And so, the ponce of OGR finally arrives :)

Akemi

With a sigh, once I reached the front gate of New Hope's Peak, I did not go straight in, as I would have liked to do, but instead leaned against a wall, and dug in my bag for my camcorder. Despite myself, I had to think the best of this. I was lucky that this wasn't a big production, with my parents and cameramen everywhere, following my every step. I was lucky that New Hope's Peak had explicitly stated that this was meant to be a private tour, for the soon-to-be students and their families only. I was lucky that I had persuaded my parents that it would be a lot better if I went on my own rather than with them, as a solo video would be more 'lucrative' (a word I had used to appeal to them, specifically).

I was lucky, and thus I had to get on with it.

I patted my hair discreetly, making sure there were not any stray strands, smoothed down my turquoise skirt, and adjusted my off-the-shoulder top before lifting the camera to face me, and turning it on.

"Good morning, it's Akemi Koizumi here, standing outside the building of New Hope's Peak."

I narrated, sweeping the camera over the entrance momentarily before returning it to my face, making sure that I was still smiling.

"I'm just about to go inside so I can register my presence for the new students' tour-very exciting! Unfortunately for privacy reasons I can't film while I am inside, which is a shame, as I know you would have all loved to see it."

I became aware of a presence approaching, and for a moment, I panicked, worrying it was Akio. I didn't want him to see me like this, little more than a perfect performing puppet. Which was stupid, as that was how everyone knew me, before they even got to know me (if they ever did). But still, Akio had approached me wanting to be my friend, and already he had confided a fear to me. Would this side of me not be a let-down? Of course, I could not show this, so I subtly breathed in, and then continued.

"But, there isn't anything for you to worry about, as later on I will be making a video about what I saw. I'll also be leaving a link in the description box for any questions any of you might have, and I will be answering those in that video too, so that will be something to look forward to! For now, it looks like some of the other students are arriving-I wonder how they feel?"

Out of the corner of my eye, I could see that this presence was, thankfully, not Akio. Instead it was a pale-complexioned, blue haired boy with a carefully handsome appearance and an easy smile as he scrutinised me quite openly, almost ogling. I could tell that he recognised me, and was indeed wondering if he would end up in my video. I sighed, and subtly gestured using my free hand that he should come closer, and then gave him a moment to eagerly grin and nod in assent, adjust his striped purple-and-black tie and the brooch pinned to it, and then lope over.

Turning my camcorder so it'd capture him as well, I called out to him in greeting:

"Hello there! I'm Akemi Koizumi, it's nice to meet you. Are you here for the tour as well?"

The boy smiled, somewhat flirtily, and reached to shake my hand.

"Charmed I'm sure, I mean who wouldn't be, when in my presence." He gave a self-depreciating chuckle. "And yes, lovely, I am here for the tour. Name's Mitsuhide Okita, SHSL Audiobook Narrator. You've probably heard of my work, Velvet King, no need to be surprised, that's a usual occurrence."

I wasn't sure that I was surprised, exactly. Not by who he was, or anything. I had to admit he certainly had quite the voice for narrating-even his words now sounded like they were narrating. Better than me? I hoped so, despite everything.

"Well, Okita-kun, it's very nice to meet you, especially as we'll be attending the same school. Who knows," I asked both him and the camera audience. "We might even be classmates."

"That would make me an extremely lucky man." Mitsuhide said flatteringly.

"That's very kind of you," I said, simply, before quickly wrapping up and, with an internal sigh of relief, shoving the camcorder deep into my bag where I could forget about it, and quickly putting my hands in my pocket.

"Shall we go inside and sign in now?" I asked.

Mitsuhide smiled and winked at me.

"Why of course, Koizumi-chan! Ladies first, as always." He said dramatically, gesturing for me to go ahead.

I obliged, and we went through the gates, and then the open glass double-doors, and then stood in line with a few others. One or two were with a guardian of some kind but a couple on their own. Neither of those ones were our group members though, I noted with a sigh. I didn't want to look like I was too longingly waiting for someone, or anything that would make me seem…well, like me.

When we reached the front of the queue, though Mitsuhide pulled the 'ladies first' line out again, this time I politely insisted he went first, and then carefully watched as he tapped his name and details into the sign-in tablet-a glossy looking black device on a plinth-then stepped back to let it take a photograph. Moments later, a small card came out of a tiny device on the receptionists' desk, at which point the receptionist actually sitting there turned momentarily from the parent or guardian they were talking to so they could direct Mitsuhide to pick it up, and then pointed them to a small glass cabinet of lanyards that was above the sign-in tablet, which had now opened. All of them were blue, and had the word 'visitor' printed all along its length multiple times. Mitsuhide pulled one out, slotted his card into the blank card holder, and then draped the lanyard around his neck.

"Hmm, the colour complements, but this doesn't quite go with my look." He mused. "It's a shame, that."

"I presume it's for our safety though-probably when we're students we'll have a different colour lanyard for our cards when we sign in. Is that right?"

I directed this question to the receptionist as I started my own sign-in process.

"Oh, yes, that's right! We're still fine-tuning things but you'll hear all about that on the tour!"

Quickly finishing my process, I got a lanyard of my own, closed the cabinet, and then slipped my card into the card holder and put the lanyard around my neck, adjusting it so it hung properly and the card clearly showed my name, photo, sign-in time and visit purpose. Just at that moment, a few more people walked in, and again, while some were strangers, the final boy was Akio, and my heart skipped a beat. His face lit up when he laid eyes on me, and he seemed to have a spring in his step as he bounded over.

"Hi, Koizumi-sempai!" he greeted. "How are you?"

"I'm alright, thanks," I replied. "But what about you."

Akio sighed, and ran a hand through his hair, before shrugging, and then giving me a sheepish smile.

"We'll see." He said simply. "How do we sign in?"

"Oh, I'll show you!"

"Oh my, aren't you going to introduce me?" Mitsuhide asked, just a note of hurt in his voice, though he was still smiling as he said it, and tilting his head slightly flirtatiously.

"Oh, I think I recognise you from somewhere…." Akio said, frowning thoughtfully. "Not your face but….give me a moment, it'll come back to me. But in the meantime, I'm Akio Arisato, the SHSL Lucky Student. Well, soon-to-be, anyway."

"Have you ever heard any of the Velvet King's work? I would be extremely surprised if you had not, you certainly do seem like the type to listen to audiobooks. But in any case, it would be rude of me to not properly introduce myself, so to you I am Mitsuhide Okita, the SHSL Audiobook Narrator."

"Ahhh, that explains it. My little sister listens to a lot of audiobooks and sometimes I listen with her."

"Oho, could your little sister be a fan? Maybe I'll get to meet her one day-I could take her out to lunch or something?"

"I mean, she's nine, so if you're into burgers and ridiculously ice-cream-topped milkshakes, then I'm sure she'd love it." Akio laughed hesitantly.

At this, Mitsuhide looked a little sheepish, suddenly taking great interest in fiddling with his hair again while I quickly showed Akio how to sign in. Once we'd got his lanyard for him, the three of us went over to the side, where other signed in visitors were waiting for the tour to start.

"So then, how do two know each other?" Mitsuhide asked. "The two of you seem so very comfortable with each other."

"We currently attend the same school, although in truth, with me being in the year above, our paths have not crossed so often." I answered.

"Though I think that'll change now!" Akio added with a warm smile.

"Oh my, you could've fooled me, I would have pegged the two of you as interested in each other at the very least."

Mitsuhide said this so smoothly that I was not 100% convinced he 100% meant it. Nonetheless, I had to fight hard to avoid the blushes that threatened to colour my cheeks. Akio also looked mildly confused, before he laughed and rubbed his head.

"Oh no, nothing like that. I don't even like people that way!"

"Really?" Mitsuhide asked, gawping at Akio. "Really?"

"Yeah, really."

Oh.

Why was I so disappointed to hear that? Well, I could probably figure it out, but even so, it was so inexplicable to me, this feeling. I didn't think that I'd even get a chance to have such feelings, even if they were new and tentative and nowhere near serious considering we hadn't known each other for long. But all the same. Oh.

"Huh, well that I wasn't expecting." Mitsuhide continued, apparently no longer baffled. "But man, you're missing out, you know?"

"Pfft, like you'd know?"

This came from a pretty redhead bursting through the doors and straight to us, accompanied by a jangling sound I quickly realised was coming from her headband. This, I knew, was Rieka Amasaki, the one who had proposed our little group in the first place.

Mitsuhide yelled and jumped dramatically, and then quickly recovered himself, smoothing his clothes and getting ready to attempt to charm her. But then, abruptly, his eyes widened in horror, and he became still.

"Oh god, what are you doing here?"

…

Mitsuhide

In response to my question, Rieka simply gave me a smug smirk. I had to admit, it was a fairly stupid question on a lot of counts, but there was no way I was going to admit it, especially not to her.

"Um, you're the one who decided to join me? Or are you too busy preening in a mirror and practising your best insomniac-cure impression?" she asked.

"Oh please, I don't need to preen, I already know I look good." I said, resisting the urge to tap my foot in frustration. "Besides, I am so much more than this handsome face, don't you know?"

"Sure, sure, whatever makes you feel better about yourself. In any case, I'm going to sign in and then we can talk properly."

Rieka strode off to do just that, her bells jingling and red and white skirt seeming to balloon around her as she moved. It was quite a carefree, bubbly image, but of course, I would not be fooled by that. I quickly turned away, making a point of not looking at her, and instead turning to Akio and Akemi, who were looking more than a bit bemused.

"So then," I said, attempting to recover some sense of my pride. "This is terribly exciting, isn't it? I wonder when the others will get here?"

"Ah, I've been messaging with Benbow-kun, he should be here soon?" Akio exclaimed.

"You have?" I asked curiously. "How come?"

Akio just shrugged at this, and now Akemi gave him a curious look, before it very quickly disappeared, replaced by the same neutral, placid smile she had been wearing most of the time. Maintaining an image-I recognised such an aim when I saw it, but that did not damn her in my eyes. Far from it-it clearly meant that unlike certain people, she concentrated on what was important and refused to bow down to petty things. I gave her my best charming smile, and she gave me a charming smile back, and I had to resist the urge to blush at it. I did not blush, I was not so easily flustered.

Yes, well, that girl kinda proved that wrong, didn't she? A snide little voice said in the back of my head, which I quickly clamped down on. I was NOT going to let that uptight, petty, full-of-herself Rieka get the better of me, and prevent me from being a part of this. I was not.

"Ah, Benbow-kun, we're over here!"

Akio said loudly all of a sudden, jerking me out of what would have quickly become a bit of a pity-party (which, props to him, I guess?). He lifted a hand to wave, but then paused and rapidly put it down, his face clearly signalling that he had realised his stupidity, which I didn't understand until I realised that the person he had been talking to was a dark-red-haired boy with a green hooded cardigan that, funnily enough, was a similar shade to the short-sleeved button-down checkered shirt that Akio was wearing. Considering this other boy was using a white cane, I suspected this was a coincidence, but it was a funny one-clearly they'd hit it off, whatever they'd been talking about online.

"Does he not need to sign in first?" I asked.

"Oh, oh yeah." Akio blinked, laughing sheepishly.

"I'll go and help him." Akemi offered quickly, going off to do just that.

That left Akio and myself just waiting there, looking at each other. Now, I was not someone who was lost for words, but at that moment, I couldn't think of anything particular to say. Eventually (and thankfully), it was Akio who took it upon himself to prevent the moment stretching out into awkwardness with a smile and a question.

"This is kind of exciting, huh?"

"Oh yes, it is very exciting!" I agreed. "I mean, back in the day, Hope's Peak was the place to go if you wanted to be guaranteed success, and since it was so very exclusive, it had to mean that whoever went there was truly special. I honestly thought though that it was part of a bygone age though, it's quite amazing that we are here now."

"Mhm, I suppose so." Akio said thoughtfully. "I guess this makes you and the others truly special now, as well?"

"Well, of course." I said, perking up. "I would never be ordinary in any case, but this is truly an opportunity for me to stretch my wings, so to speak, and show everyone that I can live up to my potential, and possibly surpass it."

Akio laughed awkwardly.

"Well, I'm not sure that applies to me, necessarily."

"Oh?" I asked curiously. "How so?"

"Well, I mean, even back then, Lucky Student didn't really mean anything, did it?" Akio shrugged.

"Oh, that's true." I said. "However, you were still the one selected of all the others that could have been, so that has to mean something, doesn't it?"

Akio frowned for a moment, tapping his fingers against his chin absently for a moment, but then he smiled sunnily. There was a part of me that could see why someone like Akemi would like to hang around with him-ordinary as he looked with his curly hair and glasses, there was something warm about him, in the openness of his gold eyes, the easiness of the smile which he gave, the relaxed mannerisms. It really was a shame he wasn't interested in romance, even if that did mean less competition for me.

"I suppose you're right, Okita-kun."

"Oh, what's he right about?" Rieka asked, bounding back again, fiddling with her blue lanyard as she did so.

Akio smiled at her, and quickly summed up our conversation for her. Rieka tilted her head to the side and frowned prettily, before nodding.

"I'd be inclined to agree, because I'm sure you're worth a lot more than this stuffy, pompous git who thinks his voice is all that."

"Excuse me?" I said, enraged. "You're the one who spouts off about things nobody wants to hear about, just for the money. I really don't understand why you were invited to this school."

"The same could be said for you. I for one, have a certain class, if you will~" she said, lifting her chin up slightly and looking down her nose at me. "Even if I have to admit that you have a point, in that my talent is based on rage and rants at times. However, I've taken this opportunity to broaden my horizons, so don't think I'll turn down future opportunities."

"How funny, because that's why I am here, too. Looks like we have more in common than we thought."

Oh, now, saying that was more than worth the satisfaction of seeing Rieka's nostrils flare, but it was short lived as she soon geared up for a response-which was also short lived, as Akemi and Akagi arrived back at that time, the blind boy wearing a lanyard of his own.

"I know that technically, we all know each other to certain extents, but perhaps it would be nice if we all formally introduced ourselves to each other?" Akemi suggested. "Perhaps you'd like to start, Okita-kun?"

I had no idea why she had picked me, but I straightened up, immediately feeling better about myself. There was no sense in getting het up over the likes of Rieka, when I was in the company of none other than Akemi Koizumi.

"Oh, no, no, ladies first, I do insist. But thank you very much, Koizumi-chan!"

We spent a few moments introducing ourselves, and then stared at each other, a cloud of awkwardness settling over us all.

"So, there's just one more of us left to arrive, isn't there?" Akio asked eventually.

"Yes, yes, that's right." Rieka agreed. "I honestly expected her to arrive earlier, but…"

"I'm here."

"AAAAH!"

And so, for the second time this morning, I was scared out of my skin. It was only a slight consolation that some of the others were startled as well, but only slight, because I had been the only one to scream. Again. But the girl who had caused this furore did not seem slightly bothered by any of this. Indeed, she seemed almost pleased with herself.

"You have extremely quiet footsteps." Akagi observed. "Because of the chatter around, I couldn't hear you at all."

Her smile broadened wider, seeming almost shark-toothed. I resisted the urge to shiver, or pull a face, since I had a horrible feeling that she was like Rieka. As if one Rieka isn't enough…

"I'm pleased to hear that." She said in his direction. "But anyway, Otsuka Jihara, at your service. Don't worry, I know who you all are anyway."

"Well, I'd hope so, anyway." Rieka huffed.

Otsuka pursed her lips, but whatever she was going to say was interrupted once again by an announcement blaring over the tannoy.

"Attention please, students and parents. We will shortly be bringing out staff to escort you to the hall where you'll be hearing a talk by the principal. Please begin to line up by the main door, and either turn your phones off or leave them on silent. Thank you."

We did just that, and sure enough, the main doors were soon opened by two burly security guards, wearing red lanyards, and behind them were a small group of adults wearing green lanyards. We were then escorted into a hall with lots of chairs laid out. It really did look like any other school ahll, if a little plain and somewhat incomplete in appearance. The principal, Kyosuke Munakata, was already standing at a podium on the stage, exchanging words with a blond man with a blue lanyard, who then hopped off the podium, and weaved through the students and parents, clearly leaving. As he passed us, both Otsuka and Akio almost immediately sat up, and stared after him, as if wanting to go after him, but he was gone very quickly. Otsuka muttered something under her breath, and Akio looked crestfallen, but both settled down again.

"Hey, what was that about?"

"That was Eizo Amai," Akemi explained. "He's in the security business these days, so I assume he must have been doing some things for the school."

I was just about to ask who Eizo Amai was, when suddenly I remembered, and promptly pursed my lips. I was very glad I hadn't revealed my momentary lapse in memory to Rieka-she'd have ripped me to shreds.

"Oh, that's quite interesting."

"It is, but it's a shame he's gone and the talk is about to start, or I would have tried to interview him." Otsuka grumbled.

"Alright then, good morning, everyone."

Right on cue, Munakata began to speak into his microphone, and the hall fell quiet.

"It's wonderful to see you all here today. We are still at very early stages, and of course there are things that are at sensitive stages at the moment. But re-opening Hope's Peak has been a dream of mine for a very long time…"

And so he went on. It was interesting, in its way, but for the most part I half-tuned out, just absorbing the information and sort of daydreaming while observing my new…well, whatever we were. Classmates-to-be, I supposed. Eventually though, we were informed about the schedule of the day, and finally we were allowed to get up, and we were grouped.

…

Rieka

If it wasn't for the fact that we weren't allowed to film or take photographs in the school for 'safety reasons' (whether this was something they believed in, or just lip service to appease those worried about twenty years ago, remained to be seen) I would have had my phone out, filming everything we walked past so that we could all pore over it later, looking for some clues or others. Instead, I took the old-fashioned tack of writing things down on pen and paper. Otsuka did the same, as did a few parents-no doubt the annoying helicopter type, judging by their demeanours. Whatever, they didn't interest me.

We were shown the canteen where we would be eating lunch, which was actually quite snazzy, and had two separate sections for students with cookery based Talents (or, for that matter, talents) to be able to practise. Food economics lessons would also take place in this area, according to our preppy guide. We were also shown the large music room and dance studio, both of which had been fully completed. I caught Mitsuhide admiring himself in one of the dance studio mirrors as we were shown around the space, and I rolled my eyes heavily. Honestly, that boy. I hoped it would be worth me resisting the urge to tell him that actually, no, I didn't need someone like him 'helping' me solve a mystery.

As we left, I caught Otsuka's eye, and she pulled a face at me.

"Bit of a preener, that one, isn't he?"

"Oh, tell me about it."

As we moved on to be shown a recreation room-one of the only ones which were currently complete and furnished to boot-I gave her a look as she continued to make notes on the layout of the room, and the things in it. It was a nice room, and for a moment, I imagined myself sprawled over one of the pink beanbags, with Mitsuhide sitting self-importantly on one of the round leather-covered stool things, Akio perhaps sitting more cautiously on a beanbag next to me, with Akagi and Akemi near him, and Otsuka having pulled over a normal chair from one of the tables to join us, pulling a conspiratorial face at me while the others laughed and Mitsuhide looked put out (even as he laughed too).

Wait, what? What? I don't even like those two!

"Erm, are you alright, Amasaki-san?"

I blinked to see that Akio was facing me, looking ever so slightly concerned. I could do nothing to stop the blushing, but I tried to wave it away with a laugh and dismissive hand gesture."

"Oh, sure, I'm fine! Isn't this very state-of-the-art, especially those screens?" I asked, gesturing to the screens mounted on the wall.

This comment was apparently overheard by the tour guide, who went on about the various uses that the screen would have, including apparently allowing the room to be used as a makeshift clubroom or meeting room. Then, we were shown a doorway which would lead to an outdoors swimming pool, and taken up the stairs to see the library, and an example of one of the generic classrooms, and a couple of 'free study rooms', one of which apparently Kyosuke Munakata used while on site, until the principal's offices were properly built on the third floor, which was where the general staff areas were also going to be. We were able to go to the second floor to see the media room-for people who worked in fields relating to TV, movies, music and other similar things and a club room, but the rest of the floor was incomplete, with some areas off-bounds, as was the top floor. Naturally, this meant we couldn't see the school roof, but we were told it would be a place that students could come to eat and relax, with small gardens to be planted there and protective fencing around the edges to keep it safe.

Huh, they really are putting a lot into this. Either Kyosuke Munakata genuinely believes in Hope's Peak, or he is trying to cover up whatever their involvement was in twenty years ago. It wasn't completely out of the bounds of the possibility, though he had only just graduated when it all happened. But he had sounded so dreadfully earnest during the speech, when he'd talked about it being his lifelong dream, and making up for mistakes. Either way, I would be finding out the truth, so I guess I'd have to table my judgement for now and see.

Easier said than done, but never let it be said that I never tried anything!

Once we were shown all we could of the main building, our group was taken through a back door and across a courtyard, to where the gym and various indoors sports courts, including a space for archery, which Akagi seemed transfixed with, feeling out the space with his footsteps and his walking stick, handling a bow and arrow, though he did not aim it at a target, despite some encouraging, most prominently from Akemi. Which come to think of it, was strange, considering the last episode of Akemi Tries It. Then again, Akagi seemed pleased that she had encouraged him, if the fact that after that he smiled and blushed slightly whenever his head turned in her direction-which was whenever she spoke-was anything to go by. We didn't get to go to the outdoor courts though, or the changing rooms, because those weren't yet fully built.

Finally, we were taken to the dorm building, which was more or less almost ready in terms of building safety, just a little sparse, with security and other things needing fitting in too. The tour guide had some pictures of what the bedrooms would look like before being inhabited, and rambled a little more, and then took us back to the canteen.

"Ourselves and Principal Munakata will be around for the rest of the afternoon if you have any particular questions before you leave. Enjoy the rest of your day!"

We all waved and thanked the tour guide, and then the helicopter parents and their kids promptly trotted straight off to Munakata, while the six of us went to get some food. Once we all had, sat around a table that, for some reason, was made up of segments that made it look vaguely like a pizza, each slice a different rainbow colour. I wasn't sure if it was funky or just tacky.

"So," I said, dramatically pausing to nibble at my wrap.

"So….?" Mitsuhide echoed.

"So, now, we have about two free hours to have another look at the school." I grinned.

"That we most certainly do." Akagi remarked wryly. "But you're making a point, aren't you?"

"Is she?" Akio wondered. "What are you implying, Amasaki-san?"

"Oh, come on, what sort of 'sleuths' are you?" Otsuka sneered. "This is a golden opportunity, can't you see?"

I wasn't sure whether I should snark at her for demeaning us, or applaud her for getting it. I satisfied myself with giving her the darkest look I possibly could-only for her to blithely ignore it.

"Ah, yes, of course. We will have to be careful though." Akemi said, thoughtfully.

"Oh! Of course! We're going straight into it already, huh?" Akio said. "That's kinda fast."

"Don't you know, time is of the essence in things like this?" Otsuka said.

"There'll still be time for eating, though, right?" Akio asked, after considering this for a moment.

"Yes, of course!" I said quickly, before Otsuka could but in. "But, we need to be as quick as possible…"

"Because…?" Mitsuhide asked, eyebrow raised.

I briefly thought about insulting his lack of intelligence, but shook it off. It was far more exciting to face them all and say:

"Because now is when the real exploring begins!"

Characters introduced this chapter:

Prospectives

Mitsuhide Okita, SHSL Audiobook Narrator (created by: Prince PokePersona)