For break, I eagerly left the nearly vacant classroom and was on my way to the recreation room. My curiosity paid off as I noticed a newly placed map of the seminary on a couple on the walls. I quickly scanned the picture, concluding that my destination was on the third floor.

I took my time observing the beautiful architecture; it was unique to the point where I found myself gawking at it once more. But, as many call it, I experienced déjà vu—as if I've already went through this particular situation. That's because the self-proclaimed esper had her eyes on me once more.

Maizono.

She giggled to herself, tilting her head with curiosity. "Don't tell me, you're having déjà vu again?" Man, she's good. Is she really not an esper? Or is this what women's intuition is like?

"Right again," I told her. "I suppose I shouldn't question you on being an esper or anything anymore."

"Aw," she pouted, in a cute way. "I really wanted someone to believe me when I'm lying. It's not being gullible, but more... fascinated? Fascinated in me—as in myself and not an idol." From her facial expression, I could tell she was serious; Maizono must have a lot of people who see her ego and not the real her.

The fact that an idol, no, Maizono was talking to me made it clear that every single person, celebrity or not, is human. I mean, I know that sounds obvious, but they have feelings, too. Maizono... Maizono is one of those. Normal, but receives a lot of attention than most individuals. She has her talent to thank for that, though.

"You seem deep in thought," she told me. "It's about what I said, isn't it?"

Startled, I nodded quickly but awkwardly. "W-Well, I was just wondering something."

"Hm? What's that?"

"Well, Maizono- do you ever get lonely?"

The beryl haired female appeared to be pondering about the right thing to respond with. "I did have my friends alongside me on and offstage, but... other than that, I felt a lot less like myself. I was usually busy, with the addition of school to worry about. My classmates would often ask for an autograph or see me as nothing but a pop star." As she said this, a melancholic look washed over her face. I wanted to comfort her, but I wasn't sure if I was the cause of her mood to change like that.

"H-Hey," I started. "I'm sorry if I asked a personal question. I shouldn't pry into others' lives like that-"

Maizono shook her head, reassuringly. "It's alright, Naegi! To be honest, I actually feel a lot better knowing there's someone who sees me as a normal person. Someone I could share my thoughts with..." Suddenly, the heartfelt lass ran up to me and gave me an great hug. I caught a whiff of her pleasant scent, and her tight grip on me made me appreciate her warmth.

"Maizono-" I stopped myself. Staring back at me was the devil in prada. Well, actually it was Junko Enoshima.

"...Am I interrupting something?" Enoshima asked, lacking enthusiasm. Her impatient glare caused me to dramatically fling myself off of Maizono, regretfully.

"Oh!" Maizono interjected. "I forgot I have to head on down to the music room- see you later, Naegicchi!" A childish nickname I couldn't help smiling at. I waved her off as she scurried to the floor above us. Feeling the need to head to the recreation room as soon as possible, I realized it was right in front of me. Except I was too busy gawking to notice. Enoshima had appeared from the stairs of the second floor, and grabbed my arm just as I was about to move forward.

"What-"

I spun around, facing the taller individual and felt more intimidated than before.

"Do me a favor, Shrimp."

Shrugging the insult off, I wondered what she desired me to do. It must be a model thing, I figured. Requests, I mean. "What's that?"

"Move your ass!" The obnoxious gal snapped. "By that, I mean, come with me. Ugh. Fuck it, that sounds lame. I crave... a generic protagonist's attention. It's a 'Well, hey, he or she's not bad at all' situation where the shrimpy hero meets the villain but doesn't realize it. Ah, nope. Spoiled my plan. Anyways, let's go before I step out you and use you as butter later! ...You know, I could totally do that to someone..."

I got so caught in Enoshima's senseless rambling that I found myself being yanked by the arm and dragged off somewhere in the school. So long, recreation room! (I never even got to visit you. Yet.)

We arrived on the fourth floor where Maizono ran off to. I was bewildered; there's a couple of possible rooms I could imagine Enoshima taking me, for reasons I could explain. Like, the lab where she might use me as an experiment...

I hope not.

But I was wrong, thankfully. As soon as we passed the bathrooms, there was a section leading either the music room or another unknown room. The map doesn't even have the latter listed. I wonder why?

"All is going according to plan," Enoshima guffawed. I glanced at her with more confusion and saw that she had been drooling with a lascivious look. "Now my confounded heroic hubby can lead me to his demise! Ahaha... upupu~!"

Nothing this crazed girl makes any sense!

"It would be nice if you could fill me in on what's happening, you know," I blurted, sarcastically.

"But what good is a surprise if the surpriser told the surprisee?"

I'm positive those aren't even real words. But I said nothing of it.

"I... guess so."

I wasn't sure if she wanted me to enter the room, but I felt like I'd be insulted if I asked her. Models, even if they are your classmates, are scary. There's the stereotype that all famous people are snobs, but Maizono surely isn't one of them.

Enoshima is a lost case.

"Come on, I feel miserable just standing here," she groaned. "As if mushrooms could grow on my head at any second."

Regardless of ridiculous Enoshima sounds, I sighed and began to open the door-

Brrring, ring ring!

Saved by the bell!

"Damn," Enoshima muttered. "Did you really just waste an hour of doing nothing?"

"Seems like it," I realized. "Well, there's always tomorrow. Later." As I neared the staircase, I felt her strange, bluish-gray eyes on me. They certainly weren't the same as earlier.

There I was, only a distance from the lively cafeteria; my excitement was building up. I couldn't wait to converse with everyone! The males and females were all spread out. The place itself was an understandably small size, considering there was only sixteen of us. It amazed me that Asahina had a plate stacked full of donuts. She licked her lips lovingly and devoured one instantly. The contented Oogami urged her to slow down. "It might mess up your figure," she warned. "You won't be as in shape for swimming."

"Ah, don't worry!" Asahina licked the cream off the side of her mouth. "I'm going for a quick swim right away! We have enough time before the next class starts." Then, she caught my eye. "Hey, you! Come here."

I did as I was told and sat in front of the two ladies in an empty seat. Beside me were Kuwata and Fujisaki; Ishimaru and Oowada were on Asahina and Oogami's side. "Want a doughnut?" Asahina asked.

"Ah, no thanks," I told her. She nodded and continued to enjoy herself. Through a stuffed mouth, the hungry lass said to stay awhile. I figured the right thing to do was to attempt to make other friends. After all, that was my goal before Enoshima pulled me away and blabbed about something I had no clue about.

"Um," the shy gal, Fujisaki, tapped my shoulder. "It's nice to meet you, Naegi."

Asahina blurted, "That's your name! Totally slipped my mind. Sorry about that!"

"Y-Yeah," I responded. "It's nice to meet you too, Fujisaki."

"What about me?!" Asahina pouted, playfully. "I-If this is about me forgetting your name ... well, I apologized!" Ishimaru rubbed his temples as he skimmed through a textbook. Oowada and Kuwata quit chattering for a moment and glanced at me.

"You're Naegi, huh?" Oowada inquired.

"How's it going, dude?!" Kuwata smirked.

"Hey!" Asahina snapped. "I was talking to him!"

Oogami reassured Asahina, told her to lower her voice, and pointed to the studious Ishimaru. "Whoops," she whispered.

"Calm down," the spiky-haired ginger gestured. "We could all talk to him."

Oowada grinned. "Look at ya, Naegibro! I bet you're feelin' like a celebrity with all this attention, huh?"

"I-I didn't plan any of this," I stuttered. "Maybe it's my fault I didn't really get a chance to talk to anyone earlier."

"That's fine," Fujisaki admitted. "A lot of us were around the same people throughout most of the day. The more time we spend together, the more likely we will be able to open up to everyone."

Ishimaru slammed his textbook on the table, unintentionally rattling Oogami's tiny cup of tea. "THAT'S THE SPIRIT! YOUTH! SPECIFICALLY, SCHOOL YOUTH! CONVERSING IS A GREAT WAY TO FORM BONDS! SCHOOL BONDS!"

"Yo," Oowada scratched his head. "You take this school thing way too seriously. But I get what yer saying, and I agree with ya!"

"He may be a tightass bookworm," Kuwata started, "but he's a tightass bookworm that speaks the truth!"

"Yeah!" Asahina agreed. "And his eyebrows are eyebrows of justice!"

Everyone at the table broke out into laughter. I, myself, couldn't help joining in but I more or less felt sorry for the guy. I mean, I felt a little less guilty about referring to him as Strictly McEyebrows. The embarrassed Ishimaru slid down in his seat and buried his head in the textbook once again. From a distance, I recognized Maizono's chortle as she sat with Yamada, Ikusaba, and Celes. I glanced at the other tables to see Togami seated at a smaller table, Fukawa at a table near him, and Kirigiri on her own as well. The rich blond and the silver-haired maiden were focused on a novel; Fukawa, I could tell, was sneaking glances at Togami while pretending to read. Enoshima was still missing. Hagakure walked in at that moment, looking giddy with excitement.

"Yo!" he greeted. "I've got great news from the Principal!"

"Can you be any more loud?" I heard Togami mutter from his seat.

Ignoring him, Hagakure plopped himself in a seat besides Fujisaki. Kuwata wondered with curiosity, "What's the news? Spill it."

"Alright," the enthusiastic male with dreadlocks began. "Principal Kirigiri says if we all do well on the upcoming tests, we'll go on a massive amount of trips!"

"Trips?!" we exclaimed.

"Tests?!" Ishimaru perked up, curiously. We chuckled as this, but he was confounded as to why.

"Heh," Hagakure continued. "That's right. A massive amount at that. I'm twenty years old and I'm excited as hell." T-Twenty?!

"Wait, why are you so old?" Asahina asked.

"Erm... some altercations, failed predictions... such have held me back."

"Well, that crystal ball isn't doing its job, I see."

"Hey! It has 30% accuracy! Better than no accuracy, thank you very much!"

Hearing everyone talk together like this gives me a warm feeling. I started thinking really hard about what Ishimaru said about bonds when...

...my stomach ended up growling.

"Naeggs!" Hagakure bellowed. "Did you even eat, man?!"

"That's right," Fujisaki pointed out. "You really haven't..."

I chuckled with embarrassment and admitted it. Am I really too busy having fun with everyone to remember to eat?

[Author's Note! Hey, reader. This chapter is unintentionally really long. I am so sorry. Anyways, on to the important thing. I tried my hardest to make Junko seem like she has multiple personalities. I wanted to do a Christmas segment with this story, but it doesn't seem like I'll do it in time... It's spring in the story. On the bright side, this story is going full circle. A whole year or two. Thanks, Persona 3.]