A/N: Before we start things off, there's implied suicide, which I know is a very sensitive topic, in this chapter, and so it might be triggering. It's briefly touched on at two points but it's not explicitly discussed or specified, but I thought I should let you know just in case.
The atmosphere in their class isn't quite the same as it'd usually be. The day started out like any other day; everyone is in, some having come earlier than the others. Give it at least thirty minutes, give or take, before their teacher comes bursting in with excitement.
Ms. Yukizome still did so today as part of their morning ritual like she always does, but, Hajime noticed that the energy she usually puts into it isn't as bombastic as they're all used to.
She calls over their names one by one, checking over their attendance once they call back to her. Two names she called over didn't reply.
Their teacher, who's usually bright and cheery, goes uncomfortably silent for a couple of seconds after two more names didn't respond to her calls.
The remaining eleven students in the class notice their teacher's worrying reaction. Some of them quietly tense up in their seats, while a few others start to murmur their concerns for their teacher.
Hajime stays rigid in his seat. If he clenches his knuckles any further, they'd probably go white.
Everyone knew that Kuzuryu and Pekoyama haven't been to classes since the week started. And now, both Koizumi and Saionji didn't attend their classes either. They haven't been around since yesterday because of certain…circumstances that involved a friend.
He tried to check on them yesterday in the dorms, but after they requested him to leave them alone, he respected their wishes and decided not to press any further. He understands; Koizumi and Saionji need some time to feel it over, and more importantly, they need to have their space.
As much as he wishes they'd be doing alright, realistically speaking, he knows they aren't. It'd be impossible to be alright, not after hearing of what happened to their friend.
Mahiru made herself sit over her bed, but her body is slightly hunched over; she didn't care how uncomfortable it felt. She wants to say something, anything; she knows she has to. She knows it's only her, there's no one else right here inside her room, and yet, not a single sound comes out of her.
Instead, she buries her face into the pillow she's holding against her chest, gasping so softly yet unevenly.
"Mahiru! Mahiru!"
She hears the hard banging and desperate clicking against her room's door and the broken cries of Hiyoko as she calls for her name. It took everything in her to keep herself from getting up and unlocking the door.
Everything feels so heavy.
Her mind plays back to the last conversation they've had. "Why…" She croaks out as one, shaky sob escapes her lips. "Sato, why did you do it…?"
They found Sato in her room that morning. From what they've reported, it looked like her shoes have been taken off and were then neatly arranged together below her; they estimated she took them off at least a few minutes before taking her life.
She remembers how guilty Sato looked back then. If only she knew how much it troubled her friend, if only she pressed some more, if only she stayed and kept her company before that night…
Maybe she could've stopped her.
From somewhere, Peko lowers her head, acknowledging a job well done.
Before everyone in this class knew it, lunchtime comes by.
Their teacher was in a good mood today, so he decided to dismiss them earlier than he usually does. Everyone else took the chance to get out of here as soon as they could.
Chiaki gets up from her seat, taking her bag with her. Before she leaves the room, she directs a solemn look towards the two vacant desks in their class. While one is empty, the other desk has fresh white flowers in a glass vase on top of it. Her chest constricts. She remembers the classmates who used to occupy them.
Two days have gone by and it's still hard to believe all of these events happened.
The class feels so wrong without Fuyuhiko and Sato around.
While on her way to the usual meeting spot, she passes over several of her schoolmates in the hallway, most of whom are busy gossiping among each other. A sense of unease goes over her. She didn't hear much, but she feels like she has an idea of what they're talking about.
She makes her way out of the building, and she would've gone off to the public bench and the fountain, until she sees another group of four reserve course students; three boys and a girl, are gathered around at a corner, right by the side of this building.
At a closer look, she recognizes that specific group as her classmates. By complete accident, she ends up overhearing them.
"So we lost another classmate two days ago." One of the boys says, starting up the latest gossip in their conversation.
She knows that she shouldn't listen in, especially not with a topic like this, but curiosity gets the better of her. Against her better judgment, she comes a bit closer; close enough to hear and see them better, but not too close to let them see her.
Another member nods his head. "Everyone's saying that Sato is the one who did herself in this time, so it can't be the person who attacked our other classmate. There aren't many details we know, aside from her body getting found in her room by someone who tried to check on her."
The third guy grimaces. "That guy's going to make us work our asses twice as much just like he did before, isn't he?"
"I wouldn't put it past the old man to do it." The girl crosses her arms. "As long as it's us, no one really cares if it doesn't affect them. I mean, there are two incidents here already, and the only reason why we know about it is because of gossip, not because the school cares about us."
It's impulsive. Chiaki didn't know what came over her as she steps forward into their view and blurts out, "Maybe if we tell the headmaster about those issues, he'd try to listen."
The four of them stare at her, and then they turn back to each other. Several seconds go by before everyone in the group starts to laugh so loud. One or two of them are even holding their bellies while they wheeze and cackle to the point of almost coughing.
She stays quiet, completely unsure of how she should react to that. She does feel a bit insulted on the inside, though.
"Thanks," He laughs one more time before wiping a single tear away with one finger. "A bunch of laughs like that is exactly what we needed right now."
The other boy snickers. He sniffles a bit more and he feels his jaws start to ache. "Yeah. That's a great joke you told us back there."
They turn to her, fully expecting her to laugh along with them. When she doesn't, the rest of their laughter comes to an abrupt stop as one of them says, "Wait, you're actually serious about that…?"
Before she can say something in reply to that, one of them interrupts her.
"Forget about that. I get where you're coming from, I really do, but the last thing I want is a third strike to happen in our class." The guy in front says.
"Yeah," Another member nods, pointing at his friend. "What he said."
"The head of those security guards will clobber you up. I heard the last guy who messed with him has to eat from a straw for a year." The third boy points out.
A look of complete disbelief comes over her. 'There's no way that can be true.' She thinks to herself. 'If it were, then the guy in charge of them would've been fired already.'
"Don't you mean 'drink from a straw'?" One of them asks.
He shakes the other guy's question off. "Whatever. The point I'm trying to say is, that guy in charge of them used to be an Ultimate, so that makes him even more dangerous than the normal ones."
"That's how Ultimates are." She growls. "They always think they're soooo much better than everyone else, all because the school chose them and made them think they're more special than they are."
Chiaki mutters back, "Not all of them."
"What was that?" The other girl questions.
"I mean," Chiaki backtracks as she tells them, "It won't come to that. I'll make sure of it. It's true that the staff can be strict about everything, and they're too harsh on us, but they can't be that unreasonable, can they?"
The guy in front opens his mouth to say something. However, he isn't able to let a word in as their female member steps forward. The other girl's eyebrows furrow, her face twists into that of resentment as she closes in on her. Chiaki tries to step back away from her, but before she knew it, they're only a few inches apart from each other.
"When will you wake up? Nobody in the school cares about us! Not our teacher, not the Ultimates, and especially not the main course's staff!" Her classmate practically yells directly in her face, "We're nothing but expendable resources for them! If you're that much of a mindless sheep to their awful system, you might as well throw your own parents' hard-earned money away!"
Chiaki visibly flinches at what she said.
Before she can come any closer, two of their classmates come forward to pull her, grabbing ahold of one arm each. She screams at them to let her go, but other than that, doesn't fight against them.
"That's enough." The first guy tells her. Once he made sure his classmate is somewhat calm, he faces Chiaki and lightly bows his head. "We're sorry about her," He awkwardly scratches the back of his neck as he explains, "She, uh…she tends to get really passionate about this sort of things."
Chiaki shakes her head. "No, it's okay. I think I get it now." She bows back. "If anything, I should be the one apologizing, for barging in." She says while quickly bidding them an apologetic goodbye.
As she turns to leave, she hears her classmate mutter out,
"You better do."
It didn't take long for the rest of today's classes to be done with, and once Chiaki is cleared of her cleaning duties for the afternoon, she heads off without a second thought. Instead of taking the usual route, she runs off in a different direction.
She thinks back on the short talk she had with her classmates that lunchtime. In case if what her classmates told her is true, well, maybe some bits of it were, then she's going to have to consider a few things. The first one is, of course, the security watching over the main campus's gates; they mentioned one guy who's keeping an eye out, who might've been a graduated Ultimate, but there's nothing about a whole team.
On one hand, it means that it's only that guy who's patrolling around the entrance. On the other hand, it also means that guy is scarily competent even if it's just him, especially if the rumors about him being a former Ultimate are true.
Just to be on the safe spot, she's going to try and sneak her way in. She never actually did anything like this before, but she's played through these kinds of scenarios in games, so she's confident enough to pull this tactical espionage off.
While keeping herself hidden from view, she intently studies the man in front of the gates. 'So that's the guy they're talking about.'
Not very surprisingly, the man has broad shoulders and an even broader chest; everything about him screams 'skilled muscle-bound fighter you don't wanna mess with'. Even if the rumors about him being a former Ultimate weren't true, she can see why they'd think that's the case.
Remaining in her semi-hidden position, she picks up a rock, and while swerving her hand, tosses it to the other side of the gates as far as she can. The rock click and clacks as it bounces off the ground, managing to catch the security guard's attention.
After seeing the security guard walk forward to check on it, she quietly makes her way towards the main campus's gate. 'I never climbed on anything like this before,' She muses, her hand reaching out to touch the steel gates. Her brows furrow in determination as she grabs a rail. 'But it's worth a try.'
Her hands reach over the top part of the gate. She winces; her hand isn't wrapped around in bandages anymore, but the sensation is still there. While positioning her foot, she tries to pull herself up, grunting as she finds herself going halfway on top of the gate.
Not even a second later, she gasps and feels someone pull her by the back of her shirt. Dread comes over her as she turns her head to the side, and is met with the security guard glaring back at her.
The security guard sneers. "Did you seriously think I'd fall for a lousy trick like that?" He didn't give her a chance to say anything back as pulls her off the rails without any effort at all.
She yelps, landing on the pavement with a loud thud. Despite the numb aching all over her back and legs, she forces herself to get up, grabbing ahold of the gate as leverage. Sneaking in didn't work, and so, that left her with her last option.
"Please," She says as she looks at him face-to-face, "Let me through. I promise it won't take too long. I just need to talk with someone important."
He sarcastically replies, "Yeah, sure. I never heard of that before." He jabs a thumb to somewhere far off. "Now piss off, kid."
It would've been a lot more rational to go along with what the security guard said. And yet, something in her made her stand her ground.
"I'm serious! I have to talk with the headmaster. One of my classmates got attacked last Friday, and whoever did it might still be out there." She unknowingly clenches her fists upon remembering, "I want to know why Hope's Peak won't do something about it. Are they trying to cover it up? Is it because an Ultimate was involved?"
Of course, Chiaki isn't really sure if an Ultimate was even responsible for that incident, but for the sake of aggravating him, this would do.
It worked a little too well.
A vein pops at the side of the security guard's neck; he steps closer to her and gnashes his teeth together. He cracks his knuckles. "Do you know what pisses me off more than talentless, rich brats who get way over in their heads?" A threatening grin goes over his face and he tells her, "A talentless, rich brat who gets way over their head and tries to play hero for crap like this."
He raises a fist, and swings it into her direction, aiming for her face. Trying to think as fast as her panicked state can, she narrowly dodges it by a few centimeters. She thinks she's in the clear for a moment.
She is quickly proven wrong when he takes advantage of her momentary distraction, elbowing her in the stomach and using his foot to knock her balance off, making her trip and fall on the ground again. Before she knew it, he has her pinned on the ground. She feels him dig his sole even deeper onto her back, making her cry out in pain.
"Do you think real life is just like some game for you? No one gives a shit about what you're trying to do, so you better open your own goddamned eyes to that!" He swings a leg forward, landing a kick that goes straight into her in the gut.
She gasps and coughs out. She futilely tries to get up, but every time she does that, he'd push his foot even harder.
He continues, "Average people like you can't do anything useful on their own, always leeching off of the talented few." He lifts his foot off for a second as he yells, "That's all little shits like you will ever be in life. You're no better than a fucking parasite!"
The security guard didn't give her a chance to get up. Quicker than she thought anyone would be capable of, he kicks her over once again.
Chiaki is torn between several options while her body registers the accumulated pain from each blow; tears start to well up at the corner of her eyes. She wants to get out of here. She wants to fight back. She wants to curl up into a ball.
"Juzo, that's enough!" Someone yells.
Before either of them knew it, a third person comes rushing in, spreading her arms while she stands protectively in front of Chiaki.
The woman is Ms. Yukizome, the teacher from Hajime's class if she's remembering things correctly. Ms. Yukizome starts to directly address the security guard, whose name turns out to be Juzo.
While the two adults remain preoccupied with each other, Chiaki forces herself to get up, managing to stand up even if shakily. She turns and runs as far from here as she can without even looking at her savior.
They meet up at the same hour as they always do.
While she's going on about a new game she brought for today, Hajime can't help but stare intently at her. It might be just him, but, it feels like something is off about her; her voice sounds a bit more strained and her enthusiasm looks like it's forced somehow.
Now that he's seeing closer, he barely stopped himself from doing something impulsive or saying something out loud; he noticed a bruise on her cheek. It's small enough to be unnoticeable, at least until someone looks in closer like he's doing right now.
He opens his mouth, interrupting her explanation of the game's lore; he half-asks, half-blurts out to her, "Chiaki, did something happen to you yesterday?"
As soon those words come out of his mouth, Chiaki abruptly stops herself from saying anything more. Two of her fingers lightly touch over at the spot he was staring at moments ago.
"Oh, this? I…" She shifts around a bit uncomfortably in her seat, going quiet for a few seconds or so, almost like she's trying to think of something to say. She ends up saying so unconvincingly, "I…fell off the stairs yesterday. Yeah, that's all that happened." She nods her head off at the end of that.
He raises a brow at her, wordlessly telling her that he isn't completely buying that excuse. Something about this feels so familiar, like he's seen something like this happen before. Despite that, he doesn't press any more than that, not unless he wants to end up pushing her away even further.
His original question remains unanswered as she seems to either ignore his suspicious look, or she didn't notice it at all. They return to the topic of video games; it feels like that bit of conversation was never brought up in the first place. She shows him a couple of tips and tricks on the new game they're playing together.
Hajime can still see just how forced her supposedly chipper self is, almost like she's trying to keep him in the dark about something as much as possible.
Time flies by and soon, the reserve course's bell rings.
Chiaki takes that as her cue. She slings her bag over her shoulder and gets up from the bench. She doesn't turn to face him as she says, "Hajime, I'll be going now."
As he's watching her walk away, there's something about that which tipped him off. He asks her, "So, same time tomorrow?"
Something in him stops when he hears her answer,
"I don't know."
Those three words tip him off; a red flag for something that's possibly troubling his friend. Without thinking about it, he gets up from his seat, asking her in a worried tone, "Why? Is there something going on?" He keeps his arms at either side of his body; he feels them wanting to reach out and hug her.
She stops in her tracks, staying at least a meter away from him. A few seconds pass before she replies, "You could say that." Her fingers' grip strain over her bag's handle. She sighs softly, still averting her away from him and focusing them onto the ground. "I…It's not that much of a big deal, really. It's just that…"
It took everything in him to keep himself from stepping forward. A part of him wants to go anyway and immediately comfort her for whatever's troubling her, as well as confront her on what it might be. A part of him also knows that taking that action won't help, and so, he stays in his spot, waiting for her to say what it was.
Instead, she shakes her head and says, "I promise I won't be gone for too long," She pauses and then adds, "I think." in a less than sure tone.
She doesn't elaborate any further about that. Even from this small distance, he can see her body going still while she quietly swallows. Although it's only a minute at most, it feels like forever passes by between them. The uncomfortable quiet between them is only getting thicker as each second goes and on.
He tentatively steps closer, fully aware of how awkward things are getting between them at this moment. He tries to relax his posture as much as he can and asks her in the calmest tone he can muster, "Do you want to talk about it?"
Her posture stiffens slightly. She glances at him from the side, opening her mouth, as if she's considering what he said, only for her to close it and shake her head. "I'm fine." She insists, sounding more like she's trying to convince herself as much as she's doing the same for him.
Another quiet moment passes by them.
Chiaki turns back to him, raising her head to look at him in the eye. A thin, solemn smile passes over her face. "I'll see you again, Hajime."
Hajime wonders if he should pry some more; as her friend, he should do something, say something, anything but keeping himself quiet in his friend's problem. But, at the same time, he saw the way she continued to dodge his questions. He saw how uncomfortable she looked when he tries to dig in to what's troubling her.
He may not like it, but it's clear to him now; now is not the right time to ask her any further. The best thing he can do for now is to wait until she's willing to let him know.
Until then, he forces himself to smile and reply, "I guess I'll be seeing you again too."
He sees her walk off, further and further away from him until he can no longer see a trace of her within his vicinity.
(If he looks back on this in the future, he'd wonder if he could've done it all differently. He'd wonder if maybe waiting for her to tell him wasn't the best thing he could've done back then.)
"It's great to see you finally come around, Nanami." Mr. Minami gleefully says. He clasps his hands together in excitement.
At the moment, it's the five of them in this office. Chiaki stares at the stacks of papers on the table before her. She takes a deep breath; the only thing she has to do left is to sign these papers. She takes one of the pens offered to her and signs on the spaces provided.
By the end of those, Mr. Sasaki hands her a piece of black cloth. "Put this on."
Their request should've tipped her off, and it doesn't help that with the way he worded it, it ended up sounding more like an order. But, she's already come this far. There's no more turning back after this, not after she already signed herself away.
She takes it and proceeds to tie the cloth around her eyes. One of them checked in case if she could still see their fingers, and once they confirmed she hasn't, someone takes her by the wrist.
"Come on along now." Judging by his voice, it's probably Mr. Akiyama.
The Steering Committee members escort her off to somewhere she has no idea of, not with the blindfold on. It wasn't exactly a long walk, lasting for around thirty minutes or so. The men's steps come to a halt. She's a bit late in her reaction, making her almost stumble for a moment. She hears them shuffle away from her.
Mr. Akiyama speaks up again and tells her, "You may take the blindfold off now."
Chiaki does as he's told and takes the cloth off of her eyes. She squints and rubs her eyes a bit. The room is so dimly lit in green lights, almost to the point of darkness. It gives off the vibe of an abandoned hospital or even an insane asylum.
Despite the poor lighting, she sees that she isn't the only one in here. There are at least a handful of more reserve course students standing right here, in the same space she's in; she takes a closer look at them and realizes she doesn't recognize any of them as being part of her class.
Including her, there are six of them in total; three boys and three girls. The other five kids quietly talk to themselves. Most of the ones she heard are questions about what the program's purpose was, and one is saying something about possibly backing out of this.
Those students immediately go quiet when they see the four members of the Steering Committee come forward. She can feel the tension in their bodies.
Mr. Mizushima clears his throat for a moment, before turning his attention to them. His gravelly voice regards them, "It's a delight to see you all participate in the Hope Cultivation Program. I assume that all six of you have an idea of what the Hope Cultivation Program is, correct?"
One of the students beside her speaks up. "You said you'd make us into Ultimates, didn't you?" As he asks that, he steps forward with a bit of aggression in his body language.
"That's correct." Mr. Minami answers, flashing them with a smile. He completely ignores the boy's attitude.
"You shall be the living embodiment of our school's ideals," Mr. Sasaki adds with a bit of flourish. "The hope for our generation and beyond that."
Mr. Akiyama, the last to speak up, stares intently at the six participants. He huffs, turning his back from them and says, "If you wish to unlock your potentials as Ultimates, then come with us to the next room. If not, then I suppose it's your loss."
Five of the students start whispering among each other again; there are some hints of hesitation in their voices, wondering if this is all going to be worth it in the end. As for her, she already made her decision before this, and so, walks up first, trailing after the four men who've already walked away. It didn't take long for the rest to come after.
Their group goes inside another room; it's just as dimly lit as the first room, if not even worse than that. She looks around as best she can with poor lighting like this. She didn't see much, aside from several vaguely-shaped objects.
Suddenly, the lights turn brighter.
Now that they can see a lot clearer, there are a bunch of medical chairs, tables, and all sorts of different types of machinery in here.
In addition to that, there are several more groups of reserve course students who look just as confused and intrigued as their group. It's hard to tell exactly how many they are from here, though.
A boy, one who appears to be the same age as them, is sitting around on a desk, a manga in hand. He lazily stares at them for a couple of seconds, before he shrugs them off. "So these are the ones you picked this time," He turns the manga's page around with a scoff. "None of them look that much impressive compared to the last batch, and that's saying a lot."
Mr. Akiyama clicks his tongue. "Matsuda, you better give them a good first impression. We don't want a repeat from last time now, do we?"
Matsuda clicks his tongue back with an accompanying, "Tch. Whatever."
Chiaki stares at the boy once she learns of his name. There's something familiar about that name. 'Matsuda? That's Yasuke Matsuda, isn't it?' She heard of him, mostly from her female classmates who often gushed about his supposedly good looks. Now that she's seeing him in person, well, she can see he looks alright, if a bit messy, but other than that, she doesn't get the appeal for him.
Mr. Akiyama coughs, moving his stern glare away from Matsuda and onto the six of them. "Now, if you please." He gestures an arm towards a pile of what looks to be hospital gowns.
At that exact moment, several teams of men in white coats walk into this room. They're all wearing surgical caps and masks, making them all look virtually identical.
Once all of them have changed into the hospital gowns, they are then told to lie down on the chairs. Those teams of men in white coats come closer to them; at least five of them focused and attended to one participant each.
While those men did their work, Chiaki absently thinks about what the Steering Committee told her and the other participants before this. She remembers that they've said something about artificially augmenting the participants with every known talent the school has documented.
Come to think of it, that process sounds like something out of a superhero's origin story. She turns her head to the side, checking on her how schoolmates were doing.
One of them lets out a groan as his shoulder is patted down with rubbing alcohol. Shortly after that, the man supervising him takes a syringe out and injects it into that area. A few moments after that, the same student goes slack on the chair.
The procedure is then repeated to the other participants, all of whom reacted the same way until her turn came. As Chiaki feels them lift the hospital gown's short sleeve to expose her shoulder, she reflects on a few things.
Her eyes vacantly stare at the ceiling.
'I'm sorry I couldn't do anything more for you, Fuyuhiko. I can only wish you'd get better soon.'
The needle is pushed inside her tender skin. A sharp, prickly sensation is briefly felt before it fades away to numbness.
'I'll finally do something good in my life. No more running away. I won't be weak and useless anymore.'
Her breathing slows down.
"There is no need to worry about this. None of you should feel a thing during the process." Mr. Sasaki tells them as he and the other Steering Committee members come into their view.
'I'll be the person you'll all be proud of. Mom, Dad. You won't be disappointed in having someone like me as your daughter anymore.'
Someone is talking; maybe it's someone from the Steering Committee, maybe it's one of the team members. Whoever it was, their voices are starting to sound muffled. It's getting harder and harder to hear them.
'Hajime...'
Her vision starts to get blurry.
'I won't let you down this time.'
Chiaki exhales. She never felt so sleepy like this before. The last time she felt something close to this was that time where she ended up playing a game trilogy all night in one sitting.
She gives in, letting her eyes close.
A/N: I hope it didn't feel like I'm dragging September out in this fic. I don't know if this counts as something spoilerific, but the next two chapters should wrap up the rest of Twilight Syndrome and we're good to go with the next school year.
I know it's probably not canon (then again, I'm obviously not following canon religiously anyway so-) but I like the idea of having multiple participants in the Hope Cultivation Program/Kamukura Project. I thought it'd make sense, since it is an experiment, and you can't always succeed on the first try. Take that as you will.
EDIT: Changed some bits from Hajime and Chiaki's last conversation. I wasn't satisfied with how it originally turned out, so I hope this one is slightly better.