Chapter Text
Makoto Naegi was just an ordinary high schooler. Picked randomly from a pool of normal students to join Hope’s Peak Academy, he enrolled officially with the title of Ultimate Lucky Student in Class 78. That did not mean that he suddenly found himself special, though.
At his side, he saw only students who are the best of the best at what they do, teenage prodigies who had their futures set no matter how they managed their talents, which was the exact opposite of our protagonist here.
However, Makoto’s only unique trait is that he doesn’t give up easily. Some might call it senseless stubbornness, but the boy’s efforts to understand his classmates were slowly starting to make him have more of a presence in his class.
The boy hears everybody out, no matter the situation, getting himself thrown around into some fights, which he was forced to resolve many times.
Not very lucky for the supposed lucky student.
Once, Asahina had broken something of value to Togami, and his luck got shot as an excuse, leading to Makoto and Asahina having to argue with Togami as to why he couldn’t make them pay him a ‘couple million’ dollars. Their pleadings were, thankfully, heard, and Togami dropped the case.
Another time, Yamada used Makoto as a human shield to protect him from Ludenberg’s borderline absurd requests, forcing him to make up arguments on the spot to aid his friend and refute the girl.
These rather common run-ins with trouble made Makoto stick out as a ‘problem solver’. Not needing a talent of his own to hone, that made him free at almost any moment during school time, and the perfect target for unfortunate fights that didn’t even have anything to do with him in the first place.
Nevertheless, his kindhearted mind and overall grounded logic was always eager to help out his classmates.
Maizono was the first one in the class to have a more casual, non-threatening, conversation with Makoto. Soon, he discovered that she remembered him. He had never felt so blessed to go to a specific middle school before in his entire life, and, more importantly, glad to know he wasn’t just a nobody back then to the Ultimate Pop Sensation.
The girl soon started encouraging him to interact more with the group, not as a problem solver, but as a friend. “Of course, that makes us friends too, silly.” is what got Makoto to know her not just as Maizono, but as Sayaka.
In a matter of weeks since he enrolled, Makoto began to spread his wings. Turns out, most of his paranoia of not being included was unfounded.
There were a few eccentric personalities that were tough to deal with, Togami, Fukawa and Ludenberg, to name a few, but everyone else was way nicer to him than Makoto even thought he deserved.
Hina, Sakura, and Chihiro were especially nice to hang out with, not to mention the wildcard to figure out Mukuro, and, of course, the always fun Sayaka.
That didn’t mean the trouble dealings had slowed down, though. In fact, they just got more frequent by the hour. Makoto was being put in situations unimaginable for him, all the while becoming the number one choice for his classmates as an argument solver.
While a lot of the fights were painful to deal with, Makoto didn’t waver in his beliefs, and was developing an interesting tinge of persuasion in his words that even caught the attention of the Ultimate Detective. For someone as recluse as her to start spending time with Makoto, he really started to feel like things were on the right track.
As short as six months, Makoto was really starting to make a name of his own in Hope’s Peak, his lack of talent becoming an asset to his newly developed abilities.
Someone who could see both sides of the argument and find a path suitable for the truth, someone who could understand his classmate’s feelings no matter how different they were from him, someone who could find an answer in a hopeless situation, as if he was a beacon of hope itself.
Logically, his friends started nicknaming him Ultimate Hope, and the title just stuck with everybody in the class.
Well, that’s not the only reason as to why he received that nickname, of course. During their first days in Hope’s Peak, the teens of Class 78 had picked a special kind of practical tests among a list of others to stabilize their grade in relation to the traditional ‘show your talent’ practical tests, group debates.
The themes were picked by the students, though they had to follow something along the lines of the very vague orientation definition of ‘future’. Ironically, after a lot of debates on what the subject should be, the majority vote decided that the most interesting one would be:
‘Which way to create paths for the future is the best: Fighting For Peace vs Dictating Your Beliefs Worldwide’.
Makoto, obviously for him, picked the first option. His group ended up being comprised of him, Asahina, Kirigiri, Ishimaru, Ogami, Maizono, Kuwata, Fujisaki and Hagakure. The others chose the opposing group.
While Makoto was excited to work with a lot of his friends, he was also extremely nervous for his score on the debate, after all, he isn’t the type to cast the spotlight onto himself purposefully, being totally average and a tad timid to boot.
Most of his interactions up until now were one-on-one or one-on-two, at max one-on-four, and some of the more isolated personalities hadn’t really talked to him at all. For their eyes to suddenly be on him as well, it was a lot to handle.
Sayaka managed to keep Makoto on his toes during most of the process with her famous idol smile that could calm any heart, for which he thanked her endlessly.
With admirable preparation on the group’s part, Makoto learned a lot of things. How dedicated Kyoko was to jobs like this, how eager Chihiro and Taka were to do research, with Sakura joining them later on, and how good Hina and Leon were at keeping everybody motivated.
Most of the actual argument forming was up to Makoto, Kyoko and Sayaka, but the others were incredible in their brainstorming sessions and helped them with a strong base idea.
The debate itself went so much better than Makoto had been expecting, the opposing group had very interesting points, including some that were rather difficult to refute.
Everyone’s performance was on fire, their arguments mostly solid. Still, with Kyoko’s logic and Makoto’s endlessly optimistic worldview, their team managed to create an amazingly strong argument. The whole group was in a phenomenal flow to witness.
Their foundation was clear and shined through whenever they needed to reevaluate the direction of the argument, Makoto in particular was the voice that managed to best express their goals clearly, and, before he knew it, he was giving a speech about hope and belief unlike any other.
In the end, the groups kept all themes of following debates similar to this. Some were close calls, some were particularly heated, and some were convoluted, however, Makoto never once stopped believing in his group and their efforts to convince the other team, hell, sometimes their arguments managed to make the other team silent.
Now, they anticipate themselves for the final debate of the semester, the discussion of which the most convincing side would be decided by their seniors, the year-older teens of Class 77.
The choice of having an older class analyze their debate was made by their homeroom teacher, the one who had been evaluating most of the debates throughout the semester. They were especially involved with the arguments and loved seeing everyone’s logic mature with every discussion, which was part of the reason for this decision.
Class 77 had picked a different kind of alternate practical exam, but the rapid increase in quality of the debates made them worthwhile to watch in spite of that, the teacher claims.
Makoto, once again, feels incredibly nervous to be put on the spot like this, especially in front of an entire class of whom he has almost zero familiarity with. Yeah, that must be it.
While waiting for the time of the argument, he just tries his best to calm himself down. Hina, a close friend and debate-mate of the boy for the entire semester, notices this immediately and, without a moment’s hesitation, sits next to him.
“C’mon, ‘Koto. You’re the last person here who needs to be nervous, and you know it! You’ve been nothing but incredible in all of the debates so far!” Hina reassures, her energy beaming through her words. Makoto can only chuckle at that, for someone who wasn’t really on board with the debate idea at first, she really has become one of the anchors of the group, huh?
“I know, Hina. I need to pull myself together and find my logic like in the other discussions. It’s just…” Makoto sighs, then continues: “I don’t know them, I don’t know if they’re like you guys, you know? I don’t want to sound ridiculous in front of my upperclassmen.” He admits, pathetically.
Hina looks absolutely dumbfounded at his remark.
“Ridiculous?! The only time you’re sounding ridiculous is right now! Do you really think any class at Hope’s Peak doesn’t have people with a couple of their screws loose in their heads?” The boy full on laughs this time, but she doesn’t stop.
“You’re, like, the most grounding one here, ‘Koto. If anyone wants to complain, they just have to hop on stage and do better! And of course they won’t, because there’s no way they won’t be convinced by your arguments!” When Hina sounds so sure of herself, no one can help but believe her, and that includes Makoto.
“What’s with the speech, Hina?” Sayaka, who was reviewing the contents of their arguments only a couple seconds ago with Kyoko and Chihiro, joins them, Makoto now being in the middle while the girls outline him. Hina flashes a smile toward the blue haired girl, and gets to explaining soon after.
“Makoto’s nervous about discussing in front of our seniors, so I’m rubbing in his face how ridiculous it is! ‘Cause like, he even managed to make Byakuya’s argument crack once, why does he think he won’t be convincing enough for the seniors?” As always, she states her side on the matter, which, when she puts it this way, makes the boy feel a little embarrassed.
Sayaka turns her look to Makoto, clearly to join Hina’s side.
“Look, I know better than anyone how nerve-wrecking it is to perform for people you don’t know, so trust me when I say you will do incredibly.” She affirms, calm and sweet. There’s no way Makoto or his nerves can win against two incredibly compelling arguments, right?
But why does he still feel kind of uneasy— “Hey, you’re—
“Let me guess, is this because of that boy that has the same talent as you? Do you want to impress him so that you can convince yourself you’re worthy of the same title as him?” Kyoko stops Sayaka on her tracks, just as she did to Makoto’s thoughts, earning her everyone’s looks.
As expected of the Ultimate Detective, she hit the nail right in the head, Makoto was just convincing himself it didn’t have anything to do with that, since he doesn’t want to compare himself to a fellow Ultimate, however, he’s still human, and wanting approval of upperclassmen is only natural for a boy his age.
Kyoko, attentive to the shorter’s reaction, could only sigh before continuing.
“Try your best. Don’t lose sight of our true objective with our arguments and yours. Surely, that is the best way to find the reward you’re looking for.” Motivational in her own right, Kyoko swiftly left to organize the group’s notes after spouting those cryptic words. Makoto knows better than to ignore them, though, and keeps this in mind for the debate later.
Sayaka and Hina continue making conversation until the time for the debate finally comes, which makes them promise to get donuts after it’s over.
Stepping up on stage, Makoto gulps. Hina looks at him with confident eyes, Chihiro looks like he is ready to battle, Sayaka wears her casual smile, Sakura looks proud of the group, Taka is making sure everyone is in the correct places, Leon is warming up his vocal chords, and Kyoko’s the same as always.
After seconds that felt like years, the judge spoke, to indicate the start of the argument.
Makoto is still getting a hold of himself, despite the discussion beginning to roll. The stage is massive and the pairs of eyes looking at them makes him shiver a little, a specific set of eyes calls his attention, but he has no time to process that.
Nervousness still coursing through him, the boy is doing his best to focus on the phrases being thrown around, making him relatively quiet in comparison to his usual eagerness. That is, until he hears a particularly folly argument.
With Kyoko’s words in his mind, he motivates himself for a rebuttal and follows his heart.
The small stutters when his argument started were no more, the opposite group’s attempts at contradicting him make him even more motivated to speak his mind and build his statements thoroughly.
His belief makes both sides of a coin form a whole, logic and emotion, belief and doubt, hope and despair. Makoto finds loopholes in seemingly concrete facts, his persuasion and his group’s work shining through his own words.
Finally, the opposing team tries to corner him, an attempt to cut out the leaves from this clover. At first, they had him, Makoto was struggling to reposition himself in the debate, and his group hadn’t offered any rebuttals for this, but he knew there was something off about their foundation, he just needed to find it.
Deep in thought, concentrated enough to not really hear the endless discussion in the background, he remembers a piece of research from his fellow group-mates, Chihiro, Taka, and Sakura, that completely breaks the other group’s bases.
With that, he leaves them open, cutting through their last bits of resistance until the time of their activity runs out, the sound of the hammer of their improvised judge, most commonly known as their homeroom teacher, makes that abundantly clear.
After getting some claps and cheers from the audience, as if this was a show, the voting time begins.
Now, the votes are being counted by the judge, Makoto’s on the edge of his seat to know the answer, while his team is high-five-ing and praising each other. He can hear a chant of four people going “do-nuts!”, which he can obviously pin down the culprit for.
For Makoto’s extreme mixture of relief and happiness, they won the debate with 90% of the votes, everything just washes over him as if he had taken a satisfyingly cold shower on a boiling hot day.
Hina is the first one to loudly celebrate, shouting as she jumps out of her seat to hug Makoto. “See?! I told you you were gonna do great! And you did!” Not long after that, the whole group started crowding around him, Sakura and Leon inviting everyone for a group hug.
After a couple of pictures taken with Chihiro’s next generation phone, everyone started dispersing, some to greet and congratulate the other group, and some to talk to their senior friends, which were quickly gathering up on stage.
“You remembered, your performance was smooth. So, why won’t you go look for that reward of yours, Makoto?” Kyoko, who stayed by the boy’s side even after the picture, looks and sounds like she is feeling so sure of herself that Makoto can’t help but think she is holding back a smile.
Again, though, he knows better than to ignore the detective’s advice, so with a matter of exactly two steps, he’s able to find the person he’s looking for, the set of eyes giving them away, who is, apparently, running toward him.
Unable to process that information until his arrival, Makoto just stands there, taking in his appearance, and before he knows it, the other boy clasps his hands in his, his mouth starting to move immediately after. “Naegi-san, it’s an honor to meet you. Your performance just now was truly—
Crack.
Before the boy could continue his phrase, the whole stage, which was made out of wood, began falling apart and cracking into smaller pieces. First, it got torn in half, then, the parts with the most amount of people on top started crashing down to the floor.
Makoto’s mind goes blank, the mixture of exhaustion and the brusque movement from the fall responsible for that, and soon he’s unconscious.