"Say cheese, everyone!" The Ultimate Clairvoyant said with a grin, eyes illuminated with joy as he prepared to take the picture, a camera from the photography department held firmly in his hands.

Kiyotaka was satisfied. The past few weeks at Hope's Peak hadn't been too awful. Sure, he had experienced a rather rough start, but things were picking up now, despite the occasional blunder. Classes were actually being held (although the lack of attendance bugged him), and the sense of community had grown significantly. Here they all were, gathered together in class, posing for a surprise photo.

The hall monitor had been up on his feet in seconds, saluting with pride, showing off an enthusiastic grin, facing the tall man whose upward-dreadlocks resembled more of a birds' nest rather than an actual head of hair. He had reason to smile. The entire class was wearing uniform for once, with the exceptions of Hifumi, Celeste and Leon, but he brushed that to the back of his mind. It was still progress! Order was prevailing, and education was slowly becoming a bigger priority to the 78th class of Hope's Peak Academy.

With a little 'snap', Hagakure took the picture, and the gang of teens dropped their various poses. Kiyotaka lowered his hand back down to his side, and retook his seat, wondering when the teacher would arrive to start this morning's lesson. He turned his head, glancing at his surroundings. Morning sunlight poured in through the windows of the room, shining hope on a brand new day of learning. Junko and Celeste were engaged in some idle chit-chat, it seemed, with Kiyotaka overhearing the words "Lolita" and "Punk". Most likely discussing fashion, to his total lack of surprise.

"Oh, you're far too kind, Miss Maizono!" Said the drooling voice to his right, and he peered over to watch.

Hifumi Yamada was shoving an already half-finished doughnut into his mouth, which seemed to be from the large box that Maizono had brought in with her. Judging by the fact that Asahina, known for her love of them, had a box of her own, Kiyotaka came to the conclusion that it was her idea to bring them into class in the first place.

A certain baseballer leaned over, swiping one of Asahina's doughnuts straight out the box without even bothering to ask her, balancing it on his finger as he took a bite out of it.

"Leon, no!" She cried, pouting in frustration, eyes filled with the despair a mother would feel upon losing her only child. "The sprinkled ones are my favourites!"

The thief grinned, scratching the back of his head with his doughnut-free hand. "Yo, sorry, I couldn't resist." With that, he took another bite, and hopped up on one of the desks, sitting with his feet on the chair.

"Don't be a jerk, Leon," said Maizono from behind Asahina. Kiyotaka wasn't sure if she was being serious or playful.

"Aww, c'mon, babe," Leon replied with a ladykiller wink, "you know you love a bad boy!"

Kiyotaka rolled his eyes. Typical Leon Kuwata. If it had a well-endowed chest and long hair, it was only a matter of time before the baseballer would make an attempt to flirt with it.

"Want one, Ishimaru?" Said a female voice, prompting the prefect to look in its direction.

Asahina was gesturing down to the box of sugary goods on her desk, her delicate hands hovering over the small feast. Pink icing, honey glazing, jam and sugar all looked up at him, practically begging him to try one. Just one of them. Just one delicious bite, that was all...

"Thank you, but I'm afraid I must decline!" he said, holding up his hand in refusal, but still making sure to show her a smile of gratitude, regardless. His voice was as loud as it always was. A lack of volume control and no concept of an 'indoor voice' was one of his few faults that he was blissfully ignorant of. "It is unacceptable to eat during class hours!"

"Dude," said Leon, who had almost finished his own doughnut ,"we're all eating. Live a little, man. Have one."

Kiyotaka firmly shook his head. "Rules are rules, Mister Kuwata!"

The baseballer rolled his eyes. "Jeez..." he said with a groan, "...such a stiff."

Kiyotaka didn't care what names he was called. All that mattered to him was that he preserved the order of the school. He felt tempted to take the doughnuts away from them and dispose of them. Eating in class was strictly forbidden, after all! However, despite their breaking of the precious rules that he so religiously upheld, he didn't have the heart to upset them when they all seemed so happy. So long as he himself didn't break the rules, then he could bear with it. Without a word in reply, he turned to face the front of the class.

Their teacher strode in a moment later, papers in hand, apologising for being late. Everyone out of their seats quickly made their way back, sitting at their desks, finally falling silent. Ah. There it was. The perfect, silent harmony of a functional school environment.

Being the education-addict that he was, Kiyotaka already had his materials neatly assembled on his desk, pencil placed in a perfectly symmetrical fashion to his ruler in front of him, eager to start the lesson.

Less than an hour later, the cracks were beginning to show. Kiyotaka's fantasy, to his frustration, was slowly reverting back to the harshness of reality. Mondo was sound asleep, face firmly pressed against his desk, as it had been since before the teacher walked in. Kiyotaka paid him no mind. His education was his own responsibility, after all. Hifumi's mobile phone began to ring, playing the opening theme to the "Heretic Angel Mochi Mochi Princess" anime that he was so fond of. Once again, Kiyotaka paid it no mind. Fukawa was whispering into Togami's ear toward the rear of the class, seemingly unaware that everyone could hear what she was saying. Kiyotaka tried to pay it no mind. He would keep his cool, he told himself, and focus on his studies. That was what-

"DAMN is it warm in here!"

Kiyotaka saw him in his peripheral vision. Leon Kuwata (of course), leaning back in his chair, shoes on the desk, a perfect contrast to his earlier position. He was tugging at his collar, staring longingly in the direction of the open windows. Kiyotaka had no problem with the heat, but most of the class had began murmuring in agreement, complaining about how warm it was, and how bored they all were.

The teacher, a stout little man, paused for a moment, rubbing his chin. He, too, looked toward the window, before he slowly nodded. "What do you say we just end class there for today, hm?"

Kiyotaka threw his hand into the air without a second thought. They had more than two hours left! He wasn't going to let it end so soon, when they had only been here for an hour at the most. "Sir, isn't it a bit early to be dismissing us? We've still got so much to cover!" The hall monitor had already written down at least twelve pages of notes throughout the last hour, and his hand was itching to write more.

He felt the collective sighs of the rest of his classmates hit him with considerable force, but he brushed it off. They were in one of the most prestigious schools in the country - a place that some people would literally kill to get into, and they were actively avoiding every opportunity handed to them whenever possible. He wasn't going to let them get away with it, no matter how much respect he had for them.

"Ishimaru, I appreciate the thought," the teacher countered, "but it is, indeed, far too warm to be teaching today. Had we still been in possession of air conditioning, then continuing may have been an option, but that is not the case."

It was no secret that Hope's Peak was underfunded, despite its incredible reputation and the sizeable collective of Reserve Students, whom paid hundreds of thousands to attend the school. It made no sense to the hall monitor. What were they spending the money on? He pitied the Reserve Students. If this was the treatment that people on the Main Course were receiving, then he shuddered to imagine what they were being subjected to. In a way, he believed that the Reserve Students deserved to be here more than his fellow classmates did. They were simply here thanks to their talent, and contained no desire to learn, while the talentless underclass of Hope's Peak could only dream of being in their place.

Class 78 certainly wasn't full of geniuses, but it was packed full of talented people whom were experts without effort, and, to Kiyotaka Ishimaru, that was just as bad, if not worse. He, at least, was here by his own merit.

"You heard him," said Junko suddenly, snapping Kiyotaka from his thoughts, "we're allowed to leave. So let's, like, go or something." She rose from her seat and, snatching the handbag she had been carrying with her all day, she swiftly left, with Mukuro trailing close behind her. The teacher, of course, made no efforts to stop them. In fact, he himself was packing up to leave.

"Anyone feel like headin' down to the track for a run?" Said Mondo Oowada, who had apparently awoken from his sleep within the past five minutes.

"I'll join you!" Asahina chimed in.

"That sounds like an excellent idea," said Sakura.

"Eh, why the hell not," said Leon, followed by many other voices in the class.

It wasn't long before most of the desks were cleared, and the gang were funneling themselves out the door, chattering excitedly, all of them eager to get out into the sun, their teacher not far behind them. Kiyotaka found himself alone now, staring down at his notes, a hurricane of emotion blowing around inside him. Whenever he thought that things were picking up, that the class were maybe coming to their senses and settling down, something like this always happened. They walked out of classes, and they ran in the hallways. They saw Hope's Peak not as a school, but a playground. He sighed. Perhaps he was the odd one here?

"Um, Ishimaru?"

A gentle voice cooed from the hallway, and the exasperated student looked up, trying to hide the tears that had been building up in his eyes. Chihiro, whom had left on the shoulders of Mondo minutes before, was standing in the doorway, her schoolbag held in her delicate hands. She looked as hesitant as ever, as if she were afraid he might snarl at her or bite her or something.

"Are you okay?" She asked.

In truth, he wasn't. He stood up, and turned his back to her, quickly assembling his things and placing them into his bag, hoping he could feign a better emotion by the time he would be forced to turn around again. "I'm fine, Chihiro," he said stiffly, shoving one of his textbooks into the open satchel. "Aren't you supposed to be with the others?"

"I am," she said, "but we were worried about you when we realised you hadn't come with us."

"I didn't realise that the running track was an open invitation," he said, a little more bitterly than he intended to make it.

"Of course it was!" She said, a look of surprise on her face. "We like having you around, Ishimaru. It's not the same without you... you're our friend."

There was something about those last few words that only served to make him more emotional. Were they really friends, he wondered, when they were all so different? When he was always the strict, orderly figure trying to regulate the fun they insisted on having? It was hard to believe, and that was what made it more painful for him.

"Please, Ishimaru... come out to the track with us."

Having now packed his things, Kiyotaka took a deep breath and made his way towards the door. He could barely look at Chihiro; only just able to hold together the semblance of calm. She, however, looked up at him, an expression of sadness on her dainty little face. He didn't say a word as he walked past her, satchel around his shoulder, heading off down the hallway.

Chihiro parted her lips to say something, to call out after him, but she simply bowed her head and, with a disappointed sigh, slowly made her way back out to the track, miserably on her lonesome.

Kiyotaka wasn't going to cry. He had no reason to. Rather, he was angry. He was torn as the main dilemma of his school life made itself increasingly apparent. He had people offering their friendship to him. People who were, for the most part, honest and decent human beings whom he would have loved nothing more than to cooperate with. Yet, those very same people were denying him of the one thing he sought more than anything else, and that was a world-class education. Friendship or education? Fun or order?

He stopped in his tracks, for a moment considering joining the others after all. It would be enjoyable, and despite his initial denial, it was undoubtedly warm. He would have appreciated the fresh air, and he knew that he could spend time with his fellow students, in the hopes of nurturing an even-closer bond between them all as a class.

Red eyes wandered down to the satchel over Kiyotaka's shoulder, and he reminded himself that the only way to succeed in life, to become better than the ruinous figures in his family, was through hard work and dedication. That meant sacrifices, no matter how much they hurt. With a nod, he tossed all notion of fun from his head, and made his way to his dorm, closing and locking the door behind him.

There he stayed for the rest of the day, and all throughout the evening, pouring over fact after fact, note after note, statistic after statistic. This was his world. This was all that mattered.

Fun wasn't necessary within a school environment.