Hopeful Days XII – Silence in the Library
"Ouch!" Makoto groans in pain as he falls butt first into the ground. "This is gonna leave a mark." He sighs noticing that neither of the two people even noticed that he had been hit. "Ouch. That hurt more than whatever hit me." The brunette whispered go himself, before scoping up the magazine that throw at him. Inspecting it, the brunette recognized the cover. ' This is one of the magazines that Komaru and Tsumugi-chan liked to read.' It was mostly a magazine for girls, but Makoto had enjoyed reading some of the manga in there from time to time.
"MANGA is the most pure form of ART imaginable, different from those SILLY BOOKS of ours!" Says the male voice, which Makoto know recognizes.
Yamada Hifumi – Ultimate Doujinshi Artist
Famous around the manga fanworks world, Hifumi is currently one of the most well-known artists of doujinshis in Japan. According to Makoto's research on the boy, it seems that his popularity is so high around these circles that if he draws a doujin of a dying series, it suddenly skyrockets in popularity.
For research, Makoto looked up some of his works and, while not the type of stuff he maybe into, the brunette could see why the other Ultimate got so popular, his talent for drawing was really incredible, the art was vibrant and full of so much personality and style, if Makoto didn't knew they are doujinshis he wouldn't undoubtedly think they are original works.
"A-AS IF!" The female voice retorts with a poisonous tone. "Y-YOUR S-SHITTY E-EXCUSE FOR F-FETISH P-PORN IS N-NEVER GOING T-TO BE A-AS GOOD A-AS A M-MILDY W-WELL WRITTEN N-NOVEL Y-YOU FAT F-FUCK!" Makoto also recognized the girl.
Fukawa Touko – Ultimate Writing Prodigy
She is one of the most well respected and popular novelists of modern times. Her books are considered masterpieces of modern lliterature by critics and each new book sells more than the last.
All this praise however is mostly about her books.
Opinions online, at least in the places where Makoto looked, seem to be very negative towards her. Most people think that she is some sort of egotistical maniac that doesn't really care about her fans and simply writes for money and fame.
She does not do any interviews nor book signings and for the fans that did, somehow, met with her, had terrible experiences and said she was rude and awful to them.
Makoto didn't like to judge people based on others opinions alone, so he didn't read much on the many controversies that Touko was involved, if they are going to be classmates, he wanted to have a fair opinion on her.
Safe to say, she didn't make the best first impression.
The two Ultimates continued to argue, while Makoto stood there, unsure of what to say. "Uh, guys?" He calls, but the other two Ultimates just keep screaming at each other. "Ahem!" The brunette fake coughs, but the two keep ignoring him. Taking a deep breath, he steadies himself and yells. "Hey! Excuse me?"
This seems to work, as the two other students turn to face him. "K-Keep you v-voice d-down idiot!" Fukawa is the first one to speak. "T-This is a f-fucking l-library!"
Makoto wanted really bad to point out the irony, but decided against it, he didn't want to start another shouting match. "Sorry." He apologizes. "Uh, hey are you two fighting?"
Hifumi pushes his up and says. "It was less of a fight and more of a one-sided massacre." Touko sends him a death glare, but the boy completely ignores her. "You see, Fukawa Touko-dono started making a scene when she found out there are manga here in this fine library." The writing prodigy bites her thumb, clearly holding herself back from saying something. "I wanted to have a civil discussion about the fine art of manga and how it is indeed superior to those ye olde books of hers."
Makoto blinked. ' Well, that escalated quickly.'
Touko crosses her arms and huffs. "W-What is the p-problem with s-speaking the t-truth?" She angrily glares at the chubbier boy. "O-Only b-braindead d-dipshits like y-you like t-this s-subpar form of e-entrainment!"
"Is that so?" Hifumi smirks confidently. "Why don't we ask our friend here what he thinks?" Both Ultimates turn to face Makoto. "I believe a third-party opinion would be best to judge your claims?"
"Huh?" By this point, the brunette luckster was completely lost in the conversation.
"Say, what do you think of manga?" The doujin artist asks.
"Uh, I-" He didn't knew what to say, so the luckster just told the truth. "-Well, I enjoy some manga from time to time." Hifumi smiles at that answer while Touko sends a death glare towards the brunette. "I-It's pretty fun to read?" Suddenly he wasn't very sure of his answer.
"Gah! I-I am s-surrounded by u-uncultured f-fuckers!" Touko says pulling her braids in anger. "I-I c-can f-feel my b-braincells d-dying by j-just standing h-here w-with you f-fuckers!" With another huff, the girl angrily storms off.
Makoto felt a little bad for that, she seemed really angry. Technically he did nothing wrong, but still, it might be better to apologize when he had the chance.
"I guess that's that." Hifumi says, before turning to Makoto and pushing his glasses up. "I'm Yamada Hifumi, Ultimate Doujinshi Artist!"
The brunette shakes his head then smiles. "I'm Naegi Makoto, Ultimate Lucky Student."
"The pleasure is all mine!" Hifumi the points to the magazine in Makoto's hand. "Could you give that back, please?"
"Oh, sure." He hands the magazine to the other boy. "Sorry, didn't mean to hold on to it."
"It's okay, it makes me happy knowing there's at least one person of culture around this school, almost no one I talked to seemed to understand the beauty of manga!" The larger boy sat down on the beanbag and opened the magazine. "If you ever need some recommendations or commissions Naegi Makoto-dono, come take to me!" With that said, Hifumi's eyes go back to the magazine in his hand.
Makoto chuckles. "Sure." He then turns around and thinks. ' He kinda reminds me of Tsumugi-chan, to be honest.'
Seeing that the problem was 'solved', the luckster made his way back to the front of the library.
Walking back to the front of the library, Makoto is greeted by Sayaka with a smile.
Before the bluenette can even say anything, Byakuya speaks up. "I wasn't expecting anything, but you did actually solve the problem, not bad for a peasant." She smirks. "Maybe you aren't a complete waste of space."
Makoto laughs awkwardly and Sayaka rolls her eyes. "Would have been faster if someone went to solve the problem herself." The blond promptly ignores the idol and goes back to reading her book.
"Thanks… I guess." Makoto says, before looking towards the door. "Although I feel kinda bad, Fukawa-san looked really upset." He scratches the back of his head. "I should go find her and-"
"Don't even bother." Byakuya finally looks up from her book and into the boy's eyes. "Talking to that girl is a complete waste of time."
"That's a bit harsh isn't it?" Sayaka says crossing her arms.
"Most certainly not." The blond finally acknowledges the other girl. "Out of every simple minded commoner I ever had the displeasure of talked to, she is by far the worst." There very clear disdain in her voice.
Makoto arched a eyebrow. "Wait, you talked to her before?" He asks and the blond sighs.
"Sadly, yes." She closes her eyes and continues. "Her publisher is owned by the Togami Family, and I so happened to have been the one to do business with her." Byakuya rubbed her temples. "I would have ended her career, if not for the fact that her books sell incredibly well."
"You don't seem very fond of her." Sayaka says, although in the back of her mind she added. ' To be fair, you don't seem very fond of anyone.'
"I'm not, and you won't be too if you're forced to be on the same room as her for more than thirty minutes." Byakuya sighs, then opens her book again and goes back to reading.
The idol huffs, shows her tongue to the heiress, then turns to face Makoto. "So we're done here or you want to read something?" She asks and the boy shakes his head.
"Let's just go somewhere else. There are a lot of other places to explore yet." Makoto replies and the bluenette nods with a smile on her lips. "Bye, Togami-san!" He says, but the blond completely ignores him.
The brunette chuckles awkwardly, then he and Sayaka turn around and walk away, leaving the heiress alone with her book.
Leaving the library, the two Ultimates go back to their exploring, all while talking about mundane things and small stuff.
Makoto was happy that he was getting to know his classmates so soon and also that so many familiar faces are around in Hope's Peak.
Sayaka on the other hand was so happy that she had the opportunity to hang out with him after so many years, and to think she thought about refusing the invitation before.
As they kept talking, suddenly Sayaka's phone beeps. "Excuse me." She pulls it out and unlocks it, quickly reading the message. "Oh, geez." The idol sighs sadly. "I'm sorry Naegi-kun, but something came up and my producer wants to see me asap." She smiles sadly.
The brunette nods. "I see. Hope nothing bad happened."
She shakes her head. "It's just some stuff, me and the girls need to sort out before our next concert."
"Oh yeah, I forgot about that. It's next week isnt it?" The Luckster asks and she nods.
"Yeah, the one to celebrate me getting on Hope's Peak." She replies with a smile, although Makoto did notice that it seemed, sad in a way.
"Is something wrong?" The brunette asks worried. "You look sad."
Sayaka mentally curses herself, normall she's really good at hiding how she's feeling, but from time to time she ends up letting the mask slip. "It's-" She smiles, now having a more genuine feel to it. "-Nothing. Just some work related stuff."
Makoto wasn't sure if she was being honest, but he didn't want to pry on her personal stuff. "Okay then." He smiles back. "But if you need someone to talk, I am always available." She giggles, then moves closer to him and gives the boy a peck on the cheek, making him blush profusely.
"Will do~" Sayaka chuckles at his reaction then turns around. "See you around, Naegi-kun!"
The boy puts a hand on his cheek and smiles. "See ya!" He waves as the idol disappears around the hallway.
Now going their separate ways, Makoto goes back to his school exploring.
The rest of day went by in a flash, thankfully nothing weird happened and Makoto didn't get hit in the head with anything.
While on his own, the boy visited the gym, music room, outside tracks and all the other locations and now, he was back in his room.
Hope's Peak was so massive that it took him two whole days to see everything and the brunette was sure it would take even longer to get used to it enough that he wouldn't need a map.
Still, he could easily say that his favorite parts of the day are hanging out with his future classmates.
Monaca, his upperclassmen, Leon and the boys, Sayaka. Hell he was even happy that he met Byakuya and Touko.
And of course, the short, but extremely great time he shared with Chiaki. He still couldn't believe that they still are so close to each other after a whole year apart, he could never express with words just how much she not forgetting about him meant.
Laying down on his bed, the brunette chuckles to himself.
Overall, he would call today a great day, even though his forehead was still aching from being hit with that magazine.
Makoto looks towards the ceiling for a bit, before getting up and moves towards the desk where the computer Hope's Peak provided for him was located. The boy grabs his phone and takes it out of the charger, turning it on, he is then flooded with messages from his family, but mostly from Komaru and Tsumugi.
"Why there's so many-" He stares at the screen for a second and then it clicks in his head. "Oh crap! I forgot to call Komaru yesterday!" He was so exited with everything that it completely escaped his mind.
The Luckster goes to his sister contact and presses 'call', before putting the call on speaker.
' Hopefully she isn't too mad.' He thinks, before the call connects. "Oh, hey Maru-ch-"
"ONII-CHAN!" She yells, very angrily from the other side.
Yep, she was pissed.
Hopeful Days XII – Silence in the Library
And another day comes to a close, the next days will be just snippets, then we can start the classes and the actual plot.
Well, most will be snippets, last day of the first week might have some surprises courtesy of everyone's favorite super(DESPAIR)model.
Anyways, hope y'all enjoyed the chapter and see you around!