Chapter 8: Class 78 is in Session!

It is the end of the first day in Hope's Peak Academy, I am lying in my bed, wondering about the other students arriving tomorrow. So far, I have met many nice peers, going to be studying in the same class as them. But, every one of us have something in common; a special distinction that makes us different from each other.

That is no doubt a good thing because imagine being in class with everyone around you, looking, acting and behaving the same, that would be a nightmare. Having variation makes everyday special and not an average ordinary day.

In bed, I keep tossing and turning restlessly, eagering for the night to end and begin the next page in this school but it will have to wait. I text my mother good night and remind her to take care of herself before tucking myself in.

As I close my eyes, I slowly drift off to sleep. As I enter my slumber, I end up being pulled into a misty atmosphere in my subconscious. In other words, wandering in a dream, I could see many people walking around me in the middle of the street in an enormous city.

Scratching my head cluelessly, I look around aimlessly to where I am but it is unfamiliar to me. I could then see Hope's Peak Academy a mile away and I walk towards it, passing the crowd.

But then, something change when I focus my eyes on the school. The minute I turn around, the daily busy city suddenly turn desserted where not a single person is to be found. I suddenly feel drowsy and my vision become blurry.

"But I am sleeping, this doesn't make any sense." I thought to myself.

I then catch a glimspe of something ominous, the shadow beneath my feet become larger. It become so large until it overlaps my own which is impossible. Judging from the casting shadow, it is a humungous being, standing behind me.

But before I could see what this ominous figure is, a stream of music enters my dream, waking me up to reality. Then, I wake up in a haze, reaching from my bed to turn off my alarm. I lie back down to restore my dull senses, focusing on the ceiling.

"What did I just dream off back there? I don't know what it was but... I guess there is time for trivial matters later." I ask myself, still feeling hazy.

But, I quickly snap myself in matter of seconds, realising it is the first day of classes.

"Ah, today's the very first day of classes!"

A smile breaks out on my face as this is what I've been looking forward to all day and night.

Without wasting daylight, I jump out of bed and dash into the bathroom. After showering and brushing my teeth, I walk out to dress myself formally. Today's set of clothes includes a white uniform with a red-buttoned blazer and red plaid trousers, looking formal for school and maintaining a cool look.

I take a look in the mirror, reflecting on my choice of clothing for a good first impression. It should be a good fit and appropriate for today.

After setting the clothes part, I slide on a pair of socks and my shoes, and prepare everything I need for class; notebooks, highlighters and stationery in a brown leather briefcase.

Obviously, my phone is not going to be left out and I check for any messages and decide to send one to Makoto and Chihiro respectively, informing them to meet up with me for breakfast.

HY: Hey Makoto, wanna get some breakfast?

Swiping to another screen to Chihiro's message log,

HY: Good morning Chihiro, would you like to join me for breakfast?

After a while, it doesn't take long for them to reply, knowing they also wake up early for the first day since it is natural for one to get excited for the day.

MN: Okay, sounds great! See you there.

CF: Good morning, Hanako. Mhm. Sure, see you soon.

I feel exilerated just thinking about today, meeting with my clasmates, going to be acquainting with some real soon.

Clicking the screen off, I slide my phone into my pants pocket and grab my briefcase firmly. With one final check that I have everything, I leave my room and lock the foor behind me.

I pull out some earphones and plug them to my phone. Swiping my screen, I play some tunes while strolling across the hallway, humming to my favourite songs that I wrote as a singer.

The trip to the dining hall is a short one and I enter the dining hall to see that there are a few people already here. Kiyotaka spots me emtering and greets me with a hyped welcome.

"Ah, a very good morning, Hanako. As promise, I am present the earliest on the official first day in school." Taka proudly proclaim as I just give him a thumbs up for his valiant effort to set an example.

"That's great, Taka. Quick question though, who is that girl with brown hair, staring at a plate of... donuts?"

Instead of telling me, Taka just shove me towards her with a bright look. "What better way to know someone new than starting a conversation? Right, Hanako?"

I think I have a feeling that he doesn't really know, otherwise why bother asking me to talk to this new student first. Nevertheless, this is an opportunity to meet another Ultimate, maybe she is one of the polite and carefree ones.

From a respectable distance, I just call out to the girl who appears to be tranced with the hoop-shaped confectionary while waving calmly.

The brown ahoged girl then turn around and she stands up to give me a cheery greeting. "Oh, hey there! Sorry if I didn't hear calling before." She just come up to me to give me a warm handshake and I return with a pleasant smile.

Turns out she is indeed one of the positive characters. She wears a red track suit jacket over a white shirt and blue dolphin shorts.

I think a proper introduction are in order to jumpstart this meeting with a new friend.

"Nice to meet you. My name is Hanako Yuki. What's yours?" I politely introduce myself.

"Nice to meet you too. I'm Aoi Asahina." She happily reply.

It takes a while to sink in but I happen to recall that name. "Aoi Asahina, you wouldn't happen to be the Ultimate Swimming Pro?"

She just paused a second before cheerfully answering, "That's right! Wow, how did you know that?" while asking me to how I know.

The answer is pretty simple really, I read a lot in my freetime for writing ideas. "Who wouldn't recognize? You participated as a representative in the Olympics and bested many athletes in the world." I complement her achievements.

"Oh, stop it... You are making me blush." She says.

Kiyotaka who is hiding behind me this whole time, just reveal himself and follow with an introduction.

"What astounding feat! It is an honor to have an excellent sportwoman such as yourself here in Hope's Peak. My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but just address me as Taka." He goes all out with a proper intro.

"For sure, nice to meet you, Taka. And Hakoda too." She excitedly reply, cluelessly saying my name wrongly.

I tried to hide my laugh, not to intimidate her. I should probably get it corrected, otherwise she is gonna call me that throughout the year. Guess what my clasmates would think.

"Sorry, Aoi. You said my name wrongly. It's Hanako, Hanako Yuki." I quickly point out the mistake.

She then bow down and apologize abruptly. "Oh, I am sorry! I am a little slow with names. Hanako and Tara, right?"

Both Kiyotaka and I, sweat a little from behind, realising she is not really good with names. It could be a problem if she interacts with the other students, so we better sort it out.

"Sorry, miss Asahina, but my name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru, Taka will do fine." He promptly addresses his name again.

The Ultimate Swimmer just bow her head again with apologies for getting his name wrong. "Ah, I did it again... Never mind, I will get it right next time, just give me some time."

She then just trace something on her palm with her other hand as if she is writing notes while repeating our names again and again.

"Ermm... What are you doing, Aoi?" I ask with a sheepish look.

"Oh, don't you know? If you wanna remember someone's name, you have to write it on your palm three times." Aoi explains her method and we just nod to it despite it being a little weird.

"Hello there. I see you have met my friend, Aoi." A harsh-sounding voice speaks to us. It sounds like a voice of a stern-looking person. We face the direction of the voice to find a huge looking student with white hair and a serious look.

The person is wearing a white school shirt that is undenialbly XXL size, with torn-off sleeves and a blue skirt. This student has scars and huge muscles, making him a very muscular figure.

I could feel Taka trembling behind me, telling me to speak first to this musculine student. As if it is that simple, I am also shuddering at the sight of this ogre-like student but I manage to voice out.

"H-hello... Yes, we have just finished acquainted with Aoi. My n-name... is Hanako Yuki. Nice to meet you." I stammer on several words while bravely responding to the rip-looking individual.

The figure focuses his sight on me and Taka for a moment before saying, "Very nice meeting you two. I must point out that you two have a strong mind and heart."

Taka braces himself and shakingly accepts the comment, "T-that's very nice of you to say. My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru."

"Alright, Hanako, Taka. My name is Sakura Ogami, a martial artist." He says.

While Sakura introduces, Aoi further adds that, "Not just any martial artist, the Ultimate Martial Artist."

Aoi elaborates that Sakura is a world renowned fighter whose family owns a dojo for many centuries. She is the only female fighter in the family and she has won many battles to prove her worth in the world of martial arts, earning her the name of the strongest human alive.

Then, both Taka and I gasp in amazement of her feats but there is something else that we do not actually believe.

"Amazing, am I right? She is my bestie, strongest one there is." Aoi claimes in anticipation.

"That's impressive, simply remarkable but..." I complement but then pause and Aoi asks me what is the matter.

"Sakura Ogami is a... GIRL!???" Taka finishes my sentence in shock of misbelief.

It is just bizarre that this muscular looking student is actually a girl student, which just blow my mind. Even Taka's brain goes haywire for a few seconds after coming to this realisation.

To that remark, Sakura just stares with the same serious look, like she is waiting to erupt or release her rage on us like a giant bear, making us terrified.

"Boys, there is no mistake, I am a girl." She says in a stern voice. We just nod in response and apologize for the miscomprehension.

But thank goodness, our other friends arrive, just in time to defuse the situation. Makoto and Chihiro enter the dining hall and call out to us.

"Hello guys. We finally made it." Makoto says.

"Sorry if we were late." Chihiro apologizes for the late arrival and both Taka and I are just happy to see them. Then, the Luckster and Programmer lay their eyes on the newcomers and they are just as surprised when we first met with them.

Then with a little courage, Chihiro proceeds to ice breaking with our new classmates.

"H-hello. It is pleasant to be in the same class with you. I a-am Chihiro Fujisaki, a programmer." Chihiro speaks in a gentle voice and Makoto continues, "Mine's Makoto Naegi, a luckster."

After finishing their intro and greetings, Aoi just smiles at the delightful welcome and introduces herself and her best friend, Sakura.

Settling the formalities and pleasantries, Aoi and Sakura welcomes us to have breakfast with them. We all happily accept the invitation and join them after getting our meals. I grab myself some toast with ham, cheese and a sunnyside up; a complete breakfast set.

As we sink our teeth to our sumptious food, we notice that Aoi has a sweet tooth for donuts. We asks her why it is her favourite but she doesn't actually know why, only that she claims that it is the best food on Earth. Sakura instead whips up a protein shake and drinks it very quickly, a healthy start for the day we assume.

Then, we have a quick chat, telling each other more about ourselves, Aoi is really fascinated by our stories and even Sakura is listening attentively to them. I'm really happy that we are making another good progress on befriending one another with new friends.

But, it is then the school bell rings and marks the beginning of the class session.

"Oh, it's time already?" Aoi asks while looking in all direction for a clock.

"Well, let's go then. Wouldn't want to be late, right?" Mukuro says.

Taka then exclaims that, "Absolutely correct. Let's waste time no further! Thank you for that, Mukur..."

Everyone suddenly become silent and the moment we spot Mukuro behind us, smiling sheepishly at us. Makoto tries to recover from the surprise greeting.

"Ah... Hey, Mukuro... Where have you been, you missed breakfast with us?" He asks the Ultimate Soldier.

Mukuro then just grin cheekily to how silly Makoto look, trying to act calm. "Actually, I was just sitting over there when you and Chihiro meet up with Hanako and Taka, including the newcomers, Aoi and Sakura."

Aoi and Chihiro, but mostly Aoi are impressed with her skill of gathering information from a distance and a glance.

"Awesome, how did you know all that? Tell me! Tell me!" Aoi goes all curious around Mukuro, asking repeatingly.

As much as it is nice to get to know a new friend, but Kiyotaka breaks the conversation, shouting that we have wasted exactly, 1 minute and 33 seconds and counting.

"Guys and girls, listen up! There is a time and place for catching up. But now, we must make haste to our classroom!" Taka shouts in determination.

Everyone nods and just go with Kiyotaka's stand for punctuality. We travel to class together as a group.

On the way, we come across some other new students. There is a male with red hair and a cool white-sleeve shirt and black pants. Another along the way, another male with dark brown hair spreaded out in deadlocks, wearing a male uniform jacket, with black pants and he wears, 'sandals'. Must be a carefree kind of guy.

While we are at the door, we enter into our classroom of Class 78 where there is a male teacher in his 40's waiting, reading a magazine. The others are entering the classroom, some individually and in a group.

When I am about to step foot into the class, I catch a glimspe of a familiar looking student. It is a girl with pink hair, standing in a corner of the hallway, not too far from the classroom.

The gang asks me whether I am coming in with them. I reply that they should go on in first while I check on something.

"Erm... Hanako. You coming?" Makoto asks.

"You guys head on in first, I will join you later." I answer.

"W-what's the matter, Hanako-kun?" Chihiro asks me to the reason with the hold-up.

"There's something I have to check on first. Don't worry, I won't be long. Please save me seat, would you?" I answer while giving a thumbs up.

Everyone is okay with it and wave me goodbye before entering. Makoto and Chihiro nod and smile back with my request of saving a seat for me. I wouldn't want to sit anywhere except next to my fellow friends.

As for me, I approach the pink-haired girl who is dressed in a dark purple-collared blazer with a white blouse inside and a black short skirt. But, it is her eyes and hair that makes me recall her look. She notice me and stares at me coldly, at least to what I imagine.

I am a bit shaky at first, but I tell myself in thought that she is just another friendly Ultimate student in Hope's Peak Academy before saying,

"Hi, your name is Kyoko. Kyoko Kirigiri, am I right?" I greet with a tiny smile while comfirming her name.

She just fiddle her braided strand of hair and deduce my finding, "I take it that someone told you about me, from Jin Kirigiri, I guessing..."

At that moment, I could already tell that she is a really keen person with excellent perception. Someone really analytical and a cool looking student.

"Yeah, you're right. The name is Hanako Yuki, your dad told me a lot about you." I politely reply.

"Pleasure of meeting you, Hanako. But, that was lie, wasn't it? About talking a lot about me?" Kyoko points out on that remark with a glare.

"Well..." I try to recall something about it until she cuts me off, "There is no need for words, my dad's a great principal but not really much of a family man, if you ask me."

Listening to that statement, she just make me confused to the truth in that. Jin Kirigiri mentions that he really cares for her but she says that. Something must have happened between them but it is not my place to intervene for now.

"Care to share? Maybe you can tell me about it?" I asks her while walking with her to the classroom as soon as she begin moving.

"Perhaps, we will see what happens, Hanako..." She gives a final reply before accelerate her walking speed in to the classroom.

I guess people have their secrets they tend to keep but that just mean I have to get closer and known them better. There is a lot of work to be done and this class is just another stepping stone.

"Let's go for it!" I say to myself.