Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto or Danganronpa.

Chapter 58:
The Ultimate School Festival Part II

It was hard for Chisa to not feel proud when she stepped into the gym. After her talk with Juzo, she needed something to cheer her up.

The sight of her wonderful kids preparing for their play later today was exactly what she needed.

"Sorry I'm late, everyone! I got held up with some stuff."

Her students turned to her when they heard her voice.

"Oh, how wonderful!" Sonia looked excited to see her. "We were starting to get worried, sensei!"

"We almost sent Akane-chan after you!" Ibuki exclaimed while trying to hold back her laughter.

The Ultimate Gymnast shrugged. "I already told you guys that I smelled her nearby."

Unlike some of the others, she hadn't been worried.

"I guess her nose is her one redeeming quality, huh." Hiyoko shot Akane a smirk, which the Ultimate Gymnast ignored.

"It's not like we don't get it." Byakuya was helping Nekomaru and Ryota set some props up on the stage. Kazuichi would be helping too, but he had decided to go off and make sure nothing happened between Naruto and Mikan. Whatever that meant.

"There was a lot of commotion this morning."

"You're telling me." Sighing, Chisa crossed her arms. She didn't miss the way Teruteru looked up at her chest when she did this, but she ignored it. She was going to have to punish the cook after the school festival was over. "You troublesome kids did something dangerous today!"

"It's not like we planned any of that," Nekomaru argued with a grunt. "Besides, Uzumaki was going to get attacked. We couldn't standby and do nothing."

"I know." A look of annoyance flashed on Akane's face at the reminder. "I really wanted to fight that guy."

He had looked kinda tough.

"Come on, you two." Mahiru's disapproving stare made the two athletes freeze. "We can't go around starting fights like that."

"We started nothing!"

Nagito chimed in here. "Owari-san isn't wrong. I was there to film the whole thing. It was the head of security that attacked first."

Peko raised an eyebrow at this. "You know him, Komaeda?"

"Oh, it's nothing like that. I only know of him. I've mentioned it before, haven't I? I like to keep an eye out for interesting people. He graduated from the school, you see. He's radiating talent! It's not hard to find this information online."

"Komaeda-san, that's a little scary." Mahiru wasn't going to lie about that.

"It's nothing special." Nagito couldn't accept Mahiru's "praise." "I'm sure someone like the Ultimate Spy has better information gathering skills than me. Even Togami-kun….."

Byakuya shot Nagito a warning glare.

The luckster could do nothing but back off with a warm chuckle when he noticed this.

Chisa realized that she was going to have to be more careful around Nagito.

"It was all resolved without violence," Chiaki said, humming. "That's the important part."

"I agree with you, Miss Chiaki!" Teruteru nodded.

"Sensei missed all the excitement that happened later!" Ibuki said with an excited wave. "Naruto-chan kicked some butt!"

Ryota disagreed. "How was that exciting? Those guys were totally trying to antagonize us!"

He might still be new around here, but he was still frustrated to see that his new friends were getting picked on. He had personal experience with that.

"It's definitely war," Fuyuhiko said with a scowl. "I don't like how that Matsuda fuck is egging Uzumaki on too."

"What?" Chisa blinked, confused. "What are you guys talking about?"

Some of this stuff was news to her.

"Kekekeke." Chuckling, Gundham raised his arms, as if he was trying to channel some inner power. "Isn't it clear? My dark aura has begun to attract the others in this school. They wish to subjugate themselves before me and proclaim themselves as my true servants! They must have learned of my new path and wish to walk behind me as I navigate the circles of hell. Such fools. As if I would require such weaklings…..!"

Fuyuhiko deadpanned. "I'm pretty sure they wanted to talk with Uzumaki."

"As if this guy would listen to reason now." Hiyoko rolled her eyes. "He just can't accept that Big Bro would crush him."

"What did you say….!?" Gundham wouldn't let such words go without a challenge!

"Someone wanted to speak with Uzumaki-kun?" For the moment, Chisa was ignoring the glare Gundham was giving to Hiyoko. "Why?"

"It's that other class." Fuyuhiko was irritated just thinking about them.

"Somehow, we made some enemies," Byakuya said with a small grin. He didn't mind. It would be fun, showing off his superiority against a bunch of "lessers."

Ryota looked worried. "You don't think something bad is going to happen, do you?"

Bullies tended to get more desperate if things didn't go their way.

"I wouldn't worry about that," Chiaki answered, smiling a little. "I think they want to beat us fair and square. If that's the case, then I don't think it's possible for us to lose."

Ibuki laughed. "Your faith is inspirational, Chiaki-chan!"

Sonia beamed. "I agree! I shall heap praise upon you, Nanami-san!"

"Oh. Thank you."

"Well, that's only natural." Nagito looked happy. "As I've already explained it, there's no way your talents could ever lose against theirs."

Ibuki grumbled. "That's not so inspirational, Nagito-chan."

"Oh. My apologies. I suppose I'm still not good at this." He sounded sincere too, so Ibuki couldn't hold it against him all that much.

"Perhaps I shouldn't have taken so long," Chisa mused. It sounded like she had missed some developments.

But there was something going on between Naruto and another student? How peculiar.

"We can put all of that aside for now, can't we?" Teruteru flashed his classmates a grin. "Now that we have more attendees, we can't disappoint them with a halfhearted show, right? We have to do our best to take center stage this week."

The others were stunned for a couple of second when they heard this.

"Hanamura is actually right for once." Fuyuhiko's eyes widened a little at this. "Incredible."

Peko hummed a little. "Even a broken clock can be right twice…."

That's how that phrase went. She was sure of it.

Ibuki squealed. "So insightful!" She almost hugged the Ultimate Swordswoman.

"T-That's kinda mean, you two…." Teruteru muttered, a cloud of disappointment raining over him.

No one cared.

Nekomaru looked determined. "Doing something halfhearted…..it'd be like taking a shit in my pants. SUCH A THING WOULD SHAME ME FOR THE REST OF MY LIFE!"

"D-Don't let out so much power!" Ryota tried to stop some of the props from flying off the stage, but Nekomaru's explosive power, just from raising his voice, was too much for him to handle. So, they went flying.

"Why are all of your comparisons always so gross!" Hiyoko would always take issue with that.

She didn't need to hear about Nekomaru and his bathroom activities dammit.

Chisa just sweatdropped at Nekomaru. "I appreciate the…..sentiment?"

Yeah, let's go with that.

Chisa quickly moved on. "We have some people missing. Why is that?"

She needed to give Naruto a lecture on what he did too. She might have let him escape earlier because of Juzo, but now he didn't have that excuse.

"Tsumiki dragged Uzumaki to the nurse's office to give him a check over," Fuyuhiko explained with a small shrug of his shoulders. "Soda wanted to go with them to make sure nothing happened."

"The delusions of the weak," Gundham said, calming himself down after Hiyoko's provocation. It wouldn't do for a master of the divine arts to be so easily riled up like that.

Chisa suppressed the urge to sweatdrop again. "Is that….okay?"

Those three could get involved in a lot of mayhem under the right…..or wrong circumstances.

"It's okay, sensei!" Sonia said, still excited. "I'm sure Naruto will be fine! He took no damage in the earlier fight!"

Ibuki burst out in laughter. "It was more like a one sided beat down! Naruto-chan barely moved at all!"

"It's all about control," Peko lectured. "Naruto tends to be too flashy at times. It's best he learns to not be so wasteful."

"Indeed." Nekomaru agreed. "You can't waste too much movement, lest you tire yourself out before your enemy does. Of course, that guy has more stamina than anyone I've ever seen."

Naruto's new "style" of fighting was all about reducing how much he telegraphed his movements. He had the speed and reaction time for it. Nekomaru had heard about this Sage Mode, but now that the blond didn't have it he was going to have to compensate with his regular senses. This often resulted in the blond taking different moves from different branches of martial arts, not mastering a single one but a jack-of-all-trades. Many "professional" fighters would frown at such a thing, but Naruto didn't care. Of course, against someone like the Ultimate Fencer, the blond hadn't needed to show much of this, except for the first part. He had been quick and efficient in ending the fight.

"Ugh." Akane groaned. "That sounds boring. Why limit yourself?"

"You still need to learn that lesson yourself, Owari."

Akane shrugged, still not seeing the point. She was going to beat Naruto and Nekomaru her own way. She wasn't going to be a copycat.

"All of this sounds like a video game character's moves set!" Chiaki was certainly excited about that idea.

"T'ch, stay focus." Byakuya pointed at the others. "Soda might have run off, but under my guidance we shall finish these preparations before Naruto and Tsumiki come back."

"Naruto…..Uzumaki….make up your mind already, dumbass," Fuyuhiko muttered, not getting why Byakuya consistently changed how he referred to the blond.

Chisa clapped her hands to get their attention. "Togami-kun has a point. I'm worried that one of my students is in the nurse's office, but I'm guessing it's only Tsumiki-san being overprotective again."

Her feelings toward the blond probably didn't help.

"Let's get ready for the party then!" Climbing on stage with her guitar, Ibuki was quick to play a few notes with a wide grin. "On top of the play, Ibuki's show will leave all of you blown away!"

No one doubted her claim.

'Well,' Chisa thought as she started to help her adorable students finish their preparations, 'I don't think Uzumaki-kun and the others can get in all that much trouble.'

They were only heading to the nurse's office.

…..right?

Naruto was very confused.

It wasn't the first time that Kurama had run off to do whatever it was that he did. Naruto didn't really have a problem with his animal friend rummaging through the school. The little fox was born in the wild and more than likely was used to exploring on his own. Naruto had been like that too, as a kid. And he still very much liked to explore new places when possible.

It was just that today was a bit different than normal.

It had only been about two hours since he and his friends had arrived at the school, and since then the main walkway had been transformed into something truly spectacular. It was like Naruto was looking at the summer festival he and his friends had put together a couple months ago, only now a bunch of other students were taking part.

Truth be told, Naruto didn't know many of the specifics of how this was put together. Fuyuhiko and his dad had set up some shops, but where the rest came from was a mystery to him. He spotted many Reserve Course students in the mix, so more than likely Sōshun had set up a system of sorts to allow them to set up their own shops. That was all Naruto could think of anyway. Fuyuhiko had done something similar for their festival.

Now that becoming Hokage was out of the question, Naruto idly wondered if he would ever have to learn to be a better organizer.

A thought for another time.

None of this was why he was confused at the moment. As the Ultimate Student Council President and now that he knew what a student council was, Naruto expected Sōshun to be efficient. Hope's Peak Academy might be shady, but there was no denying their desire to bring in the best of the best.

No, the cause of his confusion was the girl currently staring at him after asking for his name out of the blue. The look on her face made his spine tingle a little. Why? He didn't know. It was almost like she was trying to dissect him or something. Her eyes too…..they were intense. If he wasn't so confused, he might have tried to studied them more. That didn't stop him from getting caught up in them.

Again, why? No clue.

She was blonde like him and also had blue eyes. Her attire left little to the imagination when it came to her beauty, but predictably he didn't focus on that for very long. Other details caught his attention.

For one thing, she was out here with Yasuke of all people. How very surprising! Naruto didn't think that the asshole had any friends. Yeah, he was being bias. He wasn't going to apologize.

Secondly, she had Kurama in her arms. Why? Again, Naruto had no idea.

It didn't appear as though his fox companion was happy about it.

Naruto wanted to say something, but he didn't. Or more like, he couldn't.

Something had left him unable to speak.

He was still caught up staring at the blonde, while she did the same. For a moment, it was almost like they were in a trance, where everything and everyone else did not matter.

In the end, he wasn't the one that broke their little staring contest. It was Mikan, who tugged on his arm.

"N-Naruto-san, do you know this person…..?"

She sounded confused.

Naruto didn't blame her.

"Ah." Naruto blinked as the spell around him and this girl finally came undone. Scratching his head, he looked sheepish. "Nah, I don't. I don't know everyone around here, ya know."

Besides, she had asked for his name just now. This was their first meeting.

"Oh my gosh!" The blonde stepped back while waving her arms. Kurama took this opportunity to jump away from her and back onto Naruto's shoulder. He seemed to be glaring at the blonde too, not that the girl seemed to mind.

"Sorry about that~ I was caught off guard by those birthmarks of yours~"

Birthmarks?

Naruto almost grumbled at this. Sure, he had whiskers and they were kind of unique, but come on! Kazuichi kinda looked like a shark! And Nekomaru was a statute of a teenager! His whiskers couldn't be that weird in this world.

Mikan giggled a bit. "They do catch your attention, don't they?"

Mean.

At least the Ultimate Nurse seemed to be more at ease now. On their way over here, she had been a shaking mess with how everyone was staring at them. She was more comfortable with him and the rest of their class, but she still couldn't handle random people giving her attention.

"Nice to meet ya!" The blonde gave him a peace sign and an award winning smile. "My name is Enoshima Junko. I hope we can get along from now on."

Hmm. There it was again. Another weird feeling in the back of his head. Was his gut trying to tell him something? He wasn't entirely like Akane, but Naruto still trusted his instincts above else. He had been through a lot, and so when something made him feel uneasy he wasn't going to just dismiss it outright.

On the other hand…..he knew nothing about this girl.

The least he could do was give her a chance. He wasn't going to judge her until he got to know her.

So he grinned.

"It's a pleasure!"

Junko saw many different thoughts swarming in her fellow blond's eyes. His face might do well at hiding what he was thinking, but his eyes were a different story. They were very expressive. For someone like her, it was easy to tell what he was thinking.

'Oho, he's wary of me~'

Junko was silently amused by this. Why? She didn't know. Maybe it was because she had felt the same apprehension the second they had locked eyes? It was strange for her. Something within her was telling her to be wary of this boy, but that just made her all the more excited.

Why? Because for the first time she could remember, she wasn't sure of her own emotions. How despairfully delightful was that!? She didn't know something. It almost made her body start to leak! After all, there was absolutely no reason for her to feel wary about this random guy. He didn't seem like anything special, but it was as if her very nature was screaming at her that there was more to him than what she was seeing.

Of course, she wasn't going to let her thoughts show. As she had done for practically her entire life, she put on her "friendly and good natured" persona.

It helped that he easily bought her excuse about his birthmarks. He was an idiot. Of that, Junko had little doubt.

"Sorry about your friend there~" In one swift move, she grabbed Yasuke by the arm and pulled him closer to her. Her childhood friend had been doing his best to try and remain inconspicuous, but Junko hadn't forgotten about him.

"My lover and I were taking a stroll when we saw him."

Yasuke's eyebrow twitched. He couldn't help himself.

"Stop calling me that."

"Lover?" Naruto's eyes widened, obviously surprised. He then grinned. "You got a girlfriend? Oh man, this is great! I didn't see that coming."

He ignored Yasuke's refusal of the nickname.

Mikan tugged on his arm again. "N-Naruto-san, that's not very n-nice."

"Nah, I just gotta know how she does it!"

"N-Naruto-san!"

Junko let out a dramatic sigh as she rested her head on Yasuke's shoulder. "Are you talking bad about my beau? How very shameful of you!"

Junko silently enjoyed how annoyed Yasuke was becoming.

Naruto had to ask. "What's a beau?"

Mikan just looked embarrassed.

Yasuke wanted to kill someone. "Stop talking nonsense, both of you. This is why people think blonds are idiots."

Naruto rolled his eyes at this, his ire from earlier returning. "Let it go already, you gloomy bastard. So what if I didn't know about physics! It's been months since then!"

"I'm not sure how you can think that's okay. How have you survived all this time. The world is a nicer place than I gave it credit for if it allowed a simpleton like you to roam free all this time."

Had Yasuke used that insult before?

"Says you." Naruto snorted. "You can't criticize me. Have you seen your clothes? You're more sloppy than me!"

"Appearances matter little. The fact that you're resorting to that proves just how puny your brain is."

"Don't get ahead of yourself just because you have a girlfriend, you emo bastard!"

"I can snap your neck in less than a second."

"So violent! I guess I got under your skin, huh. So much for your usual laidback personality. I guess you're getting nervous now that I'm here."

"I'm not even going to dignify that with a response."

"You just did!"

"…"

"Ha! Too late for that now."

"…I really want to hit you."

"Even if you tried, you'd fail."

"Don't tempt me."

Mikan tried to intervene. "V-Violence isn't good, you two! Besides, N-Naruto-san and I have to go to the nurse's office now!"

"Eh. But, Mikan, we already found Kurama. Can't we just-"

"No!"

"….crap biscuits."

Junko allowed herself to mentally take a step back and just observe everything. Yasuke had tried his best to make it seem like there was nothing going on between him and Naruto, but ultimately he had failed. She wasn't sure if her childhood friend was throwing in the towel and letting the dice roll or if he was just being swept up in the "friendly" atmosphere.

How boring. No matter how hopeless it might be, Junko was hoping that Yasuke would have tried to put up more of a resistance than this. It would have felt so much better to crush his hopes then. Now, it was just underwhelming. But then, this meant that she had been crushed by her hope of expecting more from him. Her best friend had disappointed her.

She could settle for that despair….for now.

'More importantly.'

Her eyes settled on Naruto who was trying to talk Mikan out of going to the nurse's office.

Yasuke frowned when he noticed this.

"We should get going. There are other parts of the school to see."

Junko had to stop herself from rolling her eyes at this.

"Hm?" Naruto looked at them, putting his "persuasive" argument to Mikan on hold for now. "You're showing your girlfriend around the school? Is she staying for the festival?"

Mikan blushed cutely while clasping her hands in front of her. "I-Is it a date? T-That's so romantic."

Having fun together at a school festival with your partner…..Mikan liked that idea very much.

Yasuke glared at the nurse, which made her squeak in fear. "First of all, we're not dating. That's just something she likes to say for fun. Don't make stupid assumptions like that."

And to annoy him. Worked every time time too! Junko was real proud of that one.

Naruto stepped in between the shaking Mikan and Yasuke's glare. He glared back at Yasuke.

"Hey. Don't talk to her like that."

'Oho~'

Junko had to stop herself from shaking when she saw this development. So the blond had a hero complex, huh. A lot of possibilities here~

Yasuke scoffed. "I talk like this to everyone."

This was true.

"Not the point. I don't care if we're out in public. I'll still give you a nice punch."

To Yasuke's credit, he didn't seem fazed by Naruto's threat.

"I-It's okay, Naruto-san." Mikan pulled him back. She had gotten her shaking under control. "He surprised me. That's all."

Naruto still glared at the Ultimate Neurologist.

Junko wasn't all that surprised. She could best describe the relationship between the boys as "hostile." For whatever reason, they didn't like one another.

No, wait. She could make a few guesses. Junko was well aware that Yasuke had a habit of dismissing everyone around him as worthless. This wasn't the same as hating them. In all honesty, it was worse than that. He never went out of his way to interact with others unless it was absolutely necessary. There was just no reason to, in his mind. She was the lone exception of course.

Now, Junko was meeting a second exception. Except that unlike her, Naruto had the honor of getting Yasuke's ire on top of his attention.

How fascinating~

Junko was seeing a side of Yasuke she had never seen before. It made her want to laugh, but as with most things she kept this to herself.

Yasuke ignored Naruto's threat. "Secondly, I'm just showing her a quick look around. She's not staying. She's too busy with her work."

Junko was insulted by Yasuke's attempt to get rid of her. It was too weak!

"Work?" Naruto cocked his head. "What does she do?"

Before Yasuke could answer, Junko beat him to the punch.

"I'm a super star, blondie! I'm the best model in the world! Haven't you ever seen my pictures before? I'm what every high school girl wants to be. Who can blame them. My bod is too die for~"

She finished her proclamation by gesturing to said body.

While Mikan blushed at her confidence, Naruto looked confused.

"Pictures?" Humming, he cupped his chin in thought. "Nah, not really. I only ever remember Teruteru telling me about this Sayaka girl before….."

Although he hadn't seen any of her pictures, aside from the one Teruteru had shown him. Wasn't she more of a singer? Naruto couldn't remember all that well, just that Teruteru wanted to get his hands on Sayaka's coming photo album. Speaking of which, it was probably coming out soon.

"Huh?" Crossing her arms, Junko was kind of annoyed now. "You're talking about that overrated pop idol? Sheesh, I guess idiots do fall for that 'good girl' persona she's got going on, huh."

As if she could talk. But that just made it all the funnier in Junko's mind.

Naruto remembered Kazuichi and Teruteru and sweatdropped. "I can't deny that."

Mikan looked worried now. "A-Are you into models and singers, Naruto-san?"

The blond shrugged. "Not particularly."

While Mikan looked relieved, Junko fell back into Yasuke's chest with a dramatic sigh.

"Do you hear that, lover? All my work is being diminished right now. This guy doesn't care about my looks at all!"

Yasuke wanted to murder someone right about now.

Naruto scratched his cheek. "You're confident in yourself, I guess…"

"But of course!" Once again, with no regard to personal boundaries, Junko got close to the whiskered blond. Unlike before, Junko noticed glaring Mikan glaring at her, much to her amusement. "Tell me, have you ever seen a prettier girl than me anywhere in this world? I don't have to fake my photos like a lot of the other models out there. Isn't my face just to die for? Did you fall for me at first sight? You can be honest. I won't tell anyone."

"You're going with this again," Yasuke muttered, looking exhausted all of a sudden.

For once, Naruto seemed to be in agreement with Yasuke, looking put off by Junko's attitude.

What a development!

Junko still wanted a response from him.

"Uh. I guess…..you're pretty…..?"

The whiskered blond tried to choose his words carefully, but he started to sweat when he noticed Mikan now staring at him. She wasn't glaring at him, but she wasn't embarrassed either. He had no way of knowing what the nurse was thinking now. Her face was blank.

Had he messed up!?

If nothing else, Junko found the boy's stupidity highly amusing.

"Wowzers, thanks!" Ignoring the way the little fox glared at her, Junko latched herself to Naruto's other arm. Mikan went back to glaring at her as well while Naruto tensed up.

If there was one thing Junko liked to do more than anything it was to cause strife between people, no matter how small said strife was. These two were going to make it so easy for her

Yasuke's growing annoyance was a bonus.

"Just for that, you gotta show me around the school now~"

Naruto didn't know what to say to that. He could only look between Junko and Yasuke, his brow furrowed. He finally voiced his question after a moment.

"Aren't you two…..together?"

Now that was funny to Junko.

"My childhood friend here says he's too busy to show me the whole school. He's putting on a play! I don't wanna bug him."

"I never said-"

"See, I'll be attending school here next year." Junko's dismissal of him had Yasuke scowling. "I already know my beau. Plus, he's got other stuff going on. I think it's time I spread my wings a little and got to know my other future classmates. What do you say?"

Junko had on her signature winning smile that had won the hearts of many throughout the country.

Once again, Naruto wasn't sure what to say. It made Junko almost laugh at how uncomfortable he looked right now. He might dislike Yasuke, but it was clear that Naruto didn't want to get in the way and cause problems for her and Yasuke.

Such a nice guy! It made Junko want to mess with him even more.

When Yasuke didn't try to argue with Junko, Naruto finally relented and slowly nodded.

"Sure, I guess. You did find Kurama, so I guess I owe you."

"Wow, thank you~"

Mikan wasn't happy with this, but she didn't say anything.

Naruto then shrugged. "Of course, we're kinda busy ourselves. There's a contest going on, and we gotta win!"

"Oh?" Junko gave her childhood friend a glance, which Yasuke pointedly ignored. "I wasn't told about that at all~ Sounds like fun! What else can you tell me about this festival? If it's fun, I might have to stick around."

Naruto shrugged again, not seeing a problem with that. Yasuke wasn't saying anything against it, so in his mind he was cool with it. Sure, he looked annoyed, but in Naruto's mind the guy was always annoyed.

"There you have it." Junko gave Yasuke a grin, but it was one of those grins that was meant to get under his skin rather than be appealing. It was big and full of teeth.

"I have a new guide now. Sorry to trouble you, lover~"

Yasuke wasn't the one to fight this, but rather it was Mikan.

"W-Wait a second! N-Naruto-san and I have to go the nurse's office first! I need to check him over!"

The urgency in her voice was clear.

"Hm?" Junko finally looked at her, and Mikan felt like she was a piece of meat being studied. Not in the sexual kind of way, but more like a predator would regard its prey. It made her want to disappear forever.

"That so?" The blonde model shrugged, still holding onto Naruto's arm. "Not a problem. I can wait."

It beat following Yasuke around at this point.

The Ultimate Neurologist glared at Junko but still said nothing.

If nothing else, Junko was more than happy to mess with her best friend like this after all this time.

All of this left Naruto in a very difficult spot as Mikan started to pull him back towards the Main School building, only now Junko was following them, something that peeved the Ultimate Nurse to no end.

Junko was going to love this.

It was hard for Kazuichi to categorize what he was feeling…..wait, who was he kidding.

He was pissed! He was livid! And jealous. Very jealous.

The Ultimate Mechanic glared at the sweating blond whom he called friend.

"Why the hell are you so goddamn lucky?" Kazuichi practically hissed.

Naruto scratched his cheek. "Uh. I don't know what you're talking about…..?"

This time, Kazuichi wasn't buying that excuse.

While the mechanic wasn't as well versed with pop idols or models like Teruteru was, he still knew of a few. It was normal! He was a high school boy with a healthy libido. He wasn't doing anything wrong!

Besides, one would have to be living under a rock to not know who Enoshima Junko was. The teen girl was practically in every beauty magazine cover in the country! What was that slogan again? Something like "she was what every high school girl wanted to be"?

Kazuichi couldn't remember exactly. He just knew the model was hot. Very hot. With big boobs! He would always prefer Sonia's modest chest, but he could also appreciate a nice pair of big boobs when he saw them. He was open minded like that.

Seeing Junko in person, Kazuichi could attest that the pictures he saw were real. A lot of times models faked their stuff apparently.

Junko was not one of them.

Once again, Kazuichi thanked whatever deities were out there for letting him come to Hope's Peak Academy. He had met so many beauties because of the school. He was almost ready to start worshiping it like Nagito did.

Conversely, he felt like this was just a byproduct of someone else's dumb luck.

Kazuichi cursed whatever eroge deities had given Naruto their blessings. He might be slow on the update sometimes, but there was no way he could miss the fact that Junko came into the nurse's office because she was following Naruto.

Was there going to be another addition to the blond's future harem!?

'That dumb fortune teller started all of this.'

If Kazuichi ever met that guy again, he would punch him. He swore it on his life.

None of this particularly mattered too much.

Naruto was dragged into the nurse's office by Mikan after locating Kurama with Junko trailing after them. She seemed to be amused by something. Kazuichi couldn't tell.

By that point, Eisha had already returned to the realm of the conscious with Rin offering a silent prayer on his behalf. Why, Kazuichi didn't know. He didn't care all that much. Sure, the Ultimate Hunter was hot and was busty in their own right, but he was still annoyed by her actions today. Scratch that. He was annoyed by the actions of that entire class. Sure, Kazuichi knew he and the others were awesome, but did that mean that they had to be constantly harassed like this!?

Nu-uh. He wasn't going to let them get away with it!

Mikan performed a quick examination of Eisha. It was half-hearted at best, and Kazuichi knew that the Ultimate Nurse only did it to appease Naruto. Damn him. Kazuichi was certain that the beautiful nurse would strip for the blond too if he just asked.

If only he had his own beautiful nurse at his beck and call….!

Still, even if it was half-hearted, Mikan's examination was still truthful as she informed the Ultimate Fencer that he was going to be fine. Naruto hadn't permanently broken anything in his body.

Eisha was chill enough to offer his thanks before dragging a grumbling Rin out of the nurse's office with him. The girl had wanted to stay to see if she could get some juicy information out of Naruto. For once, Eisha wasn't going to let her have her way and so forced her to leave with him.

Naruto, Kazuichi, and Mikan were all thankful for this. They didn't want to keep putting up with the Ultimate Hunter today.

Junko was grinning.

"That guy was pretty beat up~ Did something happen, hmm?"

Her question seemed innocent enough.

Naruto shrugged as Mikan made him sit down on the chair next as she pulled out a clipboard from her desk.

"He challenged me to a fight."

"I think it was his friend that challenged you," Kazuichi corrected with some amount of snark. "Seriously, that chick can be scary."

"You think so?" Naruto didn't. "I think she was kind of funny."

She had called him an alien. That just made him want to laugh, the total opposite of when Kazuichi had done it.

Kazuichi had to roll his eyes. "You have a weird way of judging people."

"Obviously. I mean, you're my friend."

"Bastard, what does that mean?"

Naruto just smirked.

It made Kazuichi shake his fist at him.

"Don't tempt me right now. I'm already not in a good mood."

Naruto deadpanned. "You're always annoyed at me for one stupid reason or another. This isn't anything new."

"Yeah, well…..shut up!"

Junko scoffed while crossing her arms. "Can't do better than that? Lame."

Sure, the way she crossed her arms made her chest bounce in a way that Kazuichi liked, but her words made him want to cry.

Why was every hot girl that came around here always so mean to him dammit!? What's next, was Naruto going to befriend the famous idol Sayaka and then she was going to treat him bad too?

….that actually sounded too plausible for Kazuichi to handle.

Damn this world. At this point, Kazuichi couldn't tell who was worse for him: Nagito or Naruto.

"Anyway." The way Junko dismissed him made Kazuichi want to cry all over again. "Why did she want to fight you, Uzumaki? Did you do something to piss her off?"

Before Naruto could answer that, Kazuichi butted in again.

"That crazy chick thought he was from outer space or something just cuz Uzumaki smells weird. I can buy that, but to assume he's an alien just because of that…..freaky."

Naruto twitched. "I don't smell weird."

Kazuichi smirked. "Her words, not mine."

"I don't smell weird." Naruto had to reiterate that.

Next to him, Mikan blushed as she paused her examination for a moment. "I think you smell nice….."

Her words were enough to make Naruto blush too.

Kazuichi looked ready to jump off a building.

'Is it just me, or are these two flirting a lot more lately!?'

Had something happened while he wasn't looking!? Dammit, he was always missing all the juicy parts!

"An alien, huh." Mikan's blush faded when Junko walked up to Naruto and leaned in close to sniff him. This only caused Naruto to become even more embarrassed while Kazuichi gawked at the scene.

How forward was this girl!?

Grinning, Junko stepped back with a shrug. "Nope. Can't smell it. I guess my nose isn't that of a beast. Sucks for me. My fans won't have to worry now. I still remain a delicate flower~"

There were several reactions.

Naruto just scratched his head, embarrassed.

Mikan did not look happy by Junko's actions. Heck, she was openly glaring at Junko now.

Junko didn't seem to care about Mikan's displeasure.

Kazuichi….well, he just had to mope some more.

Why couldn't a hot blonde model sniff him like that, huh!?

'Okay, maybe I just need to find that fortune teller guy and have him tell me that I'll have five wives.'

Yep, that was the solution to all of this.

Kurama yawned from on top of Naruto's head as he made himself comfortable.

Time for a nap.

Junko found Hope's Peak Academy to be nothing special. Sure, the building looked sorta impressive from the outside, but on the inside it looked like any other school building. If she had it her way, she would remodel it to have a different ambiance. As it was, it was just too boring.

'So many plebs want to come here. Pfft.'

How despairingly laughable. Of course, to the many ants of the world, something as dull as this was probably the best reward they could think of.

Sucks for them.

Her only solace was the fact that a new school building was being built. It should be finished by the time she was due to join the school next year. Hopefully that place had more spunk that this old building.

While Hope's Peak Academy was dull in design, she was quickly finding out that perhaps the people here would be able to offer her some kind of entertainment.

So far, she found that messing with Naruto and Mikan was more entertaining than her usual routine, so that was something. Still, even this was quickly becoming stale for her.

They were two teens who had a crush on one another. Big whoop, want to fight about it?

Because Junko would fight about it. Even if she got thrashed, that despair would be enough to soothe her for at least a little bit. It had been too long since she had last gotten a good thrashing.

She idly wondered when the next time would come as she walked next to Naruto. She wasn't holding onto him right now. No, Mikan had taken that honor for herself again as she tried to discreetly glare at her.

If Junko were a lesser human being, she would be crushing the older girl under the heel of her boot.

Kazuichi was glaring at Naruto too, but Junko didn't care about him.

She raised an eyebrow when they rounded the corner toward the gym. There, they were greeted by another student. For some reason, Junko felt herself curious about this guy too, despite the fact that he seemed wimpy and insignificant.

"Ryota." Naruto greeted the boy with a nod. "What are you doing out here?"

The male student was in the middle of trying to set something up on a trio of TVs that had been hung over the double doors leading to the gym.

Junko almost snorted in amusement when she saw Ryota look a bit peeved at seeing Mikan glued at Naruto's side.

There was a lot of drama around here, wasn't there?

"Uzumaki-san." Ryota still smiled at the blond. "You guys were gone a bit. We almost started to worry."

"They took a while to get to the nurse's office," Kazuichi explained with a sour look.

"Ah." Ryota glanced at the sleeping Kurama. "I'm glad you were able to find Kurama."

"Same here." Naruto beamed while pointing at Junko. "'Course, we couldn't have done it without her. She's Junko. A….uh friend of Yasuke."

Mentally snorting at his hesitation to describe her relationship with Yasuke, Junko gave Naruto a sly look.

"Already calling my by my first name~ You're so bold!"

Naruto felt Mikan grip his arm harder, but he didn't dwell on it. He just rubbed his chin in thought.

"I still don't understand what the big deal about all of that is…."

Ryota sweatdropped. "It's a bit of a social convention, I guess."

"This guy can't understand stuff like that," Kazuichi huffed. "He's a brute. You should know that. He can only fight, and that's about it."

"I'll prank you, Kazuichi. I haven't been able to prank anyone in a while. I'll go on a pranking spree, and you'll be my target. Don't tempt me."

The mechanic looked creeped out by how serious Naruto sounded when he said that.

"Naruto-san, we don't have time for that right now," Mikan reminded him softly.

"Oh, right." Naruto's voice lost its edge as he brightened up again. "So what's up, Ryota? Did we miss anything?"

Junko wanted to laugh, but she said nothing.

"Ah." Rubbing the back of his head, Ryota looked a bit hesitant. "Well….t-to be honest, I was kind of hoping you guys were going to take a while. I wanted to surprise you with this."

"What?"

"Oh yeah." Grinning, Kazuichi walked up to Ryota and patted him in the back. "Almost forgot about that. I was starting to wonder what you were doing with my TVs."

Naruto wasn't surprised by that tidbit. Kazuichi had already made a gigantic TV for them before, for when they wanted to play video games in the classroom. He was surprised about something else.

"You two were working on something?"

He hadn't heard anything about this.

Kazuichi pointed at the squirming Ryota. "More like this guy approached me last week after our party. He said he wanted to do something to help us other than just being extra muscle. That's when he had an idea of making a short anime about the play that he can display on the TVs while people wait."

Naruto's eyes widened. "Seriously?"

"Amazing!" Mikan exclaimed with excitement. "I had no idea you were doing something like that!"

"W-Well, I only had a w-week to work o-on it," Ryota said, stuttering with growing embarrassment. "I can't promise its quality, so I-I'm sorry if it didn't come out right! A-Also, d-don't worry. I-I made s-sure to leave out a-any spoilers. It's more of a t-trailer than anything else….."

He trailed off, unsure of how Naruto was going to react to his idea.

"I have no idea what anime is, but Chiaki told me a little about them before." Naruto hummed as he nodded a couple of times. "If it's coming from you, it must be good. I can't wait to see it later!"

It was Ryota's turn to look at the blond with wide eyes. "R-Really?"

"For sure!" Naruto tilted his head. "Actually, that's not a bad idea. We could have a party later after the day is over. Play some games and watch anime. I think the others would like that."

"I-I don't really know much about anime," Mikan admitted shyly. Then again, she hadn't known much about video games either until she met Chiaki.

"Another party?" Kazuichi was instantly on board with the idea. "Sounds like fun!"

Ryota could only look at the three of them with appreciation. He had to hold himself back from crying in fact. This was the kind of thing he had always wished for, after all. To watch anime with a group of people he could call friends…..how lucky was he?

"I really d-don't know what to s-say….." He internally beat himself up over the fact that he was still stuttering.

It was Naruto who patted him on the back this time.

"You don't gotta thank us. This is the kind of thing we do all the time. It's fun for us too."

Ryota felt even better after hearing that.

"Besides, I'm curious about this anime stuff too. Byakuya only showed me drawings of it back when he was helping Chiaki for our summer festival. They looked awesome! It kinda reminded me of Mahiru's pictures but different at the same time. I'm sure they can be just as inspiring."

Naruto hadn't meant to struck a chord within Ryota when he said that. He was just speaking, sharing his thoughts out loud with his new friend…..because he was genuinely curious about what anime was all about.

Despite his intent, Ryota finally broke down crying. These tears were different from the ones he shed in the past. They were not like the ones when he was constantly mocked and bullied for liking anime. No, these were tears of joy.

Naruto still panicked.

"W-Wait a second! Ryota! Why are you crying, man?"

Kazuichi shook his head. "Trying to bully him? So not cool."

"Shut up, you! That's something Nagito would say!"

Kazuichi didn't care. He would take any shot possible.

It was Mikan who understood Ryota's tears first, and she smiled to herself.

"It's okay, Naruto-san." Her voice, despite being soft, stopped Naruto from getting into another fight with Kazuichi. "Mitarai-san is just happy. Right?"

Not trusting his voice, Ryota could only nod as he tried to wipe the tears away.

Perhaps it was insensitive of him to think this way considering everything that Byakuya and Mikan had done for him thus far, but for the first time since arriving at this school, Ryota felt like he could understand what "hope" was supposed to be about. It was such a simple gesture, but Ryota still appreciated it like nothing else.

And he was forever grateful for that.

Naruto and Kazuichi caught on to what Mikan was saying and allowed the Ultimate Animator to have his moment as they patted the boy on the back with smiles of their own.

The four Ultimates were in their own little world, and for Kazuichi and Mikan it was a warm feeling that they had come to be accustomed to after being around Naruto for so long.

This meant that none of them were paying attention to the other person that was with them.

Junko would have felt insulted to be so easily forgotten like this. She was the epitome of "ultimate." Mere peasants such as these shouldn't be treating her with such disrespect. She would make them pay...!

She wasn't thinking like that, though. No, her thoughts at the moment were very different.

Junko had to stop herself from screaming out as she squirmed in place, rubbing her thighs together. Much like with Ryota, Kazuichi, and Mikan, she also felt a very warm feeling spreading around her. She didn't know what it was, but she knew where it was coming from.

Naruto.

He was the cause of the scene in front of her. All the warm, fuzzy feelings flying around.

All of this hope.

It sickened Junko to her core. She wanted it to end. She despised this emotion to her very core.

But she also loved it. It made her feel...safe.

It was like she was having an internal crisis.

Despite that, her mind had pieced many things together.

There was a whole class full of encounters like this? And this class was the one responsible for that festival that Yasuke had attended a couple of months ago? Was this class behind everything that was hopeful around here?

No, that wasn't entirely right.

Junko could already tell who was the moving force behind all of this. Who had been the one to make this school festival a tiny bit more exciting by letting those talentless nobodies into the school. It hadn't been long, but all of this mushy feeling was coming from none other than the idiotic blond in front of her.

It made Junko squirm harder as she tried to resist her excitement.

Her mind was already conjuring several things up. There were many things she could say, and she would. In time. There was one thought that was the most important above all.

This hope in front of her…..she wanted to crush it. She wanted to fill it with despair. To make sure that nothing of it remained. Every feeling in her body was telling her to do so.

Her eyes locked onto Naruto. She felt disgust but also excitement. It was hard for her to properly explain her emotions, but once again that just made her heart beat with anticipation.

There were so many things that she didn't know anymore.

She had to wonder…..what would Naruto's face look like when it was filled with despair?

It took Junko everything she had to not moan at the thought.

Hifumi stood before the massive school gates. He had been let in pretty easily on account that many of those waiting in line let him skip for whatever reason. They had been pinching their noses too, but Hifumi didn't really understand what that was about. Everything out here smelled pretty good! Even though he hadn't taken a shower in three days, he didn't smell bad either.

Weird 3D NPCs.

Whatever. They weren't his concern. Hifumi had spent the better part of a week staying up to finish up his latest comic, only this one was wholly original. At first he had planned on debuting it at his school festival, but then he saw the video that was spreading online.

'Oho, so this is where you are. Most intriguing.'

Hifumi was a warrior on a mission. He had been inspired to create his own work for the first time ever, and he wanted to properly express his thanks by sharing the first copy of his work to the source of his inspiration.

Now, it was only a matter of tracking down his target.

Hope's Peak Academy better be on the lookout. "The Alpha and the Omega" was about to make his most awesome debut yet!

Hifumi has returned. Is he the only one? Who knows.

Junko has some weird fetishes.

I had wanted to release this yesterday, but I spent my time eating instead. Good times.

Till next time.