Hey! It's finally done. I really admire people who write chapters this length like it's nothing. Well anyway, I hope I did all your OCs justice. Some personalities were kind of similar, so I tried my best to make each one as individual as I could. I also ended up reading this chapter so often that I started hating it, so I don't know if this is acceptable. :D If I messed something up with your OC or you have any questions (even though I don't guarantee answering all of them) please PM me! Anyway, enjoy. And sorry again for the two 1/2 month wait.

It was dark. Where was she? What happened to her? Katsuko just couldn't remember. The last thing she remembered was walking to the meeting. That damn meeting. The hut looked so peaceful next to that lake. It was around noon, the sun reflected in the water. It was a truly beautiful scenery. She walked towards the hut. As she approached further, she could hear noises coming from it. There were multiple voices talking inside. But as soon as she opened the door, she lost consciousness. It was a trap after all. Now she felt stupid. She probably was the only one who would fall for something this simple. There was no way there were 16 Ultimates still alive in that city. But it wouldn't do any good thinking about what already happened. She should focus on the situation. Katsuko got up. Apparently she was left unconscious lying on the floor. Stumbling through the darkness, slowly creeping forward, she held her hands out to hopefully feel a wall. Suddenly she heard footsteps approaching. Instantly she forced herself to stay as quiet as possible. She still didn't know what her situation exactly was. The only thing she knew was, that it was bad. In addition to the steps she could hear light humming. A slightly deep, rough voice. Did they have a cold? The sound came exactly from the direction she was walking towards. Her heart was beating faster. What if that was her kidnapper? What if it was a serial killer? What if she was already dead? What if-

„Oh, look what I found this time.", a bored voice said.

Light flooded into the room. In front of Katsuko a door had opened. She blinked a few times, eyes getting adjusted to the light. In the frame stood a person. They were only slightly smaller than herself. Rather slim. Slowly she could make out details. It was a boy. He had brown eyes and short, messy black hair. Katsuko notices his lips being chapped. The guy wore a baggy red jumper with some sort of map on it. On his back a huge backpack, he held an old looking oil lamp. Her eyes wandered down. He wore black trousers with multiple pockets as well as blue sneakers. Was he some kind of explorer?

„Done checking me out? Who the hell are you anyway?", the boy said in his husky voice. He was definitely the one that had been humming. Now looking up again, Katsuko noticed that he wore a black beanie on top of his head and had quite the bored look on his face.

„I'm Katsuko. Hi.", Katsuko replied bluntly, while looking at her surroundings. She was in some sort of food storage room. All around her were stacks of food and fridges. Behind her was even a ladder going up to another floor. A camera and a monitor, which just looked out of place in the room, were next to the ladder. The whole room was rather large and round as well. The walls were made of stones. It reminded her of some sort of tower. There was also a metal plate that covered part of the wall. There was probably supposed to be a window there.

„Where the fuck are we? And who are you?"

„Ask someone else. I'm Kisami Kawanari, the Ultimate Scavenger, 16 years old. Now, shoo. I was going to explore this place. Alone."

-Kisami Kawanari, Ultimate Scavenger-

Kisami looked rather displeased at the idea of someone else being near him.

„So another Ultimate, huh? Were you invited to that meeting as well? I'm the Ultimate Parkour Runner by the way.", Katsuko asked nicely. She completely ignored the boys attitude. In fact, she liked people like him. They were more unlikely to just be pretending. They were also often cautious, just like her. Apparently being that kind of person, she could see how he was able to survive in the harsh reality of the tragedy.

„Just when I thought I got rid of the clingy one...", 'that kind of person' mumbled. Oh, so they weren't alone after all. That could be good or bad news.

„Hey, I'm still in bit of shock since I just woke up after getting kidnapped. And you seem to be in the same situation as I am. Sooo... Could you please tell me what you found so far?", Katsuko decided it was best to ask directly, sounding just a little bit sarcastic.

„Just because we are in the same situation, doesn't mean I have to share information. But I guess I can tell you that we are pretty much locked in here. This is some sort of castle. The ceilings are a bit higher than usual. And there are no exits so far. Now leave me alone."

So no exits, no way to escape. They were at least three people. Maybe they could figure something out. But that meant dealing with difficult people. Ultimates were always difficult in some way. Herself included. She needed an escape plan. Maybe, if she found something like a pickaxe, she could make a hole into the wall. Then again that camera over there probably was to watch them. So she probably should avoid doing suspicious things like trying to break a hole into the wall.

Whilst Katsuko was lost in her thoughts (again), Kisami had moved through the room, climbing up the ladder. He finally chose to ignore the bluenette girl he had found. Said bluenette snapped out of her thoughts and decided to leave him be and go explore the place herself. Maybe even finding 'the clingy one', even if she really didn't want to.

Entering the new room, Katsuko was met with a kitchen. Looking around, she noticed that the kitchen was partly in a medieval style and partly modern. At least in this room were some lamps installed. There also was a monitor and a camera, just like in the storage-tower-room she woke up in. And while the utensils all seemed to be taken right out of the medieval age, the oven, the sink and some other things were modern and pretty new looking. On the left side, next to the door leading to the storage tower was a huge, wooden working space with plenty of cupboards to store stuff. Over it were some metal platings covering the wall. It looked like the windows here were covered up as well. On the right side from where she was standing was the oven alongside the sink and some more cupboards. There was also a shelf holding some old cooking books. Some utensils were hanging from hooks on the wall. On the opposite wall of the storage tower was a door leading into another room. She could hear two voices talking to each other coming from there. On the right wall of the room, left to the sink was another door leading to a more quiet room. Katsuko decided, that she could talk to the others later and went to check out the quiet room first.

Looking around she noticed that she entered some kind of dining hall. In the middle of the room was a long table. She counted that there were chairs for 18 people around said table. On her left was an old looking suit of armour. She noticed that the only source of light in the room were three huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. On the other side of the room, behind the other end of the long table was a second door. Left to it some old portraits and two flower pots decorated the room. Here as well a monitor and a camera were present. There were no covered up windows in this room, which let Katsuko to believe that this room was in the middle of the building.

All this examining of the left and the middle of the room went by very quickly. Since on the right side, next to one of three antique looking cabinets, stood a petite girl. The girl was searching through one of the drawers. She was unbelievably pretty, her looks making her really cute. Katsuko, slightly envying her, looked at her more closely. The first, most noticeable thing about her appearance was definitely the bright pink eyepatch covering up her eye. She couldn't help staring at it for a few seconds. The next thing she noticed was, that the girls other eye had an unnatural red colour. Maybe contacts? Who knew. The girl was definitely on the shorter side and had equally short hair, that curled itself in brown locks on her head. She wore a green shirt with Hope's Peak Academy's insignia sewn on the arm. Her legs were covered by a black, cute skirt and white stockings that reached up to her thigh. To top it off she wore a white apron and black shoes. For all Katsuko knew, that girl could have just come right out of a maid café. By her looks, especially the insignia, Katsuko quickly came to the conclusion that the girl was the same as her and Kisami. An Ultimate that went to the meet up.

The girl, finally noticing her company, stopped rummaging, turned to Katsuko and started to smile.

"I'm so sorry. I didn't notice you there.", she chirped softly.

"It's fine, really.", Katsuko replied rather monotonous, while glancing at the eyepatch.

"What a strange situation we found ourselves in, right? I hope we can all be friends though. Oh. Where are my manners? I'm Kano Nakajima. The Ultimate Waitress, to your service."

-Kano Nakajima, Ultimate Waitress-

"Ah, okay then. Katsuko Akino, Ultimate Parkour Runner.", Katsuko still monotonous answered the cheerful girl. Her eyes again travelling to the brunettes eyepatch.

"That is such a cool Talent. You are probably a strong kind of person right? So nice." , the soft voiced girl tried very hard to have a friendly conversation with Katsuko, but it was kind of like talking to a wall. Katsuko was way too distracted by the girls cool eyepatch. It made her look like a fluffy, cute, pink, maid pirate. And that thought made Katsuko envy the girl a bit more than before. She liked pirates. She thought they were cool. Movies with pirates in them were always her favourite. Finally the other girl noticed the obvious stare and broke the bluenette out of her thoughts through a sudden change in attitude.

"Do not stare at it too much. My left eye is blessed by God. It was thoroughly purified and if a mere mortal were to gaze at it, it's divine holiness would disappear. To protect this divine artefact that is my left eye, I wear a sacred eyepatch for protection. To stop polluting gazes directed to it's pure depths." , Kanos aura of cheerfulness had changed to one of absolute seriousness. This led Katsuko to deadpan.

"Well, okay then.", Katsuko didn't even know what to say. Ever since entering Hope's Peak 'Okay then.', was one of the things she often found herself saying. She always knew that Hope's Peak was full of weirdos that were a pain to deal with. This girl seemed to be the perfect example of that fact. Not wanting to associate any further, she decided to just not deal with it and leave the room through the door she discovered when first entering the room. As she turned to leave, the other girl cried out.

"Wait please. Did I upset you somehow? I didn't mean to upset you. Sorry. Let's be friends. Okay?", Kano whimpered. Katsuko halted for a second, tuned to face Kano, blinked and made up her mind.

"No.", then she left, leaving the waitress behind.

She entered a long hallway. To her left was one of the ends, a door firmly denying her view into the room. She heard the voices from earlier. She still didn't want to talk to them, so she decided to examine the hallway first. On the other side from the door she just emerged from, were two doors that were very obviously doors to two bathrooms. On one door the figure of a girl was carved in and on the other the figure of a boy. The carvings looked very old fashioned. Just like the rest of the hallway. The large ceiling and old paintings, that decorated the hallway, didn't help. As didn't the multiple candles, held onto the walls that lighted up the hallway. No modern lamps anywhere. And even here were monitor and camera. A little further down the hallway on the side of the bathrooms was another door. After that door the hallway made a slight curve, so Katsuko couldn't see any further than that for now. She decided to skip the bathrooms and try to open the other door. It was firmly locked. Now in the spot where the hallway bent, she could see further down. A bit further were two doors that were facing each other on opposite sides of the hallway. Then there was a round wall sticking into the hallway, like a tower. To it led a door with a drawing of a black and white bear and the word "Monotower". After the tower the hallway made another curve.

Walking to the two doors she first saw, she tried opening them just to find both of them locked as well. As she started to walk to the weird door, a guy walked up to it first, apparently coming from the other side of the hallway. He stopped in front of the door, tried opening it, found it locked and started examining it. Very thoroughly. The boy was probably close to her own height and had short, brown hair. He didn't look completely japanese. Maybe he was half-japanese? He wore black framed glasses, as she came a bit closer she noticed that his eyes were blue. He wore a simple black shirt under a blue jacket with white cuffs and a Hope's Peak logo. His hand reaching out to touch the door, Katsuko noticed a black, fingerless glove adorning his right hand. On the glove she could make some sort of white dragon symbol out. His pants were khaki and he wore black converse shoes.

"Hello.", Katsuko greeted simply. The slightly taller guy seemed startled for a moment, before he turned to greet her back.

"Good evening. Or is it evening? We can't really tell, haha.", the guy replied friendly.

"Eh, yeah. I guess that's the case. I take it, you are an Ultimate as well? ", Katsuko thought the guy seemed normal so far, but his friendly manner annoyed her just a little bit. She still can't believe that anyone who behaves nicely can survive the tragedy. You had to steal, rob, beat people down. It was survival of the fittest. Friendly just didn't work.

"Yes, I am. Name is Calem Kurogane. The Ultimate Strategist."

-Calem Kurogane, Ultimate Strategist-

A strategist could come in handy. They didn't know what their situation was exactly, so someone who could make plans was very much welcome. He probably survived thanks to his talent. Calem was definitely someone Katsuko could at least tolerate. Staying on his good side could proof to have a few benefits.

"Nice to meet you, I'm the Ultimate Parkour Runner, Katsuko Akino.", she introduced herself, trying to sound friendly.

"I'm sorry to ask such a weird question, but what would you do if this door suddenly exploded?", the strategist asked randomly. Ah, right. He was still a student at that school.

"I'd probably die.", she bluntly replied. The guy nodded.

"That is true, there is no effective strategy to defend against an unexpected explosion right next to you." Katsuko blinked, stared at him a second and decided to look around the corner instead. There, instead of a hallway was an entrance hall. Easily identified by the huge wooden gate, which was most likely locked. It was located right in the middle between the "Monotower" and what looked like another tower. In the middle of the room was a staircase going up to a second floor, but there was a metal barrier blocking off those stairs. The room was decorated by various potted plants and benches. Just like the dining hall was it illuminated by a huge chandelier. On the opposite side of the gate was another hallway, leading into the building. Next to it was also a door, that lead to some sort of chapel, recognizable by the huge cross hanging on the door. There also were five other people talking to each other.

"Miss Akino? Are you distracted? Maybe we should have this conversation at a later time?", Calem politely offered.

"Oh, sorry. I just haven't looked at the entrance hall yet. Are we in some kind of castle?", she wanted to confirm the information given by Kisami and now was the best time for it.

"Yes, it would seem that way. The walls are made out of stone, there are multiple towers, most of the furniture is old fashioned and the high ceilings as well as the candles are clear characteristics of a castle.", Calem gave a brief summary of the clues that led to the conclusion. Accepting it, Katsuko nodded.

"Maybe I should introduce myself to the others...", Katsuko was reluctant. She had enough interactions with people for now. But the situation wouldn't let her have some peace and quiet.

"That may be beneficial. There are at least nine others besides us two, as I already introduced myself to that number of people. I have a feeling, that all the people that got a letter for the meeting are here. I take it, you went to the hut as well, just like all the others I already questioned.", he concluded calmly.

"Yeah. Well, I'll go then. I'll probably see you later. Looks like we are locked in after all."

"Let's talk later.", he agreed before going the way Katsuko came from. She just stood there, watching him go and wondering if he is the most normal one she will meet. His random question threw her off for a bit, but other than that he was okay.

She glanced at the other people again. Two were talking near the huge entrance gate and three were next to the, apparently locked, chapel. She decided to approach the ones at the gate first, they were closer.

They were close in height, though both definitely taller than Katsuko. One was a girl, she had longer hair. It was jet black and straight. Her eyes were light blue. The girl was rather pale, slim and had a long neck. She wore a black, long sleeved shirt and a black skirt that looked like it was made for dancing. Katsuko really didn't know a thing about fashion. That's why she herself just wore the normal Hope's Peak Academy Uniform and a pair of blue sneakers. Anyway, the girl wore a pair of what looked like black ballet shoes and black tights underneath her skirt.

She was talking to an energetic looking guy. He seemed to have at least some muscles and on his arm he had a tattoo which she couldn't read very well from where she was standing- oh he moved a bit. "Mr. Fun" was what was tattooed on the guys arm. Well to each their own. His eyes were almost the same shade of blue as the girls. His hair was short and made of light brown waves. His clothing was pretty simple. He wore a white dress shirt with a light brown vest and a red bowtie and dark-washed jeans. While still talking to the girl clad in black, he turned a bit and noticed Katsuko standing in the entrance to the hallway.

"Hey there! Come over here! Nice to meet you!", he yelled. The guy was loud. She was already looking forward to escaping from this, hopefully quick, introduction. But even though she was constantly complaining inside her head, she headed over to the two.

"Hello, my name is Ayumi Kaho. I'm the Ultimate Ballet Dancer. I hope we get to know each other better.", the girl nicely introduced herself.

-Ayumi Kaho, Ultimate Ballet Dancer-

The guy just nodded. Then he had a huge smile and gave his own introduction.

"Jiro Jun! The Ultimate Host! All these candles in this place remember me of something... candle... candlelight? No that wasn't it, even though I wouldn't mind a nice candlelight dinner with either of you ladies. ANYWAY! Lets all get along and have some fun while we still can!"

-Jiro Jun, Ultimate Host-

Yes he was way too noisy for Katsukos taste. The girl wasn't any better though. She fell into the "How did you survive the tragedy?"-category. Just like, what was her name again? The maid pirate. Right, her name was Kano. Though in Ayumis case it probably had to do with her having a physical talent. Jiro probably just bothered everyone until no one even wanted to beat him up anymore. Yes, that was a good theory. She only just met the two, but Katsuko was pretty confident in her quick analysis of them. They both seemed like overly nice people in their own ways.

"Ultimate Parkour Runner, Katsuko Akino, hi.", she introduced herself quickly.

"Nice talent. Parkour running sure is an interesting sport.", Ayumi replied, now sounding genuinely interested in Katsuko. She, not knowing how to respond just said thanks.

"You know, living in a castle might not be so bad!", Jiro beamed. He excessively gestured to the room.

"I think it's best if we keep calm and work together! And beside the slight darkness, everything is rather comfortable here isn't it? So why panic?", he encouraged. While he did have a point, all Katsuko saw was an idiot. Jiro didn't seem to have the slightest bit of caution.

"I agree. We should all work together towards our common goal. To do that we should wait patiently and avoid panicking at all costs.", Ayumi agreed. That didn't make any sense to Katsuko. How are you supposed to 'work towards a common goal' by waiting?

"Katsuko, I'm interested. How did you become the Ultimate Parkour Runner? Do you regularly train?", Ayumi questioned. Was this really the time? Katsuko mentally sighed before she decided to play along for now. Maybe that will get her the opening she needed to make a quick exit.

"Actually, no. I don't train regularly. It's too bothersome. And how I was scouted is even a mystery to myself. There aren't a lot of people who knew about me back then. At least I think so.", Katsuko replied truthfully. Back then she didn't really do anything to attract attention. It came as a real surprise when that letter came.

"That's intriguing. But I think you should make good use of your talent and train it to the maximum.", Ayumi murmured, a bit disappointed for some reason. Jiro, picking up on the slowly increasing awkwardness of the situation, quickly run towards Ayumi and threw an arm around her shoulders.

"Isn't it amazing?! Such differences between us Ultimates makes it that much more interesting! Let's go search for a poltergeist in this castle later! That will be fun!", his energetic words making Ayumi smile slightly. Easily diffusing awkward situations. Katsuko couldn't help but take notice of the guys skills. It was obvious why he was the Ultimate Host. Yet, they were both too careless.

"You both are pretty relaxed, considering the situation.", Katsuko was a little sceptical. Didn't they realise? Were they just that stupid? She didn't know. The others she talked to at least seemed a little bit tense, now that she thought about it. Except for Kisami, who was just straight out cautious. Rightly so. But these two... Ayumi let her guard down ever since she showed interest in Katsukos talent and Jiro didn't appear to have a guard to begin with.

"Hm, I just don't see the benefit in panicking in this situation.", Jiro told her. Ayumi, silently agreeing, just nodded her head.

"It's absolutely disgusting to lock us in like that, but we shouldn't be too rash yet.", was her input. Katsuko couldn't agree. It was a different thing entirely to stay on guard or to panic and be rash.

„I don't know. The whole situation just irritates my sense for danger. Anyway, I'll go over there. I haven't introduced myself to them yet. Later." Jiro and Ayumi said their goodbyes, before Katsuko headed across the room, to where the other three were talking a few minutes ago.

Looking over, she noticed one of the three missing. Left were a guy and a girl. The guy had green eyes, and slightly greasy dark brown hair. It was styled in a quiff, some strands of his hair hanging into his forehead. He had a slight tan and was as muscular as Jiro was. He wore a light blue dress shirt underneath a simple brown sweater. To that he wore multiple accessories. A bracelet on his right and a watch on his left arm, reading glasses hanging from the pocket of his sweater and a silver cross pendant around his neck. His legs were covered by dark brown dress pants and black shoes.

His conversation partner was a small, thin girl that at first glance looked pretty average. She had a few freckles adorning her face and grey eyes. Her hair was a dull brown, greyish colour and a bit over her shoulders. It was braided into two messy braids and her bangs were cut off to end just above her eyes. She wore some kind of purple top with an oversized blue and white jacket. Apparently she found it fashionable to roll up her sleeves to her elbows. The top was tucked into the black, high-waisted shorts she wore. She, just like the guy she was talking to, also wore multiple accessories. A bunch of colourful bracelets on her right wrist, a silver choker made out of a chain. From it dangled another, shorter chain with some sort of diamond shaped stones on it. She also wore star shaped earrings and some black rings. Her feet were tucked away in high heels. All in all both of them had that average person, innocent look about them.

She walked up to the guy and started to speak.

„Excuse me, I'm kind of just introducing myself to everybody here, so nice to meet you." The guy just ignored her. How rude. Meanwhile the girl turned to her and spoke back.

„Hello there! Nice to meet you. I'm the Ultimate VFX Artist, Ayaka Ikeda. Oi, Haiyu don't be a little bitch. Stop ignoring her."

-Ayaka Ikeda, Ultimate VFX Artist-

The rude guy, Haiyu, was noticeably startled by what Ayaka said and turned to face Katsuko.

„I'm terribly sorry madam. I didn't see you there.", he said in a deep, overly sad and apologetic sounding voice.

„It's fine. I'm Katsuko Akino, the Ultimate Parkour Runner.", she said while casually scratching her neck with one hand.

„Pleasure to make your acquaintance, Akino. My name is Haiyu Onsei, Ultimate Voice Actor."

-Haiyu Onsei, Ultimate Voice Actor-

„Where is the other person you were talking with?"

„You mean Airi? She went to check out the doors down this hallway, didn't believe Jiro when he told her they were all locked.", Ayaka said pointing to the hallway behind her and then across the room to Jiro. It looked just the same as the one Katsuko had walked through earlier. Candles, doors and a few old paintings. Though it seemed to make a sharp left turn. In the turn she could see metal plates signalling closed off windows. So the hallway went from the entrance hall all the way to the other side of the building and then went alongside the outer wall.

„As I was saying Haiyu, this reminds me of that one anime! You know, the one you voiced in. With those naked giants. They were fucking creepy.", Ayaka chatted. Naked giants? Sounds weird, even for an anime.

„Oho, I see. But how exactly does it remind you of the situation?", he sounded really surprised. Did he always amplify the emotion he was feeling whilst talking? It was weird.

„We are locked inside walls and there is a threat we don't know anything about. The show was so awesome tho."

"True. My favourite part was the scene in the forest. When they tried luring the giant into a trap."

"Oh, yes that part was really cool." Katsuko was lost. She knew they were talking about some anime, but she didn't watch the show.

"Uhm, which show are you talking about?", she wasn't really interested and it was obvious by her tone, but Haiyu didn't seem to notice. He was visibly happy about her not actually existing interest.

"We were talking about Defend Against Giant! It's a great show, you should watch it.", was his enthusiastic reply. Ayaka shook her head.

"Dude, she isn't actually interested." Did she have to say it this bluntly? Now Haiyu looked disappointed.

"Oh. Sorry then. But Ayaka, I really enjoyed voice acting in that anime.", he quickly changed the topic. He seemed really embarrassed. Ayaka played along.

"Yeah, it was easy to tell. The voices were epic and so was the animation.", Katsuko awkwardly stood there, just listening to them and scratching her neck. She couldn't join the conversation anyway. And her last attempt was a huge failure.

"It truly was."

They continued talking about the show. Katsuko couldn't keep up with their talk. Not being able to join in on the conversation was really annoying. It didn't take long before she completely tuned out and started looking around instead.

Glancing into the hallway, she saw a girl coming around the corner. She was very short and had a flashy appearance. Her hair was in a wavy ponytail reaching her collar and had a light purple colour. She had grey eyes and a playful expression. Her face was decorated by silver glitter, which was also present in her hair alongside star hair clips. Wow, she really didn't hold back with being flashy. Her attire was like she came out of some kind of show, she wore a white dress shirt under a black tailcoat that was covered in sequins. The red bow tie she wore also had sequins on them. She wore simple black pants and... a top hat. It had a red stripe around it. Her hands were in a pair of purple gloves and she was carrying a baton. All in all the girls fashion sense was clearly not meant for everyday wear, according to Katsuko. It was almost certain that the clothes had something to do with the girls talent, but Katsuko wouldn't be surprised if Ultimates wore flashy things just because they can. As she came a bit closer to Katsuko it became obvious that the girl didn't get a lot of sleep, since she had dark circles under her eyes. The girl approached their little group.

"No way, Haiyu. The special effects in that movie were shitty. Absolute garbage!", Ayaka yelled. So they were done talking about weird anime and changed to movies now?

"I liked it.", the voice actor moped. He did it again. He sounded like a pouting child that didn't get its candy. In that moment the other girl arrived.

„Who would have thought! What a surprise. You guys wereee... right! All the doors in that hallway are locked. And! As the sparkling ringmaster approaches, she noticed a mysterious bland looking girl standing with the group, the only thing special about her the blue hair. Said girl is curiously staring at Airi, who reached the group! Hey, guys. Care to introduce me?"

-Airi Haruki, Ultimate Ringmaster-

Katsuko remembered there was one word to describe people like her... She got it! Obnoxious. Holy lord, Airi was worse than Jiro. Her introduction alone showed that she was a flashy person. The kind Katsuko got along with worst. Since she was a person craving peace and quiet. Not that she had any since the tragedy.

"This is Katsuko Akino. She is the Ultimate Parkour Runner. Isn't that such a fascinating talent? Truly mesmerising.", she got introduced by Ayumi, who joined their conversation along with Jiro. Who simply held a hand up in greeting.

"Yo!", he greeted.

"Wow! That's a really flashy talent, to be able to perform such tricks while running, you could certainly entertain people!"

"Ehh, yeah, thanks I guess...", it was weird for Katsuko to receive compliments on her talent. Back in Hope's Peak her class had been full of physical talents, so she didn't think her talent was too special. Now that she thought about it, she had no clue what happened to most of her classmates after the tragedy. She only knew that the ones she did know about all died. Back then they fought their way out of the school, some of them jumping in to take hits for each other or pushing another in the way to take the hit in order to safe themselves, running away over their friends corpses and the screams-

"And you really went to check all of them? Airi, I already told you they were locked! Haha.", Jiro laughed.

"Sorry about not believing you! It's just so frustrating to be locked in here!"

"I know how you feel but we gotta just wait it out a bit for now.", it seemed Jiro and Airi were getting along just fine. The other three, Ayaka, Ayumi and Haiyu just watched them, smiled a bit and had comments of their own every now and then. After a few minutes Katsuko was highly uncomfortable. She desperately tried coming up with a good excuse to get away from the group. Being straight up rude wasn't her style, okay, at least most of the time. Oh right she didn't check out the bathrooms yet.

"Excuse me guys, but I'm gonna go now. I want to check out the bathrooms." , she excused herself.

"In that case, I'll go with you! I really need to use the bathroom.", Airi replied happily, hand clutching her baton. Plan getting away: failed. Katsuko reluctantly nodded. She was pretty sure that her displeasure was clearly showing on her features. But if Airi noticed something, she didn't let it show. Instead she grabbed Katsukos hand shouted a quick goodbye and dragged her along towards the hallway. Surprisingly they walked in silence for a bit, before Airi broke the silence.

"You know, I think you're pretty tense. Understandable in this situation, but nothing has happened yet. I don't think we are in immediate danger, so how about we try to get along for now?", Airi said, sounding sure of herself. Katsuko thought that the serious person before her may be a whole different person. One she didn't think Airi was capable of being. She had the aura of a leader. Maybe-

"Man they went all out to make it feel like we are in a medieval castle didn't they? Haha, they even resorted to candles to light the hallway and rooms! The only rooms with modern light are the kitchen and the bathrooms! Whoever did this really wants to roleplay or something.", Airi laughed.

Maybe- Airi was the airhead she thought her to be after all. The flashy girl was talking about the lighting out of all things. They had more important things to focus on! She still hadn't said a thing since they started walking. It was getting awkward. She wasn't good at conversations. What is she supposed to say in such a situation?

"Why are you so interested in the lighting?", a question? Was that acceptable? Katsuko sure did hope so. Relief washed over her, as Airi answered.

"Well the best way to make a show more exciting is to have appropriate lighting! A spotlight or flashy blinking lights, green, purple, blue, orange-"

"Okay, okay I got it. So it's to set the mood?", Katsuko tried to keep the conversation going as they approached the door with the carving of a girl.

"Sure is! Pretty sure Ayaka, being the Ultimate VFX Artist, will tell you the same thing! You always need sounds and the right lighting when shit gets real! Oh here we are!", the short girl rambled on. And indeed they had reached the bathroom. Opening the door abruptly, they were greeted by the sight of another girl examining the room.

The room had three toilet stalls, huge mirrors, sinks and towel racks. All in all it looked like a normal modern bathroom. Excluding the monitor and the camera. The girl standing in the middle of the room, checking out one of the towels, was brunette, her hair being wavy and reaching to her shoulders. The sight of her right eye was blocked of by her fringe, which had a single red streak. Her actually visible, left eye was a bright blue and had a rather emotionless expression. She seemed to have a slightly toned build, though what got Katsukos attention was the tattoo of a mountain on the girls left wrist. Her ears were decorated by earrings shaped like flying birds. She wore an amber coloured t-shirt, a dark green bandana with white dots around her neck. Combining this with her light grey pants that were rolled up a bit past her knees, multiple pockets decorated the pants that were stuffed full with something. What completed the look were a pair of brown hiking boots and a sturdy looking backpack. Maybe she was the Ultimate Wanderer?

"Hey there! We met already, didn't we? You were, ehh... Mika! The Ultimate Geometrical Prophet!", Airi exclaimed happily.

-Mika, Ultimate Geometrical Prophet-

"Actually my name is Miku Akiyama. Ultimate Geographical Psychologist. You probably don't even know what that is... whatever. I don't care what you think.", the girl answered stoically.

-Miku Akiyama, Ultimate Geographical Psychologist-

"Oh sorry. Excuse me! But I really need to pee right now." Airi pushed past Miku in a hurry to reach the bathroom stalls. Katsuko sighed. At least this girl seemed more relatable for Katsuko than Airi did.

"Nice to meet you, I'm Katsuko Akino the Ultimate Parkour Runner. If I may ask, as someone who knows about geography, do you have any idea where this castle might be located?", she asked softly.

"My talent focuses on interaction of human behaviour and their environment. Not analysis of castles. But if I had to take a guess, probably Europe. It was heavily modified though.", apparently Miku had decided to humour Katsuko for a while. She looked just a bit hostile, though not as much as a certain Scavenger she met first.

"Europe! That's kinda cool isn't it?", Airis voice could be heard from the stall in the middle.

"Modified, how?", Katsuko was curious. While she ignored Airi completely, she was eager to learn more about the place she was confined in. Speaking of confinement-

"The layout of the rooms is unusual.", Miku stated monotonous, "You seem restless." It was true. The confinement made her restless. Uneasy and restless. She wanted to do what she always did when she was in a bad situation. Running away. But the confinement stripped her of her usual approach. It was probably best to not show her weakness yet.

"It's just that I really want to go for a run.", Katsuko stated a half-truth.

"I see.", Miku simply said. She still looked very wary of Katsuko, who returned the mistrust. Miku was probably at least aware of the tragedy's dangers. She didn't dislike people like that. Though it didn't mean that she trusts that person. Miku apparently finished examining the bathroom, since she turned to leave.

"Bye.", she said before leaving the room, not even waiting for Katsuko or Airi to reply. Katsuko, also being satisfied by what she had seen of the bathroom, also turned to leave.

"Katsuko! I'm still here! Wait for me please!", shouted Airi who had heard Katsukos footsteps.

"I need to examine the other rooms. See you later.", she followed Mikus example and left before Airi could protest further. The last thing Katsuko heard was " And then the heartless Katsuko left the ringmaster to pee on her own. Tragic."

Rolling her eyes, Katsuko notices that on her right was the door she didn't went through earlier due to the people that were talking inside. She could still hear the same voices talking, though one more seems to have joined them. Letting out a deep breath, Katsuko told herself that she could do it. Since most rooms were locked there hopefully weren't a lot of rooms left. And therefore not a lot of people. If really everyone that got a letter came to the hut, like Calem had said, then she already met most of them. Bracing herself for more awkward introductions, she opened the door.

The room was lit up by two huge chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was a sort of living room. Probably the salon. In the middle of the wall she was staring at, while standing in the doorframe, was a huge fireplace. On the wall next to it were metal plates. It was surrounded by three emerald green sofas, currently occupied by three people. In the right corner stood a huge bookshelf. In the left a plant. On her side of the room were multiple cupboards and chairs. On the left wall was a door, leading to a room that was probably connected to the kitchen. From that room she had heard the voices first. On the right wall there was another door. The whole room was decorated by little flowerpots, a camera, a monitor, paintings and carpets covering the stone floors. It gave the room a comfortable atmosphere.

The three people talking on the sofas didn't notice her entering, due to them being in the middle of a heated discussion about... god?

"The lord loves all his children equally.", inquired the one that was the main factor contributing to this conversation, the guy sitting on the right sofa. The guy had black curls that reached to his shoulders. His eyes were a deep blue and he was constantly smiling. Katsuko thought that it was a little creepy. On his left cheek was a small mole and he had a tan. His slightly muscular arms were visible through his dark blue monk robes. They reached to his ankles and exposed his traditional black sandals. His robes were tied by an equally blue bow around his waist.

"Would you love me like god does, then?", said the guy sitting next to the first one. In fact, he sat very close to the guy. Very close. Katsuko was very sure he was a guy, but he was rather effeminate. His reddish-brown hair, that was parted on the side and reaching to his neck, didn't help. His eyes were big and a golden brown and under his right eye he had a beauty mark. He wore an old, red zipper shirt. His sleeves were rolled up to his elbows. Silver bracelets hanging from his arms. For pants he wore green cargo pants, his feet covered by dark green military boots. By the behaviour Katsuko witnessed, she concluded that he was most likely "the clingy one". She decided then and there to stay away from him. Though she found him to be extremely good looking. He was her type.

"Honey, you sure are a needy quack doctor.", said a silvery voice. On the left sofa sat a person, Katsuko actually recognised. She wasn't huge on watching TV, but even she realised that the girl sitting there was the famous model Irina Lupei aka Yuka. She often appeared in advertisements.

-Irina Lupei, Ultimate Spokesmodel-

Along with Junko Enoshima, was she one of the most famous ones from the model industry attending Hope's Peak. Though the version in front of Katsuko was by far more bored and rude than what was known about her through the media. Irina was a slender girl, half-japanese and, if Katsuko remembered it right, half-romanian. Her eyes were a deep wine red and she had black hair reaching the middle of her back. Her skin was very fair and smooth. She wore a black school blazer with white buttons and a red bow. Underneath the blazer she wore a simple white shirt. Her skirt was grey and was combined with black stockings reaching her thigh and grey school shoes.

"My skills as a doctor are great, woman. Lay off, will you?"

"Being needy is sinful. You should be more humble!", the first guy interjected.

She decided to approach the group.

"Sure they are, honey.", the model replied sounding very bored. She was just sitting there, staring at her nails.

"Hello, there. Nice to meet you.", said the first guy, who had noticed her.

"Hi, I'm Katsuko Akino, Ultimate Parkour Runner. And you are?", she was tired of introducing herself. It was so repetitive. 'The clingy one' looked at her with his huge, innocent looking eyes. He smiled a bit.

"If you would please remember my name, Toboe Kureshi, Ultimate Back Alley Doctor."

-Toboe Kureshi, Ultimate Back Alley Doctor-

"This hot buzzkill here is Okami Komiya, the Ultimate Monk.", he continued the introduction enthusiastically.

-Okami Komiya, Ultimate Monk-

"Heh, nice one, quack doctor.", Irina threw in from the side. She was bow twirling her hair, obviously still bored.

"I'm gonna pray for both of you.", the monk stated. And indeed. He put his hands together and started muttering to himself. Toboe just ignored it and went on with the introductions.

"And this is-"

"Irina 'Yuka' Lupei. I know.", Katsuko interrupted. She didn't need introductions to people she already knew about. Irina let out a short laugh.

"Oh she heard of me, nice."

"Dear god, please forgive the insolence of this needy doctor and the bored model. They are good people, I swear. They just don't know how to show it properly.", Okami muttered more loudly. He wanted them to hear that. That much was clear. Irina and Toboe noticed too, the latter throwing a pillow in his direction.

"Dude, seriously?", was the comment from Irina.

"I actually don't really believe in god, so this is kind of awkward.", Katsuko said to herself, but the Monk heard it. He was still smiling, which was still creepy.

"Please also ignore this foolish remark of the newcomer. She hasn't heard the voice of god yet.", he prayed. The voice of god? Yeah, right. This guy was useless. Katsuko saw no benefit in befriending him. One less person she had to invest her time in. Katsuko actually had conflicted feelings on god. She didn't believe in him, but she thought it was depressing to think that there is nothing after death. And it was kind of a cute idea that there is someone watching out for you. So she sometimes caught herself praying, even though she really didn't know why. What she really didn't understand was how someone could dedicate their whole life to something like god. Since god was just a nice concept to her. She turned to Toboe.

"Why are you so attached to Okami?"

"What can I say? I have a type. He's hot, tough and amusing. Definitely my type. Though he's a bit of a goody two shoes, but hey nobody's perfect.", Toboe gushed over Okami. Katsuko was sure that Toboe could prove to be useful. But his personality. But he was hot. But he was gay. Nothing wrong with being gay, but Katsuko was disappointed since the guy was hot. Despite his annoying persona. Yeah, she was gonna befriend him. Just because he was gay didn't mean she would stop staring at him. And he was a doctor, a shady one, but a doctor nonetheless. Now that she thought about it...

"This sure is a strange group. A needy doctor, a praying monk, a bored model and myself.", she said out loud.

"Thank you for your thoughts, but we didn't really need them.", came the comment from the spokesmodel. Can she bury herself somewhere? Maybe she could just escape this conversation? There was still at least one or two rooms left...

"I think she's cute thinking that way.", cooed Toboe.

"You know what? Right you are. You don't need my input, so I'll just leave.", Katsuko had made up her mind. Running away always was the best option.

"Be careful on your way. I'll pray for you.", Okami offered. He really was dedicated to that god of his.

"I'm just going to the next room.", she replied. Okami just ignored that and continued praying. Toboe just waved her goodbye and Irina, looking bored, just clicked her tongue and looked away.

Walking towards the door, it opened. Out walked an annoyed looking Kisami, who looked at her, clicked his tongue and went straight to the exit leading to the hallway. Katsuko watched him go and then approached the open door. She entered some kind of training room. On the right were bows and arrows with rubber tips on a rack. Next to them where the monitor and camera that were present in all rooms so far. On the left were three targets and two dummies. Above the targets on the wall and on the wall in front of her were the usual metal plates blocking off a part of the wall. On the right behind the racks was a door. Instead of a corner on the left side behind the targets was another tower. Above the door was a small window and a gatling gun. She probably should avoid trying to go through that door. Right of the door were eight pictures of people. Kisami, Calem, Jiro, Haiyu, Toboe, Okami and the two guys that were standing in the room with her.

The guys stood beside the targets and were talking to each other. The first guy was very lanky with long limbs. He was skinny, pale and looked pretty weird. His short brown hair was parted on the side, but what really stuck out was his crooked nose. He had a permanent smirk, even while speaking and his green eyes darted back and forth. On his hand he had a tattoo of a pocket watch. Katsuko really didn't know what kind of person thought that was a good idea, but whatever. But seriously this guy had issues. He even had a pocket watch hanging out of the pocket of his black blazer. He combined it with black slacks and dress shoes. He also wore a top hat with a white trim and a white tie. Seriously. What was with the top hats. Were they fashionable these days?

Anyway. The other guy had a thin frame. He had light brown eyes and black hair. Underneath his dark brown flannel shirt he wore a white T-shirt. He combined it with grey cargo pants and a backpack. His pockets and his backpack were full with something. It reminded her a lot of Miku. The guy was the complete opposite of the other guy. While the first guy seemed weird and not even a bit normal, this one was the definition of normal. Katsuko decided to introduce herself to them. Might as well get it done with.

"No, it will definitely shoot at us. I don't wanna take any risks.", the weird one said.

"I-I just thought it would be better to-", the second one timidly replied.

"No, thank you. I'm not gonna get myself shot today. Oh, hello there.", the top hat guy noticed Katsuko. She, really not wanting to talk to them scratched her neck and lifted a hand in greeting.

"Hi. Ehm, I don't think it's a good idea to enter this tower either, if that is what you meant.", she voiced her opinion. The timid guy nodded.

"Yeah I just thought it would be better to look everywhere for an exit. Nice to make your acquaintance. My name is Daiki Hayashi, the Ultimate Wood Carver and this guy with the top hat is Suingu Tokei, the Ultimate Hypnotist.", he politely introduced himself and the other guy.

-Daiki Hayashi, Ultimate Wood Carver-

-Suingu Tokei, Ultimate Hypnotist-

"Very pleasured to meet you, Miss?", Suingu said.

"Katsuko Akino, Ultimate Parkour Runner. The pleasure is mine.", she politely said. While not really believing in hypnotism, she didn't want to take any chances with someone who was talented with knives (Daiki), or someone who could potentially mess with her mind (Suingu). She never experienced someone trying to hypnotize her, so she was only about 85% sure that it was bullshit. But at least these two had clear reasons why they actually had chances during the tragedy. Now that she was closer, she also noticed that Daikis hands were heavily scarred. Apparently he had lots of accidents during his carving career.

"I still wonder what is in that tower to have it guarded by a gun.", Suingu stated, obviously curious.

"Maybe there are your belongings inside. After all next to the door are pictures of you two and a few others.", Katsuko thought out loud. The guys looked sceptical.

"S-sorry but I don't think that's it."

"Me neither." And her idea was already rejected. There was a reason why she usually didn't voice out theories she had. She was horrible with logic. But for that she had the fact that she was cautious and had a reliable gut feeling. It saved her live a few times already. They had Calem who could help with logic, so that was good.

"I'm more curious about the other locked rooms anyway. They have to be locked for a reason.", Suingu sure was curious. His personality was way less flamboyant than Katsuko anticipated. He almost seemed normal personality wise.

"T-that is true. I just hope that we quickly find a way out. Though I doubt we will be able to do anything until the kidnapper makes his move.", Daiki gained more confidence the longer he was speaking.

"Yeah.", Katsuko simply agreed. She still wanted to be on his good side, even if she'd rather just turn around and leave as quickly as possible.

"I agree, this dark atmosphere makes me uneasy. Why aren't there any lights?", Suingu muttered. He was clearly uncomfortable. Maybe he disliked castles and candles?

"To set the mood...", Katsuko mumbled quietly. The other two didn't even notice her saying anything.

"They probably just want to drive us into a corner mentally.", the wood carver proposed his idea.

"That is my job. Oh well, if any of you need to be hypnotized to withstand the mental pressure, feel free to cone to me.", the hypnotist... politely?... offered. Was it polite to hypnotize people just because of something like that? No, thank you. Katsuko couldn't know what he would do with her mind beside what he offered. She wanted him to see her positively, but there was no way she'd agree to that. How did one decline politely again?

"Ehm, thank you for your gracious offer. Yet, I cannot accept it. I'm very sorry sir.", she declined way too polite. Oh well. Better than the option she almost went with instinctively. Which would have been 'Hell nah, Fuck off creep.' Yep. Too polite was better. The other two send her strange looks but quickly got over it.

"Oh well. The offer still stands."

"I think it actually is a good idea for later. We don't need it right now, but we don't know what will happen. Thank you for the offer, Suingu.", Daiki agreed politely. Suingu looked pleased.

"I'll keep it in mind."

"Ah, I'm sorry guys, but there is still somewhere I need to check out...", our protagonist excused herself, again.

"Yes, no problem. See you later.", Daiki nicely said goodbye. Suingu waved his hand.

"Bye, bye."

She quickly left the trainings room and made a quick nod towards the people sitting in the salon. In addition to Okami, Toboe and Irina was Calem occupying one of the sofas. Ignoring the door to the hallway, Katsuko went across the room, approaching the door she didn't check out yet. When entering she was met with some kind of living room. If she trusted her gut and followed the trend, then this was supposed to be an old fashioned sewing room. In the middle of the room was a table fitting up to six people. Behind the table was a couch underneath a metal plate on the wall. There on the couch was a sleeping girl. She probably didn't wake up yet after the kidnapping. Katsuko herself just woke up one or two hours ago. Going back to observing the room she noticed, that in the room were four cupboards next to the door leading to the kitchen. Left to where Katsuko had entered the room, between the door and the cupboard standing on the left, was a desk. On the right of the room was a small cupboard, a couch, a metal plate on the wall, a potted plant and an old grandfather clock. It showed 18:23. The whole room was formed similar to the trainings room. A door leading towards the salon, and another door leading into the building, in this case to the kitchen and a tower on the same side of the building as the tower in the trainings room. This tower also had a door that had a small window and a gun above it. Again were next to the door portraits. This time of Kano, Ayumi, Miku, Ayaka, Airi, Irina, the girl sleeping on the couch and herself. She guessed that she was allowed to enter, but with the gun and all, she didn't want to risk it. Since she was already used to seeing the usual camera and monitor in the rooms, she noticed them last. They were right next to the couch the girl was sleeping on. Speaking of the girl, she just made a noise. She was probably waking up.

From what Katsuko gathered, she concluded that this girl was the last one. Then she could finally finish the introductions. The girl had pale skin and pale blonde hair. She definitely wasn't japanese. Her hair was so bright blonde, it was almost whitish. It was wavy and tied into a braid. It reached almost down to her waist. Her pony covered her forehead. She was rather skinny and slightly toned limbs. She wore a white jacked with fur on her sleeves and hood over a blue shirt. In addition to that she wore a short, white skirt and light blue and darker blue striped socks reaching to her knees. On her feet she had a pair of white leathery snow boots. Her still sleeping face was mostly buried in two different scarves. One was a white wool scarf with light blue strings on the end and the second one was striped in the same colours as her socks and had little knitted snowflakes on it. Noticing that the girl really was waking up, Katsuko quickly looked away. She pretended that she didn't just creepily watch a stranger sleep. She heard her sitting up.

"Where am I?", the girl had a childlike, soft voice. She spoke rather monotonous without the tone of surprise someone would expect.

"Hey there, ehm, I'm Katsuko Akino, Ultimate Parkour Runner and we and a few others were kidnapped.", Katsuko introduced herself awkwardly. Could someone bury her or something? The situation was annoying enough now she also managed to make the bluntest introduction ever. Maybe she should have said it more sensitively.

"I do not like the concept of being kidnapped. Be thanked for the useful information, Ultimate Parkour Runner Katsuko Akino.", said the girl in the same monotonous, emotionless voice as before. She was so formal as well. The girl definitely was strange. Who the hell addressed people with title and full name? Also wasn't it common courtesy to answer with the own name?

"If you don't mind, what's your name?", asked Katsuko. The girl pulled up her hood for some reason.

"Klementia Aki. Ultimate Ice Sculptor.", was the simple answer.

-Klementia Aki, Ultimate Ice Sculptor-

"Nice to meet you, Klementia. Uhm, sorry to tell you this but we are kinda locked in here without exits.", The bluenette thought it best to give her the basic information. She also had to be careful, she usually had a feeling about people. Most of the time annoyance, but she just didn't know about this strange human. Something was weird.

"Locked in? Okay. I don't understand why you sound 'worried' while telling me this. I think that was what 'worried' is, right?", the girl asked again monotonous. Worried? Not at all. Terms like cautious, annoyed and awkward were more accurate. The girl obviously was bad at reading a situation.

"Y-yeah. Worried." But who was Katsuko to disagree? She wasn't about to not exploit any misunderstandings that worked in her favour.

Suddenly the monitor came to live and a creepy, yet cheerful voice filled the room. It send shivers down Katsukos spine.

"Upupupu. Everyone is awake. Let's get this started! Gather at the Monotower!"

So, this was the first chapter! I hope you liked it and want more. There is a poll on my profile! I saw others do this, so I wanted to try having you vote for your favorite so far. (at least I hope it works, it's the first time I use the poll thing myself. :D I also hope you like Katsuko, since I don't know if she is a good protagonist or not. I wanted her to be manipulative, annoyed and overly cautious. While writing this chapter I also felt like I was repeating myself a lot, so I tried making the introductions flow as naturally as I could. Anyway. See ya. :3