"Good Morning!"
The announcement blares through the room, awaking many of the sleeping teenagers. Groans of annoyance echo through the room as newly-opened eyes struggle to adjust to the harsh light in the room.
The room itself was nothing nice to wake up to. High, grey walls with a row of cheap lights on the ceiling providing the painful lighting, and almost completely black, meta sheets covering the windows. Not to mention, everyone was lying on the cold tile floor with no memory of how they got here. The peppy, automated "good morning" seemed almost mocking.
Everyone stared awkwardly at each other, waiting for someone to break the silence- and hopefully provide some answers.
The announcer's voice was the one to do just that. "Hello students. We see that your sleep has been a pleasant one. Please become acquainted with your new classmates while we prepare the auditorium for your arrival. Thank you." And just like that, the loudspeaker went dead- not before producing a loud scream of feedback, much to the distaste of the sleepy teens.
The awkward staring continued for a full 10 seconds before someone broke the silence.
"... Where's my cell phone?"
All heads swivelled to the speaker. A boy with a bad case of bedhead was digging through his green parka's pockets. He stilled before looking up at the eyes glued on him.
"What?" He snapped before returning to his pocket for a moment. He pulled out his still-empty hand and sighed, rubbing his pimpled forehead. "If any of you took it, it's not friggin' funny."
A voice burst out from another part of the room. "Mine's gone too!" A student started digging through the pockets of their pink shorts, round face scrunched up in confusion. A worried murmur arose through the crowd as the teens all dug for cellphones that weren't there. Great. An entire group of teenagers missing their cell phones. What were they supposed to do now, socialize?
At least one person thought so. "I think we should introduce ourselves! After all, isn't that what the voice said?" The speaker- a girl with blonde hair and black streaks tied up in ponytail- smiled at the group. "I'm Chiemi Ito. I'm a Super High School Level Spirit Medium!" She beamed. "Hmm, you are all SHSLs, right?" Her bronze eyes scanned the room, searching for a response.
There was a brief pause. "Well, that's my own case... at least." A boy from across the room spoke. His neon orange jumpsuit was a bit harsh on sleepy eyes. The first thought Chiemi had was that his hair reminded her of an American TV show character. Poncherello or something, wasn't it?
"My name is Yohaku Miru, although you all may call me Yohaku... I'm an SHSL Astronaut. It's a pleasure to meet you, Miss Ito. A spirit medium.. Ah, isn't that just wonderful? Helping living humans by conversing with the deceased ones... Wonderful." Chiemi smiled at him. He was sitting cross legged far away, but bowed his head at her and smiled back calmly.
"I think being an astronaut is really interesting too, Yohaku-san! You must be very brave to take up such a position. It's admirable." Chiemi shifted so she was resting on her knees, still smiling at the black haired boy. She fiddled with her necklace (which appeared to bear a raven emblem) as he responded.
"Ah, that's very kind of you to say, Miss Chiemi. I'd certainly assume a spirit medium would be a courageous person... You'd certainly work in difficult positions, I'd assume?" Yohaku pushed his Lennon shades up to rest on the top of his head, revealing neon orange eyes.
It seemed as though they were going to continue before a girl in a sailor uniform interrupted them.
"Look, you two can get it on to your hearts content once we get out of this room, but for now, can you at least pretend you aren't already planning on getting in each others pants? It's uncomfortable." The girl sighed, drumming a ringed finger on the tiled floor.
Chiemi stuttered, whole face going red, while Yohaku merely cocked his head at her. "Madam, I feel that may be a bit of a stretch. I'd certainly like to hear about how you'd reach that conclusion layer, but for now, perhaps we could all learn your name?"
The girl squinted, silver eyes looking him over to try and figure out if he was mocking her or not. After that came back inconclusive, she sighed and ran her hands through her navy blue hair, running them all the way to the end of her hair (her waist) before responding.
"I'm Haru Takahashi. SHSL Soccer Player."
"Just Haru?" The student with the pink shorts cocked their head at the girl, their afro shifting slightly.
"Just Haru." She confirmed, bringing up her knees and yawning. "You?"
"Kin Smith." They smiled. Feeling the confused glances, their smile faltered a bit, but they kept talking. "No, I'm not a boy or a girl. Just use "they", ok? I'm not a crossdresser, not hiding my gender, I just don't have one." Kin finished talking, leaving the room silent. They scrunched over and zipped up their red leather jacket. "Huh, it's a little cold in here. Did anyone else notice that?"
"I know! You'd think being such a good school, they'd at least be able to get some heat in here." A boy wearing tortoiseshell glasses spoke up. Kin's back straightened out, a bit glad to have all the focus taken off of them. The boy continued. "Oh, I'm Ritsu Hazuki. I'm an SHSL Visual Novel Creator. Let's hope for the best today, yes?"
Chiemi, seemingly having regained her composure, piped in. "Visual novels? I've played a few of those before!"
Ritsu beamed, straightening his blue sweater over his dress shirt and straightening his back. "I hope you liked them! I'm certainly proud of them."
It seems they were finally waking up and remembering how to be civil humans. A girl across the room slowly raised her hand. Ritsu nodded at her, sandy blonde locks bouncing around his face. "Yes, would you like to introduce yourself?"
She nodded, fiddling with her blouse before continuing. "M-my name is Chiasa Abo. I'm an SHSL T-Tomb Builder, and I hope we can all g-get along." She looked up, eyes darting left and right on the search for a positive response. "Um..."
Perhaps out of pity for the clearly nervous girl, a boy in a blue suit nodded at her. "I certainly agree with that statement, Miss Chiasa. Ah, I'm Iko Amaterasu. I'm a SHSL Lawyer, or Attorney. Whichever one you prefer. I'm happy to be able to meet my classmates!" Chiasa sighed, relieved. She brushed a strand of curly blonde hair out of her face and looked ahead, waiting for more. Iko was fairly cheerful sounding. "I'm sure all of us can be good companions, right?" Something very subtle felt off about him, but most of the students ignored it and turned to the next student, who really looked like he didn't want to introduce himself. In fact, it was the boy who first commented on the missing cell phones.
"... Geez. Alright, I'm Connor Morrison. SHSL Playwright. And let's face it. None of us really want to be in here, reciting some dumbass lines about how super-duper pumped we are to be together, so I'm gonna be honest and say I don't want any of you talking to me unless its damn important." With that he flopped on his back and begin to quietly count the ceiling tiles.
Well. That pretty much killed the happy, cheerful mood. The girl next to him shifted awkwardly. "Well. Should-Should I still go?"
"Yes, of course!" Yohaku nodded enthusiastically. "We should learn about all our classmates... Every one of them."
The girl smiled. "Alrightly. I'm Akari Tachibana. SHSL Ringleader, in case you were wondering. Good to meet you."
Haru looked up from fiddling with her uniform's ribbon, surprised. "Wait up a sec. I'm pretty sure I've seen your shows before. Are you sure you're Akari Tachibana?" Haru cocked an eyebrow, while Akari merely giggled, brown ponytail bouncing with her laugh.
"Sound a bit different, don't I? Hehe, my stage persona is a bit overdone. It's just to make the crowd excited. That's just part of the show, Haru. The playwright might understand a little, right?" Akari motioned towards Conner, who lifted his head a little and stared at her.
"Yeah. Whatever you say, ." He plunked his head back on the ground.
Well. So much for bringing him into the conversation. Akari paused before motioning to a white-haired boy resting against the wall. "Hey, I feel like I've seen you somewhere! What's your name?"
He lifted up his head, eye glued to Akari. No, that was not a typo. One of his red eyes was covered by an eye patch, the black patch contrasting with his extremely pale skin. The sight of him was enough to make a few students squirm in discomfort.
"Itami Kimochi. SHSL Freak." He spoke monotonously. Itami said nothing more, but continued keeping eye contact with Akari.
"Oh, that makes sense. I must have seen you in a show or something." Akari gently pushed the boy to continue talking, but he ignored it, and merely shifted forward to tie up his sneaker.
Sensing there was probably nothing more this guy had to say, the boy next to him on the wall (who had been subtly scooting away from him the whole time) started to speak.
"Well, aren't you just a conversationalist. I'm Saburo Umari. SHSL Archer, if you care. Now seriously, does someone want to explain what's been going on here? Did none of you dolts think to wonder why we're locked up in some weirdo room?" Saburo sighed, pushing back his brown bangs, letting them fall back in his face.
Chiasa spoke up. "Ah... I think it's because we all woke up here."
Saburo shot the girl a death glare. "Thanks, tips. Did your dad drop you on your head as a child?" Conner chuckled slightly from where he was. Chiasa gasped, cheeks heating up.
"D-Daddy did not! H-He was so c-careful with m-me!" Chiasa's voice became louder, peppered with stuttering, and much more frantic. Saburo only snorted.
"'Daddy'? 'Careful with you'? That's a few red flags right off the bat, kiddo." He chuckled slouched back, pulling his uniform tie out from his jacket.
"Come on, be nice." A boy across the room spoke loudly. Everyone turned to look (with the exceptions of Itami and Conner). A boy with short sandy hair was pouting at Saburo. "She didn't do anything to you." He crossed his arms over his black shirt. "I'm Himukata Kitora. SHSL Blacksmith. Let's forget this happened and be friends, ok?"
Saburo paused for just a moment before snorting. "Fuckin' gold. Yeah, whatever bud." Himukata sighed before digging through his jean pockets, pulling out some small candies and munching away on them. He was kind of cute- in his own weird way.
A blonde haired girl sitting behind Kin laughed, starling the protester. They swore quietly before the girl started talking.
"Heh, I like you, Saburo. Not so sweet and passive, huh?" She adjusted the black clip in her short, scruffy haircut before continuing. "The name's Natsuko Sonoda. SHSL Ballerina. I can promise you I'm not at all like those prissy chicks you see on TV, though." Saburo smirked at her. She winked.
"Trollop."
The mutter came a few feet away from Natsuko. The room became silent, and they all turned to the speaker- a black haired girl who was fiddling with her low pigtails.
"Sorry? I think I might have misheard." Natsuko hissed, getting to her feet and marching closer to the girl. The girl shrunk into herself.
"My name is Umeko Sumitimo, I am an SHSL Babysitter, and I said trollop. I could ignore Chiemi and Yohaku's display of hormonal urges-" Chiemi squeaked and buried her face in her hands "-But yours and Saburo's is just unacceptable. It's far, far too much! Look at you! That's not even the proper way to wear a sailor uniform." Umeko pointed to Natsuko's green and white uniform. "You've buttoned and tied the ribbon far too low. It can't be helped that you have large breasts, but to put them on display like that is inconsiderate and immoral." Umeko finished and stared up at a furious Natsuko through round glasses.
You could hear a pin drop.
"Oh, and that skirts' too short. I can see your panties from down here. Pink and white striped."
That was the last straw. Natsuko snatched up Umeko by the back of her cardigan and slammed her against the nearest wall, causing a girl with ruffled black hair who was seated right under the spot where Umeko was being held to cry out and crawl away as fast as she could. The rest of the room flew info turmoil, some people gasping, some others yelling out, and a few scuttling towards the two girls.
"You think you're fucking funny, you little bitch?!" Natsuko screamed in Umeko's face. "I'll fucking kill you!"
"I'm speaking the truth! You're set for failure acting so sleazy!" Umeko screamed back with equal force. Natsuko grabbed the girl's school bow and tugged her in close.
"Try to pull something like that again, and I'll smash your pretty little face in. Got it?"
Umeko didn't have time to respond before Natsuko was pulled off her by Kin and Himukara. As soon as her feet hit the floor, Umeko was held back by Iko and Yohaku.
"Please... Don't threaten death, Natsuko. Every life is so precious... It hurts to even think about." Yohaku sighed and looked over at the fuming blonde, who just spat curses in his direction.
After both girls were separated, and the room had generally calmed down, another student made his introduction.
"Now that everyone is reasonably calmed, I'll introduce myself. I'm Olivier Everheart. SHSL Forensic Scientist. Please, let's try to prevent any violent outbursts like that in the future." Olivier looked over at Umeko and Natsuko, both who simply stared angrily at him. He ignored it, and turned to the last student, well-groomed chocolate brown locks moving gently with his head. You could practically hear everyone who was interested in mens' hearts thump. He was a well groomed, good looking boy.
"Now, you're the only one who hasn't made her introduction yet. Care to?" He cocked his head at the girl. She was the one who'd crawled away from the fight, and she seemed to still be a bit shaken from it.
"O-Ok... Erm, I'm Shion Kirishima, and I guess I'm SHSL Good Luck." Shion spoke as calmly as she could, although she couldn't seem to stop adjusting her school vest or smoothing out her skirt.
"Good luck? How'd you get a talent like that?" Haru raised an eyebrow, not buying it.
"Oh... There's a lottery here at Hope's Peak. Every high schooler in Japan has their name entered, and the one who is picked gets the 'Good Luck' title, and gets to come here. And that was me." Shion chuckled weakly. "I've always been lucky, and it seems to have worked out in my favour this time."
"Congratulations, you won a lottery, so now you get to wake up, unconscious, in a room with a bunch of strangers." Saburo piped in.
Just then, the speaker came back on.
"Good morning, students. We are pleased to announce that the auditorium is ready for your arrival. Please move quickly and quietly down the hallway. The door is at the end. Anyone who stays here will be forcibly removed. Thank you for your co-operation." The robotic female voice cut out again.
Well... That was odd. Forcibly removed? What was up with that?
Just then, there was a click on the far right of the room. Two doors, previously unnoticed, swung open, revealing a dimly lit hallway.
The students all looked at each other.
"Well... I guess it's time to get going, hmm?" Akari stood up first. Most of the class followed suit. Chiemi was the first to leave the room. Next was Iko, and followed by him, Himukara. Soon the entire class was gone. As soon as the last person (Conner, in case you're interested) had left, the doors slammed shut. Most of the group looked back nervously. Why did all of them feel so anxious?
Well. Seems like there was only one place to go.
Yohaku stepped up besides Chiemi, and pushed open the door
A/N: So there it is! The first chapter. I hope I did an ok job! Please tell me if I messed up at all, and please review! They mean so much to me. Thanks, and have a wonderful, hope-filled day!