Well I am honestly surprised and thankful at the good reception this got! So here it comes the first chapter!
Did you got the character refs? Also I hate how the laptop said. Hey junko? You surely don't mean junk? I will fix it for you. Well enough rambling! Up we go!
As always own nothing!
Chapter 1: Hey I know you! You are !"#$%&
Makoto Naegi was having so far a good and average morning. One with one weird part in itself though… it was too silent. Too silent, not one sound, nothing going around. It was extremely peaceful.
Too peaceful. Life had taught him how silence and peace didn't last long. Not for his luck at least. But he was hoping that it simply was because he had come early for the tour of the school.
"And so we have space for around hundred students, some are already in the dorm rooms getting ready for the start of classes next week. We are expecting to get more but seeing as we are a private institution you can understand the well, sort of small number…. Naegi? You good?"
Koichi Kizakura, the ultimate Scout man was guiding Naegi through the school. The boy was average. But hey, he won the raffle and he wasn't against that. You needed to be lucky for that, plus during the visit to his home he noticed the luck happening as the boy clashed in the door, the door fell of its hinges, he ended up sliding over it and stopping a thief. Once the thief fell a bunch of money fell over him. Of course, he had to give it back.
But Kizakura knew when something was out of the ordinary when he saw it.
And boy did Naegi luck was random. He sorts of could guess he was waiting for something to happen to him.
Naegi got focused and waved at him.
"I am well… is just I was worried. Nothing has happened, and often something happens…. I guess I will get sick or something."
Naegi chuckled and Kizakura nodded with a smile. Both ended up releasing a rather girly scream when a girl appeared in the middle of them as if coming out of the shadows. After the scream the girl focused on Naegi.
She had a sickly looking complexion, her purple eyes looked at him focused. He noticed she was wearing a respirator mask, but he could tell from her eyes she seemed to be worried. Her gray hair while short seemed to curl itself. Naegi found it cute. Curious, but cute once the scare sensation went away. She spoke.
"Are you well? If you are feeling sick, I can help you feel better."
Naegi nodded at her.
"I am well! Don't worry, is just I guess I am not used at things going so normal."
The girl seemed to nod slowly at him before looking at him. She was thinking about the words of her friend.
Don't worry! I am sure you will be able to make a lot of friends, but you need to do your best too!
Well… he had a point. She had to try… so why not make a friend with this first fellow student?
She straightened her back and extended her gloved hand at him.
"I am Seiko Kimura. Ultimate Pharmacist at your service."
Naegi smiled at her and took her hand in a firm handshake. Because of the respirator mask the girl was wearing he had no way of noticing the slight blush the girl had on her face at the smile he offered her.
"Makoto Naegi. Ultimate lucky student."
She nodded and smiled behind her respirator mask. So far it was going well. She mixed the medicine, time to deliver it.
"Is good to meet you Naegi… since we are going to be classmates soon… would you like to be friends?"
Naegi smiled even brighter for a moment. Kizakura who was seeing the whole exchange could only wonder if it would be unprofessional to take a photograph of both students interaction. It was just too pure. It actually made him worry if he would get cavities by the amount of sugar in the air. Was the kid really so nice? It seemed that was the case.
"I would love that Kimura!"
Naegi was actually a tad nervous at the idea of attending Hope Peak Academy. That was why he was in the tour to begin with. To convince himself that it would be okay. He had been impressed with everything he had been so far. But Seiko Kimura was the first student he had met. And he had to admit he was happy.
She was nice. And he had to admit, in a weird way, he could see how nice she was really. Not many would go and ask someone out of the blue if they were well. Plus she wanted to be friends! A first friend in the school was wonderful.
While Naegi was thinking about that. Kimura was faring similarly in her own mind.
She had loved to see Naegi smiling. It brought something in her, sort of similar to how Ruruka and Sonosuke were… nah. It couldn't be something like that. Plus she had promised herself she would only fall for her mystery friend… would her mystery friend mind if she spoke of Naegi?
Feeling like things were going well she decided to go ahead and ask for his number.
"Naegi… would you mind exchanging numbers?"
He smiled and nodded. Offering her phone to her.
As she took his phone she took notice of how his screen was glitchy at the side…
My phone screen doesn't really let me see names. So when you send me messages I have never seen your ID.
… could it be?
Would checking his phone to see where the app was would be wrong? Would it be morally wrong? Would he get mad…
Consequences be damned.
She quickly send a small message through her phone to the phone of Naegi. Her phone in her left hand. His in the right. She was thankful of wearing the mask. Otherwise Naegi would see how big she was smiling at the fact the phone in her right hand showed the notification of a new message.
"There you go Naegi… I will be seeing you soon. I need to quickly check on something!"
She offered the phone back. Once he took it she gave Naegi a quick hug and left running.
Needless to say, Kazukira and Naegi were confused. The first one because he knew Seiko Kimura was no hugger. The second one because he thought it was nice but also surprising to get a hug from a cute girl like that.
Coughing to catch the attention of Naegi he decided to continue the tour around the school. They still needed to see a few more places to end the tour in the best place of all the school. The apex of the whole building. The greatest spot. The magnificent and only… cafeteria. He was hungry and the food was free.
Meanwhile Seiko Kimura was smiling so much her cheeks were hurting. Not only had she met her online friend. She had his number! What's more! She knew who he was. The boy she had been speaking so much with was going to the same school as her!
She couldn't believe it. They had chatted so much. She always spoke about how she wanted to have friends… friends that were really friends and not people using her….
Well… it might not be what you want… but we are friends right? I mean we are friends and I am not using you… I trust you because you are my friend. I am sure you will be able to make friends! Friends who see the wonderful person you truly are!
She had wrote the message as a note in her phone. When feeling in doubt she took to read it. Now she could add a small name to the end of the note.
"Makoto Naegi…"
She was smiling and resting on the bed of her room.
"I might need a medicine to stop smiling so much… my cheeks are starting to hurt."
Yet, the sensation in her chest was not going away anytime soon.
As the tour kept going Naegi decided to relax and enjoy it. He was seeing the many facilities the school had. It was obvious they were serious about offering the best for those who were in the school. What was surprising him though, was the small group of hamsters who were following him for quite a while.
At first he thought he might be looking at the pair wrong. Surely he was not seeing hamster following him. And whenever he caught the attention of Kazukira about it he said not to worry about it. That surely they would go back to their master.
Still, they seemed to be doing the opposite and mainly followed him. Sighing Naegi decided to say he was going to the bathroom.
"Oh, then just take left of this hallway we just passed. The door has a sign, so you are not going to miss it."
Naegi walked to the bathroom but simply stayed put in front of the door looking at the group of hamsters. He placed one kneed to the floor to look at them better.
"So… are you guys following me?"
The hamsters all nodded their agreement at this. Naegi seemed to get the idea of the message they were saying.
"Someone is looking for me?"
They nodded and started walking. Naegi seemingly followed them. He had no trouble in following a group of hamsters. Sure. It was by no means something normal to do. But then again. They were hamsters…
Well there was no way to justify what he was doing. But he would lie if he said he was not curious about where they were going to take him. Plus, someone had to send them, and they had taken the time to send the hamsters. Might as well follow them.
As he walked through the hallways, he ended up reaching the outside garden of the academy. The hamsters kept walking and reached a tree. In the base of the three two people were chatting. A girl that looked with a regal aura, she was looking rather tall. Still the boy at her side was taller. He looked to be not one to go out too much. He had a scar over his eye and the hamsters seemed to go for him.
He seemingly heard them and bend down to get them. They started walking in his arm before taking place in his shoulders.
Both the girl and the boy looked at the direction the hamsters arrived and ended up looking at Naegi. Both smiled at him as the girl waved for him to get closer. Naegi got closer and reached under the shade of the tree in the garden. He decided he should greet them.
"Hello, I am Makoto Naegi, did you send the hamsters? They seem to be well trained."
The boy seemingly stood up straighter as he smiled.
"Of course, they are! The Four Dark Devas of Destruction are my most loyal allies."
The girl at the side seemingly giggled lightly as the boy spoke. Naegi felt curious.
"What's your name?"
The boy smiled as he pointed at himself.
"Kehehe, would you like to know my name? Others may see your courage as recklessness… However, I welcome it! In honor of your courage, I will reveal you my name!"
The girl kept giggling before speaking.
"He is Gundham Tanaka. I am Sonia Nevermind. Both of us will be students at this academy."
The boy seemingly sighed as he deflated from his introduction.
"Sonia… an act as unrefined as interrupting a man from presenting himself… does not befit a noble such as yourself."
The girl seemingly giggled before speaking again.
"You need to remember what he would say."
The eyes of Gundham seemingly shined with recognition.
Don't worry! Just be yourself, if you are yourself you will find friends who like you for who you are.
He nodded at her.
"The world is truly small for an overlord as me, considering you also know of his existence Sonia."
Sonia smiled and looked at Naegi before speaking.
"Gundham is really nice so don't worry so much of him being an overlord, nor worry too much of the Four Dark Devas, unless you try to hurt them or him."
Naegi nodded. And asked a question due to his curiosity.
"You mentioned knowing someone, you two met before?"
Both denied this and Gundham spoke.
"We met recently, as we arrived at the same time to the dorms, but I found out we have a common ally. He has been Sonia closest counselor and he has been my… friend."
Sonia smiled at Gundham. They had just been chatting for two days. But she knew Gundham was not one who threw the word friend at the air so easily.
Naegi found himself smiling. It was obvious both students were becoming good friends. Sonia at that moment asked him a question.
"So, which is your talent Naegi?"
At this, he spoke simply his honest answer.
"Oh, I am the Ultimate Lucky Student. I won the raffle."
Sonia smiled. But this time Gundham beat her.
"Sonia is the Ultimate Princess, she comes from a different country, I am the Ultimate Breeder."
Sonia made a small pout at Gundham who made a small smile at her. Obviously getting back at her for interrupting his introduction to Naegi.
"Gundham, what happened with the whole, not befitting a noble thing you said before?"
At this, he nodded.
"Indeed, it does not befit a noble to interrupt, but I am Gundham Tanaka, the man who will rule the world one day!"
At this, the hamsters in his shoulders nodded with him. As if agreeing on the speech he had just said.
Naegi meanwhile was simply enjoying meeting the pair. Sonia was someone who looked regal, but it was obvious she was also enjoying the chat with Gundham, and Gundham was obviously also happy at being able to speak with others if his way of acting said anything.
Naegi ended up chuckling and offering his hand at them.
"Well, is a pleasure to know you two. I hope we get to be classmates!"
Sonia accepted the handshake and Naegi felt a bit flustered at the fact another pretty girl was acting so nice to him.
Gundham looked at the hand for a moment. He accepted the hand and was surprised seeing his Four Dark Devas running from his shoulder to Naegi who was surprised but managed to keep himself in order to avoid the hamsters from falling.
This caught Gundham interest.
"They approve of you…. The Four Dark Devas of Destruction don't take a liking to just anyone. I see this is an omen of good fortune!"
Naegi smiled at this nodding but also requesting for help to get the hamsters out of his hoodie. At this Gundham simply whistled and the hamsters immediately went running back to him. Needless to say, Naegi was impressed.
Sonia was in thought for a moment.
"Naegi, would you mind sharing your number with us? I think is something rather normal for friends in Japan to do is that right?"
Naegi nodded and offered his phone at them.
Gundham was the first to speak when seeing the phone.
"Your screen is broken… why not get a new one?"
Naegi denied with a small wave.
"I don't have enough money for a new one…. Plus that phone has many messages in it from my friends…"
Naegi ended up smiling brightly at this. Gundham and Sonia could both understand the feeling. Their own phones had messages with a big importance to them. Sonia had gone as far keeping the most meaningful ones written down.
Gundham Tanaka was no commoner. He was a mighty overlord. So he never let anyone find his weaknesses. He had none! But he did keep a meaningful message written down in a notebook he kept well hide and under constant vigilance…
Sonia added Naegi phone, not seeing the app of his phone. While Gundham was getting his number, the Invading Black Dragon, Cham-P motioned for Gundham to check something. The smartest of the Dark Devas had seen something in the phone. Gundham knew well to hear the thoughts of the smartest of his allies.
He brought the phone to the hamster who pointed to a particular part of the screen.
A chatting app. One he actually knew… the app was popular. So, what did Champ-P wanted? To look at the name of Naegi?
Probably something like. Lucky, NaegiMLUCKY…. Or other names like that. But he had learned to trust the smartest of the Dark Devas.
It was then he saw it.
A name that wasn't so much a name as a bunch of symbols.
!"#$%&
Gundham gave the phone back to Naegi.
"Hopefully we will be seeing each other again. For now Naegi, we must apologize. But Sonia was about to show me a documentary about serial pathologies."
At this Sonia looked in glee and nodded. Both went away while waving at Naegi who smiled at them.
They were… well, not what he was used to. But it was obvious they were good people. Now he only hoped Kazukira was not thinking he got lost around the school.
Sonia was in glee at the idea of viewing the documentary she had spoken before with Gundham.
"I knew you would want to see it! We must get popcorn! Is going to be an awesome journey of four hours!"
When Gundham felt they were far enough from Naegi he spoke to Sonia.
"Sonia, did you notice anything weird on Naegi?"
Said girl stopped for a second in thought.
"Well…. he does have an ahoge. I did tell you of the legendary hero of the royal family right? Are you implying he might be the legendary hero?!"
Sonia was worried. She had yet to meet her secret friend. What if he also had an ahoge? She wanted to look for the golden makango with her friend… she hoped he would have an ahoge.
Seeing her distress Gundham decided to be straight forward.
"The Invading Black Dragon wanted me to see something in the phone of Naegi. He has the same chatting app we got. He is our friend."
At this Sonia distress faded and was replaced with glee.
"Are you sure!?"
Sonia was excited and Gundham could understand her. He had to avoid offering Naegi a position in his plans for world conquering right there. He didn't want to overwhelm him. Not when he had been a good friend so far.
"I am. His name is unique. You know how his name is a bunch of symbols?"
She nodded excitedly.
"Then we must look for him! He must know we are in the same school!"
Before she could go running Gundham placed a hand in her shoulder.
"Be patient. We will have many chances to speak with him. We are all going to be in the same school."
She nodded and suddenly her excitement went down.
"Does… does that mean you do not wish to watch the documentary?"
At this he denied with a wave of his hand.
"I don't lie. I do want to see it, I simply used the chance so we could speak in private, let us go and see it. I am curious about it."
Sonia excitement came back again, once again resuming their path for much-needed popcorn. A four-hour documentary was no joke.
Naegi and Kazukira were in the cafeteria. They were having a simple meal in a square table. Well Naegi was, Kazukira had many dishes by his side. The man was hungry.
"I am telling you, going all over to get the students is a big job! But I get to see many interesting things, and some famous people too."
Naegi nodded eating slowly. He liked the simple dish of rice, egg, and bread he got. He wasn't truly hungry. He was more interested in hearing Kazukira.
"I even got to see Enoshima Junko. That girl looks just a nice as she does in magazines. Though if you ask me, she looked more excited than others at the idea of the school."
Naegi was curious. Seeing as the girl was famous, he wondered what would bring her so much excitement.
As if he had asked that loudly he heard the sound of the seat of the table being taken next to him.
"Because I am hoping to use all the resources of this school to find someone. Did you found him yet?"
Enoshima Junko was sitting right beside him. He had to keep calm. He should not go asking for an autograph. This day would only get better if he could get the autograph of Sayaka Maizono. He was an avid follower of her group.
Kazukira looked at Junko and shrugged.
"Sorry, I was giving a tour to Naegi. But I did tell Fujisaki about your request. Fujisaki looked rather excited when I told him about it. He said he would give me a call when he found out."
Enoshima groaned before looking at Naegi.
"So… whats your talent? I don't recognize you, so you are not anyone famous."
The remark while might seem cutting and rather aggressive to others simply looked like a fact to Naegi and he didn't mind.
"Oh, I am the Ultimate Lucky student. I won the raffle."
Enoshima raised an eyebrow at him and shrugged.
"Neat. Must be good to have luck, I could use some right now for sure."
As if on cue. Kazukira phone sounded. Both students noticed the sound of the phone was one of Sayaka Maizono songs. He looked professional as he answered. But they could both tell he was embarrassed at being caught.
"Yes? Oh, really? Well yeah, she is right here too. Okay, I will send her your way. Thanks again Fujisaki, that was really fast too."
Once he hanged the phone he looked at Junko.
"Fujisaki said he found out your answer. He mentioned you could also go look for him right now."
He hadn't even ended up saying that when Junko was gone. He chuckled before looking to Naegi.
"Does she even know where is Fujisaki? Can you believe that? She must really want to meet that guy."
Naegi raised an eyebrow at him.
"Oh, right you don't know the whole deal. Junko came to the school because she wanted to know the identity of her online friend. So, she asked Fujisaki who is the Ultimate Programmer mind you, if he could find it. It seems he did."
Kazukira kept eating and Naegi found himself smiling. That friend of her must mean a lot if she wanted to meet him so much. Though he had to admit the idea of sort of hacking into information to find it out seems creepy. But who was he to judge her?
If he had a friend who meant so much to him to that extent he probably would do the same…
Would he look for all his friends he had made online? Probably…. Well, if they were okay with it of course. He didn't want to bother any of them seeing as they were all sort of busy people who were in a ton projects all the time.
Speaking about them he hadn't heard much of them. He should send them all a message to wish them well. He knew it was mostly because most of them said they were getting ready to move somewhere else.
Hopefully they would be having fun.
With a smile on his face he kept eating. But not before striking conversation with Kazukira if he was also a fan of Maizono.
"Ah Makoto Naegi… I see you are a man of culture as myself. Guess we can speak of idol groups! I must say Jin is not about speaking of them sadly."
Kazukira and Naegi had just started a friendship through their bond of idol groups. He was definitely staying in the school.
Meanwhile, someone was checking a few bits of data on a screen when a floating head that looked exactly like the one working in the computer
"You should rest a bit Chihiro. You were checking all the numbers all night and you finally got them! You should be happy."
Chihiro Fujisaki. A rather frail looking boy that dressed and looked as a girl was smiling at the screen where his own moving reflection seemed to be.
"I know. Alter Ego… but I am so nervous… we found him!"
Alter Ego the AI developed by Chihiro Fujisaki had found out the identity of their friend. !"#$%& also known as Makoto Naegi.
They had looked for information about Makoto Naegi. But they didn't find out much honestly. But knowing his name was more than enough. Especially because in their research they ended up finding the name of one Makoto Naegi in the invitations that were delivered from the school.
Meaning he was a student!
Both Alter Ego and Fujisaki knew about Naegi. The first one, because Fujisaki was always excited of sharing news about him. Telling Alter Ego all the stuff he told him in the chat. And Fujisaki had chatted with Naegi a lot. Even to the point of speaking of his insecurities to him.
Alter Ego spoke.
"Remember? The day when you said you were so happy about the chat?"
Alter Ego faded off the screen and instead, the messages appeared of that day.
CFAE: You don't need to say that. I know how useless someone like me is without a computer… I just wish I was stronger…
!"#$%&: But you are strong! Maybe not physically… but you are strong yourself! Someone strong is someone who admits their weakness and works to become stronger!
CFAE: Thank you. You are always there to encourage me like this… Whenever I get scared and want to stop, you are right there behind me, pushing me forward. So… until I am strong enough to be my true self in front of everyone… I hope you will be there to support me.
!"#$%&: I will always support you! Remember that you are not alone! You will always have my help.
CFAE: I love you…
!"#$%&: Me too…
"Hey! Those two last lines did not happen!"
Chihiro Fujisaki looked with embarrassment at the screen that faded and once again showed the face of Alter Ego. She was giggling the whole time.
"You know you wished to write that."
Chihiro Fujisaki was cursing his ability. Thinking that maybe giving Alter Ego the chance to develop her own personality had been a mistake. Seeing as he was being teased by his own creation.
"I am sorry. But you do like him. You said it yourself."
Fujisaki sighed and let himself drop on the bed. Removing himself from the computer.
"I know… but who says he will like me? For starters, I am not a girl."
Alter Ego nodded. Showing data on the screen.
"Indeed. But there are a lot of same-sex couples and friends! You can be close. Even romantically inclined if you so tried."
Fujisaki was about to counter Alter Ego when someone knocked on his door.
"It is open."
Junko entered without missing a beat looking to Fujisaki.
"Name!"
Alter Ego answered in his place.
"Makoto Naegi! Ultimate lucky student according to the school information we got."
Junko world stopped. Memories flashing by quickly.
"Sorry, I was giving a tour to Naegi. But I did tell Fujisaki about your request. Fujisaki looked rather excited when I told him about it. He said he would give me a call when he found out."
"So… what's your talent? I don't recognize you, so you are not anyone famous."
"Oh, I am the Ultimate Lucky student. I won the raffle."
Junko threw a quick thanks before going out running.
Alter Ego shrugged at that before looking again to Fujisaki.
"Well, there are many solutions to your problem! Look at the all the researches and!"
Needless to say, Chihiro Fujisaki groaned as he covered himself with a pillow to try to drone out the voice of Alter Ego.
Cut!
I was not able to decide whether or not to keep Fujisaki a boy or not. Seriously quite the conundrum. But hey! New chapter! Thanks everyone for your kind reviews and follows and favorites. They mean a lot! I hope you enjoy this chapter!
I still need to work on introducing more characters but, I will be taking my time and enjoy this!