Danganronpa – A Story of Growth and Love

Chapter 5 – Ultimate Classmates, Ultimate Friends

(Hajime's POV)

BEEP, BEEP, BEEP!

That was the first thing I heard this when I woke up today. I set my alarm for 7:30 am, and since classes started at 9:00 am, I had plenty of time to get ready. After a quick shower, I put on my uniform and got my supplies in order. I looked over at my clock and saw that it was only 8:00 am, so I had some time to get breakfast. With that in mind, my first destination for the day would be the dining hall.

As I exited my dorm room, I happened to bump into Chiaki on my way to the dining hall. "Good morning Chiaki, how are you doing?" I asked.

"…Oh, good morning Hajime" Chiaki yawned, "Sorry, I'm a bit tired this morning."

"Why's that Chiaki? Did you have trouble sleeping?" I asked.

Chiaki let out a yawn and said, "I was playing a new video game I got yesterday and I was doing some levels before bed. But by the time I was finished it was 3:00 am."

"So, you only got about 4 hours of sleep!? Even when our classes started today?" I asked.

"I know I shouldn't have done that, but I'm just so used to it by now. I've been playing games late into the night ever since middle school…I think?"

I was surprised, but Chiaki was the Ultimate Gamer, so it makes sense that she would've done this at some point. "Nevermind Chiaki. I was on my way to the dining hall to get some breakfast, do you want to join me?"

Chiaki smiled at my request and said, "Sure thing Hajime, let's go!"

After a bit of walking, we made it to the dining hall. I asked Chiaki what she wanted, and she said she would be fine with some fruit and a muffin, with coffee to drink. So, while I got our food, Chiaki got us a table. As soon as I got our food, I walked over to our table and sat down. I handed Chiaki her food, while I started to eat mine. I just got some eggs and bacon with toast, as well as a coffee. While eating our breakfast, Chiaki and I talked a bit about what our other classmates would be like. We met some at the opening ceremony yesterday, so maybe we would have classes with them. All I know is, whoever were learning with shouldn't be that bad…at least I hope that's the case.

Once we finished eating, Chiaki and I started to head to our classroom. Once we got there, it was 8:55 am, so we were probably a bit early. I opened the door, and saw that Chiaki and I weren't the only ones here. Ms. Yukizome was there, and she seemed to be talking to the students who arrived before us. I counted about seven students who were here. For the first row of desks, there were 4 students there. The first student I noticed was a girl with red hair and freckles with a camera on her desk. Next to her was short girl, with long blonde hair, wearing what I think is a kimono. A few desks from the short girl, was another girl with blonde hair, with a large black ribbon in her hair and sitting next to her was guy with pink hair, who was wearing a blue jumpsuit and a backwards hat.

In the second row, I saw a girl with gray hair and red eyes, who seemed to have a sword strapped to her back. Sitting next to her was a guy with short blonde hair, and a refined face. Lastly in the back row was a guy with long white hair. I saw that he had a scratch on his forehead that looked liked he just got it. As soon as Chiaki and I entered, the two girls at the front of the class turned towards us. The red head girl spoke first and said, "Finally, more people are here. My name is Mahiru, Mahiru Koizumi, the Ultimate Photographer. Pleased to meet you."

The shorter girl spoke next and said, "My name's Hiyoko Saionji, the Ultimate Traditional Dancer." She looked at the two of us and then said, "Wow, you two don't look very impressive. I bet your ultimates are just as lame to!"

While Hiyoko was giggling from her rude comment, Chiaki and I introduced ourselves to them. "My name's Hajime Hinata, nice to meet you."

"I'm Chiaki Nanami, the Ultimate Gamer. Nice meeting you."

"Ah Chiaki, Hajime! Great to see you this morning!" Ms. Yukizome said. "Why don't you two take a seat? Were still missing half the class, so take your time adjusting to the class and introduce yourselves to students here."

After a brief look around the class, Chiaki and I decided to sit behind the two students at the near the window. I sat behind the pink hair guy, while Chiaki sat behind the girl with the ribbon. Once we sat down, the students in front of us turned around to introduce themselves.

"Good morning, my name is Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess."

"My name's Kazuichi Soda, the Ultimate Mechanic, nice to meet you!"

Chiaki and I introduced ourselves to them, and then the other three students who were here came up to us next. The man with the refined face spoke first and said, "The name's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, and I'm the Ultimate Yakuza."

Next on the list of introductions was the gray-haired girl. "I'm Peko Pekoyama, the Ultimate Swordswoman." Her face showed little emotion when she spoke, but she seemed sincere with her greeting.

Lastly was the student with the long white hair. "My name is Nagito Komaeda. It's a true honor to meet such amazing ultimates such as yourselves. I'm the Ultimate Lucky Student in case you were wondering."

After another round of self introductions, Kazuichi asked me quite the question. "So, Hajime, Chiaki is the Ultimate Gamer, but you never really told us what your talent was. What exactly is it?"

"Oh, well you see, I don't actually have a talent."

"You don't have a talent!? Then how did you get in the academy?" Fuyuhiko asked.

"Well, you see, I'm apart of the school's latest experiment with the Reserve Course."

"Oh, I heard of that program! They said something about it during the entrance ceremony." Sonia said.

I didn't remember that from the ceremony, but then again, it was so long that I wasn't really paying full attention to the presentation. "Yeah," I responded nervously, "I was the student they were talking about for the experiment. The hope is that I'll develop some sort of talent from learning with other Ultimates, and if it works, they'll start having more Reserve Course Students move to the main academy."

"You seem nervous." Peko said, "Are you worried about how the other Ultimates will react towards you?"

Her question sent a chill down my spine, but my worries were quashed when Fuyuhiko responded with, "Don't worry about that Hajime. If you ask me, your just another student here at the academy. Ultimate talent or not, you were clearly picked for a reason."

"I agree Hajime" Chiaki said. She looked over at me and smiled. "You may not have a talent, but it doesn't mean that you don't matter. So, don't worry about it."

I felt something warm in my chest as Chiaki spoke to me. She was right of course; I didn't need a talent to prove myself. Judging by the other's faces, they seemed to think the same.

"Don't worry man." Kazuichi said, "We all my have ultimate talents, but we still had to practice and refine our talents. I didn't start out knowing everything from the beginning after all."

"I agree with Kazuichi," Sonia said with a smile, "It took me quite a bit of studying and training to become the Ultimate Princess."

"I'm the same," Peko said, "It took me years to learn the art of sword fighting, and I'm still learning things to this day."

Their words filled me with confidence. They were right of course, no one starts out knowing everything about their talent. So, the fact that they were so cool about me being here, meaning that things might not be so bad.

"Alright everyone, I think I hear the rest of the class down the hall." Ms. Yukizome said. "Everyone, please get back to your seats!"

Once the other ten students entered the class, Ms. Yukizome got to the lesson for the day. It wasn't really that important, since most teachers don't have huge lessons on the first day of class. Everyone who was in the class seemed nice enough, and I even made some new friends. Out of everything though, the other students don't care that I don't have a talent. I felt great after my first day, and I'm looking forward to what's coming next. But I'm still wondering about what I felt earlier, when Chiaki reassured me. She said it so nicely, and I keep remembering her smile. Whatever this feeling was, I'm just glad to have Chiaki here with me.

Done with yet another chapter. Sorry for the wait, I had some trouble thinking of how I wanted to write this one. I also wanted to introduce all of the class 77-B students, but I didn't want to make everything insanely long. The next chapter will be set a few weeks in the future, and we'll see Hajime and Chiaki realize their feelings for one another, with some help from their friends of course. Thank you for reading this latest chapter, and I'll try to have the next one up soon enough. See ya next time!