Chapter Text
"Today is the day!" Kaede thought. She looked down into her hands and saw the fresh envelope she was keeping clean and spot-free. It was her acceptance letter to Hope's Peak Academy. Today was a very special day, as it was the first time she will enter Hope's Peak Academy. Yes, it was the day before orientation.
Kaede didn't know anyone in her class. All she knew was that orientation started at 8 am the next day and she needed to get there before then. She needed to catch her flight to the airport. Since she was so stressed about it, Kaede woke up earlier than she intended to do so. Indeed, it was 6 am, but she knew it was too late to go back to sleep. She sighed and got out of bed, hoping to start her amazing new life.
She barely believed it when she got accepted as the Ultimate Pianist. She was so honored and stoked. She couldn't wait! She was going to meet all her other classmates and make friends with them. Well, that was the goal. Kaede was always outgoing and confident. When she wanted something, it would take the will of every human to stop her from reaching her desires. As long as someone was there to support her, she could take an inch and go a mile. This experience, however, will be different for her. All her life, she has been living with her parents. Hope's Peak, however, requires its students to sleep in their own custom dorm rooms. For once, Kaede was excited about this new opportunity.
Realizing she was daydreaming for too long, she got up from her bed and started to get ready. Kaede was very organized and already had her outfit planned out for her. What? Can you blame her? She needed to make sure she would make the absolute best first impression. Kaede chose something very simple. A purple skirt with music notes all around, a white tee, and above that, a pink vest. Nothing too fancy, she thought. Right as she was going to exit the room, she noticed she forgot one crucial accessory: her backpack. She always kept very important things in there such as sheet music, her phone, and even lunch. Okay okay, it wasn't that important but it was a part of her outfit. She needed it. After making sure she looked spotless, she exited her room and went down to her living room.
"GOOD MORNING!!!"
Whoever yelled that did so at such a volume, it almost broke Kaede's ears. It was way too early for this. She knew who it was before she looked over. It was her twin sister, Koharu. Before Kaede could even spin her head to look at her sister, Koharu already had her in a bear hug. Kaede could feel herself falling, but caught herself on the wall to prevent that.
"Woah, careful now…" It was a plain request, but that request was met with more screaming "Are you excited? Are you happy? Are you…"
"Geez, Koharu, I get it, but it's too early for all of this. I am excited but no need to yell." After all, Kaede just got out of bed. Her hypersensitive ears could not handle this volume so early in the morning.
"Oh, I'm sorry" she states, giving Kaede a smirk which said otherwise. "Don't worry, I made you breakfast, so won't have to worry about it!"
"Wait really?" Now, this was a surprise. Sure, Koharu is an amazing sister, but waking up before 6 am to make breakfast? For a split second, Kaede thought she was still dreaming.
"Yup, let's go!" She grabbed Kaede's hand and pulled her into the kitchen. They both had a bad habit of just grabbing people's hands to move someone somewhere. Guess that is just the Akamatsu special.
They were both practically running into the kitchen at this point. Kaede and Koharu's bedrooms are located on the second floor, so they had to sprint down the stairs in order to get to the kitchen. Once Kaede got to the bottom of the stairs, she realized how much she is going to miss this place. She will miss being with her family, her room, but most importantly, her piano. She had a whole room dedicated to her piano with sheet music and other necessities thrown around. Well, that is usually the case. Most of what Kaede needed was already transferred to Hope’s Peak. She couldn’t take everything else. For example, her piano had to be left behind. Hope’s Peak bought Kaede a custom piano after accepting the invitation, so she had no need to take it with her. Again, Kaede imagined how lucky she was to go to such a prestigious school. This was going to be the time of her life.
Once they reached the kitchen, it was just as she expected. Eggs, pancakes, sausages, and bacon. Don’t get Kaede wrong, this was mouthwatering, but eating that every day was too much. This time, however, she accepted it gracefully. When is the next time she will be able to eat like this? For all she knew, Kaede would be entering the ramen lifestyle. Shortly after Kaede sat down, the two sisters started chatting to each other. Talking about how their day will go, how their lives will change, and how much they are going to miss each other. Unfortunately, they had to miss each other. Kaede got accepted, but Koharu was not even considered. Koharu did not have something she was exceptionally good at, but even so, Koharu was extremely happy that at least someone close to her got the Hope’s Peak experience. Usually, Kaede and Koharu ate breakfast by themselves, with their parents sleeping in until around 8. However, today was special, so both their parents got up and ate with them. Too much small talk ensued, which stressed Kaede out. Phrases like “you're gonna kill it”, “try your best”, and “I believe in you!” came oozing out of her parent's mouths. Even without this encouragement, Kaede was determined. Determined to make this the best four years of her life.
With all four of them stuffed into a tiny car, they made their way to the airport. Of course it would be too convenient for the academy to be next to her. She sighed, waving goodbye to her old home and made her way to the airport. The ride there was mostly uneventful, with her parents and sister telling Kaede how much she was going to be missed. Thankfully, the flight was at 11 am, so Kaede had around 2 hours to spend with her family. The whole time, they were praising her skills, how proud of her they are, and every other complement they could muster. Honestly, it hurt her heart. Having the most important people for her life vanish almost in an instant. Even if Kaede would be flying to a faraway place, she promised she would call them at least once a week. This was acceptable for the Akamatsu household.
“Gate 64 is now open. If you have a ticket for gate 64, please make your way there immediately. Thank you!”
To any other passenger, that message was uneventful. For Kaede, however, it signaled the start of her new life as the Ultimate Pianist. It signaled the day she would change forever. With a couple of hugs and tears all around, Kaede showed the flight attendant her ticket before entering the plane. This was not Kaede’s first time riding a plane. On the contrary, flying in an airplane was her routine at this point. Kaede has been requested to perform in all sorts of concert halls all over the world. Some of them were private, others were public, some were for funerals and others were for weddings. If piano music was there, so was she. Even though this had to be her millionth time flying, she couldn’t help but be stressed. Questions about Hope’s Peak swirled in her head faster than the speed of sound. How big is Hope’s Peak? What is the staff like? How about the food? Are the students nice? Will they accept me? Questions like these intertwined in her head the entire flight, which was fortunately only around 2 hours. Kaede's home and Hope’s Peak were both located in Japan, so she had that going for her at least.
When the flight landed, Kaede had no idea what to do. The entire time, she was just thinking to herself, so she completely forgot what she was doing. In fact, she was still daydreaming, which caused her to make a grave mistake. She bumped into someone. Fortunately for them, it was just a little bump, that was it, but it still made Kaede want to apologize profusely. However, right as the words were on the tip of her tongue, the other person decided to speak out.
“U-um… a-ah… I-I am so sorry! Are y-you okay? Did I h-hurt you? Did you fall? Do y-you need me to get y-you something? I s-should have looked where I was g-going. I am s-sorry!”
What is with this guy? He didn’t need to apologize at all. He was stationary, after all.
Deciding to finally look up at him, she noticed his appearance. He was dressed in all black. Black shoes, jacket, pants. He even had a black hat that covered up his dark blue hair and amber eyes. The buttons on his shirt were white with a couple of coat pockets on his side. She noticed this mysterious man was also carrying a suitcase. Why? She had no clue, but she really didn’t know if she should pry for this information.
“What? No, no! It’s okay! It was all my fault after all. You weren’t even moving. Relax a little.” Even this did not make the poor boy relax.
“A-ah. Are you sure? M-maybe I was standing in the wrong place?”
“No no, it was all my fault. Besides, no harm no foul, right?”
She then noticed the boy let go of the breath he was holding. His shoulders draped downwards and he lifted his hat so she could at least see his mouth.
“Yes, of course. T-thank you for that confirmation.” Right then, she noticed a small simile creep onto his face. She didn’t know why, but her heart skipped a beat because of it. It made her want to return the smile ten-fold as she was ecstatic that she calmed this poor soul down.
“No problem! Anytime!” From there, the conversation went cold. No one knew what to say. As they were idling together, an idea came to her mind.
“Say, what is your name?”
This visibility shook the black-clothed boy. While he was not expecting this type of question, Kaede did not expect his reaction. Instead of stating his name, he looked at her like he was trying to solve the world’s hardest puzzle. After a couple of seconds after that small staredown, he began once again.
“Oh… my n-name is…”
“Kaede Akamatsu! Anyone here with the name Kaede Akamatsu!”
“AH!” Kaede reacted so violently that even the blue-haired male jumped.
“Oh, that is for me! Sorry I have to go!” Without even giving it a second thought, Kaede ran to the sound of her name. Even though the lobby was full of noise, her golden ears allowed her to hear even the smallest of sounds. As she went towards the sound of the voice calling her name out, she turned around to see the boy still staring at her. With a small wave, she looked forward and marched into the crowd. In retrospect, it was mean to completely disregard him like that, but they were never going to meet each other again, so she won’t lose sleep over it.
After around 5 minutes, Kaede felt like she was playing to find the needle in the haystack with the individual who called out for her. Fortunately, this was not too difficult as she found another man calling her name out shortly after this thought.
“Kaede Akamatsu?”
“Yup! That's me!”
“Can I see your ID card?”
That's right. Every student has an ID card in order to ensure they are real ultimates. Some people are so desperate to get into Hope’s Peak that they try to sneak in or cosplay as students just to get a peak inside. Kaede fished out her wallet and pulled out the ID card. On it was some very basic details about herself. Name, birthday, phone number, address, ultimate title, and a certain number assigned to every ultimate. At the bottom, there was also a barcode that was just used to identify her quickly and unlock certain areas in the school. Hope’s Peak had no keys in order to ensure that lock pickers won’t be able to access other students' dorms. Weird, but she didn’t mind. Less work for her!
The person smiled and took the ID card. After scanning it and reading something off of it, he urged her to come with him. A little freaked out, she complied and headed outside to where her ride was waiting for her. Wait, her ride? What ride?
“Um… what is this? Where are we going?”
“Oh, we are heading to Hope’s Peak,” The man informed her. “Getting there in secret is extremely important, as we do not want any harm to current and future ultimates.”
Kaede understood the idea but was still worried. One look inside the car made all those worries disappear. There was the Hope’s Peak academy logo plastered on everywhere, and she means EVERYWHERE. This either meant that she was going to Hope’s Peak or was about to get kidnapped, but she didn’t have a choice on whether or not to get into the car. Before she knew it, she already had a seatbelt on and the driver was moving away from the airport. The kidnapping theory started to gain more traction.
“We will be at Hope’s Peak in around 30 minutes. Until then, please relax yourself. Once you arrive, you will go through a tough security check and will meet up with some staff to get your dorm assigned. Orientation is tomorrow at 8 am. After that, you can explore the rest of the academy and the surrounding establishments. The first day of class starts on Monday, at 9 am. Any questions?”
“Nope! Seems simple enough to me!” She smiled again. There was nothing to smile about, but the excitement of going to the world's most prestigious school just forced it on her. She was so excited that she couldn’t contain herself. Luckily, the driver focused on the road and kept driving towards their destination: her new school, or at least she hoped so. She knew this would change her life forever. She knew this would change her so much. But for the better or worse, Kaede did not know… yet.
Kaede stared at the school in awe. It was so gigantic that Kaede guessed it was at least 20 floors tall. She never saw the school in person before, just in pamphlets and online pictures. Well, it had to be the best school for a reason, right? After realizing she was staring at the building for roughly 15 minutes, she decided to snap out of it and head to the entrance. As she was walking to the main doors, she suddenly stopped. She noticed that no one was around. Did she mess this up again? Was she late? Early? Was she in the wrong place? Those questions formulated in her head, but she quickly snapped out of it. The driver dropped her here, so it must be correct. Everyone is probably inside!
Panicking, she quickly went and opened the doors only to see a young lady behind a table. Kaede quickly approached the lady.
“Hello miss. How can I help you today?”
“Um… Is this Hope’s Peak Academy? I am new here so I need help getting started.”
“Yes, that is correct dearie. Can I please see your ID?”
Geez, they use that way too often around here. And did she just call me “dearie”?
Completely caught off guard, Kaede could only mutter “Yea, here it is…”
After a couple of awkward minutes later, the young assistant gave Kaede her card back.
“Alright, well, it seems you are all checked out! Well, welcome to Hope’s Peak Ms. Akamatsu! Here, you will be able to refine your talent as the Ultimate Pianist while being around other ultimates!”
Wait, how did she know my talent? Does the skirt really give it away?
“Currently, we are finishing renovations for your class. Specifically, for your class, there will be 15 other ultimates joining you in your wondrous adventure. As you probably already know, orientation is tomorrow at 8 am sharp, so don’t miss it! Now that you know all that, let me assign you your dorm. First of all, each class has its own building for the student's dorms and labs. For reference, the building you are standing in is the main building where students can come and relax or get help at.”
Kaede looked around at this point. This is where she was a cafe, gym, pool, and even a library!
Yup, this is definitely something I can get used to…
“Additionally, the dorms are separated by gender and each student gets a single dorm. Any decoration is fine as long as no damage is dealt to the physical room. Now, here is your room key.”
She gets handed some type of keycard.
Of course it isn't a normal key.
“Your dorm should be the one with your face on it. Additionally, with that keycard, you can access your lab! Each ultimate student also gets a special room where they can refine their ultimate talents. These labs are rebuilt each time a new ultimate is accepted! All the labs for your class will be located on the floor above your dorm. Everything that you personally shipped has already been placed in your dorm room for you to unpack. Now, I know that is a lot to take in, so do you have any questions?”
Even though Kaede was still reeling, she thought she had a good grasp on the situation.
“Nope! I got it all!”
“Great! With that being said, let me lead you to the dorms. From there, it is just an elevator ride up to the labs!”
The assistant slowly got up from her chair and started to lead Kaede in another direction. After a couple of minutes, Kaede ended up in front of another building. From what she was told, Kaede assumed this was where her lab and dorm were located. A step inside confirmed this as she immediately saw the elevator that led up to the second floor. To the right and left of her, she saw 16 doors with random pictures plastered over them; 8 in each direction.
Wait… Is that...
“Welp, I have to go back to my station. I will let you explore the academy now. Have a great day!”
She left, seemingly in a hurry, to go back to the desk. Kaede did not understand why, but oh well. Kaede remembered that dorms were separated by gender, with the side being closer to the elevator being for the boys and the opposite side belonging to the girls. She went to the female's side and saw her dorm was at the end.
Geez, I have to walk all the way here to get to the door!? Wow, I wish I had the one next to the entrance!
Even though she was frustrated, she had to see what her dorm looked like. After scanning the keycard against the scanner, the door popped open. Kaede was shocked… is what she thought this moment would be like. All the room had was a bed against the top right of the room, a bathroom right next to the entrance, a closet, and a small kitchen. That's it. As promised, all her stuff was in her dorm… in boxes. Right then, she realized she may have brought too much stuff. Oh well, she had the rest of the day to sort everything out. But before that…
Kaede dashed to the elevator. She needed to know what her lab looked like. She wanted, no needed, to see the grand piano the school got for her along with everything else. She needed to see what she will be working with… okay and maybe play a few songs but that is besides the point. As the elevator opened, Kaede stepped inside and smashed the button to go to the second floor. Right as the elevator was closing, Kaede saw something, no, someone, she didn't expect to see.
The same lady from before opened the main door across from the elevator to bring into view a boy. This person wore all black and had a cap on. Before Kaede even had time to react, the elevator door slammed shut and it started ascending upwards.
WAIT! Was that the same boy from the airport!? No, that surely must be a mistake. I didn’t get a good enough look to even see what he looks like. Besides, many people dress up in all black, so it could be someone else, right?
Kaede thought about this a little more as her ride ascended. While it is true that many people wear black, not many people wear black caps indoors as well… All of her thoughts scrambled as Kaede suddenly heard a loud noise. Luckily for her, it wasn’t the elevator breaking, but her reaching her location: the site of all the ultimate labs. For a second, Kaede felt like a baby running in a candy store, trying to find the perfect treat. Eventually, Kaede found her treat in a matter of split seconds: her lab. She didn’t care to look at what the other labs were like yet. She just wanted to see her own now.
And that she did. Like her dorm room, her lab was symbolized by a framed picture of herself above the door. Kaede was disappointed with the limited amount of decorations on the door, but at least now it is a project for next time. Before doing a double-take around her, she slammed the door open to find her new lab.
Oh. My. God. This. Is. AMAZING!
Kaede couldn’t contain her excitement. There was everything she hoped and more. In the center of the room laid a beautiful grand piano which was slightly elevated off of the floor. There were a couple of chairs lying next to a window, most likely for an audience. Behind the piano, there was a shelf full of song covers and sheet music. There was an audio player in the corner of the room and a huge whiteboard for when she wants to make her own pieces. In the other corner of the room, there was a recording device for when she wanted to show other people her projects. After taking everything in, Kaede sprinted to the piano so quickly she nearly tripped over herself.
Wow! This piano is brilliant! It looks brand new as well! Oh, I want to play the piano so badly, even though it has only been a day since I last played…
Even though Kaede was mentally concerned, she couldn’t physically control herself from sitting down and playing a few tunes. She got engrossed in what felt like forever, playing different melodies and all of her favorites, just to practice. Eventually, Kaede looked at the clock, which now read 6 pm.
Okay, 6 pm. Wait, what? It has been that long? Have I really forgotten to eat lunch? Geez, I really am addicted to my piano, aren't I?
Kaede giggled to herself before shrugging. She didn’t care, she was here because of that addiction, right? Even though Kaede could have stayed up until midnight playing her favorite classics, she had to attend orientation tomorrow, so she needed to go clean her room and eat something. On the way out of her lab, she noticed something strange. The same black-clothed boy was entering his own lab down the hall.
Okay, what is with this guy? Is he following me? Maybe he wants to get to know me?
She didn’t have to think about it twice before she was right in front of the door. As she was about to knock, when she remembered something important.
Wait, I shouldn’t do this. I don’t want to make a horrible first impression. I promised myself I wouldn’t do that again after last time…
With that settled, she dropped the act and headed back down to her own dorm. Admittingly, it was a mess from all the boxes, but a quick clean up got everything sorted. She moved all of her custom DVDs and sheet music to her lab while decorating the walls of her own dorm. All around her room, she placed small pink lights where the wall and the ceiling meet. Then, she decorated the walls with small piano symbols, like clefs. Eventually, the walls would have to be repainted, but right now, her stomach was talking instead of her head. Her stomach wanted food, so the cafe was the natural place to go.
Once Kaede finally got to the food haven, she went and got in line. For the first time, she saw other ultimates eating as well. They were all eating in groups and had funky looking uniforms, but she didn’t judge. Her uniform was nothing short of normal either. Fortunately for her, the food here was of a higher caliber than the foods in normal high schools. Once she got her grub, she needed a place to sit once. While she was looking for a table, she stopped once she spotted a certain black-clothed boy.
Is this boy following me? Why is he everywhere I am going?
He was sitting by himself, reading a novel and drinking something. From the appearance alone, along with the possible experience in the airport, he was nice enough to be the first person she talked to. Well, she had to sit somewhere? Why not make a friend while doing it? Plus, sitting next to someone in a cafe is much less creepy than randomly knocking on their door. Deciding to risk it all, she sat right next to the boy.
“Hi!” Kaede exclaimed, a little too loud for her liking.
“A-AH. Ah. Oh. It’s you a-again...”
“Oh, so you remember me? From the airport? That’s great! First of all, I am extremely sorry for ignoring you at the airport! I just thought we would never see each other again, and I was so excited about coming here and... and...” Kaede had so much to say, but she didn't want to seem self-centered in her apology. Instead, she just looked at the boy, which symbolized that she was done speaking.
"Oh... hah... hah... t-that's alright, really..."
The silence became deadly. She had no idea what to do. It was clear that the other boy was too shy to continue the conversation, but he did not ignore her. It was clear she had his full attention, even though he was hiding his face behind his novel and cap. She needed to make this conversation last, but how? Just then she realized she forgot to ask him something…
“Oh yea! I never got your name. Well, since you're here, you must have an ultimate talent too, right?”
“Yes, that is correct. M-my name is Shuichi S-Saihara. They call me the 'Ultimate Detective,' but I don’t think I d-deserve the title.”
Kaede couldn’t help but notice that he placed air quotes around his title. She frowned. This warranted further questioning.
“Hey! What do you mean 'I don’t deserve the title'? You are here so you definitely deserve it. Come on, be more confident in yourself Shuichi!”
She pumped her fists in the air, hoping to pass some of that confidence to the capped boy. Unfortunately, it seemed to fail, as all it did was make the young detective look away.
“Ah, I d-don’t want to t-talk about it…” Shuichi literally whispered this part, but because of her amazing ears as a pianist, she quickly picked up on it.
“OH! I am sorry! I didn't mean to intrude. Well, let me introduce myself in the meantime. My name is Kaede Akamatsu. I am the Ultimate Pianist. Nice to meet you!”
“Ultimate Pianist? T-that sounds interesting.”
“It really is! For my entire life, I have played in numerous concerts! After winning so many awards at such a young age, Hope’s Peak scouted me and found me as a perfect fit for this school!”
“That is how you got your title? Wow, that sounds way better than me…”
“Hey! I am sure you did amazing things as well! If you're not comfortable sharing, that's okay! Besides, everyone will eventually leave their comfort zone, right?”
Glaring at him, Kaede stuck her hand out for the blue-haired detective to shake. He looked at her hand like it was laced with some sort of poison. He quickly returned her glare, to which Kaede responded with a gentle smile. Shuichi stared back at her hand, and Kaede felt it getting awkward, fast. Right as she was about to pull her hand away, Shuichi gently took her hand and quickly shook it, before retracting his hand and looking away.
“Yea, I g-guess you're right…”
“Yup! When you are ready to open up, I will listen alright? Unfortunately for both of us, it is getting extremely late and orientation is tomorrow, so we have to get going. It was very nice meeting you Shuichi!”
“Yea... I-it was nice m-meeting you too, K-Kaede.”
She gave him a small smile before waving and going back to her room. She was so ecstatic! That boy seemed nice enough, and he seemed to not judge her! Judge her like everyone else… She looked down at herself. She sighed as she went into her dorm.
After tumbling with her key card, she finally opened the door to her dorm. Feeling extremely tired, Kaede quickly went and dressed in her pajamas. Seriously, who sleeps with their uniform on? After thoughtlessly redressing herself, she quickly plopped down onto her bed to think over everything.
Well, I think that Shuichi boy is nice. I think we can make great friends! I hope everyone is as accepting as he is though…
She sighed. She was way too stressed for the orientation tomorrow. Way too stressed to meet everyone: the teachers, the staff, the students. Oh, especially the students. She wanted to make friends with everyone, or at least one person. That would be an improvement from last year…
She realized that sighing to herself won’t stop these thoughts, so she slapped herself lightly.
I need to go to sleep! Not into my thoughts! Sleep! Hmm… I know what to do!
To solve this problem, Kaede turned to what she loved the most: the piano. She was so stressed out, she needed to think of the perfect song to calm her down. Slowly, she started humming the song to herself. The stress was fading away as her body relaxed to the beat. As she fell asleep to “Clair de Lune”.