Prologue - Part 5

I was absolutely exhausted. Outside of animal training, I had honestly never been so tired. My legs felt like they were about to give up and I was sweating all over. I had opted for carrying my suit top instead of putting it on because of the latter fact.

"That was so fun!" Miku exclaimed, emerging with the others. Except for Monomausu and Monokami, of course- they had disappeared a short while after the games had ended.

My team had won two other games, but they won three in a row and later another game after our second win, ultimately defeating us. I hadn't even gotten anything out of playing, so the fact that we lost was just salt in the wound.

"Ahem- c-campers! M-May I have your attention please?" Came a voice.

All of us looked around, expecting to see Monomausu appear. However, the animatronic mouse was nowhere in sight. As the voice started again, I looked for the source and saw a loudspeaker atop a thin pole next to us.

"A-As it is now 5PM, it is now officially dinnertime! W-We will all be eating d-dinner together every day at-"

Monomausu was cut off by a weird sound. Is that… crunching?

"Monokami, put those away!" Monomausu's voice said.

"No thanks. Hey, did you leave the microphone on?" Came the voice of Monokami.

"O-Oh no!" Monomausu squeaked. "I-I'm s-so sorry about that, campers! As I was saying, we w-will all be eating dinner together every day at 5PM. S-Similarly, we will eat breakfast t-together every day at 8AM. Everyone p-please make your way to the cafeteria building!"

"Eight in the morning?" Miku gasped. "But that's so early!"

"We're used to it," Miyo sighed. "We always have to get up early for competitions and practice and such."

Zara nodded. "It sucks."

"Hey, stop whining! I have to get up early a lot to get a good story and you don't see me complaining. You've just gotta learn to make yourself look presentable within a short period of time like I did!" Scarlett said.

"I-I'm n-not much of a m-morning person…" Lado sniffled."

"Stop complaining!" I snapped. "Let's just get to dinner. I don't want to spend a single second longer with you lot than I have to."

"Wow, rude," Tatsuo said. "We did nothing to you!"

I just shrugged. "The people on the red team were fine, I guess. But everyone on my team- except Miyo, I suppose- was conveniently all the people that have pissed me off already."

"What did I do?" Kohaku asked with narrowed eyes. "All I've done is hold a conversation with you. If anything, you are the one in the wrong for disregarding my name and title."

"Oh my God, we don't have time for this!" I exclaimed, throwing my hands up in the air. "Get your bitching asses to the cafeteria. I'm starving." I only realized it was true as I said it. I hadn't eaten anything in who knows how long and my stomach was killing me.

"Mine is too," Raiu admitted. "It would be unwise to go much longer without food."

"I hate to agree with the Queen of Mean over there, but yeah, I need some food," Scarlett said. "I'm simply less beautiful when I'm starving, and we can't have that!"

I ignored her comment and headed for the cafeteria. I wasn't quite sure what to expect, but it definitely wasn't what I saw…

Because every single table was empty. No food, no drinks, nothing.

"Oh, come on! What is this bullshit? Where's the food?" I demanded.

"I felt like I was about to die of starvation, and this just makes it even worse…" Tatsuo groaned.

"Welcome to the gang," sneered someone sitting at a table.

Our heads all collectively turned to Sayin, who had spoken. He pulled his hood up, grimacing at the sudden attention.

Hiroshi and Ayami waved at us from another table.

"You're all in a group," Hiroshi observed. "Even you, Leona. How did you rope Leona into doing a group activity?"

"This is unbelievable!" I scowled, throwing my hands into the air. "Why does everyone think I hate people? I met all of you less than eight hours ago!"

"Well, you aren't the nicest person ever," Ayami pointed out. "Not that I can blame you for it. We have just been kidnapped, after all. Who knows? Anyone here could have orchestrated it."

I frowned and everyone else seemed generally horrified at the statement.

"Oh, come on," Ayami said, frowning now too. "Why does nobody notice these things?"

"It's like you said. We've been kidnapped," Hiroshi said. "We're probably not thinking straight.

"Why do you all think we've been kidnapped?!" Miku asked. "Can't any of you accept that you might actually be in a nice situation?"

"I'm not going to consider myself 'in a nice situation' if Dumb and Dumber are around," I replied.

As if I had summoned him, Monomausu appeared. "W-Wow… you all look really tense! A-Are you ready for some dinner?"

The collective, "Yes!" nearly blasted my eardrums.

"O-Okay!" Monomausu said. "I-I'm going to be cooking with you guys… or one of you, at least! A-Any volunteers?"

"Wait, we have to wait for this food?!" Aratani asked. "Fuck me!"

"No thanks. Do it yourself," Sayin commented, eliciting some snickers from a few of the other 'campers,' including myself. Aratani went bright red and stomped off to an empty table.

Hoshi sighed. "Getting back on track, I'll volunteer to help you cook, Monomausu. I picked up a thing or two from my serving job- I've actually had to help out in a kitchen once or twice."

" 'Once or twice,' " Scarlett repeated grumpily. "Super reassuring. Just make it quick."

"W-We'll do the best we can!" Monomausu promised. "I-In the meantime, why don't you all sit down?"

As Hoshi and Monomausu went to the kitchen, the rest of us did just that. Well, except for me, of course. There were only four tables and I was trying to figure out which one had the people I hated the least so far.

Eventually, I settled for the table consisting of Hiroshi, Ayami, Raiu, and, unfortunately, Scarlett. The latter was a downside, but I could tolerate everyone else.

As I sat down, Ayami looked up at me.

"Your theory," she said. "I want to hear it. In detail."

I was a bit taken aback by her bluntness. Hiroshi cringed, a disapproving frown forming on his face.

"Theory?" Scarlett scoffed. "Oh, this has got to be good."

"I don't see you coming up with any useful theories, Miss 'we're in a TV show,' " I said pointedly.

"We are in a TV show!" Scarlett argued. "That's the only logical explanation!"

"Let's hear her out, Scarlett," Raiu said with a sigh. "I must admit, I'm quite intrigued by this 'theory' you speak of."

"Well, if you'll all let me speak for a moment, I'll tell you," I said. I waited until the whole table was silent and looking at me before continuing. "So, don't freak out. I don't know any of you well enough to know whether you'll freak out or not. Except you, of course, Ayami- you've already come to the same conclusion. Congratulations on being smart. And you, Hiroshi- you've already freaked out. Please don't do it again."

"That's hardly fair," Hiroshi argued. "You sprung it on me without even explaining. Your theory is just… well, you can't blame me for wanting to deny it!"

"You ran away before I could tell you about it," I pointed out with a frown. "Anyways, it's fine. I don't actually care that much. Like I said, don't freak out, but I'm pretty sure Hope's Peak Academy is connected to our situation, to Camp Hope. And, well, I'm pretty sure it's either funding or behind this place."

Scarlett let out a loud gasp and Raiu's eyes widened. Everyone else in the room looked our way and I facepalmed.

"I told you not to freak out."

"You never told us why!" Scarlett said. "You at least could have prepared us a bit better!"

"How?" I asked. "No point in beating around the bush. Are you going to let me explain, Redhead?"

"Why on Earth would you think that?" Raiu asked before Scarlett could reply. "Hope's Peak is- well, it's our school! The school we would be going to if we weren't kidnapped, that is. Why would they want to kidnap us?"

"That, I haven't figured out yet," I admitted. "But I've got evidence. You know how we're all conveniently Ultimates and we were all conveniently due to attend Hope's Peak Academy? That can't be a coincidence. Unless someone is lying, we all have Ultimate talents." Ha, I'm one to talk. "I can't look past that."

"But that could be a coincidence," Hiroshi pointed out. "Plus, who wouldn't want to kidnap us? There are always people who want to kidnap celebrities- which we all are, or else we wouldn't be here."

"That's what I thought," I admitted. "At first. Then I found more evidence. Surely you haven't forgotten what we discovered, Hiroshi?"

"N-No," He stammered. "But still, to make such an outlandish claim..!"

"Let me finish," I said. He was starting to get on my nerves, but he was one of the smartest people here- if a bit naïve- and I needed him on my side if I wanted to escape. "Hiroshi and I found the Hope's Peak Academy symbol on the camp map. And no, we didn't mistake it for anything else. It was definitely that symbol. Furthermore, Ayami had a theory that I can't help but agree with. I will admit, it seems a bit unrealistic, but anything goes here. Care to explain?"

Ayami nodded, not giving Raiu or Scarlett any time to soak the information in. "Our memories have been wiped," she said bluntly.

"What?!" Scarlett and Raiu both exclaimed in unison. We were definitely starting to get some weird looks.

"What are you guys talking about over there?" Tatsuo called. "I want in on the shocked gasps! Fill me in!"

"No!" I called back. "You'll find out soon enough. Probably."

"Ayami, what the fuck are you talking about?!" Scarlett hissed, sounding genuinely concerned.

"Yes, I must say, that's a pretty wild statement," Raiu added. "Wiped memories? You must explain."

"I was getting to that before I was interrupted," Ayami deadpanned. "I'll do what I did with Hiroshi and Leona when they had similar reactions. Tell me, what were you doing yesterday? Or the day before that?"

"That's easy," Scarlett scoffed. "I was…"

Nothing.

Raiu rubbed his temples. "I can't remember… my mind feels foggy whenever I try and think of what I did recently. I remember going about my regular, everyday life… until I don't. But how did they brainwash all of us?"

"Money," Ayami said. "Lots and lots of money. I don't know how they did it, but they must have had a very large amount of funding. Whether it was a machine or a drug-"

"I would know of a drug like that," Raiu interrupted. "I am the Ultimate Apothecary, after all."

"Stop interrupting me," Ayami said. "I guess I was finished talking, anyways. Leona?"

"Right. Based on the evidence I've already told you about, I believe Hope's Peak funded this place. At the very least, I believe they must have funded whatever erased our memories. Why else would the symbol be on the official map? And why would all the Ultimates due to attend their school be here at once? Plus, they'd definitely have enough money to fund this place. Furthermore, I remembered how expensive some things here must be, such as everything in the kitchen, the plumbing, the robots and the air conditioning."

"This is a lot to take in," Raiu said. "But… I can see what you're saying. I can't deny that that is all awfully suspicious. I think… well, as outlandish and insane as it sounds, I think that's our most solid theory so far, even if we don't know why Hope's Peak would do this. Sorry, Scarlett."

"I still believe in my reality TV theory," Scarlett scoffed. "This all sounds like a bunch of nonsense to me.

Hiroshi sighed. "I can't say I fully support this theory, but… I understand what you're saying and I see now that there's a surprising amount of plausible evidence."

Our conversation was cut short when Hoshi emerged from the kitchen, carrying a steaming tray of something that smelled delicious.

"Hoshi, that smells so good!" Kaoru exclaimed with an ecstatic grin.

Hoshi blushed. "Well, I often did some home cooking in my spare time, you see. I wanted to familiarize myself with the dishes I was serving. We made something simple because I know everyone was hungry."

Oh, right. We.

"Th-That's right!" Monomausu said. "I don't have a nose, b-but I'm sure it would smell delicious if I did! Have a nice meal, campers!"

With that, he disappeared.

"How does he do that?" Aratani asked nobody in particular. "It's very mouse-inating!"

Nobody laughed.

Aratani scowled, but shrugged it off soon after. "It was a stretch," she admitted.

I couldn't help but wonder the same, however. How did Monomausu and Monokami keep appearing and disappearing out of nowhere? They were just robots, they couldn't teleport. It had been bothering me for a while.

Hoshi went around the room, and, as his talent suggested, served everyone their food. I heard a few delighted gasps here and there and honestly, I was actually pretty excited.

Finally, Hoshi reached our table and set down three bowls of hot ramen. Various herbs were floating on the top and I could see some small chunks of boiled carrot in the mix. Wow, I haven't had ramen since I was a kid.

I ate quickly, unable to bear the hunger any longer. Even though it was just ramen, it was pretty tasty. It reminded me of home and I felt a frown coming on. Not because I was homesick, of course— I couldn't care less about my mother and my younger sister, Nyria, or my house, for that matter. All the same, I had literally just been kidnapped and forced to go to a summer camp against my will. Who wouldn't be reminiscing about home in a situation like this?

Hoshi brought everyone a glass of water with a lemon sitting on the rim before sitting down and eating his own meal. Everything I had been given was gone within ten minutes.

"Hoshi!" I called. Something had been on my mind for the entire meal, bothering me intensely. "Where did you get all the ingredients for this meal?"

"Oh— Monomausu showed me where to get everything!" Hoshi replied. "You should see their food stores. They're quite impressive! I was so overwhelmed by the sheer amount of food, I was unsure of what to make at first."

"That's really considerate of our kidnappers," Ayami deadpanned. She looked quite bothered by the fact that such a large amount of food had been provided for people who had been kidnapped by the people who had kidnapped them, just as I was.

"We're at summer camp!" Miku corrected for what felt like the millionth time.

"Shut up, Hatsume," Aratani sneered.

"H-Hatsume?!" Miku squeaked. "I-I'm not that Miku!"

The whole room burst into laughter. So the Ultimate Comedian does have the capability to make a decent joke.

After everyone was finished their food, Hoshi cleared the dishes and went to go wash them. Almost everyone else headed back to the cabins; we were all exhausted, whether we played soccer earlier or not.

Despite our exhaustion, however, a select few, including me, headed towards the showers instead. I still wanted to take that shower I meant to earlier; hopefully my suit hadn't gotten sweaty already.

"Do you think they'll have towels?" Miyo asked.

"Probably," Miku replied. "They've provided everything else for us so far, so why not bath towels?"

"She's right," I said.

It was just the three of us heading to the showers. Maybe if Ayami were here, I actually could have had an intellectual conversation, but of course I was stuck here with the two midgets. I guess Miyo isn't as bad as Miku, but she's weak. I mean, my first impression of her was her bawling her eyes out. Plus, like Miku, she's a bit too… upbeat for my taste.

"Why do they give us so much stuff?" Miyo asked suddenly, sniffling. "They… they already ripped us from our homes… so why would they go through so much for us? I-I know I won't appreciate it."

"Hey, you shouldn't think that way!" Miku said. "My memory's still a bit foggy, but I'm sure I remember signing up for a summer camp like this! We came here by our own free will. We're just here to have fun— we'll see our families soon!"

Lying bitch, I thought disdainfully. Nobody remembers anything, especially not signing up for a summer camp. I know she wasn't there when he said it, but Monomausu even confirmed we were kidnapped.

"M-Maybe you're right," Miyo amended. "A-At least, I really hope you are…"

I really wanted them both to shut up. Has Miku seriously already forgotten waking up in a pitch-black concrete block with no idea where she was?'

Finally, we reached the showers. Thankfully, there was a rack of white towels near the entrance. I hadn't done a very thorough check of the room beforehand so I hadn't noticed it before. Each of us took a towel and headed into a shower stall.

Miku and Miyo seemed happy to discuss this and that and I was internally screaming for someone to get me the hell out of here. Can't a girl get kidnapped in peace?

Finally, I couldn't stand their rambling anymore and I finished my shower quickly, drying myself off and putting my suit back on. I was practically dead on my feet— if I didn't have experience with dealing with exhaustion because of my job, I would probably have passed out already. I had no idea how Miku was still standing— wasn't her job literally just sitting around all day, talking into a microphone?

I left the shower room, heading to the girls' cabin so I could finally get some rest. I just hoped we wouldn't all be killed in our sleep— that would be anticlimactic.

"Well, well, well, look what the wolf dragged in!" Aratani exclaimed as I entered the cabin. Most of the girls were sleeping, but Zara and Aratani remained awake.

"You're not nearly as funny as you think you are," I deadpanned. "Let me sleep."

"I'm pretty sure the millions of people who have deemed me the Ultimate Comedian would beg to differ," Aratani said.

"Whatever, Dad Jokes," I scoffed. "If you're smart— which you don't seem to be— you'll sleep. Actually, maybe that's why you're still awake."

Aratani scowled. "Shut up."

"Is Miyo almost done?" Zara asked as I climbed into my bunk.

"Ask her new best friend. I had to get out of their to escape their endless rambling. How on Earth can two people talk so much?"

"Miyo's always been like that," Zara said. I could almost hear the smile in her voice— it was kinda weird, honestly. "She makes friends really easily and she can talk about anything for hours. I've always been the quiet one…"

I sighed. "Well, that's nice and all, but I don't have time to hear your life story. I'm busy trying to figure out how to sleep with a suit on."

"Why don't you just take it off?" Asked Ayami from under me, making me jump.

"Gah— why are you still awake?" I asked. "Also, I can't just take my pants off in a room full of teenagers. Pretty sure that's illegal."

"I'm sure you didn't wear your suit when you were playing soccer with the others," Ayami pointed out. "You must have an undershirt or something."

"I suppose," I amended. "Why are clothes the one thing they didn't provide us wi—"

"I am sosososososo sorry!" Squeaked an annoying voice that I was becoming quite used to hearing. I glanced irritably off my bunk to see Monomausu holding a stack of what looked like pajamas. "I'm s-so sorry, campers! We totally forgot the pajamas! Th-there's a little side room you can change in one by one." He looked around the room. "Oh nooo… are you all asleep?!"

"I was until you came in here," Tatsuo grumbled, sounding groggy.

"You could at least have the decency to give us a good night's sleep!" Scarlett snapped.

"Eep! I-I'm so sorry!" Monomausu repeated. "We meant to give you these b-before you went to bed… Monokami is bringing the boys their pajamas right now! D-Does anyone still want them..?"

"Count me the fuck in," I said, climbing down from my bunk. "I was afraid I would actually have to sleep in suit pants for a second there." However, I stopped when I saw the pajamas Monomausu was holding. They looked like pajamas a five year old would wear with cute little designs that seemed to correspond to our talents. There was a purple pair of pajamas with white bones on them that looked suspiciously like something for the Ultimate Animal Trainer… "Actually, nevermind. I think I'll pass."

"You'll only look as stupid as we will," Tatsuo pointed out, eyeing the clothes. She climbed down from her bunk and nearly stepped on Scarlett in the process.

"Watch it, Leotard!" Scarlett snapped. "I'll sue you if you ruin my gorgeous face!"

"You already ruined your gorgeous face by wearing it," Tatsuo retorted bitterly, making me snicker and Scarlett stutter in rage.

"Well, you've got a point," I said, thinking back to what Tatsuo had said earlier. "Perhaps you all looking stupid will lighten my mood and make me forget about the pajamas." I shrugged and took the purple pair from Monomausu's arms, turning to my left and walking off into a side room I hadn't noticed before to change.

"Maybe I shouldn't have gone first…" I muttered, before raising my voice and saying, "If any of you laugh at me, I will strange you! Or punch-slash-kick you. Anything that'll hurt."

"Stop being edgy and get out here- I want to change out of my clothes, too!" Aratani called back.

Rolling my eyes, I stepped out of the side room and I could clearly see a few of the other girls stifling their laughter.

"You'll be wearing something like this, too," I pointed out, climbing back into my bunk.

"I don't understand this," Ayami said. "Why be embarrassed about the clothes you are forced to wear? It simply doesn't make any sense."

"It's the principle of the matter," Tatsuo stated simply, taking her pair of pajamas and changing.

"Oh, come on," Scarlett said when she came out. "This isn't fair. How do you look so good in those? They don't even look that ridiculous!"

It was true. I peered over my bunk to see Tatsuo wearing a pair of mint green shirt and pants, and instead of the bones on mine, her pajamas had white swirls of wind across them.

"Thanks for the compliment," Tatsuo said with a grin, climbing back into her bed.

Everyone else changed, their pajamas having varying levels of ridiculousness. Scarlett's pajamas were red with white pencils on it, Ayami's were black with white locks on it, Aratani's were green with white microphones on them, and Zara's were pale blue with snowflakes on them. The pajamas of Miku and Miyo, who laughed at all of us upon entering the cabin, were magenta with white headphones on them and pale blue with snowflakes on them- like Zara's- respectively.

Thankfully, nobody had the energy to talk through the night and we all fell asleep quickly. However, my dreams were plagued with nightmares for one of the first times since I was young.

The nightmares varied, but each one had my fellow 'campers' and Monokami and Monomausu in them. In almost every dream, Monokami and Monomausu were killing or torturing all of us- or just me- but in the last dream…

In the last dream, I saw myself holding a bloody knife over the body of one of the other campers.

-oOo-

Author's Note: The prologue's almost done, I swear. I can guarantee you the first chapter will begin in one or two chapters- I should only have one more prologue chapter to go. Maybe two? Anyways, I promise it'll be worth sticking around. See you next chapter.

Current Character List:

[F] Leona Kurakawa - Ultimate Animal Trainer - 19 y/o

[F] Miku Fukairi - Ultimate Voice Actor - 16 y/o

[M] Hiroshi Satou - Ultimate Percussionist - 18 y/o

[M] Seiko Konya - Ultimate Marcher - 17 y/o

[M] Kaoru "Sugi" Sugiyama - Ultimate Designer - 18 y/o

[M] Hoshi Ito - Ultimate Server - 19 y/o

[M] Lado Kaido - Ultimate Adversity - 16 y/o

[M] Kohaku "Ura the Mage King" Nomura - Ultimate Live Action Roleplayer/LARPist - 18 y/o

[F] Aratani Hagihara - Ultimate Comedian - 17 y/o

[F] Ayami Kimura - Ultimate Escape Artist - 17 y/o

[M] Raiu Kosetsu - Ultimate Apothecary - 18 y/o

[F] Scarlett Blake - Ultimate Journalist - 18 y/o

[F] Miyo Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o

[F] Zara Akemi - Ultimate Figure Skater - 16 y/o

[F] Tatsuo Shimizu - Ultimate Trapeze Artist - 18 y/o

[M] Sayin Lukro - Ultimate Occultist - 17 y/o