Prologue - Despair Behind Closed Doors Part I:

GONG! GONG! GONG!

Kai's eyes struggled to open as he came to, the chime of an antique grandfather clock booming into his ears. He raised his head, looking down onto the wooden counter top below, with a few drops of drool dotting its smooth surface next to his beret. The clock had finished its sudden wake-up alarm, which kick-started the boy's thought process as he picked up his hat and adjusted it on top of his raven-black hair.

"Where...am I?" He asked in his head, rubbing the last bit of exhaustion from his hazel eyes, which started to take in his surroundings as his vision cleared.

He was seated in what appeared to be a pawn shop, as he was surrounded by various objects that dated back several hundreds years in the past, along with more recent goods still worth as much. They were on display on thick glass cases. His head had rested next to an electronic cash register, free of dust and grime.

The walls were the color of mahagony with a plush carpet spread across the floor. A large fan was mounted to the ceiling, its wooden blades spinning around in a near-hypnotizing circle.

Kai slowly stood to his feet, nearly tumbling when his legs wobbled underneath. Thankfully he held onto the counter top for support.

"How did I get here?"

Kai didn't have an answer, and once he regained his composure he stepped from behind the counter. The carpet was so soft his feet sank into it. He moved around a small display case with an expensive vase inside it, navigating through the rather large store. While he couldn't figure out why he woke up inside an unattended store, he figured he may as well leave. Chances are he was trespassing, and the last thing he wanted was trouble.

"Huh?"

He was puzzled once he reached the other side, and the shop's entrance and exit.

Well, there would've been an exit to the shop if it was not sealed by a large, metal shutter. He knew these were pulled down to keep intruders out when it was closing time, and raised when it was time to open for business. So why was he staring at it from the inside, and more importantly staring at it with no clue on how to raise it? A large combination padlock, in chains, that needed a five-digit held the shutter, well, shut.

He didn't know the code.

A loud yawn pulled him back to reality, followed by an unfamiliar voice.

"Huh? Is the camera still-"

From behind a jewelry case Kai saw a head pop up, with an expression just as perplexed as he was. At first he looked around the store, but when he made eye with the street performer he softened with a smile and sigh of relief.

"Oh, hello there!" His confusion switched to a sincere smile as he stood to full height. Just as clumsily as Kai had been, he moved from where he woke up, to the boy to introduce himself.

"Oh, so I'm not alone. But I don't think I've met him before..."

Kai replied with a small wave. It was the only thing he could do, all things considered.

"Nice to meet ya! You can call me Kenji Yonezawa. I'm known as the Ultimate Journalist!"

KENJI YONEZAWA

ULTIMATE JOURNALIST

Kenji stood fairly tall, with a stocky figure that contrasted with Kai's more lean build. His peach-colored skin was bright and lively, complimenting his face along with a rounded nose, toothy grin, and baby blue eyes that sparkled like diamonds in the light. His chocolate-brown hair was cut short, reaching below two pointed, elvish ears.

He wore a light navy-green sweater vest, with a small pocket holding an array of multicolored pencils. He also wore a pair of dark blue jeans and brown hunting boots that had dried mud caked ul along the sides, like he had been caught in a mud slide. There was a small notepad in his left hand, as well as an ink pen in his right.

Kai nodded slightly as he looked Kenji from head-to-toe. There was a pregnant pause as both stared at each other.

"...Sooo...are you gonna introduce yourself?"

"Oof. That's gonna be tricky." Kai folded his arms behind his back as he bit his lip.

Then he remembered Kenji was still holding his notepad. Silently he pointed to it.

"Not much of a talker, eh?" The reporter chuckled with a smirk as he handed over the pad and pen. He caught onto the message, which Kai counter a small victory compared to other blunders in the past.

Kai went to work scribbling down a message. Once he was done, he flipped it over so Kenji could read it.

"I'm afraid I can't actually speak to you, so I hope this would be enough. I'm Kai Shiguro, nice to meet you."

"Ultimate Talent?" Kenji asked once he was done, raising a brow.

Kai scratched the back of his head.

He had heard various claims from fans announcing him as the "Ultimate Mime Artist", which was a title given to students accepted into Hope's Peak Academy. However, he never considered himself as such, only somebody that can pull off a good show for a crowd.

"Don't have one?" The reporter handed him the notepad again, and in turn the boy wrote down his response.

"I've always been called the Ultimate Mime Artist by fans of my performances, but I don't think I'm that great."

"Hmm..." Kenji scratched his chin as he read the reply. "Well, I'm gonna call you the Ultimate Mime Artist! Nice to meet ya, Kai Shiguro!"

KAI SHIGURO

'ULTIMATE MIME ARTIST'

Kai gave a mild shrug. "That's fine, I guess..."

The mime went to return the pen and paper, but found that Kenji declined. "You can keep that, Kai. After all, since you're not able to speak you're gonna need a way to communicate. Plus, I can always pick up another. Nothing stops me from getting the word out to the public!" He triumphantly pumped a fist into the air with a confident smile.

Kai couldn't help but smile at the reporters optimism. But it faltered once he came to reality as he remembered the fact that the two were still locked inside a pawn shop with no idea on how to get out.

Kenji seemed to notice this.

"Guess we're still in a pickle, huh?" He chuckled bashfully. "All we gotta do is find the code, right?" As the reporter bent down to inspect the lock, Kai looked at the page he had answered Kenji's questions with, and how small the paper was. Listening to Kenji input random codes into the lock with no success, he started counting the number of pages he had.

"40...41...42...43...Huh?"

The next page had five numbers written into it with big, sloppy handwriting.

"1. 1. 0. 3. 7. Do not forget this."

"Shoot!" Kenji barked as his next attempt at busting the lock failed. Kai looked down at the message written on paper.

"How did this get here?"

Despite how strange it was, Kai tapped the reporter's shoulder. "What?" He responded with a hint of frustration in his tone. "S-Sorry. What was it you wanted to show me?

The mime showed him the message.

"11037?" Kenji scratched the back of his head, glancing over the numbers, then to the lock, and then back up at Kai. "Hm..."

Picking up the lock, he slowly inserted the numbers, muttering each one to himself.

Click.

After scrolling to the seven on the final wheel, the lock clicked open.

"Hey, it worked!" Kenji cheered as he removed the combination lock from the chains holding the bar in place. Once he grabbed the bar, he slowly started to lift the shutter, which revealed the other side inch by inch. Even with the reported cheering that they could leave, Kai couldn't help but wonder...

"What was the code doing in Kenji's notepad?"

So here's a little part of what is going to be our story's prologue, and with it the introduction to our first Ultimate excluding Kai. Let me know what you guys think, I'd love to hear your feedback. :)

Of course, submissions are still open for this story until the end of February. So if you'd like to submit your own character to this story, check out the rules to this SYOC before sending me a PM.

Have a good day, everyone. Ciao!~