Happy Halloween, Class 79-A!
…
…
…
Where…
The fuck…
AM I…?
DING DONG, BING BONG
"Good morning students. Today is October 31st, 20XX. Happy Halloween, everyone. As you know, today's classes will be cut short due to the cultural festival happening this afternoon. Teachers, please remind your students to have everything ready for the festival before classes start today. That is all, have a good day."
BING BONG, DING DONG
Ah, shit, that's right! I have to go to class early today!
I quickly jumped out of bed and started getting ready for the day. Sheesh, I'm already running late!
I quickly combed my fingers through my hair and washed my face with ice cold water in an attempt to wake me up. I grabbed my white toothbrush, put a dollop of lemon-flavored toothpaste on it and started to brush away at my sparkling white chompers. As I did so, I thought to myself.
I don't know why, but I get the feeling that I've just woken up from some terrible nightmare…
One where I experienced pain and heartache, and lost people close to me...
Eh, oh well! It was all just a dream, right?
Probably better to just forget about it and carry on with my day.
Today is Halloween, and Hope's Peak Academy is having our annual cultural festival!
I should probably explain, huh?
My name is the Seizo Morine, and I'm a student at the illustrious Hope's Peak Academy: the greatest school in all of Japan (and in my opinion, the entire world!). Here, there's only one requirement for admission: be the absolute best at whatever your talent is.
At this academy, talent and skill are everything. Whether it's throwing a fastball, knitting a sweater, or taking care of animals, you need to be able to demonstrate that you're the best at it. Unlike your traditional high schools, you don't just apply to Hope's Peak. Instead, highly trained and skilled scouts will follow you throughout your amateur career, watching your every move. If they like you enough and truly think you're worthy of being dubbed an Ultimate, you're in. They can recruit you at any time, so always be on the lookout for that precious, shiny sealed envelope.
This year is my first year at Hope's Peak. I'm a part of the rag tag group that makes up Class 79-A, the largest class of Hope's Peak, with 20 of us in total. We all have pretty unique talents, from an amazingly talented, famous, and attractive actor (myself if you didn't catch that), to a humble barista.
We've all grown close to each other in these past few months, and although we don't always get along, we have each other's backs through thick and thin. It's this special bond that's helped us create an amazing idea for our booth at the cultural festival. It's going to be a blast!
I finished brushing my teeth and started getting dressed into my uniform. After classes, we'll be changing into our Halloween costumes for the festival. I can't wait to show everyone what I came up with!
I finished buttoning up my brown Hope's Peak blazer, and headed out the door of my dorm. Let's have a good day!
"OW, WHAT THE FUCKING FUCK DID YOU JUST DO TO ME YOU ASSHOLE?!"
Almost immediately after I opened my door, someone was walking by and unfortunately got hit by it…
I sighed. Just your typical day at Hope's Peak.
I quickly closed my door and knelt down to help the victim.
Their face was eating the floor so I couldn't exactly see who it was, but their short blonde hair definitely helped them stand out...
"Shit, I'm really sorry!" I apologized, offering a hand. "I didn't see you there!"
Before I could help them up however, a white haired woman appeared out of nowhere and stepped in front of me.
"Hands off the master, please." She said, turning around and helping the victim up.
"Damn right, I don't want you anywhere near me, you inconsiderate jerk. Next time, make sure no one's walking by before you open your door!" The victim said, their masculine yet slightly high pitched voice letting me know they're of the male species.
Geez, this guy's potty mouth and attitude remind me of some of my classmates…
The girl helped the boy up and he brushed off his uniform.
Now that I got a look at his face, I immediately knew who he was! If not for his reputation, an unfortunate incident occurred awhile ago that made him a sort of 'school celebrity'.
And now that I see him next to her, I also figured out who she was…
Where there's Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, there's Peko Pekoyama, right behind him.
My upperclassmen by two years, these guys are seriously talented. Fuyuhiko's loudmouth may be annoyingly anger-inducing, but it's helped him build up his Yakuza clan. And Peko's swordsmanship is insane; one of my classmates is part of the fencing team with her and complains about getting mopped by Peko every practice.
"Sorry about that, Fuyuhiko," I sighed, bowing down in respect. "I didn't see you there."
"Why?!" Fuyuhiko angrily asked. "Are you sayin' I'm short or something?!"
"No…" I deadpanned. "I just didn't bother to look out the peephole."
"You should be more careful." Peko urged. "You're a part of Class 79-A, correct?"
I nodded.
"You're the future of our school, don't let little mistakes such as this earn you any enemies." Peko continued, gesturing to herself and Fuyuhiko. "We don't mind (as she said this, Fuyuhuko angrily ranted about how he does in fact mind), but someone else might. Hope's Peak is a school where your reputation is everything, the smallest mistake, like accidentally hurting one of your classmates, could get you into trouble."
Just as I was about to apologize again and beg for the two of them to not ruin my life, three more from Class 77-B showed up, to probably berate me and beat me up. I braced myself for the pain. Doing my own stunts in Sun Witch Esper Ito has prepared me for this very moment.
I gulped in anticipation as a pink haired boy, scarf wearing boy, and a blonde girl walked up to stand next to Peko and Fuyuhiko (who was still ranting about how 'fucking stupid' I was)
"Hey, c'mon Peko, don't scare the guy!" The pink-haired boy said, putting a hand on the sword woman's shoulder. "He's still a first year, we were the same when we were his age!"
"Yes, I remember all too well the trouble that our class caused." The scarf-wearing boy lamented, staring off into the distance. "Especially him…"
"Seizo here is a great guy, I promise!" The blonde girl said. Huh? She knows my name…?
I looked closer at the three, and tried to figure out who they were.
Oh!
They weren't involved in that one incident so I didn't recognize them right away, but I know these three!
The pink-haired boy is Kazuichi Soda! He once helped one of my classmates fix one of their inventions when it started to malfunction.
And then the scarf-wearing boy is Gundham Tanaka. He's actually a good friend of one of my classmates due to their shared similar interest in the 'dark arts'. Come to think of it, that same classmate helped orchestrate a tearful reunion between Fuyuhiko and his lost loved one. And, if I'm remembering correctly, he also helped out some photographer girl reunite with her deceased friend.
And last but not least, how could I ever forget her, the Ultimate Princess, Sonia Nevermind! Not only is she one of the most popular students at school, but she's also an acquaintance of mine. The people of her country are obsessed with everything and anything Sun Witch Esper Ito, and Sonia herself visited the set of the live action version.
"Don't worry about it guys, I accidentally hit Fuyuhiko here with my door." I nervously laughed, trying to drown out the Yakuza Leader's yells. "A little bit of beratement is probably deserved, haha."
"Still, I know Fuyuhiko and Peko can be pretty harsh sometimes." Kazuichi laughed. He then quickly cleared his throat and nervously looked from Fuyuhiko to Peko. "Uh, no offense!"
"None taken." Peko deadpanned.
"The fuck you say about me, pink pubes?!" Fuyuhiko yelled. "I'll have your head!"
"Relax, Fuyuhiko, yelling disturbs the natural forces of the dark arts." Gundham said, rubbing his scarf. "Keep your voice down or my Dark Devas will get angry."
"Now you're threatening me, scar face?!" Fuyuhiko continued, angrily balling up one of his fists. "You three just don't know when to quit, do you?!"
"Fuyuhiko…" Peko softly said, attempting to diffuse the situation.
"I wonder why Sir Fuyuhiko is so angry." Sonia said aloud, putting a hand on her chin. "Could this perhaps be what they call a...tantrum?"
That sent Fuyuhiko over the edge.
"I AM NOT HAVING A TANTRUM YOU FUCK WADS!" He screamed.
As the five of them argued, I sneakily walked away.
I'm sure that if I stayed one minute longer I would've been either punched in the face by Fuyuhiko or cursed by one of Gundham's 'special dark art spells'.
After escaping the dormitory in one piece, I finally made it to the classroom building. Thankfully I was still running early.
As I walked to homeroom, I took a second to observe the students also on their way to class this lovely Halloween morning.
Since we shared the same floor with Class 78, I saw several of them goofing off in the hallway.
As always, Aoi Asahina and Sakura Oogami were joined at the hip, with Sakura listening to Aoi excitedly naming all of the candy she can't wait to try out later tonight.
Kiyotaka Ishimaru was trying to tell people running in the halls to slow it down, but Chihiro Fujisaki and Mondo Owada were both trying to get him to ease up a bit due to the holiday.
Where there's Makoto Naegi, there's Sayaka Maizono hanging around him, giggling and making jokes as Kyoko Kirigiri quietly walks next to them, with a jealous (for some reason) Leon Kuwata watching from the sidelines with Yasuhiro Hagakure trying to cheer him up by telling fortunes.
Celestia Ludenberg was pompous as always, strutting through the halls with Hifumi Yamada on her tail, holding a cup of tea presumably for Celestia.
Almost an exact parallel of them, Toko Fukawa was following Byakuya Togami around like a horny dog, while the Ultimate Affluent Prodigy paid her no mind as he read a book.
And last but not least, the two standoffish members of the class, Junko Enoshima and her twin sister the Ultimate Soldier (and secret 16th student hiding somewhere in this school), Mukuro Ikusaba, were chatting away in a corner about God knows what.
Ah, everything is the same as usual, just how I like it.
I finally arrived at the door of my classroom, and mentally prepared myself to walk into chaos. It's not an understatement when I say that our class is full of some chaotic individuals who cause nothing but trouble…
I took a deep breath, and stepped inside.
"FOR THE LOVE OF GOD, SHUT UP ABOUT HALLOWEEN!"
As soon as I entered, I almost got hit in the face by a flying knife, which landed on the wall next to me.
Great.
"Geez, Kuro, I didn't know you hated Halloween so much." Ritsu complained, crossing her arms. "I'm just trying to have a civil and friendly discussion about what everyone is going to wear tonight."
Name: Ritsu Kuroyama
Ultimate Talent: Spy
"I've heard nothing but talk about your stupid ass costumes for the past two months!" Kuro yelled back. "Who gives a shit about what you're going to wear for one night out of the entire year?"
Name: Shiro/Kuro
Ultimate Talent: Occultist
"I have to agree with Kuro." Hiiro said. "I've never really been a fan of Halloween. Just more people ordering complicated drinks like pumpkin spice lattes."
Name: Hiiro Sayoama
Ultimate Talent: Barista
"Of course you'd agree with dye job #2." Takahashi sneered. "Aren't you two sucking face?"
Name: Jirou Takahashi (I just found this out the other day. He introduces himself as Takahashi Jirou and refuses to let people call him Jirou, so I always thought Takahashi was his first name...)
Ultimate Talent: Pilot
"N-No way!" Hiiro refuted, blushing profusely.
Kuro simply rolled his eyes.
"Uh, who's dye job #1?" Clara asked suspiciously. "Although I bet I already know the answer…" She added in a hushed tone.
Name: Clara Odette
Ultimate Talent: Modern Dancer
"You better not be talking about me." Mari frowned. "I may dye my hair, but I get it professionally done so it looks a million times better than Clara, Jack, and Shiro's."
Name: Mari Tamatsuki
Ultimate Talent: Runway Model
"Now I'm being dragged into this?" Jack deadpanned, sighing as he patted his hair down.
Name: Jack Masaki
Ultimate Talent: Card Dealer
"I like everyone's hair." Satoko admitted with a soft smile. "...Even Jack's."
Name: Satoko Kiyomizu
Ultimate Talent: Prodigy
"Can we go back to talking about our costumes?" Fran asked. "I was really enjoying that discussion until Kuro ruined it…"
"Fuck you." Was Kuro's response.
Name: Francesca Croft
Ultimate Talent: Archaeologist
"Yeah, you guys have some really interesting ideas!" Evelyn smiled. "Nadia, what were you planning on being again?"
Name: Evelyn Bryant
Ultimate Talent: Translator
"O-Oh, thank you for asking." Nadia blushed. "I, um, was hoping it could be a surprise for tonight, though. For more fun, r-right?"
Name: Nadia Levitsky
Ultimate Talent: Daredevil
"That makes sense." Koko nodded, excitedly swinging her legs as she sat in her chair. "I can't wait for tonight! It's going to be so fun, I hope everyone loves our stand."
Name: Koko Kagawa
Ultimate Talent: Food Critic
"Stand?" Norikazu repeated. "I wouldn't call what we did a simple 'stand', it's more like an attraction or something."
Name: Norikazu Kanno
Ultimate Talent: Illustrator
"It was certainly a difficult feat." Leonia recalled. "It took us practically all month to set everything up, and even then, we still had to have some help from some of the members of Class 77-B."
Name: Leonia Taylor
Ultimate Talent: Photoshoot Choreographer
"Yes, I'm glad that hassle is finally over." Sonoda smiled in relief. "Now we can just enjoy ourselves without having to do anymore work!"
Name: Sonoda Eisen
Ultimate Talent: Salesman
"Uh, you barely did any work, though." Takumi remarked. "In fact, didn't you and Isami just wander around the school putting up flyers for a majority of the time?"
"No, no, I definitely did more than that." Sonoda claimed.
Name: Takumi Kyoshi
Ultimate Talent: Escapist
"Yes, and putting up flyers is still important…" Isami said. "How would anyone else know what our stand was going to be?"
Name: Isami Kanagi
Ultimate Talent: Tinkerer
"Exactly, every job is equally important!" Akumu beamed. "From putting up the flyers to building the tables; it was all necessary to achieve our amazing end result."
Name: Akumu Tsubasa
Ultimate Talent: Cryptid Enthusiast
Ah, all 18 of my classmates. We're a rowdy bunch, as you can see, but were all good people. We laugh together, hang out together, and even cry together. I wouldn't have it any other way-
"I apologize for my tardiness!"
I jumped in surprise at the sound of a voice coming from behind me. Up until now I've just been watching everyone banter from the doorway, but I should probably make my way inside to let this person in…
"Sorry!" I quickly said, walking into the classroom and taking my seat in the back of the last row. I turned my head to see who was apparently tardy.
A white haired man...wearing his uniform exactly as it's supposed to be worn…
Oh shit!
He's a new student to our class who joined about a month ago!
"Silver!" Ritsu smiled. "Finding your way around the school easier?"
"Yes, Ms. Ritsu." Silver smiled, taking his seat. "Directions are not the issue. I have been bombarded by fans every day since I've been here. People are constantly trying to land a spot on my show! I have to explain to them that it's on hiatus at the moment."
"Oh yeah, isn't that why you started so late in the year?" Hiiro questioned. "Your network was having issues with finding a host to replace you so you could come here to Hope's Peak?"
"Yes, correct, Mr. Hiiro!" Silver nodded. "They eventually decided to just put the show on hiatus and let me go for the time being so I wouldn't get too late of a start, haha!"
"I still love the fact that you joined during Silver Week," Fran chuckled. "And your hair is silver!"
"Yes, and I will forever cherish the nickname you all have given me." Silver smiled.
Name: "Silver" (We gave him this nickname due to the fact that he joined our class during Silver Week and the fact that his hair is silver! Super clever right?)
Ultimate Talent: TV Host
Silver is perhaps one of the most well known students among all of us. A TV host with a gameshow practically everyone watches, it was devastating to hear that it was going on hiatus.
But then we found out he was going to be joining our class and it definitely lifted all of our spirits!
"Alright everyone, now that we're all here, we should probably get started with setting up for the festival, right?" Satoko stood up from her chair and walked over to the teacher's podium to address us.
"Tch, why are you taking charge?" Takahashi frowned, also standing up from his chair. He pushed Satoko to the side, which earned him a death glare from the Ultimate Prodigy. "I'm the class rep, remember?"
I sighed, shaking my head at the scene. This has been a topic of debate among all of us for the past few months.
We had the election for class rep right at the beginning of the year, with Satoko taking home the most votes and being elected.
But then she had an allergic reaction to something Hiiro made for us and was out for a couple of weeks. During that time, we elected Takahashi as the next class rep (mostly due to his promise to fly us all out to America if elected), and he took over her duties.
Then, Satoko came back and ever since, the two haven't been able to agree on who is the true class rep.
And no, Takahashi hasn't fulfilled his promise yet…
"I said I'd do it. I didn't say when though." He had said.
"Listen, today's the festival and even though we have almost everything done, we still need more attention." Satoko started, holding up one of the flyers. "I've been listening around the school, and apparently no one is really interested in our event!"
"No surprise there, I told you dumb asses it was a bad idea." Takahashi sneered. "I mean, come on. A group date cafe? We're at Hope's Peak Academy, an elite school for some of the most talented people in the world. A group date cafe is some shit you'd see at a public school."
"Yes, I'm sure there's plenty of group date cafes in all those filthy, public American schools you attended before Hope's Peak." Norikazu quipped.
"Shut the fuck up you f-" Satoko quickly cleared her throat before Takahashi went on another one of his angry tangents.
"Anyway, we did all vote for the group date cafe idea simply because Sonoda was the only one with an idea at the time, but has anyone else thought of anything better? Maybe we could change it before the festival if we ask Mr. Teacher to forgo lessons." Satoko suggested. She then immediately blushed, probably realizing she called our teacher 'Mr. Teacher' yet again (something we like to pick on her for).
"Wait, but we already did everything for the group date cafe!" Sonoda said. "It'd be a waste of time to change it now, right?"
"Not necessarily." Fran disagreed, gesturing to the boxes of supplies in the back of the classroom. "If we manipulate things a bit, we can turn the date cafe into something else."
"Yes, I can tinker what we have to fit what we want." Isami nodded. "It won't take long at all."
"Any additional art needed? I can take care of that." Norikazu offered.
"And I can make some yummy treats to eat while we work!" Koko cheered. "How kelpful, am I right?"
"...I'll make coffee." Hiiro sighed, shaking his head at Koko's pun.
"Are we really changing my idea?" Sonoda sniffed. "But we've worked so hard thus far…"
"How about we see what ideas everyone has first?" Satoko suggested. "After all, we need to make sure that it'd work with the supplies from the group date cafe."
"Fine." Takahashi said. "If you have an idea, come up here and suggest something. Don't let it be stupid and don't waste my time."
Just like that, we were considering changing the idea for our cafe! I was kinda hoping it'd work out, I mean we already put in all this work...plus I wanted to see what match ups we'd have if we went through with it.
Hopefully no one suggests something better.
Anytime we do something like this, where multiple people go up to speak, we go row by row.
There's 5 columns of 4 students.
In the first column is Satoko, Jack, Nadia, and Sonoda.
The second column holds Leonia, Hiiro, Fran, and Evelyn.
The third is Clara, Silver, Akumu, and Ritsu.
Fourth is Takahashi, Norikazu, Isami, and Koko.
And lastly, the fifth column (closest to the window) is Mari, Takumi, Shiro/Kuro, and myself.
Being in the first seat, Satoko obviously went first.
She pushed Takahashi out of the way and smiled at us.
"So, I always thought it'd be a great idea to do a little trivia game!" She started. "The topics would include things that we've been learning about, which serves as a great refresher for our upcoming exam next w-"
"I'm gonna stop you right there." Takahashi frowned. "No one, absolutely no one, wants to go to the festival for a 'refresher'."
Satoko sighed and stepped to the side.
Jack went next.
"A casino, of course." He said. "Playing various games in exchange for tokens which can then be exchanged for prizes. As the Ultimate Card Dealer, I'd of course oversee every game as the dealer, making sure everything is fair and square. Well, unless, the players want to raise the stakes and take their gambling to the next level by wagering their lives…"
"First of all, this isn't Kakegurui." Satoko sighed. "And second of all, it'd be impossible for you to oversee every game. It'd take way too long, and we don't have any chips or prizes that we can use."
"Well, then I have nothing else." Jack shrugged, going back to take his seat.
Nadia hesitantly walked up to the front of the class, nervously adjusting her cap as she began to speak. "W-Well, I was hoping I'd get to show off my talent to everyone. We could do a stunt show, maybe? Shooting each other out of cannons and jumping through hoops of fire?" She suggested with an innocent, soft smile.
"...Next." Takahashi sighed.
"D-Did I say something wrong?" Nadia blushed, quickly returning to her seat in embarrassment.
Sonoda stayed in his seat. "You all already know my idea, but I'd also like to add on that we could charge for admiss-"
"That's against the rules." Satoko frowned.
Leonia stood up, gracefully walking to the front of the class. "Well, as you all may know, I am getting married to my fiance in less than four years, which is so soon, yes? My impending marriage gave me the idea to do a little wedding planning game, where everyone writes down their dream wedding day, and we vote on who has the best one. Maybe the winner could win an invite to my wedding?"
"I never want to hear the word wedding again." Takahashi deadpanned. "And is this just a way for you to get ideas for when you get married, four fucking years from now?"
Leonia shrugged. "You can never start planning too early." She said as she sat back down.
Hiiro chose to stay in his seat as he shook his head. "I don't really have any idea. As long as people have a good time, I don't think we have to worry too much. And of course they'll have a good time because I'll be serving my signature Arabic coffee, with beans harvested straight from Yemen along with a pastry dish made by Koko. I-"
"I think we've heard enough." Satoko nervously laughed.
Fran and Evelyn both looked at each other with excitement and quickly walked to the front of the class.
"Ok, ok, so we've been thinking!" Evelyn started, grinning from ear to ear.
"What if we do…" Fran continued, also smiling.
"A treasure hunt!" The two exclaimed at the same time.
"And what treasure will we be hunting?" Takahashi asked.
Evelyn scratched her head. "Oh! Um, well…"
"We didn't really think that far." Fran admitted with a laugh.
"Sit down and stop wasting my time." Takahashi snapped.
The two girls obliged, with Evelyn glaring at the Ultimate Pilot as she walked away.
"I own quite a few dance games?" Clara suggested. "I think it'd be fun to borrow a projector from the faculty lounge and put them on for people to play. We could even make it a competition. Sorry if it's kinda lame, just thought it'd be a nice, simple idea for us to do."
"Yeah you're totally right, it's definitely lame." Mari sneered. "Like Takahashi said, if you don't have a good idea, shut up and don't waste anyone's time!"
"I wasn't suggesting the idea to you, Mari, I was suggesting it to the whole class." Clara rolled her eyes.
"Yes, Clara's right, Mari." Satoko nodded. "We're a class, you do not speak for everyone."
"Shut up, brat." Mari scoffed. "You're like 4'5"."
Satoko cleared her throat. "Ahem...Ignoring that rude comment, I do have to deny your suggestion, Clara. It does sound fun and simple, but maybe a bit too simple? We've already bought so many supplies and decorations, so whatever we do, I want to make sure the idea is elaborate enough that we can use them."
"Ok, I get you." Clara nodded. "Completely understandable."
"I personally think whatever we do will end up being wonderful, so I don't really have a suggestion of my own." Silver smiled. "Just as long as we enjoy ourselves, yes?"
"Yeah, cool…" Takahashi disinterestedly remarked.
"Hm, an idea, huh?" Akumu thought out loud, adjusting his glasses. "Well, to add on to Satoko's suggestion, what if we do a trivia game, but the questions are about cool stuff, like cryptids? I'm sure everyone would have a blast answering questions about Mapinguari, Almas, Ogopogo, Ahool, Jersey-"
"Even I'm not sure what those names are." Satoko worriedly said, dabbing sweat off her brow. "I'm not sure it'd exactly be a fair trivia game with you in play…"
"Ok then…" Akumu sadly smiled. "Still, love your initial idea, Toko!"
"Thank you, Kumu." Satoko smiled.
"Laser tag." Ritsu suggested with a smirk. "I know a guy in Class 78 with access to a ton of firearms, and I'm sure Isami could tinker them to shoot lasers instead of bullets."
"As much as I'd love to shoot you extras, we aren't going to use guns on campus." Takahashi sighed.
"You guys are no fun." Ritsu complained, crossing her arms.
"I don't care what we do." Takahashi shrugged. "But in all honesty we already have this group date cafe shit, we should just stick with that."
"That is a possibility." Satoko nodded.
"I don't particularly care too much…" Norikazu said. "But an art competition could be interesting. Drawing the same subject and then comparing our end results with each other."
"No one could compete with you, idiot." Takahashi frowned. "And you know that."
Norikazu just glared at Takahashi in response.
All eyes were on Isami as we awaited her answer.
"...
…
…
I don't care." She said.
"Of course you don't." Satoko sighed.
"Something food related?" Koko suggested. "People could make dishes and I'll decide who has the best one!"
"And where are we going to get food supplies?" Takahashi questioned.
"I for one think we should have a fashion show." Mari smirked. "Wearing the cutest clothes as we strut down the runway! I have a few friends I could call, too. We could be on the cover of a magazine by tomorrow morning!"
"But we'll be wearing our Halloween costumes." Satoko sighed. "I don't think any of us want to be in a magazine in that situation."
Takumi was next. "An escape r-"
"If you helped make it, we'd be stuck in the room forever." Takahashi shot down.
"Let's call some demons to play." Kuro evilly smirked. "Scare the crap out of everyone as they force them to cut themselves until they run dry!"
"...No." Satoko said in response.
Hm, I wonder what the next person will suggest.
…
…
…
"Seizo?" Satoko called.
Oh shit, that's me!
"Um, sorry, can't really think of anything." I laughed.
"Alright then…" Satoko sighed. "I guess...the only option that makes sense is to just stick with Sonoda's group date idea."
"Victory!" The salesman cheered.
"This was a complete waste of time, then." Takahashi angrily remarked. "We could've been set up by now! Any second now Teach is going to show up and we'll still be working!"
"Ok, ok, I get it!" Satoko said, trying to calm the ginger down. "Everyone, let's get up and start working!"
We all quickly did so, rushing to the back to bring the boxes to the front.
This is going to be so much work! We have to push all the tables together to form separate groups, and hang up all of our decorations!
Luckily, there's 20 of us, so it should get done pretty quickly if we all work together.
Bonus Scene: The Princess, Pilot, and the Pauper
Little did I know, a certain runway model and her lackey had other plans in mind…
While we all worked to get everything done by the end of class, Mari sneaked away from her task of hanging up string lights.
She looked around to see if anyone was looking, and when she felt in the clear, she pulled Nadia from her duty of making flower arrangements into the closet of the classroom.
"M-Mari?" Nadia questioned. "What's going on?"
"Nadia." Mari seriously said. "I need your help."
"Oh, um, with what?" Nadia asked. "I'll be happy to help with whatever you need."
"Excellent." Mari smirked. "Anyways, you're on the task force responsible for choosing who goes on a group date together, right? I need you to sabotage the choices and make sure I'm paired with Takahashi. I don't want to just be at the same table as him, we need to be paired together."
Nadia nervously gulped. "I-I don't know that that's possible. All the choices are completely random, and I'm also not the only one on the task force. What if Satoko sees me sabotaging the choices?"
"Then you'll have taken one for the team." Mari shrugged. "Come on, it's totally not a big deal. Well, it actually kind of is. If I don't go on this date with Takahashi then I can kiss my free trips to Milan goodbye!"
"What if Takahashi doesn't even decide to participate in the cafe?" Nadia asked. "After all, we're all supposed to be working and enjoying the other stands at the festival."
"Trust me." Mari smirked. "No one's coming to our stupid little cafe."
"Why not?" Nadia asked.
"Because I ripped all of the flyers down!" Mari evilly laughed. "No one knows about it, so no one's going to show up! We'll all be forced to take part since Koko already made all that food for everyone!"
Nadia glanced at the ground. "I don't know about this, Mari...maybe I'll do it if you can make me a promise?"
"A promise?" Mari repeated, raising a brow. "What could you possibly want from me?"
"If I rig the choices so you'll be paired up with Takahashi...could I be at the same table as you?" Nadia blushed.
"H-huh?!" Mari gasped. "Why would you want that?"
"W-Well, it's just, um, I enjoy spending time with you…" Nadia quietly said, her face turning a deep tomato red. "Being at the same table means we can talk and hang out more with each other."
Mari furrowed her brow in thought. "I...I suppose that'd be fine. Just remember, I'm on a date with Takahashi and I need to put a majority of my attention on him if I want that trip to Milan."
"S-Sure!" Nadia eagerly nodded. " I understand."
"Ok then...let's make it happen." Mari nodded. "Thanks for the help, Nads."
"Anything for you, Mari." Nadia blushed once more.
"What's taking so long?" Kuro complained from his chair. "Ain't the bull supposed to be here by now?"
"I think his mask is actually themed around a cow." Leonia clarified. Kuro flipped her off.
At last, preparations for the festival were complete and now all that was left was to get on with our school day.
We were currently waiting for our homeroom teacher, a man with not the best track record when it comes to being early…
Just as I was about to give up waiting and skip class with the rest of the LIIT gang, the door swung open and our monster of a teacher entered swiftly.
"I apologize for my lateness, class." Great Gozu said, setting down his briefcase by the podium. "Mr. Sakakura was having a security issue with a student that required my assistance."
"Scandalous!" Takumi gasped. "It's always interesting when the former Ultimate Wrestler has to step back into the ring."
"Did you beat him black and blue, Teach?" Ritsu giggled.
"None of your concern." Great Gozu replied. "In fact, you have far worse things to be concerned with."
"Like what?" Jack asked. "I thought we were going to be doing some fun, Halloween themed assignments for homeroom today."
"I thought about doing that...until I saw your grades on the last exam." Great Gozu said sternly. "You didn't all perform terribly, but quite a few of you did poorer than I expected. Morine, you had the lowest score in case you wanted to know."
"Thanks for the info." I deadpanned. It's not my fault, I didn't have a chance to study due to my busy filming schedule of Sun Witch Esper Ito, my hit TV show that airs every Thursday night, only on TV Tokyo!
"In any case, your grades need a desperate boost." Great Gozu said, turning around and picking up the chalk for the black board, beginning to write
"Oh no…" Sonoda said.
'P'
"Nooo, this sucks!" Evelyn cried. "Mierda!"
'O'
"Why should I be punished for someone else's mistake?" Norikazu frowned.
'P'
"The quiz won't happen to be about cryptids, will it?" Akumu chuckled.
POP QUIZ!
"Well, this day officially took a turn for the worst." Fran sighed.
"But I already got a perfect score…" Satoko mumbled.
"It'd be nice to get a 100 rather than my 95." Leonia nodded.
"I'm actually kinda glad, I really needed this to boost me and the brat's grade." Kuro shrugged.
"I can do this...I can do this...I can do this…" Takumi chanted.
"How many points do you need to boost a C to a B?" Clara nervously asked, trying to count on her fingers.
"Oh snsnsnsnsnap!" Hiiro guffawed.
Damn, I was hoping this wouldn't happen!
On one hand, I can try and boost my grade.
On another...it's a pop quiz on Halloween.
Everyone's face was downcast as Mr. Gozu passed out the tests. I took out my pencil and looked at the first question, already feeling like I was going to fail.
Question 1: What is the main component of the popular alcoholic beverage, Long Island Iced Tea?
I smirked. This was going to be a piece of cake.
DING DONG, BING BONG
"Attention students and faculty. The festival is now starting, please make your way to your classrooms if not already there and await permission from your homeroom teachers to begin exploring."
BING BONG, DING DONG
The school day went by surprisingly fast.
I aced my test (somehow) and had a good ass day! Now, it's time for an even better night!
I was already in class, looking around at my classmates' costumes. They were pretty good, I have to admit, and I couldn't wait for everyone else to show up.
Well, the one person who still isn't here…
I made a mental note of what everyone was wearing.
Class 79's Halloween Costumes
Me - A superhero
Mari - A Greek Goddess
Nadia - Some sort of pirate queen outfit, with a huge extravagant pirate hat, some sort of fancy piratey/nautical dress (she likes wearing dresses), a bunch of gold and jewelry, and a large cannon, hopefully not containing actual gunpowder.
Hiiro - A dog
Clara - A Ghostbuster (™)
Takumi - A mix of a burglar and an inmate?
Koko - Little Red Riding Hood
Sonoda - Mr. Monopoly
Isami - A mad scientist
Leonia - Not really a costume, just dressed in a nice orange and purple dress with a spider-web theme.
Akumu - Mothman
Fran- A mummified Cleopatra
Evelyn - Just like Fran, a mummified Cleopatra
Jack - A king
Satoko - A baseball player
Takahashi - A full blown pilot outfit. He wears a white button up shirt made of the finest fabrics imported from Brazil, and a tie made of silk harvested from fibroin fields in South Africa. His jacket is black, the color of his soul due to loss and the many hardships he has endured. The gold on his cuffs and pilot wings represents his feeling of superiority over others, but also serves as a sneak peek into his true self: a jerk with a heart of gold. You may notice he's wearing long black pants, that's because it insinuates his long legs that have walked a road of heartache and defeat. His shoes are shiny, but not as shiny as his slicked back ginger hair that has caused him some scrutiny while living in Japan but has also earned him some fan girls who love his natural ginger locks as opposed to the usual black ones they see everyday. He covers his eyes with sunglasses to hide his true feelings, and to also gaze up at the sky in wonder without anyone being able to tell.
Silver - Nothing. Very disappointing, I know…
Norikazu - A crayon
Everyone looks great! Well, besides Silver who didn't bother to pick up a costume.
"Sorry, I've been so busy with my new podcast!" He had said when we all berated him.
Just one person missing...who is it again?
Bonus Scene: Alone Time
"Shut up, it's my turn to have it for the holiday!"
Kuro and Shiro were in their dorm, arguing in their head about who gets to control the body for Halloween.
"B-but you had it for last Halloween!" Shiro complained. "Come on, it's not fair!"
"You're getting it for Christmas, be grateful you brat!" Kuro sneered, pulling on their hair.
"Ow!" Shiro yelped.
"Take that you whiny little shit!" Kuro smirked, smiling through the pain.
"..." Shiro went quiet.
…
"Shiro?" Kuro called. "The hell did you go?"
"You're being m-mean." Shiro sniffed.
"Come on, you're seriously not going to cry, are you?" Kuro groaned.
"No…" Shiro claimed.
Seconds later, their eyes started to well up with tears.
"You asshole!" Kuro groaned, quickly rubbing his eyes. "I can't walk into the classroom with my eyes all red!"
Shiro stayed quiet, continuing to sob, making Kuro and his body shed several tears.
Kuro simply sighed, walking over to the mirror. He put a hand on their cheek. It obviously felt super strange to Kuro who was basically just putting a hand on his own cheek, but to Shiro, it felt comforting.
"Calm down." Kuro said, wiping the tears away. "...You can have the body if you really want it."
"R-Really?" Shiro asked.
"Yeah, why not." Kuro sighed. "I did already have it for the day so I guess it's only fair that you have it now."
With that, Kuro gave up control of the body, allowing Shiro to take over.
Shiro immediately smiled as he realized he now had control. "Thank you, Kuro!"
He wrapped his arms around himself, which made Kuro feel like someone was hugging him.
"Ew, gross!" He said. "Get off me!"
Shiro laughed, and released his grasp. He looked in the mirror and smiled. "I appreciate it."
"Yeah, yeah...just as long as we share the body later tonight." Kuro smirked.
Shiro immediately blushed and narrowed his eyes. "Yes...I know…"
The door opened, and our last classmate finally decided to make an appearance.
Shiro/Kuro - An angel ensemble, one side being white while the other black.
"Kuro, lovely to see you made it." Fran smiled.
"What took you so long?" Evelyn asked. "We've all been waiting for a good few minutes now."
"It's m-me guys." Shiro smiled. "Kuro let me h-have control."
"Nice." Norikazu smiled, immediately going up to the occultist and giving him a handshake. "I'm glad you could make it."
Isami also approached the occultist, giving him a hug. "It's always better when you're here."
"BITCH!" Kuro said in Shiro's head.
"Well, something mildly concerning to note." Takumi laughed. "...It's been a good few minutes since we've been waiting for Shiro, but no one's come to our cafe yet…"
"I'm sure they're just running late." Leonia surmised. "Not everyone was as prepared as us, so they probably spent the beginning of the festival finishing getting set up."
"Hopefully." Satoko nodded.
"It'd be a shame to see all of our hard work go to waste." Koko sighed.
Nadia glanced at Mari, who was smirking.
"I'm sure it'll be fine, let's just all stay here and wait for a few minutes! The festival's just begun, no need to rush!" Akumu smiled.
"I agree." I nodded. "Let's have some patience and I'm sure someone will show up soon enough."
30 minutes later
"No one is here…" Clara remarked, staring around at the classroom.
"We put up so many flyers, though." Silver sighed. "Why didn't they work?"
"Is there some stand around school that's super amazing or something?" Hiiro asked. "That's the only explanation as to why no one's here…"
"I worked so hard on all this food." Koko sniffed, standing over a table of pastries. "But no one's here to enjoy them."
"Well, Koko, my dear," Mari said, walking up to the food critic and putting a hand on her shoulder. "We're here! I have an idea. What if we participate in the group date cafe? It'd probably be a lot more fun than standing around waiting or moping around the festival?"
"I guess so…" I nodded. "Do you guys just want to sit in our seats and eat some food?"
"No, no," Mari interjected. "We'll do what we were going to do before with choosing random groups at random."
"Oh, so you want us all to write our names on the papers?" Satoko asked, holding up a jar containing several little sheets of paper. "I guess that could be fun."
"Yeah, it'll add the element of surprise." Jack said. "That's always exciting, right?"
"Yeah, I see what you guys are all getting at." Ritsu nodded. "I'll be the first one to go."
Ritsu took a paper out of the jar and wrote her name on it.
"Here goes nothing, I guess." Sonoda shrugged, doing the same.
One by one, we wrote our names on the pieces of paper.
Satoko and Nadia went off to the side to pick the names.
"Alright, the groups are decided!" Satoko announced.
As she spoke, I noticed Nadia rummaging around with something on the table with all the names. Wonder what that's all about…
"Nadia, can you please read off all the groups?" Satoko asked.
"Y-Yes, Satoko." Nadia nodded.
I saw Mari wink at her, which made Nadia blush. The hell's going on with those two?
"T-These groups are all random." She said. "Group 1 is Silver/Ritsu and Jack/Leonia. Group 2 is Takahashi/Mari and Hiiro/Me. Group 3 is Akumu/Takumi and Isami/Fran. Group 4 is Evelyn/Seizo and Koko/Shiro. And lastly, Group 5 is Norikazu/Sonoda and Clara/Satoko."
…
…
…
"What the fuck groups are these?!" I asked. "I've barely said a word to Evelyn since we've been in here!"
"Yeah, and Seizo is a pompous jerk!" Evelyn yelled.
"Shiro?" Koko nervously said. "Uh, why him, if I may ask?"
"Koko…" Shiro sniffed.
"But I don't like the guys…" Sonoda complained. "Uh, not that there's anything wrong with you, Nori!"
"...Thanks." Norikazu rolled his eyes.
"Leonia is already engaged." Jack sighed. "I was hoping my partner was single and ready to mingle."
"Jack is nothing like Aidan...I don't think I'd consider even being his friend." Leonia admitted.
"I've never really talked to you, Nadia." Hiiro said. "You're pretty quiet."
"S-Sorry!" Nadia yelped.
"Takumi's cool!" Akumu said. "But I was hoping for someone else…"
"Ouch, Akumu…" Takumi sadly smiled.
"How old is Satoko again?" Clara nervously laughed.
"Hey! I'm not a kid!" Satoko frowned.
"Isami, are you going to at least try to enjoy our date?" Fran asked the tinkerer.
"...No." Isami bluntly stated.
There were really only two matchups that made some sort of sense. I bet both are happy.
"Ms. Ritsu, hm?" Silver said. "I'm honored to share a date with the Ultimate Spy."
Ritsu blushed and shook her head. "S-Shut up, Silver!"
And last but not least, everyone's favorite power couple. They're probably super pumped about being paired together.
"Taka, what a great pairing!" Mari smirked. "I mean, you must be honored to share a table with me."
Takahashi cringed. "All these pairings suck. They're so random, and make no sense."
Mari's smile immediately dropped. "W-What?"
"I mean, Mari and I? She's the type of girl I call up to fuck, not to date." Takahashi cruelly stated.
Mari immediately collapsed to her knees. "No...Milan...Paris...London...Seoul! I won't be able to live my dream as a international diva!"
One by one, we all expressed our disappointment in our pairings. We yelled and argued, with Satoko and Nadia helplessly trying to explain how everything was totally random.
After I was done explaining to Evelyn how I was not in fact a jerk, I took a second to observe the scene of everyone arguing…
And couldn't help but laugh. This is the definition of Class 79. Always arguing and fighting, like a family.
We pull each other's hair and get in each other's faces, but at the end of the day we're family through thick and thin.
And for all of the fighting and arguing between us…
At least we haven't tried to kill each other yet!
A/N: Enjoy this special chapter before the killing begins :)