Chapter Text
Let me begin with an orthodox introduction. My name is Makoto Naegi.
An orthodox introduction for an orthodox person. Makoto Naegi was just about as average as you could get. Only average, of course. He was hardly even stepping towards the line to be boring, which is the worst kind of less than average that somebody could be. Average was all that he was; average and lucky. Lucky to be standing in front of Hope’s Peak Academy, home of the best and brightest. Soon it would be his home as well, but he was a bit different than ever other student. He wasn’t Super High School Level Best, or Super High School Level Brightest. Makoto Naegi was simply Super High School Level Lucky Bastard. Or, as he was officially listed, Super High School Level Good Luck.
It was Super High School Level Good Luck that brought him to the school, having pulled him from a lottery. There would be times to come when Naegi would believe that he was not actually blessed, but cursed. Those thoughts would come, but they would be lies. It would be his Super High School Level Good Luck, after all, that carried him through the ordeal to come. In another time, he might have even been lucky enough to be saved from execution, or lucky enough to escape before any sort of problems really began. This time, however, was not that time. This time, who knows what’s going to happen?
Only one thing was exactly the same. The moment Makoto Naegi stepped into the school, he found his head spinning, and before he knew it, he was entirely unconscious. He awoke in a classroom, head down on his desk.
“Eh…?” His voice was stronger than he’d expect it to be after passing out, and his sound of confusion echoed in the room. There were desks, a blackboard, and a clear teacher’s desk as well at the front of the room. There was no mistaking that this was a classroom, but why was he the only one here? Was he possibly mistaken about where he had passed out? Or had he been carried here?
Whatever the case, there clearly wasn’t anyone present to answer his questions. Best case scenario, he’d actually just fallen asleep in class, but he seriously doubted it. He could hope with all his heart that the unlikely hypothesis turned out true, but all the luck in the world couldn’t change something that had already happened. It wasn’t like he was simultaneously right and wrong if he stayed inside this classroom. He was not Schrödinger’s student. Something just didn’t seem right about the situation. The blackboard was empty, and there were strange things on the walls. Upon closer examination, they appeared to be metal plates. Going by the lack of windows in the room, he figured they must be covering those. Consciously, he became paranoid of what might be going on, and a fear surfaced that for whatever reason, he had been kidnapped and trapped in this place.
A thought from nowhere crossed the back of his mind, that this was a shelter, to protect him from the ruin outside. He waved off the idea immediately; what ruin outside? That thought was the same as those very same ideas that anyone got and ignored as a result of their brain’s strangeness. A passing notion of how to best cook a baby for consumption, or a sneaking paranoia that one is the last person on Earth if nobody is around, or even answering the phone. All were dispelled with a fan of ‘that’s ridiculous’ and this thought, if it had any truth behind it, received the same fate regardless.
Seeing as he hadn’t collapsed when he stood to get a better look at the metal plates, it was clear that Makoto Naegi was indeed capable of walking at the moment. In that case, he could examine the room further, or he could go looking for other people. He weighed his options briefly. There was probably nothing else for him to discover in this room, frankly. It was a classroom. Aside from the metal plates, there was nothing else that stood out. The blackboard’s cleanliness was strange, but it wasn’t like he could find out anything more about it if he got closer.
Or could he? The option of leaving the room seemed rather unappealing. If he was trapped, after all, there had to be captors somewhere. If they had intended to tie him up and forgot, he might invoke their wrath by being out of the room. And there was no saying that the door would even be unlocked in the first place. He would check, of course, and leave if it was, but he was in no hurry. So he may as well check out the blackboard. Knowing as much as he could about the situation seemed useful. He wouldn’t be able to figure anything out, but feeling like he had at least a bit of a grasp on what was going on would be comforting.
So upon examination, it seemed the blackboard wasn’t quite as clean as he’d earlier thought. True, there was nothing written on it, and it was clear of obvious stains, but it certainly wasn’t brand new. It had been used before, and there even seemed to be the remnants of an algebra problem in the corner; as if whoever had cleaned the board had erased it first, then taken a sponge to it and missed the spot on step two. At least, it seems like that could have happened. It settled his heart a bit to know that this was a real classroom, not simply a prop room made to confuse him. He clearly was in a school. He could still be captive, but this knowledge made that idea less terrifying somehow.
Another less terrifying idea was that of opening the door. He made his way over to it, and tested the knob. No lock. It turned, and with a simple push the door swung open, revealing a corridor just as devoid of life as the room behind him. The only lights that were on were the exit signs that all schools seemed to have on the ceiling somewhere. He only spotted them at all because of the lack of other lighting. He of course, examined the supposed exits, but he found only walls where they were supposed to be. Whoever set this up must have just forgotten to get rid of the signs, or else they wanted to taunt him for even thinking it would be that simple to leave the building. Of course it wouldn’t be, and he was a fool to think so. He was an eternal optimist, however, so as much as anyone might have called him a fool, or themselves in that situation, he simply sighed and turned the other way.
After turning the corner, he found that the next hallway was fully lit about halfway down. That must be the way he’d be supposed to go, if this were a video game, but as it was any sign of another person gave him dread alongside his curiosity. As far as he knew, the first person he would run into would end up being someone who wanted to cause him harm. Hence, he instead walked down the fully unlit hallway, pausing only a few steps in when he heard a third set of footsteps, and a fourth too.
A second was nothing, because he knew it was just the echo of his own, but these other two were staggered differently. There was another person walking in a nearby hallway, and their own footsteps echoed just as his did. It became only clearer when he stopped walking, and yet two sets of sound continued anyway. He was filled with a deep desire to run away, but just as he clenched his fists and took a breath to take off, his legs seemed to be made of lead. Now was certainly not the time to be taken over by fear, but while he was aware of that, his body seemed to think it was a good idea to shut down entirely. Having woken up in a strange place, alone, after passing out, and now to be approached by a person of unknown intent in a dark hallway…
That was just too much for one hour. So, frozen in place, Makoto Naegi screamed.