Authors note: hey guys, Fire Slash here and welcome to the next chapter of Healing Wounds. First off, I'd like to thank all of you who followed, faved, and/or reviewed this story. It means a lot to me. Secondly, just a small heads up, nothing really exciting happens this chapter except for the fact I introduce the rest of the characters. Next chapter will have plot development as well as HinataxTsumiki development. Review and enjoy :-).

0000

"I don't think you should of wasted so much time on worthless trash such as myself" Komaeda told Yukizome as he stacked up his soda cans next to his desk. Just as Hinata expected, his group was the last to arrive to class. After all, it did take awhile for Hinata to track down Komaeda and he did have to chase Owari around the school. All that did take a lot of time to accomplish when added together.

"You're not trash!" Yukizome shouted, starting many of her students. "You're a rotten orange!"

"That's not any better" Kuzuryuu scoffed. Behind him, a girl with silver hair, red eyes, and a bamboo sword nodded in agreement.

"Anyways, let me see if I got everyone" Yukizome stated. "I already know that Saionji, Koizumi, Sonia, Tsumiki, Kuzuryuu, and Hinata are here…"

"Hinata?" A light skinned boy with purple hair, a beanie, and a yellow jumpsuit asked. "Wait! We got a new kid?"

"A new kid!" A girl behind him shouted. She had pale skin and green eyes. In addition, she had long multi-coloured hair which consisted of the colors black, pink, blue and white. On the top on her head, some of her hair was tied up to look like two horns. Lastly, she had several piercings on her ears and face. "Why was Ibuki not informed about this!? We could have had such a killer party today to welcome him."

"I don't think that is necessary" Hinata told her, secretly flattered by the fact someone would throw a party just to welcome him to their class.

"Oh, did Kizakura not inform you about Hinata?" Yukizome asked her class, confused.

"No" a light skinned girl with short, pink hair responded, looking up from the handheld system she was playing with. In addition to her pink hair, she also had pink eyes. She was currently wearing a dark green sweater. "He was drunk last Friday…I think."

"Of course he was" Yukizome sighed before pointing at Hinata. "But anyways, this is Hajime Hinata, our newest student. He'll be in our class from now on. As for his talent…I have no idea." Upon saying that, Yukizome quickly flipped through a folder she kept inside her desk which contained information about all of her students. However, much to her surprise, the files about Hinata did not list his title.

"Mister Kirigiri even kept the operation a secret from Yukizome?" Hinata mentally asked himself. "But why? I get it was top secret, but I expected the faculty to know about this."

"Hinata, what is your talent?" Yukizome asked him, snapping Hinata back to reality. Quickly glancing around the room, he noticed that everyone was staring at him.

"I'm sorry, but Mister Kirigiri told me not to tell anyone" Hinata said, hoping that Yukizome would not push the subject. After giving him a suspicious look, Yukizome eventually responded.

"Well if Mister Kirigiri said to keep it a secret I guess you don't have to tell us" Yukizome told him, a frown forming on her lips. She stopped pressing the issue rather quickly for Hinata's comfort, seeing how determined she was to bring the rest of her students back to class.

"A secret huh?" A boy wearing a long, black jacket asked out loud. The boy had extremely pale skin and black hair which was gelled to make it point upwards. His two eyes were of different color, one which was grey while the other was red. Lastly, he had a purple scarf wrapped around his neck. "Perhaps this mortal's talent is something powerful enough to destroy the Earth, despite his average human appearance."

"Average?" Hinata asked, slightly offended.

"Well that doesn't matter now" Yukizome said, diverting everyone's attention to her. "Right now, it's time for me to take attendance. Is Teruteru Hanamura here?"

"Yes ma'am" a boy dressed in a chef's outfit slickly said before letting out a small whistle. He was a very short and chubby kid with tan skin. He had small black eyes and his hair was styled in a pompadour like shape. "It would be a shame if I… kept you all waiting."

"Grrrr…Ibuki's getting goosebumps" the girl with the horned hair said, creeped out by the perverted tone Hanamura used while speaking.

"Is Nagito Komaeda here?"

"I'm here" Komaeda calmly said as he finished stacking his soda cans.

"Ok. Is Ibuki Mioda here?"

"Here here!" The girl who constantly referred to herself in third person chirped.

"Ryota Mitarai?"

"I'm here" a boy with short, light brown hair said. In addition to his blown hair, he had hazel eyes, rosy cheeks, and a rather heavy build.

"How about Chiaki Nanami?" Yukizome asked.

"Here" the pink haired girl bluntly stated once she heard her name. A second later, she let out a loud yawn.

"Nekomaru Nidi?"

"PRESENT!" Nidi shouted, causing everyone to wince.

"Akane Owari?"

Owari let out a huge grunt as she stretched out her back. "Yo!"

"Ok, so Owari's here" Yukizome told herself. "How about Peko Pekoyama?"

"I am present" the silver haired girl sitting behind Kuzuryuu calmly stated. Hinata thought he was imagining things but he was pretty sure Pekoyama was carefully observing his every move. To be honest, she was kind of scaring him.

Yukizome nodded before calling out another name. "Kazuichi Souda?"

"I'm here" the boy in the yellow jumpsuit casually said as he scratched his head.

"Alrighty. Last but least, is Gundham Tanaka here?"

"Indeed I am" the boy with the scarf stated before laughing. "Remember this name, for I am the man who will one day rule this entire world!"

"Ok" Yukizome said with a smile, clearly not fazed by Tanaka's weird speech pattern. "Now that attendance is over, let us begin-"

"Holt! I must ask a question!" Tanaka shouted, interrupting Yukizome.

"Huh? What is it?"

"I wish to know the reasoning for gathering us in this singular room? Your mortal ruler said that students do not have to show up to classes and that all we have to do is pass the final exams."

"Mister Kirigiri did say that" Yukizome told him. "But the truth is, none of that matters!"

"Huh? What do you mean?" Koizumi asked, confused.

"The reason why you all don't attend classes is because you believe in your talents, right?"

"Uh, yea" Mitarai responded.

"While it's good that you have faith in your talents, you all lack something very important, strong relationships."

Hinata shot her a confused look. "Relationships?"

"Yes!" Yukizome ecstatically shouted. "There's more to life than just talent. Interacting with others will build character and help you make wonderful memories. These memories will help form the foundation of a powerful hope which talent cannot even achieve! So let's make something more important than talent shine: your hope! Who's with me!"

"I am" Komaeda immediately said. "I came to this school in order to witness the hope created by the best of the best and I plan to achieve my goal."

"I dunno" Souda responded. "This kinda seems silly to me..."

"I shall join Komaeda" Sonia said, ignoring Souda. "It seems like a splendid idea." Upon hearing that, Souda perked up.

"On second thought, this seems like a wonderful idea, yes it does" Souda enthusiastically said, clearly trying to impress the ultimate princess.

"If the she-cat is fine with this, then so am I" Tanaka stated, casting a small glance at Sonia.

"Really? How wonderful!" Sonia exclaimed, clearly happy that Tanaka was on board with Yukizome's idea. Meanwhile, Souda's face dropped, upset that the princess was not paying him any attention.

"Count Ibuki in!" Mioda shouted.

Nidi shrugged. "Why the hell not. I'll join!" Everyone else in the room nodded in agreement.

"Great! From this day forward, I plan to see you every school day, got it?" Yukizome asked. She was met with enthusiastic nods from the class.

"Seems like I didn't miss much" Hinata thought to himself. "But anyways, I can already see a clear difference between here and the reserve course."

0000

"Ok, maybe there's too much of a difference between the two" Hinata whispered to himself as Owari let out a battle cry before running up towards Nidi. She unleashed a flurry of punches and kicks, trying to damage the bulky teen. Unfortunately for her, Nidi was easily able to block all of Owari's hits before firing a powerful punch of his own, sending Owari flying across the classroom. To be honest, Hinata did not know how this all started. One moment Yukizome was preaching about creating bonds then the next moment she left the room for a second, a substitute teacher taking her place. A few minutes later, the fight between Owari and Nidi broke out. Granted it was a sparring match, jut it was still a fight.

"Do they always do this?" Hinata asked the closest person to him, which so happened to be Tsumiki.

"Uh y-yes" the nurse stated. "Owari is always sparring against Nidi. A-apparently she enjoys fighting."

"Oh" Hinata said in response. "They don't seem to be too good at it."

"H-huh?" Tsumiki asked, giving him an adorably confused look.

"Well, there were several ways both Nidi and Owari could of ended the fight. For example, if Owari landed a swift but powerful kick to Nidi's legs, then he would have fallen, putting him at a major disadvantage."

"Oh. Um Hinata? Are you a fighter yourself?" Tsumiki asked.

"Not really" Hinata lied, knowing that could not tell her anything about what happened when he was taught how to fight after undergoing the Hope Cultivation Program.

"T-that's good" Tsumiki said, a sigh of relief escaping from her lips. "To be honest, I don't like watching people fight. It makes me uncomfortable seeing people harm one another."

"Hey, if you're uncomfortable now, do you want to head outside for a bit?" Hinata asked her. "You won't have to see this."

"That would be nice" Tsumiki smiled. Unfortunately, the smile soon turned into a flinch, something Hinata noticed was a common occurrence for Tsumiki. "That is, if you're ok with hanging out with somebody like me!"

"I've said this before, but if I didn't want to hang out with you, then I wouldn't have asked" Hinata gently stated. Normally a situation like this would irritate Hinata. However, for some unknown reason this was an exception. He was not annoyed by Tsumiki, in fact, he felt bad for her. What type of life does she have that causes her to ask whether she's a nuisance or not?

"I'm sorry!" Tsumiki exclaimed, quickly looking away from Hinata. She was expecting for him to hit her right across the face. However, she was extremely surprised when Hinata gently placed his hand on her head.

"Tsumiki, you have nothing to be sorry for" Hinata said, a genuine smile forming on his face. "You did nothing wrong. Come on, let's get out of here." With that being said, the two made their way to the door, exiting the classroom.

0000

"Whew" Hinata sighed as he sat against the wall. The two were currently in the school's hallway, right outside of their classroom. "It's a good thing we got sour of there. Now we can have some peace and quiet."

"Y-yea" Tsumiki said as she took a seat next to Hinata. The poor girl was still trying to comprehend what happened between her and Hinata a few minutes ago. She was pretty sure he was going to hit her and declare that he no longer was going to talk to her. However, instead, he gently touched her head and told her that there was no reason for her to apologize to him. When that happened, it caused the nurse to feel something she almost never gets to experience…comfort.

"Are you ok?" Hinata asked, snapping the nurse back to reality.

"Y-yea" Tsumiki lied. Unfortunately for her, Hinata was able to see right through the lie. Thankfully, he didn't pursue it, believing that she was still rattled by the fight going on inside the classroom.

"If you say so" Hinata said with a small shrug.

0000

"Hey Munakata, it's me, Yukizome" Yukizome whispered into her cell phone. A few minutes before the fight between Owari and Nidi began, Yukizome excused herself from her class in order to make an important phone call.

"Hi Yukizome" a male voice calmly said from the phone. "How is your investigation coming along?"

"I have found nothing so far" Yukizome disappointedly said.

"That's fine. It's unlikely that you would find something on the first day" Munakata told her.

"Wait! Actually, there is something interesting I've learned" Yukizome informed him. "The class I am currently instructing has received a new student."

"I don't see the significance of this discovery" Munakata said.

"I'm getting to that! Anyways, apparently the student was instructed by Jin Kirigiri to keep his title a secret."

"Why would he do that?" Munakata asked. "Do you know his title?"

"I don't" Yukizome said.

"How about their name?"

Yukizome softly nodded. "His name is Hajime Hinata."

"Keep an eye on that boy. Hopes Peak is hiding something sinister and something tells me that boy may be the key to finding out what Hopes Peak is hiding."

"Understood."

0000

The next five minutes were spent in silence. Tsumiki was fiddling with her apron while Hinata attempted to take a short nap. Unfortunately, his nap was disturbed when he heard the sound of someone falling. Opening his eyes, he noticed that Nanami was lying down on top of his lap, all her attention focused on her gaming device.

"Uh…are you ok?" Hinata asked Nanami, confused as to why she was outside the class.

"Huh?" Nanami asked, looking up from her game before glancing at her surroundings. "…Oh, sorry Hinata."

"It's fine" Hinata said before gently removing her from his lap. Taking a quick glance at her game, he immediately recognized the game she was playing. "Is that Gala Omega?"

"Huh, you've played this game before?" Nanami energetically asked. "It's a classic right? Right?!"

"Y-yea" Hinata responded.

"You've got to show me your game" Nanami said in a commanding tone, clearly excited that someone else owned such an old game.

"Sure" Hinata nodded. "Can I ask why you are out here?"

Upon hearing the question, her face dropped. "I…needed to get out of there. It seems like our class isn't good at becoming a team…I think."

"I think it's too early to judge" Hinata said, trying to comfort her. "It's only been one day and based on what Tsumiki said, those two spar all the time."

"…I guess" Nanami said, focusing on her game. "I wish my gaming skills would help me earn some friends."

"Where's this coming from?"

"…Did I say that out loud?" Nanami asked. "Oh. Well, it's just that my games are not helping me make any friends."

Hinata gave her a puzzled look. "Well, do you enjoy playing video games?"

"Of course I do" Nanami stated.

"Then why not bring in some games that others can play alongside you."

"You mean like a multiplayer game?"

"Yea. How about tomorrow we bring in several games, set up a television, and share the games with our classmates?"

"…That sounds nice" Nanami said with a smile before going back to her game. While the girl was an expert on video games, it seems like socializing was not one of her strongest skills.

0000

The next day, Hinata arrived early to class. Upon entering the classroom, he noticed Souda tinkering on a television screen with Nanami standing next to him, playing with her game girl.

"Hey Souda and Nanami" Hinata greeted, walking towards them.

"Hey uh, Hinata right?" Souda asked, trying to remember Hinata's name.

"Yea, it's Hinata. Did Nanami ask you for help?"

"Yea, she did" Souda replied. "When she presented the idea, I knew this would be a good way to impress Sonia. Once she sees my video game skills, she'll instantly swoon."

"Are you even good at video games?"

"No" Souda pouted. "But I'm pretty sure I can beat everyone else, well except for Nanami."

"Uh, well I wish you luck" Hinata told him.

"Thanks" Souda said before plugging a wire into the television set. "And done! The TV's all set."

"…Are you sure this will work" Nanami asked Hinata.

"It will" Hinata confidently said before picking up a controller. "You guys want to play a few rounds while we wait for everyone else?"

"Hell yea!" Souda shouted, snagging another controller. "I might as well get some practice in before Sonia shows up."

"…I'll also join" Nanami stated as she picked up the second to last controller. "So, what do you two want to play first?"

0000

After a few minutes of debating, the three students decided to play a quick racing game. As expected from the ultimate gamer, Nanami was first, skillfully navigating through the track. In second place was Hinata who was right on her tail, that is, until Nanami separated the distance between the two by throwing a rock at Hinata's character. In lat was poor Souda who was struggling to get past the obstacles layer out on the track.

"Man these controls are so weird" Souda grunted just before he landed off the edge. "Damnit!"

"These controls seem fine to me" Hinata stated as he managed to avoid a barrage of attacks coming from Nanami.

"Well that's probably 'cause you've played this game so many times" Souda retorted.

"I've only played this game three times…"

"What!? But you're so good at this game!"

"I think you're just bad at this game" Nanami bluntly said as she crossed the finish line, Hinata crossing shortly after.

"Greetings classmates" Sonia cheerfully said as she entered the room. "What are you doing?"

"We're playing some video games" Hinata told her. "W-"

"-Want to join us?" Souda asked, immediately cutting Hinata off.

"May I?" The princess asked, her eyes gleaming with excitement. "That would be wonderful." Sitting down next to Nanami and Hinata (much to Souda's disappointment), Sonia picked up the controller and began playing.

0000

"How did I loose again?" Souda asked as Nanami, Hinata, and Sonia passed the finish line. Despite being good with machines, his video game skills were very below average.

"Pah! What a foolish display of skill" Tanaka said from behind them. A few minutes after Sonia's arrival, the rest of Hinata's class began to arrive, each of them captivated by the television set inside the room. As such, a crowd immediately formed around the four students playing the game.

"…I think we should play a different game" Nanami told her classmates. Glancing at Souda, Hinata nodded in agreement.

"Yea, good call."

0000

The next game played was a fighting game where the purpose of the game was to be the last person standing. Noticing the group that formed behind them, Hinata, Nanami, Souda, and Sonia offered their controllers to Nidi, Owari, Kuzuryuu, and Tanaka respectively. As such, the four were quickly mashing the buttons on their controllers, eager to win. Unfortunately for Kuzuryuu and Owari, Tanaka and Nidi easily knocked their characters off the stage. Due to them being the last two left, Nidi and Tanaka were engaged in an intense battle with one another.

"Give up you lowly human mortal" Tanaka told Nidi. "You're foolish to believe that you could beat a dark lord as powerful as I!"

"There's no way I'm giving up!" Nidi shouted as he attempted to knock out Tanaka's character. Despite the team manager's effort, Tanaka was able to eventually knock Nidi off.

"What! But how!"

Tanaka smirked. "Like I've said before, a low life like you could never defeat the great and powerful Tanaka."

0000

After Tanaka's victory, the controllers were handed to Koizumi, Mioda, Tsumiki, and Yukizome who had just arrived to class. The teacher was happy to see her students getting along so quickly.

"Who's idea was this?" Yukizome asked as played the game. Instead of playing the fighting game, the four girls were playing a game which involved removing blacks by blowing them up with bombs.

"It was Hinata's" Nanami informed her. "…I think."

"Hinata huh?"

"Um, instructor Yukizome, I think you've placed too many bombs on the map" Koizumi exclaimed, pointing to the screen. Seeing as Yukizome somehow managed to cover a big portion of the room with bombs, when the bombs exploded, is was big enough to kill everyone who was playing, resulting in a game over.

0000

"Man, I thought you had ultimate luck" Souda told Komaeda. The two were playing a virtual version of Monopoly with Pekoyama and Mitarai. Komaeda was in dead last while everyone else was near the finish line. Shrugging his shoulders, Komaeda pressed one of the buttons on his controller which made him roll some virtual dice. Managing to get all sixes on the dice, Komaeda let out a small chuckle.

"Seems as though my luck has returned" Komaeda said as his character went passed everyone else's, winning him the game.

"How the hell is that even possible?" Kuzuryuu asked.

"See? You can make friends with games" Hinata told Nanami.

The pink haired girl smiled at him. "Yea…I guess you're right… I think."