A.N: Hello again, everyone! I know it's been a while, but here's a new chapter of this fic! I apologize for the delay, but I was pretty busy with other writing projects to work on this story. This chapter is a short one, but I hope you'll still enjoy it!

Chapter Four: Out of Place, Much?

12th of March, 2011

Makoto stood in front of the gates for a long moment. His dream was right in front of him. Unreal. It was so unrealistic, he had to pinch himself to make sure it was true. But there was no time to daydream.

Better get going... I don't want to be late for the orientation ceremony...

He walked through the main gates and dragged his suitcase behind him, trying his best to retain his composure. Nothing was supposed to go wrong, right? After all, it's not like he was there illegally or anything. Perhaps his status was peculiar, but there was no point in being so nervous!

That's what he tried telling himself, anyway. It didn't prove quite as effective as he'd hoped.

"Hey, runt. Watch where you're going."

The boy was stopped in his tracks by an unfriendly voice addressing him. Makoto looked up and noticed an absolute mountain of muscles standing before him. He gulped. One more step and he would have bumped into the big fella.

In other words, one more step, and he was a dead man.

"I-I'm sorry!"

The man, with green hair and pink eyes, glared at him threateningly. Makoto shook in his boots. He couldn't have been off to a better start, could he?

"Hmph. What's a shrimp like you even doing here? The middle-school division is on the other side of campus."

And... that was that. Insulted before even entering the building. Makoto was forced to sweatdrop. It seemed like he had not come across the warmest of customers. If this was the Welcoming Committee, Makoto had just found Hope's Peak Academy's first flaw.

"M-My name is Makoto Naegi, sir," he explained, giving a polite bow. Better be careful. "I-I'm here for the orientation ceremony. I am the Ultimate Lucky Student, sir."

This genuinely appeared to take the muscular man by surprise. It replaced the scary look in his eyes for a second, and for that, Makoto was grateful.

"Oh, right! Haha!" The man laughed, and Makoto did not know whether to be offended or thankful. Most likely the former. "Principal told me about you! Heh, you look even dumber in person than in your picture!"

Thanks for that... Makoto thought, realizing he was off to a great start. He obviously didn't say it out loud. What the heck was he even supposed to say to that? Arguing back was not the way to go if he cared to live another day.

And he did.

"Name's Juzo Sakakura. I'm the Chief of Security here, so if you cross my path, it means you're in pretty big trouble, shrimp," the man, Juzo, told him, his voice obviously condescending. "Gimme the suitcase and take this." He handed him a keychain and a couple of keys. "I better not see your face again, got it? Now beat it."

Without another word, Juzo forcefully grabbed Makoto's suitcase and walked away. Well, at least he fit his position. Makoto firmly doubted there were any troublemakers at Hope's Peak, considering who he had just met.

But as short as he was, he wasn't a shrimp! Now, he was offended!

What are those keys...? I guess there's one to what will be my room, but what about the other one? The boy pondered the question, standing in front of the second set of gates. He decided he would get his answers later.

If he didn't hurry up, he would really be late!

12th of March, 2011

"Hey, wait up over there!"

Makoto turned around and noticed two girls walking over to him. He stopped, immediately realizing that one of them was highly familiar. And he knew exactly where he had seen her.

"C-Can I help you...?"

The first girl looked rather unfriendly. Her hair was dark black and kept short in a bob. Freckles covered the bridge of her nose, her eyes were an intimidating purple-grey color, and Makoto immediately noticed her athletic figure. She wasn't the one the Ultimate Lucky Student had recognized.

As for the other, her hair was a strawberry-blonde color that Makoto assumed was bleached. It was tied into two thick pigtails, and her bangs revealed light blue eyes. She had a dramatic hourglass figure and red nails that looked fake.

"You, helping me? Good one, boy!" the blonde said, clapping Makoto on the back. "Ya just looked nice, so I thought me and my useless sister could come say hi!"

Makoto scratched his temple. "O-Oh, well, um... H-Hello..." Is... Is Hope's Peak populated only by weirdos...?! "M-My name's Makoto Naegi. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student. N-Nice to meet you!"

The blonde girl stared him straight in the eyes, rendering the boy somewhat uncomfortable. It was as if she was analyzing him. Not that Makoto believed there was much about him worth investigating, to be perfectly honest.

"So you're a lucky dude, are you?" She leaned closer to his ear, whispering, "Be careful. I've heard the previous Ultimate Lucky Student here was a total madman. Hope it's not contagious!" The boy had no idea what he was supposed to say to that. "As for me, I am the one and only Junko Enoshima! Ultimate Fashionista!"

Thought so... I've seen her so many times in Komaru's magazines... Makoto thought, recalling the piles of magazines his little sister kept at home. Before he could speak again, however, Junko carried on.

"The ugly thing next to me is my sister, Mukuro Ikusaba. No one gives a crap, but she's the Ultimate Soldier." She leaned in again, whispering comically loudly, "I suggest you don't interact with her. Her bad smell is infectious."

"I, uh..." What...?

"Well, we'll see ya later, luck boy!" With that, the fashionista walked away, waving at Makoto as she did. "Follow me, Muku. Poor Naegi-kun doesn't deserve the cruelty of having to smell your breath."

The second girl – Mukuro – shyly nodded and followed after her sister. Makoto watched them walk ahead of him, unsure of what to think. He had only met three people so far... and, well... all three were... peculiar, to put it like that.

And there I was, thinking that Komaru and I didn't get along...

With that thought, Makoto resumed his walk, more than a little confused.

To be continued...

A.N: I hope you liked it! I'll try to make sure the next chapter doesn't that so long to come out. Until then, please leave a review, and I hope you all have a nice day!