As Sachi and I walk through the hall of the dormitories, glancing at each pixelated portrait as we pass by, we encounter a pair talking quietly to each other.

Once again, alliances are already starting to form. Which, in a game like this, I guess is the best decision for everyone.

The pair consists of a boy and a girl.

The girl is slightly tanned with round turquoise eyes that sit behind black square framed glasses. She has short, messy jade green hair. Her bangs completely fall over her right eye and her hair is tied into a braid that falls over her left shoulder. The girl wears an oversized black sweater with the design of an 8-bit heart with an arrow through the middle (which, if I remember correctly, is the logo of a popular band) that extends a little below her waist. As I said before, the sweater is too big for her and the arms hide most of her hands (must be inspired by the Ultimate Singer, Ari Anna). The girl also has on blue skinny jean capris, white ankle socks, and black sports shoes with green shoelaces. This girl is decked out in accessories: she wears a black headband with small skinny bunny ears (again, Ari Anna inspired), wireless black headphones, and white backpack.

Jeez, I'd almost think she's an Ari Anna copycat if it weren't for her Ultimate talent.

If you haven't guessed yet, yes I know who she is. You should already be familiar with this routine.

Of course, I'm familiar with the boy standing next to her as well.

The boy is a tall, skinny young man. He has suntanned skin and light brown eyes with thick eyelashes covered by a pair of circular eyeglasses. He has bleach blond hair (I can see those dark eyebrows from here, boy, you ain't fooling me. My eyes are just that great, okay? I got 20/20 vision with these contacts, baby. It's not weird.) His straight, neck-length hair is just as messy as the girl's. The boy is wearing a loose, low-cut black tank top with a singular white stripe lining the neck. His pants are plain black cuffed jeans and, oddly enough for someone of his Ultimate talent, brown hiking boots.

Sachi and I need to go pass them so why not interrupt their conversation and introduce ourselves?

"Hey there!" I greet them.

When the girl removes her headphones, it's like a switch flips and she goes from 0 to 100 real quick. "Hi! How are you guys?"

I don't wanna sound like a stalker so I let Sachi introduce herself before saying anything about knowing them.

"We're fine, I'm Sachiko Yoshifumi, the Ultimate Pharmaceutical Scientist, and this is Tatsumi Endo, the Ultimate Paparazzi" Sachi introduces us both politely.

I smile and wave at her, "Hey! Your sweater, that's the logo of a band, right?"

The girl gasps, her eyes widening. "Yes! My favorite band!" she says and between the millisecond it takes me to blink and open my eyes again, the girl is all up in my personal space.

Um, chile-

"Hmm, yes, I see, I see…" the girl says to herself as she basically feels me up and frisks me from head to toe. "The boring persona, the lack of creative aura, the almost unnoticeable presence!" she gasps again and beams as she takes a step back, ending her assault to look me up and down a few times. "Yes, this is perfect!" the girl says. How would you like to be the protagonist of my newest, grandest story about a boring zero to hero?"

The boy next to her laughs and smiles apologetically at me. "Haha, I'm sorry about her, she did the same thing to me when we met so it's nothing too personal." he says. "She means well…I think."

The girl just radiates more excitement as she waves at us, finally introducing herself. "Nice to meet you guys, I'm Rui Takara, the Ultimate Mangaka!" she says cheerfully.

The boy flashes us a bright smile, "Yo, the name's Yuuji Hatsutori but you can just call me Yu, 'kay? Oh, and I'm the Ultimate Filmmaker, it's nice to meet you!" he introduces himself.

Rui Takara

Ultimate Mangaka

What can I say about Rui Takara that all manga addicts haven't said yet? Her pen name is Rukara, but of course, internet addicts and overzealous fans will be able to find out anything if they put their mind into it so her real name, Rui Takara, was eventually exposed.

She can turn anything into a best-selling manga. Any work Rui produces seems to overtake the previous one with ease. She is seen as a genius and of course, a beautiful girl.

I would say when it comes to having an active fanbase, Rui's would be one of the top ones. She's often compared to the literary genius, Toko Fukawa, but in manga form.

Yuuji Hatsutori

Ultimate Filmmaker

Yuuji started his career by posting his short films online, they were so good that they soon attracted the eyes of big celebrities. The first one who managed to snag Yuuji up was an American Filmmaker named Eric Hunt.

Under Hunt's tutelage, Yuuji bloomed and from his already impressive short films, he became the youngest successful filmmaker to date, being praised by all celebrities who have worked with him. He was even able to tame the hot-headed Mari Tamatsuki and work with the rather spoiled Seizo Morine.

Now let me give you a little insider knowledge I have, most people don't know this but-

"What is he staring at?" Yu interrupts my train of thought.

...How many times has this happened, now?

"Don't worry, he's a huge fan of you guys I'm sure." Sachi reassures them. "Both your work and yourself as an Ultimate."

Man, Sachi has really improved on introducing me to people. You love to see it-

"Oh, I see." Rui giggles. "I thought he knew, like, something that he wasn't supposed to know." she says with an odd tone.

I detect a slight hint of...hmmm. I can't pin it down but it wasn't positive. Maybe she knows that I know about-?

"Oh trust me, he knows a lot of things he isn't supposed to know about." Sachi jokes.

Suddenly, I see Yu's face become a little darker.

Hmm...these two are so weird. One second they're all nice and the next they're all suspicious of me because I know things I'm not supposed to know. Jeez.

Well, I can't blame them. This is a Killing Game - or rather, it's inevitably going to be. It's only natural for them to want to protect themselves.

"I see," Yu says, his expression lightening. "Well, if it isn't any bother to you two, Rui and I were talking about looking for an exit before you got here and that's what we're gonna do." he says with an easy smile. "It was nice meeting you two - we'll come get everyone if we find something."

With that, Rui waves at us one last time and she and Yu are off without another word.

Ah, well, it's not an issue. I get it, not everyone is thrilled to meet paparazzi, let alone an Ultimate Paparazzi.

Sachi comes up to stand beside me. "They were rather weird, weren't they, Tatsumi?" she whispers to me.

"Yeah," I shrug. "But everyone we've met has had a guard up," I respond. "I guess their guard is just more raised than other people."

And I think I know why...

Oh well.

With that weird conversation over, Sachi and I continue on to the Incinerator.

Walking into the Incinerator is like walking into every other room so far: rotting paneling on the walls and chipped floors. However, similar to how Sachi described the Baths, the incinerator itself and all of its attached accessories seem to have been either replaced or maintained.

Overall, not much to look at.

Disappointing, I was holding out hope something might be here.

There's only two other people in the room, a pair of girls - these two more easily recognizable to normal people - and they turn to Sachi and I as soon as we step inside.

"Heya-!"

"Ah, Tatsumi!" the taller of the two says, her eyes widening slightly when we lock eyes. "Glad as I am to see you, it is quite unfortunate that our reunion is here."

With her blindingly white back-length hair falling in waves with pretty white irises and heart-shaped face, my fellow Second Year here commands an overall striking appearance. Combined with an hourglass figure and noticeable curves, that knowing, mysterious smile she often bears easily helps her sell the image she's trying (and succeeding) to project with her talent. Her outfit is designed to be both modest and sensual, exotic yet plain. A contrast meant to convey mysteriousness and mystique without coming off as tacky or overly plain.

Definitely one of the more fashion-knowledgeable people here…coughRyojicough.

A black turtleneck sweater hugs her upper body closely, emphasizing the curves of her chest and the slenderness of her arms. A white lace shawl wraps around her shoulder to complement her white hair and eyes and contrast with the black sweater, with the lace adding a sense of delicacy and refinement. An ankle length skirt wraps tightly around her waist, and bears a color gradient across its length, starting at a matching dark black around the waist, and slowly fading into a stark white as it becomes free-flowing around the ankles. This emphasizes her hourglass figure but remains fairly modest in terms of skin coverage, and the fade to white gives a sense of etherealness to the flowing parts of the skirt. Finally, the outfit is rounded out with black lace stockings and white short heels.

She's fairly light on accessories compared to some of the other people I've met and reunited with so far…coughTakagi'szipperscough. The most prominent accessory on her person is a crystal quartz necklace consisting of large clear quartz crystals alternated with white pearls, adding an exotic element to contrast with the plain turtleneck sweater. A silver ring inset with a jet gemstone is worn on her left hand and a similar black tungsten ring inset with a white moonstone worn on her right.

I give her a friendly smile, "It's nice to see you again, too. And yeah, unlucky that it's here."

She nods and turns to Sachi with a small smile. "I don't believe we've met before."

Sachi looks between her and I with a raised eyebrow but introduces herself.

"Salutations. I am pleased to see that we meet at this moment. I am Aria Miko, and I am glad to have met you on this step of our respective paths, and I hope to walk alongside you for now and beyond."

"And she's the Ultimate Medium." I supply helpfully.

Aria smiles again, "And I am the Ultimate Medium." she nods.

Aria Miko

Ultimate Medium

Aria Miko, the Pale Medium. No one really thought Hope's Peak would acknowledge a title like that, though given that they did once acknowledge the Ultimate Clairvoyant, perhaps it was only a matter of time.

Personally, I'm a big fan of Aria's work and I like to believe there's some truth to her words. Being the only child of the renowned Noriko Miko and Samuel Radisimov, Aria has quite the pedigree to back her up. She's been working as a medium ever since she was thirteen.

Aria quickly gained prominence due to her young age and her mother and father's careers, which she exploited well to leverage her own emerging career as a medium, a career not so removed from that of a psychic.

We may have been classmates for over a year now, but still, I'm surprised Aria can still smile after-

"O-Ooh…the Ultimate Paparazzi…?"

Can I even complain that these people don't know how to leave a man to his thoughts?

The much smaller girl next to Aria smiles shyly, waving.

…

…

…

Hmmmmmmmmmmmm?

I thought I recognized her, but…

The girl anxiously fidgets with the open white parasol she has slung over her shoulder as I stare at her. The parasol itself has a wooden shaft and instead of the usual J-shape, the handle resembles a curved tree branch with five round gemstones instead of leaves - the 'gemstones' are actually colored glass, of course, and are colored red, yellow, blue, green, and purple. The ferrule of the parasol is made of metal and resembles a weather vane.

I say 'of course' because yes, I was right the first time. I do recognize her - just not the way she's currently carrying herself.

The parasol-wielding girl is a young woman with pale skin and pale blue, almond-shaped eyes. Her hair is light blue and is styled in a hime cut that reaches down to the middle of her back, and her sidelocks reach down to her chest. She has a heart-shaped face and a slim figure.

She wears a long-sleeved dress shirt with a mandarin collar and a pair of black suspenders that hold a blue, ankle-length A-line skirt in place, the skirt having the design of a white wave design on it (reminiscent of The Great Wave off Kanagawa) and a white interior. She wears knee-high white socks and black dress shoes. Alongside this, she wears a white, floppy sun hat with a wide brim and two hatbands - one red, and one white. The red ribbon has rounded, semicircular flaps coming out of it at regular intervals, and the blue ribbon has pointed, triangular flaps protruding in a similar manner.

"Tatsumi," Sachi hisses. "Stop looking at her like that, you're going to make her cry." she says, pulling me out of my thoughts.

When I zone back in, the girl's pale blue eyes are indeed looking glossier than normal.

Oops.

I smile reassuringly, "I'm sorry, Kaguya," I apologize. "I don't mean anything bad by it, I'm just a big fan of you Ultimates."

The girl, Kaguya, blinks back her tears, looking between Sachi and I warily, twirling her parasol even faster.

"I can vouch for Tatsumi, Kaguya," Aria says comfortingly. "He was the same way with me when we first met. He will get over the initial excitement soon and become a normal person…more or less." she says with a small laugh.

Kaguya mumbles something to herself, her parasol twirling slowing to a halt. "R-Right." she nods and gasps. "Ah-! Y-You know my name already, b-but allow me to introduce myself properly…" she says and tries to compose herself. "I'm…Kaguya Mikadzuki. I'm the Ultimate…Weather Broadcaster…" she puffs her cheeks and gives me a full body bow. "It's…nice to meet you!"

Kaguya Mikadzuki

Ultimate Weather Broadcaster

What is there to say about the Princess of Weather?

…I actually don't know this time. I've done my fair share of research on Kaguya, but the girl in front of me right now is not at all what I was expecting.

If you've ever seen her on television, you may know her as a cheerful and sociable young woman who takes her job seriously - perhaps almost comically so, at times. Her televised personality - whether it comes to the occasional interview or her actual appearances as the evening weather presenter - depict her as someone bright and optimistic, able to find a reasonable silver lining to every cloud. It's clear just by watching her that this occupation is something of a passion for her, and she's very happy to perform her duties.

For the camera, she seems to present herself as a normal teenager who enjoys having friends and having fun - though simultaneously she can seem a bit ditzy with her cheeriness.

Off camera…well, she's clearly a tad different. Her televised personality doesn't seem so much a falsified mask as it is an exaggeration of preexisting qualities.

Hmmm….

That's definitely something to-

Huh?

I look around the now empty room and realize that I've once again been left alone with Sachi. I pout.

Sachi looks down from staring at the ceiling, also seemingly having zoned out. "You good?" she asks.

I nod. "Yeah. Seems like you were zoned out, too." I say.

Sachi shakes her head, "After they left. Aria got tired of waiting for you to come back down from Tatsumi Land and Kaguya didn't want to be alone with you so she followed Aria." she says. "So, you know Aria personally?"

"We're classmates, both Second Years." I say and look at Sachi questioningly. "What about you? You're a Third Year but you don't seem to be familiar or friendly with any of the other ones we've met."

Sachi shrugs, "I know of them…" she says and frowns. "During our first day back at Hope's Peak, I looked around but it seems that the ones I was friends with didn't make it to see our Third Year."

Ah.

Speaking of our first day back at Hope's Peak, how long has it been since then?

I remember showing Ryoji around and then…it's a complete blank.

Just what the hell happened?

A/N i'm not sure if i wrote tatsumi well, i kept having to backspace after accidentally making him sassy like my gac protag pepekms

and

also

some of y'all 'bout to be real mad at me

but it must be said

i hadn't read any of the cbr forms (other than new additions aria and kaguya) up until this chapter LOL and i still haven't finished

the next chapter will be back to Ahn's writing with the addition of the ninth man