In which I try - and probably fail miserably - at making a Danganronpa fic.

A/N:

Of all the things in the world I planned to write, an AU story for Super Danganronpa 2 strangely never presented itself until last week. Funny how it ends up being the next story to add itself to my archive, huh?

Yeah…Well, I don't have much else to say, so I'll add the disclaimer.

Disclaimer:

This story is not, and has never been, affiliated with Danganronpa, Spike Chunsoft or the like. The characters throughout the story all belong to Spike Chunsoft; only specially-made OCs for the sake of convenience are owned by the author, a.k.a me. Any and all references to other fanfiction and/or media work by other authors/creators are purely used for entertainment purposes. As such, these do not belong to me, but to their respective owners. I am not, in any way, profiting from writing this story, other than having the sweet satisfaction of writing said story.

Also, feel free to review. I need all the help I can get within the DR fandom to write this, because, admittedly, I'm ad-libbing most of this. Cheers.

Kibougamine Private Academy. Or, as it is better known internationally, Hope's Peak.

This federally-accredited, super-privileged academy gathers students of the highest calibre in all fields, so it can groom them to become paragons in their area of expertise, at almost no momentary cost to the students.

*toss* Except me. *catch*

Graduating is said to guarantee a life of success, and, as the numbers show, Hope's Peak has churned out quite an impressive track record of graduates over the years, who all became well-known and respected figures in real life.

*toss* Too bad I'm not going to be a factor in either of those. *catch*

You didn't need to apply to the school; they would scout you out if they deemed you worthy enough of an 'Ultimate' title. If you accepted, they would accept you, no questions asked.

And then…*toss* There were us… *catch*

Over the years, all sorts of talents came and left the school. There were the normal talents, such as the Ultimate Cook (although he'd correct you by insisting he was a Chef), the Ultimate Photographer, and the Ultimate Mechanic. The number of students in Japan alone that could have been granted these titles were a dime a dozen, so it was a testament to their skill that they managed to surpass those in their field.

Then, there were the more… exotic talents. There was an Ultimate Yakuza, a baby-faced boy who was heir to one of the biggest yakuza (or gangster, if you prefer) syndicates, the Kuzuryuu Clan. Yet another example went to one of the school's few foreign students, the golden-haired princess of a small country in Europe named Novoselic; consequently, she was granted the title of Ultimate Princess.

There was even a boy who had been granted the title of the Ultimate Lucky Student. Said boy had been the, well, lucky winner of the annual Hope's Peak raffle, which selected one student from the masses to join Hope's Peak, no strings attached.

All in all, at this point in time, every student in Hope's Peak, and even some of the teachers who were alumni, had their own distinctive 'Ultimate' talent, in which they took pride in the fact that they owned such an honour.

All of them, that is, except one.

*toss* *bonk* Ouch.

Enter Hajime Hinata. Sixteen years of age, going on seventeen in under two months, and currently searching for the stress ball he had failed to catch while throwing upwards, and was now somewhere inside the classroom.

Of which he was the only student there, in the evening sun.

He sighed in frustration. "It's gotten so quiet in here…"

Hajime was… unique. He hadn't been selected to attend Hope's Peak, nor was he the winner of the raffle. In fact, he had already spent one year in the campus, and he still had not a title to call his own. He literally had no personified talent to speak of, and yet, here he was, still attending the prestigious academy.

Because he was a Reserve Course student.

The Reserve Course, held in the preparatory school subdivision of the academy as opposed to the normal main school, served two purposes. One, it was to allow students from the general masses, those who were incredibly bright and intelligent but had no special skill or talent to speak of, to enrol in Hope's Peak as an 'intern' of sorts. They were allowed to be in direct vicinity of the mainstream Ultimates, to hone their non-existing talents, and perhaps, at the end of their possible maximum of three years, they would actually graduate with a talent of their own. All they needed to do was find their niche, and then they would be able to register themselves as a proper Ultimate, also known as performing an 'Uprise', and continue their education in the main building.

But such an entitlement didn't come cheap, which led to the second purpose. The preparatory school program, retitled the 'Reserve Course' in the few years since its inception, had a fee well above what an average blue-collar worker could earn in a few years. The exorbitance of such an agenda was not without good reason; even with the government-funding Kibougamine was provided, it wasn't nearly enough to cover the various amenities and other facilities that practically fed on money. So the executive board of Hope's Peak decided to implement said reserve course, and charge those who entered an outrageous sum to continue each year, in order to fund the main building itself.

Sure, it was unethical, and practically daylight robbery, but for the twenty or so students that entered each year, paying the iron price had to have been worth the chance for fame and fortune.

The first purpose had been why Hajime was in Kibougamine in the first place. He had always scored the best in his classes, and had topped his level in multiple examinations, growing up in elementary and middle school. But other than being an overachiever, he was completely and utterly…bland. Sure, he had friends, and even dated once or twice, but if one were to inquire about him, the first response would be, 'Meh'. Anything that followed was the same rehashed spiel about how he was generally a nice guy, how he got good grades, and how he had chosen to apply for Kibougamine when they didn't come for him.

Simply put, he was wholly, absolutely, normal. Not exactly the best of credentials for any Ultimate. Not even the Ultimate Normality herself, Nami Hitou, was as normal as him, but he couldn't very well take her hard-earned spot in Hope's Peak, could he? There were only supposed to be one of any Ultimate in the school at any one time, and by the time she graduated, he would probably be graduating too, and not from Kibougamine.

This was where the second purpose came into play; if he wasn't able to establish himself as an 'Ultimate' student in the next two months, he wouldn't be able to keep up with the cost. The small fortune his parents had left him when they died had barely been enough to begin with, and he had to sell his family house and a good number of his possessions to be able to cover the entrance fee. He couldn't possibly afford yet another year.

Groaning internally, Hajime wistfully stared at the empty desks around the classroom. Nary two weeks ago, they were still occupied, with people in the same situation as him: reserve course students, eager to Uprise and join the ranks of the Ultimates. Many had even been his friends and comrades, and it was for this reason he was the only one left in the lonely classroom.

"Paging Hajime Hinata, please report to the Headmaster's Office immediately. Thank you."

Yet another jab at the fact that he wasn't an Ultimate, was the fact that he still had to be summoned via the intercom system. All Ultimates were all gifted with an e-Handbook, a device that, among other uses, was capable of privately messaging students, sparing the embarrassment that followed when the Headmaster had to publicly call for you.

At least the only people who'd poke fun at me are home for the holidays, he thought, probably to celebrate their Uprise with their families. Good for them…

Finding the stress ball at the corner of the room, Hajime squeezed it thrice to relax his already-frazzled nerves. Being sent to the Headmaster was not a rare occasion for him, but he knew that this meeting may very well have been his last. After all, it was the last day of the official school year, and his time as a reserve student was up.

Alas, he decided he was obliged to, anyways. It wasn't like he had anything better to do.

"Sit, Hinata."

Thanking and taking the ornate chair offered, Hajime glanced at the Headmaster of Hope's Peak, Jin Kirigiri himself, expectantly.

"Hinata, Hinata, Hinata…" he frowned, "Odd. I would have expected you to have been one of the first reserves to have taken the Uprise."

"To be fair, sir, I could've… I just…"

Hajime struggled to find words to explain why he did what he had done. Thankfully, Headmaster Kirigiri held up a hand to silence him, before giving him a warm smile.

"Don't worry. I know what you did. You willingly chose to forfeit your chances, and let the other reserve students have a decent shot at becoming the substitute Ultimates." He picked up an envelope from his desk, and handed it to Hajime. "Your ex-classmates formally requested that I deliver this collection of their letters to you personally."

At this, Hajime felt warmth course through his body. Appreciation was something he had never gotten enough of, and to know that they were thankful for what he had chosen to do made his heart soar.

"I'm still rather in shock, though." Headmaster Kirigiri continued, "We have never had such a good turnover rate for our reserve students. The most we ever had was five in any one year, but for your entire batch of twenty sans you to Uprise all at once…I would personally have given you the title of Ultimate Supporter, or Ultimate Determinator, or even the Ultimate Unlucky Student, had all three not already been granted."

Hajime whimpered. He knew where this line of dialogue was leading, and while he had spent the last few days preparing for it, he was still shaking.

"You're a good student, Hinata. Better than some of my own students in a few aspects. You would definitely made for a fine Ultimate." He got up from his seat, and started to pace around the room. "I have no wish to prevent you from continuing your stay with us, but my hands are tied; the board simply won't allow me to let you continue as a reserve student without the necessary funds."

There it was.

At this, Hajime's shuddering stopped, and his body seemed to visibly deflate.

"…I can't say I didn't expect this," he said quietly, not with anger, but resignation, "I'll begin packing my bags-"

"Which is why I have one final proposition for you."

Immediately, Hajime swivelled his head so fast, an audible 'crick' was heard. "You what?!"

Headmaster Kirigiri was holding yet another envelope was given to him, although, this time, he noted the official crest of Hope's Peak Academy imprinted on it. He was smirking, as if Christmas (a little more than a month down the year) had come early.

"Hope's Peak thrives on cultivating only the best of the best to become true Ultimates." he explained, "Some talents are easy enough to spot; teenage singers and artists are everywhere, as are sportspeople. We need a diverse scope of talents in order to facilitate the many students of this school, but sometimes, we end up missing a few, either because no one could meet the qualifications, or because those who did already had their own Ultimate talent."

He waved the folder, and Hajime noticed the rabbit head, stamped out of silver wax, he supposed, acting as a seal for the documents inside. "So, what if I told you, we could assign you a new Ultimate talent, one that we have yet to assign to anyone else thus far?"

If Hajime had been in the presence of, say, someone other than Jin Kirigiri, he would have no qualms about bursting out into joyous hallelujahs and potentially doing truckloads of incredibly stupid stuff in his state of newly-found euphoria.

Who could blame him, though? He was finally achieving his dream of becoming one of the people he had looked up to since, well, forever. He just wanted to scream and shout at everything in the vicinity, and brag to all of them that he, yes he, Hajime Hinata, was becoming an Ultimate student.

Instead, he steeled himself to stay calm, and replied, stuttering slightly, "I-It would be an h-honour, sir! I'd do it in a heartbeat!"

Had he noticed the evil glint in the Headmaster's eyes, he would have thought better of it, but his mind was too caught up in his own happiness to care.

"Then answer me this," Headmaster Kirigiri pointed at his table, "Take the one with the red frame, and look into it."

Hinata looked into what he thought was a picture of someone the Headmaster held dear, such as the daughter he had spoken about on occasion, and instead found himself looking at, well, himself, through the mirror.

"What do you see?" he heard the Headmmaster ask.

"…What do I see? Well, me." Hajime's voice trailed off, unsure of what he was supposed to be looking for.

"Hinata, would you agree with me if I said you were a good-looking young man?"

To this, Hajime raised an eyebrow. Where was the Headmaster going with this line of questioning? Still, he was obliged to answer, although his pride at attaining his lifelong dream started to leak into his voice.

"I daresay I am…I may not be the most good-looking guy around, but I think I'm at least somewhat adequate." he replied matter-of-factly.

" …Good." The Headmaster walked back to his desk, and placed the envelope in front of him, upon which, he motioned for Hajime to take it.

"Confidence, a rather-handsome face, and a refreshing personality," the Headmaster mused, "All desirable traits, all of which will help you with this talent. I have faith that you'll be able to make full use of them."

While Hajime's astonished smile at the rare compliment said one thing, his mind reeled through the possibilities, as his fingers got to work on breaking the wax seal.

What kind of talent would necessitate the need for confidence and a handsome face-

All too late did the pieces fall into place, and immediately, Hajime wished he hadn't tore open the envelope.

"Starting tomorrow, you, Hajime Hinata, will become the Ultimate Playboy. Whether or not you keep the title is going to depend on your actions until the new school year begins. Now, let us go through the details of your trial period."

…

…

Oh…

…Uh oh.

Saving Data...

Data Saved.

November 22nd, 5.45 PM

Days to go: 41

Continue playing?

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