The sun had just gone down over the Ishimaru family house, or what's left of it anyway. It's no surprise to anyone in their neighbourhood— or their country even— that money is a privilege for the struggling single father and his bright, although unusual, son.
Tomorrow could be the beginning of change for the duo, with Kiyotaka starting at Hope's Peak School first thing in the morning. They've always lived just down the road from the prestigious school, but never in his life did he think he would be stepping foot in there!
It was even more incredible that this all started with him being scouted for an ultimate talent; the Ultimate Moral Compass. It does have a nice ring to it when he thinks about it.
It was a crisp 8pm, two hours before Kiyotaka's self determined curfew (albeit he never goes out). Though, should he get some extra sleep before the big first day tomorrow? He already has his school bags packed. Yes, bags, since the school also has a room and board the Ishimarus have decided that's where Kiyotaka will stay for the school years to come. It means less food to buy and cheaper bills to pay, and it's not like he can't visit after school!
So, sleeping was a bust. He laid there for 34 minutes and he's not one bit drowsy!
Perhaps the excitement is too much right now; however, he could look through the student folder the school sent him for a bit of light reading before bed.
A few of these individuals he's heard of before— like Sayaka Maizono, who hasn't heard of her? She looks quite charming, but he hasn't a clue what any of her songs sound like.
Junko Enoshima is also familiar to him. He's sure her face has been plastered on a digital billboard by the supermarket for months.
Kirigiri Kyoko shares the same family name as the founder and headmaster of the school, and that can't be a coincidence. Daughter, maybe?
He must do well to introduce himself to all of his classmates tomorrow, however intimidating some of them look! Oogami Sakura looks like he could break his spine with his pinkies!
He shuts the folder quickly to avoid anymore anxious thoughts before bed, as that can lead to nightmares. He takes a sip of the water on his nightstand and turns off his light once again, choosing to retire an hour early, but without any distractions this time.
Beep beep! Beep beep! Beep be-
The sun filtered in onto the prefect's bed through his raggedy blinds, creating the perfect amount of light for Ishimaru to get ready for his first day of school!
His clean pressed uniform was already laid out on his desk with his almost knee length boots on the floor beside it. Oh no, he thought to himself, what if there's a separate dress code for the ultimate students? Well, he'd find that out once he got there for orientation... which was in 2 hours!-Adequate amount of time to shower and get a filling breakfast.
"Headin' out, tell me all about it later!" He heard his father holler out before the front door slammed shut. Kiyotaka smiled to himself and proceeded with his carefully thought out morning routine.
. . .
It was 7:15 exactly when he finished eating breakfast; a toasted bagel and some blueberries. School started at 8 but there was no reason why he couldn't be a little early to familiarize himself with the building and all. He took one last look in the mirror to make sure he looked as presentable as possible before he grabbed his shoulder-strap bag and luggage and headed out the door, locking it behind him.
With every step closer to the looming building, he got a tiny butterfly in his stomach. Sure, he's walked by it plenty of times, but this time he's going inside it, and that is a separate can of worms entirely.
In no time at all, it seemed, he was at the gates of the school, which were equally large and extravagant. After taking a couple seconds to calm his nerves he pushes the gate open...
or he tries to anyway.
The gate is locked? He is 37 minutes early. Just as he was about to sit on the street curb a flash of purple appeared at the gate and pulls the gate open, a little amused as they look at Ishimaru. But it was a pull door?!
"Ah— Kirigiri-san? Good morning!" He had remembered her after a moment of hesitation.
She delicately lifts an eyebrow up, "Good morning, Ishimaru-kun, you're here quite early."
He straightens his posture as he walks inside with the girl, suddenly more serious, "Of course! To be right on time is to be late!"
Kirigiri barely flinches at his loud tone, but he can almost see her writing notes in her head. She was the Ultimate Detective if he remembers correctly, so that title does come with a lot of mental hurdles! Keeping up with her in classes might be difficult, but nothing some studying won't help.
She nods her head and immediately turns on her heel down the long hallway. Kiyotaka sputters, "Do— Am I supposed to follow you Do I—?"
He receives no response and ultimately (hah) decides to follow her but not walk exactly with her; it seemed like she was done with their conversation.
The hallway feels longer than his walk to the school!
They soon get to a cluster of rooms and Kirigiri stops in front of a very official looking door and points to a different, more average, looking door, before saying, "That's our homeroom." and going inside the other door.
"Thank you, Kirigiri-san!" He smiles a little and looks at the door. Ultimate Class 1A. This is it. Time to meet my fellow classmates. He dusts off the front of his uniform and pushes his hair back before grabbing the door handle. A good first impression is the beginning mark of lasting friendships!
. . .
And the classroom is empty. Of course the classroom is empty, it's only 7:38 after all.
That exchange with Kirigiri only took 15 minutes, leaving him time to choose a seat and get comfortable while waiting for his fellow classmates!
As he closes the door behind him he's suddenly hugged—very tightly—by someone who was hiding behind the door. Bright pink hair was shoved in his face and he feels a female body wrap around him with a squeal, "Oooh!! Finally someone else in this pigpen of a school! Kiyotaka, right? Ishimaru?"
Her voice is way too pitchy for Kiyotaka, but at least she's friendly, "Um, yes, pleasure to meet you-?" Once she pulls back he finally sees who just embraced him, "Junko Enoshima-! I didn't notice you when I came in, my apologies!"
She waves it off with a small bounce and pops her gum before responding—and Kiyotaka barely refrains from telling her that gum-chewing is usually not allowed in school settings, "Apologies shmapologies~! It was so boring in here-uh! But you must know all about that, right? Puhuhu~" She puts a hand up to her mouth to laugh.
"What does that-?" Before he can finish, the door opens beside them and another girl walks in. She has short black hair and seems very stoic, angry even.
"Muky!!" Junko screeches out and Ishimaru can only hop backwards so she doesn't hit him in her pursuit to hug... Muky?
"Hello," she holds her hand out, still having Enoshima wrapped around her, "Ikusaba Mukuro."
He gently but firmly shakes her hand and she returns it, "Ishimaru Kiyotaka! A pleasure!" He's quite curious about everyones talents, but asking could be a little too forward...
"What's your talent?" Nevermind.
"Ultimate Moral Compass. What's both of yours?"
By now Enoshima has joined both of them again, "Can't you tell? C'monn, I know you've seen my face around town, Ishimaru!"
Does she not use honorifics? Maybe where she's so famous, they don't do that in the big leagues. "Ah, well.. I have, it's just-"
She cuts him off with a groan, "It's so obvious! I, Junko Enoshima, am the Ultimate Fashionista!" She flashes a pose with two peace signs and 'duck lips', he thinks it's called.
"Fashion...ista? I'm sorry, I must not be familiar-" He scratches the back of his neck nervously.
She stomps her foot and suddenly she sounds way more regal, British even? "It's so simple, really, I do what I want and I look grand doing it~!"
How is that a talent?! You need zero talent to sit there and look.. and look 'grand'! But instead he says, "Ah...I see.." She huffs and walks back out the door, and Ishimaru is almost glad.
"My sister's something, isn't she, Ishimaru-kun?" Ikusaba asks, opting to take their conversation to the desks where his stuff is. Kiyotaka is shocked!
"Sister? Frankly, you two look extremely different!"
"Mm. Our talents are extremely different, too. I'm the Ultimate Soldier." Her voice stays low and monotone, but not so much in an angry way. Like butter on concrete.
Ishimaru is sure he's gaping like a fish, "Soldier?! That doesn't seem appropriate for a school setting! Do you have... swords? Guns?! We are not at the legal age to carry firearms or.. swords!" The corners of her mouth tilt up a fraction and she stands to show Ishimaru that her pockets are empty; her many pockets.
She props her foot up on the seat (they go on the floor!) and pulls a small knife out of her boot, "This is the only weapon at my disposal regularly, Kirigiri-sensei made sure of it." She flips the cover off to show the actual blade, and while it's barely 3 inches it is still a weapon! Maybe he should talk to the headmaster privately about it...
The door opens before he finds something to say, which would probably have been scolding.
It's a small girl carrying one laptop bag and pulling along a cart of other protective bags. They look extremely heavy.
"Hello! Would you like some help with your bags...?" Kiyotaka is already standing and walking over to her, Ikusaba having put her knife away by now. The girl smiles and tilts her head.
"Oh, it's no need, they aren't so heavy in the cart, aha," She pulls said cart over next to the wall so it's out of the way, "I'm Fujisaki Chihiro, it's nice to meet both of you!"
They exchange pleasantries and talents (the Ultimate Programmer!) while Kiyotaka checks his watch. It's almost 8'oclock!
"I did see others in the lobby when I arrived, so orientation might be about to start." Fujisaki states as she chooses a seat in the next row over from Ishimaru. Not long after she says that, a couple more people come to the door.
The first is a very energetic girl with a pointy bun, "Ohmigosh— am I late?" She spits the words out rapid fire.
"You're 9 minutes early!" Kiyotaka smiles, "No need to worry!" She breathes out a breath of relief and slumps down against the wall, suddenly /exhausted/. Before they're even introduced more people flood their medium sized classroom. Kyoko makes a return along with a very tall, elegant, gothic girl. She has spiraling twin tails that make Kiyotaka nauseous just looking.
He recognized Oogami when he walks in and honestly hesitates saying hello. It's rude, he knows!
Next through the door is a very well dressed blonde, and he strikes recognition in Ishimaru, but from where? Enoshima joins them again, but in a significantly worse mood as she chooses to sulk in the corner seat loudly until Ikusaba and Asahina comfort her...
The next person through the door is someone he recognizes personally (almost).
It's Oowada Mondo, leader of the Crazy Diamonds, a highly dangerous gang that kills children for fun. Okay, maybe not that serious, but he's certainly heard tales from his father who spends most of his days dealing with them and their obnoxious motorcycles! Against his better judgement, he initiates a conversation, "Hello, I'm Ishimaru Kiyo-"
The delinquent cuts him off, "Yeah, yeah," and goes to slump in the furthest chair away from the teacher's desk. How rude! To think of someone pleasantly introducing themselves and you just ignore them! While that does dampen his mood significantly, he tries his best to be as chipper as before to the rest of his now classmates.
. . .
It's 8'oclock! Kiyotaka rushes to his seat before the teacher comes in, he wouldn't want to be unprepared on his first day!
He does a headcount of... 15 students, counting himself. That's strange, the folder said that there would be 16. As if on cue a small boy barges into the room in a tizzy, a singular piece of hair sticking up on his head.
"Right...hah, right on time!" He announces and a couple people clap, why? He doesn't know. He chooses to not reprimand the other on his first day, unless it happens regularly and he may have to change that. His title of Ultimate Lucky Student (that he just learned) is quite fitting.
It's not too long until their headmaster comes in and Kiyotaka straightens his back in attention. Kirigiri's appearance also incites his classmates to find their seats. He stands behind the podium with a wide smile as he looks at every single one of us, one at a time, "Hello, class 78! How do we feel this morning?"
Various answers come from his surrounding classmates, but Kiyotaka's voice rings out above theirs, "Fresh and ready to learn!"
He firmly salutes Kirigiri with a thin, determined smile. Their headmaster only points at Ishimaru with a friendly chuckle, "That's what I like to hear, Ishimaru! Now, has everyone introduced themselves?" Kiyotaka positively /beams/ with pride after the acknowledgement. He doesn't even notice the sneer that a certain stylish individual throws his way. What's her deal anyway?
"Seems like you all have a vague idea of these people sitting around you, but I like to go old school sometimes," Kirigiri announces with a lingering grin, "We'll go around the room starting with you, Yamada, was it?"
A rather plump individual stands and adjusts his glasses, clearing his throat dramatically, "Yamada Hifumi in the flesh! I am known as the Ultimate Dōjin Author and my all-time favourite underground series is Demon Angel Pretty Pudgy Princess! Starring Princess Piggles, naturally." He smirks and rubs his invisible goatee before sitting back down, obviously impressed with himself.
Kiyotaka claps for him! That is what all his other classmates did for Naegi!
Except that he was the only one clapping this time until the headmaster joins him.
Either way, they make it around the room learning the talents and fun facts of his classmates. For instance, Asahina's favourite food is donuts and Kuwata wants to pursue a musical career! Enoshima 'wouldn't be caught DEAD wearing fake rhinestones', and Kiyotaka wasn't aware that you could wear stones... it sounds uncomfortable.
It's his turn before he knows it, and he was so busy listening to everyone else that he didn't think of his 'fun fact'! He stands ridged straight while he addresses his classmates, "I am Ishimaru Kiyotaka, the Ultimate Moral Compass! My fun fact is... that I like dogs!" He sits back down as the headmaster practically beams with delight towards him.
"Was that everyone? Fantastic! Now for the secondary important duties..." Kirigiri starts flipping through a ring binder before speaking to the students again.
He hands out their class schedules, dormitory keys, and tells them to take the rest of the day off to explore the building, familiarize themselves with the area, unpack our things, and whatnot. He dismisses them with a flourish of his arm and the slamming of the binder. Ishimaru quickly grabs all of his belongings and actually leads the herd of students to the dormitories.
A/N:
HI PLEASE DONT EXPECT ALL THE CHAPTERS TO BE THIS LONG, THIS WAS TWO WEEKS OF WORK LMAO