"This is where Ryota Mitarai lives, correct?"

Izuru and the Impostor both stood in front of a weary brown door. The building that the door belonged to was a one story house - Ryota's. It was fairly plain looking, with an old coat of white paint covering it. On Izuru's request, the Impostor had brought him here to see Ryota. He was the only student of the 77th class that he had not seen yet.

"Yeah. He's probably overworking himself... as always." The Impostor sighed as he looked into a paper bag that he was holding. In it, he had some burgers that he had bought beforehand. Most of the time, Ryota never even bothered to feed himself. Dedication to your craft was normally good, but this was just overkill.

Taking out a key, the Impostor unlocked the door and was about to open it, when...

*CRASH* *BANG*

Loud smashing noises start emanating from inside of the house, causing the Impostor to freeze up. It sounded as if someone were throwing a bowling ball at the wall.

"W-What in the world?" The Impostor blinked before turning back to Izuru. "What was that?"

"I suggest you open the door and find out."

"O-Oh yeah!" The Impostor stammered, swiftly opening the door. "Ryota! What's going on?!"

"Oooh! You didn't tell us that we would be having visitors!"

From inside of the house, a familiar high pitched voice drifts out. Grimacing, Izuru walks past the Impostor and goes straight into Ryota's room. There, the source of the racket is located - Junko Enoshima. She was holding a baseball bat, and behind her Mukuro and Ryota were looking at him. Mukuro had lines of tears and snot running down her face from viewing Ryota's animation. Ryota was sitting down on the floor with a bewildered look on his face.

Next to him, a couple of loose boards and broken pieces of plastic were piled up. Judging by various damaged covers that were poking out of the rubble, it was a collection of anime and manga.

"W-Who are you?!" Ryota stammered.

"Ah! Kamukura!" Junko squealed and dropped her bat on the ground as she pressed both of her palms into her cheeks. "Have you finally decided to join me?"

"I'm here to talk to Ryota." Izuru deadpanned. It seemed like quite the coincidence that he would just so happen to run into Junko on the same day he decided to visit Ryota. Perhaps he had his luck to thank for this.

"Ryota! What's going on?" The Impostor comes in, appearing next to Izuru. "Are you okay?"

"I-I'm fine..."

"Well Kamukura, we can definitely share Ryota! In fact, why not collaborate at that point?" Junko smiled mischievously, winking at him. "Come on, you know you wanna!"

"No."

"Ugh!" In a single blink, Junko's expression changed to one of clear disgust. "Well, you can't have Ryota! He's mine, you hear? Get him, sis!"

Mukuro, who was still crying and sniveling, nodded and wiped her tears. She then pulled out a small pistol from her holster. Quick as lightning, she aimed it at Izuru and pulled the trigger.

*click*

"Damn..." Mukuro cursed and fumbled with her gun. Despite it being well cared for and regularly maintained, it had jammed. At the very next moment, Mukuro is knocked unconscious by Izuru, who had closed the gap between them in an instant.

"Muku..." Junko scowled nastily at her sister who was now lying on the ground. While she was extremely disappointed, she had expected this to happen. Junko knew that Mukuro didn't stand a chance against Izuru - but what else could she do? "What a useless piece of trash."

Before she could spew out any more insults, Izuru knocked her out too. Neither Mukuro or Junko could offer any resistance at all.

"What's going on here?! Who are you?!" Ryota scrambled backwards as Izuru trained his gaze at him. Instinctively, he raised his arms up as if he was going to be attacked next.

"Do not panic. I simply wish to talk to you." Izuru said, slowly walking up to him.

"That's what this girl said! And look what happened!" Ryota cried out. "Just leave me alone, okay?!"

Ignoring his protests, Izuru pulled Ryota's arm into a tight grasp and pulled him up to a standing position. "What did you show Junko?" Izuru had seen Junko and Mukuro's faces - they both had tears in their eyes and were clearly emotionally moved.

Ryota is an animator, so he had probably showed them the animation that Ryota had been so feverishly working on. But to make someone like Junko cry... there is likely subliminal brainwashing of some sort included within this animation.

"Ryota, it's okay. Izuru won't hurt you." The Impostor said soothingly. While he said this, he actually had no idea what Izuru would do. But since he had found his real identity out and insisted on visiting Ryota, he found it very difficult to refuse him... especially when he kept stared at him with those piercing red eyes.

"... Okay then." Ryota sighed heavily and sat down in front of his desktop. As he reloads his animation, he turned to face Izuru. "It's still a WIP, so don't judge it to harshly, okay?"

...

...

...

As Izuru had suspected, Ryota had used subliminal signs. He noticed that whenever the spinning gun barrel appeared, he started feeling... emotional. Putting his hands up to his cheeks, he realized that he had started to cry, though only slightly. As for the animation itself, Izuru couldn't care less. While it definitely held quality, he could probably make a better one within a few hours. However, his ability in tampering with the subconscious was extremely refined. While he held many talents suitable for emotional manipulation, such as the Ultimate Therapist and Ultimate Liar, he had to admit that the subliminal messaging being displayed was impressive.

"... I see. This is what Junko had seen in you." Izuru nodded in understanding. And without any warning, Izuru promptly smashed Ryota's computer in with his foot. Instantly, the monitors turned off as the CPU is obliterated.

"H-HEY!" Ryota gaped at Izuru in total shock. All of those hours poured into animating this... he had just destroyed it! "What the..."

"I will replace your computer." Izuru stated bluntly. "But do not include mental tampering in any of your animations. Otherwise, I will have to take further action."

"My animations!" Ignoring Izuru, Ryota grasped at the scraps of metal that were littering the floor. "All of my work! WHY?!"

"Izuru!" The Impostor shook his head. "Was that really necessary?"

"If Junko Enoshima were to gain this power... then perhaps she could really carry out her plan of Despair. Impostor, if you intend to keep caring for Ryota, then be sure that he does not include subliminal signs in his animations." Izuru said as he walked out of the room. He had gone here in order to get to know Ryota more, and even though they had not even held a normal conversation, Izuru had already gathered more then enough information about Ryota's character.

"I don't want anything that Junko had described to happen."

Chiaki had told him this when Junko had first visited his dorm room. Of course, she was heavily opposed to Junko's plan to spread Despair through the whole world. If he had to choose between Chiaki and Junko, Izuru would obviously be more inclined to listen to Chiaki's wishes.

I suppose that I'm on the side of Hope then...

Izuru opened his overflowing student mailbox. Each student at Hope's Peak had one, so if they decided to live in their dorms, that was where their mail go. Every single week, Izuru's mailbox got completely filled with envelopes. Each and every one of them is from Junko Enoshima.

She had actually been visiting his dorm to try and talk to him some more about Hope and Despair, but Izuru turned her down every single time, with force if necessary (which was more often then not).

Not only did he have to deal with Junko this way, he had to sometimes deal with Mukuro. From time to time, she tries to kidnap him so that she could bring him to Junko. While it never worked out, dealing with her was pretty annoying.

Sighing, Izuru gathered up all of the envelopes and tossed them into a nearby garbage can without a second glance. While the action may have seemed careless at first, Izuru had already scanned every single piece of mail on his first glance, so he had known that all of them were from Junko, and thus meaningless garbage.

"Oh! Izuru!"

Izuru turned around as he heard a familiar voice come from behind him. There, Chiaki along with Sonia were both waving at him while hurriedly walking over to him.

"Hi Izuru!" Chiaki greeted him with a warm smile.

"Greetings, Izuru Kamukura." Sonia gave him a light bow. "I do not believe that we have been formally introduced yet." Though Izuru had been a student for several months now, he hadn't introduced himself to even half of the class.

"I am Sonia Nevermind, princess of the kingdom of Novoselic. It is a pleasure to meet you."

"Likewise."

Eyes shining, Sonia suddenly grasped Izuru's hand, her formal attitude going out the window. "Is it true?! Are you really a demon that had been summoned by the cult that had been rumored to be living here? Or are you maybe the ghost of the school's founder?!"

"..."

"Sonia, I told you..." Chiaki sighed and put a hand on her shoulder. She had explained to Sonia over and over again that those rumors were false. But for some reason, she got really excited whenever she heard about how Izuru might be some sort of mythical creature or something. "Those are just rumors. Izuru isn't a ghost or anything like that, really!"

"Ah, I apologize!" Sonia hastily let go of Izuru's hand and bowed once again. "For me to show such disrespect towards your betrothed... It is improper."

Chiaki's face immediately flushed. "Sonia! I'm not engaged to him! We're just friends, really!"

That was yet another rumor that had been tossed into the mix. Since she and Izuru spent a lot of time together, people had started to think that they were a couple. It didn't exactly help that she frequently visited his room either, and that they hung out in there... alone... just the two of them. Of course, there was also the fact that she was apparently Izuru's only friend.

Chiaki couldn't even imagine Izuru being in a romantic relationship with anyone. It wasn't as if she thought that he wasn't capable of showing love, but... she figured that he would have a hard time expressing anything to anyone. He was just so completely and utterly aloof.

I guess I wouldn't mind if Izuru asked me out though...

As this thought crossed her mind, she instantly shook her head to clear it. She shouldn't be thinking about this stuff!

"Ah, I see." Sonia nodded sternly. "You have not shown each other your Makangos, have you?"

"Makangos are native to Novoselic. It would be very inconvenient for a couple to get engaged if we were to share your tradition." Izuru commented. As he had the talent of the Ultimate Zoologist, Izuru had a wealth of knowledge of every known species of animal - including rare ones such as the Makango.

"Hmm..." Sonia put a finger on her chin thoughtfully. "You are correct. I apologize once again - I did not put that into consideration."

"Anyway..." Chiaki cleared her throat as she thinks of a way to change the subject. All this talk of marrying Izuru was making her extremely uncomfortable. "What are you doing here, Izuru?"

"I was checking my mail." Izuru gestured to his open mailbox. After trashing all of Junko's junk mail, it was completely empty. This was to be expected, as Izuru had no connections to the outside world.

"Ah, that reminds me!" Sonia jumped up and started frantically digging around her purse. "I had meant to mail something to Chiaki, but it had slipped my mind!"

"Mail something... to me?" Chiaki asked, slightly tilting her head.

"It's a gift to you, soul sistah! I hope that you can draw happiness from it!" Sonia said, finally bringing out a small box from her purse. She places it in her hands and smiles eagerly at her.

Slowly, Chiaki opens it and pulls out its contents. "Oh. This is..."

"Yes! It is for you and your betro- I mean, friend!" Sonia nodded happily as she glanced over at Izuru. "Two tickets to the local amusement park! We do not have them in Novoselic, but I have heard that it is customary for couples to go on 'dates' to these amusement parks."

"..."

"It expires tomorrow, so it would be better for the two of you to go today. You'll go, correct?"

Chiaki blinked sluggishly as she does a double take. Sonia wanted the two of them to go on a date...? And to an amusement park at that. For some reason, the image of Izuru riding a merry-go-round pops into her head. She had to use all of her willpower to not burst out laughing right then and there.

"Well Izuru, are you free today?" Chiaki asked.

"I do not have anything scheduled."

"Perfect!" Sonia clapped her hands enthusiastically. "Then I hope for the two of you to enjoy your time together! I'm sure it'll be hella lit!"

"I-Izuru, are you sure you're going to be okay like that?"

Since it was almost summer, it was blazingly hot outside. She could have probably fried an egg on the sidewalk if she wanted to. But despite all of that, Izuru just wore his regular three piece black suit. If Izuru was anyone else, then he probably would have passed out from heat stroke by now. But Izuru being Izuru, he didn't seem bothered at all by the hot temperature.

In stark contrast, Chiaki was wearing a simple tan blouse along with a knee length skirt of the same color. The strange pair attracted quite a bit of odd stares out in public, though it was Izuru who got the most stares. Out of everyone in Japan, he was probably the only one wearing such a suit outside.

"I will be fine." Izuru replied tonelessly.

"You should at least roll up your sleeves!" Chiaki bit the bottom of her lip in worry. No matter how amazing Izuru was, he had to be affected by this heat... right? "I don't want you to faint or anything..."

Chiaki was dressed appropriately for the weather, and even she felt like she was going to boil. Drops of sweat had already started to form on the back of her neck as they walked around the amusement park. Not only was Izuru wearing a full suit, but he also had all of that hair! She had heard that dark colors absorbed heat better then other colors. With Izuru's black hair and suit, she couldn't even begin to imagine how Izuru could be dealing with the heat.

Ignoring her complaints, Izuru gestured ahead of them. There, a bulletin board with a giant map of the park plastered on it lay. "What do you wish to do?"

"Uhhhh... I dunno." Chiaki shrugged. "What do you want to do?"

"I have no particular preference."

Chiaki didn't know what she expected. Of course Izuru wouldn't have a preference for anything. For some reason, she hoped that Izuru would actually express some interest, but evidently not. He hadn't shown any interest in anything since she had met him.

Well, I guess he did show interest in me...

As that thought crosseed her mind, her face immediately reddened. Thankfully, since it was so hot out, it went unnoticed. It wasn't as if he had taken that sort of interest in her. Even so, she couldn't help but feel embarrassed that she had attracted Izuru's attention so much. Chiaki really had no idea how she of all people would be able to break Izuru's predictions, but apparently she was the only one who could.

Maybe that's why he agreed to spend time with me. Not because we're friends, but because he wants to study me or something.

Chiaki shook her head. She shouldn't be thinking about that stuff! She was here with Izuru to have fun, so that's what she would do. And the first step towards that is to actually decide what they were going to do in the first place. But she didn't really know what the best choices were. She had only visited a park like this once or twice in her life.

Which option would raise his affection points the most? I've never been good at dating sims...

"Alright then, let's try the roller coasters first." Chiaki finally said. She hadn't ever ridden a roller coaster before, but the people riding them always look like they were having fun, so how bad could it be? "There's a big one over here called the Steel Dragon 2001."

"Very well."

"Never..." Chiaki gasped as she staggered down a flight of stairs. "Never again."

That was a terrible idea. Who in their right minds would ever ride something like that?! It felt like every single atom making up her body was vibrating intensely. Her stomach was churning and her head was spinning like a top. This was the worst that Chiaki had felt in her whole life.

Of course, Izuru wasn't bothered in the least. He had spent the entire ride with a bored look on his face, and even when the giant drop came, he hadn't even blinked. It was almost comical, how stonefaced he was during the whole thing.

"How are you feeling?" Izuru asked.

Leaning on the rail, Chiaki struggled to keep bile from rising up her throat. "H-Horrible... I might vomit, to be honest..."

Right as she says that, Izuru grabbed Chiaki and put her into a bridal carry, earning a surprised gasp.

"W-What are you doing?!" Chiaki yelped as she tightly grips onto Izuru's shoulder.

"Stay still and be quiet." Izuru said, though not harshly. His simple order killed any words of protest she may have had. He walked down the stairs and headed towards a nearby cluster of wooden benches.

Izuru gently placed Chiaki down on a bench. "Lie face down."

"Why?" Chiaki looked up at Izuru with a questioning look on her face. Being carried around like that only made her nausea worse, and it took all of her strength to even say that one word.

"Just do it."

To miserable to argue, Chiaki did what he said and laid down on the bench. She cushioned her head using her arms as she stared forward and attempts to clear her mind. If she threw up here, then it would only make her feel worse.

Thanks to that ride, I'm probably going to be stuck like this for-

"Ow!" Chiaki hissed as she felt a sharp, heavy pain come from the back of her neck. Soon, similar pains started sprouting up in several places on her back. She reflexively jumped up and rubbed her hand on her neck and back. Standing above her, Izuru had two of his fingers in a pointing position. It took a second for Chiaki to process what just happened.

Was Izuru... jabbing me?

"What... What was that for?!" Chiaki puffed her cheeks out as she glared at him.

"I have the talent of the Ultimate Acupressure Practitioner. While a controversial practice, it is possible for proper handiwork to relieve pain, stress, or nausea." Izuru replied calmly. "Do you feel better?"

Chiaki blinked. Now that he mentioned it, her nausea was gone. She felt completely fine. In fact, it was as if she had never ridden that terrible roller coaster in the first place. "Yeah, I do! Wow, I can't believe that you actually cured me, just like that. Um, thank you!"

If this was an RPG, Izuru would be an amazing healer... Well, he would actually be a jack of all trades I guess.

Izuru nodded. "It was not an issue."

Though she felt better, the experience with the 'Steel Dragon 2001' had completely soured her view on pretty much every other ride at the park. She was afraid that any of the other rides would make her feel as bad as that one did. Even if Izuru could heal her ailments so easily, she'd rather just avoid them.

As they wandered around however, Chiaki finally found something that she felt like she could ride without much issue.

"Oh! A Ferris wheel!" Chiaki gaped as she looked up in the sky. It was massive, perhaps several stories tall. She had only ridden one of these before, but it was way smaller then this one. As an added bonus, there was virtually no line to ride it. "Do you want to ride it?"

"... If that is what you want, then I have no qualms."

Chiaki was actually starting to get a bit annoyed at how neutral Izuru was. He was acting almost like a mindless NPC, just doing whatever the player goes with. Sure, he was in a constant state of boredom, but couldn't he... well, liven up a little? It was as if he had to be so nonchalant.

Suddenly, she remembered the goal that she set for herself back when they had met for the first time.

She was going to get Izuru to open up.

Thinking back on it, Izuru had opened up. He was certainly more talkative then in the beginning of the school year. He seemed to actually care for her a small bit, and his complaints about boredom had died down.

It was slow progress, but... she was getting there.

"Izuru, these games are totally rigged. Let's just skip them."

This was what Chiaki said to Izuru when they came across the various 'carnival games' that were set up in the park. It was dusk out, and the two had spent their entire afternoon checking out various attractions all over the park. After the ferris wheel, they managed to stumble across the area with games. Chiaki knew that most if not all of these games were completely unfair. From the balloon dart throw having dulled tips, to the prize wheels being weighted, the games were just plain unfair. Most people didn't stand a chance to win anything.

Key word being 'most'.

Unperturbed by Chiaki's warning, Izuru went ahead and played. Consequently, Izuru was banned from partaking in any of the carnival games within just a few rounds (much to Chiaki's amusement).

"What are you going to even do with those things?" Chiaki gazed in awe at Izuru as he carried a huge stack of stuffed animals in his hands.

"I suppose that I will deposit them in my room." Izuru said tonelessly. "It is rather late, so we should return to our dorms."

"Heh." Chiaki's face slowly breaks into a smiled as she broke into a fit of laughter. "Ahahahahahahahaha!"

She couldn't help it. It was just that the sight of Izuru standing there, all serious like with a giant pile of stuffed animals in his hands was too much. That, plus the thought of Izuru stockpiling them in his barren, empty room... all of those stuffed animals just piled up in the corner, it was just too funny.

"..."

"I... ha! I'm sorry." Chiaki looked back up at Izuru. But when she sees him standing there with his usual serious expression, that just caused her to break into laughter again.

Finally, after a few minutes, Chiaki managed to pull herself back together. Wiping a few tears from her eyes, she glanced back at the pile of stuffed animals. "You have so many."

"... Do you want one?"

"Huh?" That was the last thing that Chiaki had expected for Izuru to say. He was offering to give her a stuffed animal? That was... an unexpectedly affectionate gesture.

"I have plenty to spare."

"Ah. I guess I can take one." Chiaki nodded.

"Here." Izuru handed her one from the middle of the pile - it was a cute bunny that had a line going down in the middle of it, separating it into two sections. One half of it was white as snow, and had a pink bow attached to its ear as well as a beady black eye. The other half was pink, had a round red eye. Its other ear was floppy and bent downwards. Strangely enough, the bunny was wearing some sort of diaper and had an outie belly button.

For some reason, Chiaki felt an immediate sense of attachment when she looked at it. She just had this overwhelming urge to protect it. Tenderly, she grasps it and hugs it to her chest. It was the softest thing that she had ever felt. According to the manufacturers tag, its name was...

"Monomi, huh? I like her. Thank you, Izuru."

Chisa Yukizome had a fairly straight forward morning routine. She would eat breakfast, take a quick shower, get dressed, brush her teeth, and then get to work. For the entire school year, this was her routine. Since she had to get to school early, this regime was standard. However, since the end of the school year was near, this monotonous morning ritual would be broken along with her work schedule. Soon, she would have a mountain of free time on her hands.

But it wasn't as if she didn't have any fun during the school year - in fact, she really enjoyed spending time with her class. All of them were so vibrant and unique! Chisa couldn't help but smile whenever she thought of them. The fact that she would soon have to say goodbye to her class really put a damper on her usually cheery mood.

Of course, that wasn't the only thing that had been weighing her down - she was also concerned for Kyosuke Munakata.

Kyosuke was the Ultimate School Council President, and was an important member of the Hope's Peak staff roster. He was currently overseeing the construction of a secondary facility for Hope's peak overseas. But recently, Kyosuke had been getting more... agitated.

Chisa had been keeping in touch with him over the phone and called him almost daily. There, they just talked to each other about whatever topic comes to the table. Their work life, recent happenings, how their day went...

However, Chisa had noticed that during these calls, Kyosuke's mood had been souring. He sounded... angry whenever they talked about Hope's Peak. And in the most recent call, Kyosuke had given her an ominous warning - "Hope's Peak Academy is hiding something. Limit your trust."

What did he mean by that? Limit your trust?

As she stared into the mirror, she noticed something strange. There was a dark shadow inside of her shower curtain. It was barely noticeable, and if it wasn't pointed out, most people wouldn't even notice it.

Putting down her toothbrush, she carefully turns behind her. Slowly, she puts her hand on the shower curtain in order to open it. That was as far as she got before she feels a sharp prickle on her cheek. Reflexively, she puts her hand up to her face. When she pulls away, a small fleck of blood was on her palm.

Immediately, she collapses onto the floor. She couldn't move anything. A terrible heavy numbness completely fills her limbs as she heard two people talking in the background. Using all of her strength, she tilts her head slightly upwards. As her consciousness starts to fade, one last image brands itself into her brain. It was a blurred image of a girl with large blonde hair, standing over her with a goofy grin.

197 days.

197 school days.

For 197 days, Chisa Yukizome had gone to school in order to teach her class. In each of those days, she was never a single minute late. Chisa was one of the only teachers to retain this consistency over the school year, and she was proud of it.

"How could my students learn anything if their teacher doesn't even show up?"

So naturally, when Chisa Yukizome appeared to be late, people were worried. It was very uncharacteristic after all. After checking with the headmaster, it was confirmed that she hadn't called in sick or anything. It wasn't cause for that much worry though - perhaps she just got caught in a traffic jam? Or maybe she just forgot to set her alarm and overslept. Either way, she would probably come to school sooner or later.

A few hours passed.

Okay then, so the school day is halfway over and Chisa hadn't shown up. Now, perhaps the 77th class could afford to panic... a little. A few of them had gone as a group into the headmaster's office in order to ask again, but they just got the same answer - that Chisa had not called in, and that she wasn't answering any calls herself.

Unfortunately, there wasn't much anyone could do except... well, wait. None of them even knew where Chisa lived, so it wasn't as if any of them could go and check up on her.

A few more hours passed.

Now, it was nearly the end of the school day and no signs of Chisa appeared. Since the students were nagging him so much, the headmaster actually went ahead and visited Chisa's home. When he came back, his report only served to make the students become even more worried - Chisa wasn't answering the door.

"I called in some guys from the clan to go around and look for her, but so far nothin." Fuyuhiko sighed as he shuts his phone down. "Wherever she is, she ain't in this town. Or at least, she's well hidden."

"Gragh!" Akane slammed her hands down on her desk in frustration. "Screw it, I'm just gonna run out and find her myself!"

It was at that exact moment that the door to the classroom opened. Every single head immediately turns to look at who entered. Did Chisa return?

But instead of a tall orange haired girl wearing an apron, they got a brooding red eyed man with extremely long hair. For whatever reason, Izuru had apparently chosen this moment to visit the class. A loud groan emanated from the entire class as he walks in.

"Aw man Izuru, you got my hopes up there." Kazuichi grimaced.

"Izuru!" Chiaki quickly ran up to him with a hopeful look. Unlike her fellow classmates, the sight of Izuru gave her a boost of optimism. Out of everyone, Izuru was the person who had the highest chance of knowing where she would be. Even if he didn't, she was sure that somewhere in him, there's an Ultimate Tracker or Ultimate Detective or something. "Have you seen Ms. Yukizome anywhere?"

"... I know of her whereabouts, yes." Izuru said nonchalantly.

...

It takes a second for everyone to process what he just said. But as soon as they do, their downcast and disappointed expressions immediately shifted to more hopeful ones. Everyone (besides Chiaki, who was already standing) jumps out of their seats and rushed over to Izuru.

"Ahahahaha!" Nagito cackled, eyes swirling. "As expected from the Ultimate Hope! To solve such a conundrum so effortlessly... Your talent is one that is unmatched by anything else! I'm not even fit to address your skills!"

"You know where our educator has been stowed away?" Gundham asked in apparent outrage. "Why have you not informed us of this sooner?"

"Yeah, whats with you?!" Hiyoko demanded. "Just cuz your dedicated to your edgy teenager persona doesn't mean that you shouldn't try contributing to society every once in a while!"

"Guys, Izuru probably just didn't know about our situation." Chiaki said quickly. "I mean, he just arrived! You can't blame him for not telling us!"

"I was fully aware of your ongoing efforts to locate her."

Chiaka mentally facepalmed. Talk about unnecessary details!

Thankfully, before anyone else could express their indignation, Mahiru quickly cleared her throat. "That doesn't matter right now. Where's Ms. Yukizome? You can tell us that, right?"

Izuru nodded. He had long since figured out that Chisa had been kidnapped, who had kidnapped her, and where she was behind held. Once he had heard Chisa was missing, he had easily guessed exactly what happened to her. However, as a few of his predictions had been wrong recently, he went ahead and investigated anyway in order to confirm it. He had gone to her house and spotted a single strand of strawberry blonde hair - that was basically all the confirmation that he had needed.

As for where Chisa was, he had predicted that as well. But as investigating there would alert Junko to his presence, he had decided that it was unnecessary to confirm it.

"Well? The hell are ya waiting for?" Fuyuhiko asked. "Lead us to her already!"

Wordlessly, Izuru turned and started towards where Chisa was without looking behind him to check if the others were following him. The location of Chisa was the secret underground passage in the Izuru Kamukura statue. This statue wasn't a statue of the Ultimate Hope Izuru, but rather the Izuru who he was named after - the school's founder. If you pushed on a secret slab on the state's base at the same time you stepped on a secret tile on the floor, then a staircase is revealed in almost a cliche fashion.

When they finally reach the statue, Izuru opened the secret passage for them. Though he wasn't aware of the existence of such a passage, the secret slab and tile stuck out like a sore thumb to him. As expected, all of them were shocked that such a passage even existed in the first place.

"Woah woah woah! This is crazy!" Ibuki gasped dramatically as she peered down the long staircase.

"Well?!" Akane shouted, slamming her fists together. "Is Yukizome down there?"

"Ye-"

Before Izuru could even finish his sentence, Akane sprinted down the flights of stairs, shouting Chisa's name all the while.

"Akane!" Nekomaru yelled, trailing behind her. "Keep your patience!"

As everyone else follows behind them, Izuru and Chiaki were the only ones who lag behind.

"Um, Izuru?" Chiaki said tentatively.

"What is it?"

"Thank you. Thanks for helping us find our teacher. I don't know why Ms. Yukizome is down there, but... I'm happy that we were able to find her."

Izuru's frown only deepened as Chiaki expressed her gratitude. Chiaki's thanks were misplaced - for now. Chisa had been captured by Junko for several hours now, and it was entirely possible that she was dead, or worse, driven insane; he knew perfectly well that Junko was interested in subliminal messages, as evidenced by her interactions with Ryota. For the first time in his existence, Izuru felt something bubbling up inside of him. It was a heavy feeling, one that he was completely alien to. Even so, he knew what it was.

It was guilt.

Guilt for not telling them of this sooner, guilt for not saving Chisa herself, guilt for not stopping Junko... But why? Even now, Izuru was bored. The other students had reacted exactly the way he thought they would when he told them about Chisa's location. He had even predicted Chiaki staying behind to thank him. But now that she was thanking him, for some absurd reason, he felt guilt. It was illogical - he had done much worse and felt no guilt at all. So why now?

He couldn't help it. When he looked at Chiaki, smiling happily at him, he just felt... well, he just felt bad. Like he was deceiving her somehow.

Chiaki... now, she had given me the experience of feeling guilt. Interesting.

"Um, Izuru?" Chiaki asked, now slightly worried. Izuru had just been standing there, staring off into space without saying anything. "Are you-"

"Let's go." Izuru said curtly. Before Chiaki could respond, Izuru grasps Chiaki by the arm and takes off. He ran as fast as he could without causing Chiaki to trip or fall over.

"H-Hey, izuru!" Chiaki gasped as she struggles to keep up. "Can't you slow down?"

"Chisa Yukizome is in potentially mortal danger." Izuru stated as they pass a surprised Akane. "She may already be dead."

"What?!" Chiaki cried out. "What happened to her?!"

"... She was kidnapped by Junko Enoshima."

"Junko... Enoshima?"

Chiaki had heard that name before. She's a celebrity, appearing everywhere on fashion magazines. At Hope's Peak, she is known as the Ultimate Fashionista. Being invited here really only boosted her fame further. But... she kidnapped their teacher? Why? How could a fashionista even do something like that to Chisa? Chiaki had seen Chisa's talents at work - she was the Ultimate Housekeeper, but she had some... miscellaneous talents. She had even seen Chisa hold her own in mock sword fights with Peko.

Now that she thought about it, didn't they meet once before? She could vaguely remember meeting her and her sister a while ago, near the start of the school year. She... she visited Izuru's dorm, didn't she? With her sister, Mukuro. They tried to recruit him into something... something about despair?

As they finally reach the bottom of the stairs, they find a relatively dark room. The only source of light was a large projector that was playing a strange video and a single candle. It appeared to be connected to a small laptop. The harsh blue light caused Chiaki's eyes to squint as she looked at the rest of the room. Other then a single chair and table, it was completely empty.

Well, there was actually something else there. Three somethings in fact.

Junko Enoshima, Mukuro Ikusaba, and Chisa Yukizome.

Junko Enoshima was standing at a corner, eating popcorn out of a bag while looking at the projector. Meanwhile, Chisa appeared to be restrained to a chair and was faced torwards the projector. Behind her, Mukuro was holding a pair of iron skewers, and had just driven them into Chisa's head. Before Mukuro could do anything else though, Izuru rush forwards and removed the skewers from her head. As Mukuro turns around, Izuru jabbed her in the temple, causing her to once again immediately fall unconscious.

He then turns around and throws a skewer at the laptop. It flew straight and true, piercing the main body of the laptop. It abruptly shuts down, causing the projector to turn black. Consequently, the room darkens considerably. Chiaki could barely see what happened next - from out of seemingly nowhere, Izuru pulled out a lengthy rope. He then restrained and forcibly tied Junko up, ignoring her loud protests.

At the same time, loud footsteps echo out from behind her. Turning around, she sees that her classmates had finally arrived.

"Hey, why is it so dark in here?" Kazuichi asked. "Who the hell even uses candles anymore?!"

"Teruteru, keep yer fuckin hands to yourself!" Fuyuhiko snapped. "Now's not the time for your bullshit!"

"Sorry!"

Izuru, who had just finished untying Chisa, picked her up and hefts her over his shoulder. As soon as the projector had turned off, she had passed out. Izuru turns to face the other students. "Physically, Chisa Yukizome is relatively unharmed. Though I can not vouch for her mental state."

"What happened to her?" The Impostor asked.

"I will explain once we relocate her to a more suitable place. For now, I request that someone carries Mukuro and Junko as well."

"Hey, I'm right here you know!" Junko complained. "Also, I thought you were supposed to be cool, Kamukura! But you're just a lame Hope fanboy like the rest, huh?"

"I don't know what's going on here, but I guess I'll carry the unconscious one," Nekomaru grunted. "Akane, carry the blonde."

Izuru nodded. "Then let's go. Chisa requires a medical evaluation."

"I-I can do that if I need to!" Mikan timidly raised her hand. She couldn't bring herself to meet Izuru's eyes, so she just stared down at her feet. "I-I'm a nurse, so..."

"You will suffice."

Junko had attempted to brainwash Chisa, that much was clear. The video in question had been several montages of extreme torture and gore videos, the ones that would be hidden from normal search results on the internet. Izuru didn't know if Chisa had been fully brainwashed or not - he didn't trust himself to make an evaluation right now. Despite staying calm on the outside, his heart rate had slightly increased. While it wasn't that dramatic of a change, to Izuru, it was a colossal one. He couldn't recall a time where he had felt any bit of anxiety at all. But now here he was, actually feeling nervous.

Yes, he was concerned for Chisa's well-being. But it wasn't that simple. He was only worried because he knew that Chiaki was worried. If she wasn't someone who meant something to Chiaki, then Izuru would probably have not tried to save her.

Chiaki... It always comes back to her, doesn't it?