There were surprisingly few geniuses in Ishimaru's class at Hope's Peak Academy, or at least that was what it seemed. He had done some research before going, and was surprised to see how many athletes and otherwise non-intellectual types made it into his class. Of course, just because someone is an athlete does not mean that they are not intellectually gifted, but the fact of the matter was people in his class were accepted with titles such as "Super High School Level Swimmer," "Super High School Level Baseball Star," and even "Super High School Level Idol." This school was going to be like nothing he had ever experienced before.
The students all arrived at the large school three days before their first class. This was to allow time for them to move in to their assigned rooms and get used to the layout of the school. Most kids' parents came with them to help them move in, but unfortunately Ishimaru's parents could not afford neither the hotel room to stay in Tokyo overnight nor the time off from work it would require to go with him. This was alright with him, he was old enough to be out on his own. He didn't have a large amount of belongings to carry with him, anyway. If he absolutely needed something, it could probably be bought or he could at least borrow it from the school.
The day after moving in there was a session for the students of each class to either catch up from break or meet their new classmates. In all honesty, the hall monitor was a little bit nervous to meet his new classmates. He had seen some of them while moving in, but he had only introduced himself. Introductions were not the time and place to "get to know" people. The scheduled class meeting was the place to get to know people. It said so right in the description.
The headmaster of the school oversaw every class introduction. Ishimaru was the first student to enter the room, and when the headmaster greeted him with a warm "Good morning," the hall monitor responded with a deep bow and a hearty "Good morning Mr. Headmaster!" before taking a seat. The other students started to come in, sometimes alone, although a few came in pairs. He wondered if any of them already knew each other or if they were simply that good at social interaction. A couple of the students were a minute late, and normally the hall monitor would scold them but he figured he would let the headmaster handle the situation.
To his surprise, the headmaster didn't seem to mind that anyone was late. The hall monitor trusted his superiors, though, so he held his tongue. Once everyone was seated, the headmaster addressed the class. "Hello, students, and welcome to your first official class meeting! As you may know I am the headmaster of Hope's Peak Academy. You can call me Mr. Kirigiri." Ishimaru noticed that one of the girls in the class wasn't looking at Mr. Kirigiri. She almost looked annoyed. He tried to think back to his research on the students, but he didn't recognize her face. He would have to keep his eye on this incredibly rude girl.
"Well," Mr. Kirigiri continued, "this class is about you and getting to know each other better as Class 78, so I am going to turn the floor over to you. When I address you, please stand and say something to the rest of the class. We will start with our Super High School Level Lucky student, Naegi Makoto."
A small boy in a very stylish jacket stood up. The prefect would have to tell this Naegi how stylish his jacket was and how inappropriate it was to wear such clothing to school. "Hi, you can all call me Naegi. I'm not really good at anything like the rest of you, but I'm looking forward to getting to know you all." He seemed kind of nervous, but Ishimaru was happy to have at least one other average student to call his classmate.
"Thank you, Naegi. Next is the Super High School Level Hall Monitor, Ishimaru Kiyotaka." The prefect immediately stood up upon hearing his name. "Good morning fellow students! You may all address me as Ishimaru! Let us all work our hardest to be the best students this school has ever seen!" He sat down and listened as the other students introduced themselves. He took mental notes as to who he would need to watch closely, particularly noting the Super High School Level Gang Leader, Oowada Mondo. How did this thug get into such a prestigious school, and with such a ridiculous title? He also realized the girl he had been eyeing was actually the headmaster's daughter, and took her off of his "watch closely" list.
The rest of the students introduced themselves, and after the session was over the students departed. Ishimaru went back to his room to look over material he was expecting to go over in his classes. About two hours went by, and he started to get hungry. It was around noon, so he figured he would take a break to the cafeteria and get lunch.
The food selection at Hope's Peak was better than at his old school. Ishimaru picked the most nutritious meal he could, found an empty table and sat down. Surprisingly, a few minutes into his meal he was interrupted by a familiar voice. "Ishimaru! Mind if we sit with you?" It was his classmate, Naegi. He looked up to see that Naegi, Maizono, and Kuwata had all sat down across from him. "What?" the prefect said at a loss for words. "We'd like to sit with you," Maizono said with a smile. "O-oh," the prefect stuttered. "Sure." The other three students conversed while Ishimaru ate his meal, and soon more of his classmates came over and sat down with them. After the table got a little more crowded, a voice he dreaded rang behind him. "Man, this school sure is huge, huh?" A large body sat down uncomfortably close next to him. It was the street thug. "I live in the city, but I've never actually been around this part."
The students continued to talk, and Ishimaru tried to take note of who was present and who wasn't. It seemed that Togami, Celes, Fukawa, and Kirigiri were the only classmates missing. He didn't quite know how to feel. He had never eaten with classmates before. They were all talking about their interests; Yamada mentioned an anime he liked, Oogami and Asahina praised the school's exercise facilities, Fujisaki mentioned a computer program she was working on. The hall monitor wondered if he should try to say something, too, when suddenly the street thug started talking louder. "Hey, we should all go do somethin' tonight! I mean, we're gonna be living together for two fuckin' years, so we might as well start hangin' out now."
The hall monitor could not believe his ears. "Excuse me, Oowada, but could you please speak in a less crude manner?" "What, you got a problem with me, dude?" the gang leader said as he stared the hall monitor down. Their eyes locked momentarily, but before any further confrontation could occur, Naegi interrupted. "Hey, Oowada, that sounds like a great idea! What did you have in mind?" The gang leader lifted his gaze from Ishimaru to the rest of the students. "Oh, well I know this awesome karaoke place and it actually isn't too far from here. You can even convince college kids to buy you drinks sometimes."
Ishimaru took the last bite of his food before excusing himself. Kuwata tried to get him to stay, saying "Hey, don't you wanna make plans with us?" but the prefect did not have time for activities such as karaoke. "I cannot. I must prepare myself for the material that we will be learning the day after tomorrow, and I suggest you all refrain from leisure time and make an effort to study as well." As he walked away he heard the gang leader yell "What's your problem, dude!?" but the hall monitor kept his focus and continued walking. This was a battle for another day, and he had studying to do.
After returning back to his room, the prefect took a minute to reflect on his new class. He was glad that they sat down with him and talked, because he felt he had gotten to know them a little better. It seemed as if the other students spoke differently around each other than they did in front of the headmaster. Although they could use more educational discipline, he felt that overall they were a pretty nice group of students... with maybe one glaring exception.