The first day of high school and Hajime was already longingly staring out the window, towards the main building of Hope's Peak Academy. He had been one of the first students to arrive, so he decided to pick a seat near the back next to a window, for obvious reasons. As he continued to stare out, he heard his classmates slowly but surely filter into the room. He ignored them, just as they ignored him. They were just too different from him, satisfied with just having the name of Hope's Peak on their college applications. Not Hajime. No, he wanted to be more. He wanted to get into the Main Course, be labeled an Ultimate! But… he didn't have a talent. He was worthless. If only he had a talent, then he would be-!

"Not satisfied?"

Hajime was snapped out of his thoughts when he heard someone next to him speak. Turning to his right, someone had taken the seat next to Hajime's. The student was an average height, looking to be about 5 feet 9 inches (about 175 centimeters for my non-Americans!), and had fairly pale white skin. His hair, black, covered one of his amber eyes, which looked a little messy and unkempt. The only real thing that stood out to Hajime was the guy's dark blue headphones, which were hanging from his neck.

"...Uh, dude?"

It took a moment for Hajime to realize the guy was talking to him. "No...I'm not."

The kid grinned. "So what're gonna do about it?"

"Huh?" Hajime smartly replied.

The kid rolled his eyes and asked, "C'mon, you're not seriously just sitting there just wishing instead of doing something, right?" The silence that followed between the two told the kid everything. "Jesus, you're hopeless! What's your name?"

"...Hajime Hinata."

The kid nodded and introduced himself saying, "Name's Seijo Kajiya, nice to meetcha! So Hajime-"

Already on a first name basis?!

"-we gotta get you a talent!"

Hajime gave Seijo an incredulous stare. "...Get me a talent."

"Yep."

"You're serious, aren't you?"

"Why wouldn't I be?"

Hajime's skeptic glare clashed against Seijo's innocent side-glance for what seemed like ages before Hajime broke the silence with a sigh and said, "That's impossible. You know that don't you?"

Seijo blinked before he laughed out loud (drawing the attention of some of the class) and kicked his feet up onto the desk. "My friend, nothing is impossible. In fact, I'm certain that if you just kept looking within yourself, and searched for something you enjoy, you'll without a doubt become an Ultimate!"

"It's not that easy for guys like us, you know. If you're born with talent, you get accepted. The rest of us get thrown away like trash."

Seijo was quiet, and Hajime thought he finally got through to the naive kid, but Seijo spoke up once more. "When did I ever say it was easy? Sure, natural talent helps a lot, don't get me wrong, but hard work triumphs all. Well, hard work and a bit of luck. Eventually, you'll be recognized for the work you've put in, at least a little. And if you're not satisfied with that…?" Seijo smiled. "...Then aim higher."

"...What?"

Seijo gave Hajime the cockiest grin the Reserve Course student ever saw. "Just aim higher. If you're not satisfied with where you are now, just aim higher. That's what I'm doing."

"What if I'm not good enough?"

"Then you ain't good enough. Just work harder."

Hajime sighed. He really wasn't getting through to the guy was he? "Hard work can only do so much. Talent is a fundamental necessity if you want to get into the Main Course. Without it, it doesn't matter how hard you work."

"I just think you haven't found your talent yet, personally."

Hajime glared at Seijo and stated, "I tried in sports, arts, and everything else. I don't have any talent in any of them. I'm a lost cause." He turned towards the window, towards Hope's Peak. "...It's already over for me."

"So hard work is useless? Trying to achieve your dream is useless because you weren't born with it? Your status and potential is locked at birth?" Hajime went to retort but paused. Did he really sound like that? As much as he wanted to say something, Hajime couldn't find it in himself to disprove Seijo's accusation. Hajime felt like that was exactly what he meant. Was he always this cynical…?

For a moment, Hajime could've sworn that Seijo looked victorious, but the moment was shattered when the bell rang and the teacher came in. Almost like it never happened, Seijo sat down and put his headphones over his ears.

Hajime went back to looking out the window with a whirlwind of thoughts in his head. Could he really become an Ultimate? He didn't think so. But what he did know was that he needed time to think over the conversation he just had. He needed to self reflect.

Next to him, as Hajime started daydreaming once more, Seijo smiled to himself.

While he didn't inspire Hajime like he hoped to, he created a small spark that would soon become a blazing inferno. Everything was going according to plan.

He just needed to play his cards right.

The first month of the school year came and went, and by then all the cliques had been formed in Hajime's classroom. And just like in middle school, he was completely alone. Where everyone else enjoyed karaoke and eating-out with a group, he was isolated, completely cut out from the rest of the-

"Yo, Hajime!"

Alright, so he wasn't completely alone. "Oh, hey Seijo."

The teen crashed into his seat like usual and gave Hajime a smirk. "What, no kiss? I thought you loved me!"

"Right. Trying to start a rumor? You already know what everyone thinks about us." Hajime grumbled, still staring out the window.

It was true. Hajime's class had started mocking both him and Seijo less than a week into the school year. Murmurs of "losers in dreamland," "boring, ordinary no ones," and more. They whispered the insults, but it was always loud enough for the two teens to hear.

Seijo cutting off Hajime's internal rant by saying, "To hell with them! They're all rich anyways, it's natural for snobs to look down on the Average Joe." And Seijo wasn't wrong. The Reserve Course was pricey to get into, and even then there was a monthly fee to stay. All in all, only people with deep pockets could comfortably pass the school year. "Besides," he continued, "all these guys are second rate anyways. They couldn't be Ultimates, so they decided the next best thing! Pass high school here and get the Hope's Peak name on their applications without putting any effort to improve! Ain't that right fellas?"

Hajime noticed that the usual chatter of the classroom stopped and all eyes were on them. "C'mon Seijo, please don't say that," he begged.

Seijo rolled his eyes. "But it's true!"

Before anything could really break out, the bell rang, the teacher came in, and order was once more achieved. Hajime pulled out one of his notebooks and started taking notes when a ball of paper hit his desk. Eyebrow raised, he unraveled the piece of paper and saw it's contents. 'Let's eat lunch on the rooftop today, ok? -Seijo' He turned his questioning gaze to Seijo himself, but the teen ignored Hajime completely. Hajime sighed and starting taking notes. Guess a change of scenery for lunch wouldn't hurt.

Lunch came and the two went to the rooftop. The bright blue sky barely had clouds, and the view of Hope's Peak's entire campus was breathtaking. Why hadn't Hajime come up here earlier? He even gets a great view of the Main Course building!

"Like the view, huh? I found out about this place yesterday after school. If you think this is nice, wait until you see the sunset. It's awesome!" Seijo plopped down and pulled out a bento box. Seijo caught Hajime staring and waved the box in front of him. "Jealous? All of this is homemade!"

"A little, honestly. Wished someone made me one..."

"I made this myself. I wake up early. I'm one hundred percent independent baby!"

Hajime paused, surprised. "Really?" He asked. "I thought you lived with your parents?"

The teen next to him shook his head. "Nope, they're still in America, where I was born. I came here on my own," he explained. "I miss them a lot, but we talk weekly."

Hajime fell silent and gazed towards the Main Course building, a wistful look on his face.

"...Hey, dude, you good?"

"Yeah," Hajime responded, still gazing. "I just wish things were different."

"Different how?"

"...Can we not talk about this right now? I just… want to dream, at least a little longer."

"….Yeah, I get it, you're good. Just..." For the first time, Hajime saw Seijo hesitate. "...If you need anything, you can ask. You're my only pal in this course, so I wouldn't want to lose you, y'know?"

For a moment, the Reserve Course student stared wide-eyed at Seijo, before giving a small smile. "Don't worry, I'm not going anywhere, at least for now."

"Good, but I just wanted to make sure."

For the rest of the lunch break, the two of them simply relaxed and ate in silence. Then, the bell rang and the two of them went back to class. Hajime didn't know what the future held, but he felt hopeful. For the first time in a while, he began to look forwards to the next day.

Oh God nothing was going right! As Seijo and Hajime walked back to class, the headphone-wearing headcase was sweating bullets. During his small discussion with Hajime, Seijo came to a horrid realization: he didn't have a timeline! When the hell was everything gonna go to shit!? Class 77 were still first-years, so he has a year…? Maybe…? Ugh, he didn't know when anything was gonna happen, so what now?! Just sit back and pray he finds something? No, probably not. He'd have to really start putting effort into investigating and making connections with important figures… but how? Hajime was easy enough, but what about everyone else? Oh man, Seijo was already dreading the next day…

"Hey Hajime, wanna check out the Main Course building?"

Everyone went silent, all eyes on Seijo.

Realizing everyone was looking at him, Seijo tried to wave everyone away. "I uh, I mean oh darn too bad we can't see the Ultimates, am I right or am I right?!" After a few moments of staring, everyone went back to their own business, and Seijo whispered into Hajime's ear, "So? Wanna check it out?"

Shell shocked, Hajime had to take a moment to reboot. Once he did, he nabbed Seijo's shirt and dragged it close. "Are you insane?!" He whisper-yelled, "If we get caught, we'll get expelled!"

Seijo nodded. "If we get caught!"

"This is serious! I don't want to risk everything for this!"

"So you're fine with staying here?"

Hajime froze at that. After an agonizingly long minute, Hajime asked, "How will we even get in?"

Seijo smirked. "Easy. We just walk through the main entrance. Think about it, what kind of idiot would just walk in through the front gate of a highly secured institution in broad daylight?"

"...You. You're the idiot that thought of it."

"Correct!"

"...Alright. Say we walk right on in and we're miraculously not caught. What then? Besides, what about our outfits? We'll be seen as Reserve Course students from a mile away!" Hajime asked.

Seijo's smirk grew. "Why, Hajime my friend you underestimate me! I have disguises! Just dress up as weird as possible, and boom! You're an Ultimate!"

"It's not that easy-"

"Mikan Tsumiki."

"...Alright, so one person dresses a little weird, that doesn't-"

"Ibuki Mioda."

"Ok, two people isn't an entire-"

"Gundham Tanaka."

"Three doesn't mean-"

"Teruteru Hanamura."

"...Four people isn't-"

"Ruruka Ando."

"...Fine. You win."

"You sure? I got like, ten more people I could list."

"Seriously?"

"Yeah. Wanna hear them?"

"Shut up and tell me the rest of the plan."

Cackling like a madman, Seijo quickly filled Hajime in on the entire plan (which was just sending sick notes to the teachers on the day of infiltration). After reluctantly agreeing (could this be his chance to get into the Main Course?!), Hajime couldn't help but feel like he made a deal with a demon.

"So Hajime my friend buddy ol' pal, ready to commit a crime?!" Seijo ignored the many stares he got by nearby pedestrians and continued talking. "I got our disguises right here," he lifted up two briefcases and continued, "so we just need to get into our fits and we'll be golden!"

Hajime, meanwhile, was trying to ignore the stares they were getting. "Will you shut it?! We won't get inside if the police are called on us!" The two of them were standing right outside the campus of Hope's Peak 30 minutes before school started, on the sidewalk next to the main gate that lead to the Main Course building.

"...Oh yeah that's right. Anyways, here you go!" Seijo gave Hajime one of the briefcases and said "We'll meet back here in fifteen, and then we'll walk right in."

Hajime nodded. "Right. Let's do this." Hajime felt his heart begin to race, and he felt a rush of adrenaline course through him! This was it! He was gonna enter the Main Course!

He did NOT want to enter the Main Course. When the two reconvened fifteen minutes later, all Hajime could do was glare at Seijo to ignore the looks he was getting now. Seijo, he had to admit, looked like an Ultimate. His black and normally shabby hair was combed to look cleaner, and his whole outfit was upgraded. A set of extremely large blood red headphones adorned with intricate patterns rested on his shoulders. A long coat (with a fur lined hoodie) covered his torso and arms, dotted with a bunch of different types of audio players, ranging from CDs, to cassettes, vinyls, and more. His normal black pants were replaced with jet black sweatpants, and his tennis shoes were pure white with music notes splattered sporadically. He even changed his teeth, to look really sharp and pointy.

Hajime, on the other hand, was dressed like a clown. Yep. A clown. Big red afro, big red nose, polka-dotted suit, pants, tie, and a pair of comically large shoes to really cement it. "You...you...YOU TRICKED ME!" That was how Hajime felt as Seijo was laughing at him so hard, he fell to the ground and was holding his stomach. "You just wanted to embarrass me didn't you?!"

Once the laughter subsided, Seijo got up from the ground and said, "Oh, no. This whole plan is legit, I just REALLY wanted to know if you were gonna go through with it after you saw the outfit." Seijo began walking.

Hajime, without even thinking, began walking with him. "Seriously? Why couldn't you make me an outfit like yours?! You actually look decent, I'm an actual joke!"

Seijo, still chuckling a little, shook his head. "Yeah, but that also means that you'll walk right through without anyone questioning you. Because you look so ridiculous, the security guards wouldn't think twice about letting you in! Seriously, you look like an Ultimate!"

Hajime gave a depressed sigh. "No, I don't. I look like a clown that wandered from the local rodeo. One look at me and I'll get sent away!"

Seijo smirked. "You really think that?"

"Of course I do. This plan was stupid, I can't believe I fell for it."

"But Hajime my dear friend, we're already here?"

...What? Hajime looked up and sure enough, they were at the front door of the Main Course building. "Wha- But how- We were-"

"We walked right through. The guards barely gave us a glance. You were so absorbed in the conversation, you didn't even notice! C'mon Hajime, you gotta have awareness in moments like those!"

Hajime's brain was still malfunctioning, so Seijo dragged him inside. "I-but-but-I," no matter how much Hajime tried to speak, he was stunned. The only thing he could process was that HE WAS HERE HOLY SHIT!

The two of them entered the building, and Hajime immediately stopped and looked around in awe. Meanwhile, Seijo began mumbling to himself. "If memory serves right, everything happened in the Old Building, which already has five floors. According to the website, Hope's Peak made a new building to expand, to allow more Ultimates and to have more facilities for each Ultimate's talent..." Seijo looked around and quickly spotted a large map detailing the first floor. Grabbing Hajime, the two walked over to analyze the map. "Let's see… on the first floor there are… THREE pools?! Wow. Let's see… there's also the first-year classrooms, the cafeteria, the gymnasium, the entrance to outdoor areas..."

As the two of them examined the map, they failed to notice a third person walk up behind them. "U-Uhm, excuse me, are you lost?"

The two teens jumped and whirled around, surprise on their faces. In front of them was a little lady around 5 feet and a couple inches (about 160 centimeters) with pale gray hair and even paler skin. Her eyes were a shade of purple and underneath was some kind of mask that covered most of her features. Seijo step forward and said, "A little, if we must admit. You see, one of our friends said they wanted to show us something in the..." Seijo took a quick glance behind him and said the first thing he saw, "Sauna! In the sauna, and we never visit it, so we didn't know where to find it!"

The girl stared at Seijo like he was an idiot. "You… don't know where the sauna is?"

"Well, that's why we're here!"

"...Why didn't you just check your e-handbook?"

As Hajime watched the whole situation, his mind was going a hundred miles a minute. They got caught! It was over! The sauna, really?! Seijo was an idiot, and Hajime was too for going along with the plan! Oh God it was over, his high school life was breaking down right in front...of...him…? "...Because they would break down if we took them in? I mean, it gets really hot in the sauna and the e-handbook would just melt…?"

Seijo capitalized on the opportunity immediately saying, "That's right! So we left them in our dorms. It was only when we got here did we realize we had no idea where the sauna even was, so we decided to check the map! The e-handbooks can't handle high temperature really easy, so we thought the next safest place besides our pockets was our rooms!"

The girl seemed to think it all over before nodding. "Yeah, that makes sense. I forgot the e-handbooks don't handle heat that well."

Seijo gave an exaggerated sigh and complained, "I know right? It's a pain. We can't seem to find the sauna, so could you point it out Miss…?"

"Kimura, Seiko Kimura. I'm the Ultimate Pharmacist." She then offered a hand.

Seijo shook it and said, "Pleasure to meet ya, I'm Kyoku Meka, the Ultimate Music Producer!" He then nudged Hajime in the side and introduced, "And this funny guy is Tanoshi Otoko!" Seijo then leaned far enough to whisper to Seiko and said, "I think you know what Ultimate he is."

Seiko giggled while Hajime gave a sigh. Really? 'Tune Maker' and 'Fun Guy?' That was all Seijo could come up with? "I'm the Ultimate..." the teen paused, internally debating if he was actually going to finish his sentence, before grumbling, "Ultimate Clown."

Before Seiko could say anything else, the fake Music Producer asked, "Anyways, could you point us to the sauna? We don't want to be late."

The Ultimate Pharmacist nodded and pointed on the map. "The sauna is right past the indoor swimming pool, right here," she pointed at another part of the map and continued, "and the entrance is here."

Seijo gave the Ultimate Pharmacist a smile and grabbed Hajime's hand. "Alright, thank you for the help! We'll see you around!"

Seijo quickly dragged Hajime away, but as they were leaving Seiko asked one more question. "What class are you guys from?!"

Without thinking Hajime shouted, "77-B!" The two left the Pharmacist alone, confused yet a little happy that she met them.

Seijo and Hajime found themselves in changing rooms that led towards the indoor swimming pool. "Well," Seijo began, "Now what? I didn't bring swimsuits."

Hajime shrugged. "Wait until she leaves and then just, explore?"

"Alright, fine by me."

The two sat down in a corner, far from the entrance, and began talking. "I can't believe we're actually in here," Hajime gushed. "I mean, wow! We're actually here! This feels like a dream!"

Seijo nodded. "I know right?! I can't believe that worked! I mean," Seijo laughed. "I thought we'd get caught and get pushed away, not this!"

Hajime laughed too, and soon enough the two of them were just talking about how cool and amazing the place was when the door to the changing room slammed open, causing the two to freeze in place. After a few moments of silence, a loud booming voice tore through it. "I KNOW YOU'RE IN HERE! COME ON OUT!"

Hajime and Seijo, frozen in fear, forgot to even breathe. After what felt like an eternity, they heard a heavy sigh and the sound of someone walking away. Once the door shut, the two fake Ultimates deflated like balloons. "Okay," Seijo began, "That was scary."

Hajime silently nodded, not confident in his voice just yet. The two simply sat in silence for a minute, letting their heart rates slow down, when, "Hey."

A third voice was right next to them. The two screamed in fear and jumped high enough that Seijo could've sworn his head hit the roof. The two turned towards the voice and found a hulking behemoth of a man staring down at the two of them. Seijo was the first to speak up with a weak, "...Hey?"

"NO! YOU'RE COMING WITH ME!" The giant yelled, and before Hajime or Seijo knew it, they were tied together by a string of rope. The giant man then picked them both up like it was nothing and began leaving. "I'LL TAKE YOU BACK TO THE CLASSROOM FOR MISS YUKIZOME IF MY NAME IS NEKOMARU NIDAI! AND IT IIIIIIIIISSSS!"

The Ultimate Team Manager started running, blitzing past countless people who heard Nekomaru's shout. "Hey, big guy!" Seijo yelled, "You got the wrong fellas! We ain't apart of your class!"

Nekomaru laughed. "I'm not THAT stupid! Seiko told me that there were two guys from our class heading towards the changing rooms!"

Ignoring Seijo arguing with the giant, Hajime was debating between crying in despair or fanboying to the max. On one hand, he was going to meet a bunch of Ultimates! He was going to hang out with all of them! This was gonna be awesome! On the other hand though, he was gonna get found out! Oh God his school life was over! There's no way he'll be able to make it back or leave if nuts like these were going to be around! He was screwed!

"I guess we got caught, eh Tanoshi Otoko?"

Hajime looked over at Seijo and saw him winking. Catching his drift, Hajime sighed back. "I guess so, Kyoku Meka. We were busted!"

As the two were pretending to be upset, Nekomaru laughed. "I knew it!"

Seijo sighed. Oh man, he just wanted to get a layout of the school, he wasn't planning any of this… This was going to blow up right in his face, he knows it! It was the quick thinking on Hajime's part that they weren't found out by Seiko, but now they're heading straight to the lion's den. And by that, he meant Chisa Yukizome. There was no way she wouldn't know about two extra students missing, right?

Seijo had a feeling that things were about go very, very wrong…

"MISS YUKIZOME, I BROUGHT BACK TWO MORE!" The incredibly loud Team Manager barged into the classroom, catching everyone's attention.

"That's great Nekomaru! I knew you'd be reliable!" The next thing Hajime and Seijo knew, they were dumped onto the floor in front of Class 77-B's new homeroom teacher, Chisa Yukizome. She stared at the two of them for a minute, and it was at this moment that Seijo knew the two Non-Ultimates were caught. "Yep! Now we just need two more!" What?

"And who are you, miss?" Seijo asked, trying to understand what she just said.

She smiled. "I'm your new homeroom teacher, Chisa Yukizome! Pleasure to meet you, you rotten oranges!"

Hajime raised a brow. "Rotten oranges…?"

A redhead girl in the back spoke up. "Don't bother," she said. "We don't really get it either."

Hajime could only nod in confusion. "I...I see?"

"Now then!" Miss Yukizome slammed her hands on the podium. "There's only two left, so let's get our butts into gear!"

"Huh? I'm exhausted! My legs are broken..." A little yellow haired girl complained.

"Broken?!" Another girl, this time with long, haphazardly cut purple hair rushed over to the first girl and asked, "A-A-Are you okay?!"

The first girl immediately grimaced. "Stay back, you rotten orange," she insulted.

"You're so mean!"

Meanwhile, Chisa began examining the state of the classroom, noticing how dirty it was. "Jeez, guess there's no choice..." She sighed. "Alright, I'll go and get the other students then. Could the rest of you clean the classroom?"

"What?" A guy with pink haired asked. "That's way too much of a pain..." Suddenly, there were two knives embedded into his desk. "Huh?"

The housekeeper was directly in front of him. "Kindly do it, please?" While she was smiling, everyone could feel an aura of malice exuding from the woman.

"I get it! I get it okay?!"

"Alright, I'm counting on you!" And just like that, Chisa Yukizome left.

"Does she pull a sword out on everyone…?" The pink haired man asked.

The red head turned towards the guy. "But she's a surprisingly good teacher."

Before the pink haired guy could speak up though, Seijo decided now would be a good time to start talking. "Hey, uh, excuse me? Can we, you know, get these ropes removed? I do NOT like how they are creasing my jacket." Seijo took a quick glance around the room to confirm everyone's identity, just in case something was off, but it seemed his paranoia wasn't needed, as every Ultimate seemed the same.

Peko Pekoyama grabbed one of the knives Yukizome left behind and expertly freed the two fakers in one slash. Hajime quickly got up and said, "Thank you, it was starting to hurt." Peko simply nodded and walked away. Now that Hajime was free, he could finally process what happened today. Seijo and Hajime decided they would sneak into the main course, succeeded, got lost, went into the guy's changing room, only to get kidnapped by the Ultimate Team Manager, and were now forced to clean up the Ultimate's classroom. This was WAY too much excitement, and he felt on the verge of passing out! Before he could though, a broom was thrusted into his vision by Seijo. "What…?"

"C'mon Tanoshi, let's get cleaning. Don't want teach to kill us!" Seijo stated with a wink.

They were seriously staying?! They were gonna STAY here?! That sounded like a HORRIBLE idea! AWESOME! "Sure thing Kyoku!"

"You know," Mahiru Koizumi started as she swept near her desk, "I don't remember either of you from first day orientation…?"

The unspoken question was answered by Seijo, who lied, "Tanoshi and I knew that attendance was optional, so we decided to just not go to school at all. We immediately went to work on our talents." He put out one of his hands. "Name's Kyoku Meka, the Ultimate Music Producer. You can call me Kyoku."

The girl took it with a smile. "Mahiru Koizumi, Ultimate Photographer."

"Did Ibuki hear music producer?!" Like lightning, the one and only Ibuki Mioda was right in front of Seijo. "Did you say what Ibuki thinks you said?!"

Seijo smiled. "It's a pleasure to meet the Ultimate Musician in the flesh, Miss Ibuki Mioda." Seijo didn't have the time to stick out his hand as Ibuki immediately nabbed it and began shaking it with all her might.

"Ibuki finally has someone to talk music to, to finally understand my creative genius all the way! Kyoku-chan!"...Chan? "Let's get all lovey-dovey for music!"

Serves him right, Hajime thought. After all, it was Seijo's fault they got into this mess, so he deserves to get kidnapped! Okay, maybe that's a bit too far…

"We can get lovey-dovey later my friend, but we should finish cleaning the classroom. Who knows when Yukizome is gonna return, and I don't want to die before I'm 20!" Seijo stated, and immediately began sweeping twice as fast.

Ibuki nodded enthusiastically. "Yep yep! Let's goooooooo!"

"And who are you?" Mahiru asked.

Hajime squeaked his nose, which made a quiet honking noise. "Tanoshi Otoko. Ultimate...Clown."

The red head raised an eyebrow. "Something wrong?"

"Let's just say I didn't willingly want to dress like this..."

After that, the class devolved into chaos and cleaning.

"Hey, watch the jacket! I wasn't kidding when I said I don't like creases!"

"Hey Bozo, say something funny!"

"My name's Tanoshi, not Bozo."

"Revel in the darkness of my Devas!"

"You're just mopping god dammit!"

"I SAID WATCH THE JACKET!"

"I GOTTA SHIIIIIIIT!"

"SHUT THE HELL UP DUMBASS!"

When Chisa Yukizome returned with her last two students, she wasn't as surprised as she believed she should've been. In front of her was a classroom filled to the brim with soap suds, and she could make out bits and pieces of every student inside the conglomerate of cleaning supplies. "You all look like you're having fun, huh?"

The boy whose name she didn't know, the boy with the large headphones, popped out of the mess. "Oh, hey teach."

"...Mind telling me what happened, you rotten orange?"

He shrugged. "Someone put too much soap into one of the mop buckets."

"Was that someone you?"

"...Maybe?"

While Chisa was lecturing the kid, she noticed the clown boy walk up to Chiaki and the two immediately hit it off, talking all about Gala Omega. She smiled, glad that everyone seemed to already becoming fast friends. After the lecture, Chisa stepped behind the still soapy podium and shouted, "All right you rotten oranges, let's clean this place up properly and make some youth juice!" Despite the class groaning, they all began to work twice as hard.

Chisa smiled. They all seem to respect her as a teacher, which was a good first step. "Hey teach, can I get up now?" Oh right, she was still lecturing the boy.

"Oh yes, I suppose I should. Get to cleaning!"

The kid saluted. "Yes ma'am!"

She immediately knocked him in the head, causing him to fall face first into the ground. "Don't call me ma'am!"

The rest of the students could do nothing but watch as Kyoku got knocked out in one punch. This was gonna be one interesting year, wasn't it?

This was officially the best day of Hajime's life. He hung out with a class of Ultimates the entire day, intermingling and really getting to know them. There was still a few people he couldn't really talk well with, Fuyuhiko and Ibuki were really difficult to hold a conversation with, but it seemed like everyone for the most part actually liked him! Which was awesome! Once everyone finished cleaning, they all relaxed and appreciated their handiwork. "Wow, this place looks brand new..." Hajime muttered.

"Everyone's hope shined so brightly today, a piece of scum like me is overjoyed to even be here!" Nagito Komaeda said, eyes getting wetter by the moment.

Akane Owari clicked her tongue and asked, "Yeah that's cool and all but when are we gonna eat?! I'm starving over here!"

Teruteru Hanamura, the Ultimate Chef, was currently laying on the floor exhausted. "You just ate… a five course meal… fifteen minutes ago..."

Seijo laughed and said, "I thought you said you could take any kind of punishment! What happened to that drive, Ultimate Perv?"

"U-Uhm," Mikan Tsumiki spoke up, asking, "Are you alright Teruteru…?"

"Leave him Mikan," Mahiru spoke. "Useless guys like him are the worst."

As Hajime smiled and watched everyone talk, he felt someone tap his shoulder. Turning around, he was face to face with Seijo. "So? How was today?"

Hajime gave Seijo the biggest smile in the world. "It was great Seijo. I still can't believe this all worked out somehow..."

The other Reserve Course student shrugged. "I was expecting something to go wrong all day, honestly. Guess we got lucky." With a wide grin, Seijo stuck out his fist. "We gotta do this again sometime."

Hajime hit it back. "Oh yeah, without a doubt. These guys are fun, a lot more than the Reserve Course students."

"What's this about the Reserve Course?" And suddenly, Mahiru was in front of both of them with an eyebrow raised.

"Oh nothing really. Just talking about the Reserve Course." Seijo coolly replied.

Kazuichi Soda asked, "The Reserve what?"

Chisa chose to enter the conversation, explaining, "The Reserve Course is a section of the school where normal people can pay into Hope's Peak. It's essentially like a normal high school, but with Hope's Peak seal of approval. It's also rumored to be really really pricey."

"Huh?" Soda asked, "Why would people do that?"

"Well Soda-kun," Chisa was about to start a whole new lecture when one of the doors to the classroom was slammed opened, and in walked a relatively large man. Not bigger or taller than Nekomaru, the Team Manager still had a couple inches, but the newcomer still exuded an aura of strength. "Juzo, what are you doing here!?" Indeed, it was none other than the brand new head of security, Juzo Sakakura.

"Yo, Yukizome. Cameras saw a couple kids enter the building, and were flagged as intruders this morning, so I decided to send some of the team out to find them." He had an annoyed expression on his face.

While Juzo was distracted, Seijo tapped Hajime's shoulder and pointed to the exit. Silently nodding, the two began to slowly but surely head to the exit. "Ehhh?" They heard Yukizome say. "You think there might be fakes in here?"

"Can't say for sure," Juzo said. "We didn't find them in any of our databases, so it might've been a technical error in the system or something." They were close to the exit, just a little more and they'll be home free! "But I decided to send a few search parties anyways just to be safe. This is still the world's most prestigious academy after all, wouldn't be surprised to find a couple crazies sneaking in to get close to the Ultimates here." The two Reserve Course students were right at the exit, and no one noticed!

Yukizome nodded in understanding. "I see. I suppose it makes sense." Hajime opened the door silently, they were home free! All Hajime had to do was quietly leave-

*SQUEAK! *

Hajime realized a bit too late that his squeaky red nose had fallen off and had rolled right underneath his foot, which he then stepped on. Now everyone was staring at him and Seijo, currently sneaking out of the classroom. Caught like a deer in headlights, Hajime was frozen.

Seijo, though, wasn't. After a single moment of hesitation, he grabbed Hajime's arm and yelled "WE GOTTA GO HAJIME!"

And now, the two were running to the entrance of the Main Campus as fast as their legs could carry them, all the while the Head of Security was hot on their heels! Oh god, how did this go so wrong so fast!? Why was Seijo cackling like a maniac?!

Meanwhile, Class 77-B were still frozen. "Did... did that just happen?" Soda asked, extremely baffled.

Gundam Tanaka was the first to recover by striking an ominous pose and yelling, "To think two demons could trick I, Gundam Tanaka, and my Four Dark Devas of Destruction! Truly their power is unmatched, and I must prove my superiority before they are caught by the hell hound of Hades!" And like lightning, shot out of his chair to give the two impostors and head of security chase with his four Dark Devas cheering him on.

Nekomaru was the next to stand. "While they may not truly be Ultimates, they have the potential to become some of the best athletes in rugby and soccer ever! I won't let them get caught if my name is NEKOMARU NIDAI!" And he too ran out of the classroom.

"Where ever coach Nekomaru goes, I'll go! Because I still need to kick his ass!" And Akane Owari was gone as well.

Suddenly, Chisa yelled "Who ever brings the two fakers to this class gets exempted from cleaning for a week!" And suddenly, the entire classroom was empty.

"RUN HAJIME, RUN FOR YOUR LIFE!" Seijo was having a blast. This was so ridiculous, so absolutely bonkers, that he couldn't help but laugh.

"Your laugh is scaring me right now Seijo!" Hajime, right next to him, yelled.

"Nonsense! We must escape if we wish to live, isn't that exciting?!"

"No, not really!"

As the two ran towards the entrance, they were too late, as the entire door was blocked by a bunch of guards. "Quick Hajime, we must split up! One goes left, upstairs, and the other goes right, outside to the swimming pool and track area! The won't catch both of us!"

"Alright!"

"Get ready..." The two ran closer and closer to the front when Seijo yelled, "NOW!"

Seijo took a hard left, running up the stairs.

Hajime took a hard left, running up the stairs.

"..."

"..."

"What the hell are you doing dumbass?!" Seijo yelled at Hajime.

"I went left! Why didn't YOU go right?!"

"WHY DIDN'T YOU GO RIGHT?!"

"I was nervous okay?!"

The two continued running in sync, blurring past hallways and rooms. "Okay Hajime, let's try this again! I'll go left, upstairs, and you go right, which leads to a bunch of other hallways! They can't catch both of us!"

"Right!"

The two ran closer and closer to the t-bone path. Closer...closer… "NOW!" Seijo yelled, and turned the left corner like a professional!

Hajime turned the left corner like a professional!

"..."

"..."

"WHY DID YOU GO LEFT DUMBASS?!"

"I GOT NERVOUS!"

"OH COME ON!"

Once more, the two were running when Seijo got an idea. "Hajime, let's hide in one of the rooms nearby! They won't know!"

"Good idea!"

The two turned another corner and immediately jumped through the closest doorway and slammed it shut behind them. After a few moments of silence, they heard the guards get closer, closer… and then further away. The two of them fell to the floor, exhausted. "Alright," Seijo said between huffs of air, "We got away. But now they're on high alert. We gotta sneak outta here."

Hajime wordlessly agreed, simply nodding.

They took a moment to simply relax in the empty classroom, letting them catch their breaths and get proper footing.

"How do we get out though?" Hajime inquired.

Seijo paused, trying to think of a good solution. Staring out the window, his mind began to wander. What could they do to escape…?

Hajime noticed Seijo's staring and turned towards the window. "We could just jump out?"

After another long moment of thinking, Seijo nodded. "Yeah, that could work. But we're too high, this is the third floor. What we could do is get to the second floor and THEN jump out the window! We'd be able to catch a tree or something, slide down, and run back to our briefcases, which holds our casual clothes! Then we'll be home free! Good thinking Hajime!"

Hajime smiled, and was ready to respond when-

"HEY."

Nekomaru stood over them, somehow finding their location and sneaking up on them without noticing.

Instantly, the two boys screamed in fright, but quickly stopped themselves. However, it was too late as the sound of footsteps grew louder. "Dammit Hajime we gotta go!"

"Wait, don't leave just yet!" Nekomaru yelled, but it was too late. The two Reserve Course students were already running away. The Ultimate Team Manager sighed before getting into a running position. "I tried to warn you… I'M GONNA GET YOU BOTH!" He then launched off, chasing the two teens with vigor. "I WON'T LOSE THIS RACE!"

Meanwhile, Seijo was crying because he thought he truly was going to die. Somehow, he pissed off Nekomaru so bad that he was chasing them down. Maybe he was mad about Seijo not actually being an Ultimate? If so, he wouldn't be THAT mad, right? Taking a quick look back, Seijo saw nothing but Death and Nekomaru. "WE'RE SO DEAD! OH MY GOD HAJIME I'M SO SORRY!" Tears were freely falling from Seijo's face at this point.

Hajime himself wasn't faring any better, as tears were falling from his face too. "IT'S OKAY, I HAD A GREAT TIME TODAY! I'M SURE WE'LL MEET IN HEAVEN SEIJO!" Hajime didn't even need to turn around to know he was dead.

They had reached the stairs, but an unexpected obstacle popped up known as Akane Owari. "Hey, Koka, Tan-Shi, just come quietly and I won't hurt you!"

"My name is Kyoku!"

"How hard is it to remember Tanoshi?!"

Seijo turned to Hajime and yelled, "Don't stop running, jump when I say so!" Hajime nodded and watched Seijo get ahead of him. The two of them continued running towards Akane, who got into some kind of fighting stance.

"I won't let either of you pass! Get them coach!" She yelled.

Hajime turned around and sure enough, Nekomaru was hot on their heels, and closing the distance fast. "Seijo?!"

"Trust me!" They ran closer and closer, and right when they were about to crash, Seijo cried, "JUMP!"

Hajime and Seijo jumped.

Seijo turned around, and using all of his strength, hurled Hajime over Akane. Hajime proceeded to crash face first into the wall, momentarily stunned. Seijo meanwhile crashed directly into Akane and for a brief moment, it seemed like she had been victorious in stopping the human cannon, but Akane forgot one thing: she was at the very top of a staircase. So, when she got pushed back, she slipped and tumbled down the stairs with Seijo. "GET UP HAJIME, RUN!" Hearing Seijo's voice shook Hajime out of his stupor and ran down to the second floor. Seijo scrambled off of Akane and quickly followed, albeit at a significantly slower pace. "Sorry Akane!"

Said girl quickly got up and grinned, ignoring the blood trickling down her face. "Oh, the hunt is ON!" Like a cheetah, she shot off after the two.

Hajime turned back, saw all that, and quickly panicked. Without thinking, he dived towards the nearest window and opened it. "Seijo, jump here!"

Seijo nodded and jumped out of the window with zero hesitation, and Hajime followed.

"Hey, are you sure they're gonna come by here?" A small group of three, Nagito, Kazuichi, and Fuyuhiko were walking outside.

Fuyuhiko scoffed. "If not, I know a way to flush 'em out." He grinned evilly.

Nagito smiled and explained, "My luck hasn't failed me in times like this before. We just need to be patient."

Kazuichi scoffed. "Yeah, patient my ass. Whenever you're around I always get hurt."

"Someone stupid get in our way!"

"Huh?"

Looking up, the three students from Class 77-B saw the two fakers jump out of the second floor window, and were currently falling RIGHT TOWARDS THEM-!

Fuyuhiko and Kazuichi were squashed by none other than Seijo and Hajime. "Woah thanks for the save guys!" Seijo thanked. "Alright Hajime, let's bounce!" Seijo quickly got off of Fuyuhiko.

Hajime wordlessly nodded and followed suit, getting off of Kazuichi. The two then began to run towards the West side of the campus, towards the Reserve Course. Nagito clicked his tongue, upset that the two worthless stepping stones dared to land on the hopes of the future! Ah, if only his luck was consistent, then maybe the two pieces of trash would've fallen and broken their legs and get captured…!

As he finished his musings, he saw Akane and Nekomaru jump from the second story as well, before landing sturdy as stone. The two gazed at their prey, then one another, and nodded. They charged after the two fakers.

Meanwhile, the two Reserve Course students were hustling their asses off, running as fast and as hard as their limits could handle. "ALRIGHT HAJIME," Seijo huffed, "NEW PLAN! RUN TO RESERVE COURSE, STRIP, AND CHANGE INTO OUR GYM CLOTHES! HIDE EVIDENCE IN LOCKERS!"

Hajime wordlessly nodded, taking the lead. His arms and legs were getting heavy, his vision was getting blurry, and his chest was starting to hurt. Could he really run all the way to the Reserve Course…? Taking a quick glance behind him revealed the two fittest people he's ever known making a beeline straight towards them, vaporizing everything in their way. Suddenly, Hajime felt like he could run across the globe with amount of adrenaline that flooded into his brain. "DON'T TURN BACK SEIJO THEY'RE RIGHT BEHIND US!"

"OH GOD!"

The two ran as fast as they could, tearing through bushes, shrubs, trees, and innocent bystanders on their mad dash towards the Reserve Course building. They tumbled through a final bush and were met with the front entrance of the Reserve Course building. "Let's go Seijo!"

"Yeah!"

The two pushed their bodies to the limit, not even daring to look back. The two blitzed through the front doorway and sped towards the gym. Not even a second later, they heard the sound of two very pumped up Ultimates crashing their way through the halls of the Reserve Course.

"Oh God Hajime we're so screwed it's over for us!"

"No, we just have to reach the changing rooms! We'll be fine!"

Just as he said that, they turned the final corner and saw the male changing rooms in sight.

Seijo felt hope, unbridled pure joy in thinking he could actually get away with it! They'd be free! They'd make away like thieves in the night, no one would know! However, just as that hope filled him, despair gripped his heart when he felt a heavy hand stopping him in his tracks, and started dragging him away. "HAJIMEEEEEEEEE!"

The Reserve Course student looked back and saw Nekomaru with Seijo in his grip. Hajime knew that Seijo was caught. It was over for him. But not for Hajime! With hope still in his heart, he pushed every single bit of strength into this final push, the changing rooms were right there! Every step counted! He was five steps away! Four! THREE! TWO! ONE-!

"Yo, Hajime!" Right in front of him was Akane Owari, who sped past him and stood in his way. Unable to stop himself, he slammed into Akane, but she was prepared. When the two collided, Akane wrapped her arms around Hajime and crouched, lowering her center of gravity. Akane began sliding back, she felt her grip loosen, but she would not give up! With a final yell, she slowed her skidding to a halt and completely stopped Hajime. Once everything was over, she dropped Hajime and began to celebrate. "I did it! Did you see me coach?! I stopped him right in his tracks!"

Akane blatantly ignored that she was in the men's changing room, picked up Hajime, and strolled out like nothing happened, not giving the other half-naked guys staring at her a single glance.

It was over for the two Reserve Course students. Hajime and Seijo were caught, and were getting dragged back to Class 77-B. With tears streaming down their faces and no energy in their bodies, they simply gave each other an acknowledging glance and accepted their fate.

Things were about to go very, very wrong...