The massive high school towered over all the other buildings in this bustling urban area. It was like the school at the center of the entire world. Hope's Peak Academy. It brought in top students from every field imaginable. A government funded school of privilege. They said that if you came here and managed to graduate, you'd be set for life. With hundreds of years of tradition, it sent the cream of the crop into the work force every year. It was built to raise hope in the nation's future. Which made Hope's Peak a pretty fitting name.
There were two things you needed to attend this school. One, you had to already be attending high school. Two, you had the be the very best at what you did. No ordinary student could enroll here. The only way in was if you were scouted by the school itself. And standing there at the gate of the ultimate school for ultimate students was an intense looking girl in a light brown blazer.
Lately, he'd become more aware of the kind of presence people gave off, like an aura that surrounded them. Even seeing this girl for just a second on the train, she still caught Makoto's eye. And although he had never seen her before, it felt like he knew her from somewhere, but he couldn't quite place it. Just a feeling. Well, that was a thought for another time. Right now, Makoto Naegi had his own school life ahead of him, in a packed car of black and red that drove his focus back on Shujin.
As the train descended underground, Makoto gripped tight on the rubber handle overhead and braced for an incoming bump. It came and went, as did the train ride. Out of the train, the final stretch from the station to Shujin was always filled with gossip.
"Whatever happened with that calling card?"
"The one calling out Coach Kamoshida? No clue. Probably nothing." Kamoshida was the physical education teacher at the school, and coach of the volleyball team. Supposedly, he was also an utter bastard of lust, according to a mysterious calling card posted on a school bulletin board.
"Just some dumbass prank then? Huh, go figure." The calling card was posted last week, and said something about making Kamoshida confess to a number of crimes. Since the next day, he hadn't shown up to school at all. "Man though, Kamoshida was pissed about that! I heard some guys were gonna get expelled over it."
"Bet that transfer student will be one of them. Sucks to be him."
"Oh yeah, he's done for." There was another transfer student in the second year at Shujin, other than Makoto. As the rumors went, he was a violent criminal, among a few other, more outlandish things. Makoto never did catch his name, as much as he remembered. "Well, you never know. Maybe that whole stealing hearts thing is true."
The idea of stealing a person's heart was the most bizarre part of all. But if that, all the rumors about the transfer student, and Kamoshida's sudden absence from school were all connected, maybe it wouldn't be the hardest thing to believe.
The high school was three stories tall, the top floor for first years, middle floor for second years, ground floor for third years, and for Makoto, for some reason. Back when he first enrolled, the Principal mentioned his transfer was rather last minute. The other transfer student must have been last second then, but Makoto wondered why his locker was at least on the right floor.
He put his books in his locker, save for one textbook, and climbed the stairs to class. "Good morning, Mr. Naegi," his teacher said. In English.
It took him a second or two to process. Good morning… that was ohayou, right? He meekly waved and answered in Japanese, "Good morning to you too, Chouno-sensei."
The wavy haired Ms. Chouno leaned her head back and rolled her eyes. "Better luck next time, Naegi." As he made for his seat in the middle of the room, he heard the teacher say, "Mr. Sakamoto, you're on time today."
A surly student huffed back. "Is that a problem now too?"
"Not at all," Ms. Chouno said. "It's actually very good. Try to keep it up."
"Yeah, whatever." Ryuji Sakamoto had a reputation for being a troublemaker. And he was frequently late for class. No, he was always late for class. In a whole month, today was the very first instance Makoto could think of him being on time. "What are you looking at?"
"Uh, it's nothing," Makoto said. "Hi, Ryuji."
Ryuji shook his head and flopped into his seat. "Hi, Makoto."
Ms. Chouno greeted the last few stragglers, and stood to make an announcement. "Alright everyone," she said, "There's a morning assembly today. I expect the principal has a reminder for all of you to stay on your best behavior during your week off, but I heard there's something else that you might even find a little but interesting." A cacophonous mix of reactions sounded off from all the students as they got up to go to the gym.
There wasn't any less grumbling in the gym. "We have one day of school this week and we get dragged to this anyway?"
"What a waste of time. No way this is anything but some school reputation bullshit."
The Principal of Shujin stood at a podium on top of the stage at the front of the gym. He leaned to the microphone. "Let's begin this school wide morning assembly. As you all know, a tragic event took place the other day." Other day? It was two whole weeks ago. Shiho Suzui's attempted suicide linger over the school like smoke. "Thankfully, we have been informed that she has pulled through, but it will take time until she recovers."
"Everyone here has a bright future ahead," the Principal continued, "I implore that you rethink the importance of life and-" The door cut him off. All eyes turned to the back of the gym, like seeing a ghost. Even the Principal couldn't contain his surprise. "Mr. Kamoshida, what's the-"
"I… have been reborn." From the way he carried himself, to how he hung his head low, and the sound of his voice, everything about Kamoshida seemed different. It was like he was a completely different person. "That is why I will confess everything to you all…"
He slowly walked around to the front of the gym. The whole room buzzed with whispers. "What does he have to confess?" "All that nasty shit he did to the volleyball team was real?" Amid the murmuring, Kamoshida got up onto the stage.
"I have repeatedly done things that were… unbecoming of a teacher," he said. "Verbally abusing students. Physically abusing my team, and sexually harassing female students. I am the reason why Shiho Suzui tried to kill herself!" Kamoshida fell to his knees. "I thought of this school as my own castle… There were even students that I sentenced to expulsion, simply because I didn't like them. I will, of course, rescind those… I am truly sorry for putting innocent youths through such horrible acts. I am an arrogant, shallow… and shameful person. No, I'm worse than that… I will take responsibility and kill myself for it…!"
"He's gonna do what?!" "Right here?!" "He won't." "That's just making things worse!"
The Principal rushed to the bowing coach's side. "Mr. Kamoshida! Please get off the stage for now!"
An indistinct teacher tried to shout over the entire school, "Everyone, return to your classes!"
"I-" Kamoshida whimpered.
"Don't run, you bastard!" a girl toward the front said. "Shiho's still alive, even after all the things that made her want to die! You have no right to run from this!"
"You're right…" Kamosihda said. "You're absolutely right… I should be punished under the law and atone for my crimes… I did horrible things to Takamaki, as well. In return for giving Suzui a position on the team… I tried to force her into having relations. As of today, I will resign form my position as an instructor and turn myself in. Someone, please call the police!"
As the disgraced coach groveled on the stage, the teacher from before tried again to make himself heard in a flash flood of rumors. "This morning's assembly is over! Return to your classes immediately!"
"Holy shit, it actually happened!" "It's just like the calling card said, Kamoshida admitted everything himself." "Maybe Kamoshida's in on it too, and this all just an act?" "No way Kamoshida would make up something as dumb sounding as the Phantom Thieves. This has to be real. Somehow." "What the hell kind of stupid thinking is that?!" "Yeah, are you smoking crack? How does this prove the Phantom Thieves are real?"
The teacher tried one last time to quiet things down. "Return to your classrooms at once!" By now a few students were shuffling out of the gym. In the hall as the crowd of classmates thinned, Makoto looked around for someone before heading back to class.
It was a lot to take in all at once. Kamoshida abused and harassed students, particularly the volleyball team. His actions drove Shiho to attempt suicide. He thought of the school as a castle, and sentenced students he didn't like to expulsion. He coerced Takamaki into a relationship in exchange for Shiho's position on the volleyball team.
It took up Makoto's mind all day, and it was impossible to pay attention during classes, not that it was much different for anyone else. Hardly a minute passed without someone next to him saying something new about Kamoshida, about Shiho, about Takamaki. The only person able to concentrate was Ryuji. Of course, that didn't last all day. It didn't even last that long. Ryuji turned over to Makoto, "What was that?"
Makoto's head popped up. "Huh?" Did he say something? The way Ryuji was staring at him, Makoto realized he must have been thinking out loud. "Uhh…" He tried to recover his last thoughts. It was something about… "Takamaki, right?"
"Yeah, that was it," Ryuji said. "What about her?"
"I just keep going over what Kamoshida said. It's kinda hard to wrap my head around."
"Oh." Ryuji pulled his head back and turned away. "Yeah, well, I guess it would be hard for someone like you understand. Just, forget I said anything, okay?"
"Sure," Makoto said absentmindedly, trying to get his mind back to class, but really getting his mind back to the whirl of rumors.
Before he knew it, classes were over. Makoto already didn't remember a single thing from his lessons that day, except that school resumed on Friday. He dragged his things down to his locker and stuffed them away, out of sight and out of mind for the rest of the week. He weaved through groups of students making plans for the upcoming break. A park out one way. An outlet mall the other way. Makoto wondered what he might want to do.
As he stepped outside, Makoto heard a cheerful girl's voice call after him, "Hey Makoto!" A girl with long, dark hair tied back by a red bow ran up to him. "Ready for the break?"
"Believe me, Kasumi, I'm always ready for a break," Makoto said, but the slack in his shoulders really told the story.
"Aw, come on, that's no way for an honor student to talk," the girl with the bow, Kasumi, said with a sly smile growing on her face. Both of them started laughing at the same time. "So, do you have any plans yet?"
"Not really," Makoto said. "Okay, no, none at all. I actually wanted to talk to you about a couple things before heading home." He looked down, glancing at his hand holding a backpack strap. "I got a lot on my mind."
"Is it all about the assembly?" Kasumi said.
"Yeah. How did you-?"
"Psychic," Kasumi said. "I'm just kidding. Everyone's thinking about it. It was a fair guess."
Everyone was thinking about Kamoshida. That seemed right. Makoto was never the only one at, well, anything, so he was at a loss for words how he could have thought he'd be alone on this one.
"To tell you the truth," Kasumi went on, "I'd actually rather not talk about it at all. If you want to, though, we can meet up tomorrow. I've already got an idea where to go, so I'll call you." A honking horn caught their attention. Makoto and Kasumi looked up at a car waiting for her. Kasumi nodded to Makoto. "Tomorrow. I still have practice today, week's not over yet. Wish me luck!"
As she waved and skipped away, Makoto smiled after her. "See you tomorrow! Good luck at practice, Kasumi!"