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Hope's Peak Academy was an enigma to Naegi. He found himself surprised at the idea that he of all people was invited there. He received an invitation in the summertime, which told him that he was miraculously chosen out of every student in Japan to attend. It made him feel rather happy, but now standing at the door that led into school, he was painfully nervous. He realized many things at once. That Hope's Peak was a private school, that he would be surrounded by tons of incredibly intelligent and intimidating students, and that he probably didn't have adequate school supplies in the bag he brought with him.Regardless, he took a deep breath and kept walking. It was only his first day, like everyone else in his class. Maybe he could get along with them and the year won't be so devastating after all. Turning his pessimism on its head, Makoto picked up his steps and hurried to the main doors of the building, which were insanely large. He pulled the doors open, which he found a bit heavy. Beyond them was a main hall, cleanly decorated. And in that hall was a group of students, all inspecting the place and chatting and walking about. At the door opening, they all turned head at once. Makoto shrank.“What the? It's a human!” A student shouted. A few people's looks turned to confusion.“This is a school for monsters, is it not?” A quieter voice pondered. Makoto cocked his head in confusion.“Monsters...? Uh...” Makoto was sure of the fact that he was a human. But when he stared into the crowd, he found things that didn’t seem so human. Tails, wings, glowing eyes, and were those fangs? At least some students looked entirely like humans. Like a purple-haired girl he noticed staring at him. But then he saw her white pupils. Nevermind.“Humans are not allowed in this school!” A pointy-eared student in an all-white uniform announced. “Unless under special circumstances. I do believe one human has been admitted into the 78th class at this academy!” Murmurs erupted from the crowd of students, as they all continued to stare at Makoto. “Now that we have been joined by this human, we have all sixteen members of our class here! I propose we go about in a circle to introduce ourselves!” The idea was received with mixed responses, but everyone gathered in a circle-like formation. Makoto walked over and glanced around at all of the people in the circle. His eyes caught on a blue-haired girl that seemed very familiar.“Wait...” He whispered. “S-Sayaka?”“I shall go first!” The student from before announced. “My name is Kiyotaka Ishimaru! My talent is serving as the world's moral compass. I am an elf whose motto in life is Simplicity and Fortitude! It a pleasure to be in the same class with you all!”“Aww, we gotta say our species and talent too? That's lame...” A student with spiky orange hair murmured.“Why of course! It is integral to student bonding!” Almost no one present liked the sound of 'student bonding.' “Who is next?” He asked, turning to the person on his right. The student grinned and then spoke up.“I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure, though you could call me Hiro! I'm a tanuki, my talent is clairvoyance.” Makoto squinted, wondering how he could possibly be a tanuki, but the attention had turned to the girl next to Hiro.“Hi everyone! I'm Aoi Asahina but my friends call me Hina. My talent is swimming... and I'm a water nymph!” Her hair did seem to flow like water... and there were a few blue scales below her eyes. The next student almost made Makoto double-take.“My name is Sakura Ogami. I'm an oni and my talent is martial arts.” She was tall and muscular, with long white hair, frighteningly sharp teeth and scars. Next to her was the girl Makoto recognized as the one who was staring at him intently from before.“My name is Kyoko Kirigiri. I'm a superhuman... my talent is detective work.” Makoto had no idea what being a superhuman meant, beyond having those eerie white pupils. And next to her was another student with eerie eyes, this time gleaming red.“I am Celestia Ludenberg. I am a vampire, and my talent is gambling.” She was incredibly pale, with sharp red nails and a fake smile that revealed fangs. Makoto was far from comfortable, as she was standing right next to him. He was next.“I'm Makoto Naegi. Um... I'm a human and my talent is luck.” He felt that everyone was staring at him, but it was mostly his own self-consciousnesses. He attempted to avoid any eye contact and the student on his left began, a boy who had an air of self-righteousness about him.“Byakuya Togami. I am the ultimate affluent prodigy, and I am a demigod.” Makoto was surprised to hear that someone could be a demigod, but not surprised about his talent. He had heard of the Togami Corporation before, and figured it only made sense for demigods to run something so powerful. The girl next to Byakuya had an opposite aura, fidgeting and staring at others with dissent.“M-my name is Toko Fukawa. My talent is writing... and I'm a sorceress, n-not a witch...” Toko Fukawa was a familiar name, Makoto was sure he had heard of her before. He didn't read romance novels, but he knew she was a pretty popular author. He wondered if magic had anything to do with her writing.“I am Hifumi Yamada. I'm a hermit, and incredibly talented at producing fanfics!” Makoto was surprised that was even a talent, but didn't know anything about fanfiction to begin with. And to think a hermit of all people would be creating them. Next to Hifumi was the orange-haired student, who complained about this whole activity earlier.“I'm Leon Kuwata, and I'm an all-star baseball player! I'm an imp, too...” He had sharp teeth, horns that almost matched his hair, and tail that he was attempting to conceal behind him. Makoto was surprised, he had heard of Leon before, but he looked a lot different from the pictures of him playing baseball. Looking away, the attention turned to the shortest student in the circle, a brown-haired girl in a green outfit.“H-hi, my name is Chihiro Fujisaki. I do programming... and I'm a werewolf.” Makoto wouldn't have noticed, if not for the sharp teeth and nails. He had heard of Chihiro before, who apparently had a big following online and was known for being incredibly shy.“I'm Mondo Owada, the leader of the Crazy Diamonds gang. I'm a demon.” He wore a brown pompadour, a biking overcoat, and a mean glare. It made sense that a demon would lead the Crazy Diamonds, it was one of the most notorious biking gangs in all of Japan. Just his stature made him seem like a demon. Next to him was Sayaka from earlier, who Makoto was still dumbfounded at seeing.“My name is Sayaka Maizono. I'm an idol, and also an esper!” It was true, this was the same girl he went to school with in junior high. Sayaka was famous throughout the country, so Makoto never spoke to her. He wondered secretly if she remembered him. Sayaka smiled at him as he thought that, so he straightened up and looked to the next person.“Hi everybody! I'm Junko Enoshima! I'm a siren, and better known as a fashion icon!” She was right, as Makoto had seen her on magazines before. Not that he was into fashion, she was just incredibly popular. To think that she of all people would be in his class, and not even be human at that.“I'm Mukuro Ikusaba. I'm a tengu and my talent is in... combat.” She was Junko's height, with black hair and freckles. The most noticeable thing was a pair of feathered wings on Mukuro's back, that were closed up. He wondered what she meant by talented in combat, but he didn't have time to dwell on it. Taka was satisfied with the introductions and the circle split up once more. As Makoto stood there unsure of what to do, Sayaka appeared by his side. Confirming that this was indeed the Sayaka he knew, the idol happily pulled him over to students that she spoken to before the introduction circle. One was Kyoko, who was intrigued by his presence, and the other was Celestia, who managed to intimidate Makoto without saying much of anything.The lucky student worked himself through the conversation until it was cut short by the intercom. All of the students paused, as the voice from the speaker asked them to report to the gym for the opening ceremony. Without a word, Kyoko and Celestia walked off, and Sayaka motioned for him to join. But Makoto was stuck in place. Nothing made sense to him anymore. As far as he knew, every person here was some sort of mythological or supernatural creature that he was positive didn't exist. But it was hard to ignore their appearances. He wanted to believe that this was fake, that it was some sort of odd entrance test. At least Makoto had the opening ceremony to look forward to, he hoped he could receive the answers to his questions there. Taking one hard last look at the crowd of students, Makoto sighed and began to follow them.
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The gym of the academy was vast. Sports-inclined students were excited just from the size of it. At the end of the gym was a stage, equipped with a podium and banners of the school colors and logo. And before the stage were lines of chairs for the students to seat themselves in. Without much prompting, students walked over and sat down in the groups they were talking in. Conversation dried up as a man suddenly appeared at the podium.“Good morning students!” His voiced boomed across the gym, hurting a few sensitive ears. “Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy! I am your Headmaster, Jin Kirigiri.” A few people recalled one of the girls had a similar name, but moved on. “I am so excited to bring another group of incredibly talented monsters into this academy! It is my hope that you leave ever more prepared for society. That is our goal at this school.” The speech continued for quite a while, explaining the history of the school and it's successes across time. It became known that many famous figures and leaders in Japan were not human, and a few even attended the school previously.The topic finally devolved into the stay at school itself. To preserve the secret of the academy housing monsters, there were many rules about leaving and avoiding the public eye. However, the list were too long and all included in their student handbook. The handbook was more of an e-book, that stored information about rules, fellow classmates, and other school-related data. And as an added fact, the handbooks were crafted to be sturdy and resistant to any sort of damage that could befall it. Each student would later receive one.Another topics was dorm rooms. Each student received a room to themselves that included it's own bathroom. The students were allowed to put anything they liked inside the room, and were all promised a key that they would later receive as well. The school itself contained a vast storage room, which provided students with anything they could possibly think of, and in every floor of the school, there were rooms suited to specific interests. The academy was equipped to make sure that students could perform to the best of their ability, regardless of talent.The Headmaster ended his talking with a reiteration of the school's mission: “Hope's Peak Academy is a monster academy whose job is to house, protect, and cultivate talented monsters around Japan to prepare them for a human-dominated world!” Looking proud and optimistic, he instructed the students on where to find the dorms, and staff members began to gift each student with a key. As students began to stand up and leave, Makoto stood up and walked over the Headmaster, who stood beaming at the 78th class. He took a breath and began to greet the headmaster.“Am I supposed to be here?” Was the first thing Makoto could think of. He cursed himself for not regarding the headmaster in a more sophisticated manner, but it was too late.“Ah, yes. Makoto!” The headmaster answered, not at all bothered. “You're a special student. After you get settled, I'd love it if we had a word about your circumstances here.” The conversation ended as quickly as it began, as Makoto thanked him and hurried off. He caught up with the rest of the students, maneuvering through the halls until they found the dorm rooms, not far from the dining hall, storage room, and bathhouse. Finding the dorms weren't troublesome, as each student's dorm had a nameplate. And on their beds were supplies and papers for the school year. There was also a schedule for orientation day. To simulate the freedom the school gives its students, there was nowhere else to be besides lunch and dinner. Everyone was free to explore as they liked.One way or the other, most of the students grouped up and searched around the school. There were five floors, and plenty of time to waste. Students from the 77th and 76th class were also on campus, some having come from break early and others working to set up for the year. After Makoto searched part of the first floor with Leon and Hiro, he decided to finally go see the Headmaster.As it turns out, Hope's Peak admits one human into the monster academy each year to act as the bridge between humans and monsters in the world of talent. In the past, multiple humans were admitted for different talents, but some failed to survive their time there. Only the luckiest, who can maneuver through a school of students who may or may not have an inclination to devour humans, are able to attend successfully. This is why Makoto was invited.At hearing this horrifying news, Makoto nodded and accepted his fate at the school. The headmaster attempted to assure him by stating that most of the 78th class didn't require human flesh to live, but that made him feel no better. However, he thanked the headmaster for his time and left to his dorm. On the way there, he was stopped by Taka and asked to come to the dining hall. It was almost time for lunch.When he arrived, the class had crowded around a particularly long table, but no one had sat down yet. Hearing a bit of murmuring, Makoto walked over to find Leon standing on the table with a saltshaker.“You've been here less than a day and already plan to make a fool of yourself,” Celestia sighed. “How am I not surprised?”“Leon? What are you doing?” Makoto asked.“It's not a big deal or anything! I'm just writing '78' on the table!” Leon said with a grin, abusing the saltshaker.“I-I think you're gonna fall if you're not careful,” Chihiro warned.“Fine then...” Suddenly, red wings jut out of his back, making Makoto flinch. He realized that Leon's white jacket had slits in the back, and wasn't ripped apart before his eyes. Leon lifted off of the table and fluttered above it, still working on the table.“This is not a good idea!” Taka said. “We shouldn't waste food!”“If you're gonna do it, hurry the fuck up. We ain't got all day...” Mondo muttered. Leon moved just a bit faster at hearing Mondo's tone.“I'm hurrying, I'm hurrying! See? Done!” Leon landed back on the ground and closed his wings up. As promised, a crude '78' sat in the middle of the table. “I mean, we are the best class! We gotta let people know this table is ours.”“I'd like to point out that we've hardly met any of the other classes here,” Kyoko said.“True. But it's about having confidence!”“Can we quit talking and sit down already?” Hina complained. A few people quickly agreed and everyone took a seat at the table. The only one who didn't was Togami, who opted to sit as far away as possible in the dining hall. Makoto was the first to question why.“Well, he thinks he's so high and mighty he doesn't even wanna sit with us,” Leon said, crossing his arms.“The real reason is because of the show Leon was putting on,” Kyoko explained. “I heard the phrase 'there's only so much foolishness I can take,' before he left.”“S-see? You guys are so i-idiotic you drove off a demigod...!” Toko hissed.“You guys? Don't lump us all in with Leon!” Hina cried.“Hey!" Leon shouted. "I'm not an idiot in the first place!”“W-we should probably stop fighting...” Chihiro murmured.“I agree entirely!” Taka began. “It's unbecoming of us!” The elf stood up and placed his hands on the table. “Lunch has not begun, but I called us all here so that we can come together as a class!”“To do what?” Makoto asked.“To talk about our findings around this school. I don't think all of us have seen every single floor, and it is a good way to get to know each other!” Everyone else agreed that it was a reasonable thing to talk about, and the table erupted into chatter. Hina and Sakura reported on the pool and the weight room on the second floor, while Toko murmured about the library, where apparently Byakuya was found searching. Kyoko had investigated the entire storage room and most of the living quarters on the first floor. Leon, Hiro, and Makoto talked about the A/V room, school store, and gym. Hifumi reveled in finding an art room on the third floor and spent all of his time there. Mondo and Taka reported on the fifth floor's greenhouse, dojo, and biology lab. Sayaka and Chihiro visited the music hall and chemistry lab on the fourth floor, and Celestia happily announced the existence of a recreational room. And apparently, Junko and Mukuro checked the data room, staff room, and even ran into the headmaster in his office.By the time they had all finished reporting their findings, other students began entering the dining hall for lunch. A few from the table left to get lunch, but a majority of students had brought their own. They began eating and the room filled with talking again. Makoto and Leon struck up a conversation about their favorite foods. When Makoto asked what Leon was eating at the moment, Leon simply answered that Makoto probably didn't want to know. It wasn't human food. The same went with other students, who had came prepared with meals completely outside of anything he had seen before. Most obvious was Celestia's tea, which definitely had blood in it. Makoto wanted questioned whether or not anyone at the table ate humans, as it had been on his mind since his conversation with the headmaster. But after realizing that this knowledge would most definitely scar him and he had only been there for a day, he decided to trust in his classmates and not ask.When lunch ended, most of the students were at a loss over what to do. However, someone mentioned the recreational room and two-thirds of the class opted to visit it, hoping they could find entertainment there. The other third split up and returned to their dorms or settled in other parts of the school. Taka led the march to the recreational room, and they found it was smaller than anticipated. However, everyone searched around and found things to do. Sayaka browsed the magazines, while Sakura, Hina, and Chihiro tried their hand at pool. Leon lost consecutively to Mukuro at darts, while Junko cheered them on. And the rest crowded around the mahjong table as Celestia tried Makoto's luck. The class spent most of their hours there. They played games to decide who would go retrieve snacks for others, and some just sat down and devolved into conversation.Once the room was tired of recreation, it was almost time for dinner, which was earlier in the day than anticipated. Most didn't feel like going and the class argued over what to do next. Eventually, it was decided to at least meet up at the table, even if they had no compulsion for food. When they got down to the dining hall, Leon's '78' was still there, surprisingly. A few students who had split from the class reappeared, and the room began to fill with people again.Dinner was a similar process to lunch. The conversation of the evening was on the surprising culinary skills of the chefs in the dining hall. There was a line of pastries set out next to the buffet of food, and most students had at least tried one of them. As they enjoyed them, the class spent their time theorizing the year ahead of them and what it could possibly look like. Everyone looked to Maizono for answers, but she explained that it wasn't within her powers. Hiro instead stepped up to the plate with his 'fortune-telling' abilities, which had everyone interested until he reminded them his predictions had a thirty percent chance of accuracy.“Regardless of what the year has in store for us, I'm not looking forward to waking up so early...” Hifumi murmured. A few others answered in agreement.“Excellent point, Hifumi! We ought to all go to bed so we are well-rested in the morning!” Taka boomed. Though no one wanted to be told when to go to bed by another student, most of them planned to retire anyway. Students began to clear the table and their plates, and one-by-one disappeared into their respective dorm rooms. An hour later, nighttime was officially announced. Beyond those who hadn't already gone to sleep, the rest of the students variously grumbled in reply, turning off their light, climbing into bed, and preparing themselves for the fresh start tomorrow would bring.From then on, Hope's Peak ran as the fast-paced school it was. Some classes the students attended were optional, so many students attended sporadically, except for Taka and Makoto. The classes were short, as the majority of time was to be spent developing talents. However, there were clubs and extracurricular activities to join as well. For those of the 78th class who didn't do well around others, or simply didn't enjoy the company of people, it became hard to escape anyone when you lived inside of your own school. By the end of the first week, Taka had already ordered a texting group chat between the whole class. Within in, shenanigans ensued. And outside of it too, especially with a school full of monsters.