Archive of Our Own

Chapter Text

What does it mean to be talented? In current Japanese society it means one thing. You are above everyone else. No talent means you are basically worthless, and there is only one place that can decide if you are talented or not. Hope's peak academy.

Hope's peak academy has existed for centuries by now, and it has always had one job. Gather and nurture the most talented individuals you can find. Create the elite of our society and make sure Japan thrives. At first hope's peak accepted people of all ages, but nowadays it is accepted as the most prestigious high school in the country. This not only lessens the burden on the academy since they will have less students to worry over, but it also means that you have to get started on your talent early. You need to put in hundreds of hours of work very early in your life to become talented. Or you just get Lucky. This is where I fall in.

My name is Sayaka Maizono and my talent is a little weird. I have been chosen by hope's peak academy as the Ultimate Lucky student. When I said you had to get lucky I didn't really mean to be this on the nose. A lot of people are just born talented and that's what I meant by getting lucky. And when I say I got lucky, I sure mean it. I won a lottery. I was never made aware that I had even entered this country wide lottery and so when the invitation came in you could imagine my confusion. At first I thought it wasn't real, but sure enough, after making contact with hope's peak itself I was assured that I had a rightful place at the academy. You would think I would be happy about this right? It means I have a surefire way to a sucessful life. And while yes, I am happy about that, I also feel a little bitter.

I pride myself on putting everything I have into what I want to do. My goals, my dreams, my ambitions. Anything that I have achieved have been through my own sweat and tears. A few years back I even failed at achieving what I wanted. As a kid I got the idea to be an idol. I was alone a lot since my dad was always away working and my mom died when I was really young. So I spent a majority of my time watching TV. The live Idol shows were what kept me going, they gave me a sense of serenity and made my lonely days go by quicker. Those smiles that the girls had, how they made want to be there myself. I wanted to be like them, giving young girls like myself a way to pass the time, giving them something to hold on to. I have always wanted to be a positive force in someone's life, and becoming an idol would make that so much easier! I got pretty far into auditions but it all ended. All because of her. Junko Enoshima, the Ultimate Idol. To me she has been a lot of different things. During auditions she was my rival. After auditions she was the girl that took my dream away from me. And now? She's my future classmate. I don't know how i'm supposed to talk to her. Does she remember me? I hope not, I don't want to hear her taunt me. I know it's probably petty but whenever she shows up on TV I immediately turn it off. I just can't handle seeing her, she reminds me too much of how I failed.

So yeah, it feels like a spit in the face. Not only do I have to spend three years in the same classroom as Junko, but my talent feels like such a joke. It's not even a talent right? Like luck isn't something you can be good at or even measure. It really feels like I'm a joke to them. "Let's bring in this normal average loser as joke just to fuck with them", like wow so funny. Because what am I to them except a laughingstock?

Although, even if I have many difficult feelings about my invitation, I can't exactly turn it down. I'll be set for life you know? I am guaranteed a place at the top, and I am not going to let this chance slip by me. I'll prove to not only myself but everyone else as well that I am worth being at the top. I will prove that I am not a joke.

And maybe this is a good time to bring it up, but this whole time I have been standing at the gates of Hope's peak. The building is huge, and it really gives off a prestigious vibe. It's pretty empty out here in the courtyard for the most part as well. There are some trees and flower beds but it looks pretty boring for the most part. Guess they don't exactly need to be flashy when they are already at the top? Really though, it's super empty, not a single soul. I didn't get the admission date wrong right? I started walking toward the entryway, it looked pretty simple as well. Just a double door. It almost feels like a waste how boring this place is, maybe the inside is more interesting? I mean it has to be right? I arrived at the door and tried to push it open. It didn't open. I almost panicked but quickly realised that it was a pull door. It even says pull on it. God my nerves were making everything so much harder. I went inside and looked around the lobby. My head started to hurt a little, god my nerves. I tried to calm myself down but my head only started to hurt even more, soon my vision turned foggy. And all of a sudden everything turned black.

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As I woke up I felt something hard press against my forehead. I raised my head and looked around, I was in a classroom? A very yellow classroom at that. Definitely not the first color I would pick to color a room with, it's a very bright yellow as well. Leaving the tacky coloring of the room aside however I tried to remember how I ended up here. After everything turned to black earlier, it's all unclear and somewhat dimmed? I thought that it would at least be blank, but instead it's all very unclear instead. It feels like I woke up at some point before, but now I have such trouble remembering. That can't mean anything good.

I stand up, pushing back the chair I was sitting in. There were a lot of desks here actually. I guess I shouldn't be surprised since this is a classroom. At least it looks like a classroom, because the big metal plates and security cameras are making me wonder about the true nature of this place. Is someone watching me right now? That's pretty creepy. My eyes fall upon a note lying on one of the benches at the front of the classroom.

"What do we have here?"

I ask no one in particular as I pick up the note and read it.

"Today starts your new life, in a world completely new to you. Just remember that you were chosen, you will help further my dream"

"What? What does that mean? New world? What dream? I was never good with riddles"

That note couldn't mean anything but trouble right? Reading it sent a chill down my spine. I could feel my whole body tense up.

"God... Okay, try to calm down Sayaka."

I scanned the room again. As well as the metal and security camera, there was a screen close to the blackboard at the very front of the classroom. Again, it was yellow for some reason. They really couldn't have chosen a less tacky color? Except for those things however this seemed like a completely  normal classroom.

"I guess I should leave?"

As I walked toward the only door in this room however I started to tense up again. God this is so creepy, am I being pranked? If so by who? Would hope's peak do this to it's students? I mean I already feel like a laughingstock so I guess it wouldn't surprise me that much, but this feels a bit too far. I arrived at the door and slowly opened it. Looking out into the hallway I couldn't see anything of note. The hallways were very purple however, a very bright purple, god what is it with hope's peak and tacky coloring choices? I mean this is hope's peak right? No! I won't entertain that thought anymore, I know that I'm going to spiral because of it. I will think more on it when I have more information.

I started to walk down the hallway, or up the hallway? I started walking in the direction of the hallway that was to my right. After a while I came across a double door, as I got closer I heard voices on the other side. Other people? Thank god! I don't know how much longer I could have lasted alone. It sounds like at least a dozen different people in there. I walked up to the door. Last time I came across a double door, it was a pull door, so I tried to pull it open. It didn't open. I looked down beneath the handle. It said push. It sounded like the noise inside the room had quieted down. Please don't tell me they realised me failing to open the door. I then pushed the door open, welcoming the sight of a group of other teenagers.

"Another student?"

A student at the front said. He had well done dreads and, a less well done everything else.

"Did you just try to pull the door open?"

Another student at the front, someone who had a full baseball uniform on, had put a hand to their mouth, clearly trying to hold in their laughter. As I feared, I was being made fun of.

"That would be sixteen, I believe that's as many as I saw on the website"

Another student at the front said. I could just tell by her aura, she oozed confidence.

"Well don't just stand there! Come over here! We don't bite, or well at least I don't."

I made eye contact with the person who talked and quickly averted my eyes. Junko. I knew this was coming at some point but it really hurt. I already felt like crying. I sucked up my tears however and walked toward the other students. The confident girl walked up to me and extended her hand.

"Hello there. My name is Taeko Yasuhiro."

That name sounded awfully familiar. I grabbed her hand and shook it awkwardly.

"Sayaka Maizono. Do you have any idea of what's going on?"

She brought a hand to her chin, like she was thinking.

"I am afraid not, I have asked everybody else and everybody has asked me the exact same questions. I doubted you would be any different, but no point in not asking yes?"

I gave an awkward chuckle and turned to look toward the back of the room. What in the world was that large metal hatch?

"Sadly I have no answer regarding that thing either. I am assuming you woke up in an empty classroom yes?"

I raised an eyebrow as I turned back to meet her gaze.

"Is it a reocurring thing? Did you go through the same thing?"

"Yes"

"That's weird. I'm really confused and I can't help but stress out at the moment."

Taeko giggled lightly.

"Do not worry, we are all a little confused at the moment but I am not sure what we can really do to quell it."

That was true enough. I looked at the large group of people, and again found myself locking eyes with Junko. I was internally begging for her to stop looking at me. Taeko seemed to notice my eyes wandering.

"Ah yes, it is a very curious group. Every single one of them more unusual than the other. I guess you should use this time to introduce yourself, what do you say?"

Introduce myself? I guess, not like I had anything better to do.

"Then how about I start with you?"

She looked confused for a second.

"Me? We have already shared names have we not?"

"I guess, but I'm pretty curios about your talent! We are at hope's peak after all. I guess I'll start with mine. I am Sayaka Maizono The Ultimate Lucky student."

She brought her hand back to her chin.

"Lucky student? Hmm, didn't think Hope's peak would stoop so low. Although, I can't say I am really all that surprised. Tell me, how are you supposedly good at being lucky?"

"I won a lottery."

"You cannot be serious."

"I wish I wasn't, I am one hundred percent serious though. I won a country wide lottery that I didn't even know I was a part of."

I sheepishly rubbed the back of my neck.

"It kinda feels like a major joke though."

She nodded.

"I can see why you would feel that way. Alright, It is my turn. I am Taeko Yasuhiro The Ultimate Moral Compass."

"What exactly does that mean? Are you meant to be morally superior to me?"

She sighed heavily and looked down at the floor.

"It frustrates me that they named my talent what they did, it does not feel like it explains what I do at all. I understand your confusion."

"Then what do you do? I feel like I have heard your name before."

Her eyes lit up and a tiny smirk crept up her lips.

"Have you now? Well what a surprise. Let me explain myself. I am a politician of sorts. I was picked up by hope's peak for my bravery when it comes to speaking about my views and ideological standpoints. My title is supposed to encapsulate my willingness to speak up against current Japanese society. There is a lot I have to say about hope's peak, talents and other related things, so imagine my surprise when I recieved an invitation to the very reason our society is the way it is."

"You got an invite? Feels like a weird way to try and make you shut up yeah?"

She giggled once again and smiled.

"I thought the same thing, but you know what they say. Keep your friends close, and your enemies closer. They underestimate my resolve. I will change our society, I will make the change others are too scared to."

I could just imagine how my eyes lit up. She really had this attitude that made me fully believe that she could make it happen.

"Well I believe that we have introduced ourselves now. I think it would be good if you made your way to the others, wouldn't you say?"

I fully raised my hand and saluted her. Completely embarassing myself, but it just felt right you know?

"Yes Ma'am"

She chuckled.

"Run along now"

And so I started walking over to the mass of students extremely embarassed about my interaction with Taeko.

"Change society huh...?"

As I thought about what Taeko said I felt a tap on my shoulder. I looked at the tapper out of reflex.

"Yo!"

Junko. Again I quickly averted my eyes. I must look so pathetic in her eyes right now.

"You okay?"

Fuck it. Let's just get this over with so I can get away from her. My heart is already hurting enough. I grit my teeth and looked up at her. She's a bit taller than me, and her clothes are super flashy. What's with the large ribbon on her head?

"Yeah I'm fine. Just pretty out of it you know?"

She grinned and flipped a peace sign.

"No totally! This situation is like super weird. This was not what I signed up for when coming to hope's peak!"

Even I could agree with that.

"So, what's your name?"

She looked shocked for a second.

"You don't know who I am?"

Now that seriously pissed me off. I tried to calm myself down before I did something I would regret.

"Oh no it's not that! I was just trying to be more tactful."

She grinned and rubbed the back of her head.

"Oh okay! Even though I'm used to public speaking and stuff that's still something I need to work on."

You don't say?

"Welp, anyways! I'm Junko Enoshima! The Ultimate Idol!"

It really did feel a little cruel. Not that it's her fault but...

"Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Lucky student"

As I expected she looked pretty confused. She put her finger to her temple and looked to be in thought.

"Sayaka...? I feel like I've heard that name before. Hey you don't happen to ha-"

"I'm sorry but I really should get going to the others, I don't exactly know how long I have on me before something happens yeah?"

I immediately cut her off. I was not ready to have that conversation yet. She looked pretty taken aback by my interruption however.

"Huh? Oh yeah! Sure! Talk to ya later Sayaka!"

She waved me goodbye as I quietly left her. I sighed a sigh of relief as I finally got away from her. A little bit more and I would have fully broken down. I really need to get myself under check when it comes to her. Lost in thought because of Junko, I accidentally bumped into someone as I walked into the crowd of people. Let's just hope it wasn't someone scary.

"Watch where you walk ey?"

And I jinxed myself. What was that accent? God he was huge, he screamed mob boss. Out of everyone to bump into it's the scary one with a foreign accent.

"Do not worry little lady, I will not hurt you. Just trying to make sure you do not do it again. You are a bigger risk to yourself than I am Hahahaha!"

He slapped my shoulder lightly and laughed loudly to himself. Atleast he seemed to be enjoying himself?

"So, what is your name little lady?"

"U-uh um... Sayaka M-Maizono"

He looked to be in thought.

"Ah yes. So you are the so called lucky student?"

Huh? How did he know that?

"Uh, yes you're correct but how did you know that?"

He smiled and gave me a thumbs up.

"I have my connections, you see?"

Connections? God this guy became even scarier all of a sudden.

"How would you feel about playing cards against me sometime?"

"Cards? What like Poker?"

He lit up excitedly.

"Yes exactly! I would love to see this so called Ultimate luck in action"

A drop of sweat ran down my forehead.

"So, uh... what's your name?"

A flash of realisation.

"Ah yes! I forgot completely. I am so sorry little lady!"

You know my name now, you can stop calling me little lady.

"My real name is Борис Петров, though my Japanese name is Mondo Owada. I would prefer if you called me Boris. I am the Ultimate Gambler"

Uhhhhhh. Yeah no this will be hard to get used to. Real name? Japanese name? He really isn't from here huh?

"So Boris, I have so many questions."

He started laughing.

"Yes! I am used to it don't worry"

"You aren't from Japan?"

He had a somber look all of a sudden.

"No. I am from Russia you see?"

"Russia? Well I've never heard a russian accent before so sorry if it took too long for me to realise"

He put his hand on my shoulder again.

"You have nothing to worry about little lady! Now, please come to me whenever you have free time, yes? I am looking forward to our match."

I guess that was his way of telling me to go talk to the others. My first impression was that he was really scary, but honestly he was a pretty calming prescence.

"I sure will Boris! See you later!"

He waved me goodbye and started walking away. Guess I'm doing pretty well for myself? Already making friends? Let's just hope it continues to go well. I walked up to a guy in a loose fitting suit, his tie was also tied pretty poorly. He looked like he was trying to look professional, but he had failed completely. At least in my eyes. He looked at me as I approached and put his hand out.

"Hey there! Yasuhiro Hagakure! Of Hagakure fame! Ultimate Affluent Progeny!"

So he's rich? I can only wonder what Taeko thinks about this guys talent.

"Um, Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Lucky Student"

He put a hand to his chin, looking deep in thought.

"And how exactly are you luckier than me?"

In reality I'm not right? I wasn't born into a rich family.

"Well It's because I won a lottery?"

"Man I wish that were me! I don't think I've ever won a single time and I keep buying tickets! They just give me this nice rush, yeah? Not like I'll become broke because of it anyways!"

Way to rub it in. Guess I'll give him a taste of his own medicine.

"So, why exactly are you the Ultimate Affluent Progeny? I mean there are plenty of rich kids out there."

He looked shocked and his shock quickly turned into anger.

"Hey! I'm not just a rich kid okay! I'm the heir to the Hagakure Company! You know, the largest manufacturing company in all of Japan? Yeah my Mom owns it!"

He doesn't understand what he just said does he? He basically admitted he's just a rich kid.

He ran his arms through his hair, the only part that actually looked pretty professional. What? Even I had to admit that his dreads looked pretty good. Still don't like him though.

"Man! You're no fun to talk to!"

I could say the same you know? He walked away shortly after, grumbling to himself. I decided to start walking toward someone else and soon arrived at the boy who had a whole baseball uniform on. He was holding a baseball bat. Well don't think I'll have to ask him about his deal now do I? Even so I walked up to him and introduced myself.

"Hi! My name is Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Lucky Student"

The baseballer's face lit up and he excitedly took my hand and shook it.

"Hello to yourself! The name's Aoi Asahina! Ultimate Baseball Star!"

I chuckled lightly at his energy.

"I kinda figured you know?"

Aoi smiled sheepishly and chuckled himself.

"Well I'm not one to leave things up to interpretation. I look the way I want!"

That's an admirable way of living.

Aoi had a flash of mischief and leaned over to whisper to me.

"Do you want to know a secret?"

Well, seems I'm already entering gossip territory, things definitely are going well. I nodded.

"I'm actually a girl!"

She said not so quietly. I thought it was supposed to be a secret? Also what? Aoi's a girl?

"Really? You totally look like a boy though? God i'm sorry for assuming!"

She smiled and waved her hands apologetically.

"No worries! I don't mind! In fact I'm pretty happy you thought so, that only means it works!"

"What? Are you like dressing yourself up or something?"

She sheepishly rubbed the back of her head.

"Kind of? Not maliciously of course! I have a multitude of reasons for dressing and presenting masculine you know? It's pretty hard to become a professional baseball player as a woman here in Japan so I dress like a boy to get around it!"

"You like baseball that much?"

She pouted slightly.

"Why do you seem so surprised? Baseball isn't just a mans sport you know? I mean, I am the best after all! So it can't be! And I like to dress masculine as well so don't worry about that! I also have my own dressing room! My coach and the team know all about my circumstances but they're totally chill!"

She really likes talking huh? I mean it's hard not to get dragged into her enthusiasm.

"Was shaving your head necessary though?"

"Oh this? It's mostly because of league customs but I honestly don't mind it that much. I always wanted shorter hair as a kid anyway"

Hmm. I guess that's understandable. Aoi was really easy to talk to, and I kind of wanted to stay and talk more.

"Well it was great talking to you Aoi. I have to talk to the others now but I hope we'll talk more later!"

Aoi's face lit up.

"Absolutely! I'll see you later Sayaka!"

I walked toward my next introduction. A lean blond boy. He had some sort of bag around his shoulder, it looked like it contained some books. He looked towards me and glared. This guy did not have good vibes.

"What do you want?"

Yup, this guy sucked. Once again, let's give him a taste of his own medicine.

"Oh, I don't know, ever heard of an introduction before?"

He looked pretty shocked. He quickly straightened up again however and smirked.

"Didn't expect you to be so quickwitted."

"What is that supposed to mean?"

He just continued to smirk condescendingly.

"You know exactly what it means. Now, I guess I will give you my introduction. The name is Byakuya Togami, and I am the Ultimate Fanfic Author. I have already heard about your name and talent Miss Sayaka Maizono."

Let me guess, you were eavesdropping? Also Fanfic author? Again that feels a little... you know?

"What's in that bag of yours, your work?"

He looked both shocked and delighted at my mention.

"Y-you are interested?"

"I mean I did ask you about it didn't I?"

"W-why yes of course you did! Well then, I think I would be remiss not to show you some of my newest works."

And so he opened his bag and rummaged through it. Very quickly he pulled out one of his works and shoved it into my face excitedly. Oh. My. God. Did this guy just shove hentai into my face? At least it didn't seem to be that explicit? Wait no! Sayaka!? Why am I engaging with this!?

"Whoa!"

Because of the pages blocking my view I couldn't see what expression he was currently making, which was way worse honestly.

"You see I have been getting into the artform of doujin making as of recently! My art still needs some fine tuning but it's perfectly servicable so far wouldn't you say!?"

Can't believe I'm going to say this.

"It looks pretty good in my eyes, don't know if that means much though."

He pulled down and closed the doujin, quickly putting it back into his bag. A proud look on his face.

"Do not worry yourself with qualifications. Any praise is good praise in my eyes."

Can't say that he's wrong about that. Good for him.

"Next time however, please don't just shove your work in people's faces. Not everybody is as... used to it as me."

God why did I say that?! I blanked! Now I want to get away from him even more!

"I understand. Now would you maybe be interested as a beta reader? You said you were 'used t-'"

Absolutely not!

"Nope! I'm so sorry but I gotta run now see ya later!"

Byakuya was left alone with a dejected look on his face.

I felt a bit sad for the guy, but I had to get out of there. And get out of there I did. I arrived shortly at a redhaired boy, he immediately was caught by surprise by my sudden arrival.

"Whoa there!"

He raised both his hands and chuckled lightly.

"How about dinner first before you practically throw yourself at me?"

I looked up at him, he had messy red hair, a few piercings and glasses that made him seem like a professional. He definitely pulled it off better than Yasuhiro that's for sure. I was still catching my breath after getting away from Byakuya.

"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to."

He put a hand to his hip and flashed an easygoing smile.

"No worries. I would run away from him too you know? Real creepy that guy."

An uncertain look overcame my face.

"Don't think creepy is the right word, embarassing fits much better"

He looked away and waved his hand dismissively.

"Same same. Welp, what's your name sweetcheeks?"

Well, he wasn't subtle about it at all now was he? Can already feel this guy getting on my nerves. Don't like the way he's looking at me either.

"Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Lucky Student"

He leaned forward.

"Pretty name ya got there, fitting for a pretty girl."

As I thought, not subtle in the slightest.

"Now, are ya free later? How would you like to spend some time with a celebrity?"

I could feel a vein pop. This guy, oh this guy sure was something.

"I already have plans with others I'm so sorry"

I said as I pointed toward Boris. He seemed to have been looking at my interaction with this guy as he was cracking his knuckles. Red haired guy tsked and turned around.

"Suit yourself. I'll be going now."

"Hey! You didn't even introduce yourself!"

He looked back at me, confusion very apparent.

"You don't know who I am?"

I think I hate this guy more than Junko.

"Leon Kuwata, Ultimate Novelist"

Wait what?

"You're Leon Kuwata? The Leon Kuwata?"

He turned around and grinned.

"What? You interested now?"

"I am actually a huge fan of your work! I loved 'Her Diamond Eyes'!"

He looked shocked at the mention.

"Whoa! That's one of my less sold books!"

He rubbed the back of his head nervously.

"I actually had a lot more fun working on that one compared to my usual stuff. Don't tell my producers I said that though, they were never that big a fan"

He looked off into the distance somberly.

"What was it like writing it? Where did your inspiration come from? I loved the way you portrayed Miss Diamond Eyes! Could you sig-"

He smiled again, clearly loving the attention. I just couldn't help myself okay?

"Okay, Okay. Calm down sweetcheeks. You can ask me anything you want later alright? I'll gladly spend some time with you."

I immediately got ejected back into reality, regretting everything I just did.

"I'm so sorry"

He flashed another easygoing smile and winked.

"As I said, spend some time with me later. Maybe I'll forgive you then~"

Was he getting smoother? God no! Sayaka please don't fall for this guy!

"Since you're such a big fan I'll tell ya something"

Please don't be something dirty.

"That guy"

He said as he pointed toward a round boy in the corner of the room.

"Be careful with him, he's a little"

He pointed a finger toward his temple and spun it around.

"You know? Alright, I'll see ya later sweetcheeks!"

And he started walking away.

I thought about Leon's warning. The guy didn't seem that bad? And Leon already feels like a guy I can't exactly believe when it comes to judging others. The seed of doubt had been planted however, and I decided to go talk to someone close to him instead for now. They were looked very androgenous. A black gakuran with a black cap on the top of their black hair. This person must like the color black huh?

"Hi there! My name is Sayaka Maizono, I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student! How about you?"

They seemed disinterested. But eventually they sighed and looked my way.

"Name, Mukuro Ikusaba. Age, 16. Height, 169cm/5ft7. Weight, 44kg/97lbs. Gender, Female. Talent, Ultimate Detective. There, is that enough for you?"

Whoa, standoffish much?

"Uh yeah, I guess? Actually wait! I've seen you on TV! Aren't you the Detective Prince?"

Mukuro looked pretty irritated that I brought it up. She sighed.

"Yes, you are correct. Could you leave now?"

I sweatdropped.

"Sure, I'm sorry for being a nuisance"

"Just leave when I tell you to next time"

Seriously what was her deal? Does she have a problem with me specifically or is she just like that? Anyway, guess it's time. I walked over to the round boy, he was looking pretty nervous, his fingers fidgeting. He seemed to be sweating profusely as well, I guess I couldn't exactly blame him. I really haven't thought enough about how weird this situation is. I am worried about the guy though.

"Hey, um, are you okay?"

He looked up at me and immediately lit up.

"Oh! Someone's talking to me! Uh, Yes! I am fine!"

I sweatdropped. Yeah I'm not buying that.

"Obviously you're not okay. Could you tell me what you're so worried about?"

He drooped and looked somber for a second.

"It's just..."

"Just what?"

He rose up and pointed at me in frustration.

"How about you let me finish?! I was getting to it!"

Maybe I was a little too forward there?

"Sorry"

He then drooped down again.

"As I was about to say, it's just..."

Okay was he doing this on purpose?

"My laptop! It's gone! I can't find it anywhere!"

He looked genuinely distraught. Actually now that he mentioned it... I checked my pocket and felt nothing.

"Wait! My phone is gone!"

He looked at me like he was disappointed.

"It took you this long to realise?"

The disappointment was pretty fair. Why the hell hadn't I realised yet? Guess I was pretty out of it due to this situation? Or maybe I was just stupid?

"Well anyways, do you have any idea as to where our things may be?"

The disappointment did not let up.

"If I did would I be standing here stressing over it?"

This guy really did make me feel stupid.

"That's fair."

He made a 'humph' noise and put his hand to his hips.

"So I'm guessing you came here for an introduction?"

"Yep. How did you know?"

He looked disappointed again.

"Not only is it to be expected to greet new people you meet, but I also have eyes you know?"

At this point how could I make a worse first impression? What about this guy made me feel so stupid? Or was he just smart? Is everyone else dumber than me? I should think more about this later.

"Point well taken. Anyways, My name is Sayaka Maizono and I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student."

He rubbed his chin.

"Hmm, interesting"

I sweatdropped. It's really not. He then lit up and pointed a thumb toward himself, seemingly very proud about what he was going to say.

"My name is Hifumi Yamada! I was recruited by hope's peak for my supreme computing abilities. The Ultimate Programmer, that is I! Do not dare forget it!"

"Programmer? Personally I don't know anything about computers and stuff, but my dad works at a game studio."

"Ah, video games. Only one facet to programming, what I do is much more refined you see!"

"Like what?"

He looked proud again.

"Well currently I am working on an advanced AI model! Basically it's supposed to consume information and use it to shape itself! Much like a normal human such as you or I."

That sounded pretty cool I guess? But what would the purpose of that even be? Suddenly he drooped again.

"But you see, the program, really my current work on the program, it was all stored on that laptop."

"In just one laptop?"

Isn't that kinda crazy?

He shot up and looked pretty proud again.

"Well it is not just like any normal Laptop that you could get your casual hands on. No it is a laptop perfectly suited, built and decked out by and for one such as I! The Ultimate Programmer!"

I guess that would make sense. I should probably get going however. There were still people to talk to after all.

"Well Hifumi it was nice to talk to you. But I should probably get going now"

He smiled lightly.

"Yes of course! It was a delight to talk to you as well Miss Maizono."

He then waved me goodbye and I started walking away. I had a feeling that it was the case but Leon really was talking out of his ass. Hifumi was perfectly fine, honestly, he was pretty nice to talk to. Feeling good after my talk with Hifumi I walked over to the shortest person in the room. Maybe that was why I didn't notice them sooner? They had extremely flashy clothes on. A large red dress, black boots, yellow hairpins and earrings, was that a blue ribbon as well? They looked almost childlike, and the way they did a quick twirl once they noticed I was looking at them did not help.

"Hello there! Did my clothes catch your eyes? These are all custom made you know! Made by only the best fashionista in the lands! Chihiro Fujisaki! The Ultimate Fashionista! Charmed I'm sure!"

How did I keep doing this? Not realising a literal celebrity and then having a brain blast when learning their name. This was the Chihiro Fujisaki! Creator and owner of the clothing brand Ego!

"Oh, my god! I can't believe I get to meet the Chihiro Fujisaki! Look! These boots are Ego! I love your brand so much! I have a lot more of it at home so don't worry!"

Chihiro put his hand forward and wiggled a finger.

"Ah Ah Ah! I'm always happy to hear someone compliment my clothes, but it is not necessary! I not here as the creator of Ego, but as Chihiro Fujisaki. A teenager much like you! Even if you did not own any of my products I wouldn't treat you any differently. It is appreciated however."

This was actually like a dream come true. I get to meet the author of my favorite book and the creator of one of the most popular clothing brands in Japan? I must be dreaming right? I pinched myself and it stung quite badly.

Chihiro giggled.

"Ah sorry! I know I probably look like a total dork right now but I'm just so excited!"

He smiled gently.

"Don't worry about it! You are making me blush over here you know? So much positive attention."

He shrunk down a little and hid his face behind his hands. It didn't do a very good job of hiding his blush however.

"So even celebrities like him can get shy, huh?"

"Of course! I am still human after all!"

Crap! Did I say that out loud? He looked to have calmed down, no longer a blushing mess.

"Well anyway, Sayaka I wanted to ask you something."

Ask me something?

"What is it?"

He looked a little pensive for a second, but he then regained his composure.

"Well you see, it has to do with Junko."

"Junko?"

Not the right person to ask regarding her buddy, so sorry.

"Yes, I happened to see your conversation with her earlier. Me and Junko are great friends you see? We know each other from before. And as her best friend I have a job to do you know?"

He looked at me judgingly, a thin smile on his face.

"I happened to notice a certain air about you when you talked to her. You made her so sad, ending your conversation so abruptly. I would advise you to do better okay?"

He looked right into my eyes. That look of judgement piercing my soul.

"Give her a chance okay? I don't know your history with her, but I know that she's a genuine and kind person. She is not deserving of such treatment from anyone."

His face turned dark for a second.

"Especially not jealous girls like you."

After he said his piece he turned around and walked away. My heart crushed. That really hurt. Jealous? He seemed to think he had me all figured out, but no. I'm not Jealous. I'm not that shallow.

I started walking away as well, a bitter taste in my mouth. I needed a palete cleanser after that interaction and soon wound up in front of a guy doing stretches. He was also not particularily clothed, he wore a pair of swimming goggles, together with a pair of flip-flops, swim trunks and an unzipped zip up shirt. Seems I had another Aoi on my hands. He stopped stretching for a second to greet me.

"Hello! My nickname is Taka! My full name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! Here at hope's peak as the Ultimate Swimmer!"

You don't say?

"You don't say?"

He grinned and laughed loudly.

"I guess you could say subtetly isn't part of my vocabulary!"

My ears were starting to hurt.

"Guess the word quiet isn't part of your vocabulary either."

He struck a pose and pointed toward me.

"You are quite right!"

All I could do was sweatdrop.

He went back to stretching soon after.

"You never told me your name blue haired one!"

I guess I didn't.

"Sayaka Maizono, Ultimate Lucky Student."

He paused completely. Looking completely aghast.

"Y-you are here b-because of luck!?"

I can't believe it took this long for someone to question it again.

"Yes, although I'm not the proudest of that"

A serious look overtook his face.

"As I hoped! You cannot rely on luck to make it anywhere in life! What really matters is, Skill! Grit! And Determination!"

I looked around to see if anyone else was listening. To my dismay it seemed everyone had their head turned this way, although with how loud Taka was, it really shouldn't be that big of a surprise. I saw Taeko seemingly nodding along to what he was saying. Seeing as how she talked earlier, it was also not that big of a surprise.

"T-Taka I promise I agree with you. Which is why I'm here to prove myself! I am here to make sure I'm worthy of my place at the top!"

He slapped my shoulder and smiled brightly.

"That's the spirit Maizono! Make me proud alright!?"

I stood up straight and saluted again.

"YES SIR!"

He went back to stretching shortly after, seemingly appreciating my display of respect and spirit. I was fully embarassed however, remembering that everyone was looking this way and all saw how I embarassed myself. I quickly ran away, my face blushing furiously. Soon I ended up at the end of the room where the giant metal door/hatch was. I hadn't actually gotten that good a look of it yet so I walked forward catiously and put a hand to it. As I expected, it felt like cold hard steel. There was no way for us to break this thing, unless we had explosives or something, but I doubted even that would make a dent. Right in front of the door there was a very tall person who was eyeing the door hard. I walked up to them. They were wearing a sailor uniform that looked like it was being stretched to it's limits. They looked down at me as I approached. They didn't say anything however. And so I took initiative.

"Um, Hello. My name is Sayaka Maizono. I am the Ultimate Lucky Student. What about you?"

"I am Sakura Ogami"

I sweatdropped. Not a talker this one huh?

"What about your talent Sakura?"

"The Ultimate Martial Artist"

With how big and bulky she was, I guess I should have expected that.

"Why are you staring so intently at the door, hatch? What even is this thing?"

She shifted her eyes back to the big metal door(?).

"I was thinking"

"About what?"

She looked down at me again.

"About if I could break it."

I sweatdropped again.

"No offense or anything but I don't think anyone could bring that thing down. Especially not just with brute force."

I rubbed the back of my head nervously. She crossed her arms silently.

"No offense taken. I arrived at the same conclusion."

Wait a second. Why did she want to  break the door down anyways? How out of the loop am I? I only arrived a little later than everyone else, right?

"Um, Sakura? Could I ask you something?"

She raised an eyebrow.

"Yes?"

"Compared to everyone else, how late was I?"

"What do you mean?"

"Like, how long did it take for me to wake up compared to everyone else?"

She looked thoughtful for a second.

"It cannot have been more than five minutes? The one before you came in was Naegi over there."

She said as she pointed toward a guy with a hairspike dressed in a grey suit.

"He may not look like it, but he has some good muscle under that suit of his. He will be a perfect training partner."

Really? That guy? Well, I can ask him about it later.

"Okay, well I have another question then. Why are you trying to break the door down?"

She smirked and closed her eyes.

"I am sorry if I scared you. I was not actively trying to break it down. I was mainly checking in case the need would ever arise, it's also a challenge of sorts. I am constantly looking for ways to get stronger and prove my already existing strength. This door would be a great example and training project."

Now that she says it, I guess that makes sense for a master martial artist. As I thought about Sakura's words she grabbed hold of me and started prodding at my body.

"Wh-uh, hey!"

She returned to a normal position, her arms crossed.

"You have potential."

"What?"

She turned her back to me.

"If you ever feel the want to start training, please come to me. I would gladly take on a project as promising as you"

She smiled and started walking away. That whole interaction had been all sorts of weird. Sakura was pretty nice though. I then turned my eyes towards the guy Sakura had pointed out. Guess I could talk to him next, out of the last three he looked the least threatening. So I walked up to this Naegi and checked him out once again. I guess he isn't that bad looking? The hair spike is a little too much however? Kind of like it doesn't belong to him? He rubbed his chin sheepishly, probably because he noticed me staring.

"Is there something on my face?"

What was wrong with me!?

"I am so sorry! I didn't mean to stare! I was here for an introduction you see!"

He looked a little nervous but tried his best to smile.

"Well I can do that. Makoto Naegi, nice to meet you."

He seemed nice enough, if not a little nervous but that was okay. Not everybody was good at talking to people right?

"Sayaka Maizono! Ultimate Lucky Student! Nice to meet you too!"

I felt like I wanted to cheer him up. There was something about him that gave me the energy of a sad puppy. He seemed to be thinking.

"You are, good at being lucky?"

"Ah well, I was given this talent mainly because I won a lottery to get into Hope's peak"

He rubbed his chin again.

"A-ah. I see."

He seemed to become nervous again.

"So uh... how do you like it at hope's peak so far?"

That was certainly a question.

"Are we sure this even is hope's peak? For all we know this could be someplace completely different right?"

He looked serious for a second.

"Hm? Well I guess I could see how you arrived at that conclusion."

"Am I wrong?"

He rubbed his cheek.

"Ah, well not like you could have known. Before I entered here, I took some time to investigate. Most doors were locked so I couldn't enter anywhere, but I found a lot of Hope's peak memerobilia and stuff? It's a little hard to imagine that it could be stolen so I guess I landed on a premature answer? I can't exactly be completely sure, but I have a feeling that this has to be true. I guess you could say it's my gut speaking?"

He bashfully looked away. I thought he wasn't a talker but I guess when he gets going he just keeps going. Also, why was he investigating? I thought I already met the detective?

"Sayaka, I would actually like to ask you something."

"Go for it!"

He smiled lightly and put a hand to his chin.

"When you woke up, did you find anything weird? Or see anything that maybe caught your eye?"

"Well there was this weird note on a nearby desk in the classroom I woke up in."

"What did the note say?"

I put a hand to my chin.

"Something about a new world, a new life, and being chosen? I couldn't understand at all what it meant however."

"Thank you for the information Sayaka, I'll try to figure out what it means. In the meantime, you aren't done with introductions right?"

"That's right"

He flashed a gentle smile.

"Then I advise you do that. Be careful with Toko however, I think it's better if you're brief with her. See you later Sayaka."

I flashed a smile of my own and started walking away. Makoto was pretty nice. It seemed that everyone was either pretty normal or completely crazy. No inbetween. I took a last glance at the... wait thinking about it. He never told me his talent did he? 

"Actually Makoto!"

He looked back at me.

"You neve-"

"I really think you should get done with Introductions Sayaka. We have time to talk later."

And I was met with a steely hard gaze. I felt a shiver run down my spine. Even I, a complete normie, could tell that I should listen to him. I felt a strange rush in my stomach. He looked so innocent, so unassuming, and then he went and gave me that look. He was hiding something. I turned around again and started walking, at a much quicker pace this time.

I arrived soon at a short girl leaned against the wall, she was wearing a lot of leather. I mean it, leather boots, leather gloves, leather jacket, everything seemed to be leather with this girl. Except the toothpick in her mouth. She screamed delinquent vibes to me, she was probably that Toko girl Makoto was talking about. I carefully opened my mouth.

"Hi..."

She looked at me, already glaring.

"What do y-you want skank?"

Whoa! Who took a shit in her bed? Okay, time to put on the adult gloves.

"Did your mom teach you to talk like that? I'm only here for an introduction!"

She snarled and looked me up and down.

"Ye-yeah I could take y-you in a fight easily. Don't talk to me like that 'kay? You'll regret it."

"Just give me your name and talent and I'll be out of your hair alright?"

She looked to the side.

"T-toko Fukawa, Biker Gang Leader. Now g-get out of my sight you trashy bitch"

She said with a low growl. And out of her hair I was. She didn't deserve to know my name. What a bitch.

Glad to be away from Toko I arrived at the last person. Please be someone pleasant. Please be someone normal.

"I had a feeling you would come to me last."

What did that mean? The last person was a girl with pale lavender hair. She seemed to be holding a card of sorts.

"My name is Sayaka Maizono. Ultimate Lucky Student, what's your name?"

She gave a light smirk.

"Kyoko Kirigiri. Ultimate Clairvoyant."

Whoa, she's a clairvoyant?

"You mean you can see the future and stuff?"

She crossed her arms.

"Not exactly. I moreso feel what is to come. I get so called premonitions quite often. And so far, these premonitions have all been correct."

"Seriously!? How do you know?"

She blushed and looked to the side. She seemed a bit embarassed, it was kind of cute. She quietly mumbled.

"I feel it"

So she didn't know?

"How would you like to hear my most recent premonition? It is on the house of course. See it as a gift from classmate to classmate."

I mean I won't say no to that right? Her prices are probably sky high.

"Absolutely!"

She smirked confidently and struck a pose. Quite awkward this girl. Again, it was pretty cute.

"This premonition came to me right after I awoke in this building. This feeling, it agitated me. It made me scared for mine and everyone elses future."

Well that couldn't mean anything good.

"Our lives will soon enter unecessary and cruel turmoil. That is the future that I Kyoko of good and evil promise you!"

Why was she so proud!? Was she roleplaying!? She is a sham isn't she?

"I don't know if I want you to promise me that though?"

Her demeanor came to a sudden halt and she looked serious for a second.

"Good and Evil coexist. One cannot be without the other. For amazing fortune to rain upon you, you must first experience great misfortune, and so forth."

She added that last part really quickly.

"Feeling the future. Recieving these premonitions, it is my burden to bear. I am sorry if it unnerved you, but I must tell it as I feel it."

Yeah, I was starting to get tired of the act.

"You can drop the act now Kyoko."

She coughed and looked quite bashful.

"I am deeply sorry. Once I get started it's hard to stop."

And she was back to being cute again.

"But is that premonition really what you felt?"

She looked to the side.

"Of course. I wouldn't sow unecessary worry. After I woke up I immediately felt great danger approaching. I would implore you to be careful."

I nodded and soon started walking away. I didn't know what to think of Kyoko, but she didn't come off as a bad person.

I realised midway through my walking that I didn't exactly have a destination in mind. I was just walking for walking's sake. It was pretty calming actually. I didn't have much time to myself between all the introductions. They were all such colorful characters, a good blend of likeables and dislikeables. I found myself in the middle of the room. I looked at Taeko and saw that she was walking over to me.

"Are you done with your introductions?"

She seemed to be a bit irritated. I didn't take that long, right?

"Yes! Completely done."

She smiled serenely.

"Good"

She then made a loud clap that got everyone's attention.

"Attention everybody! Am I to assume we have all been introduced?"

She got some nods and some weird looks from some of the students. Not that she seemed to mind.

"Well then, I think it is high time for us to finally start discussing our circumstances. First off, does anybody have any idea what is going on?"

At the resounding silence she only sighed and dropped her head.

"I thought as much."

I expected Taeko to raise another question but someone beat her to it.

"So I just want to know, do any of you actually remember how we got here?"

Junko asked. For some reason I felt I had to answer her question. Looking at her made my heart hurt, it felt so wrong. And I decided to right that wrong.

"All I remember is that I came to Hope's peak, and then as soon as I entered the building my vision turned black. I'm guessing I fainted? Because I then woke up at a desk inside a random classroom."

"T-that's exactly what happened to me too!"

Hagakure yelled, sounding deeply scared.

"M-me as well!"

Chihiro said, not sounding as scared as Hagakure.

Then Mukuro spoke up.

"I think we can assume that this happened to everyone, and yes it happened to me too."

"That's creepy as hell man!"

Leon shouted, his hand digging through his hair nervously. He wasn't the only one looking distressed. Only a few people, Makoto, Mukuro and Taeko looked to be calm. It was understandable to be freaking out however. No matter how you think about it, this situation was weird. I then decided to ask a question, maybe against my better judgement.

"So, were we taken? Or kidnapped in some way?"

Everyone looked deeply uncomfortable at the thought. But it made sense right? We were all ultimate students, we would be pretty good ransom material right?

"It's not an impossibility. Actually i think it's highly likely."

Mukuro spoke up again, an analytical tone to her voice.

"The only question I have is this. Why would we be kidnapped and put inside of hope's peak academy?"

"Why are you so sure this is hope's peak?"

Taeko asked. I almost answered her but before I could Makoto decided to speak up.

"Both me and Mukuro walked around the place and investigated before coming here to the gathering. There are multiple plaques and memorabilia that are hope's peak property. And there are classrooms and such here, what place other than Hope's peak would have a combination of those two things?"

He put a hand to his chin, deep in thought.

"Because I doubt anyone would be able to steal anything from hope's peak. Although, the bigger question then is..."

He spoke too quietly for anyone else to continue hearing what he was saying. Mukuro chose to speak up again.

"As Makoto said, there is a lot of evidence for this being Hope's peak."

"So did either of you find any sort of exit anywhere while you searched?"

Hifumi asked, he was back to sweating bullets. Mukuro bit her thumb in frustration.

"Not a single one."

"Not even any windows?!"

"You have all seen those weird metal plates? My theory is that those are covering up the windows."

I hated that that made sense.

"B-but why?"

Aoi was scratching her head hard in confusion. Mukuro continued.

"I don't know."

Toko pointed at Mukuro in frustration.

"I-I t-thought you were supposed to be a detective or something!?"

Mukuro looked frustrated.

"It's hard to get any answers when there is barely any evidence. I'm a detective not a psychic."

Speaking of. It seemed we all had the same idea and looked at Kyoko who seemed to be having a major headache. She was rubbing her temples and whining slightly.

"Whoa! You okay Kyoko!?"

Aoi ran right up to her and rubbed her back.

"T-this i-is!"

Kyoko yelled. Was she having a premontion? Several people now crowded her, either out of concern or curiosity. I looked around and saw Makoto beckoning me over. Confused I went to him.

"Sayaka, I have something else I need to ask you."

Why me?

"When you woke up, how did your memory feel?"

What? My memory? A sudden flash of realisation hit me.

"It felt, muddy? I don't know if this is how memory even works, but I thought it would be a blank spot right? I mean I was unconscious? I shouldn't have been able to remember anything. And it's not like I remembered anything concrete or specific, just a feeling that there was something there?"

He grabbed my hand with both of his excitedly. Seemed that was what he was hoping for.

"It was the same thing for me! Which means that in probability we didn't just faint. In fact, we may not have fainted at all."

I couldn't quite hear the last part but for some reason it scared me. So I decided not to ask him to speak up. Seriously though wasn't Mukuro the detective? It almost feels like he's doing more detective work than she is. Although, it wasn't like Mukuro had shared any of her thoughts. Makoto put a hand to his chin and started muttering to himself.

"Was that all Makoto?"

His cheeks flushed and he flashed a toothy grin.

"A-ah yes. Although if you don-"

He was suddenly cut off by a loud sound. Like microphone feedback. As soon as the sound stopped I looked at Makoto. He seemed to have frozen up.

"H-hey Makoto? Are you-"

He looked extremely agitated and he was sweating buckets.

"M-makoto?"

His eyes looked muddied and he was breathing heavily. All of a sudden he stopped and I was about to ask him again when suddenly, 'SLAM!'.

D-did he just punch the wall!?

"Makoto!?"

Suddenly there was a loud static sound. It overtook my ears and I saw Makoto look in the direction of the noise. I followed his gaze and found myself staring at a TV screen. It was basically identical to the one that was in the classroom I woke up in. That same bright yellow. The screen was filled with static, but soon a weird silhouette showed up. I then heard a creepy and unfamiliar voice.

"Mike check! Mike check! One two! This is a testing of the Hope's peak academy broadcast system! Ah, seems it's working! Ahem! Welcome students! I would like for you all to gather in the gym so we can start off our new semester! The entrance ceremony will begin once you have all gathered in the gym! See you soon~"

Okay. That was all sorts of weird. That voice was way too squeaky for it to actually be supposed to be taken seriously. I couldn't shake this feeling of dread that washed over me however. I looked at Makoto. His hand was furiously bleeding.

"Makoto! Are you okay?! Why did you do that!?"

He was mumbling to himself. It was quite hard to hear exactly what, but he seemed to be saying affirmations. 'It's okay', 'You're safe', "Don't worry'', that type of stuff. That was deeply concerning on it's own but as I was about to try and calm him down.

"Well, I guess we should head to the gym"

"Maybe I'll finally get some damn answers."

Taeko and Mukuro had started leaving.

"A-ah! Taeko wait up!"

Taka ran after Taeko. Taeko stopped for a second to look back, smiling smoftly. She started walking again once Taka caught up with her and they engaged in conversation.

Seriously? How could they just leave like that!?

"H-hey! Where are you two going!? This is obviously some sort of trap right?!"

Leon yelled. Byakuya shoved past him however and left.

"Out of my way"

"What the fuck!?"

Leon followed angrily. Was cussing Byakuya out really more important than talking about whatever that announcement just was? Was it more important than checking on Makoto?

"Makoto!"

I looked up and found Sakura and Boris staring at Makoto in concern.

"Little Lady, what happened?"

Boris asked me.

"I-I don't know! He just suddenly looked really terrified and stuff! He was breathing heavily, I couldn't get through to him! Do you guys know what's up with him!?"

This whole situation was stressing me out. Thank god for Sakura and Boris, I don't think I could have been able to handle this on my own. God! Why was everybody just leaving!? Couldn't they see we had a situation on our hands here!?

I saw Junko, Chihiro, Aoi and Hifumi look at Makoto with worry. Seemingly not knowing what to do.

I looked back at Makoto and saw that he was shaking.

"Little lady, we will handle this. Go to the gym."

I looked at Boris. His face stern and unmoving. God I was useless. Can't even help someone when they obviously need it. I buried my head in my hands and started walking toward the door. The four onlookers slowly following me and walking out. I looked back once more and saw Sakura holding Makoto's back, while Boris was kneeling down beside him. He seemed to be calming down thankfully. I exited the room and found Junko, Chihiro, Aoi and Hifumi all looking at me. I smiled gently.

"We should head to the gym. Sakura and Boris will take care of Makoto. I trust that they will be able to help him. More than I could anyway"

I muttered that last part quietly as I bit my lip in frustration. I looked down at the ground, and started walking at a brisk pace.

"Hey uhhh, Sayaka?"

I stopped, not even getting five feet away from the door.

What did she want? Junko was scratching her head nervously. Chihiro seemed to tense up a bit too as he saw me look at her.

"It's okay, okay? You don't have to beat yourself up! I'm sure he'll appreciate you trying to help later!"

She flashed a toothy grin. The usual pain in my heart started to numb a bit. I guess even I can appreciate Junko's support. Feeling a little bad about my previous behaviour, I decided to show it.

"I... Thanks Junko"

I could see Chihiro smiling in the corner of my eye. Junko looked happy and threw up a peace sign.

"No worries Saya! We'll run ahead for now, so seeya!"

And so, Junko and Chihiro moved on ahead. Leaving me alone with Hifumi and Aoi. Hifumi looked a little uncomfortable.

"It's okay for you to go on ahead too Hifumi, don't worry about me, okay?"

He smiled.

"Well then, I guess I will do just that! Don't take too long now."

And so he also started walking. I looked at Aoi, she was looking at me sympathetically. I blushed a little and looked away.

"Ah, please don't look at me like that. You're making me feel like a little kid."

She went over to me and put a hand on my shoulder.

"Alright! Stand up straight Sayaka!"

And stand up straight I did. She looked me dead in the eye.

"We can worry about Makoto more later. Right now, we need to get to the gym!"

"Yes Ma'am!"

And once again I embarassed myself. I was really weak to people with high charisma wasn't I? Aoi started laughing as I proceeded to salute for the third time today. She slapped my back lightly and started walking after everyone else toward the gym. I followed suit of course.

After a bit of walking and talking with Aoi, we found ourselves in what appeared to be a trophy room? A bunch of prizes and hope's peak memorabilia was here. This was probably stuff that was won by prior students. There was a golden sword that caught my eye, it stood by it's lonesome inside a glass case right between two big red doors.

"I'm guessing the gym is through those doors?"

Aoi looked where I pointed and turned thoughtful.

"Hmm, I wonder. Why are there two doors? Wouldn't only one door be needed?"

"Only thing I want to know is if they are push or pull. Don't want to make a fool of myself again."

Aoi held a hand over her mouth and tried to hold in her laughter.

"Oh yeah! I can't believe I forgot! That expression you made after I brought it up earlier was gold!"

My face was fully red and I yelled out in embarassment.

"It's not that funny!"

We then heard the door behind us open up.  It was Boris, Sakura and Makoto. Makoto seemed to be doing much better now, if not a little flushed.

"Ah, Little lady! Baseball!"

Was that the best he could come up with for Aoi?

"Why are you two not in the gym yet?"

Sakura had an eyebrow raised.

"We were about to go in, but we sort of got sidetracked?"

Aoi rubbed the back of her head sheepishly.

"Well, let's go in together then!"

Makoto said, seeming much more cheerful now.

And so I walked toward one of the doors. Ready to open this door, I went up and pushed it. It opened. I looked back at the others, my face filled with glee. Sakura, Boris and Makoto all sweatdropped.

"What are you so happy for?"

Makoto asked while rubbing his cheek. Aoi was laughing up a storm all the while. I flushed again, and decided to walk in to the gym. I saw everybody else standing in the middle. The gym was huge. I followed Aoi into the middle and stood amongst everyone else.

"Took you long enough."

Byakuya said looking both bored and irritated.

"Ah, I'm sorry! It's my fault!"

Makoto said as he raised his hands apologetically.

"Hey, you don't have to apologize for anything, okay?"

I said, in a more demanding tone than I had intented. Makoto only rubbed his cheek again.

"So... when is this entrance ceremony thing starting?"

Hiro asked. It was a fair question. I looked at Aoi and she shrugged. Why did I expect her to know anything?

I looked around the gym some more. As I thought, the place was huge. There was a bunch of sports equipment strewn about randomly. And at the end of the gym was a stage with a podium in front of it. It was actually pretty empty. Weren't we supposed to have an etrance ceremony here? Where were all the decorations?

Everybody seemed to be really tense. To be honest, a small part of me was pretty excited? I mean we were going to have some questions answered right? I was cut out of my thoughts by Chihiro.

"I'm pretty tired of waiting now, I think. Was it ever said exactly when the ceremony would begin?"

Kyoko decided to answer the question. She looked tense.

"I believe it was said that it would begin once we were all gathered inside the gym."

"Well, we are all here right? So why isn't it starting!?"

Hiro looked as distressed as ever.

"Maybe we are being punished because some of our classmates decided to take their sweet time?"

Byakuya tried to instigate once again. I could see Leon look away bothered in the corner of my eye.

"Lay off the guy okay? What do you know? I bet you didn't even see the state he was in!"

Junko came to Makoto's defense, he seemed to appreciate it, but he still looked a little bashful.

"Oh shut up! He d-did that to himself! I-I mean nobody told him to punch the wall! H-he just d-decided to be a dumbass and hurt himself!"

I glared at Toko. Taka stepped forward.

"Everybody! Please calm down! This is not the time for petty squabbling!"

"Taka is correct."

Taeko said punctually.

"We have no need for baseless accusations. Mr Naegi simply had a reaction, did something questionable, and that's all it was. There is no need to bring it up further."

Byakuya and Toko backed off. They didn't seem entirely convinced however. I looked back at Naegi out of concern. He looked ashamed of himself. He was holding his hand, massaging it.

"Everyone!"

I looked in the direction of the voice. It was Kyoko.

"I would like for you all to listen to me very carefully when I say this."

She seemed very serious.

"I believe most, if not all of you witnessed me earlier."

Was she talking about that weird headache she had?

"I recieved a premonition in that moment! Normally I do not get such reactions from my premonitions. This one however... it feels too hard to believe, even for me."

She bit her thumb hard, clearly in distress. Was it really so bad? Worse than the one she told me about before?

'"Our lives will soon enter unecessary and cruel turmoil"'

What did that mean? Could I even trust Kyoko's premonitions in the first place? As I worried about what she was going to say, Hiro spoke up.

"Hey! Stop with that stuff okay!? You're scaring the shit out of me man!"

Junko spoke up, looking agitated.

"How about you let her finish before you start pissing your pants?"

Kyoko let go of her thumb and sighed.

"The premonition I got. The premonition I still feel. It tells me, that soon... one of us is going to die."

What..? D-die? We were all shocked by what Kyoko said. I mean, that's not funny right? That's, like the worst joke I've ever heard...

"I'll take that as my cue!"

There was a voice. It was the voice from the broadcast earlier. It sent a chill down my spine as I looked over to the stage. We all stared that way, confused and agitated. Not only were we locked up in a school with no known way out, on top of that we all also shared the same memory of suddenly fainting once entering hope's peak, and on top of that we were just told by our future seer classmate that one of us were going to die soon. This was all way too much. This was such a weird situation and I had a feeling that it was going to become much weirder soon. Almost as if on cue, just to prove me right, a small black and white bear jumped up from behind the podium on the stage.

"Hello and welcome students! I am your headmaster, Monokuma!"

Headmaster...?

"What the fuck is that thing!?"

Leon yelled.

"What a cute teddy bear!"

I side eyed Junko. The bear however wiggled around a little bit, blushing.

"Aww~ You think I'm cute? Wait! I am not a teddy bear! I am Monokuma!"

The bear yelled in outrage.

"Aw man! I knew it! I should have splurged on a new pair of glasses, my doctor warned me about my eyesight going bad!"

He was holding the sides of his head. Did he think he was seeing things? How would that explain the voice though?

"Ah, Ah, Ah~! I am fully real rich boy! Though you should always listen to your doctors. I know I always listen to what Doctor Killgood has to say to me~"

Was it already getting off topic?

"What is that thing? Some sort of robot?"

Byakuya asked. Hifumi excitedly jumped in with his opinion.

"If it is, I must say it is a mechanical wonder! To be able to move it's body so fluidly, I have never heard of anything like it! And it seems to be quite intelligent as well? It's AI must be a wonder of code! I would love to rummage around inside and figure out exactly how this thing works!"

At least he was in a good mood?

"I am not just a robot either! As I said I am Monokuma!"

The bear, or rather Monokuma, was now red in the face out of anger. How exactly that worked was probably another question Hifumi got excited over.

"Okay now, everyone! Please settle down and listen what your headmaster has to say!"

Everybody obeyed Monokuma's orders and quieted down. Wether it was out of fear or respect, I had no idea.

"So, you are all probably wondering a whole bunch of different stuff!"

Understatement of the century.

"But I don't have the time to be here all day you see! So let's just cut to the chase!"

His red eye(?) glowed frighteningly.

"You are all wondering how to get out of here right? You're wondering where that gosh darned exit is!"

He put a paw in front of his face, claws out.

"Well guess what~ There is no exit!"

What?

"Huh!?"

Hifumi was broken out of his exitement over Monokuma and looked shocked.

"No way! I don't believe it!"

Hiro was yelling, holding and shaking his head furiously.

"Whoa! Calm down man!"

Leon walked over to Hiro, trying his best to calm him down.

"I do not believe for a single second that there isn't at least one exit."

Byakuya said, not sounding too sure of himself.

"Ohhh~ But it's true~ I mean, Miss detective prince and cowlick both said that they found not, a, single, exit. Right~?"

Mukuro was sweating bullets, biting her thumb, while Makoto was gritting his teeth and looking down at the ground in shame.

"So I have to be telling the truth! Even you have to admit that rich boy!"

"Nooooo!"

Hiro was now shaking his head even harder.

"Please dude you have to calm down!"

Leon pleaded with Hiro.

"So yeah! You are all stuck here inside of this school, and you can't get out no matter how hard you try!"

That was so stupid. I mean, we had to be able to do something right? Yes of course! We could get the metal plates off of the windows somehow, right!? I mean that must be possible! And I mean, hope's peak was pretty large, maybe there was something on the other floors? There had to be! Yes, of course! There just had to be! There was no way there wasn't!

"Well~ I guess there is one way~"

My head shot up, I looked at Monokuma. A way to get out? And he was just about to let it slip?

"What!? What do I have to do!?"

I yelled. I needed to know! I can't be stuck here forever! I have my whole life ahead of me! I still have dreams!

"Oh! Someone's excited! That's exactly the kind of energy I want! I guess I'll tell you since you want to know it so bad~ But make sure to promise to follow up on it later okay?"

I didn't like that tone. I really didn't like that tone.

"In order to get out of here, you need to to something crazy! Something that would disturb the harmony here at your normal forever school life."

Disturb the harmony? No, no, no.

"What are you insinuating? Don't tell me-"

Mukuro looked worried. Extremely worried.

Please don't say it. Don't tell me I have to-

"You gotta Kill someone."

He said it. I think that in a way, we all knew what he meant ever since he first said to disturb the harmony. And it was all because of Kyoko's premonition. Someone was going to die soon. We all knew it. But, was one of us... really going to kill? I mean that's not...

"That's crazy!"

I basically screeched. I just didn't want to accept what I was hearing.

"A-Ahhhhhhhhhh!"

Hifumi yelled.

"No, No, No, No, No"

Aoi had dropped her bat on the ground and was holding her hands in front of her mouth.

Yasuhiro was hunched over on the ground covering his ears.

"It's not true! It's not true! I know it's not true!"

"T-that's!?"

Junko was hugging a crying Chihiro.

"E-Everybody! Please! Calm yourselves!"

Taka tried to get things under control but was clearly also processing the words of Monokuma.

'THUNK'

"What the!?"

Toko had fainted and fallen down on the floor. Byakuya who was standing nearest her immediately bent down to make sure she was okay.

"Everybody! I beg of you! Calm yourselves! You cannot panic this easily! You cannot allow yourselves to act like this because of a single word!"

Taeko was desperately pleading with everyone. Her words fell on deaf ears however. Because soon after

"I will not allow any more of this bullshit!"

Boris said before running up toward the stage.

"Agh!"

Kyoko knelt down in pain, rubbing her temples again.

"What are you-"

When Boris got to the stage he grabbed hold of Monokuma.

"Alright you bear fuck! I will not accept your strange words! Kill!? Hell no!"

He snarled loudly. Monokuma was flailing as he was held up by the much taller Boris.

"W-wait! What are you doing you big oaf!? Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited!"

He said in a threatening tone. Boris pointed back towards the class.

"I will never hurt them! But I have no problem, hurting you!"

He said as he slammed Monokuma into the ground. There was a slightly loud beeping sound.

"Eh? You have no more to say? Well I have-"

As he was raising his arm holding Monokuma to slam him down again, Kyoko yelled extremely loudly.

"Boris!"

Boris looked over her way, confused.

"Throw it now!"

"What?"

She was practically on her hands and knees, her head seemed to hurt a lot.

"I SAID THROW IT!"

The beeping sound only got faster and louder the longer Boris held it in his hands. Thankfully however, Boris threw Monokuma up far into the sky, right before it blew up.

"Wha-what!?"

"Holy shit!"

Leon yelled. And after, there was silence. Everyone had stopped panicking, but for a brief moment, because of the explosion.

"A-agh!"

I looked behind me and saw Makoto leaning forward, unsteady.

"Makoto-!"

Sakura who was still by his side placed herself beside him. She went to grab for his back, to make sure he wouldn't fall over.

"D-don't touch me!"

But then Makoto slapped away Sakura's arm, hard. She seemed to lose her balance for a bit as he stumbled backwards. He was holding his head and breathing heavily.

"I-I! I'm so sorry Sakura! Just please! Don't touch me while I'm like this!"

It was heartbreaking to see him like that. It was heartbreaking to see everyone so shocked, so scared. Some were crying even. This was all just so hard to watch. I looked toward Boris again, was he okay?

Boris was lying with his back down to the stage. Running a hand through his long hair. I sighed a sigh of relief, thank god he was okay.

I looked over at Toko next who was still on the ground out cold. Byakuya hunched over her as he tried to wake her up.

I then looked over at Kyoko, who was rubbing her temples still. Although much slower now.

Then I looked at Junko who was still holding on to Chihiro. Actually it was more like Chihiro was holding on to Junko for dear life, he was a sobbing mess.

My eyes fell upon Taka and Taeko next who seemed to be engaging in conversation. They both looked concerned and Taka looked extra bleak.

"Hah! You are all so filled with despair! What better treat could a bear ask for~?"

I had a feeling, but for once I had wished my intuition was wrong. Monokuma had popped up again, this time in the middle of the crowd.

"You!"

He pointed toward Boris who was slowly setting himself upright again.

"I hope you have learned your lesson! I was even about to get to the best part! To cut me off like that just isn't nice you know?"

Monokuma grinned and held his belly as he laughed.

"Okay! Now I know I said that you had to kill someone, but it's not exactly as simple as that! In fact, you also have to get away with it."

I think I was already too drained, normally I would have asked a prodding question, but right now. I think I was just tired. Maybe I was overreacting? Were we all overreacting? No, right? This situation was insane! Stuck in a building, and the only way to get out is murder? I have to get away with it too? That's... that's just not okay.

"The rules to this Killing game are extremely simple! To get out, you have to get away with murder! Bashing! Slicing! Drowning! Stabbing! Strangling! The method doesn't matter! As long as you kill someone, and make sure nobody finds out you did it, you get to leave!"

"I just can't believe this is real."

Leon said quietly to himself.

"Okay. Now, let me hand these out to you!"

Monokuma said as he pulled out a box filled with small tablets.

"These are your handy dandy electronic handbooks! E-handbooks for short! On these things is everything from info about your classmates to a collection of all the school rules!"

I grabbed my tablet and pressed a button on it. The screen lit up and I was welcomed to a screen with rule number 1 on it.

Rule #1: Students may reside only within the school. Leaving campus is an unacceptable use of time.

I pressed the screen and read the rest of the rules.

Rule #2: "Nighttime" is from 10 pm to 7 am. Some areas are off-limits at night, so please exercise caution.

Rule #3: Sleeping anywhere other than the dormitory will be seen as sleeping in class and punished accordingly.

Rule #4: With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore Hope's Peak Academy at your discretion.

Rule #5: Violence against headmaster Monokuma is strictly prohibited, as is destruction of surveillance cameras.

Rule #6: Anyone who kills a fellow student and becomes "blackened" will graduate, unless they are discovered.

Rule #7: Additional school regulations may be added if necessary.

It was a lot to take in. But for some reason, after reading the rules I felt somewhat, calm. Was I already coming to terms with everything? No. I couldn't be, and it didn't even feel like that. It was more a feeling of, determination. I needed to calm down, and think everything through. My prior behaviour was not acceptable. It's what that damn bear wanted. He wanted us to become panicked and to give up and give in. I will not let it happen however. I would not let myself become what he wanted! I am Sayaka Maizono! I give it all I've got, into anything I put my mind into! My goals! My dreams! And my ambitions! My determination will prevail.

"Now! The breaking of any of these rules will mean immediate punishment!"

I looked over at Boris who had slowly but surely made his way over to the rest of the group. He looked nervous. Monokuma pointed his claws at Boris threateningly.

"This is the only time I will let a rule breaker get off easy, since you didn't know the rules yet! But from now on, any rule breaking will mean immediate punishment. And I can promise you, you don't want that~"

Monokuma rubbed the back of his head bashfully.

"Well then! Any questions?"

Nobody dared speak a word.

"Guess I'm done then! Now please have fun exploring and enjoy your new killing school life! Bye bye~"

And Monokuma then disappeared. Okay! Now was my chance!

"Everybody please listen to me!"

Everybody's eyes fell upon me, perfect!

"I know we are all stressed and scared! But we have to put our worries aside for a second and think through this rationally! Right now, we are falling into Monokuma's trap. He wants us to panic, he wants us to feel small. He wants us to give in!"

I could see Taeko and Taka looking impressed.

"But we can't give him what he wants! We have to work together! I know he said that there was no exit, but we can't just believe him right!? If stay determined enough to keep looking for it, I am sure that we will find the exit at some point! We can't give up before we've even given it a chance!"

"Yeah! That's it little lady!"

I looked and smiled at Boris.

"Y-yeah! We can't give up yet!"

I saw Aoi getting pumped.

"Alright Saya! Whatever you say! Let's fuckin do this!"

I didn't look at Junko, but I still appreciated her words.

"O-oh come on guys! You-you're all talking like this is actually happening and stuff!"

Everything quieted down. Hiro's stupidity made everyone pause for a second.

"Are you serious dude?"

Leon facepalmed.

"No but seriously! It has to be a trick! It's just some prank the school is pulling!"

I almost pitied him.

"If I could intrude for a second"

It was Mukuro.

"It's great that you are all calming down, and while yes I agree that we should work together and everything. I guess I just need to make sure you all don't become too idealistic."

Wait a second. Mukuro I beg of you. Do not.

"At the end of the day, we are all human correct?"

And suddenly a cold breeze took over all of us.

"As a detective, I have worked on many cases that make me question 'How was a person ever pushed this far?'. And this, is a prime situation for that."

It was like you could hear a needle drop. I couldn't disagree with her.

"We don't know yet what Monokuma may do to push us into doing what he wants, but we have to be ready at all times. I advise all of you, to stay vigilant. Keep watch for others. But most importantly, keep watch of yourself."

And that was when I realised. I was standing in a group full of strangers. I didn't know any of these people. At best, what I knew were their names and what they were good at. Not much more than that. And even though I didn't want to, I found myself looking around at everyone, doubting.

I wasn't safe here. No one was.