Ibuki Changes Her Tune!

Reigniting & Remembering

IT WAS PARTY DAY!!!! Ibuki's beauty sleep was interrupted by a knock on the door- then another- and another. It sounded like atleast 4 people knocking. What in the hell was going on? What time was it?? She checked the clock- 10am. She got to the door and was greeted by all her fellow classmates- well- all the girls anyways. They all had bags in hand, some with small, others had big ones…. What were they hiding?? She let everyone in one by one, quickly trying to make room for everyone. Peko came in last, holding a plate of breakfast for the ultimate musician, and passed it in her direction.
"Alright Ibuki! Today, we are helping you get ready!" Sonia declared triumphantly as she unzipped her huge duffle bag, "ladies- your findings!" She dumped her duffle bag onto Ibuki's bed; only to reveal tons of colorful clothing; her bag alone probably had enough clothes for all the girls to pick outfits! The other girls proceeded to dump their own findings, some just dumping; while a couple other girls started picking out pieces that they had previously picked out for themselves. Once everyone was done, Mikan went up to Ibuki, fishing out a couple pieces of clothing and passing them to her.
Ibuki's eyes lit up brighter than ever before as she saw her outfit Mikan had picked out for her. It was a long sleeve fishnet top, with black baggy cargo pants with pink and blue chains on them in the place of suspenders. "I couldn't find a good top to g-go under the fishnet one; but I figured you could find something nice with the girls' options" Mikan rocked back and forth on her heels as she explained her thought process to Ibuki. Ibuki already had a plan for an undershirt; she was just eternally grateful to her best friend for knowing her so well! She grabbed her outfit; along with a few accessories, and rushed to the bathroom. While changing, she heard a knock on her bathroom door "Ibuki! I request that you do not do your makeup! I would like to do the honors! You're going to be the baddest bitch in town!" Ibuki opened the bathroom; unable to contain her laughter. Mikan looked at Ibuki; then back to Sonia and said, "But Sonia, she already is." A few ooooooo's could be heard, then Ibuki pulled both Sonia and Mikan into a hug, "THANK YOU GIRLS!!!! Tonight will be LENGENDARYYYYYYY! But hey Akane, who’s setting up the venue?” Ibuki noticed that Akane was getting ready with the rest of the girls, as well as Hiyoko and Mahiru too. “Not to worry, Kazuichi and Nekumaru are on it!! They have everything they need to make it happen!!" Sonia declared triumphantly. As the girls all got ready together, time seemed to fly. Ibuki didn't know how much she had truly missed her classmates; her best friends at that, until she finally was reunited once again. As sonia did her makeup; she couldn't help but tear up. As if she was reading her mind, Sonia wiped her tear, and gave her a hug. "We love you Ibuki" one by one; she felt more arms surrounding her, and she was in the middle of an all out cuddle puddle. Before they knew it; every single girl; including Akane; were sobbing. In school life, The 77(B)th class of Hope's Peak had always been talked about as the closest knit class in Hope's Peak history. Nothing could break apart these 16 students- well 15- because they had already been through it all. As the girls let go of each other and wiped their eyes, Ibuki sniffled, "I wish Chiaki was in the middle of that with us; Ibuki thinks she'd be happy to see us here today." The girls nodded, a couple shedding extra tears. "Yeah, who wants to bet we'd have to take her gamegirl advance away from her?" Akane chuckled, looking around at the rest of us. Sonia blew her now snot filled nose and sighed "something tells me we wouldn't have had to today, but we can't let our absence bring us down, she wouldn't want that." Sonia resumed Ibuki's makeup, and the rest of the girls resumed their own hair and makeup. Once Sonia finished with Ibuki; she went to assist Peko and Mikan, while Mahiru and Hiyoko helped Akane. The time flew by, and before the girls knew it; it was 6pm already. Ibuki had all of her equipment packed up, and headed for the door. "Alright girls; I gotta go set up my own station, try not to be too fashionably late!!! Ibuki is offff!!!!!" And with that, Ibuki's preshow jitters set in. Flyers said 7pm for the party, So Ibuki had a little under an hour to prepare.
The time had come!!! It was 7pm!!! Ibuki had all of her equipment set up; and was currently in the back meditating. It was a trade secret of hers. Meditating her helped get into the zone, and go onto stage with a more level head. She peeked out; and saw tons of faces; both familiar and unfamiliar. She was excited, she was initially thinking it would just be her classmates. The pressure was on, but unlike most people, that pressure fueled her to do her absolute best. Next thing she knew there was a familiar voice on the stage.
“Alright everybody! We welcome you all out here tonight, and appreciate everyone’s presence. To kick off the evening festivities, We have a good friend of mine performing for us tonight, please welcome Ibuki Mioda- The Ultimate Musician~!!” It was Hajime! Ibuki's excitement had peaked as she jumped out from behind the curtains.
“I’m Ibuki Mi-o-DAAAA AND I’M SWITCHIN IT UP” Ibuki’s voice boomed throughout the venue as she started her track. The moment the music started, Ibuki lost herself in the beats. The crowd immediately let loose, breaking out into cheers, screams, and dance. It was truly a party! There wasn’t a still body in the crowd, even the most stoic ones in the crowd dancing. Ibuki continued to mix beats and bass, switching up tracks she’d previously composed.
“This goes out to all my ladies in the crowd, when I drop this beat; Ibuki better see you guys gettin WILDDDDDD!!!!!” Ibuki switched it up yet again; dropping the bass and slowing down her beats… she was on a roll!! Her wish was their command; as she saw all her besties rockin on the dancefloor… She saw couples paired up, and she even peeped Kazuichi dancing on a table! The entire time Ibuki was on stage; life was utter bliss. It felt as if all the despair she ever felt never even existed at all. Once she finished, the crowd erupted into cheers. She felt whole again, like her purpose was restored. Nobody could EVER take her ultimate musician title from her.
She joined the party, and was greeted by all of her classmates, enveloping her into a huge hug.
“You did amazing!’ “You killed it up there!” “I knew your music could restore hope!” Ibuki was once again in tears. She made her classmates happy, she brought them joy. She made them proud. Her heart was full. Ibuki spent a good portion of the evening meeting new people, members of the Future Foundation as well as the survivors from the original killing game. A Lot of these people were responsible for saving her and her classmates, and for that she was forever indebted to them. She was chatting with Makoto Naegi, his sister Komaru, and Kyoko Kirigiri when she felt a tap on her shoulder. Mikan, as well as the rest of her classmates stood behind her.  They took her out to the beach, which was right across from Titty Typhoon. Mikan took Ibuki’s hand, and they all stopped and listened as Hajime started talking.
“Tonight; we can officially let go. We can all restart together, and put our demons behind us. But tonight, I also wanted to take a minute to remember our best friend, Chiaki. I think it's safe to say none of us got to say our proper goodbyes." The crowd grew silent as the elephant in the room had been brought to light. The girls already had their cry sessions, but realistically it was something nobody talked about.
"I know Chiaki was very important to Class 77-B, and not to take away from your experiences with her but I'd like to give my own experience. As some of you know... I'm a Reserve Course Student. I bought my way into Hope's Peak, I always thought that talent was the arbiter of all life, those without it cannot live, I even thought that being "normal" was more shameful than being poor or rich. Chiaki, however, always told me. 'Talent never mattered, it's about  what's harbored in your heart and resolve.' Those words rang in my ears but... I was too greedy, I wanted talent even if it meant I had to give up my emotions, my connections and my aspirations out the window. I don't know what I've done while I became 'Izuru' but I can clearly tell that something like this should be the result of my greed and desperation. I had ultimately sowed seeds of anarchy which resulted upon millions losing their lives. So, as I have regained my consciousness, I, Hajime Hinata, will honor Chiaki's words that I neglected to listen to for the first time. I'd like to imagine that she'd want for me to get along with you all, similarly to how those Hope Fragments I received with everyone caused us to escape, these same fragments will be made into the foundations of our future, the stepping stones of hope, and our eternal remembrance of our fallen peer, classmate and most importantly, friend." By the time Hajime was finished, atleast half of the classmates were in tears. Chiaki brought the class together, along with the help of their teacher Chisa Yukizome; and now they were both gone.
Nagito passed around sky lanterns for the class to light, and the group split up into pairs; each getting a sky lantern. Makoto showed up to assist with lighting them, which allowed Hajime and Nagito to prepare a lantern for themselves. Once everyone's lantern was lit, they all said our final goodbyes, and sent their love to their best friend in the afterlife.
Once all of the lanterns had floated out of sight, the rest of the party goers came outside to join the class. Everyone sat on the beach as they started a beautiful firework show, featuring a slew of different colored and shaped fireworks, even setting off one's shaped like hearts and stars! Ibuki and the rest of her class watched in awe, talking amongst themselves and each other. Ibuki and Mikan sat together, and Mikan rested her head on Ibuki's shoulder.
"So, Miki, what's the plan for us all now?" Ibuki pondered the future, admittedly excited for what's to come.
"Well Ibuki, It's time for us to take the hope our fallen classmates and friends have left us with, and rebuild." Nagito showed up behind the girls, squeezing them into a hug as they all looked into the blazing night's sky above.

~Fin~