A/N: Request from a guest reviewer. Honestly, I was gonna get to this eventually, but that was a good incentive.

The thing about Hope's Peak, was its unlikeliness of friendships. For some, no matter what school you put them in, it would be impossible to imagine them not being friends. Even if there were a thousand kids at their school, Sakura and Hina probably still would've been friends. For others, it was Hope's Peak's small size that brought them together. Mondo couldn't have imagined ever being friends with an intellectual shy girl, but she was pretty much his default tutor. Granted, that's all she was at this point- as they never really hung out- but he would have never noticed her if a couple hundred other people had filled the hallways.

But, if there was one thing that Mondo Oowada knew, it was that he and that stuck-up prick Kiyotaka Ishimaru would never be friends.

And if here was one thing Kiyotaka Ishimaru knew, it was that hooligan Mondo Oowada could never be a diligent student.

Of course, both were proven (somewhat) wrong on that day.

On that day, Mondo had arrived (again) late to class. Tardiness had always bothered Taka, but it seemed like Mondo showed up ten minutes late every day. He had held it in for so long, but as the staff hadn't done anything yet, he took matters into his own hands. However, he also knew that students absolutely hated to be called out in front of their peers, so he held it in until Mondo was alone. After finding his opportunity, he confronted him in the most subtle way possible.

"Mondo Oowada, I need to have a word with you!"

"Aww shit. Here comes the pissy parade. The fuck do you want?" At this point, Taka would've said something about swearing. However, he realized that if he wanted to get his point across, he would have to ignore it. That would be an issue for another day.

"I would like to have a word with you about your chronic lateness. It has become a bad habit. I understand that not every day is the same, and a miss set alarm clock can cause problems, but you do not appear to be ill, and your alarm clock should have been fixed by now. I must conclude that you are doing this on purpose!"

"So what if I am? I show up, don't I? If I want an extra ten minutes of sleep, nothin's gonna fucking stop me."

"I have solution!" He said, honestly believing the words that came next. "If you desire ten more minutes of sleep, then go to bed ten minutes earlier. That should solve your problem!"

Mondo just stares at him. "Are you fucking kidding me?"

"I do not kid! This seems to be the most logical solution to your problem!"

"You are not getting it. I don't want to go to school. The only reason I came to this damn place was because I'd be set for life!"

Taka becomes genuinely shocked. "You don't want to go to school!? I understand the concept of "ditching", but I cannot imagine anyone wishing to do so at this fine institution! Are the classes not fulfilling enough?"

"It's not that the classes aren't "fulfilling enough", it's that they're boring." He mumbles the next part. "And a little too goddamn hard."

Now Taka may not be very good at socializing, but he's good at making a point. Along with being so studious, comes the ability to debate. After all, his aspirations are to become prime minister, and to do so, requires some debating skill. Or at the very least, he could make a logical argument. Instead of giving him study tactics, or questioning how he finds these wonderful classes so boring, he tries a different approach.

"Mondo, you were invited to this school for being the leader of a biker gang, am I correct?"

"The fuck that's got to do with anything?"

"As the leader, your actions are likely observed and followed by the members of your gang. Regardless of what they are like, I am sure that at least some of members look to you as a pillar of guidance."

"Well no shit, Sherlock. I'm their leader. I gotta watch out for them, you know? And when I do, they respect that, and they respect me."

"With so many people following you, I am certain that your actions rub off on some of them."

"Of course they do. They're my guys, and we all gotta know where everyone's coming from."

"The question you must ask yourself, is this. "Am I the best the role model I can be?" If you have a habit of skipping class, won't your "guys" do the same? What if you become the justification that they use to skip class? If someone they admire does it, and they emulate it, what will happen to them? You may be set for life, but if someone not attending the finest school in Japan does the same, what then? Are they set for life? How would not having a high school diploma impact their future? You are a leader, and regardless of circumstance, people will try to be like you."

Surprisingly, Mondo didn't blow up. Before Hope's Peak, the biker gang life was the only one he had set for himself, but now? He was starting to have other plans. He wasn't gonna disband his gang, or some other shit like that, but he realized that being in a biker gang for the rest of his life wasn't really his future anymore. But his guys? If they fucked up their future because of him, how could he live with himself? Even knowing that graduating here would never leave him poor, his guys weren't that lucky. He couldn't really decide. All this moral shit was hard. He was done for today. He didn't respond, and eventually Taka walked away.

At least he came in on time the next day.

A/N: So they aren't friends quite yet, but they've reached a shaky understanding. About Chihiro, I hadn't really specified his relationship with Mondo yet. I honestly believe they would make better friends post-reveal, you know?