The halls of Hope's Peak Academy were cold, dark, quiet, and empty. It was peaceful, a silver moon shining serenely outside the large, glass windows. A dark figure treaded quietly through along the long, red carpet lining the black and white tile floor.
Nozomi, waiting casually atop the entrance hall staircase, observed him with an amused glint in her iridescent eyes. "Hey, baby brother…"
His head jerked up, red eyes piercing the darkness, irises like sniper scopes. You're not my sister, his eyes seemed to say. I have no family.
And yet, she was able to take him by surprise. Who but Nozomi Kamukura could surprise the other "Ultimate Ultimate"?
Age was a funny, fickle thing for them. Technically they—or rather, their past selves as Noa Fukushima and Hajime Hinata—were in the same year, second year, at Hope's Peak, though they were not part of the same class. Likewise, Izuru was conceptualized first, named after the original founder and Headmaster of Hope's Peak. A divide rippled between the scientists working on the project, however, and a faction of them finally went rogue, splitting away from the main group to create their own Izuru Kamukura.
This time, they scoured the Hope's Peak roster for one of the best and brightest Ultimates, though not too bright, for too much brightness meant that the student's absence would be noticed. Likewise, the second-best were often the most motivated, because they were so close and yet so far from the top spot. Noa Fukushima, Ultimate Theater Actress, was that second-best candidate, their top choice, and because she was already such a Talented Ultimate, she was far easier to work with than the Reserve Course boy. Because of that, Nozomi was "born" first.
And in yet another fateful twist, they unknowingly switched creeds. Nozomi was supposed to be a creature of Despair, but her love of the brainless, blue-haired girl she called a classmate, unit-mate, and soulmate—Towa Hanamaki—her "soul" was "saved". Izuru, meanwhile, consciously and subconsciously continued to reject his saving grace, though she was still reaching out. So was Nozomi. In her own, sisterly way.
"For someone with all those Talents, you could at least crack a smile once in a while," she teased, voice low and quiet.
"What purpose does a smile serve." It was a question, but Izuru's voice was so inflectionless, it was spoken like a statement.
"Communication. Next question." Nozomi smirked. Even though her expressions were restrained and muted, at least she emoted. C'mon, Izuru, cut the Edgelord crap. You're being an idiot, a dishonor to your Talents, leaning so hard into your aesthetic like that. Or are you the Ultimate Emo too? Smiles do indeed serve practical purpose, as I have just stated.
Nozomi had moments of spark and inner fire, and she could roast with the best of them, despite the "big sis" aura she typically tried to radiate. She displayed the more aggressive and playful side of sisterhood again on the next poor saps to stumble across her and Izuru's path.
He gave no reaction at all while she made a face halfway between a gentle smile and a smirk. "After-school detention for you too?"
"Oh, shit!" The first shadowy figure sprinting quietly down the hallway screeched to a halt. He was a tall, lithe boy with long, spiky black hair.
"Oh, the fuck?!" His partner in crime crashed into him. "What'd you stop for?!" she demanded, then she saw Nozomi and Izuru and gasped. In the dim light of the moonlit hallway, the Kamukura siblings could see that she wore large, round glasses and carried large, sharp scissors…
The scissors flashed as she moved them suddenly, wrapping her arms around herself, doubling over, cackling. "Who let the emos in?!"
"Takes one to know one, does it not?" the boy at her side smirked.
"Woah, what the fuck, bro? What happened to the Dynamic DID Duo?!" The girl with glasses and scissors scoffed and recoiled, deeply offended.
"We are loyal to no one except ourselves, remember?" he replied with a sneer.
"Damn. Got me there…" The girl growled, suddenly far lower and raspier than his haughty and slightly effeminate voice.
In time, the Kamukura siblings would know the other two not as a likewise brother-sister duo, but as the girl said, a pair of DID systems working together. The girl was the infamous serial killer, Genocider Sho/Genocide Jack/Jill, Ultimate Murderous Fiend. The boy was an unknown Persecutor alter from the Black Rose and Blue Thorn system. The only alias he gave was ALTER-EGO. He smirked whenever he said the name. Clearly, it was an inside joke, and one he refused to share with anyone except himself and his host.
"Ah, how like my brother you are," Nozomi's iridescent eyes sparkled again as she looked ALTER-EGO up and down.
"Thank you," he said haughtily at first, even puffing out his chest and raising his nose in the air.
"Your insecurities can be seen from space, for they are large enough to make your ego look as small and humble as mine." It was an overcomplicated insult, but Nozomi never gave anything less. Like Izuru, "ALTER-EGO" put on fronts and airs. From his looks to his name to the way he spoke and acted, it was all in the name of giving off a certain vibe. There was nothing wrong with that, but it told Nozomi that he cared deeply how others perceived him. That was a dangerous thing to reveal to people one did not trust, was it not?
You're saying you're easy to manipulate, Izuru agreed in his head, much less flowery in his roasts.
"Hey!" ALTER-EGO recoiled as if he'd been physically wounded by Nozomi. "Maybe the only reason you know is because yours are even bigger?!" Beside him, Genocider snickered under her breath.
Watching him argue with her about who's bigger? No matter which way you spin it, either its her cuz she got tits the size of the moon. Or it's him cuz he got a pretty big dick challenging some weird-ass goddess-girl like HER! Not that Toko believed in fairytale nonsense like that. It was all just stories, metaphors! Oh, of fallen angels and arisen demons!
"If looks could kill, you'd be dead!" The Ultimate Murderous Fiend cackled, slapping ALTER-EGO's back, tickled.
"Watch the scissors!" He twisted away from her violently. This mission would've gone PERFECTLY if those two… two… two freakazoid weirdo CREEPS weren't here too! His eyes—a different color from his host's—turned resentfully on the Kamukura siblings. "At least I don't need actual God powers to fuel my God complex!" he declared brashly, hands on his hips. It was a bit of a self-burn, but he wanted to see how Nozomi would react… She raised her eyebrows at first, and even Izuru managed a tiny smirk at her expense, then she more than gladly responded.
"Perhaps Fate decided that you were simply unworthy?"
"No, I'm just gonna take it by force!" ALTER-EGO was a little more prepared for her next barb, confident and brazen.
"Impetuous boy!" Nozomi scoffed. "You make me regret my desire for Izuru to express a little more!" Almost… she chuckled in her head.
Izuru narrowed his eyes imperceptibly, turning his head in her direction by a distance so tiny, only her sharp eyes caught it. Although he found her continued roasts of him obnoxious, he could not deny that it suited the "big sis" personality she had. He was the beleaguered brother, barely tolerating her indecencies and indignities. He could see a kindred spirit in the Genocider, while Nozomi was clearly more like ALTER-EGO.
No matter how they argue their differences, look how they argue while Genocider and I sigh in exasperation. Rather, Genocider face-palmed, slapping herself with the silver handles of her scissors while Izuru remained as empty-faced as ever. For some reason, he could not bring himself to pry his sharp red eyes away from the argument unfolding before him. That was why Nozomi bantered with ALTER-EGO so shamelessly.
You claim moral superiority, both of you, and yet all three of you continue to watch, do you not? You wish to see how this ends too… "You fancy yourself a protector, do you not?" she asked ALTER-EGO haughtily, matching his tone as her eyes pierced his soul.
How does she know THAT?!
I can read it on his face, the way he carries himself, the poses and expressions he makes…
"ULTIMATE Protector, actually." He crossed his arms. A defensive posture. See? Nozomi could read him too easily. "Shining, Smiling White Knight!" Nozomi smirked to herself yet again. Did that not describe her as well? She wore a glowing, flowing white and cyan uniform, futuristic and alien, contrast to Izuru's plain, simple, boring, dark suit.
"I am a Maiden of Might and Light to the masses," Nozomi continued calmly, casually. "I presume your "protectees" are fewer?"
"In better care than your charges!" ALTER-EGO scoffed, first at the grim man standing opposite from him, and then to the window and world outside. They were creeping through the academy, which still appeared mostly untouched, but on the fringes of society, a Tragedy was brewing…
"We learn from our mistakes." Nozomi was deeply stung by ALTER-EGO's words, but she refused to let it show. "Though I suppose… Since you have allegedly never made a single one, that is why you do not understand why coming here is a mistake."
"Hey, lady, is that a threat?!" Genocider interrupted with a crass, loud tone, pointing a pair of Geno-scissors at her as her long, red tongue curled out of her mouth. Nozomi turned to her, some composure returned by the unintentional comedic relief the Genocider unwittingly provided.
"A warning," she replied mysteriously.
"You messed up the quote…" Genocider grumbled.
Nozomi said nothing, but she continued to smile mysteriously. I speak the truth. Something bad is going to happen to Hope's Peak very soon… I can sense it… And I don't want Izuru to have any part in it!
A moment of humanity returned to her as she cast a desperate, iridescent gaze at the uncaring man. It was the one thing her Talent couldn't seem to do… How to make him care? Her existential worries of fallen angels and arisen demons (who was even who anymore? Did it matter?) caused her mind to warp, shifting slowly, then snapping all at once. Inside, her cackled and trembled, sounding like a blonde Genocider, just with prehensile hair rather than the Geno-scissors. Hmmm… Maybe she wasn't formed better than Izuru after all… Maybe she was just held together by metaphorical duct tape, just barely holding back a monster within…
"Purging the ugliness from the world is ONE way to stop this slow spread of Despair…" she murmured, subdued. Then her eyes went psychotic as she grinned at ALTER-EGO. "I'd gladly start with a mug as ugly as yours! There's nothing cute about you at all!"
"Excuse me?!" ALTER-EGO shrieked then huffed and puffed and pouted. "I am the most beautiful, handsome man alive!" He flashed a pose.
"Wow… Usually I'M the ugly heifer!" Genocider snickered.
"Oh, believe me, you're next!" Nozomi told her sweetly.
"Oh, of course, sloppy seconds!" Genocider scoffed, completely unbothered by Nozomi's eerie threat. ALTER-EGO was equally unbothered, or rather, he was more offended by her calling him ugly and unfashionable than threatening him with bloody murder.
Izuru slid back into the shadows, red eyes slowly receding away. Of fallen angels and arisen demons? No, there is no difference. They are equally shameful. And it does not matter either way, because they are all we have anymore…
AN: Written by a DanganDJ fan and a Discord friend of mine! The Ultimate ALTER-EGO (aka Shiyake) Fan.
Also semi-canon. There's nowhere exactly in the timeline where I would imagine all four of them met up at the same time—especially at Hope's Peak after-hours—but in this particular fic, I imagine that Izuru is scouting the place that will soon hold Junko's first Killing Game. Nozomi doesn't fully understand what's about to happen, but she's trying to talk him out of working with her again.
ALTER-EGO and Genocider were on a mission of their own (this is the unlikely part) that led to the four-way collision, as it were, lol!