4/23
Monday

Early Morning
Hinata Residence.

OST: Memories of the Dead - Persona & Danganronpa Mashup

Hajime slowly opened his eyes. Whatever sleep he managed to get last night didn't matter, because today, today was his big day.

Hajime stood from bed excitedly, rushing to the bathroom to take a shower. Monomi opened her button eyes and stood up from bed and a little yawn escaped her mouth. "Geez, first time he wakes up this happy…" But she couldn't blame him, it was nice seeing him in a less "Grumpy-nata" mood.

After 30 minutes of showering, and brushing his teeth, Hajime came out with a towel wrapped around his waist, and a second one around his shoulders.

"It's finally here!" Hajime said to Monomi, surprising the bunny more for how excited he was. Hajime went to his desk, taking in his hands the uniform he'll be wearing from now on.

A uniform that made him feel… Fulfilled and… Hopeful.

"Hey! You aren't supposed to change in front of a lady!" Monomi said, covering her eyes with her ears.

"A-ah! Right, sorry! I'll be back in a few minutes" Hajime rushed to his bathroom again to get changed there. Monomi just shook her head in disapproval, what was she going to do with this boy?

Fifteen minutes later, Hajime came out, wearing the Hope's Peak Uniform.

A brown blazer, open of course, with a white shirt underneath it, accompanied by a red tie. Brown pants, and black shoes. It was unbelievable for Hajime…

Him! Him!? Him! Finally wearing this uniform. He couldn't contain the laughter of excitement that escaped his lips.

"I did it… I DID IT!" Both arms up in the air full the feeling of success.

"Hajime, come downstairs, breakfast is ready!" Came the voice of his mother.

"Coming, mom!" Hajime responded and went to grab his backpack and open it for Monomi to jump in, which she did.

Downstairs, his mother received him with a big hug and then kissed his forehead.

"M-mom!" Hajime was not exactly complaining but it's still embarrassing.

"No complaining! You earned it!~" Hajime could roll his eyes but ended up smiling anyway. "C'mon! Let's have breakfast!"

Hajime didn't argue, both son and mother went to the table, and enjoyed their breakfast together. A cheerful, happy breakfast.

After finishing their food, Hajime went to the entrance, ready for the day. "I'm going now"

"Be safe!... And Hajime" Hitomi approached her son, holding his shoulders with both hands. "Do your best and show how amazing you are"

Hajime smiled, and contrary to the smile he gave the last time she sent him off to school, this was a more genuine and cheerful one.

"I will, you'll see Mom, how proud I'll make you"

"You already make me proud

She gave him a last hug, which Hajime happily returned. Those words truly meant the world to him…

"Now go. You don't want to be late, do you?"

"Yeah, I have to make a good first impression"

With that said, Hajime waved one last goodbye, and headed to Hope's Peak, to begin his new school life.


Early Morning
Shibuya - Station Square

OST: Beneath Despair - Mashup

Hajime waited for the train. Despite his excitement, something kept hitting him like a brick affecting his mood. On his way to the train station, he kept hearing the same problem, one that it's growing worse every day: Students missing.

Recently students have been traveling in groups, hoping to be safer he can see, he saw various groups sticking together, a minimum of 3. The news revealed that not only the kidnappings continued but they also increased in high numbers, altering the citizens…

"Damn it… Haiji better start talking soon" Hajime muttered to himself, unlucky for him someone was able to hear him.

"Talking to who?" A soft voice said behind him. When he turned around Hajime met with none other than Chiaki Nanami.

"Ah! You!? I mean, ahem. I was talking to myself… About talking to a friend about ….something." He cleared his throat, "Are you here to take the train?" Hajime took a shaky breath.

"Yeah… I fell asleep and ended up far from my destination-" She yawned "… I had to pay for a return ticket since my student card didn't cover that area" Chiaki answered, rubbing her eyes a little.

"How can she be so casual about something so careless like that!? "

Hajime couldn't help but to stare the girl down, "Are you sure you're alright?

"Yeah, nothing went wrong on my way back… But I'm still sleepy" Chiaki gave another yawn, her head starting to droop a bit.

"You didn't get any sleep last night…?"

"I forgot to sleep last night…"

"...H-how can you forget to sleep?"

"I was so busy preparing Monaca-chan's bag that I completely forgot," Chiaki explained, showing a small green backpack.

That name made Hajime realize he hasn't heard anything about Monaca since Haiji's defeat. Would it be prudent to ask her? Maybe or maybe not, but due to the mention of Monaca it'd be best to go for it.

"Huh? A bag? For her? For what?"

"She is… But, her brother got arrested" Chiaki said, her voice having a mixture of relief and worry in it. Hajime's eyes winded a bit, he didn't expect Chiaki to know so soon, but considering she is probably the only one Monaca has to talk with… It makes sense. For now, it'd be best to act surprised. Too bad his acting skills were just as terrible as his lying skills.

"In a way I'm glad but…Now Monaca-chan lives alone, her family wouldn't accept her back so she moved into the school dorms for the time being…She'll be there until she has a legal guardian, if she doesn't have one by the end of May she'll end up in an orphanage…"

Chiaki's worry over the situation seemed to distract her from Hajime's own terrible acting, which was the only decent thing about what she said.

That family of hers were just a bunch of assholes, how can they deny their own family, a child from returning home after all the pain that bastard put her through?

"You made that for her?" Hajime interrupted, hoping to change the mood of the conversation.

"Yeah… I prepared some new clothes I bought for her, a few games, and as well some decorations for her new room! Oh! And, snacks too!" Chiaki sounded excited, sparks in her eyes.

"Heh, well that's nice of you, I'm sure she'll love it"

"You think?"

"I can assure it!"

Chiaki smiled, but then she realized something… She had to blink a few times, but it hit her.

"...Is that…?" Chiaki pointed at his clothes.

"A Hope's Peak Uniform?" Hajime finished for her. "Yeah, it is"

"Wow… I thought you were in the reserve course. It was the impression your uniform gave me when we met…"

"A-ah, well I was… I recently got transferred, so you could say… Today's my first day?"

Chiaki's eyes perked in surprise, with a little "oh" escaping her lips. "Well, welcome aboard!" She paused, " I think."

"You think?" Couldn't help but feel a little worried about how she finished her sentence. Chiaki was not the stereotypical type and she never gave Hajime that sort of vibe, but there was a small part of Hajime that worried about the possibility of her hating a reserve student in the same course.

"Ah, I don't mean any bad by it… I just tend to think my words carefully before speaking but even so, I am not sure if what I say is appropriate…"

That's an unexpected explanation. "Do you need to overthink how to say welcome…?" Hajime couldn't help but think that in the most sarcastic possible way.

"Well alright, you're the first one to welcome me in today so thank you" Regardless of how it was delivered, it's still with good intentions, and for that Hajime smiled. Chiaki smiled back.

"But you know, the important thing now is Monaca… Do you think she'll be okay?"

Chaiki took her time to answer, collecting her thoughts to give a proper answer, she even sighed a little. "To tell you the truth… I don't know. But I'll try my best so she can be as fine as she can be…"

Hajime admired that, despite looking like a girl who doesn't know where she's stepping cause she's focusing on the screen from what he saw at first, in reality, she is a very caring girl who supports a little kid who needs it the most, it was heartwarming… and he knew Monaca of all people deserved it.
"You're really kind, you know that?" Chiaki was taken aback by his words, she didn't know how to respond. "Look, the train is coming. Is it okay if I come with you?" Hajime pointed a the train coming to the station, going with her doesn't seem so bad, it'll help him keep his mind busy from all this missing students situation, and also going with her would make sure neither Junko nor her goons tried anything with Chiaki for being alone, she doesn't deserve it, and God knows the effect that could cause in Monaca…

Chiaki seemed to hesitate at first, but considering the last time they saw each other he accompanied her with his friends turned out to be quite fun, she sees no reason to deny the offer.

"Sure!"

"It's settled then"

When the train arrived, Hajime made sure it was the right one for Chiaki, and then they boarded together chatting the whole ride to the school, a good way to start the day.


Hope's Peak Academy - Entrance.

OST: Cool Morning - Danganronpa V3

The moment of truth, Hajime was not here as a guest, but as a student. Compared to the other last times, the entrance felt so huge… So big for someone like him, it was nervousness? Maybe, he was excited so much about this and now he couldn't properly take the next step, talk about pathetic…

"You okay?" Chiaki asked, looking at Hajime who was adjusting his tie a little.

"Y-yeah, just… You know, I'm a little nervous" Hajime awkwardly smiled.

Chiaki stared at him for a couple of seconds, her emotionless face seemed like it was judging him which didn't help his nerves at all, not even a little bit. "You shouldn't be," She finally said.

"Huh?"

"Nervous. You shouldn't be nervous… This school might be fancy and have a lot of prestige but once you're in you'll realize there's not much difference from any other school, you make friends, you create memories and then you graduate, you already have friends here don't you?"

Hajime didn't forget that, he does have friends here already, four friends who are probably waiting for him to join them. He nodded.

"There you have it, you have already taken one of the biggest steps… Good company, friends to tag along through this journey called "School Life". You see? if you have companions whatever makes you nervous fades away and you can focus on what's important"

Hajime reflexed her words for a moment, crossing his arms and closing his eyes, thinking deeply about it, she said nothing but facts there, and to say the truth he felt less nervous now. Thinking of his friends helps, and besides if this is how he is feeling, imagine how Mukuro is feeling? It was her first day too! And as a leader, he needs to set a good example.

"You're right," Hajime smiled, with his eyes still closed. "Good company can help me focus on what's important, and you just did that, like a good friend would" He opened his eyes and looked at her.

The girl, taken by surprise by his declaration, pointed at herself as if she was asking if he was referring to her as a friend. Hajime nodded, and Chiaki broke eye contact, staring at nothing in particular.

Eventually, she ended up smiling with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"You're saying we're friends…?"

"Uh, haven't we been since we got stuck under the rain?" Hajime said with a hint of playful sarcasm and a smile. "I even had a chat about games with you the entire travel from the train station to here"

Chiaki kept smiling, not much, it was small but still a smile. "I guess so, I never really thought about it like that…"

"Well, if it's something you'd like… And you're okay with me, we can think of each other as friends"

"...Yeah, that'd be fun, we can play games together?"

"Anytime"

Chiaki smiled a little wider. It was a warm welcoming feeling. Without any nervousness or anything else.

"Then, I'll see you later… And we can play next time" Chiaki adjusted her backpack, and turned into the elementary section of the academy, Hajime nodded.

"I'll be looking forward to it" With a last smile and a wave, Chiaki went off to meet Monaca and the kids, and Hajime focused back to the entrance of the school.

One more time, he took a deep breath and walked inside.

Hajime took the first step, he felt pure joy.

His dream came true, everything he was yearning for, hoping for, it became real. He was in the same territory as other talented students, he was at their level! He still felt nervous, but he felt more excited than nervous, he can allow himself to enjoy the moment.

After walking through the entrance, inside the halls he was met by none other than his friends, Kyoko, Rantaro, Makoto and now Mukuro too, wearing her new uniform. And as expected, Mukuro was looking rather nervous… Seeing her like a regular schoolgirl truly is an experience.

"Speaking of friends…" Hajime muttered once he spotted his friends waiting for him at the entrance.

"You've arrived" Kyoko smiled, and walked to him along with Rantaro. She inspected him from the bottom to the top. "I'd say, suits you better than the reserve course uniform"

"Yeah, looks natural on you" Rantaro added, fist-bumping Hajime as a greeting.

"T-thanks" Hajime smiled at their compliments, scratching his hair a little. "What about you, Ikusaba? Feel comfortable with the outfit?"

The four turned to see Mukuro, who had her arms crossed looking away.

"It's… Okay, I guess, but I don't like this uniform that much. I'd prefer a combat skirt…." It probably didn't give the same level of comfort as what she was used to.

"At least you don't have a tie killing you…" Makoto complained, he adjusted his tie as a sign of how uncomfortable he felt wearing it.

Rantaro and Hajime felt that. Hajime had already gotten used to ties, but compared to Makoto, or Rantaro who clearly never did. But that's beside the point.

"I agree with you, combat skirts are just more comfortable… But trust me, you'll get used to it" Kyoko said to Mukuro. The detective could relate with Mukuro the same way the boys did with each other.

"I'll take your word on that," Mukuro smiled. Trusting the detective's experience on this.

Before the five could continue their conversation a "beep" sound came from each one's pockets, to be specific their new e-handbooks. The five picked them up and read the messages they received from the principal.

"Good morning!

Please come to my office before you begin your school schedule for today.

- Principal Kirigiri."

"Alright…Let's see what the principal needs now, hopefully, good news" With that said, the entire group made their way to his office.


Principal's Office - Hope's Peak Academy.

After a few knocks, the door opened and they all entered. Inside they were welcomed by the sight of Jin smiling happily at them.

"Good morning to all of you," He greeted. "How has your first day been so far?" Jin directed his question to Hajime and Mukuro.

"Not much has happened yet to have a conclusion I guess…" Mukuro answered first.

"Well, yeah that, but so far I've been feeling quite welcome," Hajime added.

"Aha, well I hope that you can feel welcome as well Ikusaba, and of course that this first day becomes a pleasing experience for you two, for that let's begin with this." Jin showed two folders with Hajime and Mukuro's name in each one. "I have decided to personally select which classes you'll be assigned to" Jin then slipped the folders with their classes info to Hajime and Mukuro, the two approached and took it to read it.

"...The class 78-A, First Year" Mukuro read it out loud, and a gasp of joy escaped Makoto's mouth.

"Hey, that's Kirigiri-san and my class!" Makoto leaned close to read the file. "You'll be with us, isn't that great?" Mukuro blinked a few times. It'd be only natural for Jin to place her in an environment with people she knows, she could appreciate that.

"I uh-" Still she had no clue how to respond, "Yeah…" was all she could say with an attempt at a smile.

Makoto smiled brightly, rubbing his nose a little.

"I know our start was not a good one but so far since we became members of the same team I consider you a good ally and companion, let's get along as classmates" Kyoko approached and offered her hand.

Mukuro stared at it for a couple of seconds. After a moment, she accepted it, and both girls shared a handshake. "I will do my best… Thank you for the opportunity" Mukuro made a small reverence as thanks to Jin.

"No need to thank me, thanks to you for accepting the invitation, please, enjoy your school time with the 78th! I can assure you you'll make more friends there" Jin responded.

Mukuro began to chat with Makoto and Kyoko. As they did, Hajime decided to read his file next to see the class he'll be part of.

"...Class 77-B, Second Year"

"Hey, that's Nanami's class," Rantaro mentioned.

Talk about coincidences.

"Oh dear... The Seventy-Seventh," Koichi who was lying on the sofa as always, took a long sip from his bottle. His face was the kind of face you'd have whenever you see a ghost.

"Huh?" Hajime raised an eyebrow confused by his reaction, is there something wrong with the 77th?

"It's a fitting choice" Kyoko mentioned, interrupting his thoughts.

"What do you mean…?"

"You'll find out soon enough"

…Why was he hearing boss music?

"So… What's the other reason for you to bring us all here?" Kyoko interjected, going straight to the point.

Jin sighed, scratching his head a little. "You could ease up a little..."

Kyoko didn't break her cold gaze, to which Jin sighed. "Fine… I called you here for two reasons. The first is to personally tell you which classes both of you newcomers will be attending… as well to speak with you all about our progress with Haiji Towa"

The five paid close attention to what Jin was about to say next.

"So far he still hasn't spoken yet. He is still in shock, lamenting himself over the things he has done, but after some investigation, we found these" Jin placed a briefcase on his desk. Inside there were two pill bottles, with an empty space in the center.

It didn't take long for the first four members to connect the dots together.

"...How familiar are you with these?" Jin asked, pointedly.

OST: Weekly Despair Magazine - Danganronpa

"If Togami's men did their homework well, you'll know we're very familiar." Kyoko responded.

Is not something they could easily forget, nor the pain felt during the battle.

"I was afraid of that…"

"So… You're gonna explain what this is about? I would love to know why Hope's Peak has been working on these things" Rantaro asked, pointing at the bottles inside the briefcase.

"You know that much,huh?" Jin's tone seemed slightly impressed, "I'd expected as much, I just needed the confirmation"

No one said anything. With the exception of Makoto they all had serious expressions, waiting for Jin to explain.

"These are meant to be boosters" Jin put on latex gloves, and took a single pill out to show the team. "Persona boosters"

"They sure boost Personas" Hajime said with an edge of venom. "Add terrific mutation too now that we are on it"

"And what's the purpose of creating a thing like this? Clearly, you don't expect us to take them ourselves, do you?" Mukuro's tone was as venomous as Hajime's.

Jin remained silent for a few seconds. "No" He finally responded, the tension building up disappeared and the group could breathe in relief. "We had only had the idea to use these before we knew any of you had the potential to awaken."

Hajime and Kyoko suck a quick glance at one another.

"Togami is the only Persona user in our ranks, or at least he was, until you all decided to join us. For that, we had to find ways to prepare in the scenario we had to engage in a battle we couldn't win…" Jin's voice had a cold edge to it.

"Togami-kun… W-wouldn't really do that" Makoto said, stuttering at first. Jin didn't add anything, he just waited for Makoto to continue, "Togami-kun is too prideful… And he tries to be the embodiment of perfection if anyone knew that an heir of the Togami family is doing drugs- The scandal would be on another level! So… Who was the booster really for?"

Jin again, remained silent. The group went from looking at Makoto to Jin waiting for him to say anything. Finally, the principal closed his eyes, letting out a long sigh.

"You're right. Togami himself said he wouldn't take these… The pills were made to boost Personas, yes, but it's not their only function. As you know, boosting means giving it a push to be stronger, faster, or improve stamina… But as well means boosting their potential, so in simple words, it would force the awakening of Persona for those with the potential"

Like glass, something in Kyoko broke into pieces.

"You have to be joking," Kyoko's voice was full of venom, her eyes focused on only one person now. Her hand slammed the desk, surprising everyone in the room for her uncharacteristic behavior. "You were offering steroids to make people fight for you!?"

Hajime and Rantaro connected the dots. What happened during their escape from Junko's palace made so much sense now. Hajime closed his eyes, Rantaro had his hands on his hips, taking a minute.

"We were not going to force anyone to fight anything" Jin, contrary to Kyoko, remained calm, and didn't flinch even when her daughter slammed her hand into his desk. "These pills were meant for our own staff, not our students"

"Really? Because I'm sure one Mikan Tsumiki was supposed to be the one who would test these things," Rantaro quickly countered.

Jin, despite the sudden snap of the usually calm guy of the team, still retained his composure.

"With the guidance of Koichi, Tsumiki was meant to run some tests on the medicine to verify its effectiveness and its general safety for human consumption before we tested them on any people. She was never meant to consume one, nor was she meant to give one to anybody else," Jin explained.

Rantaro opened his mouth to say something, but nothing came to mind. Whether because he truly didn't have a counterargument or because the anger he was feeling didn't allow him to properly think was up in the air.

Kyoko, on the other hand, had plenty to say.

"That is still involving a student, directly or indirectly is still an act that involves her. You know it"

"My goal is to ensure the safety of my students, Kyoko-san" Jin kept his posture staring back at his daughter. The tension grew even more, and after a couple of seconds passed, a tired sigh escaped his lips, "I gave you all my word that I wouldn't hide things from you… So here I'm being honest. I'm aware that it's not the best course of action, but it was the only option we had at the moment"

"So that's why you ran a drug test in the reserve course?" Hajime suddenly asked, taking Jin off guard by this. "You know I was eventually going to bring it up" The group's eyes widened at the unexpected question from Hajime. They all stared at Jin waiting for his answer, who limited himself to nod.

"...Yes, we want to rule out the possibility that our students might be linked with them," Jin finally admitted.

"That's a very odd way to say you see reserve course students are your prime suspects" Kyoko didn't lose time and spitted with venom those words, which had a negative reaction in Jin

"I just want to rule out any possible outcome, we already had a Palace being built under our noses, I'm not risking a possible student being one of them" Jin deadpanned. To the displeasure of the detective who had more room to argue.

"Okay, hold on! Fighting right now will not help, we're not seeing the big problem here" Hajime interjected, before Kyoko could open her mouth "Fighting over who is suspect or not won't help solve what Junko and her goons are doing now."

"While all the implications made in this conversation are messed up, I'm with Hinata-dono on this one. Going back and forth is not helping the main problem. Not only that, there's something we haven't discussed yet about these drugs…The effects he's telling us about are completely different from what we've witnessed"

"She's right… You guys fought one who transformed into a weird monster, the product of a fusion with his persona after taking these right?" Makoto also added.

It was true, and someone like Kyoko couldn't simply overlook that. She removed her hand from Jin's desk to take a few steps back and take a deep breath. Hajime sighed, scratching the back of his head, and decided to take it from here.

"Okay, let's review the events so far… You guys were desperate and made experimental drugs to help them force awakenings, also they can boost up the strength and durability of Personas…And now you suspect the Reserve Course of possibly being part of all of this. Where does the fusion part come into all of this?"

"Nowhere" Jin responded. "It was never planned in the first place."

"Well, isn't that great? Now we know they're experimenting with it" Rantaro held his temples on each side, giving himself a massage.

"I'm afraid that's the same conclusion we made. Taking Togami's notes and your own words for it, it's safe to say there's proof enough that they altered the formula and were able to replicate it."

"Dammit…" Hajime couldn't hold his frustration, clenching his fists and teeth.

Kyoko remained silent, but her resentment stares against Jin said enough, finding him the prime guilty of this situation.

"Okay… What do we do? Do you have a type of antidote or something? If you created this, you have something that can counter it, right?" Hajime tried to find at least an alternative.

"Y-yeah!" Makoto agreed, trying his best to smile and walking a few steps closer to be next to Hajime. "If you made it, you can make something to counter it!" Makoto felt more hopeful about the options they could take now.

The principal in one movement killed their hopes, slowly moving his head from left to right in denial.

Makoto's smile vanished.

"You don't have it? Are you serious?" Hajime frowned. "You can't be serious!"

"When we created the first prototypes we had the formula… But after some incidents, we lost it, and now we're just working with what was left, creating an antidote that could reverse the effects is going to take us time" Jin explained, raising the eyebrows of everyone in the room with the exception of Koichi.

"What do you mean you lost it? How can you lose it!?"

"Things aren't exactly easy, it's not the only thing we've lost." Jin's words echoed in their heads, taking them back to the "first" incident.

"The trailer… The trailer was transporting something that was a property of this division of Hope's Peak… Wasn't it?" Kyoko, now more calm, asked. Jin responded with a single nod, it was suspected that would be the case, but now with the confirmation and knowing what Hope's Peak has been working with, it planted a seed of fear, wondering what they could have in their power now.

"Very well, what's the plan then? What they've stolen so far, and what can we do?" Hajime went straight to the point, what's the next step?

"Until we get Haiji Towa to talk, all I can do is to please ask you to be prepared… And work with what we already know, if you ever face a Mutation Fusion again, use your E-Handbooks, store the data, it'll help us to work faster in the creation of an antidote against it" Jin instructed.

It's not the best solution, but it's what he can do with what he has on hand.

"...It's not as easy as it sounds, last time we almost didn't make it out," Hajime admitted, crossing his arms and letting out an annoyed sigh.

"I know, that's why I'm giving you these too" Jin took out another briefcase, and immediately opened it. The contents this time were 3 spherical objects. "They're called Goho-M"

"Goho-M?" Hajime picked up one, curious. "What a weird way to say Go home…" Hajime thought.

OST: Reminiscence - Persona 5

"These can help you escape, when you use one, you'll be able to escape and return to the entrance of the labyrinth… If you end up in a situation you can't win, use these" Jin explained, his voice has softened compared to earlier, which helped the tense mood to lighten up a little. "I can't ask you to just brute force your way into storing data from these fusions, and I'd rather have you all avoid them… But taking into consideration our current situation it's unavoidable that you'll have another encounter sooner or later, if you can't win, leave"

Better live to fight another day, than lose and don't fight again. Hajime understood and accepted the Goho-m's Jin offered to him as his team.

"I know I'm asking a lot right now, with having to explore the labyrinth and the uncertainty of what could happen next and the disadvantage we have now because of the items they possess, but if we watch our steps and keep working together we'll reverse the situation"

The team looked at each other, they all agreed and shared a single nod. "Yeah, we'll do our best here… But we seriously need to find out more about these Persona and Human fusion if we want to avoid repeating what happened last time" Hajime said, his eyes went straight to his bag, waiting for the little pink and white one to pop out.

And as such she did. "Well all you have to do is ask!" Monomi said, puffing her chest up.

"Then, Monomi, would you be kind enough to tell us what you know?" Jin kindly asked, trying his best to smile again hoping all tensions would cool down now.

"Sadly not much…" Monomi admitted. Hajime expected as much. "But what I know is that these situations are very rare. So rare that I only have knowledge of two events- well three if we count Haiji Towa"

"Can you tell us about them? Even if it's little information, anything can be helpful" Jin insisted, hands together on his desk and eyes focused on Monomi.

Monomi nodded. "The first case was more than a decade ago, I'd say almost two… A persona-user lost a battle against a group who stood up against him to stop his plans, after being defeated he refused to lose just like that, and his Persona determined to aid him merged with him. The strength he obtained was on another level! But even so, it was still not enough… After being defeated his body couldn't stand it and… Well…" Monomi didn't finish that line, her mouth refused to finish the sentence.

Hajime patted her head, interrupting her from continuing. The confirmation was not needed.

"But Haiji is still alive…" Rantaro muttered. That's true, Haiji was still breathing even after the drug stopped taking effect.

"For now, if he's still in shock after his Palace went down last week, who knows what kind of after effects would be happening in his body right now? Steroids could be making it even worse." Mukuro followed up, shrugging while keeping her arms crossed.

"This is not good. What about the other case, Monomi?" Jin asked again, but this time Monomi looked less confident.

"...About that there's even less info, it's blurry and difficult to grasp… But all I know about that second case is that it's a more recent case, the Persona acknowledged the strength of its user's resolve. So much so that it fused to a whole different level, so it's hard to tell…"

"Weird, the most recent event is harder to know about than one from almost 20 years ago…?" Kyoko noticed the odd situation with these cases.

"Kinda paradoxical?" Rantaro slightly joked about it.

"No matter… What matters is that we can use this now. Thank you, Monomi, I appreciate your vital information for this" Jin smiled, Monomi didn't say anything else, she just remained in Hajime's backpack.

Hajime raised an eyebrow at this but decided to let it be for now. He can ask about it later more privately.

"I'll communicate with Togami and his men. I need to be sure they're still keeping an eye on him. We can't afford to lose him, so it'll be best to be prepared in case the scenario takes a bad outcome…And of course, study the effects of the drug on him" Jin informed. The team didn't say anything, which allowed Jin to continue. "I know it's a lot to process, and a simple apology won't do, but still, I'm sorry for putting all this onto you. And on your first day no less. Hinata, Ikusaba… Please don't let this ruin your day, enjoy your first day. You're dismissed".

With that, everyone walked out of the principal's office, Hajime being the last to leave, taking a moment to look back at Jin with a concerned expression on his face. One that Jin noticed, causing him to flinch. After a couple of seconds, Hajime finally left.

With the office empty, Jin covered his face with both hands, with his elbows resting on his desk. Suddenly his computer turned on the screen, revealing a video chat with four elderly people who were listening to the entire argument.

"So… These are the kids. Promising," One of the elderly men said.

But before anyone could say anything else, Jin quickly shut the computer down without even looking.

"Not. Now" is all Jin said.

Koichi, his old friend, didn't dare to say anything.


OST: All All Apologies - Danganronpa

"I'll go ahead and show Ikusaba-san the way to our classroom," Makoto said upon leaving the office. With Mukuro in tow, the luckster waved the group goodbye.

"I'll go and attend my class too, I'll see you later, guys" Rantaro smiled and waved goodbye, which left Hajime and Kyoko, with Monomi of course.

Hajime was still thinking of everything that was discussed back there. It was a lot to take in, and it'll make it hard to focus on his first day. What a bummer…

"Hajime-kun, I have something to ask you" Kyoko's question broke his bubble of thoughts, but he appreciated being taken back to reality. He nodded and waited for the detective's question. "Do you believe him?"

Hajime frowned, confused at first. "Believe what, exactly?"

"What my father said, about having no intention of using students when they created the drug… Do you believe him?"

His lips moved, but nothing came from them, nothing…He froze. Does he believe him? Now that he's been directly asked about it he couldn't answer, he wanted to say yes, but a part of him as well wanted to say no, that's complicated.

His silence was all the answer she needed. Kyoko's face softened, looking at the ground like a lost girl and for the first time in a long time, Hajime witnessed a weak smile form on Kyoko's lips. Not an honest smile like that night in Rantaro's house, or a cocky smile when she has the heads up in a situation, not even the tomboyish smile he remembers in their childhood.

It was the same smile, she gave him that fateful night 10 years ago. Hajime was visibly frustrated with himself for not knowing what to say.

Kyoko closed his eyes, and in a couple of seconds, her face returned to that masquerade of hers, offering a clear fake smile this time. "You deserve a better first day than this" Kyoko took one of his hands and gave him something. "Here, you'll need it… I'll see you after classes" Kyoko then began to walk to her classroom.

Hajime looked at the object in his hand, and then to Kyoko who stopped for a second to turn back and look at him. "I almost forgot. Welcome to the Main Course" Kyoko offered a more honest but still weak smile, with that said, she continued walking to her class.

"Thanks…" Hajime whispered and gave one last look at the object in hand. An SD card, it had a tiny note that instructed him to put it in his school handbook.

Hajime placed it in his E-Handbook and he received an updated file of the School Map, showing certain hidden rooms, and blind spots around it. Hajime couldn't contain his chuckles "Classic Kyoko. Well this will help" With the map ready, Hajime adjusted his backpack and began to follow the path to his class, 77-B.


"Seventy-seven… Seventy-seven…" Hajime walked through the halls, alone, searching for that peculiar class that Kyoko said it's fitting for him.

After a few minutes of walking, he finally arrived, he had in front of him the door to the seventy-seven class.

Hajime took a deep breath, and then exhaled it. Deep breath, exhale, Deep breath, exhale… This is it, this is his big day, and it's not going to ruin it. These are his new classmates, and he better give his best effort to make a good impression. How bad could it be? Besides, Chiaki was in this class! All he had to do was knock on the door, and meet his new classmates.

*KNOCK
*KNOCK

A few seconds passed, and the door opened. Revealing a young looking woman with long orange hair dressed like a housekeeper, the woman was smiling but her smile increased and even brightened like a ray of sunshine upon seeing the boy in front of her.

OST: The Seventy-Seven - Danganronpa 3

"You must be the new student Kirigiri-san was talking about! Hinata-kun, is that right?"

"Huh… Y-yeah, that's me!"

"We've been expecting you~! My name is Chisa Yukizome and I am your homeroom teacher~! " With a singing tone, she introduced herself. the teacher made way for him to enter. "Come in! Come in!"

Her energy was contiguous, it was already looking positive! Hajime did as he was told, entering the class behind Yukizome.

"It's so nice to finally meet you," She said and stood in the center to look at her class. "Everyone! I want you all to give a warm and joyful welcome to our new addition to the class, please come here and introduce yourself!"

Hajime stood next to her, and as well directed his gaze to the entire class, a little nervous but still trying to put on his best smile. "Y-yeah… Uhm! Hi everyone! My name is Hajime Hinata and I-" But then he noticed it.

The few stares, of them … And the eyes of him looking directly at him.

"No way…" The freckles red hair girl said. Mahiru.

"It's that creep!" The blonde one wearing a yukata instantly pointed at him. Hiyoko.

"Saionji-san!" Mahiru quickly smacked her hand to which she yelped.

"What do you mean creep? Is he some sort of stalker!?" The pink-haired one panicked quickly. Kazuichi.

Not this again!

"N-no no! He's not, we just had an accident!" Mahiru quickly corrected.

Well, he's thankful for that.

"Hold up, I know you!" Fuyuhiko didn't take long to recognize him. "What are you doing here!?"

"Wait, you know him? Is he like a rival then!?" Kazuichi again, overreacting, the creep comment is still bothering him it seems, gotta thank the banana girl for that…

"Wh-!? No! I didn't say that!"

"Ehe..Ehehe…" Oh no, that was him. "Ahaha… AHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!"

"Speaking of creeps…" Hiyoko shivered, and the rest rolled their eyes at the sound of that laugh.

"So it's you! To think you'll be here sharing class with me? AHAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe it" Nagito, he was here, this is the worst outcome possible, Hajime could not believe it, from the many classes and students in this school he had to end up in the same damn class as him.

"Well, looks like the "new" kid is not so new if he sort of knows half of us," A dark skinned girl said, resting her cheek in her hand.

"Alright, enough!" Yukizome clapped loudly her hands a few times and quickly everyone shut up. "Everyone, there is no need to be rude to our new classmate! Whether you have met him before or not by accident or whatever happened, that is no reason to call him a creep or assume things about him!" Yukizome looked at both Hiyoko and Kazuichi, one looked annoyed and the other ashamed.

Yukizome seemed satisfied, "Now, let's start over again, shall we?"

"Yes, Miss Yukizome" Everyone in unison agreed.

His new teacher smiled at him and left the stage for him again.

Deep breaths Hajime… Deep breaths…

"Hello… My name is Hajime Hinata, and I'm a transfer student from the Reserve Course, it's a pleasure meeting you all"

"Transfer student…? Never heard of that before, I thought the Reserve Course was just as backups or something" One of the students said, wearing a chef hat. Teruteru.

Yukizome glared, and Teruteru shut up.

"Well, who cares? If he's been transferred for a good reason, reserve course or not he's one of us now, so WELCOME ABOARD NEW KID!" The taller and buff one said with excitement. Nekomaru.

"A-ah thanks…?"

"Your voice is too soft! Speak louder!"

"Thanks!"

"NOT ENOUGH!"

"THANKS!"

"GOOD! Ahahaha! I like the kid already! He has energy!" the buff man laughed out loud with a hand at the back of his head.

Hajime wasn't even sure why he followed up on that…

"Ahaha, quite the voice you have there" Nagito mentioned. "But I think the important question here is what is your Ultimate talent?"

And everyone shared the same painful expression at the words "talent" coming out of his mouth.

"I am sure we are all curious to know, you don't transfer someone here without a talent… Please enlighten us, enlighten me, Hinata-kun."

"...As a matter of fact, I do have a talent"

Nagito's smile twitched, and something in his eyes seemed… Off, Hajime couldn't not quite bring it to words but it felt like he was about to lose it again

"My talent is, The Ultimate Counselor!" Hajime announced. Placing the palm of his hand on his chest. "So I'll say it one more time, my name is Hajime Hinata, and I'm the Ultimate Counselor, a pleasure meeting you all!" Hajime felt the boost of confidence taking over his body, announcing to everyone in his room who he is, and what his talent is.

Of course, said talent is nothing but a lie, Jin offered him this talent to hide his real talent. The Ultimate Wild Card.

Yukizome smiled pleasedly, and stood next to him holding his shoulder with her soft and motherly hand. "A real pleasure to have you with us here. Welcome to your new class, and your new home…. Class 77-B!"

With a new fire in his eyes, Hajime looked at his classmate one more time. "I hope we all get along!"

..

.

.

.

.

.

.

"Five students… All of them of Hope's Peak" A man in a white suit read the files he had in hand, seeing the profiles and pictures of five students; Ikusaba, Naegi, Amami, Kirigiri and Hinata. What caught his eyes the most was the pictures of the Hinata kid, who could swap personas in battle apparently. In every picture he had a different one. He took a certain photo, one much clearer that showed something that made his stomach turn.

Those damned red eyes.

To be Continued.


Confidants

Monomi (The Councillor) Rank 2
Kyoko Kirigiri (The Empress) Rank 4
Rantaro Amami (The Chariot) Rank 2
Mukuro Ikusaba (The Faith) Rank 3
Makoto Naegi (The Hope) Rank 1
Kaede Akamatsu (The Lovers) Rank 3
Nagito Komaeda (The Fortune) Rank 1
Jin Kirigiri (The Hierophant) Rank 2