Chapter Text
Hope’s Peak was a high school like no other in Japan. It was a segregated school and there were only two ways to get in. One way was to pay an enormous amount of money and pass incredibly hard exams. The other way was to simply have talent; but not just any talent. You had to be the best in the country at what you did, and if you were in high school, there was a scouting program perfect for finding you, one way or another.
If you got scouted you pretty much got a full scholarship to the school. Either way, if you graduated from the school you were set for life. You were pretty much guaranteed any job that you wanted. However, there wasn’t peace within the school.
Most of the people who got in because of their talents looked down upon the people who they called the Reserve Course. A once simple girl never understood why they did. They were all students here, so she never understood why they had to be segregated like that. But she didn’t think she was someone of importance either, even if she had talent. Until recently, all she thought about were her games. That was until she met him.
This girl had been playing her favorite game that day, Gal Omega. She had loved it so much that she had even set a speed run record for the day. Like always, she was so focused on what she was doing that she had walked straight into someone else. The two flew backward from the impact. St least, the boy did, wobbling a bit and holding himself steady.
“Agh-” The boy finally found his balance, and looked at the girl for answers, seeing her handheld game.
“Oh.” The girl looked the boy up and down. He was skinny, maybe a bit too skinny. The spiky hair was also a bit much, but he seemed rather kind, smiling at her. The girl bowed her head and prepared to walk away. “I apologize. Good day.”
“That’s Gal Omega, right?” The boy’s response shocked her down to her very core. “I recognized the music! It’s fun, huh?”
She stopped in her tracks. No one before had even known that game. Most people were all about the new games with the all-new graphics. She also enjoyed those, though. Any video game was perfect in her book. However, those classics held a special place in her heart.
“You know it? It’s such an old game, but it’s really a classic. Don’t you think so…?” The girl started to get a bit excited, and she moved a little closer.
“Yeah, I know a little. I used to play it a lot as a kid, y’know.” The boy grinned at her and held out his hand. “By the way, my name is Hajime Hinata. What’s yours?”
Just who was this boy? The girl had a good feeling about him, whoever he was. She shyly put her handheld down just for a moment. “It’s nice to meet you, Hinata. I’m Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer.”
Days moved on, and Chiaki and Hajime became closer friends than before. She had learned several new things about him in this time span. First of all, he was in the Reserve Course, and they could only hang out between classes. He liked kusamochi, but didn’t like sakura mochi. Hajime was incredibly normal, but Chiaki liked that about him.
He was so unlike her classmates, who were so full of energy that it made Chiaki want to hide away forever. They were nice enough, but man, were they a bunch of oddballs. But what did it matter? They were just classmates, after all. It wasn’t like they were going to hang out. That’s what she had thought until her teacher talked to her.
“Games are more fun with friends.” Chisa Yukizome had told her.
Would they like her games? Chiaki had wondered. She wasn’t really that exciting, after all. However, her teacher was sure to push her to friendships and whatnot. Eventually Chiaki gave in. So one day, she had asked the Ultimate Mechanic, Kazuichi Soda, to help her set up a television in the class and had asked the class to play with her. It was safe to say that the plan was a success.
“You are the best! Do you know that, Nanami-Chan?!” The Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind had pulled her into a close hug. Hugs were something very rare for Chiaki. She was surprised that she even liked it.
Later that day, she had gone to wait for Hajime. Just like the fun she had with her classmates, she hoped that maybe her and Hajime could co-op. If playing games with people who never played games before was fun, then playing games with people who enjoyed them would be fun too.
That was why she was at the store today. She wanted to pick up new games for them to play. The Ultimate Yakuza, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu and The Ultimate Swordswoman, Peko Pekoyama had offered to escort her through town. Chiaki was inwardly shocked. Why would the two of them concern themselves with a girl like herself?
“I know you’re confused and shit, but you’re our class rep.” He had snapped at her, though it seemed to be laced with just a bit of kindness. “Your safety is important.”
She didn’t understand why. She wasn’t that important. Besides, it was just a game store. What harm would come from that? Chiaki bit her cheek and looked at Peko, who was standing silently by herself. Chiaki gathered up her courage and asked her a question.
“Pekoyama, does any game catch your attention? Maybe I can get one we can play together...”
“It is fine. I have no means to play a video game.” Peko replied, much to Chiaki’s disappointment.
Humming to herself, Chiaki thought for a minute. “There are many games with swordplay involved, like Four Swords Adventure. Plus, in the Final Fantasy games, there is a warrior class, and there’s a lot of swords in that.”
Something in Peko’s eyes started to shine. “Those sound...enjoyable. Perhaps we can engage in that later.” Peko then turned beside her to Fuyuhiko, who was especially grumpy this afternoon. “Shall I play with Nanami?”
“I-I don’t care. Why do you have to ask me?” Fuyuhiko grumbled. Chiaki knew something was up, but she didn’t want to pry.
Chiaki nodded and put those games on the counter as well. Sonia insisted on paying for all of Chiaki’s games. She had to remember to thank her again. As they walked back home, they talked some more. Fuyuhiko was walking a bit ahead of the two, to “look for any weirdos.” Those were his own words.
“In a few days, that internship thing will start.” Chiaki said, “One of the people coming in is Kuzuruyu’s little sister. Has he said anything about her to you?”
Peko knew all about Natsumi, but she had to keep her ties to his family a secret. “No, I haven’t heard anything.” She changed the subject “Wasn’t there anyone you wanted to invite?”
Chiaki thought of Hajime, and she sighed. “I have a friend in the Reserve Course, but he believes that talent is everything. It’s going to be hard to get him out of that...mentality.”
“If he is your friend, I’m sure we would all get along.” Peko’s eyes were cold, and she held a shallow smile. Something in her voice, though, was telling that there was more about the girl than what met the eyes.
“You really think so?” Chiaki had asked as the three of them came to a stop at the campus fountain. Fuyuhiko began to walk further away, finally bringing out his hand.
“Pekoyama, are you coming?” Fuyuhiko called to her. The girl nodded and looked at Chiaki one last time.
“Will you wait at the fountain for your...friend?”
“That’s the idea. Thank you for protecting me, Peko.” Chiaki summoned herself to give the girl a brief smile. Surprisingly, Peko smiled back. It wasn’t a total breakthrough, but it was something new.
“Goodbye, Nanami.” Peko nodded quickly and turned away after the other boy. With a sigh of contentment, Chiaki pulled out her handheld with the few new games she had purchased, waiting for Hajime with a smile on her face.
Hajime was walking towards his usual meeting spot with Chiaki, the Hope Peak Fountain. He had just got done talking with a girl in his class named Natsumi. She had told him she would be getting in the Main Course no matter what, because her brother only deserved the best. She was so passionate about it.
He walked past the main campus and thought he saw a flash of light pink. “Nanami?” He stuck his head around the gate to see if he could get a good view of her, when a strong force slammed him to the ground.
“Wha-!?”
“You are trespassing, kid. Go play with your own kind.” Hajime looked up to see a tall, angry man glaring down at him.
“Wait...aren’t you Juzo Sakakura?” Hajime said, seemingly in a trance. From the things he had heard, Sakakura was known as the Ultimate Boxer. He had always won school run boxing matches, no matter who faced him.
“If you know my talent, kid, then you know why they hired me as chief of security here.”
“Um...like why?”
“To keep lowlife trespassers out.” Juzo snarled, “Now get lost before something worse happens.”
“I just wanted to see if my friend…” Hajime murmured.
“You wanted to see if you could get one of the talented to feel pity for you. You’d be a lackey then, wouldn’t you?”
“N-No, I-”
“Just stay where you belong!” Juzo rushed forward and kicked the balance out of Hajime’s left leg, staring at him as the boy crashed to the ground. Hajime wiped his cheek, and charged to attack. However, Juzo was already ahead of him, cutting off the attack with a solid punch to the throat.
Hajime was thrown back with a guttural sound, hands flying towards his neck to cease the pain. Juzo just let out a low chuckle, basking in his achievement.
“We’ve got a fighter, huh...Well, I guess I’ll take it easier on you. Being in the hospital is enough of a punishment for trash like you.” Juzo drew back his fist as he grabbed the collar of Hajime’s shirt. It flew forward, and crashed into something else. It was...a hand, belonging to an old friend.
“You are going to extremes again, you idiot!” A woman as young as Juzo yipped. She wore a long, orange ponytail, and a maid’s outfit. Juzo set down his fist and turned away.
“He was trespassing.”
“He’s just a kid, Juzo! Gosh, why would you be so dumb?” Chisa rolled her eyes and looked at Hajime, smiling gently at him. She reached into her dress pocket and pulled out a small handkerchief. “Here, take this.”
“T-Thank you.” Hajime bowed and quickly limped away, running away farthest from the arguing that started between the two.
The pain was everywhere, especially in his legs. It made Hajime not want to walk again. Blossoming with agony in every muscle, Hajime forced himself to stand against the gravel road. He looked to the building in front of him, and then the one to the left.
The Reserve Course…
With bitterness, Hajime grits his teeth and held his hands in fists against his sides. All because he accidentally crossed the gate line of Hope’s Peak Main Course Property, he had to be pummeled by that...man. All he wanted to do was see if he could see what he thought was his only friend.
For someone as normal as Hajime, friends were just something that came and went. He had had friends, sure. At least he thought he had. However, he had never met someone so dedicated, so interesting and so captivating as that one girl who literally ran into him one day.
Chiaki Nanami, the ultimate gamer. She could beat just about anyone at video games. RPG, beat-em-ups, first-person shooters, anything. Chiaki was so amazing, and yet she was so quiet, the only thing she talked about other than games were her classmates.
Chiaki smiled when talking about the fun they had during their gaming session in class that one day that ended up with her punching one of them.
He was listening in awe as she told him about that day. Apparently, she had brought her game system to class and asked her classmates if they wanted to play games. She was surprised that they agreed.
FLASHBACK
In the dimly lit classroom, Chiaki shyly moved up to a few of her classmates. These were particularly some of the most crazy people she had ever met, but she was prepared for anything…
“Oh, Nanami-Chan!” Sonia waved to her as she approached. She seemed shocked enough that Chiaki was actually standing in front of her. Usually the girl was a total recluse. “What do you request of us?”
“Well, I was wondering if any of you wanted to play some...games. Video games…” Chiaki pulled her hood over her head, and looked at the floor.
Sonia asked, “Games? Like when you play with a controller and there is a character on the screen?!”
“Um, yeah. Sometimes-”
“Oh, what a wonderful idea! In Novoselic, there was no time for such a thing, and-” Sonia was going around the room with excitement. Chiaki couldn’t help but be slightly proud.
“So...which one do you guys want to play?” Chiaki pulled out a couple games and set them in front of the group. Akane Owari, the Ultimate Gymnast, picked up Super Smash Bros and grinned at the cover.
“Hey, nice! Is this a fighting game?”
Chiaki nodded in response. “Mhm. You can choose any character you want to fight with, and-”
“Sweet!” Akane let out a “whoop” of excitement and dragged another student, this one being much larger than her to the television. “Hey, Nekomaru! I’m so gonna beat you in this! Just watch me!”
“Heh, I accept your challenge!” he laughed.
“Four people can play at once, so...” Chiaki glanced around the room to find a brooding boy with several squeaking noises coming from his scarf. “Tanaka, right? Do you wish to join us?”
Shockingly, Gundham did not decline the offer. “The forces of darkness surely wish for me to take place in this battle for the ages.”
Soon enough, the four of them played to their heart’s content. Chisa, their teacher soon appeared, setting forth to challenge Hiyoko, Chiaki, and Ibuki in a Mario Kart race.
Hajime thought about Chiaki’s classmates. They all seemed like interesting characters, from what she had told him. One of her classmates was the Ultimate Chef. Another was known as the Ultimate Princess. Hajime didn't know how being a princess could be a talent, but who was he to argue?
Compared to them, he was just nothing. He was absolutely nothing. There were so many talented kids residing in Hope’s Peak Academy, including Chiaki. He didn’t understand why she hung out with him. He wasn’t like the others.
But there was a way to change that.
All he had to do was submit to a few tests and confidential experiments. .. That was all he heard. He thought maybe if he did this, he could finally be someone, someone that was worthy of Chiaki’s attention.
The thoughts circled through his head as Hajime walked to the bench. Chiaki, of course, was waiting for him.
"Ah, Hajime...” Chiaki exclaimed with her usual smile. She held up a few bags full of what he could only guess were video games.
Hajime sadly shook his head. “I’m sorry, Nanami... I can’t today.”
"Oh." She sighed with a frown looking disappointed. “Are you okay?”
“There’s just something I have to do,” he said. “I guess I will See you later.”
Chiaki tilted her head. Questions raced through her head. “See you tomorrow…”
He looked at her with a fake grin, he honestly didn't know if he would see her the next day. Hajime hoped that he would, but there was no telling how long this would take. He started to turn and walk away when he heard her voice.
"Wait…!” she said meekly.
"Huh?" Hajime responded turning around.
"Please, don't go." Chiaki murmured. “I don’t know...I just have a feeling that I won’t see you again.”
"What? Of course, you’ll see me again, Chiaki.” Hajime smiled. “Nothing on Earth can stop us from playing games together.”
"But where do you have to go?" She asked, concerned.
With a sigh, Hajime decided that keeping secrets wouldn’t be worth anything in the long run.“Well normally to get in the Reserve Course you have to pay a lot of money for the “honor” of going here. The heads of the school offered to waive the school fees if I agreed to a project.”
Very worried, Chiaki asked, “What kind of Project Hinata?”
“It is called the Izuru Kamukura Project.”
“Named after the school founder?” Chiaki tilted her head. There was just something off. That sense of upcoming dread came back again.
“Yeah, that’s right. They want to see if they can give talent to a talentless kid like me.” Hajime said, “Honestly, it doesn’t sound all that bad.”
“Oh, so they are going to teach you a skill until you’re the best at it?” Chiaki suddenly melted with relief. Thank god Hajime wouldn’t be hurt. “Sounds like that will be a lot of hard work, but I hope it goes well.”
“Well it’s more of like...a long term exposure to what makes a person talented.” Seeing that Chiaki was confused, Hajime sunk his head back down. “Basically, it’s like an injection, or an operation of sorts.”
“You’re going to have a brain surgery just to obtain a talent? Hajime…” Chiaki pressed her hand over her mouth and kept it there.
“Not just a talent.” Hajime said coldly. Chiaki tilted her head to the side, and he continued. “I will be given every single talent to be featured in the Hope’s Peak archives.”
Every single talent? That was just...It was too much. Chiaki swallowed and tried to comprehend what exactly Hajime would go through if she didn’t intervene somehow. “Do you still think talent is everything?”
“The school does. I’m just a 2nd class citizen to them.”
“But not to me.” Chiaki slowly reached forward and touched Hajime’s hand, bringing him closer. “Please don’t sign up for that project, Hajime. Please…” Hajime could do nothing but reluctantly listen.
Chiaki went to her class after her meeting with Hajime. All the things he was telling her running through her mind. She would have loved if Hajime was in her class with her, she knew her friends could become his friends too, but she felt uncomfortable about those experiments.
When Chiaki walked into her room, she saw she was the last one there. and her teacher Chisa Yukizome was waiting for her with a smile.
"You were almost late, Class Rep!" She said.
Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student, replied, "Nanami-Chan was probably spreading her hope around the campus. She is- after all- a bright light of hope for..."
Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer groaned interrupting him "Why do you always say stupid things like that! God, you’re such a gross weirdo!”
Hiyoko’s close friend Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer, only bit her cheek in response. “Saionji...why don’t we try-”
“It’s okay. Trash such as myself should be reprimanded by their superiors.” Komaeda smiled and laughed a little. No one responded with anything but a groan of frustration.
Before the room got stiffer, Chiaki just shook her head and spoke to her teacher. "Miss Yukizome, I have a question."
"What is it?" She asked curiously
"You said that we could invite friends to class for a bit to what did you call it? The internship, right?" she asked.
"Yes, I did," Chisa replied. "But I thought you already agreed on two girls, Kuzuryu's little sister, and Koizumi's friend?"
"There is a third person, I would like to propose to the class," Chiaki replied. "I didn't present him at first because I thought there was no need to, but now..." Chiaki had a distant look in her eyes.
"Nanami is something wrong?" Chisa asked with concern.
Chiaki responded, "There might be but it's not my secret to tell."
Chisa Yukizome may have been working undercover to infiltrate the secrets of Hope’s Peak, but she couldn’t help but give in sometimes. "As long as the entire class agrees! Favorites to you might be enemies to the others, y’know.”
Chiaki smiled in relief, "Oh I'm sure everyone will agree ...I think.”
Meanwhile, in the Penthouse of the Academy, the Steering Committee was watching all of this.
"Hinata’s starting to get close with one of them, isn’t he?" The purple man asked.
“You mean the gamer? It’s almost like he’s not taking this seriously.” The yellow man snickered as he inhaled a cigarette
“Damn it!” The one in the middle cursed. “We wanted someone with no personal connections for our experiment."
A third person only clicked their nails on the table, Does it really matter in the end?”
“What do you mean?” The purple man asked
She replied, “He’s just a gunnie pig after all. In the end, there’s nothing that will get in the way.”