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Dangan-Pinguino

Summary:

Chiaki Nanami enters Hope's Peak Academy for the first time! Everything seems fine until things start to get...out of control. Featuring characters from other works as well. Also available on Fanfiction.net.

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Chapter 1: The Smiling Sunshine (ARC I START)

Chapter Text

 

 

 

Hope's Peak Academy. The crown jewel of the country, where the most talented people end up. The building stood out proudly in the city, yet surrounding skyscrapers completely towered above it. Large emblem of the school, which contained a monochrome shield along with a pen and some kind of shape on it, was placed high on the building. The institution was guarded by the iron fence, which prevented any hooligans from doing shenanigans. Surrounded by many trees, the building was place d in the center of the city.

 

A mauve haired girl, wearing a green cardigan, pink backpack and leggings, stood in front of the entrance, being more focused on what she was holding in her hands: a pink handheld console. Noises came out of it, indicating that she was playing a game. For a moment, she took a look at the academy, staring at its size.

 

"So this is it….Hope's Peak Academy….I think." she thought to herself, feeling butterflies in her stomach. Slowly building up some courage, the girl stepped towards the entrance, opening the doors. She entered through the door, stepping inside the well lit hallway. The floor had the checkered pattern like chess as the ceiling was held by marble pillars. Every step she took echoed through the hall. The girl held the straps of the backpack tightly as she explored the hall, looking at the brown, wooden doors that led to classrooms.

 

"Class 77-B. Where is it?" she asked to herself, continuing the search for her class, but to no avail as every class was labeled anything other than her desired destination. There was no sight of anyone in the near distance either.

 

Suddenly, she saw a brown spiky haired boy with a rather peculiar streak standing on his head, standing near the door of one of the classrooms. The boy was wearing a green tie over the simple white shirt along with black jeans. Despite the fact he could enter the classroom at any time, he just stood in front of it, looking nervously at the floor. The girl tilted her head in curiosity and approached the anxious boy.

 

"Hey hey." greeted the girl with a soothing voice, much to the surprise of the boy.

 

"Hello." said the boy as he faced towards the girl, hiding the nervousness from before.

 

"Excuse me. Is this where Class 77-B is?" asked the lass, glancing over the sign that displayed the aforementioned number.

 

"Yeah, it is." answered the boy.

 

"Oh, I haven't introduced myself….I think. My name is Chiaki Nanami. What's yours?" she said as she pointed at herself, placing her hand on the chest.

 

"My name is Hajime Hinata. To be here, in Hope's Peak Academy, is a huge honor for me." introduced the boy towards the Chiaki, having a rather sheepish smile on his face.

 

"Nice to meet you. I hope we will get along well." smiled Chiaki at him, somehow calming him down for a bit. Despite that, she still noticed that Hajime was not in the best of the moods.

 

"Hey….is there something wrong?" wondered Chiaki, stepping closer to Hajime.

 

"Ah, it's nothing! Absolutely nothing!" blushingly replied Hajime, trying to pretend everything is okay.

 

"There must be something that's bothering you….I think." asserted Chiaki as she gave a serious look on him. He realized that he couldn't hide it anymore.

 

"Well...it's something that I have always wanted to be apart of. Hope's Peak Academy is a place where dreams come true. But...I just...can't actually believe I made it here. It's kinda difficult to enter the classroom….I don't know what will they expect. What will they think of such an ordinary person like me?" nervously explained Hajime, but at the same time he felt sort of relief telling his thoughts to someone.

 

"Ah, it's okay. I understand. To be honest, it's kinda scary for me too." reassured Chiaki as she looked him in the eyes. Her own eyes seemed to have a little gleam on them, giving Hajime some kind of aura of relaxation. "Maybe...we should go inside together? It's gonna be much easier for us….I think."

 

"Uh, sure?" approved Hajime with some uncertainty in his voice. Then Chiaki grabbed the door handle and ensured a tight grip on it.

 

"On three." alerted Chiaki as both of them got their heads closer to each other. Chiaki and Hajime started to slowly count to the desired number. Once the count has reached three, she slowly opened the door, revealing the classroom.

 

The classroom had multiple amounts of brown wooden tables with chairs behind them, all facing towards the desk, which was reinforced by the fences on both of the sides. Behind the desk there was a large blackboard, yet nothing was written on it. Floor itself had some kind of a pattern in the shape of a rhombus on them with multiple colors. Although the classroom had multiple lights on the ceiling, the main source of luminosity were the wide windows, supported with red curtains. When Chiaki and Hajime entered it, they soon realized that they were not alone as they saw six people already in the class. One purple haired boy with a hat was sitting behind one of the tables, supporting his head with his arm as he stared at the blackboard with a bored expression on his face. The mood of his quickly shifted when he saw Chiaki and Hajime stepping inside the class.

 

"Hey, come over here!" invited the purple haired boy, waving at them. The duo accepted his invitation and walked up to him. When they arrived, Chiaki did a small but quick wave with her hand at him. "You are the new guys, right? Then please, tell me your names!"

 

"I am Hajime..." he told the purple haired dude, who seemed to become increasingly excited.

 

"...and my name is Chiaki." she greeted as well.

 

"Cool! My name is Kazuichi Soda and I'm the Ultimate Mechanic!" the purple haired dude introduced himself, pumping his fists in the air. "Do you have like….a talent too?"

 

"Yep, I'm the Ultimate Gamer and I'm the fan of all genres, even the bad ones." answered Chiaki, showing her console to Hajime and Kazuichi.

 

"And I'm...the Ultimate….it's a secret. Can't really tell anyone about it." fretted Hajime, trying to hide his true feelings about it.

 

"It's alright, man. I just hope we get along together well." reassured Kazuichi, giving Hajime a big sense of relief. "Also, if you have any problems with machines, call me! There's no feeling same as fixing that beauty up!".

 

"Oh, what kind of machines do you mean?" piqued Chiaki while trying to think of any specific machine by herself.

 

"Any! Appliance or vehicle, I'll fix it for you!" cheered Kazuichi as he pumped his fists again.

 

"Well, you ain't Ultimate Mechanic for nothing." commented Hajime.

 

"Heh, thank you." said Chiaki. A little smile dawned upon her face.

 

"No prob! Hope you two have a good day!" cheered Kazuichi as the ahoge boy and mauve haired lass went further on to meet more of their classmates.

 

"He seems like a good fellow at heart. Maybe one day he will build something really cool!" thought Chiaki to herself while walking along with Hajime. It didn't take them long to find another individual, this time they encountered a red headed girl with freckles on her face, holding a camera in her arms.

 

"Hello there!" greeted the red haired girl the moment she saw them walking nearby. "I am Mahiru Koizumi and I'm the Ultimate Photographer."

 

Suddenly, she lifted up the camera and pointed it at them, putting her finger on the trigger button.

 

"Smile!" she ordered to them as they did what she told them to do, placing themselves in a comfortable position. The moment she pushed the button, a snapping sound came from the camera. Once the whole process was finished, Mahiru took a look at the photo from the monitor which was placed on the back of the camera. The placements of Chiaki and Hajime gave the photo some kind of vertical composition while the lighting from the windows gave it some kind of glossy yet relaxing feeling to the photograph.

 

"Tadaaa! What do you think?" requested Mahiru as she showed them the photo itself.

 

"I think it's great!" complimented Chiaki as she observed the photo.

 

"Yeah, you're really good at it." added Hajime along with Chiaki.

 

"Why, thank you." blushed Mahiru as her smile widened across her face. "Any kind of photo is a memory that may as well exist in that period. I think that should be cherished well.".

 

They seemed to have good time meeting each other before Chiaki and Hajime decided to meet other students as well.

 

"Hey, wait a minute." urged Mahiru towards the ahoge boy, to which he stopped going forward. Chiaki, following him, stopped as well. "You're Hajime, right?".

 

"Yes? What's up?" wondered Hajime.

 

"Be a real gentleman to her, okay!?" scolded Mahiru, completely changing her mood as she put her arms around her hips.

 

"U-uh, okay?" stuttered Hajime, surprised at her sudden change. "Gee, what was that for?".

 

"Don't worry, Mahiru. I believe he will be." reassured Chiaki as she stepped in front of the Hajime, putting her hand on her chest.

 

"A lot of faith put into me, despite only meeting minutes ago, huh." thought Hajime to himself, blushing from Chiaki's words.

 

"Alright then. If you say so, I'll believe you then." said Mahiru, returning to the relaxed mood she had earlier.

 

"She's really cool, but I think she should trust in people a bit more...I think. I wonder why she wouldn't trust Hajime." thought Chiaki to herself while she was, along with Hajime, prepared to meet another student, possibly their new friend.

 

Suddenly, a multicolor haired lass with oni horns on her head peeked from one of the desks. She made a gesture with her hands like she was holding binoculars. Pretending to patrol the classroom, the horned gal locked her sight on unknowing Chiaki.

 

"Cutie spotted!" the lass shouted as she jumped on the desk and started hopping on other tables like a frog, rapidly approaching them. She ceased her motions right in front of them, standing proud on the closest table.

 

"Say it with me! I, I go to the streets! B, bought a new book! U, you go with me! K, kay you say! I, do the refrain! That's how you get IBUUKIII MIODA!" Ibuki….sang in her own way while rocking that air guitar like a real one.

 

"...What?" asked Hajime after witnessing her...performance. Meanwhile, Chiaki sheepishly but sincerely clapped for her, despite the fact she was also confused.

 

"Thank you, thank you!" bowed Ibuki, making some greatly exaggerated gestures. "An applause of the cheerful audience is a wonderful reward for the musical greats such as Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Antonio Salieri, Billy Joel and of course, Ibuki Mioda!".

 

"Shut the hell up with your sugar rushes, okay?!" suddenly a short girl in an orange kimono with twin tails turned back and hissed, just after trying to squish a fly on the window with her own fingers. "Can't you see I'm busy here?!".

 

"I need no sugar, cause I'm always on energy!" said Ibuki, unaffected by the girl's statements. Hajime and Chiaki looked at the hissy fit personified, with former having a confused stance while the latter frowned.

 

"What'cha staring at me? Go bugger off already!" fumed the lass at them.

 

"Hey now, Hiyoko. Calm down, they're not gonna hurt you. They're just here to meet us." said Mahiru, attempting to cheer Hiyoko up.

 

"Yeah, not a good move on your behalf." scolded Hajime.

 

"And we were just trying to meet Ibuki." added Chiaki.

 

"It's been like the third time you yelled at me this morning, but it's okay! I yelled when I woke up as well!" chattered Ibuki, making everyone in the near distance further confused.

 

"Fine, fine, but only because you said so. But don't expect cuddles and cheers, unless you're stupid enough to do that." grumbled Hiyoko Saoiji. In response, Chiaki remained silent but she looked at the floor.

 

"Alright-a-mundo!" said Ibuki as she, for some reason, crawled back to her desk. The speed of her crawling on the floor managed to surprise everyone in the room.

 

"Did she...really have to do that?" asked Hajime after witnessing her action before going to meet the remaining students in the class along with Chiaki.

 

"Ibuki seems like a really cheery person!...I think. I can't wait to spend more time with her. Hiyoko though…..I will try my hardest, but she's gonna be a tough one...I'm not stupid to believe in people, right?" thought Chiaki to herself just as she ventured forth, seeking new classmates. It did not take long as suddenly, a blonde tall girl in a green and white dress with a crown on her head stood in front of them.

 

"Halt!" she commanded, stunning them as they stopped like she said so. "You are late to the class!"

 

"What the….? As far as I know, it's only 7.37." pointed out Hajime as he pointed on the clock.

 

"My apologies." said the charmingly dressed girl, bowing towards them as she attempted to meet them like an ordinary Japanese person. "Oh goodness me, I haven't even introduced myself! My name is Sonia Nevermind, the Ultimate Princess! I am not quite used to the schedule and rules here, since I am from Novoselic. The rule is that in Novoselic, you must be thirteen minutes earlier than the agreed time. If not, then you are severely punished.".

 

"Princess? Just like those noble royals who await for their love in games?" asked Chiaki, being reminded of one her platformers she used to play a lot. She seemed to get a little excited.

 

"Erm...not to be rude, but aren't you….overqualified for this school?" questioned Hajime.

 

"Well to first question, yes and no. While I do live a castle just like ones in games and fairy tales, I hold a huge responsibility governing my nation. Do not worry, my family is handling the reign as well. To the second question, I thought as well, but they seemed to accept me without any issues! It was my dream to come here, I admire Japan since I was child. In fact, Novoselic wishes to get us closer than even before!" answered Sonia before she started to ramble as two of them listened.

 

"Oh boy, we're having THAT kind of person in our class. Just please don't tell me you also like anime..." grumbled Hiyoko as she faced backwards, looking at Sonia with contempt.

 

"Indeed I do! It's quite popular in my country and one of the reasons why I wanted to go to Japan as well!" confirmed Sonia with pure cheer in her voice.

 

"….Why must this place have the freakiest of all freaks.." quietly complained Hiyoko as she started to frequently slam her head on the desk. Mahiru tried to stop her from doing such an action.

 

"Well...nothing is really wrong with watching it. Everyone should do things they enjoy without being shamed on." affirmed Chiaki to counter Hiyoko's words.

 

"It's okay. Sonia, there's nothing to worry about. I just hope that it would be comfortable enough that you could express whatever you'll want." assured Hajime as he, along with Chiaki, welcomed Sonia for who she was.

 

"FUCK YEAH!" yelled Sonia as she pumped her fists up in the air. Not only did her words startle Chiaki and Hajime, it made the entire class turn towards her as they stared in bewilderment. "Oh, I'm sorry. I know as a princess I shouldn't talk like this, but….".

 

"No, it's fine. Just that…..not exactly something expected, that's all." explained Hajime to her, trying to cheer her up.

 

"Oh! Oh well, there is no problem! I hope you have a nice day!" smiled Sonia as she waved at them, letting them continue their day normally.

 

"Man, I can't believe a princess like her dropped a bomb like this!" thought Ibuki to herself, being intrigued and yet excited at the thought.

 

Chiaki noticed one of the students standing in the corner alone, leaning towards the window as he stared at the wall. He was covered in all black with a mark of the lighting sticking out of his pale face. A long purple scarf covered his face along with bandages covering his hands. The menacing aura radiated from his stature.

 

"Hey, Hajime. Someone's alone there. We should greet him...I think." declared Chiaki as she started approaching the mysterious student.

 

"You sure? He doesn't look like he wants to be bothered." asked Hajime just to be sure about.

 

"We can't just leave him to be alone. Everyone needs a chance." elaborated Chiaki. Hajime didn't really have anything to argue about so they stepped forward to him. The mysterious student noticed their presence, immediately raising his guard.

"Stand back! If you step forward once more, you shall be cursed for eternity!" warned the enigmatic student as he clutched with his arm.

 

"Erm...we do not mean to hurt you. We're just here…..to meet you." said Chiaki, starting to get a little confused by the student's manners. Hajime started to feel like this whole meeting attempt might lead to somewhere unusual.

 

"Hurt me? Fuwahahahaha! As if you can! Against the Supreme Overlord, no mortal can strike me, if they manage to not run away in fear after witnessing me. If you haven't come here for a battle, do you perhaps seek to submit under my rule? If not, then justify your presence here!" boasted the enigmatic student as he shook his fist.

 

"We're just here….to make friends. To create new memories….I think" she tried to explain to him.

 

"I think, you say. Hah! You are not even sure about your motive! Mine is simple and clear: take over the world AND THEN HELL ITSELF!" further boasted the student, which only made the situation even more confusing.

 

"Alright, Supreme Overlord of Boastfulness. Just tell us your name." demanded Hajime with an annoyed tone in his voice.

 

"For who I am, you wish to know. But name is forbidden to say out loud. Anyone who hears it shall never know peace. So….are you willing enough to risk eternal suffering?!" cautioned the bombastic student.

 

"Yes, yes, just tell us already." groaned Hajime as he nearly put his hand on his face.

 

"Fine then, you mortals asked for it. Do not blame me for the consequences. For I am The Supreme Overlord, GUNDHAM TANAKA, the world shall tremble in front of me! An new era of darkness shall engulf the Netherworld with terror!" he shouted as his name echoed through out the classroom.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAH!" Ibuki also yelled, possibly in fear or the fact she thought it was a screaming competition.

 

"Y-you don't mean...you're gonna engulf the world in the darkness, right? The good always defeats the evil...right?" stuttered Chiaki as she actually felt chills down her spine.

 

"C'mon, Chiaki, You know that's not possible." Hajime quickly reminded her that there was no need for such concerns in the real world. After all, such was the subject of fiction, wasn't it?

 

"Kehehehe….it appears I have instilled fear already. Deluding yourself with a chance of victory is fruitless, since I lead an army of DEMONS!" chuckled Gundham as he crossed his arms.

 

"...Demons?" asked Chiaki, ever so slightly trembling. Hajime assured her that things are gonna be alright.

 

"Demons!" chirped Sonia, curious to see the aforementioned beings.

 

"Humanity's curiosity is never going to be quenched, so I shall show my demons in advance. Be careful, if you value your life." said Gundham, waiting for any response from them. There was no clear answer, so Gundham Tanaka decided he will show them his demons.

 

"GO FORTH, DARK DEVAS OF DESTRUCTION!".

 

Suddenly, four hamsters of different sizes appeared as they jumped on Gundham, showing their visage towards his students. He confidently posed as he let out a laugh full of malevolence.

 

"….THOSE are your demons? They're just..." said Hajime in the state of bafflement.

 

"They're rather fluffy." commented Chiaki as she tried to observe them up close.

 

"And cute!" praised Sonia as her eyes shined.

 

"Do not be fooled by their appearance! They have just taken the form they find comfortable!, just like it was told in the Pandemonium" warned Gundham while his hamster comfortable sat on him.

 

"Alright….I hope you have a nice day." said Chiaki before she and Hajime went to their desks.

 

"We shall meet again! Fuwahahaha!" devilishly laughed Gundham Tanaka with his arms crossed again.

 

"Gundham….why does he talk like a villain? I don't believe he actually means it...I think." Chiaki thought to herself before she sat down behind her desk. "I'll just get my game and see if anyone else comes to this classroom. I hope I can make a good impression on them….I think I didn't do it well this time."

 

She sat quietly as she started playing a shoot em up game on her console, being completely absorbed in it. Mahiru and Hiyoko were chatting about something while Ibuki was bobbing her head for no particular reason. Gundham remained in his corner, now observing the classroom like an eagle. Others just sat quietly as well, waiting for others to arrive as the time passed.

 

Suddenly, a noise resembling squealing when braking was heard from the halls. Everyone looked at the door as they were startled.

 

"W-what the? Is someone driving a car in the halls?" stuttered Kazuichi when he heard the noise.

 

The noise stopped, but the doors to the classroom were opened fiercely to the point they nearly hit the walls, revealing a tall tanned girl with athletic physique along with a massive muscular man behind her. They both chuckled as they entered the classroom.

 

"Nope, just me!" cheered the tall lass as she stepped further in the classroom.

 

"Well done, Akane! You did one hundred laps around school without breaking a sweat! Now that's real spirit!" praised the buff man as he went along with her.

 

"Thanks, Nekomaru!"responded Akane, winking at him and then placing her hand behind her head.

 

"O-one hundred laps? Ain't that too much?" asked Kazuichi.

 

"There is no such thing as too much for us! We are gonna overcome any obstacle with ease!" boasted Nekomaru as he pumped his fists, to which Akane joined as well. Chiaki glanced over them with a certain curiosity before continuing playing her game.

 

After Akane and Nekomaru sat down behind their desks, the class went quiet until two new people appeared in front of the entrance. A rather sharply dressed blond lad along with a tall silver haired girl with glasses silently stepped in. Chiaki noticed them, stood up and tried to approach them.

 

"Do not come any closer." warned the silver haired girl, making Chiaki completely halt before she could say anything. "Fuyuhiko is not in the best mood right now. I would advise to ask later.".

 

"Damn right." added Fuyuhiko, clenching his fist as he had a scowl on his face.

 

"Oh….I see. I'm sorry." lamented Chiaki before stepping back to her desk. The lady with glasses saw her and felt a little bit of guilt when she saw her pitifully returning to her desk.

 

"Fuyuhiko, would have been a good idea to at least greet her properly?" asked the lady with glasses.

 

"...Fine, you are free to do if you wish, no need to ask. However, don't let her pry too much, okay?" reluctantly allowed Fuyuhiko as he quietly sighed. She stepped towards Chiaki just before the little lass (compared to her) could sit down and return to playing her games.

 

"Hello there. You seemed to be curious to know us." introduced the lady towards her. Chiaki's mood changed as she looked up to the lady, towering in front of her. "I apologize for what happened. It was just an instinct of mine.".

 

"It's okay! I just didn't want to bother, but…..I just...want to...make wonderful memories with everyone!" avowed Chiaki to her rather enthusiastically.

 

"Heh, your optimism is admirable yet quaint. Anyway, my name is Peko Pekoyama and I am the Ultimate Swordswoman." said the lady with glasses as she crossed her arms adamantly.

 

"Sword? You actually have it? May I….see it?" requested Chiaki, tilting her head.

 

"Sure." answered Peko, drawing her bamboo sword and held it in front of her as she observed her weapon. Chiaki, out of an assumption that she was not allowed, didn't want to touch it.

 

"That's so cool!" praised Chiaki while getting her eyes locked on the sword. "Are you...like a knight that slays the darkness and saves the innocents?"

 

"Don't be silly...I cannot tell you much about the reason of usage." mumbled Peko as she returned her sword back in her bag. Fuyuhiko glanced over to check that no important information was spilled. By the time they were about to sit behind their desks, Ibuki appeared out of a sudden.

 

"Shit! Another fucking person to pry us!" thought Fuyuhiko to himself while wincing.

 

"Holyheckthat'ssuchaprettyladyIforgottoputinspaces!" fantasizes Ibuki to herself, looking more at Peko.

 

They had a little chat about mundane things and games until suddenly, the doors opened, revealing a long haired but perpetually anxious gal. The girl tripped and started rolling inside the classroom until she hit the fence in front of the large desk.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH" she yelled as she felt utter pain in her back. Most of the class with exception of Hiyoko rushed towards her right away.

 

"Hey, are you okay?" asked Hajime while everyone near her tried to help. Chiaki even got closer and tried to lift her up.

 

"I-I-I j-just s-slipped and...ah! P-please don't look at me!" whimpered the lass while trying to cover her face.

 

"Is everything alright?" asked Chiaki as she picked up the girl from the floor.

 

"J-Just in the back." stuttered the girl as she held a grip on Chiaki's shoulders, staring her in the eyes.

 

"Don't worry. We will patch you up as quick as we can." declared Chiaki, lifting her up with rather relative ease. Suddenly, the girl that she was holding like a little weight started to tear up, then combusted into tears. The classmates silently watched the whole scene unfold in shock.

 

"Hey hey. It's gonna be okay. I promise." reassured Chiaki to the weeping girl, cradling her as an attempt to make her more relaxed.

 

"N-n-no one has been so kind to me." wept the girl in her arms, to which Chiaki responded with a tighter hug and further reassurance.

 

"...What happened to her?" wondered Hajime after seeing the entire debacle with the girl.

 

"Bah! This is just nothing than a poorly made self-pity play!" cursed Hiyoko out of sudden annoyance, pointing at the girl in Chiaki's arms. That warranted a glare from Hajime.

 

"Oh, forgot to ask. What is your name?" she asked as she took the girl to the nearest table.

 

"M-Mikan Tsumiki." the girl introduced herself with meekness oozing from her voice.

 

"Mikan Tsumiki...I will be your friend." avowed Chiaki to her.

 

"H-huh?! R-really?" stammered Mikan out of complete surprise. Chiaki smiled, to which made Mikan's day much brighter. Meanwhile, Ibuki Mioda was foaming as she collapsed on the floor.

 

"Ibuki! Are you alright?" asked Mahiru, running over her to check her. Hearing her concerns, Ibuki immediately stood up as if someone erected a statue in miliseconds.

 

"IBUKI IS BLESSED!" she bursted, hopping in one place like a bunny. Mahiru and others could only stare at her in confusion, with some accepting that and others not.

 

Some time has passed after the encounter with Mikan, nothing eventful actually happening. Oh, some chef also stepped in the class but moving on. The class was about to start with everyone being prepared for it, but then, on exactly fifty-nine point nine seconds before 7:50 AM, the doors opened once again, revealing a white haired fellow. The pale lad wore a dark green zipper coat along with black jeans.

 

"Good morning, everyone." he said with a smile on his face. Some of the class waved at him while others ignored him. "I hope I wasn't too late for the class...".

 

"What are you talking about? You arrived almost exactly on time! How...did you manage to do it? Who are you?" questioned Hajime while looking at the lad. Chiaki glanced over to him as well, curious to who he was talking to.

 

"Ah, someone noticed me! It must have been the doing of my luck." avowed the white haired lad as he stepped closer to him, his smile getting wider. "I am Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student.".

 

Both of them greeted each other, yet Hajime took small amount of caution doing anything near him, unsure what to expect of him. Nagito seemed to get closer to him with each move he did.

 

"The day I was waiting for my entire life has finally happened. All these talents here, in one place….it's amazing! I did not expect that utter trash like me..." said Nagito as he stared at his palm, yet still regaining his smile.

 

"Hey, don't degrade yourself. Pretty sure you have a lot of potential inside of you." called out Hajime out of a sudden, pointing at him rather frustratingly.

 

"Hajime is right. Everyone has an ability to do wonder, no matter what they are." added Chiaki, joining in as well.

 

"Oh...praised by not only one but two talents at once….Thank you so much! I hope you two have a great day." cheered Nagito before going off to his own table.

 

"No problem. As long as I can make at least someone's day brighter, I'm more than glad." said Chiaki, smiling as well.

 

"Well...about that…." thought Hajime, secretly doubting himself after hearing the ramblings of Nagito.

 

Time went past 7:50, the class was about to start. Everyone waited patiently for their teacher to arrive. Gundham was still standing in the corner, observing his fellow students like a hawk.

 

After one minute, the doors opened again, revealing a middle aged long haired woman dressed in a white apron along with blue skirt suit.

 

"Goooooooood morning, class!" she said with a peppy smile so wide that it would make the Sun look like a black hole. The class greeted her back, although some people like Fuyuhiko and Gundham remained quiet for their own reasons. The woman who seemed like their teacher hopped towards her own desk before taking a look at her students.

 

"I shall be your teacher, but let me introduce myself! I am Chisa Yukizome. Now, are you ready for...the greatest adventure you'll have here?!" she cheered, motivating her class for the upcoming years as she raised her arm up in the air.

 

"YAHOO! I AM READY!" screamed Ibuki as she started jumping in excitement.

 

"OH YEAH! UNPREPAREDNESS AND NEKOMARU NIDAAAAAAI DO NOT MIX!" yelled Nekomaru as he pumped his fists along with Akane following him.

 

Others remained silent. Some didn't know what to do, others out of lack of interest.

 

"Naaaah. It's gonna be so booooring." huffed Hiyoko, laying her head on the desk and then blowing a raspberry.

 

"C'mon! Don't be so pessimistic. I guarantee there'll be lots of fun, right?" rebutted Chisa in a playful way before winking to them.

 

"Fuwahahaha! You say that life shall be filled with joy and pleasure, but would you utter still the same words when the Judgement Day of Pandemonium comes?" boastfully asked Gundham Tanaka.

 

"What the actual hell are you blabbering about?" denounced Fuyuhiko in response to his question.

 

"Of course I am! I fear no emergency and even if it happens, I'll make sure that emergency fears us!" boasted Chisa as she pulled out a bunch of papers, first aid kid and even swiss army knives out of her pockets.

 

"Now THAT….is a good line. You seem to live up to your word, but you'll have to fulfill it!" complimented Gundham Tanaka as he chuckled.

 

"Excuse me, Miss Yukizome, but it was supposed to be sixteen students here, right?" asked Sonia Nevermind after taking a small observation of the class. "I might not be too familiar with the system yet, but I remember this.".

 

"Yeah, you totally forgot about the most sensual one." said Teruteru Hanamura, that...chef.

 

"Ooooh, right! Was planning to do it just now! In a minute, guys!" responded Chisa before rushing off to the doors in a blinding speed.

 

"I bet it's gonna take hours." smirked Hiyoko after Chisa left.

 

"What if she actually does it in a minute?" asked Ibuki with seriousness in her tone.

 

"Oh, shut up." Hiyoko shut her off, but Ibuki didn't seem to mind her attitude.

 

Exactly one minute passed away and Chisa was already back to the class, holding a large and stout lad in her arms. The person seemed to be dressed like a normal student, but rosy cheeks on his face stood out. Students seemed to be amazed by her prowess and speed, especially Hiyoko, whose jaw dropped at the sight of a seemingly non muscular gal holding a rather large person with seeming ease. Ibuki Mioda's eyes sparkled as she entered the state of bliss. Chiaki started staring at her as if she was gazing at the stars.

 

"Gotcha!" yelled Ibuki as she rocked her air guitar for a brief moment.

 

"That's bullshit! You only got lucky!" complained Hiyoko before she pouted begrudgingly.

 

"Now, now, Ryouta. You can't just miss out meeting up your classmates." scolded Chisa, but didn't seem to be too upset about it.

 

"So uh….Hi. I'm Ryouta Mitarai and I...make anime. That's all there needs to be known." he introduced himself, to which he received few hand waves.

 

"Any questions before our day starts?" asked Chisa one more time before their class was about to officially start.

 

"Yo, when did you get so fit?" said Akane, being rather stunned from before. She kept looking at her appearance, wondering how Chisa could accomplish such a feat.

 

"Ehehehe…..secret!" blushed Chisa, putting hands on her cheeks in the process.

 

"Can you lift me after class?" enthusiastically requested Ibuki as she waved her hand up.

 

"Sure!" responded Chisa, smiling like before. No one else had the questions reserved or her after Ibuki's request.

 

"Let our school life begin!" she proclaimed, pointing at her class to which some of them pumped their fists as well. Chiaki kept staring at her with interest, yet speechless.

 

And so their day has begun.

 

Meanwhile outside of school, everything seemed calm and quiet. Suddenly, three people of vastly different shapes, one lanky, extravagantly dressed dude with spiky hair and a black lightning tattoo on his face, one girl in a tank top with multi colored (pink and white) twin tails and microphone in her hair and one large, incredibly stout man wearing a fedora and an olive gray suit, back flipped over the fence with relative ease. They landed on their feet before leaving the crouching position to stand up and see the building of Hope's Peak Academy.

 

"Boys, we're here!" announced the girl with a microphone in her hair, putting her arms around her hips.

 

"So...this is that Hope's Peak Academy that everyone was so gushing about, eh? Gahahahahaha! Looks like a cathedral to me, not a proper school!" cackled the spiky haired dude out loud.

 

"It is rather surprising to see a building that resembles the Gothic architecture here, but many universities are, indeed, rather old, so it wouldn't not be exactly the most productive to mock such style." expressed the large man after hearing his fellow's comment.

"Figottoni…It's nice to hear that, but come on! We are the future, so we have to push forward! I still think this crust barn needs some RENOVATION!" replied the lanky dude as he shrugged.

 

"Zapatta, don't do crazy shit here, aight?" warned the girl, grabbing his shoulder.

 

"Yes, yes, Suifta, I get it. No goof ups! But…..WE HAVE TO SHOW THEM WHO'S THE BOSS!" boasted Zapatta as he sprinted to the doors before stopping to stand in front of them, preparing his position. Suddenly, he kicked the doors with his left leg with incredible power, but the doors didn't even bulge.

 

"Aiiiieeee...damn. Was expecting the doors to be a lil bit less tight." he said after his way of thought got stuck in hidden embarrassment.

 

"You know, you could have just…." grumbled Suifta as she walked up to him and opened the doors by herself. "...opened them?".

 

"It's not the same if its mundane." countered Zapatta, which warranted a sigh from his rapper friend.

 

"I would advise you not to be rash. We are in the new territory, after all." said Figottoni, to which Zapatta listened with only one ear. They fully opened the doors as they were about to enter the academy. It did not take long until….

 

"SUUUUCKAAAAAAAAA!" screamed Zapatta as he pointed forward, only, at time unknown to him, there was a person standing right in front of him. The person was rather tall, wore a fancy black suit with a tie and even wore glasses.

 

"...What?" scowled the fancy person, glaring at them directly in their eyes as he crossed his arms like a furious manager.

 

"Ah shit, here we go again." groaned Suifta, which she covered her face with her palm. Figottoni just remained silent.

 

"Well…erm...you see...GET OUTTA MY WAY!" he tried to fend him off, only for him to (figuratively) shoot himself in his foot more.

 

"How about you remove yourself from my sight instead?" retorted the fancy person back at him, much to Zapatta's surprise.

 

"You fool! Don't you know who are you talking to?!" huffed Zapatta while doing rather bizarre poses while talking.

 

"I am not interested, thank you." the person shot him down with such a response.

 

"I AM ZAPATTA, THE ULTIMATE, FUNKY FRESH, SPECIAL DELICACY, ONE HUNDRED PERCENT ROCKSTAR AND I AM GONNA ROCK THE FUCK OUT OF THIS SCHOOL!" he angry boasted while shaking his fists towards him.

 

"And I'm Byakuya Togami. Didn't you hear what I've just said? Now go away, you're just wasting my time." said the person for the last time. Zapatta was about to attack him, but the grab from Figottoni stopped him.

 

"Do not continue battles where your every outcome is a predictable loss." he advised, calming down Zapatta.

 

"Do not mind us that much, so….bai bai." babbled Suifta before she pulled Zapatta out of Togami's sight. Figottoni followed her as well. Byakuya just glanced at them with a scowl before going his way.

 

"Zapatta….Zapatta…."sighed Suifta, looking Zapatta in his eyes with grumpiness. "What the hell, man?"

 

"Well, to my defense, I didn't know he was there!" argued Zapatta or at least attempted to.

 

"That's why I said you shouldn't be rash. Such incident could make us feel grave consequences." reckoned Figottoni, looking at both of them below.

 

"Yes, yes….now it's lunch time, right?" asked Zapatta as he switched the topics and was feeling rather hungry.

 

"Ye, I suppose so." answered Suifta before all of them picked themselves up and were ready to arrive at the dining room.

 

"You two can go for a snack. I have no desire to eat at the moment." said Figottoni.

 

"Figottoni, you just ate a single can of beans today….in the midnight!" perplexed Zapatta while reminding him to eat something.

 

"That is more than satisfactory for me." calmly explained Figottoni as they got closer to the dining hall.

 

"Alright then..." admitted Zapatta, not trying to further argue as they continued their path.

 

Later that day, the break started. Students of class 77-B arrived near the dining room, waiting to obtain their food. Chiaki, while playing her game, walked along Hajime to their destination. Had he not opened the doors for her, she could have almost bumped into them. Turns out that class 77-B was not the only visitor of the dining hall. The dining room was split into four tables, on one table they were a rather small boy with a very noticeable ahoge; an even brown haired smaller person wearing a skirt, who was behind a laptop; a blue haired lass dressed like a normal Japanese student; a tanned lass who was stuffing her mouth with donuts and she was accompanied by a rather enormous, very muscular white haired lass gently drinking a protein shake. On the other table there were a buff dude with a crazy hairstyle along with a smaller lad, who seemed to be dressed like a hall monitor; some jock-ish skinny dude with a goatee and a guy who basically had a bush on his head. On another table there were a rather elegantly dressed but vampiric looking madame, who was sipping her tea while the rather round fellow with glasses delivered her tea if she desired. Away from her, a small purple haired girl was sitting, biting her nails. Only one who has already been in the kitchen that was not sitting was a long lavender-colored haired gal, who was just standing in the corner, away from nearly everyone.

 

Chiaki looked away from the game to see where to sit, only for her attention to turn towards the person behind a laptop. She walked up to that person, looking behind to see what kind of deed was done on the laptop, tilting her head out of curiosity. The little person behind a laptop meekly looked behind and got spooked, flinching in the process.

 

"A-ah! I d-didn't know you were there!" stammered the person while starting to visibly trembling in front of her eyes. "I'm sorry….I should have been more observant...".

 

"Hey hey. It's okay...I should have told you in the first place." reassured Chiaki, lowering herself so she could see that person from eye to eye. "I want to know what are you doing.".

 

"Oh, really? Then….hehe..." the person suddenly lost the anxiety, smiling in a similar way Chisa did. "I should introduce myself first...I am Chihiro Fujisaki and I am a programmer. Ultimate one, they say, but….I...doubt that I deserve such a high title.".

 

Chihiro moved away a little to show her the program in question. The program itself consisted of heavy amount of brackets and combinations of letters and symbols, some in different colors even.

 

"H-here it is…." stuttered Chihiro, letting her see. Chiaki leaned closer to the monitor, seeing all kind of code in the program.

 

"That's so cool! I have one question though..." said Chiaki, slowly starting to heavily breathe.

 

"Y-yes?" squeaked Chihiro.

 

"Do you...make games as well?" asked Chiaki, puffing out of excitement as she got very close to Chihiro. Face of Chihiro got completely red.

 

"W-well….my current research is not exactly related to gaming...but I could try one day." meekly answered Chihiro, worrying that the response would disappoint her.

 

"Heh. If it wasn't for programmers like you, games could not exist. You have my respect." praised Chiaki as she bowed down to Chihiro.

 

"O-oh...I guess….thank you." chirped Chihiro, smiling again. They continued to discuss topics of their interest as Chiaki sat next to him. Meanwhile, Hajime was standing up next to the boy with the ahoge, just like he had one himself.

 

"Mind if I join?" asked Hajime, pointing at the table.

 

"Oh, sure! No problem at all." approved the boy as he stood up, offering him a chair.

 

"You didn't really need to do that." commented Hajime, but deep down he appreciated the deed. "You can sit down.".

 

Yet the boy still insisted, to which Hajime followed his offer and sat on the chair. "My name is Makoto Naegi and unlike anyone else here...I'm nothing special really.".

 

"Y-you too?" stuttered Hajime in surprise.

 

"Yeah?" blurted Makoto out of surprise as well, his ahoge reacting to it too.

 

"Well...it's kind of relieving that I'm not the only one." thought Hajime to himself, seeing a possible connection with him.

 

"My my, you two are almost like brothers." commented the blue haired girl at them, giggling at the same time. Her comments made both of them flustered, but Hajime was a more reserved with it.

 

"Hehehe, just joking!" clarified the girl, who turned out to be Sayaka Maizono. After a moment, both of them chuckled in response. Among them, the tanned girl by the name of Aoi Asahina shared donuts with Akane by throwing them so the latter could catch them midair. Mahiru, Ibuki, Mikan, Hiyoko and Nekomaru joined in as well, chatting about various topics of interests. Most of the boys went to the table with Mondo, Kiyotaka, Leon and Yasuhiro with exception of Gundham, who just picked up seeds and went outside, Nagito, who followed Hajime and Fuyuhiko, who, along with Peko, went to sit somewhere undisturbed. Ryouta Mitarai also reserved a chair for himself alone. The gothic Celeste Ludenberg remained undisturbed up until Sonia joined her and they had a little tea time. Everyone seemed to have a great time (not Toko, she was just fending away people), until…

 

"YAAAA BOOOOOOY!".

 

Suddenly, the doors of the dining room were opened with a swift yet crude kick, which almost managed to destroy them in the process. It was none other than Zapatta, the Ultimate Rockstar, condescendingly pointing at them like they're tiny ants to him. Behind him, Suifta followed him with her having a look only the most disappointed individual could have. The entrance of the rockstar startled everyone but Kyoko, with Mikan even reflexively hiding below the table. Even Ibuki was very spooked!

 

"YOU CAN'T JUST DO THAT! IT AGAINST THE RULES OF SCHOOL!" shouted Kiyotaka Ishimaru at him, telling him to cease as he proudly stood up.

 

"Nuh-uh, I am the head honcho now!" proclaimed Zapatta as he snatched the yet to be bitten hamburger from Yasuhiro Hagakure's hands with the blitzing speed before taking a big chomp of the burger.

 

"THAT IS ALSO AGAINST THE REGULATIONS! CEASE NOW!" further argued Kiyotaka, completely outrageous by the actions of Zapatta.

 

"The fuck, dude?! You can't just fuckin' do that!" joined in Mondo as well, standing up to Kiyotaka while raising his fists.

 

"Hey! Learn your manners, boy!" also complained Mahiru, putting her arms on her hips. Most of the other students looked at him with disdain as well.

 

"That's just...wrong." said Chiaki in a serious tone.

 

"Oh, you ganging up on me? Too bad! It won't change anything! Ahahahaha! As if you punks have a chance against me!" boasted Zapatta, cackling like a helium induced hyena. By the time that was going on, Yasuhiro bit nothing and then turned around to see what was happening.

 

"You know, that was a very nice taste of thin air!" he complimented as he laughed. The boys around the table gave him a confused look.

 

"Ohohoho, here comes the best part!" thought Zapatta to himself, waiting to see what will be Yasuhiro's response.

 

"Hey, you have a pretty nice burger right there!" complimented Yasuhiro, seemingly unaware what just happened.

 

"Indeed I do!" gauded Zapatta, still eating the burger with his shark like teeth.

 

"Uh….aren't you supposed to be..you know...a little bit more upset since..." reminded Hajime while observing the whole situation.

 

"Say….where did get such a burger?" asked Yasuhiro, still somehow unaware what happened.

 

"Oh, I could tell!" taunted Zapatta, waving the hamburger near his face. Other classmates started to get more confused rather than to feel disdain.

 

"Come to think of it….I just had a burger before…." thought Yasuhiro out loud, which made Zapatta even more anticipated for his response so he could taunt him in his face. "...and it disappeared in front of my face…..this means only one thing!".

 

"YES YES YES YES! LET ME SEE YOUR FACE AS I LAUGH!" cheered Zapatta inside his thoughts, almost sweating from anticipation and excitement.

 

"..."

 

"...ALIENS!".

 

"…What?" everyone said, including Zapatta, who couldn't believe the whole ordeal. The dining room was only followed by the awkward silence.

 

"No, you gotta believe me! It happened once, I saw it with my own eyes! I can't believe they're at it again!" Yasuhiro tried to convince everyone, but to no avail.

 

"I stole your burger." just flat out admitted Zapatta while being completely baffled by the bush haired individual.

 

"Lies! You're just trying to cover up their actions! You couldn't have just swooped my burger so quickly!" rebutted Yasuhiro as he trembled, pointing at Zapatta as if he was a convict of a conspiracy.

 

"He stole your hamburger!" added Kiyotaka, supporting Zapatta's claims.

 

"God, did you eat the stupidity inducing particles in that air as well?" hissed Hiyoko at Yasuhiro, already feeling completely done.

 

"No! It has to be aliens! It's the only way!" still insisted Yasuhiro, much to everyone's dismay.

 

"HE STOLE YOUR BURGER, DUMBASS!" yelled Mondo, frustrated as much as everyone was.

 

"Listen….I walked here, snatched your burger and nom nom nom, I ate it while you weren't and at the same time were looking. Is...that….really...so...hard….to….fucking….comprehend?" fumed Zapatta as he tried to remain as calm as possible.

 

"..."

 

"...What if the aliens were microscopic and invisible? That could explain the sudden disappearance of his hamburger, right?" Celeste raised a point, though it was unsure if she was serious or not regarding her tone.

 

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" both Zapatta and Yasuhiro yelled as they bum rushed out of the dining room, one yelling out of frustration while other out of fear. The biggest, most embarrassing awkward silence of Hope's Peak Academy's dining room followed after that event, only for Suifta and Figottoni to enter it.

 

"I-Is he gone?" asked Mikan as she peeked out of the table. The moment she was assured, she crawled out and sat on a chair.

 

"...Was he at it again?" murmured Suifta, being very close to mentally die out of embarrassment. Figottoni remained silent, though the mass of his blocked the sight of entrance.

 

"Again?!" asked Kiyotaka, completely shocked by Suifta's implications. Suifta's only response was a big sigh.

 

"We shall return in a short amount of time." announced Figottoni before he and Suifta decided to chase down their friend. The biggest, most embarrassing awkward silence of Hope's Peak Academy returned once again.

 

"Celeste...you didn't mean it, did you?" asked Makoto, just to be sure.

 

"Hehehe….I let myself have fun for a bit." Celestia admitted that her entire comment was, indeed, a jape.

 

"No amount of human emotion could describe the amount of disappointment I feel now." said Kyoko, before mysteriously walking away from the dining room.

 

Outside of Hope's Peak Academy, the doors of the entrance opened as the two rushing lads kept running parallel to each other, only for them to be grabbed by the shoulders by Suifta herself. While she just turned away Yasuhiro so that he could normally return to the dining room, she kept Zapatta from moving anywhere, so she could eschew him for his actions. Little did they know….

 

Out of a seamless bush, four binoculars peeked out, though one was turned the wrong way. Those binoculars were observing what were four but then three individuals up to. The owners of the binoculars were camoflaged inside the bush, not moving an inch. It appeared that these spying rascals were….penguins?!

 

"Kowalski!" called one of the penguins, being averagely sized but slightly bulky for such an avian. "Status report!"

 

"Sir! It appears we have arrived at our destination, the academy. Just like the coordinates told us about their activity. Outside of the institution, there are four people, one just ran inside. One spiky haired, one twin tails, one extra large and one with the afro. Unfortunately, I have no intel about them nor can I hear what are they saying." reported Kowalski, the tall and lanky penguin, while still keeping his eyes on the three students. Hearing his report, the rather crazy looking penguin spat out a directional microphone out of his stomach, which made the littlest penguin slightly nauseated. Despite coming out of his stomach, the microphone was clean.

 

"Well, look at that! Rico's got you covered!" said the leading penguin confidently.

 

"BLAURGH!" blurted out Rico, in response to his leader's compliment. Kowalski picked up the directional microphone and started listening to the conversation that Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni had.

 

"What did Figottoni tell you twice already? And yet you kept doing it…." scolded Suifta, putting arms around her hips.

 

"LUNACY! I DID NOT EXPECT LUNACY!" yelled Zapatta out of sheer frustration.

 

"I would say personalities like these were expected of an academy centered around that niche." advised Figottoni. "It does not color me surprised if I see such people around here.".

 

"They seem to have screwed up a thing back there. There are also some mentions of academy being centered around niche." further reported Kowalski after more covert listening. By the time he reported, the trio seemed to make up and enter the academy once again.

 

"Niche? What was it again…." the leader penguin tried to remind himself.

 

"Talent." responded Kowalski with relative quickness to his voice. "Only the most talented people and those with a lot of wealth if they lack it are allowed to enter it, if I recall my previous report correct."

 

"Well, that's kind of unfair." grumbled the leader penguin, walking in a straight line behind the bush as if he was contemplating something. "I thought you have to earn for it, like it was supposed to be!"

 

"Uh, Skipper." stammered the littlest penguin, trying to approach his boss. "Are you sure these three are a part of...".

 

"Can't confirm nor deny." said Kowalski in order to answer his question.

 

"Well, Private. We gotta see it for ourselves." conversed Skipper while giving Private a pat on the head. "We gotta sneak in!"

 

And so the penguins rolled towards the Hope's Peak Academy without anyone noticing it, beginning their mission.

 

The sun was almost about the set. The first day of Hope's Peak Academy was over. Everyone was outside, ready to call it a day and depart for themselves. Chiaki was playing her game once again, before she saw everyone else in front of the entrance, seeing their smiles on their face.

 

"Byeeeeeeee, Chiaki!" shouted Ibuki Mioda as she was being lifted by Chisa herself. Chisa, along with Sonia, Mikan and Chihiro waved her a farewell as well.

 

"Goodbye, everyone. See you tomorrow...I think." said Chiaki Nanami, waving at them as well before finally departing. When she was walking towards her home, she found Hajime near the fountain and joined him.

 

"Well….that was...honestly a very bizarre day." pondered Hajime out loud to her, not sure if he liked his first day or not.

 

"It was rather unusual...but do not be afraid of upcoming days." contributed Chiaki, surprising him on how quickly she figured him out. "Life itself can be weird and unpredictable, but you should make the best out of it….right? Who knows what kind of stuff could happen here...could be the best stuff of our lives...I think."

 

"Yeah...you're right. Let's try to make our days good, shall we?" said Hajime, gaining a small but sincere smile on his face. Suddenly, Chiaki offered him one of her consoles, surprising him again.

 

"Wanna play for a bit?" she asked, to which he did accepted. And so they played video games with each other before the time when they were about to go home arrived.

 

Meanwhile, inside the academy, the four penguins secretly observed the departing students while pretending to wave at them.

 

"Smile and wave boys." ordered Skipper while they kept waving at them. "Just smile and wave.".

Chapter 2: A Day of Show Offs!

Chapter Text

 

Another day has started. Chiaki Nanami was sitting on the bench while the tiny sparrows surrounded her. Despite seeming to play a video game on her handheld, she was, in fact, sleeping. She snore like a mouse, but no one disturbed her. The console in her hands kept running, but its battery was half empty. After some time passed, it just happened that Hajime passed by. He saw the sleeping girl and went up to her, checking if she's alright. He poked her shoulder to wake her up. Just before she opened her eyes, she let out a big yawn.

"Good morning, Hajime." greeted Chiaki as she slowly opened her eyes.

"Uhh...how did you manage to sleep like that?" asked Hajime while having a look of confusion on his face.

"Oh...I slept again." realized Chiaki, fully regaining energy as she stood up. "How are you today, Hajime?"

"I think I'm good." answered Hajime.

"That's nice to hear. My day is already brighter because of you. Anyway, shall we go together?" requested Chiaki, pointing at Hope's Peak Academy. Hajime agreed and so they went, walking towards their respective school. Chiaki kept playing her video game, but her focus was more set on him as she paid attention. During their little journey, they talked about the experiences in school so far and video games. When talking about latter, Chiaki tended to go on tangents on how some of the games she played were of extremely high quality and how she wants to play them with her friends one day. At first, Hajime was surprised to see her so energetic about something, but he quickly adapted to it, even having a smile on his face when he listened her geeking out.

Once they reached their school, they saw Ibuki Mioda waiting at the entrance.

"Good mornin'!" greeted Ibuki as she waved at them, hopping like an excited rabbit. To be fair, she did, in fact, looked like a bunny.

"Heyo, Ibuki. What's up?" asked Hajime as he waved back.

"Not much, not much! Ibuki's been waiting for anyone to come. But luck has shined on the great Ibuki and now you two are here!" explained Ibuki. "How about you two?"

"Well, not much has happened now. Just woke up and prepared myself for school. Picked up Chiaki on the way though." said Hajime as he pointed at her.

"I played a game while waiting for friends. Chose for something quick and simple, like a platformer. Unfortunately, I might have been...a little sleepy...during it….I think." added Chiaki, letting out a little yawn from before.

"You slept like a hibernating bear while sitting." Hajime corrected her. While Chiaki blushed a little, Ibuki's eyes widened upon hearing such revelation, curios on both how did she manage to do that and seeing Chiaki herself resting.

"Ooooooo, Hajime! Caught a girl sleeping! Ibuki's a bit jealous, hehe….Anyway, ready for a new day?" piqued Ibuki, flailing her arms.

"To be honest, I don't think I'd be prepared for something similar to yesterday..." thought Hajime to himself, but both of them nodded in agreement as they went to their class. Upon their arrival, the only sound in the halls were their footsteps, which echoed through out. Clock on the wall signaled their arrival, perhaps too early. After some time walking in the desolate halls, they have reached the doors of their class. Opening the doors, they saw few individuals there: Mahiru showing her photographs as Mikan seemed rather excited, Sonia Nevermind preparing for class (she was early due to her habits) and Gundham Tanaka leaning towards the wall as he looked out of the window.

"O-oh! It's them!" said Mikan as she stepped towards them and bowed down. Hajime looked at her with some level with concern.

"Good morning, Mikan. How are you?" asked Chiaki.

"N-not much today. I-it's just a nice morning." stuttered Mikan as the morning went on. Aside from them hanging out, Mikan's words about the day rang true. Time passed on as more students arrived to the class, minding their own business. They all waited for their teacher to arrive.

The class started for them. Their teacher, Chisa Yukizome, opened the doors, arriving just in time.

"Good morning, everyone!" greeted Chisa as she placed herself behind her desk.

"Good morning, Miss Yukizome!" greeted everyone in the class, standing up in the process.

"So, guys! Today is gonna be an exciting day! We have so much to do today! Are you ready, guys?" cheered Chisa as she pumped her fists up in the air. Most of the class agreed with her, but some people like Fuyuhiko were not as enthusiastic.

"Oh yeah, sitting behind a table, how fun." gibed Hiyoko, giving a smug look at Chisa.

"Is that so? Well, consider that notion to be completely flipped over the head!" countered Chisa with determination sparkling in her eyes.

"Hehehe, tough luck with that! I'd like to see you flop." further sassed Hiyoko. Despite her attempts to put her teacher down, Chisa's will to give out the best experience to the class only strengthened.

"...I don't understand her. Why is she like that?" wondered Chiaki as she gave out a glance of disapproval towards the bully with twin tails.

"I assure you today is gonna be the moment of your life! Absolutely nothing will go wrong!" said Chisa with a radiant smile on her face, even making Hiyoko reconsider for a bit. Her smile managed to comfort the entire classroom.

"I give it ten seconds." thought Hajime to himself, feeling something wrong up in the air.

Suddenly, a loud knock was heard. It sounded like someone crashed right into the doors. Only Mikan hid herself under the table while everyone didn't give much attention to it. Even as the mood was disrupted, Chisa kept her smile.

"...Is that asshole again?" groaned Fuyuhiko, rolling his eyes.

The doors opened with sheer force, revealing a person dressed like someone from a glam rock band, remaining in a position where he performed the kick while imitating an electric guitar at the same time.

"MOTHAAAFUCKAAAAAAAAAAAAS!"

Said person was, indeed, Zapatta, the Ultimate Rock star.

"...5 seconds, it was." thought Hajime to himself while nearly everyone looked at Zapatta. The most positive response to him was a look of annoyance. However, Gundham Tanaka leaned his head, setting sight on him as he thought. Nagito didn't mind either.

"Good morning, Zapatta! What do you need?" asked Chisa, still having a smile on her face.

"Hahahaha! I, THE ULTIMATE ROCK STAR, have come here for something special, something grandiose!" announced Zapatta as he raised his finger up in the air.

"...What is it?" chided Hajime as he leaned his head on his arm.

"Ugh...Can't you just do anything normally? Is it really that hard for you?" complained Mahiru while crossing her arms.

"Nah nah, doing the things like you should is like eating vanilla: can feel nice at times, but it's nothing special. Boring! Lame-o-hell-no! What I do consider, though, is that life is nothing short of a performance! You gotta make it your best, you gotta work on that PRESENTATION!" boasted Zapatta, flailing his arms like he played an instrument every time. It resulted in Mahiru groaning and most of the classmates being either confused or annoyed.

"You got that right!" approved Nekomaru, letting out a laugh out of satisfaction. "That's some spirit!"

"Nekomaru,….please." sighed Akane, trying to convince him that Zapatta is not exactly someone he should praise.

"Hmmmm…." audibly thought Gundham Tanaka, observing the motions of the rockstar.

"Well, if that's your way of expression, then more power to you!" added Nagito with a smile on his face.

"I'd agree, but you really gotta work on the collateral damage aspect." added Ibuki as she pointed at the door, revealing a bump inside it.

"..Eh, it's nothing!….Probably" Zapatta tried to defend himself before glancing over to the bump. Even a person with the most glaring sight issues would immediately notice the damage done by him. "...probably."

"...So, Zapatta...May I ask you on the reason why you came here?" asked Chiaki, trying to stabilize the situation.

"..Oh, yes. Aha. I, the greatest ROCK STAR of them all, have come here to…." elaborated Zapatta as he went back on track, inhaling deeply before finishing his statement. He has attempted to create suspense, but everyone else was just done by his shenanigans.

"…."

"For fucks sake, get on with it!" lashed out Fuyuhiko, shaking his fist at Zapatta.

"...hey, does anyone here know how to fix a projector? Our is completely busted and no one in my class can fix it." suddenly asked Zapatta in a completely chill tone.

"….What." questioned everyone at his mood shift.

"I mean, sure?" I can help, I guess." Kazuichi reluctantly offered himself for the job. "But you better make it worth it! And definitely not for your sake!"

"Then come with me!" advised Zapatta as he waved at him. "Someone in my class had to do it and I wholeheartedly volunteered."

"Sure you did..." wondered Hajime in his mind, seeing both his technocolor haired classmate and the rockstar leave the classroom.

"Thank you! Thank you! Now we must go and fix that blunder! Byeeeee!" said Zapatta just before he was about to head out with Kazuichi, only to be stopped by Chisa.

"Just one second, Zapatta. There's something I need to tell you." requested Chisa to him while still having that smile on her face.

"Yea? What's up, Chis?" asked Zapatta, turning towards the professor of Class 77-B. She grabbed him by the shoulder, adjusting the grip.

"….Please ask nicely next time." suddenly threatened Chisa, with her expression changing from a happy expression to a cold glare, filled with protection instinct for her classmates.

"Uh...okay then. If you say so." faltered Zapatta as he saw that glare suddenly shift into a smile once again. Then he, along with Zapatta, left the classroom fully. A moment of silence followed before the entire class (bar few exceptions) sighed.

"I-is he gone?" stammered Mikan as she peeked out of her desk.

"What an intriguing individual…." pondered Gundham out loud, scratching his chin in the process. His face was covered in scarf, so that he could maximize his intimidation.

"...Why does this always happen when he's there?" asked Mahiru in complete annoyance.

"I dunno, some jerks just wanna stir up things." Akane attempted to answer.

"Well, he said that's how he expresses himself." added Nagito, raising his fingers in the process.

"Pfft, he plays a tough shit because he knows inside he's a weakling! A pig shit, just like Mikan!"

scoffed Hiyoko. Her remark sent Mikan into tears and she received an angry glare from Chiaki. Suddenly, the doors opened normally. Zapatta used his hand this time.

"My goodness, he used his arm to open the door!" yelled Sonia in shock.

"Uh oh! This means trouble!" warned Ibuki.

"...What the hell are you looking at me like that?!" bickered Hiyoko, pointing at him. Zapatta gave her a smug smirk, tilting his head as if he was slightly curious.

"….Ooooh, not much. Just heard a certain banana bush has been talking shit about me, just when I was about to leave." explained Zapatta as he slowly approached her.

"W-what?! Hah, you said that bananas grow on bushes? IDIOT! Everyone knows that banana grow on palm trees, you stupid!" retaliated Hiyoko as she tried to gain an upper hand.

"Please, please, calm down your hostilities." requested Chisa as she saw the situation escalating.

"Looks like scientists have discovered a new species of banana plant then: a moldy banana bush, called Hiyoko Saoinji. Known for being quite a short stature, repugnant odor and it's fruits being absolutely awful. They taste like a roadkill with some expired jam on it!" ranted Zapatta while giving her a rather threatening grin. His left eye started to twitch.

"Shut up! Shut up! None of this is true! I don't smell and just give me a few years to grow!" Hiyoko defended herself as all of her smugness started to vanish.

"Hm? Do I see someone crumbling? Trembling? And then you say that I, the Great Zapatta, the Ultimate ROCK STAR, is the wea-" gloated Zapatta, before Mahiru jumped in and prevented him from approaching any closer.

"How about you back off and leave now?!" condemned Mahiru, spreading her arms to act like a wall. Chiaki prepared herself to step in if the situation escalated even futher.

"Y-yea, she's right! Sod off!" barked Hiyoko, being nearly in tears.

"Don't worry, Mahjong. I'm not gonna harm the banana bush in any sort of way, but I just wanna express something to her. You know, like you normally do." clarified Zapatta, but his intent was quite transparent.

"It's kind of typical, really. It's those who smack talk others that tend to have the biggest complexes. Ah, so many complexes...I've lost count! Let me tell you something..." he said as he leaned to her. "You and your puny dances are hundreds of miles behind me and my accomplishments. A rotten banana bush is never gonna reach the same stardom as a ROCK STAR. You might be known regionally, but I'm known world wide! Let that sink in….People often say "go pick someone your own size", it's kind of annoying...but it applies perfectly to you. Go project your own weaknesses on someone as lowly as you."

At that point, Hiyoko was just trembling, not sure if she would cry or be in total panic. It didn't help her that Zapatta was giving her the same stare as Chisa gave it to him, only to also have a nearly psychotic smirk instead.

"So, basically…...talk shit, get hit." gave Zapatta his final word before he triumphantly stomped away from them and left the classroom completely. Mahiru gave him a glare filled with fury before she turned towards trembling tear driven Hiyoko, giving her a hug and reassuring that everything is fine. Stunned silence surrounded the classroom, with no one sure what to say. Mikan stepped in as well, trying to reassure her, despite being personally attacked by her before.

"D-dude...I know she's a huge jerk, but t-that was...that was just an overkill!" stammered Kazuichi as he went with him.

"Eh, people like that deserve it." justified Zapatta. "Don't worry about it too much, Kazuichi Soda bicarbonite. Shit talkers need to know their place."

"...Damn…." cursed Fuyuhiko, being stunned at Zapatta's rant.

"….Well, looks like the day isn't gonna be that well at all..." lamented Chisa as she looked at her shocked class. Suddenly, Chiaki stood up and stepped to her, being all pumped up.

"Don't give up just yet, Miss Yukizome! We shouldn't let one bad thing influence the entire course of the day! There is always a chance, always a possibility….to make it worth at the end." spoke Chiaki to her. Thanks to her speech, the entire atmosphere of the classroom went from uncertainty to a glimmer of hope, a sunny day after a mild storm.

"You go, Chiaki!" supported Ibuki, flailing her arms. Sonia and Mikan joined in as well.

"So, shall we make the day?" asked Chiaki, smiling at her teacher.

"M-maybe….just maybe..." sniffed Hiyoko, desiring her day to be just a tad bit better.

"...Chiaki..." marveled Chisa, before they truly started the class. Unlike in many other schools, where it's just sitting, listening to the top brass and writing down, a lot of the work in Class 77-B were ones of being in practice: each student displayed their own talent at their fullest. For example, they were seeing Mahiru's photography profession at work. She tried as hard as she could to make the best picture of her class as possible. Overall, the students of Class 77-B enjoyed a great time together with their teacher, even making Hiyoko feel slightly better.

However, deep down, Hajime was not exactly enjoying the class to the fullest. He felt like something was missing inside of him...A feeling of not belonging there.

The class took a pause with the lunch break. The students of Class 77-B headed towards the dining hall. Chiaki, Ibuki and Hajime went together, just like before. They were talking about the classes...and sometimes whatever Ibuki spouted.

Suddenly, they saw Teruteru on their way.

"Oh heeeey, Hajime! I see you got some hot ladi-" attempted to flirt Teruteru, only for a table that just happened to be in the hall just happened to fall over, breaking into multiple pieces and startling them all together.

"H-how did that fall?" asked Teruteru in a stunned matter, looking at the broken pieces.

"Uh...how am I supposed to know?" questioned Hajime as well.

"Maybe the table just didn't feel like existing anymore?...or it just collapsed because of the structural issues?" pondered Ibuki as she scratched her head.

"That's strange...it seemed rather new...I think..." said Chiaki upon a closer inspection of the table.

"That is quite a mystery but that's not the main point. Hajime and the girls, I have a question for you!" asked Teruteru as he pointed at them like an actor in a play.

"Yeah? What's up?" piqued Hajime.

"This might sound odd….but have you seen my spoons?" asked the concerned but smiling chef.

"Teru...I think the only one who has the proper access to the kitchen is you." answered Hajime, confused at the problem his culinary classmate presented.

"Yes, indeed. But I was wondering if you have seen any spoons anywhere in the school? All of them are gone!" clarified Teruteru, making some gestures in the process.

"No, I don't think so...I think" added Chiaki after gazing off to the table.

"But why would the spoons disappear? They couldn't just say "nah, it ain't fun here" and walk away, right?" wondered Ibuki as she imagined spoons getting legs and walking off with their suitcases.

"I'm asking the same, gorgeous Ibuki! What kind of person would just steal spoons?" kept questioning Teruteru, contemplating the cause of the disappearance of the spoons.

"Oh, I know! A spoonomaniac! They cannot endure a day without spoons!" stated Ibuki

"..That's kind of nuts, if I'm honest." commented Hajime, having a hard time imagining her statement having any sort of ground to stand on.

"Then I must find a spoonomaniac! Farewell, Hajime! I hope you have some fun time wi-" flirted Teruteru once again, but was interrupted by the fall of a ceiling light behind him, which shattered into multiple pieces.

"AIIIIIIEEEEE! Again?!" yelled Teruteru as he looked back, witnessing the result of the fallen object.

"Yep. Again." affirmed Chiaki.

"I must go now, bai bai!" rushed off Teruteru, quickly disappeared from their sight. He ran across the hall as if he was chased by a cheetah.

"...but seriously though, why does the furniture keep falling?" wondered Hajime out loud, to which Chiaki and Ibuki couldn't properly answer, but they continued their way to the dining hall.

Upon reaching the dining hall, they saw not only their classmates eating their meals, but the students of Class 78th as well, hanging out with them. Chiaki, Hajime and Ibuki sat to the table with Chihiro, Makoto, Sayaka and others, just chilling and talking to each other. They talked about the day, their usual interests and sometimes about others. Chiaki was observing the dining hall, seeing that everyone else (including Hiyoko) was having fun up until she saw Gundham Tanaka just walking down, picking up the seeds and leaving the dining hall without leaving a single word.

"Hold on, guys." said Chiaki, standing up and going in the same direction as the enigmatic classmate.

"Wait, where are you going?" asked Chihiro, being surprised at her standing up.

"I just need to check something. I'll be back soon." replied Chiaki, reassuring that everything is going to be okay as she briefly left the table. As she exited the dining hall, the surroundings of classmates were replaced by the empty soundless halls of the school. Only thing that gave the halls "life" was the furniture, which, after the events with Teruteru, didn't exactly assure a by-passer whether or not they're going to stumble upon you. Despite the emptiness, she did see a glimpse of Gundham walking towards the exit, but not before she saw a rather short purple haired girl with rather big glasses. Not exactly the victor in smell department, the girl was seem biting her thumb, seemingly out of anxiety. It was none other than Toko Fukawa, the Ultimate Writing Prodigy.

"Hey hey. Is everything alright?!" asked Chiaki as she tried to approach her.

"GYAAAAH!" yelped Toko as she dashed towards the toilet and slammed the door shut. "Stay away!"

Chiaki didn't say anything, but Toko's response caused her to have a little frown on her face. She couldn't let that affect her, so she went forward. Just before she went through the entrance, she saw Byakuya Togami and Zapatta bickering just like yesterday. Their topic was about each other's attitudes. Upon glancing at them, she only gave out a sigh before she went through the entrance, reaching outside. She was Gundham Tanaka crouching with his back facing the school. Chiaki wondered what Gundham was doing.

"Feast upon these, my Four Dark Devas of Destruction." spoke Gundham Tanaka as he reached his hand out to his hamsters, sometimes even patting them. His voice was rather soft when he talked to his "demons". "They shall provide enough nutrients for your well being."

"Hey, Gundham." greeted Chiaki at him as she held her backpack. "What are you doing, if I may ask?"

"DO NOT INTERFERE WITH THE RITUAL, MORTAL! STAND ASIDE, IF YOU WANT TO LIVE!" shouted Gundham Tanaka, standing up and preparing a battle stance. Even his hamsters joined in a fight. The only response he got from his classmate was a head tilt out of curiosity.

"Ritual? What kind of ritual are you having?" asked Chiaki, wanting to see how the "ritual" even looks like.

"You don't know about the ritual? Fuwahahahaha! Then let me share the forbidden information...Prepare yourself, as it may cost you sanity!" announced Gundham as he allowed her to step closer. Both of them crouched down to see his pets at work.

"It is a daily ritual, where the needs of the demons must be satisfied! Just like it was told in the Pandemonium, it goes by the name of THE FEAST, where a battle of survival comes into the play! Four Dark Devas of Destruction must choose what will they consume. If they choose the right nutrient, they shall be blessed from the Dark Lords! If not, then they'll demand more!" elaborated Gundham Tanaka, just feeding his hamsters.

"Oh, so that's what you do, but the demons seem to get along with each other, enjoying it." pointed out Chiaki as she observed the whole process.

"Do not be deceived! When the time comes, they become rather territorial. Fierce battles take place, where they endure the most punishing hits. They will do whatever it takes to reach their goal, no matter the destruction! It's the cause of why my arm is cursed!" insisted Gundham Tanaka, showing her his bandaged arm.

"Huh, I never knew about that...Say, Gundham, can I try feeding them?" requested Chiaki, reaching her arm out to get seeds.

"...Are you absolutely sure, mortal? Are you willing to take such a risk?" warned Gundham Tanaka with absolute seriousness.

"Well, giving it a try wouldn't hurt." answered Chiaki, giving him a smile.

"Hmmm...I like that attitude. You may get a pass." smirked Gundham Tanaka, giving her the seeds. She reached out to the Four Dark Devas, giving them the desired feast. The hamster had no reservations, so they consumed the source of nutrition from her hand. Suddenly, as the hamsters fed, she reached with her unoccupied arm in order to pat them.

"DO NOT PERFORM SUCH HASTY MOVE!" shouted Gundham Tanaka, grabbing her arm in order to stop her from touching his pets, but he was too late...She already patted the hamster. However, the hamster embraced the soft pats from her, even rolling a bit to coordinate with the pat.

"Fascinating…it seems like the Four Dark Devas of Destruction have accepted you among them." marveled Gundham while all of the Dark Devas got themselves in her palms.

"They're rather ticklish...but it feels nice. Never have I touched a demon before. Thank you for allowing me, Gundham Tanaka." thanked Chiaki as she looked towards Gundham.

"...You're welcome...I mean, you must thank the Lords for allowing you to experience such a rare occurrence! Fuwahahahaha!" boasted Gundham, but not before sincerely thanking her. Chiaki did notice that. Their bonding time came to an end once Ibuki stepped out of the entrance.

"Heyo! I see you two are having some fun, but Ibuki has some bad news to tell! The lunch break is over….We must go back to the class!" reported Ibuki, waving at them.

"Hey, Gundham. If you feel comfortable, join us any time." invited Chiaki for the future possibilities.

"I prefer to seek solitude...but for a servant like you, the Supreme Overlord might make an exception!" approved Gundham as they went inside the school before going each own way. Gundham went his own way while Chiaki joined up with Ibuki.

The outside was filled with only silence. A gust of wind infrequently disrupted the tranquility. A few of the leaves fell on the ground. Suddenly, a molehill started to pop up from the ground. It got larger as the time passed, but after it reached its maximum size, the cause of it appeared as well. It was not done by a mole, but rather penguins! They observed their surroundings, to see if there's any threat. They were holding shiny steel spoons, being slightly dirtied by the dirt, as their tools of choice.

"Kowalski, progress report!" ordered Skipper, turning his head towards the lanky penguin. Kowalski quickly brought up his abacus, placing the beads on the lines.

"65% of the Tunnel One done, 5,4% of the whole proposed base finished. We have only dug 19 feet of the Tunnel One." reported Kowalski after finishing his calculations.

"Dam! We must finish our headquarters in no time! Not to mention after we're done with the structure, we have to bring in some equipment as well!" emphasized Skipper as he slammed his flipper like wing on another. "How long will it take us to say finito with the structure?"

"Six to nine days." answered Kowalski, doing additional calculations on the abacus.

"Sixty nine days?!" shouted Skipper in bafflement.

"No, six to nine days." clarified Kowalski as he emphasized the duration.

"Now, that ain't so bad….as long as they don't come in first, we're all dandy." said Skipper as he cleaned the imitated sweat of his head.

"Uh, Skipper….are you sure we left the entrance checked? What if they find us out because of that?" pointed out Private.

"...Rico!" ordered Skipper after taking a note from Private's words. Rico saluted and lunged himself inside the custom built tunnel. Performing a slide, he was traveling at high speeds through out the underground corridor.

Meanwhile in the kitchen, filled with many culinary objects except the spoons, Teruteru and Kyoko were hanging out, investigating the disappearance of the spoons. They were inspecting the drawer, where the spoons were supposed to reside.

"So this was the last place where the spoons were?" asked Kyoko as she inspected every single corner of the drawer to find any possible clues.

"Yep! Exactly there! They couldn't be nowhere else!" Insisted Teruteru, getting more concerned as the time passed by.

"Hmmm...I will request the security to give the footage of the kitchen. Then I'll bring in some equipment to further inspect this place." explained Kyoko her plan to him before they were about to leave the kitchen. Just when they were inches away from exiting the kitchen, Rico arrived just on time. He spat out a glue, a locking mechanism and a linkage so that the floor tile he was above could function as a door. Rico then put glue on each part before smacking them on the underside of the tile. Just for a demonstration, he opened the tile like a door and then fiercely closed it (but not breaking it) before he locked the door. The tile floor showed no flaws and Rico dashed off back to his squad, satisfied with the results. Unfortunately for him, the slam was heard by Kyoko, but not by Teruteru. Without the chef noticing it, Kyoko returned to the kitchen and checked the tiles. She noticed that one tile was particularly off, so she decided it to move it a bit. While she couldn't open it, the tile alone gave her a clue on how the spoons disappeared.

Back at the penguins, Rico returned with a grin on his face.

"Rico! Did you manage to do it?" asked Skipper as if he was requesting an order.

"Uh huh!" replied Rico, giving him a thumbs up with his flipper.

"Well done, soldier. Now we can continue without any setbacks!¨" praised Skipper as each of them gave each other a high five before they went underground, continuing with building their base in the process.

Meanwhile, Chiaki and Ibuki were walking down the hallway, talking about their own stuff.

"Hey, Chiaki! I'll get ya in the class, I must just do one thing right now!" said Ibuki as she waved at her before she went to the nearest toilet. She held on the handle, trying to open it, but the door refused to budge.

"D-Didn't you hear from it before?! I said back off!" lashed out Toko, who was still in the toilet.

"Okay, Toilet! I'll return when you feel better!" assured Ibuki before she backed off. "Well, Ibuki can hold it in-..."

Just when she was about to return to the class, she bumped in a punk looking girl. Ibuki tripped over and fell on her bum. She saw that she bumped right into Suifta, whom towered above her like an ostrich compared to a cat.

"Yo." greeted Suifta as she pointed at her with finger guns.

"O-oh hello there! Didn't see you here, so I hope you don't mind that. Seeing you in that angle is rather intense!" stuttered Ibuki as she picked herself up.

"Nah, it's ok. I was looking for you, in fact." assured Suifta, crossing her arms in a chill way.

"Oh? You were searching the great Ibuki? At your service!..But what for, Ibuki wonders?" said Ibuki.

"Heard you're a musician. Is that right?" asked Suifta, pointing at her again.

"Of course! Would you like to hear one of my songs?" cheered Ibuki, being excited at the possibility of sharing her songs with another person.

"Sorta. Say, what kind of stuff are you in?" further piqued Suifta.

"Metal's my jam! I like it when it goes heavy and when the riff tears through the sky!" answered Ibuki all pumped up.

"Ooo, that's nice….But how about rap, for example?" suggested Suifta as she prepared herself a cool stance.

"Rap? No problem-o, I can do it with every poem-o!" chirped Ibuki.

"Heh, that's the spirit. I'm inviting you for a rap battle. Just for fun, you know." requested Suifta, pointing at her microphone inside her hair. "I am a rapper...not just an ordinary one, but an Ultimate."

"A duel? Just between you and me? A brawl of riffs and beats?! I, Ibuki Mioda, accept your challenge with delight!" dramatized Ibuki as it was a life-or-death situation.

"...Well now. After school, right?" asked Suifta one more time.

"Right-o!" approved Ibuki, raising her hand. "I will C you in the heat of the battle!".

Each of them departed to their own class, with Ibuki prancing around like a happy pony and Suifta walking off with a smirk on her face.

During her class, Ibuki tried to convince her friends to back her up for the incoming battle. Initially, her classmates were confused about what was she talking about, but she manage to convince Sonia and Chiaki on her side. Meanwhile, Suifta got Zapatta on her side. Since Figottoni was absent from school (for unknown reasons) she had to pick someone else. In a twist of events, Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlord, joined them. Together, they made their own temporary gang.

The school ended for the day. Ibuki Mioda and her supported walked out of the school, waiting for her opponent to come. Not long after, Suifta and her gang strutted out of the school to face her. They positioned each other like they had a duel like cowboys. As they were setting up, some of the students passed by while some stayed to see what will happen.

"You ready, girl?" asked Suifta as she pulled out a microphone out of her hair, tapping it for a test.

"Ready like a kitty cat going for a snatch!" approved Ibuki, giving her a thumbs up.

One of the fellas brought a radio with him and clicked the play button, starting the music in the process.

"Yo, my name is Suifta

and I've got to say

my rhymes are like a ballista,

crushing everything on their way.

"So, Ibuki Mioda,

what will you say about that?

Will you strike like a barracuda

or will you stink like a gnat?"

Suifta passed her the microphone, leading for Ibuki and her gang to strike a pose, similar to those that rappers love to do.

"Heyooo, I am Ibuki,

things are about to get spooky,

my voice will be like a kabuki,

prepare for my rhymes to get real kooky!"

Chiaki and Sonia cheered for her, pumping their fists to support her as she passed the mic over to her opponent. While the music continued, Suifta's gang started to dance like madmen

"A worthy one I picked,

flow is just right,

but prepare for something wicked,

because my beats will make you lose your sight!"

When Suifta finished her last verse, Zapatta and Gundham performed some sick moves. The audience gasped when they roundhouse kicked the air and then performed a back flip before landing right on their feet. She dropped her microphone, but Ibuki snatched in in time before she crossed her arms and raised one of her eyebrows, giving her a confident smirk.

"No beats scare the great,

the fire within me shall not rest,

it will be quite a treat

when I'll be known as the best!"

The crowd cheered for Ibuki when they heard her verses, leading an uproar of joy nearby. Chiaki and Sonia kept cheering for her as Gundham nodded in approval. Suddenly, Zapatta rocked the hell out of the "battlefield" with his custom electric guitar, which was enhanced by the metallic plates (in terms of durability). The audience had their breath taken away by his performance. They couldn't even see his fingers using the guitar just from the sheer speed of them. He did riffs so hard that the entire ground shook from just his playing. Zapatta has completely overtaken the radio with his electric guitar.

"Now that's Ibuki's forte!" resounded Ibuki as her determination in her eyes shined like a star. Upon seeing that Ibuki needs her "weapon" in the current weapon, Sonia briefly exited the "battlefield", but quickly returned with Mioda's own guitar.

"Have this, Ibuki!" Sonia yelled as she passed her the instrument. Upon obtaining it, Ibuki gave him a grin just before he rocked out as well. Within seconds, she managed to catch up to his performance. The ground shook even more as she performed riffs to match the ones of the greats. Zapatta noticed that he's got a new competitor, so he increased the intensity of his performance, even doing stunts like swaying his body like a crocodile tearing apart its prey. Ibuki, knowing that Zapatta was gaining advantage, started to work on her body language as well. Not only did she sway her body like a true ROCK STAR, but she activated her flamethrower, built within the guitar. Everyone around her stepped back so that they couldn't be roasted. She started to spin her instrument as it spit fire, making a circle of inferno in the process. Zapatta's jaw dropped as he saw Ibuki's act, but still trying to keep up with her with sheer power.

"HAAAAAAYAAAAAAAAAAAA!" yelled Ibuki with all her might as she jumped as high she could while still spinning the guitar before landing on the ground and deactivating her flamethrower, performing a split with her legs in the process. From that alone, Zapatta fell on him bum from sheer awe...and so did the support cast of each group. Audience was left speechless, but eventually gave off a huge applause.

"Hey, you're pretty good." complimented Zapatta with absolute sincerity in his voice, giving her a thumbs up.

"Well done, Ibuki. You have proven yourself to be a worthy musician." added Suifta as she shook hands with her.

"Thank you! Thank you all who joined here!" cheered Ibuki for everyone, even for her opponents. "Say...who won this duel?"

Meanwhile, from a seamless bush, penguins have been secretly watching the duel while eating popcorn. Rico applauded both of them, especially because of how loud it got.

"Oh hey, we got ourselves a free concert!" said Private.

"Indeed. It was a good break, but we must get back to work!" ordered Skipper before each penguin grabbed their spoon and started digging, continuing their work with the base.

Chapter 3: Exchange of a Day (ARC I END)

Chapter Text

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Another day dawned upon Hope's Peak Academy. The clouds in the sky looked like pieces of cotton being gently put as some kind of decoration. It was just a perfect day to start off.

All of the students of Class 77-B were already waiting inside. Chiaki was playing some kind of a platformer game with a cute round character as the star while Hajime and Ibuki keenly watched her. They took turns every time the particular character lost a life because of an obstacle or enemy. Mahiru gently brushed Hiyoko's hair, making sure that she looks as good as possible. Gundham Tanaka was still comfortably occupying the corner, observing the class. Fuyuhiko and Peko were quietly sitting down, seemingly wanting nothing to do with everybody else. Akane and Nekomaru hanged out together after having few high speed laps around the school. Kazuichi did just one activity at that moment: chilling. The white haired fella by the name of Nagito Komaeda kept thinking about certain things. The only one who wasn't in the class at that time was Teruteru, who has requested yesterday that he will continue searching his missing spoons. All of them waited for the time to come.

Once the clock hit just right, the doors opened, revealing none other than their teacher Chisa Yukizome. All of the classmates stood up on sight of her.

"Good morning, class!" greeted Chisa as she waved at them with her typical shining smile, which lightened up the atmosphere in the class quite a lot.

"Good morning, Miss Yukizome!" greeted everyone, sitting down once they've fully said it.

"So, I've got some good news for you, guys!" announced Chisa as she stepped behind her table, putting her arms on hips. "Since we saw that you fellas seem to get really well among students of Class 78th, we decided to make an event!"

"What will it be, Miss Yukizome?" asked Mahiru after she raised her hand. Some of the classmates tuned in while such individuals like Hiyoko pretended to be deaf.

"Today, an exchange will happen! One of you will visit their classroom and vice versa! Who will arrive here is a surprise!" cheerfully answered Chisa. "Talked to their professor about it and they seemed to agree with the idea."

"That's a little early for such things, isn't it?" questioned Kazuichi, scratching his head as he gave an uneasy smile

"Idea's alright, but who's gonna be the volunteer?" asked Hajime, not sure who to expect to be the one, but he prepared himself to go in case no one wanted. Silence followed as everyone thought about the decision whether or not to go. Well, everyone as in everyone that was not named Hiyoko Saoinji, who kept pretending she was deaf. She also thought that everyone (especially Yasuhiro) was a doofus. Others saw it as an opportunity to make friends.

"….I'll go, Miss Yukizome." spoke Chiaki, quietly lifting her hand in the air and breaking the silence in the process.

"Oh, Chiaki! Glad to see a volunteer!" cheered Chisa, witnessing Chiaki stand up as her student approached her.

"You go, girl!" cheered Ibuki as she waved her arms at her. Mikan, Sonia and Hajime quietly cheered behind her as well.

"Does anyone else wanna go instead?" asked Chisa one more time before Chiaki was set to go.

"Nah, it's good." affirmed Hajime, covertly giving her a thumbs up. Chiaki saw his gesture and gave out a little smile.

"Be careful, the Thoughtful one, as you're about to step into an uncharted territory. Who knows what kind of dark forces slither there." warned Gundham from his corner.

"Uh, it's just a classroom filled with guys just like us." assured Nekomaru, crossing his arms like a proper coach.

"What might be seen might not be what it is at first glance..." continued Gundham in a mysterious tone.

"It's just a classroom, god damnit!" badgered Fuyuhiko, shaking his fist at them before Peko interfered to tell him that it is not worth losing nerves over such stuff.

"Don't worry, even if the dark forces strike, a shining light will be fiercer than ever before!" said Chiaki before she stepped outside the class, making Gundham smirk in some kind of satisfaction.

"Good luck, Chiaki!" bubbled Chisa as he waved at her like she was going somewhere very far.

"I'm not sure if she's genuinely believing it or just playing along." thought Hajime to himself.

The lassie with an eternal love for video games started walking towards the destined class, but suddenly stopped. She stood like a statue with her mind being filled with doubtful thoughts. All she could do at that moment was to stare at the floor, contemplating. Just as she was stuck, she heard footsteps coming in her general direction.

The footsteps got louder, revealing Makoto Naegi across the hallways. Chiaki lifted her head towards him, recognizing him immediately.

"Makoto?" asked Chiaki upon seeing him.

"Good morning, Chiaki!" greeted Makoto, stepping closer to her. "Were you chosen as well?"

"Well, I volunteered rather. It's gonna be fun...I think." answered Chiaki in a cheerful but calm tone. However, Makoto noticed something off about her, judging from how he saw her before.

"Is there something wrong, Chiaki?" checked Makoto, just be sure.

"Don't worry, Makoto, everything is okay..." reassured Chiaki before looking down at the floor with a tiny frown on her face. "...I just hope I do good enough and that everyone gets along..."

"You are already doing great, Chiaki! I saw people around you, how many smiles you bring them." remarked Makoto as he attempted to motivate her.

"Really?" asked Chiaki, tilting her head, unsure if its true.

"Yes! 100% Sure!" responded Makoto with a smile on his face. A smile so genuine that even the most hard headed skeptic would be convinced.

"Thanks...I'm sure that you will do great as well, Makoto." complimented Chiaki as well, making Makoto blush a little.

"T-thank you too, Chiaki." answered Makoto, still blushing.

"Were you also worried about this event?" assumed Chiaki, judging from his reacton.

"...Well...a bit. I do believe things are going to be okay, but I'm not sure what to expect. My class is already something..." admitted Makoto.

"I think it won't be much different from your class. You seem like someone who would get along easily with everyone." assured Chiaki, giving him a decent amount of hope.

"Oh? That's good to hear! However, is there anyone I should be cautious about?" piqued Makoto in order to prepare himself.

"A conversation with Hiyoko would be tough at first, she's quite mean spirited...to the point it gets really frustrating." calmly alerted Chiaki as she pouted. It was a small one, but her eyebrows signified annoyance. He was surprised to see her in such state.

"That's the little blonde girl in your class, right?" asked the boy with the ahoge, just to be sure.

"Yep, that's her. However, don't tear into her too much. Just tell her politely to stop if she goes too far." confirmed Chiaki.

"Yeah, she always seemed like one of those people….is there anyone else I should be cautious about?" further asked Makoto, thinking if there are any more cases like that.

"Nagito can sometimes act out of the ordinary. Every time he looks at his palm, he seems to be completely lost in his thoughts, but I'm sure it will be okay otherwise." she gave out another alert, but in much more relaxed tone.

"Okay then! That is relieving to hear..." said Makoto as any worries he had before dropped by a margin.

"Is there anyone I should be cautious though?" asked Chiaki just like Makoto did before.

"...Just...steer away from Byakuya. It's nearly impossible to greet him normally, let alone have a conversation with him. Feels like all he does is look down on you." warned Makoto, sounding quite exhausted from whatever thing he did with the aforementioned individual.

"Who does he think he is?" asked Chiaki, giving of a similar but not as transparent energy like when she mentioned her troublesome classmate. "There better be a good reason for it."

"Not quite sure...I do want to know what is the cause of such...demeanor of his. Yasuhiro is also….odd, if I'm honest."

"I wonder one thing…Did he really think aliens stole his burger or did he just act like it to make a fool out of Zapatta?" wondered Chiaki as she stared at the ceiling.

"Knowing him, probably the former. Not even the strangest incident that happened with him. I'm gonna be quiet about...that one." answered Makoto. "Other than that, people will likely be really excited for you. Someone is going to be really happy seeing you!"

"Someone...could it possible be…? Yeah, I think I know who it is….I think." thought Chiaki to herself as a smile appeared on her face. "Have fun, Makoto."

"You too, Chiaki!" waved Makoto as both of them went towards the directions of their destinations, now more prepared and sure enough they will do it greatly. The echoes of each student's footsteps echoed in union as they distanced themselves further, getting ever closer to the classrooms they were sent to.

Chiaki, after many echoes of her footsteps in the hallways, finally reached the entrance of Makoto's classroom. She grabbed the doorknob and opened the door, entering the class 78th. As soon as she took one step forward, Kiyotaka dashed forward and saluted her.

"GREETINGS, THE STUDENT OF THE CLASS 77-B! YOU HAVE NOW FORMALLY ENTERED CLASS 78TH!" introduced Kiyotaka with his booming voice, but despite practically yelling at her, Chiaki didn't even seem to be phased by him.

"Uh, Taka...I don't think you should yell at someone who just entered." cautioned Aoi Asahina.

"I humbly apologize! I just meant to introduce you to the class." apologized Kiyotaka, lowering his voice down a bit.

"It's okay. I was a little surprised...I think." responded Chiaki, relieving both Kiyotaka and Aoi in the process.

"Then there is no issue! Please make yourself at home!" welcomed Kiyotaka as Chiaki stepped closer, approaching the other students. She saw Aoi happily waving at her as she sat next to the muscular but quiet Sakura, whom just observed her. In front of them, Celeste Ludenberg sat with her legs closed as she checked her playing cards. Hifumi was next to her, intensely drawing some kind of manga about how a girl with a backpack entered a classroom unknown to her, filled with strangers. The rest of the planned content of the manga were only known by him.

"Yes! This will be a masterpiece!" thought Hifumi to himself as he continued drawing the manga with intensity.

As Chiaki kept looking around the classroom, she saw Kiyotaka returning to his table, sitting next to Mondo. It was quite a contrast in height when two of them sat together. Both of them gave a high five to each other and laughed. Chiaki smiled as she saw them hanging out before she went a little bit forward. She also saw Leon Kuwata being together with Yasuhiro Hagakare. Leon was just chilling while Yasuhiro inspected his crystal ball.

Chiaki noticed that four people were sitting alone: Sayaka, Chihiro, Kyoko and Toko. Just by the looks alone, Toko didn't wanna do anything with anyone in the classroom. However, there was one person who standing on the furthest point from her: Byakuya Togami, who minded his own business with a scowl to end all scowls. Meanwhile, Kyoko was quietly contemplating, seemingly being distant from others.

"You are probably thinking where does Makoto sit, right?" predicted Sayaka.

"Yeah, a thought did pop up in my head. How did you know?" asked Chiaki, tilting her head.

"Because I am a psychic." boldly said Sayaka with determination in her look.

"Oh? Like those in RPG's?" asked Chiaki once again, moments before she would go on a gushing spree about that specific video game genre.

"Hehehe, just kidding! But yeah, he's with me!" giggled Sayaka as she managed to unknowingly stop Chiaki from hours and hours of gushing about video games. However, Chiaki was satisfied with her answer and restrained herself for now. She prepared for the gushing when the time would be right for her.

"I see…Do you two get along?" further asked Chiaki, just to be sure about her mental image of Makoto.

"Yes, of course!" confirmed Sayaka with a big smile on her face.

"That is good to hear. I'd imagined that...I think." said Chiaki before she went to the table where she wanted to sit: next to Chihiro Fujisaki.

Chihiro was busy drawing a sketch on a white A4 paper along with adding some kind of specifications. From a first glance, what Chihiro was doing was a complete mystery.

"Hey hey." greeted Chiaki as she leaned towards the busy student. Her face was a bit close to her friend.

"C-Chiaki?" stuttered Chihiro in surprise when seeing her up so close.

"Mind if I sit there?" requested Chiaki, pointing at the seat.

"Sure! I see no problem with it." approved Chihiro, offering her a seat.

"How are you today?" asked Chiaki as she turned towards her friend who was much smaller than her.

"Oh, I'm doing okay, just that I've been doing something at the moment….sorry about that reaction" apologized Chihiro, looking down as a sign of shame.

"It's okay. You didn't do anything wrong." reassured Chiaki as she gave a pat on her friend's shoulder, calming down the one who was just about to cry. "I do wanna know what you're working on...Is it some kind of a program?"

"O-oh, how did you know?" asked Chihiro, being completely flustered out of surprise.

"Just assumed so...I think." answered Chiaki as she took a little peek to see what kind of content was on paper that Chihiro was sketching on.

"Well, you are correct about that, but would you mind if I tell the details about it? A-assuming that it is okay to do that…." nervously asked Chihiro, slightly trembling.

"Go ahead, I'd like to hear it. There is nothing to worry about." reassuringly replied Chiaki, giving a smile. That gave Chihiro enough a boost to talk about the subject.

"Okay!...So, um,..it's sort of a thing I do in free time, so there aren't any secrets or anything, buthave you ever heard about those robots that seem really human at times?" Chihiro started explaining.

"Yeah, they often appear in games I play, mostly in space adventures." added Chiaki as she started thinking. Her cheeky became really puffy every time she had to think.

"Well….I'm basically making a prototype of "the mind" that these robots have. It's more of a warm up than anything. A basis for the future, if that sounds right." further explained Chihiro, getting calmer by each moment.

"Artificial intelligence? That sounds cool!" asked Chiaki, getting an idea to what is her friend referring to.

"Yes, it's that! It's not gonna be anything complex for now, so..." cautioned Chihiro as self doubt started to engulf.

"That's okay. As long as you believe yourself that you're gonna do it, things will turn out good." said Chiaki, halting rise of self doubt within her friend.

"...R-really?" questioned Chihiro while sweating in anxiety.

"Of course. I believe in you. I believe you're gonna make the best programs out there." reassured Chiaki with a smile on her face. She also gave Chihiro a headpat, gently touching the hair of her friend.

"...T-thank you, Chiaki..." thanked Chihiro, smiling despite slightly tearing up. "I will do my best, I promise."

However, soon they turned around and saw that nearly everyone (notable exception being Byakuya Togami) faced them, curious about what were they talking about. Chihiro's face became cherry red from being flustered while Chiaki just tilted her head in curiosity. Sayaka was both smiling and giggling when she saw two of them together just having a conversation.

"S-so, how are you, Chiaki? Is everything going well?" asked Chihiro, worrying that she might not have been enjoying her time there.

"I am doing good. There is something I wanna show that you guys might like." said Chiaki as she reached for her backpack, searching through it.

"What do you have?" asked Kiyotaka, grabbing his chin in curiosity.

"This." replied Chiaki as she pulled out a pink handheld console along with a similar purple handheld. "I always bring a backup just in case if anyone wants to play."

"WHAT?! It's a console! Are those even permitted in the school environment?!" shouted Kiyotaka in surprise after seeing the machination in her hand.

"Pretty sure they're fine, as long as you don't disrupt class with them….like donuts!" elaborated Aoi Asahina before she got a craving of the delicious donuts. "..Hey, how long is it until the break? My tummy is now desperate for some donuts..."

"In about an hour and forty five minutes." answered Sakura, cheering her friend by a margin.

"I..I see!" stuttered Kiyotaka, toning down his will of law and order in the classroom.

"...Next time, I should have brought a home console...I think." lamented Chiaki, taking a mental note for the future.

"Oh, that's cool!" praised Sayaka as she took a look at the devices Chiaki brought in.

"Hmmm…." thought Celestia before turning away from the group.

"Is there something wrong, Celeste?" checked Chiaki on her to see what was the cause of such reaction.

"I will not disrupt your fun, but virtual games are not my forte." admitted Celestia Ludenberg to her face.

"Oh...Do you prefer something like board games?" questioned Chiaki, to see if she could also make Celeste happy.

"Funny that you say "board games", but I personally prefer games with...high stakes, if I may." continued Celestia Ludenberg.

"High stakes? Like...what would you consider?" piqued Chiaki.

"….Stakes that determine whether or not you'll see another day." clarified Celestia as she gave her a cold look in her eyes, slightly unsettling her.

"You...shouldn't play with your life like that…." advised Chiaki, concerned about her statements.

"Who are you to dictate someone's decisions?" suddenly threatened Celestia Ludenberg as if Chiaki managed to tick her off. Chihiro tried to hide behind Chiaki because of Ludenberg's reaction.

"Uh, Celeste, keep it cool." warned Aoi, trying to defuse any incoming arguments.

"I...didn't want to sound like I was commanding you...but you could endanger yourself like that." elaborated Chiaki, still being concerned about her.

"Hehehe...Concerned for someone's life...How quaint. Perhaps you just don't see the thrill of it...which is fine by me." said Celestia with a smile on her face. However, the smile of hers felt distant as if something was wrong with it.

"As if she was implying that I am capable of losing..Bah!" thought Celestia Ludenberg to herself, feeling slightly riled up.

"No one's life should be constantly threatened..." thought Chiaki to herself after having a discussion with the enigmatic but extravagant girl.

"C-can we just...I don't know, play games now?" pleaded Sayaka as her skin suddenly became pale.

"Yeah, dude. It would be good to not get stressed right now." added Mondo.

"Definitely. Who would like to play first?" approved Chiaki as she lifted one of her consoles in order to show it to everyone.

"...I-I would like to, please." requested Chihiro, meekly lifting the arm to signify the demand. Chiaki, without a hesitation, gave out the console. Both of them booted up and started playing a game together. The game in question was some kind of a kart racing game, the one where it is easy to increase your desire to break something. However, despite its tendency to incite frustration within people, it often brought them together. After all, it's a shared experience.

"I must be after Chihiro! I will show you the true skills of a master!" boasted Hifumi as he gave out a request, fixing his glasses on his stout face.

And so Chiaki Nanami and most of the class 78th played games on her handheld devices. At times, Chiaki became so focused in playing

Meanwhile at the time when one of their students went on a venture to the other class, the students of class 77-B were waiting for the incoming candidate from the other class.

"So, did anyone hear about that car accident from yesterday? I thought it was rather strange..." announced Nekomaru in a rather contemplative tone.

"Yeah, it was all over the news. Thank goodness there were no casualties..." replied Mahiru, clenching her fist to her chest.

"Heard that the fella who got hit by a car was sent flying. He went like "BAM! WHEEEEZE! Wo-wo-wo-woooosh! Aaaah I'm blasting off again!" or...was that another case with the rocket?" added Ibuki, thinking whether or not she had a right accident (or incident) in her mind.

"Let us hope that such accidents happen less frequently." said Sonia, expressing a similar concern as Mahiru.

"….About that car accident…." suddenly interjected Nagito, raising his finger. Entire class' attention focused on him, expecting his statements on the matter.

"Yeah?" asked Mahiru.

"...I was the one who got hit by a car." revealed Nagito, smiling about it. However, the entire class was stunned not only because of what he said, but also because how nonchalant was he about it.

"W-wait what?!" stuttered Mahiru as her entire hair became scruffy from sheer surprsie.

"Yep, though the news didn't cover the full story." added Nagito just before he was accidentally cut out by other students.

"You're bullshitting! There's no way!" denied Fuyuhiko, shaking his fist at him.

"Oh, I've got just enough proof about my involvement." retaliated Nagito, still with a smile on his face as he revealed a rather noticeable bruise on his right leg. He also pulled out some of the leaves and tiny branches that were stuck in his hair for the rest of yesterday. "Anyway, about the story..."

"A-are you okay? D-do you need treatment?" interjected Mikan as she rushed off towards the injured white haired boy.

"Nah, it's fine. Nothing too major happened...not that you need to be concerned." denied Nagito, making signals with his hands that the situation is nothing out of the ordinary.

"O-okay..." sighed Mikan as she returned to her table.

"Just like Ibuki said, I was sent flying in the sky. Then I landed on a tree and I was stuck for quite some time...but then I've found a magpie's nest nearby. Something was shiny there, so I decided to pick it up and what do you know….sixty thousand and one yen was there!" happily continued Nagito, bringing up six 10 000 banknotes and a singular 1 coin of the mentioned currency.

"...Wha?" was the word that went through the entire class.

"Eh, it was just luck. Then the branches broke and I fell down on the ground. My back still hurts a little." continued Nagito as he attempted to stretch his back, only for him to feel the pain. Nagito Komaeda regretted that idea.

"...How tall was the tree you were stuck on?" questioned Sonia, desiring more details about the story.

"About 10m, I believe, though I don't remember well." answered Nagito, thinking whether or not he gave out accurate information.

"How were you just sent flying like that? It doesn't seem like it makes sense!" questioned Mahiru with her hair nearly getting scruffy again.

"I...jumped at the wrong time." revealed Nagito, seemingly kind of embarrassed about that fact.

"Wait, you jumped on the road? What the hell were you thinking at that moment?!" lashed out Mahiru with her shaking hand pointing at him.

"I would understand the scolding but there is also another detail I forgot to mention: I was on the sidewalk." clarified Nagito, seemingly not minding Mahiru's critique.

"Then...I take my words back...Sorry, Nagito..." apologized Mahiru, backing away from her claims.

"This is gonna sound weird but what kind of car hit you? It was told in the report that car had no signs of any damage whatsoever!" suddenly asked Kazuichi.

"It was a Volvo." said Nagito.

"V-Volvo? Hah! I knew it!" Kazuichi pretended to know beforehand.

"What kind of sick life does Nagito have that he gets both nearly killed in an accident and get rich within a same day?" thought Hajime to himself after hearing the everything he needed.

Suddenly, there was knocking on the door, focusing the entire attention of the class towards it.

"Alert! Alert! A student of class 78th arrive shortly!" cautioned Ibuki as if they were on a runway.

"Hmmm...I wonder who could it be?" wondered Sonia.

"The one about to enter this realm is on a threshold of a life shattering experience." forebode Gundham, crossing his arms as he looked at the door with an ominous glance.

"Perhaps it may be-" assumed Teruteru before he stopped him self as he looked both left and right like either a paranoid jaywalker or a thief looking at the corners of the corridors.

"What the hell was that?" asked Fuyuhiko, spotting the behavior of the chef.

"O-oh, nothing! Nothing at all!" denied Teruteru of any suspicion.

"Are you sure? You looked real fucking shady there." persuaded Fuyuhiko.

"Well….lets say I'm gonna give it a try." said Teruteru as he tried to finish his sentence from before. "Perhaps it may be one hell of a sexy gi-"

Suddenly, as it were given sentience, the chair propelled itself backwards, crashing with a considerable force. While no bones were broken, Teruteru's back felt the hit quite well.

"GORDON RAMSAY!" yelled the chef, feeling the full impact.

His classmates reacted in shock after witnessing one of their classmates being "attacked" by the unassuming chair.

"T-teru, are you alright?" Mikan immediately rushed towards him to see if he's alright.

"Yeah….though this is something has happened before! What is all this stuff about?!" questioned Teruteru before he picked himself up, placing the chair in the original position.

"So, let me get this straight….you got cock-blocked by the furniture?" asked Hiyoko on the verge of having a stroke because of laughter.

"...What?!"

The entire classroom was left in silence, trying to comprehend from what just they have heard...except for Hiyoko, who was rolling on the floor because of laughter.

"This is a statement I never thought I would hear neither do I want to hear it ever again." said Hajime, being completely dumbfounded by what he just heard. However, the event was overshadowed by another set of much meeker knocks on the door.

"Come in!" invited Mahiru as the student from class 78th opened the door. It was Makoto Naegi, looking both unsure and stunned, probably because of what he heard from inside.

"...What just happened and what was that about Gordon Ramsay?"

"Nothing to worry about, I assure you that." explained Hajime to him before inviting him in the class. "Also, hey Makoto!"

The class warmly greeted Makoto (except Hiyoko, who was being Hiyoko) as he stepped in. There were some comparisons between him and Hajime (former often being called either "Baby Hajime" or "Hajime's little brother, much to his embarrassment), but overall, as soon as Makoto became adjusted to the atmosphere of the class, many fun times were had.

Meanwhile, the lunch break was about to come in the class 78th. In the interval of time between her arrival to the end of the first half of the day, they were busy playing video games. Those who have wanted to play video games got their wish fulfilled. As they noticed that their time is running out, Chiaki packed her consoles back in her backpack.

"Man, I got totally owned…." lamented Hifumi, feeling completely defeated after playing a match against Chiaki.

"Did you have fun, Hifumi?" asked Chiaki.

"Of course! But I assure you, when we have rematch, I will be in a stronger form!" responded Hifumi, fixing his glasses. His response made Chiaki smile, knowing that she made quite a decent chunk of the people happy.

"Ooh, it's that time!" cheered Aoi Asahina, already imagining her trademark favorite food being consumed.

"IT IS OFFICIALLY LUNCH TIME!" announced Kiyotaka with his booming voice as he raised his fist in the air. The students who were in class now left it completely. Aoi and Sakura were one of the first people to exit the class while Chiaki was one of the last ones.

Or so she thought.

"There is something that needs to be discussed." said the girl in a black jacket with a long lavender hair, who halted Chiaki from leaving at that moment.

"Ah, Kyoko! What do you want to talk about?" asked Chiaki after being startled by her. Kyoko just silently left the classroom, but Chiaki managed to catch her clue and followed her. They walked together far behind from others as their footsteps echoed through out the hallways.

"You have heard about the missing spoons, is that correct?" asked Kyoko Kirigiri.

"Yes, Teruteru told me about it...I think." responded Chiaki like someone would expect her to respond.

"You speak with uncertainty in your voice." noted Kyoko, glancing over her. Chiaki felt like she said something wrong at that moment. "Anyway, while this case has been rather inane so far, there are few things that bother me about it."

"Like why would someone steal all of the spoons?" added Chiaki, after thinking about it for a prolonged amount of time.

"Indeed. I question the motive of such act, which makes perpetrator seem more unknown." said Kyoko while still thinking about the case.

"Oh, it's like in those detective games, where you have to find out who the culprit is." compared Chiaki Nanami to one of her recently played games about a defense attorney yelling in the court. There was something about updated autopsy reports as well in it.

"You should not base your knowledge on fiction. It does not give an accurate representation most of the time." cautioned Kyoko, giving her a look of disapproval.

"Right...sorry about that." apologized Chiaki as she put on her hood out of slight shame.

After some time, they have arrived to the kitchen, which was in the same state as yesterday. While the surroundings were quite clean, it still lacked a major component: the spoons. Kyoko brought up a hammer and an ultraviolet light with her. Chiaki started to observe her, wondering what would she do.

"Before we start searching for footprints, there is something that might have given off a clue just when I left the scene." explained Kyoko before she gave the UV light to Chiaki and stepped forward, looking down on the tiles. She crouched down and touched a few of the tiles in order for her to see any oddities. For the most part, the tiles remained stationary, but then she reached a file that budged. Upon realizing that she couldn't fully open the tile, she smashed it with her hammer, breaking it into the pieces. They fell down the hole, but Kyoko managed to catch a piece with the locking mechanism on it. Chiaki stepped in closer as well to see what did Kyoko discover.

"This...was not expected." pointed out Kyoko as she inspected the piece with the locking mechanism. Chiaki inspected the piece as well before crouching down to see the hole. The pieces weren't visible with the naked eye.

"That tile must have been a door for the tunnel over here." suggested Chiaki after observing both clues.

"It seems so, but how could the perpetrator use the tunnel for infiltrating the kitchen?" commented Kyoko after coming to a conclusion that the hole was a tunnel. "Chiaki, give me the light. I would request you to turn of the kitchen's light as well."

Chiaki did exactly as Kyoko told her to and shut down kitchen's light while Kyoko turned on her UV light. What once was covered with white light was now illuminated by the purple light. Looking around the kitchen, she saw something on the floor that completely caught her off guard.

The footprints of birds. An entire clutter of them, leading from tunnel to the drawer where the spoons were.

"Birds?" questioned Kyoko upon seeing the scene. Her irises shrunk from surprise for a moment.

"Is..is this the truth of this case?" asked Chiaki, unsure what was she witnessing.

"There are some birds that do dig tunnels and magpies are prone to stealing shiny objects, but I don't quite think they are capable of an organized thievery with the quantity of stolen items as this" said Kyoko, trying to formulate the outcome of the case. "Not to mention the motive of such act...What could it be?"

"Perhaps the birds were something extraordinary...I think?" assumed Chiaki, staring in the ceiling to prepare a back up idea.

"For sure….but what kind of birds were they?" asked Kyoko Kirigiri amid the mess.

Meanwhile, under the Hope's Peak academy, penguins were continuing digging tunnels for their base. Unlike the clean interior of Hope's Peak academy, the ground was coarse but soft. They continued using the spoons from the kitchen, operating them in a fast manner. Suddenly, Private's spoon hit an unknown object, bending in half in the process.

"Darn you, rocks! Why must you be placed right here?!" cursed Private upon the sight of spoon bending.

"Rico! Another one!" ordered Skipper as he pointed at his colleague. Rico did as Skipper told him and threw a spoon to Private, who caught it just perfectly and continued digging the base.

"Kowalski, progress report!" requested Skipper as he turned towards the tall avian.

"20% of the whole base finished. Tunnels are complete, but the main coarse has yet to be done: the rooms." reported Kowalski as he kept digging with the spoon.

"That's a number I can go with it! Not to mention, we are coming to the best part." boasted the leading avian.

"Uh, Skipper. There is something that's been on my mind." admitted Private, pausing the digging for a bit.

"What is it, Private?" asked Skipper.

"Do you think they'll find out about the "shovels"?" noted Private as he glanced over to the spoons.

"Private, Private, you just worry too much. The "shovels" will be returned in no time. They won't even notice it." responded Skipper, thinking that the current situation was just a piece of cake.

"I do see his concerns under one condition." interrupted Kowalski for him to support Private's concerns.

"What is that condition, Kowalski?" questioned Skipper, wanting to hear his brother-in-arms' reasoning.

"What if some of the students are yakuza members? Not saying that they are, but it could be a possibility." Kowalski raised a point, making Skipper reconsider his words.

"...Right. Change of plans, boys." declared Skipper as the penguin boys gathered around him as if they were soldier waiting for the words of their general.

"We will postpone the base building at 22:00. Instead, we will commence Operation Stockpile Pelican. We will find the nearest warehouse of some store and obtain them shovels. We have only one hour of looting, the base won't wait for us...and so won't they." briefed Skipper as his colleagues listened to his words.

"They?" piqued Private, unsure to what he meant to.

"Them, Private. Them." referred Skipper in a rather cautious tone before he returned to his position. "Any more questions?"

"How many of the shovels bent so far? I've kind of lost count."

"Kowalski, this is your time to answer!" commanded Skipper, pointing at his colleague again.

"About 50, Sir." answered Kowalski.

"50? Darn…looks like we gotta snatch a whole package. For now, we continue building our base until the determined time." said Skipper before they returned to their work, setting themselves to make as much progress as they could.

Meanwhile above the surface, Chiaki left the kitchen after getting Kyoko's permission to take a break and get some food. She went to the dining room and arrived to the table where Hajime, Chihiro, Makoto, Ibuki and others were. When she sat down, she brought up a sandwich consisting of two slices of toast with strawberry jam spread over them. Suddenly, after taking one bite of the sandwich, her head tilted as her eyes tried to close by themselves.

"I'm sleepy…..good night..." yawned Chiaki before her eyes completely shut and fell in a deep sleep while sitting. She put absolutely no resistance against sleep.

"Wait, Chiaki!..." tried Hajime to wake her up but alas, he was too late. He, among the others, was astonished at how she could just fall asleep like that while she was sitting perfectly still.

"Awww, such a cutie pie~." fawned Ibuki as she watched Chiaki sleep with her sparkling eyes. They had to eat as Chiaki quietly snored during her sleep.

Completing their meal, the students had to return to the classes already. Hajime with the help of Ibuki (even though Hajime could do the job just fine, Ibuki volunteered for….reasons) lifted the sleeping Chiaki and carried her to the class. Everyone else left the dining room as well, returning to their respective classes.

But not before Fuyuhiko and Peko, who were one of the last ones to exit the place, stopped and looked back as they heard some kind of footsteps. They witnessed someone with a large stature (in both height and width) carrying a table before placing it near the place where students could get their own food.

"Fuyuhiko, is there something wrong?" asked Peko.

"Let me check something. I'll be back soon." said Fuyuhiko before going to the man behind the table. Peko waited for him outside of the dining room. As he went closer, it was revealed that the man behind those actions was none other than Figottoni, dressed in a fancy white suit and wearing a pitch black tie.

"Hey, what the hell are you doing?!" badgered Fuyuhiko, slamming his fist on the table.

"I am setting up a bar." calmly said Figottoni as he cleaned a glass.

"...Are you trying to sell some alcoholic shit or something?" accused Fuyuhiko, sounding even angrier than before.

"Alcoholic beverages are strongly prohibited not only by school's rules, but by my own personal principles as well. I have always served only non-alcoholic drinks through out my entire life." elaborated Figottoni while keeping the same calm tone of his voice.

"...I see, but why are you trying to set up a bar here?" Fuyuhiko raised another question with his anger toned down a bit.

"This institute's priority is to maximize the development of talent, yes?" asked Figottoni, putting the cleaned glass on the table.

"From what I've heard, yes….at least this course does." answered Fuyuhiko in a much calmer voice.

"They say I am one of the Ultimates, but I will always be just a simple bartender." said Figottoni before getting an additional glass to clean.

"Aren't you that guy who hangs out with that rockstar fucker and Suifta as well?" questioned Fuyuhiko while reminding himself about the "incident" with Zapatta and his class.

"Indeed I am. I apologize for the any trouble caused by Zapatta, he can be quite unpredictable even in his friend circle." apologized Figottoni, seemingly out of formality.

"You ain't done shit, though. In fact, who the hell are you even?" perplexed Fuyuhiko.

"My name is Figottoni and I am a student of your age from Italy. I was born in Neaples. My home is one of the most beautiful places on the world, but I have been invited here, in Japan. While I do like it a lot here, as it is quite clean and modern, I do miss the classic architecture of my country." introduced Figottoni himself to him. Hearing that he's the same age as him caused Fuyuhiko to flinch, considering that the Italian man looked much, much older than him just by appearance alone.

"Wait, you're young? The fuck?! Prove it!" demanded Fuyuhiko, shaking his fist at him.

"Here is my identity card. It has all the information you need." offered Figottoni, revealing his European Union approved identity card with the info about the name, surname, sex, date of birth, nationality, date of expiration and holder's signature on it.

"Alright then….so you're like Sonia then." said Fuyuhiko, convinced by his card.

"Perhaps…Anyway, would you like a drink?" asked Figottoni, being ready to serve and perform his job.

"...Just water. That will be enough" calmly requested Fuyuhiko. The bartender student filled up the clean glass with fresh water. Quickly finishing his job, Figottoni gave the glass to Fuyuhiko. All of a sudden, a fellow classmate of his entered the dining hall and sat next to him. It was, much to his surprise, "Ryota Mitarai", whom instead of looking shy as he initially did, he had a rather determined frown on his face.

"Wait, where did you come from?" questioned Fuyuhiko out of bewilderment.

"Just because I don't speak much does not mean I do not exist." said "Ryota" in a much deeper voice, surprising Fuyuhiko even more. However, he remained quiet as he took a sip of water.

"You're not a trusting person, aren't you?" "Ryota" raised a question to him.

"No shit there." scoffed Fuyuhiko, thinking that the classmate's response was way too obvious.

"Good. Keep an eye on everyone here. The only thing worth trusting is food." approved "Ryota", causing even more mixed feelings for Fuyuhiko. His gut feeling was telling him that "Ryota" could be right. Figottoni thought about "Ryota's" statements as well.

"Bartender, I would like a mixture of lemonade and peach ice tea, please." requested "Ryota", raising his finger.

"Understood." affirmed Figottoni, preparing the drink that he request. Out of a sudden once again, another student arrived to the "bar". It was none other than the really buff girl with long white hair Sakura, who quietly sat down next to Fuyuhiko as well. It appeared that Peko showed her the path to the bar. He was a little startled thanks to her stature, but both "Ryota" and Figottoni behaved like they normally do.

"I would like a protein mix, please." requested Sakura as she crossed her arms. Figottoni, just like before, prepared another drink for his "customers".

"Fuyuhiko, I have noticed something." noted Sakura, catching Fuyuhiko's attention.

"What is it?" asked Fuyuhiko as if he didn't want to have any sort of conversation.

"Every time you are with Peko, you are much more relaxed." Sakura explained herself.

"...I won't go in the detail about it." blurted out Fuyuhiko in defense.

"That's fine. However, I get a feeling that your experience here will be much better if you give others a chance. Trust is the key of not only relaxation, but happiness." continued Sakura with a smile on her face, hoping that Fuyuhiko might see school in a different way.

"I see points in both positions, but I think my opinion aligns more with Sakura's. With enough trust, even the most unlikely of people will get on your side. Humans are like that after all." added Figottoni.

"...I will think about it." said Fuyuhiko, having even more mixed feelings than before.

"Still, be cautious. You never know what could happen." warned "Ryota", still insisting on his advice. However, the time until they classes resumed was running low.

"Alright then, I think it is time to visit your classes. I'll be here as a part of the programme I was given to. I hope you all have a nice day." said Figottoni before all of his customers finished drinks, stood up and left the dining room for real. The bartender cleaned up not only his "bar", but also the entire dining room as well.

Even more time passed on. Class 77-B's and class 78th's day of Hope's Peak was coming to a conclusion. Both Chiaki and Makoto had to return to their respective classes. Just like in the early hours, they met each other in the hall once again.

"Hey hey, Makoto. How was your day?" asked Chiaki when she met him. She was filled with an unusual amount of energy after she left the class.

"It was honestly pretty good! We did a lot of fun stuff together, including having a concert of some kind, thanks to Ibuki. I see you are...pretty excited today, aren't you?" said Makoto, while also noticing her enthusiasm.

"Yes! We played so many games today that I've almost lost count!...and they were having a lot of fun too, as well. I'm glad that you've had fun, Makoto. I hope you get more time with my class." cheered Chiaki, pumping her fists.

"I'm glad you were happy with my class as well. Was a little worried before but...seeing you now, all worries went away!" admitted Makoto. Hearing that made Chiaki even happier.

"That's good!..I think." praised Chiaki as they gave each other a high five. "I wish this day lasted a little longer...it did go so quickly.

"Well, tomorrow is a new day, right?" reassured Makoto.

"You're right. Lets make tomorrow as fun as today...but we gotta depart right now." said Chiaki before each of them said their goodbyes for the day. "See you, Makoto."

"Goodbye, Chiaki." responded Makoto as they waved at each other when they departed.

The evening soon arrived as another day of Hope's Peak ended. The students grouped with each other and went their own ways to their homes. Inside the school, Chisa Yukizome was watching them depart with a smile on the face, but with a rather somber look in her eyes. She slowly waved at them as they distanced from the school.

"Whew...I've had a lot of trouble organizing this event...Convincing the headmaster was just rough, but in the end, it was worth it! I just wish there were more days like this..." thought Chisa to herself, feeling not quite well until she decided to cheer herself up.

"Well, tomorrow is another day!" bubbled Chisa as she hit herself on the chest to motivate herself. Unfortunately, she hit herself a little too hard.

"...Owie..."

The day was truly over….or was it?

22:00, Yenostore all-in market warehouse, [REDACTED], Japan.

The block shaped gray warehouse was rusting off somewhere in the city. Although large, it had a rather simplistic design. It contained large dark gray garage doors among with smaller doors for the personnel. The building's source of external light were a few rectangle shaped windows. Below the windows were some shelves. Inside of the warehouse, it was filled with boxes that contained various amount of objects, from tools to toys, lined up in the lines. Each object was placed in the appropriate sectors of the warehouse. Despite the amount of material goods stored, there were no traces of any living being inside...at that time. The warehouse seemed to be closed from outside.

Suddenly, a smaller rectangle was shaped on one of the windows was drawn with some kind of razor. Once the rectangle was finished, it was removed, leaving a gap in the window.

The penguins jumped in through the gap, clinging on their ropes that dropped through it as well. They landed on the floor after descending from the window and turned on their flashlights.

"We have arrived on our destination, Sir." reported Kowalski, starting to inspect the surroundings with his flashlights.

"Well boys, we got an hour and a half to find them shovels. Make haste!" commanded Skipper as all of them started sliding down on the floor while going through the hallways filled with darkness and boxes. Skipper inspected the line one, where he found boxes with tools for garage, Kowalski went through the line two, where he found lights, the classic and LED ones while Rico inspected line three, where he found boxes that stored boxes and Private went through the line four, where he found boxes full of alcoholic beverages.

After minutes of inspecting, Skipper found something that caught his eye: culinary sector. Observing the boxes, he quickly found the thing they were searching for: the spoons.

"Jackpot, baby!" triumphantly shouted Skipper as other penguins arrived to him as if he gave them a signal. Without a question, Rico gave Skipper a boost when the latter jumped in the air and grabbed the handle of the box, pulling it with all of his strength midair. It revealed that it was a set of 100 Ultimate-quality made spoons, covered in a fancy cover that showed silvery culinary.

"Bombs away!" warned Skipper as the set was dropped while he fell with it at the same time. The penguins moved away from the predicted impact zone of the box, avoiding being damaged in the process. Both the box and Skipper landed safely with him hitting the floor right on the feet.

"Well done, gentlemen! We did it in 6 minutes and 27 seconds! Close to the record, but still a good score!" praised Skipper as they gave each other high fives. Suddenly, Private halted as he realized something.

"Wait, wouldn't it be easier if we were just to buy them?" pointed out Private, pausing the celebration for a bit.

"Don't worry about it, Private. This was a financially safe option, even though we have more than enough money, thanks to our sales with the circus, North Wind assets and that set of golden teeth." proudly elaborated Kowalski before he turned towards Skipper with some level of grudge. "...which I still think was a long term poor decision and we should have bought Airbus A380 instead."

"Kowalski, I know that was a reckless decision, but I did think of a compensation. We're gonna get a 747, just for you!" Skipper attempted to cheer up his comrade.

"The Airbus A380 is a revolutionary aircraft with unrivaled size in the commercial aircraft department and quality exceeding even company's own products." argued Kowalski with him making gestures as if he was having a presentation.

"But 747 is American." retaliated Skipper, trying to look as cool as possible. "And that's what it matters. Queen of the skies, after all."

"Its comfort levels are the best in the world!" Kowalski raised another argument for the largest airliner in the world.

"You know what they say, Kowalski. If you ain't with the yoke, then you ain't woke." quipped Skipper, crossing his arms in the process.

"If you don't support the stick, then do it with your own-" sassed Kowalski before he was interrupted.

"I think we should get a Cessna instead. It should be the most reliable and all of us would fit in comfortably as well." interjected Private with his opinion.

"Private, my boy, we already patched up a busted up Super Electra, a fresh airliner is gonna be no trouble. Remember, there are two ways of living life: the boring one and the fun one and I'm choosing the fun one!" Skipper shared his word of wisdom with the youngest member of the team.

"Arghhh..." protested Rico at the idea of owning a civilian aircraft.

"And what is your suggestion then, Rico?" asked Skipper.

"Uuuuhh…..NYEOOOOW BOOM BOOM BOOM KABOOMA KABOOMA HAHAHAHA!" imitated Rico as he ran in circles, pretending that he is one of the bomber aircraft. During his imitation, he jumped in the air, pretending to drop bombs (free-fall ones probably) on the imagined adversary. It was the closest a penguin ever came to achieve flight on its own.

"Kowalski, translation!" demanded Skipper after witnessing Rico's act.

"I think Rico wants...one of the Fortresses?" assumed Kowalski after making some sketches on the notepad, each of them resembling the bombers that shared "fortress" in their names.

"Nuh uh! Bone!" clarified Rico...in his own way. Skipper and Kowalski were surprised but at the same time not.

"First of all, Lancer's an active service aircraft! We can't just snatch it without everyone chasing down our rears!" reminded Skipper.

"Awww…." lamented Rico after having his fantasy of carpet bombing crushed.

"Second of all, we better hurry up. Sooner we make the base, the better!" said Skipper as he lifted the box with the help of Rico and Private. However, Kowalski glanced around at the other boxes and saw a blender there. That, along with Skipper's sayings, gave him an idea.

"Gentlemen, go ahead of me. I'll be back soon." announced Kowalski as he jumped towards the blender and went his own way. The other penguins ran towards the rope as fast as they could with them carrying the box. While not as fast as sliding on the floor, the penguins quickly arrived to their dropping point. Rico climbed on the rope and went through the window. Skipper and Private tied the box with the rope and then they jumped above the box, holding on the rope. As if he knew, Rico started pulling the rope to himself, lifting the box and his colleagues at the same time. The gap was just the right size as the box seamlessly slipped through it, landing on the shelf along with the penguins.

After their first task was completed, Rico threw the rope through the gap once again as they waited for Kowalski. Not much time passed when Kowalski arrived on the location with his own fulfilled "shopping list": a blender, four wheels, a generator, an actual (but small) shovel, a bunch of screws and a decent amount of "super" glue.

"And what are you gonna do with that?" asked Skipper upon witnessing Kowalski's catch.

"Well, Skipper, lets say the construction of our base should be accelerated rapidly." boasted Kowalski as he had a huge confident grin on his face.

Meanwhile, the night has fallen on Hope's Peak academy. In the halls, there was just an old janitor, cleaning and humming the songs of his. He was happily sweeping the floor with his broom as it was the meaning of life.

Suddenly, he heard a quite loud noise coming from the air ducts. The janitor glanced over to the air ducts, but shrugged off and continued cleaning the halls.

But what was that noise?

 

Chapter 4: He Has Come (ARC II START)

Chapter Text

Author's note: Every now and then, cats visit me. They often wait outside, either standing with their raised paw or they become loaves as they stare me right in the eyes.

"GIVE ME THE SAUSAGE!" they often demand. Fortunately for them, I always serve them a salami or ham or whatever I have in the fridge for them. Cats absolutely love to munch sausages and demand even more. Once they get their bones back in them, they go on the adventures that cats seem to love to have. However, not all cats want sausage. Some of them just love to roll around on the window.

The day at Hope's Peak academy started off the same as the every other day did before. Each class in the academy prepared themselves to carry out the given schedule. Unlike yesterday, there were no special events planned in advance. The first hour of the school's day went normally. However, just when the class 77-B was set to eat some food, Chisa went in the same direction as them as well, searching for someone.

"Mikaaaaaan!" called out Chisa in the same sense as if she was looking for a kid who got lost in the store. Hearing the calls of her teacher, Mikan, completely startled, stopped on her tracks and turned back. She approached her teacher like a little mouse, already imagining how is she going to be yelled at.

"Y-yes, Miss Yukizome? I-is there something I did?" asked Mikan Tsumiki, shaking like a leaf from feeling anxious.

"I would like to ask you to help me with something? It's gonna be something really cool!" requested Chisa in her usual peppy tone, but it still came as a surprise for the trembling nurse.

"O-oh? W-well….I can try. I w-will try my best..." sputtered Mikan, trembling a little less than before.

"Okiee! You are gonna do your best, there is no worries about it!" chirped Chisa as she tapped Mikan's shoulder, calming her down.

"...T-thanks, Miss Yukizome..." smiled Mikan, but not before shedding a tear or two. They went together, separated from others, down the hallway. As they were walking towards their goal, even though they were walking at the same pace, Chisa was skipping happily like a bunny while Mikan was meekly walking on her toes. The nurse's walk barely even made a noise compared to the one performed by her teacher.

Upon arriving to the fifth floor of Hope's Peak academy, the girl went towards the biology lab. As they went inside, they found two shallow plastic boxes without covers. Inside of the boxes were pots filled with soil. Seedlings of various flowers, most notably daisies, were peeking out of them, preparing to start their new lives. Chisa picked up one of the boxes, spreading her much as much as possible to fully grab the box.

"Mikan, can you grab the other box, pretty please?" asked Chisa, pointing at the remaining box with pots.

"O-okay." responded Mikan as she rushed off to the box and grabbed it in the similar manner as her teacher did. Her arms trembled as she gave out all the power she could make in lifting that box.

"You're gonna do it, Mikan!" cheered Chisa, motivating Mikan even further. After hearing her teacher's words, Mikan used more of her strength to gain balance in holding the box. The trembling of her arms stopped, gaining the full control of the box. Mikan happily smiled before both of them went outside of the lab, preparing themselves to set for another walk through out the school.

"What are we gonna do with them, Miss Yukizome?" asked Mikan with her box.

"Oh, we're gonna plant some flowers outside of school. It's gonna be much livelier that way! Would also join planting them?" explained Chisa before inviting her.

"Y-yes! Flowers are nice…feels l-lovely around them, right?" approved Mikan before doubts inside her head attempted to overtake her mind.

"Very much so! Not just lovely, but astonishingly lovely!" confirmed Chisa, defeating Mikan's doubts. After their little chat, both of them started walking downstairs. The nurse lassie slowed down her pace, taking a tiny step on each stair in order for her to not trip and potentially destroy all pots.

"Y-you can get ahead of me, Miss Yukizome…I'll...take a while." quietly cautioned Mikan as she went with her own pace down the stairs.

"Roger that! Just be safe, okay?" assured Chisa as she went her own way.

"O-okay..." whispered Mikan to herself as she continued going downstairs. Fourth floor of Hope's Peak academy was reached without any sort of tripping, so she kept the pace. Third floor didn't gave her much trouble either, but she nearly tripped on her way to the second floor. Mikan Tsumiki barely managed to maintain balance after the near trip, but she managed to step on the second floor successfully. She took even more precaution when preparing herself to go downstairs with the box next time.

First floor or known as the destination to her, was right in front of her sight. The only obstacle remaining for her were the last stairs. Taking an even slower pace than before, she went downstairs, step on the stair after a step. After enduring the (self imposed) test of balance, she finally reached the ground floor. She hopped a little from happiness over the fact that she managed to do it and went forward. Suddenly...

"Hello there!" greeted the pompous voice out of somewhere, startling Mikan in the process.

"U-uwaaah! W-who called?" asked Mikan as she was still in the status of shock. Nurse girl put down the box just in case. She looked around to see the source of the voice.

"Over here!" guided the voice with a slight bit of accent, turning her attention towards some shelf in the hall. Upon seeing the origin of the voice, she couldn't believe what she saw with her own eyes.

A golden octopus, posing as if he wanted to be drawn like one of the french girls.

"A-a-an o-octopus?!" she yelped upon seeing the cephalopod laying in front of her.

"I'm Herman. Today is a nice day!" casually greeted the octopus. His "nice" sounded more like "niche", thanks to his accent.

"Y-you can talk a-and breathe air?" stuttered Mikan as her arm trembled while pointing at him.

"No problemo! Anyway, what's up? I'm just chilling like always." said Herman, remaining in the same pose as before.

"W-well, Miss Yukizome and I are going to plant some pretty flowers. The outside of school is gonna be full of them, so that everyone can feel good when they come here." explained Mikan, feeling somewhat flustered about it.

"That's nice." responded Herman.

"It is! Anyway, I think I have to go now. I c-can't let Miss Yukizome wait for much long. S-sorry for ending it so soon." apologized Mikan before she tried to return to the box.

"I have one thing to say, though." declared Herman, making her stop as she turned towards him.

"Huh? Is there something wrong?" asked Mikan, slightly startled from his words.

"..."

"SAY HASTA LA PASTA TO YOUR ASS, FUCKER!" shouted Herman as he suddenly leaped at her.

"W-w-whaAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!.." yelped Mikan just when Herman landed on her shoulder with his arms. Out of nowhere, he brought up a spray bottle filled with octopus ink(?). Pointing at her face, he sprayed the substance right in her eyes. The attack on her eyes caused Mikan to fall down on her back, yelping in total confusion.

"Hahahahahaha! Consider yourself bamboozled!" taunted Herman before he jumped back on the shelf and hid the spray bottle somewhere. Then he ran away on land, using his arms as some kind of legs. Meanwhile, Mikan was still laying on her ground, being blinded by ink as she flailed around with arms and legs at the same time. Luckily for her, the boxes were not close enough to be damaged by either her fall or flailing.

"H-hasta la pasta! Hasta la pasta!" quavered Mikan as she kept flailing on the floor. Some time passed when she heard the incoming rush of footsteps from somewhere in the hall. The sounds were getting louder as the each second passed. It was then revealed that a bunch of classmates were coming at her, those being Chiaki, Hajime, Ibuki, Sonia, Fuyuhiko, Peko and Mahiru.

"EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! WEE WOO WEE WOO!" yelled Ibuki, pretending she was an ambulance as she ran in a formation with her classmates. Her gang quickly arrived to Mikan, who was still squirming on the floor.

"Mikan, what just happened?" asked Hajime upon the sight of her.

"A-an octopus attacked me!" hastily explained Mikan. Chiaki, as quickly as she could, picked her up and lifted her. Borrowing a handkerchief from Sonia, she cleaned off

"Huh? What do you mean by octopus?" questioned Hajime, being caught off guard by her.

"Octopuses learned how to walk on land?!" fretted Ibuki, already imagining the octopus people taking over the world. Sonia seemed to share the sentiment, but she thought it was a regional Japanese octopus instead.

"H-he was there a-and he talked to me until he suddenly jumped like me!" continued Mikan, playing out the entire scenario in front of them.

"I've got a question for you..." groused Fuyuhiko as he stepped forward. "….The hell were you smoking?"

"W-what?! I-I would never smoke! I-I would never do such a thing! I'm sorry! I'm sorry!" whimpered Mikan at his response, already raising her arms to cover herself.

"Hey, what's the big idea?! How can you just accuse her like that? Where are your manners?!" jumped Mahiru in Mikan's defense.

"Alright then, provide evidence, bitch." retaliated Fuyuhiko, offering a demand. Mahiru gave him a glare as a response, but before she could say anything, Sonia already intervened.

"Let us not get into a quarrel between ourselves! We must focus on the one who attacked Mikan!" asserted Sonia, preventing a fight that could have happened.

"Sonia's right. That should be the focus of our attention." added Peko, crossing her arms. Chiaki, still being close to Mikan, swiped of her finger on Mikan's face, where the remains of substance were still there. She put the finger with ink in her mouth, tasting it, much to the surprise of everyone around.

"Hmmm….tastes rather salty." commented Chiaki after doing her little experiment.

"Wait...why did you do that?" asked Hajime after witnessing that.

"I...just wanted to see what kind of liquid was on her face...I think." explained Chiaki, not before a somewhat lengthy pause happened during her explanation.

"Then that's definitely octopus ink! I've had squid ink pasta before and it was quite good!" confirmed Sonia, remembering that one time she had squid ink spaghetti with tabasco sauce.

"Okay then...if you say so." sighed Hajime, believing their words.

"Mikan, do you know where the supposed octopus went?" asked Peko.

"S-sorry, I d-don't know." responded Mikan as if she was ashamed.

"Then...Mikan, you should go with Chisa to relax with her. We promise you that we will find the octopus." reassured Chiaki, uplifting the mood for Mikan as she went towards the box to pick it up and do the thing she was supposed to. As she left, the rest of the group remained perplexed at the whole situation.

"Mahiru, do you have a camera with you?" asked Hajime to be sure of something.

"Sure! I always take it with me." confirmed Mahiru, bringing up her camera to display it to everyone.

"That's good. If you see the octopus, take a picture of it as fast as you can." grinned Hajime, already thinking of a plan to capture that cephalopod of the unknown.

"There better be a damn octopus!" chided Fuyuhiko before their search began. At first, they stayed in the group, searching through out the hallways to find their target. And so it continued for them…

While they kept searching for him, somewhere else in the hallway Teruteru was walking down rather confidently. He went to his personal favorite place: kitchen. When he entered the desired room, he saw that the room was the same as before, not noticing the patched up tile on the floor. Before he went to prepare a meal of the day, he checked the drawer with culinary either by instinct or him just having a hunch. He noticed something that caught him by surprise: the spoons were back!

"Oooh! The spoons! Finally, my customers can eat soup normally!" cheered Teruteru as he grabbed a spoon, raising it in the air as a sign of triumph. "But wait...how did they get back? Hmmm...".

Meanwhile, under the Hope's Peak academy, penguins were gathered around Kowalski's newest invention: a drilling vehicle made out of the stuff he "loaned" from the warehouse. It resembled a tank like vehicle which a certain witch used it during her prime time. The tunnels around turned into a complex network, similar to a metro.

"Kowalski, you sly fox. Didn't expect that you would have created an ace in the hole for us." praised Skipper, raising his "eyebrow" with it.

"With this machine, the amount of time for us to complete our base is now less than a day!" boasted Kowalski as he proudly tapped the contraption. "Now only the rooms remain and that should be rather quick."

The penguins gave each other a series of high fives in numerous poses, which often ended in someone slapping Private's face.

"Now now, boys. Lets finish this buffet of a structure with a tasty desert!" ordered Skipper as Kowalski revved up the "engine" of the machine. The (actual) shovel attached to the blender started spinning as the penguins started to push it forward, enabling it to dig in the process.

Back in the kitchen, Teruteru was looking at the papers to see what was on the schedule for the day. He found that day's plan on the very specific paper. It was written "Spaghetti Bolognese" on it.

"Oooh, yes! Today they are gonna be blessed with my...sensational cooking!" boasted Teruteru as he was getting...excited about it, but then he looked around to see if any furniture was out to get him.

"...Huh, surprised that nothing smashed as of now….I see...gotta keep it...subtle." realized Teruteru on the sight of furniture not whooping his bum before he went to grab some onions. With striking speed and without a tear in his eye, he cut down the onions like a true samurai. Then he threw the cut onions in a pan, where he fried the pieces in oil. Meat was added in the oil among onions, followed by salt, spice, garlic and black pepper. After the time was right, he poured water in the pan. He mixed the Bolognese in making during the preparation just like a true chef would. Teruteru had to wait for the sauce to be made, but unfortunately, he encountered a bane of any man: an extreme need to go to the toilet.

"Well now, I shall be quick! I think nothing bad will happen during it, right?" said Teruteru to himself before he went to the toilet.

After doing the deed, he walked down the hallway with a satisfied face. Suddenly, he smelled something off. The aroma from kitchen did not reek of Bolognese, but rather something creamy with a little scent of ham.

"Huh? What's that smell?" he wondered as he quickly approached the kitchen. When he opened the door, he saw something that he wouldn't have ever imagined: an octopus eating spaghetti right in front of him.

"Naw...Naw, man. I don't believe it." denied Teruteru with a smile on his face. Herman glanced over to him while still eating pasta.

"Oh, hello there!" greeted Herman, stuffing his mouth with more spaghetti as he waved at him with his arm. "Carbonara is the meaning of life, isn't it?"

"...Where is Bolognese, though?" asked Teruteru after looking at the place where the pan used to be.

"It walked away, probably. Got bored, like all the sauces get these days." jested Herman, still eating spaghetti.

"Naw, that's impossible….unless….you took it?" questioned Teruteru once he got a realization of the whole situation.

"...hahahaHAHAHAHA! Yes, it was me all along! I dumped your precious Bolognese in trash and made my own Carbonara!" cackled Herman upon the reveal as he raised his arm, clenching it like a fist of a boastful man. Then, something inside Teruteru's mind completely snapped.

"...OOOOOOOOOOOOOOUUUUH, YOU MADAFAKA! WHO GAVE YOU THE RIGHTS ON THIS PROPERTY?! HOW DARE YOU MESS WITH MY FOOD?!" exploded Teruteru as he suddenly started to speak with a Cajun accent.

"OHOHOHO! Come and get me, maestro! Let me hear your symphony of rage!" taunted Herman, being completely delighted at the chef's reaction. He juggled his arm as if he was inviting the chef somewhere.

"NO ONE MESSES WITH MY GRANDIOSE FOOD! NO ONE! NO EXCEPTION! I AIN'T HAVIN' YO SHIT!" shouted Teruteru as he rushed off towards the drawer with spoons and started throwing them at the octopus. However, Herman dodged them by quickly placing his position somewhere else. Sometimes, he managed to catch some of the thrown spoons and hid them around the kitchen in order for them to not be a liability.

"Yes, YES! Spice up your work with the accelerando of ire!" chortled Herman as he kept jumping all over the kitchen, evading the thrown spoons from the raging Teruteru.

"WUZZAT?! COME AND GET SOME! GET SOME!" cursed Teruteru, ceasing with throwing spoons, instead opting for the nearest frying pan. He swung it with all his (lack of) might, trying to hit Herman, but only things that he managed to strike was everything else.

"Strike like a crescendo! Bring in the steam like a furious locomotive!" provoked Herman as he kept dodging Teruteru's swings.

"TODAY'S LUNCH IS GONNA BE CALAMARI, I TELL YOU! I TELL YOU WHAT!" threatened Teruteru, throwing his frying pan at him, completely missing him just like before. However, Herman leaped at him and landed on his shoulder, startling him in the process.

"Bravo! Bravo! But unfortunately for our maestro, now comes the time of lacrimosa, as he is about to get EYESCHLUSS'D!" exasperated Herman in the most theatrically way possible before bringing his spray bottle again. He fired the substance right in Teruteru's eyes, blinding him. "By the way, calamari is referred for squids, asshole."

"JAMIE OLIVER!" screamed Teruteru after being assaulted with ink. "I-it's pitch black!"

"As for epilogue of this symphony, I have only one thing to say..." said Teruteru before jumping on the nearest wardrobe, which contained a lot of plates inside of it.

"I'M ABOUT TO BUST A NU-" he shouted, imitating pelvic thrusts before the wardrobe budged, signifying that Teruteru was about to get squashed.

"OOOOOOH NOOOOOOO!" yelled Teruteru, trying to run away from the falling wardrobe, only for him to crash into nearly everything in the kitchen. It turned out that the one who was responsible for the budge was none other than Herman, who laughed loudly at the sight of panicking Teruteru.

"...Sike! You thought, but consider yourself busted! Hahahahaha!" taunted Herman before he dashed off, leaving the kitchen within a second. Upon hearing Herman's taunt, Teruteru swiped off the ink from his face with his hand before clenching it and leaving the kitchen.

"COME BACK, YOU SCOUNDREL!" bickered Teruteru, shaking his fist. Suddenly, he encountered Byakuya Togami, who was giving him the glare of someone who was pretty done with everyone else's antics.

"Why are you screaming like a castrated ape?" asked Byakuya in the most condescending tone possible.

"Oh, hello there, Monsieur Togami! Didn't notice you, but nothing happened. I swear an octopus didn't-" Teruteru tried to explain without bursting a nerve, only for Byakuya to step away almost immediately.

"Goodbye." said Byakuya as he went his own way, only for him to hear the rush of footsteps behind him. He already scowled at the thought of who might be the source of them.

"Fantastic. Now there's more idiots coming my way." Byakuya thought to himself, turning back and witnessing the same gang that arrived when Mikan was attacked.

"If you are looking for the source of this undignified racket, then you have come to the right place. Do whatever you want, I want nothing to do with this nonsense." scoffed Byakuya before he completely left the scene. The ganged looked at Teruteru and saw that his face also got sprayed.

"Teru, you too?!" gasped Ibuki at the sight of chef being in a similar state as the nurse.

"Yes, I have be-wait wait wait….how did you know?" asked Teruteru, confused about them already knowing what happened.

"Mikan was just attacked by him before." clarified Peko in her typical calm voice.

"Non non non, I do not believe it! I do not believe that has happened." denied Teruteru once again as he suddenly combed his hair.

"Unfortunately, it has." remarked Hajime, breaking chef's self inflicted disbelief.

"...Well, moi spaghetti is ruined like a broken condo-" lamented Teruteru, raising his arms like a melodramatic actor, only to be stopped by rest of the gang.

"Don't make that comparison….please." pleaded Mahiru in a rather irritated tone.

"Furniture doesn't seem to like that commentary, so its best to play it safe." commented Ibuki.

"Right...but basically, lunch's ruined. Now I must go and...get some fresh air." sighed Teruteru, stepping away from the gang to get outside.

"We...have to stop the octopus." declared Chiaki.

"First Mikan, now Teru! We can't let that squishy menace take any more victims!" added Sonia, pushing her hand forward as if she was signifying to stop.

"Are you sure that its an octopus and not those two dumbfucks smoking some weird ass shit?" doubted Fuyuhiko.

"Our only proof now is ink and the fact it appeared in both cases." reminded Hajime.

"We have to hurry...octopus could be preparing himself for another attack now." frowned Chiaki with a completely serious look in her eyes. She was determined to stop the octopus with her friends.

"There is no time to waste. We have to go forward." added Peko before all of the gang rushed forward, continuing their search for the octopus once again.

Meanwhile, near the classroom of class 78th, Sayaka and Makoto were hanging out. The girl with blue hair had a portable CD player with her along with her own track.

"Would you like to one of my group's latest tracks? We really put a lot of effort in it and I hope you like it! You would probably approve it, right?" asked Sayaka, being prepared to put the CD in the player.

"Of course, but how did you know?" approved Makoto, but he still wanted to know how did she manage to guess it correctly.

"Because I am a psychic." bluntly answered Sayaka, only for her serious look to turn into a peppy giggle. "Just kidding! Anyway...the song is called "Stars between us" and it's about...well...hear the lyrics and you will see."

"I know it's a joke, but sometimes…." thought Makoto to himself. Sayaka put the CD inside the player and clicked the play button on it. However, Sayaka's smile on her face disappeared as soon as she heard that the instrumental of the song was not something typical of idol music, but rather being reminiscent of someone clanging on a metal plate and a dying engine of a really old car.

"Umlaut, Umlaut, Umlaut...Ja, Ja, Ja…..I ran out of gas. My lawn is grass and you know what...I really like to ÄËÏÖÜ!-" sang the deep voice, which sounded like a Dutch tractor driver giving out the latest deal in wheel market until the beat dropped, where it sounded like a group of ducks having a big smoke.

"W-what?! T-this must be a mistake! I swear this must be a mistake!" panicked Sayaka as she quickly stopped the track and pulled out the CD, taking a closer look at it with her trembling hand. Suddenly, Herman dropped down from the ceiling as he held on a string like some kind of spider. Without both of them noticing, Herman placed himself right behind their backs.

"Peekaboo!" shouted Herman, spooking both of them. Sayaka and Makoto turned back, being startled by the sight of such being.

"Wait, what? A-an octopus?!" both of them gasped while being completely confused.

"No, I am a starfish, don't you see? Of course I am an octopus, you blind dumbasses! Anyway, were you looking for this?" sassed Herman as he pulled out Sayaka's track out of somewhere.

"Give it back! Now!" demanded Sayaka, trying to forcefully snatch the CD from Herman's arms, but to no avail.

"Nah, man. It's going with me! This too!" jested Herman as he leaped towards the CD player and grabbed his own disc before returning to his position, shocking both Sayaka and Makoto.

"But do not fret, because both of you get a free present!" exclaimed Herman. While Sayaka was still in the state of shock to the point of her skin becoming paler, Makoto had enough.

"Octopus, please stop it right now! This isn't funny in any sort of way!" demanded Makoto while trying to convince Herman to cease with his nonsense, only to be met by the sight of him whipping out his spray bottle, still being decently filled with ink.

"EYESCHLUSS!" Herman let out a battle cry as he leaped towards both of them, first spraying Makoto right in his eyes and then Sayaka, making both of them flinch and scream at the same time. After they've been blinded by ink, Herman returned to his original position.

"Hahahahahaha! If you could only see the look on your faces...oh wait, you can't! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" cackled Herman before he ran away, leaving them completely confused.

"...W-what was...all of this?" stuttered Makoto as he wiped off the ink from his face. He had to do it to Sayaka as well, since she still remained in a state of shock. Much to their lack of fortune, Zapatta saw them and decided to join in.

"YO, was that Big G's latest "ExPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS" mixtape? That shit's fire, yo!" bubbled Zapatta, only to be met with awkward silence from both of them. The rockstar then noticed that they had ink on their faces.

"Hey, what's that black liquid on your faces? Did you two hold pens before they exploded in your hands?" asked Zapatta, tilting his head to get a better view of them.

"...Uh...did you see an octopus around there?" responded Makoto with another question.

"...Wha? What do you mean by an octopus? How can there be an octopus on land?" perplexed Zapatta.

"...I..don't know how to explain it in any other way..." sighed Makoto. Sayaka remained quiet.

"Just because your faces are inked doesn't mean you two should be so dour! I mean, you've got Big G's track! That should be an honour!" Zapatta attempted to cheer them up in his own way.

"...Sorry to say this, but Sayaka and I don't know about Big G." admitted Makoto. Zapatta was slightly saddened by that fact.

"Aw, man...that's a big suck. Anyway, see you there, fellas!" said Zapatta before he left them and went in the direction of his nose. Makoto and Sayaka still tried to comprehend the situation they got themselves in by a cephalopod.

Across the other end of the hallway, the gang that was still on the search when they suddenly heard two screams. Chiaki immediately recognized those voices and dashed off towards the source, followed by others.

"This is bad...someone got attacked again." chided Chiaki, running as fast as she could towards the victims of another attack.

"How does he keep getting away with it?" ranted Hajime, getting a little bit of sick of searching.

"Another score for the octopus? This is unforgivable!" cursed Sonia.

"Octopus super speed strategy! It's what they use to travel, just like a human uses legs to run!" Ibuki tried to explain in her cheery tone as she ran.

"I've had it enough with this octopus bullshit and everything surrounding it!" fumed Fuyuhiko. Suddenly, Ibuki slipped on the floor, not only falling on it, but also being propelled forward from it.

"W-whoaaa!" she yelped as she slid on the floor. Following her, Mahiru also slipped, accidentally crashing into Sonia, who bumped into Chiaki. All of them together fell on the floor as they started sliding forward just like Ibuki. Hajime tripped over Chiaki as he couldn't stop himself from sliding on the floor, followed by Fuyuhiko and Peko, who fell in a similar fashion. As they slid on the floor, a wall with a window above it was waiting for them. Ibuki crashed into it first, followed by Chiaki, Sonia, Mahiru, then by Hajime and Fuyuhiko and the last but certainly not the least Peko. When all of them managed to crash into the wall, they looked like a big pile of teenagers in one place.

"Owie..." yelped Ibuki, being completely covered by her classmates on top of her. Peko reached out her hand to help herself get out from the pile, only for her to touch the floor first. She felt some kind of moisture on it. Looking around the hallway, she found no warnings about such condition.

"Huh. Seems like the floor is wet. There were no caution signs placed nearby." noted Peko upon observation.

"Do you think the octopus made it such?" proposed Sonia. Peko then tried to get out of the teenage pile, only for her to touch a piece of paper. Upon closer examination of the piece, she found something written on it.

"Did you think I would think?" read out Peko as she stared at it. Externally, she seemed pretty stoic about it, but internally she was slightly confused.

"...What does that even mean?" asked Hajime in a rather annoyed tone. Everyone else was just as confused. Peko then turned the paper on its backside, where she found out that there was a long string of "haha" written on it. Realizing what could that mean, Peko just stared at the paper, being quite annoyed by the thought.

"O-octopuses not only learned to set up traps, but also they know how to write?!" fretted Ibuki as her mouth started to foam. It peeked out of the pile as it kept growing.

"This is just like that horror novel where the octopus people were in charge of the cult that controlled most of the world….which I've read with delight." said Sonia, causing surprised reactions around her. Another surprise for them was someone found them in such state: Makoto Naegi and Sayaka Maizono, who were baffled at what they saw.

"Did you guys..?" Makoto tried to ask, still staring at the pile of them.

"This is not what it looks like! We will explain everything soon!" elaborated Sonia, sharing the feeling of slight embarrassment among the gang who got piled up. With the help of Makoto and Sayaka, all of them managed to pick themselves up and discuss about the whole "affair". They have reached the same conclusion: it was the work of the octopus!

Later that day, both the gang that tried to chase down Herman and two victims from the class 78th returned to each respective classes. Other classmates, including Mikan and Teruteru, were waiting for them. As they entered classroom, Sonia, Mahiru and especially Chiaki seemed to have disappointed expressions on their faces while Hajime, Fuyuhiko and Peko seemed rather confused. Ibuki was in the state of her usual self but also trying to comprehend the thought of octopus people.

"So, something happened. What was it?" asked Nekomaru, crossing his arms.

"We tried to stop an octopus from attacking others..." started Sonia, looking down on the floor.

"...and failed at it." continued Mahiru, sharing the similar sentiment as the princess.

"What? An octopus?" nearly everyone but Mikan and Teruteru gasped upon hearing the news.

"Not just any octopus, but the one thatcoulddosomuchstuffLIKEPLANNINGTRAPSANDMORE!" added Ibuki as she suddenly speed up her voice out of sheer shock.

"Cut the crap out and just reveal what the hell were you on!" denounced Hiyoko, angrily pointing at them.

"Listen, I have asked this before but it seems like there is some proof that there is that damned punk causing shit all over the place." clarified Fuyuhiko, but still doubting that the octopus could do such stunts.

"B-but it was an o-octopus..." stuttered Mikan as she tried to contribute to the discussion, only for Hiyoko to turn towards her.

"WHO asked you to-" snarled Hiyoko at her, trying to insult her like she does every time.

"Ahem! I can testify that I have also been a victim!" interrupted Teruteru, raising his finger. "But...I do not wanna think about it."

"...Makoto and Sayaka too." lamented Chiaki, putting her hood over her head. She wasn't exactly happy at herself for being unable to prevent Herman's attacks.

"But wait...this is just my gut feeling, but don't octopuses need water to survive? They are after all sea creatures?" asked Akane, sensing a strange point in the conversation.

"Do not underestimate the unknown. Certain octopuses are known to walk on land in order to transfer through land in order to reach realms of their own domain for prey." snickered Gundham while making gestures during his explanation.

"But this one was jumping all over the place!" countered Teruteru.

"Is this perhaps a regional species?" piqued Sonia, still thinking if her idea was right.

"Or perhaps...they have evolved?!" suggested Ibuki, just simply not getting over the idea of octopus people.

"Mwahahaha! With the power of the All Seeing Eye, the every answer of a mortal shall be answered, realizing the horrible truth! But now, I must do the unholy deed!" boasted Gundham before he suddenly left the class. The class remained silent, trying to comprehend what was Gundham even talking about.

"...What's up with him?" asked Mahiru, just being baffled at actions that he has done.

He, simply put, went to the toilet.

When he went inside the toilet, he went for the middle cabin that contained a flush toilet, the paper roll and the brush meant for cleaning the toilet. Suddenly, just when he was about to "do his deed", four penguins jumped directly out of it. Gundham had a dumbfounded look in his eyes when he saw them, but he quickly adapted to the situation.

"You, monochromatic man. Hablas tu English?" asked Skipper, pointing at him as he and his brothers-in-arms were standing on the flush toilet.

"What brings you here, Avians of the Faraway Blizzard?!" questioned Gundham.

"Avians of the Faraway Blizzard? Now that's a good nickname! Anyway, are you one of them?" Skipper brought up a topic as all of the penguins prepared a battle stance in case of an attack. In response, Gundham prepared his own battle stance if penguins were to be the first ones to launch an offense on them.

"There are many that can be considered them, but which ones are you referring to?" piqued Gundham, still being in his battle stance.

"Alright, so you are not one of them." realized Skipper, lowering down their battle stances. Gundham followed with the same act as well.

"..What do you mean by one of them? Answer now or be cursed with unspeakable spells from the Pandemonium!" demanded Gundham as he shook his hand at them.

"Oh, we are-" Private tried to answer, but he got slapped by Skipper, silencing him.

"...So you wanna know about them, don't you, my monochromatic man? Under few conditions!" said Skipper.

"Make your offer a worthy one, avian!" boasted Gundham as he let out a laugh worthy of an evil overlord.

"You are allowed to spread this information, but keep our encounter a secret, comprende?" urged Skipper.

"It shall be hidden within the deepest depths of divine enigmas. Unleash the knowledge of avians upon this mortal realm!" promised Gundham before making a pose to match up with his boast.

"Have you seen any octopuses around there?" asked Skipper as if he was interrogating him.

"My minions were just discussing about the Kraken of the Land and his offenses in this facility!" answered Gundham.

"Looks like Herman's already there, boys. But do you know why is he there?" continued Skipper.

"Hmmm….I'd imagine that the Kraken of the Land reeked havoc upon this land because of the need to fulfill his need for entertainment. It is important for the octopus to stimulate or else it would start eating its own arms due boredom. However, having an alleged advanced capability to traverse through realm of land is a complete defiance against nature." Gundham gave out his answer in a rather calm way (for his standards).

"Kowalski, info dump!" ordered Skipper, pointing at the tallest penguin of the bunch.

"Herman is, in fact, the member of a mafia." revealed Kowalski.

"A MAFIA?!" gasped Gundham, being completely caught off guard by Kowalski's words.

"Not just any mafia, but the one called….Daft Capo. They seek to take over this school in order to gain control over Japan." continued Kowalski in the same tone as before.

"IMPOSSIBLE! I, Gundham Tanaka, with the power of the All-Seeing Eye, could not have predicted such revelation!" shouted the "Supreme Overlord", shaking his fist.

"We have some personal business with them, so we tracked them down and we are gonna give them some freshly made beatings! After that, it's gonna be the end of Daft Capo and an ice cold sushi breakfast for us!" concluded Skipper, putting his arms around like a confident boss.

"I, the Supreme Overlord, shall not allow such organization trying to usurp my reign! However, that does give me an idea..." Gundham proposed an idea to them.

"Do tell, Supreme Overlord. What's the deal?" asked Skipper.

"In exchange of our contact being an enigma towards the mortals, we shall establish an alliance between us! That way, our strength will multiply and we will cause greater havoc on Daft Capo!" elaborated Gundham as he gave out his end of the deal.

"Oh, we could get an ally or two!" complimented Private as he turned towards Skipper. Rico nodded in agreement as well.

"Kowalski, what do you say? I find this offer to be quite a jackpot." asked Skipper while unofficially approving their deal.

"Regional allies could provide us a great amount of support in our operations. With more manpower on our side, Daft Capo's defeat could come sooner than ever." Kowalski gave out his opinion on the matter.

"Alright then, deal's the deal, but what could be the name of our alliance? I'm thinking of something like "Special Ops Squad" thought Skipper about the addition to their deal.

"How about The Fellowship of Darkness, I say!" boastfully interjected Gundham.

"Hmmm….You know, that has a better ring with it. Lets go with that." agreed Skipper. A series of high fives followed once again, but this time they have some of them to Gundham and vice versa.

"Fuwahahahaha! The Fellowship of Darkness has been established upon this realm! With such alliance, our adversaries will tremble in terror at the mere mention of our name!" gloated Gundham before he remembered why did he go to the toilet in the first place. "But first...I still need to do the deed. Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, would you mind stepping outside for a moment?"

"Okay then. Tactical repositioning, boys!" ordered Skipper as the penguin boys stepped outside of the cabin, allowing Gundham to do his deed. When they heard the sound of a flushed toilet, they knew that the deed was done. Gundham stepped outside of the cabin once he was done and planned to return to his class.

"I must go to the realm of mortals now. We shall meet again!" said Gundham before he fully left the toilet, concluding their conversation entirely.

"Hmhmhm...Daft Capo, prepare yourself for the day of being busted." smirked Skipper as he rubbed his arms together.

Back in the class 77-B, the students were still discussing about the octopus, both in his modus operandi and how could such being even exist.

"You know, there is something I'm curious about. What is the motive of such attacks?" suddenly spoke Nagito, raising his point.

"Motive for the octopus? Hmm….hard to even imagine, to be honest." admitted Hajime.

"Judging from the paper, we can safely assume that all of this has been a provocation." answered Peko, bringing up the piece of paper from before.

"Would that mean that...no, nevermind. Not now. That would be...stupid to imagine." Nagito attempted to make a hypothesis, but stopped himself after thinking about the whole scenario. Suddenly, the doors were opened as if a supervillain entered the scene. The man behind such act was none other than Gundham, who seemed quite confident in himself. No one around him was truly surprised by his actions, but it did startle Mikan a bit.

"FUWAHAHAHAHA! I HAVE IT ALL, MORTALS! SOON YOU WILL KNOW THE TRUTH!" laughed Gundham as he gave them an offer. He entered the classroom with crossed arms, thinking that he has won the battle before it even began.

"Woah, you got life changing revelations from taking a shit? HOW DID YOU DO THAT?!...and can you teach me how? Sounds awesome!" admitted Nekomaru, also having a laugh of his own.

"Nekomaru, please." sighed Akane, slightly tapping him with her elbow.

Are you all prepared to hear the discovery granted by the forces above?!" asked Gundham just before he was about to reveal the information he found out. For a moment, no one was truly sure whether or not they wanted to hear the answer.

"If it's anything that would help our case, then go ahead, Gundham." approved Chiaki, believing that Gundham could solve quite a lot of mysteries surrounding the whole deal. Gundham prepared a pose for his speech.

"Herman...the Kraken of the Land...is a member of the mafia called Daft Capo! Those fiends seek to establish dominion in this structure! Once they would fully enforce their rule, they would go on and seek to claim the land of the rising sun as their own!" warned Gundham before he struck a boastful pose in the end. The revelation of such caliber caused confusion, panic and delay...but mostly greater confusion.

"WHAT?! A MAFIA?!" yelled both Kazuichi and Nekomaru at the same time.

"Fucking bullshit! All of it!" badgered Fuyuhiko, thinking that Gundham was pulling a leg with him.

"I don't believe it, man. I don't believe it!" denied Teruteru, trying to hide his paranoia about a mafia taking over the school.

"BLUBLUBLBUBLUBBLUBBLUB" foamed Ibuki as she nearly fainted. The confusion was stopped when Hajime realized something.

"Hold on a second. Gundham, you just went to the toilet. How..did you manage to find out such info, assuming that you're not making things up?" he asked, doubting Gundham's words.

"My tongue speaks only of truth, no matter how crushing it is. However, I cannot say how I obtained it, though even if I did, minds of yours wouldn't be able to comprehend. You have to see it with your own eyes." explained Gundham in his own fashion.

"Ugh, enough with this nonsense! Someone in the school is just playing a prank with us, probably that rockstar dickhead! How DUMB do you have to believe that an octopus could do such things?!" bickered Hiyoko, thinking that all of the was a waste of time.

Suddenly, an egg was thrown right in Chiaki's face. The egg crushed itself from the impact, spreading yolk on her right cheek. She was startled from the sudden hit, touching the yolk with her fingers. The class quieted down as they tried to comprehend what just happened.

"...Huh? Where...did that come from?" she wondered while still being in the state of surprise from the hot.

"Who...who threw that at her?!" seethed Hajime, getting rather furious seeing someone doing such act to Chiaki.

"Uhh...that wasn't me! I swear it wasn't me!" pleaded Hiyoko, trying to convince others that she wasn't responsible. Not long after, another egg followed. It was thrown right into Hajime's face. By that, the following victim was Ibuki, who also received an egg in her face. Mahiru and Sonia also received an egg in their face, sharing the similar fate as their victims.

"Whoever it is, stop it right now!" angrily demanded Mahiru at the unknown perpetrator, only for another thrown egg to follow. That time, the victim of the strike was Nagito. Unlike others, he just remained confused on what happened. Then another egg was thrown with target being Kazuichi, but he hid himself under the table. That egg landed on Nagito's face once again.

"Hahaha! You thought you could get me, but consider yourself outsmarted!" gloated Kazuichi, thinking that he was safe. Suddenly, another egg landed in a hit right in his ribs. However, that egg was different: it was a hard boiled one.

"YEOW!" yelped Kazuichi, feeling the pain right in his ribs. Suddenly, after clearing her face, Ibuki saw something moving on the wall. He took a closer look only to find out something that they were searching before: Herman himself!

"HE'S HEREEEEEEEEEEEEE!" gasped Ibuki, pointing at the direction of her discovery. The class redirected its attention towards the direction where their fellow classmate was pointing. Suddenly, Herman changed his colors and jumped near the window, looking at them right in their faces. Nearly everyone, except Fuyuhiko, Nagito and Hiyoko, looked at him with intense anger in their eyes. However, those three were absolutely confused at the sight of Herman.

"Hahahahaha! Consider one and only thing…..GOTTEM! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" taunted Herman as he laughed right in their faces.

"Why you-" fumed Mahiru, before the chef overtook her.

"YOOOOOOOOOUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUU!" snapped Teruteru at him, instinctively trying to find his frying pan.

"He's fucking real, holy shit. He's real!" shouted Fuyuhiko, not believing his eyes.

"W-what?! I swear I didn't take any drugs now!" stuttered Hiyoko, taking back her words from before.

"The Kraken of the Land! You have finally shown yourself!" greeted Gundham in a rather threatening tone as if he wanted to battle him.

"But now, I must go. GOODBYE, MOTHERFUCKERS!" gibed Herman before he opened the windows and left the classroom, cackling while running whenever his nose wanted him to go. He left the students of class 77-B in both anger and confusion.

"Coward!" condemned Gundham, shaking his fist at Herman.

"..That's it. We are gonna get octopus paste for dinner!" said Akane as she dashed off towards the window.

"Akane, wait-" Hajime tried to stop her, but she was already outside after crawling out of it. When she got out, she started searching through out the nearby area for the octopus.

"Come back here, you damned squishy bastard! Scared of beatings, aren't you?" provoked Akane while being completely agitated, cracking her fists in the process. That provocation ended up in a thrown egg, which landed right on her face, agitating her even more.

"Show yourself already!" raged Akane as she tried to find Herman, but she just couldn't. Another egg in the face followed. The strike itself raised the anger levels inside Akane so high that she was basically growling at that moment. She dashed off towards the wall, where she assumed that Herman was hiding through the gut feeling and punched the wall, leaving a rather deep hole in it. Alas for her, not only did she miss completely, but a rafale of four eggs came right into her face. She went full feral, searching for her with both her sight and smelling as well, but she did one mistake: she turned her back on the wall. In that moment, Herman changed its colors and leaped right on her shoulder, landing on it without a single issue.

"SURPRISE, EYESCHLUSS!" shouted Herman as he brought up a spray bottle with him and fired his ink right in her eyes. He cackled in her face before he jumped off, completely leaving Hope's Peak for that day. It seemed that his attack had secondary effects, as not only did Akane's rational thought return, she also felt completely demoralized. She returned back to her class with all the yolk and ink on the face. Other students seemed to have second hand embarrassment from seeing her like.

"...I'm hungry now….but I don't wanna eat any eggs….or anything with eggs." Akane grumbled as she sat down on her chair with Nekomaru.

Just after the things calmed down, but the embarrassment and irritation remained, Chisa returned to the class from the work the higher ups gave her, only to be completely startled by the mood in it.

"G-guys, what happened?" asked Chisa, worried about her students.

"….A lot, Miss Yukizome. A lot." concisely told her Hajime before he explained the whole situation to her.

The day at Hope's Peak, unlike before, did not end in students happily awaiting another day, but rather being confused and angry about a certain cephalopod. Fuyuhiko and Peko went their own way, distancing from others in the process.

"Master Fuyuhiko, is there something wrong?" asked Peko, concerned about Fuyuhiko's quiet behaviour

"...Something about the mafia that wizard guy mentioned. I hope it's just a fluke but after seeing that octopus…." confessed Fuyuhiko, crossing his arms while quietly looking at the floor.

"It could be just a coincidence, but there is a possibility." said Peko, trying to reassure him that things won't be so sour for them.

"..Lets hope that its just a coincidence….if anything else, lets not get Kuzuryu clan involved. If it escalates even more, we have to get my sister away from the school." emphasized Fuyuhiko.

"...Understood. Everything will be done as you said, Master." affirmed Peko as both of them continued their way home, ending it for that day.

Meanwhile, under the Hope's Peak, penguins finished constructing their base. They were placed in one of the rooms with a table and a light in it. There was a floor plan of the school on the table as the penguins were discussing urgent matters around it.

"Gentlemen, with everything done, all we gotta do right now is track down Herman and then Daft Capo's headquarters and hideouts and then we give them a whooping of the century!" declared Skipper, to which other penguins responded with applause.

"I wholeheartedly agree with your sentiment, Sir." praised Kowalski.

"Perhaps the students could also help us defeat Daft Capo." Private gave out an idea for them.

"Of course we will and how we will!" boasted Skipper, raising his arm in the air as if he was rebelling against the skies. "But now, all we gotta do is show that octopus why are we the best freelance black ops team in the world!"

And so their plan was set in motion. When will they meet Herman is a matter of another day.

Chapter 5: and thus they YELLED!

Chapter Text

A new day of Hope's Peak academy started, but not the one with eagerness, but rather with filled with anxiety. Weather didn't help either, as the sun was obscured by the gray clouds, darkening anything below them. The students of class 77-B, including Makoto Naegi and Sayaka Maizono, couldn't shake off the feeling that he could be anywhere in the school. At any moment, he could attack them. At any chance, they could get humiliated. Some of the individuals were on high alert all the time thanks to the events from that day. However, Teruteru took a little step further by constantly carrying his frying pan, just in any case if he would attack him.

The class 77-B waited for their teacher, but none of them were in a good mood. Chiaki just blankly stared at her table with her hood on her head, feeling an overwhelming amount of anxiety and negative energy within her classmates. She felt their worries and couldn't stop thinking about it. Hajime still tried to comprehend what happened that day while being concerned about his classmates as well. Mikan was trembling (like she usually does), fearing the prospect of that certain marine animal being anywhere. Ibuki tried to cheer up her class but to no avail. Akane's appetite for eggs was still in the status of being ruined while others just couldn't stop thinking about that pesky octopus...except Nekomaru, who had other concerns.

The doors opened as their teacher Chisa Yukizome stepped in.

"Good morning, everyone!" she greeted in her peppy tone, but the only response she got was the anxious looks from her students.

"...guys?" asked Chisa, standing around in the dimly lit ambience of uneasiness. All the silence around her only gave her even more worries about them.

"...Good morning, Miss Yukizome..." quietly greeted Chiaki while looking at hear teacher with weary eyes. It physically pained Chisa in the stomach when she saw Chiaki like that.

"What's wrong, guys?" asked Chisa, having a disheartening look on her face.

"...That goddamn octopus..." Fuyuhiko gave out the answer, already feeling tired of constantly thinking about that day's events.

"He could be anywhere, even in this room." cautioned Peko, thinking of a possibility of another series of attacks. Despite her (usual) stoic expression on her face, deep down she felt great amount of discomfort at that certain cephalopod attacking her friends.

"I do not believe that! That is simply impossible!" denied Teruteru while hiding his frying pan.

"I don't know about that, considering what happened before..." tiredly countered Hajime as he rested his head on his arm.

"L-lets not get today soured because of something in the past, okay? We have so much to look for!...right?" Chisa tried to cheer them up, reminding them of what good things could happen at that moment, similarly to the days before the octopus' assault.

"I sure would love to get another hard boiled egg in my ribs today." grumbled Kazuichi, only remembering the impact received right in his ribs.

"I still don't know what happened and why it did." wondered Nagito, still perplexed about that situation.

"Guys, guys, please…." pleaded Chisa as the uncertainty continued to spiral through out the class.

"Sorry, Miss Yukizome...It just feels…." lamented Mahiru, appreciating her teacher's efforts but being overwhelmed by feelings. Suddenly, Nekomaru slammed his giant fist on the table as he stood up, fed up with the negative energy surrounding his classmates.

"ENOUGH!" shouted Nekomaru, startling everyone in the process as he gained their attention. "ARE WE SERIOUSLY GONNA LET ONE OCTOPUS DESTROY OUR MOODS?!"

"U-uh…." stuttered Mikan, having her arms close to her chest. Other classmates and their teacher didn't give out a proper answer either.

"NO! THAT SHOULD BE OUR ANSWER!" continued Nekomaru in his boisterous fashion as his voice boomed through out the classroom. "BUT FIRST, YOU MUST KNOW WHO THE HELL WE ARE!"

"Smelly losers?" sassed Hiyoko in such time.

"NO, NOT THAT!" denied Nekomaru while still demanding their answer.

"Hopes for the world?" answered Nagito, sounding rather unsure if it was the thing his manager classmate wanted.

"I suppose so, BUT FIRST AND FOREMOST! You gotta remember what you truly are!" said Nekomaru, somewhat confirming that Nagito's answer was not completely correct.

"...Class 77-B?" blurted out Mahiru, saying the first thing that popped in her head.

"THAT'S RIGHT! WE'RE CLASS 77-B AND WE'RE GONNA KICK THAT OCTOPUS' AAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS!" boastfully approved Nekomaru as he clenched his fists while letting out a yell. Somehow, the energy radiating from their buff team manager student affected other classmates as well. No longer we're they exhausted, but rather filled with determination.

"Yeah! You're right, Nekomaru!" cheered Sonia, absorbing the energy from him.

"Kehehe...now that is a good line. The day of our fated duel is coming closer!" boasted Gundham, smirking at the idea of a battle.

"Nekomaru is right. We cannot let ourselves be defeated by the pranks of the octopus. In order to defeat him, we must step together. With the power of friendship, anything is possible, even what we think is impossible!" Chiaki gave out her speech, reminiscing of those in role playing games where the ragtag bunch of heroes are about to battle their greatest enemy. Her speech only escalated the determination and resolve in the hearts of her classmates, but not before both Fuyuhiko and Hiyoko rolled their eyes.

"Exactly! We will show the octopus what are we made of!" cheered Mahiru, pumping her fists in the air, to which Sonia and Ibuki followed doing the same action as her.

"That was so cheesy, it gave me lactose intolerance!" winced Hiyoko after hearing Chiaki's speech as is she tasted a raw lemon.

"But a pizza without cheese is not pizza! Sometimes, you need a little cheese in your life!" chirped Ibuki in response to Hiyoko, feeling pumped up after her friend's speech.

"As your teacher, it is my responsibility to help you fight the octopus!" crowed Chisa, officially joining their fight against Herman. It seemed like they were prepared for anything that their potential enemies would throw at them….except Fuyuhiko, who couldn't shake off a certain feeling about the octopus.

"...You can go all sunshine and rainbows all you want, but you better not forget one tiny thing regarding that asshole." reminded Fuyuhiko, halting the cheery mood of his classmates.

"Wait, what do you mean, Fuyuhiko?" asked Nekomaru, unsure what he meant.

"If the thing that the wizard guy told is…..true, somehow….then we're dealing with the fucking mafia!" warned Fuyuhiko, making his classmates realize in what situation were truly in. The determination and resolve from before stopped as they were overtaken by anxiety at what they could face in the future.

"….M-mafia?" asked Chisa, first time hearing about it. Silence of uncertainty followed after her question.

"Have we confirmed that the mafia is real, though?" asked Hajime, after thinking about whether or not their fears are fully rationalized while also breaking the silence.

"My tongue speaks only of truth...but it is not erroneous that the amount of information we have on Daft Capo is lacking." admitted Gundham, crossing his arms as his purple scarf was dangling around. "I shall inform you mortals more once I get to know."

"Don't you guys know what it means to cross paths with such organizations?" cautioned Fuyuhiko again, knowing from his experience.

"The only thing I imagine would be reassuring is that the mafia in question is the one of a small size, insignificant compared to the more well known organizations dealing with organized crime. However, we still don't know about it too much, so I expect Gundham to be our outlet, if we can trust him that much." explained Ryota as he turned his eyes towards the student in black.

"Say, Gundham….how exactly did you find out about Daft Capo? You mentioned about something we should see with our own eyes, right?" asked Nekomaru, realizing something after Hajime raised his question.

"…..You will find out soon enough." said Gundham in a rather warning tone.

"Anyway, mafia or not, we should focus on that octopus! What kind of serious mafia would have an octopus as a member? It already tells a lot about them!" chuckled Nekomaru after getting his thoughts about mafia out of his way.

"Don't put responsibility on me if you end up like body bags." scowled Fuyuhiko, feeling like he was not listened at all.

"I don't think we're going to face the entire mafia, just one member of it." reassured Hajime while trying to convince himself that his hypothesis is true. "That is, of course, an optimistic estimation."

"U-uh, s-sorry to interrupt, but there is something I've noticed." whimpered Mikan as she raised her arm.

"Yeah? What did you notice, Mikan?" asked Chiaki, allowing her to speak.

"I-if we were to hurt the octopus….w-wouldn't he report us for animal abuse?" Mikan raised a point regarding Herman. The thoughts of her classmates, once about mafia attacking their school, suddenly changed to the ethics of self defense against a sentient animal. A lot of them felt quite dumbfounded about it.

"That's the dumbest question I have ev-" snarled Hiyoko already just from hearing Mikan, but was immediately interrupted.

"S-sorry, t-that was-" apologized Mikan by instinct.

"Mikan, I think he already faces a lot of charges from that day already, so I wouldn't say we would have to worry about that. It's alright, though." reassured Hajime, calming her down. It seemed that Mikan's topic lightened up the class' mood, with their determination and resolve against Herman returning once again.

"...Alright then, lets go! Lets show that octopus who is the boss!" concluded Nekomaru as he let out a large laugh.

"Yeah! Lets go!" nearly everyone cheered as well. They have noticed that it was time for the lunch break, so they left the classroom with the determination of striking back against the octopus, but at that time they needed something to eat.

However, someone remained inside the classroom. That person was Nagito, who was just standing still like a statue in the middle of the classroom. Chiaki, while still being in the hallway, noticed that he was missing in the hall, so she dashed back to her class and opened the door, witnessing the white haired boy in his position.

"Hey, Nagito. Are you coming with us?" asked Chiaki, peeking from the door.

"Of course! Just that...I need to do something here for a moment, okay?" answered Nagito in a rather relaxed tone, to assure her that he will do nothing suspicious.

"Understood. We will be waiting you in the dining hall." said Chiaki before she returned on her way towards the dining hall. After closing the door, Nagito was left alone in the class, smirking. The smirk on his face slowly, but surely, transitioned into a laughter. He raised both of his arms in the air, with his palms completely open, as the laughter became more uncontrollable by the time it went on. His eyes felt unnatural, as if some spiral twisted itself inside of them.

"Hehehehe…Hahahahaha!...Such hope spawned from an illusory adversary….I thank you, Daft Capo! You have truly unified the classmates of Hope's Peak academy! Whether you're real or not doesn't matter. What does matter is that you have become a stepping stone for us! I must also thank you, Nekomaru and Chiaki, for aspiring such hope within us!" Nagito talked to himself, making gestures as he kept laughing as if he completely lost his mind. "...but I could take back everything I've said if your motives could potentially be….We will see which hope is greater: the one of Hope's peak or Daft Capo's…."

Meanwhile, as everyone was busy enjoying their meals in the dining hall, Nekomaru suddenly stood up and had to go. He went down the hall while holding a newspaper of that day. There were many news on it, some quite trivial. In fact, most of them were rather not that important. His footsteps echoed loudly through out the hall as he kept going.

"Hahaha! That will surely raise their spirits! I mean, we gotta keep our heads cool in such times or else we would get tossed around pretty hard...but now, I shall go enjoy one of the life's greatest pleasures: TAKING A DEEP SHIT!" thought Nekomaru to himself, already imagining one of his favorite activities. Then he arrived at his destination: men's bathroom. He opened the door before he went inside, preparing himself to do the deed. Suddenly, the door opened once again. When he looked back, he saw Gundham behind him.

"Gundham?! What's up?" asked Nekomaru while casually greeting him, stalling the deed in the process. The wizard lad with crossed arms just stared at him with a rather dedicated yet cautious look on his eyes.

"Are you prepared to see the undisputed truth?" warned Gundham for what was about to come.

"Truth? Can you translate what you mean? I kinda don't get the wizard talk." asked Nekomaru once again.

"Kehehehe….be prepared for what you're about to see." chuckled Gundham before he prepared a boastful pose like an ancient sorcerer casting an unholy spell on a town filled with sinful people. "COME FORTH, MY ALLIES!"

Suddenly, some kind of noise behind Nekomaru was heard, only for doors of one of the cabins to open, revealing none other than the penguins, who just casually walked out of it. The look on Nekomaru's face could not be described in any words other than complete and utter bafflement when he saw those bird fellows strolling inside the school, but for Gundham, that was a sight he got used to really quick.

"Overlord, my man! Did you bring us another ally?" quipped Skipper while also wondering what could Nekomaru's presence mean. While Kowalski and Rico didn't react too drastically seeing him, Private waved at him with a peppy expression, welcoming a potentially new friend.

"WOAH! PENGUINS?!" shouted Nekomaru, though he didn't know whether to feel completely confused at what he just witnessed or be excited to see something like that in Hope's Peak academy.

"Mwahahaha! Do you see it now, Nekomaru Nidarai?" gloated Gundham as if his classmate was exposed to some kind of life shattering revelation.

"So uh...who's gonna do the explaining?" asked Nekomaru, scratching his head while still observing the penguins.

"Allow us to do it, Mister Macho Muchacho, but only if you join us. We'll be needing more men in our fight." offered Skipper while also giving out a request to him, pointing his flipper at him.

"Join...what exactly? Did you establish something secretly? And what fight?" questioned Nekomaru.

"FUWAHAHAHA! THE FELLOWSHIP OF DARKNESS! The secret cult established by phantoms in light, who seek to arrange the world order for their own bidding!" explained Gundham in the way that would be expected of him: full of poses and villainous laughing. Nekomaru had no idea how to respond to Gundham.

"In other words, a group of individuals who carry out anti-Daft Capo operations." elaborated Kowalski, deciphering what his wizard friend meant.

"Oh so!...I guess I'll join?" hesitated Nekomaru. While idea of fighting against the alluded mafia sounded solid to him, he still wasn't entirely convinced that it exists.

"Pronto! Now, Overlord, I ask you this: did you tell them about it?" requested Skipper.

"Of course, I have released our hidden knowledge upon them, but for now only Nekomaru knows about our alliance, but that is fair since he's the new member of the Fellowship!" reported Gundham with a smirk on his face.

"Good! Now, you there! You've probably heard all about Herman and Daft Capo, right?" asked Skipper as he turned his direction towards Nekomaru.

"Yes, I have!...wait...were you the ones that told Gundham about them?" said Nekomaru before he realized something about the situation he was in.

"Kehehehe….you have figured it out." chuckled Gundham, feeling some kind of accomplishment in his mind.

"Gotta say...this is both really weird and kinda cool!" admitted Nekomaru, having a small laugh.

"Anyway, the Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, I meant to ask you this: could you reveal more about Daft Capo? Last time, the fortune didn't give me enough time to fully discuss our topic." asked Gundham, turning towards the penguins.

"Oh yeah, I wanna address one more thing….Do you guys have any material evidence of Daft Capo? All of it so far has been mouth to mouth, which does harm our credibility." requested Nekomaru in addition to Gundham's words, demanding some evidence of Daft Capo's existence-

"Rico!" ordered Skipper as his penguin colleague spat out a folder. That was an action that grossed out Nekomaru a little. When the folder landed on the floor, Kowalski opened it up, revealing a set of pictures inside of it. On the first picture in the folder, there were a group of men in glittering white tuxedos, wearing white fedoras on their heads, grouped up behind a Mercedes-Benz truck. A familiar octopus was among them, giving them cash out of black suitcases.

"Here we have spotted some Daft Capo's henchmen grouping up after their heist in Luxembourg, the capital city of Luxembourg. We have also found out that the person who spearheaded was none other than Herman." described Kowalski as he pointed out at "people of interest", most notably the one and only octopus.

"Henchman is just another word for a designated punching bag!" boasted Skipper, to which Rico gave him a high five.

"I see...was that your first encounter with him and mafia?" asked Nekomaru.

"Nope, that was in the good ol' New York. His underhanded behind spared him that time, but he wasn't as lucky when we got him in Luxembourg! In fact, we've been scoring quite good ever since!" boastfully answered Skipper while playing it like a professional baseball player scoring constant home runs for half a century.

"What about that time in Denma-" reminded Private, bringing his leader some bad memories of what happened there not only once, but twice, thanks to one of the older adversaries and Herman.

"We don't talk about that time, Private, and we especially don't mention that city." warned Skipper with his eye twitching at the mere mention of a certain European country. "Anyway, Kowalski, continue with your briefing!"

Kowalski removed the first picture of the set and placed it on the floor, revealing another picture, which depicted the same tuxedo wearing men patrolling around a port filled with massive container ships. Herman was also there, seemingly leading them around the vessels.

"Daft Capo's activities have been tracked in Rotterdam as well. They have attempted to take over the port, but that threat has been neutralized by us and secondary belligerents." continued Kowalski, performing similar actions as before.

"Mostly by us." emphasized Skipper while putting his flippers around his stomach. "The thing is, they actually got competent there. Quite a difference from Luxembourg….which I find kinda odd, if I'm honest."

"So...they're active on a global scale?" asked Nekomaru, rethinking his boasts from before. He thought that if Daft Capo started an offense on Hope's Peak, they could easily rally many of its members around the globe, decreasing the school's chance of success.

"There must be thousands of them, like an army of infernal demons!" said Gundham, imagining legions of gangsters in tuxedos trying to invade Hope's Peak academy while he stands above it, leading the demonic resistance against them.

"Their activities so far have only been in Europe, though I hear conflicting sources about the exact origin of Daft Capo. Most consistent answers seem to be either Czech Republic, San Marino or Slovakia, though no one agrees on it. We have only recently found out about their location in Japan. I do not quite understand why would they go so far away from their turf." continued Kowalski before he placed the earlier picture above it, thinking that both pictures served their purpose.

"It's a small scale mafia, nothing to worry about! I'm pretty sure you Hope's Peak guys are beefy enough to take on some gangsters!" added Skipper, being nonchalant about the conflict between them and the mafia. His words raised quite a lot of confidence in them, believing that their classmates would love to hear the information they gathered.

"Does that mean we can KICK THEIR AAAAAAAAASSSSS without any problems?" asked Nekomaru, feeling all pumped up and ready to fight any gangster that would dare to step inside the school.

"You bet!" approved Skipper, feeling pumped up as well and ready to kick behinds of Daft Capo members one again.

"AW YEAAAAAAH! NOW WE'RE TALKING!" triumphantly shouted Nekomaru, pumping his fists in the air. Gundham felt the similar sentiment, but he quickly noticed something that didn't seem to align.

"Hold on, there is something that greatly disturbs my sixth sense." acknowledged Gundham, raising his finger.

"Yeah? What's the issue, Overlord, my man?" asked Skipper in a casual tone.

"How did you manage to find out so many of their positions without the help of the All-Seeing Eye...or do you perhaps have it?" wondered Gundham, thinking about all the possibilities they could have gathered information.

"Open-source intelligence, baby! All we had to do is get some satellite imagery from the Internet, which isn't hard to get really, determine their path and voila, Daft Capo ratted out! Free of charge and no need to break in some top secret facilities! I gotta thank Kowalski for suggesting using free sources." revealed Skipper, surprising both of them about how their gathering of information seemed like something even a kid who just used a computer for the first time could have performed such task well.

"I should state that we have yet to update our satellite imagery. Last location we have spotted Daft Capo was in Yokohama. We will inform you on the updated data as soon as we get it." cautioned Kowalski as he placed the earlier picture inside the folder before closing the thing.

"...I must say, the capabilities of the mundane present technological contraptions can be quite unexpected, so to say." commented Gundham.

"….Yeah, didn't know about this either. It's kinda spooky to be honest, but it could be a useful tool for us." added Nekomaru while thinking about the future usage of the Internet in their fight against the mafia.

"So, Muchacho, what will you say?" piqued Skipper while offering him his flipper.

"Now you've got me on my side!" answered "Nekomaru, giving him a hand as they shook. "...but wait, there's something I need to address...why I came here in the first place…."

"Yeah?" blurted out Skipper.

"I almost forgot….THAT I NEED TO TAKE A SHIT!" reminded Nekomaru, already holding it off for quite some time.

"Boys, we gotta move out!" ordered Skipper as they, along with Gundham, removed themselves from the bathroom as they stepped outside and closed the door. Thus they waited for the newest member of The Fellowship of Darkness to do his thing and join them.

"Fellow avian, would you mind giving me the item of great knowledge? It would be quite a solid use to my minions." quietly asked Gundham for the folder that Kowalski had in his possession.

"I'm afraid not, Gundham. There is still a lot of missing information….plus documents from our Copenhagen expedition are here...not something we would want to reveal publicly." denied Kowalski as he gave out the folder to Rico, who, as expected of him, ate it. Gundham wondered how could a penguin's stomach be used as a storage upon witnessing Rico's action.

"I see. Certain secrets are, indeed, too shameful to reveal upon the world." said Gundham as he watched the emptiness of halls. Suddenly, Nekomaru's voice could be heard from the bathroom. In response, they turned towards the door.

"Guys….there's no toilet paper!" requested Nekomaru inside the bathroom.

"Rico!" ordered Skipper immediately after hearing Nekomaru's request as he pointed at his colleague. Rico, without hesitation, went inside the bathroom and gave him a toilet paper roll. After doing the task, Rico returned towards the waiting gang. The sound of a flushed toilet was heard as Nekomaru returned to them, feeling quite satisfied.

"Looks like the time is running low upon us. This concludes our meeting for now." said Gundham as he and Nekomaru turned towards the direction of the dining hall.

"After classes, deal?" offered Skipper, giving them a time to meet up again.

"Deal!" approved Nekomaru.

"We shall meet again!" said Gundham just before they went their own ways. Both Gundham and Nekomaru were feeling quite malnourished, but they didn't have much time to have a large meal as their classes were about to resume soon.

Meanwhile, as the students of both class 77-B and class 78th (including Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni) were eating their meals in the dining hall, two individuals with the most questionable hairstyles, who went by the names of Yasuhiro (the afro guy) and Mondo (the pompadour guy), were inspecting the hall of the school, specifically the locations where Makoto and Sayaka were attacked and where the group from 77-B slipped over the wet floor. It seemed like the floor dried out from that day, being safe to walk on once again.

"So, both Sayaka and Makoto said that the octopus was there…." Yasuhiro stated the obvious.

"Yeah, it's been goin' around all over our class. Guys at 77-B couldn't stop talking about it, like holy hell." mentioned Mondo, scratching behind his head as he felt rather confused about the situation. He looked for clues while Yasuhiro stood there like a meerkat, observing the surroundings.

"You know, I have a lot of questions regarding that octopus." said Yasuhiro, already preparing some of the questions for octopus.

"...For the love of god, don't involve the goddamn aliens in this shit." sighed Mondo, being reminded on what happened with him and a certain rockstar few days ago.

"N-no, I mean like, how does it walk on land so seamlessly? Pretty sure it would have some issues with it, right?" clarified Yasuhiro, trying to not get on Mondo's bad side.

"Yeah...but now we should focus on finding that bastard." reminded Mondo, continuing his search for clues.

"Well, that should be no issue! I can predict that it's gonna be somewhere here! Once it pops out, I'm gonna ask some questions about it!" said Yasuhiro as he had a little laugh, imagining how would his plan go.

"….Good luck, with that." doubted Mondo, feeling rather irritated being around Yasuhiro. The search continued when suddenly, a miniature UFO appeared right in front of Yasuhiro's face. It was flailing around as if someone jingled keys in front of a baby.

"Oooooooooooooo, give me…burger!" spoke the unknown voice as the UFO continued flailing around.

"UWA-" gasped Yasuhiro as he had the expression of the most frightened man on Earth on his face, only for it to fade out once he saw that the little UFO toy was attached to a really wide string. Despite his realization, the small toy kept jingling around.

….Haha! You thought you could scare me like that, but not with a fake such as this! This is faker than a reality TV show!" he laughed as his fear went completely away, only for him to look at Mondo, who pointed above him with his index finger while he was seen completely shocked at what he saw. Yasuhiro looked above, where he found the origin of the jingling UFO toy: a tentacle arm, sticking right out of his hair.

"I-it's….IT'S..." yelped Yasuhiro when he saw the tentacle as he was about to yell all of his conspiracies about extraterrestrials.

"IT'S THE GODDAMN OCTOPUS!" shouted Mondo in both anger and surprise as he rushed towards Yasuhiro, trying to pull out the octopus as quickly as he could. Suddenly, Herman propelled himself out of Yasuhiro's afro, aiming right at Mondo. He managed to land on top of Mondo's pompadour before he used it like a springboard to launch himself to the ceiling. Mondo couldn't even react in time due to Herman's quickness, only thing he could do is look at Herman, who was on the ceiling like a bat.

"GET DOWN THERE, YOU BASTARD!" furiously demanded Mondo as he shook his fist at him. Herman ducked down while inverted in response.

"WHY YOU-" seethed Mondo, filled with all the fury he had in his heart.

"Why I? I, you say? Because I! Hahahahahaha!" taunted Herman, making all kinds of melodramatic poses before he dashed off while laughing. Mondo was already prepared to chase him down, but Yasuhiro ran towards him first, surprising him a little.

"Wait wait wait! Hold on a sec, Mr. Octopus!" requested Yasuhiro as his hand reached for him, but despite his inability to actually grab him, he did manage to stop Herman for a moment.

"DAMN IT, now is not the time for the fuckin' question!" condemned Mondo, clenching his teeth from sheer anger.

"Yo, what's up?" asked Herman completely casually.

"How can you walk on land so easily? Like, you need water after some time, right?" asked Yasuhiro in a rush as he felt like he could lose his chance at any time.

"My afro man, I work on one principle: I don't give a fuck! HAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" revealed Herman, cackling he usually does as he ran away on the ceiling. Mondo committed to giving him a chase, but Herman was always in the lead. He attempted to jump a few times to catch the octopus, but every attempt ended in failure. When they reached one of the windows, Herman jumped from the ceiling as he landed on the handle, opening it before he leaped outside.

"Bye bye!" gibed Herman before he turned away and rushed outside towards the unknown. When Mondo reached the window, he completely lost the sight of Herman outside. With his frustrations peaking up, Mondo punched the nearest wall, although he initially aimed for the window. After leaving a slight hole in the wall, Mondo calmed down and realized that Herman was still outside, still enabling them to catch him, but not before regret about damaging the wall flooded his mind first.

"Damn it!" he blurted out, at both damaging the wall and not managing to capture Herman at the same time. Yasuhiro eventually joined him up, wondering where the octopus went.

"Well, my prediction was right..." commented Yasuhiro, seemingly not reacting too drastically towards the hole in the wall.

"He was there….I have to report it to them!" declared Mondo as he quickly rushed towards the dining hall, wanting to report the sighting of the octopus. As the biker gang leader ran across the halls, the fellow students were still eating their meals. However, one particular girl was looking at her fancy but empty tea cup as if she wanted to do something with it.

"Huh, he's supposed to be there. I wonder what's been taking him so long?" wondered Celestia Ludenberg, having her desire for tea still prevalent. Not much time passed until Mondo entered the dining hall, being slightly out of breath due to all the running he had to do. His entrance did surprise nearly everyone in the place.

"Dudes, I saw him! He's outside!" reported Mondo, pointing at outside. The students of both classes quickly stood up in response, joining his quest to capture the octopus. Only Zapatta and Suifta remained seated while Figottoni served drinks at his "bar".

"It's our time now!" grinned Nekomaru at Gundham, knowing what to do. All of the students bar that trio dashed outside, following Mondo. When they left the dining hall, it felt rather strange for the trio due to sudden emptiness of it.

"Hey, where are they going?" asked Zapatta after witnessing the great rushing out of dining hall of that day.

"Dunno, man. Do you think we should check out?" answered Suifta, while not as surprised as Zapatta but it was still not exactly something she could predict. Figottoni remained silent as he continued cleaning glasses for drinks.

"I am a little thirsty right now...like, haven't drank anything since morning! Figottoni, bring me something for a true ROCKSTAR!" said Zapatta before turning towards his bartender friend.

"Aight, I suppose I could get a refresher as well. Figottoni, may I have something funky fresh?" calmly requested Suifta as Figottoni prepared their drinks exactly as they wanted them to be.

Meanwhile, outside of Hope's Peak Academy, there was a stand nearby. Some kind of heavily stylized comics were placed on the table, waiting to be picked up. The person in charge of the stand was Hifumi Yamada, who was proudly standing like he was the first man to step on the moon.

"Haha, yes! This is a brilliant idea, done none other than a genius like me! It is so genius, that even William Shakespeare would say "Oh, Hifumi Yamada-san, your brain is big like love between Romeo and Juliet!" I will become rich!" mused Hifumi to himself, imaging to be considered to be a master of all masters in terms of writers and artists alike. Suddenly, Herman casually strolled by before spotting the stand and deciding to check it out.

"Oh, hello there! I must say you're a quite unexpected customer! Would you take a look at my wonderful work?" nonchalantly greeted Hifumi, dealing with the octopus on land as if he were just another ordinary man.

"Eyy, what'cha got there, bruv?" asked Herman before he took one of the comics, taking a closer look at it. Suddenly, something changed within Herman when he saw the front page of the comic. He squinted when he saw the title "Princess Piggies' Schooltacular Adventure" on it, along with the drawing of some pink haired girl visiting a school similar to Hope's Peak academy. Then, he snappily tilted his head as he saw R rating on the cover, going from squinting to having his eyes filled with sudden rage. What sealed the deal for him were the tags at the bottom of the cover, which said:

"Warning! Very lewd content!"

"May feature tentacles!"

"...Well, would you be interested in buying it?" asked Hifumi, not seeing that Herman was practically twitching and trembling from sheer fury at just looking at Hifumi's manga.

A moment of uncertain calm followed as Hifumi took at look at Herman, being confused at his reaction.

...

"FFFFFFFFFFUUUUUUUUUUCCCCCCCCCCKKKKKKKKKK AAAAAAAAAANNNNNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIMMMMMMMMMMEEEEEEEEEE!" roared Herman as he started using his tentacle arms like a gorilla smacking its chest. He continued to make incomprehensible octopus noises during his episode.

"First of all, that's not an anime, it's a manga! Second of all, it's called dōjinshi!" corrected Hifumi amid Herman's rage, but was quickly silence by Herman flipping his table just by his tentacles, destroying it in the process.

"YEEEOW!" yelped Hifumi at the sight of stand's destruction before Herman rolled his manga like a news paper and leaped right at him. When he landed, he started rapidly smacking his face with his very own creation. Each hit stung, as the speed of strikes kept increasing. After some time of smackdown, Herman delivered the final decisive blow in Hifumi's face, making him spin around like a ballerina before he fell right on his back, feeling quite dizzy. Herman left the scene still making incomprehensible furious octopus noises, leaving the entire academy for that day.

Both classes managed to exit the academy as their search for Herman began. However, Aoi Asahina quickly found out Hifumi lying on the ground near a destroyed stand. Startled by such sight, she directed everyone towards the dizzy student as all of them rushed towards him.

"Where is my royal milk tea, Hifumi?" demanded Celestia Ludenberg, not even wasting a second about her precious tea.

"Seriously?! He's all injured and your first concern is your tea?!" condemned Aoi, actually feeling quite angry regarding her gothic classmate.

"A person of the nobility must be served first. Don't you agree?" countered Celestia with a smile on her face. A smile that had the aura of dishonesty around it.

"You sure have….wonderful priorities, don't you?" deadpanned Hajime when he heard Celestia's reasoning.

"Hifumi, are you alright?" asked Chiaki as she, Aoi and Mikan checked on him to see if he's alright.

"Physically...yeah...but my dignity has been wrecked." answered Hifumi, confirming that the incident took a blow on his ego.

"You're saying as if you've had any dignity in the first place!" sassed Hiyoko, giggling at the idea that Hifumi had any remote dignity within, considering his work. Celestia also chuckled at that idea.

"Hifumi, what happened?" asked Makoto.

"Well….an octopus attacked me..." started Hifumi, to which he received nearly universal responses of frustration and desperation from fellow students.

"Not again…." lamented Mahiru, clenching her fist at their seeming inability to stop that certain animal.

"Damn it, that bastard got away with it again!" fumed Mondo.

"Yeah….he was really furious..."continued Hifumi, where he revealed one tiny detail that threw everyone off guard. Everyone's eyes widened upon hearing that Herman, the lover of provocations, somehow got angry.

"Hold on for a moment, Hifumi...he was furious?!" asked Hajime, genuinely feeling startled at imagining that octopus being remotely wrathful.

"...What the hell did you do?!" questioned Fuyuhiko, not sure if he should condemn Hifumi for whatever he did to Herman.

"Selling my work, of course!" answered Hifumi with some remaining pride.

"And why would Herman be angry over it?...I….kinda don't get it." commented Mahiru.

"Me neither, if I'm frank. It just happened. He just skipped to the final form and gave me a whooping." said Hifumi, feeling kinda down from looking at his destroyed. Behind his back, Hiyoko snatched one of his mangas and decided to have a little peek. If Chiaki's speech from before made her feel as she was tasting raw lemons, looking at Hifumi's manga made her feel like she was smelling durian.

"On the second thought, the octopus did the right thing by attacking you over this filth!" grumbled Hiyoko as she threw away Hifumi's manga somewhere else.

"Do you perhaps remember when he went? That could give us a hand in our fight against him." asked Sonia, trying to help her friends out as much as she could.

"Nope...not a slightest idea..." answered Hifumi, not giving them much hope. Suddenly, Gundham stepped in front of them as he struck a pose. Attention of both classes gathered around him, not expecting what is going to be his plan.

"FOURTH DARK DEVAS OF DESTRUCTION, SEEK THROUGH OUT THE AREA! FIND THE KRAKEN OF THE LAND!" he called as his hamsters jumped out and started inspecting the surroundings of the scene. The hamsters inspected every nook and crany, sniffed every inch to find their adversary. After some inspection, the Devas returned to their master as he crouched to get them on his hands.

"Have you found anything, my fellow Devas?" asked Gundham in a rather soft tone towards them. Judging from their disappointed expressions, the Supreme Overlord could tell that Herman left no trace behind when he completely left the scene. His hamsters hid themselves as he took care of them.

"It appears that the Kraken of the Land has withdrawn long gone, perhaps even concluding for today." said Gundham after the inspection as the frustrations rose up within their hearts. They were already imagining their days being soiled by that damned animal, however Nekomaru, Gundham and, to an extent, Chiaki resisted such thoughts, believing that failure should not demotivate them.

"O-oh dear...looks like the cycle is going to continue…." stuttered Mikan, already imagining her being sprayed in the face again. The anxiety within their group also started to escalate.

"C'mon, guys! Don't throw the towel just yet! Just because we couldn't get him today doesn't mean we can't strike back tomorrow!" scolded Nekomaru as he stepped in, reminding them what he told them in the morning. His words did decrease their frustrations as it turned into the determination to stop him once and for all.

"...That's right, we can't give up. We have to do this together." added Chiaki, raising their hopes up as well.

"A battle lost does not equate into a total defeat! What must we do is to adapt!" advised Gundham, completely defeating their doubts.

"Yes! We are going to defeat the octopus!" cheered everyone as they raised their fists in the air, fully determined to show Herman what does it mean to be a student of Hope's Peak academy.

"Why am I dealing with those morons now? I could have had my tea already by now." thought Celestia to herself while she faked her excitement.

"But for now...lets return to our classes, shall we?" recommended Nekomaru as all of them returned inside to their respective classes. Little did they know that they were watched by Nagito from behind, who was covertly enjoying their moment. He also returned inside, satisfied with what happened.

The day passed as their classes came to an end. Students of Hope's Peak academy left their school in order to get home. However, sole two exceptions were Nekomaru Nidarai and Gundham Tanaka, who remained in school as they sneaked in the bathroom, awaiting their meeting with bird. colleagues.

"Penguins!" called out Nekomaru, to which penguins responded immediately. They quickly arrived to them as they greeted them with waving flippers.

"Status!" demanded Skipper as he pointed directly at them.

"Bad news, guys. He's struck again, full physical this time!" reported Nekomaru, sounding kind of concerned about the deal.

"By the all dams around the world, he's done it again! We have to be quick!" cursed Skipper before he advised his colleagues to speed it up.

"Sir, we still have to bring all the equipment in our base and we have discovered some structural issues with Tunnel Four. It will take us some time before we can perform counter-Herman activities." noted Kowalski on why they couldn't be active, considering their stuff with the underground base.

"We should discuss our plans to vanquish the Kraken of the Land. Faster we come up with strategy and tactics against him, smoother will it go." addressed Gundham, giving them a point to talk about.

"Don't worry about tactics, Overlord. We got him all figured out in a battle. One word of advice though if you manage to cross the ways with him: expect the unexpected!" boastfully reassured Skipper, remembering all the battles with him.

"That should be no issue. It is the most pragmatic of lives to have the highest chance of survival, but there is something I feel should be pointed out when it comes to our general strategy." gloated Gundham before raising another point.

"Spit it out, my man!" approved Skipper.

"From where does Herman infiltrate this facility? That kind of intel should be crucial to our operations." asked Gundham, making all of them think about it.

"I propose a hypothesis. Herman uses two kinds of entrances: air ducts and toilets. His size makes it perfect to use such narrow places to sneak in and then safely begin his mischief." said Kowalski while he pointed at the toilets as a part of his hypothesis.

"Yeah, that makes sense. A logical conclusion would be blocking the entrances, but that would cause a lot of trouble for the school." commented Nekomaru before backing off from his suggestion.

"Those are, indeed, the most probable entrances, but what if he figures it out and then switches the entrances sporadically? He could see a pattern in our dirty deeds and then counter harder than a divine intervention!" informed Gundham

"That's a good point, I gotta say. Kowalski, what is your suggestion?" admitted Skipper before giving his colleague the main word.

"Then the best thing to do is to track him down while he's still in the academy. That wouldn't mean directly following him, but rather placing some kind of equipment around the school. What exactly is going to be is something I have yet to come up with. I will tell you about it soon." elaborated Kowalski before he gave them a new time for another meeting.

"For now, that should be all. We are gonna see each other tomorrow again...It's getting kind of late." cautioned Nekomaru while approving another meeting. Gundham agreed with him as both of them faced penguins for the last time for the day.

"Alright then. I must thank you both for providing aid against Daft Capo. You will be remembered honorably. Dismissed!" thanked Skipper as he gave them a salute. Other penguins saluted as well before they departed, finally going home after a long day.

Meanwhile, as the sun was about to set, Chisa was sitting near principal's office, anxiously holding folders as she looked at the ceiling, hoping for the best outcome. However, she couldn't let go of her worries, expressed by her sometimes biting a nail on her thumb. Suddenly, a man with a mustache and a hat walked by, sitting on a chair next to her. It was another teacher of Hope's Peak academy, who went by the name Koichi Kizakura.

"Not as bouncy like a bunny as usual today, aren't you, Chisa?" joked Koichi Kizakura, trying to lighten her up, though it did bother him a little that she was like that.

"Oh hey, Kizakura...This day has been rather...strange." greeted Chisa in a rather somber tone.

"Is there an issue with the class?" asked Kizakura, assuming that it was related to that.

"No, not that. My class has been wonderful! Just that...something is causing me to heavily worry about their safety." answered Chisa with a small burst of happiness when she mentioned her class, but her worries returned when she continued.

"What could that be? This school is one of the safest of all in Japan, there shouldn't be an overwhelming concern, aside from pranks of an octopus...or so I have heard." further piqued Kizakura, having a slight idea what could be going on.

"It's that...they mentioned some kind of mafia by the name of Daft Capo and how they plan to take over the school. It might have been just their imagination going wild, but they sounded...pretty serious about it." fully admitted Chisa while remembering how her students were in the morning. Even at such time, she distinctively remember Chiaki's weary eyes and how much it genuinely hurt seeing her like that.

"A mafia? That's a new one. Why would a mafia have a beef with this school?" said Kizakura, slightly amused at the idea of mafia going up against Hope's Peak. "That name sure is something as well. I expected at the very least some "Syndicate" or something."

"I….don't know to be honest. Sounds pretty crazy, doesn't it?" lamented Chisa while giving him a somber smile.

"Here's my suggestion, Yukizome. If the mafia does appear, I'd say our best option is to report them to authorities. While I don't think it will be a 100% reliable choice, but it is your best bet." advised Kizakura as he gave her a pat on the shoulder.

"...I will do everything to protect my students. Even if it costs my life, I will do anything to ensure their safety. Protect them from the evils of this world….I just want to give them memories they would cherish..." suddenly stressed Chisa as her worries were reaching the peak.

"Now, now, Chisa. Don't push yourself too much. I mean, you've already one of the most active teachers in this school!...Perhaps a little too active. I promise you that things are going to be fine. The school will do everything to protect its students." reassured Kizakura. His voice did manage to calm down Chisa's heart as her rational thought returned.

"...Thank you, Kizakura. You're always someone who's here at the right time…" simpered Chisa, feeling much more relaxed than before.

"Heh. Now take a rest, Yukizome. I'll talk to the principal about it." advised Kizakura as he went inside principal's office instead. Chisa nodded, stood up and walked away, deciding to go home. During her journey home, she imagined her class doing activities they considered to be fun, but one girl was especially apparent in her mind: Chiaki Nanami.

However, neither of them knew that Herman was residing in one of the dark air vents, spying on them during the conversation. When she mentioned the name of a certain mafia, he squinted hard with his eyes, suspecting something about her.

"….How did you find that out, Miss?" he quietly asked to himself as he watched her go home. He remained there until he slithered in the dark, going towards the unknown destination.

Chapter 6: Silly things happen

Chapter Text

The academy was greeted by the ever-growing clouds above it, darkening everything beneath it. Slight gust of cold wind gently swayed the leaves of the nearby trees. On the main pathway to the school, one person, dressed in their usual apron, was running on it as fast as they could. That person was Chisa Yukizome, holding some kind of briefcase while she was dashing. Although a toast in her mouth was missing, which is allegedly something that girls do when they're late (key word being allegedly), she was chugging a cup of ice coffee instead. It was either a miracle or she knew how to to drink while running without spilling herself.

"Oh no! I'm being late to the class!" hastily thought Chisa to herself as she sipped the coffee for the last time before throwing the empty cup into the nearest trash can, dashing off towards the school as quickly as she could. "My reputation as a teacher is going to be ruined!"

Meanwhile, Chiaki and Sonia were sitting together on the bench near the fountain, both of them playing dual screen handhelds at the same time. Both of them were rather intensely tapping on the buttons as they were playing the game.

"Yes! Smite them down with all the power you have!" cheered Sonia with her eyes sparkling in joy while playing the game. Chiaki remained quiet, but she was absolutely determined to defeat any threats in it, tapping on buttons with lightning speed.

They were playing a cutesy platformer game where a round pink puffball was the main character, going through a boss rush mode. Credit to them, they were playing on the hardest difficulty, the one that makes beginners break their consoles in frustration. Their current opponent in the game was a decently sized silver mechanical mantis shrimp, capable of firing rockets along with the sound based projectiles, which could deal massive damage to its unfortunate victims. Both puffballs, already having some damage from the attacks, were duking it out with the metallic crustacean on the screens of both handhelds.

While they continued playing games, Chisa stopped by after a long session of sprinting towards the school, gasping for some air. Chugged ice coffee didn't help her either, only making her feel slight stomach ache.

"Good morning, Miss Yukizome!" greeted Sonia upon seeing her teacher taking some breaths. When Chisa Yukizome saw both of them, she felt a little bit of panic inside of her, thinking that she was being late.

"Eeek! Pardon me, Sonia, but can you tell me the time, pretty please?" asked Chisa after being startled by their appearance. She quickly approached them, running like a lady searching for the last deluxe perfume in the store.

"Oh, it's currently 6:30 AM but there's one thing that I've noticed….a little bit too late." answered Sonia, unknowingly causing a slight spike of anxiety for the poor Chisa.

"Oh noooooooooo, here goes my status as a-" gulped Chisa, facing the inevitable as she covertly bit her lip.

"Our classes start at 8:30 AM today!" revealed Sonia with a rather dramatic flair in her words, as if she was announcing something in front of thousands of people. When Chisa heard that, the anxiety within her severely lowered, but she couldn't help to feel like a big doofus that day. Her expression complimented the sheer dumbfounded feelings circulating inside her mind.

"….oh." faltered Chisa with the same dumbfounded face she had before she returned to her usual cheery and peppy self. "Whoopsie, I think my schedule got mixed up today!"

"I glanced over my schedule and I looked at the wrong date. Not only that, but I still need to get used to Japan's system, but not all is lost!" added Sonia, relating to her teacher's mixed up schedule issue. After the problem got resolved, she turned towards Chiaki, who still had her attention knee deep in the video game, tapping the buttons with same quickness as before.

"Nanami!" called Sonia in order to gain her attention, but to no avail as her dork of a friend was still playing the game, trying to defeat the boss while Sonia's character took a backseat.

"Nanaaaaaamiiiiiii!~" shouted Sonia once again, with Chisa joining in as well. After hearing both of them, Chiaki quickly looked at them, slightly embarrassing herself for not responding fast enough.

"Sorry, just got really focused in the game. I kind of just….forgot about today's schedule. Thought it would be a good idea to go early, just to not be late." apologized Chiaki before she added some of her own thoughts, but not after taking some time trying to come up with the right words.

"Glad that everything turned out to be okay! So, anyway, what are you two girls up to?" reassured Chisa as she turned her attention towards the handhelds. Chiaki had a pink one while Sonia had a dark teal one.

"We are playing this game called Pinkie Boye: Stargang Saga. It's really cute and easy to get into, but it can provide a challenge when it wants to. Miss Chiaki introduced me to it today and it's hella cool! Just like I've heard many times, Japan is amazing at making games!" explained Sonia as her eyes started to sparkle during it. Chiaki blushed a little when her princess friend referred her with such strong title.

"I don't think I deserve such title, Sonia." hesitated Chiaki while giving out a sheepish but genuine smile.

"Oh, I played the Pinkie Boye 64: Dreams of Hope when I was young girl. I also remember being fascinated by the protagonist, Pinkie Boye himself. Was quite a fangirl, did a lot of drawings of him. I have kept some of them and it's…yeah." chuckled Chisa while remembering the good old times of being a child. She slightly blushed when the memories of her drawings pictured themselves in her mind.

"You're a Pinkie Boye fan as well?!" Chiaki suddenly jumped off from the bench, surprising both of them around her. She looked rather intensely in her teacher's eyes, as if she wanted something from her like a child going through a toy store.

"W-well, yes, I am-" answered Chisa as she let out an unsure giggle.

"Pinkie Boye 64 is an absolute classic! It was released in 2000 and it was first of the Pinkie Boye games to be in 3D! With its groundbreaking graphics and tight controls, it's still very fun to play even to this day! I'd say that it's still the best one in the franchise already filled with great games! Pinkie Boye is cool, but my favorite character in the game is the fairy princess Moriana, who helps you on the journey against the evil forces of Darkspekter, who seek to-" gushed Chiaki while hopping in a place like a little bunny. Her tangent came off as a surprise for both Chisa and Sonia, as they were mostly used seeing her being rather calm, if not passive all around. When Chiaki accidentally glanced over during her tangent, she saw both of them being stunned. In response, she stopped her tangent, returning to her usual calm self, and sat down on the bench.

"...Sorry, I went a little overboard." apologized Chiaki, staring at the ground from slight embarrassment.

"Nah, it's fine, Nanami. It's great to have a strong passion like this!" reassured Chisa. Seemingly, Chiaki's little tangent drastically improved the mood of her teacher as she was even more peppy than before.

"Teach me more about the Pinkie Boye!" requested Sonia, being absolutely thrilled after hearing Chiaki's gushing.

"But I don't think this will get me anywhere..." doubted Chiaki, attempting to look either of them in the eyes, but she just couldn't bring herself to.

"C'mon, don't say such stuff to yourself!" pouted Chisa, leaning towards her student and looking her right in the eyes. "You can do a lot of stuff with video games alone!"

"Really?" asked Chiaki, still feeling rather unsure about herself.

"Yes, really!" restated Chisa with sheer confidence in her voice before she placed her hand on Chiaki's shoulder, leaning even closer than before. "Don't worry about it, Chiaki." You're already doing good. Just be yourself and I'm sure everything will turn out to be okay."

Upon hearing what her teacher said to her, a radiant smile appeared on Chiaki's face, knowing that there's someone who's proud of her.

"Mind if I join in for a bit? There's a lot of time for us to spend!" asked Chisa as she stepped behind the bench to see the game they were playing through out the entire time.

"You're always welcome, Miss Yukizome!" welcomed Sonia with open arms.

"Hehehe~." giggled Chisa as she got red in the face. "I've got some well mannered students in my class!"

And so Chisa Yukizome watched both of them continuing playing the game. It seemed that both of them defeated the mechanical crustacean as they were currently facing a new boss: a giant cosmic manta ray, capable of manifesting energy of the stars. Unlike the boss before, girls fought him in a different way: they were piloting some streamlined white spacecraft, similar to the ones seen in many futuristic anime.

"Go get him! Go get him!" the teacher cheered, shaking her fists while watching Pinkie Boye and his friend maneuvering around the ray crossing through the universe itself, firing defensive blasts of gamma rays in response. Despite having the potential to complete ruin their run with a single hit, the attacks were highly telegraphed by the glowing teal spots on the being's back. When the opportunity arose, Pinkie Boye and his friend could strike back at the weak spots of the boss with their "light beams", powered by the power of love, friendship and especially severely violent and unstable plasma discharge, which both greatly heated up and accelerated the projectiles used by spacecraft's cannons.

The virtual battle raged as both the players and a spectator focused only on the events that happened on the screen. Meanwhile, two men of various statures, both dressed in dark clothing, strutted on their way to the school. They were none other than Gundham and Nekomaru, who bypassed them without the girls even noticing. As they arrived near the entrance of the school, both of them stopped and turned their backs, crossing their arms as they let out some poses worthy of many showmen.

"Fuwahahahaha!" Gundham let out a laugh, one worthy of a villain.

"Mwahahahahaha!" joined Nekomaru as well with his boisterous laugh.

"Great impression for an apprentice, but you still need to practice! You should let out with all the vigor you have and strike fear in the hearts of the weak like a sole ruling lion roaring through out the savannah!" praised Gundham with a smirk on his face.

"That's good to hear! But now, what is our plan exactly again?" asked Nekomaru, not remembering all the wizard jargon that his colleague loves to us.

"We shall gather the mortals around here and make them join our side by the words that shall persuade their minds!" elaborated Gundham in the only way a Supreme Overlord would.

"Wait, didn't we achieve that yesterday?" perplexed Nekomaru, remembering the events quite clearly.

"Correct, but that was a move to pull them out of the defeat. We need to feed them some resolve, so that they could face the Kraken of the Land with ease." proposed Gundham, since he believed that Herman could strike at any moment, even at their current time.

"Aw yeah, I approve that!" said Nekomaru before letting out another chuckle.

"Heyooo, booooys!" greeted Chisa, suddenly approaching them to see what are they up to.

"Yo, Miss Yukizome!" responded Nekomaru in a normal tone.

"I see that the sorceresses of the Hope's peak have already gathered around." commented Gundham, taking a look at Chiaki and Sonia playing together.

"I am a sorceress and I don't know yet? Wow, that is so cool! What power would I have?" wondered Sonia as her imagination went wild about her having covert magical powers would she have.

"If you were in an RPG, you would be a white mage. A perfect fit….I think." Chiaki gave out an answer, trying to imagine her as that aforementioned role.

"Oh yes! With my light powers, I shall make everyone's day brighter!" Sonia took her friend's words as a compliment, raising her fist up in the air.

"Are you two cooking up another evil plan to take over the world?" asked Chisa as she suddenly started to act like a hammy evil witch, who also tried to take over the world. She placed her arm in front of her face in order to give an impression of "hiding her true form".

"Mwahahaha! Of course, but that is currently postponed, as we have to tackle the greater threat first! The mortals should come quickly because the fated time is running out!" boasted Gundham, striking a pose as some kind of counterattack, to see which of them could stand on top as the biggest villainous force in Hope's Peak academy.

"I see, I see! Even the vilest of villains must group together with mortals when a greater threat surfaces! Kyahahaha!" cackled Chisa before striking another pose, worthy of a villain. However, after her initial conversation, she seemed to drop the act and went back to her usual self. Chisa returned to video game playing girls and continued spectating, but here and there she gave some word to the men in dark, who were having a conversation about daily life and routines. Even though Gundam had no restraints using his usual "wizard jargon", the conversation with Nekomaru went rather smoothly. Meanwhile, the girls defeated the manta ray boss as their characters were transported to the rest area, where they could prepare themselves for another tougher boss. Only a silhouette was displayed of it, but it showed some kind of metallic dragon, armed with plasma cannons and missiles. None than less, the girls continued with the boss rush.

Some time passed after Gundham and Nekomaru's arrived, the time being right about 8:10, just enough time for anyone to prepare themselves for the class of the day. The students of class 77-B gathered around both of them, waiting for whatever the men in dark will give them. Not many of them were amused by their antics, just wanting to start the day normally (and without cephalopod attacks).

"What is going on?" asked Hajime, being rather confused at seeing Gundham and Nekomaru posing like two musician that were just moments away from starting their performance.

"Gundham is having a speech, apparently." answered Mahiru with her arms crossed, wanting to just go inside the school and let the day be an average one for once.

"Oh...oh dear…." sighed Hajime, already knowing how the events will go down.

"Do we really have to do this?" asked Kazuichi as he placed his arm on his cap covered forehead, lacking any mood to listen to announcements, especially by Gundham.

"Yes! He is going to drop some forbidden knowledge upon us!" beamed Sonia, being one of the few classmates that were genuinely excited for Gundham's speech.

"More like an eternal amount of nonsense." thought Hajime to himself as he glanced over Sonia being all cheerful for it. Mahiru, while sharing a similar sentiment as the tall ahoge boy, tried to have a normal expression on her face as an attempt to endure any ridiculousness thrown by her wizard classmate.

"Can we just go already? I don't have time for this garbage!" grumbled Hiyoko while attempting to just barge in the school, but was unknowingly prevented by the students who stood before her.

"But wait! It's about to start! Ibuki knows this because he is making poses and when someone starts making poses, you know things are about to go down!" noted Ibuki, pointing directly at Gundham while also making Hiyoko stop.

"Urghhhhh…." Hiyoko rolled with her eyes in "defeat", forcing herself to be there just so that no one would pull a "Zapatta" on her. As they were still waiting for students in dark to start, Teruteru sneaked in between Hajime and Mahiru, armed with a frying pan. He was constantly looking left and right, just in case of an attack.

"Aren't you taking this a little too far?" scolded Mahiru, squinting at him for such behavior. Teruteru jumped from surprise at someone even noticing his erratic mannerisms.

"Non non non, everything is fine, I swear!" denied Teruteru as his mood quickly changed from a paranoiac to happy go-lucky chef that he usually is on good days. Suddenly, amid either confused or a bit excited crowd, barged in a person who was not only excited for Gundham's speech, but so pumped up that even the students that were eagerly anticipating were kind of put off guard by that individual.

It was none other than Nagito.

"This is going to be great!" cheered Nagito with his arms spread at the close enough distance to not disturb anybody around him.

The time was up. Gundham Tanaka turned his back at his fellow students for the dramatic effect as the wind gently swayed his scarf. He raised his arm to make an even more imposing pose, to which only Mikan was truly scared of. Thus, the Supreme Overlord spoke:

"Fuwahahahahaha! Have the unforeseen circumstances not given you the desired fortune?! Have the forces above decided to smite you with humiliation?!"

"….Yeah, I guess." said Hajime in order to not stall out his speech, because everyone else had nothing to say due either bafflement or awe (in some cases).

"All the time, heh." added Nagito with an odd smile on his face.

"Fear not, because I, the Supreme Overlord GUNDHAM TANAKA, along with my apprentice have come up with a plan to turn the tide of fate into your favor! The unexpected shall be expected, even countered! Whatever the puny adversaries will throw at us, we shall strike harder! This moment shall mark our defiance as we will laugh at the forces above, right in their faces!" boastfully continued Gundham, shaking his wrapped up arm as if it was possessed with a grin on his face. Then he just stopped with the speech altogether, standing awkwardly in front of everyone as the silence followed.

"...Is that all?" asked Hajime, not being surprised about both the main event and outcome at all.

"Yes, that would be conclusion of my heart-chilling speech, which you have heard with your mortal ears. The Supreme Overlord was merciful enough to take consideration of your limited time on this realm of existence." admitted Gundham as he crossed his arms to look like a brooding overlord. In reality, he knew that he had to make it brief for everyone's sake, but he would love to go on tangents about darkness for hours. Another period of awkward silence followed.

"Hooray! Go Gundham, go Gundham!" Chisa broke the silence with the sudden cheering. Her motivational acts were similar to a true cheerleader. Sonia followed with the cheering as well, while Chiaki gave out a tiny applause for her wizard friend. The only one who also cheered at him and Nekomaru was Ibuki, but that was more of Ibuki being Ibuki. Everyone else just remained baffled at what they just heard with a lot of "Eh?" being thrown around.

"BOO! BOOOOOO! IT STINKS!" fumed Hiyoko like a wrestler fan at the sight of a heel.

"I-it wasn't that bad..." admitted Mikan while shaking like a leaf.

"WHO asked you for-" growled Hiyoko at her, only to be interrupted by an intense applause of a certain white haired individual.

"Bravo! Bravo! That was wonderful, Gundham! I hope such trash like me could hear your spine chilling words again!" bursted Nagito from sheer joy while causing nearly everyone around him, even Gundham, to be slightly disturbed by his behavior.

"Hey, Nagito. Can you...not self deprecate so much? It's getting weird...and concerning." chastised Mahiru, being both annoyed and worried about him at the same time.

"Oh, sorry about that. Sometimes it slips in." apologized Nagito, but it didn't help much because he just stared at his palm instead.

"Well, that was a load of shit." said Fuyuhiko as briefly as he could. "Don't make us waste it again."

"How much time did we lose now?" asked Kazuichi.

"It was about….uuhhh...five minutes?" checked Ibuki, turning towards Sonia in order to get accurate information and to not be late for the class.

"Not a huge loss, to be honest." shrugged Nekomaru, being satisfied with what his wizard friend said.

"Now let us welcome the day with our raised fists, mortals!" dared Gundham as both he and Nekomaru turned back, entering the school once and for all. Others followed them, some baffled and some motivated, as their day at school finally truly began. However, Nagito went in last, with a nefarious grin on his face.

"Seems like Hope's Peak is in the lead at the moment...I wonder what developments will happen next...Hehehehe..." thought Nagito to himself before shutting the entrance doors of the school.

Suddenly, on one of the trees around Hope's Peak academy, Herman stood on the branch after he changed his camouflage. He watched the exterior of the academy, thinking how he already outsmarted them by a long shot.

"Ha ha! Gottem!" laughed Herman before he pulled out a list of things he had planned for today. It was written that he was the one behind the mixed up schedules. "Now lets see what do I have for this day..."

Upon taking a closer look, he noticed something: he completely forgot to write a plan for that day.

"Oh shit! I've gotta improvise for today!" exclaimed Herman as his eyes widened before he placed the list away. "But what shall be on the menu today….Hmmmm..."

Herman sneaked inside, following his usual path to get in without being detected.

It was a completely normal day in the school. People in class 77-B did their stuff together like they always usually do. As the students read their textbooks and such, Chisa was just satisfied that she wasn't late or else she could have been potentially removed from the class, losing contact with her students. Not even Nagito had a story of cyclic fortune and misfortune to tell that day. To some students such as Hajime and Mahiru, the normality of the day was a breath of fresh air.

As the time passed by, the bell rang. Students of both class 77-B and 78th went to the dining hall, preparing themselves for a lunch break. However, as they went forward, Gundham and Nekomaru suddenly sneaked in men's bathroom, just like they gathered a day before.

"Kehehehe….it seems like my speech worked flawlessly. Those mortals shall soon become our minions, which shall do our bidding without a question or hesitation." smirked Gundham, believing that his speech has convinced others to join his side.

"Well, at least for half of them. Though gotta say, good job! You were on point today!" said Nekomaru, cracking up his fists as a sign of triumph before letting out a slight chuckle.

"Any numbers shall suffice as of now! Though the Fellowship of Darkness must obtain more personnel, otherwise Daft Capo might potentially overwhelm the puny mortals here." cautioned Gundham, reminding him that their quest is far from over. Suddenly, the doors of bathroom opened, causing Gundham to go in a fighting stance almost immediately. Nekomaru was just slightly startled in comparison. Both of them dropped their guard the moment when they identified the person who was behind opening that door: it was just Peko, their fellow swordswoman.

"...What are you two doing?" asked Peko, being absolutely perplexed towards their activites.

"Step inside to see, the One with the sword! You shall know the truth!" invited Gundham in order to get her join his organization

"But here is...kinda weird, to be honest." hesitated Peko. Considering the location of their meeting, it was no surprise.

"I know it's not the best place to do it, but it's something you gotta see!" insisted Nekomaru.

"...Alright. Just don't do anything suspicious." warned Peko, cautiously stepping inside the men's bathroom to see what were the men in dark up to. She held on a handle of her sword just in case either of them would attack them.

"Remember when I've said that you must see with your mortal eyes to believe?" reminded Gundham, giving her some memories of the day they first found out about Herman's allegiance.

"I think I do. I have to admit that it did got me curious on what you've meant." said Peko

"Well….we are gonna explain everything after you witness it. It might take...days." cautioned Nekomaru, knowing from his experience.

"Now...are you prepared, the one with the sword, for what you're about to see?" asked Gundham if she was ready for what was she about to see with her own eyes.

"I am prepared. Proceed with the action." confirmed Peko, crossing her arms with the same old stoic look on her face.

"Mwahahahaha….COME FORTH, AVIANS OF THE FARAWAY BLIZZARD!" called out Gundham, shaking his arm as his voice boomed through out the bathroom.

"...What?" questioned Peko, being caught off guard for a bit when she heard who was her wizard classmate referring to. What followed afterwards was the last thing she even expected: four penguins, who jumped out of one of the toilets, striking a battle stance when they landed. All the stoicism Peko had in herself got thrown out of the window the moment she saw them, losing the grip on her handle as well.

"Overlord, what is the status no-" demanded Skipper before his eyes met the woman with the sword. Upon seeing her, he was immediately charmed by her looks.

"Oh my, seems like we are gonna get some hot babes on our side. Good catch there, Overlord, for we may need some ladies." flirted Skipper, but he only caused greater confusion for the girl.

"Hello!" casually greeted Private in the most innocent way possible, waving at her.

"...Penguins?" perplexed Peko as calmly as she could, but many emotions were had inside of her at the sight of the birds in the bathroom.

"Eyup, it's them. If you've got any questions, it's better to ask them" confirmed Nekomaru, offering her some advice as well.

"Do you see it now? Do you believe it now?" snickered Gundham, knowing that he was ahead of everyone in terms of "knowing what they are up to" department.

"What's the name of this lovely gal over here?" asked Skipper, but Peko was still in the quiet process of trying to understand what is going on, standing still like a confused statue.

"Oh, that's Peko for you!" Nekomaru introduced her to his avian colleagues in order to not stall out the conversation.

"Peko, like some kind of peck-o…I like the ring of it." commented Skipper while raising his eyebrow. Out of curiosity, Peko slowly approached them before crouching down to get a better look at them. Penguins observed the swordswoman as well, interested in her as well. Much to Skipper's surprise, Peko focused on Private the most because she thought he was the cutest, which a notion that other penguins do agree on. Suddenly, she gently tapped on Private's beak to see how would he react. She was slightly shocked to see Private smiling after her light touch, who then jumped on her shoulder out of a sudden, just to look cool. She slowly stood up with Private on her shoulder. Skipper pretended that he was some kind of photographer, making imaginary photos of her and his colleague.

"They...didn't even run away..." wondered Peko as she couldn't resist patting Private's head, which he seemed to like.

"Why would we run away at the sight of a pretty woman? The only one who runs away are our enemies!" gloated Skipper as he flexed with his flippers.

"Apologies about that remark, but animals tend to get scared when they see me. This was one of the first times that it hasn't happened." explained Peko about her history with fauna. Gundham, knowing how animals react around him, felt slight pity for her.

"I don't see why, you seem like a kind person." complimented Private in order to cheer her up a bit.

"...Thanks." smiled Peko at him. The smile of a swordwoman was not a common occurrence in the school.

"Anyway, what was the status again?" said Skipper, bringing back the original topic of their discussion.

"As of now, the fortune is in our hands. No offenses from the Kraken of the Land happened towards any of the mortals." reported Gundham with his arms crossed.

"Either you boys are being lucky or he's coming up with something big." suspected Skipper, feeling that the day so far has been a little too quiet.

"Yeah, I assume it's the latter as well. Would have been weird if he went radio silent today." agreed Nekomaru.

"Now, answer me this, the leader of the avians! Have you come up with a plan to strike back?" requested Gundham like if he was bargaining for a trade.

"Eyup, but we gotta discuss it after school. Kowalski brought up a lotta details for our plan." confirmed Skipper with sheer confidence in his voice. Upon hearing that, it all dawned upon Peko, everything from the day Gundham first told them about the mafia up to that moment.

"Wait, is this how you obtained all the information regarding that mafia?" piqued Peko, making sure that her realization is a correct one.

"Correct-a-mundo, pretty one. All the info regarding Daft Capo is right here!" casually confirmed Skipper, putting his flippers around his stomach like some kind of confident boss.

"Of all things….this was the last thing that I thought was going to happen." said Peko, being more confused than ever before.

"Mwahahaha! Expect the unexpected, as I said!" advised Gundham as he struck a pose with his raised villainous hand.

"I must inform you that we have still yet to find new information about the activities of Daft Capo in Japan. They're being good...real good at hiding." cautioned Kowalski as he raised his flipper.

"We could find more about them later. It would be valuable at any time." suggested Nekomaru.

"Not to disrupt, but can I address something?" asked Peko, thinking that it would be the best to bring up a certain "elephant in the room".

"Say it all you want, babe." offered Skipper without hesitation, flirting with her again.

"Can we...change the location of our hideout? It's...very strange here and kind of uncomfortable." requested Peko, not welcoming the prospect of going there every single time during the lunch break.

"...Right." said Skipper, already thinking on how to readjust the strategic locations of their anti-Daft Capo ops. Although the pipes of toilets provided easy access for them, it was not much beneficial for their human allies.

"As an addition to the one with the sword's request, I propose that we change it as well. If we overuse this unassuming place, the Kraken of the Land could figure out our patterns. All of our efforts would be rendered null." added Gundham, giving out another reason for the change.

"Not gonna lie, that's a pretty good point. Any ideas, boys?" admitted Skipper as he turned towards his penguin boys. Rico and Private had no idea for the future locations.

"Don't worry about it, as I've recently struck a good deal. It was for back up if our hideout under school gets discovered." interjected Kowalski with his idea.

"Kowalski, you truly are a MVP." praised Skipper as he gave Kowalski a tap on his shoulder.

"Aside from our plan, do you have anything to say, the leading one?" asked Gundham.

"Just one thing for this meeting. Hey, you there!" answered Skipper as he turned Peko, pointing his flipper at her "Would you mind joining The Fellowship of Darkness?"

"...The Fellowship of Darkness?" asked Peko another question from the pile of many.

"That's the name of our group, who's gonna kick those Daft Capo punksters right back to places where they still use metric!" explained Skipper, flexing with his flippers once again.

"But Sir, majority of the world uses the metric units for measurement, even Japan." corrected Kowalski in a quite impersonal tone.

"You know what I've meant, Kowalski!" nagged Skipper, thinking that Kowalski kind of tainted his boast.

"Heard that these guys have experience with fighting Daft Capo, that should definitely make things easier for us." added Nekomaru in order to ease her soul, but she was already going through the process of information overload. She just stood there quietly with her eyes closed, trying to put the pieces of the puzzle together within her mind.

"...Give me a minute, please." she requested as the silence followed her words.

"Is there something a matter, Peko? What do you find strange?" asked Private, being rather concerned for his new ally.

"...Everything." blurted out Peko, still trying to comprehend the situation.

"Consider the following: if the Avians of the Faraway Blizzard fighting a mafia are such an abstract concept, wouldn't the same apply for the Kraken of the Land as well, whom you saw with your own eyes? Do you see the futility of analyzing such nature defying circumstances?!" reminded Gundham in his own way. Somehow, his words did give her an ease of mind.

"Now that I think about it...it...does?" admitted Peko as the stoicism she once had returned to her.

"Fuwahahahaha! Embrace the absurdity of the cosmos!" laughed Gundham, raising his triumphant fist up in the air.

"If this is what is required to defeat Daft Capo and to protect our class….then I shall join." avowed Peko after her grasp of understanding the situation got tighter. The membership of the Fellowship of Darkness was raised by one that day. Private jumped off her shoulder to join his bird fellas for her "welcoming ceremony".

"Welcome to the Fellowship, Peko! I hope that your service will be valuable." welcomed Skipper as every single penguin gave her a high five. Gundham and Nekomaru joined in the high five fest as well before the "welcoming ceremony" was over.

"So yeah, we meet again after school? We still haven't eaten anything." reminded Nekomaru after remembering that they're short on time.

"Eyup, just like we said." said Skipper before they concluded with the meeting, going their own way, but not before he gave out one of the trademark penguin catchphrases: "Cute and cuddly, boys. Cute and cuddly."

The penguins have left the scene, leaving three students behind in the bathroom. Soon afterwards, they have left the bathroom, planning to go to the dining hall next.

"...I need a drink." sighed Peko after the situation calmed down.

"Honestly same. Perhaps Figottoni will make us something refreshing!" suggested Nekomaru, relating to Peko's sentiment.

"I do want to see that cute little penguin again." Peko thought to herself, imagining

They have went off towards the dining hall, where all of the students from class 77-B and class 78th (including "outsiders" like Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni) were already eating their meals. Peko went to Figottoni's improvised bar and ordered just a glass of water. Luckily for her, Fuyuhiko was around there. Meanwhile, Gundham and Nekomaru went their own ways for now, looking for desired food.

Lunch time passed with no significant events. As everyone went to their respective classes, Ibuki out of all people was still eating a sandwich. When she noticed that her time was up, she quickly stuffed the sandwich inside her mouth and started going to her class. Instead of rushing like a cheetah hunting its prey, she decided to take it easy and pranced on her way.

"Ta-ta-da-ra-ra! I-bu-ki go-nna go all over the world!~ And then she's gonna meet a lot-ta-" sang Ibuki to herself when suddenly, out of completely nowhere, a fish net from the ceiling fell on her, covering her completely.

"Oh? What's this?" wondered Ibuki, touching the net to see from what kind of materials was it made. When she tried to remove it, some kind of force pulled the net, completely capturing the musician in the process.

"WhoooooaAAAAA!" yelled Ibuki as she traversed through the air like she was carried by an ape swinging through the jungle. The perpetrator of "capture" carried her all the way back to the dining hall, where they taped it on the ceiling. Ibuki, caught in a net, was hanging in the middle of the dining hall, getting a panorama view of it.

"Am I now a fish? Is Teruteru gonna serve me up? If he does, I hope that the cute girls of both classes get a piece of me!" babbled Ibuki to herself while curiously looking down on the dining hall. Her cheerfulness was suddenly put to a halt when she saw a silhouette of a familiar being on the night, causing her to be quite spooked!

"Hahahaha! It was me all along!" Herman boastfully revealed himself, causing Ibuki to go in full panic mode.

"EMERGENCY, EMERGENCY, S.O.S, S.O.S, MAYDAY, MAYDAY! HE'S HEEEEEEEERE!" screamed Ibuki, imitating a tornado siren in the process.

"That's right, I have come! Let me tell you something..." began Herman, only to be interrupted by his victim's incoherent blabbering.

"Ooooooh noooooo! HehascomehehascomehehascomeIforgottoputspacesbetweenmywordsagain!" panicked Ibuki, flailing her arms in the limited space of the net. It was by then that Herman realized something was unorthodox: she wasn't angry at all (to be fair, not that anyone in the universe and beyond has seen a genuinely furious Ibuki at all), instead he felt great sense of dread inside of her. Dread that was quite real, much to his surprise.

"Wait...are you...genuinely spooked of me?" perplexed Herman as his eyes widened. He scratched himself with his tentacle arm, brainstorming on how to pull japes on her.

"Are you gonna take over the world with the help of Atlantis? Are there anymore octopuses who will take over the world? Do dolphin people know of this as well?" peppered Ibuki while she touched her face with shaking hands as she trembled. By then, Herman knew how to exploit the situation to his advantage.

"...Mwahahaha! I must inform you that I do not come from Atlantis, but rather from Bologna!" cackled Herman, casually revealing his roots right to her face as he raised his tentacle arm at her, intimidating her even more.

"B-Bologna?! So does that mean….you like baloney?" assumed Ibuki, trying her best in the so-called hostage situation.

"Yes, I do like baloney. Very much so! But there is one baloney I particularly love to eat!" continued Herman as he climbed around her as a confusion tactic.

"I-is it human made? Please, don't let be human made!" begged Ibuki, crying out of nowhere. Tears might have been a little exaggerated, though.

"Don't worry, I do not eat humans. You need a particular taste to eat human flesh,...however, there is an exception..." reassured Herman, severely calming her down as she let out a single yet assuring "whew". But his mercy was only temporary, letting out a cackle that intimidated her even more.

"I EAT IBUKIES!" revealed Herman in the most melodramatic way possible. It was so melodramatic, that the actors from all soap operas around the world would think he's taking it too far.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH! HEEEEEEEELP! BLUBBLUBLBUBLUBLUB!" yelped Ibuki before her mouth to foam out of a sudden.

"YESSS, but baloney Ibuki is not the only way how I eat them! I also like them….canned!" jested Herman, terrorizing her even more.

"Nooooooo, I don't wanna be a canned Ibuki, nooooo!" cried Ibuki in sheer terror, imagining herself to be sold in the super market as "Canned Ibuki: Fresh from Hope's Peak! 20% discount of all Ibuki Mioda-made products!".

"Oh, you will be canned! Not that, but also dipped in olive oil, just the way I like it!" added Herman in an even more pompous voice.

"W-wait wait wait! Before you turn me into can of baloney, is it true that there are other Ibukies around? If so, tell them I will C them next Tuesday!" asked Ibuki in the same sense as a dying person would ask for their last wishes, ending it on a somewhat cheerful note.

"Whatever, now comes the main course: EYESCHLUSS!" Herman cut the conversation short, bringing out the spray bottle filled with ink. His intentions were now clearer than ever to her.

"AAAAAAAAH!" screamed Ibuki at the sight of his weapon, which was pointed right in her face. He pulled the trigger and sprayed the ink at her. However, because Ibuki opened her mouth so wide when she screamed, the ink went right in her mouth instead of the eyes, landing right on her tongue.

"What?" blurted Herman after seeing zero ink on her face. He checked his weapon to see if everything functioned well. Ibuki, on other hand, tasted the ink, only to be blessed by its salty taste.

"Mmmm, can you try that again?" requested Ibuki, rubbing her tummy as if she

"EYESCHLUSS!" Herman let out his signature battle cry when he sprayed at her once again, but only that time Ibuki intentionally opened her mouth in order to get ink right on her tongue. It landed right where she wanted, gulping the ink down once again.

"Yummy! Gimme more!" demanded Ibuki once more, pointing directly at her open mouth.

"This is supposed to be eyeschluss, not mouthschluss!" retorted Herman before he sprayed her once again, only for the ink to land in her mouth once again.

"Gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme gimme!" begged Ibuki like a doggy for a treat. Herman sneaked behind her back so he could do a proper retaliatory strike with his weapon.

"EYESCHLUSS!" he yelled once again, thinking that he had her outmatched, but Ibuki turned towards him at near lightning speed as the sprayed ink landed in her mouth once more. Herman, with his frustrations peaking, had enough of wasting his ink.

"Hmpf, you thought you have won, but I will bring my ace in the hole!" scoffed Herman as he shook his arm at her.

"Oh, this was supposed to be a battle? Ibuki didn't know this, so I am sorry for that, Mr. Octopus! Next time, we could have a battle of sort, like rap battle? That was fun with-" sincerely promised Ibuki, believing that everything up to that moment was just innocent, if infuriating fun.

"SPIN!" Herman silenced her as he slapped the net with all the force he could provide with his arm, causing it to spin at the fast speeds.

"Woa woa woa WOAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!" yelled Ibuki, caught in the middle of the spinning net as the world around her was trapped in an endless motion. After executing his move, Herman jumped off the net and landed on the floor. He observed his caught victim spinning above while hearing her yelps and screams of total surprise.

"We will meet again and you will be baloney!" said Herman before he went away, disappearing from her already murky sight. Ibuki continued spinning around, making incoherent noises as well. At certain point, someone took notice

"I swear, you are one second away from getting a warning over noise disturb-" Byakuya barged in, more than ever before, only to see the very scene laid in front of his eyes. Although it was starting to slow down a bit, the net on the ceiling just kept spinning around. One must wonder how did Ibuki's head endure all of the spinning that happened to her.

"What." was the only proper reaction Byakuya could give to it before he left the dining hall, storming towards class 77-B's classroom with all the agitation he had. Once he arrived, he loudly knocked the door, gaining attention of everyone inside before he opened the door, revealing himself towards them. The students inside were rather confused at the sight of him, some (most notably Mikan Tsumiki) were slightly intimidated by his tall yet imposing stature.

"I suppose you have left a nuisance in the dining hall, because you're-" grumbled Byakuya at them, but they soon realized what it could mean.

"It has happened?!" announced Gundham as he stood up from his chair, kind of startling nearly everyone around him.

"Knew it!" bellowed Nekomaru to himself, pumping his clenched fist. While he felt agitated that it happened again, he saw an opportunity amid the confusion.

"OOOOH!" hollered Teruteru as he raised his frying pan like a knight would raise his sword.

"Tone it down already, geez." scolded Mahiru.

"What has happened? Stop with this vague nonsense and-" demanded Byakuya, but was soon interrupted by others.

"I-Ibuki is in danger!" interjected Mikan in panic, having another realization about her friend.

"Everyone, follow me and be prepared for what are we about to face!" ordered Gundham as some of the classmates followed him in a rush. Others remained inside, either thinking that the situation was not worth their time or just being too confused to react properly. After dashing through the halls, they stormed inside the dining hall, all of them being prepared to face the ever present "threat" that was Herman.

"COME SHOW YOSELF, MADAFAKA!" threatened Teruteru as he pointed his weapon of choice forward, only to lower his guard when he saw Ibuki inside the hanging net. All of them were caught off guard when they saw her like that.

"W-what is happening here?!" piped Mikan at the sight of captured musician above her.

"I...am not sure myself." Hajime

"Akane, come here quick!" requested Nekomaru as he positioned himself below the hanging fish net, making a stool with his hands.

"Roger that, Neko!" responded Akane as dashed towards Nekomaru. After stepping on the "stool", she jumped towards the fish net, grabbing it just in time. Just with her hands alone, she tore the rope that held the fish net on the ceiling apart, falling down with her catch. Landing right on her feet, she tore apart the net itself, pulling Ibuki out of it. The musician girl attempted to stand up normally, but she constantly swayed side to side as her eyes rolled around. She also had some ink on her mouth, but her tongue was almost completely black because of it. Maybe it was because of their past experiences with that octopus, but her classmates were rather shocked to see no ink on her eyes. Meanwhile, Byakuya thought that the whole situation was the stupidest thing he saw that day, being incredibly close to doing a facepalm.

"Hey...uuuuh, Bookers, right? You alright there?" asked Akane to see if she's okay, but also forgetting her name in a moment.

"I see the world spin and spin, it goes round and round and it makes me wild and wild~." sang Ibuki with her head tilting all over the place.

"Hey, are you even listening?!" chided Akane as she shook Ibuki to get some sense back to her.

"N-no, s-stop it! D-don't shake her more, that's gonna make it even worse!" warned Mikan in haste, attempting to reach her hand towards

"Right, sorry about that." apologized Akane before she stopped shaking Ibuki. The musician was still swaying all over, sometimes sticking out her tongue for reasons that might get questioned for a while.

"Heyo-yo, Akane...no wait, three Akanes...Three Akaneeess….Yeaaaaah..." slurred Ibuki as her vision got even blurrier. All she could see were vague traces of her classmates, who seemingly constantly moved around her, despite truth being contrary.

"What are you on about? There's only one of me!" mumbled Akane as she placed Ibuki's hand on her cheek. "See? Only one!"

"And this is already getting moronic. Goodbye." Byakuya had enough of them and just left them alone.

"Wow, your patience sure is amazing." scoffed Hajime, getting already sick of Byakuya's condescending nature.

"Haaaajimeeeee! Is thaaat youuuuu?" Ibuki "Wheeere are youuuu?" Ibuki leaned her head towards where he was supposed to be with her eyes still rolling like crazy, complimented by the constant head tilts.

"I'm...right over here, Ibuki?" Hajime attempted to verbally direct her towards his group.

"Okaaaaay…Ibuki is cooooming! Coooming to the town!" declared Ibuki before she walked in the exact opposite direction of her intended path, walking as if she was an animated clay figure that got hit in the nuts.

"Wait, you're going the wrong way!" cautioned Hajime, but he was too late, as Ibuki suddenly tripped over and fell flat on her face, causing everyone to flinch due the fall looking rather painful.

"Owwwwww…."

"Seriously though, what the hell is up with her?" asked Akane

"I-I think she is is suffering from vertigo, judging how she...moves." analyzed Mikan just from her behavior alone, but it seemed like dizziness had the same affect on Ibuki as if she drank an entire barrel of tequila. Not that Ibuki would ever get drunk….maybe.

"Is this the true power of the Kraken of the Land?!" wondered Gundham, thinking that Herman had some psychokinetic powers along with its wit.

"He might have made her spin while she was in the net...I think." assumed Chiaki after observing the net and Ibuki herself.

"Good thinking there, my minion!" praised Gundham. Mikan attempted to approach Ibuki on the floor, but she also tripped out of a sudden.

"W-waaaah!" yelped Mikan as she fell right on Ibuki's back. It was a good thing for her that Ibuki was already laying on the floor, because it cushioned Mikan's fall, avoiding the face planted fate that her musician friend received. "S-sorry, Ibuki, I d-didn't mean to!"

"The sky is red, like my faceeeeeee! And I have a…..pizzaaaa faaaaceeee…." bumbled Ibuki, not even noticing that her nurse friend was even on her.

"Alright, it's time to take matters in my hands." said Hajime as he stepped towards the sandwiched girls (without tripping!) and picked up Mikan, helping her stand up. She blushed a little when he picked her up, not expecting that a boy would touch her in any sort of way. Then he decided to pick up, placing her arm over his shoulder. When they fully stood up, he carried her like a wounded soldier.

"Ibuki is baloney and baloney is Ibukiiiiii…...I taste like pizza pasta, very pasta, mozarella rella della..." cheerfully mumbled Ibuki as her tilting kept going.

"I think Ibuki just needs to sit somewhere to clear her head. She's gonna be back to her usual self soon enough." advised Hajime, leading her and everyone else out of the dining hall, returning back to their class. However, Gundham and Nekomaru remained in the dining hall.

"Hey, I figured out something about the attacks." stated Nekomaru as he stepped closer to him.

"Say it, apprentice." demanded Gundham.

"It's always a fella or two that gets split from the group. Of course, I'm not counting the attack with eggs in our class, but that could be something to incorporate in our strategy." acknowledged Nekomaru with a smirk on his face.

"Kehehehe….Excellent! We should report that to the Avians of the Faraway Blizzard and the One with the sword!" declared Gundham as both of them left the dining hall once and for all.

The day ended for the Hope's Peak academy as the students of both classes went on their way home. Ibuki, despite returning back to normal, was escorted by Hajime, Chiaki, Mikan and Sonia, just for her safety. Just when it was thought that everyone already went home, Gundham, Nekomaru and Peko, after asking Fuyuhiko for allowance, stepped outside the school, gathering near the entrance. Suddenly, a sign popped out of a seamless bush, saying "Over here!". All of them decided to follow it. After reaching the bush, the sign moved its position through the park as they continued following it. The trees of the park covered them through sunlight while they were busy overcoming any roots of trees and other plants on their way.

After traversing through the tree-infested park, they found themselves standing in front of the doors of a large garage in the middle of the small (although average sized by the standards of the country) car filled street. The gray metallic doors of the garage slowly opened by themselves, revealing a black painted room with a round table in it, which was surrounded by crusty chairs. There was also a laptop on the side, operated by none other by a tall penguin, who seemed to drag the mouse a lot. Gundham, Nekomaru and Peko confidently stepped inside as the doors behind them closer. The light, emitting yellow light, turned on as they faced a chair in front of them, occupied by none other than Skipper. Rico and Private were sitting on chairs around him to look like minions of the mastermind.

"Welcome, boys and girls, to your new hideout!" welcomed Skipper, supporting his head with his flippers to look like some kind of mastermind as his human colleagues sat down on the crusty chairs. "We already set up everything needed for it, so don't worry about anything. Rent is covered by our own pockets!"

"First of all, I must bring you some news that would favor us! We have figured out that Herman-" announced Gundham with all the pride he had in his heart.

"-tends to assault isolated groups of one up to three individuals, humiliating them in any way possible? Yeah, we know that, Overlord. We've been there many times." interjected Skipper, speaking from his experience.

"Oh...I see. So, what is the plan, my fellow avian?" Gundham switched to the promised topic.

"We cooked up something for you!" declared Skipper, bringing up floor plans of each individual floor of Hope's Peak academy with exception of basement on the table."We decided that the first step of it shall be tracking down that octopus fiend!"

"And how are we going to do that?" questioned Peko.

"There are two ways we are going to execute the first step." began Skipper with his plan:

"Option one: We set up the cameras all over the school. Everything will be covered, from classrooms, halls to more obscure places like toilets and air vents. Cameras will cover a large enough field of range to get any corner. Herman will not escape our eyes!"

"Now comes option two: Similar plan, but we set up voice recording devices all over the school. They will be specifically made to detect any noise, even higher and lower frequencies! For those, there would be specific modes. And when we find out Herman..."

"KABOOMA!" interrupted Rico, making a motion of an explosion with his flippers.

"No, Rico, we are not gonna "KABOOMA" the school! That's a crime against humanity!" denied Skipper, just to avoid persecution by International Court of Justice in Hague.

"Awww…." lamented Rico, just wanting to see something explode.

"Anyway, got any objections?" asked Skipper, awaiting their opinions on the matter.

"Wouldn't placing devices like these in places like bathrooms be an intrusion of privacy? No one needs to what someone is doing there..." pointed out Peko, being concerned about the potential exploitation of them.

"We have taken that in consideration, but it is a sacrifice we are willing to take." assured Skipper.

"Sacrifice of...what? What is there to sacrifice over the recordings?" piqued Nekomaru, unsure what he meant.

"...Sanity and feeling of being clean." elaborated Skipper, knowing that they would have to go through a lot of questionable footage to find any clues about Herman's strategy and tactics.

"Oh...oh right! Hahaha!" laughed Nekomaru at the possible situations.

"What would happen if the Kraken of the Land would find those contraptions? Wouldn't that put us at disadvantage?" Gundham brought up a point.

"We will make back ups! Of course, it isn't an issue as long as he doesn't know who put them in the first place. Now, Kowalski, I need your opinion!" answered Skipper with confidence before he turned towards his tall colleague.

"I would suggest going with the voice recording devices. They are much easier to manufacture, less maintenance heavy and they could be made in smaller size, which is optimal for our operation. Cameras would be a lot more sensitive to the environment and Herman could easily exploit it for his own nefarious means. Not to mention, the second option is more financially viable." Kowalski

"It is true that it is easier to blind an eye than to deafen an ear. The die has been cast and the fate decided for the secondary option!" agreed Gundham as he raised his fist in the air.

"What about you two, Muchacho and Peko?" queried Skipper as he pointed at them.

"Option two, it is." both of them confirmed their choice.

"Good! The devices will be delivered after weekend! You will take care of the easy to access strategics points, while we will cover the covert ones, like air vents and such!" said Skipper as he pointed towards the planned points, such as classrooms, halls, the kitchen and even the exterior of the school

"Sir, it appears we have a problem." reported Kowalski amid their plan, still operating on his laptop.

"What is it, Kowalski?" asked Private, turning at him once again.

"I've been searching for them for days and I haven't found a single trace of them!" complained Kowalski while still searching through the best open-source intelligence program one could have: Google Earth.

"Alright, boys and girls, looks like our colleague needs a little bit of assistance! Go go go!" commanded Skipper as everyone, human or penguin, stepped behind Kowalski's back, watching him spy on the streets. One after another, only thing that were shown to them were inconspicuous

buildings, well maintained streets and plenty of silver or white compact cars, parked or not, all over the place. However, there was something that Peko noticed one vehicle that stood out in

"Wait a minute...that black car over there. Should we check it out?" Peko pointed directly at the only black car on the street, redirecting the attention of everyone towards it. Said car was also slightly larger than any vehicle of its kind.

"Huh, aside from being rather big, I never put too much attention to it." remarked Kowalski.

"Kowaski, zoom on it!" ordered Skipper, to which Kowalski scrolled with the wheel on the mouse, zooming in. As he performed the task, the sight on the car became clearer, enabling Kowalski to notice details of it.

"Identify!" commanded Skipper once again.

"I believe that is a Volvo XC90. Judging from the model, it is from the second generation of the production." informed Kowalski as if he was reading an encyclopedia from his mind. Suddenly, it dawned upon Hope's Peak lads and a lass when they heard the name of one particular Swedish car company.

"Holy shit, could that be that car that ran over Nagito that day?!" gasped Nekomaru as he remembered something from before.

"Who is this "Nah-geet-toe" person you speak of?" asked Skipper in a derisive tone. Japanese names were not something he was keen on because he found them confusing and hard to pronounce.

"A mortal with a strange relationship with fortune, I must say." said Gundham in a cautious tone, suspecting certain anomalies regarding that white haired boy.

"Just a classmate of ours." elaborated Nekomaru as concisely as he could.

"We should probably check the registration plate on it. Perhaps that could give us a clue towards Daft Capo." suggested Kowalski, to which he did exactly that. When he inspected the rear registration plate, he found a familiar element. The registration plate had something written on it:

"| I | AC 444XL | (16) BO |"

"Hey...I know this one! That one was in Rotterdam!" remarked Skipper, pointing at the registry before the feeling of absolute triumph overcame him as he pumped his flippers like a fist. "Well boys, we found them!"

"I must thank you for your assistance, allies from Hope's Peak academy. You have greatly decreased our workload." thanked Kowalski, giving them a salute.

"Glad to know that. We will do anything to deter Daft Capo" promised Peko with her arms crossed.

"Fuwahahaha! Consider yourself outfoxed, nefarious Daft Capo! Soon, your day of reckoning shall come!" boasted Gundham like the Supreme Overlord he was.

"OH YEAH, THE ASS KICKING IS COMING REAL SOON!" cheered Nekomaru as he pumped his fists. The members of The Fellowship of Darkness gave each other a series of high fives as a part of their celebration.

"Oh man, I'm feeling pumped up just from your energy, but remember! The true fight has yet to start! But for now, you are dismissed! Thank you for coming here, by the way!" complimented Skipper before their time was up. They waved at each other before the doors of the garage opened. Gundham, Nekomaru and Peko went

"Operation Track & Whack starts next week, boys!" boastfully announced Skipper as he turned towards them, rubbing his flippers like a gleeful planner. The fate of Hope's Peak academy was in the hands of The Fellowship of Darkness.

Chapter 7: Breath of Gentle Air

Chapter Text

The presence of clouds became a predominant in the sky above the city, darkening everything beneath them. Silvery cars slowly drove around the streets as they were accompanied by mostly empty sidewalks. Only salary men and some elderly were walking on them, but they only went for the stores just to buy the needs. Hope's Peak Academy, surrounded by park's trees, itself stood out in the middle of gray flats and skyscrapers. Traversing breeze gently swayed the leaves as the day went on.

Suddenly, in one of the streets, bass boosted music blared through the entire neighborhood. It was less "music" and more of raw concentrated bass causing severe vibrations on every single window surrounding the source. It would be an understatement to say everyone in the neighborhood had quite an awakening.

"What the hell are you doing, you asshole?!" raged one random salary man at the alleged origin of bass boost galore while shaking his fist at it. On the opposite side of random salary man's house, one grumpy old man already opened the window as he held a shoe in his hand, being prepared to throw it at any time. However, the source of the bass boosted "music" bypassed them in a blink of the eye as the bass boosted music suddenly ceased to be in the neighborhood. It was none other than Herman with sunglasses, driving his own fabled yellow Vespa moped on the road. One particular detail was the glued on cardboard, saying "Lamborghini". Two speakers were attached on the sides of the aforementioned vehicle, blasting the bass boosts through them. Those who saw a mere glimpse of him were left completely speechless with their jaws agape, but Herman didn't care as he rode down the road. All it mattered to him was that he had sunglasses on, looking like the most badass octopus that ever rode a moped. Strolling down the roads while drifting at every corner with the bass boost on, he was just speeding through, disregarding any rule during his journey. Much to the confusion of drivers around him, he bypassed everyone on his path.

After speeding through the entire city, he drove through the part, straight at the academy. Just before he reached the entrance of school, he drifted once again, imitating a biker from a certain movie. The drift came to a halt as he stopped completely. He turned off the speakers before he raised sunglasses, looking directly at the school with his usual fare of mischievous intent.

"Time to cause some shit!" announced Herman to himself, jumping off his moped before he sneaked inside the school. Met with the empty halls, he decided that the first targeted destination would be classroom of 77-B. Each footstep (or tentaclestep in this case?) made a squishy noise that echoed through out the hall. When he reached the doors of the destined class, he opened them, only to be met with empty chairs and slightly opened windows. Not even the ever-busy Chisa Yukizome was there, much to his surprise. To him, it felt like the only inhabitants of the classroom were air molecules.

"Hello? Hellooooooooo?" called out Herman, to see if anyone would respond. His callings were answered with just faint silence. He scratched his head in puzzlement before he switched his target: class 78th. After having a squeaky stroll through the barren hallways, he entered it, only for him to be dealing with the same situation as the other class. Greeted by the air molecules again, he slammed the door, disgruntled by the lack of opportunities of potentially angering someone that day. He headed off to check other places, but soon he met another person. An old man with a white beard, who just calmly mopped the floor as he hummed to himself. For a job that is often taken for granted, he was having the moment of his life.

"Hey, old man! Where the mofos at?" asked Herman, still looking around to see if any of his usual targets were present that day.

"Hohoho, young one. Today is weekend! Saturday, to be precise! Everyone is nice and comfy at home. However, one must maintain cleanness. It makes people feel much better." explained the old janitor as he kept mopping the floor with glee. Due to his blurry vision, he thought Herman was just a really tiny student.

"Oh, I see how it is." lamented Herman as he smacked his head with his tentacle arm. Knowing that he had nothing to do here, he decided to leave. "Aw man, was looking up to it, but oh well. Ciao!"

"Farewell, young one! I hope you have a nice day!" the old janitor waved at him like a colleague before the octopus disappeared from his sight. After his venture in school, he returned to his parked moped. Adjusting his position as he jumped on the seat, he then decided to spend his day on other activities, such as….

"Time to get carbonara then!" declared Herman before he scooted off towards the nearest market in the city. He was merciful enough to not blare bass boosted "music" once again, though it's a question if it was an intentional choice of his or he just forgot at that moment. Even though he had a new goal in his head, he couldn't help to not wonder about one thing: where were the students of Hope's Peak Academy at?

About one hour away from Hope's Peak if you went by foot, there was one house among the many in the neighborhood. There was nothing particularly notable about it, with its brown roof and white walls blending in with many other houses around it. Inside of it, it consisted of one floor with few sections: a living room combined with kitchen, a bathroom (with toilet) and a bedroom. The living room, surrounded by white walls and having few large windows as sources of natural light, had every furniture necessary for it, but one thing stood out: there were various kinds of consoles, retro and modern, beneath the television. Handheld consoles were placed on the bookcase next to it. On the opposite end, there was another bookcase filled with nearly endless amount of games of many genres, which could be played on the intended systems. There were a few toys of various video game characters placed around the room as well.

The bedroom consisted of a single bed and a nightstand with a tiny lamp on it, accompanied by an electric clock. Electrical sockets near the bed were occupied by chargers for handheld consoles. On one side of the bright pink walls, there was a poster of a cute bunny like protagonist from some game. One person, who went by the name of Chiaki Nanami, was sleeping soundly in the bed, snoring like a little hummingbird while tightly hugging a big bunny plushie that looked like a hero of a magical girl anime. She was unconsciously drooling a little bit during her cozy slumber. Her head was placed on a big soft pillow with a handheld console beneath it.

Suddenly, the bell rang. Even though the sound of the ringing bell went through out the entire house, Chiaki was still heavily sleeping. It rang once again, but to no avail. The ringing bell was quickly replaced by the gentle knocking on the door, which did accomplish at making Chiaki wake up once and for all. She slowly opened her eyes, with her vision being quite blurry. After one rub, she could clearly see the surroundings.

"Hmm? Who could it be?" wondered Chiaki before she stood up and checked the time. By the time she completely woke up, it was already twelve o'clock. Realizing on how much she has slept, she went to the door as quickly and drowsily as she could. She was still in her pink Pajama with bunny symbols on it. Just when she opened the door, she saw a person that was instantly familiar to her. A sudden burst of positive energy appeared within her when she saw her tiny brunette friend.

"G-good morning, Chiaki." greeted Chihiro, standing right in front of her, holding a laptop bag.

"Ah, good morning, Chihiro! It's so nice to see you." welcomed Chiaki as she smiled, inviting her friend by opening the door even more. "Please come in."

"I j-just hope I didn't disturb you or anything..." quavered Chihiro, wondering if anything wrong happened, considering how slightly drowsy she looked.

"It's okay, you are more than welcome here. You are the first friend to ever visit me." reassured Chiaki, placing her hand on her chest. Judging by her voice, she seemed genuinely moved by Chihiro's visit.

"...The very first one?" thought Chihiro to himself as some concerns about her appeared in his mind. As he stepped inside, he took off his shoes and borrowed one of Chiaki's pink gaming-themed slippers. Both of them then sat on a couch as they looked at each other in their eyes. Chihiro placed the laptop bag on the table, just so it wouldn't get in their way.

"So...erm...how are you today?" asked Chihiro, trying to start a conversation with her.

"I just woke up, but I did have an interesting dream today...I think." said Chiaki, taking some to put the words together.

"D-did I disrupt your dream? I-I'm sorry..." apologized Chihiro, trembling at the thought of possibly annoying, let alone hurting her.

"No, it ended way before you arrived. Sorry about not coming in earlier, I was…..a little sleepy." reassured Chiaki, severely calming down her friend with just her voice. "Would you like to hear about it?"

"Anything from you, Chiaki." smiled Chihiro. Just by her presence alone, he could feel comfort in his heart.

"Alright so, it started with me laying on the field filled with gentle flowers. I stared at the nightly sky, flooded with shooting stars. I tried to come up with a wish, but then a dark cloud absorbed all the stars. The dark cloud turned out to be a cosmic monster and it lunged straight at me. I was really scared, but luckily, a hero of the stars arrived to the scene! Just before the hero would fight the dark cloud….the dream ended. It's a shame, because I really wanted to see cool moves the hero of the stars would do." rambled Chiaki, attempting to describe her dream as best as she could from her memory. Chihiro listened her tale with joy fluttering in his heart, even wanting to hear more. He felt slight fear when the cosmic monster was mentioned, but that fear was slain by the mention of hero of the stars.

"Wow, what a dream! Thank goodness for hero of the stars, he saved dream you's life!" chirped Chihiro as the mental image of her dream played in his head. "Would you mind if you tell me how do you get such imaginative dreams, please?"

"...I might have played Pinkie Boye: Stargang Saga too much last night. That, or Galaxy Heroes Advance. Both games deal with space, but Galaxy Heroes Advance has a really unique way of dealing with it. It takes a more atmospheric approach, making you feel truly there. I often imagine myself just floating in space, looking at the all bright stars when I listen to Galaxy Heroes Advance's soundtrack." admitted Chiaki in slight embarrassment before she went into a full dork mode once again.

"I wonder how would that feel like. I'm pretty sure that astronauts felt a lot of awe when they saw Earth from space." remarked Chihiro as he started thinking about the cosmos. He also wanted to ask if they could play either games, but the fear of rejection overwhelmed him that moment.

"Space is….scary. It's just so...vast, when you put it in perspective. I have never been outside of this city, let alone off from Earth. I'm not sure if I would go there by myself..." faltered Chiaki, sometimes getting lost in her thoughts while thinking about the same thing.

"Y-yeah, I can see why. Even the observable universe is just a tiny fraction of the ever expanding infinity. It...gives me chills when I start thinking about it." concurred Chihiro as he put both of his hands on his chest.

"..but if somebody were on my side, I'd go there with joy. I would love to see the stars with someone together." said Chiaki with a mellow smile on her face. Every time Chihiro saw her smile, he couldn't help but feel even happier around her.

"Oooh, that would be really cool!" cheered Chihiro, clenching his fists in excitement before he remembered about something she has expressed interest in days earlier. "Not to disrupt anything, but I do wanna show you something, if you don't mind."

"Is it the AI you've been working on?" asked Chiaki, immediately knowing what her friend was referring to.

"Yes! I didn't do that much as of now, but there's been some progress. Basic features of it have been fully completed, now I have to do more advanced capabilities of the AI." started Chihiro, giving some precautions to not let her expectations rise up too highly.

"I do wanna see it!" chirped Chiaki, pumping her fists as if she just heard news about games that was really looking forward to being released.

"O-oh, o-okay." stuttered Chihiro, being floored by his friend's enthusiasm. He brought the laptop bag to the coach, opening it to reveal his own personal laptop. Booting it up, he then clicked on the microchip shaped icon. The program started running as some kind of virtual room appeared on the screen. Judging from the bed alone, it could be assumed that the program took place in a bedroom. It appeared to be a sunny day inside the program, contrary to the cloudy reality.

"This is just a prototype as of now. It serves as my template for the future works. I think it would be best to show a little demonstration." explained Chihiro as Chiaki eagerly watched the screen, with her eyes almost being glued to the screen. Suddenly, a sprite of a cartoony bunny appeared in the virtual room.

"HE-LLO!" greeted the bunny sprite as it waved right at them. Chiaki made a little hop on the couch when the bunny sprite popped on the screen.

"Oh! Hey hey!" responded Chiaki as she waved at the virtual bunny as if it were a real person. "My name is Chiaki Nanami. What's yours?"

None than less, Chihiro just in complete shock by her ever exceeding enthusiasm.

"T-this is the AI itself. Her name is Takashi and it would really like to meet new people. If you wanna talk to her, you should say a thing. Only thing she currently knows how to initiate is the greeting." elaborated Chihiro while showcasing her the AI.

"Oh, I see! How are you, Takashi?" eagerly asked Chiaki.

"I-AM-GOOD! THANKS-FOR-ASKING! IT-IS-ALWAYS-GOOD-TO-CHECK-FEELINGS-OF-OTHERS!" answered Takashi in a monotone but somewhat peppy synthesized voice. It seemed that her voice was made from Chihiro's samples.

"Mhm! You're right. It's always good to do that." nodded Chiaki. Despite the boundaries between them, Chiaki could relate to her. It was something about the AI that she felt really close to.

"O-oh wow, you two got along really fast...This was...unexpected." noted Chihiro as he continued observing their interaction, but deep down he was feeling incredibly relieved, wanting to see them talk to each other more.

"What do you usually do, Takashi?" asked Chiaki once again in the same eagerness as before.

"I-AM-HERE, WAITING-FOR-FRIENDS. I-REALLY-WANT-TO-MEET-THEM!" Takashi told her wish to her new human friend. Despite the lack of emotion in AI's voice, there was some sincerity behind it, which both of them could feel.

"Oh, there is someone who you might like...I think." Chiaki got an idea as she went to her bedroom out of a sudden.

"W-wait, is there someone else here?" stammered Chihiro, not expecting anyone else to be visiting her. While there was some uncertainty on his mind, he imagined that the unexpected visitor was either Makoto or Hajime. They were cool dudes in his book. Such thoughts relieved him of potential stress.

Suddenly, Chiaki returned to the living room with a big magical girl-like bunny plushie in her hands. While it wasn't exactly the last thing Chihiro expected, it still kind of caught him off guard.

"Oh...a plushie?" asked Chihiro at the sight of Chiaki's big bunny plushie.

"Chihiro and Takashi, please meet Usami. She is my friend that accompanies me...when I sleep. Nights become a lot...a lot…..more comfortable...when….she's around…." Chiaki tried to introduce her plushy friend, but soon faltered from the ever increasing embarrassment, that she revealed something she could be probably judged for. She buried her face in in, trying to hide how completely red her face was.

"Hello!" Chiaki imitated a high pitched voice as if the plushie spoke by itself, muffled by her buried face. She moved plushie's arm a little bit, imitating hand waves at Takashi.

"It's okay, Chiaki. It's always good to have something to comfort you, especially in the tough times." reassured Chihiro, taking some cues from Chiaki. He felt that it would be fair to help her as well, considering how much she was on his side.

"So...it's not weird, even though I am a student?" squeaked Chiaki as she peeked from her plushie.

"Not at all!" resounded Chihiro, sounding rather surprisingly determined in his statement, contrary to his usual meek demeanor. He believed that if that's what was needed to do to help his friend just even a little bit, so be it.

"Thanks..." blushed Chiaki as she stopped covering her face in the plushie before she focused on both Chihiro and Takashi.

"Wait, can Takashi sees us?" suddenly asked Chiaki after a possible scenario of Takashi not even recognizing what was going on.

"Yes! She uses laptop's camera to observe the surroundings." answered Chihiro, pointing at the camera on top of his device. Takashi tilted her head before she started jumping from happiness from meeting a new friend.

"A-BUNNY, JUST-LIKE-ME! THANK-YOU, CHIAKI, FOR MAKING MY DAY BETTER!" complimented Takashi, choppily flailing her arms around like an excited 8-bit kid.

"Hehehe...that really went well. But I have to put Takashi on a hold. Still have a lot of things to do around her." concluded Chihiro, thinking that demonstration, as much as she enjoyed it, had to be over. He didn't want the day to be focused just around his interests, wanting to give Chiaki something to do as well.

"Awww….goodbye, Takashi." lamented Chiaki, slowly waving at Takashi. To her, it felt like she was goodbye to friends after an unforgettable birthday party.

"GOODBYE! HAVE-A-NICE-DAY!" said Takashi before she went to "sleep". As she entered the lands of digitized dreams, Chihiro closed the program before shutting down the laptop as well. Two of them looked at each other in the eyes again.

"So...did you like it?" asked Chihiro, just to be completely sure. It's better to be 100% sure than 75% sure, after all.

"That was just so cool! I really loved how you based the sprite around the 8 bit era and Takashi was just so cute!" gushed Chiaki, which confirmed the imagined outcome he had in his head.

"I'll take that as a bold yes! I'll show you more of Takashi once more features get implemented." promised Chihiro while also looking forward to showing her possible improvements of his AI. Then he attempted to initiate the thing he wanted a little while back. "Um...Chiaki, can I ask you something?"

"Hm? What's up, Chihiro?" asked Chiaki, tilting her head in curiosity.

"Now that you've seen my thing...can we play something together?" requested Chihiro

"Anything! Anything you want, Chihiro!" chirped Chiaki, going in full dork mode once again.

"How silly of me….it should have been obvious that she would accept it." thought Chihiro to himself, thinking that he shouldn't have worried about her rejecting his offer in the first place.

Chiaki and Chihiro stepped towards the bookcase filled with video games of all genres. Game after game, Chiaki observed them, looking for the game that Chihiro would like to play. Seeing how Chiaki kept looking at the games reminded Chihiro of navigating through the various strings of code during his programming sessions.

"What would you like to play?" asked Chiaki as she kept looking at the games.

"W-well….something calm and relaxing, but also something that we could play together." suggested Chihiro, being in the mood just to do things together with her.

"Hmmm….How about Fiesta Festival: Tropical Breeze?" piqued Chiaki, pulling out a small notebook-sized box out of the bookcase. The art of it depicted heavily stylized but friendly looking humans on an island. Some of the tiny people were drawn lying on the beach, observing a smiley faced sun, who provided them with light yet comfy sun rays.

"That sounds like a relaxing game. We could play that….though it might take a while to get used to it." approved Chihiro, but not before the worries of possibly infuriating her over him being not good at the game appeared in his mind.

"The game is pretty easy to get in. It's an island management simulator, you can do almost anything in it. Controls are pretty intuitive, so that even people with no experience in gaming could easily hop in." explained Chiaki while also reassuring him that nothing bad will happen during their playthrough.

"Phew...that sounds comforting..." uttered Chihiro as the worries disappeared once again. Chiaki opened the box and popped the game in her Hybrid Entertainment System, a console that could be played both on TV and in handheld mode if desired. She gave him a controller before she went for her own, offering him a way to join in. After clicking on the Fiesta Festival icon, the game booted up, revealing a title screen made out of a colorful silhouette of an island with happy stickmen on it. They made choppy movements, reminiscent of Takashi's animations. Chiaki pressed the start button as the game started.

Two tiny girls, one brunette and other a pinkhead, appeared on the sandy beaches of the island. Pinkhead girl started walking towards the palm trees as the brunette girl followed her. Both of them gathered around it to see what the tree had for them. A bunch of coconuts were on it, just hanging on as they were being swayed by the breeze. By the press of the A button on the controller, Chiaki made the pinkhead girl shake the palm tree as one coconut fell from it. Chihiro's character cautiously approached the tree, standing in front of it. He hesitated to press any button, thinking that any wrong move could ruin the game. Chiaki pointed at the A button on his controller, which he pressed it. Another coconut fell from the tree before the brunette gal picked it up. After the whole sequence of events, Chihiro got the whole gist of the game as he started playing it with ease in his mind.

After some time of playing the game together, two of the characters in it made two simplistic toys out of coconuts. Pinkhead girl and brunette gal played with the dolls like two babies, roleplaying as two adventurers going on a grandiose quest to save the world from evil forces. Despite the whole premise being rather questionable for those who seek thrill and adrenaline, two dorks that were playing the game together were having an absolute blast. Chihiro even got fully comfortable playing the game, knowing that no matter what happened in it, everything would turn out okay in the end. They even made a little house out of wood, which would serve as a residence for their characters.

Suddenly, Chihiro felt a strange sensation in his stomach. He tapped his tummy to see if everything is alright with it.

"Hey, Chiaki….not to bother, but I'm feeling kinda hungry right now…." confessed Chihiro.

"Oh, then we should take a break. To be honest, I...forgot to eat my breakfast….a lot...I'm a little bit hungry too." admitted Chiaki with some pauses in her speech.

"Y-you often forget?" wondered Chihiro in his head. There are things about her that he couldn't stop worrying about at times.

Chiaki paused the game as both of them went to the kitchen, stepping closer to the ordinary fridge. She opened the fridge before she let Chihiro pick something he wanted at that moment. Her brunette friend chose just one chocolate pudding while the game loving gal picked a strawberry yogurt. Both of them went to the table and sat behind it, eating their tiny meals with tea spoons. Suddenly, when they were busy eating, Chiaki's eyes started to slowly close like a sleepy kitten.

"….I am a little...sleepy…." yawned Chiaki before she seemingly fell asleep.

"W-wait!" fretted Chihiro, attempting to stop her fall in slumber, but he was too late. He lightly tapped her shoulder to see if she would react, but he hesitated in waking her up. A moment later, Chiaki opened her right eye as she had a silly smile on her face.

"Got you~." giggled Chiaki, knowing that he fell for her little prank. Chihiro's face became completely red from embarrassment, but it soon turned into an innocent laughter. Both of them had a laugh, but Chiaki actually nearly fell asleep at that moment, she just managed to cover it up just in time. When they finished eating their meals, they returned playing video games, which they spent the rest of the day, but sometimes they did mix up with some of programming showcases on Fujisaki's side. Chiaki and Chihiro learned a lot from each other that day.

The sun was about to set as their moments of being together seemed to be gradually vanishing. If it weren't for the clouds, there would have been a very beautiful sunset at the very least. Both of them sat on the couch, with Chihiro looking quite uncertain about future.

"Hey, Chiaki….it's getting a bit late, isn't it?" reluctantly reminded Chihiro, not wanting to leave her at all, but he felt like their time was ending. He also didn't want to cause his parents to worry, so he was left conflicted on what to do.

"...Does that mean...?" asked Chiaki, not being prepared for saying goodbye to him. A little somber frown appeared on her face, knowing that once he leaves her, her status quo would return. A status quo she particularly didn't enjoy.

"I'm afraid so..." confirmed Chihiro. Chiaki remained silent, but she somberly looked at the floor with her arms close to the body. It didn't help her that she felt that she could do nothing about it, that their abrupt departure is inevitable. The amount of guilt that Chihiro felt after seeing her like that was immeasurable, he couldn't just leave her alone like that with clear consciousness.

"W-wait! Maybe it's not the time to go home just yet. I'll have to convince my parents about it….I hope they allow it…." proposed Chihiro as he brought up his phone from the laptop bag.

"I hope they do…." murmured Chiaki, hoping that they could spend time together just a little more. Chi

"Hey, mom. I wanna ask you something….can I stay at Chiaki's house for this night, please?" asked Chihiro through the phone. Both of them anxiously awaited the answer, hoping for the approval.

"W-wait really?!" Chihiro suddenly gasped after hearing mother's answer. Chiaki got startled from his reaction, quickly focusing her eyes on him. "I-I can...stay through out the whole weekend?"

Hearing the answer vanquished away all the uneasiness they had. A small, yet poignant smile appeared on Chihiro's face while Chiaki was bouncing on the couch from sheer joy.

"Thank you, Mom! Thank you so much!….Don't worry, I'm gonna take care...Bye, mom." tearfully smiled Chihiro before he ended the call as he happily turned towards his friend.

"Hehehe….looks like I'm staying with you for quite some time." said Chihiro as he tried to dry up his tears of happiness.

"We could do so much stuff together during the weekend! Imagine all the games we could play! Oh, we should also invite Takashi as well!" beamed Chiaki, still hopping on the couch like an excited bunny. Just the idea of them being together for the entire weekend filled her with absolute positive energy.

"Oh, just to mention it, my mom wants to meet you one day. It came off as a big surprise that I expressed a desire to stay at someone's home." added Chihiro, surprising his friend a little bit.

"I'd...love to meet her too." said Chiaki while thinking how did his parents look like. On Chihiro's end, he wondered where were her parents. They spent rest of the evening having fun together, be it through video games, playing board games or even just through a relaxing chat.

The night had arrived as both dorks were about to enter the land of slumber. Chihiro borrowed one of Chiaki's Pajamas because he didn't expect to remain there at all. They were sitting on the couch, still playing video games. However, Chihiro started to drowsily blink while trying to stay awake as much as he could.

"Chiaki...I'm a little sleepy now, but I don't know where will each of us sleep." admitted Chihiro as he let out a tiny yawn. Chiaki then stood up and lead him to her bedroom. As they entered it, they were "greeted" by the big bunny plushie from before, who occupied the bed.

"You can sleep in my bed, if you want. It's a lot more comfortable sleeping on it than on a couch." offered Chiaki as both of them sat down on the bed.

"W-w-w-wait! W-where will you sleep?" stammered Chihiro as he thought that it would be a better idea for him to sleep on the couch.

"We can sleep together...I think." suggested Chiaki out of a sudden.

"U-uh…...uuuuuuhhhh….." completely faltered Chihiro with his face being red like a cherry. Not even once in his life he imagined sleeping with a girl in a same bed.

"I promise you it's gonna be okay, Chihiro. After all, we are friends, right? You make me feel comfort when you're around." consoled Chiaki while spilling out her true thoughts about him. Hearing her say such things made Chihiro freeze before tears started to pile up in his eyes.

"...I...I...don't deserve such kindness..." wept Chihiro as his arms started to tremble.

"Awww, of course you do..." reassured Chiaki before hugging him as tightly as she could. He felt warmth in her hug as he hugged her back in response, continuing with crying. "You were one of the biggest reasons why I volunteered to visit your classroom for the exchange day. I was really worried that things could go wrong, but when I thought of you, all of my worries went away."

"I haven't done much..." sniffled Chihiro, trying to downplay himself.

"Chihiro...you have already done a lot..." comforted Chiaki before she leaned closer to him.

"Thank you so much for visiting me...It...it means a lot to me." quietly confessed Chiaki, hugging him even more. When he heard her statement, he noticed a quiver in her voice. Just from that quiver, he felt great amount of loneliness inside of her. He came to a realization that just by visiting her, he gave her something she always wanted, but couldn't get for most of her life.

"I'm...I'm gonna try my best...try my best for you, Chiaki." promised Chihiro, hugging her even more. Then, both of them laid down on the bed, still hugging each other as they looked at each other, with both of them filled with desire to help each other out during the harshest of times.

"I see that your heart has calmed down. Would you be able to sleep easier like this?" smiled Chiaki as she caressed his hair, just to comfort him even more.

"Y-yes, it does help….I'm actually really excited for tomorrow...but now, lets have a rest, shall we?" chuckled Chihiro with some tears in his eyes, but he felt much more relaxed with her presence.

"Yeah….good night, Chihiro. Sweet dreams." smiled Chiaki before she closed her eyes, falling asleep in seconds. He took one more look at her for that day and he realized how pretty she was in his eyes. Seeing her just sleeping without a worry could only bring him more happiness for that moment.

"Good night, Chiaki…." whispered Chihiro before he fell asleep in Chiaki's grip, comfortably entering the land of slumber. Even during the dark, cold night, the warmth of each other kept them comfy during their gentle sleep.

 

Chapter 8: Little Sip of Coffee

Chapter Text

Raindrops fell down on the window as two dorks still slept in one bed. The moody light, desaturated by dark gray clouds, shone on their sleepy faces. She was still hugging him, just like before they went to sleep. The electronic clock on the nightstand displayed 9:00 AM in bright light. Two sleeping students were surrounded by calm silence, which was only slightly disrupted by Chiaki's quiet snoring.

Chihiro slowly but surely woke up, seeing her right in front of his eyes. Just by seeing her in a comfortable slumber made his morning already. He gently caressed her hair, just to get a feel of it, before he was interrupted by her letting out a huge prolonged yawn. Had his hand been placed somewhere else, Chiaki could have potentially nibbled it by accident.

"Good morning, Chihiro." smiled Chiaki as she slowly opened her eyes. Her waking up worked as a supplement for sunrise, since the sky was covered in clouds that day.

"M-morning, Chiaki." stuttered Chihiro, not expecting her to notice at all. Chiaki just giggled before both of them went out of the bed in order to brush their teeth. After they were done with brushing their teeth, they went towards the living room. Both of them sat down on the couch, leaning comfortably on it at the same time.

"So, do you recommend any games to play today?" asked Chiaki without hesitation as she looked at him with a smile.

"W-well, it should be your turn now. I already picked a game yesterday." advised Chihiro, thinking that it felt unfair that she doesn't get to choose by herself.

"You are always welcome to pick a game." insisted Chiaki, tilting her head. Already pleased that her friend was more than welcome about playing games with her, she tried to tailor his experience in games towards his liking as much as she could.

"I-if you say so, but I still think you should choose as well. How about we have something...space related?" suggested Chihiro, remembering the discussion about space they had that day. Chiaki stood up and started searching through the massive library of games, trying to find a perfect game for them to play.

"Hmmmm…..how about Gala Omega? This one is one of my favorite franchises of all time." recommended Chiaki as she picked up a box, which depicted a white triangle shaped spaceship cruising through the cosmos. It was the exact same spacecraft that she had on in a form of a hairpin. There were also some extraterrestrial beings on it, charging towards the speeding space vessel. Apparently, it was the latest port of the first game in the series.

"Oh! That one could work!" happily nodded Chihiro before Chiaki popped in the game in the console. She pressed the power button on the console, turning it on before the menu screen appeared in front of them. After pressing start, the game immediately started with two spaceships at the bottom while the sprites of hostile extraterrestrials floated above, ready to throw projectiles at each player. Both of them started blasting away in order to defend Earth against the forces of evil. Just by Chiaki's reflexes alone, the aliens were quickly moved down by her spaceship, while Chihiro was lagging behind a bit. Some of his shots were complete misses, but that didn't stop him from trying to defend Earth. None than less, both of them had a lot of fun just relaxing in the morning and playing a wee bit more adrenaline inducing game than before.

Suddenly, a series of knocks on the door were heard, startling Chihiro in the process. Noticing that he was still in his Pajamas, he quickly ran to the bathroom so that he could change his clothes. Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity before she paused the game.

"Huh, who could that be?" wondered Chiaki as she went towards the door, still in her Pajamas. Just before she opened the door, Chihiro, in his everyday attire, quickly ran towards the door before stopping right behind her, in order to hide from any possible danger. When she finally opened the door, it was revealed that the person behind the knocks was none other than a lively musician gal by the name of Ibuki Mioda, who held a big rainbow umbrella in her hands.

"Goooood nom-nom-nom-morning, everyone!" greeted Ibuki in the way only a person named Ibuki Mioda would: by doing a little spin and a dance before giving both of them a V sign with her hand.

"Ibuki?" perplexed Chiaki, tilting her head once again.

"T-that was a surprise." admitted Chihiro as he peeked behind Chiaki's shoulder before he recognized the person in front of him.

"Yup, just like Ibuki intended!" admitted Ibuki before striking another pose. In spite of all logic, her nose got pointier for a second.

"Is everything alright, Ibuki? Last time, you didn't seem so well." Chiaki didn't hesitate to express her worries to her. It was the first thing that appeared in her mind.

"Ibuki is in a pristine condition today! Though, yesterday was a little doozy. My brain was still rolling all over my head. All I could do that day was lay on my couch and sing karaoke of 80's anime openings...it was not best of my performance, I must admit." assured Ibuki, tapping her own head just to be sure.

"I'm just glad that you are not hurt." said Chiaki in relief.

"Don't worry about it, I am always gonna find a way!" Ibuki chirped on, not letting the former dizziness stopping her from being like she usually is.

"W-wait, what happened?" queried Chihiro due him being out of the loop from that day.

"It's...a long story." mumbled Ibuki, remembering her encounter with a certain someone before she decided to focus on the present instead. She didn't allow her mood to be soured over a past event. "So, what are you up, gorgeous girls?"

"We were just playing games together after having breakfast." answered Chiaki, to which her tinier friend nodded.

"It wasn't much, really. Day has only started for us." added Chihiro.

"Oh oh, I see I see! Are you two busy at the moment orrrr…?" asked Ibuki, swaying left and right out of curiosity like a pendulum.

"Not really, I think." said Chiaki after staring contemplatively at the sky as she tried to

"YES! That means I can invite you to a place that I love to go!" cheered Ibuki, pumping her fists as she hopped around in excitement. "I even convinced Hajime to go along! Though it did take a while, because Ibuki was like "I am inviting you!" and then I told him about it and then he was like "….Maybe" and then Ibuki was like "pleeeeeaaaseeee" and Ibuki gave him this look!"

As she was telling them her story of how she convinced the tall ahoge lad on her journey, she made puppy dog eyes in order to demonstrate her ability to persuade people on her side. Chihiro blushed at the sight of Ibuki's cute pleading stare. She even imitated having cat paws to the maximum effect, which even got Chiaki blushing a bit.

"I-it's...pretty hard to resist when you look at someone like that." stuttered Chihiro as he succumbed to the influence of Ibuki's cat-like pose. Even though she didn't react in the same way as Chihiro, Chiaki also fell under Ibuki's power.

"Where do you plan to take us?" piqued Chiaki.

"Hehehe, it's a surprise! Just one tiny thing though, because Ibuki wants to make sure…" giggled Ibuki, which only raised curiosity for both of them even more.

"Do either of you have any allergies? It might not be a good idea to go if you have them, I don't want to potentially make you sick or worse…" asked Ibuki out of a sudden, surprising both of them in the process.

"I don't...I think." answered Chiaki before she thought about if she had any allergies at all.

"M-me neither, but are you taking us to something like a pet shop? It would make sense for a question like that." assumed Chihiro. He thought that it would be most likely for them to visit a pet shop full of cats, judging by Ibuki's mannerisms from before.

"Nah nah nah, Ibuki's taking you two to somewhere even better!" winked Ibuki as she tilted a bit.

"Even better?" wondered Chihiro, considering that his assumption was confirmed to be false.

"I wonder what kind of a surprise it is. Sometimes, when playing something like an open world game, one of the best feelings a player could have is discovering secrets in an unexplored area." said Chiaki in her own terms. Just like her friend, she also wondered where would they go.

"So, Ibuki takes that as a yes, yes?" Ibuki nudged in, leaning towards them as she playfully stuck out her tongue.

"Well, I would love to see the place you find a lot of fun. It's been a first time someone invited me somewhere." approved Chiaki with a smile on her face. Even if she didn't know what was their location, she was just happy that she had a company.

"Yeah…it does sound nice." welcomed Chihiro as well. While he thought that the place they will visit could have been potentially scary, he shrugged off that thought because it seemed very unlikely for someone such as Ibuki to take them to a dangerous place.

"YAHOO! Let's-a-go!" cheered Ibuki as she jumped in the air with a raised fist, imitating a certain plumber.

"Okie dokie!" Chiaki couldn't resist complementing a reference, pumping her fists in excitement before she got a little embarrassed. Neither Ibuki nor Chihiro didn't mind too much, only thing they did was giggle at how excited she got at a mere reference of a video game. Soon, both of them stepped out, but not before Chihiro tapped on her shoulder, stopping her before it was too late.

"Umm...Chiaki? You still have your Pajamas on." reminded Chihiro as he pointed at her, still in her bunny-like Pajamas.

"Wohohoho! Are we gonna go all in Pajamas outside? That would be soooooo cuuuuuuute!" cheered Ibuki at the idea of a PJ walk. "It's a shame I forgot my PJ at home, though."

"Oh...right." blushed Chiaki before she went inside. Once she returned, she had her usual cardigan on, along with a white buttoned shirt, beige skirt and black thigh high stockings. She also brought in a backpack, where she stored her wallet just in case. Slight embarrassment hasn't left her when she returned.

"Sorry, just forgot to change, that is all." apologized Chiaki before they went on their way towards the desired yet unknown destination. Both Chiaki and Chihiro went under Ibuki's umbrella to hide from the rain as the musician lead them to the desired place.

After passing through street after street in a city filled with flats and skyscrapers that had an overwhelming amount of glass built within them, they arrived at a place, where buildings had giant billboards on them, advertising any new electronic based product, be it something for entertainment or for practical usage. Former category was predominant, as most of the billboards focused on advertising latest releases of video games or anime. The area was also filled with all kinds of electronic related stores, storing various of kinds of equipment in them. As they passed through the electronic filled area, Chihiro noticed one particular store with computer components. He stopped for a bit to observe from outside, also noticing that the store was selling personal computers and laptops of various kinds as well. There were even computers that were way past their prime, such as Commodore 64 and ZX Spectrum, to name a few. The girls accompanying him also stopped to see what was he so curious about.

"Hey, sorry to bother, but can we check this store afterwards?" asked Chihiro as he meekly pointed at all the computer parts in the store. Chiaki wondered if computer store had any retro games in it, considering that the sight of a Commodore 64 was quite familiar with her.

"Of course! Right after our visit!" approved Ibuki, making Chihiro beam in happiness. After their little peak, they continued their journey towards the destination that only Ibuki truly knew. With each step they took, they passed store after store.

"Oh, by the way, after we discover the secret location, we can also go to places where you two would like to be." suggested Ibuki.

"Heh, that would be fun." nodded Chihiro.

"How about you, Chiaki?" Ibuki turned towards her, but she was gone from her sight. Both of them were startled by her sudden disappearance.

"Erm, Chiaki?" stammered Chihiro as both of them looked around to see if she was near them.

"Chiakiiiiiiiii!" Ibuki called out for her as the fabled musician, along with her programmer friend, began searching for her through out Akihabara, only to find her standing in front of a gaming store that was just a bit further away than expected. Her face was glued to glass as she stared at all the games inside the store with sparkles in her eyes. It was like she was in trance when she kept looking at them, with one game about some futuristic hero with a laser sword facing off against a giant gray gorilla-like mecha getting the most attention from her. Once Ibuki and Chihiro stepped closer to her, the former tapped Chiaki on her shoulder. Upon seeing that she was still staring at video games, Ibuki tapped her ever harder (but just a bit, it wasn't exactly too hard), startling Chiaki in the process. The once glued-to-the-glass gal turned towards her friends as she blushed like a little strawberry.

"Sorry, I just really wanted to check this store." apologized Chiaki as she put her hoodie on her head out of slight embarrassment.

"It's okay!" reassured Ibuki, giving her a pat on her head, "Everyone wanders off at times...though Ibuki might be a champ in this though."

"J-just tell us where you go next time." cautioned Chihiro, trembling a little from before out of concern.

"Understood. I didn't want you to worry about me." nodded Chiaki before they continued their path to the destination.

After so much time navigating through the labyrinth of stores, Ibuki saw their destination right in front of her eyes. She dashed off to it before stopping right in front of the entrance, which resided in the alleyway. A chalkboard sign accompanied the entrance, which had beverages listed on it along with the prices of each drink. A set of construction-like stairs were far behind the sign, leading towards the darkness of the alleyway. Contrast to the darkness of the alleyway, the entrance of the destination was brightly lit by the accompanying lights.

"Tadaaa! Here we are!" announced Ibuki as she pointed towards a cafe, but it certainly wasn't just an ordinary cafe. It was the one that went by the name of MayQueen+Nyan2, famous for its overwhelming focus on cat girl maid. The logo above the doors was in a shape of a cat's head, with two mannequins dressed in two different maid costumes.

"A cat cafe?" asked Chihiro at the sight of the aforementioned cafe.

"Not just cat cafe, a maid cat girl cafe! This is the closest humanity has reached heaven!" cheerfully elaborated Ibuki while jumping around from excitement.

"Cat girls? Like those often found in games about magical girls?" wondered Chiaki with her memory of one certain game about magical girls that she played way before she joined Hope's Peak being still fresh in her mind.

"Yep yep, but we have real cat girls here! Ah, Ibuki can't wait!" confirmed Ibuki before she opened the doors to the cafe, allowing both Chihiro and Chiaki to go inside. Both of them entered the cafe at the same time while Ibuki went inside last when all of them were in it. The cafe was full of tables with two chairs at the side, somewhat brightly lit by the light from the outside. It wasn't as bright as it usually is due to rainy clouds. There were many people inside the cafe, but one of them stood out for the gang: Hajime Hinata, just sitting behind his own table while wearing cat ears. The gang quickly stepped to his table and sat down. Chiaki and Chihiro occupied the table next to them while Ibuki stood up the moment before she was just about to adjust her rear on the seat and went somewhere.

"Hey, Hajime!" greeted Chiaki as she waved at him. He turned to her, slightly embarrassed that she saw him wearing cat ears.

"I don't think any explanation would be sufficient for this." said Hajime in a completely deadpan tone, accompanied by a completely deadpan expression. Suddenly, Ibuki returned to them, holding two black cat ear bands.

"Pomf pomf!" exclaimed Ibuki as she put the bands right on Chihiro and Chiaki's heads before she sat down in front of Hajime again. "Here we go!"

While Chiaki just noticed the band and lightly touched it, Chihiro's face completely turned red from it.

"I-I just hope that people don't mind too much…" stuttered Chihiro as he shakily looked around the cafe to see if anyone was watching them.

"What's there to worry about? I mean, everyone in the cafe wears cat ears." pointed out Hajime while also noticing that most of the customers were just minding their own business, just enjoying their beverages on a rainy day.

"These four are moe!" suddenly yelled a random girl with glasses after she jumped from her seat. She adjusted her glasses with a big confident smile on her face as she took a closer look at the Hope's Peak gang.

"T-they noticed!" immediately panicked Chihiro, trying to hide his face from the public.

"Don't worry about it, Chihiro. Remember what Hajime said." reassured Chiaki as she gave him a pat on the back. A gentle touch of hers helped him to calm down a bit.

"Thank you! You are pretty moe as well!" chirped Ibuki before giving the random gal two finger guns. The girl was charmed by her gesture before she sat down, but that didn't stop her from observing Ibuki's friends.

"T-this is embarrassing…" timidly admitted Chihiro while still being red in his face, but he was no longer hiding it from the public.

"I know how you feel, Chihiro, but I can assure you that no one will judge you here." consoled Hajime, relating to the feeling of embarrassment his tiny friend had. Wearing cat ears in the public was something neither of them truly experienced before. Chiaki has a somewhat similar experience with cat ears thanks to her hoodie while Ibuki was a master class cat ears wearer, through her "horns" made the band a bit redundant.

"Naaaw, I think we are all killing it with the amount cuteness we radiate!" complimented Ibuki before giving out two victory signs.

"I g-guess…." stuttered Chihiro as some of the redness on his face started to disappear.

"What do you think, Chiaki? I've noticed that you've been a bit quiet." asked Ibuki as her attention went to her gamer friend, who was quietly observing the cafe. Even after the musician pal gave her a question, it still took a while for her to respond. Not only was this her first time visiting a cafe, it was also first time she went to a cafe not alone.

"Meow?" responded Chiaki as she turned her head towards her friends, causing their hearts to suddenly flutter by her response. Hajime and Chihiro got startled and blushed a bit, while Ibuki audibly gasped when the meow was uttered from her mouth.

"OH! OOOOOOH! IBUKI GONNA FAAAAAINT!" shouted Ibuki before she fell on the floor, acting like she had a stroke.

"Hngh! The cafe is influencing her mind….but I must admit, that was genuinely adorable. Damn it, it's overtaking my mind too!" covertly thought Hajime to himself.

"That just made Ibuki's heart go BADUMPF!" added Ibuki while still laying on the floor. After some time, she picked herself up and sat down on the chair once again.

"These levels of cat shenanigans are getting ridiculous. I don't think we can't get more cat-like than this." commented Hajime the moment before the door behind cashier's table opened, revealing a person that quickly made Hajime take back his own words.

"Welcome, Myaster!" a pink haired cat girl maid with twintails, who was surprisingly shorter than Chihiro out of all people, stepped into the scene before striking a cat like pose in from of the entire cafe.

"OH GOD!" internally screamed Hajime when he saw a cat girl to end all cat girls with his very own mortal eyes.

"FARIS NYANNYAN! FARIS NYANNYAN!" the crowd went completely wild chanted at the sight of a cat girl maid as she started to approach the position of Hope's Peak gang, holding a piece of paper and a pen as she went. Ibuki joined in the chanting while Chihiro and Hajime were left speechless from sheer absurdity of her presence. Meanwhile, Chiaki just quietly but curiously observed what was going on.

"W-what is this, a maid catgirl cafe or a shrine?" wondered Hajime in complete bewilderment, but the cat girl arrived to the table before anyone

"Ah, we have three new apprentices and a seasoned veteran, nya." commented Faris, sporting a cat like smile as well.

"Yes! We have been blessed by your presence!" cheered Ibuki while acting like Faris is her goddess.

"Ummm…..h-hello? Y-you must be Faris, right?" timidly asked Chihiro, not exactly being used to people of the same caliber as her.

"Purrfect guess, nya! It is I, Faris Nyannyan!" confirmed Faris before striking another cat like pose, imitating that one pose where a cat lifts its paw.

"Farissss! Say hello to Hajime, Chihiro and Chiaki here!" Ibuki welcomed Faris to her friends

"Hello there, friends of Ibuki-nyan! Is this the first time you have visited MayQueen+Nyan2?" asked Faris. Rest of the Ibuki's gang quietly nodded, though they were mostly quiet because they didn't knew what to say to her.

"Now, The Great Faris! Listen very closely, as I will reveal this very important information on you!" announced Ibuki as she lifted her hand with

"Nya nya?" Faris's curiosity immediately rose from hearing Ibuki's announcement.

"Today, I saw….a cat!" declared Ibuki like it was the most important news ever, much to Hajime's confusion. At the same time, he wasn't exactly surprised that Ibuki would say that in such dramatic way, knowing her for a while.

"Oooh! Was it with bones or was it a boneless one?" Faris continued the topic with further interest, leaning towards Ibuki like she wanted some pats.

"Quite boneless, if Ibuki says so!" happily added Ibuki to her declaration, so to say.

"There's jargon between cat people?!" thought Hajime to himself, as every single second spent with Faris got more and more baffling.

"Can I ask what does it mean if a cat is boneless?" asked Hajime in a rather unsure way.

"To be boneless means for a cat to turn into a loaf, nya!" elaborated Faris, though it didn't help that much.

"Cats become bread? How do they do that? Do they taste like bread when they transform?" asked Chiaki, imagining how a cat would morph into a perfectly fine piece of bread.

"Erm, Chiaki, I don't think it was meant literally." clarified Hajime, baffled even more.

"In order for cats to lay down, they must adjust their position to a loaf, nya. They become boneless when they lie down in boxes too. This also proves the fact that cats are also liquid!" rambled Faris. The ahoge lad felt like his brain was melting from her words, while Chiaki was happy to learn something new, even if she possibly interpreted it wrong.

"I'm already lost." Hajime admitted defeat in a one sided "battle" of cat people.

"Anyway, what would you like to served by Faris' own paws?" Faris switched the topic to get to the point. She prepared a pencil and paper to write down their desires.

"I'd like to have one maple syrup ice coffee, please!" cheerfully requested Ibuki.

"One orange juice, please!" requested Hajime in a bold manner, much to the surprise of his friends.

"I-I'd have...uhh...one cappuccino, please." wished Chihiro.

"And you, Kitty Who Gazes, nya?" Faris turned towards Chiaki, who was gazing at the menu for longer than expected. After a bit of time, Chiaki got slightly startled and looked at Faris.

"Oh...I'd like to have…." said Chiaki before going through another "thinking for a long time" episode. It was starting to concern others due to her pauses in speech."...strawberry juice."

"Okie dokie! Faris will deliver soon!" hummed Faris before she went away from the table. When she got out of their sights, the relative quietness from before returned, giving everyone in the Hope's Peak gang some time to reflect upon the situation.

"Why does she add "nya" in every single sentence of hers?" asked Hajime as if it was bothering him.

"Because that is the way of cathood!...At least Faris told me about it." answered Ibuki before scratching her head out of a sudden itch.

"I don't think that the world is ready for that level of cathood." quipped Hajime.

"I think you just need to grind a little bit of EXP to gain the levels of Faris. You're pretty close, though" said Chiaki in her own lingo.

"Yahoo! Can't wait for Ibuki Mioda to become Ibuki Nyannyan!" cheered Ibuki, raising her hands in the air out of excitement.

"I'm just curious...have you been friends with Faris for a long time?" asked Chihiro after he observed her interaction with Faris.

"Glad you asked, cute lil Chihiro! Yessss, Ibuki has known Faris for three years as of now! I have always visited her cafe as much as I could! She taught me many things, such as how to knead!" Ibuki started to ramble in a similar fashion as her cat girl maid friend.

"Do you have...any practical application for kneading?" asked Hajime out of genuine curiosity because he thought that the idea of a human kneading was ridiculous.

"Yep yep! Just before going to sleepy time, I always knead my bed. It is scientifically proven that when you knead your bed, your sleep will be one hundred times more comfortable!" explained Ibuki while pretending to knead the table.

"...I mean, if it works for you and that Faris, then there's no complaints about it." commented Hajime.

"Hmm...perhaps I could try that one day as well." thought Chiaki to herself. More time in silence passed when Ibuki took a moment to observe the surroundings. There was something that was off to her, but only she fully knew.

"Hey, Hajime." said Ibuki in a rather serious tone after she leaned towards Hajime. It was unlike any of them heard before from her.

"Yea? What's up, Ibuki?" Hajime's guard dropped when he heard Ibuki's tone, wondering if there's something wrong.

"I have noticed something and it's been kinda concerning me." confessed Ibuki out of a sudden.

"What's wrong? I don't think there's anything to worry about, Ibuki. Everything seems fine so far." reassured Hajime

"Yea, it's just that...you seem like you're not allowing yourself to truly have fun." fully admitted Ibuki.

"Huh? What do you mean?" asked Hajime.

"I've been observing a little and it feels like you are worried what others think about you. You've said to Chihiro that there's nothing to worry about, but that's because you felt the same." elaborated Ibuki, which left Hajime completely stunned. He never thought that out of all people, Ibuki would be one that got on point with his insecurities. Not a word could be uttered from his mouth as his mind was overwhelmed.

"I think you just need to relax. Everyone is here to just have fun, no one's here to judge. It may be really overwhelming for the first time, but you get used to it easy. I also know the current times are...kinda rough, must admit, but this cafe could make us ease our minds for a bit. We can't be constantly stressed out." advised Ibuki with all the sincerity in her heart. Her speech managed to pull out Hajime from all the insecure thoughts in his mind, as his rational thought returned back on tracks.

"...Yeah...you're….right, Ibuki." conceded Hajime as he clenched his fist in triumph, promising that he will just let him be himself during such times.

"You too, Chihiro. There is nothing to be afraid of. Relax and enjoy the moment." Ibuki looked at her friend with the same serious expression as before.

"O-oh….yea! I was a bit scared before, but hearing your speech….did encourage me a lot." responded Chihiro in a similar fashion as Hajime.

"Chiaki, you just need a little more time to get accustomed to the environment, right? Otherwise, you are generally happy when friends are around, as long as it doesn't endanger your close ones." noticed Ibuki as she turned towards Chiaki, who was carefully listening through out the entire time.

"It is true. It's not something I've experienced before. I'm really happy to see more sides of you and thank you for giving out Hajime and Chihiro those speeches." smiled Chiaki, putting her hand on the chest. Ibuki's words made her feel really proud for her musician friend, it was something that she would cherish for a long time.

"No, thank you all for listening. Now then, shall we continue having fun?" said Ibuki, slowly returning the former mood of happiness in the process. All of her gang agreed with it and continued waiting for the drinks.

Suddenly, a hand behind Hajime's chair swiped at his ahoge, causing it to tingle around. Some of the swipes were repeated before he noticed it.

"Hey!" exclaimed Hajime upon finally noticing it as he turned back, seeing a crouching Faris with two plates that had the exact drinks they ordered on them. One plate had the ever fabled orange juice and maple syrup ice coffee, while other one had strawberry juice and a cappuccino.

"Nyan!" Faris mischievously smiled at him, sporting another cat smile. Hajime, while bewildered, couldn't help but laugh at Faris' prank. Chiaki and Chihiro giggled as well while Ibuki was wishing that Faris would do that to her horns.

"God, I wish Faris would do that to my ahoge." wished the random guy, who sat far away from Hope's Peak gang's seats.

"You don't even have an ahoge, bro." said the random guy's friend, attempting to give him a reality check, but that only made the random guy pull out a streak of hair, pretending that he had an ahoge.

"Now I do!" retaliated the random guy, not giving up on his desire to be pranked by Faris.

After her little prank, Faris Nyannyan put two plates on each respective tables, but not before she held a tight grip on them.

"Now then, prepare for the Cheshire Spin!" announced Faris before she spun both plates at the same time out of a sudden. Chihiro got startled a little and worried that drinks could spill during it, but Faris stopped it as quickly as she spun them without any drink even spilling a single drop.

"And here you go, nyan! Drinks are all served up!" declared Faris as she let out a little applause for herself.

"Wow! Now that was an excellent Cheshire Spin!" praised Ibuki before she grabbed her own maple syrup ice coffe.

"Thank you!" all of them thanked as they grabbed their respective drinks.

"Just a moment, the Great Faris! I've got just one question." asked Ibuki just before the great sipping of maple syrup ice coffee would happen.

"Nya? Tell me about it, Ibuki-Nyan." piqued Faris.

"Where is your co-worker today? She's really cute and it's a shame she isn't there. I think my friends would love to see her!" wondered Ibuki, thinking about a slightly taller but different cat girl maid.

"She's currently busy. Heard that she works on a project with the mad scientist who goes by the name of Hououin Kyouma.However, I cannot tell you about the project as it is quite top secret." answered Faris, immediately causing an increase of interest in Hope's Peak gang, especially about the identity of the aforementioned mad scientist.

"M-mad scientist?" stuttered Chihiro, already thinking that the mad scientist could be some kind of a dangerous villain. It can't be really blamed on him, since most mad scientists have quite bastardly ambitions.

"Exactly, a mad scientist worthy of a title of mad scientist, nya. However, not even he can resist the true power of Nyannyan." boasted Faris as she struck another cat-like pose.

"Powerful…." marveled Ibuki while imagining how Faris managed to get the mad scientist under her control.

"If you wanna meet him, my coworker and his assistant, be sure to visit MayQueen+Nyan2 at any time, since they are also frequent visitors." advised Faris as she gave a wink to them.

"Huh, never knew that mad scientists out of all people could be fans of cat girl maids." commented Hajime.

"Do you think they would try to mix human and cat genes together to create cat girls?" asked Chiaki out of genuine curiosity.

"I mean, there are no boundaries for mad scientists. They probably would." answered Hajime in both deadpan and sincere way at the same time. After they finished their discussion, the Hope's Peak gang started drinking their drinks while Faris remained near them to see if they would enjoy their desired beverages. Chiaki and Chihiro were slowly sipping their d

"Man, this orange juice is beyond excellent!" complimented Hajime rather excitedly, like if he was blessed by all sorts of blessings.

"Oooo, is Hajime an orange juice enthusiast?" wondered Ibuki as she took a closer look at the glass of orange juice and Hajime at the same time.

"Well...I do like a good one." admitted Hajime as all of them continued sipping (or in Hajime's case, quenching) their drinks. All of them had a good time with fellow Faris, who provided them many giggles and surprised during their time at the cafe.

Their time at MayQueen+Nyan2 ended when all of the Hope's Peak gang left the building, satisfied with each drink they had. They gathered around the entrance to recollect their thoughts about the experience in the cafe. However, it was still raining at that time, even more so than before, but it didn't bother them at all.

"So guys, what do you think?" asked Ibuki, leaning towards them in a playful way as she wiggled around.

"That was actually pretty cool!" confessed Hajime, giving her a thumbs up.

"Yea, it was pretty fun! Drinks were very good as well." complimented Chihiro as well.

"Thank you for inviting us over, Ibuki. We had great time." smiled Chiaki, being grateful for what Ibuki did. Deep down, she also really appreciated that she got a first potential friend outside Hope's Peak academy.

"Hehehe, no prob, no prob!" chirped Ibuki, bowing down to them just like a musician would in front of a satisfied audience. All was fun and games for them, until the doors of the cafe opened once again. It was Faris who stepped outside and joined them, however, she quietly stood still among them, contrary to her behavior in the cafe.

"Oh hey, Faris! Is there something you need us for?" waved Ibuki at Faris, but the maid remained unfazed.

"There is something that we need to discuss now." quietly said Faris without any sort mannerisms displayed before. The Hope's Peak gang couldn't help but feel unsettled at the severe change of tone from her.

"Oh...oh dear...Faris, what's wrong?" asked Ibuki out of concern. Without saying a word, Faris lead them to the alleyway and stopped near the stairs, just to be safe from any possible eavesdropping. Filled with various concerns, they have looked directly at Faris, who was just cautiously staring back at them.

"So...Hope's Peak guys. I have a question for you all." whispered Faris, making them lean towards her.

"Are you familiar with….Daft Capo?"

A mere mention of that mafia was enough to cause chills down the spins of Class 77-B's students. Anxiety, no matter how much were they trying to hide it, overtook their minds. Chihiro was left confused, since it was the first time he ever heard about it.

"Daft..Capo? What is that?" asked Chihiro, though he appeared to be quite concerned, since the reactions of his friends implied that whatever it was, it was threatening to them.

"From what has Gundham told us, it's a mafia that plans to take over the school. Only member we know so far is Herman, an octopus...that keeps attacking our friends." explained Chiaki as calmly as she could, but there was uncertainty in her voice.

"A-a-a m-mafia?" stammered Chihiro, hardly imagining that a crime syndicate would have eyes on their friends.

"Assuming what he has told us is true….yeah, unfortunately." added Hajime while clenching his fist, this time out of anxiety.

"...So it has already attacked Hope's Peak academy as well…" frowned Faris as her eyes solemnly gazed at the floor.

"Wait wait wait..." faltered Ibuki as she leaned towards her while shaking out of fear. "Faris, are you implying that….Daft Capo attacked MayQueen+Nyan2?"

"...Yes, it has." quietly confirmed Faris, leaving them in shock. They were left speechless at the realization that by the time they actually got informed about Daft Capo, the nebulous syndicate already made its moves in Japan.

"Would you mind listening to the full story?" requested Faris, since she felt like the information she held could have been vital for her friends.

"Tell us everything, please. Any information about Daft Capo is valuable." pleaded Chiaki.

Faris then began: "Alright, so…"


Approximately three weeks ago, it was an overwhelmingly sunny day in Akihabara. Sun rays lightened up the entire cafe, causing it to have quite a warm atmosphere in it. On that day, the traffic of customers was rather null, since it was a rather busy day. Faris was just preparing the cafe when the doors of it opened, revealing a customer that she has never seen before. It was Herman.

"Hello, Myaster!" greeted Faris just like she would greet any other customer, not even realizing the actual species of her new guest.

"Hello there!" casually responded Herman as he approached her. When he got closer, she finally saw that her newest customer was an octopus.

"Oh, you're quite an interesting customer, nyan. It seems like the power of moe attracts even marine animals!" commented Faris as she made a mischievous cat smile at him, but Herman just went forward to her.

"I would like to have one Latte Macchiato…." Herman went straight to the point and gave her an order.

"Alrighty, nyan! Anything else to have, Mr. Octopus?" said Faris as she picked up a piece of paper and a pen, writing down his request.

"...and this entire cafe, free of charge." suddenly but calmly demanded Herman as he pointed directly at her.

"...Nyan nyan? Cafe is not on sale, silly." quipped Faris as she struck another cat-like pose.

"I thought I was quite clear. This entire cafe, free of charge. Hand it over now." repeated Herman before juggling with his tentacle arm at her.

"Oh, I see how it is, nyan. You may get the cafe, but only if you beat Faris in a RaiNet battle, paw to paw! Only then it will be decided who shall be the ruler of the Nyannyan!" rambled Faris, but Herman was having none of that.

"You think I'm just messing around, don't you?" warned Herman, giving her a squint as the final warning.

"Faris never messes around. All words I say are truth, nya." answered Faris. Little did she knew what to expect when Herman whistled as a response.

Suddenly, four men, wearing white fedoras and glittering white tuxedos, broke through the windows with back flips before they landed on the turf of MayQueen, striking a few glamorous poses before they looked at Faris with malicious grins.

"N-nya?!" gasped Faris at the sight of men just breaking in like it was nothing. "W-what is the meaning of this?"

"Pretty simple to be honest. Gimme the cafe right now or else my boys will beat the hell out of you!" concisely elaborated Herman, giving her one more chance to be spared.

"P-please! There has to be another way! I s-swear-" begged Faris, but it was to late for her to change Herman's mind.

"Alright then. Punksters, do your job." ordered Herman as he pointed directly at her. Punksters cracked their fists with glee.

"Gladly!" exclaimed one of the punksters as he sprinted towards Faris and grabbed her by her twintails.

"Nyaaa?!" yelped Faris before she was thrown across the cafe, landing right on one of the tables. Just when she tried to pick herself up, the same punkster that threw her across the cafe dashed off to her and delivered an uppercut right in her face, knocking her unconscious. After the knocked out Faris landed on the floor, the aggressor punkster laughed in her face.

"Hah! EZ!" gloated punkster as other mafiosos joined in the laughter.

"Well done, my mang. Now, get rid of all stupid ass anime shit this cafe has. We'll take the maid with us. She's gonna get some real whopping for expanding anime! All the income from this cafe will be ours!" said Herman before he redirected two punksters to carry Faris outside the cafe while he and other two punksters were busy reshaping the cafe in their vision. As two punksters carried out Faris outside, a rocket shaped car, which traveled at speeds exceeding the speed limits, stopped at the cafe.

"Get her in the car, boys!" ordered the driver, opening the canopy, so that two punksters could just simply throw her inside. Once she was placed inside the car, the driver cackled as he drove off to their hideout. None than less, it was a dark day for MayQueen+Nyan2.


"...so that's how Faris ended up under Daft Capo's claws." concluded Faris. All of them were left shocked from what they heard.

"They just...they just punched you right in the face without any hesitation?" faltered Hajime, having tough time imagining why would anyone punch someone like Faris in the face.

"Mhm." nodded Faris. The feeling of fear inside Hajime was suddenly replaced by sheer anger as his resolve against Daft Capo also rose up.

"...They're full of shit, that's what they are!" seethed Hajime. If there were any Daft Capo members near him, he would have punched them in the face.

"How could they do this..." lamented Chiaki with some anger within her.

"There is no way on this Earth that they could get away with such UNSPEAKABLE crime! You must be avenged!" declared Ibuki. For her, hurting Faris meant going with war against Daft Capo.

"B-but wait! The cafe doesn't seem like its under Daft Capo's control, isn't it?" pointed out Chihiro as some kind of silver lining after the story.

"Yes, because someone saved me. Well, two groups rather." elaborated Faris as she started to become more lively, just like before.

"Who could that be?" piqued Chihiro.

"The Contractors, whose identity should remain secret. Even if I told you about them, you still need to see them with your own eyes. And…..Hououin Kyouma." revealed Faris, surprising them all with the identity of her savior.

"M-mad scientist saved you?" stuttered Chihiro.

"Yes...when I called for help, he immediately arrived to the scene. Along with his friends and Contractors, they have saved Faris and MayQueen+Nyan2 from Daft Capo." Faris further explained.

"Even though he's a mad scientist, he seems to have a heroic heart. Maybe we could meet him one day." noted Chiaki while trying to imagine how did he look like.

"Sorry for bringing down the mood, its just that I wanted to make sure of something." apologized Faris, concerned for the feelings of their friends.

"It's okay. We are really glad you have trusted us your story. We promise you that we will stop Daft Capo and never let those attacks happen again." promised Chiaki, since her resolve against the aforementioned crime syndicate also increased after hearing Faris' story.

"Wait, really? That's a monumental task for us!" warned Hajime, keeping in mind that they don't even have enough information about it in the first place.

"Hehehe, thank you, guys! I wish you good luck. Farewell, nya, and see you on Tuesday!" thanked Faris before the Hope's Peak gang said goodbye to her and went their own ways.

"Tuesday? What will happen that day?" wondered Chihiro, as if Faris knew that something could happen on that day.

Before both Ibuki and Hajime went to their own homes, they decided to take Chiaki and Chihiro to their house. They were discussing about the events from before on their way.

"Are you sure about what you've said, Chiaki? I agree that we have to stop Daft Capo, but it's still putting us at incredible risk" cautioned Hajime.

"It is true that we don't know much about Daft Capo and you are completely right, but we can't let these attacks happen. Even if we are united and don't stand a chance against it, there's always hope in Hououin Kyouma. Judging from Faris' story, he managed to score a victory against them with the help of Contractors. Perhaps that might give us a chance...I think." reasoned Chiaki before she started doubting her words. She wanted to stop the attacks, but the fact that they were going up against a mafia was a point of many considerations for her.

"But who even is this Hououin Kyouma, aside that he's a mad scientist?" Hajime brought up a point, which made Chiaki reconsider even more.

"I'm not sure...I hope we meet him...Maybe." wondered Chiaki, curious about the true nature of the scientist. As they went home, she couldn't stop thinking about it.

"Hououin Kyouma….Hououin Kyouma…" Chiaki's mind was occupied by the name of the mad scientist. She just couldn't forget it after hearing that he saved Faris.

Meanwhile at the outdoors of the cafe, Faris looked around to see if anyone suspicious crosses her sight. Luckily for her, there was

"Alright, it's time to report to them." said Faris to herself before she brought up her own pink decorated telephone.

"Moshi moshi, nya!" greeted Faris through the phone.

"Feline Fatale, status report!" demanded the voice.

"I've met four Hope's Peak students today in my cafe, nya. Told them what happened to MayQueen+Nyan2 three weeks ago." reported Faris with all the mannerisms of the Nyannyan.

"So, what's the chance that they'll join our side?" asked the voice through the phone.

"Faris saw in their eyes that their resolve against Daft Capo sparked quite drastically, so that gives us a big chance that they'll join us." answered Faris

"Excellent work! You will be rewarded this Tuesday! By the way, how's our package going?" praised the voice.

"Oh, it should arrive soon enough, but now we must go, nyan. Cute and cuddly, over and out." reported Faris once again before ending their call. After the deed was done, she returned to the cafe, with a cat-like smirk on her face, feeling quite accomplished with her mission.

On the other end of the communication procedure, in a base beneath Hope's Peak academy, Skipper ended the call on his crusty but admirably improvised Nokia telephone as well. He turned to his own colleagues with satisfaction in his eyes.

"Well boys, it seems like our cover operation "Scoop the rest" started quite smoothly. Soon, our numbers against Daft Capo will increase!" announced Skipper, which he was met with an immediate applause from his colleagues. He was feeling so accomplished that he started flexing with all the macho-like expressions he could make as quickly as possible, but there was one thing that he still needed to bring up.

"But for now, lets wait for our package. Our boy mad scientist better hurry up!" reminded Skipper as they continued plotting new plans, covert or not, against Daft Capo.

Chapter 9: The Turning Point

Chapter Text

Monday, a day well known for not being liked by children, teenagers, adults, cats and anyone else. It was five in the morning that day, when one programmer dork and one gamer dork were still sleeping in the same bed, still hugging each other, just like before. Suddenly, Chihiro Fujisaki slowly woke up and saw that sleepyhead that went by the name Chiaki Nanami, still being quite deep in her sleep. He couldn't help but smile when he saw her sleeping just so comfortable near him. Then he turned out towards the alarm clock and spotted the time on it. He realized that it was time to get prepared for school.

"Hey, Chiaki!" quietly called out Chihiro for her to wake up, but she was still hibernating like a little teddy bear, snoring quietly along her sleepy way.

"Chiaki!" Chihiro grabbed her by the shoulder and gently shook her to wake her up. It seemed to work, as Chiaki's eyes slowly but surely opened.

"Mmmmmm…." mumbled Chiaki as she wiped her eyes before she was fully awake. A blurry vision of her friend became clearer. "Hey, Chihiro."

"Good morning, Chiaki." greeted Chihiro as both of them stopped laying on the bed, instead opting to just sit on it.

"What's up? Is there something you need?" drowsily asked Chiaki, being moments away from falling asleep again.

"Oh, I j-just wanted to tell you that we have school today, that's all." reminded Chihiro, which was enough to fully awaken her. Her irises shrunk from a surprise, considering that she nearly forgot it was day to go to school. Time management and Chiaki Nanami were never really that close, considering all the nights she spent before.

"...School today?" uttered Chiaki with sleepiness in her voice going away. For a moment, she thought she has overslept and could have been late to school, something she thought she couldn't afford to do.

"D-don't worry, we still have time. Just make sure that you...don't forget...to change your clothes." reassured Chihiro, easing her off while also reminding her to not go outside in her Pajamas once again, since it was still raining outside and she could have caught a cold.

"Got it." nodded Chiaki before both of them went out of the bed and started preparing themselves for the day. They brushed their teeth before they changed their clothes. After doing all things necessary, they were basically prepared to go, even if it was too early to go. Suddenly, a loud beeping noise was heard from her room. Chiaki grumpily frowned when she heard it before she headed to her room. Startled by her sudden bad mood, Chihiro followed her to the bedroom.

"C-Chiaki, is there something wrong?" asked Chihiro as the gamer girl shoddily attempted to turn off the beeping clock. After some attempts, she managed to shut it off completely.

"...Alarm clocks." grumbled Chiaki before she turned towards him

"Um...what about them? Do you not like them?" asked Chihiro. While he felt relieved that he didn't personally upset her, it came off rather surprising that something considered not that significant but annoying to some extent could get her riled up.

"They're a real life equivalent of a game crashing right when you had a good run. Usually happens when I have really nice dreams." ranted Chiaki in an oddly passionate tone about it, raising her finger to put further emphasis. Chihiro didn't exactly now how to respond, considering that he hasn't seen that side of her. An awkward silence followed, with Chiaki realizing that she herself didn't know how to continue without making it even more awkward.

"...But don't worry, Chihiro. Having you waking me up made my morning much better." reassured Chiaki, changing both tone and feel of the conversation. She gave him a sincere smile as she put her hand on her chest.

"R-really?" stuttered Chihiro, being caught off guard by her compliment. His face was rather red from blushing.

"Yeah….it was really nice." confirmed Chiaki, sounding rather dreamy about it. After a long pause in her speech, she reminded herself about the school. "Erm...how much time do we have now?"

"About...half an hour, if we go to school by walking." responded Chihiro after glancing at the clock, just to be sure that he got the time right.

"Ah, okay. Still plenty of time….I think." said Chiaki before they went off to have breakfast and then spend some time together before the school.

Thirty minutes have passed ever since they woke up. Chihiro was waiting in front of the entrance while also holding a bag with his laptop in it. Programmer dork was also holding an umbrella, since the rain continued just like during the weekend.

"I think we should be ready to go now. Do you have everything for school, Chiaki?" asked Chihiro, but his gaming addicted friend was not anywhere nearby.

"Chiaki?" Chihiro tilted his head as he began searching for her, only to find her in the living room, cramming as much handheld consoles, from retro to modern, as possible in her small cat shaped backpack. She also included cartridges of some games, just so that there would be decent amount of variety in selection.

"Chiaki, what are you doing?" asked Chihiro, being rather confused at what was she doing.

"Oh, I'm just packing consoles and games for everyone. I have to make sure that everyone has a chance to have fun." explained Chiaki herself with a smile on her face

"That is wonderful, but wouldn't that make your backpack...a little too heavy?" Chihiro raised a point after witnessing how many games and consoles she has put inside her backpack. When she was done with packing her stuff, she attempted to lift her backpack, but was soon encountered with the issue of her payload being heavier than expected.

"...A bit." admitted Chiaki with her holding on the straps. She felt all the weight of her video games on her back.

"You wouldn't mind if I helped a little, right?" Chihiro offered help immediately due sheer instinct.

"Anything from you, hehe…" giggled Chiaki as her programmer friend put his hand on the bottom of the backpack and pushed it upwards. Due to weight being distributed on Chiaki's back, Chihiro didn't have much issue pushing it a bit up.

"Is it easier now?" Chihiro asked for some feedback.

"Yep...I think." nodded Chiaki, not feeling the same amount of weight dragging her down as she did before.

"Alright then! Lets go!" said Chihiro before both of them headed outside. Both of them walked very closely to each other as Chihiro's umbrella protected them from rather heavy rainfall. The dark gray clouds loomed over them as they went on their journey to their school. Various people passed by as the rain was in the middle of creating puddles all over the roads. As they went, they stopped by the crosswalk, waiting for the traffic light to turn green on the other side of it. Suddenly, a speeding car arrived, driving right on the puddle near them. Chihiro noticed almost immediately while Chiaki was busy gazing at the cloudy sky.

"W-wait!" yelped Chihiro as he lowered his umbrella to shield both of them from the incoming splash. Luckily for them, neither of them got sprayed, as all of water went right on his umbrella.

"Huh? What happened?" wondered Chiaki after her mind returned to reality. She looked around to see why was her programmer buddy holding an umbrella like that.

"J-just a car drove through a puddle and nearly completely splashed you." Chihiro explained her that brief moment.

"...Oooh. Thanks." Chiaki tilted her head before she realized what happened.

"Heh, no problem." smiled Chihiro before the light turned green, enabling them to reach the other side.

After so much walking under the rain, they arrived near Hope's Peak academy. They sat down on the bench near a fountain. Despite taking some time with walking, they were still quite early. No one but them was nearby. Chiaki looked around to see if anyone was coming to them before she put her arm inside the backpack.

"I think we are still early. Maybe...we could use this time to…" said Chiaki, pulling out two handhelds out of her back. "..play games!"

"I don't think anything prevents us from having a little fun, so...yeah!" approved Chihiro as Chiaki gave him one of the handhelds. After turning their consoles on, they started their gaming session with one of the portable Galaga games. It had a co-op mode, so that they could play the game together. And thus they played.

Suddenly, a stout classmate of Chiaki's approached them, arriving from the same direction as they did before.

"I see that you two are together once again. Despite the short amount of time, you two seem almost inseparable" commented Ryouta Mitarai as he slowly arrived near the bench, observing them with curiosity.

"O-oh, hello. Ryouta Mitarai, right?" meekly greeted Chihiro.

"Yes, I suppose. Do you mind my presence here?" asked Ryouta Mitarai, making sure that he wasn't intrusive.

"Join in! I have plenty of consoles today!" invited Chiaki while she held up her console, much to Ryouta's surprise.

"Hmmm...Are you fine with me just being a spectator?" reconsidered Ryouta Mitarai as he just stood next to them.

"Yeah...nothing wrong with watching, but maybe next time, give it a try?" murmured Chiaki, wishing that he would join instead. She considered that it's a lot more fun playing together than

"Perhaps…" uttered Ryouta, giving her some hope that he would join one gaming session.

"I have to admit that the amount of trust you two have shown for each other is impressive. I have been mostly on the sidelines to see how everything goes. Some of the students get along, some...far from it. But bonds like these…I guess trust can be worth it after all." Ryouta gave out another comment regarding her. Sights like those made him rethink about being distant from others.

"Friendship is something that should be forever treasured, but if I'm honest….it's thanks to my wonderful classmates and students of Class 78th that I've managed to pull through." admitted Chiaki while practically gleaming when talking about students.

"Wonderful classmates? Are you sure about that?" Ryouta raised his eyebrow, being rather bewildered by the fact that she trusted all of them so quickly. Knowing from his experiences, blind trust could lead to big time trouble.

"Mhm." happily nodded Chiaki, but he did not share the same sentiments as her. Ryouta felt like there was something off with being so optimistic about it.

"I appreciate your enthusiasm, but I don't fully believe you truly know some of them. They might offer surprises, to say at least, and not every of them good." cautioned Ryouta, taking in consideration that some of the classmates have displayed some warning traits already.

"….Yeah, you're right….but it's not wrong to believe in them, right?" acknowledged Chiaki as she sadly looked at the screen of her console.

"Your current circle of friends seems to be perfectly worthy of trust, especially the little one next to you." reassured Ryouta after noticing that her cheeriness seemed to be knocked down for a bit. His reassurance made Chiaki a bit happier.

"W-well….have you met someone you could trust as well?" asked Chihiro, curious about him considering that not only he rarely saw him around, let alone being with someone in the first place.

"Hmmm….to say that I didn't...well, that would be quite false." confirmed Ryouta before another stout student visited them. He was taller than anyone in the group and was also dressed like bartender.

"Greetings." greeted Figottoni as he approached Ryouta.

"Ah, Figottoni. What brings you here? You are quite early." casually responded Ryouta, feeling rather relaxed around his foreign friend.

"Indeed, I have arrived earlier than I have intended to. I was just desiring some company before our classes start. What are you up to for this rainy day?" said Figottoni.

"I was just waiting for others to arrive, nothing else much." answered Ryouta.

"Oh, w-we were just playing games while waiting for others too." added Chihiro as he looked at the bartender who seemed much older than he actually was. Chiaki was quietly listening to their conversation, following it while playing games at the same time.

"I see. I assume that gaming is one of your passions." noted Figottoni as he pointed at her consoles.

"Mhm…" nodded Chiaki.

"That is quite swell. It is good share passions around, it's what connects people. You see, I have a particular passion too." approved Figottoni as he glanced towards the building of Hope's Peak itself.

"Architecture, if I remember." Ryouta spoke from his memory.

"Correct. Every now and then, just before I go home, I often take a closer look at this school and marvel at its style and how it contrasts from skyscrapers and stores of the city. Sometimes, it makes me wish that I pursued architecture instead of being content by the status of a simple bartender." smiled Figottoni as he told them about his interest. It was a rare sight to see him smile, considering how much his expression is basically a neutral frown.

"...So you feel it too." lamented Chiaki after hearing Figottoni's words.

"Um...feel what exactly?" wondered Chihiro out of concern.

"I've always felt like talent was something that locked my path in life. There are no other choices, no freedom, nothing. Only thing I'm good at is games and this is what it will define me for the rest of my life." expressed Chiaki while looking at the screen with a slight level of sorrow in her eyes.

"N-no, that isn't true! You can be whatever you want to be, regardless of talent!" spoke Chihiro out of an instinct in order to help his friend out. He stopped himself out of anxiety, thinking that he said something wrong, but it turned to not to be a case, as she smiled at him.

"Chihiro…" murmured Chiaki before she laid her head on his shoulder. He blushed when she did that, but it wasn't exactly surprising for him after she basically invited him to cuddle together in one bed without hesitation. "...Thank you..."

"I strongly agree with your friend. What you gotta do is that you must put good faith in yourself. Though I must mention, even though I take no shame in being a bartender, it is something I do out of respect." said Figottoni

"Perhaps for someone close to you?" wondered Ryouta.

"...Yes, but that is a story for another day." lamented Figottoni

"I've been meaning to ask and somehow haven't done before, but from what class are you, Figottoni?" Ryouta switched the topic to something he always wanted to know, but forgot to ask before. Suddenly, another student, dressed like a rockstar, completely destroyed the calm atmosphere of the gang as he slid down on his knees. When he stopped, he performed a rather intense riff on guitar before he yelled:

"CLASS SIXTY NIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIINEEEEEEEE, BABY!"

It was Zapatta.

"...Really, dude?" squinted Ryouta at the sight of the decently known drama maker.

"ow, my goddamn knees…" quietly yelped Zapatta before he stood up with bruised knees.

"I-is everything okay?" asked Chihiro after seeing what has the rockstar dude done.

"Yah, it's fine. However, choosing Class 69….worst mistake of my life!" chortled Zapatta before he expressed what he considered to be one of the least good decisions he has ever done in his life. No one but Figottoni exactly knew the cause of such thinking towards his class.

"How do you even tolerate him?" Ryouta leaned towards Figottoni to quietly discuss about the rockstar.

"We have known each other for a long time. You get used to it." calmly explained Figottoni.

"Zapatta, how many times have I told you to not do stupid shit like that?!" grumbled Suifta while arriving towards the bench where the Hope's Peak gang and her group of friends resided.

"Aiiiieee, w-was just making a cool scene, that is all!" yelped Zapatta while trying to excuse himself, only for Suifta to give him a squint of disapproval. "Please don't give me that look!"

"Yo, sorry about that. Don't mind him too much, he can be like that...pretty often." apologized Suifta to the everyone present there.

"It's okay...I think." reassured Chiaki while still laying on Chihiro's shoulder.

"That's one way to answer a question, to say at least." said Ryouta while looking at the rockstar with caution.

"Hey, I think I know you two. You two are friends of Ibuki, right?" Suifta turned towards the Hope's Peak gang after recognizing them. During the previous week, she saw them hanging around a few times.

"Yeah, she took us to the MayQueen+Nyan2 yesterday. We met her friend as well." confirmed Chiaki while also reminiscing the time she spent with her gang at that cat girl maid cafe.

"Oh, really? That sounds pretty dope. Is she also a cat person? I wouldn't be surprised if she was." asked Suifta, assuming from not only Ibuki's appearance, but also her very questionable mannerisms. Both Chiaki and Chihiro nodded to her question.

"Yep, just as expect, though one thing. Tell her...that her beats are pretty fire." reminded Suifta as she pointed at them by making a finger gun gesture. But as soon as she spoke of the horned musician, Figottoni noticed two people approaching them.

"I think Ibuki is coming right now." pointed out Figottoni as he saw them first.

"Wait, where is she-" Suifta looked around to see her friend, only to find that horned musician hanging from Hajime's arm like a little monkey. For reasons that only Ibuki knew, she nibbled his arm while hanging. As he was carrying her like that, Hajime had an expression as if he saw everything at that point.

"...Look at that mad woman go." perplexed Suifta, being completely baffled by what was Ibuki doing. Meanwhile, Chiaki and Chihiro were just happy to see them.

"Nomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnomnom." Ibuki happily munched on his arm. Her nibbles were rather soft, so tall ahoge boy didn't exactly feel any pain from her bites.

"...I can explain." deadpanned Hajime while still carrying his musician friend. It seemed like he had no issue carrying her like that.

"Go on." Suifta offered him an initiative to explain himself, curious about two things: how did he manage to get her like that and how did he manage to carry her without issues.

"Okay, so basically, for some reason, decided that it would be a good idea to hang on my arm while we went to school. I tried to tell her that it was ridiculous, but she gave me that look again. Hard to resist when she does that." Hajime told them the entire story how it came to be like that. Chiaki was slightly blushing, imagining to be carried like that as well.

"You carried her like that through out the entire way? Damn, boi, you strong." complimented Suifta as her eyes widened. She also gave him a thumbs up for his "accomplishment", to say at least.

"I'm..not that strong." denied Hajime. Meanwhile, Zapatta looked at his own arms to see how they compare to the ahoge boy's.

"Come to think of it, my arms are kinda lanky." commented Zapatta after taking an observation.

"Oh, I see a girl gang here! Heyooooo!" Ibuki noticed them and jumped off Hajime in order to get closer to her tech obsessed friends.

"Hey hey, Ibuki and Hajime." greeted Chiaki, slowly and meekly waving at them.

"Ooooh, I see you are playing Galaga! That series is like, really cool!" cheered Ibuki after peeking at Chiaki and Chihiro's screens, witnessing spaceships fighting against pixelated aliens.

"Wait, Galaga? Count me in!" smiled Hajime as he joined in as well.

"You two are Galaga fans too?!" Chiaki suddenly jumped off the bench like a little bunny and got really close to them. Her eyes were rather sparkly from sheer geekiness she displayed in front of the everyone.

"Y-yes, y-yes, now some personal space, please!" stammered Hajime due to how quickly she got close to him. Just like he requested, Chiaki moved a bit to not be that close as before. Meanwhile, Zapatta's jaw dropped after witnessing someone like Chiaki become like a bunny in such a short amount of time.

"Damn, quiet like a mouse, then blasted off like a rocket." commented Zapatta in a bewildered fashion. "Hope's peak gang is...certainly something at times."

"Yep, but they seem pretty chill about it...compared to our class, at least." shrugged Suifta, thinking that it was a more pleasant alternative just seeing them around rather than to deal with whatever their class had.

Time has passed and more boys and girls of Hope's Peak arrived to the scene. It became obvious to them what must they do.

"Alright, I think our classmates have arrived. Which means…" said Hajime at the sight of the incoming classmates.

"Yep. The day has started." confirmed Chiaki before all of them separated their ways and went to their each respective class.

Somehow and surprisingly, the day was pretty normal for all of them. There were no incidents, Chisa Yukizome was being dorky in front of her own class (or some may say a total embarrassment) and even Nagito Komaeda had a relatively normal day by average standards. As it was time for lunch, Hajime, Chiaki and Ibuki gathered around in the hall for a discussion. Class 78th had the same time for lunch as Class 77-B, so they picked Chihiro on the way as well.

"Hey, I think we should discuss some things with certain someone." Hajime initiated their plan for that moment.

"Gundham?" wondered Chiaki after remembering how much info came from him.

"Yeah, him." reluctantly confirmed Hajime, being prepared to whatever nonsense the wizard man was going to throw at him.

"What sort of magic will he showcase us? Will he be like "Mwahaha, I shall reign upon this world with my iron fist of darkness!" or like that?" asked Ibuki while also imitating him uncannily well.

"...Not chuunibyou nonsense, we need to discuss the real important stuff." deflected Hajime

"Oh, right right right. That." nodded Ibuki before all of them went to the dining room to eat their lunch. Time passed, yet there was still no sign of Class 77-B's master of chuunibyou shenanigans.

"Seriously though, where is he?" wondered Hajime. Just when they needed him the most, he wasn't there.

"Maybe he discovered a portal to the underworld and then decided to build an army of demons there?" suggested Ibuki with her mind temporarily being adjusted to think like Gundham.

"Maybe he's just-" Chihiro attempted to say something, but was soon interrupted by a sudden opening of doors, finally revealing Gundham, who looked rather disgruntled that they. The Overlord boy also had scratches all over the face, but he didn't seem to mind them that much.

"Speak of the….Overlord." deadpanned Hajime after seeing him. His friends turned around to see the Overlord as well. Gundham slowly approached inside to get something to eat.

"W-what happened? Is everything okay? Do you need treatment?" Mikan immediately rushed to help him, only for him to make a hand gesture to cease further movement, to which she meekly went away.

"The Shogun returns from a scorched battlefield to seek tranquility within self." explained Gundham while also rustling his scarf to make it look like a breeze carried it. Most of the students there, including the trio from Class 69, just gave him weird looks. Some not so much, since they got used to his mannerisms. However...

"Woah!" gasped Sonia in sheer awe when she heard Gundham's rather bold words.

"….Okay, but what exactly happened?" asked Hajime while not sharing the same sentiment as the princess classmate did.

"...Four Dark Devas of Destruction have gotten quite territorial today. The battle raged on since the Sun has risen from the grasp of the horizon." elaborated Gundham in a more relaxed tone. It came off as a bigger surprise for his classmates and other peeps that a bunch of hamsters could do this to his face.

"I didn't know hamsters were so hardcore!" praised Sonia as her eyes sparkled.

"I didn't know hamsters were even capable...of that." faltered Hajime while imagining a battle between Gundham and his hamsters.

"Um..Hajime?" whispered Chiaki as leaned towards him as if she was to entrust him a secret.

"Yeah?" Hajime took interest.

"What is….a hamster?" asked Chiaki with all the sincerity in her tone.

"W-what what what do you mean you do not know what a hamster is? Did you actually think those were demons?" For a brief moment, Hajime's brain stopped working. He came to a realization that a gamer she was, a zoologist she was not. After his bafflement disappeared, he decided to explain it to her as politely as possible.

"They're those fluffy animals that Gundham has. Oddly a lot fiercer than they look like." Hajime attempted to explain without being too baffled by her question. Thanks to his explanation, it became clearer for her

"I-I think we could ask him now" suggested Chihiro as the gang stood up and approached the brooding wizard student.

"Hey, Gundha-" greeted Hajime.

"Aaaah!" Gundham got spooked and prepared his fighting stance, but soon regained not only his composure, but act as a wizard when he crossed his arms. "I mean, MWAHAHAHA! I did not expect this amount minions to gather around the Overlord. What brings you here, my minions?"

"Remember that time when you returned from the toilet and then info dumping us with all the stuff regarding...you know?" asked Hajime while trying to approach to his level.

"Fuwahaha, of course I, Supreme Overlord, remember it as well as I do the Darkest Era, when foul beasts ravaged through the lands of mortal kind. Many mortals deemed innocent died by the cruel hands of-" Gundham started fantasizing already. Despite most of them not taking him too seriously, some of the stuff he said managed to frighten Chihiro quite a bit. He hid himself behind Chiaki out of the instinct. After witnessing her friend being afriad, Chiaki knew to step in.

"...Tone it down. You're scaring Chihiro." bluntly warned Chiaki as she scowled at him.

"...Wait, really? Huh.." quietly blurted out Gundham, being flabbergasted by the fact someone was, for once in his life, actually afraid of him. An awkward silence followed, with Gundham trying to adjust his mannerisms in order to not scare the tiny programmer boy. "Perhaps intimidation and fear is not the most optimal way to recruit."

"Anyway, I think already know what do you all desire...but we must discuss that after school." smirked Gundham before he gave out his suggestion.

"Erm, why? I don't see any issues if we discuss it now." argued Hajime.

"Malicious eyes observe while its prey are drowned in ignorance." warned Gundham in a rather serious tone, quite different from the one that he used to tell about the Darkest Era fantasy of his.

"...What does that even mean?" asked Hajime, being a bit annoyed by Gundham's vagueness.

"Wait wait wait! I think I know what you mean...and yeah it's kinda spooky to think about it. He always comes from the dark." Ibuki caught on rather quick after realizing that certain octopus lad could be watching them any time and could potentially strike at any moment.

"Speaking of that, has any of you mortals seen Kraken of the Land?" piqued Gundham, seeing how no one has spoken directly about him at that time.

"Nope. No sign of attacks from him today." confirmed Chiaki.

"I-I don't think anyone in my class got attacked either." added Chihiro.

"Hmmm…quite unorthodox. It would have made sense to assume that it would be nearly every day at specific hours, but he works in strange ways." wondered Gundham

"Hmm...it would be a good idea to talk about it after school...I think" agreed Chiaki before doubting her own words.

"Then it's settled. We shall meet each other at the entrance!" declared Gundham as he shook his fist as a sign of triumph. Soon, all of them returned to their classes and continued their rather normal day.

As the time passed again, the classes were over. Chiaki, Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro waited for the wizard lad to arrive as others, but not everyone, went home.

"Alright so, where is he now?" wondered Hajime once again, thinking about what was taking the wizard lad so long. Soon, he got met by Gundham's already colorful group, that consisted of a team manager and a swordswoman. In the middle of them, Gundham stood like a proud eagle.

"Nekomaru and Peko?" Hajime was taken by a surprise.

"Aw yeah!" cheered Nekomaru boastfully as he pumped his fists.

"It's incredibly difficult to take it at face value, but you have to believe everything Gundham says." suggested Peko while trying to keep a straight face about it. They weren't the only ones that followed the wizard man as another student approached, a much more sharp dressed one that was just barely taller than Chihiro.

"Fuyuhiko too?" blurted out Hajime.

"I'm also the first timer here. Peko said that you guys actually have proper info about Daft Capo, so I decided to check out. I hope all of you better live up to your words, at least." cautioned Fuyuhiko rather angrily, not wanting to deal with anything Daft Capo related in the first place. "This shit about having to face is really goddamn stressful. I mean, except Peko, I don't think any of you know what kind of stuff goes around mafia zones, right?"

"...I don't think I want to imagine it." gulped Hajime, believing Fuyuhiko enough that he knew that Hope's Peak could be in some dire situations if the situation escalates.

"Yeah, it can be better that way. Things that happen in the world of criminal syndicates are….to say beyond fucked up would have been an understatement." Fuyuhiko

"Like that case where one gangster was ordered to be cut up into thirty six pieces and then presented as an art piece to his fellow group?" Gundham gave out an example. For someone that constantly played a supervillain, he spoke in an incredibly condemning tone about it. Everyone around him felt chills down their spines, thinking that incident could be something that could happen to anyone at school.

"D-Don't even mention that case! That mafia is off limits by even the ruthless of mafias and yakuza! H-how did you even know about it?!" chided Fuyuhiko, but less out of his usual anger but more out of a fear. While no one but Gundham and Fuyuhiko knew the specific syndicate they were talking about, they seemed to get that whatever it might have been, it would make Daft Capo looks like child's play.

"There are certain things that are meant to be known only by few." answered Gundham as vaguely as he usually did.

"This is….sickening….What would bring anyone to do this?" Chiaki felt absolute disgust when she heard the case. Killing was already off limits by her, let alone someone to butcher a person in such cruel fashion. She felt some kind of sickness in her stomach while thinking about the case.

"Welcome to the world of crime syndicates, nothing is clean and nowhere is safe." lamented Fuyuhiko, knowing the reality of it. The group remained quiet, drowned in fear over what could happen to them if they cross paths with mafia.

"Hold on, guys! We are diving too deeply in hypothetical scenarios. What we should do right now is focus on what we know about it and so far, all they did was to send Herman here to cause some shit among us, but not much else. While it is true that we need more info, but I don't think anything prevents us from KICKING THEIR AAAAAAAAAAAAASSSSSSSSSS…..at least Herman's, if we are being humble." Nekomaru stepped in to reassure that things might not have been as scary as they think they were. Something like his friends feeling completely down was not a thing he could afford to see. For the most part, he managed to brighten the mood around him and raise some confidence in their decisions.

"I mean, if that's what keeping you out of worries, then good for you. Still, though…" hesitated Fuyuhiko but still insisting to join them, despite knowing the potential dangers. It was probably the only option he could do. "...Anyway, where should we even go?"

"Follow the steps of the Overlord, my minions!" advised Gundham as all of them went towards the seamless bush, going through the forest-like area of the park, where Hope's Peak resided.

"Do we really have to go through here?" complained Fuyuhiko as he had to cross all the roots and bushes near him.

"Of course! No adversary mortal shall notice us!" boasted Gundham, going forth without hesitation.

"Ah yes, no one will notice all the rustling we are doing right now." sassed Hajime as they made a lot of noise during their journey. After traversing through the labyrinth of trees and roots, they peeked out of it to observe their surroundings.

"Over here, minions!" shouted Gundham as he pointed towards the garage where his group went previous days. They followed him and waited in front of the garage.

"Mwahahaha! Come forth, as I, the Supreme Overlord, have appeared in front of the secret lair with my minions!" called out Gundham. Those that weren't with him previous times were absolutely confused. Suddenly, the doors of the garage opened, revealing its dark interior towards them.

"Overlord, my man, what did you bring here today?" spoke Skipper with the back of the chair he was sitting on it facing at them. Gundham's gang slowly went inside and took all the free chairs they could find to sit on them.

"Wait, who the hell is talking now?" quietly asked Fuyuhiko as he leaned towards Peko.

"Lets see what you have got." Skipper turned towards them, revealing that he was, yes indeed, a penguin. Kowalski, Rico and Private also revealed themselves to them after their boss performed his introduction.

"Oooh, quite a catch! We've got five fresh new candidates for our little group!" praised Skipper, warranting another boastful laugh from Gundham. Meanwhile, Hajime and Fuyuhiko briefly froze from the sheer of bafflement and bewilderment at seeing the sheer absurdity of a secret anti mafia group lead by a bunch of talking penguins. It felt like exactly one of Gundham's many fantasies and had he told them earlier, they would have simply scoffed it off as another case of his bullshittery.

But he wasn't making it up and all of it was real.

"...Can we….ask where is the bathroom here?" awkwardly asked Hajime, raising his finger to get penguin's attention.

"Hmmm….the bathroom...where was it?" Skipper scratched his beak to remember the place. Bar the garage, penguins didn't utilize the rest of the building that much due necessity...unless they had to pay the rent for the landlord that owned the building.

"Go through these doors, upstairs one floor and when you find a sign with "WC" written on it, you're good to go." interjected Kowalski almost immediately, probably due to his memory.

"Ah...okay…" Hajime and Fuyuhiko went through Kowalski's directions and after navigating to the rather narrow staircase, reached the toilet. As soon as they got near the sinks, they opened the valves of pipes, letting the water stream down sinks. With water, they washed their eyes, just to see if they weren't actually hallucinating. Both of them looked at each other, sharing the same sentiment of bafflement before they returned back to the garage.

"WHAT THE FUCK?!" Hajime and Fuyuhiko both yelled at the same time, letting out their bewilderment.

"How many times will I have to say "believe it with your own eyes"?" wondered Gundham after witnessing the reaction from his classmates and arguably friends.

"What? Is this the first time you have seen a penguin?" snarked Skipper. However, for some individuals that, if they had a zoology test at that moment, would get the lowest grade on it a la Chiaki Nananmi, it was sincerely the first time she saw an animal like that.

"N-no, not at all, just that…" Hajime attempted to explain

"This feels like an acid trip." flat out admitted Fuyuhiko, crossing his arms.

"Wait, why are we freaking out about them when our enemy is a talking land based octopus?" Hajime then came to a realization that it was pointless to be shocked by things that they have already seen more or less. Meanwhile, the girls (and one boy) thought a little bit differently.

"Oooo, penguins commandos were Gundham's info providers all time? That's so coooooooooooool!" cheered Ibuki

"P-penguins?" stammered Chihiro while trying to make a good response while also attempting to not panic too much. "...Uh...I don't really have anything to say, sorry."

"Hmmm….are you the ones that stole the spoons?" asked Chiaki after she has taken a long time staring at the ceiling, trying to come up with something to say. She also remembered that case when the spoons "mysteriously" disappeared.

"What do you mean "stole", Marshmallow Face? We didn't steal them, we just-Kowalski, what's the term?" Skipper tried to argue back at her before he poked his tall colleague for assistance.

"Obtained through unauthori-I mean vigilant means." suggested Kowalski and even then he slipped.

"Yeah, that." Skipper went with the term.

"So basically stole...I think. Anyway, lets get back to the important stuff." Chiaki switched the topic, since it would have been quite silly to argue about something that wasn't relevant.

"I have to tell Kyoko about this." thought Chiaki to herself, reminding herself that she had to tell a certain student of Class 78th about the solved mystery.

"Yeah...so….Daft Capo. What do you guys know about it?" Hajime attempted to initiate the conversation with them, trying to not sound awkward about it.

"Any specifics you wanna know?" Skipper narrowed down the topics to make it easier for them.

"How about actual proof that it exists, for once? There better be, so that you fuckers and Overlord guy are not making shit up in order to cause-" suggested Fuyuhiko first, but he was soon interrupted by Skipper throwing the files about Daft Capo's presence in Luxembourg and Netherlands. For some reason, he kept the file of the mafia's presence in Denmark to himself.

"...Huh." Fuyuhiko started looking through the files, seeing the things that the already known members have already seen. Hajime, Chiaki, Ibuki and Chihiro also joined in, observing the pictures of glamorously dressed men patrolling the areas.

"This was something discussed in the previous meetings." explained Peko to him.

"Wait, are they European or something?" questioned Fuyuhiko as he kept looking at the pictures, considering that all of the pictures were taken on that continent.

"Oh yeah, they come from the lands of weird tax laws, complications when it comes to food and an eternal hatred of neighbors." confirmed Skipper

"It still hasn't been found from where do they actually originate, though." added Peko.

"Hold the hell up, what is a European mafia doing in Japan, where Yakuza is all over the place?" pointed out Fuyuhiko one of the things that seemed like an anomaly not only for all crime syndicates, but for everyone's standards as a whole.

"That's the thing, we still don't know...Now wait just a second. You seem to be oddly knowledgeable about yakuza and stuff. Are you perhaps...Yakuza?" Skipper jumped on the table and leaned towards him with a suspicious eye.

"No fucking shit there! Wasn't this obvious from the start?!" fumed Fuyuhiko, partially due to how penguins took taking down a mafia rather nonchalantly, not taking in consideration what crime syndicates are capable of. Somehow, Fuyuhiko's words managed to throw Skipper completely off the rails as the leading penguin stood still like a statue with his eyes wide.

"...Anyone else here a Yakuza member?" asked Skipper, to which Peko raised a hand. Despite being a total shock to penguins, Hope's Peak gang already knew Fuyuhiko's status and talent.

"….Give us a moment." Skipper and his colleagues went to the toilet to do exactly the same thing as Hajime and Fuyuhiko did earlier. After washing their eyes, they blankly stared at the mirrors, trying to comprehend what they considered to be absolutely absurd.

"I can't believe it. They let in a freaking Yakuza here! What's next, serial killers and war criminals in it?!" condemned Skipper while imagining any student of Hope's Peak academy being accepted, despite of questionable status and actions.

"Judging from how the school operates, very likely. As long as you are what they consider to be an "Ultimate", you're in." Kowalski expressed his hypothesis about Hope's Peak's modus operandi.

"Crooked, I tell ya! All of this is crooked!" ranted Skipper before an awkward silence followed.

"So...Kowalski, what's the plan now?" asked Skipper, trying to make sense out of the situation.

"Compromise. It usually works." suggested Kowalski, oddly in a doubtful tone. After the decision, the penguins returned to the garage as the Hope's Peak gang waited rather patiently for them.

"What." squinted Fuyuhiko at them. Others remained quiet, but were still rather weirded out by penguins' reactions.

"So...yeah…Anything you want?" Skipper's attempt to compromise went into fruition. Luckily for him, the only thing that Fuyuhiko truly wanted was to not get fully involved in Daft Capo's shenanigans.

"Just leave my clan out of Daft Capo shit and we're good, got it?" calmly requested Fuyuhiko

"Y-yeah...got it." Skipper chose to respect his wish, just to not get their body parts sold on the black market. At the very least, that's what they thought it would happen to them.

"You know, there's a pattern in their locations." suddenly Hajime interjected after noticing a trend in locations of Daft Capo's presence. "So far, you guys have covered Luxembourg, Netherlands and…"

"America too, if you count that he got us in Manhattan." added Skipper, remembering their first encounter and how it went.

"...What are you hiding there?" squinted Hajime at them while also pointing at the Denmark file.

"Oh, no no, absolutely nothing, my dear Ahoge Lifter. Nothing to be concerned about, you see?" denied Skipper, but that only made Hajime want to know even more.

"I'm gonna ask again...What are you hiding?" repeated Hajime in a slightly angrier tone than before.

"Again, nothing you're supposed to know." retaliated Skipper as if he was looking for a fight with the tall ahoge boy.

"Sure, keep it that way. Truly, hiding something is the best thing you could do when we not only do know very little about our enemy, any of us could be potentially killed. Would you feel comfortable, knowing that you have lead students to their deaths?" countered Hajime even harder. It was so hard, that it left everyone in the garage speechless. Some were even impressed that despite being a normal boy, he channeled so much Yakuza energy in his rant that it wouldn't be surprising if he was in the same league as Fuyuhiko and Peko.

"That...was a good line...I am impressed by your abilities to convince, Persuasive One." complimented Gundham, seriously impressed by Hajime.

"..Alright...you win. So, here it is….not greatest moment, which goes by the name...Denmark." Skipper admitted defeat and threw files about Daft Capo's presence in Denmark, specifically Copenhagen. The first picture revealed was the same as others: men in white sparkly tuxedos and fedoras patrolling around a port. Nothing too shocking for Hope's Peak gang.

"This doesn't seem tooo bad, really. It's just like other pic." commented Ibuki just before Skipper revealed another photo. It became much clearer why penguins considered it a prime humiliation: it was a photo of Private being kicked like a soccer ball by a particularly lanky man, dressed in the similar clothes as other members of Daft Capo as other penguins watched in terror. The lanky man also had a devious mustache, one hell of a goatee and a particularly satisfied grin on his face when performing his action. The photo was taken at the exact moment the lanky man's foot hit Private's stomach with full force. Other similarly dressed men laughed in their faces in the photo. Some of the Hope's peak gasped when they saw the photo, but it said more than enough about the whole situation.

"What did he do to that poor Private…" lamented Peko at the sight of the tiniest penguins being kicked in such a fashion. She thought that Private was particularly cute, so it was especially painful for her to see the photo.

"Boys and girls, this is...the most heinous, the most dastardly, the lankiest man that's in Daft Capo and he goes by the name….Fritz." Skipper fumed as he introduced them to what penguins considered to be their biggest enemy in Daft Capo and that was saying something to them considering that Herman was considered to be quite a menace.

"Is he one of the higher ranking members of Daft Capo?" asked Chiaki, noticing that

"Yeah, he's a part of what they consider to be elite. Why the question, Marshmallow Face?" confirmed Skipper before he gave out a question for her.

"Usually, when someone is named, they must be pretty important...I think." explained Chiaki in her own ways.

"Yeah yeah, I getcha, but I forgot to mention the worst part about it. We didn't take that picture! Daft Capo, or specifically, Herman did it!" Skipper rolled with his eyes before he continued dramatizing about their decisive defeat in Copenhagen.

"It would be rather odd if you guys did it." noted Nekomaru.

"And there's this message he sent us! It goes…" said Skipper before he started reading the message, imitating Herman's accent and mannerisms at the same time. It was a poor imitation, to say at least.

"Gottem, Manhattan boys! Hahahahaha! BTW, American cars are garbo, FIAT SUPERIORE FORD & CHEVY ITALIA SUPREMA NUMERO UNO INDUSTRIA AUTOMOBILISTICA!"

"Herman is a car enthusiast?!" wondered Nekomaru, surprised that Herman actually had another passion other than pissing people off.

"...Am I the only one that is getting some really, really uncomfortable vibes from that message? Anyone? No?" commented Ibuki as she scratched her head, wondering about some implications in Herman's message.

"That turned for something melodramatic. Do you have any more questions about Daft Capo?" interrupted Kowalski to enforce some level of professionalism in the team.

"...Can we go back to the original point?" requested Hajime in a deadpanned tone.

"Y-yeah, there's something you wanted to say. What did you mean?" added in Chihiro, allowing Hajime to speak about the thing.

"Okay so, their presence in aforementioned countries does not feel like a coincidence. There is something that these countries have in common…" Hajime started explaining to them, slowly building up his arguments for the potential motives of Daft Capo.

"Being tax havens? That's just for Luxembourg, though." Skipper brought his point and also an excuse to bash countries that he considered being "tax havens".

"You are not exactly far off, but it's not the specific thing I'm thinking about." argumented Hajime further.

"Economies?" responded Kowalski with a raised (imitation of an) eyebrow.

"I do not count tax havens as legitimate states." grumbled Skipper, sneaking in his complaining in the conversation.

"...Yes, exactly! I know for sure Japan and America have one of the strongest economies in the world. Not sure about European countries, but their economic status could be attractive for them." confirmed Hajime.

"Not exactly sure about Japan, considering I've been hearing a lotta news about stagnation." pointed out Nekomaru, the frequent news watcher or reader.

"And it would be safe to assume that the reason why are they going for Hope's Peak academy is…" continued Hajime.

"Money." Chiaki gave out an answer for him.

"Eyup, they're in for the money. Isn't that right, Skipper?" said Hajime while waiting for Skipper's thoughts about it.

"That is surprisingly basic, to be honest." commented Fuyuhiko, expecting a far more outlandish answer, considering everything they saw and heard about Daft Capo up until that point.

"...Well, going in for the money isn't exactly out of their character, considering how they react to it…" agreed Skipper before he called out for his less than stable colleague. "Rico, imitation!"

Then, Rico emerged from the shadows, wearing shades while also posing like a true Daft Capo member. He jumped on the table and threw fake money on it. Then he started aggressively bobbing with his head like a pigeon along with hopping in one place, shaking his flipper like he was pumping his fist.

"MMMMM DOSH DOSH!" imitated Rico, giving a general idea what an average Daft Capo member acted like. Everyone was baffled, including the penguins, despite dealing with them for same time.

"...Are they really like that?" asked Hajime, baffled once again.

"Worse even." warned Skipper, letting their imagination go wild, even though their encounters with Herman gave a good reference what could other Daft Capo members be like.

"Greed truly infects a mortal mind in the most intriguing ways…" commented Gundham, crossing his arms to look cool.

"Alright, I've also got one. What's their MO? Since you already fought them a few times, how armed are they?" Fuyuhiko brought up another topic for the conversation about that accursed mafia of bizzaros.

"Well, I'm glad you asked, Yakuz-...erm, Fuyuhiko, because we snatched their entire protocol." happily said Skipper before he pointed at the tallest penguin again. "Kowalski, read!"

After bringing in a bunch of papers that were titles "Protocols of Daft Capo", Kowalski began to read them out loud:

"ACT IV: Law of Disproportionate Response.

A member of Daft Capo syndicate should always use means to an end in an appropriate fashion as their adversary. Fist for a fist, knife for a knife, gun for a gun. Guns should be used only for the most extreme of measures."

"...What, are they deliberately putting themselves at the disadvantage? What kind of mafia are they?!" questioned Fuyuhiko again as everything he heard about Daft Capo challenged his views of how should mafias and Yakuzas be run.

"Kowalski, ACT II." ordered Skipper. Kowalski then flipped back two papers to find the aforementioned rule. After finding it, he read out loud once again.

"ACT II: Recruitment Standards

All members of Daft Capo should have considerable and noticeable confidence in their abilities. Nothing too wrong with trusting your abilities, all extent is valuable."

"That...says more about them than it should have." deadpanned Hajime.

"C-can I...ask a question?" Chihiro meekly raised his hand while also switching topics once again.

"Sure, The Tiny One, what do you want to know?" Skipper allowed him to speak.

"Okay so...um...do you guys know anything about their attack on MayQueen NyanNyan cafe?" Chihiro brought up something that he learned a previous day. He thought about it through out the entire conversation.

"...Yeah, it's how we actually found Daft Capo out of their hidings." hesitantly admitted Skipper, but the reason why he hesitated was because he thought that maid cafe was the most wince inducing thing ever created by the mankind. Bar Private, other penguins shared the same sentiment.

"Do you guys know a person named Faris Nyannyan?" further asked Chihiro, to which Skipper responded with totally not suspicious whistling, pretending as if she didn't know her.

"...What kind of blasphemy against all surnames is Nyannyan? Seriously though, what lineage goes by the name like that?" quietly denounced Gundham the Nyannyan lineage for their unorthodox and sense defying choice for surname.

"I think it's pretty cute, nya!" Ibuki added her two cents to the issue.

"...W-well, do you know her?" Chihiro asked once again after the whistling proved to be a non satisfactory answer.

"You didn't hear anything…" further denied Skipper while making whirlwind motions with his flippers before hiding under the table. "Got it?"

Chihiro quietly just nodded at him, realizing that it was classified information...for some reason.

"That's basically a yes." whispered Hajime to him as he leaned towards him.

"Anything else?" asked Skipper if they want anything at that point.

"That should be all for today. It was...rather extensive, to say at least." concluded Peko before she turned towards the Hope's Peak gang. "Do you guys agree?"

All of them did, considering they were pretty exhausted from hearing all the oddities regarding Daft Capo

"Alright then. So be it. We shall see each other soon!" Skipper waved at them as the garage doors opened with Hope's Peak gang slowly but surely packing their stuff. Outside, the rain continued to fall.

"Farewell, Avians of the Faraway Blizzard!" Gundham bid them farewell as well before the doors closed, separating the realms of students and penguins for that day. "This is where we depart. We shall have another fated meeting tomorrow! Mwahahaha!"

Gundham was the first one to go home or as he liked to call it, his "temple of darkness".

"Entire thing felt like a fever dream." sighed Fuyuhiko after trying to cool down from all the oddities he experienced today.

"It was a fever dream, except it was real." added Hajime, really wanting to have some orange juice at that moment. Fuyuhiko went home with Peko and Hajime went with Ibuki, this time not carrying her in a similar fashion as he did in the morning.

"Don't worry, guys! I'm pretty sure you'll get used to it! It was pretty bizarre at first, but it may become something not that unusual as the time passes!" Nekomaru gave out his motivational speech once again before he departed from them. Chiaki and Chihiro were last ones to depart, going together to their homes.

As they went on their way during the rainy afternoon, there was something that bothered Chihiro. Despite the will and resolve against Daft Capo, doubt lurked in his mind. Doubt about whether they could stand a chance against such an unknown and illusory adversary.

"Hey, Chiaki?" Chihiro poked Chiaki's shoulder to talk about something that has been on his mind after the meeting.

"Hm?" Chiaki looked at him, curious about the thing he wanted to say.

"All this talk about Daft Capo and such….do you think we stand a chance against them?" asked Chihiro

"As long as we don't face Fritz, I believe we can do it. They seemed pretty confident about defeating them and they do have experience. We also have Hououin Kyouma and Faris on our side, which does increase our chances...Maybe." Chiaki expressed her usually optimistic belief once again.

"Y-yeah, but what if...someone gets hurt? The story that Faris told us reminded me how Daft Capo members can attack without provocation. I really don't want anyone to be hurt…" Chihiro brought up a point. Even though he felt slightly relieved from Chiaki's words, there was still doubt in his mind.

Suddenly, Chiaki went completely silent, almost unresponsive. She also stood completely still, not making a single movement.

"Chiaki?" Chihiro's worries escalated when she saw Chiaki like that. There was something wrong, he truly felt like it.

"Chihiro...I promise you...no one will get hurt. I won't allow anyone to hurt my friends. That is my promise and I will do everything to fulfill it." quietly declared Chiaki before suddenly grabbing his arm and looking at

"As long as we do it, it will be all okay." promised Chiaki, speaking her words from the bottom of her heart, giving him a smile. However, that smile had some melanchony with it.

"The amount of hope you have, Chiaki..it's reassuring. It's welcoming to see someone who can see light in the darkest situations." said Chihiro as he tightened the grip, fully believing that things weill be alright in the end. They ended up walking together while holding hands.

Their time spending together came to an end when they had to go to their homes.

"It's time to get home, isn't it?" lamented Chiaki. Despite her wanting to spend more time with him, she knew that it had to come for

"Yeah, but don't worry, we will see each other tomorrow." reassured Chihiro, promising her that this isn't the end of it at all, but rather just a start of their time together. Before they fully went their own waves, they waved at each other in farewell.

Chiaki went home fully alone, carrying her backpack while hiding herself by covering her head with her cat like hoodie. She didn't want to stand out among the people, keeping herself at some level of distance. While she was walking to her beloved home, she was looking at the ground with uncertainty.

"All these promises I've said….could I live up to them? Could I even have the ability to protect them? Without friends, I am nothing. A nobody. Could a nobody like me even be capable of such thing? If I fail them…" thought Chiaki to herself while also tearing herself down. For all the words she said to her friends, there was this ever prevalent fear within herself about failing them and ever worse, losing them. Being at Hope's Peak was the first time she ever had friends to begin with, only to be faced with a situation that they could get hurt badly. Suddenly, she stopped in the middle of a sidewalk and looked at the skies. The rain stopped as the clouds became lighter.

"I have failed a lot in my life…but I have to do this. There is no other option. It's for everyone sake. Hope's Peak gave me a chance that, maybe, just maybe, I can not fail. Maybe it will be alright. It's just that "maybe" that makes it worth it. Yeah...I think. I have to do this. I will protect them all." After some heavy reconsideration, Chiaki declared within herself that she had enough of living in constant failures of her life before Hope's Peak. It was time for her to dedicate herself to protect others as much as possible, even it would badly hurt her. At the very least, as long as no one else got hurt, it was okay for her.

After all the time spent walking, she finally arrived at home. When she went inside, it felt rather odd to her that she was alone once again. Putting down her backpack, she laid in her bed and blankly stared at the ceiling as she was drowned with all the thoughts she had in her mind. Will it truly turn out alright was one of the most predominant thoughts, even though she truly hoped that the answer would be yes.

"It's time for change..." promised Chiaki to herself. Despite all the promises, there was still self doubt looming over her. Uncertainty was all over the place, but deep down she knew that there's no giving up in such situation. All of her friends have to be protected, that was her dedication.

 

Chapter 10: Hope and Carbonara

Chapter Text

Author's note: I firmly believe that every military has its own favorite food. For example, my country's soldier seem to really like bean soup. I don't know why exactly, but every time they allow civilians enter their bases, they always offer it. Not gonna complain, because bean soup is tasty and I'm quite a military nerd, but it's amusing, to say at least.

The cloudy day without rain followed. Chiaki was sitting alone on the bench near the fountain, playing video games all by herself. She arrived much earlier than anyone else, just to have some time before school, waiting for others to arrive. It was also a case of her preventing herself from oversleeping. Only slight breeze accompanied her, gently stroking her hair as she kept tapping on the buttons. Despite engaging in the activity she adored, it was not the same feeling as she had when she played games with her friends. It felt rather empty for her, but she held on hope that her friends would arrive soon.

Suddenly, the screen of her console got completely covered by black liquid. Due to it, she was unable to see the obstacles in her game, which caused her to lose a life in it.

"...Huh?" wondered Chiaki as she swiped the finger across the screen before she tasted the liquid. It had a familiar salty taste, which caused her to remember when she felt that taste earlier. It meant only one thing: the company she had nearby was with the last person she wanted to.

"...Where are you?" hissed Chiaki as she turned behind to see if a certain someone was hiding in the fountain. Fountain's water was crystal clear, anything on the bottom could be seen. However, she saw nothing suspicious in it. She stood up from the bench and started patrolling around the fountain. She held the console in her hands as she was looking for a certain enemy.

"Show yourself already, I know you're here." demanded Chiaki, looking around to see if he's close. Her assumption was correct, but his hiding spot was the last place she expected it to be.

"Sorpresa, hoe!" Herman propelled himself from her hoodie before he pushed her right into the fountain. The force of his ambush was strong enough to make her faceplant right into the cold water. Her console went down with her as the contact with water damaged the gaming system to the point of disrepair.

"Hahahaha, gottem! You are moist like a pussy!" taunted Herman, flexing with his tentacle arm to further rub the salt to the wound. Chiaki raised her head above the water and looked towards the enemy she was looking for.

"….You…" scowled Chiaki at the sight of a flexing octopus. She clenched her fist after she picked up her ruined game console and put it inside her wet backpack.

"Yes, me! I am the sexiest motherfucker in the world!" boasted Herman just to further spite her for his own amusement.

"Stop it. Entire school has enough of you." condemned Chiaki while also channeling the sentiment shared by her schoolmates and students of Class 78th.

"Ohohoho, do you really think just saying "stop it" will work against me? As expected of a noob, who sucks at life!" further provoked Herman. His last comment stung Chiaki really hard, but determination to stop him overcame any insecurities she had. He had to be stopped at all costs was the predominant thought in her mind.

"Mmmgrrrr…." growled Chiaki as he fist began to shake from anger alone. Unfortunately, she made one fatal mistake...

She pouted, puffing her already incredibly soft cheeks like a squirrel storing food for the winter.

"PFFFFFFFT HAHAHAHAHA! Oh mio Dio, you are absolutely slaughtering me now!" wheezed Herman as he started rolling on the ground. To him, it was like being threatened by a toothless kitten. Chiaki, being completely soaked, stood up from the fountain and started approaching the one and only Herman.

"Well, Imma go cause some shit here, if you don't mind, so come and get me! As if you will, noob! Hahahaha!" boastfully announced Herman before he dashed off towards the entrance of the school, entering it in mere seconds.

"That octopus is driving me freaking mental." thought Chiaki to herself before she started running after him. After entering the school, she only found empty hallways as Herman disappeared from her sight. Chiaki looked around again to see any traces of him. Suddenly, a thrown egg directly hit her face, splattering yolk all over it. After feeling the stingy impact of the projectile, she wiped off the yolk from her face, only to see that Herman intentionally blew off his cover by returning to his original golden color.

"Hah! You thought I was done with you, noob?! The Hermaning has just begun! Lets see how you like this!" gloated Herman as he started bombarding her with more eggs, splattering all over her with yolk. Not even her evasion attempts saved her from the incoming eggs. Despite all the bombardment, she kept chasing him. Chiaki, however, was no athlete, as Herman had a quite the lead in the chase. Not only that, but all the moisture and yolk brought additional weight, slowing her down even more. Herman greatly enjoyed the fact he was in the lead, taunting her all the way with all the gestures and insults he could gather. Yet, she persisted.

Around the corner, Herman found a bucket filled with water. Almost out of an instinct, he slapped it and caused it to spill all over the floor. Then he put the nearly empty bucket back to its original position, just so that it doesn't seem suspicious. Considering that Chiaki was still far behind of him, he used the opportunity to peek from the corner and taunted the incoming Nanami by making all sorts of gestures and taunts. Once the huffing and puffing gamer girl got too close for his liking to taunt further, he used the spilled water to slide on the floor, gaining additional boost in speed.

Just like he planned, Chiaki tripped when making a turn, thanks to spilled water. She landed right on her back as she yelped in pain when her backside had a harsh meeting with the solid slippery floor. Herman laughed hard when he saw her poor face in shock when she slipped before the fall happened.

"Essere distrutto, scrub!" taunted Herman once more, using the opportunity of her tripping to completely disappear from her sight, leaving her laying on the floor. Chiaki slowly attempted to pick herself up, only for her hands to slip. She used a moment to gain some breath after being exhausted from all the running she had to do just to chase down an octopus and not even catching it to begin with.

"I have to...stop him…." repeated Chiaki before she slowly but carefully stood up from her position. Opting to walk with caution on the slippery floor instead of just instinctively sprint forward. However, Herman completely disappeared from her sight again. The feeling of failure started kicking in, but she refused to give up.

Meanwhile, Herman ran across the ceiling of halls, searching for his next target. On he way, he found one lone brown haired short boy with a rather noticeable ahoge. Just from his stature alone, Herman knew he found a goldmine for provocations.

"Aha, I see who's gonna get gottem'd!" thought Herman to himself before he launched himself off from ceiling, startling the unlucky boy by flicking his ahoge with his whole octopus body before he landed right in front of him. The octopus lad squished from the impact before he returned to his original form.

"GOTTEM!" triumphantly shouted Herman right in front of the startled Makoto.

"Hey! What's the big idea-...you!" Makoto's senses returned as he angrily pointed at Herman.

"YES, MEEEEE! Ready for round two, fuckboy?!" Herman boastfully turned around before he showed him an egg, signifying what would happen next.

"Will you just stop it already, you-OW!" demanded Makoto, but unfortunately for him, he was met with a hard boiled egg, thrown like a baseball, to the stomach. The force of a thrown egg was strong enough to knock him down and making him curl from pain.

"Hahahaha, let me tell you this: if it didn't work the first time, it won't work the second time. Now, arrivederci fuckederci, fuckboy!" Herman laughed in his face before he ran away, disappearing from his sight. Makoto was still squirming from agony of the strike when he heard distant footsteps closing in. As they got louder, it was soon revealed that it was Chiaki, still chasing Herman after losing sight of him. However, Chiaki completely halted when she saw Makoto in such state.

"Makoto, what happened?" asked Chiaki before she realized what exactly happened. "Did he…"

The feeling of failure kicked her hard when saw that despite all promises, she failed to protect her friends almost immediately. It seemed for her that she would never escaped the cycle of failure that marked the rest of her life.

"Don't…worry about me, Chiaki. I'll be okay, I promise." reassured Makoto, giving a slight amount of reassurance to her. However, she still heavily worried about him, considering in what state was he at that moment.

"...Is...there anything I can do?" gently offered Chiaki as a compensation to at the very least cure the situation if she failed to prevent it. It was the least she could do.

"Well...a little help wouldn't hurt." approved Makoto, letting Chiaki to lift him up, since he couldn't do it by himself due to pain. After Chiaki placed her gentle grip around Makoto, they were

"On three." Chiaki gave out a sign, just so they could be ready.

"One…"

"Two…"

Suddenly...

"INK BOMBARDIEREN!"

Ink poured on them from the ceiling, spilling all over them. Chiaki shielded Makoto from the pouring ink, covering him with her body as ink got all over her back. To add an insult to injury, both of them were placed in such position that if anyone would pass by, they would have been truly embarrassed.

The source of the poured ink revealed itself and it was Herman, standing above them like a bat as he held the empty spray bottle of his. He closed the spray bottle before he began laughing at their faces.

"HAHAHAHAHA, TWO TIMES THE GOTTEM, NOOB AND FUCKBOY!" taunted Herman as he dashed off across the ceiling, looking for the next target while disappearing from their sight. "Consider yourself beanboozled: deluxe edition!"

"I swear, that octopus…." Makoto clenched his fist in frustration. Both of them got out of that position and stood up, soaked with ink and yolk. "We have to stop him before anyone else gets attacked!"

And thus two dorks chased after that octopus once again, still lagging behind him for quite a bit.

Running across the ceiling again, Herman searched for another one to provoke until the breaking point. It didn't took him long enough to find another point of interest: a white haired tall boy with a jacket, humming along his way without a worry in the world (or so it seemed).

"Aha, three times the gottem today!" chuckled Herman to himself, eager to provoke another one that day. Just like before, he launched himself from the ceiling, but thanks to Nagito accidentally tilting his head by a millimeter, his attack missed entirely. Herman landed in front of the boy of fortune, squashed like a pancake.

"...Hold up there. What? I was perfectly aligned!" sputtered Herman while thinking about how did he, by a mere chance, completely fail to hit him or startle him in the first place. Nagito seemed slightly confused by the sudden appearance of the infamous octopus.

"Hello there, Herman!" casually greeted Nagito as if they were friends of sort.

"YESS MEE-Oh, hello there." Herman attempted to do the exactly overly dramatic entrance in front of him, but only to tone it down after realizing that not only Nagito wasn't angered, he seemed delighted by his appearance.

"What are you up for this potentially beautiful day?" asked Nagito with a smile on his face.

"Same as ever, just chilling and such..but now...SNIPE!" answered Herman, baiting him into thinking that they would just chat a little, only for him to throw a hard boiled egg right at Nagito's private parts (so to say). However, in a complete subversion of Herman's expectations, lucky boy's arm, by complete accident, shielded him from the incoming impact, only to hit it right in his hand.

"Ouch, that stung a little." said Nagito, feeling a slight bit of pain in his hand. Considering his life, it was not the most painful thing he has ever experienced. He shook his hand to ease of the sting. That event left Herman absolutely bamboozled, it was unlike anything resembling first two "victims" of that day.

"Wha? Wha? Wha? How?! It was just moments away!" perplexed Herman, wondering how his plan got squashed by an accidental series of events.

"Huh? What do you mean? You can always throw anything at me, I don't mind!" offered Nagito as he spread his arms. It took a while for Herman's mind to process what did he exactly meant as he was thrown off guard by Nagito's mannerisms and comments.

"...Boi, you into that or something?" asked Herman rather sincerely, being already baffled by Nagito's existence. It would not have been a surprise for him to find out that the boy of fortune was an overt masochist.

"No no no, don't get me wrong. It's not that I find pleasure in it, it's just that I don't mind it at all. After all, trash deserves to be thrown at trash, right?" clarified Nagito, but thanks to the usual Nagito things, his clarification failed to actually clarify the situation with him. Herman scratched his head before he started investigating Nagito, climbing around white haired boy's shoulders like a monkey.

"You living cabbage, you are completely unlike others." snorted Herman, tapping Nagito's nose to at the very least get some (what he considered to be) funny reaction out of him. Yet, Nagito remained the same. "However, that does not spare you from…."

Outta nowhere, Herman brought up his spray bottle and pointed it at Nagito's face.

"EYESCHLU-"

The bottle was empty.

"...I really need to step up my hindsight game, eh?" wondered Herman before calling it quits for that day. Out of all students of Hope's Peak academy, Nagito was something else for him. "That's it, Imma head out."

"Wait, there's some-off he goes, I guess." called out Nagito to ask him many things regarding him, but he quickly disappeared off from his sight. However, he appeared one more time, peeking from the corner as the baffled octopus squinted at him.

"I'm watching you, Nagito. I'm watching you." warned Herman, pointing his two tentacle arms like a gesture of two V-signs at the eyes of the beholder before he truly disappeared from his sight. One of the factors uttered from Herman's mouth (well, beak rather) just opened up another mystery for Nagito. It was one of the things that actually caught Nagito off guard.

"Hold on a minute...How did he know my name? I don't think I've told him." wondered Nagito

Meanwhile, Chiaki and Makoto were still running through the halls, still persisting on chasing down him. Suddenly, he appeared from the ceiling, approaching them.

"There he is!" Makoto pointed at him. Herman stopped right above them as Chiaki attempted to grab him by little jumps she made. None of the jumps provided any sort of height to even reach him.

"There he is no more. My quota's done for today." suddenly declared Herman in a rather calm yet baffled tone.

"W-wait, you can't just-" Makoto attempted to counter him, but the end result was obvious for them.

"That mofo weird. Tell him that. Bye." said Herman as he pointed at the approximate direction where one certain white haired lucky boy was before he sodded off, ending his time at school for that day and leaving Chiaki and Makoto alone in the halls.

The halls of Hope's Peak academy were silent once again, with two dorks soaked in ink, yolk and in Chiaki's case, cold water, standing alone. Some of the floor was stained with all the mess Herman made.

"Damn it!" seethed Makoto as his fist shook. If there was a punching bag with Herman's picture plastered on it, he would have punched it albeit with some restraint. He was already sick of not only being attacked by Herman twice during his school time, but also witnessing others being constantly harassed by him. Chiaki, on other hand, had different feelings on the matter. Instead of feeling anger from before, the feeling of failure took over her. She covered herself with her hood, hiding her face as she tried to walk away to be somewhere alone. "A failure of a friend" constantly rang in her head.

"Chiaki, wait!" Makoto called out for her as he grabbed her shoulder. She stopped, but she still looked at the floor, hiding in her hood.

"...I'm sorry, Makoto…" quietly murmured Chiaki, refusing to make an eye contact due sheer shame she had about herself. It was more about how Makoto got hurt by Herman that got her hard.

"Hey, please don't blame yourself for this, Chiaki. It's not your fault. It really isn't. We will get him next time, I'm sure of that!" reassured Makoto, tapping her gently on her shoulder. It did made her stay with him, but her feeling hasn't gone away.

"Ah, I see Makoto and Chiaki together! What a pleasant sight!" Nagito suddenly barged in, only to see them in such sorry state. The white haired boy looked rather confused, wondering how did they get in such state.

"Uh, what exactly happened here?" piqued Nagito

"Herman happened." sighed Makoto while Chiaki still looked at the floor with shame.

"You guys saw him too?" further asked Nagito rather calmly, but he wasn't overly surprised by it, considering that the day they first encountered Herman, he was also a target of Herman's attacks.

"W-wait what?! You had an encounter with him as well?! How did you managed to see him while unscathed?" sputtered Makoto as his ahoge reacted along with him. Chiaki raised her head a bit, wanting to hear Nagito's story.

"Eyup, saw him. Had a talk with him, but he just kinda gave up. I see that you guys had a less fortunate encounter with him." explained Nagito. Both Makoto and Chiaki were confused on how did Nagito made Herman somehow throw a towel and call it a day.

"Yeah…" solemnly nodded Chiaki.

"Don't worry, guys. You can turn those misfortunes into stronger Hope that one day, he might get what he deserved!" spreading his arms once again, Nagito attempted to cheer them up, but something in his eyes felt off to the brown haired ahoge boy. It was like staring at the void, where the endless cycle of fortune and misfortune resided.

"Is that what you define as hope?" hesitated Makoto, having a rather different interpretation of what hope was compared to the tall student in front of them.

"If it gives you Hope, then it's Hope, no matter what! Anyway, there is something about Herman that does seem rather odd." insisted Nagito before he toned down his hopeful tendencies before he raised another point regarding that octopus.

"Not to be rude, but isn't everything about Herman odd?" commented Makoto, somehow worrying that he would look like a jerk saying that. Rudeness and Makoto Naegi never really mixed well.

"On surface level, yes, but perhaps I didn't use the right term. I think a better one would be enigmatic, so to say. I'm talking about motives and such, why does he go on provocation sprees and if its true that he's a part of a mafia...why is he alone here? Is there another" Nagito began expressing his thoughts that he had ever since Herman appeared for the first time. His questions were a little bit eye opening for both Makoto and Chiaki, who were too busy dealing with small scale things regarding Herman, not the bigger picture.

"Come to think of it, those are some fair points. Everything about Herman just seems so out of place, that it's hard to believe." concurred Makoto.

"...He has to be stopped…as soon as possible...Our school lives can't go on like this..." quietly spoke Chiaki as the feeling of determination was slowly overcoming the feeling of failure. Even if they failed first time, there's still a chance to strike back. It wasn't over just yet.

"Oh, absolutely. If every day is like this, it's gonna be a mental torture." agreed Makoto with zero hesitation.

"As long as your Hopes are stronger, you'll beat him. I'm sure of it." smiled Nagito, knowing that there is hope within them. That's all he needed to know. As they hanged around, they heard another footsteps.

"Hiiiiii guuuuuuuuyysss!~" Chisa Yukizome peeked from the corner, but her gleaming smile came to an abrupt halt when she saw Chiaki and Makoto all soaked up.

"M-my goodness, what happened here?" gasped Chisa as she ran towards them, checking them if they were alright. Her motherly instincts immediately activated when she saw her student feeling completely down.

"I think they got attacked by Herman." explained Nagito. When she heard what happened, she immediately flared up from anger.

"If I ever see that octopus, I'm gonna show it hell! To think that all the misfortune he causes not only to my students, but also to Class 78th students..." fumed Chisa inside her head, shaking her fist before she redirected her thoughts into trying to make Chiaki and Makoto feel better. She knocked her head a few times to come up with something. "Come on, think of something! Think of something that will cheer them up!"

Then, she got an idea. A rather unconventional one at that, probably.

"Oh, I know what it will!" exclaimed Chisa inside her head as her smile returned on her face.

"Hey hey, guys! I know the start of the day has been pretty bad, but it's not over just yet! I know exactly something that you guys are gonna like!" suggested Chisa, leaning towards the gamer gal and (un)lucky ahoge boy.

"Huh? What would that be?" asked Makoto when suddenly, Chisa grabbed his and Chiaki's hands, startling both of them. Nagito was just enjoying the view of his teacher bonding with two students.

"C'mon, boys and girls! Let's go!" chorused Chisa as she started skipping like a bunny, bringing two dorky students with her.

"Woah!" yelped Makoto, being suddenly pulled by the hopping teacher. Whole scene looked like a child taking both of their parents in a store to see a toy they wanted, except the "child" in question was an adult and "parents" were two dorky teenagers.

"You can come in too, Nagito!" invited Chisa, stopping briefly just to offer another student of hers a chance.

"I would love to, but I have morning work to do at the moment. I hope you guys feel better when we meet again!" said Nagito before going his way, departing from the hopping group. As they went their ways, halls were empty once again, but not for long because some kind of singing was already heard through out it.

"This looks like a job for me, so everybody just follow me…" sang the old janitor to himself, mopping the messy floor. For his standards, the song he sang himself was considered quite modern.

Meanwhile, after running through out the empty hallways and going up the stairs once, Chisa and her gang arrived at the entrance of the swimming pool that Hope's Peak had.

"Tadaaaa! Here we are!" introduced Chisa them to it. Both Chiaki and Makoto tilted their heads in curiosity.

"The swimming pool? I don't think both of us swimwear with us." cautioned Makoto before Chisa suddenly barged inside and brought two blue swimwear, one for boys and one for girls respectively.

"Don't you worry, because school's got that covered! We have more than enough of them for everyone!" bubbled Chisa, giving them swimsuits in their hands.

"Now, you two cuties should shower before we have some fun time at the pool." suggested Chisa, motivating them to go inside and take a little dip in pool's water.

"W-wait, do even have enough time for it?" reminded Makoto, considering that they were during those days when school was quite active in terms of schedules and such.

"Of course we do!" confirmed Chisa before Chiaki and Makoto went inside the locker rooms of their genders to change their clothes. After donning their swimsuits, they went for a shower just before they would go to the pool. Without them even noticing, Chisa took their clothes and secretly washed them somewhere else. In mere minutes, she returned them to the original positions, all being funky fresh and no more stained with ink and yolk. All it had to be done was to dry up.

After taking showers, both Makoto and Chiaki waited in front of the swimming pool. It resembled one used for Olympic games and it was just deep enough for those who greatly enjoy diving could have a little fun time as well. Water in the pool was sparkly blue and so clean that it would make perfectly preserved crystals look dirty in comparison. Two ladders accompanied two parallel sides of the pool, just that swimmers inside could have easier time getting out of it. Both of them waited for Chisa to arrive, thinking that she would serve as some kind of an overseer or even a life guard. Little did they expect that once Chisa suddenly arrived, she also wore a swimsuit, standing proudly as she was prepared to have some fun time in the pool. To say it caused both Makoto and Chiaki to blush after seeing her like that would have been an understatement of the century.

"Are you guys ready?" asked Chisa as all of them got closer to the edge of the pool.

"...No, not really." quietly admitted Chiaki, who was just blankly staring at water. It was quite calm, almost without any sort of waves, yet there was something that held the gamer girl back.

"What's wrong, Chiaki?" asked Chisa out of concern. Makoto also wondered what was with Nanami, also quite worried about her.

"I am a little scared to go in the water. If I fall asleep, I could drown." muttered Chiaki, acknowledging something about her habit and how potentially endangering could it be.

"Don't be, Chiaki. I promise you that you will be safe here and I'll make sure of it! Besides, I can teach you how to float like a little boat and sleep at the same time in water!" Chisa gave her a pat on her shoulder to reassure her that everything was going to be okay.

"Really?" Chiaki tilted her head in surprise, especially how confident her teacher seemed.

"Yep yep!" nodded Chisa before she turned towards the blushing Makoto. "How about you, Makoto?"

"I think I'm ready." concurred Makoto before both him and Chiaki slowly went into the water. He provided her some support if anything went wrong. After dipping in, Chiaki held on the edge of the pool while Makoto was there on her side. Water was rather warm, to the point it could be considered to be quite relaxing. Makoto caved in relaxation quite fast while Chiaki still had some time to get adjusted to it, clinging on the edge while worrying about the issue she told them earlier. Chisa, on other hand, had a different approach in terms of entering the pool: she started running towards it.

"Here we gooo!" yelled Chisa in excitement before she launched herself from the edge, leaping across the air. "Bombs away!"

And thus she caused a rather big splash before she got submerged into the water. Makoto was rather surprised by her action while Chiaki just wondered where she went, hoping that she was okay.

"Boo!" Chisa suddenly appeared out of water like a dolphin before she splashed them with warm water out of fun. After both of them being slightly startled by the splash, Chiaki and Makoto started giggling and returned some of the splashes to her as well. Their smiles, once tarnished, returned, beaming like bright stars.

Amid the splashing, Chisa remember what was she supposed to do with her student.

"Hey, Chiaki! Now it's time I can teach you to float!" reminded Chisa, inviting Chiaki to swim over her position. The gamer girl, just like her teacher requested, slowly swam towards her like a little froggy. Upon getting close enough, Chisa requested Chiaki to lay down on the surface and so she did. She placed her arm on Chiaki's back, just to help her align on the surface. Once aligned, she let her hand off Chiaki's back and thus the gamer girl floated on the surface with tranquility.

"There we go! How is it?" asked Chisa while watching Chiaki float like a boat.

"...It's...nice….really nice." smiled Chiaki, finally feeling relaxed in water. She attempted to not fall asleep from sheer relaxation, just so that her fear wouldn't have been realized.

"Way to go, Chiaki!" cheered Makoto after seeing that with the help of her teacher, she overcame one of her fears. It was something all of them needed after what happened in the morning.

Their time was up, as they left the swimming pool, putting their daily clothes back on themselves. All of them were funky fresh and feeling quite relaxed. They returned near the entrance of the school, thinking that others were waiting for them.

"So, how was it?" asked Chisa with a smile on her face.

"Have to admit, it was pretty fun!" beamed Makoto.

"Yep, it was. It wasn't scary as I thought. Thank you, Miss Yukizome." thanked Chiaki with her radiant smile.

"Awwww, I was just doing my duty as a teacher. Come here, you two!" Chisa hugged both of them at the same time. Makoto was startled for a bit, but embraced the hug while Chiaki hugged her back even more so. She also wrapped Makoto around with her arm, making him join the hug. She loved every moment of it. Then, Chisa looked through the window and saw Hajime and Chihiro sitting on the same bench Chiaki sat on before, looking around to see if their friend was around. Ibuki accompanied them, searching her gamer friend as if she was a lost kitten.

"I think your friends are waiting for you. You should join them up for now." noted Chisa, pointing at her group of friends. Chiaki brought Makoto with her as they departed for a brief moment. Chiaki's teacher waved at them as she went her own way.

"Good nomnomnomnommorning, early birdies! You two look quite fresh today!" greeted Ibuki as she ran towards Chiaki and Makoto after they have stepped outside.

"Huh, that's a surprise. Usually, you're here first." commented Hajime as his and Chihiro's attention turned towards the fresh looking duo. "Anyway, good to see you, Chiaki and Makoto."

"Miss Yukizome just needed us for something." said Chiaki before she and the other ahoge boy sat on the bench, joining the group. They spent rest of their time before start of classes together, just having fun. Chisa observed them from the inside, having nearly teary eyes from happiness.

"Ah, it's so relieving seeing them in good mood. I think I did pretty well…though I have to keep our fun times a secret, or else there's gonna be a scandal!...Probably..." thought Chisa to herself, swinging from being satisfied with how she cheered them up and how would everyone else feel if their secret leaked out.

The classes started and everything went normal for everyone. It seemed like Herman kept his word regarding finishing it for that day. Only one oddity was Chiaki falling into deep slumber during the class. No matter what anyone attempted, nothing awoke her. Some were very perplexed about her habit of falling asleep, but Chisa understood it. She thought she needed some rest after what happened to her in the morning.

Time for break arrived as everyone from both classes went towards the dining room. On their way, Makoto ran towards Chiaki to ask her about something.

"Hey, Chiaki?" piqued Makoto.

"Hm?" Chiaki turned towards him, curious about what was he going to say.

"There's something I wanna do about Herman, but I don't know what to do. I can't just let him make everyone in school upset over and over." confessed Makoto to her.

"Ah, I know who you need to turn to." Chiaki raised her finger, knowing what to do.

"Wait, really?" sputtered Makoto as his curiosity rose from hearing Chiaki's words.

"Yep...but we have to meet him after school. It's...a secret, to say at least." cautioned Chiaki, only raising more mystery to him before they went towards the dining room, looking something to eat.

True to her words, both of them waited outside for the supposed leader of the so called resistance against Herman and his mafia.

"So..erm...who is the person that I'm supposed to meet?" asked Makoto, wondering who might have been. It didn't take a while to see what was an answer to his question as the wizard man arrived with the already established members of The Fellowship of Darkness backing him up.

"Mwahahaha! It seems that destiny brought me another minion!" laughed Gundham as he crossed his arms.

"...Gundham?" blurted Makoto as he expected him to be the last person to be considered a reliable center of information regarding Daft Capo.

"Eyup, him. One piece of advice and I know it's gonna sound ridiculous, but you gotta believe everything he says." advised Hajime, making sure that Makoto doesn't experience the same crisis he and Fuyuhiko did the day earlier.

"And make sure you are sober." added Fuyuhiko, sharing his sentiment with Hajime while expressing some of his anti alcoholic stance.

"Uh...okay?" bleated Makoto before Gundham lead them through the path they took before, filled with roots and bushes. No change of plan was done in terms of the path towards the meeting.

Meanwhile in the crusty garage, the penguins were putting four jars on the table. One of them was labeled "Freak out", other one "Is actually pretty happy about it", the third one "Something else" and the last one simply titled "Fish". The only currencies the penguin accepted were dollars and after the great discourse with Kowalski earlier that day, euros as well.

"Alright, boys. Pick your betting jars." ordered Skipper

"According to the calculations, it is quite unlikely that an average student would have seen four penguins plotting against a mafia in their lives, so my decision shall be "Freak Out" jar." Kowalski explained his choice after doing some calculations with his personal abacus.

"Average, hah! There are three kind of students here: weirdos, baby faces and folk that deserve to be put on a trial in Hague!" joked Skipper, referring to how most of the students were rather unorthodox, so to say.

"I'll pick the "Is actually pretty happy about it" jar. Sounds the nicest, at least." said Private.

"Yes, of course you would take that one, Private." sassed Skipper.

"Is there something wrong with it?" sincerely asked Private, unsure to what made Skipper feel that way. He failed to interpret that Skipper wasn't really making fun of him, rather than that was just something so predictable, it deserved a sass.

"Private, my boy, there are certain things in life that are unpredictable. This is not one of them." elaborated Skipper before he turned towards the remaining penguin. "What about you, Rico?"

"Fish." simply, yet boldly stated Rico.

"...Alright then. I'll pick the remaining one." Skipper chose the remaining jar before the doors of garage opened as their leader, Gundham Tanaka, stood proudly and boldly with crossed arms.

"Look who we got here! It's our boys and girls!" chuckled Skipper at the sight of underlings of The Fellowship of Darkness.

"Fuwahahaha, I have good news, Avians of the Faraway Blizzard! We have another one!" boastfully announced Gundham as his gang stepped inside, occupying chairs around the round table.

"Another one? Lets see who we got today on the menu, boys!" wondered Skipper, taking a closer look at the potential new members.

And thus Makoto Naegi was in for something that every member of The Fellowship of Darkness had to experience first hand.

"Wha-WHAT?! Penguins?!" panicked Makoto, but not to the point of having a crisis like a certain other ahoge boy and yakuza boy had.

"Yep, penguins." sighed Hajime, knowing the exact feeling his fellow ahoge boy was going through.

"Just saying, everything happening in front of your eyes is real." added Fuyuhiko while still trying to grasp the situation they were in. Even after the day earlier, nothing felt sensible to him.

"The bet is mine!" exclaimed Kowalski with pride as he clenched his flipper to resemble a fist. Other penguins started throwing dollars inside Kowalski's jar. No one had euros, though.

"Hey, what'cha betting on, penguin boys?" wondered Ibuki, pointing at the jars.

"Oh, not much really. It's just for fun, so to say." clarified Skipper that it wasn't anything vital to their mission.

"Just to clarify something, me and Chihiro are from Class 78, so...yeah." reminded Makoto because Chihiro was too meek to do it the day earlier.

"Another class?" Skipper was taken by a surprise before an immense feeling of satisfaction sprung inside of him. "Nice! More recruits on our way! Though, Kowalski, what would be an estimate of increased number?"

"Should have been sixteen, but oddly enough, two of them are constantly missing, so fourteen instead." said Kowalski. Both Makoto and Chihiro wondered where exactly were their two missing classmates. Students of Class 77-B also thought that two people were constantly missing.

"So...um….what are we gonna do here?" asked Makoto, trying to initiate a discussion with them.

"Well, Ahoge Boy Mark II, consider yourself lucky because today, we are gonna get a package for our operation against Herman!" announced Skipper as he felt excited to carry out briefing for the incoming operation.

"Wait, you guys already planned it out?" piqued Hajime, feeling that it was something they either forgot or emitted mentioning it the day earlier.

"Of course! Our minds have brainstormed such plan long before!" clarified Gundham in his own way.

"It's just one part of the operation. First, we have to track him down in order to do anything." elaborated Peko for those not used to wizard terminology.

"And then we beat him up and throw him outta here!" added Skipper, feeling pumped to beat some Daft Capo goons any time.

"Hold on, he's a part of the mafia, right? Wouldn't that mean he would just send their men after us if we beat him up?" cautioned Makoto after considering all the warnings he heard about crime syndicates.

"For sure he would." Hajime basically gave out an answer before penguins could even properly answer. He thought it was common sense that a crime syndicate would send out their hitmen if anyone messed with their plans.

"Don't worry about it, we'll handle the punching bags that go by the term henchmen!" boastfully reassured Skipper, smacking his flippers as if he was initiating a fight.

"Even Fritz?" Chiaki's reminder made Skipper's rational mind overtake his ego, bringing him down to earth once again.

"...Well, they always send it the elite when they're desperate, so...here's that. If any of you guys see him, report him to us ASAP." Skipper

"Fritz? Who's that?" asked Makoto before Skipper gave him the image of him that his fellow members have already seen.

"Kowalski, what's the ETA for package delivery?" questioned Skipper, turning towards his tall colleague.

"It should have been-" said Kowalski before he was interrupted by something flicking Makoto's ahoge as if it were a toy.

"No, not again!" Makoto got some flashbacks from the morning by a mere flick. He covered his head with his hands, preparing himself if that octopus struck once again.

"Wait, what is going on-" questioned Hajime before his ahoge got flicked, possibly by the same force that flicked Makoto's ahoge.

"Demon behind you!" warned Gundham as he pointed behind Hajime, making him turn back. But was it truly a demon behind him? It was...

"Nya~."

"What the-how did you appear from there?!" shuddered Hajime, standing up from the chair out of a reflex when he saw the one and only, looking at him with the most mischievous look a human could have: Faris Nyannyan.

"A cat always finds a way to strike from the shadows, nya!" quipped Faris as she emerged from darkness. Majority of the Fellowship of Darkness, bar those who have already been to her cafe, were absolutely bewildered by her. However, Nekomaru had quite a laugh after witnessing her shenanigans.

"Yooo, it's my girl!" cheered Ibuki at the sight of a fellow cat enthusiast.

"Boys and girls, as the Tiny One correctly said so, we have a no-longer secret agent among our ranks, who goes by the name of Feline Fatale, but also goes…" Skipper attempted to introduce them to his agent, but "Please, someone say her name instead of me or else I am going to get a stroke!"

"Faris Nyannyan!" shouted Ibuki in excitement, basically doing Skipper's job instead of him.

"Arrrgh!" cringed Skipper as he nearly fell on the floor from the sheer power of his wince. With the exception of Private, other penguins knew his suffering regarding the nyan.

"Is this what you meant when you said we are going to meet this Tuesday?" sincerely asked Chihiro after remembering what the cat girl said before they departed.

"Yep yep, nya! Faris knew that you guys would join, so I decided to pay you a little visit." confirmed Faris, sporting a cat smile.

"Why...didn't you use the garage doors?" asked Hajime out of bewilderment.

"Wanted to keep a surprise, nya!" elaborated Faris, baffling them even further.

"So, you are the one that goes by name of Nyannyan…Kehehehe, your abilities are quite intriguing, but you are still no match for The Supreme Overlord!" said Gundham to her as if he was challenging her.

"Supreme Overlords kneel before the power of Nyannyan, nya!" provoked Faris, spicing up the duel between two chuunibyous.

"Oh, is that so? Then prove yourself, Feline Fatale, for I shall give you a duel that you will remember for ages!" boasted Gundham as he raised his triumphant fist, but little did he know what was he up against.

"Nya!" Faris threw herself towards Gundham, landing on the floor, but she captured her prey: his scarf. Once she got his scarf under her "paws", she started toying around with it like a cat would do to a ball of yarn. She even nibbled it for her own amusement.

"AAAAAAAAAAAAH, HELP ME, LORDS FROM ABOVE! GET THIS DEMON OFF OF MY CLOTHING OF DESOLATION!" screamed Gundham in fear as he stood up on the chair to gain the higher ground, but his words failed to prevent her from toying with it. Everyone around them was absolutely bamboozled by the sight of their "duel", but most of them were rendered speechless. Penguins had to step in to bring back order in the fellowship.

"Rico, spray!" ordered Skipper as Rico grabbed the nearest spray bottle with water and dived down towards the scene. A mere sight of the spray bottle caused Makoto and Chiaki to flinch due them being reminded of a certain event. Rico then sprayed Faris with water, causing her to cease with her attacks.

"Nyaaaa!" yelped Faris before she went back at being behind Hajime's back. "Alas, our duel was a close one, but you were spared by the Contractors."

"I-I was only at just low percentage of my true power! If I had Four Dark Devas of Destruction with me today, you would have been destroyed!" Gundham attempted to threaten her for a future duel, but he was simply no match for the Nyannyan.

"God, that bottle gives me some severely negative connotations." shuddered Makoto.

"Same…" agreed Chiaki, almost being ready to cover her face with her hood.

"After this...display of nonsense, what did you bring here, Faris?" Hajime, after he stopped covering his eyes with his hand from sheer bewilderment, pointed at the box that Faris put on the floor.

"Oh, Faris has something for all of you, nya!" said Faris before putting the box on the "Tadaaa, here it is!"

"What's that?" asked Makoto as the maid cat girl opened up the box, revealing a lot of small wireless earbud look-a-like contraptions inside of it.

"Future Gadget 10, nya!" announced Faris, spreading her arms to dramatize the announcement even more.

"Or to be more precise, Portable Echo Locator Network. It was made with collaboration with classified participants and it will serves us in our anti Herman operations." further explained Kowalski.

"Hououin Kyouma?" wondered Chiaki, reading between their lines. However, she didn't say the name of the mad scientist out loud, possibly due how Skipper reacted when Chihiro mentioned Faris the day earlier.

"It shall be placed everywhere in school to record sounds of Herman navigating through school. Of course, we would also need a program to not only to digitize recorded sounds, but also be able to separate unwanted ones from desired ones." continued Kowalski.

"I think we have a right person for that." smiled Chiaki before gently tapping Chihiro's back.

"I can help you guys if you want to. It's the least I could do." Chihiro offered his assistance.

"Brilliant! It would be invaluable service to us. Anyway, after we set up the network of locators, we the penguins will connect them and then begin tracking." welcomed Kowalski with open arms, much to Chihiro's surprise.

"It would be an official start of Operation Track & Whack!" declared Skipper, feeling even more pumped up than before.

"They're gonna be set everywhere, right?" questioned Hajime, putting emphasis on the contraption being placed around every single corner in their school.

"Yes." bluntly answered Skipper.

"Even-" Hajime attempted to bring up a point regarding more private areas of school, but Skipper already knew where was he going.

"Before any complaints are filed at our address, let me tell ya something: it's either this or "HAHAHAHA EYESCHLUSS HAHAHAHA" for the rest of your school life before Daft Capo fully takes over and you better tell me what's the better alternative." interjected Skipper as he countered his complaints before they were even being made.

"For love of everything in this world, stop imitating him. Every time you do it, my soul dies a little from the inside." winced Kowalski, especially taking note how he portrays Herman's accent so wrongly.

"...Yeah, former is the better one." Hajime admitted that the penguins' argument was more substantial. Besides, just like everyone else, he was pretty sick of Herman's shenanigans.

"What are we waiting for, boys and girls? Grab a bunch of them and hide them well tomorrow!" ordered Skipper as Hope's Peak gang started taking little contraptions with them.

"We have to do this." declared Chiaki after observing one part of the Future Gadget 10 (or PELN).

"If it had to be done, it had to be done." said Hajime, also dedicated towards their plan.

"Mwahahaha, I can already taste the sweet karma that shall be inflicted on that damned Kraken of the Land!" boasted Gundham, being pumped up for the day he would face Herman eye to eye.

"Aw yeah, the closer we get to KICKING HIS AAAAAASSSSSSSSSS, MORE HYYPEEEEE I FEEEEEEEL!" shouted Nekomaru in excitement, also sharing Gundham's sentiments regarding their mission.

"Me and Peko are gonna help you here, but that is as far as we go, got it?" reminded Fuyuhiko about their minimal involvement regarding anti Daft Capo operations.

"Whatever you say, Fuyuhiko! Just...do what you want and not...do….yeah." agreed Skipper, just to potentially save his skin.

"Oooh, now Ibuki has double ears! Ibuki's hearing is already pretty good, now it's gonna be advanced hearing!" bumbled Ibuki as she put two of the contraptions slightly above her ears.

"A-as long as it helps…" stuttered Chihiro, willing to defend his friends, even though he thought he wasn't strong enough to do anything.

"We are going to use the remaining ones to cover the less accessible areas." said Kowalski.

"That should be all, boys and girls! Now remember, you gotta hide them tomorrow and make sure no one, especially anyone that reeks of Daft Capo, notices." Skipper gave out his final order for that day before they departed. Hope's Peak gang, like almost every time they had a meeting, went home.

However, one cat girl maid went somewhere else, towards Hope's Peak academy instead to her own cafe.

"Tehehehe, Faris has a mission unknown to the Hope's Peak gang! Operation Star;Connect is on the way, nya!" thought Faris to herself as she went on the same path as Hope's Peak gang often arrives to the meetings. After taking a journey through bushes and roots, she arrived at the aforementioned school and went inside, met by the empty hallways with checkered pattern on the floor.

"Now, where is the teacher of Class 77-B?" wondered Faris as she explored the inside of Hope's Peak academy, looking for a certain teacher.

Meanwhile, Chisa was inside her office, still doing her job despite her time with class being over. She rested her face on top of all the papers she had to fill for that day, resembling someone sleeping inside her classroom.

"Paper work is gonna be my graaaaaaaveeeee…." mumbled Chisa before she was suddenly awakened by knocks on the door.

"I-I'm filling! I'm filling, I'm doing my job as a teacher!" yelped Chisa as she started filling out papers as fast as she could.

"Open up, nya." spoke out Faris, stopping Chisa from doing her work. It startled her because Faris' voice resembled nothing from either her fellow teachers or dreaded higher ups.

"Huh? Who could that be?" wondered Chisa as she stood up and opened the doors, revealing the one with the nyan.

"Faris Nyannyan has come, nya!" greeted Faris as she struck another cat-like gesture.

"Dawwww, you are cuuuuute. What brings you here, cutie?" chirped Chisa as she leaned towards her in curiosity.

"Are you perhaps the teacher of Class 77-B, nya?" asked Faris with a mischievous cat smile on her face.

"Yes yes yes! I am the teacher of that wonderful little class!" happily nodded Chisa, reminiscing all the fun times she had with her class. The maid cat girl stepped inside as the teacher returned to her seat, prepared to discuss anything that the cat girl wanted.

"Okie dokie, nya! Faris means to ask...is your class free during this week?" piqued Faris.

"Well...not tomorrow, unfortunately, but we can settle for Thursday or Friday!" answered Chisa, offering a free spot for aforementioned two days.

"Good good! As long as it is for any day during this week. Faris thought about planning a visit!" revealed Faris

"A visit? Are you gonna visit?" asked Chisa. She would have allowed Faris to visit Hope's Peak at any time.

"Nope, not me, nya." denied Faris, slightly surprising the teacher in the process.

"Any of your friends, perhaps?" further asked Chisa as she scratched her chin.

"Eyup eyup, but are you prepared to hear who it is going to be?" nodded Faris before leaning towards her with a determined look on her cat face.

"I am always ready!" giggled Chisa, only for Faris to whisper a name of someone. It was the last person she expected to hear.

"….N-no way! Even for Hope's Peak, she's...she's too high caliber!" stammered Chisa at the thought of that person even visiting Hope's Peak and the aforementioned institution was already considered to be one of the most prestigious in the whole Japan.

"I know exactly how to get her here, nya! Here's her phone number. You can call her straight away, nya!" persuaded Faris as she gave her cat branded phone to her with that person's number on it.

"Should I? I'm just a teacher, I'm nothing like her..." Chisa grabbed Faris' phone with her shaky hand.

"She wouldn't mind at all, nya! Faris thinks she would love being here!" reassured Faris, considering that she personally knew her. "Go ahead, nya! Make the call and fulfill the destiny!"

"...Okay! I'm gonna try it! It's better to do than to not to, right?" gulped Chisa before pressing the call button. The phone rang for a bit before the call was picked on the other side.

"Hello?"

Chapter 11: Operation Track & Whack I: Phase Track

Chapter Text

Operation: Track & Whack (Phase: Track)

Location: Hope's Peak academy, allegedly Tokyo, Japan

Time: 7:00 AM

Date: Wednesday, [REDACTED]


The sun started peeking through the clouds as the sun rays pierced through them. No longer were the clouds dark gray, but rather a much lighter shade than before. For most students of Hope's Peak academy, it seemed like an average day, but for members of The Fellowship of Darkness, it was an important day, A day to set up the foundations of executing the plan of kicking Herman's cephalopod rear.

When all other students, including those from Class 77-B and Class 78th, went inside the school, Gundham Tanaka and Ibuki Mioda rolled out of the seamless bush like two top secret agents before stopping right in front of the entrance. Upon arriving to it, they stood up, looking at their school with determination.

"Mwahahaha! Today marks the beginning of future without Kraken of the Land's interference!" gloated Gundham as he crossed his arms like a true dark wizard. He, along with his musician colleague, held some of the "Portable Echo Locator Network" earbud look-a-like contraptions in his hand.

"Woohoo! After we will be done with Herman, all Ibukies across the world will be safe and not canned!" cheered Ibuki, hopping in one place as she will be known as savior of all of her kind across the Earth, but only to herself. Even though so far, there's only one Ibuki Mioda on it.

"Now listen up, Horned Songstress! Place those artificial works of a man and avian around our temple of graduation!" ordered Gundham, pointing at the supposed locations of Future Gadget 10's

"Okie dokie, my dark master Supreme Overlord!" bowed down Ibuki before she rushed towards the ordered location, digging tiny holes around the school to plant those gadgets.

"Now come, Four Dark Devas of Destruction!" called out Gundham for his beloved pets, to which they responded to his call almost immediately by jumping out of his jacket. Four hamsters then placed themselves on Gundham's palm, awaiting his command.

"Place those thingies around the school, so we can track out Kraken of the Land." Gundham spoke in a much softer, caring tone towards them as he gave his hamsters all of Future Gadget 10s he had withi himself. After taking all of those contraptions, Four Dark Devas of Destruction ran across the surrounding area, placing them on the trees in case Herman had an itch for arboreal action for future days. Even in the seamless bush, Future Gadget 10s were placed, just in case.

After both four fluffy "demons" and one musician gal that had her head in clouds had finished placing all Future Gadget 10s around the school, they returned to their Supreme Overlord, who was just waiting for them to complete their task. However, Ibuki still had one Future Gadget 10 in her hand.

"Ibuki's got an idea!" exclaimed Ibuki, pointing a finger in the air as if an imaginary light bulb appeared above her head before she placed that thingamabob conceived by sentient penguins and alleged mad scientists inside one of her horns. "Tadaaaa!"

"Hmmm….so you have opted to have a third ear?" wondered Gundham at her decision, unsure if it was a clever one or a questionable one.

"Correct-a-mundo! Now Future Gadget 10's could become truly portable, carried by Ibuki herself!" Ibuki explained herself while twirling around like a ballerina, but the Supreme Overlord still needed some time to truly evaluate her decision.

"Hmmm...perhaps we could use that to our advantage, but only fate shall tell us." said Gundham before both of them went for their class, officially starting their day as the students of Hope's Peak academy rather than the members of The Fellowship of Darkness.

As the day went on without any sort of oddities happening in between, the ever energetic teacher of Class 77-B, who went by the name Chisa Yukizome, set out to plant a bunch of flowers, just like she did previous week. Mikan Tsumiki, the trembling nurse, accompanied her, but she was not the only one. Chiaki Nanami and Peko Pekoyama also joined them for some flower planting session.

"I'm so glad you have joined, girls!" bubbled Chisa while carrying an open box that was full of various kinds of colorful flowers. Girls followed her behind, with Peko acting as some kind of bodyguard for them, in case of an attack from a certain cephalopod.

"Amid those times, it's pretty neat engaging into something relaxing like that." admitted Peko, knowing too well from her experiences in Kuzuryuu clan. Even hardened folk need some time to relax.

"Well, I have never planted flowers before. It could be fun first time experiencing something like that." admitted Chiaki, being a curious girl she was. Her experience in the pool sort of convinced her to try out more new stuff, since it allowed her to create memories to cherish. Part of the reason why she wanted to go was also because to hang out with Chisa.

"And that's why you have Miss Yukizome to teach you!" cheerfully boasted Chisa as they went on. After going through the entrance, the girls walked towards a rather special spot outside of the academy: Chisa Yukizome's tiny flower garden. The radius of a flower filled circle was about the same as a slightly large round cake, with all kinds of various flowers occupying that small space. Upon arriving to it, Chisa put down the box near the "garden" as all of them sat down on the grass.

"I-It's nice seeing you around, Chiaki. How come that you have decided to come here, if I can ask?" asked Mikan. Despite being the same old trembling nurse she was, she felt a bit more relaxed around Chiaki and Chisa's presence. At the very least she knew that those two were always going to be pleasant to be around.

Well, I just wanted to-achoo!" Chiaki wanted to say hear reasoning, but she was soon interrupted by a sudden sneeze. It sounded like a squeaky mouse toy being squished. A tiny bit of snot came out of her nose.

"Bless you!" blessed Chisa after the squeaky sneeze happened.

"D-do you need this? Do you have pollinosis?"" stammered Mikan before she pulled out a tissue from her pockets and cleaned up the snot from Chiaki's nose.

"Not really...I think. Just that yesterday has been...a really cold day." said Chiaki while remembering the coldness of fountain's water after that incident. Mikan's question gave her a bit of wondering if she had any allergies in the first place, considering that before Hope's Peak, she very rarely left her home.

"Yeah, it's been too cold for our poor little Nanami…" Chisa patted her gamer student on her head, causing her to blush. However, judging from how she put up her fists in a similar fashion as if she was about to gush about video games again, she seemed to really like it deep down, despite the slight embarrassment.

"Achoo!" sneezed Chiaki once again, that time with a lot of snot coming right out of her nose. That time, her sneeze resembled an actual sneeze. Mikan cleaned her nose to the point it was completely clean before they started planting flowers all together. By taking plants from their pots, they placed them in a circle, expanding it even more. During their time, Chisa showed Chiaki the procedure of planting a flower. After her teacher's demonstration, Chiaki then planted a flower by herself. It wasn't exactly perfect, but she was getting a hang of it.

"These flowers are so pretty!" smiled Mikan at how luscious flowers were under sun rays that peeked through out tearing clouds.

"I have chosen all flowers I thought would fit you guys. Even Class 78th guys are gonna get a fair share too!" cheerfully explained Chisa as all of them continued their work.

"Awww, that's so nice, Miss Yukizome." smiled Mikan while making a rather welcoming gesture with her fingers. Suddenly, a bee flew right above them before it landed right on Chiaki's nose, crawling on it like it was some kind of flower.

"A-aaah! There's a bee on your nose, Chiaki!" Mikan pointed directly at Chiaki's nose, who hasn't even noticed anything by herself before. The nurse worried that the bee could have stung Nanami's nose. Once pointed out, Chiaki looked at the bee, being slightly surprised, but the bee just chilled on her nose like it was nothing. When she observed the bee, she looked cross eyed.

"Tehehe! I think the bee thinks your nose is a flower!" giggled Chisa at the sight of a cross eyed girl before both her and Mikan, once relieved that the bee posed no danger to Nanami, returned back to planting flowers.

"For insects, bees are pretty fluffy." commented Peko before she returned to work. Meanwhile, Chiaki crawled to the nearest flower and lowered herself down to it, allowing the bee to reach it. The fluffy insect flew off her nose and went for the flower instead, doing the exact things a bee was supposed to do. Chiaki got lost herself in curiously observing the bee, but was soon brought back to reality once Peko tapped her shoulder. The curious gamer girl looked at the swordswoman with glasses, who gave her a sign to do her mission with a simple gesture of just holding one of the Future Gadget 10s in her hand. Chiaki nodded as a determined look appeared on her face before both of them started placing earbud-like contraptions around the approximate closeness of Chisa's flower garden. They tried to hide it from Chisa and Mikan while they were busy with planting flowers, but they were spotted from a distance by Kyoko Kirigiri, who just happened to pass by near the flower garden. Although there were no overt reactions from her, she squinted at them, suspecting them due to their covert activities.

Meanwhile, the gang of three boys, consisting of Hajime Hinata, Makoto Naegi and Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, walked through out empty hallways of the second floor of Hope's Peak academy. They used their break in order to carry out their mission to place Future Gadget 10s all over the school. First floor already had the network of Future Gadget 10s set up.

"Alright so, most of Herman's attacks happened in the halls, right?" asked Hajime for confirmation regarding incidents involving their classmates being bamboozled and humiliated by a certain walking octopus. He already had assumptions when he took considerations about patterns of Herman's appearances.

"Yeah, I believe so. If I remember well, only exceptions were his attack on Chiaki, which happened outside and his attack on Teruteru, which happened inside kitchen." confirmed Makoto, reluctantly mentioning their encounter with him.

"Wait, he attacked Nanami?!" a mere idea of his close friend being absolutely humiliated by their enemy set Hajime off in shock.

"...Yeah…along with me as well." ashamedly nodded Makoto.

"That bastard, I swear to god! If only I knew he was there…" Hajime clenched his fist in anger before his own insecurities started kicking in. If he had been there before, he could have prevented Herman from attacking Chiaki and Makoto, he thought. Perhaps, if he had something he lacked, he could have made a change.

"Don't worry too much about it, I'm pretty sure next time we have an encounter with him, we will defeat him." reassured Makoto, somehow remaining optimistic in such situation. However, his words managed to ease off Hajime's mind, preventing his insecurities from taking over.

"There is no other way than that we have to. I'm definitely gonna make sure of it." declared Hajime, being completely dedicated to stopping that octopus and his syndicate from constantly harassing them frequently.

"There's one factor that I'm very concerned about though." reminded Fuyuhiko about something that just refused to leave his mind.

"That if we defeat Herman, we're gonna be on the bounty list?" Hajime already knew what his Yakuza classmate was about to address, considering how much has he been warning everyone about.

"Yeah, exactly. I don't wanna sound like a broken record, but we should not lose our guard." cautioned Fuyuhiko as all of them were placing those gadgets in hidden spots of halls.

"It's never bad to be too cautious." agreed Hajime while making sure that Future Gadget 10s were hidden well, so that Herman or any other invader would not spot them.

"Well, to be fair, I don't think we're gonna interfere with their business elsewhere. We just have to defend our school from them." reassured Makoto, hoping that there wouldn't be a situation where students of Hope's Peak academy had to step in right into Daft Capo's turf, wherever it was.

"Other activities are gonna be covered by them, I guess. Speaking of them, have you two found those penguins to be shady as shit?" asked Fuyuhiko, wondering if two ahoge boys shared the same sentiment as him.

"Not...really." Makoto shook his head.

"Oh, absolutely. The fact that they withheld information from us already set off some red flags." blurted out Hajime without any sort of hesitation whatsoever, remembering how penguins kept their adventures in Denmark a secret until he had to persuade them through verbal force. Both Hajime and Fuyuhiko thought about the potential of their classmates and Makoto's classmates being just pawns in a chess game played by those penguins and Daft Capo. Not a thought they were pleased with.

"I agree with you, Hajime. It all feels so contrived, their presence and such. I do wonder what is their reason for their opposition against Daft Capo." piqued Fuyuhiko due to fact they haven't asked them about their previous misadventures, even those that happened before penguins' encounter with the accursed mafia.

"Maybe because...it's the right thing to do?" even in the shadiest possible people (or in that case, birds), Makoto saw some level of genuine justice and integrity within them.

"That's bullshit, no one involved in the world of gangsters thinks like that. It's always an ulterior motive behind their facades." quickly countered Fuyuhiko, speaking from his experiences as an Yakuza member. "And even if they remain genuine to their goal, their methods speak otherwise."

Makoto remained quiet, trusting Fuyuhiko enough that he believed every single word that came out of his mouth. Despite that, he thought there was some evidence that penguins' cause against Daft Capo was sincere.

"To be honest, our "alliance" with them feels like out of necessity. They're still the only guys that have some info regarding Daft Capo." Hajime brought up a point that despite everything, they were still the only guys that had info on that mafia. In fact, it's thanks to them they even know of their existence, otherwise they would just think that they were dealing with one measly annoying cephalopod. It would have been surprising for them for sure if a bunch of men in white tuxedos broke in school and attacked them, had they defeated that octopus all by themselves while lacking any pinch of knowledge about Daft Capo.

"It's best to keep it that way. Who knows what will happen in our future endeavors." warned Fuyuhiko, thinking that keeping a distance would be their optimal choice.

"We shouldn't be worried so much. For now, lets focus on deterring Daft Capo from our school." reassured Makoto, trying to calm them down regarding the situation. It seemed to work for both of them, as they stopped thinking about hypothetical scenarios and focused on the present instead.

"Yeah, that would be a good idea." agreed Hajime before they continued their work.

"Alright then. Keep the eyes on present, I guess." sighed Fuyuhiko, going along the flow. As they went on, Makoto himself encountered one obstacle: wardrobe in the hall was too high for him to put the Future Gadget 10 on the top.

"Hey, can anyone help me, please?" asked Makoto for help, since he was just that short. Obviously, Fuyuhiko couldn't have helped in the first place, since he was even shorter than the (un)lucky ahoge boy.

"Sure, I've got you covered." Hajime stepped in with no hesitation. After Makoto gave him the gadget, he placed it on the top with relative ease. Makoto thanked him for his help before they continued their journey through the school to place all those Future Gadget 10s in order to complete their operations.

As the time for break passed, most of students occupying the dining hall went to their respective classes. However, Nekomaru had to go alone to the gym, since he had one task: as the Ultimate Team Manager, he had to take care of his team during a practice basketball match.

The match itself was quite even. Both teams were in a tie during the last quarter of the practice game with only few minutes away from the whole session ending. Nekomaru intensely observed the flow of the game with players fighting over one single ball in order to score the decisive point. Suddenly, one of the players on Nekomaru's team managed to get the ball, dribble it all across the field and then throw it right into the ring, scoring the decisive point in the process. It was a score that warranted one huge "YEAAAAAAAH!", especially since it happened seconds before the game ended.

And thus the game ended, with Nekomaru's team emerging victorious. All of the players of his team gathered around him, eagerly awaiting his feedback.

"Good work, team! You showed the other team who's the real BOSS!" boastfully praised Nekomaru as he gave every single player in his team a high five. All of the players, the ones victorious being cheerful while the other side that lost, taking defeat as a lesson to be learned from, to their classes after some time. After the gym got free of people bar the Ultimate Team Manager, he knew that it was a perfect opportunity to execute his part in Operation Track & Whack.

"Aw yeah, now it's time!" smirked Nekomaru before he started placing Future Gadget 10s he had with himself all across the hidden spots in the gym, but he didn't stop right there. Nekomaru, while still having some of Future Gadget 10s with him, decided to cover the areas surrounding the gym as well. The first are he covered was the hall, placing the contraptions around just like other members of The Fellowship of Darkness. Then, after seeing toilets, reminding him the first time he has ever met penguins, got an idea to place those things there as well. His reasoning behind that decision was that Herman could have potentially sneaked through the toilets, utilizing water in them to gain boost in mobility.

After placing them in men's bathroom (he refused to go to girl's bathroom because that would just be rude and awkward), he got struck with one thought.

"Hold on a minute...we have figured out how to track him down, but how exactly are we gonna fight him, hand to hand? Hmmm..." contemplated Nekomaru regarding how will they tackle him in the future. "Knowing that all of his attacks have been ambushes on just individuals or tiny groups, it wouldn't be smart facing him alone."

He spent some time lost in planning for the future offenses. The clock was ticking, since the day of their potential fight could be right in front of the doorstep. Then, he finally got an idea, basing his plan on previous encounters with Herman.

"Hence why this calls for TEAMWORK! Also, we gotta ambush him back, yeah!" declared Nekomaru within his head after formulating a basic concept of the future counterattack before he nearly concluded his job, since he was close to running out of those contraptions.

During the Operation Track & Whack, even before the first members of Fellowship of Darkness arrived to the scene, the birds of The Fellowship of Darkness already placed their Future Gadget 10s (though Kowalski preferred to call them Portable Echo Locator Network, mostly due to his pride) in areas they called "inaccessible to students" before, such as principal's office, Yukizome's office and more. Only area they didn't cover was the basement of Hope's Peak academy, since they had no proper access to it. Penguins navigated through the air ducts, to be as "stealthy" as possible.

Suddenly, an idea appeared inside Rico's mind as they traversed through the air ducts. He spat out one of Future Gadget 10s out of his "convenience" stomach and smashed it on the walls of the air duct, causing an abrupt noise. A hole in a shape of the Future Gadget itself, allowing it to be there without the concern of falling off. However, the noise quickly caught attention of other penguins, much to their dismay.

"Rico, what kind of crazy scheme are you up fo-" grumbled Skipper before he saw Rico welding a metal plate on the wall with a miniature welding machine that he spat out, making sure that Future Gadget also stays hidden. Rico then looked at his boss, wondering what would he say about it.

"...Well, not bad. If it will work, then no complaints." admitted Skipper, quickly being impressed by Rico's impulse decision before continuing their path, setting up

Halfway on their mission, they stopped above the empty kitchen, observing it from the air ducts. After waiting a bit to see if they were truly clear, Skipper gave a sign.

"Kowalski, Private! You should return to our hideout, I think there's gonna be a meeting soon. Me and Rico are gonna take care setting up the network." ordered Skipper as he pointed at the tile, which acted as an entrance to their penguin exclusive base.

"Wilco." nodded Kowalski before he and Private jumped out of the air duct, landing on the solid floor of the kitchen. Since the tile was unlocked, they opened it with ease and jumped inside, sliding through tunnels of their base. After some time traversing through them, they popped out of the seamless bush, where one of tunnels lead to. Then, they went through the path of roots and bushes before arriving to their crusty garage, which was also known as their hideout that could also store Hope's Peak students inside. Since Kowalski had a remote for the door, he opened it by a press of a button and both penguins entered it. Later on, he closed the door, just in case to prevent anyone unwelcome inside.

With them being only ones occupying the garage, Kowalski opened up his laptop as Private stood behind him, watching him browse through his files. His desktop was rather empty, only filled with basic applications and few folders, most notable ones being titled "Scientific research", "OSINT" and "Classified government files." Stuff that penguins usually had.

Suddenly, few rather barely audible knocks on the door were heard, signifying that a meeting has begun. Kowalski looked at the door and opened it with his remote, revealing a very feminine boy dressed in a brown skirt and a green jacket. He also had his own laptop with him.

"O-oh, hello there. I hope I'm not much of a bother." Chihiro meekly waved at them while he waited outside in order to get permission from them.

"Not at all, The Tiny One, step right in." Kowalski welcomed him, allowing him to step inside without a worry.

"What's your actual name though? So far, we have only referred each other to Skipper's nicknames." asked Private, wanting to know true names of their human co-workers.

"I'm Chihiro Fujisaki." the programmer student properly introduced himself to them.

"Nice to meet you! I'm Private and this is Kowalski!" greeted Private before he also introduced

"So, Fujisaki, what's the status report?" asked Kowalski, desiring to know whether or not they have finished their job.

"Well...I think my classmates and students of Class 77-B have finished setting up the network." reported Chihiro while also confirming that he himself has already carried out one of his tasks.

"And what's the current progress on your program?" further asked Kowalski.

"...It's done. I'm sorry if I'm late." suddenly revealed Chihiro before he apologized because he thought he wasn't fast enough in terms of being on schedule. However, instead of being scolded by penguins, the tall penguin was absolutely bewildered at the fact he has already done it.

"Done already?! Show." demanded Kowalski in order to obtain proof about Chihiro's claims. The programmer boy then opened up his laptop and turned it on, revealing his own desktop to them. Compared to Kowalski's much more humble yet barren desktop, Chihiro's was filled with various applications, such as an executable with a microchip icon, which stored his Takashi AI. He worked on it before putting it on hiatus due to penguins demand. Another noticeable file on his desktop was a folder titled "Secret", which stored something only he knew. After navigating through his desktop with a mouse, he clicked on an earbud shaped icon titled "PELN", booting it up to reveal the very program penguins wanted. The moment it booted up, it showed white outlines of Hope's peak academy's floor plan, which stood out of the gradient blue background. Beneath the floor plan was a gray tab, which had some buttons on it. Adjustments to Future Gadget 10s sensitivities and ranges could be made, but at that moment it was offline, meaning that they couldn't do much about it. Kowalski observed the program with intrigue, wondering how could he made such a professional looking program in such short interval. However, it was unclear to him what the exact times were.

"When...have you started working on it?" Kowalski asked his first question like he had a Q&A session with the programmer boy.

"Immediately after the meeting, when I arrived at home." answered Chihiro. It was impressive to Kowalski that Chihiro wasted no time regarding their mission.

"And when have you finished it?" further asked Kowalski.

"This morning." Chihiro

"Do you perhaps remember the exact time when the program was done?" Kowalski

"Uhh...I think it was around 5:30." Chihiro thought about it for some time before remembering it.

"Have you taken a break during it? It sounds like you have worked through out the entire night." questioned Private because it worried him that Chihiro overworked himself for the job.

"Y-yeah, I went to sleep. One hour late, so I could work on it as much as possible." reassured Chihiro in a stutter. Usually, he was pretty obedient regarding his own schedules, but that time he made a slight exception.

"Not a single bug in the code...all is working flawlessly. You have managed to make a perfectly running program…" commented Kowalski before he turned his attention towards Chihiro, feeling all kinds of surprises within self. "...in nine and half hours?!"

"Y-yeah? I've had to postpone some of my personal projects, I hope it's worth it." stammered Chihiro, worrying at the reaction he could get. He wasn't exactly sure what Kowalski was feeling at that moment. Much to his surprise...

"You are a mad genius! You should have been enrolled to Harvard instead!" praised Kowalski, completely catching Chihiro off guard with his compliments. It was the last thing he expected, considering how stern and strict penguins appeared regarding their mission.

"Harvard? Well, I've been considered there, along with MIT." after the initial shock passed, Chihiro further revealed that Hope's Peak was far from the only place where he could

"What made you choose this institution instead? The opportunities in Harvard and MIT seemed much greater!" questioned Kowalski, wondering why he hasn't picked two institutions Kowalski had much more respect for. It took a while to get a response out of the programmer boy, mostly because he was too embarrassed to admit it.

"...I just didn't want to make my parents worry, that is all." quietly confessed Chihiro, almost crying in front of them. He worried that penguins would think differently

"There is no shame in that. It's good to take your parents in consideration." reassured Private, since he understood where Chihiro was coming from. It successfully made Chihiro calm down as he lost reasons to worry about it.

"Sentimentality can stand in the name of progress…" although Kowalski didn't exactly take potshots at Chihiro, he openly disagreed with his sentiment, considering his tendencies involving science. "...but that still doesn't change that you are from now on Master of Code! I'll tell Skipper to change the nickname."

"Master of Code? While I do really like programming, I don't think I deserve such a big title like that." denied Chihiro, considering that he never felt like he deserved it, but he swiftly changed the topic to something he wanted to bring up. "Oh, guys, can I mention a feature I added to the program?"

"Tell us! Tell us everything!" crowed Kowalski, absolutely wanting to hear what Chihiro had to say about it.

"What I've basically added in the program is IFF. It will recognize the source of sounds. Future Gadget 10s will be shown as white squares on it, with their radius displayed by a white outline of a circle. If the source of sounds is one of the students or just you guys, a green circle will appear on the screen. However, if the source turns out to be Herman, a red triangle will appear instead. After identifying it, the program will track down everyone. I think it would be helpful to our mission to defeat Daft Capo...I hope." explained Chihiro some of the functions he added to the program. It did cause some wondering where exactly he got that idea from though.

"Marvelous! Genius! How come that we haven't requested that in the first place?!" gushed Kowalski while thinking how should he think more in advance.

"Heh, glad you guys like it." smiled Chihiro, just being happy that he made other people pleased. Joy of others was something he secretly wanted to bring, with his desire further escalating when he met a certain gamer girl.

"Chihiro, would you mind if we transferred the program to my laptop?" asked Kowalski for permission to put his program on his laptop.

"Oh, no problem at all!" approved Chihiro before he brought up a green USB disk, putting in the port of his laptop. With a mere right click on the mouse, he clicked the option to copy. Then he switched to the folder, which had data of USB disk on it. After clicking the "paste" option, the program appeared on the USB drive almost instantly. It helped that the program itself had the size of just few megabytes. Safely ejecting the drive from his laptop, Chihiro then inserted the USB drive in Kowalski's laptop. When the folder with USB drive data appeared on Kowalski's laptop, he just dragged the program on his desktop, placing it somewhere close to the already existing folders.

"And here we go. All I need to do right now is to launch the executable…" said Kowalski before he launched the program on his laptop by himself. "...and done!"

Just like it did on Chihiro's laptop, the program launched in the same way. It displayed everything intended, as it should. Not a single error was encountered.

"Everything seems to work as it should." noted Private. Suddenly, few loud knocks were heard on the door. Kowalski, knowing who it was, opened the doors with his remote, revealing his two penguin brethren. Skipper put his his flippers around his stomach, posing a boss like pose while Rico just wondered what's gonna be for dinner.

"Alright then, all is set up!" announced Skipper before he and Rico went inside, approaching his other two penguin colleagues and the programmer boy. "Kowalski, status report!"

"We have some excellent news, Skipper! Chihiro already made us the program we needed!" reported Kowalski with pure excitement in his voice. Skipper then looked at the programmer boy, with curiosity in his eyes.

"So, you're a programmer, eh?" asked Skipper as if he were a secret agent interrogating a supervillain. Well, as much of a supervillain someone like Chihiro Fujisaki could be.

"Y-yeah?" stammered Chihiro, caught a little off guard by Skipper's tone.

"I've got one very important question for you, Master of C ode…" asked Skipper, leaning towards him while still displaying his secret agent persona before hitting him with a question that Chihiro himself did not expect.

"Windows, Mac or Linux?"

"Uh, Linux. It's easiest to program in it and pretty versatile as well." answered Chihiro as he spoke from his experience as a programmer.

"Excellent taste there, my friend! Though I should have expected that answer. It has a penguin as the mascot, so automatic bonus in my book!" complimented Skipper, but his praise seemed rather unusual to Chihiro. He felt like people's taste in things is not exactly that important compared to other qualities.

"I think we should be able to activate the network now." reminded Chihiro, so that their very first joint anti Daft Capo operation could start.

"Kowalski, press the button!" ordered Skipper, pointing at the computer.

"Affirmative." nodded Kowalski before he pressed the "Go Online" button on the tab. Just before the network went online, a window popped up, asking if he was sure to execute the command. Kowalski had no doubts in his mind and pressed "Yes". With a single click, white squares appeared all over the floor plan of the school, with each one having their own radius. Future Gadget 10s placed outside of the academy were also displayed on the screen. One of the locations was rather odd, since it appeared in the middle of Class 77-B's classroom. The white square covered a green circle in it, which was also quite odd for them.

"And it's online!"

"Aw yeah, now we're talking!" Skipper pumped his flipper like a fist.

"I'm glad everything worked out well." chuckled Chihiro after witnessing the success of his program.

"You just completely removed a lot of waiting time and workload for us, you absolute trooper! You and your fellow classmates deserve some break. Tell them that there's no meeting today, we've got everything covered! Now, take some time to chill at home." Skipper gave out an order for Chihiro. There were no additional meetings necessary for that day, since they did everything they had to for that day already.

"Yes, sir!" saluted Chihiro, shutting off his laptop and taking it with him before Kowalski opened garage doors for him, allowing him to exit.

"Smile and wave, boys, just smile and wave." said Skipper as they waved at Chihiro, who was waving at them back before he returned to his school. After he disappeared from their sight, Kowalski closed the garage doors, allowing them to conduct further tasks without any outside interference. "Now comes our part in Operation Track & Whack, but who's gonna be the one who's gonna listen to all sounds?"

"I don't think it would be a good idea to leave this job to one person. We should instead have exchanges. I think about four hours for each person would do it." suggested Kowalski, knowing that it would be quite tedious for one person to just sit behind the laptop and wait for hours in order to get some inkling of info regarding their adversary.

"That sounds kinda long. Maybe two hours would be better?" refuted Private, thinking that less time for each individual would be more optimal.

"To some extent, yes. Lets go with two hours. Perhaps four hours is too much." agreed Kowalski.

"Alright then, who's gonna be the first one." asked Skipper for the first volunteer for their operation.

"As the man of science, I will!" Kowalski offered himself before he looked for headphones in the garage. After finding them, he inserted the green cable inside the green port as he started listening to the sounds while also sorting them out. Other penguins observed him to see if anything interesting happened. As of that moment, everything seemed free of Herman's shenanigans, with only green circles occupying the screen.

The actual tracking phase of the Operation Track & Whack has officially started.

 

Chapter 12: Operation Star;Connect

Chapter Text

It is said that all beings are sleeping slaves of fate, following its unpredictable whim without a hint of awareness. Nothing can be done in terms of defying what is already set in stone. Such sentiments are often shared among the greater, but do they remain true? Is there a way to shape fate as you see fit, defying it in the utmost fashion ?

At first glance, it seemed like it was another normal day at Hope's Peak academy. Students of Class 77-B waited for their teacher to arrive to the class, with some being bore out of their minds already. Then, when the time was just right, Miss Yukizome finally arrived to the class, nearly barging in as if she was breaking in.

"Okay, guys! Hear me out! Today is gonna be a special day!" Chisa started her day with all of her excitement she already had in the morning. Her presence immediately grabbed the attention of all of her students, wondering what was all the cheerful fuss about. They have already gotten used to her peppiness, but that day seemed like it was on the next whole level.

"Oh, what is going to be today, Miss Yukizome?" piqued Mahiru, curious about what her teacher meant by "special day".

"Let me guess, we're gonna have to put up with Class 78th losers again, won't we?" Hiyoko spared no time to already complain about it, but at the same time hinted the reason why was she so giddy.

"Well, I did invite them as well, but it's one of many factors that is gonna contribute to making this day truly shine above others!" clarified Chisa, giving them a hint at what could happen that day.

"I swear, nothing but cheese comes out of your smelly mouth…" grumbled Hiyoko as she rested her head on the table.

"Is there gonna be another guest, Miss Yukizome?" assumed Hajime, judging from her tone and mannerisms alone.

"Yep yep!" happily nodded Chisa, being almost childlike in a way, despite the fact that she was older than anyone else in this class.

"Who's it gonna be?" wondered Kazuichi, but before Chisa could deny him an answer in order to not ruin the surprise, few knocks were heard on the door.

"Oh, Class 78th has arrived now!" announced Chisa with sparkles in her eyes before she went to the doors and opened them, revealing the exact group of people she meant. With exception of two students that were still missing, all of them were standing outside of the class, some individuals, such as Aoi and Makoto, really excited to see the Class 77-B, while some, just as Byakuya and Toko, being rather annoyed about it, wanting to spend their time by their own volition instead of being "forced" into an activity by someone else.

"Sup, dudes." casually greeted Mondo, raising his hand before all of them stepped inside and joined up the Class 77-B.

"Heeyyy, it's you guys!" cheered Kazuichi when he, along with his classmates, saw the Class 78th gang. As soon as all of them stepped in, each student went to their friends, like how Makoto got close to Hajime and such. Three exceptions occurred, with Byakuya staying away from the group and Toko, for reasons only known to her, just staying behind him, but at the distance. Meanwhile, Kyoko also stood away from the group, just cautiously observing her surroundings.

The most predictable case of a Class 78th student uniting with a Class 77-B student definitely had to be when Chihiro meekly approached his silent friend, who was at that moment lost in her thoughts.

"Hey, Chiaki." quietly greeted Chihiro as he sat next to her.

"Chihiro!" chirped Chiaki at the sight of her programmer friend, with her eyes having some kind of a sparkle. Her company is a quick way to make him feel at ease.

"So, apparently someone really important is gonna visit the academy. Do you know who is it going to be?" asked Chihiro, curious if she know who was going to be the guest for today. It took a while to get a word from her, since she way busy both wondering if she truly knew and trying to jumble through words in her mind.

"I'm not sure. Miss Yukizome is saying that it's gonna be a surprise." answered Chiaki after formulating her thoughts, more or less knowing as much as everyone else did.

"Oh...I see." nodded Chihiro before both of them focused on the possible main event, with them being equally curious about it.

"Whoever it is, it better be worth it." grumbled Byakuya with his crossed arms, scornfully glaring at Miss Yukizome as if he had beef with her in the past. Silence in the class followed, as everyone was busy wondering who could the guest be.

The tranquility of curiosity was quickly yet suddenly disrupted by a series of knocks on the door, signifying that the guest has already arrived. All of the attention was focused on the door, with everyone anticipating the arrival of the guest. Chisa rushed to the door and opened it as quickly as she could, revealing the guest.

It was a brown haired woman, about as tall as her, wearing a loose khaki jacket over a white shirt along with a red tie. She also wore black shorts on top of her black tights, complimented by her unzipped clothes. From a glance, she seemed like a shorter but brunette Kyoko from a distance.

"Come in!" invited Chisa, allowing the girl to enter the class. The brown haired gal marched inside their class with a stoic expression in her violet eyes. Those who have recognized her just from sight alone gasped, feeling absolutely floored that someone like her even placed a foot right near them. Even Kyoko's irises shrunk for a moment when she saw the girl.

"HOLY SHIT!" shouted Kazuichi in sheer surprise as he jumped off from his chair and pointed directly at her, yet she didn't even give him a glance, either because she was used to such reactions or was just too determined to carry out the visit in the most professional way possible.

"What?!" Byakuya, out of all people, had his breath taken away by her appearance. He had expected someone whom he considered to be "a commoner" (just like he considers 95% of the entire school to be that), not someone of such caliber.

"No way!" blurted Hajime, recognizing the woman in front of him from that time when he read about her thesis regarding turning memories into data in a science magazine. Another thing he distinctively remembered about her was despite the brown haired girl being born in Japan, she studied and graduated abroad, specifically in the United States. If he remembered correctly,

"Is...is that her?!" Nagito was also one of the many people in class that recognized her from the get-go, also sharing the same feeling of shock as the ones who already were familiar with her.

Meanwhile, Ibuki had an entirely different reason to getexcited about.

"Oh my goooood, she is so pretty! I'm gonna have a raunchy night tonight!" Ibuki eagerly started fantasizing as she wished for the night to come, so that she could have some fun...to say at least.

However, she, along with some people, was one of those that didn't recognize her from the get-go. In fact, a decent chunk of them didn't. Among them was Chiaki, who has never heard nor seen that girl ever before.

"Chihiro, do you know who is she?" Chiaki whispered into Chihiro's ear, assuming that he knew the answer judging from the fact that he gasped at the brown haired girl's sight.

"O-oh, yeah! It's-" Chihiro, actually being quite familiar with the girl to some extent, attempted to answer before he was interrupted by the ongoing event. The brown haired girl stepped towards the position behind the table, where usually Miss Yukizome occupied it during their normal classes (as normal as Hope's Peak could get), and grabbed the microphone on it. She tapped on it to see if all worked well and judging from the noise made by the tap itself, all seemed well.

"Now that was a surprise, wasn't it? Hehehe, now it's time for out special guest to introduce herself to us!" Chisa offered the girl to speak up as all of students inside the close paid attention to her.

"Pardon me, Miss Yukizome, but how did you manage to get in contact with her?" asked Hajime just before the brown haired girl started, genuinely curious about how did she get her in the first place.

"Hehehe, secreeet!" giggled Chisa, hiding the true answer from him. One of the reasons for her decision to not reveal background information to him was because explaining him that she was suddenly visited by a chuunibyou cat girl maid would have been to unbelievable, though he would have believed it regardless due to his encounter with her back at the cafe and in their hidden headquarters.

"I would like to thank Miss Yukizome for taking time and inviting me to Hope's Peak academy. It's my first time being here and I hope that I make a good first impression of you guys." brown haired woman started speaking, beginning her presentation. The class, with exception of Hiyoko, who was just laying her head on the table and staring at the window out of boredom, listened closely as her voice, slightly modified by the compression of the speakers, reached through out the entire classroom.

"Seems like that some of you are already familiar with me, but I'll introduce myself none than less. My name is Kurisu Makise and with the help of others, I have prepared a presentation for our visit. Please feel free to ask anything you want to know, a discussion always makes things livelier."

"Excuse me, Miss Makise, but what is your presentation about?" Makoto raised his hand, wanting to hear what she was going to talk about. The formalities regarding them and her caused Kurisu to blush a bit, dropping her completely stoic expression for a moment.

"Just to clarify one thing, there is no need to worry about formalities regarding my name. Refer to me as Kurisu and you're good to go. I am a peer for you guys, after all." clarified Kurisu, just to reassure them that she's same as them and not some old grumpy professor who's too busy ranting about his theories being nonsense. Despite keeping the formal attitude to an extent, she wanted to present to them as approachable as possible, since she had some amount of fear that she would intimidate them. After the blush disappeared, she returned her former attitude of formality again. "Anyway, initially I wanted to present you particle colliders, but after a long discussion with my colleagues, I have decided to talk about another similar topic."

"Like those built by CERN?" asked Sonia as the acronym of a certain European scientific organization rang quite familiar to her. Unlike the barely noticeable blush before, Kurisu's stoic demeanor disappeared, with her expression being replaced with the one that consisted of great concern.

"...CERN or…?" quietly asked Kurisu, wanting to be sure if Sonia knew about the other European organization, which sounded very similar to the aforementioned CERN.

"Yeah, CERN. I think that's the name of organization that is currently researching particle physics and anti matter. answered Sonia, confirming that she didn't exactly know of the other one. However, Sonia noticed that Kurise seemed really worried when she mentioned the name of that European organization. "Is there something wrong, Kurisu?"

"...Forgive me for the blunder. I am a bit nervous, since it is first time I'm here." Kurisu switched the topics, reassuring her that it's not a big deal, even though she sounded like she had quite a history with those organizations.

"It's okay, no problem-o!" nodded Sonia before they returned to the previous topic of conversation

"Can we build one?" suddenly the atmosphere of the conversation shifted when Kazuichi enthusiastically asked about constructing an entire collider underneath the school.

Somehow.

"Um, I don't think even something prestigious as Hope's Peak can afford to build a collider like CERN can. Besides, aren't those pretty huge?" doubted Sonia, considering the amount of resources and money required for basically constructing a megaproject.

"Something like Large Hadron Collider is about twenty seven kilometers long. Its radius can be comparable to a city like Geneva. It requires extensive international effort to build one, though a collider being placed in Japan is a possibility. Probably not under Hope's Peak or Tokyo, though." added Kurisu, more or less shooting down Kazuichi's dreams that were born out of a moment.

"Aw, shucks. It would have been so cool." lamented Kazuichi, cursing the reality for disabling his desires.

"Instead, today's presentation is going to focus about ionocraft." Kurisu finally revealed what was the topic of that day.

"Ionocraft?" wondered Chiaki out loud, never hearing that term ever before. She was quite familiar with all sorts of craft, especially with aircraft and spacecraft, considering how many shoot em ups and flight simulators she played in her life. One of the series that she was particularly fond of was Falcon series, particularly the one that was basically a free overhaul and improvement of the last installment of the series. More or less, it shaped her opinion on her favorite aircraft (F-16 Fighting Falcon, along with the fact it did somewhat resemble Gala Omega's spaceship) and she wondered if the alluding ionocraft resembled anything like that sleek multirole fighter or similar.

"Ionocraft, also known as lifters, are a kind of aircraft that use high voltage to ionize air in order to generate propulsion. Unlike much more conventional aircraft or rotorcraft, they do not have moving parts and combustion in order to provide lift." explained Kurisu, giving those who didn't know what ionocraft were a mental image of them. Chiaki wondered how could a craft move without moving parts. The logical conclusion she came to was that the craft was capable of levitation. "One of the reasons why I have chosen ionocraft over colliders is feasibility of experimentation in the class."

"Wait, are we gonna experiment?" Makoto seemed genuinely surprised that they're going to experiment, considering how much of it seemed like it was just building up

"Of course! It would be unremarkable if I just talked about it for hours, wouldn't it be?" as much as she hid it in order to seem as professional as possible, Kurisu couldn't help but express joy when (harmless) experimentation was involved.

Suddenly, the doors opened and it was Chisa, who disappeared in their sight for a moment because they were too busy paying attention to Kurisu, who held a yellow open box with two items in it: a "lifter" (a triangle that had aluminum foil wrapped around three thin wooden sticks along with a corona wire tied to them) and the power supply device.

"Alright, all stuff is ready!" announced Chisa before she placed the box on the table as she returned to observing the experiment. Kurisu then placed those items outside the box and later on inserted the cable for power supply inside the electrical socket and turned the power supply on, as the numbers showed on LCD screen, all of them being zero. After the power supply was powered up, she connected the cables from it to corona wire, so that the ionocraft could get the means of propulsion. Most of the students watched with great curiosity as the procedure was unfolding right in front of them. However, there were exceptions.

"It's a stupid triangle. What's so special about it?" complained Hiyoko after she glanced over to see the ongoing event, scoffing it off due to the rather unnoticeable shape of the lifter.

"Just observe." smirked Kurisu before she increased the voltage from power supply, causing the electricity to traverse through the cables. When it finally reached the corona wire, it caused the lifter to thrust right up in the air as it began levitating. A huge "woah" resounded through out the class as they saw lifter rise up.

"How does it work?" asked Chiaki, curious about the mechanics behind ionocraft. It seemed like Kurisu completely sold her on ionocraft, just like she did for the majority of both classes.

"In order for ionocraft to get lift, you must place a sharp edged object near a smooth edged object, both of which must conduct electricity. In ionocraft's case, the sharp edged object is a wire and the smooth edged object is the aluminum foil. You have to put high voltage power supply through them in order to get power. An electric field is created between them, with each side serves as either positively charged or negatively charged. The air ionizes in the electric field, which caused enough thrust to lift." explained Kurisu before she decreased the voltage, making the lifter fall down right on the surface of the table.

"So cool!" cheered Sonia while giving a tiny applause after witnessing the ionocraft demonstration. Just from observing around

"Glad you guys like it!" smiled Kurisu before she moved away a bit from the table as she presented them the lifter and power supply duo, offering them to experiment on their own. She trusted them enough that they won't do dangerous things with it. "You can try it out, if you want to."

With only Hiyoko still remaining at her table, students of both classes gathered around the table with the lifter and started experimenting. The ones that were trusted to operate the power supply (in other words, anyone but Nagito Komaeda) used their position to test different, but still safe to use voltages to see how would the lifter react.

"There's something I wanna know...but I'll ask later." thought Chiaki as she watched the lifter experiments, being squished between Mikan and Sakura. The latter allowed her to step forth, to get a better view on the experiment. At lower voltages, the lifter barely reacted while at higher voltages, it jumped high in the air as it were a certain mustached plumber before it levitated.

After hours have passed with experiments, the time for a break arrived. Unfortunately for students of both classes, it was also the same time when Kurisu had to go. She had other businesses to do elsewhere, but at the same time she didn't want to go so soon, considering the time she had with them. Luckily, Mahiru came up with something that will make them forever remember their moment with Kurisu, if by chance they don't see her ever again.

"Hey, I've got an idea. Lets take a group photo with Kurisu! Would you mind if we did that?" suggested Mahiru as she brought up the camera

"Sure, I have no problems with it." approved Kurisu as all of them, including Hiyoko, who just joined up only to not disappoint Mahiru, gathered around to prepare themselves for a group photo. Considering that she was the main guest, Kurisu was in the center.

"Alright, everybody! Say cheese!" requested Mahiru as she placed her finger on the trigger. Each student, along with Kurisu and Chisa, struck a pose to their liking for the photo.

"Cheese!"

With a press on the button, a sound of a click was heard, meaning that the photo of them was taken.

"One more!" requested Mahiru, making them stay together just a bit as she made another photo for a backup. After Mahiru finished her job, each student went their own way, making space for Kurisu to have access to the exit. However, just before she could leave the class, Kazuichi ran up to her, being all happy and giddy.

"Can I get your autograph, pretty please?" asked Kazuichi as politely as he could while containing his excitement, giving her a paper to sign up somewhere.

"Uh, sure! I don't see anything wrong with it." shrugged Kurisu as she brought up a pen to give him what he wanted. After writing down her signature on, Kazuichi started jumping out of sheer joy. Seeing how happy he was made her smile, knowing that she brought many cheers to quite a decent amount of people.

"Well, now it's time for me to go. I am very happy that you guys have enjoyed my presentation. Hope to see you again!" Kurisu waved at them as a final farewell for that day.

"Bye bye, Kurisu!" the class gave her a warm send off before she fully left the class, disappearing from their sight. Knowing what time it was, students went towards the dining hall, where they would had their food.

"Oh...I forgot to ask her…" realized Chiaki as she suddenly stopped, both lagging behind everyone and not even leaving the classroom. She stood right in front of the entrance, not knowing what to do about it. She couldn't let her curiosity be unsatisfied, yet she was stuck in doubt.

"Oh, Chiaki! What's up, my cinnamon roll?" noticed Chisa as she approached her, curious about why she decided to stay there. Usually, it's Chisa that leaves the class last.

"Miss Yukizome...there's something I wanted to ask Miss Makise about. Is she's still here?" asked Chiaki as she turned towards her teacher, looking her in the eyes.

"Yep, she is! She's waiting for her friends outside. You still have time, so go for it!" confirmed Chisa, pointing at the general direction of the fountain, hinting that Kurisu might still be there.

"...Mmmmm…" Chiaki started hesitating, looking down at the floor as if she were ashamed.

"What's wrong?" asked Chisa after she noticed the shift in her mood and wanted to know what bothered her.

"..I don't know..it's just that…" Chiaki attempted to say her thoughts out loud, but she just couldn't truly say it. Luckily, Chisa quickly identified what was Chiaki's issue.

"There's no need to be worried, Chiaki. I know how you feel, I felt the same when I had to call her for the first time, but she's a really sweet lady. Don't be afraid to ask her, she loves talking about science and stuff!" reassured Chisa, giving her a pat on the shoulder to further motivate her reaching out potential new friends.

"...I mean...erm...I know that she loves talking about it, but..." stammered Chiaki, attempting to look at Chisa's eyes, yet she was subconsciously held back.

"As long as you're friendly to her, you'll be on her good side, which I think it's gonna be really easy for you, heh. Trust me, she isn't scary at all." Chisa further motivated her to reach out for Kurisu, fully believing that Chiaki would get along well with her. Her words managed to convince Chiaki that she should ask Kurisu the thing she wanted to know.

"...I'll try...it will be okay, right?" promised Chiaki as she looked directly at Chisa's eyes. At the very least, she could make her teacher proud.

"That's my girl! You can do it! Go, Chiaki, go!" cheered Chisa as she started jumping around like a poorly skilled cheerleader, backing up her gamer girl. Chiaki nodded and then left the classroom, heading outside instead of the dining hall. After some time traversing through the empty hallways, she reached outside and saw Kurisu sitting on the bench near the fountain, who was looking at the sky, observing the clouds.

"...Hey...uh...hey." Chiaki quietly called out for her as she slowly approached her. She had difficulties looking at her, due to the fact that she felt she was quite beneath her, considering how knowledgeable the brown haired girl seemed. Kurisu heard her call and turned towards her

"Oh, hello there. You're one of the students of Class 77-B, I assume?" Kurisu greeted her with a welcoming smile along with a completely different tone in her voice. It came off as a shock to Chiaki that for how formal she seemed during the presentation, she greeted her rather casually. Perhaps she was one of those people that get much warmer when they're one on one.

"...Yeah. My name is Chiaki." the gamer girl quietly and rather nervously introduced herself to the experiment loving gal.

"Nice to meet you, Chiaki! I'm pretty sure you know me well at this point." smiled Kurisu, just happy that one of the students paid her a visit, even if it was just for one question. "I do wonder, what brings you here?"

"I..uh...wanted to ask something." confessed Chiaki to her, worrying that she would embarrass herself in front of her.

"Hm?" Kurisu raised her eyebrow before tapping on the bench, inviting her to come over and sit near her. "Come here."

Although Chiaki was quite surprised that Kurisu would just invite her without hesitation, she obeyed her and sat near her as she built up some courage to look at her in the eyes. Chiaki saw a great amount of curiosity inside Kurisu's eyes, fitting for such a girl like her.

"Do you think...that...um...in the future, there's gonna be spaceships like ionocraft?" Chiaki attempted to raise a question as she tried to find the right words

"As of now, ionocraft don't provide sufficient thrust to carry much anything, but in the future that might change. However, spacecraft have a different type of propulsion. They use ion thrusters to navigate through vastness of space. Difference between ionocraft and ion thrusters are that while former ionize air, the latter accelerate ions through electricity." happily answered Kurisu as she explained her opinion on the matter. Every time Kurisu spoke about scientific subjects, Chiaki was completely suckered in, listening all the way through. In some odd sense, it was reminiscent of Chiaki's own ramblings about her favorite video games.

"So something like that could be built?" wondered Chiaki as she was starting to feel much easier around Kurisu's presence, knowing that the brown haired girl seemed to love having someone to listen.

"Yep, but we actually have something like that already. Do you know what Space Shuttle is?" hinted Kurisu at something that the gamer gal might have been familiar with.

"Space Shuttle? You mean like...that plane that went to space and then help space stations?" guessed Chiaki as the mental image of that orbiter appeared in her mind. She saw it in a lot of space oriented video games.

"Yep, you've got that right! Though if you are more interested in eastern side of things, you also have soviet Buran. In its service, it deployed satellites in the orbit with the help of its mechanical arm. While the orbiter itself needed a rocket with two boosters to reach orbit, it used ion thrusters to navigate around the orbit. Once it did its mission, it had to re-enter atmosphere and glide down back to Shuttle Landing Facility in Florida. When it was operated by NASA, it carried out 135 missions." explained Kurisu about the orbiter itself. It seemed like every time Kurisu opened her mouth, Chiaki learned something new, which was something that the gamer girl really appreciated.

"Do you think if we built another Space Shuttle, capable of destroying asteroids and protecting Earth, just like Gala Omega?" sincerely asked Chiaki while also expressing a desire to see a real space fighter in her life. She was always a fan of those, if the hairpin on her hair streak already showed that.

"Now now, while I do think that we could build a defense systems against asteroids, I think it would be more optimal to establish a mining system on them. Resources on asteroids are incredibly valuable, to the point that entire Earth would be richer if we brought them here. However, we do have an issue: establishing a two way route to them. So far, the furthest the man has ever gotten was on Moon. We have sent out rovers on Mars, but we still have yet to figure out a two way route to the red planet, let alone to the asteroid belt between Mars and Jupiter." chuckled Kurisu at Chiaki's rather "imaginative" way of thinking how Space Shuttle operates. The gamer gal wondered how would make the whole system of asteroid mining real, but another thought interrupted it: she wanted to know about the origin of Kurisu's knowledge.

"May I ask...how come that you know so much? Is it talent?" wondered Chiaki, wanting to see if her assumption would be confirmed by Kurisu.

"Talent is bare minimum in terms of accomplishing your dreams. As a child, I've spent a lot of time reading about science. I've focused so much on it that it lead to some….undesirable consequences, to say at least. While I am interested in many fields of it, the one I'm most specialized in is neurology." revealed Kurisu, that it was all hard work and no talent for her.

"So..not exactly talent, but rather by your own choice?" further asked Chiaki.

"Yeah, it can be said like that." nodded Kurisu as she crossed her arms.

"Huh…" Chiaki started looking at the floor once again with a frown on her face

"Is there something wrong, Chiaki?" piqued Kurisu out of concern, considering that Chiaki seemed perfectly fine before.

"Well...not really. It's just that...this school focuses a lot on talent. Courses and tests seem to revolve individual's talent, if I recall correctly." Chiaki explained her situation to her while also hinting that she doesn't see her talent as a blessing at all. It was a curse to her, a curse that basically made her future into one way path. While she hid it, she was kind of jealous that Kurisu could choose her own future. Just from Chiaki's words alone, Kurisu already suspected something shady regarding Hope's Peak academy. Even as someone who's been abroad, she has never heard of a school that would focus solely on talent, out of all things.

"Can I be honest about your school?" asked Kurisu, warning her that she could be really blunt about a place that she really loved going to.

"Mhm." quietly nodded Chiaki, giving her the approval to express her thoughts on the matter.

"That is strange, considering that talent is something that very few people are born with it. Other universities and schools focus more on teaching generations about new skills and knowledge, but it seems like here it's not the case. I wonder what made them pursue that path." said Kurisu, even though she wasn't as blunt as Chiaki expected it. It gave the gaming loving girl some relief, knowing that people outside of Hope's Peak academy acknowledge that there are more important things than talent.

"Luckily, Miss Yukizome doesn't believe that. She just wants us to have good time in school….I think." reassured Chiaki, trying to convince her that not everyone thought that talent was the greatest thing ever, especially among those considered higher ups. Her mood changed when she talked about her teacher, she was filled with joy during it.

"That's your teacher, right?" asked Kurisu, wanting to be sure if she's thinking about the right person. At the same time, it felt nice for her that Chiaki managed to feel better, even if it was just her gushing about her teacher.

"Mhm." happily nodded Chiaki.

"Ah, what a kind energetic lady she is! It was really nice to contact her, though she feels like she's much younger than me. I'm about as same as your age, just for clarification." Kurisu cheerfully reminiscent of that time when she had a phone talk with her.

"Really?" Chiaki tilted her head out of curiosity, being surprised that she and Kurisu are basically the same age. Somehow, Kurisu's face turned red. For such a calm woman, it was incredibly surprising to see her completely embarrassed about it.

"W-wait, y-you didn't think I was old, right?" stuttered Kurisu as she tried to convince Chiaki that she wasn't an old lady.

"Sorry...didn't wanna give that implication…" apologized Chiaki as she felt guilt over the fact that she potentially screwed up by accident. Her hands were already gripping the hood, preparing to hide in it.

"N-no no no, it's okay! Just...tell me an honest answer about it. I promise I won't be too upset." reassured Kurisu in panic, not wanting Chiaki to feel bad. Chiaki let off her hands of the hood and started thinking how to explain herself.

"Well….I think mature is a better word for it rather than old...Maybe." clarified Chiaki after some time putting the words together.

"Phew...Honestly, part of the reason why I didn't want to be called Miss Makise is because it made me feel old." confessed Kurisu to her, both feeling relief for a different reason. Kurisu felt more relaxed because Chiaki didn't think she was that old and Chiaki felt relieved that she didn't actually make Kurisu upset.

"I think you would be a fantastic teacher. You have a really cool way of presenting things." suddenly, yet sincerely complimented Chiaki. She wanted to say that to her because every time Kurisu was talking about something, she loved listening to it.

"Wait really? Why, thank you! You're just as sweet as your teacher." although surprised by her compliment, Kurisu thanked her before both of them giggled. They were feeling quite and fully relaxed around each at that point.

"I'm sensing some yuri vibes here." suddenly, a voice of a man interrupted their conversation, startling Chiaki in the process. However, Kurisu immediately recognized that voice, considering that she's spent a lot of time together with that person.

"...What." squinted Kurisu before she turned around to see the source of the voice.

"Huh?" wondered Chiaki, tilting her head as she looked in the same direction as Kurisu, only to see the same thing as her: two men, one tall and thin in a lab coat and one stout man with glasses and an orange hat. The stout man also had crossed arms to look like, in his own words, "a badass".

"Oh, its you two pervs." quipped Kurisu as two men approached them. Chiaki was curious about them, wondering who they were in the first place. Considering that Kurisu let them approach, it meant that she was familiar with those two men.

"Christina, I see you are bonding!" dramatically announced scrawny man in lab coat, pointing at her like she was the culprit of a certain crime.

"You couldn't have said it more awkwardly, even if you tried. Also, for sake of your brain, don't call me that in front of her." ridiculed Kurisu before warning him to not further embarrass her in front of Chiaki. The man in a lab coat then took an interest in Chiaki as he observed her. Meanwhile, Chiaki just stared at the man with confusion, she didn't even know what was going on.

"Now, who do we have here? Perhaps a future Lab Member, who shall help me on my quest!" Rintaro scratched his chin as he leaned towards her. Looking at the man in lab coat's eyes caused Chiaki to blush a bit.

"Kurisu, who are they?" whispered Chiaki as she leaned towards Kurisu, still confused as ever about them.

"Don't worry too much about them, they're my friends. This airhead and chuuni supreme in a lab coat is named Rintaro Okabe and his perverted friend next to him is Itaru Hashida." winked Kurisu at Chiaki, confirming that they're people that one shouldn't be really afraid of. "This is Chiaki. Please act normal around her, don't scare her."

"Perverted Gentleman, that's more fitting for me!" boasted Itaru as he proudly pointed at himself.

"Assistant, what did I say about names?! It is not Rintaro Okabe I go with!" condemned Rintaro as he dramatically shook his fist at Kurisu. The "intimidation" (that word being used very loosely) move of his did next to nothing to Kurisu, who just stared at him with disapproval. However, Chiaki was still confused what was going on, even though they were Kurisu's friends.

"Okarin, please." Itaru dropped off his pride as an allegedly horny man and joined with Kurisu in disapproving Rintaro's overly dramatic nonsense.

"I didn't allow you to call me that either." jeered Kurisu at him, crossing her arms.

"My name is HOUOUIN KYOUMA, THE MAD SCIENTIST!" revealed Rintaro as he spread his arms around like an eagle in the most theatrical way possible. However, something clicked inside Chiaki's mind. Hououin Kyouma, a name she heard before.

"...Mad scientist Hououin Kyouma? Is that really you?" asked Chiaki, wanting to be one hundred percent sure that the savior of Faris Nyannyan was right in front of her.

"Mwahahaha! Of course it is, the main fighting force against the Organi-wait, how did you kno-" Rintaro more or less confirmed before he realized that someone outside of his own "laboratory" knew him as "Houoin Kyouma". However, he was too late to do anything as Chiaki sprung from the bench and went full fangirl mode.

"Is it true that you went out of your way to save Faris? Is it true that you fought heroically against Daft Capo?" Chiaki started hopping very closely around him like an excited bunny, causing Rintaro to completely drop his "Hououin Kyouma" persona.

"Wait wait wait, PLEASE give me breathing room you...you...you!" requested Rintaro in panic, completely not used to someone. It was like two incredibly socially awkward people colliding together. After Rintaro took some deep breaths, Chiaki managed to tone down her excitement and started acting normal (as normal as she could be) once again. "Wait a minute, I have to come up with a nickname for her….Hmmmmm…."

"YOU SPRINGY RABBIT!" Rintaro pointed at her as he returned to his mad scientist persona for a bit.

"I can't believe it that your Kyouma persona actually got a fan outside of the Lab." Kurisu seemed genuinely impressed that someone outside of his own friend circle actually managed to find his chuuni persona not only endearing, but something to be inspired about.

"Consider yourself lucky here, Okarin." joked Itaru.

"Sorry about that….just that I've got really excited to meet someone heroic like you." apologized Chiaki, feeling rather embarrassed that

"Heroic? Me? What is this girl on?" sincerely thought Rintaro to himself, finding it bizarre that he would be held in such high regard by outsiders. However, he noticed something off in Chiaki's gushing: she seemed to know the same entity that he was fighting against. He knew that he couldn't play his "Hououin Kyouma" any longer in the conversation, considering that the gamer girl might have been involved with that mafia.

"Ahem, so yeah, me and all Lab Members have went out to save Faris after what we heard happened at her cafe. Though you have to make few things clear, Springy Rabbit. Faris told you about it, right?" Rintaro dropped his mad scientist character once again, speaking in a completely different tone than before. Instead of being over the top like a cartoon villain, he spoke as if he meant business to her. Just by his change in tone, Kurisu and Itaru changed their behaviors too. No longer were they meaning to dunk on him, they listened closely, wanting to hear what was he going to say.

"Yep...she told me about it...I think." confirmed Chiaki, remembering her experience at MayQueen and the entire story with Faris and Daft Capo's brief takeover of that cafe.

"Wait, are you a frequent visitor of MayQueen?" interrupted Itaru.

"Well...it was actually my first time there. My friend Ibuki invited me, along with Hajime and Chihiro. We had a lot of fun there." Chiaki

"Hey, we should meet up one day there!" suggested Itaru in case they would meet up there and have a little chat with a certain cat girl maid.

"Anyway, I should also assume Faris told you about my name, but that's not important right now. There's something you've mentioned in your breathless gushing." continued Rintaro while still maintaining the serious tone in his voice.

"Yeah?" Chiaki tilted her head again.

"Daft Capo….how did you find out about it? Did Faris also tell you about it?" asked Rintaro, wanting to get as much info as she could from her.

"Well, it wasn't the first time we heard about it, but...it's complicated to say…" Chiaki attempted to explain that one of their chuuni friends learned about Daft Capo from talking penguins in the bathroom, but it proved to be a much more difficult challenge than expected. Luckily, Rintaro already knew to what sort of group she was referring to, judging from her mannerisms alone.

"I know of them, if you are referring to Contractors." assured Rintaro, knowing what was she talking about.

"Oh...yeah, we actually learned about Daft Capo earlier...but unfortunately...on the same day when Herman started attacking." revealed Chiaki with some level of regret in her voice. That information caused a great amount of shock among Laboratory members, since they weren't expecting that Daft Capo would enter Hope's Peak's turf at all.

"Wait, they're already here?" Kurisu's irises shrunk when she heard that Daft Capo has already started their operations against Hope's Peak.

"Oh, this is no good…" shivered Itaru, dreading all sorts of possibilities that could happen with Hope's Peak and Daft Capo interference. Rintaro, on other hand, kept composure, despite the feeling of dread kicking in him.

"Was there just Herman or did anyone else also come here?" Rintaro continued asking.

"Just Herman...for now...I think...Maybe…" replied Chiaki with a doubt of herself. No one said that Daft Capo doesn't use secret agents, but no one truly confirmed about it.

"That means they're not taking you seriously." bluntly said Rintaro, knowing from his experience with Daft Capo.

"What do you mean by that, Kyouma?" wondered Chiaki, with his bluntness catching her off guard.

"If they just sent out that octopus, it means that they think you're easy prey for them. They probably didn't anticipate any proper resistance from your school." explained Rintaro, which didn't exactly make sense to her, considering that Faris, who was not only unarmed but also did not provoke them in any means, was beaten up by those mafiosos.

"Yet...Faris mentioned that she got attacked by four men, dressed in tuxedos. So far, none of them appeared in my school." pointed out Chiaki, still basing a lot of things about Daft Capo on Faris' story.

"I'm still mad as fuck about it! Who could just punch someone as cute as Faris in the face?" fumed Itaru, interrupting the conversation once again.

"She was pretty innocent too…" added Chiaki.

"Faris? Innocent? What? This girl may or may not have fell under Faris' influence. No matter what facade I put as Kyouma, she always comes up with even weirder scenarios. She can play people like a fiddle." while it was only a thought in his mind, Rintaro couldn't help but find Chiaki's statement completely baffling, especially from the fact that he knew much more about Faris than Chiaki did.

"What happened at MayQueen was an odd exception, but know this: Faris is directly responsible for spreading moe culture through out Akihabara, as ridiculous as it sounds. She is behind all those anime stores and such." revealed Rintaro. With his revelation, Chiaki was getting a grasp on possible reason why Herman and his punksters chose to attack MayQueen.

"And Herman...hates anime." realized Chiaki. It was all dawning on her and something about those implications was starting to seriously infuriate her. "...Wait a minute, has he seriously launched attack on her over that?"

"Shit taste, that damned octopus has!" denounced Itaru, who had the total opposite opinion on anime compared to a certain cephalopod.

"I swear...that octopus…" Chiaki clenched her teeth with her fist shaking. Every day, the amount of reasons to strike down Herman and his criminal syndicate was just growing up.

"You're sharp, Springy Rabbit. You've managed to connect the dots quite quickly." complimented Rintaro before he continued. "Since only Herman has been here, I assume that he also provoked everyone in the school for his own amusement."

"...Yeah…" regretfully nodded Chiaki.

"Hence why….as Hououin Kyouma, give you an offer! An offer you cannot refuse! We shall establish an alliance between your class and our laboratory! Together we shall triumph over Daft Capo. They are nothing more than a joke against me, the mad scientist!" Rintaro suddenly returned to his own mad scientist persona, lightening up the mood while also offering the gamer gal to form an alliance with his laboratory gang.

"Really? You're going to help us?" a sparkle appeared in Chiaki's eyes, just being eager from the fact that not only she would have assistance from Hououin Kyouma himself, but she could befriend his own gang as well.

"Mwahahaha! Of course! Now, don't get too excited, please...or at least too jumpy, Springy Rabbit." approved Rintaro as he cautiously offered her his hand. Chiaki happily shook hands with him,

"You have our support, we guarantee you that. Together, we will defeat Daft Capo." added Kurisu to support not only her, but also Hope's Peak as a whole against that criminal syndicate.

"For Faris and for MayQueen!" declared Itaru as if he were some kind of otaku musketeer.

"Hahahaha, I am satisfied with your decision, Springy Rabbit. We will show Daft Capo that they are nothing more than a joke! Then, we will tackle the Organization! Now where is-" boastfully declared Rintaro before he looked around as if he was waiting for someone really important.

Suddenly...

"Tutturu~! Mayushii's here!" a voice of a young girl was heard. Chiaki gasped when she heard that voice, it seemed to be oddly familiar with her. The gang looked back to see a small black haired girl with a hat approaching to them, holding two bags. Lass who referred to herself as "Mayushii" ran towards them with bags before stopping right in front of the bench.

"Ah, Mayuri. Glad to see you here. I was wondering where were you, since it took a while." smiled Rintaro, coming off completely different once again than before.

"I've bought you some , Okarin. For Chris-chan and Daru too!" Mayuri offered him a can of his favorite soda.

"Thank you, Mayuri. You are a blessing, I've actually got a craving for some ." thanked Rintaro before he opened a can of Dr. Pepper and started drinking it. Mayuri then gave Kurisu another can of and gave Daru a can of Coca Cola.

"Thanks, Mayuri." said Kurisu as she started chugging like she was extremely thirsty.

"Bless." Itaru thanked in his own way, taking a sip of his precious cola.

"Mayushii's glad that-" bubbled Mayuri before she noticed Chiaki, who was staring at her back in surprise. The gamer girl then approached Mayuri to see her up close as they both looked each other in the eyes with wonder.

"I take it back, now I'm sensing some yuri vibes here." commented Itaru after he finished his sip, glancing at two girls who were staring at each other.

"Daru, please." condemned Rintaro, being a bit bothered that his friend Daru couldn't let Mayuri and Chiaki have their moment.

"Have we...met before?" mumbled Chiaki while she tried to put words together. Although the memory was quite vague on her end, she couldn't believe that the person she might have met before was just right in front of her.

"...I remember! I remember you well!" gleamed Mayuri after fully remembering her, dropping her bags so that she could grab Chiaki's hands, shaking them. Chiaki still tried to process that she was right in front of her, but she couldn't help but feel absolutely happy that she saw Mayuri once again.

"Wait, you do?" perplexed Rintaro, being stunned that Mayuri's memory of her was rather quite clear.

"Mayuri, this is Chiaki. She's a student from Hope's Peak academy." Kurisu introduced the gamer girl to her fellow with a smile on her face.

"Oh, Mayushii always wanted to know your name! It's just that we didn't have a chance before...but Mayushii very glad that we got to see each other again. I hope that Okarin and Daru have nicely introduced themselves to you." said Mayuri as she checked that her friends from laboratory were nice to her.

"Yeah, they did." Chiaki seemed to be pleased with them, which was more than enough to satisfy Mayuri.

"Are you sure? Even with all chuuni stuff?" thought Rintaro to himself, being aware that his persona might cause some trouble here and there. Perhaps Chiaki just got used to Gundham's shenanigans and accepted Rintaro for who he was.

"Ehehehe, that's good! Mayushii's got an idea! We should exchange our phone numbers." suggested Mayuri as she brought up her phone, preparing contacts so that they could obtain each other's numbers.

"Great idea, Mayuri! It's good to keep contact." approved Kurisu as she brought up her own one. Rintaro and Itaru did the same with their own phones.

"Yep, it is a good idea…I think." Chiaki went with Mayuri's idea and brought up her own phone. Her pink cased phone seemed to be the most modern of the bunch, as it had a touchscreen and such. Meanwhile, Lab member's telephones were still with buttons. The first person that Chiaki exchanged her phone number was Mayuri, followed by Kurisu, then Rintaro and lastly Itaru.

"For now, you'll be known as Springy Rabbit. Who knows what nickname would I have to use later." Rintaro gave her that nickname as he typed it inside his contacts. It was far from the first nickname to be typed, considering that he already had "Assistant", "Daru" and many more inside his contact list. Only exceptions seemed to be two people and one of them was Mayuri. After he finished typing, Rintaro noticed that it was time for Chiaki to return to her class while Laboratory members had their own business to do.

"Well, I think it's time to announce mine and my lab assistants' departure! The fate of yours and Hououin Kyouma's shall cross once again in the future!" Rintaro announced their departure for that day while also promising that they will see each other again, even if it was under the guise of Hououin Kyouma.

"He's at it again…" ribbed Itaru at him.

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me an assistant…" sighed Kurisu, never not feeling annoyed at any nickname he gave it to her. Granted, "Assistant" and "Christina" were not as bad as some of the others he used in the past.

"What Okarin means is that you can visit our laboratory any time you want. Call us if you want to drop in." invited Mayuri to their laboratory

"Oh, you guys have a laboratory? I mean, it is expected since you are a group of scientists...but that does sound cool!" cheered Chiaki, already imagining all sorts of games they could play together.

"Well...if you consider anything to be a laboratory. Also, only I and Rintaro are scientists." clarified Kurisu as she pointed at herself and her chuuni friend.

"Christina, what did I say! I'm not just any scientist, I am MAD SCIENTIST!" Rintaro still insisted on his Kyouma persona.

"Yes, yes, we get it. Now, go to bed, Kyouma, and bring back Rintaro here." Kurisu rolled with her eyes, demanding that he has to take things a bit more seriously from that moment.

"Anyway, my assistant is right. Daru is SUPA HACKA and Mayuri is a cosplay costume maker." Rintaro ceased with chuuni shenanigans once again and clarified on his own end.

"HACKER! IT'S HACKER! How many times do I have to tell you that it's hacker, man?!" fumed Itaru. It was like every time Rintaro referred to him as "Hacka".

"Hehehe, that is true. What sort of stuff do you like, Chi-chan?" chuckled Mayuri before asking Chiaki about her hobbies and such.

"Well, video games for sure. I consider them to be life….or maybe life is a game?" Chiaki didn't exactly hesitate to express her love for video games in front of them, seeing how others seem to be interested in subjects that are often painted as "nerdy".

"Update: it's Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit now. Otaku levels: very concerning." Rintaro talked to his own phone as he updated her nickname that he gave it himself.

"So it would be safe to assume that the school calls you Ultimate Gamer or something, right?" assumed Kurisu while also taking in consideration what the gamer gal told her about the school.

"Yep...that's what school gave me, I guess." shrugged Chiaki, not exactly being fond of that title.

"Hmpf! If you truly are an Ultimate Gamer, then you must beat a Kaizo game...blindfolded!" scoffed Itaru, doubting that she was that much of an "Ultimate Gamer" as her school made her out to be.

"Kaizo games...hmmm...I played some of them. They are really unfair...but I did manage to beat them. I could go for a challenge like that." rambled Chiaki while also approving Itaru's offer.

"Then consider it accepted!" Itaru raised his eyebrow in triumph, prepared to see her commit such a challenge.

"Mayushii also enjoys games...but Mayushii not really good at them. Say, you should bring them to the lab. I think you like it more when you play with your friends." suggested Mayuri, knowing that it would bring her a lot of happiness, judging just from their conversation alone.

"Really? I can do that?" Chiaki's energy levels rose up from that suggestion as she was soon to enter the fangirl mode once again.

"Oh brother, here we go again with the springiness…" dreaded Rintaro, knowing how jumpy and completely-unaware-of-someone's-personal-space she can be at times.

"Mhm! Of course you can!" approved Mayuri without hesitation and thus Chiaki went into the full fangirl overdrive mode, rambling about all sorts of games that she held dear. Unfortunately for them, Rintaro noticed that they have stalled out a little and just to make sure that Chiaki wasn't late to her class, they have decided to fully depart.

"Well, we got a bit distracted here, now we have to go. We shall see each other again!" said Rintaro before the Laboratory gang started walking away from the bench. Chiaki also stood up, but instead went towards the entrance of the school.

"I hope we meet again soon. Thank you and your class for participating in the presentation. By the way, say hi to them in my name." Kurisu expressed gratitude for not only making her presentation exciting, but also hanging around with her due to how much it cheered them up.

"Mayushii hopes to see you again!" Mayuri cheerfully waved at Chiaki.

"Bye bye…" Chiaki waved at them back as they were distancing from each other before Chiaki fully went inside the school, smiling all the way through. She couldn't wait to tell her friends about her experiences with Kurisu and other laboratory members.

Meanwhile, the Laboratory gang was all by themselves, walking towards their laboratory, which was located in Akihabara. A gentle breeze followed them as they were on their way.

"Hey hey, Okarin. What do you think of Chi-chan?" piqued Mayuri as she looked at Rintaro with a smile on her face.

"Not gonna lie, she's a weirdo. One second, she's all quiet and then next second she's all fangirling. If this is just one student of Hope's Peak, I can't imagine the rest. However, you seem to be pretty fond of her already, which I hope that she's a good friend to you." admitted Rintaro. He found her tendencies to go quiet and then suddenly full bubbly at the moment when there was something that she loved nearby quite overwhelming, but if Mayuri seemed to be satisfied with her, it was more than okay with him. Then he turned "Say, Christina, how was that Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit and her class when you were around?"

"Her? Pretty quiet, she seemed really worried around before we had talk, but she was also really polite. I enjoyed being around her and I hope to see her again. That being said...her head is in the clouds, made out of video games. I wonder if it's going to be too much for her once she grows up." Kurisu expressed her thoughts on the matter while also worrying that Chiaki's mindset could be detrimental to herself. Both girls grew up in radically different environments, after all. "Students seemed pretty cool with me, except that little blonde one. She looked constantly annoyed and it was actually driving me self conscious…but considering how rest of them reacted to my presentation, it was overall a pretty good experience"

"And she even considered me a hero! I'm not hero, I am the mad scientist, who will destroy the Organization and plunge the world in chaos!" Rintaro briefly entered his own character, causing Kurisu and Itaru to sigh. However, Mayuri took no issue with "Hououin Kyouma", still smiling as she carried the bags.

"Mayushii thinks that Okarin is pretty heroic too! I'm glad more people recognize you as a hero, Okarin." said Mayuri. He wanted to say otherwise, but if there was a person that Rintaro couldn't exactly argue against, it was her. There was one thing that was on Rintaro's mind and he wanted to know about it.

"Say, Mayuri, I do wonder one thing. How come you remember her, assuming you have met her before?" wondered Rintaro, scratching his chin in the process.

"Don't you remember too, Okarin? We have seen her before! Just that, it's been a long time…" said Mayuri before she began telling her story….


It was way back, when Mayuri and Rintaro were just children. They were traversing through a park, heading towards the direction of their homes. Only the breeze accompanied them as it gently brushed the leaves of trees and bushes. The little Mayuri held a large bunny plush, happily hopping around with it.

"Okarin, Okarin! Mayushii's so happy that you have got me this plushie!" cheered Mayuri as she was showing the bunny plush to him.

"That's good, Mayuri. I'll do my best to make you as happy as possible." smiled Rintaro, just being satisfied that his friend found such joy in something simple as a toy. To him, all he needed in the world was Mayuri's happiness.

As they went on, Mayuri suddenly stopped when she saw a girl sitting beneath a tree, hiding in her own hood as she was playing her handheld console completely alone. Out of a subconscious instinct, little Mayuri decided to check on the girl, though she forgot to say to Rintaro that she was going somewhere else. Rintaro then, when he noticed that Mayuri disappeared from his sight, started looking around in panic.

"Mayuri, where are you?" called out Rintaro for her, but he received no response. The fear within in started to drastically increase as he started running around the park, looking everywhere to find his friend.

"Mayuri!"

When Mayuri managed to get closer to the lone girl, she saw that the hooded girl just blankly stared at the screen. She also had a frown on her face along with a rather noticeable bruise underneath her right eye. Even though Mayuri knew next to nothing about the girl, she wanted to help her out. She couldn't afford someone to be so alone.

"Tutturu!" greeted Mayuri, which caused the little Chiaki to be startled from it. The young girl didn't expect anyone to approach her at all.

"Please...please don't hurt me…" begged little Chiaki as she hid her face with her console, trembling over the fear that Mayuri only arrived there to hurt her. Mayuri, quickly identifying her behavior, knew that she had to convince her that her intentions were the exact opposite of her expectations.

"Mayushii's not there to hurt you. Mayushii's here to be a friend!" revealed Mayuri with as much sincerity as possible. Chiaki stopped trembling as she was completely shocked that someone genuinely wanted to be her friend in the first place. All the other peers (and sometimes even adults) considered to be "a freak", someone not worthy of their time. Most of the time they neglected her, but there were times when her peers did much worse things to her.

"...f-friend?" stuttered Chiaki, hardly comprehending the idea of someone being her own friend. It was the first time in her life that an outsider wanted her.

"Yep! But Mayushii's not the only one who wants to be your friend. Here, meet Usami." Mayuri, without a second thought, gave her the bunny plushie. "She will be always on your side and will always help you out."

"Friend….friend!" Chiaki's frown disappeared in the exact moment, replaced by a gleaming smile. She hugged Usami as tightly as she could, refusing to let go off the bunny. "Thank you!"

"Hehehe, no problem. Mayushii's glad that you are happy with Usami." giggled Mayuri, satisfied that once lonesome girl was feeling joy at that moment. Suddenly, Rintaro finally found her and dashed towards her. He felt relieved that he finally saw Mayuri once again.

"Mayuri, where have you been?!" after he arrived to their spot, Rintaro took deep breaths before begging her to not do such a thing again. "Please, don't disappear just randomly!"

"It's okay. Mayushii's okay." reassured Mayuri, giving Rintaro a pat on his shoulder. Rintaro then looked at little Chiaki, who was giggling from happiness as she still had her arms wrapped around Usami. When she noticed Rintaro, she stopped giggling and looked directly at him in both surprise and uncertainty. While he was unfamiliar, he seemed to be a close friend to Mayuri.

"...Are you giving her the plushie?" asked Rintaro, confused at why would Mayuri just hand out her own stuff without any sort of worry.

"Yep, it made her very happy!" bubbled Mayuri, justifying her reasoning to do such a thing.

"But I've spent hundreds of yen just getting it!" argued Rintaro, considering how many coins were spent at crane game he played much earlier just to get her that bunny.

"But she looked so sad before….and if people are sad, Mayushii is sad too…" frowned Mayuri before she looked at Chiaki, who was just curiously observing them. "The world would be a much better place if everyone tried to make each other happy."

Somehow, Mayuri's words echoed through out Chiaki's mind. Never she thought that she would meet such a person with a mindset like that. Yet, it was life changing for her. Maybe, just maybe, if she made other people happy like Mayuri, she would make the world a much better place. This was only reinforced when she saw Rintaro smile. Something about Mayuri's innocent yet persistent perspective always made him feel at ease.

"Mayuri...that was nicely said...but it's time for us to go. I don't want our parents to worry for us." complimented Rintaro before he offered her hand, deciding to go home once and for all.

"Awww…Mayushii wants to hang out, but it seems like I have to go now. I hope we meet each other again." lamented Mayuri before she grabbed Rintaro's hands. She waved at Chiaki just before they departed for real.

"Bye bye...friend…" murmured Chiaki, waving back at Mayuri before they disappeared from her sight. At the very least, she wasn't totally alone, considering she had Usami on her side, but she hoped that she would see Mayuri and Rintaro again.

Years have passed, but that day never came to be. After their encounter, Chiaki's loneliness persisted through out years. Sometimes, she went to the part with Usami, waiting for Mayuri and Rintaro. Luck was not on her side, because no matter how many times she went to the part, they never appeared.

"Where is she? I want to see her again…" lamented the little Chiaki, yearning to see them again. She just wanted to have some friends on her side and she was so close to getting them, but to no avail.


It all became clear to Rintaro. Everything, from their first encounter up until their meeting at Hope's Peak academy. All the memories flooded him mind as he received a realization. A realization that he never thought of before.

"...Oh...I remember now! It's almost incredible. The world is much smaller than it seems…" wondered Rintaro out loud. "This whole meeting felt like a choice...perhaps a choice controlled by something greater…"

Suddenly, when he took a glance at Mayuri, he noticed that while she was still smiling, her eyes seemed sorrowful.

"Mayuri, is there something wrong?" asked Rintaro out of concern.

"Everything is okay, Okarin…" quietly assured Mayuri before revealing what truly bothered her. "Just that…I hope she's much happier now."

Despite that Chiaki seemed pretty happy at Hope's Peak academy, Mayuri still felt sadness within her. It was something that never truly went away from her childhood and if things could go potentially wrong, it could come back with full force. Mayuri distinctively remembered young Chiaki's sorrow and she wanted to make sure that she would never be at such low in her life.

"I'm pretty sure she's found herself a friend or two at Hope's Peak. I believe all of them have good futures in front of them." reassured Kurisu as she gave Mayuri a headpat. It seemed to work, as Mayuri cheered up once again. "Besides, now that you two have contacts of each other, you can call her anytime."

"Of course, Chris-chan! I hope she brings her friends to our laboratory as well!" beamed Mayuri as all of them continued their path towards the laboratory. Both the laboratory members and Hope's Peak gang benefited from that day, as both of them hoped they would have more time to get along with each other. Besides, having both Future Gadget Lab and Hope's Peak connected meant that Rintaro Okabe's dream of having one hundred lab members could become reality.

Operation Star;Connect was completed with a resounding success.

 

Chapter 13: This is not an automobile advertisement

Chapter Text

Friday, the day usually regarded as the best in work week, followed. The sky got filled with gray clouds again, dimming everything below. Chiaki was set to go to her school once again, preparing everything she needed. That also meant video games as well, because she just couldn't live without them.

On her way to school, she stopped right before an intersection, observing all sorts of cars that drove right in front of her. Vehicles that were parallel to her also had to wait in order to let others pass. She wondered where were they all going. However, there was one driver that had no patience to wait, as he drove down while passing through stationary cars while being over the speed limit as much as possible.

The aforementioned driver was on a yellow moped and the said driver was, in fact, a golden octopus wearing sunglasses.

"I like your cut, noob." taunted Herman before he somehow smacked back of her head as he made a turn left. The smack had so much force it made her fall down right on the road, causing her face to meet the rough surface of asphalt. Due to Herman overspeeding as much as possible, the driver of a Toyota smashed on the brakes before he smacked on the horn. Entire column behind the Toyota driver came to a halt, with some cars bumping into each other. Hadn't it been for the driver reacting in time, Chiaki could have been run over quickly.

"What the fuck, asshole?! You nearly caused an accident!" ranted random Toyota driver while looking back, but Herman was too far for his words to have an effect on him. Before he would continue his journey to his job, he stepped out of the car and approached the girl on the road. She was still lying on it, but she was attempting to stand up. Her right cheek had few scratches on them, with some causing minor bleeding.

"Hey, you okay there?" asked random Toyota driver, offering her a hand to hold on. With his help, Chiaki managed to stand up.

"Wha….what just happened?" quietly muttered Chiaki, utterly confused at what happened to her. She looked around, only to realize that she was in front of a column of automobiles.

"I think some drunkard on a motorcycle just smacked you. Didn't know smacks could be so powerful that would send a person flying." random Toyota driver attempted to elaborate as he gave her a spare tissue to cover her scratches on cheeks.

"...huh?" Chiaki tilted her head, witnessing a glimpse of a speeding moped. However, not only did the moped disappear within her sight in a turn, she failed to identify the driver of it. "Excuse me, but have you seen the driver of it?"

"Uh, nope. All I saw was a speeding bike." answered random Toyota driver before he went inside his car, trying to not waste much time since an entire column of cars with frustrated drivers was just behind him.

"Ah, I see. Thanks anyway." thanked Chiaki before she departed from the scene, freeing the column of waiting.

"You're welcome, but stay safe." cautioned random Toyota driver, continuing to drive to his job after the road has fully cleared of any obstacles.

"Seriously though, was that just my imagination or….?" thought Chiaki to herself during her daily journey to school, pressing the tissue on her cheek to minimize bleeding. It was a thought that just refused to go away.

After quite a lot of time walking around, she arrived to Hope's Peak academy. As soon as she opened doors of the entrance, Chiaki entered the halls. However, unlike how it usually was, the silence of halls was disrupted by various somewhat loud conversations between a mechanic, rockstar and a rapper. Their topic at that moment was something all teenage boys (and sometimes girls) loved to talk about: girls.

"Say, Zapatta, who do you think is the hottest chick in our class?" asked Kazuichi, wondering about the opinion of a rockstar friend regarding many pretty girls (and Hiyoko) in his class.

"Not gonna lie, Ibuki's ass is p-h-a-t!" admitted Zapatta, remembering that one time when he saw her bend over to look for instruments.

"Oooh, Ibuki! She's quite good, yes, but personally, I'm more fan of Miss Sonia!" Kazuichi's eyes started sparkling when he mentioned the name of his princess classmate.

"Sonia? The princess one?" wondered Zapatta.

"Hell yeah, dude!" cheered Kazuichi, pumping his fists in the process.

"Ah yes, she's quite pretty as well." nodded Zapatta as his vision of Sonia became clearer. As they gushed about Sonia Nevermind, Suifta raised her eyebrow, wondering if they actually knew her.

"...and I'm pretty sure she was a sailor before." added Suifta in a rather concerned tone as she scratched her head.

"What do you mean, Suifta? I'm pretty sure Sonia is very pure, I mean just look at her!" Kazuichi immediately went to defend her, despite the aforementioned princess chilling in the class without a worry.

"For someone like a princess, she said some words I never thought during that time we had, uh, a laboratory experiment." Suifta explained her point towards them, which caused an increase of interest in both Zapatta and Kazuichi. Even though the latter has already heard her swear, he wanted to know even more.

"Say, what kind of words did she use?!" asked Zapatta.

"You know, like f-" just when Suifta was about to drop that word, their conversation was interrupted by Chiaki bumping into Kazuichi out of a sudden.

"Hey, watch where you are-" warned Kazuichi out of an instinct after he flinched, but he cooled down once he recognized the person who bumped into him. "Oh hey Nanami!"

However, Chiaki herself failed to notice that three people were in front of her, standing awkwardly and lost in her thought.

"Nanamers! Look in front of you!" Zapatta called out for her. Perhaps it was due to his loudness, but it did manage to get her attention.

"Sorry about that." quietly apologized Chiaki.

"Hey, wassu-" casually greeted Kazuichi before he noticed that she was pressing a slightly blood stained tissue on her cheek. All three of them were rather surprised to see the gamer girl in such state, even though it wasn't really severe. "why...are you covering your face, if I may ask?"

"Oh...I just...tripped over when I was going to the school, but nothing much to worry. I'm fine." explained Chiaki while deliberately not mentioning that she was nearly in a car accident. She didn't want to make them worry, not that she thought she was worth of worry.

"I mean, it could have been worse, but take care of yourself, girl." suggested Suifta as she pointed at her.

"What are you up to?" wondered Chiaki, switching topics in order to make them less worry about her.

"Not much, except that projector broke in Zapatta and Suifta's class...again! I'm starting to think you guys need a new one." answered Kazuichi. While didn't mind repairing at all, it was getting ridiculous for him that their projector broke weekly.

"To be fair, the average lifespan of our projector is like five days. Part of it cuz technical issues, part of it cuz its Class 69." commented Suifta, hinting at what their days are at Class 69.

"I'm just gonna go to my class now. I'm not exactly sure of the time now...I think, but I hope you all have fun." wished Chiaki before she tried to go to her class, only to stop because she saw Zapatta and Suifta wincing at her remark. It caused her to worry a bit, due her not getting their social cues. "Is there….something wrong?"

"The distance between word "fun" and Class 69 is measured in light years, Nanamers." elaborated Zapatta in a rather genuinely disdainful way, lacking energy that he usually had. Suifta just quietly nodded in response.

"C'mon, it wasn't that bad last time." Kazuichi attempted to reassure, but it was clear that he didn't have a full picture of their class.

"Yes, but that's because majority of class was not there. Now, we have full package, my friend." debated Zapatta while also warning him about his classmates and their alleged shenanigans.

"I mean, if you give them a chance, you could have fun." Chiaki tried to convince them that maybe their classmates weren't really bad after all. It left both Zapatta and Suifta dumbfounded and had it been a much more abrasive person, they would have called her out harshly. But Chiaki, just like plenty of individuals in Class 77-B and Class 78th, was on their "pretty alright" list, so they took some time to think about how to express their opinion without tearing her apart.

"Sorry to say this, but you have way too high expectations of people, Nanam." said Suifta to her as softly as she could, but it already caused her to doubt herself, signified by her usually innocent smile turning downwards. Slight feeling of guilt kicked in Zapatta and Suifta when they saw her like that, so they decided within their minds that they'll make up something good for her.

"...Anyway, let me check something." murmured Chiaki, pulling out a Nintendo DS Lite to check time. Zapatta and Suifta found her usage of a handheld to be rather odd, since a phone would do just fine, if not even better. After checking the clock, it appeared that Chiaki was in a bit of a pickle: she was being late! "S-sorry guys, I have to go."

"See ya!" the gang of a mechanic, rockstar and rapper gave her finger guns to cheer on her as she dashed off as quickly as she could to her class. She couldn't afford to disappoint either Miss Yukizome or her classmates. Not that they would be disappointed over such small thing, though.

Meanwhile, a bit far away from Hope's Peak academy, Herman was driving down on streets of the city with his Vespa 946 moped, disobeying every single speed limit as much as he could. His Vespa was specifically modified with a stronger engine, so it could go even faster, meaning more speed limits to break.

"Hmmm, what is on my list today?" wondered Herman as he pulled out a small piece of paper that looked like your average shopping list, but that was his master plan for Friday. Only one thing was written on it:

"Obtain car!"

"Oh, that do be very nice! I've been looking forward to this!" Herman pumped his arm like a fist as he continued his constantly law breaking journey to the nearest automobile shop in the city, overtaking every single car in the process.

As he went forth, he suddenly encountered the worst nighmare of any driver, especially for tourists: a traffic jam. Hundreds of cars were stacked up in multiple parallel lines, each of them making only marginal movements per long periods of time. However, Herman and his Vespa were exempt of the jam, as they could maneuver around cars like no tomorrow. It gave him a feeling of some arbitrary pride, so to speak. An idea popped in his head as he was traversing through the jungle of automobiles.

"Ah, I see a legendary event in front of my eyes that is often referred as "Ingorgo stradale". I think I know what this means, ohohoho!" boasted Herman before he flipped a specially dedicated switch on the handlebar of Vespa. Suddenly, loud music, or rather sheer concentrated bass and treble in rawest form, started to blast through his so called bass boosters. The distorted song was about a certain dude boasting about his Lamborghini, though lyrics were barely comprehensible at that point. Windows of cars around him started to shake from resonance, with some cars even activating their security systems.

"What the hell is this?!" seethed random Nissan driver as his car went haywire due to bass. Herman had a laugh as the chaos in the jam. One of the drivers managed to spot the source of such audial assault and opened

"Hey, bastard! Stop playing that crap right now or I'm gonna beat your ass!" threatened a random Honda Civic driver that suspiciously looked like a yakuza member, but his threat landed on wrong ears.

"Ok, got it!" chuckled Herman before he increased the volume of his bass boosters. At that point, windows of older cars started breaking from sheer resonance.

"OH, YOU ABSOLUTE-" shouted a random Honda Civic driver before his voice was drowned in the audio based sea of furious car horns. The octopus on his Vespa just casually strolled down, taking great joy hearing the symphony of frustrated drivers.

"Hahaha, putting on bass boosters on my Vespa is the greatest thing! Some say too swag even!" boasted Herman, triumphantly continuing his journey to get a car amid the raging drivers.

After he escaped the traffic jam, he put an end to bass boosted harrassment by turning off his contraption. Soon, he also found an isolated car shop near the bay area of the city. The entrance itself was just a giant window with doors on it, revealing all sorts of cars that were on sale that day. From Subaru's to Toyota's, the shop had a quite a nice number of them. The moment he reached the desired destination, he parked his moped right in front of the entrance. He took of his glasses before he looked at the shop with delight.

"Here I am, as intended! Now, lets see what do they offer here." bombastically thought Herman to himself before he opened transparent doors, waving at the young salesman with his tentacle arm. "Hello there!"

"Oh, hello! Quite an unusual, but a welcome customer! May I help you?" approached young car salesman with a polite tone in his voice, trying to make Herman feel like he was at home. Not that he needed it, because just seeing cars was enough to intice feeling of joy in him.

"I am looking for some cars, yes." confirmed Herman, crossing his arms to look like a boss. The young salesman took him to the red sleek looking car with a spoiler on its behind.

"Would you perhaps be interested in Toyota Supra-" car salesman attempted to promote him a Supra, but there was one thing that bothered Herman about the car: the origin of the brand.

"It's japanese, so nah." Herman shook his head along with his entire body.

"Is there….anything wrong with it being japanese?" asked car salesman, being rather off put by marine based customer's disapproval.

"You see, japanese cars are basic bitches. They are not offensively bad, but they have no character. No gusto, it's just like vanilla." explained Herman while making gestures to prove his point, one of them being Spaghettata gesture out of all things. Young car salesman stood dumbfounded, trying to fumble some words out of his mouth after witnessing an explanation that he would have never thought he would have ever heard in his life.

"I...see. Perhaps you are more fan of german ca-" car salesman attempted to divert the topic to something more famously considered to be either efficient or overengineered, trying to take him to the Volkswagen Polo that was on sale that day.

"German cars are for pendantic snobs. Don't get me started on BMW drivers." scoffed Herman as he glared at Polo. At that point, the young car salesman was just lost on how to even please that octopus.

"Well...what kind of cars do you like?" piqued car salesman, leaving him to answer as he wished.

"Here, take a look, my friend." Herman suddenly pulled out another piece of paper, which seemed to be another list. Unlike the one that he used as a daily plan, that had organized content such as:

"Abarth,

Alfa Romeo,

Ferrari,

Fiat,

Lamborghini,

Lancia,

Maserati,

Pagani."

"Ferrari? Consider yourself lucky, because we just have one in stock!" car salesman scratched his chin as he raised his eyebrow. At the very least, he finally knew how to make Herman satisfied with his choice.

"Anything else though?" wondered Herman, just in case.

"Nothing else, sadly." car salesman shook his head before both of them went towards the corner, where Herman could see what he wanted.

The sole Ferarri reigned in the corner. It was not just any Ferrari, but a white stylish Ferrari FF, one of brand's cars that got four seats and four wheel drive instead of just usual two seats. Among other cars, it stood out like a glamorous celebrity among the ordinary folk.

"Oh….Oooooh…..Ooooooooooooooooooooooooh!" Herman rubbed his face in satisfaction the moment his eyes laid upon the shiny Ferrari. It was a total bliss or in his words...

"Ok, that's sex. It's just like looking at a supermodel with a fat ass!"

"That's...an interesting way to show approval, but I'm glad you do." although completely bamboozled by his customer, car salesman sighed in relief that he finally managed to give an option to the ever demanding octopus.

However, that feeling of relief vanished when Herman said one simple request:

"I want it free of charge."

"H-ha-haha, that's a funny joke, but it costs around 38085088,85 yen." clarified car salesman, taking Herman's request quite lightly.

"Did you think I was joking?" squinted Herman as he pointed at him. The tone of his voice changed completely, going from an usually bombastic to rather composed, but cold. "Let me say again: free of charge."

"Y-you are being ridiculous! I can't just handle over a car for free, especially something like that!" protested car salesman.

"Hand over the keys now." demanded Herman as a final warning, making an inviting gesture just to give him the object he desperately wanted.

"What, are you threatening me? I'll call the poli-" despite the warning, young car salesman insisted on protesting, even bringing the phone out of his pocket.

"I see where this is going, so…" interrupted Herman before whistled, sealing the fate of car salesman. His opponent was confused by the meaning of him whistling

It didn't take long for five tuxedo dressed men to break through the entire entrance with their back flips, landing right in front of shattered pieces. All five of them faced towards the direction of Herman and the car salesman, looking at them with grins that would make some people run for their lives.

"Eyy, my boy! Who's gonna get it this time?" one of punkster already began cracking his knuckles at the sight of car salesman. Other punksters followed him as well, cracking their knuckles in the process.

"W-wha….w-wha….WHAAAAAAAAAAA!" car salesman's eyes widened as he ran out of his car shop as quickly as he could. The moment he fully disappeared from the shop, all of punksters focused their attention toward Herman and Ferrari. The octopus jumped on the car before he turned towards his henchmen.

"Well, the catch is ours, punksters!" boasted Herman, raising his arm like a fist. In response, punksters pumped their fists while they went "YEAH!".

"Aw man, I didn't even throw a punch." lamented the punkster that cracked his fists first.

"Next time, but now we gotta find the keys!" reminded Herman as all of them started looking through the entire shop to find keys meant for Ferrari. Punksters looked around the place while Herman checked others rooms of the shop as well.

As the time went on, keys were yet to be found. Punksters looked every corner of the building, but not a single trace of their target was found at that moment.

"Seriously, where are they?" wondered one of the punksters while looking inside Volkswagen Polo. One has to wonder what would keys for a Ferrari be doing inside a mere Volkswagen. Suddenly, Herman dropped from the ceiling and landed right in front of them.

"Gottem!" Herman raised his arm to show them keys with a horse logo. Recognizing that logo, Herman and punksters knew that they have got what they wanted.

"Ayy, nice one!" cheered punksters around him before four of punksters followed Herman to the car. The golden octopus opened the door of sleek Ferrari FF and lowered the front seat in order to give two of the punksters a place to sit inside.

"I have a question, Herman my boy." asked one punkster that opted to wait instead of immediately going to Ferrari FF.

"Yeah?" Herman turned towards him with intrigue.

"What about your moped?" wondered punkster as he pointed at Vespa in front of the entrance.

"One of ya bois can take it for a bit. I wanna get that juicy Ferrari action now!" Herman gave him an answer along with keys for his moped as the sole punkster left the shop. Then he sat on the moped, inserted keys inside and started it up. Punkster on a moped waited for his colleagues to start up their own machine while Herman invited his henchmen to enter the car. "Get in, bambinos!"

After all punksters went inside Ferrari, Herman put the front seat back to its original position and then jumped on it.

"Ooooooh yeaaaah, baby!" whooped Herman when he placed his arms around the steering wheel. Before he started, he told his colleagues about the forecoming plan: "Alright my boys, here's our plan. We have to act as not sus as possible or else we are gonna get busted! Then, we are gonna speed it up back to our hideout and flex on everyone!"

"Ayy, can't wait!" said one of punksters as he grinned.

"Revv up those engines, cause its gonna get hot!" suggested other punkster, to which Herman responded with turning on Ferrari FF once and for all. The lights on the glamorous car turned on as the engine itself revved up. Once it was done warming up, the car's engine roared like a beast. Compared to other measly cars in the shop, the sports car influence in FF was loud and clear.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOH, magnificent!" Herman and his gang felt goosebumps when they heard the roaring sound of Ferrari FF. "Here we go, my bois!"

Unlike how he has done drives usually, Herman decided to take a polar opposite approach to getting out of the shop: drive it with the astonishing speeds of a snail. By slowly but carefully maneuvering around the shop, Herman and his colleagues managed to get out of a shop. Punkster on a moped escorted them as the main driver of a luxurious four seater stepped on the gas, starting to gain the speed they desired so much. Thus, they drove down the street, surrounding the area with roars of a Ferrari.

Meanwhile, back at Hope's Peak, both Class 77-B and Class 78th had lunch time. It was an average lunch time of the day, with each individual being with their friend group or by themselves. Chiaki was around her usual group, which consisted of Hajime, Chihiro and Ibuki. However, instead of eating her sandwich, she was motionlessly staring at the ceiling, lost in thought once again. Her behaviour raised some concerns around her group as they wondered what was up with her.

"Nanami is the world of "Staring at ceiling" again!" pointed out Ibuki.

"Earth to Nanani, report your status." Hajime waved his hand in front of her eyes, but to no avail. Chiaki was still staring upwards. "Darn, it didn't work. Gotta change it to something more effective."

"Wait, I know!" Hajime quickly got an idea about how to get her attention and he didn't take time to use it to her. "Hey, Chiaki, have you heard about rumored Starblade revival? I've read about it online that it's gonna have a completely different gameplay style than ones before."

As if he turned on a lightbulb, Chiaki turned her head towards him in an instant. It also activated her "fangirl" mode.

"Heh, I knew it, but before that, we wanna know if there's been anything bothering you. You've been more quiet than usual today." said Hajime to her, causing her "fangirl" mode to tone down considerably. It took a while to get a response out of her again because she was formulating sentences inside her brain.

"Uh...there's been something on my mind." admitted Chiaki after some time of thinking.

"Yeah?" Hajime leaned towards her a bit, judging from how quiet she spoke her words.

"It would be best to discuss it with them, when we, like, gather around after school." suggested Chiaki in a case anyone would hear them. At first, Hajime didn't exactly understood why, but then he got the idea. It was probably related to Daft Capo.

"Hmmm, if its relevant to our cause, then yeah, it would be better to talk about it later." said Hajime while remaining duo of a musician and programmer wondered what Chiaki meant.

"Probably….anyway, about Starblade…" Chiaki switched the topic as her "fangirl" mode got activated again, continuining into a happy tangent about a certain rail shooter arcade game. Hajime sometimes got a bit overwhelmed when listening to her, but he, along with Ibuki and Chihiro, enjoyed it none than less. It seemed like everyone was just minding their own business, not being bothered by eccentricness of each other.

But that was not the case. Kyoko, who kept herself distanced from others, overheard their conversation

"Them? What are they on about?" wondered Kyoko as he suspicion about them raised further. It was already odd for her that both Chiaki and Peko planted some kind of contraptions in the flower garden, then they talked about meeting some kind of group after the school. Although she had plans for today, Kyoko has decided to interrogate one of them next day.

At the other end of the city again, Herman and his gang were deprived of overspeeding joy, instead being caught in a slow vehicular hell that went by a simple name of "traffic jam".

"Oh, for fucks sake, it's Ingorgo stradale here as well!" cursed Herman, deprived of his usual bombastic energy, instead being filled with lethargic frustration that every European tourist channeled every time they tried to cross a border.

"Told ya to take the other road." warned the punkster that sat next to him.

"If there's a silver lining in this, at least our chances of being sus have decreased." other punkster in the back attempted to reassure the gang that was trapped amid the sea of stationary automobiles.

"Not being sus is not worth it if you are moving one centimeter PER HOUR!" countered Herman while making frustrated gestures with his arms. His argument was not even a hyperbole, because they have only moved one centimeter in the last hour and a half. "And even then that's not guaranteed."

"You know, you should have went with your moped." said the other punkster, who was just chilling in the back.

"But Ferrari!" exclaimed Herman, not letting a traffic jam stopping his eternal love for all cars italiano. Suddenly, they heard

"Speaking of moped, look at that boi go!" punkster next to Herman pointed at the sole punkster, who was speeding through the traffic jam on his moped while spotting the most excerment-eating grin that has ever graced planet Earth. As soon as he appeared, he soonly disappeared from their sight.

"Ah, the joy of being narrow. You don't have to deal with this." lamented Herman, remembering how did the early hours of his day go. Then he looked out of the window and saw that some cars were moving forward with significant distance. However, the car right in front of him was not moving at all for reasons only known to its driver.

"Good lord, the guy in front of you has already moved, asshole!" fumed Herman, smashing his squishy arms on steering wheel. The horn emitted by Ferrari was enough for the driver in front of it to react and speed up. Herman felt some semblance of relief as he stepped on the gas and rolled forward. "Finally, we are-"

That feeling of relief was soon shot down when a car on his right side tried to not only overtake him in a traffic jam, but also shove itself right in the line. Worst of all, it was a BMW.

"Oh fuck! BMW driver!" cautioned punksters at the sight of the intrusive German car. The traffic jam already caused Herman's anger nervers to be tickled, but that was the straw that broke the camel's back.

"NON TE NE ANDRAI VIA CON QUESTO, STRONZO!" roared Herman before he opened the windows of Ferrari and jumped out of it. The punkster next to him took care of the driver's seat in the time when Herman sneaked to the BMW. Once he managed to climb on it, he looked through the window to see the driver. Realizing that the window was an obstacle he couldn't just remove it with his tentacle arm, he brought up a Swiss army knife. Instead of using any blades on it, he broke the window with just bluntly smacking the closed Swiss army knife on it. The driver was startled by the sudden break-in, but by that time, Herman jumped in, shaking like a volcano that was about to erupt.

"FANCULO TE E IL TUO BMW!" shouted Herman at the driver before he began smacking him with his arm to the point of unconsciousness. After the BMW driver was knocked out, Herman took over control of BMW, stepped on the gas pedal and realigned the automobile back to its original position. After everything was set and done, Herman jumped out of the window and sneaked back inside Ferrari FF. He exchanged seats with punkster, maintaining the driving control of Ferrari once again.

"Alright, I'm back. Back to this shit." grumbled Herman, placing his grip on the steering wheel once again.

"Say, mind if we play some jams to make time pass quicker?" suggested the front seat punkster as he pointed at the screen that displayed navigation, time and many more.

"Oh, good idea! Let me set this boye up!" approved Herman before he pulled out his phone and turned on the bluetooth connection. Once the phone and automobile's device were linked, he looked for a song through internet. Some time of searching concluded with a choice of Herb Albert's Spanish flea.

"...Really, dude? Spanish flea, out of all things?" punkster, like his colleagues around him, raised their eyebrows in bafflement.

"Yes, it's for ten hours." added Herman.

"But I want something with beats!" complained punkster in the back, since he thought such jovial music wouldn't fit their tastes.

"This is the only music that fits being trapped in Ingorgo stradale. Get used to it, my boys." defeatedly clarified Herman.

"Hoo boy, this is gonna ring in my ears for a week." punkster rolled his eyes as they all waited amid the traffic jam, moving at the sluggish pace.

Hours have passed and both Class 77-B and Class 78th had their day finished at Hope's Peak. However, it was not all over yet for Fellowship of Darkness, who went towards their hideout . No new members were recruited that day. As everything was set, both human and bird members of the covert group were in the middle of their discussion.

"Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, have you found anything about that dreaded Kraken of the Land?" asked Gundham about activites of their adversary, crossing his arms for bonus intimidation points.

"No joy, if we are talking about Herman and Daft Capo. About you guys, though-" responded Skipper while trying to tell them all sorts of things they found out about things students have done. Some better left unknown.

"Importance of our actions at this temple of education is nowhere near relevant as what our adversary is doing!" interrupted Gundham, letting them to filter out information that they needed at their end.

"...Right, so yeah. Not much. Anything on your end?" concluded Skipper as he gave them an opportunity to report. It was an enough of a cue that Chiaki managed to reveal what thought was predominant in her mind for the rest of the day.

"Well, I did see….something...odd." Chiaki quietly spoke as she raised her hand. Her speaking up immediately caught attention of her friend group and penguins together. Others were curious about what would she say as well, perhaps it could be quite necessary for their defense against Daft Capo.

"Speak, Marshmallow Face!" ordered Skipper as he pointed his flipper at her.

"In the morning I saw….." began Chiaki, but she suddenly faltered, ceasing to talk as well. She stared at the ceiling once again, trying to formulate her words. Others were on the edge about what she would she say.

"Saw what?" demandingly asked Skipper, breaking a rather awkward period of silence in the process.

"Is she playing hangman's in her head or what?" whispered Kowalski to Skipper as he leaned towards him.

"...a moped, I think. It was yellow and kinda fast." Chiaki finally uttered what she wanted to say just before Skipper would make a comment about her. Although Hope's Peak students were confused, just mentioning any random vehicle in the context of Daft Capo was enough to invoke a sense of familiarity among penguins. Skipper, Kowalski and Rico gave her a serious look, confirming that there's relevance in her observation. Meanwhile, Private had a dopey face on him, like almost all the time.

"Two questions...One, who was the driver and two, what brand was it?" Skipper fired two questions in an immediate fashion.

"Uh, I do remember the driver being rather of short stature. Other than that….sorry, I don't remember too much." answered Chiaki.

"Wait, how is brand relevant to finding out if a vehicle belongs to them?" asked Makoto, not quite sure about how automobile brands connect to Daft Capo. Others didn't, but one of them did eventually figure it out. The individual in question was quite unexpected.

"Oh oh oh! Ibuki thinks that Ibuki gets it! We have established that they're car enthusiasts, right?" Ibuki waved with her hand, trying to get everyone's attention.

"Yeah...that's what we established." reluctantly confirmed Hajime.

"So they're like more knowledgeable about cars and they just look for brands that they enjoy, like that Volvo!"explained Ibuki before she put her arms around her waist and let out a hearty laugh. At some point, one could imagine Pinocchio's nose on her face in that pose. "Good job, Ibuki's braincells! You came up with something good!"

"You're not exactly on the wrong track, Horned Musician, but I think you are underestimating them regarding that." confirmed Skipper before he raised another point regarding connections between Daft Capo and automobiles.

"Oh, they're more than just car enthusiasts?" wondered Ibuki, leaning towards them.

"They're automobile FANATICS!" revealed Skipper in a dramatic fashion, but all he did was confuse them over such dramatization of something as mundane as taste in vehicles. None of the Hope's peak gang could come up with an appropriate response as they all stared at each other.

"...Explain." requested Nekomaru as he raised his finger.

"Alright, hear me out: these boys just look for and drive only one thing and that is European cars! Nothing else! I remember back in Florida, they took all European cars in the shop!" elaborated Skipper about certain quirks about the opposing mafia. "Sole exception for them seems to be commie cars, which is like...the only thing I agree with them."

"Does that mean it would be easier for us to know what cars belong to Daft Capo?" queried Hajime.

"….Yeah, actually. That's one way to sniff them out." confirmed Skipper without even realizing it initially.

"Do you have a list of all brands that Daft Capo could use?" asked Chiaki, tilting her head.

"Kowalski, the list!" ordered Skipper. Without hesitation, Kowalski brought up an entire catalogue of every European car manufactorer and threw it on the table, so that Hope's Peak students could look at it.

The thing was that every single European car manufactorer was on the list, including defunct ones. It was at that moment when everyone in the meeting realized they had a lot of work to do.

"That's….uhm...a lot of them." gulped Chihiro at the sight of so many companies listed.

"Eh, don't worry about it. Most prominent ones are highlighted." Skipper pointed out that some of the most prominent ones, such as Lamborghini and Fiat, were highlighted by red markers. Then he faced towards them with a serious glare and gave out an order: "Now, boys and girls, I have a request for you: Keep an eye on the moped."

As their meeting went by, Herman and his Daft Capo colleagues were still stuck in a traffic jam. There seemed to be hope for them in the form of jam itself getting smaller as they went forth, but there was only one obstacle left for them: an intersection. They were just two cars away from freedom of the jam. However, Herman and punksters waited for quite some time in a same spot.

"Herman, can you check what's in front?" requested punkster. The golden octopus driver looked out of the window, only to see something that truly shocked him to the core. Something he thought it was only possible in Europe.

"….Oh shit." blurted Herman with his irises shrinking at the sight of what he saw. "The worst possible thing to be in front of a crossroad."

"What?" wondered punkster about what he was dramatizing all about. In Herman's eyes, he saw the absolute most frightening, most spine chilling thing he could see. People around the world feared such calamity to an unbelievable degree. No one should have ever partake in such disaster. It was...

"….a Peugeot driver…"

"AW FUCK!" shouted punksters in forecoming irritation, at that moment knowing that the entire reason they were still waiting in the line was because of a some guy in a Peugeot 206 being stuck right in the middle of the crossroad. Worst thing was no one was in front of that guy. Only choice they had is to wait.

"Look at that, entire road is empty right in front of him. Why is he hesitating?" wondered punkster in the front seat as all of them observed the Peugeot 206 driver with intensity.

"I ask the same, homie, why is he just-" punkster behind him wanted to comment, but he was soon interrupted by a Peugeout driver going reverse, nearly hitting the closest car in the process.

"MOFO'S GOING REVERSE, HOLY SHIT!" everyone in Ferrari raged the moment when they saw him, with Herman smashing the steering out of instinct, causing a car horn to go nuts.

"The hell are you beeping for, asshole?!" yelled driver in front of Ferrari as he turned back to them.

"Not at you, it's the guy on the crossroad." clarified Herman as he pointed at the Peugeot menace.

"Oh, right." driver in front turned back before he smacked his own steering wheel, beeping at the Peugeot instead, but that did little to make him move.

"How many times has the word "asshole" been said today?" asked punkster in the back out of a sudden.

"Three. Four, if you count this one." casually answered Herman, making a gesture with his arms to put emphasis on his point.

"Only four? Funny, it's usually more." commented punkster.

After some of waiting, it seemed like Peugeot driver was finally going forward, much to everyone's relief. At that point, Herman seemed like he was sleep deprived for two weeks, but that was just in one traffic jam. To put salt to the wound, Spanish flea was still playing in the car.

"Finally, he's getting somewhere." sighed punkster, taking a comfortable position in his seat as a sign of relaxation.

However, their expectations were subverted, as Peugeot driver went reverse again.

"….and he's going reverse again." defeatedly deadpanned punkster. Other punksters shared his sentiment. Herman, on other hand, had an entirely different one.

"GLI SPINGERÒ UN INTERO PEUGEOUT NEL CULO!." snapped Herman out of a sudden before he leaped out of a car. With some help of his color changing skin, Herman sneaked underneath two cars in front of their Ferrari and arrived to the scene. At one instance, Peugeot driver suddenly moved, nearly running over Herman by accident in the process.

"Maniaco!" thought Herman to himself before he managed to jump on the door of troublesome car and stuck to it with help of suction cups. Upon noticing that the buffoonish driver left car's window opened, he jumped in as quickly as he could and he didn't waste a single millisecond smacking the living hell out of the Peugeot driver. Once Peugeot driver received same fate as the previous BMW driver, he took over the control of the French car and drove it to the nearest parking space as quickly as he could. Once he found a good place to park, he turned off the engine and looked at his own arms with disgust.

"Ugh..." groaned Herman before he jumped out of a parked Peugeot, looking for a place to wash his tentacles. He quickly found a small restaurant that had bathrooms. Once he sneaked in, he jumped on the sink and washed his arms in a quick manner. After he was satisfied with cleaning, he dashed to his Ferrari.

"I'm back, bois." Herman greeted upon returning, quickly occupying the spot

"Eyy, where ya been for so long?" welcomed punkster with a question.

"Had to wash my arms to cleanse them from the filth of Peugeout." begrudingly elaborated Herman before he looked back and saw that the only ones that were still causing the traffic jam was them. He felt pride and joy when he saw no one in front of him. His energy returned as well. "Ingorgo stradale is no more, boys! You know what this means!"

Along with him turning off Spanish flea, he quickly drove away from intersection, feeling freedom from the stationary vehiclar hell once and for all.

"The evil of Spanish flea is gone! Thank you and damn that song for eternity!" blessed punkster as they started driving at the speeds appropriate for a car and not for a snail.

Herman and punksters put on their sunglasses to look even more pompous than they already were.

"Sunglasses: on!"

Then, Herman put on some ultra retro techno synthwave music he found on internet by connecting it to car's device again.

"Synthwave: popped in!"

Herman prepared one of his tentacles on the gas pedal, prepared to slam it anytime he wanted.

"Chance of "accidental" manslaughter: very high!"

All of them grinned with delight.

"Yep, it's that time….time for SPEED!"

"Oh, this is gonna be lit!" cheered punksters when Herman slammed on the gas pedal with his tentacle that he used it as a leg. Ferrari FF's engine roared like a lion as it rapidly accelerated to speeds deemed acceptable by its driver. They were finally overspeeding in the city, now with extra style.

After their meeting with penguin advisors was over, Hope's Peak students went to their homes. However, a gang that consisted of Chiaki, Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro didn't want to depart from each other. Instead, they decided to go together until it would be necessary for them to go their ways.

"Phew, this week was quite something, wasn't it?" Hajime sighed in relief, welcoming the fact that they could have some time to take a rest after such week.

"There were a lot of fun moments….and some not so much. But overall, I think it was pretty good overall." Chiaki summarized her thoughts on the topic. She had distinct fond memories of certain events, such as their meeting with a certain scientist girl.

"But now comes the sweet release of weekend! Wahooooo!" Ibuki happily hopped around. Just the way Ibuki would.

"It's nice to have some time to relax." smiled Chihiro as all of them continued their path together.

They stopped at the road crossing and looked both left and right to see if any cars were approaching. After looking at each side three times, they haven't spotted a single car coming. However, they haven't moved at all, since they had a tiny conversation.

"Hey….um….Are you guys free for this weekend?" quietly asked Chiaki after building up some courage to say it.

"I don't have much work, so yeah. I'm free for this weekend." nodded Chihiro.

"Ibuki's always free! Free like a bird!" giggled Ibuki as she imitated a bird flying.

"Well, I don't have much to do during weekend either, so I guess I'm free." confirmed Hajime.

"That's good to hear." smiled Chiaki as all of them were ready to cross the road. "Perhaps we could-"

Suddenly, just when they placed their feet on the crossing, a white roaring blur passed right in front of them, nearly running over all of them in the process. All of them jumped back from the sheer shock as they stared forward with shrunken irises and gaping mouths. Ibuki's hair rose up like a cat before a fight as she completely froze in a gasp. Chihiro's hair was similar in terms of that. Out of an instinct, Chiaki held on to Hajime for protection.

"….what the hell was that?!" exclaimed Hajime after witnessing the event right in front of his eyes. The shock didn't go away at all, with them standing in the same spot for some time.

The white roaring blur in question was an overspeeding Ferrari FF. Herman and punksters inside aggressively bobbed their heads while listening to synthwave.

"Oh, fuck! I missed out the noob!" noticed Herman after he glanced at side-view mirror, spotting Chiaki and her friends standing there. He really wanted to smack Chiaki once again, just for his own amusement.

"Say, who are those three along with that weak ass hoe? I recall that you've mentioned the horned one, but not much." asked punkster in the front seat with a raised eyebrow.

"You see, noob is accompanied with antenna, canned food apparently and…..uh...Windows Vista. Clowns, all of them, if I say so, but noob is the biggest embarrassment among them." elaborated Herman while making Hope's Peak gang seem as pathetic as possible.

"What gives? Sure, she looks like a clown, but biggest embarrassment out of them all? Doesn't that bastard chef deserve that title?" piqued punkster in the back, remembering the tale Herman told about Teruteru and his pasta sauce.

"Ok, get this. You know what was she saying when the "Hermaning the I forgot to count" arrived? Herman began elaborating his opinion on the gamer girl herself, making gestures with his tentacles as well.

"Let me guess..."I'll stop you, evil Herman! You bad!" or something like that?" guessed punkster in the front, crossing his arms to increase his pride.

"Exactly, almost word to word." Herman confirmed his guess with an "OK" gesture. He somehow managed to do it without fingers.

Everyone in the car bursted into foul laughter, with one of punksters in the back nearly rolling on the floor of Ferrari.

"Oh, that's just rich!" scoffed punkster in the back.

"...Why does every hero wannabe always say stuff like that? What are they trying to accomplish?" winced punkster in the front after his laughing fit went away. "God, this is giving me Las Vegas flashbacks...with that sponge and starfish. "

"Compensation." Herman blurted out almost immediately.

"...Whaddaya mean?" punkster in the front raised his eyebrows.

"Usually, when they're not self pitying or wanking, acts that are NOT mutually exclusive, failures at life often try to be like "Imma save everyone! Imma help everyone!" because they desperately try to seek validation in people….Sad! Hahahaha!" elaborated Herman before his elaboration turned into boasting about himself and the organization. "But folk like us need no useless platitudes! There is no "Can I?", but only "I WILL!". If we want something, we will take it! We are so based that even most prideful rappers bow down to us!"

"Fuck yeah, bruv!" cheered punksters, pumping their fists in complete synchronization.

"We are Daft Capo and we are driving down a Ferarri in Japan while blasting synthwave! Nothing compares to us!" boasted Herman once again as their journey continued to break every single speed limit in the city possible.

Located far away from Hope's Peak, but still in the same city (exact location REDACTED), there was a shoddy looking port warehouse. The entrance of it was guarded by a sole guard dressed in black, who also wore sunglasses and had a goatee. From the outside, there was nothing special about the warehouse. There were only containers stored in it, which is not exactly a rarity among all warehouses. The lighting was provided by windows above, bringing bare minimum of light inside.

However, who occupied it, was an entirely different story.

Men and women, dressed in white shining tuxedos, occupied the crusty looking storage facility. It seemed like punksters brought themselves two things in the warehouse: a jumbotron, which was turned off at that time, and a DJ mixer.

"Hey, when be Big G dropping his full mixtape?" asked punkster next to the DJ mixer

"Next tuesday. Apparently critics have been giving it eleven out of tens. Pretty crazy, even for Big G." punkster by the name of Rando, who occupied the spot of a DJ in the house. Allegedly, he was so standard by the standards of punksters, that the name was perfectly suited for him.

"ExPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS is the name of it, innit?" further asked punkster next to him.

"Yeah, that one." confirmed Rando with a confident nod.

"If it ain't fire, I'm gonna go directly for his ass!" threatened girl punkster as she cracked her fists.

"Ya know only Elite Bois can order attacks, right?" pointed out Rando, giving the girl a raised eyebrow, since he didn't fully believe she knew.

"Lobby them. Ez." debated punkster, crossing her arms while giving Rando a smug smirk. "Because listen, we are gonna be jamming with his mixtape for twenty four hours!

"Speaking of them, where are they? Haven't seen them since we got here in the first place!" punkster next to him gave out another question for him to answer.

"Our boy's gonna get us something, the other boi's currently busy with his...ahem...supplies, so to say, that mustached driver and his cronies are probably at car repair again and those two, who are legally not allowed to talk, are probably going for banks to get us dosh or something. I do not know where the bastard is though, he never tells us." Rando gave out all the information he knew at that moment.

Suddenly, doors of warehouse opened, revealing a punkster that parked Vespa moped right in front of them.

"...The fuck are you doing on his moped?" perplexed girl punkster, much more used to Vespa's true owner instead of some other punkster.

"You'll see soon enough." grinned punkster with both pride and satisfaction. Soon enough, loud and powerful roars were heard, causing all punksters to gather around the entrance. With boastful revvs, Ferrari FF drove right in front of them. For extra flexing, Herman made donut manoeuvre right in front of them.

"YOOOOOOOOOO!" yelled all of punksters out of pure excitement when they saw Ferrari FF flexing right in front of their eyes.

"Now that is a beast!" complimented Rando with a grin. After some stunts, Ferrari FF stopped as its engine was turned off. Doors of the luxurious car opened, with Herman and his punksters stepping outside.

"Hello there, my fellow punksters!" greeted Herman, who was met with cheers of his henchmen.

"Ya been late, boi!" jested Rando at him as he approached to get a closer look at the Italian crafted vehicular beast.

"Ingorgo stradale, I tell you! Anyway, Our job's done!" announced Herman with a raised arm.

"AYYYYY, MY FAM!" punksters congratulated him for a good catch.

"So, what else do we have for today?" asked punkster who was formerly next to Rando about the plan for the rest of the day.

"Not much, we gonna chill for the rest of the week. Next week gonna be quite busy, though." foretold Herman about his plans.

"Say, can we pop in some jams now?" requested girl punkster, who needed her fix of music for that day.

"Not yet. We are preparing ourselves for the big event on tuesday. It's gonna be true fire, I promise!" answered Herman, denying her music in order to prepare her for something what he considered to be truly grand.

"Aight then." lamented girl punkster before going inside. With the help of other punksters, Herman placed newly obtained Ferrari inside the warehouse and, just like he said, spent rest of the day relaxing inside.

The sun was about to set. Everyone was inside their homes, including Chiaki. She was lying on her coach, thinking about the entire week. At that moment, her main thought was about what happened during the day.

"What a weird day. Nearly two accidents….but rest of the day wasn't that bad. Not bad at all, actually." thought Chiaki to herself, aware of oddities that happened, but then she remember something that made going to Hope's Peak academy truly worth it. "Having friends on my side such as Chihiro, Hajime and Ibuki really makes me glad that I got into Hope's Peak. I can't imagine my life without them anymore."

"….Say, a friend." Chiaki suddenly got an idea. She remembered a promise from yesterday. "You know, this seems like a perfect opportunity for it."

She brought up her phone and clicked on the phone shaped icon. Going through contacts, she decided to message a girl that she always wanted to know more about. A girl that was there when she was at the lowest point in her life.

Mayuri Shiina.

She started typing the message to her, but suddenly came to a halt. It was like if she froze in one place.

"Wait, should I? I really hope I wouldn't bother them….They will be busy...probab-" Chiaki started doubting herself. Such thoughts started to engulf her mind, but she made one tiny change: she won't let those thoughts win. "You know what? No. I'm not wasting this opportunity. It's better to try than not...that's what I learned in Hope's Peak."

Chiaki, despite her own doubts, managed to type out the message. All she needed to do was to send it. Even though her doubts were still prevalent in her mind, she pressed the "send" button, completing her self imposed task once and for all.

"Alright, now for the waiti-" thought Chiaki to herself, expecting to wait a long time to get a response. All sorts of hypothetical situations were starting to form in her head.

However, the phone rang back quickly.

"Huh, already?" quietly gasped Chiaki, startled by how quickly she got the answer back. Feeling of anxiety kicked in, but she checked the response regardless of what she felt at that moment.

"Of course you can! (⌒▽⌒) Mayushii will be glad to see you! You can also bring someone with you as well, more people in Lab, the better! Mayushii will make sure that Okarin and Chris-chan know about it. You can come in anytime you want!".

"Yes! Oh my gosh, I can't wait for it!" Chiaki fluttered with her legs out of complete excitement when she saw it. The fact that she was accepted in the first place gave her feelings that she found hard to describe by herself. But the message also gave out another implication for her: her future might be brighter than she expected. "I feel so pumped up, I might as well play one of my favorite games. I think I'm gonna go for something casual though, since I still have to prepare for tomorrow."

Not even wasting a moment and she inserted a cartridge of one of her favorite games inside her Nintendo 64 console.

"Pinkie Boye 64, a game that never disappoints. I could maybe go for a little speedrun, heh." Chiaki smiled to herself as she started playing the game about a round hero and a fairy princess trying to save the universe from the forces of evil.

More or less, she spent an entire night playing it.

 

Chapter 14: Skyclad Crossings

Chapter Text

Nothing is more satisfactory than a free weekend after a busy week. The day itself was complimented with a gentle rain from the light gray clouds. For the rest of the city, it was an average rainy Saturday, dedicated for relaxation. But for a certain gamer girl, things were a little bit different.

Chiaki cozily slept in her bed while hugging her magical girl bunny plushie to provide additional comfort. Amid traversing through the land of dreams, she quietly snored. Sometimes, she readjusted her position in her bed to find a comfortable position.

Suddenly, knocks on the door were heard. Reawakened from the venture in slumberland, Chiaki drowsily rose from the bed. She rubbed her eyes before she stepped out of the comfort assuring bed. The sleepy gamer didn't bother changing her clothes, as she just went with her PJ's. After a slow walk, which almost resembled sleepwalking at that point, she reached the door and opened it, revealing that three students were awaiting for her. Those three students were the small Chihiro Fujisaki, who held an umbrella and a laptop bag, considerably taller Hajime Hinata, who was giving a piggyback ride to Ibuki Mioda, who held a giant purple and blue umbrella above them. Even though her vision was blurry due persistent sleepiness, she managed to recognize her friends almost immediately.

"Good morning, Chiaki!" the gang greeted her the moment when they saw her.

"Mmmm….morning, everyone." Chiaki quietly greeted back before she let out a yawn.

"D-did we wake you up now?" immediately asked Chihiro out of concern, seeing the gamer girl in such "definitely not a morning person" state.

"Nah,...was meant to wake up at this time anyway...I think." reassured Chiaki as she rubbing her eye. Her sleepiness was gradually vanishing away, to the point she had enough energy to function as a normal human being.

"Phew, that's good to hear." Chihiro wiped of slight amount of sweat from his forehead.

"Do you have anything planned today, Chiaki?" asked Hajime, to which his question was followed with her trying to gather her thoughts in the brain. She did manage to remember a single but important promise she made a day ago. Remembering that promise also made her energy levels rise up, as she became much more lively compared to her groggy state.

"….Actually, yes. I wanna take you guys somewhere." slowly revealed Chiaki with a sense of confidence in her quiet voice.

"Ooooh, but where?" wondered Ibuki as she leaned towards her video game addicted friend.

"It's a surprise, heh." Chiaki before she noticed that she was still in her pajamas right in front of everyone. It took her some time though. "Just...wait a moment."

"Ohohoho, I see that you are using my tricks!¨ Ibuki crossed her arms with delight while Chiaki went inside and changed her clothes for the day. Returning with her cardigan on and bringing her cat like backpack with her as well, Chiaki and her gang set off towards the destination that only the gamer girl knew.

Chiaki led her to the already familiar billboard infested paradise of all things electronics known as Akihabara. Rest of her gang assumed they were going to visit MayQueen again, but Hajime was the first one to notice that they were going on a completely different path than before. Chiaki and her gang used map on the phone and messages from her friend to navigate through the skyscraper surrounded maze of electronic stores.

After some time navigating through Akihabara, they have finally found the very goal of that day.

"It was supposed to be….here." Chiaki and her gang looked up at their destination. It was a small shop dedicated for cathode-ray tube televisions. All sorts of CRTs were stored in, from well kept ones to barely functioning ones. Right in front of their sight was one huge CRT, a monolith among archaic television one could say. Entrance had a company of a single parked bicycle. Even though the shop had glass doors, they were in such unclean state that nothing but some turned on CRTs could be seen. Judging from the amount of CRTs stored in the shop, it seemed like business was anything but blooming. Then again, it takes truly a passionate person to sell CRTs in the era of high definition displays.

None of her friends around her truly understood why would she take them to a lonesome CRT shop.

"CRT shop?" Hajime turned towards Chiaki with a rather confused look. "Are you a fan of CRTs?"

"Well, they are pretty useful when it comes to plugging up old consoles." explained Chiaki before she turned towards her friends and winked at them."But there is another reason why I brought you all here."

"Another reason?" Hajime and Chihiro tilted their heads out of curiosity.

"What could that be? What is gonna be the surpri-" wondered Ibuki before her train of thought was suddenly stopped by a brown haired woman with two tied braids barged out of the CRT shop, opening in the doors like she was about to break out. With a cheery expression on her face, the brown haired lass greeted them with a raised hand:

"Wazzuuuuuuup!"

A moment of silence followed, with none of the parties knowing how to exactly respond. Not even Chiaki knew about the woman with braids, despite the fact she was the one to prepare a surprise for them.

"Hiiiiiiiii!" Ibuki responded back, cheerily as ever, waving at her. Her friends remained quiet, not even sure what to say to her.

"Ah, so it is "Hiiiiiiiii!" instead of "Wazzuuuuuuup!" nowadays? I see, I must learn more." brunette with two braids scratched her chin in curiosity. Her wording only confused some of the members of the Hope's peak gang even more. Not only did she just barge out of the shop like she knew them, but also she talked like she's not even from there.

"Maybe just a "Hello" is enough nowadays." Hajime attempted to contribute to the discussion between the woman in front of a CRT shop and horned musician. Meanwhile, Chiaki and Chihiro preferred to remain quiet, just observing the ongoing conversation. Entirely new people were not exactly

"Chiaki, do you know her?" whispered Chihiro in Chiaki ear. The woman with braids turned her look towards the duo of a programmer and gamer girl like an owl, startling Chihiro in the process. Despite the quick move and contrary to actual owl, the girl's expression was lax, sporting a cat smile similar to a certain pink haired cat maid. It was a sign that she was pretty chill with them overall. That being said, Hajime did notice her movements, only adding to the perplexity of that woman.

"I sense unfamiliarity among us, so I may introduce myself to you guys. My name is Suzuha Amane! Part-time worker here!"the brunette with braids introduced herself to the Hope's peak gang. At least one of the questions regarding her was answered, but Chiaki's little gang still had a lot to uncover regarding her.

"Suzuha Amane….Amane Suzuha….it gives off that aura I like." commented Ibuki, crossing her arms as she briefly drifted into the land of thoughts. That venture inside her mind gave her an idea. "Oh, oh, oh! Can I introduce you all to her?"

"I mean sure?" although completely confused (again), Hajime gave her approval. Not a moment passed before Ibuki started twirling around her friends like a ballerina on a sugar rush. Suzuha observed the dancing Ibuki with intrigue, wondering what kind of girl that musician truly was.

"Okay, okay, so this is Hajime Hinata, who's really cool, smart and strong! My goodness, he's so strong, that he carries me to school!" Ibuki started with the tallest one in the group, showing him off like a statue of a Greek hero. She also grabbed Hajime's arms and flailed them around to showcase them.

"Come on, I'm not that cool, strong or smart." denied Hajime, blushing all the way through. Everyone in the gang strongly disagreed with what he said about himself, but they were interrupted when Suzuha suddenly appeared right in front of him, startling him in the process. The worker at a crusty CRT shop observed him with a raised eyebrow. Hajime on other hand, couldn't even utter any word due to sheer confusion. Ibuki was already quite a package to deal with, but this Suzuha person just raised more questions for him.

"And this little cutie here is Chihiro Fujisaki! Just by looks could one's heart be swayed" Ibuki then twirled right next to the little programmer, giving a special focus to his rather short stature and fluffy hair.

"T-thanks, Ibuki, but-" Chihiro's entire face became red, but then his irises shrunk as he was startled by Suzuha, who hopped from her previous spot to right in front of him. Just like how she observed Hajime, she did the same for the confused and flustered programmer boy.

"And this sweetheart like here is Chiaki Nanami!" Ibuki danced around the last person needed for introduction, with that being none other than the quiet gamer girl, who just observed everything around, from Suzuha herself to the CRT shop.

"I don't deserve praise." Chiaki thought to herself, but she hid it with a smile and a blush on her puffy cheeks, opting to remain quiet instead. Just like two brunette boys before, she was also startled by Suzuha appearing right in front of her. Chiaki's face could be comparable to Chihiro's, considering how completely flushed she was. Suzuha was staring right in her eyes for a good amount of time.

"Hmmmm…...Chiaki Nanami….hmmm….a familiar name, yes." noted Suzuha after she took a step backwards. Everyone in Chiaki's group was surprised that a woman they saw the first time already knew her. It is true that Hope's Peak as a whole was quite well known in Japan and possibly to the rest of the world as well, but the way Suzuha spoke of her name felt more personal.

"Huh? You...knew me from before?" perplexed Chiaki while trying to think of the way Suzuha found out about her. Maybe they have met in the past before, just like a certain girl before, but Chiaki forgot to remember, but that was just one of many possibilities. "I don't think we have ever met before….I think.".

"That is true, yes. However, I know exactly why are you all here." Suzuha confidently put her arms around her hips, sporting a smile as well. The part-time worker also had a determined look in her eyes, assuring them that she knew it all.

"What do you mean by that?" wondered Hajime, just like everyone else in the group.

"Does the name Kurisu Makise ring a bell?" revealed Suzuha right in front of Chiaki's gang. Needless to say, it caused quite a shock for Hope's peak gang. Even the gamer girl herself, who already knew that Kurisu was going to be the main attraction of the day, was surprised when she found out that her residence was above a CRT shop.

"...Wait what?!" if Hajime had a drink with him, he would do a spit take over hearing what Suzuha revealed.

"You mean….she's here?" timidly asked Chihiro.

"Eyep." nodded Suzuha with even more confidence. It took a while to digest the received information, none of them could truly believe that a famous scientist prodigy was just few steps away.

"Oh my god, oh my god, oh my goooooooooood!" Ibuki started jumping around all over the place. If she felt like it, she would have ran all across the globe just like Archimedes ran out of his bathroom completely naked when he found out that king's crown was not made out of gold (according to the myth).

"Who would have thought that a revered scientist would live above a CRT shop?" commented Hajime on the whole situation, still taking it slowly to comprehend what Chiaki got him and her friends into.

"That's not the only surprise, hehe~." thought Chiaki to herself, remaining quiet but eagerly anticipating her friends meeting Kurisu's own little group.

"Life is often full of unpredictable circumstances, isn't it? Come forth, for destiny to be fulfilled." said Suzuha before she pointed at the staircase next to the CRT shop. For some strange reason, the entrance to the staircase lacked doors. Without hesitation, Hope's peak gang went to the direction Suzuha pointed to. "Anyway, if you want to have an encounter with Makise, you should go to the upper floor. Have fun, guys!"

However, as they were climbing a somewhat decently lit staircase leading to the upper floor, some of the words said by that part-time worker stuck within their minds.

"Destiny to be fulfilled? What is she talking about?" Hajime remained perplexed about everything related to Suzuha Amane. The way she worded herself sounded like their incoming meeting meant that the entire fate of the world was in their hands.

"Maybe it's just for a dramatic effect...or maybe not." Chiaki tried to rationalize the whole encounter with the part-time worker. She took some reference from knowing Gundham and Rintaro, who seemed to be knee deep into their chunni acts. However, nothing about Suzuha hinted of her being a chunnibyou, from inside to outside. If one took a glance at Suzuha from a far, she seemed like a normal if athletic gal.

"I dunno, she has same vibes that Kyoko does. You know, the "cool, mysterious woman that has more than it seems." vibes but with a mix of "happy go luck girl who always brings fun" vibes that Aoi has, right?" added Ibuki amid the conversation.

"Yeah….it's something like that, Ibuki."confirmed Hajime as they went onward.

Meanwhile, in an apartment rather small apartment that had a lot of stuff cramped in a single room, from a budget kitchen to a living room that only had a single couch, a single table and a lot of boxes. There was also a television, which served both as a source of entertainment and an alternative source of information. The apartment itself was connected with another room with below average lighting, which was filled with all sorts of low budget contraptions and a sole personal computer. In that room, Itaru Hashida was sitting behind the computer, aggressively typing on the keyboard while browsing the world wide web. Rest of the apartment was occupied by Kurisu sitting on a coach, relaxing while Mayuri Shiina sat next to her, peacefully knitting a costume meant for cosplay. As they chilled on the couch, Rintaro was cautiously reading through a newspaper. The publication itself was called Kansatsu-sha, which was a relatively a niche brand among newspapers, which were already going out of fashion at the accelerated rate. However, after reading through multiple pages, Rintaro managed to find a piece of information that caught his interest.

"Assistant, come here!" Rintaro called out for Kurisu the moment he found out.

"Geez, you don't have to call me that every time…" Kurisu rolled her eyes at his calling her "Assistant", despite her knowing that trying to not make him use nicknames was futile.

"What I call you is not important! Take a look at this!" insisted Rintaro, to which Kurisu complied. The self proclaimed mad scientist showed her an excerpt of the newspaper, which covered the news about a stolen Ferrari from a day earlier.

"A Ferrari got stolen yesterday? Huh, that's a bit-" commented Kurisu before she noticed that the news itself consisted of only a headline and a single vague sentence. It gave her a reminder of something she has already seen before. When she realized, she went into the room with contraptions and brought an issue from four weeks ago. It was the one that covered the attack on cat maid cafe. "Wait a minute, that structure of the publication….Isn't it written in exact same style as one for maid cafe attack?"

"Exactly. We know that Daft Capo was behind previous attack, but this case seems to hint at their involvement, if we judge their articles." confirmed Rintaro with a determined nod. Rintaro and Kurisu put both newspapers on the table in order to compare them. Their hypothesis seemed to align with present evidence. Both structures matched, just like they thought.

"An attack on a cafe and a theft of a luxurious car should warrant more coverage, but the way that just a headline and one sentence only are written for their cases seems rather strange." noted Kurisu with a perplexed look on her face.

"The fact that the only one covering their cases is this newspaper makes it even more bizarre. Nothing in other newspapers and nothing on TV." said Rintaro before he turned to Itaru, who was still continuing browsing on internet. He managed to get his attention very quickly. "Hey, Daru! Have you found anything about Daft Capo on web?"

"Nope, I've got nothing. Looked through all sorts of news sites, from reliable ones to nonsensical ones, and even on boards and forums. Crickets may sing at this point." Itaru shook with his head after a search that took hours.

"Hmmm, perhaps you should ask on channel board. They have an investigation board, right?" suggested Rintaro, remembering about the utility of various boards on that site.

"Actually, that does sound like a good idea. Lemme do that." approved Itaru before he began typing again, browsing through the aforementioned domestic imageboard in the process of finding any trace regarding a certain syndicate. What he said about the results stuck in Rintaro's mind.

"Not even on internet, huh?" perplexed Rintaro at the mere thought of anyone being exempt from the omnipresent clutches of the world wide web. The only possibility about that finding was that Daft Capo was somehow connected to governments, but considering what they were, that seemed incredibly unlikely and ridiculous, at least to Rintaro.

"Why would such a pompous and overly showman-esque crime syndicate lack any sort of coverage? They should have been all over the news, considering their crimes are not exactly clandestine." wondered Kurisu before their investigation came to an abrupt end when they heard gentle knocking on the door. Both of them returned newspapers back to their original place.

"Mayushii will open up!" Mayuri sprung up from the couch as she hopped to the door.

"Wait, Mayu-" alerted Rintaro out of an instinct before he started rushing towards Mayuri, only to stop when he remembered that the person who came to their place was as threatening as a sleepy docile bunny with mittens."...oh right, it's the Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit. Christina, Daru,...embrace yourselves."

"Come on, you are making her like if she was a threat." defended Kurisu, knowing who will arrive to the place. Her voice was rather soft when she spoke to her, before she gave the mad scientist her usual warnings."Besides, no "Christina's" and "Assistant's", got it?" Kurisu

"Like that's gonna stop me, Christina." thought Rintaro to himself, well aware that Kurisu can do nothing about it.

Just like she intended, Mayuri opened the door, revealing none other than Chiaki and her friends. All familiar faces to Kurisu, but to others Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro were entirely new.

"Tutturu~! Welcome, Chi-chan!" Mayuri greeted them all like they were her old friends. When the black haired girl saw that she brought her friends to their residence, she beamed out of joy. It was hard to feel bad after seeing Mayuri smile. "Just like you promised, you have brought your friends here as well!"

"Hey, Mayuri." greeted Chiaki quietly, but in a rather relaxed tone. Her friends were surprised by Mayuri's appearance, but just by her looks and behavior from the first impression convinced them that she was someone who could they get along with easily.

Ibuki greatly enjoyed the fact that Kurisu wasn't the only cute girl in the apartment though.

"Chi-chan, would mind if you introduced your friends to us?" requested Mayuri.

"Of course, I would love to." Chiaki nodded with a slight blush on her cheeks.

"Look guys! There she is!" Ibuki peeked over to see the star of the day herself. She waved at her, to which Kurisu waved back at her.

"Seems like Hope's Peak got you quite a lot of fans, Makise." commented Itaru as he fixed his glasses to look cool.

"Oh, hello guys! Come closer, there's nothing to be afraid of here." Kurisu invited them to step in. Upon noticing that Kurisu's gang has no issue with them, they went inside.

"She's gonna go springy any second now." Rintaro kept warning to himself, knowing the inevitable in case of the gamer girl having a reason to be excited. "Any second."

"So...this is Hajime Hinata and Ibuki Mioda. Both of them are my classmates and my dear friends." after stepping in, Chiaki took a chance to introduce her friends "And here is Chihiro Fujisaki, who's from another class, but just as good of a friend."

"Welcome, welcome! We're all happy to meet you!" Mayuri greeted them all by shaking their hands. Hajime and Chihiro got a bit carried away by Mayuri, but the girl suddenly stopped when she held Ibuki's hand. "Wait a minute, Mayushii does know you!"

"Huh? You have met Ibuki before? There's only one logical explanation and that's-" wondered Ibuki on how did Mayuri know about her in the first place. Perhaps it was a same situation as Suzuha, Kurisu probably told her.

"You're a MayQueen frequenter!" happily revealed Mayuri while also shooting down any other hypothesis about how the black haired starry girl knew the musician.

"Oh, we have another Faris-tan fan?" asked Itaru as his interest became greater.

"You guys are Faris fans as well?!" Ibuki's eyes started to sparkle from knowing that Kurisu's gang had fans of that ever mentioned cat girl maid. Chiaki and Chihiro both observed the interactions of Nyannyan fans with them just being happy about them getting along. Hajime thought slightly differently about it.

"Oh god, more Nyannyan fanatics…" thought Hajime to himself, horrified at the influence a single cat maid girl could have. The influence of feline chaos was infectious, to say at least.

"Oh dear, more Nyannyan fanatics." thought Rintaro to himself, who himself had more experience with the paws of Nyannyan for quite some time. To him, they were just like any other Faris fans, except that they were people that he considered friends.

"Faris-tan gang rise up!" cheered Itaru as he pumped his fist.

"Mayushii works there!" Mayuri casually added another reveal to the conversation.

"...Wait a minute!" gasped Ibuki before she imitated connecting the imagined dots in the air. She remembered that Mayuri looked quite different when she works in MayQueen. "Although your voice is familiar, didn't you have a giant blonde ponytail and cat ears?"

"Hehe, that was just a wig." giggled Mayuri while also revealing that her clothing during her work is just a costume.

"My goodness, I'm in heaven!" Ibuki suddenly threw herself on the floor and started making snow angels out of sheer excitement, despite complete absence of snow. It was a good thing that Suzuha was in charge below, or else Rintaro would have suffered the wrath of his landlord and risk having his rent raised. Mayuri joined in making snow angels on the floor without snow as they both laughed and giggled. All of the surrounding people, from Hope's Peak gang to Rintaro's gang, were startled by Ibuki's sudden actions, but most of them didn't mind, since they seemed to really enjoy themselves.

Rintaro, however, was completely thrown off by Ibuki. He slowly side stepped to Hajime, who was just staring at the whole scene in disbelief. Even being used to Ibuki's shenanigans, making snow angels on a flat floor was something entirely else for him

"Hey….Are...all Hope's Peak students like this?" quietly asked Rintaro as he leaned towards dumbfounded tall boy. He specifically chose to ask because because he looked the most normal out of Chiaki's own gang.

"More or less, yeah." answered Hajime, relating to how Rintaro felt at that moment. A thought of an entire class being filled with Ibuki-like ladies jumping all over the room filled Rintaro with baffled dread.

"Oh god." Rintaro fretted at that idea.

After Mayuri's gang got a taste of Chiaki's little group, Mayuri decided to do the same for her own friends.

"Now, all of you know Chris-chan, right?" Mayuri didn't exactly need to introduce the brunette scientist prodigy, since not only have they already seen her, Chiaki already knew more about her personally.

"Of course they do. I was at their school, after all." smiled Kurisu at them. Her expectations were based upon their meeting, so she was pretty relaxed around them.

"And this is Daru, who's also a super hacker!" Mayuri then went to the dim room with Itaru Hashida in it. However, unlike before, he was paying attention to the visitors. To some extent, Chiaki and her friends were reminded of their classmate Ryouta Mitarai, mostly due the fact both he and Itaru were stout.

"You got that right!" Itaru boastfully crossed his arms.

"And lastly, but certainly not the least, here's Okarin, a very dear friend of mine." Mayuri returned to introduce Rintaro Okabe, the tall man in a lab coat. Out of all people Mayuri introduced, the starry girl herself and Rintaro. Not only because they were pretty new, but also because, at the very least initially, they didn't remind them of any of their classmates.

"….Kehehehe…" Rintaro suddenly started chuckling while posing like a true anime villain. With exception of Chiaki, who knew him a bit more than rest of Hope's peak gang, they were rather surprised to see such a shift in Rintaro's behavior.

"Huh?" Chihiro was the most startled of them bunch, not even knowing what was going on with Rintaro. His colleagues already knew the inevitable as they embraced themselves for it.

"Oh boy, he's at it again." sighed Kurisu as she covered her forehead with her palm. Mayuri didn't seem to mind what was happening though.

"….Mwahahahahaha! That is incorrect! All of it! Who is in front of you isn't Okarin or just someone...it is in fact HOUOUIN KYOUMA!" boasted Rintaro with a villainous, going full into his chunnibyou persona. He struck some poses to put further emphasis on the importance of his act. However, he has revealed something that the Hope's peak gang already knew before.

"You're the mad scientist that saved Faris!" everyone in Chiaki's group, aside from her, pointed at him, finally realizing that he was the mastermind behind the rescue of that forsaken cat girl maid. Chiaki smiled to herself, knowing that the last surprise she had for them was unveiled. Her friends finally had an opportunity to meet with the mad scientist himself.

"...Eh?" Rintaro dropped his mad scientist act for a moment, as he was being baffled on multiple fronts. Even though he quickly figured out either Chiaki or Faris told them about him, he was still baffled that they spoke of him like he was some hero. He was a mad scientist, or so he claimed, after all!

"Where's the mustache, though?" asked Ibuki right away, wondering about the absence of a quintessential "mad scientist" feature. It caused Rintaro to be speechless, a feat only truly accomplished by nonsense spouted by a high tier chunnibyou by the surname of Nyannyan.

"You come….to the laboratory of a mad scientist...and the very first question you give….is whether do I have a mustache or not…" Rintaro desperately tried to put words together, fighting against his own bafflement. The question itself made him put his index finger on his upper lip, imagining himself with a mustache worthy of an archetypal mad scientist. At the very least he had a stubble, so there was still hope for a rocking beard. "Besides, how would I even look with one?"

"Ridiculous." smirked Kurisu took an opportunity to tease him amid his bafflement. Mayuri giggled at the idea of Rintaro Okabe having a mustache, thinking it was kind of cute.

"As if you would look better with a mustache, Assistant!" Rintaro retaliated with his own tease, causing Kurisu to be flustered in the process.

"What did I say about nicknames, Rintaro?!" Kurisu attempted to strike back, but then realized that Chiaki and her friends were present there. Kurisu's face turned even more red, but Hope's peak gang didn't really mind. They were just curious about their interaction, but for them, nothing out of the ordinary. "Oh, I apologize. I hope it doesn't get...too overwhelming."

"Don't worry about it, Kurisu. We're used to it." reassured Hajime, knowing from his experience with his classmates and sometimes students of Class 78th. Compared to some of the interactions in classes at Hope's peak, especially those revolving around a certain twin tailed blonde girl, Kurisu's and Rintaro's banter was very lightweight.

"Used to it? What do you mean by that?" piqued Kurisu out of both genuine concern and curiosity.

"Well, we have someone similar in our class except he's an evil wizard who can tame beasts." added Ibuki, confirming to Kurisu that chunnibyou shenanigans were nothing new to them.

"...Oh, you poor unfortunate souls." muttered Kurisu as she felt genuinely worried that Hope's peak students had to deal with it on a daily basis in a similar fashion as she does. In the mean time, Hajime decided to bring a topic that he felt was appropriate to get some answers on it at that moment.

"Actually, erm, Hououin Kyou-" approached Hajime while not exactly sure what name to use. Hououin Kyouma, Okabe Rintaro, it was quite a mess of names.

"Rintaro Okabe is fine." clarified Rintaro, dropping his Kyouma act as a way to spare Hajime from more chunnibyou shenanigans. The moment when he saw Hajime being completely baffled by the Faris Nyannyan fanbase present in their apartment, he felt some kind of relation to him in regards to Nyannyan experience.

"Ah, so Rintaro, I've got a question for you." Hajime corrected himself before he continued with what he wanted.

"Hm?" Rintaro raised his eyebrow.

"I want to know how did you manage to tackle on them and save Faris. Would you mind telling us?" asked Hajime straight away. He thought

"I do not have a problem, however, I must clarify one major thing." Rintaro took a deep breath before prepared himself to tell the whole story behind his encounter with Hope's peak's most illusive threat as of that time. "It wasn't me who saved Faris. It was us, a collaborative effort. Christina, Daru and Mayuri all assisted in rescuing her."

"You can sit here, if you want." Kurisu stood up from the couch and offered it to the Hope's peak gang. Mayuri also moved a little to give them more space. Chiaki, Chihiro, Hajime and Ibuki all occupied places on the couch, with Mayuri sitting next to the gamer girl. Hope's peak gang tuned in, very curious about what was the mad scientist himself reveal to them.

"Do you guys know how did all of that happen in the first place?" Chiaki joined in the conversation after observing and following in silence for some time.

"Yeah, it started like four weeks ago." Rintaro spoke from his memory before he gave them an opportunity to speak. He wanted to check if there was information that already knew, so that anything he could say wouldn't be redundant. "Just making sure, what did Faris tell you already?"

"The octopus, who tried to blackmail her before, and four henchmen attacked her the moment she refused to give cafe to them….I think." answered Chiaki while trying her best to remember as much as

"That is correct. It seems like the story she told me aligns with what she told you." nodded Rintaro before the story behind Faris' rescue officially started.

"On that day, I noticed that Faris-tan was missing. Entire cafe was empty, including the cash register." Mayuri spoke about it first, since she was the very first person to notice that things went downhill on that eventful day.

"Of course they would go for the money. They just can't resist it, can they?" deadpanned Hajime in lack of surprise.

"B-but why would they attack Faris? I don't think she did anything wrong to them." stuttered Chihiro, thinking that despite the mischief Faris was capable of, to receive physical violence was completely undeserved.

"Hatred of anything anime. It was that, right?" Chiaki spoke from her memory again. She distinctively remembered that one, especially how it fueled her desire to protect everyone from that nebulous yet pompous mafia.

"If we are only talking about Herman, then yes." confirmed Rintaro with no reservations. He also hinted at them that Herman might be the only one with such sentiment. Chihiro and Ibuki gasped at the revelation, for how their friend and colleague-in-arms got assaulted over such small thing.

"….Are you kidding me?" Hajime placed his hand on his forehead out of complete disbelief.

"No, everything said here is nothing but truth." responded Rintaro in such a tone that it was jarring even to Kurisu and Itaru. It wasn't often that she saw Rintaro completely serious. "Anyway, I've received a call from Mayuri and I immediately ran off towards it. Nothing but pure instinct made me do it, I had to know what was going on. I tried calling her, but I've got no response. My heart was pumping like crazy at that moment. We looked through out anywhere nearby, but to no avail."

"We even considering printing out posters about a missing person and placing them everywhere in Akihabara." added Kurisu to her friend's story. "Then Rintaro encountered….something interesting, to say at least."

"Just making sure, are you all familiar with Contractors?" asked Rintaro once again.

"Yeah, those are them. They are helping us trying to stop Herman from attacking Daft Capo….I'm thinking of the right ones, right?" confirmed Chiaki for the Hope's peak folk present in Rintaro's apartment.

"I believe so, Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit. When I first saw them, I thought I was hallucinating, but they gave me a big clue. It was about a rocket shaped car, if I remember correctly." continued Rintaro with his story. Chiaki and her friends continued carefully listening to everything the self proclaimed mad scientist said. "After hours of searching, we did manage to find the location of our adversaries. Contractors also provided information about Faris as well."

"Oh, so this is the part where you all combined forces with the power of science and kicked their butts, right?" Ibuki raised her hand as she imagined the whole battle with Rintaro, his gang and penguin commandos duking it out with punksters. In her fantasy, Rintaro used some kind of plasma gun with boxing gloves to blast punksters into the walls and Kurisu wore a tight catsuit while using martial arts to punch them in the face.

There was a focus on Kurisu in Ibuki's fantasy for reasons only Ibuki knew.

"Not exactly. As you see, I'm not exactly the strongest type. I left the fighting bit for the Contractors." corrected Rintaro while showing some sense of vulnerability to them, despite his common grandiose act.

"I know how that feels…" thought Chihiro to himself, reminding himself how truly powerless he was in life, let alone against a criminal syndicate. Even if he tried, he felt like he was too weak to help anyone in Hope's peak.

"After some search, we have found Faris….in a box, full of printed out anti-anime propaganda. I am not making this up." continued Rintaro with a detail he deemed so ridiculous, yet at the same time so rude that it took him a moment to fully talk about it. The "anti-anime propaganda", as he remembered, were just printed out overly saturated bizarre images with text placed all over them. Everyone in the apartment, especially those who saw it first hand, thought that was a major dick move on Daft Capo's end. "While Contractors were busy fighting, I escaped with Faris and then carried her somewhere safe."

"She got here, actually. We took good care of Faris-tan until things became normal...Well, as normal as you can get nowadays." Itaru concluded the story with a smile on his face.

"Wahoo! You guys are truly saviors!" cheered Ibuki, waving her arms around as if she was watching a football match with her favorite team in it.

"Well, it wasn't that much. The attack on MayQueen was just only the beginning. From that day onward, I, HOUOUIN KYOUMA, am a sworn enemy of Daft Capo." Rintaro hesitated at first, but quickly went back into his own Hououin Kyouma persona. After hearing what they experienced, the Hope's peak gang had sort of a strange relief. Then Rintaro turned his attention towards them. There was a thing he really wanted to hear from the Hope's peak gang. "...But I must admit, you have gotten me curious….Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit, tell me how did Daft Capo, or rather just that octopus, attack your school?"

"Well…" started Chiaki before she thought about it for some time, trying to remember as much as possible. When she got all the important information in her head, she was prepared to speak about it. "It was like….one day he just appeared in school and started provoking everyone in the weirdest ways possible."

"Even my classmates were harassed." lamented Chihiro, remembering what happened to some of his classmates, especially Makoto. Out of all people in his class, he was the one that got the shortest end of the stick in terms of Herman encounters.

"Hmmm….anyone here who got attacked by that octopus?" wondered Rintaro, giving them another opportunity to speak from their experience. Everyone but Chihiro raised their hand. "Hmm, you're a lucky one, Quiet Flustered Bunny."

He chose such nickname for Chihiro due to rather noticeable similarity with Chiaki and the fact those two nerds were always really close to each other during their visit.

"Oh, oh! All this talk about the octopus made Ibuki's brain finally remember! There's something that I did notice when he attacked me." Ibuki's brain suddenly had a brief but incredibly strong resurgence of memories regarding her solo encounter with Herman. "Okay so like, he told me that he comes from Bologna and that he likes baloney!"

"…How is this exactly relevant-" perplexed Rintaro out of sheer bafflement, before he got completely interrupted by Ibuki's continued rambling.

"But then, after Ibuki was scared for life when he revealed that he eats Ibukies all over the world, he started spraying me! But Ibuki screamed so loud, that the ink went into my mouth and then Ibuki discovered that octopus ink is pretty tasty!"

"Squid ink spaghetti is a delicacy after all." commented Kurisu on the matter.

"It went in your mouth? That's strange, he usually goes for the eyes." noted Chiaki as she tilted her head. The way she worded herself immediately caught Itaru Hashida's interest.

"Chiaki, can you say "it went in your mouth?" again?" requested Itaru, which warranted a rather baffled stare from Hajime. Not the most perverted gesture he saw in his life (considering that Hanamura was his classmate), but still enough to catch him off guard.

"No!" both Kurisu and Rintaro immediately called him out on it. Meanwhile, Mayuri didn't quite understand why did Kurisu, Rintaro and to an extent Hajime react in such a way. Chiaki, even though it took her a little, blushed a little when she realized what implications her statement gave off.

"Hold on a minute, can we talk about that….thing he does? Like, what does he call it again…" Hajime switched the topic, but he couldn't remember the exact name of a combination of words that students of Hope's peak academy liked to hear the least.

"Eye...schluss. Eyeschluss." Chiaki remembered once again as she put those words together. Much to Rintaro, Kurisu and Itaru's surprise, the name of Herman's attack was something that they learned from them that day. During their encounter, there wasn't a single instance of that specific attack.

"Ayeshnose?" Mayuri somehow managed to mispronounce the entire name of Herman's attack in such a way, that if mispronunciation were an art, she would be up there with Leonardo da Vinci.

"I guess that Eyennex doesn't have a same ring." commented Ibuki as she scratched her head.

"Don't octopuses use ink for defensive purposes?" pointed out Hajime while also using his general knowledge at full force.

"Yeah, that is correct. It's a temporary solution to briefly blind the natural predators, allowing them to escape." concurred Kurisu.

"Maybe the octopus wants to be better at hide and seek?" suggested Mayuri out of a sudden, who was earlier just listening to all sorts of conversations both her friends and Hope's peak friends partook in.

"Come on, Mayuri. That's kind of silly, don't you think?" chuckled Rintaro, but still remained respectful to her. Every time he talked to Mayuri, he felt softer. It was something that everyone in Hope's peak

"No, Mayuri isn't that far off….I think." Chiaki suddenly yet boldly defended Mayuri's claim, while also raising her finger to add further emphasis. Despite the boldness, she still spoke with her soft quiet voice.

"How come, Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit?" Rintaro turned towards her with great interest. He genuinely wanted to hear what exactly was she thinking about, though he expected video game jargon everywhere in her speech.

"There's been a certain pattern to Herman's attacks. He appears out of nowhere, picks out the target and then runs away. This one is more of "Hit and run", but he definitely has to use "Hide and seek" before he strikes. We haven't seen him before it was too late." Chiaki explained her interpretation to everyone present in the apartment. Upon hearing her, it became clearer to Rintaro, since the idea itself wasn't too far-fetched.

"That's why we set up PELN in order to find him before he attacks." added Chihiro, causing Rintaro, Kurisu and Itaru to chuckle a bit.

"...Wanna know who invented PELN?" Rintaro prompted them while he had a rather confident smirk on his face. Kurisu and Itaru initially decided to hush about it, since they didn't want to

Chiaki, Chihiro, Hajime and Ibuki used their brain cells together to find the answer. They remembered that it was Faris that delivered the contraption to their hideout. It couldn't be exactly penguins, since they were the ones that ordered the package.

"Here's a hint for you: what's the other name for PELN?" helped Kurisu for a bit as she winked at them. It was enough for them to remember a name that the cat girl maid used for the invention.

"….Future Gadget 10?" guessed Chiaki, to which she received nods from Rintaro, Kurisu and Itaru for the correct answer.

"And do you guys know what's the name of this place?" Kurisu gave another hint to them.

"Braun Tube Workshop?" Ibuki gave her own answer, which she remembered by taking a peek inside CRT shop below.

"Mwahahaha!" Rintaro suddenly started cackling, fully engaging in his mad scientist persona before he gave them the grand reveal, the answer of all answers: "No, this is, in fact, Future Gadget Lab! The headquarters of Hououin Kyouma, who will plunge the world into chaos!"

The minds of Hope's peak gang were completely blown away. They couldn't believe it that Kurisu Makise, the famous scientist prodigy behind how to turn memories into transferable data, Rintaro Okabe, the mad scientist that saved Faris from Daft Capo, Itaru Hashida, the super hacker, and Mayuri Shiina, a girl that forever changed Chiaki's life, were on their side before they were even aware of it. A feeling of awe overwhelmed them in the most absolute way possible.

"Y-you guys have been on our side all the time?!" blurted out Hajime from a complete shock. There were already a lot of things he deemed unexpected, but this was on whole another level. It took him some time to comprehend it.

"I suppose so-" Rintaro attempted to casually answer before he noticed that Chiaki and Ibuki were on dangerous levels of fangirl mode. For him, it felt like Chiaki was gonna go into breathless gushing again, while Ibuki was like a volcano that was about to erupt, except that instead of lava it was concentrated excitement. "Hey, do not go springy on me! I cannot handle the force of four springy rabbits!"

Rintaro took a glance at Hajime and Chihiro, who were still in complete shock "….or rather just two, you two seem pretty chill."

"Hehehehe, get excited, guys." winked Kurisu at them with a part of her genuinely wishing that they would share their excitement, but also to take a dunk on Rintaro for a little tease.

"CHRISTINA, DO NOT ENCOURAGE THEM!" dramatically shouted Rintaro, anticipating that Kurisu's little tease would end up with him facing the wrath of fangirl-ism.

"Come on, let them, Okarin!" pleaded Mayuri while giving him full on "puppy" eyes. It caused Rintaro to think of a compromise, to redirect the gushing to something else. Then he got an idea that could potentially work in his favor.

"...Alright so, how about this: Future Gadget Lab Invention Showcase!" declared Rintaro as he spread his arms, as if he was announcing a world changing event. Despite Kurisu thinking that he got very cheesy about it, Hope's peak gang was completely swayed by his endeavor.

"Show us! Show us!" begged Ibuki, shaking her fists like a hungry customer at the restaurant. After an approval by Hope's peak gang, Rintaro brought almost every single invention they had in their laboraty right in front of them.

"Here it is! The inventions of Future Gadget Lab! From one to seven, all of these shall be used to plunge the world into chaos!" announced Rintaro as he presented all of their gadgets. The gadgets were a toy gun turned into a TV remote, a bamboo toy helicopter with a camera on it, a modified lie detector, humidifier that functioned as a smoke grenade, a "chimera" of a vacuum cleaner and a dryer and a toy light saber. The giant optical ball made out of CRT monitors couldn't be brought due to its size. Hope's peak gang curiously observed the contraptions made by Future Gadget Lab, but Hajime had a bit higher expectations on them, especially since Kurisu was involved with them.

However, Chihiro took a notice to the naming conventions of Future Gadgets. Their latest was, PELN, was numbered as ten, yet the previous one was only seven. "What happened to eight and nine? Did you use a different naming convention for it?"

Suddenly, Rintaro flinched when he heard about eight gadget. It was like if his heart took a hit, all of his grandeur performance vanished. He remained motionless and speechless in place. Chiaki and her friends were startled by the sudden shift, but Rintaro's friends knew. They knew perhaps too much, just like he did.

"D-did I say something wrong? I-I'm sorry about that…" trembled Chihiro, nearly bursting into tears from worrying that he potentially ruined the entire day for everyone. Out of an instinct, Chiaki immediately gave him her hand to hold onto in order to release stress within him.

"Chihiro, there's no need to apologize. This isn't your fault, I promise." Kurisu approached to him in order to calm him down. She gave him few pats on the back,

"Is everything okay, Rintaro?" asked Chiaki, worrying about Rintaro's state after seeing him being either bombastic or just cool under pressure. Others worried for him as well.

"….It's better left unknown for now. It's for your own good." quietly spoke Rintaro with utmost sincere fear in his voice. Everyone in Chiaki's group felt chills down their spine, it only caused more perplexity to the ever growing number of mysteries. They only had one assumption: something went horribly wrong with gadgets numbered eight and nine.

Rintaro took a while to regain his composure, as he noticed that his friends, both old and new, started to heavily worry about him. Once he fully regained his composure with a help of deep breath, he gave them reassurance that they needed: "It's okay now. Don't worry about it."

Despite Rintaro reassuring that their situation was fine, it still wasn't clear for Chiaki and her friends what exactly went horribly wrong with gadget eight and nine.

"….Anyway, lets break this atmosphere off with some chaos! Please use Future Gadgets to your liking!" Rintaro shifted the entire mood once again, returning back to his Hououin Kyouma persona once again, bringing an odd sense of relief once again. Even Chihiro managed to calm down after trembling so much. Before anyone could even touch any of gadgets, Mayuri suddenly grabbed the toy gun (also known as Future Gadget 1).

"Hands up! Give Mayushii banana!" demanded Mayuri as she pointed the toy gun at Rintaro. Just like by her request, he raised his arms and ran to the kitchen. He acted as dramatically as he could in order to entertain Mayuri, but it seemed like he entertained everyone else too, as some of them couldn't resist giggling after witnessing him run around like that. Upon finding the desired fruit, Rintaro returned back to his friend.

"Here you go, Mayuri." Rintaro offered her the banana. Mayuri gladly took it, peeling it before she started munching the tropical fruit.

"Yummy! Mayushii is satisfied now!" praised Mayuri while still enjoying her meal. In the mean time, Hope's peak gang tried out various gadgets and played with them along with Future Gadget Lab members for the rest of the day.

Their day at the Future Gadget Lab came to an end just before the sun was about to set. They realized that they need to go back to Chiaki's place before they traverse the city in nocturnal darkness.

"Well, this day was pretty fun, but we have to go now. It's getting kinda dark." said Hajime as he, along with Chiaki, Chihiro and Ibuki started approaching the door of the laboratory.

"Awww, you guys are pretty fun to be around! You should come here more!" smiled Kurisu, despite the fact she wanted to spend more time with them, but she understood that they needed some rest. "Thank you for coming here."

"Thank you all for allowing us to be here." expressed Chiaki as placed her hand on her chest.

"Before you go, I have one offer for you all." Rintaro stopped them before they could fully leave the Lab.

"Hm?" Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity. Her friends were also wondering what kind of plan did Rintaro have for them.

"I would like you…..to become Lab Mems!" suggested Rintaro as he pointed at them all.

"Lab Mem?" asked Chiaki. Others weren't sure what that term meant either.

"Members of this laboratory!" boastfully elaborated Rintaro, revealing such information with the most grandiose poses a mad scientist could strike. The opportunity given by Rintaro made the day for Hope's peak gang even better. None of them could reject his offer, especially after getting to know them all even more.

"Of course we would!" wholeheartedly agreed Chiaki with her friends sharing the same sentiment. She couldn't be more happy than being with the very scientists she found heroic.

"But now, we bid farewell. Bai bai!" Ibuki waved at them before they departed, concluding their meeting in the process.

"Bai bai!" Kurisu waved at them back as their day came to an end.

As they went downstairs, Chiaki and her friends returned back to the entrance of CRT shop. Suzuha was still there, taking care of her bicycle. When Suzuha heard multiple footsteps coming from the staircase, she placed herself right in front in order to gain their attention.

"So, how did it go, those that come from Hope's peak?" asked Suzuha as all of them stepped outside.

"Oh, hello there, Suzuha. It was very fun. You've got a lot of cool people around here." said Chiaki with a bright smile on her face.

"And...full of surprises to say at least." added Hajime while expressing a bit of disbelief due to how much stuff they learned that day.

"Life do be like that, heh." chuckled Suzuha before she put her arms around her hips again. "Now, don't forget about your passenger!".

"...Passenger?" Chiaki, along with her friends, wondered what exactly did Suzuha mean. Suddenly, additional footsteps were heard from staircase, causing quite a lot of surprise amid the Hope's peak gang. However, it didn't take long for that person to reveal themselves.

"Tutturu! Mayushii is coming with you!"

It was Mayuri.

"Mayushii is coming! I say again, Mayushii is coming!" bubbled Ibuki at the sight of a black haired girl with a hat coming straight at them.

"Mayuri? You're gonna visit my home?" asked Chiaki out of complete surprise.

"Well, if you are okay with it, I would gladly visit it!" happily answered Mayuri as she nodded with her head so much that her hat nearly fell off. Not only was Chiaki more than accepting for Mayuri to join her, she was overwhelmed with happiness. The one person she always searched through her life visiting her home filled her with so much joy that she could dance with Mayuri, if she weren't so awkward about it. Her friends saw how these two dorky girls were happy together and they couldn't help but smile as they went along, returning to Chiaki's home once and for all.

As Chiaki, Chihiro, Hajime, Ibuki and recently joined Mayuri said goodbye to Suzuha, Rintaro and his fellow lab members observed from above. All of them had smiles on their faces, especially after seeing how happy was Mayuri around them.

"Ah, peace and quiet." sighed Rintaro in relaxation, knowing that he would have some peace after such a busy day.

"You're still making out like they were bad." Kurisu defended them with a soft tone in her voice as she crossed her arms.

"To tell you the truth, Christina, not at all. As...odd as they were, those four do have their hearts in the right place. If it didn't seem like, I wouldn't have allowed Mayuri to go with them." Rintaro spoke as sincerely as he could. "It's very likely we'll meet them again...very soon in fact. I'm looking forward to it."

"I'm glad you feel that way, Rintaro." smiled Kurisu after hearing his answer. They were about to call it a day, but Rintaro remembered that he had duty from before.

"Hey, Daru. How's it with channel post?" Rintaro reminded his hacker colleague about the channel post on the investigation board he made in the morning.

"Oh, right, I've got distracted. Let me check." said Itaru before he returned back to the personal computer. Luckily, he didn't tab out, so the page was more or less up entire day. With a press on the F5 button, he refreshed the page to see the results.

Only to find out that his post vanished without a trace. Not even a warning about how the post was removed.

"...Huh? Lemme try again." sputtered Itaru before he made a new post with a slightly differently worded question about Daft Capo activities. After he typed out everything he needed, he clicked on the post button to make it appear on the site once again. "And re-fresh!"

The post vanished without a trace once again.

"...What the? It got deleted again!" bleated Itaru at the sight of deletion. Rintaro and Kurisu, after witnessing the sudden disappearance of Itaru's post, tried to rationalize with whatever possible reasoning those deletions could have.

"Hold on, let me try somewhere else." Rintaro opted to try posting through his phone before coming through any of conclusions. After typing out a somewhat lengthy question regarding Daft Capo, he pressed on the post button. His question appeared on the mobile version of the site as all of them waited for any response.

Suddenly, his post got deleted right in front of their eyes. They didn't even need to refresh the page for it.

"What the? How?" sputtered Rintaro at the sight of real time deletion of his post. Things were starting to lose sense and their efforts were slowly beginning to feel futile.

"What is the meaning of this?" Kurisu tried to hold onto her composure, yet thoughts she had from thinking about possibilities regarding Daft Capo made her feel chills down her spine. How could individuals like them be completely exempt from any sort of documentation on something as omnipresent as World Wide Web remained an unsolved mystery for them. A mystery that will linger on as the time will pass.

 

Chapter 15: Sleepover for the Peaceful Ones

Chapter Text

Sunday, the final day before start of a fresh week. It continued to rain from the day before, yet it provided a form of tranquility for denizens of the city, knowing that they could spend a day relaxing instead of working at full force like they do during the week. The same applied towards specific teenagers from Hope's Peak (and Mayuri), who had a sleepover at the residence of the school's very own gamer girl. Four different folk, two boys and two girls, all in their pajamas, slept on the couch while the resident herself was partaking a journey in her very own dream land in her bed. The couch was the one that could extent itself, so that everyone on it could have a comfortable night that day.

First one to pull their consciousness out of the hibernating state was none other than Ibuki, who woke up as quickly as she stood up from the couch. She was like a spring that was suddenly launched from a platform.

"Ah….I believe it's time for the daily good nom-nom-nom-nomming!" thought Ibuki to herself as she stretched herself to give her joints a wee bit of energy. The awoken musician stood up from the couch before she looked around to see her friends still sleeping. Hajime was sleeping while sitting on the couch. At the same time, Mayuri and Chihiro took more comfortable positions for their sleepover. Mayuri even had a small plush of a spherical panda with her, hugging it tightly as she continued to sleep.

"Look at them, all so sleepy...so cute!" mused Ibuki after looking at her friends that were yet to be awake. She placed her arms on her cheeks like a daydreaming romantic as she continued observing, still waiting for her amigos to wake up. The musician didn't have to wait for long when sleeping Mayuri yawned wide open before she slowly opened her eyes. "Oh, oh! Mayushii has risen!"

"Morning, Ibu-chaaaaaan." drowsily greeted Mayuri as she rubbed her eyes to clear off any sleep crust she had. When she stood up from the couch, she stretched herself as well. Soon afterwards, Hajime followed. He woke up rather quickly without any sort of movements, just his eyes opening out of a sudden. When his vision became clear, he saw that Ibuki was already full of energy while Mayuri was still regaining hers.

"Huh, you two already awake. It's like seven in the morning." commented Hajime as checked the time on his phone to see if he was correct about it. The time itself was just five minutes past his guess, but it was close enough.

"You know what they say: Early hour is the golden hour! It's the perfect time to sing along with birdies!" bubbled Ibuki before she opened the window of the living room to see what was going on outside. She found that rain was the one thing that stood out, other than that, not much else. However, that alone didn't stop her from preparing herself to unleash her singing onto the neighborhood. The better word for it would be joyful screaming. Needless to say, her neighbors weren't exactly fond of it.

"Both Chihiro and Chiaki are still asleep though." reminded Hajime while still feeling drowsy, successfully stopping Ibuki from blasting the whole neighborhood with her yelling.

"Oooh, right right! Ibuki can't bring herself to wake up someone so cute." said Ibuki while thinking about how both Chiaki and Chihiro were still asleep. Suddenly, Chihiro rolled in his sleep, facing them all. His body slowly raised from the couch, but his eyes were still closed.

"Fuji-chan is awake!" pointed out Mayuri as the programmer boy gradually opened his eyes.

"M….morning, guys." Chihiro quietly greeted them all with his vision returning to normal. Hajime, Ibuki and Mayuri happily greeted him back as his vision became clear.

"Alright, one more to go. She'll wake up probably when she feels like it, considering how much she sleeps at school." commented Hajime as all of them waited for her to wake up. The ones that were considered to be students of Hope's Peak expected that it wasn't going to be anytime soon that they'll see an awoken Nanami.

"Chi-chan sleeps at school?" asked Mayuri.

"Yeah, sometimes she just falls asleep….while standing even." replied Hajime with traces of disbelief in his voice.

"Woah." marveled Mayuri at the fact a person could be even capable of just hibernating while standing.

"I don't think that is a fact you should be impressed with, Mayuri." debated Hajime regarding that, since he saw Chiaki's tendency to fall asleep at random times rather concerning. He thought that she could fall asleep during a dangerous moment, such as crossing the road. Even though he remained quiet, Chihiro agreed with Hajime, considering he did see more of her than anyone else at that moment.

"Mayushii always wondered how it feels sleeping while standing. Maybe you get completely different dreams when you stand up. Mayushii gotta try that out one day." rambled Mayuri, letting her thoughts out.

"What about bats? They sleep upside down while standing!" Ibuki contributed with additional rambling.

"Then they get inverted dreams!" after hearing Ibuki's response, Mayuri came to a conclusion about how bats see dreams upside down. Hearing that, Ibuki planned for the next night to sleep upside down, just to get the experience of inverted dreams.

"It's better to just lay down." deadpanned Hajime before all of them decided to prepare themselves for the day. All of them went to brush their teeth with their own toothbrushes, though they took turns to who occupied the bathroom. After they have made their teeth funky fresh with the feel of toothpaste, the gang debated whether the day was to be spent in pajamas or should they just change their clothes. Ibuki and Mayuri argued for a pajama party, while Hajime and Chihiro hesitated about it. In the end, they have made a compromise that while Ibuki and Mayuri remained in their pajamas, Hajime and Chihiro were allowed to change their clothes.

The following thing after pajama discussion were them going to the fridge to have a breakfast. Chihiro told them that Chiaki wouldn't really mind if they ate while she wasn't present, since it would be better if they treat themselves. Each of them took a desired meal out of the fridge and then ate it. After all of them finished their breakfasts, the gang returned on the couch. Hajime told them that it would be best if they waited for Chiaki to wake up if they were to play video games, so they chose to distract themselves with other activities. In the mean time, Chihiro, just like he did previous week with Chiaki, showed them his work on the laptop. The AI he was working on saw some improvements and changes, such as smoother speech and being renamed from Takashi to Usami, likely inspired by the plushie that Chiaki owned. Mayuri and Ibuki took a special liking to the bunny avatar of the AI.

After the demonstration was done, it was Mayuri's turn to tell some memories she had through out her life, such as when she went to a cosplay convention with Rintaro Okabe and another friend of hers. She emphasized that her friend was looking really adorable in the costume, which managed to give fuel to Ibuki's endless imagination of everything cute, girls and cute girls. Hajime, Chihiro and Ibuki all wanted to hear about her life, Future Gadget Lab as a whole and all sorts of adventures she partook in.

By the time they spent on other things, it was already noon. Calming rain continued on, but Hajime's patience regarding Chiaki's sleepiness was running thin. Others were getting a bit concerned about her as well.

"Alright, this is getting ridiculous. It's like twelve o' clock and she is still asleep. I think it's time to check up on her." suggested Hajime as he stood up from to couch in order to get to her bedroom and pull her out of sleep once and for all. Others followed with the same goal in mind.

"She's probably still asleep or playing video games. I'm not sure if it's okay to disturb her, though…" hesitated Chihiro, cautioning Hajime before he opened the door. He just didn't want to make Chiaki upset in any form.

"I'm sure it will be okay, Chihiro. We can't really let her sleep through out all day. She's gonna miss out a lot." reassured Hajime as he insisted on waking her up.

"Hehehe, what a sleepyhead!" giggled Mayuri, finding Chiaki's sleepy tendencies to be rather cute.

"That's almost an understatement, Mayuri. Almost." sighed Hajime, recounting his experience with her sleepiness before he gave the gang a sign that they're going to enter her bedroom."You guys ready?"

"Ready like never before!" approved Ibuki along with Chihiro and Mayuri. Hajime opened the door, revealing her own bedroom right in front of them. The programmer boy was already familiar with that place, but it was completely new discovery for Ibuki and Mayuri. They were rather surprised on how modest the bedroom itself was. After looking around a bit, they found the person they looked for.

"There she is!" Mayuri pointed at Chiaki, who was curled up in her bed. She hugged her magical girl bunny plushie as she snored during the time her consciousness was taking a journey through dreams. The blanket covered her up to shoulders. It was a surprised to no one when they saw that she was still sleeping even at such time.

"...Yep. Just like I guessed. Completely asleep." Hajime shook with his head as he placed his hand on his forehead.

"Awwww, look at her! She's just like a little kitty." cooed Ibuki while observing the sleeping Chiaki. She even imagined her having cat ears and a tail like a true cat. "I wonder if she's gonna lick herself in her sleep."

"Okay so, how do we-" Hajime turned towards the gang as he tried to come up with a way to wake her up, only to be disrupted by something he didn't imagine he would hear at that moment.

"...Goddess of light…..please lend me your strength…please..." Chiaki suddenly mumbled in her sleep while dreaming about being a servant angel of a divine long haired pretty woman while combating the evil forces of the underworld. It seemed like she was in trouble, surrounded by the foulest monsters trying to maul her in the dream.

"….What was just that now?!" perplexed Hajime at what he heard from her sleepy mouth. It was one thing to expect her just being sleepy, but talking while dreaming was another level for him and everyone else.

"Tehehe, she's probably having an adventure in the land of dreams." answered Mayuri with a chuckle, finding some amusement in whole situation.

"Oh, this is gonna take a while..." Hajime already knew what was in front of him, but it didn't stop him from at least trying to wake her up in the most basic yet not as intrusive compared to other options but still enough to knock her out of sleep way.

"Hey, Chiaki! Wake up!" Hajime called out for her, but to no avail. Chiaki was still deep in her dreams.

"Nope, still in dream land." reported Ibuki while still looking at the sleepy girl.

"Yeah, this one isn't a surprise." shrugged Hajime after witnessing an outcome that was to be expected.

"Goddess of Light here! We are gonna have Juicy Chicken Number One for lunch! Chi-chan, if you don't come to our realm, I will eat all of it!" intervened Mayuri with an oddly bold voice of hers and puffy cheeks. She even put up fists to make herself more "imposing".

Despite her efforts, Chiaki was still sleeping.

"Darn, the dream barrier is too strong." Ibuki scratched her head while thinking of additional ways to wake her up. One of her the options she thought of was something that could potentially wake her up, but not without completely startling her.

"Is there any way we can wake her up? This can't go on forever...besides, it's kinda weird to stare at the sleeping person." Hajime started to wonder if it was even possible to wake her up at that point. Deep sleep such like one he experienced at the moment was something new for him.

"...There is." Chihiro reluctantly raised his hand, knowing the answer.

"Huh? Would you mind telling us, Chihiro?" asked Hajime, being relieved that at the very least one of his friends knows how to wake her up. Chihiro just quietly but hesitantly pointed at the digital alarm clock on the cupboard. The rest of the gang quickly realized how the solution was right in front of their noses, causing them to feel quite silly for it.

"Oooh, I see, I see! It should have been obvious from the start!" laughed Ibuki at the idea.

"...I'm sorry, Chiaki." Chihiro apologized in advance before he prepared himself to adjust time until the alarm clock would go off. "How much time should I set?"

"Ten minutes." Hajime raised his finger. That was the maximum he gave it to her, otherwise it would take way too long for his patience to endure the wait.

"O-okay…." stuttered Chihiro before he set the clock to ten minutes from their current time with few presses on buttons. After he did his job, the gang decided to let her have sleep for those ten minutes, but she needed to wake up. If the alarm clock failed them, their final option was Ibuki's imagined way of waking her up that wouldn't be received very well among them.

"Everything's set and now we wait." said Hajime before all of them left her bedroom as they waited for the outcome.

"T-this is not gonna end well…" Chihiro couldn't help but worry that they're gonna anger Chiaki, considering that alarm clocks were not exactly her favorite thing.

"Don't worry too much. I'm sure it will." reassured Hajime. The programmer boy trusted his friend about it, since he believe that Chiaki wasn't exactly the person to lash out on people. She didn't seem angry that time when alarm clock interrupted her.

"Even Chi-chan needs to be wakey wakey." Mayuri added her own little comment before all of them went to the couch, patiently waiting for the gamer girl to finally exit the slumber land.

Ten minutes have passed and just like it was set, the alarm clock went off. Her dream was abruptly by the sounds of the very object she opposed the most. The worst thing for her is that the dream was just about to get at the most intense part so far, where she faced a giant dark dragon god of destruction who possessed the goddess of light with his mind.

"Mgggrrrrrrrrrrrrr…" growled Chiaki, pouting while having her eyes closed as she started smashing her fist on the cupboard in order to silence the alarm clock. All of her moves didn't even hit the clock, causing her to fully wake up. Once she got out of her bed, she shut off the alarm clock, but not before she decided to lash out her frustrations on it, shaking it as if she was strangling someone. "Why won't you be just quiet already, you stupid-"

Suddenly, Hajime opened the door and greeted her amid her shaking the alarm clock. The rest of her friends also peeked in, curious to see if she was awake or not. "Good morning, Chiaki."

When Chiaki heard him, she immediately dropped the pouty face of hers, instead the gamer girl herself got startled as her face turned completely red. She looked at her friends from behind, standing still while her cheeks were overtaken by strong blushes.

"Oh my god, her face is like a cherry. So cuuuuuuuteeeeee!" complimented Ibuki with her heart melting after seeing Chiaki completely embarrassed over the fact that her friends caught her venting out her frustrations on an inanimate object. Mayuri couldn't help but both giggle and smile at how Chiaki was flabbergasted.

"G-good morning, Chiaki." greeted Chihiro with feeling slightly relieved that he didn't see Chiaki mad, just incredibly flustered.

"M….m….morning, everyone." muttered Chiaki in an attempt to both greet them and to hide her own embarrassment, even thought it was too late for her. No one really minded, they were just glad that she was finally awake.

"Come here, Chi-chan!" invited Mayuri to get there and so Chiaki did.

"How are you guys?" asked Chiaki as all the blushing disappeared from her face.

"We were just waiting for you to descend from the dreamy realm, but we're all good!" explained Ibuki as she gave some thumbs up to reassure that all of them were in good mood.

"So, what kind of forces of evil did you fight, Chi-chan? Demons from the underworld?" piqued Mayuri, which caused Chiaki to blush again.

"Huh? You guys know exactly what happened in my dream?" asked Chiaki, wondering they're secretly psychic, just like Sayaka Maizono claims to be at times. The idea of her friends being able to read her mind seemed intriguing for her, but a bit scary. There could be times she could have some thoughts that could surprise them in one way or another.

"Yeah, you were talking about it while sleeping." Hajime revealed to her a bit of a more mundane yet logical option. "Wasn't there a game about it, where it's like you control some angel-"

And thus, with a mere implication of a game she dreamed about, Chiaki was activated: "You know of it?!"

"Y-yes, he appeared in that fighting game where everyone's in!" stuttered Hajime when Chiaki suddenly went into fangirl mode once again. Even though other students of Hope's peak present at her house knew about her sudden shifts, Mayuri observed her with great interest. It was curious for her to see just how excited she could get. It was little wonder why Rintaro gave her a nickname of "Springy Rabbit".

"Super Combat Collab C?" Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity, wondering if Hajime also knew about that game.

"Super Combonk Cottage See?" Mayuri somehow managed to misinterpret the entire title of the fighting game famous for its usage of characters of various franchises and being a smash hit among competitive community, despite the game itself being intended for casual audiences.

"Y-yeah, that one." confirmed Hajime. It gave Chiaki an idea what could they play together.

"We could play this one today...if you guys wanna." suggested Chiaki with a smile on her face, already imagining the possibilities they could do with that game.

"I mean, if everyone's in, I gotta check it out!" approved Ibuki.

"Everyone's in? Is there Upa in it too?" wondered Mayuri if one of her favorite characters was in.

"I can go with any game. Anything can be fun." happily nodded Chihiro, though it was more of the fact that he thought any game with Chiaki was fun.

"That's usually a game that everyone plays. It's funny how fighting brings people together, while games about parties….not so much, eh?" commented Hajime on the matter while also reminiscing of certain party games that were intended to make people unite with each other, but those were rather notorious for being "friendship killers", so to speak. With his comment heard, he approved the choice of that fighting game being played that day.

"Yeah, there's a lot of RNG in those games. It's not exactly a proudest moment when you're in the lead, only to land on one unfortunate space and then you land on the last place." Chiaki added her thoughts to the discussion before she went to set up her hybrid handheld-stationary console, bringing not only the docked console, but also controllers for it. She chose to give everyone classic controllers, since those controllers that came in packaged with the console tended to have severe technical issues. So noticeable that entire games became unplayable because of it. She replaced the cartridge that was already in, which was a game about robot maid girl trying to save her professor from another evil emperor professor who had an army of scared looking aliens on his side, with the cartridge of the famous fighting game. By the time Chiaki was still setting up everything for their gaming session, Chihiro, Ibuki and Mayuri were just chilling on the couch. Hajime's curiosity about what sort of games and consoles she owns has risen.

"I do have one thing to ask, if you don't mind." said Hajime to her while she was still setting everything up. Another thing she needed to do was to update the game, since she hasn't played it in a while. Other games, both old and new, occupied her time instead.

"Yeah?" Chiaki turned towards him, tilting her head.

"Mind if I check out what other games you have?" asked Hajime for permission to see her collection of games.

"Of course! You can also pick any of them we could play today too!" Chiaki allowed him to check her stuff without any sort of hesitation. He couldn't help but chuckle when he saw how eager she was to share anything related to video games. The boy with an ahoge stood up and walked towards the bookcase, filled with games meant for various different boxes. They were all organized in a way that each section would belong to a dedicated console.

"So many games for so many systems…I wonder how did she get so many of them. Probably collected them through her life." wondered Hajime at the quantity of various games she had. At the bottom of the bookcase, he noticed that there were some booklets, most being barely over five pages long. Despite majority of them being from an

"Heh, she even has manuals? That's some old school stuff. I guess she truly is an Ultima-" Hajime smiled at the thought that she kept the manuals, despite the concept of physical copies of them being nearly extinct in the modern era. Suddenly, he stopped when he saw one disturbance among the booklets."Hold on a minute…."

Unlike its tiny counterparts, the sole book seemed flat out colossal, having at the very least around five hundred pages. Hajime wondered what game even needed that huge of a manual in order to even play it. To him, most games were understandable enough that even ten pages seemed like an overkill. He decided to pull the book out of the bookshelf to see what it was about.

It became very clear to him that what he was holding wasn't a video game manual at all when he saw a monochrome image of an F-16C Fighting Falcon with roundels of Hellenic Air Force, armed with just two AIM-9P5 Sidewinder rear aspect infrared homing air-to-air missiles on its wingtips, flying over Athens on the cover. He was completely startled by the fact that Chiaki Nanami out of all people in the world had what seemed like an actual military document in her house. He turned a page to see if his suspicions were confirmed. All it needed to take was read an excerpt from it.

"This information is furnished on the conditions that it will not be released to another nation without the specific authorization of the Department of the Air Force of the United States; it will be used for military purposes only;…."

"Nanami….what….what is this?" Hajime turned towards Chiaki and her gang with an absolutely flabbergasted expression on his face, still trying to comprehend that she owned an actual military document. Even shocking for a passive and docile girl like her. "FLIGHT MANUAL HAF SERIES AIRCRAFT F-16C/D BLOCKS 50 AND 52+ is...a name of the game...right?"

"Chiaki has a secret life as a fighter pilot? That's so cool! Why didn't you tell us?" marveled Ibuki at the thought that their game loving friend was secretly kicking posteriors of bandits across the skies, even though few details were off. First of, why would Chiaki own a manual that seemed be exported from United States to Greece was not clear. Secondly, why for an aircraft type that wasn't even operated by Japan, even though Japanese Air Self Defense Force uses F-2, which was essentially larger F-16 variant meant for the island nation only. Chiaki stepped closer to Hajime to see what was he concerned about. Upon taking a closer look, she remembered why she used the manual for one of the most well known late Cold War aircraft out there.

"….Ooooh, yeah. I did use it for games." revealed Chiaki about the true usage of such manual.

"H-how did this end up in your house in the first place?! Isn't stuff like that classified?" asked Hajime while worrying that Chiaki somehow managed to violate operational security of the company that made the manual and owned the production of the aforementioned aircraft.

"Actually, a lot of military documents do get declassified after a certain amount of time. Some are even available to read and download on internet. My guess is that this plane was exported a lot, those usually get their information revealed sooner than those only meant for domestic use." clarified Chihiro, recalling the times he indirectly learned such information from all the learning he did for programming in his childhood. Topics such as these often intervene with each other, despite not seeming at first glance. Thanks to programmer boy's explanation, it became much clearer and far less shocking than initially imagined. He wasn't sure how would he live his life, knowing that his friend got her hands onto potentially very sensitive data, which could endanger her life greatly.

"...That actually makes a lot of sense, now I wonder for-" Hajime remained perplexed, only to realize that there is only one genre that truly needs such long manuals. A genre that accepts even actual manuals as a basis to learn the mechanics. "Oh right, simulators. How hasn't this popped up in my head in the first place is beyond me."

"There's one simulator that I really like. It's about this plane." said Chiaki as she pointed at the monochrome picture of the F-16C. She seemed to have a smile on her face when she talked about it. "Would you mind if I show it to you guys later on?"

"Simulating a military plane from home? I do wanna see how that looks." approved Hajime, considering that despite some games he has already played by himself before he even met Nanami, he never saw a full fidelity flight simulator in action. Chihiro and Mayuri approved as well, but Mayuri was completely clueless about any discussion they had.

"Chiaki gonna rock the virtual skies!" cheered Ibuki as she prepared herself in advance to root for Chiaki once she would play the aforementioned simulator that day.

"Can I have the manual for a bit?" requested Chihiro. His request was fulfilled by Chiaki handing the manual over to him. He place it next to where he sat, so he could read it later on.

"But now, it's time for some duke outs!" announced Chiaki as everyone in the room grabbed their controller. The game also finished updating with only an A press needed in order to advance. Chiaki pressed the needed button and the game started loading. When the game properly booted up, the title screen, consisting of a giant logo that resembled a circles with two lines cutting it, appeared. All they needed to do was to press START and so Chiaki did. The game transferred them to a stylized, albeit rather crammed in menu, consisting of a single player mode, the local multiplayer mode, the online mode, the miscellaneous stuff and lastly, the settings. The selection was automatically redirected to the local multiplayer mode.

"So, guys. Wanna do free-for-all or co-op?" asked Chiaki, waiting for others to decide. Obviously, single player mode was not on the list.

"I'm up for anything, really." stated Hajime, which is also a sentiment both Chihiro and Ibuki agreed. Any mode could be fun for them.

"Co-op sounds more fun. Mayushii thinks that it's better if we all work together." Mayuri expressed her thoughts far more clearly than the rest of the gang. She wasn't a fan of an idea of her friends fighting against each other, even in just a game. By Mayuri's request, Chiaki chose one of the co-op modes she considered the most fun to play with friends: Boss Rush mode. After selecting it, the game threw them to the character selection screen. There were about seventy playable characters from different franchises on the roster. Chiaki immediately chose Pinkie Boye, a puffball that was one of her favorites. Hajime opted to go for a "jack of all trades" character, picking one of the first options on the roster: some middle aged plumber-sailor man named Pops. Ibuki took a while to find a character, since she was lost in the vast roster. After some time of searching, she found a musician punk girl with a flamethrower guitar.

"This lady right here speaks to my soul!" said Ibuki as she placed her hand-carrying-a-token cursor on the desired character. Meanwhile, Chihiro found out that the avatar from Fiesta Festival: Tropical Breeze was a playable character. Considering that he was familiar with the game, he made his decision. Last one to choose their character was Mayuri, who was inspecting the roster for a very specific character. Withing a quick time frame, she found the exact character she was looking for.

"Upa!" exclaimed Mayuri at the sight of a spherical panda as a playable character. She spared no time selecting it. "Upa is in!"

"Press L if you wanna change colors of your character." advised Chiaki to everyone else. Each friend of hers tried it out and selected the desired color. However, Mayuri's eyes gleamed when she saw Upa in a metallic color scheme.

"Metal Upa!" Mayuri pointed at the screen. With everything set, Chiaki pressed START to begin the Boss Rush mode. The first boss seemed like to be some kind of jester, similar to Pinkie Boye in appearance. The battle zone for that jester seemed to be the surface of a purple planet that had an especially starry night sky. Hajime wondered how a character like that could even be considered a boss and Mayuri found him to be pretty cute.

Then their expectations were thrown out of the window when the jester transformed into a bat-like abomination with eyes of insanity. Both Mayuri and Hajime took their words back when they saw the end result of the transformation. The battle begun with Chiaki's character making the first move by smacking the jester in the face. Flinching was not implemented in bosses, but a tiny part of monster's health bar went down. Next one to follow was Hajime's character, also jumping in the air to strike jester's face with a plunger. The image of a plumber-sailor just casually smacking a bat-like jester monster in the face warranted a giggle from Mayuri. Before either characters could continue striking down the giggling monster, it teleported to another part of the screen as it unleashed crescent scythes from its wings. Only Mayuri's Upa was hit by them as it was knocked out a bit. She was still figuring out controls of the game. Meanwhile, since the jester was close to them, Ibuki and Chihiro sent their characters to punch it in the face. With a combination of a B button and pressing up on the D-pad, the musician character struck the jester monster by launching herself with her flamethrower guitar while Chihiro's character attacked with balloons. Even more of its health bar went down, but the jester monster teleported again, preparing itself to spit out a large plasma beam from its mouth. Once the beam was fired it was so strong that the jester itself was pushed off screen. Chiaki, Hajime, Chihiro and by all luck combined Mayuri as well managed to jump in time to avoid the beam. However, Ibuki wasn't as fortunate, instead her character felt the full blast of the plasma beam, increasing the knock out percentage by a huge margin. If the monster managed to score a hit once, she was done for.

The jester monstrosity teleported again, that time very nearby to its opponents. All of them combined their forces and struck down the jester will all of their attacks. Health bar of it depleted drastically, but it had one ace in the hole: the monster split itself in half, freaking out everyone but Chiaki for a bit. Chiaki was used to it, thanks to Pinkie Boye's tradition to have disturbingly nightmarish final bosses almost every game. In the middle of split halves, a black hole appeared as it suddenly expanded to a greater degree. It tried to suck in every single opponent, but all of them managed to run away from it, with some such as Mayuri and Chihiro just barely evading it.

After the black hole disappeared, a purple shadow appeared on the floor. It followed all the characters until it stopped beneath Mayuri's Upa. She managed to step away just in time before the jester lunged itself upwards. Then it returned to the middle of the screen, allowing everyone to beat the ever living hell out of it. With Chihiro's character striking his face with an axe, a brief KO flash appeared before the boss was sent all over the screen, screaming before facing its final demise. Those who played the game for the first time felt incredibly accomplished, but that was just the beginning for them. The game rewarded them with a rest room for them to replenish their health and take a break before they would face another boss.

Time has passed, with the gang reaching the fifth boss of the mode. It seemed to be some kind of an eastern dragon, which ruled the skies. They were still in the rest room, preparing themselves before they would face it. Chiaki checked looked around to see if her friends were having fun. Judging by the expressions from Ibuki, Chihiro and Mayuri, they seemed to greatly enjoy the time spent at her house. However, she was caught off guard when she saw Hajime just blankly staring at the controller with a frown on his face.

"Is there something wrong, Hajime?" asked Chiaki out of concern. Her question also immediately grabbed attention of everyone else, who also were worried about what was bothering their friend.

"It's fine, I promise…" quietly answered Hajime attempting to reassure everyone about his feelings, but he couldn't keep it in anymore. He had to let it out one way or another, just that he needed someone to listen. "Just that….can we discuss something and keep it just between two of us?"

Chiaki nodded as both of them stood up from the couch, looking for a place that would allow them to have some privacy.

"Where are they going? Do they have secrets between with other?" wondered Ibuki as she peeked.

"I think it's best if we let them be together for a bit." suggested Mayuri, knowing that this was something Hajime wanted at that moment. He wasn't prepared to reveal it in front of everyone. Both Ibuki and Chihiro followed with Mayuri's suggestion out of respect.

Chiaki and Hajime decided that their discussion would take in her bedroom. Once both of them entered it, Chiaki closed the door before both of them sat on the bed, surrounded by silence.

"You seem….trustworthy about this." reluctantly began Hajime about an issue he was having.

"Hm? I'm glad you see me that way….but what's on your mind?" further asked Chiaki, tilting her head.

"Can you promise me a thing before I tell you? You won't think worse of me, right?" Hajime started sweating when he was about to tell her his problem that he had through out his life.

"I would never think worse of you. You're my friend after all." reaffirmed Chiaki. It almost seemed baffling that he even thought that she was going to hate him for whatever reason. He just wasn't that type of a guy that would even think of doing despicable acts to others in her eyes.

"Heh...okay, are you ready?" Hajime managed to pull of one tiny smile after hearing Chiaki's thought on it. He became much calmer, seeing how open Chiaki was to listening to him.

"I'm ready, I think." nodded Chiaki. Hajime took a deep breath before he was finally prepared to say it. He hesitated, still worrying if Chiaki would see him in a different way, but he was already far enough

Then he admitted the secret:

"I…..don't have talent."

"That's nothing to worry about, Hajime." Chiaki immediately reassured him, even giving him a pat on the back. Hajime was completely taken with the feeling of absolute shock when a person with talent wasn't bothered that he was without a talent, let alone accept him for that fact. He couldn't utter a word for some time.

"Huh?" blurted out Hajime before he gave her a question just to test how genuine she was about it."Are you...serious about it?"

"Yes! Having a talent was never really important. To tell you the truth, it was more of a burden than anything. Only thing that my future is going to be is just playing games and nothing else. But you can make your own future. You have the freedom that people with talents lack. You could be anything you want." Chiaki started sharing her feelings with him, how it truly meant to be one with talent. He never truly saw how many limitations came with talent, how much one's life is already predetermined, like fate itself setting it in stone. His friend also made him slowly realize how many possibilities he has right in front of the gate, but he still wasn't sure what could he be. It did give him hope that he will be something beyond a person without a talent. Hajime remained silent,

"Besides, I never looked at people for what talent they have. It's more important for who they are and Hajime, there's a lot of great stuff about you." Chiaki suddenly, yet boldly stated. She even put her arm on her chest, with a big smile on her face as she looked directly at him.

"R-really? D-don't get a hang of-" blushed Hajime while trying to downplay any good actions he did, but that did nothing to stop Nanami from continuing expressing her thoughts out loud.

"You are very knowledgeable and you are willing to explain me anything that is unclear to me. If I'm honest about myself, aside from what I know from video games, I don't know much. It's a bit silly, but its true." further expressed Chiaki, remembering all the times he went out of his way to explain her things that she didn't understand, no matter how silly or obvious it was. "Another thing I really like is that you have a strong sense of justice, I think. Like, remember when you called them out for hiding information from us, right?"

"...Yeah, considering for what are we dealing against, anything could be a factor for survival." said Hajime, remembering the persuasion he had to do for sake of others as well.

"I felt really proud of you that day. It showed me that you care a lot about us...which also reminds me of another thing that I really like about you: you have a very kind heart." Chiaki suddenly placed her hand on the spot where his heart was. Hajime blushed even more, especially being touched by her, but he couldn't help but feel soothed by it. He was starting to feel more ease within his heart. "I remember the time when we both entered Hope's peak for the first time. I was...really nervous at that time, but we did it together. I wanna say….thank you, Hajime. Thank you for being my friend."

Hajime took some time to digest everything Chiaki said to him, but he gave her a gentle smile at her, knowing that she was pretty adamant about her thoughts on him. He gave her one last question about it."...So...it's safe to say you don't see me in any different way?"

"Yep, and I don't want you to be anyone else. Hajime will always be my friend." boldly, yet softly confirmed Chiaki. The part about remaining who he is hit him hard, he hasn't heard anyone say it before in his life. He cherished it with everything he had, it was a gesture he would never forget.

"...Heh...I knew I could reach out for you." smiled Hajime at her. He could just hug her on the spot, but he felt like sudden movements would scare her. It was best to go slowly with her. "Thank you, Chiaki."

Chiaki just quietly smiled at him before they decided they were ready to return to their friends. When they opened the door, they were surprised at the sight of three friends already waiting out for them.

"Wait, you guys have heard all of it?" sputtered Hajime, worrying that they would

"Mayuri told us that now's the right time to step in. I think we should all say something on the matter." explained Ibuki, lacking her usual cheeriness that she radiates almost all day. It was possibly because Ibuki felt like this was a matter to be taken seriously.

"I'm kinda not sure what to expect from them, to be honest…" Hajime thought to himself. While he could fully trust Chiaki about it, he didn't know how would Ibuki and Chihiro, fellow students with talents, react to the truth about him. Mayuri didn't worry him too much, because she never stated she had a talent akin to what Hope's peak classified as one.

"Hajime, I'm glad you have opened up even more. One becomes truly happy with life once they accept themselves. I think you should value yourself for what you are, not clamor for what you aren't. For what you are, I wouldn't have you any different." Ibuki spoke as honestly as she could, crossing her arms while giving him an earnest smile. She always wanted to see anyone of her friends just being true to themselves and she was proud of him that he shared an insecurity with his friends. "I'm very glad to have you as a friend."

"I really admire you for how strong you are, Hajime. You're both strong outside and inside. I wish to be just like you, someone who could protect others. It doesn't really matter if you have talent or not, just be who you are." admitted Chihiro to him as well, even pumping his fists to show how much he truly wants to be strong. Even though he didn't say it, Chihiro felt like he should take inspiration from his friends, since he was still hiding his own secret from everyone else.

Hajime couldn't believe it. Not only Chiaki accepting him despite lacking a talent, but Ibuki and Chihiro welcomed him as well. Emotions within him were starting to bottling up, since he wasn't used to such positive influence of his friends around him before.

"Haji-tan, I already knew that something was bothering you when you visited the lab yesterday. You worried that you didn't fit in, didn't you?" asked Mayuri, completely nailing what was bothering Hajime not only in the Future Gadget Lab, but ever since he entered Hope's peak as a whole.

"How is this girl that I've just met yesterday reading me like an open book? I don't know how much can I take it…" Hajime thought to himself while still trying to keep composure, but he did feel like he might be overwhelmed with emotions.

"You shouldn't be worried about that, Haji-tan. Friends will always accept you for who you truly are. Mayushii can assure you that you'll always be our friend." gently reassured Mayuri before she gave off a smile while pointing at the pocket on his pants. "You should also check your phone as well. Mayushii's got a tiny surprise for you, hehehehe~."

Hajime brought his phone out of the pocket to see a notification on his home screen. After clicking on it and typing out his password, he noticed that he received a video file from a contact named Future Gadget Lab. "Huh? What's it about?"

When he started playing the video, he saw that it was recorded by none other than Kurisu, Rintaro and Itaru, who were standing in of the camera, looking directly at him. He was pretty surprised to see that they sent a gift directly for him.

"Hajime, if you are seeing this, then we got something to tell you." began Kurisu while sporting a warm smile on her face. "You and I are on the same parallel. I do not think of myself of having a talent either, the reason what I became today was through a lot of hardship I had to endure….but I do not regret my past. Do not be ashamed of yourself for what you are, rather be proud. I can say I'm very much looking forward to your next visit."

"Dude, you have at least five girls, Kurisu Makise included by the way, all over you. From what I've heard from Ibu-chan, more as well. If that ain't gonna make you a cool guy, I don't know what will! Appreciate what you have around yourself and be happy, bro." added Itaru. Even though he worded in in his own way, there was a feeling of total earnestness in it.

"The One with Ahoge, take the following message with most serious consideration! You're a Lab Mem, which should you consider to be the highest honor anyone could achieve! Talent is meaningless, especially compared to being the one with Future Gadget Laboratory and don't let anyone say otherwise!" Rintaro cheered for him in his own chunnibyou way, posing dramatically in the process.

"This is the message we give specifically for you, Hajime. Thank you for becoming our friend." beamed Kurisu as she waved at him slowly, but gently. Itaru crossed his arms, proudly nodding at him while Rintaro gave out a laugh worthy of a self proclaimed mad scientist.

"El Psy Kongroo." Rintaro concluded the video, striking down the last pose before the video ended. Everything that happened left Hajime completely overwhelmed. The fact that Kurisu, a person he admired a lot for her feats, not only accepted him, not only related to him, but also said directly to him that she's looking forward to seeing him again, filled him with utmost joy. Even though he was holding it through out all the time, he let one tear fall. He just couldn't hold it in fully anymore.

"...You...guys…You...guys are the best…." Hajime thanked them all, letting out some chuckles of genuine happiness out of him. It could be said that this was one of the best days he ever had in his life.

"Come here, Hajime." Ibuki, along with Chiaki, Chihiro and Mayuri, all hugged him as tightly as they all could. Hajime gladly returned it, hugging them all in one fell swoop. His friends never saw Hajime smiling so much before, but they felt great amount of warmth in their hearts. None of them could let go off from each other, they were locked in a hug for some times. Some of them, like Chiaki and Chihiro, were blushing big time.

"Are you feeling better now, Hajime?" gently asked Chiaki, giving a few pats on his back.

"Absolutely! It feels so much more at ease now." joyfully answered Hajime with his heart feeling freedom from a burden that he carried through out his life. After some time, they let go off each other, all of them feeling quite happy with how everything went.

Suddenly, knocks on the door were heard, surprising them all except one.

"Oh, it has arrived!" announced Mayuri as she ran towards the entrance of Chiaki's house. Others waited because they weren't sure who was knocking on the door. There were two possibilities for them: a surprise visit from one of the students of Hope's peak (most of them assuming it was going to be Makoto) or a visit from a Future Gadget Lab member.

Instead, it was prepared lunch that Mayuri bought them through a call.

"Juicy Chicken Number One!" sang Mayuri as she showed them a giant boxes of fried chicken. The scent coming from it tickled appetites of the gang. The hungry black haired girl led them to the dining room, where they could eat friend chicken tenders in peace. After preparing the table for lunch, Chiaki and her friends performed the traditional "Itadakimasu" gesture before they started eating. Chiaki and Chihiro just modestly munched the chicken tenders while Hajime ate like a normal person. Ibuki went slightly overboard with eating chicken tenders, but it was still in acceptable range.

Mayuri, however, munched on chicken tenders like a blue whale catching krill in one swoop. Hajime was quite surprised when he saw a girl like Mayuri eating the lunch like a feral predator.

Few pieces of fried chicken remained after all of them finished with lunch. All of them were satisfied with it, but Mayuri and Ibuki perhaps ate too much of them.

"Ah, Mayushii is so full right now!" proclaimed Mayuri as she tapped her tummy before she wiped off crumbs off her face.

"Soooooooo is Ibuuuuuukiiiiiiii." agreed Ibuki before all of them talked about activities after lunch. They remembered that they still haven't finished the boss rush mode, so they returned to it. The sky ruling eastern dragon awaited for their arrival.

More time passed, with all of them defeating the final boss of the mode. They all felt incredibly accomplished with them going through the boss rush mode, especially since not a single player got knocked out. They were wondering what to do next, but then Chiaki remembered a certain game that she promised to show earlier.

"Alright guys, I think I can show you something I think you'll find cool." Chiaki gave off a disclaimer that she was prepared to fulfill her promise.

"What do you wanna show us, Chiaki?" asked Hajime. Rest of her friends wondered the same. Chiaki stood up from the couch and went left the living room for a bit, only to return with a joystick in her hands.

"I'm ready to go hardcore...I think." declared Chiaki with an oddly incredibly determined expression on her face. It became clear to them what she was going to demonstrate.

"Ah, flight simulator. I wonder how's gonna be that manual used." said Hajime.

Chiaki went to her personal computer and plugged the cable for joystick inside the USB port. Her friends approached her while she was setting up anything required for a certain simulator. They all curiously watched her turn on the computer and then logging in. Once she logged to her account, they were greeted with a desktop background of a magical girl bunny. She had so many different icons for all sorts of games on it, yet they were organized well enough that even a person without interest of games could navigate through it. Chiaki, after navigating through icons, clicked on the blue square icon that had silhouettes of the F-16 Fighting Falcon in it. The game itself was titled Falcon BMS.

Upon clicking on the desktop shortcut, a window with multiple options appeared. It was decorated with two grayscale pictures of F-16s taking off. Chiaki quickly pressed on the "Launch" option to make the game boot up.

When the game finished loading, it brought them to the title screen. It consisted of a flying F-16, armed with two AIM-9M Sidewinder infrared homing missile, two GBU-12 laser guided bombs, two drop tanks and even a LITENING targeting pod near the intake. The layer beneath the fighter was its cockpit, which had two large multi-function displays on them. It was a slight glimpse of what a cockpit of what was presumably F-16CM Block 50 (variant of the Fighting Falcon that is capable of carrying AGM-88C HARM anti-radiation missile). The background image seemed to be the map of Korean peninsula. It was a logical choice, given that the default setting for the simulator was the aforementioned geographical location.

The graphical user interface was quite different from the game they played before. Instead of just everything categorizing into single player mode, multiplayer mode and so on, the game gave them options such as Instant Action, Dogfight, Tactical Engagement, Campaign and much more. Some of the options, like Tactical reference, were exclusive to the genre it was in.

"Bogey has jinked back at me again, sixteen miles at seven o' clock, master arm on!" sampled sound within game greeted them.

"Oh, this music is a jam!" Ibuki bobbed with her head the moment when she heard retro menu theme kicking in. Others observed the game with curiosity, even if they didn't understand some things in it. Chihiro prepared the manual he was allowed to have for a bit in order to see its utility for the game.

"Six miles, six miles! Tally two, tally two!" additional sampled sound within game played in the song.

"Let me show you how its done in the Viper!" Chiaki pumped her fist as she let herself be immersed in the game. The gamer girl chose the Tactical engagement option, which led her to three categories: Training, section of Tactical Engagement that had already built in mission to teach the player how to utilize basics of the aircraft; Saved, more already built-in mission with a couple of Chiaki's own missions and Online. Chiaki then pressed on the saved category and selected the mission that was titled "BVR TEST – FALCON VS FULCRUM". She thought a quick combat scenario would be the best way to demonstrate the game while keeping conscious of time. It would have taken way too long if she went with a full mission. Before she went into the mission, the game presented her a map of Korean peninsula. The type of mission was fighter sweep, with its objective being taking down that pesky bandit. She didn't need to do much adjustments, so she pressed on the "TAKE OFF" option.

The game transferred them to another loading screen, that time presenting the whole aircraft. Some of the boxes of text gave information about its systems and weapons it uses. Time taken for the game to load wasn't too much, as it transferred them to the cockpit view of the F-16C. They flew over the snowy landscape of virtual South Korea at noon. She chose to use Block 50 variant of it, since she was pretty familiar with it. The mission started with the Fighting Falcon that was armed with four AIM-120C AMRAAMs and two AIM-9X Sidewinders, just in case she would be forced to go in a merge, flying above twenty thousand feet in altitude.

"Hold on, can you pause a bit? I wanna take a look around inside this plane." requested Hajime to see the interior of the Falcon. By his request, Chiaki pressed the P button on keyboard to pause the game. She dragged the mouse while holding the right button, demonstrating them the interior. Chihiro, after searching through pages of it, showed them the layout of the cockpit in order for them to see how much of it is accurately modeled within the game. Mayuri had zero idea what it even said in the manual.

Upon further inspecting it, Hajime found out that the simulator modeled the entire layout of the cockpit and the systems within, from just switches and knobs to more advanced stuff like radar warning receiver and multi-function displays eerily accurate. It was hard to believe that a game like this is meant for public.

"Oh wow, they actually got it really close. Really dedicated developers, I have to say." Hajime thought to himself before he wondered how much does the game cost. Must have been expensive, considering that just modules of aircraft for flight simulators tend to cost quite a lot of bucks. "Hey, Chiaki. How much did this game cost?"

"Technically free." quickly clarified Chiaki while still sticking to reality before her mind got absorbed into the game.

"What?! All this for no cost?" blurted out Hajime.

"It's actually a mod for a much older game. You still have to buy the original one though. Luckily, its pretty cheap." elaborated Chiaki while remembering all the procedure she needed to do in order to play it. She even needed an account for a very specific forum. Even though Chiaki sometimes used the internet for games, she always kept herself away from making accounts of sites. She preferred to be just a bystander.

"...This is quite a passion project, if I say so." thought Hajime, finding it a bit ridiculous that such game was developed by people who were asking nothing for charge. "Is this your favorite flight simulator, Nanami?"

"Mhm! One of!" happily nodded Chiaki before she unpaused the game, finally letting herself to fully immerse in it. She adjusted the radar range to one hundred and sixty miles by pressing a gray square button on the top left side of the left multi-function display and then set the range for HSD (function that shows the pilots the flight path and steerpoints) to two hundred and forty miles on the right multi-function display by doing a similar action as before.

After seconds of flying, a white square with a line on its bottom side appeared on the radar. Chiaki immediately responded by slewing the cursor on it and locking it. Then she redirected the Fighting Falcon's nose towards it, while putting the throttle on the max, engaging the afterburner in the process. She also started climbing, since she would not only cruise through the air faster at higher altitudes, but speed combined with altitude would also increase the range of AMRAAMs. It didn't take long for her to break through the sound barrier, despite indicated airspeed on heads up display showing otherwise. When the circular indicator on the heads up display started expanding, she knew she was in range to properly fire the missile.

"Fox Three!" shouted Chiaki as she held on the "Weapon release" button, firing away a single AIM-120C at the Mig. She, after keeping the lock on the aircraft for a bit, immediately broke to the left by yanking the joystick as hard as possible. The aircraft turned so hard that giant trails of vapor appeared on it. Hajime was sort of impressed by how much level of detail the game had, despite seeming a bit on the more vintage side. Chiaki kept the afterburner on, just to keep distance away from Mig's retaliation.

"Did ya get him, Pilot Nanami?" piqued Ibuki as she did a "peeking" pose. Chiaki pressed the number six on the keyboard to see the visual of the hostile, only to find out that Mig-29 Fulcrum was falling down in flames, confirming that the AIM-120C AMRAAM splashed it. "He's down! Wahoo! Before he even appeared!"

"You did it!" cheered Mayuri along with others for Chiaki's successful take down of a virtual bandit. "Mayushii didn't quite understand what was going on, but Mayushii is happy that you did it!"

"Mind if I try it out a bit?" asked Hajime after Chiaki concluded the mission, curious to see what it means to be a flight simmer. Just from watching Chiaki playing it alone gave him an impression that such genre has an entirely different feel from other video games.

"Of course! I really wanna see anyone of you play the game! I also wanna hear what you think of it!" Chiaki jumped out of her chair from excitement, startling Hajime and others a bit.

"Woah there, I'm gonna play it and you're gonna see." Hajime sat down with Chiaki being directly behind him. It felt like she was her Weapons System Officer, despite those being present in different planes. The mission he went with was the same as Chiaki's, starting with the same loadout and starting altitude as before. He was a bit overwhelmed by the amount of switches and buttons present in the Falcon, but after he took a closer look at it, he realized that there was some logic applied to the layout. Each part, such as for starting up engines and turning on external lights, had their own section in it.

"Okay so, these should be self explanatory." Hajime thought to himself as he inspected the cockpit. "This seems to be an air to air mission, so it should be…"

"Oh, one of the buttons is just named A-A. How convenient." realized Hajime after he saw a circular button with the aforementioned marking displayed right in front of him. After he pressed on it, the right multi-function display changed to weapon selection function. The weapon he had as selected was AIM-120C, but he wasn't too sure what was the syntax for it. "Chiaki, what does 120C mean?"

"AIM-120C is an active radar guided missile, meant for longer ranges." explained Chiaki in a way that she sounded like a wannabe instructor. Even if she wasn't playing the game and just watching, she was still knee-deep into the whole game.

"So it's best to keep it at 120C, I assume." said Hajime, keeping the options. After just a bit of flying, a rhombus with a number 29 appeared on the circular radar warning receiver.

"Number 29 appeared on that circular screen. What should that be?" asked Hajime for help.

"Mig-29! Enemy plane! Set your radar range from forty to one hundred and sixty miles!" cautioned Chiaki as if an actual Mig-29 Fulcrum violated their air space. Hajime followed her advice and adjust the functions on the left multi-function display to the requested range. However, he didn't know how to slew the cursor on the white square.

"How do I lock it up?" asked Hajime once again.

"Left shift and arrow keys to move the cursor. Place it then press left shift and home to lock the target. When the circle on Heads up display enlargers, fire it by pressing this button on the joystick" advised Chiaki as she pointed on a circular button on top of the joystick.. As he followed her instructions again, he managed to lock up the bandit. All he had to do at that moment was wait for the indicator on the HUD to enlarge.

"Alright, locked." said Hajime before he was welcomed by the blaring sounds of the radar warning receiver going crazy. "Uh, Chiaki….what do those sounds mean?"

"Mig-29 fired a missile at you! Break left and dive down!" passionately yelled Chiaki, acting like Hajime was in actual danger of being shot down-

"Emergency, emergency!" Ibuki added her own panicking to the situation. Suddenly, Hajime channeled fear and dread of every single pilot that had a missile coming right after them.

"Why does this sole enemy in a damn video game work me up so much?!" thought Hajime to himself before by the sheer chance of luck the indicator expanded. Apparently demonic space bending jesters and divine dragons were a piece of cake to deal with, but a Soviet (now Russian) fighter aircraft meant to directly counter the Fighting Falcon? Entirely different story.

Out of instinct alone, he held on it, but he forgot to to release it immediately out of sudden thrill of adrenaline kicking in, firing three AMRAAMs at the incoming Fulcrum instead. He yanked the joystick hard to make a turn as he started diving down. The Fighting Falcon started drastically gaining speed as it dived down towards the surface of the sea.

"ALTITUDE! ALTITUDE!" alerted the voice within the aircraft, which is affectionately known among pilots, both real and virtual, as Bitching Betty. Hajime thought that Betty's warnings were just making the situation worse, but he managed to pull up before the Falcon would meet its demise in the sea.

"D-did ya get him, Pilot Hajime?" stuttered Ibuki amid all the action that it took place. Hajime at the time didn't know how to switch views as he was feeling that he was going to have a stroke.

"Press six on keyboard." calmly advised Chiaki. Just like she said, Hajime pressed the number six on the keyboard and he felt great amount of relief when he saw that the Russian fighter that threw an R-77 active radar guided missile at him was now bursting in flames, thanks from a hit by all three AMRAAMs he launched at it. Everyone surrounding him celebrated the victory with an applause for taking down that pesky bandit.

"You did it! Now Hajime will be on his way to be an ace too!" cheered Ibuki.

"I survived!" Hajime was just satisfied that he managed to survive in the virtual air space. He was ready to reveal his thoughts on the simulator to Chiaki. "Whew, that was pretty fun….but also….hoo boy….quite something."

"I'm glad you liked it. Seems like it's nice to share around your favorite stuff...I think." giggled Chiaki, just feeling very happy that a friend of hers enjoyed a game that usually isn't accessible for everyone. After finishing their business with Falcon BMS, they have decided to spend rest of the day doing other activities. Chihiro demonstrated the capabilities of his in-progress AI before they decided to freshen up things with a board game.

After spending couple of hours having fun, the night arrived. It was time for them to have some sleep to have some energy for school. Everyone was in their pajamas. The plan was the same as day before, with them sleeping on the couch and Chiaki sleeping in her bed.

"Alright, guys. Are you all ready for tomorrow?" asked Chiaki one more time before they would all call it a day. Judging from responses she got, they all seemed to be more than prepared to face Hope's peak head on next day.

"Mayushii wants to come along too before we go our ways." requested Mayuri to at least follow them to the school before she had to go to the Future Gadget Laboratory.

"You can come along anytime, Mayuri." immediately approved Chiaki, letting her know that her presence makes a day better for her. Before she went to her bedroom, she let out a big yawn. "Now, it's time to take a trip to dream land. Good night, everybody."

"Good night, Chiaki." her group of close friends spoke the last word for that day before all of them went their own ways to have some sleep. Everyone on the couch and Chiaki in her bedroom.

However, the only one that didn't fall asleep was Mayuri. Instead, she quietly went to Chiaki's bedroom to check up on her. Unsurprisingly, Chiaki was already asleep. Mayuri smiled a little when she saw how comfortable she looked while sleeping. After getting up close to her, Mayuri leaned towards her.

"Hey hey." whispered Mayuri, waking her up. She was slightly glad that Chiaki hasn't drifted into deep sleep just yet.

"Oh? Mayuri?" wondered Chiaki after seeing smiling Mayuri in front of her.

"Yep, Mayushii's here." smiled Mayuri before she started gently patting Chiaki's head. The girl that received pats blushed a little, but found ease and comfort in being gently patted on her head."How are you?"

"I feel pretty amazing, especially thanks to you, Chihiro, Hajime and Ibuki coming here. I never really had so many people before here." happily answered Chiaki as she placed her hand on her chest.

"Heh, I can tell. I'm glad that we finally have an opportunity to get to know each other more after so many years." giggled Mayuri before her innocent smile faltered, replacing it with an expression filled with regret. It caught Chiaki off guard, since she has never seen Mayuri in that state before. "I'm sorry I couldn't do it before though….a lot of things happened between our first meeting and now."

"What happened?" piqued Chiaki, wondering what was on Mayuri's mind. She was worried that saying anything wrong to her would make her really upset, so she waited to let her talk about it.

"...Bad things. A lot of bad things happened to Mayushii and her friends. If it wasn't for Okarin, Mayushii wouldn't have been here at all." quietly told Mayuri with a voice full of sorrow. Chiaki froze just by implications alone, she couldn't comprehend how such an innocent and gentle girl like Mayuri could suffer so much. She couldn't even utter a word, yet she felt her heart being squeezed by some unknown force.

"But it's okay now. Okarin got it all under control. Ever since that summer from a while ago, Mayushii's life has been pretty well." comforted Mayuri as her smile returned. That smile of hers alone calmed down Chiaki.

"Thank goodness…" Chiaki let out a breath of relief. She held Mayuri's hand out of an instinct, feeling her warmth.

"You really like Okarin too, don't you, Chi-chan?" asked Mayuri as she winked at her, knowing how much Rintaro told her about it. Chiaki blushed a little before she put words together in her mind.

"Yeah...I do….I sometimes wish I was like him or anyone of my friends…but I don't know how." admitted Chiaki while feeling like she lacked a lot of things that Rintaro Okabe and her friends had.

"Hehehe, you two are not too different from each other." chuckled Mayuri.

"Huh?" Chiaki tilted her head, sporting a blush again. To be compared to a person she considered to be heroic was not expected for her.

"You and Okarin care a lot about your friends. Happiness of your friends is the most important thing to you and Okarin. You proved it what you've said to Haji-tan. Mayushii is very proud of you because of that." explained Mayuri as she gave her more pats on her head.

"I just spoke what I've felt. It wasn't really that much..." Chiaki tried to downplay herself, but Mayuri insisted on what she thought.

"What you've said meant a lot to him. It was quite a lot." Mayuri defended her position before she laid out question that was dedicated solely for Nanami. "I do have a question for you, Chi-chan."

"Yeah?" wondered Chiaki.

"Are you happy with yourself?" suddenly asked Mayuri.

A moment of silence followed. Chiaki desperately tried to keep up a smile, but her eyes were telling a different story. She stared at the floor before she tried to look directly at Mayuri.

"...it will be okay. I promise." Chiaki attempted to reassure that everything was fine with her, but Mayuri's smile vanished the moment when Chiaki became silent about it.

"I think you have already provided me an answer." lamented Mayuri. She decided that at the very least Chiaki could do one favor for her. "If there's anything wrong, you should call me, okay?"

"...I'm gonna try." quietly promised Chiaki, but Mayuri noticed that there was some hesitation in her voice.

"You should take some rest now. Tomorrow awaits you. Good night, Chi-chan." advised Mayuri before she gave her last pats on her head for that day.

"Good night, Mayuri…" Chiaki said to her before she managed to fully fall asleep. Mayuri left her bedroom, feeling nothing but concern for Chiaki. She returned to the living room, but she didn't lie down on the couch immediately. Instead, she opened up the window to look at the starry sky of the night. Watching tranquil stars filled her head with thoughts.

"I'm glad that you have found sincere happiness in your friends, but you are not taking care of yourself at all, Chiaki." thought Mayuri to herself, not understanding that why for some forsaken reason Chiaki refuses to take care of herself at all, contrary to how much she does for her friends. "I think you should be happy with yourself too…"

Mayuri raised her arm to reach for stars. For a while, she just stared at it before she pretended to grab them and lowered down her arm. She closed the window before finally deciding to sleep. Only one thought remained in her mind: When will Chiaki truly feel happy about herself?

 

Chapter 16: Unravelling the Preparation

Chapter Text

 

 

 

The weekend came to an end. The rain continued to fall ever since Saturday, but the clouds started to drift away, letting sun rays peek out. The alarm clock in Chiaki's bedroom went off, groggily waking her up. After lashing our her usual frustrations at it, she went to the living room, where her group of sleepover friends awaited for her arrival. All of them looked at the still sleepy gamer girl when she stepped out of the bedroom.

"Tutturu~! Good morning, Chiaki!" greeted Mayuri, waving at her as Chiaki approached the couch.

"Good morning, guys." Chiaki greeted back before they decided to do their morning routine in order to prepare themselves for the day at Hope's peak academy. After everything was set and done, the gang was ready to finally step in front of the academy once again. Once they stepped outside of their house, Ibuki, Mayuri and Chihiro opened their umbrellas, providing cover against the rain for everyone.

"Alright guys, lets go." said Chiaki before all of them started their journey.

As they walked, they stopped at the crossroad. Chiaki looked multiple times for both ways, just to make sure no overspeeding drivers would give them a nasty surprise when they would cross the road. It was partially because she thought the moped was going to appear. However, much to their fortune, there were barely any cars on the road, so they crossed the road in peace.

Time passed as they walked, but they managed to arrive at Hope's peak undisturbed. The gang was a bit ahead of time, but that benefited them more than it being a setback. Their final stop was the fountain in front of Hope's peak. Mayuri realized it was time to return to the lab. She wanted to spend her time with Chiaki and her friends just for a little bit more, but she couldn't afford making her own friends worry about her well being.

"Well, Mayushii hopes that you guys have a fun day at school. It's time for me to go." noted Mayuri

"Mayuri, when do you think we will be able to meet again?" asked Chiaki about their next potential visit. Rest of her gang were also curious about it, as they wanted to know more about members of Future Gadget Lab.

"Friday and weekend, but we might meet a little sooner, hehehe~." hinted Mayuri with her ever gleaming smile on her face.

"Sooner? That's even better!" chirped Chiaki.

"Now, Mayushii most go. Bye bye!" Mayuri waved at them as a final goodbye for the day.

"Buh-bye!" Ibuki, along with the rest of Chiaki's gang, waved back at her as they went their own ways. All of them decided to sit on a bench as they awaited for their classmates to arrive.

About half an hour after their arrival, students of both classes began with their courses. It was like an average day without once unexpected but dreaded cephalopod interventions. Chisa was being her usual peppy albeit younger than she should be herself, Gundham was spouting dark wizard chunnibyou nonsense in his class, Ibuki was being...well, Ibuki, list goes on.

The time for the lunch break for both classes came to be. All of the students went on their way to the dining room. However, as Chiaki herself was going to have a small meal for the day, she was suddenly stopped by Kyoko, who stopped right in front of the quiet gamer lass.

"You are coming with me right now." demanded Kyoko with a stern, cold look in her eyes. The way she just suddenly appeared in front of her and demanded in a rather bold, adamant way got Chiaki startled.

"Huh? Kyoko?" murmured Chiaki. Even though Kyoko was known for being far more reserved to the point she seemed cold, she didn't expect that the unflinching gaze of hers would be looking directly into her eyes.

"Follow me." requested Kyoko before she started walking away from the dining hall. Chiaki felt like she had no choice in the matter, deciding that it would be best to do obey Kirigiri. Both of them distanced from the rest of the group, being only ones to traverse empty but tranquil hallways of Hope's peak. The silence felt almost strange to Chiaki, since she expected at least some disturbance, whether be it a sudden encounter with another student or a certain marine animal having it a go. The lilac haired gal, without even speaking up as they went through, led the mauve haired girl to the entrance of Hope's peak's own library. Once they entered it, they were greeted by sight of multiple bookcases, filled with content packed books and document folders. The patterned red walls gave the library a sort of antiquated feeling to it, almost like in those detective games. Kyoko offered a seat on a chair that accompanied the table in the middle of the library. Chiaki sat on it, just quietly observing Kyoko. The lilac haired student sat on the chair in front of the gamer girl, as she stared directly into Chiaki's eyes.

"I-is...is there something you need me, Kyoko?" asked Chiaki.

"What were you and Peko doing at Miss Yukizome's flower garden?" Kyoko immediately fired away a question directly for her. She looked quite unamused with what her guest and the swordswoman did previous week. Chiaki started trembling, remaining silent as she worried about what exactly was Kyoko feeling at the moment. She just couldn't truly read her emotions. It was building up within her so much, that she already held onto her hood, just being moments from using it to hide away.

"Don't think of this as an interrogation, I just want to know what were you planting there." clarified Kyoko after noticing that her guest was thinking that she was being prosecuted. She toned down her stare and tone, but Kyoko remained stoic. After Chiaki realized that Kyoko was just curious and nothing else, she became slightly more relaxed to talk to her. She started thinking how to put her words together. With her taking so much time just to speak, Kyoko wondered if Chiaki was going to answer at all.

"...Can't tell." Chiaki suddenly shook her head, keeping her mouth shut about the so-called operation she along with certain others partook in.

"How come? Is the reason perhaps that you are keeping some kind of secret from me?" Kyoko continued questioning her about it. The fact that Chiaki denied telling her made her even more curious about it.

"It is a secret...but not from you." elaborated Chiaki as she started looking at the ceiling. "It's more of that he might hear it."

"That octopus, I assume?" immediately guessed Kyoko, since the cephalopod was quite a hot topic ever since the first time the word "eyeschluss" was uttered inside Hope's peak academy. It quickly became understandable to Kyoko why was Chiaki keeping her mouth shut about it.

"Mhm." nodded Chiaki, feeling slightly relieved that she didn't really upset Kyoko.

"Daft Capo is a name that's been on your classmates' minds for a while, hasn't it?" assumed Kyoko, considering how worked up they all seemed to be for few days.

"Yeah...especially since how commonly Herman targets us." lamented Chiaki as she looked at the floor.

"Naegi and Fujisaki mentioned to us multiple times that the octopus belongs to that mafia. There was quite a lot of skepticism about it, but I decided to look through the documents here to see if there's anything related to Daft Capo. This library alone hosts documents that are classified even today. Every single document is without any censorship, or so I have heard." revealed Kyoko to her. At first, it still seemed a bit odd for Chiaki that entire class 78th only recently heard about the name of a syndicate that haunted her own class for a much longer time. Then a thought appeared in her head: the only reason why class 77-B even knew about existence of Daft Capo is because Gundham managed to encounter penguins and they told him about it. It was a great thing that penguins actually had some form of physical evidence as well, otherwise all they would hear about that mafia was just hearsay, not exactly the most reliable of all sources.

"We actually have found out a lot about Daft Capo, just that….certain conditions need to be met." answered Chiaki slightly more confidently than before, remembering the combined efforts of her academy, penguins and Future Gadget lab members.

"Such as?" Kyoko raised her eyebrow as her interest became greater.

"Gundham knows more about it. You should ask him about it. It's also an answer to those lost spoons." hinted Chiaki while also remembering the case with Teruteru's lost spoons. Upon hearing that Gundham was involved, Kyoko started doubting legitimacy of claims about Daft Capo's existence.

"I want to question why, but I will take your word." bluntly said Kyoko.

"Anyway, what did you find, Kyoko?" asked Chiaki, switching the topic to something Kyoko mentioned herself. Chiaki felt a bit happy that Kyoko went out of the way to research about the ever talked about syndicate instead of just dismissing its existence.

"I wasn't fortunate enough to find any mentions of Daft Capo as a whole, but I did find something that felt...off for me." answered Kyoko before she went to one of the bookcases, pulling out a large untitled document folder out of it. Then she put the folder on the table, opening it up right in front of Chiaki. "Let me show you."

Kyoko pulled out one of the documents from the folder and gave it to Chiaki in order for her to read it. The file seemed to lack an author or even an organization that had it. However, it still looked quite official. It was simply titled "KUSOMIRAI", with no additional subtitles to boot.

"Kusomirai? What's that?" asked Chiaki before she took a closer look at the file. Kyoko remained silent, letting Chiaki to read at her own pace. After taking a look, the game girl started reading about whatever "Kusomirai" was.

"Kusomirai was once considered to be one of the worst cities in all of Japan. It was equated to a glorified inhabitable crime scene, since criminals of worst kind reigned. Murder, theft, arson and other crimes were an everyday occurrence. Even yakuzas and syndicates considered to be high priority threats to the nation avoided Kusomirai."

"Huh...a city so bad that even yakuzas avoided it? Is this city probably connected to Daft Capo?" wondered Chiaki as she was reading through the document. Multiple cases of criminal activities were written in detail about it. Chiaki couldn't believe how would anyone be willing to perform acts described in the document, let alone acts so horrendous that criminal syndicates thought it was too much.

"Continue reading." advised Kyoko before she moved to another page of it, preventing Chiaki to read more about it by herself instead of spoon feeding her information.

"Even though its status quo was prevalent for decades, the situation within the city with the arrival of [REDACTED]. Under [REDACTED] administration, Kusomirai was transformed from the least revered city to an industrial and commercial powerhouse comparable to Tokyo. It's rankings in popularity drastically rose up within a short period amount of time, with a considerable amount of corporations seeking interest within Kusomirai. It is unknown what policies and reforms were implemented to improve the quality of life within the former criminal zone, but one could not deny its prosperity."

It soon became clear what felt off to Kyoko.

"It's...it's blacked out." murmured Chiaki at the sight of black bars blocking out what she assumed to be a name of someone. Whoever was the name of it must have been quite a significant person, considering that they were capable of turning a haven of worst criminals into the next Tokyo, the prime powerhouse of Japan.

"Exactly. This was one of the first things that felt off for me. Out of all documents present in this library, why was this document the only one that was still censored?" wondered Kyoko, taking in the fact that library of Hope's peak hosted all sorts of uncensored documents even from the most secretive of countries. Students of Hope's peak academy could know documents never meant for public if they desired.

"Could this be Daft Capo's work?" asked Chiaki, trying to connect the dots if the ones behind Kusomirai's transformation were truly them. It seemed unlikely for her, since why would a mafia that's more keen to sending a sentient octopus to provoke students inside the academy and beating up a cat girl maid over the fact that one of their members hates anime not only be able to change an entire city for what it seemed to be for the better, but care about it in the first place.

"I am not sure. There's one more thing you need to read." answered Kyoko before she turned the file to its last page as she pointed at the note on the bottom.

"Whoever is in possession of this document should consider themselves to be unimaginably fortunate. Do not discuss the contents of this document in high risk environments. Do not research further history regarding Kusomirai. Do not inspect the internals of Kusomirai.

Anyone who chooses to ignore these warnings will be found. "

Chiaki gulped when she read the last line of the document. She felt pure unrelenting coldness in her body as the fear that her friends will be endangered by whoever was behind Kusomirai's transformation. Judging from the content she has read about it, she imagined that unknown individual could send the most foul criminals to hunt them down.

"K-Kyoko, does that mean…" trembled Chiaki as her imagination went wild, with worst possible scenarios appearing in her mind.

"Nanami, calm down. Its not mentioned that Daft Capo is behind it at all. Could be just a matter of poor timing and Kusomirai being a separate topic from that mafia. It's unlikely that you or anyone else, including me, will even step on Kusomirai's soil." reassured Kyoko with her tone having a slight trace of warmth in her. "It will be fine."

"Still though….that last part…." Chiaki managed to calm down, but a piece of her mind couldn't stop thinking about the warning.

"I'll keep the document to myself. I have to do further research on it." declared Kyoko, expressing her desire to find out more information about the enigmatic city.

"But Kyoko, that sounds incredibly dangerous!" protested Chiaki, with the warning on the document still being fresh in her mind. She didn't want to

"Considering what I've been through before I even enrolled Hope's peak academy, such situations are nothing new to me. I'll be able to handle it." Kyoko spoke to her with glowing confidence, something that Chiaki always lacked. The lilac haired gal even smiled to her. Chiaki was completely surprised from seeing Kyoko, the girl that almost always had a frown on her face, smiling, even if it was just a small one at that. "Do you trust me about it?"

Chiaki wasn't sure what to say. On one hand, her worry about Kyoko's well being and possible danger she could get into was going in full force in her mind. She couldn't afford anyone be harmed, but on other hand, seeing how completely confident was she about investigating and from what she told, it wasn't even the first time she would go into the dangerous waters, made Chiaki trust Kyoko about it. It was another thing that Kyoko had that Chiaki didn't: experience. It did made her worry what her background was, considering that Kyoko apparently saw a lot despite being about as old as the gamer girl herself. Chiaki took some time to express her opinion on it.

"...I do." meekly whispered Chiaki after getting her thoughts together.

"Good. All I have to say is that you shouldn't worry now." comforted Kyoko, reassuring her that no one, not even herself, are going to be harmed. The lilac haired student did feel like warning her about the unknown yet coming events, just so she could prepare her for it. "However, take caution in the future. It's quite uncertain, to say at least."

Suddenly, as they were discussing, doors of the library opened, with a new person coming inside. It was Gundham, who immediately went to the bookcases. Unlike how he was usually, he was completely silent as he observed the bookcase. He had a quite determined look in his eyes, with his scarf covering his mouth.

"Gundham?" Chiaki tilted her head at his sudden appearance.

"Apparently you have answers I've been looking for." Kyoko crossed her arms as she mentioned him, but he was too occupied in his search. When he arrived, he placed the file about Kusomirai back into the folder.

"I see….the book is not here yet." noted Gundham to himself, still facing the bookcase.

"Were you looking for this?" asked Kyoko as she showed him the folder.

"No. That is just a mere document crafted by mortals. What I'm looking for should not be talked to weak minded." elaborated Gundham after he turned his attention towards the accompanied girls.

"Is that supposed to be an insult?" Chiaki squinted with her eyes, not sure if she should take an offense or not.

"Do not interpret it as such, The Thoughtful One. What I mean by weak minded is those that the contents would endanger them." clarified Gundham that his elaboration was not calling them stupid or anything, just that the book itself might be too risky for an unprepared person to read it.

"Geez, whats with today and papers that can endanger people's lives?" pouted Chiaki as she thought to herself that having to deal with two dangerous printings within such a short span of time was ridiculous. One was enough for her.

"Endanger them...how? Is it high value data that organizations are looking for?" asked Kyoko while demanding an explanation on his part. She wasn't sure if Gundham was just acting along. The supposed Supreme Overlord crossed his arms, contemplating whether or not he should explain it to them.

"Do either of you believe in higher forces?" piqued Gundham, in a way that was completely devoid of any chunnibyou nonsense. It was silent, yet shockingly sincere. Chiaki was taken a back by Gundham dropping his persona to lay out a question that she didn't see coming at all.

"I...I….I never thought about it that much." faltered Chiaki, since she couldn't answer to a topic she had zero idea about.

"There is no confirmation about existence of higher forces, nor there is confirmation that they do not exist. It's a topic up to debate, but this is not my expertise." Kyoko

"I must admit that you answer is a lot more open-minded than expected, The Seeker of Truth." smirked Gundham before his determined expression returned on his face. "But I must remain silent about it. Anyway, you have mentioned that you have a desire for assistance from the Supreme Overlord himself. What shall it be, The Seeker of Truth?"

"It's Daft Capo. Nanami told me you know more about it." revealed Kyoko to him. Even though usually he would boast about it, his oddly calm demeanor persisted.

"Hmmm….I see. If you desire to find out the truth, you should wait at the entrance of this institution after we have concluded the activities of this Earth's rotation." Gundham gave instructions to the incoming member of his Fellowship of Darkness.

"Very well then. So be it." nodded Kyoko as she deemed Gundham's response to be satisfactory enough. Before she decided that she would remain in the library to further inspect the document about Kusomirai, she noticed that neither Chiaki nor Gundham have eaten anything during that day. "You two should get a meal right now. I'll remain here."

"Shall we return to the room of feasting, the Thoughtful One?" Gundham invited her to go along to the dining hall. Chiaki wanted Kyoko to come as well, but she understood that she would prefer to inspect the document in peace.

Yeah….I forgot that I haven't eaten today. Now that I do….gosh, I actually really need to eat something." Chiaki tapped her tummy when she realized that she was hungry. Both of them bid farewell to the lilac haired girl as they exited the library. As they went, Chiaki couldn't shake her thoughts off about the document and the book the wizard boy was looking for. They both represented two different kind of dangers to her, though the latter one she thought it was potentially a supernatural threat. Even though Gundham often plays it up a lot, it did seem like a genuine possibility that something out of the ordinary could happen. After all, one doesn't see a land based octopus every day.

Their classes came to an end for the day. Chiaki went a bit earlier to the entrance of the school, so that she would await for Kyoko. Just like she thought, the stoic lilac haired girl arrived to the scene.

"Here you are, Kyoko!" greeted Chiaki.

"So he told me to wait here. What does he plan to do?" asked Kyoko as both of them awaited for the inevitable. Kyoko's question got quickly answered by itself when the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness arrived to the entrance. She was slightly surprised by not only how many people did Gundham (or rather, circumstances themselves) persuade already, but also who was already in. The sight of Fuyuhiko, Peko and Chihiro being a part of Gundham's own secret alliance were the most oddest one for her.

"Oh hey, Kyoko! You're in for it too?" Makoto greeted her with enthusiasm.

"Welcome to the team, Kyoko." smiled Chihiro at another classmate joining the alliance against the threat of Daft Capo. As she observed, Kyoko got more and more curious about what has Gundham cooked up behind the curtains.

"Mwahahaha! Are you all ready?!" Gundham let out a villainous laugh as he faced his so called "minions", making sure they were all prepared for another meeting with penguins.

"HELL YEAH, DUDE!" Nekomaru pumped his fists, approving him in the process. Others, even those who haven't opened their mouths, agreed with him.

"Gwahahaha! Let us proceed!" declared Gundham before they went on their way to their hideout by taking the "secret" path through the flora around Hope's peak.

"What exactly is he planning to do?" asked Kyoko as they crossed through many bushes. She wasn't sure why exactly were they ta

"It's...uh...weird." Makoto attempted to explain, but no matter what would he say, he thought that there is no way she would believe him.

"Gundham says a lot of times that its something one must see it with their own eyes….which is pretty accurate considering what we all saw." added Chihiro while taking the words of his leader into consideration. Kyoko wondered what could be so absurd that no classmate could put it in their words.

After they crossed their secret path to the "hideout", they all went to garage's door. It has opened by itself right

"Mwahahaha! Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, I have brought another member to our Fellowship of Darkness!" boastfully announced Gundham to his fellow bird companions as all of the members of Hope's peak academy took a seat.

"Oh, what's it gonna be now, wizard man?" Skipper turned with their chairs to face their human colleagues, only to lay eyes on the elegant new companion. As cold as might she seem, no one could disagree that she was quite a good looking woman. "Woah, mama! Now THAT is a bombshell you have brought us, my man!"

"Yes, she looks like a woman of refined taste." agreed Kowalski with a satisfied grin on his face.

"Tell everything you know about Daft Capo." Kyoko immediately fired a demand, cutting their talk about her short in order for them to focus on the more relevant subject matter. It came to a surprise to them that she didn't even react to them at all, just went straight to the discussion about their enemy.

"Eh, you ain't gonna even react to seeing talking penguin commandos plotting against-" quipped Skipper, but Kyoko remained with a straight face.

"You seem to have documents behind your back. Hand them over." interrupted Kyoko after noticing that there was a folder near their laptop. The sheer amount of dedication she had in her voice made penguins think that it would be no use in arguing her, admitting defeat instead.

"...Okay then. Quite a bold woman too...I like it." Skipper ordered Rico to give her the documents, but he was soon reminded by Kowalski that he won the bet, earning the money in his jar. "I won the bet, but I'm not sure how to feel about it."

"All of them." reminded Hajime that Rico attempted to remove photos from their expedition in Denmark, specifically in Copenhagen. After obtaining the folder, Kyoko started inspecting every single photo in it, including the one where Fritz kicks Private like a football, looking for anything that she found interesting.

"Did you find anything new here, you...hmmm...what would be a good nickname for her?" wondered Skipper while Kyoko was doing her job.

"I think she's just okay with being called by her real name. She's Kyoko Kirigiri." clarified Makoto, thinking that she wouldn't really like being nicknamed at all. Suddenly, Kyoko put down the folder on the table.

"There's a pattern for their locations of choice." spoke Kyoko after she concluded. It got attention from others, wanting to hear her out about it.

"Speak, Mrs. Kirigiri!" ordered Skipper, pointing his flipper at her.

"In the every single picture where Daft Capo members are present, they tend to reside at ports. Warehouses seem to be a popular choice for them." explained Kyoko as she put pictures where she noticed the pattern on the table, organizing them in such a way that everyone could see it.

"Come to think of it, yeah, we've been fighting those punksters at ports a lot." noted Skipper.

"It would be also safe to say that they're in for the cash, right?" reminded Hajime after remembering how penguins explained the adversary's motives.

"Definitely." nodded Kowalski with an odd sense of prime.

"Considering that everyone present here is at the very least aware of Herman's presence, it would be safe to say that one of their hideouts could be found in the port of this city. We should keep an eye on warehouses as well." continued Kyoko as she laid down a rather noticeable hint for them. At the very least they knew where to look for, even if it took them a while.

"That's great and all, but...that sounds like information needed to make an offensive move on them. Isn't that...kinda too dangerous?" cautioned Makoto after noticing that they were seeming to make a more direct move against Daft Capo, contrary to the defensive planning they have all did for their academy.

"This is a bad idea." immediately alerted Fuyuhiko.

"It's our job to intervene in the filthier parts of that mafia. You guys are gonna stay in academy, no worries about it." reassured Skipper, even though there was a possibility that they might have to do offensive moves against the criminal syndicate in the future. One could only defend for so much before exhaustion kicks in.

"Yeah, but after we're done with that octopus fucker, he's gonna send in his own men against us, right?" Fuyuhiko pointed out the very real possibility he was concerned about.

"Yes, absolutely, without a doubt." Skipper didn't even mince his words

"I knew it. I sometimes wonder if it were better if we never knew about Daft Capo and we thought of that fucker as some shithead who's trying to have a laugh." lamented Fuyuhiko while not letting his concern go away. He and Peko knew from experience how can fights between Yakuzas go and it's not exactly pretty.

"In my opinion, it is better that you know about Daft Capo's existence. It would be a bigger shock if he sent his men against you." refuted Kowalski, also speaking from his experience, with the events at Copenhagen coming up in his mind.

"...Yeah, that makes sense." agreed Fuyuhiko, even though the concern within his brain remained.

"I do have a question for all of you." Kyoko suddenly spoke again.

"What is it, Kyoko?" Skipper along with Kowalski and Rico turned their attention to her.

"How did you find out about Daft Capo in the first place?" asked Kyoko, trying to see if she can get to the very beginning to contextualize their presence in Japan.

"...Alright, boys and girls. Now comes the part of this conversation that I call "Mucha Historia de Transfondo". Are you all ready for it?" began Skipper as he leaned towards them with a determined expression on his face.

"As long as it actually provides us some information about Daft Capo, we're good." approved Hajime with others agreeing, since more info they knew, the better.

"It all began in Manhattan, New York. Before that, we had a lot of journey all around the world, fought the bad guys and so on. After dealing with another octopus, whose name was Darrence, I think-" started Skipper, remembering all sorts of adventures he had beforehand, from hijacking a cargo ship meant to go to Kenya, just so that they could reach Antarctica to their encounter with a completely different cephalopod that had a grudge against all penguins for stealing his thunder.

"It was Dave." interjected Kowalski in order to correct his leader about the name of another octopus.

"You still remember him?" perplexed Skipper as he realized that he was speaking from vague memories. The bad guy that remained in his mind the most was a crazy animal hunting french policewoman."Anyway, after we dealt with that guy, we decided to return to Manhattan, just to have some time to relax and chill."

"So what you're saying is...Herman's looking for revenge?" assumed Makoto after hearing the so called prelude to their encounter with Daft Capo.

"Nope, he doesn't know the guy. He directly told me that." denied Skipper. It seemed odd for everyone present that Herman didn't knew about another villainous octopus, but then they realized that it was not a smart idea to assume. "Anyway, for a while, we did chill. Then the inevitable happened when we got eggs thrown right in our faces. You know how the rest of the story goes."

"But we did manage to beat him next time we met him, just that the next day following Herman's defeat, the zoo was taken over by people in white tuxedos." continued Kowalski, giving them a mental image of Central Park Zoo being overrun by gangsters. That seemed like a possibility in the 1930's, not in the modern era, but it was undeniable truth that it happened.

"...Yeah, the tall one was right about knowing whats coming." realized Fuyuhiko on how a sudden takeover of school would shock them far more than anticipating it in the first place.

"That only meant one and only thing: war!" spoke Skipper with an odd fiery passion before he continued his backstory about their encounter. "We were kicking their rears back and forth in New York, but we found out that Manhattan wasn't the whole picture. They were also in Florida!"

"That's the part of America where all wacky things happen, right?" remembered Ibuki as the faint recollections came from her mind about all the stories she heard about that very specific state.

"That's an understatement, Horned Musician, but we did manage to beat them at their own game." said Skipper.

"Then we found out that they have come from Europe." Kowalski decided it was his turn to continue the story."So we flew over the Atlantic and then our journey in the Euro zone began. Since almost everyone here knows about it, I'll just recap it for newcomers."

"So yeah, that's basically it." Skipper

The Hope's peak folk wondered how did penguins even manage to fly across an entire ocean, but they thought it was not a relevant question among with other details. What mattered the most at that moment was they found out more about Daft Capo past and their ire against them grew even more.

"Judging from what you've told me, it seems like they have made first moves. Do you also perhaps know how did they found you out?" further asked Kyoko.

"No can do, miss. They just appeared, like all these bad guys do. I still wonder how did they manage to sniff us out." Skipper shook with his head as he wondered about it.

"Fate often connects adversaries in the most unexpected ways." commented Gundham, crossing his arms for the additional effect of self perceived coolness.

"Uh, Skipper, by the time we were talking about the backstory and such, what does the red triangle mean again?" Private, who was busy observing the Hope's peak through the program that their programmer student made, turned towards them for help. The moment when they heard "red triangle", a feeling of rush overtook them.

It only meant one thing: it was him.

"Herman!" shouted Skipper like a general sending their troops to the battlefield.

"Oh shit!" realized Nekomaru the moment the name of the octopus was uttered.

"Pack up your cases, boys and girls, because we got an octopus to beat!" ordered Skipper as Rico went out of the way to open the door of garage. Some of them, like Gundham, who has eagerly anticipated the moment, were inclined to follow the rush, while others, like Hajime, hesitated. It was finally time to chase that octopus once again.

Suddenly...

"Stop!" yelled Chiaki amid the chaos that happened in the garage. Everyone stopped their movements to look at her. The entire Fellowship of Darkness was looking at her, awaiting for answer. Chiaki was a bit startled by how many people were looking at her, but it didn't stop her from standing by her ground.

"What?" perplexed Skipper at the sudden yell of the gamer girl.

"This is not a good idea. It will end up like it always has." cautioned Chiaki, remembering all the times they, including that one time she was by herself only, went to chase down the octopus, only to fail miserably.

"But there's a chance that one of your amigos at Hope's peak is gonna get bamboozled. Are you willing to let that happen?" argued back Skipper.

"And the duel to determine the fate of this institution shall be wasted!" reminded Gundham as he shook his fist.

"I'm afraid we had to let that happen for now. When a boss is too difficult to beat, you need to change up your strategy." Chiaki decided to take a risk, even though she wasn't too pleased with it by herself. "From what I've seen, Herman always had an upper hand when we reacted to him. He was constantly running circles around us."

Chiaki's caution made everyone realize their situation with that octopus. She wasn't exactly wrong that he was always the first one to strike and any attempt at chasing him down ended in his victory. Even penguins were keen to listen to hear, just to integrate anything she said to their overall strategy.

"Alright then, what's your plan, Marshmallow Face?" asked Skipper while still insisting that they should chase him down and beat him up.

"We should observe his movements and patterns. Maybe we'll get something out of it." suggested Chiaki as she raised her finger.

"T-that was...kinda the entire point of the program after all, wasn't it?" reminded Chihiro.

"She's making some sense to me." agreed Fuyuhiko upon hearing her out.

"Not bad. Not bad at all." nodded Kowalski, surprised that he didn't hear some mumbo jumbo from her instead.

"I still insist on getting to action." Skipper's mind on combat remained unchanged.

"It's better to lose a single battle than to lose the entire war." smirked Gundham as he supported Chiaki's statement. Skipper squinted at the wizard man before he decided that it would be best way to decide democratically.

"Alright then, who's with me?" asked Skipper for the members to raise their hands. Only Rico and Private raised their flippers for his support. "Just you two?"

"And who's with her?" further asked Skipper to see who's on Chiaki's side. Everyone else, including Kowalski, raised their hands.

"...Right. Then we will go with whatever she cooked up." sighed Skipper before Chiaki and then everyone else came closer to the laptop to see the octopus action unfold. The red triangle was found in one of the halls, who seemed to approach a green circle at the worrying speed. Judging from the sound that PELN detected, the green circle seemed to represent a girl, who was just humming along her way. Another thing they noted is that despite their classes being over for the day, some students had post-school activities at the academy.

"Do you guys know who is this girl?" asked Private if anyone was familiar with the girl. After hearing her voice, she was quickly recognized as Hiyoko, often referred as one of the most unpleasant students of class 77-B.

"...Oh, we aren't gonna feel sorry for that one." sighed Hajime.

As they continued watching and listening, they head that an object was dropped in front of Hiyoko, judging from a sound that seemed to signify an impact on the floor. The green circle stopped moving forward as the red triangle was observing from behind.

"Ha ha, real funny there, you fucking douche-" sneered Hiyoko, only to be surprised by the appearance of the enemy cephalopod.

"Hello there!" greeted Herman in his own bombastic way.

"Oh, look at you. It's Hope's peak's biggest annoyance. It's just pathetic looking at you, octopus barf!" Hiyoko spared no time to take an opportunity for an insult, trying to act all mighty against the adversary of Hope's peak.

"Hahahaha, what you've just said is low tier garbo among insults! As expected of a banana bush, who sucks at dexterity!" retaliated Herman with a laugh. Those who remembered what a certain rock star had to say to their classmate, they knew they were in for a not good time.

"You better fuck off with calling me that, squid shit!" retorted Hiyoko with a furious yell, not realizing that her reaction was what Herman wanted.

"Can't even get the species right, HAHAHAHA! Your brain is truly a micro peanut!" Herman continued taunting. The observers could hear that Hiyoko was getting genuinely upset, no matter how tough would she play herself to be.

"I don't give a single shit what you call me! Only thing that comes out of your smelly mouth is vomit!" raged Hiyoko, despite the outcome becoming more and more obvious.

"I dunno, Mrs. Banana, you seem to give a lot of shits right now." sassed Herman

"S-shut up! SHUT UP!" shouted Hiyoko in desperation. The bully dancer could triumph against meek nurses, but against experts of taunting, she was a complete amateur.

"Hahahaha, not much of a tough shit, are you? Now get read for….EYESCHLUSS!" Herman carried out the dreaded but at that point heard-so-much attack, spraying Hiyoko's eyes with ink. Everyone who was observing the situation winced upon hearing the attack, knowing all too well by themselves.

"WAAAAAAAAAAAH!" Hiyoko started bawling like a kid that tripped over a rock.

"Hahahaha, gottem! Now to the next scrub!" said Herman to himself before he went away from Hiyoko, looking for new victims. The triangle moved, but the circle remained in one spot.

"Nevermind, I kinda feel bad for her….even if she was asking for it." Hajime took his words back. No matter how much of a jerk one was at Hope's peak, no one deserved the Hermaning, at least that's what they thought. They continued observing, spotting two green circles in the hallway. The red triangle was approaching them as fast as beforehand

Suddenly, the red triangle pulled off a U-turn, running away from the green circles instead. To say it was a surprise to everyone observing the situation would have been an understatement. It was running even faster than before.

"Wait what?" sputtered Skipper at the sight of their enemy retreating. They all wondered how did two students of Hope's peak academy, the supposed targets of his, just made him run away without even realizing that they were meant to be attacked.

"Select the channel for it." advised Kyoko to Private. The littlest penguin obeyed as he clicked on the PELN located nearby.

"Now, who's gonna be - Adios!" Herman changed his tone from a bombastic to a quiet, concise yet fearful one within a second.

"Sakura, is it just me, or did someone just say Adios?" questioned the first girl after hearing it.

"You are not mistaken, Hina. I've heard it too. Perhaps we should check out." answered the second more gruff girl as both of them started following Herman. The red triangle was speeding up so fast, that it was a matter of seconds when would he leave the academy. The red triangle soon exited the academy, hiding outside. Two green circles patrolled the inside of school, but soon returned to their intended activity: going to the gym.

"Hey, penguin boys! Have you ever seen Herman run away before?" asked Ibuki as they all witnessed the retreat.

"Nnnnope! This is a first timer." Skipper shook his head in disbelief.

"Whoever these two women are, we must get them on our side." suggested Kowalski, rubbing the underside of his beak.

"They're just our classmates. Aoi and Sakura." clarified Makoto.

"Get them on our side!" immediately commanded Skipper as he pointed his flipper at him, startling him in the process.

"But-" Makoto tried to have a word in it.

"That is an order!" demanded Skipper, shutting down any objections from the tinier ahoge boy.

"Sheesh…" sighed Makoto before they all continued observing. The red triangle remained in its hiding spot for some time, even when it seemed like every student concluded their day at the academy. They all wondered why did he choose to remain at Hope's peak, despite seeming like his job was done.

Suddenly, after much time of waiting, the red triangle moved once again. It went inside the academy, traversing through the halls.

"He's making a movement!" alerted Private, just so that everyone could focus on it. Unlike before, he seemed to follow a path to a place, unlike before where he was just targeting individuals. Private switched floors when he saw that Herman disappeared from the first floor.

"Where is he even going?" wondered Chiaki as they all saw him traverse through their school. The red triangle went to the fourth floor of the academy, where as he spent most of his time residing in the first floor. Not a single person other than the enemy was present there. He stopped at the very specific room on that floor, where he just stood there, not even making a move forward or backwards.

"Huh? What kind of business does he got at...wait, I forgot what room is this." asked Skipper. For a moment, silence followed, since some of them weren't one hundred percent sure of the entire academy's layout.

"...That's principal's office." suddenly revealed Kyoko once she remembered the layout of the fourth floor. With a single sentence, she managed to open the floodgates of questions regarding true nature of Herman's intrusions.

"So that fucker is not only there to piss us off, eh?" denounced Fuyuhiko, realizing that there was far more to Herman than it seemed.

"Could it be…?" wondered Kyoko if he was behind a specific document. She hid the file about Kusomirai, so that no one else could see it. After the red triangle spent some time at principal's office, it disappeared entirely, not even following the same path as before. The observers concluded the sessions with more questions and answers

"So….what can you get out of this, Marshmallow Face?" Skipper turned towards the one who suggested the plan in the first place.

"Hit and run strategy, just like I thought. But he also seems to only attack on the first floor...which makes his venture at the fourth floor even more odd. Halls seem to be his most popular place for his offenses." explained Chiaki while putting pieces of the forsaken puzzle together, taking everything she has experienced and heard in consideration.

"This is something you guys already know, but he also seems to like to attack a single person or two at the same time." reminded Nekomaru about the realization he had with Gundham way earlier than anyone else.

"Yep, that too." concurred Chiaki before she had her own announcement to make. "I think it's time for us to come up with a counterattack."

"Bring the laptop on this table. The floor plan on it is gonna be handy right now." requested Kyoko. Private put the laptop with the program still running on the table, letting them see the floor plan of the academy.

"I, the Supreme Overlord, shall give you advice before we start, my minions: If you want to beat them, you must think like a villain!" added Gundham a piece of his own mind to help them before they truly begun their plan.

"Alright so, I think that since he has been running circles around us, the best option would...either to set up a trap or do an ambush on our own." started Chiaki with giving them two strategies regarding dealing with the cephalopod threat.

"I'm going in for an ambush. They're more dynamic and adaptable for this situation." Hajime stated his own choice. Majority of the Fellowship of Darkness agreed with his choice, with only Rico wanting to set up a trap in his own way, but the rule of majority applied.

"Right, so we said that the halls are his go-to place for attacks. We should probably set up the ambush here." added Makoto as he pointed at the halls. He thought of a possible option to implement in their plan."Would it make sense if we split into multiple groups to cover more areas?"

"We're kinda limited on numbers for this. I think one group would suffice." reminded Skipper that they shouldn't be too lenient with group placements.

"However, I do think that a back up would be necessary for this, in case the ambush fails for the first time." recommended Peko.

"In the name of beating the living shit out of that octopus bastard and not involving my clan, I'm gonna volunteer." declared Fuyuhiko, just so that at least they would provide some help in their fight against Daft Capo without escalating it.

"I may provide back up as well." added Peko as she joined Fuyuhiko as the "back up" part of the plan.

"So, who's gonna be the first line of offense, aside from us, of course?" asked Skipper, facing the Hope's peak folk.

"Mwahahaha! Couldn't it be more obvious? It should be me, The Supreme Overlord GUNDHAM TANAKA! The wait for the fated duel shall be no more!" boasted Gundham, who couldn't hide his enthusiasm for a duel anymore. Not that he hid it in the first place.

"Aw yeah! I want to be the first one to strike as well!" offered Nekomaru some assistance to his wizard colleague as well.

"So, we got that covered. What should come next?" further asked Skipper, demanding that Chiaki should continue with what she was laying out in front of them.

"Now it would be best time to add a "fail-safe" second ambush, in case Herman escapes from the first one. That one should be more likely to knock him out." continued Chiaki before she decided that she's gonna confront the octopus by herself as well."For this one, I'll be the one to volunteer.

"You can fight, Marshmallow Face?" perplexed Skipper, hardly imagining that someone as visibly soft as Chiaki Nanami could throw even something resembling a punch.

"I'm not afraid to put up fists if it means to protect my friends." pouted Chiaki as she put up fists to show that she's willing to go full physical. Skipper was even more flabbergasted by how determined she seemed to be for it, but at least he appreciated

"I'll be the one to be provide back up for her. I'll...improvise." Hajime

"What would happen if Herman escaped from this ambush as well? Do you have a plan for that as well?" questioned Kowalski in regards for a possibility of the second ambush failing.

"Then…" continued Chiaki before she started thinking about another addition to make their plan foolproof. "There should be the "final option" ambush, the last line of defense. This one should be guaranteed knock out...or else our plan fails."

"Just a reminder that we do not have infinite manpower right now." cautioned Kowalski.

"Oh, oh, Ibuki's gonna be the final line of defense!" Ibuki offered herself to assist in their plan. It wasn't exactly a rap battle as she intended before, but she could have a proper one next time. Chiaki decided that Ibuki's contribution should be the last ambush.

"Now then, what would you guys do after Herman gets to see the stars above his head?" Skipper gave out a question, to which Rico provided his own answer: by bringing out a dynamite and lighting up a match. Everyone bar penguins was in shock for suggesting a rather explosive answer.

"Put that thing away, you maniac!" shouted Hajime at him, but Rico still insisted with his choice.

"Rico, no!" Skipper denied him of feeling stimulation of witnessing the big kabooma.

"Awww…" lamented Rico before he extinguished the flame by eating it. The Fellowship of Darkness discussed about using less extreme measures to deal with Herman after his possible defeat.

"Put him where he belongs: in the trash." suggested Fuyuhiko after coming up for an idea to deal the finishing move against Herman.

"Fill it also with bad manga. Make him feel the karma." added Hajime to Fuyuhiko's idea.

"Uh, isn't that...a little bit too much, even for him?" hesitated Makoto. Even though he was their enemy, karmic irony was perhaps too much.

"Do you want to know what he and his cronies did to that cat girl maid?" countered Hajime, remembering what the Future Gadget Lab told them about their story.

"Umm...sure." Makoto reluctantly agreed to listen. Hajime told him and the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness that they put Faris in a box full of so called "anti anime propaganda" after beating her up and taking over her cafe. Needless to say, everyone thought it was a dick move.

"...Nevermind. This punishment is fair." Makoto changed his stance, going with their plan.

"I like your style, boys and girls. So we have everything set and go?" Skipper put his flippers around his stomach while posing proudly.

"Hold on, Skipper. There is a missing element in our plan." reminded Kowalski about one thing they haven't mentioned about their plane.

"Tell me then, Kowalski." said Skipper.

"Even though we have planned one main ambush and two supplementary ones, our current plan relies on luck. It would be better if we had an awareness about Herman's movements beforehand." explained Kowalski, to which all realized that all of their plan could be foiled by just changing few variables.

"I can cover that!" Chihiro suddenly spoke up as his hair went puffy. Then he got flustered over how determined he seemed to provide help. "..if..uh...wanted."

"Master of Code, I knew I could rely on you!" sincerely praised Skipper before he had to make a deal with him, just to make the plan more smoother. "Say, you come here at six o clock in the morning tomorrow?"

"Yeah, I think I can manage that." approved Chihiro.

"You shall get a visit from the Supreme Overlord as well, fellow avians. After all, we are in the same team." announced Gundham to them.

"Pronto, wizard man!" nodded Skipper.

"I think we should be all set in place. Who's ready to show Herman who's boss around here?" asked Kowalski after concluding their plan. He wanted to hear if his fellow members were ready to execute the plan next day.

"HELL YEAH, DUDE, I AM PUMPED!" shouted Nekomaru as he pumped his fists.

"MWAHAHAHA! The day of decided fate couldn't come any time sooner!" boasted Gundham, striking down a pose worthy of a villain.

"As long as we stop Herman, I'm all for it." quietly declared Chiaki. Everyone else was more than ready to take down that bastardly octopus.

"You guys realize that this is just phase one, right?" Fuyuhiko gave a last reminder regarding that they're dealing with an organization after all.

"Do not worry about it, Fuyuhiko. I'm sure they know, but one can't deny that great satisfaction is coming tomorrow!" boastfully reassured Skipper.

"You better live up to your words, penguin." warned Fuyuhiko before all of them decided to conclude the meeting. All of them went their own way, most of them coming home to get some rest for the next day. It was gonna be a huge one, after all.

However, Kyoko decided to revisit Hope's peak once again. Her mind was occupied with what she witnessed while observing Herman's movements through Chihiro's program.

"Hmmm...out of all criminal syndicates I've seen, this one was...one of the more unique ones. They operate unlike anything else." Kyoko thought to herself as she walked towards her destination, contemplating at full force. "What bothers me is that sudden move of his to go for principal's office. I have to check it to see if there's any traces of his activities."

Once she managed to reach the academy, she went to the fourth floor at her own pace. Only thing that accompanied her were her own footsteps, which echoed through out void halls. Upon reaching the desired floor, she immediately went to the principal's office. She looked through the keyhole to see if anyone was present. It turned out that no one was there. The door wasn't even locked as well.

"Still not occupied. This is an ideal opportunity to inspect." thought Kyoko as she opened the door, stepping right into principal's office. Principal's table was placed in front of a large window with white curtains. They were moved to provide natural light in the office. The lilac haired girl decided to inspect the office, starting with the table. On the table alone, there weren't any disturbances spotted, just office supplies hastily occupying place on it. Kyoko then stepped behind the table, spotting a small cupboard under it. She assumed that the principal probably had some documents placed there, so decided to check out.

When she opened the first drawer, she was that nothing was placed there. Just emptiness. Checking the second, third and fourth drawer got her same results. The complete absence of anything gave her suspicions about possible true reason why Herman and to extent Daft Capo, is aiming for her academy. A thought about Kusomirai's file also came into play, but she wasn't sure if they were after a specific document or were they looking for any kind of files about the school. She took a small notebook out of her pocket and wrote down what she saw. Then she decided to leave the office, heading home. The true motive behind the disappearance of Hope's peak's documents remained a question in her head.

 

Chapter 17: Operation Track & Whack II: Phase Whack (ARC II END)

Chapter Text

Operation: Track & Whack (Phase: Whack)

Location: Garage that belongs to an apartment owned by a landlord that penguins must pay rent for, allegedly Tokyo, Japan

Time: 5:55 AM

Date: Tuesday, [REDACTED]


The rain ceased to fall, yet the gray clouds remained. Some cars drove on the puddle ridden roads, creating splashes as the drivers rushed to their jobs. Amid the rushing traffic, the door of the hideout for Fellowship of Darkness was closed.

From bushes, a programmer boy with a laptop bag appeared, going for his desired destination. Once he reached the entrance of the garage, he gently knocked on the door. The avian folk inside heard the noise, so they opened the door for him.

"Good morning, everybody." greeted Chihiro as he stepped inside the hideout. Penguins turned their heads to focus their attention to their colleague.

"Morning, Master of Code. You're being quite early today." complimented Skipper, putting his flippers around his stomach like a determined yet satisfied boss.

"Yeah, I didn't wanna miss it out." elaborated Chihiro before he glanced at the powered on laptop that penguins seemed to use at that moment. "Is everything prepared?"

"Everything is set and go. You may use it as you like." approved Kowalski as he, along with other penguins, offered him a seat that was near their laptop. The program was already running by the time the programmer ally arrived.

"Ah, thank you, guys!" thanked Chihiro before he sat on the seat, beginning his job for their collaborative operation. By the time he began, Gundham Tanaka was waiting in front of the open door.

"The wizard man is here!" pointed out Skipper as all penguin lads turned their attention towards the human leader of The Fellowship of Darkness.

"Our time has come, Avians of the Faraway Blizzard!" announced Gundham, making a motion with his hand to invite penguins over to his side. Penguins nodded before they slid on the floor. Few seconds passed before they were already outside.

"We're gonna go packing now, Master of Code. Make us proud!" said Skipper as he gave him a salute.

"P-pronto, Skipper." saluted Chihiro in order to imitate general behavior of those penguin commandos. Private chuckled at the sight of their human friend trying to copy their behavior, finding it cute. The chunnibyou wizard student and four penguins departed from the sole Fellowship of Darkness member, who was in charge of monitoring of the situation around his school. Chihiro noticed that they let the door open, so he looked for a remote inside. He quickly found it lying on the table near penguins' laptop and used it to close the entrance, hiding him from potential intruders and drivers that really wanted to park their car in their hideout.

The light emitted from the laptop became the only source of it in the hideout, lighting up programmer's face amid the claustrophobic darkness. However, the darkness didn't bother Chihiro much, it was rather oddly comforting. Not only was he used to such environments, since he sometimes worked through out nights, but it also concealed him from any threats that could come for him. He observed green circles scattered around the floor plan of the Hope's peak academy, wondering what were they up to that day. Since the dreaded red triangle hasn't appeared on the screen and he felt like things might become uneventful for some time, Chihiro booted up his project about advanced artificial intelligence in another window. The PELN program was allowed to be in windowed mode as well, so he placed it next to his own project. Typing rather ridiculously fast for a person like him, Chihiro began maintaining code for his AI, making improvements while also adding new features in the process. From time to time, he glanced to the PELN program to check the situation. More often than not, red triangle still wasn't there.

The time for lunch break arrived, as it should. The programmer boy saw how masses of green circles approaching the dining room. In order to not feel hungry, Chihiro brought in a sandwich from home, munching on the combo of bread, salad and sliced sausages. Few of the green circles remained in the halls, which he knew that those were the members of Fellowship of Darkness, setting up an ambush for their adversary. With checking the channels, he managed to recognize all of their voices.

Suddenly, a red triangle appeared inside the halls, causing Chihiro to go on full alert mode. His hair became puffier for a bit before he observed the path that the red triangle took. He clicked on the channel nearby and saw that it was coming right towards one of the green circles. Chihiro instantly brought out his phone to send in a sign. During his time in school, he picked up phone numbers of each Fellowship of Darkness member, so that he could contact them when the moment would strike. At that moment, it was perfect.

"Herman's near you!" Chihiro typed out on his phone before he sent to

"Roger that, buddy! Now comes the first part of our plan: act natural!" thought Nekomaru to himself as he prepared his own newspaper, acting like he was on a normal day without the ongoing octopus break-in.

Suddenly, Herman tore through his newspaper with his leap before he landed right on his shoulder. Nekomaru knew that it was showtime!

"Surprise!" greeted Herman in the usual classic Herman way with a raised tentacle arm.

"You there!" shouted Nekomaru at the one and only octopus in Hope's peak, clenching his fist amid his act of frustration and irritation.

"Yes, me! The one and only!" boasted Herman, pointing at himself.

"Look what you've done! Now I can't read the news!" condemned Nekomaru as he showed him pieces of the newspaper that remained. However, he thought that things were going exactly as planned at that moment.

"Hahaha, get on the internet already! But now….EYESCHLUSS!" taunted Herman before he pulled out his standard spray bottle with his own ink, spraying right into Nekomaru's eyes. "Now I must bid farewell and cause more shit!"

Herman continued his provocation crusade through out halls of Hope's peak while Nekomaru remained in the same spot, cleaning ink from his eyes. To him, that was just another step of the plan before the intended moment came to be.

Suddenly, he laughed out loud, like if someone told him the most forbidden killer joke ever. He laughed so loud that his laugh echoed through out entire floor. Somehow, his laugh halted Herman from continuing his crusade. His boastful and pompous demeanor also stopped for a bit, being replaced by confusion.

"What's so funny, boi?" asked Herman with squinted eyes, peeking from the cornet of the hallway.

"What you've just did was funny! It was an old one anyway, I just use it while I TAKE A SHIT!" joyfully explained Nekomaru. The curious octopus approached him to see if he was bluffing or not. Judging from his expression, Herman deemed it genuine enough.

"Finally, someone who has taste in this scrub zone!" praised Herman, realizing that he managed to find at least someone respectable in his eyes. A person with a sense of humor, he would say. There was one thing he found slightly odd regarding the team manager student. "...but why did you bring an old one though? Don't you have phone?"

"There was a really funny news in that one. I always love reading about it." casually explained Nekomaru, backed up that his newspaper was, in fact, an older issue. "I do have a phone, but nothing beats the feeling of reading a paper."

"Ah, yes. Must admit that I also go for a newspaper here and there. It's good to read it in the morning, it feels good." concurred Herman before he got curious about the story presented in the torn newspaper, wondering if he would classify it as funny by his opinion. "Anyway, what's the story about?"

"Alright so, it was about, if I recall correctly, some Peugeot driver-" Nekomaru began recalling the covered the story from his mind, trying to remember as many details as possible.

"Peugeot drivers are satan, I tell you!" interrupted Herman with sordid frustration leaking from his words. He made a classic gesture with his arms to further emphasize his statement.

"How so? There aren't common around here, so I can't speak on their behalf." Nekomaru raised his eyebrow, genuinely curious regarding Herman's totally moderate opinion on a certain French manufacturer.

"Put one on an intersection and you're in deep shit! I swear, this happens very, VERY commonly from where I come." vented Herman.

"Oh damn. I wonder what kind of instruction have they taken." wondered Nekomaru as he scratched his chin.

"A very lenient one, I tell you!" denounced Herman before his tone became far more casual once again, bringing back the topic that they were talking about in the first place."Now, tell me about this Peugeot driver. Did he do anything special?"

"He went for a long distance drive backwards!" revealed Nekomaru, barely containing a laugh. For a moment, all Herman could do was a slap on his face from sheer disbelief that those drivers would go this low.

"...Dio's mio, why is Peugeot allowed to exist?!" perplexed Herman with his ire coated question.

"But that's not end of it all! Guess where he ended." added Nekomaru to the story.

"Car crash? Manslaughter?" guessed Herman with rolling eyes.

"In the junkyard….and the car broke down when he reached it!" said Nekomaru before the laugh consumed him. There was only one emotion that Herman felt when he heard the conclusion: Schadenfreude.

"PFFFFT, HAH! That's what they get!" Herman burst into laughter as well, as the duo of a giant team manager and a golden octopus laughed their asses off in the middle of the hall.

Suddenly, a third laugh was heard. The golden octopus was too occupied with laughing at the Peugeot driver's misfortune before he noticed that the third person was right in front of them.

Gundham Tanaka, the Supreme Overlord, was right in front of his duelist.

"You're here coming for a laugh too, wizard man?" jeered Herman at the sight of the chunnibyou wizard,

"Yes, I, the Supreme Overlord GUNDHAM TANAKA, shall laugh at your crushing defeat!" boasted Gundham as he crossed his arms to look as prideful as possible.

"Hahaha, defeat? What are you blabbering about, wizard?!" taunted Herman, still consumed by his pompous laugh.

"Kehehe, you'll soon find out, the Kraken of the Land! Your reign shall come to an end!" warned Gundham with a grin on his face.

"HAHAHA, KRAKEN OF LAND, OH DIO'S MIO THAT'S-" Herman burst into a harder laugh. However, unlike before, Nekomaru just chuckled with malicious intent. Suddenly, he grabbed Herman with his large hand and smashed him right into the wall, leaving a crater in it. The golden octopus stopped laughing as he realized in what situation was he in.

"Oof! This was a beanboozle all along?" perplexed Herman with a quiet voice as his irises shrunk. Out of all things he expected from Hope's peak academy, being smashed into a wall by anyone not named Sakura Ogami was the last thing on his mind.

"No words to spare! Let us unleash our wrath, my apprentice!" ordered Gundham as he pointed at the octopus in the wall.

"AWWWW YEAAAAH!" shouted Nekomaru in excitement before he grabbed the octopus again, that time unleashing a flurry of quick punches right in Herman's squishy face. With every punch the octopus received, he started to lose senses. Nekomaru realized that his wizard colleague also wanted a piece of the fighting pie, so he decided to throw their enemy right at him. "Catch it, Gundham!"

"Sneaky fu-" fumed Herman before he got interrupted by a wizard's punch right in his face midair. Gundham managed to deliver few precise punches right where it hurt the octopus before he knocked Herman on the floor. Even though it was a perfect opportunity to boast in his face, Gundham decided to strike further.

"Come forth, Four Dark Devas of Destruction!" called out Gundham as four hamsters jumped right out of his black jacket, going straight for their enemy.

"Wha-" Herman tapped his head before he turned towards the incoming mammals. Before he realized it, one of of the four devas bit him in the arm with its tiny, yet sharp teeth.

"Oof!" yelped Herman before another deva bit him in another arm.

"OoF!" Herman tried to react by smacking away the hamsters, but the third deva buried its teeth right into the tentacle.

"OOF!" shouted Herman before the final deva managed to bite him right in his third arm.

"OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOFFFFFFFFFFFFFF!"

The Four Dark Devas of Destruction rapidly bit targeted arms before they decided to run back to their master once they realized Herman could strike back. And so he did, with him swaying with his arms. All hamsters managed to run away just in time before they would be sent flying by tentacle swing. Gundham crouched down to give his pets lift before they climbed on his shoulder, standing triumphantly as they watched their adversary trying to respond back with an attack.

"Mwahaha! Do you feel it now, the Kraken of the Land?! You can beg for it all you can, but it will not spare you from THE AVIANS OF THE FARAWAY BLIZZARD!" boasted Gundham before he called out for his other allies. Penguins jumped out of his jacket as they performed a battle stance as they landed on the checkered floor.

"We meet again, El Hermano!" greeted Skipper with a taunt. The octopus was startled by the sudden appearance of avians that he thought would never see again.

"What, Manhattan boys?" perplexed Herman at the sight of his former adversaries. "I thought you got wrecked so hard, that you threw the gun in the corn field!"

"I've got only one thing to say, Hermano: Chinga tu madre, pendejo!" Skipper attempted to roast him, but instead it left Herman completely baffled. Although neither Gundham nor Nekomaru spoke Spanish,

"...Bruh…" were the only words Herman could utter before he decided that he would retaliate with a roast that would definitely sting: "Copenhagen best day of my life!"

"That's it! Show no mercy, boys!" ordered Skipper as his nerve got pushed with a mere mention of a certain Danish city. The penguins slid towards him as they attempted to make their first offense with their flippers, but every smack with their limbs was deflected by Herman's blocking with his own arms. Flippers of penguins were fast, but Herman's arms were even faster. Upon noticing that Private was getting exhausted from trying to smack down him, Herman decided to sneak in a swing with his arm, smacking Private right in his face, knocking him back a few decimeters. With one of the penguins out of the way, Herman focused more of his arms to strike down penguins. In order to prevent another knock back, Nekomaru intervened by slamming his fist hard on Herman, enough to leave cracks near the impact area. After he lifted his fist, Herman became dizzy from the sheer power that was transferred through Nekomaru's attack. Penguins used that opportunity to rapidly smack his face with flippers. Even though he received many strikes, Herman regained conscience. He realized that he was getting both outnumbered and outcombo'd, so he decided to commit a retreat, so that his crusade might start again, undisturbed and not ambushed.

"Hahaha, you thought you had an upper hand?! Get ready for...EYE-" boastfully taunted Herman as he brought up his spray bottle, but it was soon smacked away by Rico. Once it landed on the floor, Rico quickly slid on the floor to obtain the weapon before Herman could do. Luckily, he managed to reach it before Herman did. Then Rico smashed the bottle on the floor so hard, that he completely demolished it. A giant stain of ink was the only remnant of Herman's weapon of choice."...scheiße."

By the time Herman was distracted by the destruction of his weapon, penguins used that time frame to smack the living hell out of his face. Rico and even Private returned to join the clash as they continued with their attacks in the process. Even though smacks were delivered, Herman noticed that Nekomaru, with a grin on his face, prepared another slam to potentially fully knock him out of the battle.

Only one option remained for him.

"I can't believe I have to do this, but….EYESCHLUSS THE CLASSIC!" shouted Herman before he shot ink just the way octopuses were supposed to do as he leaped away from the battle scene, running away as far as he could. Gundham and his gang remained in the same place as before.

"You will not get away with your trickery, the Kraken of the Land!" Gundham shook his fist at Herman, condemning him of cowardice, but it was all an act. In reality, all of them were just awaiting for next steps of their plan.

"Or will I? Hahaha, come and get me, you sneaky bastards!" taunted Herman, albeit his last words were filled with genuine ire before he dashed off. Gundham and his colleagues just crossed their arms, chuckling at the overconfidence of the octopus.

The golden octopus was running on the walls of the hall, thinking himself that he evaded them fully while also planning to provoke even more students.

"Hahaha, now that those fuckers are out of the picture, I shall proceed to-" Herman thought to himself, trying to leap off from the wall before suddenly...

"HEAVEN SLAYING DRAGON FIST!"

Immense force of a fist hit him right in the face, sending him flying upwards. The initial shock from the uppercut was enough to make him see the stars. Once it passed away, Herman looked around in panic to see who was the one behind the uppercut.

When he saw the aggressor, Herman Emperor of Italia's pride was dented big time.

"WHAT THE FUCK, I GOT OWNED BY A NOOB?!" roared Herman in a high pitched, almost helium influenced voice once he found that it was none other than Chiaki, just briefly seeing her in her own fighting stance before he got suddenly smacked by the end of a mop, sending him flying across the hall in the process.

"Take this, you damned annoyance!" retorted Hajime, armed with a mop as he posed along with Chiaki to show Herman who's the real boss around Hope's peak.

"VAFFANCULO, BITCH ASS HOE NOOB!" roared Herman, but his voice was still high pitched as he was still flying from the mop's attack. His misfortune didn't end, as Ibuki awaited him at the end of the hallway, riffing on her guitar to practice for a solo.

"Ka-POW!" shouted Ibuki as she smacked Herman with her own guitar like a baseball player would strike a ball with their bat, continuing his flight across the hall. It seemed like she aimed right at the opened window. With Ibuki's guitar smack, Herman was seeing stars again, that time for a much more prolonged period. After Ibuki dealt with him, she just waved at him. "Buh-bye, !"

Meanwhile outside of Hope's Peak academy and near the opened window, the small ahoge boy was adjusting the position of trash can, filled with manga considered beyond low quality. He wasn't sure where to put it by the time Herman would lose.

"Alright, this should be good." decided Makoto after placing the trash can a bit away from the window. Suddenly, he heard air being pierced by a launched but unconscious octopus. Out of sheer instinct, he tilted the trash can. With that slight adjustment, Herman landed inside like a perfect bullseye. Once the deed was done, Makoto closed the trash can before lifting lit, carrying it away from Hope's peak academy.

The spot he decided to place the trash can was some alleyway, accompanied by other trash containers. He gently placed the item next to the containers, cementing where both classes thought Herman belonged.

"Now stay there!" chided Makoto before he walked away from the trash can, deciding to return to his school, leaving the fainted octopus in it.

On his way, he met Chihiro on his way, who seemed to be done with his job of monitoring the situation. From his perspective, he just saw green circles ganging up on a red triangle.

"Hey, Makoto. How did it go?" greeted Chihiro as both of them went together, returning to their revered academy.

"He's out. I think we managed to beat him." reported Makoto while letting out some relief after being one of the few people, along with Chiaki, that got personal with that octopus twice.

"Wait, really?" sputtered Chihiro.

"Yeah…I hope so." confirmed Makoto with a slight nod, talking in a slightly more exhausted tone.

"That's great! Finally, we managed to stop him...at least for now." cheered Chihiro before he noted that it wasn't over just yet. Even though they defeated what seemed to be one of the more notable members of Daft Capo, they still had ways to go.

Back in the halls of the Hope's peak academy, where was once a battle scene, the members of Fellowship of Darkness, both human and avian gathered around to celebrate their first collaborative victory against the forefront adversary. Fuyuhiko and Peko, the back up of the first ambush, arrived to the scene as well,

"MWAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Gundham let out a boastful villainous laugh as he crossed his arms.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Nekomaru added his own prideful laugh in the mix as both of them stood triumphantly. With those laughs, they cemented the fact that they finally showed octopus who's the boss.

"Thus concludes the fated battle against the Kraken of the Land! The menace is no more!" declared Gundham, raising his fist up to the ceiling.

"We gotta wait for rest of the boys and girls to come here. We can't celebrate just yet." reminded Skipper, so that everyone (bar Kyoko, who has requested earlier that she had business to do) could celebrate it together. They didn't have to wait for long, since Makoto and Chihiro arrived in short amount of time.

"Sounds like you guys managed to do it, right?" asked Chihiro to get more opinions about the situation.

"Yep, we did it." happily nodded Chiaki.

"WAHOO! We did it! Who's gonna eat Ibuki now, ?!" cheered Ibuki before she struck a pose, threatening the ceiling for some reason.

"Good riddance, I swear…" sighed Hajime out of relief.

"He's gone, I guess." shrugged Fuyuhiko with his feelings from before remaining the same.

"The gang is up, so you know what that means?" said Skipper before he gave them a sign to celebrate their triumph over the octopus. The penguins initiated the procedure with them slapping their flippers like true bros. Soon, the students joined in as well, even if some, like Fuyuhiko, hesitated about it. Sometimes, Private received a smack in the face, but he was used to it, so he didn't mind too much. It was tradition after all.

Amid their celebration, a long haired blonde girl intervened.

"Greetings, everyone! May I ask why are you all so jovially celebrating?" asked Sonia, wondering about what were they so cheery about before she noticed little avian friends underneath her. Her European heart melted, especially at the sight of Private. "and who are those cute little penguins right there?"

"They are the fierce Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, who have assisted us in defeating the Kraken of the Land!" Gundham introduced them to the princess. "Now, embrace your new avian overlords, The Queen of Darkness!"

Penguins took a notice of the attention from the princess of Novoselic herself, so they used the opportunity to do the act that appeases the audience quickly: smile and wave.

"Cute and cuddly, boys." emphasized Skipper as they waved at Sonia, who giggled in response.

"The hell, you all have beaten the shit out of that octopus and you haven't told me about it? What's up with that?" Akane suddenly peeked out of the corner.

"Yo, Akane! Sorry we kept you in the dark, we had to keep it a secret from him." elaborated Nekomaru as the tall strong girl arrived to the scene.

"Next time, I'm definitely gonna get him and-" promised Akane before she accidentally glanced to the penguins. She took multiple glances and a lean to comprehend that birds originating from South Pole were present there. "...Who are these guys?"

Before anything was said, the Ultimate Moral Compass intervened as well, curious about what was all the racket in the hall about.

"Excuse me, but what is going on there?! Isn't this against school's-" asked Kiyotaka before he laid his eyes upon the penguins. "WHAT?!"

"Are you all seeing a penguin for the first time?" jested Skipper at his bafflement's expense.

"No, I have seen a penguin before, just not...in our hallways. I am not sure, but this doesn't seem like it fits with school's rules!" clarified Kiyotaka, taking in consideration for how many places in the city forbid domesticated animals, let alone exotic sapient commando penguins.

"Kehehe, our instructor has given the Avians of The Faraway Blizzard a pass. They may traverse this institution as they like!" excused Gundham in the name of his avian colleagues, just so that no one from Hope's peak would intervene and potentially try to prevent their anti-Daft Capo operations.

"Now that...is a good line, wizard man!" complimented Skipper as he pointed at his Supreme Overlord amigo.

"Mwahahaha! That's the thing I say!" chuckled Gundham.

"Ah, I see. If your instructor has allowed, then it will be accepted." said Kiyotaka "But why are you all celebrating, if I may ask?"

"These dudes apparently beaten the hell of the octopus." spoke Akane in their name while expressing slight disappointment that she was not involved in beating the living daylights out of Herman.

"WHAT?!" shouted Kiyotaka before his senses and rationality returned, wanting to make sure that their statement was true. "Is this true?!"

"Correct-a-mundo, The Man of The Law! We all did it." confirmed Skipper with rest of the gang, both human and penguin, supporting his claim.

"I must tell both Class 77-B and Class 78th immediately!" announced Kiyotaka before he stormed off to both classes, leaving rest of the group to wait for their audience.

"Boys, we're gonna get a lot of bets today." grinned Skipper while reminding his own group about potential cash they could get. However, Rico frowned, seeming like no one would mention or bring fish to their hideout. "Don't worry Rico. I'm sure you'll get one."

Like he so boldly announced, Kiyotaka brought entire Class 77-B and majority of Class 78th with him to show them the combatants that scored a victory against the octopus. Only people who didn't arrive were Byakuya Togami, who thought everyone was a dumbass, Toko Fukawa, who either stayed only because Byakuya did (not that he liked that) or just sharing the same sentiment as him, and Celestia Ludenberg, who chose to stay out of disinterest. Once they arrived, they bombarded the Fellowship of Darkness with praises and questions, though some of them, like Hiyoko, weren't one hundred percent convinced about it. Some took an opportunity to boast about themselves, like Gundham and Skipper did as examples, while some remained modest about it, like Makoto and Hajime. Few of them even tried to downplay themselves, like Chiaki did.

Oddly enough, it was a victory only two classes out of many celebrated.

"So, what are we supposed to do now?" asked Hajime amid all the attention, wondering about the future events.

"Party!" immediately suggested Ibuki as she jumped in the air, flailing her arms like a baby bird trying to fly for the first time. Some of the folk quickly went with her idea, since they thought that a happy time was much needed after a prolonged period of nothing but anxiety and frustration.

"Don't celebrate just yet, guys. We still have a lot to deal with." cautioned Fuyuhiko, just as quickly as Ibuki suggested about the party.

"I agree, they will take notice of our supposed victory." Ryouta added his own statement, supporting Fuyuhiko's warning. He was far from only one who was on Yakuza student's side, since they were well aware with what were they dealing with.

"How about a mini-party, just to relieve our nerves after some time?" whispered Ibuki, only because to emphasize that her suggested party would be really really small.

"You know what? I think some relief is what we deserve. Lets have a mini-party, shall we?" Chiaki approved Ibuki's suggestion, thinking that they should let out their stress at least for once. It wasn't healthy that they would be so pent up for more time. However, she took a lot of consideration about Fuyuhiko's worries, since the threat of mafia attacking their school hasn't vanished at all."...But we must taken caution as well. We won the battle, but this has only begun."

"If anything happens tomorrow, we know what to expect." said Fuyuhiko, keeping the same tone from before.

"Yeah...that's correct...but for now, lets have some fun for a bit." concluded Chiaki, insisting that they should relax at that moment. The consensus about the party remained the same: some of them were all in, but some of them were very hesitant about it. Those who opposed it feared that Daft Capo gangsters would interrupt their party and possibly harm them. Penguins confirmed that the hypothetical scenario was very likely, so they thought of some defense to protect them. Since that the members of The Fellowship of Darkness felt exhaustion for all the fighting they had done, so they decided that the mini party would happen next day. All of them were glad that they finally had a chance to punch Herman's face once and for all.

Meanwhile, the populace of the city casually passed by the alleyway, where the trash can storing a defeated octopus stood. For a while, it was just usual traffic ambience of the day. It was soon interrupted by the trash can shaking like if an earthquake happened. Tearing of paper could be heard, but the traffic's noise overwhelmed it, benefiting the octopus for allowing to mask in the sound. Some time passed before the rumbling stopped, but it was replaced by a tentacle arm punching the cover of it, opening it up in the process.

The golden octopus pulled itself up, peeking from the trash can with an unamused squint. He truly wanted to say that it was "well played" on Hope's peak behalf, but his wounded pride prevented him to.

"Of course you realize this means war." quietly threatened Herman before he jumped out of the trash can, deciding that it would be a good time to return to his own hideout. After a brief search through out the city, he found his moped and hopped on it. Without even putting on his sunglasses nor turning up custom made bass boosters, he just quietly drove off.

The shoddy looking port warehouse stood amid more modern and active buildings, cementing the fact that it seemed nothing out of the ordinary. However, what was happening inside was quite something else.

It was the day when Big G dropped his mixtape. "ExPERIMENTAL HYPOTHESIS" was the name of it. The moment it was released live, Daft Capo punksters blasted it full volume while also displaying it on a jumbotron screen. An audio visualizer on it added to the scene of the release. A track by the name of "420_$W0LL0 B0LL0CK TECHNO REMIX_420" was played at that moment. Punksters around the facility let their bodies be controlled by rhythm and beats. Each of them had their own style, such as girl punkster rocking the living hell out of her head, letting herself be consumed by music. Some of individuals were dancing on containers, flexing on those that were on lower ground by thrusting the air. Even the sharply dressed guard with sunglasses was jamming outside.

When the beat dropped, every punkster, including the guard, broke into breakdancing. Their bodies and limbs could do such movements unimaginable by an ordinary man. They were all synchronized to perfection, every move all of punksters, including the guard outside, matched the dancing simultaneously.

Amid all the dancing, Rando, their DJ, was bobbing his head, jamming it to music as well. He even did record scratched to add additional "oomph" to the track. Suddenly, his indulgence in musical form of art was interrupted by his phone vibrating in his pocket. He picked up the phone, just so that he could lash out at the person for disturbing his enjoyment in music.

"Hello? Hellooo?" barged Rando, but the signal was so shoddy, that only mere grumble of a sound could be heard from it. He gave it 10 seconds for the caller to give anything resembling human language, but the noise remained for the rest of the given time period. Rando only had one thing to say to the caller:

"BEEYATCH!"

Rando then quit the call and continued jamming to the music, along with rest of punksters.

Meanwhile, the guard was still breakdancing to the flow. However, he immediately ceased to dance when heard the noise a moped incoming. He returned to his original statue-like position as he saw a grumbled octopus parking his own moped in front of the entrance. As Herman hopped off from his vehicle, the guard nodded, granting him to come inside their hideout. The punksters were too busy with jamming to notice Herman traversing through the facility. Herman went to DJ's table, where Rando was still bobbing his head like a pigeon walking. Cephalopod tapped Rando's arm multiple times, halting his jamming in the process. Rando was already prepared for a fight, but he chilled down once he saw that it was none other than his octopus colleague.

"Yo, Herman! What's up, my homie?" asked Rando as he noticed that Herman wasn't in his usual mood.

"Boi, I got beanboozled by those Hope's peak scrubs." Herman shook with his tentacle arm like a fist.

"What?! I thought those guys were jokes!" sputtered Rando.

"Same, my man, but they got sneaky. Even got help from Manhattan boys out of all people." concurred Herman before he exposed the penguins right in front of the syndicate. It gained attention of many punksters when he mentioned penguins.

"Manhattan boys? I thought those guys called it quits back in Copenhagen." wondered Rando, scratching his chin. From his memory alone, it was the first time that any of the previous enemies directly came for Daft Capo. Every single other one either got beaten into humiliating defeat (which was most of them) or were just folk that Daft Capo members learned to avoid.

"Apparently not. Persistent bastards, I tell you!" fumed Herman. The girl punkster managed to hear the ongoing conversation and stepped in front of them.

"Does that mean we can beat the living shit out of those scrubs already?" girl punkster cracked her fists while sporting a malicious grin on her face.

"Not this time. They would expect us, which would end us being bamboozled." elaborated Herman with a rather grumpy tone in his voice. "We got ourselves into some unexpected deep shit, I think I'm gonna call rest of Elite Bois to discuss further plans regarding Hope's peak."

"...Wait, you're not fucking around here now, are you?" girl punkster's demeanor dropped when he mentioned that he's gonna involve the elite members into their affairs with the targeted academy. Even other punksters stopped jamming when they heard Herman's words.

"No, not at all. I mean it." emphasized Herman in an unusual agitated way. It was enough for them to get his point.

"...oh shit." girl punkster wiped off her sweat from her forehead.

"Aren't they busy right now, though?" questioned Rando, crossing his arms.

"I know they are. Hence why we have to wait for them to tell us when they would be fertig with their jobs." announced Herman. He himself wasn't sure of when would other elites be done with their tasks.

"Should we turn off the jam? Seems that shit got serious right now." asked Rando.

"Nah, continue playing it. Besides, I need to ease off my mind right now." allowed Herman as other punksters, including Rando felt relief that they could enjoy the music in peace.

"Aight, got it covered, fam." nodded Rando before he continued jamming like he did before. Herman joined in, but instead of letting the music go through his mind, he held a grouchy expression on his face as he danced, thinking about plotting revenge against Hope's peak academy, especially those who had the idea to strike back in the first place.

"Wizard man….noob…maybe even Manhattan boys...you are on my shit list now!" contemplated Herman, wishing them worst of the worst to come while continuing dancing to Big G's mixtape. Daft Capo has decided to withhold their operations against Hope's Peak academy until the arrival of other elites.

Unknown to them, the outside of port warehouse was being observed by Kyoko Kirigiri, who stood at one of cranes, which was far enough that the guard couldn't spot her and recognize her. The lilac haired student saw the whole scene with Herman and the guard from a distance. From the event, she wrote down every single detail that was deemed evidence in her eyes, such as the moped and its driver and the guard himself.

"Just like I assumed. Patterns were correct." thought Kyoko before she walked away from her spot, deciding that the evidence she found was conclusive. Next time she would encounter members of the organization she's apart of, she would tell them everything she saw. Foundations of the new phase in Hope's peak-Daft Capo conflict officially began.


The real author's notes: Oh my, I can't believe I got this far, but I can happily say that the first arc of Dangan-Pinguino is officially done. I thank you all readers and reviewers for reading the story and providing insight, I appreciate it with all of my heart! I can also safely say the story is far from over yet, but it will become….truly crazy!

 

Chapter 18: "PARTY?!" The Famous Scientist Once Said (ARC III START)

Notes:

Note: I have fully transferred Dangan-Pinguino from Fanfiction.net to AO3 as of time of writing. It will now continue normally.

Chapter Text

Usually, Wednesday is not the most popular day in the week. It's not as despised as the dreaded Monday, but it's not anyone's favorite either. However, that Wednesday was quite different for two peculiar classes of Hope's peak academy. It was the day after they punched that octopus in the face, hoping that he would leave them be for some time, hopefully for a long amount. It was a normal day of class for both of them, without them even having a worry about that certain cephalopod. Everything went like it should.

After a rather uneventful time in class, both of classes went to eat in the dining hall. But it wasn't just an ordinary meal time, it was the so-called "mini party", orchestrated by the class goofball Ibuki Mioda. However, even though she got most of the people on her idea, some of them still weren't convinced. Those were all from Class 78th.

In the classroom abandoned by hungry students, few of them remained, sitting all alone behind their desks. The relative emptiness of their class didn't bother them at all, instead it gave them time to rethink about their situation.

"I swear, it feels like people that are not total mongloids in this academy are far and between." Byakuya expressed himself, halting the silence for a moment. Crossing his arms, he had a pose that even from a distance, he was looking down on everyone else.

"That's right, they were always stupid as rocks! A-ain't that right, Master?" concurred Toko in an attempt to gain his praise, but he only chose to remain silent in spite of her.

"Oh, silent treatment from Master~." Toko seemed to enjoy the fact that Byakuya wasn't responding. Had she went for both longer and more awkwardly, furniture would have responded.

"Truly, that means he likes you." jested Celestia at her while keeping a graceful yet deceitful smile on her face. It was enough to kick Toko out of whatever the hell she was imagining.

"W-who the hell ask you to open your damn-" retaliated Toko as she angrily pointed at her, judging her while assuming that she's gonna take Byakuya away from her.

"I didn't ask you to speak up either." Byakuya opted for shutting her down instead of coming at her admittedly unwarranted defense.

"Oomf…shut down by Master, now we are talking!" Toko still somehow enjoyed being at least noticed by the affluent prodigy, an Ultimate one at that. However, it was clear that Byakuya thought of exact opposite of her.

"So, what are we supposed to do now, now that we are the only ones present?" asked Celestia as she chose to ignore Toko's ramblings regarding her idealized version of commonly agreed to be one of the least pleasant people in the class.

"Why don't you just do something instead of spouting out inane questions?" told her Byakuya without even bothering to mince his words before he stood up and walked towards the door. "Now, I have a project to do. Goodbye….and no, you are not allowed to follow me."

He left the class, leaving two girls that were on two extremes of the fashion spectrum behind.

"Oh...that's cruel...just the way he should be!" by that point, Toko was already swimming in her delusions which shall not be described here.

"Oh, I see. Fair point. Now excuse me, I might go for a bet or two. Goodbye, everyone." Celestia made a little bow before she went her own way, going to a nearby casino in the city. Toko was left all alone, but she decided to go her own way as well, going to the library for the reasons totally not related to Byakuya Togami. Once she arrived, she didn't enter it, just so she could hide herself from him. It was due to her imaginary reasons that she disobeyed his order, despite the fact Byakuya didn't want to do much with her.

As she was spying on him, Byakuya was just simply reading one of the books offered in the library. Despite immersing himself in the silence and joy of reading, one assumption regarding both the present and the future of Hope's peak academy refused to leave his mind.

"Blah! When will the constant nonsense of that kindergartner instructor and her obnoxious cuddler ever end?" thought Byakuya to himself as he winced at the mere blip of thinking about a certain teacher of Class 77-B and what he assumed to be her own little "teacher's pet.". He often thought that those two were the reason behind so many shenanigans happening in the academy, including all noise disturbances that came out of Yukizome's class through out weeks. He was that close to storming to them and giving them so called "tongue soup", as it is often said.

Compared to rather empty classroom of Class 78th, the dining room was the place of the main event of that day: the so called mini party. Truth be told, it wasn't that much different than it was before, except that Teruteru made a buffet for everyone, there were bags of multiple non-alcoholic drinks, since Fuyuhiko refused to allow any more spicy beverages, some of the friend circles were playing games, Ryouta was taking place of Figottoni as a bartender and Ibuki was standing on the table. It was either due miracle or her own expertise that none of the plates nor glasses were tipped over by someone as raunchy as her.

"Yahooo! Lets go, girls and boys!" cheered Ibuki as she kept hopping on the table. Majority of the participants of the party just acted like it was normal for her to be like that, which it was, really.

"The only reason I'm here is because Mahiru said so." grumbled Hiyoko while sitting next to Mahiru. Most of the gang were just enjoying their meal while having to look at the organizer of the mini party prancing around on the table.

However, some of the groups, those a bit isolated from the main ones, were still unsure whether or not it was a good idea to start the so called mini party in the first place. One of those groups were Fuyuhiko and Peko, who stood away from most of the groups, instead occupying their little spot near the door.

"I still don't think this is a good idea. You know how it's like in those movies when everyone celebrates then villains come in and cause chaos? I'm having a feeling something like that would happen." Fuyuhiko expressed his concerns to the swordswoman. Perhaps it was due experience or how often it was in fiction to have an unexpected but unpleasant surprise break in the party and turn everything upside down, sometimes resulting in deaths.

"Perhaps we should put someone as a guard." suggested Peko as she thought of a way to prevent any intruders breaking in. An obvious answer was, of course, a bodyguard. A pair of them for an extra measure.

"Yeah, lets ask our….ahem….organizer about this." Fuyuhiko pointed at the only person who was standing on the table as they approached her. The Yakuza student attempted to raise his hand to get her attention, but it did seem like she already saw them before both Fuyuhiko and Peko even realized.

"Ibuki watch and Ibuki see that Fuyuhiko and Peko are coming!" Ibuki leaned towards them like a bird observing a high tree.

"So, Mrs. Partymaker, have you ever thought that there might be an intervention as the party goes on?" asked Fuyuhiko in a concerned yet visibly frustrated tone. Ibuki scratched her chin to think about whether or not actual security was hired for the miniparty.

"Yes, actually!" exclaimed Ibuki as she pointed her index finger up like if an imaginary light bulb was floating above it.

"You have?" Fuyuhiko raised his eyebrow out of a genuine surprise. Even Peko was a little surprised that Ibuki actually took care of it.

"Yep yep! Just that...security is a lil busy right now." hesitated Ibuki, scratching her head as she pointed towards a group that was supposed to be the security. The aforementioned group, consisting of Gundham Tanaka and all of penguins, were too occupied playing a board game called "Man, don't get angry!" (apparently also known as Ludo). Rico was the spectator, due to experiences with his fits every time his figurine got knocked out.

"Let's see who reigns above the world of mortals and fauna!" boasted Gundham before he threw the die on the table, rolling out a solid five. Just like the die roll determined, he moved his own figurine, colored all black, five spaces forward. The die was passed to Skipper, who was placed right next to the Supreme Overlord.

"Hahaha, we will see about that, wizard boy!" taunted Skipper before he threw his own die roll, scoring a not bad, but not spectacular four. He moved his figurine, covered in woodland camouflage, forward with the number determined by the rolling cube.

As they glanced over to the security group, both Fuyuhiko and Peko knew what had to be done.

"….Yeah, I think we are gonna be the ones on guard right now." offered Fuyuhiko to temporarily take over the position of the security. At the very least on paper, any intruder would have to face with a much more imposing and armed threat than what a chunnibyou wizard and four penguins had to offer. Peko didn't say a word, but she immediately agreed to be his back up.

"Wait, are you two not gonna be at the party today? It would be a shame, because you two are really cute and cool together!" asked Ibuki while looking slightly disheartened, since she enjoyed having most of both classes all together.

"D-don't get any funny goddamn ideas! Remember, we still have those assholes to deal with." reminded Fuyuhiko in a frustrated tone, shaking his fist at her.

"Awww….but Ibuki understands." Ibuki slouched with her shoulders but allowed them none than less.

"Right…" said Fuyuhiko before both of them started walking away from the main table to get outside, starting their duties at the peaceful pace. Fuyuhiko noticed that Peko always seemed to do as he said without doing something by herself. A feeling of guilt appeared in his mind. "Peko, you can stay at the party if you want."

"I will provide back up to you." insisted Peko, since she saw protecting someone close to her far more important for her than having fun with others.

"But...you don't really have to. Do what you think it's more fun for you." Fuyuhiko gave her another chance to let her choose for herself.

"I don't think it would be a good idea to leave you alone. Besides, I'd rather spend my time with you together." Peko still insisted on her choice, giving him a look that told him that she truly meant it.

"Alright...if you say so. I guess this is your choice after all." smiled Fuyuhiko, knowing that at the very least she was happy with her own decision. After their discussion was done, both of them left the dining room as they stood on guard, watching for any possible intruders to come.

Hours passed, with them still guarding the dining room by standing still. Even though they acted as guards, they often had discussions with each other to make the time go quicker. For all time spent standing, it seemed like there were no suspicious people coming at them at all. In fact, no one seemed to be really interested in the dining room at that moment. Enough time has passed that all that solitude kind of got on their nerves.

"Hey, Peko?" hesitantly asked Fuyuhiko.

"What is it, Master?" Peko turned towards him, paying all of her attention on him.

"Do you….think it's a good idea to return? This silence here is driving me crazy." quietly suggested Fuyuhiko, with him being sort of sure that enough time passed that it was safe to drop guard for a bit.

"Yeah, it's getting kind of boring around here. Nothing to do while others have fun." admitted Peko while wishing that she could join up with others as well. Fuyuhiko, even though he wouldn't really fully admit it, shared the same sentiment.

"Well, we've been standing her for like...hold on, let me check…" continued Fuyuhiko before he checked his own phone, realizing that they have done nothing but stand in one place for more time than an average person could take. Perhaps it was due Yakuza experience that they got nerves for such situations. "...hours already, damn, but nothing really happened."

"Then I think it would be a good idea to return." said Peko, confirming that both of them are prepared to return without any worries.

"Alright then...heh." chuckled Fuyuhiko before he opened the door, letting both of them to return to the dining room.

Just as they're about to enter, they have suddenly heard footsteps across the hallways, which prevented them to move forward. Both members of the Kuzuryuu clan halted as they turned back.

"Hold on." Peko raised her hand as she grabbed the handle of her own sword, prepared for any possible attack an intruder could do.

"Huh? What's going on right now?" wondered Fuyuhiko as the footsteps got louder. It seemed like they were getting even closer, which put both Yakuza members of class 77-B on bigger alert.

Suddenly, a voice, unfamiliar to them, spoke through the hallway: "How do you even navigate through this?".

It was a voice of a similarly aged man that sounded a bit gruff on the side. Neither of them could recognize it, which put them on greater standby. They were almost sure that the voice could be from a Daft Capo member, just in case.

"It's really not that hard, man." another voice, that time consisting of a rather deep but very geeky accent. It was another one that they couldn't recognize, almost preparing them on a fighting stance. Peko placed her grip on a sword while Fuyuhiko prepared his fists in advance. If anything went wrong, they would be ready to fight.

"But there isn't even a floor plan! How did you even manage to find them out, Assistant?!" the bombastic voice started to argue with some individual, at the time unknown to them, named Assistant. From the Yakuza gang point of view, it sounded like a true mafia speak.

Assistant? The fuck?" perplexed Fuyuhiko when he heard it.

"What did I say about calling me that, especially here?!" the voice of a girl suddenly argued back against the bombastic one. However, unlike two male voices before, that voice of a girl was instantly familiar with them, causing them to drop guard in the process.

"...Is that…?" wondered Peko as she loosened her grip on her bamboo sword.

"Still though, how did you manage to get through without any issues?" the bombastic voice asked once again

"Well, their teacher told me about it. You didn't even ask for instructions in the first place!" the voice clarified with a sass.

"Hahahaha! As if I need instru-" the voice attempted to gloat, only for the source of the bickering to appear itself right in front of Fuyuhiko and Peko. It was a group of absolute nerds, consisting of lab coat wearing Rintaro Okabe, the cap wearing Itaru Hashida, the black shorts on top of black thighs Kurisu Makise and a simple dress wearing Mayuri Shiina. The man in the lab coat was quite startled when he saw two a bit intimidating students of two completely different sizes right in front of him, staring at him in a confused fashion. Itaru thought Peko was quite a good looking woman, straight out of an actiony game with loads of guns, crimes and sex and also thoughts Fuyuhiko was dating her. Mayuri curiously leaned over to see two people right in front of her. Out of all people in the Future Gadget gang, Kurisu was the most relaxed one meeting the Hope's peak gang, since she already knew them.

"Christina, do you know these two?" Rintaro leaned towards Kurisu to ask her for help, since he felt like anything he could said wrong could end up in disaster. Had it not been for Kurisu, the situation would have been a lot more awkward for the Future Gadget lab gang.

"Leave it to me, Rintaro." said Kurisu confidently as she flipped her hair before she let out a friendly greeting towards two Yakuza members. "Hello!"

"Yo, um...Kurisu. Never thought you'll come back here." Fuyuhiko responded back, but with an awkward undertone in his voice, mostly due to sheer surprise that Kurisu not only visited them, but she brought additional three unknown people with her, with a high chance they were her friends.

"It was quite a surprise, wasn't it?" winked Kurisu at them. The rest of the Future Gadget lab gang observed how the chestnut haired scientist prodigy handled the conversation with two Yakuza looking types. "How are you guys doing?"

"Eh, alright I guess. We're just here to act as guards for the party they're having here. You know about that thing where everything goes wrong when a party is ongoing, right?" explained Fuyuhiko as he pointed at the door of the dining room. He tried to act as natural as possible, hiding his own surprise.

"Damn too well." secretly agreed Rintaro behind Kurisu's back, probably due to his own experiences at parties.

"We're familiar with you, Miss Maki-" Peko attempted to ask for Kurisu to introduce others to them.

"J-just Kurisu is good! No need to be formal! Besides...these two are gonna have funny ideas if you call me that." Kurisu interrupted out of embarrassment, but also due to preventing Rintaro and Itaru to find new ways to tease her as she already saw them chuckling behind her.

"Ah, pardon me. Then, can you tell us who are these three following you? I assume they are your friends." reiterated Peko as she pointed at Rintaro, Itaru and Mayuri. It seemed like Rintaro was about to start first, as he cleared out his throat to prepare to seemingly shamelessly unleash his chunnibyou himself right in front of them.

"I AM MAD SCIENTIST HOUOUIN KYOUMA! IT'S SO COOL!" boasted Rintaro as he struck few award winning poses right in front of Peko and Fuyuhiko. He spared a longer additional monologue for the bigger audience. Two Yakuza members were left absolutely bewildered by the performance of the self proclaimed mad scientist.

"...Oh my fucking god, it's the scientist version of Gundham." whispered Fuyuhiko as he leaned towards Peko, who was equally confused by the Hououin Kyouma.

"Hol up, you have a guy named Gundham in this school?" Itaru raised his finger to gain their attention.

"….Yeah, he's like wizard dude that's completely nuts in the head." explained Fuyuhiko to him with a rather baffled tone in his voice.

"Very epic! I can already imagine myself named "Gundham Hashida" instead of Itaru Hashida! Girls would be all over me!" approved Itaru, crossing his hands to look like a total boss. While Peko and Fuyuhiko were even more baffled, Kurisu was pressing her palm on her face. Meanwhile, Mayuri was just enjoying their conversation.

"...So yeah, this doofus right next to me is Rintaro Okabe, the loony scientist dork." Kurisu properly, albeit with an edge, introduced her close friend.

"You might know her already, but her true name is actually CHRISTINA, an assistant of mine, the Tensai Hentai Shoujo herself and most importantly-" Rintaro began bombastically teasing her before he prepared himself to unleash the one tease that always gets Kurisu's face red like a bottle cap of Dr. Pepper.

"Finish that sentence and your hippocampus is gonna feel high impact violence from my fist!" threatened Kurisu with her own terminology, causing him to cease with his teasing. However, while one front was cleared, other one wasn't.

"High impact violence, you say?" Itaru started to act interested in what she meant by that, fixing his glasses to look even more suave. Well, suave in quotations.

"D-don't you even try to interpret it that way!" Kurisu scolded him, only to realize that they were bickering right in front of two students of Hope's peak academy. She quickly turned out with her flustered face as she apologized for the shenanigans caused by her friends. "Oh, uhm, sorry about this. This...happens a lot around here, I hope it doesn't bother you…"

"Nah, don't worry about it. That's basically everyday interaction with my class and the other one as well." reassured Fuyuhiko after witnessing a side of Kurisu he never thought he would experience. For him, Kurisu always seemed like this unflinching, stoic yet beautiful smart women, but it turns out that in reality, she was a big dork. Then he remembered some of the interactions that some of his classmates go through out the day. He noticed that some of them, like Chiaki and Hajime, seemed to be chill with each other, while others, like Mikan and Hiyoko, were always at the one sided odds with each other. "Some would say even worse."

"Even worse? Hoo boy…" sighed Kurisu, unsure if she was prepared for something considered to be bigger scale than bickering with Hououin Kyouma and his chunnibyou delusions.

"I can already imagine it." smirked Rintaro while remembering that Future Gadget Lab Mems already had experience with certain Hope's peak students and their own quirks. One that forever stuck in his mind was a person that he called "Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit" and her shifts between quiet and sleepy to childishly excited the moment anything she liked came up. "We got a taste of it after all."

"Ehehehe, this is looking up to be fun!" giggled Mayuri amid their conversation before she realized that she hasn't even introduced herself to them. "Oh, sorry sorry! Mayushii forgot to introduce herself so...Tutturu! Mayushii's here!"

"Mayuri Shiina otherwise. A close friend of mine." clarified Rintaro to make it more understandable for Fuyuhiko and Peko. Contrary to how he acted around Kurisu, he seemed to be far more true to himself when talking to and about Mayuri.

"Pleasure to meet you all." said Peko as she bowed down like she was meeting officials from the higher classes. All of Future Gadget Lab members thought it was too much for nerds like them.

"So, you've said that both classes are here, right?" asked Kurisu.

"Yep, they're partying right now." confirmed Fuyuhiko.

"Good good! I think it would be a good idea to-" Kurisu attempted to grab the door handle, only for Rintaro to step in first and firmly place grip on it.

"Hold on, Assistant! We can't do just a boring entrance for a surprise visit!" cautioned Rintaro like she was stepping near a dangerous territory.

"...Oh boy, what's gonna be your idea, Mr. Mad-o Scientist-o?" sassed Kurisu as she crossed her arms. Itaru did the same, as both of them looked at him, thinking just a simple "oh boy, what's he gonna do now".

"Surprises are best present when they are shown in dramatic fashion!" declared Rintaro as he struck another pose. Kurisu and Itaru sighed, preparing themselves for another barrage of chunnibyou nonsense while Fuyuhiko and Peko were thinking about how would other react to the rest of the group and if it was even a good idea to unleash Hououin Kyouma on them. They didn't know that some of them already met them. However, the mad scientist was not without a supporter.

"Yay! Dramatic surprise reveal! Mayushii loves those!" cheered Mayuri as she wanted to see the performance of Hououin Kyouma in the Hope's peak academy, letting him to unleash the so called chaos and confusion (in reality, just fun and games) on it. Fuyuhiko and Peko were still hesitant about letting them, since they thought Rintaro could potentially cause trouble, but an opportunity to see Kurisu again was too big to just be ignored.

"Should we let them?" whispered Peko as she leaned towards Fuyuhiko.

"Well, they're guests and half of our academy is pretty nuts already, so...I think I'd let them. Kurisu's friends seem harmless enough." said Fuyuhiko after coming to a conclusion that it wouldn't be too bad to let them in. More time did they spent with them, more they felt like they were "lost Ultimates" that didn't get to enter the academy due multiple reasons. "Fine, we'll let you do it."

"Kehehe, your allowance shall be appreciated, Sharp Dressed Gangsta Boy and Sharp Eyed Mistress of the Sword!" chuckled Rintaro before he grabbed the handle again. Both of them were startled by the sudden nickname he gave to them.

"T-the FUCK did you call us?" chided Fuyuhiko while Peko just seemed mildly confused by it. She did not approve any insults directed towards Fuyuhiko. However, she didn't go into full defend mode because the Future Gadget Lab were anything but threatening and it would probably sour the relationship with Kurisu and Hope's peak academy.

"Eh, don't worry about it. It's futile to resist the nicknaming. Not that it is harmful, really." clarified Itaru so that Hope's peak students won't take it to heart when Rintaro is up to his shenanigans. His own clarification explained quite a bit, but they were still bamboozled by the persona of Hououin Kyouma.

"Anyway, what are your actual names?" Kurisu stepped in to ask, disrupting the possible shenanigans Rintaro would do.

"Fuyuhiko and Peko. That should be it." Fuyuhiko introduced both of them to the chestnut haired scientist woman.

"Nice to meet ya!" Kurisu greeted them with a smile on her face.

"Anyway, Lab mems. It's time. We shall cross the uncharted territory of this institution of madness. El Psy Congroo." warned Rintaro to both his gang and to two guarding Yakuza members while also posing dramatically for it. Knowing some of the Hope's peak students (one of the most notable cases being a certain white haired boy), there might have been a chance that the Hououin persona wasn't actually that wrong. Fuyuhiko and Peko couldn't blame him for it, but Rintaro's own gang didn't exactly believe him. Most of their experiences were with relatively calmer students of Hope's peak after all.

"It's just a school, bro." shrugged Itaru.

"Uncharted territory, alright….Give me a break…." Kurisu rolled with her eyes before Rintaro initiated his plan into action, opening the doors of the dining room as dramatically as possible. His first pose he choose to present to everyone was close to one that rock stars make when they perform a hard as all hell riff on their electric guitars. In the back, the rest of the gang observed him making a fool out of himself in front of a full dining room. Meanwhile, that gang was already met by an unusual sight alone: Ibuki on the table. It was a good thing Rintaro was busy being in full chunnibyou mode, or else he would have been baffled by her, like his own gang was when they saw her (except Mayuri, who was just happy to see Ibuki again).

"Huh?!"

Needless to say, he got their attention real quick. Majority of Hope's peak gang were taken by surprise from seeing Kurisu and three additional people with her just suddenly appear right in front of them.

"Who's this guy?" Kazuichi said a question out loud that most of students had regarding the man in the lab coat. They weren't sure what to feel of him, but he already gave them sense of familiarity regarding more over the top students, such as the wizard man himself present there. Some of them, like Aoi, noticed Kurisu and waved at her while rest of the classes just observed the man in the lab coat. However, only four people, those being Chiaki, Chihiro, Hajime, who were in their little spot and Ibuki, truly knew all of them and even then three of them were taken by surprise when they saw Future Gadget Lab Members right on the soil of Hope's Peak. Seeing them, Ibuki thought it would be a good opportunity to introduce them to the school.

"Oh, lookie here! An unexpected event has dawned upon is! If Ibuki wrote a song right now, its title would be "Infiltration of the One that masters the art of science!" Ibuki started announcing before she realized something: she didn't even know that they would come in the first place. "Wait, did Ibuki plan this at all?"

Hajime looked around to see who was the mastermind behind the visit of Future Gadget Lab Members, only to find the suspect right near him, since she was the only person that wasn't surprised at all, but was just happily smiling through out all of that.

"You did it, didn't you?" Hajime gave a question to Chiaki, turning towards her while having a thought of "I knew it!" in his mind.

"Ehehehe…." giggled Chiaki as she brought up her phone from her kitty backpack, showing him and Chihiro messages that she sent to Mayuri. They both managed to see the emoticon filled replies that Mayuri always loved to send, which Hajime found to be very odd, but not surprising for a girl like Mayuri Shiina. Then he remembered that Mayuri is also a co-worker of a certain ahoge attacker, which caused him to anticipate shenanigans and ahoge flicking.

"Wait, is that cat girl also coming here?" Hajime halted for a bit as made a stop sign motion with his hand.

"Mayuri asked her, but she said that she has a really important business meeting, so she couldn't really come here." explained Chiaki, sounding rather disappointed that Faris couldn't come. Hajime was sort of relieved by Chiaki's answer, knowing that he will be spared from her wildness.

"Boys and girls, now it's time to-" Skipper attempted to do Ibuki's job, who was still thinking whether or not she planned all of it, but he was soon interrupted by none other than...

"FWAHAHAHAHAHAHA!" Rintaro roared out a villainous laugh before he struck another pose, one that would make other mad scientists jealous. Then, he began: "Now, let me enlighten you, the residents of the peak: what you see in front of you should be considered an utmost event of fortune! It is not every day that your mortal eyes have laid upon HOUOUIN KYOUMA, the mad scientist that will tear apart the social structure of the world with his own hands!"

A brief moment of silence was the only response most of the students would give, only for that to end with quiet applause from two people: Chiaki and Mayuri. Those actions of two dorky girls caused others who were not aware of their connections to glance over and give them weird looks. Folk like Hiyoko were especially prone to that.

"...Gundham, do you know this guy?" asked Mahiru as she squinted to him, considering that Rintaro radiated full chunni energy and he was the closest one to have experience in that field. Gundham, who had its look of an eagle directed right at Rintaro, just stood up and walked towards him like a sheriff facing a bandit on a gunslinger battle.

"So, you claim to be a mad scientist that will plunge the world into chaos, eh?! Bah! Not before, I, the Supreme Overlord GUNDHAM TANAKA, take over it with an iron fist!" Gundham crossed his arms as he announced himself right in front of the Future Gadget Lab. Neither Kurisu nor Itaru were prepared for the presence of Gundham Tanaka, they expected him to be just a bit more "chunni" but somewhat normal student, just like Rintaro. Instead, they got to meet someone who was leagues above Rintaro Okabe in chunnibyou department, at least visually speaking. Meanwhile, Mayuri was rather impressed, since it reminded her of all TV shows she watched. It was like live television right in front of her eyes.

"Wow, this Gundham guy is hardcore." commented Itaru amid the conversation. He expected Gundham to resemble more of a mecha person, rather than naturalistic wizard he was.

"Take over the world with your wizardy? Hah! You know that the principles of science is what can define fate, not some magic that can be cast upon with some mumbo jumbo!" taunted Rintaro before striking another pose to further provoke him.

"Watch your peasant mouth, The One that Manipulates Mortal Knowledge! One more heretical word uttered and you shall be faced in a duel of life and death!" Gundham shook his fist at him with anger, threatening him to a challenge that may involve combat. It was sort of unclear to everyone whether he truly meant it or he was playing all along. At the very least Future Gadget Lab members knew that Rintaro was just acting up, at the cost of his own dignity.

"A duel? Mwahahahaha, so be it! I'd like to see you try, Wizard of the Peak! It shall be known who will emerge triumphant!" further provoked Rintaro, which later followed a barrage of chunnibyou nonsense bickering. Most of the people opted to go with their day normally without being bothered by The Great Battle of Chunnibyous. However, some of them got excited about it.

"A duel between the supreme overlord and a mad scientist? That's so cool! I never thought I would see it in real life!" Sonia was one of those people that seemed to be cheering for it.

To say Kurisu was beyond bewildered by the event in front of her would have been an understatement. She secretly sneakily sidestepped like a crab to reach a student that she considered most normal. Both Itaru and Mayuri noticed, but they let her because they thought it would be a good idea for her to bond with the students more.

"Hey...Hajime…" Kurisu whispered into ahoge boy's ear. He, along with Chihiro, were a bit startled when they saw Kurisu just appear right in front of them out of a sudden.

"Oh, Kurisu. You surprised me for a bit." casually greeted Hajime, but then he wondered what was up with her, seeing how completely baffled she was.

"Is this….an everyday occurrence here?" asked Kurisu while wanting to be reassured that what was happening at that moment was just a special occurrence.

"Yep, it is, unfortunately." Hajime told her as honestly as he could, knowing from his experience. Kurisu just slouched her shoulders and felt defeated. The Chunnis have won on the "battlefield" of Hope's peak academy, there was no sign of normalcy after it.

"The chunni levels….they're over nine thousand…." murmured Kurisu to herself as she hoped no one would hear what she said. Unfortunately for her, two people she didn't want to her it already heard it: Rintaro and Itaru. Both of them looked with mischievous grins on their faces, but didn't say anything. Not that they needed to, all they had to give were implications. Even Ibuki joined in "being cheeky towards Kurisu" because other two were doing it. Kurisu's face became cherry red when she saw three nerds looking at her like that. "W-what are you three looking me like that?!"

"I dunno, they're looking like that and Ibuki thought she would look the same." explained Ibuki while still having that look on her face. Neither Rintaro nor Itaru could keep their chuckles. In the mean time, Gundham observed them to get to know their interactions better.

"You definitely know, Christina!" teasingly hinted Rintaro regarding a certain hobby Kurisu wasn't keen to share.

"W-what?!" flustered Kurisu. The Hope's peak gang that already knew the Future Gadget people weren't exactly sure what was going on with them other than that it was those hours again. The hours of tease battles between nerds.

"Old timer!" Hiyoko took a chance to bully Kurisu about it, since she understood why Rintaro and Itaru were teasing her in the first place. For Rintaro, it was a wasted moment to unleash his most powerful tease against the scientist prodigy.

"W-WHO ARE YOU CALLING AN OLD TIME-...AAAAAH!" by that point, Kurisu became so flustered that the group nearby worried that she might explode from embarrassment.

"Hey, Daru. That's a new one to use." Rintaro poked Itaru with his elbow, giving him an idea what to use for future teasing of Kurisu Makise.

"Don't mind it too much, Kurisu. They're just having fun." Hajime attempted to calm down Kurisu from her own embarrassment. He was telling the truth as well, no one really minded her seeing like that, even though some, like Hiyoko, took an advantage of it.

"I guess….This is quite something, so to say. Okabe and Hashida definitely don't look out of place here." sighed Kurisu as she remained in that corner. It was time for other Future Gadget Lab members to get a taste of Hope's peak academy by checking others.

"Now excuse me, I must consult these connoisseurs out there." said Itaru before he went to the supposed "bar", which was taken care by Ryouta Mitarai and Teruteru Hanamura. The Super Hacker went there because he thought they were his kind, in his own words.

"I see you're a man of culture as well." Ryouta greeted him with a compliment and a nod.

"Oh, to be called connoisseur! You have great taste, my man!" Teruteru seemed to be enjoy to be called such high titles.

"That's right! We gentlemen must unite!" declared Itaru like he was leading some kind of movement of nerds. He remained at the bar, awaiting for his drink.

"Daru has already found his group, hehehe. Chris-chan too!" commented Mayuri while she watched her group hanging around the students. She decided that she will join them last, since she was curious what would other lab mems decide.

"We have a game to finish, wizard man!" reminded Skipper, interrupting the chunni battle as both the wizard overlord and mad scientist turned their attention towards the leading penguin.

"Of course! I shall arrive soon, The leader of Avians!" announced Gundham as he was starting to return to the game of Ludo.

"Say, the Overlord of Darkness, shall we complete our duel in this match?" requested Rintaro in order to complete their so called duel.

"As you will, The One Who Manipulates Mortal Knowledge! It shall be known who shall be triumphant!" boasted Gundham while inviting him to the game of Ludo. The mad scientist Rintaro stepped forth to see what was the game all about. He saw that Skipper and Gundham were about in the same position in the game. Kowalski had the lead, while Private was the last one.

"Gotta say, this dude has a killer laugh!" complimented Nekomaru out of a sudden.

"Can you take my spot, ? I always get the bad rolls." asked Private to end his Ludo induced misfortune for the day, offering him a seat.

"Fortune has not been blessed on you, Avian of the Faraway Blizzard! Let Kyouma take it!" Rintaro took over Private's place as he sat down. Since it was supposed to be Private's turn

"Even Okarin has found his group, hehehe. Now comes for Mayushii to find her group." Mayuri mused to herself before she ran off to the little corner where Kurisu, Chiaki, Hajime and Chihiro were. "Tutturu! Heyo, Chi-chan, Haji-tan and Fuji-chan!"

"Hey hey, Mayuri. How are you today?" greeted Chiaki, along with others that were around her.

"All is well around Mayushii! Thank you for inviting all of us at school!" happily answered Mayuri.

"It wasn't really much on my end, but I'm glad you're all having fun." Chiaki downplayed her role for a bit before she glanced over Kurisu, who was still with them. Judging from her expression, Kurisu seemed like she was relaxing there, but Chiaki wasn't entirely sure. She wanted to check her, regardless of what she thought. "Is everything okay, Kurisu?"

"Yeah, it is, don't worry about it much. Just that this spot here is cozy." calmly clarified Kurisu, just standing there with crossed arms.

"Ah, I see. I guess it wouldn't be good to worry about it...I think." Chiaki felt a bit of relief that the scientist prodigy was feeling alright. It wouldn't have been good if someone wasn't feeling well during the mini party. Luckily, most of them were enjoying at best and not caring at worst.

"Chris-chan, when you feel like it, be sure to greet others as well. Lots of students here want to know more about you." suggested Mayuri as she pointed at other students.

"As promised, I will, Mayuri." nodded Kurisu.

"For now, Mayushii's also gonna be here." said Mayuri as all of them remained in that spot, watching others either partying or just having a relaxing day in the dining room.

A little bit of time passed and things were still the same. Folk were eating, Rintaro and Gundham were playing with penguins, Itaru was with his brethren, discussing important matters like which anime girl is the cutest and Ibuki was still on the table. It was starting to baffle Kurisu again.

"How long has Ibuki been on the table?" Kurisu turned towards Hajime and gave him a question regarding their musician friend.

"Through out the entire party." deadpanned Hajime, yet he wasn't sarcastic at all. In fact, his words were true regarding the Ibuki Mioda.

"That's either dedication or just plain silliness." commented Kurisu with an additional squint.

"In Ibuki's case, its both. It's not even the craziest thing she does." added Hajime.

"I can imagine, knowing what I saw in the lab." Kurisu remembered that one time Ibuki threw herself on the floor like an excited puppy and started making snow angels on the floor without snow. It also stuck in her head because it was one of the few times Rintaro dropped his facade over something non-serious.

"A day without Ibu-chan just isn't lively, is it?" bubbled Mayuri, reminding them that even though Ibuki has quirks, there was something about her energy that just made a day brighter.

"I do feel like Ibuki makes a day brighter, heh. She just has that...hmm..how to say...energy to it. Like a party member that always tries to cheer everyone up." agreed Chiaki about her. She especially remembered the day when Ibuki brought her, Chihiro and Hajime all together to the MayQueen, where they not only met the mischievous cat girl maid, but also got first mentions of the Future Gadget Lab.

"We do have a person like that on our end too." Kurisu winked at them, hinting about two people in her own laboratory. One of them was right near them, other one was busy playing Ludo with the wizard and penguins.

The placements in the Ludo had changed compared to last time. Rintaro managed to be placed above Gundham and Skipper, who were still tied, but Kowalski was still in the lead. Speaking of the most calculating penguin, he took out an abacus to define the exact force and speed he needed to utilize to roll six. After performing his calculation, he threw the die and just like he expected, he rolled out a six, enabling him to either

"Yes! My calculation has been correct!" Kowalski pumped with his flipper after a successful throw.

"Do you seriously calculate every single throw?" asked Rintaro, dropping his facade for a bit due to sheer absurdity of performing such thing.

"If I have to win, then I must!" Kowalski explained himself with a rather stern tone in his voice.

"You're not letting the lady luck do the job. Let me show you how it's done." casually boasted Skipper before Kowalski passed him the die. Without even thinking about calculations, Skipper threw the die, perhaps with too much force. The die bounced off from the table so hard, it started flying over the dining room. "Oh, whoops."

The impact of die's next bounce was right in front of Mikan's foot. The nurse was just trying to get another drink, but the sudden flight of the die startled her so much, she feel on the floor, right on her back.

"Uwah! Not this again!" Mikan let out a whine as she fell on the floor. The die kept going after a bounce, only to find the next possible impact, perhaps even another bounce.

Meanwhile, Itaru was awaiting another glass of soda, which the current bartender, Ryouta Mitarai, was about to give him.

"Your drink, Mr…" Ryouta offered him the beverage, but he wanted to get his name right.

"Itaru Hashida, my man." reminded Itaru, just that Ryouta would not forget.

"Mister Hashida" said Ryouta as he gave him a glass of soda.

"Thanks, man" thanked Itaru, but just as he was about to drink it, the die fell right inside his soda. The liquid managed to stop the die from bouncing all over the dining room, yet it left Itaru a little bit confused. "Huh?"

"Here!" shouted Private to get the hacker man's attention, to which he managed to get it easily. Itaru picked up the die from his drink and approached the penguins, the mad scientist and the Supreme Overlord to hand over them the die.

"Did someone order a moist die?" quipped Itaru as he offered them the aforementioned die.

"Exchange, Supa Hacka!" ordered Skipper, pointing his flipper at the stout hacker.

"Not you too, penguin! It's HACKER!" huffed Itaru before he decided to go back to his own gang. "Now, I must return."

"It always gets him, heh." chuckled Rintaro to himself, continuing their game of Ludo in the process.

Meanwhile, on the other end, it was finally time for Kurisu to commit to her promise that she made to Mayuri.

"Now, I think it's good time to check out others as well. See ya soon, friends." Kurisu bid her brief farewell to her gang as she went forward. She seemed to go to Mahiru first, since she seemed like a sensible person from a far.

"See ya, Chris-chan!" Mayuri waved at her as Kurisu went out to socialize with others.

From another corner of the dining room, Fuyuhiko and Peko observed. So far, even with the visit from Future Gadget Lab members, nothing seemed to go particularly wrong that day.

"Well, Master Fuyuhiko. It seems that things are going well as of now." reported Peko the situation they were.

"Since nothing really bad happened, I'd say we can relax now. Phew…" Fuyuhiko let out a sigh of relief, finally allowing himself to relax after spending most of the day worrying so much. Peko was glad to see that Fuyuhiko was starting to cool down. The mini party went on without disturbances.

The aforementioned mini party ended when the lunch break ended. The Future Gadget Lab members, along with penguins, awaited their Hope's peak colleagues outside of the academy. Luckily, they didn't have much classes afterwards, so the wait for them was short. Everyone who had participated in the party arrived to the scene.

"That was probably the first party that didn't go awfully wrong." commented Rintaro, feeling rather glad that he and his own friends were able to participate a party without any trouble.

"Damn right. It's like a breath of fresh air." agreed Fuyuhiko. Suddenly, Ibuki stepped forth in order to place herself in front of everyone like a leader, despite the true leader of the Fellowship of Darkness being present there.

"So guys, how was the mini party? Ibuki thought a lot, so Ibuki wonders if it paid off." Ibuki asked everyone in order to make a survey about it. She wanted to hear that at the very least most people enjoyed it.

"I think it went well, Ibuki." Chiaki gave out a response as a friend. Most people around her didn't disagree with her regarding the mini party, at the very least it was relaxing. That's all it needed to be.

"Yeah...it sure did." hesitated Kurisu for a bit, not because of a disapproval, but rather still having that Rintaro versus Gundham battle on her mind. It was one of the oddest things she has seen in a while.

"Tehehehe, Ibuki is glad to hear that. If Ibuki wrote a song right now, it would be called "Mission Complete!"." cheered Ibuki while getting ready herself to sing some kind of song that she loves to yell out loud.

"Sorry to cut it early, but I have to go with Hiyoko right now. See you guys later." Mahiru, pulled by Hiyoko, suddenly had to go home early.

"C ya next day!" Ibuki, along with others, wished her farewell. Only for another person to appear right in front of them as the redhead and the twintails tiny girl went their way. Hope's peak folk and Kurisu already knew her, but she was the first timer for rest of the Future Gadget Lab. She was all quiet, standing still with crossed arms. In fact, some of them noticed that she was oddly absent form the party, but only penguins knew the truth behind her absence,

"Wait, who's in front of us at the moment?" Rintaro took a notice of the unfamiliar to them lilac haired girl. From a distance, she didn't seem too dissimilar to Kurisu, from appearance to mannerisms.

"Kyoko?" Makoto tilted his head as the lilac haired gal started to approach them. Her long silky hair waved through the slight breeze.

"Well, if it ain't Kirigiri! What have you brought us today?" Skipper put his flippers around his stomach, curious about what was his secret agent about to say. Rest of the Fellowship of Darkness members were also curious about it.

"I've found them." Kyoko fired away the answer as soon as possible. The entire Fellowship of Darkness was taken aback by the sudden reveal. They've made their first (indirect) move against Daft Capo without even knowing. Even the Future Gadget Lab members were surprised, considering that they were also searching Daft Capo's hideouts as well.

"Yeah. I'll bring everything I've learned tomorrow. I still have a lot of research to do." added Kyoko, cautioning them about needing more time. The penguins were satisfied that she found them, so they let her have a day to further investigate. Besides, Hope's peak folk deserved a day off from Daft Capo shenanigans.

"So, tomorrow we meet at the hideout?" asked Skipper.

"Alright, I'm fine with that." approved Kyoko.

"Gotcha! Well, boys and girls, we got a change of plans! Tomorrow, we're gonna have a long discussion regarding Daft Capo! You boys and girls might have to skip a day in your school." Skipper turned towards the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness, announcing them the plan for the following day.

"U-um, i-is that okay to do?" meekly questioned Mikan, worried about possibly breaking school's rules.

"Apparently, this institution allows students skipping days if the reason for it is to develop talent." reminded Kowalski with a rather hesitant and confused tone in his voice.

"What? Is this true?" blurted Kurisu upon hearing a tiny fun fact that was told by the tall penguin.

"Yeah, it says so." confirmed Hajime.

"That's strange...at Victor Chondria, I don't think I've ever took a day off." Kurisu commented on the matter. Even though she enjoyed the company of Class 77-B and Class 78th, the school was feeling more off with each day.

"I ask the same questions, Kurisu. I ask the same." Kowalski, along with other penguins agreed with her.

"So that's why an Ultimate Procrastinator in our school." mentioned Kazuichi out of a sudden, remembering his experiences with the Class 69.

"Ultimate fucking what?!" sputtered Fuyuhiko out loud. Among all talents on the school, that one was one of the most questionable talents he has ever heard in his life.

"There's a guy named Taidana Rokudenashi that's also an Ultimate Procrastinator. Apparently, he was supposed to enroll Hope's peak academy four years ago, but...you know, his talent." explained Kazuichi, who was just as baffled as everyone else was about that guy.

"Do you think he's gonna be important, now that you've mentioned him?" cautioned Hajime. It felt suspicious to him that his mechanic classmate mentioned the guy.

"Nah, don't think so." Kazuichi shook with his head.

"At the very least it will benefit us now…even though it's more of a scam than any used car salesman could come up with!" commented Skipper. Some of the students were still concerned about their absence for the following day.

"I'll ask Miss Yukizome about it." said Chiaki, considering that her bond with Chisa was one of the more stronger ones. At some points, she felt like a true teacher's pet.

"Alright, alright. Any objections?" further asked Skipper.

"Um, at what time should we arrive?" Chihiro raised his hand.

"09:00 JST. Consider this lenient, but we expect all of you to not be late." declared Skipper with a stern voice, like a true drill sergeant he wanted to be.

"Heh, that's manageable." chuckled Chihiro, knowing that they start with school earlier than the given time.

"Now, boys and girls, get some rest. Tomorrow we're going in big time." Skipper said his final word before all of them departed, going their ways. They were all glad that they had a relaxing day, but they knew that their fight against Daft Capo is very much far from over. At the very least they could plan out a move against them next day.

Speaking of that mafia, in the worn out port warehouse, their dance party was over. Punksters had to tidy up everything, so that the warehouse could be properly used for their needs. All things present, from DJ table, to the shiny new Ferrari, were still there, kept in good shape. Herman, the sole cephalopod in the warehouse, was lying down like he wanted to be drawn like French girls, but he still had a very sour expression on his face. He was lost in thought and humiliation, especially given by a certain girl from Hope's peak.

"Herman, you're looking like if someone shoved an entire mule up your ass." Rando, who was still at the DJ table, took a notice of Herman's persistent mood. It hasn't changed at all from the day before.

"It's the same thing as being uppercutted by the most unbased noob in that scrub zone." Herman defended himself regarding the events from the day before.

"Are you sure? It couldn't really be that bad." doubted Rando.

"Ok, Imma put in perspective: you know that sponge and starfish we encountered in Vegas, right?" Herman started explaining, bringing up their victory against a certain sponge fry cook and a jobless starfish in Las Vegas. It quickly became clear to Rando what was Herman trying to say.

"Oh yes, I know those two. Annoying FAUCKS, I tell ya!" swore Rando, with him swinging with his head to put an emphasis on the swear itself. The girl punkster passed him by and was already immediately annoyed by the thing Rando likes to do.

"Can't you just say any swear normally for once?" grumbled girl punkster.

"No and I refuse to!" retaliated Rando with pride oozing from his voice.

"Let him be, Daitane. We have more concerning matters on our priority." reassured Herman before he forgot about what was he talking about. "Now where was I?"

"Those Manhattan bastards, eh?" reminded Daitane as her will to beat up something rose.

"Oh right, those, yes. Imagine if that sponge and starfish returned and kicked us in the ass." continued Herman, finishing with what he wanted to say.

"I mean, that is impossible. Those two are weaker than moist toast!" countered Rando, hardly imagining that these two would ever win a fight. Though, he understood the humiliation that would come with losing a physical fight against a sponge.

"That's what I expected of that scrub zone, but alas. Look at what happened." further said Herman as he did a motion with his tentacle arm like if he was offering a glass of water.

"So what's preventing us from just storming the scrub zone and beating everyone up, like we always do?" questioned Daitane.

"The surprise factor is adios." blurted out Herman almost immediately.

"FAUCK! I did not expect how much in sauce are we!" Rando realized that their usual MO regarding their urban operations would flop there, especially that penguins already told them about existence of Daft Capo. They had that luxury elsewhere, but not in Japan it seemed.

"Aw, no beatings?" lamented Daitane as she slouched with her shoulders.

"Do not worry, Daitane. When the Elite Bois will arrive, there will be so much beatings that even Irish bars all around the world would go "Woah mama!"." reassured Herman, already giving her energy back.

"Aw yeah! Now we're talking!" shouted Daitane, feeling all pumped up.

"Speaking of Elite Bois, what's their status now?" asked Rando, curious about when was their plan going in motion.

"Still busy. Right when need them the most, as always." replied Herman.

"So, Elite Bois still busy, huh? Well then, what are we supposed to do now? I don't think we can afford chilling for prolonged time, those Manhattan boys could make a move on us." further asked Rando as he was starting to get concerned.

"I guess we could make a groundwork for our plans with Elite Bois. I have it all, but some documents will be shown when they arrive." answered Herman with confidence. Then he thought about it and called out the person that kept some of the documents. "Guard! Are those documents safe?"

The guard arrived without even saying a word. All he did was pull documents out of his pocket, showing them to Herman and rest of punksters. They were now assured that their catch was in safe hands.

"That's good to hear! For now, let us set up our plan, bois!" complimented Herman before he brought up a floor plan of Hope's peak, setting up the foundation for their plan with Elite Bois. It was only a matter of time until the Elite Bois were done with their jobs.

 

Chapter 19: New Phase in Motion

Chapter Text

The sun rose from the horizon, lighting up the city with its faint rays. Few clouds accompanied what it would be a lonesome diurnal star. The life in city was starting to rev up in the morning.

 

Chiaki was usually more of a sleepyhead, often nearly missing out school, but when she had to do something important for her class, she was always on time. In fact, a lot of times she’s spent entire nights awake, playing video games through out nights. That Thursday was one of those days, since she had a secret mission to do in the name of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“Alright so, I have to do it as promised. I’ve gotta tell Miss Yukizome about this.” Chiaki walked down the street, going to the academy she loved so much. Then, a thought caused her to stop on tracks, making her rethink about their entire plan.

 

“Wait...all of this is kind of doing a disservice to her, isn’t it? She’s trying really hard for us to have a good time at Hope’s peak and we’re doing this to her….It doesn’t feel right…” Chiaki doubted herself, especially taking in consideration how much Chisa puts a lot of effort in bringing fun to the classes. Just when she was about to cease, a quick thought of that mischievous octopus appeared just in time. She imagined him bullying her teacher as men in white tuxedos laughed at her misfortune.

 

“But...she could also be in danger. That octopus could humiliate her every day or worse…..same thing could happen to her as what happened to Faris….” Chiaki further thought about it, taking in consideration everything she had both experienced and heard from others, from the very first attacks of Herman to the story told by the maid cat girl. It was enough to cement her decision.

 

“Well, it’s decided now. I’d rather do this than let Miss Yukizome suffer from Daft Capo’s attacks.” Chiaki started walking to school with slight amount of more confidence, believing that the choice was better of the two.

 

By the time she managed to reach her destination, she immediately set her path towards Yukizome’s office. Upon arriving, she gently knocked on the door, wondering if she even was there. Much to her fortune, that was confirmed by the invitation said by the voice of a teacher, allowing her to open the door without too much worry.

 

“Good morning, Miss Yukizome.” quietly and politely greeted Chiaki as she did a little bow.

 

“Good morning, my lil Chiaki! You’re quite an early birdie today.” Chisa cheerfully greeted back, being delighted at the sight of not only of her student visiting her, but it was her little Chiaki. Before any classes start, all Yukizome had was paperwork. Not her favorite activity by far.

 

“There’s something I need to tell you, Miss Yukizome.” entrusted Chiaki about the plan The Fellowship of Darkness set in motion.

 

“What is it, my little bun? What are you gonna trust your teacher about?” piqued Chisa as she leaned towards her.

 

“Well, my class, along with Class 78th are gonna be absent for today because….” Chiaki started to fidget because the reason they have said secretly was not only getting out of her head, but was also something she herself strongly disagreed with. “Um, what was the reason again…”

 

“…..because….we wanted to develop our talents more...like grind them to level up more….I think...I think that’s it.” stammered Chiaki as she tried to blurt out the reason. After she finished, Chisa couldn’t help but giggle at her.

 

“You’re being silly right now, aren’cha?” jested Chisa as she gave her a wink, immediately noticing that her class was up to something entirely else.

 

“Huh?” Chiaki was quite surprised about how sharp her teacher was. That, or her deceiving skills were low level.

 

“Since when did you out of all people start caring about talent?” asked Chisa in a rather bold, yet still friendly enough tone.

 

“Um…talent was never my thing.” admitted Chiaki, slightly blushing due to Chisa looking right in her eyes. She couldn’t lie to her teacher anymore, a feeling of guilt was starting to kick up in her stomach.

 

“That’s right! I still remember how you were when you were about to enroll Hope’s peak academy. You looked...really sad and nervous about it. But look at yourself now, how much have you changed. You’re a lot more lively than you used to be.” further added Chisa while also having memories how she met the gamer girl in the first place. Ever since day one, she believed in her and she was especially proud that Chiaki managed to be basically at home at Hope’s peak academy.

 

“Well….that wouldn’t have happened without you. You made me see life differently. I really wanna make you proud, Miss Yukizome.” blushed Chiaki as she scratched her head, deflecting any praise given to her by instead praising her teacher instead.

 

“Dawww, it wasn’t much on my end…” Chisa fidgeted while downplaying herself before her curiosity took over. “...but anyway, what are you guys actually cooking up? Something against that mafia, I feel.”

 

“Huh? How did you...actually know about it?” asked Chiaki out of a surprise.

 

“Partial guess, but I do feel like you guys are always the ones that face a threat head on. Nothing is gonna stop you guys from saving this school!” explained Chisa in a rather lively fashion, just like she always was.

 

“So...I guess I should just reveal it to you, Miss Yukizome.” admitted Chiaki as she stood up, inviting Chisa to group up at the spot that The Fellowship of Darkness decided for the meeting point. Chisa stood up as well, joining in.

 

“Woah there!” exclaimed Chisa as her hand was suddenly grabbed by her own student, dashing outside of the office. They quickly arrived to the scene, only to find out that one of the members of The Fellowship of Darkness was already there.

 

“Oooh, who’s this lab coat wearing boy here? Do you know him, Chiaki?” asked Chisa, since it was the first time she saw the man himself. Judging from Chiaki’s way of looking at him, the teacher managed to identify quickly that he was a friend of her.

 

“Good morning, Rintaro.” greeted Chiaki, gaining his attention. When the self proclaimed mad scientist saw the gamer girl holding the hand of her teacher like a little girl, many things popped in his head. He wasn’t entirely sure what to think of it. On one hand, it was ridiculous that an adolescent girl was holding hands with an adult woman like that, but on other hand, it wasn’t exactly unusual for him, since he already had an oddball of a childhood friend with him. It would be slightly unfair to judge Chiaki for it.

 

“Is that your mother, Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit?” asked Rintaro, partially out to tease her but also because he genuinely thought that Chisa was related to her. Hard to blame him, considering not only did they have “Chi” in their names, but they were oddly similar to each other.

 

“E-eh?! N-no, I’m just her teacher, you see, hehe…” blushed Chisa as she started swinging around out of embarrassment.

 

“No teasing her, Rintaro. Please.” pouted Chiaki in defense of her teacher, but all she managed to do was make Rintaro chuckle. “What’s so funny?”

 

“If you could only look at your face, Pouty Ultra Gamer Rabbit.” Rintaro pointed at her, still chuckling as Chiaki continued to sport a pout.

 

“So, Mr.Rintaro, r-right?” asked Chisa after a bit of her embarrassment went away.

 

“No, it is HOUOUIN KYOUMA, the mad scientist and the man that will tore down the Organization by his own iron fist!” clarified Rintaro, or rather his mad scientist persona, in a dramatic fashion.

 

“Oh, I see, I see….” Chisa scratched her chin before she activated her own hidden chunnibyou, used often to look cool in front of a certain wizard man. “...Mwahahahahaha!”

 

“Oh? What’s this now?” Rintaro dropped his persona for a bit, surprised that Chiaki’s teacher also had it in her.

 

“As you see, I am an unspeakable and ruthless villainess myself! I may seem like a doofus teacher, but I am in fact a bloodthirsty queen, who strives for blood!” Chisa started babbling out stuff that she was trying to make up any nonsense that would fit her persona.

 

This is embarrassing.” thought Rintaro to himself, yet he couldn’t say it to her face for obvious reasons. Instead, he decided to get along with it. “Hmpf! So you say that you are villainess, eh? That is nothing compared to the power of chaos I radiate!”

 

“Heh, I’m glad that you two are getting along.” giggled Chiaki to herself as she watched them both go full ham regarding their chunnibyous. The moment of chunni has only increased when The Supreme Overlord of Ice arrived to the scene, watching them with amusement.

 

“Hmm...I see that you two, The Thoughtful One and The One that Manipulates Mortal Knowledge, have recruited our Instructor to our cause!” smirked Gundham, crossing his arms to assert dominance.

 

“Recruited? What do you mean, Gund-erm, Supreme Overlord?” asked Chisa as she turned towards her own chunni student.

 

“At this point, I shall make my drill very clear: words will not suffice to what will you see by your own eyes!” Gundham repeated himself again. He hoped that it would be one of the last times to do so, it was getting tiring for him.

 

“Oh, a mystery? Surprise me then, Supreme Overlord! Mwahahaha!” Chisa imitated a witch’s cackle.

 

“Fuwhahahahaha!” Gunham joined with his laugh.

 

“Fwahahahahaha!” Rintaro added his own one as the symphony of three nerds laughing played out in front of the fountain, where Chiaki just quietly observed them, musing to herself about how much fun they have together. But with one glance, she noticed that they were no longer alone, as none other than Kurisu Makise watched them, looking quite baffled by the sight in front of them. Chiaki got a little startled by the sudden appearance of the scientist prodigy. The gamer girl rushed down and poked her teacher’s shoulder.

 

“...Eh?” Chisa turned her head towards her student, only to look at the direction where Chiaki was pointing. Suddenly, her facade dropped harder than a rock thrown in water. “Oh god, I’ve embarrassed myself in front of her!”

 

The red faced teacher quickly fell on her knees and covered her face as she started screaming in her hands. All of the gang that was already present there were equally confused at Chisa’s reaction. Kurisu approached them all, wanting to know what was going on.

 

“What did you two doofuses do right now?” Kurisu glared at Rintaro and Gundham, blaming them for embarrassing her. She omitted Chiaki from the blame because she thought that the gamer girl wasn’t the type to put people in awkward places like that.

 

“Um, actually nothing, we were just talking normally.” sincerely clarified Rintaro with no hint of his mad scientist persona present at that moment.

 

“The One who Manipulates Mortal Knowledge is telling the truth!” supported Gundham.

 

“By your definition on what is a “normal conversation”, yes.” Kurisu squinted at them before a feeling of guilt started to take over when she saw Chisa in such state. She crouched down and gave Chisa a headpat to reassure her that she didn’t do anything wrong. “Hey, it’s okay. I don’t judge you for it.”

 

“R-really?” Chisa revealed her embarrassed face. There were even traces of tears on her soft cheeks, probably due to her crying out of pure embarrassment.

 

“Yeah, you were just having fun with them, right?” Kurisu helped her to stand up by offering her to grab her arm.

 

“Y-yeah.” nodded Chisa, managing to stand up. She was still red in the face, but she could function like a normal human being at that moment.

 

“See? It’s not a big deal.” smiled Kurisu at her and her student before she turned towards the chunni duo. “Anyway, you two have said that this is where we gather here, right?”

 

“Precisely, The Prodigy. It’s how we have always done it.” confirmed Gundham.

 

“...You too with nicknames, huh?” sighed Kurisu before realizing it was futile to fight against it. “I guess I have to get used to double barrage of them.”

 

A couple of minutes passed as the rest of The Fellowship of Darkness arrived to the scene. While everyone bar Hiyoko arrived from the class 77-B, class 78th had less luck regarding that. Byakuya, Toko and Celeste still refused to join. Members that originated from Hope’s peak were accompanied by the main guys of Future Gadget Lab. Their Supreme Overlord of Ice in charge decided it was time to go.

 

“Onward, my minions!” commanded Gundham, leading them through their “secret path” of flora. By that time, they went through that path so many times that it felt like a routine. Notable exception was Chisa, who not only had first time experiencing it, but also expressed child like sense of wonder regarding what mysteries lied ahead of her. If someone spotted them, they would think that Chisa is one of the students rather than a teacher.

 

“Hey, wizard man. Do we still have to go through this?” asked Fuyuhiko in rather annoyed tone while thinking about a possible alternative path.

 

“It is the only way, so far. Perhaps you have a different route to take?” Gundham answered him, thinking he had solid intentions behind his

 

“There would be a better one for damn sure, but I can’t come up with anything so far.” said Fuyuhiko as they continued their path.

 

After traversing through the tree filled park, they found themselves in front of the garage, where the official hideout for The Fellowship of Darkness was. Gundham, being the leader he was, knocked on the door. The entrance opened itself, revealing a round table with a lot of chairs around it. In front of them, one of the chairs turned towards them, revealing a pink haired cat girl maid already occupying it. She wasn’t the only human already present there, since Kyoko was also there, just sitting quietly.

 

“Welcome, Myasters and Meowstresses, nya!” greeted Faris with a mischievous smile on her face as they all stepped inside, occupying any possible place they could find. Despite the garage being quite big, it was starting to get cramped up due to

 

Oh no, it’s the cat girl…” dreaded Hajime about the incoming provocations from her.

 

“So, boys and girls, what do you have for us today?” asked Skipper as he and the rest of the penguin squad turned their chairs towards them, looking at them like masterminds of a villainous organization.

 

“Look, Miss Yukizome!” Chiaki pointed at the bird of the blizzard, making her teacher look at them. When the teacher saw four penguin commandos, her heart melted.

 

“Oh my gosh, they’re so cuuuuuute!!!!” bubbled Chisa as she flailed around with her arms out of sheer excitement. It was easy to guess that she thought Private was the cutest. The aforementioned penguin also won the bet among his avian brothers in arms, gaining few coins in his jar.

 

“And cuddly!” boasted Skipper, placing his flippers around his stomach before he leaned to Kowalski. “Say, Kowalski, she’s quite a bombshell, isn’t she?”

 

“Oh, absolutely, Skipper. Gotta say, as shady as this institution is, they’ve got good women.” agreed Kowalski regarding the appearance and curves of Chisa Yukizome.

 

“Exactly. It makes it worth it.” said Skipper.

 

“That’s our teacher, Miss Yukizome. She takes care of all of us at school.” Chiaki innocently introduced her to the penguins as if she was her mother.

 

“So, you guys are like super secret agent penguin commandos right?” asked Chisa like a curious kid. “Ooooh, I can’t wait to see what you’ve cooked up!”

 

“Well, we weren’t the only chefs making this stew of information.” answered Skipper before he pointed his flipper at the calm lilac haired girl. “Kirigiri, tell us what you’ve found!”

 

“There have been two things I have discovered about Daft Capo. I’ll start with the more usable one.” started Kyoko, bringing out a printed out satellite view of a port, with the port warehouse being surrounded by the red marked circle. The Fellowship of Darkness looked at it and immediately guessed that this was Kyoko’s catch.

 

“That’s their hideout, right?” Chiaki tilted her head.

 

“One of, I assume. I also saw a man in black guarding the entrance to the port warehouse, along with a moped with what I assume was a driver of a short, non-human stature. It seemed to resemble a cephalopod.” explained Kyoko. When she mentioned a certain octopus and a moped, Chiaki quickly realized who was the reason that she almost got into a car accident that day. A pout appeared on her face, along with a frustrated expression on her face.

 

“Why are you all puffy faced now?” asked Hajime when he saw her all pouty faced.

 

“It’s...nothing.” Chiaki attempted to reassure that everything was alright, but deep down, that octopus was just becoming more of an enemy to her with each day passed. “That octopus is gonna get another one, I’m sure of it.

 

“A man in black? That must be the guy that they got from Leipzig!” commented Skipper, remembering their encounter with the guard back in Rotterdam.

 

“Is he of any significance?” questioned Fuyuhiko, suspecting that any person mentioned could be either their enemy or an ally.

 

“To be honest, when we encountered him at Rotterdam, he was suspiciously more competent than an average punkster. Not on the same level as that darned Fritz, though.” elaborated Skipper while also wincing at the name of a certain elite that went full Fußball-Club Bayern München on Private back in Denmark.

 

“Sounds like a tough opponent. Can’t wait to fight him!” grinned Akane, already imagining the fight between her and what she thought was the guard.

 

“Right, so he could be manageable if we overwhelm him. Anyway, do you have more to say, Kirigiri?” Fuyuhiko further asked, turning his attention to their detective.

 

“I briefly had a glance to what was inside. All I saw that there were a considerable number of men and women in tuxedos, dancing in the warehouse, but that’s about as far as I could get. If I went closer, I feel like they would have responded.” continued Kyoko, recalling as much as she could.

 

“That’s definitely Daft Capo for ya!” jeered Skipper.

 

“So, now that we know of their hideout, what are we supposed to do now?” pointed out Mahiru that despite them knowing Daft Capo’s location, what they could do with it was another story. They couldn’t afford any too risky moves.

 

“Well, boys and girls, it’s time to rev up your brain cells for it cuz we gonna plan now!” announced Skipper, performing a single yet echoing clap with his flipper. Another Anti-Daft Capo plan has begun, but not before interruptions.

 

“Just one thing though.” Chisa raised her finger, gaining attention from the small but combat proven avians.

 

“What is it, Teach?” Skipper turned towards her.

 

“You’re not gonna send my guys to do dangerous stuff, right?” asked Chisa out of complete and total concern. It was something that was not only on her mind, but others too.

 

“Nah, you Hope’s peak folk are gonna stay at school. It is us that do the dirty work here! Remember, you don’t send a Hercules over defenses, you send a Nighthawk!” reassured Skipper while also hinting at their next operation.

 

“But I don’t think Hearcooleus could fly though.” noted Mayuri, somehow completely mishearing the name of a cargo plane.

 

“I don’t think he meant the Greek hero. He meant something more awesome!” corrected Kazuichi with some level of enthusiasm, likely related to machinery.

 

“Ah, I see I see, there’s no worries then. I don’t wanna see any of these guys hurt.” Chisa let out a sigh of relief, placing her hand on the place where her heart was.

 

“I do think we’re gonna go on offensive someday, Instructor. Sometimes, best defense is offense. Isn’t that right, penguin?” cautioned Fuyuhiko, knowing from his own experiences. Despite what he said, he did wish that wouldn’t need to happen.

 

“You’re getting onto something, Fuyuhiko my man!” praised Skipper.

 

“I just hope that day doesn’t come…” murmured Chisa, hoping that her students and class 78th would never be seriously harmed by Daft Capo.

 

“We’ve got ourselves, penguins and Rintaro’s gang, I’m pretty sure we will be okay, Miss Yukizome.” reassured Chiaki with an innocent smile on her face. It was easy for her teacher to be calmed down by the gamer girl, no one could really blame her.

 

“Don’t bank on it too much, Nanami. Anything could happen that could turn the events into that damned Daft Capo’s favor.” cautioned Fuyuhiko in order to not let his own students be blinded by shortsighted optimism. “Anyway, penguins, what even is your plan for now?”

 

“I’m glad you’ve asked, Fuyuhiko, because I’ve got something right for you all.” began Kowalski, placing the picture of the satellite view of the port in the middle. “Now that we know of their hideout, we will commence an infiltration to find out everything about them and their activities in Japan, such as their other hideouts and plans. Then-”

 

“Then we storm in and beat the shit out of them!” interrupted Akane with an enthusiasm to deliver some beating on criminal punksters.

 

“Hold on there, Akane. I don’t think it’s a good idea to storm them right after the penguins have done their mission.” cautioned Nekomaru, taking in consideration that there might be more Daft Capo members than they could handle it, despite them being Ultimates.

 

“Why not? Don’t they always do that?” asked Akane.

 

“I would have agreed with you if it wasn’t for what happened at Denmark. They got vastly more competent after our encounter in Rotterdam.” elaborated Skipper while just not getting over their defeat.

 

“They’ve also seem to rely more on element of surprise as of late than they used to.” added Kowalski.

 

“Yeah, we felt that.” said Hajime.

 

“Then we should call the authorities and arrest them after we gather up evidence against them!” suggested Kiyotaka possible one of the more sensible options on paper. The Ultimate Moral Compass was always bothered by the lack of action done against Daft Capo by authorities.

 

“Don’t count on the authorities too much, you know how easy it is to bribe them, right?” warned Fuyuhiko, acknowledging a rather likely possibility.

 

“It’s gonna be even harder that they keep erasing every trace they make.” Rintaro suddenly spoke up. His own recollection to what happened previous weekend shifted the entire atmosphere of the meeting. A bit of confidence in tackling them was lowered. Even penguins were surprised by the sudden reveal.

 

“Woah woah woah woah there, Kyouma. Daft Capo is doing what?!” blurted out Skipper upon hearing the words of the scientist.

 

“Yeah. Not too long ago, me and my fellow Lab Mems tried to ask on @channel about Daft Capo. Before we got anything resembling an answer, the post was deleted right in front of our eyes.” Rintaro, devoid of his mad scientist persona, calmly explained the event he was a part of.

 

“What the? They love the spotlight, this is contradictory to their MO!” argued Skipper, recalling his own experiences before ordering one of his colleagues to search for Daft Capo. “Rico, check everything on the internet!”

 

“Not gonna work, man. We’ve checked as well, but found nothing.” Itaru attempted to cease their attempts at what was deemed a futile mission.

 

“That’s strange. I remember Daft Capo being present on headlines of Dutch newspapers. They’ve gained quite a popularity streak there. Lets check that out.” commented Kowalski on the matter before he looked to results on the internet.

 

He found nothing. No matter what search engine they used, it was always the same. Just blank pages.

 

“How did they manage to erase themselves from the internet? That’s like impossible to do!” asked Kazuichi, sweating out of nervousness.

 

“We thought the same, hence why this is so puzzling to us. What sort of technology does Daft Capo have to be capable of such a thing?” wondered Kurisu

 

“How...are they capable of this?” wondered Hajime as well.

 

“As stupid as this sounds, the only reason I can come up with it that they are being backed by someone, possibly a governmental organization or even the government themselves.” Fuyuhiko gave out a suggestion.

 

“No way! I do not believe that the government of this country is behind that mafia! Japan as a whole has a strong negative outlook on crime.” denied Kiyotaka as he shook his fist.

 

“Not at damn all, it’s pretty possible. There’s been multiple instances of that happening through out the past and even today.” debated Fuyuhiko.

 

“What Fuyuhiko is saying is true. Governments often rely on proxies to expand their influence across their borders.” Sonia added her own opinion on the matter while also telling from her experiences in her own country.

 

“The question is what government would sponsor a mafia that has an octopus with shit taste as the forefront?” Itaru gave out a question, partially in a more light tone because the seriousness surrounding him was starting to bother him.

 

“Netherlands?” offered Kowalski, as it was the first thing to pop up in his head.

 

“How come, Kowalski? I’d understand if it was something like Russia, United States or China, but why Netherlands specifically? Diplomatically speaking, Japan and Netherlands are now on good terms as far as I know, but they have been at odds with each other in the past.” questioned Sonia before remembering Netherlands’ more colonial past. They used to be an empire after all and their activities around Southeast Asia were very present. “...Maybe does it have to do with revenge about what happened in the past?”.

 

“I’m mostly basing my hypothesis on their public approval there.” elaborated Kowalski, bringing up a rather more mundane yet less concerning option.

 

“Hmmm...this is quite puzzling indeed.” Sonia scratched her chin, wondering about everything regarding Daft Capo. Others wondered the same, feeling a slight feeling of dread.

 

“I see where this is going.” Nagito, the only one who seemed to be completely calm about everything surrounding him, suddenly spoke up

 

“You do? Tell us, Nagito.” Sonia requested him to speak up. The white haired boy was prepared to say his own opinion on the matter, but he wanted his assumptions to be cleared up.

 

“Before I even say anything, I want a thing or two confirmed, penguins.” Nagito focused his attention towards penguins. “First, for what exact cause is Daft Capo fighting for and second, how would it be if they managed to take over our academy? Would it be any different at all?”

 

“We can answer both questions, so here we go: They’re in for money and that’s about it.” Skipper

 

“Would you say that money gives them Hope?” further asked Nagito.

 

“Hope with capital H, what?” perplexed Skipper upon hearing how much emphasis did the luckster put on a simple word.

 

“By any definition, whether be yours or mine, I can safely say that it only gives them short lived hedonistic impulses rather than inspiring them to do something for the greater good. There is no altruism among the circles Daft Capo.” clarified Kowalski, speaking like a hardheaded scientist he was. For a moment, Nagito remained quiet.

 

“...Ah.” Nagito, while still smiling, let out a sigh. He already had a grandiose speech about the conflict of hope versus despair, but it was wasted on a motivation that he deemed to be boring. Some of the members of The Fellowship of Darkness were confused about his reaction towards it. It felt off.

 

“You sounded kinda disappointed, nya.” Faris, with her usually mischievous smile replaced with a rather serious glare, was the first one to comment on his reaction.

 

“I am quite, yes. I expected their goals to be grander, so to say. Anyway, continue with the next question.” Nagito let out his honest sentiment regarding Daft Capo, just waiting for his next question to be answered.

 

“Well, I think this picture will be a good reference to what happens under Daft Capo’s reign.” Skipper ordered Rico to throw him a folder titled “miscellaneous stuff regarding Daft Capo”. When he got the folder with his slippery flippers, he revealed a picture to Nagito. The content of the monochrome picture were three punksters in the port of Rotterdam, flexing with their brand new yet overly glittered and pimped up Puma shoes. The one in the middle, who was also the closest to the frame, was especially proud of his footwear. Only one caption, which was in Sans Serif font, was below them.

 

“$WAG”.

 

“Wow, that’s an assault on my eyes. I think I prefer the current status quo, but I have to go now. I’ve heard it all.” Nagito expressed himself before he stood up and started going to the door of the garage.

 

“Stop right here, The One with Fortune! Where do you think are going, leaving behind The Fellowship of Darkness?! Are you scheming something behind our backs?!” ordered Gundham as he dramatically stood up form his chair.

 

“Hey, you can’t just leave us behind!” scolded Mahiru for him to just suddenly drop them to eat dust.

 

“Hold on, this is just a misunderstanding, right? You’re not really planning to leave us, are you?” intervened Chiaki in a much more calm manner, trying to come to an understanding. Even if Nagito was Nagito, he was still her classmate after all.

 

“I’ve lost interest in the fight against Daft Capo, that’s all. I’m leaving everything up to you guys. I know you’re concerned about betrayal, so I shall say it: I will see how will the development of this situation go. I wish you farewell and best of wishes regarding your fight.” Nagito explained himself rather bluntly, causing others to get a bit frustrated with him. Some of the folk, like Chiaki, didn’t feel exactly well about his decision. “Hey, little penguin! Can you open the door for me?”

 

“Um, Skipper? Should I let him?” asked Private while holding the remote.

 

“Overlord, Kyouma, come with me!” ordered Skipper for Gundham and Rintaro to come with him. They briefly left the garage to do a secret meeting in the hall, discussing the fate of the white haired boy.

 

“I don’t know about you guys, but this guy looks like a complete nutjob! We can’t let him out! I’d say we hold him hostage and interrogate him, CIA style!” suggested Skipper for a more militaristic approach to dealing with Nagito.

 

“While it is true that The One with Fortune is quite hard to predict, we cannot afford to desert us and switch to our adversaries. He operates in a different way than most of these mortals that belong to this institution.” Gundham raised his own point, rather to observe their sudden-to-shift-alliances member than to directly attack him.

 

“Let him out. This guy, regardless on what side is he, seems like nothing but trouble. We should keep an eye on him, but not attack him or anything. Just keep him distanced, but not too much.” offered Rintaro, rather to leave him alone instead of further provoking him.

 

“Are ya sure you’re letting a guy like that just run in the wild?” questioned Skipper with doubt in his eyes.

 

“I am quite curious about your opinion on the matter, The One who Manipulates Mortal Knowledge.” Gundham focused his attention to his scientist colleague.

 

“Yeah, it’s probably for the best. Antagonizing him or keeping him a hostage will only encourage him to work against us.” insisted Rintaro while not taking any chances of risk.

 

“I am not so quite sure, he seems to act quite impersonal about it. In fact, I have noticed that he often elevates those that have talent.” noted Gundham from those times he observed the class distanced from others.

 

“What about those that don’t have talent?” wondered Rintaro.

 

“I haven’t asked that individual about it, but I am quite sure that he does not view them in the same way as he does ones with talent. One who idolizes the concept dear to him shall not be generous to its opposite.” replied Gundham, confirming the assumption that Rintaro had. The scientist started to worry about Hajime, especially to how would someone like Nagito react to his truth.

 

“Hmmm….yeah….he should be out.” decided Rintaro once and for all.

 

“What about you, Avian of the Faraway Blizzard?” asked Gundham.

 

“I’m still quite conflicted about letting that kook out, but I think you guys are onto something. I think I’ll let you two win.” Skipper decided to go with the idea Rintaro said for that moment, but if Nagito went out to the way to deliberately sabotage them, he would respond physically.

 

“Alright then, his fate has been decided.” Gundham crossed with his arms as all of them returned to the garage, interrupting any arguments any of the member had with Nagito.

 

“Ah, took you all long enough. So, what do you say?” said Nagito in a rather condescending tone.

 

“You’re dismissed!” declared Skipper before he pointed at his youngest colleague. “Private, the door!”

 

“Thank you, despite that this should have taken much less time. I thought I was going to be held hostage here. Consider me your cheerleader, perhaps even a stepping stone. Farewell.” Nagito said his final words before he fully abandoned The Fellowship of Darkness once and for all. Moment of silence followed, with confusion and frustration prevalent among the group.

 

“What’s this dude’s problem?” wondered Akane while thinking about punching him in the face if he does anything harmful.

 

“I don’t fuckin’ know.” chided Fuyuhiko, crossing his arms.

 

“We should keep an eye on him, nya. He could betray us any moment, I know of it.” cautioned Faris in a rather serious tone. Those who were her friends knew she was a reliable source, since her Cheshire Break skill could read people quite easily.

 

“Great, not only Daft Capo, but him too. Two things to be concerned about.” scowled Hajime, not being a fan of potentially dealing with two threats at once. One threat even being a classmate.

 

“Aww…Ibuki didn’t expect that this development will happen.” lamented Ibuki as she scratched her head, unpleasant feelings going in her mind.

 

“I wonder who’s the next one to break away. Will this happen more?” frowned Mahiru at the thought of her class breaking apart due disagreements and misunderstandings. That feeling was starting to rise up in the group.

 

“Don’t worry guys, I’m pretty sure that, even with this, our group is not gonna break apart so soon, right? We’re gonna do this together!” Chiaki, after noticing that the atmosphere in the group was spiraling, stood up and attempted to reassure them. “And besides, I’m pretty sure he will return.”

 

Some were reassured, others were still worried about it. At the very least, there was at least someone to tell them that things aren’t going to always be gloom and doom.

 

“I think we should also let Kirigiri continue. I have sensed that she wanted to tell us more.” noted Sakura, who was just quietly observing the whole debate.

 

“Oh, good idea, Sakura! Tell us more, Kyoko!” approved Aoi.

 

“Since you have mentioned information gathering, I have found out the true cause for that octopus to infiltrate the Hope’s peak academy.” Kyoko continued with her discoveries regarding Daft Capo.

 

“His plan wasn’t just pissing off and confusing people? Huh, weird.” wondered Yasuhiro, knowing at the very least that Herman’s modus operandi was “not giving a fuck”, in his words. Him having secondary purpose seemed a bit strange.

 

“In fact, his primary mission seemed to be stealing documents from Hope’s peak academy. It’s safe to assume that he wanted to gather as much information about us, so that he could hand it out to his own syndicate.” revealed Kyoko. The Fellowship of Darkness got another realization that their opponent, despite being quite baffling on the surface, was getting more serious than they thought.

 

“Hold on a minute. If that was his true purpose, then why did he expose himself out frequently? Wouldn’t that be against what he wanted to achieve?” noticed Hajime, commenting on a quite big contradiction.

 

“Herman is just a bait, a false flag to justify their usual offense against their target.” concisely elaborated Kowalski.

 

“Then how come that they didn’t attack us yesterday? Don’t get me wrong, I appreciated that day when we didn’t have to deal with those fuckers, but what gives?” questioned Fuyuhiko, still finding the lack of an attack to be odd.

 

“Two things, Fuyuhiko. One: they’re preparing for a bigger attack. Two: we disrupted them so hard that those punksters are reconsidering themselves.” Skipper gave out possibilities while taking some pleasure in imagining that it was the second one.

 

“If the second option is the true one, then I, The Supreme Overlord, am beyond delighted!” boastfully laughed Gundham. If it was true after all, then he would consider his victory against Herman to be a grand achievement.

 

“Oh hell yeah, that sounds awesome!” Nekomaru pumped his fists as well.

 

“Realistically speaking, it’s probably the former.” Fuyuhiko brought them back to reality, still expressing concerns about potential dangers imposed by Daft Capo.

 

“I am not so quite sure, Fuyuhiko. Hence why we’re gonna check on that port warehouse.” reminded Skipper about their own operation.

 

“Then...what are we supposed to do?” asked Makoto regarding their role against Daft Capo.

 

“I suggest that we should train in any case of an attack. It seems like these Daft Capo people prefer to talk with fists rather than with mouths.” Sakura gave out a suggestion in case of a combat encounter with punksters or elites.

 

“Oh, good idea, Sakura! We should all get beefed up and show them who’s boss around here!” Aoi pumped her own fists as well.

 

“Now that is quite a good idea! I’d say we should all train up too!” Skipper immediately approved idea, especially because it involved action.

 

“Hahaha, I knew you always have good ideas, Sakura!” praised Nekomaru as well.

 

“Oh, this is a good opportunity to get stronger. Maybe I should ask Mondo or Nekomaru about it….some day...when the time is right….” thought Chihiro to himself, wondering if he should take the possibility to finally break out of his

 

“Now, this teacher ain’t no joke! Gonna show those punksters as well!” Chisa showed her arms as if she had biceps, even though they were quite feminine. Majority of the The Fellowship agreed with Sakura’s suggestion, they were more than prepared to train for any incoming event.

 

“Heh, I’m glad things are back on track now. We’re gonna stop them once and for all!” cheered Chiaki, just happy that things are getting optimistic again.

 

“Now that’s the spirit! But for now, you’re all free! Thank you all….except that crazy dude...for participating in this discussion. I wish you all a good tomorrow, we might meet again!” Skipper said his concluding words for the meeting before all of them ended it, going their own way. Penguins remained in the garage, but every other member went their own way. Most of them went home.

 

On his way, Rintaro and his own gang went towards their Lab. Despite the meeting having a positive outcome in the end, he couldn’t help but think of things Nagito could do to hamper them. Just in case, he picked up the phone, selected the contact named “Part-Time Warrior” and started the call.

 

“Hey, Part-Time Warrior.” greeted Rintaro.

 

“Wazzuuup, Rintaro?” responded Suzuha with a cheerful tone.

 

“I have a request for you.” said Rintaro.

 

“Oh? What it will be, Rintaro?” wondered Suzuha.

 

“Can you keep an eye on the white haired guy from Hope’s peak? He’s quite an unusual one and I think he could sabotage us any moment.” Rintaro gave out the request to her, just to make sure that she would intercept any possible sabotages Nagito could do.

 

“White haired guy? Hmm….Okey dokey! Will keep an eye on him!” accepted Suzuha rather quickly, with few questions. The scientist thought that it was a bit odd, yet he was thankful that it went so quickly.

 

“Thank you. El Psy Congroo.” Rintaro concluded the call, continuing his journey to the lab in the process.

 

Somewhere, far away from where members of The Fellowship of Darkness went, Nagito was just walking alone down the street, chuckling to himself. Lucky for him that no one was around him, otherwise he would have been reported for strange behavior quickly.

 

“Heh...hehehe...What a disappointment. I expected more interesting stuff from you, Daft Capo, but you’re all stuck in self indulgence. What a shame...perhaps disappointment can be linked to Despair…” Nagito rambled to himself while he thought about what could he do amid the Hope’s peak versus Daft Capo conflict. “But I’m not tossing away potential just yet. You see, it wouldn’t be so cathartic to let Hope’s peak just win so easily, would it be?”

 

“No...I won’t let them win so easily! Instead, I’m gonna make things more interesting for them. After all, the brightest Hope comes right after the destruction of the foulest Despair!...but it needs to be created first.” contemplated Nagito as he kept wondering about Daft Capo, despite deeming them to be boring by his standards. “I shall see whose Hope will prevail: Hope’s peak’s or Daft Capo’s, if you even have Hope? I shall see. Now, I’m just curious what you guys have for us….”

 

Meanwhile, in the port warehouse….

 

“What the flying fuck am I supposed to do here?!” Herman threw a pen across the warehouse, desperate to come up with a plan regarding Hope’s peak academy. All he could do, along with punksters who surrounded the table, was to stare at the floor plan, trying to make something that would bamboozle students of Hope’s peak academy.

 

“I don’t see the problem, Herman. You do it like you did before.” casually suggested Daitane for him to go what was at that moment considered to be “old school” tactics.

 

“It’s not the same! It’s not the same if those scrubs already know!” retaliated Herman, insisting that they need something fresh.

 

“How about if you take this route instead?” recommended one of the yet to be named punksters as he pointed a made up path of utilizing other floors.

 

“No, because they’ll just beat me up. Even storming doesn’t help, because they will beat us all up! They’re too prepared now.” immediately deflected Herman, still taking his defeat at Hope’s peak academy in consideration.

 

“Well, at least if you get beaten up by someone else, you won’t be beaten up by the noob.” Daitane attempted to reassure, but all she did was to remind Herman of his current nemesis.

 

Quel fottuto noob, giuro su Maria che ficcherò interi Atari Jaguars nel suo stupido culo e poi le farò mangiare pane umido ammuffito quando gioca a quegli stupidi giochi di culo con le sue stesse guance, lo giuro-” Herman started ranting so hard, that even bloggers would be jealous of him. He was so consumed with frustration, that he forgot about the plan.

 

“I really think we need Elite Bois for this.” whispered Rando to Daitane. Suddenly, Herman’s ranting was halted by his phone ringing.

 

“Finally…” for a second, Herman thought that it was finally time for Elite Bois to arrive. It turned out that a contact named The Scam Guy was calling instead. He was slightly disappointed.

 

No one truly knew the name of The Scam Guy, but within Daft Capo’s circles, it was universally acceptable that he was called Ultimate Scammer. Not because of his skills regarding scamming, but rather the audacity of deals he made.

 

“Oi, you won’t just believe what deal I’ve made!” Ultimate Scammer started the conversation, already hyping up what was he going to say next.

 

“What is it?” deadpanned Herman, who just listened out of obligation. If it wasn’t for his defeat at Hope’s peak, he would have spoken with more genuine enthusiasm about it.

 

“Listen, I’ve just sold a golden Fiat and Snoop’s “og” mixtape to a guy, only for one yen!” Ultimate Scammer told him about his latest catch.

 

“Yeah, yeah, that’s nice.” said Herman in an internally dead tone.

 

“Hahaha, can’t wait till I deploy my sharks on his ass!” Ultimate Scammer kept boasting until he noticed that his hombre wasn’t in the best of moods. “Hey, Herman my dude. You bein’ quiet, not like you to be honest.”

 

“We’ve been beanboozled by those Hope’s peak scrubs. That’s all.” quickly explained Herman.

 

“What?! Impossible, there’s no way those bitch ass hoes could one up us!” perplexed Ultimate Scammer at the mere thought of them losing against such an opponent.

 

“I know, but it happened anyway. Manhattan Boys are partly to blame.” admitted Herman, not bothering to give a sense of false gratification. He thought it would be better that Hope’s peak gang would be dealt with.

 

“Oooh, those penguin assholes. I see, I see. Anything I can do to help?” offered Ultimate Scammer.

 

“Come back to that scrub zone and keep us updated about it.” requested Herman.

 

“Ayy, I’ve got you covered!” approved Ultimate Scammer with no hesitation.

 

“Hahaha, you’re a shady fuck, but a reliable one none than less!” laughed Herman, cheering up a little.

 

“Oh, I’m beyond glad to hear that!” said Ultimate Scammer before the call was concluded. The Scammer got a mission to do. Meanwhile, Daft Capo members that resided in the port warehouse decided that this was their plan. Not the most grandiose plan unlike they initially imagined, but it would do the job for them.

 

“Well, we got one front covered. Up until Elite Bois arrive, we’re gonna get everything from our boi!” announced Herman, now awaiting for the Scammer to return to Hope’s peak and start obtaining information. However, that did not mean things would immediately go in their favor unlike how it did before.

 

Chapter 20: Operation Nighthawk

Chapter Text

Operation: Nighthawk

 

Location: Underground Penguin Complex, underneath Hope’s peak academy, Tokyo, Japan.

 

Time: 10:00 PM

 

Date: Thursday, [REDACTED]


The night was clear, yet filled with illuminating lights from the city itself. However, there was a place where the metropolitan illumination couldn’t reach. It was the underground base, build by the very own flippers of penguins. The aforementioned avians of the faraway blizzard surrounded a miniature table with a photo of the port warehouse being on it. A flash light that was dug into a ceiling was the source of light that fended off the underground darkness.

“Boys, tonight we’re gonna snatch their stuff right under their noises! It will turn the tide of the war to us!” began Skipper before he pointed at his tall penguin colleague, who was standing in front of a relatively small sized stand with a rectangular whiteboard on it. “Kowalski, commence briefing!”

“We shall begin Operation Nighthawk right after the briefing. Our first action would be our arrival at the abandoned port warehouse, which is located right here.” started Kowalski, sketching the whole plan with a whiteboard marker.“I have estimated that we would arrive here at 11:15 PM, assuming we would go there by foot.”

“Wouldn’t it better for us to get transport?” suggested Private in regard of shortening their time of arrival.

“Don’t worry, Private! We’ve got that covered.” boastfully hinted Skipper.

“That being said, the estimated time would be shortened if we took a vehicular means of transportation.”continued Kowalski, still sketching the whole thing on the whiteboard. “Anyway, after we arrive, we shall climb on top of the warehouse. If there are any windows there, we will observe the interior from safe distance. After a perfect moment arrives, we will infiltrate the facility and attempt to obtain as much of their resources as possible. We cannot afford to attack them because it would put them on alert. They could also call up reinforcements and end our run quickly.”

Rico frowned when he heard that the rules of engagement said no to any event of physical violence.

“Action will be there when the time is right, Rico.” reminded Skipper while secretly agreeing that another round of beating up punkster would be quite nice, indeed.

“After we get their stuff, would be just get out or would we have more stuff to do?” further asked Private.

“If there is an ambush from Daft Capo’s side or being a trap all along, then we will fight. We are not so fortunate with reinforcements, since we are operating at night.” pointed out Kowalski, noting that their planned operation was, from their perspective, rather risky. Just like all operations considered clandestine.

“Any back up plans?” kept asking Private, making sure that the chance of the operation failing was minimal.

“Rico’s our back up, ain’t that right?” Skipper poked his less than stable brother-in-arms with his flipper, putting him in the center of attention.

“Uh huh!” nodded Rico with pride and delight.

“Anything more?” asked Private again.

“Well, our secondary back up would require waking up our regional allies, but that wouldn’t guarantee us a response that would be on time.” hesitated Kowalski, wondering if waking up students at such time would not only impact the performance of the mission, but also their moods. No one would like a groggy and grumpy teammate on their side.

“I see...I think we should have more back up, just in case.” cautioned Private, thinking that there was still a chance that anything could go wrong.

“For now, it should work. Clandestine mission after all.” said Skipper, expressing belief that their mission will go flawlessly as long as they’re undetected.

“Any further questions?” Kowalski advised, just to clear up any misunderstanding before their operation would commence.

“Kabooma?” Rico responded with a hint of his own liking.

“Negative. First of all, it would put us at the greater risk, not only from Daft Capo itself, but from the media coverage as well. Second of all, we cannot inflict damage upon ourselves.” Kowalski immediately denied him of the explosive passion. In other words, he got explosion-blocked. Of course, Rico felt anything but gleeful regarding the denial. “Any more?”

Suddenly, before anyone could ask another question, they’ve heard echoes of squeaks and footsteps coming right towards them.

“Hold on!” Skipper raised his flipper before all of them posed, prepared for the source of the noises to reveal itself. “Be on your guard, boys.”

However, they dropped their guard when it was shown that it was only Dark Devas, which were just there to give a sign to penguins that a certain “hired member” was already waiting for them.

“Oh, it’s just one of the hamsters that Overlord has. You know what this means, boys?” said Skipper, feeling relief that it was only an ally that paid them a visit.

“Affirmative, Skipper.” nodded Kowalski. As the penguins discussed, four Dark Devas were patiently waiting for their move. They were also curious what were they talking about.

“You know, mammals are usually hippies. You know, like that psychotic lion and his gang, but I’ve gotta say, these hamsters are true warriors, siblings in arms!” praised Skipper, with penguins agreeing with his opinion on them. There was a hint of irony that hamsters were considered more fierce than a lion though.

“I just wish they could speak as well, maybe we would get along better.” Private lamented about the fact that the only language

“You gotta ask Overlord for that, now lets move!” ordered Skipper as they started to follow Dark Devas in the dark underground tunnels that the penguins themselves have made. Squeaks made by hamsters of the Ultimate Breeder provided a guide to traverse through the subterranean darkness.

From a seamless bush, a team of domestic mammals and Antarctic bird emerged. Just from the distance alone, they could see a man sitting on a bench near the mountain, covered in a pitch black cloak. He looked like a true cultist, had it not been that they were familiar with him. The Devas ran and penguins slid on the ground to reach him.

“The time has come, Avians of the Faraway Blizzard….” Gundham greeted them when they arrived, removing his hood to reveal his true face. “Fate has bestowed us of this arrival.”

“Ey, what’s up Overlord? We’re gonna do it now, don’t you agree?” Skipper greeted as well, in a far more casual tone.

“My opinion aligns with yours, Avian. Fortunately, The Supreme Overlord of Ice has looked into how to make temporal passage from now up to our arrival at their lair much shorter.” announced Gundham as he boastfully crossed his arms, sporting a satisfied smirk.

“You did? Nice! Tell me about it, wizard man!” Skipper pumped his flipper like a fist. The penguins were relieved that not only would their time of arrival be shortened, but also they had a less exhausting option as well.

“I have hired a mechanical steed to take us to their lair. With that, our operation could be done much more swiftly.” revealed Gundham to them. Semantics that he used confused the penguins for a bit. They weren’t exactly sure what did he mean by a mechanical steed.

“Kowalski, chunni-to-english translation.” Skipper leaned towards his tall colleague, requiring assistance.

“I assume that he got us a taxi.” Kowalski translated the ancient sayings of a chunni to him. Skipper then realized that Gundham lived up to his word and truly made it seemingly easier for them.

“Good job, my man! Now, let us commence Operation Nighthawk!” declared Skipper with a shaken flipper.

“Fuwahahahaha, as you say so!” approved Gundham before he invited both Devas and penguins to hide in his cloak as he started walking away from the academy.

Despite the solemn night, very few corners of the city were covered in darkness. Giant monitors, bombarding those who were awake with constant advertisements, made the city bright as a day. Cars drove down the illuminated roads, treating the night as it were no different than a day. However, unlike the awake citizens, Gundham chose to traverse through the few dark spots of the city, hiding away from anyone seeing him. Then again, any of those citizens could have been a Daft Capo member. He still had to be careful of anyone being present in the dark spots, since they could be a part of another hostile Yakuza. Devas and penguins remained hidden in his cloak through out the journey.

The lonesome black taxi of the Mercedes brand waited in the poorly lighted street. Ideal conditions for Gundham and his minions to arrive. The taxi driver opened the window on the door as he extended his arm out of the car, using the entrance as a rest. Gundham had his hood down, just so that he won’t look too suspicious.

“Where ya going?” asked taxi driver, looking at the Supreme Overlord with a doubtful glare. Gundham just showed him a picture of the location “Huh...I see...that would be 705 000 yen, please.”

“As you wish.” Gundham, obeying the laws of equivalent exchange, gave him the amount of cash that taxi driver wanted.

“Thank you.” said taxi driver, letting the wizard man inside the taxi. Gundham chose to be in the rear part of the car, just quietly taking the place. Once he close the door and fastened his seat belt, the driver pushed the gas pedal with his foot, initiating the drive.

The lights of the city passed by as the black taxi drove to the desired destination of a wizard man. Both of them remained silent through out the drive, not even uttering a sigh. Gundham, despite in a seemingly safe transport, remained cautious through out the time. One wrong word out of his mouth and he could jeopardize the Fellowship of the Darkness, if it were a case that any Daft Capo member was nearby. Meanwhile, the taxi driver kept suspecting Gundham of something. Not only was the physical appearance of Gundham Tanaka unorthodox by all standards, the way he acted was also not reassuring for the driver.

“Say, I do have a comment about this, though.” taxi driver suddenly spoke up, breaking the silence in the process.

“What is it?” asked Gundham, taking a notice of the driver’s sudden curiosity. It was the best time for him to be cautious, to the point that him displaying his full chunni persona could be dangerous as well.

“What do you have business at Tsurihito Warehouse? Ain’t that went defunct not too long ago?” questioned the taxi driver. The Supreme Overlord of Ice knew that anything he could say had the potential to be used against The Fellowship of Darkness. However, giving him a silent treatment would also raise suspicion.

“I have personal business there.” Gundham resorted to a concise, yet vague answer.

“Are ya a Yakuza or something?” taxi driver raised his eyebrow. Everything about Gundham had “a member of a secret organization” written on him. The wizard realized that he need to cover the true purpose of the mission better, or else not only the entire operation would go haywire, his adversary could gain a huge advantage too.

“I am aligned with no one but myself. That being said, it should not be of your concern.” added Gundham to his defense. Although a bit of chunni leaked from the wording, his voice had a rather normal tone to it. It was enough to deter the taxi driver from prying further.

“Huh...if you say so.” taxi driver didn’t bother to ask further, either due feeling like it would be too risky or that it felt impossible talking to the wizard man. “What a strange man….

That was about the only conversation they had during the drive.

Unlike the rest of the city, one part of the port was drenched in darkness. The aforementioned location was Tsurihito Warehouse, a once prosperous warehouse left away to the cruel passage of time. Newer, much more optimal warehouses replaced it. The sole black taxi drove down, getting closer with each meter crossed.

“Halt!” suddenly ordered Gundham. The driver slammed on the brake pedal, causing for quite a rough stop. Both had their seat belts fastened, so no one was really hurt.

“What?” grumbled Taxi driver, looking quite agitated at the sudden decision of a wizard. Little did he know about Gundham’s true purpose there or who was the current occupant of Tsurihito Warehouse.

Or did he?

“This should be our destination. I cannot let you progress any further. I must express my gratitude to you.” elaborated Gundham before giving him a nod of an approval.

“...Alright. See ya.” said Taxi driver before both of them departed their ways. The black taxi drove back to the illuminous metro where as Gundham went head on in the darkness. He looked at the targeted warehouse, all shabby and filthy, like a true abandoned industrial structure.

“So this is their hideout, I see. Kehehehe….they do not expect what foul fate will I, The Supreme Overlord, unleash upon them!” boasted Gundham to himself. The penguins peeked out of the cloak to see if they got to the right place.

“Affirmative, the location is correct.” confirmed Skipper, pointing his flipper at the warehouse. “Now move to point Alpha!”

The Supreme Overlord of Ice made his move as he stepped towards to the warehouse. On his way, he couldn’t help but notice there was something contradictory to what they have established during their meeting. Perhaps it was due to lack of light in that area, but as his vision became clearer, he became sure of it.

“Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, I have a question for you.” Gundham turned his attention towards the penguins inside his cloak.

“What is it, Overlord?” spoke Skipper, peeking out of his clothing of darkness.

“You have cautioned us about the mortal in black….yet he isn’t present here. What caused such change?” pointed out Gundham. Penguins immediately took on the cue. It already became suspicious that the guard wasn’t there. Skipper thought about it what was the true reason behind

“This could be a trap. Keep you eyes on, wizard man.” cautioned Skipper before he returned inside the cloak. “Continue as normal.”

Upon reaching the entrance, Gundham noticed that the doors were shut. He placed his ear on the metallic surface of it to hear if anything resembling a sound inside. No affirmations were confirmed with his actions. Then he ran to the alleyway nearby, where he could find the backside of the warehouse. He noticed a ladder, specifically built for window repairers. Gundham crouched down, letting out both Devas and penguins on the solid ground.

“Four Dark Devas of Destruction, I have a request for you.” began Gundham in a rather softer voice than usual. The Four Dark Devas of Destruction gathered around him, listening obediently. “Assist Avians of the Faraway Blizzard on their operation. I shall join in later.”

The Four Dark Devas of Destruction approved his order with squeaks and nods.

“Mwahaha, now that’s what I like to hear! Onward, Dark Devas!” quietly chuckled Gundham before both penguins and hamsters united, going at the ladder in order to get a peek from those windows.

“Lend us a hand, Deva!” requested Skipper for Devas to give them a boost to shorten the distance between their position of that moment to their intended destination. Hamsters didn’t hesitate as they managed to make platforms out of their paws. Penguins used them to jump from them, but they didn’t expect the strength of a Gundham trained mammal. About three quarters of the ladder were crossed with a single leap, with penguins crossing the rest by climbing it through conventional means. Not much time passed until they reached the destinations, with windows being right in front of them. The Four Dark Devas of Destruction followed them up by climbing on the ladder all the way, joining them up in a rather quick fashion.

“Good work, team! Now lets see what those crooks are hiding.” praised Skipper before he redirected the attention of the entire group towards the window, just to see what Daft Capo had in store for them.

Turns out, it was too dark to see inside. Only vague shapes of containers could be identified. The place also looked suspiciously empty, never a good sign.

“It’s, uh, dark, Skipper.” said Private in such a way that even the famous detective would call him out on it. Due to general circumstances, remaining penguins couldn’t poke fun at him.

“Hmmm….do we have any night vision goggles with us, Kowalski?” suggested Skipper in order to ease off their operation and to gain situational awareness, the one thing they needed the most.

“Negative. We seem to have forgotten about them in Denmark.” confirmed Kowalski while seemingly regretting that hasty decision back then. The operation wasn’t even halfway in, yet there was already a major setback.

“Hoover Dam! Not that Denmark again!….but we do have a flashlight, right?” fumed Skipper at a certain European country and the incident involving them before he decided to go for an alternative option. Without saying a work, Rico somehow spat out a flashlight out of his stomach. Skipper managed to catch it before it would meet the hard surface of roof. Sometimes, a person has to wonder about his metabolism.

“Nice!” Skipper pumped his flipper like a fist before he gave out an order. “Rico and Devas, break the glass!”

The group of a questionably stable penguin and four rather intelligent hamsters gathered around the window. Devas started by cutting a perfect circle on it with their claws. Rico then licked his flipper and gently removed the piece, creating an entrance to the Daft Capo’s hideout. Not a sound was heard during the removal. He placed the piece, in case he would need to close it. Both penguins and devas jumped in, landing on the solid floor while surrounded by the internal darkness. Yet, despite the darkness, it remained silent, oddly free of any adversaries.

“Should we turn it on?” asked Private in order to increase their situational awareness.

“Hold on. Lets see if there’s anything suspicious moving in this place.” Skipper raised his flipper, temporarily halting the procedure. The dual team of birds and mammals observed the place to see if any punksters were around.

Only a response from silence and darkness came to be.

“Rico, lights on.” ordered Skipper, risking to reveal their position. Rico turned on the switch, causing the flashlight to emit. They looked around, now with increased situational awareness yet with decreased stealth. Despite that, they still haven’t found anything Daft Capo related.

“Huh, empty….this place should have been filled with punksters, but I’m not so sure about letting our guard down. Inspect the place, boys.” commanded Skipper as they all scattered around the place. Both penguins and hamsters searched through out the entire warehouse, from literal corners of it to the insides of containers. At first, it seemed like it was going nowhere.

Then things changed when Devas managed to sniff out a paper in one of the containers. They ran towards the tall penguin, who was closest to them. Upon noticing the paper, Kowalski and Devas immediately went to the rest of penguins.

“Skipper, I and the Devas have located what seems to be one of their documents.” reported Kowalski as he pointed towards the paper that

“Good catch, Kowalski. We’ll check the doc later, we need to find more stuff.” praised Skipper with a grin on his face. The search for traces continued.

Dozens of minutes have passed, but the situation remained the same. One paper and that was it, nothing else. The frustration over lack of progress was starting to kick back.

“Kowalski, status report.” demanded Skipper, desiring to know if anything changed just for sake of reassurance. Deep down, he knew the answer.

“That file still remains to be the only item of theirs we have found out so far. No traces of others.” stated Kowalski, confirming the lack of changes.

“Anything you boys found out so far?” asked Skipper.

“Nuh uh.” Rico, along with Devas, shook their heads.

“No can do, Skipper. It barely feels like there were traces of them here.” added Private, expressing slight bit of mutually shared frustration.

“Still keep on guard, boys. This silence is bothering me…a lot.” said Skipper while they still continued their search. It was suddenly halted by a knock on the metallic door. Penguins put themselves on the battle stance, but Devas recognized the one knocking due to smell. Four hamsters went to push the door, revealing the Supreme Overlord of Ice right in front of them, standing like a true leader. Gundham then went inside, curious about possible findings of Daft Capo’s traces.

“Avian of the Faraway Blizzard, status report.” requested Gundham.

“Oh, I see you’re using my lines as well. Nice.” noted Skipper with glee in his voice.

“We have only found this file but that’s about it.” said Kowalski.

“Hmmm….while that is, indeed, an evidence to their presence, I was expecting more. Perhaps The One Who Inspects’ discoveries didn’t align with the reality?” Gundham scratched his chin, wondering about the thing that all animals around him did when they infiltrated the facility.

“I doubt that. Everything she said was exactly how Daft Capo operates hideouts. Their lack of presence leaves up options to consider.” commented Kowalski, still finding it suspicious that there were no enemies present in the warehouse, contrary to everything stated before.

“Perhaps we should leave before they outnumber us?” suggested Gundham

“We’ve inspected everything, but only found one paper, so it should be-” Private attempted to say something, but he was silenced by sudden footsteps coming from outside. A chance that their suspicions could be true appeared.

“Hide immediately.” ordered Gundham, albeit in a quieter tone as all of them quickly hid themselves in an open but empty container. Entrance of the container faced the opposite of the warehouse’s door, so they wouldn’t have to worry about being found out so soon.

The source of the footsteps was revealed to be a backpack carrying man dressed in a very long black coat. His face was covered with a hood, making him look like a cultist from a glance. Yet, he seemed far more merchant-like than being associated with any occult. The person in a coat went by many names, but he was, in fact, the Ultimate Scammer, associated with Daft Capo. Gundham and the animal companions managed to save themselves just in time, or else the Ultimate Scammer could have reported their presence to the syndicate, ending their run in the process.

The shady looking guy stepped in, being surprised by the seeming lack of presence of his colleagues as well. He looked around, only to stay in the middle, being rather baffled by it at this point.

“Eh? What? Where the boys at?” Ultimate Scammer asked himself out loud, enough so that the Hope’s Peak’s “top secret spies” could hear it.

“Hmmm….an unfamiliar presence...he sounds like he dwells in such world.” wondered Gundham in his head upon hearing a deep, yet raspy voice of the one who scams.

“Who’s this guy? We haven’t seen him before.” wondered Skipper, along with his colleagues as well. It was the first time either of them heard such voice.

“I wish I could talk right now, but being hidden is a better option now.” Gundham said it inside his head. For being a Supreme Overlord, he sure lacked skill in telepathy.

The Ultimate Scammer brought up a really crusty yet infamously durable Nokia 3310 phone (which was one of his improvised weaponry as well) out of his coat and typed a number. Once the phone started ringing, he put it next to his ear. The speaker from the Nokia was especially crusty, allowing the opposing force to tune in secretly.

“Yo, dude!” greeted Ultimate Scammer once the beeping stopped as the call began.

“Eyy, what’s up, my man?” responded a rather familiar voice, the one that had a rather peculiar accent. Both Gundham and penguins recognized such voice immediately.

“That’s the voice of the Kraken of The Land!…By the Devil himself, I’m seeing a mortal grunt of that mafia!” thought Gundham to himself, experiencing a sight of a Daft Capo member that was not an octopus for the first time. It felt sort of surreal to him, but he wasn’t exactly intimidated by the voice of the Ultimate Scammer. Unfortunately, because he had to hide, he couldn’t see him.

“Daft Capo punkster!” a shared thought appeared in minds of penguins. It was a while since they’ve seen a human member of Daft Capo. However, that deep raspy voice was still unfamiliar to them.

“Where ya at? I thought we were gonna met up here!” asked Ultimate Scammer due to not being informed about their disappearance from the warehouse.

“Oh, yeah, we were in a bit of a rush. We had to pack our cases and move.” Herman explained it to him, causing him to be quite intrigued. Gundham and penguins felt the similar confusion about the situation.

“What happened, my man?” asked Ultimate Scammer.

“Those scrubs have found out one of our hideouts. They’re likely gonna bamboozle us here if we stay.” revealed Herman to him. It was a surprise even to the Hope’s peak spies, since the last actual move they have done to Daft Capo was just beating up Herman.

“Wait, how did they find out?” thought Skipper to himself. Unfortunately, none of them could answer the question without revealing the position.

“Blasphemous! How could have they found out...” wondered Gundham as well, until it quickly became clear to him who would be the one most suspicious to cause them to move. “...unless….it was the meddling of The One With Fortune!”.

“Shit, man. That ain’t good. We’re gonna get those Hope’s peak scrubs, that’s for sure! We gotta make it good!” Ultimate Scammer avowed vengeance upon academy of talented people.

“Revenge, as expected of such petty mortals. I, The Supreme Overlord of Ice, will alert my minions the moment we have another meeting.” Gundham smirked to himself, seeing the promised revenge as a challenge rather than something to be afraid of. Penguins and Devas shared the same sentiment.

“Yep, I knew it! They’re cooking up something bigger!” Skipper called it. It was rather obvious in hindsight. No criminal syndicate would just let it go after a defeat, assuming they weren’t obliterated.

“Still, where ya boys at? I still don’t know shit about it.” asked Ultimate Scammer once again, due to his question being unanswered.

“Meet us at Zona Daft Capo, boi. We cannot let those scrubs find out about this one.” advised Herman, indirectly revealing the name of their own location in Japan. Contrary to everything before, the shock felt by Hope’s peak gang was rather huge.

“ZONA DAFT CAPO?! THEY HAVE THEIR OWN TERRITORY ALREADY?!” although it was all in his head, Gundham perplexed with utter shock upon hearing the new, uncharted territory owned by the syndicate. The moment when he heard “Zona”, he knew the location was something dangerous. “Curses, we must think and make moves on them fast!”

“Oh darn, they’re expanding quicker than expected!” Skipper realized that the penguins were majorly lagging behind their adversaries. That was anything but a good sign. It could also mean that Daft Capo already had some parts of the city occupied.

“Aight, gotcha covered.” replied Ultimate Scammer before he canceled the call. Once the conversation was over, he returned his phone into the coat. Before he left, he looked back, just in case. “Hmm….”

The Ultimate Scammer walked away from the port warehouse, leaving it behind. Yet, Gundham and penguins remained hidden, because the sound of footsteps was the only indicator of distance of the sudden enemy. Only when total silence surrounded them were they ready to move.

“Move!” Gundham ordered as he began running away from the port warehouse. Penguins and Devas were inside of his cloak during his strategic retreat, making him do the walk work instead. He still had to use dark streets during his run, just so he could remain hidden in the shadows of the illuminated city.

“We have to cross this path with our own feet! The mechanical steed I’ve hired was only for one way!” said Gundham on the way, realizing that their run would be, quite indeed, a long one.

And his realization proved to be correct, since Gundham took nearly an hour marathoning through out the entire city just to reach hideout of The Fellowship of Darkness. He managed to recognize it due to the automatic door that he has seen so often at that point.

“Open the gates of our lair, Avian!” ordered Gundham. Luckily, Rico had the remote stored in his stomach, giving it to Private, who was often in charge of opening. So he did, letting all of them inside the dark garage. Just before the lights could be turned on, Private also closed the door with the remote. After everything was set and done, the gang took a moment to take a breath after running for so long.

“Phew, that was close. At the very least this document is alright and dandy.” commented Skipper before he placed the file near the laptop.

“We will discuss about it tomorrow with the rest of The Fellowship of Darkness.” said Kowalski, wanting to hear what would rest of The Fellowship of Darkness think about it. The mission was only known to them so far, it would be its official reveal next day.

“I still wonder what exactly caused them to move. My Seventh Sense tells me that The One with Fortune was involved with this.” assumed Gundham, judging from the fact that the aforementioned suspect was the only one who left the group so far.

“Told ya we should keep him hostage.” chided Skipper, still insisting on that they should have kept him in their own hands. However, they didn’t have enough evidence to support their claims that he was actually involved in sabotaging their efforts. Gundham, penguins and Devas spent their night resting in the hideout.

The end result of Operation Nighthawk was inconclusive.

However, Gundham’s assumption was not far off.


Location: Streets of Tokyo, Japan

 

Time: 10:00 AM

 

Date: Thursday, [REDACTED]


Suzuha was cycling around the streets of the ever active city, patrolling like an undercover policeman. She was ordered to search for a certain person, the one who left their group in the name of his own ideals.

“Hmmm….white haired boy….white haired boy...where is he?” wondered Suzuha, cycling around to find anyone with bleached white hair in the streets, but to no avail. People wore all kinds of clothes, but none of them had white hair.

“Rintaro should have told me about where he went in the first place, but it’s likely he didn’t knew either….” Suzuha thought to herself, only to find a glance of white hair in the public. “Huh?”

Unfortunately for her, it was just an elderly man.

“Hmpf, nothing. I’ll continue searching for this mysterious white haired boy elsewhere.” Suzuha thought to herself as she continued cycling through out the city, still searching for the targeted man, but to no avail.

Meanwhile, the targeted boy, Nagito Komaeda himself, was already near the port warehouse, just casually strolling around to reach it.

“Ah, there it is. Port warehouse, as like they have said. There’s even the man in black. That must be the guard. It would be the best to get close without being noticed.” Nagito said it to himself as he continued his casual walk to it. However, he was stepping a bit too deep in the boundaries of the Daft Capo territory. Even though he thought that he went unnoticed, the guard already spotted him the moment when he went further than Kyoko did. The guard turned his head like an owl, immediately reported the sight of Komaeda right to other punksters with the help of his head microphone.

“Sir, there’s an intruder incoming.”

“What?! Identify the mofo!” shouted Herman out of surprise, demanding to know who was the intruder.

“White hair, green jacket, crazed look.” the guard quickly identified the threat. Just from the mention of white hair, Herman knew who was coming and he didn’t particularly like it.

“OH MARIA! It’s the living cabbage! Bust a cap in his ass now!” ordered Herman

“Understood.” the guard stoically nodded before he started sprinting towards Nagito like a highly efficient killer robot. He even moved like one.

Meanwhile, in the port warehouse, Herman started ordering around in order to prevent any shenanigans that could happen against them. If it was any other person, they would just beat them up and hold them hostage. But unfortunately for them, it was not any other person, it was Nagito, the one person that their luck managed to bamboozle the so called Hermaning.

“Bois, we gotta pack up now! Hope’s peak scrubs have found us out!”

“OH SHEIIIIYT! How did they find out?” perplexed Rando after letting out the heavily accented word out of surprise.

“Living cabbage, that’s how! His presence could be a sign that they could make a counterattack!” elaborated Herman, knowing that his damned luck could screw them up badly...perhaps. It was still a possibility.

“Can I beat the hell out of his ass?” grinned Daitane as she cracked her fists.

“Not now, Daitane. That’s guard’s job right now. We gotta move to another hideout before Hope’s peak scrubs and Manhattan boys beat the living shit out of us. We’re lacking here, if I must admit.” advised Herman as he was starting to pack up his own stuff.

“Argh, why does he get all the fun and not me?” Daitane slumped with her shoulders, still being denied of any fighting. The urge was starting to get bottled up.

“Priorities, Daitane! That AYUSSHOHLE is gonna be dealt with now, but we could be overwhelmed. I’m with my boi Herman about the move.” Rando added his own thoughts on the matter. Daitane’s desire to fight poofed as it was replaced by the sheer wince factor.

“...Holy shit, never say the word “asshole” ever again, fucko.” threatened Daitane as she gave a glare to him. Rando simply didn’t give a damn about it.

“Fuck semantics, start packing now!” Herman reminded them of their actual priorities as all punksters in the warehouse started packing their own stuff, throwing it in the trunk of Ferrari FF. They thought they packed it all up, but they secretly forgot one paper of dubious value. After everything was packed, they were ready to move, either with Ferrari, mopeds or on foot.

“Got everything needed?” asked punkster, just to be sure they got it all. Herman responded with an OK sign, made out of few of his tentacles.

“Good good, now let us begin.” said Rando before started up their Ferrari.

“Key: in!”

The engine let out a roar that could send chills down the spine of everyone around it.

“Engine: revved up!”

The car was ready to go.

“Breaking the speed law: imminent! Yeah, it’s time to commit the move!” announced Herman, waiting for the door to open. Some of the punksters on mopeds and on foot were also prepared to move. When the door opened, the stampede of vehicles and running gangsters would begin.

Meanwhile, Nagito just noticed a balding man with sunglasses sprinting towards him.

“Huh, the guard seems to have noticed me.” Nagito commented to himself before he checked his pockets to see if he had any weapons for him. Unfortunately, none at that moment. “How unfortunate of me, I’ve got nothing to defend myself with.”

Nagito looked around to see if he could evade the incoming guard, not because of his own safety, but just to give him some level of trouble. He noticed that there was an alleyway right next to him and took the opportunity to run in, hiding from the guard. Unfortunately, it was a dead end, basically trapping him for the inevitable fight. Fortunately, there was a door in the alleyway, leading to inside. Another pinch of luck arrived when Nagito figured out that the door was not locked. He used that to his advantage and quickly hid inside the building.

Just to be sure, Nagito started to go deeper in the building, noticing a staircase that went upwards and downwards. Unfortunately for him, the moment of peace lasted a minute before hearing that the door in the alleyway was forcibly open. Nagito started to run downstairs just so he could use the advantage of the basement, but he just had to trip on the last stair. By the time he picked himself up, the guard was right behind him. The guard looked at him with his suddenly glowing red eyes that illuminated from the sunglasses, sporting quite a shit eating grin while holding a plunger.

“Ah, it seems like I’m in for a lot of trouble, heh.” Nagito smiled at him before he wanted to say something to him. Not exactly a plea, but rather just something to start a conversation. “Now-”

Unfortunately for him, the guard was not a man of words as he stuck up the plunger right on his face. The suction was strong enough for it to remain on Nagito’s pale face. The guard grabbed the handle of the plunger and spun Nagito around before he threw him upstairs. At that point, Nagito didn’t even know what was happening anymore. Then, the guard ran upstairs as he leaped from the 2nd to last stair, landing his elbow right in Nagito’s stomach. The (un)lucky boy felt like a meteor landed on him, which was, realistically speaking, a possibility. All Nagito could do was squirm around from the impact, but the guard already picked him up and smashed him into the wall. It was at that point where Nagito lost consciousness.

Not the worst thing that happened in Nagito’s life.

After the job was done, the guard inspected him to see if he has any money in his wallet. He found out that he did, but only a modest amount. None than less, he took it with him. After committing an act of theft, the guard decided to slam Nagito in the nearest trash can, keeping him there. However, a thought appeared that the white haired boy might be of use.

“Sir, the intruder has been neutralized. Should I take him with us?” the guard reported back to Herman, who was at that point just speeding through the streets of the city with his Ferrari FF.

“Hmmmm….hold on a sec…” Herman wondered as well before he turned back to the hat wearing tuxedo wearing punksters in the back. “Bois, what do you think of keeping the living cabbage as the hostage?”

“What? Who’s a living cabbage?” asked punkster in the back, not knowing who was he referring to.

“This mofo.” Herman brought up a picture of a seemingly normal looking Nagito Komaeda. Somehow, three of punksters, one of them being Rando, knew something was up with him.

“AAAH! Just from the looks you can tell he’s nuts!” flinched punkster at the sight of Komaeda.

“That’s cabbage for ya? That looks more like an albino bush to me.” calmly noted Rando before a sense of familiarity kicked in. “Hold on a second, that’s the guy that one of our bois ran over with, ain’t it?”

“It is, mang.” confirmed Herman before continued with the intended topic. “So, what do you think?”

“Oh hell no!” disapproved two punksters in the back almost immediately.

“I’d say yes, to be honest.” Rando disagreed with two punksters, instead seeing something beyond the craziness.

“I’m more with majority, my man. I’ve tried to commit Hermaning on him, but everything went to his favor. This mofo ain’t normal, I tell you!” warned Herman about him and his luck.

“Still, he’s a Hope’s peak scrub. We have a lot of potential to exploit with a hostage like this. A goldmine, if I say so!” insisted Rando, thinking of all possibilities that they could do with him. One of the things that popped up in his head is an exploitation of luck in getting money from lotteries. Million dollars every time, baby, he thought.

“Not gonna lie, that’s a fair point, but I’m not risking it with him. That luck of his is too damning for us to rely on.” countered Herman with his own experience regarding Komaeda.

I see...then I’ll let the majority win.” Rando knew that fighting against would only stall them and that Herman did have a point, so he let their decision override.

Now, who would be-” punkster in the back attempted to ask.

Moment, my man!” Herman interrupted him so that he could give orders to the guard in normal sound conditions.Ey, so we decided that we’re not taking that mofo with us. Too unreliable and dangerous. Since we’re kinda far away, I’d suggest you to meet us back at Zona Daft Capo.”

“Understood.” nodded the guard before he sprinted away from the trash can, dashing off towards the elusive location of Zona Daft Capo.

It took quite some time for conscience to return to the white haired boy, Once he gained enough power back, he removed the plunger from his face, only to find himself stuffed in a trash can.

Haha, this is just where I belong.” chuckled Nagito at himself before he squeezed out of the trash can, returning his casual stroll towards the port warehouse. He noticed that something was missing from the distance.

“Huh? He’s gone now?” thought Nagito to himself as he continued his journey towards it. Unlike before, no one was out to get him. It felt odd to him that they didn’t take him hostage.

He managed to arrive to the port warehouse. With a knock on the door, he wanted to check if anyone was in.

No response.

Then he tried opening by door with brute force. The door didn’t even bulge.

“And the door is locked too.” he noted before he shrugged off and called it job done. “Oh well...not exactly as how I intended it to be, but it should work for now.”

Whatever the outcome was in the end, whatever Nagito planned for seemed to be satisfactory enough for him. It was yet to be sure how would The Fellowship of Darkness react to his sudden moves against Daft Capo.

Still, could be worse.

“….Oh cock.” sighed Herman at the sight of a Peugeot trying to navigate through crossroads again. Daft Capo’s Ferrari FF was stuck in a traffic jam once again.

Chapter 21: Interview with Fortune

Chapter Text

The day after the clandestine operation Nighthawk followed. It seemed like a normal day for the most part, partially cloudy with a high chance of ordinary events going on. However, the bench in front of the fountain was occupied early in the morning by none other than Gundham Tanaka, who sat there with crossed arms, waiting patiently for his “minions” to arrive. He also had his own personal mission to complete for that day.

 

He wasn’t alone for a long time, since an unexpected early bird arrived to the scene: Chiaki Nanami, who was walking while playing her handheld. Her eyes were glued on the flashy screen, making her seem like she was oblivious to everything else. The Supreme Overlord of Ice, although he found her appearance at such early times to be a bit surprising, was pleased with her showing up.

 

“Kehehe, I see you are already awoken, The Thoughtful One. Unexpectedly so.” Gundham mused himself out loud. The gaming girl stopped herself upon hearing his easily recognizable and bombastic voice, but she was still engrossed in the video game.

 

“Oh, good morning, Gundham. You’re...pretty early too, I think.” Chiaki greeted him as she approached him, still playing the game. She got near the fountain, where she could hear him the clearest while still abusing buttons on her console.

 

“Exactly! Usually I align myself with my intended time flow, but this day is the one of importance.” explained Gundham about his reason to be up so early, contrary to him just showing up whenever he wanted to. Usually, he wanted to be on time.

 

“Hm? What’s gonna happen today?” wondered Chiaki, considering that he sounded like he was planning something. It was hard to tell when he was just letting out his chunni energy or was seriously plotting at times.

 

“I shall reveal desired knowledge to you mortal on our meeting, but I, the Supreme Overlord of Ice must sort out some priorities first.” answered Gundham, already foreshadowing her that the topic of the day will be related to something that majority of class 77-B and class 78th didn’t exactly like to think about.

 

“So something related to Daft Capo?” assumed Chiaki, since it was so far the only active and apparent adversary of the Fellowship of Darkness. No matter how days felt safe, there was always a looming shadowy presence of that criminal syndicate. Ever since the day when the octopus struck the nurse, Daft Capo became inescapable.

 

“Correct, The Thoughtful one.” confirmed Gunham with an approving smirk on his face.

 

“Oh, I see. It’s probably best to discuss it there. It feels...safest, I think.” suggested Chiaki, still feeling that the octopus that caused so much trouble for weeks could still be spying on them, even after the defeat. She took all sorts of caution dealing with such nuisance.

 

“I agree with your sentiment, even though we haven’t heard much of the Kraken of The Land, he could still be lurking in the shadows.” added Gundham to the discussion, sparing the info dumping about the revelations he had from last night for the meeting.

 

“Well, PELN didn’t show us anything as of late.” Private suddenly spoke, hidden inside Supreme Overlord’s coat. A smack followed afterwards, signifying that he should have kept his beak shut. Both Chiaki and Gundham were startled a bit. The gamer girl didn’t expect penguins to appear at all while Gundham was surprised that they would briefly reveal themselves. Luckily, it was only Chiaki around.

 

“Huh? Penguin?” Chiaki tilted her head out of curiosity.

 

“You didn’t hear anything….got it?” Skipper denied their presence in a futile yet still oddly confident manner.

 

“I just heard you though.” Chiaki squinted at him, knowing that he couldn’t really deny it anymore after what was heard.

 

“Do not mind the distraction, let us focus on the more important matters. They will be of use today.” advised Gundham to switch topics instead of wasting time on arguing.

 

“Right...anyway, mind if we play games together while we wait for others?” suggested Chiaki, showing him off the handheld she was playing through out the entire time. She seemed to play her favorite, Gala Omega, a classic she deemed in high regard.

 

“Hmmm….while I must admit, I am not master of machinations crafted by mortals, but there are some of these games, as you call, which do arouse my curiosity.” admitted Gundham, scratching his chin while he visualized what sort of video games would he like.

 

“Which ones do you wanna see?” asked Chiaki for his input.

 

“Do you have any of those games that have fauna in them?” piqued Gundham, obviously wanting to see a game that connects with his interests.

 

“Fauna? What’s that?” wondered Chiaki, since she didn’t even know the term “fauna”, let alone hear it in person.

 

“Animals, if we are going by the mortal language.” clarified Gundham, dropping his evil wizard man facade just so that his “minion” would understand him better. Chiaki felt a bit silly, since it should have been obvious from the start.

 

“Oooh, I see. I have plenty of them, I think. Just tell me which one do you wanna play.” offered Chiaki while she searched through her bag for a game that her wizard friend would want to see.

 

“However, certain condition must be fulfilled.” Gundham raised his finger as he gave off a “menacing” look, showing that the condition will be absolutely serious. “First of, they must not speak human language! Second, quadripedal animals shall not walk like bipeds!”

 

“I see….but is there something wrong with them?” asked Chiaki, not understand why would he oppose such a seemingly minor thing. There were a lot of games that starred such characters, from just simple platformers to space shooters of grand scale.

 

They’re a defamation of the nature itself! Mortals already disrupts the natural order enough already, but that’s just a step too far!” elaborated Gundham in his own usually hammy way. If it was anyone else, he would be dismissed quickly. However, something struck with Nanami. It made her realize that beneath his wizard persona, he was someone who truly valued nature to the core.

 

“You have...an interesting view on nature. Can you tell me more, please?” sincerely asked Chiaki, causing him to drop guard for a bit. He didn’t expect that someone would actually take him seriously for once. However, he regained his persona back quickly, to hide his genuine glee about someone taking an interest.

 

Kehehe….The Supreme Overlord seems to have caught your attention, my minion. If you are truly curious about the wonders of the natural order, I may as well tell.” chuckled Gundham as he was more than prepared to tell her about his interests.

 

“To be honest, nature was always a mysterious frontier for me. It’s like an unexplored map in an open world game, I never truly understood it.” confessed Chiaki, revealing that the outside world was always foreign to her due to her sheltered life. It was rare that she got out of the house before Hope’s peak and the only source of learning, aside from any school taken, were video games for her.

 

It is quite a mysterious frontier as you’ve said, yes. Humans still do not know the full extent of it as they try to research it as much as possible. However, one thing is true, humankind will always try to emulate nature, despite many thinking they’re superior to it. This game is an example of that.” explained Gundham while finding amusement in his own words, especially regarding mankind’s relationship with nature.

 

“Well, simulation can help in understanding things, but….I don’t exactly think it’s the same as the real thing. In games, I can generally do well because of calculations and stuff, but real thing...is more unpredictable. Like I never know if its safe to touch an animal. Kinda scary.” Chiaki added some of her own thoughts on the matter while also expressing one of fears she always had.

 

Domesticated fauna are quite generous beings. They will alert the human if they do not feel comfortable, but they do desire companionship and comfort, not unlike mortals themselves. With wild animals, it’s best to let them be. They do not wish for intrusion.” Gundham reassured her in his own odd way. His words caused even more curiosity for even curious gamer girl.

 

I wonder, how do you approach an animal? You seem to be great at this, I think. Devas seem to trust you a lot.” Chiaki asked him for advice. The Supreme Overlord was startled but her sudden but sincere compliment, but he once again went back on track with his persona.

 

In order for you to gain the trust of the fauna, you must understand them first. You must know what kind of endeavors make them comfortable and what not.” advised Gundham, speaking from his experience. Not too surprising of a someone who’s the Ultimate Breeder.

 

Ah, so to understand it...hmmm...sounds difficult….super difficult.” Chiaki doubted herself that she would get along with animals in general. She wasn’t sure if animals were more difficult to understand or people.

 

It might be difficult at first, but after practice, nothing that doesn’t defy the laws of physics and nature is impossible. Doesn’t that apply to your games as well?” noted Gundham as he pointed at her handheld.

 

...Come to think of it, yeah. A lot of games, especially the old ones, require a lot of memorization and patience to get through. It makes sense that a similar logic applies to animals...I think.” realized Chiaki on how she could apply video game logic to real life. There were still some differences, like how video games are predetermined (with exceptions being simulators), while life is anything but certain.

 

“Precisely. Very few animals will actively go out to attack humans and none of them are domesticated under normal circumstances. A beast like that, which I must admit, I am quite fond of, will never hurt mortals.” said Gundham as he was enjoying observing Chiaki play some kind of dog simulator on her handheld. Even though he knew it wasn’t a real deal, he was still amused by the quaint attempts of emulating nature.

 

While they were playing that game, they have suddenly heard familiar chatter of their friends getting louder as they were getting close. Both of them quickly recognized who were coming to them.

 

“Ah, here they are!” smiled Chiaki, knowing that her friends will be there soon. Any time friends were around, she got quite happier. She waited her own little group along with anyone who could join in, such as Sonia, to come to her and start the day. Seeing Sonia also made Gundham a little bit more pleased. It was nice for him to see someone who had the similar appreciation for Devas and topics that he enjoys.

 

“Kehehe, I see that our-” smirked Gundham before he realized that he slipped out his true feelings, causing him to feel quite embarrassed. “...Oh, uhm, my minions have arrived as well. Let us proceed with our day.”

 

As more people arrived, it was starting to seem that their classes would officially start. For a moment, things seemed to go well, then Gundham saw a certain white haired boy arriving last. The aforementioned suspect seemed to be untouched, treating the day as it was a usual one. Gundham’s more relaxed expression turned into a falcon like glare when he saw his soon-to-be interrogated person.

 

Unfortunately, my sight has been tainted by the appearance of The One with Fortune. I must do what I intend to.” thought Gundham to himself, remaining oddly silent as their classes began.

 

It was, thankfully, a normal hour of a class. Usual things happened, like Chisa being anything but a proper teacher, Chiaki playing video games in her class and Ibuki was doing….. something and so on. Yet, Gundham’s glare was locked on Nagito, just being prepared for the moment where he could interrogate him.

 

Look at that dastard, thinking he’s so carefree and sinless. You know exactly what you have done, you fiend! Do not even try to hide it from The Supreme Overlord of Ice when our talk shall begin.” Gundham kept thinking furious thoughts, still silently staring at his target. He also held the position of crossed arms ever since they went inside the class. No one seemed to explicitly be bothered with him, but some of them did noticed that he was oddly quiet through out the entire day. It was expected for him to be bombastic at some point.

 

I t was a lunch break. An ever familiar procedure came to be, when everyone went out to eat something. Well, almost everyone. Before Nagito could go anywhere, Gundham stopped him in the middle of hallway.

 

You there, The One with Fortune!” Gundham called him out. Nagito just casually turned out, not even startled by the bombastic call of a Supreme Overlord and the de fact leader of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

Ah, Gundham. I was expecting you.” greeted Nagito in a chill tone, yet something about his wording remained ominous. Gundham quickly caught on what he meant by that.

 

“Hmpf, so you’re not even denying it? Well then, this shall be easier than expected.” Gundham smirked at himself.

 

“I was just going to the library. Maybe we should discuss it there.” suggested Nagito as he pointed at the direction where he wanted to go.

 

“If that is your choice, then so be it. I shall accept it.” agreed Gundham out of necessity. Any disagreements as of that moment could lead up to operational failure. And thus they walked towards the library, which they found out that it was not occupied at that moment. A bless for an interrogation. Once they stepped in, Gundham closed the door and both of them sat on chairs, occupying the nearby table. The “interrogation” has begun.

 

“I see you have already figured it out, heh. Don’t worry too much, I won’t waste your time with it...under a condition.” chuckled Nagito at himself, surprised by the fact that Gundham managed to figure him out. Even though he saw him as one of the Talented, he thought that the Supreme Overlord was too drowned in his own delusions.

 

“What is it that you desire, The One with Fortune?” Gundham started, desiring to know what he did do at the port warehouse previous day.

 

“The only reason why you figured out that I went there is because you were there by yourself, isn’t that right?” asked Nagito, figuring him out back. Gundham knew that resisting would be a hindrance, so he let him have his satisfaction.

 

Considering that I must abide to the law of equivalent exchange, then yes, the presence of The Supreme Overlord of Ice was there.” confirmed Gundham with a suspecting look on his face. He wanted to keep his guard as much as possible, since Nagito could be quite unworkable to be around.

 

Hehehe, I thought so. It’s safe to assume that you went there because you wanted to obtain information about them, right?” further assumed Nagito, raising his finger to put an emphasis on his point.

 

“That is given. It was my mission after all. Before you speak up, I can sense that you also want to know what I’ve found there. Unfortunately, it was a mere writing, which I haven’t yet checked. Everything else was barren.” responded Gundham before he decided that Nagito already had his fill of information. It was his turn to obtain information gained by the luckster. “Now it’s your turn, The One with Fortune.”

 

Suddenly, penguins jumped out of his coat, landing right on his shoulder. Rico was armed with a flare gun, pointing right at Nagito’s face. The hopeful luckster didn’t even flinch when the avians appeared and threatened him. That infuriating smile remained on his face.

 

“Speak.” demanded Skipper, ordering Rico to point the flare gun right at his face.

 

“Only a flare gun? Man, you guys are soft.” chuckled Nagito while thinking the whole threat was really tame.

 

“What, you wanna feel your face BBQ’d?” Skipper jabbed at him.

 

“I already know that feeling. I’ve been through worse. Much much worse.” calmly countered Nagito while having somewhat of a grin on his face.

 

Bluff! I call it a bluff!” retorted Skipper out of somewhat of a desperation. If it were his way, he would just have taken him hostage and interrogated him like they all did before, such as how they took over a cargo ship that was intended to take them to Kenya. Wildlife preserve Africa, as it was called.

 

“I have no need to lie. There’s not much to benefit from it.” Nagito shrugged off the penguin’s accusation. Rico was getting closer to bust a flare in his face by each second the white haired boy talked.

 

“Enough with the irrelevant distractions, talk now!” Gundham forcefully switched the topics so that the unofficial interrogation could actually begin, for real.

 

Alright then, heh, if you say so.” started Nagito with a simple confirmation.So yes, I did go there. I wanted to make things...more interesting so to speak.”.

 

“I shall forbid all vagueness! Speak clearly!” ordered Gundham to ensure that he will obtain information from him and not some blabbering that Nagito loves to do when he’s all alone.

 

“It wouldn’t have been satisfying if you guys just waltzed right in their hideout and beat them senseless, would it?” Nagito started hinting the true purpose of his intervention.

 

That is presumptuous to assume. We only know a snowflake of the iceberg that is that cursed organization. To say that our victory would be guaranteed is quite naive.” Gundham argued back in an oddly calm manner.

 

“But then again, you are all Ultimates, aren’t you? You are already above the rest of the boring trash, it should be easy for you.” insisted Nagito while also spilling some of his true beliefs. Penguins were taken aback at what he implied, with Skipper’s irises shrinking.

 

“Is this what this trash heap academy indoctrinates folk with?” Skipper slowly turned towards his wizard colleague, wondering if the school is responsible for his way of thought. The wizard man remained silent about it because he had his mission as a priority. That being said, he suspected that Nagito’s mentality was influenced by his life of cyclic (mis)fortune, rather than the academy itself.

 

“If that is your means of distraction, then I must tell you that I am immune to it.” Gundham refuted him with pure confidence in his voice. Yet, his voice wasn’t bombastic or hammy, it was filled with sheer determination.

 

“Ah, sorry. Just got sidetracked there.” seemingly sincerely apologized Nagito as they went back to what was the original topic. Gundham thought about what his classmate yet potential adversary meant by “making things interesting”. Judging from the tone of his voice, the wizard man interpreted it as the luckster deliberately interfering in the plans of The Fellowship of Darkness just to not make it anti-climactic. At least that’s how he saw it.

 

“If I understand correctly, you want to make our mission more difficult?” asked Gundham.

 

Well, I would say more satisfying.” clarified Nagito with a few word swaps. The Supreme Overlord managed to interpret his goals slightly differently than before. In his eyes, Nagito seemed like he wanted to make the end result much more impactful. Yet, Gundham saw it as both intrusive and counterproductive. Furious scolding would await Nagito, had it not been for one factor: the luckster must have done something to make Daft Dapo retreat. That bothered him more than Nagito’s own intervention,

 

I’d ask if there would be anything for you to benefit from it, but considering what I saw, you made it more difficult for them. Have you done anything to cause them to retreat?” questioned Gundham, hoping for a proper answer. He suspected that Nagito’s own luck had something to do with it.

 

“About that….I’m not sure myself. I didn’t actually get close,...well, partially because the guard beat me up senseless.” admitted Nagito. From the tone alone it could be told that the lucky boy wasn’t lying. Gundham was found at a dead end on one front, but another frontier of interest opened for him.

 

Halt there!” ordered Gundham to speak about the thing he was curious about. “Tell me more about your encounter with guard!”.

 

Oh, it was...quite a striking visual, I’d say. He chased me down even before I realized it and when he was about to beat me senseless, his eyes glowed red and he threatened me with a plunger.” explained Nagito in a rather relaxed but not self caring tone at all.

 

“What?!” gasped Gundham at the prospect of the guard’s eyes glowing red out of a sudden. It was the only thing that truly surprised him, everything else was seen as something obvious, although the prospect of a plunger was seen as an odd weapon of choice. Everything Nagito said ringed familiar with penguins.

 

“Did he make the face?” asked Skipper out of a sudden.

 

“What face?” piqued Nagito, not exactly sure what he meant. Without even saying a word, Rico gave him an example: a smug yet malicious grin and one “eyebrow” raised, just like in posters of those movies with funny animals. It quickly became familiar to the “victim” of guard’s attack. “Ah yes, he did.”

 

Well, what he said aligns up. That guy’s just relentless!” confirmed Skipper while also remembering those times penguins fought the guard multiple times through out Europe. With each country visited, penguins remember that he was getting more vicious.

 

“Hmmm...this will be quite useful to know. Considering that you have provided me quite a lot of necessary information, my wrath for you has been spared. However, I am not too pleased with the events which you have caused.” Gundham started to feel that he gained everything he needed. Mixed feelings were still prevalent in his mind. On one hand, any information gained about the enemy was going to be of great use for the Fellowship of Darkness. On other hand, he was starting to feel like Skipper’s suggestion of keeping him hostage was the right one. He stoop up from the chair as he began leaving the library.

 

I’m just glad I could be help to your Hope after all. Keep moving forward.” said Nagito, remaining in the library to take some time to read. Gundham refused to respond back before he finally left the location of interrogation. Penguins hid themselves inside his coat again, postponing their public appearance until the meeting in the garage.

 

“By the Dark Lord himself, I feel like my sapience is getting corrupted just by being in the proximity of The One with Fortune. At the very least, my minions will get quite a handful of information today, kehehe.” Gundham thought to himself as he went back to his class, returning to the normal hours of the day.

 

Ever since Herman’s defeat, it seemed like everything was being just like the first three of days of school: any shenanigans done were by Hope’s peak students and not land traversing octopuses or glamorous mafiosos. Soon, another usual procedure followed. The members of The Fellowship of Darkness gathered around before they would start another meeting with academy only members. Future Gadget Lab members couldn’t come due them being busy with their own stuff. However, their human leader noticed that someone from Hope’s peak was missing.

 

Hmmm...where is the instructor?” asked Gundham as he looked around to see where is that energetic teacher around.

 

“Miss Yukizome couldn’t come today. She said she’s very busy this week.” Chiaki spoke for her, knowing that Chisa was dealing with her personal arch-enemy: paperwork.

 

“Very well then. Even I, Supreme Overlord Gundham Tanaka, cannot interfere with the schedule of the instructor. We shall move forward.” advised Gundham in an unusually calm tone before they went all on their journey to the garage.

 

“Ain’t Gundham more ridiculous usually?” Mahiru commented on the matter. She, along with many, expected Gundham to call her out for being a “coward” or something. Perhaps it was due Gundham’s respect for her or it was just Gundham not feeling well.

 

“Yeah, he’s like...calm and stuff today. Still talks like a wizard, but in a calm and stuff way.” added Ibuki as they went on.

 

After following their usual path, they have arrived at the garage. The doors opened, but majority of the members were surprised that there were no penguins present in it. That was, until they jumped out of Gundham’s coat, startling quite a decent amount of students. Once penguins landed on the table and everyone sat down, the meeting began.

 

“My minions, our meeting shall begin with a statement that is old as the time itself.” Gundham started with an introduction. He really wanted to talk about his discoveries with exception of one: Zona Daft Capo. He emitted it because not only he didn’t know about the true location of the elusive zone, but he thought it would cause panic among the Fellowship.

 

“And what would that statement be?” asked Hajime, wondering what was Gundham even talking about.

 

“Well, we got good news and bad news.” revealed Skipper possibly one of the most cliched lines ever said.

 

“Oh, right.” Hajime rolled with his eyes. His sentiment was shared with some of the folk.

 

“Are we really beginning with this?” disapproved Mahiru.

 

“The good news is-” Skipper attempted to start with so called positive information first.

 

“Bad news first.” interrupted Hajime almost immediately.

 

“What? Don’t you wanna start with good stuff first?” Skipper genuinely wondered, but the way he said it sounded rather touchy. Hajime’s less than idealistic view bothered him a few times.

 

“Good stuff can come later. It’s better to know possible setbacks first.” Hajime elaborated himself why he wanted to hear negatives first.

 

Yeah, I actually agree with him. It’s best not to delude ourselves knowing that these bastards could get us anytime soon.” approved Fuyuhiko, being relieved that at the very least some people in the Fellowship are sensible. In fact, previous instances such as Chiaki halting the impulsive offense made him believe that it was starting to become worthy of spending time there.

 

“Hmph, The Persuasive One raises a good point. Then I shall begin: it seems that The One with Fortune has intervened-” Gundham overtook the leadership of the meeting. The moment he said that Nagito intervened, he already foreseen the reactions of his colleagues. They all wanted to do something about Nagito at that point. “Which, before any of you minions say anything, I shall note it would be hypocritical of me to chide him for the action I have also performed.”

 

“The fuck were you doing there?” Fuyuhiko scolded him for doing what it seemed to be not only a reckless move, but a move that he told nobody about it. He could have been in great danger had things gone south.

 

“To gather information, of course, with my fellow Devas and Avians. That shall be covered on the so called “good news” part, so let me continue a piece of information that would fit this category more: Daft Capo is, quite indeed, plotting revenge against us.” explained Gundham before he revealed to them that the enemy criminal syndicate was going to strike in the future. Savvy members thought that it was inevitable, but more optimistic ones were in quite a shock.

 

“Nah, this ain’t real. This ain’t happening. I won’t believe it.” Teruteru, being the part of the group that was optimistic, started denying that Daft Capo’s counterattack was presumed to be in motion. He just wanted to cook in peace and be suave, in his words.

 

I fucking knew it!” Fuyuhiko clenched his teeth. He was a part of the savvy group, but he didn’t enjoy the news one bit.

 

“Well, it was expected at least. Still…” sighed Hajime, who was also the part of the savvy group.

 

“O-our school days have become just a ticking time bombs. M-make it stop!” Mikan started panicking that their days are counted for. Panicking made the atmosphere even worse.

 

“Let them come and we beat the shit out of them!” Akane, who was more angry than scared, suggested that a brawl should take a place in school. By her suggestion, she already gained a lot of weird looks, except from Rico and Skipper, who seemed to agree with her.

 

“Hold on, Akane. We can’t be so sure about this. Not much we truly know about them even at this point.” cautioned Nekomaru, reminding them that even so far in, they have only scratched the surface of Daft Capo.

 

But that should be all of this category, because now prepare yourselves to be flooded with information that could the tide of the war for us!” boasted Gundham as he brought up a piece of paper that he and his animal companions have found in the port warehouse. “Behold!”

 

It should have been a more dramatic moment as he imagined, but all he looked like as if he was just flailing a piece of blank paper.

 

“It’s just...a paper.” grumbled Mahiru, thinking that her wizard classmate was just exaggerating, like he usually does. Others were confused as well.

 

“Not just a paper, but a paper from Daft Capo itself! Today is the day which we shall unveil its contents!” dramatically clarified Gundham. That ridiculousness of his was starting to return, which was a sight that they weirdly enough appreciated. Him being calm was rather a strange occurrence, perhaps he was holding it in. Then he looked at the paper itself, to see what it was all about. For a while, he remained confused at the yet to be reveal content of the document. Penguins looked as well, with intrigue in their minds.

 

Hmmm….My senses cannot decipher this image…Minions, I shall ask for assistance.” requested Gundham as he placed the paper on the table, revealing its contents. It was a monochrome map of the city, presumably the one where Hope’s peak was located. Some of the buildings were marked by red circles. They wondered if that meant if those markings were additional targeted locations.

 

Our school is circled here.” confirmed Kyoko as she pointed at the school on the map. However, she didn’t immediately recognize other circles. “Let me check something.”

 

Kyoko went up to the laptop, which was shut down at the moment. She opened it and booted it up. Penguins inputted the password in, so she could access the internet freely. After opening up Google Earth, she typed down Hope’s peak academy, so that she could start navigating through satellite imagery. She held the paper close, so that it would provide assistance to her. Upon looking around, she managed to locate other targeted buildings, only to be slightly confused at some aspects upon discovering what they truly are.

 

“Peugeot retailers?” Kyoko asked herself. The revelation itself caused slight confusion among everyone (except Nekomaru, who knew the truth, sort of), as they established that Daft Capo were European car enthusiasts.

 

“Oh, French cars! I assume they have encircled them because they want to get them!” Sonia was the first one to recognize the brand, as a fellow European herself.

 

Not exactly true, Herman hates them. He said it himself to me.” denied Nekomaru, remembering what a certain octopus said to him.

 

“Huh? Why would they hate them? I don’t think they’re too bad.” perplexed Sonia while expressing her opinion on the matter. Kazuichi agreed with her, then again, a car is a car for him.

 

“He said something about terrible drivers and the brand’s association with traffic jams, or something. That dude REALLY had it for them.” elaborated Nekomaru, with rest of the of the Fellowship deciding that Herman’s reason for such vitriolic hatred against Peugeot was rather ridiculous, even if they agreed that traffic jams suck.

 

“Oh, I see...I don’t think specific brands are to blame for traffic jams, but those can get quite bad, especially those from where I come from. Summer time was not a good time to be on the road.” concurred Sonia while also remembering any time she had to go to countries that are popular for tourists, such as France, Spain or Croatia as examples.

 

“UV light, please.” Kyoko interrupted their talk for a bit as she was touching the paper, noticing that the backside of it had some substance on it, despite being invisible. Without saying a word, Rico spat out an Ultraviolet light out of his stomach. How did he find it, no one knows.

 

How does he even do that?” genuinely wondered Hajime at how much stuff could Rico’s stomach store. She grabbed the turned on lamp and started observing the backside of the paper. Something was written on it, yet it seemed like she couldn’t understand it.

 

“...I cannot read this out. Will anyone else do it?” Kyoko asked for assistance as she handed out the paper and UV lamp to anyone who would.

 

Let me see…” Makoto offered himself, receiving the required items, only to find himself stuck at it.“….Nope, I can’t even understand it.”

 

Fine, I’ll do it.” sighed Fuyuhiko, thinking that it probably had a lot of profanity. Then he found out it was written in another language. “...Wait, it’s Italian. Fuck!”

 

“Then I shall do it!” Sonia, a woman who could speak thirty languages, offered herself to the task. She was taken aback the moment she saw what exactly was written on it. “….Oh my, this is...a handful.”

 

“Then speak!” ordered Skipper without mercy. Sonia cleared her throat and mentally prepared herself to read the text out loud.

 

“Ahem, so this translates to:

 

Fuck Peugeot FUCK PEUGEOT! You are the worst brand! You are stink YOU ARE DEVIL! You make me sick! You make me sick so bad that I’d rather eat spaghet t i with ketchup only (DISGUSTING AND FORBIDDEN !!!) over even touching that krippa! It’s not even cars, they are DRECK! Do not forget what your drivers do on road, damn them all! Damn them all to Fuckersberg, where they belong! THE DAY OF PEUGEOT ENDS HERE, HAHAHAHA! Instead, SEXY LAMBORGHINI will rise! Oh yes! YESSSSS! Ferrari too! Everyone, including Fiat, will destroy Peugeot. Peugeot? More like PISSGETOUT! H AHAHA , also this UV pen is kinda garbage and I’m sticking to normal ones.”

 

I t took the entire Fellowship, including Sonia herself, to take time to process at what just happened. They couldn’t decide what was worse: the content itself, Sonia reading it out loud or Sonia giving a rather concerning yet very passionate dramatic reading of it. The princess herself because so embarrassed over it that she apologized over it. Though, her swearing wasn’t exactly new.

 

...I can’t believe someone as pure as Sonia could say those things.” commented Kazuichi while feeling unease that such a pretty woman as Sonia could let out a rant worthy of a sailor.

 

“I can’t believe how well it rolled off her tongue!” added Ibuki, being rather impressed about how smoothly she said all of it, translated even too! However, a question remained in their minds.

 

“….What...did we gain from this?” Hajime was the first one to ask the question out loud.

 

“Apparently, saying that they hate Peugeot is an understatement. Like, HOLY SHIT, man!” Nekomaru was certainly surprised at how much Herman (although unsure of entire Daft Capo) loathes that French car company.

 

Those retailers could be their targets, considering they seem to hold a grudge against them.” suggested Kyoko, possibly using those locations to either track them down or to spy on them.

 

“I don’t think defending them will be our fight. We’re just contained to the Hope’s peak academy.” advised Mahiru, feeling like they should defend the very school, not

 

However, it could help us track them down if we observe their patterns.” Kowalski went with what Kyoko suggested.

 

“Alright, so that’s one somewhat useful paper. What’s next, since you promised us to overwhelm us with positive information?” Mahiru decided for Gundham to continue talking about his discoveries.

 

Fuwahaha, as I said, that was just the beginning! Now, whatever The One with Fortune did, he made them run away with just his own presence!” revealed Gundham at what exactly happened at port warehouse. Mixed feelings immediately rose from the revelation. On one had, there were some cathartic feelings that Daft Capo sees some as a threat and not as a joke or worse. On other hand, it was Nagito Komaeda.

 

“Huh? How?” Kyoko was one of the people that was surprised by the whole ordeal. Not only was she surprised by Daft Capo’s location change, but also how did Nagito manage to influence it.

 

“Wait, Nagito could do that? I thought only Sakura was able to scare away Herman and, I think it’s safe to assume, every other Daft Capo member.” commented Peko on the matter while also expressing the same surprise.

 

“Oh, Sakura could do that? That’s awesome, she’s gonna scare them good!” cheered Aoi for her friend. At the very least there was hope that some students could go head on with Daft Capo members with having an advantage.

 

“I could do that? Hm...I can see why, but I am a little surprised.” calmly said Sakura. For such a really buff girl, she seemed to be kind of that doesn’t intentionally seek conflict, instead opting for more tranquil options.

 

“...Actually, I think I know how.” Makoto then remembered his and Chiaki’s encounter with the dreaded octopus.

 

“Speak, The One with not as much Fortune!” ordered Gundham with might in his voice.

 

Did he really have to give me a nickname like that?” Makoto thought to himself, rather unamused with the nickname he choose for him. Then he started to talk about a certain line Herman said.He said something like…..uh….like….gah, I can’t remember!”

 

“...That mofo weird. Tell him that. Bye….was something he said to us.” Chiaki also remembered, saying the exact line Herman said out loud. Needless to say, everyone in the Fellowship was absolutely bamboozled that such word came out of her mouth. They could take Sonia swearing, but Chiaki? Not so much.

 

Woah woah woah woah woah there!” Ibuki stood up from the chair as she started to act like she was calming down a fight.

 

“First Sonia, now you, Chiaki?!” blurted out Kazuichi, even more shocked than before. He was feeling more impure as the time passed.

 

“….It was just a quotation.” pouted Chiaki at them. Normally, Chiaki would never swear. Puffed up cheeks were good enough for her. “But yep, he said that to us.”

 

“I mean….I kinda agree with him. I can’t believe I’ve said this.” hesitated Kazuichi that he found common ground with that damned octopus.

 

I feel ya, Kaz. I feel ya deeply.agreed Skipper as well. Most of them agreed, but also nearly all of them preferred to have him that a certain “eyeschlussing” cephalopod.

 

Still, why would his own presence be a reason enough to retreat?” questioned Kyoko, still wondering how exactly did he make them retreat.

 

“I mean...just look at him sometimes! I’m pretty sure his...mannerisms would scare anyone.” Mahiru attempted to explain from her own experience, yet it was lacking. There was a talking land traveling gangster octopus, why would they be scared of what it seemed like a relatively weak white haired boy that just has contrivances in his favor, sometimes at least.

 

“He certainly didn’t scare them away, considering that the guard beat him senselessly without remorse.” corrected Gundham, telling them what Nagito said to him. It was with that statement that they knew that they both screwed up something and that they weren’t as safe as they imagined. If it wasn’t obvious from the confirmation of Daft Capo’s revenge, it was Nagito being attacked by the guard that shattered the illusion.

 

“Wait, the guard did what?” Chiaki’s protective senses immediately activated upon hearing that her classmate was hurt. Others felt the same feel of “he’s weird but he didn’t deserve THAT” from it, yet they were more hesitant to speak about it.

 

Engaged him in a one sided fight, where his defeat was decisive and humiliating.” Gundham explained once again, talking about it as if it were a historic battle.

 

“….this...isn’t good….No one should be...hurt…” Chiaki attempted to say something, yet wasn’t sure what. A sudden rush of protective feelings came from her heart, she couldn’t just let her classmate being hurt or worse by that criminal syndicate.

 

“To be fair, that bastard was stepping right into their territory. That’s was to be expected with those fuckers.” argued Fuyuhiko that he got himself into trouble and that she or anyone else shouldn’t feel sorry for her. Some agreed, but Chiaki couldn’t help but disagree.

 

“Still...he’s our classmate...we should...not allow this to happen again…” mumbled Chiaki as she clenched her fist, cursing that mafia from deep within her heart.

 

It should serve as a warning if we ever get careless. That being said, he didn’t seem to really mind it too much.” advised Gundham that such occurrences shouldn’t happen again. While he didn’t feel sorry for Nagito, he still felt like it could happen to any of his colleagues. Chiaki wanted to say on the matter more, but she noticed that her friends were starting to worry about her due to how stressed she looked. She attempted to calm herself down, by hiding herself with her hood. Hajime and her friends felt the need to discuss with her after the meeting was done.

 

Sheesh, they’re just overkilling it, aren’t they?” sighed Makoto at how much trouble that syndicate seems to cause. Mikan seemed to get an idea that it’s not gonna stop anytime soon.

 

“That seems to be a rather common occurrence. Any mundane task will be done with exaggeration.” confirmed Kowalski from the experience. Even when Daft Capo first started, they always seemed to do their stuff in the most extreme possible.

 

Even with all of this, his action has made them move back. That’s a solace we can take in.” Gundham, out of all people, attempted to reassure his own folk that even with one of their classmates hurt, a move has been done against them.

 

“Well, it’s good to know that they’re not invincible or anything.” said Akane.

 

“We should still increase caution about it. Moves like that won’t be affordable, if they were at all.” suggested Sakura in case of that happening again. Her plan of training for physical combat still remained the same.

 

“….Yeah.” murmured Chiaki, still hiding in her hood.

 

“Anyway, that should be it. Know now that our fight shall go on!” Gundham called them off for them to get some rest at home. He said everything he wanted to them, hoping that they could use provided information for their own benefit.

 

“Pronto!” saluted Skipper as his colleague Private opened the doors for them, letting them out. And so they did, going home to take some rest.

 

As they went on, Chiaki was accompanied by her own little group, consisting of Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro. She was still hiding in her hood and quietly staring at the ground. Rest of the group was starting to get more and more concerned with her.

 

“You okay, Chiaki?” Hajime was the first one to break the silence, pushing it forward to Nanami to speak up.

 

“….it’s fine.” murmured Chiaki, but rest of the group knew that she was anything but. Her hiding in her hood was the most notable sign that her mood was down.

 

Um...it’s about Nagito, right?” hesitantly asked Chihiro in order to make her speak up about her feelings.

 

“I know...what happened with him and the group...but…” mumbled Chiaki, yet she constantly stopped herself. It was either because she didn’t know what to say or because she didn’t want to make them more worried about her.

 

“Hey, we’re gonna make sure that it won’t happen again. Even if Nagito is...well….himself, even he doesn’t deserve being beaten up by Daft Capo.” Hajime spoke up, reassuring

 

...Yeah.” Chiaki quietly nodded, at the very least knowing that her classmates are willing to protect each other from that mafia.

 

“Now, don’t worry too much, Chiaki. It’s gonna be okay, we’re gonna make sure of it.” reassured Hajime, giving her a little pat on the head. He felt the need to, and it seemed to work out. Chiaki blushed big time, but she was enjoying every moment of the pat.

 

“Yeah! We’ll protect each other, like how Nekomaru and Mondo do!” Chihiro spoke as well, believing in her and her friends.

 

One bad thing can’t let us down! We’re gonna show bad things who’s the boss of bosses!” Ibuki cheered for them all, in her own Ibuki way. Chiaki didn’t say anything, but she smiled for them. The pat on her head helped her.

There was time where even her own group had to go their own way. Chiaki was walking alone, still having hoodie on. She felt a bit better, thanks for her own group reassuring, but worries were still present. The hood also helped her cope with big crowds. With strangers, she was always the one to stay away from them.

 

...Yeah, we shouldn’t really let that happen again. Nagito is still our classmate, no classmate should get hurt by them...No one…” Chiaki thought to herself before she stopped on her tracks, doubting herself again. “But will you able to do anything at all? Will you?”

 

It took her a while to combat doubts, before her determination to protect her friends overcoming any doubt and lack of confidence could.

 

...I can try. I won’t give up on them. I won’t give up on my classmates. I won’t give up on class 78th. I won’t give up on Future Gadget Lab. I’ll always try...to protect them. To make them..safe...and happy.” she thought to herself, promising them all that they would be safe as long as she takes care of them. No one should get hurt, was repeated in her head as she went home. She just wanted to take some rest to get some of peace of her mind, not to be overly worried of Nagito being hurt. Still, they were present.

 

Not that Nagito himself minded the whole incident. In fact, by the time the meeting took place, he was secretly spying on them by just standing near the garage door. He was close enough to hear some snippets of the meeting. Those snippets provided him with everything he needed to know. When the time was right, he ran away, so that no one could find him out. Once he assumed that he was far away, he started chuckling to himself.

 

“….Hehehe, it seems like things are working out for them. Amazing that a trash like me could influence the flow of events.” Nagito talked to himself as he was just casually strolling down the city. “Some things I’ve heard from them were quite surprising indeed, like Sonia’s vocabulary and that Nanami actually seems to be concerned with garbage like me. How amusing. It’s only a shame that we had to have a boring, probably talentless enemy to deal with. But even so, there is a chance that something so boring and talentless can bring in Despair for the groundwork of greater Hope.”

 

Unlike last time, someone did manage to find him out. A person, hiding in the shadows of the alleyway, saw him strolling down while talking to himself.

 

“Bruh, this dude really be talking to himself.” thought the person, mocking him for already doing unusual mannerisms without seeming shame. The person decided to approach him from the shadows as their footsteps echoed.

 

“Oi...you’re a Hope’s peak dude, aren’t you?” greeted the voice from the alleyway, making the luckster boy stop strolling down the city as he stood in front of the alleyway.

 

“Hm? Who’s that?” wondered Nagito before a merchant clothed in coat and hood revealed himself from the stank part of the city. Nagito was quite surprised at the sudden yet unorthodox appearance of the figure.

 

“Hmmm...white hair and green jacket…I’ve heard a lot about you.” commented the cloaked person as he observed the white haired boy in order to confirm that it really was him.

 

“Ah, are you perhaps a Hope’s peak student as well?” asked Nagito rather casually, despite meeting them for the first time.

 

Indeed I am!” revealed the seeming merchant in a rather friendly way.

 

“Hmm...what sort of talent do you possess? Judging from the looks of it, you must be some kind of dealer? An Ultimate one at that?” Nagito just wanted to make sure that the person was not bluffing to him. If he were, Nagito would be disgusted for not only lying about talent, but also being talentless.

 

“I go by many names, but what Hope’s peak refers to me is the Ultimate Scammer. Class 69, I’m sure you’re familiar with them.” the merchant introduced himself to the white haired boy with pride in his voice.

 

“To be honest, I only know of few of them. Ultimate Rockstar, Ultimate Rapper, Ultimate Bartender and from what I’ve heard, Ultimate Procrastinator. What an interesting variety of talents you guys have!...although what kind of talent is the last one, though?” rambled Nagito about talent while also curious about The Ultimate Scammer’s thoughts on his class.

 

“Hahaha, you should have seen some of those chumps in person! You won’t believe it! Real assholes, I tell ya!” laughed Ultimate Scammer, remembering the time he was actually present at the class.

 

“Yeah, I can already imagine.” chuckled Nagito before he noticed that he hasn’t introduced himself to a fellow Ultimate. “Oh, pardon me of my rudeness, I haven’t introduced myself to you. My name is Nagito Komaeda, the Ultimate Lucky Student...although you must admit, that talent is really trash, isn’t it?”

 

“Ultimate Lucky Student? Bruh, you could win rows in lotteries! Can you imagine how much dosh you could get?” advised Ultimate Scammer, making gestures that looked like he was counting money. The scam guy already wanted Nagito on his side, so that he could get rich like a millionaire.

 

“I am very aware of that. I’ve scored a few victories few there...at the cost, but still.” said Nagito in an almost lamenting tone. The scammer thought he wasn’t appreciating the money potential he had within.

 

“Now, from what class are you, bruv?” asked Ultimate Scammer, curious as well.

 

Class 77-B, the ultimate shining light that will lead the world towards the greater Hope!said Nagito with his eyes shining when he mentioned it.

 

Hahaha, what the fuck is he talking about?” Ultimate Scammer thought to himself, laughing internally at Nagito’s bullshittery before he decided to continue the friendly conversation. “Oh, right, that’s the class where the mechanic dude is from. Kaz or somethin’.”

 

“Yep, Kazuichi. Spectacular with machines, dreadful with seducing Sonia, the Ultimate Princess.” confirmed Nagito while also taking a little jab at him.

 

“Yah, he fixes our projector pretty frequently. Seems like a cool dude, if you ask me. Shark teeth.” added Ultimate Scammer.

 

“I’d say my class is full of admirable people that will bring greater Hope upon the world! With their talents and Hope, it shall all lead towards greatness.” Nagito started rambling once again. The Ultimate Scammer decided to ignore the hope rants, not only because he wasn’t interested in them, but also because he thought Nagito was high off his knockers. He wondered what kind of brand was he taking.

 

“To tell you the truth, I don’t know much about it and I’ve been kinda out of the loop lately. Had a quite busy week for talent refining, so I have one tiny request for ya, free of monetary charge.” requested the Ultimate Scammer as he pointed at him.

 

“I cannot deny assisting a fellow Ultimate, so what shall it be?” Nagito offered himself on instant.

 

“Fill me up with info any time. Anything interesting you find. Sorry to cut it short, but I just got another deal to do.” Ultimate Scammer gave him the instructions for him to do.

 

“Will do, with pleasure!” Nagito didn’t even hesitate. He spread his arms like a hope maniac he was.

 

“Thanks, mang. Now I must go. See ya soon, bruv.” thanked Ultimate Scammer before he concealed himself in the darkness of the alleyway.

 

“See you, and may you have a hopeful future ahead of you!” Nagito wished him well before he went his own way, who knows where.

 

Hidden within the dark, dank alleyway, the Ultimate Scammer was planning to call someone. He was satisfied with the conversation between him and Nagito. He picked up the crusty phone of his and started the call. The scammer was surrounded only by stank, so he didn’t have to worry about too much.

 

“Yo, Rando! I’ve got you some good news.” announced Ultimate Scammer with pride and joy in his voice.

 

“Did it go as we planned?” asked Rando, who seemed to be behind some plan that involved Nagito.

 

“Ayy, easier than you would expect! That dude was surprisingly willing just because of my title, hahaha!” reported Ultimate Scammer, with satisfaction about the success.

 

Good, my man. I knew he would be of some use. Maybe not as a bargain chip, but rather a source of information. We’ll gonna need all info we get.” reminded Rando while also being satisfied with outcome. He knew that Nagito could be useful for Daft Capo itself.

 

“Yea, that was genius of you! It’s a bit weird that Herman didn’t go with keeping him hostage, like we did with that cat shitter.” noted Ultimate Scammer while also agreeing with Rando that they should have had him hostage or even better, let him join Daft Capo.

 

“Dude’s saying that DÄÜCHË is crazy! I mean, I can see why, but we can’t let that potential of benefit go to waste.” said Rando to him.

 

“I getcha, man, but for now, this could go in our favor.” replied Ultimate Scammer.

 

“Oh yeah, it will. It’s gonna be better when the Elite Bois arrive.” Rando told him about the arrival of Daft Capo elites. The hooded merchant was quite shocked upon hearing the news.

 

“HOL UP! “We need Elite Bois for this?” doubted Ultimate Scammer, partially because he still considered Hope’s peak academy students to be jokes.

 

“Yea, Herman said so. We’re kinda stuck after his AYUSS got beaten. He’s real mad about, especially towards that noob.” clarified Rando while sounding sort of concerned about Herman.

 

“Oh man, once Fritz comes, their asses are TOAST! No one can go one on one with OG Swisher Boi.” boasted Ultimate Scammer before he realized that he didn’t know who out of so called “Elite Bois” will arrive to the scene. “Wait, who’s intended to come?

 

“Every Elite Boi that’s here in Japan, so basically Fritz, Tom, Dick, Wile and Nefarious.” Rando gave him the answer. Knowing them, Ultimate Scammer already saw Hope’s peak being completely bamboozled by such powerhouses.

 

“Oh FUCK, they’re fucked! The days of that scrub zone are numbered!” Ultimate Scammer pumped his fists in excitement, eagerly awaiting the supposed downfall of Hope’s peak under Daft Capo’s claws.

 

“Indeed they are. Now, don’t you have a deal or something?” Rando reminded him of a supposed scam he was intended to do for Friday.

 

Ah yes, I do. See ya soon, mang.” Ultimate Scammer said his last words before he stopped the call. After it was done, he rubbed his hands before he brought up an item from his pocket. It was a blunt, a rather fat one, wrapped in brown paper. He light it up with his lighter before he took a good smoke out of it. He spat out smoke like he was doing a video for a trap remix before he complimented the very blunt he smoked. “Bruuuuh…..Swisher Boi kush best kush.”.

 

A fter he had his roll, he went on his journey to find out who he scammed the latest. Hope’s peak was lucky that it had a weekend before the Ultimate Scammer would step on the soil of hope once again. Daft Capo, even after Herman’s defeat, still searched to strike the ultimate victory against Hope’s peak academy.

 

Chapter 22: Illusion of a Weekend

Chapter Text

The weekend began with a sunny, cozy day. It was just like every other weekend, with less concerns and more relaxation. Chiaki took an advantage of weekends by sleeping comfortably in her bed. Sleep allowed her mind to be cleared of worries, instead being refreshed for a new day. Even if she fell asleep standing up, at the very least she would wake up in a more comfortable mood. Although Chiaki sleeps for long time under normal circumstances, she managed to wake up a bit earlier than expected, partially due her subconsciousness anticipating a visit. The first thing she did in a quarter awake state was to squint at the alarm clock, prepared to fume at it if it disturbs her. Fortunately for the alarm clock, it remained silent, or else it would face the wrath of a sleepyhead gamer. Her fuming was spared for Monday.

 

“Ah, it’s weekend...probably best days. No alarm clocks to disturb my dreams, I think. I should probably get up.” Chiaki thought to herself, mentally preparing herself for a visit of her friends. Every weekend they decided to hang out, since those were the most carefree days.

 

However, Chiaki faced one huge obstacle: getting out of bed.

 

“Mmmm….but bed’s so comfy…..so good…” Chiaki rolled in her bed as she started to indulge in lying on the soft mattress, with her head supported by a Gala Omega themed pillow. Her eyes started to close again, returning to sleep. Then she remembered about the visit, causing her to reconsider about the sleep. She didn’t want to worry or annoy her friends about it, despite her sleeping tendencies being rather uncontrollable for her. “Wait, I have promised my friends that we’re gonna go to arcades today.”.

 

Chiaki rolled back to check time. It was still early in the morning, way too early for the visit to happen. She got a bit more relaxed, knowing that she still has some time of comfortable lying in her bed.

 

“Well, we did say later, around noon, I think. By that time…..bed time.” Chiaki thought of herself, except that she was thinking of a way to keep herself awake. “But what if I fall asleep when they come?”.

 

Then she got an idea that should have been obvious from the start.

 

“Oh, I know! A game should help...Nothing a good game can’t do. Yep, I think I’ll go with….” Chiaki searched under her pillow, which was a place that was often used to store her handhelds underneath it, so that she could play games all night. An often occurrence, unless the day that would follow that night was really important. Just as expected, she found a handheld, with a cartridge of Gala Omega in it. She had no amount of hesitation when it came to playing that game.

 

“Gala Omega...such a good game. It might be old, but it’s a timeless classic. The game was always there for me, even when times seemed dark. Something about blowing up stuff with spaceship just feels right. I remember playing it when I was young. Still as good today.” Chiaki thought to herself, smiling while unleashing level of sci-fi violence upon pixelated aliens, blowing them up to mere bits.

 

The morning transferred to a quiet noon. The world’s biggest Gala Omega fangirl was still playing the aforementioned game, completely absorbed into it. It felt like if a meteorite would crash into her house, she wouldn’t even notice it. However, one thought briefly halted her. Hours passed, but still no sign of her friends.

 

“Hmmm, they should come now, right?” Chiaki worried for a bit, before the worry was shot down by her rather overly big belief and trust in her friends. A smile returned to her face, eagerly anticipating the visit. “Eh, I’m sure they will. I believe that they will be here.”

 

Contrary to before, much less time, albeit still measured in hours, passed. The gamer was still gaming until she heard a knock on the door. She glanced over and gradually got out of her bed, still in her Pajamas. However, she was still holding the console, just that her game was paused for a bit.

 

“Ah, here they are...I think.” thought Chiaki to herself as she started walking towards the door. When she opened it, an anticipated sight appeared: Hajime, who was carrying Ibuki again, the aforementioned musician who also had a backpack with her, and the timid Chihiro, who didn’t have his laptop with him. It seemed like they were all preparing for an event they planned out during their time at school previous day.

 

“Good morning, everyone.” Chiaki greeted them by appearing right in front of them in her Pajamas. At that point it became routine for her to just be in such clothing.

 

“Gooooooooooooood Nomnomnomnomoning, Chiaki!” chirped Ibuki, greeting her with Ibuki’s own trademarked greeting.

 

“Good morning, Chiaki.” Chihiro wished her a good start of the day in a less energetic and more gentle tone.

 

“Good mornin’, Chiaki. Always in Pajamas, aren’t you?” commented Hajime, taking a bit of fun in observing some of her mannerisms. A blush appeared on Chiaki’s face, realizing that she forgot to change herself again.

 

“Oh...yeah, got a little distracted. Hold on a minute.” Chiaki fidgeted before she ran inside to change her clothes. Another routine thing when it came to hanging around with her.

 

“No need to rush. We have an entire day for-” Hajime attempted to reassure her, but she dashed inside so quickly that his sentence was left hanging. “...Off she goes, I guess.”

 

Thankfully for them, Chiaki didn’t take much time for changing her clothes. It seemed like she was in a bit of a rush, her hair was still messy due to her sleeping like a comfortable cat, disregarding any sort of style for coziness. But with her in mostly prepared form, they were more or less ready to go where they wanted for the day.

 

“So...are you all ready?” asked Chiaki.

 

“Oh yes, and how! Ibuki made sure that not only we have fun, but also that our tummies are full! We bought snacks and drinks and snacks and drinks!” Ibuki tapped her backpack, considering that she anticipated that they would spend literally the entire day in the arcade. Not a wrong assumption, considering that a certain doofus can play video games for so much time it can become concerning.

 

“Yeah, and I had to carry her through out the entire time in the market.” revealed Hajime out of a sudden, slowly accepting that he has become more or less Ibuki’s carrier. His arm was also often a victim of Ibuki’s nibbles. Both Chiaki and Chihiro’s faces became slightly red upon hearing such “shocking” revelation.

 

“H-how do you do it, Hajime?” asked Chihiro, wondering how could he carry a (relatively light) woman with such ease. Deep down, he found it admirable for how strong he was. Perhaps he was a bit jealous, because he couldn’t imagine himself carrying anyone.

 

“I’m not sure myself.” Hajime attempted to answer, albeit he felt like he shouldn’t be considered strong by all means.

 

Meanwhile Chiaki had another, entirely different reason for being rather startled by that fact.

 

I should ask Hajime about carrying me, hehehemaybe...” Chiaki thought about how Hajime could carry her around the world, preferably in a bridal position, where she could be cradled to sleep. Such thoughts excited her, but she focused more on her friends and assuring they would have fun time at arcade. “Ah, that’s good. It’s best to be in good form when you play games. Shall we go?”

 

And thus they went, marching towards the supposed arcade that was located somewhere in the city. A presumed location was Akihabara, already known for being the capital of all things electronic in Japan. It did take some time to get there on foot, but they got there as they navigated through the labyrinth of billboard infested flats. As they went on, they thought about what kind of arcade should they visit, since Akihabara was full of them.

 

“Hmmm...I’ve been thinking….what kind of games should we look for?” asked Chiaki for their input, always wanting to prioritize others.

 

“Something that would make our hearts pump like crazy! Like, the one where you break dance on the floor!” suggested Ibuki, hinting that they should play games with motion controls.

 

“I was thinking of something retro, so to say.” Hajime added his own suggestion to the table. It immediately caught Chiaki’s attention, perhaps even a thought that their friends even appreciate the old stuff.

 

“Oh, retro? You like these games as well?” Chiaki suddenly hopped right near him, already activating her fangirl mode once again. Hajime, of course, was utterly startled by what their scientist friend called springiness. Then she had a realization that she should have been aware of it from the start “Oh, uhm...I mean you do like Gala Omega, so that should have been obvious...I think.”

 

“Y-yeah, honestly I appreciate them a lot because they’re just easy to get into, even if they can be painfully hard...for my fingers too. I just like their simplicity, but that’s not to say more complex games can’t be good. Just that...my brain adapts to those games.” Hajime explained himself while also remembering how much of a stroke that MiG-29 Fulcrum gave him when he played one of Chiaki’s favorite flight simulators.

 

“Yeah, that’s a valid thing to say. It’s easier to get someone into games. Complex games such as Falcon BMS, I assume, can be really tough on newcomers.” added Chiaki, feeling a bit of connection for those that don’t immediately grasp the game.

 

“Oh, I see! Are those games like, where you rage a lot then when you win, you just go “YAAAAHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!”, or something like that?” piqued Ibuki while letting out the aforementioned “YAHOO” in the process. Unfortunately for the gang, Akihabara wasn’t exactly empty, so they received weird looks from men, women and even children a like. Not that they noticed it, since they were too busy discussing the topic of retro games.

 

“….Yeah, like that. Although if the game becomes too frustrating, would you say are having fun anymore? I think one shouldn’t really force themselves to play something they don’t enjoy.” confirmed Chiaki, a bit startled from Ibuki’s yell. Hajime and Chihiro were also affected by the “YAHOO”.

 

“Life’s short, so why waste it on frustrations? Fun should be a priority, like a pizza on a Sunday morning!” Ibuki let out a bit of her own philosophy of life amid the conversation.

 

“I don’t think all frustrations are avoidable, though…” Hajime tried to ground the topic so that his friends wouldn’t get dangerously naive, considering what their weeks are like at that point.

 

“Excuse me, but can I say something about the previous topic?” Chihiro timidly raised his hand, wanting to say about an interested that’s connected to retro games.

 

“No need to ask permissions really, just say what you want, Chihiro.” Chiaki allowed him unconditionally. She thought it was strange that he had to ask for it, she aimed to make her group as comfortable and open as possible.

 

“Alright, so you guys mentioned retro games….but what do you think of retro hardware, consoles and computers so to say? I think they’re really interesting, especially from a development standpoint.” Chihiro spoke up about computers, catching Chiaki’s attention rather quickly.

 

“Retro stuff is super cool! It’s a shame that a lot of people see old hardware and software as outdated junk. I think every game has something to offer, regardless of how old it is.” Chiaki let out a bit of her incredibly and overly passionate enthusiasm about retro games. As a gamer, Chiaki was open to all games (with one genre being an exception), but there was a special place in her heart for old games.

 

“If the game endures the passage of time, would you say it’s old?” Ibuki crossed her arms rather confidently as she raised her point.

 

“I mean, all things age, but you’re onto something, aren’t you, Ibuki?” noted Hajime, noticing that there was another meaning to Ibuki’s words.

 

“Eyep, just like music endures through out time, I wouldn’t say a good game is an old game! There’s a lot of reasons why people take inspiration from older work, be it music, games or recipes! Even some of older stuff is ahead of its time, a lotta music is!” Ibuki added to her point, hoping that her point would be understood. Luckily for her, Chiaki’s group was a very understanding one. In fact, all that talk about retro games made them appreciate such games more. If it weren’t for those, the games of today wouldn’t have been there at all.

 

“Yeah, I agree with you, Ibuki. Good game is a good game, no matter-huh?!” Chiaki wanted to finish her sentence, before she was interrupted by a sudden event that none of them saw coming.

 

She was suddenly dragged into an alleyway, disappearing from their sight in an instant. They couldn’t even see the person who dragged her at all. All of them became pale from the event, as the thoughts of the worst possible scenario came into full force.

 

“Nanami? Nanami?! Where did you go?!” Hajime called out for her as his heart started to beat even faster than ever before. A worry that their adversaries will get them.

 

“N-Nanami?” trembled Chihiro at the sudden disappearance as the worry started to overtake him.

 

“Kyaaaa! She just she just disappeare-” screamed Ibuki, but before she could even finish the yell for help, the rest of the group was dragged into the alleyway without even realizing. All they saw was a flash of what seemed to be a figure of a slender yet strong woman pulling them right into the dark corner of the city. A slight feeling of relief came when they saw Chiaki being there, but they were also dealing with two different figures, one of a slender glasses wearing woman that had a stare comparable to a hawk and a short sharp dressed man that seemed to have a temper of a bull.

 

“W-what is-” trembled Chiaki, still startled by the sudden abduction. The figures were blended in the shadow, so none of them immediately recognized them. Their hearts were beating fast as the worry that they were suddenly dealing with an enemy began skyrocketing.

 

“Shut up!” quietly, yet harshly commanded the man of short stature. That single sharp remark was accompanied with a familiar voice. A voice of their classmate. Those figures, upon hearing them, were quickly recognized as Peko and Fuyuhiko. Massive amounts of worries vanished for them all, no longer being concerned that they were suddenly abducted by the adversary, but relief was replaced with confusion. They weren’t exactly sure why were they dragged in a dark alleyway in the first place and what exactly were Fuyuhiko and Peko doing was also a mystery for them.

 

“The hell, Fuyuhiko and-” Hajime attempted to ask as quietly as possible.

 

“Shut the fuck up!” Fuyuhiko demanded total silence as he pointed at what it seemed to be a black sedan parked in front of a building. The yakuza heir quietly ordered them to take cover, but keep an eye on the car. Upon closer look, they recognized that the brand behind the car was Mercedes Benz. The recognition of the brand made them wary about a possible encounter with their enemy. They really hoped it was not the case, that it was just a coincidence.

 

Unfortunately for them, an illusion that weekends were safe times broke down hard when they saw three gangsters, all of them dressed up in white glamorous tuxedos while also wearing white fedoras. Had it been for different color, they would look like mafiosos right out of movies, but that wasn’t the case. That was the very case of them seeing true and proper members of Daft Capo right in front of their eyes. Despite being warned about them, it still felt incredibly surreal. They finally saw the face of the enemy that wasn’t an octopus.

 

“OOOOOOH MY GOOOOOOOOD THEY’RE REAL!” internally screamed Ibuki, covering her mouth to not scream for real. Despite the fact they had a numerical advantage, they couldn’t risk fighting an enemy they don’t have a lot of information about. Many things could change the tide, such as reinforcements or ambushes.

 

“Oh gosh, it’s them! It’s like, they’re exactly like in pictures! I’m...I’m not gonna let them hurt them.” Chiaki’s irises shrunk upon seeing them. They were like in those beat em up games, except they were real and right in front of them. Yet, despite feeling intimidated by them, she felt an urge to protect the group from them, had they found them out.

 

“Are we gonna be safe? These look...dangerous. Really dangerous...please...help…someone…” Chihiro’s fear and uncertainty rose within him, hiding behind Chiaki because he trusted her that she would protect them.

 

“I...I can’t believe this is real. All of it.” perplexed Hajime, absolutely bewildered by the sight that was happening right in front of them. None of the stuff penguins were talking about seemed to be doubt inducing anymore.

“If they find us, we’re fucked!” thought Fuyuhiko to himself while trying to think what to do after punksters would go away. For that moment, they remained concealed in the darkness.

 

“So here they are...all I need is Master Fuyuhiko’s permission to strike, and I will do it.” Peko glared at the punksters as she placed her grip on her bamboo sword. She wasn’t afraid of using it, but she was still cautious about it. All of them watched as three punksters gathered around the black Mercedes Benz S-Class W221 before one of them revealed something to others. It seemed be some kind of “catch”, so to say.

 

“Mang, I’ve got drip.” said one of punksters as he showed them what it seemed to be a pile of black plain shirts that had “SUPREME” written on a red rectangle with white bold letters.

 

“Fuck yeah, dude! Lemme check that shit out!” boasted the other punkster as he inspected the shirts to see if they were satisfactory enough for his taste. Upon checking them shirts, he concluded that they were, quite in fact: “Oh, it’s fire! Very swag!”.

 

Needless to say, the Hope’s peak gang that was eavesdropping was absolutely floored with bewilderment. Come to think of it, the previous statement was an understatement of the century.

 

“What the fuck?!” flinched Fuyuhiko, sharing the same feeling of confusion as the rest of the group upon hearing the way those punksters talked.

 

“WHAAAAAAAAAAAT?! THEY TALK LIKE MEMELORDS?!!!” Ibuki’s soul overreacted to heavens above as she tried to stop her mouth from foaming. It was a tendency she had when she panicked.

 

“….What kind of talk is this? I’ve never seen anyone talk like this before...I think.” thought Chiaki to herself, utterly confused at what she just heard.

 

“Those gangsters...they are quite strange, indeed.” calmly, albeit just as bewildered thought Peko about the whole situation. They continued listening to see if they would get anything out of them.

 

“Good thing this store still had it. We’ll need it to flex on that scrub zone!” boasted punkster as they still looked at those shirts that they seemed to be absolutely fascinated about. Hope’s peak gang was already confused on what was so special about those shirts and why did they call it “drip” in the first place.

 

“What? Scrub zone? What are they even talking about?” perplexed Hajime, squinting at those punksters. He wasn’t sure if he should be afraid or baffled.

 

“I mean, we’re already more swag than those scrubs! Like, do they even have style or glamour that we do?” jeered punkster. Hope’s peak gang was starting to get a little annoyed by how they talked. Something about their pompous nature was starting to get them.

 

“Scrub? Wasn’t that...a word Herman called me once? Wait...he probably means….oh….oh no….” Chiaki had a realization on what exactly were they talking about. Gundham was right to warn them about the impending revenge upon Hope’s peak. She felt dread within her, with her fear of her friends being hurt by them. However, the need to protect them also rose within her, added with a clutched fist of hers.

 

“Hahaha, you’re implying that they even have S of a style! Only S they will have will be beaten asses!” boastfully laughed punkster with shirts.

 

“Since we’ve got everything, lets head back to Zona Dafo!” suggested punkster, indirectly revealing the name of what was assumed to be their residence in the city to the Hope’s peak gang. Something about that name gave off an ominous feeling to the Hope’s peak gang, as if their days were counted on before Daft Capo would take over the city.

 

“Zona Daft Capo, the fuck?!” rightfully perplexed Fuyuhiko upon hearing the name of the supposed zone.

 

“They’ve already got their own territory?” wondered Peko about the same thing. Rest of the gang also thought about it, perhaps they were getting late. Fuyuhiko knew the day would come that Hope’s peak would be on offense and it started to seem that day was closer than they thought.

 

“Ayy! Let’s go, my bois!” said punkster before all of them went inside the Mercedes, not forgetting about the shirts at all. The engine of a sedan belonging to a prestigious brand revved up before it fully started. Then they drove off, as fast as they could, leaving the Hope’s peak folk behind.

 

The gang that found themselves accidentally cross ways with Daft Capo remained in the alleyway for a bit, taking everything into consideration from what they’ve heard. The situation seemed more and more ominous as they learned more about their adversary. Just like Gundham learned about it before, few things were confirmed to them: Daft Capo plots revenge against them and they already have their territory.

 

“….Shit!” Fuyuhiko was the first one to break the silence.

 

“T-they’re gonna get us with style, won’t they?” stuttered Ibuki, feeling a bit afraid of Daft Capo punksters. Unlike the octopus before, which isn’t generally a scary thing if it’s not venomous, gangsters were far more imposing, even if their mannerisms were rather out of an internet forum than something an archetypal gangster would be like.

 

“Yeah...they seem so, but we...shouldn’t let it happen. We are going to stand by ourselves.” concurred Chiaki, while still afraid of the mafia, she was more determined to keep others safe from them. As long as no one was hurt anymore (herself not included), she believed it.

 

“Gotta be honest, just from these three….weirdest fuckers I’ve seen in a while. And not to mention that guy, you all know very well that bastard.” commented Fuyuhiko while also referring to the first Daft Capo member Hope’s peak had to deal with.

 

“Perhaps this…” Peko looked from the corner to see where was Daft Capo’s business happening at that time. It seemed to be a clothing store, nothing too special in Akihabara. It made some sense, since they did mention during the meetings that Daft Capo does crimes in style. “….clothing store? Yeah, clothing store will give us some clues.”

 

“A-are you sure we should go here? Sounds rather...dangerous, after this.” asked Chihiro out of concern, worrying that there could be more punksters out of a sudden.

 

“Do not fret too much, I have my sword with me. I’ll make sure that we won’t go down without a fight.” reassured Peko with crossed arms. She was ready to use her sword at any time, if the situation went south.

 

“Ooooh, that’s reassuringly badass!” Ibuki cheered for the stoic swordswoman. In a way, others got reassured a bit, since they knew they weren’t defenseless.

 

“I’ll also make sure that no one gets hurt. We got this.” Chiaki volunteered to guard them as well, standing alongside Peko. In all fairness, she looked like a little marshmallow bunny accompanying a mighty hawk.

 

“Y-you? Not to be a prick, but…” stammered Fuyuhiko, being rather perplexed that such a seemingly calm and quiet girl would go in a fist fight.

 

“Don’t worry, I know what to do if we find ourselves….in a difficult situation.” promised Chiaki while striking a “cool” pose to reassure others. In reality, she looked like a doofus. Not that her group really minded.

 

“Yeah, I saw her in action. Quite a little fighter, for someone like her.” Hajime supported her, remembering how she punched the octopus in the face. He believed in her, but was also concerned about the chance she would get overwhelmed. Chihiro and Ibuki also sided with her.

 

“Heh...how valiant of you.” chuckled Fuyuhiko, not sure if he should be impressed or concerned about how determined she came off about it. Something about her felt like she could be endangered easily, although he wasn’t sure how exactly would he say it.

 

“Are you all prepared?” asked Peko, wanting to see if everyone else was ready to inspect the clothing store for clues. All of them nodded and thus the automatic doors opened for them.

 

They couldn’t believe what they saw. The whole place was a mess, other shirts and objects just carelessly scattered all over the floor. It felt like a bomb exploded there, however that was far from the worst sight they saw. The one thing that immediately noted them severity of the situation was a man lying on the floor, with bruises on his face. Blood was seen from his mouth as well. They were already told about Daft Capo’s dirty work, but that was the first time they have seen it in person. What was supposed to be a relaxing day for them became an omen, a reminder what they were facing against. All of them froze for a moment when they laid their eyes upon the scene.

 

Ibuki was the first one to react, letting out a loud scream before her mouth started to foam. She has stopped functioning for a moment.

 

“That’s….that’s not a dead body, is it?” trembled Chiaki upon seeing the lying man. A large concern that her friends would receive the same fate as that man started overwhelming her. She could feel her heart beating fast as she became more pale. Peko, who seemed to restrain her emotions the most, ran towards the lying man. She placed her hand on the place where the man’s heart was. Luckily, she felt impulse from it, confirming that the man was thankfully alive.

 

“The man is still alive, just that he’s rendered unconscious.” reported Peko, making them feel a bit of relief. At the very least they weren’t dealing with a corpse, but the whole scene was still foreboding.

 

“All of this for fucking shirts?! Are they for real?!” condemned Fuyuhiko for what it seemed to them was an attack on an innocent facility. It wasn’t “eye for an eye” anymore, it was becoming “anyone can become a target on their whim”, which was even less optimal for them.

 

“Yeah...this is for real...All of it.” added Hajime, still feeling shocked from witnessing the crime scene.

 

“S-should we...call someone?” fearfully suggested Chihiro, thinking that they shouldn’t get away with such action.

 

“Police ain’t gonna do it, so it would be a decent idea to-” Fuyuhiko attempted to use his phone to call his own clan to investigate what happened.

 

Then a voice was heard from above, making them realize that the clothing store had multiple floors as well, which they didn’t take in equation.

 

“I hear some bitches below!”

 

The voice of an unfamiliar yet hostile sounding woman made them realize that they have let their guard down.

 

“Oh crap!” Hajime spat out upon hearing words of a fight seeking punkster. Others were just as startled by it.

 

“Fuck, there’s more of them?!” blurted Fuyuhiko as he clenched his teeth.

 

“...We’ll gotta make a run for it.” Chiaki gave out a suggestion that everyone in her group seemed to agree with. A fight couldn’t be afforded at that moment.

 

“You guys go first. I’ll be last one to hold them off.” said Peko, letting others run away while she would be one covering their back. Ibuki, as her functions returned, was the first one to run away, followed by Fuyuhiko, Chihiro and Hajime. Chiaki wanted to cover their backs instead, but Peko convinced her that she would be more optimal for the job, but Chiaki could serve as a partner in battle. None than less, they all ran away as far as they could, hoping that punksters wouldn’t find them.

 

By that time Hope’s peak gang ran away, punksters were leaving the first floor. The one of two smaller groups that was in charge of the attack on clothing store, Daitane, was strutting down the stairs with swagger radiating around her. She seemed to have some shirts folded on her shoulder, presumably the same kind that other punksters stole. The named punkster girl was accompanied by two other punksters, who were performing back flips on the stairs as she walked. All of them were synchronized to perfection. Once they reached the ground floor, punksters sprung in the air as they spun, before they all landed on their fit. The leap was concluded with a glamorous yet menacing pose. Even though Hope’s peak gang was out of their sight, punksters already knew of their presence.

 

“Oh, you pussy ass cowards, did you think you could just run away?” grinned Daitane before all of them cracked their fists, ready to unleash flurry of punches upon their enemies. “Game on, my fellow punksters!”

 

Three punksters ran out of the shop to get their mopeds, which were parked in another alleyway. However, there were just two mopeds. Daitane seemed to go on foot, despite the fact moped had every advantage that legs didn’t.

 

“Why you ain’t taking moped again?” asked one of punksters that accompanied her.

 

“Cuz every single fiber of my body will participate in beating up scrubs!” Daitane explained herself with glee, warming up herself in place by pretending to be a boxer.

 

“But you can just do it when you arrive!” argued the other punkster, thinking that not only is moped a faster way to go, but also cooler.

 

“Nope, it needs to be in perfect shape!” insisted Daitane. Other two punksters didn’t bother with arguing, so they just started up their mopeds and drove off where they assumed Hope’s peak gang went. Daitane followed them by running behind, being slightly slower than mopeds. None than less, she seemed to be absolutely feral, anticipating beating them up.

 

Hope’s peak gang had a bit of luck that punksters stalled so much, they were already deep within the urban maze of Akihabara. Not only did they had to navigate through the streets, but also through the busy public. They had to do their best to not bump into some grouchy citizen. Some of them did notice rather eccentric looking students running away, but they did not know they were being chased.

 

“Why are these weirdos rushing so much?” thought a random citizen, who was minding his own business.

 

As they kept running, they thought about how to hide from them. Some of them, such as Chiaki and Chihiro, were getting exhausted from all the running they were doing. Although their stamina wasn’t the best, it was a sign that the group couldn’t do that forever. Ibuki had an idea to hide in one of the alleyway as she started to run there without even saying a word.

 

“No, don’t go here! We’ll get cornered!” Hajime pulled her just in time, putting her back on track. He had a feeling that alleyways were a bad place to hide, especially since criminals love utilizing them so much.

 

“O-okay okay!” nodded Ibuki in a panic as they continued running. However, knowing that alleyways couldn’t be used for hiding spots, none of them had an idea where exactly to hide. Adrenaline was a factor in that.

 

“Any idea where to go?” asked Hajime, taking some breaths to keep running.

 

“My...huff...huff...home?” Chiaki attempted to give out a suggestion as she was minutes away from being too exhausted to run. She always thought her home was the safest place on Earth, it certainly shielded her from danger. However, everyone in her group thought that was a horrendous and dangerous idea. Not only that, her home was pretty far away.

 

“Are you nuts?! Do you want mafiosos on your doorstep?!” Fuyuhiko scolded her for suggesting it. Upon rethinking about it, Chiaki realized it wasn’t a good idea at all, so she couldn’t really complain about it. Not that she would.

 

“Yeah, not a...good idea at the moment…..I wouldn’t want them to break in as well.” added Hajime, who was starting to get a bit exhausted from all the running.

 

“T-then….huff….puff...what...huff...will it be?” asked Chihiro, also on the edge of passing out. All that talk, and not a single one knew what exactly to do. Running and rushing made the entire city a blur in their eyes. Luckily for them, the one with most stamina, Peko, still managed to get a clearer picture of the city. As she observed her surroundings, she took a notice of one particular building. Every single window of it was plastered with some kind of advertisements. Above the entrance was also the name of the building, titled on a big yellow rectangle. It seemed to say Radio Akihabara Kaikan, a famous commercial building, known for being go to place for otakus.

 

“There!” Peko pointed at the building, giving out an order for them to run inside. And so they did, but they didn’t stop at the entrance. They felt like just waiting in front of the entrance would blow off their cover, so they went up to other floors by running up the stairs. Seventh floor of Radio Akihabara was where they took a break from all the running, where they could just take a breath for once. Upon their visions becoming clearer, they noticed exactly where were: an empty, yet clean hallway that led to a shop with otaku goods. A vending machines with Upas was the first thing a visitor would be greeted with. However, it was not the time to inspect the shop.

 

“It’s empty…I’m not too sure if this is a good or bad thing for us.” commented Hajime on just how empty the building seemed. Whenever something was empty, it meant two things: an ambush could happen at any time or it would mean tranquility, peace they desired so much.

 

“Radio Akihabara Kaikan empty? That’s strange…” noted Chihiro, who was rather familiar with the place. It should have been full of people, yet it wasn’t. He didn’t know what was the reason for the building to just be so desolate, despite Saturdays being quite active for it.

 

“Let us not waste time here, we need to hide.” advised Peko as all of them decided to go upstairs, to the eight floor. First location they decided to inspect on it was a dark hallway, empty like the entire building seemed to be. Darkness was a perfect cover for them, yet an uneasy one. Only source of light were small rectangular windows, but they weren’t bright enough to blow their cover. Echoes of their footsteps traversed the narrow hallway. The group remained close to each other, so that they wouldn’t get lost.

 

“How abou...aaaaboooooout here?” Ibuki pointed at the end of the passageway, thinking that it would be a good enough spot for hiding. It already caused doubts among the group.

 

“I don’t know, looks too cramped.” Hajime disagreed, partially due feeling that being squashed in such a large group wouldn’t be a good idea. It would also hinder them if they were found out, since they would be cornered.

 

“...Something about that place seems ominous. I can’t really explain it but...yeah...it’s...” murmured Chiaki, who felt like something hugely wrong with the hallway, like as if something happened there. It was empty, perhaps even abandoned, but there was a gut feeling in her that whole place was an ill omen. She already had her hood on due to nervous feeling.

 

“On a second thought, yeah. This place just screams bad vibes, doesn’t it?” Ibuki agreed with them, opting to reconsider another hiding spot. They walked away from the ill looking hallway, returning to the staircase. Then Hajime got an idea, a location that was the exact opposite of that hallway.

 

“What about here?” Hajime pointed upstairs, wanting to utilize the roof for a hiding spot. It seemed to be a more optimal place than the hallway, but there were still doubts about it.

 

“On the roof? Are you sure about this?” asked Peko, doubting that roof would be an ideal place to hide.

 

“I was thinking about it. It seems to have only one entrance that could be easily blocked and it won’t be as cramped. If we locked it or at the very least guarded the entrance, they won’t have much to do, even with reinforcements.” explained Hajime, basically saying the logic behind his decision out loud. The group considered it reasonable enough.

 

“I’ll...call our reinforcements if its needed. I know who to call.” offered Chiaki as she was already typing a message to someone. It was an SOS call.

 

“Let me guess, Sakura, right? It would make most sense, since she managed to scare that damned octopus scared shitless.” guessed Fuyuhiko, remembering how Herman ran away from the Ultimate Martial Artist.

 

“That’s one of the options, yeah...I think.” answered Chiaki, knowing just how strong she is. That’s what she hears from class 78th. After the message was sent, they all went upstairs, finally finding a decent spot to hide.

 

Just like Hajime imagined, the roof was the exact opposite of the hallway: it was bright, spacious and it offered an excellent view of the partially cloudy sky above. A rather giant fence guarded them from falling off the roof. After the entire group was on the roof, they closed the door while thinking about how to block it from Daft Capo.

 

“I’m not sure if Daft Capo has any building climbing capabilities, so that sounds good enough for me! Way better to get some fresh air than to breathe sweat.” Ibuki took a deep breath to enjoy the city air. Then she sat down, taking a look at the blue sky.

 

“And what about you, guys? We don’t have that much time.” Hajime asked others for their thoughts.

 

“It’s...good enough, but we should be cautious.” warned Chihiro, having a bad feeling about the whole situation.

 

“...Yeah, I think I’m gonna be on standby, just in case….I think.” replied Chiaki as she stood near the door, ready to fight any punksters that would try to hurt her friends.

 

“I’ll also be on standby, but we should hurry up.” Peko also stood near the door, placing a grip on the handle to unleash her bamboo sword upon their adversaries. Both the swordswoman and the gamer guarded the entrance to the roof, prepared to fight anyone while rest of the group took some time to rethink about all the things that happened through out the day.

 

Apparently, the Hope’s peak gang was really lucky, because Daitane’s gang was searching in the wrong places. That spared them a lot of time, but there was once a moment where Daitane and her cronies were close to finding them out. Two moped riding punksters stopped right in front of Radio Akihabara, taking a look where did their enemies go.


“Hey, where the scrubs at?” asked punkster, looking around to see if Chiaki’s own little group was nearby. It did seem like punkster’s vision was restricted to horizontal axis.

 

“I don’t know, mang. I haven’t seen them, just heard them.” shrugged punkster, who was partially the reason why they were looking around all over the city. Then, another reason why they were so slow appeared: Daitane was catching up to them.

 

“Damn, girl, you slow!” jested one of punksters at her, but she didn’t seem to care. As long as words weren’t bastardized, it was all good in her book.

 

“Alright, alright, where they at?! Where they at?!” Daitane kept asking, while still acting like a bloodthirsty boxer or at that point, a rabid kangaroo.

 

“Somewhere not in front of our eyes, it seems.” answered the other yet to be named punkster.

 

“Ah, they those cowards must be hiding! But where, WHERE?!” demanded Daitane as if she was suffering from brawl withdrawal.

 

“Chill, babe. We’re in the middle of this city, how are we supposed to know where they are?” cautioned the other punkster. Then, one of punksters got an idea for the hiding spot of Hope’s peak gang.

 

“Bois, I think I know where the scrubs are hiding! It should have been obvious from the get-go!” other punkster had an idea. He was all giddy, if one were to see his grin. A rather malicious grin, knowing exactly what are they up to.

 

“Go on, tell me!” demanded Daitane, still in the fighting mood. Other punkster tuned in as well.

 

“Follow me, mangs!” requested punkster as he started up his moped and drove away from Radio Akihabara. The other punkster on a moped and Daitane followed him, eager to arrive at their intended destination. They were so close to finding out the actual hiding spot of the Hope’s peak gang, yet they goofed up.

 

From the roof, Ibuki, Hajime, Chihiro and Fuyuhiko were secretly watching them. Daitane’s gang’s mistake was a huge relief for them, reassuring them that they were no longer chased. They gathered in the middle of the roof, sat down and took their minds off, finally allowed to relax for once.

 

“...off they go, I guess. That’s, uh, good.” commented Ibuki as she scratched her head. She thought there was some sense of luck that none of punksters looked up. Not that it would help those criminals, since the fence was more than enough to shield them.

 

“So, they’ve stopped chasing us?” Peko turned towards them upon hearing Ibuki’s comment.

 

“Yeah, it seems so...sheesh…that was damn close, all things considered.” confirmed Fuyuhiko, which basically made both Peko and Chiaki to lower their guards. While Peko arrived normally to the group, Chiaki was walking like she was about to fall asleep soon, barely having energy to continue her day.

 

“...I need some peace of my mind. Kinda tired right now…” yawned Chiaki as she slowly blinked, indicated that falling asleep would be inevitable.

 

“Don’t tell me you’re just gonna fall asleep, aren’t you?” asked Fuyuhiko out of complete bafflement, hardly imagining how would someone fall asleep after all of that, even if it was Hope’s peak’s biggest sleepyhead that went by the name of Chiaki Nanami.

 

“I think it’s okay to let her have the moment, especially after this.” said Hajime after noticing why she got so sleepy. It wasn’t just general tiredness, but the whole situation overwhelmed her with stress, even if she was hiding it from others.

 

“Y-yeah, it would be fine. At least we’re safe here...for now.” allowed Chihiro, understanding her in the same way as Hajime did. Fuyuhiko realized what were these two implying why she needed rest.

 

“...Fine, take a rest if you need.” Fuyuhiko allowed her to take a brief nap. It better not last the entire day.

 

“Sorry guys….but...I’ll be back soon….I promise…” apologized Chiaki before she laid down on the floor, curled up and fell into a slumber. It didn’t take too much for her to start snoring. Considering she still had her hood on, she looked like a sleeping cat. Even the position was feline like. A rather pleasant silence followed, with only noise being the urban ambiance and snoring of a sleepyhead.

 

“Look at her! Look at how peaceful she looks when she’s napping! She’s even curled up! It’s actually pretty calming, heh.” Ibuki’s heart couldn’t help but soften up at the sight of sleeping Nanami. All Chiaki needed to do was to purr to have an actual healing factor, but that was a skill that she needed to learn from the cat gang.

 

“That’s...uh, expected of her. She fell asleep pretty quickly.” said Chihiro, who was pretty used to Nanami’s unusual sleeping tendencies. That being said, he generally felt safe around her.

 

“She’s just treating the entire roof as it were her bed.” perplexed Fuyuhiko, who still couldn’t believe it just how sleepy she generally was.

 

“Anything can be her bed if she feels like it, but at the very least, like Ibuki said, there’s some feeling of safety now. Temporary safety, but yeah.” Hajime commented on it, even though he felt like her sleeping tendencies were concerning, at the very least a sight of her getting relaxed was calming.

 

“Like a cat…” Peko almost wanted to pat her, but her self control took over, instead focusing on the unfortunate event of that day.“But now, we should discuss important matters now. That encounter with Daft Capo.”

 

“Just making sure, are you all alright?” asked Hajime out of concern, worried that his friends were harmed. Chiaki couldn’t answer because she was in the land of dreams, but he knew she was okay at the moment.

 

“Me and Peko are fine. Don’t worry about us.” answered Fuyuhiko.

 

“I’m okay too. Chiaki seems to be stressed out but I believe she’s also fine.” added Chihiro as well.

 

“Ibuki seems to be fine, no harm and all.” Ibuki gave thumbs up to confirm her positive status.

 

“Yeah, I’m fine too. We’ve managed to remain unharmed, so it’s all good...I guess.” Hajime concluded with the status check. Thus, the discussion followed.

 

“I think I already know what you guys want to know first.” Fuyuhiko started with the topic that Chiaki’s gang wanted to know from the start. “You want to know how we got there in the first place, why we were seem to be spying on them.”

 

“I’d be lying if I said no. Could you and Peko tell us about it?” admitted Hajime while also allowing the Yakuza gang to speak up.

 

“If you think we were there because we went out to spy on them….then you would be half right.” began Peko with the reveal about their purpose. Hajime assumed that earlier, since it seemed rather logical.

 

“The thing is that what we saw here was by complete accident. We weren’t supposed to see those bastards here at all. Me and Peko were intended to check those Peugeot retailers.” continued Fuyuhiko, but he realized a misinterpretation of their purpose could happen, so he let out a warning. “Now, don’t get any funny ideas about Kuzuryu clan wanting to-”

 

“No, it’s fine. I understand you want to keep your clan out of this conflict. Ever since we heard about Daft Capo, you always seemed so stressed about it.” assured Hajime, believing in them that they weren’t going for a corporate cause. It also made sense that they wouldn’t go out to defend that French car company, unless somehow Kuzuryuu clan was in control of it. Assurance made Fuyuhiko cool down a bit.

 

“….Yeah. You’re right, Hajime. Shit gets awful when two syndicates are at conflict. “Eye for an eye” is a mentality widespread among the world me and Peko live. I don’t want anyone of my clan...and you guys to suffer the same fate.” Fuyuhiko explained their lives for a bit. It must have been really hard for them, knowing that they would have to deal with such world for all of their lives. Then Fuyuhiko remembered another thing that was on his mind a lot. “I think I’ve said it earlier, but remember that case Gundham brought up?”

 

“The...umm...thirty six pieces one?” spoke Chihiro, unsure if he got the right one.

 

“I get heebie jeebies just thinking about it.” confessed Ibuki as she started sweating a bit.

 

“Yeah, that one. How did Gundham know it in the first place? That subject is a taboo even across all clans and mafias.” confirmed Peko while still thinking about how did someone like Gundham, a man more associated with chunnibyou shenanigans and animal care-taking, found out about something as secretive and repulsive as that case.

 

“You...you seemed to imply that happened, right?” asked Chihiro. Peko and Fuyuhiko remained quiet, yet that silence spoke a lot about the incident. Eventually, they got courage to tell them about the incident, but not unconditionally.

 

“...Alright, one promise before we can tell you, got it? This is only between us, not even the rest of the Fellowship should know this.” requested Fuyuhiko to not speak details of the aforementioned incident out loud. His tone implied that talking about it was incredibly dangerous, but rest of the gang agreed none than less. Perhaps there would be some clues regarding Daft Capo, the ever elusive mafia.

 

“Yes, the incident did happen. As far as we know, an Italian Mafia called Passione was responsible for it. A gangster was indeed butchered by that syndicate, but he wasn’t the only victim. A fellow companion, a rather close one to that gangster, was intended to suffer the same fate, but he suffocated himself out of despair.” Peko told them about the incident, speaking with deathly seriousness in her voice. Rest of the gang felt nothing but disturbance and anger for such barbarism to happen. Chills were sent down their spines as they imagined the whole incident in their heads.

 

“Jesus...what was even the reason for a gangster to be butchered in such way?” asked Hajime, feeling nothing but disgust for that action.

 

“From what I understand, Passione did it in order to cover the boss’ identity. The gangster dug too deep for his own good.” Peko elaborated from her memory. Such reason caused even more anger inside Hajime, feeling that the reason was nothing short of paranoia and insanity.

 

“What the hell, mutilation over covering an identity?! What kind of sick, twisted bastard runs that mafia?!” condemned Hajime, utterly disgusted by a people who went out of the way to mutilate a person over awareness of identity.

 

“That’s...the thing. We know shit about the boss. No one knows...and no one wants to. Everyone who tried died for it.” fretted Fuyuhiko, even as an heir of one of the strongest Yakuzas in Japan he knew that the boss of Passione, whoever or whatever might be, is not someone to oppose against. No one truly knew the identity of the boss. However, all the talk about Passione caused something that the group didn’t quite expect.

 

“...Ha...haha….Ibuki’s just...imagining things right now...haha...silly Ibuki…” Ibuki forced herself to laugh at the whole thing. Her laughs sounded rather unnatural, completely unlike what she sounded like. They were quiet, yet sounded rather weak too.

 

“What the fuck are you on right-” Fuyuhiko was prepared to scold her, but then he noticed that nothing was right with Ibuki. She was hugging her knees, deathly pale with nothing but fear in her eyes. Even her eyes lost the vibrant color. The musician wasn’t even panicking, just being frozen in place. “...H-hey...umm...I-Ibuki? You alright?”.

 

“Nah...Ibuki is totally okay, tip toe shape...heh...ha..ha...” Ibuki attempted to deny, cover what she was afraid of, but the rest of the gang saw her through. They really wanted to know what was up with her.

 

“C-can you tell us what’s bothering you, Ibuki? That’s...not like you at all.” asked Chihiro out of concern, worrying about Ibuki greatly.

 

“It’s okay it’s okay it’s okay, nothing’s wrong….just that I need to hold something right now.” Ibuki no longer could hide her fear from others. There was something that made her realize, causing her thoughts that scared her big time. However, her plea of wanting to hold something to relieve stress was quickly granted when a hand suddenly grabbed Ibuki’s hand. The vibrant color of her returned, but she also became a bit red in the face when she realized who was holding her.

 

“Oh, Chiaki?” sputtered out Hajime the moment he saw Chiaki suddenly awake. It was probably Ibuki in distress that caused her to wake up from her sleep or perhaps it was due the fact she couldn’t really fall asleep in the first place.

 

“It’s gonna be okay, Ibuki...I think. No one’s gonna hurt us. I’ll….I’ll make sure of it.” Chiaki started reassuring, speaking with such incredibly soothing voice that it managed to calm down Ibuki’s heart. It seemed like her reassurance was starting to affect others too. They felt calmer when she spoke with such strong belief that things are going to be alright in the end. “Besides we still don’t know if Passione is behind Daft Capo...that’s what you thought about, isn’t it?”.

 

“...Y-yeah. Ibuki admits. Just that...ya know...Herman is Italian and Passione is Italian...and then there’s the whole thing of covering up identity...and Ibuki thought that these are more connected than they seem...and then...and then’s the whole thing with butchering…” Ibuki started speaking up in more relaxed tone, confessing that the reason she got afraid so much was because she connected the dots in her mind. There was a chance that Daft Capo and Passione might be connected. Both were known to be quite bizarre syndicates, all things considered.

 

“Yeah, you are right, those don’t sound like coincidences.” Fuyuhiko admitted that the usually silly musician actually had a point that time.

 

“Even if they align up, I don’t think they’re that connected...I think. It’s a theory, or rather one of two theories, that we came up. We still don’t have proof to back them up. Remember what Nekomaru said that day.” Chiaki kept reassuring, it just rolled off her tongue naturally. She remembered a similar event when that incident was mentioned and how their team manager classmate managed to keep their heads clear from worries.

 

“We should focus on...what we currently know and what we can back up, right?” guessed Hajime, vaguely remembering the whole ordeal.

 

“Yep, correct...I think. If we stress too much about what’s hypothetical, we won’t be able to do what we want to do. As of now, we want to stop them from harassing us and our school, right?” nodded Chiaki while also reminding them what was their current job.

 

“For now, yes.” agreed Peko, along with others as well. At that point, Ibuki was back to her normal self, the silly one.

 

“Then...let us focus on that.” advised Chiaki to keep their focus on just protecting each other from Daft Capo. All of them nodded in agreement, but few things were still unclear.

 

“However, I do have a point to raise.” Peko crossed her arms, firmly believing that a certain possibility should be discussed.

 

“Hm?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“What do you think of a possibility that we would have to do pre-emptive strikes against them. Just to clarify, not something like kidnapping or murder, but rather sabotages.” asked Peko about Hope’s peak actions against Daft Capo, focusing on actively giving Daft Capo trouble. The swordswoman refused to suggest killings or hurting, since she knew that not only was Chiaki strongly against serious harm, but it would also put Hope’s peak into bigger trouble. The quiet gamer took a bit to think about it.

 

...That’s dangerous….but it is...possible.” murmured Chiaki before she gave out a question for her. “When do you think we will have to do that, Peko?”.

 

“Ever since Daft Capo declared revenge on us.” boldly answered Peko.

 

So...basically since yesterday, right?” piqued Chihiro.

 

“Technically, ever since Gundham went spying on them.” Peko corrected him. Although they did not know the exact time when Gundham and penguins went spying, they considered that as a tipping point of another phase.

 

Gotta give it to that wizard bastard, he got us info about it.” Fuyuhiko gave some credit to the leader of The Fellowship of Darkness before he brought up another point of contention. Not the one that originated from Daft Capo, but one from their own territory. “But we also have to mention another elephant in the room.”.

 

“Komaeda, right?” guessed Hajime, with some irritation in his voice when he mentioned a certain white haired luckster.

 

“….Yeah, THAT asshole. Fucker just left us and now he’s on the whim.” confirmed Fuyuhiko before he wanted to ask the sleepyhead about a certain thing he found rather odd. “Now...I do have a question for you, Chiaki. Don’t take this as personal, but I wanna know.”.

 

“Yeah?” Chiaki tilted her head again.

 

“Why...were you so concerned about him?” asked Fuyuhiko with some level of seriousness in his voice.

 

“...He’s...our classmate….” Chiaki bit her lip, trying to explain herself as clearly as she could, but she already encountered difficulties in saying it out loud. She didn’t know how to explain it properly, without sounding too dumb about it.

 

“Is that the only reason why you got worked up?” Fuyuhiko kept asking while also not wanting to sound like he’s interrogating her.

 

“No!...It’s just….no one should get hurt…” Chiaki got slightly defensive while also expressing her belief that no one from Hope’s peak or at that point anyone should get hurt by that nefarious mafia.

 

We can debate about whether or not he deserved it later, but I do wanna know your thoughts on this. If he starts actively sabotaging us for whatever damn excuse he has, what would you do then?” Fuyuhiko requested to say her honest thoughts about preventing Nagito from interfering. She remained quiet for a bit, due to having to think about a proper response.

 

“You know, it would have been a lot easier if he just went “Screw you all, I’m joining Daft Capo!” At the very least he would be more understandable.” admitted Ibuki, while also implying that she doesn’t get Nagito at all. To be fair to her, very people did get him.

 

“So, what would you say?” Fuyuhiko tuned in, since Chiaki was taking a while to come up with a response.

 

“...Hold on a minute, let me...think about it.” requested Chiaki for some time, she was still thinking about it. The answer was even more difficult than she imagined to be.

 

“Take your time with it, there’s no rush.” Hajime reassured her, since he didn’t want pressure to be put on her. She was already stressed out already, no more stress for her for rest of the day.

 

“Just letting you all know, that if he even thinks of defecting-” Fuyuhiko already gave warnings ahead about what will happen to Nagito if he betrays Hope’s peak.

 

“No, that’s wrong!” suddenly interrupted Hajime with a shout and a pointed finger. A minute of awkward silence followed afterwards.

 

“...What?” blurted out Fuyuhiko, utterly confused at what happened at that moment.

 

Oh, uhm, sorry about that.” apologized Hajime for the sudden dramatic reaction before he explained himself on what point did he disagree about. “Anyway, I don’t think he will defect. He said that he lost the interest in the whole conflict over….lack of hope’s involvement or something?”.

 

Hope with capital H! Man, why does he say it like that?wondered Ibuki while making an H out of her fingers.

 

Well, he also never said that he’s not gonna join Daft Capo. That bastard could be lying about it, all things considered.” argued Fuyuhiko, worried about the nature of Nagito himself.

 

“...No, I don’t think he would lie about it. He’s not the type to be secretive.” Chiaki suddenly spoke up after remaining silent for so long.

 

“A-are you sure about this?” questioned Fuyuhiko, startled a bit with how suddenly she voiced herself.

 

“Yeah….he did seem seriously disappointed of lack of...hope, as he calls it. To tell you the truth, the way he just left us over...what he perceives as hope...we should do something about him.” Chiaki started explaining herself while also expressing a similar sentiment: she doesn’t get Nagito at all. People were always a mysterious frontier for her, but someone so unpredictable was a complete enigma.

 

“Huh...so you do agree that there should be done something about him?” Fuyuhiko asked once again with a raised eyebrow.

 

Yeah….he’s our classmate, but we can’t really let him sabotage our plans against Daft Capo. If he does anything harmful to us….then….I’m not exactly too sure what to do with him, but it needs to be something.” answered Chiaki regarding Nagito. While she wasn’t feeling good about the whole situation, she wouldn’t hesitate if Nagito were out to hurt those close to her.

 

At the very least you understand the situation...that’s good. What about you guys?” Fuyuhiko smiled a little, just being grateful that she was understanding about it. Then he turned towards others.

 

“Oh yes, we should absolutely do something about him. I don’t trust him even a little.” Hajime immediately agreed with utter bluntness.

 

“Well….it’s not exactly good to say...but if it has to be done...then...yeah.” Chihiro hesitated, but went along with it. He was a bit afraid of Nagito as well.

 

“Yeaaaaaaaah, even his look is just really suspicious. He looks like he’s about to explode any time.” admitted Ibuki while scratching her head.

 

“I agree with you all. We are not sure yet, but I also believe something must be done.” said Peko quietly, yet with a determined voice.

 

“I’m glad that we have come to an understanding. Also, sorry about that earlier. It’s just that...it is how it is there.” Fuyuhiko apologized for scaring them regarding Passione.

 

No, it’s fine. I’m glad you have told us. It’s better to be informed, even it’s...really bad stuff...probably.reassured Chiaki, just thanking them for trusting such stuff, even though it was very grotesque. It’s better to know in advance than to be surprised in the worst way possible.

 

“Damn...they’re more understanding that I thought so. Maybe trusting these guys ain’t such a bad idea.” Fuyuhiko thought to himself, just glad that he got surrounded by people who got him, who actually understood what Peko and him were going through. It seemed like a conclusion for the discussion.

 

Then their peace was suddenly disrupted by someone ramming into the metallic door with full force, causing them to flinch the moment the first slam happened. It was like a rhino trying to break in.

 

What the FU-” Fuyuhiko almost shouted but was interrupted by another slam.

 

“A-a-are we getting attacked again? Emergency EMERGENCY-” Ibuki attempted to panic, but another slam happened, which outdid her in loudness department.

 

Hold on, guys! Your teacher has come to the rescue!” the voice suddenly spoke up. It was a familiar peppy voice, a voice of someone who was in charge of class 77-B. Their anxiety and fear was replaced with utter confusion, yet they were filled with great relief.

 

“...Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki tilted her head in surprise. Chisa was still trying to ram the door. She wasn’t doing a good job at it.

 

“Was that your back up plan, Chiaki?” asked Peko, who was just as confused.

 

“Ummm….it’s...a little unexpected.” admitted Chiaki that Chisa, even though she did see her as a very protective figure, was not exactly expected to come there. She sent the message to someone else, but none than less, Chiaki went up to the door and opened it. Miss Yukizome attempted to ram the door again, but instead tripped over, falling right in front of them. Chiaki helped her to pick herself up.

 

“Are you all okay, guys? Please tell me no one hurt you please tell me-” Chisa suddenly grabbed Chiaki’s arms, begging them to be okay. She was also shaking her student’s hand a bit, probably out of habit.

 

“It’s okay, Miss Yukizome. We’re safe and okay.” Chiaki just softly reassured her that they were fine, no one was hurt by those mafiosos.

 

Just had an encounter, that’s all.” added Fuyuhiko.

 

“We ran like cheetahs and they were like elephants! Yep, our legs got us to safety!” said Ibuki as well, as her nose suddenly became pointy. How did she do that, no one knew.

 

“Oh my goodness, I’m so glad to hear that...I was...just...just...really worried....” Chisa’s heart felt a heavy burden being lifted off, just feeling immensely happy that her students and Chihiro as well were all alright. She also fell on her knees, probably due exhaustion from flat out sprinting for a prolonged time, from her home to Radio Akihabara.

 

“No worries now, we’re all here together.” reassured Chiaki her teacher once again, softly squeezing her hands a little. Suddenly, it was revealed that Chisa wasn’t the only one that came to the rescue.

 

“Mayushii heard that something happened dangerous today.” Mayuri peeked out of the entrance to the roof, curious about what happened to them.

 

“Hey, what’s going on here?” Suzuha leaned over as well, who escorted Mayuri to their destination. Chiaki’s gang was happy to see Mayuri and Suzuha, but Fuyuhiko and Peko had their first taste of Part Time Warrior.

 

“Who’s that over there?” asked Fuyuhiko as he pointed at cyclist looking gal.

 

Oh, more Hope’s peak folk! I haven’t seen many of you guys before. My name is Suzuha Amane! I’m their friend, so there’s no worries about it.” Suzuha introduced herself to the members of Kuzuryuu clan. Something about her mannerisms seemed like she wasn’t out of place of Hope’s peak as well, just like rest of Future Gadget Lab.

 

“Nice..to meet you, Suzuha.” Peko greeted her a bit awkwardly, but she noticed that Suzuha seemed pretty chill.

 

“I’ve heard you guys were in the pickle. Did something happen?” asked Suzuha, who seemed to be completely out of the loop about what happened.

 

Daft Capo chased us after accidentally encountering them.” Hajime was the first one to answer.

 

“Daft Capo? What’s that?” Suzuha raised her eyebrows the moment that mafia was mentioned. It was the first time she ever heard about it, despite the fact Future Gadget Lab was fighting against Daft Capo right after their attack on MayQueen NyanNyan cafe.

 

Mafia that has a beef against our school and wants to hurt my students. As long as I breathe, I won’t let them even get a finger on my students!” explained Chisa while also promising that she would protect her students at all costs. She even flexed with her arms as if she had muscles, even though her arms were rather slender.

 

Maybe it’s for the best that Nagito’s encounter with the guard is hidden...maybe…” Chiaki thought to herself, thinking that Chisa might do something dangerous if she knew that her classmate was hurt.

 

Mafia? Huh? That...wasn’t supposed to happen. That’s entirely new.” contemplated Suzuha, finding the mention of that mafia abnormal. It felt like their existence signified something very wrong, yet she couldn’t put her finger. Considering that none of them would really understand why she found the existence of Daft Capo odd, she just compromised with a promise. “Ah, I see I see. I haven’t been up to date what’s Rintaro doing, since I’m a bit busy lately, but I’m gonna assist you here as well!”

 

Thank you, Suzuha. I’m glad that more people are willing to work with us.” smiled Chihiro, just happy to hear more people will help them, despite it seemed like they’re the only ones who are truly fighting against Daft Capo.

 

“No prob! Just leave it to me!” Suzuha gave herself a thumbs up. With everything deemed to be in good status, the gang wondered what would they do at that moment.

 

“So, now that you guys are safe, what shall we do now?” asked Chisa.

 

“Lets head home, shall we?” suggested Chiaki, feeling safe that her decision would be accepted that time. Contrary to before, folk seemed to agree with her that time.

 

“Yeah, after everything that happened…” agreed Hajime, sharing the same tiredness with everyone.

 

“We deserve a break, goddamnit.” Fuyuhiko slammed the floor with his fist, but with enough force that it didn’t hurt.

 

Sleepover time, wahoooo!!!!” Ibuki already jumped in the air from excitement.

 

“Wanna come with us, Fuyuhiko and Peko?” asked Chiaki as she turned towards her Yakuza friends, wanting them to come over.

 

We’ll pass. Sorry, but the clan is awaiting us.” Fuyuhiko had to decline, since he and Peko still got business to do.

 

“...I see. It’s a shame.” frowned Chiaki as she looked at the floor. Chisa noticed how disappointed Chiaki was, so instead she came up with a compromise.

 

“Can I come?” Chisa leaned towards her while giving out her suggestion.

 

U-um...Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki became flustered immediately. She was still a bit of an amateur regarding sleepovers, but to have a teacher sleeping in her house was something entirely new and different.

 

I-I mean, it’s okay to decline me, just that it would be really fun to-” Chisa downplayed herself, trying to make Chiaki feel comfortable with any decision she would take

 

There’s nothing really wrong with it, just...heh….I mean you can come.” Chiaki accepted her regardless of how odd the idea of a sleepover with her own teacher was.

 

“W-what?!” Fuyuhiko, Hajime and Chihiro sputtered out at the same time, all red in their faces. Their embarrassment was beyond words. Meanwhile, there was a person that was looking forward to it.

 

“Ooooooh, sleepover with a teach! That’s the first time!” Ibuki greatly approved the idea of having a sleepover with her teacher. Considering that no one seemed to mind too much, albeit boys still being embarrassed by the prospect, Chisa was officially more or less accepted to the sleepover.

 

“Yaaaayyyyy!” Chisa jumped in the air out of sheer joy like a child receiving a Christmas gift. She was supposed to be an adult.

 

“Come to think of it….the idea does sound fun!” smiled Chiaki, eagerly anticipating all the fun times they were to have at her home. “Then...let’s go home, shall we?”

 

And thus they went out of the Radio Akihabara safely and soundly. Being attacked by Daft Capo was no longer on their worries anymore. Once they all exited the building, the gang decided to split up.

 

“Alright, this is where we go separate ways. See ya on Monday, I guess.” Fuyuhiko, along with Peko, wished them farewell. Chiaki’s gang waved at them before they departed their own ways, anticipating at the very least a calm and peaceful rest of weekend.

 

By the time Hope’s peak gang got out of their hiding spot, Daitane’s gang arrived at the MayQueen NyanNyan cafe. The reason why they assumed that was their hiding spot was because they deemed that place as “haven for pussies”. Punksters looked inside with violent grimaces, which Faris noticed with a glance.

 

“Nya, not again!” Faris panicked within herself when she noticed punksters watching her. However, she had one advantage: her cafe was full of people at the moment, which prevented punksters from invading again.

 

“Shit! It’s full now. We can’t do the epic beating like we did that day!” denounced punkster as he shook his fist.

 

Just looking at the cafe makes me CRINGE.” other punkster winced so hard, he looked like something out of a Baroque painting.

 

“Oh yeah, that pink one definitely looks like she deserves a little uppercut to the face.” noted Daitane as she pointed at Faris. The cat girl maid was still terrified of them.

 

I know that, but the bois are awaiting the drip.cautioned punkster while also reminding her to deliver the good back at their zone.

 

“Ya sure? We could get a fight right now easily.” insisted Daitane to just beat up Faris again.

 

“Yah, I’m sure. Drip first, beatings later.” countered punkster, deeming the goods far more important than beating up the same cat girl maid again.

 

“...Why must I always be depraved of a good fight?” Daitane slouched with her shoulders before her gang sodded off, going away from the cafe. Instead, they went to their destination.

 

The elusive Zona Daft Capo….

 

Chapter 23: Pans and Puffballs

Chapter Text

A simple Sunday, free of gangsters, crime and all jazz, arrived to the scene. The gang that was supposed to have a fun time at arcades earlier day took a refuge in Nanami’s house. They have decided to not go anywhere due safety reasons. It can get tiring dealing with mafiosos every day, so they just hoped one day without them. One day where they could relax for real.

 

The gang, compromising of five folk, all dozed off on couch, since Chiaki’s bed was occupied by another participant of the stay over, their teacher Chisa Yukizome. After a bit of a debate a day earlier, Chiaki managed to convince her to have the most comfortable sleep possible. Meanwhile, the rest of the gang didn’t exactly disagree on sleeping on the couch, since the alternative seemed to be the floor. Events from the day earlier were still on their mind, but they attempted to repress their worries with a nice, comfortable sleep. Some of them, like the dreaming gal Chiaki herself, had dreams amid the calming sleep. Others, not so much. One of them was Hajime, who was just about to wake up. Through out some time, he had an odd feeling on him.

 

“Hm, I feel something somewhat heavy…..and soft on me. It’s actually kind of a nice feeling...I have to admit. Yeah, just...comfortable...” Hajime thought about it on who or what was giving him such a feeling. It was almost making him fall back to sleep, but he persisted. Then he found out the source of it.

 

It was Hope’s peak’s de facto sleepyhead herself, Chiaki. Not only she was sleeping on him as if he were her bed, she was clinging onto him like a baby. Not helped by the accompanied snoring and even drooling. The dreamer was also mumbling and murmuring in her sleep, albeit quietly. The ahoge boy was in quite for a treat when he saw his fellow classmate sleeping so carefree on him.

 

“W-what the heck?! W-when did you get here?” Hajime’s face became as red as a cherry upon the sight of sleeping Nanami. His ahoge reacted too, with him feeling like he was succumbing into softness. “I can’t even move...She has completely trapped me in her….softness….What am I thinking?!”.

 

He needed a plan for others not to see him with Nanami glued on him. Not to mention all other oddities that were happening, such as the unexpected smell of in-pan-cooked cakes.

 

“Gah, everyone else is-…” Hajime looked around, but soon that “everyone” became “everyone except one” when he saw that someone was missing. Ibuki and Mayuri were still sleeping on the couch, so that meant only one thing. “...Wait, Fujisaki is already awake? And what exactly is...that smell? It smells like...pancakes? What’s going on?”.

 

Despite the situation he was in, he thought of a plan.

 

“Hmmm...perhaps it would be best to take her back to bed.” Hajime suddenly lifted her, carrying her as if she was her bride. Chiaki still slept and snored like a little baby. She was also surprisingly lighter than expected, there were no issues with just lifting her up. Even carrying her wasn’t too big of a deal. He decided to take her to bed, as silently as possible. Luckily, no one saw the logistics of sleeping Nanami, so he successfully took her to her bedroom. It seemed like Chisa was already awake, since the bed was unoccupied. Hajime tucked the sleepyhead in her bed, while also giving her that rabbit plushie of her to hold on. Temptation to pat her on her head was too big to just let it slide.

 

“Alright, rest here. Wake up when you feel like it, but don’t sleep through out the entire day.” Hajime patted her on her bed before he returned to the couch, with Ibuki and Mayuri still sleeping, thankfully for him. He sat down without disrupting both of them and took a breath. He was still confused on why the house smelled like pancakes.

 

“Ah, now I’m back. I should probably check up on Chihi-” Hajime thought of himself before his train of thought was quickly derailed by a sight he did not expect. “What the-?!”.

 

Suddenly, the sleepyhead returned with her might, sleepwalking as she mumbled some incoherent yet quiet noises. The walk itself was rather awkward, yet coordinated enough to make her not bump into things. After looking like a sleep induced zombie, she stopped right in front of Hajime, only to do something he expected even less.

 

Bomf.

 

She fell on him, asserting herself back as the dominant sleeper. No one will stop her at deciding where she would sleep, such is the duty of the apex dreaming gal. Hajime, however, was having a chain reaction of total bewilderment, embarrassment and excitement within him at the same time.

 

“A-are you kidding me?! N-not that I’m complaining, but…” flustered Hajime before he noticed that someone yawned. It wasn’t the soft, quiet yawn of Chiaki, it was quite louder and had more of a noticeable voice. Then he looked at the source of the yawn.

 

Ibuki Mioda has awakened. Before her energy became fully stored for the day, she went on all fours and did what felines usually do: kneaded the couch. It was exactly cat-like, to the point it felt like Ibuki was just a cat trapped in a human body. That description felt more than true a lot of times. Hajime just got even more baffled than before.

 

“...D-did you just knead right now?” stuttered Hajime upon witnessing Ibuki unleashing her inner cat on the world. Anything cat reminded him of a certain pink haired maid.

 

“Meeeoooowww.” Ibuki began her day with such noise, while sporting quite a dopey look on her face. It was like an actual cat smile that would make other cat obsessed people quite jealous. “Good meow-meow-meowning, Hajime!”.

 

Oh god, the cat girl fully corrupted her.” thought Hajime to himself, living with the fact that his life was never the same after he visited MayQueen. No matter where he goes, he cannot escape the cat. “Ah, uhm, I’ll take that as a yes.”.

 

After her vision became clear, Ibuki noticed that a certain gamer gal was sleeping on Hajime. Needless to say, her energy skyrocketed upon that sight.

 

“Oh….OH! What do I see, what do I see?” Ibuki’s eyes lit up as she started looking with great interest at Hajime and the one who treated him like a bed.

 

“I-it’s nothing, I swear it’s nothing!” Hajime attempted to quell the situation from embarrassment. Little did he know that Ibuki was not the only one who saw him in such state.

 

“Hehehe, someone has taken a liking in you.~” giggled Mayuri, who still looked half asleep. It didn’t help that it sounded like a tease, which made the situation even more embarrassing.

 

“Y-you too?!” Hajime became even more red in the face, it was like a cherry transforming into the raw color of crimson. He was surrounded by three dorks, who just didn’t give him a break.

 

“Mayushii doesn’t think there’s anything wrong. Cute is justice!” reassured Mayuri in her own innocent way, adding a pumped up fist emphasize that there wasn’t anything wrong with being in such situation.

 

“Those are words to live by, Mayuri!” Ibuki supported the claim that being cute is, quite indeed, justice. Meanwhile, Hajime’s dignity was dying internally while two peppy girls were having a laugh.

 

“C-can we address the elephant in the room already?” interrupted Hajime their tomfoolery in order to address the lack of presence of certain someone. “Has either of you seen Fujisaki this morning?”.

 

“Come to think of it...where is Fuji-chan?” Mayuri thought about upon noticing that he was no longer present on the couch. It took her a while, since her thought process is a bit on slower side. Not as slow as Chiaki’s, but still no speed champion.

 

“Ibuki did hear some noises in the morning, but Ibuki’s eyes were completely shut, like a jammed door of a toilet right when you need to do the deed.” noted Ibuki while also remembering that there was a sound either in the night or in early morning.

 

“...That comparison aside, let’s investigate, shall we?” Hajime initiated the search for the programmer and to an extension, their instructor as well.

 

“Are you gonna take Nana-chan as well?” happily asked Mayuri in sort of a teasing way. She even winked at him to make the situation even more embarrassing. Hajime, knowing he couldn’t exactly leave Chiaki behind ever, had no option but to agree.

 

“...Y-yeah, of course…” and so, Hajime agreed to carry her while they were on their search. The search itself took an exhausting long time of less than a minute before they just stepped near the kitchen and found their friend. On one hand, they were glad to see he’s still there. On other, he was wearing an apron. Why exactly he was wearing an apron, one could imagine.

 

“Ah!” Chihiro was just as surprised as others were. He seemed to already have some stains of what it seemed like to be batter. Considering the smell and currently the batter, it was already dawning upon them what was he and possibly Chisa up to. Except for Chiaki, she was still dreaming.

 

“There you are! We were just wondered where were you.” cheerfully greeted Ibuki before she has noticed the batter on his apron.“Oh, you’re cooking up something as well?”.

 

“Oh, uhm, sorry about that. I should have told you guys, but I didn’t sleep well tonight.” apologized Chihiro, even though none of them felt like he should. At the very least he was safe and not in the hands of mafia.

 

“Did you have a bad dream, Chihiro?” assumed Hajime, considering that’s usually the reason why someone tends to not sleep well.

 

“Well….I didn’t have dreams at all. I was just too anxious to fall asleep. Don’t wanna cause any worries, though, because I….well...have a look.” elaborated Chihiro before he lead them all to kitchen, where the source of the smell and batter revealed itself.

 

Pancakes, so many pancakes that it wasn’t even funny anymore. It was like Chiaki’s house became a pancake factory. Despite so many pancakes on one plate, the kitchen was scarily clean, to the point it was unnatural. The person responsible for the great pancake creation was none other than Chisa Yukizome, who was oddly fiery about it. She was like if Road Runner made pancakes, minus the “Meep Meep” sounds. Pancakes just kept rolling.

 

“Woooah!” Mayuri gasped at the awe of so many pancakes present right in front of her eyes.

 

“Oh...my goodness! This has just become pancake heaven!” cheered Ibuki as well. Upon hearing both girls, Chisa turned around to see the gang after she finished the last pancake.

 

“Mooorning, guys!” Chisa happily waved at them. Mayuri and Ibuki returned the wave, while Hajime was sort of confused.

 

“Um, good...morning, Miss Yukizome.” Hajime greeted with some hesitation.

 

“What do you think, guys? Chihiro and me prepared something for just for you! Betcha you didn’t expect this!” Chisa proudly put her hands around her hips, adding a nod of satisfaction as well.

 

“Certainly unexpected, to say at least.” said Hajime as he was just looking how much pancakes she made. There could be leftovers, if not flat out stockpile of pancakes for a week. He wondered if it was necessary or not.

 

“That’s right! We got a bit earlier and went to the store. I was looking for something to eat, only to find out that Nanami’s fridge barely has anything in it! Naturally, I had to bring in supplies, but Chihiro also volunteered for the task!” Chisa explained on how a simple Sunday morning became pancake based Sunday.

 

“W-well, I just wanted to help, that’s all.” Chihiro downplayed himself, just to be humble about it. However, some details from what Chisa said were not as pleasant to hear. Even though all of them were hiding it for that moment, they were all concerned about how Chiaki seems to just neglect herself.

 

“You really need to take care of yourself, you heard that?” Hajime cautioned her while she was still sleeping while being carried. Suddenly, she started sniffing, looking around to find out what smelled so delicate yet pleasant.

 

“...Huh? What’s that smell?” mumbled Chiaki as she sluggishly opened her eyes to see that her kitchen was suddenly occupied by pancake. Of course, she became confused. Drowsily confused.

 

“Oh, look who has awakened!” Ibuki announced sleepyhead’s awakening. It was finally time for Chiaki to participate in their activities.

 

“Oh heck!” Hajime became startled when he noticed that Chiaki became fully awake. The latter took a while to notice that she was being carried. Upon noticing that, she also took some time to notice that it was Hajime who carried her like a bride or a baby. With a rather noticeable blush on her face, she just stared at the ahoge boy very awkwardly. In a way, she looked like a guilty puppy. “Good….morning, Chiaki.”

 

“...Heh...morning.” softly giggled Chiaki after rubbing her eye, slowly gaining her energy back. The vision of pancakes became clear. “When….did all of this happen?”.

 

“Suuuurpriiiiiiseeee!!!!” Chisa spread her arms, showing her work towards the now fully awake Nanami. Hajime put her on a chair not only because he felt like she can’t be carried all the time, but because she needed something to eat. Chisa gave her the first pancake, but not only that, she also offered her spreads. There were two main options: cocoa spread, akin to Nutella and strawberry marmalade. Before she began eating, Chiaki just observed the pancake curiously.

 

“….Oooh, pancakes. They look not as thick as they usually show them.” noted Chiaki after finally speaking up, noticing that pancakes she saw in video games were usually more fatter, accompanied with maple syrup and sometimes butter on top of the pile.

 

“Yeah, they really are thin. I was expecting some of that thickness too.” added Ibuki as well, more referring to native pancakes, which made those mentioned earlier thin in comparison.

 

“That’s because those are European pancakes. I remember Sonia talking about it, how do they differentiate from American and Japanese ones. I never knew there were so many pancakes in the first place. I initially wanted to go with American ones, since I know how to make those, but I’m trying out something new. I hope you guys like it.” explained Chisa on how Sonia gave her the knowledge of various pancakes all around the world. At that moment, such knowledge expanded upon the rest of the gang.

 

“Wait, that’s a Crêpe, right?” Hajime pointed out that he might have heard a similarly named food before.

 

“It is? Oh goodness, I think it is, but Sonia also called it pa...pa...palaccinka. It gets confusing at times. So many pancakes…” realized Chisa as she smacked her forehead, then stuttered at saying a foreign word of the Mediterranean origin out loud.

 

“Is there a guide on pancakes? Even Ibuki is lost on it.” Ibuki scratched her head as she tried to comprehend the world of pancakes.

 

“Pancake is pancake!” declared Mayuri that no matter the name, all pancakes are pancakes. She even sounded oddly passionate and fiery about it.

 

“Yeah….pancake is pancake.” agreed Hajime, although bewildered by all the times pancakes got mentioned within a single conversation.

 

“Now now, let us enjoy pancakes, guys!” announced Chisa as they all sat down on their seats and enjoyed their pancakes. Each of them choose what kind of spread would they use, like how Ibuki would spread chocolate all over pancake and “nom” it like a squirrel. Some chose to not be experimental, like Hajime just eating an ordinary pancake. They also had their own ways to eat, but one of them particularly stood out.

 

“Hey, Hajime. Look at Mayuri.” Ibuki poked Hajime’s shoulder as she pointed at Mayuri. The member of the Future Gadget Lab just consumed pancakes like a crocodile, to the point of barely chewing at all. Surprisingly so, considering that she was the second smallest member of the gang. It was especially noticeable in comparison to how Chiaki ate pancakes, who just softly and carefully nibbled them.

 

“I am looking at her. She’s just….devouring them.” commented Hajime while also being baffled at how quickly Mayuri ate pancakes. Suddenly, so many pancakes seemed like it wasn’t enough of them.

 

“Akane has a competitor now, doesn’t she?” joked Ibuki while also giving him a mischievous wink.

 

“...Mayuri’s more comparable to that pink puffball when it comes to eating.” reiterated Hajime, with Mayuri’s appetite reminding him of a certain video game character known for that exact trait. The Future Gadget Lab member noticed their discussion and tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“Hm? What were Haji-tan and Ibu-chan discussing?” asked Mayuri. Ibuki and Hajime took a while to come up with something due awkwardness.

 

“Oh, it was nothing, Mayuri.” Hajime tried to hide the conversation, assuming that Mayuri would feel insulted by them.

 

“Hajime said you look like Pinkie Boye when you eat.” Chiaki exposed him in front of Mayuri, partially because she thought it was cool to compare Mayuri to one of her favorite video game characters.

 

“Oh, I do? Hehehe, I like that! All Mayushii needs is dark god slaying capabilities and Mayushii will be the next Pinkie Boye...or rather Pinkie….what would be a variant for girl?” laughed Mayuri at the prospect of such comparison, although the “dark god slaying capabilities” part of her sentence came not only rather off, but oddly serious. Overall, it was relieving that she took it with a laugh.

 

“When...when did dark gods come into play?” Hajime raised his finger due to not only the sheer unexpectedness of it, but because it was Mayuri who said it.

 

“Every final boss aside from few games is usually like that in those games.” elaborated Chiaki on what exactly Mayuri meant.

 

The time for pancake induced breakfast went up. All of them had their stomachs full for about half a day, but there were still some leftover pancakes, just enough for the next day.

 

“So guys, what do you think of pancakes I have made?” queried Chisa, just that she knew she did a good job making them happy.

 

“Amazing!” Mayuri praised without hesitation. The entire gang agreed with her, Chisa’s skills in making food was top notch. All of them still felt the sweet yet satisfying aftertaste of pancakes.

 

“Dawww, thank you! You are so sweet.~” accepted the compliment from the gang, although she was blushing a bit. It was just making her happy that she pleased them greatly.

 

“Yep, they are amazing...I haven’t had pancakes before, so...good first impression, I think.” complimented Chiaki, but she revealed something that came off as a surprise to everyone.

 

“Wait, you never had pancakes before?” asked Ibuki, wondering how come she never had something as common and simple as pancakes.

 

“Yeah...never before.” confirmed Chiaki, although slightly confused for why exactly they seemed so surprised. The way she worded herself caused a feeling of sadness within Chisa. It was starting to get clear that Chiaki rarely had any nice memories before Hope’s Peak, considering how she missed out so much in her life. All Chisa could do was give her a soft smile, reassuring her that her life at Hope’s peak will be as wonderful as possible.

 

“I’m glad that I gave you the first experience of pancakes. If you want to try anything, just tell me, Chiaki.” reassured Chisa with a rather subdued but very soft smile. Chiaki blushed on the sight of it, since she wasn’t so sure why was Chisa especially so soft at that moment.

 

“Oh gosh...T-thanks, Miss Yukizome. I will ask...when the time is right.” stuttered Chiaki, who despite being rather embarrassed about it, she was always glad to see that Chisa supported her.

 

“Now about you. Anything you have on your mind on what to do today?” asked Chisa, wondering about what to do on such day. Going out was not an option, so they had to settle for indoor activities. Chiaki generally preferred indoor activities anyway, so it wasn’t a big deal. She required a bit of time to think about, but then she remembered something. There was a time when Chisa mentioned that she’s also a Pinkie Boye fan. It was when Chiaki was gaming with Sonia.

 

“I think I know what to do, Miss Yukizome.” Chiaki got an idea as she went to the living room to set up a console of a time where home consoles switched to third dimension. The thing about older consoles that gave her a bit more time to set up was that AV cables once used were no longer compatible with newer TVs. Luckily she had an HDMI converter, so that they could play it properly. After the console was plugged in, Chiaki also inserted all four controllers in it, allowing four people to play the game. Last step required was the cartridge itself. It would have been really easy to just inserting in the console and call it a day, but the cartridge decided to play finicky. It just didn’t start up.

 

“Mmmph….work, please.” pouted Chiaki as she removed the cartridge from the console and cleaned the interior with a cotton swab. After cleaning it, Chiaki inserted the cartridge into console again. That time, the appearance of logo of a sleeping dog along with a three-dimensional letter N reassured her that the game was working. The gamer gal returned to the kitchen and invited the entire gang to the living room. A title screen with green checkered background, along with five characters standing in front of it, awaited them. It wasn’t really a bombastic title screen, just a tranquil with showing characters they needed to know. Those were the puffball himself, a fat penguin king, an artist girl, puffball look-a-like character and a fairy.

 

“Oh, that’s a game from my childhood! I wanna see if it’s as good as I remember!” cheered Chisa as the memories of the childhood game were all flooding back to her. She was remembering it like it was yesterday, but she still wanted to give the game a fair chance. Others were intrigued by the game as well. It certainly was a product of it’s time, but compared to a lot of games, it looked visually rather pleasing. Must be due cartoonish art direction and generally simple yet endearing graphics the system could provide.

 

“Are you guys okay with this game?” asked Chiaki before they would officially start playing the game. All of them, especially Chisa, approved the choice of that day’s session. Chiaki smiled, knowing how eager they seemed to be and thus they started playing the game. Well, they almost started, but not before one issue was addressed.

 

“Hmmm….the game could only have four players, yet there’s six of us….we should probably take turns.” Chiaki thought about it before she turned around to see opinions on others about it. “Hey, it seems like that we can’t play this game all together...so are you guys okay if we switch up from time to time?”.

 

“No prob! We can take turns.” Mayuri was one of the first to answer. No one else seemed to object.

 

“Then...lets start.” announced Chiaki as she navigated through menus to find the mini-games. “Multiplayer, it should be.”.

 

She decided that the first mini-game would be one called 100-Yard Hop, which seemed to be based on a hopping race. It was quite a simple game, with only two buttons required: one for one space jump and other for two space jump. After it was decided, the players, which were Chiaki, Hajime, Chisa and Ibuki, chose their characters. Chiaki chose the artist gal, Hajime went with the look-a-like, Chisa went with puffball himself and Ibuki went with the penguin king.

 

“Watch this! I’m gonna run laps around your asses!” boasted Ibuki that her victory is one hundred percent reassured.

 

The mini-game began, as characters on screen started hopping on circles. Chiaki’s artist gal was going nuts, doing for a nearly perfect run. Mayuri noticed just how fast Chiaki’s fingers were when she played that mini-game.

 

“Woah, Nana-chan has ninja fingers!” commented Mayuri as the game went on. Hajime and Chisa were nearly tied, with them just making some mistakes that prevented each other from leading. They weren’t even close to Chiaki’s run.

 

Meanwhile, Ibuki wasn’t even close to anyone. She somehow managed to jump in every single obstacle possible, be it a puddle or a frog. It was starting to embarrass Ibuki for how she managed to flop every single time.

 

The game didn’t take long before the victors were decided.

 

“I win.” Chiaki quietly announced her victory. She was decisively ahead of everyone.

 

“Yay! Second place!” cheered Chisa, just being happy that she was in second place. For her, it didn’t really matter if she won, fun was more important.

 

“Well, not a last place at the very least.” said Hajime upon arriving at third place. Not too bad, he thought.

 

Meanwhile, Ibuki, who had her time set to be one minute after everyone, was shocked at the revelation that the game owned her.

 

“H-how?! H-how did Ibuki get wrecked?!” stammered Ibuki upon the sight of her absolute loss at a children’s game. She was lucky that the group wasn’t really competitive or else she would have been laughed at.

 

“Ibu-chan, I think it’s because you kept jumping in puddles.” said Mayuri to her.

 

“Ngh! I thought splashes would give me boosts! Ibuki was foolish!” Ibuki clenched her teeth as she stretched herself. And thus, the first mini-game was done.

 

“Should we go for a different mode now?”asked Chiaki if there needs to be a change in mini-game. Variety was always welcome after all.

 

“Hmm, how about that one? That one looks cool!” Chisa suggested the one where the mini-game was about collecting fallen fruit. It reminded her of her own experiences.

 

“What about you, guys?” further asked Chiaki.

 

“I’m okay with that one, I think, though this one looks like it has more action.” Hajime pointed at the mini-game, where the objective was to make other characters fall from the sky. The battle took on a floating square, made out of breakable cubes.

 

“I want that one! Ibuki will reign supreme!” Ibuki decided for the battle on the floating square before she remembered that it was time for controller change to previous spectators. “Hold on, now we have to switch up now, right?”.

 

“Yep, that’s what Mayushii has heard.” nodded Mayuri.

 

“Anyone want to take my place? Just so that it’s a fair game.” Chisa offered her controller for switch up.

 

“I think I’ll do it.” Chihiro raised his hand to her access to the controller.

 

“Here ya go!” Chisa freely allowed him to take the controller, taking her place with ease.

 

“Avenge me, Mayuri! Do it for Ibuki.” Ibuki offered the controller to the remaining spectator.

 

“Hehehe, will do!” giggled Mayuri as she took the controller from Ibuki.

 

Thus the second mini game began. It was arguably even more simplistic than the earlier one, with its only controls being left and right input on the joystick. That’s all there was to it and the mini-game couldn’t get simpler: it was just collecting fruits.

 

As it went on, the progress of it was similar as before: Chiaki in the lead, Hajime and Chihiro tied and Mayuri lagging behind big time. But even though they were playing a game, there was a worry that popped in Chiaki’s head during their playthrough.

 

“Hmmm...perhaps we need a game that makes us work together. Having the same outcome constantly would bore them...probably.” Chiaki thought about it, possibly changing the game. A worry that her friends would be unhappy was an often one and it seemed like it arrived at that moment.

 

Just as quickly as the one before, the mini-game came to an end.

 

“Another victory for me.” Chiaki silently announced another victory of hers. Funnily enough, the second and third place were one.

 

“Oh wow, a tie between you and me.” noted Hajime.

 

“Yeah...I tried my best. How did I do?” asked Chihiro as he turned towards Chiaki for possible advice.

 

“I think you hesitated a little. You should be more confident with your approach of the game.” advised Chiaki, encouraging him to play a bit more relaxed, yet still competitive enough. Chihiro seemed to have a thing that he would hesitate a lot in anything competitive.

 

“Ah, so...that. I’ll figure that out.” said Chihiro after listening Chiaki’s advice. At the very least those two lads were tied.

 

“I lost!” Mayuri proudly and happily announced her loss, which nearly gave Ibuki a stroke of embarrassment.

 

“D-dang! Not even Ibuki’s proxy warranted her a victory…” complained Ibuki about her second losing streak. It was the perfect time for Chiaki to speak up about changing games.

 

“Guys, would you mind if we went for another Pinkie Boye game? It has more co-op modes, something I think that it would be better to play….maybe.” asked Chiaki, thinking about a more modern game in the franchise that also allowed co-op.

 

“Well, I’ve been a bit out of the loop regarding Pinkie Boye, so I wanna see how the franchise evolved!” Chisa supported her decision to swap out game. Unless the game took really long or really was that engaging, it was always good to spice things up. Others supported her decision as well, although Ibuki did it partially because she wanted to win one game. At the very least, one game.

 

“Well...actually, lemme show.” Chiaki went out to set up the more modern console for one of later installments of the Pinkie Boye franchise. The process was really quick, the cartridge was read by console without any issues and the whole set up was so streamlined, that it felt like ten seconds at least.

 

It also didn’t take much for the game to appear on the screen. There were massive differences compared to the old relic almost immediately. The models had much, much larger polygon count, textures were in high resolution, the animations were smooth (although the game ran at thirty frames per second) and the whole graphic user interface looked much more polished, but also the art style was sort of different as well. It had a more “anime” look to it, so to speak.

 

“Oh, it’s all HD now! It looks so pretty!” Chisa’s eyes sparkled upon how much changed for her childhood series. It was all fresh, but Pinkie Boye remained Pinkie Boye for quite some time.

 

“It had to be, since it’s a new console.” rationalized Hajime.

 

“Yeah, hardware specs get more advanced as the time progresses. Massive differences can be spotted in performance within a span of a decade.” added Chihiro some of his knowledge to the conversation.

 

“I wonder how will video games look like in another decade.” Chiaki scratched her chin as she thought of possible ways how the future of gaming would look like. One hope she had was that retro games would still be played.

 

“Hard to predict, since technology changes so much that we could have entirely new ways to play games, such as virtual reality and such.” said Chihiro while also bringing up some promising tech that still had ways to go.

 

“Yea, the game does look really different from the old one just by menu alone. It has quite a different aesthetic.” noted Ibuki while spotting differences between the old game and the new game.

 

“The old one reminded Mayushii of a children’s book. This one feels more like a cartoon.” Mayuri added her own comment as well. She wasn’t sure which style she liked more. The older one had a more homely feel to it, while newer one had a more refined look to it.

 

“If I recall correctly, there was a cartoon about him, right?” Chisa suddenly brought up a rather old video game adaption of that seemed, while not overwhelmingly popular, it had its audience.

 

“There was?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity, not even aware that the cartoon existed. The rest of the gang was for quite a shock, since Chiaki was all things video games. Or so it seemed like she was only video game things, but not the whole franchise thing.

 

“Huh? You, of all people, don’t know about it?” sputtered Ibuki in a rather dramatic way.

 

“I...just stick to games, usually. Don’t really follow other media as much...I think. They often take...lets say, creative liberties with source material.” Chiaki explained herself that more often than not, video games in another form tend to butcher the source material a lot. That was especially apparent in the old adaptions, but newer ones are trying.

 

“That must bother you, right?” asked Hajime, wondering if it genuinely bothered that much.

 

“...Yeah, a lot sometimes.” grumbled Chiaki as she crossed her arms.

 

“Then we should watch it to see how accurate it is!” happily suggested Mayuri. The Future Gadget Lab was also in the mood to watch some animation, since she was such an Upa fan.

 

“Why not? It’s a great opportunity to relive some childhood memories or to create new ones. But now, I think we should play the new game first.” Chisa approved of Mayuri’s sudden suggestion, but also advised that they would go through the mode first.

 

Chiaki already knew what mode to decide: True Arena, where the ultimate battles took place. The hardest versions of bosses were present there, but there could also be some secret ones.

 

“Oh heck, that mode looks hardcore.” commented Ibuki on how its interface resembled furious fire, ready to consume everything on its path. The difficulty was decided with how much Tabasco would Pinkie Boye pour in the stew. Chiaki decided that they would go with the hardest difficulty possible. So much Tabasco was poured, that Pinkie Boye had an uncharacteristically devilish look on his face. That spooked Ibuki big time. “M-max difficulty already?”.

 

“Yeah, it’s challenging enough. Base game is, well...too easy.” Chiaki justified her decision, deeming the rest of the game to be way too easy, that it would become not fun quickly. Once the difficulty was selected, a rather massive character roster appeared. It even included final bosses of previous entries, such as some power hungry jester or floating egg wizard.

 

“Woah, there’s so many of them nowadays! It’s hard to believe it used to be just four in the past.” Chisa kept fangirling over the new game, already impressed with how many new features did the game have in comparison to her childhood game. “I do have one question, though.”.

 

“Hm?” Chiaki tilted her head towards her teacher.

 

“Is the final boss the stuff of nightmares?” casually asked Chisa like it was a normal thing in the series.

 

“Yep, it is...I think.” confirmed Chiaki. Hajime, who was still not the lore master of the series, was rather bewildered with that revelation.

 

“Is that a tradition of the series or something?” piqued Hajime with a rather confused tone in his voice.

 

“Mhm.” happily nodded Chiaki.

 

“I mean, it does make sense. You’re fighting for dreams, so it’s only logical that the enemies will be nightmares, right?” Ibuki somehow managed to explain it to him. Considering that the puffball was Hero of Dreams or a similar title like that, it made too much sense for the final opponent or a villain to be something out of worst nightmares. Hajime couldn’t even argue with that. With the conversation over, they all chose their characters. Funnily enough, they all played the same characters as they did in the Pinkie Boye 64. After the character selection, the marathon of boss fighting began.

 

Even on the highest difficulty, the fiercest bosses fell under the combined wrath of Chiaki, Hajime, Chisa and Ibuki. All it mattered that Chiaki’s character didn’t lose all of her HP. Not that she did lose any HP, since some of the strategies used for bosses were quite nuts, almost resembling a tool assisted speedrun. Both Chisa and Hajime did their best, but Ibuki just kept fainting. It didn’t really matter, since she was constantly revived by Chiaki. The final boss of the run, possibly the most lore intense creature of the series, was also among the victims of Hope’s peak gang.

 

Their run was rewarded with a triumphant victory screen.

 

“We did it!” Chisa pumped her fists after she contributed to the victory. They all gave each other high fives for completing the highest difficulty boss rush with such ease.

 

“You guys did it!” cheered Mayuri as well, giving them high fives. Considering how much of their energy the boss rush took them, they thought about easing off a bit with the cartoon.

 

“So, now’s the cartoon time, right?” asked Hajime, to which the response was a positive nod. Chihiro, who was the closest to the TV remote, went on an online app to find the show. He typed something like “Pinkie Boye Cartoon” and after he pressed OK on the remote, full episodes were shown.

 

“Hmmm...which episode should we play? Should we watch it chronologically?” Chihiro asked others for what episode would they watch.

 

“The first we find! Ibuki watches as she feels like!” suggested Ibuki to just go with their gut.

 

“Is the series even made to be watched in chronological order?” asked Hajime, just in case the series was made to be watched in a linear fashion.

 

“Well, cartoons made for children usually don’t have an overarching narrative, so it’s okay what order are they watched.” answered Chisa, who seemed to be more experienced about the field than expected. One has to wonder how many of them did she watch recently, if she had time.

 

“Yuki-chan, how many cartoons have you watched?” innocently asked Mayuri, wanting to know if Chisa was secretly a cartoon fan as well. Chisa blushed for a bit, not wanting to sound embarrassing right in front of them, but the truth had to come out.

 

“A lot more than I should, hehe…” giggled Chisa while also revealing the truth about her watching cartoons. No one really minded, everyone was a nerd and a dork in that group. It would be unfair to judge her for it. After that conversation, it was decided that the first episode they’ve found would be played first. It was a rather peculiar one, with a thumbnail representing a gloriously yet poorly drawn caricature of the penguin king of the series.

 

“Watching starts now, let’s gooooo!!!!” declared Ibuki as the programmer friend pressed on the button to play the episode. Their viewing of the episode has begun.

 

Of course, like any other show, it began with an opening theme. The opening was some kind of a march, singing praises of its titular protagonist. Chisa, Ibuki and Mayuri all danced to it while Chiaki observed the show, noticing that most of the designs were generally accurate to the source material. The exception seemed to be new original characters and penguin king character, which she found to be odd.

 

The episode began with a girl character showing a bunch of kids some book with a drawing she did. They seemed to be outside of the castle, which was owned by the penguin king.

 

“Sis, you really drew that?” asked the brother of that character, curiously observing the drawing made by his sister.

 

“Keep watching. It’s going to move.” said the girl as she was ready to present whatever thing she made for them.

 

“Move?” piqued one of those kids, wondering on what the girl was intending to do. The girl started flipping pages at such speed that the human eye perceived it as animation. The moving pictures showed of the aforementioned girl just hopping with a jump rope. Other characters were impressed with the display of animation.

 

Chiaki was confused.

 

“Huh? What?” Chiaki just stared at the screen, confused at so many aspects of it. She also tilting her head as she was inspecting something.

 

“What’s up, Chiaki?” asked Hajime, who was unsure on why was Chiaki so confused.

 

“It’s a cartoon….within a cartoon.” Chiaki tried to put words together due to her being baffled by the sheer concept of displaying the functions of animation within an animated series.

 

“Is there...anything wrong with it?” further asked Hajime, still unsure what was so odd about

 

“This is getting out of hand. It’s too meta.” sputtered Chiaki as her brain started to think about a lot things at once. Firstly, the meta aspect. Secondly, the realization that the series never really went that fourth wall breaking. “Wait a sec, when did Pinkie Boye become meta?”.

 

“Well, has it ever happened that you made a game within a game?” Chisa gave out an example in order to make Chiaki understand better. Upon hearing it, Chiaki thought about possible games where you have to create a game within a game. For a moment, not much came into her mind aside from possible game making tools, but then one series came into her mind. It was about some greedy garlic loving treasure hunter entering the business of video games to get rich. There was one game where the player could create so called “micro-games”.

 

“...Come to think of it, yeah. Usually a mini game, not really a full game….though exceptions happened.” Chiaki started to understand while she was also getting a bit of invested because the cartoon explained her the process of making a cartoon in the simplest form. “Oh, is this how animation is made? I never knew…”.

 

However, those young animated characters were watched by two villainous figures. A french snail and a fat penguin king observed them with binoculars, scheming for a plan of the day.

 

“Look, sire! I didn’t know making a cartoon was so easy!” the french snail said possibly the wrongest thing an animator could hear in near proximity.

 

“That there flippy book done give me an idea!” spoke penguin king with an unbelievably thick accent. It caught Chiaki completely off guard.

 

“...When did he sound like that?” noted Chiaki, considering that he either never spoke or did just some random noises in games.

 

A screen displaying episode’s name appeared following the king getting an idea. It was called “BlingBlingBling of the Stars”, spin on the actual show’s name. In the back, there was a starry blue background, signifying that Pinkie Boye is connected to the stars. The Hope’s peak gang didn’t pay much attention to it, but someone else did.

 

“Hold on a sec, weren’t they named differently? Didn’t they also look differently?” Mayuri pointed out something that made it feel off for her.

 

“What do you mean, Mayush?” asked Ibuki, not sure what was wrong with it.

 

“Mayushii remembers that they went by different names. I remember Pinkie Boye himself being named something else. Was it…..gah, Mayushii doesn’t remember.” explained Mayuri while also trying to remember what was another name of the show.

 

“Maybe it’s a localization?” wondered Chisa, since it seemed like it would have been a logical explanation.

 

“Mayushii feels like it’s something different, but not sure. Not that anyone should really worry about.” Mayuri gave an answer that was as vague as it was mysterious. She was definitely onto something that might have been a much bigger than than a mere name of the show. From the tone of her voice, her not remembering seemed like she was hiding something.

 

“Are you referring to something, Mayuri?” Hajime was one of the folk that noted oddness in Mayuri’s sayings.

 

“Hmmm...I’m not sure myself.” answered Mayuri, leaving whatever she had on her mind a mystery. Some of them still wondered at what exactly was she referring to.

 

In the mean time, the show went on. The penguin king, so called King BlingBlingBling, convinced the entire small population of the kingdom he ruled to make a cartoon for him. The scene cut to them being inside the studio, where they would discuss ideas for the cartoon.

 

“I am the most important person in this whole joint half pint! I’m the producer!” the penguin king bombastically and proudly declared himself for the most important position in production.

 

“A producer? What does a producer do?” one of the kids asked, not sure what even was a producer.

 

“A producer doesn’t do anything.” other kid roasted the king right in the face.

 

“Heh…” chuckled Hajime at the conversation in the show but then realized that he was being entertained by a series meant for kids. “...Oh god, I’m laughing at a children’s cartoon…”.

 

The first half of the episode displayed the whole production of the series. Considering penguin king’s leading capabilities, or lack of thereof, it was quite messy. Drawings were often mocked, some rather unorthodox materials were used, such as ketchup and mustard for backgrounds, script writers sleeping on their jobs and so on. Somehow, the characters within the show managed to put up a cartoon just before the deadline. The second half of the episode began, where cartoon characters would voice their cartoon counterparts within the show.

 

For the second time, Chiaki was confused.

 

“What the heck? Now it’s an entire cartoon within a cartoon, with characters voicing themselves….What has the world come to?” thought Chiaki, still trying to comprehend what even was happening in the show.

 

The cartoon those characters made by themselves was something that can be best described as “gloriously terrible”. Characters looked like something that caricatures would dream of, the animation was screaming “this was made on very limited budget, please don’t be too hard” and it was just a mess overall. It started with the penguin traveling through cosmos with a star shaped spacecraft that jiggled due lack of model consistency.

 

“Eh, Geh, Nyeh! KINDA STUFFED IN HERE! HEY, WHERE EM I?” penguin character within the cartoon announced his awakening with his bombastic voice. Then he looked at the sun, sporting a face which would be remembered for ages. “EH EH EH, AH AM A SUPAHSTAH WARRIAH!”.

 

As the episode went on, the plot of the cartoon within the cartoon seemed to be about giant monster (in the form of the puffball) attacking the kingdom and eating everything on sight. It also had the plot of penguin coming to that land to save the day.

 

“Wait a sec, isn’t that the entire first episode of the show?” noted Chisa after noticing that the cartoon within the cartoon was basically the first episode of the show, except that in the actual episode, it wasn’t the giant pink puffball that attacked the kingdom, it was a giant angry octopus. Chisa didn’t mention that detail because anything reminding them of Herman would annoy them.

 

“So, it’s an episode of a show that was recreated within the show that is voiced by the characters of the show?...I need to process this…” thought Chiaki to herself, with the concept even confusing her more.

 

Characters within the show were absolutely verbally roasting the cartoon they have made themselves. It went on, with puffball chasing the penguin before the latter just stopped and began a conversation with the french snail. They were complimenting their looks before one of the more signature scenes came.

 

“Have you seen Pinkie Boye today, your Majesty?” asked the snail as he suddenly shifted the art style into a true Shounen-esque one, looking something out of that post apocalyptic manga where one man could defeat anyone with just saying that they’re already dead.

 

“He don’t scare me none.” the penguin answered, also transforming into that art style, displaying the utter glory and magnificent of his perfection. It made Ibuki spat out a drink.

 

“W-WHAT?!!!” yelped Ibuki, utterly startled by the sheer “perfection” of those two characters.

 

The cartoon within the cartoon started to show its limited budget big time. Animation, as limited as it was earlier, turned into sketches of storyboards, backgrounds were lost and even the script was no more. Characters had to improvise through out all of it.

 

“Woah mama, how does Ryota keep it up if the production was like this?” wondered Ibuki about how her Ultimate Animator classmate could even handle it, considering how much of a mess it was in the show. The episode within the show ended with the drawings done by puffball himself, and the last frame was an awkward looking penguin king before the entire film burned in the recording. Then the actual episode ended with characters laughing at the cartoon, calling it so bad it’s good. Thus, the first watching ended.

 

“Oh, we gotta marathon that! That was very fun, right?” Ibuki seemed to enjoy it a lot, there wasn’t a moment where she was bored.

 

“I am absolutely on your side, we gotta watch this!” Chisa supported her claim as well, since she was all fired up like a satisfied kid.

 

“This was...more fun that it should have been.” Hajime admitted, even though he was very embarrassed to say it.

 

“Seems like this cartoon is making everyone here happy. I don’t have issues with watching it more.” smiled Chihiro at the sight of his friends just having fun. Mayuri smiled as well.

 

“….I am...intrigued by this. The thing is, it’s not too far off from source material either. Seems to be based on Pinkie Boye Nightmare in Pupupupupuland though.” Chiaki took a while to speak up, but eventually, she revealed she was interested in. Some things bothered her, such as the concept of a game based series without being able to play the game, but she did enjoy the educational value of the show.

 

“Then it’s decided!” declared Ibuki as they all decided to marathon the series. It had about one hundred episodes in it, so they had a lot of time to watch it.

 

The night came and some of the episodes out of one hundred were watched. However, the need for sleep overcame the desire to make an all-nighter that day. It was also the fact that they still had school tomorrow. They were looking forward to it, but at the same time, it was the return to the reality where the threat of Daft Capo still existed.

 

“Alright guys, it’s time for all of us to have some sleep. Tomorrow gonna be a new day.” said Chisa just before she went to bed.

 

“Good night, Miss Yukizome.” the gang waved at her as they departed, with the rest of them sleeping on the couch. At the very least that’s how the end was supposed to end, but there was one more thing that happened.

 

Although Chisa already closed her eyes, someone poked her. She opened her eyes and saw that it was Chiaki.

 

“Hey, Miss Yukizome…” quietly and softly greeted Chiaki, looking a bit shyer than usual. She worried that she bothered her teacher.

 

“Oh? Chiaki, my dear, what’s up?” Chisa rose from the bed and sat on it, inviting Chiaki to join her. Chiaki, knowing that Chisa was okay with it, sat down on the bed as well.

 

“Ah, nothing much. Just wanted to talk to you. Sorry for keeping you awake at such hours.” Chiaki elaborated herself, revealing that she wanted to know something at such hour.

 

“Nah, it’s alright, Chiaki. I always have time for you.” reassured Chisa, being prepared at any time to give her a pat. Hard to resist, considering how Chiaki’s round head seemed to intice the desire to pat her. “What did you want to talk about, dear?”.

 

“Well...how were you today?” asked Chiaki about what did she think of a day.

 

“I was having a blast! Everyone was just enjoying themselves today, I just couldn’t help myself to smile and relax.” Chisa more or less confirmed that she loved it. It was especially relieving not only because she saw her students (along with additional two members) were safe, but she got some free time away from work as well.

 

“I’m...very happy to hear that. I have made sure that everyone was happy.” smiled Chiaki as she put her hand on the place where her heart was. It was a gesture of pure comfort.

 

“I think you’ve been great at it for a long time.” Chisa suddenly complimented her. She loved doing it, always reassuring Chiaki that she was doing a good job.

 

“Huh? Really?” blushed Chiaki, being kind of unable to take a compliment. It was always downplaying herself or hiding it.

 

“Not only did I see it her, but I see it every time we’re at Hope’s Peak. I can see you are trying your best and I think it’s paying off.” Chisa said more about it, which made Chiaki blush even harder. She noticed how Chiaki seemed to be really embarrassed about it, so she unleashed a secret weapon: she patted her head. “C’mon, don’t be embarrassed about it.”.

 

“But I do wanna know something, something that happened yesterday. Did those gangsters hurt you?” asked Chisa regarding the incident of the previous day, where they saw Daft Capo members with their own eyes.

 

“Nah, my friends were safe. We all ran as far as we could.” reassured Chiaki, but there was something about it that bothered her teacher.

 

“Why did she…” Chisa noticed that she didn’t refer to herself. While she was sure no one hurt her, some of things she does to herself always made her worry more.“Come here.”

 

Chisa invited Chiaki to sit on her lap. Her student wasn’t sure why she wanted to do it, but she followed her. Then, a hug followed. A big, soft hug that made Chiaki blush at first.

 

“I just wanna let you know, no one’s gonna hurt you or anyone from my class. If they do….well, let’s say that Miss Yukizome won’t hesitate.” reassured Chisa, promising her that no one will hurt her ever. Chisa’s softness was starting to make her feel comfort to such levels she never really felt before. While she was often promising protection of others, it was the first time someone promised her that she will be protected.

 

“I feel...safe around you. Safe...and comfy…” mumbled Chiaki as she way greatly enjoying the hug. It was almost like Chisa herself was her own bed.

 

“Heh, I’ll make sure of that my little Nanami will be the safest and most comfortable girl possible.” smiled Chisa, but her softness made Chiaki fall asleep. She even was clinging onto her like a baby. “Oh, she feel asleep. Perhaps I should tuck her in bed.”.

 

However, that decision was met with difficulties.

 

“Mmmm...it’s hard to put her away. She’s so soft...eh, gonna sacrifice my own comfort for sake of hers. Just that I have to wake up a bit earlier, but that’s all.” Chisa decided to act as Chiaki’s own bed while she was on Chiaki’s bed. She used a wall to lean on it, so that Chiaki would get most comfortable position. Before Chisa fell asleep with Chiaki in her arms, she gave her a pat. The last pat for the day. “Good night, Chiaki.”.

 

And so they managed to fall asleep, with Chiaki looking like Chisa’s baby. The next day was a new day, yet it was certainly uncertain, but at the very least they got one day they could relax. That was all they asked and in the end, they got it.

Chapter 24: Farewell to Fortune

Notes:

Oh boy.....

Chapter Text

With Sunday’s end, a Monday began. It was a rather cloudy one at that, but it had no signs of any incoming rain. It is a norm that Mondays are usually most detested of days, but for a certain gang residing in the residence of a sleepyhead, that might not be the case.

 

Or will it?

 

It was around early in the morning, even before five o’clock. Fellas of Hope’s peak (and Mayuri) were sleeping in their own places. Most of them were snoozing on the couch, but two individuals were exploring the land of dreams in Chiaki Nanami’s bedroom. The major resident there was none other than the sleepyhead gamer herself, but she was being held by her teacher Chisa Yukizome in her arms like a baby. Suddenly, on a cloudy morning, Chisa just woke up. Perhaps it was mental preparation, but Chisa never really had trouble oversleeping. She was the opposite case, of being the one who was constantly under-sleeping. Must have been the general habit of the Ultimate Housekeeper. She sprung up, but not fiercely enough that it would disturb Chiaki. The first thing she did was to turn off the alarm clock. She knew how much Chiaki can get fumy about them, especially after listening to her rant at one point. Since it was way too early for her students to wake up, she decided to wait a bit.

 

And so half an hour passed, exactly five o’ clock to be precise. The time for preparation came to be, the sleep had to end. Of course, Chisa couldn’t afford to give Chiaki a rude awakening, so she decided to have a more gentle approach.

 

“Nanami! Wake up, Nanami!~” whispered Chisa as she gently rocked her students like a crib. The sleepyhead felt the little shakes, smiled, but slowly opened her eyes since she did recognize the soft voice of her teacher. When the vision became clearer, she was greeted with a warm smile of her teacher, looking right at her. It was an infinitely better sight than seeing her alarm clock, it was heavenly.

 

“Good morning, Chiaki.” Chisa softly greeted her before the one who just woke up let out a little yawn. The teacher herself couldn’t resist giving her a pat, which made Chiaki’s morning far more comfortable than she ever imagined to be. To have someone, let alone someone close to her, pat her in the morning was unforgettable for her.

 

“Oh...good morning, Miss Yukizome.” Chiaki smiled at her as she rubbed her eye. She still remained in Chisa’s arms, since they were too comfortable for her to just leave.

 

“It’s a new day at Hope’s peak today. Are you ready for it?” asked Chisa if her little student was prepared to face the day head on.

 

“Yeah, I am...I think.” drowsily nodded Chiaki.

 

“That’s good! Prepare yourself for the day, but there’s no need for rush. We’re quite early.” said Chisa before she looked at the alarm clock. The time was enough that there truly was no haste needed. “...Actually, we’re REALLY early.”.

 

“Yeah, it hasn’t started making noises yet.” Chiaki turned towards the alarm clock just to squint at it. It was a squinting glare that she felt like all alarm clocks, sometimes referred as “dream destroyers”, deserve to have.

 

“And it won’t. I shut it down today. Decided that I’m gonna be the one to wake you up.” Chisa revealed to her, reassuring her that the alarm clock will remain silent.

 

“Ah, thank you, Miss Yukizome.” smiled Chiaki even more so than before. Her teacher has slain the dreaded morning nuisance, even if it was just for a day. Then, after being fully awake but still not letting go off Chisa, she had a sudden wondering. “Is anyone else already awake?”.

 

“Hmm, let’s see if your friends are still traversing lands of dreams.” Chisa thought the same as she rose up from the bed, still carrying Chiaki as they went to the living room, where rest of the gang slept. Chiaki felt a bit guilty that Chisa would have to carry her through out the entire day, so she decided to finally walk on her two legs. Once they arrived, they saw one of the folk kneading the couch. It was rather obvious who it was.

 

“Ah, Ibuki’s already awake. G’mornin, Ibuki.” Chiaki greeted the musician in a rather normal tone.

 

“Yes! It is a fact that Ibuki has risen from the slumber. Thus, I must say: Good nom-nom-nom-nom-nomming, everyone!” Ibuki responded with all the energy she had in the morning, unleashing her usual greeting upon them. It was loud enough to wake up another person.

 

“I...heard you all just now.” Hajime quickly awakened, thanks to the Ibuki Mioda caused disturbance. He looked rather grumpy, but he usually looked like that, so it was normal for him to be like that.

 

“Hajime has awakened as well! Now we just have two more to go.” Chisa happily announced the awakening of the ahoge lad, but soon the tiniest person in the gang rolled over and slowly woke up.

 

“Oh, are we already going?” asked Chihiro as he stood up from the couch as he was on alert. He was worried that he was going to miss out. Luckily, that wasn’t the case at all.

 

“One more to go!” announced Chisa as, just when she said it, the only non-Hope’s peak participant rose from the slumber, signifying her awakening with a huge yawn.

 

“Ah, Tutturu! Good nom….nom...nommorning, everyone!” Mayuri started the day with an imitation of the 2nd most cat like person in the world.

 

“Oh, that was a good one! Five stars!” Ibuki, as a rater of Ibuki Mioda impressions, gave her full approval, despite that compared to the energetic and fast saying that she usually does, Mayuri’s “nomnomming” was rather sluggish.

 

“Everyone’s up! Now...take your time, because we’re still really really early, no need to rush.” declared Chisa as she suddenly announced that they can relax for a bit. It was more than enough time for everyone to prepare themselves for school.

 

“Why so early though, Miss Yukizome?” asked Hajime regarding on why exactly were they up around the sun rising, even though it wasn’t really necessary.

 

“Oh, why so early? Because...it just really happened so. Sometimes, you just wake up really early for no reason.” answered Chisa somewhat vaguely while secretly hiding her possibly overworking habits as the Ultimate Housekeeper.

 

“Ah, yeah. That can happen...a lot.” sighed Hajime, knowing the feeling of just waking up out of a sudden, even if it’s three o’ clock in the morning or something. Since everyone was awake, they all started preparing themselves for the day. Teeth were brushed, breakfast was eaten and Ibuki was prevented from letting out her morning scream out of the window. Enough time passed for preparation, they had to go sooner or later.

 

“Now it’s time to go! Are you all ready?” asked Chisa before they were about to exit Nanami’s house. All of them were properly dressed up, so that there won’t be any “stepping outside in Pajamas” incidents. All of them nodded in agreement. “Now that’s what I like to hear! Let’s goooooo!!!!!”.

 

And thus they went walking towards Hope’s peak academy like a group. They were all close to Chisa, especially Chiaki, who was holding her hand. The gang looked like a rather big family of weirdos, where one single mother took care of them. Their stroll towards Hope’s peak academy was uninterrupted, bar a few stops due traffic, but nothing too concerning. Once they arrived in front of the fountain, the group had to saw farewell to the fellow Lab member.

 

“Now Mayushii has to go back to the Lab. I hope you guys have a good day. Baii bai!” Mayuri waved at them as she went back to the Future Gadget Laboratory all by herself, departing for them until next time.

 

“Baiiiii baiiiii” rest of the group waved back at her as she was slowly distancing herself from others. Once she was out of their sight, they all waited for students of class 77-B and class 78th to arrive. In the mean time, they distracted themselves with some games. For killing some time, video games were excellent for it. As the time passed, the rest of the students arrived, some earlier (or even way earlier, like Sonia), some late. After everyone gathered around, they all went in, starting their day at Hope’s peak academy.

 

But little did they knew that there was another student, from a completely different class, the one with a rather unfortunate number. The said student suddenly appeared from the bushes as he back flipped over the gate, before landing on his two sneaky feet. Then he looked at the building, with his confident look. He was perhaps more than just a student.

 

“My time has come!” Ultimate Scammer announced his arrival before he sneaked in the school after a week of his absence. He had a goal in his mind and he knew who to rely upon.

 

Meanwhile in the class 77-B and to extension class 78th, the day was going just like any other. Chiaki was playing games mid class, Ibuki was being Ibuki and Hiyoko was calling Mikan a “pig barf” every time she spoke up. It was all going as it should, except there was one thing that, even when focused on games, Chiaki couldn’t stop thinking about. A remainder of the days past, yet still something that needed to be addressed. However, she couldn’t do it in the class, so she decided to wait until the lunch break.

 

After the first part of the schedule for the day was done, it was time for students to replenish themselves. However, it was also the perfect opportunity for Chiaki to check upon one particular student.

 

“I think now it’s time to check up on Nagito to see if he’s alright….I think.” thought Chiaki as she went towards the assumed location of the luckster. She told her friends that she has a thing to do, so that they wouldn’t worry about her. As she traversed through the empty hallways of school, she did see the white haired boy himself. It seemed like he was going to the library again.

 

“He seems to be alright...but he could be hiding, so...yeah...I’m gonna try.” Chiaki thought again before she quietly spoke up to gain his attention. “Hey, Nagito?”

 

It seemed to work, as Nagito stopped on his tracks and turned around, only to see a rather anxious looking Chiaki looking at him. In comparison, he seemed like he was having a rather normal day. Unusual for him.

 

“Oh, hello there, Chiaki. I’m surprised that you went out of your way to talk to me.” Nagito greeted her with his usual smile on his face. That smile was his default expression, but it seemed to be rather odd for Chiaki, considering what he went through.

 

“How..are you doing?” asked Chiaki out of concern for him. Even if she disagreed with his actions, she didn’t wish him ill.

 

“I’m doing quite good. So far, it’s been pretty uneventful, nothing exactly notable happened so far.” casually answered Nagito as if he was expecting something to happen.

 

“He really doesn’t seem like he was affected by it, despite being...hurt before….” Chiaki noted about his behavior. He acted like nothing happened ever, but he could be numb to it, probably. “Yeah, that’s good to hear, but…I want to know a thing.”.

 

“And what would that be?” Nagito raised his eyebrow as he started suspecting that there was another reason why Chiaki wanted to talk to him. Perhaps she wanted him back in The Fellowship.

 

“Have you went somewhere after you left the group?” Chiaki queried him regarding his actions post abandoning the conflict between Hope’s peak academy and Daft Capo.

 

“Ah, so Gundham already told all of you, didn’t he?” smirked Nagito, guessing that she had learn it from somewhere. Chiaki’s irises shrunk, not expecting that he would guess so quickly, even though he was out of The Fellowship. Her reaction basically confirmed his assumption.

 

“...But...but why did you go there?” Chiaki redirected the topic, since she wanted to know the reason for his action. There has to be one, he couldn’t do it just for fun.

 

“Seems like it’s unclear to you as well. I shall elaborate then, like I did with Gundham.” Nagito smirked once again as he began rationalizing his decision for actions he partook in few days ago. “Would you agree that if you just stormed in their hideout and defeated them, it would feel anti-climatic?”.

 

“Huh? What do you exactly mean? Wouldn’t it be better it to finish it as quickly as possible?” argued Chiaki, confused at how he treated the conflict. It sounded like he was in some kind of game rather than in an actual dispute.

 

“Well, I imagined it would go like this: you guys find out the hideout, you plan a siege on it and then after a decisive victory, you send those guys running for their lives. Isn’t that right?” Nagito continued, presenting his imagined outcome if it weren’t for his intervention.

 

“….No, it definitely wouldn’t have gone that way. We know way too little before we can do anything decisive on them….I think.” countered Chiaki, very much aware that they’re facing only the tip of the iceberg that was their adversary. However, it sounded like Nagito didn’t know. What he said as a follow up shocked Chiaki quite a bit.

 

“We are Ultimates, victory is basically withing our reach. We stand above the rest of the world, we shouldn’t concern ourselves with such boring organizations.” spoke Nagito, in tone that was unlike any other. For all his self deprecation, he spoke about Ultimates, to some extent himself included, with overwhelming amount of pride. Chiaki also caught up that he might see non-talented people as something lesser. Her hand twitched for a bit as she was starting to feel slight amount of heat in her head. A feeling which Chiaki hasn’t truly felt before started to bloom.

 

“...What? Is this what he really thinks? Is this...really it? Miss Yukizome never taught us that. Never. And...and...did he really just?…” Chiaki’s thoughts knocked her head, but she decided to remain silent about it. She didn’t want to explode, since to her, others were more important than her.

 

“What is it? Do you still not understand where I am getting at?” asked Nagito in a rather condescending tone.

 

“….I have...a lot of things to say about what you’ve just said, but….first thing is, can you say your motive behind it? Why did you go there in the first place?” responded Chiaki, still repressing her true feelings regarding his statements, but she still wanted to know the reason for his actions.

 

“I wanted to make the outcome more satisfying.” bluntly admitted Nagito, still sporting that smile on his face. The fact that he still had a smile after talking about that was starting to give her goosebumps. She wasn’t too sure on what he meant by “more satisfying”, but considering that he influenced events in an unexpected manner, she had one guess.

 

“….So what you’re saying, you made the situation more difficult for us?” Chiaki tilted her head, albeit not out of curiosity. She wanted to be wrong about it, there wasn’t a way her classmate would deliberately try to sabotage their efforts.

 

“Satisfying. After all, it’s more fun to win a difficult game, isn’t it?” Nagito corrected her wording before he suddenly dropped a rather familiar analogy on her.

 

“Yes, but that’s for games. Gangsters that we are currently dealing with are not a game.” scolded Chiaki for his lack of caution regarding the whole thing.

 

“If they were more interesting, then I’d worry more about them.” said Nagito, breaking the final straw on the camel’s back for her. She couldn’t repress it anymore, it was driving her to lengths which she thought it wasn’t possible for her.

 

“Hey, Hope’s peak is under attack by them, our friends, including you, have been hurt by them but not only you leave us over this “Hope” you have mentioned, but also you’re making things more difficult for everyone?” condemned Chiaki in a tone much sharper than any other. Her cheeks weren’t even puffed, it was just a solemn frown with a glare. It was a side of Chiaki that she never wanted to have, but Nagito was skipping on the line long enough.

 

“Those guys have no interest in Hope, be it fighting for it or against it, so I firmly believe that Hope won’t be damaged.” continued Nagito, not particularly phased at just how much he has already riled up Chiaki.

 

“….What even is your definition of hope?” asked Chiaki, out of anger, but also out of desperation. More she talked to him, less she understood. The lack of clarity made her feel like the conversation was just spiraling.

 

“Hehehehe….Simple: either two Hopes clashing to create a greater Hope….or the utter destruction of Despair.” Nagito revealed his definition of it. Suddenly, the whole conversation turned into something Nanami never expected to deal with. His eyes, once normal looking, transformed into maddening grayness. The maddening eyes of his were accompanied with an incredibly satisfied grin, as if he were enjoying the whole thing. Nagito she thought she knew was no more, instead she saw his true self. Not as her precious classmate, but as a legitimate threat against her friends.

 

“...H-huh?” stammered Chiaki, as the anger within her got mixed with fear. Any expectation she had of him was thrown out of the window. She thought she could trust all of her classmates, since they were her first friends ever. However, the revelation hit her hard.

 

“Hope cannot exist in a vacuum. It needs its breeding grounds, its soil to grow and nothing is more perfect from it than Despair. The fiercer, more terrible the Despair, more will greater Hope shine as the Despair will be scorched.” Nagito continued ranting with absolute enthusiasm, imagining the supposed threat of so called “Despair” burning in the flames of “Hope”. Nanami couldn’t share such sentiment, let alone imagine it.

 

“...Is this...is this what he was really like? That’s what he believes in?….It...it doesn’t feel real...but...I…” Chiaki’s thoughts hit her again, channeling her utter disbelief that her classmate was capable of such thing. Only thing she could do is a meekly utterance. “Um…..I...don’t really understand what you mean by that.”.

 

“I want to ask something. Have those guys given you or anyone Despair?” asked Nagito out of a sudden.

 

“D-despair? Well,...I think we were more annoyed, angered and exhausted by them, but I don’t think we went to the point of despair...I think.” answered Chiaki with low confidence, since her anxiety was starting to overtake her. She was still trying to understand the whole situation with Nagito.

 

“Jeez, not even Despair is involved? I can feel apathy consuming me more as I hear more about that boring syndicate.” Nagito’s smile turned upside down, as he started to act annoyed by his ideals not becoming real thanks to the conflict between Hope’s peak academy and Daft Capo.

 

“…Do you even care about us at all?” Chiaki glared at him, asking the question quietly, but her voice became even sharper. Her hand started to twitch again, becoming closer to clenching her fist.

 

“Of course I do! You are nothing short of beacon of light that will guide the world to the Hopeful future! I will gladly be the stepping stone for Hopes within you guys! Your talents will shape the world like nothing else will!” Nagito suddenly smiled once again, talking about them as if they were some kind of gods. Yet, Chiaki was starting to feel tired of him.

 

“...All this talk about talent, yet….it feels...distant…..how much can I take this?” Chiaki thought about if she would just call it quits over him, but one last question remained. “If you do….then why make it more difficult for us? Why force us to go through a harder path?”.

 

“As I said. It shall lead to more satisfying Hope.” clarified Nagito once again, with that damned uncanny smile. He even raised his finger to put further emphasis on his point.

 

At that point, Chiaki was getting too tired to deal with the white haired luckster.

 

“...I’m getting nowhere here….it’s too much….I can’t...do it...” Chiaki quietly admitted defeat before she started walking away from him, planning to return to her actual friends instead having to continue listening to him. “...That shall be enough. We’ll see each other later….”

 

“Alright then. It was fun talking to you. I’m looking forward to our next discussion.” Nagito said his farewell as he did nothing wrong. Chiaki just squinted at him before she faced forward, slowly walking towards the dining room.

 

“….Fun, alright.” Chiaki frowned upon the thought that the conversation was entertaining in any sort of way. If anything, it proved that not all of her classmates were automatically trustworthy. It’s a thought she desperately tried to disprove, but after that, it became difficult to do so.

 

“I just...I just wanted to check on him. That’s all I wanted to do, but...I get this. Why? I don’t understand. I don’t understand at all. Why is he making things more difficult? We’re already dealing with that mafia, but now we have to worry about him? Give me a break….” Chiaki contemplated the whole event, crossing her arms to give herself some kind of a hug. In a way, she felt like she failed at it, failed to convince him, failed to keep the group together. The feeling of failure started to overtake her. She even took deep breaths, but they weren’t doing anything favorable to curb that feeling.

 

“...I do need a break. My head hurts from all of this...”hope” and “despair” as he calls it. Miss Yukizome never even mentioned that “despair needs to be destroyed” for hope...or whatever he calls it...Come to think of it, he sounded like….no...he wouldn’t do that, would he?” Chiaki still thought about it as she continued walking, with headache of her not making things any better. She knew that she couldn’t afford being seen like that, so she thought of a way to cheer herself up.“...I’ll need Miss Yukizome for this, if things go bad. But now, I really...really need to have some distraction.”.

 

Luckily for her, the idea popped up rather quickly.

 

“Ah, I’ve got it.” Chiaki searched through her bag and pulled out her favorite handheld. Games seemed to always do the trick. “That should do it, a game. Games are always-”.

 

However, her attempts of trying to relax was disturbed with an unfamiliar greeting.

 

Ooooooooooooiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii…..”

 

“H-huh? W-who…?” stuttered Chiaki, startled by the sound. She even squeaked a little, since she was a bit on the edge after the discussion with Nagito. She looked around in surprise, only to find a hooded person with a backpack. It was a person she never even saw before.

 

“I’ve got the stuff you need.” Ultimate Scammer asserted his presence right in front of her.

 

“Um...who...who are you?” timidly asked Chiaki. The person in front of her looked like a cartoon character for how blatantly shady he looked. But, a complication appeared. Even the shadiest looking people could be quite helpful, as proven by that weapon selling merchant and Chiaki wasn’t the one that judged people by their appearances.

 

“I go by many names, but people often call me….Lorenz the Convenient.” the person introduced himself to her, but truth be told, it was no one else but the Ultimate Scammer. He decided that it would single him out too quickly if his real title was revealed.

 

“Are you...um...a student of Hope’s peak academy?” further asked Chiaki, wanting to know if he’s someone who she should be cautious of or not.

 

“Ay, Class 69. That’s where you can hit me up to strike a deal.” revealed Ultimate Scammer to her. At the very least, he was a student of Hope’s peak academy, but she was still hesitant about him, considering what Nagito turned out to be.

 

“Oh, Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni’s class?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity that time.

 

“Eh, forget about them, because now I am going to offer you a deal which you cannot refuse.” dismissed Ultimate Scammer before he prepared himself to strike a deal with her.

 

“I’m..I’m good…” declined Chiaki, putting emphasis on that she just wants to return to her friends with a simple “push away” hand waves.

 

“Do you ever run out of quarters at the arcade? Well, no more worry, because I’ve got the solution right in my hands!” Ultimate Scammer insisted on striking a deal with her, hoping that she would be tempted by his offer.

 

“I said that-” Chiaki still tried to deny, but she got slightly curious about Scammer’s solution to running out of quarters. Not that she ever ran out of them, since arcade games were her expertise. Then, the Ultimate Scammer revealed his “silver bullet” to the quarter shortage problem.

 

“Behold! Golden Dollars!” Ultimate Scammer pulled out ten banknotes, each worth ten dollars respectfully, all painted in gold. The catch was, they were not any kind of dollars. They were, in fact, Zimbabwean dollars. He even made moves akin to a medieval shopkeeper to further attract interest in his offering. “With this, all you need to do is go to local exchange and voila! Quarters for lifetime! Gold gives it a thousand extra, so you better use it!”.

 

It took a while for Chiaki to comprehend what was she looking at. Not only the appearance, but the entire concept of money being painted in pure gold.

 

“Money painted in gold?...What even?” Chiaki thought to herself that what she was seeing was something not even caricature video game villains would come up with. It seemed so excessive, that she immediately figured it out that it was a scam.

 

“Oh, I’ll give these for only two thousand yen! I tell ya, it’s a bargain!” Ultimate Scammer offered the price for the money. At that point, Chiaki had only one option left: go away from the snake oil salesman of a Hope’s peak academy student.

 

“Sorry, but I gotta-” Chiaki apologized for what was she gonna do, but she was startled with a duo of unexpected voices that appeared right on the moment. Two students, one being her shark toothed classmate, other being an electric guitar wielding lad, provided a sudden intervention.

 

“Stay away from her, you jerk!” shouted Kazuichi as he pointed at the Ultimate Scammer.

 

“Get the hell outta here, asshole!” Zapatta called out the hooded student. After both of them were done yelling, the Ultimate Scammer looked at them, almost bursting into a chuckle when he saw those chumps.

 

“Oh, look at that. It’s the angry boi and shark man.” scoffed Ultimate Scammer. Even though most of his face was covered, he had a grin on his face, knowing that all they’re gonna do to him is angrily yell at him.

 

“You have no right dunking on appearances, Captain Shady!” countered Kazuichi, not having Ultimate Scammer’s shit.

 

“No, that mofo ass fucker have right on anything!” added Zapatta in an arguably even more fiercely angry tone than the mechanic lad had.

 

“You just mad cause ya ain’t a-” taunted Ultimate Scammer, but before he could say it, he got interrupted.

 

“SHUT UP, I DON’T WANNA HEAR IT FROM YOU!” Zapatta yelled at him even more. Kazuichi started to feel that he truly had something against the shadiest student in the whole academy.

 

“I’m just spitting facts, mang.” shrugged Ultimate Scammer, just to further provoke them.

 

“Just get back to Class 69 already, you freaking jerk!” ordered Kazuichi, simply not feeling like bickering with him. Ultimate Scammer didn’t put up a fight, partially because he thought Kazuichi and Zapatta were too buffoonish to be taken seriously.

 

“Aight, it’s been a while anyway.” casually said Ultimate Scammer as he went on to return, but not before stopping close to the Ultimate Rockstar. “You know well, my man.”.

“Know what?” asked Zapatta, confused at his words.

 

“You know.” Ultimate Scammer repeated himself, not even bothering with clarity before he disappeared from their sight. A confused silence followed, with both Kazuichi and Zapatta trying to come up with the meaning behind his words.

 

“What was he trying to say?” asked Kazuichi.

 

“Eh, he likes being cryptic, just to confuse the shit outta people.” Zapatta attempted to explain, but soon remember there was another person present there. Someone who’s not Ultimate Scammer, at least. “Say, where’s Naners?”.

 

“Chiaki? Oh right, she must be-” Kazuichi looked around, only to realize she ran away from their shenanigans. “...not there.”.

 

“Where did she even go?” wondered Zapatta as he looked all over the hallway to find her.

 

“I think I know where. I have to go there too. Man, I haven’t eaten anything. I have to go now, so see ya soon!” Kazuichi suddenly remembered where she could be.

 

“Oooh, right! You guys have a lunch break now. Lucky bastards...but we will see each other soon!” said Zapatta as both of them departed, going their own ways.

 

Meanwhile, Chiaki was just in front of the dining hall, alone. She sat down near it to cool down, since she was starting to get annoyed with the sequence of events that just happened. She crossed her arms and pouted, letting her frustrations out.

 

“….Mmmmmgrrrr…..first Nagito, now this. Now I want the break even more….I should just go to the dining hall. Everyone’s there, at least...I think.” Chiaki grumbled to herself before she decided that she will find a break not only with games, but with friends too. She took a while, since she didn’t want to be seen in such state, but once she was ready, she stood up and went inside. She sneaked to the table where her group, the one with Hajime, Chihiro and Ibuki, occupied it. Chiaki quietly sat next to Hajime. All of them noticed that, even though she was hiding it, she wasn’t feeling exactly well. Her blank stare at the screen was the factor.

 

“Oh hey, Chiaki. Is everything alright?”asked Hajime, wondering what was up with her.

 

“...Yeah. It’s okay.” Chiaki further hid it, but she wasn’t too convincing about it. It was especially notable, considering that she seemed all fine in the morning before they went to school.

 

“You don’t really seem so. Is there anything bothering you?” further asked Hajime

 

No no no no no, please don’t worry about me. Please, please don’t be stressed over me.” Chiaki thought to herself, feeling anxious over the fact that she would make her friends feel terrible. Instead, she decided that it would be best to say that it just happened. “...Nah...just that, sometimes it kicks in randomly. Like RNG.”.

 

“Hmm...I’m sure that feeling will pass away. I actually have something to tell you.” Hajime wasn’t fully convinced, so he had a plan to cheer her up. He had an assumption that something happened, but he also had a secret weapon. A weapon that somehow produced happiness instead of one that took lives.

 

“Yeah?” Chiaki tilted her head, wondering what was he going to say. Hajime was more than prepared to reveal his secret weapon.

 

“Okay so, do you know about-” Hajime wanted to talk about a thing that would definitely catch Nanami’s interest, but then something happened that none of those who were eating were anticipating. Another realization popped up, a rather trivial one: two of them were missing before.

 

“EMERGENCY! EMERGENCY! ALLLEEEEEEEEEEEEEERTOOOOOOOOO ROOOOOOOOOOSSSSSSSOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

 

Suddenly, Nekomaru and Gundham were outside, greeting them with an alert. Due to his rather loud and bombastic voice, some of the more timid students flat out flinched. Recorder has to be Ibuki, who, due to improved hearing, flat out fell from her chair.

 

“…..What now?” frowned Chiaki, wondering what was just up with the day that refused to give her a break for once. First that white haired boy, then the scammer and now an emergency. From their looks alone, it was clear that they meant it for real.

 

“This assault on ears was unnecessary. Now-” scowled Byakuya at them, but he couldn’t finish his sentence before another interruption.

 

“By the Crimson Warning, the worst possible time has come!” warned Gundham of the possible calamity that was impending for Hope’s peak academy. His chunni mannerisms made it a bit harder to take him seriously, but weirdly enough, some noticed that he was more refrained than usual.

 

“Geeeeeeez! What is it now, you two, causing all the ruckus?” complained Mahiru big time, since it wasn’t clear on why did they announce an emergency.

 

“No time to waste! Everyone, gather around in the hideout! Make haste!” Gundham further called for them to meet up with their allies. The lack of his usual chunni nonsense made it easier for students to heed his warning, although some hesitated.

 

“What are we waitin’ for? Get moving!” Akane was the first one to speak up, since she took Nekomaru’s word to the heart. Some of the students heeded the warning as well as they prepared themselves for the meeting. Some were still hesitant, although just a little.

 

“Yeah, but...what did even want to-” hesitated Mahiru just a bit, still not sure on why did the emergency happen in the first place.

 

“Hey, did you even see them? I knew from their faces that they mean serious business! Now get moving!” argued Akane as she attempted to motivate all of them to just move already, no time should be wasted. All members of The Fellowship of Darkness finally prepared themselves as they all ran out of the dining hall towards their hideout. Only few of them remained them, those that were not part of the Fellowship just yet.

 

“...Ow, my fucking ears…” complained Toko as stood up after hiding under the table and uncovered her ears. She tapped them a bit just to see if she’s deaf or not. Her ears were still intact, despite Nekomaru’s shouting.

 

“I see that their debauchery is not gonna end soon. Imbeciles, all of them.” scoffed Byakuya, who just remained in his seat through out the entire time. He was just simply not phased by events that were happening around him.

 

“It would have been nice to have one day without their nonsense.” frowned Celeste, who was still calmly sipping her tea.

 

“I know, right? I’m not dealing with that bullshit. Not worth my time.” spoke Hiyoko, who was just feeling grumpy through out the entire day for some reason.

 

“Hiyoko? I thought you went with them.” asked Celeste out of a genuine surprise, since literally everyone was a part of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“What, is it so weird that I chose to remain here?” badgered Hiyoko, shamelessly displaying her grumpy mood to a more fashionable student of Hope’s peak academy.

 

“Not at all, mon ami. Not at all.” Celeste just showed a smile to her as they continued their day, interrupted by any nonsense the Fellowship had to deal with.

 

Meanwhile, after running through their secret path, filled with flora, they arrived at their destination: the door of garage. Gundham knocked on the door to announce their arrival.

 

“Whatever you two bastards called us for, it better be fucking worth it.” grumbled Fuyuhiko as he wondered what exactly was the reason for emergency. The door of garage opened soon enough, but the moment they stepped in, their avian comrades gave them zero room for alternative interpretation on what was happening at that moment.

 

“Alerto Rosso! Alerto Rosso! Daft Capo member has breached the school! I say again, Daft Capo member has breached the school!” alerted Skipper as loudly as he could. It was with that announcement that they knew their adversary is back in action. A multiple of “wait what?”’s and “OH SHIT”’s were shouted upon hearing the name of the syndicate. The fact that they’re back meant that the fun times were over.

 

“Is it that damned octopus again?” wondered Akane, having a gut feeling that Herman himself had some unfinished business with Hope’s peak.

 

“Identify the infiltrator.” ordered Kyoko as they all stepped to the laptop. The one in charge of the program was Kowalski, along with Private.

 

“Switching to channel five.” said Kowalski as he pressed the location of the PELN that was nearby the red triangle. It seemed to be somewhere in the hallway. When he turned on the channel, the voice spoke up. To most, it was a rather unfamiliar one, albeit a shady one.

 

“….hahaha, that’s a funny one! You tell great stories, man!….”.

 

However, three members of The Fellowship managed to recognize him immediately.

 

“That voice! I’ve heard it before!” Gundham remembered the Operation Nighthawk, where he heard that person discuss with Hope’s peak cephalopod arch-nemesis himself.

 

“That’s...that’s the-” Chiaki recognized it quickly as well, since it was the voice of a person who tried to scam her for golden foreign money.

 

WW-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK?!” yelled Kazuichi in total shock, completely shocked about the fact that he out of all people was a Daft Capo member. It should have been obvious, but at the same time, it was so obvious that it became too obvious to be true. But it was true in the end. “It was him all along?”.

 

“You seem to be acquainted with out enemy. Reveal what information you know about him. You too, Chiaki Nanami!” requested Gundham for them to tell as much as possible. The entire group was taken a bit for him to drop nicknaming for that moment.

 

“What the? The nicknames are gone?!” commented Ibuki on it.

 

“Alright, alright, so this guy, who also seems to be a Daft Capo member, is named The Ultimate Scammer. He’s a-” Kazuichi started explaining, but the title of the talent alone caused Skipper to have a crisis.

 

“Ultimate Scammer, what?! You can’t be serious, this school promotes criminals!” Skipper condemned the whole school regarding their qualifications.

 

“I think we should discuss the questionable choices of Hope’s peak later and more focus just on him now.” advised Kowalski, since they had more important matters on the table.

 

“Oh, right right. Continue, Kaz.” Skipper allowed the mechanic to speak.

 

“He’s a real jerk, that’s what he is! Every time I have to fix their freaking projector, he always tries to scam me! Always! Man, one time, he offered me a golden Pepsi! Except it wasn’t Pepsi, it was Pepsi with a red square B on it, paper one! He offered it me for three thousand yen!” Kazuichi told his story about how he had to deal with attempted scams every single time he was in that class.

 

“...He did that to me, except it was one hundred dollars in gold. Gold as in like, money itself was painted in gold.” quietly added Chiaki, revealing his interactions with their threat of that day.

 

“Dude, for real?! Even for a scammer, that’s beyond low!” Yasuhiro condemned the Ultimate Scammer for making such a scam, that would make other scams blush.

 

“Alright, we got enough info, let’s beat up that jerk!” Akane decided that it was enough info to give that Daft Capo member a whooping. More fighting oriented folk agreed with them, but there was one oddity that was picked upon by the lilac haired student.

 

“Hold on. He seems to be talking with someone.” said Kyoko as she pointed at the green circle next to the red triangle. She gave out her next order. “Identify that person.”.

 

“Now selecting the friendly unit.” just like he said, Kowalski pressed on the green circle to identify who the person next to the Ultimate Scammer was. Upon hearing his voice, it all became clear. Too clear for their own good.

 

“..Ah, yeah. Class 77-B and Class 78th seems to be interested in fighting this Daft Capo group….”

 

All of them recognized who was that person. That voice could not be mistaken at all. Majority of the group’s response was only a gasp.

 

“Nagito?! Are you for real?!” Hajime, although he didn’t trust Nagito at all since the day he left the group, he was still shocked that the white haired luckster was willing enough to sell them out.

 

“BASTARD!” Fuyuhiko shook his fist, almost putting it through the monitor if he hasn’t stopped himself. A feeling to punch him skyrocketed in the group.

 

“Oh, that motherfucker is gonna get it!” Mondo cracked his fist, getting ready to show him hell.

 

“You bet!” Akane joined in as well. Meanwhile, more mellow students had less aggressive reactions and more of feelings of disappointment in a way.

 

“...Nagito? Did...did you lie to me about this?” thought Chiaki, barely grasping that the worst possible scenario was playing right in front of her eyes. She tried to rationalize it, that her classmate wasn’t doing it willingly. “No...there has to be some mistake. Something’s wrong. We wouldn’t sell out each other, would we?”.

 

“Nanami….I’m afraid that’s happening right now.” admitted Ryota Mitarai regarding the situation, being forced to admit that the group might not have been as close as they thought. More they listened, more it seemed to confirm that he was doing it on his own.

 

“Before we do anything, we should listen to them more.” advised Kyoko as she was curious to hear about the whole thing.

 

“What, and let that guy run away? We must act quickly!” heavily disagreed Skipper, as he thought that more time passed, more info could be leaked.

 

“I have to go with Skipper, any time he could spill important info to him.” Nekomaru agreed with his penguin colleague, knowing that it has to prevented as quickly as possible. It wasn’t like before, where the enemy had no idea that they were planning against them. In the situation they were in, the adversary could know.

 

“How about we split in two? Some of us could go for him, but some can remain here.” suggested Hajime, since there were enough members that they could split into flanks without having to compromise like before.

 

“Yeah, I think that would be good. We have to act...quickly.” Chiaki approved as well. Majority of the group, if not all of them, agreed that what Hajime suggested was good. All they needed was one monitoring the situation.

 

“So be it, now who shall remain here?” asked Gundham.

 

“I will. I will tell you all about what I’ve heard later.” Kyoko offered herself for the job as she occupied the laptop.

 

“I’m gonna stay here as well, to monitor the situation. I can give you coordinates as well.” Chihiro joined her as well, since he felt like he wasn’t fit for fighting. Handling information, on other hand, was his forte.

 

“Anyone else?” Gundham asked one last time. Kyoko and Chihiro were only ones that chose to remain there, everyone else was ready for action. “Kehehehe, another showdown against Daft Capo has begun. Onward, henchmen of The Fellowship of Darkness!”.

 

And thus, after the door was opened, they all rushed back to Hope’s peak academy, where their enemy was receiving information.

 

Meanwhile, the Ultimate Scammer and Nagito were just casually talking to each other about Hope’s peak’s experience with Daft Capo. Of course, the Ultimate Scammer acted like he had no ties with Daft Capo, so that his cover wouldn’t be blown in front of the white haired accomplice.

 

“There was also this octopus, who seemed to love taunting everyone and pranking them. I was one of his victims, so to speak, but his luck seemed to ran out. Or perhaps I got lucky.” Nagito continued to tell stories, including his own encounter with Herman. Every single story made the Ultimate Scammer nearly die of laughter.

 

“Hahahaha, I couldn’t come up with that, even if I smoked an entire pack. Man, this school is wack!” Ultimate Scammer kept chuckling at his stories, although his remark regarding the academy warranted him a cautious look of Komaeda.

 

“I wouldn’t call it...erm….“wack”, as you say. I think it’s a wonderful place, where-” Nagito started defending the academy, but was soon interrupted by the sudden appearance of athletic girls, such as Aoi, Sakura, Peko and Akane. The last one mentioned had to brake with her sneakers to not overshoot their location. They all surrounded the duo, glaring at them while warning that what awaits them won’t be pretty.

 

“Oh look, new customers!” Ultimate Scammer welcomed them as his next prey for scams.

 

“Hello there-” Nagito casually greeted them as if nothing was happened, but he was soon encircled by the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness. “Wow, I seemed to get a lot of attention lately.”.

 

He seemed to treat it like it was a normal thing. The Ultimate Scammer, on other hand, knew he goofed up.

 

Ay, fuck.” Ultimate Scammer uttered under his breath, knowing exactly what will happen just by their looks. The Fellowship of Darkness cracked their fists just before the beatdown.

 

“KIIIIIIIIIIICK HIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIS ASSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS, MYYYYYYYYYYYY FRIIIIIIIIIIEEEENDDDSSSSSSSS!” loudly announced Nekomaru the official beatdown of the Ultimate Scammer. Folk like Akane leaped in first to get first hits, but little did they know that the Daft Capo member had a trick up his sleeve.

 

“Adios!” Ultimate Scammer sent his regards before he pulled out a pin of a smoke grenade and dropped it on the floor. The moment Akane was about to deliver a fist right in his face, smoke erupted from the canister, quickly engulfing the entire hallway. It was enough for Akane to miss and for Ultimate Scammer to commit evasive maneuvers.

 

“Hey! Smoke is strictly prohibited within the school environment!” Kiyotaka condemned him for usage of smoke. Everyone in it could see nothing, they were all trapped in it.

 

“Where did ya go? Show yourself!” Akane called out for him, so that she could give him a proper whooping. Suddenly, Nanami’s phone started ringing. She picked it up and pressed the call button. It was Chihiro, who requested her to activate the speaker. Chiaki followed his order and allowed him to report their situation.

 

“The entrance! He’s going to the entrance!” Chihiro shouted as much as possible to reveal their enemy’s position. Thus, the entire group started going to the entrance, but Akane had the lead.

 

“Lemme get him!” grinned Akane, prepared to strike him down at any time. But, once she was outside, there was no sight of him. She tried to sniff his traces, but to no avail.

 

“Huh? Where did he go? He can’t be that fast, can he?” wondered Akane as she kept looking around. Soon enough, the entire Fellowship caught up. Nagito was forced to follow them as well, since he had a lot of explaining to do. “Hey, uh...Cheerio! Where is he?”.

 

“He’s gone from the screen. I assume that he left Hope’s peak.” answered Chihiro in a rather regretful tone.

 

“Correct, he did.” affirmed Kyoko in a much more stoic, if colder voice. At the very least the Daft Capo member was out, but unfortunately, karma delivered by Hope’s peak students had to wait.

 

“Coward!” Gundham shook his fist at the direction

 

“Damn it! I should have given him a beating for ages!” lamented Akane on the fact that she couldn’t throw a single punch at him.

 

“Forget about that fucker, we have another one to deal with.” Fuyuhiko redirected the attention towards their classmates, their former friend, now a threat to them. All of them had their looks directed at him, some glares, some just looks of disappointment and disbelief.

 

“Wizard man, if that Nagitoe does anything funny, say “Cowabunga, it is” and we’ll go.” advised Skipper, just in any case that the luckster goes out of control.

 

“Understood, fellow Avian.” nodded Gundham as he prepared his fighting stance as well. Meanwhile, Nagito wasn’t exactly sure why did he get such looks.

 

“You all seem so unsatisfied. Is there anything wrong? Did I do something wrong?” asked Nagito, seemingly to be unaware of what was going on.

 

“Don’t act like you don’t know! You know exactly what you did!” demanded Aoi while having a feeling he was just pretending to not know.

 

“I did...what exactly?” further asked Nagito, who was getting more confused by the whole ordeal.

 

“Stop playing a dumbass or we’ll beat the fuck out of you!” threatened Mondo, although it was quite ineffective against him. He just shrugged it off, which made some students even more unsatisfied with him.

 

“Again, what did I do wrong?” questioned Nagito, whose confusion reached peak.

 

“Are you denying that you have taken a conversation with a Daft Capo member?” Sonia revealed exactly the thing he was doing wrong according to them. Upon hearing it, Nagito just froze, with his irises shrunken.

 

“….What?!” blurted out Nagito, genuinely shocked that the Ultimate Scammer was, quite indeed, a punkster by definition. However, his reaction just made them more wary of him. They believed it was all an act, it was just too convenient for him to not know.

 

“Don’t fucking tell me that you didn’t know through out the entire time!” chided Fuyuhiko as he shook his fist at him.

 

“He was a Daft Capo member through out this whole time?!” perplexed Nagito as he started pulling his hair out of reasons that none of them except him knew.

 

“Is he...bluffing?” wondered Hajime, who was just confused at his reaction, just like nearly everyone else.

 

“No, he’s telling the truth. I can tell it from his voice.” suddenly revealed Kyoko. With that being said, the whole situation just got tricky for everyone. Now the question was whether he was manipulated into, or he went along willingly. Another thing came into light, but that time regarding Daft Capo itself: it’s more or less confirmed that they would send undercover agents to obtain information regarding them.

 

“How? How is that possible?” wondered Kiyotaka at the whole situation. Very few were sure on what stance should they take at that moment.

 

“Hmmm...perhaps Daft Capo wanted to gain info from us by sending secret spies on us. Pretty clever for an organization that sent an octopus on us, I say.” suggested Yasuhiro. Usually, he would talk nonsense, but their life became nonsense after Herman came into play, so the line of his statements being true or false began to feel blurry.

 

“They stepped up their game, huh?” noted Hajime, feeling slight anxiety regarding how would Daft Capo deal with their future operations. Everyone realized that Daft Capo was no longer playing around.

 

“Now the question is how many spies do they still have there. We ought to be careful.” Ryota gave out a point that was rather ominous for everyone, yet it became a real possibility.

 

“Are they really gonna do that to us?” asked Chiaki, feeling like exploiting friendship to obtain information was a rather dirty thing to do.

 

“It seems like this is the case...or perhaps they did that long time ago without us realizing it. It wouldn’t be wise to trust everyone as of now.” answered Ryota Mitarai as honestly as he could.

 

“Now speak up already, accomplice!” ordered Skipper

 

“Ngh! How foolish of me, to trust someone who has rejected Hope’s peak itself! Now things have gotten...a lot more complicated, to say at least.” Nagito berated himself before the slight difference in his wording caught the rest of the Fellowship a bit off guard.

 

“Complicated? What exactly do you mean about this?” questioned Mahiru.

 

“Are you condemning them or not?” wondered Aoi as she was getting annoyed on how unclear he was about the thing.

 

“Well, as the Ultimates, we are pillars that hold Hope in the world. It is on us that the future depends on. Hope’s peak itself is where Hope itself shines more than anywhere else. Without us, the Ultimates, the rest of the world would crumble.” Nagito started imposing his own philosophy onto others. They had to see what Chiaki had to earlier in the morning. None of them took his statement particularly well, but the last sentence stuck certain individual quite hard.

 

“...What did you just say now?” Hajime began to feel pale just listening him, there were hints of how would he react if it was revealed that he had no talent.

 

“Hey….what the fuck are you on now?” Fuyuhiko’s defensive instinct activated upon hearing them. Something about disregarding the rest of the world with exception of Ultimates particularly struck close to him, but only he and Peko knew. Peko even prepared herself to defend him, in the case of situation becoming even worse.

 

“D-dude, how is this related to Daft Capo at all?” Kazuichi raised a point regarding how just out of touch his ideal seemed to be.

 

“Are we going to go to Crazyville now?” asked Yasuhiro a question to himself, feeling rather afraid of Nagito.

 

“I-I think we’re getting head on there, full speed!” Ibuki answered him, feeling heebie-jeebies more and more when she listened to the luckster’s talk.

 

“How is it relevant, you ask? Well, now it seems like the Ultimates can have allegiances other than Hope or Despair. Interesting, but I don’t exactly believe that they have fully abandoned it.” Nagito explained himself, but it didn’t do much for most of them.

 

“So what you’re saying is that Ultimates that are still under Daft Capo still have hope within them, if I understood correctly?” Sakura attempted to rationalize and in a way, translate to others on what he was referring to.

 

“Yes, you are correct. I have to admit, I didn’t expect such question from an Ultimate Martial Artist.” Nagito applauded her for guessing right, although there was a feeling that he was just condescending to her.

 

“Are you implying something?” Aoi squinted at him, catching on possible disrespect given by him.

 

“Wait, are you saying that you would sell us out because they have Ultimates on our side?” Makoto realized that he more or less confirmed that he would willingly assist Daft Capo, even if it’s just for the fact they have talented folk on their side.

 

“The reason why I was so opposed to them is because they had no Ulitmates on their side, but now that it’s revealed that they do...I can’t resist helping an Ultimate.” Nagito admitted it. He finally did it.

 

“Hey, we ARE the Ultimates here! You can’t just help anyone because they’re an Ultimate!” condemned Mahiru immediately, reminding him that he should stick with his friends instead, although more or less no one considered him a friend anymore.

 

“My help for Ultimates has no boundaries.” said Nagito with a smile on his face, as if he was presenting himself as some kind of martyr for them. All he was doing was further angering them.

 

“Kehehe, I see where you are going. You are fighting not for an allegiance, but for a concept. This “Hope” you speak of might not align with what others identify as hope.” chuckled Gundham as he realized Nagito’s own modus operandi. He immediately declared him as security issue to the entire Fellowship and passed the order to his avian colleague. “Skipper, be prepared.”.

 

“Roger that, Wizard ma-wait, did you just call me by my real name?” approved Skipper before he was startled by absence of nicknames.

 

“A bit unexpected from you, the Ultimate Breeder, but you are right none than less. I am on the side of Hope.” complimented Nagito, but still in sort of a condescending tone. Gundham chose to ignore his remark.

 

“Hmmm, it’s fascinating to see how simple terms can be exploited.” contemplated Gundham regarding how semantics can be manipulated.

 

“Hey, Nagito? I have...a question.” suddenly spoke Chiaki as she did one step closer to him. Unlike others, her expression was rather sorrowful, filled with disbelief that he would go to such lengths and not even feel remorse about it. If he was just manipulated by the Ultimate Scammer and promised that he wouldn’t betray them, it would have been alright. However, reality was that he was a much more fickle person than most people thought.

 

“What is it now?” asked Nagito as he started to sound annoyed by her.

 

“There’s something you’ve said that’s been bothering me. You always elevate Ultimates, but what about those that are not?” Chiaki gave out a question that she hoped that at the very least he would see others as equals. Suddenly, Nagito’s smile disappeared as it was replaced with an expression of pure disgust.

 

“Worthless trash. They only serve as stepping stones for us.” Nagito suddenly denounced majority of the population while also shocking nearly everyone who heard his true belief.

 

“H-huh?!” Hajime felt his heart stop for a moment. Now he knew that Nagito is an utter menace to him. Any minimal amount of respect he had became non-existent.

 

“I-is...is this how you truly see them?” stuttered Makoto while also feeling some anger within him. He was one of those people that was hit more than others when it came to Nagito’s statements.

 

“Watch your fucking mouth right now, you fucking irredeemable bastard!” Fuyuhiko warned him, because he was that close of striking him down. Peko remained silent, but if looks could kill, she had one directed right at him.

 

“W-what gives you right to even say such stuff! Apologize for it now!” Mahiru went into defensive as well.

 

“Oh, you’re THAT type, huh?” Skipper, while having more composed reaction, became more disgusted with him. Those type of folk “Say the line, wizard man!”.

 

“But….what about Lab members? You know, Kurisu, Mayuri, Rintaro and such?” further, yet more quietly asked Chiaki, just hoping at the very least he would see them as equals.

 

“To be honest, I didn’t even look at them. Talentless folk like them have no place to be among us.” Nagito didn’t even mince his words after he revealed what he truly thought of them.

 

Then, it happened. Not only was Rintaro, who went out of his way to save a friend, not only was Itaru, who helped designing a device that helped take down their enemy, not only was Kurisu, who united Future Gadget Lab and Hope’s peak together, not only was Mayuri, whose act of kindness changed Chiaki’s life, but also Hajime, who was her first and closest friend to her, dismissed as mere “worthless trash” by someone who was willing to sell them out for the sake of his damned ideal. People who have done so much, yet thought of so little.

 

It just made her snap. She held it so long, but it was time to let it out.

 

So they mean nothing to you?!” Chiaki raised her voice to such levels that no one saw it coming. “That’s it, I’ve had it with this! I’ve freaking had it!”.

 

Everyone had to see something they would never even think of. Chiaki, filled with pure wrath, nearly lunged herself at Nagito just to slap him. Hajime, upon seeing her in such state, grabbed her hand just in time and pulled her back. He knew that Chiaki definitely needed both a cool down and staying away from Nagito as far away as possible.

 

“Chiaki, calm down! Calm down, please!” Hajime begged her to cool it, giving her a hug. While she wasn’t forcing herself to slap Nagito, all she could do was breathe heavily, trying her best to cool down. Her head felt like it was boiling as her thoughts started to overwhelm her. Most of them were about protecting her friends from such people. Those who saw it couldn’t believe their eyes.

 

“W-what is even going on anymore?!” stuttered Mikan, who was on the verge of a panic attack upon seeing it.

 

“Holy shit, she just went off!” commented Mondo on the matter. Most of them didn’t know what to say, but there was another person who was just sick of Nagito as she was. He decided to finish what she started.

 

“Cowabunga, it is-” Gundham almost gave out an order for penguins to strike him down, but then another person witnessed all of it. The aforementioned person’s presence made them all stop on their tracks. “Cowabunga, it is not! Abort abort!”.

 

The person in question was Chisa Yukizome, who just observed the whole situation with an expression that was nothing but sorrow. Such sight made Chiaki cool down in a moment, only for the anger to be replaced with guilt and another feeling of failure.

 

“...Guys? Is this...all true what I’ve heard?” questioned Chisa, trying her best to not believe it, but she couldn’t deny it. This was the reality that was happening right in front of her. Nearly everyone remained silent.

 

“Oh hello there, Instructor. Why such a sad face?” Nagito greeted her as if absolutely nothing happened. The Fellowship of Darkness was absolutely baffled by his demeanor, almost ready to beat him up right in front of Chisa Yukizome.

 

“You say that with a smile after what happened just now?!” Ibuki condemned him with the total lack of any cheerful attitude she had.

 

“Is it true, Nagito? Is it true that you are...willing to hurt your classmates?” Chisa asked him a decisive question. His status as a student depended on it.

 

“Hurt? Hmm….as long as its for greater Hope-” Nagito didn’t even bother hiding it anymore, he kept insisting on his ideal of hope. However, there was one action that made everyone silent. The action of an enraged teacher, who just punched the ground with such force, that she left a hole in it. Her hand seemed to have marks from the punch, but physical pain she felt during it was minimal compared to the decision she has chosen for the sake of everyone’s safety.

 

“...You have told me enough. I’m afraid I have to do this….” lamented Chisa before she decided to go through with her decision. She couldn’t bear to see sadness in her student’s eyes, but what particularly got her was just how Chiaki looked. She knew exactly what Nanami was thinking about and wanted to comfort her, but she had to go through with it first. “You guys can go home, take a rest. Today’s….today’s gonna be tough….I’m sorry, everyone...”

 

As Chisa was going to finalize her decision, Chiaki just quietly tried to reach for her, but both the feeling of guilty and her lack of confidence stopped to from it. All that remained was silence from shock. Somehow, even after all of that, Nagito just seemed to be slightly startled.

 

“Get the hell out of here. Now.” seethed Hajime as he pointed towards the entrance of the school. He just wanted Nagito out of his sight permanently. So did everyone else, especially Gundham, who had silently expressed his anger at him. Everyone glared at him for everything he has done, while they also hoped that he would finally get it. Only Chiaki refused to look at him, who was just walking away from the group, hiding in her hoodie.

 

“I see...perhaps this conflict has no place for Hope or Despair…..” Nagito finally admitted that his ideal had no purpose in the ongoing conflict between Hope’s peak academy and Daft Capo. He started walking away from them, leaving Hope’s peak academy for good. “Alright then. I wish you all best of luck.”.

 

As he disappeared, the Fellowship of Darkness contemplated on what exactly to do after all of that. It was just too much in one single day to handle.

 

“...Lets do as Miss Yukizome said, shall we?” suggested Makoto. No one disagreed with him, the day exhausted all of their energy. Even penguins were not in the mood to push them further.

 

“Let’s just...chill after all of this. We’ll catch up everything tomorrow.” concurred Skipper as they all departed, going home after such a day. However, Hajime decided to cheer up the one person who went away prematurely. He couldn’t bear to see her in such state, he wanted her to cheer up. At the very least, tend the wound. Hajime ran towards her.

 

“...Terrible….just….terrible….” mumbled Chiaki to herself as she was walking all alone in the hallway. However, the solitude was quickly pushed over when Hajime managed to catch up.

 

“Hey, Chiaki. I’m sorry you had to go through so much today….It wasn’t fair to you, you deserve days better than this one. I have something that you might like, if you’re up to it.” reassured Hajime as he was finally allowed to talk about the thing he wanted to since the lunch break. “You know Starfy, right?”.

 

Just as he expected, it immediately grabbed her attention, although she didn’t look at him. Her feelings were a bit overwhelming at that moment.

 

“Starfy? I know him, but…” murmured Chiaki, but she was kind of at the loss of words.

 

“I actually have one of the games with me today. I thought you might like it, so….wanna play it?” Hajime invited her to have at the very least one gaming session with her. Maybe that will cheer her up just a little.

 

“Heh….well, today has been a real stinker, but we can still get something out of it. So...let’s go with that.” Chiaki finally looked at him in the eye, sporting a small, yet relieving smile on her face. They went towards the fountain, sat down on the bench and finally indulged themselves in playing a video game about a cute star

 

Meanwhile, in the dark alleyway far away from Hope’s peak academy, the Ultimate Scammer was using it as a hiding spot. Apparently, he drove as far away from Hope’s peak, but close to Zona Daft Capo as much as possible with his moped. He pulled out his crusty phone out of his pocked and called a person he needed the most.

 

“That mofo better be on the line.” Ultimate Scammer thought to himself, hoping that the fella in contact wasn’t busy dancing to so called self dubbed “pigeon music”. Luckily, the guy picked up the call really quick. “Oi, Rando.”.

 

“What’s up, my man?” asked Rando, who seemed to be quite lazy just from his voice alone.

 

“I’ve done goofed. They have found me out and now that Nagito dude is in a pickle.” reported Ultimate Scammer that their plan was bamboozled within the first day.

 

“Aw, fuck. We got unlucky about it, I guess.” said Rando while remaining weirdly calm about it. Perhaps it was that he knew Nagito was unreliable, but it was still worth giving a try.

 

“Hol up, don’t you always fuck up swears?” noted Ultimate Scammer that he said a swear normally. Daitane would have been greatly pleased, but Rando always finds a way to infuriate her.

 

“Nah, I don’t feel like it anymore. That was last week’s shtick.” admitted Rando, just not feeling it for butchering swears.

 

“Well now, what you got on your mind?” asked Ultimate Scammer.

 

“I dunno, gonna rely on my old buddy World Wide Web on it. Gotta find if there’s good stuff on it.” explained Rando before he gave his colleague a weird sense of reassurance.“But yeah, don’t feel too bad about it. We still got folk there.”.

 

Not that he would feel bad about it anyway.

 

“Ahahaha, I know, you rotten bastard! The thing is, how did they find me so quickly? Was it that Nagito dude that told him about it?” laughed Ultimate Scammer before raising a rather huge point that could influence their operations in a different way. Rando raised an eyebrow, since he expected that Ultimate Scammer would be found out within a week at minimum.

 

“Unlikely, I think it’s the Manhattan boys who did it. They’re the only enemy that we have beaten that refuses to give up. Then again, our previous opponents were sent to Albania, where they belong, while they just went skadoosh. If they get particularly annoying...you know where they go.” argued Rando while also reminding him of what was the fate of adversaries of Daft Capo. It was his idea, after all. The general plan was that those enemies would suffer the wrath of Balkan residents.

 

“He did mention that those Hope’s peak scrubs have united against us, yeah. Manhattan Boys likely gave them an incentive to do so. Any plans on dealing with them?” reported Ultimate Scammer while also adding his own observations to the discussion.

 

“That’s for Elite Bois to deal with. I was thinking on sending Herman to find out on how exactly they have found you out, but I have two problems. One, element of surprise is gone. Two, he’s still pissy about getting punched in the face by noob.” further spoke Rando about his plans to him. The Ultimate Scammer laughed upon being reminded of Chiaki.

 

“Speaking of noob, guess who did I encounter.” jeered Ultimate Scammer, almost in a way that sounded like he was bragging.

 

“Her? Tell me more about it.” the words of Ultimate Scammer caught Rando’s interest.

 

“That’s the little baby that Herman’s so mad about? What the fuck, hahahaha! She looks like a talking mouse! I bet she even squeaks the moment something spooks her!” Ultimate Scammer couldn’t stop laughing as he was telling Rando about Chiaki. However, Rando was a bit more hesitant when it came to mocking her.

 

“Hmmm...I’m having a feeling that there’s more to her than we might assume. I have already convinced Herman about setting her as a priority target even before the Elite Bois will come, but we should still keep an eye on her.” revealed Rando that Daft Capo will take caution regarding her.

 

“Are you seriously suggesting she’s a threat? C’mon, don’t be fucking around.” scoffed Ultimate Scammer.

 

“Not as a threat as of now, but more like a point of interest, so to speak. As of now, we are only sure about some students as high priority threats. Herman already set three at least, and it were that buff lady, the wizard and manager.” elaborated Rando, as his plan started to make sense to the client.

 

“Ah, I see. We’ll definitely keep an eye on her, as long as those guys do their job.” said Ultimate Scammer.

 

“We have already gained a lot of info from them. Now, return to Zona Daft Capo. We’ll discuss more later.” Rando decided to end the conversation as he awaited for him in the hideout.

 

“Ayy, my mang.” nodded Ultimate Scammer before the call was concluded. Thus, once it was all set, the Ultimate Scammer hopped onto his moped and rode all the way to Zona Daft Capo in order to get further updates. Although he was gone from Hope’s peak academy, some personnel of Daft Capo still hid among Hope’s peak’s shadows. Who was it, only they knew.

 

Chapter 25: Day without One

Notes:

I just found out that my fic is recommended by Tv Tropes! OMG AAAAAAAAAA I'm really happy about it! It's one step of making my dream come true (second one being a full blown Tv Tropes page), but I'm still so happy! Thank you!!! I'm glad that people are enjoying this story. Anyway, things are about to get really spicy soon! Be prepared!

Chapter Text

A Tuesday morning arrived, with one student from class 77-B missing. Everyone who was present in the class was silent, contemplating about the events from the day before. Multiple questions and assumptions regarding the fate of their differently aligned classmate went through their heads. Each of them had their own feelings on the subject, some had no remorse about it and saw it as a massive relief, some saw it as a warning sign that their lives could go downhill. The sole exception seemed to be Hiyoko, who was unaware of the whole incident, since she was the only one out of class 77-B that has yet to participate in their activities as the Fellowship of Darkness. She remained confused, wondering on why everyone was silent, gloomy even.

 

Their class begun when the door opened. Chisa went inside, completely devoid of her usual cheerfulness. She was rather tired looking, sorrowful even. That was immediately picked on by Chiaki, which made her mood even worse. She still feeling guilt and anxiety from earlier, but seeing her beloved teacher in such state just spiraled it. Chisa then faced forward as she attempted to start their day with revealing the truth.

 

“...Good morning, class.” solemnly greeted Chisa, which caught off some of the students, but they did understand it why she was like that. However, they did not know what exactly happened to their classmate.

 

“Morning, Instructor. Do you know why everyone here has such long faces?” asked Hiyoko, being the only one who was unaffected by the whole ordeal. Majority of the class remained silent about it.

 

“...You’ll hear soon enough, Hiyoko.” Mahiru cautioned her of the incoming news.

 

“Well….how do I begin this?” Chisa cleared her throat before she began recollecting memories on how difficult was her choice not just from even thinking about it, but getting it through as well. Bureaucracy of the school made it extremely tough for her, but after hours of fighting on, she did manage to convince them. “Yesterday was a day where I had to take a tough decision. It was quite a fight too, since...it was hard to convince them.”.

 

“What’s this all about?” Hiyoko further asked before she noticed that there were only fifteen of students, not sixteen of them. “Hey, I just noticed that he’s missing. He’s probably late or whatever. Not that I care.”.

 

Then, after so much hesitation, the truth was revealed.

 

“Nagito Komaeda….has been expelled from Hope’s peak academy.”.

 

Some of them anticipated the outcome, yet still winced at it, but some took a sigh of relief upon hearing the news. The menace was finally gone for good, but so was their classmate.

 

“Wait, really? That’s the thing we should be sad about?” questioned Hiyoko, who was sort of surprised to hear that expelling Nagito was something that made some of her classmates hesitant and silent. She thought it was something worthy of celebrating.

 

“In a way, we shouldn’t but…” hesitated Sonia, feeling that while it was for the better than Nagito was gone, it represented a problem for the group. It shouldn’t have been a thing to celebrate.

 

“Frankly, I feel tranquility return within me, now that I wouldn’t have to see him again.” Gundham bluntly yet boldly stated his opinion on the matter. After every spiel Nagito pulled off, he was more than happy to have him out of the system.

 

“That’s rather cold of you, isn’t it?” Mahiru called him out on just how utterly unrestrained Gundham was in terms of expressing his opinion.

 

“No, it’s perfectly valid. Good riddance that he’s no more.” Hajime defended him, feeling the same amount of distaste for Nagito as his wizard colleague did. The words of a talent worshiper still rang inside his head, possibly enabling his insecurities more, but now that he was gone, he can at the very least be free of his elitism.

 

“I mean, he’s or rather a was weirdo, but some of you are awfully satisfied that he’s gone. What’s up with that?” Hiyoko raised her eyebrow, noticing the reaction of the half that felt relief regarding expulsion of Komaeda.

 

“Just a weirdo? Man, you dodged a bullet there.” Ibuki heeded the warning that it was possibly for the better that, unlike the rest of the class, she wasn’t aware to true extent of Nagito’s personality. Despite those words coming from someone who’s seldom serious, the dancer noticed that the fact she said it was incredibly off.

 

“What do you mean by more than a weirdo? Don’t tell me that he’s some kind of psycho or something.” piqued Hiyoko as she assumed that there has to be more the full story.

 

“Um...perhaps I should explain…” Mahiru hesitated a bit, but she told the whole spiel of the previous day as much as she could remember. Once she was finished with it, all Hiyoko could do was to have a grimace of sheer disgust on her face for a whole minute. It was so fierce, that wrinkles started to pop up.

 

“….What the hell?! If he was still there, I would spit right in his face!” Hiyoko held no hesitation as she joined the “I am very glad he’s gone” side of the class. Her opinion on Komaeda went from “weirdo” to a “menace of society” in a span of a second after she heard Mahiru’s story about it.

 

“Only spit? Should have punched him right in the face.” suggested Akane that physical violence was more appropriate in terms of dealing with such individuals.

 

“I-is it even alright to say such stuff?” Mikan, who was on the “I understand why but I’m really worried” side of the class, spoke up to counter the other side for a bit, since she felt like they were a bit too harsh all things considered. Hiyoko was about to verbally assault her for just speaking up, but someone preemptively rose for the defense of the nurse.

 

“Not now, Hiyoko. Just, not the time for it.” advised Peko, whom felt like that the situation did not warrant any more arguing. One split was enough, further more would have been tougher to swallow.

 

“Why it shouldn’t be? He was a goddamn threat and we’re no longer dealing with him.” questioned Fuyuhiko as he suggested that no one should really feel bad for the white haired menace.

 

“...I can understand that and, to an extent….I do…” Chiaki “But...I feel like that has brought us a rather big problem.” quietly spoke up Chiaki about the concern that side of the class had regarding implications of the incident.

 

“And what would that problem we? Rouge bastards aren’t one, that’s for sure.” asked Fuyuhiko, not sure exactly what Chiaki was thinking about.

 

“I’d say the problem is...more internal...like, this could be a sign that we could fall apart...maybe.” Chiaki attempted to explain that expulsion of Nagito and similar incidents would lead to the class splintering up, perhaps becoming even more hostile to each other in the process. The argument did make the other side contemplate for a bit, taking it as a warning sign that further incidents could be damaging to class or maybe even to school itself. However, their stance on Nagito getting expelled have not changed at all.

 

“Hm, I see where you are getting at. Perhaps one of us could also have hidden agendas, perhaps even ones that would subvert our efforts.” theorized Ryota about Daft Capo utilizing such tactic to a greater scale than they have imagined. For him, it seemed to easy to believe that they only had one spy on their end.

 

“Huh? Us? Hidden agendas? Only agenda we have is getting Daft Capo out of the picture and chill!” argued Kazuichi, distrusting Ryota’s doubt regarding them. The mechanic thought that his animator classmate (or was he?) was getting way too paranoid, since everyone seemed to be so tightly united against Daft Capo.

 

“Don’t be so presumptuous. You must ask yourself how much do you truly know about us.” cautioned Ryota with a scornful look.

 

That’s quite a fair point you speak of, Ryota Mitarai.” concurred Gundham with a raised finger, speaking in a much more calmer tone than usual. Nearly entire class was off put by him toning down his chunni.

 

“D-did you just drop the nicknames completely?!” Ibuki’s jaw dropped as she was completely bewildered by the lack of overly bombastic speeches and ham.

 

It is not appropriate in such dark times.” elaborated Gundham rather concisely, in a tone that seemed almost solemn. Perhaps it was due precaution he has taken ever since Ultimate Scammer was found out as a spy or it was due to a fear of one of them being a spy for their enemy.

 

“Even if we have our own agendas….I don’t think we should let the group fall apart cuz of it...all of our efforts would have gone to waste.” suggested Chiaki while expressing her fear out loud. A fear that did resonate with some of her classmates, including some on the other side of the argument.

 

Not that we’re gonna let it happen in the first place!” reassured Nekomaru while, unlike the wizard colleague, still remained his over the topness as a team manager. Then he expressed an idea he had ever since the incident was over. “I do know that it’s unfortunate that it happened, but here’s a thing!”.

 

“And what exactly would that be?” asked Peko, crossing her arms while wanting to know exactly what did her team manager classmate have in his mind.

 

“The reason why Nagito has failed is because he put ideals before the people, which is something we’re not gonna do!” Nekomaru explained his view on Nagito’s downfall and how valuing concepts over people as people made the incident inevitable. It dawned upon the classmates that even if one of the classmates is gone forever, at the very least they could all stick it until the end.

 

Or else I’m gonna hafta beat you up!” threatened Akane in the case of anyone thinking about betraying their own class for personal purposes.

 

“I mean, true but that’s what I was saying in the first place.” noted Kazuichi that “their only agenda is wanting to chill” was something he brought up way earlier than anyone else.

 

Hmm, I see...it was always that we protected each other, like friends. We should keep doing that, even if days darken.” advised Chiaki, feeling like it would be best for the class to remain as close as they can be. Secretly, she made a promise to herself that she will keep her classmates happy and safe.

 

Exactly! It is only together that we can overcome struggle.” approved Sonia as she pumped her fists.

 

“HELL YEAH, NOW WE ARE TALKING! THAT’S WHAT I LIKE TO SEE!” Nekomaru cheered for them, with the mood of the class becoming slightly better. They finally acknowledged that they had to let go from the incident and move forward.

 

I g-guess this is true to an extent…” Fuyuhiko, even though he was starting to agree, was a bit too embarrassed to fully say it. Peko silently nodded, with a tiny smile on her face. She wasn’t the only one who had a smile return to them.

 

...This is why I believe in you guys.” Chisa suddenly, yet quietly spoke as the entire attention of the class redirected towards her. Those who were close to her, particularly Chiaki, felt a bit lighter in their hearts, finally glad to see her smile return.

 

Stuff like this has proven that no matter what, you will always overcome any challenge. To be honest, I do wish things went for the better...Like, how you all have different backgrounds yet you still get along mostly really well, even if an argument pops up here and there. You all can do it and no one will stop you.” Chisa continued to praise her students, speaking in an incredibly warm voice. She couldn’t help but to reveal just how proud of them she was.

 

Yep, we will do our best to do so. Incidents like before won’t happen anymore. That’s our promise.” Chiaki smiled as well as she placed her hand in her chest. Another promise to the pile, but she was at the very least dedicated to it.

 

“In fact, we should all promise each other that we won’t betray each other. Everyone, gather around!” ordered Sonia as they all gathered around in a circle. It was rather sudden and many of them were confused about Sonia’s intentions.

 

“….Are you seriously doing that?” grumbled Hiyoko, thinking that the whole thing was getting ridiculous.

 

I shall pledge that I, Sonia Nevermind, will never betray anyone that I consider a friend!” promised Sonia as she extended her arm to the middle. At that point, her classmates got the vague idea on what was she planning.

 

I will promise that I’ll always be on the side of my friends….for sure.” Chiaki offered her help as she placed her hand on her classmate.

 

...You got me on your side and I’ll never go anywhere else.” Hajime joined it as well, placing his own right on Chiaki’s.

 

I-I mean, as long as we get Daft Capo out of our system, we’re gonna be good for a while.” Fuyuhiko, even though he hesitated, he placed his hand as well.

 

“To protect, that shall be my purpose.” declared Peko with her look oozing pure commitment to her cause.

 

Remember my words well: together or bust!” Nekomaru placed his massive hand in the middle, overshadowing those who already had their hands there.

 

“What coach basically said, plus no one better think about betrayal!” Akane quickly put her hand on Nekomaru’s gargantuan hand.

 

“Kehehe….as the de facto leader of Fellowship of Darkness, fate has brought you mercy that the Supreme Overlord of Ice swore an allegiance with this institution.” chuckled Gundham as he gave them approval, but refused to put his hand in the middle.

 

“Oh, nicknames again? And why aren’t you giving out your arm?” asked Ibuki, wondering about how did a trace of his chunni return.

 

“My skin is poisonous, it shall leave those who touch it with death.” cautioned Gundham, although it might be because he wasn’t really comfortable with touching, but he covered it up with more outlandish explanation.

 

“….Oooookaaay theeeen, so…” Ibuki decided to just roll with it before she did her own promise as well, placing the hand in the middle. “Oh, that’s right! If I ain’t on your side, then I’m not Ibuki Mioda!”.

 

Hey, don’t forget about me!” Kazuichi rushed in, just in case that he would be left out.

 

“I swear on my Mama!” Teruteru gave him own promise, although he was both too small and his arms too short to reach the middle, so he sneaked inside to place his hand on them.

 

Well, I do owe you guys a promise.” Mahiru calmly placed her hand in the middle before she glanced at her dancer classmate, who just had crossed arms and was pouting. However, her face was covered in blush.

 

“….My god, you guys are corny.” jeered Hiyoko at them, being too embarrassed to make a promise to them.

 

Well, it’s not too bad to have a little reassurance, Hiyoko. Especially in such times.” Mahiru attempted to persuade her, just so that she knew that Hiyoko wouldn’t join Daft Capo or perform similar dangerous stunts. Mahiru was the one person the traditional dancer couldn’t turn down.

 

“….Alright, you corny bastards don’t deserve to be tortured by those criminal punks. That, unfortunately, includes pig barf.” Hiyoko looked away as she placed her hand in the middle, but not before she did a little dunk on the nurse. At the very least, not even she deserved to suffer under Daft Capo.

 

“P-pig barf?! I-I’m not a pig barf!” stuttered Mikan as she tried to defend herself for not being a remark before she realized that there were other priorities much more important than panicking over an insult. “...O-oh, right. It’s my cue now. Erm….a slowpoke like me wouldn’t ever betray you...not that I’m capable of it….Sorry, that was bad.”.

 

I disagree, I think you did just good.” reassured Sonia, accidentally startling Mikan in the process. It wasn’t her intention, but for Mikan it was a rarity that she was given praise in general.

 

“O-oh, a compliment? Hehe, thank you, Sonia….You are so nice…” giggled Mikan as her usual anxious expression with a happy smile. Only one person remained to join in their promise.

 

“...Hm.” greatly hesitated Ryota, unsure if he would take a leap in faith to trust the incoming events from not repeating themselves.

 

What’s wrong, Ryota?” asked Chiaki out of concern, since he still had a doubtful frown on his face.

 

“Something tells me that this will be short lived.” Ryota revealed his thoughts on the matter. Although it was something they did not want to hear at the time, it was also an argument which was not impossible to come into fruition.

 

“Hey, are you suspecting us of betrayal?! Man, you cannot even chill!” Kazuichi condemned him for planting the seeds of doubt in what was supposed to be a moment of everyone believing in each other.

 

It’s not that. Your bonds seem to be strong enough for be to believe your words. However, we must take in account other classes. They might not be as united as we are or perhaps even have their own agendas.” elaborated Ryota that it was not about them, but rather about others. They couldn’t really argue with that, but some of them, including Ryota himself, started to think about it.

 

That is a good point and we should be cautious of that as well….but at the very least, we have class 78th on our side, right?” Chiaki agreed with him, but reminded that they’re not alone in their fight, at the very least if they counted Hope’s peak only folk.

 

So far, we do...and I do believe it as well.” Ryota reassured them that at the very least, he had faith in them. For someone who seemed to think that trust is a fickle concept, his words had quite an impact on them. “It is kind of strange that class 77-B and class 78th are only ones fighting Daft Capo.”.

 

“Perhaps we should obtain new minions?” suggested Gundham, imagining that the Fellowship might become even bigger than before.

 

“Hm, it would definitely be harder to convince others about our fight, since you know….how the fuck are we supposed to explain that a gangster octopus not only attacked us, but is the part of a mafia in the first place.” Fuyuhiko raised a point on just how utterly hard to believe the whole conflict seemed to be.

 

Perhaps we should worry about that later. Now it’s more important on what we have.” advised Sonia to focus more on the conflict itself rather than drafting more students in such fight.

 

I suppose so. Our relations with class 78th are pretty close. I guess a little encouragement wouldn’t hurt.” Ryota finally joined in, being the last student to place their hand there but not the last person to do so.

 

Now don’t forget about your teach as well! You guys have to know that your teacher will forever be on your side, no alternative allowed!” Chisa suddenly placed her hand to join in, acknowledging that their teacher won’t be a passive force, instead of an active one. After they all put their hands together...they just stuck there, unsure what exactly to do afterwards.

 

“...Okay, now we do what?” Kazuichi was the first one to ask.

 

“Don’t we usually raised our hands in union here?” Hajime reminded them on why those things happen, usually around when a team was about to begin their game of sport. The ahoge boy wasn’t a sports person, but he knew that due general knowledge and observation.

 

“Oooh, right.” noted Kazuichi before all of them (except Gundham) raised their arms, letting out one “Hurrah” for themselves. As silly as that gesture was, at the very least it gave them hope that they will come on top with their fight against the adversary criminal syndicate.

 

Yaaaay! Now that’s the spirit! We still have some time before the lunch break, so we should make that time as best as possible!” Chisa complimented them all before they all returned to having a normal class time before lunch break. Things seemed to go back on track as they should, as they all felt some kind of relief about it.

 

After a normal class, it was time for lunch break. Everyone (but most noticeably Akane) rushed for it, since all the worries they had made them all hungry. Sole exception seemed to be Chiaki, who remained in the class. She had a task do to, a task she gave to herself. The regretful gal slowly stepped towards her teacher, who did notice that she needed her.

 

“….Hey, Miss Yukizome?” quietly asked Chiaki, looking at her teacher like a guilty puppy.

 

Oh, Chiaki? Is there something bothering you, my dear?” Chisa wanted to know what was bothering her. She picked on that if her student had something on her mind, she will always wait.

 

“I just wanna say….I’m sorry for yesterday...I’m sorry for acting such a way….I’m sorry for failing-” Chiaki started to apologize for the outburst, but it was slowly descending into her tearing herself apart. Her self bashing was quickly interrupted by Chisa placing her arms on the shoulder, seeming like she would shake her. But Chisa wasn’t that kind of a woman, instead she opted for a more close approach.

 

“Chiaki, don’t be too hard on yourself for it. I understand why it happened….and it did tell me a thing I always assumed.” Chisa started reassuring her while also revealing that she noticed a certain pattern in her.

 

“What kind of thing?” asked Chiaki, unsure of what her teacher meant.

 

“You hide a lot in yourself because you don’t want your friends to worry about you, right?” Chisa revealed her assumption to her. Chiaki’s face became completely red as her irises shrunk. She did not expect that Chisa would guess it right on the nose-

 

...H-huh? Um…stammered Chiaki, trying to hide it, but the truth was, she couldn’t, especially in front of her teacher.

 

You have to know that if people worry about you, that means they really care about you. Even though it’s not a pleasant feeling, it shouldn’t be shamed. It just means that we want best for you too. To be honest, I do worry about you a lot, ever since I got to know that this school is being targeted by mafia…” continued Chisa as she kept revealing her true feelings, fully trusting Chiaki that she will take her word.

 

“B-but there...there is no need to worry, Miss Yukizome.” Chiaki attempted to downplay herself, implying that no one should worry for her ever.

 

“Even if I was forced not to, I still couldn’t help myself, but worry. Don’t try to avoid that feeling, my dear, it’s really nothing to be ashamed of. But there is something I do want to try out, just for you.” Chisa kept reassuring her, knowing that Chiaki sort of refuses to open up. Instead, she opted for a promise, the one that she hoped that Chiaki would take it.

 

What would that be, Miss Yukizome?” asked Chiaki.

 

“I want you to tell me about your true feelings. Don’t force yourself upon doing it immediately, but once you’re ready, please feel free to talk to me about it. It would make me very happy to see you open up, but remember, no rush.” Chisa gave her an offer, which caused Chiaki to blush even harder. The gamer gal’s brain took a while to process it, since it was the first time for anyone to not only accept her if she opens up, but also looked forward to it.

 

...Y-you’d be happy...even if I reveal my true side?” stuttered Chiaki as she fidgeted in one place. She was still in shock for how open minded Chisa was about her.

 

“Of course I would! I’m pretty sure your friends would too, as well. They would love to see your at most comfortable. Now, will you promise me to do so? Pinky promise?” Chisa promised on her end as she gave her a pinky finger to hold. Chiaki hesitated for some time before she finally decided that at the very least, she can do it for her teacher.

 

“….uhm, pinky promise.” Chiaki gave another promise to her as she touched her pinky finger with her own. Both of them shook hands, promising that they would be open to each other all the time, no more hiding.

 

That’s my girl! Do you need me for anything else?” Chisa complimented her before asking her if there’s a thing that’s on her mind.

 

Well, I think that should be it for now, heh…but...I will do it. I’ll do anything for you. Now, I have to go….See ya.” said Chiaki to her, with rosy cheeks and a smile on her face before she went off to the dining hall.

 

“See ya soon, you cinnamon roll!” Chisa waved at her as she remained there to clean up the classroom all by herself.

 

However, just as she got outside of the classroom, Chiaki stopped and remained there like a statue.

 

“…..Heck.” she quietly muttered to herself, realizing in how much of a big step she took. Before Hope’s peak, she wouldn’t even have considered it.

 

This is confusing….I don’t want them to worry, but they want me to...um...open up? I mean, why would they want to know the true me, who is an utter mess-” Chiaki’s mind became overflooded with a lot of thoughts, but the commitment to keep promise to her teacher reigned above all thoughts, including insecurities. “….No, I will live up to my promise. I’ve made so many at that point, I have to live up to them. Especially for my group and Miss Yukizome...Yeah, I have to do it….”

 

S uddenly, her thought process was halted when not did she hear a familiar voice, but saw a familiar person right in front of her eyes.

 

Hey, um...Chiaki?” Chihiro quietly said it to her, feeling a bit relaxed that she was just there and not lost somewhere completely else.

 

“Oh, Chihiro. Sorry for waiting, just had a thing to do with Miss Yukizome.” apologized Chiaki before she elaborated on why she took a bit of time.

 

Ah, that’s nothing to worry about. I just went in to check to see if you’re doing okay. So, wanna come with us?” reassured the programmer before inviting her to go to the dining room together. Chiaki happily nodded as both of them went together for a brief stroll. Once they arrived, they sat near a table where Hajime and Ibuki were. They were also accompanied by Makoto and Sayaka, who, like the rest of the class 78th, were worried about the well being of class 77-B after the most infamous student got expelled. It was all clarified that they went through that and it was alright at that moment.

 

“Ah, here you are, Chiaki. We’ve been waiting for you.” greeted Makoto once she sat down.

 

“Our class has also heard what happened to you guys...You guys seem to take it rather well.” Sayaka began about the expulsion.

 

Well...not really. We took a while to accept it, there were still some worries about it. Still, it still sucks that our classmate got expelled…” admitted Chiaki while expressing her thoughts on it.

 

“Yeah, it’s really not a good feeling to have a friend expelled….” Makoto sympathized with her regarding expulsion, since it was also something he didn’t want for his class to suffer. At the very least, no one seemed to be like Nagito in his class.

 

“He honestly wasn’t a friend in the first place, but considering that he’s out now, I do hope days are more relaxing now. I am aware that’s cold to say, but what he said…” bluntly said Hajime while hinting at why exactly Nagito’s words caused him anxieties for quite some time.

 

“I don’t think it’s too cold, but yeah….You’re pretty justified in what you’re feeling as well.” Chiaki assured him that he wasn’t really wrong for it, since she knew the truth.

 

“Well,...I’ve felt it too. Something about his words just irked me off…” Makoto admitted to them that Nagito’s words did strike him, just that he hid it in himself about it.

 

“You too? Mind if I ask why?” asked Hajime, genuinely surprised that he was startled by such. Perhaps he was also secretly without talent, but it didn’t seem likely.

 

“It’s less about me and more about my sister. She doesn’t really have a talent and for him to call her “worthless trash” indirectly…” Makoto revealed the reason why that student’s words stuck with him. Everyone that heard it was surprised that he had relatives.

 

“...That’s really awful of him. More I hear about it, worse it gets...it seems.” lamented Chiaki, while sliding more that Nagito’s expulsion was unanimously a good thing for the school. He really screwed up big time the moment he dismissed non talented people as trash.

 

“I’m now even more glad that he’s gone.” bluntly said Hajime while also relating to the feeling Makoto had. But, since Nagito was gone, another topic came into play.

 

“...Also, you have a sister?” Chiaki, Hajime and Sayaka were first one to ask, curious about Mrs. Naegi. Even Fuyuhiko and Peko heard it, who were just passing by.

 

“Oh shit, did you just hear him? He too?” Fuyuhiko whispered to Peko, startled by the revelation.

 

“It seems so.” confirmed Peko while both of them pretended that the group didn’t hear them. Unfortunately for them, they all did.

 

“Fuyuhiko and Peko?” Makoto noticed them and asked, since usually those two would keep it at themselves.

 

“Eh, don’t mind us. We’re just doing our business.” Fuyuhiko attempted to dismiss their presence as a coincidence, but considering what his face was like, it was clear as day he had relatives too.

 

“So, what’s she like?” Sayaka was the first one to fire a question. She seemed to be quite interested in her, especially with a huge smile on her face and sparks in her eyes.

 

“W-well, um, she’s pretty cheerful and optimistic and we read manga together. She really loves it.” Makoto began talking about her sister, telling them about what sort of stuff they do together.

 

“Gosh, you two read manga together? That’s adorable!” Sayaka complimented, which caused Makoto to become even more flustered.

 

“I-It’s really not that much…” Makoto tried to downplay himself, but continued to tell stories about his sister and her adventures. They all loved to listen to it, just happy to hear his rather silly stories with her.

 

Meanwhile, in the “bar” section of the dining hall, two more stern looking individuals had a conversation.

 

“Figottoni, there’s something I must tell you.” Ryota began it, prepared to tell the events of the day and one before.

 

“What would that be, Ryota Mitarai?” asked Figottoni as he was busy with cleaning glasses.

 

“One of our classmates has been expelled due to him threatening my classmates. Nagito was his name, do you perhaps remember him?” Ryota told him about Nagito’s expulsion and even prompted him to tell his opinion on it.

 

“You also had someone expelled?” Figottoni raised his eyebrow, revealing that, as a part of class 69, they also received an expulsion. However, Ryota was aware of it even before. At the very least, he assumed so.

 

“Correct, although I do think I am aware who got expelled on your end. Ultimate Scammer, wasn’t it?” said Ryota while giving out his guess to the bartender colleague.

 

“How did you find out, if I may ask?” asked Figottoni once more, surprised that he knew the exact person that was expelled.

 

“Our instructor has told us about in the morning.” answered Ryota, clearing up confusion for a bit.

 

“Ah, that clears it up. Our classmate got expelled for, from what I’ve heard, criminal activity in the school and being a rather unpleasant individual.” said Figottoni about the reason why Ultimate Scammer was expelled in the first place.

 

“Criminal activity?” Ryota raised his eyebrow, curious upon the wording of Figottoni. Perhaps the bartender knew more than it seemed, especially regarding Daft Capo.

 

“Scamming. Even though he was the Ultimate Scammer, he crossed the line too much, especially when he attempted to scam teachers and, from what I’ve heard, headmaster himself.” Figottoni further elaborated, gaining Kyoko’s attention when he mentioned headmaster. Kyoko silently walked towards their place, without them even noticing.

 

“Hm, how odd, for him to be expelled over that.” noted Ryota, considering that he assumed that the reason had to do with Scammer’s link with the criminal syndicate.

 

“I would like to hear more about his activities regarding headmaster.” Kyoko suddenly interrupted their discussion with a demand. Both of them didn’t mind much, but they began to be curious about what caught her attention.

 

“Ah, greetings, Kyoko Kirigiri. It was merely a hearsay, but I’ve heard it from my classmate, Ultimate Punk Enthusiast, that he attempted to scam the headmaster. It was on the first week of school, where he was actually there.” explained Figottoni.

 

“Do you perhaps know anything more?” Kyoko asked for more information regarding the headmaster. It was starting to become suspicious for them that Kyoko had something to do with him.

 

“I am afraid not. I apologize.” Figottoni shook his head. Kyoko left the conversation, seeing that the bartender did not know much about the headmaster. Both of them thought about her for a bit.

 

“I do wonder what did your class feel about him getting expelled.” Ryota suddenly asked as he switched the topic.

 

“About that…” Figottoni began to explain the feelings of class 69 regarding Scammer’s expulsion.

 

Meanwhile, in the classroom of class 69, Dream a Dream by Captain Jack was playing on high volume. Inside the class, there were strobe lights on the ceiling. All of the students, with exception of one, who was just confused, were dancing like there was no tomorrow. Some of them were even break dancing, on the tables even. The blackboard had a drawn caricature of the Ultimate Scammer, which was accompanied by two sentences, consisting of “THE SCAM ASSHOLE IS GONE” and “gib mone pls”.

 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” one of the students, the so called Ultimate Stock Trader, jumped off the table to do a somersault midair. She landed on her feet before she broke into break dancing again. Not that she would be relevant in the future.

 

“Mwahahaha, now I have monopoly over this school!” boastfully laughed Ultimate Telemarketer as he started typing on the keyboard with such pace, that it would make regular world wide web browsers blush. The reign of his apex scamming began. Not that he would be relevant in the future.

 

“THE EVIL HAS BEEN DEFEATED! YES! YES! YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEES!” cheered one of the more intriguing students, the Ultimate Bootlegger, who seemed to go with the name of N.Vious. He was quite lanky, looked like a scientist imitation and most importantly, had a giant N on his forehead. For him to cheer for the defeat of evil, he resembled a supervillain more and he was pelvic thrusting the air. Not that he would be relevant in the future, maybe.

 

Yo, I actually can’t believe he’s out.” even though she was jamming, Suifta seemed to be surprised that Ultimate Scammer was expelled. For all the leniency the school gave to Ultimates, he seemed to be the sole exception to it.

 

“Who cares? Let’s PARTYYYYYYYYYYY!” shouted Zapatta as he was rocking the hell out of his guitar, even though it was dwarfed by the song itself.

 

Suddenly, their teacher, an ordinary looking saleswoman, kicked the door and barged inside, with a scowl on her face. She fixed her glasses to get a clear vision on what was going on.

 

“What the fuck are y’all celebrating for?” the teacher demanded to know, talking like she was rightfully fit for the class. All of the class turned their heads towards their teacher as they stopped partying for a moment.

 

“The scam guy has been expelled!” announced one of the students, the so called Ultimate Tax Collector, another irrelevant one. It came off as a genuine surprise for the teacher that one of her students got expelled, but that could be due to her, lets say, contrasting personality of Miss Yukizome.

 

“Oh, I see.” the teacher shrugged off before she joined in the party, glad that the scam fella was gone for good.

 

Back in the dining hall, Figottoni completed his story about class 69’s reaction to expulsion of the Ultimate Scammer: So indeed, that’s how it was received.”.

 

“I’ll take it that this Ultimate Scammer person has not been welcomed in your class.” noted Ryota, feeling rather intrigued by the whole tale.

 

“I suppose so, but it is no surprise.” said Figottoni as they continued the their time in the dining hall discussing other topics. Meanwhile, the gang near Chiaki was talking about the fun stuff and all of that jazz, just having a good time. Unfortunately for them, their fun times ended when the least fun person in the class 78th. The lanky man with glasses towered above them, adding a piercing glare to the mix.

 

“...Oh no…” sighed Makoto and Sayaka upon seeing the man himself, Byakuya Togami, right near them. However, he turned his head towards Chiaki, looking like he has business with her.

 

“Tell me more about this whole “Fellowship” thing you and your accomplices have cooked up.” demanded Byakuya in his cold, scornful voice, gaining Chiaki’s attention almost immediately. She got startled a bit, since Byakuya wasn’t really a person that ever spoke to her.

 

“...I’m...not the person to talk about that. Gundham is.” admitted Chiaki, knowing her place as just a mere member, despite influencing some of the decisions of the Fellowship. Her response warranted her a squint from Byakuya, which made her confused on what she did wrong.

 

“Are you having a laugh now?” Byakuya asked her in a rather sharp tone.

 

“No, I mean it. It’s best to discuss with him.” Chiaki defended her point that she was genuine about it. Byakuya still doubted her, but considering how serious she sounded, he gave it a try.

 

“I will see about that. Your words better be true.” warned Byakuya before he walked away, leaving a not so positive impression on that group before he focused his attention on the wizard man. Once he arrived, he immediately fired a demand for him: “From what I’ve heard, you must be the instigator of this whole group, aren’t you?”.

 

“Kehehe, indeed I am. What is it that you seek?” chuckled Gundham, enjoying the fact he was acknowledged as the leader, albeit indirectly.

 

I would like to join it. Consider it an honor among you commoners. It seems like things have become a lot more interesting.” Byakuya gave an offer, but not before he asserted himself as someone who had superiority over them.

 

“Hmmm, that’s quite a surprise, but a welcome one for sure. For more information, we should discuss it elsewhere.” Gundham opted to ignore his obvious arrogance, instead welcoming him as another person to fight for their cause.

 

“I already know about penguins, since someone couldn’t keep his mouth shut. For being a secret, you commoners are terrible at keeping at it.” criticized Byakuya for their inability for what he assumed were hiding while he also glanced at Yasuhiro, who was eating a burger. The afro man noticed that the Affluent Prodigy was glaring right at him.

 

“What?” asked Yasuhiro, confused on what he did wrong.

 

“That aspect is minor in grand scheme of things. Considering what events of the day past have proven, it’s best to keep our plans there.” clarified Gundham that it’s not presence of penguins that was a secret, but their operations against Daft Capo.

 

“I’m surprised you even considered taking precautions. Now then, I shall see what you peasants have. You better live up to it.” smirked Byakuya, in a sense that at the very least they were not dumb enough to go without any plans, though he couldn’t bother just not be condescending to everyone. At the very least, The Fellowship of Darkness gained a new member that day.

 

After much time passed, it was time when students were supposed to go home. However, for the Fellowship of Darkness, it was the time for another meeting with penguins. Compared to the early days, nearly every single student of both class 77-B and class 78th joined in, with only Celestia Ludenberg being a sole exception. However, two newcomers were a slight surprise for their leader.

 

“...When did you two come into play?” asked Gundham with a suspicious look when he saw that Hiyoko and Toko were joining them.

 

“What? Didn’t you morons want more people on your team? I’m only here because Mahiru….” barged Hiyoko while also revealing that Mahiru managed to convinced her. She was all huffy and puffy, but at the very least if it meant protecting Mahiru from Daft Capo, she was on board, reluctantly.

 

“W-what, are you going to judge me for joining?! A-are you gonna kick me out on day one as well?!” Toko shouted at him as she pointed at him, accusing him of bias against her.

 

“Bah, the only reason why you’re here is because you just can’t control yourself over Byakuya, you sardine barf!” jabbed Hiyoko right at her, already hating her from the first sight alone. She expected her to start crying, just like a certain nurse would do.

 

“Oh, y-you’re calling me a sardine barf, you foul odored gremlin?!” Toko, whom defied Hiyoko’s expectations, retaliated with arguably an even worse insult. The dancer was taken a back for a moment, seemingly genuinely offended by her remark.

 

“Y-you have ZERO rights on judging someone who smells, you hypocritical dumpster fire!” countered Hiyoko, although it was rather clear that it stung for her. No one paid attention to these two girls bickering for inane reasons.

 

“Silence, both of you.” commanded Byakuya as he stepped in their little debacle. Withing a millisecond, Toko closed her mouth, blushing happily. Hiyoko was not silenced by Byakuya himself, but from sheer disgust of seeing Toko getting off of Byakuya ordering her to shut up. The cringe was so strong, that she had wrinkles again. Such face was there for five whole minutes.

 

I will bop you on the head so hard for this, hoe.” Hiyoko thought to herself, contemplating a plan to smack Toko’s head any time she got excited over Byakuya. An inflatable mallet would do its job.

 

“The newcomers will be monitored greatly. They might cause inconveniences.” Gundham placed his palm right on his face from seeing them in action before he decided that it was time for them to already meet the penguins. “Alright then, let us go forth.”.

 

The usual procedure of traveling through the park followed. Of course, Hiyoko and Toko complained through it all the way until they reached the door of the garage, which was also known as their hideout. Penguins let them in, allowing for nearly all students inside to go in.

 

“Avians of the Faraway Blizzard, we have gained new members.” Gundham announced the inclusion of further three members of various yet noticeable personalities.

 

“Good work, wizard man! Now lets see who is it!” approved Skipper as he let the new ones to introduce themselves to them. Byakuya, Toko and Hiyoko all took a look at their newly made penguin amigos. Only Byakuya was the one that didn’t do a spit take upon seeing the lads.

 

“...W-what the fuck? Is this for real?” sputtered out Toko as she nearly jumped like a startled cat upon seeing them. Hiyoko had a shocked face for a minute before she turned towards her wizard colleague.

 

Is this your work, you wizard lunatic?!” Hiyoko called him out for messing with her, but the truth was, penguins were technically speaking independent from Gundham. He didn’t tame them, only the adventures and themselves did. However, from the looks alone, penguins did not anticipate good things from them.

 

“...Kowalski, I can already tell that these are gonna be a workload.” said Skipper to his tall penguin colleague as he rolled with his eyes.

 

“Oh, you better be prepared for them, Skipper.” warned Kowalski, already anticipating a lot of arguments with them.

 

“Hold up!” Rico suddenly spoke up, raising his flipper as he focused his look on Toko’s head. He spotted something that no one else, including his target didn’t.

 

“W-what now?” stuttered Toko before Rico, without any warning, jumped right on her shoulder, making her react like a startled cat, the scream included. With a single swipe, Rico managed to snatch the object of his desire that used to reside on Toko’s head: a full sardine.

 

“Fish!” proudly announced Rico as he returned to his penguin colleagues, flexing with his newly snatched item. A realization hit Toko, that she had a fish in her hair for the entire day.

 

“Wait, what? When the hell did a sardine land on my head?!” panicked Toko as she rubbed her head to get rid of all traces of it.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA! FISH! I WIN! GIVE!” cackled Rico as he demanded all coins that they gathered to be handed over to him. Skipper, knowing the outcome, reluctantly opened all jars as he started to fill Rico’s jar with dosh.

 

“Skipper, don’t we just put only new coins in our jars?” asked Private, who was confused upon why would they have to give all of their money to him and not just new coins of the day.

 

“Well, Private….I made a bet with him.” revealed Skipper that he made a bet if Rico will ever get a fish. It turned out, despite his expectations, the fish was obtained and now Rico was the richest among the penguins. He didn’t even hold back posturing about it.

 

“YA YA! WIN!” boasted Rico as he put on sunglasses and posed dramatically, yet pridefully. All of those shenanigans were starting to get on Togami’s nerves.

 

“Cut the nonsense and get to the important part.” ordered Byakuya for penguins to start explaining.

 

“Oh, you’re that type, aren’t ya? Anyway, so…” Skipper jeered at him, just from his owl like scowl alone, before he started info dumping all about their experiences with Daft Capo, their means to deal with them and their former operations in Japan, including the defeat of Herman Emperor of Italia in Hope’s peak academy. Denmark had to be mentioned, or else they would get glares from Hajime.

 

“I cannot even tell from what genre would such bullshit be found.” commented Toko, being completely baffled by the whole story.

 

“Hm...I see. Your tales with them are quite extravagant and your tactics regarding them relied upon your folly, which is why is there little to wonder why Denmark was Daft Capo’s decisive victory.” Byakuya didn’t even bother to mince his words about it. He even had a smirk when he told them that.

 

“Did you really have to rub it in our face?” Skipper squinted right at him, considering that he considered Byakuya to be “that guy” in his wording.

 

“You cannot hide from the truth. However, I do have a question for you. What’s the chance of Togami corporation being attacked by those criminal scoundrels?” insisted Byakuya before he laid out a question for them. Togami showed a rare instance of actual concern, even if it was just for him. A rather strange occurrence for everyone, considering how Byakuya was to literally everyone in Hope’s peak everyone.

 

“Considering that Togami Corporation deals with finances, it’s safe to say that it’s very high.” answered Kowalski in his own way.

 

“Heh..I do welcome a challenger, but the name of Togami won’t be stained by some mere mobsters. So rejoice, for I have fully committed to this group of commoners.” Byakuya smirked once again before he declared that he has officially entered their side of the conflict. Mixed feeling spawned from his declaration seconds after.

 

“Welcome to the Fellowship, Mr.Togami.” Ryota welcomed him to the team without hesitation, possibly due to respect he had for Byakuya. Meanwhile, the less enthusiastic people spoke.

 

“….This is gonna be pain in the butt.” sighed Aoi as she pouted.

 

I already feel it there.” added Ibuki while feeling physical pain in her ass. No one, including herself, didn’t even slap it, just the concept of having someone as stuck up as Byakuya caused her posterior to feel pain by itself.

 

“So, anyone else have something to say? Even though yesterday was...hoo boy, today we didn’t have anything eventful.” asked Skipper about the possible information regarding Daft Capo. Then, those who saw punksters on Saturday realized it was their cue to speak up.

 

“Yeah, actually. Last Saturday was wild for some of us.” Hajime started talking about the incident right away, gaining Skipper’s attention in the process.

 

“Speak, Ahoge!” ordered Skipper as he pointed his flipper at him.

 

“On that Saturday, me, Chiaki, Chihiro and Ibuki just wanted to go to the arcade. On our way, we managed to find Fuyuhiko and Peko on the way and they dragged us in an alleyway.” began Hajime, recalling every single moment that he managed to remember.

 

“We did that because we have found out by complete accident that the clothing store was attacked by Daft Capo punksters.” Peko continued their story in order to confirm her and Fuyuhiko’s presence there.

 

“Well now! How many of them were?” Skipper’s interest rose up as he demanded them to spill out everything they could.

 

“Initially, we thought there were around three of them, but it turned out that there were about three more of them. Those three have found us out and chased us.” added Chiaki, speaking in a serious tone.

 

“We had to evade because we couldn’t pick a fight with them, even with Peko on our side. Luckily, none of us got harmed by those bastards, but yeah….” concluded Fuyuhiko while revealing that they got unharmed, despite having the close encounter with their adversary. Everyone, including Private, felt sympathy for them, to have to deal with enemies right during the weekend.

 

“Oh lord, that has to be a terrible Saturday….If we knew, we would all come into help.” lamented Sonia as she made a promise that if such incidents repeat, all of them would come to help.

 

“Is attacking clothing stores something they have always done?” suddenly asked Kyoko, curious about their tactics and strategies.

 

“Yeah, that’s in line with their MO.” confirmed Skipper, recalling a common occurrence during their adventures in Europe.

 

“But...why exactly would they attack a clothing store? I assume because they had a grudge?” questioned Makoto.

 

“The reason is actually pretty simple. To quote them, “to get the freshest drip”. This was, in fact, a word-to-word quotation.” Kowalski answered the entire thing, including quotation, with a straight face.

 

“...What the hell kind of mafia is that? Don’t they do usual things, like tax evasion or something? I sometimes wonder if this is all just made up.” Hiyoko started to doubt their claims, despite seeing all the evidence by herself. For a mafia, they seemed to lack a lot of trademark activities, or so she thought.

 

“Nope, it’s all real. All of it and you better believe it.” confirmed Skipper that none of the stuff they said about Daft Capo was made up.

 

“There’s also one thing we’ve heard.” Fuyuhiko further added to their conversation, gaining more attention from penguins.

 

“Apparently, they have territory that they call Zona Daft Capo.” revealed Peko to them, causing a rise of curiosity among the Fellowship. The way it was written sounded like Daft Capo already had a settlement in Japan.

 

“This is what I’ve heard too! The Ultimate Scammer, their spy, has mentioned it to the Kraken of The Land.” recalled Gundham that one time he went on an espionage mission during the night. Penguins remembered it too.

 

“Oh, you knew? Then why the fuck didn’t you say it?” Fuyuhiko condemned him for not telling them in the first place. Some of them experienced similar frustration as well.

 

“A mere name would help us nothing if we don’t know the location of it.” reasoned Gundham that, even if they knew, it was more or less useless if they didn’t know exact place of it.

 

Zona Daft Capo, we’ve heard that name too. Considering that we have officially revealed the name of their territory...we got ourselves a new task, boys and girls.” contemplated Skipper before he announced a new operation that will include the full scale Fellowship of Darkness. “With that, widespread campaign of searching that Zona Daft Capo has begun. I shall call it Operation Metropolitan Hunt!”.

 

“How can we help?” asked Chiaki, wanting to know ways they could deal with their newly assigned mission.

 

This will be a job mostly for us and out laboratory friends, but you can assist too. Search every corner of this city to find it.” answered Skipper.

 

“Hold on, that’s basically sending us directly to their territory! You’re not allowed to do it!” objected Mahiru, thinking about the prospect of anyone in the Fellowship being harmed by those punksters.

 

“We’ve never said that you’re gonna go directly into the hive of those criminals, just that we need to find an approximate location of it. You can even do it from home, if you wanna.” reassured Skipper that no one needs to leap right into their territory.

 

“Ah, that makes it a little better.” Mahiru smiled a bit, knowing that Skipper isn’t sending students into grave danger.

 

Alright, that should be all for today, right?” asked Skipper one more time before they concluded the day.

 

“Hmmm...it appears so. We shall call it a day, to get energy for the impending day. The fate smiles upon the most prepared.” Gundham saw no reason to continue the meeting, since they got covered most of the things they wanted.

 

Alright then, meeting dismissed!” announced Skipper as he opened up the door for them, letting them out. Once the last student went outside, Rico closed the door as they all gathered around the laptop.

 

“Hmm...now that Operation Metropolitan Hunt has officially begun, do you fellas have any idea on making it as efficient as possible? All means would be suited for this operation.” requested Skipper for some assistance regarding their new operation.

 

“If we want to keep distance, it would be best to utilize satellite imagery. Perhaps we could identify already known elements and use them to recognize patterns.” advised Kowalski about usage of tools that would sometimes require out of the box thinking.

 

“Good idea, Kowalski! We still need more physical approach as well-” praised Skipper, but any sort of relief was quickly shot down when Rico noticed what was happening on screen.

 

“Uh, red red!” alerted Rico as all of them had their looks centered right on the monitor. A sole red triangle appeared, right in front of entrance. Such symbol meant only one thing: Daft Capo has returned to the grounds of Hope’s peak academy.

 

What?! They’re back at school again?!” denounced Skipper, thinking that their previous encounter with them didn’t give them a lesson. However, the observation took a turn for unexpected: three green circles approached the red triangle and stood there.

 

“There’s green circles as well! Three of them!” Private stated what was going on.

 

“I’m not sure if I have a good feeling or bad feeling about this. Kowalski, identify!” ordered Skipper as he pointed at his tall colleague.

 

“Switching to channel ten.” said Kowalski as he pressed on a PELN that was nearby entrance. Soon, they managed to hear what was happening there.

 

...Ayy there, my friends….

 

The first voice, the one of red triangle, was recognized immediately.

 

“Scammer, that scoundrel! Now lets see who’s the rest of them.” condemned Skipper before he ordered Kowalski to identify green circles. However, those three were people that none of penguins expected.

 

...hey, asshole. Apparently, you’ve been needing us…

 

A rather bombastic voice, worthy of a someone being on stage. It felt familiar, but not too much. Then they switched to another one.

 

Yo, what’s up? Seems like they want us for somethin’…

 

A more relaxed voice, with a shade of slang. Perfect for someone who would sing in the streets. It was less familiar, but still familiar enough. Then they identified the final one.

 

“….Greetings, colleague. What’s the situation?

 

A warm familiar voice, that always accompanied those who needed a refresher. He was more on the recognized side. Penguins were a bit silent due to shock, they didn’t expect them to work for Daft Capo at all.

 

“Those are…Private, call Kirigiri right now!” ordered Skipper after a sense of urgency overcame the shock. There was no more time to waste, more spies have been found.

 

“Will do, Skipper!” saluted Private as he found her number on the phone and pressed the call button as quickly as possible.

 

What is it?” asked Kyoko, wondering on why exactly did they need her.

 

“There’s an emergency in the hideout! Come quickly! It’s about Daft Capo and spies!” Private called out for her, alarming her of what they’ve found.

 

“...I will come soon.” said Kyoko, promising them that she would arrive rather quickly. The promise, just as quickly it began, it was also fulfilled in a short amount of time. Once the knocking was heard, penguins let Kyoko in to assist them.

 

“So, who are spies for Daft Capo now?” piqued Kyoko, having assumptions on who could it be.

 

“Take a listen.” Kowalski gave her headphones to listen to the whole conversation. The moment she recognized voices, she was taken a back for a bit, signified by shrunken irises. However, she regained her composure quickly and knew exactly what to do.

 

“Does this application allow exporting recorded voices?” questioned Kyoko as she pointed at the screen, specifically the application.

 

“Allow me to check.” Kowalski inspected the application for a moment before he found out that not only it had an internal editor, but allowed exporting as well. “Phew, it does. Now, no more words are needed. I’ll do it as imagined.”.

 

Thus, they went with the procedure. Once Daft Capo spies disappeared from the screen, they concluded the recording and sent it to editor, where they would export it in a compatible file. After some time, the program finished exporting the file. Then penguins sent the file through e-mail. The process was done when Kyoko received the mail.

 

“Thank you. I will report to them as soon as possible.” said Kyoko as she placed the file on her phone where would it be easiest to access.

 

“Oh, you’re a blessing, Kyoko! Now, that’s all we needed you for.” thanked Skipper, but only received a nod in return. She was let out, and as soon as she went home, she started sending messages to everyone she had in contact. The file was included as an attachment. Once they departed, penguins closed the door and started thinking about implications of more unexpected spies.

 

You’re just being relentless right now, aren’t you, Daft Capo?” realized Skipper that Daft Capo was not only taking things more serious, but they did before classes even knew about it. It was only a matter of time until the rest of Fellowship of Darkness finds out the truth.

Chapter 26: Shattered Mask

Chapter Text

Wednesday began somewhere else that time. An abandoned laundry resided somewhere nearby Hope’s peak academy, but not near enough that it would take five minutes to reach it. For being abandoned, it was rather decently kept, almost converted into an apartment. Three people, all of them being students of Hope’s peak academy, resided here. The first one to wake up, or so he thought, was the rockstar himself. After doing every mundane yet mandatory thing needed for a person to prepare themselves for the day, one of the first things he wanted to do is to wake up others with his guitar.

 

“Ya know, it ain’t a morning until you rock the hell out!” Zapatta said it to himself as he picked up his guitar, ready to unleash a heavy riff upon his sleeping colleagues. However, he did not see coming somebody grabbing his guitar, preventing him from unleashing morning music. The person in question was his rapper colleague.

 

“No!” scowled Suifta at him before she let off the guitar once she knew that he wouldn’t do it. The rapper gal always seemed to be one of few people who could put sense back in Zapatta’s head.

 

“Suifta? You’re already awake?!” blurted Zapatta, realizing that he wasn’t first to wake up at all. In fact, he was the last one.

 

“Of course I am, since I am already expecting your bullshit in the morning.” grumbled Suifta while doing anything to prevent her ears to get the feel of Zapatta’s ear blasting riff in the morning.

 

“Damn! I’m getting kind rusty here!” Zapatta realized that he needs to step up his game of being a pompous annoyance.

 

“I mean, if you repeat the same things over and over again, you’re bound to lose the unpredictability factor.” advised Suifta, even though she was basically letting him have an advantage. The way she meant it was more of a life advice than one meant for pranks.

 

“….Touche. Gotta spice it up. But now, lets see what Figottoni is doing. I swear, if he’s eating beans again…” admitted Zapatta before both of them went to the “living room” of the laundry, where their bartender friend was eating a can of spam along with a piece of baguette. Zapatta felt relief that it wasn’t beans, since his bartender friend ate nothing but beans for weeks. “Oh...it’s just spam now.”.

 

“It is delicious. A British presenter recommended it and I see why was it so popular.” Figottoni elaborated the change of his food of choice, hinting at them that he might have watched a video or two of an elderly Dacia Sandero loving TV presenter trying out new sandwiches.

 

“It’s not beans at least, but all you eat is canned food. Ain’t that concerning?” noted Zapatta, expressing worry that he didn’t eat anything that wasn’t out of a can for a while. Other two ate just fine, it was just Figottoni who had unusual habits.

 

“Not exactly true. I do eat ordinary food as well, but I do enjoy a bit of nostalgia.” clarified Figottoni that he was less eating like he was trying to survive, but more eating for enjoyment. Perhaps during his childhood, Figottoni didn’t have much choice other than to eat canned food, since it was cheap.

 

“All you seem to do is enjoy nostalgia!” Zapatta pointed out that it went for weeks.

 

“I get what Zapatta is saying, but c’mon, it’s just his preference. Can’t judge him for that.” Suifta defended her colleague about his eating habits. He needed energy to maintain any bar he would have, including an improvised one at Hope’s peak academy. By the time they debated, Figottoni finished his meal and tidied up the place before he joined them.

 

“Alright then...each to his own. Anyway, are we all ready?” asked Zapatta if they’re all prepared for their day at Hope’s peak and enduring their own class. He wasn’t looking forward to class 69, but he was welcoming a company of students of other classes, especially Kazuichi and Ibuki.

 

“Ayy, of course.” smirked Suifta, sounding rather relaxed about it. Figottoni just quietly nodded with his head as they all exited the crust filled laundry. They were greeted with a gray cloudy sky along with a decent amount of traffic on the roads. It was Wednesday after all, those days were always the busiest.

 

As they went on for a walk, they all thought about what could they discuss on their way as multiple cars of various types passed by.

 

“Okay so, you two, any plans for today?” asked Suifta, curious about if they had anything new on the table.

 

“Ya know, the usual. Trying to avoid my class as much as possible, roasting the banana bush, pissing off that owl faced rich bastard, stuff like that.” said Zapatta, basically confirming he will have the same gig as he always did at Hope’s peak.

 

“Same as always, serving drinks in the dining hall. It’s quite comfortable there and discussions with them are pretty relaxing.” answered Figottoni, just being satisfied as a bartender for any student. He couldn’t ask for more than a bar, drinks and some glasses and, of course, satisfied customers.

 

“Same things, it seems. Well, I’ve got something a bit different on the table.” noted Suifta before she smirked, revealing that unlike them, she had different plans for that day. “Me and Sayaka are gonna have a beatbox battle.”.

 

“Oh, really? Usually, you do rap battles with Ibuki, but Sayaka? That’s new!” Zapatta raised his eyebrow, not expecting that she would challenge Sayaka, despite that girl being a musician, just a different kind of.

 

“Now I know what you’re thinking: “Is her ass fat?”.” teased Suifta, remembering well what her friend said about another musician. He fell right for the bait, completely caught off guard that she would bring that up in the first place. The rockstar man couldn’t even deny it, neither that he said it nor about his opinion on Ibuki’s rear.

 

“W-what? I mean, Ibuki’s different! Have you even seen it?!” Zapatta attempted to explain himself without displaying surprise, but it was clear as a sunny day that his guard has been put down.

 

“I don’t disagree here because...hoooo….you’re right, but I’m having a laugh now.” chuckled Suifta while also doing a wolf’s whistle when mentioning that part of Ibuki. Apparently, just like Zapatta, she has seen it at one point. Not even she could resist it.

 

“I do wonder on why did you choose Sayaka. Isn’t she more suited for J-Pop?” asked Figottoni, curious on letting someone try something rather out of their experience.

 

“She is J-Pop, but I do want her to experiment a bit with genres. Nowadays, music is just plethora of genres meshed into one song, so nothing wrong with trying out something new.” elaborated Suifta on inviting Sayaka to a beatbox battle. Another reason was that she wanted to hang out with her more, since she felt like they haven’t been interacting with each other that much.

 

“It seems like music is like a cocktail. One would not expect that genres could blend in, but the end product ends up to be high quality.” noted Figottoni while also connecting music with his own experiences.

 

“You got that right, Figottoni. Music is much more lenient than people think.” approved Suifta, while gaining an idea to combine J-Pop, rap and beatboxing at the same time. Perhaps a collab would do its job.

 

“In a way yes, but I still prefer more, lets say, “pure” genres. Even if its a subgenre, rock in its rawest form will still be the king.” Zapatta expressed his own opinion on the matter, being slightly more traditional about. Ironic, since rock was about breaking the tradition.

 

“Nothin’ wrong with that.” Suifta accepted for his opinion for what it was before they continued to discuss all sort of topics on the way, such as more music, their adventures in Hope’s peak academy and of course, who was the sexiest girl in the school. In Zapatta’s opinion, Ibuki was still winning.

 

After time has passed, they have finally arrived near Hope’s peak academy. The trio saw that every student of class 77-B and class 78th, bar Ludenberg, was waiting in front of the entrance, all gathered around as if they were waiting for a club. They were still far enough that they didn’t notice the trio, but those three fellas have already spotted them.

 

“Oh, here there are! They must be waiting for us!” Zapatta pointed at the group of students, anticipating that he would just be happily greeted by those who he deemed as friends. However, neither Suifta nor Figottoni were as optimistic about it.

 

“Why are they all together before us? That’s rare.” Figottoni pointed out what he deemed to be off. Usually, they were one of the first ones to arrive, since their class has a rather odd schedule regarding morning hours, but to have everyone else arrive earlier was a sign of something impending. Something that they did not look forward to it. However, Zapatta rushed off before they could do anything.

 

“Zapatta, wait!” Suifta attempted to reach for him, but she was too late. The rockstar was already there.

 

He shouldn’t have done that.

 

“Heyyyyyy booooooysssssss! What’s up?! Aren’t you all glad to see me?” Zapatta casually greeted them as it were a normal day, ready for shenanigans at school. Little did he know that all of them were already aware of the truth of their purpose. Only responses his greeting gained were disappointed looks and glares. Some even looked saddened by the whole debacle.

 

“Eh, why silent treatment? You all are much more lively than this!” Zapatta questioned them all, genuinely not knowing on why they were all glaring at him. Soon enough, Suifta and Figottoni followed as they rejoined their rockstar friend. Unlike him, they quickly realized on why the rest of students felt nothing but anger and disappointed at them.

 

“...Oh shit…” Suifta muttered under her breath while Figottoni just stood, with his irises shrunken. As they all looked around, looks from certain people, such as Ibuki’s surprisingly saddened frown and Ryota’s empty glare, particularly made them realize the magnitude of their wrongdoing. Only one person, known to Hope’s peak as a Daft Capo spy, had to realize it yet.

 

“C’mon, say something! Did I do something wrong? Did we do something wrong?” bombastically demanded Zapatta for some king of explanation, but then, with just one look, it became all clear to him. All he needed to do was to glance at his friend, Kazuichi, holding his tears back once he knew the truth. Any trace of his showman-esque persona disappeared on sight, instead just quietly pleading to get a picture on what was happening around him. “...Kaz? Kaz, what’s going on?”.

 

No one said a word, instead Kyoko just played a recording on her phone to give them an idea on why they were being condemned. The recording in question was the one she sent to everyone the day before, where those trio were talking to the enemy that has stepped on the territory of Hope’s peak not too long ago.

 

“...We will see each other in the Zona, is that cool?…” the recording began with a voice of The Ultimate Scammer.

 

“...Understood. We shall await for their further orders....” it continued with Figottoni’s voice.

 

“...Alright then. Whatever they say….” Zapatta’s voice followed bartender’s.

“...Oh boy, I wonder what are these punksters gonna say to us....” Suifta’s voice was the final one to be heard before Kyoko paused it, concluding it in the process. It was enough for Suifta and Figottoni to confirm they have been found out. However, Zapatta started sweating, trembling upon hearing a conversation that was only meant for his own colleagues.

 

“E-eh? What’s this? I don’t get it!” Zapatta attempted to deny, but him shaking could already made it obvious to everyone that he had no choice.

 

“Don’t you fucking pretend that you do not know what’s going on, you treacherous son of a bitch!” condemned Fuyuhiko, with his raised voice filled with nothing short of pure anger. Had it not been for everyone else, he and Peko would have attacked them on sight. Peko, on other hand, remained silent, but her glare was one that could go deep into a soul of a man.

 

“S-seriously, I d-don’t get it!” shivered Zapatta as he started to sweat more thanks to the fear he had after hearing Fuyuhiko’s words. Suifta and Figottoni didn’t say a word, but watching Zapatta try to deny their connections with the adversary just caused them more pain within.

 

“Then...then explain it! Explain it how it isn’t you!” demanded Kazuichi, who tried his best to sound furious, yet the undertones of utter sadness couldn’t be hidden. He didn’t want it to be real, yet he couldn’t deny it anymore. One of the friends, if not only ones from another class, was working for the enemy.

 

“I d-don’t even know that voic-” Zapatta gave his last shot before a pat on his shoulder stopped him once and for all. Suifta couldn’t take it anymore, they had no choice anymore. They have to confirm it to everyone present there.

 

“Zapatta, stop it. They have already found out.” lamented Suifta as she and Figottoni stepped forth, prepared to give them everything they wanted to hear.

 

“...Giving up already?” calmly noted Gundham, surprised that an enemy known for arrogance would just surrender so quickly.

 

“Found out...oh….oh no…” Zapatta managed to realize when it was too late.

 

“I suppose we own you all an explanation.” Figottoni began, with a seemingly unshaken expression. Deep down, he was just hiding his true feelings due to maintaining his professional status. Students wanted to make it over as quickly as possible, the sight of them was starting to become painful to look at.

 

“If you do, don’t waste any more time about it. Let me hear everything.” demanded Byakuya, the only person who was smirking through out the entire event. Perhaps it was due to his hatred of anyone from Zapatta’s class or just his disdain for the rockstar himself.

 

“Alright…The truth is that we are spies of Daft Capo. We’ve been ever since day one.” revealed Figottoni without any sort of hesitation. Even though they were found out as spies, it still came as a shock to them that they were spies even before they arrived to the Hope’s peak academy.

 

“...S-since day one? All of you have been scheming behind our backs for such long time?” murmured Aoi, still from shock of their confirmation.

 

“Correct, ever since our days at Hope’s peak have started, we’ve been giving out information to them. What we told them, we cannot tell here.” nodded Figottoni, still managing his composure.

 

“I’m surprised that all of you even knew about Daft Capo in the first place, let alone went out to fight it. Penguins told you about it, right? Forget it, we aren’t the ones that have any right to ask.” rambled Suifta before she started looking at the floor, not managing to bear their looks of disdain, disappointment and sadness.

 

“...Scammer told you about them, didn’t he?” silently asked Ryota. On outside, he seemed to be unaffected, but deep down, he was one of the people that got shaken by the revelation the most. Any semblance of trust crumbled right in front of him.

 

“I mean, uh….uh….yeah, he did.” Zapatta stopped denying it, just following what Figottoni and Suifta were doing, just telling them the truth.

 

“...why did you two work together if you HATED EACH OTHER?!” Kazuichi shouted at him as he couldn’t hold tears for much longer. All he felt was betrayal, just like everyone else did to an extent. But for him, to have one of his friends be the enemy was overwhelming him.

 

“I still hate that guy’s guts, but….our reasons for working under them are different, just that we are under the same umbrella, ya know. I’m pretty sure you guys also had someone who you disliked a lot, didn’t you?” regretfully explained Zapatta while also wondering if they had anyone like that on their side as well. His words did remind class 77-B of their former classmate, although they weren’t sure what to feel about it. Should they be angry for seemingly trying to manipulate them by bringing a past experience, or just try to understand them, even though, somehow, their adversaries seemed to be more reasonable than their former classmate.

 

“...We did, but that doesn’t matter now anymore.” confirmed Hajime as he redirected focus back on them, their former school goers now enemies.

 

“It’s funny, even thought you were indirectly fighting against us, we never saw you as enemies. In fact, we thought all of you guys were pretty cool. Way better than anyone in our class.” solemnly commented Suifta while she also sported a smile. Not a warm one, but a regretful one.

 

“Fuck off with sentimental bullshit and sod off right now!” Hiyoko suddenly shouted at them, condemning their words due her believing that they were just manipulating them. Others hesitated to say anything, since any word taken from them was taken with the grain of salt.

 

“Ah, I see….doubted. Should have expected that…” Suifta just kept the smile and slumped with her shoulders, knowing that no matter what they say, it will be all for naught. Once they have established themselves as enemies, it was too late. Figottoni also expected such response, but he held back.

 

“...I don’t think they’re lying.” Chiaki suddenly spoke up, after observing them for some time. Even though her little frown showed that she held a lot of pain in her upon hearing the revelation, there were some things that she tried to understand. She stepped forth, being only one who tried to approach them.

 

“Are you seriously believing them because they pulled off mopey faces? God, you’re really one naive bitch!” Hiyoko called her out for trying to believe them, despite being their enemies. A lot of students were also confused on why was she trying to get closer to him, but they did know she would never betray them.

 

“No, it’s not that….if they didn’t feel regret, they wouldn’t have told us about it so easily, would they?” elaborated Chiaki as she told them her observation. Some of them, like Gundham, caught it before she did, but some of them started to get the gist of it.

 

“Are you implying that our direct enemies feel more remorse than our former classmate did?” asked Peko out of a sudden, confused on the aspect that, somehow, legitimate Daft Capo members had more self inspection regarding their actions than the expelled one did. Those who were interrogated were wondering who that student was.

 

“What use is there to hide if the decisive evidence known by everyone? I guess what we can do for you all is to answer any questions you have. We can only answer on what we are allowed to speak.” admitted Figottoni, knowing that the trio has lost long before.

 

“Then...was our friendship a lie? Was this something you had to act?” asked Sayaka, just wanting to know if their bonds were genuine. If they were, at the very least it wouldn’t hurt as much...but it would even more.

 

“….No.” Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni took some time to respond as truthfully as they did. Their honesty made other students perplexed. Despite being enemies, they still saw them as friends to the very end and they meant it. A slight glimmer of hope appeared upon that confirmation.

 

“If that’s true...would it be possible to break away from Daft Capo? To call it quits from them and maybe...just be our friends again?” pleaded Chiaki, even putting her hands together to show that she was really desperate of trying to give them another chance. However, that was the breaking point for the interrogated ones. They couldn’t handle it anymore, it was simply too much.

 

“….I’m sorry, everyone…” quietly apologized Suifta for deceiving them so long before all three of them turned their backs and started walking away. It was over. Times where Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni were deemed as friends were done for.

 

“Wait, please-” Chiaki begged them to stay as she attempted to reach her arm, but it was too late.

 

“We cannot betray those who have given us a new lease of life. Loyalty until the very end….” Figottoni said his departing words before they left Hope’s peak for good. Once they disappeared from their sights, all that was left was contemplative silence. Disappointment, sadness, anger were all dominant feelings yet all of them were exhausted from it.

 

“Did you expect them to switch alliances over a mere speech? Don’t be idiotic.” Byakuya stepped towards her just to belittle her efforts of trying to keep students together. Chiaki had no more energy for any more arguments, she was simply done.

 

“It’s enough. Lets just go inside.” retaliated Hajime in defense of his friend as all of them started walking inside to start their day at Hope’s peak, even though all they wanted was for the day to be over as quickly as possible. It all went downhill.

 

“If it only were some folk we didn’t know, man…” lamented Kazuichi, with tears rolling down his face. Of all the people, why did have to be him, he thought.

 

“...I should have seen this coming.” said Ryota to himself, shaken to the absolute core. He knew that banking on trust was a bad idea, but what just happened cemented it for him.

 

However, one person remained outside. Gundham, the leader of The Fellowship of Darkness, thought about the final words of their enemies, thinking on what he should feel about them. In a way, it gave him a bigger picture of Daft Capo as a whole.

 

“Loyalty until the very end….an admirable trait for our adversary….I hate that I have to think about it.” Gundham thought to himself, not liking the fact he had to praise their adversary for what is often deemed as a virtue. He thought about concept of loyalty as a whole and reconsidered their cases with the recently encountered enemies. One was loyal to an abstract concept, other was to an organization. He wondered which one should he condemn more. Gundham returned inside, still contemplating.

 

Meanwhile, Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni somberly walked back to their laundry, just feeling anguish for losing their friends.

 

“Fucking hell, man…” Zapatta wanted to kick something so hard, but there was nothing on the ground. The city kept its pollution to a minimum when it came to littering.

 

“Maybe in another time, we could hang around with them, but what has happened cannot be changed…” lamented Suifta, wishing that they could just have fun with them, instead of dealing with a reality where they were enemies from the get go. Any future plans they had were canceled, now they had to treat them differently. In a way they didn’t particularly like.

 

“Perhaps it was inevitable.” wondered Figottoni, knowing that most secrets do come out on surface once a certain amount of time passes. Very few of them remain a complete mystery until the end of time.

 

“It shouldn’t have been….but what can we do?” questioned Suifta if its even possible to return to the previous status quo.

 

“We have already fucked up so bad, man. We can’t go back-” answered Zapatta but soon, their regretful discussion was cut short by revving of an engine. The rockstar jumped due to being startled by the noise. Then they all looked to the side.

 

It was a white Ferrari FF with an octopus as a driver. That only meant one thing.

 

“Hello, fuckers!” Herman happily greeted them once he opened the window.

 

“...Oh, it’s you. Gonna get stuck in a traffic jam or something?” sighed Zapatta while other two were surprised to even see Herman outside of their territory.

 

“Hahahaha! No ingorgo stradales today! Come join my ride! I’ll take you to the Zona quickly!” Herman laughed off as he offered a quicker way to transport them to their territory. He also wanted to experience them the ride of Ferrari, just so that he could flex.

 

“Offer accepted.” nodded Figottoni as they all walked towards the car. Suifta took the front seat while Zapatta and Figottoni, who has, despite being stout, squeezed inside effortlessly, took rear seats. Once doors were closed, Herman stomped on the gas pedal with his tentacle and drove off, letting out a huge roar with his Italian grand tourer.

 

As they were driving, Herman wondered why were they all so quiet. Usually, there’s non-stop debates in drives, especially those instigated by Zapatta. Fortunately, it was just Herman and the trio, if it were for anyone else, it would cause arguments. A lot of arguments.

 

“Why so down, my bois? Did something happen?” asked Herman while focusing on the road.

 

“Guess who’s been found out by our enemies.” regretfully revealed Zapatta to him as he had a slight amount of fear on how will the octopus colleague react.

 

“Oh, they found you out? Eh, no biggie.” nonchalantly reassured Herman, giving them some relief, but confusing them big time.

 

“No biggie? What exactly do you mean by this?” Suifta raised her eyebrow.

 

“I mean, you weren’t the first one to be found out. In fact, you were second to last. That’s pretty good, I hope you got some sweet info prepared for us.” revealed Herman while telling them the fate of another member. They quickly realized on who he was talking about.

 

“...That asshole was found out first, right?” piqued Zapatta with sounds of frustration leaking through his voice.

 

“Scam guy? Yep, he was. Funny, considering that you guys were for a longer time.” casually confirmed Herman.

 

“That fucker ruined EVERYTHING!” Zapatta slammed his fist on the seat as he started fuming from the sheer implication of the co-worker. Out of all of his classmates, he was the worst according to him, or so he thought.

 

“I dunno, he told us some pretty interesting stuff. It will be shared with Elite Bois.” Herman defended the

 

“Hold up, Elite Bois are coming? Why?” Suifta raised her finger while knowing that once Elite Bois are called upon, their enemies have little chance of fighting back, perhaps.

 

“Turns out we have underestimated those scrubs, especially...that noob.” Herman’s voice shifted from his usual chill himself to a far more irritable one upon mentioning the one student the octopus fella had a grudge upon. None of them knew who was he talking about.

 

“Noob? Whozzat?” asked Zapatta, demanding a clarification.

 

“You know that hoe with a baby face, hero complex and ineptitude at life?” Herman gave hints for them, so that they would know who he had on his mind.

 

“That tells me jack shit! Be more clear about it!” Zapatta further demanded, sounding far more irritated than before.

 

“Hmmm….we’ll discuss more about it in the Zona.” Herman decided to hold off the topic of his arch-nemesis until not only they arrive in Zona Daft Capo, but also when the Elite Bois come.

 

“What happens to us now?” Figottoni had one more question to ask, knowing that their mission became a failure.

 

“If you have anything useful, feel free to assist. If not, the “Irrelevant Zone” awaits you.” answered Herman while reminding them where the so called “useless” Daft Capo members go. It wasn’t anything scary, but it was something that no Daft Capo member really wanted.

 

“….oh boy.” sighed Suifta as they all continued their drive to their territory, where they would continue their plans.

 

Zona Daft Capo, referred to some as “Bosnia of Japan”. As of why, it can all be credited to one particular punkster who felt doing whatever, such as butchering swear words. From the aerial view, it looked nothing out of the ordinary for the city. Stores, skyscrapers and traffic were all there. However, if one took a closer look, they would know the difference between the normal parts of the city and Zona. Scammers were in the every corner of the Zona, waiting for clueless schmucks to take their bait. Any service, such as hotels, had jacket up prices (for example, a single game of bowling would cost one thousand dollars per person for the average visitor) unless one were a Daft Capo member, which meant they got any service for free. Only currency accepted in the Zona was American Dollar, although they felt nice enough to have exchange booths placed in a lot of places. The cuisine was particularly European, with spotlight getting Balkan meat dishes and Italian delicacies. Alleyways were dangerous to cross, not because of punksters themselves, but because pigeons jammed to the forbidden genre of music, originating from Eastern Europe. The location of Zona Daft Capo was only disclosed to Daft Capo members.

 

The drive with Ferrari FF didn’t take much time until they arrived to Daft Capo sponsored cafe, where some of known punksters were already waiting for them. The cafe itself was nothing special, except it was ran by punksters. One of those people that awaited Herman was the internal enemy of the rockstar. Ferrari FF stopped right in front of the cafe as all of them stepped out once the engine was shut down.

 

“Oi, Herman, my man!” greeted the Ultimate Scammer with a raised arm, inviting them to come over to a table where he was.

 

“Boi! Guess who I have with me!” Herman passed the word to him as they all walked towards his occupied table. When the scammer saw those three, he exploded into a laugh.

 

“Hahahahaha, look at that! It’s the irrelevant trio!” Ultimate Scammer mocked them, but he had true jabbing prepared just for one person only.

 

“FUCK YOU, YOU SLIMY SWINE FINGERED MONEY HUMPING FUCKFACE! YOU FUCKED UP EVERYTHING!” Zappata completely flipped off as he showed him his middle finger. Not that the Ultimate Scammer was particularly affected by it.

 

“You just mad cuz you ain’t a Swisher Boi!” taunted Ultimate Scammer while flexing as his status as a part of a subgroup owned by one of the Elite Bois. The provocation worked like a hot knife on a butter.

 

“SHUT THE FUCK UP ALREADY!” shouted Zapatta before their bickering was interrupted by two punksters barging out of the cafe. Those two were none other than Rando and Daitane.

 

“What the flying fuck is going on here?” Rando demanded to know as he started walking towards their table. He walked as if he was wide (by his definition), full of importance, like a politician as some would say.

 

“What? You’re no longer corrupting swears?!” Daitane glanced over to Rando with an expression that felt like she had a life changing realization before she realized there were others. “Wait, what’s going on there?”.

 

Compared to Rando, she just simply dashed to the table. Suifta just raised her hand and went “sup” upon her arrival. She was first to arrive, because Rando was simply too busy walking wide.

 

“Oh hey, Daitane and….oh not, not this fucking psycho.” Zapatta greeted her calmly before he dreaded the arrival of the other colleague. Once he arrived, Rando became confused about Zapatta’s statement.

 

“Psycho? What do you mean, I am pretty chill.” Rando calmly debated, oddly enough, about his status as either a “chill person” or an “utter psycho”. Despite claiming former, he wasn’t convincing.

 

“I’m sorry but you are not under any definition of chill after we heard you ranting about that.” Daitane quickly stepped on Zapatta’s side while also calling him out for some of his, lets say, extreme opinions regarding certain topics.

 

“Was anything I said that day morally objectionable?” Rando raised his eyebrows, curious about counterarguments regarding his statements in that debate.

 

“Dude, DUDE! You bet the hell it was, with you and your-” Zapatta attempted to give arguments, but was quickly cut short by the very person he was arguing.

 

“Then tell me about it. What was so appalling with-” insisted Rando before he would mention the topic directly. Daitane knew she had to stop it because otherwise, it would spiral to lengths they were not ready to deal with.

 

“NOPE, WE ARE NOT DISCUSSING THIS NOW! Lets just focus on...what you guys have to say.” Daitane ended the conversation with a shout as they all focused on the part where the trio reveals that they’ve been found out by their enemy.

 

“They done goofed.” Herman quickly announced their failure at Hope’s peak, despite lasting rather long, even longer than the earlier spy.

 

“Yep, we done goofed.” Suifta didn’t even bother to hide, since everyone knew at that point.

 

“Nothing to be concerned about. We got a shift in operations anyway, shit’s about to go down.” Rando reminded them about a plan they had for Hope’s peak. They were no longer holding back once they would arrive.

 

“Elite Bois, right?” Figottoni wanted to confirm if their presence has been guaranteed.

 

“...Still though, ain’t that an overkill?” Zapatta argued that they were perhaps going a little bit overboard. Maybe it was due to thoughts of his former friends that made him feel about it.

 

“If you were punched in the face by that NOOB, then you would feel the same!” Herman started fuming while also rationalizing his choice on calling the lads.

 

“Again, who’s the noob you are talking about-” Zapatta demanded once again, but his wish got granted, just not by Herman himself.

 

“Chiaki, that video game junkie.” revealed Rando the person that the Elite Boi Herman himself had a grudge against. Zapatta nearly did a spit take without a drink upon hearing it, while even Suifta and Figottoni were startled by the revelation.

 

“H-HER?! S-she has beaten your ass?!” Zapatta sputtered out, hardly imagining that someone as dopey looking as Chiaki could even be committed to violence, let alone land a hit on a bonafide Daft Capo member.

 

“That was a side I never saw of her, I must admit.” calmly said Figottoni, even though he was visibly surprised.

 

“Oooh, feisty gal. Didn’t know that she had that side to her.” Suifta complimented the gal for being unexpectedly capable of a fight, even if it wasn’t much.

 

Spero che Elite Bois le monti il culo sul muro! Butterò le freccette proprio lì!” Herman’s rage mode activated once again as he started to shake like a volcano. It happened every time he thought about the “noob” for more than thirty seconds.

 

“Bois, he’s at it again, so let me take care of it. That was a small thing. Big thing is, however, that those scrubs have not only found out about our plans and some of our locations, but also plan to strike us back.” Rando overtook the conversation as he revealed that Hope’s peak itself has been making moves on them. Another surprise for the trio.

 

“...Well now...Didn’t expect them to go that far.” Suifta scratched her head while realizing that they didn’t imagine they would make moves against them at all.

 

Then, just when they thought surprises would end, another one came.

 

“Hahahaha, so that albino fucker was of some use after all!” Ultimate Scammer boastfully revealed that, even if for a short amount of time, certain someone provided them more than enough help already.

 

“Albino fucker...you mean...Nagito?” Suifta realized who it was. For Figottoni, it was cleared up on why was Nagito expelled.

 

“W-what?! He sold them out?!” stuttered Zapatta, both genuinely surprised and sort of disgusted that he would actually assist their side, even if he was a Daft Capo member. At the very least, he, Suifta and Figottoni didn’t really betray Hope’s peak, since they were never on their side to begin with.

 

“What the shit, I thought they were all united against us?” Suifta’s irises completely shrunk upon hearing that the sole Hope’s peak student actually helped them out in the long run. Like Zapatta, she also had a rather negative feeling towards his action.

 

“Dude, he has said to me that he would help anyone, as long as they were an Ultimate.” Ultimate Scammer explained while remembering Nagito’s words rather well. For him, Nagito was, in his words, an useful idiot.

 

“My plan has worked, although I do wish we could have used him for a bit more.” Rando exposed himself as the one who set up the whole thing in the first place. He was glad that in the end, they got some benefit.

 

“Wait, plan? When did you come up with it, my man?” Herman stopped fuming as he learned that Rando had a secret project behind his back. The octopus lad wasn’t mad, just surprised that a person he considered an advisor would come up with such scheme.

 

“Ever since the guard beat his ass up. I must say, he has done us a favor!” answered Rando with pride and delight.

 

“Hey, Herman. You’ve said that there’s one more spy at Hope’s peak, right?” asked Zapatta before Rando gave him a hint by wiggling his rather thick eyebrows. The punkster himself even had a grin worthy of a movie poster when he did it. Zapatta’s jaw dropped when he got the clue. “H-hold the fuck up, YOU ARE?!”.

 

“You’d be amazed how piss easy it is to manipulate the system of Hope’s peak. All you need to do is a little forgery and you’re there. Of course, I have yet to go there, but once I will…...Mwahahaha, I will show who is based among those scrubs!” Rando explained his scheme to his lads, giving them an advice on how to manipulate Hope’s peak itself. Compared to students, Hope’s peak’s higher ups were a different story.

 

“Now, look at all that, how much I contributed. What do you have to say for yourselves?” Ultimate Scammer boasted about his “achievement” while also mocking the trio. However, one of them was well prepared for such response, knowing that otherwise they would end in the “Irrelevant zone”.

 

“If you need us for any information, just ask us.” Figottoni offered his help to the rest of punksters, startling both Zapatta and Suifta in the process. They believed him that he was friends of Hope’s peak folk, but lack of hesitation painted them a different story.

 

“H-hey, you’re not gonna sell them out, right?” Zapatta tried to stop him from selling out his former friends, but the moment he did that, he was met with looks of others. All of them had a particularly cold glare towards him, almost like they were going to beat him up if he stated more. Suifta knew to keep her mouth shut.

 

“Are you displaying some scrub zone sympathies, my friend?” Rando raised his eyebrow as a threat as he gained attention of other punksters across the street. The rockstar started sweating big time, trembling even, so he decided to back down his claims.

 

“It’s nothing like that...and I’m not your friend!” Zapatta took his words back while denying any claim that he was anything even resembling a friend when it came to Rando.

 

“Loyalty until the very end, Zapatta.” reminded Figottoni, although the tone of his voice implied that he did it out of neccessity, not out of his true feelings. In a way, it was a protection for Suifta and Zapatta that they would be of some use for Daft Capo.

 

“Elite Bois will need it the most, my man. That would be the perfect time for it.” Herman gave him instructions for the following days.

 

“Understood.” nodded Figottoni while Suifta and Zapatta remained silent. After the octopus lad gave his order, he decided to check his rather modern looking phone to see if there’s any updates on Elite Bois.

 

“Now lets see-”.

 

It seemed like fortune has smiled upon him that day.

 

YES! YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES YES! SEX NEWS!”

 

“...What the fuck?” grimaced Zapatta upon hearing his colleague’s excitement.

 

“Observe, bois!” Herman showed him the messages sent by the Elite Bois themselves. They were as they followed:

 


Fritz:

 

“Ayy, I have one more thing to do then I will come soon enough. I’ve heard things are gonna get real smoky there.”.

 


Tom:

 

( o _ o) - b

 


Wile E. Coyote:

 

“I will be ready once me and Tom deal with this bank. By the way, does the contract regarding my mouth being shut extend to messages as well?”.

 


Dick Dastardly aka Schlongman:

 

“Gyahahaha! One more race for me to win and then I will arrive as fast as possible!...as long as that flea bag is co-operating, of course!”

 

“P.S: tell Fritz and Tropy to go somewhere else! I’m not in the mood to deal with them!

 


Nefarious Tropy :

 

“Give me some time for me to deal with one more pest then I will arrive shortly. Anticipate my arrival with delight. ETA Thursday.”

 


 

“Tomorrow, bois! Tomorrow! Hahahahahahahah!” triumphantly laughed Herman, knowing that the rest of Elite Bois will come soon. Punksters nearby, even those on another side, joined in to celebrate the great incoming of their elites.

 

“THE HYPE IS REAL! WOOOOOOOOO!” Ultimate Scammer threw his hands in the air as he started dancing on the table. Even some of the punksters joined dancing on them, not that anyone minded, since it was their property.

 

“Hope’s peak, you will be destroyed like a pigeon among the falcons!” boasted Rando as he let out a laugh worthy of his people.

 

Not everyone shared the same excitement though.

 

“….Oh shit, man.” Zapatta and Suifta realized that it was no longer a game. Fun times were over and they were all aware of it. Punksters celebrated in advance because the next day was the day of everything changing. Daft Capo as they knew back at Hope’s peak won’t be the same enemy anymore. An octopus and some fellow rascals, that was no more. The next day marked a day when Hope’s peak academy would face the true power of Daft Capo...as long as they had a plan for it.

Chapter 27: Solace Before The Storm (ARC III END)

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Class 77-B started their Wednesday with a revelation that three students of another class that they thought they were friends with were their adversaries. Only thing they could say about it was nothing. The class was filled with deafening silence. Even cheerful students didn’t do much, all they could do was to contemplate about their future and possible incidents that could happen at them.

 

Chiaki, who had her hood on, just quietly observed her classmates, on how the whole event affected them. It was a sight she never wanted to see, but she had no power to change what happened before. Her heart felt particularly heavy that day, especially after seeing how her classmates were affected by the whole thing.

 

“….Awful….just...all of it...awful. To think it would turn out like that….” Chiaki thought to herself as she kept looking at her classmates. Not a single one had a smile on their face, understandably so. They couldn’t get over so quickly, considering how everything turned out. Looking at them made Chiaki feel even worse, but deep down, she was taking the responsibility to herself. She felt like she was one that shouldn’t have let that happen, but was powerless to do so.

 

“Everyone is just so down...even Ibuki...” Chiaki’s mood worsened when she saw Ibuki resting her head on her table, just blankly looking at the window. The musician was, at least for Chiaki, never like that before. At that point, Chiaki stopped looking at her classmates. It was getting too much for her. Then she remembered that if she had any issues, she could always turn towards her teacher. Chiaki pulled out her phone out of the bag, only to encounter one big issue. She has already received Chisa’s message in the morning.

 

Hey sweetie. I’m having a problem at home, so I’ll be late. Expect me after lunch break. I’m sorry I couldn’t be on time….”.

 

On one hand, knowing that her teacher would come late didn’t help her mood very much. Even though she could just send a message, Chiaki had a feeling that all it would do was putting a burden on her teacher, even if the latter person was more than welcome to bear it. On other hand, it gave her an idea. A memory on how Yukizome felt when she had to expel her own student for the sake of safety of others came into her mind, she couldn’t bear to see her like that. Best she could do was to cheer up her class before she would arrive.

 

“...at the very least I still have time, Chisa can’t see us like that….but I do have to tell her the truth that...that students we thought we were friends with were actually working for that mafia..” Chiaki “To think that they would actually be under Daft Capo….unbelievable, but we can’t deny the truth...Just that I wish the truth didn’t hurt sometimes.” Chiaki thought about it even more before she glanced over to her classmates again. Unfortunately, she laid her eyes upon the one person who was visibly affected the most: Kazuichi, who tried his best to keep his tears in.

 

“…..Poor Kazuichi….to have his friend be the enemy...I can’t imagine how hurt he feels….” lamented Chiaki as her heart became even heavier upon seeing her classmate in such state. She started looking at her table, contemplating on what to do. She really wanted to do something about it, but she wasn’t sure on how to do it. More time passed, worse the silence felt.

 

“This silence….I’m not sure if I can handle it….Nekomaru, please say something. You always seem to pull us out of these situations…” Chiaki silently pleaded for anyone to start, but then she saw that even Nekomaru Nidai, one of if not THE loudest students in the academy was completely quiet. He seemed to be rather contemplative about the whole incident. It made Chiaki realize that unlike before, she had to take the initiative. She couldn’t bear to see her classmates like that anymore.

 

“...Even Nekomaru? Then...then it leaves me no choice. I have to do it. I’ve promised them so much, but now I must live up to them. I have to do it, I have no other choice other than failure.” decided Chiaki as she stood up from her chair, walking towards the table where Chisa usually resided. Immediate attention from her classmates was gained, wondering on what was she doing.

 

“...What are you doing?” asked Fuyuhiko, concerned about her sudden action. Once she reached Yukizome’s table, she stood there almost as if she were their substitute teacher. Her lip was trembling and so we here arms, trying her best to regain her composure despite anxiety kicking in at full force. None than less, despite her self doubts and fear, she began or at the very least, she attempted to.

 

“Ahem….guys…So...erm” stammered Chiaki, not exactly sure on how to start her speech to cheer up her classmates. Her gaze faced the floor, partially due to her issues with eye contact under such situation. All of her classmates saw that it wasn’t normal for Chiaki to do that.

 

“Is she...pushing herself to do that?” Hajime thought to himself, preparing to be on standby in the case of her succumbing to stress. Concerns of others raised as well.

 

“...today started really badly, didn’t it? To think that it would happen...to us...just why? Why did it had to happen?” Chiaki managed to put some words together, but then realized that her start was really not the best. Then, even she was hiding it through out all time, one side of her got revealed, even for just a moment. “...I’m sorry, I’m bad at this. I’m really really bad at it. There’s a lot of things where I am horrible at-”.

 

“Hey hey hey, Chiaki, don’t be too harsh on yourself! Please, you did what you could!” Hajime suddenly stood up while reassuring her that she didn’t do anything wrong. Rest of her classmates had a bit of a shock when they saw how

 

“I told you all so many promises, but I haven’t fulfilled any of them! Anything I could do, it was too late!...If I knew better…” Chiaki continued to criticize herself for what she deemed to be her own failing. The feeling spiraled for her, but she was still trying to fight it.

 

“Stop tearing yourself apart, goddamnit! It’s been enough!” Fuyuhiko ordered her to cease it, as harshly as he could, but out of worry for her.

 

“...If I knew…that….then it wouldn’t have happened...the day would have been better off if…” continued Chiaki, but subconsciously she did tone it down. Possibly due to her own worry for her classmates. However, there were certain reactions that she did not expect at all.

 

“….Sorry, I gotta go…” said Kazuichi as he suddenly stood up and went out of the classroom. It was kind of clear that he couldn’t take it anymore. He wasn’t the only one to leave the classroom.

 

“I will rethink about something.” Ryota stood up as well, with a stoic expression on his face, but he managed to hide his emotions much better than the mechanic friend. The leavings have caused total silence again. It was starting to dawn on Chiaki that despite her efforts, it just wasn’t going to work. Feeling of failure started to engulf her, yet she didn’t want to quit. She was just lost on what to do.

 

“...Chiaki, it’s fine. Don’t fret too much about it.” Ibuki suddenly spoke up in a much quieter and softer tone than she has ever before. It was almost like there was a completely different person in place of her….or perhaps it was side of Ibuki that was never shown before.

 

“What? When did you become so….calm?” noted Gundham, genuinely startled by that side of Ibuki. The situation became so bizarre that it made people show sides they did not expect. “These times….they have become dangerous…”.

 

“I know what you feel, Chiaki. You probably feel like it’s your responsibility, right?” asked Ibuki, wanting to know that Chiaki tearing herself was because she wants to carry burdens of others, relieving them of pain while stockpiling it only for herself. Although she was completely startled by Ibuki’s words, she nodded. “Don’t worry too much about us. Like, I getcha, you don’t wanna see us feel bad...but now, it’s kinda inescapable isn’t it? Not that we will forever feel like that, but we can’t repress it. Just let the feeling flow naturally. We’re gonna pick ourselves up, just that we need some time. However….we do appreciate your efforts for trying to make us happy. It makes us glad that there’s a person that is here to support us. You’re not horrible, Chiaki, far from it, actually. The class wouldn’t have been the same without you.”.

 

“Yeah, we’re not gonna crumble at all. If anything, this whole thing made us stronger. We will move forward, no matter what happens to us.” added Hajime, partially to motivate his entire class, but partially to reassure Chiaki herself. Any bad feelings Chiaki had before were replaced big a big blush on her face, flustered to be told that her classmates appreciate her. She stood there silently, still flustered, until a small, yet beautiful smile appeared on her face. When her classmates saw her smile, they felt at ease, even those who weren’t as close to her.

 

“...this is why believe in you all. I’m not strong enough alone, but together, we can do it. Together, we can do so much...but we need to stick together, even if the worst happens, right? Lets do our very best...if we can…I know I’ve already made so many promises, but...I will always be on your side. I will never betray anyone.” Chiaki just let her feelings out before another wave of embarrassment hit her for being true to herself. “Ah...sorry….I’m sorry for embarrassing you all now…”.

 

“...You know what? Chiaki is right. We should be together in this. It’s the only choice we have and if we don’t….our enemy might win.” Sonia broke the silence as her own smile returned, reminding them that despite everything, they will fight on.

 

“What, are we gonna let those Daft Capo bastards win? No way in hell!” somehow, perhaps the blue moon already happened, Hiyoko said her sentiment without dissing her own classmates. Even Mikan, her usual target, was spared from it. Apparently, Daft Capo drove her to such lengths that no matter how she felt about her classmates, those gangsters will always be beneath everything.

 

“…..Hahahaha! Not even in HELL, they won’t get it!” smirked Nekomaru as he returned to his usual self. With them getting their mojo back, the atmosphere of the class started to feel lighter, hopeful even. They might have lost friends in such short amount of time, but they will move forward. They need to, if they want to overcome their enemy.

 

“That’s what we can basically do, right? Our very best, even if it seems bleak.” said Hajime, reminding them on what to do in such times.

 

“Yeah, we still have each other, even if some have turned out to be enemies. No one on our side is gonna become a member of that mafia!” Ibuki’s energy returned, she was back to her Ibuki self. It was the final thing needed to overcome any doubts and worries. Well, almost final thing.

 

“...Heh…” quietly giggled Chiaki, just observing her own classmates returning to their positive themselves. No longer she felt heavy, instead her heart was surrounded with warmth.

 

“We have already sworn to our cause, and we will sure to keep it that way.” Peko crossed her arms as she gave a determined look.

 

“Have we?” Gundham suddenly fired a question which startled the entire class. After so much believing, there was still doubt.

 

“...Huh? What do you mean, Gundham?” Chiaki tilted her head, curious on what made Gundham doubt. She didn’t want to assume, instead she wanted to listen to him. Truth be told, he didn’t ask that question because he was a contrarian, but because Figottoni’s words about loyalty stuck with him.

 

“Let me ask you this….are you fully committed to your cause? To what lengths will you go through. I am not asking to destabilize, but to believe your words.” questioned Gundham while also wondering on how would Chiaki and her friends (including him, to an extent, although he had different measures prepared) deal with Daft Capo after the incident with Zapatta, Suifta and Figottoni.

 

“I will commit to it fully, even if the world ends. I will do it in a way that no one gets hurt anymore….definitely.” declared Chiaki with an unexpected amount of certainty in her voice. When it came to her friends, she was sort of different than usual.

 

“Hm...such conviction...My advice for it is...keep going.” advised Gundham, impressed that she seemed to be living up to her words.

 

“We shouldn’t let them kick our asses. It should be us kicking theirs!” suggested Fuyuhiko while also hinting that they might have to go on offense one day. Constantly playing the defense gets tiring, Hope’s peak did not have much for attrition.

 

“DAMN RIGHT, MY BOY!” boastfully approved Nekomaru, cementing not only the return of him, but also the entire mood changed from sorrowful and contemplative one to a much more hopeful one.

 

“Now, who’s for showing Daft Capo the real us?” asked Chiaki if they’re ready to face the future head on. All of them who were present there raised their arms, agreeing that they won’t let Daft Capo win that conflict. “Heh….I knew that I put faith in right people...but now...I’ll come back soon.”.

 

“Wait, Chiaki!” Hajime wanted to check on her, but he was too late. His friend already left the classroom to deal with two more things. However, once she was outside of the class alone, her irises shrunk as she stared at the floor, realizing how messy she was through out the entire time.

 

“….Oh goodness, I made a total fool out of myself. It would have been much more easier if it was Miss Yukizome instead of me. Or anyone else really, I’m like….the worst for it….but I have to check on Kazuichi and Ryota first.” Chiaki thought in her head, but she decided that checking her friends was more important than herself. She started exploring the hallways, wondering where would they be.

 

“Where is he?” Chiaki looked around to find either of them, but to no avail. Suddenly, she heard sounds of someone crying. “Oh….”

 

She rushed off to where she assumed the source of such sound was. After running for a bit, she found Kazuichi sitting all by himself, letting tears flow on his face. Despite those two not being as close as, in comparison like Chiaki and Hajime, she instinctively went out to reach for him.

 

“Hey, Kazuichi?” Chiaki sat down near him, wanting to help him out.

 

“….h-hey….d-don’t worry, I’m fine. I swear I’m fine...” Kazuichi tried to deny it to not make her worry, but tears on his face sold him out. Chiaki just wanted him to let it out, and perhaps even to cheer him up. It seemed rather difficult though, especially how she considered her speech earlier to be a flop.

 

“...You still feel pretty hurt about that, right? I understand it…but know that all of them saw you as a friend, despite….that….” consoled Chiaki, but her words were enough for Kazuichi to let his true feelings out.

 

“...Goddamnit, why did it have to be them? Why did they have to feel that way?! If they hated us from the get go, it would have been so much easier….but no, it had to be like this!...and...and the worst thing is, they were like the only people who genuinely thought I was cool…” snivelled

Kazuichi while also accidentally confessing an insecurity he had for a long time. Even at Hope’s peak, he felt like a loser. Some of his actions didn’t help much in curbing that feeling.

 

“That’s wrong!” Chiaki suddenly shouted as she pointed at him, accidentally startling him in the process.

 

“Huh? What do you mean?” asked Kazuichi as the feeling of sorrow was replaced with confusion. Was there another person that they genuinely thought they were cool?

 

“I think that...you’re pretty cool too. Everyone in our class has something cool to offer.” revealed Chiaki, turning out that there was that person. Her trust and belief in her own class was unlike any other.

 

“Please don’t tell me you’re just joking about this.” Kazuichi couldn’t believe it that there were more people that thought he was cool, considering what happened in the morning. To have someone on his side was an odd concept to him.

 

“No way I would joke about this. I mean it, all of it.” insisted Chiaki, giving him a rather determined

 

“O-oh...then...what do you find cool about me, if I can ask?” stuttered Kazuichi as he had somewhat of a sheepish smile (with sharp teeth) on his face, scratching his own head as well.

 

“For example, how passionate you are for machines. You really know about them and I think that’s not only cool, but useful. Machines are also pretty cool….I think.” explained Chiaki to him on what she thought was cool about him. He was even more startled than before upon revelation that Chiaki herself also likes machines.

 

“Wait a sec, you’re into machines too? Oh heck, I didn’t know that, you should have told me!” Kazuichi’s mood took a drastic turn, into a much more cheerier one. As if he was activated.

 

“In fact...what do you think of this?” asked Chiaki as she brought out her phone to show him one picture. It was something that she thought Kazuichi would like: F-16C Fighting Falcon single engine multirole aircraft, belonging to the 157h Fighter Squadron of South Carolina Air National Guard. The example of such fighter aircraft was quite armed, carrying two AGM-88C anti radiation missiles, two drop tanks, two AIM-9X Sidewinder heat seeking air to air missiles and two AIM-120C-5 AMRAAM active radar guided missiles. The fuselage’s hardpoints were also occupied AN/ALQ-13 electronic countermeasure pod and LITENING targeting pod. That was the usual loadout for a Supression of Enemy Air Defenses missions, where planes would do their best to shut down enemy radars of surface to air missile systems. Kazuichi recognized the jet on the spot, although it is one of the most famous military aircraft of all time, so it would have been easy to recognize even by those not interested in aviation.

 

“F-16? Oh, that one is very rad! Such a sleek looking beast!” Kazuichi gave out compliments to the plane itself, making Chiaki rather happy that he recognized it on a spot.

 

“So you know of it?” Chiaki tilted her head as she was about to go into fangirl mode.

 

“Of course I do! Fighter jets are awesome!” chuckled Kazuichi as he put his hands behind his head, finally defeating the bad mood once and for all.

 

“Heh...I think this one is my favorite, but it probably has to do because I saw it in a lot of video games. Falcon BMS does come to mind when it comes to it. It also reminds me of a spaceship, such as one seen in Gala Omega.” Chiaki told him about her experience with the F-16 itself, seeing it more in video games than in real life, though she did want to see one in real life, just to get a feeling of it.

 

“I can say you’ve got good taste in jets! F-16 is pretty popular not only among pilots, but mechanics too! Not only that, a lot of countries use it too and I do mean a lot!” praised Kazuichi while also giving her more info about the jet itself. Not only did she manage to cheer up her friend, but she also was going to obtain new knowledge.

 

“Oh? Can you tell me more about it? I’m no expert about it, you seem to be well versed into this, I think…”politely requested Chiaki, wanting to hear more about her favorite plane.

 

“It was built as the “low end” fighter, meant more for being easier to maintain, easier to operate and most importantly cheaper at the cost of raw performance, such as fuel for example. Compared to older types, F-16 is considered to be significantly really easy when it comes to maintaining it. I’ve heard some mechanics of older planes, such as...hm...F-4 Phantom, were actually jealous of F-16 mechanics.” Kazuichi told her about the plane itself, recalling some of the stories he heard about while he was reading on the internet.

 

“F-16 is low end? Huh, never knew, it always felt really advanced to me...though I do recall it was built in the 70’s.” Chiaki tilted her head in surprise. To her, F-16 looked rather modern, even if it first flew in 1974. Probably helps that it’s not only still in service, but in production as well even to this day.

 

“It originally was intended to be low end, but frequent updates made it very capable, if not one of the most capable fighters out there. It’s still in production and it sells like hot cakes for a reason.” elaborated Kazuichi.

 

“Oooh, that’s right! I do remember in BMS on how each variant differed. Like, F-16C Block 50 has a different layout compared to F-16A.” Chiaki recalled during her session of BMS on how different each variant felt. For example, earlier variants had their MFD’s with green lines, while later ones had them in multiple colors. However, her curiosity gained a new level, she wanted to know something from Kazuichi himself. “But now...what would you say to be your favorite fighter jet?”.

 

“Change six into four and you’ll see it!” suggested Kazuichi in order to see his favorite plane. Chiaki did just that and with the tap on the enter, an entirely different plane appeared. A rather ginormous looking beast of a plane, with two tails, two engines and cockpit meant for two people: pilot and radar intercept officer. It was just as sleek as F-16, but it was far more tough looking. In a way, a flying muscle car that could swat down bandits from miles away, even up to one hundred nautical miles.

 

The plane in question was none other than the legendary Grumman F-14 Tomcat, the defender of the fleet for the United States Navy up until its retirement in 2006. However, it’s still in service with a certain Middle East country that tries its best to maintain such a beastly aircraft.

 

“Oh, that’s the one that appeared in in the game based around that movie! Top Gun!...I think.” Chiaki managed to recognize it, thanks to plethora of games that movie received, including the one where some players thought that speed and altitude are not necessary information for such game. No wonder why landings gave them an issue.

 

“Correct-a-mundo! That movie made me love it, aside from the fact that it looks like a beast! What do you think of Tomcat, Chiaki?” cheered Kazuichi while asking her opinion on it.

 

“It looks….big...like a boss plane….Wait a minute….” Chiaki thought without a doubt that it was a cool looking plane, but then she noticed that its wings differed in pictures. In some, they were fully extended, but in some they were fully swept. She got confused for a bit. “In this picture, it has wings like that, but in that one, it has wings swept. What’s up with that?”.

 

“Oooh, that’s variable sweep-wing! Some planes, such as Tomcat, can automatically change the angle of their wings. It depends on speed, faster they go, the bigger will be the sweep. It allowed all sorts of cool things, like at slower speeds, it could turn really well.” Kazuichi explained the mechanism of such concept which some planes from various origins utilized.

 

“Planes could change angle of their wings in real life? That’s...that’s really cool! I would definitely wanna try out Tomcat in a video game.” Chiaki started fangirling over it while also thinking about how to fly it in video games. For sure, it would be a different experience than F-16. Where as F-16 was very gentle to the pilot, F-14 was a bit more demanding.

 

“There definitely has to be a video game about it, it’s one of the most beloved aircraft of all time.” assured Kazuichi, since it is literally the most beloved naval plane of all time, up there with legends such as Hornets, Corsairs and Phantoms, if not even outclassing them. Although, the movie helped a lot for its fame, along with its actions in Gulf of Sidra during 80’s, where hostilities between United States and Libya were quite high.

 

“Then I will definitely look into it! Retro or new, anything will suffice.” decided Chiaki that once she comes home, she will definitely play a game with it, simulator preferably. She appreciated simulators because they gave her a perspective on air combat, compared to arcade flight games, where most of them still think that missiles chase their target (pure pursuit) instead of attempting to intercept them (lead pursuit). There were some exception, like that one arcade cyberpunk flight game where the player could switch factions.

 

After so much talking about planes, it seemed like one of her tasks actually succeeded.

 

“Man, perhaps this day ain’t gonna be so bad after all. Sure...that happened, but you know what? Something good happened too!” Kazuichi pumped up his fists, prepare

 

“So..are you feeling better?” Chiaki asked just in case, sporting a smile upon seeing her classmate get his energy back.

 

“You bet! Man, I’m feeling pumped up! In the mood to take a look at an engine of the aircraft! Yo, I have to thank you too!” confirmed Kazuichi while giving her a compliment.

 

“I-it wasn’t really that much...just thought that you would like the plane, that’s all.” Chiaki immediately downplayed her actions as she waved with her hands.

 

“And you know what? Even that’s cool! I think I am ready to return to the class as reborn Kazuichi!” Kazuichi still gave her a compliment, despite her downplaying it just before he was about to set off and return. “Alrighty then, I have to go!”.

 

“Hey, before you go...I have a thing to say.” Chiaki managed to stop him just in time to address one thing before he returned to the class.

 

“Hm? What’s up, Chiaki?” asked Kazuichi.

 

“I’m sorry for running away earlier.” apologized Chiaki for that time where she just suddenly disappeared where she had to deal with the enemy student.

 

“Eh, it’s no biggie. I getcha clearly. I mean, you had to deal with him, right? Man, when I saw him, I lost it! But no worries, because it’s all cool. See ya soon!” reassured Kazuichi before he dashed off, fully energized once and for all.

 

“See ya.” said Chiaki, happy to know that she made another person happy. However, that was only half of a task, one person remained. “Well...that went better than expected. Planes seem to make some people happy...I’m glad they do, but now...I have to check Ryota.”.

 

She went on, searching for him. For the time she took, she didn’t find him in the hallways at all. Chiaki then started inspecting other places of Hope’s peak academy, such as other classrooms. As she went on, she found herself in front of the dining hall, with the person she wanted to talk to still not found.

 

“Where even is he?” wondered Chiaki before she had a sudden encounter with a familiar person.

 

“Hey, Chiaki? You’re here too?” Makoto greeted her, who was also standing in front of the dining hall as well. The small ahoge boy talked in a rather more exhausted tone than usual. It seemed like the revelation affected class 78th as well.

 

“Oh, Makoto? How are you?” asked Chiaki as she tilted her head.

 

“I’m kinda tired, to be honest. I’ve had to reassure the entire class that things are going to be okay, despite what happened.” answered Makoto, revealing that he had to do the same stunt as Chiaki did in her class as well. The gamer gal was surprised upon hearing that, not expecting that he would do literally the same thing.

 

“You too? Well...I understand, I did it as well. It was...difficult.” said Chiaki, admitting that she had struggles with it.

 

“Yeah, for me too...but they did manage to cheer up. I do believe in them, even if some can be a handful to handle. We are gonna overcome that mafia, no matter what.” Makoto related to her while he also said things that wouldn’t be unlikely to come out of her mouth too.

 

“Well...you do have an amazing ability to make people happy. It’s why people, including us, trust you so much.” Chiaki gave him a complimented along with a warm smile, causing him to get flustered on the spot.

 

“E-eh, I don’t think I did it too well. I just spoke from what I’ve felt.” Makoto downplayed himself, not unlike the how Chiaki herself does it.

 

“That is more enough for be to be amazing, I think.” insisted Chiaki, making him even more embarrassed about himself, even though all she wanted was for him to be happy. At the very least, his mood did get better when Chiaki joined, just that him taking compliments wasn’t his forte.

 

“T-to be fair, you also have an ability to make people happy. I saw it how much they gather around you.” Makoto gave her a compliment as well, which caused her to be flustered.

 

“Erm...I don’t think so. I tried, but it was terrible…” Chiaki downplayed herself again as her face was completely red.

 

“It wasn’t terrible at all. Like you said, it’s more enough that you speak from what you feel. That already is amazing enough.” insisted Makoto, just like Chiaki did before. It only made her blush even harder.

 

“...Ehehe…” giggled Chiaki with her cheeks being completely rosy. She didn’t know how to respond but she wanted to return him a favor one day. One idea was to include him in her little group. Then she reminded herself about her task. “I have one more thing to do, then I will return. I’ll come back….wait hold, on I have a question.”.

 

“Yeah?” wondered Makoto.

 

“Where’s Ryota?” asked Chiaki.

 

“Oh, I actually saw him going to the dining hall. He didn’t say much to me.” Makoto pointed towards the dining hall, giving her an answer. She felt slightly silly over it, since it should have been obvious.

 

“Ah, thanks. I’ll check there.” smiled Chiaki as she prepared herself to confront Ryota.

 

“No problem. I hope it goes well.” Makoto gave her wishes as she stepped forth, going inside. Makoto was right, Ryota was right there, sitting behind a “bar” all by himself, drinking a glass of water. Even though his expression remained unchanged, she could already tell that Ryota was in a similar position as Kazuichi before, except he was a lot more covert about it.

 

“Oh, Ryota is here…..alone…” lamented Chiaki upon seeing him just be there without anyone on his side. A feeling resonated with her, that feeling of loneliness, but at the very least she could give him a company.

 

“...Hey, Ryota.” quietly greeted Chiaki as she sat down next to him. Ryota just looked to her without saying a word. The animator fellow saw from the get go that she wanted to cheer him up, to mend pain that the reveal caused.

 

“You have come here to check on me, right?” asked Ryota.

 

“...Yeah. You still feel pretty hurt about it, right?” nodded Chiaki as she tried to console him, but Ryota remained silent through out it, almost like if he was hesitating to say a word. Even though it was hidden, pain was still present. To Chiaki, it was dawning on her that Ryota was a different deal than Kazuichi.

 

“…Allow me to ask you something: how much do you believe in trust? I mean trust as in, the concept itself.” Ryota gave her a question that she required some time to think about. Aforementioned question broke silence for a moment, but it returned as quickly. Chiaki thought about trust as a whole and how much does she rely on it.

 

“Well...I do believe in it, quite a lot, I think. It’s what keeping us together, but...it does need doubt to be valid. Belief without doubt...is simply a lie.” replied Chiaki once she got pieces of her answer together. The experiences she went through made her more lean on side of doubt, not as in fully overtaking trust, but blind trust was something she wasn’t capable anymore, especially after what one of her classmates turned out to be.

 

“Hm...you still have faith in it. What just happened proved me that only thing worth of trust is food.” noted Ryota, startling Chiaki over the fact he has seemingly stopped believing in the concept of trust all together. To think that the reveal hurt him that much was making Chiaki’s heart heavier.

 

“Um...I understand why, but...you don’t trust your friends?” asked Chiaki, with her voice trembling a bit. A fear that her class will crumble appeared, that Ryota would grow so distrustful that it would cause a chain of events that would lead to the class splintering.

 

Then he said something that would puzzle her for a long time.

 

“I do not have friends. Ryota Mitarai does.” bluntly stated Ryota, causing her to think about his words for a moment. The way he phrased himself seemed like that someone else was Ryota and not him.

 

“But...you’re Ryota, right?” asked Chiaki, utterly confused on what he meant. However, Ryota remained silent.

 

“...Perhaps one day you would learn the truth. Maybe for you, sooner than most.” Ryota said his departing words as he stood up and went towards outside. “Excuse me, I need to address something.”.

 

“Wait, please-” Chiaki pleaded him to stay, but it was too late. Ryota was already on his way to finish his business, whatever he had. The half of the task was deemed a failure by her. “Aw, bummer...that was a total flop, wasn’t it?”.

 

Then, as she was about to return to Makoto, she started thinking more about his words. They seemed rather contradictory upon closer inspection.

 

“Hmm...he did say the truth will be revealed sooner for me...so that means he does trust us, just that...he finds it difficult to lean on?” Chiaki wasn’t sure how to feel on it. Did he completely abandon trust as a concept or did he still cling on to it, even if its just her and her classmates. Upon thinking about it more, she realized how much grief has Ryota went through. “...That’s honestly sad to think about.”.

Chiaki exited the dining hall, returning to Makoto, who was more or less in the same place. The Naegi wondered how come that it was so quickly done.

 

“Hey, I’m back. Sorry to keep you waiting.” apologized Chiaki for delay, even though there wasn’t one.

 

“It’s okay. There were no worries to begin with. How did it go with Ryota?” reassured Makoto while curious about how her talk with Ryota went, but he didn’t want to be too intrusive.

 

“….I’m not too sure how it went…” contemplated Chiaki whether or not should she consider her talk with Ryota a success or failure, although she leaned towards latter. Still, she couldn’t ignore Ryota’s choice of words.

 

“The revelation from yesterday really got him shaken, didn’t it? Before it happened, he was always hanged around Figottoni. They seemed to be close friends too...man, it hurts even thinking about it.” Makoto related to how Ryota felt, even if those two weren’t close.

 

“It does...it damaged his belief in trust...but even though he was hiding it, he did hint to believe in us...it’s strange…” said Chiaki, still wondering what were true feelings of her animator friend.

 

“I think that he does see you all as his friends, despite what he said. He knows who to believe in.” stated Makoto, having quite a decent amount of faith in him, just like he did with everyone he considered a friend.

 

“I hope so…” murmured Chiaki before a thought appeared in her mind. A thought that she wanted to tell her short ahoge friend. “...hey, Makoto?”.

 

“Yeah?” Makoto tilted his head.

 

“How close would you say our classes are?” suddenly asked Chiaki.

 

“If you want my opinion on it...then our classes cannot be separated by anything. Miss Yukizome said to us that no other class has such relationship before or after.” answered Makoto with a strong amount of confidence in his voice. The Ultimate (Un)lucky student had a polar opposite treatment of trust compared to her classmate. The sheer amount of trust alone made Chiaki smile.

 

“Then...lets keep the bond strong, shall we? Together, we will be stronger than anything.” Chiaki gave out a promise before she suddenly grabbed his hands, startling him in the process. But once the blush went away, he regained his determined look.

 

“It will be maintained, that is gonna be my promise. I will do anything to keep class 77-B and class 78th together!” promised Makoto as both of them held hands as close they could, in order to keep promise as strong as they could. Then, another hand grabbed both of them, from an unexpected visitor.

 

“Don’t forget, you are not alone in this fight.” said a soft, reassuring voice that sounded remarkable like Kurisu. In fact, it was Kurisu.

 

“K-Kurisu?!” Makoto and Chiaki both stammered, completely shocked by her sudden appearance.

 

“Hehehe, what a surprise, right? You two are like puppies together.” chuckled Kurisu before she expressed her regrets about her group not reacting in time. “But we’ve heard what happened to you guys...I’m really sorry you had to go through it. Truth be told, we wanted to visit us ever since your classmate got expelled, but couldn’t….once again, I’m really sorry.”.

 

“It’s okay, Kurisu. Not only we believe we can power through, but it makes us more than happy that you guys are on our side.” reassured Chiaki that there was no ill at all, but deep down she was happier knowing that Future Gadget Lab will be on their side.

 

“And we will be, until the end of time. Almost all of us have come to visit you, including Suzuha and Faris. We are all waiting for you outside. Will you come with me?” promised Kurisu before she invited them to go outside, where the rest of the gang, from their classes to the lab itself, waited for someone. Both dorks nodded. “Then, lets go.”.

 

They let go off their hands as they all started walking towards the entrance of the school, but not encountering a certain yakuza duo on the way, who seemed to go to the opposite direction. Their appearance was just as much of a surprise for them as their appearance was for the duo.

 

“Fuyuhiko and Peko?” piqued Kurisu while all three of them wondered

 

“K-Kurisu, the hell? Oh, sorry, we didn’t expect your arrival here.” stuttered Fuyuhiko but he regained his composure. Peko was a lot more covert in terms of showing surprise, greeting them as if was a normal day.

 

“Nothing to worry about, we were just passing by. How are you today?” piqued Kurisu as she wanted them to tell them about a thing they were planning to do.

 

“We’re fine, but we have one more thing to do, just in case.” answered Peko

 

“What would that be?” Kurisu raised an eyebrow.

 

“It’s very personal. We would prefer it if further questions weren’t asked.” cautioned Peko that their business was something only they should know.

 

“Just saying this in advance, we’re fine. Don’t worry about us, what happened in the morning is a norm around here. Like you’ve said, we’re gonna get this through.” reassured Fuyuhiko in advance, especially remembering how much Chiaki struggled in the morning. At the very least they could tell they were fine. However, curiosity among the trio rose, but they didn’t pry much further.

 

“...Alright. We will respect your wishes.” nodded Chiaki, while other two agreed that they would follow his wish. Once again, Fuyuhiko was surprised by them, but he tried to hide it.

 

“...Thanks. We’ll come back, that can be guaranteed. Just...let us do this thing.” Fuyuhiko let out a small smile before he and Peko went towards their destination. The trio went towards their goal as well, but Fuyuhiko’s words stuck with Kurisu for a moment. There was something about them that she wasn’t comfortable accepting it.

 

“Betrayal as a norm?..They went through a lot more than I thought…” lamented Kurisu, although she kept it to herself.

 

Meanwhile, Ryota was busy buying snacks in a nearby market, but they weren’t for him. After he finished it, he seemed to go towards some kind of ordinary house. The door of the house was unlocked, as if the one inside knew he was coming. Once he entered it, he went towards the living room. Except….it wasn’t much of a living room as it was a homemade animator studio. Multiple monitors were accompanied by drawing pad, where the animator used to make art. Along with the general equipment, there was also plethora of Ghibli merchandise, specifically just Blue-rays. Totoro, Porco, Ponyo, you name it, there were all there. They seemed to be owned by one short scrawny, almost Chihiro Fujisaki-like boy, who was hellbent on drawing every single cell of animation to perfection. The tiny boy in question was none other than Ryota Mitarai, the real one.

 

On other hand, the stout person or Ryota Mitarai as they knew at Hope’s peak, was known as Ultimate Impostor. Not a single person on the planet knew anything about them.

 

“Hello. I have brought you something to eat. You really need to do it.” greeted Ultimate Impostor as he offered snacks and drink to a very exhausted looking Ryota, who was just to pass out.

 

“...Not before I finish it. It has to be perfect or else it will fail.” declined Ryota, insisting on finishing his project despite rather obvious traces of his declining health.

 

“Ryota, you haven’t treated yourself for hours, days even. Please do, you’re nearly about to pass out.” Ultimate Impostor calmly, yet forcefully demanded him to have a drink. They offered him a bottle of water, just so that he would have enough energy for the day.

 

“...Alright.” Ryota had no choice to accept their offer, even if it was more of an instinctual response. He drank down water in the bottle in the matter of seconds. The Impostor sat down and brought up a conversation that they felt necessary to discuss.

 

“There is something that I have been keeping in you in the dark about, but I must reveal it to you. The day has come, thanks to our circumstances.” began Ultimate Impostor to tell him about all sorts of events that happened in their school, from the attack of an octopus to the recent spy reveals.

 

“Did something happen to the school? To our classmates?” asked Ryota out of worry for his classmates, even if he hasn’t ever seen them in person. All he knew was hearsay from the Impostor.

 

“Where do I even begin...on how should I explain it?” Ultimate Impostor wondered on how to tell their situation as believable as possible, considering how utterly bizarre it was.

 

“W-what happened to them?! Please, tell me about it!” Ryota’s concerns about his classmates rose even more as he almost started panicking.

 

“Your classmates are in good condition. They have yet to be seriously injured. However, one of our classmates did get expelled due to being a threat to us. It was Komaeda, if you are curious.” reassured Ultimate Impostor while revealing to him that one of their classmates was out of the school for good. Ryota got curious on why was he expelled, but felt some kind of guilt for it.

 

“At the very least others are alright…but...what circumstances do you speak of?” Ryota took a breath of relief upon hearing it, however the situation still sounded ominous to him.

 

“Our school is currently waging a conflict against a mafia that tries to assert control over it.” continued Ultimate Impostor while also finally telling him that Hope’s peak is under attack by Daft Capo.

 

“M-mafia?! They have to be stopped, the hope of our academy cannot be tainted by them!” Ryota started panicking again while having zero idea on what even the mafia looked like. He imagined it was a yakuza or even a mafia out of roaring twenties. Little did he know the truth behind Daft Capo.

 

“...That very word has become dubious after dealing with Komaeda. Anyway, it doesn’t matter, since we are not letting them have it. I assure you that Hope’s peak will not fall under their clutches.” commented Ultimate Impostor while also promising that no one will fall under the claws of that criminal syndicate.

 

“Wait...are you all going against a mafia...alone?” asked Ryota once he noticed that Imposter seemed to imply that they will fight against their enemy completely alone.

 

“Alone as in our class only or as in academy only?” Ultimate Imposter demanded for some clarification.

 

“Both!” Ryota wanted to know about each outcome.

 

“We aren’t alone. From the academy, class 78th assists us and as of external help, we got help from none other than Kurisu Makise and her colleagues.” revealed Ultimate Impostor another surprise for his animator friend. Mitarai realized that he missed out so much while he was busy perfecting his animated film.

 

“No...that has to be made up…..Kurisu Makise assists us?!” stammered Ryota, finding it hard to accept that a famous neurologist joined their cause.

 

“Correct. However, that’s all we have. We cannot rely on governmental organizations for us, since the mafia has capability to erase themselves from public eye. Not even the World Wide Web is safe from it.” added Ultimate Impostor, a fact that deeply unsettled his friend. Any help from governmental branches was already out of the question and to him, the enemy became far more abstract than he initially imagined.

 

“W-what kind of enemy is that mafia? Is there even a chance against them?” Ryota begged to know as his anxiety skyrocketed. His skin turned completely pale upon imagining what kind of their they were facing.

 

“Perhaps...but I do have a concern. I am not entirely sure to what lengths will that mafia go to achieve goals, so I have one request: you need to move.” requested Ultimate Impostor.

 

“B-but I have to finish this before deadline! It has to be made or else-” Ryota initially declined, since he had an animated movie to finish and the deadline was rather soon.

 

“Ryota, your life could be endangered. We can move all equipment you need there as well. I know where to put you.” Ultimate Impostor “Do not fret, I will assist with moving the equipment.”.

 

At the same time, Fuyuhiko and Peko went to another part of Hope’s peak: Reserve Course Department. Here, the talentless folk enlisted through high monetary prices. Compared to the treatment of Ultimates, Reserve Course students were treated nothing more than forgettable folk at best. After navigating through hallways and a lot of students with less than cheerful attitudes, they found the person they were looking for: a blonde haired gal that looked remarkably similar to the heir of Kuzuryu clan himself. She was sitting on a table, with her legs crossed, sporting a rather confident look on her face. That person was, quite in fact, Natsumi Kuzuryu, who has often referred to herself as the Ultimate Little Sister.

 

“Oh, if it isn’t my big bro! What brings him here?” Natsumi Kuzuryu greeted in a rather pompous way. However, she noticed that her brother was in an unusual, quiet mood. Something went wrong, she thought. Little she knew about what was her brother going to tell her.

 

“..Sis, you need to get outta here.” Fuyuhiko didn’t even hesitate to tell her to move somewhere safe, somewhere deep within Kuzuryu clan’s territory.

 

“Eh? Why? What’s with that sudden demand?” nagged Natsumi, still blissfully unaware of what was Hope’s peak dealing at that moment.

 

“Okay, listen. I’m gonna make it very short. Hope’s peak academy is currently being attacked by a mafia.” revealed Fuyuhiko, causing a bit of a shock for other Reserve Course students.

 

“Wait for real?” quite a lot of Reserve Course students gasped upon the fact, despite being so far unaffected by the Hope’s peak versus Daft Capo conflict. Maybe.

 

“Hmph! Just a mafia and I need to get out? What kind of excuse it that? We’re Kuzuryu’s, all criminal syndicates fear us! What’s gonna one measly mafia do?” scoffed Natsumi while expressing pride of being a part of a yakuza. Considering that both Fuyuhiko and Peko saw what Daft Capo was doing in person, that attitude got him irritated really hard.

 

“The issue is this isn’t a fucking measly mafia. It’s an enemy that even Kuzuryu clan has never seen before.” Fuyuhiko scolded her for overconfidence regarding dealing with an enigmatic adversary.

 

“It’s also an enemy that erases every trace of their existence, even on World Wide Web.” added Peko, a fact that even got under Natsumi’s skin.

 

“...That has to be bullshit, right? You know that nothing can be erased from internet, right?” doubted Natsumi, but the sheer prospect of it painted a new light on the conflict. Kuzuryu was know all over Japan. Daft Capo was completely hidden in the shadows.

 

“So I thought...but they have proven otherwise. They have already infiltrated within the ranks. There’s a pretty big chance that they’re in reserve course too.” cautioned Fuyuhiko while expressing fears he had for a long time. At the very least at that moment he could curb his fears by taking her sister safe. “Sis, we need to take you home, somewhere safe. Safe from them.”

 

“….I’m only going with your demand because you sound so serious about it. You will have to explain everything at home.” begrudgingly accepted Natsumi as she joined them to go home, a temporary safe place.

 

“Alright then...I’ll tell you everything about it.” promised Fuyuhiko as they all went on their way home, just to take his sister there, where she would be free of danger from Daft Capo.

 

More time passed as, by total coincidence, Fuyuhiko, Peko and Ultimate Impostor, who was still known to them as Ryota, returned to the entrance of the school, where almost everyone from class 77-B and class 78th (aside from Ludenberg) awaited them. Even Future Gadget Lab gang was there, from the main group to even, unfortunately for Hajime, the catgirl herself.

 

“We have returned. We apologize to keep you waiting.” greeted Peko as the duo stepped forth.

 

“I have also returned.” Ultimate Impostor announced his return just the right time. It was almost like if those four were in sync.

 

“Ah, welcome back. I’m glad you three have returned. We’re just waiting for Miss Yukizome.” Chiaki happily invited them to come forth, but soon enough they found out there was another person coming, rushing as fast as she could. Finally, Chisa Yukizome arrived.

 

“Speak of her, there she is! Everyone, give her a big “Wazzaaaaaaaaap!” when she’s close!” cheerfully suggested Suzuha as she waved at her, being the first one to unleash a “Wazzap” on her teacher friend. Once the rushing teacher reached the fountain, she stopped herself, taking some deep breaths to regain her energy. She forgot her coffee that day.

 

“Heyyoo! Sorry I’ve kept you all waiting, but your teacher is back!” Chisa waved at them as she joined in, finally ending the wait for her. Thus, the class 77-B decided to have a “class” outside, where they would all hang around until it was time to go home. As they all were having fun, the mad scientist and his childhood friend sat on the bench, observing them in the process.

 

“Hey, Okarin.” Mayuri initiated the talk.

 

“What’s on your mind, Mayuri?” asked Rintaro as he looked at her.

 

“Mayushii’s been thinking about the school itself. Why is it called Hope’s peak academy? Mayushii’s not sure if there is a mountain called Hope?” wondered Mayuri, imagining how would a mountain called Hope even look like.

 

“I don’t think there’s any mountain called Hope. At least not in Japan. I personally think it’s because they thought the name was cool.” rationalized Rintaro while he honestly had no idea why the school got such name in the first place.

 

“Maybe because of that but more I watched them, more I get on why its called Hope’s peak.” noted Mayuri while she pointed at others just having fun. Rintaro looked where she was pointing and started to understand. One sight particularly caught his attention: Chiaki hanging around with Chisa, Hajime, Chihiro, Ibuki and newly included Makoto. Something about the “Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit” reminded him of Mayuri big time.

 

“Heh...yeah. It could be that too.” chuckled Rintaro as they all just enjoyed their afternoon, after everything that happened. A spark of a break was definitely needed.

 

It was end of their classes for the day. All of students went home to take a rest. In the mean time, Chisa was strolling down to her office, thinking about all sorts of stuff.

 

“Hm hm hm, another day is done! I’ll make it up for them, because me being that late is unacceptable! No more of that, Chisa! No more! They were probably really worried for you too….what kind of teacher even am I, for not being able to do anything normally?” Chisa thought to herself while also tearing herself apart for not being an ideal teacher (for Hope’s peak’s higher ups standards). Despite her best efforts to make her class happy, she still received pressure from above. But happiness of her students was more important to whatever the higher ups said. “...but at the very least, as long as students are happy, it’s all good!”.

 

On her way, she met the Ultimate Talent Scout, Koichi Kizakura. Usually laid-back, but that day he was not. The way he walked showed that he was concerned about something. Something big, perhaps.

 

“What’s wrong, Kizakura?” asked Chisa, immediately noticing his off putting behavior. He never was like that, but something must have happened.

 

“Yukizome, some real weird things have been happening as of late.” revealed Koichi in a deeply worried tone in his voice. The Housekeeper could tell that the issue was serious.

 

“What’s been going on?” further asked Chisa as her own worries started to stack up.

 

“Our security has been disappearing. Every time a new guard gets hired, they disappeared day after.” fretted Koichi, revealing his discovery for what was happening behind the scenes. Such revelation caused Chisa’s irises to shrink, with her skin becoming pale.

 

“...W-what? How could it happen?” quavered Chisa, gulping down her saliva.

 

“I seriously don’t know, they just vanish without a trace. Even if we try to call them, it’s nothing but static.” further added Koichi, making the situation sound even worse.

 

“...Kizakura, when did you find out?” shivered Chisa as she was starting to hug papers she was taking to her office.

 

“Yesterday, although I have a hunch that this has been happening for a long time. We need to report to the headmaster as soon as possible.” suggested Koichi to report as soon as possible.

 

“...One more thing…What’s the chance that the mafia is behind it?” Chisa agreed with his suggestion, but wanted to know one more thing. Considering that Koichi was already aware of it, they could deal with it easier.

 

“Likely. Very likely. I can’t imagine anyone else doing it.” theorized Koichi.

 

“….We need to do something about it now.” declared Chisa as they both had a change of plans. They went towards the headmaster’s office, where they would inform what was happening to the school. It was fortunate that students weren’t aware of it, or else their grasp on the conflict might have taken a different turn. A turn they wouldn’t never want to take.

Notes:

Oh my, 2nd arc is done! Dear readers, how did you feel about it? Personally, this arc has taken a different turn than I have imagined....but now......

 

 

THE TRUE INSANITY OF THIS FANFIC SHALL BEGIN! MWAHAHAHAHAHA!

Chapter 28: They Have Come (ARC IV START)

Chapter Text

Thursday was another ordinary day for Hope’s peak academy. They all started their day, waiting for-wait what?

 

TONIGHT,

 

A CAT FORGETS A BUNCH OF NUMBERS,

 

MUSTACHED DRIVER STOPS IN FRONT OF THE FINISH LINE

 

AND A BUNCH OF KNOBS LAUGH AT THE PICTURE OF A CHEF.

 

Far away from Hope’s peak academy, there was a bar meant only for so called bad guys. Yakuzas and other criminals loved to reside there, since the bar owner made it deliberately suited for them. All of them drank, alcoholic or not, just enjoying their break from their activities. Little did they know what the day had in store for them.

 

“May I take your order?” bartender asked the nearest yakuza guy, who was awaiting a drink.

 

“One Sapporo, please.” politely ordered yakuza guy, raising his index to show that he truly meant one, no more, no less. The bartender nodded as he reached out for the nearest refrigerator. He grabbed the can, made sure that he got the right brand and gave it to the thirsty yakuza guy.

 

“Here you go.” said bartender as he placed the beer on the table. Such was his life, beer or die.

 

“Thank you very much.” yakuza guy gave him a thumbs up as he opened up the can, consuming the alcoholic beverage in the process. In the mean time, an interesting, road illegal car was parked in front of the bar. It wasn’t a sedan or a grand tourer, but none other than a Formula One racing car, specifically Mercedes MGP W01. Painted in silver and black, the car still had all the advertisements on it, despite now being privately owned. The owner, dressed in a white glittery tuxedo and wearing a white fedora, stepped out of it as he started approaching the bar.

 

The criminals inside still enjoyed their peaceful day, having conversations regarding their less than legal activities.

 

“Say, have you’ve been thinking about business?” asked other yakuza guy, who sat quite a bit far from the bartender. He was also enjoying Sapporo as much as the guy who ordered it the latest.

 

“Hm, I was thinking of trafficking weed, but I don’t think there’s a market for it in Japan.” answered another yakuza guy, wondering about how to increase profits for their own yakuza clan.

 

“Why weed, if I can ask?” other yakuza guy raised his eyebrow, stunned at such choice.

 

“Seems popular as of late. Did you hear that weed market absolutely skyrocketed in Netherlands not too long ago?” elaborated another yakuza guy while remembering that the market for grass saw quite a noticeable traction few months ago. However, during the time between that news and that day, it was largely forgotten. What they didn’t know was that the person who was responsible for the rise of cannabis market in Netherlands was coming right for them.

 

“Yeah, but...that’s in Netherlands. Japan’s a different place.” argued other yakuza guy, reminding him that Japan has different niches than a country known for taking land from sea had.

 

“I guess you are rig-” another yakuza guy was about to continue the conversation, but it came to an end when the door of the bar was abruptly opened by the man dressed in white. Amid the traditionally Japanese yakuza members, the western mafioso stood out like, in native words, a “gaijin”. He walked in like a sheriff entering a saloon from the faraway times, smoking a fat blunt like a cigar. “...Who’s this asshole?”

 

The guy’s name was Fritz.

 

“What do you think you are, some cowboy of sorts? Hate to break it to ya, but this ain’t Wild West.” jeered random yakuza as Fritz was approaching the bartender, who immediately noted of his presence. The man in white had a sincere laugh upon hearing yakuza’s taunt.

 

“Heh...funny you mention that. Very funny, I approve.” chuckled Fritz as he tipped his hat, giving the yakuza fella a look. For some reason, the same yakuza member felt chills down his spine. Something about Fritz’s eyes gave him an impression that the man in white was seconds away from murdering someone and enjoying it.

 

“All white, glittery…what’s this for, some fashion nonsense?” taunted other yakuza guy, insisting a facade of a tough guy.

 

“It’s a look that you’ll remember for ages. Mark my words.” boasted Fritz as he looked over to him with a smug grin on his face.

 

“Hahaha, sure will, for how utterly ridiculously flamboyant it is! Go back to Hollywood, where you belong!” joked another yakuza guy while having a laugh at how utterly different he was. No dragon tattoos, no black suits, just something that defied even western definitions of a mafioso, sort of. The looks was there, just tiny things were enough different.

 

“Oh please, that place is just for utter pussies. This is the right place for me and I have come here for one simple thing.” Fritz, once again, had a laugh as he threw the blunt in the nearest trash can.

 

“And what would that be, fashion cowboy gangsta?” asked yakuza who ordered Sapporo in a rather provocative way, absolutely ignorant of what he enabled the unusual man to do. Fritz’s only response was his grin changing from a smug one to one that desires nothing more than for blood to be shed all over the place.

 

Then, the first strike began, with Fritz delivering a horizontal punch to the yakuza guy’s face so hard, that it knocked him unconscious the instant he felt the impact. Every other yakuza fellow gasped on the sight of someone who was just taunting receiving such a punch. The one who initiated it turned towards them, with a same bloodthirsty grin he had.

 

“Hey hey hey HEY! W-what’s this all abou-” other yakuza guy reckless approached the aggressor, only for him to be jabbed right in the stomach, causing him to nearly puke blood out of his mouth. The attack that knocked him out for good was Fritz grabbing his head and smashing it right on the table, causing a few broken teeth in the process. In the mean time, all bartender could do was watch, he did not want to interfere with the rampaging mafioso. The brawl went on, with more yakuza members falling down like dominos. Not even the ones who wanted to avoid the fight were safe.

 

“No no no, please, I have nothing to do with thi-” innocent yakuza tried to run away, only to be grabbed by the collar and thrown across the bar. Once he landed, Fritz delivered a knock out blow by smashing a chair over his head, possibly damaging him so hard that he could no longer recover. Upon seeing that even “innocents” were targeted by the maniac, the last remaining yakuza guy went out with a desperate option.

 

“YOU FUCKING PSYCHO!” the oddly enough only yakuza that had firearms with him pulled out a revolver, but before he could even place a proper grip on it, Fritz already delivered him an uppercut right on the chin. As he was knocked out yet still conscious, Fritz kicked him in the face a few times, breaking every single teeth he had before he was out of commission. The victor inspected the revolver before he claimed it as its own.

 

“Hm. Colt Single Action Army, the basic bitch option, but it will be useful. Anyway, where was I?” analyzed Fritz before he returned to the absolutely stunned bartender.

 

“….I...I have never seen a bar totaled by one person. You have my, uh...respect.” hesitated bartender, for the only time worried that a criminal would attack him. Fortunately, Fritz decided to spare him.

 

“Eh, it was too easy. A bunch of pansies here, not a single one could fight.” scoffed Fritz as he laughed over all those who have fallen in the brawl. All that fighting made him just a little thirsty. “Alright so, I would like…”.

 

“Entire bar, free of charge?” bartender gave an offer, just to avoid any further conflict.

 

“I was about to say I just want a can of beer, but that would do it as well. Here, have a tip.” clarified Fritz, genuinely surprised by his offer but still taking it. An opportunity like that couldn’t be passed. For a reward, he tipped the bartender a coin worthy of five hundred yen before he left the bar, officially conquering it under the name of Daft Capo. The bartender was in shock, not from the aftermath, but from the fact he received money by the same gangster that beat up everyone.

 

“That’s more than my monthly paycheck….What the hell….” noted bartender as he continued his daily business, now under new management. Meanwhile, Fritz went to his privately owned Formula One car, whipped out the phone and called his homie.

 

“Yo, Herman my man! I’ve got the last one good! You know what that means.” casually greeted Fritz while confirming his arrival at Zona Daft Capo.

 

“Eyyyyyyy, Fritz! By Mama Maria, I was waiting for this moment! Come soon, my friend!” Herman welcomed him with open arms (or rather tentacles), finally achieving what he wanted for so long.

 

“Hahaha, of course, you octopus bastard!” laughed Fritz before he ended the call, jumped in his Formula and drove off, asserting his presence on the road by the sweet sounds of the engine.

 

Meanwhile, at another end of the city, an ordinary bank resided. What else was there to tell about it other that it was a bank and it had a lot of money? Oh, perhaps that it had some level of security, some cameras placed in the rather small vault. At the very least floor was solid enough, right?

 

Apparently not, since a single fist managed to emerge from it. Then, with sheer force, a cat rose from the floor, only accompanied by a bag. The blue cat, who went by the name of Tom, wearing a glittering white zoot suit and a fedora, looked around and spotted cameras, quickly realizing that they didn’t work as his already high confidence rose even more. Then he stepped towards the door of vault, locked with a code. All he had to do was to type in a four digit password and the door would open. Tom, with even more confidence, believed that he didn’t need a paper, all he had to was to press the touch pad on right places a few times and press confirm. The first attempt was initiated, with him pridefully entering the combination of letter.

 

It flopped.

 

Suddenly, the confidence of the cat was replaced with rising frustration as he gave out another try.

 

It flopped once again.

 

The aforementioned frustration turned into anger as he poked the touch screen so hard, that a few cracks appeared on it. Unaware that he had the last chance, he typed out the code for the last time.

 

It flopped for the final time, setting off alarms in the facility. Tom, not even noticing alarms, got enough of door’s shit and started pulling the handle to himself. Somehow, with the absolute sheer and utter force produced by Tom’s hands, he tore the entire thing away, leaving nothing short of a free entrance for money. Once it was opened, Tom went in for the catch, putting all the money inside the bag as if he was a while hunting for krill. As the cat was busy indulging himself in robbery, uniformed security guards, armed with batons, entered the vault, surrounding Tom in the process.

 

“Freeze! We have you surrounded!” ordered guard, letting Tom surrender. If he did not, they would beat him up. However, Tom was more than ready for a fight, preparing his fighting stance while sporting a determined look on his face. Despite carrying a bag of money with his one hand, he was more than willing to fight guards one handed.

 

However, the fight never came to be as it was an intervention of a giant metallic arm bursting through the ceiling like it was made out of an ice cream cone.

 

“W-WHAT THE?!” all of the security shouted as the arm grabbed the bag. Tom, feeling more confident than before, smugly grinned before he jumped on the arm, riding it for a bit. Just before the arm would remove its place in the vault, a single sign appeared from the opening, which said one simple thing:

 

“SUCKERS!”.

 

Tom laughed at the misfortune of guards as he showed them his tongue before the arm lifted, taking all the money the cat stole from the bank.

 

Once the crane, which the arm was the part of, reached an ideal angle, he ran on the boom as fast as he could. The parkour cat managed to reach his seat just in time. The whole crane mechanism was part of a rather intriguing modified vehicle, a three-wheeled Vespa, colored like a proper construction crane. A sign of “ACME CO.” was written on it. Somehow, it did not explode through out the entire process. Once the crane was in the right place, outriggers were placed in, prepared for the vehicle to have a ride.

 

The name of such frankenstein’s monster of a motorcycle was Dollar Fisher, with the operator of the crane being none other than Wile E.Coyote, dressed in a white tuxedo and wearing a white fedora, like a proper Elite Boi would do. Coyote and Tom gave each other a high five after completing the robbery before they wanted the driver’s attention. The driver was called Louisianos, a rather ridiculously wide man that resembled Figottoni in a way. In fact, he was Figottoni’s brother.

 

“Dosh got?” asked Louisianos as he glanced over to his cat and coyote higher ups. Both of them gave him a thumbs up, signifying him that the mission was done. “Excellent work. I will report it to Herman.”.

 

He brought up a phone out of his pocket and called another animal higher up.

 

“Herman, I’ve got Tom and Coyote with me. We got the dosh, we’re gonna bring it here.” stoically reported Louisianos about the success of the robbery.

 

“Magnifico! Now take Tom and Coyote here! We have a special meeting now.” praised Herman as he welcomed them to the meeting.

 

“Pronto, my boi.” nodded Louisianos before ending the call, delivering the duo of cat and coyote to the Zona Daft Capo.

 

Across another end of the of the city, a competition was held. A street race, just like one would see in a high budget movie. Various modified cars, mostly all Japanese, drifted on the roads like maniacs. However, one unique car was in the lead, far away from other measly looking cars. A rocket shaped purple car, breaking every single speed limit law and laughing at it, was taken care of by one certain infamous moustached man, accompanied by an unclean dog.

 

“And here we have in the first place, none other than Dick Dastardly, the dark horse of Tokyo Drift! With his menacing Mean Machine, he’s bound to win for sure!” announced the announcer of the annual Tokyo Drift street racing competition, displaying the Elite Boi right in the spotlight.

 

“Gyahahaha! Look at that, Muttley! We’re in the lead! You know what that means!” cackled Dastardly, boasting towards his canine companion about their plan for the race. As they sparks flew over the roads due to blood pumping drifting, the Mean Machine found itself just before the finish line. However, thanks to the plan he had, he performed a J turn, sending sparks all over the place as tires screeched. Then, he stopped himself just a meter before the finish line.

 

“What the? They have stopped right in front of the finish line! What do they plan?!” commented the announcer, baffled by the sudden decision taken by the nefarious driver.

 

“Uh...the line.” Muttley pointed out that their victory was just inches away.

 

“I know, Muttley, but first, we’re gonna deprive joy of crossing the finish line from others first! Not only we will win, but only we will!” insisted Dastardly as he pressed a button amid the utter mess of a control panel. With the action initiated, a slim robotic arm appeared out of the Mean Machine, placing a wide, yet transparent launch pad just before the finish line.

 

“Reverse!” suggested Muttley, insisting that it’s all they needed to do.

 

“Come on, they’re still far away. We can relax here for hours….” Dastardly, stubborn Richard he was, insisted on winning by cheating before a sudden shock of sense blasted in his mind. “Oh wait, I’ve just got an idea.”.

 

Then, he did exactly as Muttley requested: he went in reverse, crossing the finish line first.

 

“OH SHIT, DICK DASTARDLY HAS WON YET ONCE AGAIN! THE CHAMPION HOLDS HIS THRONE TIGHT AND SQUARE!” the announcer went absolutely ballistic of the victory achieved by the unorthodox racer. The crowd that participated went nuts as well, as cheers of fans echoed through out that part of the city.

 

“Gyahahaha! I win! It was all thanks to my genius idea!” boasted Dastardly as he proudly pumped his arms. Euphoria surrounded him upon learning the fact that he has won another race. Perhaps the frequent losses before he joined Daft Capo drove him nuts about it.

 

“Snazza frazza rashin' fashin, stupid Rastardly.” grumbled Muttley.

 

“Don’t be so sore, Muttley! What matters is that victory has been achieved yet again!” Dastardly scolded him for negative attitude. Then he thought about his current situation and how blissful it was. “...Ah, joining that mafia has been the greatest decision of my life….well...almost.”.

 

Just before he would officially exit the race, Dick Dastardly drove off to get his reward. A man with a suitcase awaited him.

 

“And now, Dastardly will receive his reward: ONE MILLION DOLLARS!!!!!” the announcer declared his victory as the man passed him the suitcase, filled with American dollars.

 

“YES! DOUBLE YES! TRIPLE YES!” cheered Dastardly as he gladly took the briefcase, driving off towards Zona Daft Capo, happy to report them great news.

 

“Yeyeyeyeye?” Muttley wanted a part of the catch as well.

 

“...Fine, you will get some of it...and a medal too, I guess.” Dastardly allowed as he gave him a tiny medal. Muttley felt honoured that he received one. “At least you’re happy with that.”.

 

Meanwhile, the race was still ongoing, it was all about the second place at that moment. The one in lead was a Toyota Supra A80 driver, drifting on the corners like a madman. He was just one hundred meters away from the finish line.

 

“Oh, Supra Maniac is now coming close to the finish line!” the announcer hyped up the arrival of the Supra driver. However, what happened next was something he never saw before.

 

The launch pad activated, sending the poor sod flying back.

 

“WHAT THE SHIIIIIIIIIIIT?! HE’S FLYIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIING! SUPRA MANIAC IS FLLLLLLYIIIIIIIIING!the announcer absolutely lost it when he saw a Toyota Supra flying, prevented from crossing the finish line. Meanwhile, Dastardly took joy in it.

 

“Mwahahahah! It has worked, Muttley! Oh, the joy of achieving a victory! Nothing else feels better than-” boasted Dastardly before he saw a certain Formula One car driving next to him, which meant only one thing: his “colleague” Fritz accompanied him.

 

“Hey, Schlongman! Better speed up! Hahahahaha!” taunted Fritz before he sped up, overtaking Dastardly completely. The driver of the Mean Machine got his mood soured, being reminded of who were his co-workers.

 

“…..Oh, snazza frazza rashin' fashin, stupid Fritz!” grumbled Dastardly as he continued driving towards Zona Daft Capo.

 

 

Meanwhile, somewhere completely else there was an ordinary house. Nothing was particular about it at all, not even the resident was anything special. However, that day was a rather important one for the young adult looking like person. In a way, he resembled a Reserve Course student, but somewhat similar to Makoto and Chihiro in terms of appearance. He was standing in front of a mirror, mentally preparing himself for the day.

 

“Hi, my name is Yoshihara Hisao. I have always admired Hope’s peak academy, the shining jewel of our country. The Ultimates were always people I aspired to be. Some of them, like Makoto and Chiaki are my idols, but now’s the day where I can meet them! Today is my first day on my job as a security guard. I will protect it’s shining hope at all cost!” the newly employed security guard talked to himself as if he was a protagonist of some sorts. He was aware of other students thanks to the information on the internet, specifically Hope’s peak’s own website. Yet, despite being more than excited to act as the protector of Hope’s peak academy, there was a certain anxiety within him.

 

“Ah...but I’m so nervous about it...I’d be just a mere security guard compared to them...well I do hope I get along, though I’ve heard they’re nice people.” Yoshihara kept talking to himself, blushing on imagining how would he get along with such people, especially Chiaki and Makoto. He wanted to be just as kind as them, but felt like he was flopping at it. However, he gained courage, dressed himself up for the duty and was ready to go.

 

“All right, it’s time for me to go. Hope’s peak, here I come!” smiled Yoshihara to himself as he opened, anticipating a beautiful day outside.

 

Except, a person stood right in front of the entrance, sporting a particularly bloodthirsty grin. A blue skinned man, who had entire torso covered with armour that had a giant radio clock installed on it. He was accompanied by two grinning white tuxedo dressed men. The leading man was also armed with a giant tuning fork. None than less, Yoshihara did not expect to see Nefarious Tropy, the Master of Time, right in front of his entrance.

 

“Wait, what is-” panicked Yoshihara as his irises shrunk, but before he could do anything, N.Tropy jabbed him in the stomach with his tuning fork, sending him back in the house. Due to force of the jab, Yoshihara fell on the floor, feeling nothing short of complete pain in his stomach. However, it has only started for him as N.tropy entered the house and closed the door. The blue skinned man took a look at his target, with his grin growing even bigger. Yoshihara tried to crawl back, but was soon incapacitated with a strike from the tuning fork. Such attack crushed his knee, causing the intended security guard to scream in utter pain. Then, another strike followed, crushing his other knee. The pain was too much to bear, Yoshihara couldn’t move at all, allowing N.Tropy to step closer to him as he started beating him up with his weapon. Only place he didn’t aim was his head, because the scientist still wanted him to be alive, just to relish in his suffering. With each strike, bones were crushed as the boy kept screaming in pure agony.

 

“Please, stop! Please, it hurts! It hurts….stop...stop it…stop it!Yoshihara, all bloodied up, begged him to stop. Suddenly, N.Tropy did cease striking him with his tuning fork, giving him a false hope. However, the scientist had something prepared for him.

 

“Oh no, the fun’s about to begin!” cackled N.Tropy as sparks started to fly out of his weapon, electrifying it in the process. Yoshihara had his hope of his life being spared crushed, with primal feel and panic replacing any emotion he had at the time.

 

“Wait wait wait please-” Yoshihara let out his last plea, but it fell on deaf ears. N.Tropy pressed the electrified tuning fork on his body, causing extremely high voltage electric current to go through his body. Immediate cardiac arrest followed as Yoshihara’s life ceased to be. All he wanted to become was a guardian of the academy he adored, but what he got was a death delivered by the adversary of the aforementioned institution. Last twitches showed before he was gone. As a final sign of disrespect, N.Tropy kicked his corpse as he smelled the burning smell of the electrocution.

 

“Mmm, screams were exquisite, but now...” complimented N.Tropy, satisfied with the amount of suffering he caused before his expression changed to a dismissive scowl. His two henchmen went inside the house to check the situation. “…Punksters, dispose of this waste of space now.”.

 

Punksters carried out the body to the trunk of their car, a civilian version of Toyota Mega Cruiser, coloured in black. They would dispose of the corpse after N.Tropy would reach Zona Daft Capo. The man himself decided to call Herman to inform him about the last security guard that needed to be disposed of as of that moment.

 

“Herman, I have disposed the last past I needed. I’m going to come soon now.” reported N.Tropy as he was already on his way to the Zona.

 

“Oh...yeah, come quickly.” Herman invited him with a lot more hesitation compared to other members.

 

“Be glad that I even have time to come there.” N.Tropy abruptly ended the call as he continued his journey towards Zona Daft Capo. “For whatever he’s stuck at, it better be worth it.”.

 

As all of Elite Bois were driving down towards their destination, Herman awaited them in front of the cafe where he dropped the trio before. He was chilling, accompanied with a boombox that would have its spotlight right on their arrival. For killing time, he utilized local newspaper. Near the cafe, he had his Ferrari FF parked nearby, just to show them his catch.

 

Suddenly, he heard engines revving and roaring in the distance. It was time.

 

“The time has come!” Herman pumped up his tentacles like a fist, preparing the boombox to play “Sir-Smokes-a-Lot” by Loud Lord. He placed himself in front of the Ferrari putting on sunglasses to look like a total boss. The octopus fella knew he played it at the right time as the song had a little bit of build up.

 

Just before the drop, he could hear sounds of engines becoming louder and loudrer.

 

Then...

 

SWISHER BOY!

 

The bass dropped harder than a meteorite when all vehicles of Elite Bois appeared, drifting in complete and perfect sync. Formula One of Mercedes, “Dollar Fisher” abomination of a motorcycle, the Mean Machine and a giant Mega Cruiser all cut the corner like it was nothing. Then they parked their respective vehicles as they all stepped outside, strolling towards Herman like the widest folk in the universe. All of Elite Bois wore sunglasses for the extra effect. Fritz smoked another blunt as all of them managed to reach their octopus colleague. Those who were not Elite Bois, such as Louisianos, Muttley and other two punksters, left the scene to continue their day normally. It was a meeting only meant for Elite Bois.

 

“Bois! I have been waiting for so long!” greeted Herman with all of enthusiasm he had. The day has finally come to advance their plans.

 

“Fancy Ferrari you got yourself, Herman.” Dastardly noticed the Italian finesse right in front of his eyes. Other Elite Bois, including N.Tropy, were pleased with the sight of such car. Herman has joined in the ranks of having a neat car among Daft Capo’s Elite Bois.

 

“By Maria, it is a fancy one! It was the only one in the store too!” Herman slapped the hood of his Ferrari, just to prove how rad it is.

 

“I gotta say, quite good! Quite good, my friend!” Dastardly gave him a thumbs up over his choice of car.

 

“Wassup, my hombre? What’s giving the issue?” asked Fritz while he was enjoying smoking the kush.

 

“Well, you see my man, this is what we will discuss in our hideout. It’s been twisting my knickers for some time!” suggested Herman.

 

“Just making sure, have you not utterly flopped your mission?” N.Tropy raised his eyebrow, just to check in if Herman did his job.

 

“My own mission? Not at all, Tropy.” reassured Herman as he showed some of the less important documents. He knew he had to have physical proof with him, or else his scientist colleague wouldn’t have been pleased at all. Even among Daft Capo circles, making N.Tropy satisfied was a monumental task.

 

“Good. Any sort of failure shall not be tolerated.” threatened N.Tropy as he crossed his arms.

 

“Oh boy, then you would have to talk to some folk here.” commented Herman, hinting that some folk didn’t do their job. N.Tropy’s suspicions and lack of expectations for underlings were close to becoming confirmed. After their little discussion, they all went in towards their hideout.

 

[LOCATION: REDACTED]

 

Elite Bois sat behind the round table, which resided in a dark room. Only a mere, albeit strong lamp was the source of light, providing a rather covert feeling of such place. Each Elite Boi had a drink of their own choice, from something as simple as Latte Macchiato for Herman to something as “sophisticated” as red wine for N.Tropy. There were also some poker cards placed on the table, in a case they would be in the mood for some poker.

 

“Well bois, here’s the issue: it seems like that the scrub zone is, in fact, a more serious opponent than we imagined. They are not only fighting to keep that scrub zone in their hands, but they also plan to subvert our efforts elsewhere...and the thing is I have zero idea what to do!” Herman began explaining their problem with Hope’s peak.

 

“Are you having a laugh now? A bunch of oxygen wasting brats are being a thorn in Daft Capo’s side?” N.Tropy immediately denounced Herman’s words upon learning that socially awkward teenagers proved to be troublesome for a mafia.

 

“To be fair, we have placed minimal manpower there, since it is just a high school, just that the income of it is juicy.” Coyote raised a sign that said the aforementioned statement, since he was still legally not allowed to talk. That was his main communication with other Elite Bois. Tom, on other hand, committed to being fully mute (unless circumstances proved to be extreme) until the very end.

 

“Just like Coyote’s sign said, we have taken it too lightly, but that’s not the end of it. Manhattan Boys are assisting them as well, weirdly enough.” elaborated Herman

 

“Say, they want another Bundesliga in their asses? I can provide with delight!” chuckled Fritz, welcoming the idea of him kicking them like a ball amid an intense regional football match.

 

“Denmark didn’t demoralize them? How strange, but that also means they have prepared themselves more. And looks like penguins got their compatriots as well.” Dastardly scratched his chin, wondering on how penguins haven’t gave up after Fritz totalled them. Tom wondered the same, perhaps thinking about how to inflict a bigger humiliation upon their avian adversaries.

 

“So bois, what do now?” asked Herman for their input to put up a new plan to deal with their enemy.

 

“Analyze the threat first. Skip those antarctic hens and get to those brats.” suggested N.Tropy, which gave the octopus an idea.

 

“Aight, uno momento.” Herman raised his tentacle like an index finger as he briefly went away from the table, only to bring in about thirty five files that contained information about students, such as their name, blood type and general description of them. He placed them on the table in a case they would need them. “I’ve got every single document of students, including reserve course, but only ones so far that are really relevant are from class 78th and...class 77-B, that scrub debauchery.”.

 

“Call in the spies as well. I wanna hear their opinions as well.” additionally advised Fritz, since he remembered that their primary plan was for the spies and Herman to obtain information. Provoking students was a secondary, personal thing for Herman that he knew the exact reason of.

 

“Pronto!” Herman went out of the room to bring five lower ranking members with him. Once he returned, four people accompanied him. “Here they are, bois!”.

 

Zapatta, Suifta, Figottoni and the Ultimate Scammer arrived to the scene, with first three having a displeased expression on their faces, while the scam guy looked quite delighted. Elite Bois gave them intense looks, demanding for their presence to be acknowledged.

 

“...oh no, not these assholes…” sighed Zapatta as they all stepped forth. However, Elite Bois noticed that one person was not present there, even though he should have been.

 

“Wait, where the fuck is Rando?” wondered Fritz about his punkster colleague or so called “Swisher boi”.

 

“Uno momento, again.” Herman went out of the room again to get his advisor there. After navigating through the hideout, he heard some kind of intriguing music, consisting of a beat and whistles. He recognized the song, it was Magic Mamaliga, done by OMFO, known for its usage in a movie where a comedian tricked an entire village. Herman immediately knew that Rando was too busy jamming it to the “pigeon music”, so he forcefully opened the door, finding out that he was doing just that: aggressively bobbing his head like a pigeon while tap dancing.

 

“Rando! Move your ass there!” ordered Herman, but the music was so loud that not even a sound from his mouth was heard. The octopus lad went away to another, only to bring in a megaphone with him once he returned.

 

“RANDO, ELITE BOIS HAVE COME!” shouted Herman in the megaphone, just audible enough for Rando to hear it. The lad turned his neck as quickly as an owl and then pressed stop on his boombox.

 

“Oh? Then, I must come!” announced Rando as he sprinted to the meeting room, arriving at record time, despite being late. Herman, upon gathering all people he needed, returned to the same room as well.

 

“Ah, pardon me, my bois. I was just jamming to the best music ever.” apologized Rando, which warranted a groan from N.Tropy and Tom slapping his own forehead. Some other members were at similar amount of disbelief, especially those that had an unfavorable opinion on him.

 

“You for real?” Zapatta squinted at him, already being done with his shit. However, Rando picked tone in his voice and quickly, but menacingly turned his head, glaring at him with a frustrated expression.

 

“Do you plan to insult my music taste?” calmly, yet with a voice filled with malicious intent, threatened Rando, causing his rockstar co-worker to back off immediately. Zapatta shook his head in an internal panic before Rando turned his attention towards Elite Bois.“Anyway, my bois, what do you need us for?”.

 

“Info on our enemy. Spill the beans.” Coyote lifted a sign that expressed such demand.

 

“At your service.” nodded Figottoni, offering help, even though he had, deep down, mixed feeling on it.

 

“Ayy, I’ve got some stuff for ya, my bois.” Ultimate Scammer rubbed his hands in delight, prepared to “spill the beans” at any time.

 

“...Eh, sorry bois, I’ve got nothing really, unless you want to know about taste of music from others.” apologized Suifta as she scratched her head, remembering that all she learned about them was their opinions on music….or perhaps that was an excuse for her not wanting to be there.

 

“Yeah, me neither. Got nothing.” Zapatta joined in as well, but partially because he didn’t want to deal with Elite Bois.

 

“You just ain’t gonna tell cuz ya-” taunted Ultimate Scammer, but before he could finish it, Zapatta managed to cut him short.

 

“Do the world a favor and shut the fuck up!” snapped Zapatta at him, falling right for his bait.

 

“If you two have nothing to tell, then sod off to the “Irrelevant Zone”.” retorted N.Tropy, halting the bickering between the rockstar and a scammer.

 

“Oh, I ain’t taking shit from the biggest asshole in the entire mafia!” snarled Zapatta at him, not even caring about if he was an Elite Boi.

 

“Let me ask you this: What is it that you do for living? Scream in a microphone in front of brainless morons for few hours. How does it compare to manipulating god’s dominion as I please? Tell me, how does the Ultimate Rockstar compare to THE Master of Time?” retaliated N.Tropy with such verbal force that it left other Elite Bois impressed, sole exception being Dastardly, who related to Zapatta instead. Even Scammer and Rando were stunned by the comeback. Zapatta, knowing that he screwed up big time by provoking the boss of Elite Bois (but not the boss of the entire organization, that person is someone else completely), remained silent for some time, contemplating if he even enjoyed his time in Daft Capo.

 

“...He’s off his knocker again…” Dastardly rested his head on his arm, feeling ever more exhausted by shenanigans of others.

 

“...Fuck you, smurf man!” Zapatta flipped off as he showed him the middle finger.

 

“Can’t even come with a decent comeback, eh? Just shows you how utterly thoughtless you are! Now get out of my sight.” scoffed N.Tropy with a smirk on his face. Zapatta and Suifta, both feeling defeated, left the meeting room once and for all, going to the “Irrelevant Zone”, which was nothing more than a living room for punksters that are deemed, either by others or themselves, as useless.

 

“HAHAHAHAHA, ROOOOASTEEEEEEEED!” Ultimate Scammer taunted behind his back, pointing his index finger at the door.

 

“Anyway, with annoyances gone, let us focus on useful members instead. Tell us what do you know about our adversary.” N.Tropy advised to continue their analysis of their adversaries.

 

“I’d suggest that we review our foes individually, then categorize them. I shall tell more about them as we proceed with reviews.” suggested Figottoni that the info given will be delivered at most appropriate time.

 

“Hmmm...not a bad idea, I must say. Then Herman, begin the procedure!” N.Tropy scratched his chin before he gave out an order. By the time they were bickering, Herman finished organizing files for their classes. Each class had their own pile of documents.

 

“Just in time! Now, we shall start with class 77-B, because they have been bigger annoyances. We might do just that one as of now, since class 78th is kinda more on passive side.” decided Herman as he randomly pulled out the a document as if it was a lottery ticket that costed like one dollar. “The first scrub we will analyze is…”.

 

Herman took a closer look at the document, wondering if the person is even worth of being analyzed.

 

“….Eh?” Herman tilted his head (or more likely, his entire half of the body) before he threw the documented, revealing that it was about some freckled redheaded photographer. “Mahiru Koizumi, that...uh...photographer.”.

 

“Oh look, Strawberry Shortcake got a haircut. How quaint.” jeered Dastardly upon seeing a picture of her.

 

“She looks like the definition of “basic bitch”, if you ask me. Is she of any significance?” commented Fritz before she asked Herman’s opinion on her threat level, since she, even for an Ultimate, looked like an average redhead at best and someone who belongs on a children’s cartoon at worst.

 

“I ask the same, my man. I ask the same.” Herman shook with his head, with the question remaining unclear.

 

“I have an objection!” Coyote suddenly and aggressively lifted a sign, with “objection” written in large, bold red letters. His brain cells have kicked in, he was one of the first ones to figure out the way Mahiru could prove to be an annoyance.

 

“Oh? Go on then, explain how this Strawberry Shortcake is of any concern.” Dastardly demanded an explanation as he interlocked his fingers like a big brained anime villain that had everything going according to his plan. Coyote suddenly brought up a rather large blackboard out of nowhere, needing it for his explanation, since constantly changing signs would have been tedious for him.

 

“Do you really need a blackboard for this?” groaned Dastardly, but that didn’t stop Coyote from drawing the entire explanation. He started with an intentionally badly drawn caricature of Koizumi cackling like a witch, taking photos of equally badly drawn punksters. Then, he drew the next step, consisting of her transferring files on her computer. Afterwards, Coyote hypothesized that she would upload photos on social media, where they would be exposed. Once he finished explaining, he felt pride.

 

“That would have been a valid concern if you haven’t forgotten that we have already taken care of that aspect.” N.Tropy reminded him that they’re safe from media exposure, since someone keeps taking down any remote mention of them, even if the name of Daft Capo isn’t explicitly mentioned.

 

“However, I do see his point. While they might not have exposed us publicly, they could use photographic evidence to aid themselves.” Rando raised his finger, countering the notion that Mahiru isn’t a threat, although he only focused on the smaller scale of it.

 

“Hmmm...come to think of it, he’s right. We should prevent them from obtaining any information whatsoever.” agreed Fritz, suggesting for preventive measures against any Hope’s peak’s attempts from getting info on them.

 

“You cannot comprehend the level of my genius.” Coyote lifted a sign, boasting about his own brainpower as he wiggled his eyebrows.

 

“Very well then, you have a convincing argument. However, this rather insignificant looking girl should be easy to dispose of. Isn’t that right, Herman?” N.Tropy saw their point, but insisted that the freckled girl was not a physical threat.

 

“She’s the type to yell a lot, but the moment you threaten her, she crumbles. She gets a medium threat for me, only because of capability of obtaining information.” decided Herman as he put her in a place he reserved as “medium threat”. He initially had other two places on the table, one labeled “utter joke” and other one labeled “high priority threat”.

 

“Mild threat, it is. Next one!” concluded N.Tropy as he demanded for the next student to be analyzed.

 

“Our next scrub to deal with is….ohohoho, now this one should be familiar to some!” Herman picked up the next student, which seemed to be a pink haired mechanic, the former friend of Zapatta and Suifta. “I present Kazuichi Soda, the mechanic guy!”.

 

“Oh, shark man! That guy’s an absolute wanker, hahaha! He also hanged around with Zapatta a lot, he thought he was his pal! Hahahaha, can you believe that?” Ultimate Scammer recognized him on the spot, not wasting a minute in mocking him.

 

“He looks like a Shqiptar.” said Rando in such sudden and blunt fashion that it startled everyone in the room.

 

“Hahahah, dude what?” perplexed Ultimate Scammer, genuinely startled that Rando would already start with that side of his. Even N.Tropy was caught off guard, but he looked quite intrigued in what the punkster would say.

 

“...We’re only second student in and you’re already onto that, aren’t you?!” Dastardly squinted as he mentally prepared himself the moment Rando would go on a rant about local Balkan stuff.

 

“Am I wrong? He legit looks like someone I would see in Albania.” Rando raised his eyebrow, genuinely unsure if he said anything incorrect.

 

“Yes, yes! We get it, now get on with it!” Dastardly pulled his mustache out of frustration, just wanting to prevent any incoming rants.

 

“Now the question is whether or not he’s a threat.” wondered Fritz as he scratched his stubble.

 

“Him? Threat?” Ultimate Scammer pointed at the picture of the mechanic before they had a moment of silence. The entire group, with sole exception of Figottoni, exploded into laughter. Tom and Scammer were even rolling on the floor from laughing so hard. Once the group ceased it, they knew what the decision was.

 

“Unless he invents something, of course. Unlikely, of course.” noted Fritz that even as much of a wanker he was to them, he could still utilize his talent to either maintain machines owned by Hope’s peak or create a new one. However, that seemed unlikely, since it was questionable if students themselves could not only afford any proper equipment, but also maintain it.

 

“So, what would you say? Utter joke?” asked Herman for the final vote.

 

“Complete and utter joke! Onto the next one!” concluded N.Tropy before he demanded next student to be analyzed. Kazuichi’s file was among first to be considered an utter joke.

 

“Our next one is…..” Herman picked up the next file, only to find a five letter word tha immediately changed him from a boastful octopus to an exploded volcano. “...an...anime? An-ani-AAAAAAAAANNNNNNNIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIMEEEEEEEEEEEEEE??!!!!”

 

“Person who has went of their knocker today number two.” Dastardly smacked his forehead.

 

“OOOH! OOOOH! OOOOOOOOOOOOH!” Herman started smacking himself like an enraged gorilla. Rest of the Elite Bois rolled with their eyes over Herman losing it over something so trivial, at least according to them.

 

“Silence, you muppet!” ordered N.Tropy as he slammed his armored fist on the table, calming Herman on the sight. It was like Herman was genuinely afraid of N.Tropy’s wrath.

 

“….okay, next utter scrotum of a person is called Ryota Mitarai.” calmly albeit with the voice full of disdain, Herman introduced them the animator. Figottoni suddenly reminiscent of conversations he took with Ryota back at Hope’s peak, before frowning a bit upon knowing that such talks couldn’t be conducted anymore.

 

“Ah, I was quite on good terms with hi-” Figottoni was just about to tell them about what he learned from Ryota before he saw the file. Suddenly, it was like his perception of Ryota completely shattered. He wasn’t a stout stoic albeit contemplative man, but rather a scrawny looking whelp that was on par with Makoto when it came to looking more softer than usual standards. “WHAT?! Excuse me for raising my voice, but that’s not how I remember him to look like at all.”.

 

“Come to think of it...I never saw this guy either, but I will beat the hell out of him! Not much we can do with him, utter joke material.” Herman preemptively placed the file of an animator into the utter joke category. “Alright, next one is….”.

 

A file of another person that Herman wasn’t fond of was selected as the next one, though the only one that if he ever discussed about them with class 77-B, they would have agreed with him.

 

“..oh Mama Maria, it’s the living cabbage!” sighed Herman as he threw the file on the middle of the table. Two non-Elite Boi personnel immediately recognized their former blissfully unaware accomplice.

 

“Oooh, this lunatic! Gotta admit, he was pretty useful, especially for being utterly wack. He’s the reason why we knew they’re gonna go on offense against us.” revealed Ultimate Scammer while still remembering Komaeda’s ramblings about hope and all that bullshit.

 

“Credit goes to me. I planned it all along. I say great success!” Rando pointed at himself, sporting a smirk on his face. Their covert plan was quite a surprise for the rest of Elite Bois, including N.Tropy.

 

“Oh, you two did? Well done, I must say! You two get a raise.” in a rare instance, N.Tropy complimented someone while promising them a raise in their paycheck. The average punkster’s salary was, even compared to not so illegal jobs, astronomical. Usual estimates of their income was about twenty five thousand dollars at minimum, Daft Capo sponsored tax included. However, it just wasn’t enough for anyone in Daft Capo. They wanted even MORE! MORE AND MORE!

 

“FUCK YEAH!” Ultimate Scammer and Rando both pumped their fists at the same time, welcoming their raise with delight.

 

“However, he isn’t so much of use anymore. He has been expelled due to him being a threat to his own classmates.” clarified Figottoni while also revealing that he was no longer present and by extension, no longer a threat.

 

“Oh really? Well...that’s the first time I actually agree with scrub zone. That mofo was just too weird.” for once in his lifetime, Herman agreed with opinion of Hope’s peak academy students.

 

“So, he’s the utter joke material?” Fritz raised his eyebrow as he had crossed arms.

 

“No, that mofo deserves a special place.” Herman moved away from the table, just to throw Nagito’s file in the trash bin, where he thought he belonged. “Here, enjoy it, mofo”.

 

Herman returned to the table to continue the analysis of their enemies, picking up another file. However that time, it was someone more interesting for Daft Capo.

 

“Our next one is….oh my, an actual threat for once. Peko Pekoyama, part of the Kuzuryu clan.” announced Herman as he placed the file in the middle of the table once again, immediately gaining their attention. Just from the looks alone they could tell that she was a different deal compared to other classmates.

 

“Hooooooo! Now that’s hot!” whistled Fritz like a cartoon wolf seeing a pretty lady.

 

“It’s slightly amusing to see how much can you determine how much of a threat our enemy is just by their looks. I do question on why does she use the sword, but any weapon wielder could prove to be troublesome for punksters.” commented N.Tropy while also expressing interest in her.

 

“What concerns me about her most is the fact she has ties with Kuzuryu clan. Harming her could provide a reaction from them.” Figottoni expressed his worry about Kuzuryu clan interfering with their business.

 

“I am aware of their status as the largest yakuza, but I can assure you they won’t be threat for a long time. All we need to do is to notify our ace in the hole.” grinned N.Tropy, hinting about the possible situation of Kuzuryu intervention backfiring on them due one simple factor.

 

“Ace in the hole? What do you mean?” Figottoni raised his eyebrow, unsure what he meant. Dastardly and Scammer were just as confused, however N.Tropy, Fritz, Tom, Wile and Rando only replied with grins on their face. Herman knew what they were talking about but couldn’t make a face because he was an octopus and octopuses have beaks for mouths.

 

“You know, speaking of Kuzuryu clan, here’s another. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the heir.” Herman switched the topic of conversation as he added the file of Kuzuryu heir himself. Another student that quickly gained their attention.

 

“Ah, they did seem to hang around, but I do think it’s because of their deeper bond.” Figottoni reported his observations regarding them.

 

“Hmmm...the guy looks less of a threat than his girl does.” noted Fritz, taking in factor that Fuyuhiko was considerably shorter than Peko and looked less physically capable in general.

 

“He’s the heir, though. Wouldn’t he be more of a threat?” argued Dastardly that Fuyuhiko’s status as a threat was more symbolic than physical one. Anything harming him would quickly make heads roll.

 

“For once in his life, Dastardly is right.” Coyote lifted a sign while sporting a smug smile on his long face.

 

“I was talking about the combat capability. I am very well aware of that aspect, Schlongman.” debated Fritz, knowing exactly what words to use in order to provoke him.

 

“Oh, you call me that one more time and I swear-” grumbled Dastardl.

 

“So the conclusion is that they’re first ones to be classified as high priority threats.” N.Tropy interrupted, cutting any bickering short as they placed both of them in “high priority threat” category.

 

“Correct. First ones to have that honor. Now we are gonna to deal with…” Herman picked the next one, almost had a laugh until he took a closer look at her description, being absolutely floored upon reading some of facts about their targeted monarch. “...oh. Look at that. Sonia Nevermind, the Princess of Novoselic.”.

 

“Novoselic? Hold the fuck up.” Rando suddenly took away Sonia’s documents to see where exactly Novoselic is. With a simple Google search, he found out that Kingdom of Novoselic was located on one of islands near Croatian coastline, being nearest to an island called Pag. Rando swept sweat off his forehead, relieved that Sonia turned out to be closest to Croatian ancenstry. “Oh, they declared independence from Croatia around the time Yugoslavia went to the shitsville. She should consider herself lucky….but I have admit, she is relatively based. Not as based as Bosnia, but based enough.”.

 

The one side of Rando that Dastardly did not want to see at all appeared in full force.

 

“...What, would you have a problem if she was any other nationality?” Dastardly condemned him for some his opinions.

 

“Yes I would, if she was a Serb, then I’d have her head on the platter.” Rando started talking far more aggressively than before, even more so when he thought Zapatta was about to insult his music taste.

 

“RANDO! NOT THIS RIGHT NOW! YOU’RE JAPANESE, WHY DO YOU EVEN CARE IT?!” Dastardly started yelling at him, trying his best to prevent him from ranting about local politics. However…

 

The following statement said by the person below has views which author does not support at all. Proceed to listen with caution.

 

“First of all, I’m only half Japanese, which is pretty cringe. I’m also half Bosnian, which gives me pride, joy and feeling of based! Second of all, I’m gonna say it right now: if I was in charge of Operation Deliberate Force in 1995, I would have sent a Tomahawk on every single Serbian house there is every single day until nothing but sea remains!” Rando began ranting with full verbal force as he slammed his fist on the table, emphasizing that he won’t sleep soundly until the country of his ire was wiped off from Earth. Shocked silence from everyone followed, not expecting such intensity from a person that called himself “chill”. However, N.Tropy became very interested in his world view.

 

“You need a chill pill or something?” Ultimate Scammer offered him a can of beer, free of charge.

 

“YOU CAN’T JUST COMPLETELY RAZE A COUNTRY, YOU UTTER PSYCHO!” Dastardly kept yelling at him, condemning him for wanting to go through such lengths. He was a mafioso, but not someone who would desire razing countries. Other Elite Bois didn’t say much, but only because they were amused by their argument.

 

“If they can cry about getting a taste of Tomahawks and JDAMs while they express zero remorse shelling every single village nearby, then I can say it is a moral obligation that Serbia gets the bombings. Am I only one who thinks that you’re not an honest person unless you want something bombed to oblivion?” Rando aggressively insisted on his point before he turned towards the rest of the Elite Bois to get their thoughts on it. While they had certain things they particularly disliked (such as Herman’s hatred of Peugeots), they weren’t sure if they would go through such lengths that they would bomb it. However, they could tell that Rando meant countries.

 

“Yes, you are-” Dastardly wanted to end the conversation once and for all, but the boss of Elite Bois wanted to continue his frustration.

 

“Question, which country has the most marsupials?” asked N.Tropy, hinting at the fact that he really really really REALLY hated marsupials, especially bandicoots. At that point, Dastardly resorted to gibberish.

 

“Australia, the land where everything tries to fuck you up.” quickly answered Herman.

 

“Then I’d gladly have that country off the map.” smirked N.Tropy, knowing that he was being a massive dick towards Dick. The sheer audacity of his reason caused Dastardly to cease with mumbling and be so utterly stunned that he just gave up trying to argue with them. Whether or not N.Tropy wanted to destroy Australia was pretty clear: he sincerely did.

 

“...For marsupials? You gotta be kidding me….Why marsupials?” Dastardly rubbed his forehead in utter disbelief.

 

“No, he gets it. This is why N.Tropy is the most based Daft Capo member.” countered Rando, approving N.Tropy’s views on the topic. He was immensely glad that he was on the same wavelength, complimenting him to be “based”. That word, by Rando’s logic, meant that the higher the chance was for you to end up in Hague on a trial for crimes against humanity, the cooler you are, unless your crimes were directed towards Bosnia.

 

“I see you know the truth.” smugly grinned N.Tropy, flexing over everyone to assert his superiority.

 

“...So, about Sonia?” Herman, shocked at what waters did the conversation go, decided to bring up the analysis back on track.

 

“High priority threat and before anyone says anything, take a look at this.” Rando immediately decided as he showed them the description, putting emphasis on a part that Sonia Nevermind did, in fact, had to operate a main battle tank during her elementary years. The description explicitly told that she was in charge of an M-84, former Yugoslav variant of a famous mass produced Soviet T-72 main battle tank. Another additional fun fact they learned is that Sonia got military training, meaning that she was a more fierce opponent to consider than rest of classmates.

 

“Oooh, spicy gal! I like it!” complimented Fritz as he raised one of his eyebrows, accompanied with a satisfied grin.

 

“Actually...come to think of it, do you think that harming her would have political implications?” Rando brought up a point in a much more chill state than before.

 

“Rando, enough with your politics PLEASE-” fumed Dastardly.

 

“No, he’s got a point. We could get our asses on Novoselic’s hit list if we beat her up.” Fritz concurred with Rando about the possible outcome. Novoselic was just like Kuzuryu clan, something to be considered when it came to planning.

 

“Hold on, let me check something.” Rando wanted to make sure that his concerns were in the right place. Once again, Google made his job easier, finding out that Novoselic was a fully neutral country (as long as other countries allowed it). He was rather surprised, but the threat level of Novoselic dropped down big time. If Novoselic was under North Atlantic Treaty Organization or Commonwealth of Independent States, things would have been much more threatening to them, even if they had their ace in the hole on their side. “Oh, they pulled off a Switzerland. Unless they have mercenaries, we can beat her ass. High priority, it still remains.”.

 

Sonia Nevermind joined the ranks of Peko and Fuyuhiko as a high priority threat, much to surprise of everyone.

 

“Our next one is...I have to admit, this guy’s a sneaky fucker. Gundham Tanaka, the wizard man, the first one of those scrub….no, he ain’t a scrub. He’s a motherfucker. This motherfucker was the first one to beat my ass.” Herman introduced them one of the few students of Hope’s peak that he had begrudging respect for. When they saw his picture, they thought Herman was having a laugh.

 

“You mean to tell me that this clown was the first one to land a hit on you there?” Dastardly nearly had a laugh by himself. However, Tom and Coyote immediately disagreed with him, noting that there was something indeed strange about Gundham. Not his chunni mannerisms, but rather something beneath the surface.

 

“Clown? No, not him. Mofo’s craftier one, he can make animals do his bidding. Granted I saw hamsters, but considering his talent, he could also probably have more dangerous stuff underneath his sleeves. Also, he’s probably the closest to the Manhattan Boys.” clarified Herman while also expressing his theories regarding his role.

 

“Hmm….there has to be more about him. Definitely high priority threat material.” Rando scratched his chin, relating to the feeling Tom and Coyote had.

 

“I’ll take your word for it. Now, onto the next one!” N.Tropy approved his decision as a high priority threat, even though he doubted it before sending out his next demand.

 

“I’d like to have his accomplice as the high priority threat. Nekomaru Nidai, the loudest fucker in the school. Also one of the first to beat my ass.” Herman introduced the manager just as slightly more seriously as he did with the wizard man. Contrary to the aforementioned student, Elite Boi immediately got the clue on why was Nekomaru a threat.

 

“Hmmm…..this one is understandable. I’d expect to take more caution with these two.” N.Tropy didn’t object that much, which was another rare occurrence with him.

 

“But he also has his own accomplice. Akane Owari, a girl who has a fist inside her head instead of brain. Peanut sized, of course.” Herman introduced his training partner as well, a gal that was known for love of a fight and food. However, he didn’t hold her in same respect as he did with Gundham and Nekomaru.

 

“Oooh, another fighting one! Man, three of them already, this is gonna be good!” Fritz liked her on the first sight.

 

“Now here’s the thing. Nekomaru is a high priority threat, but despite having a connection with him, peanut brain knocks her down to...I’d say, medium threat?” Herman explained his choice on knocking down Akane on a lower rank.

 

“I agree with that.” Coyote pulled out a sign once again, sporting the same smug look as before.

 

“Medium, it is. Now, who’s the next one?” N.Tropy approved the choice before he demanded the next analysis.

 

“This guy. Teruteru Hanamura, the one with an uncontrollable libido. Honestly, he’s an utter joke.” Herman picked possibly the one person that was impossible to take seriously, even among the furniture...or perhaps that was Herman’s work after all?

 

“Another Shqiptar, I see.” Rando once again started everyone with his bluntness.

 

“….The day when you will stop obsessing with Balkans is gonna be the day world peace will be achieved…” winced Dastardly at every time Rando would go in that waters.

 

“Which is never.” bluntly stated Rando, seeming to enjoy such fact.

 

“Anyone has objections about this choice?” asked Herman out of a jest, since they already knew the outcome.

 

But not before the whole group, bar Figottoni, exploded into a laughing fit once again.

 

“Dio’s mio, onto next one…” commented Herman before he picked the next file. The student presented in it was quite a surprise. “...wait what? Who’s this “Ultimate Impostor” guy?”.

 

Unlike every file before, only content on it was just the title of their talent. Nothing about them was present, from a picture to the basic description. Other Elite Bois were shocked as well to find out that one of their threats was total enigma.

 

“What the hell, there’s jackshit here. How did this get a pass?” wondered Fritz, noticing how void of content it was, especially compared to rest of documents.

 

“Could this be “Ryota” I knew of?” Figottoni gave a question to himself, wondering if Ultimate Impostor was his true friend all along.

 

“Was he fat?” asked Ultimate Scammer in a derisive tone.

 

“Stout but yes.” Figottoni corrected him on semantics, giving him a squint for such disrespectful remark.

 

“Then likely that he was.” stated Ultimate Scammer that he probably was his true former friend.

 

“So….what would say about a fella without any info on?” wondered Herman on what sort of classification would he give to them.

 

“High priority threat. No further questioned needed for it. By the way, what’s the percentage of that pile of lard trying to infiltrate Daft Capo?” declared N.Tropy while also bringing up a possible scenario on how would Ultimate Impostor try to sabotage their plans. Figottoni glared at N.Tropy for such remark, but he kept his mouth shut.

 

100% was the percentage Coyote displayed on his sign board.

 

“Then we shall make preemptive measures. I will need to think about them though. High priority threat, it is.” declared N.Tropy as the file was put on the pile. “Anyway, next!”.

 

“The next scrub is…..hahahaha, this one! Hiyoko Saoinji, the gremlin! Also, Zapatta’s third favorite scrub.” Herman laughed as he showed them the biggest bully in the class. Not in terms of size though, she was by far the shortest….so far.

 

“Just from witnessing her makes me want to punt her.” N.Tropy winced at seeing her, keeping in mind that he would kick her on sight.

 

“Eh, all you need to do is just lightly insult her and she will crumble like crumbs of crossaint! Utter joke, it is!” Herman placed her in the “utter joke” pile before he moved on to the next student, a familiar face to her. “Now the next one, ohohoho, another good one. The one that, somehow, resisted Eyeschluss but still got Herman’d is none other than Ibuki Mioda!”.

 

“Oh, that’s the girl with the fat ass!” Ultimate Scammer recognized her thanks to the hearsay among whole Daft Capo.

 

“Give pics, now!” Rando demanded to see her booty, preferably fully naked one.

 

“Okay, we will get them...somehow. But now, what do you think of her as a threat level?” Herman promised that pictures of her posterior will be obtained, but he shifted back to their original topic.

 

Ibuki Mioda...as a threat.

 

The entire group roared with laughter, hardly even imagining that she would hurt a fly. Figottoni got enough of it and silently left the meeting room, feeling done with their mockery. She was thrown on the “utter joke” pile as the laughing kept going.

 

“Anyway, our next one is….” Herman continued laughing until he saw which student was picked as the next one. The laughter stopped, instead being replaced by a feeling which can be best described as “is it even worth it to poke fun at this person”. The aforementioned student was a sheepish looking nurse, with her expression screaming pure anxiety. “….oh, this is just pathetic to look at. Like, damn, it’s not even funny. Mikan Tsumiki, the one that’s just not even fun.”.

 

However, when Elite Bois took a closer look at her, N.Tropy laughed at her, just out of spite. Rest of them thought she was too pitiable to be laughed at. Not even feeling sympathy for her, just considering provoking her to be as fun as watching the paint dry.

 

“I don’t think there’s any question where she belongs.” Fritz pointed at the “utter joke” pile.

 

“No, actually. I have a special place deserved for her.” Herman gave her a special place, simply titled “Pathetic”. An honor that was only reserved for her. “Here, enjoy it.”.

 

He went on to the next student, a student that should have been dismissed immediately had it not been for a certain discovery.

 

“Now this one...This one is actually kind of interesting. Hajime Hinata, a guy that wasn’t supposed to be in this class in the first place.” Herman announced while revealing that ahoge man himself was supposed to be in Reserve Course. An intrigue among the group was born.

 

“I couldn’t have seen a more unremarkable person in my life! Now, why does he get a special treatment?” N.Tropy immediately scoffed at Hajime’s appearance, but he was curious enough for why he was placed among the Ultimates. A hint of an ulterior reason for such decision appeared in his mind, but he didn’t want to be assumptive about it.

 

“Well, what do you know? I’ve got the document right here!” Herman suddenly revealed a different kind of document. Instead of being a profile, it was an official plea from Chisa Yukizome. Lengthy paragraphs of her begging the establishment to put him in class 77-B, mentioning that he has to be “protected from it”. Although it remained unclear towards what “it” was, they had theories.

 

 

 

“The school itself wanted him for something? Well now.” Fritz raised his eyebrow, curious about his usage.

 

“One problem is, I don’t know exactly for what thing they needed him. I’ve looked through all files, but nothing useful was found.” further added Herman that despite his information mining, he found nothing about Hajime’s role in whatever Hope’s peak wanted.

 

“Seems like there’s some stuff that they’re hiding from everyone. We will need to dig deeper, although access of it would be easier once we have the academy in our hands!” announced N.Tropy that they should obtain more information from the school, even if they would have to rely on their ace in the hole.

 

“Now, the threat level of him? He looks like an utter joke!” said Dastardly, thinking that Hajime was just an ordinary boy, not worthy of any concern.

 

“Eeeeh, not so fast about that one. Something’s weird about him, especially how academy wants him.” hesitated Herman. Normally, he would have agreed with him, but that document caused him to have doubts.

 

“What about his fighting capability? I’m pretty sure his ass would get wrecked quickly.” wondered Fritz.

 

“Hmmm...I’d still put him in a medium threat. Don’t let guard down around him.” Herman insisted as he placed him among Akane and Mahiru, just in case. He had two files of class 77-B remaining, with the last remaining student. “Now the last student, but not the last person we will talk about from class 77-B is…”.

 

Herman’s mood changed from a chill octopus to a raging Italian once he laid eyes upon the document of his arch-nemesis.

 

OH, DANNATA NOOB! SEI LA PEGGIOR ZAPPA CHE ABBIA MAI VISTO! ORA, PREPARATI PER LO SCIOPERO COME NON HAI MAI VISTO PRIMA, CANE SPORCO!”

 

“Ayy-kay-ayy Chiaki Nanami.” clarified Rando as he took the document from his tentacles and placed it in the middle of the table. When the rest of Elite Bois saw her, they roared in laughter just from the fact how much of an absolute doofus she looked like.

 

“What’s so special about this failure at life that you are so raging about?” scoffed N.Tropy, finding it extremely difficult to believe that she was the one that set off Herman and wounded his pride.

 

IL NOOB MI HA PRESO A CALCI IL CULO!” kept fuming Herman. The rest of the Elite Bois figured out she has bested him in combat.

 

“Wait...you mean to tell me...she has defeated you?!” wheezed Dastardly as the group exploded into laughter once again, with the sole exception of Rando, who still remained cautious about her. There was a certain vibe to her that he felt.

 

It’s not the prospect that she punched me in the face that got me!” Herman defended himself while toning down his fuming.

 

“I’m surprised even that she can fight. I’ll be looking forward to meeting her.” grinned Fritz after he finished laughing at her as his opinion on her changed into a positive one solely because she could throw a punch. Others were still confident in their belief that she was an utter joke.

 

Still, is there any significance to this practical joke of a button eyed mutt?” N.Tropy demanded for an explanation, making sure he was also dissing her as much as possible.

 

“Naaah, she’s too baby. Utter joke for me.” scoffed Ultimate Scammer.

 

“No, that noob gets a special category from me.” seethed Herman as he put her on a special pile, simply titled “Noob Supreme”. “Here, I hope you suffer, noob.”.

 

“Who was the last person you are talking about, though?” asked Dastardly, noticing that he had one more document from class 77-B.

 

Chisa Yukizome, their teacher!” Herman gave them a reveal of the Housekeeper. Another laughing fit was had on just how she resembled like a person that belongs in a children’s cartoon. In fact, she would probably enjoy it.

 

PFFFFFT HAHAHAHA! SHE BELONGS IN A KINDERGARTEN!” Ultimate Scammer started rolling on the floor, mockingly pointing at her picture.

 

“Hmmm, scrubs seem to adore her, like unnaturally amount. Especially the noob, who acts like a dog to her.” further added Herman. Then, N.Tropy grinned as an idea dawned upon him. An idea that Herman would definitely welcome it. An actual plan was about to go into motion.

 

Herman, I think you’ve just gave me an idea.” annoucned N.Tropy, surprising Herman in the process.

 

“What’s the plan, boss?” Coyote lifted a sign once again.

 

“Well, I think I will need to refine it, but she will be useful in the future.” hinted N.Tropy while also thinking about the whole procedure, from the very start to the final execution of it. All he needed to do was to clean up details. Meanwhile, Rando had a choice of two files, one for Kazuichi and one for Teruteru.

 

“An ban, five rates, four mouses write me in my ear, swing swang out.” Rando juggled with his finger before he stopped at Kazuichi’s file, deciding that he will be the key element to his own plan. “In the mean time, I also thought of a plan!”.

 

“Hold it there, you two! We haven’t discussed class 78th! Who knows how much of a threat they pose!” cautioned Dastardly, bringing up a point of not talking about the other class as well.

 

“For the second time in his life, Dastardly is right.” Coyote brought up a sign, once again.

 

“I think we can discuss them in detail later. To tell you the the truth, there’s only three we truly need to worry about: Aoi, Kyoko and Sakura.” summarized Herman while also promising that they will go into detail later, since their meeting has already been taking so long.

 

Besides, this is only for class 77-B. Class 78th will get their own treatment.” asssured N.Tropy, letting them know that their focus will be on tthe more active class. Then, he turned his attention towards the punkster. “Anyway, what’s the plan you have, Rando?”.

 

“I will personally beat up this Shqiptar’s ass tomorrow. Then, just when they think they’re safe again, Fritz will come and beat them up. If Fritz doesn’t beat the fuck out of them, then we will send in Tom.” Rando told them about his plan, with the lynchpin of it being Tom. Upon the mention of his name, Tom flexed with his arms, not showing any muscles. Those who were at the end of his fist would end up in a bit of a surprise.

 

“Oh shit, it’s gonna be apocalypse for them if Tom is sent.” Ultimate Scammer’s irises shrunk, knowing that sending Tom anywhere would end up in utter annilihation. Understandably so, since anyone who has faced Tom before has never seen such sheer power before they faced the feline himself.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better if we just storm the academy and call it a day?” argued Dastardly, going in for something that they have always done.

 

“I agree. It would be much quicker and satisfying.” said Coyote’s sign, once again siding with Dastardly. The day seemed rather odd when they agreed so much so far.

 

“Low manpower though.” Herman raised his tentacle like a finger, reminding them that they need to stock up on numbers. It seemed like their transfer from Denmark to Japan was rather rushed. However, contrary to Dastardly’s opinion, N.Tropy took a liking in Rando’s plan.

 

Hmmmm...yesss...perhaps your plan could be implemented in my plan. All you really need to do is send them a message.” N.Tropy scratched his chin before approving it. Rando’s idea gave him a plethora of new ways to conduct his own plan.

 

“Ayyy, whatever your plan is gonna be, it’s gonna be genius!” Rando pumped his fist, satisfied that the most “based” Elite Boi was being oddly positive of him that day. He has never been so approving of a punkster before, usually dismissing them as “blithering idiots” or “utter muppets.”.

 

“Still low compared to my genius.” Coyote sneaked in a sign just to flex on everyone. It seemed like Herman got his wish granted, they have finally come up with the plan.

 

“Now, anyone else has something to say?” asked N.Tropy one more time before he would call the meeting over.

 

“...Lets take a break because I do not want to deal with nonsense anymore.” Dastardly stood up first and left the room, just feeling absolutely done. Rest of them remained until the scientist said otherwise.

 

“Everyone except Rando, leave this room now.” ordered N.Tropy as they all exited the room, minding their own business for the time until the next meeting. However, just like the blue skinned scientist said, the punkster remained. Rando pointed at himself, wondering what N.Tropy needed him for.

 

“Well now, you have proven to be remarkably exceptionable in Japan, moreso than any other punkster. I consider you giving the promotion to an Elite Boi.” N.Tropy proudly smiled as he gave him an offer to rise up the ranks.

 

“Oh me? Elite Boi? FUCK YEAH, MY MAN! I’ll gladly take it.” Rando did not hesitate at all accepting it. He has officially become an Elite Boi and he loved every moment of it.

 

Consider promotion accepted. Keep up your performance.” N.Tropy warned him to not stagnate when it came to executing Daft Capo’s tasks. The look on his face meant that if his caution wasn’t heeded, there will be consequences.

 

“Ever since Netherlands, we have been told to step up our game. And so I did. I will cook up some genius plans as well! But now, I must go jamming.” saluted Rando as he went outside, since he knew that all that N.Tropy needed was done. N.Tropy was left alone, grinning to himself about the plan he was about to execute.

 

Now, I must brainstorm more about the plan. Hope’s peak, enjoy your moments, for they will be your last….” N.Tropy thought to himself before he let out a laugh full of sheer, concentrated malice. Hope’s peak was about to get the taste of Elite Boi’s power and the first one to send the message will be none other than the most recent one, who went by the name of Rando Gyroswaggerić.

Chapter 29: Frown at Flexing in The Name of Hope

Chapter Text

The final day of the work week arrived, greeting citizens with a rather partially cloudy day. An early time for sure, since the sun was only just rising from the horizon. Previous day was, at least for Hope’s peak, a tranquil one. That day, it went just as normally did, although anxiety of any attack from Daft Capo still lingered. However, one person was dedicated to make the current day same as one before.

 

The alarm clock went off, abruptly ending any dreams Chiaki had that night. Slowly, but grumpily she opened her eyes and aggressively attempted to press the OFF button on it. After few pokes, her index finger landed right on the intended button, shutting up the morning menace once and for all. Since it was the day of school, she didn’t have much options other than to get up and prepare herself.

 

“Alright….today is the day, isn’t it? The day where you will do your duty.” Chiaki thought about one particular promise she had on her mind for a long time. She wanted to protect them, no matter what the threat was, but that day, she was prepared to be more active about it. Chiaki wanted to live up to her words and it was her chance to fulfill them. If there were any Daft Capo intruders, she knew it would end up in physical confrontation, so she prepared herself for that.

 

Well, she attempted to.

 

“One...two...three...mmm, that shall be it.” counted Chiaki, doing exactly three squats before deciding it was enough, due to how quickly exhausted she got. After her “exercise”, she grabbed her backpack and prepared herself for her self imposed duty. “I am ready. Ready to protect them….I think. No, definitely.”.

 

Just before she went to her school, she had one more talk with a person, or rather a plushie, just for some reassurance, since the threat of her self doubting was still very present in her. In fact, it was only curbed a little, thanks to her experiences at Hope’s peak. Her trust in her own friends overcame the self doubt….just by a margin.

 

“Usami, I’ll do my best to do protect them as much as possible.” Chiaki nodded to her plushie with an odd amount of determination in her voice. Even her expression was more of a confident one, completely unusual for her. Although, she still talked to a plushie. Someone had to provide a voice for a non-sapient toy.

 

“Alrighty then! I know you will make it!” Chiaki leaned down to Usami plushie as she gave her the voice, essentially talking to herself. Luckily, no one was around her to see that she was essentially talking to an object like a real person. She went towards the door, ready for the day.

 

“Don’t worry, I will.” Chiaki gave out the last nod, but just before she stepped out, her heart felt an immense amount of weight out of a sudden. Despite all promises and belief, doubt was still present in her mind. “….Will I?”.

 

Even with doubts anchoring her mind, she still went to her school, prepared to protect anyone she held dear to. However, just as the defender was on the move, so was the aggressor.

 

Meanwhile in the Zona Daft Capo, a punkster that got elevated to an Elite Boi stepped outside of a building, which its title and location was concealed, strutting out of it as if he won multiple prizes within a single hour. A black car was nearby, specifically Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203, with the registration straight out of Bosnia and Herzegovina. Such vehicle obtained registration in Sarajevo, which was also that Elite Boi’s official birth place. The man in tuxedo had a ridiculously confident grin stretching on his face as he was getting closer to his own Mercedes.

 

“Yes, today is the day when the scrub zone will get wrecked harder than Belgrade 1999!” Rando boasted to himself before he opened the door and jumped in, inserting the key in the right place as he started the car. His definite destination was Hope’s peak, where he would begin with a joint Fritz-Rando-Tom-N.Tropy plan.

 

“But first, I must get the stuff.” Rando decided to change course out of a sudden as he drove off towards his first destination: a nearby grill bar. The drive lasted less than a minute as he parked his Mercedes right in front of the entrance, walking out of it with a boastful strut. The moment his presence got established inside, he laid his eyes upon the grill meister punkster, who was of Albanian origin. With a single determined look and a nod, the fellow knew exactly what he would order. Within a minute, Rando received one of his go-to meals: burek. Not even needing to pay, he went out with his prized meal and jumped back in the car, where he would actually drive to his proper destination, probably.

 

Meanwhile, the defender was still walking towards the school, already being on the look out in order to detect any Daft Capo activities. When she stopped at the crossing, not only did she look left and right as she was supposed to, but she also looked back. Upon knowing that the octopus was the one that more or less endangered her life with a slap on her head as a prank, a feeling of annoyance and possibly activation of her fight part of fight-or-flight mode lingered. Luckily, once the green light turned on the traffic light, she crossed the road safely. While she was following the traffic law pretty nicely, Rando was overspeeding on every single speed limit he could find, just because he could. However, the destination changed for him again, since he needed to take care of one oversight: he was low on fuel.

 

The journey to Hope’s peak was not a perilous one for Chiaki that time. Once she fully arrived, instead of positioning herself on the bench near the fountain, she stopped herself in front of the gate, prepping herself up to act like an unofficial security guard.

 

“Hmmm….since I’m on guard, I should probably stand here, since it allows me best situational awareness, I think.” Chiaki rationalized to herself as she prepared her stance: leaning forward while supporting her view with her arm placed like a salute. The angle of the lean managed to get her better forward view, even if it made her butt stick out a bit. With everything set, her self imposed patrol duty began.

 

Few minutes passed before she realized what kind of a job security guards have: not a particularly eventful one, if everything went right.

 

“...oh wait. What’s the time again?” Chiaki pulled out a handheld out of her bag to check time. It turned out she was particularly early, not only for her standards, but for others as well. Realizing that, she slouched with her shoulders. “...Aw bummer, too early. It’s gonna be a long time until everyone will arrive.”.

 

As her guarding duty began, Rando was in the middle of the process of refueling. He made sure that the entire car was full, since he needed endurance the most, even though pushing the car on overspeeding much led to quicker consumption of fuel. Since he was a Daft Capo member, the gas was free, every driver’s dream. Otherwise, the price for gas was nightmarish in Zona Daft Capo, even for their standards.

 

“Hahaha, free gas! Feels good to be based!” Rando boasted about himself before he concluded refueling, not even going to the cashier (not that he needed to) as he hopped in the car and finally drove off to Hope’s peak, where he was supposed to go.

On her guard duty, Chiaki occupied herself with a game, knowing that her only option was staring at nowhere. So far, nothing but breeze proved to be a disturbance. The game she played at that platform was one of the platformers under the name of that pink puffball. She got herself so entranced in the game that she almost forgot her responsibility. Almost, if it wasn’t for a sudden thought that reminded her.

 

“...Oh right, I’m on the guard duty….I almost forgot...hard not to when all you do is stand on patrol.” Chiaki thought to herself as she lifted her look towards the empty front, still only bothered by a breeze. Suddenly, something rustled in the bush, immediately gaining her attention. “Oh what’s that?”.

 

She carefully closed in, leaned down to see what was happening in the bush. Turned out, it was not a Daft Capo member, but just a mere tit (the bird). A rather small, cute looking avian just jumped out of the bush, possibly looking for some food. The timid bird flew away, looking for desired nutrition somewhere else. Upon seeing an animal, a little smile appeared on Chiaki’s face, reassured that it wasn’t an enemy.

“Ah...just a bird. Nothing to be worried about.” Chiaki thought to herself before she returned to her original position, continuing her guard duty in the process. Luckily, the true aggressor was still away, as he we speeding through the streets as if he was taking his wife to the ambulance. It was honestly shocking that he didn’t commit any vehicular manslaughter on the way.

 

More time passed, finally reaching the hours where everyone should be at Hope’s peak. Once again, she engrossed herself in video games again, since nothing was happening around her. The same puffball once again, Chiaki just waited for anything to happen. Suddenly, she heard a familiar voice, which made her quickly peek from her console. The fortune smiled upon her, as it was her little group that arrived in the morning.

 

“There she is! Look at her!” Ibuki pointed at the guarding gal as she dashed off to her, greeting her with Ibuki’s own morning gesture. Chiaki was still playing the game, but her attention was placed on her group. Rest of her friends joined in as well.

 

“You’re much earlier than usual, Chiaki. What’s up with that?” asked Hajime, curious on why the biggest sleepyhead of Hope’s peak was, in fact, earliest.

 

“Oh, G’mornin, everyone. I’m just here on guard duty.” explained Chiaki as she raised her finger to further emphasize her reason. Her friends already wondered when exactly she has decided to be the guard. Previous day didn’t seem like she hinted at it.

 

“Guard duty? Erm, did someone appoint you to?” Chihiro gave out a question, wondering if Chisa was behind it.

 

“Nope, I wanted to do it myself. I’ll be there on the look out, so that no one will get hurt.” elaborated Chiaki with a tone that seemed obvious that she was truly dedicated to the task, even if her quiet voice didn’t make it seem like it.

 

“For how long will you do this?” Hajime raised his eyebrow.

 

“As long as I need to...I think.” answered Chiaki, surprising them for a bit. Her friends thought about if her idea was even good, leaving herself out in the open. At the very least she needed some back up, but then she would insist that she was “fine”.

 

“Even if it meant entire day?” further asked Hajime in a perplexed tone.

 

“Mmmm….yep, if I have to.” nodded Chiaki, still insisting on acting as a guard. At that point, her friends weren’t really fond of the idea of Chiaki endangering herself for sake of others, especially how vulnerable she generally seemed to be.

 

“I mean, I do admire your dedication, but you can’t really be all just by yourself.” Hajime expressed his feelings on the matter, deep down just wanting her company. Ever since they met, a day without her wasn’t as fun as those with her.

 

“We’ll miss you if you don’t come back. Ibuki not gonna be happy!” further added Ibuki while preparing her “puppy eyes” in order to persuade Chiaki into joining them. Even though she didn’t quite understand it, Chiaki was starting to feel like they weren’t exactly fond of the idea. It didn’t make sense to her, she was more or less offering herself as a protector, but she felt like if she insisted, she would just make them unhappy. Not something she could afford.

 

“Then….until it feels safe. Sounds good?” Chiaki changed her plan while promising them that she will return to them once the area’s been clear. It was a much more favorable idea than before.

 

“As long as you come back, then it’s good.” approved Chihiro as they all gathered around the gate, just hanging around like they usually do. Little did they know that the aggressor was already there, watching them with binoculars from a seamless bush. However, he was as far away from entrance as possible, being closer to the outside of dining hall instead.

 

“Hahaha, dumbass noob! Did she really think that I will go through the front entrance? Think again, because I have found an alternative and no one will stop me!” Rando boastfully thought to himself as he observed the group, thinking that they’re a bunch of doofuses. Then he checked the entrance to the dining hall, where it seemed empty. Conveniently empty. “Hmmmm….I’m gonna check in first though. It’s looking too smooth.”.

 

The punkster sneaked towards the entrance and grabbed the handle to see what would it do. Fortune seemed to have a laugh as it turned out that it wasn’t locked at all, allowing Rando to infiltrate in Hope’s peak without the “guard” even noticing. Quite surprised with such convenience, Rando then shifted to his priorities.

 

“...Very well then. Burek time.” Rando sat behind a nearest table and started gobbling up his burek (with meat, not cheese! Burek with cheese is not burek, that’s sirnica!) like a flock of pigeons consuming bread crumbs.

 

The classes went on normally, unaware that a Daft Capo member has already infiltrated the academy. Speaking of him, he already finished his burek and began hiding in the halls. For some reason, he always found the most ridiculous spots to hide, such as hiding behind a whiteboard like a gecko. As he was observing the area from the hiding spot, he spotted a point of interest: Chisa walking out of her class for a short break. The teacher also held a lot of papers, needing them to be filled. Unknowingly, she revealed the class’ location to Rando, although if he were just to storm in, he would have done goofed.

 

“Hmm...that’s the woman that N.Tropy wants her to use. Scammer was right, she really does belong in kindergarten.” Rando thought to himself as he watched Chisa walk towards her office during her break. Suddenly, he started sliding down the board, causing him to be startled internally. “Oh, SHIET!”.

 

The slight noise caused by him caught the teacher’s attention.

 

“Hm? Was someone there?” Chisa turned her head, but there was not a single trace of anyone. Empty hallways, just the usual for Hope’s peak. She shrugged off, thinking it was just a student or another teacher and continued. “Probably nothing to worry about…”.

 

With him successfully concealing himself, Rando peeked from the board, only to sport a boastful grin on his face.

 

“Hahahaha, dumbass! You are simply too ignorant while I gained excellent knowledge!” Rando thought to himself as he silently removed himself from the whiteboard, rolling on the floor to minimize sound. Once he located class 77-B, he wanted to take a peek, in order to obtain info on current situation. However, he encountered one problem: the door had no window. “FAUCK! The door has no window! In Bosnia, schools have windows on doors, but not here? Cringe! Wait, didn’t I say fucking up swears was getting old? I guess I will have to spy here.”.

 

He started exploring the hallway, looking for both his hiding spots and the target: a student he really wanted to beat up, only because he felt like it.

 

Meanwhile, nothing was happening outside of Hope’s peak academy. All the lack of action was starting to have an affect on Chiaki, who was more busy playing the game at that point. Other alternative for her was staring into nothing.

 

“Mmmm...nothing. I guess it’s not happening from outside….but what if I check inside? Just in case...I hope it’s unlikely.” wondered Chiaki with a pout as she turned back, opened the door and went inside. The sound of door opening immediately alerted Rando, forcing him to take a hiding spot.

 

“AYY, SHIET!” Rando thought to himself as he started hastily look for the hiding spot. Footsteps of Nanami were getting louder, shortening his time to hide. Then, he found a rather strange spot to hide.

 

“Huh? Was there someone?” Once Chiaki arrived, she found an empty hall, usual sight. “Hm, nothing.”.

 

Then she walked away, beginning her patrol in school. She was strolling down the hallways, looking for any intruders. However, the actual intruder just hid himself in the toilet, locking the door that were used for toilets for cases such as if someone needed to take a shit. Once he declared the area to be free, he opened the door as quietly as possible while tip toeing as he walked outside.

 

“Fuck! Someone is on patrol! As if she knew I was coming….wait, she probably did. Zapatta fucked up so bad that they started to expect us!” Rando thought to himself as he found himself in a situation that he didn’t exactly expect. Considering that N.Tropy took care of official security guards, it wasn’t on his mind that Hope’s peak would rely on unofficial volunteer.

 

However, the silence was broken once again when he heard another footsteps, coming from another direction, once again, he hid himself in the toilet, leaning his ear on the door in order to hear anything. Unknown to him, it was a student from class 69, the one with an N on his face. N.Vious, as devious he looked, knocked on the door of class 77-B. The other class responded, with one person immediately knowing what was going on.

 

Kazuichi Soda once again had to deal with a broken projector. Once he was out of the class, he was escorted by the Ultimate Bootlegger, who looked like he had a thing to discuss with him.

 

“You know, what is with your class and getting our classmates expelled? I mean, not that I am particularly angry about, in fact, it was the best thing that has ever happened in our class, but it’s weird. What’s up with that?” asked N.Vious as both of them walked towards the bootlegger’s class. Upon being reminded of the past incident, Kazuichi’s mood soured even more.

 

“….Lets just skip that question and get to the projector.” frowned Kazuichi, just wanting to be done with it. Even though four of students from that class got kicked out, problems with projector still insisted.

 

“Are you knowing something I don’t?” N.Vious raised his eyebrow, noticing Kaz’s refusal to give out a proper answer, immediately catching his suspicion.

 

“...Yeah, but lets just get on with it.” insisted Kazuichi as they continued their walk in silence, not even uttering a word. However, suspicion grew even more. However, both of them were observed by the intruder, who secretly opened the door just a little bit in order to get a view. Rando immediately recognized his target.

 

“There he is, The Shqiptar! If he wasn’t escorted with that...hold the fuck up, N on the head? Didn’t that guy that N.Tropy hated his guts also have an N on his head?” wondered Rando as he observed two of them. The lanky bootlegger looked oddly familiar, only for the tales N.Tropy told him about a certain other person with a big N on his forehead. He decided to wait “Hmm, I will have to wait until the perfect opportunity.!”

 

Once the mechanic managed to fix the projector, he went with the same path as before, walking alone by his decision.

 

“Eehhhhhh, it’s even worse now that Zapatta is gone. Let’s go to my class, the better one.” Kazuichi slouched with his shoulders, grumbling while also missing his former colleagues. Visits to class 69 became more painful with it. However, little did he know what was waiting for him next.

 

“IT’S TIME.” Rando grinned like a satisfied fisherman after catching a great white shark before he dramatically opened the door as he pointed at his target, but not before letting out a shout:

 

“SQHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIPTAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRR!”

 

“Hey, who’s yelling out of a-” Kazuichi was only startled a bit, annoyed that someone had to yell at him right after he had to deal with what he considered to be the worst class of the student, only for his eyes to land on the person that called him. Suddenly, his mood shifted from annoyed to one filled with fear as he laid his eyes upon a bonafide Daft Capo member. Even worse, the gangster demanded his attention.

 

“D-D-Daft Capo member?!” yelped Kazuichi once he realized the situation he was in. He was starting to tremble as Rando was approaching him, with a stoic yet satisfied expression on his face. The thing he wanted to do a day before was starting to come into fruition.

 

“You! Yes you! Take a look at this!” Rando pointed at him once again before he jumped and landed with a pose that explicitly showed Kaz his white glittering Nike sneakers. That was what he called “flexing with his drip”, a common strategy of Daft Capo that’s used to strike fear and envy in foes. Rando felt every bit of pride upon doing such act. “Intimidated yet?”.

 

“W-why would I be intimated by S-SHOES?!” Kazuichi attempted to deny it, but his trembling and sweating were telling a completely different story. He would try to run away, but he was too paralyzed with fear. Didn’t help that Kazuichi’s fashion sense was abysmal.

 

“Your voice tells me enough, but that’s not all. Do you perhaps remember Taidana Rokudenashi?” smirked Rando while also reminding Kazuichi a student that was supposed to be at Hope’s peak for a long time, but procrastination just kept hitting it.

 

“Taidana Rokudenashi? Wasn’t that Ultimate Procrastinator? What about-wait are you….” Kazuichi remembered well, although he wasn’t sure what exactly he lead to.

 

Then, the reveal was dropped.

 

“YES! Not only I was Taidana Rokudenashi, I was also not Taidana Rokudenashi! He never existed! My true name is Rando Gyroswaggerić!” Rando dropped the truth bomb right on him, shattering any illusion he had about class 69 at that point.

 

W-WW-W-W-W-W-W-W-WHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT THEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE FUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUCK????????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” screamed Kazuichi upon the revelation. Not only did he find out that five out of sixteen people in class 69 were connected to Daft Capo, but one of them wasn’t even real. Rando didn’t even have talent (at the very least what Hope’s peak would consider it to be one), but he didn’t care, because having Bosnia on your side was greater than any talent would dream of, at the very least according to him. He even had a custom made SUPREME BOSNIAN shirt underneath his tuxedo, used only for further flexing.

 

“That is right! Now prepare yourself, Shqiptar, for this will be your last moments when you’ll know peace!” Rando cracked his fists as he started dashing towards Kazuichi, initiating the beating up in the process. It was at that moment that the mechanic knew he was done for.

 

“H-H-HELP! HELP ME!” Kazuichi was about to run away, but it wouldn’t matter, because Rando was just about to plant his fist right in his shark toothed face.

 

Suddenly, just when he was about to face his fate, fortune smiled upon him as someone else intervened. Someone who started running towards the scene of the supposed beating up ever since Rando’s yell.

 

HEAVEN SLAYING DRAGO-” Chiaki managed to perform an uppercut against Rando just in time, but compared to the one she delivered to Herman, a little surprise awaited her. Just as he was flying over the hall thanks to Chiaki’s attack, he managed to kick her right on the chin, causing her to be knocked back a bit. She fell on her butt, but her mouth was still in one piece, no teeth were broken despite the kick. She managed to pick herself up, checking her mouth to see if everything was alright.

 

“W-what? My Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist….got countered? That can’t be, right?” wondered Chiaki in haste, shocked that someone actually figured out to strike her in the middle of the attack. Meanwhile, Rando managed to land on his hands, performing a back flip before he face forward, looking right at Chiaki. It was a surprise for him as well, but he became intrigued in the following events. It was the same person that caused his Elite Boi colleague to have anger fits. Chiaki raised her fists, preparing herself for a battle she didn’t have before in her life. Not that she expected any instance where she had to go fist to fist with someone.

 

“CHIAKI, WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!” shouted Kazuichi in panic, completely startled by her appearance and her will to fight.

 

“Kazuichi, run! Alert the others! I’ll take care of him.” cautioned Chiaki, just wanting him to go somewhere safe and call back up. It was the first instance they would have to deal with a Daft Capo member like a proper fighter, unlike before, which were just cases of spies.

 

“B-but he’s a Daft Capo member! Bonafide Daft Capo member!” stammered Kazuichi, reminding her that the enemy might be out of her league. Not that it stopped her, the moment any enemy tries to hurt her close ones, she was more willing to go off.

 

“Please, leave him to me...just run! Run back to our class! We don’t have much time!” insisted Chiaki in a rather desperate tone in her voice. Kazuichi had no choice but to heed her words as he started to run towards his class as quickly as he could, which wasn’t really fast to boot. Chiaki focused her attention on the enemy, the gangster himself. Both of them looked at each other like two movie cowboys before a duel. The girl glared at Rando like an angry tiger, while Rando had the nonchalant albeit intrigued expression on his face.

 

“I see that Albania Defense Squad has arrived!” Rando let out his first taunt, amused that a person like her would go into a fight, despite being warned about her before. In fact, he was looking forward to meet her, just to see who was that Herman’s arch-nemesis.

 

You...you will not get away with threatening my classmate.” Chiaki growled at him as she made a pose

 

“Was that a threat? Hah! If you were in charge of the grill, meat would be frozen!” chuckled Rando, even more amused by her inability to make a good roast, further provoking her in the process.

 

“Mmmph….I won’t let you!” pouted Chiaki as her face was starting to become red. Amid the preparation for further fight, she was trying to come up with a strategy to defeat him. From the first strike alone, he was already a different kind of enemy to deal with. “Remember, you used Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist in Double Dragon II. Just keep it like it’s a fighting game and-”

 

“Two plus two is four, minus one that’s three, quick maths!” Rando suddenly started to spout what seemed to be a de facto definition of a word salad, completely startling Chiaki in the process. She did see some video game villains singing before, but not spouting utter nonsense before.

 

“...W-what?” squeaked Chiaki, not even knowing that quoting that song meant that Rando was about to exchange blows. It was his war cry in a way and it seemed to have worked on her.

 

“Ting goes SKRAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA!” Rando shouted once again before going for another dash, kicking Chiaki right in her stomach. She couldn’t react in time due to Rando’s own strategy and fell down on the floor again, now with pain in her stomach, covering it to ease it off. Once she was down, Rando taunted her further by quoting that song. “SKRA PA PA PA PA!”.

 

“...W-what kind of gangster is he? T-this is not like in any video game….is it?” Chiaki’s mind became a mess, she couldn’t really understand what kind of enemy was she fighting against. Not a single video game prepared her for the power of Gyroswaggerić. However, even when she was on the floor, that didn’t not stop Rando.

 

“SKIA!” shouted Rando as he attempted to stomp her with a jump, but Chiaki managed to roll away just in time to avoid the attack. She managed to roll away just the right distance to pick herself up in order to not get kicked while she was on the floor by Rando. However, the impression she gave him was quite different than one she gave to the octopus.

 

“Aha! I see now! The reason why you could beat Herman’s ass is because of an ambush! Now, you truly are not only a noob, but also a camper! Hahahaha!” laughed Rando at her, who was too confused and intimidated to react to his words. “By the way, Herman’s looking for your ass to be pinned on the wall!”

 

“...E-entire mafia is against me because I punched him in the face once?” Chiaki’s irises shrunk with her eyes even becoming gray once the seeds of fear were sowed upon hearing that she became on a hit list for Daft Capo. While she was silently trembling, her mind was in panic mode, though she subconsciously tried to calm herself down. “What should I do now what should I do now what should I do now-”.

 

“Hahahaha! Now you truly are intimidated, this will be an easy victory for me and Daft Capo!” boasted Rando, taking delight in her fright, even though the truth was she was only on Herman’s hit list, everyone else among Elite Bois considered her to be a joke. None than less, the intimidation worked as Rando was preparing himself in order to beat the hell out of her.

 

Suddenly, a thought appeared in her mind, giving her idea amid an internal panic.

 

You must think like a villain!” rung Gundham’s voice inside her head, which calmed her down, but she was going to do something that she never even thought about it before, but she was confident enough that it’s gonna work.

 

“Prepare yourself, noob, for this moment you will feel the true power of-” Rando gave her the last words before the beating up began, but the even that followed caught hims completely off guard.

 

Chiaki started beat boxing. Poorly.

 

She even imitated what she thought rappers were doing, or at the very least what Ibuki told her about it. Rando’s overbearing confidence became a bafflement beyond any relief. Out of all things she would have pulled, it was that.

 

“...What the fuck are you doing? Did your brain get smoothed by my fists?” Rando raised his eyebrow, utterly confused by her actions, even though she was doing the exactly thing as he before.

 

“Yo! Your music taste…..is shit and your….pants are….on fire….Yeah!” Chiaki attempted to diss him, but sounded so awkward that it made her a complete doofus in front of him. She even felt bad for uttering what she thought were bad words. “….Sorry, that was awful.”.

 

However, Rando grimaced so hard that it looked like his soul was offended to the core.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAARGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHH!

 

 

 

“W-what? T-that taunt caused him that severe of a reaction?! Oh gosh, this isn’t good. This really isn’t good-” stammered Chiaki once she flinched from the banshee like scream of the gangster, completely taken by surprise by his reaction. Right after the scream, Rando started to aggressively punch the wall, leaving a rather noticeable hole in it. Then after letting out steam, he started to sprint across the hallway, with an oddly stoic expression on his face. Once he finished his sprint, he started running circles around Chiaki with the same expression, confusing her even more. Never she has seen such elaborate reaction before. Once he finished circling, Rando performed back flips as he returned to his original position.

 

WHAT THE FLYING FUCK DID YOU SAY ABOUT MY MUSIC TASTE, YOU LITTLE SERB????!!!! I’LL HAVE YOU KNOW THAT YOU HAVE NOW WARRANTED AN ONE WAY TICKED TO TIRANA, WHERE YOU BELONG! TO COMMIT SUCH CRINGE, YOU SHALL BE BEATEN UNTIL YOU WILL SEE THE ETERNAL NIGHT! BUT FIRST, OOOOOOOOH, YOU MADE ME DO IT! YOU ASKED FOR IT!fumed Rando like Krakatoa, threatening that he will unleash something he has yet to do before. An ace in the hole which very few have seen and used before.

 

“W-what’s he going to do what’s he going to-” Chiaki internally panicked, still startled by his reaction.

 

“PREPARE YOURSELF, SRBSKI NOOB!” Rando inhaled with his nose as he was charging energy for a certain solar based power, before he said the word:

 

[REMOVED TO CONFORM WITH LOCAL AND INTERNATIONAL CENSORSHIP LAWS]

 

His yell was heard all over the academy. Poor were those which had to suffer hearing his word unleashed upon Chiaki. One of the first ones to hear it was Kazuichi, who was just seconds away from opening the door of his class. He froze, hardly believing what he just heard.

 

“...W-what was just that now?” stuttered Kazuichi, unable to open the door because of it.

 

Meanwhile, class 77-B already heard Rando’s word, with all of them being utterly offended by it. Some, like Hiyoko and Ibuki, grimaced so hard that it radiated second hand wincing.

 

“...Did y’all just hear that?” asked Akane, feeling a great need to beat the hell out of the person who has uttered such horribleness.

 

“Yeah, loud and clear…” confirmed Nekomaru.

 

“Such horrific language!” Sonia’s skin turned completely pale, nearly fainting upon hearing it. It was universally agreed in the class that the person needed to be beaten up. Even Mikan agreed with it. However, they were not the only ones.

 

Class 78th was also unfortunate enough to hear Rando’s word. Similar grimaces and level of being offended were had there.

 

“WHAT WAS JUST HEARD UPON THE AREA OF HOPE’S PEAK ACADEMY?!” Kiyotaka’s soul nearly left him when he heard it.

 

“W-what vulgarity was that?” even Byakuya was in complete shock to hear such word in Hope’s peak academy. For an academy known of being refined, such language was simple unimaginable, yet the soil was already tainted.

 

“...Anyone else feel like someone really needs to have their butt kicked?” suggested Aoi, feeling particularly furious about hearing it. Everyone, including Chihiro Fujisaki, universally agreed that the person needed to be beat up. But those who have heard it weren’t just in classes.

 

“W-what did I just hear?” Chisa spat out water she was drinking amid the paper work, accidentally moistening up the very papers she was working on. She decided to inspect the source of such atrocity while also giving the person who said it quite a lesson. However, it wasn’t just Hope’s peak who has heard the word.

 

Meanwhile, in the hideout of The Fellowship of Darkness, a room near the garage hosted the studio for Ryota Mitarai, the real one. He was just making his own anime when suddenly, alarms went off. If as if fire broke out, Ryota started panicking.

 

“W-what is going on?” stammered Ryota, only for Skipper to appear near him, with bloodshot eyes. The word gave him flashbacks of certain encounters, those criminals who have said it out lout.

 

...He said the word” revealed Skipper, talking like the word was some kind of ancient world ending calamity. It all made Ryota even more confused.

 

“T-the word? W-what do you mean?” stuttered Ryota, but no response was had, since the penguins were in such haste to beat up the person who said it. The power of word was enough to cause problems in Chihiro’s program, entire PELN network went haywire.

 

“Status: DEFCON ONE.” announced Kowalski as if a nuke went off as they all rushed towards Hope’s peak academy, leaving Ryota behind completely confused.

 

Meanwhile, Chiaki was trying to comprehend what just happened. She never heard of such word before, but from his tone, she knew it sounded really really bad.

 

“….E-eh?” stammered Chiaki, trembling from all of the confusion and bafflement. However, Rando was not satisfied with results.

 

“Hmm...you have not exploded...So that means…” noted Rando, surprised that uttering the word hasn’t made the whole school explode. However, he still had motivation to beat her up. He was ready to perform the biggest beating a gamer girl would receive, in theory. “I will finish what you have-”.

 

Just before he could finish his sentence, he was surrounded by two entire classes, a furious Yukizome and four penguins. All of them glared at him like he did the worst thing ever in history of mankind, even cracking their fists. One of them, that being Teruteru, even brought his frying pan to beat him up. Others would rely on their fists. It was at that moment that Rando knew he done goofed up.

 

“Understandable, have a great day.” casually said Rando before he performed a slide kick, nearly knocking down Teruteru if he hadn’t reacted in time. Then, the gangster started sprinting as if he was running away from a tidal wave.

 

“Not this time, punk!” grinned Akane as she started chasing him down, but despite her speed, Rando was already out of Hope’s peak academy. It wasn’t even because of talent, but because adrenaline pumped up Rando so much that he just blitzed out. Once she reached outside, it was just like the case before, the enemy was already out of her sight.

 

“...What, again? Why can’t I beat one gangster already?” Akane slouched with her shoulders as she returned to the group, disappointed that she couldn’t have beaten him up. As she returned, all of them expressed shock about what they’ve heard from him.

 

“To think such word would be uttered at Hope’s peak academy….it’s incomprehensible!” Kiyotaka raised his clenched fist, feeling like the school has been tainted with such vulgarity. It needed to be clean again!

 

“What the hell was that fucker thinking?! Like seriously, why would he flat out say it?” Mondo called out their enemy on his choice of words.

 

“He’s gonna get in some hot waters, for sure.” Ibuki noted that saying that word anywhere would get him in the same situation as one that just happened.

 

“My goodness, such language should not me tolerated anywhere!” declared Sonia as she performed a push with his arm to further emphasize her words.

 

“Excuse me, but who was that vulgar individual?” Celeste asked out of a sudden, seemingly unaware of what was happening to school.

 

“Some douche named Rando, a member of Daft Capo-” Kazuichi attempted to explain, but her interest waned as quickly as a running cheetah crossing a meter long road.

 

“Ah, I see. I’d gladly stay here, but I still have business to do. Farewell.” said Celeste as she walked away, seeming like she was too busy to deal with the whole conflict. Truth was that she did not care for it, she preferred to spend her time gambling.

 

“Hey, I haven’t even finished yet!” Kazuichi called her out on it, but it didn’t stop her at all. Rest of the group paid some attention to Celeste’s apathy, but they were still concerned with the main threat of that day.

 

“….She doesn’t even care, doesn’t she?” commented Hajime regarding gambler’s decision, rather unamused by it.

 

“Well, Mrs.Ludenberg has different priorities as of now.” Hifumi defended her, but they started to shift attention from her to the thing the enemy has said. But first, the teacher had one more thing to do.

 

“Sweetie, are you okay? Did he hurt you?” asked Chisa out of concern, assuming that she was fighting him.

 

“I-I’m okay...I’m okay…” reassured Chiaki, even though she still felt stomach pain from the kick. Lucky for her that no damage was really visible, or else her trying to hide her pain would have been much more difficult. However, she also wanted to know what exactly was that word. “...but what does that word mean?”.

 

“My girl, that word is something that no one should utter it. A remark so heinous that the moment someone says it, they deserve automatic beatings!” began Skipper about the word, then he added it with an experience he had. “I’ve heard it once before, from a certain mad scientist, not Kyouma, mind you! Someone else, someone short...with a beard….and an N on his face.”.

 

“N on his face? Ain’t that the guy from that class? But he’s tall, so…” Kazuichi commented that a person that the penguin was describing was similar to a class 69 student, minus the details.

 

“Cut the bullshit, lets get to the more important implications here.” Fuyuhiko demanded to address far more serious topic regarding that event. Everyone agreed that the word was awful, but the action spoke far more.

 

“Would you say that this is the official start of their attacks?” asked Sonia, worried that is has already officially begun.

 

“Yeah...I think so.” nodded Chiaki, more or less confirming it.

 

“It has to be, but there are few things that I do want to know. Was he the only one here?” questioned Peko.

 

“Yeah, he was.” both Chiaki and Kazuichi confirmed that he was the only one.

 

“Skipper, how would you say it compares to their escapades in Europe?” Peko turned the question towards the penguin ally, wanting to see how much does it differ from their previous operations. The fact that only one was sent was already giving Skipper some strange implications.

 

“….Weird. Usually, they would just storm their target. I haven’t seen sending one guy before.” commented Skipper, surprised that Daft Capo has started switching their MO. Usually, it was just Herman as a bait, then multiple punksters storming the place.

 

“And Rando is nowhere to be found in the names of elites, so….that makes this situation even more perplexing.” added Kowalski, noting that their current information does not align with the event. Even more odd was that Kowalski didn’t see any benefit of Rando’s infiltration.

 

“Well, you can’t exactly use the same strategy over and over, since that makes you more likely to be countered by the enemy.” commented Sonia, giving them advice as well.

 

“Speaking of counter, we should finally address it: I’m one hundred percent sure that we will have to start a counteroffensive now.” announced Fuyuhiko, no longer holding back about striking down Daft Capo before the enemy would even have a chance of victory. The thing they feared finally happened.

 

“...E-eh?” Chisa got chicken skin upon hearing that they will go directly against Daft Capo. Last thing she wanted was anyone to be hurt and going directly against them seemed like their lives would be in grave danger.

 

“Kehehehe, I agree with your suggestion. I, the Supreme Overlord, have always felt that it was an inevitability, especially our victory against Kraken of The Land. However, I do feel like we should pinpoint the location of Zona Daft Capo first.” smirked Gundham, anticipating such situation with delight. He was finally ready to strike down that mafia. However, he was one of the few people who actually looked forward to it, rest of them felt really unsettled by that.

 

“Wait, didn’t we say only penguins will go deep within their territory?” cautioned Mahiru, remembering that students shouldn’t be ones to go looking for fights.

 

“Yes, we did, but I am afraid that’s not an option anymore. They have already went in, fully prepared for combat. We should do the same.” argued Fuyuhiko, reminding her that the situation allowed no more luxury.

 

“Then we beat them up, right?” asked Akane, being up there with Gundham as the one who was looking forward to it.

 

“Sabotage would be more optimal. What use is numbers of defeated gangsters if they still can operate like they do?” Peko offered an alternative, not as direct but still as important.

 

“That is a more favorable idea, but what exactly would we sabotage?” asked Kowalski, agreeing with the idea but unsure how exactly to execute it, since they didn’t know locations where Daft Capo operates.

 

“You guys...aren’t gonna go directly there, right?” asked Chisa with fear in her voice. She still didn’t want them to endanger themselves, with having an idea that she will be in the frontline instead. At the very least she would fulfill her duty as a teacher.

 

“Listen, we get your concerns, Instructor, but we don’t have much choice, do we? Although, I’m more inclined to go with sabotage, so it’s not like everyone’s gonna storm in and a brawl will occur, right?” both warned and reassured Fuyuhiko at the same time.

 

“Lame…” grumbled Akane, once again being deprived of a fight.

 

“What the fuck, you’re for real?!” Fuyuhiko condemned her right on the spot.

 

“Hmm...we can neither attack nor sabotage if we don’t know what’s happening on their end. We absolutely should utilize spies.”suggested Ultimate Impostor, raising a point that without information, they’re stuck in the dark. In a way, they stalled out the direct confrontation with Daft Capo, instead opting for espionage instead.

 

“Hmmm….that is a good suggestion.” nodded Gundham. The idea was even more favorable than the sabotage one, although they will be connected together in the future.

 

“...That’s a bit relieving, but...who’s gonna be a spy? I can be one, if you guys want!” Chisa broke off sweat while immediately offering her help, surprising everyone in the process.

 

“...Miss Yukizome? As a spy?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“Hehehe, there’s a lot to me that you guys have yet to know.” Chisa winked at her, hinting that Chisa might have some stuff that others haven’t seen so far.

 

“Ah, I see. I guess I wouldn’t be the only one.” Ultimate Impostor offered their help as well.

 

“Y-you too?! But you’re-uh...uh…” stuttered Mahiru, hardly imagining that someone of Impostor’s size could be an agent. Oh, did she not know the truth.

 

“Is Ryota secretly a spy or something? If so….that’s really cool! Ryota the master chubby keeps on impressing!” praised Ibuki, particularly noticing that Ultimate Impostor was the kind of chubby man that seem rather regal, high quality kind.

 

“Just like Miss Yukizome said about herself, there’s a lot to me that you have yet to know. I can pull off an espionage mission more easily than you would imagine.” said Ryota, but was soon surrounded with unsure silence. “Seems like I’m surrounded with doubt. I understand that.”.

 

“I think we should trust both Miss Yukizome and Ryota, even if it seems unlikely. They do seem fit for their job….I think.” spoke Chiaki, believing both of them that they will accomplish their job, even though they were surprising choices. Of course, Chisa smiled upon hearing her words.

 

“You two sound like you have something behind your backs. What would that be?” asked Skipper, curious about their sudden offerings.

 

“….I’m sure you’re already aware of it. At least on my end.” Ultimate Impostor hinted that the penguin already knew their secret.

 

“...Ooooh, right right. What about you?” Skipper realized while also keeping it secret before he focused on the teacher.

 

“Ehehehe….mine’s still a secret.” giggled Chisa, still being covert about it. An aura of mystery surrounded both of them as the rest of the group was curious of their secrets.

 

“So many secrets to be held….but I’d be a hypocrite for calling them out.” commented Gundham while also remembering he has his own agenda in terms of stuff rest of them do not know...or were even capable of knowing it.

 

“So...you two are going deep in so far?” asked Mahiru, quite concerned about them.

 

“For now, yes. Though we did mention we can go deep in from a distance too.” answered Ultimate Impostor with confidence that was seldom seen at Hope’s peak.

 

“Yep, and I know exactly what to use! You guys will be safe, I’ll guarantee it!” Chisa joined in as well, pumping up her fist.

 

“I do wonder one thing. How did that gangster sneak in? We have those devices, right?” asked Kiyotaka while also addressing a rather noticeable security gap. Even if they didn’t know the truth, it was still something that needed to be covered.

 

“It seems like neither PELN or us have recognized his voice. Though….he didn’t talk much before he went out of the way to attack Kazuichi.” Kowalski added his own findings about the whole situation.

 

“What about security guards? They should have been there, right?” Kiyotaka pointed out a thing that they didn’t think much before, but then realized it was something really huge. Ever since Herman’s arrival, security guards have been jobbing.

 

“Erm…” gulped Chisa, being aware of why security guards weren’t active, they kept disappearing. Students didn’t know that and perhaps it was a good thing they didn’t.

 

“It seems that we are security ourselves. We probably have been ever since the octopus attacked us. It is our duty to continue it.” suggested Sakura.

 

“Yeah, it is. We should protect each other at all costs.” agreed Chiaki, insisting they should all be working together against the common enemy.

 

“So….I guess we’re going with espionage campaign first?” asked Fuyuhiko, wanting to know what was their plan.

 

“Seems so. Operation Metropolitan Hunt will continue just like it was intended to.” confirmed Skipper before they continued debating. After some time, they have decided few things: they will first commit espionage campaign, then they will stay at home for the weekend in a case of Daft Capo attacks and their day at Hope’s peak came to an end. Chisa allowed them to go home, for safety.

 

As they walked home, Chiaki was with her group once again, escorting her until they would depart. However, something was on Hajime’s mind, something that really bothered him.

 

“Hey, Chiaki?” Hajime poked her shoulder to gain her attention.

 

“Mmm?” Chiaki turned her head towards him, curious to hear what he would say.

 

“Don’t do that stunt again. Please.” Hajime warned her about not throwing herself into danger for sake of others.

 

“But…” frowned Chiaki, still insisting that she would do anything to protect her, even at expense of herself.

 

“I know you want to protect us, but...you could have been seriously hurt too. It’s not something that we want. You should be safe too.” Hajime elaborated that, even though her intention were done with sincere intentions, it was still causing them great concerns about how reckless she is regarding herself. Chiaki didn’t know how to respond, just looked at the floor instead.

 

“It’s not like we don’t want you to protect us, just that….you shouldn’t really lunge into danger. There has to be another way, where you wouldn’t get hurt as much.” reassured Hajime that he does get her, but she must find an alternative that won’t end up in her suffering.

 

“….Yeah, I actually have to think about it….but...how?” mumbled Chiaki, unsure on what to do about herself. She didn’t understand quite yet, although she tried her best to say to herself that worries are a natural part of caring. Chiaki needed another way to protect her friends, without putting herself at risk.

 

Meanwhile, Rando was already in Zona Daft Capo, aggressively eating Dönner kebab at the local grill bar. He wasn’t sure what to make of the whole thing, although kebab was a way of him coping with the fact his music taste got insulted. Soon enough, he was greeted with the sound of V8 engine. A formula one car was parked in front of the grill bar, with another Elite Boi stepping out of it.

“Eyyy, my man Rando! What’s up?” greeted Fritz as he raised his arm.

 

“I’ve done goofed, Fritz. My secret weapon did not work.” Rando turned towards him, revealing that his mission was inconclusive. The message was spread, but not much else was accomplished with it. All he could do was land two hits on a girl and that was about it.

 

“Did you actually drop it?” asked Fritz and Rando confirmed it with a nod. “Hahahahahahahahaha! Oh my god, you really did, you mad man!”.

 

“While I’d say that the message was spread, it wasn’t enough. They surrounded me when I unleashed it upon those scrubs and Shqiptars. The noob forced me to do it.” further added Rando.

 

“Oh, you fought noob? Tell more about it.” Fritz raised his eyebrow, already gaining a lot of interest in the process.

 

“To tell you the truth, the initial punch is decent, but she utterly shits herself afterwards.” revealed Rando to him that Chiaki kind of banked on first strike, but in a prolonged fight she was a stinker.

 

“….Fuck, that’s shit. I want a woman that kicks ass, not an amateur! Turns out that her being a noob is completely appropriate.” frowned Fritz, greatly disappointed that Chiaki wasn’t really a fighter. Too easy of a fight and it’s boring for him. “So, tomorrow’s my turn, right?”.

 

“One problem: it’s weekend.” reminded Rando with a raised finger.

 

“Why would a weekend stop me from beating up some ass?” Fritz crossed his arms as he chuckled at the idea.

 

“Because it’s the time we chill and best thing in life is to chill.” explained Rando while still gobbling up kebab.

 

“Not that gonna stop me. I’ll be looking for any of those Hope’s peak scrubs, so I can beat their asses into oblivion! More they fight back, the better!” grinned Fritz while still insisting on a fight, even if it was during weekends. Nothing would stop Fritz from getting into a fight, even if it meant apocalypse.

 

“Hmmm….you do you, my man Fritz. I’m just gonna chill for this weekend.” Rando shrugged, more or less having his own way.

 

“Hahahaha, scrub zone will remember my name very well!” boastfully laughed Fritz before he sat down and joined Rando for a feast. Before he could do any fighting, he needed to have a good one. He ordered one Heineken along with Bratwurst and mustard. Once he received it, he began consuming it, just like a proper guest at the bar. Fritz decided that he would start patrolling the city on Saturday, to find any Hope’s peak student and utterly beat them up. In a way, them staying at home was a good call, or else they would suffer the delight of Fritz.

 

Chapter 30: Girls Love Them Cats

Notes:

This is not an ad for Eagle Dynamics or Heatblur or any company responsible for games mentioned. I am just a big fan of aviation and here you'll see me nerd out pretty big time. It has my 5th favorite plane of all time in it, after all.

My fave planes be:
1. F-15 Eagle / F-15E Strike Eagle
2. F-16 Fighting Falcon
3. F-22 Raptor
4. F/A-18 Hornet (including Super Hornet and Growler)
5. F-14 Tomcat

Chapter Text

The day after the attacked followed. Saturday that did not have the same feeling as ones before. Students were told to stay at home, just in case that they won’t get assaulted by those mafiosos. Unfortunately, that also meant that any events with friends were canceled.

 

On the lonesome yet partially cloudy Saturday morning, Chiaki slept in her bed like she usually does, in complete comfort and adventuring in dreamland. It took her about until noon one o’clock in the afternoon until she slowly opened her eyes in an incredibly drowsy manner.

 

“Mmmmm….weekend, right?” mumbled Chiaki, with her vision still really blurry. Even though she didn’t see much as of yet, she could know that the alarm clock didn’t go off. Her ears and dreams were at peace, with only Chiaki herself ending them. “Yep, it’s weekend.”

 

She rose up from the bed, having quite of a bedhead with her ruffled hair, only for her to remember what they said the day before.

 

“I just remembered….no one’s gonna come, right?” frowned Chiaki the moment she reminded herself of it, meaning that no hanging around with her friends unlike before. No fun gaming sessions, no interesting discussions, nothing. It was starting to remind her of her old life, the one before she enrolled Hope’s peak. All thanks to a gangster attacking her own classmate because he felt like it. Only thing she could do regarding her friends was to check her phone to see if she got any messages from them. Much to her surprise, she was flooded with messages of her classmates and her teacher expressing concern regarding her, especially after what happened to her. Even Future Gadget Lab members responded upon hearing what happened at the academy. A message that particularly stuck out was Fuyuhiko’s, she did not expect that he would express great amount of worry for her, even if it was a foul mouthed rant. He seemed to even apologize for it. On one hand, Chiaki was incredibly grateful that she got people on her side to support and protect her, something that she didn’t truly have before Hope’s peak. She took time to reply with a thankful message to everyone. On other hand….

 

“Mmmm….they shouldn’t worry, but….Chisa said that….I still don’t quite understand...I still don’t…” Chiaki thought of herself, just feeling unsure of herself. The girl always thought that causing concerns was a bad thing, especially for her friends, but words of her teacher stuck with her. However, no matter what, she still had to face the reality. “Well, this day is gonna be like how it was before Hope’s peak…”.

 

“I wonder how much will it take to-” Chiaki’s mind started to succumb to all sorts of insecurities she had deep within, but the thought process was interrupted by her slapping her own cheeks. Perhaps even “Don’t think like that, silly! It’s just gonna be for this weekend. They’ll come back, I’m sure of it….right?”.

 

However, the interruption was brief.

“Still...if it wasn’t for that mafia, we’d just have...a normal life. Is it hard to ask to ask for just a normal school life? We’ve only had like, what, three days of-” Chiaki caved into her insecurities once again before she suddenly slapped her cheeks, once again with more force than she should. The amount of force of the slap said something about Nanami herself. She was angry at herself due to her failings. “Stupid! Stupid girl, think of something to distract yourself with. Something that gives you some feeling of happy in the first place.”.

 

After some time of thinking, she got an idea, which made her feel even more silly. Of course, it was video games.

 

“….Oh, how did I not think of this before?” Chiaki scratched her chin before she thought what type of game should she play. She preferred to play with others, but she also loved a single player experience too. “But what should I play? Hmmm….”.

 

However, her thought process was quickly interrupted when she heard a door on the knock, startling her in the process. It couldn’t have been her friends, since they were told to stay inside. Many things could be behind that door, including the adversary.

 

“Huh? Who’s there?” wondered Chiaki as she went off her bed, stepping to the door. She opened it, only to reveal that it was just a postman. Nothing too concerning. He handed her the envelope without saying a word as he left her. She was now alone with the envelope in her hand.

 

“Postman? I wonder what did he bring?” wondered Chiaki as she went inside. Sitting on her couch, she opened up the envelope to see what did she receive.

 

It was taxes.

 

“…….Oh.” frowned Chiaki as she went to the kitchen to sit behind the table. She had to cover bills for things like electricity and much, which took a noticeable dent in her income. Luckily, Hope’s peak’s scholarship for Ultimates was solid enough, so she could still get basic needs. A question is how did she support herself before Hope’s peak, where did she get the money, since she was always alone. “Welp, time to do it like I always did.”

 

Chiaki started out filling papers with lethargy and somewhat of a hesitation. Took her a while to do so, even if she was slightly experienced with it. She had to do it for a long time in her life.

 

“There. Should be done. Now it’s game time….but what?” Chiaki said to herself once she finished filling in taxes and placing the paper. Her thought process returned to think about what game should she play. Then, out of a sudden, a brief flash of a certain naval plane appeared in her mind, reminding her instantly on a promise she made to herself.

“Oh, I remember! Kazuichi showed me something cool before. Time to look up for it.” Chiaki raised her finger as if she had a light bulb over her head. As she looked through her rather massive collection of games, retro and new, all belonging to different companies and developers. On her search, she found two particular games that had the plane in her mind: Top Gun for Nintendo Entertainment System (Famicom in Japan) and Turn & Burn: No Fly Zone for Super Nintendo Entertainment System (Super Famicom in Japan).

 

“Oh, I have two games related to that plane already. I should probably try out Top Gun first, to follow chronological order.” thought Chiaki as she prepared both aforementioned consoles for her gaming session. The first one to play was Top Gun, she popped it in and she was immediately greeted with a copyright message of the game, written in black letters on the white screen. After few seconds of waiting, the screen displayed a photo of the F-14 Tomcat turned into a sprite. The title of the game was written with big bold blue letters, accompanied with red lines, to imitate the movie’s title. With a press of a start button, the screen transitioned into a short, simple cutscene of a Tomcat turning on afterburners. Following it were a selection screen, where the player could choose missiles of various types. Normally, she wouldn’t have really pay attention to it, but her experience with actual flight simulators made her think about it.

 

“Hm...missiles have weird names. Shouldn’t have been AIM-9 Sidewinder or something? Hm, I’m not too familiar with this plane’s payload, so I have to look up. I still have a lot of learn.” noted Chiaki, remembering F-16C’s payload, at the very least air to air one. Usually, planes that originate from US seem to have Sidewinder as a heat seeking missile, Sparrow for semi-active radar guided missile and AMRAAM as an active radar guided missile. Seldom has been there a plane with a different missile, although Tomcat was just that. She just had to wait a little longer. Once she selected, the game began. It began with the first person view of a Heads Up Display, a rather simple one at that. Upper part just had few lines that showed a rectangle for a gun sight and few green lines that were supposed to be a HUD. The bottom part of the screen seemed to show a really simple green screen where radar was supposed to be, few gauges that were just there for aesthetics, missile counter, altitude indicator and speed indicator, with last one being completely automatic. It was clear that this was a product of its time and hardware. First mission began with Tomcat soaring over the sky, shooting down any bandit that traversed the same sky as her. However, the combat was incredibly simple, with A button used for gun fire and B button used for missile locking and launching. That’s all there was to it to the game, shooting down other planes while trying to survive.

 

“Well, it’s an older game and it shows, but I can see developers were trying. Still pretty fun.” mused Chiaki to herself, enjoying the game despite its age and crustyness. There a special charm to old games for her, that could ease off her mind, no matter if they were masterpieces or kusoges. After a certain amount of time, the game decided that it was a time for landing. Not only just a landing, but a landing on a carrier to boot.

“Ah, landing time. This should be easy.” Chiaki gained a rather determined look on her face as she simply followed the instructions displayed on the radar screen. It showed a silhouette of a Tomcat, going up or down depending on input. After plethora of corrections, a cutscene played, showing that Chiaki managed to successfully land the cat on the carrier. Mission complete “Got it.”.

The rest of the game was similar, with some variations to spice up the game, such as air to air refueling from what it seemed to be to the four engine KC-135 Stratotanker. Odd thing about it was that in the game, it showed that it used a boom to refuel Tomcat, despite the fact that Tomcat was a Navy plane, which use probe-and-drogue way of mid air refueling. The game itself was finished in thirty minutes, a pretty standard time for Famicon games. Rarely were there games that exceeded over an hour.

“Whelp, that was quick. A lot of people don’t like the game, but I still do. Any game can be fun.” Chiaki reviewed the game, with only one hearing the review being Usami, her plushie. She was put on the couch, just so Chiaki had a feeling a friend was watching her. “Onto the next one.”.

 

She left the game in the Famicon as she focused her attention on Super Famicon instead. She popped the cartridge in and turned on console. Once the copyright screen and logo screen were done, the game immediately had a more glamorous intro than the game that preceded her.

 

Instead of just immediately going to the title screen, a cutscene played, with F-14A Tomcat of VF-1 “Wolfpack” fighter squadron flying at mach one, since it had swept wings. Tomcats of that squadron were known to have insignia of a wolf on their tail. The flying machine banked to the right, disappearing from the sky as the actual title of the game appeared. It even had a white silhouette of a Tomcat facing forward. Compared to the title screen of Top Gun, Chiaki’s mouth was agape upon seeing it, even though it was a game from the 90’s.

 



“Oh my, this is shaping to be quite different.” thought Chiaki to herself, already impressed by the game. Even little things in games got her. Upon pressing the B button on her Super Famicon controller, the screen transitioned to a scene of an aircraft carrier, specifically CVN-68 USS Nimitz, the might of naval power, just cruising through the waves as a large info dump served as an explanation of the story. Upon pressing start, a briefing was shown on Vertical Display Indicator, the one big screen on the front dash that served either as to show a locked bandit either with a line or as a camera. It foretold that the mission was going to be brief, with her only needing to take down five Migs. Once the debriefing was done, the game immediately threw her on the deck of the carrier, similar to what Top Gun did. Except, not only was she accompanied with a man in the yellow on the deck, the cockpit was a whole different best. Unlike in Top Gun, the digitized cockpit of Tomcat was much more detailed, with only gauges and minor details taking compromise. The visibility was lesser than in Top Gun, but it made up for authenticity. Even the sprite of a joystick was included, that moved on inputs.

 

“Ah, the Heads Up Display is different. It looks like an actual cockpit...maybe it is? I gotta check out...later though.” noted Chiaki with a gleam in her eyes, promising herself she would do more research on Tomcat later. For that moment, it was gaming time. Unlike in the game before, she could control the throttle of engines, allowing her to adjust speed as much as she wanted. She could even select what type of weapon she could use, either be M61 rotary cannon, AIM-9 heat seeking missile, AIM-7 semi active radar guided missile and, unknown to her before, AIM-54 Phoenix active radar guided missile. As the mission began, it became clear to her that it isn’t unlike Top Gun: shoot down specific amount of planes and return home. It had additional features that made the game much more complex, such as when you press start, you could see the map of the entire area, looking out for incoming bandits to find out whats their heading and altitude. All of those changes made Chiaki appreciate the game even more.

 

“I feel like this game is what Top Gun wanted to be. Amazing what technology can do.” Chiaki smiled as she shot down any Mig, which were presented in game as MiG-29A Fulcrums, an already familiar plane to her from BMS, along with other more famous Migs (such as Mig-21 Fishbed, Mig-23 Flogger and Mig-25 Foxbat) and their Sukhoi brethren (Su-27 Flankers and its entire expansive family) with M61 as a selected weapon. She decided to spare the missiles for future engagements, in case things would become difficult. However, the game was rather easy for her, since Migs didn’t pose much of a challenge.

 

Suddenly, her gaming session got interrupted when she heard some kind of engine noise outside of her house, making her pause the game in the process. She stepped towards the window, wondering what kind of vehicle caused such unique yet shrill noise.

“Huh? What’s that? That sounded rather odd for a car.” wondered Chiaki as she was peeking outside, but couldn’t find anything nearby that seemed weird. Just normal looking cars, driving down the street. “Hmm...I don’t see anything..”.

 

She returned to the game as she intended in the first place, even though the noise still puzzled her. Unknown to her, it was a sound of V8 engine of a Formula One racing car, driven by none other than Fritz. He patrolled the city with the car that wasn’t supposed to be on the public road, looking out for any Hope’s peak student he could beat up on sight or even take down with his vehicle. His own Formula One car had slight modifications over the original one, such as multi-function display that showed the map of the city. It also had different functions as well, but those were only known to certain Daft Capo members, most notably Elite Bois. As he drove, with him overtaking every single car on sight, he hasn’t found a trace of a Hope’s peak student outside.

“Hmm...no scrub on sight. Weird, I’m pretty sure they should have been somewhere.” thought Fritz to himself, observing every corner he could to find any trace of his enemy “Come on, you gotta find an ass to beat, my boy!”.

 

As he was still searching for any target, Chiaki was just comfortably playing Turn & Burn: No Fly Zone. It took her a little longer than before, but she finished the game, awarded with the game saying that her achievements made the carrier strike group win the war. Even the president commended her for the achievements she has accomplished. All in the matter of two hours. Chiaki’s eyes were still gleaming from the thrill of playing the Super Famicon game, much more satisfied with it than with the other one, even though she enjoyed both games.

“This game is great! Can get a bit repetitive, but it was really fun! I can already see why Kazuichi loves that plane...and I’ve gotta show it to my friends too!” Chiaki praised the game, although still only talking to her plushie. However, it wasn’t enough to fill her fix, she wanted to expeirence Tomcat even more. She wanted to see how’s the plane in other games. “But...those two are the only ones I have of that plane. I should look up games with Tomcat now.”.

 

Then she stood up from the floor as she went to her personal computer, putting down her butt on the chair as she turned it on. Upon logging in, she immediately typed “F-14 Tomcat” in the search engine. With a press of an enter key, she was greeted with plethora of links. Chiaki switched to images, just casually looking at multiple different pictures of the fleet defender. They differed in wing sweep, liveries, angles and so much more.

 

However, one of the pictures caught her attention. At the first glance, it seemed like a normal picture of a Tomcat, just flying in sunset. Chiaki nearly pressed her face on the screen once she noticed few details of it: the resolution was too clear. Every single other picture, even the highest quality ones, had certain grainy feeling to them. Understandably so, since they were taken way back in the past, somewhere between 1970 to 2006. That sort of cleanness meant only one thing: it was a game!

“What?! That’s from a game? But it looked so real!” gasped Chiaki upon seeing a single screenshot of that game. It looked almost real, she had to see what the game was about. “Let me see what this is about.”.

 

Upon clicking the origin site, she found out that the Tomcat belonged under the game by the name of DCS World, a flight simulator known for its no nonsense approach to simulation. It was possibly the best the public could get a simulation of a real military aircraft at home. Just for further research, Chiaki took a look at multiple screenshots of the module. All of them looked almost indistinguishable from real life, but what really got Chiaki’s attention was the cockpit.

 

“Oh, I know that cockpit! It’s from Turn and Burn! Let me compare these two….and I should do a real one too.” Chiaki’s fangirl mode was starting to active once she saw that not only did the cockpit greatly resemble the one from Super Famicom game, but not only was every single thing in it modeled to great detail, but the game promised that it was interactive as well. “Oh my gosh, both of these games had it really close...though newer one looks almost like it’s real life!”.

 

Screenshots of the game immediately convinced her to buy it. She needed to have that as a part of her digital collection, which was kind of modest compared to her physical collection.

 

“Alright, game, you got me snatched. Time to look for-” chirped Chiaki, only to encounter the price of it. The world of flight simulation was not a cheap one, evident that a single module costed 8751 yen. One of the priciest modules of DCS, yet still low compared to other simulators.“…..Oh, that’s, um….a lot, for a plane. Falcon 4 didn’t cost as much.”

 

Chiaki thought about it if she should spare money so she could supply herself or willing to risk it. Luckily for her, one aspect of Hope’s peak more or less enabled her to not be as cautious with money as she had to do before.

 

“I got scholarship from Hope’s peak, so….hmph! Nothing stopping me.” Chiaki nodded to herself as she went on to purchase it. With the few clicks, her bank account got quite a dent, but it didn’t really matter, since not only she got herself a new thing, but she also had more than enough money to sustain herself, as long as she doesn’t forget about it, as she often does. “And...got it!”.

 

Right after the purchase, she immediately placed her mouse cursor on DCS icon, clicking it too times as she waited for the game to load. However, she had to wait not only for Tomcat to install, but for the game to update as well. It’s been a while since she played it, but her internet speed was decent enough that it was just a mere thirty minute wait. In the mean time, she played a game on her handheld to kill time. Once everything was downloaded, the game was ready to start.

 

“Time to see how does this Tomcat look like.” Chiaki said to herself as she waited for the title screen to show up. Once everything loaded, she was greeted with the picture of a civilian version of the famous American fighter aircraft of the conflict from 40’s, P-51 Mustand (technically speaking TF-51). She always liked flying it, but she relegated that plane for free flight only, since it was unarmed.

 

“Hmmm….haven’t touched this game in a while. It’s an amazing flight sim, but other games occupied me a lot.” Chiaki thought to herself, realizing that she kind of neglected the game. Not because she disliked it (in fact, she loved it), but other games occupied her more. A thing she noticed on the bottom was icons of multiple aircraft and helicopters too, much to her surprise. “Oh, there’s more planes? Helicopters too?”.

 

She inspected it and it seemed like each icon had a different plane or a helicopter. Some of them she was vaguely familiar with, like F/A-18C Hornet, another quintessential American naval multirole aircraft that also appeared in a lot of games, and any of Russian jets, since they were often adversaries. Some of them were a complete mystery to her, such as SAAB AJS-37 Viggen, a Swedish attack aircraft notable for traversing at above the speed of sound while flying just above trees. One of the planes immediately caught her attention, a pretty familiar one to her.

 

“Oh heck! Falcon! Falcon is there! I should probably get it next month….definitely. I wanna see it how the Falcon is in this game.” Chiaki started hopping while sitting as she saw her favorite plane in the game, not even realizing that it was there for a long time. However, she still had to fulfill the promise. Not only that, but she switched the background. It changed from the render of a Su-25T Frogfoot that was accompanied by bombastic orchestral music to a real life picture of F-14 Tomcat landing on a carrier, accompanied with retro-esque synthwave music. “But now, Tomcat time.”.

 

“Since I do know flight simulators take a bit to learn, I should probably do a free flight mission first.” Chiaki said to herself as she pressed the button for “Instant Mission”, giving her already pre-made missions for the Tomcat. She already had two maps installed, Caucasus and Marianas, so the missions for those were available. Because Tomcat was a naval aircraft, she chose Marianas as the map for her choice. One thing she noted that what she bought included not one, but two planes.

 

“Hm? F-14A and F-14B? Are they like….wait, let me check the differences.” wondered Chiaki as she briefly opened task manager in order to get out of the game and then typed out in search bar. One for F-14A and one for F-14B. Once she got results, she closely looked at pictures of both variants of the same plane. One difference already stuck out more than most.

 

“Aha! I see it now! It’s the engines. They look different. I should probably try F-14A first.” Chiaki pointed out to herself upon noticing that F-14A and F-14B have different engines. B’s engines (General Electric F110) looked much more streamlined than ones of A (Pratt & Whitney TF30). Yet, despite F-14B indirectly having more streamlined look, she chose to go with F-14A, since she felt like it was more appropriate to start with older stuff, like how she always began a franchise with the oldest games. Chiaki decided to start a free flight mission with F-14A. After a click, she waited for the game to load, but not before it gave her a briefing. Despite being a free flight mission, the payload it had consisted of a pair of really huge AIM-54 Phoenixes, one AIM-7 Sparrow and four AIM-9L Sidewinders. Once she fully read the briefing, she finally started it, waiting for it to load.

 

The free flight mission began with F-14A Tomcat already in the air. It was placed just south of Guam, one of the most significant islands of Marianas, since it hosted Andersen Air Base, where more often than not strategic bombers are stationed. The plane itself seemed to belong to VF-111 “Sundowners” fighter squadron. One of the first things that activated her fangirl mode was the cockpit itself. She had experience with clickable cockpits before, but not with such fidelity.


“Oh! Everything in the cockpit is clickable! I have to check it out! It does feel...how to say it, retro? It’s definitely older than the Falcon.” Chiaki started hopping once again on her chair as she inspected every nook and cranny of pilot’s position. Every single thing, gauges included, was modeled to ridiculous detail, so much so she was slightly concerned it would affect the performance of her computer. The HUD was unlike from the games before, since it was an actual HUD of the aircraft. It looked much simpler, barebones in comparison to Fighting Falcon’s HUD. What was displayed on HUD depended on what mode was selected and it seemed like it was currently A/A (Air to Air), allowing the plane to fire missiles if the master arm was on. Of course, she would need to select it first. One thing she was feeling mixed upon was sound. Not that it sounded awful, it was actually amazingly implemented, just that the noise of TF30’s gave her heebie-jeebies.


“…..that engine sound is ghastly. It’s giving me spooks.” Chiaki shook for a bit as if she was feeling cold, but none than less she insisted, increasing the throttle to accelerate just a bit. She didn’t put it on maximum, she felt like she wasn’t ready for afterburner action yet. Suddenly, she accidentally pressed a 2 key on her keyboard, changing the position from pilot’s to backseat. To say that pilot’s seat looked simple was an understatement, she found out that Tomcat was a different beast than she imagined.


“Ah! T-that’s….that’s backseat? I’ve never seen this part of the plane before.” Chiaki irises shrunk a bit due to her being startled by the change of position, but she regained her composure. She paused the game just to take a closer look of her position. Where as pilot’s position only had two screens (Vertical Display Indicator and HSD), backseat had three of them, consisting of large circular Tactical Information Display (which essentially was radar display), smaller Detail Data Display (essentially radar control) and digital HSI. It also had far more switches and buttons than the pilot’s seat did, some of them even being necessary for start up. She came to a realization what it was.

 

“So this must be...Radar Intercept Officer, right? That screen below looks so big...must be a radar.” Chiaki rambled inside her head while also deciding that she’d rather be a pilot, more fun that way. Not that she was opposed to being a RIO, though. “But I think I’m gonna be a pilot now. Once my friends are gonna come, I think I’ll be a RIO instead. Piloting seems to be easier, I think.”.

 

As a test, Chiaki decided to make a turn with it. She made the plane roll with a single input of joystick’s axis, then gently pulling the stick to herself, making Tomcat perform a turn. As she was pulling the stick more to herself, the entire cockpit started shaking. More she pulled, more it shook. She let off of the stick for a moment the moment she saw overwing vapor sheath forming, signaling her that the aircraft was going under high G forces.

 

“Oh my, it’s shaking. Falcon didn’t shake as much...I wonder why.” Chiaki noted to herself as she made the plane roll, returning to its horizontal position. She noted that thanks to its large extended wings, Tomcat could make quite a turn, although it lacked fly-by-wire system that planes like Fighting Falcon had, meaning that if under high enough G forces, the plane could break apart. Next thing she wanted to try was to see how fast it was. Fighting Falcon was among the faster planes, so she wanted to compare to it. She put the throttle to the max, prepared to feel the thrill of afterburners. Funnily enough, it was the right engine that went into the mode first, with left engine taking few seconds longer to do so. Then, nozzles of engines opened, spewing out giant flames of burnt kerosene. Hundred pounds of fuel were consumed within seconds. Chiaki pulled up the stick just a bit to make the plane climb. However, despite being on maximum power, Tomcat struggled to reach the speed of sound. Despite that, hundreds of feet were climbed in a matter of seconds. The mission started her at merely 300 ft, yet she was up 20 000 ft in such short amount of time.

 

“It takes a while to accelerate and I should be gentle with the plane.” Chiaki noted once again as she made Tomcat stop climbing, decreasing its angle of attack as she made the cat fly in a straight line. Her testing started to make her realize something: she wasn’t playing a mere flight game. Others were that, where the main part was the action, not the plane itself. Here, she was flying THE Fleet Defender, an aircraft known to make enemy planes retreat on sight, a plane that defended carrier strike group for decades...and she was feeling like a true badass about it. Things that were deemed as an afterthought in other games were presented as absolute catharsis in the sim.

 

“I have a sudden urge….urge….for speed….Yeah….I’m feeling cool….” Chiaki started to cave in Tomcat as she briefly paused the game, only to get sunglasses to look like what she imagined to be a naval aviator. In games, all naval aviators had those glasses on, looking cool while also being responsible handling machines with such power which no man has seen before. However, she didn’t have aviator glasses as she had normal sunglasses with cat decoration on them. None than less, she wanted to feel cool.

 

Then, she did it. At 25 000 ft, she shattered the speed of sound. No longer bound by that limitation, Tomcat was now cruising through the air like it was nothing. During the transonic transition, it shook a little, but once it overcame that, the ride became incredibly smooth. Chiaki looked back and saw something that got her real excited: wings have swept.

“Oh my hecking gosh, the wings! They’re moving! Kazuichi was right!” Chiaki started hopping once again as she noticed that those mighty wings have been fully swept back, allowing Tomcat to cut through the air like a hot blade on butter. A simple flight managed to get her so pumped up, she had no regrets spending so much on the fleet defender. “Hehehe….this is great!”.

 

She goofed around as she let the burners do the job, making such maneuvers such as barrel roll and similar. She even bypassed the nearest carrier, CVN-74 John Stennis, at low altitude, making the fleet defender roll side to side as if she was waving at them. All this fun was had until she noticed that the plane only had 5000 lb of fuel (out of 20 000 lb). She spent so much time on afterburner that she was nearly out of gas.

 

“Ah heck, I’m bingo fuel already? I see….those engines are pretty thirsty. I think it’s landing time….hoo boy.” Chiaki tilted her head as she notified the ATC of the carrier that she will be inbound. The tower gave her instructions to follow, such as at what heading should she go. She followed it closely as she prepared herself for landing: since Tomcat was a naval plane, she pulled down the arresting hook, put down the landing gear and let the flaps down, slowing down the beastly plane while trying to not fall into the endless Pacific sea. After some time navigating the plane, she was finally near the carrier.

 

With the arresting hook, she managed to catch the first wire on the deck, drastically slowing down the mighty beast in the process. Once Tomcat lost all of its speed, she was prepared to park it, but not before a certain someone had a thing to say. A feature of the module she did not expect.

 

“One wire, but not exploded on the back of the boat.” reported Jester, speaking exactly like someone would imagine a naval aviator to. Even the radio like static was present in his voice. It told her that she shouldn’t have hooked on the first wire, instead she should have aimed for the second or third.

 

“E-eh? The plane talks?” stuttered Chiaki before she realized that Jester was a feature, a helper AI of sorts. “Nevermind, it’s the AI. I see, the developers made it that one person can pilot the plane, while the AI takes care of radar stuff.”.

 

With the press of A key, Jester’s menu opened up, allowing her to do various things, such as locking a bandit for her or jettisoning stores in the time of danger.

 

“Hey hey. I’m Chiaki, what’s your name?” Chiaki greeted him with a hand wave, thinking that he will respond. However, he was just a part of the game, not an AI that could respond. She was kind of bummed out about it, since she thought having another AI friend would have been really cool. “….oh right, he’s not like Chihiro’s Usami.”.

 

“So I landed, so I think it’s time for B.” Chiaki thought to herself as she did the exact same thing with F-14B as she did with F-14A. However, she already noticed the major difference: the noise of engines was less ghastly and more pleasant one to boot.

 

“The engines sound less soul crushing for sure, but other than that, the inside looks the same. On the outside, Tomcat looks less colorful though.” Chiaki rambled in her head as she put the throttle to the max, this time both engines unleashing afterburners at the same time. What she did not expect was how drastic the acceleration was compared to the variant before. TF30’s took some time to make Tomcat supersonic, but F110’s did it in a short amount of time, not even climbing was that much of an obstacle.

 

“Oh, the acceleration is so much better! Look at that gauge go, I’m nearly mach one!” smiled Chiaki as she performed stunts with it. Since F-14B was more or less similar to F-14A in a lot of ways, she decided that she was ready for a sortie.

 

“Alright, so I figured out differences, so I wanna see it in combat. I think I’m gonna...try this out.” thought Chiaki to herself as she exited the mission, instead going to the mission editor. Once again, she chose Marianas as the theater of the sortie.

 

On the southern part of the map, she placed one Stennis aircraft carrier. Even though the ship should have been accompanied by at least two destroyers, such as Arleigh Burke or Ticonderoga, but she decided to go with a simpler one, just so she could get a grasp on what does Tomcat do. Then, she placed a single Tomcat on the deck, choosing that she will go with a hot start (aircraft already prepared for take off). She armed herself with Two Phoenixes, Two Sparrows and Two Sidewinders. The livery of her choice was a VF-84 “Jolly Rogers”, because she thought the skull on the tail looked really cool. It was like she was a pirate of sorts. Once the flight path was prepared, she wondered who could be the adversary. It had to be some kind of Mig or Sukhoi. Browsing through the list, she found possibly an ideal adversary:

Sukhoi Su-33 Flanker-D, the Russian naval variant of Su-27 Flnaker.

 

She wondered if the Flanker should start in air or on a carrier. After browsing through the list once again, she learned that Russia does indeed have a carrier (or rather heavy aircraft cruiser if we go by Russian classification), with the name of it being Admiral Kuznetsov. She inspected it and already found out that it had an entirely different philosophy than American ones.

 

“Why a ramp? Such a mystery…” Chiaki pointed out that it indeed had a ramp instead of catapults. Su-33 seemed like a huge plane, so it was even weirder for her on why would a carrier have such a system when the catapult would make the job a lot easier. None than less, once she armed the Flanker with four R-73 heat seeking missiles, six R-27ER semi active radar guided missiles and two R-27ET infrared homing (essentially a heat seeker) missiles, she was ready to go. Saving the mission under the name of “F-14A_Tomcat_First_Mission.miz”, Chiaki went on to fly the mission.

 

Tomcat

 

Set in the evening, Tomcat spawned on the deck, prepared to be launched. With the salute of a pilot and its throttle set to max, the fleet defender was sent flying with the assistance of catapult. She started climbing as she put the flaps and landing gear up, prepared to face the Sukhoi, which was still more than hundred nautical miles away. She switched the display on the lower screen, so that she and Jester could share tactical information display. Then she ordered Jester to set the range to one hundred nautical miles.

 

“Roger.” said Jester as he did just that. Then, after some time of climbing and flying, a number “29” appeared on radar warning receiver, signaling that the enemy is tracking. The reason why 29 was instead of 33 is because Flankers used the same radar as Fulcrums in the game, which rang true for early Flanker variants.

 

“Nails on our nose, 12 o’ clock.” alerted Jester.

 

“Ah, this must be it!” Chiaki nodded with a rather determined look on her face as she started speeding right towards the incoming bandit. She ordered jester to select track while scan auto and target aspect nose, so that she can track down the hostile aircraft with easy.

 

“You’ve got it, boss.” approved Jester as he did just that. About 80 nautical miles away, the line on TID started flashing, indicating that the bandit was ready to be locked on.

 

“I can lock on already? Huh, really? That early?” wondered Chiaki before her thought process went back on track, making her prepare the missiles and heat up sidewinders. Master Arm was on. She selected Phoenix as her weapon of choice as she ordered Jester to get a STT (Single Track) lock on the Flanker.

 

“Spiking him! Target, 75 miles.” said Jester as he established a lock on the Flanker. The HUD displayed the diamond, where the location of the bandit was. Vertical Display Indicator suddenly gained a huge dark green circle with a little green dot in the middle. The bandit was now locked by the fleet defender.

 

Chiaki waited a bit, just so she could get a sure shot. She learned her lesson from Falcon that it’s best when the systems indicate you when to shoot, not when the maximum range is range. Suddenly, around 55 nautical miles away from the bandit, either by pure instinct or accident she pressed the trigger. The light for hot trigger turned off as the Phoenix was dropped. Once it got activated, the terminal phase began. The motor of the missile spew out a burner, causing it to gain massive amounts of acceleration. Phoenix started to climb up, in order to both gain as much speed and altitude as possible. Within seconds, Phoenix reached the speeds of four times the speed of sound without the bandit knowing what was coming to them, since it was launched in Track While Scan mode.

 

Phoenix

 

“Already? Odd...since AMRAAMs are fired at shorter ranges, about 35 nautical miles away from a Flanker sized target.” commented Chiaki as she watched the trail of the missile above, coming it at target closer with each mile crossed.

 

As they were about 30 nautical miles away from each other, the radar warning receiver of Tomcat went nuts. That only meant one thing.

 

“Oh heck!” Chiaki knew exactly what was coming soon to her: a missile.

 

“Heads up, spike 12 o’ clock.” warned Jester just seconds away before the radar warning receiver started going even more insane than before. She wanted to evade, but she had to maintain lock up until certain distance.

 

“Missile! Missile! Missile! 12 o’ clock!” Jester started alerting with haste, causing Chiaki to just bank right, just enough so that she won’t lose a lock. However, fortunately for her, the seeker of Phoenix activated just about when it was close to the bandit. It was only at that time when Flanker knew that a missile was coming and started doing evasive maneuvers, even if it meant that the R-27ER launched at Chiaki’s Tomcat would go dumb. Chiaki was starting to get concerned that her Tomcat was about to go down when suddenly, a pleasant surprise appeared.

 

“Su-33 damaged”.

 

Su-33 destroyed”.

 

“Oh my goodness….it hit from that far? This plane….too powerful, it crushes meta.” gasped Chiaki, hardly believing that a plane like that could be so powerful and exist in real life at the same time.

 

“I’ve lost lock.” stated Jester as radar stopped tracking the vaporized bandit. The warhead of Phoenix was so huge, that it could disinigrate within proximity. The Flanker, torn to pieces, fell right into the endless Pacific Sea. After a successful interception, Chiaki then returned to the carrier, performed all the procedures in order to make a proper carrier landing. Upon parking the mighty beast, Chiaki concluded the mission and then leaned on her chair as it were her bed.

 

“Heck yeah….I’m really liking this plane. Might be my second plane, but I think Falcon is still closer to my heart...and it flies just a little smoother, doesn’t shake much…..and Jester is cheeky.” smiled Chiaki as she expressed her thoughts on it. It was one of the most fun single player experiences she had and it’s going to be even better once she shows the game to her friends. She was especially looking forward to Hajime piloting the plane, but for that day, she had it all planned. “Alright, I think I know what to do for today.”.

 

She played Tomcat for DCS entire day, be it custom missions, pre-made missions or even campaigns. However, the night overtook the day as her energy was starting to wane. Even playing for such long time, she was starting to desire some dreams.

“Ah, I’m getting….sleepy….must have been cuz I woke up so early. This was really really fun. A new experience which I’ll always remember. Next month, I’m gonna try out a new plane, it seems like every single plane has their own character. I think I’ll go with...Hornet, it looks cool.” mumbled Chiaki before she let out a yawn. She shut down the computer as she staggered towards her bed, throwing herself on it once she reached it. Chiaki even took her plushie with herself, just so she could sleep easier. “Now, I must….sleepy….”.

 

But before she could fall into deep slumber, resurfaced thoughts started to bother. A concern that she will have to live through the life before Hope’s peak started to appear.

 

“Wait, it’s not gonna be like this now, right? I can’t be….all by myself...I can’t live like this-” Chiaki’s mind started to be invaded with insecurities before she turned to her plushie like she was an actual friend to her. “Hey, Usami? Do you think that…”.

 

“No, Chiaki! Remember, it’s just a day. Your friends will come, do not worry about it!” Chiaki, playing as Usami, reminded herself that it was just temporary. Her new life will stay and she will make sure of it.

 

Chiaki, upon reminding herself that badness won’t last forever, hugged Usami as tightly as she could. A feeling of soothe started to overtake any anxiety she had.

“I hope they will….even if...things could have been better...I still quite like it at Hope’s peak. Miss Yukizome and my friends make my life so much better than it was before…..I believe in them. I believe that one day, it’s gonna be better.” Chiaki thought about everyone, wishing them that they could have the happiest lives possible. The resurfaced optimism eased her into sleeping.

 

“Yeah...it will be….it’s nicer…..” Chiaki’s mind drifted into deep slumber as she had a smile on her face, looking forward to seeing her friends once again, even if she couldn’t that week. What awaited her, she did not know, but she was ready to face it.

Chapter 31: Radio Interception

Chapter Text

Next day began with Chiaki sleeping cozily in her bed, snoozing while having her face buried in the pillow. Usami was placed on her back as she had her hands positioned as if they were her wings. It was clear that her DCS session influenced her dreams big time, with her acting like she was piloting the Tomcat, while Usami was her RIO. In her dream, she flew an intercept mission, done by a VF-84 “Jolly Rogers” F-14A Tomcat, but instead of intercepting a bomber, she was fighting against a space mecha dragon that ate air. Luckily for her, the dragon did not know of beyond visual range combat, as it did not expect a Phoenix launched at it from whopping 100 nautical miles away. That was all playing in her head.

 

However in reality, she looked like she was flailing her arms during her sleep and motorboating her own pillow, snoring like a bear in the process.

 

“Mmmm….nyooom prrrrrrr prrrr nyooom…..” Chiaki imitated noises of what it seemed to be both jet engine and the sound of auto-cannon roaring upon unleashing the rounds of metallic death upon the enemies. Except that it did not sound like a roar of such fierce weapon, more like a doofus trying to imitate a fart noise.

 

Suddenly, amid her sleep, she heard a bunch of knocks. Due to her being so deep in her slumber, she didn’t even hear it.

 

“….Locking him….target….70 miles…..” Chiaki started to imitate Jester, in what it seemed like she was fighting a more grounded, yet much fiercer enemy than a dragon: a Russian interceptor that went by the name Mig-25 Foxbat. She was waiting for the opportunity to throw a Phoenix right at his face, only for her dream to be abruptly concluded by louder sounds of knocking.

 

“…..Mmmmmmm? Who could it be?” mumbled Chiaki as she groggily raised her head from the pillow, still half asleep during it. After she got out of the bed, she staggered towards the door, nearly tripping over few times. Once she reached the door, she opened it, revealing that a stout, stern faced animator classmate of hers awaited her, with them holding a crusty looking laptop in their hands. Not only did she not anyone expect to appear that day, but out of all people, it had to be them, one of the last people she imagined to do so. To say she was completely surprised would be an understatement.

 

“..R-Ryota?” stuttered Chiaki as she suddenly gained a burst of adrenaline upon seeing her classmate. It was enough to make her fully awake.

 

“Good morning. I apologize for disruption.” calmly greeted Ultimate Impostor, yet with that stern expression on their face they seemed particularly strict that day. Something was up, she felt it. The gamer gal was also curious about the laptop and why they had it with them.

 

“G’mornin. Do you intend to come in?” Chiaki invited them to come in. Ultimate Impostor stepped in as both of them went to the living room. Both students sat on the couch, making themselves as comfortable as possible. The Impostor placed the laptop on the intended place, their lap.

 

“Yes, I have certain business to explain with you.” began Ultimate Impostor before he squinted at her, pointing that she was still not properly dressed for the day. “You are still in your Pajamas, just to remind you.”.

 

“Ah, sorry...just a sec” blushed Chiaki before she returned to her bedroom. Once she did what she needed to do, Chiaki returned, properly dressed in her usual attire. “Okay, I’m back, I think.”.

 

“So we can begin, shall we?” asked Ultimate Impostor once again, officially starting the discussion with what was on their mind.

 

“Erm, I wanna ask something if I can. What business do you mean?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“It’s about Operation Metropolitan Hunt. Do you recall how me and Miss Yukizome promised to be spies?” elaborated Ultimate Impostor while also reminding her of events of previous day. She did take a note of them volunteering to be their spies.

 

“Yeah, I think so. I do recall it...but what about it?” further asked Chiaki, wondering where will the conversation lead to.

 

“Both of us aren’t the only one. We have about two additional spies, one being Kirigiri. She went on her own way and it would have been better if she told it in the first place, but we appreciate her help. However, the second person is someone I contacted myself.” Ultimate Impostor told her that their plan got expanded. Chiaki’s eyes widened, not expecting that their espionage campaign would go so big. She genuinely thought that Chisa and Impostor were the only ones, although Kyoko wasn’t too much of a surprise. It was the second person that got her interested.

 

“Hm?” Chiaki leaned forward, with her eyes having a curious look to them. She wanted to hear everything that Ultimate Impostor and their colleagues have planned out.

 

“Itaru Hashida. He has said some very interesting stuff regarding monitoring information about Daft Capo. It appears that we have encountered a rather huge obstacle.” revealed Ultimate Impostor, surprising her even more. However, her surprise and subdued excitement that Future Gadget Lab is involved was replaced with more intrigue once Impostor mentioned that they have a problem.

 

“Is it that we basically cannot tell authorities about Daft Capo?” assumed Chiaki, with such problem being on her mind at times. All of them were aware that only penguins, Hope’s peak itself, the Fellowship and Future Gadget Lab were the only ones who were actually fighting against Daft Capo. It still seemed so strange that no authorities have addressed the issue of the mafia terrorizing the most prestigious academy in the country.

 

“That concern has been addressed, but it is related. The one he told me about is that, although not confirmed yet, they could monitor not only what’s been sent on the internet, but also what is in the middle of process of being sent.” added Ultimate Impostor while giving her out a theory on Daft Capo’s information control on the internet. She suddenly felt chills down her spine, it gave her a reminder that despite Daft Capo as a whole having a personality to say at least, their grip on information control was not to be underestimated. It almost felt like it wasn’t even really them, especially with remembering how Skipper said that punksters love spotlight.

 

“...So something like SMS-es could be intercepted?” gulped Chiaki, realizing that any communication between their spies could be listened to by the adversary. It was just a theory, yet it felt believable enough for them to not risk it.

 

“That is a possibility. Our espionage network is essentially in the dark, especially if we have information regarding them….to which...look at this.” confirmed Ultimate Impostor before they showed their phone Chiaki, revealing pictures of a silver Formula One racing car, with the person driving it wearing a white fedora. Then, she got an idea for something odd that happened that day before.

 

“Hold it...was that the noise that happened yesterday?” Chiaki pointed her finger up, remembering the sound.

 

“So you’ve heard it too?” Ultimate Impostor raised their eyebrow upon knowing that she has heard it as well.

 

“Yeah, it sounded really weird for a car. I knew that it had to be something else, but...what exactly is this car?” wondered Chiaki, not exactly familiar with such type of vehicle. She hasn’t really seen it before, although some games did portray it.

 

“Formula One, seems to be under Mercedes. There is no way this type of a vehicle would be ever road legal, so it already told me a lot on who’s the one responsible for it. Not only for that, but the hat the driver is wearing seems reminiscent of those pictures that penguins showed us.” explained Ultimate Impostor before they pointed out the hat, more or less confirming that it is work of Daft Capo.

 

“Yep, that’s definitely Daft Capo. There’s no other way…if only we could see more than a hat, then we might identify someone.” commented Chiaki as she gave out a hint on what to do in order to find out who the person in the Formula One car is.

 

“Do you perhaps know who it is, Nanami?” asked Ultimate Impostor with a raised eyebrow, desiring to know if Chiaki was up to something.

 

“I’m just having a hunch, but….I don’t think a normal punkster would have such car. It has to be one of Elites, so….maybe Fritz? Dunno exactly, though…” Chiaki stated her guess on who could it be. Since Formula One car itself was a rather rare one by itself, it would have been impossible for punksters to wield it in masses.

 

“Hmmm….it could be him...I also think that this Formula One car could be useful for tracking down Daft Capo, perhaps even discovering Zona Daft Capo. However, I’m thinking of a workaround way to deal with this. I can explain if you want, but I need a second opinion on this.” Ultimate Impostor scratched their chin as they explained their reasoning for being at gamer girl’s house.

 

“Can I ask something first though?” Chiaki fired a question first, as she tilted her head. It was something that was on her mind, but she didn’t want to interrupt them.

 

“Sure, there’s no rush.” Ultimate Impostor agreed to hear her question.

 

“Why...me? It’s not that there’s wrong with it, but..I’m not really a good spy...or anything really…I think others like Gundham or Skipper are better for it.” asked Chiaki in such a tone that her self doubt and lack of self esteem could be felt. Even though she appreciated a lot that Impostor came to her house, she felt like she wasn’t fit for the job.

 

“Two reasons. First of all, you were the closest. Chisa, Kyoko and Itaru are all over the city and like I’ve said before, we’re in the dark. Before you ask how I’ve found you out, Mayuri told me, she trusted me that I am your...hmm…” Ultimate Impostor elaborated, with their first point being rather pragmatic in nature, where as they suddenly slowed down their flow, sounding almost contemplative. They encountered slight difficulty in saying it out loud.

 

“Friend? Is that what she meant?” wondered Chiaki before the response she got was silence. A frown appeared on her face, almost sounding defeated. Deep down, she wanted to be their friend, but considering how constantly closed they seemed, she just didn’t want to force them to be her friend. “Well...if you see otherwise, then it’s fine I guess…”.

 

“...No, that’s the second reason. I find you...trustworthy,” Ultimate Impostor suddenly spoke up, absolutely flooring her in the process. She just froze from surprise, with Impostor, who had so much issues with concept of trust before, just flat out revealing that they do consider her a friend. Weight on her heart was lifted off from hearing it.

 

“E-eh?” stuttered Chiaki, with her rosy cheeks even becoming more red than before. Still trying to comprehend what they said, Chiaki thought a lot about those words and their meaning, how much of an impact did they have when they said it out loud. She really wasn’t sure how to respond.

 

“You are one of few people that I am willing to trust, even though you are quite naive. Treat it as some kind of honor.” admitted Ultimate Impostor, feeling slightly relieved that they could finally trust another person. That being said, certain doubts had to be said. “As for others, I’m not too confident in the penguin, since it feels like he only knows what he did in the past. A lot of things we found out about Daft Capo were a surprise to them as well. They’re in the same position as us. As for Gundham….don’t you find him suspicious?”.

 

“Not at all. He’s the one leading the fight against Daft Capo. I believe he’s on our side, I think.” Chiaki shook with her head, expressing that she fully trusted Gundham, even though he acted like a wizard nearly ninety percent of the time. At the very least he was a classmate that will be on their side, which was, as of that moment, hard to say regarding some people.

 

“It is true that he’s the leader of our group, but I feel like he has some kind of agenda. He’s hiding something, for sure.” Ultimate Impostor gave out their theory on why she should take caution of the leader of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“I’m...not sure what would he have to hide. He’s our friend after all. Our classmate.” wondered Chiaki while having some doubts about distrusting her own classmate, despite previous incidents. Gundham wasn’t like that person, or was he?

 

“For one, he’s the only one who hasn’t put a hand in the circle after that classmate got expelled.” Ultimate Impostor pointed out the first thing that was on their mind, finding it rather strange that Gundham was the only one exempt from that.

 

“Well...that could be more of the fact he doesn’t really feel comfortable touching others….Maybe.” Chiaki raised her argument, assuming that Gundham doesn’t really like being touch. At the very least, that’s how she interpreted him saying that he has “poisonous skin”, since humans did not have actual poison inside of them.

 

“Hm, fair point….but that’s not the only thing that got on my mind lately. Have you’ve heard him that he called himself hypocrite if he were to call us out for having secrets?” Ultimate Impostor pointed out another thing that bothered them about him. Considering that Gundham was quietly talking to himself at that time, one had to listen closely for it.

 

“….Yeah, I think. I’m really not sure what he meant by that….but I don’t think it will be like before with, you know….” nodded Chiaki while still clinging on the idea that Gundham won’t abandon them. Hope’s peak already received so much betrayal in the matter of three days.

 

“I certainly do hope that case never happens again. I...do not want my trust harmed to be again, for the little amount I have it.” confessed Ultimate Impostor, with Chiaki noticing the way they said it sounded like they were really anguished about it. Her friend had experience with it before, but she still wanted to make sure they were safe and comfortable, at the very least around her.

 

“It won’t be, I promise. Your trust is never going to be hurt in such way.” Chiaki placed her hand where her heart was, giving out another promise that no one will hurt Impostor’s trust again. She even had a little, yet bright smile on her face when she gave that promise to her friend. Ultimate Impostor remained stoic faced as ever, but even with a little hesitation, they believed her words.

 

“Hm...I’ll take your word on it, at least between us.” Ultimate Impostor concluded their discussion before they opened up the laptop to show her the plan and some of the tools that would be used. “But now, I can tell you about the plan we have devised”.

 

“Oh? Please tell me about it!” Chiaki leaned forward, curiosity overtaking her mind as the Impostor turned the machine on. Funnily enough, the operating system that the laptop used was based on Linux, quite different compared to others. After logging in, they were greeted with a mostly empty background with only trash can, file explorer, internet browser and one particularly weird program standing out. Ultimate Impostor clicked on the icon of the last aforementioned program, displaying settings for what it seemed to be a virtual private network.

 

“Alright, what Hashida did was establishing a virtual private network, where the content sent will be only visible to us. With the help of this program, we shall set the false location of our IP, so that we’re sure that no one is tracking down. I’ll be using this secondary laptop, which is pretty useless otherwise. It’s an older, used model.” Ultimate Impostor started explaining their plan on what the spy network will utilize.

 

“Woah…” Chiaki’s mouth agape, with her imagination going crazy on how much they planned against Daft Capo. It really did feel like a spy game of sorts, where intrigue is all over the place. She continued to listen, watching as the Impostor pointed out a folder, where they already saved images.

 

“Once it’s set up. I will first send pictures to myself, just to see if it’s safe. Then, I will send the content to anyone I can get in contact with. The sooner we get information, the better, although I do have a backup of waiting until our next meeting with penguins. However, I do believe we must make haste, since they’re on the move.” Ultimate Impostor went on to explain the plan to her.

 

“Yeah, it’s a good idea to make things much quicker. They could strike at any time, like that gangster did.” added Chiaki while also remembering her fight with a certain punkster.

 

“What do you think of this, Nanami?” asked Ultimate Impostor about her opinion on the matter, wondering if there’s any holes in their plan.

 

“Hmmm….I do think it’s a good plan and it’s even better that you have made a back up for it. I think we can do it now.” Chiaki agreed it with, especially noting that it was a good thing they made back up. “So, we’re doing it now, right?”.

 

“Hold it right there, we’re not doing it in your house.” Ultimate Impostor stopped her from starting their plan, due to a certain hunch they had.

 

“Huh? Why? It seems pretty safe….I think.” wondered Chiaki as she tilted her head.

 

“...I’m not too sure, but I feel like there should be a better location for it. It’s a feeling I cannot explain, but I rather make sure this will go without any intrusions. Now, that shall be all, I appreciate your input. Farewell-” answered Ultimate Impostor before they closed the laptop and stood up from the couch, intending to leave her as they went on with the mission.

 

“Wait, don’t go by yourself…” murmured Chiaki as she reached with her hand. Luckily, unlike before, Impostor stopped themselves from going forward.

 

“Nanami, didn’t we specifically tell you that you must stay at home? You have already thrown yourself into danger already. For your safety, stay here.” Ultimate Impostor reminded her the exact things some students, especially Hajime Hinata, have said about her. Due to her already experiencing a fight before, they didn’t want her to thrown herself into bigger danger.

 

“But you could also be in danger!” insisted Chiaki as she stood up from the couch, in sort of a standoffish pose. Not to fight Impostor, but to fight those who intend to hurt them.

 

“I can handle myself just fine. I’ll be okay, I’ll make sure of it.” reassured Ultimate Imposter as they were seconds away from leaving her house.

 

“But...in RPGs, it’s always better to have multiple party members, especially when it comes to overcoming bosses.” Chiaki gave an allegory regarding how in such games, the hero becomes stronger with help of their friends. Everything can be overcome, as long as you had someone on your side.

 

“….Are you seriously making a video game reference right now?” Ultimate Impostor squinted at her for bringing up her passion right when they were in the middle of something really risky.

 

“Well….erm….it is a similar situation after all. I know that you’ll do great, but I still want to be there, just to give further aid. Even if things go awry, at the very least we’ll be stronger together, right?” Chiaki lowered her head yet still insisted of guarding them on the way. Suddenly, she stepped forth and grabbed their hand, looking at them right in their eyes.

 

“What exactly is on your mind now?” perplexed Ultimate Impostor, not understanding her actions at all. There was a particular innocent look in Chiaki’s eyes, which made them even more confused.

 

“I just...want to show you that I trust you a lot. I know this is gonna sound weird but...I’m kind of scared of a touch if its by someone I don’t know. I’m not sure what to expect...possibly even bad things. But here...I just wanna show you that, even though you’ll do great, I want to support you. I want to be on your side to defend you from anything bad. Do you trust me on that, Ryota?” Chiaki declared that no matter what, they should relax around her, knowing that she will protect them at all costs. Despite her innocent look, there was a feel of desperation for her. Perhaps the whole conflict was slowly influencing her mind, ramping up her fears as it went on.

 

“...Even if it meant at the expense of yourself?” Ultimate Impostor gave a final question to her, to which she nodded without a single ounce of hesitation. The lack of restraint regarding her dedication to protect caused them to worry about her, even though the Impostor hid it deep within. They couldn’t just reject her, knowing how utterly willing she was to fulfill her promises.

 

“….Alright….one thing though. This is only between us, do you copy that?” Ultimate Impostor requested that their mission should be only known between them.

 

“Understood. This secret shall be kept.” nodded Chiaki before she got an idea, an experience with punksters she also remembered. “Actually...one more thing.”.

 

“What is it?” Ulitmate Impostor raised their eyebrow.

 

“I know where we can go. It’s a place that’s a good hiding spot.” recommended Chiaki before she was the first one to step out of her house, inviting Ultimate Impostor to go to a possible good hiding spot. “Just follow me.”.

 

Ultimate Impostor, although intrigued by what she meant, followed her as they went on, to find the hiding spot for their operation.

 

After some walking amid the streets, they have went to Akihabara, the electronic center of Tokyo. The day at such place was same as ever, with crowds of people minding their own business. Both Chiaki and Impostor managed to blend in, although they walked close to each other, so that no one could get lost. Navigating through the labyrinth of electronics, they stopped themselves right in front of Akihabara Radio Kaikan, a place where her gang used to hide.

 

“Radio Kaikan? Why there, if I can ask?” wondered Ultimate Impostor on why exactly did she choose such location for their hideout. To them, it seemed rather random, if slightly expected, since Radio Kaikan had a lot of things that would attract otaku.

 

“That’s where we hid when those gangsters chase us. Plus the building is pretty big as well, so if anyone tracks us, they’ll need some time to find us out.” Chiaki explained her choice for the location, remembering the whole event quite well.

 

“Hmm, I see. What floor should we go?” Ultimate Impostor didn’t object before they asked for the exact location of their operation.

 

“Hmmm….somewhere hidden yet with a good means of escape. That rules out the roof, since the enemy could block it, essentially trapping us. I have brought my phone, in case the situation goes really bad. I think we should explore it.” Chiaki thought about it as both of them went inside. Once again, the building was oddly devoid of people other than those two. Not a single place within the building had even a trace of anyone else. On one hand, no people meant no Daft Capo spies among them. On other hand, they couldn’t blend in the public like they did outside. Still, the fact that Radio Kaikan seemed constantly empty raised even more suspicions.

 

“Kind of odd that such a building is empty. I expected that we could blend in with people, but it doesn’t seem the case.” noted Ultimate Impostor as they kept exploring the building void of people.

 

“It’s been like that before too...I wonder why…” Chiaki started gazing at the ceiling, thinking about why exactly was the building so empty so frequently. Deeming the ground floor as too risky, they decided to go upstairs. Corridors were dimly lit, with the lack of people making the building darker than it seemed. After reaching the seventh floor, they still went up, landing right in the assembly hall. The place itself only had multiple yet same chairs placed like a rectangle and a stand, intended solely for conferences. Windows allowed light into the possibly most desolate place in already empty building.

 

“Hmmm….how about this?” Chiaki suggested as she placed herself in front of Ultimate Impostor. They looked around, noticing that while they do have multiple exits, the room itself was void of hiding spots. The impersonator opened their crusty laptop, booted it up and prepared the program for the virtual private network.

 

“The connection is surprisingly solid here. However, hiding spots are sparse here, but it has multiple exits. I think this will be a good place to test it, so lets begin.” Ultimate Impostor agreed with the decision as they disconnected themselves from the main internet connection, instead starting up the virtual private network. Chiaki stood behind them, looking with great curiosity as the Impostor did their job. Once the network was up, they chose the false location of the source, just to confuse those who were, in theory, tracking them down. Then he clicked the icon for browser and logged in to one of e-mail accounts. It was a third party site, for increased security. Impostor seemed to already prepare themselves for a single test: send a message to themselves to see if its one hundred percent safe to send content with Daft Capo in it. Chiaki noticed that Impostor was including pictures in the e-mail, but no text. Only the title “Important Content” was the text. Just so that they would be beneath suspicion.

 

“I’ve forgot to mention that I’ve even made a proxy account, just so that it will be harder for us to track down. I’ve also copied pictures here, but I’ll delete it afterwards.” Ultimate Imposter pointed out that the e-mail they used was not their personal one, but a back up one. Once the photos uploaded and the required address put in, they were more or less set to try it out.

 

“Everything is set now. Are you prepared?” Ultimate Imposter asked one more time, just making sure if it was the right time to do it. Chiaki quietly nodded, but with a determined look on her face. It seemed like it was just right to do so. Impostor placed the cursor right on the button, with only one action needed.

 

“And sent.” Ultimate Impostor clicked the button. An audible click was made and it echoed through out the room. Both of them eagerly awaited its return.

 

Yet, it didn’t show up. There was no trace of it at all.

 

“Hold on a minute...something isn’t right. I’ve sent it, I saw it with my eyes.” Ultimate Imposter remained composed, where as Chiaki started to appear visibly concerned. Despite everything Imposter told her, could it be that not even a virtual private network was safe? “Just a second it could be just connection.”.

 

Impostor pressed F5, yet the same result appeared: absence of the requested e-mail.

 

“Umm...why doesn’t it show up?” asked Chiaki in a much more fearful tone than before. Neither of them understood why it refused to appear, despite their efforts. Impostor checked the “Sent” folder, only to find out that it didn’t even register being sent. At that moment, their composure was cracking down.

 

“This has to be a mistake! Don’t tell me that...” Ultimate Impostor started stammering before they quickly regained their composure, deciding to re-send the e-mail again. “No, let me try again”.

 

They did the exact same thing as before, yet nothing changed. As if the e-mail never even existed. At that moment both of them got the idea that not a single way to communicate, other than being in-person, was safe at all.

 

“...No way….everything was set up to prevent this...yet it keeps happening…” murmured Ultimate Impostor, finding the whole thing hard to believe. By that moment, Chiaki’s fear kicked in full force, now knowing how cornered they truly were against their enemy. Hope’s peak didn’t even have an ounce of such information control as Daft Capo did...or was it even the aforementioned adversary?

 

Meanwhile, Fritz was still patrolling the city with his Formula One car, looking everywhere to find someone to beat up. Then, much to his surprise, a crosshair appeared on the map, displaying the location of Radio Kaikan. Not only that, but a message from an informant also appeared on the multi-function display. It was exactly what he was looking for.

 

Message with sensitive information has been intercepted. Suspected origin of it is Radio Kaikan. Inspect the location and make sure that the personnel who have attempted to undermine your efforts is taken care of.”.

 

“WOOOOOO! Hell yeah, I’ve finally got some ass to kick!” Fritz pumped his fists as he slammed the pedal with his foot, speeding through streets, with V8 engine roaring through the entire Tokyo, gaining attention from those who have heard it. As he shat on every single speed law possible, with him going such speeds that he could physically feel the wind right in his face. He didn’t even have a helmet, only his hat and sunglasses. It had to be a miracle that the hat didn’t fly away, since he was driving through at 200 kilometers per hour on straight lines. Every time he had to make a turn, he slammed the brake. Such speed gave him so much adrenaline, that he had a massive grin on his face through out entire time. Lights, turning on from left to right, signaled him gear changes as his presence was getting known through out the city.

 

“Look at this badass fucker!” complimented one of citizens in awe as they saw the racing beast in the streets. Fritz’s driving was also a surprise, he managed to go so fast, yet he hasn’t crashed into a single car during it. With every second passed, he was getting closer.

 

Meanwhile, the duo was accepting the fact that there was no way they could communicate from distance. Only one option truly remained for them.

 

“Um, Ryota? Is….is it now the best time to retreat?” gulped Chiaki as she pointed towards the exit, with her entire arm trembling.

 

“….Yeah, I think so. We have to go away from it as fast as possible.” Ultimate Impostor agreed immediately as they closed the laptop and started running towards the exit. Once they got out of the assembly hall, they started running downstairs as fast as possible. However, when they reached the fourth floor, they suddenly heard incoming footsteps. Since the building was always empty, that was not a good sign at all.

 

“Nanami, hide!” quietly ordered Ultimate Impostor as she ran towards the corridor, where the turn was covered with a wall. Impostor figured out that they couldn’t hide, since the footsteps were getting louder. Instead, they improvised.

 

The person responsible for incoming footsteps was none other than Fritz, dressed in the usual Daft Capo attire while also wearing sunglasses. The way he walked was evident that he had nothing but confidence and pride in himself. He managed to encounter one person on fourth floor: a stout janitor, who was just mopping the floor as usual. The janitor was, of course, Ultimate Impostor, who managed to change their disguise in a matter of seconds. Only thing that resembled “Ryota” was the fact he was stout and the facial features seemed slightly similar. Chiaki, still hiding, was peeking from the corner. The man in tuxedo seemed oddly familiar to her, but she couldn’t really put her finger on it.

 

“...Is that?…” wondered Chiaki as her irises shrunk. It could be that he was just another punkster, but she had a hunch that the fella was something else. Something more ominous than they would think. Meanwhile, Ultimate Impostor kept the facade of the innocent janitor, still mopping the floor.

 

“Hmm...another busy day, eh?” Fritz struck up a casual conversation with them, leaning on the wall with his shoulder.

 

“Yep, always working. That’s my life.” said Ultimate Impostor, even changing their voice to sound like an old man.

 

“That kinda boring though, right?” Fritz raised his eyebrow, wondering if the janitor was actually enjoying their job, since he deemed it as possibly the least desirable and least glamorous job there was.

 

“Well, there’s joy to be had in even smallest things.” shrugged Ultimate Impostor.

 

“So what you’re saying is that you enjoy this job?” Fritz further asked, hardly imagining that any janitor would enjoy their job.

 

“I guess so. You gotta enjoy it until retirement.” said Ultimate Impostor calmly.

 

“Hmm….I see….I see” Fritz squinted at the janitor before he went upstairs, but not before he stopped himself at the third step. “...You know, it’s really funny that you are the only person in this building, isn’t it, janitor?”.

 

“Well, someone’s gotta do the job.” Ultimate Impostor continued mopping the floor, pretending that they do not mind the presence of their enemy right near to them. But little did they know….

 

“….or should I say Ultimate Impostor!” Fritz turned towards the with a grin, exposing their true identity. Chiaki managed to hear it, shocked upon what she just learned. How exactly did he know was the question that appeared in her mind.

 

“...Huh?!” Ultimate Impostor startled upon hearing their true identity uttered by the enemy. It also told them that Daft Capo now knows more than they initially imagined, even moreso compared to how much Fellowship of Darkness knew about Daft Capo.

 

“Aha! Got you now, you sneaky fucker! Seems like you scrubs are stepping up the game, so...let’s go to the fun part shall we?” Fritz grinned even more as he pointed at the janitor, not even bothering to taunt them anymore as he cracked his fists. Then he flat out leaped at Ultimate Impostor, just being moments away from landing a hit right in their face, if it wasn’t for one factor.

 

“Stay away from Ryota!” yelled Chiaki as she suddenly revealed herself, preparing herself to deliver her own Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist on Fritz. However, just as she was about to punch him right in the face, Fritz loosened his fist and grabbed her own, blocking her entire attack with easy. After he landed on his feet, he pushed away her fist, sending her a little bit back. Fritz stood tall above two students, with a big yet battle thirsty grin on his face.

 

“….Oh...oh gosh!” Chiaki’s irises shrunk as she realized that she didn’t even hit him, he fully managed to countered the Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist. As if Rando’s attack wasn’t enough, it also made her realize that both of them will be on the defensive side.

 

“Nanami, what are you-” Ultimate Impostor wanted to ask, but then they realized there was no longer any room to talk. Their enemy was just in front of them.

 

“Oho, now look at that! If it ain’t Chiaki Nanami, the scrub that has punched one of our bois in the face and even fought another one to boot.” jeered Fritz as he took of his glasses, revealing his blood thirsty eyes right in front of them. That look, that devious mustache, that lanky posture meant only one thing.

 

“...F-Fritz?” stuttered Chiaki once she realized who was she and Imposter up against. The same man who scored a victory against penguins, truly a fighter not to be underestimated by any means. Impostor gasped a little when they also realized.

 

“Ah, I see my surname is already famous among you scrubs. Good, because it will be one you’ll remember for ages to come.” boasted Fritz, delighted that Hope’s peak was already aware of his presence. One recently told fact particularly stuck in their mind.

 

“….Y-your surname?” Chiaki and Ultimate Impostor both tilted their heads, confused on the fact his name was not actually Fritz.

 

“Yes! Fritz is just my surname, my real name is...Fischer! Fischer Fritz! Now, lets cut this chatter and get to the real shit!” clarified Fritz before he pulled out four blunts out of his pocket, with the lighter providing fire for all four of those. Then, Fritz put all of them in his mouth as he pulled the blunts with his mouth. He wasn’t even getting high off from them, it was too low power for him.

 

“...W-what is he doing?” stammered Chiaki, utterly perplexed on what was Fritz doing. She has never seen anyone smoke such an odd object before. Impostor was also confused by Fritz’s sudden need to smoke. Then, it kind of became clear what Fritz intended to do when the Elite Boi put burned blunts between his fingers. A blunt brass knuckle, if one might. Upon realizing it, Impostor struck with his mop, hitting Fritz right in the stomach, but only sending him back just a bit. They did it just in time before Fritz would lunge himself at them. However, he didn’t feel any pain, just more thrill.

 

“Ohoho, first strike! Good one, I must say! But now….prepare your asses! Fischer Fritz fischt frische Fische!” chuckled Fritz before he raised his blunt-supported fist, quickly thinking on which target he would select. Since Impostor was the first one to deliver the first strike, he started sprinting towards Impostor. The janitor decided to use his mop like a fencer, but his second attack was quickly countered with Fritz’s roundhouse kick. He kicked it so hard, that it broke in half, with one half flying across the corridor. Even though the end of the mop was sharper, it was too short range as Fritz was near to deliver the punch right in Impostor’s face, only for Chiaki to ram him with her entire body, allowing Impostor to evade the feeling of burned blunts agonizing his face.

 

However, Fritz still stood, as he redirected his attention to Chiaki. Due to her ramming attack making her really close to Fritz, he directed the jab right in her stomach, causing her to feel the burning heads of blunts. Such objects were crushed due impact, no longer being usable in the process.

 

“OOOOW!” yelped Chiaki upon the impact as she tried leaned over to ease the burning pain. She still tried to stand, but Fritz just simply pushed her with an unoccupied hand, causing her to fall right on the floor. She whimpered due to pain, but she still tried to stand up, even though she was expecting taunts, it turned out Fritz was a different kind of fighter. With her being cornered on the floor, Fritz was prepared to not only kick the hell out of her, but also stomp on her. He was just about to raise his foot, if it not been for Impostor placing their arm in front of Fritz’s neck, establishing a grip to keep him away from Chiaki.

 

“Nanami, run!” ordered Ultimate Impostor as they tried their best to keep Fritz away from her, where as he was gleefully attempting to jabbing him in his stomach with the help of his elbows. Despite that, Impostor endured as much as they could as Fritz tried to weasel out of the grip.

 

“...No….I won’t….I won’t run away!” insisted Chiaki as she got up, even though she was still in great pain. She was still leaning forward to ease it off, but she started approaching Fritz as fast as she could.

 

“Watch out!” Ultimate Impostor suddenly alerted as Fritz attempted to kick her, but she managed to hop away just in time, allowing her to punch him in the stomach in the mean time.

 

“Funny, very funny!” chuckled Fritz, not even feeling the pain, even though her punches were surprising for someone like her. Then, just as he was about to kick her again, Chiaki finally managed to do what she intended in the first place.

 

HEAVEN SLAYING DRAGON FIST!”.

 

It was the first attack from a Hope’s peak student that made Fritz feel something. Power, which he did not expect from a “noob”. A huge boost of thrill and adrenaline pumped through his body as Fritz got finally what he wanted: a proper fight.

 

“HOOOOOOOOO! GOOD ONE, GIRL!” praised Fritz, with his satisfied grin being one of the hugest he had through out the day. Such reaction caused much confusion for his opponents, baffled that he seemed to love that punch. However, for Chiaki that meant that her attack couldn’t knock out Fritz as she hoped.

 

“Y-you...you liked it?” stammered Chiaki, caught off guard by his remark. Impostor felt the same as well, but kept their guard up.

 

“Yes! Now I see that you are not just a noob! That Heaven Slaying Fist, that one was so good, woman! I have something like that too, ya kno-” Fritz started to flatter her, even though all he was doing was making her confused. The odd thing about it that his flattery was sincere. However, Impostor picked upon where Fritz was leading.

 

“I am afraid I have to take that joy away from you.” threatened Impostor as he dragged the resisting Fritz to the stairs and pushed him downstairs, rolling down like a ragdoll. He seemed to roll so much, that he kept rolling even after he left the stairs. With him out of the sight, they contemplated if it was now the time to escape.

 

“Evasive maneuvers time, right?” asked Chiaki, still leaning from her pain as she looked Impostor in the face. However, just as they thought of escaping, they heard the incoming footsteps, signifying that Fritz was coming for the round two.

 

“No, not yet.” alerted Impostor as he suddenly grabbed the nearby fire extinguisher and doused the entire stairs with the blast of carbon dioxide. The blast itself was to possibly push Fritz away as much as possible, but they did not know if it was effective or not. After deeming that enough of it was doused, they waited to see if it was any effective.

 

Turned out it wasn’t, as Fritz emerged from the white smoke, with a blood thirsty grin on his face. He seemed to have whopping eight blunts between his fingers, although they were extinguished.

 

“Shame that those blunts got wasted. They were good ones.” Fritz casually commented as if nothing happened to him, with his only regret being waste of good weed. Both Chiaki and Impostor were utterly baffled by his behavior, it was like they were fighting an enemy that doesn’t care.

 

“...How are you not under influence at this point?” Impostor asked in the heat of the battle with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Twelve blunts in a day? Weak ass game, if you ask me. Now, no more accessories. Let us do it like professionals!” scoffed Fritz before he lunged himself at Chiaki, ready to beat her up with his fists and fists only. Before she would receive an uppercut to her face, Chiaki managed to step away just in time, allowing her to headbutt Fritz right in his face. However, compared to her Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist, it wasn’t much, as Fritz kneed her right in her stomach again, causing her to fall down once again, whimpering in pain once again. Upon seeing her friend fall, Imposter’s already hidden rage against Fritz was let out, as he attempted to punch him right in his smug face. However, Fritz managed to casually evade any attack done by the Impostor, with him returning flurry of punches right in Impostor’s belly. Even though he tanked it better than Nanami, his stamina was starting to drop, only for him to be put on the floor with Fritz’s roundhouse kick.

 

Not even bothering with a taunt, Fritz intended to kick the hell out of Impostor, just like he intended to do with Chiaki before. Just when he was about to start with a satisfied grin on his face, Chiaki rolled over just in time, making him trip over her.

 

“...Fi...fire extinguisher….use...it….” whimpered out Chiaki, giving Impostor advice on what to use. Although in anguish, Impostor managed to pick themselves up and staggered towards the lying fire extinguisher. Due to Fritz tripping over her, Impostor managed to snatch the fire extinguisher before deciding what to do. Just as Fritz was about to stand up, Impostor, without any sort of hesitation, threw the fire extinguisher right in his face with as much force as possible, finally knocking down the gangster menace in the process.

 

With Fritz finally downed (though still alive), Impostor, with all the power they had, helped Chiaki pick herself up. They only had one goal in mind: get away from Fritz as far as possible.

 

“We gotta make a run for it, Nanami. We don’t have much time.” suggested Ultimate Impostor, letting her arm be over their shoulder as they both staggered downstairs, leaving the Radio Kaikan once and for all. Such turn of events was one of worst case scenarios for both of them. Not only was any communication dangerous, but they also track you down. Only bad news for the Fellowship, but somehow, they managed to overcome one of the elites.

 

After what it felt like an eternity, they managed to safely reach Chiaki’s home. Once inside, Impostor placed Chiaki on the couch, so that she could finally relax after everything she has went through. Even Impostor was relieved to be at her home, they were also glad that both of them returned, especially what could have happened if they lost.

 

“Oh gosh...oh gosh….that was close….” Chiaki took deep breaths as she hugged herself, needing to touch something after being in such situation. Even though she was hiding it, her quivering lip and heavy breathing made it clear that she was being overwhelmed with stress. Not to mention that the pain in her stomach was still strong as ever, thanks to tanking hits from the battle before.

 

“That should have never happened in the first place….I….I apologize for having you do this. You didn’t deserve it.” Ultimate Impostor lowered their head, expressing regret that she had to deal with it. In a way, their trust of themselves was damaged, since they essentially led their friend to danger.

 

“It’s fine...don’t worry about it. Besides, together we have beaten Fritz, right?” Chiaki held no grudge against her friend, instead being just happy that both made it out, thanks to their strengths. The fact that they actually knocked out an elite gave them a feeling of relief. A hope that Hope’s peak does have a chance.

 

“We did knock him out. It must have been luck.” admitted Ultimate Impostor, even though the regret they felt was still there. They wanted to make up to her, even though she didn’t really mind it. As long as they were safe, it was all okay.

 

“Feels so surreal, doesn’t it?...To..you know...actually beat an elite once…” mumbled Chiaki as she kept taking deep breaths, forcing herself to smile despite her anguish.

 

“That was the one that defeated penguins in Denmark, right?” asked Ultimate Impostor.

 

“Yeah...it was him…I think that...if we can take down him together….we can….” confirmed Chiaki.

 

“Hm...we shall see about that...but now, how are you feeling? As in like, does it hurt anywhere?” Ultimate Impostor redirected the conversation to her, wondering if there was anything they could do for her.

 

“Nah...it’s fine-” Chiaki tried to deny it, but for a test, Impostor placed their index finger on Chiaki’s stomach, which immediately caused her to flinch from pain. “Ow! Ow……”.

 

“I thought so. Hold on, let me get something.” Ultimate Impostor thought exactly what was the deal with her as they stood up, went to the kitchen and brought her a wet towel, giving it to her. “Here, have this.”.

 

She took the towel, faced away from Impostor for a moment, just so she could lift her shirt as she pressed the wet towel on her tummy. Once she deemed it safe that her bare, yet rather thin tummy won’t be shown due to not only marks from burned blunts, but because Chiaki was rather shy in terms of showing skin, she turned back to Impostor as she let a little, yet still pained smile at them.

 

“Hold it until the pain passes away. Lay down while at it. I’m gonna be here until I am sure everything is alright.” suggested Ultimate Impostor with Chiaki following their advice word to word. Since Impostor let her have the couch by herself, she laid down, letting the towel absorb the pain.

 

“Hey...can we keep this whole thing a secret? Just between us?” quietly requested Chiaki, knowing that revealing the situation would cause others to be concerned.

 

“Of course. After all, it’s a secret in the first place. I will tell the results about the network, though.” promised Ultimate Impostor as they nodded, keeping the whole thing known only to them.

 

“Yeah, that one should be fine...I think.” approved Chiaki before she wanted to discuss, something which the enemy used against them. “Hey….can I ask something?”.

 

“Hm?” wondered Ultimate Impostor.

 

“Why did Fritz call you an Ultimate Impostor? You seemed to be...rather worried about that.” piqued Chiaki with a concerned look on the face. She welt like it was something that struck Impostor hard.

 

“...I suppose I will reveal it to you, since you do seem trustworthy.” sighed Ultimate Impostor before they revealed the truth to her. “...I am that. I am the Ultimate Impostor. Ryota Mitarai is my friend. I am doing his part because he is preoccupied with the projects he’s working on and also to protect him. At the very least he has something, unlike me. I am just a mere shell, whose history is merely a blank slate. For years, I’ve got only food on my side. That is the truth behind me.”.

 

Chiaki suddenly felt weight on her heart, as if she could feel burdens of her friend by herself. To have absolutely nothing in one’s life seemed rather familiar with her. She tried to hold it in, but her frown and the devastated look in her eyes told everything.

 

“...I think...I understand it now…” murmured Chiaki, just looking at her friend with sadness she was trying so hard to hide.

 

“I apologize for deceiving you for so long.” Ultimate Impostor lowered their head down, expressing another regret. Yet, they didn’t want to leave her alone, it was an odd feeling that Ultimate Impostor had someone to confide to.

 

“No...it’s not that….I get why you had to do...but…” Chiaki started reassuring them, even though she felt her heart getting heavier. She reached out for them with her hand, that time Impostor willingly yet gently grabbed it, finally showing trust by their volition. In a way, she knew exactly how they felt, but she wasn’t prepared to reveal her true self to them. “...I just want you to know...you deserve someone by your side. Anyone….no one should have felt this alone…”.

 

“I believe I’ve already have some people on my side.” Ultimate Impostor suddenly, yet for a moment that would never be forgotten, let out a relaxed smile as they looked at her in her eyes, with them finally acknowledging each other as true friends. Chiaki couldn’t help but to smile back, this time free of any pain. Impostor stayed at her home, taking care of Chiaki until the evening, when they had to go. At the very least, they turned out to be alright in the end.

 

Meanwhile, Fritz regained consciousness back at the fourth floor of Radio Kaikan, waking up with an oddly satisfied grimace, despite the fact that he got bodied by two students, who they were deemed as “scrubs”.

 

“Very good one, lads! This was fun!” complimented Fritz before he realized that their intrusion meant that if he went to Hope’s peak next day, he would be wrecked immediately. “However, this severely fucks up some things. Now that these two fought me, I can’t storm in the scrub zone! They’d already know! Not that I would mind normally, but I do not want a quick, yet shitty fight! Gotta contact my boi N.Tropy about it.”.

 

He pulled out his phone out of his pocket and called the boss of Elite Bois.

 

“Eyy, my mang!” greeted Fritz like he usually does.

 

“What do you have so important to say on Saturday? Didn’t you say you’re going to cause a brawl on Monday?” N.Tropy began the talk with his condescending yet unrestrained attitude.

 

“Change of plans, boi. They’ve already got taste of me. I’d say….send in Tom.” Fritz reported his situation, revealing that it would be better off if they sent the cat towards the academy. Usually, N.Tropy would scoff at that idea, but since Tom was involved, he took it in a different way.

 

“Hmmm, Tom already? How odd of you. The type of a guy that you are would always seek a fight first….but I am quite eager to deploy him as quickly as possible. This will be fun.” N.Tropy approved the idea of sending that Elite Boi to Hope’s peak academy, ensuring that the event will be drastic.

 

“Ayy, just gotta tell him about it….Lemme find that fucker first.” said Fritz.

 

“Very well then. Bring him in.” ordered N.Tropy with delight in his voice.

 

“With pleasure!” Fritz concluded the call as he went on his way to find his Formula One car, to which he did after he stepped out of the building. Then, he sped through the city, returning to Zona Daft Capo. Weirdly enough, he stopped himself in front of a random, shadowy alleyway, awaiting for another Elite Boi to come.

 

“Tom, come here, you fuck!” Fritz called out for his colleague, but before that, pigeons flew out of the shadow, preparing themselves as if they were placing a red carpet. Then, out of the same shadow, a person covered in black cloak appeared. Pigeons bobbed their heads as the person kept getting closer. After reaching the Formula One, they threw away the cloak, revealing that it was Tom.

 

“Here’s the plan. You go to Hope’s peak and beat the hell out of their asses! You got that?” Fritz told him about what will happen next day. Tom nodded with a satisfied grin on his face, deeming the entire school as a small fry to cook.

 

“Excellent! Now excuse me, I’ve gotta watch some football! Bayern’s playing it!” praised Fritz before he drove off, returning to the hideout, where he could watch the sport. Meanwhile, Tom devilishly rubbed his hands with a bigger grin on his face, intending to cause calamity to which Hope’s peak has never seen before. The next day was the day when the most prestigious school in Japan shall face the one and only, Thomas the Cat.

Chapter 32: Tompocalypse - Part I

Chapter Text

“RAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAWR!”

booki

“ROOOOOOOOOOOOOAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAR”.

 

“….What?” perplexed Hajime as if he was done with everything when he saw Ibuki imitating a lion while holding a cardboard ring. Why was she doing that in the first place, only she knew.

 

“Oh, did you like my impression?” asked Ibuki as she stopped acting like a big cat, wondering what the rest of the class at that time felt of her imitations. They were just as confused, or at the very least intrigued as the ahoge boy was.

 

“….What even was that?” asked Hajime with squinted eyes.

 

“Oh, you don’t know? Then...let Ibuki tell ya that she is feeling like a total lioness today!” Ibuki elaborated, Ibuki style, that during that day, she felt her inner cat needed to be let out. Since this was Ibuki talking, reactions were expected.

 

“...You do you, Ibuki.” sighed Hajime, once again having to let Ibuki just be Ibuki, since protesting her would end up nowhere. For a while, it seemed like it would be a normal morning for Hope’s peak.

 

But it wasn’t.

 

Meanwhile, outside of the academy, a certain feline gangster was sneaking through the bushes. Infiltrating more like a spy than a cat, Tom looked for any possible entrances to sneak through. One of them was the outside entrance of the dining room, with him checking it to see if he could go in. Unlike with his half Bosnian half Japanese colleague, that time Hope’s peak folk hasn’t forgotten to lock the door. Not that it stopped Tom, since he used his claws to cut a hole in the glass door, licking his finger to gently place the glass circle away as he sneaked in. He placed the circle back before he took a look around in the dining hall. Just like he imagined, it was empty. It only gets full during breaks. More than enough time for Tom to get the full view. Knowing that dining hall wasn’t particularly useful, he decided to inspect other parts of it. First thing he inspected was the kitchen, to which, much to his surprise, was already used. Like a snake, he hid himself amid the furniture as he observed the chef preparing himself for the day.

 

“Hmm, yes….Today I will make….lets see what’s on the list.” Teruteru mused to himself before he checked the papers, wondering what would be that day’s lunch. It turned out that it was something simple rather than something grandiose, latter which he prefers to prepare. “Oh, a stew! Very well then, lets get sensational!...After I do something first.”.

 

He went out of the kitchen, going to his class to join them for their day. Unknowingly, this allowed Tom to investigate it. The usual stuff of kitchen seemed pretty inconspicuous, but then it dawned upon him once he accidentally stepped on a certain tile. It sounded much hollower than usual, immediately gaining his suspicion. He knocked on it, just to be sure. As it echoed, it confirmed that there was something suspicious behind that tile. With just one hand, he gently tore the tile away, revealing an entrance. With a satisfied yet malicious grin on his face, Tom jumped like a swimmer diving into the pool as he traversed through the tunnel rapidly.

 

Meanwhile, at the core of the underground complex that was oddly not used that much ever since they moved to the garage, penguins were packing their remaining stuff, moving it to their current hideout instead.

 

“You know, I sometimes wonder why did we even build the base here.” Private was the first one to admit that their underground base was sort of useless in the long run.

 

“Well, to be fair, we didn’t expect them to get on our side so easily. It could have been, you know, the usual “AAAAH PENGUINS GET THEM” schtick or something like that.” Skipper rationalized his decision as he was moving his stuff away. He didn’t imagine he would get Hope’s peak folk so quickly on their side, but due circumstances, he was deep down pretty grateful for it.

 

“If anything, it is fortunate that they found out about us after they found out about Herman. It made our cause much more believable.” added Kowalski, while also expressing a scenario where they wouldn’t know about Daft Capo, although he still found it hard to believe that it would go so easily. Perhaps they were lucky that Gundham was the first person they talked to and not someone else.

 

“Yeah, and thankfully most of them are not hippies, although that afro dude is certainly suspicious…” Skipper suspected certain fortune teller of being part of a certain movement most known for their protesting actions in the 60’s, just from his appearance alone.

 

“Judging from his belief about occult, I can certainly say that he’s-” Kowalski was about to confirm his suspicion, but then something happened which other three penguins were put on alert quickly, but Skipper, due to him facing back from the event, took a while.

 

Tom’s head popped out of the hole, immediately spotting four antarctic birds. From an angry looking feline face, a smug grin appeared on it, just waiting everyone to notice him before he would start hunting them down.

 

“Uh, Skipper. Behind you.” Private pointed at the feline in fear.

 

“What is it, Private? What could be my behind-” Skipper asked with somewhat decent level of confidence before he managed to turn around, witnessing the cat by himself. Tom wiggled his eyebrows, just to taunt him. Such event made his beak shut as he turned back, with shrunken irises.

 

Tom?!”.

 

“Tom!” Rico gave out a final alert as the penguins lads dropped their stuff, beginning to run away from the unexpected cat menace.

 

“Strategic retreat, boys!” Skipper gave out an order as they began sliding on their stomachs, going through the exit on another side. Like a steam locomotive, Tom rolled his legs and began dashing towards them, their morning started with the chase. Penguins kept sliding through the tight tunnel, but the end of it was getting larger, thanks to Tom’s limbs drilling through it like a true mean drill machine.

 

Penguins managed to jump out of the exit, from a seamless bush as they started to think about where to go. However, Tom soon followed, emerging out of it like a zombie on speed. Dirt was still falling from him, but that didn’t stop him from pulling out the seamless bush with his one hand, roots and all out. Then he threw it at penguins in order to stop them, but the penguins managed to leap just in time to dodge the bushy projectile. Seamless bush was no more, and Tom killed it. Out of haste, penguins just forcefully opened academy’s door and slid inside. Tom just slammed in with his entire body, not even giving a damn as he had his eyes locked on penguins. He was no longer just running, he was going full steam ahead.

 

“How did he find out, Kowalski?! That was supposed to be super top secret!” Skipper attempted to quickly discuss about how did he out of all people find out their place.

 

“I am not sure, but lets spare energy to try about defeating this menace!” Kowalski advised as Tom was just inches away from swiping and capturing them. Penguins were only just a little faster and even then they needed boosts.

 

“Right, priorities first!” Skipper followed his advice as they continued sliding around the hallways, hoping to find some time to think of a plane to stop the chasing menace. Tom was getting considerably closer to them, even sometimes trying to snatch them, only for them to dodge it in a second. During the chase, Rico attempted to spit out anything he had, from mere tacks to even a jackhammer, but Tom, due to his experience in chasing, manage to evade them just by zig-zagigging his way of running. Thus, those animals ran around Hope’s peak, with each having different goals in mind.

 

Meanwhile, Mikan was just carrying her medicines, transferring them from nurse’s office to her class, just so her class could have some first aid. Even with all the things happening, Mikan was getting more comfortable with her class as the days went by, although Hiyoko seemed to be an exception for her.

 

“Hmm, hmm, hmm, I gotta do it like Miss Yukizome said-” Mikan hummed along the way, but she got startled once she saw four black and white blurs pass by, not knowing that it was penguins.

 

“H-huh? Penguins in our school? That’s odd, since they usually-” wondered Mikan on what caused her bird colleagues to operate in the school at such early times. It was usually reserved for special cases only. The thing was, it was a special case, just that she had yet to see it.

 

And then she saw it, a determined looking cat breaking while making a turn like a car, running on two legs.

 

“W-wha?!” yelped Mikan, just being too little too late from stepping aside from the speeding cat, but Tom didn’t care, he just ran over her like a relentless muscle car driver would just plow through a moose on the road. She was sent in the air, just for a bit, before he back met the solid surface of the floor, with a sound accompanying her fall. “O-ow!” Owie...that hurts….”.

 

Then, for some reason, Tom returned, looking at her with the same determined expression as he had before.

 

“I-I am sorry that I was in your way, kitty-” trembled Mikan as she laid on the floor, fearful of the bipedal cat. However, Tom did not care, he just grabbed her by her hips and lifted her in the air. “K-kitty, what are you doing?”.

 

All Tom simply did was to slam her on the floor, straightening her out before he picked her up again, using her entire body as a spear. Like an ancient warrior, his legs started to spin once again, following the penguins at the very least from the memory. Due to his sheer speed, he was already catching up to her.

 

“W-w-w-what’s goooooing oooooooooooooon?!” Mikan yelped, powerlessly letting herself be carried like a spear. Once he got himself into the visible range of penguins and with straight enough hall, he threw her, proudly like a Hellenic warrior throwing the projectile at their enemy. He twisted his hand just enough that it would cause her to spin midair, with his angled throw making it just enough that Mikan would land in front of penguins, not directly in them. Penguins only realized that a thrown human was flying above them once they saw shadow on themselves, spinning in the process. Mikan’s back once again met the hard floor, with her spine being the epicenter of agony. She yelped in it, even more so when penguins accidentally bumped into her with their beaks. It took them a while to realize what even happened.

 

“Human projectiles, seriously? Have you went that low, you crazy cat?” Skipper condemned him for using their colleagues as a projectiles, but all Tom was doing was sprinting right at them. “Shrimp! He’s coming right at us! Kowalski, Rico, take the left flank! Private, you with me!”.

 

Penguins split up, leaving the scene with Tom having to choose on which group to chase. After thinking about it in haste, he decided to go after Kowalski and Rico. As he went off, Mikan picked herself up, carrying the burden of back pain. She stretched a bit, just to make it a little less unpleasant.

 

“W-what just happened? What even is that cat?” Mikan kept perplexing at the sheer existence of such a being. Since she just managed to get a glimpse of Tom, she followed him as the chase went on.

 

Another hall entered, that one being slightly more equipped with furniture than usual ones. As both penguins kept sliding, Rico spotted a random cupboard, already receiving an idea on how to use it against Tom. The penguin of few words slid towards the cupboard, leading Kowalski to it.

 

“Eh eh?” Rico pointed at the object, suggesting to drop it right when the cat comes.

 

“Now that is a devilish idea, Rico” Kowalski approved with a devious smirk on his face. Both of them placed themselves, so that they could just simply push it on Tom. Speaking of him, he was just about to sprint, when both penguins pushed the cupboard right on him. A loud crash followed, squashing the hostile cat in the process. It was just large enough that Tom was fully covered. Kowalski and Rico gave each other a high five as they left the scene. Unfortunately, the nurse saw the whole incident.

 

“C-cat?! What happened to you?! Did you-oh no...no no no no…” Mikan ran towards him, begging for it to not be killed by the fallen cupboard. She even went on her knees, trying her best to lift the object up. “The cat couldn’t be-”

 

Contrary to her expectations, Tom just squeezed out of it like a crab coming out of a hole, flat as a pancake. Then he just bit him thumb, blew in it and inflates himself back into his proper shape. Not even bothering to pay attention to Mikan, he just dashed off, chasing the penguins instead.

 

Meanwhile, Mikan’s eyes started to twitch, feeling like she’s gonna have a stroke any second. Her sanity was dropping harder than an anvil thrown from a considerable height.

 

“W-WHWWHWHAHWAHWAHAT?! T-that’s not medically possible! Not scientifically possible! Not eve-AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!” Mikan lost her shit as she started to pull her hair out of reasons only known to her. She ran away to her class, with a huge urge to report what her eyes witnessed.

 

In the mean time, Kowalski and Rico returned to the remaining penguin colleagues, with confident smirks on their face, now that Tom was slowed down.

 

“Hehe, you did us a good work, Kowalski. Now Private, get ready!” praised Skipper as they went sliding in advance, preparing a plan to stop the cat menace.

 

As they planned, Mikan finally reached her class, opening the door with all of her strength she had.

 

“G-guys! G-guys, y-y-you h-have to k-know t-this!” Mikan started calling out, desiring to report the event she witnessed just few minutes ago. She immediately became a center of attention as

 

“Urgh, spit it out already, Porky!” Hiyoko, in her own way, said to cut it and just let it out.

 

“T-there’s a-” Mikan just wanted to say her thing, but in the mean time, penguins prepared a rope on one of halls, just waiting for him to trip over, so that they could smack his paws with hammers they were carrying. And such, it happened. Tom fell over the rope and then...

 

SMASH!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!”.

 

Resonance of the scream utterly obliterated every single window that Hope’s peak had. Penguins were knocked back, sent right into the wall. Even some people in classes got knocked back by it, such as Ibuki, who fell on the floor upon hearing the agonized roar of a beast. Not the only one who was on the floor, in fact, most of the class was at the very least under the table.

 

“...W-what the FUCK was that?!” Fuyuhiko attempted to stand up, wondering what could make such a scream that could break windows.

 

“My hearing just went kaploey!” Ibuki’s mind became mush for a brief, seeing stars as everything sounded rather dim to her. Suddenly, an unexpected guest barged in, with a very furious expression on his face.

 

“Which one of you imbeciles is responsible for this?! Was it you, or you?” Byakuya demanded to know who caused school-wide ear destruction.

 

“Uh, not me. I have an alibi!” denied Nekomaru, to which he was right. Others shook their heads as well, being as surprised as Byakuya was.

 

“What did you say? I can’t hear ya!” Ibuki put her hand on her ear, so that she could hear better, since her hearing seemed to be genuinely damaged. Byakuya slapped his forehead, feeling done with what he felt like were their shenanigans.

 

“Stop wasting my time and tell me which one of you is responsible!” Byakuya demanded as he clenched his fist, visibly frustrated at that point.

 

“…..No one. It came from outside.” Chiaki quietly defended her class while also assuming that it came from somewhere else. After thinking about it, Byakuya decided to see if there could be any other culprit.

 

“If it truly isn’t you, then….that. That class.” Byakuya scowled even more upon even thinking about that class, stomping away as he decided to pay a visit to his least favorite place in the whole academy.

 

“I swear, if I ever hear class 69 ever again, I’ll make sure that-” Byakuya grumbled to himself, before he glanced over, seeing four black and white blurs speeding through. He immediately recognized them as penguins, but he was still surprised by their presence.

 

“...What? Penguins? Shouldn’t they be-” wondered Byakuya before the inevitable arrived.

 

Tom himself, once again, gained the attention of a Hope’s peak student. Just like the unfortunate girl before, he felt like he was going to have a stroke, witnessing a cat running on two legs, even breaking like a car.

 

“WHA-!” exclaimed Byakuya, but before he could do anything, Tom just plowed through, knocking him out in the process. He fell on his back, picking himself up quickly, but the image was already in his mind. The confident Byakuya was essentially having a crisis.

 

“T-there was….t-there was….no...it...can’t...be….a….cat….it was a...cat…” stammered Byakuya as he slowly returned to his class, opening the door as he was greeted with concerned looks of his classmates. Even though he was nearly universally seen as a stuck up bastard (notable exception being Toko Fukawa, who saw him as a sex god), they could feel there was something wrong.

 

“Byakuya? Whats wrong? You look...unusual today.” Makoto was the first one to ask.

 

“T-there’s...a...cat….a...cat in the school….a cat in the school…” Byakuya tried to explain the best way he could, but his mind was still melting from witnessing Tom.

 

“A...cat?” Kyoko raised her eyebrow, perplexed on why was so much emphasis put on a mere cat. At least, that’s what she thought.

 

“Uh, why is it such a big deal? It’s just a cat, Byakuya…” questioned Aoi, not understanding the whole deal, even though no one was aware with who were they dealing with.

 

“It ran on two legs! Have you ever seen a cat run on two legs before in person?!” Byakuya further explained in almost panicky tone.

 

“I mean, the first enemy was a land based octopus, so….” Yasuhiro, out of all people, reminded them of their first dealing with a Daft Capo member.

 

“Yeah, why would a bipedal cat be that outlandish?” Hifumi completed the question for him.

 

“Byakuya, I thought you were the last remaining sane one in this school….” sighed Celestia in disappointment as she sipped her tea made by Hifumi.

 

I. Literally. Saw. it. With. My. Own. Eyes!” Byakuya started to get frustrated, putting in jumbled words as he tried to rationalize how a bipedal cat is causing havoc in the academy.

 

Meanwhile, Mikan finally managed to say it that there is the feline causing chaos in the school. They were not really as shocked compared to their impression of Herman, but they still wondered about the cat, especially how it defied common sense and if it, maybe, even was aligned to a certain group. However, one girl already knew what to do the moment the word “cat” was uttered.

 

“So, what are you saying is...there’s a cat problem at Hope’s peak?” Ibuki crossed her arms, closed her eyes and gave a smirk, already cooking up plans on how to catch the cat.

 

“Y-yeah and it-” Mikan confirmed, but she was quickly silenced when Ibuki put her index finger on her lips. Not out of malice, but because that’s all she needed to hear.

 

“Tsk tsk. Say no more...because what this school needs is an expert! And luckily, you have an expert right here!” boasted Ibuki, with her suddenly growing a Pinoccio nose, with some wondering how the heck can she do that.

 

“What exactly are you talking about? Do you even know how to handle a feline beast?” Gundham already began suspecting her deceit, that she was just bluffing.

 

“Oh, Ibuki sure does!” winked Ibuki before she started spinning like a ballerina. In her mind, the entire school turned into a pink, sparkle infested background. She closed her eyes, suddenly gaining MayQueen NyanNyan cat ears, as she let her inner cat manifest. Whiskers, done with a marker, appeared on her cheeks. A tail popped up as well, with a thin white paper representing it. Once she got it all, she struck a pose before opening her eyes, revealing to she transformed.

 

NOW PRESENTING….IBUKI MEOWDA!!!!”

 

Nyaaaaaa!~”.

 

A dumbfounded silence followed, with only Chisa, Chiaki and Sonia giving her an applause for such performance. Others ranged from confused to reactions which would require some explaining to do.

 

“My goodness! It’s a true magical cat girl, just like in anime!” Sonia’s eyes startled to sparkle upon being graced by her cat girl classmate. Seldom a reaction like that was had.

 

“….Oh god….” Hajime’s soul could feel flashbacks of another cat girl. Understandably, since Ibuki was her colleague.

 

“Hey, Peko? Am I going to have a stroke?” Fuyuhiko leaned towards his swordswoman classmate to whisper and assure if he’s going insane.

 

“But...she’s kinda cute about it, though.” Peko quietly admitted that she sort of enjoyed Ibuki being a cat, even though she was very embarrassed to admit it. Meanwhile, one student had a particularly noticeable reaction towards his classmate turning into a cat.

 

ADJURE TE, SPIRITUS NEQUISSIME, PER SUPRA DOMINOS DE FASTIGIO OMNIPOTENTEM! ADJURE TE, SPIRITUS NEQUISSIME, PER SUPRA DOMINOS DE FASTIGIO OMNIPOTENTEM! ADJURE TE, SPIRITUS NEQUISSIME, PER SUPRA DOMINOS DE FASTIGIO OMNIPOTENTEM!” Gundham stepped back, made a cross with his fingers as he started chanting in either utter bafflement or anger upon seeing such heresy against nature. Not a single one understood his reaction, not even Hajime, the one with cat girl phobia.

 

“It’s just….it’s just Ibuki with cat ears and….drawn whiskers….” Mahiru tried to explain to him that there was nothing to fear, but Gundham insisted with chanting.

 

“Nyaaa! Thank you all for your meownderful feedback, nya! Now, Ibuki Meowda must go, to catch that silly cat! Only one kitty shall remain, nya!” Ibuki fully embraced her inner cat, even talking like if she was Ibuki Nyannyan instead of Ibuki Mioda. She stormed off, leaving the class completely baffled, although some people did enjoy her performance. The ahoge boy was not among them.

 

“...There’s...there’s no coming back from this….” uttered Hajime, with his irises shrunk.

 

Thus, Ibuki started inspecting hall, looking for the cat while also acting like one. She even crawled on the floor, just to be even more feline like. In terms of cat levels, Ibuki was unstoppable among Hope’s peak folk.

 

“Meow! Meooooooow!” Ibuki started to act like she was a female cat looking for a partner, hoping that it would attract the cat if it was male. However, as she crawled on the floor, even stretching to relax herself, she encountered her avian friends. The penguins were utterly baffled at the sight of a musician woman acting like a cat.

 

“Wha….what are you even on, woman?!” ask Skipper in pure perplexity.

 

“Don’t worry, my penguins friends! Ibuki’s got a plan! Ibuki knows how to deal with cats.” Ibuki elaborated as Ibuki does while also boasting about her prowess as a cat catcher.

 

“But this ain’t no cat! It’s Tom!” warned Skipper that she wasn’t dealing with an ordinary cat.

 

“Just because he’s Tom doesn’t mean Ibuki is gonna be afraid of it!” Ibuki didn’t heed his warning, still confident in her cat abilities.

 

“You don’t know what you’re dealing with, Miss!” Skipper insisted that she should be cautious

 

“I mean, what can a single cat do? It’s not like it’s a tiger, it’s a kitty cat! Though, tigers are kitty cats, just big, so….yeah, still gonna do it!” Ibuki’s head was hard to crack, so their only option was to just let her have it.

 

“...Okay. So….in the mean time, we gotta alert others about him! Kowalski, Rico, go to Class 77-B, me and Private-” Skipper wanted to initiate another plan, but they heard car like breaking coming closer. Penguins had to evade, changing their plans. “Abort, abort! Change of plans, boys!”.

 

Meanwhile, this was the perfect opportunity for Ibuki to unleash her plans.

 

“Hmmm, alright! Now comes the first step of catching a cat!” Ibuki confidently smiled to herself before she let out a sound that was, in theory, supposed to attract cats. “Pspspspspspspspps.”.

 

Surprisingly, that noise did actually get Tom’s attention, only for how weird it was. He wasn’t attracted to it at all, just confused by it. In the mean time, once she gained his attention, Ibuki quickly crawled to the kitchen. She observed it and luckily enough, she found a yet to be cut raw steak on the plate. Even at that moment, she refused to drop her cat mode as she jumped on it, snatched the meat with her mouth and carried it back to the halls. The cat in human form placed the steak on the floor as she hid herself behind the corner.

 

“Hehehe, Teru won’t even notice! Now comes the second step: juicy meat!” Ibuki thought to herself, having a rather mischievous grin on her face, eagerly waiting for the cat to take the bait, so she could leap at him and capture him. “And then, when the cat snatches the meat, I’ll snatch the cat! Ibuki’s genius...is another level! The kitty won’t know whats coming!”.

 

Little did she know Tom came from the very corner she was hiding from, sneaking just behind her. Ibuki was way too invested in observing her bait, that she didn’t even notice that the very target she was looking for was right behind her. Since she was on all fours, her butt was lifted up, imitating sort of a prepared stance for the leap. Before he did anything, Tom took a look at her booty with great interest, with his expression going from the good old determined one to a very curious yet seduced one. What his colleagues were saying was right, she did have the posterior of a goddess. He even wiggled with his eyebrow, just enjoying the view like an artist enjoying a painting of a nude woman. At one point, she accidentally shook her butt, giving Tom an idea on what to do with her. Too busy to notice him, Tom prepared his arm, placed it near her butt and then swung it a little to the side like a golfer. Then, the moment was right.

 

SMACK!

 

Tom slapped her ass so hard, she was flipped over, making a roll on the floor. Tom pumped his fist in satisfaction before he ran away, not because of fear, but just so he could do a following thing.

 

Meanwhile Ibuki was on the floor, face down, ass up, completely red in her cheeks as she was feeling a burning sensation in her behind. All she did was blankly stare at the floor, before she touched her butt, feeling the heat of it.

 

“Ma….ma bootey…..ma bootey got smacked?! Again?!” stammered Ibuki while thinking about all the instances her buttocks received physical force, not counting where she did it to herself. She picked herself up, like a normal being, only to notice Tom looking from the corner, extending his tongue as he made some really annoying noises. It made Ibuki realize who was the one who gave her the spank.

 

“Hnggggh! Silly cat, you won’t go away with tarnishing the booty of goddess! Only lovers can spank each other as their hearts content!” Ibuki vowed revenge on him, shaking her fist as she clenched with her teeth, storming off to think of a new plan.

 

Later on, Ibuki cooked up a new plan. Coming from the warehouse, she threw a large box on the floor, then placed smaller ones near it. Penguins noticed her actions, even wanting to ask her about it.

 

“Now, no cat can’t resist boxes! This will definitely work!” Ibuki raised her index finger as she answered a question that wasn’t even said out loud.

 

“How’s it going, cat master?” Skipper asked another question, with obvious doubt leaking from his voice.

 

“The first plan flopped! Now this one, this one will definitely work!” Ibuki slouched with her shoulders, hesitant to admit that her usual tactics did not work on Tom.

 

“What exactly do you plan to do with a box?” piqued Kowalski, observing the boxes.

 

“It’s a bait, so I can snatch the cat!” quickly elaborated Ibuki, putting her arms on her hips as she smiled proudly.

 

“But why boxes?” innocently asked Private, unaware of any cat related thing.

 

“Because every cat, from a tabby to a tiger, loves boxes! It’s a stone cold fact!” Ibuki explained, pompously as ever. She seemed to be especially proud of such fact.

 

“True, that is an undeniable fact.” Kowalski confirmed as well, somehow knowing about that fact.

 

“Well, if you need help, call us ASAP. We gotta-by three thousand shrimps, he’s coming there!” Skipper offered her help, but they had to evade, due to the incoming menace. However, that meant for another opportunity for the Meowda.

 

“Aha! Perfect opportunity, where my booty won’t get smacked!” Ibuki hid herself behind the corner, observing if he would take the bait. Tom, upon arrival, immediately noticed the boxes. He put his hands on his hips, not amused by how obvious the bait was. He pretended that he fell for it, by placing his one foot in the box.

 

“Mreeeow, gotcha now, kitty!” Ibuki suddenly leaped from the corner, but Tom just stepped away, letting her land in a box. The less amused cat then picked up smaller boxes and threw it right at her, essentially “stoning” her with boxes in the process. Ibuki was once again shocked that Tom failed to take the bait. He ran off, leaving her in the box.

 

“...A cat that resist boxes? Impossible, this is getting out of hand!” Ibuki’s irises shrunk, realizing that she needs her master or “meowster” in the words of cat enthusiasts. “Alright, I need back up! The true master of cats!”.

 

Ibuki picked up her phone and called the one who makes all cats bow down to her.

 

Meanwhile, class wondered on her progress, waiting patiently as the window to outside was open, just letting fresh air in.

 

“S-so...how’s Ibuki doing?” Mikan was the first one to ask.

 

“She knows how to handle cats, so she must be doing good…..I think.” reassured Chiaki, fully believing that she more or less took care of it. Ibuki was her friend after all, in a lot of ways more skilled than Chiaki.

 

“Bah! I bet she’s jobbing at it!” Hiyoko immediately dismissed her claim, grumbling while also feeling she’s taking a long time to deal with just a cat.

 

“Are you saying that just to be a contrarian?” Hajime raised his eyebrow, poking a little fun at her.

 

“I mean, are you blind or something? That’s how you deter every single cat in the city possible!” fumed Hiyoko, still feeling that “Ibuki Meowda” is one of the most ridiculous things she has seen that day. Little did she now that someone sneaked in through the window, infiltrating the class like a ninja.

 

“I mean, I’ve seen worse…” said Hajime while unaware that a certain someone was just behind him. Rest of the class looked at him and that person with intrigue, although one was kind enough to alert him of that person.

 

“Demon behind you, my minion!” warned Gundham as he pointed at the menace behind him.

 

“What?” asked Hajime before he was just too late when he heard a soft, seductive whisper. A rather familiar one at that.

 

I am coming for ahoge, Haji-nya~.”

 

“WHA-” Hajime was just about to have flashbacks when the menace by the name of Faris Nyannyan jumped at him, slapping the heck out of his ahoge. Both of them fell, with Faris being on top of him, still slapping his ahoge where as Hajime screamed in fear. Multiple emotions were had in the class, from relief to absolute bafflement. Some of them even giggled at the screaming Hajime, bullied by a petite cat girl. One of his students decided to aid him, with Gundham going to the sink, wetting his hand with water and upon returning, spraying Faris with water like a Pope blesses or in that case, commits exorcism.

 

“Begone, Feline Fatale!” shouted Gundham, with Faris obeying his order and getting off of Hajime, whom she utterly embarrassed in front of everyone. Since most of them were already familiar with her, they weren’t too shocked with her. However, one was, with her grimacing through hell and back upon seeing her. If Ibuki Meowda was ridiculous, the OG Nyannyan was another level.

 

...W-what creature are you?!” stammered Hiyoko, horrified by her cutesy appearance. It was like cringe was running through her blood.

 

“What am I, meowstress? I am the true master of cats, nya! Ibu-nya called upon me! She said that this cat is a real deal!” Faris pompously introduced herself before she ran off, without any elaboration, going to deal with the cat menace instead. “I must go now, nya!”.

 

The rest of the class was left in dumbfounded silence, not even sure what to say at that point. Hiyoko was still grimacing from witnessing the Nyannyan.

 

“Get...get used to it.” Fuyuhiko warned her that things like that will be a common occurrence. At that point, the class waited for them to deal with the cat menace.

 

Meanwhile, Faris ran through halls, looking for her musician friend. Didn’t take her a long time to find her feline enthusiast.

 

“Faris!!!!!!!!!!!!” Ibuki immediately hugged her on the spot, to which Faris gladly returned the favor as well. She even spun around like a ballerina while hugging her. After letting go off each other, Faris wanted to tell her about the plan.

 

“Ibu-nya, as I was arriving to Hope’s peak, I already have come up with a plan!” Faris already popped off, revealing that she formulated it on the way already.

 

“Oooh, the Great Faris! Thank you for your presence! Now please, tell me how to defeat this cat!” Ibuki went on her knees and bowed down to her “Meowstress” so to speak.

 

“Alrighty, nya! First thingy-” Faris wanted to say her plan to her, but soon enough, penguins joined once again, chased by the cat menace. Tom was still far away, so they could have some time to chat.

 

“Feline Fatale? What are you doing here?” Skipper asked out of a surprise.

 

“Ibuki needed some back up, so I’ll let the Meowstress do it!” Ibuki explained her cat colleague’s presence at Hope’s peak academy.

 

“First thingy, Contractors, is that I’ll need you as a bait. Then me and Ibu-nyan will corner him! This time, it will work, nya!” Faris immediately included them in her plan, while also concluding it within such short amount of said words.

 

“Oh, that’s a good idea!” Ibuki happily agreed with her plan.

 

“Pronto...you cat people. You do your...cat things while we will lure him in!” Skipper just went through, even though he was completely baffled by them. However, the sound of rolling legs could be heard, indicating one thing: Tom was coming. Faris and Ibuki quickly hid themselves as penguins intentionally placed themselves as bait, sliding on the floor as Tom chased them down. They didn’t pull off any trick, they just led Tom to the best possible place for cat allies to strike him down.

 

After running through the halls again, penguins intentionally placed themselves in the corner, just waiting for Tom to be close enough. Once he was, all they did was smirk confidently, with exception of Private, who was just confused.

 

“Now boys, it’s their time.” announced Skipper as Tom just reached the desire distance. They slid away just near him, fast enough that he couldn’t react. Suddenly, the first ambush happened.

 

“Hai-meow-yah!!” Ibuki jumped out of her corner, cornering him in the process. She even made those motions with hands that she will grab him.

 

“Nya! Gotcha now, kitty!” Faris soon followed the suit, double cornering him. Tom looked more confused than scared, just wondering what could these two girls do to him.

 

“Hah! Now we got you! You were a crafty one, but you are no match to Queens of Cats! Now get ready for-” boasted Ibuki, but her confident facade quickly lost guard when she noticed that Tom was looking at his wrist, not even being intimidated by those two. “Aha..ha...Mr. Tom? Why are you checking your arm as if you had a clock?”.

 

Once he did that, Tom gave them one last malicious grin, signifying that something will happen. Then, he started spinning, obscuring his presence as if he was a tornado. He spun so fast that only thing cat girls could look at was blue blur.

 

“Nya? What is this?” Faris tilted her head, curious on what exactly was Tom doing. Ibuki wondered the same, she has never seen a cat spin so fast before. But then, he stopped spinning….

 

ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ 』

 

Suddenly, he wore a white, glittering zoot suit, accompanied with a fedora. His back was facing them, with him looking at his palm. He didn’t even turn, only glanced at them with a threatening glare. It was no longer just a silly cat, but a bonafide Daft Capo member.

 

“W-wHWAH? H-how...H-HOW DID HE CHANGE CLOTHES OUTTA THIN AIR?!” screamed Ibuki in utter fear upon witnessing such event. Faris was at loss of words, she has never seen a being like this in person. Suddenly, without hesitation, Tom turned towards them and immediately grabbed Faris’ twintails.

 

“N-NYA?!” screeched Faris before she received a knee right in her stomach, so powerful that it immediately put her out of the fight. Ibuki could only tremble with fear, but Tom was not done yet. He started spinning the unconscious Faris with his one hand like a lasso before he focused his attention towards the fearful musician. Ibuki could only run away, but before she could even do that, Tom smacked her with Faris’ body, sending her to the nearest wall. Then, he proceeded to beat her up with it, not stopping until she was rendered unconscious. After being finished with Ibuki and Faris, he threw them across the hall, just to put salt on the wound. Tom slowly walked away, determined that anyone he would encounter in the academy would suffer the same fate. One obstacle appeared right in front of him: penguins, who were absolutely shocked by his changed appearance. While there were only theories before, it has been confirmed that Tom is a Daft Capo member.

 

“T-Tom is a Daft Capo member?!” shrieked Private upon such revelation.

 

“Much to our surprise, it seems so.” answered Kowalski with perplexity in his voice. Then, they saw their fallen comrades across the hall, horrified by the damage done by Tom.

 

“You...you dastard! They were a bunch of cat obsessed freaks, but they’re OUR cat obsessed freaks!” Skipper shook his flipper at him as all of them took a battle stance. All Tom did was to glance at them, with the same stoic, yet determined expression on his face. “There’s no time to waste, lets get that feline menace down!”.

 

However, what they did not expect was Tom already running towards them, not like a locomotive, but more like an athlete doing his best to be the fastest one in the race. Before they could even strike, Tom kicked private like a football, sending him flying. It all seemed reminiscent of their defeat in Denmark, giving them flashbacks.

 

“Private, no!!!!” Skipper called out for him in despair, echoing the same words as he called out for him when Fritz kicked him. However, they accidentally left the opening, leaving Tom to snatch both Kowalski and Skipper and slamming them on the wall. It was so hard that they were rendered unconscious. Tom couldn’t kill anyone thanks to the rules of engagement by Daft Capo, which he seemed to disagree with. Rico was spared, for some reason. Despite fearing his prowess, Rico still insisted a fight.

 

“U-uh...blergh!” Rico spat out a spatula, hoping that it would hit him right in his nose, but Tom already caught it midair, grabbing the end of spatula.

 

“Oh…” Rico realized that this was a fight he couldn’t do by himself as he tried to slide away from it, but Tom managed to snatch him before Rico even realized it. A flurry of spatula induced slaps were induced on Rico’s head, enough to render him dizzy, but not unconscious. Rico started to see the stars before he felt a forceful squeeze. Tom, after he pulled out a duct tape and glued his flippers, just so he couldn’t escape, demanded that he would spit items that he would wish to use

 

“Nuh uh!” Rico shook his head, but such response made Tom put his heard in his mouth, threatening that he would bite it off if he doesn’t comply. Since Rico already felt the pressure of Tom’s sharp teeth, he fearfully complied. Another obstacle down as he started strutting towards his next target.

 

As Tom patrolled the hallway, the class 77-B was starting to get concerned about lack of Ibuki and Faris’ presence, just being there while their thoughts were started to get influenced by all sorts of worries.

 

“Ibuki and Faris have been absent for a long time, haven’t they?” Mahiru pointed out that it took them unusually long time to get rid of what was a deemed as a silly cat.

 

“Yeah, perhaps this cat is more cunning than we thought.” wondered Sonia as well, just why would such a cat cause them so long to get rid of. However, the one to first crack under pressure was Chisa, who, for some time supported her chin with her arm, decided to inspect what was going on.

 

“...Hold on, guys. I’ll just go...check something…” quietly announced Chisa as she stood up and left the class. The teacher started to look everywhere for Ibuki and Faris, only to find them in the position that could only appear in her nightmares: lying on the floor, unconscious. Chisa gasped upon seeing a student and a friend completely hurt, falling on her knees as she got closer to them, even cradling both of them at the same time, hoping that they’ll wake up.

 

W-who….who did this to you?” Chisa’s voice cracked as she checked their pulse, slightly relieved that they were still alive. Her hands were trembling as she was cradling both of them, but she let go off from them, letting out a little gasp when she heard footsteps. She hesitantly looked over, only to see the culprit: Tom, in the zoot suit, cracking his fists. Suddenly, her fearful begging expression changed into one that could be only described as the wrath of thousand suns.

 

“You...you have laid your dirty hands on my...my student….and I’ll make sure I’ll inflict the same pain to you as you did to my dear student!” hissed Chisa at him before she started sprinting like a furious rhino, wanting to utterly beat the living hell out of him. However, even though the wrathful teacher was sprinting at him, Tom just kept strutting slowly, knowing that whatever happens, he will know how to handle it. He didn’t need to rush, Tom was the inevitability.

 

Just when she reached him, she was about to punch him right in the face, only for him to only move his head an inch away, dodging the entire punch in the process. Chisa pulled her arm back, not quitting to attempt delivering a punch right in his stoic face, even though he always dodged it with just slight body movements. Then, it was Tom’s turn to punch back, but Chisa surprised him when she crouched and swiped him with a kick, causing him to fall down.

 

Once he was on the floor, she pinned herself onto him, looking directly in his eyes with her soul crashing glare of pure fury. Just for fun, Tom let her have one punch, which he evaded anyway, leaving a rather noticeable crater on the floor. When she was about to do the second one, Tom responded with kicking her with two feet, sending her in the air, which allowed him to roll away. Chisa landed on all fours somehow, ready to pick herself up after getting kicked right in the stomach. She noticed that Tom was about to kick her right there again, managing to evade just in time to deliver a chop on his leg. Where as normally he would let out an ear destruction scream, he just felt sensation in that form, with the chop powerful enough to send his leg back. In a way, Tom was impressed that she was able to put up a fight.

 

Both of them stood in the hall, like a sheriff and a bandit ready for a shoot out. Chisa’s heart was still filled with never ending wrath, hyperventilating, where as Tom kept it cool all the way. Both of them glared at each other, waiting for any move the enemy would make. Chisa clenched her fist where as Tom just slightly put his hand in the pocket.

The first move was set, with Chisa sprinting towards him to punch him right in the face. However, one thing completely startled her: Tom pulling out Rico out of his pocket, squeezing him. First projectile to be fire was a tennis ball, just slightly hitting her forehead. Then, a baseball followed, causing her to flinch. The decisive blow was done with a spat out shot put, launched at the exact speed that would cause Chisa to be knocked out, but not killed. Chisa fell on the floor, with severe pain in her head due to the impact.

 

Tom then grabbed the fallen Chisa by the hair, dragged her a bit and placed her in such way that her butt could be kicked with ease. The intended direction of her destination was a pile of Ibuki and Faris. Tom imitated a rectangle with his hands, just to calculate the power he needs to pull out. After doing that, knocked out yet still conscious Chisa received a powerful kick in her ass, sent flying towards the pile and rightfully landing on it. A crash like sound was made on the impact, heard by class 77-B itself.

 

“Um, what was that?” Sonia wondered as she started suspecting that something much bigger was happening at the school. Due to lack of all three of them, class was started to get even more worried. The first one to crack that time was Chiaki, who was already increasingly worried when Ibuki was gone for a long time, but for Chisa to take so much, her heart started to beat unnaturally fast.

 

“Hold on...I’ll go check it…” murmured Chiaki as she quickly stood up and dashed outside, checking to see if her teacher and friends are alright.

 

“Nanami, hold on a-” Hajime wanted to warn her, but he was to late, she already made her decision on haste. He was getting worried that she would throw herself in danger again.

 

“Let us go after her! This...this might be more than we imagined!” Gundham suddenly stood up and let out a command, to which all of them followed. They wanted to see what even was the deal with that cat, if it truly was just silly or was it something else. Latter interpretation was getting more widespread.

 

Chiaki started to inspect the halls, to which she found out truth soon enough: a pile of three women, Ibuki, Faris and Chisa, all lying on the floor with two of them being unconscious and one barely hanging on. Chiaki felt like her heart stopped upon seeing not only two of her friends, but the person she felt safest at to be completely hurt. She fell on her knees, trying to repress herself to not panic too much, even if her heart was beating at alarmingly fast rate. Chiaki could feel her head burning upon seeing it. Even though she was hiding it just in case, she couldn’t stop taking heavy breaths as her thoughts became overcome with anxieties.

 

“W-who….w-who did this to you, guys?!” Chiaki knelt down on the floor, begging them that they will be alright. She even thought about carrying them to the nurse’s office, to safety, but she was soon surrounded by her classmates, equally appalled to what they saw.

 

“D-don’t tell me that this is a doing of that fucking cat-” stammered Fuyuhiko, thinking that it has to be the work of that feline. It all got confirmed when Gundham glanced over, seeing that Tom was already observing them. However, Tom pointed directly at him, with a more curious expression on his face. Gundham, for once in his life, felt genuine fear in him. There something more to Tom, he felt. Something far more than anyone else could comprehend. Yet, he felt some kind of connection to Tom, as if they had something in common.

 

“Everyone, scatter across! This….this is no mere Daft Capo member we’re dealing with! This is someone on a higher level!” Gundham ordered them to retreat on sight, knowing that even for a Daft Capo member, Tom was something else.

 

“Do you perhaps know him?” Impostor raised their eyebrow, remaining calm in such situation, where everyone else felt fear.

 

“I can sense it! The malicious ambition, the thirst for battle….it’s...it’s beyond-HE’S COMING RIGHT AT US!” Gundham tried to explain, but then he saw Tom seemingly charging right at them, causing all of them to start running for their lives. Well, with exception of two.

 

“….Not before he pays for what he’s done to Miss Yukizome, Ibuki and Faris!” quietly threatened Chiaki as she had the same wrathful expression as her teacher had when she found Ibuki and Faris like that. She remained behind, ready to face the seemingly charging Tom. However, unlike her teacher, someone stopped her.

 

“Chiaki, not now!” Hajime begged her to not throw herself into danger, grabbing her hand as he tried to pull away from Tom, joining in the escape. Even though Chiaki initially resisted, since she not only wanted revenge, but also to protect others, Hajime managed to overcome and drag her towards the running group. “Not now, please!”.

 

One person was dragged away, yet one remained.

 

“What, this funny looking cat is gonna make us run? Not on my-” Akane scoffed at the idea that a mere cat could be that powerful, ready to fight him, but she was soon forcefully pulled away be her coach.

 

“QUICK! NO TIME TO WASTE!” warned Nekomaru as all of them started running. However, Tom charging at them was a bluff, he was confident enough that he would get them eventually. He returned to strutting, albeit like a fast walk, knowing that their meeting with him will be inevitable.

 

As they ran, one of them was not blessed with any luck, as she tripped right at the most inconvenient moment.

 

“A-ah! I t-tripped! W-wait, please wait!” squeaked Mikan as she fell on the floor, begging someone to pick her up. Chiaki and Sonia were just about to do that, but then Tom appeared right at the worst possible time, causing both of them to be pulled back from the group, even though they had to leave one of their classmates. They were feeling guilty for it, but it was better one out than entire group out. Tom was just about to crack his fists, preying on the Mikan on the floor, when he suddenly head a voice.

 

“Hey, fuckin’ bastard cat! Look over here!” threatened Mondo as he cracked his own fists. It seemed like class 78th heard about the cat gangster as well. Tom just looked at him, with the same stoic expression on his face. Rest of the class 78th stood back, even Sakura wasn’t too sure of fighting Tom. However, the biker dude had a colleague with him.

 

“That’s right! Bro will stop your rampage and show you the power of justice!” Kiyotaka gave out moral support to him. Mondo then started sprinting towards Tom, ready to punch him right in the face. Tom didn’t even move, just waited him to come close enough.

 

“I have one thing to say to you: Fuck you-” Mondo let out his words, ready to punch him in the face, only for something to happen that no one did expect: Tom performed an uppercut right on his chin with such power that it made a hole in the ceiling. The punch itself sounded less like a punch and more of a 2000 lb bomb going off. With exception of Celeste, who remained in the class, all of class 78th was beyond shocked upon seeing it. Even Sakura and Kyoko were shaken to the core, to see such power of a cat. Mikan screamed upon witnessing it and Kiyotaka froze in utter terror. At that point the rest of the class had to run away, there was zero chance anyone could take him down either alone or unorganized.

 

“H-how?! H-HOW?! Bro is like the strongest-” perplexed Kiyotaka, only to be punched right in the face by Tom, knocking him out. Then the cat turned his attention towards the lying nurse, who begged him to spare her. Tom didn’t care, he slammed her on the floor again before he bashed her head against the floor, knocking her out as well. After done with that, Tom decided to strut again, chasing two classes at once.

 

At one point, they had to go through a longer straight hall. Tom just spotted them and got an idea. Squeezing Rico, he spat out a bowling ball. The cat then did the rectangle fingers again, calculating how much force does he need to throw the ball. With right calculations, Tom then started running, before he rolled the bowling ball right at them. It was traveling in the perfectly straight line, free of any deviations. It was so fast that some couldn’t even evade. Those unfortunate ones were Sayaka, Chihiro and Makoto, who got their feet hit by the bowling ball. Others managed to evade it, either by luck or quick reaction time. Upon seeing that three people were on the floor, although still conscious, Tom decided to sprint towards them, like a titan looking to crush the rebellion of mortals. Luckily, Sakura was the one that could rescue them.

 

 

“Do not worry, I’ll carry you!” Sakura picked all of three people and started sprinting in advance. Others followed, trying to get with their lives away from Tom. Upon noticing, Tom slowed down, strutting once again. As they ran, a hand popped out of the dining hall, inviting them to go in. They followed the instructions of the hand, that one being of Gundham. They were all gathered in it, but they needed to get out of school.

 

“We’re not safe here! To the hideout!” Gundham ordered as all of them, no objections indeed, ran out of the dining hall, to the outside, going to the direction of that garage. However, Tom soon caught up. They were lucky that no one was in the dining hall anymore, but Tom already saw the rustling outside, suspecting them they were going to somewhere. Somewhere where they operated.

 

Utilizing their secret path, they managed to reach their hideout, the garage, only to encounter one huge issue.

 

“Hold on a sec….who has the remote again?” Makoto was the one to point out that they need a remote and penguins usually had it. The problem was, not only were the penguins out of the fight, the one that did have the remote was under Tom’s command. All of them froze in fear, upon realizing that their hideout was secret no more.

 

“Wait…..oh...oh no….” Impostor’s irises shrunk, expecting possible the worst answer to their question.

 

Meanwhile, Tom was just squeezing Rico to see what sort of gadgets does he have. Then, Rico accidentally spat out the remote for a garage door. Tom immediately became curious of it and tried it out. He pressed one button to see what it does.

 

The door of garage opened just a little bit, immediately answering them the worst possible outcome.

 

“This hideout is no longer available, I’m afraid.” cautioned Kyoko, still rather calm, although she was just as in shock as others.

 

“Take any shit that’s important, we’re leaving here. We gotta find another place now!” Fuyuhiko suggested in haste. The gap was too small for anyone to enter, so Nekomaru just forcefully opened the door with all of his strength he had.

 

“Get in! Do it quickly!” advised Nekomaru as all of them stormed in, grabbing anything useful they had, from the laptop to the files of Daft Capo. However, some other businesses needed to be taken care of.

 

“Hajime, there’s a task you must do!” Gundham ordered as he pointed at the ahoge boy while also pointing at the direction of the exit, the one that led to the hall instead of outside.

 

“W-what? What do you need me for, Gundham?” Hajime perplexed on why Gundham needed him.

 

“Convince the landlord that the penguins no longer wish to operate this building!” Gundham gave him out a task, confusing him in the process.

 

“W-why me, out of all people?!” Hajime pointed at himself, doubting his abilities to do so.

 

“I believe in your persuading abilities. You have proved it on Avians of The Faraway Blizzard. Now, do not waste any more time!” Gundham gave out his argument on why he should do it. Considering that they had no time, Hajime had no choice but to accept.

 

“A-alright, I’ll go!” Hajime rushed off, taking care of one business. Another person had business as well.

 

“I’ll have to split up. There’s business I need to take care of.” said Impostor as he also went to the same direction as Hajime, being much more secretive about it.

 

“But you can’t go alone! What if that cat finds you?” Sonia cautioned, not wanting to go in the danger.

 

“No, let him be. He knows what he’s doing.” Chiaki defended their position, knowing the truth behind it. Another moment that made Impostor realize that Chiaki is the reliable one.

 

“Trust me. I can handle myself.” reassured Impostor, just seconds away from leaving the garage.

 

“I don’t think it’s a good idea to-” Mahiru advised to go against it, expressing the same fears as Sonia did.

 

“We don’t have much time. I really have to do this.” Impostor calmly warned as he left the garage, taking care of his business. After everything was done, all of them ran out, looking for another hideout while also hoping that they would come up with a plan to take down that cat.

 

Later on, Tom arrived, seeing an open, yet empty garage. Tom immediately guessed they have evacuated it, nothing useful was there. He picked up his phone, to call his colleague Wile E Coyote about it. Since both were legally not allowed to talk, they had to resort to messages. Tom simply typed out that he made the enemies run away.

 

“Oh, you have driven then out? Splendid! How many of them have you beaten up so far?” said Coyote’s message while also asking him of how many people did he take down. Tom did as his colleague said, he typed out all names he recognized, including penguins.

 

“Oh, the teacher as well? Brilliant! I should ask N.Tropy about it. I’ll update you on that, but now, lets have some student season, shall we?” Coyote gave him a compliment while also announcing that he will discuss the plan with the boss of Elite Bois. Their conversation concluded with that, with Tom maliciously grinning as he went on to search for students. He won’t be the only one, since Coyote is already on patrol, observing the city while being on the roofs of skyscrapers.

 

Meanwhile, back in school, Kizakura was just wandering in the halls when he suddenly spotted a hole on the ceiling, accompanied with two people lying on the floor. Such sight gave him quite a shock.

 

“W-what? What happened here?” Koichi perplexed as he further explored the hall, only to find a worse sight: three women, one of them being his colleague Chisa, lying on the floor as well. Chisa was the only one who still was clinging on conscience. Koichi ran towards them, checking on what happened.

 

“Yukizome! Who did this to you?” Koichi crouched down, intending to carry Chisa to the school’s very own hospital. To see her in such state was something he never imagined nor wanted.

 

“….Ki….Kizakura….please….take..” Chisa pleaded him to take care of all students hurt by the gangster, barely mumbling as she still kept going strong.

 

“Yukizome! We’ll get you-” Koichi promised her, then he took a proper sight on remaining two girls. It was pure luck that Tom’s rules of engagement prevented him from killing, only just knocking them it. Koichi realized that he won’t be able to handle this alone. “Oh god, what the hell even happened here?”

 

“Anyone! I’ll need help!” Koichi called out for anyone nearby. Luckily, someone did come to help.

 

“I can assist, if wanted. Dark times are ahead, Mr. Kizakura.” cautioned janitor as he offered his help.

 

“Just gather anyone you can!” requested Kizakura while also carrying Chisa like a wounded soldier. “Is this...is this the work of that mafia?”.

 

The janitor nodded as he also assisted in taking everyone wounded to the hospital. Tom has already left an impression on Hope’s peak academy, but the very fight itself was far from over.

 

====TO BE CONTINUED====>

Chapter 33: Tompocalypse - Part II

Chapter Text

It was only just the beginning of the day, yet one of the first things that happened to class 77-B and class 78th was to be driven out by a cat. Granted, it was unlike any other cat, but it was still a cat. Not only that, but their hideout has been unintentionally busted, so essentially they were out in the wild. Penguins couldn’t assist them at all, since they were in the unconscious-land. All of them ran away, together in group, hoping that Tom wouldn’t catch them up.

 

After nearly marathoning the entire city, they stopped in the park, allowing themselves to take a breath, since not everyone had an amazing stamina. They needed to take some time to take a breath, rethink about the whole situation. Some of them were so pumped with adrenaline that they weren’t even aware of where they were.

 

“W-where….where do we even go?” Sayaka questioned, with her skin become even more pale than before. The fear of that cat was still present at the time, considering the sheer power they saw right in front of their eyes.

 

“Hm...seems like the fiend is nowhere close us. We should probably stop to take breath.” advised Sakura for everyone to cool down and just let their brains work. No one can really work properly when they’re under stress.

 

“That’s a good idea, Sakura! We can’t exactly think if our minds are full of adrenaline.” Aoi immediately agreed with her idea as everyone tried their best to regain their composure. Some of them did quickly, like Kyoko, but those were still only some. Even those deemed to be hard to get off their tracks were still in shock from the attack. Such as seemingly never flippant Affulent Prodigy flat out trembling after seeing the true power of Tom.

 

“What….what the living hell was that?” Byakuya still questioned in panic, with the image of Tom forever ingrained in his mind. That question was asked by some folk as well, since no cat could punch a tall man through the ceiling.

 

“I am afraid I know the answer, but I cannot say it. We should now focus where to take refuge for a moment.” Gundham, who regained his composure rather quickly, suggested to switch the topic to what location to use for a temporary hiding spot. Tom was coming and they knew it.

 

“Where exactly can we go at this point? We’re in the middle of this city, completely lost.” Hajime asked, genuinely not having any idea where to hide. Neither did anyone else.

 

“Radio Kaikan is out of the question, just saying in advance. They would already expect us there.” Impostor cautioned to not use that building for hideout. Chiaki knew what they were talking about, since she was also present there. However, neither of them could talk about it, since they didn’t want to cause others to worry about their incident there. Some did notice how suspicious it was for them to mention the building.

 

“Wait, how do you know that?” Peko immediately yet calmly alerted, wanting to know why exactly did Impostor mention Radio Kaikan. While she did not know of the incident, she had a hunch that something happened there.

 

“I’ll explain everything later. It has to do with Operation Metropolitan Hunt.” Impostor promised to tell the full story one day, even though that day was still far away. Meanwhile, Chiaki was just looking around, being on standby in case of any punksters or even that cat coming at them. Luckily, there was no sign of them.

 

Almost.

Chiaki squinted with her eyes when she saw a figure on top of one of skyscrapers, seemingly facing them. Even though she wasn’t sure, she had a hunch that whatever that figure that was, it couldn’t be any good. It reminded her of those easter eggs, where figures watch over the player.

 

“...Are we being watched?” quietly cautioned Chiaki, alerting them all in the process. Some of them hastily looked around to see if there were any Daft Capo members nearby. Some remained to be calm, but they knew they couldn’t be there for a long time. Somehow, Gundham managed to notice the figure on the skyscraper, gaining an idea on where to hide.

 

“Hmmmm…...I think I’ve figured it out. The choice will be unorthodox, but it will give us some time.” Gundham suddenly remembered what place would be good enough to use. It helped that he was already there, familiar with its layout. Others quickly gained interest in his words, wondering where the leader of The Fellowship of Darkness would take them.

 

“What if we just accidentally stumble in Zona Daft Capo? Wouldn’t that be weird?” commented Yasuhiro, letting out a prediction in the case they would just randomly storm in and conclude Operation Metropolitan Hunt.

 

“That would be both fortunate and unfortunate. But now, we must make haste. Follow me, my minions.” Gundham noted the prediction before he requested them to move on, to follow him to the place where they could hide for a moment. Students were intrigued by his suggestion, but they had no time to waste.

 

Little did they know that they were already being monitored by Wile E. Coyote, who watched them on top of a skyscraper with his binoculars. As they ran, so did Coyote, chasing them down as he leaped from skyscraper to skyscraper like a ninja.

 

Nearly an hour and more of running later, they found themselves at the port. Seemingly empty as of that moment, Gundham safely led them to what he visioned as their temporary hideout: Tsurihito Warehouse, which was once the very hideout for Daft Capo punksters, specifically Herman’s group. Students thought that the abandoned facility looked quite shady, but no one else came up with alternatives. Yet, one person was quick to recognize the place.

 

“...That’s their old hideout. Why here?” wondered Kyoko as she looked at Gundham with a slight judging look, not exactly sure why, out of all places, would they choose a former Daft Capo facility, especially since their enemy could quickly track them down.

 

“Do not fret, Kyoko. Fortune has smiled upon us, they no longer deem it as usable, since we already know their location.” smirked Gundham as he gave out a reason with his crossed arms. While he hid it from others as of that point, he wanted to use the warehouse as a bait, a preparation for the showdown. Funnily enough, ever since Gundham and penguins went spying on them, the door was never again locked. The wizard leader pushed the door, letting everyone in.

 

“I’m definitely not having a good feeling for this….” Kazuichi gulped as he went insane. Far from only one feeling dread, but they still had to get in. Some students were a little bit more courageous about it, going inside without any fear. One of those was Gundham, of course.

 

“Kehehehe…..the former classmate, you were quite a nuisance, but you did something useful for once. Consider yourself applauded.” Gundham grinned to himself, remembering how a certain someone has, even though for the most part has hindered them, made an actually useful move in the long run. He still condemned him for everything else, but he did appreciate the silver lining in his actions.

Even though they found a brief hideout, they still weren’t safe from the ever observant eyes of the ever smugly grinning Coyote. After committing sick parkour, he was watching from another skyscraper. That time, he pulled out his phone and typed a message to a certain punkster.

 

“Tsurihito Warehouse. Give them a little surprise.” said the Coyote’s message before he sent it, giving directions to an incoming battle. After sending the info, he started carefully jumping away, as he went lower and lower to reach the ground floor. That Elite Boi had something for a plan and he was more than ready to use it.

 

As all of students went inside the warehouse, which only had containers and nothing else, they gathered around, preparing to discuss a plan on how to defeat the feline menace.

 

“Should we block the entrance?” asked Peko as she pointed at the entrance.

 

“Um, I don’t wanna sound rude, but….that cat….I think it would just blow through it.” Chihiro admitted that such action would be futile, since they already saw Tom’s strength.

 

“Good thinking there, my minion. Now, speaking of that cat, we must not talk about anything useless anymore. Our priorities should be solely to defeat that cat.” Gundham gave him a compliment before he demanded them to focus on beating Tom, ignoring anything insignificant.

 

“We can defeat it? I mean, you said yourself that cat is something else, haven’t you?” Mahiru questioned if they can even score a victory against the Elite Boi, considering its power even without zoot suit.

 

“It is not a can, it is a must. Now, to honor our fallen comrades, let us commence Operation Goliath’s Fall.” Gundham raised his index finger, putting emphasis on that their battle will be inevitable.

 

“Woah...that name….so cool...but we must not get distracted. Everyone, think of a way to defeat that menace!” Sonia’s eyes started to gleam before she shook her head, focusing on the strategy and tactics that could be used against Tom.

 

“Hmmm….I feel like ambushes are out of the question. We’re no longer at Hope’s peak academy and I have a feeling that it won’t work here.” rambled Chiaki, knowing that Tom was not even remotely like Herman. The octopus was about as crafty as it was squishy, nowhere near being as much of a threat as the current one is.

 

“I mean, that bastard just took out one of our strongest dudes in the class. There’s no way we can handle him single-handily.” Leon made a gesture with his hand, pointing at the ceiling to show a scene which all of class 78th would remember for ages.

 

“Hmm….it is a definitive no one should face him alone. I sensed something in him...something much more dangerous.” cautioned Sakura that not a single student could defeat him by themselves.

 

“...You too?” Gundham raised his eyebrow upon hearing how she worded her warning, as if she knew some things that he did as well.

 

“I do not know what exactly you mean, but I can sense strength in people. Physically speaking, he was something out of this world. Mentally speaking...it gives me chills. It’s best to engage him as a team.” Sakura admitted that she wasn’t on the same frequency as he was, but things she said about Tom still resonated with the wizard man. He had the exact same feelings about Tom’s essence as Sakura did.

 

“Hell yeah!...But that’s kind of a given from the get go.” Nekomaru noted that such option was already blatantly obvious from the start.

 

“Under these circumstances….I am hesitant to admit that you are right.” Byakuya wiped sweat off of his forehead, saying it only because he saw co-operation with them to be the most optimal. Usually, he would say that a situation is a zero-sum game, where everyone has to fight for themselves. However, the battle with Tom was not such a game. No one was spared from his wrath and doing things solo would just make it more difficult.

 

“Now the question is, how we will approach the fight?” Kyoko started off with a question, curious on what would they use against the feline menace.

 

“This is going to sound odd, but does anyone here have any weapons?” Sonia suddenly asked something that got some of the students put off guard. Not only from the suggestion itself, but the fact Sonia, who always looked so peaceful, was the one to say it.

 

“My blade is always with me.” Peko did not hesitate to say that she would utilize the very weapon she masters against the enemies of not only Kuzuryu clan, but of her and Fuyuhiko’s friends as well.

 

“W-wait, do we really need weapons for this?” Makoto was one to ask if they’re going really overboard with it. Even though their adversary was the one to drive them out of the school, he thought it was an overkill.

 

“Considering what he is, I’d say the conundrum can be approached as we wish. I am keeping Devas out of this. Even demons have their natural predators.” calmly countered Gundham as he insisted of keeping his hamsters hidden, since he feared that their lives would be taken away by the cat.

 

“Well...I have this. Does it count?” Kazuichi pulled out a wrench out of his pocket, offering his assistance, although he was very hesitant to face Tom.

 

“Like he said, anything is free game...I mean, I can use this crystal ball, but….” Yasuhiro showed them his crystal ball, although he did not want to use it at all, being too valuable for him to be broken.

 

“I have moi pan with me.” Teruteru suddenly pulled out the frying pan, carrying it ever since Herman ruined his spaghetti right in front of his eyes. Although his contribution was appreciated, they were rather baffled by him still not getting over it.

 

“...how long have you been carrying it?” Mahiru asked him in a rather perplexed tone, thinking that he was going way overboard with his paranoia.

 

“Hey, you never know when an octopus would strike!” Teruteru raised his finger, strongly expressing his desire to get revenge on Herman. His rambling made them realize how easy they had it with Herman. He was just an annoyance and an infiltrator, not a seemingly unstoppable warrior hellbent on beating up everyone’s asses.

 

“Man...that guy seems easy peasy now.” Kazuichi rubbed his head, remembering all times, such as his former friendships, former struggles and so on. More progress was made on their fight, the harder it seemed. However, they were far from giving up on it.

 

“Do fists count?” Chiaki asked, wondering if not having any weapons, but still wanting to fight was okay. Just fists were for the most part the only weapon they truly had, everyone else didn’t have anything with themselves.

 

“Yes, I do think they count.” confirmed Sonia with a smile on her face, more or less allowing everyone to fight as they wished.

 

“Oh, now this is good!” Akane cracked her knuckles in advance, just being eager to punch Tom in the face. She was the only one to really forward to the fight, even with more battle loving ones being present.

 

“Alright, so we are a little bit more armed than expected, but I do wish I could provide more.” Sonia regretted the fact that she couldn’t assist even more, possibly arming the students up as it were a revolution against Daft Capo. Perhaps in the future, but at that moment they got all what they brought with each other. Students were pretty surprised with her implications, wondering what kind of weaponry she had.

 

“M-Miss Sonia, you have weapons?!” Kazuichi asked with great interest, definitely wanting to who what sort of weaponry Sonia owns.

 

“Of course. I need them for self protection.” Sonia confirmed it quite bluntly, not hiding at all that this princess was armed to the teeth. She had it all at the student hostel, managing to bypass all security rules due to fact she had bodyguards there. Knowing from experience at home, Sonia knew never to leave home unarmed.

 

“Can I see them?” Kazuichi requested to get a glimpse of her weapons. Since she was a princess, he , along with some, imagined that she had plenty of medieval weapons, such as swords, spears and bows. Boy howdy, they were wrong about it.

 

“No.” Sonia rejected him immediately, causing him to slump his shoulders. It was mostly due security reasons that she forbid anyone from seeing her weapons.

 

“Damn boy, shot down that quickly.” Yasuhiro noted how blunt Sonia was with her rejection.

 

“Enough with useless talk, focus on the inevitable fight.” Gundham demanded to take the situation more seriously, forcing them to go back on the original topic.

 

“I-inevitable fight?” Yasuhiro started to tremble, hoping that he would not have to fight Tom. In fact, he was one of few that refused to face the inevitable.

 

“Many predators won’t stop pursuing their prey until they completely slay it. Such is the case with some tigers, who have been known to hunt even humans. The fighter we are up against is no domestic cat, but a tiger himself!” Gundham boastfully explained why the fight is set in stone rather than being avoidable.

 

“So cool….I mean, I think I’ve got an idea! Lets fortify this warehouse!” Sonia, with her eyes gleaming again, gave out a suggestion in a voice full of authority. Their plan was made, but the details were still unclear.

 

“Hmm...not a bad idea, I think….but how should we fortify it? We don’t have many weapons and we can only use containers here.” piqued Chiaki, touch her chin with a tip of her finger, scratching it. Due to her experience with fort defenses in games, she imagined that there would be some kind of weaponry to repel a siege.

 

“And a close space here is kinda limiting. I think that cat benefits from it more than we do.” Aoi added her own comment, noticing a weakness during their confrontation at Hope’s peak. They needed a more open space, where they could attack from multiple directions.

 

“...I’ve got it! Two fronts!” Sonia suddenly declared, formulating the whole plan inside her head.

 

“...Two fronts?” asked Sakura with increased intrigue.

 

“Alright so, we will not fight only inside. A group will be dispatched outside, engaging the cat first. If the cat breaks through, then we will deal with it inside. Assuming that we don’t fall, we can surround it and then beat the living hell outta it! Like a boss!” Sonia explained her plan to them, doing all sorts of gestures while doing so.

 

“Alright, I’m going out! This gonna be fun! Man, I’ve been waiting for a moment where I can punch a Daft Capo member in the face!” Akane volunteered on the spot as stormed out of the warehouse, without letting anyone oppose her. She waited outside the entrance, waiting for others to come and join her.

 

“It seems like we already have a candidate! I shall pledge my role in this battlefield as well.” Sonia approved her dedication to protecting them, although Akane was more looking for a fight. The princess also volunteered with increased authority

 

“M-Miss Sonia, you can fight?” Kazuichi asked, once again surprised by another tidbit of herself that was dropped that day.

 

“Yes, I can break more bones than you can imagine. My military service was not for nothing.” confirmed Sonia with an oddly sharp glare, unusual for someone so cheery for the most time. Another statement that caught some of them off guard.

 

“Your what?” Makoto would have spat out a drink if he was drinking something at the time. Some of them shared the same sentiment regarding her past.

 

“I mean, she’s a royal, so…it makes sense.” Hajime was one of the folk to be not as surprised, since he knew that obviously kings and queens had to contribute to military, such as Queen Elizabeth II, when she served in Auxiliary Territorial Service during the period when the entire world fought against fanatical countries. Although that time was not appropriate to discuss Sonia’s past.

 

“Of course, I shall pledge to my duty as well. I cannot leave my friends to be wounded by that enemy.” Sakura offered her help as well, with zero hesitation in her voice. Her offering was the least surprising of the bunch due to the fact that Sakura was always eager to protect her friends, even if she was physically intimidating.

 

“Oh, if Sakura’s coming, I am coming too!” Aoi hopped in as well, providing back up for her martial artist friend. Not too surprising either, since Aoi was always around her.

 

“Allow me to assist as well. I shall not let that cat win.” Peko joined in as well, inspired by other girls while also believing that her bamboo sword skills could come handy in the battle. The one with a weapon was met with positive expectations.

 

“Well, it is your choice…” Fuyuhiko did not protest letting her to the battle, appreciating that she did it by herself instead of being told so. Perhaps it was the desire to protect others that made her more independent. Speaking of desire for protection, all girls that volunteered gave a certain girl inspiration to join in as well.

 

“Then….I’ll help too...I can’t let my friends get hurt anymore.” Chiaki placed her hand on where her heart was, offering to assist those as well. Out of all people, she was met with most surprise again, although Impostor did expect her to volunteer. In fact, it would have been odd if she wouldn’t offer herself to the defense.

 

“C-Chiaki…?!” stuttered Hajime, with anxiety over her being hurt again showing in full force, even though he wasn’t ready to admit it publicly. The incident at Hope’s peak with a certain gangster made him more afraid for her, especially how eager she seems to throw herself into danger for the sake of everyone else.

 

“Hajime...there’s nothing to worry about. We’ll do great, we promise.” Chiaki reassured with her ever so innocent smile on her face, wanting him to believe in the girls that will defend them.

 

“Then again, there’s no escape from the incoming, so everyone will have to fight.” added Gundham that further running would be useless. Hajime hesitated to agree with them, seriously taking some time to think about if its a good idea for them as a whole, not just Chiaki (even though he was especially worried about her), to expose themselves to the main enemy. Knowing that the time was short, he had to let them.

 

“...Alright….I believe in you, Chiaki. Anyone else?” Hajime allowed them to act as the first line of defense. It seemed like those girls were only ones to volunteer. Others remained either because they were scared or because they wanted to be the second line of defense in the case that the cat infiltrates the facility. They all nodded in agreement.

 

“I think we are good. We are gonna kick his feline ass to hell and back!” declared Sonia with a pumped fist, letting everyone know that these girls will protect them.

 

“HELL YEAH, KICK HIS ASSSSSSSSSSS! Nekomaru let out a motivational shout before he needed to point out a security concern for them. “I do have a thing to mention though. If he breaks in, from where could he come in, aside from entrance of course.”.

 

“From there. That’s where my Devas and Avians of The Faraway Blizzard managed to infiltrate this facility.” Gundham pointed at the window, knowing how Devas and penguins used it to break in. The second line, which consisted of everyone else, made a loose circle, just for everyone to contribute to patrolling. Some of them climbed on containers to get the higher ground.

 

“To be fair, that cat could just punch the wall so hard that it would just break. You all seen what happened to Mondo, right?” Yasuhiro pointed out that if Tom managed to punch a guy through the ceiling, then no wall could stop him. Class 77-B was lucky that they did not see the event with their eyes.

 

“What happened to him, if I can ask?” piqued Sonia as she tilted her head, curious on what happened between the cat and the biker. Entire class 78th felt chills when they had to remember the incident.

 

“P-punched so hard that he went through the ceiling….” Chihiro quietly mumbled, hesitant to admit that a person he saw as very strong was essentially beaten up by a cat. Entire class 77-B was shocked upon what the poor biker dude had to deal with.

 

“What? H-he punched that hard?! Man, I thought that was a bomb!” Kazuichi started sweating, remembering the sound of Tom’s punch, which did sound like a 2000 lb bomb going off.

 

“I mean, on the bright side, we got more people here, right? And Sakura can match him too, right?” Aoi attempted them to cheer up and gain courage to face Tom. However, not even her friend was too sure about it.

 

“Hmmm….truly a formidable foe…” Sakura wandered in her thoughts, thinking of all the ways she could score a victory against such an enemy. Even as the Ultimate Martial Artist, to underestimate a foe meant a defeat inbound.

 

“But do not get demoralized! One versus whopping twenty one! Even on the battlefield, those who have more resources tend to win!” Nekomaru reminded everyone in order to boost morale. If there was an advantage they had, it certainly was a numerical one. At least what they thought.

 

“Now...I’ve been thinking….would we need back up?” Chiaki brought up an idea of a possible “third” front, the one that would arrive like a cavalry to save them from despair.

 

“Who would be-” Hajime wanted to ask, only to figure out immediately on who exactly was she thinking about. They were the only choice after all. “Are you thinking of dragging Future Lab members into this?”.

 

“Well….I do think there’s one that could help us right here.” Chiaki admitted that there was one person that wouldn’t be too much of a hassle to put in. Even though other Future Gadget Lab members would be willing to fight against them, only one was actually a fighter.

 

“Who could it be?” asked Makoto, genuinely unsure who she meant.

 

“Lemme guess….that dopey one that sounds like you and is constantly around you, isn’t it?” Hiyoko scoffed at her, taking a jab at both her and a certain Upa lover.

 

“...I’m talking about Suzuha.” Chiaki pouted at her, not appreciating her snide towards Mayuri deep down while also being sort of slightly frustrated that Hiyoko didn’t let her finish what she said.

 

“Oooh, the biker gal! Good choice, Chiaki!” Aoi praised her for the decision on who exactly to call upon. From seeing her, Aoi knew Suzuha was just like them.

 

“If things go awry, I’ll call her….now do we have everything?” Chiaki said everything she needed before she asked everyone if they have talked about all things necessary.

 

“The first front is ready!” Sonia pumped both of her fists, confirming that the defense squad was ready.

 

“I can also say that we are more than prepared to-” Gundham was just about to confirm their readiness, if it weren’t for one of students went in the container.

 

“Nope. Not dealing with this. You guys have fun.” Yasuhiro spoke out of it, hiding for the most part, since the fear overtook any of this resolve. Most of the folk were understanding of him. Just most of, not everyone.

 

“...Coward!” Gundham condemned him on the spot, shaking his fist at him.

 

“Can’t really blame him, though. I mean...after seeing...it….yeah….” Makoto defended him, understanding that not everyone was ready to fight, though it was kind of odd, since even Chihiro was willing to put up a fight, even if he saw himself as the weakest. By that point, they were all ready.

 

“Now, let’s busts some caps!” declared Sonia as the first front stormed out of the warehouse, officially beginning the Operation Goliath’s Fall. Akane was already outside, greeting them with a loud yet happy “Yo!”. Those that got out of the warehouse positioned themselves in a line, standing right in front of the building. All of them crossed arms, put on standby as they observed the area. That line gave Akane an idea.

 

“Hey, Sakura! Gimme a hand for a moment!” requested Akane to be thrown on the roof. Sakura responded with a nod as she grabbed Akane by her hips, throwing her right on the roof with enough force that the athlete would land safely on it. And so she did, with her beginning to patrol on the high ground, but not before she expressed her gratitude. “Thank you very much! You’re very strong!”.

 

Dozens of minutes have passed, yet all what girls saw was the calm waves gently hitting the port as they were surrounded by nothing but what it seemed to be empty building. From a distance, multiple types of ships could be seen, from small boats to colossal freighters. A small breeze accompanied them as well. Such amount of odd tranquility made them lower the guard, beginning a small discussion rather than to stand and be silent for hours.

 

“Man, after we’re done with this, we’re gonna have a lot of stories to tell, won’t we?” Aoi chuckled as she rubbed her head, wondering how would they see the whole thing in the future. Her question gave other girls something to think deeply about.

 

“Like how a single cat drove us out of the school?” asked Peko on how would they exactly have to live with the fact that a cat managed to make them run for their lives.

 

“Yeah...it’s scary now, but one day we’ll be able to laugh at it. It’s a bit silly, come to think of it.” commented Aoi, thinking that the future is going to be bright enough that they’ll look at the whole with a laugh.

 

“Yeah...even if the present is scary, it doesn’t mean it will be like that...I think. We’re gonna remember so many things fondly.” Chiaki spoke out of her mind, having a little smile on her face. She was wondering what kind of future would they have after the whole Daft Capo thing is done.

 

“We should be able to create it by ourselves. No mafia will change our destiny.” Sakura reassured them that their fight won’t be lost, that their future is definitely going to be bright.

 

“That is right, Sakura. It is us who should-” Sonia wanted to add her thoughts on it, if it weren’t for one factor that none of the girls expected to happen.

 

“Girls, we said only the cat is coming right?” asked Akane upon spotting the oddity from a far. She was yet to say what it was.

 

“Yeah? We did say that.” said Sonia, assuring her that Tom was the only expected enemy.

 

Then Akane dropped the truth bomb.

 

“Then why are there a bunch of mopeds with funnily dressed people coming at us? And there’s one that’s just...on foot?” alerted Akane pointing towards her left, showing them about eleven punksters, with four on them riding Vespa mopeds, rushing right at them. The middle one, a woman in tuxedo, seemed to have a particularly bloodthirsty grin on her face, almost foaming from excitement, where as other punksters just sported shit-eating grins. Any peace to be had was gone. The fight was on.

 

“...Oh. They called in reinforcement. On your guard, everyone.” Peko immediately pulled out her bamboo sword, putting herself on battle stance. Others followed the same, just raising their fists instead. For them, fists were all the needed. Punksters, let by Daitane, were all getting closer.

 

“YIPPIE KI YAY, MOTHERFUCKERS!!!” Sonia let out a war cry when punksters got close enough, all of them being more than ready to trade punches and kicks. They didn’t dash forward, instead they waited for punksters to make the first move. A gut feeling was had that their enemy would counter first. Akane still stood on the roof, but she had a move planned ahead.

 

“I see bitches ahead! Get em, bois!” Daitane pointed at their enemy as they all sped up, with moped cavalry going in first. With their speedy vehicles, two of moped punksters attempted to run over Peko and Chiaki, but former managed to jump away in time, where as the latter got pulled away by Sakura, just barely evading the strike. Other two punksters on moped didn’t engage just yet, instead acting as the back up, flanking the girls from both sides as they circles around.

 

As those speeding punksters missed their targets, those on foot entered the scene. Daitane was the first to rush forward, sprinting right towards Sonia, only to be drop kicked in the face by Akane, who jumped off from roof to join in the fight. Her attack sent Daitane rolling on the floor, almost falling in the sea if she didn’t stop herself. The punkster gal picked herself up, with her bloodthirsty grin being replaced by an annoyed grimace.

 

“Shit move, woman!” grumbled Daitane as she raised her fists, directing her glare towards gleeful Akane.

 

“AW YEAH, NOW WE’RE TALKING!” Akane hopped in one place, all pumped up as she rushed towards Daitane, ready to go one versus one on her.

 

Thus, a fist fight, accompanied with some kicks, erupted between battle loving girls where as rest of the girls had to deal with other punksters. The enemy seemed to gang up on Sonia and Chiaki the most while avoiding Peko, Aoi and Sakura. Where as Chiaki kept dodging, since after previous incidents she wasn’t sure that her attacking would end up in any situation other than being countered. She was backed up by Sonia, who did counter with the techniques of close-quarters combat, twisting limbs of anyone who was in front of her. Their backs were covered by the very girls they avoided. Peko smacked several punksters with her bamboo sword so hard, that they were knocked back, but not knocked out as she wished. Perhaps punksters were more resilient than she thought, but they couldn’t even score a hit on her.

 

On other end, the combo of Sakura and Aoi meant an inevitable defeat of any punksters. With Sakura’s titanic punches and Aoi’s swift kicks, two punksters out of eleven were knocked out, laying unconscious on the floor. At that moment, one punkster noticed that Akane and Daitane were fighting alone, so he decided to do an intervention, sprinting towards them. Akane managed to somehow notice, which was just the right time for Daitane to punch her in the face. She flinched, but she still stood, continuing the fight as the punkster kept running.

 

“Hey, my ass is gonna be kicked now!” Akane called out for assistance, to which all of the girls have heard it, yet they could only fight off other punksters.

 

“Just a moment, Akane!” Aoi volunteered as she dashed towards him, reaching just in time to slide in front of him and make him fall on his face. Akane could now continue her fight with Daitane in peace.

 

“Thanks, my girl!” Akane let out a smile amid the fight as she continued exchanging flurries of punches at the rival punkster.

 

“No prob-” Aoi wanted to return the favor, only to roll away just in time when the punkster on a moped attack. With two punksters down, the moped cavalry responded, doing their best to run over them. The girls managed to barely dodge attempts of vehicular manslaughter while also trying to fight others punksters at the time.

 

As the battle went on, one punkster on a moped had an idea to take down Sakura, who they saw as the biggest obstacle. Full gas ahead, moped punkster performed a wheelie, trying to hit Sakura right in her face. However, such attack was met with an uppercut, which sent the moped flipping backwards as the punkster fell off of it. As he landed on the ground, Sonia used that opportunity to knock him out with a smack on the back of his head. Third punkster was down and the moped somehow landed on its wheels like a cat lands on its feet. Seeing a yet occupied moped gave Chiaki an idea on what they could use.

 

“Oh, we can use this!” Chiaki pointed out the moped. That alone gave Sonia an idea.

 

“Great idea, Chiaki! I know what to do! Peko, come with me!” Sonia invited Peko, who just followed her albeit slightly perplexed as they ran towards the lying moped. Some punksters saw that two of their enemies wanted to use moped against them, so they chased her down. However, Sonia and Peko got to the moped first, picking it up as they hopped on it. The vehicle was already turned on, so there was no worry about starting it up. Sonia was the one who was in charge of driving it while Peko was her passenger.

 

“Alright, Peko! Just hold the sword like that and I’ll do the rest of it!” Sonia gave instructions to the swordswoman on what to do, essentially to make the moped into a modern day chariot. Peko was confused, but she held the sword like a spear of a chariot. They were now ready to go feral on punksters.

 

“Yeeeeehaaaaw!!!!” Sonia performed a wheelie, acting like it was a stallion of a knight. Peko held onto her with one hand to not fall off, but she still kept her sword horizontally. After performing such stunt, Sonia started rolling around with it, intending to target moped punksters first. One of moped punksters decided to chase them down, only to be knocked out by Peko with her sword once he got close enough. Other two moped punksters harassed girls, including Akane, even though it meant hindering Daitane in her fight. Just when one of moped punksters was about to run into Aoi, the Hope’s peak chariot knocked him out just in time. Five punksters down and one moped punkster remained.

 

“Bitch ass hoes!!!!” punkster on moped shook his fist at moped riding gals as he drove away from the battlefield, allowing moped girls to plow through other punksters, hitting anyone on their path. Sonia’s eyes were gleaming through out all of that, with adrenaline pumping through her like a locomotive. The fight became easier, so much so that even Chiaki stopped evading and started punching back. It seemed like the tide has turned in their favor.

 

But the remaining moped punkster had a trick up his sleeve. As he drove away, he went into the alleyway, which had another punkster there, whose role was to observe the battle and report the situation to others.

 

“Oi, hoe scrubs are kinda owning us. We need our boi now!” moped punkster requested for assistance, to which the alleyway punkster’s only response was a nod and pulling the phone out of his pocket. The phone rang as he initiated the call. A number by the name of “Coyote” was selected.

 

“Calling in artillery. We need support!” alleyway punkster immediately said the demand, acting like they were legitimately under heavy fire.

 

Meanwhile, somewhere close to the port, but faraway that Hope’s peak gang couldn’t see them, Dollar Fisher was parked, with its outriggers placed. Louisianos, the one who drove it, and Wile E. Coyote, the hand crane operator, weren’t the only one present. Two punksters in the tow truck were in charge of providing ammunition for the Dollar Fisher: Peugeot cars. There were about three of them as of that moment. In a way, that Frankenstein’s monster of a moped was just about to see its combat debut.

 

“Roger that. We’re going in hot.” Louisianos confirmed over the phone as he kept the call on. He turned towards Coyote, giving him a thumbs up with his stoic expression on his face. In response, Coyote devilishly rubbed his hands with an ever smug grin on his face as he started operating the crane, grabbing the Peugeot number one with its giant mechanic hand. Then he made the palm face the sky as he extended it to maximum possible length. After the position was ready, Coyote only had one thing to do, which he did with utmost delight: pressing the YEET button.

 

And so he did, with the entire arm suddenly lunging forward, throwing the Peugeot right towards the Tsurihito Warehouse. Luckily, the car was launched way above the buildings, so that any concerns of “accidental” damage were null.

 

Meanwhile, the fight went on, with punksters losing their moped cavalry. All of girls, from those on foot to two on moped, kept it up, managed to get few strikes on punksters, with sometimes getting hit back. Out of all, Sakura was still the one that the punksters avoided the most, with her managing to knock down another punkster.

 

Suddenly, a small but ever expanding shadow appeared on the ground. Both punksters and girls looked at it, wondering what it was. Then, one of them saw the source of the shadow: a launched Peugeot coming right at them.

 

“Hey, what’s tha-What the hell?! Move, everyone!” alerted Akane as all of them had to briefly break up to avoid the car. The shadow was getting rapidly larger, only for the car to land right on the spot. The impact of it totaled the Peugeot as it rolled for a meter or so. Everyone, from Hope’s peak girls to punksters, managed to leave the attack unscathed, but utterly baffled, although Sonia nearly drove the moped right into the sea had it not been for her making a turn just in time, just barely evading the Peugeot. Even punksters weren’t expecting the Peugeot strike.

 

“My goodness! How did a car fall out of the sky?!” shouted Sonia after realizing what she just witnessed. Even calmer girls like Chiaki, Sakura and Peko were utterly and completely floored from such attack.

 

“...What the heck?! What kind of power is this?!” Chiaki stared at the wreckage of the car, wondering how the hell did it even come here in the first place. In sort of a way, a very brief ceasefire was made, only because all of them were perplexed. However, it lasted as long as it did, which was about few seconds because Daitane sucker punched Akane in the face again, nearly knocking her out.

 

“Seriously?! That’s it, no more holding back!” Aoi condemned all of punksters as she suddenly ran towards the sea, jumping right in as she performed a dive. Punksters and girls were confused by her action, once again distracting them from a fight.

 

“Hahaha, get some, scrubs! Get some-” Daitane thought that Aoi pulled out a white flag, mocking her in the process. In reality, Aoi pulled out a stone from the sea floor, throwing it right at Daitane. The stone hit her right on her knee, causing her to flinch from pain. “Fucker!”.

 

The fighting fully resumed, at that moment with Aoi acting as the ranged fighter, throwing stones at punksters. One was actually knocked out by the stone, being hit right on his head. Another punkster down.

 

Alleyway punkster and moped punkster observed the battle, with the former calling for more support. “Keep firing! Keep firing!”.

 

At the site of Dollar Fisher, Coyote pressed the YEET button once again, launching another Peugeot right at them. As he was done with another launch, a familiar face appeared just right next to him. A face that Coyote and other punksters were more than delighted to see.

 

It was Tom, still in his dapper zoot suit.

 

“Get on.” Coyote pulled out a sign, suggesting that he would just need to launch Tom there. The cat nodded as he hopped on the mechanical hand. Then, Coyote deviously rubbed his hands as he once again pressed the YEET button.

 

Tom was simply thrown by the Dollar Fisher, flying over the buildings like a cannonball. Yet through out the flight, Tom still had his stoic, determined expression on his face, not even bothered by wind itself, which, despite the high speed, couldn’t even blow away his hat. As he was still flying, he realized that Coyote miscalculated, sending him right on the wall. Not that it bothered Tom that much, since all he needed to do was to pull his zoot suit side to side just a bit, essentially turning it into a flight suit. He had enough speed to pitch up, evading the wall just a bit while flying right over the roof. He was just fast enough that none of the girls, nor punksters, managed to notice him. Tom in his gliding zoot suit kept going vertically until all of his speed was lowered down enough to make him stall. That was around 1000 ft in the air as he faced downwards, with fist first as he started falling down. He made himself more aerodynamic, so that he could so fast that his enemies would notice him when it was too late.

 

His plan worked, with girls only realizing that when Tom broke through the roof with ease, landing right inside. Dust went everywhere, enough to make a fog inside the warehouse. The sudden entrance of him caused the plan of the second front to crumble, they did not expect him to enter from the roof like that. All of their organization became a mess as they all were scrambled over the warehouse, partially due to the blast created by Tom’s impact.

“WHAT THE HELL??!!!!” shouted Nekomaru in surprise as the dust was finally starting to settle down, but not enough that they would see the one that did the impact. A lot of coughing was heard from students, possibly due inhaling dust.

 

“W-what just happened?! Did a meteorite just hit this warehouse?!” stammered Kazuichi as he, along with others, looked at the hole on the roof. It really felt like a meteorite just hit them.

 

“Hey, did something just explode or what?” Yasuhiro asked out of his container, still refusing to go out. Naive of him that he thought he was safe there.

 

As the dust finally fully settled, the enemy appeared right in front of them. Tom looked at them with intense glare, causing immense fear among majority of the students. Only a few of them had courage to face the threat, such as Nekomaru and Gundham. The latter knew that the time was no more.

 

“NO TIME TO SPARE, STRIKE NOW-” Gundham ordered them to attack him, only for something to happen which no one saw coming, not even the wizard man himself.

 

Suddenly, Tom struck a menacing pose as the visible green aura appeared on him. Somehow, the pose itself managed to generate a triumphant orchestral music, with the entire interior of the warehouse being now in all sorts of colors. Even Tom himself, now covered in green, and Hope’s peak gang were colored differently, color palettes all over the place. What once was a logical choice for a color was now something else.

 

“H-hey, why did music start to play outta sudden?!” stammered Kazuichi, being one out of nearly all of them to be frozen in fear upon seeing Tom suddenly warping the entire perception of reality just by standing. The person that was most shaken with fear was the one who had courage before, Gundham Tanaka.

 

“C-could it be?! No way, it’s...it’s the ancient move!!!!” Gundham trembled as he recognized what exactly was Tom doing.

 

But he was too late. Everyone was too late to do anything as the music kept building up.

 

Tom started with spinning his left arm clockwise! And then with his right arm counterclockwise! Hope’s peak gang was unable to counter such ancient technique as that as Tom’s fist seemingly kept getting larger! The air between Tom’s hands transformed into powerful vortex of destruction. That vacuum created a highly pressurized maelstorm! Not a single Hope’s peak student inside the warehouse could get a hold from such winds, causing them to be caught in the hurricane of malice! The music transitioned from a triumphant orchestra to an intense Aztec orchestral dubstep, with sounds of WUBS, trumpets, drums and chanting of a beautiful yet mysterious woman accompanying the winds!

 

 

WHHHHHHAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAT TTTTTTTTTTTTTTTTHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE SHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIT?????????!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!” yelled Nekomaru with all of his might as the winds just lifted him off the ground like he was a little leaf. The winds carried everyone inside, not even containers were safe. Amid the winds, the first ones to be knocked out were Makoto and Sayaka, when they hit each other with their heads so hard that they were both rendered unconscious. Most of them panicked as they desperately tried to get a hold on something, but any efforts were futile. One of them was Chihiro, who tried to get a hold on a container, but was hit on the head by another container, causing him to be knocked out, just like Makoto and Sayaka were before. Another one to follow was Leon, who tried his best to throw a container at the unflinching Tom, who just stood there like a statue, with the unstoppable stoic expression on his face, generating the winds of utter destruction. His attempt was immediately negated when the very container he wanted to throw hit him back, ko’ing him out of that round. Teruteru, Mahiru, Hiyoko and Kyoko all followed the suit, being hit by either bodies of unconscious students or the containers. Rest of them struggled, as they were being trapped by the winds of the ancient technique.

 

Meanwhile, the girls and punksters outside only noticed the oddity once they heard the WUBS. Girls were confused on why was there music playing. Little did they knew…On other hand, all of punksters had a collective moment of shock, immediately recognizing what exactly was going on.

 

“Hey, what the heck is-?” Aoi wanted to point out the music, but before she could do anything...

 

“OH SHIT!” punksters, including Daitane, yelled as they all got away as far as possible from the door as possible. It all soon became clear, when the wind caused by Tom opened the door by force. A sudden hurricane hit all of the girls except Aoi, who was still in water, with Chiaki being first one to be flying, landing right in the sea water. Sonia and Peko followed the suite, as the winds were so strong, that not even moped could hold them on the ground. Akane was also thrown in the water, with only Sakura barely holding on the ground by crouching. She could resist the wind, but it was just lightly pushing her back. Even the Peugeot wreckage was sent flying, thankfully right over those who have fallen in the water and just barely above Sakura.

 

Sonia, Peko and Akane all managed to reach the surface, managing to swim as the waves caused by wind kept pushing them away. Chiaki, on other hand, was flailing her arms, trying her best to make her head stay out of water, but she kept diving down. The waves didn’t help either, pushing her away as she was slowly and surely drowning.

 

“H-help….he...help….” Chiaki pleaded for help, to just hang onto someone. She was getting alarmingly close to just sinking like a stone. Luckily, rest of girls immediately started swimming to help her.

 

“Don’t worry, I got you!” Aoi was the one to just blitz through the waves as she managed to get a grip on Chiaki just in time. As she was pushing through them, Aoi allowed Chiaki to place her hand over the shoulder, managing to get her head out of water in the process.

 

“Bleh...bleurgh…” Chiaki spat out the sea water, thinking that it was rather gross tasting. She was trembling, unable to do anything than to just cling on her swimmer colleague.

 

“Don’t panic, just calm down and inflate your cheeks, it will help you afloat.” Aoi suggested her to pout, just so that she would have easier time. Chiaki followed her advice and did, trying her best to stay afloat. “Good, good! Now hang on tight, because this wind...this wind is making things rocky for sure!”.

 

Other girls managed to join Aoi and Chiaki as they all tried their best to not be swept away by waves. Peko lost her glasses in the sea, making her vision more blurry in the process. However, she still had her sword, somehow managing to get a hold on it while being flung.

 

“What...what’s going on?” perplexed Peko, unable to see anything clearly.

 

“The hell was that?!” Akane added her comment as well as they all tried to grab a ledge amid the wind storm. Sakura still managed to hold on the ground. Punksters only watched in awe as they got the glimpse of the true power of their Elite Boi. However, one had intentions to make girl’s lives more miserable.

 

“Fuck this, y’all snitches gonna go to Bikini Bottom!” Daitane declared as she attempted to stomp to Sakura, wanting to knock her right in the sea. The wind was so strong that it just sent her flying right into the sea.

 

“Hey, this is our water now!” Akane hissed at her as she swam towards Daitane, initiating the fight between the two again. That time, Akane had the full advantage, using her swimming skills to beat the living heck out of Daitane. After few punches were delivered, Akane kicked Daitane right in the face, causing her to be knocked out. Since she wanted to flex on punksters, Akane tried her best to swim towards the area where the effects of weren’t felt. Nearly being dragged into the larger sea, Akane managed to throw unconscious Daitane right on the floor, showing her defeated state right in front of punksters.

 

“Shit! Our gal is out!” punkster realized that it would be just better to leave it all to Tom.

 

“Fuck, those scrubs fought better than expected. Retreat!” other punkster suggested for all of them to run away and so they did. Punksters sent by Coyote no longer had business there.

 

“Yeah, keep running, you cowards!” Akane taunted them as she went out of the water, currently being on land. She stepped towards the warehouse, but far away enough that the wind wouldn’t blow her away. Now only Sakura and Akane were on the ground, with the former managed to get a glimpse of what exactly was causing such storm.

 

“Is that...the cat?!” Sakura was beyond shocked to realize that the cat had such technique. Gundham was right, Tom was truly something else!

 

“W-what?! Such power from this?!” Sonia’s skin became pale upon knowing that a mere cat could cause such winds.

 

“H-how….how...can-” Peko wanted to have an answer, but all they could do was to push through the waves.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of the second front was still carried by the hurricane. All of them were panicking, but Yasuhiro was especially unfortunate, since he had to experience zero gravity inside the container. Luckily, no one new was knocked out, with some even using winds to evade anything incoming.

 

“I, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, have always thought that this beast was a force to be reckoned it, but I would never imagine in millions years that he would know of THE DIVINE SANDSTORM!!!!” shouted Gundham while also uttering the name of the technique.

 

The Divine Sandstorm, known to be used by the specimen of an ancient race of vampiric humanoids, was now used by a mere cat who was not a vampire at all! How did Tom managed to learn a technique of a powerful warrior, no one knew and only Gundham dared to seek for answer!

 

As the winds carried them, Nekomaru navigated through winds, coming up with an idea to make him cease with him dubstep accompanying attack.

 

“Hnnnghhh….you think you are so smart, are you? Now get ready for MYYYYYYYY FIIIIIIIIIIIST!” Nekomaru attempted to punch him right in the face when he got close, but he just missed by a centimeter as he was once again on a roundabout of wind.

 

“SHIT! So close!” Nekomaru cursed himself, but he kept trying.

 

In the mean time, girls were trying to come up with an idea to defeat Tom, since he has thankfully not faced them. It was a question if he could. They could do anything to strike his back, but they weren’t sure what. Then, Akane got a glimpse of a thought when she saw Sakura still holding on.

 

“Yo, Sakura! I got an idea! My gut tells me to do so! Can you come a little close?” Akane requested to come to her, so that she could hide behind her back.

 

“I...I will try my best…” agreed Sakura as she kept pushing through the wind while moving sideways. Despite the strength of wind, she managed to pull through, getting close enough to Akane. The Gymnast hid behind her back, being safe from the wind. Upon seeing it, the swimmer got an idea.

 

“I see! Sakura can block the wind with her body!...I’ve got it! Peko, can you lend your sword to Akane for a moment?” Aoi requested her swordswoman colleague to lend her weapon to Akane. Usually, only one to be able to touch her sword was Peko herself, but due circumstances, she had to make an exception.

 

“….Sure….but only this time.” Peko handed over her sword after having issues grabbing it, letting Aoi to hold it. The swimmer lifted the sword in the air, showing Akane on what to use.

 

“I can see where you are going with this! Akane, can you grab the sword?” Sonia called out for her, hoping that Akane would her hear amid the chaos. Luckily, she did.

 

“Sure do!” Akane gave her a thumbs up as Sakura and her managed to sidestep while also letting wind to take them back just a little bit. Aoi and girls tried their best to be close to the ground and it paid off, with Akane grabbing the weapon. Once it was set and done, Sakura started pushing forward. Slowly but surely, she was getting closer to Tom, who still insisted on using his technique. He didn’t turn forward, which proved to be fortunate enough. Step by step, Sakura was getting closer.

 

Then, the decisive moment came to be. They were just close enough for the sword. Then, with a satisfied, almost bloodthirsty grin on her face, Akane unleashed her attack with the sword.

 

Poke!

 

AWAHAHAHA AWOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOU!!!!!”.

 

Tom’s hands suddenly stopped spinning, causing the winds to just go through the entrance as it slowly calmed down. The cat was too busy jumping around after being poked with such force in the rear that not even his zoot suit could protect him. As the winds were starting to become more of a breeze, Akane secretly snatched something out of his pocket. It was her avian colleague.

 

“...Eh, penguin?” wondered Akane as she removed the tape from his flippers, freeing him. Since he was still knocked out, Akane just bopped him on his head, causing him to regain his will and conscience. The moment Rico saw Tom, a literal fire appeared from his eyes.

 

“URGGGHH….TOM!!!!” Rico roared in absolute wrath, but Tom was still busy hopping around. However, one opening allowed Nekomaru, who has been waiting for the moment, to punch him right in the face, sending him rolling on the floor. The winds have calmed down as the containers and students well. Luckily, no one was crushed by a container, conscious or unconscious.

 

“HEEEEEELLLLLLLLL YEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!” Nekomaru cheered like his team won a football match. Tom, know dizzy from his punch, found himself right in front of Akane, whose eyes were just filled with pure and raw adrenaline.

 

“Hey, Coach! Lemme have him!” Akane asked her trainer if she could join in beating him up.

 

“SSUUUUUUUUUUUREEEEE DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!” Nekomaru boastfully approved as both of them got close enough to Tom.

 

Suddenly, a flurry of punches and kicks were unleashed upon the zoot suit wearing menace, with all of them being directed right in his face. Each punch felt more painful than one before.

 

“ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA!” Akane let out her battle cry where as Tom only had one thing to say.

 

“JAO! AWOHOHOHOHOHO AHAHAHA OW!”.

 

After Akane and Nekomaru delivered their final blow together, both sporting grins of battle love, Tom was launched right in the wall, leaving a crater on it. However, that was only the beginning of the beat down for him as another person, armed with a wrench, ran towards him.

 

“H-how about this, you shitty cat!” Kazuichi cursed his enemy as he hit him right on his head, causing him to see the stars. Rico was a witness to such event and he joined in.

 

“Ooooh….ehehehe!” Rico cackled like a villain as he rubbed his flippers before he spat out his own wrench.

 

“W-what do you plan to do, Rico?” Kazuichi asked, to which Rico responded with an imitation of a groin attack while also laughing quite maliciously. Kazuichi felt like Rico was going too far, but considering their enemy, it was all free game. “O-oh, okay!”

 

Then Rico prepared his attack, unleashing it on Tom.

 

Right in the nads!

 

“AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-”

 

His scream was silence by a knuckle sandwich delivered by Sakura, who has unleashed the storm of punches rivaled by the fury of thousands suns. The punches sounded like a machine gun going off as Tom felt every single impact of them. The whole beating lasted for about whopping fifteen seconds before Tom was launched right in the sea.

 

“Beware, incoming projectile!” Sonia warned the first front as they all managed to evade Tom, whom then landed in the water. He laid unconsciously on the surface, floating like a person who’s trying to relax. Those who have remained determined in the whole fight stepped towards him, just watching from the ground. They consisted of Akane, Nekomaru, Gundham, Sakura, Sonia, Chiaki, Peko, Rico and Aoi. Kazuichi was still too terrified after everything that happened.

 

“Haha!” laughed Rico at him, feeling an exceptional amount of catharsis after everything Tom put him through.

 

“So...is it...is it over?” Chiaki timidly asked, still shaken by nearly drowning before. She was hugging herself, still trembling.

 

“Yes, your hearts can now rest at ease. The beast has been defeated.” Gundham confidently reassured that the fight was truly over. Finally, Hope’s peak had peace….for that moment.

 

“Hell yeah! Wooooo! That was awesome!” Akane jumped in the air out of excitement, being the only one, along with Rico, who felt such way. They even did a high five with each other. Others were more concerned about what happened to their friends.

 

“Hm, I’m not too sure...we should check others.” suggested Sakura as they all turned towards the warehouse, only to see a sight which they’ll never forget. Their friends being all over the place, all of those being utterly terrified, not being even able to say a word. What worsened the sight was unconscious students lying on the floor. It all made them realize who exactly they fought and what can a single member of that dreaded syndicate do.

 

“...Holy sweet Jesus of FUCK! A single cat did this?” Sonia’s skin turned completely pale, only to remain silent after seeing the sight.

 

“As I said earlier, this was no mere cat. This was...something else.” Gundham spoke with absolute and utter seriousness in his tone, to such levels that no one expected him to do so. Meanwhile, others remained in silence, all shaken by what they just went through. Even Akane and Rico remained stunned in silence. The one that was affected most by the sight was Chiaki, who forgot the fact that she nearly drowned and rushed towards Hajime and Chihiro. Her heart was beating exceptionally fast, with her anxiety coming at full force. She carried Chihiro like a wounded soldier while also escorting Hajime at the same time.

 

“We...we have to take them to the school’s hospital! Pick everyone you can!” Chiaki pleaded everyone to assist as she was visibly sweating from a sight that not only she’ll never forget, but won’t forgive herself for some time. No matter what she did, she failed to protect them. Worse it was that she didn’t want to talk anyone about it, since she worried that they would start worrying for her. Friends were far more important than her, after all.

 

“Of course. We have to get out of there now.” Sakura reassured her, who did notice how stressed Nanami seemed. Peko immediately ran to Fuyuhiko, checking him if he’s okay. He was conscious, but terrified to hell and back. Then all of them started carrying the unconscious ones as they all were leaving the port once and for all.

 

With exception of one. Gundham Tanaka remained at the port as he looked at unconscious Tom, wandering in his thoughts. Sonia noticed that her wizard friend was the only one who didn’t run away, instead just staying behind.

 

“Gundham, why are you staying? We should get out of there ASAP!” cautioned Sonia, wanting him to get to safety.

 

“The leaf of fate has been carried by the uncertain wind. The Overlord must remain here, as I travel the sea of thoughts.” Gundham insisted to stay, just letting him think about the whole situation.

 

“But you could be in danger! Those gangsters could return at any time!” Sonia continued warning him, which made Gundham smile for some reason. Perhaps it was her sincerity that he appreciated.

 

“Sonia, do not dive in concern. Although this was a great challenge, it is far from the most perilous event I, the Supreme Overlord of Ice, have went through-” Gundham attempted to calmly reassure her, only to see something truly odd when he accidentally turned left.

 

A faceless musketeer without a shadow just stood from the distance, observing him. Gundham felt immense chills down his spine, more so than he did with Tom, when he saw the figure. Suddenly, he just froze in place, feeling an unusual sense of dread, which he has never felt before.

 

“...What’s wrong, Gundham?” Sonia tilted her head while also expressing concern. Gundham couldn’t say why, but he did agree on moving away from the port. The musketeer was a warning.

 

“….Dark period is ahead, Sonia. We must move forward…” Gundham warned in such sincerity that even Sonia started to get fearful. Sonia walked as fast as she could and so did Gundham. He already sensed that fate has something for him. Appearance of Pioneer confirmed that as the he started to slowly walk, following him. The musketeer was looking for something in Gundham, yet only one who could know was the wizard man himself.

 

An hour has passed and few cars rolled in the port. A Toyota Mega Cruiser, Ferrari FF, Dollar Fisher, Formula One of Mercedes Brand, another Mercedes and the Mean Machine all arrived to the scene. Elite Bois have stepped out of their cars as they all looked at Tom, wondering how he ended up like that.

 

“What even happened here?! How did he lose?” asked Dastardly, genuinely surprised that one of the strongest Elite Bois was actually defeated by “scrubs”.

 

“What the hell, our boi got his ass kicked?” Fritz raised his eyebrow, also shocked that the one person he was unwilling to fight against was actually rendered unconscious.

 

“Get up.” annoyed by the sight, Coyote threw a sign that said just that, hitting him right on the head and somehow waking him up. Tom swam back to them, jumping out of water. They all wanted to ask how did he get his bum kicked, but N.Tropy had something else on his mind.

 

“Hmmmm….I do wanna know something. Tom, how many have you beaten? If you know, name them.” N.Tropy scratched his chin as he gave out a question. Tom just pulled out his phone and gave him a message, typing out all the names he knew of. Luckily for them, it really was all of them, including Chisa Yukizome. Seeing her name made him grin in satisfaction.

 

“Oh, she’s among them? Excellent, this will be much easier. Now, we can initiate the most fun part of our plan. Now, lets find her, shall we?” N.Tropy praised him as he rubbed his hands, prepared to start the next phase of their plan. Chisa had to watch out in the future, since Daft Capo was looking right for her.

 

Chapter 34: No place for Talent

Chapter Text

Only thirty minutes passed since Fellowship of Darkness’ return to Hope’s peak academy, still being on the same day. Yet, despite such a short amount of time, the incident with an Elite Boi by the name of Tom has forever left a mark. A sight of a cat in zoot suit will always be a grim one for them.

 

Soon enough, thanks to information spread through mobile phones, the incident was known to members outside of Hope’s peak academy. Members of Future Gadget Lab, those who could come at such dire time, rushed out of their laboratory to check on their friends. They ran as fast as possible, only stopping at crosswalks, since they didn’t want to cause more incidents that day. Even though each of them had a different level of stamina, none of them hesitated or even though about stopping.

 

After an emergency marathon across the city, members of Future Gadget Lab reached the academy, only to find themselves stuck, since they did not know where exactly were their Hope’s peak allies. The one who sent the message failed to specify the exact location.

 

“Where are they now?” asked Rintaro in a rush, trying to waste as little time as possible. All of them searched through out the entire academy, desperately trying to be assured that their Hope’s peak friends are in one piece. Due to the rush, they ran around the school aimlessly, but after some time of such activity, one of the doors opened. They knew where were they when they saw Chiaki with her hood on her head, peeking out of the door. Indirectly, she revealed the location to them.

 

“Over here!” Mayuri, being the one to spot her first, pointed at her as they all started rushing towards her. In quick time, they arrived to the entrance of the school’s own hospital, intergrated as a part of the whole complex.

 

“Ch...Chiaki! What...what happened to you guys?” Rintaro started giving out questions to her, with anxiety ramping up in his heart. Every other Future Gadget Lab member present there felt the same kind of fear for them, considering what happened. Chiaki, with a pitiful frown on her face, just quietly opened the door, letting them in to see what happened after the day’s incident.

 

And then they did. Nearly half of those who have participated in the battle against the warrior of Daft Capo himself were now bedridden, all laying unconscious. While most of them did had bumps on their heads, maybe scars and other wounds in some places, Mondo was the sole exception of being completely in cast. Having to go through the ceiling at such high force meant a not so good time for his bones. The Future Gadget Lab members couldn’t believe what were they seeing with their own eyes. For a moment, silence prevailed.

 

“...Oh god….who...who’s responsible for this?” Rintaro quietly stammered, shaken by such sight. Others couldn’t utter a response. The one who saw the whole event unfold in front of her eyes gulped, realizing that all of that was caused by a cat in a zoot suit would be rather difficult to believe.

 

“….It’s gonna be hard to explain.” stammered Chiaki, trying her best to at the very least give a summary for them. Just like her, Future Gadget Lab tried hard to comprehend what happened.

 

“To think….that mafia would go out of the way to do this to you…” Kurisu put her hand on her mouth, still in shock from seeing all of students, her friends even, beaten up. Suddenly, much to surprise of everyone, another student entered the hospital room.

 

“That mafia is no longer just that mafia.” announced Gundham in an oddly quiet and stern tone. Even his expression, usually of theatrical proportions, was one of seriousness. Everyone conscious there flinched upon hearing his voice.

 

“H-huh? W-where did you come from, Gundham?” Kurisu, just like rest of them, turned towards him with shrunken irises. In a sort of way, the moment Gundham spoke seriously had the same impact as Rintaro dropping his Hououin Kyouma persona.

 

“The Fellowship has taken a temporal break after we transported the fallen to this facility. Chiaki was the only one who insisted staying here. As for those who have fallen, the flame of their lives still burns, but their consciousness has been put on the rest. I can sense it.” Gundham elaborated as he crossed his arms, looking at those who have fallen in battle. Yet, it was not just Tom’s actions that remained in his mind. It was another oddity as well: the shadowy figure, which was looking for him. He couldn’t talk to anyone about it, since they would think that he was just making up. However, that figure still gave him shivers. In his speech, a faint of hope was felt when he said that they’re all alive.

 

“That’s...relieving to hear, I think….I just hope that they’ll recover soon…” sighed Chiaki as a faint, but forced smile appeared on her face, trying to supress her own emotions, since others mattered more, at least for her. Although that single gesture was not unnoticed. Mayuri immediately picked it up, thanks to her friend still looking down the floor, and approached Chiaki, giving her a slow yet reassuring pat on the back. It was gentle enough that it didn’t startle her, but a slight blush did appear on her cheeks.

 

“It’s okay to worry, Chi-chan, but they’ll come back pretty soon. Mayushii feels it. Don’t stress yourself too much about it, right?” Mayuri started reassuring her, being willing to carry anything burdening her. Even though Chiaki’s response was a quiet smile, she still kept looking at the floor. Knowing her, Mayuri expected such answer from her, but she also had faith in her that one day, she will be open. That day might be soon or very far away.

 

“So...uh, Gundham...you seem like you would have an easier time explaining this. What happened here?” asked Rintaro, having a gut feeling that his wizard colleague would be the one who would have least amount of trouble explaining what happened to them. His instinct proved to be correct the moment he saw a special look on Gundham’s eyes. The look of caution.

 

“Hmmm….recalling history is not a difficult task indeed. I shall leave the details, since certain things must be seen by oneself, but I shall begin: it appears that our adversary has sent an individual of mass prowess against us. Not a single student, not even Sakura, could go head on with that Daft Capo member. I have it admit, sheer luck spared us from undesirable fate.” Gundham narrated the whole ordeal between the Fellowship of Darkness and a certain feline menace.

 

“Hold on…..one guy did this?! One guy?!” Rintaro felt chills down his spine the moment he heard that all of that, all of those wounded, was the responsibility of a single person. Other Future Gadget Lab members felt the similar feeling of dread, now knowing that just one member can take down half of their group, if not capable of taking down the entire group alone.

 

“Correct, one warrior.” Gundham warned with a raised finger, demanding that their enemy must be respected. To underestimate the closest thing they had to an existential threat as of that moment would have marked their downfall. Luckily, the event gave them wisdom and fear not to do anymore.

 

“...I’m starting to think we might have severely underestimated our foe. If one member is capable of this...then I don’t want to image a coordinated strike from them.” admitted Kurisu, horrified at the prospect of teamwork among Daft Capo. Given that only few of them had actual combat experience with them, some of them being recent, the chances of their victories seemed slimmer by the each passing moment.

 

“I haven’t mentioned all of unfortunate events that happened to us. It seems like our enemy has found our hideout earlier than we did.” Gundham brought up an update of their situation, making them realize how truly hosed they were from his attack. Everything had to be changed from that point, since the enemy knew where were they hiding.

 

“...How exactly did that guy find out? Did they send out spies or something?” asked Rintaro with great concern, with his own tone sounding rather shaky.

 

“I would assume by pure accident. Even though there were spies, I doubt that they would be capable enough to track down our every step. We should make haste in finding a new hideout.” Gundham calmly admitted that he wasn’t entirely sure about how exactly was their headquarters exposed so easily. Rintaro looked back, seeing his unconscious friends once again. Among them, he saw Mayuri still comforting Chiaki, who was still looking down and hiding her true feelings regarding the situation. It was made clear what was the right thing to do.

 

“...After everyone returns. Lets just focus on that.” said Rintaro, noting his wizard friend that it would be best that their planes would be discussed after everyone is confirmed to be okay.

 

“Yeah...it’s better if everyone knows about it…” murmured Chiaki, agreeing with her scientist friend regarding that idea. Response of others was quiet, but they agreed to wait for others. And so they did, waiting in the unsettling silence of the unconscious.

 

Minutes latter, all of those who saw the battle with their own eyes and remained conscious entered the hospital room, not a single one of them remaining unphased by the whole ordeal. Even usually unflippant as Byakuya Togami was shaken by the event, although for him it already began by the presence of the feline.

 

“Speaking of everyone, here they are. Our allies have paid us a visit as well.” Gundham welcomed their presence as they took a look at the fallen again, since they had to carry them all the way from the warehouse to the school. They also noticed that their Future Gadget Lab allies, their only ones, were present there. Slight relief was felt upon their presence.

 

“It is a good thing you have arrived, fellow Future Gadget Lab members, especially in times like….this.” Sonia greeted them, although it was obvious from her expression that worries were dominant. Others felt similar feelings of anxiety, dread, perhaps even questioning if they even had a chance.

 

“Yeah...times like this….I wonder, how are you all? Everyone back in one piece?” asked Rintaro, just being sure that at the very least no one was gravely injured. Brief silence followed, with anxious atmosphere making the air harder to breathe.

 

“…Alive is the only optimistic thing I can say.” Hajime was the first one to speak about their situation. Even more optimistic of students couldn’t deny that Daft Capo currently had a significant advantage over them and such thought was not enjoyed at all.

 

“...Still hard to believe that one person could do...so much to them.” Kurisu put her hand on her forehead, with challenge of even imagining the situation still boggling her mind.

 

“Yeah, that cat was really strong too. Unnaturally so. I mean cats are predators, but this was just something else.” Akane added her comment, which revealed a fact that made the entire Future Gadget Lab metaphorically spit out their drinks. All of that damage, done by a single cat.

 

“All of this was done by a what?!” Kurisu’s voice became significantly higher the moment she said “what”, barely being able to imagine that a cat out of all things was able to inflict that upon Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“Excuse me, what?!” Rintaro joined in utter confusion as well.

 

“I mean, we do know that our enemy has an octopus, but…” Itaru attempted to rationalize what Akane just said, but little did he know the truth. Even though the octopus fella defied common sense, he had boundaries. He still functioned by some respect for natural laws of physics. The cat defied all of it.

 

“The octopus was comprehensible in hindsight! This thing was another level!” Yasuhiro gave a panicked although not too far off argument that the trying to understand what happened to them was an anomaly of biblical proportions. The question whether that would be a norm remained.

 

“It...it defied everything known to nature!” Byakuya remained in his state of utter shock even before the dreaded clothing of different times was out on. The thing was, no one had a proper answer. Not even Daft Capo members themselves would know of his power, although no one asked there.

 

“Maybe it wasn’t just a cat. It could have been like a cat from cartoons that can lift anvils as it wishes.” Mayuri let out a blind but good in faith guess on how could this cat be capable of knocking out more than the half of the Fellowship. Stunned silence followed, realizing that even though she wasn’t even there, she managed to hit the bullseye. She was literally pulling out ideas out of thin air, yet she managed to do it.

 

“...It...it was that...exactly that…” Makoto, just like others being baffled about it, confirmed with hesitation that they essentially got their butts kicked by a real life equivalent of a cartoon character.

 

“I-I wonder….what are our lives turning into? Some shitty anime or something?” Toko raised a question that would generally never be asked under normal circumstances.

 

“Shitpost, I’d say.” Itaru gave out an answer that would never be given under normal circumstances.

 

“...That is….somehow, the worst yet most appropriate comparison of what our lives are turning into.” Toko hesitantly admitted that despite the crass wording, he was ultimately right about it.

 

“Well, the silver lining is that we did beat him up!” Nekomaru tried his best to bring at least one positive thing about the whole ordeal. Even though he had a point, negatives vastly outweighed any positives.

 

“Yeah! Not only that, but there were a bunch of gangsters too...and we all fought! Man, finally got to punch a gangster in the face!” Akane agreed with his point, sharing just slight bit of her personal satisfaction that she had a chance to throw fists against their enemies. Others were still too shocked by the whole event, to which the team manager student noticed.

 

“If it weren’t for casualties though...they’re thankfully still alive, just knocked out. It will take a few hours for their consciousness to return.” Nekomaru pointed out that at the very least their friends will be back relatively soon. At least there was still hope for them.

 

“Is it possible for them to return today?” quietly asked Chiaki, not out of impatience, but out of dealing with ever increasing concerns she had in her head. It was visible from her eyes and her little frown that anxiety was beating on her heart big time.

 

“Hmmm….I am not sure….though they’ll likely be all up tomorrow.” Nekomaru expressed his sentiment regarding their return, for he wished the same as Chiaki. The nervous girl let out a little sigh of relief, but still clenched her fist as she held her hands close to herself. She was still trying to hide it all from others.

 

...Oh dear…please...return as quickly as possible...” Chiaki thought to herself, desperately hoping that she’d see her friends conscious and happy once again. However, due circumstances, worries flooded her mind. What if someone exploits the situation, was among them. A lot of remaining people had the same worries as her.

 

“Congratulations on your victory, it must have been one hell of a fight.” Rintaro said something to at the very least acknowledge that they have ultimately won the battle, despite the cost.

 

“It sure was...it sure was…” Nekomaru crossed his arms, knowing the cost of their battle. They all looked towards their fallen ones, thinking about what approach should they take. The time for them to be on defensive was running out quicker than they knew, but considerations of striking back were considered. The question was how to even start against them.

 

“...How can even we stand a chance if one cat can do this? Let alone...an entire mafia…” Hajime was the one to start their talk about dealing with Daft Capo.

 

“We...have to reconsider everything about it. Strategy and tactics….all of it. We can’t afford a situation like that or worse anymore.” added Sonia, thinking about possible ways to subvert mafia’s efforts, using her knowledge from experience.

 

“We must make haste too. The domino has fallen and it led us to a perilous direction.” Gundham pointed out that they must be quick about it, their time was running out.

 

“It is a fortunate that they were only knocked out…Fortune may not smile upon us in the future…” said Sakura, sensing the feeling of dread among the group as she warned them that it is only fate that could change its alignment.

 

“Indeed…” nodded Gundham in agreement, joining in brainstorming something to at the very least put a thorn in Daft Capo’s side. Then, one idea did pop up, One that the one who came up with it wasn’t looking forward to.

 

“Say...I’ve been thinking about it…” Fuyuhiko began talking about his idea with great amount of hesitation in his voice. Some of the folk already figured out what was on his mind.

 

“Hey, uh….I think I know what’s going on...are you sure about it, Fuyuhiko?” Hajime spoke out, letting his gangster friend to think about if it’s a good idea to bring his own clan to the conflict.

 

“Hajime...do you really think a single school has a chance against a fucking mafia?” Fuyuhiko raised his own point, still blunt as ever, but their encounter with the latest enemy proved that he was thinking in a right direction. Since the actual number of Daft Capo members were unknown to them, they couldn’t afford to be reckless. As much as some feared that it would escalate the conflict, Fuyuhiko’s suggestion would likely make things easier for them, even if its only marginal.

 

“...I mean...no…not at all.” Hajime, as much as he was filled with concerns regarding actual yakuza being involved in their conflict, had to agree, even if he hesitated. It would finally give them another ally, that time an actual organization.

 

“Besides, only external help that we got were penguins and Future Gadget Lab. Far from enough to even tackle a small syndicate.” added Peko to support Fuyuhiko’s decision of bringing his clan in the conflict. At that point, there was little room for argument if it was a moral thing to do: they were so utterly outmatched by numbers that desperate measures were taken.

 

“...Yeah, she’s right about it. External help would be of most importance, regardless of what it is.” approved Rintaro, remember that sometimes even he had to rely on organizations to achieve his goals….but when was that exactly?

 

However, even though he suggested it, Fuyuhiko still had some reservations about it.

 

“...Only if shit hits the fan, got it? Only then I’ll do it.” clarified Fuyuhiko that only if Daft Capo crosses a line so unforgivable that no one at Hope’s peak would hesitate to attack. Not even someone like Chihiro.

 

“I am afraid that “if” is already “when”, Heir of Kuzuryu.” Gundham reminded him that at that point he shouldn’t even bother hesitating regarding with his decision. Upon rethinking about it, Fuyuhiko realized how much weight did such decision carry.

 

“….Fuck.” gulped Fuyuhiko, secretly hoping that even if Kuzuryu clan gets involved, the conflict would be left at low scale. If it meant to bring in an actual criminal syndicate on their side against another criminal syndicate, so be it.

 

However, one certain individual managed to not only change the entire topic of discussion, but also the entire atmosphere was shifted when he pointed out that a certain someone, despite being conscious before. A certain avian, no less, the only one who managed to leave the battle with conscience.

 

It was Rico, pretending to be unconscious just so he could be there with his comrades.

 

“Hey, wait a sec….Does it feel like someone’s missing from our group, even though he was perfectly fine, relatively speaking, before?” Kazuichi pointed at the pretender by the name of Rico.

 

“Hey, penguin buddy! What are you doing here?” Nekomaru called out for him to join them, since there was no need for him to be there. The mad penguin did not respond.

 

“C’mon, you are perfectly fine! Come with us!” Kazuichi nudged him more, to convince

 

“Nuh uh!!!” Rico sprung out of his faked unconsciousness before the spat out the same wrench that he used to strike down the enemy’s private area to strike his own head. It was enough of an impact to actually make him unconscious, making him extend his tongue out of his beak, making a silly face in the process. Rest of the peeps were utterly confused by his action.

 

“...What was the point of that?” questioned Hajime, baffled as ever.

 

“I am just as mystified as you are.” Rintaro couldn’t give out an answer regarding inner machinations of Rico’s mind. No one really could.

 

After the penguin induced distraction, few worker like men appeared outside of school, to which they only now noticed. Those men were putting pieces of glass on the places where actual windows were supposed to be. Future Gadget Lab members only then managed to realize that entire school had no windows.

 

“Huh, windows? What happened to them?” asked Rintaro out of confusion, pointing at newly placed windows.

 

“They shattered when the cat yelled.” elaborated Sakura, with a straight face somehow. Considering that the same cat managed to knock out more than a half of entire Fellowship of Darkness, it was relatively less ridiculous to imagine.

 

“How can one cat...no, nevermind. It’s pointless to ask at this point.” Kurisu attempted one last time to question how could one cat be able to do that, but she gave up on it. Through odd times, they lived.

 

Unfortunately for them, their visit came to an end when the doctor arrived.

 

“I have come to inform you that doctors and nurses will take care of them from this point onward. You must leave this place….including you.” requested the doctor, giving a squint to Chiaki for staying inside earlier. Out of shame, Chiaki stared at the floor.

 

“….Okay….” quietly whimpered Chiaki as all of those who remained conscious left the hospital. However as they were all going home, Chiaki chose to just sit next to the door, intending to stay there until she is one hundred percent sure that they’re all safe and sound. On their way, Mayuri noticed that Chiaki stalled back. It gave her an idea to help her: Mayuri slightly tapped Hajime’s shoulder to gain his attention. Once the ahoge boy turned towards her, she pointed at lonesome Chiaki. Without even saying a word, Hajime knew what to do when it came to her. In sort of a way, Mayuri gave him a chance to get to know her better. Then he slowly approached her, in order to not scare her off.

 

“Hey...you wouldn’t mind if I accompany you, right?” Hajime asked her once he arrived if he could sit next to her.

 

“Mmm….it’s okay…” Chiaki, although still looking at the floor, allowed him to join her. If anything, she really wanted someone to be on her side during it, but if anyone asked her directly about it, she would have denied it, that everything is fine. However, Hajime knew that she had to open up, even just a little.

 

“You’re...really worried about them, aren’t you?” Hajime initiated the conversation with her, letting her speak as much as possible. He was looking at her, but her eyes were locked on the floor.

 

“I know that they’ll….be fine, I think...but….but….it just refuses to leave my head. Like what if something happens to them?” Chiaki, even though she was still hiding her true self, admitted that concerns were beating her mind into submission.

 

“I getcha, I’m worried about them too...so is everyone….but you won’t ever be by yourself. Ever.” Hajime promised her that even during the darkest times, she will always have someone to support her. She wouldn’t need to carry her own burden all by herself. He even gave her a slow, gentle pat on the back. His reassurance startled Chiaki as a strongly noticeable blush appeared on her already rosy cheeks.

 

R-really? E-erm…” Chiaki’s mind started to fumble, genuinely startled that not only was a boy telling her that he will be by her side, but the fact that he could (and would) back it up as well was something she could only afford recently. She wondered if she even earned it. Such reaction gave Hajime an entirely different image of her: not of a kind yet incredibly ridiculous friend, but of a lonely, scared girl who all ever wanted was affection and safety.

 

Oh...I’m starting to understand you more….” Hajime thought to himself as an instinct that was already within him only got reinforced. Chiaki desperately needed someone on her side, since for most of her life, she had no one. “Not only will they return, but you who still stand supporting you. You’ll always have someone on your side, including me.”

 

“Do I….no, nevermind…” Chiaki wanted to ask, but quickly took her words back. Even though she hasn’t even finished her sentence, Hajime knew exactly what was she going to say: that she didn’t deserve any of them. Despite wanting these things, she felt like others deserved more, even if she was sidelined through out her life.

 

“Of course you do deserve it, Chiaki. Don’t doubt yourself about that. Why wouldn’t a person like you deserve support?” Hajime reassured her by giving her a pat. With a gentle rustle of her hair, she succumbed to the pat. It was the first time someone opposite of her gender (as far as she knew) gave her a sign of affection like that. Concerns inside her head were curbed by the soft touch on her round head.

 

“...T….T-thanks…” stammered Chiaki as she looked in his eyes, with her shocked expression disappearing. Instead, an expression of complete relaxation appeared. Just seeing her so content made Hajime much more relaxed around her.

 

“No problem, Chiaki….Say...how long do you intend to stay here?” Hajime retracted his hand from her head, even though she secretly wanted more but was too embarrassed to ask, before he gave out a question for her.

 

“...Until they’re back…” murmured Chiaki, now keeping an eye on him instead of the floor. Even when slightly relaxed, she felt like going away could endanger her friends.

 

“That means...entire day….do you have any games with you, just so we don’t just sit there and stare at the ceiling?” Hajime asked once again, wondering what they could play during their time of having an “unofficial” sleepover at Hope’s peak academy.

 

“Hm….I should probably have it-” Chiaki checked her bag to see if there’s any game they could play. She always brings consoles to school, since life without games would be a boring one. Unfortunately, consoles and games in her bag got a first hand experience with sea water. None than less, she still tried to turn at least one console on.

 

The console was busted.

 

“Aw….bummer….they got soaked. They’re ruined now.” grumbled Chiaki, with a small frown resurfacing once again. Luckily, she had more at home, but loss of a console and a game was not something she was really happy for.

 

“How about we quickly go to your house and pick up some games? Time will go quicker and we won’t have to worry so much?” suggested Hajime to just take a brief visit to her house and pick up functioning games instead. Since the working hours of school were around the middle, there was no rush.

 

“Ah...that’s a good idea, I think. We should probably hurry before they close the school though.” Chiaki agreed with the idea, looking forward to spend time with Hajime and games.

 

“Alrighty then, for games we come.” Hajime stood up as did Chiaki and walked out of the academy. About an hour of a stroll in the city, they arrived to her house. Chiaki unlocked the door and let her friend in. Together they decided what games should they pick. Since the times were not the best, they aimed for more optimistic, happier games.

 

“Hey, should we go for this one?” asked Hajime as he pulled out a copy of a game that seemed to revolve around collecting monsters, from purple rats to giant space destroying reality ruling dragons. The keychain monster was the most dominant one though.

 

“Anything you want, Hajime.” Chiaki gave him freedom to decide any game he wanted. They were going to spend a long time at academy after all. Once he was allowed, he put the game in Chiaki’s backpack.

 

Upon picking the games, they walked towards school once again, taking about an hour to arrive. Luckily, the school wasn’t closed, so they returned to their spot without any issues. Thus, they played games all day, focusing most on that monster collecting one.

 

As they played for hours, at one moment, a certain ever present thought appeared again. An ever present insecurity he had, only increased further by words of a certain former classmate. He hid it from others, but he knew that he couldn’t hide it anymore. At the very least, he had a person to open up near him.

 

“Hey...can I ask you something? It’s been on my mind as late.” Hajime began talking about it, speaking in a much more vulnerable tone than he would usually.

 

“Hm?” Chiaki immediately picked on that he wanted to talk about something that was bothering him. Something that he has already confessed before.

 

“It’s about talent...I’m sorry if I’m overbearing you with this, but...there’s one question that’s been bothering me….did talent matter at all?” Hajime gave out a point for discussion, just wanting to make sure whether or not was talent really that important, especially in a fight against Daft Capo.

 

“No...not really. Talent is certainly not helping us in this fight. Like, what use is of me being good at games when...you have to constantly fight for real?” Chiaki spoke about her view on it, confirming that hyperspecialization on one skill only does not lead to anywhere good. Certainly didn’t help them against their latest enemy.

 

“I thought so….it’s all a big sham, isn’t it? All of our talents combined….yet half of us get defeated by...that….uh…fu....effing cat.” sighed Hajime, sounding like his entire view on the world was shaken, by a zoot suit wearing cat out of all things. Even someone like Sakura, for which she was known that no sane man would ever try to provoke her in a fight, ran away from the feline gangster.

 

“I wonder why does this school seem to focus so much on talent anyway? Those with talents have already a predetermined future...it’s really lucky that our class has Miss Yukizome...when is she...ah, I mean, she feels like only one that doesn’t really care about talent. It’s more about making our school lives as good as possible...well, about that…..yeah” Chiaki further added her opinion on the matter. As he listened, he was starting to believe her more. All those times Hope’s peak or even Japan as a whole presented talent as the ultimate goal, something everyone should strive for, was for disproven by the most unlikely of sources.

 

“Yeah, I’m h-honestly really glad that I got in this class….it’s a bit relaxing knowing that…” stammered Hajime, forcing a smile on himself, but deep down, he was still shaken by the whole ordeal. But it wasn’t just that, as his friend noticed.

 

“You’re...still hurt from before, aren’t you?” asked Chiaki with a much more serious tone than he is normally used to. Considering how much did he trust her, he didn’t bother to hide it at all.

 

“….If I have to be honest...yeah. Imagine if he found out that I have no talent….I’d be just “trash” to him, wouldn’t I?” confessed Hajime all he could, expressing what he felt that day. Upon hearing it, Chiaki’s expression turned quite stern, not like her at all.

 

“...I...I won’t let anyone degrade you this much anymore. No one should call you such things...ever. To think that someone had….audacity...to say things like this, even indirectly...” Chiaki promised him that no one will hurt him ever again, even if it meant that she would put herself in danger again.

 

“Well….what would you say that I am? Am I...really just someone mundane? Someone forgettable?” Hajime piqued her what were her thoughts on him. He wasn’t sure what to expect. Hajime trusted her well enough that she won’t think differently of him.

 

However, the response he got was much more different than he expected.

 

No. Far from it.” Chiaki suddenly fired back with a quiet, yet extremely sharp voice. A rather intense glare he received from her. It was less about her being angry at him, but rather making sure that he degrade himself. When she said anyone, that included him.

 

“H-huh?” Hajime nearly sprung from being startled by such reaction from hers. However, she continued in a much more relaxed tone, but it was also different. It was softer than usual, and she was pretty known for being soft spoken.

 

“Once our time at Hope’s peak is done, you’ll be one of the first people to remember. You will always have a place in...here.” Chiaki started giving reasons on why he is a lot more than he thinks, even pointing at her place where her heart is just to emphasize how much he means to her. Hajime couldn’t respond, he was too floored by it. Yet, she continued.

 

I still remember the first day, when we went to the class together….that was just one of many wonderful memories you’ve created. There are so many you’ve created, that I could go on for a long time...but another one that is still in my mind is when you went out to play games with me after….that happened….it was….ehe....really kind of you...in fact…” Chiaki reassured him on a much more personal level than before, confessing how many of his actions impacted her. She was really grateful for what her friends brought to her life and she wanted to do anything to show gratitude. Out of her volition, she suddenly grabbed his hand, which flustered him a lot.

 

“Even after this battle is over….even after our time at Hope’s peak is over….we could still find a way to go around places, right?” Chiaki looked at him directly in his eyes, showing off how much she trusts him. Her eyes were just full of innocence when examined. After getting his composure back, Hajime felt ease in his heart. It’s like she had an effect on him when she was around him.

 

“Y-yeah...of course.” Hajime, even though still flustered, let out a smile.

 

A smile that he hasn’t really given before. A smile showing utter relaxation on his end.

 

Oh my goodness...that smile…” Chiaki’s already red cheeks turned even redder upon seeing it. An experience like that was something she could only dream of before. Every time she made someone sincerely happy, it was a magical event for her...yet she felt something inside her too. Something that she couldn’t put her finger on.

 

“Thank you, Chiaki...I feel...much calmer now, knowing this…” Hajime responded not only with that, but with another pat on her head. At that point, the compliment made her really embarrassed, even when she did make him happy, she still felt like she doesn’t deserve any praise whatsoever.

 

“It...wasn’t really much…” Chiaki tilted with her head as she downplayed herself, like she usually does.

 

“No, it was...more than you think. You are doing a lot, but you’ll always have us on our side.” Hajime countered with another reassurance. That time, Chiaki was too flustered saying anything.

 

“Ehe...he…” giggled Chiaki, still having cherry red cheeks. Although, their talk of talent was not too unfamiliar with what she had on her mind, especially what recent experience has given her. “Say...this reminds me of something…”.

 

“Hm? What’s bothering you, Chiaki?” Hajime asked her about what’s on her mind.

 

“Well….it gave me a rather...crude wake up call so to say. It’s not just him, it’s others too...like that gangster that attacked Kazuichi...why do so many people lash out their anger at others for superficial stuff? Why do so many people refuse to look beneath the surface?” confided Chiaki about how much it bothered her that seemingly so many people attacked others for things they couldn’t control. Not only just the former classmate, but the gangster too, especially how he called her certain insults which would have given a massive reaction if it was heard in public.

 

“If I have to guess...either because deep down, they have a grudge against some people due to past trauma, or that they’re just really shallow...some people are unfortunately not gonna be friends, but you shouldn’t burden yourself with that. You should instead focus on people who are friends to you, who do look deeply into people. There’s a lot of people like that, but so are good people around. Just take a look at the group who’s on your side.” Hajime tried his best to explain to her on why people tend to be like that. He advised her to focus on those that matter to her, not so much on her enemies.

 

“Yeah...you’re right. We should focus instead on what we have...on who we can rest on...I think.” nodded Chiaki as she rested her head on his shoulder. Considering his experience with her, he just let her do it without any issues. And thus, they continued playing games together.

 

It was finally the end of that day, signified by the sight of night. They were still playing games, but they lowered down the volume of their consoles, so that no one could hear them and kick them out of the academy. They were surrounded with silence, a comforting one. Chiaki still had her head on his shoulder through out of it.

 

Suddenly, a person spotted them without those two dorks even realizing.

 

“Oh hello there, youngsters!” the old janitor politely greeted them as if they were his friends. Hajime got startled from his voice where as Chiaki just calmly listened to what would happen next, since she was focused on game. Perhaps she made herself less visible in a way with that.

 

“A-ah, good evening, Mr….excuse us, but what is your name?” Hajime responded with formality.

 

“Hahaha, no need to be formal with me. I’m just a simple janitor. Don’t worry, I will not kick you out of the school...I understand both of you...however, I do have to address one thing.” chuckled the old janitor before he had the need to point out something.

 

“What would that be, Mr.janitor?” asked Hajime, grateful that the janitor let them be there. Chiaki was also thankful for him.

 

“You two do not intend to sleep on the floor, right?” janitor pointed at the floor, knowing way too well how bad the solid surface of it is for anyone’s back. Perhaps it was due to Hope’s peak being his literal home.

 

“U-uh, we don’t have other options, do we?” stammered Hajime, not knowing what exactly to do.

 

“Ohoho, let me bring you something. No one likes sleeping on the hard surface anyway.” janitor walked off to bring something that would ease their sleepover. It didn’t take much time for him to bring two sleeping bags. He gently put them down, letting them take their present. “There you go. I won’t bother you two much, I know you youngsters love privacy. Cheers!”.

 

Then he walked away once again, leaving them be.

 

“He...he wasn’t a bother. He seemed pretty nice, I think.” Chiaki admitted that he didn’t seem like a bad person at all and that she would like to hear what kind of stories he had.

 

“Well, I just wanted for him to say thanks. Really considerate of him, for real...but now, I think…” said Hajime before he noticed that he was starting to feel tired. He went inside his sleeping bag and prepared himself for slumber.“...it’s time for us to dream about something. Something nice, hopefully.”

 

However, as she went inside the bag, her face was steamy red from embarrassment.

 

“Is there something wrong, Chiaki?” asked Hajime upon noticing how red in the face she was.

 

“U-um….erm….I’ve...I’ve...never slept so close to a boy before.” admitted Chiaki that sleeping near a person of the opposite gender was the source of the great fluster of hers. Normally, Hajime would be just as flustered had it not been for past events.

 

“What? You already did!” Hajime countered while being baffled by her embarrassment. The confirmation only made her more flustered.

 

“H-huh?! W-when?” Chiaki blushed so hard that if it were physically possible for a human, she’d be steaming.

 

“Past weekend, when you were literally sleepwalking in order to throw yourself right onto me.” Hajime answered her with an event he would never forget, for the better. As weird as it was, at least it was a soothing one.

 

“O-oh….sorry…” Chiaki felt ashamed of herself for not controlling herself that day while still being red in the face.

 

“It’s fine, Chiaki. Sure, you looked absolutely ridiculous during it, but it wasn’t anything bad. I promise you that nothing bad will happen.” reassured Hajime that he doesn’t hold ill will against her. Suddenly, Chiaki in her sleeping bag rolled over to Hajime, just wanting to be close to him. Now that she knew that he is okay with her being close, she looked at him in the eyes, giving him sort of a really vulnerable look, another not really often seen side of Chiaki.

 

“Hey...Hajime….promise you won’t do….anything unexpected during this, right?” Chiaki whispered to him about a certain fear she had. The suddenness of it threw Hajime’s guard off the wall.

 

“W-wha-I mean, I promise. I promise you’ll be safe here.. Nothing bad will happen.” Hajime promised her that there will be no nasty surprises. Chiaki smiled upon being trusted that, but her tiredness kicked in.

 

“...Sleepy….thank you...Hajime…” Chiaki let out a yawn before she slowly, but surely closed her eyes, entering the dreamland, her comfort zone, once and for all.

 

“No problem, Chiaki...you won’t ever be alone.” Hajime smiled upon knowing that she was now feeling content. In a way, just observing her like that made life easier than it seemed.

 

It’s actually...really calming to see her sleeping….wait, am I being a weirdo now?!” Hajime thought to himself, concerned that he would act weird to her, but he would keep his promise regardless. Then, he shut his eyes and joined the land of dreams as well, comfortable sleeping in the middle of the school.

 

Little did they know that they were watched within the academy.

 

Hidden with his camouflage, certain someone secretly sneaked outside of Hope’s peak academy as he began returning to his base. It was none other than Herman.

 

“Fuck! N.Tropy’s plan is sort of beanboozled by those two horny fucks! We can’t sneak in and grab her if anyone notices! I must tell my boi!” thought Herman to himself as he strolled down the city, returning to his normal golden colors. He even shook his tentacles like a fist.

 

Then, as if fate decided so, he met a person that he did not expect.

 

“What are you doing here, Kraken of The Land?” asked Gundham as the octopus received a glare from him. He was just taking a night stroll, to ease off his mind. Only known to him, he usually enjoys lonesome nights as he often takes one of his animal companions out. However, the stroll of that day served more of calming down his mind.

 

“You didn’t see anything….” Herman quickly changed colors to be “invisible” to him and ran away. Gundham didn’t bother chasing him down, as it would leave him vulnerable to being ganged up.

 

“Hm...such easy denial of truth. I shall report to my minions afterwards...but now, even taking this walk hasn’t calmed down my nerves from what I saw….I must discuss it with him.” Gundham thought to himself as he walked all the way to the nearest train station to get home.

 

Far away from the city, there was the Temple of The Supreme Overlord of Ice, where the most terrifying demons were being trained for the conquest of the world. No one dared to cross such land, for they feared the wrath of Tanaka.

 

In other words, a run down barn. There was no other house nearby, that was his home. It’s where he lived through out most of his life. Although he had enough to supply himself, he still lacked many things that a normal inhabitant of Japan would have, such as electricity. However, he seemed to be content to live there, as he was not alone. Animals of many species accompanied him, such as his Devas, his own personal goshawk and more so. Be it a herbivore, carnivore or omnivore, animals respected Gundham to the great degree. As for human contact, there was one, sort of. A hooded man, much taller than Gundham himself (no slouch in that department) awaited his arrival. His face was completely obscured by darkness of the hood. Not only that, but he wore such clothing that not a single piece of him could be identified

 

Once the tamer of animals arrived, they both sat down on around a petrol powered lantern and began discussing.

 

“Share your wisdom with me, The Ancestor.” Gundham inquired him of advice as he pointed at him.

 

“What is on your mind, my son? You seem quite troubled. Not usual of you to be like that.” asked The Ancestor as he noticed that Gundham seemed more distressed than usual. Unlike others, the chunni facade was an excellent disguise of his true feelings. Yet the only one who knew was his father.

 

“The tide of the war has shifted, The Ancestor. We have won a battle, but a victory is still out of our reach, especially after witnessing who our opponent was….He was….different from others. The Kraken of The Land was just a jester in the grand scheme of things, the one that relied on that person who was on our side yet was working against us was a small fry, the lackey who infiltrated was no threat….yet….he….he was different.” calmly elaborated Gundham, recalling all events he has seen with his own eyes and heard.

 

“May I hear more about this adversary, if it’s not too dangerous to discuss?” piqued The Ancestor, wondering what kind of enemy it was. He was one of the few aware that even mentioning some names might put one in mortal danger.

 

“He...had the appearance of an unusual house feline, yet his powers were comparable to the ancient vampire warriors. Such as him knowing the Divine Sandstorm, an ancient technique. How could a feline out of all beings learn the power of the ancients...is beyond me…” Gundham told him about the feline menace. Nothing was unusual for The Ancestor, but the mention of that

 

“Divine Sandstorm…” The Ancestor suddenly had flashes of past, a connection that transcended time. It was a memory of a person not of his family, but out of another. The one that he used to be colleagues with.

 

“Correct, my eyes were not deceiving me.” confidently confirmed Gundham.

 

“Does that mean….you have also seen...it?” The Ancestor brought up a certain topic that might be known only to them. Suddenly, Gundham remembered the musketeer figure that was observing him from distance. Chills were felt down his spine.

 

“I’m afraid...I know exactly what you are referring to, The Ancestor.” Gundham nodded, still calm despite the dread he felt. However, that was nothing but bad news for the Ancestor. The very situation he wanted to prevent was coming in full force.

 

“My son….my only wish for you was to have life free of peril...a life which was deemed normal….yet I’m afraid those times are running out quicker than before.” The Ancestor spoke in a somber tone, worrying that his child might face the same as he did.

 

“I am afraid so too, The Ancestor….for a while, I thought this was just a mere challenge. Life without challenges to overcome is not natural, however….the domino of Fate has decided differently. What must I do, The Ancestor?” Gundham did not hide from reality, yet he knew that that he cannot continue the fight without any help.

 

“Do you have anyone close to you in your school?” asked The Ancestor.

 

“….Yes, I suppose.” Gundham, although completely embarrassed to say, admitted that there were people he was fond of, especially a certain blonde royalty, since she always seemed to accept him no matter what. In fact, she found his persona to be awe-spiring.

 

“Heh, you have grown a lot more, my son.” chuckled The Ancestor, proud that his son was able to connect with people.

 

“For a longest time, I thought solitude was the way of life….perhaps certain events have...changed that.” confided Gundham.

 

“Well, I suppose I can give you my advice: make sure that those close to you are safe. Few things in life are as valuable as a friend on your side.” The Ancestor gave him an advice taken from his own experience. The Ancestor’s life was a writer of many stories, to which Gundham always took inspiration from.

 

“...If you say so, I shall follow.” nodded Gundham out of respect, deciding that he will do his best to keep his close ones safe, although deep down, he wouldn’t let them interfere with his ambitions.

 

“Now then, I think you should take a rest. All of such events have exhausted you, haven’t they?” requested The Ancestor for him to finally get some shut eye, since even though it didn’t seem like it even to himself, Gundham was feeling tired.

 

“Hmm….I wouldn’t say exhausted, but it is a good idea to store energy for incoming events. I must suspend my consciousness for some time. I wish you a night of blessings, The Ancestor.” Gundham decided to lay down on hay and enter the land of dreams once and for all.

 

“Peace be upon you, my son.” The Ancestor blessed him as he walked to his own pile of hay to lay down and rest. After a day forever marked by cataclysm, it seemed like the situation was finally cooling down…..

 

….or was it?

Chapter 35: Return of The Fellowship

Notes:

I got 4 BSOD during this day, I hope that this chapter is worth it. I'm going lowkey full steam ahead

Chapter Text

Serene morning of a new day finally arrived, making the whole incident with a feline warrior a thing of past. Despite such fact, the memory of the day before still reigned strongly. Even though the Fellowship managed to score a victory in a battle against him, fear of his return still lingered. However, the return of allies was anticipated by others.

 

Two dorks who remained in the school were the first ones who would see them awake from their forceful slumber. They were still sleeping in their bags, with Chiaki being noticeably closer to him than before. Knowing that, in her words, he did nothing “weird” to her, he gained absolute trust of hers. All that was heard that morning was the soft morning breeze and somewhat loud snoring of the sleepy girl. Somehow, Hajime managed to put up with the noise.

 

Soon enough, their sleep came to an abrupt end.

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!”.

 

Both of them were catapulted out of their sleep upon hearing the masculine sounding scream of pure terror. Raising their torsos without even unzipping their bags, they went on full alert.

 

“W-what the hell was that?!” Hajime thought in shock as he and Chiaki unzipped their bags and rolled out of them, standing up as they hastily entered the hospital room. Once they went inside, two students saw that someone was already awake. A penguin, in fact. Out of all people and three birds present, the leader penguin sat, staring at the wall with his bloodshot eyes.

 

“What’s going on here?!” asked Hajime out of concern as both of them approached the distressed bird.

 

“Tell me, my boy….tell me! Is the flag still stars and stripes?” Skipper looked at them in their eyes like a man dying on a battlefield as he gave them the question. Suddenly, the urgency was replaced by utter confusion.

 

“...I’m sorry, but what the hell are you talking about?” faltered Hajime upon hearing his words, completely caught off guard by a topic he expected least for that day. Chiaki was just as confused, as she tried to raise her finger to say something, but her mind was too puzzled to answer.

 

“America! Is the flag of America still stars and stripes and not hammer and sickle?” clarified Skipper, still sounding like he was in a traumatic incident. Not that it curbed the whole bafflement of his human allies. After a moment of them looking at each other, somehow being unsure about whether or not America was still America of today, they checked with a quick search on the world wide web. It turned out, the flag of United States still consisted of fifty stars and thirteen stripes, contrary to what Skipper’s fears told him.

 

“Uh, it still is. Why it wouldn’t be?” confirmed Hajime, still confused as ever.

 

“Hammer and sickle flag hasn’t been used since….1991...and we’re not in 1991, I think.” added Chiaki with uncertainty in her voice as she checked her phone again, revealing that it was, indeed, not 1991.

 

“Oh sweet mama Mary, for I am glad that this is the reality! America is still not a communist haven!” Skipper laid down on the bed out of relief as he let out a sigh. Neither Chiaki nor Hajime commented on his political stance as theirs wasn’t firm enough. Not only that, they were both confused on what exactly was Skipper talking about.

 

“...Did you have any weird dreams about it?” Chiaki, upon thinking about it for longer than he should, got an idea what Skipper was referring though. She had an experience with bizarre dreams as well, whether they be pleasant or fiendishly nightmarish.

 

“Yes! I remember it vividly!” Skipper jumped back on his feet as he started telling them about the whole dream:

 

“It was year 1989, when after increased tensions, Soviet Union has finally decided to strike on NATO. The Fulda gap scenario became real as the hordes of T-72’s came rolling down on West Germany. Grads, Migs, SAM’s, they were all there. Life expectancy of those who lived was measured in minutes. It was nothing but explosions...not the movie ones, the real ones, with shrapnel and all!”.

 

Both of them remained silent for a bit, surprised not only about the whole elaborateness of the dream, but also how uncomfortable it felt. Chiaki had a slight idea why: video games gave her a gist of the whole invasion of Europe by Soviet Union would be. A bloodshed that would exceed the one that happened through out forties and that’s just taking in consideration conventional warfare.

 

“….That’s...that’s a really horrible scenario...I can’t imagine how much death and devastation would be there….if it happened….I’m sorry you’ve had a dream like that, Skipper.” lamented Chiaki, getting shivers upon imagining the scenario. Death of one person was already line crossing for her, let alone carnage of millions. Hajime just stood silently, trying to comprehend the severity of such scenario.

 

“That’s not even the worst thing! What absolutely made this one of the worst nightmares I’ve ever had was….Tom led the commies!” Skipper revealed another thing that happened in his dream. They were both weirded out by the fact he didn’t consider deaths of millions of the whole scenario, but the named person caught their interest, as they haven’t heard such name before.

 

“….Tom?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity.

 

“Who exactly is this Tom character you are talking about?” asked Hajime, squinting at him.

 

“Are you two ready for a truth bomb?” Skipper pointed his flipper at them, just making sure that both of them were mentally prepared to hear about the identity of that Tom character. The penguin took a deep breath to prepare himself for it.

 

It’s the cat. The cat that kicked all of us in our butts!” Skipper, as he said, dropped the truth bomb upon them, causing both of them to be startled by such revelation. Such a mundane name for a creature that not only defied laws of nature, but spat on them. All sorts of thoughts went through their heads, with most notable being the one that was more or less “pride of Japan got absolutely bodied by a house cat named Tom”. Not exactly the most prideful legacy to have.

 

“...Are you saying that we and you, students of Hope’s peak and top secret penguin commandos, or whatever you call yourselves…..got beaten by A CAT NAMED TOM?!” yelped Hajime as he understood the fact that the very thing that kicked ideals of Hope’s peak in the groin had the simple Aramaic name that meant twin. His brain was starting to receive an overload of shock.

 

Thomas Jasper “Tom” Cat Senior, if we are being precise.” Kowalski woke up from unconsciousness with the speed of a spring, just to provide more information on their enemy. Chiaki was slightly startled, since she didn’t expect a recovery so quick. However, Hajime was still in shock.

 

“Kowalski, did you just wake up from your unconsciousness just to correct me?” Skipper asked out of complete bafflement from how Kowalski managed to pull out of the force induced coma just by the sheer need to correct something.

 

“Our answers must be 100% correct, Skipper.” Kowalski stoically replied, with utmost seriousness in his voice. That was his life motto. By that point, certain ahoge boy’s brains have already metaphorically melted from comprehending the humiliating fact of losing against a cat.

 

“W-wha….What DO YOU MEAN SENIOR?! I swear, it just-our lives, total shitposts, am I right? AM I RIGHT?!” Hajime started to freak out, flailing his arms as if he was in legitimate pain. All of those years looking up to Hope’s peak as some kind of ideal, a school that will make him someone worthy, was shattered by the simple reality that most of the talented folk were outclassed by him. Not to mentions, the fact that Tom, to put it crudely, had sex. Way ahead of everyone born before him.

 

“Uh, Hajime? I’m sorry to bother, but...I think you need to cool it. Just...take a breath, please.” Chiaki just gently placed her hand on his shoulder, startling him a little once he noticed the soft touch of her palm as he turned towards her. From her look alone, he could tell that she was afraid for him, that such reaction could damage him.

 

“Ah...sorry about that, Chiaki...just that….you know….how can we, as members of Hope’s peak academy, one of...erm...the most revered places in whole Japan….got utterly wrecked by a cat named Tom?” Hajime, as Chiaki said to him, took a deep breath and slowly collected his thoughts. He still couldn’t shake off the humiliation, although those present at the time of Tom knew that he had every right to be afraid of.

 

“I mean, you’ve seen how he was…” Chiaki gave him a reminder that even though he looked like a feline, he was anything but. Nothing about him was natural after all. However, it wasn’t just Chiaki who expressed concern for Hajime.

 

“This crooked latrine of an academy has completely gotten into your head, hasn’t it?” Skipper called him out for his view on Hope’s peak. Needless to say, the ahoge man had a hard pill to swallow upon hearing such opinion.

 

“I’m sorry, but what did you call Hope’s peak?” quivered Hajime not out rage over being defensive over Hope’s peak, but rather out of sheer surprise of Skipper’s audacity to compare one of the most supposedly revered institutions in the whole Japan got compared to a toilet.

 

“Exactly what it is! This whole place is one big scam! Talent, pfft! It’s just an artificial title to bolster up...whatever they plan to. They let anyone in, I swear! The day when we see something like Ultimate Serial Killer, Ultimate War Criminal or Ultimate Hippie, I swear I’m going to get cognac at this point.” Skipper further argumented as he vented out a decent amount of his frustrations regarding the said institution. Due to recent events, the ahoge man was inclined to believe him, although he still had reservations.

 

“I...I know about the talent thing being a sham, but I’m pretty sure they wouldn’t let actual war criminals or serial killers inside, right?” Hajime tried to argue that Hope’s peak at least had decency to not do that, but even he wasn’t entire sure. He looked towards Chiaki, hoping that she had more faith in school. “….right?”

“Hmmm…...I dunno. I hope not, but they did let people like Ultimate Scammer and Ultimate Procrastinator inside….so maybe?” Chiaki replied in a contemplative tone, noticing that it wasn’t exactly right on the mark on how Hope’s peak got two Daft Capo members inside. That didn’t exactly raise Hajime’s high hopes for the academy, but both of them had a point. One must base their thoughts in reality, after all.

 

“See, Chiaki gets it!” Skipper complimented her about the observation. Considering that he kept calling her “Marshmallow face”, it felt kinda weird her. Although she would normally deflect any praise, she was starting to lose track on what were they talking about.

 

“This conversation has sort of went all over the places. From…..hypothetical Fulda gap scenario to the cat to now talent….I think, while we wait for others, can you guys tell us more about this….Tom...uh….enemy?” Chiaki quietly advised to focus on one aspect only: their dreaded adversary.

 

“Well, he had a beard just like Lenin-” Skipper started to recall how Tom looked like in his dream, especially remembering that he had the exact same pose as the aforementioned dictator of the Soviet Union when he rode T-72 Main Battle Tank into the battlefield. He was also dressed in a suit, proper for a politician.

 

“The real one, not the dream one. The real one didn’t have a beard like Lenin, I think.” Chiaki redirected him towards the real one, who was wearing the dapper zoot suit instead of a business suit. Somehow, Hajime was very weirded out upon hearing her say a surname like that.

 

“This is where I come into play, so let the man of science speak.” Kowalski announced that he would be the one to do a little info dumping regarding their adversary.

 

“Go for it, my man.” Skipper allowed him with zero hesitation. Kowalski took a deep inhale to mentally prepare himself for elaboration of a force few could comprehend.

 

Thomas Jasper “Tom” Cat was a former Hollywood star, famous for his improvised live action theatrical shorts by the name of “Tom and Jerry”, where he collaborated with his partner Gerald Jinx “Jerry” Mouse. They defined not just American culture, but worldwide as well. Their show started in 1940, where-”.

 

However, his exposition came to a brief, but abrupt interruption.

 

“Hold it...hold it….Kowalski, are you saying that he’s from 40’s?!” Hajime was starting to panic again upon learning that Tom was actually a fossil when it came to age.

 

“What I was actually saying that his show started in 40’s…..No historian nor scientist know how truly old is he…and plethora of other questions that would make my mind receive a meltdown if I think about it too much.” Kowalski further elaborated, with the new revelation making this feline figure much more mysterious. It was starting to affect Kowalski’s mind as his voice started to become more fearful upon revealing more information regarding Tom. That was just an average effect on trying to know things barely comprehensible to the man.

 

“Uh...just to get the picture, what’s the life expectancy of cats?” asked Chiaki, curious to know on how truly anomalous Tom was compared to a normal cat.

 

“It’s around twenty years, Chiaki.” Hajime gave her an answer right off the bat, always open to helping her with anything. Such gained knowledge gave a clearer picture for her on why Tom was defying nature.

 

“Huh….so that means Tom should have lived until 60’s, I think.” Chiaki scratched her chin as she thought of reasons why Tom was able to live so long. She was only surface level with trying to comprehend such a force, so the migraine did not hit her at that moment.

 

“Intriguing observation you have, Chiaki, because according to the official sources, Tom has disappeared from the public image in 60’s. No one knows why….no one know HOW did he-no, I’m thinking of it again! Just thinking about him is like…” Kowalski started to tremble from sheer power of thinking about Tom before he managed to regain his composure.

 

“Ill omen?” Hajime raised his eyebrow as he gave the word to him.

 

“Something like that but more scientific. Can’t put my flipper on it.” Kowalski scratched his beak with his own flipper as his brain was lost in thought.

 

“Hmmm….if Tom is so old, does that mean that Daft Capo is also older than we think?” Chiaki gave another question for them, curious about the true age of the adversary criminal syndicate.

 

“Nope, I can assure you that Daft Capo is one hundred percent relatively recent thing….about ten years old, judging from documents. They rose to power really quick.” Skipper confidently answered, knowing all to well from the files they snatched through out their conflict against Daft Capo.

 

“Ah, I see. Your information has been really useful. You should tell that to others too. Thank you, Skipper.” Chiaki did a little bow to show gratitude not only for just telling them more, but supporting them through out the entire conflict. Had it not been for penguins, it would have very likely be that Hope’s peak would be under Daft Capo’s control just days after Herman would launch his initial attack.

 

“No problemo.” Skipper put his flippers around his stomach like a confident boss. After their talk, another person broke out of their forceful slumber that they couldn’t control.

 

“….Nyaaa…..can’t believe my childhood idol was the one who beat my butt into oblivion,...nya…” Faris slowly rose from her bed as she rubbed her eye. The maid cat girl had a small frown on her face, along with a somewhat defeated look in her eyes.

 

“Faris?” Hajime shifted his focus towards the wounded cat girl. Even though for all teasing she has done for him, he couldn’t help but being concerned for her. She was his friend after all.

 

“Feline Fatale! Tell me your status!” Skipper pointed his flipper at her, demanding that she reports everything she could.

 

“Ah, welcome back, Faris. How are you?” Chiaki warmly greeted her, just wanting to know if everything was okay with her.

 

“Nya…..pretty busted all things considered. I haven’t even realized that we were facing Tom. That show was one of my favorites when I was a child. I always rooted for the cat, nya...since you know-” confided Faris while also expressing her enthusiasm for such live action show, even though she was disappointed that the icon among cats just beat her up. All that changed when she looked around and saw what her former idol did to her friends. All those who have fallen were still lying in their bed, all unconscious. Her irises shrunk as a realization hit her.

 

“...Oh my goodness….he did all of that?” whimpered Faris in a voice that managed to surprise those who were awake. It felt more genuine, a voice of a fearful girl just looking at the consequence of fighting against such a force. Neither penguins realized it before they looked around as well, seeing just how much damage was made the day before.

 

“Oh, sweet mother Mary of Joseph! Tom….is capable of this?” Skipper startled upon the sight, with Kowalski just remaining silent about, even though he was just as shocked.

 

“….Yeah….” Chiaki and Hajime both nodded at the same time, while having the uncertain feeling of regret regarding the incident. They felt like they could have prevented it in a way, even if it was just faint hope for reassurance. Faris quietly observed the room until her eyes were laid upon her close friend Ibuki. It was at that point when the memories started to flood back, with not a single one being even remotely pleasant at all.

 

“...I...I remember it all now….and I thought he was just a...cat...” Faris trembled as she started to recollect the whole event. Not once once before Tom went serious did she think about that the cat was capable of such devastation.

 

“We all thought….but, I’m not sure if it’s appropriate to say….but we did beat him.” said Chiaki with a more optimistic smile. Even though the fight was something that they will remember with dread, she wasn’t wrong that the outcome was their victory. Both penguins and Faris were quite stomped in surprise by such statement.

 

“Hold it right there, Miss…..How?!” sputtered Skipper as he gave attentions towards those who remained conscious through out the entire incident.

 

“Hmmm….probably because of our strategy relied on coordinated attack….and I think part of it is luck too.” Chiaki expressed her thoughts while also admitting that the lady luck was on their side too.

 

“If we require this much for one member, this is gonna leave us with...a lot of problems in the future.” Hajime pointed out that they’re more or less hosed if Daft Capo decides to perform a coordinated attack on them, unless they were more than prepared.

 

“You’re on point, Hajime. Now we just need to change our approach-” Skipper started to give suggestions regarding fighting the criminal syndicate in the future, only for his eyes to meet with a sight he did not expect. “Just a sec, what happened to you?”.

 

The gang leader, now covered in cast almost in entirety but his face, laid on his bed. Others were at least knocked out, but he had a special lack of fortune for having a considerable amount of his bones broken.

 

“...Yo.” Mondo mustered as much as he could, though he couldn’t turn his face towards those who were conscious.

 

“Ah, glad to see you, Mondo...but….you’re….uh…” Chiaki greeted him, although it would have been awkward to ask if he was alright, considering his physical state.

 

“My bones are fucked, man. That bastard hits like a truck.” Mondo clarified, struggling to just talk normally.

 

“We know, but how exactly did you get your bones broken by him?” asked Skipper, curious about how out of everyone present, he was the one who had his skeleton considerably damaged.

 

“I...don’t know really. Last thing I remember was his hell of an ugly mug.” muttered Mondo as his mind was nothing more than a blur. All he could picture was him charging at the feline menace like an angered bull. Luckily for them, a certain avian woke up from his oddly self inflicted state of unconsciousness by raising his flipper.

 

“Rico! You have something to say. Tell us!” Skipper ordered him to spill the beans. Rico gladly complied as he stood up and started imitating the incident. Firstly, he started with an imitation of the biker man, mixed with an angry bull. Rico showed the person seething as he mimicked the charge, only for him to switch side, making an imitation of the menace himself. Contrast to the first one, he stoic with his eyes filled with thirst for physical violence. With a swift movement, Rico displayed how Mondo got his bones broken: with a lightning fast uppercut that managed to break the ceiling.

 

Those who watched got the general idea. However, the participant of the event was unable to.

 

“..What did he say?” asked Mondo, since he couldn’t translate grunts of Rico into a comprehensible language.

 

“He said that you received an uppercut so hard that you went through the ceiling? Is that right, Rico?” elaborated Kowalski, which immediately gave Mondo a crisis. It was confirmed that a cat managed to not only beat him, but severely damage his bones as well.

 

“Uh huh.” nodded Rico, cementing such fact.

 

“….What the fuck? How? How did that-” questioned Mondo in bafflement, along with his complex regarding strength kicking in. Worst thing was that his entire class saw what happened to him, even those who looked up to him for his strength were shaken by such sight.

 

“Don’t question it, for the sake of your mind.” Kowalski advised him to not repeat the same mistake as he did, as in trying to comprehend

 

“Yeah...best not to….” Hajime agreed with the tall penguin.

 

“Yeah...I’ll take your words, dudes. Don’t worry too much about me, I’ll be….strong….yeah….strong….” Mondo attempted to reassure them, but his “must be strong” complex was already surfacing up. They believed his words, although there was one uncertainty left.

 

“...Also, why did you hit yourself on the head again?” Hajime turned towards the mentioned penguin with a squint. Rico responded with pointing his flipper at his comrades with a determined look on his face.

 

“Forgot to mention, but there’s a cemented “Leave no man behind” policy among us. This applies to the whole Fellowship as well.” answered Skipper, giving a clarification on why exactly Rico refused to leave his colleagues behind. It became clear to them and they didn’t judge him for it.

 

As they had their talk, a horned person awoke from their slumber, slowly as her cat girl friend did before.

 

“Ibuki! You’re awake!” Faris looked towards her musician friend with a smile appearing on her face. The maid cat girl’s voice also returned to her normal, squeaky self, as fear was replaced with relaxing reassurance. Ibuki’s awakening did not bring comfort just to her cat friend, but to other Hope’s peak students as well.

 

“Morning, Ibu-” Chiaki wanted to greet her as warmly as she did to others, but she stopped herself once she, along with others, noticed that something was off with her musician friend. For one, her eyes were rolling as if she came right out of a cartoon. With a tongue sticking out, she swayed side from side like a pendulum.

 

“Pfffrrrrrrttt...blblblblbl……..prrrrrr……” Ibuki attempted to talk, but all she could do was make noises. A rather odd cry for help. However, her cat girl friend knew in what condition she was: Ibuki having scrambled brains again. Happens every time when she gets remotely dizzy.

 

“Oh yeah, just one second.” Faris hopped off from her bed, preemptively grabbing her own pillow as she grabbed Ibuki’s shoulders.

 

“Ibu-nyaaaaaaa!” Faris shook the Ibuki like a bell, forcefully ending her dizziness. Once Ibuki returned to her normal self, a memory flash happened inside her brain. She remembered Tom’s transformation from a silly cat into a beast. Ibuki became mortified as her skin became completely pale. For a concerning amount of time, Ibuki just sat silently, staring into nowhere with nothing but dread. That meant only one thing.

 

“Oh heck, it’s happening! Penguins, give me another pillow!” Faris alerted that a potential major damage of everyone’s eardrums was incoming.

 

“Affirmative!” Skipper just threw his own pillow across the room. With a little hop, Faris managed to catch it midair and prepared herself for the possible audio disruption. Once it all flashed back to her, Ibuki put her hands on her face like a ghost hunting plumber, with inevitable coming. Just before Ibuki could scream, Faris gagged her with two pillows, severely dampening loudness of her scream. If she tried enough, she would have destroyed windows with resonance of her scream. After it seemed like she stopped yelling, Faris removed both pillows from her mouth. Judging from her expression, it seemed like she was genuinely afraid, not just exaggerating for fun.

 

“C-c-cat?! W-w-was- that….c-cat?!...Zoot...Z-zoot suit?!-” Ibuki, once her mind returned to her, started panicking, still having flashes of the confrontation with the enemy. She was trembling as a whole, as others picked up on it.

 

“Calm down, Ibuki. Just take deep breaths, okay?” Chiaki stepped towards her and grabbed her hand, letting her to breathe. Seeing Chiaki there, not flashes of the enemy, helped quite a bit when it came to soothing her. The gentle, warm voice of her friend lifted off weight from her heart. “It’s going to be fine...we’ve already dealt with him...for now, I think.”.

 

Ibuki just took a few deep breaths and closed her eyes for a moment, trying to filter out past events, so that she could focus on present. One that showed that not only will her friends support her, but one where everyone will be alright in the end. She just sat there, shut eye as she was trying to mediate in her own way.

 

“I think it’s best to just let her process everything...we should now focus on what’s happening now. The fact that we’re seeing you guys returning...is already a sign we’re on the right track.” advised Chiaki to not dread upon the past, but to rather combat with present.

 

“It’s probably for the best if we talk about...past events, to say at least, later…” Hajime concurred with her advice, knowing that they must prevail in order to end the conflict between the school and the criminal syndicate.

 

“Good idea, my colleague. We’ll deal with this once we’re all in tip top shape.” Skipper approved of her idea, deciding that they’ll discuss further plans after everyone comes back and is in the right mind. Just as they said that, the one who followed was none other than the little programmer himself. He really took some time to get up as he kind of struggling to get up due to lacking energy. His friends noticed him once he managed to rise from the bed.

 

“Ah, Chihiro! There you are!” Chiaki greeted him as she was getting increasingly relieved that more of her friends were coming back. Although her happiness came to a halt when she saw in what state was her programmer friend. The look on his eyes was dead, with a blank frown accompanying it. Her smile disappeared upon seeing him like that.

 

“….Hi.” murmured Chihiro, not even making eye contact from the sheer shame he felt regarding himself. It wasn’t just that, as everything he believed in was also shaken by the incident of the previous day. Just from his voice alone could be told that he was holding back tears.

 

“Is everything alright? You seem…” softly asked Chiaki, wanting to do her best to help him on any trouble he had.

 

“I’ll….I’ll talk about it...once I’m ready. Just...not now…” mumbled Chihiro as he rested his head on his arm, promising her that he will talk about certain issues once he is in the right state. Even though an insecurity regarding unable to help her friends kicked in for a bit, she nodded, respecting his wish.

 

“Take your time with it. Don’t force yourself about it.” suggested Hajime, also respecting his wish regarding opening up to what bothered him.

 

“...Yeah...that’d probably be the best….” Chihiro concluded the conversation as he went through emotions. Small flows of tears went down his face, even though he was trying his best to hide it from them. His friends still wanted to reach out to him and help him carry the burden, but they didn’t want to put pressure on him.

 

As the time passed, another one awakened, a person, as much as they didn’t favor it, known for their skills in baseball department. He groaned as he lifted himself from the bed. The noise was heard among those who were awake.

 

“Yo, Leon! I can hear ya!” Mondo greeted him in a friendly way, even though he couldn’t see him. However, it was not the greeting that were Leon’s first words after being unconscious.

 

“Goddamnit! I could have hit him if it wasn’t for the wind, I could have hit him!” Leon slammed his fist on the bed, lamenting the fact that he could have dealt damage during Tom’s attack and possibly give others a chance. Alas, Tom’s position at that time remained uncontested. However, those who did not see such extent of Tom’s capabilities raised their eyebrows upon mentioning the natural force of air.

 

“Wind? What do you mean?” Private woke up from his slumber out of a sudden when he heard the word. Penguins and the biker man were just as intrigued on what he meant by that.

 

“Oh hello there, Private! Good timing on your awakening.” Skipper welcomed him before he focused on baseball player’s statement. “Anyway, what do you by wind?”.

 

“Hm...how should I put it? It was like….tornadoes out of his hands. Like, really strong tornadoes! We were toyed around it.” Leon started telling them about the incident when Tom unleashed his wind based attack upon those present in that warehouse. Those who weren’t there couldn’t believe it.

 

“Leon, what the fuck are you talking about?” Mondo sincerely asked since he had no idea how to even imagine it.

 

“I’m not making shit up, it really happened!” insisted Leon that his eyes weren’t deceiving him, that it was not an illusion, but a cruel and cold reality.

 

“Yep, we can confirm this. We were witnesses as well.” Chiaki backed up his claims, since she, along with Hajime and Rico, saw it all.

 

“And there was like...an entire aerial whirlpool and he generated dubstep somehow!” Leon further added, much to confusion of others.

 

“...So what you’re saying is that Tom can GENERATE DUBSTEP TORNADOES?!” Skipper’s eyes became wider when he heard that the cat was capable of such power.

 

“I-I don’t even know at this point!” Leon grabbed his head with both of his arms as he was starting to get symptoms of “trying to comprehend Tom’s power”, which would always end in a mental breakdown.

 

“Let us not think about it! I can already feel my brain deep fried from having mere thoughts about it!” Kowalski advised him not to overwhelm himself with power he cannot comprehend. As they had their conversations, two girls joined the consciousness realm, the idol and the detective respectively. They were just as slow in terms of waking up as others were, with taking some time to get a full grasp on situation.

 

“Is it...is it over?” Sayaka timidly asked once her vision became clear. Her skin was pale from fear, just like Ibuki, who was starting to return to her true self at that point.

 

“It is...for now. We can relax now, I think.” reassured Chiaki as she placed her hand where her heart was. Her innocent smile have Sayaka some reassurance that things will turn out to be okay, even though it seemed like dread was dominant.

 

“T-thank goodness…” Sayaka hugged herself as she started at the floor, still trembling regarding the previous incident. The fear struck deep within her. However, Kyoko’s reaction was much calmer, with her trying to comprehend previous events.

 

“...What even happened?” Kyoko asked herself, not knowing what happened after she was knocked out of the fight. Despite seeing the whole incident with her own eyes

 

“Later, please.” Kowalski stopped anyone trying to clarify the situation, since it genuinely had negative effects on anyone’s brain. Soon more people woke up, with those being Mahiru, Mikan, Hiyoko, Makoto and Kiyotaka. As more of them got up, the atmosphere within the hospital room was starting to get lighter. The procedure of waking up was same as others, however reactions different.

 

“Mahiru! You’re alive!” Hiyoko cheered once she saw her redhead photographer friend awake. She jumped off the bed and immediately gave her a hug. Mahiru, even though her cheeks became red, returned the hug with gratitude.

 

“You too, Hiyoko! It was just so scary…” Mahiru tightened the hug, embracing her little friend with affection while expressing the fear she felt during that day.

 

“Y-yeah...it was…” Hiyoko, unlike in any other circumstances, trembled as she shared the same fear. It was a rare moment when Hiyoko was not just verbally attacking anyone. In a way, others knew what she felt and couldn’t blame her for it.

 

“Aaah! I-is he still here?!” yelped Mikan as she nervously looked around to see if Tom was still around. Luckily, the only animals were just penguins.

 

“No, we defeated him...for now.” reassured Hajime, but still cautioned them that it was very far from over. It was just a new phase in the conflict.

 

“Phew….that’s one less thing to worry about...I-I guess…” Mikan sighed in relief as a moment of silence followed. Oddly enough, she was fully prepared for Hiyoko to lash out on her, but it didn’t happen. She was too busy being comforted by Mahiru. Truly, times were getting strange.

 

Huh, Hiyoko didn’t attack me after speaking up? What is going on?!” thought Mikan to herself, noticing how ever since two words that went by “Daft Capo” were uttered, their world was turned upside down. Nothing could be expected anymore, not even the most ordinary things.

 

“...Just one sec.” Makoto looked around as well, out of concern instead of fear. He saw that most of the previously fallen ones were awake, with only few remaining. Even though worry was his primary thought, fear was already planted inside his subconscious. “Everyone else okay?”.

 

“We’re all alive, to say at least.” confirmed Hajime, but not in the most optimistic tone, considering how many of them were impacted by the incident.

 

“Good gracious, that fiendish agent of chaos! He must be stopped!” Kiyotaka shook his fist to scold the enemy, still thinking that the fight went on.

 

“Already stopped, my man. Don’t worry about.” reassured Skipper, letting him know that the battle was won. But a won battle doesn’t mean a conclusion.

 

“Oh, he was dealt with? Well then, but still! He must pay for amount of disorder-” Kiyotaka still cursed the cat until his eyes were laid upon Mondo, his “bro” so to speak. “Good heavens, bro! What happened to you?!”.

 

“That fucking cat happened, bro.” answered Mondo with concise frustration towards the enemy. Then, one girl who was already awake fully returned, to her true self.

 

“Okay so…..Ibuki’s like, seventy five percent back and I gotta say….how many times have we said cat this day?” Ibuki scratched her head, trying to relieve stress from the whole situation. The question caught a lot of them off guard, but their minds began to relax, with hope and resilience ever so growing.

 

“A lot.” answered Chiaki as she raised her finger. She let out a small smile, knowing that her dear friend was fully back.

 

“Ah, good to know. So, let’s see…” Ibuki pointed at people who were still awake, counting them to see how many of them were still unconscious. It turned out that only one person was in need for a return. “With exception of one, we’re almost all awake! Then we’ll all do the sentimental return stuff, like we usually do!”.

 

Oh right, the chef got up too, I guess.

 

“I mean, who could have forgotten me?~” Teruteru immediately started acting seductive, thinking that his return was grand and all.

 

“Bleh…” Hiyoko blew a raspberry towards him before she continued hanging out with Mahiru. Everything was getting right on track, back to normal, if it weren’t for the remaining person: Chisa Yukizome, still lying with her eyes shut.

 

“So...only Miss Yukizome remains for now…” Chiaki’s smile disappeared when she looked towards her still unconscious teacher. She hoped that her beloved teacher would return soon, the anticipation was eating her up.

 

But then, it happened. Although very slowly, Chisa opened her eyes, finally returning to them.

 

“Oh my goodness!” gasped Chiaki as she did a little hop, beaming with happiness. “Miss Yukizome!”.

 

However, such emotion didn’t last long once Chisa got up. A blank stare, accompanied with a sorrowful frown on her face. Her teacher just remained quiet for some time. Chiaki’s smile disappeared, replaced with a concerned look.

 

“Miss Yukizome, is everything alright?” asked Chiaki.

 

“….Hey, Chiaki….hey, everyone….” murmured Chisa, trying her best to stay cheerful, despite being unable too. Others were concerned for her as well, but they let Chiaki talk to her, since they already knew how close these two were.

 

“What’s wrong, Miss Yukizome?” asked Chiaki in a much more quieter, concerned tone. Just before Chisa could say anything, the door was opened out of a sudden. Chiaki and others were startled by the sudden noise, but luckily, it was just the rest of Fellowship.

 

“Fuwahahahaha! Just like the fate intended for us to see our awakened henchmen of darkness!” Gundham announced the arrival of the Fellowship of Darkness, with just right amount of boastfulness he always had. Not only were there Hope’s peak students, but Future Gadget Lab was also present. All of them waited for their return, just that Gundham picked the right moment for the reunion.

 

“Gundham, my wizard man! It felt like eternity since I’ve seen you!” Skipper smiled upon his appearance, knowing that they were all back together.

 

“Yet it has been only a day.” Kowalski pointed out that it wasn’t even that long, despite the previous day dragging on like there was no tomorrow.

 

“It was a useless gesture of yours to make us wait for it.” grumbled Byakuya due the fact Gundham deliberately made them wait for the very right second of their arrival.

 

“It’s the moment that counts.” Sonia, however, looked at the more positive side of Gundham’s action, as she greeted them with a bright smile on her face.

 

“We’re here too. We must stand close to each other, no matter what happens.” Rintaro pointed at his own group, assuring that they’ll be on their side regardless of circumstances. Thus, those led by Gundham went inside, prepared for the reunion.

 

“Kyouuumaaaaaaa!!!” Faris leaped towards Rintaro and hugged him, initiating many reassurances and cuddles that were had that moment. Rintaro was rather startled by her movement, but he let her have her moment. Being beat up by Daft Capo twice in one’s life was already enough. Everyone made it so that every single moment they had was savored.

 

“Mayushiiiii!!!” Ibuki did the same as Faris, but instead Mayuri was the one being hugged or rather in her case, utterly cuddled and rubbed with Ibuki’s cheek. “Ibuki’s one hundred percent back, baby!”

 

“Ibu-chaaan! Mayushii’s so glad to see you!” Mayuri happily returned the hug as she gave Ibuki pats on her back. Many of them did the same as the atmosphere of the room was blistering with hope, the one that anyone could truly get behind. However, some couldn’t physically participate in the reunion, as noticed by some.

 

“Hey uh, what about you? Are you going to be alright?” asked Kurisu once she noticed state of the biker dude, worried about his well being.

 

“Nah, don’t worry about it. I’ll...overpower this….and kick that cat’s ass!” reassured Mondo, promising that he will get a piece of pie with the taste of Tom’s defeat. He needed few more days to recover, but once he’s ready, he’ll do his best. At the very least, he happily watched the reunion.

 

However, they couldn’t spend an entire day celebrating. They still got work to do.

 

“The doc said that you should all be free to get out of the hospital room, so what are you all waiting for?” said Nekomaru as he pointed towards the exit, suggesting that they should call it a day and just relax after so long.

 

“You’ve heard the man! Now, lets move it!” ordered Skipper as nearly all of them left the hospital room, with only a few remaining. Those being Chiaki, Hajime, Mondo and Chisa.

 

“Seeing them all back...heh….it was amazing wasn’t it? I’m just glad that they’re all still keeping their heads up…” commented Chiaki with a smile on her face, finally feeling relaxed after what were quite adventurous days. After all battles fought, she could take a breath again.

 

“Yeah, it really is amazing…” Hajime agreed with her as he gave her a pat on her back. Something about Chiaki feeling relaxed gave him second hand comfort, knowing that she will be safe.

 

“Hell yeah, dudes….you did great.” Mondo cheered for them, even though he would be one remaining in the hospital room for some time.

However, Chisa was the only one that still had a frown on her face. Her feelings were eating her up inside and she felt like control on her emotions was just seconds away from breaking down.

 

“...Can you come to my office, Chiaki? We need to….discuss….something….” quietly asked Chisa, deciding that she will open up to her. To her, Chiaki felt like the right person to confide.

 

“Of course, Miss Yukizome. Anything you want.” Chiaki nodded without hesitation, been wanting to discuss with her before the reunion, if only they weren’t interrupted at that time. Hajime immediately noticed that Chisa would prefer if they discussed it privately, so he respected their wishes.

 

“Alright, I’ll be awaiting you outside. Sounds good?” Hajime opened the door for them, letting them have a talk in peace. Chiaki nodded, promising that she will return to him once their discussion is done. Thus, they departed their way, even if it was just for a short amount of time.

 

As they walked through an empty yet comforting hallway, they reached her office. Chisa opened the door as both of them occupied their seats. Chisa took the one where she usually does paperwork, where as her student took the one opposite of hers. The teacher rested her head on her hand as she nervously tapped the table. Chiaki’s anxiety grew upon seeing her like that, since usually she is always energetic and cheerful. That day was different. It felt like something broke her beloved teacher.

 

“What’s wrong, Miss Yukizome? You seem….really down….” Chiaki began, placing her arms close to herself due to ever growing nervousness. Chisa looked at her in the eyes, having similar anxiety, but instead it was about whether or not she should confide to her.

 

“...How should I start this? I mean...I don’t want to burden you….” murmured Chisa, knowing way too well that Chiaki has her own issues that she refuses to open up on, yet she was the only person available that Chisa knew she could show more of herself. It seemed really unfair for her that one student should not only carry burdens of her own, but of others as well.

 

“It’s gonna be fine. What matters is that you let out your feelings. Can you...tell me more about it, please?” Chiaki insisted that she should open up. Even though she would carry a burden of another person, it didn’t bother her that her own ones were stockpiling. As long as others were happy, so was she.

 

“...I can’t exactly...pressure you about this but….do you think I am a good teacher?” Chisa still hesitated, but she couldn’t hold it in anymore, letting out one of the major insecurities she had: being ostracized by others, since she did everything differently. Perhaps it was by her co-workers, with exception of Koichi Kizakura, that she felt that way.

 

Her student’s response was quick and concise.

 

“Of course you are! There’s no doubt about it!” Chiaki stood up from her chair, saying her statement in a rather defensive way, as if someone was secretly insulting her teacher. For a moment, Chisa’s irises shrunk upon hearing it, genuinely surprised that Chiaki still thought of her so highly after the incident.

 

“...You think so…even after that? Even after….I failed to….protect...even...just one…” Chisa ‘s lips quivered as she began to tremble. Her heart became heavier with every second passed.

 

“You didn’t fail, Miss Yukizome. You did your very best. If it wasn’t for you….many more of us would have been hurt.” Chiaki spoke from her own heart as she pointed out that even though she was defeated, she still prevented much more damage than she thought. Warmth could be felt with every word Chiaki would say.

 

“...Just...one…” stammered Chisa, but before she could say anything anymore…

 

She broke down. Tears rolled down her cheeks completely out of control. Chiaki was beyond startled to see her own role model, who loved her presence every day and even pulled her out of her darkest days, bawling in front of her eyes. She was beyond terrified, but she couldn’t leave her own beloved teacher like this. Instead, she gathered up courage and slowly approached Chisa.

 

“It’s all going to alright, Miss Yukizome. Together, we’ll overcome this...and we will all have happy lives onward. Together, we will be stronger….stronger than anyone who tries to hurt us...but all of this wouldn’t be possible without you, Miss Yukizome…” Chiaki slowly embraced her with a hug, gently patting her back to soothe her as much as possible. Chisa returned a hug, but she couldn’t muster a word. Her emotions were just pouring out.

 

“Let it all out, as much as you can….I don’t want you to hold any burdens anymore…We should do this together...right?” Chiaki comforted her as she offered to carry anything that was dragging down her beloved teacher.

 

“….N-na...Nanami….” Chisa uttered as much as she could, even with tears still falling down.

 

“Please, say anything you want, Miss Yukizome. I’ll do as much as I can...and I’ll be always there for you too.” Chiaki’s soft, warm voice guided her to let it all out. No longer would she be all by herself, her teacher would have someone on their side too.

 

“...Sorry….I’m sorry….I couldn’t even...protect one of you….from being hurt….I’m...I’m horrible...I am a horrible person….” Chisa no longer hid it anymore, revealing that despite her cheerful exterior, she was not too different from Chiaki: one who values others over herself and would willing tear apart herself if she failed them. All of that resonated with Chiaki, but she remained strong.

 

“...That couldn’t be further from the truth, Miss Yukizome. You’re...one of the best I have ever met. Not just as a teacher, but as a person too. Not only do you bring happiness in our class, outside our class and even outside of our school…..you showed me what happiness is. I’ll forever remember the day when we first me...it will always be...a cherished memory…” Chiaki admitted it all, regarding how strongly she felt for her own teacher. She brought up the day where Chiaki was in a similar position as Chisa was. That day was the first time they ever met, the day where she was accepted at Hope’s peak academy. Chisa remembered it as well, realizing that not only she did something good, she changed someone’s life for the better. The feeling of guilt was fading away, but she couldn’t stop her own tears.

 

 

“Without you...I wouldn’t have been the person I am today….Thank you, Miss Yukizome...Thank you so much…” Chiaki’s lips quivered as if she was still holding her emotions back, tightening the hug as much as she could make it comfortable.

 

“….You’re...you’re an angel, Chiaki. My...little angel….” Chisa gave her head pats as she looked at her in the eyes. There were still tears, but what Chiaki saw was something she would remember forever: a gentle, comforting smile like she hasn’t seen before. Seeing her own teacher like that gave relaxed her as well.

 

“I’m just your student, Miss Yukizome…but I will do my best for you.” blushed Chiaki as she tried to look away from embarrassment, but she tried her best to keep eye contact.

 

“Chiaki….you’re much more than my student..….” Chisa gently caressed her hair, revealing that Chiaki was something truly special to her. Her little student blushed even harder, not sure what she meant by that, yet she accepted it. Both of them kept hugging each other, with smiles on their faces.

 

After everything was set and done, both of them exited the academy. Just like he promised, he waited on the bench near the fountain.

 

“Ah, here you are, Chiaki….and Miss Yukizome too?” Hajime greeted them, although he was surprised that his own teacher was there.

 

“Yeah, we are gonna go home together, though we won’t have a sleepover.” Chiaki explained her presence as she held her hand.

 

“Busy day tomorrow, after all...heh…” Chisa rubbed her eyes as she spoke with a much calmer, lower tone. Hajime noticed that her cheeks had marks of tears on them and immediately became concerned for his teacher.

 

“Uh, Miss Yukizome? How are you feeling today?” asked Hajime, wondering what happened with these two.

 

“Don’t worry about me too much, Hajime…I’m just...you know….a really emotional woman at heart. Let us go together, shall we?” reassued Chisa, promising him that she was strong enough to handle it. Hajime joined their way home as well, noticing how kind of cute it was of Chiaki to trust her own teacher so much that she would hold her hand as if Chisa was her mother. Perhaps she might have become at this point, considering how much she gives to her. They all went to their homes happily, no longer having to deal with stress of the day before.

 

Little did they know they were being watched.

 

“Look at that shameful display, Muttley.” winced Dastardly at them holding hands. Dick and Muttley were observing them from their Mean Machine from a distance enough that Hope’s peak people wouldn’t see them. He was also waiting for the green light.

 

“Gah! Cringe!” gawked Muttley, sharing his opinion with his mustached friend.

 

“You know what’s the worst part about this? She’s an adult...that’s right, Muttley. The very person who has punched Herman in the face, a person over age of eighteen, is holding hands with her own teacher as if she was her mother. Can you believe that, Muttley?!” ranted Dastardly, which warranted an obnoxious snicker from the dog.

 

“Now I understand why Herman goes off his knocker if we even mention that womanchild. My pride couldn’t handle it if she were one who could kick my rear...not that it would happen! Anyway, Muttley! Do you know why are we here?” rambled Dastardly as he rested his head on his hand before he changed the topic.

 

“Uhhhh…” Muttley scratched his chin, wanting to know what his friend meant.

 

“Because those jerks deliberately left me out of their plan, I’ve decided that we’re gonna make a move on our own! We will show them, especially that insufferable peacock of a clock man and his bloodthirsty megalomaniac henchman, that my name is infamous for a reason!” Dastardly elaborated that he had his own plans after being deliberately left out of the main plan, which was still work in progress.

“Oh...problem…” Muttley pointed out one problem: they were already out of school and their target couldn’t be properly located.

 

“You are mistaken, Muttley. We are not attacking today...we are attacking tomorrow, mwahahahaha!” corrected Dastardly as he let out a boastful laugh.

 

“Ooooh!” Muttley got the idea as he snickered with malice.

 

“Soon that scrub zone will know the name of Dastardly!” Dastardly shook his fist towards Hope’s peak academy, giving them a sign that he will be just as fierce as other Elite Bois, that he will bring the pain towards so called scrubs.

 

The green light appeared on the traffics lights and Dastardly continued his patrol, as he would report anything he would see before striking Hope’s peak academy itself.

Chapter 36: Daft Capo's Paradise

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Drat!”.

 

Double drat!”.

 

Triple drat!”.

 

The Mean Machine broke. Again.

 

“Snazza frazza rashin' fashin', stupid machine!” grumbled Muttley as he was busy fixing Mean Machine’s engine that was powered by an improvised rocket propellant. The car of the mischievous racer was being maintained inside the headquarters, a heavily modified and fortified warehouse. It resembled less of a warehouse and more of a World War 2 style underground complex. The maintenance took on the ground floor. That was where machines were being tinkered with, although Mean Machine was a common guest. Few of punksters with knowledge of mechanics assisted them.

 

“This is like fourth time in this week alone! I swear, I am sick of-” grumbled Dastardly as he was fixing the engine. Just when he couldn’t get any more frustrated, a certain Elite Boi dropped in to say some few words.

“Just get a new car already, Schlongman!” mocked Fritz while also being genuine about his co-worker’s necessary replacement of his car. Not only was Mean Machine basically on life support, it was also draining Daft Capo’s budget.

 

“Fritz, call me that again and I will show you sharpness of my tongue!” threatened Dastardly as he pointed his index finger. However, his threat was met with a laughter.

 

“Your tongue is as sharp as a ball, but seriously, you really need a new car. This sixties’ shit machine can’t keep going on forever.” Fritz reminded him to get a replacement real soon after he had a laugh. Not an often occurrence that he spoke genuinely to him, the rocket shaped car and its avoidance when it came to retirement annoyed Fritz to no end.

 

“What, so you can shill Mercedes like you always do?” Dastardly sassed back, knowing Fritz’s tendency to elevate cars of that brand. He even had one, a Formula One at that.

 

“Hahaha, can’t blame me. There’s a reason why their cars are considered first class.” Fritz shrugged in a friendly manner as he couldn’t resist to throw a compliment towards his favorite car manufacturer.

 

“First class won’t exactly help me fix my freaking car, ya know.” fumed Dastardly, thinking that Fritz would be better off if he actually assisted him in fixing his car instead of constantly taunting him and then treating Mercedes-Benz as the king among car manufacturers.

 

“Why fix it when you can sell it for scrap, get the dosh and get a new one?” Fritz suggested that he should just say goodbye to the Mean Machine and use that money to get something more modern and respectable.

 

“Look...First of all, this car has a legacy. Second of all, if it works, it works, no matter how old it is.” Dastardly justified his decision to keep personal car, even though its racing debut was back in 1968. The fact that it still ran even to that day was a display of Dastardly’s dedication of keeping the car running.

 

“But it’s going to shit itself within a week! What good does it a legacy do when your car is a ticking time bomb?” Fritz argued while pointing out that constant breakdowns were massive flags for a new replacement.

 

“Fine then! Suggest me a car that isn’t Mercedes!” Dastardly let him suggest, just so he could poke fun at him for having bias. Every Elite Boi seemed to have some strong opinions regarding many topics, from trivial to vital ones.

 

“Hmmmm…..I think you’d like….hmmmm….Ford Mustang?” Fritz scratched his chin before giving him an option of, much to Dastardly’s surprise, an American car.

 

“Mustang? Which one?” Dastardly became legitimately interested, although he wanted to know that Fritz wasn’t pulling his leg as he would suggest a dinosaur of a car.

 

“GT, this generation.” answered Fritz, confirming that his help was done in a genuine manner.

 

“Oh, that’s...not a bad choice at all. I’m surprised to see you suggest an American car, Fritz. You’re usually Herman level bias when it comes to German cars.” noted Dastardly after he accepted Ford Mustang GT as his replacement for Mean Machine. He has lowered his guard, knowing that he could be able to have conversations with him instead of Fischer Fritz constantly taking a dump on him every time they would speak.

 

“Well, I am from America. Ohio, specifically. Boring as fuck state, I vastly prefer Florida, hence I moved. Just that my father was from Bundesepublik, back when it was split in two.” elaborated Fritz, telling him more about his upbringing. Due to his job, Fischer’s father, from whom he got his surname from, moved from West Germany to Ohio. He was, funnily enough, working in an automobile industry.

 

“You never feel like one, to be honest.” admitted Dastardly that Fritz’s German side was much more apparent than his American one. Fischer Fritz’s birthplace was a fact often forgotten by others who know him.

 

“I just prefer German stuff, you know….from Bundesrepublik onward. Everything before and what came from Deutsche….ahem….”Demokratische” Republik is pure shit though.” said Fritz as he made a quotation gesture when mentioning the “democratic” part of East Germany’s official name. Even though that nation was long gone, Fritz still had resentment for it, along with his nation’s darkest period. For some reason, Dastardly was relieved to hear that at least Fritz had some self constraint.

 

“At the very least you’re not like Herman, who’s-” Dastardly was just about to compliment him, an occurrence that normally happens under the blue moon, when another Elite Boi dropped in, the one of a cephalopod king.

 

“Did somebody say recommendation for cars?” Herman bursted in, already feeling excited that he could begin gushing about automobiles of Italy.

 

“...Oh brother….” Dastardly rolled with his eyes as he rested his head on his hand, already mentally prepared to listen to highly nationalistic praises of land based vehicles.

 

“I have picks just for you! Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lancia, Fiat, you name it-” Herman started spitting him suggestions like a machine gun, filled nothing but passion for these Italian brands. However, one of his suggestion immediately caught Herman’s attention.

 

“Hold the phone…..Fiat?! Are you for real, Herman?” Dastardly squinted at him, wondering if the octopus lad was having a laugh. Suddenly, Herman’s enthusiasm turned into a full defensive mode, thinking that an Italian car company was being disrespected.

 

“Do you intend to insult Fiat?” Herman squinted back, performing two kinds of motions: one of a raised eyebrow (octopuses do not have any hair as far as I am aware) and of as a cracked fist, performed by four of his tentacles.

 

“No, I just want to ask why Fiat?!” repeated Dastardly, only not understanding on why would Herman hold Fiat so highly. To him, Fiat was comparable to something like Toyota: respectable, but not too important.

 

The answer was received quite shortly afterwards.

 

“Do you even realize how culturally significant Fiat is? Without Fiat, no ordinary man could drive in Italy! Fiat has truly perfected the concept of “people’s car” and it is a prime example of Italian superiority! Sure, Lamborghini and Ferrari are for gods, but Fiat is the one who leads the peasants! Not to mention, Fiat is the one who gave a chance for other car manufacturers to rise, even though their quality pales in comparison to Fiat! By Mama Maria, they even made planes! Planes that truly display the marksmanship of an Italian man! Do you still intend to insult Fiat?” fumed Herman as he fired off multiple typical Italian gestures per second. The mustached racer was flabbergasted by his response, although one thing was unclear for him.

 

“….Fiat made planes?” asked Dastardly.

 

“...Yes? You did not know?” Herman calmed down as he did the “raised eyebrow” motion again.

 

“No, I genuinely did not know. Can you inform about this? For brevity’s sake, tell me about one plane that Fiat made.” elaborated Dastardly as he requested Herman to inform him about it more, so that the octopus lad could back up his claims.

 

“Fiat G.91!” Herman gave out an example of an Italian aircraft, the one that had its first flight in late fifties. A fighter-bomber made in collaboration by Fiat Aviazione and Aeritalia, it came out of the NBMR-1 (NATO Basic Military Requirement) program. Herman hesitated to mention planes made through out forties due to him considering that period to be a dark age.

 

“Oh, that’s the one that Luftwaffe had. I like that weird nose Sabre looking thing. Shame it was kind of outdated by the time it came.” Fritz raised his finger as he noted that air force of West Germany (Luftwaffe, not to be confused with previous Luftwaffe) also wielded one, although it only came at the age where everything was starting to master the supersonic flight.

 

“Yes! Although, I must admit….that is not my favorite plane.” said Herman as he continued to talk about aviation, redirecting the topic await from his revered company.

 

“...What? You seethe at me for implied roast of Fiat, yet you say it’s not even your favorite?” questioned Dastardly, baffled that he spent so much energy defending Fiat, only for him to say that they’re not even in their prime.

 

“Don’t get me wrong, Fiat is an excellent automobile manufacturer….but when it comes to planes, Aermacchi wins. No contest. I mean, can you even compare anything to pure sex that is MB-339?” Herman calmly defended his opinion on the matter, clarifying that each company had mastered building of different kinds of vehicles. Herman’s choice of words regarding things he really liked was not met with surprise, they were used to it.

 

“Which one is that again?” Dastardly scratched his head, not exactly being familiar with jet aircraft as a whole, especially compared to his knowledge regarding pre-war era aircraft.

 

“Frecce Tricolori!” Herman shouted with all the triumph and pride he had inside his three hearts. He even turned his skin into tricolor of green, white and red. Luckily, Dastardly knew what he was referring to: an Italian aerobatic team, consisting of nine Aermacchi MB-339PAN trainer aircraft that were specialized for them.

 

“Ooooh! That’s….not bad at all, actually! Must admit, you do have a good taste in planes. Even though I am more of a fan of propeller planes, that’s a pretty good choice. My personal favorite is Dreidecker, it’s just a classic design.” Dastardly expressed his opinion, approving Herman’s choice since, according to him, was an aesthetically pleasing machine. Although, Dastardly’s taste was more old school, perhaps due to his experience with aviation. He even had his own private biplane, to which his father of the same name likely used to a catch a delivery pigeon.

 

“Ooooh….Frecce….Frecce Tricolori! I hope that once we take the scrub zone, Frecce Tricolori will fly over for us! When I think about them, I can only say…...FORZA ITALIA!!!!!!!” boasted Herrman as he performed a motion of slapping his own chest like a gorilla before raising his arm like a revolutionary. Amid his rather passionate speech, so to say, an idea popped up.

 

“That’s actually an awesome idea, my man! We should organize that!” Fritz snapped with his finger as he pointed at his octopus friend with delight. Back when Daft Capo was in Europe, at least some of them (Herman, Rando, Fritz and Dastardly. Tom, Wile E.Coyote and N.Tropy were deployed in Asia), they took a chance to see their performance, along with some other. Funnily enough, seeing them unite over something as Frecce Tricolori made feel Dastardly relieved for a bit.

 

“Hahaha! That would be great! You know, I like this topic, as long as-OH, FOR CRYING OUT LOUD!” Dastardly’s relief did not last long when another Elite Boi decided to barge in and join their conversation.

 

You fly a biplane.” Coyote smugly pulled out a sign, not even wasting a second attacking his mustached driver co-worker.

 

“Did you really have to show up just to flex at me, Coyote?” Dastardly’s mood soured harder than a moldy lemon as he retaliated, rolling his eyes the moment he saw what Coyote had in store for him.

 

You fly a biplane. You deserve to get roasted.” Coyote just turned his sign to mock him even more. The whole conversation became the usual: attack the Dick as much as possible.

 

“You don’t even fly anymore, you are not qualified to talk.” countered Dastardly, bringing up that at the very least he was an active pilot. A fact that Coyote was especially not fond of, although he had secret plans to remedy that.

 

“By the time you got your hands on that excuse of a flying vehicle that failed to catch a pigeon, I was contributing to the coalition effort to take down the biggest regional threat and the 4th largest military back in 1991, ensuring that every single wingman came out alive.” Coyote’s smug attitude quickly turned into anger as he thought that Dick Dastardly, who flew and is still flying his own biplane, could equate himself with someone who was not only active through out Operation Desert Storm, but Operation Desert Shield and Southern Watch as well.

 

“Urghhh, you’re bringing up Iraq again! Listen, I do not mean to disrespect your service, but you legitimately only bring it up to dunk on me!” Dastardly backtracked a little so that he wasn’t seen as someone disrespecting a military man, but he pointed out that he only mentions his service to him just to belittle him.

 

“You never ask about it. Besides, I don’t think a pilot who drives an aircraft with the top speed of 90 knots can compare to one who flew the triumph of thrust over aerodynamics, a holder of many records through out decades and was the backbone of NATO for a considerable amount of time?” Coyote still insisted on fighting for the point that as a pilot, Dastardly was an equal.

 

“...How much shit can fit on a single sign?” Herman pointed at his sign, just wondering not only how can he make one on the fly, but have entire paragraphs written on them.

 

“You flew the F-4, right?” Fritz decided to switch the topic, since he already knew what exact plane did Coyote fly back in the days of Gulf War. Although in a much more niche role than before, the aforementioned plane served as a major component in coalition effort to make Saddam leave Kuwait once and for all. He remembered not only his service, but how the aforementioned plane was also in Luftwaffe, even though it was a different variant.

 

“McDonnell Douglas F-4G Wild Weasel, that is correct.” Wile E Coyote specified the exact type of Phantom II he flew there, confirming the fact that his task was Supression of Enemy Air Defenses (SEAD for short, Destruction of Enemy Air Defenses was left for F-16CJ Fighting Falcons.). In other words, radar busting.

 

“Oh shit, man, you were a Wild Weasel. Damn, you truly have balls of steel. There’s a lot of things I would throw my hands at, but I wouldn’t fuck with a SAM. Those shits are crazy scary, man.” Fritz gave him respect for his service, knowing well that such job is considered to be one of the most dangerous in the whole United States Air Force department.

 

“Those were the best days of my life. I miss them a lot, really.” Coyote boastfully grinned, although he wished he could fly the Phantom once again. Thanks to his high wage at Daft Capo and just being more resourceful about it, he could potentially snatch a private Phantom, so that he could enjoy flying it again.

 

“….You call being at war best days of your life?” asked Dastardly, not out of bafflement or frustration, but out of concern. Coyote’s statement made him genuinely worried about his mental state.

 

“I hold nothing but pride within myself when I reminiscent every single SAM I busted. Ah, the day where I took out four Fan Songs all within 24 hours was simply the best!” Coyote gave out another sign with a boastful grin on his face as he reminiscent the day where he took out four of those components within a single day, possibly even at once.

 

“Fan Song? What is that?” piqued Dastardly as such terminology flew over his head. Surface-to-air missile systems were not his field of expertise, although only a few even had proper knowledge of them in the criminal syndicate. In response, Coyote lifted a sign with a picture of it. For some reason, the presence of Fan Song gave Dastardly goosebumps, in a “I feel unsettled by this” way. It reminded him of World War II radars, except it seemed smaller and more mysterious.

 

“...again, what is that?” asked Dastardly while feeling like Fan Song was going to jump at it. He has been exposed to the world of SAMs thanks to Coyote.

 

“Fire Control Radar of SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile system. An essential component for the V-750 two-stage missile to get a lock for the impending interception. Without it, the SA-2 is out of commission.” Coyote lifted out a sign that gave a very brief summary on what Fan Song does for SA-2 Guideline (Russian: S-75 Dvina).

 

“So, you are taking pride in that….must have not been difficult, since you survived the whole thing.” said Dastardly, foolishly thinking that because he had stand off munition a la AGM-88C HARM, it was an easy job. He also sneaked in a jab at him, noting how Coyote had an infamous reputation of exploding not just in Daft Capo, but through out his entire life.

 

“May I remind you that Fan Song must be on in order to be engaged?” Coyote, with a much more serious glare than before, lifted a sign that gave Dastardly a cold reminder on what he did at his job. It took him some time, but Dastardly came to a realization.

 

“….Are you telling me you have attacked it WHILE it was firing upon you?!” asked Dastardly, once again out of concern. The following Coyote’s sign said only one thing:

 

“Yes.”.

 

“….Coyote, y-you’re mental. No other words than...that you’re mental.” responded Dastardly in the only way he could.

 

“YGBSM forever, baby!” Coyote just lifted another sign that had a cartoony icon of a weasel on it. He pumped his fist, forever sealing his pride as a former Wild Weasel pilot.

 

“To be fair, that’s exactly what Wild Weasels were supposed to do ever since Vietnam. Coyote’s not an exception.” debated Fritz, speaking out of memories of all the things Coyote shown him every time they had a talk. Considering that was a norm, Coyote’s antics were, relatively speaking, expected.

 

“Fair point, I guess….” sighed Dastardly before he suddenly raised his guard, squinting at other Elite Bois.

 

“...What?” Coyote gave out a sign, questioning his state of alertness.

 

“Oh, I thought that one of other Elite Bois will come here just to mock me.” Dastardly lowered his guard once he realized that the rule of three did not apply to that moment.

 

“N.Tropy’s busy with his plan, you know.” Fritz pointed out, considering that one factor delayed their operation to do what was on the master of time’s mind.

 

“Good. At least he’s out of the line. I don’t wanna hear that peacock say anything. At the very least Tom’s always quiet, so here’s that. Where is he now, though?” Dastardly let out some of his frustration with the blue skinned leader of Elite Bois before asking where the quietest yet one who just recently delivered a blow Hope’s peak would take a lot of time to recover. Not just physically, but in a way of morale as well.

 

“Alleyway, with pigeons.” Coyote lift a sign that displayed the exact location of Tom. A red dot was placed on the map, along with a big stop sign, showing that it was dangerous to go there. Not because of Tom, since he was on their side, but because of pigeons.

 

“Oh right….I am not going into that rabbit hole, since pigeons of Zona Daft Capo are definitely something else for sure.” assured Dastardly that he would never look deeper into the dark arts of pigeons. No one but Tom dared anyway.

 

“He’s keeping them satisfied with the forbidden genre so that they don’t shit all over Zona and take over our balconies. A well adjusted compromise, I say.” said Fritz with crossed arms.

 

“Yeah, right…” grumbled Dastardly as he rested his head on his arm again.

 

“Haven’t you forgot someone though?” Herman gave him one very unfortunate reminder, at least for him.

 

“...D’OH! WHY DID YOU HAVE TO MENTION HIM, HERMAN?!” Dastardly started losing his mind over a mere implication of a certain recently ascended Elite Boi. When it was time for him, Dastardly knew what was ahead.

 

“He’s the new one, he should deserve to get a mention.” noted Herman as he raised his tentacle like an index finger.

 

“If I was in charge of Elite Bois, I’d deport him to Albania just like we did with that stupid sponge and his equally moronic starfish bandit. I bet he’d like every single second there!” ranted Dastardly, not unlike the very person he hated the most in the whole syndicate.

 

“We know.” Coyote just lifted a sign with an unamused expression.

 

“Now excuse me, I have to do obligatory check on him, because he does the craziest things when alone.” announced Dastardly as he started walking away from Mean Machine, just to see what nonsense was the implied Elite Boi doing. As he went upstairs, one interruption prevented him from fully leaving the gang at the rocket shaped and propelled car.

 

“I have one very serious question, Dick.” Herman raised his tentacle like an arm.

 

“Make it quick, Herman.” Dastardly allowed him to have a say, but he was not pleased with stalling.

 

“You know, I never really thought about it, but….why do you have a rocket engine in your car?!” Herman asked out of frustration as according to him, rocket propellant was the last type of gas to use for cars. None of Mean Machine’s design choices made sense to him. Fritz and Coyote also gave him a look, curious regarding his decision to have a rocket propelled automobile.

 

“I will answer that later.” Dastardly decided to deal with such question once he’s done with obligatory check in. As he started to navigate through the empty and sterile hallways of the headquarters, with walls made out of pure concrete, he gathered his thoughts, just to not lose his mind the moment he would talk to him. He had a particular walk, typical of Daft Capo personnel, that made him seem quite wide and boastful. However, the disgruntled driver was not looking forward to any of this.

 

After navigating through the labyrinth of hallways, he managed to reach a metallic door. On outside, it was just an ordinary door with a number 1995 on it, but Dastardly knew what was inside. He opened the door, revealing to himself a room with a giant map of Balkan peninsula on it that suspiciously replaced Serbia with a sea. It also had drawn Tomahawks on it, still bombing the location despite being flattened so much that only sea water remained. Noteworthy is that Serbia was by all means a landlocked country. The map was accompanied with a 1:1 replica of a BGM-109C Tomahawk cruise missile without a booster. The owner deemed it a sacred weapon, thanks to its role in NATO intervention in Yugoslavia. Another object of interest was a movie poster of Borat, placed next to the map. Aside from such decoration, only things that the room had that were of interest were a computer, bed and basic furniture. The inhabitant of the room, Rando Gyroswaggerić, was at that moment browsing the internet while aggressively eating kebab.

 

“What are you doing right now, Rando? It better not be something insane, like it usually is….” asked Dastardly as he busted in without knocking on the door. He prepared himself for whatever insane answer will his dreaded co-worker give to him.

 

“I’m watching Indians and Pakistanis duke it out. It’s about Kashmir, again.” answered Rando with his mouth full as he invited him to take a look, zero shame about the topic he read on.

 

“...For what purpose are you watchin-” sighed Dastardly with a weary look, only to see what was on the monitor.

 

It was, lets say, a strongly opinionated comment with grammar of such incorrectness that it would make blind people wince just by feeling it. There were also a lot of laughing and flag emojis.

 

Truly a lot of them.

 

“HOLY F-I mean, how can anyone say that without any sense of shame and remorse?!” Dastardly’s eyes widened upon seeing the comment, in shock on how anyone could be even capable of saying such things, let alone get positive attention from it.

 

“I like them, they’re honest people. Not sure which side should I pick.” commented Rando in a completely calm, yet intrigued tone. He was in a dilemma on who was more “based” between India and Pakistan, although he was leaning more towards the latter.

 

This is your definition of honesty?!” Dastardly called him out on it as his level of anger was starting to rise. It was inevitable anyway.

 

“Like I said, Dick. You are not an honest person unless you want to bomb something into oblivion. I’m pretty sure that even you want to bomb something, even though I know that’s me.” argued Rando as he lifted his index finger, bringing back a topic that was discussed on a day when Elite Bois arrived.

 

“I will not stoop to your moral level, you raging nationalist!” retaliated Dastardly as he furiously pointed at him to make him feel some sense of self awareness.

 

“You better watch your words and think, or else I will do to you things your mind can’t even imagine, you chauffeur of hypocrisy!” warned Rando that severe physical harm that he could inflict was an option on the table. Even his voice became rather venomous when he gave out a deterrent for Dastardly to not provoke further. All because he thought Dastardly was going to insult Bosnia.

 

“It’s not about that, it’s about how you see those people as role models! Literally everything about your mindset is out of this world!” Dastardly clarified that he had no intentions insulting his homeland, rather to point out that he is so off the knocker that he could potentially be a liability to the whole organization.

 

“They are examples of defiant rebels who stand up against the two faced bitch that is self-righteousness! They know that those who claim to be the most moral are projecting harder than Serbs! Just take a look at scrub zone, the most dishonest shithole there is in Japan, a country already filled with nothing but dishonesty!” passionately ranted Rando as he kept aggressively juggling his finger. Dastardly really didn’t want to argue further with him, so he opted for a point that they both agreed on: Hope’s peak was a laughing stock in their opinion.

 

“….I agree you about Hope’s peak and Japan as a whole, but aren’t you half Japanese?” Dastardly had to point out that Rando had a Japanese mother.

 

“I never said I was proud of my Japanese bloodline. It is Bosnia who gives me pride! If I went back in time, I would rather be full Bosnian! We, Bosnians, will lead the world in the right direction, for we are considered the most based nation in the world! Although others, like United Arab Emirates-” Rando continued ranting about a topic that drove the mustached driver off the wall so much that he had no choice than to lose it.

 

“GAAAAAAAAAAAAAH, ENOUGH! I’VE HAD IT WITH YOU! IF IT WASN’T FOR MY STINKING CAR, I WOULD THROW FISTS AT YOU RIGHT NOW!” roared Dastardly at him as he was walking out of the room.

 

“You trying to be insolent in my room, you groin named shoe?!” Rando stood up from his chair and started to take off his shoe, just to beat the living daylights out of him. But before he could fully took it off, Dastardly was almost out of the room.

 

“I AM NOT DEALING WITH YOU ANYMORE! GET LOST!” Dastardly yelled at him for the last time that day before he slammed the door with all the force it had in his arm.

 

“Eat yourself!” cursed Rando after the mustached driver left before he sat down and returned to reading heated opinions on a geopolitical issue. “Now excuse me, I gotta see what Amir says on this matter.”.

 

After he intentionally distanced himself from the room, he took a deep breath to calm down.

 

“….that’s enough of Rando for like, a week. Maybe a stop to the Irrelevant Zone will cool me down.” mumbled Dastardly as he went in direction of the so called “Irrelevant Zone”.

 

The truth was, the Irrelevant Zone was nothing more than an ordinary living room. Possibly the most normal place in the entire headquarters. There was couch, a CRT TV, a DVD player, the usual things. They even had a fridge to feed themselves, although the food was supplied from outside. The basic function for the Irrelevant Zone was keeping people who have nothing to do with current plans of Daft Capo or were to bored to do anything. Few bored punksters occupied the zone, but two of most notable current members of it were the Ultimate Rockstar and Ultimate Rapper, who were just solemnly watching an animated movie together.

 

Once Dastardly entered the room, he felt relief that nothing crazy was going on in the Irrelevant Zone.

 

“Ah, you’re doing normal things...that’s refreshing.” Dastardly greeted them with a compliment as he went inside. However, Zapatta and Suifta were not as relaxed as he was, considering they had a beef with Elite Bois.

 

“What, is that supposed to be an insult?” scoffed Zapatta as he gave a rather frustrated glare towards his superior. Dastardly didn’t took it to his heart, since he dealt with worse things before.

 

“No, not at all at this point. Not at all…” Dastardly shook his head as he approached them. He remained standing still, knowing that these too weren’t comfortable with having an Elite Boi nearby.

 

“Say, what’s wrong, Dastardly? You’ve been visiting this place more, despite being considered relevant?” Suifta lowered her guard down a bit, noting that this Elite Boi has been using Irrelevant Zone to cool down more frequently, to the point it was starting to feel daily.

 

“There’s peace and quiet here, along with sane people.” admitted Dastardly, who was already exhausted from shenanigans of others. And he hasn’t even fully finished his check ins, since the leader had to be checked too.

 

“Yeah, I agree, it’s actually kind of not bad here if it weren’t for….you know. At least Shrek’s here. Shrek’s been keeping us afloat.” confided Zapatta as he pointed at the CRT TV. The current scene was the one when Shrek and Donkey discussed how there’s a lot more to ogres than people think. And of course, the ever famous comparison between ogres and onions.

 

“Good movie. Now I’ve got a question, because I’ve never really had a chance before. How were….Hope’s peak scru-” Dastardly complimented the movie, being a fan of the Shrek franchise as well before he wanted to give them a question.

 

“Can you not refer to them like that?” Suifta interrupted him by expressing her distaste towards certain semantics that Daft Capo had.

 

“Ah, pardon me. Being around with those jerks sure does influence you. So, how were Hope’s peak...s...students?” apologized Dastardly as he gave out the question he wanted to be answered in the first place.

 

“Honestly, I disliked like….two of them? The lanky glasses asshole and the banana bush. Like both of them were pricks? Especially the banana bush, she just lunged at Mikan, it’s why I had to call her out on it….other than that, they were mostly decent people. Kaz was a good friend and Mikan…I really regret that I haven’t spoken to her more, ya know?” confessed Zapatta, as his ire transformed into sadness when he remembered that he had a chance to talk to the person who he thought was in genuine need for comfort.

 

“Don’t tell me you’ve fell in love with that...ahem, her.” Dastardly squinted at him as his tone was getting a lot more serious. The mustached driver did not appreciate how close did they get to the students. Their job was to spy on them, just like Herman said to them, but they got attached to their enemies.

 

“Look, I genuinely wanted to help her, she constantly seemed so….sad, really. It was like, her presence was...” sighed Zapatta as he, oddly enough, somberly defended his point, remembering how Mikan’s days were not of fortune. A relaxed smile was a rare sight when it came to her and Zapatta wanted her to have more moments like that.

 

“I getcha, Zapatta. There’s a gal that I miss too. Ibuki was her name. We did a rap battle against each other and her beats were pretty great. No wonder she was called the Ultimate Musician...heh…” Suifta patted him on his back, reassuring that she was going through out similar similar feelings. A memory of the rap battle was one she held dearest to her.

 

However, all the sentimentality was shot down with just one sentence.

 

You two are starting to sound like sympathizers.”.

 

“What the hell? You’re already throwing accusations at us for making friends with them?!” Zapatta stood up from the couch as he spread his arms in anger.

 

“I thought you were actually decent, Dastardly...but you’re the same as them!” Suifta clenched her fist in response, though she controlled her composure with greater extent than Zapatta did.

 

“Look, I am speaking for your own good. I get it, but be reminded that N.Tropy does not tolerate any praise directed towards Hope’s peak. Figottoni has told you both what happens to those who even think about defecting, right?” warned Dastardly as he put them back on reality once both of them remembered what their bartender friend told them about how betrayal was dealt within company.

 

“….Oh shit, you’re right.” Suifta’s irises shrunk once she realized how their talk about Hope’s peak students put them in danger. They were lucky that it was Dastardly who was in the room, not N.Tropy. If the latter was in, that might have been their last moment.

 

“Speaking of him, I’ve unfortunately have to check him as well. I wonder how our plan goes. See ya next time others drive me nuts.” Dastardly gave them his regards as he left the room, gently closing the door. As he went, he thought about on how could members of Daft Capo even be friends with Hope’s peak students, since their values different so much.

 

After navigating through the headquarters again, he finally reached the room of the Elite Bois leader. An office where he could brainstorm his plans in peace. Out of formality and because N.Tropy would lose his temper immediately if he didn’t knock, he did it. The moment the door was opened, N.Tropy greeted him with an absolute frowning grimace of his sight.

 

“Be useful or scram, Dick!” were the first words N.Tropy said to the mustached driver that day.

 

“Lucky for you, I do have something that you might enjoy.” Dastardly, already tired from previous interactions, just wanted to assist him, so that the plan could be sped up. Deep down, he was sort of concerned that Hope’s peak could prevent their plans from going into motion.

 

“Is that so? Then convince me.” N.Tropy raised his eyebrow, finding it hard to believe that his most disliked Elite Boi could be of use.

 

“It’s about the teacher. Don’t think of this as a favor.” Dastardly made his replies as concise as possible, so that he could hasten the whole process. Even though he hesitated out of contempt, N.Tropy let him in as they both sat down behind their respective chairs. The master of time sat behind the table, where as Dastardly did the opposite.

 

“Go on, tell me about the subject that you deem important enough to disrupt my time.” N.Tropy told him to spit it out and hurry up. Such was an average interaction with him, unless you earned his respect.

 

“First, I want to know the progress on your plan. What did you come up with so far?” Dastardly risked it and asked a question first. He didn’t expect anything other than N.Tropy raging at him and he was too tired to care.

 

“Do you really think you have any right to ask first? Hasten your report or begone!” ordered N.Tropy as his patience was withering.

 

“Look, do you remember when Herman said how that noob acts like a dog to her?” Dastardly reminded him of a certain person that the aforementioned octopus always loses his mind upon mentioning her.

 

“Yes, we have already established that. It is no use repeating it-” N.Tropy shut him down immediately, but Dastardly still persisted.

 

“I saw the full extent of it…..urgh….” groaned Dastardly once remembered a sight of Chiaki and Chisa holding hands together. He deemed it abnormal, especially that the student was more or less an adult.

 

However, he did warrant N.Tropy’s curiosity.

 

“What exactly do you want me to use that for? N.Tropy raised his eyebrow.

 

“To accelerate the plan, but I’ll get to the point of it. You probably thought it was just a classic example of a teacher’s pet, but oh...oh no….you’d be mistaken. That adult womanchild that is the noob, yes, you’ve heard me right, was not only just holding her hand, but she was acting like she was her mother. I am not making this up, they well all prancing like from a fairy tale. I can’t believe that we spend so much time on THESE kind of people, I swear….” Dastardly explained himself in the same “I’m so done” voice as he had ever since he arrived to his office.

 

“Hmmm…..so what you’re saying is that I should make the whole plan more personal? N.Tropy scratched his chin with his heavily mechanized arm as he was, for once in his life, listening to the one he had contempt for.

 

“To tell you the truth, I only came here to see what are you doing and the progress of the plan, but you would throw me out of the room otherwise. I guess this can be useful for the plan.” Dastardly admitted with all honesty he had that he just wanted to know how was the plan going.

 

Then the grimace on N.Tropy’s face turned into a big shit-eating grin.

 

“...Oh, I do not like it any time you do that.” winced Dastardly as he felt chills every time the leader did such face.

 

“Hmhmhmhm...I can’t believe what I’m going to say, but your report gave me more ways to conduct the plan. Herman previously told me that we almost had a chance to snatch her while she was unconscious, had it not been for that mental defect and that cardboard cutout of a lowlife somehow being on patrol. However, now we can strike with greater force. Not only will I have my satisfaction, but Herman will get his Schadenfreude.” chuckled N.Tropy as for once he did not immediately dismiss Dastardly’s words, instead actually incorporating his suggestions into his plan.

 

“Oh right, he was there too. I didn’t really notice him.” noted Dastardly as he scratched his head.

 

“Not that you need to. He is as useless as his self worth is!” scoffed N.Tropy, looking forward towards the day where he could verbally destroy the ahoge man.

 

“Oh boy….that’s all I needed to do. I’m just glad that there’s progress on the plan.” Dastardly stood up from his chair, deciding to leave the blue man alone. His deed was done.

 

“Your contribution has been, for the first time ever, been useful. Now do as you wish.” N.Tropy sent him regards, ending the conversation with Dastardly normally instead of usual “sod off!” that he liked to employ on him.

 

Dastardly’s mood was completely soured just by N.Tropy’s presence alone.

 

“Tch…..he’s only in the leadership position because he got lucky in Signapore….” mumbled Dastardly to himself as he started walking away. On his way, he met a random punkster, who was enjoying a can of beer.

 

“Ayyo, man. Just saying that the break has started.” punkster reminded him that he could take a pause at that moment. Finally, a moment of actual relief for him.

 

“Ah, thank you. I can get some peace of mind now.” smiled Dastardly in a relaxed fashion as he knew where to go.

 

Exiting through the main door of hideout, which was modified from a warehouse, Dastardly decided to take a stroll through the Zona Daft Capo. From the outside, aside from few stands ran by ridiculously short masked fellas, it blended in with the rest of the city. However, since he was not only a Daft Capo member, but an Elite Boi, he was more or less free of being constantly scammed. Dastardly just enjoyed the view of the city, which was accompanied by great weather. Few clouds resided in the vast sky, gracefully filling it out. The traffic was also relatively normal, not too much going on.

 

But Dastardly made one tiny mistake: he walked near a certain infamous alleyway.

 

Vroo-uhm!”.

 

Suddenly, a pigeon strutted out of the pitch black alley, aggressively bobbing its head. Ominous music of the forbidden genre, originating from Eastern Europe, played in the back of the alleyway, slowly building up for the drop. More pigeons started to walk out of it, all of them having bloodthirsty glares directed towards Dastardly.

 

“What? W-what’s your beef? You have that music, go back!” Dastardly tried to fend them off, but fear started to take over. No one at Zona Daft Capo wanted to feel the wrath of pigeon.

 

Although, he was spared, for one who could control the fury of pigeons emerged from the shadows.

 

It was Tom.

 

Almost as if Tom was suspecting him of something, the feline menace looked at Dastardly with cautious glare.

 

“What are you looking me like that, Tom? I’m just going for a drink!” explained Dastardly that he had no hidden agendas, that he just wanted some refreshment. Tom kept staring at him, but with a gesture, he ordered pigeons to return to darkness and he did as well.

 

“For some reason, even though N.Tropy and Rando are the biggest lunatics, but Tom….I shouldn’t bother to think….for I already feel it…” thought Dastardly to himself before deciding that it wasn’t worth delving into it. He continued his journey to the local bar.

 

Once he arrived, he gently opened the door, allowing himself to take a step inside Zona Daft Capo’s bar. The criminal syndicate seemed to put effort in designing it, as it had a specifically Mediterranean taste of it. Navy blue walls were decorated with art likes of renaissance, as they were particularly inspired by Leonardo da Vinci. Dark wooded tables were in cleaned to exquisite perfection, although it wasn’t just the work of janitors. Each Daft Capo member made sure that the bar would remain in a clean state as much as possible. They saw value in the service and they made sure that even non-Daft Capo members could enjoy and have a drink. The one who ran the bar was none other than Figottoni, the Ultimate Bartender.

 

“Ah. Greetings, Figottoni.” Dastardly tipped his hat at the peaceful member of Daft Capo.

 

“Greetings, Dick Dastardly. What would you like?” said Figottoni as he welcomed him with an offering. Dastardly sat behind the table where the bartender was operating.

 

“The usual, the friend of all of those who are done with everyone: Whiskey.” requested Dastardly, pointing at the aforementioned beverage in the process.

 

“Understood.” nodded Figottoni as he put a glass of small size on the table, pouring whiskey in it. After he filled it, Dastardly thanked him and took a sip, enjoying peace that the bar offered.

 

Suddenly, the door opened once again, letting another Elite Boi in. He couldn’t be seen from a far, since he was of rather small stature.

 

“Ah, I see you also enjoy a discussion around the drink, Dick.” Herman joined him as he sat next to him. The mustached racer only saw him when Herman was on his chair, surprised that he even came there.

 

“What are you doing here, Herman?” asked Dastardly, sounding rather annoyed by his presence. At the very least, the moment could provide him some needed regathering of thoughts and by extension, resilience from insanity of his peers.

 

“Just came here to enjoy an activity that good for one’s mind, my friend.” answered Herman in a shockingly calm yet welcoming voice. It threw Dastardly off guard, he always saw his octopus co-worker as a bombastic and grandiose person.

 

“As long as you don’t go off the knocker, you can be here.” Dastardly allowed him to stay as long as he wouldn’t rage.

 

“Hahaha, I see you haven’t seen it at all. Allow it to open your eyes.” chuckled Herman before he turned towards his bartender friend.

 

“What would you like, Herman?” asked Figottoni.

 

“One Latte Machiattio, please!” requested Herman as he raised his tentacle like an arm. Within a minute, he received his three layered caffeine drink, all nicely placed inside the glass.

 

“I thought you would order alcohol.” said Dastardly, a little weirded out that he wouldn’t order anything with alcohol percentage in a bar.

 

“Hahaha, I’m more of a coffee person, if I say so.” Herman chuckled again, finding Dastardly’s assumptions to be quite amusing. Both of them took a sip of their respective drinks, before the octopus lad initiated a discussion: “Figottoni, I want to ask. When you were at Hope’s peak, how as it? As in like, what they allowed and what they opposed?”.

 

“In terms of experience as bartender, it wasn’t anything different from here, aside from the fact that I couldn’t deal with alcoholic beverages. But you’re more curious about their thought, right?” reported Figottoni as he joined their conversation. Since the amount of customers were low that day, he could be free to talk for a long time.

 

“You know me well, my friend. We are of the same nation after all. I want to know if they truly know what are they fighting for. Have they ever asked themselves why is Hope’s peak in our interest?” Herman further piqued, desiring to see a perspective of an insider. There were many questions that Herman had, even being open minded enough that he would engage with his own enemies.

 

“I have about two assumptions: either penguins persuaded them to join their cause, which I doubt is related to the academy itself, or because they see us as an existential threat.” guessed Dastardly, giving out two options regarding his question.

 

“It could be both. Those who we call Manhattan Boys very likely exploited their situation to their benefit and rallied them. However, Herman, I must note and don’t take this as an offense, but our old strategy made their resolve stronger.” answered Figottoni with the same amount of stoicism he always had. Unlike two of his friends, he knew that contributions to the syndicate that gave him a chance would be much more beneficial. Deep down, he did miss his friendship with Ultimate Impostor, but that was hidden from everyone.

 

“You are not wrong, Figottoni. We’d expected them to fall for the bait, but you know how it is with surprise attacks: they only work when the target is, you know, throw off guard. But with them being foretold about us, they pull of the same. If it weren’t for Manhattan Boys, we’d already have Hope’s peak in our hands just from punksters stationed at Tsurihito Warehouse alone.” Herman agreed with the bartender’s sentiment

 

“I do must ask again, if you don’t mind: for what purpose do you often anger your enemies? Is it perhaps just for entertainment or is there some kind of strategy regarding it?” Figottoni gave another question, a thing about Herman that always mystified him.

 

“You know, there is a good reason why I went to college that dealt with psychology. Anger and control of it is a great indicator of how much of a threat a person is. I do not fear a raging bull, but a sniper gives me sleepless nights. Examples of each would be Mondo and Sakura, both from Class 78th. I can run circles around him, mocking him as my heart is content, since I know uncontrollable anger makes one...how should I put it...short sighted. They will cause damage, but they’re aiming their arms with no precision. However, I wouldn’t dare to fight Sakura, even if one made me the richest person on the planet if I accepted. Sakura is the sniper, she will channel the anger to plot her enemy’s downfall with the fury of thousand suns, yet dealt with a manner colder than ice. It is people like her that we should fear, not people like Mondo.” explained Herman in a way that completely shocked Dastardly. Any perception he had of octopus was turned on its head. It was all starting to be clear to him.

 

“No wonder why you always come in first as a bait. It’s….actually not bad at all.” Dastardly rubbed his chin as he started to understand why exactly does Herman go for such strategy. In a way, it was an intelligence of psychology of their enemies.

 

“You must know your enemy more than they know themselves. Speaking of that, I shall go back to the original topic. I doubt any of students could justify their cause, where as we can do it with ease. For example, you two know why I have chosen that maid cafe as a target, right?” continued Herman, bringing up another topic to compare their causes. He believed that, even though he provoked them, no one at Hope’s peak questioned the true nature of the conflict.

 

“Because of your strong opposition towards medium called anime. Correct me if I’m wrong.” Figottoni gave out an answer.

 

“Hahaha, that’s just the surface of it. You see….I do not actually think that all Japanese animation is bad. Not at all, actually.” Herman said a statement that shocked Dastardly once again.

 

“I’m sorry but what?! You’re like the biggest anime hater there is!” stammered Dastardly, sounding like he was promoting Herman’s hatred of anime. He didn’t like it himself, thinking that everything about anime was too annoying.

 

“There is a difference between animation and anime after all. In my definition, animation is a hybrid of all arts, an expression of a person that reaches to a level not achieved before. Only interactive media such as video games can surpass animation. Anime, on other hand, is an insult towards the centuries of culture that Japanese artists carefully constructed. No longer wanting to express their thoughts, anime is a sickening indulgence of mankind’s worst traits, such as fetishization of trauma. Would you believe me that there’s an entire genre dedicated to idealizing heartbreak, among other things? And Japan lets it all slide, for fuck’s sake, they promote it and the world buys it. If, somehow, Roman Republic colonized these islands back then, those who produce such content would be shamed, if not executed….and I would like Japan itself to follow their steps. Those people have no good use other than to remind people of worst.” elaborated Herman in a similar fashion as he did before: in complete serenity. Yet, burning passion of both extremes could be felt from his words.

 

“…So that’s why you hate anime, but what does the cat maid cafe have to do with it?” further asked Dastardly, not exactly sure how beating up Faris played was a consequence of Herman’s belief.

 

“That cat girl was the reason why Akihabara went from a respectable center of electronics to the root of everything wrong with Japanese culture. To tell you the truth, my initial experience with anime was horrific. I couldn’t believe what I was seeing with my eyes, a true insult to all art there is….until I saw a movie that changed my life. Porco Rosso, do you know about it?” continued Herman before he brought up his favorite movie.

 

“Of course. That’s a movie I have frequently watched. I quite enjoy how Miyazaki poured his heart and soul portraying the period of our country defined by my country’s transformation into a cautionary tale of how one should never let madmen in power.” Figottoni smiled upon hearing the name of it as he spilled his thoughts.

 

“I feel the same, my friend, but I must mention a scene that truly spoke to me. A scene that made me realized that Japanese could create art comparable to Italy. It was when Porco told Fio about his service through out The Great War. As the scene shifted to the past, it showed us a graceful, yet relentless aerial fight above Adriatic. Amid the fight, Porco was flying above the prairie of clouds, when he suddenly saw his friend Berlini ascend. He called out for his friend, but then...it happened...the scene that has changed me….” Herman started narrating the scene that has forever changed his view like a proper story teller would. One could feel raw emotion from his voice, how much he truly valued works of art like Porco Rosso. As he continued, he revealed the scene that has influenced his entire view.

 

“Thousands of planes, peacefully joining the eternal sky as Porco saw it all. It truly showed the cost of one of darkest periods the world has ever seen, that all of those people could have had beautiful lives, had they survived. It showed me that, yes….even a place responsible for anime can create something truly masterful. I’m afraid we won’t see masterpieces like that anymore, instead we will see nothing but insolence. That is why I believe that Daft Capo will bring a cultural revolution in Japan. At least for me, other Elite Bois might differ.” Herman reminiscent of every single detail the scene offered while also revealing the true motive of his plan: to change Japan from inside. He saw conquering Hope’s peak as an enabler of his reforms that would transform Japan’s society into something he would see more appropriate.

 

“The paycheck is the best and I get to win races. It’s why I’ll always be with Daft Capo, even though some people drive me crazy. With few exceptions, I prefer to hang out with punksters than the likes of N.Tropy or Rando. Besides, it’s fun to be villain, after all, as long as you acknowledge it and don’t act like a stuck up moral snob about it.” Dastardly gave out his reason for why he works for the syndicate: it made him rich, yet as it’s known, he still wanted more.

 

“Now that is faulty thinking, Dastardly.” cautioned Herman as he raised his tentacle like a finger.

 

“What? Don’t tell me most of Daft Capo thinks of themselves as the good guys….” Dastardly squinted at him, hoping that Herman and rest of Daft Capo wouldn’t be one of those guys.

 

The following response surprised him to the core, to say at least.

 

“Thinking of morality as a spectrum of black, white and even gray is not a way to approach such subject. Gray is just a bridge to connect two binaries and we both know that seeing things in binaries could only be afforded by computers. Morality consists of many colors, with each person having radically different values of what is right and wrong. For example, some think that humans eating animals can be comparable to murder, where as some consider killing a person of a nation they hate to be civic duty. Failures at life who hold the single gradient view of morality will always suffer, no matter what. But unlike them, Daft Capo is an ultimate triumph against the conventional view of morality. We operate on the major principle of humanity and that is of benefit. An average person will always prioritize benefit over everything, even in places one wouldn’t call selfish. In my opinion, there is no such thing as pure selflessness. Even the most altruistic people work by the principle of benefit, even if its just the primal human instinct of desire of social interaction.” Herman spoke out of his mind, revealing a side that not many people in Daft Capo, including Elite Bois have seen. So far, only ones who did were Figottoni and the current boss of Daft Capo (not to be confused by N.Tropy, who is just a leader of Elite Bois).

 

“...You know, I’ve always considered myself a villain because being the heel is much more fun than a hero, since everyone loves them. Well, in a “love to hate” way. I don’t like it when people pity me though, it makes me feel like a joke. And I agree, life feels much better without restraints, although your view on morality is...not what I’ve seen before.” admitted Dastardly that even though he lost a lot, it was all part of the fun. But there was a point of his life when victories started matter for real.

 

“Don’t take it as a dunk, but you’ve became truly successful once you started valuing benefit over your own perception of morality. It’s why you are now a champ, not a heel without a chance of victory.” Herman praised him for following the suite.

 

“Hmm….I guess you are right, Herman. It is true that I used to try to be a cheating heel so much that I got not victories out of it. But ever since I’ve joined Daft Capo, I’ve been scoring!” Dastardly pumped his fist from pride he felt for all victories he achieved.

 

“Hahaha, that’s right! You are the prime example of someone overcoming the boundaries of morality. Now, I may as well bring an opposite example: her.” Herman took a sip of his coffee before he squinted. He still spoke with a quiet voice, yet mere implication of her incited nothing more than pure anger.

 

“Oh yeah, that womanchild who holds hands with her own teacher. I question no longer on why do you lose your nuts over it.” said Dastardly, understanding why would he would be so mad about it after he saw her hold hands with Chisa.

 

“Not exactly as you think, Dastardly. There is much more to it.” responded Herman in a tone which Dastardly did not expect: furious, but calm.

 

“Go on. If you can make an entire debate out of anime’s impact on culture, then you can do this.” Dastardly allowed him to have a say, at the same time being curious about it.

 

“Pardon me for assumption, but she represents the very thing you oppose, is that correct?” guessed Figottoni.

 

“That is correct, yes. On a personal level, my opinion has not changed. A sheltered womanchild that thinks she’s a hero of her story, yet can’t even put any effort in taking care of herself. Her coping mechanism is to make others happy, at the cost of herself, since she knows she’s a waste without a future. However, I hate what she represents. This rigid and impractical moral compass of hers should never score a victory against beneficial pragmatism, but it did, a symbolic one at least.” Herman explained himself as he took another sip of his drink. Just thinking about her warranted him a furious expression on his face.

 

“However, a battle won does not mean the conflict has ended.” reassured Figottoni, believing that Daft Capo was still in the lead.

 

“In fact, it will escalate soon. Speaking of that, our break is over.” Dastardly noted that the boss of Elite Bois has accelerated creation of their plan.

 

“Yep, it is. Back to our working hours. I know we get stuff for free here but here’s some dosh, Figottoni. You provide good service to the organization.” said Herman but before he left, he gave his bartender friend one hundred dollars. Daft Capo members have everything for free in the Zona, that was the rule, but exceptions happen. Herman also forgot about asking him about the rocket engine.

 

“Thank you, Herman. I appreciate your offering.” Figottoni nodded in respect as he took the tip.

 

“Here, have some of my own. You are pretty chill….and we need more people like you.” Dastardly gave him an additional ten dollars, just so Figottoni could have something to supply himself.

 

“I appreciate your kind gift as well, Dick Dastardly.” Figottoni nodded to him as well. Thus, they left the bar. On their way, Tom joined from the dark alleyway as they all returned to the headquarters.

 

Once back, the trio of a human, cat and an octopus rejoined the duo of a human and a coyote. They all greeted each other as they wondered what was the last point of their conversation. Dastardly remembered

 

“So, where were-” Dastardly was about to ask, only for remaining two Elite Bois to join in. The man of time had a particularly satisfied grin on his face, where as other was still furiously glaring at the racer.

 

“Gentlemen, the time has come!” N.Tropy announced that he finished his plan.

 

“Oh, you came up with the plan?” Dastardly raised his eyebrow.

 

“Indeed I have! We shall execute it tomorrow!” N.Tropy further added as he lifted his arm like a general leading his men in a charge against the enemy.

 

“Why not today though?” Fritz pointed out that they still had time for execution of the plan. He doubted anything could prevent them from doing so.

 

“Let them think they’re safe. I know exactly when to strike. Now, come to the briefing!” N.Tropy justified the date with his reasoning being to execute the plan not only when the enemy is least prepared, but also outside of their reach. Only thing needed was a certain location, which could be easily tracked down by the next day. Tom and Wile E.Coyote already began rubbing their hands maliciously while Fritz cracked his knuckles in advance.

 

“Oh boy…” sighed Dastardly as they all went towards the briefing room, which was the same that was used for adversary analysis. The dark room with a round table. N.Tropy let out a laugh of pure malice as he knew the moment next day came, Hope’s peak had nowhere to hide. The first phase of his plan officially began.

Notes:

Aforementioned vehicles

 

Link in author's notes is used for reference, because there's a lot of vehicle mentions in this chapter.

Also now I will focus on school work, but fear not. This fic is anything BUT dormant. Just that updates will be gradual

Chapter 37: Chisa Yukizome won't smile

Summary:

Just a heads up, this has a fanservice scene. Don't worry, it's not super intense

Chapter Text

The day was just an ordinary Thursday with a sky filled with clouds. Only few gaps in the gray aerial sea allowed sun rays to reach the surface. Around Hope’s peak academy, there was only one person nearby. Chiaki Nanami, just sitting on the bench near the fountain as she peacefully played her games. They served as the time killers as she waited for her friends to come, a daily occurrence at that point. Clicks of rapidly mashed buttons on her console were the only sound that accompanied the slight breeze.

 

Or so she thought, because not long after she heard the sound of rumbling bushes. Chiaki was already put on the alert state, since last time she had a similar experience, it was none other than the cephalopod enemy himself.

 

“Huh? What’s going on? Could it be…?” Chiaki looked around before she stood up from the bench, slowly wandering around to figure out the source of those sounds. She put the console in her pocket as she clenched her fist, just so that she could punch any adversary in advance. Better to deliver the first strike after all. Upon closer inspection, she did find out the exact bush that was causing such rumbling. Just in case, Chiaki prepared herself in a battle stance, being ready to strike at any moment.

 

It turned out, she was not ready at all, since the one who caused the noisy mischief was not an enemy at all.

 

“Surpriiiiiiseeee!!!” Chisa jumped out of the bush like a rabbit, completely startling Chiaki in the process. Her student immediately let her fist loose as she hopped back out of surprise.

 

“M-Miss Yukizome?” stammered Chiaki as she was slowly calming down. It was just her teacher, no one else. She shouldn’t worry about it too much, she thought.

 

“Hehe, gotcha now, didn’tcha?” giggled Chisa as she put her hand on her mouth in a rather peculiarly mischievous way. It became clear to Chiaki that she was, indeed, pranked.

 

“….Did you just troll me now?” Chiaki gave her a pout for what her teacher pulled on her.

 

“Hehehe, maybe! But it was a nice surprise, wasn’t it?” Chisa winked at her as she leaned towards her. If her teacher was more in a naughtier mood that day, she would have squished her cheeks just to tease her more. Any time Chiaki pouted, she looked extra puffy, but due to her not exactly being sure of Chiaki’s boundaries, she refrained herself to do so.

 

“If I have to admit…..yeah, it was. Better than what it could have been.” Chiaki ceased to pout as she became more relaxed, knowing that no enemy was nearby.

 

“Good, good! So, I decided that I am going to make my schedule a little earlier than usual because….you know, I sometimes get a little late due problems at my home and...I hope it’s not really too weird of a question, but do you ever get lonely while waiting here?” Chisa told her about her new plans before she gave out a question for her. The teacher hoped that the question itself was not too intrusive.

 

“Hmmm…..as long as I know they’re coming, not really? If they would start to not come, I would start to worry though….though I’m sure they’ll always come, right?” Chiaki scratched her chin with her index finger as she thought about if she truly felt lonely when waiting. If it wasn’t for her friends and Chisa, she would have felt it, but since her life changed, it wasn’t on her mind very much.

 

“That’s kinda relieving to hear, but….now that I’m gonna go early to school, you’ll always have company!” Chisa proudly put her arms around her hips as she did a confident nod.

 

“...Heh, thank you, Miss Yukizome. You’re always very….considerate, I think.” giggled Chiaki as her cheeks became rather red. As much as she appreciated help from Chisa, she couldn’t help but blush at times. Her reaction made Miss Yukizome giggle a little before she revealed another thing she was hiding from her.

 

“It’s no problem, my dear, but that’s not the only surprise I haaaaaveeee~.” Chisa leaned towards her with a mischievous yet bright smile.

 

“Oh? What could it be, Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki tilted her head with curiosity, wondering what else her teacher had in store.

 

“Tadaaaa!!!!” Chisa suddenly pulled out a handheld console out of her bag, which immediately caught Chiaki’s interest. It was the same console she had, except it was teal, just like Chisa’s maid esque dress. The moment she turned the console on, a familiar jingle played. It was more than enough for Chiaki to go, as a famous mad scientist said, “Springy Ultra Gamer Rabbit” mode.

 

“Oh my goodness, is that Gala Omega?!” Chiaki started hopping in one place out of excitement, already getting ideas on what to do with her teacher as they wait for their classmates.

 

“Hehehehe, indeed it is! Wanna play it until the class starts?” suggested Chisa as she sat down on the bench.

 

“Yes! Yes! We can do this all day!” Chiaki nodded her head rather rapidly as she had a sincere smile on her face. Due to the console they had being wireless, both of them just needed to start local play mode and thus were quick to blast enemies into pixels. First one to lose all lives in the match was the first one to lose. Their fingers tapped buttons at high speed, making sure that their 8 bit spaceship could maneuver as quickly as possible. Neither of them could afford to lose.

 

Although the victor was rather clear and obvious: Chiaki outlasted her own teacher, even though she did put up a fight. However, in terms of high score and reflexes, Chisa lagged a bit. Since it was a friendly match, there were no hard feelings at all.

 

“Ah, you totally….what’s the term, I’m kind of a beginner here?” chuckled Chisa before a word she had in mind slipped out of it. As much as she casually played games when she had free time or was with Chiaki, she wasn’t experienced enough to know vocabulary used by gaming communities.

 

“I think just “beat” is enough, though there’s nothing wrong with using any term you like.” clarified Chiaki in an approachable term, allowing her teacher to say anything she’d want, even though she would prefer if the word “noob”, “scrub” or “hoe” weren’t uttered due to bad memories of a certain enemy.

 

“Oh, then you totally beat me! You are lighting fast with this!” Chisa gave her a compliment with a smile.

 

“I guess...but did you have fun with the game?” Chiaki tried to brush off her compliment, but instead she worried that would be rather rude, so instead she asked if she actually enjoyed her time with it.

 

“Of course I did! I mean, almost every single activity with you is fun!” Chisa didn’t not hesitate to reveal her true feelings. Considering that almost everything to do with Chiaki made her a happier person, she couldn’t say otherwise.

 

Although the word almost was picked upon by Chiaki. Even though she once again tried her best to hide, she froze and started to worry what exactly did her teacher had on her mind. Was there activity that they did that was making Miss Yukizome unhappy?

 

“….Almost? What do you mean?” murmured Chiaki as she tried to phrase it like a normal question. Her irises betrayed her in a sense that they revealed that concern was starting to rise. Even though Chisa knew that Chiaki wasn’t making her unhappy, she was still making sure to not scare her.

 

“Well, in a sense like….if you were severely hurt or anything. Then it would be wrong to call that fun…” clarified Chisa that the “not fun” activity she had in mind was Chiaki being in a perilous situation. On one hand, Chiaki was relieved that she knew at that moment that she wasn’t making her teacher miserable, but on other hand, another concern appeared: that people would start to worry for her. Even though Chisa herself said to her that it is natural that people who care for others worry for well being, it was still a hard concept to grasp.

 

“Ah, there’s nothing to worry about that. I’ll be fine.” Chiaki immediately denied that anyone hurt her, even though reality told a much different story. However, Chisa didn’t fall for her denial, so she carefully approached the whole ordeal. Once again, she didn’t want to scare her student, but at the same time, she knew that Chiaki couldn’t exactly afford to keeping all of her true feelings to herself.

 

“Hey...during last few days….were you hurt by any chance?” Chisa asked with a much softer, yet concerned tone, trying out if she insisted a bit, Chiaki would tell her the truth.

 

“N-no, not at all!” stuttered Chiaki as she waved with her arms as if she was defending herself. It was starting to become to Chisa that Chiaki was indeed hurt, just from the fact how she spoke in a bit of a higher pitch and how she performed a gesture of “please don’t dig deeper, I beg of you!” with her hands. She didn’t want to put more pressure to her, so she gave it one more shot.

 

“…..are you telling me the truth, Chiaki?” asked Chisa one more time, still keeping her soft yet concerned tone in her voice.

 

“O-of course I am! T-there’s nothing to worry about, Miss Yukizome….” Chiaki nodded rather rapidly once again before forcing out a toothy smile, giving a signal that absolutely everything was okay with her, even though she was suspiciously sweating out of nervousness. She really didn’t want Chisa to find out that she was hurt, more than she even realized through out her life. Chisa did notice how she was slightly trembling and decided to stop it for now. However, if she kept doing that, Chisa would respond. Her habit needed to be stopped for her own sake.

 

Chiaki’s own conscience had its own say on the matter though.

 

No, don’t make Miss Yukizome worry about you, you stupid girl. Please don’t. She doesn’t deserve to suffer because of you. Do you even deserve someone kind like her? What if she finds out who you truly are?” as much as Chiaki was keeping a facade, deep down she tore herself a new one. For what she perceived as a mistake on her own end meant that anything could become worse when it came to keeping relationships. One mistake and Chisa could disappear from her life. One mistake and her friends could abandon her.

 

However, Chisa’s thoughts were rather different from what Chiaki expected.

 

She’s hiding it again….Why do I have a feeling that she was hurt before? I know that she doesn’t want me to worry….but at this point she’s destroying herself. I really have to talk to her about it, but...I can’t really force her about it, can I?” Chisa thought to herself, trying her best to keep a smile, but her eyes showed an expression of somberness. She really did want best for Chiaki, but she was afraid that she could scare her and never see her again.

 

...Is there something wrong, Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki asked the moment she noticed that something was bothering her teacher. For the time being, Chisa refrained herself from digging deeper, but there will be a day when she has to make a move. Instead, she opted for a promise. Her smile disappeared, instead being replaced with a more concerned expression.

 

“...Hey, if anyone does hurt you, just tell me, okay?” Chisa gave a request that whether she was in peril, she would confide to her as soon as possible, as long as she was ready about it. The request startled Chiaki for a bit, even though she not only felt, but knew she was safe as long as Miss Yukizome was present near her.

 

“Mmmm…..but…..” fidgeted Chiaki as she started looking at the ground, really unsure about the whole thing. She did promise that she would tell her about her own true feelings, but she was still not ready for it. Chiaki felt like that confiding equated to putting a burden on another person.

 

“Don’t hesitate, my dear. If anyone does hurt you, I won’t hesitate either, remember?” Chisa gently and slowly placed her hand on Chiaki’s shoulder. Since her student saw it coming, she wasn’t too startled about it. Chiaki then look at her in the eyes.

 

“...Yeah….I do….” murmured Chiaki, even though she was hesitating herself. She wasn’t exactly sure what Chisa meant with “not hesitating”, but she hoped it wouldn’t end up in something lethal. Luckily, Chisa wouldn’t take another life, even though she would deliver one hell of a beat down on anyone who hurts her close ones.

 

“Now, it’s time to relax. Just take a breath and think of something nice. Something like, you know, when you go out with Hajime-” Chisa reassured her by giving her a gentle pat on her head, caressing her hair in the process. However, Chiaki had a particularly unexpected reaction towards gentle touches of her teacher.

 

She purred, like a content kitten, even closing her eyes as she let out a relaxing sound. Chisa was taken a back by the fact a human could be capable of such cat like behavior. If Ibuki was there, she would be beyond proud and probably in ecstasy.

 

...are you purring, my dear?” asked Chisa as she briefly put her hand away.

 

“Hmm? What do you mean, Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki tilted her head as she woke up from a pat induced trance.

 

“You’re purring, like a cat. Did you know that?” Chisa pointed out that she was, indeed, making the best sound one would heard from a kitten. It took some time to respond because Chiaki didn’t even realize it that she was even capable of it.

 

“...I can do that? How?” wondered Chiaki, having zero clue about it.

 

“You tell me, sweetie. Now, keep doing it. It’s adorable, like the little kitten you are.” Chisa suggested that she should keep doing it because to her it was one of the cutest things she has ever seen in her life. Miss Yukizome herself was a huge fan of all things and people cute.

 

“Ah, one sec...can you….pat...more….please?” blushed Chiaki big time when she gave her a request on what to do.

 

“Sure! Any time!” Chisa could not decline her request under any circumstances, even if the universe was ending. And so she did, returned to patting the round head of Chiaki Nanami. The gamer started to purr once again as she was slowly succumbing to the gentle yet warm touch of her teacher.

 

Mmmmm….pat….good….” purred Chiaki as she was slowly falling asleep, feeling greatly content by the care Chisa provided her. She was about to snooze into deep sleep had it not been for a certain sound, the one reminiscent of footsteps. Just before she closed her eyes, she saw a rather peculiar glimpse: Hajime, the man himself, piggyback carrying Ibuki, who was piggyback carrying Chihiro. Both Chisa and Chiaki had a giggle upon seeing the ahoge boy in such state. He also seemed to have “I’m so done with these two” expression on his face as well, which was also one of the reasons why two dorks had a laugh.

 

“Ah, hehe….good morning, Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro.” greeted Chiaki in a half drowsy state. She rubbed her eye, so that her vision of her friends could be better.

 

“….Morning, Chiaki. Look what I have to deal with.” grumbled Hajime, even though deep down he didn’t really mind carrying them that much. It was more of a case of being used to Ibuki’s shenanigans, something that would always baffle him. Reading Ibuki was like reading life itself: completely unpredictable.

 

“Yes! Hajime has proven to be an excellent transport vehicle, so I have decided that he is strong enough to carry two people at once! Chiaki should join too one day!” Ibuki’s nose suddenly turned into a spiky one for reasons that scientists still haven’t found as she had a satisfied grin on her face.

 

“To be fair, you two are light, so it’s not exactly hard. Just...awkward to carry two people.” Hajime pointed out that the combined weight of those weren’t exactly something of a hard task for him. Perhaps it was due to his strength that even he was not aware of it.

 

“Umm….how am I going down? It looks a bit high there and…” Chihiro asked timidly once he looked down, noticing that he was higher in the air than he thought.

 

“Miss Yukizome to the rescue!” Chisa suddenly sprung up and grabbed the little programmer as she gently lifted him off from Ibuki’s back, but not before she spun around like a propeller.

 

“Wheeee!!!!” cheered Chisa in the middle of the spin before she slowly and lightly put the boy down on the floor. Chihiro was, of course, quite flustered by the whole ordeal, even surprised a little that Chisa would do such a thing. The action of Miss Yukizome already gave an idea towards the horned musician.

 

Give Ibuki a spin, Instructor!” Ibuki waved, requesting to feel the thrill of being spun around like a very fast carousel.

 

Hold on to your butt, because now you will experience the YUKIZOME-NADO!” Chisa did not hesitate to give her the same thing as the programmer lad received as she grabbed Ibuki and gave her a spin. Unlike how she did it with Chihiro, the teacher spun like one of those G force testing devices that fighter pilots have to go through. Of course, Ibuki was loving every minute of it, even though dizziness would be inevitable. Her comment was not left unnoticed by the boys, though.

 

“….Yukizome-nado, what?” Hajime squinted at her as he blurted out in a questioning tone. It seemed like Ibuki’s influence was infectious or that was just Chisa at her normal level.

 

“I...ask the same, Hajime.” concurred Chihiro, who was just as confused by her. Meanwhile, Chiaki thought the whole ordeal was cute, especially since it seemed like both of them were having fun. After Chisa decided to put Ibuki down, she did. For a moment, the musician’s brain was still rolling, but after a rather intense shake with her head, she became normal Ibuki.

 

Hahahaha, yes! Ibuki has now felt the powerhouse of nature: G force! Ibuki is pretty sure that she just had 4 G’s applied to her body!” Ibuki put her hands around her hips as she let out a boast about overcoming gravitational forces.

 

“Hehe, more like 1 G, if you ask me. I’m not that strong, ya know.” chuckled Chisa, clarifying that she was using power nowhere near comparable to the actual forces. Girls had a good laugh while boys remained confused by them.

 

Not too long after, the rest of class arrived to the fountain. No one really witnessed the so called “Yukizome-nado”, so for them it was just a normal morning.

 

“Ah, here they are! Goooood morning, you rotten oranges!!!!!” Chisa happily waved at them as they stepped closer, prepared to start the day as they did.

 

“Good morning, Miss Yukizome!” the rest of class greeted back at her.

 

“One, two, three….wait, where’s Gundham?” Chisa juggled with her index finger for assistance in counting as she quickly noticed that one of her students, the wizard man himself, was missing from the group.

 

“He should arrive soon, I know of it.” clarified Sonia, remembering that Gundham’s MO generally was “The Supreme Overlord comes when he intends to”, even though he did follow the schedule for most of the timem.

 

“Then, let us wait for-ah, there he is!” recommended Chisa, only for him to show up rather quickly. From a quick glance, he seemed aloof, only enforced further by him having his scarf over his mouth and crossed arms. The truth was, a great amount of concern was going through his mind, regarding their current situation. The immediate aftermath of feline’s attack passed away, but the long lasting consequences were still an issue needed to be dealt with.

 

“Hmmm…..” Gundham thought to himself as he bypassed the group, giving an impression to them that he was ignoring them.

 

“Is everything alright, Gundham?” asked Sonia as she tilted her head, noticing that Gundham was once again in what it seemed to be “serious” mode of his. Quiet yet stern.

 

“….Proceed as usual. When the time is right, you’ll know.” Gundham advised that they should start the class right away. He hoped that they would immediately understand the gravity of their situation, even though some were rendered unconscious by events before.

 

“...Oh, okay...then….let us go to the class.” Chisa followed his advice and they all went to the class. As they all went inside, Gundham closed the door from the get go, then stepped towards windows and dragged curtains all across the class, so that no one could see what were they doing inside. Some of them, including Chisa, didn’t quite get what was he up to.

 

“Um, what are you up to, Gundham?” questioned Chisa, not exactly sure what caused her wizard student to perform such a thing. After he darkened the room, he refused to turn on lights, instead bringing a lantern from his own home. Once he set the lantern alight, he crafted an atmosphere similar to one in their former hideout. He placed it on the table that was nearest to center of the classroom. Some of students, most notably those who remained conscious through out the entire ordeal with Thomas, caught the idea quickly.

 

“...I think I already know what is going on, Miss Yukizome.” Ultimate Impostor hinted about the possible temporary hideout, since a certain feline drove them out of the former one. Others were not sure exactly what he was up to, but it looked serious enough that they didn’t have plans to disrupt him.

 

Ryota Mitarai, bring Class 78th here.” Gundham fired away an order with his deep and commanding voice. At that point, everyone present in class understood his intentions: the classroom of 77-B was now their new headquarters or at least, an additional hideout.

 

“Understood.” Ultimate Impostor nodded without hesitation as they stood up and left the classroom, doing exactly what his wizard “boss” told him to.

 

“Chiaki Nanami, call in Future Gadget Lab.” Gundham focused on another classmate as he gave her an order.

 

“Alright, just a second.” Chiaki nodded as she pulled out her phone out of her bag, choosing Mayuri to be one to receive the urgent call. And so she did, quickly notifying their allies about their situation. Then the man in dark focuses on himself.

 

As for me….come forth, penguins.” Gundham performed a boastful yet serious stance as penguins jumped out of his coat, landing right on his table.

 

“Buenos Dias, my hombres!” greeted Skipper in his usual pompous tone, putting his flippers around his stomach. Other three penguins struck a pose before they focused on the meeting. Needless to say, the students (and the teacher) were quite surprised by their appearance inside their class.

 

“Penguins?” Peko raised her eyebrow upon witnessing the fellow avians.

 

“Gundham has told us that we have an urgent meeting here. I am not exactly sure why we couldn’t use-” elaborated Kowalski as he scratched

 

“You’ll know soon enough.” Gundham intercepted his comment with a warning of foreboding times. Not too long after, the fellow class that was called upon showed up, slowly entering it in the process.

 

“We have heard your call. We already know what we must do.” Sakura noted them that they were, for the most part, aware of what was going to happen inside the class.

 

...Hey, is everything going to be alright?” asked Sayaka out of slight fear she had. Perhaps it was due to atmosphere Gundham created, but something certainly gave her heebie jeebies.

 

“Oh man, I’m already not looking forward with this.” Yasuhiro already knew that their meeting was not gonna be filled with good news. In a way he was not incorrect about that one.

 

“Any dread you feel is correctly placed, as we now live in a crisis.” confirmed Gundham that their feelings were not mismatched with their current reality. His wording caught some off, mostly those who were not aware of the whole story.

 

“C-crisis? What...do you mean by that, Gundham?” Chisa flinched upon hearing the last word in his sentence as a slight amount of fear kicked in her heart. She did keep her composure on, but her heartbeat was starting to become faster.

 

“Once again, you’ll know soon enough.” Gundham raised his index finger, reminding her that

 

So...what’s the issue we’re dealing with? I’ll report everything said to bro after we’re done.” asked Kiyotaka while also expressing intention that his close biker friend would be informed about any updates.

 

“I shall begin when Future Gadget Lab arrives, which should be….” Gundham was about to clarify once again, but as he was talking about them, they appeared. Rintaro and his gang soon joined the meeting. Since he was the last one, Itaru closed the door.

 

“Good morning, everyone. We have heard it’s an urgent meeting here.” greeted Rintaro in a rather serious tone, indicating that just like Gundham, his chunni persona won’t make its presence here.

 

Good morning to you as well, members of the Future Gadget Laboratory. Now, my minions, gather up. I shall begin, so listen carefully.” began Gundham with everyone gathering around the lantern. Thus, they were ready to hear current updates regarding operations of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

I assume everyone has become acquainted with the name of Thomas Jasper “Tom” Cat Senior at this point. If you feel the need to correct me, you can go ahead.” Gundham brought up the name of a certain enemy, which caused great havoc in the past. Immediately upon hearing such name, everyone felt chills. A mere mentioned caused everyone to step back, fearing his next arrival, their next battle with him.

 

“...Y-yeah….we do….” stammered Hajime, confirming the fact that they all knew him more than enough. It was a name no one could forget after witnessing what he could do to anyone deemed to be his adversary.

 

“Then let us not analyze for what he is, but rather what he did to us. I shall not waste time, so I’ll say it: thanks to his actions, we have been deprived of our primary hideout.” Gundham spent next to no time hesitating towards one of the graver consequences Tom’s assault delivered upon them: he has pinned the location of their former hiding place. Everyone who wasn’t aware of such fact, such as those who were knocked out before, felt shivers down their spines. Even penguins who were not Rico had their guard lowered upon hearing such news.

 

“Hold on a sec, Gundham….how? How could Tom find out super top secret hideout?” asked Skipper, genuinely surprised that Daft Capo could even sniff them out of it. However, the one who was forcefully involved in revealing the hideout raised his flipper, albeit with a great amount of regret on his facial expression.

 

“Rico? What is the meaning of this?” Skipper desired to know how could Rico, their loyal brother-in-arm, rat them it. Not much time was needed for Rico to demonstrate that Tom, if the penguin did not comply with his orders, his head would have been bitten off. With a quick demonstration, everyone, including penguins, understood why he had to do such thing. In fact, they were quite appalled by implication that Tom would kill him on the spot. As he finished demonstration, Rico suddenly felt weirdly vulnerable. As if like the whole encounter left him with some mental scars.

 

“….Poor thing. You didn’t deserve to go through this.” murmured Peko, sympathizing with the poor penguin. Upon noticing it, Rico just walked to her and gave her a hug, desiring to be comforted after dealing with a highly dangerous situation. Peko did not expected to be hugged by an animal at all, but after she blushed a bit, she returned the hug and gave him pats. “Oh….uhm….here you go. You’ll be safe here.”.

 

S eeing Rico in such state prompted a feeling within Skipper which he hasn’t felt for years.

 

“...Tom broke Rico?! Dastard! We’ll get you for this!” perplexed Skipper in a mix of anger and anguish, shaking his clenched flipper like a fist.

 

You’re not the only one who has unfinished business with him, Skipper” Chisa reassured him that he won’t be alone, although tone in her voice was not one anyone expected out of her. It was calm, quiet yet filled with anger. Those on the sharper side of reading people sensed that there was intention to hurt.

 

...Miss Yukizome?” Chiaki looked towards her teacher and asked out of sincere concern. She even put her hands closer to herself, even though she knew there was nothing to fear about Miss Yukizome, at the very least if you were on her side.

 

“Don’t worry, dear, it’s just that….justice needs to be delivered at times.” Chisa reassured in a more calmer, softer tone, but her anger towards the enemies of her students was still felt. It made others a bit more concerned, since they were not used to her be like that at all.

 

“Unusual tone from you, but I like it. I like my women with a sense of danger.” Skipper pointed out sudden shift in tone, but he was one of those who appreciated her sense of repressed violence.

 

“So….what should we do now, considering that we lost our hideout?” Makoto, along with others, desired to know what exactly should be their next course of action, considering that they have lost a vital strategic location.

 

“We should find new alternatives, but our temporary solution will be this classroom. Do note that it is not safe here, as previous events have shown us.” suggested Gundham while also officially revealing that, even though it quickly became clear to them, the classroom will serve as a temporary meeting hideout.

 

“Yeah, that octopus had a really easy time sneaking in.” Kazuichi remembered the time when the octopus fella himself was throwing eggs at them inside their own class, concurring that their class was not exactly the best place to have such meetings.

 

“...Man, we were kind of silly about freaking out when we saw that octopus, weren’t we?” Aoi scratched her head as she let out a small smile, reminiscing of the fact how big of a deal that rascal octopus was. Compared to what were they dealing with at that moment, he was just a small gear in a big engine.

 

That is irrelevant now, we should focus on what alternatives for our hideout should be.” Gundham quickly and sternly reminded them that there was absolutely zero time of being sidetracked by less important subjects, raising his index finger to further emphasize the urgency.

 

“Future Gadget Lab does not have enough space to fill two classes at once.” Rintaro told that using his “laboratory” was not a viable option.

 

“It barely has enough space to fill about five people.” added Kurisu to his statement. Distance between Future Gadget Lab and Hope’s peak had to be considered too, not only because it would take more time to get there than desired, but also because Daft Capo could very likely intercept them through out the whole procedure.

 

“We should also forget about Radio Kaikan. They would know if we were hiding there.” Ultimate Impostor brought up another location they couldn’t use, since Daft Capo was aware of it ever since the incident with Fritz happened.

 

However, upon hearing the name of such building, both Rintaro and Kurisu gasped, freezing out of the sudden. A flood of brief, yet unforgettable memories passed through their mind as their breathing became heavier. Through out those memories, there were few consistent events: a satellite looking machine that broke the roof of aforementioned building, their very first meeting in the conference room and….

 

“Is...is everything alright?” Chisa immediately rushed towards them, trying her best to provide them any aid. Both of them, although Kurisu pulled herself out quicker, managed to return to their normal states, although such reactions caused greater intrigue for their friends.

 

“….Y-yeah, it’s...it’s nothing….” murmured Kurisu as she rubbed her head, even though her lip was still trembling. Although he was back to his normal state, a certain anxiety still held a grip on Rintaro’s mind.

 

“Radio….Kaikan…..don’t tell me that….any of you have been there….haven’t you?” uttered Rintaro in visible fear, wondering what exactly were they doing there. From experience he knew that Radio Kaikan was a place for certain events, so to say. The one who was asked immediately picked upon that their choice for location, even before the incident happened, should have been taken with more consideration than they expected.

 

“I must admit….I have been, to test our VPN experiment.” revealed Ultimate Impostor that they chose it so that it would serve as an experiment whether or not their private communication network, suggested by Itaru Hashida, could potentially work to their advantage. Their statement immediately arouse attention of those who were participants of such project, those being Kyoko Kirigiri, Chisa Yukizome and Itaru Hashida.

 

“How did that go?” Kyoko fired a question right away, curious about the result. Ultimate Impostor, even though they remained stoic as ever, hesitated to tell the true story, especially since Chiaki was involved. Due to their requests, they omitted mentioning her in the incident.

 

“….I must be the bearer of the worst possible news….they could track down the exact location of the endpoints of our network.” reported Ultimate Impostor with some sense of concern regarding the implications behind Daft Capo’s cyber capabilities. Kyoko remained silent, but her eyes told a different story. She took some time to contemplate, since she did not expect Daft Capo to have such a grip on Internet. Chisa was also taken aback by such revelation.

 

“Wait, what?! That’s….that should be possible! The entire purpose of a VPN is to bypass espionage committed by services. How did they breach that?” perplexed Itaru upon hearing such news. He tried to keep the atmosphere of the room slightly brighter, but such revelation knocked out his guard.

 

“….That gives us with a bigger issue than we imagined.” Byakuya suddenly spoke in a cautious tone, perhaps already knowing what exactly will The Fellowship of Darkness have to consider big time if they truly want to take down Daft Capo. Not many of them knew, since their knowledge of internet was just surface level. Only exceptions were those who had experience working in the field. Including ones that some did not expect to be involved.

 

“….Information warfare, right?” guessed Chisa in a far more serious tone than anyone was expected.

 

“I did not expect you to know this, but….you are correct. I must admit, you did not guess wrong, Chisa Yukizome.” Byakuya raised his eyebrow upon hearing who exactly said the correct response. Up until now, he thought Chisa “belonged in the kindergarten” and “was a detriment towards Hope’s peak success”, but he was starting to suspect that there was more to her than she let on. However, not everyone believed what was Byakuya suggesting.

 

Byakuya, my man, please tell me that this is all a whacked up jokes…..don’t tell me that Daft Capo somehow weaponized THE INTERNET ITSELF?!doubted Skipper, considering that, in his opinion, seemed very out of character regarding Daft Capo, at the very least the aforementioned criminal syndicate as he knew.

 

No, you’ve heard it just right and don’t even bother denying it. In this conflict, we have another frontier to deal with: the internet itself.” Byakuya bluntly countered penguin’s doubts regarding Daft Capo’s cyber capabilites.

 

That shouldn’t be a surprise at this point. We have already told you what happens if you even mention Daft Capo.” added Rintaro, not exactly phased by the reveal. In fact, he saw it as a logical, if unnerving conclusion towards Daft Capo’s grip on the internet.

 

Still, this is not like them at all! Covering up their own presence from internet AND being able to track down at the same time? That’s….that’s not Daft Capo! They’d just settle down with….being obnoxious on forums and trolling everyone! That has to be the work of something else!” Skipper further provided arguments, possibly because he still couldn’t believe it. Maybe it was fear that was kicking inside of him.

 

...Something else?” Could it be-no, they couldn’t. They have no reason to intervene here.” Rintaro quietly referred to something he, along with all members of Future Gadget Lab, has already faced in his life before. Perhaps it was another something, but who truly knew at the time?

 

“Um...who is they you are talking about, Rintaro?” Chiaki picked upon rather quickly on what exactly was Rintaro referring to. For a moment, he remained silent, lost in thought.

 

“...Nothing. Don’t worry too much about it, Chiaki and anyone else. Just...focus on what’s ahead.” Rintaro redirected the conversation to more relevant topic, but curiosity of others was still present there. Who were they Rintaro was referring to?

 

Skipper, I’m afraid we no longer fight the same enemy anymore. Our intel is severely outdated at this point….we’re just as good as we are in the dark. Fewer facts we have taken as solid back in Europe are not being contradicted right now.” Kowalski admitted that what they were facing with was no longer their old enemy, but a new one with only a coat of only one. All that talk gave Chiaki an idea, a possibility that could become real at any point.

 

...Actually….can someone check Hope’s peak on internet?” suggested Chiaki as she raised her index finger.

 

“Hmm...are you presuming something, Nanami?” Kowalski performed a motion similar to raising an eyebrow, curious about the idea Chiaki had on her mind.

 

“Yeah…considering that we are bringing up information warfare as a topic….I’m curious if they have tried to spread misinformation about us and such…” Chiaki further advised to check upon if Daft Capo has already launched a smear campaign behind their backs.

 

“I have a laptop with me, so….we can try here.” Chihiro brought up his own personal laptop, booting it up. Once it finished, he logged in and immediately clicked twice on the browser icon. When it booted up, he typed out:

 

Hope’s Peak Academy”.

 

With a quick load, the page displayed articles and images of their academy, with none that particularly talked smack about it. He wasn’t fully convinced, considering that Daft Capo could possibly use much more hidden and dirtier tactics on internet, so he further researched it. Chihiro was kind of speeding up through out the process, since he was conscious about not wasting anyone’s time, but the conclusion was rather relieving but not entirely safe.

 

“Well….it doesn’t really seem too different. Just the usual. Public opinion on Hope’s peak has not been influenced by Daft Capo….yet.” noted Chihiro after concluding his search. Even though the worst option was not realized, it still felt like calm before the storm.

 

“...Trust me, even without Daft Capo, it would def-” Chisa grumpily almost let out her true feelings about the school that were more related to the grander scheme of things before she interrupted herself with a self delivered smack on her face. Her cheek was more red than it should be, sometimes Chisa can’t exactly control of her physical actions. Chiaki gasped upon seeing her own teacher slapping herself so hard as she ran towards the first aid kit and started treating the part that received the attention of her own palm.

 

“Did you have something to say, Yukizome?” Skipper immediately picked upon that Chisa knew more about the school than anyone else and the possibility of her having a negative opinion on it reassured him in a way. At the very least, implicit as it may be, someone truly knew how crooked the whole school was at core.

 

“A-ah, it’s uh….another topic for another day! Carry on!” Chisa deflected such topic with an awkward smile on her face, since she didn’t want others to worry about more things in their lives.

 

If you say that there are no discrepancies as of now, then I am inclined to believe Skipper’s notion. There must be someone working behind the scenes.” Gundham couldn’t help but agree with Skipper, he also felt like the whole information warfare and Daft Capo’s entanglement in it felt rather off. A pompous mafia full of show offs, yet their traces were covered up.

 

But...how can we find out?” asked Sonia, wondering on how exactly would they approach uncovering Daft Capo’s capabilities on the internet.

 

“We should try to not concern ourselves with that, we must defeat our primary adversary first.” advised Gundham that their priority should be the one that is currently endangering them, not an indirect one that assists their adversay.

 

At the very least we can take solace that they won’t try to attack us from here. It’s often indirect attacks that are the most damaging.” added Rintaro before he turned towards a certain person. “….but I had a question for you, Ryota Mitarai. Two of them, in fact.”.

 

“Yes?” Ultimate Impostor raised their eyebrow.

 

“...What were you doing at Radio Kaikan and how exactly did you found out they track?” asked Rintaro in a cautious and warning tone. Once again, Ultimate Impostor had to hide the entire truth regarding the incident.

 

I just thought of it as a temporary hiding spot to test our VPN, but seems like they can intercept it, as they sent an elite member against me. Penguins might be familiar with him.” Ultimate Impostor calmly elaborated before he hinted at a certain Elite Boi that the Avians of the Faraway Blizzard were already aware of. Aware of way too well.

 

“...is it….is it...Fritz?” Skipper’s eye started to twitch as he remembered certain past incidents back in Copenhagen. Ultimate Impostor would have gladly reassured him that they, along with Chiaki’s help, have beaten him, but they still opted to keep the promise.

 

Fischer Fritz, that is correct. It was the very person which has pulled the rug under your streak of successes against that mafia. However, let us not waste time on how Fischer is his name and how...truly bizarre individual he is, we should now focus on addressing our crisis.elaborated Ultimate Impostor before advised that they should cover up major gaps they had.

 

But what can we even do exactly? This conflict seems to be much grander than our school could handle it.” Kiyotaka pointed out that what they initially thought was just going to be a turf war at best turned out to be, let’s say, something else entirely.

 

“Not to mention that Operation Metropolitan Hunt has yet to be concluded. We still haven’t found their area of operations called Zona Daft Capo. We should focus on that the most, along with finding our new hideout. Waging an information war against that syndicate can wait until the first signs of a misinformation campaign happens.” added Kyoko before giving her own piece of advice.

 

I must address that further escalation of the information war, although unlikely for now, might lead to cyberwarfare.” Itaru suddenly spoke, in an unexpectedly serious tone, devoid of any playful if inappropriate jokes Daru was known for.

 

“...Cyberwarfare? What’s that?” Akane asked for explanation, since it was the very first time she has ever heard of such term. In terms of computers, she was a peanut brain. In fact, there were a lot of things where she was a peanut brain.

 

“To put it simply, attacking computer systems of the adversary through digital means, such as viruses, malware and DDOS attacks. While it’s farfetched to imagine anything like that happening now, it’s still a possibility and we should address it. Luckily, you have me. I am in such field after all...and not the only one as well.” explained Itaru while hinting a future possibility in what Hope’s peak or the Fellowship of Darkness should invest in.

 

“….I-Itaru, are you suggesting that I should create malware?” stuttered Chihiro, being the first one to immediately catch upon what could be such possibility. He trembled upon imagining that he would have to develop a malevolent program, even if it meant for the good of his friends.

 

“Um….didn’t mean it like that. More like that you can fulfill the gap in our digital department, when it’s needed.” clarified Itaru that he only meant strengthening their cyber security, although potentially making viruses was not exactly off the table.

 

Uhm….I’d rather focus on security than….you know...but if….” Chihiro hesitated greatly regarding such suggestion, but if the worst possible case scenarios, he’d make a program that would serve as an offensive force for Hope’s peak academy.

 

“I’m sorry to disrupt, but….can we point something out?” interrupted Fuyuhiko just so he could note one thing regarding the whole discussion.

 

“Sure, there’s no problem at all.” Chihiro allowed him to speak.

 

You know, this is more for Class 77-B and Class 78th, but what did you guys expect out of this school? Just a general thing, that’s all I ask.” Fuyuhiko gave them a topic to discuss, even though it was not truly relevant to their planes. It was more of a realization that he had after listening to the discussion.

 

“Exams, boredom, stress, social anxiety, stress, you know, the usual school shit.” Toko bluntly blurted out her extremely low expectations of schools in general.

 

“...Just a normal school life, that’s all.” murmured Chiaki as she also looked at the floor, wondering if it was possible to even have such life at that point.

 

“Well, what else can I say than…..I certainly did not fucking expect contemplating about making our own Hope’s peak branded malware!” Fuyuhiko expressed himself on the matter. He made it short, but the point was gotten across. No one really liked being in such situation.

 

“I wonder if we’ll able to ever return to normal…” lamented Chihiro as he started to look at the floor.

 

“I am afraid this has become a new norm, my friend. It can only get crazier as it goes on. Believe me when I say that. However, when has normalcy mattered, especially against a crazy enemy?” Rintaro spoke to the somber programmer, in a weird yet serious way telling him that expecting normalcy was an exercise in futility.

 

“...Now that is a good point and a good line.” Gundham commended the scientist’s statement.

 

“Why does that feel something your chunni persona would say, even though your tone was….pretty genuine now.” Kurisu pointed out that such absurd statement was said with a completely straight face. It caught her completely off guard.

 

“I legitimately believe that we should just roll with it and focus on covering aspects that we lag behind when compared to Daft Capo. It’s something akin to what Gundham says it…..how do you say it again?” explained Rintaro, still in the same serious tone as before. He snapped with his fingers, trying to remember what would his wizard colleague say in such situation.

 

“Embrace the absurdity of the cosmos.” Gundham said the line in a calm, yet boastful manner. Sonia could feel the sheer coolness of such line, but due to their current situation, she kept herself from making any fangirl-ish comments.

 

“Yeah, something like that. Now, Skipper, what are our tasks again?” asked Rintaro as his attention turned towards the penguin leader.

 

“Everyone should continue Operation Metropolitan Hunt and we should work on strengthening our cyber-security. In the mean time, we’ll also try to find a new hideout. This class can’t be used for long.” Skipper gave a rather concise briefing towards what they should do in the future.

 

“Anything else? Just to be sure.” piqued Fuyuhiko out of concern.

 

“That should be all. We will continue to plan after we conclude Operation Metropolitan Hunt. Dismissed.” Skipper confirmed that was all for now. However, everyone stayed in the class for a moment, contemplating about the whole ordeal, especially about cyber warfare.

 

“….It will take a while to adjust to this norm.” admitted Chihiro that embracing their new lives would be incredibly difficult.

 

“….Yeah….” nodded Sayaka as she started to hug herself. However, such gloomy mood could not be tolerated by some anymore.

 

“But remember what they said! It’s not like we’re fighting an impossible fight, just….one where we have to take in a lot of factors to consider! And as long as we take care of those factors, I’m very sure we’ll give them hell!” Chisa suddenly sprung up as she reminded them that yes, they can still win the fight, as long as they fight with precision and carefulness.

 

“You’re right, Miss Yukizome. Our morale must be strong, but it can’t be our crutch. Hope didn’t exactly save us from…..that day, when….you know….that cat attacked. We still need to cover our weak points and then strike back, such as resources and readiness. We can’t afford to be overwhelmed like that anymore.” further added Chiaki, speaking in a cautious tone as she turned towards Fuyuhiko. She gave him a look, the kind of “when the times comes, you know what to do” one.

 

“….Only when shit hits the fan, right?” Fuyuhiko pointed out that he would bring his clan into the whole conflict only under extreme circumstances.

 

“….Interesting words are coming out of your mouth. You would have said otherwise normally.” Byakuya noted that she spoke in a much more doubtful tone than he expected of her. Togami’s expectations of her speeches were “we will overcome everything with the power of friendship!”, which he thought was utterly idiotic. Actually, even lower than that.

 

“...Speeches from before would...not align themselves with the reality of situation….” frowned Chiaki as she started looking at the floor again. She thought about everything that had happened so far, every single instance where her former world view received a noticeable blow, every single danger that appeared in front of her. Times were truly changing.

 

“Hmmm...our meeting has been concluded now. We should ease off our minds with feast.” Gundham reminded everyone that it was very likely lunch time for them.

 

“...I’m not sure if I feel like it today.” admitted Akane, even though she was unsure herself on why her appetite vanished that day. Thus, they all stood up and went towards the dining hall.

 

...What is going on lately? This isn’t normal!” Mikan thought to herself on the way, thinking about how every single thing she deemed usual was getting turned on her head. Hiyoko bullying her less, Chiaki’s optimism getting damaged, Akane losing appetite, it was all going south.

 

As they all ate their meals, Chiaki’s friend group received an unexpected, if very welcome guest.

 

“Oh, you’re joining, Miss Yukizome?” asked Chiaki as a smile appeared on her face. The guest herself was none other than her teacher, who had ice coffee in one hand and a toast in another.

 

“Of course! To tell you the truth, I haven’t eaten anything today, so my tummy is kicking me really hard right now. Mind if I’m here?” piquied Chisa if she could sit near them

 

That’s not a problem at all. You’ll be always welcome, Miss Yukizome.” Chiaki smile became bigger as she let her teacher sit next to her. And so, Chisa joined in the feast.

 

“Why would we say no? You’re always welcome here, Yukizome!” Ibuki cheerfully added as she pointed at her with her eyes having stars, somehow.

 

“Awww, you guys are always so sweet…” blushed Chisa just by how appreciated she was by her own class. She tried her best to make her own class as happy as possible and it was seeming like it was paying off.

 

After lunch, the rest of the day proceeded normally. Future Gadget Lab members had to leave Even though the start of the day was gloomier than they expected, it was still relieving that they had a usual day, free of any Daft Capo shenanigans.

 

See you tomorrow, Miss Yukizome!” all of her students, along with class 78th students, waved at her, expecting to have more fun next day.

 

“See you all as well, my adorable rotten oranges!” Chisa waved at them back as both of them departed in their own way, with students going home and Chisa returning inside. There was still unfinished business she had back there.

 

“Ah, what a wonderful class I have. If only we could spend more time,….but now here comes the not so fun part of Hope’s peak.” Chisa thought of herself with a smile on her face before that expression turned into a frown once she was reminded of her personal arch-nemesis: paperwork. There was still a lot of empty papers, waiting to be filled in her office. She rushed towards it and started doing her job. She was filling them as fast as she could.

 

“As...annoying as paperwork can get, at the least I know I’m doing this for them, for my class. It’s worth to go through any hurdle life throws at me, even if it’s from Hope’s peak or Daft Capo. Good thing is this pile is small, so…..gotta speed it up!” Chisa thought through out her task, at least reassuring herself that it’s for a good cause.

 

Then, after hours have passed, she finished her job. All of papers of that day were filled.

 

“Tadaaa! It’s done! Now I can unwind myself at my home~.” Chisa stretched herself before she left the office and started walking towards home, happily humming some of the songs that constantly played in her head.

 

But little did she knew that she was being watched. On a tree near the path, Herman observed her with binoculars. The camouflage he choose perfectly blended in the arboreal labyrinth of trees, even his binoculars were painted like that. He also had a phone with him, so that he could communicate with the rest of Elite Bois.

 

“She has come out, bois. Proceed.” reported Herman to Tom and Coyote, who were waiting on the roofs of skyscrapers. Secretly, he followed Chisa, just so he could give exact location of where she was going. His camouflage changed dynamically on the environment.

 

As Chisa was humming along the way, blissfully unaware that she wasn’t just tracked down by the octopus menace, but also by the feline and the coyote, who were performing some sick parkour on skyscraper roofs. They jumped roof to roof as quietly as they could, so that the teacher couldn’t possible notice them.

 

After some additional hours of walking, she has finally arrived to her home: she didn’t even live in her own house, instead she lived in a small apartment inside a three story building. The whole living complex seemed kind of neglected in a way, with its exterior definitely showing that the building was built thirty years ago. None than less, that was where she lived. Her already low wage, deliberately set by higher ups at Hope’s peak, made paying rent even harder. Chisa didn’t let that weigh down, she had enough resilience to fight against that. Upon traversing the apartment, in the 2nd floor, she found her home: a small yet really tidy apartment with three rooms: her “living room”, which also served as a bedroom for her, a basic kitchen and a bathroom, which had both a shower and a toilet clam inside. Other than that, she had pretty much everything she needed: a computer for her job, a nice little couch and some things that remain private in her closet. It’s for her….stress relief, to say at least.

 

“Ah, I’m finally back here. My home.” Chisa let out a deep breath as she closed the door. However, even though Tom and Coyote waited outside, Herman has secretly tracked down the exact apartment she was in. He placed a piece of paper on the door right after Chisa closed it and dashed off, soon joining Wile and Tom outside.

 

“OK, bois. She’s on the second floor and if you see any papers, you’ve hit jack pot, got it?” Herman gave instructions, to which their response was a confident nod.

 

Meanwhile, Chisa was just making sure everything at her home was in a right place. She walked around, wondering about her life.

 

“Had Hope’s peak given me a higher wage, which is lower than the scholarship of promoted Reserve Course students, mind you, I’d move out. Maybe a nice house, for me and….” Chisa thought to herself before she looked at a photo which she deemed very special to her heart. A photo which captured the memories of her time at Hope’s peak. There were two boys, one with green hair and one with white hair, both stern looking. It made a contrast considering how cheerful Chisa looked in that photo.

 

“...him~. Speaking of him, I should really tell him about the day!” Chisa smiled once she saw the white haired boy in the figure. As of that moment, both were doing Hope’s peak work overseas, specifically Pacific, where they planned to build an island of sorts. Neither of them were aware what was actually happening in the mainland japan. Chisa brought up her phone and started typing a message towards her loved white haired man.

 

Meanwhile, as the trio of an octopus, a cat and a coyote waited outside, a Toyota Mega Cruiser, along with Mercedes Benz Formula One car, which had to drive slowly (much to driver’s disdain) in order to not cause attention, arrived to the scene. As both vehicles parked, their respected drivers stepped out.

 

Those two were none other than Fischer Fritz and Nefarious Tropy. They all gathered around those three that were already waiting for the attack to begin.

 

“So, when we striking, bois?” asked Fritz, smoking four blunts simultaneously already as he cracked his fists.

 

On my mark. The moment I make this face, Tom and Wile will break in first. Understood?” clarified N.Tropy as he gave a look towards Tom and Coyote. He was armed with his trademark tuning fork, an instrument very often used in electrocution of innocents. Both Tom and Wile nodded in understanding while also eagerly anticipating a fight.

 

“Excellent. If everything goes smoothly, which it will, it will be a moment of glorious magnitude. She won’t see it coming. They won’t see it coming.” smirked N.Tropy, immediately sending Tom and Wile to do the job. The cat and the coyote infiltrated the building, going to the second floor as Herman told them to do.

 

Meanwhile, Chisa was just texting rather sugary messages to the white haired man, whose name seemed to be Kyosuke Munataka. Those two were in a relationship, but they have yet to be married. That didn’t exactly stop Chisa when it came to...certain things.

 

Awww, he’s so sweet….so cute….so sub-….hehehehe, now now, Chisa. Don’t get too excited now. You know how….erm…..ACK! This is too embarrassing to think about!” Chisa internally gushed about her partner before she started blushing hard upon imagining things she liked to do with him. One thing was for sure though: she was the dominant one in the relationship. Just saying. To distract herself from having thoughts that could activate her drive, she sniffed herself to see if she needed to commit some self care.

 

It turned out, she was kinda smelly. Not like ammonia level, but more of “aftermath of a really tough exercise” level.

 

“...All that stress and work got me in not the best condition. A teacher of Class 77-B can’t be smelly. I must be in the most funky fresh form possible, so…” Chisa already knew what exactly to do. She did everything she could to be in the most top form possible. Before she went to the bathroom, she decided that one equipment had to be utmost important while she washes away all the filth that was on her body at that moment.

 

The radio.

 

“Oh yes, absolutely necessary!” Chisa put her hands around her hips as she did a confident nod, taking the radio with her. Music was absolutely necessary for purposes only she knew. As she took the radio and her sleeping clothes, which consisted of a black top tank and black shorts, she finally went inside the bathroom, closing the door in the process.

 

As they heard such sounds, Tom and Wile’s eyes squeezed through the small gap that separated the floor as they observed her apartment. There were no signs of her being present, so they just squeezed through out the gap in entirety, but also silently. They were in.

 

Warning! The following scene will contain a very feral woman losing her control! The booty will be shaken! If you wish to skip this scene, scroll over until you find another bold text!”

 

Chisa did what anyone would do if they had intention of shower: she took all of her clothes off. Her maid like outfit was put in a washing machine where as she put her “sleeping clothes” in a place where they couldn’t get wet. Sleep isn’t exactly good if one sleeps in wet clothing.

 

“Ah, such relief~….but not before I take security measures!” Chisa let out a rather satisfied sigh of relief once she was naked, but before she actually commenced showering, she inserted a key of bathroom inside the keyhole, locked the door and left the key in. For extra measure, she placed a rug right next to the door, jamming it in a gap.

 

“There! I don’t want any incidents with someone breaking in my bathroom while showering. It happened once….and I did kick that guy’s rear to hell and back, but it won’t happen again!” Chisa thought to herself as she remember that one incident where a situation similar to one that happened in Alfred Hitchcock’s Psycho happened to her, except for the fact Chisa didn’t scream and get helplessly stabbed. Instead, she lunged at the attacker and utterly beat the living daylights out of him until the police arrived. Had it not been that the police saw the attacker trying to stab her, they would have arrested her, even if she performed an action of self defense. Ever since that day, she had to take measures for peaceful showering and bathing. Rough life to be the Ultimate Housekeeper, but she didn’t let it bring her down. She saw it as a lesson and a reason to further get stronger.

 

However, noises created by her locking the door attracted attention of intruders as both of them walked on their toes, locating their target in the process. Wile, out of curiosity and interest, tried to peek through the keyhole, but all he found was pitch darkness. Even the gap between the door and the floor couldn’t be used for espionage purposes. Coyote frowned upon the realization that he couldn’t see the joy of a naked woman.

 

“No sight available.” Coyote lifted a sign in disappointment, with Tom slowly yet quietly smacked his face, also disappointed that he couldn’t get to see her showering.

 

Meanwhile, Chisa stepped in and closed the curtain, so that truly no one could see her showering. If it was just normal showering, she wouldn’t be really embarrassed by it, but no, it was Yukizome-branded shower, prone to things that would, lets say, confuse a lot of people. Before she let water fall on her body, she performed a check on her physique. There was little wonder on why she was so proud of it.

 

“Now...let’s check how I’m doing! My legs, all good! They are perfectly fit! My stomach, also all good! Soft enough to be cuddly, but just the right shape! All those exercises….and housekeeping duty, they were worth it!...even with all incidents included.” confidently smirked Chisa as she put her hands around her hips, doing a little proud nod. Just before she would truly start, she would check on the last part of her body. “There’s no doubt about these, but lets see what I pack in the back?”.

 

It was her own butt, which made Ibuki’s own posterior pale in comparison, that received a self delivered slap. However, she did it with such force that even she flinched upon it as her face turned completely red.

 

“O-oh! Whoopsie, I slipped again! Thankfully, no one’s watching, hehehe….it would have been so embarrassing that...I liked it-AAAAAAH! No! Too embarrassing!” Chisa fidgeted as she talked to herself, noticing that what she intended to do as a “yep, I’m really proud of it!” gesture was dealt with force greater than she had a grip on. A red mark was left on her cheek. The whole thing kind of activated her in a way.

 

Outside of her bathroom, Wile and Tom both heard what was going on. It soon became clear that it won’t be just a normal showering session. It would be something else entirely. They even wondered if she’s gonna lose it, so to speak.

 

Intriguing.” Coyote lifted a sign as he scratched his chin.

 

After she struck her own butt, she was ready to shower once.

 

I can safely say that you did good, Yukizome! Keep up the good work! Now...hehehe...comes the fun part.” Chisa thought to herself as she turned on the radio, playing a slow jazzy song by the name of “Your Love is a Drug.” Then she turned on the shower, letting water fall on her body. Combination of a shower and the song made her dance in the shower, really letting her hips control her movements. She was even humming to the song as she slowly lost control of herself, instead letting the sweet, soft melody guide her.

 

At that point, both Tom and Wile were baffled by what they were hearing. It would have been understandable if she was just singing, but there was an entire musical happening inside her bathroom.

 

“What exactly is going on inside?” Coyote lifted a sign to Tom, asking if he knew what exactly was Chisa doing inside the shower. Tom just shook his head, having about the same idea as Wile. In a sense that he had no idea.

 

As two intruders were baffled by what they were hearing, Chisa continued dancing in a gentle yet alluring fashion. She was acting like she was seducing someone, possibly her boyfriend in her mind. Sometimes, to the rhythm of the song, she tapped her own butt gently, just to make the whole thing ever more exciting for her. That went on for about five minutes, right when the whole song ended. When the song concluded, so did her shower session. Her task was complete, the stink was washed away.

 

“Ah, I feel like new Yukizome now! Funky fresh, light and ready for a new day! Can’t be exactly wet like that, so I gotta dry off!” Chisa let out another sigh of relief, which sounded close to a moan as she stepped out of the shower, dried off, put some of perfume on her so that she would be really attractive to boys (although that wouldn’t stop some girls) and put on her sleeping clothes on. Chisa Yukizome was now fresh as she said.

 

Alright, the feral woman gained control. Continue normally.

 

“5 minutes, Tom. 5 minutes of shower. Can you believe that? I can already feel N.Tropy losing it.” Coyote lifted a sign while also reminding them that the boss of Elite Bois was probably growing ever impatient.

 

However, the reality told a different story, as seen by two Elite Bois who were still waiting outside.

 

“When’s gonna be the fight?” Fritz was the one who was growing impatient, just ready to throw hands at any time. In fact, he already had his blunts between his fingers.

 

“Patience, Fischer. We must strike at just right time.” N.Tropy cautioned, still waiting for the perfect opportunity.

 

As Chisa finally opened the door of bathroom, Tom and Coyote went into hiding.

 

“Aha!” Coyote lifted a sign as both of them observed what she planned to do. As they watched, Chisa just stretched herself and sat behind the computer. Even at her home, she still had school stuff to do. Once the computer booted, she went on Hope’s peak webpage to do her tasks.

 

“Today’s been….not the best day I admit. It wasn’t bad, just that….my students don’t deserve a life like that. Their lives should be filled with joy and happiness, not with concerns about when they will be attacked. Lucky for them, I’ve got their backs. Even though last time, I didn’t do the best, but….my dear did say that I prevented more harm...so...I’ll admit it. I tried my best.” thought Chisa to herself before she looked at the photo that accompanied her on the table. It was a photo that Mahiru took when class 77-B and 78th had their first meeting with Kurisu Makise. She couldn’t help but smile, but her eyes focused on one student. The one that meant the world to her.

 

Chiaki Nanami.

 

“Chiaki, I hope that one day you’ll know how much happiness have you brought to my li-” Chisa’s mind became overflown with happy thoughts, remembering all sorts of things they did at Hope’s peak academy together.

 

All of that came to an abrupt end when he saw a reflection of a Coyote on the monitor.

 

Surprise!”.

 

“Huh?!” yelped Chisa as Coyote was ready to smash a sign on her head, but she sprung up from the chair and sacked Coyote right in his schnoz. The strength of her initial punch was enough to completely invert Coyote’s nose, along with him being sent right into the wall.

 

“Why you-!” Chisa growled at him before she lunged herself at him to beat the living hell out of the intruder, but Coyote pulled out two signs out of nowhere and parried her punches with them. Then, Coyote tried to use the opportunity to strike her down with two signs, but as he did, Chisa broke one sign with a single punch alone, startling Coyote in the process. As he accidentally let his guard down, Chisa tore the other sign from Coyote’s hand and used it to beat him up, with his head being first place where she struck. She did not intend to kill him, just beat him enough that he would learn his lesson.

 

Suddenly, Coyote whistled, calling for assistance. Tom, as intended, jumped out of his hiding spot and sprinted towards the battle. Within milliseconds he recognized that Chisa was armed with Coyote’s sign, so he extended his claws. Just as quickly Chisa saw the impending Tom and attempted to strike right in his face with a sign, but Tom was prepared as he slashed the sign with a single swipe. Then he proceeded to perform some swipes, but Chisa kept jumping all over the place to evade them. Suddenly, Chisa turned absolutely primal as she began to growl at both of them. Her irises shrunk as she clenched her teeth. She ran towards the kitchen as Tom was trying to claw her, but her reflexes were often her life savers. Once she reached the kitchen, she pulled out bread cutter knives and attempted to cut down Tom’s claws, but performed some sick moves to evade her attacks. Knowing that she was armed, Coyote stood away from the battle as he let out a louder whistle, confirming for other two Elite Bois to join in.

 

Those were the best news Fritz could hear that day.

 

“Woooooo!!!! It’s happening, my boi!” Fritz cheered as he performed some punches in advance, just waiting for his boss to confirm it.

 

“Very well then. Begin.” smirked N.Tropy, allowing him to do his part. After letting out a cheer, Fritz sprinted inside the building, following Herman’s instruction to find Chisa’s apartment. After dashing through the staircase, he reached the 2nd floor and quickly found a door marked by paper. Thanks to Tom and Wile secretly unlocking the door, he broke in with relative ease as he dashed into the battle. At that point, Chisa and Tom were still trying to cut each other down, one with a bread cutting knife, other one with claws. The teacher was in the perfect position for a certain signature attack of Fritz, which was called Bundesliga. He was just ready to kick her right in the ass with all the force he had in his leg, but Chisa, once she quickly recognized that another attacker was coming, prepared a certain attack that she used only under odd circumstances.

 

“HA-CHAW!” Chisa lunged her own booty at him, sending him right towards the wall. Fritz completely dropped his life, not even once expecting that someone would sincerely use such attack, but it would have actual prowess to hurt him. There were even cracks in the wall because of him landing with such force.

 

“Holy shit, I got booty blasted!” Fritz’s eyes became wider once he processed what just happened. Considering him knocked out, Chisa focused on Tom instead. However, amid her posterior attack, Tom managed to swipe at the right time, cutting the knife in half. Instead of being startled by such move, Chisa just threw the handle right in his face, scoring a direct hit on his nose.

 

“YEOW!”.

 

Then she picked up the blade and threw it right into his foot.

 

“AWOHOHOHOHOHOHOHOAOAOAO!”.

 

Tom jumped so high from the pain delivered by the blade that his head broke through the ceiling. Coyote saw that the battle was not going as expected, so he had to improvise.

 

“Get up!” Coyote lifted a sign before he threw it right into Fritz, who, once hit by it, stood up and continued the battle. The blunts were just hot enough that they were still considered a weapon as he lunged himself at Chisa. However, Chisa sucker punched him right in the stomach, sending him back from recoil. Such attack just further excited Fritz as he went all “WOOOOO!” and such before both of them began throwing fists at each other. In the mean time, Coyote pulled out Tom out of the ceiling as they joined the three versus one fist fight.

 

But that three versus one battle would soon turn into a four versus one.

 

My time has come!” N.Tropy grinned to himself as he walked inside. He felt like it was the perfect opportunity for his attack. Due to his giant clock armor, he couldn’t run for a long time, so he opted for a fast walk. Thanks to Herman’s instructions, he quickly found out Chisa’s apartment and joined the battle. Instead of just rushing in, he opted for an ambush. He waited for the right time to strike. As the battle went on, Chisa was somehow still putting up a fight, despite being outnumbered. Then, she made a mistake she wasn’t even aware of: she was in such position that allowed N.Tropy to strike.

 

With a malicious grin on his face, N.Tropy fired a weak, yet still startling enough lightning out of his tuning fork that it electrocuted Chisa just enough that she fell on the floor. She was just knocked out, but she still remained conscious. None of the less, sudden shock caused her to panic. Other three Elite Bois ceased to attack as they let N.Tropy to do the job.

 

Wh….what just happened?!” Chisa took some deep breaths, trying to pick herself up after feeling raw electricity going through her body. Just when she was about to stand up, N.Tropy entered the room as quickly as he could and pressed his electrified tuning fork right on her, causing her to be electrocuted once again. It wasn’t lethal, but the shock was even greater than that of lightning. The teacher was more or less paralyzed by such attack. Her entire body was trembling uncontrollably. Just before he could strike again, Chisa saw the malicious blue skinned scientist standing right above her, prepared to deal the finishing blow.

 

However, thanks to intervention of one Elite Boi, her life was spared.

 

“Hold it there, my man! We gotta keep her alive!” Fritz reminded him that Chisa had to be alive in order for their plan to function. With such reminder, N.Tropy turned off his tuning fork as he ceased with his offensive stance.

 

“Oh right, I have almost forgot. Coyote, do the deed.” ordered N.Tropy as he pointed at the paralyzed teacher.

 

“With pleasure.” Coyote lifted a sign before he struck her head with the very same sign. Chisa was rendered unconscious by such attack, losing the battle in the process. Her life was at mercy of those gangsters.

 

“Excellent job, gentlemen. The first phase of our plan is complete and we got our booty.” commended N.Tropy as all of them took a look at their unconscious prey.

 

“WOOOOOOOOO! Now that is a woman I love! Man, I’d love her as my wife, but that would unfortunately contradict with our plan.” Fritz jumped in the air as he let out all of his excitement after having a battle of his lifetime. Compared to Chiaki, who was deemed as an amateur by Fritz, Chisa was the exact woman he was looking for.

 

“Well, we shall see about that. However, we must remember: we are professionals, not barbaric vermin! We shall act with out code of conduct.” reminded N.Tropy while also hinting that the latter were everyone at Hope’s peak academy.

 

“Of course, that is expected!” nodded Fritz.

 

Now...let us go back. Hope’s peak is in for a treat tomorrow.” grinned N.Tropy before he, along with other Elite Bois, let out a laugh full of malice. Tom and Coyote were ones who took unconscious Chisa to the Mega Cruiser, placing her in a trunk. As they were finished, they all drove off. No one else in apartment noticed anything odd happening that night. And thus the fate of Chisa Yukizome was juggled by the claws of Daft Capo, with her close ones not even aware that she was taken way. For what use she had for them, her close ones would get to know soon.

Chapter 38: Smile at Hope In The Name of Relentlessness

Summary:

...I'm sorry, Chiaki

Chapter Text

Gray clouds covered the sky, dimming everything below them. Yet, not a sign of any rain. Not a particularly warm day either, residents had to pack quite a decent amount of clothing on themselves. That included a certain girl by the name of Chiaki Nanami, who, after groggily waking up and brushing her teeth, not only forgot about breakfast, but when she was about to go on her journey to school, she also forgot her jacket. Once she stepped out for a bit, she soon received a quick, yet cold grip of low temperatures. It was with that she became aware of her surroundings.

 

“Oh….oh...heck, I gotta-” Chiaki had a brief thought before she dashed off right into her house as she began to search for her jacket. Under a rush, she tried to find it as quickly as possible, since it was unimaginable for her to even miss out a class, even though classes were optional. It was a bit of a double edge sword, since at the end of the year, an exam about talent would come. Not that it was particularly on anyone’s mind, considering their current circumstances. After hastily searching through out the entire house, she finally found her jacket, which was in a place where she always put on.

 

“Sheesh, how could I forget about it?” Chiaki slapped her forehead as she pouted at herself on how could she miss out something that was consistently there. Her own embarrassment at herself didn’t last long as she put it on and closed it with a zipper. At the very least, she was prepared to deal with the cold day. “...Since when was this month ever cold, though?”.

 

With everything set and done, she went walking towards the school, with her hoodie on. More warmth she got, the better she could deal with it. However, any thought about cold was soon replaced with a much pleasant one: she reminded herself that ever since previous day, her own teacher will wait for her. No more would she spend any time waiting for her friends alone. Upon such thought, she couldn’t help but smile.

 

Heh...Miss Yukizome does so much for everyone...She truly makes everything worth it…” thought Chiaki to herself as she walked through the streets, keeping her spirits up despite the cold. She already imagined what games would they play early in the morning. Since they played Gala Omega before, Chiaki thought that it would be probably better if she spiced it up with variety, so she brought up games related to none other than her favorite pink puffball. An easy choice, knowing that Chisa has revealed herself to be a fan of that franchise.

 

After an hour of walking, she arrived to the bench near the fountain. She sat down on it and eagerly waited for her beloved teacher to join her, already imagining on what adventures would they go in the land of dreams. Perhaps it would be to save everyone from darkness or something. Chiaki waited with her ever innocent smile.

 

However, that smile soon began to deteriorate more time passed. Previous day, Chisa appeared rather quickly, but that day, the opposite was true. There was no trace of her at all. At first, Chiaki tried to rationalize why exactly was Chisa not present there.

 

“….Miss Yukizome told me that she’d be there. Maybe she has something to do at home….I’ll wait for her.” Chiaki thought about it, since she remembered that sometimes, her teacher had troubles at home (mostly regarding to do with appliances, rarely with other people). It was an often reason why she sometimes came late. Nevertheless, Chiaki still hoped that she would come.

 

More time passed, yet there was still no trace of Chisa Yukizome. At that point, her innocent smile was replaced with a frown of worry. Even her eyes weren’t as lively as they were before, instead they were filled with anxiety. What exactly was the reason that Miss Yukizome didn’t show up? Chiaki did not believe that Chisa would ever abandon her, so there must be another reason.

 

“...Where is she?…” Chiaki murmured to herself, still clinging on to faint hope that she would come. A promise was made, after all, although she wouldn’t be angry if Chisa showed up late, since she would usually explain herself about it. She looked around, just waiting for the moment that she would arrive and relieve of any worry.

 

However, something happened that Chiaki did not expect at all, for the worst of it.

 

Suddenly, she felt vibrations on her backpack, immediately recognizing that it was her phone. Possibly a call, possibly a message. Chiaki always had the sound on, so that she couldn’t miss out what message she got from her friends. Upon opening the bag, Chiaki opened the app to see received messages.

 

The moment she saw them, she could feel her heart stop. Chiaki’s irises shrunk as she let out a gasp upon seeing what kind of messages did she receive. Worst of all, all of them were seemingly sent by Chisa Yukizome, the very person who has done so much for her.

 

Respond already, you utter waste.”.

 

My biggest mistake was meeting you. Wish I never did such garbage as you.”.

 

Entire world would benefit if you were aborted. You contribute nothing good.”.

 

Her mind couldn’t even process from the sheer shock that someone as kind as Chisa could even think about saying such things to her, let alone typing it out directly to her. Chiaki even covered her mouth with her hand out of the severity of shock.

 

N-no….no it can’t be….Miss Yukizome would never say things like that…..she would never say that…” Chiaki’s mind became overwhelmed with absolute anxiety, yet the small rational part of it still wanted to get to the bottom of the whole situation. There was a doubt that someone else played a part of it. With her hand trembling, she immediately pressed the call icon as she waited for her teacher for pick up.

 

“M-Miss Yukizome, why did you-” Chiaki demanded to know right away what was the reason for such messages. However, she soon came to realization that she wasn’t talking to Miss Yukizome at all the moment she heard a much different voice on the call. Not the gentle, sweet voice of Chisa, but rather heavily accented, likely of British origin, and harsh voice of a certain man.

 

Took a while, didn’t you?”.

 

“...W-what?! Who are….Why are you using Miss Yukizome’s phone?!” stammered Chiaki as her anxiety was rising even further. Little did she know that she was talking directly to Nefarious Tropy, self proclaimed Master of Time and the very leader of Elite Bois.

 

“Does an imbecile like you deserve such answer?” N.Tropy immediately scoffed at her, not even wasting a second trying to insult her as much as possible. Considering what he heard of his co-workers, he knew where to aim.

 

“Answer me! What are you doing on Miss Yukizome’s phone?!” demanded Chiaki, with her anxiety channeling into anger. She began to clench her fist as it began to tremble.

 

“Figure it out yourself. You can do as you wish, but if you actually value her life, then follow my instructions carefully.” hinted N.Tropy with nothing more than utter condescension in his voice. The hint was blatant enough that Chiaki immediately got the idea that her beloved teacher was at that moment under the claws of their largest adversary. Her irises shrunk as she let out a little gasp, completely freezing under fear and anxiety.

 

“...Wait...no...don’t tell me that…that….” Chiaki’s lip began to tremble as her grip on the phone was also becoming weaker. Her heart was beating faster than it was normal. At no time did she imagine that not only would be someone from her class be held hostage, let alone that someone being Chisa Yukizome out of all people. In fact, she couldn’t believe it.

 

“Don’t believe me? Perhaps THIS will convince you.” N.Tropy gave her a reason to believe just by putting the phone to someone Chiaki was more than familiar with.

 

...hey, sweetie…”.

 

“...M...Miss Yukizome?! What happened?!” stuttered Chiaki as she immediately noticed that Chisa’s voice was devoid of any cheerfulness and energy that she usually had. It was a quiet, hurt voice that she had.

 

“Don’t worry, dear, just that….your teacher will pull out of this….I promi-” Chisa attempted to reassure her that despite the situation, everything will turn out okay. Her attempt was quickly interrupted by what sounded like sparks of electricity. Suddenly, Chisa let out an agonizing wail, with Chiaki having to hear all of it. Just from the sound alone, she could hear the man electrocuting her own teacher right in front of her. Due to how the sudden the move was, it made Chiaki flinch.

 

“S-stop it! Please, stop it!” begged Chiaki, but it was for naught. Hearing her pleas only gave N.Tropy more ideas.

 

“Oh, you want it again?” smirked N.Tropy before he repeated the whole process of electrocuting her, forcing Chiaki to hear her own teacher in pure agony once again.

 

“STOP IT! PLEASE, STOP HURTING HER! BRING HER BACK!” screamed Chiaki as her entire body started to tremble. As much as she was holding it all in her, she could feel that she couldn’t hide her tears any longer. Luckily for her, N.Tropy was already satisfied with sending the message, letting Chisa live for that moment.

 

“Well, there is a way to get this skank back, if you listen carefully.” N.Tropy gave her an option, just like it was according to his plan.

 

“...Please….bring her...bring her back…” murmured Chiaki, still begging for her teacher to return. Such response struck an ire in N.Tropy, although it was hard for her to tell if he was just acting to make her feel even worse or was he genuinely irritated.

 

“Are you even listening now or are you too mentally defected to do so?” N.Tropy lashed out on her, causing her too flinch. Something about being called “mentally defected” made her already low self esteem dive down even more.

 

“...I’m...I’m listening….” whimpered Chiaki, feeling weaker and weaker the more that conversation went on. She felt like she couldn’t stand anymore, let alone move.

 

“All you have to do to get this trash pile back is to-” N.Tropy began, but due to the fact he kept mocking the person who meant so much for her, Chiaki snapped.

 

“...Stop INSULTING HER!” Chiaki screamed at him, still trying even though it was clear to her how utterly powerless was she in such situation.

 

“Did I allow you to talk, you useless mutt? What it is that you care about her so much? Since when has any normal student cared about their own teachers?” retaliated N.Tropy with ferocity before he stopped himself, realizing something that not even Chiaki did. At least, openly. “...wait, I figured it out. It’s the “parental figure” nonsense, isn’t it?”.

 

Chiaki gasped as she felt her entire body freeze. Something deep in her heart was torn. Yet, it made her all more pathetic to her enemy.

 

“...Hahahaha, is this why you act like she’s your mother? Your own parents could care less about you, that explains everything! The entire world really wouldn’t have changed much if you just vanished, hahahahaha-” N.Tropy went full force by mocking her as much as possible. Despite talking to her for the first time, he immediately figured out what was the deal between Chiaki and Chisa. It was true, Chiaki knew that Chisa was the closest to the parental figure she had. Her biological parents weren’t seen by her eyes ever since she was a child, in the early years too. At that moment, Chiaki’s heart shattered into pieces.

 

“Get on with it already!” a voice, unfamiliar to her but very known by N.Tropy, of a mustached driver interrupted him further verbally tearing apart Chiaki. He didn’t need to do much anymore, since all she could do was curl up on the bench, hiding her face from the world. No longer she could hold her tears anymore. The phone was placed close enough that N.Tropy could hear what she could say.

 

“-yes, yes, I’ll carry on. Alright, so what you need to do is to get her back is to convince this school to give us one hundred billion dollars and transfer the ownership of the academy to us. That should be a simple task, riiight?” N.Tropy revealed the deal to her. By then, Chiaki was devastated so much that she couldn’t yell, as much as she wanted to. All she could do was to weep.

 

“...That’s...that’s….” sniffled Chiaki, trying to say anything, but she was soon interrupted by the man himself.

 

“Impossible? Ridiculous? I can tell you exactly what’s impossible and ridiculous: you having any lasting relationship! Vermin like you deserves to rot on the street like bovine excrement! Just saying, there are no alternatives. Either your school gives us one hundred billion dollars along with the entire ownership or your teacher is taking a one way trip to Tirana. I’ll make sure that local populace makes her life like hell!” scoffed N.Tropy as he did not hesitate verbally tearing her again while revealing her what would happen to Chisa if they don’t act within a week.

 

“...No...please….please don’t….” pleaded Chiaki with tears rolling down her cheeks. Yet, it was futile. All they could really do at the moment was to comply his demands.

 

“What, is your brain THAT malfunctioning? Were you dropped on the head when you were a newborn? Of course you were….I mean, did you not understand a single thing what I’ve said?! One hundred billion dollars and entire school or you can say goodbye to your teacher! Is that not clear enough?!” N.Tropy lashed out at her again, still hard to tell whether he was genuinely furious at her or was he acting just to escalate her misery. None than less, it worked.

 

“….Y-yeah….” murmured Chiaki in defeat, just listening. All she could do was for Hope’s peak to make a right decision. Even the Fellowship of Darkness was not in a position to properly tackle their adversary head on.

 

“Good. Your school has about one week to fulfill our demand. One week. I’ll leave you a message with a demand in case you were too moronic to remember.” said N.Tropy for the final time before he rubbed it right in her face. “I have one thing to say: revel in your own suffering! Hahahahahaha!”.

 

The call was done. Chiaki remained curled up on the bench, trying to hide her tears from everyone. At that point, her friends arrived too. All of them were startled by seeing her in such state, but they rushed towards her right away.

 

“Chiaki! What happened?!” asked Hajime out of complete and utter concern, he even felt his heart beating fast. He slightly shook her by gently grabbing the shoulder, so that she wouldn’t be startled, just to be sure that at the very least she was physically okay, that nothing happened to her. With her trembling arm and still looking away, Chiaki just gave them the phone, so that they could see what was happening. Just from hearing her weeping, they could immediately tell that something did happen. Normally, all she would do was to say “I’m okay” or “Don’t worry”, but from what happened, she just wasn’t able to.

 

“W-what’s going on, Chiaki? Please, tell us!” Ibuki begged to know as well, but their answer was laid down in front of them when Chihiro noticed that Chiaki wanted them to check their phone and when he did, his entire skin became pale from sheer horror of what he saw. Without saying a word, thanks to sheer shock, he also showed messages to Hajime and Ibuki as well.

 

They couldn’t believe what they saw. They just couldn’t believe that their teacher was a hostage of their adversaries. It took them a while to process the whole thing.

 

“….No….no! No, this can’t be real, right? They...they didn’t…” Hajime tried to deny it, but judging from Chiaki’s reaction, it could not be disputed that it was indeed real. Not a word they could say, they were all in the state of shock. Any cheerfulness Ibuki had was gone. Completely gone. It didn’t help that their current situation made them completely powerless against Daft Capo.

 

Soon after, Fuyuhiko, Peko and Sonia joined as well. They immediately noticed not only how not only were those three utterly afraid, but Chiaki in such vulnerable state.

 

“Hey….is everything alright? What’s going on here?” cautiously asked Fuyuhiko as they all stepped closer. Peko remained silent, but she immediately caught on that whatever happened, it was anything but good.

 

“Um, Chiaki? You look rather...” piqued Sonia upon noticing her curled up friend, hesitating with words. She didn’t want to unintentionally put her even lower than before. At that point, the other group revealed what exactly was going on.

 

“No….nothing is fine now!” quavered Hajime, getting straight to the point on how horrendous the situation was. Fuyuhiko, Sonia and Peko became even more perplexed and even more concerned about it.

 

“Huh? What happened, Hajime?” asked Fuyuhiko in an unusually quiet tone for him.

 

“T-they….they got Miss Yukizome….they got Miss Yukizome….” stammered Ibuki as she revealed exactly what happened. Just from how much was she trembling and how there was lack of any energy in her at all, it became a bigger shock to the group.

 

“What? No way! That’s bullshit! There’s no way that-” Fuyuhiko tried to deny it at first, but Chihiro gave him Chiaki’s phone, so that all three of them could see the proof. Upon reading it, they couldn’t know what to say. The fact that such situation was reality was something they could never imagined.

 

“My goodness….they….they really did it….” gulped Sonia as her skin became even more pale. Peko, while saying nothing, clenched her teeth in anger. After the disbelief was one, Fuyuhiko’s heart became full of wrath. Just by clenching his fist, he was ready to punch everything.

 

“….Fucking BASTARDS! ALL OF THEM!” roared Fuyuhiko as he shook his fist, trying to avoid hurting anyone. At that point, the group noticed that Chiaki’s weeping became more intense. Her grip on her emotions was getting weaker. Immediately, Hajime knew that they had to act, she needed to recover. He took a deep breath, preparing himself for what he was about to do.

 

“Hey uh….we should take her home right now. She should be taken to safety.” suggested Hajime to Ibuki and Chihiro, both which, once they set their fears aside to help their friend, nodded. Then, he stepped closer to her, just assuring that she will taken to safety. “Let’s go home, Chiaki….”.

 

As vulnerable as she was, Chiaki tried her best to get up, but she was visibly trembling, struggling to even pull herself out of it. Hajime immediately offered her a hand to help her. With hesitation, Chiaki grabbed it and managed to get herself up. However, she didn’t make eye contact as she was looking at the floor as tears kept falling down. No matter how much she tried to hide it, she couldn’t do it anymore. Just before they were set to go, Hajime had one more request for his other classmates.

 

“Fuyuhiko, Sonia, Peko….tell everyone about this…please…” Hajime asked them to report the situation to everyone else, so that they would be aware of what was happening there. If it were already dark times for here, that day was one of the lowest.

 

“….Understood….” confirmed Peko as Chiaki’s group started to escort her back home. Upon seeing her like that, Fuyuhiko, Peko and Sonia’s hearts all felt heavier. She always seemed so optimistic and well meaning, to see her like that was the last thing they wanted.

 

“Poor Chiaki…” lamented Sonia, wishing that she could hug her and reassure her that everything is going to be okay. Although they didn’t express it out loud, both Fuyuhiko and Peko felt the same about it. They’ll make sure that after that is over, Chiaki will be able to smile again.

 

By the time they were walking home, Ibuki pulled out her phone and immediately called the person she knew was up to the task.

 

“H-hey, Mayuri? We need you right now, please!” Ibuki did not hesitate to show how urgent the situation was.

 

“Huh? Ibu-chan, what happened?” asked Mayuri, already noticing that something was up just from Ibuki’s tone. It was very likely the first time Mayuri saw Ibuki in genuine panic..

 

“Come to Chiaki’s house, please!” Ibuki begged her to help as soon as possible. At that moment, Mayuri knew exactly what to do. She quickly understood how severe was the situation and did not waste any more time.

 

“….I’ll arrive as soon as possible...I think I know what is happening…See ya soon….” promised Mayuri as the call ended. With determination in her eyes, she quickly gave a notice to everyone in the Future Gadget Lab that it was time to help their friend.

 

“We have to go, everyone.” announced Mayuri, to which Rintaro, Kurisu and Itaru all nodded. All of them began packing. Once they were all ready, they all started rushing towards Chiaki’s house, to get to the bottom of the situation.

 

In the mean time, the three from before were left to contemplate on what to do. Not only were they deprived of their hideout, just recovered from an attack of an Elite, but now their teacher was held hostage by the same enemy they fought for days. The tide of the conflict turned against them.

 

“….Fuck….” Fuyuhiko had to let it out, realizing that such severe situation meant only one thing: he will have to do it.

 

“W-what should we do, Fuyuhiko? We...we have to get her back, right?” asked Sonia, hoping that they’re at least a chance that they would have to bring her back by themselves before Chisa is deported to unknown lands, with populace deliberately angered by the very people who intend to send here there.

 

“But...how? We don’t even-” Peko wanted to point out that they still haven’t found the actual location of Zona Daft Capo, but her statement came to a stop the moment they saw the rest of Class 77-B, with Gundham being right in front of them. While rest of them looked perplexed, Gundham had a cautious expression on his face, already assuming what happened.

 

“So the worst has happened, hasn’t it?” asked Gundham in a shockingly quiet tone for confirmation whether or not the situation went haywire. He managed to notice something was hugely wrong when he noticed that Chiaki was not waiting on the bench. She was always there, but that day was not among them.

 

“Worst? What do you mean by...that?” asked Mahiru, even though she noticed that those three looked rather startled. Just like Hajime requested, the group revealed what exactly happened that day.

 

“Miss Yukizome….she got abducted! Bastards got her!” Fuyuhiko was the one who said it. Needless to say, entire class was shaken by the revelation that Chisa Yukizome was under the claws of Daft Capo. That day shall become infamous among them, as possibly one of the lowest points their class got into so far.

 

“W-what?! M-Miss Yukizome got kidnapped?!” Mikan immediately started panicking as any semblance of a normal life completely crumbled. She even started pulling her hair out of panic.

 

“...Yeah, she has been….” confirmed Sonia with nothing short of a somber tone in her voice. However, not everyone did immediately believe them words. Despite the situation, it still felt too surreal that one of their own people was held hostage.

 

“No...I don’t believe it!” denied Teruteru, typically of him when it came to stressful situations. Perhaps it was a coping mechanism, to not face the reality head on.

 

“We saw it! We saw the proof right fucking there-” Fuyuhiko tried to convince everyone who refused to believe, but then he realized that the one who had the source, specifically messages on her phone, was not there. “...Wait...fuck….she’s not there….”.

It didn’t go unnoticed that Chiaki, along with Hajime, Ibuki and Chihiro were missing. Class 78th usually arrived earlier, but Chihiro was an exception. Due to his bond with Chiaki, he always arrived in early hours.

 

“Where is Nanami? Did she...” Ultimate Impostor pointed out, being one of the few, along with Gundham and Nekomaru, who kept composure through out the entire situation.

 

“Nanami….She was the first one to hear it. The message was on her phone.” Peko revealed that while she was there, she was also the unfortunate one who received a direct call from Daft Capo itself. Needless to say, she needed some time to recover.

 

“...I see….so that’s what they done….” calmly noted Ultimate Impostor, even though they were suppressing a great amount of wrath dedicated towards the adversary not only for kidnapping their teacher, but also because they hurt their friend on a personal level. They already began contemplating for vengeance, just like some of them, most notably Gundham, already began to.

 

“I-Is there any other proof about this? We can’t just-” Kazuichi still insisted that there needs to be more evidence to truly prove that she was kidnapped in the first place.

 

It didn’t take much time for “further proof” to arrive once the door of Hope’s peak academy opened, revealed not only Koichi Kizakura, but also the old janitor. The Ultimate Talent Scout was heavily breathing due to him sprinting across hallways to inform them. Initially, he didn’t find them in their class, so he went through out the entire academy. The janitor, however, remained stoic amid the adversity. He already felt that dark times were ahead, the recent event was only a confirmation.

 

“Guys, did you hear what just happened to Miss Yukizome?” Koichi asked them if they were aware of what happened to their teacher. At that point, even those who refused to believe had the only option was to accept reality as it was.

 

“...Doubts have been quelled now. That confirms it.” stated Gundham, accepting the fact as it was. Not to say he felt indifferent towards the whole situation, he just preferred to already brainstorm about striking back.

 

“They said one hundred billion dollars and entire ownership of the school up to one week, right?” Fuyuhiko confirmed that they were informed about the demands that Daft Capo put them for exchanging Chisa.

 

“...Yeah, that’s what they demand from us. Insane bastards.” concurred Koichi while also pointing out that such demands were not only impossible, since there was no way in heaven or hell that not only would the ownership of Hope’s peak just land in their hands, but they would also have to give crazy amount of money to boot. Koichi even had a much more formally written paper with him, which was sent by Daft Capo itself. No one could deny that the conundrum that they were stuck with was grave.

 

“H-how could they?! HOW COULD THEY?!” Mikan began to sob as she fell down on her knees. Considering that Chisa was always welcoming to her, to have her gone was something that left a hole in her heart. Under normal circumstances, she would have been a target of verbal attacks of Hiyoko.

 

These were no normal circumstances.

 

“Underhanded bastards! All of them!” Hiyoko channeled her anger at Daft Capo instead. Everyone agreed what she thought of them.

 

“Just when we are in a compromised position….” Nekomaru pointed out that they did it right when the Fellowship of Darkness was not in the best position. Dread, anxiety and utter confusion reigned that day, with no one sure yet what exactly to too. They were still all processing the impact of Daft Capo’s move, with some taking it less well than others, such as Mikan, who started to wail out of sadness.

 

Amid the chaos, Gundham stepped away. He needed some time for himself to gain composure, because noise created by others muddled his mind. As he was far away, he had time to process the whole thing. Anger started to stockpile within him, especially for he considered such action to be an equivalent of aiming below the belt.

 

Scoundrel….this is the level you go for, Daft Capo? Very well then….My feelings cannot be expressed in words, but don’t you think your fate will be a fortunate one, cowards!thought Gundham to himself, already starting to plot a plan that shall severely damage Daft Capo in the future. The criminal syndicate couldn’t afford to escape the hard hand of karma and he will make sure that The Fellowship of Darkness will bring justice.

 

By the time the call was ended, in an undisclosed location of Daft Capo’s headquarters, Elite Bois bar Rando, who was busy jamming, were standing in front of a vault-like steel door, which was an entrance to Chisa’s cell. It was located somewhere on the second floor of the headquarters, meant for detaining any captured personnel. Immediately right after he finished the call, using Chisa’s own phone, N.Tropy started wheezing, which soon evolved into an uncontrollable laughter, as if he heard a joke that would kill him from laughter. To him, Chiaki’s begging and pleas were the punchline. He was especially fond of tearing her apart over parents. However, other Elite Bois thought differently of his actions.

 

The fuck?! Did you really have to go that far?!” Dastardly was the first one to call him out of sheer indulgence she took verbally abusing a touch starved girl. Through out the entire time, he was wincing. He was the only one who had such opinion.

 

“HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA, that was splendid! It’s been a while since I tore a new one into someone!” N.Tropy kept laughing until he regained control of himself, instead feeling nothing short of pride and joy.

 

Can’t you just contain your murder boner for once?!” condemned Dastardly, not even mincing any of his words. They was he worded his condemnation, to say at least, gained a chuckle from Fritz.

 

“Gotta say, I’m with him. I mean, I get the picture, but I think that should have been dealt more quicker than that.” added Fritz, not really minding that he tore her a new one, but noticing that he spent more time than he should on the phone. Under different circumstances, that could have been a huge setback.

 

“Since when were you on my side?” Dastardly squinted at his half German, half American co-worker, not exactly trusting him that his statement was without any strings attached. The fact that he hasn’t called Dastardly by his ever detested nickname was already a red flag.

 

“What’s wrong with having fun in your work?” N.Tropy defended himself with a cocky smirk on his face, still satisfied over the job he has done. They got what they wanted after all.

 

“The problem is that your definition of fun consists of suffering and laughing at it.” Dastardly immediately struck back with a call out. Not that it worked well.

 

“Yes, indeed!” N.Tropy took pride in his sadism. Only thing that Dastardly did at that point was slapping his own face. When it came to taking enjoyment out of other’s suffering, there was no way in hell to pull N.Tropy out of it.

 

“I mean, good for you, but just warning that indulgence might fuck over us. Saying this out of good faith.” advised Fritz on the more pragmatic element of their operations.

 

“Oh, please. You act like this had no purpose. After all, isn’t demoralization of adversaries a key element to victory?” N.Tropy countered with an argument that there was a method to the whole thing. Considering that Daft Capo’s morale was much higher than one of The Fellowship of Darkness, Fritz couldn’t exactly deny it.

 

“Fair point, gotta agree here. Though, next time, this is just a suggestion, be more on point. Strike hard with minimal time spent.” concurred Fritz, switching into his advice that N.Tropy should instead be brief, but incredibly devastating, verbally speaking. Upon thinking it, the blue skinned scientist found certain aspects of such method attractive.

 

“Hmmm…..I must admit, I do like the “strike hard” part of that...Yes, indeed.” grinned N.Tropy, already imagining what would he say towards more vulnerable people at Hope’s peak. They were what he considered to be “most fun” targets after all.

 

“Urghhh….what are your thoughts on this, Herman?” groaned Dastardly as he switched the topic, hoping that at least the octopus colleague would have a reasonable opinion on the whole situation.

 

Quickly, he was disappointed.

 

“Glad that the noob is suffering! In fact, I’m over it now. She is no longer on my mind.” Herman laughed at the prospect of Chiaki being in pain while also no longer raging about her every time she was mentioned. According to him, his own ideology scored a victory against hers, which was more than good enough. “Also N.Tropy, oh man! You went hardcore on her!”.

 

“That wasn’t even the best part. Take a look at this!” smirked N.Tropy as he gave him Chisa’s phone, showing the messages that he wrote them in her name. The octopus lad was in for a surprise, to say at least.

 

“….ohohohoHOHOHOHOHO MAMMA MARIA, N.TROPY!” shouted Herman, not exactly sure if he should laugh at Chiaki’s suffering or call out N.Tropy for how utterly ruthless his whole thing was. Some of the statements were a bit too far, even for Herman.

 

“...you have done what?” sighed Dastardly, already knowing that when N.Tropy was involved, it would be messy. He wasn’t wrong, at all. No other mention than utter disgust was what he had when he saw what N.Tropy did. “YOU WHAT?!”.

 

“Done exactly what that cretin with an intelligence of an unguided bomb deserves!” boasted N.Tropy, making it out that what he said to her was something of a karmic punishment. Coyote immediately caught on what he meant when he compared her intelligence to an unguided bomb, raising his eyebrow in the process. Lets say, there was another less appropriate term that describes such terms.

 

He was not the only one who did.

 

“….the HELL DID YOU CALL HER, YOU PRICK?!” roared Chisa, audible enough that she could be heard from the other side. Had she not been chained by her foot, she would have attempt to break through the door and beat the living daylights out of the scientist. The aforementioned man of science, however, saw another opportunity. Other Elite Bois knew what was going to happen.

 

“Ah, one minute.” N.Tropy calmly raised his finger before he opened the vault-like door, entering the cell. The moment the door was shut, other Elite Bois could already hear that he turned on his tuning fork, to which usually led to one thing.

 

Screams of pure agony were heard from the cell. While others didn’t even flinch at them, Dastardly couldn’t help but wince. As much of a gangster he was, his stomach was not prepared for any kind of torture. Although vaguely, some of them also heard impacts. After more time passed than it should, the room became silent.

 

“Remain silent, skank.” N.Tropy warned her in a completely spiteful tone before he unlocked the door, returning to them with a satisfied smirk on his face. “Now, where was I?”.

 

Suddenly, the missing Elite Boi appeared, walking towards them as if he was “wide”, so to speak. Just from his walk alone, he gained everyone’s attention.

 

“Hello, what the fuck did I miss?” Rando announced his presence. From his sight alone, Dastardly’s anger became much more transparent.

 

Oh, not him. Anyone but him.” Dastardly spoke through his teeth as he prepared himself to throw hands at him. Rest of the Elite Bois, however, met him with perplexity.

 

“Better question is, where the fuck have you been?” asked Herman, wondering on why he missed out “the fun”, as they say.

 

“Sorry, I was jamming to pigeon music. You know how much it is fire.” rationalized Rando, revealing that he was listening to Magic Mamaliga for twenty four hours straight. To be fair, it was doubtful that he would provide much of a change if he assisted in kidnapping of Chisa Yukizome.

 

“You need to work on your schedule, Rando. You just missed out the goods.” N.Tropy noted him that their mission was a success, smirking as always.

 

“...Oooh, so you got her?” asked Rando as he pointed his index finger at them, just to be sure that their mission was a success without any doubts.

 

“Correct! We did, indeed, get the hoe!” confirmed Herman as he raised his tentacle like an arm.

 

“Excellent! So that means by one week, we will not only get the school, but also the money?” Rando snapped with his fingers before he asked for more.

 

“If they respond, of course. If not, they would have to say goodbye to her forever.” Coyote lifted his sign as Tom maliciously rubbed his hands together.

 

“That’s not all. Take a look at this. You will certainly enjoy it.” N.Tropy decided to show him what he typed to Chiaki. Rando took a closer look and his reaction was as expected. Due to how ruthless it was, Rando’s first action, along with a heavily surprised face, was to perform a backflip.

 

“HOLY FUCK! BASED!!!!!” shouted Rando from sheer excitement. N.Tropy couldn’t help but grin even more, knowing that his action was exactly something that Rando found admirable, by his own standards.

 

It was at that moment when Dastardly snapped.

 

...Based? BASED?! YOU CONSIDER THAT “BASED”, YOU DOUCHE?!” yelled Dastardly as he aggressively pulled out his shoe from his foot, lunging right at him. However, Rando was prepared, as he took of his own shoe and thus the gangster and the driver began to beat up each other with their shoes.

 

“Bite yourself, charlatan!” retaliated Rando as both of them were too busy attacking each other. Amid the whole fight, N.Tropy couldn’t help but chuckle, where as other Elite Bois dealt with it as it was expected.

 

“So...we let them?” asked Herman if he should try to deescalate their fight.

 

“Let them have it. The civilized part of this group will discuss further plans.” answered N.Tropy, too amused by their shoe fight as the rest of the Elite Bois slightly stepped away, just so that they could discuss their plans in peace.

 

“So, what is the further plan?” Coyote lifted a sign, wondering what N.Tropy had in store.

 

“The phase one has gone marvelously. Now for phase two, all we need to do is wait. Those uncivilized vermin should be of zero concern.” responded N.Tropy while more or less cementing that their week will be a very lax one.

 

“So chilling? That’s great! We could get the money as soon as today, but if they decline, oh well...bye bye!” Herman immediately approved his decision as he pumped his tentacle like a fist.

 

“I have an objection.” Coyote lifted a sign in disagreement, already noticing holes in his plan.

 

“What is it, Coyote?” asked N.Tropy in a slightly annoyed tone.

 

“I don’t think we should let off guard so soon. They could try to infiltrate, after all.” Coyote lifted another sign, noticing that there was a real threat of espionage, now that they had a hostage directly from Hope’s peak academy.

 

“If you’re thinking about the Impostor, don’t worry much. That guy’s gonna get identified real quick.” assured Fritz that the person he had a fight with in Radio Kaikan would be dealt with ease.

 

“Do not exclude others as well. We should fortify our headquarters along with the city as well.” Coyote, once again, lifted a sign with an argument.

 

“Oh, so you wanna set up traps all over the place, right?” Herman immediately caught on what exactly Coyote wanted to do.

 

“A question couldn’t be with a more blatantly obvious answer than this one.” Coyote, with a smirk on his face, got them another sign. He even wiggled with his eyebrows, just to further prove how superior was his intellect.

 

“But what if the scrub zone guys, the official ones, get bamboozled by traps? That means our money and ownership will go arrivederci, baby!” Herman pointed out a possibility that one of the Hope’s peak academy higher ups, possibly the Headmaster himself, could be accidentally gravely injured by one of those traps.

 

“Half measures are for dimwits.” Coyote lifted a sign, warning them that if they don’t take efforts to fortify, no school and dollars for them. N.Tropy gave it a thought, since it was a genuine possibility after all.

 

“Hmmm….for now, you shouldn’t be concerned about them. However, if we do spot any of their activity on our territory, then you have all clearance about setting up defenses.” N.Tropy gave his answer, allowing Coyote to set up traps the moment any adversary activity is spotted in Zona Daft Capo.

 

“Understood, but I’d prefer if we act now.” Coyote, as expected, lifted a sign, but he obeyed the order.

 

“Does anyone else object?” asked N.Tropy for the final opinion before they would start their more lax life for a week.

 

“Is this the time when we get drunk?” Coyote suggested with a sign. That was their tradition, any time they had significant successes, Elite Bois would get wasted like there was no tomorrow. It first happened in the Netherlands, then in Denmark, when they scored victory against penguins.

 

“Not yet. We have to get the money and the school first.” N.Tropy declined the suggestion, since it could be argued that their goal was not achieved. Coyote frowned, but he didn’t further argue.

 

“We chill, but any activities planned?” asked Herman about what would they do in the week.

 

“Oh, we will have a lot of activities. We will have indeed. Now, enjoy the day. I certainly will.” grinned N.Tropy, already knowing what to do. Due to success of his plan, Daft Capo was in the lead. They could do anything they wanted, since there was nothing that their enemies could do, or so they thought.

 

After their discussion, Chisa was left alone in her cell. Inside it, there was absolutely nothing in it, bar the chain that obstructed her foot. Only source of light was a window, which was protected by a steel net. It was just long enough that she could reach the toilet, placed very near where she sat. At the very least, she wouldn’t get dehydrated, since it had a washbasin. The only reason why there even was a toilet in the cell was because no one at Daft Capo was willing to clean the cell up, in case incidents happen.

 

Chained to a wall, Chisa’s body was already full of bruised, all of them caused by abuse done by the blue skinned scientist. Due to frequent yet non-lethal electrocutions, her body felt weaker. So much weaker, that she struggled walking. At the very least they had decency to leave her clothes. But no physical damage could compare what Chisa felt inside.

 

“Don’t worry, guys….I’ll come back….somehow….but I promise that…..yeah….” Chisa tried to tell herself that she will get out and continue her life normally, yet more she observed the room, the lower her odds felt. “….I’ll need a miracle for this to work out….”.

 

Only thing she could do was to curl up and contemplate. If only she was prepared then, everything would have been okay…

But she wasn’t. She wasn’t at all and felt all more guilty for it.

 

...I’m sorry, guys…..I’m sorry, Chiaki….”.

 

It seemed like her own fate hanged on the decision of Hope’s peak itself. Who know if her students had a chance of saving her….

Chapter 39: Girl of Solitude

Summary:

....Ow.....

Chapter Text

A month before the official enrollment to Hope’s peak academy, adolescent folk, minimal age of somewhere between seventeen and eighteen, who were accepted into such esteemed institution were scouted to it, officially handled by Koichi Kizakura. Even though his area of coverage was only in Japan, there were other scouts that handled the rest of the world. No continent was exempt from scouting, although certain countries were much harder to access, various reasons as of why. None than less, most of scouting ended up in success, even with all possible difficulties.

 

Inside one of the offices within the academy, Chisa Yukizome, a former Hope’s peak student, now serving as the teacher of Class 77-B for the first time ever. She wasn’t even originally meant for the role, Koichi Kizakura was the supposed teacher, but he was disqualified for the role due to multiple incidents of alcoholism. Thus she was appointed, although not with acclaim within the circles of Hope’s peak academy. Considering that they had no other options, they had to accept her as the teacher.

 

The first task she had was meeting and accepting her future students inside her office. Each of them would come in to introduce themselves. The whole procedure started at 9:00 AM, and by all means most of the to-be students of Class 77-B already went through it very early, including one particular student that wasn’t supposed to be there officially. Each of them had a different introduction, although the level of absurdity, loudness and gracefulness (or lack of there of) depended on person. None than less, all went well so far.

 

It was about 1:00 PM, quite some time passed since most of classmates introduced themselves to her. She was humming to herself, already musing the future she’d have with them. Already at that time, she wanted a photo of the entire class on the table.

 

All of my future students look wonderful so far! Everyone was so filled with enthusiasm! Ahh...we’re gonna have a great time at school…” thought Chisa to herself, already imagining what sorts of adventures she would have with them through out those three years. So much potential far ahead. Yet, despite the musing, once she looked at the paper, she realized one hasn’t appeared yet.

 

...Wait, one of them still hasn’t showed up. It could possibly be because she lives far away from Hope’s peak, like Sonia does….but I can’t make assumptions. I have to give everyone a chance, no matter what.” wondered Chisa about reasons why the sole remaining person was taking so much to show up. Endless potential assumptions were had, yet that could blind her from truth. Instead, she remained patient, willing enough to wait for entire day.

 

But soon after, she could hear knocks. Barely audible ones at that. They sounded more like someone was tapping on the floor. Had her office been noisy, she wouldn’t have heard it.

 

“Oh! There she is!” Chisa perked up as she jumped from her seat, quickly preparing herself for another introduction. She made sure that she looked as good as possible, which wasn’t much work. All she had to do was to make it not look all wrinkly, so to say. “Come in!”

 

The door opened very slowly, it barely felt like it was moving at all. The person behind it didn’t open it fully, instead just enough that she would be visible enough. Then, out of that gap, a girl peeked through, only revealing her eyes. Rest of her head was covered in her hood. Even though she was looking towards her, she did not maintain eye contact at all. After a moment of silence, the girl spoke with her quiet, timid voice.

 

“…..H-Hi….”.

 

The teacher was quite in shock just from looking at her eyes alone. Not a single student, including Mikan Tsumiki, looked as frightened as she was. As much as she hid it, Chisa could see her tremble behind the wall. Her smile faded away, now being concerned about how would approach such person. She could tell that she shouldn’t do any sudden movements, that would scare her even more. Instead, she tried to do it as slowly as possible.

 

“Is...is everything alright?” gently asked Chisa as she began to reach out for her, despite only knowing her name from the list. Chiaki Nanami was her name. Something about that girl kicked an inexplicable instinct in her. Something that Chisa herself at the time didn’t entirely understand.

 

“….It’s nothing….” Chiaki’s eyes looked towards floor, trying to deflect any concerns about her. Yet, it caused nothing but more concerns for her.

 

“Please come in, I promise you there’s nothing to fear here. I can help you with anything you want.” Chisa spoke as softly as she could, gently assuring her that she could be someone who Chiaki could trust.

 

“...Really?” murmured Chiaki as looked at her again, still unsure if it was even safe to step in. Who knows what she could do to her. However, something about softness in her voice made her believe that she might be different from others. She might be someone who was sincere, after all. Someone who wouldn’t try to hurt her.

 

“Of course! It’s all safe here!” confirmed Chisa with a nod, putting up a smile just for her. A radiant, yet sincere smile was enough to reassure Chiaki that it would be safe to step in. Slowly opening the door, Chiaki started walking in, making herself smaller. Her arms were close to her body as she was looking at the floor through out the entire time. Once she sat down, she placed her kitty bag on her lap, keeping it close just in case. She took some breaths, preparing herself to introduce herself. Yet, she had no idea how.

 

“Now, just relax and make yourself comfortable. Let’s start with introduction, shall we?” advised Chisa, trying to calm her down as much as possible. Although she didn’t show it to her, Chisa herself felt a bit of anxiety when dealing with her. It would be a failure on a personal level if she scared away the student.

 

“O-oh, yeah, so….uh….” stammered Chiaki as she tried to mumble any words that would resemble some kind of introduction, yet she could feel her heart beating faster. From instinct, she hugged her kitty bag. At the very least if she held onto something, it would be easier to deal. Almost immediately, Chisa had to intervene.

 

“No rush, sweetie. Take as much time as you want.” Chisa calmly reassured her that she shouldn’t stress herself out whether or not she was taking a lot of time. It was partially convenient that everyone else had an introduction before, so no one really had to wait. At the very least, Chiaki’s heart slowed down, knowing that Chisa won’t really force her to say it as quickly as possible. It surprised her, to say at least.

 

“...um….I’m Chiaki...Nanami….and I uh…….” stammered Chiaki as she began introducing herself, yet didn’t know what to say about herself. Too much, and there would be even more concerns, so she tried to come up with something that would be not too revealing. That was taking time. “...Sorry, if this is taking long, I just…”.

 

“No no no, it’s okay! Don’t worry much about it!” Chisa waved off, making sure that everything was fine. A single reassurance like that was enough to let Chiaki know that no matter what, the teacher will be always patient with her. Patience, a virtue many still have yet to learn.

 

“….Mmmm...okay...so…..I really like video games….that’s about it, really.” mumbled Chiaki before she just shrugged off. Even at the surface level, it could be immediately told that Chiaki really didn’t wanna talk about herself. For a good reason.

 

“Hmmm….not exactly convinced that this is only it. There has to be something more, I can feel it. Everyone has a story to tell, after all.” Chisa decided to push just a little, so that Chiaki would talk more about herself. She didn’t wanna do it too much, she felt like complacency would only hurt the student in the long run. The answer didn’t immediately arrive, in fact, it took quite a lot of time. Chiaki tried to hide it as much as possible, but it wasn’t long for her to realize that it’s better to tell her about it. Chisa wasn’t like most of the people Chiaki has dealt with.

 

“...But what else is there to tell? Only thing I’m really good talking about is games….nothing more…it’s probably not even that interesting….” confessed Chiaki, ashamed of herself as she kept looking at the floor. With that being said, Chisa knew that she had to act right on the moment. Not a moment later.

 

“Hey hey hey, you can’t say that to yourself!” Chisa sprung up from the chair as she put her hands on her hips. She attempted to sound stern, but not too angry, but it was too much, since the moment Chisa just stood up, Chiaki instantly made herself smaller, covering her face as if she was about to be attacked. To say that Chisa was shocked would have been an understatement, the reaction of her own student told her much more than it should. She felt like she just accidentally hurt a puppy. “Oh gosh, I’m sorry. I’m so sorry about this, I didn’t mean to scare you…”.

 

“...Y-you didn’t?” Chiaki’s lip trembled as she slowly lowered her guard. If her reaction wasn’t enough before, what she uttered made it even worse. As much as Chiaki tried to hide it, Chisa managed to figure out what exactly was happening with her.

 

Oh god….what has this poor girl went through? What have people done to her? No wonder why is she so afraid….I think I have to do….my best about this….” Chisa thought about her situation, what was it like before she went to Hope’s peak academy. There wasn’t a way to make Chiaki talk about details, neither of them were ready for it. At the very least she learned how to approach such person. It was like dealing with a scared moggy.

 

“Not at all, sweetie. I’d never do that to you.” Chisa began to speak softer than before as she slowly approached Chiaki. Once close enough, but not so close that it would make her feel uncomfortable, the teacher started to slowly reach her hand to Chiaki’s shoulder. Even though she was reassured before that Chisa wouldn’t do anything harmful to her, she couldn’t help but to take some breaths. Her heart started to beat faster again as Chisa’s hand came closer to her. But, unlike how she expected it, once Miss Yukizome’s hand landed on her shoulder, it felt warm. Gentle, even. It was something Chiaki has never experienced at all. For once in her life, she tried to look at her teacher right in her eyes. What she saw was a gentle, reassuring smile on her face. “What I meant to say is that you are capable of much more than you think. There’s a lot you can do. It doesn’t have to be something world changing, it’s more or less small things that matter. Like, video games bring you a lot of joy, right?”.

 

“….They do, but…..I don’t really think I can make anything with games…” murmured Chiaki as she started to look at the floor again, that time out of shame. To her, it didn’t seem likely she’d have any future.

 

“Of course you can. Plenty of people love games, they would love to see what you think about them, maybe even ask for your advice in case of them being stuck somewhere.” advised Chisa that she should try sharing her passion with others, to try connecting with them. In a way, such people would watch Chiaki’s back.

 

“…..but...that didn’t work. It never worked. I can never make friends with video games….I just...can’t….” lamented Chiaki, revealing that she did try before, but most of responses she got were either disinterest at best or flat out ostracism at worst. As the years passed by, her feeling of helplessness became stronger.

 

Now now, that’s just wrong, my dear. There’s a lot of friends to make with games. After all, that’s their purpose, isn’t it? To bring fun to everyone. Now, if you play with someone, it’s double the fun, right?” insisted Chisa, still believing that she has potential to make bonds with others, despite her own student thinking otherwise.

 

...Is that even possible?” Chiaki expressed doubt on Chisa’s words, considering that she was talking about years, if not most of her life dealing with such status quo of perpetual loneliness. Could it truly mean that her life could change, for the better even?

 

Yep! I know you’ll make a lot of friends at the school, there’s no doubt about it. Although, there’s one thing that you need to be aware of it. Now, come a bit closer. I promise you, it’s nothing scary.” Chisa extended her arms, opening herself up to Chiaki. She let her student take the initiative. Chiaki, although still doubtful about it, stood up, holding her own arms together. She slowly got closer to her teacher, yet still hesitated. There was still a thought lingering that Chisa could still unexpectedly hurt her.

 

“Everything is going to be alright here. There’s nothing to be afraid here, you’ll be safe. I promise you that and I guarantee you that I’m going to keep the word as long as I live.” reassured Chisa once again, letting Chiaki know that there won’t be a circumstance where Chisa would ever hurt her. Her calm, soothing voice finally managed to convince Chiaki that there was nothing to fear there. The trembling student stepped close enough as Chisa slowly, yet gently placed her arms around Chiaki. What Chisa intended was nothing more than a simple hug.

 

Chiaki’s irises shrunk from shock, completely overwhelmed by the feeling that felt unlike anything before. It was something truly amazing, something she never thought she would get in her life ever. A feeling of warmth, the one she always wished for, finally became a reality. Chiaki slowly returned the hug as well. So much in one simple gesture, that, as much as she wanted to hide it, couldn’t help but tear up.

 

It’s alright. Don’t hold it back. I guess what I’m saying is….if you just do it, things are going to be okay!” Chisa gave her gentle pats on her back, just letting her express herself as much as she wanted. Chiaki was still holding back, but tears were still rolling down her cheeks. Chisa could hear her quiet sniffling as Chiaki’s grip on her became tighter. She didn’t want to let it go, she wanted it to last as much as it could. But once she could regain her composure again, she looked Chisa right in her eyes. She didn’t even want to look away, like she usually did.

 

“Welcome to Hope’s peak academy, Chiaki. How do you feel?” Chisa gave her a first taste of how her new life will be like before wanting to make sure that she was in a good state. She couldn’t afford to leave her in low spirits.

 

“...I...uh...don’t know what to say...it’s...never been like that before…” Chiaki tried to say anything, but she was too overwhelmed to even think about it. The fact that, even for one day, something like that happened was already a miracle.

 

“But now it’s gonna be like that a lot. This school is going to change your life, for the better!” promised Chisa that there’s no other direction than uphill for her new student. In order to further prove that, she thought of a little plan. “...Hey, I have an idea.”.

 

“...Hmm?” Chiaki listened her, waiting for what could that idea of hers be.

 

“How about we...meet each other by the fountain tomorrow? This first day must have been scary for you, so lets just take it to a more comfortable place, okay?” asked Chisa about another meeting between each other. Perhaps a more informal, but relaxed situation would benefit her student far more than an official one. Chiaki didn’t immediately accept her offer with open arms, she started looking around, wondering if they would even meet each other again. Many people in her life, including rare good ones, disappeared from her life after meeting them once. Yet, there was a statement of Chisa that constantly rang in her bell. Perhaps if she just does it, it will be all fine in the end.

 

“...Mhmm…” Chiaki quietly nodded, accepting her offer. Deep down, she hoped that the word would be kept.

 

“That’s the way to go! I’ll be around in the noon, is that good?” approved Chisa with a single clap before she gave out an estimate time when she’ll be available.

 

“...Yeah, that should be fine, I think.” Chiaki had nothing to object about it. By all means, she almost had free time for the most part.

 

“Okay! Then we see each other tomorrow!” promised Chisa that she will be there, no matter what happen. But for that day, their meeting came to an end. They had to conclude it after all.

 

“...S-see you tomorrow…” Chiaki gave her final words for the day before she slowly opened the door of the office, leaving it in the process. As she walked home, still hiding in her hoodie, she gave a lot of thoughts regarding their future meeting. In a way, her heart felt lighter, yet she couldn’t just believe it yet.

 

“...Tomorrow, huh? Is it going to happen for real? Someone won’t just...disappear? No, that can’t be real...can’t it?” Chiaki thought about it for a long time as she looked at the ground again through out the way. Experience from before indicated that the situation will repeat itself again, the status quo will be same as it is. “What if she doesn’t appear? What if it’s going to be like it always is? It has happened all the time before…”.

 

Despite all doubts, there was still a statement that kept repeating itself in her head.

 

If you just do it, things are going to be okay.”.

 

Amid those doubts, belief began to rise.

 

“If...if that’s true….if things are going to be different from now on….then I guess it’s worth a try….She seems like a kind person, I think….” Chiaki reconsidered herself as she promised herself that she will return to Hope’s peak academy next day, just to see if Chisa lived up to her words.

 

“Yeah….I’ll see everything tomorrow….I hope that she shows up….if not….” Chiaki held onto belief that the outcome will be a positive one. It might provide a tipping point of her life, that it might go for the better after all, otherwise….

 

“….nothing will change….”

 

Thus, she arrived home, laying down as she thought about it the entire day.

 

Next day, Chiaki did as she was instructed, she returned to Hope’s peak. With the hood covering her head, she was still looking towards the ground. Chiaki was getting ever closer to the fountain, not sure what exactly to expect. She hoped that the promise would be fulfilled, but her expectations weren’t particularly high.

 

Well, lets say any more concerns were washed away upon hearing a familiar voice.

 

“Hiiiiii!!!!!”.

 

The greeting of none other than Chisa Yukizome, the very person who gave her the promise, startled her greatly. She completely froze, not even comprehending that something huge just happened to her: a sign that her old life was about to end. The teacher was waiting for her on the bench, near the ever flowing fountain. One couldn’t help but feel relaxed being around there, thanks to the running water adding it to the ambience.

 

“….Is everything alright, Chiaki?” asked Chisa, concerned about how Chiaki reaction. She was afraid that she scared her out of a sudden.

 

“...You...you….actually showed up….” stammered Chiaki, still having a tough time comprehending that she was able to see someone again. For the first time ever in her life, someone waited for her. A new kind of feeling she had, one that she didn’t quite understand. Yet, it was nothing but joyful, just that she needed to process all of it.

 

“Just like I promised! I’d be an awful teacher if I didn’t live up to my words!” Chisa gave a confident nod to her, confirming that she is, indeed, a woman of her word. The feeling that Chiaki had through out entirety of it culminated into shy, but earnest giggling as her cheeks became rosy. A few times has anyone seen Chiaki smile before and Chisa was among them. She even took off her hood, no longer needing to hide.

 

“Ehehe….thank you! Thank you so much!” Chiaki couldn’t help but to come closer and gave her a hug in return. Perhaps ever since she was hugged, she started craving it more and more. It was also a sign that she already became so comfortable enough her that she didn’t feel the need to stay away. In fact, it was the opposite, she wanted to be even closer.

 

“It wasn’t that much, I just felt like it was the right thing to do, heh…” Chisa returned the hug as well, giving her pats on the back. After few moments, Chiaki’s embarrassment kicked in for a bit and she ceased it, instead opting to sit right next to her. At the same time, Chisa also got a bit embarrassed when she neglected one of the most important things in establishing a new bond. “Oh, right right! I forgot to introduce myself yesterday. My name is Chisa Yukizome and I’ll be your teacher! Formally, you can call me Miss Yukizome, but you don’t really have to.”.

 

“Miss Yukizome….That is a name I’ll never forget…” Chiaki responded with a smile on her face. Deep down in her heart, she could feel ease. The girl with new life already made a place for Chisa in her heart.

 

“Aww, I’ll never forget your name too, Chiaki.” cooed Chisa as she couldn’t help herself from really enjoying seeing Chiaki smile. For how she was at the beginning, seeing her like that was not only refreshing, but also relieving. Then, she made a clap, letting Chiaki to talk about herself for a bit. “So, what are you up to this day?”

 

“Well, um….I’d just stay in my house and play games, but...I remember that you’ve said that that it’s more fun sharing games with others so….” began Chiaki as she opened her kitty bag, bringing out a pink handheld console. Just like Chisa advised her previous day, she gave it a try. “...lets try it out, shall we?”

 

“Show me what you’ve got, Chiaki!” Chisa motivated her while also expressing genuine interest in it. Although nowhere near the same extent as Chiaki, Chisa also played games from time to time. Mostly ones that were either cute, casual or both at the same time. Little did she know that their taste in games is a lot more closer than they would think.

 

For a demonstration, Chiaki chose to demonstrate her very favorite game: Gala Omega. A game from rather earlier time of games, with its premise being shooting down aliens with a spaceship. Nothing more, but it didn’t need to be anything more. Technical limitations of the time aside, there was charm in simplicity. It was also the first game Chiaki ever got and forever remained in her heart.

 

“Oooh, you’re a retro type? That is hella cool!” Chisa immediately approved her taste, appreciating that Chiaki gave even older things a chance. Many youngsters often dismiss older stuff as “boring” or “trash”, where as there’s a lot of goodness to be found there.

 

“Well, to be honest, I’m a fan of all genres, but yeah, retro games are very cool. There’s a certain charm to them, especially for how many memories they brought an entire generation. It’s also interesting to see how much games have changed from time to time.” Chiaki began talking about her passion more openly than before, expressing that even older games have value, even if its for retrospective reasons.

 

“Yeah, that applies with a lot of stuff. When you grow older, things that have accompanied you, especially those who have personally impacted you as a child will always make you sentimental. Believe me, sometimes I do have some fond memories of the school…” added Chisa to the conversation, remembering some of the games that she played and some of the shows she used to watch. There was one game that she particularly liked, a game about a certain heroic puffball.

 

“Oh, you were a student here?” Chiaki turned her head towards her as she got curious of what was it like in her times. She wanted to know what to expect out of Hope’s peak academy, hoping to be as optimistic as possible.

 

“Yep, but now I’m a teacher!...in fact, this is my first time ever! We’re on the same boat after all, heh.” confirmed Chisa as she chuckled. Her little student could find a connection here, since it was her first time at Hope’s peak as ever. She found it surprising, she expected Chisa to be an already experienced teacher.

 

“...So that’s how it is…” Chiaki began to contemplate before she gave a question to her. “Um, this is going to be a weird question, but...since it’s your first time here, do you find it...scary?”

 

“Honestly? A little bit. It’s a new territory after all, being teacher that is. I’m more relaxed now that I’ve seen you guys now. I’m very much looking forward to our school days!” confessed Chisa but after seeing her future students, including Chiaki, she could feel that there’s nothing but good times ahead, even if some of them are quite eccentric, like a certain boy who thinks he’s a dark lord or a bombastic team manager. Then, she returned with a question for Chiaki. “What about you, though? Yesterday, you were pretty frightened. How do you feel now?”

 

“...Well….I was a little worried but now, it seems like things are going to be okay, I think. Since you have me as a student, I wonder what is our class gonna look like. Are they gonna be...nice people?” answered Chiaki while wanting to know what to expect out of her peers. She sincerely hoped that they would accept her for who she was.

 

“I can say they look harmless, but they are pretty colorful! So many different personalities, it’s chaos! But I’m very sure you’ll make friends with a lot of them!” Chisa promised her that her classmates would be all good people, who would even be friends with her. Even up to that day, Chiaki still couldn’t believe that someone had that much faith in her.

 

“...R-really? I mean, um, I’ll give it a try. Might be worth it, I think.” blushed Chiaki before promising that she will try to make her own friend group. The whole concept of having friends excited her, since it was something she only saw in video games and never experienced by herself before.

 

“That’s the way to go! Remember what I’ve said about it!” Chisa cheered for her as she raised her fist in triumph. At that point, Chiaki was getting used to Chisa’s energy. In fact, she appreciated it a lot. However, there was still something on her mind. In a sort of way, Chisa’s kindness reminded her of someone.

 

“Hey….one more question…” Chiaki spoke in a quieter tone. She wasn’t sure if it was appropriate to ask or if Chisa even knew about her.

 

“What’s up, dear?” Chisa listened to her, making sure that she would get a satisfying answer.

 

“Umm….there was someone I’m still looking for. She was...a very kind girl with black hair. She showed me something that I thought wasn’t possible. Do you perhaps know her?” Chiaki revealed a certain person to her, the one who could have been her first friend if they ever saw again. It was a memory that forever remained ingrained in Chiaki’s mind. Chisa placed her finger on her chin, thinking hard about if she ever saw a girl like that. Little did Chiaki know that Chisa herself, contrary to how energetic she seemed to be, was not exactly a social star. The only friends she had were a green haired boxer, a white haired boy who she’s in a relationship and the scout himself. She did not have much luck anywhere else.

 

“Mmmm…..sorry, but I’m not exactly sure on who you mean.” answered Chisa in a rather regretful tone. She really wished she had an answer but nothing came on her mind.

 

“Ah, I see….” Chiaki’s smile was replaced with a frown as she started to look at the ground again. As much as she expected her to say “No”, it still pained her that the girl that did so much with a simple gesture was just a memory. Or so she thought.

 

“Don’t worry. I’m sure you’ll find her one day. The world is a small place after all.” Chisa placed her hand on her shoulder as she tried to convince her that she shouldn’t give up searching her, even if it might take years. Chiaki started to look at Chisa again, still genuinely surprised about her outlook. Her optimism was starting to become infectious.

 

“Well...then I hope that I do meet her one day. I’d really like to be her friend...I want to show how much good she did that day…” Chiaki’s smile returned, already imagining a day when she would see her again. Chiaki wanted to return the favor back to her, even in a case that the girl forgot about her.

 

But Mayuri Shiina never gave up on her.

 

At the same time Chiaki was hanging out with Chisa, Mayuri was still looking for her. At that moment, she was at the same playground when they first met. Even though she never let her hope be extinguished, years took a well-being on Mayuri. By all means, she did intend to see her again, but so many events happened to both of them. Some events that neither of them deserved to go through.

 

...Where is she?…” Mayuri thought to herself as she was looking around the playground, at that moment being around a swing. The whole playground was devoid of any person, bar her and the accompanying childhood friend.

 

“Mayuri? Is everything alright?” asked Rintaro, noticing that every time they would pass the playground, Mayuri would lose her brightness there. Memories of her always brought sentimentality.

 

“...There’s someone Mayushii still wants to see again. Remember her?” Mayuri did not hide what she felt. Thankfully, Rintaro still remembered her.

 

“...Oh yeah, I do. That’s the one that you gave the bunny plushy, right?” answered Rintaro as he imagined the whole memory of how Mayuri gave her an Usami plushie out of good will.

 

“...Yeah...We haven’t seen her ever after that. I hope everything is okay with her…it feels like I just left her….” confessed Mayuri that inability to see her again made her feel guilty about the whole thing, despite the fact it was a more of a matter of that she couldn’t rather than deliberate neglect. Right after their meeting, their lives have taken an unpredictable, yet unwelcoming path and Rintaro was more than well aware of it.

 

“It’s not your fault, Mayuri. After everything that...happened, no one can be blamed. I’m sure we’ll find her one day, I promise you that.” Rintaro reassured her that she will see her friend again. Might not be that day, might take years, but it will happen. At the very least, both of them were still there. Mayuri smiled a little, but her eyes did not hide her sentimentality.

 

“...Mayushii hopes too….” murmured Mayuri as both of them continued their search for her friend. The day they would see her again was closer than they imagined.

 

Back at Hope’s peak, both Chiaki and Chisa had quite a lot of fun playing Gala Omega together. They even had turns who played the game, which made Chiaki take a note that she should always bring more consoles with her, so that everyone could play it. None than less, they spent majority of the day together, all giggling and laughing, but it was time for them to depart. Not that they won’t ever see each other again, since the school year was about to begin.

 

“Hehe, this was the best! Thank you so much, Miss Yukizome!” Chiaki couldn’t stop being giddy about the whole thing. She hasn’t ever felt so much joy before with someone else.

 

“Hehe, no problem! Although, stay like that for a bit…” requested Chisa for Chiaki to keep smiling. For a moment, Chiaki’s smile disappeared just a little, mostly due to confusion.

 

“Huh?” Chiaki tilted her head in curiosity, but it became clear once Chisa pulled out her phone and held it like a camera. The student’s cheeks became rosy again, but she felt like it would be rude of her if she declined the offer.

 

Smile!” shouted Chisa as the one photographed did as she was told. With a single press on a screen, the phone made a noise, noting that the photograph was taken. Her smile forever became immortalized digitally.

 

“Just needed to take a photo of your smile! That’s all!” Chisa quickly explained herself on why she needed to perform such an action.

 

“Oh? But for what for?” Chiaki asked once again, not exactly sure what would make her smile so special. She didn’t feel like she was anything special at all, aside from the fact that she played games well, but what can you do with that in life?

 

“Just that it will be forever remembered, that is all! You have a very beautiful smile, more people should see you like that.” Chisa gave her a compliment that Chiaki tried to deflect it from instinct, but for some reason, she couldn’t help herself but to take it. Her cheeks became red once again as she looked at the ground again, that time out of embarrassment. Yet, it felt good, she couldn’t deny it.

 

“Ehehe…” giggled Chiaki as she placed a hand on her cheek.

 

“Also, can we exchange our numbers too? Just that we’d always be on contact!” Chisa suddenly got an idea, a very convenient one for Chiaki, so that not only would they never be separated, but they could call each other any time.

 

“O-oh, sure!” Chiaki pulled out her phone out of the kitty bag as these two ladies exchanged their numbers. Thus, their bond was cemented, but the day was coming to an end. They needed some time for slumber, after all.

 

“Now, it’s best to take a rest. It’s kinda late now, so its best to prepare yourself for school!” advised Chisa to be as energized as possible for the incoming school days. Chiaki, already a huge fan of resting and relaxing, immediately approved her advice.

 

“Will do, Miss Yukizome!” determinedly nodded Chiaki, looking forward towards the future Hope’s peak granted her. Thanks to Chisa, her new life officially began. Then, Chiaki started to walk home, but she couldn’t let her eyes off of her teacher. She wanted to see her as much as possible.

 

“Do your best! See ya soon, Chiaki!” Chisa waved at her, noticing that Chiaki didn’t put her hood on. It was intentional, too. At that time, Chiaki didn’t need to hide anymore.

 

See you soon, Miss Yukizome!” Chiaki waved back at her before they fully departed, going their own ways. For the first time in ages, Chiaki walked in public with a smile on her face. She even hummed to herself, musing what sorts of adventures are awaiting her at Hope’s peak academy.

 

Oh gosh, this is going to be amazing! Finally, there will be a place for me...I think. Maybe! Still, maybe still means there’s a chance...I have to tell Usami about it!” Chiaki thought to herself as she was starting to walk faster towards home. The anticipation of telling her imaginary friend was incredibly high and more time passed, stronger the urge was.

 

By the time she arrived at home, she immediately ran towards her bedroom, right where Usami resided. She even forgot to take off her backpack, her primary thought was informing her imaginary friend about it.

 

“Usami, Usami! You have to hear about this!” Chiaki gently grabbed the plushie as she began explaining what just happened to her.

 

Hm? What happened, Chiaki?” she talked to herself, pretending that Usami was a real person, by making a more mature yet still high pitched sounding voice for her. Chiaki even moved her arms, to mimic what she felt.

 

“Yesterday, I’ve met Chisa Yukizome, my teacher! She promised me that we’ll meet again today and we did! It’s...first time someone waited for me….come to think of it…” Chiaki told her about the very teacher that gave her a new chance in life, someone who could pull her out of the status quo she had for years.

 

“Woah, really? That’s amazing, Chiaki! That’s a sign of a new, better life right here!” said Chiaki under the name of Usami. Even that day, she still couldn’t truly believe it.

 

“Hehe, yep. It feels….great….as long as it stays like that...Who knows how long will it take for old life to return…” smiled Chiaki but her worries resurfaced again, since it wasn’t impossible that the future she looked forward to would be torn apart. She hoped it wouldn’t happen, yet her gut feeling indicated that it was inevitable.

 

“C’mon, Chiaki! Don’t worry about that anymore! That old life will soon be just a bad memory!” in a sense of self critique, “Usami” reassured her that her new life will be certain, nothing will it be like the old status quo.

 

“Mmmmm…..I hope so….maybe you’re right. Miss Yukizome does seem like a person that could make a lot of happy memories…” murmured Chiaki, hesitating in believing it fully, but if she had such a good moment those two days, then maybe, just maybe, the future of hers could be bright.

 

“Make it the best memories possible! If you just do it, things will be okay!” “Usami” gave out a motivation for her, repeating the very statement that remained stuck in Chiaki’s mind.

 

“...If you just do it….things will be okay….I’ll….never forget these words, ever…” Chiaki repeated them as well, always taking a note if the situation ever got bleak, she’d be able to keep moving forward.

 

“Through out darkest times, always remember those words. Never give up, Chiaki, promise me that.” “Usami” gently requested her to keep her head up, not to be stuck in an eternal cycle of low confidence and self doubt.

 

“….I promise. I’ll never give up, especially since now…” confirmed Chiaki before she laid down on her bad, hugging Usami along with it. Her eyes started to close as she was about to enter the land of dreams, yet as she did that, she had a smile on her face. A genuine, hopeful smile.

 

...I have a reason to look forward to future...Thank you, Miss Yukizome…Thank you so much…I can’t wait until we spend our days together…”.

 


But that was just a distant memory at that point. The present they were living in it was something they never wanted to live through. Chisa Yukizome wasn’t there anymore, instead she was at the mercy of a criminal syndicate.

 

Chiaki was curled up, hiding her tears by covering her face with Usami. At the very least, she wasn’t alone. Hajime, Ibuki, Chihiro and Mayuri were all by her side. Rest of Future Gadget Lab members were told about the situation and had to move forward towards Hope’s peak academy. Even though her friends were all by her side, they didn’t know what exactly to do. They have never seen Chiaki like that before. As much as she tried to hide it, they could all hear her weeping, a sound that kept weighing on their hearts.

 

Mayuri was the first one to step closer to her, gently placing her hand on her should. She felt incredibly cautious around her, since any wrong move would just make it worse. None than less, she gave a try.

 

Hey, Chiaki….just letting you know that we’ll always be here for you. You won’t ever be alone…” Mayuri spoke to her, knowing that even in such distress, she could at least ease off some of pain. It was true too, at the very least Chiaki had people supporting her in the present. “Miss Yukizome is gonna go back, we’ll make sure of it.”.

 

Y et Chiaki was yet to open up to them. Mayuri didn’t push further due to her friend’s emotional state, yet she could sense none of that was sudden. It was all a culmination of her constantly hiding her true self from others, especially from her own friends. Mayuri could still feel that she’s trying to repress herself. It had to stop, she had to stop it by herself, even though the time of discussion of such topic was absolutely worst. Instead, Mayuri knew that Chiaki had to be prepared for a day when it would be addressed. For that moment, she just needed to recover.

 

“Chiaki will need to recover first, but you guys promise that you’ll be by her side, right?” Mayuri asked everyone in the room, just so that Chiaki could hear it. Even if saving Miss Yukizome was of more importance, they couldn’t just leave their close friend like that.

 

“Yeah, we’ll always be…” confirmed Hajime, with his voice sounding rather shaken by the whole situation. He wanted to help as well, but just didn’t know what to do aside from being for her. Ibuki just quietly nodded. Chihiro tried to do the same, but the weight of the whole situation made him break down. Not only was Miss Yukizome taken as a hostage, but seeing the very close friend who brought him so much happiness through out the time like that pressured him into tears.

 

“...S-sorry, it’s just….” apologized Chihiro, but he couldn’t hide what he truly felt about the whole thing. He expected to be judged for it, but everyone in the room understood him. In response, Ibuki gave him a hug, just to give him comfort.

 

“It’s...okay….it’s okay to cry, Chihiro….” Ibuki tried to reassure him, but just from her voice alone it could be felt that the weight of the situation was also affecting her. Zero trace of her usual self, instead she prioritized helping others as much as possible. At the very least, she could be a friend in need, if nothing else.

 

All of that not only pained Hajime himself, but caused him to feel something else as well. The feeling of contempt of their enemies, for causing such disarray to them. A consequence of a demoralization playing right in front of them.

 

Goddamnit….what can we even do now? Everything is just so-” Hajime thought to himself as he clenched his fist, preparing himself that if he’d ever saw a member of the adversary organization, he will strike.

 

However, his thought process was quickly interrupted when he felt his phone ringing. He quickly picked it up without even checking the number. Once he pressed the green button on the screen, the call was initiated. It was a person he did not expect.

 

“...Hey.” greeted Fuyuhiko from the side of Hope’s peak. Hajime was startled upon hearing his voice, but he regained his composure quickly. There were a lot more important things going on.

 

“...Fuyuhiko?” asked Hajime.

 

“Yeah, it’s me. Just wanna ask, is it alright if you keep me updated on what’s going on? I’ll do the same as well.” confirmed Fuyuhiko before he piqued if Hajime is alright with keeping contact with him, since he had to take care of his classmates (and class 78th students, who quickly received the news) back at there.

 

“It’s...no problem, to say at least.” approved Hajime without hesitation.

 

“Alright then. I’ll start. How’s she doing?” asked Fuyuhiko out of concern for her. Hajime took a while to answer, since seeing Chiaki in such state was tearing him inside. He could barely watch it, he really wanted to do something about it. He really wanted to see her smile back.

 

“They...they broke her. She’ll...need a lot of support from us….” Hajime’s lip trembled upon answering him while requesting that others should give a hand too, when needed. Fuyuhiko understood it quite well and he would spread the message across.

 

“...Fucking hell, man. I never thought I’d see her like that. She was always so...how to say it….cheerful….and understanding….To see her like that…” contemplated Fuyuhiko, expressing disbelief that such situation was even a reality. Despite being a yakuza himself, there was a line to be crossed when his friends or close ones were harmed.

 

“….Those bastards will pay...for sure….” Hajime clenched his teeth, quietly announcing that there will be revenge for what their adversary has done. There was no way of those criminal being let off scot free. They’ll find a way.

 

“...Yeah...except that….it’s utter chaos here. We’re struggling to-….Hold on a sec…” Fuyuhiko agreed with the idea, but was soon interrupted by the situation at Hope’s peak. For a temporary amount of time, they were all in the gym. From the phone call alone, it could be heard what was Fuyuhiko dealing with.

 

Panic, confusion, anger were all emotions going through Hope’s peak. Mikan completely broke down under pressure, Sayaka had to take deep breaths in order to not have an anxiety attack. Some of them were mortified as well, such as Kiyotaka and Toko. Some students tried their best to remain calm, but the pressure was too much for them. Few of them who kept their composure, such as Peko, Kyoko, Gundham, Nekomaru and Sakura, tried to calm the whole group down, but chaos reigned there.

 

“Goddamn...keep me updated, will you? I’ll talk to you later.” Fuyuhiko had to conclude the call just to deal with their situation back there, but he let his classmate have a say, just so that it would be confirmed.

“...Got it.” quietly approved Hajime as both of them ended the call, beginning to think about what to do. Nothing was clear anymore, there was no solution in sight. Only few facts were certain: their adversary had an upper hand and their time was running out. With each minute passed, they were closer to saying goodbye to Chisa Yukizome, forever. Not an option they could afford at all.

Chapter 40: Girl of Solitude No More

Notes:

....That hurt

Chapter Text

A day passed ever since students learned about the kidnapping of Chisa Yukizome. The same four that were in Chiaki’s house before had a bit of a sleepover there. Wasn’t exactly the most pleasant night of them all, considering that their minds could not stop thinking about the whole situation. Their beloved teacher, at the mercy of a criminal syndicate. Not a comforting thought after all.

 

Hajime was the first one who awakened from a rather poor slumber. Eye bags were slightly present on his face. His whole body felt like a log, barely able to get up without feeling a great amount of weight inside. He would have preferred if he could just sleep over the entire situation, as it seemed much easier, but he knew that wasn’t an option. He had to face living in such reality, yet all he could do at that moment was to rub his own eye.

 

Soon after, Ibuki woke up, but in a way that wasn’t like her at all. Instead, she just did it normally. None of her usual quirks were present at all. After he noticed her waking up with a squint, he could immediately tell that even Ibuki Mioda out of all people was not exactly in the brightest mood. Just like with him, there was a notable presence of eye bags on her face. Ibuki slowly turned her head towards him and with such simple movement, she already knew what was going on.

 

“...You too?” groggily asked Ibuki, assuming that Hajime did not have the best night as well. He didn’t really have to answer it, the eye bags told everything.

 

“...Yeah. Not a good night at all.” quietly answered Hajime as he scratched his head. Despite them talking, they could feel silence through out the entire house. It felt like something was physically missing from them. Even the morning itself felt dimmer than usual, although the explanation for that was because there was a storm going outside. The rain kept falling down on windows at fierce rate, making the only notable sound nearby.

 

“I’m surprised I could even sleep today...granted, not for much likely. Should probably check out.” murmured Ibuki before she pulled out her phone, noting that the time they woke up was 6:00 AM. A worrisome time to wake up on a Saturday. “...It was two hours, at least.”

 

“I don’t even remember when I fell asleep, to be honest.” added Hajime in a similarly exhausted tone. Through out all the night, their thoughts were focused dead on what situation were they in. Their beloved teacher under the mercy of the enemy, their friend completely catatonic due to not only what happened, but how she got to know in the first place and their entire group was in complete disarray. To them, it felt like there was no light at the end of a tunnel, only a dead end.

 

Not too long after, Mayuri, who chose to be there instead of returning to Future Gadget Lab, slowly woke up as well, her movements being all stiff. Even though she seemed like she was the only one who got decent sleep at all, she seemed rather shaken. Although they could tell how she felt just by her frown and weary eyes, her state of emotions was still rather puzzling. What caused her to become awake with such feelings?

 

“Hey, Mayuri….Sorry if we awoke you just now….” apologized Hajime, worrying that the noise he and Ibuki caused, which was surprisingly little, managed to disrupt her sleep.

 

“It’s okay….Mayushii just got a bad dream, that’s all. A dream that felt….real….but there’s more important things going on….” reassured Mayuri with her gentle, yet shaken voice. Both Hajime and Ibuki couldn’t shake off a feeling that there was more to it than just a “nightmare”. The physical reaction was slightly too severe than one would had when it came to dealing with a nightmare. However, even though they wanted to console her deep down, their friend reminded them not to be concerned for her. An act similar to what their another close friend would do.

 

“Goddamn…” uttered Hajime, aware that he had to respect her wishes, but he still wanted to reach out to her. Something was up, but the timing for address it was just not right. Soon after, Chihiro woke up as well, in a same not so well state as other three did. While not as shaken as Mayuri, it was still obvious that the night he had was not of a good kind.

 

“….Hey.” Chihiro wearily rubbed his eye to regain clearer vision, with his whole bode feeling like a log. None than less, he got up, despite the weight he felt.

 

“Morning, Chihiro….you didn’t sleep good either, did you?” Hajime assumed that he went through the same as they all did. It didn’t took much time to confirm it.

 

“Yeah...it was….I couldn’t stop….thinking about it.” Chihiro expressed his concerns regarding not just for the whole situation, but for well being of Chiaki and Chisa. The image of his friend in a such unimaginable state was forever ingrained in his mind. It wouldn’t disappear even when all of that was going to be over. Not to mention he could hardly imagine what was Chisa going through.

 

“We should check how’s Chiaki doing. I doubt that she could sleep well after that happened…” suggested Mayuri, just to be sure how was their friend doing. All of them quietly nodded as they stood up, slowly approaching her bedroom. They weren’t sure if she was asleep or not, so they opened the door as silently as possible.

 

What they saw was something that caused immediate concerns.

 

Immediately, they saw Chiaki just laying in the bed, blankly staring at the ceiling. Her eye bags were even more pronounced than of others, with her eyes looking almost burnt out. All of her energy, all of her cheerfulness was gone. Completely gone.

 

Everyone around her realized what she went through the night and they were taken aback.

 

“C-Chiaki?! Y-you did not...sleep at all, did you?!” stammered Hajime upon seeing her like that. Chiaki just looked at them without saying anything, still in the same catatonic position as before. Only one who answered was Mayuri, not with words, but with a head shake. Then, she stepped closer to her friend, unable to bear anything other than a somber expression on her face.

 

“Hey, Chiaki? How are you?” quietly asked Mayuri, just to see how would she respond. Chiaki then just looked at her, with the same lifeless expression she had through out the entire time.

 

“...I’m fine…” murmured Chiaki, still hiding her true self from everyone. It wasn’t an unexpected response, but Mayuri’s heart started to feel heavier. Every single downplaying of hers, every single deflection of worries started to feel like prolonged stabs to her heart. Despite that, she still kept her feelings inside there, although her eyes started to display how she truly felt.

 

“What? You don’t look fine at all, Chiaki!” Ibuki countered out of concern, just saying what her entire group felt out loud. However, the barrier was still not broken. In fact, Chiaki only dug herself further.

 

“...It’s...okay….you don’t have to worry….” Chiaki forced a smile, just to make her friend group calm down. The effect, however, was the exact opposite. It only made it worse. All of that was slowly building up anguish Mayuri held inside from seeing her friend like that. Her behavior did not go unnoticed by others too.

 

“Chiaki, we’re just letting you know that we’re ready to help at any time, okay? If there’s something bothering you, we’ll be there.” Hajime was one to overtly offer her help. He, just like others, genuinely wanted to reach out for her. They all wanted to pull her out of it.

 

“Hajime is right...We’ll be always there for you, no matter what.” added Mayuri, hoping that it would at least reassure her that everything was going to be okay, no matter what.

 

But it didn’t.

 

“There’s...nothing to worry about now…” Chiaki kept repeating the same uttering as she tried to get up from her bed, but everyone else noticed how she was trembling the entire time, almost hitting herself on the bed due to losing grip. After few attempts, she did get out of the bed successfully, but it was enough for everyone to see how she’s truly like. Only thing needed was for her to no longer hide it and they had to make her realize that, sooner or later.

 

...She can’t go on like this anymore…” thought Mayuri to herself as she was starting to be visibly distressed by the amount of anguish Chiaki held to herself. Only reason why Mayuri kept holding back was she wasn’t exactly sure when to say it, but she knew it had to be that day. If it went on for too long, Chiaki might have truly break.

 

For a start of the day and as an attempt for to give her some energy, they prepared themselves for a breakfast. At least, they tried to, but such plan fell quickly apart the moment Chiaki sat behind the table. Immediately, she rested her head on the table, covering her eyes with her hands. That was enough for everyone to stop.

 

“Uh, Chiaki?” Hajime tried to ask her, but before he could truly reach out for her, she already deflected.

 

“...Just not hungry, that’s all. You guys can eat in peace…” mumbled Chiaki while still hiding her face from everyone else. What Mayuri felt through out the entirety of it was soon more overtly shared by others as well. They couldn’t really bear to see her constantly putting herself down for the sake of others. Just from their worrisome grimaces, they couldn’t no longer hide it.

 

Goddamnit, she just keep closing herself from us!...But we can’t be rash here...considering what she’s going through...but she can’t keep doing this to herself…” Hajime thought to himself, aware that she shouldn’t be pushed too much, but at the same time, they couldn’t do nothing about her. The time was passing quickly before the situation got worse.

 

Suddenly, one of them got an idea.

 

“Hey, Chiaki? Are you up to a video game? You always love those, right?” Ibuki offered an activity that Chiaki always loved to do. Even just mentioning games always cheered her up.

 

That was not the case, it seemed.

 

“...Sure…” Chiaki just quietly mumbled, with her eyes being weary as before. Ibuki flinched from such unexpected response, with her hope being shut down over her cheering up even just a bit. It took her a while to process what had to be done to bring Chiaki to such levels.

 

Huh? The lack of enthusiasm in her voice….they....what have they done to her?” Ibuki thought to herself as she started to bite her nails. Something about Nanami being devoid of energy kept knocking her mind, even she couldn’t really relax about it. Their reactions did not gone unnoticed by the girl herself.

 

“Guys...please….don’t worry about me...I’ll be...fine….but Miss Yukizome…” Chiaki tried to reassure them with a forced smile, but at one point, her breathing became heavier. Anxiety was weighing down on, but she barely managed to hide it. She really tried to smile, but her eyes were betraying her. “No...nevermind…it’s going to be...okay...in the end...”

 

She only made them even more concerned.

 

We can’t let her do that to herself...we have to make her talk….even if it will….” Chihiro thought to himself, but then he accidentally glanced at Mayuri. From her eyes and a frown alone, she was nothing but utterly miserable. In a way, very similar to how Chiaki was feeling, except that Mayuri did not bother to hide it anymore.

 

Instead of breakfast, they decided to hop on a couch to play some game. Something co-op, anything that would just cheer up Chiaki just a little. Maybe then she would be honest about it. As for the game, what they chose didn’t matter much, they were kind of too desperate to think about it. Once they started to play the game, problems were immediately noticed.

 

Chiaki, an avid player of games, was playing it with nothing short of lethargy. Her movements were rather delayed as she just blankly stared at the screen, not even following her own character. As such, she was lagging behind others. To them, it felt incredibly unnatural. Not even once in their time did she ever play with such lack of enthusiasm before.

 

“C-Chiaki-” Chihiro really desperately tried to reach out for her. He really did try his best, but to no avail.

 

“I-it’s fine, really! Please, guys…” Chiaki begged them to believe her that despite how she was acting through out the entire morning, that everything was okay with her. That there was nothing to worry about at all.

 

In that moment, something snapped inside Mayuri.

 

“….I can’t watch this anymore.” Mayuri spoke with a shaken, yet furious voice as she suddenly stood up and just placed herself right in front of Chiaki, glaring at her. Everyone around her, including Chiaki herself, flinched from such sudden yet strong reaction from a usually docile girl like Mayuri. Just from her anguished glare alone could Chiaki tell that Mayuri needed her for something. She was trembling, since she never saw Mayuri be like that before. She didn’t even know what will Mayuri do to her.

 

“Me and Chiaki will need some time alone. We’ll be back when we’re done with this, okay?” Mayuri sternly warned everyone, but other friends could already imagine what was she going to do with Chiaki. She was the one who took first leap to reach it, regardless of method. Without saying a word, Mayuri guided Chiaki, who meekly followed her, to her bedroom. After gently closing the door, Chiaki just sat on the bed out of instinct, trying her best to maintain eye contact with Mayuri, who still had stern glare directed right at her.

 

“Is...is there something wrong, Mayuri?” timidly asked Chiaki, still trembling as she did not know what will Mayuri do to her. However, knowing how utterly scared she is, Mayuri had some major hesitation regarding confronting her. It wasn’t the first time Mayuri had to pull someone out of dark. It was never easy either.

 

“...There is, Chiaki….I just...don’t know how to begin…I really don’t wanna scare you right now….but we need to talk about a thing you’re doing.” Mayuri promised her that she will do nothing terrifying to her, instead opting for just a talk for what Chiaki has been doing for not only entirety of their time they’ve known each other, but for years. Immediately, Chiaki started to feel guilt about it.

 

“...I’m doing something wrong, right?” murmured Chiaki, assuming so, but she wasn’t exactly sure what was the problem. She wanted to know as quickly as possible.

 

“...Yes...yes you are. What you’re doing to yourself is very wrong.” Mayuri immediately told her what was her wrongdoing. For a moment, Chiaki was surprised, since she did not expect that someone would call her out for how she treats herself.

 

“...It’s not that important..there’s other things-” Chiaki just looked down and tried to deflect any worry about her. It were always others who were more important than her, that’s what she thought.

 

Such response was the tipping point.

 

“...How much longer are you gonna do this to yourself?!” Mayuri snapped at her with nothing but sheer anguish in her voice. For all the anger she had inside her, it was nothing to compared to how much it pained her to do it.

 

“H-huh?!” Chiaki flinched as she covered her face, making herself smaller to protect herself. But despite the shock, Mayuri had no intention to hurt her.

 

“How much longer will you constantly put yourself down?! Do you realize how much it hurts to watch a friend constantly tear herself apart?!” Mayuri stopped hesitating what she truly felt when Chiaki kept constantly doing that, even placing her own hands on her chest to further emphasize how much it was genuinely painful for her.

 

With that, Chiaki gasped as she covered her mouth out of shock. She finally realized something she never did before.

 

All of that hiding, all of that deflecting, was doing the exact opposite as she intended.

 

“I...hurt you? I...hurt my...friends…?” murmured Chiaki, still hardly believing that for such long time, her own lack of self-treatment could be felt by others. She felt that as a friend, she completely failed. All she wanted them to be happy, to be free of anxieties and pain she felt every day.

 

“You’re hurting yourself, Chiaki! Don’t get me wrong, you’re an amazing friend, one of the best I have….You do so much for us….but you’re horrible to yourself. You’re destroying yourself and I’m not sure if you’re even aware of it…” clarified Mayuri, with a quieter, yet even more broken voice than before. Chiaki could hear her voice crack. At that point, Chiaki remained silent, but her vision was getting blurry. She felt something on her eyes as her heart was feeling ever so heavier. Although she spoke with her emotions forefront, Mayuri felt like she was too harsh on her.

 

“Chiaki...you have to be upfront with this. Don’t hide it anymore...Please...just be-” Mayuri pleaded her to address it, but something unexpected happened to her. Chiaki couldn’t hold her tears back anymore, it was her true self breaking through the barrier she set up to protect herself from everyone.

 

The facade she had was truly gone.

 

Chiaki couldn’t do anything but to bawl. All of those emotions she held back, all the pain she went through, it was just too much for her. She couldn’t even say anything anymore. Mayuri was the first one to experience her true self and she was just as shocked. However, Mayuri tried to do what she thought was a right thing to do. She slowly and gently embraced her arms around her, giving her a comforting hug. As he tears kept falling, Chiaki returned her hug with shaken arms as she tightly held a grip on her friend. She needed someone to comfort her through out it.

 

“...I understand now….you are afraid of losing people, right?” Mayuri started to reassure her, giving her gentle pats on her back. Without saying a word, Chiaki just confirmed with a nod. Those tears just couldn’t stop falling from her cheeks. Upon realization, Mayuri’s own grip became tighter.

 

“We promise you that no one will go away….No one will leave you behind...We all love you for who you are, Chiaki.” Mayuri continued to reassure her, guaranteeing her that they’ll be always there for her, no matter what. Nothing short of genuine sincerity was had when Mayuri told her that despite everything, they still love her for who she is.

 

Despite everything, they’ll always be there for her. For the first time ever, Chiaki was truly proven that there will be people there for her...and there will be people that love her.

 

It was something she needed to hear for a very long time.

 

“...I’m...sorry….I’m...really sorry…” Chiaki kept apologizing, realizing how much pain she caused around her simply by not treating herself well. She couldn’t stop feeling guilty about it, she was more than enough willing to take the blame for it all.

 

“It’s alright, Chiaki. What you’re doing right now is taking a step in right direction. No one should carry so much burden by themselves….Don’t be afraid to ask for help, Chiaki. We will always have your back.” Mayuri comforted her, reassuring her that she’s doing a right thing. She’ll be pulled out of the darkness that followed her for the entirety of her life. Even though she kept crying, her heart began to feel lighter. All that pain could finally be expressed to someone. At the same time, Mayuri’s smile returned.

 

“Hey...about Miss Yukizome...you want her back, don’t you?” Mayuri kept patting her on the back as she wanted to hear what Chiaki truly felt about it.

 

“...Y-yeah...bring her...back...please….” begged Chiaki, desperate to have her beloved teacher back. She couldn’t bear to know that the person she loved was not only under the claws of their enemy, but also abused by them.

 

“We all do...we’ll bring her back...that will happen, Chiaki. It’s like what happened with Faris before...I was really scared too when I first heard it….but eventually, we saved her. We will save Miss Yukizome as well...and everything will turn out to be alright.” Mayuri promised her with a gentle smile, relating how she felt when her friend was kidnapped. She went through similar experience as before, but deep down, she felt like that they’ll manage to overcome it. Chisa will be back.

 

Even though tears still fell, Chiaki felt like most of it was out. Somehow, her heart felt much lighter, more free from chains of her own emotional repression. Both of them looked each other in the eye as Mayuri noticed that she still had that weary expression on her face. Those feelings were there for a very long time.

 

“...You had so much in you...how could you just hold it for years by yourself alone?” Mayuri asked her out of concern, she suspected that there was far more going on that Chiaki let on.

 

“...I’m just used to it, really...Didn’t really have anyone before…” murmured Chiaki. Upon hearing those words, a thought appeared in Mayuri’s mind. Something that disturbed her to the core.

 

“...Not even Papa or Mama?” Mayuri really wanted to know if that anyone was truly absolute.

 

The response Chiaki gave to her told her everything.

 

...I haven’t seen them since I was young…”.

 

Nothing short of horror was the reaction that Mayuri had. She realized that having to live without anyone’s support for such a long time was something her close friend went through. It explained absolutely everything about her.

 

“You were...all by yourself...for that long?” Mayuri’s voice became shaken as she could barely hold her own tears from just imagining how alone Chiaki was for most of the life.

 

“Mhm…” Chiaki just quietly nodded, knowing that was her reality.

 

“...Oh god, Chiaki….” Mayuri gave her a hug out of instinct as tears began falling down her cheeks. Her grip became tighter than before, really not wanting to let go off Chiaki.

 

“You didn’t deserve to be alone...You really didn’t….We’ll always be here for you...Always….” Mayuri kept promising her that they’ll always be there, her friends would never even think about abandoning her. Chiaki returned the hug as well, still letting her tears fall.

 

“...T-thanks…You guys are...the best….” Chiaki didn’t know what to express other than utmost gratitude. For once, she was aware that there will be friends for her. She would never forget what Mayuri did for her, what everyone else did for her and she wanted to express it back as well.

 

“You should let others know it too...Others need to hear it…” suggested Mayuri as she felt like others will make her sure that they will be there for her. Unlike before, where she would just deflect it, Chiaki accepted it.

 

“If you think it’s the right thing to do….then...I will…” Chiaki promised that she’ll do it, she’ll finally show her friends what she truly felt.

 

“Don’t do it for me, Chiaki. Do it for yourself.” Mayuri cautioned her that she should do it for her own sake, not for anyone else’s sake. She had to understand that she was important as well. Chiaki remained quiet, but she went through with it, but not before making a motion with her hand, asking Mayuri to hold her hand. She was still afraid how would anyone else react. Mayuri did not hesitate and held her hand as both of them slowly approached the door.

 

Once they opened it, they saw that rest of her friends were listening too. They knew it all what was happening with her and they were just as shocked as Mayuri was. But just like Mayuri, none of them hesitated to support her. Ibuki was the first one to give her a hug, with Hajime and Chihiro following after. Mayuri joined in as well, all giving her a comforting hug. Chiaki was taken aback at first, but slowly she embraced them all. She could feel warmth that she desired for so long.

 

 

“We’ll be always here for you, Chiaki. Nothing will change that.” promised Hajime as his voice was also shaken. He fully grasped who Chiaki truly was, but it wouldn’t make him leave her.

 

“Y-yeah! There will be nothing that will separate us! Nothing at all!” Ibuki’s voice could be heard cracking as her hug became even tighter. She really didn’t want to let go off Chiaki. In a way, there was something to relate to her.

 

“We’ll help as much as possible too! You are our best friend, Chiaki.” promised Chihiro as well, teary eyed, but his voice was filled with nothing but pure determination. All those reassurances, all such warmth made Chiaki smile again, that time it was a genuine one. She couldn’t help but shed few more tears, she just wasn’t used to such warmth.

 

“...T-thank you….thank you, everyone...You are all so….amazing….” Chiaki expressed eternal gratitude for her friends as she enjoyed every moment of the hug. She didn’t want that moment to go away. Even in such times, there was hope.

 

Hope that everything will turn out to be okay.

 

The rest of the day passed as the moon was shining through out the cloudless sky. Everyone present in Chiaki’s house was beyond exhausted just from the morning alone. Most of them went to sleep, trying to relax themselves even during such times. Only two who were still awake were Mayuri and Chiaki. Neither of them could sleep, there were still things that were needed to be done. Mayuri was standing near her bed, where as Chiaki was lying on it, still blankly staring at the ceiling.

 

“Hey, Chiaki? If I was too harsh on you before, I’m sorry…” apologized Mayuri as she felt guilty over it. Despite her best intentions, she could never forget how fierce of a reaction did her friend had. So much was stored inside her.

 

“It’s alright, Mayuri. It’s something….I needed. Never thought it would be like that.” Chiaki turned towards her as she looked her in the eyes, reassuring her that she didn’t do anything wrong. In fact, what she did was right, she really needed to hear it.

 

“Well...how do you feel now?” asked Mayuri, still curious how would Chiaki respond. It took her a while, but how she responded was a sign that her actions did have an impact.

 

“….Terrible. You didn’t deserve to go through this…” Chiaki expressed it with all honesty, while also revealing that she felt guilty over it as well.

 

“But it had to happen. Carrying burdens of ourselves goes two ways, you know.” smiled Mayuri, feeling relieved that Chiaki was able to be honest with her feelings.

 

“...I wish it wasn’t like that. It would have been much easier if I could just carry everyone’s burden...I think.” murmured Chiaki, wishing that everyone else was free of pain, regardless of what she went through.

 

“That’s not a right thing to do, Chiaki. You can’t neglect yourself like that. Doing that will just further weigh upon you until one day, you completely break. Friends will always help each other equally.” assured Mayuri that such mindset was not healthy at all. She even gave her a pat, just to comfort her further. For a moment, Chiaki was stuck. She didn’t know how to respond.

 

“...I guess you are right. After...going through that, my heart feels easier, I think. It’s like as a whole is easier...slightly.” admitted Chiaki as she placed her hands on chest, noting that it did feel lighter. Perhaps Mayuri was right after all.

 

“You had a chance to expose your true self after all. Mayushii is glad that we are able to help….although, if I had to admit, Mayushii wishes that we could have seen each other before. I was looking for you for years and years…” Mayuri suddenly revealed that she never gave up on her. For all those years, she kept searching for her. Chiaki gasped a little upon hearing the truth.

 

“...You were?” murmured Chiaki, still taken aback that someone would care that much for. So much so that they would never truly leave them.

 

“Yeah…but bad things happened….Some that I can’t tell were real or not….but I’m really glad we are able to see each other again.” further revealed Mayuri as some of the events were similar to how she felt in the morning. She definitely felt it, she definitely went through it, but what was just a bad dream or undisputed reality.

 

“...Me too...I was looking for you too...but if I can ask...what happened?” Chiaki confirmed that she was also looking for her before she asked what exactly happened to her. She already hinted that something went wrong before.

 

“...I can talk about one thing, because I remember it very clearly. Others memories are...not as clear.” Mayuri gave a heads up that only one event was truly certain. None than less, Chiaki listened.

 

“Well, when Mayushii was young, there was one person that Mayushii really loved. A person that Mayuri was looked up to…it was my granny. She always took care of me, even when the times seemed dark. Mayushii always happily listened to what granny had to say…” Mayuri began talking about her own grandmother with a relaxed smile on her face. Just from how highly did she spoke of her grandmother was something Chiaki loved to listen to. Something about great parental figures was always up to Chiaki’s alley.

 

“Shortly after we met for the first time, I told my granny about you. She said that you seemed like a wonderful gal and that she would have loved to meet you in person.” giggled Mayuri about the fact that she was more than ready to introduce Chiaki to her. Even Chiaki smiled a little, but that smile was quickly gone when she realized that Mayuri said “would have”. She already had a good guess on what happened to Mayuri’s grandmother.

 

“...Did she…” lamented Chiaki as her heart started to become heavier. She did not even like thinking about that happening, let alone that someone would have to experience it.

 

“...Yeah. Granny didn’t have much time anymore. When she passed away, so it felt like Mayushii was gone too. Mayushii’s heart fell into...dark places. Only thing I could do was look up to the heavens, where Granny was. Mayushii tried to reach for her, but…her fate was sealed.” Mayuri’s smile disappeared when she mentioned what happened to her. It was a complete gut punch for Chiaki, just thinking about someone so wonderful being gone was enough to engulf her in sadness. For a moment, neither of them spoke.

 

“I was in...a dark place...but I was pulled out by Okarin. Thanks to him, Mayushii came back.” Mayuri’s smile returned when she brought up the moment when a certain someone she loved saved her. “Hey, do you know why he becomes Hououin Kyouma?”

 

“...I’m not sure…” Chiaki shook her head. She didn’t even think about it in the first place, she thought that it was like with certain classmate of hers, that he did it for fun.

 

“Because he knows that makes Mayushii happy. Thanks to that, Mayushii is now in a happier place. It’s why we are able to see each other again.” revealed Mayuri with a smile on her face. She still fondly remembered how Rintaro was hugging her amid the rain, reassuring her that he’ll do anything to bring Mayuri back. Needless to say, Chiaki was quite surprised to learn the truth, but it was the best kind of truth. The one that comforts a person.

 

“Rintaro is a beyond amazing person...He did so much good with this…” Chiaki smiled as well, feeling proud for her mad scientist friend. As each day passed, she wanted to be more like him. A person that could always bring happiness to their friends.

 

“I know, right? Now, Miss Yukizome pulled out of a dark place too, right?” Mayuri assumed that Chisa has as similar value as Rintaro does, even though there were a differences. Rintaro was Mayuri’s childhood friend, almost family, where as Chisa was like a mother figure to Chiaki, the one she needed for most of her life.

 

“...Yeah...she did….she showed me that even this world can be a wonderful place…” nodded Chiaki while still happily reminiscing that moment when she met Chisa for the first time. Just thinking about that moment made her feel more relaxed.

 

“Heh...she truly did…” chuckled Mayuri. However, Chiaki’s thought was brief, since she was too aware that reality of the present was significantly different than the one of past.

 

“...but….I can’t sleep because of what happened….and what are they doing to her…” Chiaki became honest with her feelings again, telling Mayuri that the whole situation was just kicking her anxiety more and more.

 

“Mayushii knows Miss Yukizome will come back….We will bring her back, like we did with Faris….but you need rest too. Maybe a little song will help….Mayushii knows one.” reassured Mayuri before she came up with a little suggestion.

 

“Hm? Is it a lullaby?” Chiaki tilted her head, curious about it. Even though she relied on music boxes for her sleep in the past, she was very intrigued by the idea of someone singing a lullaby to her.

 

“Hmm...not too sure but you could see it as one. It’s a song that always stuck in Mayushii’s mind...Do you wanna hear it?” asked Mayuri one more time, just to be sure.

 

“Of course, Mayuri. Anything for you.” Chiaki gently smiled, letting her know that she’s ready to do anything for her.

 

“Alright, heh…” chuckled Mayuri before she began singing with her ever gentle voice.

 

There’s one thing I’m searching for,

 

The laughter of the stars,

 

Shining on the wind,

 

You can grab it if you reach out your hand.”

 

With a soothing song of the stars, Chiaki managed to close her eyes and fall asleep. She tightly grabbed her Usami plushie, the very one that Mayuri gave her. There was still sadness felt in her, a great amount, but Mayuri knew that what happened to her was directing her to a brighter future.

 

Good night, Chiaki. You are on the right path now. It’s something Mayushii is glad was able to do...” thought Mayuri herself, giving Chiaki a pat before she stepped away, letting the girl sleep at peace. Then she stepped towards the window, standing right in front of her. She looked towards the starry night sky as she reached with her arm. Pretending to have grabbed a star and placed it near her chest, having a little smile on her face.

 

Mayushii is glad that she’s finally useful….”

Chapter 41: Cycle of Confusion

Notes:

I just wanna say AAAAAAAAH!!! Thank you for the Tv Tropes page! This is awesome!!!

Chapter Text

Around the same time as the events at Chiaki’s house took place, so was the gym of Hope’s peak academy quite active. Most of the students of class 77-B and class 78th gathered around in it, to discuss about the calamity of the previous day. That being the kidnapping of Chisa Yukizome, the teacher that provided much goodness to their lives. Aside from those who were taking care of Chiaki, few of them were still missing, such as both members of the Kuzuryu clan and Gundham Tanaka were still not present in the supposed meeting room. Other members outside of Hope’s peak academy, such as Future Gadget Lab and penguins, have still yet to arrive. None than less, the distraught over the events of the previous day have not passed at all. In fact, it only haunted them more with each passing day.

 

“So….the day has passed…” solemnly sighed Sonia, beginning their discussion about their situation in an already well established tone. No matter how hard they tried to deny, it was still their reality. The one where one of their own people is being held by their adversary.

 

“Y-yeah…it has…” trembled Sayaka as her skin became completely pale. Despite the passed time, it was still hard to comprehend that their reality truly was that. No matter how many of them would try to deny, one couldn’t change it.

 

“We are losing time with each second...if we don’t do it...” lamented Mahiru as she clenched her fist, fearing the very true possibility regarding the fate of their teacher if she’s not back in the span of six days. Upon hearing that, Mikan, despite saying nothing, started to squeeze her “stress relief” ball that she started carrying that day. It became faster as she kept thinking about the possible fate. Upon witnessing that, Sakura calmly decided to intervene.

 

“Even in such situation, we must remain calm. Only then we will able to conduct our strike against them.” Sakura reminded them to keep their heads cool, otherwise no matter what they would do, their adversary would just run circles around them while taunting them. Taunting with the possibility that their teacher would be stuck in a hostile foreign land.

 

“Sakura’s right. It...shouldn’t have happened at all, but we can still save her, right? If we just work together-” Aoi, despite being aware of the reality, still tried to have an optimistic outlook on it. Despite the odds, chances weren’t zero, were they?

 

“How are we supposed to save her if we don’t know where they even are?!” Kazuichi nervously pointed out a major setback regarding everything having to do with strategies and tactics they could utilize against their adversary.

 

“He’s not wrong. Even up to now, we have still yet to locate them. Without that, saving Miss Yukizome is impossible.” added Kyoko with a stern expression, not mincing her words about the possibility if they don’t find their hideouts in the right time. Almost immediately after the word “impossible” was uttered, everyone present could feel shivers down their spine. Nothing could help except to somehow find places where the adversary is hiding.

 

“...That is true, I guess…but still...” Aoi started to look at the floor with a lamenting gate. Even though she still tried to be optimistic, she couldn’t just deny their situation. Blind belief is worth nothing if one has no means to deal with such situation.

 

However, the contemplative melancholy was abruptly interrupted.

 

“...I-i-impossible?!” Mikan’s breathing became faster, almost like she was losing her breath. Her vision became completely blurry and her mind became flooded with one thought. One damned thought.

 

Miss Yukizome will be gone. Miss Yukizome will never come back.”.

 

She could feel her heart being crushed, with her vision ever becoming even blurrier. Her head started to burn as she became more and more dizzy. She was just few seconds away from fainting, had someone not intervened.

 

“Hey, it’s gonna be okay! Just take deep breaths!” Mahiru rushed towards the nurse, offering her a hand so that she could hold onto something, to calm down, to finally be able to breath. Upon sensing her classmate’s gentle touch, Mikan started to inhale and exhale as much air as possible. Her senses were coming back to her as her vision became clearer. It was by then when Mahiru realized that such place was not good for her nurse friend at all.

 

“Mikan, you don’t have to force yourself to be here. Maybe we should go somewhere calmer?” suggested Mahiru, feeling like that it was the best decision for her. For her to stay longer would just be worse for her own sake. Although deep down, even Mahiru wanted to cool off, it was getting to her too, just that she hid it well enough that no one really noticed it.

 

“...Um...if...you say so…” murmured Mikan once she calmed down, with her gaze focused on the floor. The nurse kept holding onto Mahiru’s hand, since it allowed her to cool down. Mikan nodded as she allowed Mahiru to take her somewhere quieter. However, those two weren’t the only ones who needed a timeout.

 

“...Hey, can I come in too?” Sayaka quietly joined in as well, also taking deep breaths, but they were not as pronounced as Mikan’s were. Her own voice was quite shaken too.

 

“Sure, Saya-” Mahiru allowed her to go with them as well, but not before she saw in what state was her idol friend. The redhead photographer was quite startled when she saw Sayaka’s skin being completely pale, with her entire body trembling. Due to loss of words, Mahiru quickly took both Mikan and Sayaka to the room that served as an entrance towards the gym. Other students just watched how their friend took two frightened girls to somewhere safer.

 

“We’ll be there if you need us. I’ll inform them of anything you guys say. See ya...soon, I guess.” Mahiru announced just before she shut the door, leaving the gym in silence. For a while, not a word was spoken. All of them just had to accept in what kind of situation were they in.

 

“...It will take some time for everything to clear up.” contemplated Nekomaru, knowing that they’re stuck completely unless they find the hideout of their adversaries.

 

“It was inevitable for this to happen, because we let it happen.” Byakuya decided to start off with his contribution with a critique of their own modus operandi. Everyone quickly listened to him, even though they were a bit startled. There certainly had to be something that they did wrong.

 

“H-huh? What do you mean?” asked Aoi, unsure where exactly was he going with. However, unlike how most people would elaborate, Byakuya had his own way of dealing with questions.

 

“Do I really need to explain it? Are you that blind that you do not notice it?” Byakuya immediately condemned her for “not getting it on the spot”, despite the fact no one really guessed what he meant on the first spot. Just after such scoff, he quickly warranted himself a glare from the swimmer.

 

“….What was that for, jerk?!” retaliated Aoi.

 

“Be careful with your words, Byakuya, but I can take a guess what you mean…” Sakura warned him regarding disrespecting her dear friend, although she was curious about what Byakuya had in mind. All of those present thought about it. What could possibly be their setback? There were many to be thought about, but they weren’t quite sure what exactly was the answer.

 

“It’s cuz...we didn’t attack, right?” spoke Akane, with her idea being that thanks to them being constantly on defense, it allowed the enemy to always plan ahead with their offenses. Daft Capo’s plans weren’t exactly disrupted before it was too late. With a raised eyebrow and absolutely baffled expression on his face, Byakuya noted that what she said was, in fact, quite correct.

 

“...Out of all people to had it right, it was….you. Truly, the world lost its mind.” commented Byakuya that someone who has herself described as “not the sharpest tool in the shed” was spot on with the idea. He was indeed thinking about how due to lack of offenses from their side led up to Daft Capo being relatively unobstructed.

 

“You say that only now?” Yasuhiro pointed out after everyone pretty much has seen how the downward spiral of sanity that is their current situation can tumble down.

 

“I mean, it makes sense? We were constantly defending, and they were constantly attacking. If we had attacked….maybe it would have been prevented?” Akane argued for her point, thinking from a fighter’s perspective in a way. Hope’s peak academy was essentially a stationary front, a castle if one went by medieval perspective. And if there’s anything known about castles is that they don’t physically move. Ever.

 

“Ahem,...although you do raise a good point, Mrs.Owari, I must address holes in your theory.” Hifumi raised his finger to object. Although he did like the idea, there was still a major elephant in the room regarding her suggestion.

 

“What holes? I mean, it’s pretty straightforward?” Akane scratched her head.

 

“Well, first off...what we just talked before: how can we attack when they don’t know where they are?” Hifumi pointed out the biggest obstacle so far.

 

“I’m pretty sure they can be attacked anywhere else too. It’s not just their base or something.” argued Akane that it didn’t exclude interrupting their own attacks, rather than just focusing on invading their headquarters.

 

“That would require us knowing from where and when would they attack. Not to mention we didn’t have information, let alone resources at that time, so…” Hifumi addressed the issue of situational awareness and intelligence, or lack of there of for the better word.

 

“We shouldn’t let hindsight cloud our vision. Our main strategy was defensive, which was, at the time, best we could do. It is also thanks to penguins that we were even aware of those fu-….I mean, that criminal syndicate.” Sonia contested with contemplation, deep down cursing the enemy for not only what they did to their teacher, but what they did to her friend too.

 

“Speaking of them, where are the-” Nekomaru was about to say when suddenly, the door was abruptly opened with a kick from a small avian. It was so sudden that some of the guys in the gym were startled big time. The one responsible for the door kick was Skipper himself, joined by the rest of his crew.

 

“Boys and girls, did I hear that right?!” shouted Skipper, still shocked to hear what happened to Chisa Yukizome. Kowalski remained stoic but concerned, where as it could be told from the far away that Private did not take the news well. Rico on other hand, felt like there was only one answer to this question: violence.

 

“Indeed you have, Skipper...Indeed you have…” solemnly confirmed Nekomaru with a slow nod.

 

“...Dastards! How could they do it to such a beautiful woman?! Why couldn’t they kidnap someone like….that guy from that class!” Skipper shook his flipper like a fist towards the ceiling, cursing the mafia for what have they done.

 

“How about no one gets kidnapped instead? Would be better off like that.” Aoi crossed her arms as she pouted, just being irked by the fact that anyone kidnapped was “okay” by some.

 

“...What guy and what class?” asked Kazuichi, since “that guy” and “that class” do not exactly narrow down the choices regarding who could be kidnapped instead of Chisa.

 

“N.Vious, The Ultimate Bootlegger, from Class 69.” Kowalski fired away his answer as quick as a bullet coming through a sniper rifle. Just hearing his name already made the mechanic wince.

 

“...You know what, yeah. They should have taken him.” concluded Kazuichi. Aside from the three that he thought were friends, none of the students inside Class 69 appealed to him.

 

“So yeah….what happened was horrible...I’m sorry that you guys have to go through this…” Private sympathized with the struggle they were going through.

 

“It’s not your fault, Private. Don’t worry about it.” Sonia reassured him that he shouldn’t feel guilty over something he had no control of. However, no time was to be wasted.

 

“There’s no time to waste, boys and girls! We gotta bust her outta it and-” Skipper immediately began ordering them around like a proper drill sergeant, but all that rushing made him forget that not every mission they set out was complete at that point of time.

 

“Hold on for a moment! We would like to, Mr.Skipper, but we still don’t know where are they even hiding, let alone the location of Miss Yukizome.” alerted Kiyotaka, which made the leader penguin realize the current status.

 

“...Right. Operation Metropolitan Hunt has not been completed yet. Drat, its like they knew!” Skipper swiped off his forehead with his flipper as his priorities changed. They still had that mission to be done, the one that would expose Daft Capo’s hideout. Thus, he began to formulate possible plans for the mission.

 

“It is very likely that they did, Skipper, because that’s what they planned. Why would one ignore the opportunity when their opponent is at the lowest?” Kowalski suggested that their current situation was something their adversary was looking for. All thanks to one feline.

 

“...That is indeed plausible. Weaponization of chaos certainly helped them on the matter.” concurred Kyoko while remembering the details of the whole incident regarding their school and a certain aggressor that they’ll never forget.

 

“I think I know what you mean by that…” Byakuya felt shivers down his spine once he recollected repressed memories of that feline.

 

“So….any progress on the Metropolitan Hunt?” Skipper redirected the whole conversation towards their prioritized mission.

 

“Barely anything. One day isn’t enough to investigate the largest city in the world. Satellite imagery was of not much help either, a lot of photography was irrelevant.” reported Kyoko about her effort of tracking down the headquarters of their adversary. Her inspection zone was around the coast of the city, but not near Tsurihito Warehouse. That part of the city was inspected by penguins themselves. Some of the students raised their eyebrows regarding her comment on satellite imagery being of no use there. Could it be that their adversary was capable of messing with GPS?

 

“Our part of Tokyo has been devoid of any Daft Capo traces too. We thought they would be nearby Tsurihito Warehouse, but it seems like the hunch was just not right here…” Skipper added his own contribution to the debate as well.

 

“It should not be a surprise that those who break the law will constantly hide.” commented Kiyotaka. The status of the mission was same as before: they went nowhere.

 

“What else can we do at the moment? It seems like the only option here is to hasten our progress and expand our search zones?” asked Sonia as she thought about the only possibility they had at that moment.

 

“Hmmm….you are being realistic here, Mrs. Nevermind, but we have to find the way, better sooner than later. We have about a week, right?” responded Skipper before he gave a question to them as well.

 

“Unfortunately, a day has passed. Therefore, we are only at six remaining days…” answered Sonia with frown on her face. They still had time, but they could not afford to waste it at all.

 

“Drat! Looks like we have very busy days ahead, boys and girls.” announced Skipper for expansion of their operation, but the meeting did not conclude there. It was just about to start, with the door opening once again. That time, instead with a kick, it was just a normal opening of a door with the hand. It was Rintaro Okabe and the rest of Future Gadget Lab, including Suzuha Amane, who joined the meeting. The only exception was Mayuri Shiina, who was at the time present in Chiaki’s house. Therefore, all the updates she could get were from others through a phone.

 

“Hello, everyone. What’s the status?” spoke Rintaro, completely devoid of his “mad scientist” persona. If it hadn’t been clear that there was no time for nonsense before, that was it.

 

“Status? We are at the halt, to be determined whether or not we’ll get back on track.” reported Kowalski, not sounding exactly hopeful through his analytical voice. Out of Future Gadget Lab members present, Suzuha seemed to be still in shock just like everyone was the day before.

 

“So…..Miss Yukizome has been kidnapped?” Suzuha really wanted to be sure if what happened the previous day was unambiguous truth.

 

“...Indeed she has been. Indeed she has…” confirmed Sonia in the same solemn tone as before, with others adding up that the hostage crisis involving Chisa Yukizome was the reality they were living in. Any trace of cheerfulness on Suzuha vanished in entirety. Her fist became clenched as they noticed her arm started to tremble.

 

“Damn it….this wasn’t supposed to happen at all!” scowled Suzuha as she looked at her first. She was clenching it so much, that she could feel her own nails slightly dig into her skin. They all understood her anger, they were feeling it all too.

 

However, not everyone caught on how Suzuha expressed herself. Only one did.

 

“...Supposed to happen?” Kyoko raised her eyebrow, still remaining calm through out the moment. Yet, the way Suzuha stated it felt rather off to her.

 

“Oh….I mean, it shouldn’t have. Sorry for this, but Miss Yukizome is a dear friend of mine. We have to get her back as quickly as possible. I will assist as much as you want.” Suzuha calmly retracted her statement, while also revealing her relationship with Chisa herself. Despite calmness in her voice, they could all feel that she was still full of rage. The kind that a sniper would feel.

 

“Suzu, don’t push yourself too hard. We’ll get her back, that’s for sure.” advised Itaru in a shockingly tender way, not in the kind they were all used to. Seeing someone like Itaru, the one who would joke even through out more serious times, like that was a surprise to many.

 

“The thing right now is that we don’t know where they are, let alone where they are hiding her. And considering our limited manpower, it would be a miracle if we completed the mission Metropolitan Hunt.” Kiyotaka repeated the main concern of the Fellowship of Darkness, just so that Future Gadget Lab was aware of it.

 

“Which is why I say that you should not worry too much about it, because one of you will just stumble into it and voila! Mission accomplished!” Yasuhiro suddenly stated how would he have dealt with the mission of finding out their hideout. Needless to say, his opinion wasn’t met with open arms.

 

“Your idiocy is not appreciated as such time, entertainer for the commoners.” Byakuya did not even hesitate at all to call him out in the most disrespectful way possible. The classic Togami way.

 

“What? I’m saying the truth. You know the principle of “less hard you try, more likely you’ll get it?”. Like how when you search for one specific thing you can’t find it, but when you don’t, it’s gonna land on your nose? It’s gonna happen, I can tell you!” countered Yasuhiro, somehow devoid of any silliness in his voice. People around him were rather surprised how serious was he about his own suggestion.

 

“What?! Are you being serious right now? So we should all just take it all easy with such situation?” blurted Kurisu, frustrated with the very notion that they should take the entire thing without much care, as it seemed like. Then she noticed that she was around other people and felt like she should have controlled herself. “Sorry for the outburst, but there’s no way we can just do it like that!”.

 

“Let me elaborate, because I’m only talking about finding their hideout. Rescuing Miss Yukizome herself on other hand….I have to look into my crystal ball again...although I’m not too optimistic about it.” insisted Yasuhiro about his prediction on how they will all just uncover Daft Capo’s hideout by chance, rather than finding it through extensive planning. It was still hard to imagine at that point.

 

“Excuse me, are you relying on predictions through the crystal ball? Unless those predictions are based on luck, then I see it as impossible. There is no way that something supernatural could influence the tide of this battle.” countered Kowalski as he denounced Ultimate Clairvoyant’s means of guessing future events.

 

“Says the talking penguin.” scoffed Hiyoko under her breath. The comment was audible enough that the tall penguin could hear it.

 

“Your comments are not appreciated.” Kowalski turned his head towards her, calmly cautioning her that further provocations will be met with harsher response. Hiyoko just rolled her eyes, not feeling like further arguing with a talking penguin.

 

“Hey, my predictions have 30% of a chance becoming true! That’s high in such field, ya know.” boasted Yasuhiro as he crossed his arms. Since no one truly had experience in such work, no one could really counter him regarding that aspect. However, it was a different story when it came to the sheer concept of predicting.

 

“I still do not believe it. At most, it would be just a coincidence.” sternly denied Kowalski.

 

“Let’s be a 100% real here, right? What other than a total miracle could assure us victory here? Our team consist only of two classes, a teacher or two, a group of guys over here and penguins. Compare that to a fully fledged mafia, who we all have seen their true power. I ask again, Kowalski: what other than a total miracle could work us in our favor?” Yasuhiro gave out an entirely serious and sincere argument, which actually did make almost everyone reconsider their approach. Thanks to further elaboration, no longer was he seen as a loony in his own world. It seemed like he was more aware of the reality than others were. All he needed to do was to speak from his own perspective.

 

The tall penguin by the name of Kowalski, however, was a tougher nut to break.

 

“Strategy, tactics, logistics, knowledge, equipment and many more can lead to the absolute victory for our side. They are much more crucial than a predicted path of fate.” Kowalski spent only milliseconds to come up with an answer. From the surface, his answer seemed to be sound. A battle is decided before it’s being fought, after all. However, the circumstances challenged his notion by quite a lot.

 

“...Are you seriously talking logistics, when none of us have any vehicles? How would we even obtain them?” Kazuichi pointed out that no one, not even penguins, not even Future Gadget Lab, had any vehicles whatsoever, or so it seemed. Considering only a few of them had a driver’s license, it made Kowalski’s answer further from reality.

 

“Simple, we buy them. And don’t worry about the transaction, we know how to get the money.” answered Skipper, hinting that they have a way, a similar way they used back in Monte Carlo. Certain few people, or rather animals, were missing, but even then they found a workaround.

 

“All that is good and well, but you know, you shouldn’t discredit Lady Luck here. That’s what I’m saying, we’re gonna get lucky here…..but only here, so far.” cautioned Yasuhiro that one important, but unreliable aspect should not be completely neglected. A famous emperor once said that he’s better off having a lucky general than a smart one.

 

“But you’re saying that we should primarily rely on it, not just take it into consideration!” countered Skipper about how it seemed like Yasuhiro Hagakure was contradicting himself.

 

“Because that’s pretty much the only advantage we really have! Strategy and tactics, sure we can use them, but they have all the tools to easily shift the tide! Logistics, equipment, don’t even joke about it, we don’t even have a fraction of what they have in just mopeds alone! Where would we even get manpower that would even come close to them, let alone be comparable?” argued Yasuhiro even more, still pointing out that no matter what they say, their means are impossible to execute.

 

But just as he pointed out the lack of manpower, their dispute was interrupted with a gently opened door. Everyone present looked the one responsible for the opening, the culprit being Class 77-B’s own swordswoman, Peko Pekoyama. She did not fully open the door, making herself only one visible to them.

 

“Uh...hey.” greeted Peko, looking a bit tense than usual. It was still hard to tell from her face alone, but her body language was making it blatant. She acted even more reserved than usual, and she was already known to be quite deep on stoic side.

 

“Hey, Peko.” calmly responded Rintaro.

 

“So uh….why are Mikan, Sayaka and Mahiru outside?” asked Peko as she looked back into the room, seeing three members of The Fellowship of Darkness sitting close to each other. Mikan was leaning on Mahiru, still holding her hand. Her fear hasn’t truly gone away. Sayaka was still pale like a doll, hugging herself to calm down. Mahiru was the one who seemed to take the situation the best, but Peko could already see that it was getting up to her. The answer Peko was looking for was answered by itself.

 

“...Nevermind…..that’s...understandable….although I have two things to say in advance.” Peko turned towards those in gym, cautioning them for what is to come.

 

“Go on. Tell us.” Nekomaru allowed her to bring in detail, as he was curious what was she up to. Others had assumptions, but they all waited for the confirmation.

 

“First thing….be prepared for what is to come. Second thing….we apologize for any inconveniences that will happen here.” Peko further warned them regarding her and her master’s decision for this conflict.

 

“What is there to apologize for, Peko?” wondered Private, since it didn’’t feel like Peko did anything wrong. Others wondered too, what made Peko feel such way that she needed to apologize in advance. Peko took a deep breath before she was prepared to do the intended.

 

“….Just to be sure, are you all ready?” Peko gave them a chance for any hesitation, in a case they don’t want to deal what she brought to their meeting.

 

“We don’t have much time, show us already!” ordered Skipper, letting her to not hold back anymore. Whatever she brought, it better be good for them, is what the leader penguin thought.

 

“...Understood. Be warned though.” Peko fully opened the door, revealing that a couple of men and women, all dressed in black tuxedos, were standing right behind them. In a way, they were all similarly dressed as Fuyuhiko, who was with them as well. Fuyuhiko allowed those people to step in. It seemed like Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu kept his word.

 

Kuzuryu clan has entered the conflict, on the side of The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

To say that the members of Fellowship of Darkness, from Hope’s peak academy students, penguins to Future Gadget Lab members, were utterly shocked would have been an understatement of the millennium. None of them couldn’t believe what they saw, that a criminal syndicate was freely traversing through the school. And it was a friendly one too!

 

However, in between the Kuzuryu duo and henchmen, one girl truly made her presence there. A blonde of the short stature strutted right in front of them. Showing of nothing but confidence amid the crisis, the blonde girl quickly gained attention of everyone with one simple greeting:

 

Wasssuuuup, bitches?!!!”.

 

For a while, only response she got was baffled stares.

 

“...Wazzaaaaap?” Suzuha awkwardly waved at her back, letting herself to relax a little. Everyone, from those in Fellowship of Darkness and Kuzuryu clan, just looked at her, with their thoughts being already clear enough to tell what exactly they felt. Not a word was uttered. Meanwhile, Suzuha became even more confused. All she wanted to do was to greet her like the blonde girl did.

 

“Um, is that not a hip thing to say these days?” asked Suzuha with a slight blush on her face. One of the immediate responses was Hiyoko wincing and rubbing her eyes out of embarrassment. After such odd distraction, they focused on what was important at the time.

 

“...So….students of Class 77-B and 78th, members of Future Gadget Lab and penguins, what you see in front of your eyes...is my clan. Kuzuryu clan. Just if it wasn’t already clear before, you’re all in the game.” Fuyuhiko introduced them to his own clan while warning them that their lives won’t be the same anymore. Once one was in “the game” there was only a miracle to pull you out of it. Men and women in black joined the group circle, sticking out amid the uniquely dressed students. Very few were those who were comfortable standing right next to a Yakuza member. Penguins wondered how did Fuyuhiko manage to convince Hope’s peak academy to let a criminal syndicate waltz in so easily. Rumors has it that it was under pretense of “training for talent”, as if that would have helped them out.

 

“Yes, that became apparent long time ago.” scowled Byakuya, who was trying to stay away from Kuzuryu clan members as much as possible, despite the fact he knew that he had no other choice than to co-operate with them, even if it was just for taking down Daft Capo.

 

“I….uh….I…..is this alright to do?” questioned Kiyotaka as he had difficulties comprehending that they would have to resort to using a criminal syndicate, even if it was ultimately for a good deed. As the Ultimate Moral Compass, the one who had to abide by the law, it would be hard to live through the fact that resorting to law breaking was the only way.

 

“Not much options you had before, kid. Once you’re in, you’re in.” advised random Yakuza member, the elderly kind, warning him that such moment was the point of no return. Kiyotaka remained silent, since he understood enough that such was the only way, but he certainly did not enjoy it. However, before they moved on to the main topic, someone had to insist in making their presence.

 

“Hahaha! Look at that! I’m surrounded with Ultimates! Finally, a place where I truly belong!” boasted the blonde girl, feeling nothing short of pride that she was among those she yearned for so long. Had it not been for the fact she was in Reserve Course, she would have been called “Ultimate Lil’ Sister” or a title akin to that. Focusing so much on titles did not abode well with other actual Ultimates, who had few wake up calls through out the conflict.

 

“….I think we have different priorities now.” Kazuichi tried to steer the direction of the conversation to a much more important topic than mere titles given out by Hope’s peak academy.

 

“So, what’s the problem, chumps? For what reason do you fuckers need to have Kuzuryu’s on your side?” asked the blonde girl in a way that said more about her than it should. Considering the people the Fellowship of Darkness dealt with before, she was something on a Byakuya level, possibly. In the mean time, Rintaro sidestepped like a crab towards Fuyuhiko as he wanted to know somethings.

 

“Hey, Fuyuhiko….is that your...relative?” Rintaro leaned towards him as he asked.

 

“Yeah, that’s my sis. Natsumi Kuzuryu. Make sure everyone keeps respectful to her.” confirmed Fuyuhiko that the blonde girl was someone who was related with blood. He also warned that anyone who lays a finger on her will not end up in a happy place. Just from her behavior before, Rintaro braced himself for what is to come.

 

“...Oh boy…” sighed Rintaro, already knowing where would future debates with Natsumi go.

 

“Well, Mrs. Kuzuryu, our beloved teacher has been a kidnapped and they hold her random for the ownership of Hope’s peak academy and for one hundred billion dollars. It’s a crisis which this school has not seen before!” Sonia explained their current situation towards the sibling of Fuyuhiko. Natsumi just raised an eyebrow upon being informed.

 

“...Kidnapping? That’s it?” asked Natsumi out of a sudden. Some gasped by her implication that kidnapping was just a minor thing.

 

“W-what do you mean that’s it?!” stammered Kazuichi, hardly comprehending her notion that a hostage crisis was a work for a small fry. On a larger scale, even governments would get involved. Many examples of that are present in history.

 

“For a Yakuza member like her, it should not be too surprising. Clashes between syndicates get a lot more dire than this kerfuffle.” reasoned Byakuya in his own way, even if he got weird looks by calling the crisis “a kerfuffle”.

 

“Pffft, hahaha! C’mon, you’re Ultimates! This is gonna be a piece a cake for you! What’s stopping you from just stomping them into the ground?” scoffed Natsumi just at the idea that Ultimates would have problems dealing with anything. Rest of students in Fellowship of Darkness could not help but to wince at such notion, since it has already been disproven big time. Natsumi hasn’t been enlightened about it just yet.

 

“….This is giving me memories and it’s not the good ones…” contemplated Aoi as she distinctively remembered the last time talent was held on a high pedestal. They at least hoped that Natsumi wouldn’t go full “talentless people are trash”, unlike certain other one did.

 

“However, you should throw away any conventional wisdom regarding our opponent. They’re….a different kind of an adversary, so to say.” calmly warned Sakura, already hinting at what kind of an enemy were they dealing with. If it was just a normal yakuza clan, things would have gone much differently. The concept of normality to Daft Capo was, however, more foreign than a Japanese student trying to learn Farsi.

 

“Eh? What makes those fuckers so special? It’s just an another yakuza clan-” sneered Natsumi at the notion that anything could be a threat to either Kuzuryu’s or Ultimates as a whole.

 

“Correction, it is a mafia. Although on surface it might seem like your bonafide Italian-American mafia, it is a conglomerate of an international scale.” corrected Kowalski out of a sudden.

 

“Yeah yeah, sure sure-wait...who said that?” Natsumi rolled with her eyes before she suddenly stopped herself, noticing that such voice sounded completely off. It was deeper than it should be, yet no Kuzuryu clan member spoke. Natsumi hastily looked around to find the source of such voice.

 

“It is I who said it.” Kowalski quickly exposed himself, lifting his flipper just for Natsumi to see him. Once she glanced over again, she saw a penguin with the raised flipper. The realization she got from seeing penguins inside Hope’s peak academy, talking ones at that. Her confident posture got crumbled into nothing short of a woman who questioned her own situation. Her irises completely shrunk upon noticing them. The lil’ sis stomped towards them, taking a good look with her completely baffled face, almost horrified.

 

“What the fu-...no...you just didn’t speak right now, did ya?” stammered Natsumi, thinking that she was just hallucinating. The question is, how could she, if she didn’t take any substances? Not that Fuyuhiko would allow her, for his stance against drugs is staunch.

 

Esto es solo el comienzo de la locura que verás.” Skipper put his flippers around his hips as he made a rather jesting pose, almost like he was poking fun at her. However, his response was responsible for making Natsumi’s jaw drop. Not only she was dealing with a talking penguin, but one that was a polyglot.

 

“...Where’s the goddamn bathroom here?” asked Natsumi in complete disbelief. Not even once in her life did she ever think that not only would she meet Ultimates themselves, but they would be accompanied by talking penguins. She truly needed a moment of clarity. Out of instinct, Peko decided to help her regarding that. For a brief moment, she led her outside of the gym, just so she could find a place to wash her face. Didn’t take that much time to find a bathroom.

 

“It’s over there.” Peko pointed towards it, and so Natsumi followed the instruction. Upon reaching the sink, she immediately opened the water pipe. She washed her face, “cleaning” the absurdity she saw back in the gym. Then she looked at herself in the mirror, contemplating what led to such life. Penguins in the academy, echoed in her mind. Penguins...in the Hope’s peak academy.

 

Upon feeling like it, she returned to Peko and both went back to the gym. However, her bafflement was still there. She still couldn’t comprehend the reality she was in.

 

“...THE FUCK??!! TALKING PENGUINS??!!” yelled Natsumi as she flailed her arms, trying to make sense out of a thing that is devoid of it.

 

“Trust me, this is one of the less crazy things you’re gonna see here.” Yasuhiro reassured her that this was just a tiny little molecule on a mountain sized iceberg that was awaiting her.

 

“Yeah, can confirm. What we got here is nothing to what our enemy has.” added Hifumi as he readjusted his glasses.

 

“...HOW the hell can you top talking penguins?!” Natsumi lashed out, hardly imagining that anything, ANYTHING could be weirder than polyglot penguin commandos.

 

The folly of a rookie.

 

The gym fell silent, since no one was prepared to go into detail regarding their adversary. Even penguins hesitated, and they had beforehand experience with them. What they saw in Japan shook a lot of notions they had before.

 

“So….who’s gonna be the first one to talk about...our enemy?” Fuyuhiko allowed anyone to speak about their adversary with a straight face. Some of them, like Sonia, tried, but hesitated, since what they saw had to be seen to be believed. However, eventually a penguin volunteered.

 

“Let me handle this, boy! Now listen well, Mrs.Kuzuryu, as you will hear things you won’t believe until you see them with your own eyes.” began Skipper, warning her for what will she hear. She won’t be the same person after heeding his words.

 

“..It’s already trippin’ balls by having an info dump done by a goddamn talking penguin.” commented Natsumi, with her confident posture gone. The abnormality of the situation was getting to her.

 

“I-it gets worse.” cautioned Toko as she pointed at her. Normally, she had scathing comments ready for everyone, but that time, Daft Capo already challenged her worldview enough.

 

“You see, what we are up against is a mafia called Daft Capo. They’re known for many dastardly things, such as their unhealthy obsession with money, music and cars, them beating up everyone they put a target mark over their heads and being the biggest jerks on the planet. Having an ego size of a Jupiter is a minimum requirement for them!” Skipper dumped her information regarding their adversary. It wasn’t getting to unimaginable levels yet for Natsumi, since money is the ruler of the criminal world. Music and cars are an often occurrences too in such world.

 

“They also employ strange strategies in fights, such as using blunts as brass knuckles.” added Ultimate Impostor, which was the very first thing that threw Natsumi off.

 

“...Blunts? As in like, for Mary Jane? Are you having a laugh right now?” asked Natsumi as she clenched her fist, pretended that she had a brass knuckle like that too and swung it around. She had a hard time imagining that weapon being functional, blunts are just too soft to be effective for piercing damage.

 

“Unfortunately, I was the first hand witness of such technique.” answered Ultimate Impostor in complete seriousness. Others were aware of it already, so it didn’t confuse them much. Same did not apply for Natsumi.

 

“...You gotta be shitting me, fucking stoner mafiosos?” snarled Natsumi, already disapproving them for using the substance Japan itself was not too keen of. Opposition to drugs was in the Kuzuryu blood after all.

 

“I-I’m telling you, it gets worse!” Toko kept warning her about things become more and more surreal at they go.

 

The next thing confirmed it.

 

“You see, with punksters, which is basically their….hmmm….I assume lower ranking infantry would make a good comparison. However, you should be cautious of their elites, especially with the….guy named Tom.” Skipper continued before he stopped himself before mentioned the elite that became the scourge of Hope’s peak academy. Everyone else felt shivers down their spine the moment his name was even uttered. Natsumi had no context as for why a such mundane like “Tom” would be the dread of all Ultimates.

 

“Tom? Is he like an ultra stoner or something?” questioned Natsumi, just wondering what did that “Tom” fella do to cause them to fear for their lives.

 

The truth was soon revealed. Well, almost.

 

“He is, in fact, a cat-” answered Skipper, which immediately activated Natsumi’s “fight or flight” response in such absurdity being heard by her own ears. She even jumped from it.

 

“Hold it, hold it, shut the fuck up, shut the FUCK up!….A….fucking….cat?! That goes like, “meow meow” or some shit?” Natsumi’s mind was getting an aneurysm from hearing that a cat, a simple cat, managed to terrify the living bejesus out of students considered to be “the pride of Japan”. She even imagined people like Sakura running away, screaming in fear over a house cat.

 

Ignorance saved her from truth.

 

“Sis, you gotta listen. It’s legitimately that bizarre.” Fuyuhiko tried to reason with her, attempting to fully make it clear that this “Tom” fella was no ordinary cat. But before he could even begin, all of them were startled by Mikan suddenly opening the door with force. Unlike how they usually saw the nurse, she was in a state of complete and total rage. Her entire face was different, no longer look meek, instead being ready to main anyone who would stand in her way.

 

“I-IT’S NOT POSSIBLE! IT’S NOT SCIENTIFICALLY POSSIBLE! THERE’S NO WAY THAT FUCKING CAT-….AEEGGHHGHGHHG!!! IT DEFIES EVERY SINGLE LAW THERE IS, THERE IS NO WAY THAT-” exploded Mikan right in front of them, flailing her arms around like a madwoman. It took Mahiru dragging her back with force to make the gym silent again.

 

And so it was.

 

Natsumi was terrified. Not because of how intense reaction Mikan had, but because she began to think that’s how every single Ultimate reacted to such cat.

 

“...Is this how you fucks react to seeing a cat?” quietly asked Natsumi in complete honesty. Her mind barely had any room to even imagine how that cat was, she was just set on imagining it was a normal housecat. Totally not a being that tends to fry minds from just trying to comprehend his power.

 

“Listen, it’s not an ordinary cat!” insisted Skipper. Despite the fact he was right, it was almost impossible to convince Natsumi at that point.

 

“Seriously, he makes tornadoes out of his hands and generates dubstep! We all saw it! We really did!” added Leon to support Skipper’s argument, however Natsumi refused to comment. At that point, she thought everyone was high off their knockers.

 

“I’m afraid that what these commoners say…...is true, unfortunately.” even Byakuya confirmed that such defamation of natural laws was indeed up in Tom’s sleeve in that Zoot Suit.

 

“It legitimately does have to be seen to be believed…” concurred Kyoko. After her words, an uncomfortable silence befell upon those who were present in the gym. Natsumi looked like she was about to blow up from sheer bafflement.

 

“….Y’all lost your godddamn minds. All of you PUSSIES! It’s either you lost it or someone’s been sharing the pack. C’mon, reveal yourself! I know it’s you!” Natsumi suddenly lashed out at everyone before she pointed directly at Yasuhiro, blaming him for making everyone “smoking that pack.”.

 

“You’re not being funny, man.” Yasuhiro frowned upon such accusation, not even having a remark regarding it. He was just genuinely unamused by her behavior.

 

“Hey, you don’t have rights to talk shit! You haven’t even faced him!” Kazuichi defended his own class, since just like many, he saw it with his own eyes. If Natsumi had seen Tom’s shenanigans with her own eyes, she might have thought differently. However, she didn’t.

 

“It still doesn’t change the fact you all lost your minds over a FUCKING CAT!” countered Natsumi, pointing out how unless they got a sudden phobia or allergy of cats, it was beyond absurd for them to be that mortified of a single feline. Had it been for other circumstances, they would have agreed without hesitation.

 

“Sis, seriously, you have to believe them. I saw it too.” Fuyuhiko attempted to reason with her again, sincerely trying to convince her that what they went through was real. What they faced was real. Such efforts were, at the time, in vain.

 

“Bro, for fucks sake, not you too! At least have decency to be sane!” Natsumi scolded him over siding with his own classmates regarding that cat. Unlike with others, Fuyuhiko still remained calm with her. She was his sister after all.

 

“What else is there to tell? We all saw it first hand!” insisted Fuyuhiko, to no avail.

 

“I’m afraid that-” Kyoko tried to say something, but she was quickly interrupted by the baffled lil’ sis herself.

 

“Of that cat, right? Because that’s gonna give you nightmares, a cat! Meow meow, meow meow, oooh so scary!” Natsumi immediately started to mock her without Kyoko even provoking her. Her bafflement reached to the point where she couldn’t take anyone seriously.

 

“...Let me finish my statement.” Kyoko gave her a freezing cold glare in response, but that hasn’t stopped Natsumi from dunking everyone for what she heard. No one was spared from her. Not even penguins, not even Future Gadget Lab members.

 

“No, I don’t wanna fucking hear it anymore. I thought you were all Ultimates, people who will lead the future of this country, but nooo...noooo….You all just piss yourselves at the sight of a goddamn cat! What a fucking disappointment, all of you! Fucking Reserve Course students have more balls than you spineless-” ranted Natsumi, letting everyone truly feel how disappointed was she in them. However, it wasn’t her disappointment that struck a cord with them. It was her putting talent on pedestal and her refusing to understand them is what was building up anger in them. At any time, someone would strike back at her.

 

And that time has come, from a person that no one would want to face head on.

 

CEASE!” Sakura let out a shout so resonating that everyone felt it. Even Natsumi was humbled down by the sudden yell from someone so gentle yet imposing. But as quickly as she yelled, Sakura quickly regained control on her emotions. In a way, she felt guilt over the fact she had to resort to that.

 

“I apologize for the sudden outburst. We were getting nowhere with this. If you don’t mind, I’ll have to breathe for a moment. I’ll be back soon.” lamented Sakura while she also let out a critique on them. All they did at the moment was run in circles, still being stuck at the same point. Just like she said, she left the gym to cool off. However, she did not go alone.

 

“Wait for me, Sakura!” Aoi dashed towards her, but not before glaring at Natsumi for upsetting her friend. Natsumi remained silent, not daring to provoke the martial artist. However, Sakura did not hold resentment against her. Rather, she took a different approach addressing her.

 

“As for you, Mrs. Kuzuryu, unfortunately, you will have to see it with your own eyes. That is the reality we live in.” Sakura advised her that the only way she could truly believe it was to experience it yourself. She didn’t wish her to go through that, but she was in the game now. It was inevitable. For another moment, the gym was silent again, but not for long.

 

“That was what I wanted to say before.” Kyoko stepped in front of Natsumi, applying Sakura’s words directly to her. Natsumi was, however, hesitant to further argue. Something about Sakura’s shout made her realize something. Something she couldn’t quite put her finger on.

 

“...We all cool?” meekly asked Itaru as he felt very uncomfortable through out the entire time. His discomfort wasn’t a sole case. None than less, the gym returned to silence.

 

Meanwhile, it was raining outside, thanks to the storm. A lightning struck the ground here and there, but it was more of a rainy one instead of a thunderous one. Such factors made it rather calming for Sakura. The storm went on, yet there was solace to be found in it. Aoi soon joined her as well as they stood in front on the entrance.

 

“Hey, Sakura, I’m really sorry for what happened before. It shouldn’t have gone that way.” Aoi apologized to her as she gently poked her giant shoulder to gain her attention. Sakura slowly turned towards her and smiled, already reassuring her that it was okay.

 

“Do not worry, Hina. It was expected, since Mrs.Kuzuryu doesn’t have experience with our enemy yet. Her mind might change once she fully sees it.” calmly spoke Sakura.

 

“...Yeah...but still, there could have been a better way to discuss this.” lamented Aoi, wishing that the whole argument wouldn’t have happened at all. If they just worked together, things might have gone faster. But they were still stuck.

 

“Although the reality of our situation has been addressed, we should still organize. If we go like that for a prolonged time, we can only say farewell to Miss Yukizome….” advised Sakura as she still held a rather sobering view on the situation. Rather than to cry in despair, it was better if they struck together.

 

“…..Gosh, it’s just….we really do have to save her in time, right?” Aoi wanted to know how dire the situation were they in.

 

“That is our only option. There are no alternatives.” answered Sakura, while confirming that there was little room for mistakes, there was still hope. There was still a fragment of hope that could assure the successful rescue of Chisa Yukizome. That was enough to lift Aoi’s spirits up.

 

“Then...we should reorganize and do our very best! Then things can go back to normal, as they were!” Aoi pumped her fists with determination. No matter what, they will get Miss Yukizome back. That’s what she believed.

 

“...As normal as they can get…” nodded Sakura, just feeling calmer around her. She could finally relax after letting out her feeling before. In fact, they were ready to return, had Sakura not caught something with her eye. “Huh? What’s going on?”

 

Two men, a student dressed like an overlord with a purple scarf, accompanied by a person completely dressed in robe, obscuring their own face, were running through the intense rain like it was nothing. Gundham’s scarf and the other person’s robe flailed gracefully in the howling wind. For some reason, brief reflections were seen of the robed person while running. Both Aoi and Sakura raised their guard, since they couldn’t see clearly. Upon closer inspection, one of them was identified as none other than...

 

“...Is that….Gundham?” squinted Aoi as she unintentionally looked directly into his determined glare. Rain simply did not stop them from dashing toward the entrance, no matter how moist would they get. Who was he bringing was far more important than a temporary physical state. However, neither Sakura nor Aoi knew who exactly was accompanying him.

 

“Who’s that person accompanying him?” questioned Sakura, not quite sure what to do. On one hand, they were with Gundham, who was still on their side, perhaps. On other hand, the robed person looked like a villain straight of the movie. Even though they haven’t went into their battle stances just yet, they still had their guard up. “Be prepared, Hina.”

 

As they raised their guard up, Gundham and the accompanying person were getting ever closer. The distance between them and the entrance was crossed within seconds, with only obstacle being the gate right in front of it. At that point, Aoi and Sakura wondered how would they reach it, if it was still closed. Just as they intended to open it out of good will, both Gundham and the robed person leaped over the gate like it was nothing. They jumped completely synchronized, almost like if they practiced for it. During the leap, the robed person’s reflections could be seen even more. Both Sakura and Aoi were completely surprised on the jump, impressed even. They did not expect that someone like Gundham could be capable of it.

 

As both of them landed right on front of them, right on their feet, Gundham and the robed person struck a boastful pose, signifying their presence right in front of them.

 

“Fuwahahahahaha!!!! Sakura Oogami and Aoi Asahina, you are first ones to be blessed with the introduction of a powerful ally I brought!” boasted Gundham as he spread his arms like an eagle. Typical of him. However, both Aoi and Sakura could not get their eyes off the robed person. They were taller than Sakura, difference being around a head. A big one at that. The fact there was a taller person than Sakura right in front of them made them a bit more reserved than usual. The figure remain benign, but the mysterious aura of them infected two girls.

 

“Ah, pardon me. I am The Ancestor and I am the one who guides Gundham Tanaka to a righteous path.” the robed figure calmly and politely introduced himself. His voice was soothingly deep, yet so enigmatic. Two girls weren’t sure whether or not they should be on guard or not. From what he said, The Ancestor seemed to be a mentor for Gundham Tanaka. Not entirely wrong.

 

“Um….Hello?” Aoi meekly waved at the robed person, trying to be friendly, but she couldn’t shake off many questions he had for Gundham. Who was The Ancestor? What connection does he have with Gundham?

However, Sakura had a hunch.

 

Huh, I’m sensing familiarity with this person...but I cannot put my finger on it.” Sakura thought to herself upon seeing The Ancestor. Perhaps it was in a book that she learned about him. She wasn’t entirely sure who exactly was he, but the aura within carried familiarity.

 

“Greetings. Gundham has requested for assistance. I have heard everything what had happened.” The Ancestor briefly justified his presence, reassuring that his assistance was just and fair.

 

“So...you intend to help us?” Aoi asked just to be sure.

 

“Of course. I will make sure that the whole operation goes quicker than expected.” answered The Ancestor with quite the confidence. Just knowing that was enough for both Aoi and Sakura to lower their guards. Despite his appearance, he seemed like a proper ally.

 

“That’s great to hear! Although, it might be a bit shocking for the guys inside…” Aoi clapped her hands as she had a smile on her face, but not before cautioning that The Ancestor’s presence might cause severe reactions.

 

“Do not worry about it. They’ll adjust to it. Now, we must make haste. There is little time we have.” reassured The Ancestor, making his desire to help very clear. There shall be no ambiguity with him at all.

 

“I shall lead the way, The Ancestor.” Gundham made an inviting gesture before he opened the very door by himself. He led not only The Ancestor, but also guided Aoi and Sakura back to the gym. As they went through the school, The Ancestor felt some kind of nostalgia. Perhaps because the school itself was reminiscent of a castle. A rather small, easy to access castle at that. Nothing like he did in the past. He was surprised that he didn’t even need to jump once.

 

It didn’t take much time for the door of the gym to open once again, with Gundham being the one who did it. Reactions upon seeing The Ancestor from all sides, from Hope’s peak students, penguins, Future Gadget Lab and even Kuzuryu clan members was nothing short of a surprise and a bit of fear at that.

 

“Mwahahahaha!!! Prepare yourselves mortals, as I brought in an ally that will shift the tide of the battle!¨” Gundham announced that he has brought someone who could drastically change the whole situation. Considering how confident was he in The Ancestor, they better have believed him.

 

“Greetings. I came here to assist you all. It seems like we already gathered quite a team.” noted The Ancestor after he observed them for a moment. Yet, despite the fact the entire group consisted of high schoolers, a friend group where the chuuni scientist is the leader, an entire Yakuza clan and talking penguins, he wasn’t weirded out at all. Compared to things he has seen, it was a pretty normal group. That sentiment was not shared by the opposite group.

 

“Gundham, did you just bring a cultist here?!” Hiyoko called him out, even though she wouldn’t admit that she was slightly spooked just from his appearance alone. Many resonated with her sentiment, but not everyone.

 

“Oh my! That is so hella rad!!!” Sonia couldn’t help but be in awe at the sight of The Ancestor, but the voice inside her head restrained her from further comments. “Pardon me, I got carried away.”.

 

“Hahaha, funny, but I assure you it’s nothing like that.” chuckled The Ancestor before he let Gundham Tanaka step in front of them, letting them know that the true leader of The Fellowship of Darkness has returned.

 

“Now I need no status update, because I know of it already. We’re still stuck with Operation Metropolitan Hunt, but now with increased manpower, thanks to the arrival of The Ancestor and Kuzuryu clan, which I do commend quite a bit, we shall accelerate the whole process! Everyone here will search every single corner of the city, no exceptions! Are the words of The Supreme Overlord clear?!” announced Gundham that, even though they have already said they would put more effort into searching their hideout, he gave them an official order to do so. At that moment, they were no longer by themselves. They got support from a criminal syndicate and a person of mysterious power. Every inch of the city could now be inspected.

 

“Uh huh!” nodded Rico before he gave off a salute.

 

“Of course!” Sonia pumped up her fist in excitement.

 

“Excellent! Now, let us not waste any time and begin! We will decide who will explore what outside. Now come with me, mortals!” commanded Gundham for them to resume the operation right on the spot. Despite the weather, they all complied. The time was simply not something they could afford to lose. However, as they all marched towards inspecting the city, Gundham stepped closer to Fuyuhiko. He wanted to say a thing to him.

 

“I must commend you, Kuzuryu, for keeping your word. That is an ever rarer trait in these times.” praised Gundham for his honestly and reliability. For some reason, the last sentence kind of made Fuyuhiko think. Rare was it a moment when Gundham was this serious.

 

Or perhaps he was serious all the time, but the chuuni facade deterred everyone from knowing the truth?

 

“...Like I said, when shit got real, I’ll bring them in. I do however hope we don’t escalate this shit.” confessed Fuyuhiko that a bloodbath is not exactly something they’d wish. A heavy amount of restraint would be required to deal with this.

 

“The kidnapping of Miss Yukizome was already an escalation on their behalf. Who knows what are they doing to her now?” countered Gundham before he made his colleague think about it. Knowing they are mafiosos, it was impossible to imagine that they were treating with any semblance of goodness. Thoughts were starting to unsettle him, more he thought about it.

 

Around the time they accelerated the whole Operation Metropolitan Hunt, Chisa was still sitting inside her cell, with her leg chained to the wall. She slept while sitting up, which made her feel all the cramps around her body. It was just one day, so despite everything the adversary was putting through her, her spirit was still up. She refused to submit to them at all, no matter the cost. However, the smile she had was gone. Eye bags were incredibly transparent on her face. No matter what, she still had to insist.

 

Suddenly, the door of her cell opened. It was a simple punkster, who threw a piece of a day old toast right into her face like a frisbee. Chisa didn’t even flinch, she just glared at him, filled with repressed rage. As quickly as she got “food”, the punkster slammed the door, hoping that the sound would startle her enough to make her submit. It didn’t work.

 

“...Prick!” Chisa held her rage deep within her, despite the fact she was in a compromised position. At that time, all she could do was to pick up the stale toast. She just looked at it with a dead stare.

 

“...I guess that’s pretty much the only thing I get to eat. It’s one day old too, I can sense it….I have to get out of this, as quickly as I can. I wanna see my students again….I wanna see her again…” Chisa thought to herself as her heart was starting to feel heavier by each moment she remembered everyone in her class. Everyone and especially her. A girl who truly loved her back. Just for them, and especially her, she tried to be as strong as possible. Yet, she couldn’t help but to shed a tear.

 

Around the same time, Elite Bois were sitting behind the round table, which resided in the same room where their plans are discussed. They were all feasting the most extravagant food possible that they got for free. N.Tropy was enjoying a lobster with caviar, Tom was flat out consuming the entire ham, Dastardly was a bit more relatively humble with his hamburger, emphasis on relatively because that burger was one of the most expensive in the world, Rando only needed kebab to be satisfied, Wile E.Coyote was delicately enjoying an entire stuffed turkey, Fritz was eating Wiener Schnitzel (turkey) with pommes frittes, where as Herman was enjoying none other than spaghetti Carbonara. And yes, they played Luigi Boccherini’s Minuetto on the mixtape during it, as if it wasn’t enough.

 

“Gentlemen, enjoy the feast!” said N.Tropy as he lifted the glass of red wine. Everyone of them had a glass of it, they were all drinking the finest wine from Italy.

 

“We dine like true kings! Emperors, even!” praised Herman while also referencing his own surname, that being of Emperor of Italia.

 

“Ah, emperor. What a lovely title.” complimented N.Tropy while already imagining himself as one of the great emperor of the contemporary time, even if his “conquering” wasn’t exactly traditional. The blue skinned scientist already visioned himself as among the greats.

 

“Cheers!” Wile E. Coyote lifted a sign and the glass of wine before he drank it carefully. Others were taking sips too.

 

“This makes it worth it! This burger is one of the best I’ve eaten!” complimented Dastardly, a rare instance where he felt good around other Elite Bois, even if the only reason for his good mood was the burger. It was juicy, yet full of flavors. It was also one of the most American burgers one could have.

 

“Simply peculiar!” Coyote lifted another sign to express his satisfaction with wine. However, someone had a thought regarding their plan.

 

“Schnitzel’s good, but I have a thing to discuss.” Fritz was the one to raise a point, with his mouth filled with Schnitzely goodness. It was a thing that bothered him that day, because he really thought about it.

 

“Please, you do not need to worry about them. By the time they’ll actually come up with something, that skank would be right in Tirana, where she belongs” scoffed N.Tropy, with him confident enough that The Fellowship of Darkness will fail, no other alternatives.

 

“It’s not that. It’s the money.” Fritz redirected the conversation to their prize, rather than the hostage.

 

“What about it? If they’re so willing to save her, then they would hand over one hundred billion dollars and the entire school for us. Not only we would already get good amount of wealth, but we will generate so much money, we’d even compete with Sheikh of United Arab Emirates!” boasted N.Tropy, already imagining the cash rolling down their pockets just from owning Hope’s peak academy.

 

“That is a bold claim, my man. Sheikh’s levels of based are on another level.” Rando raised his finger, just to point out that the aforementioned leader was a significant competition.

 

“The thing is, that’s a 50% possibility. There is also another 50% that they will simply not give in to our demands and we would have to deport her to Albania, which costs. Overall, we’d get no dollars, no school and just net negative loss. That’s kinda bothering my mind.” Fritz argued with his mouth full. Despite that, it did make N.Tropy think about it. If the demands aren’t fulfilled, only one truly satisfied would be Master of Time’s own sadism. Not good for long term planning.

 

“Hmmm...I’m pretty sure we’ll find a workaround here.” wondered N.Tropy about the possible way to get such wealth, even if Hope’s peak doesn’t cave in.

 

“What about this: after we deport her, we give location of her to the scrubs, especially that noob, then they will go there, of course they will, they get stuck and be forever trapped in Tirana. All of them. Scrub Zone, more like Shquiptar Zone, if you ask me!” suggested Rando while aggressively eating his kebab. Just from hearing the suggestion, N.Tropy already grinned.

 

“Oh, how cruel! Absolutely marvelous thinking, Rando.” N.Tropy praised his decision to not only send their teacher to Albania, but to send both classes, maybe entire school there. Additional plan for them was to paint them as “people who have very controversial stances regarding regional politics” just so that they would convince the local populace to beat them up on the spot.

 

“Every day, I’m becoming more based.” boasted Rando. Like two lines falling in parallel, Dastardly’s mood soured the moment he spoke.

 

“You have every right to be silent, you know?” sneered Dastardly at him.

 

“No and I refuse to.” countered Rando as he ignored Dastardly, focusing instead on his kebab.

 

“Now, the thing is, what about Hope’s peak itself? We’d get rid of both of classes and Manhattan Bois, but we still have rest of the school to deal with. Other classes, the Headmaster, and so on.” Fritz further argued, feeling like that they still had obstacles to deal with, especially the higher ups. They might be a different story compared to students guided by penguins.

 

“The Headmaster is a little bitch.” Herman abruptly revealed, which made everyone in the room immediately raise their eyebrows. Perhaps their expectations were misplaced.

 

“Elaborate” Coyote lifted a sign with such demand.

 

“You see, he’s like a Pinocchio being held by the strings of Three Little Pigs, except that those three “little pigs” are old, limping boars.” explained Herman as he made gestures with his tentacles, imitating a marionette. The blue skinned scientist immediately caught on what was Herman talking about,

 

“Or in other words, there is some kind of committee leading the school. While the documents Herman brought had minimal references to them, it was enough for us to determine the true leader of that garbage disposal of a school.” N.Tropy further added regarding Herman’s point.

 

“They sure have been oddly complacent about this, considering only two out of many classes truly oppose us.” stated Fritz, which was true. Only Class 77-B and Class 78th bothered to oppose them. Other classes, with exception of Class 69, which had a special relation with Daft Capo, remained dormant for some reason. There were records of those students being deemed victims of “Hermaning”, but unlike Class 77-B and Class 78th, their reports were not taken seriously. It could also be because Herman thought their reactions were funniest.

 

“And it is penguins who lead them, which do not seem to have any ties with the aforementioned committee.” Coyote lifted a sign.

 

“Hence I say, why worry? Enjoy the time we have, the money and the school will be ours!” N.Tropy argued that they should just let things roll by themselves and just reap their rewards. They still were far ahead from The Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“I do, however, understand his concerns. Perhaps we should be more active regarding them.” Coyote lifted a sign, advising that despite their advantageous position, they should not lower their guards.

 

“What are they gonna do? Cry and whine to death? Hahaha, that’s the most likely possibility. It already has happened!” cackled N.Tropy, with him having one very specific person in his mind. The one he had pleasure talking through Chisa’s own phone.

 

“Some will, however others will pursue. We should be cautious with that.” Coyote raised a sign, thinking of other people, such as Ultimate Impostor or Gundham Tanaka. They were classified as threats, after all.

 

“Damn, he’s got a point.” Fritz pointed his index finger at Coyote.

 

“And how would they pursue us, to be exact?” asked N.Tropy in a very smug tone.

 

“That’s the problem: we don’t know. It would be best to monitor them, at least.” Coyote lifted a sign, revealing that potential intelligence gap could lead to their plans getting foiled. With that point, N.Tropy’s grin faded away, as he realized the potential security threat of just meandering around.

 

“...Right. So that’s what you want to say, but we already have such capability.” N.Tropy looked towards Tom, who just finished the entire ham. “Thomas, do what you must!”

 

Tom nodded as his expression changed within a span of a millisecond. No longer was he lax, he was at that moment determined. He even spun on the spot, just so he could get his zoot suit out of thin air. Thomas simply walked out of the room.

 

The destination where he intended to go was the forbidden alley, where pigeons resided. They were intensely bobbing their heads while they listen to the forbidden genre: hardbass. Little is known about the origin of hardbass, for it is dangerous to listen for those with weak minds. Only Tom had the sufficient mind to go through hardbass playing zone. Their current song was Negative Phase by Gopnik McBlyat. Tom just calmly strutted through the dark alleyway, just so that he could see the boss pigeons.

Golubotnik, a pigeon dressed like a “gopnik”, a young slavic man, famous for wearing Adidas tracksuits and squatting, was the very boss of those pigeons. He awaited him at the end of the alleyway, surrounded with female pigeons. Once he arrived, Tom looked at Golubotnik with his determined stare.

 

“Vroo-uhm! So you have come, Thomas. What is it that you need?” greeted Golubotnik, wondering for what reason did Tom require their services. He was the only one that made them co-operate, others would be met with a rather unclean fate. Tom just made a gesture of binoculars, hinting that he might need spies.

 

“So you want us to be shpions on them scrubs? If you want us to do, first a deal must be made.” demanded Golubotnik that he should have a transaction. Tom already knew what was it, but he listened anway. “You must provide us double the hardbass for this. It’s the price we ask.”.

 

Keeping his stoic face, Tom just pulled out three disks, containing hardbass, one by Gopnik McBlyat, other by uamee and another one by Gopnik McBlyat again. Golubotnik was quite surprised by the generous offer. Tom just crossed his arms, letting the pigeon ally take it.

 

“Xaxaxaxaxa! Well now. You certainly know how to exceed expectations. This pleases us greatly. Now, we shall go. By the way, should we attack them? It’s a favor we can do for extra hardbass.” complimented Golubotnik before he gave another offer, but Tom shook his head. For that moment, espionage was just enough.

 

“Vroo-uhm! Very well then. This is hardbass! Hard-hard-hard-hardbass!” Golubotnik let out his war cry before one of the pigeons started to play the song called Gopnik McBlyat – Pumping Frenzy. They did not take off immediately, for they needed to bob their heads at hardbass.

 

But the bass drop was quick. As soon as it happened, the entire flock of pigeons took off. An aerial tidal wave, consisting of avians flooded the sky as Tom observed them with a grin on his face. Pigeons scattered all across the city as they began spying on The Fellowship of Darkness. Despite their initial plans, Daft Capo still chose to be vigilant….

 

...much to the detriment of The Fellowship of Darkness.

Chapter 42: Recovery - Ikoroshia

Chapter Text

Another day has passed. Another day, where the reality was that their teacher was abducted and held as a bargain chip for the ownership of the academy, for a costly price. The sun just rose over the horizon, yet those who were present at Chiaki’s house were already awake. After what happened previously, they couldn’t just let it slide like it was nothing. All of them were waiting for her to wake up, anxious to see in what state was she after the previous day. Luckily, they didn’t have to wait for long, as Chiaki herself did not have a comfortable sleep. She slowly rose from the bed, still having eye bags present, but they were not as severe as before.

 

“Good morning, Chiaki.” Mayuri gently greeted her as she was carefully observing her movements. Already from the get go, it couldn’t be more visibly transparent that Chiaki was still in broken state. However, there was a glimmer of hope. A glimmer that she wouldn’t hide it all in herself. Others hoped similarly, that she would trust them enough to be open with her state.

 

“...Hey.” murmured Chiaki as she briefly made eye contact with Mayuri, only for her to stare at the ground. It seemed like there was still shame that she felt from before. Others could feel it, that she was still conscious about the day before. They just needed an opportunity for her to speak up.

 

“How are you feeling, Chiaki?” Hajime was the one who asked first, as he noticed that she should be open with others too. She already made steps with Mayuri, but at that moment it was her chance to go try with everyone else. For a while, Chiaki didn’t answer, she just blankly stared at the ground. She tried to say something, but she constantly hesitated. Even after her talk with Mayuri, she still wasn’t sure if she was prepared to reveal her true self.

 

Then, she began to talk.

 

“It’s….Terrible. Just...terrible...” Chiaki couldn’t hide it anymore. She confessed it right in front of everyone. Already, anxiety started to kick down, that they would be repulsed by what they saw. That they would leave her on the spot the moment she revealed who she truly was.

 

But that didn’t happen. Instead, what happened was something Chiaki did not expect from anyone expect Mayuri.

 

“Well…you can tell us everything how you feel. We’ll always be here for you.” Hajime wanted her to truly open herself, so that she no longer hides it. Just her being open for once. Her mind had to process the fact that they didn’t balk at her, instead they were fully supportive. Yet, her aversion to make them worry for her still prevented her to speak up. Chiaki looked around, just to see her friends. Just from their faces alone, they seemed prepared to hear what she had on mind, no matter what it was. But a brief glance at Mayuri, who didn’t need to say a word to convince her, gave her slight reassurance. Maybe, just maybe, it wouldn’t hurt to be fully honest.

 

“...Alright...I think...I’m ready to talk about it…” Chiaki took a deep breath and recollected her thoughts, carefully organizing them, so that she could say the right however. However, more she thought about it, more she kept thinking about what Mayuri said to her.

 

How much it hurts to see a friend constantly tear herself apart.

 

How much it hurt them that they had to see constantly put herself down, as if she never mattered at all.

 

All of these thoughts did nothing but to increase her guilt regarding it further and further. Out of instinct, she couldn’t even hold onto Usami anymore, she just hugged herself, trying to protect herself from such thoughts. However, she was powerless against them. All she could do is confess her true feelings.

 

“...I….I’m sorry, guys….I’m really sorry for….everything...I’m sorry...for hurting you all….for being so weak…” Chiaki’s lip started to tremble as she began to confess her true feelings right in front of them. All the guilt she stored for so much time was revealed right in front of them. Her friends were taken a back upon hearing her. For all the fun times, for all the support she gave to them, she thought she was nothing but someone who hurts everyone around her. Mayuri remained quiet, contemplating if it was a right choice that day. Despite feeling like it’s something that Chiaki had to go through, she began feeling guilty over it as well.

 

“H-hurting us? What do you mean?” stammered Ibuki, barely comprehending that someone like her ever even hurt them. If anything, Chiaki was the very last person they imagined hurting them. Chiaki’s grip on herself became tighter, taking more deep breaths because her anxiety just kept increasing. Her heart was beating ever faster, it was the moment that could potentially end up in her losing all of her friends. Yet, she already crossed the line. No longer could she bury her feelings under a facade of “being fine”. Despite her fear, she continued.

 

“...I thought that…if...you guys saw who I really am….it would just make you unhappy….I don’t want my friends….to suffer….I just want them to be happy…” confessed Chiaki as her voice became heavier through out it. It all dawned upon everyone that for their own sake, Chiaki completely pushed herself away. As long as they were happy, it was fine. The moment they realized what she was doing to herself, none of them had clear conscience anymore.

“Chiaki, don’t tell me that you…” Hajime trembled upon realizing what Chiaki was doing to herself through out the entire time she was with them. They just never saw it due to her hiding it all to herself, but as the conflict went on, that facade kept crumbling.

 

“...It was more important that you guys are happy….but as it turns out….it was just hurting you all, wasn’t it?” Chiaki just wanted to know if she was hurting them through out the entire time. What Mayuri said to her refused to leave her mind. Rest of her friends didn’t know how to answer. They did notice signs before, but now that they fully know the sheer extent of it, guilt was there to be had. It did pain them to see how low would she go for sake of others, but they didn’t know whether or not to say it. If they confirmed it, it would just make everything worse. To lie right into her face was also reprehensible, it would just make her more scared.

 

However, the surrounding silence told her everything she needed to know.

 

“…..I’m sorry….I’m really sorry….I’m really scared.….scared of losing people….” Chiaki hid her face behind her knees as she began apologizing for all the things she felt were her wrongdoings. Others could tell she wanted to tear up, but she was too exhausted to do so. All she could do was quietly let out her guilt.

 

“W-why would we-….wait a minute…” Chihiro, just before he said anything about them being always on her side, realized that her fear became true. The one thing she feared the most was happening right at the moment. “...Miss Yukizome…”.

 

Immediately, her friend group realized that one of the worst scenarios for her was playing right in front of her eyes. Just when she had someone who could be a mother figure, she was torn away from her. Chiaki was still hiding her face behind her knees, remaining silent for some time. Then, she decided to attempt at opening up.

 

 

“...Miss Yukizome is the reason why was I able to connect with you all….I used to believe that it was impossible for me to get friends….games and Usami were only things I’ve got. But she….she showed me there’s people who will be there with you….” revealed Chiaki as she slightly lifted her head, staring blankly at the floor. Such revelation was something they would have on their minds for a long time. Just the sheer fact that she held herself so low, that she thought she was completely unable to make any friendships at all, was like a punch to their hearts. Their entire perception of their friend completely changed. “...But now she’s gone…”.

 

It was all true too. Without Chisa, it would have been impossible for her to meet everyone there. Just when her life was about to shape for the better, the fate decided otherwise: to tear it away from her.

 

“….I just want her back…..that’s all I ask for….please….just bring her back…” Chiaki begged everyone, almost sounding like she was on the verge of tears. Despite that, she couldn’t cry. All the energy she had was gone. Everyone around her needed time to fully think about it. The urgency to rescue Chisa became greater, not only because they all genuinely wanted her back, but because that would bring their friend back. Back from the abyss she has fallen in.

 

They all resonated with her, felt the similar sadness as she felt. Mayuri even sat on the bed and gave her a hug, not saying a single word. Chiaki embraced her back, but her look was still locked on the floor. She still couldn’t look at them without feeling guilt. Mayuri could feel all the sorrow brewing inside her friend. At the very least, despite everything, they were still here.

 

“But we’ll get her back, Chiaki. It’s gonna happen, no matter what.” Mayuri promised her, just like they all did the day before. They still wanted to provide as much comfort as possible for her. Yet, despite that...

 

“...I want to believe it….I really do….but how? How can we save her? We can’t even go against them head on, let alone…..save her….” questioned Chiaki, quickly grounding them to the reality of their situation. No matter how much they reassured her, the question regarding how to save their beloved teacher was still unanswered. Once again, silence struck them. They all thought about it, but the chances were still low, almost hopeless.

 

The solemn tranquility was shattered with the ringing of a phone. Hajime was startled upon feeling vibrations in his pocket. Others, including Chiaki, looked at him, curious about the origin of the sound.

 

“Wait, who now?” Hajime brought up his phone out of the pocket, only to notice that the one calling him was none other than his Yakuza classmate. It became slightly more clear on the reason behind the call. It was the time for status update. “Huh….”.

 

Hajime accepted the call and leaning the phone on his ear. Others closely followed on what could be said through out the conversation.

 

“Hey, Fuyuhiko?” began Hajime.

 

“Yo, Hajime. Real big news ahead. Should have told you yesterday, but we got...busy….” Fuyuhiko quickly responded as he clarified that due to many events that day prevented him from giving him further information regarding their progress.

 

“Yeah? What’s the status?” asked Hajime, letting him speak first.

 

“So….uh…..my clan is in the game. Shit could go FUBAR real quick if we act recklessly, so watch yourselves.” Fuyuhiko warned about the recent involvement of his own clan in the conflict. He lived up to his word, the situation really called for it. However, Hajime did not receive such news with reassurance. In fact, the effect was the opposite. It caused him to freeze for a moment.

 

“...Oh shit…” murmured Hajime, already having possible consequences of escalating conflict in mind. None of it was even remotely pretty. His friends immediately noticed the fear he was showing through out the conversation.

 

“What happened, Hajime?” Mayuri wanted to ask, but he couldn’t answer her on the spot. He gave an indication with his hand that every question will be answered later.

 

“Yeah, I know. There’s no more opportunities to bullshit around anymore….not that there were in the first place. Don’t worry about my clan, it will act with great amount of reservation. We are aware of the severity of it, that’s for sure.” cautioned Fuyuhiko, although he did reassure that his clan will behave accordingly. There won’t be employments of morally reprehensible methods on their side, at least.

 

“...R-right...you’ve got this covered.” stuttered Hajime, trying to sound like he was getting his composure restored, but fear was still present within. Even with Fuyuhiko’s promise, the future didn’t promise them a safe and clean path.

 

“So...that’s not the only thing. Kuzuryu Clan is not the only one who’s helping us….but this is where shit gets weird.” continued Fuyuhiko in a much less cautious tone than before. He sounded rather unsure what will he say next would be too baffling to believe.

 

“What is it?” asked Hajime, noticing the change of tone in his voice.

 

“….So Gundham brought someone to help us. He’s...uh….dressed like a cultist...and….he calls him “The Ancestor” or some shit…” revealed Fuyuhiko about the involvement of such individual in their conflict. For few moments, Hajime had to comprehend what he just heard. Not only that, the sheer shift of topics caused him to take a moment.

 

“….The hell?!” Hajime blurted out upon hearing it. Under normal circumstances, he would think that Fuyuhiko was hallucinating or at least making up. The issue was that the definition of “normal” got dumped in the trash bin a very long time ago. Anything was believable at that point. Others noticed it too, as they became curious. However, as indicated before, they would have to wait for an answer.

 

“I know, right?! From where did he even get him? What does it mean? I’m not the only one who finds it weird, Ryota told me his thoughts too. He was always suspecting him, but...yeah. Not sure if it’s the best time at the moment. We have to be in together for now...then we’ll deal with it later.” commented Fuyuhiko regarding the aforementioned individual, although any question regarding him would have to wait.

 

“Yeah, we have priorities now. We have to sav-” reaffirmed Hajime about focusing on their main mission.

 

“Careful now!” Fuyuhiko shouted at him, causing Hajime to flinch due to how sudden was his caution.

 

“H-huh? W-what do you mean, Fuyuhiko?” stammered Hajime upon receiving such a warning through his ear.

 

“Ah, sorry. Had to before any….lets say...leaks happen.” clarified Fuyuhiko before he went into detail regarding restrictions with communication. “So, third thing I wanted to say: Careful what you say on the phone. Just talk like as if you are delivering tofu in Akihabara and nothing more.”

 

“What do you-…” Hajime wanted to ask, but it really didn’t take him a long time for him to understand what was his Yakuza onto. Last time they tried to send information regarding their enemy, not only were they intercepted, but the adversary managed to locate them fully. None of that could be affordable. “No wait, I get it, I think. I guess we will just deliver tofu and possibly even make some more tempura.”.

 

However, rest of the group didn’t quite catch on.

 

“Wait, what? Tofu and tempura, how did we come to this?” asked Ibuki as she tilted her head.

 

“I think, huh….but yeah, like that. Speaking of “I think”…..how’s she doing?” piqued Fuyuhiko. Ever since she saw her in complete shambles last time, he couldn’t help but to worry about her. Not seeing her for some days didn’t help either. That, however, gave Hajime an idea that could help his friend. Perhaps it would be good for her to try it out.

 

“Hey, Chiaki...wanna talk to Fuyuhiko for a bit? It’s alright if you refuse, so don’t really worry about it.” Hajime suggested that she should answer him, to tell him about how she’s doing. Chiaki didn’t know how to answer immediately, so she looked around to see how everyone would feel about it. No one was forcing her, but something was telling her that it would be better if she accepted the call.

 

“You don’t really have to….but it wouldn’t hurt either….” Mayuri assured her that it was up to her in entirety, but at the same time, it vindicated Chiaki’s feeling about them feeling like it would have been a better choice if she does it. After few moments of contemplating, she has decided.

 

“...Alright….it should be okay.” Chiaki took a deep breath as she prepared herself for it. For a moment, Hajime smiled. He, along with her other friends, noticed that she was taking genuine steps, even if they were small.

 

“One moment. She’ll be right there.” Hajime gave her the phone. She slowly reached out for it, but once she took a glance at him, she eased a bit. Maybe it was that small smile of his that assured her that it was going to be alright. Chiaki grabbed the phone and put it near her ear. For a while, she didn’t know what to say. She took slow breaths, so that she could focus.

 

“Hello? Chiaki, are you there?” Fuyuhiko asked due to how long she was taking it. He was thankfully being patient with her, considering the state she was in the last time he saw her.

 

“...Hey.” murmured Chiaki, with her tone causing Fuyuhiko to be taken aback from it. Just from her voice alone he could tell how down she was feeling from all of it. He never wanted to see her like that, but such was the situation. Despite that, he still had his composure.

 

“Hey...uh, how’s it going? Just checking, so that everyone knows. People have been really worried about you.” asked Fuyuhiko, so that he could hear it from her own mouth. Upon hearing that people were worried about her, Chiaki’s feeling of guilt increased even more so. At the same time, she had remembered what Chisa said: it is okay. It’s nothing wrong. It’s something what friends do. Yet despite being told, she still had a hard time comprehending. At the very least she could be honest with him.

 

“It’s….Not good. It’s really not good….” Chiaki really wanted to say that she was fine, but it would just be a lie. A spit in the face at what her friends are trying to do. She tried to reveal as little as possible, but still be honest about it.

 

“Goddamn….we all understand, though. You don’t deserve to go through this shit. Not even once. I promise ya that things will be normal once it’s all over. You have my word and I fail….then I failed as a person.” Fuyuhiko reassured her, letting her know that she would never have to deal with such situation again once Chisa Yukizome is saved. Chiaki just remained silent, as her guilt kept building up. She didn’t know what to say, she was just stuck in the powerlessness. Fuyuhiko took a note of such silence, he felt like he said something wrong.

 

“Just letting you know that….when it comes to this...we found more help.” Fuyuhiko hinted at possible help that could bring Chisa Yukizome sooner than they would expect. Even though she was still out of energy, she listened. Perhaps there was a little hope that sparked within her.

 

“...Really?” murmured Chiaki. She had a bit of a hard time believing it. Maybe they had a chance at the moment. The possibility of her rescue was at least greater than before, even if it was just a small step.

 

“Oh, yeah. My clan is in, so we don’t really have to worry much. Things should go faster now.” Fuyuhiko confirmed who their help was to her. She was quite shocked that Fuyuhiko would do that just for rescuing their beloved teacher, but at the same time, it all seemed more hopeful. It was the type of hope that was needed.

 

“O-oh…” stammered Chiaki, still trying to piece together that an entire clan was willing to help them without any sort of ambiguity whatsoever. No longer did they seem like they were underdogs compared to their adversary, they could stand up against them properly. Or so they thought. Fuyuhiko, however, understood her response as the one of fear.

 

“Yeah, I know. It’s gonna be scarier now-” lamented Fuyuhiko about how even smallest of mistakes could lead up to a potential bloodbath. However, he has completely misread Chiaki there.

 

“T-thank you, Fuyuhiko. This is really good, I think.” Chiaki attempted to smile, but her friends could see that she wasn’t truly able to. At the same time, thanks to that information, Chiaki was slowly climbing out of the abyss. It still wasn’t enough, but a step was made.

 

“H-huh? I mean, I did say if shit hits the fan, the clan would be in. And it did happen, so...yeah.” stammered Fuyuhiko upon hearing how she accepted such news with open arms, rather than concern that the Fellowship of Darkness and by extension Hope’s peak academy would end up relying on a criminal syndicate. No other service was reachable, in their defense.

 

“Anything that will help us here is really good. It’s more certain now.” responded Chiaki, letting him know that even if they had to go through such lengths just to save their loved one, at least it will be for a good cause. At least there was a chance to save Miss Yukizome.

 

“A-are you sure about this?” stuttered Hajime, unnerved by the fact that she reacted to such news, that a Yakuza clan, one of the largest in the whole country, will be backing them up, with such a non-critical look. Could be pure desperation on her end that she was absolutely fine with it. At the very least they hoped that she would be aware of potential consequences.

 

“Um...can I ask what is going on here?” asked Chihiro, since he was one of three that still hasn’t received the news in full.

 

“I’ll explain everything later.” Hajime promised him that it will be all cleared up right after the call ends.

 

“We’re doing everything to get over this shit. Sooner it’s over….sooner will it be fine.” assured Fuyuhiko once again that after Miss Yukizome is saved, there wouldn’t be any scenarios where they had to play an extensive role. That the peace will be brought after all of that, or so they hoped. Chiaki couldn’t even be more grateful about clan’s assistance, it all became much lighter for her. No longer was she held down by the lack of a chance.

 

“….You guys are all splendid. I wonder if I can do anything to repay you all. You all deserve...so much good.” Chiaki still tried to smile, promising not only him, but everyone in the Fellowship that she will give something in return. Since they are willing to help so much, it would feel even better if she did something for them too.

 

“N-no, not much you have to do. For now, take your time and recover.” stuttered Fuyuhiko as it could be easily told that he was a bit flustered. However, he did take Chiaki into consideration and suggested her the option that he thought was the best for her. Chiaki became quite startled by his suggestion. Not only she didn’t expect it, but at the same time, she didn’t know what to feel it. A friend of hers said it, so it must be good, right?

 

“B-but-” Chiaki wanted to express her desire to help as soon as possible. All that time, her guilt was stacking up. Even though she was pleased with the news, deep down she felt like she was dragging everyone else down. That because of her, she was making things worse.

 

“I know about our limited time….but we all want you to be well, too. We’re not gonna let our friend be alone and revel in agony. We’ve got your back, just like we have you on our side. We’re all eagerly awaiting your to be back. So...see ya soon. I hope the best for you.” Fuyuhiko reassured her that her own group isn’t the only one who’s on her side. Her class was with her too. One way or another, they will be together. However, their call was coming to an end. They still got a job to do.

 

“….S-see ya soon and…..thank you...Thank you so much, Fuyuhiko.” Chiaki expressed her gratitude to him before the call ended. Once it did, Chiaki returned the phone to Hajime. Quite a lot of contemplation followed from everyone’s side, although each of them was thinking differently. Hajime’s concerns were regarding the conflict, where as Chiaki’s guilt prevented her to judge the situation. Hajime took a deep breath before explaining the rest of the group on what was going on.

 

“Alright...so there’s some stuff to unpack here. Chiaki has learned one important thing already, so I’m telling everyone else here too…” Hajime hesitated about revealing the current status, but he pushed on. “...Kuzuryu clan has joined the fight.”

 

Ibuki and Chihiro immediately felt chills down their spine. The revelation that a while Yakuza was backing them up was not something they could take so lightly. In a way, they had same fears as Hajime regarding that. However, Mayuri was surprised by the news, but didn’t feel as scared as Ibuki and Chihiro. Something was telling her that Kuzuryu clan wasn’t really that scary, although she couldn’t exactly say the reason for it.

 

“K-Kuzuryu’s clan? You mean like….a whole Yakuza is in?” Ibuki trembled, especially since Fuyuhiko did tell her how brutal can gangster warfare be. Even though Kuzuryu’s were on their side, it was still something not to be taken lightly.

 

“Yeah, you’ve heard right. An entire Yakuza, backing us….that’s surreal even to think about it, but here we are.” confirmed Hajime while also reminding himself that none of this is normal. Absolutely nothing ever since that gangster octopus attacked Hope’s peak academy has been even close to normal.

 

“...it’s not gonna escalate, is it?” Chihiro put his hands close to himself as he also began to think about possible fates of his own friends, if any of them decided to play much more dirtily than before.

 

“Fuyuhiko said he wouldn’t but….it’s not a far-fetched idea. I do hope it doesn’t though…” Hajime reminded them that while they can hope as much as they want, they are not safe at all. The possibility that something horrific could happen to any of them was making their hearts beat faster. Neither Chihiro nor Ibuki could hide their fear anymore.

 

“….I don’t think it will. We can trust Fuyuhiko here…” Chiaki, even at such state, still tried to reassure them that it will be okay, that Kuzuryu clan is reliable enough that no lethal incidents would happen under their supervision. Aside from Mayuri, who was just following the conversation, others weren’t so reassured.

 

“Um...I want to say you’re right but….we’re still being backed by a criminal syndicate. One thing goes and….I don’t even want to imagine it.” Hajime reminded her that they are “in the game”, that nothing spares them from their lives being influenced by the criminal activity of others.

 

“S-still, even if Fuyuhiko’s clan won’t go extreme….what stops Daft Capo from escalating? T-that’s a scarier thing.” Ibuki raised a point that not even Chiaki herself could really debunk. Ibuki was absolutely right, just because Kuzuryu acts with restraint, doesn’t mean that their adversary will, if at all. They have already shown that when it comes to their enemies, they barely hold back. More she thought about it, more it seemed like that there was a higher chance that things will never be okay after such point. Due to her state, all the reassurance she tried to give crumbled. Instead, she started to fear too. She hugged herself as she blankly stared at the floor.

 

“...It will be….okay….it really will be….” Chiaki was still trying to reassure others, but at that point, it seemed like she was telling herself that nothing bad would happen to them. It quickly faded away when she couldn’t deny the possibility anymore. Just from her frown it could be told that she realized it. Nothing was needed to be said. Such, another moment of silence followed. One that was unnerving everyone in the room. However, Mayuri did take a note of Chiaki’s behavior again. She felt like it needed to be addressed.

 

“Hey...um….Chiaki? What should we do if, in any case, unlikely lets say, things get worse? Just to be prepared after all, rather than to say it will happen. Just that.” Mayuri asked her regarding a possible worst case scenario realizing and what could they do. Once again, Chiaki began to think about it, but her thoughts regarding it were clouded by anxiety. It was reminding her how low she truly was.

 

“We have to be….vigilant….and remain strong…” murmured Chiaki, that at the very least they could be strong enough to face the situation head on. The same did not apply to her.

 

At all.

 

What are you even talking about? Remain vigilant and strong, even if you are completely unable to be? You’re a joke, Chiaki. A complete and total joke.” Chiaki thought to herself, what she truly felt about it. Everyone else could do it, but she couldn’t. She couldn’t do anything. She was just trapped in her own emotional cage, just remaining at the bottom of the abyss. Those thoughts were potent enough that she couldn’t even put up a facade for them. She just had to accept it.

 

“...Ah, what am I even talking about…can’t even back up it...” admitted Chiaki as she slouched her shoulders, confessing how truly powerless she felt. Her friends immediately picked it up on what exactly was she thinking about herself.

 

“Hey hey hey hey!” Hajime stepped in quite quickly, accidentally startling Chiaki, but he was gentle enough that he didn’t really scare her. Instead, she listened what he had to say. He knew what he had to do, because it’s something he felt a lot back then. “I know exactly what you’re thinking, so let me say it: you are absolutely not weak for this. At all.”.

 

“...But is it not true? While everyone is doing something, I’m just...here…unable to do anything...” lamented Chiaki, still taking potshots at herself for her powerlessness. She felt like she was nothing but a burden for them. It only got bigger as she became more honest about emotions.

 

“Still, it doesn’t make you a weak person. It happens even to the strongest people out there. You’ve been hurt pretty badly, haven’t you?” Hajime reassured her that just because she broke down doesn’t make her any worse. Everyone has their own limits and must realize that no one can simply power through with repressing their emotions. Chiaki remained silent, but instead of hiding it deeply down within herself, she confirmed it with a nod. She did, however, hide any details about how hurt she was.

 

“Yeah...it’s understandable….we all do understand it. We all want Miss Yukizome back….we really do….but not without you. We’ll wait for you to recover….we wanna see our little Nanami be happy too.” Hajime made it clear that without her, they aren’t going anywhere. They all wish the best for her. It was with those words that Chiaki realized how much they do for her. Just like she does for them, so they do it for her. Somehow, her heart felt lighter. She wanted to tear up, but was still unable to. However, those tears weren’t of sadness. Instead, the goodness brought by her friends was reassuring her that no matter what, she will never be alone.

 

“Your happiness is valid too. I know you wanna make your friends happy, but….you should be too.” Ibuki joined in too, confessing that what she wanted the most was to see Chiaki smile again.

 

“We’ll do our best to make you as happy as possible! Even if it seems unlikely, we will bring Miss Yukizome back!” Chihiro promised her with nothing short of determination in his eyes. He couldn’t let his friend remain broken.

 

On other end, Mayuri remained quiet, but she didn’t need to say anything. Her smile was enough for Chiaki to know that not only was it guaranteed that her friends will be always there, but she was glad that Chiaki was able to be honest with them. No longer will she have to hide her feelings from everyone. Chiaki was able to look at them, but she couldn’t help but tear up a bit. Just a single tear or two rolling down her cheek, but the smile she had was one of relief. It seemed like there was a chance for the situation to become better. There was hope. That’s what it matter.

 

Just to comfort her even more so, Hajime gave her a gentle pat on her head. After few strokes, Chiaki leaned into his hand, comforted by his gentle touch. Although sorrow was still present, such comfort managed to soothe her.

 

“It’s alright. Feel free to let it out as much as possible. We’re here for you.” Hajime let her know that no matter what she does, they will be there. The smile that she tried to put on finally happened.

 

“Heh...it’s so much easier with you guys….so much easier to live….” chirped Chiaki, finally reassured that it’s not going to be as bleak as it seemed.

 

“And it’s gonna be so much easier to rescue Miss Yukizome too.” added Mayuri, knowing that Chiaki would be soon ready to face the situation head on. No way she would have done when she was so broken before. All of it was needed to make her move forward.

 

“Yeah...heh….we will do it…even if it seems impossible…” chuckled Chiaki before she wanted to know how could she contribute to the team. Even with all reassurance, she still felt like it wasn’t fair that others had to go through it, where as she was behind. “...But what can I do now?”.

 

“Just relax...and take your time with recovery. I know we’re strained on time, but….that’s the best option so far….trust me, it will be better after this.” Hajime, just like Fuyuhiko before, let her know that it was alright for her to take some time off.

 

“Mhm! Hajime is right. After you went through so much, recovery is the best thing for you...but we will help too!” concurred Mayuri as well. Chiaki wasn’t entirely sure if it was okay, but considering how much they were adamant enough that this was the best thing she could do, she had no other choice but to accept. If that’s what her friends thought was the best for her, she would go through it.

 

“If you guys says so…..” Chiaki went with it before she noticed that Mayuri was still comforting her with a hug. Now that she had her energy back, she noticed how soothing it was.

 

“You can take a nap, if you wanna. That soothes you, doesn’t it?” Ibuki suggested, feeling like it would be a good idea for Chiaki to just have a rest, maybe a little nap would make it easier for her.

 

“….If I have to admit...it does...but….is it okay if…?” Chiaki accepted Ibuki’s suggestion, but at the same time, she wanted to have someone close to her. Usami would usually take that role, but she needed someone’s warmth there. However, a light blush appeared on her cheeks. She would accept it from anyone from her friend group.

 

“Hehe, of course, Chiaki.” approved Mayuri as both of them laid down on the bed, both embracing each other with a hug. Knowing that head pats soothe her, Mayuri gently patted her head. Such comfort was enough for Chiaki to be relaxed enough to finally fall asleep. For once, she could escape into the land of dreams.

 

Once Chiaki fell into the deep sleep, Mayuri smiled before she turned her head towards rest of the friends. Her smile was like a little star, bright and comforting.

 

“Mayushii is very proud of you all. You all did so well today.” Mayuri expressed her gratitude towards everyone for helping Chiaki when she needed it most. In a way, all of them were glad that they were taking Chiaki in the right direction.

 

“It wasn’t really much. All I did was what a friend should do.” Hajime downplayed his contribution a bit, feeling like it was something a sensible person would do.

 

“You guys did a lot, especially for her. After this is all over, you will see a much happier Chiaki.” smiled Mayuri as she hinted that once Chisa is rescued, there will be much more fun times with their friend. There won’t be any hiding anymore, she would be as open as she can be. In a way, it gave them comfort in the times that seem so bleak.

 

In the mean time, Fuyuhiko, Peko and some of the members of his clan were exploring one part of the city. It was a bit outside of the center, since they suspected that Daft Capo would use more covert parts of it, be it alleyways, isolated buildings and so on. The rest of the Fellowship had their own exploration zones, with each group inspecting for every clue possible. However, as they kept inspecting, Fuyuhiko couldn’t stop thinking about her, especially after the call.

 

“….Goddamn….I hope she recovers soon. That was…it was like talking to the broken shell of Nanami.” confessed Fuyuhiko that it was genuinely painful to hear her like that. Through out most of their school life, she was always trying her best to make everything as positive as possible. But at that moment, it was all gone.

 

“She was...much happier before….they have to pay for what have they done to her.” Peko vowed vengeance upon their enemies as she clenched her fist. She only needed Fuyuhiko’s order to strike them down. But as of that moment, no such action was affordable.

 

“Oh, we’ll definitely kick their ass for sure. But have to find those bastards first….” Fuyuhiko reminded her that their adversary is still hiding in the shadows (or is it?). Even though they have inspected their zone of operations, they have yet a trace of Daft Capo. “Speaking of that, have you found any clues?”

 

“I regret to inform that I have found….nothing. Even the most suspicious elements were proven to be innocent.” reported Peko, which wasn’t really surprising. If they can erase themselves from a place where information is eternal, there was no way that they would find them so easily.

 

“As expected, sadly…no way we’d find them so easily, unless Yasuhiro’s bullshit becomes real. Just stumbling into them, can you believe that?” sighed Fuyuhiko as he thought about whether or not was the luck really the only thing they needed.

 

“If I’m honest….considering everything that happened before...maybe? What exactly would make his proposal far-fetched, after everything we went through?” Peko pointed out that they have reached the point where nothing is too insane. A convenient solution among the insanity that has been encompassing their daily lives would be too good to be true, yet at the same time, not impossible.

 

“...You’re right. It’s hard to tell who’s the voice of reason these days.” lamented Fuyuhiko as they continued to search for any clues for that mafia, either it be huge revelations or just small hints. Anything would work.

 

Little did they know that a pigeon was circling above them, watching their every move.

 

In another corner of the city, the group that was supposed to take care of the decided inspection zone consisted of just Mahiru and Hiyoko. The latter didn’t want to bother with anyone else, so she thought it was just enough of a job for two. The redhead seemed to be confident in preparation, since she carried a bag and a camera. Not only just one camera, but two cameras, along with many SD cards for it.

 

“Good thing I’ve got this camera with me. The moment I see those gangsters, I’m gonna take so many shots that even the most stubborn doubters would be convinced of their existence.” Mahiru announced her plan towards her short grump, who wasn’t exactly enthusiastic about it. However, it was not her usual pessimism.

 

“...I dunno if it’s a good idea, Mahiru. You’re not gonna upload them on internet, right?” Hiyoko asked her out of concern, surprisingly enough. Last thing she wanted was those gangsters beating up her actual friend.

 

“Considering what Ryota said, I won’t….it’s just gonna be with us.” Mahiru reassured her that she had no plans of committing an action that would definitely have grave consequences, considering what Impostor and Chiaki went through, although latter’s involvement was unknown to them.

 

“Even then, wouldn’t you be a prioritized target? Other chumps can do whatever, but I’m really not sure if you should risk yourself like that.” Hiyoko raised a point that since she is an Ultimate Photographer, that could mean that they would hunt her down first for “security reasons”, as they would say. With such point, Mahiru’s confidence in her plan decreased as she thought about possibilities of an entire mafia going after her. She gulped, but she kept composure.

 

“….Don’t worry about it, Hiyoko. I’ll be fine. Even if we get in danger, we’ll get out of it unscathed.” Mahiru responded with a plan that they would just evade them, rather than to engage them head on.

 

“Mahiru, are you saying that you’re just gonna run away?” questioned Hiyoko with a raised eyebrow, having a gut feeling that Daft Capo would consider them “cowards” if they just kept running away from them. At that point, Mahiru’s concerns became visible.

 

“….What else is there to do, Hiyoko?” asked Mahiru as she was becoming kind of unnerved at things that Hiyoko was implying to her.

 

“You can’t exactly keep running away while that WE, by all means, are on offense here. I don’t want you to be hurt, but you gotta fight. Hell, I know where to aim, at least.” Hiyoko advised that in a case of worst outcome, she should at least put up a fight. She might at least stall for enough time for reinforcements.

 

“I uh….I don’t think it’s a good idea to do it. We’re outnumbered after all. Even with-” Mahiru argued that even with an entire Yakuza clan backing them up, actual numbers of Daft Capo were still unknown. Little did she realize she almost slipped with her tongue.

 

“Shh! Sorry, but we have to shush about that, Mahiru. Who knows where are those lowly criminals hiding.” Hiyoko hushed her just the right time, just in case that anyone was spying on them.

 

“R-right…” stammered Mahiru as they continued their way, still looking for clues. However, it seemed like Hiyoko’s intuition was correct, as a pigeon was watching them from the roof, observing every single move they made.

 

Meanwhile in Akihabara, the Future Gadget Lab Detective Agency was thoroughly inspecting the electronic heart of the city. The “Detective Agency” part was only temporary, pushed by Rintaro Okabe himself. Kurisu, of course, had reservations regarding such name, as she thought it sounded silly. None than less, they kept looking. Akihabara was quite full that day, so any inspection was further hindered.

 

“Hmm...Christina, what did we say are the clues again?” Rintaro scratched his chin as he looked around the concrete jungle, filled with flats full of advertisement. Kurisu pouted at the usually called nickname. However, instead of engaging in the usual shenanigans, she decided to let it go for a moment. Priorities were had.

 

“You didn’t have to-...I mean, we did say they use predominately European cars. Maybe American cars too? I know that Japanese cars are mostly out of question.” answered Kurisu as she remembered that there was a lot of discussion regarding cars. With exception of Peugeot, any European car brand could fit in criteria of Daft Capo vehicle. However, one point had to be addressed. “But did we say if those European cars are made here or are they actually brought up from Europe?”.

 

“...Good question.” Rintaro raised his eyebrow as he looked at cars parked near the buildings. Amid the usual Japanese ones, like classic Toyotas, Mazdas and such, there were European ones too, such as Renault, Peugeot and such. However, not only did all seemed like they were registered in Japan, they were also pretty inconspicuous. Nothing that would give them a character of a Daft Capo punkster. “Hm….nothing so far sticks out.”.

 

Suddenly, they found Itaru Hashida inspecting a Fiat Multipla, not exactly the most flattering looking car in the world. However, it was the first car that definitely stood out among the bunch.

 

“Daru? What did you find?” asked Rintaro as he and Kurisu stepped closed to the car that won the last place in the beauty contest.

 

“Hmmm…..this Fiat is certainly suspicious.” noted Itaru as the object of interest on that car was the registry plate. It seemed like the car was registered in Italy. Already a potential clue, considering that one of the Elite Bois is an Italian on a next level. However, that was not the conclusive evidence.

 

“It does match what we said about their cars….but can we be so sure?” Kurisu questioned whether or not should they determine that Multipla as a clue. From a closer look a the inside, there wasn’t a trace of anything suspicious. Although, what Itaru had in mind was different.

 

“Funny thing you mention it, Kurisu. Take a look at this one.” Itaru pointed at the Fiat Multipla that was across the road, almost being identical to it. Although, there were two major differences: it was smaller and the car registry plate was from Japan.

 

“This does match! Could it be?” wondered Rintaro if it was truly the case. Could it truly be that they found a clue?

 

“I’m not sure about it. Lets wait to see who the owner is. Act...natural, so to say.” suggested Kurisu that they should be patient while also camouflage themselves in the act of normalcy, just in case the owner of the car would turn out to be a Daft Capo member.

 

“Okey dokey!” approved Itaru as they all hanged around nearby, acting like nothing strange was happening. Rintaro whistled as innocently as he could through out of it. They didn’t really have to wait very much, because as it turned out, the owner of the car just walked out from the nearby electronics shop. He whistled the tune of “Funiculi Funicula”. The owner looked nothing like a Daft Capo punkster, more like a casual elderly man just minding his own business. He also carried two plastic bags, which carried electronics. Those three “Future Gadget Lab Detectives” felt a bit awkward upon finding out that they were suspecting an innocent person. As the elderly man went inside the car, he drove off without a worry. He didn’t even notice those three spying on his car.

 

“….We got the wrong one, it seems.” admitted Rintaro as they all walked away from the car.

 

“And so it continues, I guess.” sighed Kurisu as their investigation of Akihabara continued. However, a pigeon flew over such place. Oddly enough, the pigeon did not notice Future Gadget Lab members, since Daft Capo seemed to lack information on them. Only one they truly knew was Faris.

 

At least, it seemed like it.

 

The investigation zone nearby Hope’s peak academy itself was handled by the very leader of The Fellowship of Darkness, Gundham Tanaka and his close colleague Sonia Nevermind. Usually, penguins would have accompanied them, but they had their own investigation zone. They suspected that due to attacks on Hope’s peak itself, they could perhaps track down possible traces there. Despite being dedicated to the mission, they were distracted for a moment.

 

“Say, Gundham. May I ask who is this The Ancestor? He looks so cool...and such a dreamboat! That voice! Oh my god! So good!” Sonia began asking as her eyes began to sparkle. The aforementioned person seemed like straight out of a novel, especially the kind that Sonia loves reading. The horror ones.

 

“Hmm….the information will be sparse, but The Ancestor is someone who has guided The Overlord to the right path. It is thanks to his wisdom that I, Gundham Tanaka, have become forged through the trial of fire!” elaborated Gundham in his own way, although despite using the usual chuuni language, he sounded oddly serious about it. Just from the fact Gundham held that “The Ancestor” figure in such high regard just made Sonia even more excited.

 

“Woah! That is so hella cool! I assume that his life must be full of adventures. After all, wisdom does come from experience.” cheered Sonia while correctly guessing that whoever this figure might be, their life was certainly not boring. If anything, it was the exact opposite.

 

“I must admit that his life is shrouded in secrecy...but from what I know, he is quite knowledgeable in the period that is The Darkest Era.” Gundham spoke once again, mentioning her a period he himself had great interest in. Through out his life, he has extensively studied it, although he only had publicly available sources to use. Nothing too extensive, as a lot of its details are shrouded in pure mystery.

 

“Darkest Era? What could it be? Could that be a synonym for 14th century? Back then, things were….well….how should I say…” Sonia tilted her head, even more curious than before. The princess did have quite the knowledge for Middle Ages, and she was quite familiar with how the living conditions in the aforementioned century were nothing short of diabolically ghastly. And such were condition even before the plague.

 

“Actually, it’s quite later. You should be thinking of 19th century. It all began when-” Gundham wanted to clarify, but a quick glance at the tree made him stop his tracks. A pigeon clinging on to a branch, watching their every move. However, Gundham could sense it. He observed the bird with caution, almost as if they had a staring contest. The suddenness of it caused Sonia to be become a bit confused.

 

“Huh? What’s wrong, Gundham?” asked Sonia, curious on what did her chuuni wizard friend find.

 

“This pigeon….is suspicious.” Gundham immediately revealed the root of the disturbance. He pointed right at the pigeon. The bird still kept watching them, intrigued by their moves. At that point, no one from the Fellowship has laid suspicion on something so inconspicuous as pigeons.

 

“Pigeon? What could be so ominous about a bird? Aren’t pigeons docile usually?” questioned Sonia, even taking into account that pigeons often carried mail. There was a conspiracy theory regarding how “pigeons aren’t real”, but it was hard to take it seriously. However, espionage potential of pigeons within Daft Capo circles was not left unnoted.

 

“Observe.” Gundham started approaching the pigeon carefully, making sure that his movements were slow. He could sense the menacing aura of the pigeon, as its eyes were locked right on the wizard man. Gundham stepped sideways, like a crab would, just so he would know how would the bird react. As expected, pigeon kept tracking him down. It became quite obvious to him what was going on. After performing his experiment, he made a gesture with his hand that Sonia should come with him, away from the tree. They have decided that the best place to discuss would be somewhere inside, since it would be unlikely for pigeon to storm inside. Not impossible, just unlikely. Since they were so close to Hope’s peak academy, they just entered it as if they had normal classes, not even going really deep in it.

 

“Call everyone on your phone and tell them to return to Hope’s peak academy. We are being watched.” advised Gundham as he told her his observation regarding that pigeon.

 

“H-huh? I’m sorry, but how did you come to that conclusion?” questioned Sonia, not quite understanding the logic behind his observation. By all means, that pigeon could have just been curious about him, since he is the Ultimate Breeder, someone who is supposed to be good with animals.

 

“I can sense aura of many kind within fauna. Such is the power of my seventh sense. However, there’s malice to be had within these avians of dread. They are watching our every move, just waiting for an opportunity to realize their agenda.” reasoned Gundham. Had he been talking to another person, he would be dismissed immediately. Instead, Sonia was intrigued by how he managed to pinpoint the exact feeling of an animal just from a glance.

 

“But...are they connected with Daft Capo? I mean….come to think of it…” Sonia pointed out that while pigeons might have watched them, there was no decisive evidence that would link them to the mafia. By all means, no gadgets were visible on them, not even as simple as a string.

 

“Such fate has not been decided, but we better not risk it. We have to discuss it thoroughly.” suggested Gundham that even if it might sound like rambling often indulged by conspiracy theory nutjobs, it would still be a sensible thing for them to discuss possible security measures. Sonia was convinced with his reasoning.

 

“Understood. I will comply.” nodded Sonia with determination as she pulled out the phone, typing a message to everyone, so that they could discuss the aforementioned security issue in thorough detail.

 

By the time those two have already disappeared from its sight, pigeon wondered about Gundham’s behavior. Unlike with others, he acted with greater caution than others. Then, the pigeon realized it.

 

“What? What what what?” spoke pigeon, although it sounded like a sample from hardbass song called Gopnik McBlyat – Protein, when one person is shocked upon learning that the other one is “armed enough danger, baby”. The pigeon took off from the tree, flapping its wings intensely as it rushed down towards Zona Daft Capo, where his boss Golubotnik and client Tom were waiting for any possible news.

 

As the rest of the Fellowship of Darkness gathered back in Hope’s peak academy, they all went inside the gym, their current and temporary hideout. Thus, they began.

 

“Status report!” Skipper pointed his flipper at them with a demand. Every single member so far has participated in the investigation, with each group having their own zone of inspection. Most of them stated their results.

 

“We found jack shit, that’s the status.” reported Fuyuhiko on his behalf, that even with Kuzuryu clan’s help, they couldn’t find anything.

 

“Our investigation zone did not provide any evidence.” added Kyoko as well. She went with Makoto and Impostor, exploring more of coastal area of the city. Thanks to them finding the older, now retired hideout, Tsurihito Warehouse, she thought that they could find clues there. However, nothing was found. That paper from way before was the only thing they found, and it was bloody useless.

 

“It appears that we have the same conclusion.” said Kowalski, also reporting from their zone of operation.

 

“Nothing in Akihabara so far, sadly.” sighed Kurisu, even though they were for a moment convinced that they found a clue there. However, that Fiat Multipla, as aesthetically unremarkable as it is, was innocent in the long run. Most of the groups had the same answer, that nothing was there to be found.

 

However, one group was an exception from that.

 

“We are being watched, my minions.” suddenly revealed Gundham, causing shock and disarray among the Fellowship. Suddenly, everything seemed much more difficult, now that they’ve been “blessed” with the knowledge of Daft Capo establishing surveillance on them.

 

“W-what?!” blurted out Makoto, sharing a similar reaction as many of them did.

 

“Wait, how?” Kazuichi, although spooked by the news, was wondering how exactly were they being spied upon. Wouldn’t have been the first time, but they weren’t exactly aware of it before.

 

“Drat! They’re onto us!” Skipper shook his flipper like a fist, frustrated at how Daft Capo was always four steps ahead of them. Just when they get closer, the enemy takes a leap forward.

 

“It appears that, although it has yet to be confirmed whether or not Daft Capo is involved, though it very likely is, someone is spying on us through pigeons.” Gundham elaborated on how exactly has been surveillance established on them. A lot of expectations regarding some super secret technology being used or some ominous men watching them were quite challenged by Gundham’s notion.

 

“That is uh….” Aoi wanted to dispute it at how “far-fetched” it sounded, but considering they saw things like a walking talking Italian octopus and a cat in zoot suit with the capability of causing tornadoes out of his hands alone, nothing was off the table anymore. “Wait, is it even ridiculous at this point?”.

 

“I knew it! Pigeons are never up to something good!” Skipper pumped his flipper like a fist, even more frustrated than before. Not only did they had to deal with Daft Capo, but also those pesky pigeons as well. Whenever pigeons come, things won’t remain clean.

 

“The government’s onto us!” panicked Yasuhiro. His reaction caused a lot of baffled eye brow raises and stares within the Fellowship, as they were not exactly sure what kind of leaps of logic did he take to come up to that conclusion.

 

“Don’t even begin with such nonsense.” scoffed Byakuya, who did not hide how much was he wincing just at the idea. At the very least, Yasuhiro believed birds are real. Although avians used for espionage purposes by all means wasn’t exactly too far off from reality.

 

“Did they have any visible devices on them?” asked Kyoko as she assumed that there must be some gadgets on them. It would make sense, at least.

 

“Those avians were in their pristine form. They were not muddied with human inventions. However, there was still presence of malice within them.” answered Gundham that what he gained from observing that pigeon seemed like lack of presence of such gadgets. That was when the confusion kicked in for others. If they had no such devices, how could Gundham reasonably (meaning no usage of chuuni terms) explain on how did he figure it out just from a look?

 

“No surprise, they’re like bird mafia on their own!” Skipper fired away an answer right from the get go. Those baffled stares that were locked on to Yasuhiro now focused on the penguin himself.

 

“D-don’t tell me we have to deal with ANOTHER mafia at the moment!” stuttered Kazuichi, terrified at the prospect that they would have to face two criminal syndicates at once. Some, like Sayaka, were scared too, but others weren’t as much due to the fact what Skipper was hinting at implied that such “mafia” consisted only of pigeons, not some hardened gangsters.

 

“Well, it’s more of a secret network of pigeons. The hippie fella was close, but very far with his guess.” elaborated Skipper as he pointed at Yasuhiro. While pigeons did not (officially) have ties with the government, there was still some kind of shadow network of them. At least, that’s what penguins thought.

 

“….C’mon, that was low.” Yasuhiro did not appreciate being called a hippie.

 

“The truth is, they do not care for anything else than to establish a global dominion over balconies and they will all...for anyone that is easily nauseated, I suggest to leave...you know...poop on everything else. That is the true desire of a pigeon!” ranted Skipper as he could no longer hide his distaste for pigeons. All of it was based upon his personal experience with pigeons, which predate their encounter with Daft Capo itself, but followed the defeat of some octopus called Dave, who really wanted to make the world hate penguins because they overshadowed him in popularity.

 

If there were crickets present at Hope’s peak academy, they would have chirped. Instead, it was nothing but a very awkward silence.

 

“That is….out of all things I’ve seen and heard, the most idiotic, moronic, inane and banal piece of information I have ever heard in my life.” Byakuya verbally demolished the whole idea of a secret plot to establish absolute dominance over balconies, conducted by pigeons.

 

“I agree completely, and I have to deal with my classmates.” scoffed Hiyoko while taking an opportunity to dunk on everyone else there.

 

“It is, however, the truth. We have already uncovered their plot in Manhattan. I assume it is the same here.” argued Kowalski with utter seriousness in his voice, insisting that there was a legitimate plot like that and it must be stopped.

 

“I must ask….how is this relevant?” Gundham steered the direction of the conversation back where it was supposed to be: on the potential of Daft Capo surveillance, not some worldwide balcony domination plot conducted by pigeons.

 

“Oh, uh, right….pardon me….so you’ve said there’s a big chance that these pigeons work for Daft Capo?” Skipper listened to his words and wanted a refresher.

 

“Who else could be? If, as you said, they only eye for balconies, why would they constantly observe us?” Gundham pointed out, taking his encounter with the pigeon into account. However, due to sheer absurdity of Skipper’s conspiracy theory, many of them, mostly more cynical ones, couldn’t believe what they were saying anymore.

 

“At this point, I refuse to believe it. This has become truly moronic.” countered Byakuya as he crossed his arms. Just hearing the word “pigeon” was enough for him to stop listening.

 

“Go outside then, if you need to be convinced. The Overlord saw it with his own eyes, and you should too.” suggested Gundham as he pointed towards the exit. So far, seeing with one’s eyes was the most effective measure to convince them of absurdities happening in their time.

 

“Fine then. I shall go, just to prove how utterly ridiculous this whole stew of nonsense is.” Byakuya accepted the offer, but only to make everyone else here look like a buffoon. He waltzed out of the gym, doing exactly as intended. For a moment, everyone in the gym was silent.

 

“Finally, some peace….” sighed Aoi, taking some time to enjoy the silence.

 

As he was walking through the hallways, he was smirking to himself on how will disprove them. He will bring the proof that their ramblings were baseless. Being right was something that always pleased him.

 

However, the moment he stepped outside, he was the one who was disproven. Every tree in the park that surrounded Hope’s peak academy was occupied with, as one would guess it, pigeons. All of them were staring right at him. Togami couldn’t help but feel a bit unsettled with just how many pigeons were suddenly there.

 

Strange...they weren’t here before…” Byakuya thought to himself as he stepped closer to some tree. It didn’t matter which, since every tree was infested with pigeons. Once he got closer, he looked up and saw that pigeons were really staring at him. Even when he looked to other sides, pigeons were staring at him with their soulless orange eyes.

 

“Vroo uhm!” cooed the pigeon.

 

At that point, Byakuya realized that those “conspiracy nutjobs”, as he deemed them, were completely right. A rather noticeable hit on his pride was had.

 

“…..Are you serious right now? Has the world gone so mad, that even nonsense like that becomes true? I guess...I have to accept this reality….ughh…” Byakuya contemplated before he went back inside, walking as fast as he could. Through out his time, he thought about how absurdities have become the norm. Nothing was mundane anymore. One could make up the most inane story and it would turn out to be completely true.

 

Such was the world.

 

Once he reached the gym, he went inside quickly, no longer having such a vain expression on his face. Instead, he looked a bit concerned. Other members were curious on what caused him to be such way.

 

“So? What did you find?” asked Gundham, crossing his arms and raising an eyebrow.

 

“...There is….an entire flock waiting outside of school.” Byakuya hesitantly revealed that pigeons, a whole load of them, were just waiting outside, as if were predators. At that point, no one could deny it anymore.

 

“Crap! They’re really onto us!” Yasuhiro panicked once again, although he was now more leaning towards Daft Capo being behind it rather than the government.

 

“So...what should we do?” asked Mahiru as she was visibly unnerved, like many of them were. Their moves were being watched. Not exactly a relieving thought to be had.

 

“I suppose we can make ourselves less transparent with it. We could search, but under the guise of pretending that we’re just going through daily lives.” suggested Kurisu, giving the same advice as she did to her own group when they were inspecting that Fiat Multipla.

 

“Hmmm….that is a logical suggestion. I do not have any objections.” Gundham approved the idea, since that was exactly on his mind. More and more, they would have to go undercover, just to even reach basic steps.

 

“We could also work more separately, rather than in groups.” suggested Kyoko as well. She had the idea that some could go alone through out the search, rather than in big groups. Although most of the groups consisted of three at most, some were larger. Kyoko felt like working in larger groups would make the more suspicious to Daft Capo.

 

“Hm, I feel mixed about that one. On one hand, it is a greater cover. On other, it leaves one more exposed. We cannot afford to risk that.” argued Sakura, discussing the possibility of isolated members being more vulnerable to potential attacks by the adversary. The only option they would have in such scenario would be to run away, although that would also depend on how fast one is.

 

“Perhaps a pair or two would be sufficient enough. But nothing like a whole team. Considering that it’s been confirmed that we are being observed, it would certainly help when it comes to obscuring their view.” Kyoko took a compromise that at the very least the groups should be of two at most. Just like they had it at the moment, although nothing larger than that.

 

“Hmmm….that plan is….acceptable.” Gundham approved it as well.

 

“Any objections?” Skipper inquired for opinions of others, but no one really objected. They all thought it was a decent plan for them to be more undercover. “Alright then! Back to work!”.

 

“What about pigeons?” Kazuichi pointed out that they can’t all just waltz outside by using the main entrance, since it’s being monitored by pigeons.

 

“...Right. Everyone find their own exit. That is my order!” commanded Skipper as one by one, each of them went through a different exit. All of them avoided the main entrance, so they had to find a way. Slowly and surely, they were going back to the Operation Metropolitan Hunt, trying to find any possible evidence of those gangsters.

Meanwhile, the pigeon that spotted Gundham arrived to Zona Daft Capo. He dived in right into the alleyway, where Golubotnik’s gang jammed to hardbass. Tom was with them too, leaning on the wall and flipping a coin, just like he felt it. The spy pigeon maneuvered through the alleyway until he landed right in front of Golubotnik and Tom. Immediately, those two higher ups looked at him. With just a look, the pigeon knew he had to spill the beans.

 

“Vroo uhm!” reported the pigeon.

 

“The boi’s got some news for you. Apparently they spotted those scrubs be walking all over the city. However, one might be onto us. He was acting suspicious.” Golubotnik translated the report for Tom, confirming the suspicion that there was action taken against them. Tom closed in a raised an eyebrow, like that one wrestler, curious to know who was the one that got onto them.

 

“Wizard man.” revealed Golubotnik to Tom. As if a lightning struck nearby, Tom immediately sensed the danger posed by Gundham. He nodded as an expression of gratitude before he sprinted towards the hideout like Terminator would. Didn’t take him much time to reach that World War 2-esque bunker like building that was their hideout. Once he managed to reach it, he went inside, immediately seeing Wile E. Coyote, who was just monitoring what was going inside. Coyote was well prepared in the case that they would receive the news, although he was the only one of the Elite Bois that was inside the hideout at that moment.

 

“Status report?” Wile E.Coyote lifted a sign with a demand. With the help of pantomime, Tom requested him to bring up other Elite Bois and a need for a blackboard, so that he could tell them the whole news in his own way. Tom then looked around and wondered where were the rest of them.

 

“They’re watching Formula One in the Zona Kino.” Coyote shared the news with a sign before he lifted another one, just to express the reason why he didn’t go along with them. “NASCAR superior, by the way.”.

 

Tom made an inviting motion with his hand as both of them started running towards the aforementioned theater. Zona Kino was a specialized movie theater, catered to Daft Capo tasted. As expected, each cinema hall had at least three rows of VIP chairs. Even the normal chairs were quite nifty, they were made to be somewhat of a compromise for lower prices. Movies presented there were chosen by Daft Capo itself. Any movie that was deemed “cringe”, such as basically any anime movie not made my Hayao Miyazaki (although Mamoru Oshii was also an exception) was not screened for it. However, the Zona Kino had another purpose as well: the biggest cinema hall was currently reserved for a live recording of an ongoing Formula One race. Every other Elite Boi was there, watching the race intensely. They were all munching on that salted popcorn. They were not the only one present, as the whole cinema hall was filled with punksters. The sounds of Formula One engines echoed through out the hall, thanks to the enhanced audio.

 

“Hamilton is gonna win, for sure!” N.Tropy rooted for his favorite racer as he watched him overtake other racers as well. Due to Lewis Hamilton’s statistical success, N.Tropy “betted” on him to win that season. He also thought that Formula One car that Hamilton drove was, in his words, “the most wicked looking.”.

 

“He always does.” grumbled Dastardly, who was only there to kill time, since he had nothing to do elsewhere. His car was still in maintenance. Just like Coyote, he was part of the NASCAR fanclub, like a true American.

 

“Italy better win this season! FORZA ITALIA!!!!!!” Herman waved small Italian flags as he cheered for any Italian driver in the race. He has, for some forsaken reason, brought a vuvuzela with him, so he could play it when Italy wins, or to spite others when Italy loses.

 

“Man, I miss Schumacher though. He was the best.” lamented Fritz regarding what happened to a legendary racer. Many of Formula One fans shared his sentiment.

 

“I disagree, it’s Dino Beganovic who is the best.” Rando raised his finger, arguing that there was a better racer than Michael himself.

 

“Sure, but Schumacher was the legend.” disagreed Fritz as they all continued to watch the race, oblivious to the fact that they just received important news. Tom and Coyote were in the cinema hall, observing how all of them had their eyes glued on the race.

 

“Ahem, attention!” Coyote lifted a sign, only for him to remember that he and Tom are legally not allowed to talk. “Oh right.”.

 

However, Tom had an idea. He pointed at his foot, while also showing Coyote that he should smack it with his signs that he can pull out of thin air.

 

“Are you sure?” Coyote raised a sign, along with his eyebrow, not exactly quite getting what would smacking Tom’s foot be useful for. In response, Tom gave him a nod. Coyote then looked around and then realized what exactly was Tom getting at. Just in preparation, he brought up earplugs and plugged them in his big eyes. Then, he was ready.

 

“Alright.” Coyote lifted a sign before….

 

SMACK!

 

AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAH!!!!!!!”.

 

The scream was so viscerally powerful, that nearly everyone in the cinema hall fell out of their chair. The whole projector shoot thanks to resonance caused by the scream. All of those on the receiving end had it ringing in the ears for some time, as if an explosive went off. Only Tom and Coyote were standing. Before it all cleared out, Elite Bois and punksters picked themselves up and looked towards the source of such volatile sound. All of them were utterly furious for not only him assaulting their ears, but because he interrupted them during a Formula One race.

 

“PER L'AMORE DEL CAZZO, NON GRILLI DURANTE LA FORMULA UNO!!!!” Herman exploded on him as he made aggressive gestures with his hand. The amount of appreciation he had for it equated to zero.

 

“I think my eardrums received a significant emotional event.” commented Rando, being rather confused than being pissed. He was kind of dizzy as well, due to the sound based assault.

 

“Out of all times to yell, WHY NOW?!” N.Tropy yelled at them in rage, furiously glaring at those two, who were just proudly standing. Not only that, but the scream bugged his systems inside the armor with a giant clock for a moment.

 

“Thank you for your attention.” Coyote smugly lifted a sign before he and Tom stepped in front of Elite Bois, who did occupy the VIP seats. “Now, we’ve got news.”

 

Upon seeing that sign, the guy behind the projector paused the live stream of Formula One race and focused those lights right on Coyote and Tom.

 

“What could be so important that a Formula One race had to be paused for?” scoffed N.Tropy, not pleased that they had to pause something he was actually a fan of for whatever reason.

 

With a snap of his finger, Tom ordered Coyote to bring in the blackboard. So he did, but the first blackboard was too small for requirements that Tom set up. The feline gangster requested a larger one and so Coyote provided it. Upon closer inspection, Tom found out that it was just the right size. It even came with white chalk, just what he needed. Once he snatched it, he began to draw. At lightning pace, he managed to draw caricatures of Hope’s peak students meandering around the city. Some of them were exempt from being drawn, due to the fact pigeons haven’t seen them. Unlike caricatures of students, pigeons were drawn in a shockingly detailed and true-to-life art style, right down to each feather. They were drawn as if they were “badasses”, one could say. All of those pigeons reigned supreme above those “scrubs”, but then came the part that was the whole reason for that pigeon to report. Gundham Tanaka, unlike other students, was drawn in the same art style as pigeons, and staring right into pigeons eyes. Both were drawn in such a way that they stared at each other, like a man and a feathery beast. For the conclusion, Tom added a little comic book esque cloud above Gundham drawing, saying “sus”. Once he finished the drawing, he crossed his arms in pride, all of it was done through lightning pace.

 

“Aha! Knew it they would begin. Desperate bastards!” Fritz snapped his fingers as he correctly assumed that action would be taken. However, there were still questions remaining. Just like The Fellowship of Darkness had to question on how did Gundham find out, Elite Bois would have to question Tom how did he come up with that conclusion.

 

“I’d like to ask how exactly did the wizard man figure out that we’re spying on them because he just looked at the pigeon?” questioned Dastardly, because he thought that “seeing with your own eyes” doesn’t exactly reveal the bigger picture. In that case, how did he guess correctly? Was it truly just

 

In response, Tom drew a linear scale. On one end, a dopey portrait of Chiaki Nanami’s head, beady eyes and sticking out with her tongue, with an X ray vision of her brain, where a tiny peanut resided. He made the peanut so small that it was barely visible. On other end, a renaissance like portrait of himself, with his brain so big that many drawn moons revolved around him. Just like before, he has drawn it all within seconds. On the scale, he put an arrow in the middle, with text above it. It said “Gundham Tanaka.”. Perhaps it was some kind of respect that he had for Gundham, for he also sensed some kind of aura within.

 

However, that just confused the judges. N.Tropy raised an eyebrow upon implications that a Hope’s peak student was anything more than an utter moron. Or worse.

 

“Even with that considered, that still doesn’t make sense! Again, how could he figure it out solely because he looked at a pigeon?!” Dastardly further questioned his reasoning.

 

In response, Tom erased the scale with a sponge as he thought up an idea. Perhaps instead of a single image, a small comic would be sufficient. Of course, he had to draw it from left to right, not right to left, since the audience present was mostly not Japanese. To fit the time constraints, he just focused on Gundham and Sonia. Tom began with a drawing of aforementioned duo, although Sonia was drawn like a caricature. Gundham, however, regained his “badass” art style. The first panel was just them walking around, with the detailed pigeon observing them. Then, the next scene was a close up of them, with Gundham’s eyes looked towards the side. Suddenly, a dramatic panel, with an extreme close up of Gundham’s eye. What followed next were two panels of pigeons, one from a far, other one up close. The pigeon looked quite menacingly as both of them locked their eyes onto each other. Side by side, they stared at each other like two shounen characters. The next panel consisted of Gundham approaching the pigeon, with the latter remaining still. With the gleam of their eye, they could sense the mutual contempt for each other. They knew their destiny will be a hostile one. The comic was concluded with Gundham walking away as the pigeon still looked at it. For further explanation, Tom added a text that said “good with animals” above Gundham.

 

The comic succeeded in two. It both entertained the Elite Bois and it explained on how did Gundham uncover their surveillance attempt.

 

“So it’s a hunch, huh….I guess that makes sense….for how convoluted it is.” Dastardly scratched his chin as he stopped arguing with him. He was just a little convinced, but at the same time, he understood that the Fellowship was more aware than they let it.

 

“Hmmm….well one exception among morons is barely enough of a threat. However...Coyote, you’ve said that you wanna fill Zona with booby traps, right?” N.Tropy scoffed at the idea that anyone from Hope’s peak could be an existential threat for Daft Capo, but at the same time, he couldn’t afford to be lax anymore. Perhaps a deterrent was needed indeed.

 

“Of course.” Coyote proudly lifted a sign, smirking as well.

 

“Then...it is your opportunity now! But make sure that Hope’s peak officials wouldn’t be ones to land….if they ever come. I swear, it’s been some days and I still haven’t gotten response. Do they just simply not care? If that’s so, that would be wheeze inducing.” N.Tropy officially allowed him to do as he intended, but not before pointing out that officially, Hope’s peak academy itself, apart of Fellowship, has yet to act upon the hostage crisis.

 

“I hate to say this, but you’re right. It is really weird...unless….” contemplated Dastardly before a thought appeared in his head. A thought that, despite not exactly considering himself to be a moral man, kind of disturbed him. “Gentlemen, before Coyote goes and does with his shenanigans, I’d like to ask the possibility that the higher up of Hope’s peak academy are using their students to do their work, because that’s kind of messing me up.”.

 

They all thought about it. So far, only of the “higher ranking members of Hope’s peak academy” that has taken serious action was Chisa herself, which at the moment was not a threat at all. Koichi participated as well, but his contributions were not as noticeable to Daft Capo as Chisa’s were.

 

“I think that’d be actually funny. It would show how utterly pathetic the school is.” chuckled N.Tropy at the idea that Hope’s peak itself would use their own Ultimates as disposables. If, in any case, that were true, then the whole idea of Ultimate was a worldwide scale level con job.

 

“Herman, you know more here. What do you think?” asked Fritz as he wasn’t exactly sure. He didn’t quite look into Hope’s peak itself, since he was, lets say, busy.

 

“Hmmm….nah. It’s the Manhattan boys who lead them, not Headmaster or some fucker there. Remember that. I swear, Hope’s peak itself feels like a separate entity at this point…” admitted Herman, while reminding them that the major player were penguins, not exactly the administration of school itself. Which was odd to them. For penguins to raise up arms, not officials themselves.

 

“Sure does, considering it’s that those scrubs are looking for her and not...you know….the officials.” Fritz pointed out that no official has assisted them so far.

 

“It would certainly be nice if they hasten their response and already give in our demand. Although I do not mind more time for lecturing that skank, if you know what I mean.” commented N.Tropy while also smirking at the idea of what he usually does to the hostage herself. Dastardly winced upon the implications, since they’ve all heard it.

 

“...I’d prefer it if we just got money earlier. And the school. At least we’d be competent at running it.” grumbled Dastardly while already thinking about what sort of reforms would Daft Capo bring to the school itself. But for now, all they needed to do was wait. They would have, but N.Tropy has decided not to risk it.

 

“Well know….Coyote, do your job!” N.Tropy gave him an order to fill the city with non-lethal booby traps, in the case that any Hope’s peak student would feel cocky enough to infiltrate Zona Daft Capo.

 

“With pleasure!” Coyote lift a sign, grinning all the way as he and Tom exited the cinema hall, returning back to the hideout. Once they were there, Coyote pulled out a blackboard out of thin air as they began with the aerial view of the city. Both of them maliciously rubbed their hands as they started to brainstorm regarding the possibility of The Fellowship of Darkness striking.

 

Both sides were now on the edge, although one was even more so. Whatever the Fellowship planned next, they would have to be prepared for Daft Capo’s response.

 

 

Chapter 43: Guideline City

Chapter Text

Deep within the night, Chiaki and Mayuri were hugging each other in the bed. Despite doing some activities, most notably taking care of Chiaki through out the day, had one spotted them, they would feel like they spent the entire day in bed. Chiaki did, more or less. The night itself was tranquil, not even a trace of breeze that could disturb the silence. Chiaki was tightly clinging on Mayuri, although Usami was also with her. In a way, despite the situation they were in, there was still some comfort.

 

Such silence ended the moment Mayuri felt the grip on her become even tighter. Then, she heard whimpering, which woke her up. Immediately, upon opening her eyes, she found out that it was Chiaki having a nightmare. Mayuri also spotted Chiaki’s legs twitching, along with her arms sometimes. It didn’t take her much time to figure out on what to do.

 

“It’s gonna be alright, Chiaki. Everything is going to be alright.” Mayuri began comforting her, starting with just gentle strokes on her head. Even in deep sleep, Chiaki managed to hear her words. No longer was she whimpering out of fear. One could say Mayuri’s whispers influenced her own dreams.

 

“There’s nothing to fear. There will be nothing to be afraid of, Chiaki.” Mayuri kept going on, reassuring her that despite everything, the whole situation wouldn’t have a bad ending. More she heard Mayuri’s words, more did Chiaki ease up. Her hands and legs stopped twitching as well, she just slowly succumbed to the comfort.

 

“There you go. See, it’s all alright now.” Mayuri reassured her. Chiaki was still clinging on her, afraid that she would lose even more people. Despite being constantly reassured, the fear was there. It refused to leave her mind, no matter how hard did she try.

 

“I know that it’s really scary...but it will become okay in the end…You know, there’s something to always remember.” Mayuri whispered in her ear, reminding her the very statement that kept Chiaki moving forward. The very thing that she needed to hear, no matter how deep in the abyss was she.

 

If you just do it, things will turn out to be okay.”.

 

Coincidentally or not, those were exact words that Chisa herself uttered in her sleep. Just like Chiaki, she also had a nightmare, perhaps even similar to one that her own student had. However, where as Chiaki was able to be comforted, Chisa had to wake up in the reality she was in: still held inside that prison cell as a bargain chip for the criminal syndicate. Although thankfully she had her clothing remaining for all the time, since not even they would indulge in such atrocities, there were bruises all over her body. Some parts of her skin seemed to be a bit burnt as well. However, despite those conditions, she still refused to cave in. No way would she let those criminals make her succumb to them.

 

“...Damn it...still stuck here in this shit hole…” Chisa groggily rubbed her eyes as she looked at her surroundings. Same as it ever was, dark prison cell with toilet behind it. At the very least there was that courtesy, even though the only reason why it was there was because no one in the mafia was mentally prepared to clean. The chain on her foot made her realize that she was getting numb to it. None than less, she would not fall.

 

“It’s been like three days and I haven’t done anything to get out of it.” contemplated Chisa as her guilt regarding powerlessness. There was no way that she’d just let herself be deported by those gangster. She looked around, hoping to find any possible escape. However, the cell she was in was anything but ordinary. “...Not like I had a chance to. I swear, it’s like they locked me in a vault, rather than in a cell. Are they just THAT paranoid that I’ll get out?”.

 

“If anything, it made it all harder….goddamnit, Chisa! Think! Think how can you escape this-” Chisa knocked on her head, trying to come up with some kind of escape plan. Biggest obstacle, along with that vault like door, was the fact she was chained. The length of the chain was surprisingly generous, even though the only reason for it being like that was because she could reach the toilet. Gangsters they may be, at least they took note of hygiene.

 

Suddenly, she could hear the door opening. Chisa could feel her heart skip a beat, startled by the sound. Her “fight or flight” response activated, since she knew what exactly it meant. There were only few times the door opened, with the major reason being one she feared the most.

 

“Oh god…” shivered Chisa, already dreading for what is to come. She could still feel every hit that was inflicted upon, every time she could feel electricity burning through her body. The teacher never got used to it, since the torturer always shifts the power, for the “surprise” factor. Her arms began to tremble, just anticipating it.

 

Luckily, it wasn’t he who arrived, but just another punkster, the same one who was supposed to feed her with one day old pieces of stale toast.

 

“Oh...phew…” Chisa took a deep sigh of relief, since she knew the only harm she would receive was the impact of the toast on her face. As expected, the punkster did throw the toast right in her face, but unlike before, where she was just repressing her anger against the criminal syndicate, she has decided to pop off a bit. Instead of taking the toast, she grabbed it and threw it right back at him. The piece of bread was thrown like a frisbee, although with more power than what would the punkster do. It was strong enough to move his hat a bit. The punkster was quite startled by the impact of something as generally soft as a piece of bread, although it was hardened due to that toast being stale.

 

“The fuck?!” blurted out punkster as he looked back, looking right into her piercing glare. He suddenly realized that the captured woman was not exactly a submissive one. Just from her look he could tell that she was like a trapped lioness.

 

“Go! Shoo! Piss off already!” Chisa fended him off as if he was an annoying bird. The punkster, without saying a word, decided it would be a smart idea to just leave her alone. Although he was weirded out by such sudden shift of behavior, he decided it wasn’t worth reporting it to the Elite Bois. Some of their previous hostages were rebellious after all, although their fates weren’t lucky ones. The punkster left without further action, leaving Chisa alone in the cell.

 

“Now...where was I….” Chisa put her finger on her chin as she once again took a look at the cell she was in. Unlike before, she just looked at her surroundings. Despite the chance of her escaping being low, she wondered if there was any flaw within the cell that she could exploit it.

 

When she glanced over to her foot, she got an idea. She was chained and the chain itself seemed shockingly long. Usually, it would be short enough for the hostage to be completely stuck to the wall, but it was not the case there. Chisa stood up and walked around her cell, wanting to test how far can the chain reach. First, she decided to test the toilet. Once she sat on the toilet bowl that lacked the lid, she felt that the chain was constraining her. That was the limit of it. The toilet itself was the only reason why the chain was so long. Then, she decided to walk towards the door itself. It turned out that the chain was straining her right in front of the door. So she couldn’t escape from it, however, positioning was an entirely different story. She had free reign there, oddly enough. Thus, she began to think of a plan.

 

“What if…” Chisa scratched her chin as she looked for potential blind spots, so that none of those gangsters could immediately spot her. She decided that it would be the best to sit in a corner, right next to the door. And so she did. She continued formulating her plan.“Hmm….lets try it out. Although I wasted my opportunity here, he sees me like only once a day. So I only really have...four days left, really.”.

 

The moment she realized she’s on limited time, chills were sent down her spine.

 

“...Oh god, it’s just four chances left and....and….” Chisa suddenly started to feel pain around her body, despite nothing being inflicted on her at the moment. She could still vividly feel every time she was electrocuted by him, every time she was also beaten as well. Chisa still refused to give up, but it was still scaring her. So much so that she briefly hugged herself, trying to reassure herself that her situation won’t be a permanent one.

 

“...A-am I willing to risk it? Unlikely that Hope’s peak itself would do it, they’re probably happy that “that hag”, as those bastards call me, is gone. Class 77-B and their friends would definitely try it but….should they go with it? That’s just gonna end up in them being….hurt…” Chisa contemplated on what would be a better choice in terms of her escape. She knew that Hope’s peak academy itself is out of the question, due to hostile relationship she has with higher ups. If she doesn’t save herself, then the only one that would be willing to would be The Fellowship of Darkness. Her own class and her friends. However, with that, they would put themselves in grave danger. Not exactly a situation she ever wished them. All she wanted for them was a happy, comfortable life. But it was too late. They were already deep within “the game”.

 

“...I mean, what options do I have? Either I get out of it, they rescue me while risking themselves….or I never see them again…” Chisa thought to herself, while still being unsure on what to do. The last option was out of the question. It was either her rescuing by herself, surrounded by no one except enemies, or her own class and their friends risks themselves saving her.

 

She has decided that the first option would be better. She can endure it, as long as no one else hurts. However, despite being on limited time, she knew she couldn’t afford to rush.

 

“...I gotta be patient here. When he comes….or that bastard too, I think I might have a chance here.” Chisa remained in that corner, while also moving the chain, so that it was aligned right next to the wall. The chain was a curse, it could accidentally reveal her position very quickly. But when near the wall, it was much less obvious.

 

“Alright then….if I just do it...then it should be okay…” Chisa took a breath, hiding in the darkness of that corner while hoping that whenever the opportunity comes, she would be able to escape. To finally break free from the chains of that syndicate.

 

Meanwhile, her torturer was busy with reading documents of Hope’s peak academy in his office. Each paper was stacked right down to perfection, he wouldn’t have tolerated it otherwise. Every single device, pen and similar were put in the place of order. Nothing was sticking out. However, it was just a normal office. There even was a phone on it, but not the one that belonged to N.Tropy. At that moment, he was inspecting a document that covered the history of Hope’s peak academy itself. There were some intriguing information he found, such as the Reserve Course Department being a shockingly recent development. The reason for it being that Hope’s peak academy’s popularity was in the decline before. With the introduction of Reserve Course, even “talentless” people (a classification done by Hope’s peak academy itself, not applicable elsewhere) could join what was considered to be “the crown jewel of Japan.”. N.Tropy, however, was more curious what was the primary income for the school. Even though families of Reserve Course students did contribute extensively to funding the academy, he had a hunch that it was not such case. It would be financially unreliable to rely on money from mostly working class families. There had to be someone with bigger pockets here.

 

However, his reading was quickly disturbed when that phone rung. He winced upon hearing those vibrations and was ready to lash out. To disturb him while he was at orderly peace was something that was just asking him to go ballistic.

 

“What?! What is it?! Is that mutt still whining about it?” N.Tropy lashed out his frustration, already expecting that Chiaki would be just begging for her to come back in the messages, which he would just put on read. In a way, as if he was looking for it.

 

However, his expectations were thrown away when he saw who exactly was the one who sent a message.

 

It was some individual named Kyosuke Munataka.

 

“...Who?” N.Tropy raised an eyebrow as he replaced his contempt and spite with intrigue. The message was quite simple:

 

Hello? Is everything alright, honey?”

 

Oh, wonderful. This is the second person that loves that skank. She gets too much for what she deserves.” N.Tropy scoffed at the idea that someone could legitimately love someone like her. Out of curiosity, he decided to look at the messages, just to see if there was point of interest.

 

Basically, he had a wincing competition upon seeing of an entire flood of lovey dovey messages, a lot of it that came from Chisa. It was hard to find a message that wasn’t filled with emoticons such as “<3” and similar. Kyosuke’s messages were restrained, although when he felt romantic, lets say he got real corny about it. The blue skinned scientist could feel physical pain from so much wincing.

 

“Gah, it’s nothing but sugary shilling of each other! So bori-” N.Tropy groaned, as he wanted to just call it quits to not deal with those two lovebirds. He thought that ignoring it would be the best option, nothing was useful.

 

That was, until he glanced at a string of letters that he didn’t quite understand on the first glance.

 

Jabberwock.

 

All that wincing stopped as he looked at the word with intrigue. He looked up if it had some meaning, that it wasn’t just a mumbo jumbo that only they would understand. N.Tropy ignored the romantic messages as he inspected for any other mention of such word.

 

Turns out it did.

 

It was an island, in construction led by Hope’s peak academy itself. It dawned on him very quickly.

 

“….Wait a minute…an island?” N.Tropy suddenly became a lot more cautious than before. No longer was he just scoffing at anything they said, he realized that there was something much bigger going on. The messages themselves did not provide what was he looking for, that being the location of the island itself. Instead, he looked for the bag, where his business only laptop was. Once he found it, he put the laptop on the table, opened it and turned it on. Once it all booted, he typed out his password and entered desktop. As expected of a device meant for business, nothing too noticeable was on it. N.Tropy decided it would be best to do what every man and woman has capability to do: look up on internet. He typed the phrase “Jabberwock island” in the search bar and the very first results were linked to Hope’s peak’s own website. Upon clicking on the first link, it linked him to a site calledwww.hpa.gov/projects/jabberwock/. Once it took a bit to load, information regarding Jabberwock island was dumped on him as if a garbage truck unloaded all the trash onto him. So far, it was still under heavy construction, since it was just being built. There were also usual promotion, such as:

 

Jabberwock Island shall serve as a springboard of Hope for the world. It is thanks to us that the future will be bright.”.

 

A bunch of self indulgent flowery text, it was. N.Tropy constantly rolled with his eyes when he read paragraphs of flowery advertisement. Pictures were as equally saccharine, being drawings of an ideal depiction of the island. No actual photograph was on the site. Despite Hope’s peak’s own indulgence, N.Tropy still searched for information that he did have an interest in.

 

Then he found it. The Master of Time found what he was looking for.

 

Jabberwock island is located in Pacific Ocean”.

 

If he had a drink with him, he would have spat it out the moment his eyes laid upon the mention of the ocean.

 

“Pacific?! Are they mad?! Building an island amid…” denounced N.Tropy, understanding the situation as not the one of a highly expensive vanity project, but one of prancing right in front of the entrance of dragon’s cave. He did not have any moral concerns, but possible ramifications of Hope’s peak’s overseas project were in need of discussion, especially when it came to Daft Capo’s long term planning. At first, he felt contempt for Hope’s peak simply because of his own pride, but the moment he learned of Jabberwock, he felt like the whole institution consists of reckless idiots.

 

Despite the current revelation, he did one current problem: Kyosuke could figure out that there’s been a crisis on mainland Japan, specifically in Tokyo, where not only Hope’s peak was, but so were they.

 

“...I think I should respond with something. He might suspect if he leave him on read.” N.Tropy wondered as he typed out a message, just to make it seem like nothing strange has been going on.

 

Yep, it’s all fine! Sorry, I forgot to charge my phone. Was very busy, y’know!”.

 

“...This should be fine enough without sounding so….diabetes inducing…urgh!” winced N.Tropy before he left the phone on the table. Upon learning such news, he knew there was a need for the meeting. It needed to be discussed thoroughly. Thus, he walked out of his office.

 

In the mean time, outside of the hideout, Tom and Wile E.Coyote were wandering around Zona Daft Capo. They had a mission to do, the one that Coyote wanted ever since the start: to set up traps across the Zona. The only rule was they have to be non-lethal. Due to their Rules of Engagement, they were forbidden from killing students. Multiple reasons for it, such as not only would killing an Ultimate cause an outcry, but also because the act of killing is expensive. Just for an assassination, it costs ten thousands, if not hundred thousands of dollars.

 

One of the first traps was also one of the simplest and arguably most cliché: an ACME-provided springboard, that would launch any Hope’s peak student high in the air, but not too high that the fall would make them kick the bucket. Both Tom and Coyote carefully placing them on sidewalk. It wasn’t likely they would use roads, since the risk of being ran over was obvious. The springboards themselves blended in the pavement, so that no one could truly notice them.

 

For the test, they decided to use a cardboard cutout of Teruteru Hanamura. He was drawn like a caricature too. The reason for it was because they thought it would be amusing if he was just launched in the air. The springboard had a sensor that it would only activate if it recognized a Hope’s peak student stepped on it. Tom gently put the cardboard cutout of Teruteru right on the springboard. Instantly, the springboard recognized him.

 

Boing!

 

The cardboard cutout caricature of Teruteru was launched in the air. He didn’t fly too high in the air, just enough that the impact would be of significant injury. As the cardboard reached his peak, he began to fall, meeting the tough surface of concrete. The whole cutout bent over from the impact, indicating what would the one unfortunate enough to step on it go through.

 

The first trap was tested successfully and both nodded in satisfaction.

 

The second trap required a much more involved procedure than just placing it on the ground. They needed some lifting capability, which was provided with Dollar Fisher, that frankenstein’s monster of a moped and a crane. Dollar Fisher was also supported with tow cars that had Coyote’s own designed trap: a SM-90 launcher, almost exactly the same used by SA-2 Guideline (also known as S-75). There were few differences, with most notable being ammo. Unlike the real SA-2, which it carried a telephone pole sized surface to air missile, it carried a significantly smaller unguided rocket that did look like a V-750 missile from an external point of view, but it had a punching glove instead of an actual warhead. There was also no proximity fuse, because of lack of warhead. Another difference was that the launcher itself was remotely guided with a controller, rather than receiving commands from Fan Song fire control radar. Of course, bringing an entire Fan Song in Japan would cause many raised eyebrows. The reason for such trap was also because of Coyote’s contempt against surface to air missile systems. He wanted to use them on Hope’s peak students, so that he could prove that even things he hates are more worthy than them.

 

The Dollar Fisher, with the crane part steered by Coyote himself, carefully placed the launcher right into the alleyway. Such was the plan to have almost every alleyway filled with launchers, except the one where pigeons resided. Not even Daft Capo wanted to provoke pigeons. Once the launcher was placed, they needed to test it as well. Both Tom and Coyote brought some punksters as well, so that they would help them. Punksters would take care of controlling the launcher. The controller itself was a Playstation 2 controller. Left stick was used to steer the launcher and adjust its azimuth, R2 (right shoulder button) was used to fire it. Other buttons were useless.

 

That time, a satirical cardboard cutout of Byakuya Togami was used for testing, reason being that he had the most punchable face of them all. Tom placed the cardboard cut out in the middle of the road, just enough that the punching glove rocket would get enough speed. Punksters adjusted the bearing and azimuth of the launcher and when they got it just right, they prepared themselves. Punkster pressed the R2 button, which caused the miniature V-750 look-a-like punching glove rocket to ignite and fly right into Byakuya cutout’s face. By normal human standards, it was quite fast. By rocket and missile standards, it was comparable to a world war one biplane: incredibly slow, which was good for it. Too much kinetic energy would kill a student upon impact. The moment Byakuya cardboard cutout had a meeting with the punching glove rocket, the whole cardboard bent over. An indication of success! It was launched with just enough power to knock a student out.

 

T om and Coyote both pumped their fists upon success as they both gave each other a high five. Thus, they continued placing launchers in the alleyway.

 

Another trap was done differently. It was sort of an improvised catapult, tasked with throwing anvils. Their intended place were roofs, where they could have the high ground. Only buildings with flat roofs had them. He was doing it all by himself, since only Tom and Coyote were capable of climbing skyscrapers like they were nothing. They could walk on 90 degree vertical surface as if they were nothing. For the test, he decided to use an anvil made out of sponge. The “live” anvil would be made out of styrofoam, but painted as if they were metallic. Their purpose was to be a psychological weapon of suppressive fire.

 

C oyote decided to test it. He put the styrofoam anvil on the catapult. It didn’t matter where was the anvil meant to go, as long as it worked, it was all fine. He placed his grip on the lever and pulled it, anticipated that it would be launched.

 

Suddenly, he exploded. Literally.

 

Nothing else was damaged, he was just covered in black powder. He was still intact and he didn’t mind it too much. He was just a bit annoyed by it.

 

Of course.” Coyote lifted a sign before shook like a hound, removing all the powder from his fur. The amount of times that happened to him were so great that he lost count. He thought about the plan regarding anvil throwing rooftop catapults before he concluded that it was kind of a stupid idea. The main reason was the fact that styrofoam anvils were not exactly heavy enough to do right amount of damage. They were also too light to handle wind, they’d be just blown away. Thus, that trap was scrapped. He scratched his head, thinking about a different idea. Then, he pulled out binoculars as he looked around the city as whole. He was curious if there was anything he could use to his advantage.

 

Coyote decided to move his position, so he performed some sick parkour to reach another skyscraper in the zone, carefully observing the city. As he was watching the Zona from above, he spotted that springboards and launchers were working as intended. Content with his results, he positioned himself on another skyscraper, observing the city with his binoculars.

 

Suddenly, he spotted a black limousine, with someone being in it that looked vaguely familiar. Coyote raised his eyebrow as his eyes were locked on the lengthened car. Out of interest and without further elaboration, Coyote decided to follow it. Leaping like a grasshopper from roof to roof, Coyote chased the limousine without it even knowing about it.

 

He followed it until the limousine stopped. It was located in some remote place of the city, around the coast, where ports resided. However, it was different from one where Tsurihito Warehouse resided. It was active, there was business going on. Containers were being loaded and unloaded on cargo freighters. An odd location for a limousine to be parked. None than less, it did. Coyote decided it would be best for him to hide on a crane, so that no one would spot him. By running on it vertically, he managed to get on top on it and then observe what was going on. Realizing that he would hear jack, he pulled out a directional microphone that had headphone plugged in and pointed at the direction of the limousine.

 

Suddenly, a person stepped outside of the car, a rather sharp dressed one at that. Then Coyote recognized who it was: Jin Kirigiri, the official headmaster of Hope’s peak academy. Daft Capo knew of him, since his name appeared quite frequently on documents that they seized. He seemed to approach some kind of equally sharply dressed men, assuming to be connected with him. Coyote also pulled out pieces of paper and a pen, so that he could write down what he heard. Once Jin reached that group, a discussion was had. A discussion that Coyote could hear perfectly clearly. Among the similarly aged men, one of them stood out: a gray haired elderly man with full facial hair. He was not only the head honcho of the current group, but also a part of Steering Committee, the true leaders of Hope’s peak academy. Thus, the debate began. Coyote tuned in.

 

“Listen, this is an urgent matter for the academy! We cannot let a kidnapping slide just like that!” began Jin, reminding them that a teacher was still being held under hostage by a criminal syndicate. Without her, Class 77-B would be without a teacher. Even if there was a replacement teacher, they wouldn’t have filled the void of Yukizome’s loss. However, difficulties were presented immediately.

 

“What kidnapping? There was no such thing.” one of the Hope’s peak officials denied the existence of the whole crisis. Through out the whole time Daft Capo was attacking Hope’s peak academy, they covered their eyes, plugged their ears and remained silent through out of it.

 

“Here’s the proof, they gave us demands right there!” Jin pulled out a piece of evidence, a letter delivered by Daft Capo itself. The demand of ownership of Hope’s peak academy and 100 billion dollars was right there. Koichi gave him a copy, in case the original was lost.

 

“Who gave us demands? It’s not specified here.” the other official pointed out that there was no one signed there. To them, it was a big “gotcha” moment, however it would be contradictory to the security measures of Daft Capo.

 

“Koichi said to me that the culprit behind this heinous action was a mafia called Daft Capo-” Jin wanted to elaborate further, but it was like if everyone around him became deaf.

 

Bah! Not this nonsense again! They do not exist! Those brats at Class 77-B are just roleplaying that they’re some kind of superheroes, instead of actively contributing to the nation’s future by developing talents.” the elderly man immediately dismissed him, while revealing that thanks to administration’s own lack of action, they enabled Daft Capo to have free reign. To say nothing of inaction regarding missing Reserve Course students, who were supposed to be guards.

 

Coyote started to snicker, but he still had to keep his voice down.

 

“There is a proof about their existence! Here!” Jin condemned them all before he pulled out another piece of evidence: a copy of a photo of their activities in Rotterdam. Even though originally it was penguins who got it first, it was Kyoko who provided him.“This is what my daughter brought. I had doubts myself, but with photographic evidence, it’s undeniable.”.

 

“Seems like your daughter just wanted you to be proud of her Photoshop skills.” scoffed one of the officials. Other officials chuckled, but Jin had enough of their denial. Even though he was still acting professionally, his frustration was rising further and further.

 

“I would advise you not to say such things.” Jin warned the official about such comments.

 

“Does it matter? These look like they’re just ready for the fashion show. Seriously, no gangster has ever dressed like ever since 40’s!” retaliated another official, while having Yakuza on his mind, rather than good old fashioned European gangsters.

 

Besides, is it really that much of a priority to bring back Yukizome to Hope’s peak academy? All she has been was an utter nuisance to whole development of the academy. A detriment, one could say.” sneered the elderly Committee member, which was the breaking point for Jin. He could not hold his frustrations anymore.

 

“Are you-….Miss Yukizome is a legitimate part of the administration of this academy! Regardless what your opinion is, we cannot let a member just disappear! Imagine how much would it damage the reputation of the academy, unable to act upon a single crisis!” Jin lashed out at every single official presented at harbor. If Coyote had popcorn, he would be munching it.

 

So? We can just make it as if it never happened. As if everything was just fine.” dismissed one of the officials, not even listening to what Jin had to say. Coyote couldn’t stop snickering. He picked up a directional microphone, so recording wouldn’t be messed with his laughter. For the back up, he wrote down everything, almost to the letter correctly.

 

“Such behavior is unacceptable! We have to do at least something!” countered Jin that even for the most banal and selfish reason, they could at least try to save Miss Yukizome. Be it either by contacting government officials, since Hope’s peak academy does have strong ties with the Japanese government. It was a question how strong were Daft Capo’s ties to governments, if they had any of them.

 

“I know what we can do. Remember that your position as a headmaster is easily replaceable.” the elderly leader decided that the best course of action would be him threatening Jin’s career, rather than to actually assist in rescuing Chisa. His decision was greatly influenced by the contempt he had for her, along with his own ego. However, the threat was enough to silence Jin completely. No longer was he resisting.

 

“Would be a shame if your daughter learned about it.” one of the officials threatened him further, that they would specifically tell Kyoko about it first, just so she could lose further respect for him. Jin refused to respond, as he looked at the ground. Coyote was quite intrigued by the following events.

 

“Have we come to an agreement? That this whole debacle is nothing short of a non-issue?” one of the officials present there concluded the conversation. Once he saw the whole group departing, Coyote also decided to sod off, as he finished not only recording the conversation, but writing it down. That could be weaponized in the future. Of course, Coyote’s way of leaving the harbor was to commit some sick parkour, leaping across buildings as if it were nothing.

 

On his way to the Zona Daft Capo, jumping from skyscraper to skyscraper like a cartoon ninja. On his way, he glanced to the ground, spotting two suspicious figures on the street. He decided to pop off his binos and looked through them. Turned out it was just Kiyotaka Ishimaru and Leon Kuwata investigating their zone. They were too focused on horizontal view to really spot Coyote leaping through the air. Although, around the corner of Kiyotaka’s eye, he saw something move. He finally looked up diagonally, but he didn’t see anything suspicious. Despite not seeing it, he couldn’t shake off the feeling.

 

“Is it just me, or…” wondered Kiyotaka if he truly saw anything suspicious. There was something, but he couldn’t specify what exactly it was.

 

“Or what?” asked Leon with a raised eyebrow.

 

“Hm...I must be seeing things then…” Kiyotaka second guessed himself, not exactly sure if it was relevant to their case.

 

“C’mon, man! Spit it out!” Leon urged him to speak up his mind.

 

“I just thought there was something suspicious. Looks like it was just nothing.” clarified Kiyotaka while looking around. So far, nothing too off putting.

 

“Can’t blame ya, man. Everything and nothing could be a clue at the same time.” responded Leon, while addressing the situation. Usually, there would be a distinction what is a clue or not. Daft Capo was just a different enemy.

 

“Yeah, you’re right….criminals will always be in the shadows…” Kiyotaka condemned them in general, for defying the law under the coat of darkness.

 

“That’s pretty obvious, but yeah...it’s true…” sighed Leon as both of them continued to explore the zone, looking for any possible clues. Coyote got lucky, as they did not spot him.

 

“Suckers!” Coyote used an opportunity to lift a taunting sign just before he landed on another roof, continuing his rendezvous to Zona Daft Capo.

 

After many leaps and sprinting, Coyote reached Zona Daft Capo, but his sick parkour has not ended there. Instead, he continued it right until he reached that bunker-like hideout. Upon seeing it, he sped up his leaping. He was like a frog, except he was a literal coyote. Once he was just one building away from the bunker, he jumped off from it, landing on both of his legs flawlessly. To him, that was nothing. After striking a pose, he stood up, noticing that the guard, the same one that was tasked with guarding Tsurihito warehouse, was now tasked with security of that hideout.

 

“It’s me.” Coyote lifted a sign, letting him know that his presence has been established. The guard nodded, allowing the Elite Boi to go inside. When he went, he saw many punksters and Muttley inside, but the presence of Elite Bois were lacking. He stepped forth towards Muttley, as he was one who had closest ties to them.

 

“Where are others?” Coyote lifted a sign, gaining Muttley’s attention.

 

“Uhh, room. Rrround table.” Muttley pointed towards the room, where the discussions between Elite Bois were usually had. Not wasting a single moment, Coyote began proudly strutting towards it, knowing that what he just got from his brief espionage mission would be worthy of gold.

 

Meanwhile, other Elite Bois, bar the soon incoming Coyote and N.Tropy, who was still busy with paperwork, waited inside the discussion room. There was silence, only disturbed by Tom tapping fingers on the table. Not exactly the most eventful time in that room.

 

“So...about-” Herman already knew what to bring in order to make the whole room much more lively. A classic debate that they had more times than they should.

 

“Herman, I know what you want to start, so I’m gonna say stop it. We went over this.” Dastardly attempted to steer the conversation in another direction, since he was on the receiving end of that discussion so many times. It didn’t help much.

 

“...about infinite monkeys-” continued Herman, almost as if he was teasing him.

 

“Herman, I’ve already said it! We are not repeating this!” insisted Dastardly, with much more frustration in his voice. His efforts fell on deliberately ignorant ears.

 

“...behind infinite typewriters-” Herman still continued with the topic. At that point, Dastardly decided that the best decision there would be out of force.

 

“Arrghh, enough already! Listen, we have firmly established that monkeys are not capable of writing an entire work of William Shakespeare!” scowled Dastardly as he once again insisted his beliefs on the matter. Herman got exactly what he wanted, he just needed popcorn.

 

“But you’re missing the point again, Dastardly. It’s not about the monkeys, it’s about the infinity itself. By all means, infinity already determines the outcome that there will be a chance that a monkey writes an entire work of Shakespeare.” countered Fritz, reminding him that he is taking the whole situation way too literally.

 

“Once again, how does it work if a monkey doesn’t even have a clue who Shakespeare is, let alone would have enough brainpower to write a full work of it?!” retorted Dastardly.

 

“Ez, you give it the point of reference. Make the monkey read the book. Simple as that.” Rando gave in his two cents in the matter.

 

“How does the monkey even know how to read?! Their brains are not advanced enough to be capable of understanding the alphabet, let alone to write!” Dastardly countered his opinion by pointing out that ordinary animals have not exactly advanced to such letters that they would be capable of writing comprehensive stories.

 

“Dick, do you understand that it’s about infinity here? By all means, infinite options equates to a lot one outcome where a monkey manages to write a Shakespearian work perfectly. It doesn’t matter whether or not a monkey can do it, just that when it comes to infinite options, everything is possible.” responded Fritz, pointing at him while judging him that even to this day, he still doesn’t quite get it.

 

“I’m sorry, I just don’t see a monkey being capable of writing, unless it has big brain or something.” clarified Dastardly. However, the classic discussion about infinite monkey on infinite typewriters writing down an entire work from William Shakespeare came to an end the moment the door opened.

 

“Oh...speaking of big brain….” Dastardly rolled with his eyes the moment Wile E. Coyote asserted his presence in the room.

 

“Excellent news, gentlemen.” Coyote lifted a sign with a smirk on his face, strutting inside before he sat on the chair, officially joining them.

 

“Coyote! What did you bring?” piqued Herman, noting that Coyote was smirking through out the entire time.

 

“Once N.Tropy comes, everything will be clear. You’re gonna love this one.” Coyote lifted a sign while juggling with his eyebrows.

 

“Must be really important, considering how vain you act right now.” grumbled Dastardly, which did not exactly humble Coyote. Instead, the effect was the opposite.

 

“My genius creates gravity.” Coyote lifted a boastful sign as he had an even more smug grin on his face. Tom crossed his arms and nodded as a compliment, impressed with his colleague’s confidence.

 

“Urghh…” groaned Dastardly, not even bothering to argue with him anymore. However, the talk about business was about to start, since N.Tropy stormed in. He was angrily wincing through out the entire time.

 

“Oh, wonderful. He’s in the good mood today.” Dastardly decided to be a little sassy. It was a good thing that N.Tropy was too frustrated to listen to him, he just sat down.

 

“Bloody morons…” grumbled N.Tropy. Other Elite Bois weren’t exactly sure on who he had on mind.

 

“Alright, who’s the moron here?” asked Dastardly, daringly aggressively against his own boss.

 

“Hope’s peak academy itself, as it seems.” answered N.Tropy, surprisingly without any remarks against Dastardly. Aside from Coyote, everyone else raised eyebrows upon his statement.

 

“I know. I know definitely.” Coyote lifted a sign, sparing his excitement to tell them about what he just learned about the aforementioned academy itself.

 

Oh….what did they do now?” asked Dastardly, intrigued about the aspect on what exactly did Hope’s peak do to sour his mood so much. Usually, he would just scoff at it, in the N.Tropy style.

 

“N.Tropy, I also got some news. Who shall tell first?” Coyote lifted a sign, wanting a confirmation whether or not he would start. He didn’t mind the answer anyway.

 

“I will, because I said so.” N.Tropy grumpily announced that he was the one that will start. He was the boss after all.

 

“Alright then. You are the boss of Elite Bois after all.” Coyote lifted a sign, not objecting to his decision. N.Tropy did not waste any time revealing what caused him to reconsider his opinions and options against the institution.

 

“So….Hope’s peak academy had a bright idea to build an island.” N.Tropy revealed the project involving Jabberwock Island to them. Although they weren’t exactly sure why exactly would that be a problem, they had a hunch. At least, some did.

 

“That’s it? What’s so bad about that?” Dastardly raised an eyebrow, not quite sure why it would be so problematic for them to build an island. He got to know pretty quickly.

 

In the Pacific.” scowled N.Tropy, just barely keeping his frustrations in check. Suddenly, everyone in the room understood why it was such a problem. Not only for what issues will it bring them in short term, but also in long term.

 

“BRUH, you cannot be serious!” Rando slapped the table out of sheer bafflement and disgust for their action.

 

“Oh...oh...well now...oh boy…” Dastardly finally got the point of it, already imagining how much the future will depend on that island, for better or mostly for worse.

 

“Why the fuck would they do that?! That’s like the worst thing you can do for this damned country!” ranted Rando without any restraint whatsoever.

 

“You sure that building an island is the worst for it? Even with all options considered?” Herman asked, since he had far more overtly disastrous choices in his mind, such as direct attacks on the mainland of hostile powers.

 

“Yes, because everyone hates Japan.” elaborated Rando, which was not exactly a surprise to anyone but Dastardly.

 

“What?! I mean, isn’t that anime thing-” Dastardly wanted to point out that thanks to a certain medium, Japan has been portrayed mostly positively by foreign (and friendly) countries. The moment he mentioned anime, Herman threw a pen across the room. He already wanted to explore, had it not been for weird looks he received.

 

“...Herman, control yourself please.” advised Dastardly him to not dive deep in such rage relieving indulgence, since it was serious business now.

 

“Sorry, you know how it gets me.” apologized Herman.

 

“Anyway, isn’t Japan popular around the world?” Dastardly repeated his question, since he wasn’t exactly sure what would make others hate modern Japan. Past Japan was quite easily understandable to hate.

 

“Yes, if you only count both Americas and Western Europe, but everyone around it absolutely hates the living shit out of it. South Korea, closest “ally” of it that isn’t US, still has disputes over islands. Dokdo as an example, they would absolutely beat the living shit out of each other for it, had it not been for US. North Korea, do I need to say anything about it? Do I really need to? Then we have Russia, which by all means we’re still at fucking war with it. One wrong step, and Kalibrs are gonna fly here. Then there’s the biggest one: China. The moment Japan would try to build any island, China would absolutely lose its shit completely and utterly. Real talk here, had it not been for US, Japan would be fucked. From front and behind.” Rando went out with a full on rant, letting out all the frustrations he had with the country. Contrary to his usual rants, Dastardly didn’t immediately mark him as a lunatic. Upon realizing, there was truth to it: not a single nation nearby really has a warm relationship with Japan, even if they are on the same side, that one being of the West.

 

“Obvious reasons why.” Coyote raised a sign, reminding them that Japan has brought it on itself. There was a lot of truth in terms of that.

 

“...The fact that you actually make sense really worries me. You’re not like this usually.” commented Dastardly, who couldn’t help but to feel unsettled. One day, he calls for others to completely flatten a country (although not to say the country in his mind was remotely innocent), other day he has a quite critical view on a country he shared half the lineage with. Contrary to his unrelenting love for Bosnia, Rando had particular contempt for Japan.

 

“I study things that those pussy scrubs would never touch. Everything is Balkans when you think about it.” boasted Rando, who assumed that with exception of few, most Hope’s peak students are politically illiterate. He could not resist mentioning his favorite regions.

 

“...Not this agaaaaaAAAIIIN!!!!!” fumed Dastardly as he started to pull his mustache.

 

“No, really. Think about it. It’s always the same shit around the world. Far East? Balkans. Middle East? Balkans. Caucasus? Balkans. I mean, by all means, what is the difference between India versus Pakistan and Greece versus Turkey? Nothing except location. It’s the same shit. It’s no different here. Now the question is what’s what? At least, what are equivalents?” elaborated Rando while also commenting how despite those geopolitical issues being vastly different, the story was always a repeating one. Instead of condemning it, he sort of embraced it.

 

“I think we should rather discuss how could those tensions impact our plans rather than make geopolitical comparisons of two entirely different region.” Frtiz reminded them that such ramifications could be incredibly detrimental to their plans, especially regarding Hope’s peak itself.

 

“Not a bad idea, to be honest. I think we’d be fucked.” Rando had zero hesitation in honesty regarding the possible outcome of foreign powers intervening with their plans. Even if they are a mafia that is capable of deleting itself from a place where information remains eternal, there was no delusion that the moment Daft Capo faces a professional enemy, they would be wiped out.

 

“I do agree. I’m not willing to put up with Chinese officials constantly threatening us with their floating tin cans.” N.Tropy admitted that no matter their powers, the consequences of foreign intervention would always be grave.

 

“So what should with do with the island?” asked Herman, not exactly sure if he had an opinion on it. He did understand that keeping Jabberwock active would increase tensions, but they had to be a reason why Hope’s peak was building it, even if it’s just another income.

 

“Cancel it. Destroy it.” N.Tropy declared his plans regarding the island. He hoped that the whole island would be demolished by the Japanese government, regardless of means. Nuclear option was out of the question though. That would just spiral the whole situation. Not that Japan had them, it was their closest ally that did.

 

“Hold up now. What about potential money the island could provide for us?” Fritz disagreed with his option, letting them know that some benefits could come from it. Mostly monetary, of course.

 

“Are you willing to have a Chinese warship on your backyard?” N.Tropy reminded him that at best, some “fishing boat” would be circling around the island. At worst, Liaoning (Type 001 aircraft carrier), accompanied by a few Type 055 and Type 052(C or D) destroyers would be patrolling dangerously closely to the island, just few steps away from sending their shockingly large J-15 “Flying Shark” (NATO reporting name: Flanker-X2) carrier-based multirole fighters to flatten the whole island.

 

“I’m sure we can ease the tensions with some diplomacy and trickery. I’m also pretty sure that an island could even give us a bigger outcome.” Fritz argued about the possible workaround regarding keeping the island away from the current fiery political climate. An idea he had was that there would be nothing resembling a military structure on the island, maybe even not allowing military personnel to be on it, since that would alarm nearby powers.

 

“What about maintaining it? That’s a pretty net negative cost here, if you ask me?” Herman brought up the financial point of view. No way something as an island would be remotely cheap, even when “cheap” is considered to be just billion dollars.

 

“Not to mention we are lacking in naval vessels. Even with airlift, most what we have are Twin Otters, two of them exactly. We can only dream of doing an airlift comparable to Operation Desert Shield.” Coyote lifted a sign, reminding them that most what Daft Capo has was boats. Not even yachts, those were proven to be of not much use for them, just boats. Maybe some small luxurious boat at beast. Him bringing up a massive airlift operation that United States conducted, that he was a part of it, reminded him to bring up the status of Daft Capo’s aerial component, which consisted of three planes. Dastardly’s own crusty biplane and two DHC-6 Twin Otters. Aircraft were a must need for them, but expenses and maintenance prevented them from having a considerable fleet of civilian aircraft. He then lifted another sign: “Speaking of those, will they arrive on time? I’ve heard they’re still under maintenance.”.

 

“Yes yes, they will arrive on time. Right on the deadline, as intended.” answered N.Tropy.

 

“Oof...that bad...wait...does Hope’s peak itself have boats? We could just inherit them and use them.” Fritz wondered if, once they take over Hope’s peak academy, they would just get all vehicles they already have in the inventory.

 

“That’s even more net negative cost! Maintenance, Fritz!” Herman reminded him that Hope’s peak’s vehicles would just harm their budget.

 

“At the same time, by that point we would be drowning in dosh, so there’s no biggie here.” Fritz countered that worrying about finances when having Hope’s peak under direct control would be counterproductive. Much freedom was had with wealth.

 

“I would prefer if we had more income from the academy itself and not waste it on such politically suicidal projects. We wouldn’t have to worry about international response if we cut off that.” N.Tropy expressed his opinion that they should divest Jabberwock, while also gaining net positive income with just the academy alone. Of course, they also had different plans as well.

 

“But we would also risk losing another source of income. We could get double the money.” Fritz insisted on his point, that the amount of money that Jabberwock could bring would be greater than just with academy alone.

 

“But is it worth risking potential financial loss and a rising power breathing down our neck?” Coyote lifted a sign with a cold reminder. No matter how much he insisted, those were still valid points. There was a chance that Jabberwock would be a financial disaster. Not to mention a bigger threat was overseas.

 

“Hmm...I will think about it...but it is worth giving a try.” Fritz scratched his chin as he began contemplating regarding the choices that had. The discussion about Jabberwock Island was concluded.

 

“Anyway...Coyote, you have said you have something for us, right?” asked N.Tropy, allowing him to speak, or in his case, lift up signs that would spill the beans.

 

“Take a look at this.” Coyote lifted a sign, throwing the transcript he wrote right on the middle of the table. N.Tropy was the first one to snatch it as he took a closer look. Upon reading it, he couldn’t help but to chuckle. Then, he shared it to everyone else. When Tom had his hands on it, he laughed out loud, almost as if he read a funny joke. Coyote didn’t need to see what he himself wrote, so it was passed onto Dastardly, who reacted with shock upon reading it. He did not expect such opinions from Hope’s peak itself. Herman was sort of surprised as well. Fritz, however, reacted with a frown. The transcript was kept on the table, just in case anyone would read it.

 

“Ohoho, now that is quite something indeed. Who would have thought they’re so divided over this?” chuckled N.Tropy, quite pleased with the fact Chisa’s own school had contempt for her. It truly was just her own class and friends who cared for her.

 

“It was expected, but amusing none than less.” Coyote lifted a sign, sporting a smug grin on his face.

 

“Herman, you’re right. They really are a separate entity.” blurted Dastardly, realizing that through out the entirety of the conflict, they haven’t even been officially fighting Hope’s peak academy. It was The Fellowship of Darkness who was their true enemy.

 

“This could be useful for our next strategies. Honestly, I expected them to be like, you know, noob and shit. “We have to save da world, caz we are epic heroes who certainly aren’t overcompensating”, ya know. This, however...interesting direction.” commented Herman, making gestures with his tentacles when he mocked those who fought for the perceived good.

 

“Not a fan of this. They’re gonna bullshit around, I can sense it.” Fritz fired away his thoughts, reminding them that the whole lack of action could mean that they would just deport Chisa. They would revel in classes’ suffering, but there would not only be no momentary gain, but also they would have to take the ownership by themselves. With such reminder, the reception towards the news was less positive.

 

“I agree. As amusing as it is, they should have just admit it that they do not care.” Coyote lifted a sign while suggesting that they should get an official answer from Hope’s peak academy itself.

 

“Wouldn’t it be better for them to just hand over the academy, along with the requested fee? They’d get their skank back, while we hit the jackpot.” questioned N.Tropy. Despite him having fun time every time he visits that cell, the option where they hand over her was much more optimal. Their victory would be assured and they would reap the rewards.

 

“I guess doing things for emotional states is more important to them than, you know, handling a hostage crisis.” Herman suddenly hinted at what was the true purpose of the academy itself. Everyone looked at him with interest, although they were quite baffled by the whole concept.

 

“Emotional states? What are you talking about?” Dastardly demanded an elaboration. Others did want it too, just that Dastardly’s words were enough.

 

“Why do you think the whole school is called Hope’s peak academy?” Herman suggested that the answer lies within the name.

 

“I dunno, cuz….wait a minute….don’t tell me….No...that’s not true, is it?” Dastardly suddenly realized what was the business: it was that perceived “hope” they always promote. Sounding familiar to a certain white haired boy, who had his own interpretation of “hope”, the one where lives and alignments were irrelevant, as long as the end result itself was that “hope”.

 

Rando was wincing so hard, that everyone felt second hand pain from the sheer power of his winces. It was like he bit an unexpected lemon.

 

“Yep, it is. It’s whole purpose is to “bring hope with talent” or as I like to call it “emotionally wanking to themselves”. It’s ridiculous, I know.” commented Herman on the revelation.

 

“At the very least we won’t have to worry about such bullshit. Just gonna be our little cash cow.” said Fritz, with one of the plans being that they would throw the whole “Hope” ideology into the trash bin, since it was utterly irrelevant in providing them with goods.

 

“I’m afraid to say that we have some...minor changes to our plans.” announced N.Tropy as other Elite Bois heeded his words. “Just before the deadline, I’m gonna give them the last chance and there would be only two answer. Yes or no. If they say yes, they will have to give us the ownership and one hundred billion dollars in exchange for that skank. If not, we’re just deporting her prematurely. There is no way they would decide it on time.”.

 

“Not bad. Would give them a little pressure.” Coyote lifted an approving sign regarding his plan.

 

“It’s one of your more reasonable ones, I guess.” Dastardly hesitantly admitted that N.Tropy’s plan was not one out of sheer unreasonable sadism, but rather of frustration that other Elite Bois shared with. It seemed like the very institution that they wanted to capture it was too nuts for their taste. They would throw it all in the trash. Hope’s peak would be entirely different under Daft Capo.

 

“Well now. We shall still wait and enjoy our time. However, we have to force them to make haste. Is that clear?” N.Tropy asked if they want to say anything on the matter. All of them were content with hearing. Some even had it enough. Even for them, they didn’t expect such ridiculousness. “Alright then. Continue with your day.”.

 

Thus, they all stood up and left the discussion room, going on with their day just like they usually would.

 

Meanwhile, as Daft Capo had revelations upon revelations, The Fellowship of Darkness was still stuck in the loop. No matter how many times they explore the city, there was not a single clue regarding their adversary.

 

“Any updates?” asked Skipper as he pointed his flipper at everyone.

 

“Still nothing of interest.” answered Kyoko right away.

 

“No new clues in Akihabara.” added Rintaro. Most responses were the same, they were unable to find anything regarding Daft Capo.

 

“Drat...this isn’t good at all!” fumed Skipperm internally cursing their biggest enemy so far. All that searching and inability to find any clues was starting to impact their morale.

 

“I-I’m starting to feel like we are...you know...losing time…” Mikan was slowly, but surely losing hope regarding finding Miss Yukizome. They were in constant loop, with zero progress.

 

“A day has passed, but we still have four days to go! It’s too early to quit!” Sonia reminded them that it was not the time to give up. Ninety six hours was still a great amount of time not only to find her, but to rescue her as well.

 

“But at the same time, we are still investigating a city with millions of people in it. It would be a miracle if we found them…” argued Peko that even with such reassurances, the task was still monumental. Who knows how many members did Daft Capo have present in Japan. They could blend in within millions with just ease.

 

“Just saying-” Yasuhiro wanted to remind them that they are trying way too hard and that they should just

 

“No! Not with this again!” Kowalski dismissed him on the spot.

 

“Hey, if my prediction DOES become true, whoever finds it owes me a burger!” Yasuhiro decided to express his frustrations with others refusing to listen to him with a demand. Not many of them took him seriously enough to live up to such demand.

 

“Kyoko, how big is a chance that we do find their hideout by...you know...a chance?” asked Makoto, just wanting to know how big of a scope their operation truly was.

 

“It’s not impossible, but it would be almost convenient if it turns that way.” although Kyoko did not bank on the whole “finding by coincidence” idea, it was not unreasonable for her. Sometimes, life goes shockingly conveniently for everyone, even if they are just rare lightning in the bottle moments.

 

“Once again, thirty percent chance.” boasted Yasuhiro once again.

 

“And seventy percent chance of the prediction turning out to be false.” Kowalski squinted at him. Despite everything, they got nothing. Absolutely nothing for the day.

 

“Alright….so we’re still at nothing...you know what this means?” Skipper gave off a rhetorical question with an obvious answer.

 

“Back to work?” Kiyotaka raised his eyebrow.

 

“Spot on, law man. Back to work!” Skipper pointed his flipper at him for correctly guessing before they all returned to their business. They were ready to spend entire nights, just to find her. Even without any progress, they weren’t ready to give up. None of them was willing for Chisa to be just deported away by those gangsters.

 

However, would it be true that they would find the hideout by chance? Is the luck really the decisive factor here? Perhaps it was, because Daft Capo was already prepared for them.

Chapter 44: Change of Tide

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

Only three days were remaining until the official deadline was reached, although thanks to recent changes, the time frame was shortened. The sun rose above the horizon, although the hostage, still stuck in that cell, could barely feel it. She was awake, waiting for her opportunity to strike, hiding in the corner, where she assumed the blind spot was. Even she couldn’t break away immediately, she could at least get an upper hand. Instead of sitting, she was in a position for a prepared sprint. Whoever shall open the door would be the one on the receiving end.

 

Right on time, it did open. Just like she expected, it was that punkster who constantly threw that stale toast right in her face. Upon noticing that the cell seemed devoid of any presence, the punkster held off from throwing food in it, opting to check out what was going on.

 

“Hm?” punkster leaned inside, first looking at the other ends of the cell. He didn’t even notice the chain that was near the wall. Before he could look in the right direction, Chisa leaped right at him.

 

“The fu-?!” blurted punkster before he was constricted around the neck by Chisa’s arm. The grip was strong enough to cause difficulties in breathing. No matter how much he tried to fight back, not only was her grip on hid neck getting stronger, but he also received quick, albeit shockingly powerful punches right into his gut. Despite his attempts at screaming, his stomach would receive a force of a speeding truck, with precision comparable to a sharpshooter. At some points, he was feeling the need to vomit, but he was just lucky enough that Chisa dragged him into a corner, covering his mouth with her entire forearm segment. Even if he tried to bite, she wouldn’t have felt much. Sheer adrenaline prevented her from making her feel any pain. It was he who was at that moment held captive.

 

“Now, I can make this much easier for you. Tell me where are the keys?” Chisa whispered at him, demanding right away that he might avoid a terrible fate. However, punkster responded with silence and attempts to fight back, which forced Chisa to strengthen her grip on him. At that point, he couldn’t even bite anymore, her forearm segment was a bit too hard for it.

 

“I’m giving you just a few chances, but I can remind you what can happen.” Chisa showed him her fist, just to convince him about talking it out.

 

“What?Anotherpunchinthegut?” mumbled punkster with her forearm still having presence in his mouth.

 

“Mmm, nope! I’m gonna aim where it reaaallly hurts.~” smiled Chisa as she telegraphed where she would strike: a man’s biggest weakness. No man, not even her lover, would love to receive such attacks.

 

“Where?Where-waitaminuteNO!NOTTHEKAHONAS!” panicked punkster as he struggled to get out, but to no avail. His irises shrunk when he realized he could potentially say farewell to fertility if she lands a single punch on those.

 

“That’s where it hurts you the most? Oh dear….now if you tell me where are the keys, I’m not gonna aim there. I’ll give you a chance to speak, but if you yell….oh well…” Chisa was shockingly merciful enough to let him speak, loosening her grip with her forearm and she relieved his mouth of freedom. Even though he had a perfect chance to rat her out, he was not willing enough to risk it. Between an option of underhandedness and intact “kahonas”, he preferred later.

 

“E-everything you want is in the boss’ office! It’s on the second floor, somewhere! It doesn’t look too obvious!” punkster concisely informed her that all things she needed was in N.Tropy’s office. He even slipped out the location of it, just to be sure that he’s on relative “good” terms with her. All for the sake of his pair.

 

“Good boy!~ See, it wasn’t that hard.” Chisa praised him, although her contempt for the entire criminal syndicate could be felt behind the sweet sounding voice. Punkster’s entire body hair rose after hearing her thinly veiled threat.

 

“Mother of sweet baby Jesus, you are spooky as shit!” yelped punkster in response. He was starting to feel like Chisa could kill him on the spot. Potential for broken limbs was high.

 

“Now, I can let you go, but if you promise me that you won’t tell aaaanyone, okay?” smiled Chisa at him, although it was the one that was less of a sincere smile and more of a warning, a display of repressed rage she had against them. Even though the punkster had a chance to bolt out, he was afraid of any move she could do. She could have been tricking him and secretly preparing to strike him where it hurts the most. Even if he moved slowly, there was a chance of attack.

 

However, her luck ran out the moment she heard a voice outside. The last voice she wanted to hear at all.

 

Is something happening there?”.

 

Suddenly, all of that bravado disappeared, as she froze in fear upon recognizing that accented voice. Punkster ceased to feel fear, as he used the opportunity to strike her right in her stomach with his elbow. Even if she hasn’t felt much, it was enough to loosen her grip on him. The punkster bolted out as fast as he could, not even seeing who was nearby. Soon afterward, that person stepped in.

 

N.Tropy, holding the giant tuning fork, stepped inside, looking into her fearful eyes with a highly satisfied grin. The weapon of choice was transmitting electricity, with such high voltage that sparks would be flying out of it.

 

“Ohohoho, someone tried to play a rebel here! Let me put your mind at ease on that.” taunted N.Tropy as he was getting closer to her. Chisa began crawling back into the corner, but to no avail. As much as she wanted to stall for time, it was inevitable.

 

Oh god no no no no no no oh god please no no please-” Chisa’s mind was overwhelmed with panic and anxiety as she braced herself for what is to come. No matter how much she tried, not a single day passed where she didn’t have to go through it.

 

Around the same time, the investigation, under the name Operation Metropolitan Hunt, continued. It was still early in the morning, but they started to feel pressure of running out of time. Just as intended, the working groups became smaller, due to established, although unconventional surveillance by the adversaries. One of the investigation zones was handled by Kyoko Kirigiri, who went all by herself. She knew she was being watched, so she acted as naturally as possible. From few glances, she spotted pigeons. They were watching her. None than less, she kept her composure. No fear shall crack her down.

 

After exploring the zone for some time, her eyes laid upon a strange sight: a lonely white hat, shaped similarly like ones that those punksters had. Right away, she stepped forth, just to confirm whether or not the owner was indeed a part of the adversary criminal syndicate.

 

“Hm? Could this be?” wondered Kyoko as she picked up the hat from the bus station. The detective pulled out a photo of Daft Capo’s presence in Rotterdam, comparing their hats with the one she had in her hand. Immediately, she noticed that it didn’t quite match up.

 

“It’s not quite there. There’s slight differences, especially around the rim. However, the color, the pattern, even the sprinkles match. Perhaps it would be in need of further investigation.” noted Kyoko as she decided she would further inspect the hat somewhere out of pigeon’s reach. Thus, she walked away from the bus station.

 

As she continued to go on her way, a girl accidentally bumped into her. The bump didn’t exactly knock Kyoko on the floor, it just startled the girl who was too busy looking at the floor. Just from the way that girl dressed, sailor fuku and denim shorts, it could be told that girl was definitely involved in idol business. Just that that idol group she was a part of consisted of Japanese Cowgirl Idols. Kyoko’s stoic expression remained the same when she looked at that idol right in her eyes.

 

“Oh, sorry! Sorry! Have you seen my-” cowgirl idol bowed down in rapid succession before she noticed that Kyoko had something of interest in her hand.“Oh my! There it is!”.

 

“This is your hat?” asked Kyoko, just to be sure. The fact she was an idol already shot down the possibility of her being involved with Daft Capo.

 

“Yup! I couldn’t find it, but thanks to you, it’s back! Thank you so much, Miss!” cowgirl idol bowed down once again as the detective handed over her hat. However, the lilac haired gal still had that stoic expression on her face.

 

“...No problem.” Kyoko spoke out of courtesy, but the idol could have sensed that she wasn’t exactly in the best of mood. Just when she thought she had a clue, it turned out to be free of any nefarious connections.

 

“Hey, is there something wrong?” asked the idol as she tilted her head.

 

“No, not at all. It’s fine.” Kyoko assured her while also trying to keep her away from getting involved in “the game”. Whatever The Fellowship of Darkness might be up to, they shall not let innocent civilians be drafted in the conflict.

 

“Mmm….not so sure. I wanna chat more, but I have a tour coming in soon. Once again, thank you very much!” the idol desired to be her confident but once she looked at the phone, she seemed to receive a message from a sponsor, urging her to make haste. She sprinted away, leaving Kyoko all by herself. The detective sighed as he search continued.

 

“….Once again, a wrong turn was taken….but we have to prevail. Who knows how close to them we are?” Kyoko thought to herself, not being deterred by the setback. Thus, she insisted on finding any possible clue regarding that syndicate. There wouldn’t have been a second wasted on the search, although her work did not exactly stop at night. She only had naps before, just so that she had enough energy to continue her work uninterrupted.

 

Meanwhile, another corner of the city was inspected by two vastly different individuals. Ultimate Impostor, disguised as Ryota Mitarai, and Mikan Tsumiki were walking down the street, looking for any clue. Ultimate Impostor was similar to Kyoko in that regard, remaining vigilant as well. The same did not apply to Mikan. She was constantly looking at the ground, just staggering along the way. Ultimate Impostor took a notice of her behavior, raising concerns regarding her.

 

“Is everything alright, Mikan?” asked Impostor as they looked at her. Mikan still had her head down, blankly staring at the ground. It took her a while to respond. The whole situation was getting to her not just mentally, but physically as well.

 

“….you know….how much have been looking for…..um….” Mikan slowly began to talk about how she felt through out the entirety of the situation. For her, days were passing fast. So much so, she lost count to how many of them have already passed.

 

“Four days. It’s been four days since we happened.” Impostor reminded her about it.

 

“...F-four days? And it’s still nothing?” Mikan’s lip began to tremble as her anxiety was about to rise. More than half of the time until the deadline has already passed, yet they haven’t even gotten close to solving the crisis.

 

“There’s still enough time. Do not worry about it too much. Just that every hour will matter.” advised Impostor that despite the limited time, it wasn’t too late at all. It was still a solvable crisis after all.

 

“….But we’re still at square one. We haven’t even made a step in the right direction…” murmured Mikan, frustrated by the lack of progress, even though she was just too tired to truly let it out. Her hope was on the thin line, one wrong word and she might have just accepted the fate-

 

“We still have enough chances to do so. Just that we must remain vigilant.” responded Impostor, not letting her lose hope regarding their mission.

 

“...b-but how? It’s….I’m sorry to say this, I’m really sorry but….I’m starting to think that…that.....we’ll never see her again…” quietly stuttered Mikan before her voice cracked. A tear fell down her cheek, just from imagining that Chisa will be truly gone. There wasn’t a teacher that took care of her at all before her. It was at that point that Impostor knew they had to be someone she could lean onto.

 

“Of course we will. We’re not gonna let her just disappear. We do have to trust ourselves. That is the key.” Impostor gently placed their hand onto her shoulder, just to telegraph her that

 

“H-huh?” Mikan was startled by it, although once she got used to it, she noticed how soothing it was. All that anxiety she had stored within herself was slowly calming down.

 

“I used to doubt trust. Betrayal was a common occurrence in my life. Therefore, I did not gave it any chances….but, a friend of mine that I’ve met at this academy….made me reconsider. Perhaps there is worth in it after all. Many factors might decide the outcome, but if we do not trust each other, including ourselves, we will not prevail.” Impostor gave her a piece of their mind, reminiscing how closed off they were from everyone else, had it not been for a certain person. If it wasn’t for her, they would have completely shut themselves off from anyone else, thanks to the betrayal of certain three former students. Their words made Mikan’s heart calmer, as she immediately guessed right regarding who they were talking about.

 

“...I think I know who you have in mind, heh….She made me feel….welcome here. No matter what, she was always there for us…” chuckled Mikan as she finally smiled, already imagining seeing her once again. After a thought of her, she remembered that it’s been a while since they saw her friend. She put her hands together close to her chest upon thinking more about it.“...I hope we see her soon….I’ve been...missing her….”.

 

“She will return, that’s for sure.” Impostor reassured her that their friend will be seen again. Even though they remained vigilant, they understood her feelings. They even thought the same about it, they wanted to see her back too.

 

“..T-that’s good...last time we saw her, she was…” stuttered Mikan before she remembered the last time she heard about her, when she was in a state none of her friends wished her to ever go through. Just when her heart felt ease, those memories burdened her further. A single tear fell down her cheek once the memory was clear enough. “...she didn’t deserve to go through that. She really didn’t….”.

 

Impostor remained silent for a moment.

 

...Justice will prevail.” Impostor suddenly spoke, in a quiet tone, although Mikan could feel the sheer amount of wrath in their voice. Never before has she seen them like that.

 

“H-huh? What do you mean, Ryota?” Mikan trembled on sight of her friend veiled anger directed towards their adversary.

 

“No vile deed will go unpunished. That is all.” Impostor relaxed for a moment, because they noticed that Mikan got startled by such sudden shift.

 

“R-right….you’re right...bad guys shouldn’t just go away with their crimes.” Mikan tried to play along, even though she was still trembling. Even though she knew it wasn’t directed at her, it was still a shock. Ultimate Impostor was always on the quieter, calmer side of the class. She already saw so many weird things, but that was one of that she couldn’t exactly brush off.

 

H-he got really scary now…” Mikan thought to herself as they continued to search for clues. It wasn’t like she was uncomfortable with them, just that all these changes to the usual status quo, such as Hiyoko not even bothering in bullying her, unnerving her even moreso.

 

In another investigation zone, just outside of Akihabara, Future Gadget Lab Detective Agency was at the work again, that time just consisting of Rintaro and Kurisu. Itaru Hashida was busy elsewhere. As with others, they looked for any possible clues.

 

“At this point, we have looked at every nook and cranny of Akihabara. It’s pointless to go back there.” Rintaro pointed out that pretty much every aspect of the electronic heart of Tokyo was already explored.

 

“Yeah, sadly….though I guess it makes sense. It’s full of...you know...otaku merchandise, and no way would they just tolerate it, considering what they did to Faris.” commented Kurisu on the irony that they would have a hideout amid the anime merchandise. One of the Elite Bois would basically be a puddle of raging at that point.

 

“Uncharted territory awaits us, Christina. You might not know what will you step into.” Rintaro advised her in his own “mad scientist” way about the possibility of anything happening outside of their comfort zone.

 

“That’s one thing you will never shake off, will you?” Kurisu squinted at him, but went along, since their mission was more important than semantics regarding Kurisu’s own name. As they were looking around, it all seemed as if it were same as it ever were. Streets, full of traffic, full of people, nothing out of the ordinary.

 

“Hm...still not a single clue so far….I wonder when we will-” Rintaro still wondered just before he was just few steps away from crossing an intersection. Just when they thought that everything was normal….

 

FUCK THIS SHIT!”.

 

“E-eh?” Kurisu nearly jumped from hearing such frustrated shout.

 

“What?” Rintaro also flinched, before both of them find out that from their right, an angry citizen stomped nearby. Something must have happened there for him to just stomp away like an infuriated elephant.

 

“Just fuck it!” the citizen flailed his arms around before he noticed two very confused scientist just watching him. He decided that he would use those two as confidants, even though it would have seen rather strange. “You! You two! Whatever you do, don’t fucking go there! Understood?”.

 

“Um, excuse me?” Rintaro raised his eyebrow.

 

“Listen very well! The moment you step on that street, fuckers try to scam you, on the spot! And that’s not all! You wanna know what they demand? Wanna know? Dollars. Fucking American dollars! Are you for real? We’re in Japan, and they do this shit! I mean, I’m not gonna pay in yen when I go to States, why should I do here! Fucking gangsters, I swear.” ranted the citizen to them about his experiences in that part of the street, before he noticed how odd it is to lay off his feelings on strangers. Both of them listened to what he had to say. “Excuse me, I just need to chill right now.”.

 

The citizen walked away, trying to calm down.

 

However, they haven’t dismissed what he said. At all. In fact, it raised their suspicion.

 

“...Gangsters?” realized Kurisu as both of them looked at the street from where did that citizen come from.

 

What they spotted was something they couldn’t believe.

 

Men and women, dressed win glittering white tuxedos, wearing glittering white fedoras, walking around the place. It matched exactly how their adversaries looked. Had it not been for them, they would have assumed it was just an ordinary corner of Tokyo.

 

It was there. It was finally there.

 

Zona Daft Capo has been found, by chance.

 

Both of them immediately went inside the closest building, pulled out their phones and began typing the approximate location in the notes. Compared to taking pictures, it was a much safer way due to the fact they wouldn’t look as suspicious. Once they wrote down the street, any possible reference, they put their phones back into the pocket, going outside the building while acting as natural as possible. One of the advantages they had was pigeons didn’t suspect them, due to the fact Daft Capo doesn’t have information on them, except on Faris.

 

However, they have decided to let someone know before they would go forward with their plans.

 

After about an hour and a half of walking, they finally reached their first intended destination.

 

Chiaki’s home.

 

Rintaro gently knocked on the door, waiting for someone to open it for them. They could hear someone rushing towards it from the inside.

 

The one who opened door for them was none other than Hajime Hinata. The rest of her friend circle was still inside the house, still providing care for her. Hajime acted sort of as a head honcho for that group.

 

“Oh hey, Rintaro.” greeted Hajime, relaxing a bit after finding out that it was their friends who paid them a visit.

 

“Hey, Hajime. How’s it going?” asked Rintaro regarding their status. It took a while for Hajime to respond, as he was thinking about it. Even though it was taking a toll on him, he still had to take care of his friend.

 

“...Tough, real tough. That’s all I can say, really.” lamented Hajime, giving an indication for them regarding the status inside her home. Both of them understood very well, since they had similar experiences in the past. However, the reason why they came here in the first place was to bring news that would perhaps change the current status quo.

 

“Well….lets say...we got something that’d make things easier.” promised Kurisu as both Future Gadget Lab members went inside, just to be sure no one was spying them. Thankfully, Chiaki’s house was not under surveillance by the adversary. Despite having Hope’s peak’s own documents, none of them displayed location of their homes.

 

“Easier? What do you mea-” Hajime wanted to ask, before he realized the possible conclusion, possibly the only one that could really ease the whole situation. “...Wait a minute...you guys did it?”.

 

“Hmm...she’ll need to hear it. We’ll reveal it all. Where’s she now?” Rintaro wanted to spare the reveal for her, so that the surprise would be much more poignant. It was the first time both Rintaro and Kurisu were inside her house, so they just requested some guide regarding navigation.

 

“Oh, sure. This way.” Hajime lead them to her bedroom without much hesitation. They were her friends after all. After Hajime opened the door, they have finally saw everyone else. Ibuki, Chihiro and Mayuri all gathering around recovering, but still exhausted Chiaki, who was just lethargically sitting in her bad. Both Kurisu and Rintaro were startled upon seeing her like that, it was the first time they have ever seen her so down. It didn’t feel right, not at all. None than less, they stepped forth, prepared to cheer her up, even if just a bit.

 

“Hey, Chiaki.” greeted Rintaro, deciding that he would do it in sincerity. Chiaki groggily looked at them, welcoming their presence, but she was just devoid of any energy. There were steps taken, but they were still far away from the Chiaki that they knew.

 

“….Hey…” mumbled Chiaki as she was barely maintaining eye contact with them. Even though she knew that she can trust her friends about her feelings, she still wasn’t so sure about it. The situation was still weighing down on her. Rintaro and Kurisu were concerned about Chiaki, which made them hope even more that the brought news would cheer her up.

 

Poor girl…” Kurisu thought to herself, already wanting to give Chiaki head pats of comfort and reassuring her that everything will be alright. However, she held herself because she believed what Rintaro had to say would be effective enough.

 

“Hey, we got something that will cheer you up a little.” Rintaro spoke softly to her, although she still remained constrained by sorrow. Despite having her friends on the side, it still didn’t change the fact that Chisa still wasn’t there. Rintaro quickly realized that dragging it further would just make it worse, instead opting for a quick, yet concise reveal.

 

“...I’ll guess we’ll not beat around the bush. We have found their hideout.”.

 

The moment when not only Chiaki, but also everyone else, heard about such news, they all perked up. The trouble of finding their hideout is finally gone. It was almost unbelievable. After being so much behind those adversaries, they couldn’t believe that something was going right for once.

 

“Wait, seriously?” Ibuki tilted her head, shocked that the scientist duo out of all people, even with the likes of Ultimate Detective and Ultimate Impostor, were ones who threw a decisive blow on secrecy of their location.

 

“...R-really?” Chiaki began trembling, but not out of fear. It was the shock of such sudden, yet positive news that gave her energy back. She couldn’t believe it. Doubts were still had, but if it turned out to be true, it would change everything. No longer would she feel completely powerless, there could be something done.

 

“Eyyup. We did indeed.” confirmed Rintaro. They even pulled out their phones, just to show what they wrote down. It was the exact location where they found out about it. No longer she had a reason to doubt.

 

“I thought so…” Hajime assumed from the start, since it seemed like it was the only thing that would truly bring her back. Back to how she was.

 

“To tell you the truth...it was by chance….which means…” confessed Kurisu as she realized that by all means, the person that so many had doubted was ultimately right in the long run. Bafflement was to be had, due to the fact his prophecy actually became real. However, it didn’t matter to Chiaki on how they found it. Bigger importance was had with the fact that they did find it. A relaxed smile appeared on her face as she jumped out of the bed, immediately hugging both Kurisu and Rintaro at the same time as tightly as she could. Both scientists were rather startled by such sudden move.

 

“W-woah woah woah there! Slow down a bit! Just a little bit!” stammered Rintaro, not even once anticipating that she would be “springy” once again. Kurisu was blushing as well, but she relaxed for a bit, finally giving Chiaki head pats that she wanted ever since she saw her. Others were finally relieved that Chiaki still had so much energy in her, especially after seeing her so down for days.

 

“...Thank you….thank you so much…” whimpered Chiaki, giving them an even tighter hug. No words could describe how truly grateful was she that they finally found their hideout. They were just few steps behind from fully executing the mission to save Chisa Yukizome.

 

“It wasn’t really much. Just means that our mission has been accomplished.” Kurisu reassured her friend as she continued to give her pats. Just as they expected, they finally have pulled her out of a dark place. Even if it was just hope, it was a step forward.

 

“See? We always find a way, no matter what.” Mayuri had a huge, beaming smile through out the entirety of it. She could feel her friend’s happiness returning, but in the long term, she’s gonna have a much easier way of living. No longer would she hide.

 

“It’s good to see her back like that. It’s been...a while.” concurred Chihiro as well, finally relaxing not only that they could not only save Miss Yukizome, but also returning Chiaki’s own happiness. Chiaki was still trembling, but she no longer had fear. She was already prepared to face the crisis head on, or so she thought. She loosened her grip on both Rintaro and Kurisu and stepped in front of them. No longer was she stuck in the bed, devoid of any energy.

 

“A-alright then! Then let’s go save her-” stuttered Chiaki as she pumped her fist, already trying to motivate her own friends about the rescue. However, others noticed that not only it was too early for her to go head on, she was still showing signs that needed some time to recover, such as her trembling through out the entire time, despite having a sincere smile on her face. She already began pushing herself, even if it was just news of them finding her hideout.

 

“Uhhh, hold on just there, Chiaki.” Rintaro made a gesture with his hand, indicating her that she should slow down, while also reminding her that even though they have taken a step in the right direction, they still haven’t reached the destination.

 

“Huh? But you two found them, right?” Chiaki tilted her head, just curious on what was stopping them from going in and rescuing Chisa.

 

“Here’s...a thing about it, though…” Kurisu tried to explain it to her, but Chiaki understood it right away. They never said that they found the exact location of her, just of their hideout. There was still an entire territory to be explored.

 

“...oh...I think I get it…we found them, but not her, right?” realized Chiaki, asking just for a confirmation.

 

“...Yeah….” Rintaro and Kurisu confirmed at the same time. Chiaki frowned as her shoulders sagged. All that energy she had before was starting to vanish, almost as if she was about to spiral once again.

 

“But it’s still a step in right direction. Now we’re closer to finding her.” Hajime immediately reminded her that even if they don’t know where Chisa is being held, they can still find out just on time. It was enough to stop Chiaki from spiraling, as she regained her energy back. There was still hope to cling on.

 

“...You’re right. It really is...There’s a chance…” nodded Chiaki as she brightened just a little bit. But it was enough that it did not resemble how she was during those days.

 

“I think I already know what we must do. I already have an idea. It will just need two people, so no one here should push it.” announced Rintaro as he revealed that during their walk to Chiaki’s house, Rintaro was already formulating a plan on how exactly will they conduct the reconnaissance mission.

 

“Two people? What do you have in mind, Rintaro?” Chiaki asked, curious if she could help there. For the first time in quite a while, she could finally think about something video game related, even if it was connected to the rescue mission. Before she said anything, she wanted to hear out on what Rintaro had to say about it.

 

“Hmmm….you know in games, stealth based ones I think, where you have to sneak in an enemy territory to find out location of their secrets?” Rintaro nudged her with hints about the nature of their operation. Instead of a bonafide siege or invasion, he thought it would be optimal to obtain info under cover.

 

“...So like Solid Snake?” Chiaki used her point of reference by thinking about her experience with a certain stealth based action game, known for its cinematic approach in storytelling, engaging gameplay and usage of boxes for infiltration. Due to its enduring popularity even among casual audience, Rintaro was quick to guess what was she talking about. Even Kurisu knew about it, although how she found out remained a secrecy, covered in embarrassment.

 

“Hm, close enough. Except that we don’t destroy the stuff, instead we locate the hostage? Something like that.” Rintaro went along with it, although he reminded her that it was just a reconnaissance mission, rather than a destruction of a high value asset, such as mechanical bipedal dinosaur-like nuclear launcher that utilized a railgun, even though actual railguns do not have the range of ICBMs.

 

“Um...does anyone have experience with espionage here?” Hajime pointed out that it was very unlikely that any of them had espionage experience akin to the famous video game character, or so he thought. The whole nature of just sending two people in already gave off red flags when it came to their security.

 

“….Technically, but not on such level. We’ll need two volunteers for it. Just a reminder, none of the students will be sent there. I assume they’d expect us. We need someone….unpredictable.” responded Rintaro, remembering not only his rescue of Faris, but also way back in the past. Although further details about previous experiences were spared.

 

“Hmmm….unpredictable, but not one of us….could that mean…” Ibuki scratched her chin, thinking about who exactly did he have in mind. Some crazy ideas she had, such as sending Hifumi and Teruteru on such mission. It fit the criteria of unpredictable, since it would be unlikely they would expect such colorful personalities be deployed on a recon mission.

 

“This is what we’ll decide later. Once it’s done, we’ll need everyone when it comes to the rescue, including you.” Rintaro assured that it has yet to be decided who shall be sent, before giving her confirmation that once the time is right, she will play a role in the rescue. Weirdly enough, that managed to let off her guilt. The fact that she could contribute to the rescue made her feel better about it. She could finally pay off for her previous inability to do anything.

 

“...What should I do now?” Chiaki desired to know if she could have anything to do at that moment. Even though she did notice that they do not exactly approve her of pushing too much, she still felt like she had to do something, even if its something small.

 

“For now, it remains the same. Two volunteers will do the job, then everyone is in.” Rintaro suggested that she shouldn’t worry too much about it. No one else but two candidates shall do the job for now.

 

“I think you should relax for now. Don’t worry too much, because we’re gonna do this quick. Even before the final day.” advised Kurisu that she should just take her time to breathe. The news was enough to soothe her, but she still looked around, wondering what should she do. Previous advice did seem to work, so she tried once again.

 

“I agree with her, it’s just a little more.” Mayuri gave her thoughts on the matter. She could still sense that Chiaki was still not prepared for it, even though she was making steps for recovery. Sending her on a mission would just impact her already frail emotional state more. Upon realizing that, for sake of herself, she would have to wait a little.

 

“Alright...but knowing that it’s not gonna be long….it’s gonna be easier….” sighed Chiaki, but it didn’t let her down. She believed in her friends that the choice she made was the right one.

 

“Yep...it will indeed….it will indeed….” agreed Ibuki, although she spoke in such tone that none of them expected it. Unlike how she usually was, she spoke in a much more heavy, emotional tone. Even Ibuki felt the weight of the whole situation, but through out the time she remained strong, for everyone’s sake. She also had a much gentler expression on her face, just happy to see Chiaki back on her feet.

 

“It’s gonna be done quickly, I assure you all. Give it two days at least.” Rintaro estimated the time of the operation. Of course, they couldn’t do it immediately, but it was still more than enough time to execute it, especially with back up they had at that point.

 

“And we’re at the 4th day…..” Hajime revealed how much time did they have. Three days, at least.

 

“It’s just enough. We have a chance.” Chihiro wiped sweat off his forehead, realizing that saving Chisa Yukizome was still possible under those circumstances.

 

“...Phew…” Chiaki took a sigh of relief. Even if they were on time, it was more than enough. More than enough to free her from claws of the enemy.

 

“Alright then. I gotta tell the other guys too about it. Stay strong, friends.” Rintaro concluded their report to them as both he and Kurisu had to inform the rest of the gang as well. They all wished them well, with Chiaki even smiling and waving at them as they went. Thus, Nanami was getting back on her feet once and for all. However, the plan still had to be solidified.

 

After their visit to Chiaki was done, their next stop was Hope’s peak academy. After another hour of walking, they have finally arrived at the institution itself, entering it in peace. They used the entrance from the dining hall rather than the front entrance, just for additional security. Since they have been so much at Hope’s peak academy, they navigated through the halls with ease, reaching the gym in no time. Everyone else was waiting at them, thanks to him already sending a message in advance. But just before they would enter it, Rintaro took a deep breath. It was time for Hououin Kyouma!

 

“Get ready, Christina.” Rintaro warned in advance that he’s gonna be unleashed.

 

“...Don’t tell me you’re gonna go full “Hououin Kyouma” right now, Okabe…” Kurisu squinted at him, preferring for him to go with the approach that he used on Chiaki: gentle and sincere.

 

“It’s perfect for him.” smirked Rintaro, since he sensed the opportunity, a perfect one at that, to make the reveal as theatrical as possible.

 

“….Oh boy, oh boy...you know what you’re doing.” Kurisu rolled with her eyes, but she trusted him well enough that it will all go according to his plan. Mad scientist he was, he opened the door with such force that everyone in the gym could feel his presence. But he didn’t reveal it just yet, because he chose to savor such moment with a pose worthy of a villain. A moment of silence fell, tension rising, before it was disrupted with only one thing...

 

MWWWWAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!”.

 

Everyone present, be it a penguin, a student or someone of different affiliation, had their eyes focused right at him. Some were startled, but such laughter was not a sign of fear. There was no fear to be had anymore.

 

“That triumphant laugh! That could mean only one thing!” Gundham immediately guessed what could cause him to laugh with such pride, such triumph. And what he had on mind was, indeed, correct.

 

“Yes indeed! I, HOUOUIN KYOUMA, along with my faithful assistant CHRISTINA, have uncovered the darkest corners of the enemy! Their filthy secrets are no longer safe from our omnipresent eyes! Yes, yes indeed! We have found……….ZOOOOOOONA DAAAAAAAFT CAPOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Rintaro revealed it all, making it flat out a show comparable to a Greek epic. Loud gasps of some were echoed across the gym. Even those who would make stoics of the Ancient Greece proud were startled by such revelation. The tide has officially changed.

 

“Fuwahahaha! Excellent news, Mad Scientist! Thanks to your efforts, the Fate smiles upon us!” Gundham crossed his arms as he let out a laugh comparable to one that Hououin Kyouma utilized.

 

“Wait, how?” Byakuya raised an eyebrow, desiring to know through what means did two scientists managed to uncover the hideout of their adversary.

 

“Good question here. How did ya find out?” Yasuhiro piqued in, wanting to be validated regarding his prediction.

 

“Well uh….” stammered Kurisu, realizing that if they explained on how exactly have they found it, they would all find it so ridiculously convenient. She also had a bit of tough time accepting that ultimately, Yasuhiro was right all along. However, such hesitation was not present in the mad scientist himself.

 

“The fate has favored the mad scientist by carving the path to the villainy as it desired so!” elaborated Rintaro as dramatically as possible. Only few of them truly understood what he truly meant.

 

“...The FUCK did he say?!” Natsumi blurted out as she was confused through the entirety of the conversation.

 

“I know, right? Alien language is easier to understand.” sneered Hiyoko, using an opportunity to dunk on someone. However, those who understood quickly opened their mouths.

 

“So what you’re saying you two have found it by chance?” asked Gundham, wanting to be unambiguous regarding the meaning of his words.

 

“You can say it like that, Supreme Overlord of Ice.” smirked Rintaro, confirming Yasuhiro Hagakure’s prediction to be, indeed, one hundred percent true.

 

“...Yeah, more or less.” added Kurise, just to add the final nail in the coffin regarding any doubts.

 

“What the-….” Byakuya, just like with some others like Hiyoko and Natsumi, would have done a spit take if he had a drink. Just the fact that Yasuhiro was right all along was boggling his mind. Even Kowalski was shaken by such revelation.

 

“Ha! Told ya all!” boasted Yasuhiro, now guaranteeing that someone will get him a burger. Although he hasn’t spoken about it, Rintaro did took a note of it, to buy him a hamburger, a good one in the future, not the one that’s being sold in McDonalds.

 

“Y-you were just lucky.” Kowalski tried to deny him of victory, but to no avail. He couldn’t comprehend that the man of reason, as he considered himself to be, was proven on the contrary. Perhaps the nature of the world really turned itself on its head.

 

“I dunno, Kowalski. Sometimes, you gotta admit defeat.” Skipper advised him to swallow his pride and accept what just happened. At the very least, why fight something that works in your favor?

 

Natsumi just remained silent, staring with her eyes open wide. Of all things she has experienced, that was one of the most off the wall ones.

 

“At this point, don’t even question it.” Toko advised her with genuine sincerity regarding trying to comprehend what is happening anymore.

 

“And if you don’t believe me….here’s the ultimate proof!” Rintaro pulled out the phone out of his pocket, showing the location to everyone present in the gym. Upon a closer look, Kyoko immediately pulled out her own phone and typed down the location. Some others followed as well. Skipper swiped sweat off his forehead, finally relieved that their long-going operation was done.

 

“So….this concludes Operation Metropolitan Hunt.” said Skipper, thus ending the Metropolitan Hunt in a success. Took so long, but they got it out.

 

“And the Operation Loki begins!” Rintaro suddenly announced the next operation, right on the spot. He spread his arms like an eagle, to make it as dramatic as possible

 

Operation Loki? What do you have on mind, Kyouma?” Skipper turned his head towards him, surprised that, although Rintaro was in a high position in The Fellowship of Darkness, he would announce a plan without telling him first.

 

Alright, everyone. Gather up.” grinned Rintaro as he invited everyone with a gesture to step closer. All of them stepped forth, as they listened to his words: Hear me out. What we’ll need is two members of Fellowship of Darkness to volunteer and go deep within Zona Daft Capo. Those two infiltrators will need to pinpoint the exact location of Miss Yukizome. As of how, up to ones carrying out this mission. However, this will exclude everyone who’s a student at Hope’s peak academy, so we’ll need someone outside the sphere to do it..

 

“Good call there. They would anticipate our arrival.” complimented Ultimate Impostor as they took their own experience with one of the elites already aware not only of their presence, but their actual identity. They all expected Hope’s peak students to strike back, so they truly needed the surprise factor on their behalf.

 

“Well, that leaves either you or us. We both know who’s more ready for the task.” Skipper already gave an offer that the penguins should be the one, since that was their bread and butter.

 

“Hmm….I’d not go bum rushing so fast in this, Skipper. They would be well prepared for you. Old enemy is the one that you know the most after all.” Rintaro advised against it, since as much as penguins do have experience against Daft Capo, so does the vice versa. An opponent with plenty of experience would also know plenty of exploits. Through out the history, even to this day, plenty of cases prove such notion.

 

“That’s assuming they would find out. Our infiltration capabilities are beyond of anything in the Fellowship.” argued Skipper that they wouldn’t be even be found out in the first place. Granted, aside from experience, they did have plenty of advantages, such as small size and decent speed, plus Rico’s stomach being an entire toolbox.

 

“Still, the chance of being found out is still above zero. Considering that we’re dealing with the enemy territory, it wouldn’t be wise to send familiar faces there.” disagreed Gundham, favoring Rintaro’s plan to send someone unexpected instead. He knew way too well how it is to fight familiar opponents.

 

Hence why I suggest that someone completely unexpected would fill the role. Someone that none of those gangsters would anticipate.” insisted Rintaro while thinking who would even be fit for such role.

 

“I getcha, you gonna send Kuzuryu’s there, wouldn’t you?” Natsumi got an idea that Fuyuhiko’s own clan should get into action.

 

“...Not approved.” Fuyuhiko immediately shut down such suggestion.

 

“Why not, bro? There’s no way they would expect the biggest Yakuza coming right up their asses.” questioned Natsumi, since she still believed that Kuzuryu clan had superiority in any aspect.

 

“That’s basically a declaration of a war, isn’t it? Not risking it. None of us should go through such bullcrap.” Fuyuhiko quickly gave her a cold reminder of what it would mean if one clan went up against the mafia. There wouldn’t be restraint anymore, the whole city would be a battlefield of criminals.

 

Long term consequences of our clan sending a member on their territory would be….disastrous. I agree with Fuyuhiko here.” added Peko, which was the final nail in the coffin regarding Kuzuryu’s participation in such mission. Although they would participate later on, Fuyuhiko would have to think of a way that wouldn’t result in an escalation. However, doing nothing was unforgivable.

 

“Good call there, Fuyuhiko. It would just turn into a bloodbath. Considering that Kuzuryu is out of the question and Penguins are advised not to go in….” agreed Rintaro before he thought even more about it. Students, penguins and now a whole clan were out of the question, leaving only Future Gadget Laboratory members as possible choices. He, Kurisu and Itaru already had an operation against them, so he suspected that they would be expected. No way in heaven, hell and purgatory would Rintaro allow Mayuri to go on such mission.

 

Which meant there was really only one option.

 

But he wouldn’t immediately send that person into danger. He needed to talk about it with someone.

 

“Oi, Daru. I need you for a second.” Rintaro invited Itaru to step away from the group for a bit.

 

“Yeah?” Itaru raised his eyebrow, curious on what his best friend needed him for.

 

“Is it okay if….Suzuha goes? She’s one of the only options we have.” asked Rintaro with utter seriousness in his voice, devoid of any of his usual chuuni mannerisms. Even Itaru himself, a person who got uncomfortable around tense atmospheres, took his suggestion with grave caution.

 

“To send her into danger? Is this a risk she should go through?” asked Itaru as he was incredibly hesitant sending her into the territory of the adversary. He had faith in her, she was a fighter after all, but she would be outnumbered, possibly outmatched deep in the territory.

 

I don’t want to do it either, but she’s the only choice we have. Although, she can definitely take care of herself. She’s a Part-Time Warrior, after all.” Rintaro understood the hesitation, since he himself had it. Both of them knew her history, both of them knew what risk was it to take.

 

Mmmm...I’m still not too sure. At the same time, they would expect them and penguins. Kuzuryu’s are out of the question. Are you sure Suzuha is the only choice? I mean, what about The Ancestor?” suggested Itaru, reminding him that certain someone, of much more enigmatic nature, could be sent instead.

 

Just as they spoke of his name, The Ancestor appeared behind their backs. He moved so quickly, that some of them thought he teleported. Whether or not he had such ability was only known to Gundham.

 

“I have heard your conversation.” The Ancestor asserted his presence behind them, startling them big time. The man in robe chuckled upon seeing their reaction.

 

“Of course I can assist. However, I would not be an optimal choice. Exposure of my true identity would have grave consequences beyond your imagination.” said The Ancestor, warning them what could happen if anything went wrong if he were the one to conduct the mission. However, all of what he said felt shockingly ominous. As if something cataclysmic would have happened.

 

“Grave consequences...w-what do you mean?!” Rintaro wanted to ask, feeling chills down his spine.

 

“Do not question his words, for he is speaking the truth.” Gundham raised his finger, requesting them to not delve deep into knowledge of The Ancestor. The robed man has not uttered a word as he stepped away, leaving them perplexed at just about everything he had in store for.

 

“Who the hell is this guy?!” questioned Rintaro, still shocked from the sheer suddenness of the whole event.

 

“As if I know any better….So….we really don’t have other choices than Suzu…” Itaru realized that they pretty much ran out of options regarding who shall execute the mission.

 

“Yeah...she’s the only one who remains.” confirmed Rintaro once and for all. Only confirmation needed was one of Suzuha’s.

 

“Alright...go for it.” Itaru hesitantly approved it, knowing that no one else could fit the criteria. Thus, it was decided.

 

“Ahem, Part-Time Warrior!” Rintaro called for her, preparing himself to give her the very task he was talking about.

 

“Oh?” Suzuha leaned forward as she tilted her head.

 

Will you volunteer yourself for Operation Loki?” Rintaro asked for her permission to conduct the mission.

 

“Oh, to search for Miss Yukizome?” Suzuha thought about it just for a moment before she suddenly saluted with her right hand, as if she were a soldier. Her expression became very determined, already showing off that she was more than prepared to handle the task. “Okey-dokey! I accept this mission wholeheartedly, Sir!”.

 

That was shockingly quick, man.” commented Itaru out of concern, he wasn’t expecting her to go along with it without a single trace of hesitation. One out of two volunteers was obtained.

 

We got that covered, but we still lack the second volunteer. I don’t think we have-” said Rintaro, just before, and so suddenly too, the door opened. A rather unexpected guest arrived, a fella who looked like a Daft Capo punkster at glance.

 

But it was no gangster, it was just Koichi Kizakura, the Ultimate Talent Scout.

 

Some, like Akane, thought a Daft Capo punkster busted in, but they felt a bit silly, knowing they were just ready to beat up a former intended teacher.

 

“I heard you guys need some assistance.” Koichi tipped his hat as he had a grin on his face. For the first time in a while, he had the opportunity to check out what was happening in the Fellowship. Ever since he heard it from Chisa, he wanted to join, but being involved in official Hope’s peak business prevented him from joining. Needless to say, he caught the perfect opportunity.

 

However, people were quite surprised by his sudden entrance.

 

“Good day, Mr. Kizakura! How can we help?” Kiyotaka greeted him as if it were normal. Relatively speaking, his entrance was pretty mundane by all means.

 

“Mr. Kizakura?” asked Rintaro, who was just as confused as the rest of Future Gadget Lab. It was the first time they have ever seen them. Had it not been for his calm demeanor, they would have thought he was one of them gangsters.

 

Koichi Kizakura, by all means. I’m the one that got these boys and girls into the school. Officially, I’m the Ultimate Scout and I was supposed to be their teacher, but...lets say...complications happened.” Koichi briefly introduced himself towards the rest of the gang. Most Hope’s peak students knew about his endeavors with alcoholism, which was the exact reason why Miss Yukizome was chosen as the teacher of Class 77-B instead of him. However, he was well aware of the situation.“Anyway, that’s not important. I’ve heard that you guys are working on rescuing Miss Yukizome, isn’t that right?”.

 

“Indeed we do, Mister. Indeed we do.” nodded Skipper. When the Ultimate Talent Scout looked at him, at most he looked intrigued, but not too shocked. Chisa did mention him about the penguins.

 

“Great! I also see that a whole ass Yakuza is with us too.” Koichi grabbed his chin before he looked around, noticing that Hope’s peak academy students were not the only ones who were present in the gym.

 

“I kept my word….Shit hit the fan, so here we are….” elaborated Fuyuhiko. Koichi then walked around, to take a closer look at each and every one. Not a single person he considered to be boring, contrary to what he felt about quite a lot of Hope’s peak officials, except Jin. However, there was a person he couldn’t exactly ignore. Amid the penguins, a bunch of students, a group of nerds and even the entire Yakuza clan, there was one person he had a hunch that there was more to them than it seemed.

 

And uh...uh….this guy.” Koichi pointed at The Ancestor, a figure he couldn’t exactly pin what kind of type of person they were. The Ancestor chuckled upon seeing how intrigued Koichi was. “Quite a colorful bunch we have. We can work around this.”.

 

T hus, Rintaro had an idea.

 

“Say, Mr. Kizakura-” Rintaro wanted to ask him, but Koichi interrupted him by juggling his index finger.

 

“Tsk tsk….if you’re asking me to help you….I will not hesitate! Now, tell me what is my job!” Koichi offered his assistance before Rintaro even finished his sentence, much to mad scientist’s surprise.

 

Well, we need one more person to assist in our mission to locate Miss Yukizome. Suzuha, who is right over here, has already volunteered.” Kurisu elaborated just in case as she introduced the Part-Time Warrior to him.

 

“Haaaiiii!!!” Suzuha innocently waved at him. Koichi couldn’t help but to chuckle at her response. Yet, he had a hunch that she was a partner fit for the job.

 

“Hmm...I guess that makes me the second person. Deal accepted.” smirked Koichi as he shook hands with Rintaro, who was surprised with how lax he seemed about everything. Perhaps as a proper adult, he has been through many adventures.

 

“So quick, man…” commented Itaru on how such sequence of events passed so quickly.

 

“This is starting to feel convenient…” grumbled Hiyoko.

 

“I mean, we better gotta use it though. I still have to look through my crystal ball.” Yasuhiro pointed out that whether or not did it seem convenient, they should have took advantage of it while they still had a chance. However, he was uncertain about the rescue of Chisa herself. That would require a day to get a proper prediction.

 

Heh, I know, but Miss Yukizome is not only important for your class, but also for entire school.” chuckled Koichi before he decided to reveal something to them. Something that they weren’t quite aware before. His words immediately raised Skipper’s interest, along with his eyebrow. He always had a suspicion that Hope’s peak’s true show was going on behind the scenes.

 

Well….a lot of reforms happened because of Miss Yukizome’s efforts. This school used to be….well still is….very rough around the edges. However, her efforts changed quite a lot of things. I have to be hush hush about it, they don’t want you to know what’s going on behind the scenes.” Koichi gave a bigger picture about Hope’s peak itself, how they should not have illusions that it’s a perfect place. It made some students realize that Chisa was working very hard behind the scenes, so much so they started to wonder what was truly going on. Even Byakuya reconsidered some things about her, instead of dismissing her as a kindergarten teacher, he was slightly curious what was truly going on with her.

 

“As expected. Nefarious ones always plot behind the curtain.” declared Skipper, knowing very well about uncovering hidden intricate plots regarding conspiracies and similar.

 

“Then it’s even more urgent for us to save her! Not a minute wasted!” Suzuha pumped her fist as she urged everyone to make a move on it already. More time was spent, less of a chance they had in saving. However, where as they understood Koichi, Suzuha’s determination and insistence on saving Miss Yukizome was not gone unnoticed. The Part-Time Warrior herself was seldom seen at Hope’s peak, even among the meetings.

 

Why do you...no, nevermind, we got more important shit right now.” Toko wanted to point out, but decided it would be a topic for another day. Still, not exactly something to be ignored.

 

So...what’s the rest of the plan?” asked Kyoko regarding the Operation Loki.

 

“Mr. Kizakura and Suzuha would go to Zona Daft Capo and try to obtain the location of her. Then, once they succeed, we will plot further. All clear?” responded Rintaro, indicating that for that moment, the infiltration was enough. Further details shall be discussed later, when they pinpoint her location.

 

Hold up now. Do you expect us to go like that?” Koichi raised his finger, pointing out a flaw regarding his strategy. The teacher was surprised that the mad scientist hasn’t brought up the idea just yet, although it could be him preemptively taking measures before he could finish his sentence.

 

“Uh...hmm….what do you have on mind?” asked Rintaro, not sure what exactly was the teacher thinking about it.

 

“You know what’s the best way to infiltrate without raising too much suspicion?” Koichi gave a hint on what he had on mind. Thus, the whole Fellowship began to think about it.

 

“By acting as normal as possible?” Makoto gave a suggestion out of goodwill. He thought it was obvious that by acting not suspicious would, well, gather expected results.

 

“No no no, that actually makes you more suspicious. There’s another way…” Koichi juggled his finger, shooting down Makoto’s suggestion. As absurd as it sounded, perhaps he had experience in such field, but there was a grain of truth. Spies often blend in the environment, even downplay their intelligence, just so that they would go unnoticed. Contrary to the popular depictions, which are dressing up in sharp dressed clothing and going gung-ho with weaponry. Once again, they had to think about it.

 

“Aha! Dressing up as the enemy, right?” Suzuha raised her finger, as if a light bulb appeared over her head.

 

Zactly, my girl! Now good thing is, thanks to both Chisa and Kyoko, I know a thing or two about those gangsters. They’re quite a work, aren’t they? Luckily, this will be easy.” Koichi snapped with his fingers, confirming that she hit the bullseye with the idea. However, there were few things left to be done before Operation Loki would start.

 

Uh...I do admit I need a reference….Most about them are what I just heard.” Suzuha admitted that while she knew of their existence, she had absolutely zero idea on how they behaved. Luckily, Rico pulled out shades on the spot and started imitating them. He began with a boastful strut, like a peacock. Then he flexed, both with money and flippers. As he concluded, he had one important statement to say, as he threw the money.

 

Dosh dosh!”.

 

S uzuha was going through multiple emotions of varying states upon seeing Rico’s pantomime. Worst thing was, others confirmed it was spot on.

 

“Ah….so that’s how it is. Hella weird, if I say.” Suzuha scratched her head, not even once imagining that in her life, she would encounter such people. And to say she had experience would have been an understatement.

 

I do suggest that you two should dress up differently as well. Hope’s peak academy does have variety in clothes, which can be found in the laundry room. A lot of it are costumes used for celebration and, of course, talent development.” advised Ultimate Impostor. The school did indeed use a lot of costumes for big events, such as Halloween and Christmas, but those were still far away, so there wasn’t much of a priority for school to have them.

 

“Excellent! Suzuha, come with me! I already know what to do.” Koichi snapped his fingers once again before offering help to the Part-Time Warrior in terms of guiding her through the facility.

 

“Okey-dokey!” Suzuha saluted as she joined Koichi on the quest to get a proper costume. Judging from his grin, he had something planned in advance. Once they left the gym, everyone wondered what will they cook up. They all discussed what sort of costume would they bring. Not a single suggestion was a humble one. Humility was a taboo in Daft Capo, after all.

 

“Oh man, what do you think they’ll come up with?” Rintaro leaned towards Kurisu, as his expectations were set to usual: utterly ridiculous costumes.

 

I am not sure what to expect…” admitted Kurisu that she didn’t have much expectations, she was just going to be surprised.

 

Thus, they all waited.

 

However, the teacher returned quite quickly. Surprisingly quickly .

 

“Voila! Here it is!”.

 

He had the exactly same hat, exactly same suit and exactly same pants as before. Folk in the Fellowship really had to squint their eyes to find any difference.

 

Excuse me, Mr. Kizakura, but I fail to see the difference.” Kiyotaka admitted that he simply could not see it.

 

Seriously though, what even is so different? Zero effort, I say!” Hiyoko used an opportunity to roast him. Not that he minded, since he definitely planned it all. However, after many squints, one of them finally noticed what was so different than before.

 

Glitter. He just threw glitter all over himself.

 

“Ohohoho, you sneaky fox! You clever dastard! The whole suit is sparklin’, just like those punksters.” chuckled Skipper as he was the first one to notice it all. Upon pointing it out, they did notice how his clothing constantly glittered.

 

“Hahahaha, yesss. Took a reference, after all. Told you it would be easy.” Koichi gave him a high five for spotting it. One of them did their job. They were now waiting for the other one.

 

Come to think of it, you always looked one of those gangsters….” Akane scratched her hair as she just then realized that Koichi had a great resemblance to their enemies. They had to agree with her, the style was similar.

 

However, the second volunteer took a much longer time to dress up. Significantly longer.

 

They were starting to think she just got lost in the academy.

 

Now I wonder what is Suzuha up to-” Rintaro expressed his thought out loud, just before an event that shook everyone to the core happened.

 

WAAAAAZAAAAAAAAAP, MAAAAADAAAAFAAAAAAAAKAAAAAAAASSS??!!!”.

 

Suzuha Amane barged in. Wearing rose tinted heart shaped glasses, a flower crown, a black tank top with a grill drawn on it, golden chains all over her, denim shorts and skeleton leggings at once. She looked like it was moment of her life for her. Suzuha even took reference to how Natsumi introduced herself to the Fellowship.

 

Everyone else remained silent. They were just processing at what were they looking at.

 

“So uh….whatcha think?” Suzuha blushed, as the silence was starting to make her feel awkward.

 

“Holy hell! That is HELLA gangsta!” gasped Sonia as her eyes gleamed. Not even once has she seen a girl so “hip” and “rad”, as she would say it. Her opinion was an anomaly among the sea of utter bafflement.

 

“T-this isn’t even a fashion disaster, it’s the fashion apocalypse!” winced Toko, even though she was the last person to talk about fashion in general.

 

The drip is fire!” Itaru gave his sincere support for Suzuha, even pumping his fists as if he were to witness a popular idol.

 

“Are you fucking serious, you call this “drip”, I swear to fuckin…” groaned Hiyoko as she rolled with her eyes. Many were to afraid to comment on it, but Natsumi gave her thoughts with an imitation of smoking a joint,

 

“The state of everyone and the world as a whole right now.” commented Natsumi before deciding to remain silent for the rest of it. She was still trying to process what was she looking at.

 

Hmm...this one would do….fine as of now. Here’s the location for both of you. Write it down.” Rintaro had to go along with it before he shared them his phone. Both of them wrote the location down on their phones as well. “Alright then. You shall do it tomorrow, in the morning. Today would be too risky. I am aware of our limited time, but that would be the best option.”.

 

“Uh, question.” asked Suzuha.

 

“Yeah?” Rintaro raised an eyebrow.

 

“What about...you know….those pigeons? Would it be better if we go somewhere else?” Suzuha pointed out that despite their advances, the enemy was still watching them.

 

“Hahaha, spying what?” laughed Koichi as he had a hard time comprehending that something as common as a pigeon could be a genuinely serious security threat.

 

“...I hate to say this….but we do have a case of surveillance carried out but those….” it was Byakuya, who had personally witnessed it, that decided to confirm that there was an established surveillance network utilizing pigeons, although he was too embarrassed to say that it was by pigeon.

 

“You know, you can just say its pigeons.” Aoi encouraged him to gulp down his pride for once and just address it like a normal person. Considering that it was Byakuya who she was talking to, her words fell on deaf ears.

 

“….avians that fall under the family of Columbidae.” Byakuya concluded his statement before he had to process that he had to say all of it with nothing short of sincerity. He thought he was losing his mind again, just like when he saw a certain feline.

 

For once, Koichi was genuinely flabbergasted.

 

“..That’s nuts.” Koichi blurted out.

 

“Honestly, it kind of feels tame after….everything that happened.” said Leon, evaluating what even could be considered weird at that point. One would really have to defy reality to do so.

 

Oh boy….it does make sense though, if they have such a grip on surveillance. Better to start off somewhere else.” Koichi just realized that the whole idea with birds and espionage isn’t exactly too far-fetched from reality. He was grateful to Suzuha for pointing it out.

 

“I do happen to know a place like that, heh.” Suzuha suggested as she suddenly pulled out keys out of her pocket. What door they opened, only she and someone who gave her keys knew.

 

“That’s a good idea. Anything else that needs to be cleared up?” Rintaro asked one more time before Operation Loki was set in motion.

 

“All good!” Suzuha and Koichi both saluted at the same time. Somehow, Koichi found her mannerisms to be quite intriguing, if cute.

 

Alright then. Dismissed! Operation Loki is on the go! Everyone else will remain here for further discussion.” concluded Skipper.

 

“Okey-dokey!” nodded Suzuha before those two exited the gym, leaving rest of them to discuss further plans. Thus, it has officially begun. Both of them exited out of the dining room, sneaking through the park, so that pigeons wouldn’t notice them. It worked, because no pigeon batted an eye about it.

 

As they walked without any disturbance, they have finally reached their destination; MayQueen Nyannyan cafe, or to be specific, cafe’s warehouse. In secrecy, Suzuha made a deal that she could use the warehouse to hide, in a case of the plan going horribly wrong. Faris also prepared sleeping bags for them, cat themed of course. They still had a day ahead, but decided it would be the best if they used that time to prepare their own plan.

 

“Oh man, we’re in for tomorrow, are we?” Koichi leaned on the boxes with a smile on his face, not even scared that he’ll go deep in the enemy territory.

 

It’s worth the risk. Just the fact that we would be able to save Miss Yukizome right on time is already reassuring.” smiled Suzuha, confident enough that she would be able to assist. Relatively speaking, it was a small task for her.

 

Yeah...it is indeed…” Koichi tipped his hat to hear, before he expressed a desire to talk about something that other students found rather odd about her.“Say...you got pretty fired up there. And you’re pretty intent on saving her. What’s up with that? Asking cuz I’m pretty curious.”.

 

Well, heh….she’s my friend. We actually met pretty recently. Like few months, before she became a teacher. She’s someone who’s pretty close to me.” revealed Suzuha about their relationship. There was that warm, comforting tone in her voice when she talked about her friend. Had Koichi not known that Chisa is already in relationship, he would have assumed Suzuha had a thing for her.

 

“Heh….her being a friend of mine is also a reason why I’m here. Ever since she became a teacher, I was always on her side. I think she’s doing for the good of this school. Trust me, a lot of stuff was fixed with her efforts.” chuckled Koichi before he told his side of the story: as a supporting friend to someone who was, deep down, lonely by heart. Suzuha felt reassured about it, since she did remember times when Chisa was all by herself.

 

“That’s good. Really good…The sooner we get her back, the better, right?” smiled Suzuha as she put her hand on her chest. Something about knowing that her friend has someone on her side just comforted her. Made it easier to face the situation head on.

 

Indeed...that’s our job after all. I know a thing or two about street life, so it should go all smoothly. Well, mostly. I do expect a screw up here and there.” Koichi offered her some help regarding navigating through the streets of Tokyo. He had a hunch that she wasn’t entirely adjusted to the place just yet, despite already being there for months.

 

It would be a miracle if it went all flawlessly, but even if we do it in the worst way possible, if the outcome is alright, so be it. Suzuha assured that both of them will be prepare to face anything that their adversary will throw at them.

 

“Heh...that depends on us. I do think you have it in you. You’re a….Part-Time Warrior, right?” Koichi pointed at her with his index finger, curious about what exactly made her a warrior in the mad scientist’s eyes.

 

Yep yep! Rintaro calls me that. Though, I’m pretty used to fighting. Been through such situations.” confirmed Suzuha, although behind that smile, Koichi could sense a much bigger story, perhaps of a scale that he couldn’t imagine.

 

“Are you a delinquent or something?” Koichi asked in a teasing way, but Suzuha’s response was nothing short of a blank stare. For a moment, she was devoid of any emotion. Koichi realized that he might have hit a bit too close to home for her. “...Sorry about that. Should have held my tongue here.”

 

“….Haha..it’s alright....long story...but that’s for another day.” Suzuha tried to laugh it off, as if nothing happened, but Koichi could still sense that there was something going on with her. Something that goes beyond than just “fighting”. However, he didn’t want to press further, he felt like it was a sensitive topic for her. She didn’t seem to be upset at him for it.

 

Hmm….well...but for now, let’s prepare for tomorrow.” said Koichi just before both of them would start preparations for Operation Loki.

 

“Okey-dokey!” saluted Suzuha as both of them gathered around, planning to execute Operation Loki. It would start the next day at morning, since it would be the perfect time of it. If they have done it at the moment, they would likely be seen as suspects. Under the illusory of the night, it was impossible. Everyone suspects an aggressor to move at night. Thus, they talked about it, how would they do it, how would they blend in. They had an entire day to do so.

 

For once during the conflict, there was a chance for The Fellowship of Darkness to get an advantage. For once, they could be in the lead. And for once and for all, they finally had a chance to rescue Miss Yukizome.

 

Notes:

Chisa is alive.

Also yep, I had to put a reference in the title of an awesome fic.

Chapter 45: Operation Loki - Part I

Notes:

(See the end of the chapter for notes.)

Chapter Text

The day has come. Both agents, Koichi Kizakura and Suzuha Amane, resided at MayQueen’s warehouse through out the entire night. Both of them slept on the floor. Not that those were worst places they ever slept on. Even before the Sun rose, they have already opened their eyes. They have decided they would do the mission as early as possible. As soon as their vision became clear, both of them stood up, already dressed in their disguises.

 

“Good morning, Suzuha.” greeted Koichi as he looked over to his colleague.

 

“G’mooornin, Mr.Kizakura. Today’s the day, isn’t it?” Suzuha began stretching herself as soon as she woke up. Morning exercise was routine for the Part-Time Warrior.

 

“Indeed it is, Suzuha. We’re going right into their turf now.” Koichi tipped his hat while indicating that there shall be no time to waste. It was the day a person from Hope’s peak, accompanied by an “outsider” ally, would step on the territory of Daft Capo.

 

“Okey-dokey! But before we go, we should think of a plan, right?” saluted Suzuha, but not before noting that they cannot approach their mission like headless chicken. Even though plans were more or less templates rather than gospel, they were still necessary.

 

“Of course. I’d say that aside from stating the blatantly “shoot your own foot” statements, like “we’re from Hope’s peak!” and similar, we don’t really have a lot to do. Just trying to blend in as naturally as possible.” advised Koichi, partially speaking from his experience, which he often refrained himself from going into detail.

 

“That means acting all boastful and such, right? Judging from what the penguin has shown, it seems like more hip you are there, cooler you are.” Suzuha asked for clearance. The Part-Time Warrior had about one or two ideas regarding their adversary, rest of it was total mystery. To say she was prepared would have been quite a misconception.

 

“Go as extreme as you like. For me, that’s gonna be easy. I already have it all in my head.” Koichi let her know that she shouldn’t restrain herself. After all, there are very few things that make Daft Capo itself restrained.

 

“Hmmm….I will come up with it on the spot. I admit, I still want to know what’s hip or not.” Suzuha scratched her chin, deciding that the best (and possibly the only) action she could do was to just blabber anything that comes on her mind.

 

“That’s not a bad idea after all. You can easily save your butt with a little impro.” Koichi approved, since he also planned to improvise as much as possible, at least on a “tactical” level, so to speak.

 

“Heh, that is true. However, what to do after we do find her location?” chuckled Suzuha before she raised another question, regarding means of returning back to the hideout, assuming that the mission goes without any major setbacks.

 

“Simple. We just walk out with swagger.” Koichi answered with confidence. There was point to be had, sprinting back to their “base” would likely raise suspicion, even though that was a very optimistic prediction. A more realistic one would be an entire mafia (or a part of it) chasing them down. That was a consideration that neither of them could ignore.

 

“Hmmm….but what if they find us out? I don’t think we could just walk out there so easily.” Suzuha pointed out such concern while thinking about what should one do if they were to find themselves in such situation.

 

“How good are you at running?” Koichi suddenly asked, but Suzuha immediately understood what kind of point he wanted to make.

 

“Well, not bad after all. I’m pretty used to running.” answered Suzuha, having a bit of an experience with using her legs to evade her adversaries, be it for evasion or combat. However, even though she put a smile on it, such topic was not something she was entirely comfortable talking about.

 

“Then we shall run, but in a way that would confuse them. You know in movies how often do they run in a straight line, even though they could just step aside?” advised Koichi while bringing up an example of how in movies, they always run in a straight line, even if they are in the open. Cartoons were equally guilty of it too.

 

“They do that?” Suzuha tilted her head, genuinely shocked upon learning that such a thing exists. Initially, Koichi was taken a back for a bit, he did not believe that she was that unaware of such occurrences in movies, although he refrained himself from making any sassy comments regarding it. He already noticed that there was something going on with Suzuha, so he opted to answer respectfully.

 

“...Yes, they do. Have you watched any movies recently?” clarified Koichi while wondering if she even had watched anything as of late.

 

“Ahaha, I admit that it’s been a while since I’ve watched a movie. Didn’t have time to do so.” nervously chuckled Suzuha, since she thought that she was, in her words, “behind the times”.

 

“Ah, yeah. That’s understandable. Movies are often filled with silly things like that. Which is why we should act smartly, not like characters from movies.” Koichi explained such a rather prevalent yet odd “cliché” present in fictional works, where a chase scene could be entirely negated if they stepped aside, rather than just run in one direction.

 

“That’s right!” Suzuha snapped with her fingers, sporting a confident smile, before she thought if there was anything else needed to be addressed before their mission would start. “...Hey, we got most of the things covered, right?”,

 

“If that’s so, shall we depart?” Koichi felt like everything was set and clear, there wasn’t much holding them back anymore.

 

“Yes, sir!” Suzuha saluted on the spot, an act which made Koichi chuckle. Thus, they exited the warehouse and began walking towards the Zona. With each step, they were closer. Luckily, they got the location memorized. Both agents walked as if it were a normal day. Even though they weren’t suspected by the pigeons, they couldn’t afford to act foolishly. Through out the walk, they just had plenty of small talk about most mundane things possible. Suzuha, for some reason, was completely hooked into what mundane things Koichi had to say about. It was like she never heard of such things before, such as KFC being extremely popular in Japan during Christmas season. So much so that people order KFC months in advance. All that small talk helped them conceal their true purpose. To pigeons, they looked like just two weirdos hanging around. Japan has no shortage of weirdos, so it seemed normal to them. No sign of any “scrubs”, as they said.

 

Around the time the Sun was just about to truly set, they arrived at the street near their destination. The “doorstep” for Zona Daft Capo. From the outside, it just looked like a normal city. Only an attentive eye would notice something odd, just as the presence of Japanese cars, or lack of there of. Only European (major exception being Peugeot) and sometimes American cars dominated the Zona. Traffic was also lesser there compared to the rest of the city. Judging from the rant of that citizen previous day, must have been because ordinary people tend to avoid it. As for why, only those who were unfortunate enough to accidentally step in the zone knew. Those who had intent however, had a different story to tell. Such were observations those agents noted when they peeked over from the “doorstep” street. Just like the rest of the city, it was monitored by the pigeons.

 

“Huh, looks like a normal street.” Koichi scratched his chin, observing as much as he could. The Zona just blended in, there was nothing that particularly stood out.

 

“So peaceful too…” noted Suzuha as well. Koichi glanced over, wondering what exactly was on her mind, but instead of discussing it out loud, he decided that the best course of action would be to dive in, to venture right into the hostile territory.

 

“Shall we go?” Koichi asked one more time, just to be sure they were ready. Suzuha just nodded, confirming they were cleared to go. Thus, they stepped in. A person from Hope’s peak finally put their foot in Zona Daft Capo.

 

They had only taken just few steps and they were already spotted by an individual who hid in the shadows of the alleyway. Upon noticing their presence, the individual began dashing towards them. Just from the sound alone, it seemed like that person was carrying a large object. The object in question was an entire sale stand, that they carried it like lederhosen.

 

From the shadows emerged a person who wasn’t human, but a short robed mask wearing humanoid being known as Snifit. Such fella was dressed in white robe, wore a black gas mask-like mask and even had a white glittering fedora hat on himself. It was clear he was a part of Daft Capo. A Vegas Snifit, to be exact. Those were Snifits, which decided that after arriving on some island in the middle of the Arabian sea, they wanted to go to a casino. Thus, their boss, who might have been a turtle dragon monster, allowed them to go to Las Vegas. There, they hooked up with Daft Capo as well, although their allegiance to their leader, who might had a mafia of his own, involving the boneful undead, remained unchanged.

 

The Snifit quickly asserted his presence by slamming down his sale stand right next to them, preparing himself for a deal of a life time.

 

“Hello, motherfuckers! My name is MATO FATO and today I’m gonna sell you some good shit! Take a look at this!” the Snifit welcomed them, like an aggressive salesman. Both Koichi and Suzuha nearly jumped out of surprise, like two sprayed cats, just from the sound of a slammed stand. They couldn’t even truly hear what he said, because he did is so quickly.

 

“Whoa there now, cowboy. One second.” Koichi, even though still startled to hell and back, dediced to act cool for a moment. He made a gesture, indicating that the salesman should slow down a bit. Koichi inhaled some air, just so everything could be clear to him.“Just needed to take a breath, that’s all.”.

 

“When you see what I sell, you will forget the need to breathe, because it will be taken away!” MATO FATO offered them to take a closer look at his “goods”. Both agents in disguise did lean forward to see. The “goods” in question were blue discs, presumably CDs, with songs taken from a famous K-Pop artist by the name of PSY. The cover of those blue discs was a simple drawing, of PSY’s hair and sunglasses. The title was also pretty easy for the eyes: GENTLEMAN.

 

“...PSY?” Suzuha tilted her head, first time ever hearing about such singer, despite the fact one seventh of total population has not only watched, but danced to one of his songs.

 

“YES! The most SEX singer of all time! He is so based that I-” MATO FATO began to shake from sheer hype just from mentioning the singer’s name. He was so overwhelmed with hype and excitement, that he started to foam. Both Suzuha and Koichi kept their composure, but deep down, they couldn’t help but think that the guy was off the knocker.

 

“You mean sexy?” Koichi raised his finger, perhaps to tease him, but he was genuinely unsure in what way did the Snifit mean.

 

“No, sex! There’s a difference! Sexy is when something activates your hormones and causes you to go monkey mode. Sex, however, is the ultimate goal of life! It is the climax of quality, the peak of pleasure, the pinnacle of mastery! To compare something or someone to sex is to give them highest honor!” clarified MATO FATO in the most theatrical way possible, flailing his stubby arms as if he were a grandeur presenter, worthy of a Shakespearean play. It was like his life depended on it.

 

Even though Suzuha still kept a confident smile, just from her eyes it could be told that any understanding she had regarding their adversary was thrown out of the window and shat on.

 

...what the HECK?!” Suzuha thought to herself. Never before has she seen such mindset before. Even under the most normal circumstances, it would be unlikely that she would see someone like that in person. Maybe on the world wide web, but not in front of her eyes.

 

“Not gonna lie, that is an incredibly interesting viewpoint on life. It makes sense, in a way.” Koichi acted like such mindset was perfectly normal, just rolling with the conversation.

 

“It is the mindset of the based.” MATO FATO boastfully stated his opinion.

 

“So...PSY you say….he does make good songs after all. Gangnam Style was one of the first songs to hit one billion views, right?” Koichi continued the conversation, even though the only reason he did was to blend in, to not stick out like a camel in the middle of tundra.

 

“Gangnam Style is a hood classic, but Gentleman is better. It goes harder and is colder. Which is why you can listen to it for a bargain price of two thousand dollars!” MATO FATO already offered them the price of a single disc. At that point, Suzuha just completely lost the flow of the conversation, all that absurdity was getting to her. Koichi, on other hand, didn’t even bat an eye. Perhaps he had skills regarding blending in such environment or perhaps he saw stranger things with his own eyes. Maybe even a combination of both.

 

“Two thousand, you say? Well, I gladly take it for one thousand dollars.” Koichi’s immediate response was to bargain for a price. With just one snap with his fingers, he laid out a demand.

 

“The price is two thousa-” MATO FATO wanted to clarify, although he quickly noticed what kind of game was Koichi Kizakura playing. “Ohoho, I see what you are doing. Unfortunately, this is Japan, not Middle East. Bargaining is not an option here. Fixed price only.”

 

“And who decides that?” Koichi suddenly raised a point that even MATO FATO didn’t expect to be questioned upon.

 

“Uh...taxes. For real. We are based, but if there’s something we don’t fuck with, it’s the IRS. You know how good ol Cap got busted, right?” MATO FATO came up with an excuse, even though there was some truth in it. For all their activities, tax evasion is not among those they partook in.

 

“Yeah, indeed.” nodded Koichi, knowing well to what was the Snifit referring to.

 

“….Isn’t IRS just American?” Suzuha pointed out that such concerns wouldn’t really be appropriate in Japan.

 

“That’s what they want you to think! Anyway, two thousand or bust!” MATO FATO warned them, perhaps out of paranoia, but he still insisted on his price.

 

Thus, the bargaining game began.

 

One thousand!”

 

Two thousand!”

 

One thousand!”

 

Two thousand!

 

One thousand and five hundred!”

 

“Two thousa-wait a minute, aren’t you supposed to lower it?” MATO FATO suddenly noted a possible error on Koichi’s behalf.

 

“I changed my mind. A good artist deserves a proper price tag, don’t you think?” Koichi elaborated that this was no error, it was part of the plan. A ploy, so to say.

 

“Yes indeed. Because this is the first time I’ve seen, I will set price to one thousand and six hundred.” MATO FATO decided to lower the price out of respect.

 

“I’ve said one thousand and five hundred.” Koichi raised his eyebrow.

 

“Yes you did, but I disagree with this price. One hundred dollars bonus wouldn’t hurt you.” MATO FATO insisted while hinting at that those who step in the Zona are those with very deep pockets. Luckily, Koichi decided to borrow some of fat bucks from Hope’s peak itself. He was allowed because all he said that “these are funds he needed to develop talent.”. Even at that moment, he thought how surreal it was that he got it all on the silver platter just because he said he will do it for “talent.”.

 

“Yes, but at the same time, I still wanna buy some other stuff here. Gotta have enough money after all.” argued Koichi while pretending that he also intends to buy elsewhere. The only reason he was bargaining for PSY’s disc was because he couldn’t raise suspicion.

 

“Eh, don’t worry about it. One thousand and six hundred is barely a dent on your wallet.” MATO FATO reassured that it was just a cheap price. Relatively, of course.

 

“Still, a lowered price wouldn’t hurt you either.” Koichi insisted that he wouldn’t have much of a loss either, it was “just” a difference of one hundred dollars. Suzuha did not participate for that moment because she was still comprehending how could such high prices be deemed as cheap, at least in everyday life. When it came to other fields and countries, such prices could be argued that they were dirt cheap.

 

“The net positive though! Isn’t the entire point to get as much money as possible?” MATO FATO

 

“True, but at the same time, wouldn’t a high price deter customers from buying? By all means, only the rich can afford such stuff.” Koichi pointed out a very possible flaw in their prices. No ordinary man could afford anything there, especially it’s cheaper everywhere else in the city. And just from the fact that the very first thing sold to them was a PSY disc, which one could listen online for free, not exactly a good impression.

 

Damn, he’s got a point.” MATO FATO thought to himself before he came up with some kind of reasoning. “Eeeeh, not really. People generally buy expensive shit solely because it is expensive shit. It makes them feel special.”.

 

“If that’s so, why wouldn’t we just lower it to one thousand and five hundred? It’s not a massive difference after all.” Koichi still insisted on lowering the price, although he wouldn’t stop there. His goal was to get it to at least one hundred dollars. That would be, by Zona Daft Capo’s standards, cents.

 

“I still insist on one thousand and six hundred. Net positive gain, after all!” MATO FATO was not ready to let go of his price.

 

Round two. BARGAIN!

 

One thousand and five hundred!”

 

One thousand and six hundred!”

 

One thousand and five hundred!”

 

One hundred and five thous-my bad, one thousand and six hundred!”

 

One thousand and five hundred!”

 

One thousand and six-”

 

SIXTY NINE, MADAFAKA!!!!”

 

Suddenly, the bargaining stopped. Silence followed, with both Koichi and MATO FATO baffled upon the person who offered such price. MATO FATO even “raised his eyebrow” like a certain wrestler, even though somehow, his mask morphed in such way.

 

The one responsible for yelling such a thing was none other than Suzuha Amane.

 

“...Uh, wazzup?” Suzuha sheepishly smiled as she put her hand behind her head. The silence made her feel a bit awkward. Understandably so, since it was all so sudden. All she tried to do was to imitate Natsumi in a way, since she thought she was “a real gangsta”. Technically, she was.

 

“...Bold. Real bold.” complimented MATO FATO before he decided that the price will be based upon Suzuha’s demand. “...Alright, sixty nine it is.”.

 

“YES!” Suzuha pumped her fists upon a successful bargain.

 

“I have to say, I do agree with such price. Quite a friendly one.” Koichi snapped with his fingers as he pulled out one hundred dollars out of his pocket. They were kind of lucky that Hope’s peak accepted other currencies, they had to look for talent all over the world after all.

 

“This is the first time someone has been so bold. Respect.” said MATO FATO as he received the dollar of such value before he put it in the cash register. When he opened it, Koichi took a peek and was in for a surprise: there were a lot of dollars in it. More than he expected.

 

People buy this shit?!” Koichi thought to himself, shocked that people buy something so mundane for the full price.

 

“Thank you for this generous deal!” Koichi tipped his hat to the Snifit.

 

“No prob. You two are interesting dudes….well, a dude and dudette. What are your names?” MATO FATO asked them one more question before he let them venture further into the Zona.

 

“My name is Luigi Martini. I come from Delaware.” Koichi said it on the spot, quite smoothly. Once could legitimately confuse that for his real identity.

 

“And you?” MATO FATO turned his attention towards the Part-Time Warrior.

 

“Oh! My name….SZQ BBQ! Yo!” Suzuha posed boastfully with her introduction. Unlike Koichi’s, hers made her look like a dweeb. So much so, that even MATO FATO was baffled by it. But he digressed, he let them just be for that moment.

 

“Alright! I hope we see each other again! It’s been fun!” MATO FATO waved his stubby arms at her as both of them began to walk away, to explore further and to continue their mission.

 

“Ciao!” Koichi raised his hand as if he were truly Italian. Those were the final words they said to MATO FATO at that moment.

 

Just after their encounter with the salesman Snifit, they began to process the whole event. Already, first impressions were had. Even though the Zona looked like just like any corner of the city from the outside, the inside was a different story. Never he thought he would have to bargain in Japan. He also came up with it on the spot, it was unplanned. As they ventured forth, more they saw punksters, human and not, like Snifits, stroll down their territory as if were a normal day. Luckily, no punkster had an eye on them, since to them, they were just guests. Suzuha was still in shock regarding their absurdity. Never she thought that those would be her adversaries.

 

“...Quite interesting people here, don’tcha think?” Suzuha glanced over to Koichi, masking the conversation regarding their enemy as a small talk.

 

“Yes indeed. They are one of the-” Koichi was just about to answer before he spotted a strange thing in the alleyway. During their walk, Koichi kept looking everywhere, just to see if he could find any hints regarding Miss Yukizome’s location. However, the strange thing he spotted were launchers, resembling SM-90 belonging to SA-2 Guideline surface-to-air missile system, although they were smaller than the real deal. The “missile” itself, or rocket more appropriately, was also smaller than a real thing, with its “warhead” being a punching glove. The contraption was accompanied by two human punksters, dedicated to their role of ambushing “scrubs”. Koichi’s curiosity couldn’t be helped, so he approached the alleyway with the launcher. Suzuha gave him a weird look, but she decided to follow as well. Punksters didn’t deem them as threats, but they did raise eyebrows upon their approach.

 

“Say, what’s this saucy thing?” asked Koichi as he pointed at the SA-2 looking thingamajing.

 

“Who the fuck are you?” asked the punkster standing next to the launcher. He was in charge of loading up punch glove rockets and providing situational awareness.

 

“Guests! We are guests! We are not part of that shithole.” announced Koichi that they were no enemies to them, that they are just “innocent” bystanders.

 

“Are you sure?” the other punkster, operating the surface to air missile system-like contraption, raised an eyebrow.

 

“Yah! That place is so shit, the best part of it are toilets and even then they are poor!” Suzuha made gestures with her hands like a rapper while covering up her true identity with spitting on everything Hope’s peak was about. Technically speaking, she didn’t have much formal connection with Hope’s peak, so by all means, she was less likely to be suspected.

 

“You’ve been there?” punkster crossed his arms, wondering if those two guests had particular experience with their adversary.

 

“Pfft, nah! It’s just that I can smell their toilets from so far away!” scoffed Suzuha as she put her hands around her hips. Of course, the actual quality of toilets at Hope’s peak wasn’t really that bad. At least for Ultimates. Reserve Course had different tales about WC’s.

 

“Can confirm. A friend of mine went there for a bit and thought it was steaming garbage! Went to MIT instead.” smirked Koichi while he made up a story about how some random dude was invited to Hope’s peak academy, refusing the invitation and just joining another school out of spite. Such statements made punksters reconsider some things. They still had eyes on them, but they doubted their connection with Hope’s peak academy. That academy was their biggest priority as of that moment, so any other enemies of Daft Capo would have to take a back seat.

 

“Hey, do scrubs usually roast it so much?” punkster whispered to the other one, wondering what exactly did their enemies feel about their institution. Did they even truly know it?

 

“Doubt. They would probably throw a shitfit over stuff like that so….” responded other punkster before he decided that he would let them slide. “Alright, guests! You’re safe to be here.”

 

“I just wanna know about this thingamabob.” Koichi once again pointed at the launcher. Even though it was an imitation of a real weapon, it was still something one wouldn’t really see every day, unless they were operators. Upon closer inspection, Suzuha began formulate her own thoughts on it.

 

“….Why is it shaped like a SAM?” questioned Suzuha after taking a better look at it. Perhaps she saw some of them, but not exactly ones that looked like SA-2. That is a very old system, originating from 50’s, but it is still used today by various countries.

 

“Oh, that’s because the client had particular demands. Don’t ask us about this, we’re just here to send scrubs flying.” punkster revealed that he had just as much idea about it as they did. Any question regarding technicalities of such system should be turned towards the one responsible for it: Wile E. Coyote. However, they had no idea he was a part of Daft Capo. Even the Fellowship of Darkness was unaware of it as of that moment.

 

“Hmmm….” Koichi scratched his chin as he walked around the launcher. In terms of shape, it was a perfect imitation of the launcher. Right down to material, it was metallic like the real thing. Koichi also noticed the launcher had rust, although it was fake oddly enough. Perhaps it was to imitate those found in Iraq during 1991. Even the color was more of beige rather than green, just like a surface to air missile system or any other weapon you would find in the desert. Unless they were British, then it would have been colored pink. Koichi couldn’t help but be impressed by the amount of effort that went into such contraption.

 

Suddenly, he had an idea. A rather risky one at that.

 

“Say, I wanna see this thing in action. Looks quite cool, if you ask me. Has that retro style.” requested Koichi for a quick little demonstration. Judging from the fact that certain components were missing, such as fire control radar and search radar, he quickly deducted that this whole thing was basically an overglorified rocket “catapult” in a way. He imagined so, but he still wanted the machine to prove for itself.

 

“No problem. We just gotta ask the guy across the street to give us targets.” approved other punkster as he was about to pull out a phone out of his pocket, calling his “supplier” to bring in the cardboard cutouts. For that occasion, the punkster wanted to bring in the Hiyoko cutout, or as they liked to call her “a banana gremlin”.

 

“Tsk, tsk. No such thing needed. I will be the target.” Koichi juggled his finger at him, preventing him from using cardboard cutouts as targets, instead offering himself for the demonstration.

 

“Eh?” Suzuha glanced over him with a baffled expression on her face. Completely puzzled on his intentions

 

“But you are a guest! We can’t harm our customers! They’ll sue us!” punkster addressed the issue of a potential incoming lawsuit. A bit of a weird concern, considering that Daft Capo is shielded from possible information leaks….or perhaps there was a time when they weren’t able to erase themselves from the world wide web?

 

“There will be no lawsuit involved here. I just wanna have a lil bit of thrill, if you know what I mean.” Koichi promised that there was no ulterior motive regarding his actions.

 

That was a lie, although not in a way they expected.

 

“Still though, why? Why would want that?” questioned other punkster as he still wondered the motive behind such decision.

 

“As I’ve said, I want a lil bit of thrill. Adventure!” Koichi clarified once again, presenting himself as the Luigi Martini, the unknown adventurer whose feats, however remarkable they were, remained hidden in obscurity.

 

However, that was as close as they got stepping on thin ice.

 

“Hold the fuck up, this isn’t a ploy for a sabotage, is it?” punkster suddenly questioned, which made both Koichi and Suzuha more cautious of what they do anymore. One wrong move and Daft Capo would be chasing them. However, Koichi was kind of baffled at the conclusion they came up with.

 

“….Pal….this is my first time seeing such thing ever. I did not even think it would exist, let alone be compelled enough to sabotage it.” Koichi clarified in an oddly serious tone, even though he was just pretending at that moment.

 

“Yeah, I’ve never seen quite like it too.” added Suzuha, to prove his point.

 

“It’s still weird that you want the fist right in your face.” noted other punkster, still confused on why exactly would Koichi offer himself to be tested.

 

“Well, have you ever tested it against a live, moving target?” Koichi lifted a finger, bringing up a consideration they haven’t thought about in the first place. It was like a light bulb appearing right above their heads.

 

“...Wait, have we?” punkster glanced towards the other punkster, who just shook his head in response. Upon realizing that Koichi’s idea would absolutely benefit them, they let him have his moment.“...Well now, I guess it makes sense. Go there.”.

 

Just as instructed, Koichi stepped forth, right towards the place where the punkster pointed at him. Without a pinch of fear, he stood right in front of the launcher. Suzuha observed the whole situation with confusion, watching any possible movement.

 

“Fire when you’re ready!” Koichi dared them to shoot at him. The other punkster adjusted azimuth and bearing, so that the rocket would be sent right into his face. After some cautious corrections, the punkster next to the operating punkster approved of the position and gave a thumbs up, giving him a clearance to fire. With all set and done, the other punkster pressed the button on the controller.

 

Suddenly, just around the same time as the other punkster pressed the button, Koichi ducked in advance. As quickly as the rocket took off, it couldn’t readjust itself midflight, since it was unguided. The punch glove that was intended to land right in his face instead went right into the building across the city, shattering the window and causing chaos inside, although luckily no one was inside. The building in question was a store of washing machines, with Gorenje being a predominant brand there.

 

Suzuha’s jaw dropped when she saw how quick was his dodge. It was like seeing an action hero dodging bullets just in time, in slow motion to boot. However real life has no slow motion mechanic, Koichi just had a hunch on when the rocket was going to be fired.

 

“Woah...super cool dodge!” Suzuha gave applause, surprised by the fact it went so smoothly. It would have been convenience, but Koichi was more than well prepared for it. However, punksters were not as impressed. They weren’t impressed at all, they just found a huge hole in Daft Capo’s defensive strategy.

 

“The fuck?” flabbergasted punkster, shocked that with right reflexes, the whole attack could be nullified. Of course, one had to expect such attack in order to evade it, which made placements of those launchers inside alleyways harder to spot by not so attentive eyes.

 

“Heh...it was a close one.” chuckled Koichi before he stood up and returned back to the alleyway, walking with nothing short of swagger during it. Even though he had a hunch, he was still surprised at himself for guessing the right time to duck.

 

“How the hell did you evade that?!” questioned other punkster, still processing the fact that their contraption could be dodged so easily.

 

“Not exactly the fastest thing I had to dodge in my life. Still exciting though. Danger is something that gives me no fear.” boasted Koichi, which somehow impressed Suzuha. Even though she still deemed that what he did was reckless, she couldn’t help but be in awe of how smoothly it went for him. That has only confused punksters even more so.

 

“Thanks for the performance. Here’s your catch.” Koichi pulled out a dollar, worthy of five and folded it into a paper plane and threw it at punksters. It was a little tip he deemed worthy of. Once the dollar plane was caught by the punkster, they left the scene, continuing their mission as usual.

 

After their encounter, punksters had some major reconsideration regarding the defensive structure of Zona Daft Capo. If their traps were so easily dodged, or as they seemed so, wouldn’t that negate their entire point?

 

“Hey, should we say it to Coyote?” punkster asked the other one if they should address the Elite Bois about a rather noticeable setback regarding their defenses.

 

“Absolutely. This can fuck us up.” other punkster had zero hesitation on telling their higher ups. So much so, that he bolted out of alleyway like an athlete. Punkster accompanying him followed as well, as both of them began running towards their hideout. On their way, they just happened to encounter Koichi and Suzuha once again. Both agents looked back for a bit and they already thought the worse case scenario was going to happen.

 

“Shit! We’ve been found out?!” Koichi thought to himself, even if he still kept that boastful smile on his face. However, neither punksters noticed them, they just rushed towards the hideout. As fast as they appeared, as fast as they went away.

 

Luck was on their side.

 

Whew...close one…” Koichi thought to himself once again, readjusting his hat as they continued to stroll down the Zona. Despite being impressed by his dodge, Suzuha was not entirely fond of the stunt. At all.

 

“Seriously though, why did you do it again?” questioned Suzuha as she gave him a squint.

 

“Wanted to have a little fun, that’s all.” Koichi pretended that he did it just for a laugh. The true motive regarding his stunt was to test how capable was their defense. From what he got, he gathered that if one was aware of it, they could evade it with ease.

 

“Well, the fun can be without punches in the face.” sighed Suzuha as they continued their walk. However, more and more did they notice that the alleyway they’ve been to wasn’t the only one who had that launcher. Nearly every alleyway in the Zona did. That was already a big enough clue that Daft Capo was far from clueless regarding Fellowship’s activities.

 

Huh..it’s as if they’re expecting us….wait, they are. There’s no way they’d fill every corner with one of these if they had their guards lowered down. Even though those are easy to dodge if you expect them, it’s already a sign that they’re more willing to repel us. We have to take it into consideration.” Koichi thought to himself, thinking of ways to cover their true purpose We still can’t afford to expose ourselves. Perhaps we need a little…”

 

With an unintentional glance, he noticed a bar. As quickly as he noticed it, he quickly got an idea.

 

...detour.” Koichi smirked to himself, knowing exactly what to do.

 

“Say, SZQ BBQ. Wanna go for a drink?” Koichi suddenly asked her if she wants to quench her thirst. Such out of nowhere question startled Suzuha a bit.

 

“Eh? But….a drink? Why?” asked Suzuha, still confused on why exactly would they suddenly go for a drink when they were on the mission.

 

“We skipped breakfast. Best thing we could do is to get some energy. A quick boost.” Koichi pointed out that they couldn’t exactly neglect what their bodies would demand. Not only did they not eat breakfast, they also haven’t got any dinner from day before either.

 

“...Come to think of it, you’re right. It wouldn’t hurt for a moment, I guess.” Suzuha realized that even during the most time intensive missions, one needs to eat or drink.

 

“We’ll be quick, it’s just a little drink.” Koichi promised her that it won’t take a while. What he didn’t tell her was that it was all a ploy to blend in more. If they immediately waltzed into Daft Capo’s headquarters, that would have definitely raised some major suspicions regarding them. Worst case scenario obviously being hunted down by the mafia.

 

“Hmm….okey….dokey…” hesitated Suzuha, but she went along with it, just so she wouldn’t be thristy. However, she couldn’t help but wonder what exactly was on her colleague’s mind.

 

Koichi, what are you doing?! We’re supposed to find the location of Miss Yukizome! We can’t just meander around!” Suzuha thought to herself. No matter what she thought, he couldn’t answer right away. Koichi did however notice her bafflement.

 

Don’t worry, Suzuha. I know this might seem odd, but it’s all part of the plan. If we even looked remotely suspicious, they’d be after us real quick. It’s best to just take brief pauses, makes us blend in more.” Koichi thought to himself, wishing that he was capable of telepathy, so that she would understand a bit easier. However, Koichi lacked such mind manipulating powers.

 

Once they arrived, Koichi opened the door and both of them stepped in. Immediately, they were greeted with the Mediterranean vibe of the bar. It was quite different from usual Japanese ones. If one were to judge it solely from exterior, one would think they were in Italy, Greece or Croatia. Little time was to be had with admiring details, they just sat to the nearest table they found. On each table, there was a menu, written in Japanese and English. Plethora of drinks were to be had, from anything involving caffeine, varieties of alcohol that would make a European truly proud and even something that lacked both, like mineral water. Despite the variety of beverages, there was one constant:

 

Sky high prices.

 

All of these prices for drinks? I thought they couldn’t get any loonier….” Suzuha thought to herself as she couldn’t just believe the audacity of not only of such prices, but also who on Earth would be willing to spend so much on beverages. However, the waiter arrived shockingly quickly. They couldn’t waste much time thinking about the culture of Daft Capo.

 

“What would you like to order, bruddas?” asked the waiter, who was dressed in the exact same fashion as punksters. He was one after all.

 

“I’ll have…” Koichi took a look at the menu, taking some time to decide what would he have. Already he encountered some limitations.

 

Hmm….can’t exactly go with booze here. Not only because of potentially blowing our cover, but also because of Suzuha. Can’t act indecent in front of her.” Koichi thought to himself, still thinking about what could he choose. Going drunk would just endanger everyone, from Suzuha to the entire Fellowship. Thus, alcohol was forbidden, much to his dismay.

 

Then he had an idea of using the other type of addictive beverage instead.

 

...one Cappuccino, please.”.

 

T he waiter wrote down his drink of choice.

 

“And you?” the waiter turned his attention towards Suzuha.

 

“Ah, I’ll have water!” Suzuha just quickly fired her response.

 

“Just water?” the waiter raised his eyebrow regarding her choice. Out of all exquisite if expensive choices, she had chosen one that anyone could get for free. Tap water, a magical thing, if its safe enough to drink.

 

“Mineral water! This one!” Suzuha clarified that what she wanted was more than just ordinary water. She just pointed at the random one, coincidentally letting her finger land on “Radenska” mineral water. The waiter wrote that down and left. Thus they had time to contemplate their financial choices.

 

“That’s gonna be two hundred and fifty dollars down the drain.” commented Koichi as he shook his head in disbelief. So much money wasted on a simple cup of Cappuccino.

 

“One hundred and fifty on my end. For mineral water. What’s up with that?” Suzuha questioned as well.

 

“It’s worse in Switzerland! Had to pay one hundred and thirty five francs to get a haircut!” the guy at the other end of the room suddenly yelled across the entire bar, to prove a point that nothing at Zona Daft Capo is as expensive as anything in that totally “neutral” country is.

 

Author’s note: As the matter of fact that I have been to Zürich, which I dub as “Dubai of Europe”, I can confirm the fact that such prices were, indeed, really that high. Even something as a chocolate bar was around seven swiss francs there. However, I cannot say the same for rest of Switzerland, since as of time of writing, I have only really been into the aforementioned city.

 

“Uh...alright then! I believe you!” Koichi yelled across the bar as well, but it made him realize that they were a bit too loud for their liking.

 

“Anyway….where were we again?” Koichi spoke quieter, returning to their conversation. Just from a brief distraction, they didn’t even initially noticed that the waiter has already delivered their drinks. Suzuha did notice that Koichi wanted to get as little attention as possible.

 

“Drinks?” Suzuha pointed at a cup of Cappuccino and the Radenska mineral water bottle.

 

“Ah yeah. Drinks. Lets have it a go.” Koichi grabbed his cup of the desired beverage began sipping it, to savor every moment with it. Such was the true enjoyment of coffeee.

 

“Okey-dokey.” Suzuha snatched her bottle, but before she would open it, she couldn’t help but to inspect it. Many things were confusing to her. But while she was busy observing the green plastic bottle, covered with plastic that had three hearts on it, Koichi already began formulating his thoughts on the beverage.

 

Hey, this Capuccino ain’t half bad. Priced like hell, but it’s still good.” Koichi complimented the drink, citing that it was just the right taste of coffee. Beverages involving caffeine didn’t have any sugar in them, due to Daft Capo members deeming it a “ruined experience.”. Coffee must be experienced in its original form, free of false sweetness.

 

K oichi already sipped one quarter of his Cappuccino, but Suzuha was still busy observing the bottle.

 

“What is a Radenska?” Suzuha suddenly asked if Koichi knew about it. The Scout Leader was in the middle of taking another sip when she gave such question.

 

“Hm?” Koichi raised his eyebrow.

 

“Seriously, what is that?” Suzuha asked once again. Koichi then took a sip and put the cup down, so that he could give her an answer.

 

“Lemme take a look.” Koichi extended his hand, so that he could inspect the bottle. Suzuha gave him the aforementioned item and he was able to take a closer look. Just from brief observations, he could come to a pretty concise conclusion.

 

“Hm...seems to be just the name of it. Gotta say, I’ve never seen this brand before.” Koichi gave her a desired answer as he returned the bottle right to her.

 

“Yeah, apparently it’s from….Slovenia?” Suzuha asked more questions, since it was the first time she has ever heard of such country. Not surprising, considering that it is very small.

 

A country that looks like a chicken, eh? I’ve been there.” Koichi suddenly revealed that he has, indeed, visited Slovenia not only once, but a few times.

 

“Wait, really? How was it?” Suzuha’s eyes began to shine as she wanted to know more. It wasn’t exactly clear whether or not Suzuha was ever outside of Japan, but getting to know the world more would have certainly benefited her.

 

“Well, I’ve been to Lendava during October. We were harvesting grapes, so that we could create wine. Of course, I took quite a few sips there. Of course, I’ve also tasted grape juice in its rawest form. It’s quite sweet, if you ask me.” Koichi told her a true story involving him, how here and there, he went to go on a harvest. It was also out of his own volition too and there was much more to be had than just alcohol. Alas, he went mostly by himself.

 

“Oooh! Japan must have something similar too, I assume. Or is it more unique there?” Suzuha kept asking, desiring to know even more.

 

Oh yeah, Japan does have its domestic production of wine too. Sake is something worth trying out-” Koichi was just about to tell her more about Japan’s own experience with alcohol, but they were quickly distracted by the appearance of a certain individual.

 

Louisianos, a man who looked almost identical to Kingpin from Spider-man, entered the bar. Taller and wider than anyone present there, his presence was asserted quickly. He just wanted to go to the bartender, who also happened to be his brother. Both Suzuha and Koichi couldn’t help but to look at him, they were surprise one individual could have such comical proportions.

 

Look at that guy, SZQ BBQ. Straight outta comic book.” commented Koichi regarding Louisianos’ almost rectangular like posture. Unlike Kingpin, at least his head was large enough.

 

For real though. It’s like a wall walking.” added Suzuha as well. However, Louisianos just glanced over to them, as if he were to hear their comments. Not that they would offend him, just that he wasn’t quite sure if those two were exactly what they presented as. It was only a gut feeling based on their appearance, but it was enough for him to inspect them. Suzuha was right, it really was as if a wall was walking towards them.

 

...Aw, shit.” Koichi still kept a smile on his face, but that was the time where no screw up could be afforded. One wrong move, and they were done for. Louisianos’ fists were larger than their torsos, no way they would have walked out unscathed if he were to attack.

 

...Who are you two?” Louisianos towered over them, demanding to reveal their identities. Every choice mattered at that moment. Neither of them could afford even looking as if they were nervous, it would have ratted them out.

 

“Guests. We are just guests.” Koichi calmly clarified that there was nothing to suspect of them.

 

“Yes indeed, we just want to enjoy this bar. It’s very nice.” Suzuha gave a genuine compliment to the bar, even though not only did she disagree with prices, she also had to pretend that she wasn’t an agent.

 

“You two look like gangsters, but I don’t recall seeing you two among the ranks.” Louisianos pointed out how they dressed. Oddly enough, those who intentionally have steered into the Zona just dressed normally….or whatever wealthy considered to be normal by their standards.

 

“Because we are not gangsters. We are just rich.” Koichi suddenly pulled out few dollars, each worthy of one hundred, just to prove a point.

 

“Then why are you dressed like gangsters? Like ours, even.” Louisianos further questioned. Although that simple question made them feel chills down their spine. It felt like no matter what they did, closer was he to finding the truth. One wrong move, one tiny mistake, and the whole operation would be jeopardized.

 

Shit! Perceptive bastard! Does he know already?!” Koichi thought to himself, even trying not to sweat. He had to be quick on response too, otherwise Louisianos would have deemed him as a deceiver.

 

“No no no, it has nothing to do with it. Do you perhaps know a song called Smooth Criminal?” Koichi hinted at the “true” reason for such choice of fashion. It was all just a giant reference, or at least that was the story to be sold to.

 

Is that still in fashion?” Louisianos raised his eyebrow, doubting his claim.

 

“When something is a classic, it’s always fashionable. There’s a reason why we still play old songs like that, where as most other songs get forgotten in time.” Koichi further argued while bringing up a point that even to this day, we still sing songs of the past, where as most modern songs are just flash in a pan, completely forgotten by the next year, month even.

 

So what you are saying is that you are a giant MJ fan?” Louisianos asked him for the last time. It seemed like his efforts were paying off, the wide gangster lowered his suspicion on him.

 

“Yes, and nothing else.” nodded Koichi, freeing himself of any doubt.

 

“And what about you?” Louisianos turned his head towards Suzuha.

 

“I am from Osaka, madafaka!” boasted Suzuha as she made two V signs with her fingers, even posing as she wielded two guns at once. Unlike with Koichi, that was enough to convince him.

 

“That explains everything about you.” commented Louisianos as if he had experience with the aforementioned rival city. Most of, if not all of Daft Capo was in Tokyo, the city they were in. Only few individuals had presence in other cities. A lot of it had to do with the fact they had to rush. What exactly made them rush, only few individuals knew. Not even all of Elite Bois truly know why they got to Japan in such haste.

 

Really? That’s all it took for you?” Koichi thought to himself, a bit baffled with how little did she had to do to evade suspicion.

 

I am actually a rapper from there. It is the best place, yo!” Suzuha further added, even though at that point it was unnecessary.

 

“Hm. I am curious about one thing. How’s he doing?” Louisianos suddenly asked, having one particular person on his mind. Judging from the fact that he thought she was from Osaka, she must have already been familiar with him.

 

“Who?” Suzuha raised her eyebrow, not exactly sure about who exactly had he on his mind. Didn’t help that so far, she was only in two places: Tokyo and a location only she knew about. However, saying anything about that location was a big no-no for her.

 

“That guy who has golden teeth. Has ZENI written on them. He went on a vacation last time, to Dubai I think. How’s he doing?” clarified Louisianos as he referred to one particular tycoon. Rumors had it that he went to the Arabian sea, but was soon entangled in a conflict with one don of the boneful undead, which escalated on a level neither imagined. Thankfully for Osaka, he has already returned safely.

 

“Oh...I must admit, I didn’t really follow such topics. More of a music type, heh.” chuckled Suzuha that she it that type, the one who only really follow her field rather than being aware of any news. That was a huge lie, of course, but it was enough to sneak past Louisianos.

 

I see….” Louisianos ceased with suspicion as he walked away, going to the place where he intended to go in the first place. They were left alone, realizing that they need to finish as soon as possible.

 

“...I think I know that guy, yeah.” Suzuha quietly blurted out, even though she had zero idea about the tycoon in question.

 

Enjoy your drink. We’ll pay soon.” Koichi advised her to drink it as quickly as possible. No longer could they spend more time there.

 

“….That was close. I think we’d just pay up and get the hell outta here. This dude already could just break our bones with bare hands.” Koichi thought to himself, relieved that they avoided a major confrontation.

 

M eanwhile, Louisianos finally met his brother, who was none other than Figottoni, a former member of Hope’s peak academy, but a permanent member of Daft Capo. The younger Italian brother went as usual, serving drinks. Louisianos stood in front of him, he was too wide to sit on anything.

 

Brother, we will need to speak.” began Louisianos as he gained his brother’s attention.

 

“Yes?” Figottoni turned towards him while cleaning a glass.

 

We have some concerning matters regarding our latest operation. Despite our bargain, they still haven’t responded.” said Louisianos, sharing some of the information that he received from Elite Bois themselves. Herman and Coyote gave it to him.

 

Huh? That is a surprise indeed. I’d expect that they would respond as soon as possible.” Figottoni tried to act neutral, but deep down he was not exactly comfortable with the mission itself. Miss Yukizome was someone he respected a lot, for uniting her own class so well. His class was the exact opposite.

 

Makes me wonder what the hell is going on there. Report from Coyote indicates that the whole thing is a controversy within the enemy’s circles.” wondered Louisianos while tapping his fingers on the stand. Since he was too busy doing other tasks, such as being one of the operators of the Dollar Fisher, which was a Frankenstein’s monster of a moped and a crane, during their secondary missions, such as the bank heist. As much as Figottoni wanted to avoid the topic, there was something that was grinding his gears.

 

Why exactly would Miss-I mean, our bargain chip be divisive? As far as I know, she is beloved by her class and class 78th as well.” asked Figottoni, hardly imagining that someone like Chisa Yukizome could be an inflammatory topic within the circles of Hope’s peak academy. Aside from few students, most of them seemed to respect her.

 

“It’s not what lower scrubs say about her, its the higher ups. It’s a different story there.” clarified Louisianos. Referring to some of his friends as “lower scrubs” did not do any favors with Figottoni. Especially regarding his former friends like Ultimate Impostor as nothing short of bottom of the barrel, but no matter what, he felt like he couldn’t voice his true opinion, or else he would be suspected as a “sympathizer”.

 

...I see…” Figottoni just wanted to continue his job. However, his brother was not exactly oblivious.

 

“Figottoni, my brother, you seem rather hesitant there. Why so? I am sure that you don’t sympathize with them, do you?” Louisianos asked him what was up with him, out of genuine brotherly concern. Ever since they were found out back at Hope’s peak, Figottoni became much more restrained than usual, and he was already a very restrained type.

 

“Do not worry, it’s loyalty until the end. I always try to look at perspective of both sides, to see what could they offer. However….this whole situation is giving me doubts regarding our objectives.” Figottoni reassured that it had nothing to do with relating to Hope’s peak student, even though that was an actual reason he felt so down. Even his two friends shared similar thoughts, but they were under the threat of suspicion.

 

“Go on.” Louisianos raised his eyebrow.

 

It’s about the whole operation with our bargain chip. I feel like it is quite….” Figottoni expressed himself, careful not to slip, so instead he shifted for a more pragmatic approach regarding their mission. “...a gamble so to say.”.

 

“Ah, in that aspect. I was getting a little worried for a moment. I do see a silver lining here.” Louisianos commented on the matter, being sort of relieved that his brother didn’t seem like a sympathizer.

 

“What could that be?” asked Figottoni.

 

“You see, if they do fail at fulfilling our demands, then they would never see her again. While sure, we wouldn’t exactly get money, however a severe hit on their morale like that. They would be unable to pick themselves up after that, which would mean we could just send in Tom, maybe with support of Fritz or Nefarious, and we’d call it a day.” Louisianos shared his thoughts on the matter, how they could attack them right when they were at the lowest. While they couldn’t get the desired one hundred billion dollars, they could snatch the ownership of Hope’s peak academy right under their noses.

 

Figottoni refused to comment.

 

“Figottoni, that is our life. If it weren’t for them, we’d still live in poverty. Why hesitate anymore? There are no chains of second doubts that hold us.” Louisianos reminded him to go loose, not to be held by morality anymore. It was the mindset of a person who saved their lives from the claws of poverty. It was none of the Elite Bois, for sure. Perhaps it was the Don of Daft Capo himself, a much different person from anyone in Daft Capo. Such reminder grounded Figottoni regarding the situation.

 

“...Perhaps...we could have come up with a better plan.” lamented Figottoni on how there could be a better way to obtain the ownership of Hope’s peak academy, not by betting on one person’s life, but perhaps something more efficient and less personal. However, it was too late to change the past. Besides, the time was running out for them.

 

“Perhaps indeed, but we do have a major advantage now.” Louisianos kept reminding him that no matter how reprehensible the situation was, they were still in the lead. The question remained for how long.

 

All that talk, yet neither Koichi or Suzuha could hear it. They were too deterred to get closer to Louisianos. Thus, they paid their bill and the moment when they got the receipt, they calmly walked out of it, continuing their mission. They were quite relieved that despite the close call, they were still able to walk out undetected and safely.

 

“Whew…now we’re all energized, so lets go around some more.” Koichi wiped off his sweat from his forehead, glad that the whole business was done. However, he was quite aware that they still haven’t found the location of Miss Yukizome. The day was still early, but they couldn’t waste any time. They had only two days remaining.

 

Hmm...where should we go now?” asked Suzuha regarding what corner of Zona Daft Capo should they inspect. Koichi took a look around, wondering where exactly could they go. Right at the moment, they only knew the fraction of the enemy territory. Most of it still remained uncharted. Only a hunch could help them, since if they asked one wrong question, they would be chased.

 

“Let’s go this way.” Koichi pointed towards his left, just from a hunch. He had a feeling that going in that direction would bring them closer to the truth. Aside from the entrance, the Fellowship didn’t have much of reference how it was inside the Zona.

 

Okey-dokey!” nodded Suzuha as both of them went forth, continuing their exploration in the process. With each step, they were closer to finding out, but they were also walking on thinner ice. One wrong move, and it’s all over. One wrong thing said, and the victory of Daft Capo would be assured. Only the most extreme caution and perhaps even luck itself would warrant the Fellowship victory.

 

====TO BE CONTINUED====>

 

Notes:

Initially I planned this to be one chapter, but it got thiccer. So stay tuned!

Chapter 46: Operation Loki - Part II

Chapter Text

Their search continued. It was still around the noon, so time was to be had. However, the amount of it was little. Still just two days before Chisa Yukizome’s fate was decided. Koichi and Suzuha, after having an uncomfortable close call or two, decided to play it more cautiously. Their modus operandi remained the same, but they thought of a way to be more efficient and covert about it. After all, they were operating in the uncharted territory of Zona Daft Capo. Only a small amount of it was known to them, they still got plenty of ways to go.

 

Moments after their little adventure in the bar, Koichi began to wonder regarding the operation. Traces of Miss Yukizome were still yet to be found.

 

“Hmm…” Koichi scratched his chin as he observed the Zona around him. All of structures blended in the city, one would have hard time to immediately point out what belongs to Daft Capo just from exterior alone. At the same time, checking every single building would not only be time consuming, but would also raise red flags, potentially throwing the entire operation in the permanent trash bin.

 

“What’s up?” Suzuha glanced at him, wondering what sort of scheme did Mr.Kizakura have in his mind. She hoped that it would be something sensible on the spot.

 

“I’ve been thinking of something.” Koichi began to discuss about the potential plan.

 

“Yeah?” Suzuha tilted her head out of curiosity.

 

“What if we-” Koichi wanted to continue, but right away they spotted a point of interest: a stand, just like the one that MATO FATO had, but instead of being ran by a single Snifit, it was a punkster who was selling the goods. Around four more punksters flocked around him, staring at the stuff with intent.

 

“Bruh, that’s so killer.” the first punkster complimented the collection, which it turned out to be games of a first person shooter franchise so famous that it wouldn’t even be necessary to name it.

 

“Yah, we got them Call of Duty games only for four dollars and twenty cents. Dirt cheap!” boasted salesman punkster about his own goods. From Call of Duty, the very first one that still had health bars, up until Black Ops II, were all displayed on the selection. Anything that went further from Ghosts, because those installments received negative reception among punksters. Although the depth of their reviews would usually be summarized in one word: wince inducing but translated under their slang.

 

“Black Ops is the shit, man!” third punkster immediately took the opportunity to praise his favorite installment, due to its off the rails plot and the bonus mode that endured through test of time. Might have involved the undead, though.

 

“Naw, Modern Warfare 2 is the real deal!” fourth punkster brought up a different one. It’s release was nothing short of a proper event for the consumer base, such was a demand for the franchise that took a footing in the contemporary conflict.

 

“But Black Ops has the best Zombies mode! You cannot deny that, man!” countered third punkster that such mode was more than enough to put that game over fourth punkster’s favorite.

 

“Two words: Spec Ops. Does Black Ops have that?” fourth punkster argued that Modern Warfare’s bonus mode was superior of blasting the walking dead with all sorts of weaponry, from guns of World War 2 to insane fictional “wonder” weapons that fire plasma energy and electricity.

 

“You all bastards arguing about two inferior games when we know that United Offense is the best one.” fifth punkster interjected with a game of the past, before regenerating health was even a thing in the series. Traces of its predecessor, Medal of Honor, were still there.

 

“Cuz you’re a boomer!” fourth punkster called him out for such “out of date” taste, despite being around the same young age as them. Specifically, youngest punksters had to be at least seventeen to be eligible for membership. The oldest known member of Daft Capo was not exactly known to them. In fact, only the aforementioned member, perhaps an Elite Boi, knew about it.

 

“Your mother is a boomer!” retaliated fifth punkster with a classic verbal attack, not that it affected the target that much. However, their convo regarding what first person shooter of the aforementioned franchise came to an end when one of them accidentally glanced over to “the guests”. Soon after, others did the same.

 

“Hey, look at those guys.” salesman punkster pointed at them. Koichi and Suzuha were just listening to their conversation, partially because it amused them.

 

“Yo, they have killer drip.” the second punkster complimented their taste of fashion, since it reminded them of their own. Nothing was to be suspected about them, so they got around casually and cozily.

 

“Wazzap, dudes?” greeted Suzuha like a wannabe gangster, placing her hand behind her head as she struck a pose.

 

“Sup, bastards.” Koichi just tipped his hat as both of them approached the group of punksters as if they were their friends.

 

“Hey, guess what? I no scoped that guy’s mama, what do you have to say to that?” the fourth punkster suddenly revealed to them as he pointed at salesman punkster. In a way, it was a true story. Salesman punkster’s mother did attempt to play Call of Duty Modern Warfare 2, but was “no scoped” on the spawn. Needless to say, she never tried it ever again, she just remained in her comfort zone, consisting of Putt-Putt.

 

“Dayum, boy, that’s disrespectful.” Koichi wanted to act like as if he cared, but for some reason, the prospect of one’s mom being owned in a game was slightly intriguing to him.

 

“You call that a no scope? I can no scope and quick scope in real life!” Suzuha put her hands around her hips, asserting dominance with her own skills. Whether or not she put those skills in the action was obvious: not.

 

“For real?” the fifth punkster raised his eyebrow, curious to see such claim to be realized. Other punksters were also quite intrigued by the mentioned capability of such woman.

 

“For. Real!” Suzuha boastfully nodded, almost believing it herself that she is capable of it, just that it would be hard to justify its practical usage.

 

“Yo, that’s so cool, dude.” praised the salesman punkster.

 

“You guys seem pretty cool. Wanna friendly roast off?” the third punkster was so impressed by her claims, that he invited them to do a tradition among punksters, as old as the very start of Daft Capo: trying to one up each other with better insult game.

 

“Nah, got places to be.” Koichi initially denied, just wanting to continue his mission and no longer stall for time.

 

“You’re too pussy.” the third punkster taunted, provoking him into the duel. Upon hearing such taunt, Koichi knew he had to play along, or else he would have been suspected as someone who was a part of Hope’s peak academy. As far as they were concerned, students were generally not amazing at taking insults.

 

“Fine, let’s get the show running.” Koichi accepted the challenge as both of them faced each other, like two bandits in the Wild West battling for who shall be in charge of the town. That time, it was about pride instead of towns.

 

“Kick his ass!” Suzuha rooted for her colleague as she shook her fist. Punksters prepared themselves for it.

 

The cover of “Flight of the Bumblebee”, done predominately by a trumpet, began to play. The music was provided by the nearest speaker.

 

ROAST OFF

 

KOICHI KIZAKURA (“LUIGI MARTINI”) VERSUS THE RANDOM PUNKSTER

 

 

“Jesus Christ, yo face is so ugly, even yo mama couldn’t love it! It makes me wanna shove rocks in my asshole, commit a sudoku!” the third punkster immediately fired away his first insult at him, with his mouth flapping like a bird.

 

“That opening line of yours was so bad, even a stoner wouldn’t be laughing at!” Koichi retaliated with a smirk on his face.

 

The third punkster took a big breath, preparing himself to bring in the big guns.

 

“You literally made Saddam Hussein resurrect from the debauchery of dead, walk into the furthest bar as his demise was brought by alcohol totaling his liver, no longer being able to cope the fact that he no longer held the title of “The biggest fuckface in the world.” the third punkster unleashed verbal destruction that any of Hope’s peak students would just crumble to. None of them, even ones with strongest wills, could take it.

 

“OOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHHHHHHH!!!!!” shouted punksters in union from the sheer power of such roast, as if they heard a soul crushing diss from a rapper. Even Suzuha was flabbergasted by the verbal attack he received.

 

However, unlike most folk present at Hope’s peak academy, Koichi Kizakura was a different breed.

 

“Good for him!” Koichi just scoffed the whole insult as if it were nothing. Everyone around him was baffled at how well he could take such an insult. The third punkster’s vein popped, knowing that his “big guns” were just tossed into the bin.

 

“You are so cringe that even dead memes wince at your sight!” third punkster began reaching for lower “fruits”, just to take him down at all means necessary. His verbal attack, however, just bounced off.

 

“I’m sorry, were you born wrong? As I can see, your mouth has been swapped with your asshole!” Koichi fired back at him like a howitzer. The punkster was starting to get a little infuriated by his lack of success against the Scout Leader.

 

“You are so stupid, you eat ass for breakfast!” the third punkster started to lose steam, with his insults ever so degrading.

 

“Only thing that you eat is whatever remains after beating your meat.” Koichi delivered one like an underhanded jab below the belt.

 

“Bruh you’re so cringe memelord stupid noob ass motherfucker cringe afafafafaffaffaaaughhh motherfucker dickman schlong bruh!” the third punkster rapidly gnashed his teeth, trying to come up with anything resembling an insult, but it seemed like his own brain was steaming. Not only just from thinking, but from seething too.

 

“OMG, he’s spamming now, wow!” snorted the fifth punkster upon the sight of his amigo getting owned by a guest.

 

“Get him, Luigi! Booyah!” Suzuha shook her fist like a focused football fan, eagerly awaiting what kind of roast did he have in store. Turned out the following one was also a verbal fatality.

 

“I’ve got one more for you: packing small!” Koichi pointed at him, grinning as if he himself were a villain from some kind of cartoon. At that point, the punkster knew the outcome.

 

“Fine fine fine, you win this one. I’ll admit your roasting skills are top tier. Where did you get such mastery, brudda?” the third punkster forfeited as he congratulated Koichi for his victory. There were no hard feelings to be had, at least from his side. There was an odd sense of sportsmanship when it came to “roast off”, possibly because those who take their losses like stepping on a LEGO brick are shamed upon.

 

“Bar experience, that’s all I can say!” Koichi revealed his trick, and he wasn’t even making it up. All of his adventures with booze did expand his vocabulary colorfully.

 

“Oh man, a veteran.” the salesman punkster was in awe upon learning such “secrets” of insult mastery. The salesman himself has already been to bars, but he was like a little baby compared to Koichi.

 

“But can you compare to the Master of Insults?” the fourth punkster cautioned him of the true championship of destroying pride, dignity and honor of anyone who dared to challenge him. The man himself was already in the Zona Daft Capo, but has yet to step in the conflict between the syndicate he was part of and the Fellowship of Darkness. Neither Koichi nor Suzuha had any idea who that was, so the question just flew above them.

 

“Alright, bros. I’ll be heading. Gotta enjoy the place, after all.” Koichi and Suzuha had to peace out, waving their hand as they continued their mission, exploring the enemy territory. As they went, all of the punksters stared in away, forever remembering the performance of guests. For folk that weren’t in Daft Capo, they couldn’t help but

 

“Wear that drip with pride!” the third punkster pumped his fist, wishing them a life of success and glory.

 

“Man, they’re so based…” the fifth punkster still had to process the whole roast off, how his colleague got owned by a guest. It hasn’t really happened before, although that was also a first time a roast off happened with someone outside of the mafia. They were even considering making merchandise out of them, made out of genuine respect.

 

Meanwhile, as intended, Koichi and Suzuha strolled down the Zona once again, still looking for anything remotely suspicious. However, before they could fully dedicate themselves to it again, they had to talk about the roast off. Through out the time, Suzuha couldn’t help but be impressed by the wordplay he weaponized against the punkster.

 

“Mad roast skills, dude! How did you get so good?” Suzuha gave him a compliment in a “hip” way before she wanted to gain the knowledge on how to hurt one’s pride most effectively and decisively.

 

“Like I’ve said, bar experience. Now where were we…” Koichi gave a rather short answer, since it was everything she needed to know. Suzuha didn’t quite have such bar experiences, so she had a bit of a tough time imagining it. Koichi wanted to bring up a topic he had on his mind, but then another distraction came.

 

Amid the usual structure, there was a building shaped like a black rectangular cuboid. The aforementioned work of architecture resembled a movie theater, but that function was present in another building, a much more generic looking, although as huge as the one that Koichi had his eyes upon. Both of them ceased to walk as they observed the building, wondering if it has anything worth of substance regarding their mission. Koichi put his finger on the chin, having a feeling that there was something in it. Whether was it useful, dangerous, both or none, that had to be found out.

 

“Hey, SZQ. Should we check this out?” Koichi asked for her permission to inspect the building. Just from a different shape than usual alone, he had an urge to inspect it. Perhaps Daft Capo was hiding something vital there. It was a chance that couldn’t be missed, even if it turned out to be ultimately a time waster.

 

“Uh, this is not like before with the bar, right?” Suzuha wanted to be sure that it was not some kind of time consuming distraction in order to “blend in” the criminal environment. Thankfully, that was not Koichi’s intention at the time.

 

“I’m having a hunch this building will be interesting. Maybe we’ll find something cool there, so to say.” Koichi elaborated to her in such a way that it wouldn’t out them. Suzuha then placed her finger on the chin as she took another look at the building. She hasn’t ever seen a building like that before. Her own curiosity got her, wondering what kind of purpose does it have. Perhaps there was something related to Miss Yukizome after all.

 

“Oh! If that is so, then it’s all okey-dokey!” Suzuha gave it a chance as both of them stepped forth, with the intention to see what’s inside. The door was opened and soon after both of them went in.

 

The answer to the question whether the building was relevant was quickly answered by a brief glance downwards.

 

The entire floor was meant for dancing. Each tile, with their edges covered by black outline, was colored like an unsolved Rubik’s cube. The whole ceiling was painted pitch black, just to make the disco ball stand out. The giant disco ball slowly spun on the string, which was taped on the ceiling. Lights from below were pointed right at it, reflecting them across the whole room. There was a bar within the building, everything else was just a giant dance floor. DJ, not Rando that time, was standing behind his table, blasting music fitting of Daft Capo’s taste. Rando himself was too busy with Elite Boi shenanigans. The track at the time was called “Temple of Shrooms Disco”, an import from Vegas Snifits themselves. Of course, the whole dance floor was occupied by dancing punksters. They were all jamming to the beat. It would have been a sin if the floor remained untouched. Weirdly enough, around the corners of the dance floor, sunloungers were placed in corners. Vegas Snifits were occupying them, chilling as if they were bathing. By Daft Capo terminology, they were “being boneless”.

 

“Brooooo… I’m vibing so hard with this music. It’s like I’m totally oblivious to everything else…” Vegas Snifit mused to himself as he was relaxing in his sunlounger. The music put him in some kind of imaginary trance, with mental images of head bobbing birds going through his mind.

 

Needless to say, both Koichi and Suzuha took some time to process the whole thing. A confident hunch, just being danced upon by reality. They didn’t have quite the idea what they just stumbled into, they just stood there like two silly looking statues.

 

“Um, is this the right place?” Suzuha scratched her head as she still had a baffled expression on her face. However, Koichi regained his composure after some time was used upon a thought as he went back into his character of “Luigi Martini”.

 

“...Let’s uh...enjoy our time here.” advised Koichi as they began to go deeper, just to see what was happening around them. On their left, the bar had the usual: the bartender, an older looking fella, serving drinks to thirsty punksters. Some of them were already wasted, just succumbing to their own hedonism. Some of punksters had uncertain future when it came to their own livers. On their right, it was just equipment, nothing of their interest. Surroundings started to incite doubts.

 

Was my hunch wrong? I swear, this place has something to hide...but I am not sure what exactly, best to just go with the flow.” Koichi thought to himself as both of them continued their journey in what it seemed to be a building dedicated solely to partying. A dance house, one could say. All that was in front of him were punksters letting their bodies be controlled by music.

 

In other words, jack shit worth of anything regarding their mission.

 

“So...should we stay here?” Koichi asked whether or not should they bother being in the place. Seemed like his hunch was off the mark, perhaps.

 

“Mmm...nah. For the later time.” Suzuha shrugged off, confirming the decision. Both of them began to walk towards the exit, but upon such action, punksters already began to look at them.

 

“Yo, where you two fellas going? You’re missing some mad shit here!” asked punkster as he invited them back, to “vibe”, so to say. When both of them heard their voice, they were startled, but luckily, because of the crowd, no one suspected them of anything. Still odd that punksters managed to sniff out those who had no intention to party. Primary reason for that is because everyone who steps in the dance house, be it a punkster or guest, goes to jam. No one has declined it before and fully went with it.

 

“What kind of man comes at the dance party and doesn’t rock his cock off?” Vegas Snifit raised another point regarding the character and nature of a person who goes to a party to not party.

 

“A pussy, that’s who!” another punkster fired away an answer regarding Snifit’s pondering. At that point they knew what the choice was. The alternative would end up in the chase.

 

“...Well, that answers it.” Koichi decided to return back to the dance floor. Suzuha followed as well, still keeping a smile on her face, although it was just a cover. Deep down, the sudden development of the situation was not appreciated by her.

 

Dang it! Just when we were about to go!...But at the very least we’re still undercover. That big dude got close to uncovering us though, so...yeah, I have to be patient here.” Suzuha thought to herself, knowing that she had to play along, or else the fate of Miss Yukizome would have been sealed. Both of them stepped right on the dance floor, joining punksters in their “vibing”, so to say.

 

“So, you two with us or guests?” asked the punkster nearby.

 

“Guests.” quickly answered Koichi as he tipped his hat.

 

“Ayy, wanna show some moves? Don’t worry about the price, vibing is one of those things that’s fully free in Zona.” the punkster gave him an offer while also revealing quite a shocking fact: a free thing in the zone full of needlessly expensive goods. Considering how punksters reacted upon declining to dance, both of them knew they had to play along.

 

“Hah, let’s give it a shot!” Koichi snapped with his fingers. His colleague approached DJ’s table and began to look for a song. She saw plenty of discs, all of them being of various genres, from techno, house, dubstep, you name it. Only one genre was forbidden, not because punksters disliked it, but listening to it leaves cataclysmic effects upon one’s state of mind, if they have a weak one at that. The forbidden genre was listened by the pigeons.

 

“Give us….hmmm….” Suzuha observed discs, wondering which one to pick. None of song titles were particularly familiar to her, so she had to randomly choose one. By going through “eenie meenie miny moe”, she finally made the decision.

 

“...Thrills at Night!” Suzuha picked the aforementioned tune, belonging to the genre of disco. Just like with “Temple of Shrooms Disco”, “Thrills at Night” was also imported from Vegas Snifits. Rumors has it that a sentient hole punch loves that song, if there was such universe where stationery had autonomy, sapience and free will. Such rumor also originated from where Vegas Snifits originally truly came from.

 

“Oh, Thrills at Night? That one is for big shots! You sure you wanna try that out?” the DJ punkster raised his eyebrow, wondering regarding her choice. Usually, someone of higher position among punksters chose that song to celebrate a successful mission or an action of similar importance.

 

“Yah!” happily nodded Suzuha.

 

“Why not?” questioned Koichi on what exactly was so strange about her decision. For the punkster, it was just a little bit unusual that a guest would have picked that one. However, it was her wish, she was bold about it, no further arguments. It would have been disrespectful if one’s music wish was just ignored.

 

“..Alright then. Give us a good one.” the DJ punkster accepted her music wish as he began playing it. Upon hearing the song, punksters stepped away from the center of the dancing floor, letting Koichi and Suzuha have the spotlight.

 

Thus, their performance began.

 

Both of them tapped with their feet, just for a little warm up. Finger snapping accompanied the taps as the song began to build up. Punksters around them observed their every move, waiting for how will they make them fall on the floor from awe. Meanwhile, Snifits in sunloungers kept chilling behind, not even batting an eye. One of them even had sunglasses on. Koichi and Suzuha’s movements remained on the small side, tapping and snapping. The song continued to build up.

 

Suddenly, the beat dropped. Both of them spun like two simultaneous tornadoes before stopping, facing left relative to the entrance. Two guests performed something that threw every punkster, including Snifits on sunloungers, off their feet:

 

Moonwalking.

 

There was no assistance to be had. There was no “magic trick” beneath the curtain. They simply moonwalked as they intended and as they wished. Simply as they felt like it. The music took authority over their moves. An event which all of those present in it saw for the first time. Not many were capable of it.

 

“HOLY FUCK!!!” shouted punkster as he fell on the floor from sheer awe. He wasn’t the only one who could not contain the hype behind moonwalking. Even Snifits on sunloungers were taken a back. They all sprung up from them as they laid their eyes upon the moonwalking duo, who were getting ever closer to the wall.

 

“T-they’re….they’re….they’re BASED!” the Vegas Snifit threw his sunglasses away from the shock. He had to see the whole thing unobstructed. However, it did not just end there. Just when they were about to crash into the wall, they jumped and used the wall as a springboard like two ninjas. Both of them performed a sommersault in the air, once again making punksters around cheer for them.

 

“No...they’re not just based….they’re GODS!” the other Vegas Snifit knelt, knowing that such power should be respected. Both Koichi and Suzuha just went with the flow, twisting their bodies without a care. In a way, the thought of Daft Capo started to creep into their minds. They kind of understood their mentality. Why be constrained by the law or your own principles when you could enjoy your own life to the fullest, without even a pinch of worry or care?

 

However, despite understanding it, the possibility of them joining Daft Capo was none. To say that kidnapping of Chisa Yukizome soured up any good impressions of them would have been an understatement.

 

As the song came to its conclusion, so did their dance, ended with a dramatic pose akin to one a true King of Pop would have done.

 

“Brooooo!!!!!” punksters all around them cheered for the duo. Some of them wanted an encore, but that was a wish that could not be granted by them. As they finished their dance, they began to strut towards the exit. Punksters surrounded them like paparazzi, wanting to know every secret they had.

 

“Bruh, that was epic!!! How did you get those mad skills?!” asked one random punkster. If he had a microphone, he’d just shove it in their faces.

 

“Simply because we can!” stated Koichi, refusing to elaborate further as they were getting ever closer to the exit.

 

“Yah! Take notes, madafakas!” Suzuha did a double finger gun gesture, saying their last words to them as they left the dance house. None of the punksters followed them, not only because they felt like they were only a zilch to their worth in terms of “being based”, but also because it was rude to stalk, unless if it were for operational needs.

 

“Woahh!!” all of punksters in the dance house forever remembered their performance. It was the first time a guest managed to display “these sick skills” to them. Usually, it was a norm that the guests would be amateurs, but these were professionals they were dealing with.

 

“If only I could learn from these masters…” pondered another punkster as he shook his fist, promising himself that one day, he will also have the capability to moonwalk so smoothly as they did. He was far from the only one who had such ambitions awakened in the dance house.

 

Meanwhile, their search continued. However, they were in a condition similar to being intoxicated by alcohol, except that no actual substance was taken. Fun they had amid their performance has influenced their minds, as they couldn’t stop thinking about how much they impressed random punksters.

 

“Hahaha, that was great!” Koichi laughed like a stoner after smoking a fat one.

 

“We went real “Booyah” on them, didn’t we?” rambled Suzuha as she made boastful gestures with her hands, like a true rapper. In a way, they were the closest to actual behavior of Daft Capo punksters, without even trying too much. The adrenaline and hype was doing the job for them.

 

“Ohohoho, yeah! And they were like “no way!” and we were like “for real!”, hahaha! Oh man, we could do this together.” Koichi joined in boasting as well, not even having the slightest idea where they were even going.

 

“And then, we’d be like “we’re so cool, too for school!” and they’d all faint!” Suzuha struck another pose with double V shaped gestures, done by her fingers. All that talk, and no punkster nearby batted an eye. Probably because that was normal behavior for them.

 

“Hahaha, yes indee-” Koichi wanted to continue boasting, but all of feeling, similar to being drunk, disappeared when they just stumbled themselves in front of a building that they would have never imagined seeing it with their own eyes, let alone in Japan.

 

The building itself was unlike any other in the city. The concrete walls were dull gray, sticking out like a sore thumb amid the colorful city. It also looked straight out of Pointe de Hoc, set in 1944. The influence of bunkers regarding the structure was unambiguous. They were still in the safe distance of the building, but it has certainly raised interest in them. It was a needed wake up call, since they were close to losing focus. The bunker like building reminded them of their true purpose.

 

“...What...is….that?” wondered Suzuha as her gaze was locked on the bunker like building. It looked oddly familiar to her.

 

“You tell me, SZQ. You tell me.” Koichi knew as much as she did. They decided for further inspection by getting closer to the building. As the building seemed larger and larger, both of them spotted not only just an oddity but a warning as well.

 

The bunker like building had punksters patrolling around it. Each corner of it had those punch glove armed rockets on launchers, also in control by those grunts. Inside the building, more of punksters were watching like snipers, waiting for any “scrub” to step closer. The one in charge of the security was the guard, same one that guarded Tsurihito Warehouse and beat the living daylights out of a former student. Although they haven’t seen them, there were also spring traps sporadically placed around it. Any of Hope’s peak students who’d be unaware of it would have been launched in the air. Luckily, they have been away from those traps and none of them seemed to suspect them. From such distance, they could observe it. Oddly enough, none of the security had any firearms. It likely had to do with Daft Capo’s protocol, forbidding firearm usage unless the adversary wields them themselves. Part of the reason why was that the presence of firearms could potentially dwarf them into a bigger catastrophe. They are high profile weapons after all, especially in the docile world of civilians.

 

Huh...no other building was like this. Anywhere else is free game, but this…. Isn’t….” Koichi began to think about. Only thing else that was guarded were streets themselves, although they were pretty much everywhere. However, they weren’t as grouped up as they were around the bunker-like building.

 

Then Koichi began to connect the dots.

 

Why would they guard something in the first place, if everything else was so lax with security?

 

Wait a minute….this must be it!” Koichi figured it out. Without explicitly saying, he just poked Suzuha’s shoulders, gaining her attention.

 

“Oi, Suzuha.” Koichi glanced at her, with confidence being present in his voice.

 

“Yah?” Suzuha tilted her head at him.

 

“What do you think?” Koichi pointed at the bunker-like building, giving her hints. Even though he was just implying, he was still on thin ice, especially since they were kind of close to the building’s security.

 

“Think of what...exactly?” Suzuha further asked. Koichi just winked at her, along with a small smirk for a moment. Suzuha remained confused on what he meant, until she took another look at the building herself. She made the same observations as Koichi did and came to the same conclusion as well.

 

“...Oh! So...bingo?” Suzuha just wanted to be sure whether or not Koichi’s hunch was correct that time.

 

“Bullseye. Delivery found.” Koichi had no doubt about it. They were just about to head back, but they quickly noticed a person approaching them.

 

“Halt!”.

 

It was the head honcho of building’s security himself, the guard. He was just walking quickly to them. As long as he wasn’t running like a Terminator, there was a chance to walk out of the encounter unscathed.

 

...Awww, shit.” Koichi wanted to frown, but he kept his smile. If he showed frustrations, that could have given away his role. Instead, he just chose to talk with the guard normally, as if he were crossing a border. “Ahem, yes?”.

 

“You are treading on restricted area. Remove your presence immediately.” the guard cautioned them for the next time. Since they were guests, he was not allowed to utilize (non-lethal) force, which meant his own fists and a plunger.

 

“Oh right. Sorry about that, we just didn’t know.” apologized Koichi, still remaining in position, even though he wanted to go away as quickly as possible. Suzuha followed his actions as well.

 

However, he did not realize he just made a potential mistake.

 

“Hold it. Are you sure you two just didn’t know?” the guard began questioning them regarding their presence. His alertness was raised, prepared to strike them in case of any suspicious behavior.

 

“Yes, because we were just taking a stroll through out the city. You know, gotta be fit.” Koichi elaborated that they had no further ulterior motives, that the whole trip to the Zona was just a random corner city to explore. The guard raised his eyebrow in response. However, his eyes were still not shining red.

 

“It’s true. We went where our noses pointed at.” Suzuha supported Koichi’s claim, but that was not enough to convince the guard.

 

“Is there a purpose to your visit here?” the guard continued to challenge them by further questioning.

 

“Just to have fun, that’s all. We intend to get outta here anyway. Like this is a restricted place, and all.” Koichi kept insisting that there was nothing to be wary about them, it was all just a friendly visit. Of course, it was a lie, but a lie that the guard hasn’t fell for. However, a kernel of truth was that they had no intention breaking in the bunker-like building. They were outmatched and there was presence of Elite Bois there.

 

“Having fun, huh? Any other motives, per say?” the guard kept firing question after question, just to be one hundred percent sure. He couldn’t let any of adversaries just slide in and potentially undermine their efforts.

 

“What exactly do you suspect us of? We’re just citizens, nothing else.” Suzuha suddenly raised a question, since it seemed rather strange to her that he acted so wary of them.

 

“Perhaps you two are spies.” the guard did not hesitate to reveal the reason for it. From his perspective, it was reasonable enough. Real espionage was quite contrary to the common depiction in media. It wasn’t about looking sharp in the suit and using all fancy schmancy explosive gadgets, it was about seamlessly blending in. The exact thing Koichi and Suzuha were doing.

 

“Spies for….who?” Koichi raised his eyebrow, acting like he had no idea what the guard was talking about. He kept his cool, but it was starting to unnerve him. Perhaps Daft Capo had sharper eyes than imagined.

 

“That question has an obvious answer.” the guard wanted to corner them with their statement. Koichi certainly knew, but acted oblivious to the conflict. However, it wasn’t immediately clear to his colleague.

 

“No, seriously. Who exactly do you have in mind?” Suzuha asked, genuinely puzzled about who exactly did the guard have in his mind. Even the guard was surprised by how sincere she sounded.

 

“Currently, rival gangsters like that Peugeot Mafia, but our biggest concern comes from Hope’s peak academy.” the guard concisely gave out names of their adversaries, with one of them being blatantly familiar. Although considering what he heard from Elite Bois, it was less of Hope’s peak academy itself, which is probably still arguing within itself what were they supposed to do, and more about “The Fellowship of Darkness”, but Daft Capo did not recognize the legitimacy of that group. Solely out of disrespect. They were, however, aware of it. Both Koichi and Suzuha winced upon hearing the academy’s name.

 

“Oh, those guys. Yeah, those are rough.” Koichi stated his opinion, although despite being among the higher ups in Hope’s peak academy, he wasn’t exactly lying about his feelings. Chisa was pretty much one of the few ones he not only had respect, but friends with. Other one was Jin Kirigiri. Rest of them, he could care less.

 

“We’ve heard some pretty bad things about them.” added Suzuha as well. The guard did not question why did they have such opinions. Even though Hope’s peak itself was still popular in Japan, it was a matter of time when would it start declining. Only few knew the true nature of it, those being higher ups and Daft Capo itself.

 

“Any connections with either?” asked the guard.

 

“Nah.” Koichi and Suzuha calmly, but immediately denied any connection with Hope’s peak academy. Technically speaking, Suzuha wasn’t lying about it. Officially, she didn’t have any bond with Hope’s peak itself.

 

However, that still wasn’t enough.

 

“Hmm...do you perhaps have any phones with you? Make sure you unlock it first.” the guard demanded them to show them their phones.

 

“Oh, sure.” Koichi still remained cool, even under pressure, as he reached out for his phone in the pocket. He had a back up phone, acting as a decoy. If he had a real one with him, the mission would have failed.

 

Damn it...he can’t just stop sticking his nose in places, can he?” Koichi’s facade started to slowly break, as he felt heat in his head. He unlocked the phone with his password and gave it to the guard. The head of building’s security inspected the phone, looking through his contacts. There was only one number, which he called upon. As he did, the phone in Suzuha’s pocket began to vibrate. She also gave his phone to him and the guard did the same. There was only Koichi’s (fake) number on it. Already, he began to suspect them.

 

“If you are wondering why I have so little numbers, it’s because my old one went haywire, including the SIM card. It’s a very recent one. She also just got a new one too, we intend to get more numbers later on.” Koichi elaborated about what exactly happened for them to have such phones. It was, of course, a fake story, but not exactly an unfeasible one. Perhaps Luigi Martini and SZQ BBQ, fake as they might have been, were the only friends between each other, maybe even losing contact with their parents.

 

Unlike before, the story was believable enough for the guard for fall for it, even just so slightly.

 

“I see...there doesn’t seem to be any sign of connections.” commented the guard before he returned their phones, relieving them of worry for the moment.

 

“Can we go now? Pretty sure there’s nothing to worry about.” Koichi expressed his desire to get the hell out of here. The guard got a little too close to the truth and they needed to bail out.

 

“One more thing before you go. Show me your ID’s.” the guard still wasn’t convinced, despite investigating their phones. It was the lack check needed for them to not only decide the fate of the Operation Loki, but also the very fate of Miss Yukizome herself.

 

“Fine then. Have it.” Koichi quickly gave out his fake ID card, although it was not a counterfeit one. It was a legitimate, registered ID, just under false identity. The guard took a look at it and then pulled out his phone, using the good old internet for further inspection.

 

“Luigi Martini, is that right?” the guard asked for confirmation.

 

“Yes it is. It is indeed.” nodded Koichi. Then the guard typed out Koichi’s fake name in the phone and he immediately got results. The man himself, so called Luigi Martini, was on pictures of grape harvests around Europe, in order to obtain the finest alcoholic beverages possible. He didn’t cause much trouble there, even if he got drunk often. Just that his presence was common in grape harvests.

 

“Luigi Martini, an explorer from America. Italian origin, apparently. Traveled to places like Lendava, Vosne-Romanée and Naousa. Do you really like wine that much or something?” the guard questioned him, just out of curiosity.

 

“Hell. Yeah!” sincerely grinned Koichi. It was the one aspect of his personality that he could not hide.

 

“Understandable….now lets check yours.” the guard did not judge him for it, since he also enjoyed the taste of alcoholic beverages before he focused on Suzuha herself.

 

“Okey-dokey.” Suzuha reached for the pocket, pulling out a few different cards, such as her debit card, travel card meant for metro and her ID. However, the last card was her actual one.

 

...Shit! I don’t think I have any fakes with me. This is my real one!” Suzuha, although still keeping cool, realized that her true identity could jeopardize their whole mission. The guard already made a gesture with his hand, demanding her to already give it to him.

 

“Ah, just a sec, I have to sure its a right one.” Suzuha hesitated for a moment, pondering whether or not she should use her actual identity, despite the risk.

 

“The right one?” the guard immediately raised his eyebrow as he began suspecting her.

 

“Well, I can’t give a loyalty card for my ID, can I? Just one moment.” Suzuha put her hand around her hip, pouting at his impatience. Her explanation seemed reasonable enough, one can’t just use any card for identification.

 

But at the same time...I don’t think these gangsters know of me, so….what other choice do I have but to risk it?” Suzuha was still stuck whether or not would it be worth it to use her real one. On one hand, she has yet to openly oppose Daft Capo, like how Class 77-B and Class 78th did. On other hand, she was already working for them. Daft Capo was not aware of her existence and role, but any wrong move and that would change dramatically.

 

Despite the conundrum, she went with her decision.

 

“Here ya go!” Suzuha gave her card to him, as he did the same procedure as he did with Koichi, or as he went by, Luigi Martini. Unlike before, there wasn’t much to be found about Suzuha herself. Not even Hope’s peak’s own website had any mentions of her.

 

“Hmmm….Suzuha Amane, is that right?” the guard asked for confirmation.

 

Suzuha, what are you doing?!” Koichi began to be distressed, even though he wasn’t showing it off. The risk she took was an alarming one, although things seemed to go smooth for them for the moment.

 

“That’s right. That is my real name, though nowadays I go with SZQ BBQ. I still yet to hit off with the public, but I’m doing my best!” Suzuha further elaborated, making up a story that she’s a beginner in rapping industry. Her initial plan was to use the internet to reach to the hearts of people with her skills, then become an industry staple. Of course, Suzuha didn’t actually have such ambitions, but it was an enough of a cover up story to let it slide.

 

“Hmmm...there isn’t much of you out there. Be grateful for your irrelevance.” the guard warned them about the dangers of being known. Both of them felt chills down their spine upon hearing those words.

 

“Can we go now?” Koichi asked one last time. At that point, the guard was convinced. There was no further questioning to be had.

 

“You have permission to leave….but watch yourselves” the guard allowed them to go away, and so they did. They haven’t said a word with each other after it, they just walked as naturally as they could. Both of them wanted to just dash off, but that would have revealed the truth. Both of them even took a longer route, just to blend in more.

 

Despite the encounter, they got out of the Zona safely and successfully.

 

Operation Loki, concluded at 13:00, was successful. Once they were in safety, they began to talk. However, any mentions of the Zona and such were not allowed, since they were still under surveillance. Luckily, pigeons still haven’t suspected them.

 

“Say, we should probably check that cafe, right?” Koichi hinted at their next destination, no longer located within the enemy territory.

 

“What ca-…” Suzuha was just about to ask, then she remembered the exact kind of cafe he had on his mind. She felt a bit silly for forgetting about it. “..oooh! Sure, sure!”.

 

After some time, they have finally reached MayQueen. Without hesitation, both of them went inside and sat behind some random table. Finally, they could take a breath.

 

“Phew….that’s done for now. What a place it was.” sighed Suzuha as she eased up, taking some time to just relax. However, there was another familiar presence in the cafe. One that Suzuha knew quite well.

 

“Oi, Suzu!!!!” Itaru, who was sitting few tables away from them, called out for her name. The Part-Time Warrior was a little surprised by hearing his voice, but it was a welcome one at that. His presence confirmed that they were in a safe place.

 

“Daru?” perplexed Suzuha, not quite expecting him to be there. In reality, he arrived there quite early, as he expected for them to return there. He was worried the entire day for her.

 

“Come over here!” Itaru invited them to get closer, and so they did. Koichi allowed Suzuha to take the chair as he stood nearby.

 

“How’s it going? Is everything alright?” Itaru immediately asked how was Suzuha feeling.

 

“It’s all good, Daru! All good!” Suzuha gave him a thumbs up, quickly reassuring him. It was true too, there were no battles involving them and punksters. More than enough to make the situation much easier to digest.

 

“There were few close calls, but we sneaked in with results that did not end up in chase sequences. Not to mention, we found it.” Koichi further added while also “spoiling” him the surprise. Not that he minded that much, Itaru was glad to be showered with good news.

 

“Phew, that’s all relieving to hear. Very good job, both of you!” Itaru crossed his arms as he happily nodded.

 

“We’ll tell everything we found out in a more hidden place. We’ve got some real juicy info regarding them.” Koichi advised them to share further information somewhere no hidden, even though no punkster would go into MayQueen with benevolent and legal intention. All that talk certainly got a maid cat girl curious.

 

“So, my warehouse, nya?” Faris asked them if they should just move there.

 

“Oh! Faris-tan!” Itaru greeted her like a fanboy, or in his words, a “moe maid cat girl enjoyer”.

 

“Yep, just like we made a deal before. I think we should go there now.” Koichi approved of the plan as all of them stood up and went inside the aforementioned place. Just like Koichi and Suzuha used it as a hideout for Operation Loki, so will everyone else when the time for rescue would come. They gathered around in the circle and began talking about it.

 

“Alright so...I think it’s time to bring everyone else in, but not all at once.” suggested Koichi that it would be best for every participant to hear what they found out. In such way, the information would spread the quickest, in the most believable form.

 

“Considering that we’re being under surveillance, that’s a good idea. Otherwise, they’d might make a surprise attack on MayQueen Nyannyan again.” Itaru agreed with his proposal while also reminding them a certainly real possibility.

 

“One was already enough, nya!” shivered Faris as she remembered the whole incident as if it were yesterday. Every day that followed her own rescue, she feared for their return.

 

“Indeed, those bastards better not touch it!” Itaru scowled, cursing his enemies for doing such a crime.

 

“Yeah that’d be….not great, but now we have to consider few things. Who should we call first?” Koichi inquired them about the initial logistics of the plan.

 

“Probably Kuzuryu’s, if I’m honest. They do represent a big bulk of our forces for this operation.” suggested Suzuha, since they had resources that the Fellowship of Darkness desperately needed in their rescue.

 

“Mmmm….from a practical standpoint sure, but….I think someone else needs to hear it first. You know.” Itaru hesitated as he reminded them that there was a person who absolutely needed to hear it. A certain girl most affected by the whole situation. They immediately knew who was he talking about.

 

“That’s right, Daru. We should probably call Chiaki first, so that she knows. However, she doesn’t have to come here first. I wonder how’s she doing right now…” Faris approved Itaru’s suggestion while cautioning them to not pressuring her. Even though she just heard most things, she had a feeling that at the moment, one had to be really patient with Chiaki.

 

“Okarin told me that she’s recovering, but I don’t think we should pressure her about it. She should take it at her own pace.” answered Itaru while feeling like that was arguably the best thing to do for her.

 

“Actually, this conversation implies that we’ll call them one by one, despite the fact there’s about four of us here.” Koichi pointed out a possible, if unintentionally implied flaw regarding their strategy of calling everyone in.

 

“...Good point there. I mean, we can call many people simultaneously.” Suzuha concurred with his point as she remembered that both of them put their actual phones somewhere in the warehouse. They were found pretty quickly, so there was no worry about it.

 

“I’ll inform her, if anyone doesn’t mind.” Itaru volunteered himself to be the one to inform Chiaki as he pulled out his phone, beginning the call.

 

“I’ll go with Kuzuryu’s….hold on, let me check something.” Suzuha used her actual phone, but quickly found out a problem. “Aw...don’t have their number.”.

 

“You should call Hououin Kyouma, nya! Pretty much most of them are at Hope’s peak.” Faris recommended her to just use Rintaro’s number instead.

 

“Oh, okey-dokey! Will do right now!” Suzuha did as instructed and put her phone near her ear.

 

“I’ll call the remaining ones, just in case.” Koichi just waited for any cases where members of The Fellowship weren’t informed.

 

“I think we’re pretty much set, nya. Let us begin!” Faris brought up her phone and called in the penguins.

 

Thus, first steps of rescuing Chisa Yukizome began to formulate. Despite the odds, they finally located there. Now, the only thing that remained was the rescue itself. It had to be done, despite the uncertainties. There were only hours before the decisive night and they only had one chance.

 

Only once they could do it. If they fail, they would never see her again.

 

Chapter 47: Preparation for Liberation

Summary:

Fat chapter

Chapter Text

Around the time Operation Loki was concluded, Chiaki and her little friend group remained in her house. Even though the situation was improved ever since Rintaro informed her about the Fellowship finding the location of Zona Daft Capo, there was still aura of nervousness in it. No matter what they did, Chiaki still felt anxious. She was able to get out of the bed and join in their activities, but her friends did notice she was constantly on the edge. At the very least, she did not pretend that she was fine. At that time, they were trying to come up with something they could do.

 

Suddenly, her phone rung.

 

“Huh? Who could that be?” Chiaki thought to herself before she grabbed it. The answer to her question was none other than Itaru Hashida. Not exactly the first person to come to her mind, but still a welcome one.

 

“...Daru?” wondered Chiaki as she saw his name on the call. She put the phone near her ear, prepared to hear what he had to say.

 

“Oi, Chiaki! Guess what?!” Itaru began, with much enthusiasm in his voice. For a moment, it surprised Chiaki. She wasn’t quite used to such positive energy amid the crisis they were in.

 

“..Y-yeah?” stuttered Chiaki, still wondering what kind of news would Itaru deliver. Judging from his tone, it had to be something good. Something that would finally break the current status quo.

 

“Let’s say….mission complete!” Itaru revealed it, without saying it explicitly. It was just enough to tell Chiaki that they did it. They finally located Chisa Yukizome in Zona Daft Capo, thanks to efforts of their spies in disguise. Any further details would have likely caught attention of their adversary. Chiaki quickly realized what her hacker friend was implying.

 

“...Wait a minute...does that mean…” Chiaki irises shrunk, only needing a confirmation to be sure. Can’t exactly have false hope in a situation like that.

 

“The answer to that is yes!!! Yes indeed!!!” Itaru did not hesitate to confirm about their success. Best of it all, it was based on reality as well and not from hopeless wishful thinking. Such confirmation was enough to make Chiaki’s smile return. Finally, she came out of the ever dreadful fear that held her back. Her smile widened as there was spark in her eyes. Seeing her in such state of happiness made her friends also figure out what just happened.

 

“Wait, we actually did it?” Hajime was taken a back upon hearing the news. Deep down, he believed they would eventually, just that the fact it was actually happening was something he was not prepared for. Others lightened up too, as they got hope that in the near future, they would get to see Chisa Yukizome again. The solution was there, only thing they needed was to execute it.

 

“Hehe, we always find a way after all.” giggled Mayuri while also just happy that her friends are pulling themselves together. Although she wouldn’t state it by herself, she played a role in keeping the group in high spirits.

 

“Now, if you guys wanna know more, you should come to our hideout. It might be related to...maids and cats.” Itaru instructed her and her group to come to MayQueen, where they would be united. With their appearance, their plan would go into motion.

 

“Y-yeah, understood!” Chiaki nodded, shaking a bit. Not out of fear, but out of joy. It was just about time she was able to see Miss Yukizome once again, after being for so many grueling days without her.

“Alright then! See ya soon!” Itaru concluded the call before Chiaki placed the phone in her pocket. She still needed some time to process it all, but she couldn’t hide her happiness about their efforts. Chiaki wasn’t the only one who needed to think about the whole situation. Everyone else still couldn’t really imagine about the Fellowship’s success in finding her out. Despite everything, the tide was getting in their favor.

 

“...We did it...we finally found her…” Chiaki took a sigh of relief, placing her hand on her chest. For once, she could relax for a moment, knowing that she will be able to see her again. The return of her gentle smile also indicated a thing for her friends: she has successfully pulled out of it. Chiaki they knew was finally back.

 

“Aaaaaaah!!! Welcome back, Chiaki!” Ibuki couldn’t resist to hug her on the spot. She even lifted her and spun her around. Despite the suddenness of her action, she was just gentle enough that Chiaki barely even got startled. She just spun around as if she were on a merry-go-round.

 

“But I never-...no wait...hehe….I understand what you mean…” Chiaki got confused for a second, but soon realized what her friend had on mind. After a little spin, Ibuki placed her down like a feather before letting off. Just as quickly she was put down, she received a headpat from Hajime himself. He even rustled her hair a little, secretly.

 

“Now there’s only one left thing to do, isn’t there?” Hajime gave her confirmation that she was now ready to face the situation. Not all by herself, but with her friends. After so many days, it was about time for it to be solved once and for all.

 

“Yep, I believe now it’s time….to save Miss Yukizome!” Chiaki pumped her fist as she stepped in front of everyone, filled with energy and determination. All those days where she was completely helpless were the past. Instead, she was ready to march in with her merry little band. However, her friends still monitored her. They had a feeling that she would start pushing herself too much.

 

“That’s right. Now we have a chance. Only one, but we’ll make it worth it.” Hajime cheered for her while also reminding the whole group that there were no second tries. They were all aware of it, which further motivated them to do their absolute best. No slips were allowed in such situation.

 

“Okarin told me that we should go to MayQueen. That’s where our friends are await us.” Mayuri just made the reveal of location even more blatant, even though Itaru was not quite subtle with it. Just from mentioning maids, they all knew where they needed to go. Mayuri just solidified it.

 

“That’s where we have the hideout, right?” asked Chihiro as he suspected that the rest of the Fellowship was awaiting them there.

 

“Mayushii thinks so. We’ll be using that as our base for now.” Mayuri nodded, just for one more time.

 

“So...are we all ready?” Chiaki asked if they were all prepared for what was to come. She was shaking a bit, just from excitement over the fact she had a chance to see her teacher again, let alone that they will be ones to save her.

 

“Yeah!!” all of her friends raised their fists, with the incoming danger not deterring them. Success of their mission and safety of Miss Yukizome were vital and there were no exceptions to be taken.

 

“Then...let’s go! Not a minute should be wasted!” said Chiaki as she and her little group exited the house, beginning their journey towards their hidden destination. They had to walk fast, since Chiaki was doing it quicker than one would expect out of her. If she had a chance, she would have flat out sprinted towards it. Good thing that she and her group were also aware of a setback: pigeons were watching them. None than less, they were in a rush. Sooner they would be done with the rescue, sooner they will get back to their relatively normal lives.

 

Meanwhile, the rest of The Fellowship of Darkness waited in the MayQueen Nyannyan warehouse. Aside from Chiaki and her group, only ones still missing were Gundham Tanaka and The Ancestor. Members who were present there were already thinking of the plan on how to save her. Discussion about it had to wait, because everyone in The Fellowship needed to hear it. Some of them were already preparing in advance for it.

 

“Hmmm….I checked my crystal ball before coming here and I’m not sure what to feel about it...” Yasuhiro revealed that he looked into the future with the aforementioned object, yet the prediction was a confusing one, to say at least.

 

“What happened in it, Yasuhiro?” Sonia allowed him to speak, curious about what he had in store. Considering that the prediction he made before actually became true, there was an odd sense of credibility that he had. Thirty percent chance of turning out to be true is no small feat among clairvoyants.

 

“...Smoke. A lot of smoke. I’m not sure what it means, but it doesn’t look good.” Yasuhiro told them about the exact thing he saw in his crystal ball. It was just that, smoke. To make it stranger, it wasn’t black, like one would see during intense fires, but gray.

 

“I’ll just say this before we start: we should not tolerate any distractions with nonsense statements.” Togami warned them about possible derailing of priorities if they are not being monitored. One could say he was just being a grump, but there was point to be had. All the wasted time

 

“That is a given, although I am confident enough to believe that all of us shall take this operation seriously.” reassured Kowalski, believing that everyone, without exception, would take the situation with appropriate amount of urgency that there would be no nonsensical discussions about trivial topics.

 

“Knowing rest of the Fellowship, I am confident enough to doubt your statement.” Togami still squinted at everyone, not letting his guard down. However, he did think about what would be considered “trivial” at that point. Just like it was with pigeons, it seemed so off the wall, but it was reality after all.

 

“Togami is right, we can’t fuck around here. Our clan’s involvement already raises more risks than one might have expected.” Fuyuhiko cautioned them about possible escalation between two syndicates. Despite the promise of aid, there were a lot of restrictions to be had. Fuyuhiko and Peko couldn’t afford for the situation to end in a bloodbath.

 

“Fuyuhiko, you have said that your clan will not get involved into it, right?” asked Sonia regarding the official posture of Kuzuryu clan, whether or not they would be “official” belligerents in the conflict between the Fellowship of Darkness (since the “official” involvement of Hope’s peak academy was to be questioned) and Daft Capo.

 

“Officially not….which is why I’m thinking how to help you with it. Let’s not bullshit here, you guys need support. Fellowship on its own does not have enough manpower to conduct this mission.” answered Fuyuhiko as he was still stuck in a dilemma. The reality was that the Fellowship on its own would lose, big time. The attack on the school, carried out by the nature-defying feline, was a definitive proof of that.

 

“Hmm...I was thinking of an idea, but I am not sure what would you think of it…” Sonia put her finger on her chin, wondering if he would approve what she had in mind. A way to create “plausible deniability” for the Kuzuryu clan.

 

“What is it, Sonia?” asked Fuyuhiko.

 

“Well...I’d rather wait for everyone to come. We got still a few of them missing, right?” Sonia chose to suggest a bit later, since it was a major part of the plan, potentially.

 

“That is indeed right, Mrs. Sonia. The wizard man and that robed guy still need to arrive. They’ll be essential.” Skipper noted the absence of the very leader and the elusive figure. A group like that cannot go out without the commander himself, who often assisted in the most dire times.

 

“...H-hey, if anyone doesn’t mind….um...I have a question…” stuttered Mikan as she raised her shaking hand.

 

“Yes, Mikan?” Sonia gave her an opportunity to speak. Usually, Hiyoko would have shut her down on the spot, comparing her to a swine, but considering the current situation, she was refrained from such comments. Not that she felt like it, even she knew the priorities.

 

“Um...well….w-will Chiaki come here too?” Mikan timidly asked about whether or not will her dear friend return. There was some kind of emptiness she felt through out the days when Chiaki was recovering at home.

 

“Yup! She will!” Itaru immediately confirmed her arrival, since he was the one to invite her. Upon hearing the news, Mikan’s heart lightened up. Seemed like her hope paid off, as she will be seeing her friend once and for all.

 

“W-wait, really?!” stammered Mikan, just wanting to be assured about it. While she believed her friends at Fellowship, she didn’t want to cling on some kind of false hope. Such kind of false presumptions usually get hit hard by reality itself.

 

“Yes, indeed! Just had a call with her. She is indeed coming back, in many ways!” Itaru answered with nothing but sheer confidence. As she was reassured, she began to giggle, looking forward to seeing her again.

 

“Hehehe...T-thank you, Itaru. I...I’m...I’m very happy now.” Mikan had a wide smile on her face, almost hopping from happiness. Instead of being filled with dread, she could feel at ease, even if it was just a little. She was far from only one who anticipated her arrival. In fact, quite a lot of people within the Fellowship did. Of course, there were individuals like Byakuya, who didn’t even bat an eye upon Itaru’s announcement.

 

“Oh, that is excellent news indeed!” Sonia’s eyes began to sparkle, sharing the same kind of excitement that Mikan had about the return of Nanami.

 

“Make sure to give her a huggie!” Itaru suggested that they should give her a warm welcome when she returns.

 

“I-I will do it!” Mikan promised to do it the moment when she sees her. She seemed particularly prepared to do so, with glee. It did not go unnoticed by some people around her.

 

Is it just me or are these some severe yuri vibes right now?” Itaru thought to himself, upon observing that Mikan’s reaction towards Chiaki’s return was a little more than just seeing her friend back. The blush on her cheeks did not go unnoticed either.

 

As they were discussing about her return, two individuals of the elusive kind entered the warehouse. Just like they expected, Gundham and The Ancestor asserted their presence with their arrival.

 

“So I have heeded the latest development…” Gundham had crossed arms as he approached his minions. He had the robe on him, nearly identical to the one his mentor figure wore at the moment. Only difference was that it was slightly smaller. It was the same one he used in Operation Nighthawk, a reconnaissance mission to obtain information from the “splinter cell”, which was formerly located in Tsurihito Warehouse.

 

“Welcome, Gundham! We were waiting for you!” Sonia welcomed him with gleaming eyes.

 

“Wizard man! Where have you been?” Skipper made an inviting gesture with his flipper, wanting to know what took him so long to get there.

 

“We cannot discuss the reason for our delay. It’s irrelevant anyway, because we are present here now.” Gundham refused to speak about a thing he needed to do with The Ancestor. Judging from lack of theatrical mood in his voice, it must have been something dead serious.

 

“T-totally not suspicious at all…” Toko squinted at them, but she was not the only one who felt such way. Even though The Ancestor has been on their side, they only knew bare minimum of him. Not to mention the implications of his connection to Gundham. Nothing about him was known. Even Gundham was in the dark when it came to some things regarding him, such as his very name. There was a reason for that, the one no one was prepared for it.

 

“I take it that we are still waiting for some?” Gundham looked around and saw that some people were still missing. Five of them, to be exact. Of course, there was also Mondo Oowada, who was assumed to be still recovering from broken bones.

 

“Yeah, we are still awaiting Chiaki and her group. They should be there soon.” answered Sonia, as the arrival of her and her little friend group was the only thing that prevented them from setting up the plan in motion.

 

“Hmmm…I know we cannot pressure them, but it would be optimal if their arrival is hastened.” Gundham, although aware of the whole turmoil, wished that they would start as soon as possible. After all, each second passed is a second closer to the deadline. If they fail, they would never see Miss Yukizome ever again.

 

After a bit of time, the door opened as everyone turned their attention towards it. Only person they saw was Mayuri, but that was only because she had a secret plan with her group. They really wanted to make the surprise worthy.

 

“Tutturu! Guess who’s back?” Mayuri stepped aside as she let her group come forth.

 

Including her.

 

She was finally there.

 

“..H-hey guys.” Chiaki greeted them all with a shy hand wave. The moment when they saw her, almost the entirety of The Fellowship of Darkness cheered for her return. Finally, after some time, Chiaki is back in form. Most of them couldn’t help but to smile upon seeing her. Chiaki felt a little awkward, but such feeling was eased, thanks to her friends accompanying them. Despite everything, she will always have people on her side.

 

“Oh my GOD! She’s here!!!” Sonia exploded from happiness upon seeing her. Considering the last time she saw her was when she was utterly broken, Sonia couldn’t help but to feel sheer relief and joy. Chiaki having that little, but sincere smile on her face also helped a lot. Had it not been for the urgency of the situation, Sonia would have just dashed towards her and hug her on the spot.

 

However, that did not stop some people.

 

“C-C-Chiiiiaaakiii!!!!!” Mikan couldn’t hold her tears anymore as she ran towards Chiaki, hugging her the moment she got close. Chiaki was a little startled by her sudden hug, but it was soft enough that she did not mind. In fact, it was quite comforting. The nurse just let out her tears as her grip tightened on her. “I missed you! I missed you so much!”.

 

“I….I missed you too. I missed you all.” Chiaki returned the hug as well, giving the nurse few gentle pats on her back. After some moments, Mikan ceased with her hug, just so that Chiaki could come closer and participate in their plan.

 

“Good to see you back, Nanami.” Ultimate Impostor had a smile on their face to, which was a rather rare sight.

 

“Heh...your arrival was met with an applause. After all, a valuable member is worth keeping.” Gundham also appreciated her presence. Even though he would never admit it out loud, he did see his bond with her as a genuine friendship.

 

“Yo, Chiaki! How are you doing right now?” Fuyuhiko just wanted to know, since the last time he saw her was when she was curled up on the bench. It has been a while since he has seen her in person.

 

“I...I…” Chiaki wanted to answer with the usual “I’m fine”, but she knew that was not only false, but also wrong. It would make efforts of her friends ultimately pointless. All they ever asked her was to be honest with not just them, but with herself too. While she didn’t want to pressure them all, still feeling like she would be a burden to them, she would at least deny that she was “fine”, even if it was just a hint.

 

“...Well...let’s say that...I needed some time to get fine. But now, let’s get to business, shall we?” Chiaki opted to at least confirm that she needed some time to recover, but she deemed that rescue of her teacher was still more important. After everything would be done, she would slowly and surely fully open up.

 

“You heard her, boys and girls. Now, Mr. Kizakura and Mrs. Amane will spill us the beans.” Skipper immediately pointed his flipper at two of their spies as everyone else gathered around in the circle, eager to hear what kind of stuff they managed to find out in the Zona, especially on how did they find Miss Yukizome’s location in the first place.

 

“Alright, so….this is not gonna be a long story. It’s a little obvious where they hide her. There’s some kind of building in the Zona that belongs on the beaches of Normandy rather than Japan.” Koichi began to spread information through his observation. Even at that time, he still felt mildly perplexed about such style of building being present in a “modern” country like Japan.

 

“...Are you saying those bastards are building fucking bunkers here?” Fuyuhiko immediately pointed out the oddity of having such kind of structure, let alone that a mafia would build them as if they were about to face an invasion. In some sense, it kind of make sense.

 

“That’s not entirely out of character for them, Kuzuryu. Those are their headquarters. They’ve built them everywhere they went. Rotterdam, Copenhagen, you name it. They all had it.” Skipper revealed a rather surprising news: such buildings weren’t unusual for them. They spotted similar ones before they met up with Hope’s peak students.

 

“But...why would they build it like that?” asked Makoto, addressing that even though it was established that Daft Capo had such tendency, there were still many unanswered questions regarding such choice.

 

“It’s a structure that is meant to be built quickly. They justify their presence as “unfinished construction project” or something similar to that excuse.” Kowalski fired away an answer, an understandable one at that. Considering that Daft Capo was the type of mafia that would expand around the globe, it made sense for them to utilize buildings meant to be built relatively quickly.

 

“Headquarters you say? I knew it!” Koichi snapped with his fingers, now granted with the knowledge that his hunch was ultimately right.

 

“Huh, seems easier than expected. We should just-” Akane already had a plan in her mind and it was a simple one: overwhelm the headquarters simply by just bum rushing them. A solution comparable to how Alexander the Great solved the perplexing Gordian knot.

 

“Not so fast. While we have figured out the location of Miss Yukizome, it is however guarded.” Suzuha quickly cautioned her regarding such approach. Needlessly rushing into the battle would be a self destructive move.

 

“...Yeah, had a gut feeling about that. Seemed too easy.” Akane, weirdly enough, had mixed feelings regarding that. On one hand, she expected that the plan would be less “dramatic” as she envisioned it. On other hand, she welcomed the challenge.

 

“Not only that, every alleyway is filled with these...uh….punching glove armed rocket launchers. Yeah….I know it sounds strange, but that’s what we saw.” Suzuha told them about the kind of defense Daft Capo utilized for keeping their headquarters secure. Details about them were left, due to the fact it would just be bloated information.

 

“Ah, ACME.” Kowalski immediately guessed the company behind such contraption. Who else would have made such a thing, anyway?

 

“Wait, what? That’s a real thing?” Yasuhiro was genuinely baffled upon learning that ACME, a company deemed fictional and also ever present in entertainment, was indeed real.

 

“Yup, they just love to promote themselves in movies and cartoons. In reality, they just make the stupidest possible things in reality. You guys can already guess how successful they are.” Skipper elaborated on the subject of the aforementioned company. ACME was kind of an old timer, being there ever since the entertainment industry really took off. They were even present in the “Tom and Jerry” live action show, sponsored like there was no tomorrow. Interest in the company was caught, especially its connection with their adversary.

 

“Skipper, would you say that they have connections with Daft Capo?” Kyoko was the first to question such implications. While she refrained herself from making early assumptions, she was interested to see what could be made out of ACME and their ties with the criminal syndicate.

 

“Oh yeah, absolutely! Daft Capo is pretty much the only one who consistently buys their stuff.” Skipper confirmed with confidence, since not only have they seen ACME’s contraptions in action, but also (temporarily) captured them. Due to their loss in Copenhagen, they were forced to leave it back in Denmark.

 

“What would you say about them? Do you think Daft Capo is their proxy?” Kyoko further questioned regarding either side’s position within their relations.

 

“Negative. They’re business partners. ACME on its own is too weak to be anyone’s master. If anything, it would have made more sense if Daft Capo was the boss of them.” Skipper denied such notion, considering that Daft Capo was pretty much the only reason why ACME was afloat. Somewhere around 80’s, people figured it out that the entire company was a Ponzi scheme, so it had to go out. However, the criminal underground thought differently. Not really for long though. It was thanks to loyal customers that ACME remained in public consciousness.

 

The topic of ACME-Daft Capo relations was quickly switched by a more relevant one.

 

“So we can say they already expect our attack….this must be the work of the pigeons!” Gundham alerted them while correctly guessing the work of the surveillance. Even though they had the knowledge that Daft Capo was prepared to defend its interest, they were not deterred by such fact. Instead, they would think about a workaround, trying to exploit a flaw in their defense.

 

“...I say this with disdain, but you have a point. After all, we were under their surveillance.” Byakuya hesitantly proved that Gundham was not making it all up. Empiric experience certainly helped in his case.

 

“So...what should we do?” asked Aoi, not exactly sure on how would they execute their plan. At first glance, it still seemed like Daft Capo had major advantages over The Fellowship of Darkness. They couldn’t just rush in like mad bulls, they needed to think about something.

 

Such was the opportunity for Princess of Novoselic to ask at the right time.

 

“Before we even start, I’ve been meaning to ask, Fuyuhiko.” Sonia finally gave the question that she initially wanted it to be answered.

 

“Oh right, yeah. What did you have on your mind before?” Fuyuhiko had it in his mind, wondering what kind of an idea did his classmate had.

 

“Should we create a proxy?” suggested Sonia, taking her knowledge of politics and history regarding usage of separate yet connected belligerents. It would have been a first time ever, since Novoselic didn’t utilize any proxies. They lacked ambition in foreign affairs, which some of their neighbors didn’t.

 

It was the kind of an idea that even on surface, it didn’t seem stupid. In fact, it sounded very tempting. Fuyuhiko began to think about it, whether or not should he go with it. A question like that did not have an immediate answer.

 

“What would you say, Peko?” Fuyuhiko consulted his partner regarding Sonia’s suggestion.

 

“I am not sure, Fuyuhiko. This seems….risky.” Peko hesitated as she feared that if their enemies would find out that Kuzuryu clan was involved, there would be a larger escalation than before. Who’s to say the situation wouldn’t turn life threatening, even taking Daft Capo’s own Rules of Engagement in account.

 

“This about Kuzuryu clan’s involvement, right?” Kyoko suddenly joined their discussion, as she had her own two cents on the matter.

 

“….Yeeaaah.” Fuyuhiko still had major concerns regarding creation of proxies under the Kuzuryu clan name.

 

“Creating a proxy would have given your clan plausible deniability. Even though you would participate in the mission, you could easily deny the clan’s involvement.” Kyoko reminded him of benefits of such action. As long as it remained well hidden, Kuzuryu clan could operate with ease.

 

“I know, but…” Fuyuhiko, despite being aware of pros, still wasn’t entirely sure about it. The threat of escalation loomed over and it was not to be just simply ignored. One wrong step and there was a chance that someone in his class might not be able to see another day.

 

“It is a tough decision, but...more manpower would make the mission much easier. We would save Miss Yukizome quicker that way.” Chiaki encouraged him to take such choices, since she not only believed in Kyoko’s reasoning, but she also thought that additional increase of manpower should dramatically increase their chances of success. Fuyuhiko couldn’t deny the truth regarding manpower increase. Despite that, he still hesitated.

 

“And of course, you will have less restrictions in engagement. That might prove useful to us. Of course, nothing that would escalate the conflict.” Kowalski raised his own points regarding the matter of proxies. Assuming that Daft Capo would be unaware of Kuzuryu’s involvement, the proxy could operate deep within the adversary’s territory, by the rules. Heir himself could also decide the rules of engagement as well.

 

After thinking through and taking the urgency of the situation into account, Fuyuhiko finally went with the suggestion.

 

“….Alright, I’ll lend you some guys in. We’ll cover other shit about this proxy later.” Fuyuhiko allowed The Fellowship of Darkness to use his man for their operation, although with heavy restriction. The issue of manpower was, for a moment, resolved.

 

“This might let us bypass their security, but once we do reach the headquarters, the night of the battle shall begin. We will have to develop a strategy for our rescue.” Gundham noted the first step, but cautioned them of the next one: the rescue itself. It would have been unrealistic to expect they would just simply waltz in and snatch Miss Yukizome as if it were nothing.

 

It was probably a past memory, but perhaps it was better if a certain former classmate wasn’t involved in the whole situation.

 

“Alright then.” Skipper clapped with his flippers, ordering someone to bring in a rather large piece of paper. Such demand was quickly fulfilled by Rico spitting out an A2 sized paper in a roll, right on the box. Somehow, for reasons not even known to Kowalski, the paper was completely dry. He even spat out a pencil, a sharpener and a rubber, just in case. (brings in a big paper on the box) “Koichi, Suzuha! Give us the floor plan!”.

 

Suzuha was the one who took the initiative to draw the floor plan of their headquarters. It didn’t take much time to be drawn, to due its simplistic shape. However, she didn’t just conclude at the building, she also drew four punch glove armed rocket launchers, along with some figures that represented guards. There were quite a number of them, too.

 

“There we go! That’s how we saw it!” Suzuha presented them the drawing once she was done. Thus, they began to think. The defense around the headquarters certainly gave them a challenge when it came to planning. Guards would have been handled in a relatively easier manner, but presence of ranged (although non-lethal) weaponry gave them a rather noticeable disadvantage.

 

“Those things look particularly annoying. They would prevent us from a true fight!” grumbled Akane about the prospect of launchers. To her, only limbs were “true” weapons, even though it was honor before any sort of reason.

 

“Actually, before we plan the rescue, I need to gather some intel regarding those punch glove armed rocket launchers.” Skipper just realized that they haven’t talked about the newly introduced threat at all. While they were more or less familiar with people they were going to fight, such new aspect should not be ignored.

 

“For the most part, they’re pretty self explanatory. Two guys are in charge of it, one who controls the launcher and the other guy who reloads and watches out. If you expect them, you can dodge them pretty easily just by ducking. However, I do see why have they chosen such defense. They’re intended for ambush attacks. Needless to say, every alleyway is full of them.” Koichi gave a quick rundown of such non-lethal weapon. As silly as it sounded, it was a “fair game”. While punch glove armed rockets would not kill anyone, they could potentially knock out a significant part of their force. Once again, hamster wheels in their minds began to roll. As far as they knew, most of the combat would be hand to hand, but Daft Capo utilizing such contraptions could hamper their force.

 

None than less, an idea or two was to be had.

 

“We might need a ranged weapon for this, I think.” Chiaki raised her finger as she brought up her suggestion. She received rather perplexed looks, since they did not expect someone docile (at least, usually) to bring up weaponry without hesitation.

 

“Ranged weapon? What do you have on mind, Chiaki?” Hajime asked just to be sure. As with the rest, it wasn’t entirely clear what was she thinking of.

 

“Just to be clear, nothing lethal. We are never going to kill. Ever.” Chiaki suddenly had quite a stern look on her face upon her clarification. It kind of startled some people, since they weren’t used to being that serious. The message was clear: taking lives was not allowed under any circumstances. Considering the situation, it was absolutely for the better.

 

“Phew…that’s relieving to hear. Not that I expected that.” Hajime took a sigh of relief. Just imagining wielding an actual weapon, while bearing the responsibility to deprive someone of life, was unsettling him to the core. Most, not all, agreed with him on such matter.

 

“But what exactly would fit that criteria? A non-lethal ranged weapon. Is that even a weapon at this point?” questioned Kazuichi as he himself remained puzzled upon the definition. Might have not been a literal weapon, but something to address the issue of range.

 

“What, are we going to attack with slingshots or something?” scoffed Hiyoko, although the very idea of using slingshots as a ranged weapon wasn’t really something to mock. While far from ideal, it did provide a stopgap for the ranged weapon.

 

“I was thinking of like….tranquilizers. Something that would just knock them out.” Chiaki gave a suggestion to use such non-lethal rounds against their enemies. While it wouldn’t kill them, it would just put them to sleep, at least she thought like that. She might have taken such idea from a certain game, perhaps involving agents named after serpents and dinosaur robots.

 

“Unfortunately, tranquilizers can be lethal to a human. They’re mostly meant for animals, like lions.” Sonia quickly shot down the idea of using tranquilizers for the operation, much to Chiaki’s surprise.

 

“Wait, really?” asked Chiaki, not expecting that tranquilizers would be so lethal to humans. After all, its purpose was to just put someone to sleep, literally. Not to take their life. Alas, reality was simply just different.

 

“Yeah...that’s the reality of it. The tranquilizer itself is too strong for humans and it does have a chance of killing them. We’re better off without them.” Sonia explained it to her on why exactly would her plan fail miserably. It wasn’t done out of ill will, but rather of good faith. After all, now that they had Kuzuryu’s backing them up, the threat of escalation felt much more raw.

 

“….Bummer.” pouted Chiaki, not at anyone present there, but at herself for believing in misconception.

 

Dang it, video games lied to me.” Chiaki thought to herself, now knowing how it felt like taking fiction for reality. Next time she would play a game, hopefully after Chisa is rescued, she would take a mental note to what is accurate or not.

 

Thankfully, the same person who revealed the truth behind tranquilizers also prepared herself in advance, in total secrecy.

 

“But fret not, because I do have an alternative. While we were still searching for Miss Yukizome, I was thinking about the scenario we are currently in. So, in secret, I had a plan on my own. The package should be…” Sonia announced her contribution just around the right time. When she was about to finish her sentence, a few of Kuzuryu clan members entered the warehouse, each of them holding rather large wooden crates. Upon getting closer, these men put them down.

 

“What’s in it?” asked Makoto just before the members of Yakuza would open the crates, revealing its contents:

 

Guns. Specifically, assault rifles and submachine guns.

 

Needless to say, quite a surprising sight for almost everyone.

 

“W-WAIT, d-didn’t we say non-lethal weapons?!” Makoto nearly shrieked upon seeing so many “weapons” right in front of his face. He wasn’t the only one with such reaction, people like Mikan and Sayaka also nearly screamed.

However, they missed out a rather obvious detail.

 

They were plastic.

 

Blatantly plastic.

 

“They are non-lethal, Makoto. They’re just BB guns.” Sonia quickly reassured them that what she bought en masse with her own money was nothing dangerous at all, unless one would count potentially blinding their opponents. They would refrain themselves from striking there. It was just a coincidence that the issue of ranged weaponry was had. The real reason why she bought so much BB guns was because of a simple principle regarding combat:

 

A fair fight is a poor one.

 

“….Oh. Now I feel a little silly.” chuckled Makoto as he scratched his head, just feeling relief that they won’t be gravely hurting anyone. To some people, like Fuyuhiko and Peko, it was blatantly obvious that those were fakes. Rare is an actual firearm made almost entirely out of plastic. To quite a lot of people, it was a relief.

 

But not to everyone.

 

“BB? Aw…” groaned Rico as he expressed his disappointment having to use fake weaponry.

 

“W-what?! Do you want us to use real guns or something?!” stammered Kazuichi, spooked solid at just at the idea of someone being enthusiastic about using actual firearms in the situation.

 

“Ehh…” even though Rico still found conventional firearms to be “cool”, it was just that. Something “cool”.

 

“Kaz, I think at this point, you already know what Rico craves the most.” Skipper quickly reminded the mechanic of a notion that everyone knew. It didn’t needed to be even said.

 

“Ehehehe!” cackled Rico, just delighted in infamy for his craving. Around the time, some of the folk began to inspect the BB guns. One of them was, much surprise to some, Chiaki. She grabbed a BB gun, resembling an assault rifle that was at the time in service within United States Armed Forces. Also a true superstar in first person shooters. She kept looking at it with intent, much more than one would expect.

 

“Huh...M4A1 Carbine...I see...there’s a FAMAS there too…” Chiaki mused to herself as she kept looking what’s inside the crate. Carbine and FAMAS inspired BB guns weren’t the only ones in the crate. MP5’s, M16’s, HK-33’s, even the mechanically bizarre Heckler & Koch G11 was among the ranks. Not exactly unfamiliar sights to her, even though she only had experience with their virtual depictions.

 

“Uhh...when were you...into guns?” Makoto remained particularly perplexed about her interest in guns. He didn’t judge her for it, but he was a little confused on how such a pacifist like her was able to correctly name weapons like that.

 

“Well, they appear a lot in games. Carbine is basically expected in shooters set in modern era, just like Kalashnikov. Seems like we have taken inspiration from NATO, I think.” Chiaki casually explained how thanks to video games, she became quite familiarized with them. She even noticed that there was lack of any Soviet/Russian firearms inspired BB guns there. Perhaps there was a reason for it.

 

“Honestly, that’s not surprising at this point.” commented Hajime as he assumed that seeing a same thing over and over would at least leave an imprint in subconsciousness. While he hasn’t played as much shooters as Chiaki did, he did somewhat relate to such feeling. Out of curiosity, he picked up a MP5 looking BB gun as he observed it. The object itself was lighter than he expected. “Probably because they’re BB guns, but they feel less unsettling to carry than expected.”.

 

Despite addressing the issue of ranged capability, there was a potential setback that could have endangered them big time.

 

“...Hold the fuck up! What would happen if they thought those were real guns? By all means, wouldn’t that allow them to use firearms on us?” Fuyuhiko quickly pointed out that them using real firearms inspired BB guns were a double edge sword. On one hand, the psychological effect could have dealt a great impact on their morale. On other hand, confusion in battle could make them utilize actual firearms. Potential lives could be lost.

 

“That is a consideration I’ve taken, but I’ve got a workaround. We will fire from the shadows, before they would even see us!” Sonia advised that they would make it immediately obvious that they were using fake weaponry, so that it would force Daft Capo punksters to comply under their rules of engagement. Her tactic also implied an advantage of a surprise strike.

 

“...So that means they would just feel pellets before they would even see us, right?” Fuyuhiko raised an eyebrow, sort of convinced by her reasoning. It would prevent an escalation of conflict if their enemies knew that they weren’t out for blood.

 

“That is right! However, that’s just a tactic. We still haven’t come up with the strategy yet, so we should get back to that.” Sonia reminded that they still haven’t came up with the general plan. They got the details, at least a few of them, but the general gist was still absent. Once again, they began to contemplate about the plan.

 

“I assume that we can’t just break in and beat the shit out of them?” Akane pointed at the entrance while also expressing doubt that even with the newly gained capability, overwhelming them like a tidal wave seemed like a plan that would backfire on them right on the spot. She only asked just to be sure.

 

“No.” everyone pretty much confirmed that such plan was anything but feasible.

 

“...Damn it. My gut feeling’s not being optimistic today.” grumbled Akane as she continued to think about the strategy.

 

“Surprisingly, you are not far off. That is a necessary step after all. However, to attack from one direction would be...easy to repel.” Gundham gave her credit, since he saw some parts of her idea to be salvageable, just that the execution would have to be vastly different. Usual anime logic could not be applied there, much to some people’s dismay.

 

“If that’s so, why don’t you start an offense from all directions?” The Ancestor pointed out that thanks to Kuzuryu clan’s aid, they had the ability and capability to carry out an encirclement of their headquarters.

 

“...You are onto something, The Ancestor. Are you saying we should besiege them?” Gundham raised his eyebrow, curious if his guess was a correct one.

 

“Of course. An attack from multiple fronts would scatter them, leaving openings to exploit. Now that we do have an entire Yakuza clan backing up, we could do it easily.” The Ancestor elaborated on how could they execute their plan. With such suggestion, it became much clearer for them.

 

“Oh! Actually, we should try this! We have enough resources to do so!” Sonia approved of his suggestion before she grabbed the pencil, prepared to sketch a thing or two. “Alright, lets give our fronts names!”

 

Sonia wrote down names of each front, all based on compass points. The front that would cover the very entrance of headquarters was named South Flank, by far the most vital one. Both left and right sides of the headquarters were named West Flank and East Flank respectively. Of course, the front facing the back of the building was named after a remaining compass point. At least for fronts were established for their plan.

 

“Now...what exactly?” asked Hajime for further instructions.

 

“I recommend sending some of the Kuzuryu members to conduct an initial offense. Let’s face it, all of us are familiar faces within Daft Capo.” advised Kyoko while also addressing a rather large issue they had: Daft Capo, thanks to not only Herman managing to steal documents, but also personal encounters with them. Had they just went like they were usually guessed, they would have immediately prepared themselves for a counteroffensive.

 

“That is an unfortunate reality, yes. I do have a counter to that. Why don’t we disguise ourselves?” suggested Ultimate Impostor, taking their own experience into account. Even though Daft Capo already knew the truth behind them, others being disguised could still hamper enemy’s prediction of their offensive.

 

“You mean….you are gonna dress up as Yakuza members or something?” Fuyuhiko asked for clarity.

 

“Of course. It would make them think another criminal syndicate has attacked them, instead of us.” answered Ultimate Impostor with a nod. Unlike before, there was nothing to hesitate about that suggestion. It was just clothing, no different than from those often found in stores.

 

“Luckily, I can provide you with suits.” Fuyuhiko immediately approved of their suggestion, allowing them to utilize their clothing. Considering that Kuzuryu clan was one of the largest Yakuza’s in the whole country, they had more than enough for everyone and for all sizes. Even people like Hifumi and Itaru would get suits that would fit them.

 

“Oh man, we’re gonna look so cooool! Will girls get them too?” piqued Ibuki, already looking forward to enjoy observing gals dressed sharply. According to her, even Mioda herself would rock it.

 

“I mean….yeah? What the hell is an alternative?” Fuyuhiko was a bit baffled upon such question. Perhaps he thought Ibuki expected girls to wear sailor fukus or similar feminine clothing, but it was ultimately irrelevant.

 

“YES! Ibuki is gonna bask!” Ibuki pumped her fist, knowing that Suit Ibuki was going to become reality soon enough.

 

“...Anyway, so the first wave would be an attack from one of our guys. Then what?” Fuyuhiko instead focused on what was important as they continued to plot their plan. By then, Sonia already began drawing crossed squares, representing Kuzuryu clan members that would participate in the operation. It was no coincidence that such symbol was based upon one that displays infantry units in NATO military maps.

 

“Personally, I think we should assist too. Our assistance would be most welcome.” Sonia also suggested that they shouldn’t just leave it all to Kuzuryu. It was their mission and they would have to contribute as well. Luckily, many knew how to throw a punch and too.

 

“Now we’re talking! I’m gonna go on the front!” grinned Akane as she volunteered to be a part of the Southern Flank, since it seemed to be the most dangerous one, or the most fun one to her.

 

“Kehehe, I shall take the lead of the Southern Flank. Logically, it would be the most defended one. That is where we need to put most pressure.” Gundham took the responsibility of being a commander while also expressing his expectations regarding Daft Capo’s defenses. Logically, one would expect that the entrance would be under threat the most.

 

“I shall be there as well!” Sonia flexed with her arm as she also took role in the Southern Flank offensive. She would share a similar position as Gundham, being the one to lead the battle. Just like him, she also was expected to participate in physical combat. By that time, members of the Fellowship started to consider their participation in decided flanks. Each flank would need at least a commander, who would monitor the situation. Southern Flank was already taken, so three remained. Ultimate Impostor chose to be in charge of the West Flank, Kuzuryu duo took responsibility of handling the Northern Flank and Nekomaru volunteered himself to be the commander of the Eastern Flank.

 

However, not everyone was capable of fighting.

 

“...Hey uh….what about those who can’t fight? Those who are...you know….” Chihiro addressed the issue, while also hinting that he himself couldn’t participate in battle. He deemed himself as “too weak” to do so, he’d be dead meet the moment he would step into the battlefield. He was not the only one who was deemed “unsuitable” for fighting.

 

“Don’t worry about that, Chihiro! Just like Sonia was cooking up a secret plan, so was I!” Itaru revealed his own little project that he was preparing amid the crisis. In the similar vein as the Ultimate Princess, he also thought ahead. There was an aspect that was covered multiple times in the Fellowship and he was willing to address it.

 

“Give me a second!” Suzuha began searching for a secret crate that was placed around the time when Koichi and Suzuha returned from their reconnaissance mission. Since she was aware of its position, she quickly found it, lifted it and just like ones with BB guns, she placed the crate nearby and opened it, revealing its contents.

 

Contrary to before, there was nothing that resembled an actual weapon.

 

“Voila! Here they are!” Suzuha announced the result of Itaru’s secret plan as she lifted one of the examples from the crate.

 

“...Walkie-talkies?” Makoto tilted his head as he, along with everyone else, looked at Itaru’s work with interest. It already became obvious on how it would be used, but details about it had yet to be revealed.

 

“Not just any walkie-talkie, but ones with Super Hacker crafted encrypted frequency! Considering they are able to track down people through the internet and mobile phones, I thought of a workaround. Some of us will stay behind, acting like the central command. After all, what is a plan without fluid communication?” Itaru elaborated on what made his version of a handheld transceiver rather special compared to a usual one. While it was all in theory, the encrypted frequency would mask their communication, so that Daft Capo would be unable to intercept their communication.

 

“...Dude, that’s brilliant! How did you come up with this?” Hajime, along with many others, including ones that were hard to impress, were pleasantly surprised. The man with ahoge was especially impressed by the fact they could finally overcome one major disadvantage that the Fellowship of Darkness had.

 

“….due to OPSEC, I cannot tell the details. It’s something we did with Suzuha, before she was sent on the mission.” Itaru unfortunately had to withhold any possible information regarding the procedure. Even though many would like to hear it, they understood on why it remained disclosed. It was for the better.

 

Thanks to Itaru Hashida’s secret plan, those unable to fight could contribute in the rescue in their own way. Arguably, they would play one of the most important roles in the rescue.

 

“...I guess I can see myself in such role. Would you mind if I do that?” Chihiro hesitated less as he offered his assistance as the “central command” of the battle, like an airborne early warning & control aircraft monitoring over the contested skies.

 

“You are the most welcome for it! I’ll be there too. However, some of you will need to be “scouts”, per say. Passing information from the battlefield to the central command, and vice versa.” Itaru accepted Chihiro’s offer while also advising that there should be individuals that would report the situation on the ground to the central command. With exception of Suzuha and Rintaro, most of the Future Gadget Lab would have a role behind the scenes.

 

“I do have a question. Where would the central command be? The idea is fantastic, but...what would be a good hideout?” asked Chiaki, as she assumed they would use a different location than MayQueen warehouse. Not to mention that Faris’ cafe was a territory already known to Daft Capo.

 

“You have asked the right person, Chiaki. I cannot disclose the location, but I know the exact place.” Itaru, while confirming that the warehouse of Mayqueen would not be utilized, still kept his answers shrouded in secrecy. They trusted him about it, he knew what was he doing. A lot of credibility of his could be based upon his experience as a hacker.

 

“Now that we have established a plan, how would we rescue Miss Yukizome herself? As in like, the break in, then the escape route.” Kurisu pointed out undeniably the most important part of their operation. As they were busy discussing on how to deal with Daft Capo’s defenses, relevant as it might have been, the rescue of Chisa Yukizome still remained unclear.

 

“The battlefield would be simply too chaotic to utilize for the escape route. We would need to come up with an alternative.” Gundham addressed that even if they would manage to break in with their offense, it would be nearly impossible to execute the escape itself. Whoever would break out Chisa from her cell would very likely had to deal with any personnel within circles of Daft Capo, from simple punksters to the dreaded Thomas. They kept thinking about it, how would they even get to the rescue itself.

 

After some time has passed, someone got an answer to it.

 

“...I got it.” spoke Chiaki as she was prepared to tell them about her plan. There was something she saw that could be potentially exploited.

 

“Speak, Nanami!” Skipper pointed his flipper at her, allowing her to lay down her plan to them.

 

“Alright so….there’s gonna be a big battle, right? As it goes on, one of us could sneak in and then rescue Miss Yukizome. Something like...a special forces operation, so to say.” Chiaki told them all about a possible idea they could use, weaponizing chaos of the battle itself. Daft Capo would likely be too distracted with the ongoing battle, although that would depend on how much pressure would be there put on the headquarters. Considering Kuzuryu’s involvement, potentially far more than Daft Capo would expect.

 

“Oh, that’s a good idea, Chiaki! That’s a field I do have some knowledge of!” Sonia complimented her while also glad that she could potentially help them with her own experiences. Members of the Fellowship thought that Chiaki’s idea of infiltration amid the battle was sound, although there were still questions needed to be answered.

 

“Wait...when you said you were in the military, were you in special forces or more...uh...how to say it…more of a normal soldier?” piqued Makoto while also recalling that Sonia nonchalantly revealed that she was in service. Despite the fact royalty often had to serve before, it still felt hard to imagine that someone so seemingly gentle like Sonia could be battle hardened. Little did he know.

 

“I was in Novoselic Special Operations Forces Command, yeah.” Sonia dropped another truth bomb, revealing the extent of her service. Makoto couldn’t even speak for a solid minute after the revelation. Even some of other folk was quite surprised, most of them expected that she would be just a soldier, not someone deep within SOF.

 

...holy heck, that sounds really cool.” as surprised as she was, Chiaki couldn’t help but to admire Sonia for it. She already respected and cherished the princess a lot before, but now she saw her as someone truly commendable. Obviously, she wanted to know more about Sonia’s experience in Novoselic Special Operations Forces Command (or NSOFC for short).

 

“Hey, after we’re done with this, can you tell us more about it?” Kazuichi was also quite curious by such aspect, looking forward to hearing more about her tales, perhaps even what kind of operation she partook in. For a moment, Sonia became quiet. Silent to a concerning level. Some of them thought that they might have accidentally crossed her boundaries.

 

“Perhaps, if some of you really want.” Sonia hesitated, willing to do it for people she trusted. Maybe she would find a person soon enough that would listen to what she went. It was for another time.

 

“I like the way you two gals think! This a perfect job. Now, if anyone wants to take the role-” Skipper approved of her plan as he began to open up position on who would be the “infiltrator”, the very one that would have to escort Chisa herself during the rescue.

 

The answer was almost immediate.

 

“I’ll do it.” Chiaki volunteered herself for such mission without even an ounce of hesitation.

 

“-of the...wait, what?!” Skipper just managed to hear her voice as he nearly did a spit take. He was far from only one who was surprised, most of the Fellowship was.

 

You, out of all people?” Byakuya raised his eyebrow, already doubting her capability to carry out an infiltration like that. As far as he knew, she was just a “naive buffoon who’s got her head in video game related clouds”, not someone to be entrusted in arguably the most dangerous mission in the whole operation.

 

“Umm….we respect your decision, but….” Mikan, just like with a lot of the Fellowship, believed in her, but at the same time, they were not exactly keen to sending her in danger. Especially considering on how she was through out the crisis.

 

“Guys, I’ve held you back for so long. It’s time for me to repay you all. I can’t just do nothing about it.” frowned Chiaki as she confessed that through out the time, she began to feel guilt about it. Everyone was doing their job, while she remained completely powerless through out of it. She couldn’t even pretend to be “fine” anymore and even though she regained her energy and hope, her fears never went away. Chiaki just happened to face them head on.

 

“A-are you really sure you wanna do this? I mean, I can do it instead! You shouldn’t just risk yourself like that.” Sonia cautioned her while also offering to replace her role as a commander of the South Flank. Gundham already handled it, so changing roles wouldn’t drastically alter their plans.

 

“We’re all risking ourselves with this, so what’s the difference? I really wanna do it.” Chiaki pointed out that by all means, everyone was exposed to danger already. Even if the “infiltrator” had to go deep within the headquarters, all of them were already in the enemy territory.

 

“Let me just ask you this: How exactly are you going to perform it? Unless you have some secret military background, I cannot imagine you having any expertise in solving hostage crises.” Byakuya bluntly questioned her from a different kind of point of view, not the one of concern of her, but from a tactical standpoint. Such kind of question left Chiaki without words for a moment.

 

“….Dang it, he’s got me. I can’t just lie about it. In fact, I don’t even think I’m even fit for the military. I cannot bring myself to take any life.” Chiaki thought to herself, acknowledging the fact that he’s not entirely wrong about it. One thing was to formulate a plan, but carrying it out was an entirely different matter. She also reflected upon herself, thinking about how despite having some kind of fascination with the military gear, such as planes, tanks and such, it would be likely that she would have never been accepted, let alone that she would be ready to go through highly stressful situations that a civilian would normally never think of it. She wanted to say something, but the affluent prodigy already had something to say.

 

“Don’t say that video games suddenly gave you experience in stealth. Just in case you planned to.” Byakuya already warned her about using her experiences in virtual words, deeming them way too inaccurate to be representative of almost anything resembling an actual operation. Once again, Chiaki found herself without a proper response.

 

“….He’s right. Kyoko told me before that video games aren’t a representation of reality. I really can’t just use “I played many stealth games” for a justification of my role. I really, really want to do it, I don’t want anyone to risk themselves in such role, but….they’ve got points. Heck, Sonia flat out has experience, while I don’t.” Chiaki contemplated even more so as she started to fester up some kind of inferiority. Everyone else seemed to have so much with their lives, while all she had was games and Usami. Before Hope’s peak, it was even a question if she went outside all that much.

 

“I...I…” Chiaki tried to mutter anything resembling a reason, but she constantly found herself to be stuck. No matter what she could say, it just wasn’t enough. She thought that it would be impossible to convince them, she has never done such a thing before.

 

At the same time, there was a fear which once was subconscious became ever more present. An important person was missing from her life and more as it went on, more did such anxiety build up. She started to feel tenser as she put her hands together, just needing to hold onto something to keep herself together.

 

“...I just want to see her again, that’s all. I…need someone like her…” murmured Chiaki, with her lip trembling. She couldn’t hide her feelings, especially after what her friends told her. It was better to be honest with them rather than pretending to be fine. Her fears were felt by the others too. They were already concerned for her before, but now they saw that even if she was in the better spirits, her pain never went away. All of holding it all in herself still had marks.

 

“Hey, Chiaki...everything alright?” Fuyuhiko asked, just checking on her. He was a little anxious about his friend possibly collapsing right in front of everyone, just like when she did around the time the crisis began. As she observed their reactions, her anxiety rose up. Had it not been for all the support her friends have her, she would have slipped backed into denying that anything is wrong with her. As long as no one was concerned, it was all fine.

 

Instead, she continued to be honest about it.

 

“...Sorry, I’m just really desperate at this point. Each day, it felt like she was...you know….she was going to disappear….I just really want her to see back. Even if I lack anything, even if I have nothing to offer, I still wanna try! I just want her back….” Chiaki begged in front of everyone, trembling out of anxiety. She held her hands together with a firmer grip, just hoping that they would just let her take the role. Chiaki asked for nothing other than for Miss Yukizome to return, otherwise the future would be dark for her, even with her friends.

 

“Again, how does-” Byakuya still wanted to argue, since nothing what she said managed to convince him. Even before he could finish his sentence, nearly the entire Fellowship, from Hope’s peak students to Future Gadget lab, glared at him. Even people like Gundham, who would have agreed otherwise, did not appreciate his further comments.

 

“With all respect, that’s enough. We know why at this point.” Ultimate Impostor politely told him to cease, since Chiaki was already riled up enough. It would just make the situation more difficult. They walked towards Chiaki and nodded, approving her role as an “infiltrator” in the mission. Chiaki managed to stop trembling as she was reassured that she would be able to see Miss Yukizome first, but concerns about living up to the expectations began to pop up. Mostly because failure of the rescue would mean that they would never see her again.

 

“G-guys, don’t worry about it. I’ll figure it out.” Chiaki promised them as she smiled, trying to reassure them that she was reliable enough to execute the mission.

 

“But...I know you wanna do it, but all by yourself? Are you willing to risk yourself going deep into enemy territory?” Kurisu pointed out that even if her determination was strong, she was more or less all by herself. She could have been easily surrounded by the enemies, with her fate ending up in their claws. Unlike with Byakuya, Kurisu spoke out of good faith.

 

However, instead of discouraging her, it gave her an idea.

 

“….You’re right, actually. I won’t do it alone. I’ll get company. Right, penguins?” Chiaki requested aid from none other than the little avian fellows themselves. Already, she gained their interested, as penguins often looked forward to executing missions.

 

“Oh? What exactly do you have on mind, Nanami?” piqued Skipper, curious to see what was her plan.

 

“Alright so...I will sneak in the base, carrying you guys in the backpack. Then once we locate Miss Yukizome, we will use our tools to break her out of it and then escape. You guys are pretty much masters at this, right?” Chiaki gave details to them, along with an established dynamic. She would just carry them inside while they would do the heavy work.

 

“I’d would be easier to say when we HAVEN’T done a mission like that, heh.” boasted Skipper as he put his flippers around his stomach. He was right, rare was a mission that differed from their norm.

 

“Sound as it is, there are still caveats. For example, your backpack.” Kowalski did not hesitate to point out some of potential holes that were in the need of being addressed. Immediately, he pointed at her kitty backpack.

 

“...What’s wrong with it?” Chiaki asked like a confused child who just got their toy insulted. She kinda looked a little upset about it.

 

“It is too small for us. We’ll need something bigger.” Kowalski elaborated from a practical standpoint, just taking his observation into account. Chiaki then opened up her backpack and put her hand inside, noticing that Kowalski was right about it. The kitty backpack was really that small, not enough to fit four penguins in.

 

“Actually, yeah. You’re right about this.” Chiaki, upon realizing that Kowalski was pointing out a genuine flaw, rather than to judge her, was a bit reassured about it. She did need bigger capacity, so that not only would penguins be transported, but they would also have some breathing room.

 

“And honestly, that looks like more of Private’s taste than mine. Too sugary for me.” Skipper gave his thoughts on the matter, just making a side comment.

 

“Hey, it’s a cute backpack!” Private defended the aforementioned object, having zero problems with it.

 

“Fear not, because I did some of the equipment here! I can help you there, we just need a changing room.” Sonia revealed another thing that she thought of in advance. She already considered many things ahead of time, such as Daft Capo anticipating them. The moment she found out that pigeons were spying on them, she initiated her secret plan. Chiaki looked at her with interest, wondering what did Sonia prepare.

 

“I can take you there, nya!” Faris already knew what was she up to, since she talked to her before. Desired objects were in the dressing room, where Faris stockpiled many maid dresses and cat related objects, including actual cat toys.

 

“Sure can! Take us there, Faris!” smiled Sonia before she invited her friend to follow her there. “Chiaki, come with me.”.

 

Chiaki nodded and did as Sonia told her to. Both of them left the warehouse, just having some time for themselves. Rest of the Fellowship remained in the warehouse, still filling up holes in their plan. However, before they continued their work, a thing needed to be said.

 

“Hella. HELLA yuri.” Itaru commented on what could happen between Sonia and Chiaki. He approved it, since he thought it was cute.

 

“...Was this really necessary?” Kurisu squinted at him, but they didn’t dwell on it much. Instead, they just focused on the plan itself.

 

“Speaking of that, I think now would be a good time for our disguises.” Hajime reminded them that nothing prevented them from doing such act. The distance between Kuzuryu’s headquarters (actual location classified) and MayQueen was shorter than one would expect, so they would be more or less ready within less of an hour.

 

“I agree. Seems like we already got gist of it.” Ultimate Impostor approved of it as Fuyuhiko started calling rest of his clan to bring in suits. Even if Daft Capo was listening to them, they would have no idea why exactly would they need so many suits.

 

In the mean time, the trio has finally arrived to the dressing room, filled with exact clothing one would expect out of a maid cafe girl. Both Chiaki and Sonia entered the room, while Faris remained outside. She wanted them to truly have a moment between each other.

 

“And here we are! Here is where you change your clothes and indulge yourself in love! Have fun, meowstresses!” winked Faris before she closed the door, leaving them alone. Upon hearing her words, Chiaki’s cheeks became quite rosy. Sonia just chuckled at Faris’ comment.

 

“Indulge ourselves in love? What did she mean?” asked Chiaki as she seemed to be confused about it, even though deep down she might have known what the maid catgirl meant, just that she was a little too flustered to just take it.

 

“Sometimes, girls tend to get saucier when they’re together.” Sonia explained with a smile on her face and without shame. Chiaki just became redder in the face, but she tried to not to be distracted by it.

 

“Now, lets get to the business, shall we?” Sonia began, searching for her uniform. Since she knew where it was, the princess found the desired clothing rather quickly. It was right on the large tactical backpack, both of them in gray color. In fact, the special operations uniform was nearly identical to one the protagonist of Metal Gear Solid series (or to be specific, the playable character of the first and second Solid games) had. Perhaps Novoselic designers were sort of inspired by the series, considering that Sonia was kind of a nerd. The suit wasn’t the only thing that brought Chiaki’s attention.

 

“Oh, that backpack is gonna be useful. Mind if I take it?” Chiaki requested if she could borrow her tactical backpack for the mission.

 

“Of course!” Sonia immediately approved of it. In fact, Sonia thought that she didn’t even need to ask permission about it. As such, her friend was allowed to use it.

 

“If you need privacy when it comes to changing clothes, tell me. I won’t intrude.” Sonia just wanted to ask in advance if Chiaki needed some space.

 

“No, it’s okay. I can do it here.” Chiaki didn’t seem to mind having a friend be nearby, even if she would be undressed. In fact, she preferred Sonia to be there, at least she wouldn’t be alone.

 

“Ah, so you have no problems undressing yourself-” Sonia wanted to be one hundred percent sure, so that Chiaki would be comfortable around her. However, no words were needed for the answer as Chiaki already began undressing herself right in front of her. First she put away her jacket, then she started to unbutton her shirt. It took her a bit of time, since she was a little clumsy with clothing, but she was getting there. “..-in front of a girl? Not that I have any problems, just wanted to know.”

 

“We do that all the time during PA, right?” Chiaki pointed out that a girl taking off her clothes in front of another girl wasn’t anything extraordinary, they did it all the time when it was needed for sports. Around that time, she already unbuttoned her shirt.

 

“By all means ye-” Sonia had to agree with her, but she was quickly distracted when Chiaki finally took of her shirt, revealing herself right in front of her. Only clothing she had on the upper body was her pink bra. However, Sonia noticed that something wasn’t entirely right with Chiaki. She seemed so thin, concerningly so. Not to mention, there seemed to be a still recovering wound on her stomach. Sonia felt like she needed to discuss it with her.

 

“Hey, Chiaki? Can we talk about something?” Sonia asked her in a rather serious tone. She took further caution, as she felt like she was potentially going to a personal level with Chiaki.

 

“Hm?” Chiaki wondered as she turned towards Sonia, already taking off her skirt. Then she realized that scars on her tummy still had to recover, so she quickly covered them with her hand. “O-oh, yeah.”.

 

“First of all…” Sonia stepped closer to her as she gently poked her where she assumed were Chiaki’s ribs. Just a gentle touch was enough to confirm a concern regarding her friend. Just from a light press, she could feel her ribs. Sonia needed to ask her about it. “This is going to be an awkward question, but how much do you eat?”.

 

“Um...we should probably focus on the mission now.” Chiaki was a little confused on why exactly would Sonia ask her such question. It was rather sudden, too.

 

“No, seriously. How much do you eat? Be honest with me.” Sonia still spoke softly, but decided to be stern about it. She needed to know the answer, otherwise she wouldn’t help with her. Not only was Chiaki displaying concerning signs with just behavior alone, but she didn’t even seem to be physically healthy either. Chiaki began looking at the floor, with hesitation hinder her from answering. Even though it took her a bit, she still kept the promise to her friends.

 

“...I forget about it sometimes….Sorry…” murmured Chiaki, with just a simple answer telling more than enough. Sonia now saw to what extent did her friend completely neglect herself, both physically and emotionally. She was shocked on how could someone like her just completely throw herself under a bus. “As long as my friends were happy, so will I” reasoning she often put up for herself started to shatter more and more. However, instead of trying to call her out on it, Sonia opted for a much gentler approach. Just looking at Chiaki, she could sense vulnerability within her.

 

“Hey, after we’re done with this, promise me that you will take care of yourself, will you?” Sonia calmly requested her to just be mindful to herself. She was her friend after all, someone important to her. One can’t just ditch themselves for sake of others. Chiaki was a little surprised to see how gentle her response was, she was expecting a bit of a fiercer one at that point.

 

“Oh yeah, sure-” just before Chiaki could promise, it dawned upon her what was she doing to herself. Her irises shrunk as she kept thinking about the extent of damage she kept doing to herself not just emotionally, but physically too.

 

“Wait a minute….something isn’t right….I didn’t even realize it….What was I doing through out the whole time?” Chiaki began to tremble as she became scared of herself. At that point, she even feared it was irreversible.

 

“There’s nothing to worry about it. It’s not too late at all. In fact, now it’s the perfect time to do it. After all, not only will you be a happier and healthier person, but everyone around you will be happy too.” Sonia placed her arm on Chiaki’s shoulder, gently reassuring her that there’s still time. She was still a young lady, there were still chances to make her life healthier. Chiaki didn’t know how to answer first, but then she remembered things Mayuri said to her. Her opening up to her and rest of her friend group did make her life a little easier. Considering how gentle was Sonia with her, she earned her trust.

 

“Then I promise!” Chiaki nodded with a smile on her face, making a goal for herself that after the crisis would be solved, she would improve on her health.

 

“That’s great to hear! Now, the second thing….what are you hiding there?” Sonia then pointed at the part that Chiaki was hiding. Her friend was willing to talk about it, although with a condition.

 

“….Will you promise me not to tell anyone else for now?” asked Chiaki, only because she was not ready for everyone. Judging from her rather sorrowful gaze, she really wanted it to keep a secret now.

 

“Of course! Anything for a good friend!” Sonia promised her with all intent to keep it a secret. There would be no exceptions, even if someone begged her to reveal it.

 

“Alright…” Chiaki put her hand away from the scar she got during the previous battle. Just from the appearance, it could be told that some kind of burning inflicted such scars. It wasn’t huge, but it was noticeable enough. Chiaki even trusted Sonia so much that she would tell the reason how it happened. “Remember when Ryota was attacked by Fritz?”.

 

“Yeah I….wait a minute, you were also there?!” Sonia gasped upon realizing that Ultimate Impostor wasn’t alone in their battle against Fritz.

 

“….I was, yeah. They couldn’t go all by themselves.” Chiaki confirmed the truth, she was also there. She wanted to protect her friend from any attack while they were present in Radio Kaikan. Although Sonia was surprised, she didn’t judge her for it. In fact, she understood her quite well.

 

“You hid it because you didn’t want to make us worry about you, right?” asked Sonia if such was the reason why Chiaki abstained herself from mentioning her presence during that incident.

 

“….Yeah….but hiding it constantly just hurts them more. I thought that as long as they were happy, it didn’t matter what happened to me….” murmured Chiaki while also admitting what she was doing to herself was wrong. Ever since Mayuri told her that it pained her to see her like that, she could never shake it off. She always had it on her mind. It did hurt Sonia to know how little value did Chiaki see in herself.

 

“That’s not true! Not at all!” Sonia insisted that what she was saying about herself was nothing short of falsehood. She was her friend, she had plenty of value to offer after all. However, instead of fighting her words, Chiaki knew that Sonia was speaking the truth.

 

“...I know...and I’m sorry I was doing that for so long. I should have known better…” muttered Chiaki, overwhelmed with guilt about her actions to herself. She could hardly forgive herself just from the idea that she caused pain to her friends.

 

“It’s alright, Chiaki. You’re still our friend after all….although I have to admit...I can’t exactly say that I’m innocent regarding that.” Sonia comforted her while also revealing that they weren’t too different when it came to their treatment of their own feelings for sake of others. It surprised Chiaki, to say at least.

 

“Huh? What do you mean, Sonia?” Chiaki wanted to know about it. She didn’t imagine that many people would go through similar as she went.

 

“To put up a mask, so that no one worries….I do that too. To tell you the truth, the situation we’re in...is not the first time for me.” although Sonia kept her composure, Chiaki could feel grief in her quiet voice. There was a lot more to Sonia than she initially thought and she wished to help her as much as she could, just like her friends are doing it to her. However, it was scaring her a little just to imagine what exactly did Sonia went through, especially since she seemed that she already dealt with such situations.

 

“Is it alright if you...talk about it more?” Chiaki timidly asked her about it, not sure if she was being insensitive. Just like Chiaki confessed her about her struggles, she felt like she should be as fair to her as Sonia was. The princess took a deep breath, preparing herself to tell her about her own experiences in the past.

 

“...I’ll do my best about it. I can tell you about a rather recent incident back in Novoselic. Our kingdom likes to perceive itself as a peaceful country…but that’s because we’re trying. The reality is that...there is a country we have an incredibly hostile relationship with.” Sonia began telling her about the context of her experience. Novoselic was located in Europe, a continent thought to be relatively peaceful in modern times, despite its millennia of death and war. However, many people tend to have a narrow view on the continent, only taking Western, Central and Northern Europe into account. If one were to look at the whole continent, one would see that there are a lot of unresolved issues still present. Territorial disputes, even wars were present on the continent.

 

Chiaki was a little startled to know that a country she initially thought to be peaceful was caught in a dispute. She was vaguely familiar with Europe, thanks to the continent appearing a lot of times in games, but her knowledge of it was still limited. She continued to listen to Sonia, desiring to know the whole story. Sonia noticed that Chiaki paid attention to her, right down to the detail.

 

“It’s Serbia. The background between our kingdom and Serbia is gonna be a story for another time, so I’ll just focus on this incident. Just a year before I enrolled Hope’s peak academy, there was a crisis involving pro-Serbian radicals that took over our embassy in the capital city of Novoselic. Their demands were an annexation of our kingdom to Republic of Serbia, or else an entire embassy was to be slaughtered. Of course, we could not just let it slide. A response was necessary.” Sonia revealed the name of the hostile country. Novoselic was very much far from being the only country which had problems with the aforementioned republic. In fact, just down the south, Kosovo shared similar issues. Even something as simple as car plates would raise tensions, as seen a few times when Serbia placed its military right at the southern border.

 

Chiaki needed to process it a little, but she could feel how it had to feel to live in constant fear of war. It squeezed her heart, just the idea was already horrifying enough, for your life to end in a matter of seconds due to circumstances controlled by the leaders.

 

“...That’s horrible. Each country has a right to exist. One shouldn’t just take it away from them.” murmured Chiaki while also feeling that integrity of countries should be respected, especially in cases where a country was around an ambitious dictatorship.

 

“I agree with you there. However, many of the leaders disagree with that notion, so to say. In fact, they spit on it. Anyway, our response was to rescue the hostages before the deadline hit. Our operation was conducted at moonless midnight. Thankfully, those radicals lacked any sort of equipment necessary for the night operation, so it was fairly easy. To get to the embassy, we used a Blackhawk helicopter as we infiltrated it. Luckily, the hostage crisis got quickly resolved. Within first shots, the radicals laid down their arms. For boasting so much, their resolve was minimal. We captured them and took innocents in the embassy to safety. That had to be one of the luckiest missions I’ve ever had.” Sonia shared a memory with her about an operation that went relatively easy, although it wasn’t entirely clear whether or not did the aforementioned radicals really surrender their arms or if they were in fact suppressed quickly, so to say. Perhaps it was the fear that Chiaki would think differently of her that she omitted some details. “….but not every crisis went such way.”.

 

Silence was there to be had. Chiaki could feel how heavy it must have been. Her heart began to hurt, just imagining that there were even more difficult experiences she went through. She understood why Sonia wasn’t ready to talk about them, just putting herself in her shoes was enough to paint a rather grim picture. However, the silence was making Sonia a bit nervous.

 

“I apologize if-” Sonia wanted to apologize, fearing that she just overwhelmed Chiaki. Instead, her friend understood and gave her a tight hug in return. Even if she was in her underwear, it didn’t stop Chiaki from trying to comfort Sonia as much as she could. Not only was Sonia quite surprise by Chiaki’s hug, she was also red like a cherry, since her friend was squishing herself onto her. Not that she minded, she found it rather comfortable.

 

“I hope we can provide you a happier life here. You deserve it, Sonia.” Chiaki promised her that she and her friends will do their best to make her life in Japan as peaceful and joyful as possible. They would do everything that would ensure her safety and happiness. Sonia couldn’t help but to smile at Chiaki’s sincerity.

 

“You guys are already doing it. Even in a situation like this, it’s been one of my happiest moments.” Sonia gave her pats on her bare back, just feeling how comfortable Chiaki was to touch. Her touches were gentle and careful, so that it wouldn’t scare her friend. She also felt her warmth so up close. There was also a considerable height difference between them, it made Chiaki look so small compared to Sonia.

 

Oh my, she’s really warm. Perfect for hugs like that.” Sonia thought to herself, noticing how her warmth provided comfort for her.

 

“I’m glad to hear that. I hope that after this is done, we’ll be having happier times.” Chiaki looked at Sonia with her big, puppy-like eyes, also sporting a toothy smile.

 

“Of course we will! We have to make sure we celebrate it big time!” declared Sonia that their lives would be one of joy, but then she remembered that she had to dress up Chiaki as a special forces operator. “Ah, you should put this on. You’re gonna look really cool!”.

 

Once they stopped hugging each other, Sonia handed over the SOF uniform to Chiaki. Her friend took it and just happened to turn around. Since she was still in her undies, Sonia couldn’t help but to take a look at her butt. She thought it was so adorable, that it needed to be “treated”, so she gave it a little spank. Not strong enough that it would scare her, but it would make her feel. Upon getting her cheeks gently slapped, Chiaki flinched a little and let out a little squeak. Her face became fully red, thanks to it.

 

“Oh, sorry! Sorry, my hand just slipped!” stammered Sonia once she realized that she lost control of herself. She just couldn’t resist doing it. Just like Chiaki’s cheeks became rosy, so did Sonia’s.

 

“...heh, it’s okay. It felt...kinda nice, I think.” giggled Chiaki as she looked at her with a smile on her cherry red face. Judging from her face alone, Sonia came to the conclusion.

 

CHIAKI LIKED IT?!!! OH MY SWEET BABY JESUS!” Sonia was the one to be steamy, since she did not expect someone so pure looking to, lets say, be into it, even if it were just the most gentle form. None than less, Chiaki began to put on the special forces uniform, but she was struggling with it.

 

“Let me help you a bit.” Sonia assisted her through out of the changing of clothing. Thanks to her help, it didn’t take much time for Chiaki to resemble the very Solid Snake himself. Only thing she needed were a bandanna and she would perfectly pass as a cosplay of the aforementioned character. After they were finished with it, they stepped in front of the mirror.

 

“Tadaa!!! Here we go! Now what do you think?” Sonia wanted to know what she thought of it. For the first time ever in her life, Chiaki felt like she was cool just from appearance alone. She truly looked like a stealth game heroine that would save the world by destroying the nuclear capable dinosaur mecha.

 

“...Woah….that’s pretty badass.” Chiaki admitted that didn’t just like the uniform, she loved it. She even did some action-like poses, like pretending to carry a handgun that would make her enemies meet their maker. One could even call her “Solid Chiaki”. She would probably love to be called that.

 

“Yours is more cute and soft.” Sonia verbally slipped, causing Chiaki’s cheeks to flare up from redness, as she looked at Sonia with a very surprised expression on her face. Silver lining was that someone thought she looked good, but it never failed to embarrass her. Just looking at Chiaki’s goofy face made Sonia realize that she lost control again. At least it was just verbal that time.

 

“I-I mean, I agree! You look HELLA badass! You’re gonna slay those gangsters!” Sonia cheered for her, with gleam in her eye, before she handed out a balaclava to her. “Oh, before that, put this on too.”

 

Chiaki put on the balaclava, covering almost the entirety of her head bar her eyes with it. She recalled that even Solid Snake himself had to wear a mask like that, at the beginning of Metal Gear Solid. Unlike the uniform, her opinion on the balaclava was drastically different.

 

“….Now I just look like a terrorist.” grumbled Chiaki, not really a fan of such look. She figured out that she had to wear it, so that Daft Capo doesn’t immediately find out that it was her, but she just didn’t vibe with such appearance.

 

“You don’t have to wear it now, but you should absolutely wear it during the mission.” Sonia reminded her that while she can still be without it as of that moment, the balaclava was a must for the rescue itself, otherwise they would target there easily.

 

“If it’s important, then I’ll do it.” Chiaki listened to Sonia’s suggestion before she wondered whether or not she would be allowed to own that suit. “Also, can I keep the suit?”.

 

“Of course! I have plenty of spares. Now, we’re all ready, right?” Sonia allowed her to keep it permanently, which made Chiaki smile. Whenever she would feel cool or “badass”, she would put it on and do things with it. Things that only her brain knew. More or less, they were done in dressing her up.

 

“Yeah, let’s go.” nodded Chiaki as both of them left the dressing room, with the intention to finally return to the warehouse.

 

In the mean time, everyone, except Chihiro, who felt like putting on the suit would expose the truth behind him, and Gundham, who just preferred his robe, already wore suits. Even Hifumi and Teruteru were wearing ones. Perhaps some people in Kuzuryu clan were truly large. Now sharply dressed, they just needed some things to be cleared out before they would officially engage in the mission. Before that, some were taking pleasure in looking smart.

 

“Wow there, Hajime! You looking pretty slick!” Ibuki made finger guns, pointing at Hajime. She just thought that he looked really stylish wearing that suit. Perhaps he could use it for another future occasion too.

 

“C-c’mon, I don’t look THAT good.” Hajime deflected her compliments, not really feeling anything beyond “average” with his appearance. Some people, quite a lot of girls, disagreed big time on him.

 

“What are you saying? You look like a true gangsta! You’d fit in right in Kuzuryu clan!” Ibuki insisted that he was rocking that suit, to which Hajime was too flustered to continue defending himself. Maybe there was something to him that charmed people, he just didn’t know of it.

 

However, the positive opinion on suits was not unanimous among the Fellowship.

 

“...This suit sucks! It’s just gonna hinder me.” grumbled Akane as she was trying to stretch while wearing the suit, but it was more limiting compared to her usual wear. After the whole deal was done, she would pick something sporty, something that would allow her to move. Anything but clothing that would limit her.

 

“It is what it is, Akane. You won’t have to wear it afterwards.” Nekomaru reminded her that even though she was valid for feeling such way, she still needed to wear it. At the very least, it was just temporary.

 

“Good, I don’t wanna. Gotta say though, you look damn fine in it.” frowned Akane before she got a better look at her coach in a suit. He looked quite “gangsta”, so to say. A truly scary one, if they weren’t friends.

 

“Hahaha, thanks!” chuckled Nekomaru, appreciating her compliment.

 

“Now, we just gotta wait for those two and we’ll be more or less ready.” said Skipper as they waited for the gal duo. Luckily, the wait was a short one. Both Sonia and Chiaki came back. Sonia was still in her formal clothes, where as Chiaki was wearing uniform of a NSOFC operator, although most people would just think that she was cosplaying as Solid Snake.

 

“Excuse me for taking so long, just needed to help.” apologized Sonia needlessly as both of them came back to the group. Hajime and Ibuki immediately blushed upon seeing Chiaki dressed like that. His ahoge was erect, literally. Ibuki, on other hand, was sweating.

 

“H-ho mama, Chiaki…” Ibuki started wiping off sweat from her forehead, feeling the heat just from seeing her like that. She already had dreams of seeing a woman in a more “badass” clothing, and now it became a reality. It was a little surprising that it was Chiaki out of all people.

 

Holy heck...never thought I’d see her like that….my heart’s beating fast…” Hajime couldn’t keep his eyes off from Chiaki. Just like Ibuki, he never thought he would see Chiaki like that, but he quite enjoyed the sight. Not that he would admit it out loud.

 

“Hey, guys. Are you ready?” Chiaki just innocently walked towards her friend group, just making sure that they were prepared for the mission. Both Ibuki and Hajime stared at her like a duo of two idiots.

 

“O-oh, yeah we are ready!” stuttered Hajime, still red in his face. Deep down, he hoped he would see her like that more, even after they were done with the mission.

 

“T-that is right! We will save Miss Yukizome tonight!” Ibuki saluted her while stuttering, she was just a little too enchanted by her. Both reactions didn’t go unnoticed by her, she couldn’t help but to smirk a little.

 

“...That’s good to hear. Although I’m having a feeling you are liking what you see.” Chiaki teased them about it, although she did feel good that she had people who really like her on such level. At the same time, her being able to tease was a sign that her comfort was improving too.

 

“W-what do you mean by that?” stammered Hajime, caught off guard by her little tease. Chiaki couldn’t help but to giggle. Ibuki just froze, she felt like she was just found out.

 

“Who knows?” Chiaki pretended to be ambiguous about it, but she knew exactly what was she talking. She was considering using the suit for occasions outside the mission, perhaps if Hajime and Ibuki really wanted to see her like that.

 

“Alright, everyone grab your weapons!” Skipper ordered them to pick their weapons. Those who would partake in the battle all rushed towards the crates, grabbing whatever they could get a hold off. Only few were deliberate in their choices of weaponry.

 

FAMAS is a must.” Chiaki was among those that had a conscious choice regarding weapons. Luckily, she managed to snatch a FAMAS BB gun. She remembered that Solid Snake used the exact type of bullpup assault rifle in the first game. The look needed to be completed. Chiaki even posed like him, just feeling the moment before the mission would start.

 

“I don’t need no fake gun. I’ll use my fists!” Akane was one of the five, others being Sakura, Aoi, Nekomaru and Gundham, who refused to wield a (fake) gun, her fists were deemed more than satisfactory enough. None than less, everyone was armed at that point.

 

“Everyone ready?” Skipper asked just one more time before the warm up. They would strike at midnight, where Daft Capo would have likely least expected to.

 

“Yeah!” everyone raised their fists, but just before they would start with an exercise, an unexpected guest arrived to the scenes.

 

Wait, dudes!”.

 

To surprise of everyone in the Fellowship of Darkness, it was Mondo Oowada, now in one piece. His bones seemed to recover, thanks to persistent work of nurses and doctors there.

 

“...Is that?” Kiyotaka could just smile upon hearing that voice. They all looked at him, all relieved that he returned to them.

 

“Yo, I’m back!” Mondo announced his presence as he stepped closer

 

“My goodness, the bro has returned!” Kiyotaka cheered for his arrival as he spread his arms like an eagle. Others were quite welcoming to him too. He did stand out due to fact majority of people were in suits.

 

“Welcome back, Mondo. It’s been a while.” Makoto greeted him while also remembering that so much time passed since then.

 

“Yeah...don’t worry, my bro told me everything. Fuckers got Miss Yukizome…” Mondo shook his fist, cursing their enemies for it. Had it been said before, they would have been trapped in fear and anxiety. That time, it was all different.

 

“And now we’re on the way to save her.” Chiaki revealed that the night of that day was a decisive one. No longer would Chisa’s fate be decided by the claws of their adversary.

 

“Oh shit, nice! About time to show those bastards who’s boss!” Mondo cracked his fists, ready to beat up any gangster on sight, but he was still unsure of many things. “So uh, what now?”.

 

“That calls for a perfect time for recap. Kowalski, brief!” Skipper ordered his colleague to finally give out the briefing. Thus, he did.

 

“Here shall be the briefing of Operation Liberation of Yukizome! First, the initial wave will consist of Kuzuryu clan members, although they will operate under a proxy named “Los Bastardos”. While we were dressing up, we have decides for such name, to invoke the fear of cartels. They will attack with their BB guns, providing suppressive fire in the process. There is a one hundred percent chance that they will bring reinforcements, so we will try to overwhelm them. However, Hope’s peak students will also participated in the battle. Gundham and Sonia shall take care of the Southern Flank, which we expect to be the most challenging one. Fuyuhiko and Peko will handle the Northern Flank. Ryota Mitarai will be in charge of Western Flank, where as Nekomaru will lead our forces in the Eastern Flank. We will try to break in, but the resistance would be too high, so we will send in a “surprise package”, carried out by Chiaki Nanami and us. We will infiltrate amid the chaos, locate Miss Yukizome and escape from the facility. Rescuing her is our only task. Is everything clear?” Kowalski gave all information necessary. Every other hole in their plan was addressed when they were all putting on their suits.

 

“All clear!” everyone either saluted or raised their fists. The readiness rate of the whole Fellowship was sky high. All were motivated to finally prove themselves that they were capable of defying their adversary, even outmatching them.

 

Good! Tonight, we strike them harder than Desert Storm!” announced Skipper before they all would start preparing for the operation. There was still time before the night struck. The rest of the day was spent training, checking equipment and making sure that they were all prepared for the toughest.

 

As the day passed, the full moon rose from the horizon. There were still only minutes until the Operation Liberation of Yukizome would begin, but some of them, mostly the initial wave of Kuzuryu clan members, were already on their way. Kuzuryu clan utilized cars of different colours, so that they would be less suspicious. The command center, location still classified, was already established. Amid this, Chiaki was led to an inconspicuous looking mail truck, which was used by the aforementioned clan to bypass certain deliveries. In fact, that was exactly how the suits arrived.

 

Chiaki also carried the tactical backpack that Sonia gave her. In it, there were penguins, but also a spare M4A1 Carbine, so that Chisa would have a weapon during the escape. However, she carried her FAMAS.

 

As the door of the backside opened, she saw the very thing that basically perfected her vibe as a “Solid Snake”.

 

A box. An ordinary looking box. She was happier for it than one would expect.

 

Oh, there’s a box in it. Perfect. The box is vital.” Chiaki thought to herself, already planning to use it in her infiltration. However, before she went inside, a familiar voiced was head. She had to check out, she knew who it was.

 

Hey, Chiaki. Just wanted to talk to you before we go.” Hajime had the opportunity to see her just before the operation would begin. Seeing him was enough to brighten her mood further, but it also motivated her as well.

 

“Glad to see you, Hajime. We’re finally doing this.” Chiaki smiled, knowing that it was about the time to save her. After all these days, she would be finally free.

 

“Yeah, it was about time. Though I have to say….be careful out there. I believe in you, but be safe.” Hajime encouraged her while also expressing some concerns. Even though he strongly believed she would be fine in the end, there was still worry that she would be hurt.

 

“You too, Hajime. You guys are gonna do it great.” Chiaki cheered for them too, but she had an urge to do something for him.“Oh, just before we go…”

 

Suddenly, she hugged him as an expression of gratitude to have someone like him on her side. Hajime wasn’t startled at all, instead he hugged her back, letting her know that she will always have someone

 

“Thank you, Hajime. For everything.” Chiaki’s voice cracked a little, even though she maintained a smile through out the hug. Even then, she felt like she could do even more for him. For her friends.

 

“I should be one thanking you, heh…” Hajime admitted that it wasn’t just on them, but on her as well. After all, she united them and did everything she could to provide them joy. But alas, as much as they wanted to feel each other’s touches, they had to let go. The mission awaited them.

 

“...but now we have to go. Miss Yukizome awaits us!” said Chiaki as she began to climb inside the mail truck, prepared to traverse the enemy territory.

 

I wish you luck! Can’t wait for it to be over…” Hajime gave his words just before he had to depart from her, with him participating in the North Flank, led by Kuzuryu’s.

 

“Good luck to you too!” so did Chiaki gave her farewells as she covered herself in the box. It was big enough so that her backpack would fit in. Kuzuryu clan member closed the door as the driver started up the engines. The mail truck began to drive towards the Zona. It was just few minutes from the destination.

 

Miss Yukizome, you won’t have to wait for so long anymore! We’re coming for you!” Chiaki thought to herself, already prepared for her mission, to face everything Daft Capo would throw at her.

 

Operation Liberation of Miss Yukizome was now in motion.

Chapter 48: Liberation of Yukizome - PART I

Notes:

THIS WINTER

DOCTOR LOOSEGAZPACHOHEIMER

AFTER SO MANY ESSAYS FOR COLLEGE

AND CRIPPLING DCS: F-15E STRIKE EAGLE BY RAZBAM OBSESSION

HAS FINALLY MOVED HIS ASS

TO DELIVER

THE VERY PROMISED

FIRST PART OF OPERATION LIBERATION OF YUKIZOME!!

COMING TODAY!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

The time has come and it couldn’t have been on a more perfect night. The nightly sky was filled with stars, accompanied by the bright full moon. The light reflected from the aforementioned celestial object touched everything it could fall onto. Not even those who wanted to hide in darkness, already a difficult task in an alive city such as Tokyo, could escape.

 

Such were the first cars of Kuzuryu clan, who were slowly and surely arriving towards their destination: headquarters of Zona Daft Capo. Vehicles of different brands, be it Japanese or European, slipped through the improvised defenses of Daft Capo, who were on high alert in case of any attacks committed by Hope’s Peak Academy. Little did they know that a bigger, although reluctant enemy was coming for them. Perhaps it was for the better, just for the surprise factor while they had it. Kuzuryu clan drivers drove slowly, but carefully. They were also spread over the city, instead of coming in convoys. The latter would have alerted Daft Capo’s defenses, throwing a major wrench in their plans. Thankfully, such situations were avoided with their current strategy.

 

These drivers only had one reference point: bunker like building somewhere in the Zona Daft Capo.

 

On the Southern Flank, cars belonging to the Kuzuryu clan were gathering up. The target building was right in their sights, but instead of rushing directly towards it, they had a different priority. Thanks to the success of Koichi and Suzuha’s mission, they knew that Zona Daft Capo as a whole was filled up with defenses, most notably punching glove armed rockets on launchers. For each launcher, there were two punksters on patrol, waiting for their enemy to appear in front of them. Springboards, hidden on the road, were also present, but due to the fact there was yet to be any Hope’s peak student present there, none of them activated when cars of Kuzuryu clans drove over.

 

Once they gained sufficient numbers, first of the Kuzuryu clan members stepped outside their cars, all dressed up in their black tuxedos. Armed with BB guns in style of NATO weaponry, such as M4, MP5 and so on, they began moving towards their first target: the closest “rocket” launcher. The assault group of Kuzuryu clan members, consisting about 8 of them, walked close to the wall. The nearest punkster defense didn’t seem to notice anything suspicious. Not even those that were guarding the headquarters were aware of the incoming strike group, likely due to distance between them and what was coming to them.

 

The first Kuzuryu clan strike group leaned towards the wall, sensing that the presence of punksters was nearby, just waiting for someone out of Hope’s peak academy to pass by, guaranteeing a meeting between their faces and a rocket with a punching glove for their warhead. However, they expected the victims of their ambush attacks to be unaware of their trap.

 

Their expectation was fulfilled: punksters in charge of Coyote-designed punching glove for warhead rocket launchers were unable to notice any hostile movements. More cars from Kuzuryu’s arrived as they all began to drop even more of their men and women, armed with BB guns, as they all took their positions.

 

The first group of Kuzuryu clan members was more than prepared to unleash the opening shots of the operation.

 

And thus, their fingers pulled triggers of their guns.

 

“OW OW OW OW!” one of the punkster in charge of the rocket launcher, specifically the one who steered the launcher, began to yelp, thanks to small but fast pellets hitting his body like an enraged hive of bees.

 

“What the fu...” other punkster was about to call out his colleague, but his fate was similar: overwhelmed with the sheer amount of volume of pellets hitting his lanky body. Once they were “suppressed” enough, the first Kuzuryu strike group moved in, beating living daylights out of both punksters. Few swift punches, and both men in glittering white were down.

 

“Hostiles down.” reported one of the armed participants of small Kuzuryu clan strike force as they seized an easy to see opportunity: taking control of Coyote’s contraption. Once of the Kuzuryu clan members laid their eyes upon the obligatory Playstation 2 controller, it became fairly self explanatory to them on how to operate such thing: no different than controlling cannons from video games, except physics applied. They did not hesitate for a moment to readjust bearing and azimuth of the launcher, pressing triggers on the controller once they felt that the position of the launcher was just right, propelling the punch glove rocket in the process. The direction of the said ammunition was right towards another punch glove rocket launcher trap, just across the street.

 

Bullseye! Within a blink of an eye, the punch glove rocket landed right in his face. Had his face before the fist squashed his face been captured on the video, it would be viral for at least three hours on internet.

 

“What the? Dudes, you’re firing at...” punkster nearby was about to caution his other colleagues for friendly fire, only for him to take a good look at who was firing: not men in white, but men and women in black.

 

“...FUCKERS!” punksters shook his fist in rage as his yell served as a war cry that was heard through out the near proximity of the area. The shout was yelled by the guard, the same one who was in charge of Tsuhirito Warehouse, who then turned his head as quickly as a falcon would. Without even a question, he immediately began sprinting towards them, almost exactly like a Terminator to boot. However, his presence was quickly noted as Kuzuryu clan members reloaded their BB guns as quickly as they could. Some made slight slip ups, but they managed to reload just in time, unleashing a volley of pellets at him. Little value of deterrence, as he just tanked it almost as if he actually was a machine sent back in time to kill a guy called Connor. However, Kuzuryu clan members did not neglect the very catch they found, so they reloaded the launcher, adjusted azimuth and bearing and pressed triggers as quickly as they could.

 

The punch glove rocket was launched and it scored a direct hit on guard’s face. It wasn’t enough to fully knock him out, but it was more than enough to knock him back. Even the guard realized that the threat level presented by their adversary was not one they were expecting. Just as he picked himself up, he noticed more and more black cars were arriving to the scene. Their enemy was increasing their numbers at the pace unthinkable to Daft Capo, at least on the local level. Immediately, he made a call to his superiors.

 

“Sir, we are under attack! I repeat, we are under attack!” the guard crouched down as he send a message through his ear microphone. Not too long after, he continued with his assault, but he kept the microphone on, in case Elite Bois respond.

 

Meanwhile, in the headquarters of Daft Capo, the very building that resembled a bunker out of World War 2, residents (including the hostage) were unaware of what was going on. They just thought it would be another day to wait out until they either get 100 billion dollars and the ownership of the academy or they would deport Chisa Yukizome to Albania, potentially forever preventing her to ever reunite with her students. Lack of response from Hope’s peak academy officials made Daft Capo confident about deportation.

 

Through out the still escalating crisis, N.Tropy was just relaxing in his office, smugly sipping tea. Confident that at the very least, even if he doesn’t get 100 billion dollars and academy, Chiaki’s life would be perpetually ruined. According to him, worth it even losing on 100 billion dollar gamble.

 

However, he spat out the tea once he heard the guard’s message through the nearby radio.

 

“What?!” N.Tropy immediately stood up and stormed out of the office. Not a single nanosecond of a breath was wasted to loudly announced the news: “Zona Daft Capo is under attack! I repeat, Zona Daft Capo is under attack! Mobilize everyone in it!”.

 

As he received everyone’s attention, next to no punkster refused to carry out their duties as they all began rushing forth, preparing to address their current situation. Those already present in the main room already mobilized, rest of it was informing punksters (and other members) not just in headquarters, but in the entire Zona Daft Capo.

 

Irrelevant Zone was not excluded from it. All those present in it, including Zapatta and Suifta, received the call once a fellow punkster barged in, slamming his foot on the door.

 

“All of you, get your asses moving!” punkster called everyone present in the room for action. The disgraced rockstar was quite startled upon hearing the news, where as his rapper colleague remained calm, although concerned.

 

“Wait, who’s attacking us?” Zapatta wanted to ask, but little was he aware that time for questions, at least from their perspective, already ran out a long time ago.

 

“MOVE YOUR ASS!” punkster was just about to grab the rockstar with his bare hands, but all of punksters moved just in time.

 

“Fine, fine!” Zapatta complained but he was almost to be crushed under the small stampede of punksters, but he was quick enough to not suffer from it. Punksters who were present in Irrelevant Zone gathered in the main floor of headquarters.

 

The message of an assault on Zona Daft Capo was also heard in a bar, where Figottoni and his walking wall-like brother Louisianous were just cleaning glasses before the news. Unlike with their friends in Irrelevant Zone, not a single doubt was spared on what it must be done.

 

“It’s time…” nodded Figottoni before both men of way above average weigh made a run out of the bar, rushing towards the battlefield.

 

Even the parts of Zona Daft Capo that would generally be of no interest of their adversaries were called upon, such as their “Gaming Zone” building, which it was essentially an overglorified LAN party. The games presented were exactly what one would imagine: Call of Duty, Counter Strike, Arma and Insurgency solely because Rando plays those. Starcraft was also among available games, for some inexplicable reason.

 

Just as everyone before they got to know they were being under attack, punksters in the “Gaming Zone” were just having rounds of Nazi Zombies on Call of Duty: Black Ops. Kino Der Toten, a map set in a long abandoned film theater of Nazi Germany, was their choice. Among the players was third punkster, who kind of got fame for the roast off. He, along with his other Call of Duty obsessed friends, were on 10th round on the match. Just before another punkster stormed the room, the third punkster managed to achieve a headshot on a lumbering Nazi Zombie with a M16 assault rifle, after spending a few clicks on his mouse.

 

“Hah! Fuck you, zombie!” third punkster pumped his fist, satisfied at his 69th kill in the match, but all the fun time punksters had in the “Gaming Zone” was to be abruptly ended with an arrival of a storming punkster.

 

“DUDE, SHIT IS ON FIRE!” the news announcing punkster shouted on top of his lungs, startling almost everyone in the process. In fact, he was just responsible for death of third punkster’s own character. The witch’s laugh echoed through out his headphones.

 

“What the fuck?!! I just had a sick round!” third punkster seethed at him, but he was quick to be literally dragged out of the room. Others went out without any trouble, the game can take a pause in the moment of crisis.

 

As soon as those punksters went outside, they were greeted with the ever increasing presence of black cars of many brands, with men and women in black, all armed with BB guns, dropping off from aforementioned vehicles. One of the recently deployed Kuzuryu clan strike groups happened to intercept punksters who were just gaming before. The confusion shared by punksters was shared by basically everyone in Zona Daft Capo.

 

“Who the fuck are these guys?!” third punkster shouted as he pointed towards the group of Kuzuryu clan members, who began taking covers behind cars.

 

“They don’t look like-OW OW OW OW!” other punkster wanted to point out their unusually stylish appearance, but soon enough, all of the received a dry shower of pellets, forcing some to actually re-enter the “Gaming Zone”, just to hide.

 

As the situation developed, all of the Elite Bois present in headquarters gathered around, not even in their “meeting room”, flat out in the main room. It was no question that their participation in the crisis was inevitable, however even in the most direst of times, a coherent plan was needed.

 

“What about us, N.Tropy? Shouldn’t we also step in?” Fritz was first to point out that somehow, Elite Bois weren’t the first one to be deployed in the battle. Perhaps it was because of Fritz’ own enjoyment of battling, but he also understood that no battle is won by rushing right into it like an enraged sheep dashing towards a minefield.

 

“Assuming the attacker wants to break in, we shall give them a little surprise here.” N.Tropy laid out a proposition that headquarters should not be left undefended, were the case of a potential breakthrough. Of course, he also made it clear that he’s the one that will stay inside. Not because of cowardice, but because he was under impression his tuning fork would be of best use for defensive measures. Besides, others had priority in offensive measures.

 

“Who even is it attacking?” Dastardly raised his eyebrow, wondering on who would be even able to conduct an entire operation across Zona Daft Capo. Assumptions were had, but it was still better to confirm them.

 

“One moment.” N.Tropy quickly returned to his office to grab the walkie talkie. As soon as he got it his bulky and over-engineered arm, he laid out an order to the guard. “The guard! Identify the attacker!”.

 

“Men and women in suits, carrying BB guns. They just keep coming!” the guard reported, taking cover behind one of the cars, as even he found the endless barrage of pellets to be overwhelming. It was one thing to be attacked from one direction, it was wholly another to be flanked. And he was, indeed, flanked.

 

“….Huh….any relation to Hope’s peak academy?” N.Tropy asked as he just rejoined with Elite Bois. His intuition was telling him that somehow, just somehow someone connected with Hope’s peak academy was behind it. Of course he had doubts because, according to him, anyone connected with the aforementioned academy was “an impotent clown with a spine made out of glass and brain made out of thin air”. That was one of the more generous descriptions he had for them.

 

“Unknown, sir!” the guard responded, since he couldn’t even peek above without his face being showered by pellets. Suppressive fire done by BB guns forced him to constantly change his ducking position behind the car.

 

“…Strange. Now who else would have audacity to attack us?” N.Tropy scratched his blue chin, as from their perspective, the mystery behind the assailant became thicker.

 

“It’s the Peugeot Mafia!” Herman had a preliminary declaration, suspecting that if it wasn’t Hope’s peak academy, it had to be one of their rivals back from their days in Europe. Long story short, the so called Peugeot Mafia, obviously of french origin, presented a bigger problem to Daft Capo than anyone who deemed themselves a “hero” or was legitimately considered to be one. Like that sponge and his starfish friend.

 

Under normal circumstances, the doctor of time would have simply dismissed the idea. However, due to perplexing developments, he has considered it a possibility. So, he gave an order. “...The guard! Identify cars!”.

 

“Sir, I’m in the middle of a bloody battle!” the guard reminded him that pellets were flying all above him.

 

“Do as I say and identify them!” N.Tropy was not having it and said his order more forcefully. Relatively lightly for the standards of Doctor Nefarious Tropy. Knowing that he had no choice to obey (not that he would complain about it in the first place, just that the pellets were making it more difficult than he imagined), the guard decided to play by different rules: instead of peeking from the cover, he decided to go prone and crawled underneath the car and decided to take a look from there. Since he could actually take a look at the car, he recognized the logo for it. The black car had a logo that consisted of three ovals, two of them shaping into a letter T. One could not mistake such brand.

 

“Toyota!” the guard reported as quickly as he could. In other words, not Peugeot mafia, because those Frenchmen only drive Peugeots. Not even Renaults, just Peugeots.

 

“….Then it’s not them. Be on your guard, gentlemen.” N.Tropy warned other Elite Bois as he displayed an unusual amount of caution, not expected of someone who was usually fairly confident in a situation.

 

Arrivals of Kuzuryu clan members kept coming, but soon students of Hope’s peak academy had their combat debut in the very turf of their enemy. Among the first to step in were Sonia, dressed in same black tuxedo and black pants as any other Kuzuryu clan member. She would have worn sunglasses, but wearing them in the middle of the night was not optimal, so she ditched the idea. Gundham, on other hand, wore the same cape as he did during Operation Nighthawk. Two of them look completely unrelated had one would look from afar, but none than less, they were tactical commanders of the Operation Liberation of Yukizome.

 

“The time has come…” Gundham mused to himself as he prepared for what would he consider to be one of the most vital battles of his life yet. Sonia, on other hand, had a different approach.

 

“OURAH, MOTHERFUCKERS! LET’S GIVE THOSE BASTARDS A WHOOPIN’!” the princess gave her best possible impression of R. Lee Ermey that a royal woman from Balkans could possibly give. It did however serve as a rallying cry as even more of Kuzuryu clan members, but not just them, but also even more students of Class 77-B and Class 78th arrived to the scene. The sector, which faced the very entrance of Daft Capo’s headquarters, was called SOUTH FLANK. As they were receiving more and more men and women for their offense, Sonia received a call through her radio, which might have been patented by Future Gadget Lab.

 

“Um, status report!” asked a voice who suspiciously sounded like Chihiro Fujisaki, who, along with Future Gadget Lab Members (Rintaro, Kurisu, Mayuri and Itaru), was far behind frontlines. He was, in fact, in Hope’s peak academy’s gym, which served as the command center for the Fellowship of Darkness. They were in charge of communication taken through all four flanks.

 

“Initial wave is ongoing! We’re giving them a hell of a time! Reinforcements coming along the way.” reported Sonia with high amount of confidence in her voice.

 

“Understood!” said Chihiro. In the mean time, Itaru Hashida was providing the same question towards NORTH FLANK, which was under the command of Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu himself.

 

“NORTH FLANK, how’s it going?” asked Itaru through his communication device.

 

“Our guys are providing suppressive fire. We’re going in soon.” Fuyuhiko reported the situation. NORTH FLANK was not as active as the SOUTH FLANK, but he still preferred to have it reinforced. Even a tiny hole could have potentially be the downfall of their frontline, if the enemy manages to find an opportunity for it.

 

Fuyuhiko was, of course, accompanied by Peko Pekoyama. She already had a grip on her bamboo sword, all she needed was just one more thing.

 

“Tell me when to strike, Master.” Peko requested permission to engage.

 

“We just need more of our guys, then we’re ready.” advised Fuyuhiko as he felt like their flank was still undermanned. Even if he was just taking extra precaution, it was still better than to just be reckless.

 

“Roger, we’re sending more of our guys.” promised Itaru before he shifted frequencies to the WEST FLANK, which was commanded by, possibly surprising, Ultimate Impostor out of all people. “WEST FLANK, status report!”.

 

“I just arrived there. We’re in urgent need of personnel.” reported Ultimate Impostor, who was impersonating one of Kuzuryu clan henchmen, although they did not specify who exactly. That was to be kept confidential. Although WEST FLANK itself was comparatively inactive, Ultimate Impostor already suspected that the aforementioned flank could be very vulnerable.

 

“Understood! Delivery is on the way!” Itaru confirmed the request as he shifted frequencies towards the yet to be deployed forces of Kuzuryu clan. It was only just the beginning, so reserves were yet to be called upon.

 

Meanwhile, Kurisu Makise, known by many nicknames, was taking care of communications for the EAST FLANK. Not to say Rintaro was slacking, he was taking care of communications between forces. In the mean time, Mayuri had barely an idea how Rintaro and his friends were able to conduct such an operation, but she believed in their cause and was very confident in their success. Even moral support was required.

 

“EAST FLANK, what is your status?” asked Kurisu through her own communication device. The said flank was in dual command of Nekomaru Nidai and Akane Owari, although all orders were carried out by the former.

 

“We’re building up here, but we’re very soon to kicking their asses!” Nekomaru assessed the situation as just a mere build up. EAST FLANK was getting spicier compared to WEST FLANK, but SOUTH FLANK still took the crown as the most active one.

 

As expected, someone was getting impatient.

 

“C’mon, let’s do it now!” Akane was already cracking her fists, grinning to hell and back as she was more than ready to sack punksters in their face (and more).

 

“Hold on a moment, Akane. Just a little bit!” advised Nekomaru for her to be just a little bit patient. He once heard that the ratio between the attacking force versus the defending force must be 3:1 in favor of the former, so he wasn’t playing any gambles.

 

“Lemme have them! Lemme have them!” Akane began to punch the air, just barely holding onto orders. Had it not been for Nekomaru, she would go for the attack. As requested, more cars arrived on all flanks, providing personnel from both Hope’s peak academy and Kuzuryu clan to the front. Along black cars arrived vans, ambulances even. Kuzuryu clan had a few private ambulances to spare, so they would serve as MEDEVAC. Fighting around the headquarters was already happening, but the main offensive has yet to begin. They didn’t want to rush into the closed headquarters just yet. Oh no, they waited for Daft Capo to take the bait.

 

Around the same time, punksters from all of headquarters gathered around the entrance like soldiers in the landing ships during Invasion of Normandy. All were just waiting for the door to raise. Coyote was in charge of opening the gate once the order was given.

 

Their commander made it quick.

 

“Gentlemen, you have only one mission tonight: REPEL THE AGGRESSOR! DO WHATEVER IT TAKES!” N.Tropy shouted as loudly as he could before he gave his final order. The one order that would begin the true fight.

 

Open the gate!”.

 

Thus, it began.

 

“Here it comes, boys and girls!” Sonia gave an order as everyone armed with BB guns went to take their positions. All of them used cover, even though it wasn’t expected for Daft Capo to have any fake armament. Luckily for them, ROE regarding real firearms was still in place for Daft Capo. Meanwhile, those who preferred to use their fists were moved behind a bit.

 

The entrance of the headquarters slowly began to open. An impatient punkster and two already sneaked out, right into the open. The sight of a punkster meant only one thing.

 

“Open fire!” Sonia shouted as much as she could.

 

And thus, the main offensive has begun.

 

The surrounding of headquarters was quick to be engulfed by the sounds of clicking and clacking of BB guns unleashing volleys, rafales even of pellets at any punkster that happened to fall right into the vision of Fellowship of Darkness. All that fashion style could not save them from stings provided by successful hits from pellets. As the entrance kept revealing more punksters, more of them were victim to the pellet onslaught. All that flinching and yelping confused their commander, wondering what were they even doing. By all means, they should have gone for a true mafia stampede, but instead they were just feeling every single pellet that landed on their body. They should be considered fortunate that Fellowship of Darkness and Kuzuryu clan abstained from aiming at eyes. The lower parts were not spared though.

 

“What is going on down there?!” perplexed N.Tropy as he was observing the situation below. As initially clobbered by pellets as they were, one of the punksters was taking a note. They were all standing, trying to dash in, but always suppressed by pellets.

 

So instead, he went into a prone position and began crawling out of the entrance. He even used his hat to protect his face. As predicted, he was one of the first to truly sneak out. Other punksters noted his success and began to crawl as well. However, not everyone went into prone, as they thought they could “sacrifice” themselves as decoys, so some punksters, despite the stings caused by pellets, decided to stand, for sake of crawling guys below. Not every punkster went into the same direction, they were all scattering around to cover other flanks.

 

Needless to say, The Fellowship and allies quickly took a note of their adaptions.

 

“Wait, shit! What should we do now?” alerted the Kuzuryu clan member nearby, who was quick to note the enemy’s adaptions. However, Sonia was not caught off guard by it. In fact, she expected it.

 

“Just a moment…” Sonia raised her hand as she let punksters scatter around. Those who were crawling thought they were safe from attacks. Sonia counted on their mindset.

 

And then, she whistled. The “cavalry” arrived, in from of preferring-to-use-arms combatants as they ran from the EAST FLANK’s side, successfully flanking punksters in the process. Fellowship fighters aimed at those who were crawling, with some beginning to stomp on those sods. Punksters who were standing tried to assist, but pellets were preventing them. At the same time, Fellowship combatants did not leave out the standing punksters. They received their trade of fisticuffs as well. Even the punch glove rocket launchers were involved, those that were captured by Fellowship of Darkness. As those rockets were fired, Fellowship combatants had to be scattered around, in case of friendly fire. There were some successful hits on side of punch glove rocket launchers, but usually their “intimidation factor” was enough to make everyone scatter around.

 

Judging from the all exchanges of fists and pellets, it seemed like the tide of the battle favored the Fellowship.

 

“Excellent. With this progress, we should be able to commence a breakthrough soon.” Gundham crossed his arms as he observed the unfolding battle.

 

“I wouldn’t start with it just yet. We still don’t have enough men on all of our flanks and they haven’t even sent their best, which is...quite odd.” Sonia cautioned him just in case, although Gundham was never a man of unrestrained optimism. The point regarding “sending their best” was also compelling enough, since both classes very much had experience with what is considered to be pinnacle of Daft Capo’s progress. Just the thought of that feline already made Gundham shudder.

 

“Now that you’ve mention it, Queen of Darkness, your observation appears to be wise and correct. It appears that they are waiting for their opportunity for a counterattack.” concurred Gundham as he gave out his own suggestion: “If I may request, check other flanks for the status.”.

 

“Roger!” nodded Sonia as she quickly distributed the message. “All flanks, report your status!”.

 

“WEST FLANK, smooth progress! Minimal resistance there, but we do need reinforcements! This flank is not covered up well!” Ultimate Impostor was the first to report, as they noticed the amount of personnel they had on the flank was not greatly outmatching the amount of punksters present. While pellets from BB guns did their job, more and more punksters found themselves on the flank.

 

“EAST FLANK, they’re sending their guys in, but they’re getting their asses kicked! GWAHAHA, GIVE EM MORE, BASTARDS!” Nekomaru told a different story regarding their situation, with the balance favoring the Fellowship.

 

“NORTH FLANK, we need more! Surprising amount of resistance from it! We’re just holding the defensive line! It’s like they expected it, damn it!” Fuyuhiko was speaking with much greater urgency than others, since punksters that he faced were craftier, more reflexive ones. Those punksters didn’t fully compromise themselves by going full prone, they just crouched when needed and pushed forward. At close encounters, even with the aid of Peko Pekoyama, they proved to be more cautious fighters, since they seemed to avoid getting into fights, rather than commit to exchanges of fisticuffs.

 

“Roger! I’ll send requests forward!” Sonia forwarded the message towards their command center. “HQ, send them more on all flanks!”

 

“Wilco!” Itaru approved the request for reinforcements and forwarded it to the yet to be deployed forces. As promised, NORTH, SOUTH AND EAST FLANK were quick to be manned with more men and women. Even more of students joined, some even to be considered to be a huge surprise to join the front lines.

 

Such was the case when one of the ambulances was deployed on SOUTH FLANK. It was slightly late, but it carried the person in charge of medical operations during Liberation of Yukizome.

 

“M-Medic incoming!” Mikan gave a salute inside the ambulance as she was kind of trembling. None than less, even though she was given an option to be behind the frontline, she insisted to help directly. “Did I say that right?”.

 

“That’s good! You will be of great service, medic!” Sonia complimented her, making the nurse blush a bit, but she was more than aware that there were far more pressing matters. Thus, upon a call, she would be sent to pick up the wounded. So far, there have been some wounded Kuzuryu clan members, but those were already picked up by other ambulances.

 

The situation seemed to all favor the Fellowship. From the looks of it, there weren’t many instances where punksters had the upper hand. NORTH FLANK was a close call, but reinforcements for Kuzuryu arrived, outmatching them. Even punksters that attempted to avoid fighting no longer had such option, they had to go head on. However, combination of Peko and suppressive fire was greatly holding them back. As much as sword would have been of little use in a modern battle, it was still more advantageous than literal bare hands, although that didn’t stop those punksters from landing a hit on her.

 

Such developing situation left the Fellowship in high spirits.

 

“Fuwahahaha! We are growing more and more! Soon we will able to commit a breakthrough!” cackled Gundham as he already began imagining their victory over Daft Capo. Even though he still remained to be cautious, he did drop the guard for a bit. Out of confidence of course.

 

“More like now, my friend.” smirked Sonia as the developing situation made her prepared to make an all surrounding push.

 

“Oh?” Gundham took a glance at her, wondering what made her consider such decision.

 

“All of our flanks should be supplied with enough manpower to conduct a total encirclement of their hideout. I will ask each leader of the flank if they are ready.” Sonia concisely elaborated it to him before she requested for everyone’s permission. “All flanks, are you ready?!”.

 

“HELLL YEAH WE AREEEEE!!!” Nekomaru was not hesitant one bit to advocate for the push as he was having a field day by beating the living bejesus out of punksters. It did not stop punksters from trying, but their fates were usually the same: fist to the face. However, Nekomaru was the merciful one, because Akane Owari was the whole other story, flat out RKO-ing punksters on sight. There was one instance where she even slam dunked a punkster right into a trash can, as if he were a basketball. None than less, smooth progress on EAST FLANK.

 

“We have more than enough on our side to do a counterattack! Our flank is good to go!” although NORTH FLANK was not such a breeze compared to its eastern counterpart. Fuyuhiko assured that the situation was good enough for him to push forward. NORTH, EAST AND SOUTH were all prepared.

 

Yet one did not respond just yet.

 

“What about you, WEST FLANK?” Sonia called out for Ultimate Impostor.

 

No response.

 

“WEST FLANK?” Sonia reached them out again.

 

Still nothing.

 

“WEST FLANK, please respond!” Sonia set out a demand.

 

There was a response. It was not the indicator of good news.

 

“….Where are our reinforcements?!” Impostor began to remind her that the promised reinforcements still haven’t arrived to WEST FLANK.

 

“Wait, huh?!” Sonia was taken aback, she was reassured that nothing would impede transfer of combatants. The situation at WEST FLANK challenged that notion.

 

“I say again, where are our reinforcements?!” repeated Ultimate Impostor even more urgently, noting that it was Daft Capo who had the numerical advantage. WEST FLANK was also among the first to suffer pellet shortages. Lack of reinforcements also meant lack of new ammunition, which was a fact that delighted punksters. Since they saw such opportunity, they decided to reinforce the flank with personnel. Also because of ammo shortages, more of Kuzuryu clan members (and Hope’s peak academy students) were forced to close range combat. Parity was palpable at the WEST FLANK and it had to be quickly addressed.

 

“They should be on their way! Just like I ordered them to!” Sonia attempted to reassure them, but she did not deny that the situation at WEST FLANK was abnormal.

 

“We need them NOW!” Ultimate Impostor shouted through his communication device, but suddenly, what followed afterwards was something none of the Fellowship foresaw.

 

A black car, belonging to Kuzuryu’s, was flying through the city almost as if it was thrown like a baseball. It headed straight towards the WEST FLANK.

 

“WHAT THE SHIT?!” Sonia’s jaw nearly dropped upon seeing a 3 ton object traveling through the air like a mere ball. It wasn’t a first time she has seen a car flying (not through self-propelled means, but through ballistics), but it was first time she has seen a car flying entirely horizontally.

 

The target of such attack, Ultimate Imposter, leaped just in time before the car would smash directly into them. However, their landing was not a smooth one, they landed right on their stomach. The car itself crashed into another building. Thankfully, both the car and the building were empty at the time. No one was hurt, but psychological shockwaves were felt.

 

“H-hey, that was one of our guys!” one of the Kuzuryu clan members felt shivers when they realized Daft Capo has someone or something that treats tonne-heavy objects as if they were mere baseballs.

 

However, that was just the beginning, as the mafioso with shoulders as wide as wall was sprinting towards them as fast as a horse. If the thrown car was just a mere shock to the psyche, the ever incoming presence of Louisianos was a full on lightning strik.e

 

“BIG GUY INCOMING!” shrieked one of the Kuzuryu clan members as they scattered around, but before they knew it, Louisianos was already there, staring down his target: Ultimate Impostor.

 

I disagree with your opinion.” Louisianos calmly stated as if it were a fact, before he threw a punch so mighty, it caused a sonic boom. Even the vapor cone appeared on his arm when he delivered such attack. Ultimate Impostor only dodged it by thin air, but the sheer shock caused their life to flash in front of their eyes, even if for just a second. However, it told him everything about the developing situation.

 

“ENEMY REINFORCEMENTS!!!!” Ultimate Impostor screamed as loudly as they could, alerting the entire Fellowship about the increased enemy presence. Whatever happened before was just a lead in. All that confidence from before became uncertainty. The fight itself turned into something that everyone put their lives to.

 

As soon as Daft Capo received reinforcements on WEST FLANK, other flanks followed suite. Both Gundham and Sonia just managed to look back just in time to see incoming vehicles, all European cars, all of different colors. There were even punksters on mopeds, some were even with two guys (or gals) per one motorbike, with the guy in the back carrying anything considered a “long range melee weapon”, be it a broom, an overly long stick or sometimes even a metal pipe. All of that looked quite familiar to the princess.

 

“OH FUCKING SHIT, THEY’RE ADAPTING!” Sonia felt cold sweat upon realizing that she might have fought some of those fellas before. Perhaps she should have expected it, but the sight of punksters themselves taking notes from previous experiences was not something she had on mind. She expected that from Elite Bois, not from “goons”, so to say.

 

Reinforcements were still coming from the side of Kuzuryu’s, but more often than not, they were already clashing with the intercepting Daft Capo reinforcements. However, unlike their Kuzuryu opponents, Daft Capo punksters did not hesitate to involve vehicular attacks on Fellowship’s forces, although they were required to drive slow. Killing anyone was, somehow surprisingly, still forbidden by Daft Capo’s ROE.

 

Meanwhile in the headquarters, Elite Bois observed how the tide of the crisis turned in their favor. Thus, it would have been shortsighted to let the opportunity for their involvement to slip.

 

“Gentlemen, I think it’s your time to shine.” N.Tropy grinned as he announced permission for rest of the Elite Bois to get involved in fun.

 

“WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!” Fritz raised his arms like a football player scoring a goal, immediately dashing towards the battle. During his run, he was already putting blunts in his mouth, lighting them up in the middle of it.

 

“Gyahahahaha! Muttley, get in!” cackled Dastardly as he invited his canine companion to join, to which of course he accepted immediately. Unlike Fritz, who sprinted right into the hot zone, Dastardly and Muttley went towards the Mean Machine, intending to utilize it in similar way as other punksters did.

 

“Excellent!” Wile E.Coyote raised his sign before left the scene, going in a slightly different direction than other two Elite Bois.

 

Tom, in the mean time, spun so rapidly in place, that he gained his ultimate power: his zoot suit. Regaining the fierce stoicism, Tom just strutted into the battlefield, already aware what kind of psychological damage can his mere presence do.

 

“Hahaha, time to go Bosnia mode!” Rando cracked his fists as he dashed towards his Mercedes-Benz C-Class W203 car, which was parked somewhere in Zona Daft Capo. Only he knew where he parked it.

 

Out of all Elite Bois, only two remained. The blue skinned scientist and the octopus.

 

“I’ll be just home defense, you know. I’d get my squishy ass kicked out in the open.” Herman admitted that his chances outside were kind of slim.

 

“Not a stupid choice. After all, I have a feeling they want to step with their filthy boots right inside! I have something nice prepared for that.” N.Tropy, shockingly enough, did not accuse Herman of cowardice, instead he saw an opportunity to cooperate. After all, can’t leave the fortification internally undefended.

 

Once engines were running, Dastardly stomped on the gas pedal, driving right into the forces of Fellowship. No one was hurt, as they all managed to jump in time, but in order to adapt, they had to play by the same rules as Daft Capo did.

 

“Requesting armor! I say again, requesting armor! All vehicles, you’re cleared to engage!” Sonia called on her walkie talkie for “armor”, in other words vans under the ownership of Kuzuryu clan. Mine-Resistant Ambush Protected vehicles (MaxxPro, for example) weren’t typically known to be under Yakuza and same was true for Kuzuryu’s. At most, some of vans had improvised armor. However one thing was clear.

 

With the presence of combating vehicles, the whole battlefield turned into a dangerous “game” of “bumper cars”, where one could get seriously hurt on either side. A total and complete chaos.

 

As SOUTH FLANK, initially one of the most promising fronts, turned into utter confusion, Kuzuryu clan members and Ultimate Impostor were desperately holding off the absolute Goliath that was Louisianos. Any hit they scored, be it with a pellet or with a punch, was not even a dent to Louisianos. Meanwhile, the man of the crime himself managed to score quite a few hits on Ultimate Impostor, judging from recently received bruises they got on their face. None than less, they kept holding on. They could not afford to lose.

 

However, something happened that caught Impostor by complete surprise.

 

Figottoni appeared on the battlefield. The very person he once considered a friend. Such a distraction even allowed Louisianos to get a hit on them. It nearly knocked them on the ground, but their resolve made them stand their ground.

 

However as fun as their times were in the past, those memories were long gone.

 

Forget about it. He’s the enemy now.” Ultimate Impostor glared at Figottoni, letting him know that any sentimentality to be had was futile. A fact well aware by their former friend.

 

“So you already know….” lamented Figottoni, feeling that despite everything, despite the betrayal caused by him, there could be an opportunity they could have a closure. Yet, it was too late even for that. Figottoni raised his fists, prepared to fight someone who he never imagined having to fight initially. “Brother, I shall aid you!”.

 

My chances are getting slimmer...but I must stand my ground, no matter what!” Ultimate Impostor’s mind gave a conclusive thought as he ran towards Figottoni, ready to strike him down. The first punch that was delivered was blocked by Figottoni raising his arms. Despite setting himself for battle, he was hesitant to actually hurt Impostor. However, misfortune for the Ultimate student, Louisianos took an opportunity to strike from behind.

 

Easy hits, all of them. Ultimate Impostor tried to fight them both at the same time, yet it was just a matter of time. Even Kuzuryu members that tried to help, either by directly intervening or spraying the wall-like man with pellets, were of naught.

 

As the chaos continued on SOUTH FLANK, Sonia, while unleashing pellets on all the rampaging punksters, saw what was happening on WEST FLANK. Ultimate Impostor was just barely standing from all attacks of Louisianos. She saw how they tried their very best, yet the intervention was necessary.

 

Luckily, one of the students (out of many) present on SOUTH FLANK was Sakura Oogami. Of course, Aoi Asahina was with her as well, as they together fought swarming punksters.

 

“Sakura, move to WEST FLANK!” Sonia shouted towards her sister-in-arms. Her call was without a doubt heeded in the middle of the battle.

 

“Understood!” nodded Sakura as she sprinted towards the WEST FLANK, hoping that she would arrive just in time to save her greatly wounded friend.

 

“Wait, let me go there too!” Aoi went to her commander for a moment, just so she could get a permission.

 

“Of course! You are free to do so!” Sonia did not even hesitate, as the situation on WEST FLANK was getting critical by every second.

 

“Ma’am, yes, ma’am!” Aoi gave off a salute as she dashed in the same direction as Sakura, with the same goal as her.

 

As valiantly as Ultimate Impostor held their position, they were just one hit away from a total knockout. Their entire face become covered in bruises. All they could do was take breaths, there wasn’t even enough energy in their arms to give even feeblest of punches.

 

Figottoni himself was quite beat up. His brother on other hand? Barely touched.

 

“Brother, I think it’s best if you leave it to me.” suggested Louisianos for his brother to back off.

 

“Understood.” nodded Figottoni, but he pulled out of the fight as a whole. He had the excuse of being too beaten to continue, but deep down, fighting his former friends filled him with shame. He also refused to watch what was his brother going to do.

 

“You have fought surprisingly well, but alas, we have a little disagreement.” Louisianos could not help but to give compliments to his enemy, but he concluded the fight with one last punch.

 

Ultimate Impostor fell on the ground, with their conscience gone.

 

Sakura and Aoi arrived too late.

 

“You fiend!” Sakura’s heart became filled with furious sense of justice. She clenched both of her fists, already prepared to avenge her colleague-in-arms. Aoi refused to speak a word, she knew what it had to be done.

 

“MEDIC!!!!” Kuzuryu clan member called out for MEDEVAC, so that Ultimate Impostor could be pulled out of the battlefield safely. Her cry was heard as an ambulance quickly arrived to the scene. In an unexpected sense of honor (or just basic decency), Louisianous refused to attack the ambulance. Instead, he focused on two girls that were wishing vengeance upon him.

 

“Another challengers, I assume. Give it your best shot!” Louisianos cracked his fists, dealing the whole confrontation as if it were just business. Without uttering a word, both women lunged at him, initiating the battle. Fists were exchanged with speeds comparable to rafales.

As the battle with Louisianous continued, no one noticed that Rando appeared on WEST FLANK, however he did not engage with them, instead he continued with his initial plan: getting his Mercedes Benz.

 

EAST FLANK was yet to become catastrophic. Akane and Nekomaru, along with others, be it students or Kuzuryu clan members, still had the upper hand there. However, both of them noticed that things were not going as smoothly elsewhere.

 

“Hey, west’s having issues there. Should we step in?” asked Akane in the middle of the fight. She happened to be in proximity of Nekomaru Nidai, so he heard it pretty quickly.

 

“Don’t worry about it! We got this flank to cover! I’m very-URGH!” Nekomaru advised at first, but he suddenly felt a sudden force applied to his stomach. It was strangely quite potent, given that it actually made him flinch. “What I wanted to say was I’m very sure that-”

 

However, before she could even hear the answer in full, her mood soured. Completely. All through presence of one woman that she fought before.

 

A very familiar woman.

 

Hey, fucko!”.

 

Daitane (Full name: Daitane Imagawa). It was her who stood right in front of Akane’s sight, grinning even more than before.

 

“Oi, you! Ready to get your stupid ass kicked?!” Akane sneered at her, thinking that she didn’t learn her lesson back then.

 

Oh no, she came for round two.

 

“Your ass is grass this time!” taunted Daitane as she invited her for a fight. Akane was just second away from rushing it, had it not been for the fact Daitane got company.

 

In fact, she was not the main star at all.

 

The real deal arrived with 20 blunts in his mouth, all lit up.

 

A man who needed no introduction to the Fellowship of Darkness.

 

“What the SHIT’S NAME?! F-FRITZ?!!!!!!!” Nekomaru was completely flabbergasted by the appearance of the fabled gangster. Akane’s mind was equally puzzled, for somewhat similar reasons.

 

“Holy, you’re coming to a battle with all that pack in your mouth?” Akane could not comprehend not only that he walked into the fight stoned, but the fact that he got 20 bloody blunts in his mouth.

 

The thing was, he wasn’t stoned. Not even close, actually.

 

“Eh, that’s medium.” Fritz took an inhale before he start placing blunts between his fingers, two for each. Then, he let out his war cry: “WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!”.

 

“How is he not off the rocker?! I mean...” Akane couldn’t even begin the fight because she was still processing everything about Fritz, but it was quite quickly proven that such time was already wasted as Fritz flat out lunged at her. Akane managed to dodge the initial attack, but Fritz was a quick one. He was relentless enough that he didn’t even give her the opening. Meanwhile, Daitane took on Nekomaru, slightly frustrated she couldn’t fight her arch-enemy. However, the flank soon became swarmed with punksters, which also attacked them in the middle of their already ongoing battle.

 

Somehow, NORTH FLANK was the only one yet to be ensured in chaos. However, it wasn’t an easy one either. Even “normal” Daft Capo punksters continued to ramp up their defense. Some were even crafty enough to attack BB gun wielding Fellowship combatants, just so they could seize their guns.

 

“Two of our flanks aren’t looking so good now...at least this one is stable.” Fuyuhiko thought to himself as he monitored his own flank. Peko was doing the heavy lifting, but Fuyuhiko himself was providing suppressive fire.

 

“The question is...for how long? Two of our flanks seemed to go to shit, so...” Fuyuhiko clenched his teeth as the fighting continued on. His own forces had to spend more time in cover, right because of BB gun wielding punksters. At the very least ammunition was on their side.

 

Then something happened that caught the heir of the biggest Yakuza clan in whole Japan completely and utterly off guard once he took a good look at it.

 

“Wait, the HELL?!” Fuyuhiko spat out one hell of a shout when he saw Wile E. Coyote, just standing right in front of the headquarters. Coyote just smugly grinned before he leaped right on the roof and suddenly, out of thin air, pulled out an entire New Year’s worth of ACME sponsored fireworks, all shaped either like missiles for SA-2, which happened to be gray and long, for SA-3, which happened to be short and spiky, and SA-6, long-ish and green with white “warhead”. Of course they were just smaller imitations of the real things, but Desert Storm never left Coyote. Not that he wanted it to.

 

“W-WHAT THE FUCK IS THIS??! THIS IS BULLSHIT! FROM WHERE DID HE GET THAT?!” Fuyuhiko could simply not believe his eyes, but neither could Peko and others. However, where as one would expect punksters to strike amid the confusion, they were actually just as confused as his enemies were. Fireworks were not on anyone’s plan, except for Coyote’s.

 

“Jealous?” Wile E.Coyote raised a sign, with also the smuggest possible smile he could ever pull off. Quite an accomplishment for him.

 

“EAT FUCKING SHIT, YOU FURRY BASTARD!” Fuyuhiko completely exploded at the criminal defender, even showed him the middle finger as he gave out an order: “EVERYONE, TARGET THE FUCKER ON THE ROOF”.

 

However, Coyote did not even hesitate for an inch as he began lighting up fireworks. First one to be lightened up was a SA-2 shaped one. After a bit of build up, Coyote threw the rocket at NORTH FLANK as it flew erratically, uncertain where it would hit. Coyote’s move made everyone, friend or foe, run for their lives. Of course, he received “WHAT THE FUCK’S” from his colleagues but that did not stop him. In fact, he aimed higher. He began throwing rockets towards all FLANKs. Not a single one was spared. Every time the shriek of a rocket was heard, every combatant made a run for it. However, the actual “explosions” of those rockets were, in fact, very small. Petard (or fire cracker) sized. Deliberately. It was just a psychological weapon meant to sow more chaos. All according to Coyote’s plan.

 

Thanks to Coyote’s moves, situation for Fellowship became difficult on all flanks. So much was going on, that one could not even process anything. Men and women in suits exchanging fists with each other, cars and vans crashing into each other, it was a total cluster of moments.

 

However, amid everything, one remained of calm mind.

 

As I expected...this has turned into a real chaos…” Gundham thought to himself as he dodged every possible attack, from friend or foe, as he tried to find an opening. It took him quite a few dodges, but he got a good look at headquarters.

 

However...I see an opening. Perhaps from there one could sneak and….” Gundham already thought of a possible way, yet there was one obstacle standing right in front of the entrance.

 

One major obstacle.

 

“….Wait a minute…..no, it cannot be!”.

 

『 ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ ゴ 』

 

Tom was the one who stood.

 

T-THOMAS?!” chills felt by Gundham were indescribable, for that he was the one to appear on the battlefield. Tom did not even squint at him as he took a leap high into air, aligning himself with the full moon. Suddenly, everyone, friend and foe, felt his presence. Everyone in Fellowship gasped, completely shaken to the core by his mere appearance. Daft Capo members, both punksters and Elite Bois, smiled, grinned even, since they knew that even if entire Fellowship and Kuzuryu clan fights against Daft Capo, it was all decided.

 

Then, as if his own presence wasn’t an enough of a shock for the Fellowship, a scythe like blade burst out of his arm, reflecting beautifully under the moonlight. Yet despite its elegance, screams were heard from some of Kuzuryu clan members and even students. Even the most stoic of students couldn’t do anything but just watch in terror. The blade’s glow intensified as his hands began to spin.

 

It seemed like it was all over for Fellowship. All of their efforts came to a naught.

 

Yet, within a blink of an eye, flashes appeared around time. Almost like someone was slicing him.

 

That seemed to be the case because Tom’s hands fell of, much to his confusion. He was just slightly confused compared to everyone else, be it from Fellowship or Daft Capo, which would have been a complete understatement to say they were floored.

 

Tom then just gracefully landed on the roof as he picked up his hands, merging into his arms as if they were out of clay. At first, he was just mildly annoyed, wasn’t the first time body parts fell like that.

 

Then in blink of an eye, his assailant appeared. For a brief moment, Tom’s eyes laid upon the man clod in robe. Despite the hood covering his face, the glare from his yellow eyes pierced Tom’s soul.

 

For the first time in forever, Tom felt intimidated. He had an equal.

 

However despite his fear, Tom did not retreat. Instead, he glared back at The Ancestor as his blade’s glow became stronger. Within a split second, slashes made out of pure light were exchanged by both sides. Perhaps they were moving so fast, a mere human eye could not register it anymore. It wasn’t a fight among mortals. Two titans had a clash for their lives, unrestricted by rules, unbound by the mortal conflict. Whatever they had was beyond of understanding of anyone but of his son.

 

“….FUWAHAHAHA! FEAR HIM, FOR HE SHALL LEAD A DECISIVE BLOW, THOMAS!” boasted Gundham as he cheered for his father. For a while, everyone had their eyes on the battle, no...a clash of two forces beyond others. However, they were quick to realize they had their own battles to finish. Whatever The Ancestor and Tom had, was now a separate conflict. Through out their bitter clash, Coyote had to constantly dodge them while he kept firing rockets.

 

As the fighting resumed, Gundham thought he finally hit the jackpot regarding infiltration.

 

Now, perhaps it would be a good idea to infiltrate. Keepin Thomas distracted as much as possible will be most beneficial.” Gundham thought to himself before he made a sprint towards the entrance, hoping that he would reach just in time before they possibly closed it off.

 

Just before he could just slide inside, a “fence” made out of pure electricity appeared right before his eyes. He managed to stop himself just in time, or else he would have felt the conscience-knocking shock. Just as quickly the electric gate appeared, it became covered all over the entrance.

 

The culprit behind it was obvious.

 

“Nice try, hahaha! Too bad for you, scoundrel!” taunted N.Tropy, smirking as he thought the pieces fell just in the way he wanted them to.

 

What the?! When did the enemy master the art of electricity?! This is an unexpected development, one of the worst kind! I must tell everyone right now!” Gundham made a very quick rush towards his fellow commander to report the ever worsening situation.

 

“I have bad news, Sonia!” Gundham could not even keep his chuuni facade to tell her. Sonia managed to witness the whole ordeal with her eyes, although she could not understand it.

 

“Wait, huh?! I mean, I saw what I happened! We’re not gonna attack from South Flank, that’s for sure!” sputtered Sonia, but suddenly, they had to go into a crawl right because of sudden lightnings, fired from N.Tropy’s tuning fork. Sonia and Gundham managed to evade, but some of Fellowship’s combatants were electrocuted by the lightning strikes. Those were easy pickings by punksters, who managed to knock out some of Fellowship’s combatants, including a known student or two. N.Tropy did not relent for even a second, there were constant lightning strikes in SOUTH FLANK.

 

“This flank is best left as a support flank! Lets bolster power to other flanks instead!” advised Gundham as it became very clear that the whole flank was unsustainable, especially to pull off any offensive. The one flank they thought they were ready for anything was the one that kept pulling off most surprises.

 

Every single flank was utter chaos, a symphony of “infantry”, who fought with either pellets or firsts, of “mechanized units”, cars and vans crashing into each other and even “artillery”, Coyote’s indiscriminate fireworks throwing. Despite the ever worsening situation for the Fellowship on every other flank, WEST FLANK was where the situation seemed most promising. Although Louisianos was unmatched by Ultimate Impostor, the combination of Sakura and Aoi gave him one hell of a time. He had to play defensively, with only sometimes getting hits on Sakura, but even then they were not enough to knock her down. Aoi was a more fragile target, but she proved to be an annoyance thanks to her mobility.

 

However, even Louisianos received the form of cavalry, in form of….Rando, who was driving fast with his Mercedes.

 

“Hahahahah SCRUBSLAUGHTER TIME!!!” laughed Rando as loudly as he could, with his intent to flat out run over, not just relentlessly bump, actually go for serious harm unlike with other punksters. He drove directly into Sakura as she was fighting Louisianos. However, Sakura managed to notice his presence (who wouldn’t, his Mercedez was notoriously loud) and just when he was about to run over her, Sakura punched his engine so hard that he completely lost all of his speed. He just came to an abrupt stop.

 

“MAJKU JEBACU, KOJI KURAC SI TO URADIO MOJIM AUTOM?!!!” Rando slammed on the car horn, but Sakura, not even out of spite, just out of necessity, tore the door of his car to use it as a shield. Rando then unleashed such insults, that if they were recorded down, the consequences of such act would be as follows: be on a watch list by FBI, NSA, OSI, CIA, GUR, OSA-OBA BiH, INTERPOL, MI6, PSIA and International Criminal Court and also lastly, but certainly not the least: be hunted down by SAS. Then Rando just ran away because he knew he was no match for them.

 

Sakura then used the door as a shield, allowing herself to block Louisianos’ punches, who hit as hard as small meteorites (not to be confused with meteors). The door itself was getting plummeted, but it proved a nice distraction as more of Kuzuryu clan arrived to WEST FLANK. They decided to try a new tactic: considering Sakura and Aoi were now in charge of the FLANK, they decided to collectively work against Louisianos. They decided to spare pellets, since they were doing nothing against such a wall of a person, so they all decided to physically swarm him. They were aiming for legs, with delivering punches and kicks on them. Not much damage, but enough of an annoyance for Louisianos to react. However, with each distraction meant free delivery of punches from Sakura’s side. Even Louisianos was quite surprised when the sheer force of Sakura’s uppercut actually made him flinch. And before he even knew it, a whole barrage of punches was delivered on his face. Even a man as wide as him could be knocked back.

 

“You’re good, real good. Alas...” Louisianos couldn’t help but to have a smile, although he still believed in his victory. He was just about to prepare his supersonic vapor cone causing punch, but within a flash, Sakura delivered a decisive uppercut.

 

KNOCK OUT!!!!

 

Louisianous was out of the fight. Vengeance for Ultimate Impostor was served and the morale for The Fellowship of Darkness improved, at least for WEST FLANK. Punksters there shook their fists, swearing payback, but they were getting outnumbered.

 

“Yes!” Aoi raised her fist before both she and her friend faced towards remaining punksters. They did not run, instead they dashed right at them, even if they were significantly behind their power.

 

The one on the roof, Coyote, managed to monitor the situation on the whole battlefield. Tom and The Ancestor were no longer a problem for him, because they took their fight somewhere else. Their position changed so quickly, it was impossible to decide on what FLANK they were duking it out. Coyote noticed that somehow, Fellowship of Darkness was getting an upper hand on WEST FLANK, so he pulled out a giant sign, billboard sized, saying “COVER THAT UP!!!”. The sign itself was so big, that even punksters from afar noticed it. After giving out his sign, he continued to harrass everyone with fireworks that flew all over flanks.

 

More of Daft Capo’s reinforcements arrived, that time in form of Vegas Snifits, who were blasting instrumental version of Gangnam Style as their “war music”. They were, in fact, not even running, just doing that dance very rapidly. It counted as running anyway. There were about dozens of Vegas Snifits coming towards WEST FLANK, all dancing rapidly to it. When some of the Kuzuryu clan members (and students) saw incoming masked little guys, to say they were baffled would have been an understatement.

 

Yet their moves were perfectly synchronized with music.

 

Then, the beat dropped.

 

“FIRE, BRUDDAS!” MATO FATO, the leader of Vegas Snifits, ordered them to spit rocks at their enemies. By utilizing their extended nozzles on gas masks, they provided suppressive fire on their own, much to Fellowship’s surprise. However, that was quickly adaptable, because they still had their BB guns on their side. Such, a “shooting battle” between rock spitters and pellet shooters commenced.

 

Meanwhile on EAST FLANK, Akane and Nekomaru kept exchanging fists with Fritz and Daitaine. Although Akane did manage to get few punches on Fritz’s face, it was clear he was one who had the upper hand in the battle, thanks to all blunt marks Akane got not just on her face, but on her stomach too. Not that she felt pain, adrenaline and sheer determination to beat the hell out of Fritz’s ass.

 

Nekomaru on other hand had slightly easier time with Daitane. Even though she dodged quite a few of his punches and kicks, every time it connected, it did knocked her back pretty big time. In fact, lack of success made her miss fighting with Akane. For a brief moment, she actually stepped back from Nekomaru and attempted to intervene in Akane’s fight.

 

“Come and get me, if you dare!” taunted Daitane as she tried to deliver a jab right in Akane’s face, but her shoulder was quickly grabbed by the coach.

 

“No, you! Come and get ME!” Nekomaru reminded her who she needed to beat first in order to get to her arch-enemy.

 

“I ain’t talking to ya…” sneered Daitane but little did she know that Nekomaru did not give her any time to react as he jabbed her so hard, she actually started to spin like a toy top that kids love in 5th grade then they forget about it afterwards. After so much spinning, she crashed right into the wall of the headquarters. It was relatively just a bump, not a full on crater like one would expect.

 

Despite that, she was not yet out of the fight.

 

“Oh you, mother...” grimaced Daitine before she decided that they needed a destabilizing element in order to get an advantage on the front. And such “destabilizing element” was already provided by a certain someone on the roof. “COYOTE, BRING IN THE FIRE!”.

 

Coyote heeded the words of his sister-in-arms and started throwing lit up fireworks at EAST FLANK. However, it was almost impressive at what rates was he throwing them, it was almost like he was a machine. And just when it was thought he finally running out of them, he just pulled them out of thin air again.

 

“SHIT!” Nekomaru concisely the recent development involving fireworks. The whole FLANK became constantly bombarded with fireworks, although explosions were least of their concerns. Daitane grinned as she saw her call be realized right in front of her. In the mean time, Fritz kept on delivering fisticuffs. No firework was going to stop him in the first place.

 

The all out assault continued, with some FLANKs having better progress for the Fellowship than the others. SOUTH FLANK was already just considered to be a support front, there were no breakthrough to be had there, thanks to N.Tropy’s electrical attacks. The situation on WEST FLANK improved, even with the arrival of Vegas Snifits. Turned out their reinforcement was not decisive enough to fully change the tide of the front. EAST FLANK, however, got complicated right because of Coyote’s barrages.

 

That left the NORTH FLANK to be relatively most stabilized. Lack of Coyote’s barrages there made fighting slightly easier for everyone. However, any breakthroughs on any FLANKs were a question at best.

 

However, Fuyuhiko thought differently. Although the situation was already far from ideal, there was an aspect to be considered. A major plan part of their plan that he (and to be fair, not many) haven’t forgotten about.

 

How the hell is she gonna sneak in? All shit’s going down everywhere and that fucker above is real quick, I tell you!” Fuyuhiko started to consider that Nanami’s whole infiltration could go really haywire if she was caught in chaos or even worse, intercepted by Daft Capo’s forces. Breakthrough inside the headquarters was the only serious alternative they had, in case Chiaki failed her job. However, he still had to focus what was happening on the NORTH FLANK.

 

Amid the fighting, Peko began to focus on Coyote. Ever since he started throwing fireworks all over the place, he was starting to really bother her. Due to presence of everyone else, it was difficult to reach him. However, due to stabilization on NORTH FLANK, it allowed her to take a moment to think of something.

 

Think of something rather bold. Before she could initiate her own plan that she just came up in her mind, she ran towards the heir of Kuzuryu’s.

 

“Master, I’ve got an idea.” Peko already hinted on what it could be done.

 

“Make it quick, Peko.” Fuyuhiko allowed her to speak, but was aware that too much talking would get them beaten up.

 

“What if someone gets there, to neutralize the threat above?” Peko pointed at Coyote. Immediately, it was obvious on what she herself intends to do.

 

“So you’re saying you’re gonna do it.” Fuyuhiko asked her just for confirm it.

 

“Yes.” nodded Peko.

 

“Alright, find someone to throw you. It looks too tall for a simple jump.” Fuyuhiko advised her that such would be the quickest way to go on the roof. Without saying a word, Peko then dashed off towards WEST FLANK, where the only person that could actually throw her was present. Once again, the situation at WEST FLANK also seemed to stabilize, thanks to Sakura’s (and others’) efforts.

“Throw me on the roof. There’s no time to explain.” Peko requested the moment she managed to arrive near Sakura. The white haired woman of strength did not even need to question why would she want to go on a roof, it was self explanatory. Sakura then gently grabbed the swordswoman and threw her right on the roof, just as it was promised.

 

However, as soon as she landed, a rocket glove was propelled right at her face. She only barely managed to evade it, but she was taken by surprise. It seemed like Coyote himself expected someone to actually reach him, as his slightly unamused smile told. However, it already told Peko enough: any word was a waste of time. She immediately pulled out her bamboo sword and lunged herself at him. In response, Coyote pulled out two blank signs and spun them like nunchucks and sprinted towards her, both of them ready to strike each other down. The full moon only made their ever dynamic silhouettes stand out even more.

 

Peko was the first to swing her weapon, which was quickly blocked by signs being used as shields. Coyote used the opportunity to strike back, yet each of his swing was rendered null by Peko parrying his own attacks. Two of them kept looking for each opportunity to find an opening, yet they were both good at preventing it. Even when Peko increased speed of her attacks, they were all parried. Same applied to Coyote, his attacks were of same fate.

 

It was clear that whoever loses stamina first was the one to fall first, yet both of them kept up the pace. There was no sight of either of them calling quits. No matter what, the opponent must be downed at all costs.

 

Suddenly, a brief slash of pure, concentrated light appeared just for a second in the middle of their battle. With flat out surgical precision, it completely cut Peko’s bamboo sword, making its blade fall down on the roof without any grace. Peko’s irises shrunk upon such event, since it came completely unexpected to her. Coyote did not waste any opportunity and swung with his signs, scoring multiple hits on Peko’s face, knocking her back in the process. Her glasses even fell of as she picked herself up, wondering how the hell did her entire sword just get slashed in a blink of an eye.

 

The answer appeared right behind Coyote and it stood menacingly.

 

It was Tom who intervened, still with his zoot suit and extended glowing scythe-like blade.

 

Peko’s entire skin turned completely pale and she began sweating big time. Even she knew that she alone does not stand a chance against him, let alone him being paired up with one of his colleagues. Coyote did not even glance over to Tom, but he knew that the tide of the battle favored him. He did not even spend him time to boast, he immediately lunged at terrified Peko. Tom was about to follow suite, but by divine luck, The Ancestor managed to physically drag him away, crashing right into him. Peko could not even register what happened, but for some reason, she felt her terror faded away, instead being replaced by determination. She quickly picked herself up and ditched her weapon, choosing to fight with what she had: fists.

 

Just when Coyote was about to strike her down, she sacked him right in the schnoz, although it wasn’t enough to completely invert it. Coyote was knocked back as he felt a bit insulted for it, but none than lass, that just gave him even bigger motivation to take her down. He decided to ditch the signs, as he noticed that swinging them left him with too many openings, so he just cracked his fists. Both combatants went at it for each other, delivering precise punches at each other. Although Coyote was no Tom and neither Peko was no Sakura, each connected hit felt . No piece of their body was spared, all was fare game. There no tricks, no secret techniques, just a brawl all through out it.

 

However if there was one advantage Peko had, it was stamina. Peko could tank more than Coyote could. Even the harshest hits from Coyote weren’t enough to fully knock her out. However, it was also him that had to play defensively. He noticed that with each impact he received, he was losing consciousness. None than less, there was no retreat for him. It was all or nothing. He gave it all to deliver decisive punches.

 

Despite his efforts, one swift uppercut from Peko was enough to conclude the battle. Coyote was out of the fight.

 

However, the victory did not wash away Peko’s exhaustion. She was already fighting ever since the start, but the fight with Coyote drained her. She took her time to take deep breaths, trying to regain her energy.

 

Suddenly, she was given a grim reminder that she should scram as quickly as possible.

 

Tom returned on the roof.

 

The moment he even landed, Peko immediately made a sprint and jumped off the roof. However, the landing she had was a rough one. An already exhausted Peko, although still conscious, was out of the fight due to being gravely wounded. An ambulance was immediately called to pick her up.

 

Unsurprisingly, Tom did not go after her, The Ancestor was a bigger threat. In the brief he was allowed, to took a look at all FLANKs. The situation remained same as ever, with Daft Capo having most successes on SOUTH FLANK, and WEST FLANK was the biggest problem. Tom remained stoic faced, just observing mortals fight from above.

 

Although he himself decided to make the fight more interesting for him.

 

Tom let out a whistle.

 

Suddenly, everyone stopped fighting for a moment. Combatants of Fellowship of Darkness weren’t even aware why they stopped. The whistle made them freeze and they confused why.

 

However, Daft Capo punksters and Elite Bois knew exactly what that meant.

 

In an alleyway far way from the front line, pigeons raised their heads. Immediately, they began playing BLAST OFF by Gopnik (formerly Gopnik McBlyat), a hardbass track. Pigeons bobbed their heads until….

 

BLAST OFF!!!!!”.

 

Suddenly, hundreds of pigeons took flight, looking less like a flock of birds and more like a swarm of locusts coming to devastate African farm fields. The alleyway under the command of Golubotnik wasn’t the only place where pigeons flew off. Every single pigeon that was in Zona Daft Capo was called upon and they were all flying towards the headquarters.

 

“VROO UHM! VROO UHM!” were echoes of hundreds of avian menaces as they flew over Zona Daft Capo like B-29 Superfortresses did during 1944 and 1945. Their intention was similar: bomb everything. However, it wasn’t literal bombs they had. In fact, their weapon of choice, although definitely not lethal, was devastating for dignities of mortal men.

 

Soon enough, both combatants of Fellowship and punksters oversaw the absolutely massive cloud of pigeons of coming at them. The only reason Fellowship was even ready to face them is because they found them out.

 

“Everyone, prepare yourself!” Sonia ordered everyone to start using their umbrellas. Both Sonia and Gundham pulled out their umbrellas just in time. Some Fellowship members and Kuzuryu clan members, however, ran out of time. Some of the punksters actually tried to return inside the headquarters, with only some succeeding.

 

But once pigeons were above the headquarters….the shitstorm began.

 

No one was spared, not even punksters. The pigeon excrement rained down like true downpour. Umbrella wearers were lucky ones as they were not disgraced. Those poor sods who didn’t have them however….lets just say it was definitely felt. Very few were deterred by the “storm”, such as Daitane and Fritz. No amount of shit will stop them from fighting, which was saying something, because Nekomaru and Akane both backed off, using their umbrellas to cover themselves.

 

As if the situation wasn’t chaotic enough, now they had to think for air superiority. Even punksters had to think about it, because pigeons quickly proved themselves to be their “allies” in some really fat quotations. They were led by Tom, who was conducting them as if he were playing an orchestra. The situation truly became all over the place.

 

Yet despite the new aerial element, the situation on one of FLANKs, the WEST one at that, seemed to be enough stable to pull off a gamble. A gamble on Fellowship’s end that could potentially turn the tide of the battle.

 

Perhaps it is time…” Sakura was the one to take a risk as she kept the walkie talkie that was once under Ultimate Impostor’s hands. She passed the message towards the “Delivery Boy”. “Deliver the package to western flank. I say again, deliver the package to WEST FLANK.”.

 

The “Delivery Boy”, which was a codename meant for an “unsuspecting” postal service van, an oddly short looking red vehicle at that, under the ownership of Kuzuryu clan, received the message.

 

“Roger” driver of the postal service van complied as he turned on the engine and began driving towards the WEST FLANK. There was still distance between his undisclosed location and Daft Capo’s headquarters, so it would still need to take time. Considering how dynamic was the situation at the front, anything could change. But the risk still had to be taken.

 

Inside the van, there was a box. Inside the box was the very “agent” tasked for infiltration.

 

Chiaki Nanami, wearing Novoselic’s special operations uniform (which greatly resembled the outfit worn by the legendary soldier), but she was not yet masked. She decided to put the balaclava on once she’s inside. She also had a backpack, where she had her little allies. Penguins, that were.

 

“Hang in tight, Miss Yukizome! Just a little more and you’ll be free!” Chiaki thought to herself as she clenched her fist, absolutely determined to save her beloved teacher. There was no room for failure, she and her friends will succeed no matter what. All she needed to do was to arrive.

 

But it was all a matter of time. Anything could change in a such dynamic situation.

Notes:

Ok for real, sorry for a really long wait, guys! There was a lot of work on college (I'm not exaggerating that I really had to write a lot of essay) and yes I'll admit, a lot of it was on my lazyness.

But here it is! I finally delivered it. It also took so long cuz it was a really complex chapter to write. It might not be perfect, but I'm satisfied it's finally out.

I do promise this: I will NEVER give up on this fic. This fic WILL be finished, even if I'm over 100 years old by the time I write the final chapter. Ok, it won't take that long.

However, next chapter is also gonna be a doozy to write. It will not take a year though, but expect some work.

Thank you all for reading! I really appreciate it.

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