Chapter 1: Welcome To Despair

( Kuno Sawa's pov)

I was standing in front of the school of my dreams, Hope's Peak Academy. A school made for the people that excel at what they do. Why was I chosen? Because I am Kuno Sawa, The Ultimate Blacksmith. I worked with many people to create original and historical weapons and firearms. I guess Hope's Peak found me and sent me a letter, saying that they wanted me to join the main course with the rest of the 78th class. When I told my mother a few weeks back, she was so happy that she went and bought me an outfit "suitable for The Ultimate Blacksmith", as she put it. Now here I stood, utility belts around my waist, gloves covered in metal dust, a bag filled with all of my newest pieces and a huge smile on my face.

"Here we go...", I mumbled as I entered the school. The first room was the main entrance hallway, but something felt odd.

"... Where is everyone?", I questioned no one as I glanced around. I looked at the clock on the wall that said it was a full hour before the entrance ceremony. I took a step forward but immediately regretted it. Everything began to spin like crazy and my whole body felt light as a feather. I tried to balance myself, but with no luck. I toppled to the floor as everything went black around me...

(Later)

I woke up with a jolt on a small desk. I looked around to see that I was in a classroom.

"What...? Wasn't I... At the front of the school? Is this the same school?", I voiced to myself. I looked down at the desk to see a small hand-made pamphlet with terrible handwriting.

"The next semester is about to start. Starting today, this school will be your entire world."

"... Uh... Creepy much?", I mumbled as I looked back at the clock on the wall. It was almost time for the entrance ceremony. I was about to leave when I saw something strange; The windows in the classroom were covered with metal plates. They almost looked... Familiar, but I couldn't quiet place it. This was my first time here, after all. I took a closer look and tried to pry them open, but nothing worked.

"I COULD use one of my tools, but that might not be allowed.", I explained to myself as I reluctantly left the room. I walked around a bit until I started to hear voices coming from a door labeled with an exit.

"So, no teachers and students in the halls or that classroom, but voices here? Maybe this is the meeting point?", I murmured as I opened the door to the place. In the room, 15 other students were standing in front of a large metal door of sorts. The students turned to me with surprise.

"Whoa, hey! Another new kid?", someone voiced.

"A-Are you guys all...?", I questioned as I looked around at all of the unique faces.

"Yeah... We're all new here. Today's supposed to be our first day of class.", someone answered.

"So counting her, that makes us 16. Seems like a good cut-off point, but I wonder if this is everyone...", another mumbled. I zoned out a bit to realize that I was standing before the "Ultimate Students" that had been hand-picked by the school. Maybe I was just imagining it, but I swear I could feel a kind of aura coming out of each of them... I remembered that I hadn't introduced myself. I bowed at a 90-degree angle and spoke.

"It is wonderful to meet you all. My name is Kuno Sawa. I'm sorry for being so late, I must have fallen unconscious and didn't get a good look at the time until I woke up."

"Whoa, you too?", a male student with crazy brown hair exclaimed.

"Too...?", I questioned as I stood straight.

"Things just keep getting curiouser and curiouser...", a pale girl with twin-drill black hair mumbled.

"So strange... I declare beyond a shadow of a doubt that this is a strange situation indeed!", a rather large student declared.

"Um... Can someone explain what's going on? I'm in the dark here.", I asked.

"Just a moment! There's else we must address! Kuno! Your tardiness is unacceptable! Surely you were aware the meeting was to start at 8 a.m sharp! To be late on your first day is unspeakable! I must report you, and you must accept your punishment!", a boy with fiery red eyes accused. I went back to my 90-degree bow and kept repeating apology after apology, hoping the boy would let it slide.

"What's your problem? It's not like she *wanted* to be late. She didn't have control over it.", A girl with twin blonde pigtails defended me.

"Everyone just calm down! Listen, why don't we all go around and introduce ourselves?", a girl with a brown ponytail suggested.

"The hell!? Now's no time for friggin' introductions!", a guy with a biker jacket grumbled.

"Maybe, but it may be good to at least find out who we all are before digging into the bigger problems here. I mean, how are we even supposed to talk to each other if we do not know each other's names?", the twin drill girl explained.

"That's a good point...", a girl with a small voice mumbled.

"Okay, so let's get introductions out of the way, then we can move on to whatever else. Sound good?", a girl with dark blue hair confirmed as everyone introduced each other. I stood there, a little in shock and fear. I felt a tap on my shoulder quite suddenly. I turned to see a boy with a small smile. He was notably shorter than almost all of his classmates. He had spiky, desaturated brown hair with a prominent ahoge, and washed-out hazel eyes. He wore a zipped-up dull green hoodie with a red stripe along the zipper, an open black jacket with gold buttons over the hoodie, black jeans, and red sneakers with white toes. his hoodie had a logo of a red gas mask in a circle printed on the back of the hood, and the zipper goes all the way up to the top of the hood. He wore a pin shaped like a four-pointed star overlaid on a crescent moon; this is pinned to the lapel of his jacket. The boy cleared his throat and spoke.

"I guess I should introduce myself. My name's Makoto Naegi. It's nice to meet you. As you can see, I'm nothing but a hopelessly average high school student. Average on the outside, average on the inside.", the boy, who now I know as Makoto, introduced.

"My name is Kuno Sawa. It's nice to meet you too, Makoto. Um, what do you mean average? You got chosen by Hope's Peak! That doesn't really point you to be average.", I explained.

"Ah, I don't have a "Talent". I'm The Ultimate Lucky Student. I was chosen out of millions of students to be in Hope's Peak, but I have no talent. What about you?", Makoto asked.

"I'm The Ultimate Blacksmith. Wanna see a knife I made?", I asked with enthusiasm.

"Sure, I don't mind!", Makoto smiled as I pulled out my first knife.

"Wow... It looks like something out of a museum exhibit!", Makoto awed. I felt myself smile as I looked back at my work.

"I always loved things like weapons and antiques since I was a kid. My mom taught me how to weld different things until I started making my own weapons... Oh, gosh! I'm so sorry! I've been rambling on and on without considering that you don't really have a talent. I'm really sorry!", I apologized.

"Don't be. Besides, I like hearing about others, if that makes sense.", Makoto laughed a bit. I laughed with him when I saw he was cool with my over excitement.

"Well, let's do our best together in Hope's Peak, Okay?", I asked with a smile and a hand extended to shake.

"Yeah! I'll be counting on you! Count on me too, yeah?", Makoto said as he shook my hand.

"Heck yeah!", I declared. Makoto walked off to talk to someone else as I gathered enough courage to talk to the next person; the boy who scolded me in the beginning. He had short, spiky black hair, large matching eyebrows, and intense red eyes. He wore a military-style white Japanese school male uniform with five golden buttons on each sleeve and six on his chest, a red and bronze medal above his right breast pocket featuring his Former High School symbol, yellow epaulettes, a red, black, and white armband with the kanji 風紀 fūki (meaning "Public Morals"), and knee-high black lace-up boots.

"I'm Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I believe in bold simplicity! Let's work together on our educational crusade!", Kiyotaka pledged.

"Right! Um, by the way, I'm really sorry for being late. I never meant to break the rules.", I apologized.

"Do not fear, classmate, for I have forgiven you this once! Anyway, you can call me Taka. You said your name was Kuno Sawa, right? That's a good name, a strong name! You should thank your parents for giving you such an excellent name. And to keep that name from losing its value, you devote yourself every single day! Life is worth putting every ounce of effort into it! Right? Right!", Taka encouraged me like no tomorrow.

"Wow... No wonder they call you The Ultimate Moral Compass.", I mumbled as I remembered reading about Taka online.

"And what is your talent?", Taka asked.

"I'm The Ultimate Blacksmith.", I replied.

"I see! Well, please refrain from bringing strange weapons to school from today onward!", Taka explained. I decided not to tell him that I had a bunch of dangerous stuff in my bag. I walked away and went to talk to the girl with twin braids. She had long dark purple hair she kept in two braids behind her. She had grey eyes and large wire-rimmed round glasses. On the left side of her chin was a small mole. Her outfit was a typical purple Japanese school female uniform with a noticeably lengthy skirt compared to those worn by other girls. On the upper sleeves of her top was her Former High School symbol. She also wears white socks and purple loafers. The girl looked up from her intense staring contest with the floor and spoke.

"N-Not that you'll remember my n-name anyway, but... I'm T-Toko... Toko Fukawa.", Toko introduced. I stayed silent for a second before bursting into a smile.

"You're the one who wrote, "So lingers the ocean", right? I loved your book, it was so mesmerizing and eye-opening! I didn't have enough pocket money to buy the others but I kept reading them online! You are so talented, Toko! You must be The Ultimate Writing Prodigy I heard about,", I praised.

"S-Stop kissing up to me. Y-You think I-m just gonna *give* you a n-new copy because you said you liked my work!?", Toko suddenly seethed.

"W-What? No, I just--"

"I-I know what you "just" thought...! You just thought you've n-never seen such an ugly woman. You just th-thought it was sooo funny...!", Toko rambled on.

"Please, Toko, I didn't mean to offend you... I honestly think you are an amazing writer. And why are you saying that *I* said you look ugly? You look perfectly fine to me!", I defended.

"Don't bother trying to l-lie to me! I know it's true. Otherwise, you... I know you can't stand looking at me! Wh-Whatever, I don't really care. I'm used to it...", Toko mumbled as she turned away from me. I sighed to myself and backed up before walking over to another girl. She wore eyeliner and blush, which suggests that she wore makeup to help keep her appearance. She had long, dark blue hair, which she held in place with several clips. Her eyes were also dark blue. Her school uniform was a traditional seifuku-style Japanese school uniform comprising of a long-sleeved white shirt with a blue sailor collar and a pink ribbon bow tie with tails, a blue tartan skirt, black thigh-high socks and brown, buckled shoes. Her school crest was visible on her undershirt and on her sleeve.

"Hi, I'm Sayaka Maizono. I look forward to getting to know you!", Sayaka introduced. I recognized her immediately as The Ultimate Pop Sensation. Sayaka is a part of a pop all-girl singing group. Her voice was always my favorite part of the group's performance. And her looks could draw in anyone and everyone, almost like a doll.

"I'm not a doll, you know. I'm alive!", Sayaka cut my train of thought. I flushed red and looked away.

"D-Did I begin talking to myself? S-Sorry, I tend to do that sometimes...", I mumbled.

"No, you didn't. I'm psychic.", Sayaka said with a serious face.

"... Come again?", I asked.

"Kidding! I just have really good intuition.", Sayaka let out a giggle.

"Uh, I don't think intuition works like that... But I guess it worked this time. Let's work hard together, okay?", I offered.

"Alright, Kuno! I'll be cheering for you.", Sayaka said with a smile. I nodded and went to the next person. It was a very eye-catching boy. He had dyed orange spiked hair, a goatee, and pale blue eyes. He wore a white blazer jacket with a popped collar, a white shirt with a red grunge skull design, dark blue jeans, and white platform shoes with a black sole. He accessorized with a padlocked chain necklace, two overlapping studded belts, rings, and an oversized safety pin on his lapel. He had several piercings - his labret, his tongue, and six in his right ear.

"Yo! The name's Leon Kuwata. What's up?", Leon introduced.

"Wait, Leon Kuwata? Aren't you The Ultimate Baseball Star? But... You look so different than the pictures online.", I elaborated on my confusion.

"What, were you expecting some kid with a shaved head?", Leon asked.

"Well, not gonna lie, kinda. Sorry for thinking that, I should have known that not all athletes look sporty.", I admitted

"What!? No need to apologize! But man, you found that picture of me playing baseball? Seriously!? I hate that picture! This is not cool. This is SO not cool... Seriously, I'm like, mega embarrassed right now. I didn't have a choice, okay? Shaving your head like that is part of national championship regulations! But now I refuse to cut my hair. And I'm not gonna dye it back to normal, either! Actually, can I be totally honest with you? I don't like baseball. Like, at all. I've never gone to a single practice.", Leon explained.

"What!? But whenever you play, you always get home runs! How did you not practice? Not that I don't believe you, but I'm just surprised!", I questioned.

"I guess I'm just good at it. And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good! I have my own dream for the future!", Leon said with raised fists.

"A dream... For the future?", I mumbled with a tilt of my head.

"My only path in life is getting into music! You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right? I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar, and we're set! This new version of me that's chasing after my dream is, like... Super cool to the max!", Leon got all giddy and had a genuine smile on his face. I smiled back with admiration.

"Well, if it's what you want, then go for it! No one's stopping you, it seems.", I waved and went to talk to another boy. He had an overweight figure, with large hands, thin legs, and a face that comically resembled a hamster. He had short black hair that ends with curled points against his cheeks and forehead and a small pointed ahoge. He wore a pair of black, thick-rimmed glasses. He was dressed in a white button-down shirt, an orange tie which has a patterned vertical double-headed blue arrow design, a pair of dark gray trousers, and grey trainers. Over his shirt was a light grey, unbuttoned cardigan and on his back was an orange backpack. On the sleeve was a white mountain symbol from his Former High School.

"I... am Hifumi Yamada. But if you want to call me by my nickname, "The Alpha and The Omega!" I don't mind. By the way, how much do you know about the world of 2D art?", Hifumi asked.

"Um... Not much. I like watching action anime and reading a few mangas, but that's it.", I said with a finger on my chin.

"Well, in that world, I am well known and supremely well regarded as The Ultimate Fanfic Creator. I once sold 10,000 copies of one of my fan comics at a school festival. The event has passed into legend... Some of them didn't get it, of course, saying I'd "tainted" the event. How stupid can you be!? The words of such idiots mean nothing to me. I am like Van Gogh-- utterly unappreciated in my time. I am a soldier, serving night and day to destroy all mindless preconceptions about fan fiction. I'm sure if you were to observe my work, Miss Sawa, you would comprehend its greatness immediately. May I add that you do look like you would fit into the world of 2D.", Hifumi "praised".

"Fit in...?", I questioned.

"I read about you, Miss Sawa. As The Ultimate Blacksmith, you could enter the world of 2D with ease!", Hifumi said with a triumphant look.

"Um... Yay?", I laughed with a little bit of hesitance. I didn't get what he was saying, but at least he looked happy. I excused myself as I walked up to another student; a sporty girl. She had tanned skin, blue eyes, and an hourglass-shaped figure. She wore her brown hair in a curled ponytail. She wore Hope's Peak Academy-branded blue athletic shorts, a red tracksuit jacket over a white tank top, white knee-high socks, a red knee brace on her right knee, and Hope's Peak Academy-branded green sneakers.

"Heya! I'm Aoi Asahina! But my friends just call me Hina. 'Sup? So uh... what was your name again? Sorry, totally forgot!", Hina apologized.

"No need! It's Kuno Sawa, Ultimate Blacksmith.", I introduced.

"Oh yeah, I knew it was something like that!", Hina smiled.

"Not *something* like that. It *is* that...", I laughed a bit.

"Sure, sure, got it! Here, I'll hammer it into my brain right now! Kuno... Sawa... Kuno... Sawa...", Hina just kept repeating my name and moving her finger across her palm like she was writing something...

"What...?", I stared at her hand then back at Hina.

"You don't know? If you wanna remember someone's name, you gotta write it on your hand three times!", Hina explained.

"I've never heard of that before... But it looks like it works.", I was slightly shocked and made a mental note to use it sometime.

"Anyway, glad to meet ya!", Hina said as she shook my hand and went to talk to someone else. I sighed and went to talk to another girl. She had a small, lithe stature and doll-like appearance with short, light brown, layered hair and hazel-colored eyes. She wore a girls' winter school uniform set, featuring a long-sleeved dark green jacket, a white shirt with a large Peter Pan collar secured with a thin dark ribbon, suspenders, a box-pleated, mid-thigh length brown skirt, knee-high black socks, and white, ribboned mary janes. The logo of her Former High School, St. Elbandia Academy, was featured on her buttons and the sides of her socks.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki... Sorry, I get kinda embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this... Anyway, I hope we can get along...", Chihiro smiled. I almost awed at her frail and cute appearance but held myself back.

"Nice to meet you too!", I nodded.

"...Huh? Maybe it's just my imagination, but... have we met before?", Chihiro looked conflicted.

"Um, I guess not. Unless I saw you sometime passing by me, but I don't know you.", I explained.

"Oh, yeah. Good point. Sorry...", Chihiro looked down with tears almost spilling out of her eyes. I panicked a bit.

"Y-You don't have to apologize for that.", I assured.

"Hey, so listen... I-I'm really sorry.", Chihiro kept going, tears about cascade down her face.

"But why? Why are you apologizing?", I asked with a soft voice, trying to calm Chihiro down.

"Well, just cuz... you seem upset. You must be mad at me, right?", Chihiro mumbled.

"Not at all! You did nothing wrong.", I explained.

"Oh, that's good. I was afraid maybe you didn't like me. Hehe... I'm glad!", Chihiro giggled. Honestly, I didn't know why she thought I was mad at a such a gentle girl like her, but I smiled anyway and assured her that I would talk to her again. I went up to another seemingly quiet girl. She had purple eyes and a pale complexion. She wore her long lavender hair down with a single braid on her left side, tied with a black ribbon. Her outfit consisted of a dark purple collared jacket with six brown buttons over a zipped up long-sleeved white blouse and brown tie with a bird-like symbol on it. She also wore a black short skirt, heeled knee-high purple boots with equally knee-high light purple socks. She notably wore black studded gloves.

"Um... Can I ask you your name?", I asked with a small smile. The girl looked at me then back at the wall.

"My name is... Kyoko Kirigiri.", Kyoko replied flatly. I didn't hear about her on the forums or anything, so I decided to ask about her talent.

"Um, so... What are you doing at this school?", I asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?", Kyoko asked while pushing her stray purple hair away.

"No, I just meant... Getting invited here means you're some kind of "ultimate" something, right? So what's yours? I'm The Ultimate Blacksmith.", I explained as I fingered my knife that was in my messenger bag absentmindedly.

"... Why should I tell you?", Kyoko mumbled with an icy voice.

"Oh... I guess you don't want to.", I cringed at my nosy nature.

"No, I *don't* have to tell you. So I'm not going to.", with that, Kyoko turned away and kept inspecting the huge metal hatch on the wall. I felt like I was an idiot for prying, so I walked away to another girl who looked a bit more approachable. She had a tall, hourglass figure, light blue eyes, and long, thick, bleached strawberry blonde hair tied in two twin pigtails. Due to her talent as The Ultimate Fashionista, she wore heavy make-up along with (possibly fake) long red nails. She also had freckles and slightly slanted eyes, much different than when she appeared on magazines. Her outfit included a black cardigan over a white dress shirt, with both left open to the third button to expose the top of her black-and-red bra, a red pleated miniskirt, and mid-sized black boots with platform heels and red laces. Her cardigan was accented with white symbols of her Former High School. She accessories with a long white tie that hangs loosely around her neck with a red bear scattered for the design. She wore a set of hair slips of a cute bunny and a large red and white bow.

"Hiii! I'm Junko Enoshima. Charmed, I'm sure!", Junko said with a typical high school girl voice.

"Um... Not to be rude or anything, but you look a bit different on the cover pictures of your magazines. Not that I really pay attention to the looks of the models, but something isn't sitting right with me.", I admitted as I fiddled with my hidden knife.

"Oh, are you talking about my cover photos and junk? Ahaha, well of course! Those are totally photoshopped.", Junko said with a huge smile and a peace sign as if admitting that photos being photoshopped for the sake of looks was normal and not-at-all shallow.

"As in changed?", I questioned.

"Yeah, you know-- edited to hell and back. With like, computers and junk?", Junko elaborated.

"I guess I should have known...", I sighed as I thought about the way the industry change even humans to what they want.

"Come on, don't act so surprised! You're gonna make me all depressed. It's totally normal these days to photoshop the crap out of cover photos. If you're surprised by that, you'd be totally blown away by a certain dangerous little diva of ours... They make the eyes and junk super big, and tweak the skin so it looks all ceramic and porcelain.", Junko said with a huge grin.

"Oh...", I mumbled as I looked back at my knife for a bit. I heard a gasp as Junko pulled the knife out of my hand with sparkles in her eyes.

"Wait, is this the work of The Blacksmith Of Time!? You're Kuno Sawa?! I knew your name was familiar!", Junko squealed.

"Um, yes I am! I didn't take you for the weapon type, Junko.", I smiled with a small blush.

"Oh... Um, well, I gotta keep up with all the latest trends, and your brand comes up sometimes. I need to know, you know?", Junko said with a slightly panicked voice. I giggled as I grabbed my knife from her hands and put it in my messenger bag and put a finger to my lips and winked at Junko.

"I won't tell anyone about your little fascination with weapons, Junko. A model keeps her life out of business.", I smiled and walked away to introduce myself to a gruff looking dude. He had slightly tanned skin and a tall, muscular build which gives him a bulky figure. He wore his hair as a dark-brown punch perm with a styled-1960s pompadour. He had deep-ridged black eye line circling his purple eyes, which gave him an intimidating appearance. His outfit reflected that of a typical Japanese biker gang member (暴走族 bōsōzoku), comprising of a high-collared black long overcoat known in Japan as "tokkō-fuku" (特攻服), adorned with the symbol of The Crazy Diamonds along with kanji and dragon symbol motifs colored orange on the back and side, worn open over a white A-shirt. He wore baggy black pants held up by a belt and his shoes are white loafers. The buckle of his belt is shaped like the face of a Komainu.

"Name's Mondo Owada. Nice to f*ckin' meetcha.", Mondo grumbled.

"Nice to meet you too. By any chance, are you the leader of The Crazy Diamonds? The Ultimate Biker Gang Leader, right?", I asked.

"Hell yeah. Got a problem with that?", Mondo looked back at me with a fierce gaze. I kept eye contact, but it was still pretty scary.

"Not at all, I just remember making a number plate with The Crazy Diamond's logo on it for your guys. One of your friends came by and ordered it "For the boss". By any chance was that you the guy was talking about?", I smiled.

"Oh, yeah... Now I know why your name was so familiar. But aren't you a blacksmith? Don't they just make weapons and sh*t?", Mondo asked.

"Well, that's mostly true. I also know how to make metal accessories, hence why people sometimes ask me for more practical stuff and why I haven't run out of business yet.", I explained.

"Well... I gotta hand it to ya, you're a f*cking magician with metal! I still have that plate on my bike!", Mondo busted out a genuine smile and slapped me on the back. It surprised me a bit, but I laughed with him.

"I'm glad you like it, Mondo. Maybe I can make more for your crew someday!", I offered.

"Sh*t, that would be pretty f*ckin' cool. Alright, in exchange, I'll let you ride one of my bikes. You like that offer?", Mondo smirked.

"Heck yeah! It's a promise!", I smiled and walked away to talk to someone else. It was a woman with... An oddly amazing body structure and I'm not talking about curves. Her large build and stern appearance almost made me mistake her for a man. She had long white hair, reddened-dark skin; very pale blue eyes, and a scar on her face and right shoulder. Her school uniform consisted of a traditional seifuku style Japanese school uniform comprising of a white shirt a blue sailor collar, a short blue skirt, and a red tie. The sleeves on the uniform were torn off to make room for her muscular upper arms. She wore bandages wrapped around her calves and forearms. Her shoes were grey and resemble Uwabaki.

"I am Sakura Ogami. Hey, you.", Sakura got closer to me after her introduction.

"Huh? Y-Yes!?", I stuttered. Sakura began to poke at my limbs and inspect me like a metal detector. She lifted my arms surprisingly gently and put them back down. I guess The Ultimate Martial Artist is sizing me up.

"I-Is something wrong, Sakura?", I mumbled, still a bit frightened and confused.

"Muscular quality and quantity are right around that of an extremely ordinary high school student... But your arms have small burn marks, which I deduce is from your work as a blacksmith. Hmph. What a shame. You're not at all fit to act as my training partner.", Sakura humphed but with a little bit of respect.

"Oh... I'm sorry for not being fit enough. But maybe you can ask Asahina, she's an athlete. She might be fit for you, Sakura!", I encouraged.

"Thank you for the tip, Kuno.", Sakura smiled slightly, which made me smile back and nod.

"Anytime, Sakura.", I waved and walked up to the next student; a boy with a sophisticated aura. He had short, dirty blond hair, blue eyes, and wore white framed glasses. He had a tall figure, with considerably long legs. He wore a black suit, with a white shirt underneath, a dark green crossover tie, a black belt, and black dress shoes with a slight heel. He had a silver pocket watch in his suit breast pocket, and a pin pinned to his lapel representing his Former High School.

"Name's Byakuya Togami.", when he uttered his name, I was surprised.

"Oh, you're from the Togami Family? I made stuff for you guys before! I remember making a shield with The Togami Family's crest. Man was that hard.", I sighed.

"I guess you are not that useless.", Byakuya smirked.

"... Excuse me?", I narrowed my eyes at Byakuya, who seemed to be growing an ego right in front of me.

"We're done with introductions, right? How much longer are you going to stand there? Go away. I'm sick of looking at you.", Byakuya looked away as he uttered those words.

"Well, if I knew I was going to be talking to a brat, I wouldn't have gone up to you in the first place.", I spat.

"Say that to someone like me and you will lose a very important customer.", Byakuya taunted.

"Does it look like I care?", I shot back as I walked away with a sigh and found someone more pleasant to talk to; the guy with the crazy hair. He had brown skin with stubble on his chin and dark brown eyes. His dark brown hair was styled in dreadlocks that stick out as large points.

As his uniform, the guy wore three layers of shirts, the top one being a green Japanese male uniform jacket he wears on his shoulders, the second one being an open button down white shirt, and his third layer is a small yellow short-sleeve shirt. He wore a brown haramaki and used a yellow rope as his belt to hold up his large black pants that are rolled up past his ankles. He also wore sandals. On his left wrist was a beaded bracelet with the symbol for his Former High School on each bead.

"I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure-- Hiro for short! Take it easy, yeah? I know I will!", Hiro introduced with a smile. I remembered seeing him online as The Ultimate Clairvoyant. It was an odd talent, but who was I to judge?

"Ahh... Okay, I give up.", Hiro suddenly said outright.

"Huh? Why? What happened?", I questioned.

"I saw it. I looked right at it... Seriously, I totally saw it!", Hiro insisted.

"Saw what? Confusing me here, buddy!", I urged.

"A guardian angel with a crazy perm chasing after Bigfoot running off with a skyfish in its mouth. And that guardian angel... is YOUR guardian angel! Nah, I'm just kiddin'. But hey, we should grab some brewskis sometime and get real deep into Lemuria and its civilization.", Hiro offered.

"Uh, first of all, your rambling is throwing me off in a loop. Second of all, what the hell is Lemuria? And third of all, we're in high school, how can we drink?", I looked back at Hiro with a raised eyebrow and crossed arms.

"Oh, I'm actually 21. I've been held back a few times, see, and... well, it's a long story.", Hiro explained.

"Okay then. Just to be clear, I'm underage. No drinking for me, 'kay?", I made myself clear before I backed away from the conversation and walked up to the final student; a goth girl. She wore a white lace-bonnet with white ribbons and had black hair in two large twin-drill pigtails. She had pale skin, red eyes, and gold circular earrings which had an image depicting the cross engraved into them with a red gem placed in the center in each. She also had long, black nails. She wore a gothic lolita-style outfit, consisting of a white blouse with a Long-point collar, a white ribbon tied around her neck, a black jacket that included white ribbon lacing down the sleeves, fastened by a simple white ribbon across her chest to reveal her red tie (consisting of a butterfly pattern layered on top of various spears with skulls attached to it) and the waist of her skirt, which was many-tiered and features white lace. She wore knee-high stockings trimmed in ladder lace, dark red mary janes with a thick heel held on her feet by three grey buckles, a white lace headband, and a silver Gunmetal plated ring, layered in overlapping sections on her index finger.

" I do not think we have been introduced. I am Celestia Ludenberg.", Celestia introduced herself with a "German" accent, but it sounded... Odd.

"That's your name?", I asked with pure curiosity.

"Celestia Ludenberg. It is my name. But if you don't mind, I would prefer for you to call me Celeste.", Celeste said with a small smile.

"Um... Are you Japanese, if you don't mind telling me?", I asked.

"Of course. Why do you ask?", Celeste looked away as she said that with a straight face.

"O-Oh, no reason, I've just never heard that name before..., I muttered.

"Well, it is the name I was given, but as I said, I would prefer if you call me Celeste.", Celeste said with a slightly forceful tone.

"Okay then.", I dropped the conversation and looked back at everyone. Even though they're all "Ultimate," they each have their individual sort of... Quirk, if you would phrase it like that. Taka was very strict and passionate about rules. Toko was a bit self-conscious and put words in people's mouths. Sayaka had her "Psychic" thing. Leon hated his own talent and wanted to do something completely different. Hifumi had a thing for 2D stuff. Makoto was lucky enough to get in. Hina was very outgoing despite the odd situation we were in. Chihiro was a quiet one. Kyoko was even quieter than Chihiro. Junko has a love for weaponry. Mondo was actually very nice, considering his position as a biker gang leader. Sakura could kick my a*s anytime she wanted. Byakuya had an ego that could potentially be annoying. Hiro was a... A unique guy in his own way. Finally, Celeste was hiding something, no doubt. Well, not like I can change any of them. It's their life, not mine. Byakuya cleared his throat and began to speak.

"Okay, time to get down to business. This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons."

"Oh, that's true.", Makoto mumbled.

"Why are you agreeing to a comment like that?", I deadpanned at Makoto's nature. He just laughed nervously and avoided eye contact.

"I heard someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?", I asked.

"Well, you see... Kuno, you said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were "just asleep," right? Well... the same is true for all of us.", Sayaka explained.

"Huh!? How?", I was shocked, to say the least. No group of people would just fall unconscious the second they enter a place without a reason.

"Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school! That's what happened to you, right?", Leon asked.

"Y-Yeah, but how come? That's just... Crazy!", I exclaimed as I tried to wrap my head around the phenomenon.

"Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!", Mondo yelled.

"And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right? But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What's that about!?", Taka scratched his head in thought. I decided not to mention that the metal plates look familiar and drop the idea for now.

"Plus, all my stuff's missing! Even my cellphone...", Junko complained. I raised a brow and looked into my bag. My weapons were there, but my phone and design tablet are gone without a trace. I found the picture of my grandfather in my bag, but it was laminated. I couldn't remember laminating it.

"My means of contact are gone, too... My projects are all that I have.", I elaborated.

"Yeah, you're right. I haven't seen my PDA anywhere, either...", Chihiro said with a concerned look on her face.

"And then there's the main hall here. The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here...! What the heck!? What's it doing there!?", Taka was about to punch the air out of confusion.

"Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know... crime or something?", Junko stuttered out. My blood went cold for a second at the thought, but I pushed it aside and kept thinking.

"What, like... a kidnapping? You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?", Leon mumbled.

"That can't be right. There are classrooms and stuff, so this has to be a school.", I said as I fiddled with my knife.

"And why kidnap a bunch of ultimates...?", Makoto said to no one in particular. He did have a point, why us?

"Come on, don't think like that. Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation procedure. Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit.", Hiro said with a smile. I wanted to say that this was a bit over the top to be an orientation procedure, but I decided to keep that thought to myself.

"Oh... So you think thy wanted to do something to surprise us?", Chihiro said with a hand on her chest and a relieved look on her face.

"Huh. Well if that's all it is, it's nap time for me. I was up way too late last night, so I could use a little shuteye.", Leon said with a hand on his head and a goffy smile on his face. I was kinda jealous of how calm everyone seemed. Suddenly, a loud bell sounded. I looked around to see a monitor on the wall come to life. It was just static with a strange silhuette that resembled a bear of sorts. Then, a voice cut through the static. It was loud, kind of annoying, a bit too cheerful, and creepy to the max.

"Ahem! Ahem! Testing, testing! Mike check, one two! This is a test for the school broadcast system! Am I on? Can everyone hear me? Okay, well then...! Ahh, to all incoming students! I would like to begin the entrance ceremony at... right now! Please make your way to the gymnasium at your earliest convenience... That's all. I'll be waiting!", with that, the happy-go-lucky voice was cut off, leaving us with our confused states.

"... What. The. Hell was that just now?", Junko exclaimed.

"Well then, if you'll excuse me...", Byakuya pushed passed us and left without another word. I kinda expected it and kinda didn't.

"H-Hey! What, you're gonna take off just like that!?", Junko yelled. I put a hand on her shoulder and shook my head, signaling that it was futile trying to talk to someone like Byakuya.

"Ohh, yeah, now I get it! This whole thing was just to get us all pumped for the entrance ceremony! Man, thank God it was all a joke. I'd be totally freaked if this was real! Alright, guess I'll head out, too. Wonder what they got planned for us next...", Hiro said as he walked off.

"Damn, I was totally looking forward to that nap, too. Why'd they have to go and kill the mood?", Leon yawned as he trudged out of the room.

"W-Wait for me! I wanna go with you!", Chihiro ran after Leon in fear.

"That is that, then. I will see you all there.", Celeste walked away with grace in every step, like she was born to be here.

" N-Not that anyone cares, but I-I'm gonna go, too...", Toko grumbled as she walked away. There were still a few students who stood in their places, frozen and skeptical. I didn't blame them, this whole situation looked bad. I walked up to Makoto and put a hand on his shoulder.

"You okay there, Makoto?", I mumbled.

"Not gonna lie, Kuno, this is making me uneasy.", Makoto admitted.

"This... this doesn't seem right.", Sayaka looked around helplessly.

"Yeah, that announcement was totally weird.", Junko shivered slightly.

"Maybe, but just staying put doesn't mean we'll be safe. Besides, aren't you guys just a little bit curious to find out what's going on around here?", Kyoko spoke for the first time after the introduction thing.

"If we do not move forward, we learn nothing. The only choice is to push ahead.", Sakura explained.

"They said to go to the gym, right?", Makoto looked up with determination in his eyes as he walked out. Everyone else left and I still stood in the middle of the room. I pulled out my grandfather's picture and traced his face with my finger.

"Grandfather... Be my guiding light, I'm lost. Watch over me, I beg of you.", I whispered as I tucked the picture in my pocket and headed out. I was in for a whole new experience, one I never asked for. One I never knew I would ever see in my whole life, feel in my whole life... Raw and true *Despair*...

END OF CHAPTER ONE!