Author's Note: Hello, everyone. It's been awhile, huh? I promised weekly updates, but now it's been two months and the first real chapter is just now coming out. A lot of things have happened in my life these past few months, most of it for the worse, and it ultimately sucked away not only my motivation to write or do anything I enjoy, but also most of my time as well. I guess the biggest thing to let you all know about is that...my dad passed away a little over a month ago. I honestly didn't want to do anything at all for awhile, and still kind of don't, but when I do write I feel a bit better, at least in the moment.

I'll be straightforward: I don't know the future of this story. I mean, I have it all detailed out now, I know exactly where I want to take it and it's all fleshed out and ready to go. But I don't know if I'm going to be able to keep up the motivation to keep writing. But I'm going to at least try. I don't want to waste the efforts of everyone who submitted their characters, they're all really good and I'm so excited to write them. And, honestly, I think it would be good for me if I was able to get myself to write more consistently, so this story might be exactly what I need, on an emotional level.

So, here we go. This is a character introduction chapter, it's quite long but it only gets about halfway through the cast. The next chapter will introduce the rest of the cast and get the plot rolling. For anyone who's stuck by this despite the wait, thank you.

PROLOGUE: SUN
"Too many things I have to remember now, and I'm not sure how I do it."

"...Hashimoto. My name is Jun Hashimoto."

I spoke with a self-assuredness that I was quite used to presenting. Of course I knew who I was, why wouldn't I? I had blanked out for a moment, but surely it was because of the anxiety rushing alongside the blood in my veins and pumping through my heart. I was in an unfamiliar location, and I was scared and confused; who WOULDN'T panic in this kind of situation? Despite my self-reassurances, however, I can't help but look down at my self and take stock of my appearance, as if to confirm with my own eyes that I was indeed me.

The outfit I'd picked out this morning was still there: a pink and white horizontally-striped blouse, an unbuttoned thin lavender coat, and similarly-colored short skirt. Alright, good, my clothes looked fine so this meant I hadn't been unconscious for long. I check the top of my head to see if my pink cap is still there, but not surprisingly, it isn't. I suppose it would be easy to think it could have fallen off when I'd been taken...or, if I'd been taken. I still wasn't sure if that was the exact truth yet. Nonetheless, my hair still seems to be in good shape; the dyed blonde hair falls just short of my shoulders, just as I remember, though the wavy locks seem insistent in covering part of my face. I brush some of the bangs out of the way of my right eye, the fringe of hair swaying away easily enough but threatening to partially obstruct my view again at any moment.

"Oh, are you looking for this?"

Ah, right, I was talking to someone. For a moment, they had ceased to exist from my own reality as I focused entirely on myself. Though it was good that I paid attention to them once more, as they held a familiar look cap in their hands.

"Oh, yeah, that's mine," I reply, taking it back as they offer it to me, "I guess I dropped it when we got dumped in here."

"Actually, it fell off when you were shifting in your sleep," They explained with a smile, "I figured I would hold onto it until you woke up."

"Huh...weird," I mutter to myself. I'm not sure why I still had my hat, but then again I don't even remember getting taken or subdued. I just...woke up, I suppose. One minute I was going through my daily life, the next, I was here. That was strange, now that I thought about it, or about as strange as everything else. To wake up, without ever having gone to sleep in the first place...what exactly did that make my life up until now? Had I still been in my edgy teenager phase, I probably would have come to the conclusion that perhaps I'd never truly been awake until now, and that this crazy situation I now found myself in was a part of the true waking world.

But I'm an adult now, and I don't believe in those types of existential theories anymore.

"Jun Hashimoto..."

The person next to me broke me from my thoughts once again. They had a thoughtful look on their face, as if somehow my name itself had caught their attention the most out of anything currently happening to us.

"You wouldn't happen to be...Jun'ichi Hashimoto, would you?"

I grimaced slightly as they said my full name. I didn't think anyone would recognize me, for one, but the second slight against me was the fact that they'd said my full name. I don't particularly like it, in all honesty. I don't know why my parents had decided on such a masculine name for their baby girl when I was born, and neither did most of my classmates growing up. It was an easy thing to make fun of, to say the least.

"Yes...but I would prefer if you just called me Jun," I answer, and before I can continue my conversation partner squeals in delight and bounces on their heels.

"I knew it! If you're a Hope's Peak student like the rest of us, then that totally makes you the Ultimate Street Model, right?"

I smile and nod weakly, causing my newest fan to happily bring their hands up to cover their mouth in an attempt to restrain what was certainly an unnecessary outburst of happiness.

Perhaps I should explain myself here, certainly wouldn't want anyone getting lost.

Hope's Peak Academy is a government-sanctioned high school situated all the way over in Japan, my home country. As the name implies, the main focus of the school is to bring about hope in the world, which it does through raising and nurturing today's youth in order to create a promising future. Maybe it sounds a little too fantastical, but it has proven throughout the decades to be a positive influence on the world. There hasn't been a single student who has graduated from Hope's Peak who did not go on to become successful in the adult world and bring about positive change and influence in one way or another.

However, as one might think, it isn't easy to get in, though it is more simple than most people believe. There are only two requirements to becoming a student at Hope's Peak Academy:

1) You must be a high school student. Whether that means you've already spent a year or two in a normal high school, or you're a fresh face about the enter the scary world of teenagers, that is the absolute bottom line requirement if you are going to attend. That means young children cannot become a student until they are older; meanwhile, any and all adults have already lost their chance. It's a sad truth that there has been more than one occasion where adults have created false identities in order to pose as high schoolers in hopes of somehow being accepted.

2) You must be at the top of your field of expertise. No "if"s, "and"s, or "but"s. This is the competitive side of the enrollment process, as there are thousands upon thousands of talented kids out in the world who wish to become students at Hope's Peak. However, only one student for a given talent can ever attend at one time. So while there may, for instance, be multiple students who were recognized with the talent of gardening, only one could ever attend the school at a time as the Ultimate Gardener.

Now, here's the kicker: you can't actually apply to enroll. There are no entrance exams, interviews, or even forms to sign to show interest. Anyone who has ever joined was handpicked by the school itself. Talent scouts are utilized by Hope's Peak in order to search for and evaluate any potential students that could be a deemed a perfect fit for the academy. Nobody knows who they are though or what they look like, it's even been rumored that their identities have been erased from public records in order to prevent them from ever being recognized by the public. In a way...they sound really cool, in a mysterious, underground society kind of way.

Now, where does that leave me? As my newest fan has said, I'm the Ultimate Street Model. I don't go to photo shoots, and I'm not on the cover of magazines. It's just never been my thing, and before I gained popularity I likely never could have gotten into the professional modeling world anyway, even if I had tried. My talent comes into play in HOW I model. Essentially, I use social media to my advantage. Nobody ever has to buy a magazine or pack themselves into the audience of a catwalk showing, all of my work is free and easy to access. At the tap of a phone screen, I'm immediately available for anyone, anywhere. That's not to say all I do is play dress up in front of a camera; beyond the natural talent and hard work that goes into modeling, I also rely on fashion knowledge and aesthetics, as well as the technical side of camera work, such as lighting and knowing how to get the perfect shot. This isn't humble to say at all, but I'm probably one of the most well known social media models out there, at least to anyone who cares about that sort of thing. I've influenced many trends with my work alone, and have even repopularized what were thought to be archaic trends long since forgotten, all without the help of a single agency. That's why I'm an Ultimate.

...Or at least, I was. See, I graduated seven years ago, and there's a new Ultimate Street Model now, I presume. So that brings up two questions for me: why have I been taken to this unknown location and gathered together with both past and current Ultimates? And besides that...how does this girl know me anyway? She guessed my talent by name alone and even knew my full name, but I haven't been referred to by my former title in years.

"Sorry, sorry! I'm just so excited I finally get to meet you in person!"

The way she talks is surprisingly genuine, and I find it hard to be annoyed with her despite her bubbly and energetic nature. Honestly, I find it easy to match her personality, I don't even know her and I can already tell she's an open book. We're stuck in a mysterious place, and she still finds the time to be starstruck by a glorified internet celebrity. It's kind of cute, really.

"What do you mean?" I ask, "I'm just a model, there are plenty of those out there."

"Well, I am sort of a huge fan," the girl admits, her golden-hazel eyes avoiding mine as she looks away shyly, "But! You helped me get my big start!"

"Huh?" Now I'm wondering if I do know her after all, somehow. For some reason, I do feel a sense of familiarity, but I'm not sure why.

"I'm a fashion designer- well, actually I'm THE Ultimate Fashion Designer!"

Now I think we're getting somewhere. I'm sure I've seen her somewhere before then, even though I don't work with any modeling agencies I'm still more than familiar with many clothing designers. I look her up and down, trying to pinpoint where I could have seen her before, but it's no dice.

Her hair is pretty similar to mine, but her's is longer and reaches past her shoulders, and she's far more in control of her bangs than I am of mine at the moment. And unlike my pale skin, her's has that signature American tan that I've seen so much in the western modeling business, though her's looks clear and natural. She's an inch or two taller than me, but at 5'6" I'm about average in height anyway, so I suppose you could say she's a bit taller than most girls. Her outfit consists of a visually pleasing pastel yellow cropped sweater, with ripped light blue high-waisted jeans and white high-heel sandals. She's also accessorized herself with a fair bit of jewelry, with a diamond-studded choker around her neck and rings with various gemstones around her fingers. It's a look I can get behind, but I expect no less from the Ultimate Fashion Designer.

"I've released too many clothing lines to count, actually I don't remember how many, and they've all done really well! But like, I suddenly got a lot of attention when you brought my first ever designs back into popularity years after I released them. It was all anyone could talk about, so I used that opportunity to launch my signature brand, Daydream! That's what ended up getting me recruited into Hope's Peak a few years ago!"

"Ah, now I get it," I remark with a grin, "I think I remember that shoot, it was one of my favorites. Your designs sparkled with an energetic joy you don't often see in modern fashion anymore."

"Oh my gosh, thank you!" Her smile was so bright and warm; it was so contradictory to the grimness of the situation we found ourselves in that it was almost uncanny. "Oh, you don't know my name, huh? Sorry, I forgot to introduce myself!"

She stuck out her hand.

"I'm Lindsay Snow! It's soooo nice to meet you!"

I couldn't help but smile as I reached out to shake her hand, her enthusiasm just felt infectious. But once my hand touched her's-

"L-Lindsay!"

The scent of blood-

A heavy weight in my arms-

In her hand, a-

...

"...Th-thank you, Jun. I...I'm glad I met you-"

It was like I had woken up from a dream once more. My breathing was shallow, and sweat dared to gush from my brow. I quickly withdrew my hand from Lindsay's grasp and took a cautious step back, but just as suddenly as this sudden feeling of extreme panic hit me, it was gone.

"The hell was that!?" I exclaim, unaware of how loud I was talking until I'd already spoken. Looking around me, I could see a few odd stares from others that had already woken up, but no one approached me. I felt embarrassed, yet so very confused.

"What was what?" Lindsay asks, and for a moment she sounds less than cheerful. In fact she sounds downright annoyed by my outburst.

"You- You didn't see that?" I'm trying to control the shakiness in my voice, and for now I'm succeeding but it won't last long. I don't feel safe, I don't feel secure.

"See WHAT?" The Fashion Designer reiterates, the previous tone now gone and replaced with something akin to concern.

"I..."

What can I even say? I'm not even sure what I saw. The memories are already fleeting and it's just a grey blurry mess in my mind within seconds. All I can tell is that it wasn't something good. It felt like...I was remembering something very terrible. Something that involved Lindsay. But I don't even know her! I just met her! I- no, I'm panicking again. I need to stop that. And I need to come up with an excuse. Regardless of whether or not my new friend would believe me, it isn't something I want to talk about anyway. There isn't anything to talk about.

"...Sorry. I think I just had a delayed panic attack," I explain somewhat truthfully, "I still haven't processed what's going on here. For a moment, it was like we were having a normal conversation, but then reality set in, you know?"

Lindsay's face is blank as she examines my own in what I think is an attempt to read me. It won't work, but I have no reason to tell her that. Eventually she smiles sheepishly, and the tension in the air loosens ever so slightly.

"No worries, I totally get it. This place is pretty weird...and we still don't know how we got here..." She cast her view over the rest of the room, eyes scanning people whether they were awake or asleep. "I...haven't talked much to everyone yet. Most I know is we're all Ultimates, and if they told me their names I've already forgotten."

That seems a little careless, but I don't comment on her memory failures. There are more important things to deal with at the moment.

"That seems a little careless, don't you think?"

Of course, someone else feels the need to state the obvious. The voice comes from somewhere at our left side and is so sudden that I shamelessly flinch at the noise. I wonder for a moment if someone had somehow sneaked over to us without either of us noticing, but upon turning to face whoever was talking to us I can see somebody sitting on the floor and leaning against one of the pews. They'd likely been asleep then, and only just recently woken up. Either that or they had been awake for awhile and just laid there like a weirdo the entire time. Upon taking a closer look, I can tell they're a guy, and one who looked like they probably worked in an office, going by their attire.

"Oh, um, sorry," Lindsay apologizes, even though I don't think she really has to, "I'm just totally bad with names."

"Understandable, I suppose," the man replies after giving it some thought, "But I'd work on that if I were you. It suggests you don't care enough about others to bother keeping them in mind."

"...Excuse me?" I interject after seeing the hurt expression on Lindsay's face after that comment, "Nobody asked for a lecture. Keep it to yourself, asshole."

"Oh, I apologize, I didn't mean any offense," the man immediately concedes, holding up a hand in mock surrender as he picks himself up off the floor, "It's a bad habit of mine, I tend to give advice even when no one asks for it in the first place. It's gotten me in hot water more than once, you can be sure of it."

Now that he's standing, I can tell that he's pretty tall, maybe around six feet even. His short jet black hair is combed back and littered with spare grays, suggesting that he was possibly middle-aged. His dark skin tone isn't particularly wrinkly though, except perhaps around his eyes. Tired yet bright green, they manage to stand out against his thin-framed glasses. His outfit isn't too noteworthy: as I said before, he came off as some sort of office worker, with black dress pants and shoes along with a long-sleeved pistachio office shirt and red tie. The one thing about him that really catches my eye though are the multiple piercings he has in his left ear, they seem a little out of left-field considering the rest of his appearance.

"Tu fui, ego eris."

I'm not even sure that's English. He iterates the phrase like we're supposed to know what he's saying, but Lindsay and I just look at each other cluelessly before turning back to him.

"It's Latin. It essentially means, 'What you are, I was. What I am, you will be.'" He chuckles slightly after his explanation before continuing, "It's more or less a deep way of saying I understand, as I used to be in your place once before, and eventually you'll reach the same understanding in time as well. My memory used to be shite as a kid, and a lot of people thought I just didn't care to remember. But now here I am, as the Ultimate Philosopher, or was, rather. Too many things I have to remember now, and I'm not sure how I do it."

"Right..." Lindsay says with an awkward smile, "I don't really get it, but I think you're apologizing? If so, I accept your apology."

"Splendid," the Philosopher replies with a calm smile of his own, "Now, onto important business. As you can see, we're all in a predicament." A hand comes up to rest beneath his chin as he surveys the room. "As far as I can tell, no one seems to know what's going on or where we're being held at. This appears to be a courtroom, but I doubt it's a real one. There's a symbol of Hope's Peak on the back wall, after all."

He points to the symbol I had trouble identifying before, and now that I feel more clear-headed I can now easily tell that it is indeed representative of Hope's Peak. Which, is definitely strange.

"I don't remember the school having a courtroom," Lindsay mentions with a frown, "Uh, wait, does it?"

"No, definitely not," I shake my head, "And there hasn't ever been anything in the news about court issues being settled on Hope's Peak home turf. I don't think they own any courts either inside or outside of the campus."

"Of course not, that's just silly," the Philosopher agrees, "The judicial court system is always ruled by the government, no matter what country you're in. Hope's Peak may be government-sanctioned, but it doesn't have any official hold in politics." He pauses for a moment, and after a moment of consideration adds, "Still, there must be a reason for why we were left in this specific location with this specific setting. I get the feeling there's something purposeful about it."

"Well, can we go anywhere else?" I ask as I survey the room once more. I can see three doors: one at the front of the room to the right of the judge and witness stands, one at the left side wall inbetween two sets of seats, and one at the far back of the room, though the last one looks pretty obviously locked down tight due to the overabundance of chains spanning across it. Turning to the Fashion Designer, I add, "Lindsay, did you try any of the doors?"

"No, but I could've sworn I saw more people here earlier," the blonde replies after giving it some thought, "Maybe somebody found another room?"

"Seems likely," the Philosopher nods, "From my count, I can see there are ten people in this room, including us. The odds of there being more people are fairly high, in my opinion."

"Let's ask around first," I suggest, "We should talk with the others and see if they know anything before we try to leave."

"That sounds like a good idea," Lindsay agrees enthusiastically, "I think more people are awake now, so we can totally learn new information. I'm going to try to remember everything they tell me this time for sure!"

"Right..." I trail off as the blonde bounds away to speak with someone new.

"She sure has an energy to her, doesn't she?" The Philosopher asks rhetorically as he lets out a chuckle.

"You're telling me," I reply. It was then that I realized I still didn't know the man's name, nor did he know mine.

"Oh, that's right, I haven't introduced myself yet," the man suddenly says. The coincidence in our lines of thought causes me to raise an eyebrow, but only for a moment. Whether he noticed or not, he doesn't say anything of it and just continues, "My name's David King. It's nice to meet you, Miss..."

"Jun Hashimoto. Ex-Ultimate Street Model."

"Ah, good to know," David smiles warmly, "Well now, let's get to it."

We part ways after that, with David going off to speak with a group of three people who had also woken up near each other, much like we had. I can see Lindsay talking to another person, a young man with short blond hair who was watching over someone who was still unconscious. That leaves three other people still left in the room, though from what I can tell two of them still appear to be out cold. That left just one figure who was sitting off on their own in one of the chairs. Deciding to approach them, I make sure to watch my step to avoid tripping on anyone still asleep as I make my way towards them.

Once I get closer, I can tell that they're a boy, and much younger than most of the people here. He was short and thin, hardly looking any taller than five feet, and seemed to be in his early teenage years. He wore a teal blue jumper, with sleeves long enough to extend just past his hands and hide them within, and along with it wore a pair of cropped khaki trousers with multiple pockets. On the chair beside him sat a simple brown fabric backpack, which looked to be stuffed to the brim with various supplies and knick-knacks. I could even see the top half of a dog plushie sticking out from an open zipper, which made me wonder if this kid was actually high school age.

"Hello?" I call out cautiously to avoid scaring him. As scary and creepy as this mysterious situation was to me, I'm sure it's terrifying a kid like him, and I don't want to freak him out any more if possible. His head turns quickly to look at me once I speak, his icy blue eyes as wide in surprise as I expected them to be. Brown freckles on his cheeks stand out against his pale skin, and his brown hair is long enough to reach down to his chin. Strangely enough, the fringe of his bangs mirror my own, with his almost completely obscuring his left eye. The most noteworthy detail however is his knitted hat, which seems to be styled after some sort of monster. It was green with long protruding pointy ears, an antenna at the top of its head, a small tail sprouting out the back and bottom of the hat, and three big eyes, complete with teal blue woven plaits with small tassels hanging down past his ears.

"H...Hello..." The boy replies with clear hesitation, and after a second or so passes by he snaps his attention back forward again, though he is now noticeably staring at the ground, or maybe just his feet. I can understand not wanting to make eye contact when you're scared, but he can't even look at my direction, and it worries me. I know I'm just a stranger to him, but I can't leave the kid on his own like that.

"My name's Jun, Jun Hashimoto," I introduce myself, "What's your name?"

No response.

"I like your hat," I say as I take a seat near him, though not too close to allow him some space, "It's really cute, it kinda reminds me of mine." He glances over at me, taking a peek at my hat, but doesn't say anything. "It looks familiar, weirdly enough," I continue, "I don't know where I could have seen it before though. Is it from a cartoon?"

"I-It's...It's an alien," he manages to respond after a moment or so of silence.

"An alien?" I repeat, "So you like aliens then, huh?"

"...Y-Yeah," he mumbles. He turns to face me again, and while he still isn't making eye contact it's still an improvement. "My name...it's Kazumi Akahoshi."

"It's nice to meet you Kazumi," I say with a smile, "Say, you wouldn't happen to be an Ultimate, would you?"

"O-Oh...um...I am. I'm the uh...Ultimate Astrobiologist." Suddenly, he exclaims, "Um...A-Aliens exist!"

"Huh?" I'm a little thrown off by the statement, to put it lightly.

"Y-Yeah! They exist and one day, I-I'm...I'm going to meet and befriend them all! It's my dream!"

"That's...quite a goal, Kazumi," I say carefully. I don't want to upset him so I just play along.

"D...Do you believe in aliens?" He asks quietly. I nod, and he seems a little more relieved. "Well, uh...I saw one."

"...Really?" I ask, unable to mask the doubt in my voice.

"Y-Yeah, it had a space suit and everything! I-It went through that door over there," he assured me as he pointed to the door at the front of the room. From what I can tell, it doesn't appear to be locked in any way, and Lindsay did say that there seemed to be fewer people in the room than before, so it's reasonable to believe that someone could have entered the room beyond it. There being an alien among us, however...I'm a little less apt to believe that. Nonetheless, it's still worth investigating.

"How about I check that room out then?" I suggest to the Astrobiologist, "If I find the alien I'll come let you know. Sound good, Kazumi?"

The boy nods, so I give him a reassuring grin as I stand to leave.

"Erm...y-you can call me Kazu." He tells me at the last moment, "I don't mind."

"Right, I'll keep that in mind, Kazu," I nod before leaving to regroup with Lindsay and David. What a strange kid...then again, those two were pretty weird as well. Honestly, one of the most memorable things I learned during my time at Hope's Peak was the fact that nearly everyone there was a weirdo in one way or another. Some of course were more eccentric than others...actually, I wonder, do I count as an official Hope's Peak weirdo as well? I can't truthfully answer the question myself, but I've also never asked or been told I was particularly odd.

I don't have much time to ponder it however as it takes me very little time to reach Lindsay, who is still talking to the blond man she went up to earlier. David is there as well, though he bears a look of concern as he talks to the two of them.

"Hey, did you guys learn anything from the others?" I ask once I find a spot in their conversation to pivot in without interrupting anyone.

"Hm? Oh, not much," David answers, "The trio I spoke with are just as confused as the rest of us, though they do wish to stay behind and wait for everyone to wake up before moving on. How about you?"

"I talked to the kid on his own over there," I reply as I look over at Kazumi for a moment to indicate him, "He's kinda anxious, but he did tell me he saw someone leave through one of the doors. So you were right about there being more people, Lindsay."

"Oh, right, totally," the blonde replies with a surprisingly nervous grin, "...Um, when did I say that, again?"

"F...Five minutes ago." I don't even attempt to hide the disbelief in my voice.

"Sorry July, I guess I forgot," she apologizes, which nearly causes my eye to twitch.

"Jun. My name's Jun."

"Yeah, of course!" She says as she tries to laugh it off, but she still looks confused as she then addresses David, "And you're...uh..."

"David," the Philosopher answers patiently.

"Oh yeah..." Lindsay says, then sighs, "Ugh, I'm sorry, this is so embarrassing."

"As you can probably tell by now," David begins to explain to me, "It seems Lindsay's memory is a bit worse than she advertised. She didn't even know who I was when I tried talking to her a moment ago."

"I think she spaced out when we were talking earlier," the blond man beside us speaks up, "Everything was fine at first, but then she just started staring at me mid-sentence. She was out of it for perhaps a minute or so, and when she came to she had no idea what she'd just been talking about." He smiles apologetically as he continues, "I have to say, I haven't quite seen a patient with as severe short-term memory loss as her in my career."

"Yeah, that's definitely extreme," I agree wholeheartedly. Lindsay looks embarrassed by the assessment, but doesn't bother to defend against it.

"So, you're a doctor then?" David asks, having apparently picked up on that.

"Something like that," the blond man nods, "But enough about me, you were talking about there being more people, correct?" I nod, so he continues, "That sounds worth checking out. Perhaps the two of you should scout ahead? I can stay behind to keep an eye on your friend for any further symptoms and offer aid to the final few people who have yet to awaken."

"Sounds like as solid of a plan as any," David responds, "Do you mind accompanying me, Jun?"

"No problems here," I shrug.

"I kind of want to go too," Lindsay begins to say, "Buuuut, maybe that isn't such a good idea right now. I don't want to get in the way, so I'll just try to help out here."

It was a simple enough plan. Once we checked the next room out and met with whoever had already gone ahead, we would regroup back in the courtroom and properly introduce ourselves to the remaining people who had yet to wake up. Though as we parted ways, I realized I never caught the blond man's name. Then again, we would be returning soon, so it wasn't too big of a deal.

Once we reached the door Kazumi had pointed, we opened it without issue and stepped into the next room. Taking in our surroundings, I could see that it was a large open room, with many more chairs taking up the middle area and lining up against the walls. It looked a little more office-like in here, as there was a counter with a sliding glass window up against the left side of the room. It was likely meant for the safety of whoever worked in the building, as beyond the window was another section of the room, filled with multiple cabinets, desks, office supplies, miscellaneous paperwork, and more. There was a door right beside it, meant to give access to the area behind the glass, though I didn't doubt that it was locked. Other than that, there was a monitor at the front of the room hanging from the wall, and at the back end of the room was a few tables, along with a couple bookcases, a desk, and a chest. But most importantly-

"Ah, more people!" I exclaimed, before adding with a hesitant, "...I think."

Three figures stood over at the back end of the room, examining the many things over there, and while I could definitely say that two of them were people, the third figure looked...inhuman. Really, I'm not so surprised now that the kid had confused them for an alien, because for a brief moment my mind jumped to the same conclusion as well. We made our way to approach them, just as they all turned to look at us after having gotten their attention.

"Oh, more people have woken up," a short young woman in a suit spoke up quietly, "Huh, maybe we should have stayed behind, or at least waited a little longer."

"Forget it, no way I was going to just sit around in a room and do nothing," another woman replied, who was adorned in several layers of dark clothing, "I already told you this, Anna."

"Haha, she's right you know!" The third figure spoke in a hearty, masculine voice as he physically went through the motions of someone theatrically chuckling, "The best plan without a doubt was to scout ahead! I don't know where we are, but we are undoubtedly deep within enemy territory! It would be foolhardy to stay still when our captors are giving us the chance to explore!"

"Uh...you're seeing this too, right David?" I turn to him into confusion, though he just laughs.

"Don't tell me...that's classic German armor, isn't it?" The Philosopher addresses the third boisterous figure.

"Oh?" The armor-clad figure responds with a slight tilt of his head, "Well well well, you're the first person to guess correctly. You must be a man of culture indeed."

"Don't worry," the woman in the suit, Anna, tells me as an aside, "It was weird to us too. Well, it's still weird, I guess."

"No kidding," I shake my head.

The man in the armor is a strange one indeed. It does look like a suit of armor now that I'm not as thrown off by its appearance, though even then, it looked quite different than the usual appearance one might expect from armor. It has a gothic fairy tale look to it, with intricate designs and patterns along the metal. The man even wore a red cape, and the helmet affixed to his head obscured what his face looked like and muffled his voice somewhat as well, or at least gave it an echo effect. It was, without a doubt, the strangest appearance of anyone I'd met so far.

"So..." I began to say, "The hell's up with your get up? You the Ultimate Knight or something?"

"So you know we're all Ultimates..." the armored man replied, "Ha, I'm in no way the Ultimate Knight. A title like that is beneath me in rank and ability. No, I'm the Ultimate Tactician! However, you can refer to me as General Frederick Barbarossa, future commander of the grand military at large!"

I'm silent for a moment, and simply look the man up and down as I hold a hand pensively to my mouth.

"Yep. The verdict's in. You're definitely a Hope's Peak student. That kind of quirkiness just doesn't show up anywhere else."

"Hmph, think what you wish," Frederick replied, "But you cannot deny my Talent."

"You can't really argue that, I suppose," David admits, still smiling as he rubs at the back of his head.

"You know, I kind of figured Hope's Peak had colorful characters attending every year," Anna says as she lets out a small laugh, "But I can't say I expected people like him. Then again, aren't we all a little strange? It's practically a requirement to get into the school, after all."

"Don't lump me in with you people," the woman in dark clothes told her, "Sorry if that sounds rude, but you can't compare me to some of the crazies you guys got."

"Oh come on, Reina," Anna pouted back at her.

"Honestly, that's a fair statement," I agree, "But let's ignore that for now. Do any of you know what's going on here? We came here to look around but we still have no idea why any of this is happening."

"If we knew, we would have told you," Reina says with a sigh, "We've been investigating this room, but we've found nothing, not even another unlocked door. It's a dead end."

"Ugh, come on," I groan as I tug at my hat in frustration, "What's the point of this room then? Why were we let in here?"

"Now that's a question worth answering, isn't it?" Frederick said, then proposed a question of his own. "So, who are you two anyway? Name and title, please, I'd like to keep everyone's information on record."

"Right. I'm Jun Hashimoto, Ultimate Fashion Model."

"David King, Ultimate Philosopher."

"It's nice to meet you two," Anna says politely with a small bow, "I'm Anna Thompson, the Ultimate Linguist."

Anna's appearance was rather simple, dressed in a black suit with a tie and a white dress shirt underneath. She also wore black gloves, and strapped around her shoulder was a brown satchel. She was a rather short girl, even shorter than five feet, and she had a petite build with an effeminate face and soft eyes. Her hair was messy and black and reached down to her neck, though there were a few stubborn hairs atop her head that looked suspiciously like an ahoge.

"You seem quite young," David notes, "You're still attending Hope's Peak, correct?"

"That's right," Anna nods, "I think I might be one of the few students here, most of our group looks old enough to have already graduated."

"Well there is the Ultimate Astrobiologist," I comment, "He's pretty young too."

"Oh, you mean Aka-chan?" Anna asks, surprising me with her use of an honorific, "I met him! He seems so scared, I hope he's doing alright."

"He's just keeping to himself, last I saw of him," I inform her.

"I see..."

"And what about you, Reina?" David suddenly asks the young woman in dark. She very obviously hesitates for a moment, as if unsure of what to say.

"...My name is Reina Shimizu," she eventually introduces herself.

"And your talent?" Frederick demands, "You still haven't told me."

"I..." Reina pauses, and looks away for a moment, but even when returning her attention to us she doesn't make eye contact. "I don't know."

"You don't know?" Frederick repeats in disbelief.

"That's what I said, isn't it?" She lightly snaps at him.

"So, what, you weren't a student then?" I ask.

"No, I am, I just...I don't know. I can't remember my time at Hope's Peak."

That wasn't the answer I expected. Deciding to take stock of her, I take better notice of her appearance. She has faded green eyes, and her dark brown hair is fairly long and straight, reaching nearly all the way down to her waist. All of her clothes are black or dark in color, whether it be her unzipped waist-length padded winter coat, the one button blazer beneath it, or the dark grey T-shirt beneath that. Even her skinny jeans and trainers were black. I wouldn't be surprised if anyone ever confused her with a goth...actually, she might be goth.

"That's strange, I wonder why you can't remember," David hums, "Of course, this assumes that I believe you are telling the truth."

"Refuse to believe me if you want, there isn't anything I can do to change your mind," Reina tells him flatly, "But it's the truth."

"Sounds a little crazy if you ask me," I tell her, throwing her earlier comment about Hope's Peak students back at her, "I mean, how can you even forget something like that?"

"Maybe...our captors did something to her?" Anna suggested, "It's not like I remember how I got here in the first place."

"That is worth considering," David admits, and appears to think it over as he brings a hand up to his chin. But just as suddenly, he changes gears and asks, "By the way, what's the deal with your fourth group member?"

"Huh? Fourth?" I ask in confusion as I look around.

"Enclosure to your left, by the vending machines," David clarifies. I snap to turn in that direction and see what he's talking about. I didn't notice it at first, but there's a small walled off section in the back left corner that houses a bench and several vending machines. And in that area, initially unseen by me, was a third woman who was silently staring at us from behind a pair a black sunglasses.

"Jesus, I didn't even notice her," I mutter.

"Yeah, that's kind of her thing," Anna smiles apologetically, "She doesn't talk a whole lot either, we just got her name and talent, not much else. Apparently, her name is Sakurako Ohwatani, and her talent is being the Ultimate Information Broker."

Despite her cover now being blown, she didn't back away into the shadows or anything of that sort, so I was able to take a good look at her. She was a fair bit taller than the rest of the girls here, myself included, though I wouldn't put her past 5'9" at most. Her hair was dyed a bright white and fashioned a bob cut, which I had to admit looked nicer than I would have normally expected. Her outfit was strangely identical to Anna's, suit and all, though Sakurako wore some pretty fancy black high-heels. One last distinguishing detail about her were the silver hoop earrings in both her ears, which looked to be adorned with several small rubies.

"Any other hidden group members I need to be aware of?" I then ask as I look around my surroundings some more.

"I think we're good now, Jun," David tries to appease me.

And yet, a new voice began to speak within the room.

"Testing, testing. One, two, three...hello? Hello!? Can you bastards hear me?"

"What the-?" I stammer as I spin around, "The hell is that voice coming from!?"

I soon was able to tell. The monitor on the wall that had once been blank was now turned on, and on it was the visage of...

"A teddy bear?" Reina notes in disbelief.

That's what it looked like, at least. It had black fur on one side of its body with a scar-shaped red eye, and white on the other with a beady black eye; two equal halves of a whole bear. And its voice, it almost sounded childlike. The image before me made me feel like I was in the middle of a fever dream, it was beginning to feel too unreal.

"Aha, there we go! A response from my precious students!" The bear spoke. "Ahem, this is your Headmaster speaking! All fourteen of you have been invited to take part in a game, a very special game! Upupupu...I call it- *A Mutual Killing Game*!"

Those words...despite the ridiculousness of it all, they made my blood run cold.