Maizono, how many more shops are we going to go to?" He inquired, panting. He was being weighed down by colorful shopping bags, each an expensive brand name that be never would have even dreamed of buying. Each was filled with make-up, clothes and whatever else the Ultimate Pop Sensation might need for her job. She looked back at him with a smile. Her dark and floaty hair falling over her shoulders as she walked, and struggled with a few (although not as many) bags of her own, all the while talking to him about all of their favorite conversation topics.

"This is the last one. Promise, 'kay?" She gave him one of her signature smiles, along with the promise, which caused his heart to melt and made him immediately agree to whatever was proposed by her.

"Okay," he smiled back. Although he didn't think that his smile was nearly as amazing as her's, she always seemed satisfied with it. She let out a giggle, slipping over to the doors and opening them. She was immediately caught up in what she was doing once she stepped inside of the store. She was like a kid In a candy shop. Once she got that familiar glint in her eye, he knew that she was off in her own world, giving her undivided attention to that thing, and that thing alone.

All he wanted to do was to be with her, in the purest of ways.

~--~

The room was filled with the noisy shouting of his classmates. The teacher had stepped out for a moment, and an immediate uproar took place. People started getting their phones out of their bags, and moved around the room to sit next to their friends.

"Uh, guys shouldn't we be quieter?" His voice wavered slightly. He was beginning to become worried for Fukawa, who had a book open in front of her, but looked like she was about to rip her hair with all of the noise.

His voice went unheard, to no one's surprise. The classroom door swung open revealing their teacher. They strolled into the classroom, an annoyed look on their face. Everyone (with the exception of Naegi and the others who had stayed in their seats) quickly clamored to get to their desks, haphazardly shoving phones into backpacks, then zipping them up.

The teachers eyes flicked over all of the students. Their sharp stare struck Naegi, a pit opened up in his stomach, and he suddenly felt as though his teacher could see every bad thing he had done since birth. He felt the sudden need to shout, 'I didn't do it!', but kept his mouth shut and averted his eyes to the ground. The teacher sighed.

"We are going to have a new student joining us for the rest of the year. Miss. Kirigiri, would you mind coming in?" The teacher looked at a spot outside of the door, giving a reassuring smile, and a gesture to walk into the classroom. There was an itch in the back of his mind when he heard that name. Why did it sound so familiar?

There was a tapping of high heeled boots, which belonged to a stotic, purple haired girl. Naegi and the rest of his class' eyes followed her closely. She had straight and proper posture, causing her to give off almost a stern aura. She easily stepped the podium with her long strides. With one swift step she turned and bowed.

"My name is Kirigiri Kyoko. I will be joining you for the rest of the year at Hope's Peak." It was short and to the point (although he subconsciously took note of how she failed to mention her talent), and he was beginning to think that that was one of her defining qualities.

"Alright!" Their teacher clasped their hands together glancing quickly at a paper on their desk, then pointing at a seat a row in front and to the right of Naegi, "You may sit their for now, if a problem occurs or you have a complaint, you can talk to me about moving seats. Okay?"

"Yes, Teacher." Kirigiri said with a nod.

"Oh, you don't need to be so formal with me!" Naegi furrowed his brow. Since when did a teacher give their student permission to call them anything other than teacher? Speaking of which, it was subtle, but he noticed little nervous twitches from his teacher. The way they would sneak glances towards and the rest of the class.

Kirigiri ignored their remark, and slid into her seat easily.

Their teacher quickly focused their attention away from the purple haired girl, and over to their desk, shuffling through disorganized papers. Naegi glanced at Kirigiri in the silence. She pulled a pencil and a notebook out of her bag. She pushed her light hair over her shoulder, and opened the book and began writing.

"Okay so today..." Naegi looked away from her, and snapped his head up at the teacher. He realised with a panic that everyone else had pulled out notebooks and pencil, and had started copying down what their teacher wrote on the board. He scrambled to backpack and quickly (and rather loudly), pulled his things out, his attention successfully diverted.

~--~

The second time that Naegi saw Kirigiri was a slight surprise the next morning.

He turned a corner, and the massive building that was Hope's Peak Academy loomed in front of him. A mixture of pride relief, and some anxiety flooded him. His stomach churned as he quickly made his way to the entrance with aching legs. The pride was by him still not believing that his was the name that was pulled out of the lottery. The relief and anxiety were a different matter. Relief, because he had been (unluckily, as per usual) running late to school. Anxiety, because he still wasn't too sure what the tardy punishment was like at Hope's Peak school.

Just a few feet in front of him on the path, he caught sight of someone.

"Ah! Kirigiri, right?" She stopped and turned around, tucking a hair that the wind blew into her face behind her ear. She was carrying a few file folders in her right arm.

"Yes? You're Naegi Makoto, right?" She paused and let him catch up to her. He wasn't quite sure why he was reaching out to her. He supposed it was his curious nature and desire to make friends speaking for him.

"Yeah," He realised that she must have heard his name during roll call, since he was sure they shared a few classes together. "Um, what are you doing here so late?" He cringed. That was a terrible attempt at conversation. But If she was uncomfortable with the question, she didn't show it.

"I was with a client," she provided, continuing her walk to the school with. Naegi following, "the headmaster allows me to be late if I'm working a job. What about you?"

"Ah," He laughed awkwardly and scratched the back of his head, "I just over slept. I have pretty bad luck."

"I thought you were the Ultimate Lucky Student?"

"Yeah... I think I might actually be the Ultimate Unlucky Student," Queue another awkward laugh. Their conversation drifted into silence. Naegi wasn't sure if it was a comfortable or uncomfortable. "So what did you mean by client? You never did tell us your talent."

"Oh," Kirigiri said softly, glancing off to the side, "I'm the Ultimate Detective. I work in a family business to help others."

"Oh, that's cool!" That talent seemed to suit her, for some reason. He smiled. It seemed like this conversation was actually getting somewhere now. He was actually a bit excited. "What kind of cases have you solved?"

"Hmm, maybe I'll tell you some more some other time. We're at the school now," He looked up, and sure enough, the intimidating doors of Hope's Peak Academy loomed above them, "I supposed I'll see you later, then." And then she was gone. Her light purple hair and dark skirt swishing behind her as she walked. He felt a slight surge of disapointment as he watched her go.

But she did say that she would tell him more about her job as the Ultimate Detective some other time when they had time.

He could feel himself anticipating their next meeting as he walked down the halls for his home room, hoping that his teacher wouldn't be too upset at him.