late for class when there are no mandatory classes in the first place.

'I can't believe it's been another month already.' Hajime glumly thought to himself.

So predictably, the relative peace in their class poofs faster than a bubble by two distinct noises; the first noise is from the door that was shoved away in an undignified manner, and then the second noise is the awfully cheery tone that came from the equally as awfully cheerful teacher they've been with.

"Good morning everyone!" Ms. Yukizome exclaims. An impossibly inhuman-like smile plasters over her face even as she throttles an innocent bystander (that is, the door he just noted before) without any remorse whatsoever.

He pitifully shakes his head towards the door, or at least, whatever condition it's been left in. 'Oh well, at least the school got that covered.'

And then just for today, a third noise joins up. Rapid footsteps came up behind the class' entrance and somehow, the newcomer manages to surprise their teacher. That's a rare achievement of itself since it's hard to surprise a former boxer like that.

As soon as Hajime sees the blur of light brownish cottony fluff, he immediately knows who it is.

"Sorry, I'm late!" Komaeda shortly announces, catching his breath as he gets himself in, along with a passed out Tsumiki over his shoulder in tow.

It's a bit hard to make it from his distance, but from what Hajime could make out there, he somehow notices that the lucky student's bandages over her arms, the same ones that were usually hidden by her loose and baggy jacket's long sleeves, didn't look like they were clumsily tacked and wrapped over her pale skin.

Ms. Yukizome lets out a thoughtful "Hmm," Her attention goes over to Komaeda and pretty much scans him from head-to-toe with her eyes, and then moves over to Tsumiki. "You did come here a few seconds after I did, so, for now," Her usual demeanor comes back. "I'll give it a pass. But please do remember I won't be as lenient next time, okay?"

"Sure, sure." He nods earnestly, and weirdly enough, didn't have a sign of fear towards their teacher. Taking the kind of talent Komaeda had, it's probably to be expected; he might've been used to dealing with all sorts of people.

Hajime knows that feeling all too well. He's been there himself, after all.

Anyways, back on the topic at hand. He did a mental headcount; everyone's here, all fifteen students including him plus their wacky teacher. Business as usual.

He's expecting this day to go the same as any other day, maybe with another activity or two that'll help, in their teacher's words, quote-unquote 'strengthen their bonds' better. It would work well, if everyone here were preschoolers, that is.

Speaking of their teacher…

"Oh, by the way," Ms. Yukizome lightly taps on one hand with the other. "I know that this is almost a month late for me to ask this, and yeah, I'm sure it's a bit awkward for you all, but do you have a class representative here? Mr. Kizakura hadn't mentioned anything about it to me before, so, if not, maybe we can start on that."

Everyone began to chatter among themselves about that topic. Because most of them weren't even present at the class right before Mr. Kizakura got replaced, it's not a stretch to assume that they don't have an idea on whether a class rep already got elected or not.

While almost everyone did just that, the last person he expected to speak up, did just that.

"We've already got a class rep months ago," Kuzuryu interjects. Only someone like her would speak up without raising a hand first. Disregarding everyone's bewilderment, she jabs a thumb towards Hajime. "And obviously, candidates were very limited at that time."

'M-Me?' The counselor rears his head, "Wait, I never said—", He helplessly sputters, doubling back against that classmate's claim.

From across the room, Kuzuryu narrows her eyes to make a subtle glare, forcing him to stop himself from saying any more. It's the kind of look that'd say, 'Go ahead, try and call my bluff out. You'll only dig yourself to your grave even deeper.' To amp the effect up, she even slowly made her lips curl up into a psychotic smirk and somehow shaded the area where her eyes were.

He gulps. 'This is vengeance for that one time, isn't it? She's never going to let me live it down.'

"Woah, that's so cool!" Souda adds, rather unhelpfully, if he may comment on that. "Then again, I'm not surprised why that happened. I mean, you're pretty much the most reliable guy I've ever known!" And that shark-toothed bastard dares to stupidly grin at him. "You'll do great out there, class rep!"

'You're not helping my case, you hopeless idiot!' He wants to scream at that guy so bad, but unfortunately for him, he can't make a scene like that without consequences. Instead, he settles that out by doing the same thing on the inside instead, like any civilized member of society would do.

And then Komaeda just had to jump into the conversation, in the figurative sense, that is; then again, he wouldn't put it past him if he did it literally. "If that's true," He then adds with a so-not conspicuous smile, "I don't mind having him as our class representative, then. It's probably not much, but I've heard so many good things about him."

'Not you too!'

It didn't help that a few others began to talk to themselves about that, as if they're considering that as well.

"Wait a minute," Koizumi abruptly stands from her seat. "I don't remember anything close to that happened. In fact, I don't remember Mr. Kizakura assigning a representative even from back then." Turning to focus her ire onto a certain someone, she adds, "Are you all seriously going take everything at face value, especially when that came from someone as shady as her?"

'Thank you, Koizumi.' Hajime silently cheers for her, despite whatever hostilities she gave him in the past. 'Finally, there's still someone with sense here!'

"Well, it's not my fault someone like you happened to have shitty memory about a few things. It's kind of a pity when you think about it, especially for someone with a talent like yours." Kuzuryu shrugs, still with the shit-eating grin. "Just admit it. I mean, come on, even I can see that you don't want Hinata as our class rep for one petty reason. It's all because he's a guy and everyone knows how much you hate them—"

Another skid; another noise of wood scraping against cement. Another classmate stands up from her seat, and this time, this is one of the last people Hajime wanted to ever deal with. "Hey! Take that back, you cu—"

The two bratty blondes' bickering, plus the redhead's sad attempts to try and break them out, tunes out into background noise. Weirdly enough, their teacher left them to their own devices.

Turning her attention back to class and the topic at hand, Ms. Yukizome continues where the important part of the conversation left off before it got derailed into that. "Whatever the case is, then it looks like Hinata is gonna be our class rep. If there aren't any more objections, then," She pumps a fist up and exclaimed, "Say aye!"

Around ten hands shoot up almost immediately. "AYE!" It's really concerning to know that.

Hajime slumps onto his desk, face first. Long overdue steam sizzles out of him. 'Why me? '

"Hey, it's probably not that bad." Souda, in his own somewhat endearing way, tries his best to placate him. The animal breeder gently pats his hand over the counselor's back.

Said counselor has yet to lift his head from his desk. A moment passes. Hajime lazily rolls one side of his face to look at that guy in the eye. He mumbles, "Maybe to you, it isn't." Once that was said, he rolls that same side back onto his desk.

…

*Tick* *Tock*

*Tick* *Tock*

*Tick* *Tock*

…

Painful hours went and crashed by.

At the moment, both he and a certain classmate were outside to go and pick up some drinks for everyone. It feels like a small déjà vu only that this time, it wasn't a punishment per se. Instead, that certain classmate was the one who volunteered them out. And he did it all with a smile that hinted his hidden agenda.

'He's never going to let go of that, isn't he?' To Hajime, it almost feels like sighing on the inside is his new way of breathing normally in his everyday life. He already stopped with the 'lunch break stomach ache' shtick because it was getting old. It wouldn't make a good running gag anyway.

And then, any further moping, er, self-reflection he might've had is interrupted when that classmate turns to him and out of nowhere, points out, "You know, since we've known each other for a month now, we should totally start going on first-name basis, right?"

Hajime mulls over it for a moment and then replies, "You have a point there, Souda."

That classmate waves him off as protests, "Hey, hey, no more of that 'Souda' stuff, we're friends here. That's my old man's name." He stretches his shoulders. "You can start calling me 'Kazuichi' now, you know."

"In that case," He briefly thinks about that part. "I think it's only fair you start calling me by my first name too."

Souda—no, Kazuichi chuckles heartily at that. "Alright, if ya say so, Hajime! Oh, but," His brows furrow about something. "Then again, won't 'Kazuichi' be a bit too long?"

The counselor can only shrug about that. "I don't think so. I mean, it's only four syllables long—"

Kazuichi interrupts him again, exclaiming, "Then, if you want to, you can call me 'Kaz' too! Either way you want works for me." He lets out a big laugh alongside that.

"Sure. If you say so, Kaz."

Almost immediately after he says that, the other boy's face goes red. To make matters even worse, he twiddles his index fingers together like a shy, hormonal high school girl.

"Hey, this was your suggestion." He snaps at him. "Don't you dare act so bashful now of all times!"

Kazuichi mumbles something in reply but it's so soft and full of so much stutter, he wasn't able to clearly hear it. Hajime decided to drop that conversation right then and there. Even he can see how awkward this whole affair is going to be for both of them.

Once they got the drinks for everyone including themselves, it looked like Kazuichi's back to his normal self. It's pretty evident when that wacky friend places a hand over his shoulder and shamelessly tells him, "Knock her out," He then holds a thumb up for him. "You lucky bastard."

The counselor blinks. "Huh?" He blinks again for clarity.

Kazuichi either a) thought he was faking it or b) genuinely couldn't tell that he was. Whichever the case it was didn't matter because either way, it'd end the same. That is, it ended with that classmate giggling to himself as if he wasn't obvious about the malicious thing he's hinting at all.

When Hajime looked back on the situation he got himself it, it's better to play the oblivious card than to try and correct him for the hundredth time.

As always, they meet up near the public bench right by the fountain.

Though they're both in the middle of an in-game match against each other, Hajime couldn't help but blurt one particular thought out while his hands are busy mashing down buttons, "I guess in a way, I'm in charge of everyone now."

"Just like that?" Nanami is just as engrossed in the game as usual as she replies.

He nods. "Yeah, just like that." He's pretty amazed that she could manage to focus on her game and also being able to hear him out at the same time.

"When you put it that way, it sounds like that decision came out of nowhere," After saying that, a realization comes to her and she briefly turns to him with an apologetic look. "Uh, no offense."

"None taken," Hajime replies with a light chuckle. "To be honest, it does sound exactly like that."

By the end of their match, he stares back at the blue console's screen, the one that's showing him his (probably) tenth or so defeat. Knowing his gaming skills, and by that, he meant the lack of them, it feels more like a hundredth.

Still, it didn't bother him that much. With a good-natured tone, he tells her, "You're really good at this, you know."

"It's nothing special, really." She brushes that compliment off.

"I don't know, I don't think I can agree with that. I mean, you managed to beat me so many times in a row," He explains, not caring if he'll go on a ramble about that, "And that's all without even letting me get a single hit in. That takes a lot of skills to do that, gaming-related or not."

He hears her sigh.

"I can see where you're coming from, but it's not really a 'real' talent, if that's what you're implying."

"Even if it wasn't, it's still a real one in my book. No one can tell me otherwise, not even Hope's Peak can."

She lightly turns her head to the side, hiding her face away as red tints her cheeks. "You mean it?"

"Every last word of it." He reaffirms with a small smile. A few seconds of idleness went by before he thought back on those words, and immediately became just as red when he thought about it. "Oh man, you're probably thinking that sounded so cringey of me to say."

A soft snicker comes out of her. "Not really." She shakes her head fondly. "I've heard even cheesier lines in visual novels. Your line is super tame by their standards."

"Hah, yeah. I guess so."

At the end of their moments of laughter with each other, Nanami faces him again as she asks, "So, now that you're your class' representative, what are you planning to do now?"

Hajime pauses to consider his answer. Sighing to himself, he replies, "Honestly, I don't know either. I mean, it is a big honor when I looked back on it, but, I don't feel like I deserved it in any way."

"Why not?"

Those two words stung more than anything; the fact that it wasn't out of malice but from sincerity made it even more so. "To be honest with you, that's what I've been feeling ever since I came to Hope's Peak; being chosen as the class rep was just another layer on top of that.

Nanami chooses not to say a single word, and so, Hajime went on with what he was saying.

"In fact," He swallows a lump in his throat. "Sometimes, I feel like I've stolen the ultimate title from someone who deserves it a lot more than I do. You get what I mean?"

When he didn't hear her say anything in return, he stumbles upon himself as he retracts those words. "Sorry, that was rather insensitive of me to say."

To his surprise, she shakes her head and says, "No, it's okay. I think I can get what you mean by that. Although, I'm going to be honest with this as much as I can; I don't know if I can give you any solid advice about that."

"You don't have to. I didn't mean to burden you with my baggage." He closes his eyes, exhaling. "Still, thanks for hearing me out. That was more than enough for me."

A familiar bell rings from the reserve course's building; unlike the Ultimates', students from the reserve course still have the regular school bell's schedule. Lunch break is over for them.

"I have to get going now." Before Hajime can get up and leave in a hurry, it's when he felt something in his grip that he immediately remembers. "Oh, here's your blue GGA back. Thanks for today."

He gently places the item into her palms. Just as he was about to rush back to his class, he feels a tug at his sleeve. He stops himself and looks back.

"It's alright." Nanami pushes the blue console back into his palms. She raises her head to look at him in the eye. "Please keep it."

It was so sudden; he might've nearly dropped the precious item out of shock. He holds it tightly to prevent that from happening. "Uh, are you sure?"

"Yeah, it's fine." She nods. "I mean, I still have this one." She presents her pink console to prove it. "Besides, you can think of it as a gift or something like that."

"You really sure?"

"Yeah. No more take backs and that's final."

"In that case," He bows his head; the console still nestled in between his hands. "Thank you. It means so much to me."

"You're welcome."

He looks at her one more time and waves at her. He nearly sprints off until he hears her say,

"See you tomorrow, Hajime."

He pauses right on his tracks. Eyes wide in surprise, he glances back at her. Nanami's face was that of amusement, until a second went by and shame went over her. She must've thought she crossed a line.

His lips curl up into a welcoming smile, directly addressing her as he said, "Then see you later too, Chiaki."

Hajime ends up hurrying so much, he hasn't noticed her going still after he said that. Then again, he never notices her glowing even redder than earlier.

The blue console remained carefully hidden under his desk's empty space. He's going to keep it somewhere safe once he makes it back to his dorms; he'll make sure of that. For now, it's staying there until he finds a way to smuggle it out without anyone seeing it, especially certain people.

About some things, there's some good news and some bad news. To start with the good news, even though he was late in going back to class by fifteen minutes or so, Ms. Yukizome had been in a good mood, and so, decided not to comment about that.

As for the bad news…

If Hajime were to ever look back on something, then it's this: it's around four PM or even past that, and that's when the unthinkable, explicit thing happened. In hindsight, that kind of thing was the last thing that everyone expected to ever happen during the first day. Also, it's a pretty embarrassing event.

It started as a normal 'dinnertime' assembly. Student desks have been put away to make more space and now, everyone's sitting on the floor. Then there's the smell of Nidai's freshly-made cooking; no matter how many times Hajime's tasted it, even he can admit that he'd never get tired out of it. It's pretty good, once you get used to its weird effects of pumping your energy up.

Owari, if he's remembering her name right, isn't around at the moment. For obvious reasons, she's been sent off on an errand to get something. It's one of those vitamins or enhancements meant to be mixed in with the food.

Anyways, remember when he said that Ms. Yukizome decided not to comment about him being late? Well ha-ha that was a big fat lie. She still ended up doing that anyway, except it's decidedly a late lecture.

"Hinata, you know that just won't do." Ms. Yukizome waggles her finger in front of him. "If you're going to be the class rep starting now, you can't just keep letting yourself stay tardy, especially when it comes to important times like these. You of all people should take care to remember it."

From her side, Hajime groans. "I know that, Ms. Yukizome." He thought that this lecture would drag on further, that is until he hears Owari's voice just right across the room.

"Hey, old man, this is the one, right?" She holds out a bottle of suspicious pink liquid. "The thingy you asked from An—something?"

Nidai carefully takes the bottle and turns it over a few times. Once he's satisfied with it, he looks back at her and says with a hearty grin, "That's exactly the one. Thanks a bunch, Owari!" And just like that, he pours the entire content into the soup; it's all gone in a flash.

"Thanks for the food!" Everyone says in unison before they dig themselves in. Almost everyone, that is.

Saionji's glare is so intense; its heat alone would be enough to melt the already hot soup. She grumbles, "I don't trust this at all."

"Aren't you at the wrong age to start being picky about food?" Kuzuryu comments, halfway done with her share. She lets out a teasing laugh as she implies, "Or maybe you're trying to match your age with your looks?"

Koizumi butts in the conversation before it gets any worse. "What makes you say that, Saionji?"

Because the universe loves to screw everyone over, the answer came to them, alright, when Mitarai suddenly collapsed over his belly. He passes out. That's only the beginning, as others came to follow. They didn't pass out just like Mitarai did; it'd make things simpler if they did. No, it's much worse.

"Tanaka," Sonia struggles to talk. Her chest heaves back and forth as she pants.

"What is it you desire?" His scarf isn't enough to cover up his flushed face.

The others aren't doing much better either. Tsumiki crashes over Kuzuryu once again, only this time, it looked like it's done intentionally. Pekoyama isn't happy about that in the slightest and tried to pull the lucky student off the heiress by her legs, but considering their current states, it isn't much. It ends up looking so wrong.

Dread fills Hajime as he looks towards his classmates and teacher, and then back to his tainted soup. 'Oh crap,' All sorts of disgusting feelings come to him. 'There's been a mix-up!' The rest are getting even lewder as each second passed, and so, he turns his head away from them before he gets permanently scarred.

A familiar voice rings out. "Miss Sonia, Tanaka, wait!" Kazuichi desperately crawls over to the duo. "Don't leave me out of this!" He's around a few feet away from getting close to them when suddenly, someone grabs him by the shoulders and pulls him up. He turns his head around and screams at his captor, "Komaeda, let me go right now!"

"I'm afraid I can't do that." Komaeda whispers. His shaky, cool breath breezes over Kazuichi's nape. "We must let nature run its course."

"What the hell are you going on about?!" When the other boy didn't reply or made any signs of stopping, Kazuichi's eyes are starting to widen just as much as his agape mouth did. "Wait, no, no! No, no, no, stop! STOP IT! GET YOUR HANDS OFF ME!"

Although everyone can hear his scream (it's impossible not to, not with how loud it was and they're all in an enclosed space), no one's willing to help him. They're all too busy with something, or in this case, someone.

Hajime would've done it himself, but then another enemy showed up.

Saionji has since moved the hell outta there when she saw Koizumi getting weird with her sketchpad. Unfortunately for the nurse, she isn't fast enough, and now, the gardener got her cornered.

He may have his grievances about her, but right now, that didn't matter.

When the gardener least expected it, Hajime runs up and without any warning, delivered a roundhouse kick that's heading towards that pervy guy. An audible crack is heard as the sole of Hajime's shoes makes contact with that pervy guy' back.

"BRUNO MAR—" Hanamura's scream is abruptly cut off as his lips made contact with the wall. It didn't break because the school invested enough to make sure certain incidents won't repeat, but it's enough to do him in.

It's at that time, he concluded that no one shall miss the pervy gardener after his untimely and tragic departure. Except maybe for his mother, of course; oh well, he'll have to send her his condolences in that case.

One problem down, about more than a dozen problems to go; it's time to put a stop to this messed up excuse of an orgy.

"Everyone," His legs strain themselves when he forces himself to keep standing up. He screams, "Get ahold of yourselves!"

His classmates immediately stopped with what they were doing. They turn their heads towards him in surprise (and for a few others he won't mention, annoyance because he interrupted them from…finishing).

Although he got their attention, his body couldn't take it anymore. Those shameful feelings grew stronger and made his world go round. Just as he saw Ms. Yukizome getting up to try and help, his legs give out.

'Oh fuck my life' is Hajime's last semi-coherent thought before everything went pink.

He woke up with the mother of all headaches sometime after that. He groggily opens an eyelid, and if his senses weren't playing with him, he must be in the school clinic. "Ms…Yukizome?"

"You're finally awake, Hinata!" She's as chipper as usual, which is kind of weird, now that he thought about it.

From what little he can see, the others are still passed out and even though he's somewhat recovered, he could still feel the unpleasant after-effects. 'But for Ms. Yukizome, it looks like she's back to normal rather quickly.'

As if reading his mind, the teacher laughs a bit and replies, "The aphrodisiac was plenty strong, but it didn't affect me as much because I'm an adult. I've already experienced something like that." Ms. Yukizome grins. She flexes an arm up to emphasize her point.

'Okay, that makes sense as much as it doesn't at the same time.'

The teacher mentioned a bunch of other stuff, but the whole ordeal made him so exhausted, he can't help but tune her out. Just to help clear his head better, not because he's doing it on purpose or anything like that.

Well, he made it this far. He could probably survive this long year, even with the added responsibility of being a class rep.

'Or,' Hajime sneaks a peek towards a few of his other classmates. More specifically, he's giving the ones who started, and in the case of others, escalated this mess further in the first place, the mother of all stink eyes. 'Maybe not.'

Chapter Text

After class cleanup duties were inevitable; even a prestigious school like Hope's Peak Academy couldn't do well without it. Sure, janitors and other such cleaning staff are available at the main building, which already made the school even more odd compared to normal Japanese schools, but then, their benevolent teacher thought otherwise.

She figured that traditional cleanup would help teach the 'rotten oranges' a sense of responsibility. Not only that, but she also thought it'd make for a good bonding exercise between everyone.

And by that, he meant the unlucky sods that were picked out by random. Speaking of unlucky sods, for every single day until the end of their school years, including today, he's also one of those unlucky sods. Yeah, as a class representative, there is no way he can worm his way out of this one.

A single drop of sweat goes down his head as he thought about that. 'Well, there's no point in complaining about it now.' Then again, it did help that it helped in taking his mind off of a few things. Somewhat.

That said, he's not going to give their teacher an ounce of credit for that one.

While he's in the middle of sweeping dust off the floor, he hears someone call out to him.

"Hey, Hinata."

"Oh," Hajime pauses himself from sweeping on the floor. Broom still in hand, he turns around and, despite the kind of person the classmate who called him, proceeds to ask her, "What is it, Koizumi? Is there something you need?"

Before she says another word, she sighs to herself. "I hate to say this," Koizumi pauses, averting her eyes away from his. Her hand remains firmly grasped onto the chalkboard eraser she held. She muttered, "But…"

He nods towards her direction. "Go on. I'll listen."

"You remember my friend, Hiyoko, right?" The artist half-asks, half-mutters.

The counselor thinks about it, before letting out a thoughtful hum as he replies, "Oh, Saionji? Yeah, I remember her." His rather brief, distasteful expression quickly changes to that of a concerned one, however, once he thought that maybe this was something he should have more tact on, even if it's a classmate nobody likes. "Why, did something happen to her?"

Koizumi opens her mouth to say something, only to close it again. She puts the erasers away, no doubt to dust them off later, and then says with a mellower tone that was so unlike her usual self, "I'm starting to get worried for her."

"I see. Did she get herself in bigger trouble?"

"Not exactly. She's her usual self, but…"

He notices her pause. He raises a brow. "But…?"

The artist groans in frustration. "But I don't know what I should do about her and Kuzuryu's petty feud! Yeah, we indeed had some history together, but she hasn't mentioned it once or even threatened me as badly as she used to, and if anything, it's my friend of all people who often escalate things these days!"

Hajime hasn't said a word, only slightly nodding to let her know he's still listening.

Not that Koizumi notices at all. Without any interruption, she then adds, "Don't get me wrong, it doesn't mean that I've completely forgiven her or that I've forgotten about it. It's just that," She puts a hand over her face, "As Hiyoko's friend, I'm afraid that someday, Kuzuryu can, and probably will retaliate if my friend ends up pushing her too far."

"I can see where you're coming from." He admits once the artist made no signs of saying anything more about her troubles. Although Kuzuryu was more of an 'all bark and no bite' kind of person, the fact that she's still a yakuza doesn't help things. "I'll be blunt here; although a lot of things she's done were very crappy, trying to piss off a person like Kuzuryu like that isn't a good idea." He then asks in a sharp tone, "Saionji's your friend, right?"

At that question, Koizumi snaps at him, "Of course she is! Are you trying to doubt our friendship? I was trying to tell you something, and now you're—"

He raises a hand to gently stop her. When she did, he then adds, "What I'm trying to say here is, if that bothers you so much, do you think, maybe you can talk to her about it? Let her know that you're starting to get worried about her sake?"

A bitter laugh comes out of her. "Did you think I haven't tried? I did, and did you know what she told me? She said that as long as we're classmates, she won't stop until Kuzuryu either apologizes or gets what's coming to her."

"That sounds rather concerning."

"I guess you have nothing else to add to that, then?"

Faced with no other options, he shakes his head. "I'm afraid not. There's only so much you can do for a stubborn person."

She huffs. "Huh, I thought so. There's nothing else I can do." She turns away from him, her arms crossed.

The atmosphere, now heavy and so very awkward, he can't think of anything else to say; at least, something that wouldn't worsen his classmate's mood. Something comes up to him, but he isn't sure if it'd hurt more than it'd help.

Deciding that it's worth a shot, he admits, "I'm sorry I wasn't much of a help to you, but, do you think you can, maybe try talking to her again? Let Saionji, know that you're serious about that. If she truly is your friend, she should at least try to listen to you about your concerns, and not just hear you out." And then, he adds, "If not that, there's also the option to talk to Ms. Yukizome about it, but I have a feeling she's more of a last resort in that case."

"I don't know. But, I guess it won't hurt to try one more time." She turns her head back to him. "Still, thanks, Hinata. For listening to my problem, anyway."

He lightly waves a hand at her. "Don't mention it. It's what I do."

She does the same. "Well, I'll be off now. See you." Koizumi waved her farewell at him as she walked towards the door of their class.

A loud click resonates within the classroom as that same door closed afterward.

Hajime's grip on the broom grows tighter. 'I had no idea that something like that was going on.' He looks back on where Koizumi was only a moment ago. 'I guess there's no use fighting it. There isn't much I can do for them, but to listen.'

It's not like he can complain about it anymore.

Listening is all that he's good for, isn't he?

Another ordinary day goes by.

"Yo, Hajime."

He turns his head around. A fond smile goes over his laps once he saw who it was. "Oh, it's you, Kaz." He leans his face on one arm, lazily asking, "Let me guess; it has something to do with Sonia and Tanaka's weird conversations again, isn't it?"

Kaz looks mildly insulted by that. "Hey, Miss Sonia isn't the only thing I talk about with you, you know that?" He crosses his arms with a rather miffed expression. It's hard to take that seriously when his two pet rats, the same ones who were currently perched on either side of his shoulders, try to mirror their owner's mood.

He sheepishly chuckles; it's less because of him assuming the usual thing and getting it wrong, and more on because that display's kind of funny, but he'd look like a massive ass if he makes that too obvious. "Sorry."

"Nah, it's alright." Kaz shakes his head. Refocusing himself, he leans himself in and places a hand over his friend's desk. "Actually, the thing I want to ask you about has nothing to with that, like at all. Yeah, yeah, I know that sounds hard to believe, but really."

He straightens his posture and returned the other guy's look. "Alright. I'll hear you out."

"Okay, so," The other boy begins, "You got any plans for summer vacation? I mean, we've still got some time to think about it before that."

"Summer vacation?" Hajime repeats. He rubs a couple of fingers over his chin. "I've done so much these past months, I kind of forgot about that."

Kaz looks like he got deflated by that confession. "Oh. So, you don't have any plans, then?"

"Cut me some slack. It's not like my talent is the 'Ultimate Event Organizer' or something like that." He shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, for my past school years, all the trips I've ever been to are somewhere in the countryside or beaches—"

He almost jumps back in surprise when that guy slams both of his hands on his desk, which came out of nowhere. Before he can question what the hell's wrong with him, Kaz's face is suddenly a bit too closer than he'd like.

"In that case, a trip to the beach sounds good!"

Hajime raises a hand and places it over the other guy's forehead, slowly pushing him back to regain his personal space. "I don't know. I mean, I've got nothing against them. It's just that, you know."

"Why? What's wrong with beaches?"

"Don't get me wrong, there's nothing that bad about beaches," He mentally adds, 'Aside from the sand getting in your shoes and having saltwater splashed in your eyes. There are also unneeded misunderstandings to add to that,' He also thought about what to say next, and with the best tact he can muster, adds, "It's just, they're a pretty popular destination, especially at this time of the year. Don't you think they're just going to get crowded with too many tourists and students from other schools?"

Kazuichi hums in disappointment. "Huh, you have a point there, Hajime. When you put it that way…"

'I'm glad you saw where I'm coming from.' Hajime internally sighs in relief. 'Honestly, that's just a terrible excuse for me to not go to one. I think summer should be fine even without-'

"In that case," Kazuichi steps back and looked like he just had a big 'eureka' moment. "Then maybe we can reserve a big beach just for us. I'm sure Ms. Yukizome can make that happen!"

Internal horror fills up his thoughts at the realization of what he'd just done. 'NO!'

Hajime futilely reaches his hand towards Kazuichi, who dashes off to the door and is already long gone. Also, he would've been talking his mouth off to Ms. Yukizome by now.

Either way, he's too late to do anything about it.

Before everyone knew it, time flew by so fast. Now was the month of August, and so, that went with everything expected. That of course, includes this mandatory school trip. Ms. Yukizome outdid herself; not only did she manage to get permission from Headmaster Kirigiri as well as securing the funds somehow, but she also managed to drag everyone in class onto the trip.

Whether he meant that in a literal or metaphorical way remains to be seen.

'Remember, Hajime.' He continuously reminds himself as he and everyone else step onto the warm sand. 'You brought this on yourself. You just had to open your big mouth.' A strained smile over his face is starting to become his new resting face; or, as a fond friend of his would've called it, a 'default expression'.

Thinking about that fond friend, a heavy feeling went over him. It's too bad Chiaki couldn't make it to the trip; she said she had a lot of work from her classes to catch up to.

He understands where she's coming from. Still, it would've been nice if they could hang out more often, especially in times like this. Oh well, there's still plenty of time left in their summer break. He can try visiting her after the beach trip's over.

Not to mention, they can still talk via their phones, like they were doing back when the class was on the ship.

Speaking of the class, he can't help but wonder what it'd be like if she met with his classmates. He quickly dismisses that thought; knowing the kind of people his classmates are, they'd probably—no, on second thought, they'd end up scaring her off, especially when it's Hanamura, or even worse, Kazuichi. He's not saying it to be a jerk towards them; it's just that, well, that's the most probable outcome.

A vein pops at the side of his neck when he hears a whistling catcall from his least favorite classmate.

"I can't believe there are so many kinds of eye candy to pick from!"

As soon as Hajime lands a stern glare towards Hanamura, the pervy gardener pauses himself from saying any more lewd comments. "Oh, um," He twiddles his thumbs; he looked like he was having an internal dilemma on whether he should stop altogether to keep himself from getting decked again, or to say some more so that he'll get decked again.

Deciding that he's done entertaining that pervert, he discreetly scoots away from Hanamura as much as possible without making himself look too rude in doing so. Thankfully, the pervert hasn't noticed it since he's still stuck thinking about his dilemma.

The rest of the class got off to do their own thing; he can only guess what they're all up to. For instance, a hyperactive voice breaks through the background noise. "YAHOO!" And with any further prompting, Mioda dives in headfirst into the waves. Two more splashes join, and at least one of them is louder than the other. It's pretty obvious who joined in next.

From a corner, Ms. Yukizome has already changed to her swimwear—Hajime squints and then rubs his eyelids. He blinks once more, and by then, he knew his eyes aren't deceiving him. 'Who wouldn't have guessed? Our teacher really does live up to the hype.'

It’s kind of a given, since she was the Ultimate Boxer. While her muscles aren’t super big like say, the former Ultimate Biker Gang Leader’s form, there’s still a fair amount of bulk on them, which would otherwise be hidden by her uniform most of the time. And to say that they look perfectly sculpted wouldn’t be enough to give justice to them; her shoulders, arms, and abdomen are especially the most well-defined, but her legs aren’t a slouch to see either. It’s clear that she’s very mindful of that, and so maintained them all the same.

Overall, Ms. Yukizome’s body has a healthily balanced-look, combining both beauty and sheer power into one cohesive form.

As soon as he notices Saionji and Koizumi are close by, he can see that the former didn't agree with his sentiment. If anything, she has a shell-shocked look; the kind that'd probably voice out her exact thoughts as, 'Ms. Yukizome's a monster.' And then she scoots behind the artist for extra measure.

Although this island has been reserved just for them, the sun is a lot more intense than he thought it'd be. 'Oh well. Now might as well be the best time to do it.' He unbuttons his shirt to keep himself from getting too humid but still kept it on.

A whistle comes from behind him. "Huh. For an ordinary guy, you've got bigger pecs than I expected you to have, Hinata."

With a surprised yelp, Hajime covers his chest with his arms both in shame and self-consciousness. Once his initial startled expression wore off, he shoots a nasty glare towards the yakuza heiress' direction. "Can you please not say something like that while we're out here?" He partly whispers, mostly yells. The effect he intended didn't work as much because his arms were still crossed over his chest.

"Yeah, sure." Kuzuryu unconvincingly replies, and she did that with another shit-eating grin. That ended up devolving into full-on trollish laughter.

'Oh God, she's so terrible,' He decides with a mental groan. He turns his eyes away from her and finally let his arms drop to his side, relaxing them at last.

Her laughter subsides, and from the corner of his eyes, he watches her wipe a tear away from one eye. "But hey, I swear, you've got nothing to worry about." She shakes her head as her shoulders shrug. "Guys like you aren't my type anyway. Not to mention, it isn't exactly the most impressive set I've seen so far."

He forces himself to unhear that. He strains to put on the biggest poker face he can ever pull off. 'I don't know whether I should feel relieved or insulted about that.' His lips involuntarily twitch.

While everyone else was busy swimming, playing volleyball, or doing all the usual beach stuff, Hajime opts to relax under an umbrella, texting a friend over. He already put some sunscreen off, and yeah, he put it on himself to minimize awkwardness. While they're in the middle of a conversation, a loud noise interrupts them.

He grunts. It's not even halfway through the day, and there's already a big ruckus going on. With his phone placed in his shorts' pocket, he reluctantly leaves his spot to investigate what's going on, and, he palms his face. 'Seriously?'

On the other side of the beach are two classmates he knew, Pekoyama and Sonia. They both stand on the opposite side of each other. The others are there too as their audience. Meanwhile, Tanaka is in the middle, probably to act as their referee.

There's probably no harm in it, and that's how Hajime ends up taking a front seat to the mock battle, right beside the only other person who's been willing to talk his mouth off to him.

"You're just in time, Hajime." Kazuichi pats his back with a big grin.

He chuckles back in reply. "I just wanted to see what the fuss is all about."

"Whoever emerges victorious," Sonia shakes a fist as her eyes shine at the same time. "Shall be entitled to a two-hour petting session with Speedy and Jerry, Kaz's adorable pet rats!"

"In that case," Pekoyama brandishes her sword. Her glasses shine with a dangerous glint to them, which had the, perhaps intentional, effect of hiding her eyes behind bright white. "I shouldn't hold myself back."

'Woah. Pekoyama's looking a lot more fired up than usual.' Hajime dully notes.

Back in the background, Kazuichi's yells and hollers are rather impressive today. "You can do it! Go beat her, Miss Sonia!" He even waves two flags, one on each hand, around as he jumps all over to make his presence even better. Where he got the flags or how he even had the time to prepare them, no one has a single clue.

He strains a smile at that display as his lips twitch. If Kazuichi wasn't the Ultimate Animal Breeder, Hajime has a feeling that his talent would've been the Ultimate One-Man Cheerleader instead.

"And," Tanaka's hand strikes down in a slamming motion. "Begin!"

Hajime perks his head up before he realized what's going on and focused himself back on the impromptu match.

Both Ultimates move faster than any ordinary human could ever dream of. Fake sword slashes against fake sword; parry after parry and block after block. It's only the beginning, and it's already hard to tell who'd win.

Everyone had their favorite. Obviously Kazuichi's already accounted for, and there's Kuzuryu who's busy yelling at her bodyguard to kick the other girl's rear already. Both fighters are evenly matched both in skill and in supporters.

Some time passes, and it honestly felt like it's getting nowhere. It might as well become a draw.

Hajime thought that, if things went on the same, he won't miss anything important if he looks away for a while. Taking his phone out of his pocket, his fingers tap over the keypads.

While typing out a message to his friend, someone leans over to try and take a peek. He quickly rotates himself to keep them from seeing it, but it didn't matter much anyway.

"You're still keeping in touch with your secret girlfriend, Hajime?" Kazuichi says that with a snicker. He playfully nudges his side with an elbow a few times. "I bet she's missing you so much right now."

He rolls his eyes. "Shut it, Kaz."

A few more minutes passes by, but at long last, the match finally ended. The two Ultimates were evenly matched, but in the end, it was Pekoyama's resolve for fluffy things that made the battle end in her favor.

Speaking of which, even though her face didn't make it obvious, the bodyguard is in complete bliss; her fingers gently rubs and caresses over the rat's tiny head, while the other contented himself to lay on her lap.

In Sonia's case, she's currently having a conversation with the yakuza heiress. She took the loss in stride, and even gracefully handed the two rodents over to Pekoyama, with Kazuichi's (unusually delightful, if Hajime might add) permission, of course.

"Kuzuryu, may I ask you something?"

"Sure, hit me with what you've got."

"I've heard that members of the yakuza have tattoos all over their bodies, and I find it odd that you have none on yours. Are you planning to have some in the near future?"

A grimace forms over Kuzuryu's face as she shakes her head. "You do realize we're both still in high school, don't you?" Placing a hand over her forehead, she then adds, "The answer should be really obvious for you."

To say that Sonia looked rather disappointed by that answer is kind of an understatement.

Things went on more or less peacefully for the rest of the day. When he looked back on some of his classmates' (and also teacher's) antics, it's a good thing that they're the only guests on this island. He can only imagine how terrified ordinary beachgoers would be if they had to share with the Ultimates.

But then again, he had a feeling in his gut that someone, someone whose name he won't mention, felt that this beach trip wouldn't be complete without this.

'As if things didn't get clichéd enough.' Hajime has a blank look towards the rest of his companions within the warm, steaming water. 'We just had to have a moment in hot springs too.'

Not all of the guys made it here, though. Two of them opted out, Mitarai declined on joining them; he said something about cramming in his new schedule while they're on the trip. Hanamurua skipped out as well, which is surprising because a normal person would've thought that the pervert wouldn't pass up the opportunity to come up close on a bunch of naked guys.

When he thought about that kind of scenario happening, he immediately decides that it's definitely for the best.

'Well, as long as the men's-only bath hours doesn't suddenly switch to a women's-only shortly after we just got here,' He grimaces, 'And cause terrible misunderstandings, it shouldn't that bad.'

"It's great of you to join us tonight, Hinata!" Nidai bellows, giving out a hearty laugh while he wraps a heavily muscled arm around Hajime's waist. The big guy must've been lost in the moment, as he sort of unintentionally locks the poor boy in a chokehold.

Hajime grunts, mostly in slight pain, and to keep himself from choking his breath out loud.

It might've looked like it's an effect of the warm bath, but for a completely different reason, a sweat droplet passes by the side of Kazuichi's head. "Hey, Nidai, mind letting Hajime go right now? You're going to squeeze him purple and blue all over soon if you don't."

By the time the muscled cook checks over the counselor, his eyes are a blank white and foam was starting to form out of his mouth. He immediately releases his swelling chokehold on him, causing Hajime to loudly gasp in relief.

"Sorry about that." Nidai apologizes, lightly scratching the back of his head sheepishly.

Hajime raises a hand while he coughed out the last of it. His once tensed up chest slowly relaxes to get him back on more balanced breathing. "It's fine. Just please, don't do that again." He wheezes. "And, if you somehow did anyway, at least try to warn me first. Please."

A burst of honest and damnably sincere laughter comes out of Komaeda. "I think it's amazing that I get to see our bonds as Ultimates growing even deeper."

Tanaka harrumphs in response to that. "That's a far too presumptuous belief, even for a mere mortal like you. You have yet to prove your worth to someone on the likes of my level."

The other boy didn't notice the backhanded insult directed towards him. "Oh, in that case, I'd gladly try my best and prove myself worthy to you, Tanaka." And Komaeda ends it all with another sincere and serene smile of his.

"V-Very well, then." Tanaka turns away, his face slowly going red from the hot springs' heat and his arms crossed. "However, prepare yourself for disappointment, should your efforts turn out fruitless; for I have standards that are so impossibly high, not even a mortal like you can hope to achieve even a shred of them."

"That sounds fine by me."

While Hajime watches the rest of his guy classmates banter with each other, he let himself dive deeper, until the upper half of his face was just a few centimeters shy away from the warm waters.

This is definitely one of the, if not the liveliest hot springs gathering Hajime has been through in his ordinary life.

On the other side of the wooden fence, a different group of Ultimates gather around there. Their numbers are five people, around the same as the boys who were still inside the hot springs.

Sonia whistles to herself. "I frankly don't see why this seems to be a popular rite of passage for the Japanese, especially for people our age, but I believe this is still a great way for our bonds to grow deeper."

A bead of sweat drops by the side of Mahiru's head. "I don't know what to say about that, except that everything you just said sounds so wrong on all levels."

She wishes that she skipped on this like Hiyoko did, but, it's not like she's here because she wanted to; the only reason she's out here in a group peeping on the guys is because no one else will watch over and keep them in check. As for Kuzuryu and Pekoyama, from what she last heard, those two were out to somewhere. No one had any idea exactly where, but thankfully, it's nowhere near where Hiyoko was staying in.

"Woah, this is so much fun! Ibuki's starting to understand why guys like to do this kind of thing." Their resident excitable girl excitedly says to herself. "Maybe she should use this as an inspiration and make something nifty out of it."

Meanwhile, a disappointed groan comes from their other companion. "Hey, where're the sausages at? I don't see them anywhere here."

"Shh! Keep your voice down, Akane!" Mioda momentarily turns her head back to scold the blacksmith, before putting her attention back to the peephole.

Tsumiki's whole body might as well be completely red at this point. She quietly yelps to herself, looking away from the peephole she's using, only to come back and stare through it again. Rinse and the cycle repeats itself.

A rustle comes from the bushes.

"Did anyone hear that?" Mahiru asked with a gulp. To her immense exasperation, not a single answer came to her; if anything, the others look they're too caught in watching the naked guys. She palms her head. At this point, they're going to get caught.

The artist considers her options. She could escape the embarrassing, awkward, and incriminating moment that'd come after, but if she did that, it'd be a low thing to do even for her. She already went with them in the beginning when she could've sat out of it, and so, turning her back against them would've made her a big hypocrite. The fact that she did it for reasons different from them didn't matter.

Deciding to take matters into her own hands, she stealthily gets behind the bush. Her hand strikes out faster than either of them realized, and she fishes out someone from there.

A surprised yelp that came from what's unmistakably a person, got the rest of the girls' attention at last.

"Hanamura?!" The lucky student squeaks as the known pervert made his presence known.

Mioda wastes no time going behind her to cover her mouth, to keep the startled girl from giving them away. Tsumiki squirms a bit in her grasp, but other than that, she didn't do much to fight her off. If anything, her body temperature ends up rising a bit more.

Mahiru keeps her hold on the back of the gardener's clothes. Now that she knew who it was, she wants nothing more than to drop him off and wash her hands so thoroughly to the point they'd be erased out of existence. Yes, it's that bad holding him.

Shortly after that, she does just that. She lets him drop ungracefully onto the hard ground, making him land kind of painfully on his rear.

That classmate scrambles up to his feet while he tried to rub and soothe his aching behind. "Don't worry, ladies." Hanamura then wildly waves his hands around, as if that'd help his case. "I won't snitch on you. I swear."

"I don't think that's the problem here, though." Mahiru points out with a sigh.

Sonia goes over there, glancing at him now and then with a critical eye. "What do you think we should do with him?"

Even though Sonia hasn't said anything that sounded at least vaguely threatening towards him, Mahiru will have to say this…

That was the fastest she ever saw someone like Hanamura leg the hell out of there in her life.

Now with that pervert out of the way, she went back to the elephants in the hot springs and sighs to herself again. How is she going to live the rest of her life guilt-free after participating in something like this?

The answer's very simple: she never will.

Hajime lets out a sigh of contentment as he got himself dressed. It might've happened a lot before, but he can't believe he's been pretty ignorant since the start of the trip; he can't believe he's forgotten how relaxing hot springs were.

It's probably just him, but it feels like he got to know some of his guy classmates a bit better. He feels like he's starting to understand Tanaka's way of talking a bit more. Aside from the literally crushing first impression, Nidai also isn't that bad of a guy. Komaeda is the most down-to-earth guy he's ever talked to, and Kaz…well, he's still Kazuichi.

With that out of the way, Hajime thought that he's only being his usual, irrational self, but he can't help but feel that there's something fishy going on. An ominous feeling of some sort ran over his spine once he and everyone else got out of the baths.

It's a bit weird that Koizumi refused to look at him in the eye. Now that he thought about it, most of the girls in the class did the same thing for the rest of his guy classmates too. It's even weirder in Sonia's case because she's talking to Tanaka and Kazuichi as usual, except that there's some strain in her voice.

And then, there's Hanamura himself, who looks a lot happier than he usually is. He skipped around every once in a while, which raised the counselor's suspicions a bit more.

But, when he and the rest of his guy classmates got to their room, he drops the subject in mind altogether.

'It's probably nothing.' Hajime shakes his head off those lingering thoughts. He lets his exhausted body sink into the futon. From what he's heard, the trip's going to last for a few days more. He's going to need all of the sleep he can get.

For the rest of the night, the guys (minus Hanamura for obvious reasons) remain completely oblivious about an awful fact.

Chapter Text

It wasn't that hard to remember it. Some of the details left her, but she could recall the more important parts of that day.

Chiaki was out, as usual, checking out the local arcade, seeing and trying out most of the new cabinets that came out. She won't be lying if she said she had some fun there; sure, it's just her spending long hours in there, and aside from curious passersby, no one made ways to talk to her. Likewise, she did the same.

The cabinet beeped out the game's victory jingle. She slumped back. She beat her high score again. It's a little bit lower than what she usually aims for, however. Still, that's fine; it was sort of fun, and that's what mattered the most.

She checked the windows out and saw that the skies have already turned orange. Not the first time it happened to her; if anything, it happened so frequently, she might've lost track of how many times she stayed there until one of the employees still around would kindly ask her to leave.

But then again, when those times happened, the skies would've been pitch black. She can guess this is a slight improvement over that.

She got her bag over her shoulder. She decided; she should end things off a bit earlier than she would've had. After saying her thanks and goodbyes, she went off.

Her mother's still going to be slightly disappointed over this, she realized that, but it's a bit better than what might've happened instead.

Eyes remained glued on the pavements. Car engines and all sorts of distractions from other people tuned to easily-ignored background noise in her ears.

The lights went red. She stopped, blending in with a small group of people that also waited for the lights to back to green. Out of habit, she lifted her head a bit, to try and take a peek on the other side of the road. From that side, there was a group of high school girls. Judging by their uniforms, they're from a different school.

It's too far to properly hear what they're saying, but judging by their faces and gestures, they playfully bantered against each other.

Although one of them looked a bit annoyed by where their conversation is going, it's easy to see that they're all really happy being with each other.

The lights went green.

The small group broke apart as quickly as it'd formed moments ago. While everyone else went their ways, she took a shortcut she knew that'd eventually lead to her residence. It's always been just her when it came to walking home. She's alright with that, actually; her life's always been this way.

She's used to it.

Before she knew it, her house came into view. She went through the gates, knocked on the front door. The door creaked a bit as she slid it open. "I'm home." She announced as she got inside the house, and took her shoes off.

Her parents were busy as usual, or at least she thought they were; they're probably in the living room. She was about to head straight to her room. She wasn't expecting a reply to come her way.

A strict voice she knew all too well made its way to her. "We need to talk." Her mother told her as she came into view. Because the older woman was still wearing an apron, she must've been in the middle of preparing dinner from the kitchen.

Bracing herself for impact, Chiaki bowed her head down. She admitted, "I know. I came home late again."

Her mother shook her head in reply to that. "You indeed have, although it was quite earlier than how it usually is." She gestured her to come over at the dining table. "With that said, that's not what I wanted to talk with you about."

She didn't have a good feeling about this. Her grades weren't as high as her parents hoped, but they weren't a complete failure either; they're just average.

When she got herself seated at the table, she saw her father was there as well. His face was a bit softer than it usually was. Once her mother joined in, Chiaki will say this to herself; this was starting to become a surreal experience. She can't remember the last time everyone sat at the same table at the same time.

Her father glanced over her.

Her mother cleared her throat. "Starting next month, you'll be attending Hope's Peak Academy's reserve course batch."

The moment those words came out, her mind temporarily went blank. 'I…What?' She tried to rehear what her mother just said, doing it again a few more times in her mind. But, the more she repeated it, the less sense it made.

"Doesn't that sound wonderful?" Her father broke the silence. An unusual smile was on his face as he said. "It isn't a big guarantee that everyone who applied will manage to make it in there, so imagine how happy your mother and I were when we heard they accepted you."

It didn't sound right. Facing the table was starting to be a lot more comfortable than facing her parents back; she mentally kicked herself over for thinking of something as rude as that. "But, isn't there a tough entrance exam before that? I don't know if I can pass through that."

She glumly added in her mind, 'I've heard that the reserve course's entrance exam felt like it was targeted towards college students, instead of graduates who were just starting with high school.'

"You don't have to worry about the entrance exam." Her father reassured with a gentler tone she never heard so often. "I'm sure you'll do just fine there."

Her mother spoke up once again. "Remember, we're doing this for your future. You can't waste your life away in those childish games of yours." She palmed her face. "I can only hope you won't waste this opportunity granted to you."

"I…" It was getting harder to say anything back against them. Before this, she always nodded off to whatever they wanted her to do.

Both her parents looked at her with such expectancy she always saw them had before.

She never said anything that went against them. She couldn't do anything like that after all. And so, she resigned herself to the decision they already made for her. "I promise I won't."

"That's good to hear." Was what her mother said. "There's no better way to secure your future other than graduating from Hope's Peak."

As for her father, he added, "I'm glad you can see where we're coming from. You know that we only want what's best for you."

While her parents talked over that subject, she went back to reflect on their decision. She still had a hard time believing it. Someone like her was going to attend a school as famous as Hope's Peak? While it's true she's not going there as an Ultimate student, even attending there as a reserve course student isn't something to brush over.

The tuition was quite expensive, or so she'd heard. Paying it wasn't the problem, her family was well-off in the first place; it's just that, she's not sure if she can make it even halfway through the school year.

'Maybe it won't be so bad,' A small, more hopeful part within here voiced out, 'The reserve course will help their students find their potential, right? Maybe then, you can be just like the heroes from your video games.'

By the time her first month came and went by faster than she thought it would've, Chiaki never realized just how off her expectations were.

The first time she went over to the reserve course building, she won't be lying if she said that the size of it made her eyes squint a bit. For a place that's supposed to house ordinary students like her, it was a lot bigger than she thought it'd be.

It'd reasonable for her to assume that if the reserve course building was that big, then the main building would dwarf over it in comparison.

And if the rumors were true, then the school was also planning to build another, much bigger building for the Ultimates to stay in this year.

Chiaki darkly wonders if that's the true reason why the reserve course's tuition was so high, even by rich folks' standards. It sounded like a ridiculous conspiracy, but if this was set in a fictional setting, then that kind of scenario wouldn't sound that far off. It would've been the perfect setting for a high-stake mystery game.

But, she doesn't live in that kind of setting. She lives in this old, plain, and average reality and so, something like that couldn't happen here.

Even if it did, it wouldn't be a fun scenario to live in, unlike the way that kind of idea would've been idealized or even romanticized as.

About her classes, well, it's the usual kind of classes she'd see in every normal high school; she didn't see any point in thinking about it any further than she had to. The only difference between the reserve course classes and the ordinary classes is that their subjects are a lot more advanced. If it wasn't aimed towards senior high school students, then it's aimed towards fourth-year college students.

It's only natural she'd end up dozing off a few times when those topics fly pass by her.

Yeah, their teacher isn't exactly happy about that.

She lost count on how many times a piece of chalk was sent flying to her head in the span of a few weeks or so, and the reason those tend to happen so often was because she gets ended up getting caught for that. Once she wakes up with a sharp jolt of pain on the side of her head, she'd hear some giggles behind her.

When it came to those quick chalk shots, the most she can say she was that she's sort of developed immunity against it. To be more specific, she never really notices when a small piece of chalk hits her in the head anymore; at least, not until she sees it fall off in front of her. Sometimes, the sharp pain she'd normally feel from that didn't even register in her anymore, and in the case it did, it tended to be a really, really late reaction.

She'll admit that at first, it was funny to see her teacher get infuriated about it. It ended up becoming less funny when he started to send her outside to the hallways instead, and her peers snickered about that. Since then, she's forced herself to let her drowsy habits die off slowly and painfully.

She hasn't fallen asleep during class as frequently as before, although, that didn't stop her from yawning now and then instead. It's not her fault that these kinds of things happen.

When the first week of May came in, she got herself used to the class' gloomy atmosphere. The teacher tended to drone on their lessons. She heard all sorts of whispers and curses from her classmates who cried about how the school isn't fair to them.

'I can see where they're coming from. It's just that, I don't know if there's anything we can do about it.'

After the first half of another normal day came by, she didn't expect something like this to happen. For one, one of the staff members came up to her after their first period was over, and right before lunch break had started. For two, that same staff member asked for her to come by to the staff's office.

Without even questioning the reason why, she got up with her belongings and followed them to the office. At first, she thought that maybe her teacher finally got fed up with her, and now he's asking for the other staff members to deal with her as soon as possible.

It's not like it was the first time it happened to her, anyway.

So, imagine her surprise when it turns out that it wasn't the case at all. Chiaki gets herself comfortably seated in front of a group of well-dressed old men. If she's to guess from what little she'd heard of them, these men are the members of Hope's Peak Academy's Steering Committee.

The shortest, and arguably the oldest member, speaks to her first. "So, Chiaki Nanami, was it?" Nobu Mizushima is his name if she read about them correctly.

"That's me."

Mr. Mizushima clasps his hands together. A glint is present in his normally dark glasses as he asks her, "Would you be interested to participate in the Hope Cultivation Program?"

Her heart nearly stopped over when she hears that. "The Hope Cultivation Program?"

The elderly man nods. "Yes. You've heard that correctly. I believe you've heard about it before, is that right?"

She bites the inner part of her cheek. The truth was, she did hear snippets about that particular program before, mostly from her classmates. Apparently, in this program, the members of the Steering Committee would personally handpick potential volunteers themselves, and once approved by the headmaster, would then be screened to become a potential Ultimate student.

It sounds too good to be true.

"In a way." She admits. From other similar sources she's heard of, other reserve course students have already signed up for that, but they're still accepting volunteers.

"Then I take the program sounds rather intriguing to you, then?"

She shrugs. "Maybe."

"In that case," The old man slides a bunch of papers in front of her. "Would you like to start your application for it? I can assure you that by the end of the program, you'd make for a fine Ultimate student. How does that sound to you?"

Mr. Mizushima flashes a smile to her. He must've thought it made him look more charming or something like that.

In any case, something in her stirs. It sounded so tempting, but…

"Nanami?"

She snaps back to reality. "I…" She lightly bows her head. "If it's okay with you, please let me think more about it. I don't know if I can decide right here and right now."

Though the old man's voice remains pleasant, his smile drops somewhat. "That's alright. Take as much time as you need before you make that decision." Mr. Mizushima reassures, his gravelly voice tingling with the usual pleasantries despite his neutral-looking face. "It's understandable. I'm sure you feel like it's a rather big decision to make, especially for someone of your age."

She nods off. "I guess so."

To close it off, the old man adds, "If it'll help ease any further worries in your mind, we'll contact your parents about the program. Perhaps with their permission, you'd be more considerate about it."

"We shouldn't keep you around any longer." A man with bald, graying hair, and a beard interjects. He narrows his eyes before adding, "Perhaps you should go and take your break right now."

Chiaki replies with a simple, "Alright." and stands up from her seat. Before she leaves, someone else comes up.

"If you're still interested in the program," Another member speaks up; this time, it's the round member with a bob cut. His name is Shouhei Minami. "Then don't hesitate to let us know immediately. You know you shouldn't let your potential go to waste."

She doesn't bother to look back at them as she answers, "I'll try to keep that in mind."

She leaves there as quickly as she could; she didn't care for the weird stares the other Ultimate students passed to her. She went back to outside of the reserve course's building. She breathes in and breathes out.

Chiaki tries not to think about the program too much. No one she knew saw her, right? She didn't want to imagine what'd happen if the others heard about what happened moments ago.

She shakes her head free of those uncomfortable thoughts. To keep herself from thinking any more of those, she pulls her pink GGA out of her bag and boots it on. For obvious reasons, she wouldn't be able to use them in class; this is one of the few moments she grew to take care of.

A wave of relief goes over her when she heard the nostalgic, beeping main theme of Gala Omega. She lets a small smile take over her as she started to shoot at enemy AIs in-game.

Some time pass. Even with her attention focused on the game as its retro sound effects fill up her ears, more of those thoughts come creeping up within her.

The voices of her former peers rear back up, accompanying those unpleasant thoughts.

"You're just trying to compensate for a talent you don't have."

"I can't believe these parents thought that it'd a good idea to buy their kids' way in Hope's Peak."

"Huh, you got all the good stuff. It must be nice being rich..."

Maybe her old classmates were right. Maybe someone like her just isn't cut for this kind of school. Maybe this was all a mistake.

Her parents wouldn't be happy if they ever heard this from her, but honestly, she feels like she's starting to regret coming here—

And then, she bumps into something. Or rather, she realizes as she looks up and her eyes meet with green ones, someone.

In the real world, the first day of semester break has already passed a week ago.

Chiaki closes her eyes with a soft sigh. She really should get up and start the day, but as each second passed by, it's probably just her, but it feels like it's starting to get a little harder to want to do that. It might not be the ideal way to spend the rest of her time here, but the idea of doing nothing but laying there and sprawled all over the bed was starting to get very comfortable real fast.

Huh, her mind's wandering off again. She was thinking of something else earlier.

It was that odd little encounter. That day was also the first time she met Hajime; it happened from way back in the first semester, and yet, she still remembers every detail clearly, as if it happened only moments ago.

When Hajime told her he'd see her again tomorrow, she told herself not to get her hopes up back then. That kind of reminder remained constantly in her mind, even as she patiently waited for him at the public bench.

But then, no matter how much she tried to keep her expectations down, pretty soon it soon got harder to not raise them instead.

For the first time in her life, someone waved back at her. That alone was almost unbelievable.

Minutes pass, and before she knew it, she finds herself sitting upright on her bed. A yawn leaves her. Her previously scattered mind is starting to rearrange itself back to something slightly more cohesive again.

She checks over the desk from the side of her bed. She inwardly groans at herself; the stacks of textbooks hasn't lessened a bit, and if anything, it looked like the stacks got taller instead.

Maybe putting all of those assignments off last week wasn't a good idea. Oh well, she'll make some time for it later. Or tomorrow. She'll manage somehow.

After much deliberation, she officially gets herself off of the bed, gets herself prepared and dressed, and then went straight back to that bed.

A ding comes from her phone. Out of curiosity, she grabs it and sees a text from Hajime.

Hey Chiaki, how're you doing out there?

Wait, I'm not bothering you too early, am I?

As she reads it over, she suddenly remembers that he told her he'd be going out on a summer trip with his classmates last week. He invited her over, and she politely declined. Don't get her wrong, she'd love to join in. It's just that, well, she doesn't know what his classmates would think of her, and so, she played it safe.

Her fingers deftly taps over the keypads as she sent her reply.

Doing fine. Still trying to catch up somehow.

And no, you're not bothering me at all, really.

Several seconds pass by before she receives a reply from him. She immediately went over that one too.

Great to hear that.

A beat passes and before she knew it, her friend follows it up with another message.

The part with you doing fine, I mean. I still remember
how much summer homework sucked.

Chiaki lets herself lightly laugh at that. Just a little bit. Although she feels a little envious that Ultimates don't get saddled with those kinds of schoolwork, in a way, she's glad that there won't be any unnecessary stress for him.

I can tell you that they still do. Good thing you
won't be experiencing those kinds of stuff anymore.

Are you having fun with everyone there?

Once it's been sent, she wonders if she sounded too clingy with that. 'I mean, he's at the beach with his class. And it isn't just any normal beach; it's a special one that's been reserved just for them.' Her eyes glaze over the text.

Seconds went, and his reply come in.

Yeah, I think I can say so.

Right now, two of my classmates are sparring
against each other.
Sonia and Pekoyama, to be exact. Winner gets
to have a petting session with Kaz's pets.

As you can probably imagine, the stakes are
high for those two.

Everyone's already gathered around to watch
them. And yeah, I'm with them too. I got a little
curious.

Well, that's new. From what sorts of stories he told her often, she had a good idea about how crazy his class can be, even by Ultimate standards. It should've sound surprising, but when others look at some of their talents, it's bound to happen at some point.

Are you betting on anyone in particular?

I don't do bets. But in this case, I think the winner's
kind of obvious when you analyze their talents and
their backgrounds.

Kaz is going to disagree with me, but Pekoyama's
having this.

When Hajime puts it that way, that did make sense. Although she never met any of them in person, she can guess that the bodyguard’s tougher background would give her an edge over a swordswoman who does it as a hobby. Of course, that doesn’t mean she should be underestimated. Sonia did earn the Ultimate title for a reason.

As he predicted, Pekoyama did end up winning the mock fight. He told her in complete detail on how happy the bodyguard was when she snuggled over the two rodents, even if her face isn't showing.

An hour passed that afternoon; both of them were already done with their lunch breaks by then.

In that time, their new conversation devolved into a lot of intense topics about upcoming releases for that month. Hajime asked her about which games she was looking forward to the most, which was a bit hard for her to answer.

They were so deep in their debates about deep themes, moral implications in some of the player's choices, and who was the best romance option, she hardly noticed how much time had passed. At least, not until she checks at the top of her phone's screen and sees it's already 5 PM.

As if noticing that too, her friend next reply is,

I think we're going to have to end this soon.

Sorry, but the rest of the guys are going in
the hot springs soon. I don't know if I can turn
them down, at least, not without a good reason.

Yeah, I can understand that.

Before she can close her phone, it buzzes once more with another message. She looks it over, and even though it was so simple, her breathing hitches.

But before that, is there anything on your mind
lately?

That question came out of nowhere. What made him ask that in the first place? That's what the logical side of her told her. And yet, there's a small part of her wanted to tell him in her next message,

Hajime. There's something that's

been on my mind a lot nowadays.

It's been months since she last spoke with the Steering Committee members, but she hadn't forgotten about them. The Hope Cultivation Program was still open to her, and it's all because she told them she needed more time to think about it. Even if the old men hadn't thought to remind her about it every so often, it'd always return at the back of her mind when she least expected it.

She never told anyone about it before. She wanted to tell him at some point, but every time she found a chance to do so, she backed away at the last moment.

Just like how it always was, she never had the heart to hit send. Soon after, that message is quickly deleted.

She exhales. She shouldn't dump her baggage on him. He deserves better than that kind of treatment.

Instead, the message she sent is this,

Nothing much, really.

Just homework and all of that.

Anyways, you shouldn't keep
them waiting. See you later.

Yeah, I definitely shouldn't.

Well then, see you later too.

After that last message, she takes that chance to turn her phone off at last. She glances over her desk and shakes her head. She still hasn't made much progress with her school work. To be more specific, not even a single homework has been cleared yet.

It's not like she got the mental fortitude to go over them at this state. She still has time this summer; she'll do it another day.

While trying to retake her scattered thoughts, Chiaki slumps over her bed. The fact that she might've skipped dinner doesn't cross her mind.

Instead, the ones that did are a short reflection of some sort. 'Hajime wasn't a perfect person by any means, but he's still a good one. There's no doubt about that.'

There's a good reason why Hajime deserved the title of an Ultimate. It wasn't just because of his counseling talent; it's also because he knew about his flaws and his shortcomings. He indeed accepted them, but unlike most people, it doesn't stop there.

He also did his best to improve whenever he can. It's pretty amazing, to think that he started to get along with the classmates he used to be indifferent with at best.

'And compared to that…' Chiaki lays over her side with a soft sigh.

She always knew that she wasn't anyone special; there weren't many things she's good at, and she doesn't know if beating a lot of video games even counted. She never felt strongly about it, at least, not before.

In her familiar terms, she'd say that she's just another blank, unremarkable NPC in the background; the same kind that'll repeat the same line all over again when spoken to by the player. The ones who don't contribute in any meaningful way to the game's system, whether in plot, mechanics, or even as a part of the world.

She's just…there. She isn't any better than a prop.

So bland. So generic. So forgettable.

Before she met him, she never thought twice about these kinds of things. She's always been in the background. It was her normal way of living; if she hadn't experienced anything else other than that, then there's no good reason for her to rethink it.

But now, she never thought that she'd ask this kind of question to herself. 'What am I doing with my life?' If Hajime can break through it all and make changes for himself, why isn't she putting even a little bit of effort to do so?

The faces of the Steering Committee members flash in her mind. What they've told her back then continues to echo in her.

"You'd make for a fine Ultimate student."

"You know, you shouldn't let your potential go to waste."

As much as she wants to shake them off, they kept clinging to her. 'The potential to be an Ultimate student, huh?' She muses. It's still hard for her to believe it, but…

If she accepts their offer, maybe, just maybe, she can be the kind of person her parents and Hajime will be proud of.

Maybe then, she can finally do something good in her life.

The same things happened in her daily routine. Wake up, get herself prepared, try and catch up to the summer homework she frequently procrastinated with weeks ago, check up on her emails and texts with Hajime, then pass the night with another playthrough of Dragon Quest, just to keep her mind off of certain things.

(Like the program that was offered to her back in the first semester. Someone like her had the potential to become an Ultimate student? If she wasn't feeling down about that, she'd probably laugh it off. Then again, maybe it won't be so bad. Maybe she wouldn't be an embarrassment anymore to the people who knew her in that case.)

But even with all of that going through, summer vacation passed by so slowly to her.

At least in that way, she didn't get hit with a vacation hangover. It didn't make her classes any less unpleasant, still.

Speaking of her classes…

They're back here once again. The classroom hasn't changed much since last semester. Their homeroom teacher is still the same old, overly strict middle-aged man. She knows him all too well; he's the same one who pelted her with chalk whenever she's caught falling asleep during his long lectures again.

But just because some things stayed the same, it didn't mean it had to. Even though she's slouched over her desk, with one arm propped up to support herself, and is seated from the corner of the room, she manages to sneak a peek towards someone in front of the class. She doesn't recognize that boy and judging by the hushed murmuring from her classmates, they don't either.

That said, that boy is wearing the reserve course uniform. She has a feeling about this, and she already knows where that was going to end.

'Come to think of it, one of my classmates dropped out a week before summer break began. I guess that might've made things convenient for some.' She yawns. 'I'm just glad we don't have to work twice as hard to cover for a missing classmate anymore. Hopefully.'

"Everyone," Their teacher begins, "As of today, we have a transferee who'll join our class." He gestures towards them. "Please introduce yourself."

Chiaki tiredly glances up at that transferee, to try and take a closer look at him. She won't say anything out loud, but she's going to be honest here; she didn't expect her new classmate to look anything like that.

Dirty blonde hair. Soft gold eyes. Rosy cheeks. Most noticeable of all, a scowl that, instead of making him look intimidating, further enhances his baby-like face. It's the same effect that came with angry little things, like tiny dogs or cuccos.

The second option might've been more accurate, now that she thinks about it.

Despite the way he looks, she can't help but feel like this is one of those people who shouldn't be messed with. She's seen similar archetypes before, after all.

With the harsh way the new classmate introduces himself, he only proves those impressions right.

The new boy glares at them with the kind of intensity that didn't suit his childish-looking face and short stature. If it wasn't for his voice, it'd be easy to mistake him as someone younger than he was.

"I'll say this only once, so you bastards better remember it." The new reserve course student snaps with some bark towards them. "My name is Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu."

Chapter Text

Groups of reserve course students huddle among each other. Classes have ended minutes ago, and now they're on their way to grab some cleaning supplies, but then something like this happened to them. For their safety, they've kept to themselves, avoiding eye contact with the uninvited student, and overall staying as far from her as possible.

They whisper to themselves, "What are a bunch of Ultimates doing in a place like this?" The group's starting to believe that they simply can't catch a break.

Natsumi passes by them, as if their presence didn't even register in her mind. She doesn't need to waste her time with lowlifes like them; those pitiful kids were only students of Hope's Peak because of their money, and even then, it's not going to help them stay here for long. If it weren't for an important business she had with someone, the thought of even stepping foot on this miserable place would've never crossed her mind like so.

Peko stays by her side as they got through the building's stairs. The bodyguard hasn't said a word since her charge furiously demanded she comes with her to the reserve course department a while back.

The yakuza heiress subconsciously grits her teeth. Her fists clench at her side. The aggressive display she put out causes a few more bystanders to scuttle away from her at a reasonable distance. Several of them look like they're about to turn blue all over in fear; if the angry and downright hostile girl wasn't enough, then the stone-cold, almost emotionless bodyguard with her would've done them in.

The door is ungraciously slammed open.

Students inside loudly gasp in shock, and as soon as they laid their eyes on her, plenty of them start to run and scatter around to the corner as far as they can. With their saucer-like wide eyes and dropped jaws that might've reached the floor, it's almost like seeing a bunch of goldfish flop around on land so pathetically.

But Natsumi doesn't pay any attention to them. Her attention is fully focused on someone else. There is one student inside who didn't run away from her; that same student remains frozen in front of the chalkboard.

Of course, he wouldn't run from her. They both knew each other as a family would, or in this case, should've.

A growl leaves her throat as she trudges her steps. She gets closer to that student until only centimeters of space are left between them. The student breaks out of their brief shock. He almost backs himself away from her, but she wouldn't let him.

"What in the actual fuck do you think you're doing here, you useless asshole of a brother!?" She screams, grabbing him by the collar of his shirt.

Fuyuhiko chokes out a gasp as he's hoisted up; his hands remain hanging limply by his sides. His eyes dart around the area; he goes slack when he sees Peko eyeing him from nearby. Her expression remains unreadable, but those eyes…

He refocuses himself, looking towards his sister as he replies with a weak, strained smile, "Long time no see, Natsumi. It's great to see you doing so well. Looks like Hope's Peak's treating you and Peko pretty good."

It took every last willpower for her to not toss her brother off to the side after hearing him say something like that so casually. As if he hadn't gone up and left—

"We're going to talk. Outside." She growls. "Now." She releases one hand from him, but the other holds tighter to the back of his shirt, as if she's fully intending to haul Fuyuhiko out of this classroom herself. She ignores her brother's protests, not caring if he was assigned to this class' cleaning duties today.

Both siblings, and Peko to serve as their escort, are about to leave the scene. They would've gone out of this room without much trouble; that is, if someone hadn't barged into what's clearly a private matter.

"Who said you can come here, Kuzuryu?"

"Huh?" Annoyed, Natsumi turns to the girl who asked something as rude as that. "Do I know you?" She dismissively asks with a somewhat tired tone. Aside from her brother, who only enrolled recently, she didn't bother to notice any differences between each reserve course student. They're all a bunch of generic and forgettable people anyway. It's not like they're meant to stand out in the first place.

The girl who called her out earlier foolishly steps forward. Despite her lower status, she stands as tall as she could be at her level. "I guess it makes sense you wouldn't remember so easily. You must've tormented so many people during your stay here."

Her eyes narrow as she scrutinizes the idiot. If her glare could kill, that idiot would've been shredded to bloody pieces by now.

Now that the yakuza heiress has a closer look at that student, several memories start to flood back in her. "Oh, yeah. I remember now. Sato, right?"

And now, the idiot has a name attached to that plain face. A couple of students begin to whisper among themselves some more. They could hardly believe the new turn of events.

Natsumi continues, "You were that kid who loved to play pretend as Koizumi's knight in shining armor from way back then, weren't you? It looks like you haven't grown out of that phase even until now." A wicked look of amusement makes its way to her. She then adds, "I wonder, why are you trying to play hero for someone you don't even know this time? Now that you and Koizumi aren't in the same classes anymore, you've got fill that void in, don't you?"

"Kuzuryu…" Sato gulps, before her gaze steeled and she adds, "H…He's my classmate too. I don't care if you're his sister. I'm not going to stand back and let you harass him in front of everyone."

Those words stirs her bodyguard into a more prepared stance. Peko didn't reach for her weapon just yet, but she stands close to her in case if that girl tries anything.

"Harassment?" She can't help but bark a laugh at that. "Are you seriously calling a private chat with my brother, 'harassment'? I think you butting in something that isn't your business in the first place should be considered as the real harassment here."

The rest of the reserve course students remain far apart from the two. Many refuse to get themselves involved, and a few are already starting to sigh and shake their heads in disapproval about what's going on, but some of them are starting to look at Sato with unbelieving awe in their eyes. Not a single one of them would ever think of speaking up against an Ultimate student, and yet, here their classmate was, doing exactly that.

"I can't believe that." Sato's body remains tense, which is natural in a situation like this. "If anything, I refuse to believe that. You've done the same thing to Mahiru for as long as I remember. You two may be classmates now, but—"

"Mind letting that go now? I mean, come on, I haven't even seen you since middle school." Her free hand palms over her forehead. "Why even bother to bring that crap up?"

"I won't get over it. I can't just forget it all, not after everything you've done back then."

She tiredly sighs; she can't believe the kind of mess she's gotten herself into. However, Natsumi refuses to back down from the fight this girl started. "You just said that Koizumi and I are classmates now. In that case, why the hell would I go back to the way things were before? Shit like that gets tiring after a while."

Sato goes still. Her chest heaves in and out so unevenly.

Natsumi turned away, thinking that she'd won this battle. She isn't even able to set a few inches out of where she stood when the other girl dares to step even closer to her.

"Are you seriously saying that you stopped treating Mahiru so horribly not because you realized it was wrong, but because you got tired of it?!" Sato bursts out as she declares that.

She lets out a "Tch." when she sees that the other girl closes in at least less than half a meter close to her. "And here I thought you couldn't get any dumber than you were back then. You haven't changed that much at all." A malicious grin spreads across her lips. "Well, since you really want me to teach you the same lesson again, then go ahead and be my guest."

Sato doesn't flinch at the threat, and if anything, it only serves to make her even more determined than she ever did before. Her eyes glare back at the yakuza's. "If there's anyone who hasn't changed a bit, then it'd be you."

Neither made their next move, and yet, both of them anticipated what the other might do afterward. Sato's body stance is wracked with high tension, while Natsumi retained her confident composure, helped by the fact that Peko stood still right beside her.

It's sort of unfair, since it's clear that this is lopsided in the favor of someone's case. The rest of the reserve course students are aware of that; they anxiously wonder how their classmate is going to make out of this, and if there'd be any repercussions against them afterward.

It doesn't get any more heated than that. Neither of the two was able to execute their next move when another voice barged into their conflict.

"Um," One of the reserve course students step out from the side. She ignores the hushed gasps from everyone else and proceeds to stand in-between them, asking, "Please don't start a fight here."

All three of them turn their attention to the newcomer. Peko's face remains neutral; she doesn't say anything against her.

Natsumi groans. She's starting to have enough of all of this. She's starting to wonder if that idiot's hero complex was starting to rub off on the rest of the class. It won't be surprising if that was the case. "If you know what's good for you, then you won't get yourself involved. You better not go and piss me off."

Sato's face softens when she refers to her classmate. She voices out both her concern and disapproval in a much gentler tone, "I'm sorry, but I can't let you get hurt because of us. This is between me and her."

The other reserve course student hasn't said a word in reply, but other than that, stays right where she is.

"I'll say this again." Sato returns her attention to her former tormentor. "Let my classmate go right now, and kindly leave our class after that. We were in the middle of cleaning everything up, and you've cost us so much time because of your so-called 'family matter'." Any signs of fear left her as she raises a finger towards her, practically shouting, "You may be an Ultimate student now, but you're still the same, rotten coward who picked on my innocent and defenseless friend years ago!"

The room goes quiet after that. The only constant noises that remained are the ongoing hushed remarks from the bystanders.

Peko threateningly moves forward, causing more mutters to form among the reserve course students.

Natsumi raises a hand to stop her bodyguard. Peko tenses, as if she's hesitating for a split second, before she forces her body to calm down and go back to a relaxed posture. But even so, she keeps her eyes locked on both of the reserve course girls.

A low chuckle leaves the heiress. "You know, I was already in a pissy mood when I got here, but I was nice enough to let you go even with all of that. But now, you just had to cross a line you shouldn't have." Her hand curls into a fist.

The other girl's eyes begin to widen. "Kuzuryu, you—"

"I'll do everyone a favor and put scum like you back right where you belong!"

Sato's eyes shut tight in reflex; she stands her ground while she tensely awaited the harsh blow that'd land on her cheek.

The blow never landed on its intended target. Before either of the two knew it, the newcomer gets directly in-between them.

A loud crack fills up the room.

Sato opens her eyes; she places a hand over her mouth as she gasps.

The blonde tries to say something, but nothing came out as she watches the other reserve course student stagger back. But even with that in mind, there's no changing one simple fact. Her fist is caught in that girl's hand. She flashes an unfriendly smirk. "So, you've decided to go ahead and think you're some kind of hero too?"

"I said," Her face remains unreadable as she stares back into the yakuza's eyes. "Please don't start a fight here." That hand should be broken, and yet, she kept a tight grip on the Ultimate's own.

They stay that way for a few more seconds, but it felt like it's longer than that. Everyone else anticipated what could happen next.

Natsumi's face contorts to that of a heavily disgruntled look. She forcefully pulls her hand off of the reserve course student's; judging by the crack earlier, it didn't take her much effort to pry herself free.

She turns away from them, walking out before she stops for a moment. "Let's go, Peko." She coldly orders her bodyguard. Her arms cross, glaring at the two students one last time. "I'm not going to waste any more time than I already did in this hellhole."

"Understood, young mistress." Peko replies with a brief nod, following closely behind her.

Just as both Ultimates left, Natsumi glances at a certain student from aside. She promises him in an eerily calm tone, "I'll be talking to you later, 'big brother'."

All sorts of talks that came from those students after pour in as soon as the class's door was slammed close.

The next day came. Their teacher drones over the day's lessons as he usually does.

Chiaki glances over her hand once again; the bandages she hastily wrapped her hand around looks kind of crude. It didn't ache as much as it did yesterday, but that didn't mean she should move it too much. In a way, it's a good thing that she didn't use her right hand to block that punch; it'd make things a bit tougher if that happened instead.

Her hand may not have been seriously broken like it might've had, but it's still quite concerning. It'd take a while before it heals up completely. It'd be better if she could get treatment from a hospital, but, she can't just go around and ask for money, especially not from her parents.

About them, yeah, her parents wouldn't be happy if they heard about this incident. Their teacher didn't say anything, but judging by the stern glare he shot towards her when she came in class, he gave off the impression he'd contact them about it.

Oh well.

In hindsight, what she did yesterday was the most reckless and dumbest thing she has ever done in her life, and that's saying a lot. Why did she think that she could somehow get herself involved in between a yakuza's family issue, a tense history between a schoolmate and a classmate, and then think that she'd somehow make it out alive in a single piece?

She's lucky she only got away with bandages wrapped all over her left hand. There's a high chance that someone like Kuzuryu could've done so much worse instead.

Chiaki faintly remembers a chill ran down on her when the Ultimate effortlessly freed her hand back then. She never got herself involved or defused those kinds of situations before. If things went bad, she would've never stood a chance against Pekoyama.

'But, Sato got out of there without getting hurt.' She thinks, remembering the scared, but resigned look her classmate made before that. 'That's what matters the most, right?'

As the lessons went on and on, her eyelids begin to droop; she kept herself from falling asleep, but that didn't stop her from leaning her face onto her hand. She no longer cared about the fact she started tuning their teacher's dull voice out moments ago.

It feels like it took a bit longer before the first half of the day was done. As soon as the bell rang and their teacher permitted them, everyone else took the chance to get out. Once they were gone, she gets her bag, preparing to leave for the usual lunchtime meet up.

She hasn't reached close to the door when someone called out to her.

"Hey."

She stops; she heard that voice before from a day ago. Turning around to address him, she asks, "Do you need something?"

Kuzuryu shrugs his shoulders. "When you put it that way," He dismissively shakes his head and said, "No, I don't need anything from you."

"Why did you call for me, then?" Turning tail and running is starting to sound like a good idea; she kept herself from doing it out of impulse.

"No reason. I just wanted to tell you one thing." He leans back on his seat. "You've got some guts back there. No one else would've ever tried to stand up to my little sister like that; especially not when Peko's with her too." He snickers. "Color me impressed."

She has no idea whether her new classmate was commending her or insulting her. Then again, when she thought about the kind of lifestyle the Kuzuryus have, it's most likely a mix of both.

"I never thought that I would've done something like that either." She admits, eyes focused on the floor.

"Huh." He turns his head to the side, as if he's looking at something at a certain angle.

She tries to follow where his eyes were staring at; her eyes soon go over to her bandaged left hand. Realization hits her as she insists, "It's nothing. It's not as bad as it looks."

He stands up from his seat and begins to walk towards her. "Bullshit," He mutters under his breath. He's close enough, and soon, the boy grabs her good hand and places something on it. "Here. Take it."

Chiaki looks down on her palm and nearly throws it out in surprise. "I—…" She can't believe the amount she was seeing; even her parents will never throw these numbers at her allowance. "This is way too much." She tries to place the pack of cash back into his palms while shaking her head. "I can't accept this."

Kuzuryu shakes his head. "Nope. You're taking it whether you like it or not." He gently, but also somewhat forcefully shoves the money back to her palm. "It's the least I can do, after the shitshow my sister pulled."

Resigning herself to his insistence, she hesitantly takes it with her. "Oh, uh, thanks, Kuzuryu." Her head bows low.

He grunts in slight annoyance. "Don't call me that. It's going to sound confusing when you do." He waves a hand off. "Just Fuyuhiko is fine, or whatever."

"Well, thank you then, Fuyuhiko."

"Don't mention it. It's nothing."

Chiaki turns to leave. The door closes softly as she left. One thing remains in her mind; despite the first impressions, maybe he isn't as bad as his sister was. Maybe it wouldn't hurt to talk to him again some other time. Maybe, it'd be nice to have a friendly acquaintance of some sort in this class.

Hajime notices that he arrived a bit earlier than usual at their meeting spot. Normally, he'd show up around a few minutes after Chiaki comes in there (understandable, since this was the reserve course building); right now, at least six minutes have passed and he hasn't seen any signs of her yet. A bit concerning, still, he keeps himself there. There's a chance she got held up with something.

After around several seconds has passed, he sees a familiar face pass by towards his direction. He lets out a smile, waving at her.

However, as soon as she got closer to his vicinity, his smile might've gotten strained out of reflex. Even from there, he can see the bandages that wrapped all over his friend's hand. A part of him wanted to rush over and ask her all sorts of questions, but he keeps himself rooted on the bench. At least, for now.

"Hey. Sorry about this, I got held up in the last subject." She sheepishly says, before taking a seat right beside him, at his left side. She places her bag aside. "I didn't make you wait too long, didn't I?"

Hajime didn't reply to that. He can't bring himself to, not when there's something more pressing right now. "Chiaki," He begins, trying not to fumble over his words while thinking of a way to tactfully voice his concern out. "I noticed it earlier, but, your hand…"

She brings the limb he mentioned in front of her, unintentionally giving him a better view of it. "Oh, this? It's nothing. I was a bit careless with some stuff yesterday." She downplays it. "You don't have to worry about me, though, really. It doesn't hurt that much right now."

His eyes go over to that part, and then back to her face, studying her for any change of expression. On the surface, she had her usual relaxed face. Other than that, he notices things that clued in her hesitance in telling him more.

He bites the inside of his cheek; he isn't sure if he should be asking this in the first place, and yet, he still ends up doing it anyway. "Is it alright if I ask you what happened to your hand?"

"I already told you, I was just careless. Everyone in my class was on cleaning duty yesterday. I helped a classmate out with something, and next thing I knew, this happened." She explains and proceeds to insist, "But I'm okay now. All I have to do is go for check-ups every day and not to stress my hand too much."

Realizing he encroached into dangerous territory just now, he quickly drops that topic down. "Okay, I understand. I just can't help but a worry a bit when I saw that, you know. I thought that maybe someone was picking on you or worse."

Her body noticeably tenses for a while, but she soon gets herself back to her usual self. Hajime then watches her take her favorite console out of her bag, along with the cartridge of a game he didn't recognize, and a link cable.

"You know, I've only played this once before. So I haven't touched since then, at least, until now." She admits as the game boots up.

Figuring out that she doesn't want to talk about that anymore, Hajime decides to go along with that for now. "Well, I remember you telling me you've replayed most of the games you had more than a dozen times, so I guess that sounds a little unusual coming from you." He then adds to lighten their conversation up, "Don't tell me this is one of those 'so bad it's kind of entertaining' kinds of games, isn't it?"

He hears her laugh a bit before shaking her head.

"It's nothing like that at all, really. I promise you, this one's actually pretty good. It's just that, there are hidden features and a bonus storyline that's unlocked when you've got two or more players connected." She leans back on the bench with a sigh. "I couldn't find anyone else to play the game with me, so I never got to experience it. I didn't look up on any playthroughs about it, and I sort of forgot about it for a while."

Hajime hums in acknowledgment. "I see. Well then, now that you've said that, I'm getting excited about this."

"Me too."

They soon get started with the game. It looks fairly simple at first based on the characters' designs and gameplay. Aside from the gimmick she mentioned earlier, it's more or less a standard RPG with beat 'em up elements. It turns out this game isn't a co-op like he thought it'd be.

From what's seeing so far, their characters are on opposing sides. He sneaks a little peek at how Chiaki is doing with hers; the area they're exploring in looks the same, aside from a few minor differences like their characters and so.

As their session went on, Hajime's mind isn't as fully invested in the game. It's not that it was bad; it's just that, he can't stop thinking about that. He feels his eyes wander towards her hand a few times, and he immediately forces them back to the screen. She's by his left side, and so, he can't take a closer look without being too obvious.

While doing that, he also ends up noticing that Chiaki didn't seem to be that into it either. She does look like she's enjoying herself, don't get him wrong, but the movements from her hands aren't as coordinated as they usually were.

It's not hard to see why.

Their characters end up encountering each other during the first stage. They watch their characters exchange their sets of dialogue, the typical rival talk in these kinds of games, and then, the unique battle music reserved for these PVP scenarios plays.

Sounds of button mashing joins in with the game's music and sound effects. For some reason, their characters are evenly matched. As soon as one of them gets a hit in, the other hits back until their HP is around the same amount.

Because it's still at the beginning of the game, the fight didn't last too long.

He stares back at the screen. He couldn't believe it.

This was the first time he beat her. In any other situation, he'd be surprised, and then be so happy for himself. He couldn't beat her any of the games they played together, and the only time he won was when they played on co-op against AI enemies. It should've felt exhilarating to taste victory for the first time.

Right now, he couldn't feel any of that. It feels wrong.

He puts his console down.

Chiaki immediately notices that, as she puts her console down too and worryingly looks at him. "Hajime, what's wrong? Did you not like this game?"

"No, it's not that at all." He shakes his head. "It's got a really creative gimmick, and so far, it's been really fun playing it with you. It's just that...well, you know..." He trails off, finding himself staring at her bandaged hand.

Chiaki retracts her hand, away from his view. "I'm fine. It wasn't a big deal, really. It was just something from cleaning duty yesterday, and nothing bad happened to me." She isn't looking at him anymore. Her eyes are glued to the ground, but the pleading tone in her voice is still so clear. "Hajime, please just believe me."

He wants to believe her, he really does. But he isn't sure if he can, not when it feels like there's something else going on. He weighs his options down, and after a minute or so, he breathes out, and then nods at her. "Okay, I'll believe you. I'm sorry if I made you uncomfortable."

"No, it's okay. I shouldn't have made you worried for me." She tries to reassure him. And, now that both of them are sitting together in a slightly awkward silence, she immediately changes the topic. "Still, I never thought that you'd beat me today. You're getting good at this, Hajime."

'That's not true at all. If your hand was better, you would've won. You deserved that win.' Hajime thinks to himself, but other than that, he decides to play along for now, not wanting to upset her even more than she already is. He playfully shakes his head and slightly laughs. "Nah, I only got lucky. I'm pretty sure after this, you're gonna hand my ass over to me like you usually do."

"Come on, I can't be that good. Speaking of, I think this game is off to a good start. Don't you think so too?"

"Yeah. It sure is. I can already tell it's going to be one hell of a ride."

While he keeps their conversation going on, Hajime's mind went back on the details Chiaki told him regarding her injury, before they started this new game together. He could tell that she told him the truth, but at the same time, it felt like there were a couple of things she deliberately hid from him.

Thinking about that made everything a bit more alarming than how she described it.

Still, whatever happened to her yesterday, he won't try to forcefully pry it out of her. He'll give her the space she needs. Even if he wants to, he can't force it out without making her close herself up even more.

Since they started attending their respective classes, it's always been the three of them; up there, on top of the reserve course building. Because of Sato's strict class schedule, lunch was the only time they could hang out like this.

It's been fun and carefree. At least, it was until now.

"She did what?!"

To any outsiders, it would've been weird to hear someone like Hiyoko scream with genuine concern in her voice.

Sato flinches at the outburst. She isn't able to say anymore, not when the other two began to smother her with worry.

Mahiru, as soon as she heard her longtime event recount what happened a day ago, instinctively leans closer to her. Her fingers run over and press over her friend's arms, asking her, "You didn't get hurt too bad, did you? I'm so sorry to hear that. I should've been there."

She forces a smile on her face, telling her, "I'm fine. I didn't get hurt at all," But then, her face drops as she recalled the event. "But, I don't think I can say the same for my classmate."

"Your classmate?"

"Who cares about that?!" The petite girl's face contorts so much from intense rage. "That bitch already crossed the line before, but this time, she went too far. I swear, I'll—"

"Hiyoko," Mahiru places a hand over the nurse's shoulder. "Please, calm yourself down right now!"

She mustn't have heard her dear friend. It's not hard to see why; the nurse is too occupied with her angry rants concerning a certain classmate. That and she happens to let out colorful threats that involved too much information on how surgical tools worked.

The artist tries again, without any success in placating the angry nurse.

Sato insists, "You don't have to worry about me, really. I wasn't the victim there; it's the classmate who took the blow for me." She remembers seeing her in the morning, and felt her heart stop when she caught sight of white cloth wrapped around her classmate's hand.

"That doesn't change the fact she could've hurt you." Mahiru counters. She rubs her free hand all over the smaller girl's back, to get her to relax even a bit at least.

"That Kuzuryu. I swear, I should've at least done something to her a long time ago! If only she wasn't my classmate and if she didn't have that stupid bodyguard with her all the time." Hiyoko finishes her rants off with a tired, but still rather furious, grumble.

"You don't have to do any of that. I can take care of myself." Sato turns to the smaller girl with an unusually serious look on her face. "Please, Mahiru already went through this before. I don't want you to get involved with this too."

"And why shouldn't I?" Hiyoko questions. Her voice sounds far fiercer than how she'd use it on her patients.

She glances solemnly at her old friend as she brings her arm into their view. There's an appalled look on Mahiru's face as if she fully knew what that part entails.

Hiyoko doesn't understand what meant, but she keeps quiet. Her eyes glue on what the reserve course student was about to do.

Wordlessly, she pulls one of her sleeves down until it folded below her elbow.

One lets out a choked gasp that bordered on near sobbing. The other doesn't let out a single noise, remaining stunned in silence.

A long, somewhat thick scar ran along the arm's exposed skin. "She could do this to either of you someday." Sato warns with a shaky breath, "I don't know what I'd do with myself if that day ever comes."

"Sato…" Hiyoko's voice is low. "I never thought that something like that happened to you."

"That's why, I'm asking—" Her voice breaks a bit before continuing with, "No, I'm begging you two, please, just, leave it all to me. She can do whatever she wants to me. I don't care about that, as long as no one else gets caught in it."

Sato wants to say one more thing to them but kept it to herself. There's no need to make them even worried than they already are.

'Especially if the ones who'll be hurt in the end are you and Mahiru.'

Chapter Text

He dragged himself out of a room. While he walked on, he wondered if he should start running, but other than that, he didn't speed his pace up. Running would get him out of there faster, but if he did that before he was even outside, his footsteps might wake them up. Maybe if they start noticing something, then he'd hightail out of there as soon as he can.

He got out there without any trouble. It's not as dark as it should be; there were some lights outside. He figured it'd have to do. If he was fast, he'd be long gone before they noticed anything.

That was when something hit his ears.

"Get back here!"

He almost stopped himself from going forward in shock. An ordinary and weak person would've given in to that instinct. He knew he was weaker than that, and so, he started to run.

"No, wait!"

He didn't look back. No matter how loud that voice was, he refused to turn his head around even for a bit; because he knew that if he did, he would come running back to that side instead. He mustn't give in. He knew everyone deserved better than him.

"Don't leave me!"

He kept running and running. Rows and rows of streetlights passed by him. Not a single person was outside. He kept himself moving until eventually, the surroundings grew almost unfamiliar with different landmarks; he was sure he's at least several meters away from home now, but for some reason, that voice kept ringing in his ears, almost as if they're still close by.

He couldn't take any chances. He forced himself to rush faster. Things were better this way, he convinced himself.

The voice cried out one last time. It was as clear as it had cracked at the same time.

"Big brother!"

Fuyuhiko's eyes shoot open. He sits himself up on the bed. His mind goes back to what he'd been dreaming about moments ago; he remembers bits and pieces, but other than that, he can't find much related to it.

He groans.

Just as he's about to plop himself down and get back to sleep, he feels something wet drip over the side of his cheek. It bothered him a bit, and so, he rubs that corner with a finger.

'Huh,' Something came over him while he proceeds to rub over the side of his eye with the back of his hand. 'Why was I crying?'

He mulls over that for a few moments. He decides not to press on that matter any further than he should; he represses those memories in him once more. Now that he's officially been up for more than a minute, he's no longer in the mood to get back with more shut-eye. Fuyuhiko lets out a yawn and then looked over the time on his phone.

It took everything in him to not flip out. He has thirty minutes more before class started.

"Shit." He curses, hurrying off of the bed. He then scrambles over to try and make himself decent somehow in what little time he had left.

After he's done hurrying and snapping his uniform on himself, he finds himself outside. He got his breakfast done and over with before rushing himself out of there; a single slice of plain bread didn't take much time anyway, and there's no way he's bringing it out with him, unless if he wants people to stare at him weirdly.

The reserve course campus isn't that far off, and if he forces himself to care a bit more, he'd be there with at least ten minutes more to spare. But because he didn't care about it that much, he'd at least have two free minutes instead.

Meh, that sounds good enough to him. There isn't anything else to do there anyway, except for waiting, waiting, and waiting.

It's probably just him, but, running out like this felt familiar in a way. He grimaced, immediately deciding that he didn't like that.

Some of the details were lost on him over time, but the heavy guilt remained there.

As he roughly estimated earlier, he did end up making to class with less than two minutes left.

Everyone else already has their asses down inside; even their teacher has already positioned himself behind his desk right in front of everyone. No one said anything to him, and it doesn't help that no one was moving or fidgeting that much in their spots.

It gives him the creeps.

He gets himself seated at the front; since he was a late transferee, he didn't have nany options on where he'd sit his ass down.

'Eh.' He inwardly shrugs to himself. 'Not like that mattered. Should count myself lucky I even managed to snag a spot here in the first place.'

The teacher then asked them to go and open up their textbooks or something like that. Fuyuhiko could care any less about the exact words that the underpaid, middle-aged man spouted out, but he still did as he was told anyway. He might as well play along for now.

While their teacher droned on and on and fed them with the same old bullshit as yesterday (seriously, why couldn't a famous and oh-so 'prestigious' school like Hope's Peak hire better ones?), he tries to fight back a yawn that was starting to form within. He briefly considers giving in to that instead because pissing the teacher off would be a riot, but he's not going to risk something as stupid as that, even if it'd lighten things up a bit in this miserable hellhole of a place.

It's only been more than a day since he started coming here, but in short, this place sucked so much. The teachers felt more like middle-aged salarymen stuck as babysitters and his peers whined and complained about the same things every goddamned time.

'Well, boo fucking hoo, so what if you never make it to the main course? Life sucks like that. You better start sucking it up.' He mentally snaps at their recent bitching and moaning—oh sorry, he meant 'valid discussions' once.

Overall, the experience here is a joke. A sad excuse of a joke, but still a joke nonetheless.

Seriously, it's almost like everything in here was pointless in more ways than one. Maybe it didn't even matter whether they'd somehow manage to graduate here or not.

Normal school hours are already painful enough, but the lifeless droning of their teacher dragged those hours down to even longer and more painful periods. He had no idea something like that was possible until now.

Then again, when he thinks about it, his inward rants about the reserve course didn't sound so different from his classmates' constant bitching and moaning. But then again, compared to that, at least he has the decency to keep it all to himself.

Things dragged on for too long before the bell rings for lunch.

Their teacher snaps the textbook he was holding shut, and after a minute or so of deliberation, permits them to take their break.

It might be just him, but he swears that the bastard felt smug about that. He must be delighted, to know that this is one of the few times when he's got real power over them. Fuyuhiko briefly entertains a possible way to wipe that slimy bastard's smugness off of him.

As usual, everyone else quickly went for the door and left to go...off to somewhere he'd give less of a shit about. Pretty soon, even their teacher left.

Now it's just him, and maybe one more classmate.

He stretches his arms a bit, before turning over to his side to look at a certain classmate he spoke with before. He sees her pack her things up and is on her way to go somewhere too.

His classmate barely reaches for the door's handle before he calls out to her, "Hey."

That classmate turned her head around and looked over him. He couldn't read her exact expression, but he had a feeling she's thinking that this already happened before.

She didn't say anything to him but keeps her eyes on him, wordlessly letting him know that she's willing to hear him out first.

"So, uh," He begins, "Your hand's doing better now, isn't it?"

His classmate looks dumbfounded for around a millisecond or so. Despite that, she wordlessly brings her bandaged hand up to his view anyway. Her expression remains neutral for now.

At one glance over his classmate's hand, he won't be lying when says he felt relieved. The hand doesn't look like it was just clumsily covered up in bandages, the same ones that were both too loose and too tight in some ways after the person who worked with that called it a day, anymore. It's also a good thing it didn't turn out to be serious enough; that is, serious enough to warrant putting a cast over it.

His classmate proceeds to lower her hand back at her side.

Moving on from that topic, he then tells her, "Oh yeah, I forgot to tell you this, you know, the way you caught that punch was alright, but you could've done that stuff better."

He hears her huff. His classmate turns her eyes away from him and says in reply, "You don't say."

It doesn't take a genius to read the room. "Oh shit, I," His fingers scratch the back of his head while he takes those words back, "I didn't mean it that way."

"It's fine." is what she immediately replies with. She even waves it off as if it wasn't a big deal.

"I swear, I seriously didn't mean to put it that way." His hands gesture around somewhat. He clears his throat; he's fully aware of how awkward this was all starting to become. "So, getting away from that real quick, would you mind if I'll give you a tip or two?"

"Go on."

He lets out an exhale in relief. "Okay, so," He begins, "Instead of trying to catch a punch like you're imitating a baseball catcher, maybe you should try grabbing them by the wrist next time?" While he's suggesting that, he raises a hand up and then uses his other hand to hold his wrist as a demonstration of some sort.

"The wrist?" The suggestion makes her perk up a bit in interest.

He nods in affirmation. "Yeah. Grabbing their wrist won't only keep you from breaking your hand while catching their punch; it'll also help you pin them down and get you one step ahead if you need to." To emphasize that, he tugs on his wrist a bit. He flashes her a smirk.

Her eyes squint at the slight demonstration he showed her. She nods slowly. "Oh, I see." She turns her back from again. Her hand grips on the door's handle. "Thanks for that advice. I'll try to keep that in mind."

The door shutting is the last sound he heard.

As she left, there is one fact he glossed over. As soon as it hit him square in the face, it nearly made him double over in realization. He palms over the side of his face. A frown goes over his face while he mulls that over.

It'll be rude if he says it out loud, but it's true; he might've forgotten her name. He racks over his brain, trying to remember it somehow. 'What was it again? Namiki? Nanashima? Nakano? Nagato?' While he made sure it wasn't obvious to her, he grimaces towards himself. 'None of them sounds even close, don't they?'

He'll have to check his classmates' names over again later.

The next day came in the same way it did. And then, the next thing he knew, a face he's starting to get acquainted with real quickly came forward to him as soon as everyone else left for the lunch period.

"Hey, if you don't mind me asking, do you want to join me and my friend for lunch today?" His classmate, the same one whose name he kept forgetting for some weird reason, asks him.

'Woah, woah.' He mentally backtracks just a little bit, thinking over what his classmate just said to him, 'Where the hell did that come from?'

Okay, sure, he's not exactly on awful terms with this classmate of his, but they weren't exactly buddies either; this is the kind of situation isn't what he was expecting to start his lunch off with at all. He didn't get enough time to mentally prepare for this, god-damn it!

It seems like she's starting to read the room better. "I'm…" Her voice is a bit clearer compared to how it usually was. She pauses, as if trying to think of a way to articulate her words better, and then continues, "I'm going to meet up with a friend today, and, would you mind joining in? I thought that…" She momentarily looks away from him for a second or so. "Uh, I don't know if you're alright with being left out here by yourself, I think."

Okay…this is the first time someone willingly talked to him upfront without shaking in their voice. He isn't sure whether to be somewhat impressed or to be very, very baffled. Those sets of words pretty much summed up the way he thought about this particular classmate.

Her voice snaps him out of those thoughts. His attention went back to his classmate, who's starting to look upset now. 'Fuck.' His mind scrambles up ways for him to try and deflect this somehow.

It turned out he didn't need to. His classmate ended up doing it for him.

She bows her head low. "Sorry, I must've been bothering you. I should leave now." She faces away from him; her steps clatter on the smooth floor, going further and further away from him by each second.

While he watches her leave, he thought back on what his classmate asked him. She asked him, "Do you want to join me and my friend for lunch today?" just moments ago; he knew the gist of what she's asking, he's not that dense of an idiot.

Now that he reflected on it better, he thinks to himself, 'Eh, what else do I have to lose? Bah, at least I'd get something else to do other than sitting this shit around.'

Before his classmate got too far from his seat, he replies rather lately with, "Hm, sure. Why the hell not."

Almost immediately after he said that, his classmate stops, before slowly turning around to face him with a completely disbelieving look. "Really?"

He shrugs his shoulders at her. "I mean, it's not like I've got anything else to do here." On the inside, he can't help but feel a bit annoyed. 'Come on, I've already answered your question, so why does it look like you're not buying it for a second? Do you think I'm the kind of guy who fucks around just because?'

Upon hearing her mumble a quiet "Uh…Thanks.", he figures that's his cue to get himself up.

Just like that, the two of them walk out of their class to get to…somewhere, he can guess. Actually, no, he can't exactly guess where they're going at this point. It's kinda funny; even though they've met up a few times now, he still can't remember his classmate's name. He's so lucky she hadn't picked up on that.

Out of nowhere, he hears his classmate blurt out, "I know that it's a bit too sudden…"

'Believe me, it is.' Fuyuhiko mentally snarks but otherwise, doesn't interrupt her.

"But, I'm really glad you agreed to come along." She says to him. Her tone sounds a lot more relaxed than it usually was.

"It's not a problem." He stretches his arms for a while, before letting them fold and relax behind his head. He glances at her, asking, "So, you've got a special hangout spot or some shit like that?"

She shakes her head. A small, almost playful smile slowly makes its way up to her face. "Not really. It's just right there." Her index finger points over to a spot somewhere outside their building. On that spot, is a rather ordinary fountain right behind an even more ordinary bench. "See?"

If it were just those two things, he might've not reacted as much. It would've been a bit underwhelming, but overall, it wouldn't be that much of a big deal.

It just so happens that there's a certain kind of person that sat by and waited on that bench. At the same time, he so conveniently remembered that his classmate mentioned a friend earlier.

He won't lie, he might've have choked back a bit; unless if this was some big misunderstanding or one hell of a prank, he saw the kind of person he'd least expect to come over, let alone be his classmate's friend. Right there on the public bench was the most ridiculously plain and average joe. He wouldn't have batted an eye over that if that same average joe wasn't wearing what's basically the Ultimates' uniform.

Adding to that, he might've also blink a few times after squinting a bit, just in case he was seeing things or there's a fuckload of dust in his eyes. 'Huh, never saw that coming. Then again, I never saw her whine about the Ultimates with everyone else, so I guess I shouldn't be too surprised.'

"Chiaki," The guy beholds a neutral look towards him. "Is he a friend of yours?"

He uses that as an opportunity to sneak a glance at his classmate. 'So that's her name.' He still doesn't know her family name, but at least that's one thing out of the way.

His classmate hums thoughtfully, and then replies with a shrug, "I don't know, but, he's nice enough." His classmate gestures a hand, introducing them both to each other. "Hajime, this is my classmate, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu. Fuyuhiko, this is my friend, Hajime Hinata."

"Wait, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu—" The guy sputters out before slamming a fist down his chest to try and calm himself down. He then clears his throat. "Oh, so that's the brother she talked about a few times."

Fuyuhiko has a good feeling that this guy was in the same class as his sister. Which, if he's reading the look on that guy's face correctly, wasn't a stranger to her attitude either; that much he can sympathize with.

He gets a closer look at Hinata, and he's less than impressed with the guy so far. Messy and spiky brownish hair, a face so plain and generic, and a fairly average build; if it weren't for the guy's green eyes and ridiculously long and straight antenna on his head, it'd be easy to lose track of him in a crowd.

"You know," He voices out, "For an Ultimate, he doesn't look exactly the part." He won't make it too obvious, but he smirked when he sees a red vein pop at the side of the Ultimate's head.

"Hey," She jabs him a bit in the rib with an elbow. "That's not very nice of you to say."

Hinata raises a hand. "It's fine, I get that a lot. It's not the first time I heard a joke like that."

"Yeah, that's what it was," Fuyuhiko says, a hand raised in case if he needs to deflect another jab.

Thankfully, he doesn't need to do that; the girl accepted her friend's words, and so, she mercifully decided not to subject him to more, rather literal, ribbing.

Both of them got themselves seated on the bench. Hinata is in the middle, so the two reserve course students occupy either side at the seat.

Fuyuhiko sees them whip out two gaming consoles, and so, he playfully muses out loud, "You don't happen to have a third console, don't you?"

She answers with a slight laugh, "Actually, I do." Without a second thought, she grabs something from her bag and then proceeds to hand over the third handheld to him, completely oblivious to his stupefied expression. "You can borrow it if you want to."

He politely pushes it back to her while shaking his head. "Nah, I'm good. I suck at these things anyway. I'm fine with just watching." That was an excuse for him not to get wrecked.

"How about just this once?" She presses on a bit more, gently but also more firmly, pushing it back to him.

In the end, he ended up having to take the third console in his hands. And so, basically, he pretty much watched those two go against each other in the game while he tried his best to survive somehow in the sidelines. As he expected, one of them was being beaten to a curb. He's kinda surprised that it's the Ultimate student who's losing, but then again, maybe he shouldn't have.

He's kinda thankful that they decided not to gang up on him, given that this kind of game was a free-for-all.

Fuyuhiko is starting to get lost in the two's banter, so without thinking much, he blurts, "Speaking of, don't the Ultimates have that test coming up this month?" He heard about that from his peers' daily gossip; considering the unholy amount of bullshit they tend to spew, however, he didn't believe much of the words they said.

"Oh, you mean that test? Yeah, it's coming this month." Hinata grunts, running a hand over his hair. "I already told Chiaki about it. Personally, it feels more like a glorified talent show than a test, to be honest. They've got the press and all of that junk with it."

"Sounds rough, buddy." Loads of heavy sarcasm drip down so much from his tone, it's as subtle as a rock to the face—scratch that, at least a dozen rocks to the face. He leans back on the bench with one arm that stretched over the side.

She doesn't seem to get the sarcasm, as she thoughtfully replies, "I can't even imagine all the pressure they'd feel during it, especially when the country is watching over you."

Hinata shakes his head, brushing it off with a semi-relaxed tone. "I haven't taken that exam yet, so I guess I shouldn't be the judge of that."

"Sure, whatever helps you sleep better tonight."

His pretty sudden gaming session with them proceed to go well, as far as he's concerned. He won't mind having another one.

Just like that, another day ended for him. As usual, classes sucked, his teachers sucked, most of his classmates sucked, and after class cleaning duties sucked so much.

'Eh, there is one thing that didn't suck.'

He lets himself relax a little upon remembering the brief meeting he had that lunch. Yeah, he can say that Natsumi's going to be in good hands, judging by the bits Hinata had mentioned about their class earlier.

Something rustles from a distance.

He doesn't stop himself from walking just yet; he only slows down just a bit.

Fuyuhiko has a good idea of who's following him. He knew that they haven't seen each other in years; it didn't change that there was something familiar about this. Bittersweet feelings of nostalgia stirs up in his chest as he faintly remembered the similar games he and a childhood friend played together.

He stops on his tracks and turns himself around.

Around the same time he did that, a voice he hasn't heard in a long time calls out to him, "Young master—"

He raises a hand to stop her. A soft, weak noise escapes him. "Peko, please. You know I'm not the clan's next in line anymore."

He has a feeling that his childhood friend should be with his sister right now, but he decides not to comment about that. For all he knew, his sister might've sent her, or maybe not; maybe Peko was here of her own choice. Maybe he didn't ask, because he knew he's too much of a selfish bastard.

"But—"

He interrupts, telling her in a rather flippant tone, "Don't worry about me, I can take care of myself now. Besides, I know that there's someone else who needs you more than I do. " Whether his childhood friend would take that as a hint to leave him alone or not is up to her.

Peko speaks in protest, "I…" Her composure, which is often kept in check behind a calm and stoic face, is unusually tense.

He directs a solemn look towards her. He simply shakes his head.

Any more insistence dies down in her throat. "U…Understood." She bows her head.

Despite her reply, he could see that she didn't truly accept it. He faces away from her; there's a part of him that told him he should leave right then and there without kicking more of a fuss. He should've done that, but instead, he had to open his mouth, and he asks her in a mellower tone, "So, how's Natsumi been treating you?"

Peko has calmed herself again, as she replies to him in a neutral tone that unnerved him, "She has been accommodating."

"That's good to hear, I guess." He turns his head a bit towards her direction. "I know that I just said that I'm not the next in line anymore, so this is going to sound very hypocritical coming from me. But," He pauses himself; he thought over the next things he was about to say.

"Y—" She quickly stops herself, before proceeding to ask, "Is there something bothering you?"

A grimace forms on his face; in some twisted way, she'd be right about that. He shakes his head. "Look, I know it's your job now, but please. Don't let her push you around too much."

"I don't understand what you mean by that." is what she coolly replies to his request.

He breathes out, eyes closed as he argues, "You may be her bodyguard, but you're still a person. Again, I have no place to say this but still, you're so much more than just a tool." His features softens. "Please. That's the only thing I'll ever ask from you again."

Peko's face remains difficult to read.

Tense seconds tick by. He wonders to himself if he shouldn't have said anything from the start, if it meant sparing her this uncomfortable discussion. He always had a gut feeling about this, but he didn't truly realize how deep it was until he left.

Her lips twist for a split second before she answers, "I'll see what I can do." Her tone hasn't changed even as she answered that.

He has no idea what to make of that. Facing away from her for the last time, he waves a hand at her. "Well then, I guess I'll see you some other time." Something in him wondered whether he's lying to her or himself; he isn't sure if they'd even see each other again another time.

As he turns to leave, he doesn't hear her reply to that.

He knows one thing in himself. This isn't the kind of reunion his old friend deserves. Maybe it would've been better if he didn't let her see him again.

The boy's thoughts remained scrambled even as he walks on to…somewhere, he could say. It's not as if he can call the place he's staying in 'home' or anything like that. That makes him pause for a while; huh, he hasn't been at home for a long while now.

He palms over the back of his head. A groan comes out of him while he goes over to recollect his thoughts. It was good to see Peko again, and yet, there's a part of him that wondered if things would be less painful if he blew her off for her own good, instead of talking to her and pretending like he didn't leave them those years ago.

Acting as if nothing happened between these years at all.

He grits his teeth.

'I couldn't live with my failure from that day. And, so, like the coward I am, I ran. I thought that I was doing everyone a favor, that by getting rid of myself from them, at least they wouldn't have something so shameful stuck with them.'

'Hah, as if you can solve things so easily by running away. I'm so fucking stupid. A selfish piece of shit for thinking of that. What a sorry excuse of a brother and an awful childhood friend I am.'

If someone else knew of his story, he won't blame them if they started to laugh at him. He knew he'd deserve all of that and more. He might even join them in laughing at himself. There's no excuse to let them all down, especially the two most important people in his life.

'I've already fucked things up with them anyway.'

Speaking of laughs, it all sounds so goddamn hilarious when he thought about it; back then, so much of the family members thought that his sister would've been a lot more suitable as the next person to lead them instead of someone as weak and soft as him, and he ended up proving them right that day. Someone like him would only drive them to ruin.

They don't need a spineless failure like him. Now that he's out of the picture, he's sure that the clan is in much better hands.

There is one thing he can say truly say. Even if he hadn't seen her since a day ago, even if he hadn't personally seen through her progress, he'd say without any shame in his voice that he's so proud of his sister.

She sure showed them all that day. Now, no one would doubt her qualifications as the clan's next in line ever again.

Fuyuhiko forces himself to smile a bit. His sister proved herself, and now she got everything she deserved and more. That's all that mattered to him.

He keeps walking on with fists clenched. He keeps his strained smile on. He pretends that the wet lines that dripped at the side of his cheeks aren't there.

Even if did sting a bit, he came to accept two simple facts some time ago.

Natsumi, the proud Ultimate Yakuza whom he once remembered as his cute little sister, didn't need him anymore.

Peko, his dearest friend and the person he trusted more than several times in his life, didn't deserve to be abandoned; especially not from someone like him.

They deserve so much better than what he did.

Chapter Text

Although she hasn't used this empty dorm since the start of their school year, it somehow remained tidy enough.

Peko can't find it in herself to lie down in her dorm room that night. Normally, she'd be staying in the young mistress' room, but since a few days ago, her liege had ushered her out to their once-shared dorm.

She didn't protest. If it's what her young mistress wanted, then she should oblige with it.

Now, she sat as comfortably as she could on this dorm's bed, untouched until recently.

It's been a few hours since she briefly spoke with Fuyuhiko, the person she served her whole life. Or, at least, that was the way things are supposed to be, until that terrible day came to their clan.

Years have passed since that incident, yet, she can't forget about it. She still clearly remembered her young master's empty eyes from that day; his body bent and wracked over, his helplessly clenched fists. She remembers how much he screamed even until his voice broke.

Shortly after several months went by shortly after the incident, the next thing everyone in the clan knew, he was gone. Not even a note was left behind.

No one noticed anything that might've tipped them off. No one knew where he could have gone to. Not even her, the person who grew up with him, was successful in tracking the heir down.

She remembers how much Natsumi, back before the young mistress became her new liege since, looked so much like her brother on that day when she checked on her outside their clan's house.

Years passed, and now, who would've thought that they'd end up crossing this way again?

Her first and foremost duty is to the new heir, and since he left the family those years ago, she shouldn't have any obligations towards him.

In that case, why is she still constantly thinking about him, and how he might be doing? What is wrong with her? She's a tool who's since been given a new master, but she can't stop thinking about her old one.

She thinks back on his words. She understood every last one of them.

"Don't let her push you around too much."

"You're still a person. You're so much more than just a tool."

She is no stranger to orders, and yet, she isn't sure what to make of these.

She looks back on her recent meeting with the young master—Fuyuhiko, she reminds herself, lest she slips up in front of him again—and vividly remembers his face and tone.

His face no longer has the same sharpness she once knew him to have. His tone is far mellower than she's used to, pleading even.

"Please."

"That's the only thing I'll ever ask from you again."

She may not fully comprehend his orders, but she knew that what he told her back then was a lie, whether he realized it or not.

Even if he hadn't meant it, she knew that what he told her wasn't the only thing he asked of her. There is one more order she received from him.

She remembers, in his own words, "There's someone else who needs you more than I do."

She knows whom he meant by that; the one person who's important not only to their clan, but to him as well. She knows how much his sister meant to him; she also knew that she'd never reach even half as close compared to her, but that's something she can live with.

If he never told her that, she'd remain over her dilemma far longer than necessary. She supposes that he might've known about that fact somehow.

His other order remains far clearer. She'd consider what he mentioned before, but this one felt more doable, and thus, a bigger priority.

A small part of her tells her she shouldn't let him out of her sight again, not since she already lost him once, but her more sensible mild told her that, if continuing her new duty in watching over his sister is what Fuyuhiko wants her to do, even if it meant going against looking after him, then who is she to question him?

One thing remains certain. Even if she wanted to question it too many times, she can't disobey an order like that, no matter how indirect it may be.

That's all a tool like her is good for.

Her dorm's locked. No one should be able to bust in. Perhaps Peko can, but she already ordered her to stay out; knowing her bodyguard, she won't even think to disobey a direct order from her.

For once, she doesn't mind the fact that the school's dorms are soundproof. It's not as if she needed that at this time.

It's been days since Natsumi had that brief talk with her so-called 'brother'. She hates using that word to describe him; it used to fit him, but now, he's hardly worthy of being thought of as that anymore.

She remembers the way that asshole looked at her. She remembers how much she wanted to throttle his neck over for having the balls to talk to her so calmly.

"Long time no see, Natsumi. It's great to see you doing so well."

The asshole dared to smile at her, just like nothing happened between them; she wanted to tear that smile off of his face right then and there if she could.

"Looks like Hope's Peak's treating you and Peko pretty good."

She starts chewing on her thumb's nail in frustration.

So what if he came crawling back after he abandoned everyone for years? Why should she care if he felt bad about it? Just because that bastard regretted it or would say 'I'm sorry', it doesn't mean it'd magically fix the years he's been gone. It's not like he's the one who suffered during those times.

She can't believe she shares the same blood with someone so stupid and selfish.

Her chest tightens and churns so much; if she didn't like how it felt back then, then she most definitely loathes this feeling even more right now.

'I don't want this.' Her eyes narrow some more. She gnashes her teeth.

She wants to tear something apart, she wants to scream, she wants to punch the walls until her knuckles bled dry, she wants to do something, anything, but this.

She doesn't want to remember.

For a second, she feels something wet hit her cheek. She wants to ignore it, she should ignore it; it felt too bothersome after a while. She quickly and, rather roughly, rubs the corner of her eyes with the back of her hand.

Even if no one else is here to see her like this, she can't stand this. She hates feeling all of this shit up so much.

Natsumi has already wasted enough of her tears. There's no point in shedding even more of them, now that she knows better than she did back then. Still, it's so stupid to think that she felt like this again ever since the start of her second semester.

Her grip on her pillow grows tighter. It feels so tempting to rip it with her fingers. She knows that she won't get in trouble if she did so; the school will replace it anyway. And yet, she doesn't.

She curses out against the person who caused all of this in the first place. A low growl comes out of her chaffed lips. "I wish I never have to see that spineless coward again."

'I hate him. I hate him so much.' That sentiment repetitively echoes in her mind.

She pretends there are no more tears pouring out of her eyes.

Another school day passes.

So far, nothing much happened to him during the first week of their second semester; aside from a handful of his classmates, plus Ms. Yukizome, mentioning a lot of things about their yearly exam at the end of the month. It's pretty mild, so he isn't sure if that even counted.

Either way, it's hard to be excited in his case. He knows all too well on how that kind of test works, and if he blunders in some way or another…

He can say goodbye to Hope's Peak Academy.

He didn't want to think about that for a while, and so, he purges out any remaining thoughts related to that; he'll worry about that when he gets there.

Speaking of getting there, Hajime hopes he arrived just in time. A certain teacher made them do a ton of stuff that morning; he might end up being off by at least a few minutes at most.

In any case, it felt like lunch break comes by a lot faster than how he's used to. Maybe it's because there's something he can look forward to this time around.

As expected, he sees two people sitting on the public bench.

"Hey." He greets them both with a wave.

"Hey there." Chiaki greets him back with a smile.

Fuyuhiko half raises a hand, cracking a lazy grin as he does so. "Yo."

His eyes wander over to his close friend; he feels relieved to see how bit by bit, Chiaki's hand is starting to look a lot better. It's still wrapped up in bandages, but he's sure that after some time, they'd come off soon.

The counselor takes a seat in between them. He takes out his blue handheld before either of the two even said a word to him. Chiaki takes hers out as well.

As soon as she passes the third console to Fuyuhiko, he politely pushes it away. "I think I'm going to sit out on this one, this time."

Undeterred, she just as politely pushes it back to his palm. "Come on," She insists, "You had fun yesterday, didn't you?"

"And let you two gang up on me today?" Fuyuhiko snorts. "Fat chance."

She tilts her head. "Huh? We haven't done that yet."

He heartily scoffs with a smile. "Yeah, but that doesn't mean you two won't do it."

"I don't think we're ever going to do that."

"Sure, because you've already got this guy," He jabs a thumb towards the Ultimate student. "As your virtual punching bag."

Hajime internally winces. 'Harsh. Too harsh.'

"You have a point."

'You didn't have to agree with him, you know.'

She adds, "But, since he isn't just lying down and taking it, I don't know if he'd count as a punching bag."

'Phrasing, please.' There's no other situation where he wanted to curl up somewhere more than this.

"That makes him a sparring dummy, then," Fuyuhiko concludes.

Though the weather's fair this time around, somehow, a bead of sweat manages to drop down his forehead. 'I don't know how that's supposed to be any better.'

Despite what he said, Fuyuhiko ended up giving in anyway. While Chiaki giddily starts their game up, the other boy shoots a glare towards Hajime, giving the kind of look that'd say, 'Go on. Say something about this. I fucking dare you.'

Because he's a sane man, he doesn't say anything about that. Right before he concentrates his attention on their current race, a thought flashed by in his mind. 'I think I felt some déjà vu a second ago. Wonder what's up with that?'

Their round goes off rather well, which is a big surprise, considering that the game they're playing had the reputation to destroy friendships. It's obvious who's in the lead, and in Hajime's case…

He isn't sure whether he should feel proud for Fuyuhiko or to feel bad for himself; it's one thing to get beaten by one person who's good at these games, it's another to get beaten by that same person and a newbie at the same time.

At the end of their gaming session, Hajime puts his console down on his lap. He ponders out loud somewhat, "So, two days from now is going to be Sunday, right?"

Chiaki perks up, having put away her console as well. She looks as if she's about to suggest something. "I think so. Maybe we can—"

"Nope," Fuyuhiko cuts her off with a shit-eating grin. He leans his body even more on the bench and he further reiterates his point with, "We're not going to an arcade." He's already returned the console he borrowed a moment ago.

"I…" She tries to protest. A childish pout forms on her face while she denies it. "I wasn't going to suggest that. I have more to my life than video games, you know." She crosses her arms in protest.

"Yeah." The other boy teasingly answers her back, "Sure you do." with a chuckle at the end.

Hajime hears her grumble something under her breath for a good second or so. He didn't add much to that delightful conversation, other than smiling a bit too wide while a droplet of sweat runs down the side of his head. God, the weather's acting pretty weird today.

Chiaki thinks for a moment, and then suggests, "The movies might be alright—"

Fuyuhiko shoots that proposal down as well, crossing his arms into a literal 'X' shape. "Nah. Out of the question."

"Huh, why not?"

He sighs, hand pawing over the back of his neck. He grumbles, "One of us is going to end up looking like the third wheel if we go to the movies."

'Wait, a third wheel?!' Hajime feels his face grow hot and red, completely realizing what the other boy's implying to them. 'You've got it all wrong!' As much as he wants to clear things up, he had a bad feeling that'd just cause more misunderstandings, and so, he kept those refutations in him. The last thing he wants is to go off like a bunch of bullets.

Chiaki doesn't help their situation get any better and she wonders out loud. "Why would there be a third wheel, though?" The completely innocent tone in her voice sells it out even more.

Fuyuhiko mirrors Hajime's reaction, sputtering over his words and muttering curses under his breath. If either of the two listened closely, they'd hear glimpses of "My God" and "No one's this motherfucking oblivious".

"If movies don't work, then what about the amusement park?"

"Same logic as the movies!"

Completely out of options, she asks Fuyuhiko in an exasperated tone, "Do you have any ideas for tomorrow, then?"

The other boy raises a finger, opens his mouth to say something, only to close it back. After glancing towards Hajime's direction, he simply shrugs. "Beats me. I'm not exactly familiar with the blocks around here anyways." He leans his back further on the bench, splaying his arms around. "And before you say it, I'm not a fan of aquariums."

Their discussion comes to a sudden halt for a good minute or so, until Hajime spoke up.

"A simple lunch out to somewhere inexpensive, and maybe some karaoke might do. If not that that, a simple stroll in the park should be okay too." He casually suggests. On the inside, he bemoans, 'I have no idea where I'm going with this either. I mean, that's all I've ever been to in plans like these.'

Fuyuhiko hums, and then he shrugs his shoulders. "Eh, we're out of other options, so I guess either of those sounds fine to me."

"Yeah, same," Chiaki affirms as well.

Well, there's that. At least they settled that debate once and for all, and just in time, too. The reserve course's lunch bell rings.

As all three of them stand up from the bench, Fuyuhiko asks, "So, where do you guys want to meet?"

"We'll plan about it later." Chiaki supplies, putting her bag over her shoulder. "Right now, I don't think our teacher will be happy if we come back even a minute late."

The other boy scowls. "Honestly, fuck that son of a bitch."

Since he only knows bits and pieces about how their classes work, he can only imagine just how bad their homeroom teacher might be.

Hajime sees them hurry off back to their classes; he figures he should do the same, but before that, he waves a hand to them. "See you two on Sunday, then."

Though they're already far, they wave back at him.

Back to business once more, Fuyuhiko can guess. The rest of the day, well, he isn't sure if he can use the word 'smoothly' to describe it, but it did pass by with less pain than it'd usually do.

Of course, that is, until they've got saddled in these cleaning duties again. Again, it wasn't a pain in the ass like it was days ago, now that he got the hang of it somehow.

Until their slimy teacher opened his big mouth.

For some reason he has no idea of, the homeroom teacher thought that he and Nanami, and only them, deserved a few extra more minutes (and by that, he actually meant thirty whole minutes) to clean this sorry excuse of a classroom. He doesn't know why that'd be needed, but then again, this is their homeroom teacher he's talking about; a frustrated middle-aged man who may or may not have been a lowly salaryman before becoming a teacher in this hellhole.

So now, it's just the two of them in here.

"Yippee." He says that in the flattest tone he can muster while he grabs a wet cloth. He proceeds to go and rub the already-sparkling windows clean with as much enthusiasm as he has for the reserve course. If he could half-ass this thing, he definitely would out of spite. That said, he isn't spiteful enough to drag the one decent classmate he has into that shit.

As soon as he's done with wiping a particularly dusty set of glass off, he hears his classmate call out to him.

"Fuyuhiko?"

Momentarily pausing from wiping the windows, he turns his head around to make eye contact with her. "Yeah?" He raises a brow while slightly cocking his head.

The floors around her didn't look as bad it'd been ago, but it's not exactly squeaky clean either. His classmate looks like she got distracted from mopping the floor moments ago.

She turns quiet for a while, face scrunched up in deep thought, almost like she's trying to consider a thing or two. After that's passed, she asks him, "What made you think of enrolling in the reserve course?"

He grunts; he should've known that a question like that would squeeze into him one day. If his fingers weren't preoccupied with these dusty windows, he might've scratched the back of his head.

"To be honest with you, it's a little too sensitive for me." He admits; he glances at her for a second and, after some brief consideration, adds, "But you know what, I guess there's no harm if I answer that," He turns his head towards her. "Of course, you've got to tell me your reason for coming over here too."

She considers it for a moment before nodding. "Deal."

After he takes a deep breath, he starts it off with, "It sounds insane, but honestly, I wasn't planning to stay here for too long." He shrugs his shoulders. "I mean, it's not like I've got the cash to last this semester, let alone the entire school year."

Nanami interjects, "But isn't your family well-off, since, you know?" She shifts in place, as if she's fully aware of how uncomfortable the topic was.

He chuckles bitterly. "I'm not exactly part of the family anymore."

"Oh." She winces rather hard at hearing that. "Sorry."

He shakes it off. "Don't be. It's not that much of a big deal to me anyway." He turns away, wiping the last bits of dust off the glass. "I've already come to terms with it and all that."

"Then, did those guys…" The question she said out loud suddenly trails off and she grimaces. "Never mind. Please forget about that." She motions him to go on.

'Those guys, huh?' He has a pretty good hunch about what she's about to tell him right there before she cut herself off. He might sound like a paranoid nutcase to some, but, in case if those miserable old geezers managed to squeeze their wrinkled, grimy ears within these walls, he chooses not to bring that uncomfortable subject back; better for them to be safe than to be sorry.

He continues, "Anyways, the only reason why I bothered to drop in this time is because…" He breathes in, and then he breathes out; he reminds himself not to break down. "Well, since there's a free slot and I got a chance, I figured it might as well be a good time to see how my sister and my childhood friend are doing in Hope's Peak. I haven't seen them in years."

"You must really care about them so much." His classmate muses.

He exhales. "I sure do. Now that I've managed to snag myself a spot in here, that's when I knew Natsumi—" 'And Peko,' his mind somberly adds—"Doesn't need me anymore. She earned her right to be the clan's next in line and her title as the Ultimate Yakuza."

"My sister's a little rough around the edges," He fondly shakes his head with a soft laugh. "But she isn't so bad once you get to know her." His nostalgic expression then turns solemn as the reality around them hits him. "Or at least, that's how I remembered her to be like back then. I'm such a crappy brother, aren't I?" A solemn sigh passes through his lips.

Nanami stays silent, wisely choosing not to say anything in regards to that

The quiet goes on for a few more seconds. Fuyuhiko almost let out a yelp once he felt something rub on his back; it didn't make him uncomfortable—it was rather soothing, actually—it's just that he didn't expect that. He turns around, only to be greeted with Nanami standing a bit closer to him, the mop still in her other hand and all, and a free hand that's raised in front of her by a fair amount of inches. She has a rather sheepish look on her face, and she immediately steps back from him by a meter.

He puts two and two together; he feels his cheeks go from pink to red at that. His gaze drops to the floor and he mumbles out, "Thanks. I guess I needed that."

Once he regains his composure, he turns to her with a stern look. "Alright, now that I've told you my story, you better tell me yours."

"Hm, that's fair." She takes a deep breath to prepare herself. Her eyes had a wistful look to them as she recalls, "You might have a hard time believing this, but, I didn't actually want to go here either. I thought that I'd end up in a more conventional high school, and, well, next thing I knew, I came home to my parents telling me they've already signed me up here."

'Oh, so her parents are one of 'those' kinds of people.' He cringes in sympathy.

He hears her continue, "The first month here was rough. I considered dropping out right then at some point, but," A small smile, one that's easy to miss, is on her face as she says, "It isn't so bad now, though."

He has a good feeling about why that may be. While his hands go back to wiping the windows with a cloth, he maintains eye contact as he asks her, "There's one thing I don't understand about your story, though."

"Go on." She permits him while she absentmindedly continues her mopping.

"If you didn't want to be here in the first place, then why did you agree with them anyway? Why the hell are you still sticking around if it makes you so miserable? I mean, sure, Hinata's a good guy to be around with, but I don't think that meeting him is enough to make up for all the crappy stuff that's been going on here."

He briefly wonders if it's just him; he swears he heard her breath hitch for a moment there.

Nanami's grip on the mop she held loosens a bit. "In my whole life, all I ever did was nodding my head off and go along with the flow of things without any questions. I never had any second thoughts about the way things worked back then, but…"

After that short pause, she continues, "I can't let myself be a burden anymore. I…" She stops herself for a second there, before she shakes her head and says, "I just want to be somebody whom everyone can truly rely on. Even if it's true that the reserve course upsets me, I can't let that go. Do you get what I mean?" In the last part, she turns to him with a soulful look on her face.

His face softens as he nods. "In some way, I can see where you're coming from." He puts the used pieces of cloth away, knowing that he'd have to clean them later. "Then again, we're still in the reserve course. It doesn't matter where we came from before this; nobody's going to bat an eye at us."

"That's true, but," Deep-seated frustration seeps through her voice as she softly but firmly declares, "I don't want to be useless."

"That makes the two of us, then." He mutely replies to her.

The rest of their clean-up duties go off without much trouble, but at the same time, the air around them didn't carry the same mood as it did before they had that talk.

The extra thirty minutes passed, and now, time for him to head back to that place again, he guesses. It's too early for him to say, but personally, it feels like his first week here didn't go as bad as he thought it'd be; it could've easily been a lot worse.

Nanami offered to walk him home when their time was up, but he gently turned her offer down. She looked a bit disappointed, but other than that, didn't try to convince him otherwise. They bid each other their goodbyes after that.

He passes by the reserve course campus' gates, grimly noticing that he's the only one left there. Thanks to the extra thirty-minute workload their bastard of a teacher unloaded on them, the sky's about to get dark real soon; that gave him extra incentive to make it back immediately, unless if he wants to end up getting stranded somehow.

While he passes by the main campus' gates, he stops himself from walking any further. He turns around; he sees a familiar shade of green hair right there, and once he takes note of that person's uniform, he wonders if he saw that person before.

If Fuyuhiko had the power of hindsight and looks back on what he did, he has no idea what the hell got into him. He should've hurried back to the place he's staying in, maybe even drop himself off to bed as soon as possible while he's' at it.

Then again, it's hard for him to ignore something like this; his blood ran cold as soon as he sees what's in her hand.

He keeps telling himself that maybe he should've walked away slowly and if he can, get some help while he can. The other part of him argues that by the time he does that, that suspicious student will already be gone.

It isn't in his business whatsoever to butt himself in, but here he is. He unflinchingly walks toward the reserve course student's direction and demands, "What the hell are you going to do with that?"

The student yelps. She turns around; in that split second, Fuyuhiko recognizes that student's face. If he remembered correctly, she's Sato, his classmate who had that confrontation with his sister a few days ago. Upon noticing him, she then stammers over her words while trying to explain herself. "I-It's not what it looks like, I swear!" The girl's grip on the baseball bat tightens even further. "I was…I was just going to—"

He immediately decides right then and there he isn't going to hear any of it. "You know what, give me that." He scowls and steps forward, reaching out for the baseball bat.

As soon as his classmate steps back quicker than he thought he would, something in him surges. He darkly wonders if his gut feeling from earlier is just him being stupid and paranoid, but with the way his classmate acts so suspiciously…well, obviously it's not helping her case.

She rapidly shakes her head. "I'm sorry, but, would you mind if you…" She momentarily pauses, as if thinking over her words, and then excuses herself with, "Maybe leave me be for a while?"

Those words ended up being the final nail to click all of the pieces into place.

"Yeah," He keeps his eyes on her. His stance remains neutral to the untrained eye; in reality, he is steadying himself up in preparation for whatever might come next. "I don't think so." He steps forward, getting dangerously closer to her.

"Kuzuryu," The unsure tone that was in her voice a moment ago is gone. "It's none of your business. Don't make me ask this again, so please, leave me be right now." She steps back, her grip tightening to the point of making her knuckles white.

He doesn't waste his time by retorting back. He closes her in at least half a meter away.

Sato's body grows increasingly tense in each distance he covers.

In less than a second, his hand shoots forward and barely, just barely, manages to grab the top of the baseball bat. He sees her stagger for a moment; he takes advantage of it and his other hand quickly joins in.

He feels her pull back to try and dislodge his grip on it somehow. He grunts, amping his efforts up to keep his hands in place. "Are you out of your goddamn mind?!" He almost yells.

She shouts, almost like she's on the verge of breaking down. "I don't want you to get hurt, so please, let go of this right now!"

They continue their struggle. Neither of them was willing to give in. Fuyuhiko's stance widens; because he's holding the wider top of the baseball bat, he didn't have the upper hand as he usually would've had. He's aware he's already pushing much of his luck around.

After a few more moments of mutual struggling, one of them feels their grip slowly slip away. Sato screams. Time seems to slow down.

One of them swings in a blind panic. More screams ring out in their ears. One of them swings once again, and again, and again, and again.

And again, until a loud crack fills their ears.

A faint thud follows after.

Brief and eerie silence fills in their ears.

Rapid, uneven footsteps scurry out.

The skies turn darker that evening.

Chapter Text

As they step out of the bus, Peko looks over her charge; she sees a flash of heavy worry in her charge's face, but shortly after, it's gone rather quickly. Both she and the young mistress have heard of the news late at the night. Her charge hasn't said anything about that, but she can tell that she hadn't taken it well. She understood. If she was allowed to, she'd also feel the same way.

Natsumi turns to her, narrowing her eyes and quietly orders her, "Go." Her gaze lingers far on the hospital ahead of them.

Her eyes glance over to the building's entrance; those eyes then waver back to her charge. The bodyguard stills. She knows that she can't leave her on her own, but at the same time, her charge's orders are absolute.

A moment passes, and she snaps, pushing her away with far more force than usual. "What the hell are you waiting for?! "Her order is reiterated in-between a choke and a growl. "Just go!"

Peko doesn't feel the impact of her hands against her body even as she staggers back a few steps. She regains her balance immediately and simply bows her head, acknowledging her lapse in judgment. "As you wish."

Natsumi huffs, a scowl forming over her face. She faces away from her, grumbling about a few more things; what she said wasn't audible enough for her to understand. She crosses her arms, walking away from there.

Under normal circumstances, Peko would've gone off to follow her charge. This situation is different from what she's used to, but despite that, she doesn't think much of it. Although constant worry about what her charge might be doing keeps biting back at the back of her mind, she reminds herself that she wouldn't be gone for too long.

As she passes by these white halls, a part of her feels as if the building's interior would've bleached Natsumi's eyes so much if she came along.

As she got inside the building, she thinks back about the short conversation she had at the front desk. From what the receptionist told her, Fuyuhiko is currently in an intensive care unit.

It didn't take long for her to reach there. She sees him behind the glass door. The world stops right there for her. She quietly swallows the lump in her throat.

If it weren't for the life support hooked up to him, she would've thought he's sleeping peacefully, just like how he used to back when they were children. Back when things were far simpler. Those painful memories are pushed back into the deep recesses of her mind before more of them can overwhelm her.

She takes a step forward, carefully watching over the nurse who's taking care of him. It feels so wrong to see him clothed in dull green instead of black.

From her spot, she can see how his skin is too pale; his face especially completely lacked the lively tint she'd normally see him in, and if it weren't for the steady beeping from the heart monitor that rang in her ears, she would've thought him to be dead. The thought of that makes her body shake slightly.

Rather tentatively, she puts her hand on top of the glass, the one that shielded her childhood friend away from the world. She lowers her head. Something cold and wet is running down by the side of her cheek; she doesn't reach a hand to wipe it and instead, lets it slowly drop down to the floor.

Aside from her steady breathing, not a single sound comes out of her.

For once, she wishes she disobeyed his order.

Not too long ago, her bodyguard left her to check over him. Natsumi didn't want to waste her time seeing him, so she figured she'd send Peko to do it for her; she'll ask her about the exact details once she's done with the visit.

It's just her here, outside at the back of the hospital. There's no one else here.

She grits her teeth and clenches her fists so hard, her nails start to dig into her palms. Her breathing grows more and more labored in each minute. She feels a lump in her throat; she feels it slowly grow by each moment.

She hates him. She hates him so much. She hates how much he hurt her and the family ever since he left them years ago. She hates how even though he's gone from the family, he still has so much power over her. She hates how he's making her feel this way. Her chest is growing heavier; it has never ached so much like this before.

Her teeth grind against each other.

She hates the fact she felt a similar kind of ache before. She hates him, because all her worthless brother did was cause her the worst kind of pain. And now, he had the gall to get attacked like that.

"Fuyuhiko, you stupid brother." She angrily breathes out. Her hand curls into a fist. With as much force she can put into, she punches the wall.

"Fucking hell. Damn you." She curses, pulling her hand back; she can't feel the impact. The wall didn't dent even a bit.

She curses once again. "Fuck it all." She slams her fist against the wall one more time.

She hears a thud. She vapidly notes it sounded louder than the first time around. Still, she feels nothing.

She slams her fist against the wall again. Nothing; her fingers are starting to twitch. Her ears keep ringing and ringing.

She slams her fist on the wall again. She can't feel the pain of her fist colliding with the wall. She slams it again. A single word repeats all over along with each slam.

"Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck."

Again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again, and again. Her fist slams over the same spot on the wall.

Again. Again. Again.

She tunes out the rest of the world around her. She finds herself losing track of time; she doesn't know or care if she's been going at this for minutes, or even hours now. The crunching noises of her curled fist repeatedly hitting the wall are the only things she wants to hear at that moment. She slams her fist onto the wall one more time.

A loud crack fills in her ears.

She feels something warm drips down her numb knuckles. Almost immediately, she pulls her hand back. Her eyes go over her hand as she breathes heavily. She sees red slowly dripping down from the large scrape on her knuckle.

Only then, she did feel the throbbing pain settle in her hand. She growls, curling her hand again, and slamming the bottom part of it to the wall. Her hand throbs all over; her fingers twitch even more.

"Kuzuryu?" Someone calls out to her.

She hears them. Her lips twist into a sneer. She knows that irritatingly familiar voice that's slowly heading her way; she hears him every day in class since they've started this school year.

He steps closer, too close for her comfort, with a hand stretched out. "Kuzuryu, that's enough." He shakes his head. "Your hand is bleeding."

'No shit, it is.' is what she's tempted to reply to him with; it's almost like the bastard thinks he knows everything. She bites the inner side of her cheek, holding her tongue in.

Instead, she answers him with a snarl, "Shut up, just shut up, Hinata."

She clenches her bleeding fist harder; she sees him flinch when she did that. It makes her wonder if a few drops of her blood have already spilled off to the ground seconds ago. It won't surprise her if it did, if she stopped to think back on how much she punched that wall.

His eyes go over to her hand, making him wince very obviously. "I…" He bites his lip, almost like he's trying to think of up something that'd win her over, and then tells her, "I think we should get your hand checked on soon."

Natsumi turns her face away from him, knowing that he's already judging her. She's better than this; she can't let her classmate see her like this. No one can see her like this. She tells him a biting tone, "It's none of your damn business. You better leave me alone right now if you know what's good for you."

Hinata can't just seem to take the hint. If anything, he goes even closer to her; he'd close in on her in less than a foot away if he decides to take a few more steps.

She turns back to him, screaming, "Are you deaf?! Didn't you just hear what I said? I don't care if you're our class rep, and I especially don't care if 'helping people' is what you're good at. I don't fucking need your pity!"

He steps back a bit in shock. "Wait, Kuzuryu, I—"

"Just leave me alone already!" She roars at him. With the way things are, she is dangerously close to lash out at him if he chooses to come near instead.

It doesn't come to that. Hinata is smart enough to not saying anything after that. He looks over her one last time, a solemn expression on his face, before he steps away from her. She hears his footsteps go further and further away from her until they faded to complete silence.

Once he left, there is no one else here outside of the hospital, aside from her. That's fine by her; it's not like anyone else would be willing to listen to what she says.

'So, it really is just me out here now, huh?'

She wipes away her eyes with a sleeve. She feels more tears are about to spill from her eyes, and so she faces herself against the wall, pressing a fist over it. She tells herself, to cover up her sniffles and choked up breathing, "Whoever did this to him, I'll kill them. I'll do it myself. I'm going to make them wish they were never born."

Another droplet spills out of the corner of her eye. She hurriedly wipes it away with the back of her hand. She steadies her breathing, continuing, "I'm going to force them to watch me while I cut them open, I…I…"

She forces herself to take a deep breath, feeling a few more tear droplets escape before they get forcibly wiped off, "I'll rip their guts out, I'll hang them by the neck with it, and after they've finally died for what they've done, I'm going to dump them off to somewhere because whatever's left of them is barely worth anything."

At the end of her rant, she shuts her eyes tight. Her breathing remains shaky at best. She forces her mouth shut, biting back against the sobs that nearly escaped her throat. The lump in her throat feels like it's growing too bigger for her to swallow back.

It's just her in here, but she won't let anyone hear her cry, not even herself.

Natsumi has no idea how long she's been standing outside the building. She hears footsteps coming towards her, bringing her back to the world. She angrily turns her head around, expecting either a random stranger or a certain classmate again.

Upon seeing who it was, her scowl softens a bit to that of a weary face; for a split second, she wonders if her eyes look so red and fucked up right now. She lets out a sigh, shaking her head at that; she supposes even if it does, her bodyguard wouldn't say anything about it. That's just the kind of person she is.

"Come on, Peko." She quietly calls out, making herself step forward to join her bodyguard side by side. She keeps her hands tucked in her pockets as they both walk back to Hope's Peak.

Along the way, she thought it's good that Peko didn't say anything to her.

It's an early Monday morning for the students of the reserve course.

A small group, with at least three members, has gathered around in their seats before the homeroom teacher checks in. One of them turns his head around, as if watching if there's anyone else who might overhear them, and then goes back to the group. "Have you heard of what happened last Friday?" He asks them.

News of Friday evening's incident is traveling fast on both campuses, so it's inevitable it'd reach their classroom at this point.

One of them hums in thought, answering, "Someone found Kuzuryu at the main course's gates, head practically split open. That's what happened, right?"

A classmate who's passing by overhears that. Curiosity comes over her; she goes over their desks and asks, "Hey, which Kuzuryu are you talking about?"

"You know," One member of the original group gestures his hands around, "The guy who transferred here a week ago."

She blinks at him for a second or so. Once she recalls the transferee he's talking about, she chortles, "Hah, I thought you meant the Ultimate Yakuza for a second there. I kind of forgot we had a new classmate."

"I think it'd be a lot better if it was her instead." The other member of the group pipes in, agreeing with her point. "She did cause a lot of trouble the last time she showed her face here, and need I remind you all we got punished for that."

She grimaces, her shoulders shuddering. "I still remember that. That stunt she pulled back then made me hate her as much as I hate the guy who's supposed to be our teacher."

"And we didn't even do anything! I don't think the teacher of her class even knew that happened, and even if they did, they'd either let her go without any punishment or let her get away with a slap on the wrist."

"Wait, before we get too off-topic," Another member interjects, "Isn't Kuzuryu, our classmate I mean, in a coma right now?"

One of them replies to his classmate's question, "I've heard that he might turn into a vegetable soon if things don't get any better for him. They barely got him into the hospital before he kicked the bucket in, or at least that's what I've heard from my friends in the other classes."

"In other words, he might as well be dead anyway if things get worse for him." She grumbles.

He sighs, palming over his face as he nods. "That's what they're all saying. If anything, if that someone who saw him, a teacher or a student, either from the main course or the reserve course depending on who you ask, hadn't found him on time that night, he might've ended up in the morgue instead of the hospital."

"I've heard that Hope's Peak refuses to investigate the incident." A different member adds in. "Not only that, but they're also trying to cover it up as much as they can, almost like they don't want the incident to get leaked into the media. I heard that you'd get severely punished if you get caught talking about it."

She grumbles, "To no one's surprise, the school refuses to take responsibility for what happened in here."

One of them huffs. "Huh," He sarcastically says out loud, "I wonder why..."

The newcomer surmises, "It's got to be one of those Ultimates who did him in. I'm calling it right now."

Another student shakes his head. "That makes sense. Those higher-ups would do anything to protect their precious Ultimate students, won't they?" He scowls before adding, "Even if the Ultimates did end up doing something as terrible as or even worse than this, nothing is going to be done, especially not if we're the victims."

"As long as they're an Ultimate, the school is going to overlook anything they do. Who knows, maybe they'd even excuse a literal murderer if they're an Ultimate."

"I dunno," Another member shrugs his shoulders. He theorizes, "I think it's more likely that one of those security guards is responsible. I mean, he was found at the gates in the evening, right? I'm not defending them or anything like that, but I don't know if any of the Ultimates would keep hanging around outside their campus at that time."

One member strokes his chin with two fingers. "You have a point. I think you're on to something right there."

"Maybe that's exactly what happened." She adds in, shaking her head and saying, "I mean, no one in the reserve course is allowed to get even near those gates."

"No one knows why Kuzuryu was there in the first place. Almost everyone I asked is saying that he tried to sneak in there and then he got caught by the security."

One member makes a face at that implication. "Yikes, now that reminds me of that guy in charge of them. I won't be surprised if it turns out he's the one behind it all along."

One of them growls, "I swear, that guy looks like he'd beat me up for so much as looking at him wrong. I've heard from someone that guy used to be an Ultimate too."

"So basically, it's still an Ultimate who did him in. At least, technically an Ultimate student, if that guy's actually a graduated one. It still counts, right?"

"Guess so."

"Speaking of which, what the hell did we do to make them hate us so much?" One of them bitterly murmurs. "Is it just because we weren't personally chosen by the school? Do they think we just invited ourselves in? Is that why?" He is close to shouting at the end.

A resigned sigh escapes from one of them. "At the end of it, no one is going care about us, or what we've been through. It feels like the only thing we can give to them is the cash we're dumping in."

The newcomer slams a fist onto the desk, startling the group. "Don't they know just how much of our parents' money is being poured in just so that we can get in this class? And that's only for this year! Hell, I won't be surprised if we might not even be able to make it to the end of the first year—"

Loud footsteps are starting to thump into their classroom's way, interrupting their impromptu discussion. They freeze for a split second, before realizing that those footsteps patterns are something they're all familiar with; their homeroom teacher has arrived. Soon, everyone in the small group scrambles back to their seats, acting like nothing happened to keep the middle-aged man from suspecting anything once he comes in.

The door opens with a loud click.

The small group rigidly stays in their seats, bracing for the impact that is also known as their teacher.

Heavy footsteps rhythmically thump over the floor; it might've sounded mundane to anyone else, but to the students of this class, they've learned to associate it with him and so, they've also learned to hate that sound.

Their teacher's gaze lands on them; everyone in the class, even those who didn't join in the original group's discussion, can feel him heavily scrutinizing them.

Finally, he speaks. "Settle down, everyone." His eyes go over them once again, raising a brow when he sees one or two students who are fidgeting around their seats. He shakes his head as he steps behind his desk. "I'll give you all a quick reminder: do remember that anything, and I mean anything, that deviates from our discussions isn't tolerated here, understood?"

Several of the reserve course students mutter under their breath, "I knew it."

The teacher frowns, having heard that somehow; since he's in front, he made sure his students see his visible displeasure. He clicks his tongue, hard gaze focusing on the small group, and reiterates himself, "I said, understood?"

The small group goes quiet for a second or so, before a dull chorus of "Yes, sir" is replied to him.

Once his ego is satisfied, he looks away from them for a moment. "Good." He takes a single piece of chalk, writing down their main topic on the board. He puts the chalk away, glaring at everyone in the class and reminding them, "You lot better not make things even more troublesome than it already is." He clears his throat and opens the textbook, commanding them all to turn theirs on a page he specified.

To the small group that formed earlier, they knew that right now, it's their teacher's way of telling them not to talk about the incident any further without directly referencing it, further reinforcing a few of their theories in mind.

The class went on like it always did. Although in this case, it felt more like their teacher pretended it did so. For some students of this class, they knew better.

Chiaki is still here inside the classroom, physically, at least.

Their teacher was saying something to them, something about a test next week or so, but, his voice slowly fading away to something that sounds more muffled in her ears. As each second passes, she can't hear any more of whatever he's talking about in their class. Her ears subconsciously tune every other noise in the classroom away as well.

Her mind goes back to what she to the bits and pieces she overheard several moments ago before their teacher came in.

She grips her pen a bit tighter than normal, almost like she's trying to squeeze it. It's so irrational to think of something like this, even for someone like her.

'I should've done something.' Her eyes vacantly stare onto her open textbook. She hasn't touched it since their teacher started talking earlier.

Because of the reserve course's Saturday classes, she was only able to visit him at the hospital by Sunday, along with Hajime. It's so cruelly ironic, now that she thought about it. What they saw back there, it wasn't anything at all like how fiction portrays those kinds of scenarios to be.

She remembers from their visit on how Fuyuhiko is barely clinging on to life, with so many wires hooked up to his body; even the doctor wasn't sure whether he'd wake up, if he ever does, it could take months or even years. The worst part is, he doesn't even have a family to go back to.

She thinks back about the last conversation they had, right before the time where Friday's incident happened. So many emotions are starting to cloud in her head, to the point of almost overwhelming her.

Maybe if she'd pressed about walking with him after classes and insisted even more after he politely declined her offer, even if it'd make her a bit overbearing, if she tried even harder last Friday and walked with him anyway despite that. Maybe if she wasn't such a spineless coward in the first place, he'd still be here in class.

If what her classmates said earlier was true, that Hope's Peak Academy is covering this incident up, it made something in her swell up. She thought that the school would at least be better than this, but apparently, they're not. Not only are they refusing to conduct an investigation, they also didn't try to at least warn the reserve course students, in case if the person who attacked Fuyuhiko was still out there.

At this point, another victim is just waiting to happen.

Suddenly, something clicks in her mind. Everything becomes a lot clearer to her now.

'If Hope's Peak won't do anything for this,' Determination sets in her, lighting something she never knew she had until now. 'Then, I can't let myself stand by in the sidelines anymore.'

She steels her resolve. She can't mull over the endless what if's and the different could've been's any longer. It won't help anyone, especially not Fuyuhiko. She won't make the same mistakes again.

If no one else wants to do it, then maybe, just maybe, she can do something about it.

Chiaki promises to him, the second friend she made in this school, 'I swear. I'll get to the bottom of this somehow.'

Lunchtime settles in.

Sato remembers even from the start of their school year, Hiyoko would often vent to them about her, in her own words, 'patients who are so stupid they might as well be brain-dead already'; she gets especially heated when it's one of her classmates who constantly gets injured at least four times a week she's talking about.

Right now, though, it's only her and Mahiru, just the two of them at the rooftop this time. Hiyoko isn't here with them; from what they've heard, she's becoming a lot busier some work these days. It's completely understandable; what she's doing is very important, after all.

She stays completely still in her seat, eyes absentmindedly staring at the skies above. What happened back last Friday hasn't left her.

And then, Mahiru remarks with a bit of worry in her voice, "I don't know if it's true or not, but I've heard of what happened to one of those students at the reserve course," She grimaces, shaking her head. "Just what kind of awful person would do something so horrible like that?"

Sato chokes on her juice box after hearing that. Her chest spasms for a moment there and her breathing becomes funny. She slams a fist over her chest while she continuously sputters out.

Mahiru notices her reaction, and then her face twists into that of concern. She reaches her hand out to her and begins to soothingly rub her back. "I'm so sorry. I shouldn't have brought it up. That psycho might still be out there, and no one knows who they might be. "

It's so tempting to say something about that. Sato holds her tongue, refusing to look at her friend in the eye; she's afraid if she did that, that's all it'd take for everything to spill out of her lips.

"You must be so scared right now. If there's anything you need me to do for you, it's okay to let me know." At the end of that, Mahiru lowers her head a bit, flashing her with a small, but reassuring smile.

Without any warning, Sato pulls herself back. She chokes some more, this time, from the lump that's been steadily forming in her throat. She turns her face away from her, bringing her wrist up to start wiping away at her eyes.

Her tone stays delicate as she asks her, "Sato, what's wrong?" Her hand is half-stretched out like she's going to try and comfort her somehow.

"It's…It's…" Sato lets out a laugh to try and cover her cries up. Her hands wipe some more of her tears away. "It's n-nothing, really." She lies, forcing a smile on her face.

"Sato…"

She almost yelps when she feels a pair of hands gently take ahold of hers. Shame fills her up, keeping her eyes away.

"Sato, please. Look at me."

Her friend's tone remains as gentle as ever. Against her better judgment, Sato does just that. Her teary eyes make contact with her friend's eyes. She sees Mahiru's face, a worried frown over her, and…

That's all it took to break her down at last.

An ugly noise comes out of her. She starts sobbing. "M-Mahiru…" She chokes once more, burying her face into her friend's shoulder. "I...I didn't mean to do it."

Mahiru looks taken aback by that, asking her, "What do you mean by that?"

"I…I…" A sniffle comes out of her. It takes her a few moments before she tells her somewhat clearly, "I was the one who hurt him…" She uses her sleeve to wipe another set of tears away, mumbling, "It's all my fault…"

"Sato, it's…" She pauses, as if she's trying to think of what to say next.

'What are you going to say? That it's 'wrong'? I know it's wrong, but, knowing you…' Her eyes remain watery while she tries to steady her breath. 'Please, whatever you're going to tell me, don't say that it's 'okay'. I know that it's not.'

She didn't expect her to say those three words instead.

"I believe you." Mahiru wraps her arms around her, squeezing her so gently in a hug.

'This is wrong. It's all wrong. And yet,'

Sato wraps her arms around her friend's back as well. Her sobs have quieted down to sniffles and shivers. She closes her eyes, letting herself forget about a few things, just for a while.

The rest of the world disappears in her mind. It's just her and her friend up here.

The school day ends quicker than she thought.

Sato releases her breath, the same one that she didn't know she'd been holding in until now. Ever since…well, ever since what happened that Friday night, she hasn't been feeling very well. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, her classmate, had managed to survive their encounter, but at the same time, she's aware things aren't looking very good for him.

She clutches her chest. Her face contorts into heavy regret and desperation. She truly didn't mean it; her classmate may have been the older brother of that terrible person, but that didn't mean he's a part of this mess. He was just a bystander who got caught up in this.

It was hard keeping quiet about what she'd done for one night and two days. Her guilt continuously gnawed its way through her, until she was unable to keep it in any longer and confessed to her friend, right then and there.

A strained smile breaks out of her.

'I really didn't deserve a friend like Mahiru.'

A good friend wouldn't have tolerated the crime she had done. A good friend would've immediately turned her over to the police. Mahiru is a good friend, but, she is also so much more than that.

In no time at all, Sato makes her way inside her room. She hurriedly goes inside, trying to relax her breaths. Thinking about all of those won't do her mental state any favors. She's so quick to get in; she doesn't even notice just how easily she opened the door.

As soon as she's inside her room, she lets her bag drop off to the floor, and after that, takes her shoes off as well.

It's been a long day for her. She stretches her limbs up, eyes going over the ceiling—

Her eyes go wide. She is unable to keep herself from gasping out loud; her chest heaves in and out so unevenly. She steps back in fear, only to twist her ankle, letting out a soft cry as she falls from behind.

Up there, behind that shining pair of glasses, those red eyes bore right into her skull.

Chapter Text

The atmosphere in their class isn't quite the same as it'd usually be. The day started out like any other day; everyone is in, some having come earlier than the others. Give it at least thirty minutes, give or take, before their teacher comes bursting in with excitement.

Ms. Yukizome still did so today as part of their morning ritual like she always does, but, Hajime noticed that the energy she usually puts into it isn't as bombastic as they're all used to.

She calls over their names one by one, checking over their attendance once they call back to her. Two names she called over didn't reply.

Their teacher, who's usually bright and cheery, goes uncomfortably silent for a couple of seconds after two more names didn't respond to her calls.

The remaining eleven students in the class notice their teacher's worrying reaction. Some of them quietly tense up in their seats, while a few others start to murmur their concerns for their teacher.

Hajime stays rigid in his seat. If he clenches his knuckles any further, they'd probably go white.

Everyone knew that Kuzuryu and Pekoyama haven't been to classes since the week started. And now, both Koizumi and Saionji didn't attend their classes either. They haven't been around since yesterday because of certain…circumstances that involved a friend.

He tried to check on them yesterday in the dorms, but after they requested him to leave them alone, he respected their wishes and decided not to press any further. He understands; Koizumi and Saionji need some time to feel it over, and more importantly, they need to have their space.

As much as he wishes they'd be doing alright, realistically speaking, he knows they aren't. It'd be impossible to be alright, not after hearing of what happened to their friend.

Mahiru made herself sit over her bed, but her body is slightly hunched over; she didn't care how uncomfortable it felt. She wants to say something, anything; she knows she has to. She knows it's only her, there's no one else right here inside her room, and yet, not a single sound comes out of her.

Instead, she buries her face into the pillow she's holding against her chest, gasping so softly yet unevenly.

"Mahiru! Mahiru!"

She hears the hard banging and desperate clicking against her room's door and the broken cries of Hiyoko as she calls for her name. It took everything in her to keep herself from getting up and unlocking the door.

Everything feels so heavy.

Her mind plays back to the last conversation they've had. "Why…" She croaks out as one, shaky sob escapes her lips. "Sato, why did you do it…?"

They found Sato in her room that morning. From what they've reported, it looked like her shoes have been taken off and were then neatly arranged together below her; they estimated she took them off at least a few minutes before taking her life.

She remembers how guilty Sato looked back then. If only she knew how much it troubled her friend, if only she pressed some more, if only she stayed and kept her company before that night…

Maybe she could've stopped her.

From somewhere, Peko lowers her head, acknowledging a job well done.

Before everyone in this class knew it, lunchtime comes by.

Their teacher was in a good mood today, so he decided to dismiss them earlier than he usually does. Everyone else took the chance to get out of here as soon as they could.

Chiaki gets up from her seat, taking her bag with her. Before she leaves the room, she directs a solemn look towards the two vacant desks in their class. While one is empty, the other desk has fresh white flowers in a glass vase on top of it. Her chest constricts. She remembers the classmates who used to occupy them.

Two days have gone by and it's still hard to believe all of these events happened.

The class feels so wrong without Fuyuhiko and Sato around.

While on her way to the usual meeting spot, she passes over several of her schoolmates in the hallway, most of whom are busy gossiping among each other. A sense of unease goes over her. She didn't hear much, but she feels like she has an idea of what they're talking about.

She makes her way out of the building, and she would've gone off to the public bench and the fountain, until she sees another group of four reserve course students; three boys and a girl, are gathered around at a corner, right by the side of this building.

At a closer look, she recognizes that specific group as her classmates. By complete accident, she ends up overhearing them.

"So we lost another classmate two days ago." One of the boys says, starting up the latest gossip in their conversation.

She knows that she shouldn't listen in, especially not with a topic like this, but curiosity gets the better of her. Against her better judgment, she comes a bit closer; close enough to hear and see them better, but not too close to let them see her.

Another member nods his head. "Everyone's saying that Sato is the one who did herself in this time, so it can't be the person who attacked our other classmate. There aren't many details we know, aside from her body getting found in her room by someone who tried to check on her."

The third guy grimaces. "That guy's going to make us work our asses twice as much just like he did before, isn't he?"

"I wouldn't put it past the old man to do it." The girl crosses her arms. "As long as it's us, no one really cares if it doesn't affect them. I mean, there are two incidents here already, and the only reason why we know about it is because of gossip, not because the school cares about us."

It's impulsive. Chiaki didn't know what came over her as she steps forward into their view and blurts out, "Maybe if we tell the headmaster about those issues, he'd try to listen."

The four of them stare at her, and then they turn back to each other. Several seconds go by before everyone in the group starts to laugh so loud. One or two of them are even holding their bellies while they wheeze and cackle to the point of almost coughing.

She stays quiet, completely unsure of how she should react to that. She does feel a bit insulted on the inside, though.

"Thanks," He laughs one more time before wiping a single tear away with one finger. "A bunch of laughs like that is exactly what we needed right now."

The other boy snickers. He sniffles a bit more and he feels his jaws start to ache. "Yeah. That's a great joke you told us back there."

They turn to her, fully expecting her to laugh along with them. When she doesn't, the rest of their laughter comes to an abrupt stop as one of them says, "Wait, you're actually serious about that…?"

Before she can say something in reply to that, one of them interrupts her.

"Forget about that. I get where you're coming from, I really do, but the last thing I want is a third strike to happen in our class." The guy in front says.

"Yeah," Another member nods, pointing at his friend. "What he said."

"The head of those security guards will clobber you up. I heard the last guy who messed with him has to eat from a straw for a year." The third boy points out.

A look of complete disbelief comes over her. 'There's no way that can be true.' She thinks to herself. 'If it were, then the guy in charge of them would've been fired already.'

"Don't you mean 'drink from a straw'?" One of them asks.

He shakes the other guy's question off. "Whatever. The point I'm trying to say is, that guy in charge of them used to be an Ultimate, so that makes him even more dangerous than the normal ones."

"That's how Ultimates are." She growls. "They always think they're soooo much better than everyone else, all because the school chose them and made them think they're more special than they are."

Chiaki mutters back, "Not all of them."

"What was that?" The other girl questions.

"I mean," Chiaki backtracks as she tells them, "It won't come to that. I'll make sure of it. It's true that the staff can be strict about everything, and they're too harsh on us, but they can't be that unreasonable, can they?"

The guy in front opens his mouth to say something. However, he isn't able to let a word in as their female member steps forward. The other girl's eyebrows furrow, her face twists into that of resentment as she closes in on her. Chiaki tries to step back away from her, but before she knew it, they're only a few inches apart from each other.

"When will you wake up? Nobody in the school cares about us! Not our teacher, not the Ultimates, and especially not the main course's staff!" Her classmate practically yells directly in her face, "We're nothing but expendable resources for them! If you're that much of a mindless sheep to their awful system, you might as well throw your own parents' hard-earned money away!"

Chiaki visibly flinches at what she said.

Before she can come any closer, two of their classmates come forward to pull her, grabbing ahold of one arm each. She screams at them to let her go, but other than that, doesn't fight against them.

"That's enough." The first guy tells her. Once he made sure his classmate is somewhat calm, he faces Chiaki and lightly bows his head. "We're sorry about her," He awkwardly scratches the back of his neck as he explains, "She, uh…she tends to get really passionate about this sort of things."

Chiaki shakes her head. "No, it's okay. I think I get it now." She bows back. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing, for barging in." She says while quickly bidding them an apologetic goodbye.

As she turns to leave, she hears her classmate mutter out,

"You better do."

It didn't take long for the rest of today's classes to be done with, and once Chiaki is cleared of her cleaning duties for the afternoon, she heads off without a second thought. Instead of taking the usual route, she runs off in a different direction.

She thinks back on the short talk she had with her classmates that lunchtime. In case if what her classmates told her is true, well, maybe some bits of it were, then she's going to have to consider a few things. The first one is, of course, the security watching over the main campus's gates; they mentioned one guy who's keeping an eye out, who might've been a graduated Ultimate, but there's nothing about a whole team.

On one hand, it means that it's only that guy who's patrolling around the entrance. On the other hand, it also means that guy is scarily competent even if it's just him, especially if the rumors about him being a former Ultimate are true.

Just to be on the safe spot, she's going to try and sneak her way in. She never actually did anything like this before, but she's played through these kinds of scenarios in games, so she's confident enough to pull this tactical espionage off.

While keeping herself hidden from view, she intently studies the man in front of the gates. 'So that's the guy they're talking about.'

Not very surprisingly, the man has broad shoulders and an even broader chest; everything about him screams 'skilled muscle-bound fighter you don't wanna mess with'. Even if the rumors about him being a former Ultimate weren't true, she can see why they'd think that's the case.

Remaining in her semi-hidden position, she picks up a rock, and while swerving her hand, tosses it to the other side of the gates as far as she can. The rock click and clacks as it bounces off the ground, managing to catch the security guard's attention.

After seeing the security guard walk forward to check on it, she quietly makes her way towards the main campus's gate. 'I never climbed on anything like this before,' She muses, her hand reaching out to touch the steel gates. Her brows furrow in determination as she grabs a rail. 'But it's worth a try.'

Her hands reach over the top part of the gate. She winces; her hand isn't wrapped around in bandages anymore, but the sensation is still there. While positioning her foot, she tries to pull herself up, grunting as she finds herself going halfway on top of the gate.

Not even a second later, she gasps and feels someone pull her by the back of her shirt. Dread comes over her as she turns her head to the side, and is met with the security guard glaring back at her.

The security guard sneers. "Did you seriously think I'd fall for a lousy trick like that?" He didn't give her a chance to say anything back as pulls her off the rails without any effort at all.

She yelps, landing on the pavement with a loud thud. Despite the numb aching all over her back and legs, she forces herself to get up, grabbing ahold of the gate as leverage. Sneaking in didn't work, and so, that left her with her last option.

"Please," She says as she looks at him face-to-face, "Let me through. I promise it won't take too long. I just need to talk with someone important."

He sarcastically replies, "Yeah, sure. I never heard of that before." He jabs a thumb to somewhere far off. "Now piss off, kid."

It would've been a lot more rational to go along with what the security guard said. And yet, something in her made her stand her ground.

"I'm serious! I have to talk with the headmaster. One of my classmates got attacked last Friday, and whoever did it might still be out there." She unknowingly clenches her fists upon remembering, "I want to know why Hope's Peak won't do something about it. Are they trying to cover it up? Is it because an Ultimate was involved?"

Of course, Chiaki isn't really sure if an Ultimate was even responsible for that incident, but for the sake of aggravating him, this would do.

It worked a little too well.

A vein pops at the side of the security guard's neck; he steps closer to her and gnashes his teeth together. He cracks his knuckles. "Do you know what pisses me off more than talentless brats who get way over in their heads?" A threatening grin goes over his face and he tells her, "A talentless brat who gets way over their head and tries to play hero for crap like this."

He raises a fist, and swings it into her direction, aiming for her face. Trying to think as fast as her panicked state can, she narrowly dodges it by a few centimeters. She thinks she's in the clear for a moment.

She is quickly proven wrong when he takes advantage of her momentary distraction, elbowing her in the stomach and using his foot to knock her balance off, making her trip and fall on the ground again. Before she knew it, he has her pinned on the ground. She feels him dig his sole even deeper onto her back, making her cry out in pain.

"Do you think real life is just like some game for you? No one gives a shit about what you're trying to do, so you better open your own goddamned eyes to that!" He swings a leg forward, landing a kick that goes straight into her in the gut.

She gasps and coughs out. She futilely tries to get up, but every time she does that, he'd push his foot even harder.

He continues, "Average people like you can't do anything useful on their own, always leeching off of the talented few." He lifts his foot off for a second as he yells, "That's all little shits like you will ever be in life. You're no better than a fucking parasite!"

The security guard didn't give her a chance to get up. Quicker than she thought anyone would be capable of, he kicks her over once again.

Chiaki is torn between several options while her body registers the accumulated pain from each blow; tears start to well up at the corner of her eyes. She wants to get out of here. She wants to fight back. She wants to curl up into a ball.

"Juzo, that's enough!" Someone yells.

Before either of them knew it, a third person comes rushing in, spreading her arms while she stands protectively in front of Chiaki.

The woman is Ms. Yukizome, the teacher from Hajime's class if she's remembering things correctly. Ms. Yukizome starts to directly address the security guard, whose name turns out to be Juzo.

While the two adults remain preoccupied with each other, Chiaki forces herself to get up, managing to stand up even if shakily. She turns and runs as far from here as she can without even looking at her savior.

They meet up at the same hour as they always do.

While she's going on about a new game she brought for today, Hajime can't help but stare intently at her. It might be just him, but, it feels like something is off about her; her voice sounds a bit more strained and her enthusiasm looks like it's forced somehow.

Now that he's seeing closer, he barely stopped himself from doing something impulsive or saying something out loud; he noticed a bruise on her cheek. It's small enough to be unnoticeable, at least until someone looks in closer like he's doing right now.

He opens his mouth, interrupting her explanation of the game's lore; he half-asks, half-blurts out to her, "Chiaki, did something happen to you yesterday?"

As soon those words come out of his mouth, Chiaki abruptly stops herself from saying anything more. Two of her fingers lightly touch over at the spot he was staring at moments ago.

"Oh, this? I…" She shifts around a bit uncomfortably in her seat, going quiet for a few seconds or so, almost like she's trying to think of something to say. She ends up saying so unconvincingly, "I…fell off the stairs yesterday. Yeah, that's all that happened." She nods her head off at the end of that.

He raises a brow at her, wordlessly telling her that he isn't completely buying that excuse. Something about this feels so familiar, like he's seen something like this happen before. Despite that, he doesn't press any more than that, not unless he wants to end up pushing her away even further.

His original question remains unanswered as she seems to either ignore his suspicious look, or she didn't notice it at all. They return to the topic of video games; it feels like that bit of conversation was never brought up in the first place. She shows him a couple of tips and tricks on the new game they're playing together.

Hajime can still see just how forced her supposedly chipper self is, almost like she's trying to keep him in the dark about something as much as possible.

Time flies by and soon, the reserve course's bell rings.

Chiaki takes that as her cue. She slings her bag over her shoulder and gets up from the bench. She doesn't turn to face him as she says, "Hajime, I'll be going now."

As he's watching her walk away, there's something about that which tipped him off. He asks her, "So, same time tomorrow?"

Something in him stops when he hears her answer,

"I don't know."

Those three words tip him off; a red flag for something that's possibly troubling his friend. Without thinking about it, he gets up from his seat, asking her in a worried tone, "Why? Is there something going on?" He keeps his arms at either side of his body; he feels them wanting to reach out and hug her.

She stops in her tracks, staying at least a meter away from him. A few seconds pass before she replies, "You could say that." Her fingers' grip strain over her bag's handle. She sighs softly, still averting her away from him and focusing them onto the ground. "I…It's not that much of a big deal, really. It's just that…"

It took everything in him to keep himself from stepping forward. A part of him wants to go anyway and immediately comfort her for whatever's troubling her, as well as confront her on what it might be. A part of him also knows that taking that action won't help, and so, he stays in his spot, waiting for her to say what it was.

Instead, she shakes her head and says, "I promise I won't be gone for too long," She pauses and then adds, "I think." in a less than sure tone.

She doesn't elaborate any further about that. Even from this small distance, he can see her body going still while she quietly swallows. Although it's only a minute at most, it feels like forever passes by between them. The uncomfortable quiet between them is only getting thicker as each second goes and on.

He tentatively steps closer, fully aware of how awkward things are getting between them at this moment. He tries to relax his posture as much as he can and asks her in the calmest tone he can muster, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her posture stiffens slightly. She glances at him from the side, opening her mouth, as if she's considering what he said, only for her to close it and shake her head. "I'm fine." She insists, sounding more like she's trying to convince herself as much as she's doing the same for him.

Another quiet moment passes by them.

Chiaki turns back to him, raising her head to look at him in the eye. A thin, solemn smile passes over her face. "I'll see you again, Hajime."

Hajime wonders if he should pry some more; as her friend, he should do something, say something, anything but keeping himself quiet in his friend's problem. But, at the same time, he saw the way she continued to dodge his questions. He saw how uncomfortable she looked when he tries to dig in to what's troubling her.

He may not like it, but it's clear to him now; now is not the right time to ask her any further. The best thing he can do for now is to wait until she's willing to let him know.

Until then, he forces himself to smile and reply, "I guess I'll be seeing you again too."

He sees her walk off, further and further away from him until he can no longer see a trace of her within his vicinity.

(If he looks back on this in the future, he'd wonder if he could've done it all differently. He'd wonder if maybe waiting for her to tell him wasn't the best thing he could've done back then.)

"It's great to see you finally come around, Nanami." Mr. Minami gleefully says. He clasps his hands together in excitement.

At the moment, it's the five of them in this office. Chiaki stares at the stacks of papers on the table before her. She takes a deep breath; the only thing she has to do left is to sign these papers. She takes one of the pens offered to her and signs on the spaces provided.

By the end of those, Mr. Sasaki hands her a piece of black cloth. "Put this on."

Their request should've tipped her off, and it doesn't help that with the way he worded it, it ended up sounding more like an order. But, she's already come this far. There's no more turning back after this, not after she already signed herself away.

She takes it and proceeds to tie the cloth around her eyes. One of them checked in case if she could still see their fingers, and once they confirmed she hasn't, someone takes her by the wrist.

"Come on along now." Judging by his voice, it's probably Mr. Akiyama.

The Steering Committee members escort her off to somewhere she has no idea of, not with the blindfold on. It wasn't exactly a long walk, lasting for around thirty minutes or so. The men's steps come to a halt. She's a bit late in her reaction, making her almost stumble for a moment. She hears them shuffle away from her.

Mr. Akiyama speaks up again and tells her, "You may take the blindfold off now."

Chiaki does as he's told and takes the cloth off of her eyes. She squints and rubs her eyes a bit. The room is so dimly lit in green lights, almost to the point of darkness. It gives off the vibe of an abandoned hospital or even an insane asylum.

Despite the poor lighting, she sees that she isn't the only one in here. There are at least a handful of more reserve course students standing right here, in the same space she's in; she takes a closer look at them and realizes she doesn't recognize any of them as being part of her class.

Including her, there are six of them in total; three boys and three girls. The other five kids quietly talk to themselves. Most of the ones she heard are questions about what the program's purpose was, and one is saying something about possibly backing out of this.

Those students immediately go quiet when they see the four members of the Steering Committee come forward. She can feel the tension in their bodies.

Mr. Mizushima clears his throat for a moment, before turning his attention to them. His gravelly voice regards them, "It's a delight to see you all participate in the Hope Cultivation Program. I assume that all six of you have an idea of what the Hope Cultivation Program is, correct?"

One of the students beside her speaks up. "You said you'd make us into Ultimates, didn't you?" As he asks that, he steps forward with a bit of aggression in his body language.

"That's correct." Mr. Minami answers, flashing them with a smile. He completely ignores the boy's attitude.

"You shall be the living embodiment of our school's ideals," Mr. Sasaki adds with a bit of flourish. "The hope for our generation and beyond that."

Mr. Akiyama, the last to speak up, stares intently at the six participants. He huffs, turning his back from them and says, "If you wish to unlock your potentials as Ultimates, then come with us to the next room. If not, then I suppose it's your loss."

Five of the students start whispering among each other again; there are some hints of hesitation in their voices, wondering if this is all going to be worth it in the end. As for her, she already made her decision before this, and so, walks up first, trailing after the four men who've already walked away. It didn't take long for the rest to come after.

Their group goes inside another room; it's just as dimly lit as the first room, if not even worse than that. She looks around as best she can with poor lighting like this. She didn't see much, aside from several vaguely-shaped objects.

Suddenly, the lights turn brighter.

Now that they can see a lot clearer, there are a bunch of medical chairs, tables, and all sorts of different types of machinery in here.

In addition to that, there are several more groups of reserve course students who look just as confused and intrigued as their group. It's hard to tell exactly how many they are from here, though.

A boy, one who appears to be the same age as them, is sitting around on a desk, a manga in hand. He lazily stares at them for a couple of seconds, before he shrugs them off. "So these are the ones you picked this time," He turns the manga's page around with a scoff. "None of them look that much impressive compared to the last batch, and that's saying a lot."

Mr. Akiyama clicks his tongue. "Matsuda, you better give them a good first impression. We don't want a repeat from last time now, do we?"

Matsuda clicks his tongue back with an accompanying, "Tch. Whatever."

Chiaki stares at the boy once she learns of his name. There's something familiar about that name. 'Matsuda? That's Yasuke Matsuda, isn't it?' She heard of him, mostly from her female classmates who often gushed about his supposedly good looks. Now that she's seeing him in person, well, she can see he looks alright, if a bit messy, but other than that, she doesn't get the appeal for him.

Mr. Akiyama coughs, moving his stern glare away from Matsuda and onto the six of them. "Now, if you please." He gestures an arm towards a pile of what looks to be hospital gowns.

At that exact moment, several teams of men in white coats walk into this room. They're all wearing surgical caps and masks, making them all look virtually identical.

Once all of them have changed into the hospital gowns, they are then told to lie down on the chairs. Those teams of men in white coats come closer to them; at least five of them focused and attended to one participant each.

While those men did their work, Chiaki absently thinks about what the Steering Committee told her and the other participants before this. She remembers that they've said something about artificially augmenting the participants with every known talent the school has documented.

Come to think of it, that process sounds like something out of a superhero's origin story. She turns her head to the side, checking on her how schoolmates were doing.

One of them lets out a groan as his shoulder is patted down with rubbing alcohol. Shortly after that, the man supervising him takes a syringe out and injects it into that area. A few moments after that, the same student goes slack on the chair.

The procedure is then repeated to the other participants, all of whom reacted the same way until her turn came. Chiaki watches as one of the men takes her Gala Omega hairpin off of her. Shortly after that, as she then feels the man lift the hospital gown's short sleeve to expose her shoulder, she reflects on a few things.

Her eyes vacantly stare at the ceiling.

'I'm sorry I couldn't do anything more for you, Fuyuhiko. I can only wish you'd get better soon.'

The needle is pushed inside her tender skin. A sharp, prickly sensation is briefly felt before it fades away to numbness.

'I'll finally do something good in my life. No more running away. I won't be weak and useless anymore.'

Her breathing slows down.

"There is no need to worry about this. None of you should feel a thing during the process." Mr. Sasaki tells them as he and the other Steering Committee members come into their view.

'I'll be the person you'll all be proud of. Mom, Dad. You won't be disappointed in having someone like me as your daughter anymore.'

Someone is talking; maybe it's someone from the Steering Committee, maybe it's one of the team members. Whoever it was, their voices are starting to sound muffled. It's getting harder and harder to hear them.

'Hajime...'

Her vision starts to get blurry.

'I won't let you down this time.'

Chiaki exhales. She never felt so sleepy like this before. The last time she felt something close to this was that time where she ended up playing a game trilogy all night in one sitting.

She gives in, letting her eyes close.

Chapter Text

Chisa slams a hand to the office’s desk, along with a bunch of papers. After that, she looks at the headmaster dead in the eye and she tells him in the most serious, no-nonsense tone she can muster, “I would like to move the Ultimate’s yearly exams to another date.”

When totaling her, the headmaster himself, Kizakura, and the Steering Committee, there are seven of them who gathered around in the headmaster’s office.

“M-Ms. Yukizome?” Mr. Kirigiri stutters. His eyes rapidly go over from the papers she presented on his desk and then onto her, almost like he’s trying to comprehend whatever the hell is going on.

While he processes that, one of the Steering Committee members, the short and twiggy old man, to be exact, steps forward, goes up between them. That old man, Mr. Mizushima if she’s remembering correctly, adjusts his glasses. He goes quiet for a second or so, staring intently at her, before uttering out, “What did you say?”

“I said,” She reiterates, steeling her voice and turning her head around while directly addresses the old man, “I would like to move the Ultimates’ yearly exams to another date.”

The old man isn’t the one who answers back this time.

Instead, it’s the headmaster himself, now that he’s done looking over the papers and overheard everything. He rests his chin on top of his hands and asks her, “But, is there a reason why you’d like for that to happen?”

Having prepared herself for this, Chisa earnestly replies, “Mr. Kirigiri, as you’ve probably heard before, there were two incidents at the reserve course,” She can’t help but wince as she goes over the next part, remembering what it was like for four particular kids. “My students are going through a…let’s say a rather difficult time right now because of what happened.”

“I see. I’ll give all of my condolences to them.” The headmaster bows his head as a sign of respect to their story.

Mr. Minami coughs a few times before loudly clearing his throat. He rudely inserts himself into their discussion and unhelpfully adds, “If we agreed to your…’request’,” His eyes slant while he pronounces that word like it’s a slur, “Then it wouldn’t exactly be fair to the other Ultimates now, would it?”

“Mind telling why that wouldn’t be fair for them?” It’s almost tempting to roll her eyes at them, but she knew it’d be unprofessional of her, so she kept that in check.

Another member clicks his tongue. His answer, if it can even be called that, just dodges her question off entirely. “You shouldn’t play favorites with your students. I thought that you of all people would know of something as simple as that.” That member, Mr. Akiyama, also unhelpfully adds with a disdainful shake of his head, “Ah, but then again, I suppose I, one of the most important staff members of the school, shouldn’t know better than a recently-graduated Ultimate.”

She completely ignores the older man’s biting remark, not caring if her blatant disrespect infuriated him even more. "Would you at least consider it? My students have already been through so much stress lately. I don’t know if they’d be at their top shape for the exams."

"If your students call themselves 'Ultimates', then they should be able to perform the best of their talents despite any setbacks that might've occurred." Mr. Sasaki surmises, crossing his arms at the end of that.

Those inconsiderate words set something in her off. She was leaning over earlier, to be at a better level with the headmaster, but once she heard that, she stands herself straight up. She slowly turns around to face the four old men.

"A setback?” She repeats while gritting her teeth; with her current tone, it’d sound like she’s on the verge of shouting even without actually raising her voice. All the while, an intense, burning feeling surges so high through her chest all the way to her neck. “Are you seriously calling my students' personal tragedy a 'setback'?! Why, I ought to—"One of her fists clench, almost like it’s about to rise and slug one of the slimy bastards right on his thick noggin then and there.

"Yukizome, that's enough," Kizakura says, trying to placate her somehow while he places his arm over her, in case if she does try to knock a few teeth out.

Thankfully, she calms down enough to stay put with her hands clenched at either side. She forces herself to take deep breathes while counting down on the inside. She reminds herself to thank the scout later; things wouldn’t have ended well for everyone if she went through with knocking those old men out.

As for the Steering Committee, even though the blows never came, they cautiously step back further than they were before and have gone completely silent, at least for now. Maybe they thought it over; it wouldn’t be a good idea to mess with a former boxer, after all.

Mr. Kirigiri pinches the bridge of his nose. He closes his eyes and takes a long, exhausted sigh. He slowly shakes his head before opening a single eye. He looks over to everyone in the room, going to each member of the Steering Committee and finally, onto Chisa herself.

The headmaster takes another deep breath. Two of his fingers slowly rub over his forehead. “As much as I hate to admit it, the Steering Committee does have a point. We can’t simply move the exams’ date just like that. There are far too many things to consider.”

As he goes over to explain said factors, the four men start humming and chuckling around their apparent victory. Chisa does her best to tune their mocking out of her hearing and instead, focuses on what Mr. Kirigiri is saying to her.

“For one, several people from the press have already made their appointments with us a month ago. Moving the dates would’ve been doable had it just been a handful of them, but the problem is, most of those people are big names in our country.” He runs a hand over his hair, giving himself some time to breathe before adding, “Not to mention, they’ve already announced the scheduled dates a week ago and are obligated to follow through with it.”

“Don’t forget the sponsors who’d be joining in as well, oh dear Headmaster.” Mr. Sasaki points out with a subtle, biting tone.

At the mention of that, Mr. Kirigiri sighs once more, palming over the side of his head. “Yes. There are also the sponsors we have to worry about, as Mr. Sasaki had pointed out.” He narrows his eyes.

Before this, she thought she’d have a decent chance of convincing the headmaster, knowing him to be a reasonable man at least. But, now with all of those factors he mentioned, she isn’t so sure anymore.

He notices her change in mood. His gaze immediately softens as he addresses, “I understand what you’re trying to do, Ms. Yukizome, I truly do. If everything was up to me, I would gladly approve of your request to move the exams’ date. But, the school is in a delicate situation at this point, so I’m afraid I can’t do anything about it.”

She forces a smile out. She tries not to make the disheartened tone in her voice too obvious. “It’s okay. I understand. Thank you anyway for hearing me out.” She bows her head to the headmaster.

From on her way out of the office, Chisa swears she saw one of those four men smiling smugly towards her. She musters up all her remaining self-control and makes herself look away from them, all while keeping a neutral expression on her face.

She might’ve been less than happy about the headmaster’s final decision, especially when it was obviously slated in another party’s favor, but she isn’t going to let that show on her face. It’s not worth it, giving those men the satisfaction of seeing her reaction.

Chisa walks towards her classroom. She knows to herself she’s unusually late at this time; after her request got rejected yesterday afternoon, her usual cheery disposition has gone and deflated to a glumly one.

‘No matter what I said, I still couldn’t convince them.’ A soft sigh leaves from her lips.

She slowly pushes the door open, and she sees eleven of her students have already gathered in their seats. Her eyes move over from each one; her heart sinks upon seeing the four empty desks. Even until now, Kuzuryu, Pekoyama, Koizumi, and Saionji have remained absent.

Trying to get herself back on work, she goes right behind her desk and starts calling for their names, marking their attendance whenever she hears them call back to her.

Once everyone’s attendance has been settled, she goes over to go and discuss their first activities for today. Or, at least, she would’ve had, if someone hadn’t raised their hand.

Although she hasn’t said anything yet, that student proceeds with their question anyway. “Ms. Yukizome? Are you okay?” Komaeda is the first to speak up for everyone.

‘Ah, I must’ve slipped up.’ In an instant, she regains her composure, enough to convincingly herself through and gets herself back into the enthusiastic teacher they knew.

Thinking fast, she replies to Komaeda’s question with, “Oh, was it that obvious? Sorry,” She laughs, lightly bonking a hand on her head. “I just had to sort through a lot of papers yesterday, so I guess I must’ve looked really out of it. It’s nothing much to worry about, though!”

It seems like everyone bought that shaky excuse she made up on the spot. Well, almost everyone, if she’s reading the intense stare Hinata is giving her correctly. She wonders if he managed to see through her flimsy lie, but since he isn’t saying anything, she decides not to worry about that for now.

As their class goes through the first half of the day, an uncomfortable thought from the back of her mind wouldn’t let her rest easy. She knows to herself she failed them as their teacher, and here she is, acting as if nothing happened.

What did she do to deserve them?

The first half of the day passes by too quickly for him. He noticed something is going on with Ms. Yukizome in the morning, but because he thought it’d be too soon to ask, he didn’t press some more about it. Maybe he’ll ask her later after classes are over.

His fingers absentmindedly fidget over the blue handheld console. His eyes are kind of vacant; to anyone who might’ve seen him, they’d probably think it’s because he’s too invested in the game. But, the truth is, he isn’t sure if he’s even paying attention to the screen anymore.

His mind wanders back; he went out to visit their meeting spot an hour ago, but he hasn’t seen Chiaki around there. Even when he waited throughout the whole lunch period, she never turned up. He thinks back on the last thing they talked about, wondering if that had something to do with this.

Chiaki told him she wouldn’t be gone for too long, but, what does she exactly mean by that? Is she dropping out of the reserve course? Maybe it’s something simple and he’s thinking too hard about this. He isn’t so sure anymore.

He wishes he knew something about it.

A low beeping tone hits his ears, signaling the death of his in-game character. He lets out a low, heavily drawn-out sigh as he shuts the console off. He solemnly glances at it once more before putting it away inside the space of his desk.

Someone approaches him from the side of his seat. Hajime turns his head to the side to look at who it is; he feels a bit relieved when it turns out it’s just Kazuichi.

Kazuichi didn’t show off his weirdly sharp, toothy grin this time, which is a bit unnerving to see. “Hey, Hajime, you okay? Is there something wrong?” He asks, slightly bending his torso over to meet him at eye-level by his seat. One of his rats pokes its head out of his breast pocket; judging by the size, it’s most likely Rom.

‘There are so many things that are going wrong this month,’ is what he’d probably reply if he was in the mood to be too honest. Because he isn’t in any mood this time around, instead he sighs, leaning his cheek against his palm. “I guess so.”

Unusually for a guy like him, Kazuichi doesn’t say anything to that. The other boy thoughtfully looks at him, straightening himself up, and then he gently reaches a hand out. Without saying even a word to him, he puts his hand over Hajime’s back and starts to gently pat him in a consoling way.

It’s unexpected, but it isn’t unwelcome either. This goes on for a moment or so; it’s just him and…well, he supposes he can definitely consider Kazuichi as a friend at this point.

He lets a thin, slight smile go over his face. “Thanks, Kaz. I guess I really needed that.”

The other boy’s trademark toothy grin returns. “Man, I thought you already knew you don’t have to thank me like that. I mean, I can’t just let you feel down like that. You’re pretty much my soul brother right now.”

‘That’s the first time I’ve heard of something like that, but I’ll take it,’ He muses to himself, slightly shaking his head in fondness. “It wouldn’t feel right if I didn’t.”

“Hey, mind if I talk about something important?” He becomes awkwardly quiet for a bit, backtracking his words afterward with, “Uh, but before I say anything, I don’t know if you’re going to be okay with it, since no one else in class really wants to talk about it.”

Hajime has a feeling he knows exactly what his friend is talking about. He nods. “Go on. I’ll hear it out.”

Kazuichi takes his desk’s seat, and after placing it right next to him, he begins with an uneasy voice, “So, we’ve got less than two weeks to prep for our exams.”

“You’re getting worried about how your performance will do?” He asks.

He shakes his head. “Nah, it’s nothing like that. I’m not really worried about myself, or for Sonia and Gundham. I know they’ve got this easy. It’s just that, you know, I don’t know if I can say the same thing for everyone.”

Certain classmates pop in Hajime’s mind once Kazuichi mentions that.

He leans back and crosses his legs. “Sure, we didn’t see each other for a couple of months until Ms. Yukizome got here, and even now, not everyone’s calling each other by first names yet, but, I don’t know if I can handle seeing anyone from our class leave after the exams.”

‘I didn’t know much about my classmates back then. Even until now, I’m not sure if I know them on a deeper level. But, just like what Kaz said, the class wouldn’t feel the same anymore when they’re gone.’

He straightens himself up. A determined look passes over his face. “Now that you mentioned it, I think I know what I should do for everyone.”

Kazuichi blinks. “Wait, really? What are you going to do, Hajime?”

Hajime explains the gist of his plan to him, and by the end of it, the other boy’s grin grows wider than before.

“That sounds like it’d work!” He enthusiastically pumps his fist and then places it over his chest. “Alright, you can count me in with that too!”

And so, Hajime spent the rest of the week assisting his classmates in honing their talents in whenever he can. Kazuichi did his part as best as he can too, and by that, it meant watching over Sonia and Tanaka, plus a few other classmates to lessen some of the counselor’s workload.

The animal breeder was too happy to help if he’s being honest.

Surprisingly, even the stone-faced Pekoyama quietly accepted his help, though there’s some hesitance on her part. It’s not hard to see why. As for Kuzuryu herself, she didn’t show up at all.

In Saionji’s case…well, all Hajime can say is, he salutes the gigantic balls of steel his soul brother has; if he was in his place, he’s sure he wouldn’t have lasted even a few hours at the nurse’s ‘care’. He quietly swears to himself he’ll make it up for Kazuichi’s great sacrifice some time after the exams are over.

They’ve still got a week more to prepare, and so far, aside from Kuzuryu, everyone in his class has been accounted for.

Well, almost everyone. There’s one other classmate he hasn’t seen in a while. Koizumi still hadn’t gone out of her room during these times, and even if she did, no one had a chance to see her. Not even Ms. Yukizome was able to check up on her.

He wishes he can do something for her. It didn’t feel right to leave her out like this.

But right now, he’s wandering around the empty gym while fetching something for Tanaka; from what little he can decipher when it comes to the team manager’s…very expressive and imaginative way of talking, he needs a bunch of extra training swords because the last ones they used broke off. He’d wonder why, but he had a feeling he already knew the answer to that.

He isn’t able to find any in the supplies’ closet, or anywhere else in the gym, for that matter. Figuring he’ll have to tell them the unfortunate news, he heads out of there.

He’s on his way back to where everyone else is practicing for the exams, only for him to abruptly stop.

From the corner of his eye, he sees a familiar face sitting by a corner outside the building. He knows he should head back soon, but then, he’s sure if he did that, she’d be gone by the time he goes back here.

And so, he takes the chance and slowly approaches. “Koizumi.” He calls out to her once he closes a meter next to her.

The artist stays still, refusing to turn her head to look at him. If anything, she turns her body further away from his view. Even so, she didn’t get up and run, even though she can easily do that instead. “What do you want now, Hinata?”

“I haven’t seen you around until now, so, I guess I couldn’t help but check on you.” He replies as earnestly as he can. He then asks her, “Is it fine if I take a seat?”

She doesn’t answer, but just to be safe, he keeps himself standing up. He doesn’t need to push it any more than he has to.

An awkward silence passes by them. He sees he’s getting nowhere with her, and so, decides to ask things differently. “Do you want to talk about it?”

She scoffs. “What else do I have to talk about? I already know our exams are getting closer.” She sighs, wrapping her arms closer to her knees. “What’s the point?”

He opens his mouth, trying to say something to help her feel better, even if a little. “Koizumi, it’s okay to feel—” His mind stops. What is he going to say? Using the word ‘upset’ would make it a big understatement; it’d be like he’s underestimating the heavy grief she’s feeling. He isn’t able to finish what he’s about to say, as he’s quickly cut off.

“You don’t know what it’s like.” She quietly snaps back. Unlike the times where she often snapped back at the guys in class, including him, her tone isn’t as strong as it usually is. It deeply unsettles him.

He exhales, admitting both to her and himself, “You’re right about that. I can’t pretend to know what it’s like.” It’s difficult for someone like to imagine that. His classmate didn’t just lose someone; she lost a close friend whom she knew even before attending Hope’s Peak Academy, perhaps even from childhood, to one of the most tragic ways to die.

A part of him thinks that by barging in like this, maybe he isn’t really helping her at all, maybe he’s only making things worse for her.

“I’m sorry for bringing it up.” He doesn’t hear her reply, and so, he takes it as a sign to start walking in the other direction.

“Wait,” She calls out to him.

The counselor stops himself from walking any further after hearing that. He turns back and is met with the sight of his classmate’s pained face looking back at him.

Koizumi appears to hesitate to say something after that. She swallows, averting her eyes away from him. She mumbles loud enough for him to hear, “Don’t go yet.”

He takes a seat right next to her. He didn’t want to overstep any boundaries, so he’s keeping half a meter of space between them. When he didn’t hear her say anything to that, he figures it should be alright.

For the next couple of minutes, it’s just the two of them sitting there, not saying even a word to each other.

At least, not until Koizumi mutters out, “Hinata, I know I’ve been so unfair to you since the start of this school year. Even after everything I’ve said, you’re still going out of your way for someone like me. I’m not sure if a simple ‘thank you’ is enough to make up for all of that.”

“You don’t have to worry about it.” He reassures her, adjusting his seat a bit. “You’re still my classmate. It wouldn’t feel right to leave you behind just like that.”

Koizumi doesn’t say anything back to what he said.

After that, Hajime feels himself getting lost in thought again. Sometimes, it feels like people overestimate his capabilities. He doesn’t magically make people feel better about themselves just by listening to everything they say; he knows he’s not a miracle maker like some believe him to be, Ultimate Counselor or not.

In any case, it’s still up to Koizumi on what she’d do next.

Little do the two know, their teacher’s been watching them talk since a few moments ago.

It might sound questionable to an outsider, but Chisa swears it was by complete accident and she wasn’t stalking her students on purpose, or anything else like that really, even though she did ended up seeing the conversation between Hinata and Koizumi anyway.

All of it.

Yeah, totally by accident, really.

In any case, as she saw them talk things out, she felt something warm swell up in her chest. She also felt something wet at the corner of her eyes; she wipes it away with the back of her hand. The warm feeling in her grew some more.

She thought she couldn’t be any prouder of them, but here she is now. Even though they shouldn’t be obligated to do it, especially not if their wounds haven’t been fully healed just yet, she saw how everyone is doing their best in preparing for the yearly exams.

Both sides of her lips curl up with little to no resistance from her. Her students are a lot stronger than she gave them credit for.

It’s too early for her to think about it, but, a part of her is hoping that maybe things will work out for them after all.

For no particular reason at all, she thought it’d be a splendid idea to come and visit an old friend of hers; which of course, leads her to walking by the main campus’s gates.

“Good evening, Juzo!” She calls out to him with a smile, enthusiastically waving her arm at him.

Juzo yells (more like screams, judging by the tone of voice he used), “Hey!” as he turns his attention towards her, one hand curled into a fist in preparation. His eyes go wide after a moment, managing to stop his half-raised arm from laying even a finger on her.

He lowers his arm, looking over her a few more times. He then awkwardly palms at the back of his head while looking away from her. “Oh, it’s just you, Chisa.” He mumbles, now knowing what he’d almost done to her.

Not that she was worried in the first place. This isn’t the first time something like this happened anyway, and besides, they’ve sparred plenty of times before, back when they were just students at this same school. Ah, how time flies by so fast.

He tilts his head around like he’s scanning the area around in case if there were any passersby. She does the same as well, just in case.

Once they both confirmed there’s no one around, he leans in a bit to whisper, “Maybe we should take this to somewhere else. My shift should be done in a couple more minutes anyway.”

She knowingly winks and grins at him. “Alright. I get you.”

Chisa stands by the edge of the gates while she waits for his shift to be over, and just as Juzo told her, he walks out of the gates after some time passes by.

They move to one of the public benches around here, outside of the main campus’s vicinity. The two adults take a seat. She takes it as her cue, looking towards his direction and starting their impromptu conversation with a relaxed, “So, how were you doing? Found anything interesting yet?”

“If I’ll be honest with you, this is a lot harder than I thought.” He grunts, hunching forward in his seat. “I wasn’t able to find or report anything important to Kyosuke.”

“Let me guess, you’re stuck at the gates all day long, aren’t you?” She teasingly says to him.

His face flushes. An annoyed “Tch,” comes out of him and he follows it back with, “Not exactly all day long, just from six AM to six PM with a lunch break.”

“So you’re admitting you were actually stuck at the gates all day long.”

He scowls, but it’s easy to tell it wasn’t one of his more serious ones, since this is a light-hearted conversation. “Shut it, like you’re one to talk. At least I’m not the one who’s stuck in a room with a bunch of irritating kids all day long.”

Oh, so now he’s using her own words against her? Chisa covers her mouth with a mock gasp, before she playfully fires back with, “Excuse you, I actually love and care for those irritating kids you mentioned. Maybe you’d enjoy it too once you give it a try.”

The man scoffs. “As if I’d want to spend most of my time with kids for weeks on end.”

“Well, let’s just agree to disagree, then. But of course,” She chuckles. “If you want to change your mind anytime, just let me know.”

With that topic ended, Juzo starts a new one. His eyes stare onto the pavement as he asks her, “So, how about you? You found anything about Hope’s Peak?”

“Aside from the recent cover-ups that you might’ve heard of,” She shakes her head. “No, there’s nothing too out of the ordinary that I’ve seen so far either.”

Then again, there’s something about the Steering Committee that rubs her the wrong way, but she’s not going to mention that to him. It’s probably her bias against them talking anyway, and a certain incident isn’t helping that at all.

And then, out of nowhere, she sends a light punch to the man’s shoulder. It didn’t hurt him in the slightest; it felt more like a light tap if anything, which is why he barely reacted all that much to that.

Still, that didn’t stop him from rubbing that spot and indignantly asking her, “What was that for?”

"Oh, nothing. It’s just that I remembered a little something after that. You know, you didn't have to be so harsh with that student back then."

Juzo regards her with a genuinely puzzled look. “Huh? What student are you talking about—oh,” His eyes squint in realization by the end of that. He grunts, palming over the side of his head as he replies, "If I didn't, that brat would've stuck her nose around in some business she shouldn’t be a part of."

“You could’ve handled it a lot better, you know.” She points out, scolding him somewhat even though she retains her cheery smile. Even better, the teacher is wagging her index finger right in front of his eyes.

“What would you have done in my place, then?”

“Hmm,” She hums, thinking about the potential scenario. It’s a bit hard for her to imagine, since in that case, she would’ve never seen her beloved students, but, she guesses it won’t hurt to think of the potential ‘what-if’.

Her former classmate patiently waits for her answer.

She closes her eyes in concentration and crosses her arms. “I guess I’d probably use force as the last resort if they still wouldn’t budge,” She opens a single eye to stare at him. “In any case, I wouldn’t immediately jump to beating a stubborn teenager around if I can help it.”

“That sounds like something you’d do.” He remarks while a low chuckle escapes from him. Once that rare moment ended, he turns to her and asks, “Speaking of Kyosuke, how’s he doing with that overseas project of his?”

Now it’s Chisa’s turn to look rather confused. “Huh? He didn’t let you know about that?”

Juzo shrugs. “He didn’t.”

She thinks back to what was said between them. “Well, aside from the project’s proposal and other stuff he told me on my first day, nothing much either,” She shrugs. “I think I can understand why. He wouldn’t want too much to get leaked into the public at this time.”

“It sounds like he hasn’t changed that much either.” At the end of that, a small smile passes over his lips.

Seeing a tough guy like him smile is also a rare moment to see. Because of that, she can’t help but tease him some more by saying, “Oh, and just so you know, I still won’t give Kyosuke up so easily to you.”

He snorts. “What brought that up?”

“When you mentioned him by name, of course.” She shoots back at him with a smile.

They talk some more, mostly about lighter topics and such. From what Chisa heard, a bunch of other reserve course students had already tried breaking in a few times; she also heard her old friend grumble about hearing a bunch of rumors that came after that, one of which was that allegedly, a student was punched so hard, they had to eat from a straw for a year (wasn’t it supposed to be ‘drink from a straw’? she mentally asks). He clarifies to her that the student only received a bruised cheek at worst.

Before either of them knew it, the area around them slowly darkens.

The teacher looks at the sky. “Oh, would you look at the time.” Chisa comments. She leans back against the bench, stretching her arms and humming in satisfaction all the while. “We haven’t seen each other since graduation, so it’s been great talking to you again.”

“Guess I could say the same.”

 “Well, whenever our schedules are free, we could start hanging out some more again. Maybe even spar once in a while.”

“Hmm, just like old times.” Juzo muses.

“Yeah, just like old times.” Chisa agrees. She gets up from her seat and glances over her friend one more time. “Well then, I’ll see you around, Juzo!” She waves an arm at him.

With their farewells done, she starts walking away from this area.

Chapter Text

There are several knocks at her door.

Natsumi loudly grumbles. She pretends to ignore them.

Those knocks repeat, this time sounding even more persistent than it was before. It didn't get better when she hears a certain classmate is calling out to her.

"Kuzuryu. Is it fine if we talk for a bit?"

She growls, not even bothering to turn her head in the door's direction. "Buzz off, Hinata."

She doesn't know or care whether he heard what she said or not. He probably did, since his knocking has slowed down in its speed. Then a minute passes, and it looks like he's not going go to stop any time soon.

That pissed her off.

"Didn't you just hear I said?!" She yells.

Those knocks go quiet. Natsumi exhales, thinking that the worst is finally over.

If only it was that easy.

Before she knew it, those knocks come over again, just as persistent as it'd been earlier. She decides she's too fed up to keep entertaining him. If she keeps lying still right here and keep on ignoring him, he'll get tired and leave. It's not like he can stay there all day long, right?

She isn't sure how long they've been at it. She didn't check the clock, and to be honest, she didn't want to.

At this point, it'd be fair to say both of them are wasting their time with this charade.

Upon hearing one more knock, it didn't take long for the point where she reached her limits at last. She gets up, stomping her way to the door. Her right hand roughly grabs the doorknob, turning it over and making the door click. She practically yanks it harder than she should.

The door swings open, and Natsumi is almost face-to-face with Hinata.

In less than a second, her other hand is clenched into a fist that's aiming straight for Hinata's stupid and average face. Just to be clear, she isn't actually going to punch him; she may be the Kuzuryu clan's next in line, but she's not that unreasonably petty. She's hoping that a threatening gesture, like the punch that's heading towards him right now, should scare him away.

Her eyes widen, having realized something while her arm is in mid-air. She sees that even though he has a surprised look, he's not even bothering to move or try to dodge it.

With that in mind, Natsumi is forced to manually stop her fist from actually colliding with Hinata's cheekbone.

She swerves her hand away from him and instead of hitting skin and bone, her hand hits the side of the door. She doesn't outwardly flinch much from that, but she can see her classmate start wincing once she pulls her arm back to her side and acts as if nothing happened.

It doesn't change the fact it still hurt like hell; she feels her knuckle is throbbing and numbing, but she won't let herself wince. She can't do it, especially not in front of someone like Hinata. She shouldn't show any signs of weaknesses.

She shoots a nasty glare at him, but this time, the counselor doesn't flinch at her. He didn't look intimidated in the slightest and if anything, he had a look that can be described as 'completely done with her shit'.

Hinata sighs. His voice sounds so weary while he tells her, "I'm not going to fall for that this time, Kuzuryu."

The girl mutters while completely avoiding eye contact with me, "What the hell do you want with me?"

He pauses for a good split second or so before he replies with, "Well, as I've mentioned earlier, I just wanted to talk with you for a bit, about…something important, you could say."

She scoffs.

Hinata notices that and tries to amend it somehow by saying, "But, if you don't want me to come in there, I'm honestly fine with just standing in here—Hey!"

The yakuza grabs him by his tie, ignoring his protests, and drags him back inside with her.

She shuts her door soon after once they're both inside her room. She doesn't give him any room to take it all in, letting herself plop down onto her bed while he stays right in front of her, still standing up. She stares at him with heavy intensity. "Spill it. The sooner we can get this over with, the better."

Before he can get a word in, she immediately cuts him off with, "If it's about those exams, then don't even bother. I can take care of myself in there. I'm not some emotional wreck like everyone else in our class." Her hand clenches into a fist and she turns away from him. "I…I don't need your help."

Hinata nods in understanding. "That's alright. Pekoyama let me know about it a few days ago after I asked her."

Her face instinctively softens when she hears her bodyguard's name. Her usual scowl returns shortly after that, however. "Why the hell do you want to talk to me, then?"

The counselor's face scrunches up. He takes a deep breath, glancing at her with a damnably earnest look, and tells her, "I'll be honest with you. It's none of my business to say anything about this, but I can tell you're still upset about your brother."

Natsumi's breath hitches. It takes everything in her to not break down in hysterical tears.

Her fists clench and unclench. She grits her teeth. "Damn right, it's none of your business! Who the hell do you think you are, thinking you can stick your nose in MY personal life!?"

Hinata still doesn't flinch. Of course, he doesn't. He palms over the back of his head while admitting, "I know that's uncalled for, and I'm sorry for that—"

"Shut up!" She screams, rising to her feet and getting dangerously close to his face. "Just how much of a selfish bastard are you? I bet you think I'm just some pathetic, emotional wreck you can easily practice your talent with! Admit it. That's the real reason why you wanted to 'talk' to me today, isn't that right?!"

Natsumi is out of her breath by the end of her rant, rapidly breathing in and out. Her eyes still had some anger in them, but for the rest of her face? It looks like she's just plain exhausted from releasing those pent-up feelings out.

Hinata still doesn't look as shaken as she is, even after those harsh words have been shot against him. That stupid bastard still kept his composure and is far a lot calmer than she is. "It has nothing to do with my talent." He places a hand over his chest and earnestly looks at her in the eye. "I'm worried about you, not just because I'm the class rep, but because you're my friend too."

'Friend?' That word has always made her laugh. She doesn't have friends. Peko is not her friend, but her bodyguard and companion, but there's Hinata, who, for some reason, is calling himself her friend?

"You're joking." She shakes her head, stepping and letting herself sit back on her bed.

Hinata stays right there, right where he's been standing since he got here. After a moment of quiet, he asks her with clear hesitation in his voice, "Do you want to talk about it?"

Her back stiffens after hearing that. She turns away from him once more, but then, she also mumbles out loud enough for him to hear, "Will you listen?"

He wordlessly nods.

Natsumi isn't sure about what the hell has gotten into her, but somehow, it felt like that's all the answer she needed. The yakuza raises a brow at him. Although she didn't say a word to him, her hand pats down a spot right next to her.

Hinata glances at that spot, and then back at her. "Is it really okay with you?"

"Tch." She impatiently clicks her tongue. "Your legs are worn out from standing for who knows how long, aren't they? Just get your ass here and sit it down."

Her classmate does just that, taking a seat exactly where she patted her hand down. It's at least a couple of centimeters away from her.

Natsumi closes her eyes and lets herself breathe. Once she lets herself settle in, she opens them and starts with, "Fuyuhiko was a coward."

She pauses, fully expecting her classmate to say something about that, maybe even try to defend the boy she used to call her brother. When she doesn't hear him say anything, she clicks her tongue again with a scowl. "Believe it or not, I wasn't always the clan's next in line. It was always supposed to be him."

Hinata doesn't say anything, but he is nodding to let her know he's still listening.

Since there are no interruptions, she continues her story. "Before I knew it, he went up and ditched us all. He probably thought he wasn't good enough for the clan, but I don't care about that! I just wanted him to be by my side," She growls to hide away the choking noise in her throat. "And now, if everything goes wrong for him, he's going to leave me and Peko again. This time, it'd be for good."

For the first time since she started talking, Hinata speaks up. "Kuzuryu…"

A bitter laugh comes out of her throat. "Heh, this is the part where you're going to try and butter me up with that sappy bullshit you love to spew out, isn't it?"

Hinata shakes his head. "Even if Fuyuhiko had his reasons for doing what he did, I won't deny the fact leaving your family did end up hurting you and Pekoyama so much."

"Tch," She scoffs. "You're just saying the shit you think I want to hear."

"That's not it at all," Hinata says, adjusting his position. "Well then, how are you feeling now, Kuzuryu?"

"Not good," She admits right before amending that with a shrug. "But then, I don't exactly feel as shitty as I was before either."

He nods. "That's good to hear." He turns to her and with a kind smile, tells her, "If there's anything that's bothering you, feel free to let me know. I meant it when I said you're my friend too."

She snorts. "What makes you think this is going to happen again? That shit a moment ago is a one-time thing," Although she said that, her face softens afterward and she mumbles, "But thanks, I guess."

Today is the moment of truth.

Hajime peeks from behind the stage's thin curtain. There are plenty of people around, he absently notes. He shakes his head, reminding himself that those same people aren't just an ordinary audience to keep this glorified talent show from feeling too lifeless; they're famous people from the press who might as well be the biggest names in the country.

His eyes go over one of the camera crews, watching them set up the high-quality video cameras.

He inwardly winces. Once the opening ceremony is done with, the reporters who crowd themselves all over the gym will start broadcasting the Ultimates' exams on live television.

He shies himself away, retreating to behind the curtains. He turns his head around, looking over his classmates. There are some, including Mioda, Owari, and Nidai, who look excited, but the others, like Kazuichi and Tsumiki, look just as nervous as he is.

Yeah, he already knows that they're all going to perform live on stage one-by-one, going in order from seniors to freshmen, girls before boys, and finally, by alphabetical order of their last names. These yearly exams do feel like a glorified talent show, complete with the overly glamorized atmosphere that's been set up.

It doesn't help that if the big-named press persons weren't enough to put pressure on them, then maybe the judges will. Three people serve as the judges if he's remembering correctly, and though he doesn't know the other two are, he knows that one of the judges is Mr. Shingetsu.

Hajime swallows a deep gulp.

Everyone knows how terrifying and ruthless Mr. Shingetsu is, especially if certain rumors about him are true. They're all probably just hearsay, of course, but that only enhanced his fearsome reputation in the school.

It helps that Mr. Shingetsu also happens to be the school's academic head. Yeah, that definitely makes things slide out better in their favor, he thinks sarcastically.

He doesn't realize how much his hands are shaking until he looks down. Hajime closes his eyes, clenching his hands together, and takes a deep breath. He slowly exhales. He repeats the process, steadily breathing in and out. Fidgeting over this won't do any good. He should know better.

He knows that everyone in the class has gone all out of their way to prepare for this exact day; he and Kazuichi were there. But at the same time, there's something in him that constantly wondering: what if it wasn't enough? What if the judges' standards were too high, even for Ultimates like them?

He opens his eyes and glances over his classmates once more. He sees some of them are chatting with each other in pairs, or in a small group, to ease some of the tension they're feeling.

His eyes dart over his classmates, counting them by head in his mind. He breathes out; silently cursing himself for not noticing there's still one classmate who's missing until now.

A part of him hopes it's just him being too worrisome and paranoid, but, knowing that didn't help much in easing a few things he's thinking of.

Someone puts a hand on his shoulder. He almost feels himself jump at that surprise contact. He manages to keep himself still somehow and he turns his head to face that person.

He's greeted with soft, grayish-green eyes and fluffy locks of brown hair.

"Are you feeling nervous, Hinata?" Komaeda asks him with concern dropped in his tone.

Hajime pauses. He briefly considers telling the other boy about what's on his mind, but he decides not to. He shakes his head and gives him an awfully vague answer. "Not exactly."

Koizumi is the first name in their class, but she isn't here with them yet.

Mahiru knows she's late. It's so shameful of her to do, especially when she knows exactly what this day is supposed to be.

She'll admit one thing to herself; she might've hesitated to get herself out there. She knows it's been weeks since…well, since she learned of what Sato had done, and yet, she can't bring herself to do anything productive. She knows it's stupid of her to feel this way even until now.

None of her classmates have seen her coming her way into the gym. At least, she hopes none of them actually did see her on the way. She didn't want them to see her, not right now.

From what she can see around here, the press has crowded all over the school's gym. She recognizes more than a handful of them.

Thankfully, none of them have hounded her so far. It wouldn't have ended well if they did.

While she stays right behind the relative safety of the curtains, she hears them start the opening ceremony. It's the typical kind of ceremony; acknowledgments made by the headmaster himself, and then the press persons make their introductions in, as well as the sponsors backing this event up.

The opening ceremony took only a few minutes at most, and so, it didn't take long for the exams to officially start.

It's a bit surprising to see that the upperclassmen are the ones who are going to perform first, but then, that also made some sense at the same time. They are graduating soon, after all.

From what little snippets she manages to overhear, one of the senior Ultimates even showed off some kind of medicine that could revolutionize the world's pharmaceutics as they knew it. Mahiru supposes it does sound very impressive.

She has no idea how much time has passed, but the other classes came and went with their parts.

"Thank you so much, everyone!" The announcer says as they dismiss the last of the Ultimates who were performing just minutes ago. After a split second of pause, they let the audience, the ones who are watching either in the crowd or by the comforts of their home, know what comes next. "Now it's time for the Ultimates of Class 77-B to shine!"

The crowds go wild.

Mahiru winces. Now it's her class's turn to perform. She has a feeling it's only about to get worse.

And it did.

The announcer drives the crowd to an even wilder frenzy. "Now give it all to Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Artist!"

Her heart sinks to an even lower pit once she hears her name and title have been called out. She breathes in, shutting her eyes tight and she gulps. "Of course. I just had to be the first name on the list." If she could, she would've bitterly laughed at her situation.

Without making herself appear too obvious, she peeks through the curtain's thin cloth. Her chest tightens upon seeing what's awaiting her outside. There are cameras everywhere, far too many of them, to be exact.

They're all so bright and blinding.

With how much the area is surrounded by those cameras, it feels like the world's eyes are staring deep into her. Maybe that's exactly what's happening. Who knows…?

Mahiru finds herself instinctively stepping back. She puts a hand over her chest and takes a deep breath, to force herself to relax even a little bit. It's not that she doesn't want to come out of the curtains, or that she's feeling something as silly as simple stage fright. It's nothing like that at all.

She knows she should get out right now, but she can't bring herself to get out of there. It's like her legs have been forcefully rooted on the spot. She repetitively clenches and unclenches her hands. Her fingers are twitching far too much for her liking.

A soft sigh escapes her.

'I'm just making excuses up, aren't I?' That's what she concludes in her mind. 'I can probably do this without much trouble. I'm just creating so many reasons to try and convince myself not to do it.' She deliberates about it once more, only to shake her head. 'But, does it even matter? Even if I do try, I'm going to disappoint them all either way.'

The girl turns away, intending to leave right then and there. She wasted everyone's time. However, she's not even an inch away from where she is when she sees several familiar faces. Among those faces, the one that got her attention the most was his.

Hinata is right there with everyone else, right at the corner of her eye. Despite the distance, she can see the worry in his eyes. The others are sharing the same feeling with him too.

That's all it took for the knife in her gut to twist even further. It should've made her want to leave as soon as possible even more, and yet, she can't feel her legs. They've stiffened once more.

Knowing she's still hesitating, she takes a deep breath, reflecting on everything in her life up to this point.

She already ran away and ignored her problems before. Is she really going to run away from her problems once again? Pretend that it isn't right in front of her like she usually does? She thinks back on Sato. What would her late friend think of her, if she could see her right now?

Is she seriously going to let herself go down like this, disappointing everyone without even doing anything yet?

The Ultimate Artist closes her eyes, taking a deep breath. She exhales slowly. She opens her eyes once more. Something has sparked within her. It wasn't a full-on flame like she'd hope it to be, but then, even a small spark is enough to light it all up.

'I can do this.' Her fists clench.

Mahiru forces her stiffening legs to move and she steps out into the center of the stage.

The crowd's cheers have never been as overwhelming as it is now. It took everything in her to not break down.

Hajime hears Koizumi's full name, as well as her title, is being called out by the exams' announcer. He can't help but get repeatedly worried when he didn't see her come out, even after the announcer calls for her one more time.

'Koizumi,' His eyes dart around, futilely trying to search and scan the area. 'Where are you now?' His logical side tells him he won't find her in here.

After the third time they call out her name, it looks like they're going to forfeit her for not showing up and then move on with the next name on the list. He dejectedly looks down, focusing his gaze on the stage's floor. The crowd's silence is far more deafening than he thought he would be.

All of a sudden, the crowd goes wild again. Hajime is confused; they didn't announce the next name yet, so what got them excited so much? He peeks out of the curtain to check what they're fussing about.

One gasp hitches in his throat.

He isn't able to contain his shocked, wide-eyed expression when he watches Koizumi herself has stepped out onto the stage, right in front of the dozens of blinding cameras and loud press persons.

The rest of the remaining time blurs in his mind.

Hajime watches her perform on the same level as the senior Ultimates have. His previously worried face shifts to that of awe. It was at that moment, he's reminded of exactly why Koizumi is known as the Ultimate Artist, and it's for a good reason.

Mahiru sighs, releasing the breath she didn't know she was holding in until that point. Two of her fingers take hold of her stray strands of hair and tuck it behind her earlobe.

She's well aware she wasn't at her best back there. There were far too many times where she stumbled upon her performance; she was sure that those slip-ups deducted a fair amount of points. Hinata might've been able to motivate her and got out of her funk right before the last minute, but it doesn't change the fact she lagged behind everyone else in the class.

Still, even though she isn't sure if she even did it that well, or if she even had a passable score for that matter, she's glad she got that over with. It's only a matter of time whether she'd stay in Hope's Peak or not after this.

While she's on her way to leave the area, a voice starts ringing in her ears. The worst part is, that's the voice she knew all too well since her middle school days.

"Yo."

She stops in her tracks right there and jerks back, turning around with wide eyes. "K-Kuzuryu?!"

The other girl raises a hand in front of her. "Relax for a second there, will you?"

Mahru has so many questions running in her head right now. It doesn't help that the way the other girl said that sounded far too casual for her liking. "Did Hinata put you up to this?" She questions, not noticing or caring that her tone came across as far harsher than she intended it to be.

"He probably did, or he probably didn't." The other girl shrugs her shoulders. "I mean, it's not like that'd matter anyway." She leans herself back on the wall in a semi-slouched over position. She crosses her arms. "So, about Sato…"

Mahiru's chest constricts. She told herself multiple times she already came to terms with her friend's passing. So, why did it feel like she's about to burst open right then and there? Even worse, she heard her late friend's name out of the girl who used to torment them both.

She stares at the other girl with narrowed eyes, fists clenched at her side. "Why are you trying to bring her name up now of all times?"

Kuzuryu defensively raises her hands up. "Hey, sure I hate her guts more than anyone else and I still do until now, mind you," She sighs, palming her forehead. "Okay, but look, I'm not going to sink so low and make fun of the dead. You and I both know I'm a godawful person, sure, but even someone like me can still have some standards."

She mutters her next question. "What do you want, then? Don't tell me you're here just to talk."

The other girl shrugs again. "You could say that. I know that you have plenty of more important shit to worry about, so let me make this quick for you."

Mahiru still has no idea whatever Kuzuryu was planning, but after seeing that she isn't as aggressive or hostile as she usually is, maybe it wouldn't hurt to give her the benefit of the doubt for now. "Fine, then."

After being given the okay, Kuzuryu starts it off with, "I just want to say, I'll never know exactly how it feels like for you, but if there's one thing I do know, it's that it's hard. It's not the same for me, but I get that. Still, I won't butter you up and say everything will get better. We both know it doesn't work like that."

"I…I guess so…" Mahiru admits, her eyes softening. She remembers Kuzuryu's brother is still in the hospital; upon remembering her Sato's confession, her chest tightens from guilt again. Even until now, she never told anyone about it.

Kuzuryu, completely unaware of what's going on within the artist's mind, continues. "So about the exams…I don't know about what you think, but for me, I feel like you're going to stick around for one more year, at least."

The artist's lips have slightly parted from each other after hearing that. She doesn't know what to say to that. She opts to turn her gaze onto the ground.

"Oh, and one last thing."

Mahiru hesitantly turns her attention back at Kuzuryu.

Kuzuryu breathes in, biting her lip. "If it helps, maybe we can bury our history together someday. I mean, we're going to be stuck together in the same room for at least two more years."

'That's true.' Mahiru thinks to herself.

Shortly after that short talk, the yakuza heiress flippantly waves a hand towards her direction, turning away from her. "Well then, see ya."

The artist watches her leave this area with a dumbfounded expression; she didn't even wait for a reply from her. She has no idea exactly what to make of it, aside from the fact that if Kuzuryu was trying to apologize to her, which she highly doubts, it wasn't a proper apology in any way. If she's being honest about it, she doesn't know if those simple words could even be considered even as an informal one.

But, at the same time, there's a small part of her that can't help but hope for it. It's too early for her to say for sure, but maybe those words might become the start of one.

The morning meeting in today's class is a lot tenser than Hajime thought it'd be. He and his classmates found themselves glued to their seats, watching over their teacher with two words that best describe their situation right there: anticipation and anxiety.

Ms. Yukizome is standing right in front of them. In her hands is an envelope; if it wasn't for the seal that bears the insignia of Hope's Peak Academy, it wouldn't have been that much of a concern.

All fifteen pairs of eyes trace over the way Ms. Yukizome opens the seal up. Those students keep holding their breaths together. Their heartbeats steadily slow down only to sharply rise back up again in each second.

Their teacher pulls the letter out of the envelope. They watch their teacher's eyes intently scan every word on the paper, no doubt taking it all in. They don't know exactly what's written in there, so the best clue they got is watching their teacher's reaction.

At the moment, Ms. Yukizome's facial expression remains unusually calm. There are no changes whatsoever, not even something subtle like an eye twitch or a curling lip. At least then, that'd give them some idea of what's written in the letter.

For now, it's hard to know exactly what she's thinking, not when she's putting up a pretty impressive poker face so far.

Soon, their teacher gently sets the paper down. Her face is staring down at her desk. One of her fingers twitch, and her chest slowly rises and falls.

That concerned Hajime so much. He can't help but wonder on the inside, 'Is it bad news?'

It's only been a minute at most in reality, yet to them, it felt more like an eternity.

Ms. Yukizome lifts her head to look at them.

To say that her reaction threw everyone off-guard is a big understatement.

When she faced them, tears are leaking out of her eyes, of course, but not in the way Hajime thought it'd be. Instead, she flashes with possibly the biggest, most beaming smile on her face she's ever shown to them. The chipper voice they're all familiar with returns. "Congratulations! You all passed, everyone!" She pumps a fist, not even bothering to wipe her happy tears away.

As soon as she announced that, there came the loud cheers from three of his most vocal classmates, Nidai, Owari, and Mioda. At another time, he might've found it annoying, but now, he didn't mind at all.

It didn't take long for everyone else to join in the cheering too. Before he knew it, everyone is standing up and they're either congratulating each other, crying their eyes out, or hugging each other like they never did before. Some even had all of the above and more.

In Hajime's case, he gets the third option, and yet, he doesn't complain at all when he feels Kazuichi starts squeezing his ribs too tight with his hug, not even on the inside. He keeps his smile on even when the guy starts bawling his eyes out and keeps getting his tears and snot all over his blazer.

Hajime never thought he'd ever say this to himself, but here he is. He looks over to his classmates one more time. He closes his eyes and lets his lips curl up wider than he usually does.

'I'm glad we're all still here.'

Chapter Text

Oh, how time flies by so fast.

To Hajime, it felt like it's only a moment ago, he was still back at home with Hope's Peak Academy's invitation letter in his hand, and then the next thing he knew, here he is, comfortably sitting down outdoors on the cabin's wooden stairs, surrounded by his classmates and teachers.

He smiles. The people around him aren't just his class anymore. He's proud to say they're his friends as well now.

His eyes close, letting himself reminisce about the months that happened since everyone in their class passed the yearly exams. He remembers that the main course's new building was finally unveiled on the first week of October; since then, most of the Ultimates have moved there, Class 77-B included. True to the rumors, it was a lot bigger than the old main building, probably at least twice its size.

There was a lot of stuff that happened during those months, he's not going to lie. So much stuff happened, he might take a while to recall half of them.

He opens his eyes, passively checking through his surroundings. The skies above them are a deep dark blue. He looks over his phone to check at the time, and sure enough, they still got thirty minutes left before midnight comes.

Pocketing his phone once more, he looks over to check what his classmates are up to.

From what he can see so far, he sees Ibuki is playing around with one of the firecrackers, while Ryota is staying close by to make sure she doesn't hurt herself. Nagito, Mikan, Mahiru, and Hiyoko are there with those two as well. While it's a bit hard to see what Mikan is doing there with them, it's easy to see why the other three are there.

Nekomaru is steadily preparing their barbeque and other delicacies for the evening. Akane's there with him for assistance. This isn't the first time Hajime saw the Ultimate Cook prepare their meals; in fact, he's sure he's seen the burly guy do it multiple times now. Still, it awed Hajime just as much as it did during the first time Nekomaru did his specialty in person.

Kazuichi is off to somewhere, probably nodding his head off to whatever Sonia and Gundham are talking about at this time. Whatever it is, the shark-toothed guy probably still doesn't understand a word of their stimulating conversation.

Though he can't see them from here, he's sure that Natsumi and Peko are just relaxing somewhere nearby. Although Natsumi's not as brash as she used to be, she still hasn't let herself come close to anyone as of yet, even if she already allowed almost everyone to call her by her first name.

Lastly, Teruteru…is still being Teruteru. That's all he's going to say for that guy. At least he isn't bothering anyone that much at this time.

"Hey, Hajime." A feminine, but also rash voice calls out to him.

Hajime lifts his head, not even surprised at who it was. "Oh, Natsumi. What is it?"

Natsumi glances around their surroundings a couple of times, before telling him, "It's funny. I was going to bust in some booze and watch you all get wrecked," She playfully shakes her head while still keeping that shit-eating grin on, as if she hadn't confessed about her plan to mess with them. "You know, just for the hell of it. It would've been fucking hilarious."

Though his classmate's 'prank' was morally questionable at best, he chuckles. He palms over the side of his neck. "I'm honestly glad you didn't go through that in the end, but if you don't mind me asking, what made you change your mind?"

There's some uncertainty in her voice once she replies to him. "If I got everyone drunk their asses off, a certain someone would get himself here and beat my ass up, hospital security and staff be damned. You get what I mean?"

'Yeah, that sounds like something he'd do.' He quietly agrees while nodding. "Well, even if you managed to sneak those kinds of drinks in, you do realize you'd have to get past our teacher first. You know that ever since that incident, Ms. Yukizome has been a lot more vigilante with our food and drinks."

"Guess so. I'm only telling you this because I know you wouldn't snitch on me." She shrugs her shoulders.

Hajime sighs. His yakuza classmate is kind of right with that, to be fair.

After about a minute of awkward silence between them, Natsumi excuses herself out of there, waving a hand in his direction. "Well then, see ya."

Now that he's by himself again, he softly exhales. While he's glad that everyone in the class is here to stay for one more year (and hopefully, until graduation), it still feels like something is missing.

Or rather, his mind corrects—someone is missing.

"I'll see you again, Hajime."

'What did she mean by that?' One of his hands starts to clench as he puts it over his chest. He knows it's been months since they last saw each other, but Chiaki's words from their last conversation have always been stuck at the back of his mind.

He never thought that his chest has would ache this much. Why didn't he do something about it? He could handle total strangers just fine, but he couldn't do anything for the girl he considered as his first true friend.

Before he can wonder about it any further, he feels someone's hand over his shoulder, snapping him out of his thoughts. He turns his head to the side, looking over who wanted to get his attention.

He almost jumps back in surprise once he sees Kazuichi's face a bit too close to him. He takes a steady breath, letting himself calm down enough to ask his friend, "Kaz? Is there something wrong?"

The shark-toothed guy blinks once in confusion. "Huh, what do you mean with that?" It takes him a second to take those words in and he quickly shakes it off. He takes a seat right next to him, elbowing the counselor at the side. "Hey, I should be the one asking that."

Hajime snorts. "It's nothing to worry about, really. It's just that…" He shifts his legs to a more comfortable sitting position. "It's hard to believe a year has passed already since I got here."

"Yeah, I have a hard time believing that too," Kazuichi admits, crossing his legs. He turns to face him. "But come on, Hajime, you shouldn't look so glum right now. It's not just New Year's that's coming up within five minutes. It's your birthday too."

He chuckles, shaking his head. "I guess you're right. I shouldn't be worrying about this kind of stuff too much, not when I should be celebrating with you all."

It's funny when he thinks about it. He remembers as he grew up, he didn't care about his birthday that much. It's not that he hates celebrating his birthday; it's just that it's not much of a big deal to him as it is to other people. He doesn't want to sound self-centered but, he always knew that New Year's Eve was, and always will be, a bigger priority for everyone else

He never thought that something like this would happen to him. This is the first time people actually celebrated his birthday with him, not just the New Year's. If he's being too hopeful, then he might say that maybe this midnight won't be the only time either.

The animal breeder lightly punches over his shoulder. "See? That's the Hajime we all know."

The two boys talk a bit more, at least, until the animal breeder gets literally dragged away by a certain swordswoman and team manager duo, as in they just grabbed his arms and walked away with him. Kazuichi shouts his apologies out even as those two pulled him away; all while Hajime laughs and waves awkwardly at his soul brother's situation.

Two minutes left before midnight comes.

"Come on, everyone!" Ms. Yukizome calls out to them, waving her arms around to get the attention.

'It's time.' Hajime gets himself up to his feet. He follows to the spot where everyone else has gathered.

Including Ms. Yukizome, all fifteen of them huddled together. Since he's the birthday celebrant, they had him in the middle. As soon as Mahiru's done with setting the camera on a timer, she joins them shortly after.

'10…9…8…7…6…5…4…3…2…1…'

At the end of the countdown, everyone else in the class proudly chants three words as one, harmonized voice. It happened around the same time as the camera clicks and the fireworks in the sky blew off. As deafening as those fireworks were, those weren't enough to overpower their words.

"Happy birthday, Hajime!"

Kazuichi wraps an arm around him. It's a bit rough and almost made him fall off. As the first one to speak up for the New Year, he asks him, "So, what did you wish for, Hajime?"

He lets out a soft laugh and shakes his head. "You know I can't tell you that."

"Come on," Kazuichi pushes deeper. "Not even a hint?"

"Nope." He adamantly says in a joking tone.

While Kazuichi kept pestering him about this birthday wish, a solemn look slowly makes its way to the counselor's face. He wonders if it's noticeable, but then again, in case if anyone does notice, he can always tell them he's feeling somewhat bittersweet, since he just turned a year older a minute go.

'I know that my birthday wish can't be considered realistic in the slightest. If anything, I'd even say it's too childish. But…'

Hajime closes his eyes.

'I wish we could all stay like this forever.'

The Steering Committee members' footsteps clack through the underground lab's pristine tiles.

While on their way, the four old men looked back on their experiences, the ones that they've shared since the past months.

They can recall the disastrous experience everyone had in dealing with the reserve course students they've chosen for the project. All of those subjects from the previous batches were failures, all of whom had either expired or had to be forcibly put down.

This time was marginally better compared to the previous one. As usual, most of the subjects expired and at least a handful of them had to be put down. Right now, only two subjects from the same batch remain, but with the way things are going, the other one didn't have time left before he expires as well.

Everyone's efforts in The Kamukura Project, or The Hope Cultivation Program as they presented it to their test subjects, would've been all for nothing, if not for one thing.

The other test subjects never made it past the first few procedures, and even if they did, their bodies or minds would give out later on. But this one managed to make it this far without too much ill effects.

The worst that happened to that particular subject was that she had been struck down with a fever three days ago after going through one of the more intense procedures. It was worrying at first, but once it became apparent she didn't suffer the same debilitating side effects the other expired subjects had, there'd been a glimmer of hope.

And just as the researchers hoped, the subject's fever is slowly waning away since then.

It's a shame that the subject forgot about her place. She thought she could outsmart them. For all their complaints about the way the current headmaster handles the school, the Steering Committee knew when to give credit where it's due. Without him, who knew where the test subject would've gone to?

It didn't take long for them to reach their destination.

One lone contraption sits still in the middle of the room. A team of researchers is handling it, and from the way they're moving, it looks like they're almost done with the current procedure.

The four men approach closely enough to observe the procedure better, but not close enough to be within the subject's space.

Mr. Sasaki grumbles under his breath while glaring against the test subject. It's rendered unintelligible because of the bandages wrapped around the lower part of his face, starting from below his lower lip; if the other three could understand whatever he wanted to say, they'd say the words he's letting out is less than professional.

"Cease your complaints, Mr. Sasaki. It's already been days since that incident happened," Mr. Akiyama cuts in. "You should be glad that the worst only led you to drink in a straw for a few more months at most." He dismissively shakes his head at the end of that.

Mr. Sasaki grumbles some more after hearing that, crossing his arms and looking away from his colleague in silent frustration.

As for the other two, they watch the procedure with great interest. At the moment, their test subject is semi-conscious, meaning that she is awake. However, it also meant that she lacked the right judgment to make any reactions towards everything within her surroundings.

Whenever any of the surgeon's hands pass through or whenever the tools they used prodded deep inside, the test subject's body would twitch every now and then.

'Yes, this one has promised great potential. I'm glad that the subject agreed to come along in the end.' Mr. Minami chuckles to himself after briefly sneaking a look over the surgeon's handiwork. 'It'd still be doable, but it would've also been a lot harder to pull some more strings if the subject didn't agree to participate in the project.'

It's still far too early to say, but perhaps in time, they'd see the results of their extensive labor bear fruit at last. Perhaps everything they've been working for up to this point wouldn't have gone to waste. The Steering Committee knew it in themselves that this subject won't be a disappointment like all the others that came before.

When the last incision was done, the subject's chest slowly rises and falls, breathing without making a single noise.

Mr. Mizushima steps forward, coming closer while the other three follow behind him. He looks down on the test subject, regarding her with a smile, clasping his hands together. He knows that the test subject won't be able to answer him properly, but he felt like it's only right to tell her a few things.

"Aside from the..." The old man clicks his tongue. "...Two setbacks we've had, your skirmish with Mr. Sasaki and your little escapade, to be more specific, you shouldn't need to trouble yourself any further, Nanami. As a matter of fact, you should be grateful. Our country, no…" He shakes his head, pausing as if to correct himself.

Seven more words are released from his lips before the machine closed around the subject.

The heavy impact of those words will remain, even if the subject shall no longer remember everything after this. Before the machine closed in on her, Chiaki Nanami, the ordinary person who was once nothing more than a simple reserve course student and now, one of the many test subjects for this project, heard the old man's serene yet detached words:

"The world shall not forget your sacrifice."

Chapter Text

It feels like…

Like there's something gnawing…

Something at the back of the mind…

It feels so close, and yet…

No matter what, nothing comes up.

Why?

The answer never comes.

…

….

…..

The coldness beneath is...new. And yet, it also feels like something this body has been used to for a while now.

Suddenly, several white lights shine upon this area. They're all bright. Far too bright. Those lights made the eyes squint.

Instinctively, the urge to get up and sit comes up. Rapidly blinking. Wiping eyelids. To try and adjust to the new, or, perhaps, old(?) surroundings.

Then, after that, there comes the noises. Loud gasps coming from all sorts of directions. And then, those gasps quickly turned into murmurs from so many indistinct voices. All sound unfamiliar, and yet, it all also felt so familiar all the same.

From there, the sources of those not-so-quiet noises can be seen.

There are dozens of men. So many of them are dressed in pristine white lab coats. Or, if not that, then some kind of uniform—researchers, scientists, nurses, doctors, security guards, surgeons—all those people are sprawling from every possible corner.

Completely surrounded. There is nowhere to go.

Nowhere to run, if it ever had to come to it.

Every muscle in this body tenses up. Yet, nothing can be moved from here. Not with those dozens and dozens of stares, constantly watching over every action that's yet to be taken. There's no doubt those people would do something, if any action were to be taken against them.

And so, there's nothing else that can be done for now. Other than to just sit and stay there.

After a tense and quiet moment passes by, a group of men come stepping forward. They're heading this way, coming closer and closer in vicinity.

Once they got close enough, it's clear to see that group is composed of four members, all of whom are old men, much older than the other occupants. Unlike the rest, they're all far calmer and more composed.

On the surface, that is.

The shimmery glint in those men's eyes betrayed whatever image of composure they tried to maintain. It's all so clear to see that they're just as, if not even more excited than the others already are.

One of the men, the tallest of them, starts speaking, with a relaxed tone that also reeked of unsubtle excitement. "The Kamukura Project is appearing to be a success. The test subject has awoken and so far, she doesn't appear to suffer from any ill effects, physically or otherwise."

"We've truly done this…" Another of the men, the one with gray hair and beard, says, still staring with awe in his eyes.

"Indeed." The roundest member among the four old men gleefully agrees, commenting as well, "This is the fruit of our labors, after a long, grueling process that spanned over one hundred and ninety-six days. The second coming of Izuru Kamukura is all but secured."

Another member of the old men chuckles. This time, it's the shortest, and based on their most senile appearance, the oldest one as well. "Our Ultimate Hope is quite the fine specimen, don't you think so?" He glances aside.

There's another person in there. A teenaged boy with black hair, wearing a loose tie and casual slippers. He's been here all along with everyone else, but there's nothing that stood out about him.

The teenaged boy clicks his tongue, rolling his eyes while he dismissively waves a hand off. "Yeah, right. Sure, they may have survived until the end of the process without looking like a lobotomy patient, but you old fucks didn't care to think, hey, what if they'd up degenerating over time just like the others did?"

The four old men click their tongues at him, shaking their heads.

"Hold your tongue, Matsuda." The old man with gray hair and beard sternly scolds.

"Be quiet, Matsuda. Do not ruin our first impression right now of all times." The shortest one adds in as well.

The boy, Matsuda, as he's called, simply crosses his arms and turns his head away from them. "As if you haven't done that yourself already." He mutters.

The shortest one of the old men growls, most likely frustrated with the boy's continual defiance against his elders. He shakes his head once, taking a deep breath and sighing to himself. "I humbly apologize for that display. Unfortunately, Matsuda is quite the troublesome one, as you can see here."

Said boy snorts after hearing his name is called out.

There's no point in reacting to what just happened.

After a few moments, that short commotion is quietly dropped. Like it never happened at all.

The short old man hums, rubbing two hands over his chin. "I know that this must all be so new to you. But I must ask," He steps a bit closer, leaning his face forward. "Do you know who you are?"

A blank stare towards him. No matter what, nothing can to mind. A blunt answer is the only thing that can be offered. "I don't know. I don't remember anything before this."

A quiet, momentary pause. Somehow, hearing this voice feels so…odd. Instinctively, it feels like it still sounds the same as it always does, and yet…

It's as if somehow, subconsciously, something about the tone of this voice doesn't sound quite right.

But…it's hard to tell exactly what made the voice sound wrong to the ears.

The short old man doesn't notice anything off, though, of course. He just smiles at that. His smile is a thin line that might've stretched from ear to ear, with how wide it appears to be. "Perfect." Even though he breaks eye contact, he nevertheless continues to keep talking anyway. "I suppose it's only fair to inform you about certain things, then. Starting today, you will be called Kamukura."

A blink.

"Kamukura…"

For some reason, the name feels foreign. It doesn't feel like it belongs. Like the wrong piece of a puzzle being forcefully shoved in a place it doesn't belong to.

But, without any other alternatives, there's no use in objecting. Not if it may displease the old men.

The only option that can be taken is to just quietly take the label, even if it may take a while to get used to it. If ever.

"Now that you're aware of what you are called," The short old man continues talking. "To recap, the former owner of this body, as well as a few others, has undergone what they knew as 'The Hope Cultivation Program', a program that would allow them to be recognized as Ultimate students. In reality, the program's name has, and always been, 'The Kamukura Project'. The goal was always to create the perfect Ultimate, the beginning of humanity's brighter future."

That short old man pauses, and soon, one of his colleagues, the round old man helpfully interjects with, "Additionally, the procedure made sure to vacate all of the memories and emotions this body once held to make way for the numerous talents we've implanted. The same talents that would later create you."

So…this meant that this body used to be someone else, doesn't it? Is this why there are no memories that can be recalled? Why everything felt so familiar and yet also unfamiliar at the same time?

This would mean that whoever this person used to be, they weren't called Kamukura.

It wouldn't hurt to ask. "Who was the previous owner of this body?"

"No one of particular importance." The old man with gray hair and beard answers immediately. Perhaps far too quickly, even.

...Why is this a surprise? Of course the old men wouldn't say it so easily. They wouldn't have erased every trace of memory if they didn't mind having the body's old identity around. It should've been expected no answer would be given about it.

Yet, something still stirs within. There are still so many questions that need to be answered.

"You said that others participated in this? What happened to them?"

The round old man sighs, shaking his head with a shrug. "Unfortunately, the other test subjects were unable to make it as far as you've had. Matter of fact, many of them expired before they even made it close to half of the procedures," He presses two fingers over his forehead. "It truly is a great waste of potential."

Surprisingly, a more concrete answer has been given this time. Perhaps these old men thought it's a safer thing to answer compared to the previous question? And now, it's given far more context and understanding in this current situation.

"I suppose that makes me the only success you've had so far."

He nods. "When you put it that way, I suppose so as well."

After that, all four men turn to each other and whisper to themselves, signaling that the conversation is officially over. No more questions will be entertained. At least, not for the time being.

Even from this distance, whatever conversation the old men are having is still fairly audible. From what can be heard, it sounds like the old men are talking about having better luck in the near future and if possible, hope for a successful male test subject this time around.

As the old men and the other researchers keep talking among themselves, everything said about the Kamukura Project so far keeps coming back to the mind. Taking all of those new information in is...quite a lot. If it were any other person who heard what was said just now, there's no doubt they'd feel so much conflicting emotions about it.

And yet, it's hard to feel anything about it, despite having heard bits of it straight from their mouths, and comprehending the implications they refuse to acknowledge.

Shortly after that, the old men recompose themselves.

The old man with gray hair and beard clears his throat for a moment, before informing them, "For now, our team will be conducting a series of tests on you."

A blink towards him. "Tests? It has something to do with the process this body was involved in, is that right?"

He briefly goes quiet, taken aback by that response. A second passes, and his features turn calm once again as he slowly nods. "Indeed. They'll be checking your vitals, as well as for any abnormalities that might've slipped past." His arms cross. "We don't want to lose something so priceless and valuable after putting through so many resources in it, after all. We hope you understand."

"Additionally," The round old man adds, "After an hour from now, we will conduct a different series of tests. This time, these are the ones that would test all of the possible talents you might have. For today, we'll be focusing on your physical talents."

"I see." That's the only thing that needs to be said about it. There's no point in refusing or talking further than needed.

The old men take the hint. They all turn away, stepping away from within eyesight. At the same time, the men in white lab coats—the doctors—take a step closer, taking the place of those old men. Matsuda has also joined in with those doctors. Though, he keeps his distance by at least half a meter away from them.

"We'll leave you to it." That's the last thing the old man, the one with gray hair and beard, said right before he and his colleagues close the door behind them.

…

….

…..

Since then, every day is the same.

The same environment. The same faces. The same routine. Wake up, eat the strict diet those people provided, go through the rigid schedule that’s been laid out for the entire day, then sleep.

The same, repetitive conversations with those same people, if those can even be called conversations.

The same, empty feeling this body has been stuck with, ever since the one they called Kamukura has awoken in it.

The only thing these people would change would be putting in different tests if needed. But, more often than not, the same tests are constantly repeated. As if they expected the results to become different if they repeat it long enough.

Otherwise, no day is different from the other. The people within this place has always acted, and will continue to act the same and tended to say the same things over and over. The only difference would be whether those people acted with obvious awe and excitement, cold detachment, or more lately, fear.

But it doesn’t change anything. Everything is still the same as always.

Chapter Text

The first semester of his class' second year has officially begun.

Hajime has probably thought about this about a million times now, but even until now, he still had a hard time believing he made it past his first year at Hope's Peak Academy. It isn't as vocal and intrusive as it was compared to back when he was starting out, he swears he's gotten better about it, but a tiny part of it still stuck around, often resurfacing whenever he least expected it.

Shaking his head, he manages to get himself back on track. From what he heard, a new batch of Ultimates would start attending today too. Aside from looking their names up in the forums, which isn't always the most reliable now that he thought about it, he hasn't actually seen them in person yet. He won't lie; it's kind of exciting to see who they are and what kind of talents they might have.

In preparation for today, he's going to their class a lot earlier than usual, which is saying a lot since he's already pretty early even back then. Ms. Yukizome wanted everyone to meet up again in the classroom before the opening ceremony starts, so that's probably one of the factors.

He yawns, a bit louder than he's used to, and rubs at the corner of his eye. He can guess that's a habit he slowly picked up over the past year, what with him having to take the class rep duties and all. Not that he minds at all; he's already gotten used to it and besides, it does feel nice to have something to keep him busy with.

A small smile tugs at the corner of his lips. Yeah, Ms. Yukizome really is something else, isn't she? Sure, the way she does things can be a little bit weird and he'll never truly understand what's going on in that head of hers, but, he's sure he wouldn't have it any other way. There's something about the way their teacher that made him feel nostalgic; it kind of reminded him of his old tutor in a way.

It didn't take that long for him to reach their classroom. He wonders if there was anyone else who got there before he did, since the door didn't look like it was locked. In that case, then maybe at least a handful of his classmates are already waiting inside.

His hand turns over the handle, opening the door—

And he's immediately greeted face-to-face by one of, if not his most hyperactive classmate, in the most literal way possible. The Ultimate Pianist's eyes are just a couple of inches away from colliding with his own as she enthusiastically shouts out, "Good nom-nom-nomming, Hajime!"

A normal person would've jumped back, screamed in a higher-than-normal pitch, and maybe almost get a heart attack; not necessarily in that order. If he was his old self from a year ago, he would've reacted the same way. He might've even snapped back at his classmate.

Not this time. He doesn't so much as flinch, not even a little bit in reflex, as he greets her back while gently pushing her face away with his index finger. "Good morning to you too, Ibuki."

Since he pretty much had to deal with this kind of thing for a whole school year, among other shenanigans his chaotic classmates get into, he's already gotten himself used to it. This isn't the first time he's been bombarded with that kind of greeting, and it won't be the last one.

Ibuki takes his nonchalant reaction in stride, stepping back to give him his space.

He gets inside and, after closing the door behind him, he sees that besides him, the pianist isn't the only one who waited in the classroom. Sitting at the furthest left corner is Ryota, scribbling something in that notebook he always carries. It's definitely another manga project, no doubt about that.

Oh yeah, Teruteru's there too, but for now, Hajime ignores him and goes over to the mangaka's seat. "Morning, Ryota." He lightly raises a hand up with a smile.

The mangaka doesn't turn to face him, but he still greets him all the same. "Morning."

Right before the counselor continues making his way over to his seat, he sneaks a little peek from his shoulder and remarks, "You're a lot busier than usual."

"Yeah. Schedule's a lot tighter this month. I'm trying to see if I can squeeze in two more chapters."

Nodding in return to that, he ends the brief conversation with a simple, "I'm sure you can do it."

Hajime makes his way over to the second last row of the class. Yeah, even in the new school building, he still kept sitting in the same spot. He puts his bag on top of his desk, zipping it open, and then brings out the blue GGA; the same one he's had for over a year now. He stares at it right before letting out a heavy sigh.

It's been what, months now since he last talked to Chiaki, and he hasn't heard anything about her since then. There's some part of him that thought maybe they'd at least keep in touch via their phones, but she hasn't been replying to his messages or calls.

His grip on the console tightens. Maybe it was something family-related, or some private matter he shouldn't interfere with. Maybe the reserve course was getting too much for her. Or maybe it could be literally something else he hasn't thought about, who knows?

Maybe, if he wasn't a coward and actually asked her about it back then, he could've done something about it by now—

His train of thought immediately gets cut off as soon as he heard several, familiar booming steps heading towards their class. He lets out a startled gasp, but as soon as he feels the console slip from his now-loosened grip, he quickly grabs back onto it, narrowly keeping himself from dropping it. He breathes out a sigh of relief before putting it back in his bag.

He sneaks a glance at the newcomers. As always, Akane and Nekomaru end up announcing their grand entrance, especially in the latter's case. A big part of him is glad that the cook didn't accidentally tear the door off its hinges when he and his companion got inside. Sure, Hope's Peak Academy didn't mind the constant destruction his class used to pull off last year, to the point they got any and all damages done to their properties covered, but still; it's not like they've got infinite resources or cash, even with Mikan occasionally stepping in to cover up the expenses.

Oh, speaking of her, Mikan comes rushing inside, clutching her bag and crying out, "Sorry I'm late!" as she runs over to her seat.

Hajime doesn't think she's late at all. Matter of fact, she's rather early this time around. But then, there's something else he can't help but notice about her.

'That's weird. She didn't come in this time by crashing into somewhere like she usually does. Either that means things are starting to get better,' He internally cringes at a couple of unfortunate implications that sprang up in his mind. 'Or that means something worse is about to happen. I really hope it's not the second one.'

It didn't take long for the rest of the class to come in, starting with Nagito. The volunteer looks as cheerful yet relaxed as always as he opens the door. He waves at everyone present right before goes to his seat as well.

Next ones to come in are Kazuichi, Sonia, and Gundham, AKA the most unexpected trio that formed from last year, are the next ones who arrived in the classroom. No one questioned or batted an eye at the fact that there's a sparrow that comfortably nested itself in Kazuichi's beanie.

Hajime was about to ask just that when the breeder got to his seat him, but isn't able to get anything out when the breeder raised a hand and said to him, "Don't ask." all while wearing a weary look on his face.

Since both Sonia and Gundham are also wearing similar expressions (but not the sparrow headgear), that only made him want to ask what the hell happened to them this morning.

Knowing them, he'll probably never know. Looks that's another item to his list of unsolved incidents.

Once it was Natsumi and Peko who came up next and took their respective seats, Hajime looks over his classmates and did a mental headcount. So, if he's counting them correctly, not including their teacher, then there are two more people to wait for. After taking everyone who's currently present into account, he has a good guess on exactly who they are.

The door opens again, and as expected, Mahiru walks inside the class with Hiyoko in tow—

Hajime does a double-take right from his seat. He blinks, and then frantically rubs his eyes. He's not seeing things, isn't he? Sure, he was kind of sleepy a while ago, but that should've been passed by now, right?

A few more blinks, and only now he realizes that no, he isn't half-asleep or daydreaming right now. Once that realization sank in hard, he somehow manages to keep himself from breaking his poker face, all while inwardly asking the question everyone's having right then and there.

'What the HELL happened to Hiyoko?!'

The last time he saw the nurse, which was about less than a month ago during the flower viewing, she was the shortest one in class bar Teruteru, which made her look like a literal kid compared to everyone else. This Hiyoko, on the other hand, is at least twice the height of her original self and…well…he can say she definitely doesn't look like an elementary student anymore. He has no idea what she's been up to during break, but still; the change is so sudden, it's like puberty had hit her like a damn truck overnight.

He isn't the only one who reacted that way. Some (like Kaz) are more or less screaming while their eyes looked as if they're about to burst out of their sockets from pure shock, while others are blinking and rubbing their eyes (not necessarily in that order); he can't blame them. No offense to Hiyoko, but this is really weird to take in, even for him.

But the main highlight of his classmates' gobsmacked reactions would go to Natsumi. The yakuza heiress starts aimlessly sputtering all sorts of underhanded curses; her voice is low enough to make it inaudible, so it's a bit hard to understand exactly what she's saying.

"I'm not the shortest girl in class anymore!" The formerly petite nurse smugly points a finger towards the yakuza's direction, rubbing even more salt in that wound. "And that means that title's gone to you by default!"

"Hiyoko!" The artist sputters out. "You shouldn't say that!"

"Oh come on, Mahiru!" She whines. "She made fun of my height all year long, so it's only fair I get to do the same this time around."

"That doesn't make you any better than her in that case." Mahiru retorts, shaking her head while placing her hands over her hips.

Natsumi takes a deep breath. She slowly turns her head over to the duo, flashing a smile at the nurse. The sight made Hajime instinctively gulp from his seat. It wasn't a friendly one. In fact, this is the kind of threatening smile that suits a deadly reptile more than it does on a human.

"Please shut the fuck up."

As wonderfully eloquent her response is, her flat tone underestimated just how done she appeared to be with everything to that point.

Hajime glances back and forth between the two, just in case if he needs to intervene. Nothing has escalated too far with those two compared to how it used to be a year ago, but he can't stay too lax about it.

Thankfully, besides Hiyoko huffing and rolling her eyes before taking her seat, nothing happened.

Going over his present classmates once more, he double-checks on their headcount. He does it one more time just to be sure, and he breathes out in satisfaction. 'Looks like that's everyone.'

From what he can see, it looks like that some of his classmates are talking outside of their usual friend groups.

For one, there's Sonia who's standing right to the side of Ryota's seat, excitedly chattering and inquiring about some mangas that have been serialized lately. Ryota is pretty much just nodding off every few seconds, looking like he's slowly getting lost as the swordswoman starts getting into more obscure and weird titles.

The group of Teruteru, Akane, and Nekomaru isn't exactly the weirdest combination, but it's on the list. The conversation they're having is sort of one-sided, and by that, he meant Teruteru constantly spewing out innuendo after innuendo, but it ends up passing over the two's heads. At least, that's how it looks like to Hajime from here.

After a few more minutes of free time to themselves, Ms. Yukizome's the last one to show up, and so, the first day of their second school year officially starts.

In her usual cheery kind of way, she raises a fist in the air. "Alright everyone, let's go!"

If there was a similar situation to this a year ago, Hajime is sure that he wouldn't have looked or sounded as enthusiastic back then compared to how he is now. Along with everyone else in the class, he too raises a fist up and yells back,

"Yeah, let's go!"

Even for a prestigious school, the gym of Hope's Peak Academy is still unusually large compared to gyms from other high schools. Even though it's packed to the brim with Ultimate students, it didn't feel crowded at all and if anything, it felt like they could still squeeze several more classes while they're at it; maybe even a dozen classes, to be exact.

Since they were the latest batch up until that moment, Hajime, and by extension, everyone else in the class, are seated at the back. Once the opening ceremony starts in half an hour from now, Class 77-B won't be freshmen anymore.

Most of the students engaged in some small talk here and there while they all wait for the time to pass.

Soon, before they knew it, Mr. Kirigiri goes up the stage, causing most of the Ultimates present in the venue to quiet down. As for the others, either they quieted themselves too after noticing the headmaster himself at last, or they were quickly shut up by their respective teachers.

Mr. Kirigri stands behind the podium, clears his throat, and officially starts up the program.

It's a standard welcoming speech. Not too long but not too short, a brief recap about the history of the school, and then it goes straight to the point regarding the freshmen. It's like the kind of typical speech that's been rehearsed quite a lot. There's nothing special about it, really; at least, in Hajime's humble opinion.

He slightly tilts his head to the side to take a peek at some of his classmates' reactions. There's one particular (over)reaction that made him awkwardly smile. Of course, it's Nagito who's slightly tearing up, and of course, it's him who'd be moved by the headmaster's speech.

'Well, I guess I shouldn't have been too surprised. It was kind of expected, but come on, this isn't some dramatic play.' Hajime inwardly shakes his head.

At the end of his speech, the headmaster gestures an arm to his right. "Everyone, please welcome the new students of Class 78!"

Like it's been perfectly timed, the aforementioned students walk start walking from the stage's left in an organized line, or at least, as organized as Ultimates could be.

Hajime squints, trying to get a good look at the freshmen as best as he can from his seat. He recognizes at least a handful of them, having seen or heard of them from stuff like TV and magazines, to name a few. He's not as familiar with the rest, though he does remember some people in Hope's Peak's forums talking about them a few times.

One of them, a girl with long blue hair, starts smiling and waving rather cutely at the audience. Another girl with long twin-tails does the same thing, though in her case, she has a more smirky but playful vibe to it.

The sounds of so much cheering and clapping that came after feels almost deafening. If Hajime's being honest, he won't be surprised if it turned out that Nagito was one of the people who clapped the loudest. The volunteer might have a worryingly thin build, but his enthusiasm when it comes to these kinds of stuff is unmatched. Which also says a lot.

It didn't take long for the opening ceremony to end, all things considered; it feels like setting the whole thing was just an elaborate excuse to introduce the new batch of students to everyone else. It's probably not that surprising in that case, since something similar happened back when Class 77-B were freshmen themselves.

Since it's lunchtime at the moment, he's now heading out to go get some drinks, along with two 'assistants'. Yeah, he doesn't mind doing this duty as much as he used to, and it helps that Natsumi's not as brash as she used to be, but, it still feels a bit awkward at times.

They were supposed to get some drinks, but the next thing he knew, everything goes slow in his eyes. He watches someone bump into Natsumi. After that, he sees her face contort into that of a surprised yelp. The drinks go flying out of the plastic she's holding, before falling to the ground; some of them crack and end up spilling their contents.

Time goes back to normal in his eyes, and now, he sees Natsumi lying flat on her back, Peko kneeling by her side, and a guy he doesn't recognize. Said guy is currently down on the ground too, but unlike Natsumi, he looks a bit better off asides from that pained look on his face.

Hajime quickly but gently settles the pack of his drinks he's carrying on the ground. "Natsumi! Are you okay?" He calls out, immediately kneeling by her side to check on her.

It turns out Natsumi didn't really need their assistance, as she immediately shoots up, having recovered enough from her daze to sit herself straight. "Fucking watch where the hell you're going, you asshole!"

The guy doesn't reply to that; he might've not heard her at all, since he's probably too focused on a sore behind at the moment. "Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow." His eyes are scrunching up tight while rubbing his hands over his rear.

Though Hajime doesn't leave his downed classmate's side, he slightly shifts himself in place to take a better look at the new guy.

It turns out that the person whom Natsumi bumped into was just some guy with ridiculously long hair, which also happened to be sticking up like a bunch of spines. Thick, curly spines, that is. In addition to that, that guy isn't wearing any recognizable uniform; instead, his attire consists of a plain white shirt, long baggy pants, and a jacket he tied around his waist.

Hajime squints as a sense of semi-familiarity comes over him. Come to think of it, it feels like he saw this guy from somewhere before. 'Oh yeah, isn't he one of the freshman from Class 78?' He wonders to himself as he studies the guy's facial features a bit more, only to feel his eyes squint. 'Wait a minute. Is it just me, or does this guy look a lot older than a normal high school student should be?'

While the counselor's busy with that at the moment, Peko lowers her head. Her body straightens. She only made a few steps forward, stopping once she sees Natsumi raising a hand in front of her. She exchanges looks with her, waiting for her liege's next order.

"No," Natsumi shakes her head with a scowl. "Let me handle it this time."

She gets up on her feet, immediately making her way over to the freshman. The freshman still hasn't gotten up, either because he's still that dazed from the fall, or maybe because his survival instincts haven't kicked in just yet.

Either way, watching the scene unfold feels like an eerie calm before the shitstorm that'd ensue.

"You bastard..." Natsumi growls. With the way she's approaching him, it looks like she saw this guy from somewhere before too.

Although he isn't the target, Hajime momentarily feels a shiver run down his spine.

The new student lets out a tiny, frightened, and squeaky gulp at that. He comically scoots back as far as he can without even thinking of getting up on his feet first. It's...kind of impressive with how he did that, really.

"I'm so sorry! I didn't know who you were back then! Please, forgive me!" The new student squeals, eyes closed and practically brimming with tears. All the while, his hands clasps together in a lame show of begging for mercy.

Mercy that Natsumi isn't obviously willing to grant.

A line of sweat trails down Hajime's neck. With the way his yakuza classmate is steadily approaching the new guy, he's immediately reminded of a predator approaching its prey.

The way it went down is pretty expected. A raging scream erupts from Natsumi, who's now chasing the screaming-at-a-high-pitch guy off to…somewhere in the hallways. As for Peko, she's following the two from behind by several meters away, keeping an eye on her liege without getting involved as she was ordered to.

And that leaves Hajime as the last man standing in there, plus the pack of drinks he put down. There's a part of him that wonders what was the history behind Natsumi and that guy, but the more sensible part of him tells him that it's probably better if he never knows.

Since he can still hear the other guy's high-pitched screaming even from here, yeah, it's definitely for the best.

With a heavy breath, Hajime cleans up the mess as best as he can, picks up his share as well as some of the drinks that can still be salvaged with him, and then walks off into the direction to where those three are heading off to. He probably shouldn't butt in this kind of business, and if he's going to be honest, that's exactly what his old self would've done. Still, both as the class rep and as a friend, he's got to make sure Natsumi doesn't end up beating that guy too much.

He closes his eyes, pinching the bridge of his nose with his free hand as he exhales a long, drawn-out sigh. Yeah, he can already tell this is going to be yet another long year for him.

Oh well, he can survive this.

Somehow.

Aside from a few shenanigans he refuses to name or think back on, the rest of their day went off without any trouble to say the least (and by trouble, he meant wanton property damage). There's the incident with Natsumi and the new student from a while back, but it didn't go as bad as he thought it would, so even that case is pretty mild.

Compared to how things used to be from a year go, this is a big improvement. He may have gotten used to the Ultimates' insanity by now, but he appreciates peaceful days like these every now and down.

Or at least, relatively peaceful days compared to the usual chaos his classmates get into, that is.

Right now, everyone's heading off to somewhere before they go back to their respective dorms. They started out as one big group when they got out of their classroom, though overtime his classmates started splintering off, some in smaller groups, and others by themselves.

And now, that just leaves Hajime by himself. Don't get him wrong, his classmates didn't single him out or anything like that. A few minutes before classes officially ended, most of his classmates tried to invite him in their own ways. Kazuichi wanted him to come and hang out with him, Sonia, and Gundham, Ibuki wanted him to join in a jamming session, Teruteru...was being Teruteru, Nekomaru wanted him to try out some new recipes he learned (and then Akane butted in), and so on and so forth.

In another day, he'd be glad to oblige with them, but after everything that happened today (plus some lingering vacation hangover), he politely turned them all down. He figured he wanted some time-off to himself for now. His classmates didn't push him anymore after that, and he's really grateful for that.

He should probably go back to his dorm as soon as possible, but since it's still a bit early, he figured he could look around a bit. Even though it's been months since it was finally unveiled, Hope's Peak Academy's new building for the main course feels so ridiculously bigger compared to the old one, it's still so damned easy to get lost in it.

Hajime has no idea how long he's been walking around for. It might've been a few minutes or so, but in any case, he's sure that he's probably out of the school grounds by now. Stopping in his tracks for a second, he turns around to check where he is now—

His heart stops for a moment. He can't believe he got himself here again without even noticing.

The reserve course building. It's been long months since he last went inside its gates, but it's impossible to mistake it for anything else. It still looks exactly the same as it was from a year ago. It won't be surprising to anyone if Hope's Peak Academy neglected to give it some renovations.

He steps closer to the gates. His hand reaches out to it, only for him to hesitate right before he can lay a finger on it. He swallows the heavy feeling in his throat, before turning around to leave as soon as he can.

'Not today.' is what he resigns to himself in his mind. It's not because the place brought up some bittersweet feelings within him, he rationalizes to himself. He just didn't want to disturb the students in there.

That's what he kept telling himself as he sprints off, trying to steady his shaky breath, as well as trying to ignore the ache in his chest.

It didn't take long before he finds himself heading back to the main grounds. He feels like he's calmed down enough to go back into his composure. He thinks back on what happened moments ago and sighs. He knows he can't run from this forever; he has to find out exactly what happened to Chiaki and maybe, get some closure somehow, even if the answer is not something that he'll like.

His fist clenches. He'll get to the bottom of it somehow.

He swears it.

Underneath the school's grounds, Yasuke watches the latest test unfold from the monitors. And by test, he actually means a ridiculously elaborate death trap. It's only been finished building a day ago, but to think that the old men had this idea for months says something. He's sure that if the reserve course students were to find out this is where their tuition's gone to...well, he can already picture it.

The Steering Committee's stupidity truly knows no bounds, in Yasuke's opinion. As much as the old farts say that they want to look after Kamukura's wellbeing, they sure do a shitty job of showing that. If he'd word it in the nicest way possible, the old men have a lot in common with irresponsible pet owners.

After seeing the artificial Ultimate narrowly dodge another harpoon, he mutters loud enough for to hear, "You do realize that if anything happens to them because of this, you stupid fucks would've blown everything up."

Mr. Sasaki snorts. "The labyrinth we designed is the best way to test most, if not all of Kamukura's talents in one go. So what if she ends up with a few injuries? Having a doctor on-board wouldn't even be necessary in this case." As expected, he didn't even bother to address the neurologist's main issue.

"Perhaps we may even add a trap at the end of the labyrinth. I've been thinking that a pit of long spikes that extends upwards might do the trick." Mr. Minami, that fat bastard he is, unhelpfully adds.

Mr. Akiyama shakes his head. "Let's not be too hasty, Mr. Minami. You shouldn't rush through this these kinds of projects, especially regarding our more...delicate ones."

'That's rich coming from the same guy who threw a fit when the other batches turned out to be colossal failures.' Yasuke would've clicked his tongue at that, but he manages to hold it off.

"But isn't the point of this test is to see how far we can push Kamukura? What good would she be for if she can't even meet up our expecations?" Mr. Minami retorts.

Mr. Akiyama snaps back with a slightly raised voice, "Again, that shouldn't be rushed, unless if you want to end up terminating our first and so far, the only successful Ultimate Hope that we made!"

Before their petty argument can escalate any further, Mr. Mizushima yells at them, "Be quiet, you two!"

If it were anyone else, the two old men would've ignored that. But since Mr. Mizushima is not only a member of their group, but also the oldest among them, the two don't have much of a choice but to oblige to him.

They still grumble a bit more under their breaths, though. But hey, at least they're not about to start yelling some more and disrupt their observation even more than they already have.

Now hopefully, without any more interruptions, everyone went back to observing their test subject. At the moment, they watch on how Kamukura narrowly dodged another arrow that would've hit them in the forehead. Someone whistles, probably one of the scientists tasked with taking down notes.

"Amazing…" is all what he says about that. The rest of his colleagues are of the same opinion, excitedly chatting among themselves about that little achievement.

Yasuke supposes he can see where that scientist is coming from. If a normal person, or hell, even if an average Ultimate (hah, that's quite the oxymoron, isn't it?) were to be put in that thing, he doubts that they'd last even the first few minutes in there.

In fact, he can already imagine how that'd end for the poor sucker. It's not a pleasant image at all.

Chapter Text

For one moment, they were just starting out another normal day (at least, relatively normal by Ultimate standards), and then in one blink, it's devolved into...whatever the hell this is.

Hajime thought that, ever since Ms. Yukizome became their homeroom teacher, none of her antics would surprise him anymore. This new bonding activity she's got for today has proved him wrong.

Right now, Class 77-B's in the gym. This isn't the first time he and his classmates went in here but, this is a completely different level.

He sends off a blank stare at the guy who's so awkwardly out of place in the boys team. If he remembers correctly, that guy is Juzo Sakakura, the Ultimate Gymnast. He doesn't know much about Mr. Sakakura, aside from the fact that he's the head of the security, and that he's an old classmate of Ms. Yukizome, which he overheard from their banter a while back.

Judging by the disbelieving, exhausted look on Mr. Sakakura's face, it seems like the poor guy didn't want to be here either, but somehow Ms. Yukizome managed to drag him in here. Whether he meant that in the literal or metaphorical sense is yet to be confirmed, but knowing how his teacher works…yeah, he won't be surprised if it was the first option.

As for why their teacher decided to (hopefully not literally) haul this grown-ass man into playing a game with some kids, well, it turns out that their class is kind of unbalanced in terms of gender ratio. The girls outnumber the boys by one, and so, Ms. Yukizome sought some way to make things a bit more fair. At least, as fair as things could be for Ultimates.

He hears their teacher blow the whistle, and from there, Nekomaru is granted the first throw. He rears his arm back, and time slows down. Everyone's eyes follow the ball's movement, starting from the impact it got from Nekomaru's throw to the ball itself shooting up in the air.

At that moment, with eyes wide open, Hajime is brutally reminded of exactly what his classmates are capable of.

Time winds back to reality in the harshest way possible.

The ball ends up landing straight on the wall, leaving a sizable crater on it. Hajime winces at the sight; he doesn't want to imagine what'd happen if that landed on a human. 'I've always thought that the way sports anime do these kinds of stuff was ridiculous, but now…I think I might've forgotten how terrifying reality can be.' He gulps. 'Especially when it comes to Ultimates.'

Sure, the class is a lot better at restraining themselves this time now but, well, as some people say, some slip-ups can happen, just like the one he witnessed right now. He's grown way too complacent these days.

As their game restarts, the whistle blows once again. Everyone has decided not to comment on the crater Nekomaru caused; Hajime can only feel bad for the person who'd be forced to clean that up later.

Peko throws the ball first this time. It's still a pretty powerful one, but thankfully it's not as concerningly destructive as the one Nekomaru did earlier.

Mr. Sakakura huffs, and then he wastes no time in catching the ball with barely any effort at all. He lets out a "Tch." when at least more than a couple of boys start clapping in awe. The former gymnast throws the ball off; judging by his bored look, he might've half-assed it.

Even if that throw was half-assed, well, it's not like anyone can tell the difference anyway. Also, it's still flying off in the air at a rather impressive speed.

Mikan lets out a frightened squeal, her body freezing in place as the ball heads towards her. At the last second, she ducks for cover, somehow managing to dodge the ball by at least half a centimeter.

The ball bounces violently on the floor until it reaches the ceiling. Everyone's eyes follow where it's going, watching it go from the ceiling, then to the floor, and then it fucking ricochets to the walls. By then, everyone scrambles to stay far out of its range as much as possible.

Hajime isn't sure how long that ball's been going; the only thing he's aware of is its menacing bouncing that sounds like it's getting closer to him (as well as Kaz's terrified screams).

And then, the ball finally stops with a loud bonk, followed by a loud thud.

Nekomaru has collapsed; his body has gone completely still while his eyes went white. He's officially out, in more ways than one. The poor guy can't even continue the game even at the rear position. Hajime never thought that he'd ever see something knock the big guy out just like that, but ah well, he supposes that kind of weirdness is a given in his class.

The boys' team can hear some of the girls cheering from their side, further rubbing in their first victory. In fact, the girls start crowding around Mikan, praising and congratulating her. Mikan looks really flustered by that.

'Wait, come to think of it, is this even fair at all?' He looks over the girl's team with narrowed eyes, carefully scrutinizing each player they've got. After that, he looks back on his team; a drop of sweat comes down the side of his head when he sees some of them mourning their best player. A few of his teammates even look resigned to their inevitable loss.

"You FOOLS!"

A loud, bellowing voice yells out at them, bringing him, as well as everyone else in the boys' team he assumes, out of their thoughts. They turn to the source, and are greeted with Gundham crossing his arms as he stares everyone in the team down. The class's resident chuuni closes his eyes, takes a deep breath, and then starts ranting a bunch of weird stuff at them.

No one has any idea what he's talking about anymore, but even so, whatever he's conveying has transcended the language barrier. This isn't Gundham Tanaka, the kooky guy with a big case of Eight Grader Syndrome, anymore. The person everyone's seeing now is Gundham Tanaka, the no-nonsense Ultimate Team Manager.

Just like a stack of dominoes, the effects are immediate. Everyone's going all out and giving it their all, including Teruteru, of all people. It's like Gundham's incomprehensible but oddly inspiring rant-speech has juiced the boys' team up in all the right ways. It even affected Hajime in some way, somehow.

The next thirty minutes to one hour mostly consisted of feral screaming, passing the ball around in all sorts of violent ways, Mr. Sakakura keeping a good distance away from everyone, cracks and craters all over the walls and floor, Ms. Yukizome scrambling around to mitigate things as much as she can, and even more feral screaming.

Hajime isn't even sure who won in the end anymore. All he knows is that both teams had at least one player left standing, Mr. Sakakura and Mikan, respectively. Either way, he's sure that the one thing everyone will agree with is that the game's true loser is the gym itself.

(Some time later, the headmaster himself would drop his jaw after seeing the recent damages in the new gym, along with the expenses to fix it up.)

With all of that dose of weirdness over, everyone is now cleaning everything up after the wild games they just played from a while back. Somehow, even Mr. Sakakura got roped into cleaning up with them too. The guy looks like he's about to pop a blood vessel open.

As for Hajime, Ms. Yukizome sent him, along with Ryota, off to return the equipment they borrowed back into the gym's storage room.

"Alright, that should do it." Hajime grunts while he straightens his back. Both he and Ryota have already set down the last of those boxes.

While he stretches his overexerted body, he thinks about the game they just had. It was way more intense than he (or anyone else, for that matter) anticipated. He had a feeling that this would probably be the last time his classmates would be allowed to borrow the gym in a long while.

'Heh,' The corners of his lips twitch upwards. He inwardly chuckles. 'I guess some things don't change after all.' He mulls over those words over once again, and then slightly frowns.

"Hey, Hajime? Mind if we talk for a bit?"

Hajime blinks, immeidately snapping out of his thoughts after hearing his classmate's voice. Turning to him, he shrugs. "Yeah, what is it, Ryota?"

Ryota turns his head around, most likely checking their surroundings first, before turning back to look at him right in the eye. "I'm going to blunt real quick. Is there something bothering you?"

He probably should've denied it, play it off as just nothing, and if that didn't sound convincing enough, then say that it's just stress from regular class rep duties. Maybe if it was literally anyone else, he might've been able to do that.

Instead, he sighs in resignation. "Was I that obvious?"

His classmate blankly stares at him.

"Right," He takes a deep breath. "Well, it's kind of a long story, but I'll try to explain it as briefly as I can. Do you remember when Ms. Yukizome's first day as our new homeroom teacher?"

"Far too vividly than I'd like to." Ryota replies in a dull, frank tone. "Exactly where are you going with this?"

"I met with this girl at the reserve course. She was there when you and Ms. Yukizome came to pick me up. Since then, I've always met up and hung out with her at lunch. She always beats me in the games we played," He cracks a smile, reminiscing on the fond memories they've had together. "You could say she was the first real friend I've had. No offense to Kaz."

Ryota waves him off. "I'm sure he wouldn't have minded that. Anyways, getting back on topic, I assume something happened between you two?"

"You could say that. The last time we talked to each other, I…" Hajime grits his teeth. "I could've done something, anything to help her, but I didn't. I kept my mouth shut because I didn't want to overwhelm her, even more than she already has, and look at how that turned out. I haven't seen her since. I don't know if it was something that I said, or if it was something else, but if only I…"

Hajime pauses. His hand palms over his head, a weary and apologetic look coming over his features. "I'm sorry, I shouldn't have dumped all of that onto you."

Ryota shakes his head. "No, that's fine. I should be the one apologizing for prying in the first place," Mainaning eye contact with him, he then asks, "So, what will you do now?"

"I...honestly have no idea. I've tried contacting her, but I haven't received any replies for, probably a year now. I've been thinking about personally coming in to her class for some answers, but, I don't know if I should do that."

"Since trying to contact her doesn't work," Ryota puts two fingers over his chin, "Then why don't you do exactly that and ask her former classmates, maybe even her teacher if you can? It's probably been months, but maybe they'd have something. Otherwise, you'll never know for sure what happened to her." He shrugs at the end of that.

He thinks over what his classmate said, and he'll admit that his classmate got a point. "I guess I'll see if I can do that. Still, thanks for hearing me out, Ryota."

"Anytime." That's all what Ryota says along with a small nod.

The end of their classes came by a lot easier than usual. His cluttered steps come to a stop.

'It's been a while.'

Hajime's hand lightly grazes over the gate. Remembering what Ryota said, he closes his eyes and takes a deep breath. He breathes out, opens his eyes once more, and stares the reserve course department's building down.

Glancing back one last time, he steps inside the grounds of the reserve course department, all while trying to keep the ache in his chest down. 'No more going back this time.' He tells himself.

As soon as he got himself in, he can't shake off the feeling of dozens, if not thousands of eyes staring right through him. He quietly gulps, unused to this kind of attention.

It's not hard to see why this is happening to him though; here he is, an Ultimate student, waltzing inside the reserve course department like it's not a big deal. He's aware that he did this a lot too last year, but, he guesses that since he was visiting a friend back then, those things never truly registered in his mind.

Now that it's just him, those stares and whispers have a much bigger presence this time around. Still, he tries to keep his poker face on and ignore the stares he's getting from the reserve course students as much as he can.

Hajime pauses for a second to glance at his surroundings. Again, he ignores the whispers that grow louder in volume. He lifts his head; he might've been around the reserve course's grounds multiple times before, but he never actually went inside the building.

Taking a deep breath, he musters up all the courage he can get, and as calmly as he can, walks towards the direction of one group of reserve course students.

"Hey, uh, excuse me..." He calls out as he slowly approaches in their direction, hoping that they don't notice the tenseness in his voice.

Whether they noticed that or not, he'll probably never know. That said, the group heard him, alright. There's just one little problem that he sorta neglected before getting himself in here. Though it's not exactly forbidden, interactions between the main course and reserve course students are highly discouraged.

Because of that, Hajime isn't prepared to see the group he tried to talk to immediately turn tail and run out of there. The other groups that are still in that area turn to each other, their hushed whispers turning up to a more audible volume.

"The hell was that guy's problem?"

"Do Ultimates seriously think they can waltz in here whenever they want?"

"Whatever business he's going on with, I don't want to get involved with it. Ultimates are nothing but trouble."

"I wish they'd just leave us alone."

He breathlessly sighs out while scratching the back of his head. 'This is going to be a lot harder than I thought.'

The rest of his...attempts to ask the students around more or less ended in the same way. Most of them decided to either pretend he isn't there or, like the first group he tried to talk to, start running away from him as quick as they can. Others even started to become very confrontational and were yelling at him to leave them alone, forcing him to back down before it gets physical.

Since his previous approach failed so miserably, he's been staying away from the larger groups of reserve course students, especially if they're in proximity with each other in the same area. The last thing he wants is to cause trouble for them; at least, any more than he already did anyway.

At this rate, it seems like his search would lead to nowhere. He has no clue where the hell he's going with this, no one's willing to answer his questions, and he's been wandering around for who knows how long now.

Add in the fact he hasn't even explored at least half of the reserve course's grounds, he might end up being stuck here for a while, assuming he even gets the information he's looking for at the end of it. Even if he tries to go inside the building itself and go through each room one by one to look for the right one, he's sure that'd cause a bigger commotion.

He groans, gritting his teeth in frustration. 'Damn it.' He keeps his eyes on the ground as he passes by the side of the building. Obviously, aside from him, there's no one else here. He supposes that should be a good thing, since he isn't welcome here.

'Maybe I should just leave right now.'

Hajime pauses. An uneasy feeling goes over him.

'Is this how it's going to end? I'm going to give up, just like that?'

That…didn't sound right.

'But,' The more rational part of his mind argues, 'What's the point in going on if you can't find anything and no one's willing to hear you out? You're just wasting your time. You should move on already, Hajime.'

'Move on, huh...'

It's been a year already. Friends will always come and go, he knows that much. So what if Chiaki left without telling him the exact reason why? It's not as if she's the only friend he ever had, he has everyone in Class 77-B too. Shouldn't he be over it by now?

If that's so, then why is he still clinging onto her even until now?

He lifts his head, peeling his eyes away from the ground as he looks over his surroundings one more time.

From his current position, he can see that he isn't alone in this area after all. A group of four students, three boys and one girl, to be exact, are standing right by the corner of the building. He's far from them, but he can infer they're talking to each other, though judging by their gestures, it looks more like they're gossiping to each other.

'I guess,' His chest relaxes. 'It won't hurt to try one more time.'

His mind made up, he cautiously steps towards the group's direction. "Um, hey," He calls out to them, but stays at a reasonable distance away; he's not going to repeat the same mistake he did not too long ago. "I hope I'm not disturbing you guys."

That gets the group's attention. They stare at him, none of the members saying a word or moving even a single centimeter away from from their spot.

Hajime keeps his mouth shut too, bracing himself for any possible impact.

After a couple of seconds more of silence, the girl in the group growls and then she screams at him, "What the hell do you want with us?!"

The harsh response would've made a normal person flinch, but after spending more than a year with the Ultimate Yakuza as his classmate, it didn't faze him that much, if at all. If he wasn't trying to get on their good side, he might've rolled his eyes at the girl's attempt in intimidating him too.

One of the boys raises an arm, preemptively stopping the girl before she can even take a step forward towards him. The girl glares at him, before huffing and forcing herself to stay down. She doesn't seem to be too happy with that decision though, as she crosses her arms.

The boy in front, Hajime assumes that boy might've been the leader, narrows his eyes towards him. "Spill it. The sooner we can get this over with, the better."

While the leader's tone is rather harsh, Hajime is surprised by his willingness to hear him out. Deciding he won't waste this chance, he goes straight to the point and calmly asks him, "Do you know Chiaki Nanami?"

All four members turn to each other, each with varying levels of confusion. "Nanami, huh?" One of the boys says out loud.

"Doesn't ring a bell for me." The girl dismissively shrugs.

The leader hums in thought. He glances back at Hajime and replies, "She was our classmate a year ago. We haven't seen her since after, I don't know, somewhere in the middle of September, I guess."

"She's been gone for that long?" He frowns. 'So that explains why she never turned up in our meeting spot when I tried to visit and wait for her during those times. It still doesn't explain why she never replied, though.'

"Uh, yeah." One of the boys shrugs. He then mumbles under his breath, "Those times were tough, since the old man forced our class to cover for three missing classmates."

The other boy elbows him. "Hey, don't remind me of that!"

While the two are busy bickering with each other about that topic, the leader sighs and adds, "You could say, we reserve course students just come and go. We're not as lucky or privileged as you Ultimates, you know."

"I see." Hajime solemnly nods. He can't even imagine what it'd be like to be in their shoes; a part of him even wonders that, if things had turned out differently, he might've understood their situation.

"Don't pity us." Compared to her angry tone earlier, the girl sounds a bit more tired when she said that to him. "If that's all you want to chat about, then you should get out right now."

"Wait," Hajime raises a hand, "There's one more thing I want to ask. Do you know where your homeroom teacher stays in? I want to ask him about her."

The group exchanges uneasy looks with each other, until the leader breaks it off and tells him, "Yeah, I guess you could ask that old bastard. I don't know why, but he stays in our classroom after everyone has left. Our class is on the third floor, by the way. It's not that hard to find it."

Once they give him exact section they're in, the girl snaps at him. "Alright, we gave you what you want, now can you leave us alone?"

He simply nods at them. "Yeah, thanks."

The group doesn't say anything more to him. He supposes this is probably the last time they'll see each other.

When he finally got himself inside, he notices that there aren't a lot of students inside the building, and the ones that he's seen, he could probably count them on one finger. Still, he tries to avoid confrontation whenever he can. Let them pretend that he isn't here, and he'll do the same in return.

He gets to the second floor without much trouble. His eyes go over through each classroom, scanning each of their labels until—

'Finally, I found it.'

Making his way over that classroom, Hajime glances over the label once more, just to make sure it is the right one. As soon as he confirmed that it is, he knocks the door. He waits for a reply, and then knocks it one more time. "Hello, excuse me?"

Still no reply.

Hajime grabs the knob and tries to turn it over, only to be surprised by how easily it opened. 'It's not even locked?' He lets go of it, but in spite of that, the door still slowly creaks open, revealing what's inside the room to him.

As expected, the classroom's empty. The seats are neatly arranged, and the room itself is pretty squeaky clean, all things considered. Hajime would've thought that there's no one in there, until he hears the unmistakable noise of a pen grazing paper, as well as the faint stamping noises.

He figures there's no more turning back after this and so, he takes a step inside.

"Hmph, an Ultimate. I never thought that I'd ever be graced by one."

The voice startled him for a second. He regains his composure, right as he goes in front of the teacher's desk. "Sorry for bothering you," He apologizes. "I just wanted to ask you something." He waits for the teacher to reply.

A few moments pass, and the teacher doesn't say anything; instead, that guy went on with grading and stamping the papers like he's not even there. Deciding he might as well get it out, he then asks, "Did Chiaki Nanami attend this class?"

The teacher snorts. "You mean that slacker?" He neatly puts the stack of papers away to the side, right before another stack takes their place. "She dropped out a year ago." He nonchalantly says.

"D...Dropped out?"

"It's exactly as I've said. She didn't even finish a month off the second semester. That girl was nothing but trouble, from her first day to her last. I would've been happy to forget about her, until you reminded me about that."

Hajime feels his fist clench at that. Though he wants to defend his friend's honor, he reminded himself that he won't cause any trouble, and so, he forces himself to hold that in. "I...I see," Taking a deep breath, he manages to force out a, "Well, thank you anyways."

The teacher grunts out in return. "Have a nice day."

The sarcasm isn't lost on him, but he pretends not to hear any of that.

Right before he leaves the room, he hears the teacher grumbles under his breath, "They don't pay me enough to put up with shit like this." At the end of that, he stamps the next paper a bit harder.

When Hajime finally got out of the building, the coast was clearer compared to when he entered the grounds some time ago. Most, if not all of the reserve course students have already left.

He turns to look back at the building, before running off a familiar route. It's the same one he hasn't used in a while now.

Hajime never thought that he'd ever go to this spot again, but here he is, walking right into the space with the fountain and the public bench.

After spending months of wondering, he finally got his answer; Chiaki did drop out, or at least, that's what her (now former) teacher told him a while back. He got the answer on why she isn't around Hope's Peak anymore, so why does it feel like it's not enough?

He sighs right before taking a seat on the same public bench. He winces. It's been a while, and now, it feels wrong somehow. He slumps his back over the bench; he doesn't dare to turn to face his left, knowing that he'll only be greeted with an empty space.

Hajime grips the sides of his head with both hands. Gritting his teeth, he screams out, "I just don't get it!"

"Wow, who would've thunk that I'd see a real live brooding guy out here in the wild." A high-pitched voice comments out loud.

Completely caught off-guard by that, Hajime finds himself straigthening his back up (also, he totally did not scream at that, nope, not at all). He turns his head around, looking for the source of that voice. All he sees are a bunch of trees around this clearing.

He shakes his head with a groan. 'Great, now I'm starting to hear things too.'

"Hey, don't just ignore me!" The same voice whines. "I'm right here!"

Around the same time, he hears someone's footsteps coming towards him. He turns his head to their direction, and...huh, he knows he's seen this girl from somewhere before, and not just from the entrance ceremony that happened a month ago. Even a casual like him can recognize who this girl is.

"Wait, you're..." He squints for a moment. "You're Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Fashionista, aren't you?"

The weird girl twirls around as she proclaims, "The one and only!" and then finishes that off with an equally weird pose.

'Yeah, there's no doubting that.' The weird vibes she's giving off aside, he'll admit that she's a really pretty girl in those magazine covers he's seen a few times, but now that he's seeing her in person, all he can think of is, 'None of those magazines do her any justice.'

"Soooo," She takes a seat right next to him. "What's an Ultimate like you doing, moping around here in the reserve course department?"

Hajime can feel his the edge of lips twitch for a moment when he heard her say that. 'Wow, she really cuts deep and straight to the point.' He breaks eye contact with her and then he groans. "It's none of your business. Actually, I should be asking what someone like you is doing here in the first place."

"Well, that's fair, guess I'll tell you exactly why," She shrugs, "You could say I wanna get away from my class for a while." After that, she pokes at his cheek without any warning. "Let me guess, you had a bad break-up?"

He grimaces, but he doesn't turn his head to face her. "It's nothing like that, and even if it was, you shouldn't stick your nose in it."

"Aww, why not?"

That way she said that in an obvious, sickeningly, fake cutesy voice rubs him off the wrong way. 'Why the hell is she so interested with my issues?' He can feel his initial impression of the Junko Enoshima he knew shatter at this instant.

Taking a deep breath, he pinches the bridge of his nose before facing her. "Okay, I'm going to be brutally honest with you. You've been nothing but rude to me and you keep insisting to talk about that even though we barely know each other, so why the hell should I tell you anything?"

Instead of getting offended like he thought she would, Enoshima ended up smiling at him. "Upupupu, how interesting." She puts a hand over her lips while giggling some more. It took less then a second before that devolves into full-blown laughter.

Hajime feels insulted, and also, a little bit unnvered by the way she laughs. Or rather, cackles, since that's a more appropriate way to describe what he's hearing right now.

She puts a hand over her chest, taking some time off to breathe again, all while letting out small giggles here and there. A second passes, and then she suddenly blurts out without warning, "Anyways, you sure you're not just being a clingy ex-boyfriend, right?"

"I-I'm not!" The idea flushed him, and not in a good way.

"Suuure you're not." Enoshima leans dangerously close to him. She also made sure to drag out the 'sure' part of her sentence, all while wearing a thin smile on her face. If she's trying to get on his nerves, he'll begrudgingly admit that it's working too well.

Hajime faces away from her with a huff, now staring on the pavement below. He's done entertaining her. 'If I shut up and ignore her, she'll get bored and leave.'

"Ya know, if it's a missing person you're looking for, I know someone who can help you with your problem." She rubs two fingers over her chin, "On second thought, though, maybe 'missing' is exaggerating things a bit, but you haven't seen them in a long time, so that counts, doesn't it?" She adds with a hum.

"Wait, huh?" He blinks as he tries to process her words. As soon as it did, the weight of Enoshima's words sinks deep into his mind, and he finds himself nearly flipping out. 'How the hell did she know that?!'

A smug chuckle comes out of her. "You're probably wondering how I figured you out, right? It's simple, really," She snaps her finger, "Your poker face isn't good as you think it is, and I'm just way too damned perceptive to not notice anything."

For some reason, she's put on some glasses and has her hair (which were in twintails not too long ago) up in a ponytail. How she did that so quickly and without him noticing, he'll never know.

"Aww, I can tell you don't believe me at all." She huffs and crosses her arms.

Hajime snorts. "You don't say."

In less a moment, her mood abruptly shifts once again, this time to a more serious one. "Okay, but seriously, I do know someone. We've got the freaking Ultimate Detective in our class for crying out loud, you know? You could give me the name of that person you're looking for and I'll relay that to her."

"The Ultimate Detective?" He raises a brow. "And you're telling me that she only needs the name?"

She nods a bit too quickly for him. "Yep, that's all she needs, but a little extra info can help. Don't worry, I'm not going to put your friend's name in some notebook after you tell me." She chuckles at the end of that, like she's heard a pretty funny joke.

For him, he doesn't think that's funny at all. 'Normally, I wouldn't be giving names out to people I knew for less than five minutes.' He glances at the girl for a quick second. 'But, I guess there'd be no harm in it. I heard that they scouted a detective for this year's freshmen, but I have no idea who it is. Whoever the Ultimate Detective is, she'd be my best bet for now.'

He breathes out, looks at Enoshima in the eye. "Alright. The person I've been looking for is Chiaki Nanami. She was my close friend at the reserve course, but I haven't seen her for several months now."

" Chiaki Nanami, and she's someone from the reserve course," She nods. A thin grin spreads over her lips, stretching from ear-to-ear. "Looks like my stay here in Hope's Peak is going to be a whole lot more interesting than I thought."

'More interesting? What does she mean by that?' Hajime's stomach sinks, now wondering if he should've just kept his mouth shut and left as soon as he saw her.

Enoshima stretches her arms, letting out a satisfied hum as she did so. She gets up, and faces him with a grin that would send chills up someone's spine. "Well then, thanks for that, Hinata! I'll let ya know when Miss Detective finds something about her. Catch ya later!" She waves at him.

His eyes widen, knees half-bent as he's stuck between the choices of staying right there and following after her to get some answers. "Wait, how did you know my name—?"

But by then, Enoshima is already too far to hear what he's saying. She must've left the school grounds already, since he can't see even a trace of her from anywhere.

Slumping again on the bench, Hajime thinks back on the short conversation they had. She's nothing like what he thought of her to be, and if he's being honest, she feels awfully shady. Not to mention, the timing between his and her respective arrivals feel rather off too.

He isn't sure if he can even believe what she promised him, but if there's a chance...

Well, he guess he should just wait and see.

Chapter Text

Something’s ringing.

Hajime lets out an audible grumble. He’s supposed to be sleeping right now, but that thing managed to wake him up somehow. Though he’s conscious right now, he doesn’t bother to open his eyes, or even try to move from his current position. He figured that it’s not worth getting up to deal with whatever that is, and so, he pretends he doesn’t hear it.

Just as he figured, that annoying, ringing noise eventually goes stops. Satisfied, he rolls over to his side, chest slowly rising and falls as he feels himself slowly drift into sleep once again.

That relaxing feeling he just got back is quickly ruined when that damned noise starts ringing up again.

Out of instinct, he buries his face into his pillow while digging his fingers into the sheets, groaning in frustration. Whoever that is, it’s way too damned late for them do try calling him right now.

The ringing abruptly stops once again. Hajime thought that’d be the last of it, but no, right when he’s about to get comfortable, that thing starts ringing again.

He had enough of this. He grumpily yawns, lazily stretching himself up on his bed while he rubs his hand over his eyes. Although he’s gotten himself into a sitting position, he’s kind of slumped over. He reaches for his phone at his nightstand, but by the time he brings it forward, it seems like whoever was calling him hung up.

It takes everything within him to not chuck his phone off at that instant. He forces himself to calm down, now knowing to himself that it’s definitely some prank call, and he shouldn’t get too worked up over it.

Just as he’s about to put his phone back down, he hears it beep. “Urgh, what is it this time?” He looks over his phone, and then he squints, confusion now overtaking his earlier irritation. “Huh, what’s this?” He got a feeling he probably shouldn’t open it, but curiosity got the better of him, and so, he did.

He almost jumps back, his eyes widening when he sees what the text contained.

heyyoooo hinataaaaaaa

remember me?

As soon as his shock has worn off, he reads the text once more His eyes narrow; he doesn’t recognize this number at all.

Who are you?

The mystery person sends him two more messages. He can’t help but be unnerved by how quick they were in that.

aww you forgot about me already

we just talked some time ago , dontcha remember?

‘Talked some time ago?’ He racks his brain up, trying to recall if there’s anyone he recently talked with. Obviously, it couldn’t have been any of his classmates, otherwise it’d be really easy for him to tell who it was. It couldn’t have been Ms. Yukizome either; even if she’s way out there as a teacher, he doubts that she’d be the kind of person to text him late at night for thrills and giggles.

Aside from them, he doesn’t remember talking to that much people. Well, he does remember meeting up with some of his schoolmates sometimes, including a couple of freshmen—

He almost drops his phone when that realization struck him so hard.

Wait, Enoshima?

How the HELL did you find my number?!

LMAO i can’t tell youuuuu

that’s a little trade secret, hinata ╮(╯∀╰)╭

It’s probably just him, but he swears he can pretty much hear her laughing at him right at this moment. Hajime grunts. He can already feel a migraine’s coming up in his head after he read that.

What do you want with me this time?

omg you’re so rude

after everything we’ve been through together,
this is how you repay me? (; ﹏ ;)

‘That’s ironic coming from the same person who thought texting me really late at night was a good idea.’ This girl is definitely testing what little is left of his patience. He’s going to be honest; it feels so tempting for him to tell her to screw off right then and there.

Still, he knows that’s not going to make things any better for the both of them. He’s way better than this. He won’t stoop so low as to do that

Sighing, he swallows his pride and decides to be the bigger person as he replies to her,

Please, just get to the point already.

fiiiiiiiiiiine, have it your way

i decided to track your number down because
well, how else am i gonna update you about your ex

The corners of his lips twitch. There’s something about the way she worded those texts that bugged him; it’s like her mood suddenly flipped for no rhyme or reason. He never thought that Enoshima, of all people, would be so difficult to talk with, and that’s saying a lot, since he’s met a lot of nasty people before.

In any case, the fact that she’s tracked down his number (which is kind of a terrifying thought, but he’s too tired to think of those implications at the moment) to keep him updated with Chiaki’s case is kind of weird.

He thought that the most Enoshima would do is to pique the Ultimate Detective’s interest with that. He didn’t expect her involvement to get this far.

Speaking of the Ultimate Detective...

Since you went through all the trouble of getting my number

You could’ve at least sent my it to the Ultimate
Detective, since she’s the one who’ll be doing all of that work .

too bad

miss detective’s got a lot of super important stuff to do
so she got me to be like a relay between you two
or something like that

so now you’re stuck with me

deal with it

‘Of friggin’ course.’ Hajime exhales, pinching the bridge of his nose. ‘Why did I expect anything else?’

He guess he should’ve figured that someone who’s known as the Ultimate Detective wouldn’t have a lot of time to spare and the fact that she’s even considering to investigate something like this is already asking for a lot.

He sets his phone down on his bed for a moment, letting himself breath a bit more, and then picks it back up so that he can reply.

Guess I don’t have a choice then, huh...

noooopeeeeeeee <( ￣︶￣ )>

well then, i'll talk to ya again soon, hinataaa

peace (^^)v

Hajime stares at the last text she sent him a few more times. He turns his phone off, gently sets it down on his nightstand, and then he covers his face with both hands, letting out a long, dragged-out groan. It’s not even midnight yet, and he’s already having one bitch of a headache.

‘What did I get myself into?’

Jin can’t help but sneak a glance at the wall clock every few minutes or so. There’s a part of him that wonders if it would’ve been better if this had been scheduled in the morning. Any other time but now would’ve been far better, but apparently, it’s too ‘urgent’ for him to ignore, so he had to do it this late evening.

No matter, in about ten minutes from now, he’s going to have an appointment with a certain someone, and based on his many experiences, a one-on-one meeting with any of the Steering Committee members can’t mean anything good.

‘I wonder what do they want this time.’ A low grumble comes out of him. The slow ticking is slowly getting onto his nerves as each second passes by.

He closes his eyes and takes a deep breath to calm himself down. No matter what he personally feels about them and the way they run this school, he has to at least keep everything professional towards them. Especially so in regards to some...incidents that have happened a few times before.

‘Ah, speaking of them.’ He sighs. It feels rather tempting for him to palm his face right now. Depending on how this ends, this might end up souring his last waking hours for tonight.

As if it was perfectly timed, he then hears the impatient knocking over his office’s door. He knows that the door isn’t locked, and he’s sure that the person behind it knows it too. It’s a petty show of power, that’s all there is to it.

Deciding he might as well get things over with, he lets them know in a loud and clear voice, “Come in.”

The door clicks open, and from there, Mr. Akiyama steps inside the room. He proceeds to close the door, and for good measure, locks it as well. He then looks around the office for a bit, before going forward and taking a seat in front of him. “Headmaster, you’re far more accomodating than I expected.” He comments.

He raises a brow. If anyone who’s talking to him tip-toes and dances around the topic they want to discuss with him by using small talk first, then he knows that it’s something he’s not looking forward to hearing about. Shaking his head, he tells him in an exasperated tone, “Please get to the point, Mr. Akiyama.”

Mr. Akiyama nods. “As you wish, then. I’m sure you’re aware of how much Kamukura has progressed these past months, haven’t you?”

‘What kind of question is that?’ That raises another red flag for him, but for now, he puts it off. “Yes, I am well aware. I’ve heard she’s passing all of the tests with remarkable results.”

“Yes, indeed she has. It’s good that you’re well aware of that, then.” Mr. Akiyama remarks before he slips a folder on top of the headmaster’s desk.

Jin glances down on his desk for a moment, and then grabs the folder to take a closer look at it. From what he can see, there’s no labels on it. No names, no titles, no dates; just the folder’s plain front.

“You should read it in its entirety when you have the time,” Mr. Akiyama interjects, and then adds, “But because I want to keep this meeting as short as possible, I’ll be clear with you right now.”

He glances at him, and then back at the folder. Deciding to go with the older man’s request for now, he sets the folder back on his desk and nods. “Go on.”

Mr. Akiyama looks at him right in the eye, declaring in a firm tone, “We wish to create another Ultimate Hope.”

He’s always managed to maintain his composure, no matter how outrageous the kinds of demands he receives on a daily basis, but this one...there’s something about it that set him off.

Several images of so many youngsters, either whimpering in pain or slumped over and unmoving, flash by in his mind. A subconscious part of him knew that most, if not alll of them were around the same age as his own daughter.

Jin didn’t even realize it, but at that moment, he couldn’t control himself anymore. He stands from his seat, slamming his hands down on his desk as hard as he can, and for the first time in years, raises his voice. “Are you out of your mind? Far too many reserve course students have already died to create the current Kamukura we have, and now you want to create another one?!”

“Oh?” Mr. Akiyama raises a brow, but other than that, he doesn’t budge even an inch on his seat. “But I thought you were interested to see how far we can tap into talent’s potential, especially one at this scale.”

“Not if it ends up costing so many innocent lives!” He furiously fires back.

Mr. Akiyama only smirks in response to that. “Ah, but didn’t you fetch the escaped test subject back to us, despite knowing exactly what’d be in store for her?”

Jin finds himself tensing up upon hearing that; it’s as if those words have frozen every bit of muscle in his body. A bead of sweat drops down from his neck. He grimaces.

No matter what his reasons were for doing that, he knows to himself that Mr. Akiyama was right. He knows that nothing can ever excuse or justify that. Even now, he can still remember the cries and screams of that student, futilely banging and slamming against the door as he walked away, playing deaf to her pleas for help.

“Hmph. I thought so,” Mr. Akiyama puts his hand over his forehead while dismissively shaking his head. “You shouldn’t pretend you have the moral high ground over us, oh dear Headmaster.”

Jin grits his teeth. “Why you...” His fists are clenching so hard, it might’ve made his knuckles go whote.

The other man huffs. “Go on, then. Explain to me then why you thought it was necessary to return that test subject to us. Go on, I will not judge you, no matter what you decide to answer me with.” He shrugs his arms at the end of that.

Knowing that he has nothing to defend himself with, Jin goes back on his seat, quietly resigning himself to defeat. He pretends not to hear the quiet, satisfied chuckle from the gray-haired man.

“Anyways,” Mr. Akiyama clears his throat as he clasps his hands together. “I believe we’re getting off-topic. Now, back on discussing the next phase for the Kamukura Project, we do believe that creating another Ultimate Hope is the only logical next step we should take.”

“I’m assuming you want to do this as soon as possible?” The slightest bit of discreet anger slips out of Jin’s voice as he said that.

Mr. Akiyama shakes his head. “No. For now, we’ll continue monitoring Kamukura, in case if there are any anomalies that slipped past us. Depending on how much we can squeeze from this year, we may begin with the process of creating a new Ultimate Hope later this year, but that’s if we’re looking at it on a more optimistic note,” He strokes his beard in thought. “It’s more realistic and feasible to re-attempt the project next year.”

“I see.” Jin replies in a disinterested tone.

Shortly after, Mr. Akiyama turns to the wall clock and hums to himself. “I believe I must’ve overstayed my welcome long enough as it is. It was nice talking to you, Headmaster.” He slightly bows his head, and then he gets up from his seat immediately after that. Without even bothering to fix the chair back, he starts walking away from there.

His eyes follow over the gray-haired man, watching him in case if he does something.

Mr. Akiyama pauses in his steps. “Don’t forget,” He turns his head to face him one more time. “You’re as complicit in this project just as much as we are, Mr. Kirigiri.”

Jin quietly swallows the lump in his throat, but he maintains eye contact with him. He bites the inside of his cheek, to keep himself from breaking his stoic facade once again.

A few more moments pass by, and Mr. Akiyama breaks eye contact with him. The sound of his footsteps clatter off before coming to a quick stop. It’s then followed up by the click of his office’s door, letting him know that the gray-haired man has already left.

Jin exhales, slumping himself back onto his chair. Glancing at the folder Mr. Akiyama left behind for him, he opens it, skimming and scanning through each word in every page. Just like what he expected, the folder is all about the same proposal he heard from the same appointment ago, but with even more notes and details here and there.

His blood went cold when he sees a note that mentions having even more participants for this next phase. Despite the discomfort he felt, he continues to read on, and as he nears the last paragraphs of it, he subconsciously runs his fingers through his hair.

He shuts the folder down and sets it back on the table. A grimace comes over his face as he wipes his forehead with the back of his hand.

Once the Steering Committee has made their minds up, nothing can hope to stop them. Not even his authority as the headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy can put a a bit of a dent to it.

Kyosuke’s eyes dart all over the screen, fully taking in each word from the most recent emails he’s received from Mr. Tengan. So far, so good.’ He slightly nods to himself after he’s done reading them all. He closes them, allowing himself to sit back and relax for now.

To summarize, the artificial island for Hope’s Peak Overseas, is almost finished. In about a month from now, they should be able to start mapping out and constructing the campus on it.

For a moment, he flashes back to a time before all of this have become possible. He, along with Mr. Tengan, have been supervising this expansion project since about a year ago. He’s been diligently working on this for quite a while, he doesn’t remember the last time he’s been able to just sit and let his thoughts take over.

If Chisa was here right now, she’d berate him for working too much and kindly request him to take a break. And by that, he meant dragging him away from whatever he’s doing and if that doesn’t work, then she’d rope Juzo in too just to get him to stay down.

Kyosuke can’t help but a crack a smile at those fond memories. No offense to her, but he doesn’t have to worry that much about his current workload; this kind of work isn’t too hard for the former Ultimate Affluent Progeny, after all.

Speaking of them, he knows he sent them off to work at Hope’s Peak Academy back in Japan. From what they told him, Chisa was accepted as a main course teacher while Juzo became the head of the school security. He figured that he could trust them to report anything happening in there back to him, just in case.

He’ll admit that what he’s asking to do is basically spying and yes, he’s also aware of its implications. However, it’s still possibly the most efficient way for him to keep track and remain updated on whatever might be happening in the school.

He heard that a lot of changes have been made in the new administration. There aren’t much information at the moment, but a lot of their decisions have been...very questionable at best.

To bring one case in mind, in one of monthly reports Chisa and Juzo had given him, there was an incident that involved the reserve course department a year ago. They don’t know the full details because the school covered it up as much as they can, but what they know is that a student or two have been assaulted.

Aside from that incident though, neither of them have found anything incriminating about the school so far. The main course still functions the same as it was when they were students themselves, and there have been no major incidents, besides the occasional, rampant property destruction, courtesy of Chisa’s students.

She sounded really sheepish when she told him that. He might’ve chuckled a few times after hearing that.

That said, both of them mentioned that they heard of some rumors floating around. Something about a special program, or something like that. Again, the exact details are unknown aside from the ‘program’ supposedly involving reserve course students. These rumors were from gossip, so as far the ‘sources’ go, it’d be hard to find any of it reputable, or even find any leads about it.

He’s not going to completely dismiss it in case if there’s some truth to it, but for the time being, it’s very low on his priority list.

‘Speaking of which…’ Kyosuke lets out a sigh. When he found out that Hope’s Peak Academy launched the reserve course department, to say that he wasn’t pleased would be a huge understatement.

‘The reserve course of Hope’s Peak Academy must be horribly inefficient if most of its applicants drop out before the end of their first semester, let alone their first year.’ He snorts, shaking his head.

In any case, whatever his opinion may be on them, it doesn’t change the fact there’s got to be a reason why Hope’s Peak Academy opened that department up rather recently. The school has never allowed ordinary students in the entirety of its history, until a year ago, that is.

Randomly selecting a normal person from the entire population of the country in a lottery and deeming them as an ‘Ultimate Lucky Student’ is already pushing it. But, allowing anyone to enroll so long as they pay the high tuition and pass an entrance exam?

Even if they weren’t going to be part of the main course upon enrollment, there’s still a chance for them to be transferred if their exceptional talent has been discovered. So far, no student has actually managed to achieve that.

Kyosuke frowns. ‘What exactly are their true motives?’ He peers out at the window, now noticing it’s already gone dark outside. ‘And what are they hoping to achieve with this?’

None of it adds up in the end.

Chapter Text

Kazuo's steps come to a halt. Taking a quick look at the massive building that towered over him, he takes a deep breath. There's a heavy feeling that washes over his chest. It feels like nostalgia, but there's also a tinge of something bittersweet entwined in it.

He supposes that feeling it is only natural; he is getting old and thus, he can't help but be a bit more sentimental when it comes to these. Not only that, it's been a while since he's set foot on Hope's Peak Academy's school grounds. The building he's seeing before him isn't the same one as the one he was used to, the one he stayed in back when he was the headmaster. It's a lot bigger than the old building; he might even say that everything about it feels a bit more fancy.

But even so, the new building feels like a shallow copy of the original one to him. It might just be his personal bias and nostalgia talking, but it simply doesn't give him the same feeling. It probably won't make sense to anyone who'd hear about it, but that's just what he feels about it.

Ah, he's getting off-topic, isn't he?

He's not here just to visit the school he's fond of just because he's feeling a bit sentimental and nostalgic. It's partially one of the reasons, but, he has an even bigger reason on checking Hope's Peak Academy right now. It's something he's been wanting to take a closer look at since March, but because of his busy schedule, he isn't able to find a good time.

Until now, that is.

The old man scans his surroundings; none of the students are lounging around on the campus at this time. Not even a staff member or even one of the security guards is coming out and about to patrol these specific areas.

'But then, it is rather late now, after all,' He muses to himself as he stares at the night sky. But then, considering the time, it's not exactly nighttime anymore, isn't it?

Speaking of security guards, he finds it a bit odd that he hasn't seen Sakakura around these areas. If he's remembering correctly, Sakakura has been promoted to the head of security despite having only worked here for less than a year. Others would find that weird, but for him, it only proves how impressive he turned out to be.

One would think that someone as dedicated as Sakakura would be overzealous in patrolling the school. It seems like Sakakura's still human, after all.

Additionally, he's heard that Yukizome found a job here too, as the teacher of Class 77-B, and from what Munakata told him from time to time, she's really happy with them. He guesses he feels a bit happy for her too.

He walks off from there, using his flashlight to help illuminate the surroundings a bit, making his way to a specific destination in mind. It takes him some time, but soon he finds it. He turns his head around to search for it, and that's where he sees it.

The statue of Izuru Kamukura, the original founder of Hope's Peak Academy as well as its first headmaster.

'It still hasn't changed after all these years.' He lets out a breathy sigh, letting himself briefly reminisce on those memories some more, before making his way towards it. He shines his flashlight all around the statue, searching for something in mind.

It didn't take long for him to find it.

He puts his hand over that specific slab, and firmly pushes over it. He then steps back, hearing the slight rumbling of the ground, letting him know that the secret entrance is opening.

Around less than several seconds pass by, and the rumbling stops.

He takes that chance to step forward, looking over at the long pathway before him. His brows furrow; he's expecting for it to be dark, but from what he can see, there's a few lights on the walls, lighting it up only just a bit.

Unexpected or not, he doesn't mind it at all. Actually, it makes things a bit easier for him.

Kazuo glances from behind his back one more time; although there was no one else around besides him, he thinks it wouldn't hurt to check just in case. As soon as he confirms that there's no other person who's followed him into this place, he turns to face the entrance, turns his flashlight off before pocketing it, and then he descends into the underground lair below.

As his footsteps clack through the tiles, he thinks back. His memories of this place are a bit rusty, and if he's being honest here, he's not a hundred percent sure on exactly where his destination is, or where he's truly going at all. For all he knows, they might have slightly altered the layout, or even changed it as a whole, while he was gone.

For now, he goes on to walk straight ahead to keep himself from getting lost too early. He keeps walking for a while, until he spots, at least several meters away, two men standing right in a front of a door. Judging by their uniforms, they must be security guards.

Kazuo slowly approaches them. When he sees them tense up and prepare themselves, he raises both hands, letting them know that he's not a threat to them.

The once tense atmosphere between them simmers down somewhat, but they still remain a cautious air on them. He can't blame them at all.

"Hey," One of the security guards approach him. "You're Kazuo Tengan, right?"

"I am." Kazuo confirms as he nods. He sees their faces falter for a second, and so, he then hands them his ID to make sure.

One of them takes it from him. That security guard's eyes scanning over the picture and details, while the other eyes him closely, likely to compare his appearance with his picture on the ID. As soon as they're both satisfied with confirming his identity, they nod at him. One of the security guards opens the door, and gestures his arm, giving Kazuo permission to pass through.

Kazuo nods at them, giving them a quiet, "Thank you." as he goes inside. He then hears the door shut behind him.

Now that he's in this room, he takes the chance to take in his surroundings. There isn't much around in here, and he doesn't understand why the Steering Committee felt the need to keep this room dimly lit in green lights. If anyone asked him, he'd say that doing so felt rather impractical and unnecessary.

"We feel so honored that you decided to visit us right at this hour, Mr. Tengan."

He turns his head to where that voice came from, and sure enough, he sees Mr. Minami, the portly and youngest member of the Steering Committee. Said portly man is coming towards his way with a smile, and he's waving a hand slightly.

Mr. Minami's steps come to a halt. He keeps his half-hearted smile on as he adds, "I've thought that you've been far too busy with that new project. Hope's Peak Overseas is what it's called, if I recall correctly?"

It's hard for Kazuo to miss the hidden sarcasm in that tone. He shakes his head. "Munakata has done most of the work. My contributions are rather minimal in comparison."

"Hah, if you say so."

Although he feels a bit annoyed at that remark, he pretends not to notice it. He glances around the portly man, raising a brow as he noticed something odd about him. "If you don't mind me asking, where is Mr. Sasaki, Mr. Akiyama, and Mr. Mizushima? The four of you usually stick with each other as a group, right?"

"They're speaking with the headmaster at this moment." Mr. Minami answers. "I've heard that it might have something to do with this year's school festival, but I don't have any more details than that." He shrugs his shoulders.

After hearing that, Kazuo isn't sure if he can picture it. 'I wonder what made the rest of them so worked up for something as simple as a school festival.' Maybe that's something he can ask Mr. Kirigiri about once he gets the time.

Mr. Minami coughs into his hand, more or less signaling him to get his attention back. "Well then, if that's all what you want to chat about, come and follow me, Mr. Tengan. I'm sure the rest of our men have already arrived there," He flashes him a cheeky kind of smile. "You don't want to miss what our Ultimate Hope is capable of."

As Mr. Minami goes on ahead, Kazuo follows closely behind. He glances at their surroundings now and then, to get himself more familiar with this underground area. "Is Matsuda coming along? He was one of the bigger contributors to the project." He asks.

A disgruntled noise comes out of the other man. "Oh, that bastard. Don't expect him to. We were unable to drag him out of that cave he calls a room," He then adds in a heavily apathetic tone, "Not that we mind anyway. He may have assisted us well with the project, but he's still a massive thorn to our side."

Kazuo is sure that badmouthing someone like Yasuke Matsuda is a heavily unprofessional move on Mr. Minami's part, but since he has no right to stick his nose in their business, he doesn't bring that to light. Instead, he comments with a simple, "It sounds like he hasn't changed that much."

Mr. Minami scoffs. "If you've been there with us the whole time, you'd see where we're coming from."

"I suppose I'll take your word for it, then." Kazuo shrugs, not sure if he's supposed to add anything more to that kind of conversation.

With that flat response, that conversation ended up getting dropped as easily as it was brought up.

The two of them have been walking for a good while now. They've been walking a straight path, with a few turns here and there.

And then, Mr. Minami's steps come to a complete stop. Kazuo stops as well, and when he looks over, he immediately sees the reason for that.

As Mr. Minami goes forward, Kazuo keeps his eyes on him, awaiting on what he might do next. He watches him go in front of the door. He puts his hand in his pocket, takes a card out, and then puts it in. Once it's unlocked, he puts that card back in his pocket, turns the knob around and gets it open. They then waste no time getting inside.

"We're here." Mr. Minami announces in a cheery tone. He gestures an arm, as if to emphasize that some more.

Again, the door is sound shut right behind them.

Kazuo scans their surroundings. As far as he can say, this room has better lighting compared to the previous one. The lights are still a bit dim overall, but at least now, he doesn't have to squint his eyes as much. Other than that, he can also see that this room is a lot bigger in space. He might even say it's big enough to hold at least dozens of people without packing them together to make them fit.

That said, there is something else that caught his attention the most, however. From here, he can see that there's a large glass window that's set right in the middle of the room.

A sizable crowd consisting of men in white coats have already gathered in that area. The sounds of everyone chattering excitedly among each along, along with the distinct noises of lead scratching against paper, makes it seem like whatever is going on in there very important.

He walks towards that glass window to see what they're fussing about. Along the way, he quietly excuses himself, trying to keep himself from bumping with the other men as much as he can. Inevitably, he did bump with a few of them, but none of it was too serious.

It took him a while, but he somehow manages to get himself to the front at last. He peers through that glass window, and that's where he understood why everyone's making a big deal out of this.

He has only heard about her from snippets they sent him via emails, but now, he has finally seen the famed Ultimate for himself. It's Kamukura, the one that everyone in this room has deemed to be the Ultimate Hope.

Kazuo takes that chance to get quietly appraise her. Appearance-wise, Kamukura is definitely a young girl, the same age as the students of this school. Her attire is heavily formal, consisting of a suit, a tie, a pencil skirt, black stockings, and a pair of black shoes.

Another trait he took note of is the unusually long hair she has, which strikes him as kind of odd. But then again, it's not as if he has any right to judge anyone about it, especially not the Ultimate Hope herself.

In any case, he isn't sure exactly why, but he can't shake off the ominous aura he's feeling from her.

For now, it looks like they're testing her with a simple game of darts. As expected, every hit turns out to be a bullseye. It then eventually reaches to a ridiculous point where there is barely any space left on the tiny red dot on the dartboard.

The results are painfully clear, and as if on cue, another person comes in the room. She takes the dart off the wall without reacting much. It's like she, and perhaps others who are assigned to this kind of task as well, have already grown accustomed to doing this.

As he watches that assistant leave out of his periphery, he thinks to himself, 'There are several concerns I can't shake off from all of this. It might just be me, however.'

Someone blurts out with pure glee in his tone, "Our Ultimate Hope is rather lovely. Don't you agree with that, Mr. Tengan?"

Kazuo softly grunts, turning to face the person who addressed him just now. As he thought, that person is Mr. Minami. Slightly frowning, he doesn't answer that and instead, follows it up with another question of his own. "If I remember correctly, she was a student from the reserve course, wasn't she?"

The portly man faces him with a dumbfounded look on his face. His brows furrow and his lips press against each other, looking as if he's trying hard to come up with something to answer that question. He then shrugs. "Yes, she was one of the reserve course students before she undertook the project, but I don't see how it's so important, it's something that concerns you."

"She has no memories of her old identity anymore after the project has been completed, correct?"

"A-Ah," He stammers for a moment, seemingly taken aback by, before immediately recomposing himself after, and he clears his throat. "Yes, that would be correct. But please do not misunderstand our intentions for doing so."

Kazuo is tempted to follow that up with, 'And why should I believe whatever you'll say to justify it?' But, he didn't want to make the atmosphere even more tense than it already is. He sighs. "Then explain it."

Mr. Minami bows his head. "Thank you. As I said, we had to do it because we deemed to be necessary, based on what happened with the previous test subjects. If Matsuda hadn't erased her previous identity and suppressed her emotions, the result would've been…ugly, to say the least."

'Ugly?' Kazuo's eyes narrow. "Would you kindly elaborate more on that, Mr. Minami?"

A scowl briefly flashes by Mr. Minami's face, before quickly going back to a more amicable expression. "Subjects whose memories and emotions we didn't allow Matsuda to erase and suppress grew to be unstable. Far too unstable for us to handle any longer," He pulls on his shirt's collar while clicking his tongue. "There are some whom we've allowed to keep their emotions but not their memories, and vice versa. The results remained similar enough. The process wasn't pleasant both to them and to us."

"I…see." He replies, facing away from him to re-assess what he just heard.

Based on what he told him just now, Kazuo can only vividly imagine what it was like for those students who went through the project; he inwardly grimaces at the image. He doesn't know exactly how many students signed up for the program, but since this girl is the only one he can see in that room, and with Mr. Minami's account adding it up, he can already guess what had been done to the rest. A simmering feeling of anger tinged with sadness comes over him, but he keeps up his stoic facade for now.

For a second, he lowers his head, offering a silent prayer for those unfortunate children who didn't make it. He lifts his head up, and then turns to Mr. Minami with a stern look on his face. "Have you considered when their parents starts asking for their children?"

An eerily wide smile stretches over the portly man's face. "Funny you should ask that, Mr. Tengan. As far as these students' parents know, their children have been sent off to study overseas. It's rather convenient that Munakata has that little project of his happening around the same time," Mr. Minami cackles some more. "It makes it a lot easier for their parents to nod their heads off without asking any more questions."

Putting that slight insult against Munakata aside, Kazuo nods his head, replying in a cool tone. "Hm, I see." He then follows it up with, "You're truly certain their parents won't raise any more questions about that?"

Mr. Minami chuckles, shaking his head. "Of course not. When they do, our men will always find a way to take care of that problem in that regard, so it's nothing for us to worry about." He turns to him with a smile. "You know, it deeply wounds me when you keep doubting our abilities just like that."

Kazuo can see where this conversation is going, so he decides to end it with, "I apologize for that."

Mr. Minami's face scrunches up. He definitely did not expect that kind of answer, and so, he turns away from him with an annoyed, "Hmph."

Now, the conversation, in the way it was heading to, has been halted, at least for now. Kazuo took that chance to glance over what's happening in the other room. At least two more assistants have come in, carrying a table and a chair, respectively.

While those two are setting those up, Kamukura remains standing in the same spot she was while trying those darts. Kazuo sees her slightly tilt her head to the side; she's probably observing what those assistants are trying to do.

Speaking of, despite her artificial origins, it's came off to him as slightly surprising there's nothing wrong with her. Well, not in physical appearance, so far at least, but then…

Kamukura slightly turns her head around, and her eyes come into contact with his own.

It happened all so quickly, even someone like him ends up getting caught off-guard with that. A sensation he can only describe as something dangerous overwhelms his senses. It feels as if every muscle in his body has frozen solid at that moment. Every instinct within him is screaming at him to turn, to run away and get as far from the immediate threat as quickly as he can.

He bites the inner part of his cheek and forces those irrational instincts to settle down, trying to maintain his composure as best as he can. A bead of sweat slowly drips from the side of his head; he could make himself look away from Kamukura, but for some reason, he can't tear his gaze off of her. It's like her gaze has locked onto his own, refusing to budge or let him go.

Moments pass by, and Kamukura keeps staring right through him. It might be just him, or it might just be a trick coming from the room's relative dimness, but it feels like he saw her eyes glow red for a moment right there. Even if it was only his imagination, he still felt that shiver run up his spine when he noticed it.

He quietly gulps, but he stays right where he is. He doesn't show any emotion on his face, trying not give his fear away to the Ultimate Hope. A part of him wonders if doing that was futile, since it's highly likely she could sense his fear somehow anyway. She could possibly hear his heart beating so rapidly right at this moment too, he realizes.

After what felt like a decent amount of time has passed, Kamukura breaks eye contact with him and turns her attention back to the stack of papers that's been set on her table. The assistant who placed those papers quickly bows her head before turning to leave.

'It looks like she's quick to lose interest.' Despite what just transpired between them, he couldn't help but glance at her once more. He watches her take a seat, and then finish those written exams just as quickly and easily as she did with the darts game. It's so fast, it feels like she was done in less than the time it takes for someone to blink.

He may have his own thoughts about certain…issues with this project, but not even he can deny that Kamukura is more than exceptional as the Ultimate Hope.

At the same time, though, there is something in her that sets off his sense of danger. It's like her presence as a whole was enough to unnerve him. He thought it was only just him at first since everyone else seemed calm when interacting with Kamukura, but when he saw the way one of the assistants hurriedly left only a minute ago, that only solidified his uneasiness with her.

He shakily exhales, putting a hand over his chest. It's over, but his heart is still beating so rapidly and so frantically, he felt like if he took his hand off, it would burst out of chest by that moment.

Even though she isn't staring directly at him now, he can't shake off the uncanny feeling he keeps getting from her. There's something about her that…doesn't feel right at all. Forgive him if he ends up sounding a bit rude for this, but, to him, it's like Kamukura isn't truly human. It's like she's completely something else that's wearing the face of a human; nothing is out of place and in fact, it has everything accounted for, and yet, there is something beneath that exterior that throws it all off.

"Are you ready, Madarai?"

Kazuo is involuntarily thrown off from his thoughts after hearing that. He blinks, turning to the source of that announcement. 'Madarai? They're talking about Isshiki Madarai, isn't it?'

Just as he figured, another person has entered the other room. A young boy who also has unusually long hair; his attire is that of a completely black uniform. The most striking feature of that boy though, is the long tongue that's sticking out of his wide grin.

'There's no mistaking it. That truly is Isshiki Madarai, the Ultimate Mercenary.' Kazuo glances at the two, watching as the mercenary approach his opponent.

When comparing the two side-by-side, Madarai is clearly the taller and much better built of the two. Compared to him, Kamukura is still built like an ordinary teenaged girl. If an outsider sees them, they'd assume that Madarai would obviously win this, and Kazuo supposes he can understand that line of logic.

"And," The assistant brings his arm down. "Begin!"

Madarai is the one who makes his first move. He rushes towards Kamukura, procuring two dangerously sharp knives, one in each hand. With how fast he's moving, even someone who's been rigorously trained would have a hard time dodging him.

Time feels slower for the audience as they watch it unfold.

Kazuo hasn't truly blinked, not even once since that mock fight has been initiated, and before he and everyone else present knew, in the next second or less, three noises are heard at that moment. A loud thud, a metallic clang and a pained groan, respectively.

Everyone in this room can see it clearly. Kamukura has pinned Madarai under her heel. The mercenary grunts, weakly tries to get her foot off his chest, grabbing at it and trying to push it off. No matter what he did, it wouldn't budge.

"Madarai's in an awfully bad position. I wonder how the hell he's going to get out of this…" Someone from the crowd of observers comments.

Out of options, Madarai then proceeds to try and punch at her leg with all his might, most likely trying to make her hurt as much as possible and get her to move it off him out of instinct. It's not a bad gambit on paper, but…

She doesn't even bat an eye at each blow. Matter of fact, one might even say she looks downright bored when she presses it even harder.

Madarai chokes out. "I yield! I yield!" He yells, sounding like he's truly in pain while forcing himself to say that.

Kamukura stares at him, causing everyone to briefly worry she won't do that. A couple of tense seconds pass by, everyone holding their breaths on what she may do next.

Then, at long last, she lifts her foot off him, and Madarai takes that moment to heave, rapidly breathing in and out. He clutches his chest, briefly wincing at the contact, then that pained expression on his face quickly fades away, giving way to a heavily pleased one.

A loud, clicking noise resonates in that room, right exactly at the moment of Madarai's obvious defeat.

"Five seconds and two milliseconds." Someone, probably one of those men in white coats, notes out loud. "That's a new record Kamukura has set up right there." He adds in a slightly amused tone, even chuckling somewhat at the end of that.

'Is that correct?' Although Kazuo didn't let it show on his face, he is definitely astonished and maybe even impressed by that. Considering that Madarai is the Ultimate Mercenary, that's not an easy feat at all. He can't imagine anyone being able to beat him at all, let alone in such a short timeframe.

Then again, he supposes he shouldn't be so surprised; they did inquire him about their subject's progress since a few months ago. Still, there's something about watching how Kamukura perform those feats in person that feels a lot more impressionable to him.

'For all their failures and questionable methods, I'll admit that the Steering Committee has proven to be truly successful with this endeavor.' Based on his current observations, it's very easy to say that the new Kamukura is already living up to her title of 'Ultimate Hope'. In fact, he's sure some might even say she completely surpassed the original Izuru Kamukura, the genius of a human who founded Hope's Peak Academy in the first place.

'The Ultimate Hope, huh.' As he thinks about it more, Kazuo reflects on what he witnessed so far today. Kamukura is already this talented, already surpassing every last Ultimate student that came before her, there's no denying that fact at all.

And yet, based on some details he heard not too long ago, why would the Steering Committee want to create another one? They already achieved their goal, didn't they?

Before, he assumed the reason that maybe Kamukura had some slight defects with her, or maybe there's something about her that didn't satisfy them. But now that he's seen her in person, aside from finding her somewhat unnerving, he can't find anything that's wrong with her. She's performed well, maybe too well as shown with the mock fight with Madarai; that moment might've been a humbling, and yet, it'd also be a terrifying experience for him indeed.

So, why?

And then, it hit him.

It's so appalling, it would've caused him to gasp out loud. However, because he's in a room filled with far too many people, he forcefully keeps that to himself. The last thing he wants is to cause a scene in here, of all places; he can't let them know about it.

Even so, Kazuo feels his fists clench at that idea. The more he thinks about that possible reason, the more he intensely dislikes it. He doesn't even need to guess the implications behind their decision. If one Ultimate Hope is already this formidable, he can't even begin to imagine what it'd be like to have more of them around.

'Can we even handle beings like them on such a large scale? The one we have now is already leagues above the levels of most Ultimate students. I can hardly consider Kamukura as a normal human anymore.'

His hands shake ever so slightly as he vividly pictures the future that awaits not just them, but the world as a whole. 'Depending on how everything goes beyond this point, it's possible that a whole collective of Ultimate Hopes will lead us to one of the, if not the greatest age in our history…'

Kazuo looks back at the glass window. Kamukura didn't stare back at him this time, but he can't shake off the feeling that she knew she's being watched. She's the only Ultimate Hope the school has for now, but he had a feeling that will change sooner or later.

'And yet, there's also a chance they will lead us all to ruin instead.'

Chapter Text

Hajime already knew that their everyday lives in Class 77-B is far from normal, but even then, there are some days that are weirder than most. He takes one good look at the scene in front of the class, and by now, he’s figured that today is going to be one of those days.

Ms. Yukizome’s usually relaxed stance has changed into a more straighter, maybe even authoritative one. The usual cheeriness on her face has also been replaced with a hardened, more serious look. Without any warning, she then smacks her hand against the board several times.

What makes everything even weirder is the stuff she wrote on that board a minute ago.

HOPE’S PEAK SCHOOL FESTIVAL!!!

“Alright, everyone! Within a month from now, Hope’s Peak Academy is going to hold a school festival. They didn’t mention much, other than it’s going to be so much bigger than the other ones before. That’s why…” Her eyes close as she grits her teeth. Ms. Yukizome shakes one of her clenched fists. “We must prepare ourselves until that day comes crashing down on us!” She suddenly shouts louder than usual while smacking her hand against the board several more times.

That weird little speech-like thing aside, Hajime wonders how Ms. Yukizome’s hand hasn’t gone red and swollen by now; he thinks it over, and so he supposes that’s probably one of the perks of being the former Ultimate Boxer. Plus, if anything, he should’ve wondered how the board’s still in one piece without even a single crack on it despite the blows his ridiculously strong teacher landed on it. That’s probably something Hope’s Peak took into account, he thinks to himself in slight amusement.

He then blinks, now fully understanding the reason why their teacher’s acting even weirder than usual. ‘Oh yeah, I’ve heard that the school festival’s going to be pretty big, since it’s not just the Ultimates who are going to participate in it. I think I’ve heard that even students from the reserve course are allowed to come in.’ Upon thinking about the reserve course, he frowns.

It’s been months now since Enoshima last spoke with him. Or contacted him, for that matter, and so far, there hasn’t been any updates with Chiaki. Then again, he shouldn’t have been surprised; she did tell him that the Ultimate Detective is a busy person. Though Hajime’s curious on what might’ve happened since then, he also didn’t want to bother her or the Ultimate Detective (whoever that might be), so he didn’t try contacting Enoshima back, for now.

Besides, there’s something else he’s going to have to deal with for the moment.

Not wanting to linger on those thoughts for any longer, he gets himself back into the main topic at hand. That is, Class 77-B’s plans regarding the insanely massive school festival that’s going to happen by next month.

Mikan raises her hand. She gulps, slightly whimpers for a bit, and then asks, “U-um, i-isn’t that a bit too e-early, M-Ms. Yukizome?”

Their teacher points a finger at the lucky student, and her eyes start flaming up with an intensity that’s similar to the occasional lightning in Nekomaru’s eyes. “There’s no such thing as ‘too early’, Mikan Tsumiki!”

“Eeeek!” She squeaks at a higher pitch than usual and shrinks back into her seat.

Their teacher grits her teeth. Still enveloped by a really intense aura, she begins shaking her clenching fist once again, a lot harder this time around. “If anything, our class should get a leg up on the other classes!”

“I-I’m sorry!” Mikan clasps her hands in front of her, as tiny droplets of tears fall down her face. “I-I’m really sorry! I s-shouldn’t have said a-anything!”

Hajime finds himself awkwardly chuckling after seeing that, all while a droplet of sweat runs down his forehead. ‘I never saw Ms. Yukizome this passionate about something before since her first day as our teacher. I guess that school festivals must be a really big deal for her, then.’ He thinks about it some more, and then muses, ‘Then again, any of the last school festival I’ve been in have never been as big or as crazy as this one.’

“Alright!” Ms. Yukizome calls out, smacking the board once again for emphasis. “If you anyone has any suggestions, don’t hesitate to let me know!”

As if on cue, everyone slowly turns to face him. Komaeda in particular has a really, really intense kind of look to him; not even his gentle-looking smile did anything to tone down the intensity of it. Actually, it’s kind of eerie how literally everyone instantly thought about looking at him first for those suggestions.

“Hey now, guys. Please don’t look at me like that.” Hajime protests as he puts his hands in front of him.

“Come on, class rep.” Kaz says as he playfully elbows him, flashing him a dumb, toothy grin. “We’re all counting on you, you know.”

This is one of those moments where Hajime wants to question why he became friends and soul brothers with him in the first place. ‘I guess I don’t have much of a choice, then.’ He then softly sighs, now accepting his fate and scrambling up for a way to think about what their class can do for the school festival.

He inwardly gulps, only realizing just how screwed he is right now. No matter how hard he tries to think of something, for some reason, his mind just keeps on blanking up on him. Even if he really tries to force himself, the resulting idea ends up sounding so lame, he feels ashamed for even thinking about it in the first place.

But then, right at that moment, Sonia suddenly interjects with a hand raised as she stands up from her seat, “I think a haunted house would make for a lovely attraction!”

‘Oh, thank god, I’m saved!’ If he could, he might actually fall down to his knees and thank her with the same kind of energy Kaz would’ve done in his place. ‘You have no idea how much I owe you for that, Sonia—’

And then, the swordswoman just keeps going on and on about the kind of stuff she’d…er, love to add into that, with every last one becoming increasingly more graphic and disturbing than the last one. The whole suggestion doesn’t even sound like a haunted house attraction anymore, and instead, it sounds more like something straight out of a horror movie. A…very adult and very, awfully disturbing kind of horror movie, that is. The kind that kills people inside and sucks their innocence along with it.

‘Okay, that’s way too much information right there.’ Hajime grimaces, suddenly taking back the inner debt he just owed to Sonia a minute ago.

He may have been saved, but was the cost even worth it?

Even some of his classmates, including Natsumi, Hiyoko, and even Ryota, are starting to go completely pale at what they’re hearing. Not even Kaz’s friendship and undying adoration for Sonia is enough to shield him from those horrifying things his mind could never comprehend, and judging by the way his face looks right now, he looks like he just died inside.

“Alright, a haunted house as suggested by Sonia.” Ms. Yukizome repeats as she writes it down on the board, mercifully ending it all just like that. Somehow, she didn’t look disturbed by the things she heard from Sonia at all, not even a little bit, since she’s still looking as chipper as always.

As for Sonia herself, she doesn’t seem to be upset at all that their teacher cut her off. She just takes it in stride, sitting herself back down with a very giddy look on her face. She’s probably happy that her suggestion was even considered at all.

‘Huh,’ Hajime slightly squints, glancing at their teacher, then to his blonde classmate. ‘I wonder if those two actually think on the same wavelength.’ He thinks about it some more, and inwardly shrugs. ‘I guess it won’t be surprising if they do, now that I think about it. They’re a lot more similar than I thought.’

Ms. Yukizome then turns back to everyone with a smile. Although, it’s clear her...hot-bloodedness regarding the school festival hasn’t faded, not even by a tiny bit. “Is there anything else you guys wanna suggest?”

Teruteru raises a hand. He confidently smirks, and then proceeds to voice out his suggestion in some faux French accent, “I think our class should do a café.”

And with the way he (tried to) smoothly deliver those lines, it’s like he’s expecting a bunch of sparkles to pop out from him and into the surroundings. Like he’s something straight out of a girly romance manga.

“Okay then.” Ms. Yukizome nonchalantly says as she goes to writing that suggestion down on the board too. “A café as suggested by Teruteru.”

“So, so far, it looks our class could go either with a haunted house or a café.” Mahiru comments out loud.

“Really? A haunted house or a café? That’s really cliché, isn’t it?” Hiyoko dryly comments. “Please don’t tell me our class is this creatively bankrupt.”

“What about a crossdressing horror-themed café?” Teruteru suddenly adds in.

Hajime tries to imagine how something like that would play out. A blank look comes over on his face as he mouths out an unimpressed, “…what?”

Right on cue, Hiyoko immediately balks at that. “Are you stupid? No one would ever get scared of something like that!”

Those two went on with it, with Teruteru trying to defend that idea while Hiyoko mercilessly taunted him for his questionable tastes. Hajime thinks that the whole argument is ridiculous in the first place, so he opts to tune out most of it.

Suddenly, Ibuki raises her hands, yes, both of her hands, and then giddily says out loud in a really enthusiastic voice, “Ooh, ooh! How about if our class did a ferris wheel for the festival?”

Hajime blinks once, and then he blinks again as he thinks about that suggestion. 'Wait, seriously, a ferris wheel? How the hell are we going to fit a whole-ass ferris wheel in this classroom? Not to mention, can we even build something like that on such a short notice? There’s no way we’ll get something on that scale down within a month, even if we have the Ultimate Mechanic in our class.’

The more he thinks about it, the more holes he ends up finding in that kind of suggestion.

“Alright, a ferris wheel from Ibuki!” Their teacher adds in, noticeably sounding a lot more chipper with that suggestion compared to the previous ones.

‘Don’t tell me you’re going to just write down every suggestion you’re going to hear…’ He deadpans on the inside, all while giving off a slightly pained smile on the outside. ‘And please don’t tell me you’re actually considering that too.’

He may love his class, and he mostly got himself used to their sheer insanity by now, but there are still some days when he wants to question what’s going on in their minds. This is definitely one of those days.

A few more suggestions came and went by, and by then, Hajime is sure that almost everyone has pitched in their own ideas at some point.

By the near end of it, the class isn’t able to decide on which theme they should go for, so that’s adjourned until further notice. It didn’t help that each suggestion was progressively getting worse than the last one.

To say that their…class meeting didn’t end with a satisfying conclusion is a huge understatement, to say the least.

‘And to think that I was worried over my ideas sounding so lame too.’ Hajime mentally bemoans, briefly recalling some of the truly awful suggestions that came from Kaz and Akane and then internally shudders. ‘I think I understand now on why Ms. Yukizome wanted us to plan this as early as she can.’

It’s probably just him, but somehow, he gets the sinking feeling that this is only the start of other similar days. The only thing he can hope for now is that the next suggestions don’t turn up way worse than all the ones he heard of today.

Then again, these are his classmates he’s talking about, so he supposes it’s only a matter of time, either way.

A week has already passed by then, and unfortunately, their class still can’t truly agree with what they want to do for the school festival.

It wouldn’t have been so bad, if not for the fact that he’s going to have to attending a whole different meeting about it today too. This time, this meeting would include not just the representatives from the other classes, but the entirety of Hope's Peak Academy Student Council as well.

And considering that the main topic would be all about each class’s respective preparations for the school festival…yeah. It’s not like there’s a penalty about it, it’s just that, well, it’s kind of slightly embarrassing in a way.

The only thing that softens this is that, at least this isn’t really the first time he’s attended this kind of meeting, and until graduation comes, it won’t be the last time either. At the very least, it’s not as nerve-wracking in that kind of way, had it been his first time attending a meeting like this, that is.

It’s around afternoon by now, so he briefly but politely tells everyone a quick heads up right before he heads off to their designated meeting place.

Said meeting place happens to be that special classroom that’s been completely reserved for the Student Council, which is located somewhere at the top of the new building. It’s rather far from his classroom, so it might take him a while to get there.

The whole walk to get there ended up taking him at least less than an hour, though that’s just his rough estimation.

He knocks on the door, waits for a second, and then calls out, “Hello?” He waits for a few more moments, and before he knows it, he hears something behind the door. From the sounds of it, someone’s undoing a lot of locks from there.

The door finally opens, revealing a boy with short hair that slightly curls up a bit behind it. He’s wearing the standard brown uniform for Ultimate students. “Hey there, Hinata. You’re a lot earlier today.” The boy, Murasame, remarks with a friendly smile.

Hajime awkwardly chuckles back. “Yeah, it was kinda needed. Since, you know, my classroom really far from here.”

“Well, come on in, then.” Murasame gestures his arm towards the door. “Everyone else in the Student Council is already here, but you’re the first of the class representatives to show up.”

Soshun Murasame, another Ultimate Lucky Student from the same school year as Hajime’s class is in. When he first heard about it last year, he thought that it was kinda weird that before Clas 78 had enrolled, there were two Ultimate Lucky Students that got picked in one year. All he heard is that two names had come out at the same time in that lottery, which is why that happened.

As he enters inside, he can’t help but slightly shudder a bit. The size about…well, everything about it makes it feel less like a classroom, and more like a private theater of some sort. It still feels so unbelievable to him, even now. He can’t even imagine the kind of expenses Hope’s Peak Academy would throw into this.

True to what Murasame has said, the rest of the Student Council are inside the room already. Hajime didn’t talk a lot to them, even during the previous meetings, but he can still recognize most of them, even from here.

There’s a short girl sitting right by one of the desks, fidgeting around with on some notebook with a pen in hand. The most noticeable thing about her is the yellow hoodie she has on, and that same hoodie has two long ears on top of it.

It’s then he realizes that girl is Aiko Umesawa. Despite her cutesy appearance, she’s actually the Ultimate Student Council Secretary, and from what he’s heard, she can be competent with her job, as long as it isn’t her free time at the moment.

There are also a few more faces he’s familiar with, including Asukasei Hino, the Ultimate Student Council President, Karen Kisaragi, the Ultimate Student Council Vice President, and even Kotomi Ikuta, the Ultimate Disciplinary Committee Member.

Murasame then pulls a chair out, steps back, and then gestures his hand towards it. “Go on and take a seat, Hinata.”

Hajime lightly bows his head in gratitude, telling him a relaxed “Thanks.” as he lets himself sit down on the offered chair. After the long walk he took to get here, it feels so nice to let his somewhat tired legs rest for now.

Shortly after that, they both hear something. Both boys turn their heads to the source of that sound, and it goes on, it turns out, there’s another set of knocking coming of from the door.

“Excuse me? Is there anyone here?” Someone calls out from outside. Their voice sounds quite feminine.

“I’ll go get it.” Murasame says, quickly excusing himself before running back to the front door.

Since there isn’t much he can do for now, he decides to look around from his seat while he waits.

Though, the more he looks around, the more he notices that there’s a whole lot of seats around here. As in, there’s more than enough seats to accommodate at least dozens of classes in this one room. It definitely helps with the private theater impression he’s been getting in here.

A couple of short moments pass by, and Murasame comes back, this time with a blue-haired girl in tow.

‘Huh, she looks kinda familiar.’ Hajime wonders if he remembers seeing her before, maybe somewhere during the the start of this school year, before it clicks into his head. ‘Oh, right. She’s one of the freshmen from Class 78. I haven’t met most of them, but I think that might be Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Photographer.’

Murasame leads Maizono to the spot where other class representatives are supposed to sit by.

Or at least, he’s about to, but then a boy with red hair that sticks up like flames suddenly stands up from his seat. “Wait, where the hell is Naegi?”

Hajime quickly recognizes that boy as Sosuke Ichino. Despite his fiery appearance, he’s actually the Ultimate Swimming Pro, which is kinda funny, in some way.

He then notices there’s a pink-haired girl sitting by Ichino’s side too. From what little he’s heard of the recent news, she’s his girlfriend. Kiriko Nishizawa, the Ultimate Housekeeper. He has no idea how long they’ve been dating, and honestly, he doesn’t want to pry into it anymore than he already heard about.

“Oh, he got sick today,” Maizono explains. “So, I’m here to fill in for him, if you guys don’t mind.”

“Is that so?” Hino raises a brow. He glances over at his fellow Student Council members, quietly gesturing at them.

The rest of the Student Council follows through with that, turning to each other. They give off the feeling of huddling into one group, as they begin whispering to each other. Some time passes by, and then they break off the group.

“Well,” Hino clears his throat, before turning his attention back to Maizono. “I think that should be okay, as long as you let him know about what he missed out on.”

“Sure, that’s fine with me. I’ll be keeping that in mind.” Maizono reaffirms with a nod and a smile. She then takes a seat, sitting right by Hajime’s left side.

It didn’t take long before the other class representatives start coming in this meeting room. It felt...kind of surreal the whole time, to see so many Ultimate students come in at around the same time. Despite that, though, somehow the room’s overall capacity still only filled at least halfway through, even with having so many Ultimate students at once in this area.

Once every class representative and Ultimate Student Council member has been accounted for, Hino comes right to the middle of the table. He stares them all down, and then officially starts it off with, “I won’t stave things off with an unnecessary speech, so I think we should all get to the main point of this meeting.”

“The school’s cultural festival, right?” One of the class representatives asks, raising his hand up.

“Exactly.” Hino replies in a deadpan tone. “It’s only less than a month away now, but that doesn’t we should slack off until it comes. That’s why, at this meeting, we’re going to discuss what each class is going to do for the festival.”

At Hino’s prompting, the others start to pitch in their class’ ideas, with some of them being confident about it, and others, not nearly as much, with Kisaragi taking note of each one of it. All of them sounds rather interesting, and also rather overwhelming in some way. Hajime supposes that’s as expected from really talented people like them.

Speaking of that…

Kisaragi then turns her attention to him. “So, um, Hinata,” Her fingers twiddle on each other, most likely out of habit. “Has your class already decided about their part in the festival?”

Hajime grimaces, suddenly remembering snippets of those class meetings, and then he shakes his head. “It’s already been days, and we still can’t agree about that for some reason.”

Ikuta looks at him with sympathy. “That must be really tough.”

“Knowing your classmates, I think that’s not surprising at all.” Hino deadpans, pushing the brim of his glasses back up with an audible sigh.

“I’m sure we’ll think of something.” He awkwardly replies, to sorta defend his class in some way. He thinks back on some of the more recent class meetings they’ve had, and then hopefully adds, “So far, though, I think some of them are leaning heavily into the haunted house idea.”

Hino still looks rather unimpressed by that. “Hmm, that’s nice, then.” He says with a slight shrug.

Kisaragi continues, now turning her attention to the blue-haired girl. “How about you, Maizono?”

Maizono replies with, “Oh, our class is planning to do a school play.” She puts a finger over her chin, and then adds, “Though, we still haven’t decided which source material to go with, or if we’ll create an original one.”

“Ah, okay, then. That sounds really nice.” Kisaragi nods in acknowledgment.

As they’re nearing the middle of the meeting, Suzuko Kashiki suddenly comments out loud, “Oh, yeah, speaking of the school festival, the Lil’ Ultimates are going to participate in this too, right?”

Daiki Kubo hums like he’s thinking about that, and then blurts out, “Yeah, I think so. I’ve also heard that the reserve course would be able to come in the main course too. I think this is the first time they’re allowed to do that, actually.”

A pang of sharp pain comes through Hajime’s chest when he heard that.

“Hinata, are you okay?” Murasame asks in a concerned tone.

Hajime forces himself to smile, pushing all those thoughts of Chiaki away from him as much as possible. “It’s nothing at all, really. I just…” He suddenly pauses, trying not to wince as he tries to think of a good excuse, before finally answering him back with, “Just…an upset stomach, but I swear I’ll be fine.” He insists.

Murasame slightly frowns. “Oh, if you say so, then.” From the way he replied, he didn’t look fully convinced by what he said, but at least he didn’t try to pry any further than that.

Other than that, nothing much happened during the rest of the meeting. The only things that really happened are things like re-reviewing some of the other class’s shops and attractions and giving them some tweaks when necessary, discussing the opening and closing ceremonies, and how the best class attraction contest would work. Just to name a few.

And so, that concludes their meeting for Hope’s Peak Academy’s school festival. Aside from his class still being unable to decide on what they should do for that and Naegi being unable to show up for the meeting, it went off well without a hitch.

Chapter Text

It's only one more day before the start of Hope's Peak Academy's school festival.

Somewhere before that, their class went along with the haunted house suggestion, since compared to the other ideas everyone else proposed, it sounded the most viable and the most fun, at least according to a good number who voted. Thankfully, it's been heavily toned down from Sonia's original idea, though at the same time, though, it's still very nightmarish despite that.

Everyone in the class began to work really hard with it, contributing to their class attraction as much as they can. Even Teruteru had sorta dropped some of his pervy levels down while helping out in his own ways, just a little bit.

For one, the costumes were made by Ibuki herself (which was pretty unexpected, no one knew she was this good at sewing), and honestly, they're scarily impressive. Even the bravest of men would scream and cry if they saw those costumes. Akane would sometimes assist in that too, mostly with the props for those costumes. Though for obvious reasons, Ms. Yukizome would always double check on them to make sure they're safe to handle.

Ryota helped in directing the movements of the monsters, managing to figure out which are the best ways to effectively scare people while still keeping them completely immersed in it. It turns out that working with directors who made adaptations based off his manga helped him figure that out somehow, along with his actual talent.

Sonia, having been the one to suggest it in the first place, is also one of the primary contributors to it, along with Gundham and Kaz assisting her.

Nagito handled most of the errands, including trips to the hardware store and such, in order to get the materials they'd need. Sometimes, Mikan would tag along with him, just in case if there's a lot of material, or if it's too big or too much for just one person to handle.

About what Hajime did, he more or less managed everything behind the scenes and kept everything under control. Which means that, yeah, all the not-so-fun stuff like keeping track of their budget and other similar stuff came under him. He didn't mind it that much, though.

Then they even went as far as planning and preparing for souvenirs like spooky-themed food, courtesy by Nekomaru, and some charms. They're also considering having Mahiru sketching (or full out painting) the best moments of those, based off the footage captured by the installed cameras, depending on the price and the shot requested.

Though, there is one thing that kinda bothered Hajime a bit. Not because it's bad, but even compared to the weirdness his class gets into, it made him raise his eyebrows a bit.

Class 77-B's Haunted House Attraction

Be ready for real thrills and chills!
Get your heart pumping and your blood rushing!
Kickstart and improve your relationship with the person you love!

Yeah, the last one is heavily out of place, especially for a frigging haunted house, of all things.

When he first saw that, Hajime's got a good feeling on whose idea was that. He remembered discretely squinting at a certain shark-toothed animal breeder, who then suspiciously began to whistle innocently and pretend he didn't notice that at all.

Speaking of that, it's actually kinda surprising that Ms. Yukizome approved that kind of advertisement for it at all. He even swore he saw her kind of blush after seeing that slogan for a brief moment.

'Ah well, if that ad helps it sell well, then I guess there's nothing else to complain about it,' Hajime inwardly resigns to himself, giving that poster one last look before slightly shaking his head. 'Even if still sounds way too ridiculous to me. Who would combine horror with cheesy romance like that?'

Now that they've finished preparing the last touches to their haunted house, their class is going to stay here overnight, to ensure that they'll be prepared way before the culture festival officially starts. In hindsight, that might've been a bad idea, because a few screams have been heard already. It eventually died down after a few hours, but it was still rather startling.

Hajime has no idea what time it is now, but he gets the feeling it's somewhere close to midnight, if not already passing it. He figures he should get himself to sleep as soon as he can. Overthinking things won't help him get any closer to getting drowsy.

After yawning once more, he makes himself comfortable in the futon their teacher provided, and then he exhales, letting his eyes flutter close as he slowly drifts into a peaceful sleep. Somehow, subconsciously, he knows he's going to need all the rest he can get for tonight.

Tomorrow is going to be a very, very long day ahead for him and everyone.

Morning came around a lot quicker than he'd like, and contrary to how he would've preferred, he didn't get that much rest at all. It's not so bad to the point he'd fall over himself, but it's not exactly the complete hours of sleep a normal person should get either.

'I guess I can't complain too much about it.' Hajime thinks to himself before letting out an audible yawn. Even though his body didn't feel like it at the moment, he still makes himself get up from the futon, ignoring the softness that's beckoning him to come back. He then stretches himself, and then goes off to checks on the official time. 'Huh, it's still five-thirty in the morning.'

If he remembers correctly, excluding the opening ceremony, the culture festival will officially start by around nine in the morning. In any other situation, he'd feel tempted to go back to sleep and wake up after thirty minutes or so. Not this time, though.

'In any case, here it is. The culture festival of Hope's Peak Academy.'

Hajime yawns once again, blinking as he rubs over his eyes. He figures he should prepare himself first, right before he'll go check on the others, and if possible, get started to waking them up too.

It didn't take long before everyone is up and prepared too, somehow. Aside from Kaz (who looks like he got negative amounts of sleep, what with the layers of eye bags he's got), the others look a lot better than Hajime did, in terms of getting some sleep, that is.

And then there’s Ms. Yukizome, who somehow looks even worse than anyone else did in their class. However, in spite of that, she’s still as cheerful as she always is. She turns to them, raising a fist up as she loudly cheers,

“Let’s do our best, everyone!“

The current time is around eight-fifty in the morning. Just ten more minutes before people, including other Ultimate students, Lil' Ultimate students, reserve course students, and even outsiders, will start flooding in.

Hajime squints, taking a good look from outside the window. If he's being honest right now, he has never seen this many people in any other culture festivals before. Or any other similar school events, for that matter.

So far, their haunted house is getting a moderate amount of people around. A good number of them are mostly couples, but he does see a whole group of friends popping in now and then.

In the meantime, they decided to go and send Sonia, Gundham, and Kaz off to walk around the school and promote their haunted house some more. Sonia and Gundham were pretty enthusiastic about it, and they pretty much dragged Kaz around when they left.

About why their class did that, they thought that it might be pretty effective in drawing some more potential customers around, but then again, considering that trio's combination, it might even be a little…too effective, so to say.

For now, everyone's taking turns in shifts, with at least a quarter or so of the class taking on the role as the attraction's monsters. Then, the other remaining half, while waiting for their turns, would watch over what's going on outside of the haunted house, including the customers and those souvenirs and such.

Which includes him, who's currently overseeing the customers as well as looking over their attraction's earnings. They've accumulated a fair amount so far, which is looking pretty good on them.

About the others who are currently working as the attraction's monsters, he knows that Hiyoko is a literal gremlin whose main job is to grab at people. Judging by the look in her eyes when she heard that, he had a gut feeling that she might end up enjoying that job a little too much. His gut feeling ended up getting proved exactly right when he heard multiple high-pitched screaming within the past couple of moments.

Speaking of taking shifts, Mahiru is the only exception to that, since she's going to handle those souvenir commissions.

As minutes passed by, though, it feels like he blinked for just a moment, and before he knew it, there are way more people coming over to their attraction, compared to how it started out. In fact, he's sure that individual faces are starting to blur out to him.

It didn't take long time as a whole becomes a total blur to him. Once he got the chance to breathe again, so he checks over the clock once more. He audibly exhales, letting himself slump over on the desk. 'Damn, it's only been two hours, but it already felt like half a day has passed.'

"Hey, Hajime." Akane calls out to him. "We're short on one person. Mind if you fill in?"

Despite the sheer mental exhaustion he's got, he says back to her with a slight smile and a nod, "Alright." He gets himself up, and then stretches his stiff limbs with a satisfied huff.

After checking over the one who'll take over his spot, he breathes out in relief when he sees it's Ryota. He then heads off to their changing rooms in order to get himself prepared. As he gets to changing into one of the available costumes, his mind starts to reflect on a few things.

He's never done this before, so he can't help but feel a bit nervous about it, even with Ryota's surprisingly firm direction in mind. He really doesn't want to screw this up for everyone, not after they've all worked so hard this far.

But at the same time, he also feels pretty excited about it.

Sosuke will admit a few things. The first thing is, he never felt so dead inside before he was forced to wake up at an ungodly early hour; to be exact, around four AM in this morning. Like, seriously, who the hell wakes up in that kind of time?

Yeah, he gets it. He's part of the Ultimate Student Council, and today is going to be one of the biggest events of Hope's Peak Academy. He really does get the big deal about it, and why it's so important for them to take it seriously, but please, cut him and everyone else some slack now and then.

His mood didn't really improve when Hino started assigning everyone to go and patrol the school grounds throughout the day. But then, when he saw that he's going to partner up with Kiriko, suddenly all of his tiredness melted away just like that. He can't let himself be a cranky grouch, not when he's with her.

So now, that's what they're here for now.

'Remember,' Sosuke reminds himself as he takes a deep breath. 'This is just another student council duty you've got to do, not a date.'

Glancing around their surroundings, it still feels so unreal, even to him. He knows that most of the Ultimates aren't the only ones participating in the event, and that even outsiders are allowed to go in here.

But even so, he never thought he'd see so much people around here. It feels so crowded, even with considering the massive school grounds in mind. Though, from what he can see so far, it looks like they're all having so much fun. He supposes that's all that really matters.

As he and Kiriko walk on even further, he narrows his eyes. From there, he can see a small group of students, three boys and a girl, gathered around somewhere in that corner. He decides to quietly come closer to that area, with Kiriko following close behind him.

Once they're close enough, he glances over at that group's uniforms, and then frowns. 'It looks like they're from the reserve course.'

Those four reserve course students don't seem to be doing much for now, aside from whispering and such. Sosuke can't exactly make out what they're saying, but then the girl in that group starts getting more vocal.

She tosses her arms up and loudly grumbles, "It's like throwing breadcrumbs at us and expecting us to be happy with it."

Sosuke decides he's heard enough, and makes his presence clear as he clears his throat in front of them.

They suddenly go quiet as soon as notice him, freezing up on the spot like they'd been caught doing something they shouldn't have.

He hasn't even said anything to them yet, but those four students immediately scramble out of there. 'I wonder what was that about.' The whole situation baffled him, but since they haven't done anything yet, he decides not to go after them, for now, at least.

They've finished the last of their patrols and then reported back to the rest of the student council, including what he saw and heard from those reserve course students. So, now that they're done with that, they're free to go and leisurely walk around to enjoy the school festival. Hey, just because they're part of the Ultimate Student Council, it doesn't mean they can't have some fun too.

Speaking of that…

Sosuke can't help but look at her with so much adoration in his eyes, every now and then. 'I love her so much.'

He can't believe it took him this long to finally man up and spill his feelings out to her. He'll admit that he was way too scared to do it, and if it weren't for the combined efforts between Soshun, Tsubasa and Taro, he might've never done it at all.

That day will always be ingrained on the back of his mind. To say that he's glad that she felt the same way for him too would be a very big understatement. It makes him wish he confessed about it way sooner, but oh well, better now than never at all.

"Hey, Sosuke, we should go check that out!" Kiriko suddenly calls out, lightly tapping on his shoulder.

'Crap, I got lost in my thoughts.' He quickly snaps himself out of it and then looks over to where Kiriko is pointing at. He blinks in confusion; all he's seeing is just a small group of three people walking by. The group is composed of a blonde girl, someone who looks like major poster boy for all chuunis out there, and some punk-looking guy with dyed hot pink hair and a beanie.

Upon looking closer at them, he then realizes that all three of them have the same slogan on them. 'It looks like they're advertising for their stall or something.'

He squints, now noticing something else on those slogans too. 'Oh, they're from Class 77-B, huh? They must be Hinata's classmates, then.' He blinks, and then checks on the slogans again. 'Wait a minute…a haunted house?'

So far, he has only heard most of the wackier stuff from word of mouth from this morning. Apparently, there's something about Class 77-B's haunted house attraction managing to help start new relationships, as well as improving existing ones somehow.

He has no clue on whether that was part of their advertisement or if that was just something the students spread around for some reason. Assuming it's the first option, he's got no idea why they went with advertising it like that, but it clearly worked like a charm, given with how so many students kept talking about it. Talks about that even reached up to the Student Council, even though they're nowhere near close to its location.

Either way, there's no way in hell he's going in there. Forget about the haunted house, he's heard all about the crazy stuff Class 77-B as a whole, and the kind of headaches they've caused.

It looks like Kiriko might've read his mind, as he can feel her grab even more onto his arm.

"Hey, come on, Sosukeeeee…" She even tugs on his arm for good measure. It didn't hurt at all, but it put the point across. "It'll be fun! I can feel it."

He awkwardly chuckles, playfully shaking his head. "Alright, you've made a convincing argument right there." It looks like he couldn't resist Kiriko like this at all, especially not when she kept insisting with such a cute, pouty look on her face too.

And so, the two of them start looking around for where the haunted house attraction might be. All the while, he can't help but wonder exactly why she wanted them to go in that kind of attraction. Not that there's anything wrong with it, but, she didn't seem like a horror fan to him.

Just as the famed haunted house became clearer in their vicinity, suddenly, a realization dawns upon him.

He knows he can be kind of dense sometimes, but even so, he almost wants to slap himself for not realizing it sooner. She may not have directly said it to him, but it's clear why she wants them to go in there. A haunted house is the perfect place to huddle close together.

Another realization comes to him after that, and once again, he wants to slap himself for not realizing it immediately. Of course a girl like her would love the idea of her boyfriend protecting her from something really scary. This is the perfect chance for him to impress his girlfriend.

Even if the danger isn't real in here, he's going to show off just how well he can protect her. And he definitely won't be scared of some fake-ass monsters in there too, while he's at it. It's not like they can actually hurt anyone, anyway.

Besides, even if the others said it's so terrifying, it might as well have come from straight from a horror movie, he doesn't believe it'd be that bad. They've all got to be exaggerating, right?

Not to mention, even if the haunted house was as scary as they said it is (which he highly doubts), he's sure that nothing can ever terrify him anymore. Not after all those times he got….a certain kind of treatment from the Ultimate Nurse a year ago.

Once they get there, he then sees that there's a surprisingly long line ahead of them.

Sosuke frowns in disbelief. While yeah, a lot of people did talk about it, but he didn't expect for this kind of attraction to be that popular. He wonders if the talk about starting or improving a romantic relationship was the biggest draw to that, especially since even Kiriko was drawn to it for that kind of reason.

Fortunately, even though the line was long, it was also pretty quick to get shorter as time went on. When it looks like their turn is getting even closer, Sosuke stares down at the…strangely ominous entrance with a heavily determined look.' I'm going to look so cool in front of her.' He clenches his fist.

After that, they got themselves checked in, including signing a waiver before entering for some reason. In hindsight, that should've tipped him off, but with how excited Kiriko looks about the whole thing, he decided to let it slide for now. He'll assume they added that just for the fun of it, and not because it's actually that bad, right?

Now that they're inside, well, he's gotta say, he's kind of impressed with how…convincing the interior is. The grime and dust all over the place, plus the occasional creaky noise on the floor, he'll have to give it to Class 77-B for going all out with it. Though, it looks less like a haunted house, and more like a creepy maze or dungeon of some sort, in his honest opinion.

He quietly gulps. It's probably just him, but it feels like the eerie atmosphere is starting to get to him—

'No, stop that right now.' Closing his eyes, he steadily inhales, and then exhales with gritted teeth. 'Come on. Keep yourself together, Sosuke.' He reminds himself as he lightly taps on his cheeks with both hands. 'You can't let yourself look lame in front of her.'

As they walk on, he then hears something that sounds like piano keys smashing each other. It startles him a bit, making him pause from walking for a split second right there. Swallowing, he looks around, checking if there's anything that will pop out to scare the hell out of them.

He quietly breathes out a sigh of relief when nothing did, but still, he keeps his guard up, just in case. That's always the kind of trick they go with in these kinds of stuff.

While he tries ignoring the cold sweat dripping from his forehead, he then hears Kiriko whimper from his side, no doubt still shocked by that noise from earlier. Out of instinct, he reaches out to hold her even closer to him.

Something drops in front of them. He couldn't make out exactly what it was, since it's so dark, but it did make Kiriko jump a bit. He holds her closer to him as he discretely moves faster than usual; he'd rather not stick around and investigate what that might've been.

Sosuke isn't sure if they're any closer to the exit, or what time it is now. All he knows is that, he definitely felt something grab at his ankle a while ago, and it took everything within him not to react, no matter how much he wanted to flinch. Since Kiriko didn't even notice anything weird, he counts that as a success.

He blinks. 'Is it just me, or was there something else up there?'

Somehow, even in this kind of darkness, he sees something move from the corner. But, by then, he realizes too late that it's heading right towards him and Kiriko. He wasn't even thinking anymore as he shoves himself right in front of her in an instinctive yet futile attempt to shield her from whatever that thing is.

His jaw involuntarily drops out, his irises shrinking down to dots.

Even though the surroundings are so dark, somehow, his vision goes white.

A moment after that, an unusually high-pitched noise starts ringing in his ears. Sosuke dazedly realizes too late that those noises didn't come from Kiriko or from whatever the monster is in front of them.

That high-pitched noise came from him.

Around a few minutes or so ago…

Hajime grunts as he put himself in some kappa costume. It was pretty big, and rather hefty too. Not so much to the point it's hard for him to breathe and move around in, but still.

Once he's sure he's got everything in and closed the costume, he checks himself out in the mirror.

"Wow."

He's going to be very honest here. This costume looks way too good for a simple haunted house attraction like this. Actually, it feels like it belongs more in a high budget movie or TV series.

Now that he's got himself fully…'dressed', so to say, it's time for him to get in the haunted house.

At the moment, he's just going to do nothing. Other than staying in his spot while waiting until some unlucky sap walks their way here, then he can do his usual thing. Which is, of course, jumping out from his spot and chasing after them.

While waiting for his cue, he thinks back on how it started. From underneath the costume, he can't help but crack a tiny smile. He remembers all the fun, and not-so-fun times they've had in the past month while preparing for this.

He thinks he might've already lost track of how many people have visited their haunted house attraction already. It's still too early for him to say for sure, but…

'It would be nice if our class wins.'

He then hears something that sent chills down to his very core, making him nearly jump himself out of his skin right before he suddenly realizes, 'Oh yeah, that was just Ibuki.' His shoulders slump. 'She's setting the horror atmosphere for this one a little well, though.'

After a couple of more moments, he hears footsteps creaking his way. 'Looks like that's my cue, then.'

He straightens his posture, getting himself ready as he looks over on who might be coming. It's a good thing that they installed something that lets anyone who wears this costume see in the dark.

As soon as he sees who those people are, he can't help raise a brow. 'Ichino and Nishizawa? Huh, that's the second time someone from the Student Council came here. Oh well, please don't take this too personally, you two.'

Without wasting any more minute, he runs towards them, at least, as much as this costume can allow him to. Once he's close enough to them, he presses a button from within, activating a mechanism that allows the kappa costume's eyes to glow brightly.

'Shit!' He curses, realizing too late that he set the brightness up too high.

Hajime watches as Ichino throw himself in front Nishizawa with open arms. But then suddenly, Ichino's eyes start to widen and, well…he never thought that he'd hear such a high-pitched shriek come from Ichino, of all people, but here he is right now.

After about a minute or so of screaming, Ichino grabs Nishizawa by the wrist, and he proceeds to sprint out of there as fast as he can, all while the very confused girl holds on for her dear life.

Hajime tries to recap what he witnessed just now. Yeah, his ears definitely didn't deceive him at all, and neither did his eyes, for that matter.

'I think I might have to keep this to myself for now, though.' Hajime thinks to himself with a slight smile. 'He still has to keep his reputation up as someone from the Ultimate Student Council, after all.'

Chapter Text

The second day of Hope's Peak Academy's Culture Festival has officially begun.

If anyone ever thought that the first day was already hectic, well, it's barely even been a few hours at most by now, but it looks like the second day is about to outdo that.

Again, the first day has already been filled to the brim with a lot of people, consisting of fellow Ultimates, reserve course students, Lil Ultimates, and even complete outsiders. Based on how extremely busier things have gotten, the amount of people might've doubled, no, at least tripled in size compared to how it was yesterday. And that's without the fact that it ended up reaching national news too.

Despite the ever-growing demand and the crowds of people getting bigger by each minute though, somehow, the whole school is still able to manage that, even if it ended up making the students at least thrice as busier. It helps that there's plenty of shops and attractions to choose from, too.

Though, since there's a lot of them, there were some that have become so well-known, they more or less became the unofficial highlights of the event.

One of those would be the haunted house attraction of Class 77-B. It was surprisingly popular, despite literally everything about it, along with being filled with nightmarish stuff that ordinary people can't even begin to imagine. To the point that even the most strong-willed of people, both Ultimates and non-Ultimates, would come out as sobbing and shaking wrecks after their trip in there.

Aside from that, there's also the school play of Class 78. Apparently, they went with an original story, instead of going for any popular established ones. From what a lot of people have said, the play's story was surprisingly moving; it might've been thanks to Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Animator, who created the concept, the script, and even directed through the play.

It's even more impressive considering that, even though everyone in that class is an Ultimate (obviously), most of the cast had zero acting experience, since acting basically had nothing to do with their talents.

There's a lot more other than those two, but so far, those are the ones that people talked about the most, along with a cross-dressing maid café from one of the other classes.

In any case, the culture festival of Hope's Peak Academy has gotten bigger than before, and it's not exactly going to slow down just yet.

It didn't take long before time started blurring out a lot more, and before anyone knew it, they're slowly approaching at least halfway through the end of the school festival.

Hajime finds himself sitting by one of the public benches. He lets out a deep sigh of relief, and then stretches out his stiff and sore limbs. He'll admit that even though the whole event was pretty exhausting, it was also pretty fun too.

At the same time, though, he feels grateful for Sonia taking over managing the haunted house at the meantime. It helped in giving him some much-needed rest, especially after how hectic these past days have been.

He hears some steps nearby. Out of curiosity, he turns his head around, and then sees that there's another person by his side, another boy, to be exact. If he had to guess, that boy probably took a seat there just now.

As he looks at that newcomer some more, he watches the boy stretch his back with a hum. Judging from the look on his face, he looks pretty exhausted. Not exactly the soul-sucking kind of exhaustion, but more like the 'did nothing but a bunch of chores and other related activities for the whole day' kind of exhaustion.

Hajime blinks, having noticed the thick strand of hair that's sticking up on the boy's head. He immediately recognizes who that person is. If he isn't wrong, then that boy might be Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Motivational Speaker.

Without even thinking about it, he suddenly blurts out, "You're Naegi, right?"

The boy turns to face him after hearing his name. There's a surprised, and also, somewhat flustered look on his face. Naegi blinks for a few times, stuttering out a few half-formed words, before finally calming down and then replying with, "Ah, yeah. You're…Hinata, from Class 77-B, then?"

At that moment, Hajime suddenly realizes just how awkward the whole situation was, and it's technically his fault for causing it in the first place. "Yeah, I am. Sorry for disturbing you." He replies with a rather sheepish nod.

Naegi waves a hand off. "No, no, it's okay. You don't have to apologize for it."

Several quiet moments go by them. It's so quiet, someone might even be able to visualize a couple of crickets chirping in the background.

Hajime quickly realizes how awkward it's all starting to become, and so, he tries to think of a way to break the ice that's now forming around them, so to say. Glancing back at him, he asks, "So, uh, what brings you here?"

"We just did the last show of our play today." Naegi replies, a weary smile coming over his face. "Everyone's gone off to go have some fun after we're finally done with it. I just went here to catch my breath for a while, but I should be able to join back with them after this."

Hajime painfully smiles in sympathy. "That does sound like it's a lot to deal with." He can't even begin to imagine how exhausting in managing the whole school play routine of Class 78 would be, especially with Naegi's position in mind. Not to mention, the preparations their class had to do beforehand.

Naegi breathes out. “It really was, especially when I made myself catch up to everyone after I got sick for some time. No one blamed me for it, but I felt so bad for it.”

‘Yeah, I remember that. Maizono covered for you during that meeting too.’ Hajime lightly shakes his head. “It can’t be helped. But you know,” He begins, gently steering the conversation to something a bit lighter. “I’ve seen the play too. Honestly, it was way better than how people said it was. I didn’t expect that kind of story, and that ending really tugged so hard my heart. And then there’s how everyone acted so well too.”

Naegi awkwardly chuckles, slightly scratching at the back of his head as a faint blush goes over his cheeks. "Wow, haha. You, uh, really think so?"

Hajime sincerely nods. "Definitely."

A few more seconds of silence go by them, before Naegi points out, "So, Hinata, I'm guessing you're here for the same reason too?"

"Yeah," Hajime leans back on the bench. "I guess you can say that."

Time passes by them as they keep talking with each other some more. Now that the atmosphere is cooling off from the initial awkwardness, something dawns upon Hajime. Though he has seen Naegi a few times already, especially during those Student Council meetings, but believe it or not, this is the first time he's actually talked to him like this.

Hajime internally frowns, thinking back on the complete silence Enoshima has given him these past months. "Hey, Naegi. Would you mind if I ask you something?"

Naegi turns to him. "Sure, what is it?"

Before a single word can come out of him, Hajime starts to feel cold at that moment. 'Is it really okay if I bring this up to him right now?' Swallowing all his will, he then says to him, "I've heard that one of your classmates is the Ultimate Detective, and I was wondering about a few things—"

Naegi shoots him a highly confused look as he interrupts him. "Wait, Ultimate Detective? What do you mean by that, Hinata?"

"Huh?" Now it's Hajime's turn to be confused. He isn't sure if he heard that right, but he continues his question with, "Uh, you do have someone who's the Ultimate Detective as your classmate, right? I thought that Hope's Peak Academy's forums mentioned something about that."

Naegi pauses, as if he's thinking about that some more, before shaking his head. "I did hear about the same thing from those forums, but no, I don't think we have an Ultimate with that exact title." He pauses for a split second, and then adds, "Then again, Kyoko has worked with detectives before, so I think some people heard about that and then confused that information with her title. But the truth is, she's actually the Ultimate Analyst."

"Wait, the Ultimate Analyst?" Hajime repeats in disbelief.

"Yeah, Kyoko's the Ultimate Analyst in my class. It's not the first time someone got confused about that." Naegi confirms once again with a nod. "If it isn't too much trouble, why are you asking about it?"

Hajime slightly shakes his head as he replies, "It's nothing. But thanks for telling me about it, anyway." He internally reviews the new piece of information Naegi gave him, wondering to himself, 'Though, if there isn't actually an Ultimate Detective in Class 78, then that means…'

The realization suddenly hits him, and his eyes go wide. Without any warning, he then gets up from his seat, turns to face Naegi, and slightly bows in apology. "Sorry if this was really abrupt, but I think I've got to go now."

"Huh, okay, then…?" Naegi awkwardly replies, all while looking really dumbfounded at the entire situation.

Not that Hajime can blame him for it, though. He knows that if it was him in the same situation, he'd act pretty much the same way, no doubt about that. But for now, there is a certain 'fashionista' he has to talk to.

Searching for a certain fashionista was a lot more challenging than expected. Matter of fact, Hajime isn't even sure on where he'd start at all. For once, he wants to curse out on how ungodly big the main course's school area is. He knows it's going to take him forever before he can find where Enoshima can be.

But still, he's got to try somehow, at the very least. It's either now or never.

And so, that leads to him searching around the school, starting off with inside the building itself, no matter how futile it felt. Rather predictably, he isn't able to find anything about the fashionista, even when he asked some of his schoolmates around for her. From what they told him, no one's really close to her.

By the time he's sure he's searched most of the classrooms and asked just about everyone in the building, he decides to take a short break for now. He puts his hands over knees, panting a lot harder than he ever did in his whole life.

He has no idea how long he's been running around, looking for Enoshima without a single clue, and he's sure that he must've looked so weird in front of his peers. Though, he decides not to think about that part for now.

As soon as he manages to catch his breath once again, Hajime straightens up his back. He inhales one more time, closing his eyes, and then slowly exhales. He's still on zero progress, but nevertheless, he wills himself, going back on the search.

Since he didn't find even a single trace of Enoshima anywhere in the school building, he supposes he should start looking around the school grounds itself, which would be even more challenging. If the building is already ridiculously big, the school grounds as a whole might as well be twice as much.

At the very least, he's slightly thankful that the crowds of people aren't as big now, but it still made walking around a bit tough. He already lost count on how many times he had to say "Sorry" or "Excuse me" every time he ended up rubbing shoulders or bumping into someone without meaning to.

As he's going on his way, his eyes dart and scan around at every corner he can see. He's keeping himself alert in case if he ever manages to spot a familiar pair of blonde twin tails. As per usual, still no sight of that fashionista around here.

Before he can take any more steps, he then hears something growl. He puts his hand on his stomach, quickly realizing that he hasn't eaten at all this afternoon.

Left with no other choice, he decides to put his search on hold for now. Walking around, he looks around at the available food stands, wondering which one he should try out. From what he can see, there's a takoyaki stand at that area too—

Hajime slowly blinks, all while a look of heavy disbelief slowly making its way over his face. He reviews the sight before him a few more times, even rubbing his eyes a few times while he's at it, double-checking if he's lost it already.

As soon as he confirms that yes, what he's seeing is real and that no, he hasn't lost his mind yet, he does a few things that any reasonable person would do in his position. He closes his eyes, pinches the bridge of his nose, and then audibly sighs out loud in exasperation. He never felt so tempted to slap himself silly, until now.

'Seriously? She was right there all along?'

There's Enoshima herself, all right, sitting down on one of the available seats without a care in the world and munching on a whole bowl of takoyaki. Right before she can stab the last takoyaki with her toothpick, she notices him. A smile goes over her face as she giddily waves at him. "Oh, hey there, Hinata! Long time no see!"

At that moment, Hajime can already feel some of his veins popping up. It doesn't help that she's so casual about it too; way more casual than he's comfortable with, to be honest. Still, as annoyed as he is with her, he bites down his grimace and forces himself to smile, even a little bit.

"I guess I could say the same thing to you, too." He replies in a half-casual, half-deadpan tone as he makes his way towards her. Once he's right in front of her, he puts his hand down on her table. "So, would you mind telling how the Ultimate Detective is your classmate if she doesn't even exist?"

Just like that, the once cheerful expression Enoshima had a couple of minutes ago immediately drops. A mild frown makes it ways over her face as she looks around their surroundings.

Without breaking eye contact with him at all, she stabs the last takoyaki in her bowl with far more force than she needed. She takes a bite out of it, and in a few seconds, it's gone. After she's done with it, she sets the toothpick back on the bowl.

"Ya know," She begins, as a passive-aggressive kind of smile goes over her face. "We can't exactly talk right here. There's lots of people running around since it's the school festival, and who knows if those old geezers put up some cams or bugs around here."

A bead of sweat runs down Hajime's forehead. "What the hell do you mean by that?"

Enoshima winks and playfully replies to him, "You'll see what I mean real soon~!" She proceeds to stand up from her seat, and without even bothering to warn him, her hand snakes out and then grabs him by the wrist.

Hajime tries to protest, but soon he finds himself getting dragged away from there. He glances around at their surroundings, trying to check on where exactly Enoshima is planning to take him. His face starts flushing all over beyond belief as soon as he realizes that she's dragging him off into the student dorms. He can't do anything but pray that no one has spotted them like this and get the wrong idea.

Though, in case if things do end up going south, he knows that he should be able to pull himself off her. Or, if he really has to, push her off him and then run off as far as he can.

Soon, both of them enter Enoshima's dorm room. "Alright, we're here!" She cheerfully announces to him, acting like there's nothing awkward about a boy and a girl entering the same room at all.

On his end, Hajime's trying the best he can to stay calm as much as possible. He still isn't sure on how he's supposed to feel about this, especially with him taking a seat on her bed. "Enoshima, I don't know what you're planning, but one of your classmates told me that there is no Ultimate Detective in your class—"

She puts a finger over his lips, cutting him off. "Oh, don't be so silly, Hinata." She then snickers at him, like she finds his shocked expression to be pretty funny. "I'm THE Ultimate Detective."

He stares silently at her for a few seconds, processing the information in his mind. No matter how many times he goes over it, he isn't sure if he heard that. "Huh? It's…you? You're joking, aren't you?"

"Sure, I don't look the part, but it'd be sooo boring if I was that obvious."

"But…I thought that you're the Ultimate Fashionista?"

Enoshima looks at him like he's the crazy one. "Do you seriously think that someone can have only one talent?"

"Not exactly, but I'm sure that Ultimates only get one title while they're attending Hope's Peak Academy." Hajime shrugs.

She wags a finger at him. "Oh well, it'd be too complicated if I were to explain it you right now, so let's get on with what you're here for. I assume you're here to ask about the progress regarding your ex-girlfriend, aren't you?"

He can't help but growl in irritation. "For the last time, we weren't like that at all."

"Whatever you say, lover boy." Suddenly, she dons on a pair of eyeglasses and also somehow managed to do her twin tails into a single ponytail within the blink of an eye. "The truth is, I wasn't able to find anything about her."

Hajime raises a brow, suspicious about what she's implying. "How come?"

Enoshima is pretty nonchalant about his response. "Yeah, that's exactly my reaction too. I still have no idea why it's that, and I'm the best goddamn detective in the world. Though," She runs a finger over chin. "I did find something you might find interesting about your favorite school."

"What do you mean by that?" He murmurs, feeling his blood run cold at that moment.

"To say that I've found a lot of dirt surrounding Hope's Peak Academy would be quite the understatement. There's so many that I've found, it might take a whole day or so to get through them all. But for your sake, I'll go over to the bigger ones and get to the main point." She pushes the bridge of her glasses. "Before we get into that, let me ask you one thing, Hinata. You do know about how a good number of the reserve course resents the main course, right?"

Hajime bites his lip. He doesn't like where she's going with this, but he slowly nods. "Yeah, I do."

"Do you know why that is?" She presses further.

"It's because they don't have the same privileges as Ultimate students, isn't it?" His eyes narrow.

She shakes her head with a smile. "That's partly why, but you've got that wrong, Hinata. The truth is, what's actually going on in the reserve course is a whole different can of worms. Envy and resentment towards the Ultimates is only scratching the surface."

'What the hell are you talking about?' Hajime has never felt so tempted to snap at someone like this before. And yet, he can't bring himself to do it, at least not right now. The least he can do is wait and hear everything she has to say before he can call her out on it.

"Believe it or not," Enoshima continues. "There's a lot of cases of teachers mistreating or even abusing their students, along with the school using the tuition paid by the reserve course for prettying up the main course's school grounds. Then there's also some allegations of the school as whole committing bribery and tax evasion, among other things."

Upon hearing that, Hajime can't take it anymore. He suddenly stands up, barely holding himself back from yelling at her. "Hope's Peak Academy can't be doing that!"

"Oh? And why not, Hinata?"

"Because…" Hajime grits his teeth. He shakes his head. "I just can't see them doing any of those things you're accusing them of."

"But I'm not accusing them at all. That's all based on what I found so far."

"It could easily be from people making up lies about the school." He rebuts, his fists involuntarily clenching and shaking.

"Sure, go ahead and believe that, then. In any case," Without any warning, Enoshima goes forward and traces one of her long nails along the side of his jawline. "You'll keep this between us. Isn't that right, Hi-na-ta?" She says that to him in a chipper, sing-song tone.

From the way she presented, it sounded less like a request, and more like a threat.

Hajime quietly gulps. He isn't sure exactly what Enoshima is capable of, but something tells him that he should take her word for it, at least for now. Wordlessly, he slowly nods at her.

"I'm so glad we're thinking on the same level here. Don't worry, I'll still let you know if I find anything about your friend, but remember that, okay?" She giggles, letting him go and now acting like she hasn't threatened him at all just now.

"Y…Yeah. I'll be sure to keep that in mind." He mumbles back in reply, all while wondering to himself, 'Was it really a good idea to get her involved with this?'

Since no one asked him about it, Hajime supposes it's safe to assume that no one saw him with Enoshima a while back. He doesn't want to think about any of that anymore, and so, he pushes them to the furthest corners of his mind.

Early evening has already come around, officially ending the school festival.

As popular as it was, Class 77-B's haunted house attraction didn't win the competition. Instead, the award went to one of the classes that did a cross-dressing maid café attraction. It didn't bother anyone at all, though, since managing the haunted house was still pretty fun in its own right.

Though, without even realizing it, Hajime ended up tuning out most of the remarks from the closing ceremony. He couldn't help it, not when his mind keeps on thinking back on the talk he had with Enoshima not too long ago, no matter how much his pushes it back.

He only snaps out of it once he feels someone put a hand over his shoulder. He turns to face that person, and sees Kazuichi's worried face staring back at him.

"Is there something wrong, Hajime?" Kazuichi asks.

Hajime forcefully smiles and then shakes his head. "It's nothing. I was just feeling a little tired from the festival, that's all."

The other boy frowns, and presses on a little further. "You sure about that?"

"Yeah, I'm sure." He reaffirms with a quick nod.

Thankfully, Kazuichi didn't press any further than that, and for once, Hajime is kinda glad that no one else in the class questioned him about it too.

Once everything about the closing ceremony is done and over with, all remaining Ultimates scatter around outside of the school gates. A good number of them are talking about what they're planning to do this evening.

Even everyone from Class 77-B isn't an exception to that. Sonia and Ibuki, in particular, are pushing towards a karaoke night for the whole class. It isn't the final decision, but at least half of them are leaning towards that idea.

Their conversation is filled with other talk similar to that, with some of them pushing for a different group activity altogether. Though, the evening karaoke idea is still in the leading one by a landslide.

At least it was like that, until Ryota ends up blurting out,

"Hey, has anyone seen Ms. Yukizome?"

Chisa holds in a breath, keeping herself steady at her current position. She carefully adjusts the cap on her head, tilting it at an angle to keep anyone from recognizing her immediately. So far, no one has spotted her yet, especially not the one person she's keeping an eye out at this moment.

Normally, she'd be heading home immediately after this, especially after all the exhausting work she's been doing for the festival, along with the usual (and just as exhausting) school duties she has to do.

But then, she ended up hearing some reports from Juzo, something about seeing Mr. Tengan come over to the founder's statue a bit too frequently, over the course of these past few months. He said that he heard about it from some gossips around the reserve course, though because of his whole 'head of the security' duties, he never had the time to check it out for himself.

So, that leads her right to where she is now; her discretely tailing after their former headmaster. While yeah, there's nothing about those rumors that should be worth investigating, but she can't help but find something a bit…off about them.

Don't get her wrong, it's not that she hates him or anything like that, really. Mr. Tengan is a good man, she knows that. It's just that, well…it's kinda hard for her to put it more clearly, but, she guesses she just had a gut feeling about it.

So far though, there isn't anything too incriminating yet, since it's just her following him around to wherever he might be going to. From how things are looking, it looks like he's just talking a normal stroll around these school grounds, even though it's already this late.

Then again, if it turns out there's nothing to worry about at all, then she'd leave immediately without any fuss. And of course, she will also mentally apologize to Mr. Tengan for following him around without him knowing about it.

Suddenly, she watches him abruptly stop by. Accordingly, she discretely does the same, her eyes following through the light shining from his flashlight, and as soon as she sees it shine on something, she swallows.

There's no mistaking it. That's the statue of Izuru Kamukura, the founder of Hope's Peak Academy.

'Looks like those rumors were right. Though, now I wonder why he visits here that often' As she thinks about it more, she inwardly muses, 'Heh, maybe it's because he's feeling nostalgic?'

Without any warning, Mr. Tengan then turns around. His eyes seem to be darting all over the place, almost like he's checking if anyone has followed him. He's even moving his flashlight around to check on his surroundings.

Chisa feels her heart stop for a moment when the flashlight comes millimeters close to shining on her face, having narrowly dodged it at the last second. All without making a single noise that would give her position away.

After what feels like a long minute, Mr. Tengan breathes out, turning back as he visibly relaxes.

Chisa thinks that's the end of it, preparing herself to leave as quietly as she can, but then her eyes narrow as she notices something. 'Wait a minute.'

Thanks to the light still coming from his flashlight, she watches him press on a slab at the wall. Shortly after that, something begins to rumble. Her eyes still following the flashlight, she then sees what looks like to be stairs leading down, which she assumes would be a secret entrance of some sort.

Chisa watches the former headmaster begin descending on those stares, his flashlight dimming as he goes further down, until he slowly disappears from her sight, right into the underground's darkness.

She then notices that the entrance is about to close. Although she has no idea about wherever it might lead into, she wastes no time and discretely follows him in as well.

Chapter Text

Chisa hears the entrance completely close behind her, now sealing her within this semi-pitch black room. At that exact moment, she wants nothing more than to slap herself so hard right there, internally cursing herself for not bringing her night vision goggles, especially now of all times, right when she needs them.

Oh well, there's no point in her complaining about it, especially now that she's here.

Back to her current situation at hand, the more she thinks about it, the more…odd it's all shaping to be.

'What is Mr. Tengan doing in a place like this?' She tries to imagine what his reasons could be for doing so. As much as she doesn't want to think badly of him, she isn't sure if she can find anything innocent about a secret dark basement in the school grounds. A quiet gulp leaves her throat. 'I know it's still too early to say for sure, but somehow, I got a bad feeling about this. I really hope I'm wrong about this, though.'

While getting her eyes adjusted to the darkness, she goes to walk on, following the faint light ahead of her as best as she can, and based on what she knows so far, she can only assume the light is from Mr. Tengan's flashlight; though she can't say that for sure just yet. She can't exactly see who or what is holding that faint light up.

Her steps are still light and quiet, to keep anyone from getting alerted to her presence. She hasn't seen anyone in there yet, but it's a lot better to be safe, just in case. The last thing she'd want is to jeopardize her position, and by extension, Juzo's as well.

As she continues on, suddenly, the light she's been looking at for guidance abruptly disappears, just like that.

'Huh?' She blinks. As the realization dawns upon her, she forces herself to keep her breathing steady. 'Calm down, there's got to be something I can do about this. Freaking out right now of all times won't do any good.'

Since there's nothing else she can do by that point, she decides to set up a new goal for herself: finding the nearest light source to this place before anyone can spot her. It's a lot tougher than it sounds, considering that she lost her only lead a few moments back. Forgive her if she sounds a little paranoid, but if she were to pull up her phone and use its light, there's no doubt someone will spot her.

So, for now, she has no choice, but to rely on her sense of touch to get through her dark surroundings. Her hands stretch out to feel for something, anything she can palm or feel on. She quietly breathes out in relief when she finally feels something touch her palms. It's a bit cold, and since it feels like it's got a bigger space than she can see, she assumes that it's a wall.

She continues to walk on from there, all while using the wall she found as her guide. Though, since she still can't see anything at the moment, finding an area with some lights might take her a while. Though, she's hoping it won't take her too long; she can already imagine the consequences if she fails to do so.

The longer she walks in this…basement of some sort, the more she notices that it's not actually as dark as it looks. In fact, she's sure that she could actually start seeing bright white lights of some sort from there.

Chisa wonders if she should start heading towards there. She still isn't sure if that's the exit or not, and for all she knows, there could someone up there. But then, being able to see where she's actually going would be so much more helpful compared to what she's doing now.

She makes her mind up, and so, she heads to where those bright lights are, still taking quiet steps.

Before she knows it, she ends up getting closer to the light. A heavy sense of relief comes over her; things are starting to look so much better for her, both figuratively and literally. But, just as she's about to step into that area with bright lights, suddenly, she hears some footsteps heading towards her way.

Her instincts kick into heavy overdrive, and without thinking much about it, she immediately hides herself from view. Footsteps that aren't from her can only mean one thing; there's another person in there.

Her heart begins to beat faster than it ever did before as a bead of sweat drops from the side of her head. 'This is bad.' She grimaces. One of the worst case scenarios in her situation is starting to happen right now, and she's got to think fast if she wants to get herself out of here.

Steeling herself, she slightly tilts her head, and cautiously takes a peek from her improvised hiding spot, and just as she thought, what she's been fearing has been confirmed. Even a brief glance at that man's uniform is more than enough to let her know he's a security guard, and from the looks of it, one who happens to be patrolling around this area too. Weirdly enough, though, he seems to be the only one around here; Chisa supposes that made things a bit more manageable, but she can't relax too much for now. For all she knew, there could be more of them nearby.

Her mind gets to work, all while she keeps taking quiet deep breaths to keep herself steady. She isn't sure if her plan is going to work, but she supposes she has to try.

And so, she stays still in her hiding spot, patiently waiting for the security guard to come close enough. She checks on him once again, still making sure to keep herself hidden, and just as she thought, that security guard is returning to this area. However, this time his back is turned from her view.

Chisa sees her chance right there, and almost immediately, she springs out from her hiding place without making so much a single noise.

She puts her hand over the man's mouth; she can already picture his eyes widening from shock, but she refused to let that deter her. She didn't even give him the chance to scream or make any noises as she keeps holding him against her chest.

The security guard struggles against her hold, flailing his limbs all around in a vain attempt to free himself. When that didn't work, he then puts his hands over her arm, this time, trying to pry off the hand that's covering his mouth.

She immediately realizes what he's trying to do. Without wasting any more time, she firmly pushes him face-first against the nearest wall, keeping him pinned in place by using her whole body weight. She keeps covering his mouth with one hand, and then quickly presses two of her fingers onto the side of his neck, as hard as she can. But at the same time, she makes sure not to press it too hard; she doesn't want to cause any real harm to this man.

The security guard movements grow more erratic and violent, becoming more desperate than ever to escape from her, this time out of base survival instinct. But no matter how much he tried, she refuses to budge, keeping him pinned to the wall and her fingers kept pressing more to his pressure point.

Over time, the man's struggling begins to get groggy, slower, and clumsier by each passing second. And just like that, he goes slump in her arms without so much a whimper.

Chisa turns her head around a few times, quickly checking if there's anyone else with him. As soon as she confirms that there's no one else here, aside from the two of them, she proceeds to go and carry the man over her shoulders. She then moves to find a more secure spot in this area, and as soon as she finds one, she goes to gently setting him down on the floor.

She looks over the unconscious security guard once more, and a somewhat sheepish look goes over her face. 'I'm sorry. I know you're just doing your job.' She puts her hands together as she mentally apologizes to him. 'I swear, it's nothing personal, really!'

Shortly after that, she gets down on the floor and checks over him. She sighs out in relief after confirming that he's still breathing, and that she can still feel his pulse. Though, even though she managed to knock him out, there is still a few more things she's got to do.

'I'm really sorry for this, but it's better to be safe than sorry.' Chisa mentally apologizes to him once again with a very, very sheepish grin. She then checks the back of his pants' pockets, and sure enough, there's a pair of handcuffs in there.

The situation is a bit funny, in the ironic kind of way, she internally muses as she puts his hands behind his back, and goes with putting the handcuffs over his wrists, securing them in place. After that, she grabs his necktie and undoes it, and then ties it around his mouth as a makeshift gag of some sort.

Other people might say she's going a bit overboard with this, but she can't have him screaming for help when he wakes up. Though, hopefully by that time happens, it'd be hours from now, and she'd already be gone from here by then.

She checks over him once again, she begins rummaging through his clothes, just in case if there's anything she can use while she's out here. Yeah, she's basically mugging him by this point, but it's for a good cause, she swears.

After some time of checking through his stuff, all manages to find is a card and a set of keys. It might not be a lot, but she's sure she's going to have to use it at some point, so she pockets them. Once she's sure there's nothing else on him, she hoists him up. She then walks on ahead, carrying him to a spot where he'd be by himself for a while, and also where people wouldn't be able to spot him rather easily.

Now that she's done with that, she continues on with the main task at hand; get back to looking for where Mr. Tengan might be, and if possible, investigate why there's a frigging secret basement right under Hope's Peak Academy. Again, she's really hoping that the two cases have no connection to each other at all.

She isn't sure where she's going in here at all, and she's sure she lost track of which rooms or areas are which by now. The frustration slowly building up within her, she presses her hands against her face and internally bemoans, 'Forget about calling this place a secret basement. This place might as well be a secret maze instead!'

If Chisa didn't think that she was lost before, she knows she definitely is right now. She has zero clue on wherever she might be right now; it doesn't help that almost every nook and cranny in this place is practically identical to each other, so it's even harder for her to keep track on where she is.

At first, she thinks that she reached a dead end. But then, right before she can try to backtrack her steps, she notices a door close by, somewhere at that corner. Curiosity gets the better of her, and so, she walks towards it, slightly wondering about where it might lead to.

But, just as she's at least a couple of feet close to it, she pauses from her steps and then looks around, in case if there are any more security guards around this area. As soon as she sees there aren't any this time, her hand goes through her pocket, and she takes the keys she got from the security guard she knocked out a while back, out of it. Holding them out, she goes on ahead and checks if any of them can fit in the keyhole.

She tries to put the first one in, frowning when it couldn't fit in. 'Not this.' She pulls out the next one, but this time, this one was too loose. 'Not this either.' She shakes her head before trying another one, and this time, she manages to twist it around perfectly, and the door clicks. 'Got it!'

As soon as she tries to take a peek inside, she immediately crinkles her nose and covers it with both hands. She hasn't even fully entered the room yet, and all of her senses are getting hit with the strong smell of isopropyl alcohol. It's so much, she wouldn't be surprised if the entire room might as well be completely permeated with that scent and other similar ones too.

It didn't take long before she gets herself used to it, and without wasting any more time, she tentatively goes halfway inside. From what she can see so far, it looks to be some kind of room. Though, it's a bit hard for her to truly see anything from here, since it's all dimly lit in dark green lights.

Chisa didn't realize it at first, but once she looks down, she sees her hands have started trembling. She clenches them, closes her eyes, and forces herself to get her nerves together.

And yet, for some reason, she can't shake off the eerily ominous feeling she's getting from this room.

"What are these?" She can't help but mutter to herself. Despite the relative darkness, she can see at least dozens of large, oval-shaped objects right in front of her. She squints, and if she has to guess, they look like pods of some sort. 'Though, if they are pods, what exactly would Hope's Peak Academy need them for?'

She takes her phone out, and then goes on to use its light to shine on the pod, so that hopefully, she can see its details better. If she's to describe it in a sentence or less, all she can is that it looks pretty advanced, way more advanced than any present technology she's seen so far.

As she moves her phone even further, something catches her eye. She looks even closer, and upon realizing what it was, she almost drops her phone out of shock. Barely stopping herself from that, she puts her hand over her mouth, her eyes widening in horror.

Through the light from her phone, she could make out faint outlines of a person inside that pod. From the looks of it, they seem to be unconscious, their chest barely moving in and out. It didn't take her long to realize that it's most likely the same thing with the other pods.

"Oh my God…" She can feel her hands balling into shaking fists. "Hope's Peak Academy can't be doing human experimentation, can they?"

As difficult as it is for her to believe it, she can't deny the facts. It's impossible for the school to not be involved with this, especially not when she saw all of this with her own eyes, right under the school grounds.

Still, she can't help but grow sicker at the idea as she thinks about it even more. "How long has this been going on for?" Her knees wouldn't stop shaking; they feel so weak.

Despite her better judgment, she wills herself to check on the other pods as well. Just as she thought, every last pods she checked on has someone inside it. As soon as she sees that some of them…weren't even breathing at all, she barely resists the urge to throw up on the spot.

"Those poor kids…" Chisa murmurs.

No matter how shaken she is feeling right now, she forces herself to move, snapping a good number of pictures for evidence. It wasn't easy, especially with the dim lighting in mind, but she manages to do it somehow.

But, right as she's about to send them to Juzo and Kyosuke, she frowns when she sees that there is no reception, or even any internet access at all in this area. 'Looks like I'll have to get out of here first, then.' She then puts it back in her pocket.

Chisa turns around, preparing to leave this room. She hasn't even taken a few steps from her position when she suddenly stops, having heard something. A chill runs down her spine when she realizes those noises are nearby.

'W…Where did that come from?'

A part of her wonders if the unsettling atmosphere here made her lose her mind already, but, just in case, she stays there. She waits, and soon, she hears the same noise once again.

It sounds like tapping, and along with that, something that's a bit more faint. The more she listens to it, the more she realizes that it sounds like a voice coming from inside one of the pods.

'Could it be…?'

Without any hesitation, she immediately runs to check on where those noises came from. She takes her phone out once again, using its light as a guide as she looks over each pod. After looking through a good number of them, she then comes across the pod where those faint noises are coming from. Through her phone's light, she can even see the person inside struggling.

She crouches down, looking around to see if there's a button, or anything she can use to open it. 'Come on, there's got to be something that can open this thing!'

She can't find anything close to it, the dim lighting not helping her either, and out of desperation, she puts both hands at the side of the pod's lid. With all the force she can muster, she pulls back and tries to tear it open, but no matter how hard she tries, it wouldn't budge, not even a bit.

Still, she refuses to give up, and forces herself to keep pulling at it, clenching her hands around it, harder than she ever did in her life. She keeps grunting and pulling for who knows how long, until finally, she hears it pop open with a loud crack. She stumbles back a bit, mostly because of how much force she exerted, but she immediately gets herself back on track. Quickly, she pushes the lid upwards, fully opening the pod at last. With that done with, she looks down, checking the inside, and what, or rather, who she sees in there would haunt her for the rest of her days.

The pale, fear-stricken face of a boy, who looks roughly around the same age as her students. Even with the room's dimness, it's clear that he looks so disheveled and terrified from whatever the school might've done to him.

As soon as he sees her, he immediately shies away from her, in an attempt to make himself look even smaller. "No, please…don't hurt me." Tears start running down from his eyes.

Her heart aches so much at the sight. "No, it's okay," She puts her hands up, letting him know that she isn't holding anything, that she truly means no harm to him. "See? I promise I won't hurt you."

That seems to work, as the boy slowly breathes in and out, like he's starting to calm down somewhat, but she can still see the fear and uncertainty in his eyes. Seeing just how terrified he was, that fueled her resolve even more; if she can save even one of these kids from…whatever Hope's Peak Academy was doing to them, then she'll do her damnedest for it. She doesn't waste a single second and undoes the metal straps binding the boy's wrists, then moves on to do the same on his ankles.

"Can you walk?" She gently asks.

The boy tries to stand up from the pod, only to slump forward, crying out in pain. She quickly moves, catching him before he can fall to the floor.

"It hurts so much…" He whimpers.

She can't even imagine how painful it must be for him. "I'm going to carry you now, okay?" With as much gentleness she can muster, she hoists the boy up, checking for his reactions. When she doesn't hear him cry out or flinch from her, she then puts him over her shoulders in a fireman carry; she feels sick to her stomach once she realizes just how abnormally light the boy felt in her arms.

'What have they been doing to you?'

"It's okay," She says, in an attempt to reassure him as much as she can. "You're going to be okay. I swear, I'll get you out of here."

A boy with long black hair stares at the monitor with a lot of interest in his eyes.

Based of the quiet, yet constant blinking and beeping on the screen, one of the pods had been opened through unauthorized means. And from the way it looks, whoever did that also managed to open it with brute force too.

He grins. While he knows that the Steering Committee wouldn’t be happy to hear that someone managed to break in here somehow, despite all their planning, he can’t help but be a little thankful about it. Nothing much happens around here, and for these past months, he’s basically been turned into a glorified punching bag for the Ultimate Hope.

He gleefully snickers. It’s about time he puts his talent to good use.

Even when they're out of that room, Chisa can't forget what she just saw. As much as she wishes she could save everyone in that room too, she's still just one person. It's impossible, no matter how much she hates this situation.

'That's why, I have to get back to Juzo as fast as I can, and then we can inform Kyosuke about this.'

The only thing left now is for her to retrace her steps, and hopefully, get the hell out of this damned place. Even though she still isn't sure about how the whole layout of this place works and there's little to no landmarks around here, she's confident that she'd be able to find the exit without much issue.

"Are you doing fine there?" Chisa asks.

The boy shifts around a bit, and then replies in a soft tone, "Y-Yeah, I think so. I'm okay for now."

"That's good to hear," She says back to him. "Just hang on tight there, okay?"

He doesn't say anything back to her this time, but he does hum in affirmation as his body fully relaxes.

As much as she wants to ask him more about exactly what's going on with those pods and…other kids like him, she decides to keep the talking minimal and put it on hold for now. She's going to have to prioritize getting themselves to a safe place before she can ask him anything.

Especially since her hands are full at the moment, she knows it'd be much harder to fight others off in case if she'd need to. Hopefully, that shouldn't happen at all, but she's got to prepare herself if the worst ever happens.

Chisa glances ahead, her eyes scanning through their surroundings. She had a feeling she's been in this area before, so decides to follow through her gut feeling for now and proceeds on, with each area she's stepping into becoming more and more familiar to her.

A loud alarm suddenly starts ringing in their ears. With how sudden it was, Chisa almost flinches and stops out of reflex, but she wills herself to turn tail and runs as fast as she can instead, knowing full well what hearing that means.

The boy makes a distressed noise, instinctively covering his ears because how loud and high-pitched it was. Chisa couldn't do the same, not while she's still carrying him, so she forces herself to endure it for now, no matter how much it threatens to stagger her.

The alarm keeps on ringing, and it didn't seem to show any signs of stopping. Loud footsteps that's running towards them follow after, along with some voices shouting at her.

Without slowing down at all, she looks back for a split second to see who's chasing after them. From what she can see despite the massive distance, their pursuers consist of two security guards; neither of them looks like the one she knocked out a while back.

As much she wants to curse herself for any possible mistakes she might've made, there's no time to wonder how did they find out about her. She can't let them catch her and take this boy back with them.

It didn't take long before the two security guards' voices slowly fade from her ears, and so does the constant ringing from that alarm.

Chisa turns around for a bit, breathing out in relief when she sees that there's no one behind them anymore. She still keeps her guard up, but she slows down with her steps to catch her breath. "I think we've lost them. I'm really sorry about that."

He mumbles, practically begging her, "Just, please don't let them take me back there."

Hearing that only strengthens her resolve even more. "I won't let them."

As they go back on track, Chisa can't help but get a feeling that she's getting closer to the exit somehow. But, from the corner of one of the dead ends nearby, there's another person standing right there; even from this distance, she can see that they have long hair, with a long tongue sticking out of their mouth too.

Instinctively, she freezes for a split second, immediately recognizing that person as Madarai. She remembers seeing him a few times, but she never thought that he might be involved with this too.

Madarai grins from ear to ear; in the blink of an eye, he sprints towards her, faster than humanly possible. Chisa isn't even able to react in shock as the mercenary closes his distance onto her, and then delivers an uppercut right to her stomach.

She gasps out loud from the sheer impact that came from his fist. Despite the sudden spike of sharp pain she felt from that, she tries her best to keep holding onto the boy, keeping a tight yet gentle grip on him, to keep him from falling off without hurting him by accident.

He doesn't even give her a chance to make comeback at him, taking advantage of her staggering form as kicks her from the side.

Because of how much force Madarai applied to that kick, she couldn't stop herself from falling face-first to the ground. Around the same time, the boy falls off from her back, crying out from shock as he hits the ground with a loud thud.

Chisa winces, putting her hands on the cold floor. She shakily pushes herself up; despite the intense aching she's still feeling, she forces herself up on her feet somehow.

She looks around, searching for the boy, and she finally spots him a few meters away from her. But, just as she tries to run back and pick him up, Madarai suddenly runs in front of her, blocking the boy from her view. He raises a fist, aiming it towards her face.

This time, however, Chisa has prepared herself, quickly moving out of the way. Madarai completely misses her. He nearly falls over because of the force he was applying to that attack, but then he regains his footing and turns his attention back to her. He doesn't do anything for now, like he's waiting for her next move first.

She frowns, considering the dilemma before her. 'I'd rather not lay a hand on a student, not like this,' Her eyes narrow as she gets herself in a fighting stance. 'But it looks like I've got no choice but to fight.'

Madarai charges towards her once again, this time with a knife in his hands. Chisa quickly realizes the danger she's in. There's no choice for her but to go on the defensive for now. Her heart pounding faster, she steps back as he tries to cut through her cheek.

Despite Chisa's best efforts to dodge the attack, the blade still manages to cut through a bit of her skin. A tiny bit of warm blood trickles down from the cut.

And yet, she spots an opening right there. Ignoring the stinging from her cheek and refusing to give him another chance to slash at her again, she runs behind him, her hands striking fast and grabbing him by the shoulders, causing him to gasp from shock.

Without any hesitation, she pushes him against the wall as hard as she can; Madarai's face collides with the cold concrete, making him gurgle out as he drops the knife out of reflex.

Now that she managed to disarm him, she tries to knock him out by pressing on his pressure point. Right before she can do so, Madarai wriggles and twists himself around, with far more strength than Chisa anticipated; it was far stronger than the security guard she knocked out by several times.

And for good measure, Madarai takes advantage of the fact his hands remained free, so he pushes himself against the wall, the force taking Chisa along with it, causing her to stumble back and freeing himself from her grasp.

Though a bit stunned, Chisa realizes exactly what he's going to do next, and so, she kicks him in the face at the exact moment he crouched down. She won't let him take the knife again!

She kicks him once again, this time under the chin for good measure, before going down to try to grab the knife for herself.

At that moment, she feels like something, or rather, someone is behind her. Out of instinct, she turns her eyes to the side, and they widen. 'Wait, when did he get there?' Acting as quickly as she can, she moves and rolls off to the side, canceling her move as she narrowly dodges the attack from behind.

Her cap gets knocked off from the sheer force of it, and it gracelessly lands on the floor.

Once Chisa stands up and gets herself back into position, she blinks, wondering if her vision has gone wrong. 'Wait, hold on, why is there two of them now?' After thinking on it some more, she shakes her confusion off, and goes back to focus on her, now two, opponents.

Just dealing with one of them was tough enough, and now that there's two of them, with one of them having retaken the knife, she isn't sure if she can beat them, but she'll have to try somehow.

Speaking of that, to say that both Madarais are crazily synchronized with each other's moves would be a huge understatement. They pace around her, letting her know that she's surrounded at both fronts and utterly outnumbered.

The surrounding atmosphere is thick with tension from all parties.

Chisa stands there, taking deep, heavy breaths to keep herself calm as much as possible. Her eyes go from one Madarai, then to the other one, scanning their movements and waiting for them to make their move first.

She had a feeling that if she were to try to attack any of them right now, the other would take advantage of her blind spot and take her down for good.

For a few more moments, none of them steps forward to make the next move. All three sets of eyes stay on each other, watching and waiting for the right moment.

Suddenly, one of the Madarais, the one holding the knife, runs towards her, while the other one goes behind her. Chisa had a feeling they'd try that tactic, so she waits until they're both close enough to her.

Once they are, she doesn't hesitate to punch the first Madarai at the cheek, even as he tries slashing at her once again, with her narrowly dodging them as much as she can. She then elbows the other one right in the gut when she felt him try to attack her with a bear hug.

Chisa tries to move back, to lessen the gap between her and the two Madarais, at the very least. Yet, in the next blink of her eye, she sees more of them pop up from seemingly out of nowhere. If the first two Madarais are counted, then their whole group now consists of eight of them.

All of them quickly surround her in a circle, leaving her without any room to escape. They didn't give her any chance to try to push one of them as they all jump on her in a dog pile. The eight Madarais take their chance to grab at her. Chisa struggles against them, refusing to go down just like that, but that only made them tighten their hold onto her arms and legs.

Several loud snaps of limbs getting dislocated and broken echo in this area. Chisa bites back her screams, her fingers twitching as unimaginable pain spread through all four of her limbs, followed by a stinging sense of numbness.

One of the Madarais holds her up by her arms, completely restraining her.

Several men in white uniforms come in. They go and grab at the poor boy with far too much roughness and force, completely disregarding his pained cries and screams.

"No, no, no, please…don't. Don't put me back in there, please…" His body shakes and trembles uncontrollably, struggling against them. "I want to go home…"

As much as she wants to stop them, Chisa couldn't do anything; every time she tries to move, she'd feel several spikes of unbearable, throbbing pain on her limbs, and the Madarai holding her so tightly didn't make it any better.

Completely helpless, she watches as the men hold him down. Right as they're about to tranquilize him in his shoulder, the boy begins to move even more erratically than before, screaming at them in a raw, hoarse voice, "Don't touch me!"

They ignore him, keeping him pinned down on the floor. One of the men takes a syringe out and then injects it into the boy's shoulder. The boy keeps struggling, but after a few seconds have passed, he goes slump. The men pick him up, most likely taking him back to that horrible place.

"Ah, Yukizome. Fancy seeing you here."

Chisa turns her head to the source of that voice, immediately recognizing as Mr. Akiyama. She narrows her eyes, immediately feeling her blood boil as soon as she sees his face.

She tries to ignore the unbearable throbbing from all four of her limbs and keeps struggling against her captor as hard as she can. "What in the actual hell is wrong with you?!" She shouts at him, harsher than she's ever been. "I already knew you and your men are the one of the most despicable people I've ever met, but this is a new low, even for you! I can't believe you'd go so far and kidnap these kids for some sick and twisted experiments!"

He condescendingly shakes his head. "I'm afraid you are sorely mistaken. We didn't take any of these reserve course students by force. What we did do, however, was to tell them that they have the potential to enter the main course through a special program, and they all agreed to it. All we wanted is to create the Ultimate Hope," He fervently raises both hands. "What better way than to take a talentless individual, and then imbue them with every known talent?"

She growls, her teeth gritting against each other. "So you're admitting that you exploited those students, and for what? For some completely insane idea you've got about hope!"

"I figured you wouldn't understand where we're coming from. It's such a shame, really." He shakes his head with a mocking smile.

"The only thing shameful about this is you and everyone else involved performing human experimentation on these kids! You promised to give them a brighter future, but all you did was to cruelly rip it away from them!"

"What's going on in here?" A familiar voice calls out.

Chisa swallows, bracing herself as she turns towards the source of that voice. Her eyes widen as her fears got confirmed. "Mr. Tengan?"

His eyes widen as well. "Yukizome?" He steps back, putting a hand over his chest.

Mr. Akiyama sighs in annoyance, pinching the bridge of his nose as he turns to him. "You should've disciplined her more when she was one of your students. She nearly stole one of our private properties tonight, and then went out of her way to assault our security guards as well."

She shakes her head. "That isn't true at all, Mr. Tengan! They were performing inhumane experiments on the reserve course students. One of them wanted to get out of here, so I brought him with me, and I had no choice but to defend myself."

Mr. Tengan suddenly grows quiet. He didn't look at either of them; his face is unreadable, but it's clear that he's thinking about whom he should believe in.

Chisa tensely waits for his reply. As bleak as her situation is looking to be, she hopes that he would speak out against this, that he's still the same reasonable man she knew him back when she was one of his students.

A few moments pass by, and Mr. Tengan sighs, shaking his head. "I'm sorry things turned out this way. It's truly disheartening."

She feels a sharp, indescribable kind of pain in her chest. Those words shattered any remaining hope she had for the old headmaster. Even though she followed him here in the first place, a part of her didn't want to believe the old headmaster isn't involved with any of these at all, that it was all just a big misunderstanding. But, now that he's here, right in front of her, and he didn't say or do anything to condemn any of this, it's impossible for her to deny it any longer.

It didn't mean it hurt any less.

"It's such a shame things have to end this way, Yukizome." Mr. Akiyama suddenly interjects. "If only you hadn't stuck your nose in matters that shouldn't concern you, you'd still be able to coddle your beloved students."

Chisa sees that one of the men in uniforms is starting to walk towards her, and out of instinct, she struggles even more. "Wait, no, please, don't!"

The man takes another syringe out. There's not a single emotion on his face as he wordlessly injects it onto her wrist.

It hasn't even been a minute, but Chisa can already feel her senses grow more groggy by each passing second. Before her strength can completely fade away, she looks at the former headmaster one more time. There's so many emotions swirling within her, and all of them feel so terrible.

"Mr. Tengan…why?"

Everything feels so heavy, and before she even realizes it, her vision goes black.

Juzo yawns, not even bothering to lower his voice. He's got a hunch that there's s no one else but him right here, anyway. The rest of the security guards have been scattered around the school at these late hours, just in case if some students thought it'd be a great idea to sneak and loiter around.

Though, he'll admit that he also arranged it so that they don't even get a chance to encounter her, assuming she went along with investigating what he told her about. He knows that she can handle herself well and can be scarily sneaky if she wanted to, but he had to make sure, just in case. The old men running this place have been requesting for more frequent security patrols, even during ridiculously late hours.

He leans himself, letting himself relax as he thinks back on how the past two days have been for him.

As huge as the whole culture festival was, there wasn't a lot of trouble that happened. All the worst that happened is him having to break up a couple of fights, and even then, the fights weren't anything too serious. Even at the very worst, it's just the usual trampling over others while in a long line. It's rather relieving, if he's being honest.

Although his shift has already ended quite some time ago, he decides to stay around a little longer, more or less excusing it as part of his overtime. So now, all he's been doing since is then is waiting at the corner of the school gates, wondering about how Chisa is doing now.

As tempting as it was to send a message to ask her about how she's doing, he knows that it's not going to help at all. For all he knows, she could be in the middle of investigating something very sensitive, and if he were to contact her by that time, he could end up blowing her cover or worse.

It doesn't mean he's alright with it, though. He absolutely hates the idea; it's no different from leaving her to fend for herself.

But there's nothing else he can do. He has no choice, but to believe in his friend, and to keep waiting for her to contact him first. They've come this far already, and one of the last thing he wants is to ruin everything.

Especially not what Kyosuke has been working for all this time.

He can already picture how Kyosuke would react if that ever happens, and…even the mental image alone is enough to send a heavy chill down his spine.

Juzo grimaces, running his fingers through his hair. 'Fuck, I need to do something else before I start losing it.'

Taking several deep breaths, he looks over his to phone to check on the time. He raises a brow and then frowns once he sees it. 'That's how long I've been out here already?' While not as late as some of the other nights he spent here, it comes somewhat close to it, since it's at least an hour before midnight comes in.

Letting out a quiet sigh, he pockets his phone once again. He thinks about what he's going to do next in the meantime.

As minutes go on, he remembers what Chisa told him not too long ago. If he still hasn't heard anything from Chisa after midnight passes, he should head back to his place as soon as he can.

He subconsciously grits his teeth at the idea. Even if she's the one who proposed that idea to him in the first place, plainly abandoning her just like that is far too wrong for him to even consider it. And yet, it'd be far too suspicious if he were to stay here until morning comes. It could potentially give them away.

Time slowly, and so painfully, goes on. When he checks over his phone once again, midnight has come. Again, there's not a single message from Chisa.

It takes every last self-control within Juzo to not immediately crush his phone, or throw it off the floor. Forcing himself to take deep breaths, he puts it back into his pocket. His hands clench into fists, and they begin to uncontrollably shake.

He hates how utterly powerless he is.

Chapter Text

It isn’t normal for the Steering Committee members to constantly and restlessly pace around inside a room just like this. What nearly happened from a while back is still fresh on their minds, and even though they tried so hard to keep themselves composed, it wracked them up so much.

They’ve done everything they can to prevent this kind of scenario from happening. Their test subject’s past escape attempt was always at the back of their minds; as much as they didn’t want to admit it, it was a big wake-up call to them. Since then, they’ve been closely scrutinizing every last thing to keep the Kamukura Project secure.

And yet, it seems like even with all their preparations, it wasn’t enough.

They never thought that someone, who’s not only an outsider from their circle, but also someone they personally disliked, would break into the underground lab. Not only that, she also attempted to steal one of their test subjects, and would’ve undone everything they’ve been working for. Based on the belongings they seized from her, she gathered enough photographic evidence that would, no doubt, be used to destroy the school’s reputation.

At the moment, the now former teacher of Class 77-B is still unconscious in another room. Matsuda is currently making quick work of her, erasing some of her memories, as well as extracting and investigating others he can find. It would help in giving them a clue, or more, on why she did what she had done.

Just this once, all four members of the Steering Committee feel slightly thankful that Matsuda is working with them. Even though their overall opinion of him still hasn’t changed, even a little bit.

They have no idea on how long they’ve been waiting around, doing nothing but twiddling their thumbs around as they anxiously waited for what the neurologist would report to them.

It is…rather bothersome, to say the least. They didn’t like how helpless this entire situation have made them.

After what might’ve been long hours of waiting, Matsuda comes in the room without even bothering to knock first. The boy’s face has his usual resting scowl on, so it’s hard to read exactly what’s going on in his mind.

Mr. Minami is the first one to come forward. He tries his best to immediately remove any sense of unease he’s been having until now, and then asks him, “Did you find anything from those memories you extracted?”

Matsuda narrows his eyes at him, as if the older man is the stupid one. “She’s a spy for Kyosuke Munakata, for one.” He bluntly replies.

Mr. Akiyama blinks after hearing that. “…Come again?” He says in a heavily disbelieving tone.

The boy puts a hand over his forehead. “Tch, don’t tell you’ve gone this senile. I said that she’s a spy for Kyosuke Munakata. You know, the one in charge of Hope’s Peak Overseas. Unless if all four of you are suffering from dementia right now and forgot about that too.”

As much as it got on his nerves, Mr. Mizushima decides to ignore that rude comment. “Are you sure about that?”

Matsuda reaffirms in an annoyed tone, “Yes, I can confirm those are in her memories, including the more recent ones.” He then mutters under his breath, “I really wish I could wipe out some of the ones I saw. She has way too many memories about…those.” And then he looks away as if he saw something…more perverse in those memories he prodded in.

All four of them exchange looks of disgust at each other. Yet, they all internally agreed it shouldn’t have surprised them at all. Yukizome has always been a deviant, in more ways than one. Though, with that out of the way, that tiny observation isn’t quite as important as what Matsuda has revealed to them.

They may not know the exact context just yet, but still; Kyosuke Munakata, despite his goal of expanding Hope’s Peak Academy beyond their country, is clearly plotting something against them. Why else would he go through the effort of getting this woman to spy on this school for him? Not only that, Yukizome has been teaching for at least more than a year now, and they can only imagine what she’s been reporting back to him.

Just the thought of it is enough to raise the paranoia within them.

“Is there anything else you’ve discovered?” Mr. Sasaki tentatively asks, quietly swallowing the lump that’s forming in his throat. He had a feeling that Matsuda hasn’t told them everything yet, and he isn’t sure if he’s completely ready to hear the rest of what he discovered.

“She isn’t the only one, by the way.” Matsuda waves a hand off, as if it wasn’t a big deal at all. He didn’t seem to care how that only served to startle them even more. “You old geezers might want to keep a closer eye on the head of the security too.”

Even though the neurologist didn’t mention that person by name, all four of them immediately knew who exactly he’s talking about.

“Should we deal with Sakakura as well? Now that we took out Yukizome, he might start becoming suspicious as well.” Mr. Minami sputters, as he nervously pulls on the collar of his shirt with his index finger.

A sound that sounds like a mix between a chuckle and a scoff comes out of Mr. Sasaki. “Don’t even bother. While his strength is undeniable, he’s hardly a threat. We can always cover up what happened with Yukizome, and he’d be none the wiser,” He shakes his head, as if he’s pitying the man he’s talking about. “He is nothing more than a dumb brute.”

“Though, that begs the question,” Mr. Minami rubs over his chin with his hand. “What will we do with Yukizome now?”

Matsuda looks at them like they’re a bunch of madmen. “Don’t tell me you’re going to kill her for that.”

Mr. Sasaki clicks his tongue, feeling nothing but disappointment at the neurologist for saying that. “That’s what we would’ve considered, had she not been a graduated Ultimate. We may immensely dislike her, but we cannot simply ignore that factor because of that.”

“I would hate to admit this, but it is far trickier now. We can’t simply terminate her, yet at the same time, we can’t let her run free either, even with her memories of this incident erased.” Mr. Mizushima adds with a shake of his head.

Mr. Akiyama hums in thought. “We could always smuggle her out of the country. She’d be well-provided for and be none the wiser about everything.” With a frown, he disdainfully adds, “Besides, Mr. Tengan would be far from happy if we did anything too terrible to her. He’s always been far too soft on her, even during those days when he has the headmaster.”

“That might work.” Mr. Minami says as he slightly nods, now considering that idea.

It’s not a completely satisfactory solution for their big problem, but they suppose it’s much better than doing nothing. In addition to that, there is still that one more spy they have to deal with, but again, considering who it was, they placed that piece of information under their lowest priority for now.

In the meantime, they’ll continue to observe the next phase of the Kamukura Project. So far, none of the current test subjects have shown promise just yet. It’s disappointing, but at the same time, something they should’ve expected by now.

Even now, they still have no idea what allowed Kamukura to not only survive past the original procedures, but also proceed to thrive without suffering from severe complications, even after it’s been long done with. The Steering Committee supposes that’s something they’ll all have to find out all over again.

Hajime glances back at the clock. It’s been about three hours now, and the class should’ve started back then. He then sneaks a peak at everyone, now noticing just how tense the class atmosphere has become.

"Huh, that's weird. Ms. Yukizome has never been this late before." Akane comments out loud. It sounds kinda flippant at first, but there is a hint of worry in her tone when she said that.

Now what she mentioned it, she does have a point with that. At most, there were a few close calls, just a few minutes away from the official start of the class, but their teacher was never late by several hours like this.

He thinks back on the last time their class has been with her. He remembered that she was with them up until the end of the culture festival’s second day. None of them thought too hard about it back then, but now that she still hasn’t shown up even until now…it’s eerily concerning, to say the least.

Suddenly, the door opens. Everyone in the class immediately glances at that direction as soon as they heard that.

“Ms. Yukizome?” Ibuki calls out, with some hope in her voice.

Instead of their beloved teacher popping out of the door with a smile, it’s someone else. An old man, to be exact.

The counselor’s eyes widen as he immediately recognizes who that was. “Mr. Tengan? What are you doing here?”

Mr. Tengan didn’t answer him. He keeps walking forward, up until he’s at the center of the class.

Hajime gets a sinking feeling in his stomach. He swallows the lump in his throat, deciding to ask the one question everyone’s been wondering about. “Mr Tengan, do you know where’s Ms. Yukizome?”

The old man takes a deep breath, as if he’s bracing himself before telling them a heavy kind of news. By then, Hajime realizes that it wasn’t a good sign at all.

“I’m sorry, everyone. Your teacher was caught in an accident last night,” Mr. Tengan explains in a solemn tone. “Thankfully, she’s alive, but she hasn’t awoken at this time and the damage that was done is far too severe. It isn’t possible to visit her at this moment because she is still undergoing treatment, and not to mention, there’s a high chance she wouldn’t recognize any of you if she wakes up.”

Kazuichi’s eyes widen. “No way…” His breathing grows shakier as he forces himself to smile. “You’re joking, right? Please, this isn’t funny at all, you know.”

Mr. Tengan slowly shaking his head at their direction gave them the answer.

Kazuo quietly left the classroom after delivering that news to them. He remembers the way everyone looked when he told them the news about Yukizome, and it was far more heartbreaking than he thought it would be. It felt like children discovering that their mother has been badly hurt, and she isn’t coming back to them for a long time.

At that moment, he could truly see now that those students truly cared for their teacher. It’s no wonder she adored her students so much.

Once he notices that he’s alone, and that there’s no one else around him, he takes something out of his pocket. He then stares at the photo album with a heavily solemn look on his face.

It’s filled with all sorts of happy and goofy pictures of her and her students having fun together. There’s so many of them, possibly about a year or so worth of pictures, and yet, it’s only been filled halfway through.

A sharp pang hits his heart upon realizing the reason why it’s like that. Yukizome thought that she’d be able to fill the photo album up until their graduation.

Subconsciously, his hands begin to shake some more, and yet, he refuses to drop it.

The photo album was left to him after they’ve seized the rest of Yukizome’s belongings. The Steering Committee didn’t care about what he might do with it. They even told him that he could burn it for all they care. And yet, when he heard that, just the thought of doing it made him feel sick. It just…felt so wrong for him to do so.

Especially after the betrayal he’s done to Yukizome. Even he didn’t actively help them restrain her, a betrayal is still a betrayal. The look in her eyes right before they tranquilized her will forever haunt him. He can still hear the utterly heartbroken words she said to him as well, even until now.

Kazuo realizes that he’s been staring at the photo album for a long while now. With a soft sigh, he puts it back in his pocket. He figures he’d have to keep it safe in there for now. It’s the least he can, after everything he’s done up to this point.

He can only hope that someday, it will be rightfully returned to them.

Yasuke pinches the bridge of his nose. If it were up to him, he’d have his peace and quiet around here, especially since he has his own living space. But no, certain people just had to have other ideas. To say he doesn’t appreciate nosy intruders is a big understatement, especially at this kind of hour.

Though, then again, considering the kind of person Madarai, as well as the rest of his brothers (seriously, what the hell have his parents been doing to get so many children at once?), yeah. There’s no way he can realistically keep any of them out for too long.

“So, you sure you took care of that teacher?” Madarai asks.

Yasuke doesn’t know whether this Madarai is Isshiki, or any of the other brothers. And honestly, he doesn’t care enough to bother who is who. They all look and act the same anyway, to the point of being more like clones than brothers, so he might as well treat them the same too.

He resists the urge to roll his eyes. “Assuming that the doctors and nurses Hope’s Peak Academy hired sticks strictly close to the script, Yukizome won’t suspect anything is off. As far as she knows, she got into some weird car accident and lost some of her memories. She won’t come poking her nose in their business again.” He flippantly explains as he turns the page of his manga.

Yeah, he hasn’t even been looking right at Madarai the whole time. He hopes that simple answer would be enough, but no.

Madarai decides to press some more about that topic. “How do you know she won’t regain her memories some time down the line?”

This time, Yasuke doesn’t resist the urge to snort at that. Despite what the old farts from the Steering Committee thinks, he didn’t actually erase Yukizome’s memories. He couldn’t exactly do that without giving her severe brain damage, like what happened with some of the unlucky Kamukura Project test subjects. Instead, what he did was lock those memories away, right into the deepest corner of her mind.

“As long as she doesn’t come and try to visit Hope’s Peak again, she won’t,” He flips another page with an apathetic shrug. “Of course, it’s not like she’d have a reason to do that anyway. Even if she somehow got the urge to visit the school for some reason, it’s going to take her a while, considering her location.”

“Ohh, I see.” Madarai acknowledges with a slight nod. “I’m surprised that the Steering Committee thought this through.”

“Yeah, it is rather surprising, considering how little they think of how things will work out in the long run.” Yasuke replies with a slight shrug. “It’s almost amazing what a lot of paranoia can do to some people.”

Then again, he figures that it’s only a matter of time before all their questionable decisions come to bite them back in the ass. Even with the surprising amount of insight they gained because of their increasing paranoia, they still didn’t change all that much as a whole.

They’re still the same delusional, out-of-touch, slimy old men he sees them as.

Juzo looks over his phone once again, mulling over his options. Now that’s he holed up back in his apartment, he’s been thinking on what exactly he should do next. He hasn’t found anything useful despite his position, and then there…the incident he heard about.

Chisa was caught in a car accident, some time after the culture festival has ended. Or at least, that’s what they told him back at Hope’s Peak. Other than that, there weren’t a lot of details he knows, like exactly where it happened and the time.

At first, he believed it. But as he thought about it some more, the more it didn’t make any sense to him, especially when they didn’t give him any more information other than the basic. It didn’t help when they refused to let him visit her, somehow making an awfully convenient excuse that she isn’t conscious at the moment and that they’re not sure if she’s going to make it.

Juzo is not in denial, he simply has a gut feeling about it. Besides, it’s not like there’s no reason for him to doubt it. After all, they did cover up the two incidents from the reserve course a year ago, and he assisted in it, even if he didn’t exactly like it.

Finally making his mind up, he presses the phone against his ear, waiting for Kyosuke to pick it up. He can only hope that Kyosuke forgives him for calling him at this ungodly late hour. He can’t exactly make this call back at Hope’s Peak Academy; he can’t exactly fully trust the school grounds at the moment, especially not after what they told him.

The phone continues to ring on, and several uncomfortable moments of waiting go by him. He stays still, anxiety spiking up within him as he knows there isn’t much he can do by this point. The ringing continues on and on, until…

The ringing finally stops, letting him know that Kyosuke picked it up. It didn’t take long before his voice becomes audible from the device. “Juzo?”

“Kyosuke, I…” He involuntarily pauses, like something got caught up in his throat. He isn’t sure on how he’d even start this conversation at all, especially with the topic in mind.

“Juzo,” Kyosuke repeats, this time with a heavily concerned tone. “Is everything okay in there?”

His free hand clenches into a fist at his side, as he swallows. “I have some bad news.” With a somewhat shaky breath, he forces himself to say at last, “Chisa was caught in a car accident a few days ago.”

For a long minute or so, there’s nothing but complete, eerie silence on Kyosuke’s end.

Juzo stays quiet as well, anxiously waiting for the white-haired man’s answer.

Several more seconds of silence go by before Kyosuke finally replies back with, “She...what?”

Juzo winces; he can hear that Kyosuke is just as agitated as he is, if not even more so, considering his relationship with Chisa. He makes himself calm his nerves down, figuring that it won’t be any good if both of them are anxious wrecks. He elaborates on that even further. “That’s what they’ve been saying to me back at Hope’s Peak, but I’ll be honest. I don’t believe them.” He bluntly tells him.

“What do you mean by that?” Kyosuke asks.

For a second, Juzo hesitates a bit. He has a feeling that what he’s about to suggest would be tactless, especially after what he just told him, but he continues, “I know what Chisa was doing last night. She was investigating some of the rumors I’ve told her about, the one about Mr. Tengan visiting the founder’s statue rather frequently.”

“Is that so?” Even based on Kyosuke’s voice, it’s clear that he’s raising a brow in interest.

“Yeah,” Juzo nods. ”In fact, she told me to leave the school grounds if I don’t hear anything from her past midnight, and…” He breathes out, remembering how that night went. “She didn’t contact me like she said she would’ve. I honestly thought that they found her out, but then they told me it was a car accident. I believed them at first, but the more I think about it, the more it just doesn’t line up.”

Kyosuke goes quiet on the other line once again, and Juzo worries that he ended up offending him.. Before he can apologize or say anything to take everything he said back, the other man begins speaking once again.

“As much as I want to give the school the benefit of the doubt, you do raise some good points right there. I’ll admit that it lines up with my personal suspicions of the school as well.”

“You...really think so?”

“Yes,” Kyosuke reaffirms. “I remember that you and Chisa told me that Hope’s Peak Academy covered up several incidents at the reserve course from a year ago. Then there’s the fact that far too many of their reserve course students have been dropping out, even more so during this year.”

“Huh.” Juzo blinks, as he considers what Kyosuke just told him. “I thought that those brats were just being way over their heads and gave up, but when you put it that way, it does sound rather suspicious.”

”Exactly. Assuming that Chisa…” Kyosuke momentarily pauses, before continuing on with, “If she has indeed found something that incriminates them, then the only logical step they’d take is to take her out of the equation and cover it up, as they usually do. But this time, I assume her status as an alumnus of Hope’s Peak Academy would make it harder for them to simply do that, and I truly hope that it’s the case.”

“I hope so too.”

“In any case, don’t let them know you’re suspicious about them. Let them think that you truly believe in the cover story they gave you.”

He snorts, barely resisting the urge to chuckle as he confidently replies, “That’d be very easily done. Those old men already underestimate me.”

He’ll admit; it was very frustrating to him at first, especially when they kept talking over him like he’s a toddler compared to them. But now, it looks like it’s gonna work well in his favor this time around. They won’t suspect anything off with him.

“That makes things even better, then.” After saying that, Kyosuke suddenly goes quiet for a second or so, probably realizing what that’d imply. “Uh, no offense. I didn’t mean it that way.” He sheepishly apologizes.

Juzo is tempted to chuckle back at him in good fun. “None taken.” With that out of the way, he isn’t sure on how he’ll end this call, so he decides to go with a simple, “So, I hope you stay safe in there.”

Kyosuke chuckles for a bit, and then he replies with so much sincerity in his voice, “You better do the same there, then. I’m counting on you.”

“I swear I won’t disappoint you.” Juzo finds himself replying out of habit.

The call ends, and now, Juzo is left with nothing but his thoughts once again. He reluctantly sits himself down on his bed. Despite what he promised Kyosuke a few moments ago, if he’s being honest, he doesn’t even know where he’d start, especially not on where he’d get more information about his suspicions.

He doesn’t have Kyosuke’s leadership skills, nor does he have any of Chisa’s tact; all he has is his physical strength going on for him. It did great in intimidating the men serving under him, but in this kind of mission, he knows far too well that it isn’t enough.

Juzo bitterly smiles. He supposes that in a way, those men running Hope’s Peak were somewhat right about one thing.

Chisa groans, now opening her eyes. As soon as her vision completely clears, she then realizes that whatever this place is, it doesn’t look like her apartment, or her office. In fact, it doesn’t look like anything she can recognize at all.

‘Huh? Where am I? What time is it now?’ While trying to keep herself calm as much as she can, she then tries to sit herself up. Suddenly, she puts her hand over her forehead and groans so more. “Ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow, ow.”

Her head hurts so much, way more than those times her head would get punched in sometimes. If anything, it feels like it just got split open. She isn’t sure why she went with that comparison, but it does sound like it. And then there’s the rest of her body too. Even throughout her career, it never hurt this much before.

She hears a voice, and it’s one that she doesn’t recognize at all either. Assuming that it wasn’t in her head just now, she decides to look around for the source of that voice, and before she knew it, she spots another person with her.

From what she can see so far, that person is a woman, and she seems to be wearing some kind of nurse uniform.

The woman blinks, probably out of surprise, and begins to approach her slowly. She then turns her attention to her, and says something.

Chisa then slightly frowns, realizing she can’t understand what the other woman is saying at all. “Um…” She awkwardly starts, now also realizing she has no idea how to convey she can’t understand her at all.

That other woman blinks, looking like she realized exactly that. She then talks to her in surprisingly fluent Japanese, “Can you understand me?”

“Oh, yeah! I can understand you.” Chisa affirms with a nod and a smile. “Do you know what happened to me?”

She nods. “Ah, about that. This might be a bit hard for you to take in, but,” The other woman pauses, before telling her, “You have been in an accident.”

“An…accident?” Chisa repeats in disbelief. She doesn’t remember anything like that at all. Not to mention, that explanation feels…kind of off, somehow. She isn’t sure why she’s feeling that, but still. Maybe it’s because she just can’t picture herself getting in an accident in the first place? Then again, accidents are supposed to be unexpected, so…

“Yes,” The other woman nods as she further explains, “Most of the damage went to your head, but it looks the rest of your body didn’t get as badly damaged as it would’ve been.”

‘My head?’ Chisa tentatively reaches her hand out to that part. As her fingers touch the side of her head, she immediately feels the still-fresh bandages wrapped around it. “What kind of accident is it, though?”

“A car accident of some sort, from what I’ve heard. The report said that the car didn’t fully hit you, but you did end up landing on the pavement head-first, and the damage was severe enough. You were unconscious for several weeks.”

“Ohh,” Chisa blinks, and then nods. “I guess that makes sense.” As she thinks about it more, one of the things the woman said to her stuck out, and so she blurts out, “Wait, hold on, I’ve been out for weeks?”

The other woman nods again. “Yes. We weren’t sure if you were going to make it, if I’m being honest. It’s a relief that you woke up when you did.”

Chisa can already imagine tough it was for them during that time. “Haha, yeah. It really was.”

‘Also, it’s a good thing I still have my insurances for this kind of thing, then.’ She internally remarks to herself, wanting to think of something to lighten up the sorta serious situation she’s stuck in.

Still, there is one thing that’s been bothering her.

‘Though, why do I feel like…like I’ve forgotten something very important?’

The constant noises of a mouse clicking and the clacking of a keyboard is the only thing Junko can hear at the moment. It’s only been a few hours at most now, and honestly, she’s already growing sick of hearing it over and over again.

Like, seriously, for a school that’s being run by a bunch of out-of-touch old geezers, their cybersecurity is surprisingly excellent. She thought that their password would be easy to guess, something like ‘hopespeakacademy123’ or something else on those lines, but no. No matter how many times she’s tried, she can’t even come close to cracking it. It went to the point that the system automatically blocked her out. She managed to find a workaround with it now, but still, that was a big pain for several months.

Also, thankfully, since she’s obviously still here at the school, they never traced it back to her, but still. That was unusually competent of them to implement; again, this is the same school that’s mostly being run by wrinkly old men who probably never touched a computer once in their lives.

And then there’s a bunch of other things she’s got to consider too, like how it’s practically impossible to hack into it.

It’s like the Ultimate Programmer herself personally put it up. Then she bestowed her magic programming skills on it or something, and then upgraded the whole damn thing to something that’s around as secure and encrypted on around the level of government securities.

Or wait, now that she thought about it more, she does faintly remember that the Ultimate Programmer used to be here, and now, that doesn’t sound so farfetched, actually. She kinda forgot about which class that programmer attended, and to be honest, she won’t bother to look it up right now, but still, her point stands.

She has no idea if any of that was accurate at all, but still. That’s just basically to sum up how much of a tough nut to crack it is.

And then there’s the fact that procrastination's a big bitch to deal with. Even though classes aren’t mandatory in here at all, Taka somehow managed to convince Makoto to get everyone to attend their class every day. And that’s without getting into the whole lot of other stuff she’s gotta deal with, especially things that are outside her classes.

It’s just, ugh.

Maybe if she hadn't been hit by that truck around three years ago, this would've been a shit ton easier. It’s a big shame that the analysis talent she had since practically birth got washed down so hard after that. She might’ve gotten this case over with in the past three months or so if she still had it.

So, without the exclusive admin access for the past few months, she’s got no choice but to manually search her up. So far, the only thing she’s found about this Nanami person is that she used to attend some random obscure school that nobody’s ever heard of or cared about, and…that’s about it, really. Like, damn, this girl doesn’t even have her own social media profile, and the only reason why she found out about that is because of Nanami’s mother posting it.

It’s probably just her, but she kinda gets the feeling that Nanami’s mother is one of those kinds of parents. The ones who show their kids off like they’re very special and shiny trophies for the world to see.

Anyways, she’s getting a bit off-track, so it’s back on looking for this girl. Now that she got some of her time back, Junko has gone back to work and tried looking up Nanami’s profile within the school’s database multiple times already, and so far, it all ended the same exact way.

Case in point…

Error.

File not found.

She groans at seeing yet another error screen that popped up on her screen. Yay, goodie. She never thought that looking for information about some random average jane would be a lot harder than it looks. Even digging up on the many dirt surrounding Hope’s Peak is a lot easier than this. It’s been grinding down on her gears the whole time—

Wait, hold it right there.

For a split moment, her eyes widen in realization. What’s this? She’s actually…feeling kind of stuck and frustrated on this kind of thing for once. None of the other cases she’s ever worked with up came close to this. Hell, even cracking a decade-old cold case was child’s play to her, and it took her at least less than a couple of months at most.

But this?

A thin smile goes over her face, spreading from ear to ear.

“Upupupupu. It looks like things are about to get even more interesting here at Hope’s Peak Academy.”