With Sunday's end, a Monday began. It was a rather cloudy one at that, but it had no signs of any incoming rain. It is a norm that Mondays are usually most detested of days, but for a certain gang residing in the residence of a sleepyhead, that might not be the case.
Or will it?
It was around early in the morning, even before five o'clock. Fellas of Hope's peak (and Mayuri) were sleeping in their own places. Most of them were snoozing on the couch, but two individuals were exploring the land of dreams in Chiaki Nanami's bedroom. The major resident there was none other than the sleepyhead gamer herself, but she was being held by her teacher Chisa Yukizome in her arms like a baby. Suddenly, on a cloudy morning, Chisa just woke up. Perhaps it was mental preparation, but Chisa never really had trouble oversleeping. She was the opposite case, of being the one who was constantly under-sleeping. Must have been the general habit of the Ultimate Housekeeper. She sprung up, but not fiercely enough that it would disturb Chiaki. The first thing she did was to turn off the alarm clock. She knew how much Chiaki can get fumy about them, especially after listening to her rant at one point. Since it was way too early for her students to wake up, she decided to wait a bit.
And so half an hour passed, exactly five o' clock to be precise. The time for preparation came to be, the sleep had to end. Of course, Chisa couldn't afford to give Chiaki a rude awakening, so she decided to have a more gentle approach.
"Nanami! Wake up, Nanami!~" whispered Chisa as she gently rocked her students like a crib. The sleepyhead felt the little shakes, smiled, but slowly opened her eyes since she did recognize the soft voice of her teacher. When the vision became clearer, she was greeted with a warm smile of her teacher, looking right at her. It was an infinitely better sight than seeing her alarm clock, it was heavenly.
"Good morning, Chiaki." Chisa softly greeted her before the one who just woke up let out a little yawn. The teacher herself couldn't resist giving her a pat, which made Chiaki's morning far more comfortable than she ever imagined to be. To have someone, let alone someone close to her, pat her in the morning was unforgettable for her.
"Oh...good morning, Miss Yukizome." Chiaki smiled at her as she rubbed her eye. She still remained in Chisa's arms, since they were too comfortable for her to just leave.
"It's a new day at Hope's peak today. Are you ready for it?" asked Chisa if her little student was prepared to face the day head on.
"Yeah, I am...I think." drowsily nodded Chiaki.
"That's good! Prepare yourself for the day, but there's no need for rush. We're quite early." said Chisa before she looked at the alarm clock. The time was enough that there truly was no haste needed. "...Actually, we're REALLY early.".
"Yeah, it hasn't started making noises yet." Chiaki turned towards the alarm clock just to squint at it. It was a squinting glare that she felt like all alarm clocks, sometimes referred as "dream destroyers", deserve to have.
"And it won't. I shut it down today. Decided that I'm gonna be the one to wake you up." Chisa revealed to her, reassuring her that the alarm clock will remain silent.
"Ah, thank you, Miss Yukizome." smiled Chiaki even more so than before. Her teacher has slain the dreaded morning nuisance, even if it was just for a day. Then, after being fully awake but still not letting go off Chisa, she had a sudden wondering. "Is anyone else already awake?".
"Hmm, let's see if your friends are still traversing lands of dreams." Chisa thought the same as she rose up from the bed, still carrying Chiaki as they went to the living room, where rest of the gang slept. Chiaki felt a bit guilty that Chisa would have to carry her through out the entire day, so she decided to finally walk on her two legs. Once they arrived, they saw one of the folk kneading the couch. It was rather obvious who it was.
"Ah, Ibuki's already awake. G'mornin, Ibuki." Chiaki greeted the musician in a rather normal tone.
"Yes! It is a fact that Ibuki has risen from the slumber. Thus, I must say: Good nom-nom-nom-nom-nomming, everyone!" Ibuki responded with all the energy she had in the morning, unleashing her usual greeting upon them. It was loud enough to wake up another person.
"I...heard you all just now." Hajime quickly awakened, thanks to the Ibuki Mioda caused disturbance. He looked rather grumpy, but he usually looked like that, so it was normal for him to be like that.
"Hajime has awakened as well! Now we just have two more to go." Chisa happily announced the awakening of the ahoge lad, but soon the tiniest person in the gang rolled over and slowly woke up.
"Oh, are we already going?" asked Chihiro as he stood up from the couch as he was on alert. He was worried that he was going to miss out. Luckily, that wasn't the case at all.
"One more to go!" announced Chisa as, just when she said it, the only non-Hope's peak participant rose from the slumber, signifying her awakening with a huge yawn.
"Ah, Tutturu! Good nom….nom...nommorning, everyone!" Mayuri started the day with an imitation of the 2nd most cat like person in the world.
"Oh, that was a good one! Five stars!" Ibuki, as a rater of Ibuki Mioda impressions, gave her full approval, despite that compared to the energetic and fast saying that she usually does, Mayuri's "nomnomming" was rather sluggish.
"Everyone's up! Now...take your time, because we're still really really early, no need to rush." declared Chisa as she suddenly announced that they can relax for a bit. It was more than enough time for everyone to prepare themselves for school.
"Why so early though, Miss Yukizome?" asked Hajime regarding on why exactly were they up around the sun rising, even though it wasn't really necessary.
"Oh, why so early? Because...it just really happened so. Sometimes, you just wake up really early for no reason." answered Chisa somewhat vaguely while secretly hiding her possibly overworking habits as the Ultimate Housekeeper.
"Ah, yeah. That can happen...a lot." sighed Hajime, knowing the feeling of just waking up out of a sudden, even if it's three o' clock in the morning or something. Since everyone was awake, they all started preparing themselves for the day. Teeth were brushed, breakfast was eaten and Ibuki was prevented from letting out her morning scream out of the window. Enough time passed for preparation, they had to go sooner or later.
"Now it's time to go! Are you all ready?" asked Chisa before they were about to exit Nanami's house. All of them were properly dressed up, so that there won't be any "stepping outside in Pajamas" incidents. All of them nodded in agreement. "Now that's what I like to hear! Let's goooooo!".
And thus they went walking towards Hope's peak academy like a group. They were all close to Chisa, especially Chiaki, who was holding her hand. The gang looked like a rather big family of weirdos, where one single mother took care of them. Their stroll towards Hope's peak academy was uninterrupted, bar a few stops due traffic, but nothing too concerning. Once they arrived in front of the fountain, the group had to saw farewell to the fellow Lab member.
"Now Mayushii has to go back to the Lab. I hope you guys have a good day. Baii bai!" Mayuri waved at them as she went back to the Future Gadget Laboratory all by herself, departing for them until next time.
"Baiiiii baiiiii" rest of the group waved back at her as she was slowly distancing herself from others. Once she was out of their sight, they all waited for students of class 77-B and class 78th to arrive. In the mean time, they distracted themselves with some games. For killing some time, video games were excellent for it. As the time passed, the rest of the students arrived, some earlier (or even way earlier, like Sonia), some late. After everyone gathered around, they all went in, starting their day at Hope's peak academy.
But little did they knew that there was another student, from a completely different class, the one with a rather unfortunate number. The said student suddenly appeared from the bushes as he back flipped over the gate, before landing on his two sneaky feet. Then he looked at the building, with his confident look. He was perhaps more than just a student.
"My time has come!" Ultimate Scammer announced his arrival before he sneaked in the school after a week of his absence. He had a goal in his mind and he knew who to rely upon.
Meanwhile in the class 77-B and to extension class 78th, the day was going just like any other. Chiaki was playing games mid class, Ibuki was being Ibuki and Hiyoko was calling Mikan a "pig barf" every time she spoke up. It was all going as it should, except there was one thing that, even when focused on games, Chiaki couldn't stop thinking about. A remainder of the days past, yet still something that needed to be addressed. However, she couldn't do it in the class, so she decided to wait until the lunch break.
After the first part of the schedule for the day was done, it was time for students to replenish themselves. However, it was also the perfect opportunity for Chiaki to check upon one particular student.
"I think now it's time to check up on Nagito to see if he's alright….I think." thought Chiaki as she went towards the assumed location of the luckster. She told her friends that she has a thing to do, so that they wouldn't worry about her. As she traversed through the empty hallways of school, she did see the white haired boy himself. It seemed like he was going to the library again.
"He seems to be alright...but he could be hiding, so...yeah...I'm gonna try." Chiaki thought again before she quietly spoke up to gain his attention. "Hey, Nagito?"
It seemed to work, as Nagito stopped on his tracks and turned around, only to see a rather anxious looking Chiaki looking at him. In comparison, he seemed like he was having a rather normal day. Unusual for him.
"Oh, hello there, Chiaki. I'm surprised that you went out of your way to talk to me." Nagito greeted her with his usual smile on his face. That smile was his default expression, but it seemed to be rather odd for Chiaki, considering what he went through.
"How..are you doing?" asked Chiaki out of concern for him. Even if she disagreed with his actions, she didn't wish him ill.
"I'm doing quite good. So far, it's been pretty uneventful, nothing exactly notable happened so far." casually answered Nagito as if he was expecting something to happen.
"He really doesn't seem like he was affected by it, despite being...hurt before…." Chiaki noted about his behavior. He acted like nothing happened ever, but he could be numb to it, probably. "Yeah, that's good to hear, but…I want to know a thing.".
"And what would that be?" Nagito raised his eyebrow as he started suspecting that there was another reason why Chiaki wanted to talk to him. Perhaps she wanted him back in The Fellowship.
"Have you went somewhere after you left the group?" Chiaki queried him regarding his actions post abandoning the conflict between Hope's peak academy and Daft Capo.
"Ah, so Gundham already told all of you, didn't he?" smirked Nagito, guessing that she had learn it from somewhere. Chiaki's irises shrunk, not expecting that he would guess so quickly, even though he was out of The Fellowship. Her reaction basically confirmed his assumption.
"...But...but why did you go there?" Chiaki redirected the topic, since she wanted to know the reason for his action. There has to be one, he couldn't do it just for fun.
"Seems like it's unclear to you as well. I shall elaborate then, like I did with Gundham." Nagito smirked once again as he began rationalizing his decision for actions he partook in few days ago. "Would you agree that if you just stormed in their hideout and defeated them, it would feel anti-climatic?".
"Huh? What do you exactly mean? Wouldn't it be better it to finish it as quickly as possible?" argued Chiaki, confused at how he treated the conflict. It sounded like he was in some kind of game rather than in an actual dispute.
"Well, I imagined it would go like this: you guys find out the hideout, you plan a siege on it and then after a decisive victory, you send those guys running for their lives. Isn't that right?" Nagito continued, presenting his imagined outcome if it weren't for his intervention.
"….No, it definitely wouldn't have gone that way. We know way too little before we can do anything decisive on them….I think." countered Chiaki, very much aware that they're facing only the tip of the iceberg that was their adversary. However, it sounded like Nagito didn't know. What he said as a follow up shocked Chiaki quite a bit.
"We are Ultimates, victory is basically withing our reach. We stand above the rest of the world, we shouldn't concern ourselves with such boring organizations." spoke Nagito, in tone that was unlike any other. For all his self deprecation, he spoke about Ultimates, to some extent himself included, with overwhelming amount of pride. Chiaki also caught up that he might see non-talented people as something lesser. Her hand twitched for a bit as she was starting to feel slight amount of heat in her head. A feeling which Chiaki hasn't truly felt before started to bloom.
"...What? Is this what he really thinks? Is this...really it? Miss Yukizome never taught us that. Never. And...and...did he really just?…" Chiaki's thoughts knocked her head, but she decided to remain silent about it. She didn't want to explode, since to her, others were more important than her.
"What is it? Do you still not understand where I am getting at?" asked Nagito in a rather condescending tone.
"….I have...a lot of things to say about what you've just said, but….first thing is, can you say your motive behind it? Why did you go there in the first place?" responded Chiaki, still repressing her true feelings regarding his statements, but she still wanted to know the reason for his actions.
"I wanted to make the outcome more satisfying." bluntly admitted Nagito, still sporting that smile on his face. The fact that he still had a smile after talking about that was starting to give her goosebumps. She wasn't too sure on what he meant by "more satisfying", but considering that he influenced events in an unexpected manner, she had one guess.
"….So what you're saying, you made the situation more difficult for us?" Chiaki tilted her head, albeit not out of curiosity. She wanted to be wrong about it, there wasn't a way her classmate would deliberately try to sabotage their efforts.
"Satisfying. After all, it's more fun to win a difficult game, isn't it?" Nagito corrected her wording before he suddenly dropped a rather familiar analogy on her.
"Yes, but that's for games. Gangsters that we are currently dealing with are not a game." scolded Chiaki for his lack of caution regarding the whole thing.
"If they were more interesting, then I'd worry more about them." said Nagito, breaking the final straw on the camel's back for her. She couldn't repress it anymore, it was driving her to lengths which she thought it wasn't possible for her.
"Hey, Hope's peak is under attack by them, our friends, including you, have been hurt by them but not only you leave us over this "Hope" you have mentioned, but also you're making things more difficult for everyone?" condemned Chiaki in a tone much sharper than any other. Her cheeks weren't even puffed, it was just a solemn frown with a glare. It was a side of Chiaki that she never wanted to have, but Nagito was skipping on the line long enough.
"Those guys have no interest in Hope, be it fighting for it or against it, so I firmly believe that Hope won't be damaged." continued Nagito, not particularly phased at just how much he has already riled up Chiaki.
"….What even is your definition of hope?" asked Chiaki, out of anger, but also out of desperation. More she talked to him, less she understood. The lack of clarity made her feel like the conversation was just spiraling.
"Hehehehe….Simple: either two Hopes clashing to create a greater Hope….or the utter destruction of Despair." Nagito revealed his definition of it. Suddenly, the whole conversation turned into something Nanami never expected to deal with. His eyes, once normal looking, transformed into maddening grayness. The maddening eyes of his were accompanied with an incredibly satisfied grin, as if he were enjoying the whole thing. Nagito she thought she knew was no more, instead she saw his true self. Not as her precious classmate, but as a legitimate threat against her friends.
"...H-huh?" stammered Chiaki, as the anger within her got mixed with fear. Any expectation she had of him was thrown out of the window. She thought she could trust all of her classmates, since they were her first friends ever. However, the revelation hit her hard.
"Hope cannot exist in a vacuum. It needs its breeding grounds, its soil to grow and nothing is more perfect from it than Despair. The fiercer, more terrible the Despair, more will greater Hope shine as the Despair will be scorched." Nagito continued ranting with absolute enthusiasm, imagining the supposed threat of so called "Despair" burning in the flames of "Hope". Nanami couldn't share such sentiment, let alone imagine it.
"...Is this...is this what he was really like? That's what he believes in?….It...it doesn't feel real...but...I…" Chiaki's thoughts hit her again, channeling her utter disbelief that her classmate was capable of such thing. Only thing she could do is a meekly utterance. "Um…..I...don't really understand what you mean by that.".
"I want to ask something. Have those guys given you or anyone Despair?" asked Nagito out of a sudden.
"D-despair? Well,...I think we were more annoyed, angered and exhausted by them, but I don't think we went to the point of despair...I think." answered Chiaki with low confidence, since her anxiety was starting to overtake her. She was still trying to understand the whole situation with Nagito.
"Jeez, not even Despair is involved? I can feel apathy consuming me more as I hear more about that boring syndicate." Nagito's smile turned upside down, as he started to act annoyed by his ideals not becoming real thanks to the conflict between Hope's peak academy and Daft Capo.
"…Do you even care about us at all?" Chiaki glared at him, asking the question quietly, but her voice became even sharper. Her hand started to twitch again, becoming closer to clenching her fist.
"Of course I do! You are nothing short of beacon of light that will guide the world to the Hopeful future! I will gladly be the stepping stone for Hopes within you guys! Your talents will shape the world like nothing else will!" Nagito suddenly smiled once again, talking about them as if they were some kind of gods. Yet, Chiaki was starting to feel tired of him.
"...All this talk about talent, yet….it feels...distant…..how much can I take this?" Chiaki thought about if she would just call it quits over him, but one last question remained. "If you do….then why make it more difficult for us? Why force us to go through a harder path?".
"As I said. It shall lead to more satisfying Hope." clarified Nagito once again, with that damned uncanny smile. He even raised his finger to put further emphasis on his point.
At that point, Chiaki was getting too tired to deal with the white haired luckster.
"...I'm getting nowhere here….it's too much….I can't...do it..." Chiaki quietly admitted defeat before she started walking away from him, planning to return to her actual friends instead having to continue listening to him. "...That shall be enough. We'll see each other later…."
"Alright then. It was fun talking to you. I'm looking forward to our next discussion." Nagito said his farewell as he did nothing wrong. Chiaki just squinted at him before she faced forward, slowly walking towards the dining room.
"….Fun, alright." Chiaki frowned upon the thought that the conversation was entertaining in any sort of way. If anything, it proved that not all of her classmates were automatically trustworthy. It's a thought she desperately tried to disprove, but after that, it became difficult to do so.
"I just...I just wanted to check on him. That's all I wanted to do, but...I get this. Why? I don't understand. I don't understand at all. Why is he making things more difficult? We're already dealing with that mafia, but now we have to worry about him? Give me a break…." Chiaki contemplated the whole event, crossing her arms to give herself some kind of a hug. In a way, she felt like she failed at it, failed to convince him, failed to keep the group together. The feeling of failure started to overtake her. She even took deep breaths, but they weren't doing anything favorable to curb that feeling.
"...I do need a break. My head hurts from all of this..."hope" and "despair" as he calls it. Miss Yukizome never even mentioned that "despair needs to be destroyed" for hope...or whatever he calls it...Come to think of it, he sounded like….no...he wouldn't do that, would he?" Chiaki still thought about it as she continued walking, with headache of her not making things any better. She knew that she couldn't afford being seen like that, so she thought of a way to cheer herself up."...I'll need Miss Yukizome for this, if things go bad. But now, I really...really need to have some distraction.".
Luckily for her, the idea popped up rather quickly.
"Ah, I've got it." Chiaki searched through her bag and pulled out her favorite handheld. Games seemed to always do the trick. "That should do it, a game. Games are always-".
However, her attempts of trying to relax was disturbed with an unfamiliar greeting.
"Ooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii….."
"H-huh? W-who…?" stuttered Chiaki, startled by the sound. She even squeaked a little, since she was a bit on the edge after the discussion with Nagito. She looked around in surprise, only to find a hooded person with a backpack. It was a person she never even saw before.
"I've got the stuff you need." Ultimate Scammer asserted his presence right in front of her.
"Um...who...who are you?" timidly asked Chiaki. The person in front of her looked like a cartoon character for how blatantly shady he looked. But, a complication appeared. Even the shadiest looking people could be quite helpful, as proven by that weapon selling merchant and Chiaki wasn't the one that judged people by their appearances.
"I go by many names, but people often call me….Lorenz the Convenient." the person introduced himself to her, but truth be told, it was no one else but the Ultimate Scammer. He decided that it would single him out too quickly if his real title was revealed.
"Are you...um...a student of Hope's peak academy?" further asked Chiaki, wanting to know if he's someone who she should be cautious of or not.
"Ay, Class 69. That's where you can hit me up to strike a deal." revealed Ultimate Scammer to her. At the very least, he was a student of Hope's peak academy, but she was still hesitant about him, considering what Nagito turned out to be.
"Oh, Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni's class?" Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity that time.
"Eh, forget about them, because now I am going to offer you a deal which you cannot refuse." dismissed Ultimate Scammer before he prepared himself to strike a deal with her.
"I'm..I'm good…" declined Chiaki, putting emphasis on that she just wants to return to her friends with a simple "push away" hand waves.
"Do you ever run out of quarters at the arcade? Well, no more worry, because I've got the solution right in my hands!" Ultimate Scammer insisted on striking a deal with her, hoping that she would be tempted by his offer.
"I said that-" Chiaki still tried to deny, but she got slightly curious about Scammer's solution to running out of quarters. Not that she ever ran out of them, since arcade games were her expertise. Then, the Ultimate Scammer revealed his "silver bullet" to the quarter shortage problem.
"Behold! Golden Dollars!" Ultimate Scammer pulled out ten banknotes, each worth ten dollars respectfully, all painted in gold. The catch was, they were not any kind of dollars. They were, in fact, Zimbabwean dollars. He even made moves akin to a medieval shopkeeper to further attract interest in his offering. "With this, all you need to do is go to local exchange and voila! Quarters for lifetime! Gold gives it a thousand extra, so you better use it!".
It took a while for Chiaki to comprehend what was she looking at. Not only the appearance, but the entire concept of money being painted in pure gold.
"Money painted in gold?...What even?" Chiaki thought to herself that what she was seeing was something not even caricature video game villains would come up with. It seemed so excessive, that she immediately figured it out that it was a scam.
"Oh, I'll give these for only two thousand yen! I tell ya, it's a bargain!" Ultimate Scammer offered the price for the money. At that point, Chiaki had only one option left: go away from the snake oil salesman of a Hope's peak academy student.
"Sorry, but I gotta-" Chiaki apologized for what was she gonna do, but she was startled with a duo of unexpected voices that appeared right on the moment. Two students, one being her shark toothed classmate, other being an electric guitar wielding lad, provided a sudden intervention.
"Stay away from her, you jerk!" shouted Kazuichi as he pointed at the Ultimate Scammer.
"Get the hell outta here, asshole!" Zapatta called out the hooded student. After both of them were done yelling, the Ultimate Scammer looked at them, almost bursting into a chuckle when he saw those chumps.
"Oh, look at that. It's the angry boi and shark man." scoffed Ultimate Scammer. Even though most of his face was covered, he had a grin on his face, knowing that all they're gonna do to him is angrily yell at him.
"You have no right dunking on appearances, Captain Shady!" countered Kazuichi, not having Ultimate Scammer's shit.
"No, that mofo ass fucker have right on anything!" added Zapatta in an arguably even more fiercely angry tone than the mechanic lad had.
"You just mad cause ya ain't a-" taunted Ultimate Scammer, but before he could say it, he got interrupted.
"SHUT UP, I DON'T WANNA HEAR IT FROM YOU!" Zapatta yelled at him even more. Kazuichi started to feel that he truly had something against the shadiest student in the whole academy.
"I'm just spitting facts, mang." shrugged Ultimate Scammer, just to further provoke them.
"Just get back to Class 69 already, you freaking jerk!" ordered Kazuichi, simply not feeling like bickering with him. Ultimate Scammer didn't put up a fight, partially because he thought Kazuichi and Zapatta were too buffoonish to be taken seriously.
"Aight, it's been a while anyway." casually said Ultimate Scammer as he went on to return, but not before stopping close to the Ultimate Rockstar. "You know well, my man.".
"Know what?" asked Zapatta, confused at his words.
"You know." Ultimate Scammer repeated himself, not even bothering with clarity before he disappeared from their sight. A confused silence followed, with both Kazuichi and Zapatta trying to come up with the meaning behind his words.
"What was he trying to say?" asked Kazuichi.
"Eh, he likes being cryptic, just to confuse the shit outta people." Zapatta attempted to explain, but soon remember there was another person present there. Someone who's not Ultimate Scammer, at least. "Say, where's Naners?".
"Chiaki? Oh right, she must be-" Kazuichi looked around, only to realize she ran away from their shenanigans. "...not there.".
"Where did she even go?" wondered Zapatta as he looked all over the hallway to find her.
"I think I know where. I have to go there too. Man, I haven't eaten anything. I have to go now, so see ya soon!" Kazuichi suddenly remembered where she could be.
"Oooh, right! You guys have a lunch break now. Lucky bastards...but we will see each other soon!" said Zapatta as both of them departed, going their own ways.
Meanwhile, Chiaki was just in front of the dining hall, alone. She sat down near it to cool down, since she was starting to get annoyed with the sequence of events that just happened. She crossed her arms and pouted, letting her frustrations out.
"….Mmmmmgrrrr…..first Nagito, now this. Now I want the break even more….I should just go to the dining hall. Everyone's there, at least...I think." Chiaki grumbled to herself before she decided that she will find a break not only with games, but with friends too. She took a while, since she didn't want to be seen in such state, but once she was ready, she stood up and went inside. She sneaked to the table where her group, the one with Hajime, Chihiro and Ibuki, occupied it. Chiaki quietly sat next to Hajime. All of them noticed that, even though she was hiding it, she wasn't feeling exactly well. Her blank stare at the screen was the factor.
"Oh hey, Chiaki. Is everything alright?"asked Hajime, wondering what was up with her.
"...Yeah. It's okay." Chiaki further hid it, but she wasn't too convincing about it. It was especially notable, considering that she seemed all fine in the morning before they went to school.
"You don't really seem so. Is there anything bothering you?" further asked Hajime
"No no no no no, please don't worry about me. Please, please don't be stressed over me." Chiaki thought to herself, feeling anxious over the fact that she would make her friends feel terrible. Instead, she decided that it would be best to say that it just happened. "...Nah...just that, sometimes it kicks in randomly. Like RNG.".
"Hmm...I'm sure that feeling will pass away. I actually have something to tell you." Hajime wasn't fully convinced, so he had a plan to cheer her up. He had an assumption that something happened, but he also had a secret weapon. A weapon that somehow produced happiness instead of one that took lives.
"Yeah?" Chiaki tilted her head, wondering what was he going to say. Hajime was more than prepared to reveal his secret weapon.
"Okay so, do you know about-" Hajime wanted to talk about a thing that would definitely catch Nanami's interest, but then something happened that none of those who were eating were anticipating. Another realization popped up, a rather trivial one: two of them were missing before.
"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! ALLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEERTOOOOOOOOO ROOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!"
Suddenly, Nekomaru and Gundham were outside, greeting them with an alert. Due to his rather loud and bombastic voice, some of the more timid students flat out flinched. Recorder has to be Ibuki, who, due to improved hearing, flat out fell from her chair.
"…..What now?" frowned Chiaki, wondering what was just up with the day that refused to give her a break for once. First that white haired boy, then the scammer and now an emergency. From their looks alone, it was clear that they meant it for real.
"This assault on ears was unnecessary. Now-" scowled Byakuya at them, but he couldn't finish his sentence before another interruption.
"By the Crimson Warning, the worst possible time has come!" warned Gundham of the possible calamity that was impending for Hope's peak academy. His chunni mannerisms made it a bit harder to take him seriously, but weirdly enough, some noticed that he was more refrained than usual.
"Geeeeeeez! What is it now, you two, causing all the ruckus?" complained Mahiru big time, since it wasn't clear on why did they announce an emergency.
"No time to waste! Everyone, gather around in the hideout! Make haste!" Gundham further called for them to meet up with their allies. The lack of his usual chunni nonsense made it easier for students to heed his warning, although some hesitated.
"What are we waitin' for? Get moving!" Akane was the first one to speak up, since she took Nekomaru's word to the heart. Some of the students heeded the warning as well as they prepared themselves for the meeting. Some were still hesitant, although just a little.
"Yeah, but...what did even want to-" hesitated Mahiru just a bit, still not sure on why did the emergency happen in the first place.
"Hey, did you even see them? I knew from their faces that they mean serious business! Now get moving!" argued Akane as she attempted to motivate all of them to just move already, no time should be wasted. All members of The Fellowship of Darkness finally prepared themselves as they all ran out of the dining hall towards their hideout. Only few of them remained them, those that were not part of the Fellowship just yet.
"...Ow, my fucking ears…" complained Toko as stood up after hiding under the table and uncovered her ears. She tapped them a bit just to see if she's deaf or not. Her ears were still intact, despite Nekomaru's shouting.
"I see that their debauchery is not gonna end soon. Imbeciles, all of them." scoffed Byakuya, who just remained in his seat through out the entire time. He was just simply not phased by events that were happening around him.
"It would have been nice to have one day without their nonsense." frowned Celeste, who was still calmly sipping her tea.
"I know, right? I'm not dealing with that bullshit. Not worth my time." spoke Hiyoko, who was just feeling grumpy through out the entire day for some reason.
"Hiyoko? I thought you went with them." asked Celeste out of a genuine surprise, since literally everyone was a part of The Fellowship of Darkness.
"What, is it so weird that I chose to remain here?" badgered Hiyoko, shamelessly displaying her grumpy mood to a more fashionable student of Hope's peak academy.
"Not at all, mon ami. Not at all." Celeste just showed a smile to her as they continued their day, interrupted by any nonsense the Fellowship had to deal with.
Meanwhile, after running through their secret path, filled with flora, they arrived at their destination: the door of garage. Gundham knocked on the door to announce their arrival.
"Whatever you two bastards called us for, it better be fucking worth it." grumbled Fuyuhiko as he wondered what exactly was the reason for emergency. The door of garage opened soon enough, but the moment they stepped in, their avian comrades gave them zero room for alternative interpretation on what was happening at that moment.
"Alerto Rosso! Alerto Rosso! Daft Capo member has breached the school! I say again, Daft Capo member has breached the school!" alerted Skipper as loudly as he could. It was with that announcement that they knew their adversary is back in action. A multiple of "wait what?"'s and "OH SHIT"'s were shouted upon hearing the name of the syndicate. The fact that they're back meant that the fun times were over.
"Is it that damned octopus again?" wondered Akane, having a gut feeling that Herman himself had some unfinished business with Hope's peak.
"Identify the infiltrator." ordered Kyoko as they all stepped to the laptop. The one in charge of the program was Kowalski, along with Private.
"Switching to channel five." said Kowalski as he pressed the location of the PELN that was nearby the red triangle. It seemed to be somewhere in the hallway. When he turned on the channel, the voice spoke up. To most, it was a rather unfamiliar one, albeit a shady one.
"….hahaha, that's a funny one! You tell great stories, man!….".
However, three members of The Fellowship managed to recognize him immediately.
"That voice! I've heard it before!" Gundham remembered the Operation Nighthawk, where he heard that person discuss with Hope's peak cephalopod arch-nemesis himself.
"That's...that's the-" Chiaki recognized it quickly as well, since it was the voice of a person who tried to scam her for golden foreign money.
"WW-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?!" yelled Kazuichi in total shock, completely shocked about the fact that he out of all people was a Daft Capo member. It should have been obvious, but at the same time, it was so obvious that it became too obvious to be true. But it was true in the end. "It was him all along?".
"You seem to be acquainted with out enemy. Reveal what information you know about him. You too, Chiaki Nanami!" requested Gundham for them to tell as much as possible. The entire group was taken a bit for him to drop nicknaming for that moment.
"What the? The nicknames are gone?!" commented Ibuki on it.
"Alright, alright, so this guy, who also seems to be a Daft Capo member, is named The Ultimate Scammer. He's a-" Kazuichi started explaining, but the title of the talent alone caused Skipper to have a crisis.
"Ultimate Scammer, what?! You can't be serious, this school promotes criminals!" Skipper condemned the whole school regarding their qualifications.
"I think we should discuss the questionable choices of Hope's peak later and more focus just on him now." advised Kowalski, since they had more important matters on the table.
"Oh, right right. Continue, Kaz." Skipper allowed the mechanic to speak.
"He's a real jerk, that's what he is! Every time I have to fix their freaking projector, he always tries to scam me! Always! Man, one time, he offered me a golden Pepsi! Except it wasn't Pepsi, it was Pepsi with a red square B on it, paper one! He offered it me for three thousand yen!" Kazuichi told his story about how he had to deal with attempted scams every single time he was in that class.
"...He did that to me, except it was one hundred dollars in gold. Gold as in like, money itself was painted in gold." quietly added Chiaki, revealing his interactions with their threat of that day.
"Dude, for real?! Even for a scammer, that's beyond low!" Yasuhiro condemned the Ultimate Scammer for making such a scam, that would make other scams blush.
"Alright, we got enough info, let's beat up that jerk!" Akane decided that it was enough info to give that Daft Capo member a whooping. More fighting oriented folk agreed with them, but there was one oddity that was picked upon by the lilac haired student.
"Hold on. He seems to be talking with someone." said Kyoko as she pointed at the green circle next to the red triangle. She gave out her next order. "Identify that person.".
"Now selecting the friendly unit." just like he said, Kowalski pressed on the green circle to identify who the person next to the Ultimate Scammer was. Upon hearing his voice, it all became clear. Too clear for their own good.
"..Ah, yeah. Class 77-B and Class 78th seems to be interested in fighting this Daft Capo group…."
All of them recognized who was that person. That voice could not be mistaken at all. Majority of the group's response was only a gasp.
"Nagito?! Are you for real?!" Hajime, although he didn't trust Nagito at all since the day he left the group, he was still shocked that the white haired luckster was willing enough to sell them out.
"BASTARD!" Fuyuhiko shook his fist, almost putting it through the monitor if he hasn't stopped himself. A feeling to punch him skyrocketed in the group.
"Oh, that motherfucker is gonna get it!" Mondo cracked his fist, getting ready to show him hell.
"You bet!" Akane joined in as well. Meanwhile, more mellow students had less aggressive reactions and more of feelings of disappointment in a way.
"...Nagito? Did...did you lie to me about this?" thought Chiaki, barely grasping that the worst possible scenario was playing right in front of her eyes. She tried to rationalize it, that her classmate wasn't doing it willingly. "No...there has to be some mistake. Something's wrong. We wouldn't sell out each other, would we?".
"Nanami….I'm afraid that's happening right now." admitted Ryota Mitarai regarding the situation, being forced to admit that the group might not have been as close as they thought. More they listened, more it seemed to confirm that he was doing it on his own.
"Before we do anything, we should listen to them more." advised Kyoko as she was curious to hear about the whole thing.
"What, and let that guy run away? We must act quickly!" heavily disagreed Skipper, as he thought that more time passed, more info could be leaked.
"I have to go with Skipper, any time he could spill important info to him." Nekomaru agreed with his penguin colleague, knowing that it has to prevented as quickly as possible. It wasn't like before, where the enemy had no idea that they were planning against them. In the situation they were in, the adversary could know.
"How about we split in two? Some of us could go for him, but some can remain here." suggested Hajime, since there were enough members that they could split into flanks without having to compromise like before.
"Yeah, I think that would be good. We have to act...quickly." Chiaki approved as well. Majority of the group, if not all of them, agreed that what Hajime suggested was good. All they needed was one monitoring the situation.
"So be it, now who shall remain here?" asked Gundham.
"I will. I will tell you all about what I've heard later." Kyoko offered herself for the job as she occupied the laptop.
"I'm gonna stay here as well, to monitor the situation. I can give you coordinates as well." Chihiro joined her as well, since he felt like he wasn't fit for fighting. Handling information, on other hand, was his forte.
"Anyone else?" Gundham asked one last time. Kyoko and Chihiro were only ones that chose to remain there, everyone else was ready for action. "Kehehehe, another showdown against Daft Capo has begun. Onward, henchmen of The Fellowship of Darkness!".
And thus, after the door was opened, they all rushed back to Hope's peak academy, where their enemy was receiving information.
Meanwhile, the Ultimate Scammer and Nagito were just casually talking to each other about Hope's peak's experience with Daft Capo. Of course, the Ultimate Scammer acted like he had no ties with Daft Capo, so that his cover wouldn't be blown in front of the white haired accomplice.
"There was also this octopus, who seemed to love taunting everyone and pranking them. I was one of his victims, so to speak, but his luck seemed to ran out. Or perhaps I got lucky." Nagito continued to tell stories, including his own encounter with Herman. Every single story made the Ultimate Scammer nearly die of laughter.
"Hahahaha, I couldn't come up with that, even if I smoked an entire pack. Man, this school is wack!" Ultimate Scammer kept chuckling at his stories, although his remark regarding the academy warranted him a cautious look of Komaeda.
"I wouldn't call it...erm…."wack", as you say. I think it's a wonderful place, where-" Nagito started defending the academy, but was soon interrupted by the sudden appearance of athletic girls, such as Aoi, Sakura, Peko and Akane. The last one mentioned had to brake with her sneakers to not overshoot their location. They all surrounded the duo, glaring at them while warning that what awaits them won't be pretty.
"Oh look, new customers!" Ultimate Scammer welcomed them as his next prey for scams.
"Hello there-" Nagito casually greeted them as if nothing was happened, but he was soon encircled by the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness. "Wow, I seemed to get a lot of attention lately.".
He seemed to treat it like it was a normal thing. The Ultimate Scammer, on other hand, knew he goofed up.
"Ay, fuck." Ultimate Scammer uttered under his breath, knowing exactly what will happen just by their looks. The Fellowship of Darkness cracked their fists just before the beatdown.
"KIIIIIIIIIIICK HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, MYYYYYYYYYYYY FRIIIIIIIIIIEEEENDDDSSSSSSSS!" loudly announced Nekomaru the official beatdown of the Ultimate Scammer. Folk like Akane leaped in first to get first hits, but little did they know that the Daft Capo member had a trick up his sleeve.
"Adios!" Ultimate Scammer sent his regards before he pulled out a pin of a smoke grenade and dropped it on the floor. The moment Akane was about to deliver a fist right in his face, smoke erupted from the canister, quickly engulfing the entire hallway. It was enough for Akane to miss and for Ultimate Scammer to commit evasive maneuvers.
"Hey! Smoke is strictly prohibited within the school environment!" Kiyotaka condemned him for usage of smoke. Everyone in it could see nothing, they were all trapped in it.
"Where did ya go? Show yourself!" Akane called out for him, so that she could give him a proper whooping. Suddenly, Nanami's phone started ringing. She picked it up and pressed the call button. It was Chihiro, who requested her to activate the speaker. Chiaki followed his order and allowed him to report their situation.
"The entrance! He's going to the entrance!" Chihiro shouted as much as possible to reveal their enemy's position. Thus, the entire group started going to the entrance, but Akane had the lead.
"Lemme get him!" grinned Akane, prepared to strike him down at any time. But, once she was outside, there was no sight of him. She tried to sniff his traces, but to no avail.
"Huh? Where did he go? He can't be that fast, can he?" wondered Akane as she kept looking around. Soon enough, the entire Fellowship caught up. Nagito was forced to follow them as well, since he had a lot of explaining to do. "Hey, uh...Cheerio! Where is he?".
"He's gone from the screen. I assume that he left Hope's peak." answered Chihiro in a rather regretful tone.
"Correct, he did." affirmed Kyoko in a much more stoic, if colder voice. At the very least the Daft Capo member was out, but unfortunately, karma delivered by Hope's peak students had to wait.
"Coward!" Gundham shook his fist at the direction
"Damn it! I should have given him a beating for ages!" lamented Akane on the fact that she couldn't throw a single punch at him.
"Forget about that fucker, we have another one to deal with." Fuyuhiko redirected the attention towards their classmates, their former friend, now a threat to them. All of them had their looks directed at him, some glares, some just looks of disappointment and disbelief.
"Wizard man, if that Nagitoe does anything funny, say "Cowabunga, it is" and we'll go." advised Skipper, just in any case that the luckster goes out of control.
"Understood, fellow Avian." nodded Gundham as he prepared his fighting stance as well. Meanwhile, Nagito wasn't exactly sure why did he get such looks.
"You all seem so unsatisfied. Is there anything wrong? Did I do something wrong?" asked Nagito, seemingly to be unaware of what was going on.
"Don't act like you don't know! You know exactly what you did!" demanded Aoi while having a feeling he was just pretending to not know.
"I did...what exactly?" further asked Nagito, who was getting more confused by the whole ordeal.
"Stop playing a dumbass or we'll beat the fuck out of you!" threatened Mondo, although it was quite ineffective against him. He just shrugged it off, which made some students even more unsatisfied with him.
"Again, what did I do wrong?" questioned Nagito, whose confusion reached peak.
"Are you denying that you have taken a conversation with a Daft Capo member?" Sonia revealed exactly the thing he was doing wrong according to them. Upon hearing it, Nagito just froze, with his irises shrunken.
"….What?!" blurted out Nagito, genuinely shocked that the Ultimate Scammer was, quite indeed, a punkster by definition. However, his reaction just made them more wary of him. They believed it was all an act, it was just too convenient for him to not know.
"Don't fucking tell me that you didn't know through out the entire time!" chided Fuyuhiko as he shook his fist at him.
"He was a Daft Capo member through out this whole time?!" perplexed Nagito as he started pulling his hair out of reasons that none of them except him knew.
"Is he...bluffing?" wondered Hajime, who was just confused at his reaction, just like nearly everyone else.
"No, he's telling the truth. I can tell it from his voice." suddenly revealed Kyoko. With that being said, the whole situation just got tricky for everyone. Now the question was whether he was manipulated into, or he went along willingly. Another thing came into light, but that time regarding Daft Capo itself: it's more or less confirmed that they would send undercover agents to obtain information regarding them.
"How? How is that possible?" wondered Kiyotaka at the whole situation. Very few were sure on what stance should they take at that moment.
"Hmmm...perhaps Daft Capo wanted to gain info from us by sending secret spies on us. Pretty clever for an organization that sent an octopus on us, I say." suggested Yasuhiro. Usually, he would talk nonsense, but their life became nonsense after Herman came into play, so the line of his statements being true or false began to feel blurry.
"They stepped up their game, huh?" noted Hajime, feeling slight anxiety regarding how would Daft Capo deal with their future operations. Everyone realized that Daft Capo was no longer playing around.
"Now the question is how many spies do they still have there. We ought to be careful." Ryota gave out a point that was rather ominous for everyone, yet it became a real possibility.
"Are they really gonna do that to us?" asked Chiaki, feeling like exploiting friendship to obtain information was a rather dirty thing to do.
"It seems like this is the case...or perhaps they did that long time ago without us realizing it. It wouldn't be wise to trust everyone as of now." answered Ryota Mitarai as honestly as he could.
"Now speak up already, accomplice!" ordered Skipper
"Ngh! How foolish of me, to trust someone who has rejected Hope's peak itself! Now things have gotten...a lot more complicated, to say at least." Nagito berated himself before the slight difference in his wording caught the rest of the Fellowship a bit off guard.
"Complicated? What exactly do you mean about this?" questioned Mahiru.
"Are you condemning them or not?" wondered Aoi as she was getting annoyed on how unclear he was about the thing.
"Well, as the Ultimates, we are pillars that hold Hope in the world. It is on us that the future depends on. Hope's peak itself is where Hope itself shines more than anywhere else. Without us, the Ultimates, the rest of the world would crumble." Nagito started imposing his own philosophy onto others. They had to see what Chiaki had to earlier in the morning. None of them took his statement particularly well, but the last sentence stuck certain individual quite hard.
"...What did you just say now?" Hajime began to feel pale just listening him, there were hints of how would he react if it was revealed that he had no talent.
"Hey….what the fuck are you on now?" Fuyuhiko's defensive instinct activated upon hearing them. Something about disregarding the rest of the world with exception of Ultimates particularly struck close to him, but only he and Peko knew. Peko even prepared herself to defend him, in the case of situation becoming even worse.
"D-dude, how is this related to Daft Capo at all?" Kazuichi raised a point regarding how just out of touch his ideal seemed to be.
"Are we going to go to Crazyville now?" asked Yasuhiro a question to himself, feeling rather afraid of Nagito.
"I-I think we're getting head on there, full speed!" Ibuki answered him, feeling heebie-jeebies more and more when she listened to the luckster's talk.
"How is it relevant, you ask? Well, now it seems like the Ultimates can have allegiances other than Hope or Despair. Interesting, but I don't exactly believe that they have fully abandoned it." Nagito explained himself, but it didn't do much for most of them.
"So what you're saying is that Ultimates that are still under Daft Capo still have hope within them, if I understood correctly?" Sakura attempted to rationalize and in a way, translate to others on what he was referring to.
"Yes, you are correct. I have to admit, I didn't expect such question from an Ultimate Martial Artist." Nagito applauded her for guessing right, although there was a feeling that he was just condescending to her.
"Are you implying something?" Aoi squinted at him, catching on possible disrespect given by him.
"Wait, are you saying that you would sell us out because they have Ultimates on our side?" Makoto realized that he more or less confirmed that he would willingly assist Daft Capo, even if it's just for the fact they have talented folk on their side.
"The reason why I was so opposed to them is because they had no Ulitmates on their side, but now that it's revealed that they do...I can't resist helping an Ultimate." Nagito admitted it. He finally did it.
"Hey, we ARE the Ultimates here! You can't just help anyone because they're an Ultimate!" condemned Mahiru immediately, reminding him that he should stick with his friends instead, although more or less no one considered him a friend anymore.
"My help for Ultimates has no boundaries." said Nagito with a smile on his face, as if he was presenting himself as some kind of martyr for them. All he was doing was further angering them.
"Kehehe, I see where you are going. You are fighting not for an allegiance, but for a concept. This "Hope" you speak of might not align with what others identify as hope." chuckled Gundham as he realized Nagito's own modus operandi. He immediately declared him as security issue to the entire Fellowship and passed the order to his avian colleague. "Skipper, be prepared.".
"Roger that, Wizard ma-wait, did you just call me by my real name?" approved Skipper before he was startled by absence of nicknames.
"A bit unexpected from you, the Ultimate Breeder, but you are right none than less. I am on the side of Hope." complimented Nagito, but still in sort of a condescending tone. Gundham chose to ignore his remark.
"Hmmm, it's fascinating to see how simple terms can be exploited." contemplated Gundham regarding how semantics can be manipulated.
"Hey, Nagito? I have...a question." suddenly spoke Chiaki as she did one step closer to him. Unlike others, her expression was rather sorrowful, filled with disbelief that he would go to such lengths and not even feel remorse about it. If he was just manipulated by the Ultimate Scammer and promised that he wouldn't betray them, it would have been alright. However, reality was that he was a much more fickle person than most people thought.
"What is it now?" asked Nagito as he started to sound annoyed by her.
"There's something you've said that's been bothering me. You always elevate Ultimates, but what about those that are not?" Chiaki gave out a question that she hoped that at the very least he would see others as equals. Suddenly, Nagito's smile disappeared as it was replaced with an expression of pure disgust.
"Worthless trash. They only serve as stepping stones for us." Nagito suddenly denounced majority of the population while also shocking nearly everyone who heard his true belief.
"H-huh?!" Hajime felt his heart stop for a moment. Now he knew that Nagito is an utter menace to him. Any minimal amount of respect he had became non-existent.
"I-is...is this how you truly see them?" stuttered Makoto while also feeling some anger within him. He was one of those people that was hit more than others when it came to Nagito's statements.
"Watch your fucking mouth right now, you fucking irredeemable bastard!" Fuyuhiko warned him, because he was that close of striking him down. Peko remained silent, but if looks could kill, she had one directed right at him.
"W-what gives you right to even say such stuff! Apologize for it now!" Mahiru went into defensive as well.
"Oh, you're THAT type, huh?" Skipper, while having more composed reaction, became more disgusted with him. Those type of folk "Say the line, wizard man!".
"But….what about Lab members? You know, Kurisu, Mayuri, Rintaro and such?" further, yet more quietly asked Chiaki, just hoping at the very least he would see them as equals.
"To be honest, I didn't even look at them. Talentless folk like them have no place to be among us." Nagito didn't even mince his words after he revealed what he truly thought of them.
Then, it happened. Not only was Rintaro, who went out of his way to save a friend, not only was Itaru, who helped designing a device that helped take down their enemy, not only was Kurisu, who united Future Gadget Lab and Hope's peak together, not only was Mayuri, whose act of kindness changed Chiaki's life, but also Hajime, who was her first and closest friend to her, dismissed as mere "worthless trash" by someone who was willing to sell them out for the sake of his damned ideal. People who have done so much, yet thought of so little.
It just made her snap. She held it so long, but it was time to let it out.
"So they mean nothing to you?!" Chiaki raised her voice to such levels that no one saw it coming. "That's it, I've had it with this! I've freaking had it!".
Everyone had to see something they would never even think of. Chiaki, filled with pure wrath, nearly lunged herself at Nagito just to slap him. Hajime, upon seeing her in such state, grabbed her hand just in time and pulled her back. He knew that Chiaki definitely needed both a cool down and staying away from Nagito as far away as possible.
"Chiaki, calm down! Calm down, please!" Hajime begged her to cool it, giving her a hug. While she wasn't forcing herself to slap Nagito, all she could do was breathe heavily, trying her best to cool down. Her head felt like it was boiling as her thoughts started to overwhelm her. Most of them were about protecting her friends from such people. Those who saw it couldn't believe their eyes.
"W-what is even going on anymore?!" stuttered Mikan, who was on the verge of a panic attack upon seeing it.
"Holy shit, she just went off!" commented Mondo on the matter. Most of them didn't know what to say, but there was another person who was just sick of Nagito as she was. He decided to finish what she started.
"Cowabunga, it is-" Gundham almost gave out an order for penguins to strike him down, but then another person witnessed all of it. The aforementioned person's presence made them all stop on their tracks. "Cowabunga, it is not! Abort abort!".
The person in question was Chisa Yukizome, who just observed the whole situation with an expression that was nothing but sorrow. Such sight made Chiaki cool down in a moment, only for the anger to be replaced with guilt and another feeling of failure.
"...Guys? Is this...all true what I've heard?" questioned Chisa, trying her best to not believe it, but she couldn't deny it. This was the reality that was happening right in front of her. Nearly everyone remained silent.
"Oh hello there, Instructor. Why such a sad face?" Nagito greeted her as if absolutely nothing happened. The Fellowship of Darkness was absolutely baffled by his demeanor, almost ready to beat him up right in front of Chisa Yukizome.
"You say that with a smile after what happened just now?!" Ibuki condemned him with the total lack of any cheerful attitude she had.
"Is it true, Nagito? Is it true that you are...willing to hurt your classmates?" Chisa asked him a decisive question. His status as a student depended on it.
"Hurt? Hmm….as long as its for greater Hope-" Nagito didn't even bother hiding it anymore, he kept insisting on his ideal of hope. However, there was one action that made everyone silent. The action of an enraged teacher, who just punched the ground with such force, that she left a hole in it. Her hand seemed to have marks from the punch, but physical pain she felt during it was minimal compared to the decision she has chosen for the sake of everyone's safety.
"...You have told me enough. I'm afraid I have to do this…." lamented Chisa before she decided to go through with her decision. She couldn't bear to see sadness in her student's eyes, but what particularly got her was just how Chiaki looked. She knew exactly what Nanami was thinking about and wanted to comfort her, but she had to go through with it first. "You guys can go home, take a rest. Today's….today's gonna be tough….I'm sorry, everyone..."
As Chisa was going to finalize her decision, Chiaki just quietly tried to reach for her, but both the feeling of guilty and her lack of confidence stopped to from it. All that remained was silence from shock. Somehow, even after all of that, Nagito just seemed to be slightly startled.
"Get the hell out of here. Now." seethed Hajime as he pointed towards the entrance of the school. He just wanted Nagito out of his sight permanently. So did everyone else, especially Gundham, who had silently expressed his anger at him. Everyone glared at him for everything he has done, while they also hoped that he would finally get it. Only Chiaki refused to look at him, who was just walking away from the group, hiding in her hoodie.
"I see...perhaps this conflict has no place for Hope or Despair….." Nagito finally admitted that his ideal had no purpose in the ongoing conflict between Hope's peak academy and Daft Capo. He started walking away from them, leaving Hope's peak academy for good. "Alright then. I wish you all best of luck.".
As he disappeared, the Fellowship of Darkness contemplated on what exactly to do after all of that. It was just too much in one single day to handle.
"...Lets do as Miss Yukizome said, shall we?" suggested Makoto. No one disagreed with him, the day exhausted all of their energy. Even penguins were not in the mood to push them further.
"Let's just...chill after all of this. We'll catch up everything tomorrow." concurred Skipper as they all departed, going home after such a day. However, Hajime decided to cheer up the one person who went away prematurely. He couldn't bear to see her in such state, he wanted her to cheer up. At the very least, tend the wound. Hajime ran towards her.
"...Terrible….just….terrible…." mumbled Chiaki to herself as she was walking all alone in the hallway. However, the solitude was quickly pushed over when Hajime managed to catch up.
"Hey, Chiaki. I'm sorry you had to go through so much today….It wasn't fair to you, you deserve days better than this one. I have something that you might like, if you're up to it." reassured Hajime as he was finally allowed to talk about the thing he wanted to since the lunch break. "You know Starfy, right?".
Just as he expected, it immediately grabbed her attention, although she didn't look at him. Her feelings were a bit overwhelming at that moment.
"Starfy? I know him, but…" murmured Chiaki, but she was kind of at the loss of words.
"I actually have one of the games with me today. I thought you might like it, so….wanna play it?" Hajime invited her to have at the very least one gaming session with her. Maybe that will cheer her up just a little.
"Heh….well, today has been a real stinker, but we can still get something out of it. So...let's go with that." Chiaki finally looked at him in the eye, sporting a small, yet relieving smile on her face. They went towards the fountain, sat down on the bench and finally indulged themselves in playing a video game about a cute star
Meanwhile, in the dark alleyway far away from Hope's peak academy, the Ultimate Scammer was using it as a hiding spot. Apparently, he drove as far away from Hope's peak, but close to Zona Daft Capo as much as possible with his moped. He pulled out his crusty phone out of his pocked and called a person he needed the most.
"That mofo better be on the line." Ultimate Scammer thought to himself, hoping that the fella in contact wasn't busy dancing to so called self dubbed "pigeon music". Luckily, the guy picked up the call really quick. "Oi, Rando.".
"What's up, my man?" asked Rando, who seemed to be quite lazy just from his voice alone.
"I've done goofed. They have found me out and now that Nagito dude is in a pickle." reported Ultimate Scammer that their plan was bamboozled within the first day.
"Aw, fuck. We got unlucky about it, I guess." said Rando while remaining weirdly calm about it. Perhaps it was that he knew Nagito was unreliable, but it was still worth giving a try.
"Hol up, don't you always fuck up swears?" noted Ultimate Scammer that he said a swear normally. Daitane would have been greatly pleased, but Rando always finds a way to infuriate her.
"Nah, I don't feel like it anymore. That was last week's shtick." admitted Rando, just not feeling it for butchering swears.
"Well now, what you got on your mind?" asked Ultimate Scammer.
"I dunno, gonna rely on my old buddy World Wide Web on it. Gotta find if there's good stuff on it." explained Rando before he gave his colleague a weird sense of reassurance."But yeah, don't feel too bad about it. We still got folk there.".
Not that he would feel bad about it anyway.
"Ahahaha, I know, you rotten bastard! The thing is, how did they find me so quickly? Was it that Nagito dude that told him about it?" laughed Ultimate Scammer before raising a rather huge point that could influence their operations in a different way. Rando raised an eyebrow, since he expected that Ultimate Scammer would be found out within a week at minimum.
"Unlikely, I think it's the Manhattan boys who did it. They're the only enemy that we have beaten that refuses to give up. Then again, our previous opponents were sent to Albania, where they belong, while they just went skadoosh. If they get particularly annoying...you know where they go." argued Rando while also reminding him of what was the fate of adversaries of Daft Capo. It was his idea, after all. The general plan was that those enemies would suffer the wrath of Balkan residents.
"He did mention that those Hope's peak scrubs have united against us, yeah. Manhattan Boys likely gave them an incentive to do so. Any plans on dealing with them?" reported Ultimate Scammer while also adding his own observations to the discussion.
"That's for Elite Bois to deal with. I was thinking on sending Herman to find out on how exactly they have found you out, but I have two problems. One, element of surprise is gone. Two, he's still pissy about getting punched in the face by noob." further spoke Rando about his plans to him. The Ultimate Scammer laughed upon being reminded of Chiaki.
"Speaking of noob, guess who did I encounter." jeered Ultimate Scammer, almost in a way that sounded like he was bragging.
"Her? Tell me more about it." the words of Ultimate Scammer caught Rando's interest.
"That's the little baby that Herman's so mad about? What the fuck, hahahaha! She looks like a talking mouse! I bet she even squeaks the moment something spooks her!" Ultimate Scammer couldn't stop laughing as he was telling Rando about Chiaki. However, Rando was a bit more hesitant when it came to mocking her.
"Hmmm...I'm having a feeling that there's more to her than we might assume. I have already convinced Herman about setting her as a priority target even before the Elite Bois will come, but we should still keep an eye on her." revealed Rando that Daft Capo will take caution regarding her.
"Are you seriously suggesting she's a threat? C'mon, don't be fucking around." scoffed Ultimate Scammer.
"Not as a threat as of now, but more like a point of interest, so to speak. As of now, we are only sure about some students as high priority threats. Herman already set three at least, and it were that buff lady, the wizard and manager." elaborated Rando, as his plan started to make sense to the client.
"Ah, I see. We'll definitely keep an eye on her, as long as those guys do their job." said Ultimate Scammer.
"We have already gained a lot of info from them. Now, return to Zona Daft Capo. We'll discuss more later." Rando decided to end the conversation as he awaited for him in the hideout.
"Ayy, my mang." nodded Ultimate Scammer before the call was concluded. Thus, once it was all set, the Ultimate Scammer hopped onto his moped and rode all the way to Zona Daft Capo in order to get further updates. Although he was gone from Hope's peak academy, some personnel of Daft Capo still hid among Hope's peak's shadows. Who was it, only they knew.