Disclaimer: I do not own Danganronpa (Kazutaka Kodaka) or Digimon (Akiyoshi Hongo). Please support the official release.
Standing before the towering building known as Hope's Peak Academy is a tall blond boy. He is wearing a white short-sleeved buttoned-down shirt underneath a black waiters vest, khaki shorts, and a light-gray pork pie hat covering his blond hair.
His name is Takeru Takaishi, or TK for short.
TK is currently lost in thought as he stares at the ginormous building in front of him.
'I can't believe I'm attending Hope's Peak Academy.' He looked down at the form that was sent to him, instructing him where to go when he arrived. 'I still remember the call telling me I've been enrolled into this place after winning their lottery. I was so close to turning them down, saying that I'd miss seeing my friends, but my best friend, Kari, said I would be the biggest idiot in the world to turn down this offer.'
TK began walking to the front entrance of the school.
'I didn't want to come completely unprepared, so my friends and I decided to go onto a couple of internet forums to learn more about my future classmates. I will admit that it was a little disheartening to learn that I'll be sharing a class with the likes of the Ultimate High School-Level Programmer, Ultimate High School-Level Swimmer, and the Ultimate High School-Level Baseball Player, seeing how they worked hard to achieve their titles and were scouted and I just got lucky.'
TK shook his head as he sighed.
'Though Matt did try to make me feel better by pointing out that the Ultimate High School-Level Fanfic Creator and Ultimate High School-Level Clairvoyant. Which did make me feel a little better, though if I'm being honest, didn't really help. If someone has the ultimate trait of a fanfic writer or clairvoyant and they were scouted by Hope's Peak, means they worked hard for their title and they accomplished more than he did.'
TK reached the school's entrance and grasped the handle.
'There was this one student that Mimi was excited about, the Ultimate High School-Level Fashionista. She went on and on about how lucky I am to meet someone so famous, even showed me a few of her magazine covers. I will admit, she is pretty, but I just don't see how she could be the Ultimate High School-Level Fashionista.'
TK opened the door and walked into the school.
'Patamon wanted to come with me today, but I decided to leave him with Kari, seeing that today will just be the Welcome Ceremony, there would be nothing for him to do and he'll be lonely because the others will be at my old high school.'
TK stood in the main hallway, getting a good look at the interior design of his new high school.
'Even though I feel like I don't deserve this opportunity, I know one thing is for certain. I will do my best and graduate from Hope's Peak Academy.'
TK looked back at his form.
"They said this was the place where we'll be meeting," TK looked at the elegant clock in the corner. It read 7:25 am. "I guess the train ride here was faster than I expected. The meeting doesn't start until 8:00, so I guess it wouldn't hurt to look around for a bit."
TK put the form in his pocket and made his way to one of the hallways. When he took one step in one of the corridors his vision started to blur as the world around him started to swirl into darkness.
"What's happening?" TK said before hitting the floor with a loud thud.
TK's head shot up from a wooden desk. He took in his surroundings and saw that he was in a classroom, which confused him because he remembered he was in the main hallway before blacking out.
"How did I get here?" He asked no one since he was the only one in the room. "Did someone drag me here? Because if that's the case, then why didn't they take me to the nurse's office if they saw me lying on the floor?"
TK pushed that thought to the side as something caught his eye. He saw that the windows were covered by metal plates that are bolted to the wall.
"Why are the windows covered?" TK made his way to the windows and even tried to unscrew one of the bolts. But no matter how hard he tried, the bolt didn't move an inch. "It's no use, that's not coming off."
TK also spotted a surveillance camera hanging off the wall.
"It would make sense that a prestigious school like Hope's Peak would have some of the best surveillance equipment."
He checked the clock on the wall to see how much time had passed.
"It's 8:00, so I haven't been knocked out for too long. But how did I end up in this classroom?"
TK checked the desk that he woke up on to see if there were any clues as to how he got here and saw that there was a note laying on his desk.
"How did I not notice this before?" TK picked up the note and saw there was a doodle on it, which looks like a kid's drawing of Hope's Peak Academy. But it also reads:
"Hey ther e new kid!
The next semester is about to start.
Starting today, this School will be your entire world"
"What does this mean?" TK asked, hoping for anyone to answer, but he was all alone. "This school will be my entire world, metal plates covering the windows, waking up in a different place than I was before! Am I even in Hope's Peak or is this some kind of makeshift prison disguised as a school?"
TK began to breathe and began to think about a reasonable explanation for all of this.
"Maybe this is all just one big prank set up by the faculty and upperclassmen to mess with the incoming students," TK told himself, hoping that he'll believe his own reasoning. It didn't work as well as he had hoped, but since he didn't have any other explanation for his predicament, he had no choice but to believe it.
"Well, seeing that it's a few minutes past 8:00, I should head to the main hallway because that's where the form says where we'll be holding our meeting."
TK exited the classroom into a giant hallway that is illuminated by an ominous purple light.
"This is comforting," TK said in a sarcastic tone as he moved down the hallway. "Do I even know how to get back to the main hallway? It's not like I have a map or anything."
He walked up to a corridor with a sign that read "Despair Hotel." Weirded out by it, and assuming that's not where he's supposed to go, TK chose to ignore it and walk in the opposite direction of that corridor.
TK continued along the hallway, checking multiple doors, which were all locked, one was even taped off. There was an ominous red door that he didn't feel comfortable enough checking. He reached a door with a green exit sign above it, seeing that he couldn't find any other exits, TK assumed this was the way back to the main hallway.
After a short walk, TK began to hear the faint sound of people talking. Realizing that he isn't alone, TK quickened his pace before emerging into a giant room with a giant safe-like door and two turrets hanging from the ceiling, with fourteen people inside.
"Whoa, hey! Another new kid?" TK heard a slightly gruff voice say from the crowd.
"Wait, then you guys are…?" TK was quickly answered by a young boyish voice.
"Yeah… We're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class."
"So counting him, that makes fifteen. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone…" said a high-pitched nerdy voice.
'I can't believe it, standing before me are the Ultimate Students that were selected by the school,' TK said in his head.
TK took in each of their appearances. Some of them were intimidating, a couple of them were cute, while a few were just weird. But one thing that TK picked up when gazing at them was that they all had an aura coming from each of them.
Realizing he barely said anything when he got there, TK decided he should quickly introduce himself.
"Hello, my name is Takeru Takaishi, but my friends call me TK," he said with a polite bow. "I actually arrived over a half an hour early, but I kind of blacked out shortly after I got here. I just woke up in a classroom a few minutes ago."
"Whoa, you too?" said the person who had a slightly gruff voice. TK was able to point out the man who said this. He is a tall man with enormous brown hair, light stubble on his chin, and is wearing a school jacket on his shoulders, a rope is holding up his baggy pants, and sandals.
"Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser…" said a girl with a French accent. She had pale white skin, red eyes, and black hair in two twin-drill pigtails. She is also wearing a gothic lolita-style outfit.
"So strange… I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!" spoke the nerdy voice. He is overweight but also has thin legs. He had short black hair with a small pointed spike, black thick-rimmed glasses, a white buttoned-down shirt underneath a grey sweater, an orange tie with a vertical double-headed blue arrow, brownish-gray pants, and an orange backpack.
"What are you talking about? Does anyone know what's going on?" TK asked, hoping anyone would answer him.
"Just a moment! There's something else we need to address!" exclaimed a boy with short spiky black hair. He is wearing a white military-style school uniform, has a medal and a red armband on it too. He also had red eyes and big black eyebrows.
"Takeru! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware that the meeting was to start at 8 am sharp!" the boy seemed to have gotten louder than he was before. "To be late on your first day is unacceptable! I must report you, and you must accept your due punishment!"
TK gave him an uncomfortable smile as he felt a drop of sweat form on his head. He looked around the room, hoping someone would help get him out of this situation. Luckily, someone saw his plea and spoke up.
"What's your problem? It's not like he wanted to be late. He didn't have any control over it," a pretty girl said. She is wearing a black cardigan with a button left undone, exposing the top of her bra, a red miniskirt, and a white loose hanging tie with a black polka dot pattern. She has freckles on the bridge of her nose, bleached strawberry-blond hair set up in pigtails with a rabbit hair clip and a red and white bow, and grayish-blue eyes.
"Everyone just calm down! Listen, why don't we all just go around and introduce ourselves?" suggested a very energetic girl. She has brown skin and brown hair, which was held up in a high curl ponytail. She was wearing blue dolphin hot pants, a white tank top underneath a red tracksuit jacket, and a red knee brace on her right knee.
"The hell!? Now's not time for friggin' introductions!" said a tall vulgar man. At first glance what stands out most is his long brown pompadour and his black high collared overcoat, which read Crazy Diamonds on the back with a dragon design. But he also has black eyeliner around his eyes and is wearing a white shirt, black baggy pants, and a belt with a belt buckle shaped like the face of a Komainu.
"Maybe, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into bigger problems here," the gothic lolita girl countered. "I mean, how are we supposed to talk to each other if we don't know each other's names?"
"That's a good point…" the boyish voice from earlier agreed. It turns out the voice from earlier didn't come from a boy but from a small doll-like girl. She has short light brown hair and is wearing a long-sleeved dark green jacket and a brown skirt.
"Okay, so let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?" a girl with long blue hair that went down to her waist said. She has pale skin, though not as pale as the gothic lolita girl, and is wearing a white school uniform top with a pink bow and a blue school uniform skirt.
Seeing that they won't be going anywhere for a while, everyone agreed that it would be a good idea to at least know everyone's name before they try to figure out what's going on.
Even though TK, with the help of his friends, learned about who his classmates are from those internet forums, he knew it would be a good idea to learn more about their personalities because there is so much you could learn about someone from internet forums.
TK decided it would be best to introduce himself to the boy in the military-style outfit. He wanted to make sure that the boy didn't get the wrong impression of him for arriving late.
"I'm Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I believe in bold simplicity! Let's work together on our educational crusade!" he said while giving a perfect 90-degree angle bow.
'Kiyotaka Ishimaru, I remember Joe telling me about him. How he was a flawless honor student, winning top honors every year at his famous private academy. Joe also brought up all the work he's done with his community's Public Morals Committee, earning himself the title of Ultimate Moral Compass.'
"Anyway, you can call me Taka. You said your name was Takeru Takaishi, right?" he asked.
"Well, yeah, but you can call me T-," TK was interrupted by Taka, rambling about his name.
"That's a good name, a strong name! You should thank your parents for giving you such an excellent name!" TK started to feel weirded out by Taka's, but he didn't notice as he continued on with his speech.
"And to keep that name from losing its value, you must devote yourself every single day! Life is worth putting every ounce of effort into it! Right? Right!"
TK gave him an awkward chuckle as a response as he walked away from Taka.
'I have no idea how to talk to him.'
TK made his way to a girl who is either wary of their situation or is trying to burn a hole through someone's skull if they looked at her. She has long dark brownish-purple hair that is tied in two braids and is wearing a typical purple school uniform.
"Hello, I'm Takeru Takaishi, but my friends call me TK," TK introduced himself, which seemed to startle her like she wasn't expecting anyone to talk to her. "It's ok, I just wanted to know your name."
She looked at him, weighing her options of either ignoring the blond boy and hoping he'll leave her alone or talk to him to shorten the amount of time he'll be near her.
"N-Not that you'll remember my n-name anyway, but…" she started after deciding to bite the bullet. "I'm T-Toko… Fukawa."
'I know that name, she wrote a novel when she was 10 years old that launched her literary career. Two years ago she released "So Lingers in the Ocean," a love story said to be her masterpiece. It was such a hit with women that fishermen quickly shot to the top of every "Hottest Men" poll. I remember Mimi fawning over every fisherman she saw and Yolie wanting Ken to pursue a career in fishing.'
TK began to look her over.
'Despite her age, she won multiple awards, and all her books are instant bestsellers. I'd say she earned the title of Ultimate Writing Prodigy.'
Toko started to get restless from his stares.
'I wonder if she could give me a few tips on how to write a good story?'
"Wh-What? I-It's not polite to stare, you know. Stop staring at me like I'm some kind of filthy creature!"
Her emotions changed from aroused to anger quickly, which made TK both confused and uncomfortable.
"What? No, I was just thinking about-" she didn't give him time to finish his sentence as she began an angry tirade.
"I-I know what you were thinking…! You were thinking about how you've n-never seen such an ugly woman. You th-thought it was sooo funny…!"
"I was not thinking that at all!" TK tried to clarify himself, but Toko wouldn't listen.
"Don't bother trying to l-lie to me! I know it's true. Otherwise, you… I know you can't stand looking at me!" her anger began to subside as she started to seem a little downtrodden.
"Wh-Whatever, I don't really care, I'm used to it…" she began to play with one of her braids.
TK walked away, not knowing what to think of her.
'She seemed nervous before I started to talk to her, but then she got defensive about something that wasn't even true like it wasn't the first time she heard. She even said she was used to it. I think it would be best not to talk to her for a while, let things calm down.'
After walking away from Toko, TK almost bumped into a boy with several piercings.
"Sorry," TK apologized.
"It's fine," the boy said. Getting a better look at him, TK saw that he has spiked reddish-orange hair with a goatee of the same color. He is wearing a white jacket with a white grunge t-shirt underneath and blue jeans.
"The name's Leon Kuwata. What's up?" the boy introduced himself.
'I remember Sora telling me about him. Even though none of my friends are super into baseball, Sora would usually follow a few high school teams from time to time. She told me that he used to bat cleanup for his old high school team and lead them to a national championship. He is the Ultimate Baseball Player but…'
"I don't see it," TK said after breaking out of his thoughts.
"Huh? What's wrong?" Leon asked.
"You don't look like the type of person who would play baseball," TK told him. Leon seemed slightly annoyed by this.
"What, were you expecting some kid with a shaved head?"
"No, it's just you being the Ultimate Baseball Player, I just expected you to look something like the pictures I saw online or from the article my friend showed me," TK explained.
Leon started to get embarrassed.
"What!? Aw man, you saw that picture of me playing baseball? Seriously!? I hate that picture!" Leon ran his hand through his hair as he was getting frustrated.
"This is not cool. This is SO not cool… Seriously, I'm like, mega embarrassed right now. I didn't have a choice, okay? Shaving your head like that is part of national championship regulations!" Leon's voice started to get louder.
"But now I refuse to cut my hair. And I'm not gonna dye it back to normal, either!" Leon shouted, causing a few people to stare at them. Leon blushed with embarrassment from the scene he caused, taking a few deep breaths he calmed down.
"Actually, can I be totally honest with you?" Leon asked. TK nodded in response. "I don't like baseball. Like, at all. I've never gone to a single practice."
'He must be a prodigy to be able to lead his high school team to a national championship without practicing once.'
"And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good! I have my own dream for the future!"
"And what's that?" TK was intrigued. He wants to know why a baseball prodigy would give up possible fame and millions of dollars.
"My only path in life is getting into music! You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right?"
'Oh, he's going for the musician lifestyle,' TK knows what Leon is feeling. His brother, Matt was a musician, he was the singer in his two bands. He only had two hit songs, one from each band, but other than that, they never really took off.
"I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar, and we're set!" Leon gripped his hands together and gritted his teeth. "This new version of me that's chasing after my dream is, like… super cool to the max!"
'He's really confident that his will come true, who am I to rain on his parade.'
After his introduction with Leon, TK made his way to who might be his heaviest classmate.
"I… am Hifumi Yamada. But if you want to call me by my nickname, 'The Alpha and the Omega!' I don't mind," he said with a little fanfare. "By the way, how much do you know the world of 2D art?"
"The world of… 2D?" TK was taken back. He never got heavily into anime, he considers his adventures in the Digiworld an anime, but that doesn't mean he doesn't watch them from time to time.
"Well, in that world, I'm well known and supremely well regarded as the Ultimate Fanfic Creator."
'I remember Matt and Tai joking about how I have nothing to worry about after they read Hifumi's forum, and after getting a good impression of his personality, I'm starting to feel a lot better about being accepted into Hope's Peak,' TK felt a little bit of pressure that he put on himself disappear off of his shoulders.
"I once sold 10,000 copies of one of my fan comics at a school festival. The event has passed into legends…" Hifumi recalled one of his greatest achievements, even impressing TK a little bit. "Some of them didn't get it, of course, saying I'd 'tainted' the event. How stupid can you be!?"
'When he says it like that, I don't think he was selling his comics at his school festival. But selling 10,000 copies of your own work is still impressive.'
"The words of such idiots mean nothing to me. I am like Van Gogh-utterly unappreciated in my time," TK became slightly concerned for Hifumi's well-being after he compared himself to Van Gogh. "I am a soldier, serving night and day to destroy all mindless preconceptions about fan fiction."
"I'm sure if you were to observe my work, Mr. Takaishi, you would comprehend its greatness immediately," TK was uncomfortable and hoped that their conversation would end soon. "For my work is filled with deepest meaning…"
"And what's that?" TK didn't want to know, but he also wanted to be far away from Hifumi for the time being and saw this as an opportunity to get away.
"It's about embracing our basest urges…" TK saw Hifumi wink, and maybe a little bit of drool escaping from his mouth.
Seeing his opportunity, TK wasted no time moving away from Hifumi.
'I feel dirty just by talking with the guy. I think it would be a good idea to limit the amount of time I spend with him in the future.'
As TK was walking away, he felt like someone was watching him. Actually, he felt like someone's been watching since his conversation with Taka. He quickly scanned the room and saw the blue hair girl from earlier staring at him. Assuming that she wants to talk to him, TK made his way over to her.
"Hello," TK greeted when he reached her.
"Hi, I'm Sayaka Maizono. I look forward to getting to know you!"
'Sayaka Maizono, I was surprised to see her name in the forum. She's in a pop group famous all across the country. In fact, she's the lead singer. Due to her being the Ultimate Pop Sensation, she's in high demand to make appearances on tv and in magazines.
But there was another reason I was surprised, actually, both Davis and Kari were surprised to see her name as well. I'm sure she doesn't remember… ah, it doesn't matter right now. But I must admit she is beautiful, like a doll or something.'
"I'm not a doll you know. I'm alive!" Sayaka brought TK out of his thoughts.
"Huh? Did I say that out loud!?" TK's cheeks were bright red from embarrassment.
"Nope. I'm psychic," she revealed.
"...What?"
"Kidding! I just have really good intuition."
TK laughed awkwardly at Sayaka's revelation. 'I will admit, she's pretty clever.'
Sayaka stared off into space like she was lost in thought. "Huh? By any chance…?"
"Yeah?"
"...Yeah, it must be. I'm sure of it," she looks like she figured out what she was thinking and seems kind of joyful about it. "Hey, Takeru. Did-"
"Jeez, you guys! How long do you plan to waste our valuable time with this ridiculous back-and-forth!?" Taka butted into their conversation, displeased about their small conversation. TK didn't understand why though, it's not like anyone else was lining up to talk with Sayaka.
"S-Sorry. Just got carried away, I guess…" Sayaka apologized with a little bow. She didn't want to apologize but seeing how uptight Taka is, she felt it would be for the best to tell him what he wants to hear.
"Self-introductions are for introducing yourself, not bumbling through a bunch of idle chit-chat!"
'Isn't that the whole point of self-introductions?' TK had to chuckle from the irony.
"Y-You're right," Sayaka said with another bow. "Sorry, Takeru. We can talk about this later."
'She seems disappointed. It looked like she had something to say,' TK smiled as he walked another one of his classmates. 'Well, it's not like we'll never see each other again. I can just talk to her later.'
TK saw the energetic girl from earlier and thought it would be a good idea to talk to her.
"Heya! I'm Aoi Asahina, but my friends just call me Hina! 'Sup?"
'Aoi Asahina, on her forum said that she's been breaking records ever since she was in elementary school. Davis told me she was chosen as an upcoming Olympic cadet. There is no doubt, she is the Ultimate Swimming Pro. Her ability, appearance, and, uh... proportions, which made Davis happy, are highly discussed online.'
"So, uh, what's your name again? Sorry, totally forgot!" Hina chuckled and had a small smile on her face. TK assumed, due to recent events, that she didn't purposely forget his name.
"Takeru Takaishi," he told her, causing her smile to grow bigger.
"Oh yeah, I knew it was something like that!" TK scratched his cheek and laughed awkwardly.
"Well, because it is that... " TK told her, but she just brushed it off.
"Sure, sure, got it! Here, I'll hammer it into my brain right now! Takeru… Takaishi… Takeru… Takaishi…"
Hina kept repeating his name while tracing her finger over her palm like she was writing something.
"What are you doing?" TK asked out of pure curiosity.
"You don't know? If you wanna remember someone's name, you gotta write it on your hand three times!" she answered with all seriousness to disperse any belief that she was joking.
"This is the first time I'm hearing about it."
"Hey, by the way…" Hina paused like she was embarrassed about something. "How do you spell your last name?"
"It spelled how it sounds."
"Umm?" Hina blushed from embarrassment and scratched the back of her head. Seeing that she's having trouble figuring out his last name, TK chose to help her.
"You can call me TK if you'd like."
Hina's face brightened.
"I can do that!" She started to bounce on her heels like an excited child. "I can totally remember two letters!"
After she calmed down and finished writing his name on her palm, Hina smiled and reached out her hand. "Anyway, glad to meet ya!"
TK grasped her hand. "Same here."
After they shook hands, they went their separate ways to converse with other people.
'Well, she's full of energy.' TK thought to himself.
TK then went to introduce himself to the small girl in a green dress.
"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki…" she paused and her cheeks turned bright red. "Sorry, I get kinda embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this. Anyway, I hope we can get along."
"I hope so too. Nice to meet you." TK gave her a friendly smile and she gave him one back. Then Chihiro had a surprised look on her face.
"...Huh? Maybe it's just my imagination, but… have we met before?"
"I don't think so. This is the first time we're meeting," TK told her. Chihiro was saddened by this and looked away from TK.
"Oh, yeah. Sorry…" she apologized, causing TK to feel bad. He knows he didn't do anything wrong, but he feels like it's his fault that she's upset.
"You don't have to apologize for that," TK told her and she seemed to brighten up a little.
"Oh, yeah…"
'Chihiro Fujisaki is known for all the cutting-edge programs. She's the Ultimate Programmer. She also has that timid little bunny-type thing going, which has endeared her to her legion of fans. My friends Izzy, Ken, and Yolie are huge fans of hers and before I came here asked me to introduce them to her.'
"Hey, so listen… I-I'm really sorry," Chihiro apologized again. TK was scared that he might've done or said something to upset her again.
"What are you apologizing for now?"
"Well, just cuz… you seem upset. You must be mad at me, right?" Chihiro looked like she was on the verge of tears. TK quickly waved his hands while shaking his head to calm her down.
"Don't worry, I was just lost in thought!" TK quickly answered. Chihiro wiped away the tears from her eyes before they fell down her face.
"Huh? Lost in thought…?"
"Yeah! I wasn't ever upset with you."
Chihiro gave the brightest smile that lit up the whole room.
"Oh, that's good. I was afraid maybe you didn't like me. Hehe… I'm glad!"
'I can see why she's so endearing to her fans.'
TK noticed a pale girl standing away from everyone, looking like she's studying them. TK thought that was a little creepy, but made his way to her anyway, thinking she was just uncomfortable being in a crowded room.
"..."
"..."
"..."
They stood in complete silence, waiting for the other to make the first move. In their awkward silence, TK was able to get a good look at her. The first thing TK noticed is that she seems to be a fan of purple, wearing a purple jacket, purple hair, even her eyes were purple. She also had on a black skirt, a white blouse, a brown tie, and a pair of black gloves on her hands.
After a long amount of awkward silence, TK decided he'll be the one to break the ice.
"Hello, I'm Takeru Takaishi, but my friends call me TK."
She didn't seem to care.
"Uh, can I ask you your name?" TK asked. 'This has got to be one of the most uncomfortable situations I've ever been in, in my life.'
"... My name is… Kyoko Kirigiri…"
'I can tell we'll have some serious conversations in the future,' TK thought sarcastically. 'But I don't remember seeing her name anywhere in any of the forums. Actually, there were a few students that didn't show up on the forums.'
"So, what are you doing at this school?" TK asked with the least amount of offense.
"What's that supposed to mean?" she asked bluntly.
"Nothing! I meant, what's your Ultimate? Everyone who is invited to attend Hope's Peak is an 'Ultimate' at something."
"... Why should I tell you?"
"You don't have to tell-"
"Yeah, I don't have to tell you. So I'm not going to," Kyoko interrupted him rudely.
TK backed away from her.
'Maybe she just got in here by chance, just like me. Though, she does seem pretty defensive about it.'
"..." Kyoko just stared at him and TK was able to take the hint.
'I guess our conversation is over.'
TK moved away from her quickly and walked towards the closest classmate he hasn't introduced himself to yet.
"Hiii! I'm Junko Enoshima. Charmed, I'm sure!"
'Other than Sayaka, Junko Enoshima is one of the most recognizable of my classmates. She's the Ultimate Fashionista. Mimi went on and on about how pretty she is while showing me her magazine covers but seeing her in person…'
"I can't really see it," TK said out loud.
"Huh…?" Junko was shocked. She looked horrified like it was the first time someone said something in that manner towards her. "Oh, are you talking about my cover photos and junk? Ahaha, well of course! Those are totally photoshopped."
"Photoshopped?"
"Yeah, you know- edited to hell and back. With like, computers and junk?" Junko explained.
TK knew the premise of photoshop, he even knew that a majority of magazine covers were photoshopped. He just didn't understand why the Ultimate Fashionista would need her cover photos' edited.
"They're not real then," TK said bluntly.
"Come on, don't say it like that! You're gonna make me all depressed," Junko pretended to be sad. It wasn't the first time she had this conversation with someone, so she's used to their disappointment.
"It's totally normal these days to photoshop the crap out of cover photos. If you're surprised by that, you'd be totally blown away by a certain dangerous little diva of ours…" Junko gave him a toothy grin while holding up the peace sign. "They make the eyes and junk super big, and tweak the skin so it looks all ceramic and porcelain."
'It'll be best if Mimi never finds out about this."
TK moved on to, possibly the most intimidating man in the room.
"Name's Mondo Owada. Nice to fuckin' meetcha."
'I better be careful when I'm around him. Not only is he the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, but he's also the current leader of the largest biker gang in all of Japan, the Crazy Diamonds. He's earned the respect of every gang in the country.'
"Uh… Nice to meet you, too," TK said in the nicest way possible.
"Hell yeah."
'I think I should just move on. That Kyoko girl was more talkative than Mondo is right now.'
TK walked away from his second-most intimidating to the most intimidating, and tallest person in the room. They had long white hair, dark skin, and a scar diagonally across their face. They also had huge muscles with multiple scars littered across their body, and bandages wrapped around their forearms and calves. If it wasn't for the fact that they were wearing a schoolgirl's uniform, a white shirt with the sleeves ripped off and a blue skirt, TK would've assumed she was a guy.
"I am Sakura Ogami."
'She even sounds like a guy. Anyway, I remember Ken and Cody telling me she competed in a martial arts tournament and won. She fought in over 400 matches, and never lost once. She definitely earned her title of Ultimate Martial Artists.'
TK looked at her over again and felt even more intimidated.
'Her internet thread said a bit more about her. Some called her ogre and some even believe she's the missing link between humans and the primates. Someone even warned the incoming class, saying that if we value our lives we should avoid her at all costs! And after standing in front of her for a few seconds, I'm starting to believe that they weren't exaggerating.'
"Hey, you."
TK quickly snapped to attention without a second thought. "Yes?"
Sakura then started to poke and prod his body, like she was studying him.
"What are you doing?" TK asked, trying his best to not sound nervous.
"Muscular quality and quantity is above average than that of an average high school student…" she looked at him over again and appeared to be disappointed. "But you are not fit enough to act as my training partner. What a shame."
She walked away, leaving behind a confused, yet relieved TK.
'I don't know whether or not to be offended or grateful?"
TK moved on to the most mellowed-out guy in the room.
"I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure-Hiro for short! Take it easy, yeah? I know I will!"
'Yasuhiro Hagakure, known as "Supernova" in the psychic community, and hair that would put Tai's to shame, is the trend-setting Ultimate Clairvoyant. Though I don't really believe in fortune-telling, I can see the appeal of it.'
"Ah… Okay, I give up," TK finished his inner monologue to see Hiro thinking about something.
"What?"
"I saw it. I looked right at it… Seriously, I totally saw it!" TK looked around trying to find what Hiro was talking about, but all he could see were the other students.
"...Saw what?" TK is curious. Whatever Hiro saw must've been interesting, right?
"A guardian angel with long golden hair fighting a black devil. And that guardian angel… is YOUR guardian angel!"
TK was wrong. Though what Hiro said did sound familiar, it was still crazy to hear.
"Nah, I'm just kiddin'," Hiro gave TK a friendly laugh and a pat on the back. "But hey, we should grab some brewskis sometime and get real deep into Lemuria and its civilization."
"I don't think they'll allow high schoolers to drink," TK said. He did have alcohol before, on his sixteenth birthday his mother brought him to Paris to drink with his grandparents. It was his grandfather's idea, saying that he wanted to at least share a drink with his grandkids before he died. But that was in France and the drinking age there is completely different from the drinking age in Japan.
"Oh, I'm actually 21. I've been held back a few times, see, and… well, it's a long story."
'Yeah, I believe that.'
TK walked over to the last girl he hasn't talked to yet.
"I do not think we've been introduced. I am Celestia Ludenberg."
"Celestia Lundenberg?" TK repeated.
"That is my name. But if you don't mind, I would prefer for you to call me Celeste."
"You are Japanese, right?" TK asked. He was able to figure out that she's faking her French accent, but after hearing her name, he assumes it's because her family moved to Japan before she was born and she's just paying homage to her heritage.
"Of course. Why do you ask?"
'Well, that throws that theory out the window.'
"Then could you tell me your real name?" TK's next theory is that maybe she hates her actual name and is asking people to call her by her fake name so she could get used to it before changing her actual name to it. That makes sense.
"Heh-heh. I don't know what you are talking about. Celestia Ludenberg is my real name," Though her appearance stayed the same, TK felt that she was getting annoyed by him asking questions about her name. "But as I mentioned, I would much rather you call me Celeste."
'No matter how long I talk to her, I can never get a read on who she is. Makes sense, since she's the Ultimate Gambler. She's never lost a bet and keeps her true self hidden under a veil of lies. Legend has it, she entered an underground tournament and won the whole thing, earning the title "Queen of Liars." She cleaned house, taking the other's life savings, and laughed as she did it.'
"I look forward to getting to know you better," she ended their conversation with what appeared to be an innocent smile and laugh, making TK sweat a little.
'I should be cautious around her.'
TK walked away from her and looked around trying to find the last student. He found him standing in the back looking at everyone with disdain of whoever made eye contact with him or was near him. He is the only other blond in the room and is well dressed, wearing a black suit jacket over a white dress shirt, black dress pants, and a pair of white glasses on his face.
TK made his way towards him.
"Hello," TK said.
The boy just looked at him with disgust.
"So, what's your name?" All TK received was a sigh as the boy rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"Name's Byakuya Togami," he said bluntly.
They stood in awkward silence for a few seconds.
'I take back what I said earlier. Both Kyoko and Mondo were more talkative than Byakuya is. He's the Ultimate Affluent Progeny. Reading his title made me and my friends question how Hope's Peak measures the success of its incoming students because you can measure the level of success of a baseball player or a swimmer. But how do you measure a person's wealth? Well, after a quick read over his thread answers all of our questions. He's already started managing business operations, and his own personal assets are vast. If you ask me, he's overqualified to be here.'
"We're done with introductions, right? How much longer are you going to stand there? Go away. I'm sick of looking at you."
'Though he appears to be the stereotypical rich asshole.'
TK moved away from Byakuya to an area away from everyone to think about what he learned.
'Even though they're all Ultimates, they each appear to have their own personality.'
"Okay, time to get down to business. This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons," Byakuya took charge, though he could've been more friendly about it.
"Yeah, someone said something about a bigger problem? What's that about?" TK asked.
"Well you see, Takeru, you said that you blacked out shortly after arriving? Well… the same is true for all of us," Sayaka told him.
"Seriously!?" TK already knew something weird was going on, but the fact that everyone blacked out, freaked him out.
"Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in school! That's what happened to you right?" Leon said.
"But this doesn't make sense! That all of us would get knocked like that…"
"Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!" Mondo shouted. He wasn't wrong, everyone felt uneasy about their situation, though they weren't as direct as Mondo was.
"And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right?" Taka said. TK thought back to when he was in the classroom and hallways. "But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What's that about!?"
"Plus, all my stuff is missing! Even my cellphone…" Junko complained.
"Yeah, you're right. I haven't even seen my PDA anywhere, either…" Chihiro added.
TK's eyes widened as he searched himself. He dug through all of his pockets and couldn't find his phone, his Digivice, or his D-Terminal, causing him to panic a little. Without his Digivice and D-Terminal, he has no connection to the Digital World or a way to quickly message his friends.
"And then there's the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here…!"
TK took in Taka's words. It was the second thing he noticed when he entered the room, and now getting a better look at the main hall, TK saw that it's completely different when he first arrived.
"What the heck!? What's it doing there!?" Taka shouted to the heavens.
"Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know… crime or something?" Junko suggested.
"What, like… a kidnapping? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?" Leon added.
After hearing it out loud, it made sense; everyone passing out when they show up at the same place, waking up in a different location from where they passed out, bolted shut windows, and a metal hatch locking them in, someone wanted them here. But why?
"Come on, don't be like that. Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation process. Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit," Hiro said, who has yet to grasp the situation they're in.
'If this is part of orientation, they have a sick way of doing it.' TK said in his head.
"Oh… So you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?" Chihiro said with a huge sigh of relief.
"Huh. Well if that's all that it is, it's nap time for me. I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye," Leon stretched and looked around the room for a comfortable place to sleep.
'Though I have some doubt about Hiro's claim, I won't deny that everyone seems to be calming down.'
*Ding dong, bing bong*
Everyone jumped from the ringing of the bell. Then the monitor in the room turned on to nothing but static. Then a silhouette of a bear appeared in front of the static.
"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test of the school broadcast system!" They heard a high-pitched playful voice come from speakers. It didn't sound threatening, but all they could feel was dread listening to it.
"Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then…! To all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at… right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience. That's all I'll be waiting!"
The monitor turned off after the announcement, the students were quiet, taking in what they heard.
"What. The. Hell was that just now?" Junko spoke up, breaking the silence. Almost all of them looked at each other, contemplating whether or not to listen to the announcement.
"Well then, as you'll excuse me…" Byakuya walked to the gymnasium, shocking everyone around him.
"H-Hey! What, you're gonna take off like that!?" Junko stammered.
"Ohh yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony!" Hiro laughed. "Man, thank god it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was real! Alright, guess I'll head out too. Wonder what they got planned for us…"
Hiro left the main hall and followed Byakuya to the gym.
"Damn, I was totally looking forward to that nap, too. Why'd they have to go and kill the mood?" Leon followed the example of the first two and left for the gym.
Chihiro chased after him. "W-Wait for me! I wanna go with you!"
"That is that, then. I will see you all there." Celeste left.
"N-Not that anyone cares, but I-I'm gonna go, too…" Toko followed after Celeste.
One by one, everyone took off for the gym, but TK just stood frozen in place. He had an uneasy feeling of the whole thing, and it appeared he wasn't the only one.
"This… this doesn't seem right," Sayaka said and Junko agreed with her.
"Yeah, that announcement was totally weird."
"Maybe, but just staying put doesn't mean we'll be safe," Kyoko said after minutes of silence. "Besides, aren't you guys just a little bit curious to find out what's going on here?"
"If we do not move forward, we learn nothing. The only choice is to push ahead," Sakura spewed her wisdom.
'She's right. But I'm still nervous. But what other choice do we have?'
"They said we'll be meeting in the gym, right?"