Hopeful Days VI – New Faces
Hope's Peak was just as grandiose as Makoto thought it would be.
Really, describing this place as a school was actually a disservice. They had facilities for everything the students would need, from a gigantic library to a actual Olympic pool, it was more of a mini-city than an actual high-school.
"Something on your mind, Naegi-kun?" Monaca asks, making the brunette look at her.
He was so distracted that he forgot Monaca was accompanying him. "N-Not really." Makoto smiles and closes his eyes, feeling the breeze hitting his face. "Just thinking about how, grandiose, everything here in Hope's Peak is." Opening his eyes, the boy looks towards the green-haired girl as she chuckles.
"Indeed, it is fairly impressive." The greenette smirks. "Then again, having both the Towa Group and the Togami Family, backing it up, it would be surprising if it wasn't impressive." That said, the green-haired Ultimate didn't sound really that impressed.
Makoto scratches the back of his head. "I guess you're right." A short silence falls as the two keep going down the path towards the cafeteria.
Still, it was going to take him sometime to get used to this place, that was for sure.
The cafeteria was just as impressive as the rest of the school. It felt more like an restaurant than a school cafeteria.
The tables are all made of rich wood, painted in white and spread across the large room, the windows are large and rectangular and showing the greenery from the outside giving the cafeteria a very nice, cozy vibe and the groaning boy on the ground holding onto his crotch while Celestia Ludenberg sipped on her tea, all like you would see in a restaurant.
Wait, what?
"Oh…." Groaned the boy with his face planted on the ground, he was dressed like a chef and had a small stature.
"Good morning." Greeted the Gambler with a soft smile on her lips. "Care to join me for a cup of tea?"
Makoto blinks, still taking in the scene. "U-Uh, g-good m-morning." Monaca simply nods in acknowledgement.
"Sadly I'll have to decline, I already had breakfast today." The greenette replies, seemingly unfazed by the scene in front of her. "Naegi-kun?"
The boy snaps his attention back to the green-haired girl and shakes his head. "I-I'm good, but thanks anyway." He moves his gaze to the Gambler and smiles awkwardly.
"Well, more tea for me then." She gracefully sips of her tea again, then continues. "I believe you are Naegi Makoto, right?" He nods and the goth chuckles. "I'm Celestia Ludenberg-" With another sip of her tea, the girl unceremoniously kicks the downed boy in the head with her heel. "-and this is one of our upperclassmen, Hanamura Teruteru, Ultimate… Cook, I believe?" He groans again, Makoto couldn't get if it was in agreement or just in pain.
"I-£ see," Makoto gulps down, not sure if he should ask, but deciding to anyways. "U-Uh, why is he on the floor?" The Luckster instantly felt a shiver run down his spine.
Celestia's smile never left her face, but her fingers grasped a bit more tightly onto the teacup and her right eye twitched slightly. "Oh that." Tilting her head to the side, she explains. "Hanamura-senpai asked me what type of underwear I was wearing after he poured me a cup of tea." Makoto blinked, but before he could ask anything more, Celestia continued. "So, after I kindly asked him to apologize, he started to bow and promised to make up for me with a even better cup of tea next time I came around."
Makoto's gaze went to the clearly in pain Ultimate Cook, before going back to Celestia's gaze. "S-Sure." She was very much lying, but the brunette wasn't going to be the one to point that out.
"So senpai here is one of those types?" Monaca asks and the Gambler nods.
"Hopefully our classmates will be of… better conduct." Celestia says with a not-so-subtle look towards Makoto.
The boy blushes and Monaca giggles. "Naegi-kun here has been nothing but a gentleman." The ultimate smiled. ' At least for now.' She mentally added.
"That is wonderful then!" Celestia also giggled and Makoto felt very uncomfortable in this situation.
Still, he added a mental note, ' Keep my pervy thoughts to myself'.
"If you are not here to grab breakfast, what are you two doing here?" The goth asks, sipping her tea once again.
"We're just exploring a bit." Replies the Ultimate Robotic Engineer. "Would you care to join us?"
Celestia shakes her head. "Delightful offer, but no, sadly I can't." She looks towards the clock over the cafeteria's entrance and sighs. "I have some important business to take care of, so I'll pass this opportunity."
Monaca nods. "I see, well good luck on your business!" Turning her wheelchair around, the greenette smiles to Makoto. "Let's go?"
Makoto blinks, before smiling softly. "Yeah." He turns to Celestia and bows politely. "See you around, Ludenberg-san!"
The black-haired girl nods and the two exit the cafeteria, leaving her alone with the still downed senpai. "Towa Monaca huh? Better keep a eye on her."
Makoto and Monaca walked around a bit more, talking about their hobbies and other mundane subjects.
The brunette ended up finding out that Monaca was really into RPGs and she loved to pass her free time playing them, whenever she had free time, that is.
Monaca in turn found out just how boring he was, or at least that was Makoto thought.
Really, there was nothing he could say that would surprise the green-haired Ultimate.
"C'mon Naegi-kun, there must be something you think is interesting about yourself." Monaca says as the two continue their stroll, the boy now had moved to behind her wheelchair and was pushing her along.
"I really don't think there is though." He replies unsure of his answer. "I mean, I'm pretty much average at everything." The greenette chuckles slightly, but before Makoto can ask why she was laughing, the sound of a door being open and a booming voice interrupts the two.
"I CAN'T THANK YOU ENOUGH SENPAI!" Standing in front of one of the door was a tall muscular man with black hair and… energy beams coming out of his eyes?
By his side there is a smaller girl, although everyone present was small comparison to the man, she has pale-gray hair, a sickly skin tone and purple eyes. She's wearing a respiratory mask, a simple black shirt together with a black skirt and stockings of the same color.
"N-Nidai-san, y-you don't need t-to s-shout." The smaller girl meekly says.
She's promptly ignored by the taller man. "HAHAHAHA!" He laughs out loud, before smacking the girl in the back, making her almost fall face first on the floor. "YOU'RE TOO KIND KIMURA-SENPAI!" The man suddenly stops laughing and turns around, the energy coming out of his eyes turning even stronger. "YOU!" He points his finger in Makoto's direction.
"M-Me?" Makoto points at himself, already feeling himself panic.
"YES YOU-" The man marches forward, each step seemingly shaking the ground as he moved closer until he was in front of Makoto and Monaca. "-HYAH!" The brunette prepares for a strike that would definitely kill him considering the man's size. "I'M SO SORRY!" Instead of being punched, Makoto just feels the ground shake again, but this time being because of the man bowing down in front of him.
"W-What?" The brunette looks to Monaca for some clue, but the girl simply shakes her head, just as confused as he was.
"THE INCIDENT ON THE FIRST DAY!" The man yells in his booming voice, without lifting his head from the ground. "I WAS DISTRACTED AND WITHOUT NOTICING, TOSSED AKANE ONTO YOU!"
Makoto blinks, opens his mouth, then blushes, remembering said incident.
Monaca chuckles, enjoying the boy's embarrassment, the gray-haired girl simply sends him a sympathetic look.
"I WILL MAKE UP TO YOU I SWEAR!" The man continues, still yelling into the ground.
"C-Calm down!" Makoto finally manages to compose himself enough to speak. "Let's get back to the start." He says, seeing the man finally lifting his head. "I'm Naegi Makoto, Ultimate Lucky Student from class 78-A." The boy offers the older man a hand, to which he happily accepts grabbing it, getting up and almost ripping Makoto's arm in the process.
"You're right." The black-haired man says in a normal tone for the first time. "I'M NIDAI NEKOMARU!" He yells again, making everyone around flinch. "ULTIMATE TEAM MANAGER FROM CLASS 77-B!"
"Uh, Towa Monaca, Ultimate Robotic Engineer from 78-A." The greenette introduces herself before looking towards the other girl in the hallway.
The masked girl blinks, before blushing and stepping back a bit. "I-I'm sorry-" She dusts her skirt and straightens her posture, in a attempt at calming her nerves. "-I-I'm K-Kimura S-Seiko! U-Ultimate Pharmacist f-from c-class 76!"
Makoto and Monaca both blink, before the boy smiles softly. "Nice to meet you two." He scratches the back of his head. "Now, what are you saying about the-" The Luckster blushes. "-I-Incident on the first day?"
Nekomaru's face turns apologetic again. "Well, me and my friend Akane were training when you arrived." The taller Ultimate says with a lower voice. "I got distracted and ended up tossing Akane against you." He laughs awkwardly and scratches the back of his head. "I'm really sorry about that one!"
Makoto sighs, then opens a small smile. "Well, I didn't get hurt, so there's nothing to feel sorry for."
Nekomaru crosses his arms. "That's a relief, but I insist on making up to you!"
The brunette scratches his cheek. "N-No seriously, there's no need to- kyah!" Makoto squeals as the muscular Ultimate steps loudly.
"I KNOW!" The black-haired teen yells with a smile on his face. "ARE YOU FREE TOMORROW MORNING NAEGI-KUN?" He asks pointing to the smaller Ultimate.
"Y-YES I-I'M COMPLETLEY FREE!" Yells the brunette, more out of fear of being punched than anything more.
"GREAT!" Nekomaru gives him a thumbs up. "BE UP AT 7:30 A.M AND WEAR SOMETHING EASY TO MOVE IN!" The man turns around and laughs. "I WILL MAKE UP TO YOU KOUHAI!" With that, the larger teen runs off in superhuman speed, disappearing in the corner and leaving only cartoonish trail of dust behind.
"…" Makoto looks wide eyed towards Monaca that just chuckles again.
"N-Nidai-kun is a b-bit intense isn't he?" Seiko says timidly, making the other two Ultimates look at her. "B-But h-he m-means well." She smiles behind her mask, which you other two can't see.
Suddenly music starts blaring from Seiko's skirt, prompting for the gray-haired pharmacist to pick her phone up. "R-Ruruka-chan-" Whispers Seiko, before turning her back to her kohais. "-s-sorry b-but I-I h-have to go, it was n-nice meeting y-you two!" She then enters a room and closes the door behind her with a loud thud.
Makoto blinks slowly, before smiling awkwardly. "That sure was something, wasn't it?" Monaca giggles as he goes back to holding the handles of her wheelchair.
"There you have it." The greenette says, making the brunette blink in confusion. "Something that is unusual about you."
"What is it?" He asks and Monaca giggles.
"You'll have to find it yourself~" Makoto groans and she chuckles. ' You're quite the kind hearted person, Naegi-kun.' Monaca's eyes then turn darker for a second. ' The question is, will it still be like that for long?'
She sighed and smiled sadly.
Real life was going to be tough on this one.
Hopeful Days VI – New Faces
I completely forgot to comment about it in the last chapter, but yes, I gave Hope's Peak a bit of a upgrade, after all a academy full of extra people needs to be even more extra.
Anyways, hope y'all liked it and see you around!