Hope's Peak Academy - the finest school of general education that existed on the planet, populated by those the staff called "Ultimates". Those with extraordinary talents were invited to study at Hope's Peak, and from that blossomed a rich variety of students. As a result of a very large student body, Hope's Peak began work on another location, and in just a few years, it was open to the public. Half of the students were sent to the new school nicknamed "Young Hope" in order to prevent overcrowding within the original school building. An opening ceremony was even scheduled to celebrate the completion of the new school's construction. It seemed as if a future brimmed with hope and possibilities was ahead of the students attending this new school, however something would go terribly wrong for them.
A boy clad in a green vest over a white dress shirt awoke while seated in a desk inside a narrow classroom, his legs numb from sitting in the same position for so long. He slowly raised his head and ran his fingers through his long, curly brown hair. He blinked once or twice, and then scanned the room with curious amber eyes looking through through thick-rimmed glasses. He pushed them further up his small, round nose then put his hand on his chin, his brow furrowing as his lips formed a small pout. In an slightly high-pitched voice he spoke for the first time since waking up.
"Just where the heck am I?"
Wanting to answer that question, this boy got up and began to examine the rest of the room. It was slightly cramped, filled with about 30 or so desks, a teacher's desk and a blackboard at the front. Blotches of pink were sparsely splattered across the floor next to a few desks, but other than that it looked pretty normal to the boy. At least, until he noticed that all of the windows were covered in what seemed to be some kind of metal. He searched for a few minutes, eventually coming to one desk he found a note which read "Dear Taniyama, come to the auditorium". The boy's eyes widened slightly as he stepped back a bit, note in hand. He frantically shook his head side to side and pushed his hands up to his forehead. After a few seconds he snapped out of it and went towards what seemed to be the exit of the room; a plain wooden door.
He stepped up to the door, carefully placing his palm on the handle and twisting it slightly until it gave way with a click. As he put more weight on it, it slowly creaked open and revealed that there was a girl who had just walked by. She was taller than average, even taller than Taniyama in fact. Short, wavy black hair bounced as she walked, and she wore a red and white jumpsuit, which Taniyama recognised to be a racing suit. He walked out behind her and called out to her.
"Hey! Who are you?"
She suddenly stopped and hesitated a little before turning around, revealing a shy smile that danced across deep red lips. Her green eyes darted around, barely making eye contact with Taniyama, and her cheeks began to show an obvious blush. She raised her hand and waved slowly, spreading her lips into a smile which her frightened eyes betrayed. Her lips stuttered out a few sentences while she continued waving.
"Hi there. My name is Otagiri Haruka, but you can call me Haruka if you really want to. I don't mind it that much. What's your name?"
"Oh, my name is Taniyama Hojo, and if you want to go on first-name basis then it's okay to call me Hojo. Do you know where we are? Or why we're trapped in here?"
Otagiri's eyes shifted to the ground and then back up to Taniyama again as she nervously scratched her face. She appeared more confident this time as her voice ceased wavering.
"To be completely honest, that's what I was going to ask you."
Taniyama's hand instinctively went to the back of his head and sheepishly rubbed the long mess of curls. He chuckled for a second but stopped remembering the severity of the situation.
"Oh, that's not good. Really not good."
Otagiri's hands drifted to a pocket on her left hip and found a crinkled up piece of paper. It was the same white parchment as the note in Taniyama's room, and it read "Dear Otagiri, come to the auditorium".
"Do you know what this is? Did you write it?"
Taniyama raised his eyebrows and sported an overall confused expression. His tone carried an air of barely suspended suspicion.
"I didn't know your name until just now. How am I sure that you didn't write it?"
Otagiri blinked twice and stepped back a little, her fingers brushing against her lips as she covered her mouth in surprise.
"I'm sorry, I didn't mean to accuse you. You're just the first person I've seen in here."
"My bad, it's okay. Do you think we should listen to what the notes say?"
"Hmm... what else can we do? Let's give it a shot."
"Mhm! Yeah, let's go find this auditorium!"
With that Otagiri started to skip in the direction she was walking before, swinging her arms side to side. Taniyama's expression reverted back to a confused one again but followed the skipping girl. After a few seconds he was right beside her, and he turned his head to look at his new companion's face. Her eyes were contently closed and a small, yet prevalent smile was spread across her lips. He couldn't help but return the smile, but as a result he didn't notice the wall while doing so. It was only when he pretty much rammed his nose into it did he notice that they had reached the other end of the building. About five feet to the right of them were a pair of large, black doors. Otagiri already had her hand on the door ready to push it open, and when she looked at Taniyama he replied with a sheepish grin. She pushed open the door and stepped inside, and Taniyama followed.
Rows upon rows upon rows of red-cushion seats filled the auditorium, and it was apparent that some students were already sitting down. At the front of the vast room was a stage covered by curtains that matched the red of the chairs. Otagiri walked down the left aisle and Taniyama followed suit, making sure to not stay too close or too far behind her. She look a seat on the fourth row, next to two boys who seemed to be arguing.
"I bet your name isn't even Gely; you don't look Russian at all, you're just Japanese like the rest of us. Also, those medals look like they are made out of plastic, you really should have tried harder with replicating them."
This comment came from a well-built young man who had silver hair and piercing blue eyes and was sporting a black gi. He sneered with his eyebrows lowered as if he was some sort of predatory animal, and a sharp glare shone in both of his eyes. The boy next to him was a bit shorter than average with deep red hair and mahogany brown eyes. He proudly wore an olive military uniform complete with a hat bearing a red stripe and several golden badges on his right breast. For a second he looked almost hurt, but he lowered his eyebrows to match his opponent's and spoke, almost yelled, in a bizarre mix of an arrogant and whiny tone.
"Oh, come on, Okami! My medals are not fake, they are real! Of course a dirty bourgeois pig would accuse me of not having real medals! Hmph, the nerve of you to accuse me of such horrible deeds."
Okami's lips curled into a smirk as he shook his head, chuckling to himself. The redhead, Gely, shook his fists at him but did not bother to strike, instead he straightened his badges. Random chattering ensued for the new few minutes, until suddenly the curtains drew back, making almost everyone gasp. Sitting on a golden throne on the stage was a human-sized dolphin mascot wearing an orange shirt. It stood up and waved with both hands, its cold, dead eyes looking into the souls of everyone in the room.
"Ikyikyikyikyi! Hello, everyone! Welcome to Flip the Dolphins's one and only, very own mutual killing game!"