Chapter Text
PROLOGUE: NEW WORLD OF DESPAIR
Uchiura seems like a million miles away from this city, with tower blocks, offices and apartments sprawled in every which way you look. If you didn’t know where you were going, it would be easy to get lost here - if it weren’t for a set of newer looking buildings near the city centre. A new, grand building, to raise hope for a bright future.
Which is where I’m going.
Most people at this time were either waking up or getting ready to leave for the day, so the streets were relatively quiet. I tried walking for a bit, knowing there was no real rush, but I was just too thrilled about this place and soon I broke into a small jog. Soon I found myself in the city centre and sooner still, I stood before a huge iron gate. A gate that would take me to the new building. My new school.
Hope’s Peak Academy.
The ultimate academy.
A government-funded school that takes the very best students across the country, and, if what I heard about it is right, graduating here sets you up for a life of success. But not just anyone can get to come here - in fact, there’s only one way you can come here. You have to be a high school student, and you have to be the very best at what you do. Those students are often called ‘Ultimates’ - the best, the pinnacle of humanity.
Which is why I’m here. In front of the huge gates of Hope’s Peak. I was accepted into this wonderful school.
Oh, wait, have I even introduced myself? Heh, sorry. I kinda got carried away there.
My name’s Chika. Chika Takami. To be honest with you, I don’t know why the school invited me here. I’ve never really stood out before in anything. I have average grades, went to an average school and did everything a normal person does. I have hobbies, but nothing that really catches anyone’s interest. I get excited about things and give up on them when I get bored.
In fact, the only interesting thing about me is that my family has an inn back home.
I’m just... incredibly normal. The most normal person around. The normal monster, Chika Takami. That’s me. Eh heh heh.
…
I guess, compared to some of the other students that come here, I’m nothing special. I mean, how could I compare to someone who’s been super talented their whole life?
Even with some of the research that I did last night, to try and find someone like me coming to Hope’s Peak, I couldn’t really find anyone. Everyone that got invited here is someone truly incredible.
There was Nico Yazawa, the self-described Ultimate Idol. She’s been drifting from one group to another around the country, but every group she’s been a part of went on to become a huge success, even after she left. Natural charisma, a cheery personality… she’s everything an idol should be - a brand of herself.
Umi Sonoda, the heiress to the highly respected Sonoda Dojo in Tokyo. She’s well respected in the fields of martial arts and traditional dance, which the dojo teaches, but her true talent lies in archery. Her determination, as well as her focus and steady hands, means she’s gone about… 400 rounds without losing, if I remember right. Apparently, she’s set to join the Olympic team in the next games.
I couldn’t find out about everyone attending this school, but they were all so amazing it defied all beliefs I had. There was a popular fashion designer, a talented businesswoman, a famed expert on all literature… I couldn’t find anyone as normal as me.
Compared to all of these Ultimates, do I really deserve to be here? Am I really special? Compared to everyone else who will be here, why am I here?
No. Don’t think like that.
I deserve to be here. I have talent, potential. After all, why else would they invite me here?
Actually…
My invitation here was a little different.
Remember when I said that everyone who enrols here gets an ‘Ultimate’ title based on their talent? Nico would get the Ultimate Idol title, and Umi would be the Ultimate Archer.
Well, in my invitation letter, the Ultimate title I received was:
‘Ultimate ???’
I didn’t get recognised for having a specific talent. Just, a talent. A talent I don’t know about. A talent that even they don’t know about.
Does this mean… I really don’t have a talent?
That I’m not extraordinary?
No...
I may not be extraordinary, but... I want to prove it. I want to prove that I belong here, among the best students in the country.
I want to prove that I have a talent that can change the world.
I want to prove that I can do anything anyone throws at me.
I want to shine. I want to shine in my own way.
Before I started thinking negatively again, I moved my feet past the iron gates, onto the grounds of Hope’s Peak Academy and found myself in the entrance hall. There was no one around yet.
“Hello?” I called out. “Anyone here?”
Nothing. I checked my phone, which said the time was roughly 7 o’clock. Maybe I was far too early to the welcoming event, so there would be no one around to meet me. Deciding that someone would eventually come by and take me to where I needed to be, I waited.
5 minutes passed.
10 minutes.
And then...
My head started throbbing, and my legs felt like jelly. It was like someone was bashing my head with a hammer. My vision began swirling around. I couldn’t focus. Everything I saw melted into everything else and became twisted before becoming whole again.
I tried calling for help, but my voice... it was barely there. I tried moving, hoping to find someone, but tripped up under my own feet. I couldn’t get up, my pounding head struggling to understand what was happening. It didn’t take long for me to black out after that.
...
What?
What’s going on?
Why is this happening?
Before, today felt like a dream.
Now it feels like a nightmare.
A nightmare that was just beginning.
...
‘Ugh’
I felt myself waking up.
‘...Urrrrgh.’
My head still ached, and my body still felt heavy, but all things considered, I felt a lot better than I did earlier. Slowly, I started to open my eyes, hoping that - despite being in the entrance hall - no one saw me pass out. The last thing I needed was for someone to see me collapse on my first day at a new school!
I wasn’t that lucky.
There was no one around but I certainly wasn’t in the entrance hall. In fact, it felt more like my bedroom back home. Someone likely found me and brought me here, to rest up.
“Where... am I?” I asked no one in particular. It was probably a dormitory room if the bed was any clue.
Knowing my request wouldn’t get an answer, I forced myself to sit up somewhat and looked around, trying to get an idea of where I woke up. Firstly, the bed I was lying on. Aside from the orange prints on the sheets, it seemed fairly ordinary, and when I looked left there seemed to be a small dresser. Like the bed it was plain, but I noticed a tablet lying on top of the surface. Maybe this will tell me where I am.
Moving over to the edge of the bed (and finding a door right ahead of me), I took the tablet and turned it on, hoping for some clue. The screen flared into life, a dull blue light forming on the display. Soon enough, white text formed along the emblem of Hope’s Peak, and the tablet came to a menu of sorts.
The Hope’s Peak emblem...
‘So this is... Hope’s Peak Academy...’
I was really here.
This is where the best of the best come.
But, if this is Hope’s Peak, then whoever brought me here should still be around right? To make sure I was OK after waking up.
‘Maybe they had to do something important?’ It was a guess at best.
...
‘I better check the tablet.’
eHandbook - Chika Takami - 07:50 am
Contacts
Messages (1)
Map
Regulations
Documents
Settings
It looked exactly like a list of applications on a normal phone - a contact list and messages (there was one unread message), a notes section, a map... but most noticeable was the name the eHandbook - this tablet - bore.
Chika Takami
This is my eHandbook. My guide to this school.
...
As pleased as I was, there were bigger worries that I had. I decided to check the message that was sent. Hopefully, this would explain what was happening, or at least give something useful.
From: Headmaster
To: Takami, Chika
RE: Welcoming Ceremony
Hey Chika! The next semester is about to begin! Make sure you get to the Gym by 8 o’clock sharp for our welcoming ceremony! We can’t wait for you to join our school community!
The Headmaster
So, the Hope’s Peak welcoming ceremony starts at 8 sharp, and it’s currently... 7:50, according to the eHandbook’s clock.
Nothing about why I passed out or ended up in this dorm room.
I was hoping there’d be more answers here, but here... there are more questions for me to add to the list. This is Hope’s Peak Academy, but where exactly am I in the school? Where’s the Gym? There’s no map around here as far as I can see, except on the eHandbook. Who is the Headmaster? They should have said in the message, instead of leaving it out. Why is…
Why is the writing so childish? If this was written by the Headmaster, as the sender line says, then it should look better, right? This whole thing was getting weirder by the second.
I back out to the menu and try to check the other apps, hoping for answers and clues, but it seemed as though there was a lock on them stopping me from checking them. The notes section was open, but there was nothing there.
The only useful clue I had gotten from the eHandbook was a badly proofread message telling me to go to the Gym.
Disappointed, I turned on the Sleep Mode and put the tablet in my pocket - when a new, disturbing thought came to my head. My pockets were empty. But they shouldn’t be. After all, my phone was in there…
My phone! My phone is gone!
A wave of panic rose up, making my head start to throb again. I didn’t want to pass out again - 'That would be embarrassing’ - so I took some deep breaths and came up with some scenarios as to where my phone went. There wasn’t one that came up which was likely, but it did calm me down.
I took another look around the bed, to see if I missed anything of interest, but no. This bland room had no more clues around here.
“Well, sitting here’s not gonna do any good.” I try to motivate myself into standing, and, still a little shaky, I get myself up.
‘I’ve got to get to the Gym, wherever that is. Maybe there’ll be someone there who understands what’s going on.’
I took a step towards the door in front of me - hopefully the way out of this room - but found myself in a small bathroom. Like the rest of the dormitory I’ve seen, there was nothing out of the ordinary here, a shower unit, toilet and sink the only occupants. Closing the door, I went to my left and into the main space of the dormitory, embracing the rest of its plainness. A small counter rested near the corner and a table and set of chairs on the far side of the room, near another door, this one coming with a keyhole. ‘Hopefully, this one leads out of this room.’
Smiling at the thought, I made my way across the room towards the door and tried to open it, but it refused to budge. With the door locked, I looked around for a key, noticing another gift waiting for me on the table - a key with a chain attached, and on the chain...
C. Takami
This seemed to be my dormitory then, and the key should work the lock on the door. My own dormitory. In Hope’s Peak Academy. I should be happier but... right now, I’m too confused about the situation to be happy. I took one last look around this room, this blank, ordinary dorm room - and found something that was utterly abnormal.
A camera, near the counter. And a monitor hung on the nearby wall.
Sure, the monitor made sense. You could be sitting at the table and watch something on there, but the camera... what was the camera for?
Security? Impossible. There’d be no way to get in without using the key or being invited in.
Monitoring? But... I’d have to agree to be watched in my own room. And I haven’t agreed to anything here yet! I mean, I got here today - and I passed out when I got through the front door!
Maybe... no. Surely no, but...
Maybe, there’s a creep on the other end who’s enjoying me question everything around me, watching me struggle to come up with a way to understand why I’m here, in these strange circumstances.
This dormitory felt cold now, uncomfortable. I just wanted to get out of this room as fast as I could. Questions swam through my head as I fiddled with the key, trying to unlock the door so I could find someone and get the answers I needed. A click and a twist later, and I swung the door open, got out of that room and locked it up. I took a breath and tried to calm myself before I took in where I was.
It was a corridor of sorts, and along the walls were sets of doors all identical to the one to the dorm room I was in. Looking at my door now, there was a wooden plate with a crude image of me on it, as well as a C. Takami etched below it.
‘Yep, definitely my dorm.’ I thought. ‘And all these other doors could be for the other students. But what about the rest of this corridor?’
To my right, the corridor ended with a huge set of red, velvet doors - it seemed important, but with everything else going on, I couldn’t really care about it. The doors to my left were made of glass, and led to a more open area, like a foyer.
A foyer... there might be someone there! Excited as I was to find a clue, that camera in the dorm left me with a sense of dread, and another look around the corridor showed another, almost above me. This one was more likely to be for security, but I decided to take it slow and calmly headed towards the glass doors - when a door by my side crashed open and a figure burst out of the room.
“Yes, that's the door opened!” The person spoke, in an enthusiastic way that contrasted my current mood. “Now I gotta find someone who can… HEEEEEEEY!!”
Before I could react they ran up to me and caught me in an equally enthusiastic hug. I was so stunned by this, I almost fell over - with so many questions and concerns around how can anyone be this happy and excited in this situation?! I couldn’t even bring up a reply to this new person before they began talking again.
“You’re a new student here right? Same as me! I’m Honoka Kousaka. It’s suuuper nice to meet you! I bet we’re gonna be great friends! Heck, we even look alike!”
[HONOKA KOUSAKA: Ultimate Friend]
I could only a manage a weak “Huh?” in reply as the person - Honoka, her name was - stepped back from the hug and smiled in an almost sweet fashion.
It was startling, going from confusion and anxiety to a cheerful and positive force, but the change was certainly welcome. Getting a proper look at the person who brought this change, it was pretty clear that she looked like literal sunshine.
She had ginger hair that was tied up into a side tail, with blue eyes that spoke of a clear sunny day. Her smile certainly was sweet, and even her posture gave the impression of someone bursting with energy. She wasn’t lying about us looking similar either - we were about the same height and build.
Deciding to give a proper reply to her energetic introduction, I composed myself and tried to show as much energy as Honoka. “Um… it’s nice to meet you too, Honoka. My name’s Chika Takami.”
I failed horribly. It didn’t seem to bother her though.
“Hehehe, don’t worry so much Chika, I won’t hurt you. Besides, If you worry too much you’ll get sick! That’s what my mom always said. Anyway, d’you know where we are? Or where anyone else is?”
“Um… this seems to be a dormitory area if the rooms are anything to go by. As for where the others are, I can’t answer that, but according to my eHandbook there’s a Welcoming Ceremony in the Gym at 8 so that would be a good place to start.”
“Thanks, Chika... wait, you said something about an eHandbook?”
“Yeah, there was one on my dresser by the bed. Did you not get one?”
Honoka paused. “Umm…”
She began to say something else, before running back into a room labelled as H. Kousaka. I began to wonder if she didn’t actually get an eHandbook like I did, before I heard a loud “Found it!!” and reappeared in front of me, still bounding with energy. “Now, let’s get to the Gym and find the others!” Honoka shouted, dragging me off towards the glass doors - not even bothering to check the device.
She never lets anything get her down.
I decided to try and get some small talk on as we headed off, but Honoka beat me to it, asking why I was so anxious.
“Well…” I started, “I got here this morning around seven, then I fainted, despite being fine this morning. The next thing I know, I’m in a strange room with no one around and told to go to the gym, like it’s the most normal thing in the world.” Saying it out loud only made me realise how not normal this whole thing was, and made me even more anxious.
“Really?” Honoka asked. I nodded, and her reply sent a new wave of confusion and worry to my head. “Me too. I mean, I ran all the way here I was so excited, so I guess I was just exhausted, but if you fainted too then it’s certainly weird.”
I stopped.
She fainted when she got here too? Why? Sure, she probably collapsed from exhaustion, but two people fainting when they got here? It’s impossible.
I was lost once again in worrying thoughts and whirling questions when Honoka shook me out of it.
“Chika, stop worrying so much! You’re gonna end up fainting again!” She seemed to be encouraging, but how can she be so laid back at the same time? “C’mon, let’s go!”
Taking my hand, we kept on moving and got to the glass doors. With a good push we opened them up and found ourselves in a wide open foyer, but before I could look around…
*ding, dong, ding, dong*
Was that the school bell?
Before I could think of an answer, Honoka pointed towards a monitor on the wall behind us which had lit up with the school emblem. It seemed as though there was going to be an announcement of sorts, so I tried to pay attention to it.
“Attention, attention. Testing, testing, one, two, one, two. Can you hear me? This is a test of the school’s broadcasting system.”
The voice to the announcement was certainly… disturbing. The tone and manner of speaking were inviting and relaxed, but the words always ended with a hint of terror - and it sent a chill down my spine.
“On behalf of everyone here at Hope’s Peak Academy, I would like to welcome our new students to the school! The Welcoming Ceremony will be starting veeeery shortly, so please make your way to the Gym as soon as you can! Upupupu, I’ll see you sooooon! ~”
The screen went dark again.
Before I could begin to panic again, that dubious voice ringing in my head, I was once more dragged off, and I could guess that Honoka had found the Gym. I adjusted myself and, yes, the open doors we were heading to lead to our goal and hopefully the answers to the questions in my head. We were soon out of the foyer and found ourselves on the wooden floors of the gym, where several others were talking amongst themselves.
“Hey, you guyyyyyyyyys!!” Honoka pronounced loudly. The talk stopped, and soon all the eyes in the room were on them, the new arrivals. She sure had a lot of energy.
I tried to hide my embarrassment at being one of the last few to arrive, but there was no stopping the gingerhead who was with me. “Are you students here too? Just like us! I’m Honoka Kousaka, and this,” she grabbed my arm, “is Chika Takami. It’s super nice to meet you all!” She gave them her beaming smile once she finished her introduction, and I tried to once again muster the same energy she had to greet everyone.
“Hey, we’re sorry we’re late. I’m Chika Takami. It’s nice to meet you.”
Once again, I failed horribly.
I tried to get more talk going to break the silence that followed, but a tall, raven-haired girl moved towards us, with a calm yet commanding aura. Behind her was a smaller girl with soft red hair done up in pigtails, hiding behind the other and looking almost scared. I assumed that the two must be sisters, and the older of the two spoke.
“It is nice to meet you too, Chika, Honoka. My name is Dia Kurosawa, and this is my sister, Ruby.” She nodded towards the redhead.
[DIA KUROSAWA: Ultimate Big Sister]
“You are not late, the ceremony hasn’t started yet. However,” Her gaze turned harshly upon us “you are the last to arrive. We have been waiting for you. Please make sure you arrive punctually in the future.” She finished speaking and walked back to where she was before we arrived.
“Um…” the younger sister started, clearly nervous, “i-it’s nice to meet you too…” She tried to smile after her introduction, before following her sister back.
[RUBY KUROSAWA: Ultimate Music Fan]
Honoka and I looked towards each other, her face looking as though she was just told off. To be fair, it did feel like we were told off. We both gave a small laugh - probably the first time since I woke up here - and headed towards the main group. I finally felt all my anxiety begin to unwind as I tried to strike up some talk with the others, maybe get to know some of their names. Before I could though, the speakers buzzed up and a voice - the same cheerful yet cold voice from the earlier announcement - began to ring out across.
“Ah, is everyone here now? Great! Then let’s get this Welcoming Ceremony started!”
Any chatter that formed died out as the lights across the Gym dimmed and focused on the stage. A screen dropped down from above and the emblem of Hope’s Peak Academy was projected onto it. A podium began to rise from the floorboards, and on that podium was everything you would expect. Hope’s Peak’s emblem, a couple of microphones… nothing that seemed out of the ordinary.
Maybe this was just a normal Welcoming Ceremony.
Maybe… I was just worrying over nothing.
“See, Chika, there’s nothing to worry about!” Honoka whispered to me. She was right, but…
No, she’s right. Everything’s fine. This was all just an unfortunate series of events.
Taking a deep breath, I finally unwound and watched as the Welcoming Ceremony got underway.