Hope's Peak Academy. At this point, everyone knows it as a prestigious school with talented kids. What makes it even better is that the students are never enrolled in it: they have to be scouted and invited by the school itself, showing that they actually search for the best of the best in the country.
I've always been a fan of Hope's Peak. You could say that getting in there has been something like a dream for me. But how can someone like me, an average guy with no special talents whatsoever, ever have the hope of getting in? I'll admit that at one point later in my life, I might have gone desperate to the point that I'll be willing to do anything just to get inside the school.
But, sometime during my middle school years, one of the teachers in my school, Mr. Koda as he's affectionately called by his students, approached me when I had a hard time with one of the school subjects. He was the school's guidance counselor, and he thought that he should lend me a hand. From then on, he became my tutor.
As my tutor, he's kinda eccentric, if you know what I mean. He tried to make our study sessions as interesting as possible, and I recall him promising to treat me to a ramen shop if I managed to pass the exams. Though he has a reputation of being a bit mischievous, he is still a good man. After a while during our study sessions, I understood why he's popular among his class.
You could say that I started to admire him. I guess it started at some point when I saw how he acted around my schoolmates. He listened to them, feeling it necessary to hear them out. Of course, there are some other teachers who didn't approve of his methods, but he didn't care. He just did what he felt was right.
When he found out that I once had a dream of entering Hope's Peak, he didn't brush it off or told me it was impossible like other people did. He just said that if I really have the passion to, I could work to make that dream come true. His words made me think a lot that time.
And then, I found myself following his footsteps, though I didn't realize it at first. I saw myself approaching my classmates, befriending them, getting to know them better, and listening to them as they voice out their troubles. I helped them out, sometimes it's something simple like studying for exams, and other times it's something more complicated like staging a cute meeting between a friend and his crush. Before I knew it, I became something like a successor to Mr. Koda as I helped in approaching troubled schoolmates. For the first time in my life, I felt fulfilled, like I just managed to find something that was missing in my life.
Of course, I never forgot about my dream for Hope's Peak, but just seeing the smiling faces of my friends made me feel like it could wait for another time.
It's funny that once I was in my high school years, I received a fancy-looking envelope in my home. It's no doubt that it was a letter from the famous Hope's Peak Academy. By the time I grew to accept my normalcy, the school took notice of me. I remember literally jumping in joy when I recognized the seal of the letter. In it, it said that I've been scouted as a student for the school with the title of the Ultimate Guidance Counselor.
When I told my friends about the entrance letter, I could say without a doubt that they were happy and proud of me. They will miss me, of course, but they wanted to let me know that I shouldn't let an opportunity like this go to waste because of them.
So with many heartfelt farewells as well as back-crushing bearhugs, I walked past the gates of Hope's Peak with the acceptance letter in hand. I know that I will see other talented youngsters like me, and maybe they might be a bit surprised with my average appearance, but I thought that maybe we would all get to develop our talents together as a class.
This isn't what I was expecting at all. Hajime sighed as he pressed his cheek to the back of his hand, waiting for his classmates to arrive in the empty classroom, that is, if any would bother to attend at all. As it turns out, the classes of Hope's Peak were only optional in order to give more time for its students to practice and develop their talents. Because of that, they rarely attend the class. If they do, it's usually because it has something to do with their talent and if not, it's probably because they have nothing better to do.
As the door of the classroom opened, he didn't even need to look back to know who just came in.
"Huh, you're early again, Hinata."
That voice belonged to Natsumi Kuzuryuu, Ultimate Yakuza. The next-in-line for the largest yakuza in Japan, the Kuzuryuu Clan, she is well-known for her temper and abrasive attitude. According to what he read up online, her brother, Fuyuhiko Kuzuryuu, was supposed to be the next-in-line, but instead their parents gave the position to their daughter, stating that her assertiveness and power will keep the rest of their members in line.
Walking next to Natsumi is Peko Pekoyama, Ultimate Bodyguard. Abandoned at infancy, Peko was generously taken in by the Kuzuryuu clan, in hopes of training her to be the perfect hitman for their heir. While her early training consisted of swordsmanship, an incident that nearly put the family's lives in line made her realize that her training wasn't enough, and she had it intensified in order to let her protect anyone with ease, to the point that she wasn't limited to swords.
Chuckling sheepishly, the boy turned to face the two. "Yeah, I know. I guess I'm just used to getting in class earlier."
"I still can't believe how you, of all people, starts the day with disappointment." Shaking her head, Natsumi took the seat behind Hajime. Peko was about to take a seat next to the yakuza heir on her right, but after receiving a glare from the young mistress as if to say 'I can handle myself, thank you very much', the bodyguard instead took another seat that made her one seat apart from Natsumi; far enough to give her space but close enough to get to her if something were to happen.
The next pair to arrive were Mahiru Koizumi and Hiyoko Saionji, Ultimate Artist and Ultimate Nurse, respectively. Mahiru always had the passion to save and record precious memories, but because her family could not afford cameras, she instead took matter into her own hands, literally, and has become famous for her almost life-like art. Hiyoko came from a family of traditional dancers, and despite their protests, she instead became a nurse. From what Hajime heard, it is said that her methods are effective but a bit harsh, as anyone treated by the Ultimate Nurse would never want to injure themselves ever again. He doesn't know what she exactly does, but he sure as hell doesn't want to know.
The guidance counselor then gave a stern look to Natsumi, as if to remind her not to cause any trouble for today, causing her to grumble and say, "I know, I know."
Honestly, since the first day of school the yakuza and the artist were at each other's throats and if it weren't for him, they would be the first two Ultimates to experience at first hand the nursing methods of Hiyoko, and even though the nurse is close friends with the artist, he doesn't think that even their friendship would spare Mahiru from a cold lecture.
The pair took seats next to each other as well as far away as possible from Natsumi and Peko. Things may have simmered down between the two of them, but even he could tell that there is still some tension between them.
As far as he knows, there is at least one more student to come inside the classroom, and she's probably the most unpredictable when it comes to her talent. She's probably going to be in here any second now, so he better prepare himself if the worst happens.
As if on cue, a person literally went flying through the windows, screaming as she landed onto Natsumi, causing the yakuza heir to yelp as they both crashed down on the floor. The boy placed a palm on his face as the two of them ended up in a rather…compromising position.
Peko remained seated, knowing that the young mistress would prefer to handle this kind of situation herself. For what seems to be an eternity of awkward silence, Natsumi began to roughly push the offender off her, her face completely red from embarrassment. "Get the fuck off me!"
"I-I'm sorry!" The student cried as she tried to get up, only to yelp as she fell over again, her legs giving out from the pain they received earlier that day. With a sigh, the yakuza heir took the hand of the student and helped her sit in a more comfortable position. She may not like getting in trouble because of this girl, but she's not going to leave her to suffer.
At that moment, Hiyoko scowled as she walked towards the injured girl, taking a quick examination at her legs before giving letting her disapproval known. "It's not as bad as I thought, so you can still walk after this. Honestly, do you really enjoy being my patient that much, you masochist?!"
Letting out an "Eep!", the girl began to cry out. "I-I'm so s-sorry, I-I mean it! I got h-hit by a t-truck on the way, honest!"
"How in the world could someone as skinny as you get hit by a truck, get flung all the way here, crashed into the school's window which I need to remind you, costs thousands of yen because not even a baseball bat could break them, and only got aching legs!?"
Mikan Tsumiki, Ultimate Lucky Student. Despite her title, she isn't as lucky as one would think. She had a history of being bullied constantly, and soon her bullies found themselves receiving what many would call 'divine retribution' of some sort. It doesn't help that she ends up getting in all sorts of danger that would have otherwise fatally injure or kill a normal human being and she ends up getting out unscathed at best or mildly injured at worst. Because of that, people started avoiding her in fear that they would get hurt because of her unexplained luck.
Before Mikan could stutter out another apology, Hajime decided to intervene as he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Hey, it's alright. It isn't your fault." He said.
Sobbing in joy, the lucky student began to hug the guidance counselor while crying, "H-How could someone like m-me ever d-deserve your k-kindness?" With the situation gone awkward, he at least tried to make her feel better by lightly patting her back. Yeah, he once had a nervous wreck of a classmate in his previous high school, but they weren't this extreme.
This had been their daily routine for the past few days. Hajime gets to class earlier than the others, followed by Natsumi and Peko, then Mahiru and Hiyoko comes in, and finally, Mikan makes an unintentional grand entrance. Even though the number of students is a bit small, the guidance counselor hoped to at least make it feel like a class somehow.
What he didn't know is that today, the arrival of a new teacher would change everything in the class.
