CHAPTER 2: New Places, New Faces


LATE MORNING

Location: Hope's Peak Academy Main Building

Kagura tapped her fingers on the desk as her first impression with the homeroom teacher seemed to go less than stellarly. Mrs. Raibana was skimming through a few pages of data, probably looking for the student list of the first group of the 72nd Class - which would be Kagura's class. She took the time to quickly go over whoever was by her side and would basically be forced to talk to her during boring classes. To her left, unsurprisingly enough was a wall, adorned with a window to let some sunlight inside the classroom, but to her right was a classmate she had yet to meet.

She had her chin resting on the palm of her hands, almost as is she was showing off the mustard-yellow bandana tied on her wrist. The light purple tint of her eyes contrasted her tanned skin beautifully, and she had short curly hair that was also shaded a deep black. Her arms were somewhat muscular and the left arm that was in Kagura's sights was ornamented with a scar right above her bicep - from the looks of it, it seemed to be proof of a scuffle. Her clothes consisted of black war pants and thick black boots, as well as a sleeveless white top with a yin-yang pendant dangling on her chest. She also had a hammer tied onto the belt buckle near her left hip, and it seemed like there was another one on her right hip as well. Kagura could only imagine what was inside the backpack she kept on the floor under her seat.

"Ah, there we go!" Mrs. Raibana cheered making the noise in the classroom quiet down. "Roll call now... I'll be calling your names, and when I do, I want you to come over here and get your electronic handbook! You probably all know what it does, but I'll explain it anyways when you all have them, okay?" she brought her pointer finger to the table and read the first name on the list. "Masaru Arakawa?"

Kagura heard a chair two or three rows behind her scratch the floorboards. "That'd be me..." she heard Masaru's voice clearly. He stepped forward and grabbed the device before returning to his seat.

Before their teacher proceeded with calling the names on the list, Kagura noticed a whisper behind her. "Hey, bro, let me check that out!" she identified the voice as being Shinjiro's, both from his tone of voice and use of the word 'bro' when referring to Masaru.

"Next up, Kikenna Boken"

"I'm here!" the girl beside Kagura - the one she was just checking out - cheered loudly, startling most of the class.


KIKENNA BOKEN
Ultimate Survivor


The short-haired girl proved the Candid Photographer right when she noticed the other hammer hanging from her right hip nonchalantly, as if Kikenna thought it to be the most normal accessory to wear next to a girl's earrings, necklaces or bangles. With a cheeky smile and a proud stance, she stood in front of the class and introduced herself. "Name's Kikenna Boken, guys! Nice to meet ch'all!" she greeted the class both very cheerfully and very, very loudly.

"Nice to meet you." Mrs. Raibana greeted her back, although most of the class was taken aback by her presentation - and the remaining minority couldn't be bothered to give a crap about her introduction. "Here's your handbook, Kikenna. Let us hope we work together well this year." she added, and Kikenna energetically went back to her front row seat and fussed around with the device she'd been given. "Next up... Harumi Ueda."

"It's... Haaaaa-Haru, for short" a loud yawn came from the back of the class, and then sprouted into an angelic female voice. Kagura turned around to see a girl limping over from a seat in the third row to the front of the class, where she'd be given her handbook. She didn't strike one as the morning type of person as she walked over slowly but surely to the teacher's side. Kagura took a second to study her features for future reference.

Her light brown hair reached her lower back, inching away towards the waist and a side bang covered one of her green eyes. Her skin was a mixture of pale and tan, giving it a beige sort of colouring, and her figure was that of a stereotypical 'hot babe' as Kagura's friends back home would say, from her striking bust to her thick hips, all covered by grey sweatpants and a plain white t-shirt.

"So I've got to introduce myself, right?" she sighed. "What a chore... I'm Haru, Ultimate Slacker... nice to meet you."


HARUMI UEDA
Ultimate Slacker


After the Ultimate Survivor's bubbling and explosive personality, someone like Harumi - or Haru, as she seemed to prefer - was truly a breath of fresh air, if not a bit unexpected. When Kagura put her eyes on Kikenna's person and studied her clothing and personality, it was almost as if she breathed an internal annoyed sigh for she thought all her classmates would be this kind of person. Not that she felt like being surrounded by happy and energetic people was a bad thing, she just felt like having more variety in the school where the world's greatest talents gather.

"Can I go now?" Haru's shoulders slumped and she cocked her head to the teacher as she asked for permission, being given a nod together with her handbook. With slow, silent steps she made her way to her seat and rested her chin on the palm of her hand, yawning once more.

Mrs. Raibana looked down at the paper and ticked one more name off the list before going on to the fourth. "Tomomi Takizawa."

"I'm heeeeeere!" a robotic, anime-like voice came from the seat right behind Kagura and she felt a singular drop of sweat go down her face.

'I have a bloody robot on my class.' was her first thought, quickly followed by 'or even worse, an anime robot. This can't be good.'

Kagura's worries were quickly shattered once a new voice arose in the form of laughter. "Hahaha, sorry, sorry. Felt like testing out my new project here!" the female voice was followed by a few steps just before the person came into the Candid Photographer's view. The girl had a heart-shaped face as well as skinny limbs, chest and torso, her eyes had both the shape of an almond and the colour of a hazelnut, and her long hair cascaded down in a light brown stream all the way to the light pink tips, tied into two pigtails. Her fair skin was covered by a light blue skirt, white knee socks and pink and white sneakers as well as a salmon pink cosplay hoodie of a character Kagura couldn't quite identify.

"I'm Tomomi Takizawa, and I'm the Ultimate Vocaloid Producer!" she typed something into a small device she had in her hand and the same robotic, animated voice from before cheered. "Nice to meet you all!" she then chuckled and introduced her robotic ally. "This voice you hear is Teshima, my most recent project and most successful - award-winning - project! I hope we can get along." she smiled shyly, completely contrasting her apparent outburst of energy.


TOMOMI TAKIZAWA
Ultimate Vocaloid Producer

TESHIMA
Ultimate Vocaloid?


The cheerful girl smiled at us and gave us a greeting bow before receiving her handbook, which she carefully swapped with the anime-girl-voice-producer device by putting it in her hoodie pocket, and took her seat. Next up on the introductions was Shinjiro, followed by Leo and Ryuk, and then Chika, giving Kagura ample time to breathe in before she saw the rest of her classmates she had yet to meet.

"Kagura Kiyomaru?" Mrs. Raibana called her and gave her a quick wink and a tap on the arm, right on the slit she had made herself when she threw the knife. Kagura threw her a half-annoyed-half-regretful smile, filled with her characteristic sarcasm and bluntness, and faced the rest of the class, being met with more fresh faces she still hadn't met, as they had yet to introduce themselves.

"I'm Kagura Kiyomaru, Ultimate Candid Photographer. I'm a big fan of this school and I hope I can take loads of cool shots of us during the school year!" she introduced herself casually before the door to the classroom opened. Behind it was a blond man with fair skin and fully decked out in leather. "Can I help you?" Kagura bursted out by instinct, getting raised eyebrows from both the newcomer and a few classmates.

Mrs. Raibana walked over to the man and they whispered something while Kagura returned to her seat and started messing with the device she'd been given, ignoring the obvious looks she was getting for the sudden response to the unknown blond. After a quick exchange of words, the Former Ultimate Circus Performer came back to the front of the class and gave an unexpected announcement.

"Thanks to Kagura and Leo over here arriving late, we won't be able to finish up introductions quite yet..." she eyed Kagura with a disappointed face, to which the young girl simply shrugged. No use crying over spilt milk, she thought. "We're being called earlier to the auditorium for the first-years meeting with principal Kirigiri. Let us all be on our best behaviour, or I'll be sure to not miss you when I throw my knives next time." she warned with a cheeky laugh tacked on afterwards, and the sixteen students who were sat down hurried off outside.


EARLY AFTERNOON

Location: Hope's Peak Academy Auditorium

On her way to the auditorium, she felt a nudge on the shoulder. Turning her neck to the left revealed a familiar male, one of eight she recognized from her own class. His hair was a wild afro, although it was tamed by a wristband resulting in a weird ponytail that somehow accentuated his features. He had a lean build, with dark brown eyes and a bit of stubble covering his jaw. His clothing consisted of a dark blue sweater-vest over a light blue polo, with its wrist-long sleeves pulled back up to the elbow, as well as black oxford shoes and light khaki trousers.

"Hello there, or may I say, salutations, my new classmate." He spoke very fluently although at a bit of an unnatural pace that would seem awkward, were it not for his confidence while speaking. "I do believe your name is Kagura, correct? The Ultimate Candid Photographer?"

"Yeah!" Kagura nodded and happily greeted her new mate with a handshake. "I don't think you introduced yourself, right?"

"You'd be correct! What a stunning observation!" he praised. "I am Arturo Bianchi, one of the freshly picked prodigies in this year's roster for the magnificent school we have found ourselves in for the past few hours! It is an immense pleasure for me to make your acquaintance!"


ARTURO BIANCHI
Ultimate Linguist


"You're very wellspoken, Arturo. Is your talent related to public speaking or languages? Maybe writing?" Kagura tried her best to guess, while keeping up with the class's pace as the auditorium came into view. "Ultimate Poet, maybe?"

Arturo rubbed his thumb against the stubble on his chin and gave a sly smile. "Yes, I do possess a talent that has a correlation to languages, although I'm afraid 'Ultimate Poet' is not it! I am an Ultimate Linguist, by which I mean I'm exceptionally skilled at the art that is speech and writing! It's a big passion of mine, as I assume photography is to you, correct?"

Kagura laughed a bit and agreed with Arturo, making small talk for the two other minutes that it took for them to reach the auditorium doors. As they entered the grand building, the young Linguist gracefully bid his farewell to his new classmate before taking a seat farther away from hers, next to a tall bulky guy with poofy brown hair and eyes coloured an interesting, almost sparkly shade of green.

Taking her eyes off of her new acquaintance, Kagura noticed who'd been sitting next to her. "Like the new people?" Masaru asked with a smile on his face, and surprisingly, without Shinji around, although the empty seat to Masaru's left could change that in a flash. "I'm really excited about our classmates, they all seem really cool people."

"Yeah, they seem pretty nice. Got your eyes on anyone specific?" Kagura asked, wagging her hips in a mockingly seductive gesture, making Masaru chuckle and shrug.

"Nah, I'm better off just chilling with you for the rest of the year..." he sighed and threw his head back, knocking his chair go an inch or so behind. Then, as if on cue, a male and discreetly foreign voice started stuttering behind the two friends, making them instinctively turn around.

The voice quieted down right when Masaru looked behind him, being met by a boy with long dark blue hair and orange eyes, biting his bottom lip with an uncomfortably scared look on his face. "S-Sorry about that... D-Didn't mean to, um, to... be rude... but p-please, could you, um, give me a bit more... um, more space? Please?" he stuttered with a shy smile on his face - revealing red spots on his teeth that turned out to be braces.

Masaru looked behind him to find the cramped auditorium had mobile chairs, and the new guy had just been bumped in the knees by Masaru's. "Oh, sorry, my bad..." Said the red-haired boy as he pulled the chair forward and turned back around. "My name is Masaru. I'm the Ultimate Match Maker."

"And I'm Kagura, the Ultimate Candid Photographer! Nice to meet you..." Kagura trailed off so the blue-haired boy could complete the sentence.

"S-Sudu! It's v-very nice to meet you, too..." the blue-haired boy smiled, showing off his red braces in more detail and uncrossing his arms, revealing his green t-shirt with a black pair of katanas crossed in an X-shape, matching his green sneakers and black jeans.


SUDU NOUYA
Ultimate Artist


"I don't think we've met... are you not a first-year?" Kagura asked inquisitively.

Sudu scratched his neck and blushed in response. "Y-Yeah I am... I'm just not in your c-class..."

"Are you in 72-2, then?" she continued and was only able to get a nod as a reply.

Suddenly, Sudu and Kagura's quick introductory conversation was being cut off by a loud microphone '1, 2, 3 testing' and Kagura turned around to see what was up at the main stage. And just like she'd expected from the moment she stepped foot into the campus, there he was - the principal of Hope's Peak Academy and the man responsible for Kagura being there - Jin Kirigiri, surrounded by five other adults, among which stood Mrs. Raibana.

"Young ladies and young men in front of me, I'd like to start this short speech by first giving you a formal welcome into Hope's Peak Academy!" the headmaster started, being pleasantly stopped by a round of applause from the audience. "It's with great honor that our esteemed academy opens its doors to receive students from all around the world and strives to mold each and every one of them into our society's symbols of hope!"

Kagura couldn't help but swoon over to Masaru. "He's sooooo cool..." she whispered, not to disrupt the peace of the students around her. "This is exactly like I expected! This man is the beating heart of Hope's Peak Academy, isn't it exciting, Masaru!?"

"Sure is" Masaru chuckled. "Sounds like this'll be pretty long though... I think I'll doze off for a while..."

"Oh no you won't, Masaru Arakawa!" Kagura swung her elbow and hit the Match Maker's arm with it resulting in a muffled groan of pain. "You better appreciate the time and effort that went into this speech! Make a good first impression, for heaven's sake!"

"Ow, ow, ow, okay, jeez... Aggressive, much?" Masaru sighed in defeat, and Kagura simply smiled cheekily and went back to paying attention, getting lost in Principal Kirigiri's words.


"Finally, I'll like to say thank you to our staff - especially your homeroom teachers for the year, which all happen to be alumni from our previous years here at Hope's Peak! I do sincerely hope you give them the praise and respect they rightfully deserve and entrust them your hopes for the school year as we are entrusting you students with the hopes of a promising future in your designated areas! I'd like to request a great round of applause for our five first-year's homeroom teachers!" And with that the crowd erupted into thunderous applause as five adult figures got on stage and, in a single file, took a bow and clapped along, congratulating themselves and their colleagues.

Kagura couldn't help but hear the immense gossiping going in all around her as she heard names she could clearly recall from her extensive research work on Hope's Peak alumni and staff.

The tall brunette with green eyes was a Former Ultimate Actor, Aaron Young, also known as the first foreign student to ever set foot in the academy of hope. The muscular man in a suit and a bull mask was part of the previous year's graduating class, Great Gozu, a now former Ultimate Wrestler and known worldwide for his prowess in many wrestling championships. The man with the greasy blond hair, leather jacket and the black skinny jeans was the CEO and founder of the most successful food chain in the world, Reiji Takumishi, a former Ultimate Entrepreneur. And finally, the only female if you look past Mrs. Raibana, who Kagura already knew, was one who put women on the map in regards to sports - the Soccer Goddess, Chikako Hanayashi, Former Ultimate Goalie.

"I-I can't believe all these alumni are standing right in front of us!" Kagura swooned, leaning on Masaru as she watched the five adults. "Those are all people who graduated Hope's Peak! Can you believe it, Masaru?"

Masaru blinked away his sleepiness and responded while yawning. "Yeeeeeeeah... Pretty cool, pretty cool, I think they're all in charge of a few after school clubs... Mr. Young is the head of the Drama Club, which, apart from archery is the only one I'm considering..."

"I hadn't given extracurricular activities much thought... Sounds like a good enough time to give archery a try, don't you think?" Kagura voiced aloud, although she was asking rethorically. "Photography club is cool too... can't have my skills get rusty while I'm here!"

"Yeah, sounds cool... but you're a talented photographer. I think you'd be better off going for other stuff, like sports teams or something relating to electronics or technology... something you're not used to doing, get my drift?"

Kagura sighed and rubbed her chin. "Yeah, you're right. I can always practice photography in my spare time, or even during club meetings!" she smiled mischievously. "So many embarassing shots, I'm already picturing the looks on people's faces." she let out an evil cackle lowly, making Masaru roll his eyes and chuckle, only to be woken from his conversation by the perception of people standing up.

"Sounds like we're going back to class." Kagura heard a female voice and she cocked her head to the right to find out who it belonged to.

"Chika!" Kagura cheered as she stood up.

Masaru mimicked her as the three of them mixed into the crowd and went out to the front door along with the rest of the class. Looking around, it seemed like some people were making good use of this bit of free time to make friends and bond over some small talk, as awkward laughs and strong personalities battled it out in front of the auditorium doors. Every type of person from the muscular, arrogant-looking guy to the scrawny little shy boys, divas, nerds, rich people and jokesters was present.

"How was your dorm room? And where were you when we got to the dorm lobby? I thought we were all going to class together!"

The young sculptor pulled out some coloured malleable substance out of her apron pocket and started molding it in her hand, softening it with her body heat. "Truth be told, I completely spaced out. I was talking with my roommate and we just kinda drifted, I guess, and we went together to class! Haven't been able to check on you since, so oh well. Sorry for missing you two, though. What about Shinjiro?"

"He's still inside, I think... Haven't seen him leave. We've already met his roommate, as well as Masaru's." Kagura explained as Chika nodded, mindlessly pressing her fingers in the coloured clay on her hands. "Ryuk and Leo. You've heard their names, right?"

"Yeah! I remember them introducing themselves back in class... Leo was the one who got there late along with you, right?" the Sculptor chuckled as she recalled the near-injury experience with the knife throwing expert and her two classmates. "You two got messed up quick, work on your reflexes!"

Kagura rolled her eyes. "Right, I'll throw a knife at your arm out of nowhere and we'll see if you get out with a scrape!" she threatened jokingly as she showed Chika her sleeve, along with the tear in the lilac fabric. "So much for first day outfit, right?"

"Oh, Hochi!" Chika ignored Kagura for a second to call on a thin, pale-skinned girl with red eyes and black roots sprouting, uncovering the sky blue dye in her hair. She turned around with a smile and jogged over to the three classmates, giving Kagura ample time to judge her outfit. Mini-shorts were covering part of her thighs, as the bottom half of her legs were covered by black knee socks with neon coloured planetoids sewn into the mix and black high-tops, and a plain white t-shirt. Around her neck, she hung a necklace with a miniature version of Saturn resting on her collar. "Guys, this is my roommate!"

Quickly and energetically, she straightened her posture and saluted the two newcomers. "Hello there, guys! My name is Hokuto Nanto, also known as Hochi, for short! It's great to meet you, Chika told me all about you!" she smiled and hugged Kagura tightly, before moving on to Masaru who hesitantly returned the hug. "Ooh, you're a pretty good hugger! Good on you! How are you doing today? Excited about the new school year?"

"Hell yeah I am!" Kagura shared Hochi's cheeriness and excitement. "Chika told us you were an Ultimate Astronaut, wasn't it?"

"Indeed I am!" Hochi threw a peace sign before realizing her own mistake. "Wait! I'm not an Ultimate Astronaut!" she facepalmed and then scratched the back of her neck in embarassment before chuckling shyly. "Good job, me, forgetting your own talent! I'm an Ultimate Astronomer, so you were pretty close!"


HOKUTO NANTO
Ultimate Astronomer


"Talk about high-octane" Kagura thought as she smiled sincerely at her classmate. "I can get behind this girl's enthusiasm though. She's not like tha-"

"OH HELL YEAH!" A screechy female voice shrieked in the distance. Looking behind her, Kagura saw a familiar face running over with a notebook and pen on her hands, glistening green eyes and a goofy smile on her face. "Y-You're Chika Sasaki, right!? And Masaru Arakawa!? C-Can I get your autograph!?"

"Who're you?" Chika asked bluntly, bordering on rude. "Do I know you?"

"I-I'm Haruka Sochikawa, Ultimate Fangirl and I'm your biggest fan! Can I please get your autographs!? Pretty please!?" she screamed with an innocence and desire in her eyes that wasn't unlike a child. "Pleeeeeeeeease, it'd be such an honor!"

Chika brushed her off and signed her paper before handing it to Masaru who did the same. "There you go..." the Match Maker gave the notebook and pen back to the girl and stood with a shy blush on his face as he heard the twenty-four 'thank you's she forced upon the four of them before stopping herself, eyes wide, and rushing over to a new group of students. "Wh-What was that...?" Masaru asked.

"Ultimate Fangirl is right!" Hochi complimented the girl on her talent. "She's got lots of energy, I like that!"

"Why'd she not ask for your autograph, though, Hochi?" Chika asked, and from the looks of things, Masaru was quite curious himself. "Not that famous, are you?"

Kagura was the one to respond in place of the young Astronomer, as she had a pretty good guess of what'd happened. "She didn't ask me either. And that's because I'd met her before, while I was looking around the main building with Leo... so you probably met that walking megaphone before, right?"

"Yeah, actually! We both come from the same town, and I've seen her around campus before I got to the dorm, so she's already got my autograph." the Astronomer explained. "Being surrounded by all these 'famous' people, so to speak, must be giving her legs quite a work out, though. So good on her, huh?" she smiled. "I was on my way back to class, want to come along?"

Kagura and Chika nodded immediately but Masaru showed a bit of reluctance. "Shinjiro and Ryuk thought it'd be nice for us three to go together... can you wait, please?" he asked politely, and the three girls exchanged looks. "It's okay if you want to go, though. I'll wait for the others and we'll catch up eventually..."

"Sure you don't mind?" the Candid Photographer asked, to be sure of Masaru's honest opinion, and he responded with a smile and a nod. "Then we'll be going. See you in a bit?"

"Will do!" Masaru said his goodbyes to the other classmates and went back into the auditorium doors to look for his roommate and friend, while Kagura accompanied the other girls back to class.


EARLY AFTERNOON

Location: Hope's Peak Academy Main Building

The walk back to the main building was pleasant, as the slight breeze made the weather a bit more tolerable, right before being swapped by the air conditioning in the hallways between classrooms. Entering 72-1's room, Kagura took a look around only to find a lone, deathly pale boy in the back of the class, sat down at his desk, slumped forward onto his desk, with an open bottle of pills on its lid.

"H-Hey, are you okay!?" Kagura stammered as she quickly ran forward and to the back of the class, leaving Chika and Hochi behind at the door, mesmerized and slightly confused at the occurence. "Can you hear me!?" she spoke loudly and sternly to the seemingly unconscious boy, giving him a swift but soft slap on the cheek, hoping for him to wake up.

Still in a daze, a groan rang from his parted lips, and his dim brown eyes were barely open behind the mess of black hair resting on his head, spiky on some areas just to be perfectly neat in others. "H-Huh...?" he spoke with a weak tone to his voice. "Wh-What was th-that for...?"

"Don't push your voice! You look awfully sick... we need to get you help, stat!" Kagura stood back up and looked at Chika, ready to order her to get help, only to find her and the Astronomer laughing it away in the distance. "H-Hey! Guys, this isn't anything to joke about! This dude is seriously messed up, here, give me a hand!"

"O-Oh, Kagura, you've got it all wrong!" the door opened and a new voice arose.

The Candid Photographer cocked her head to look at the door and raised an eyebrow. "Masaru?"

"The little guy's right." Ryuk walked in with a laidback smile and his arms flexed so the back of his head was rested on his palms. "Go over it for her, Dallas."

"D-Dallas?" Kagura had no idea what was going on around her. A couple minutes ago - at most - she thought she was looking at a dead kid in her classroom, on her first day of class no less, and now she was feeling embarassingly stupid in front of six of her new classmates. "Can someone explain what's going on!?" she snapped, knuckles on her hips and puffed up cheeks marking her frustration.

The skinny boy stood up, revealing his choice of neon orange sweater vest, as well as pink shorts for clothing. His long limbs drooped down and were visibly covered in scars and bandages, and the dim brown of his eyes was framed by eyebags the size of which was unlike Kagura's wildest dreams. "Guess I have to do this again... Haha, this is kind of a drag. I'd rather drop dead than have to go through all that hassle again... but alas, I can't right?" he talked about his own death nonchalantly, almost as a joke, and had a nasal tone to his voice, like he had a cold.

"Jeez, who is this kid?" Kagura heard her deepest thoughts mumble, but let none of it out her lips. First impressions are important.

"I'm Dallas Park, but that's not important, huh? I'm a pretty sickly boy, because of my talent. That's why I took these pills." he said, picking up the vial on his desk.


DALLAS PARK
Ultimate Test Subject


Kagura's worries were replaced by confusion and curiosity quite quickly once she realized the boy wasn't in any danger. "Your talent? What talent involves getting sick? Ultimate Crappy Immune System?"

"Could be!" he cackled and then threw a creepy, toothy grin.

Chika resumed his explanation. "He's the Ultimate Test Subject. Dallas here takes pills and syrups and all kinds of medicine before any of us, to ensure their safety, and if they're good enough to be available to the general public. He's got some wicked side effects though. Looks like today's is a normal cold."

"Yeah, pretty boring. I really enjoyed yesterday's headaches and last week's rash..." he mumbled, almost inaudibly, but Kagura was able to hear it quite well. With a sympathetic smile, the Candid Photographer looked all around and was met by the smiles of her new classmates, as well as her childhood friend Masaru, and then threw a sheepish laugh and shook her head.

"Oh where did I get myself into?"