Chapter Text
A sudden icy breeze rushed by a lone student, as he walked from the boys’ dormitories to the academy’s main building. The morning sun was slowly inching its way up through the dwindling twilight sky and above the tallest tower of the elite talent development school.
It was surprisingly chilly for a March day, with his sleepy hazel eyes barely being able to withstand the gusts of frigid wind that passed by. Wrapping his hoodie closer to his body, Makoto continued his approach, with the main building’s tower growing ever larger.
While he had been attending this school for nearly a year, he was still astonished that he had even gotten accepted into Hope’s Peak Academy at all.
It felt surreal for someone as normal as him to be attending a school like this…
His family was ecstatic to see him get accepted into the prodigious academy, and he didn’t want to disappoint them…especially now that he had been accepted into the school and attending for about a year.
He soon arrived at the central park that laid before the gates to the main school building. A giant fountain took up most of the scenery, along with trees encompassing the perimeter of the park. A few other early students were talking amongst themselves around the gates as he sluggishly approached after passing the fountain.
Makoto returned to his thoughts as he neared the gates, becoming unaware of the other students around him…especially the two standing just before the main gates that he was carelessly walking towards…
Despite him being chosen based on a yearly lottery the school did to find a new Ultimate Lucky Student, nobody in his class treated him like he was lesser because of that fact…besides a select few, but they tended to act that way with everyone from what he’d seen. But, Makoto would still consider them all his friends, even with how some of them behaved-
Air was forcefully released from his lungs as his chest collided with an immovable wall.
Said immovable wall was a certain fashion model’s arm blocking him from continuing forward as she cast her blue eyes down at him, her giant strawberry-blonde pigtails making her form evermore imposing.
Her face held an expression of slight annoyance as she said, “Watch where you’re going, Makoto, you almost ran into Chihiro here.”
Gazing past the fashionista’s arm, he finally saw the person he nearly trampled over, who was wearing the same green and brown uniform she wore almost every day, “S-Sorry about that, Chihiro! I was just daydreaming and not paying any attention to where I was going.”
The Ultimate Programmer was surprised that they had a guest, as she glanced towards him, “Y-You’re fine Makoto, I wasn’t paying attention either, it seems…so the blame is more on me than you.”
After she said that, the shorter girl turned to Junko with a pleading shimmer in her brown eyes as the tall teenager brought her focus back to the programmer.
The Ultimate Fashionista then groaned while putting her arm back down to her side, “I’m sorry, too, Makoto. But, you daydreaming like that isn’t going to end well if you don’t observe the real world sometimes.”
He sheepishly put a finger to his face, the sting from colliding with her arm earlier continuing to radiate across his chest, “Yeah, I can see that now.”
Junko’s eyes inspected him, until her features softened, “Your chest hurts, right? Do you want me to take you to the nurse’s office?”
In spite of his mildly aching chest, he shook his head.
The fashionista could always tell if something was wrong with someone, and if they needed any guidance or attention. Because of that, she had become fast friends with most of their class, helping them whenever she felt it was necessary. And he was glad to be considered a friend by her, since she was a great person…when you got past some of her rougher personality traits.
But, he didn’t want her to feel bad for what she did and seek redemption. It was primarily his fault, even though Chihiro didn’t notice him either…he should’ve paid more attention. Junko just stopped him from running someone over, his own classmate no less.
“I’ll be fine, Junko, don’t worry about me. I’m pretty sure I can make it,” Makoto replied, as he smiled at her.
Junko’s blue eyes noticed his bluff, or that’s how they felt, as they scanned him again before rolling to the side, “Whatever you say, but promise me you’ll go to the nurse’s office if it still hurts. I’d feel awful if you were seriously injured by me and didn’t seek help.”
His brown-haired head perked up at that, as he swiftly said, “I’ll definitely go if it still hurts, I promise!”
A certain light shined in her eyes, as a smug smirk formed on her face, “Good then, it’s a promise, so you better keep it.”
Oh, that’s what she wanted him to say, huh?
And now that he’s made a promise, she knew he wouldn’t back out of it. Guess a visit to the nurse’s office to check on his aching chest wouldn’t be that bad…
The shorter girl then turned to him, as she asked, “Well if that’s settled now, I want to ask you something, Makoto. Did you stay up for a while last night? I’ve never seen you awake this late at the gates.”
Well, that was part of the reason he was late today…
The full truth was that he had been playing a new fighting game most of the previous night, and he didn’t notice that he had stayed up for too long. That was until he saw that his alarm clock read 4:00 a.m., prompting him to then go to bed and get a little bit of shuteye.
Unfortunately, school started at 6:30 in the morning, and his alarm clock pleasantly reminded him to wake up at 6:00…
He wasn’t an awful student by any means, but he occasionally delved into bad habits like that.
Oh well, he at least faced some sort of punishment for his actions last night. He’ll try better next time…there was always a next time.
After the programmer spoke, Junko returned her blue eyes to him once more as she cracked a sly grin, “Yeah, you seem pretty worn out…have a crazy night?”
“Junko, he wouldn’t do anything like your suggesting!” Chihiro boldly asserted to his defense.
The fashion model’s grin remained, “I’m just joking with him. Besides, I bet whatever he actually did was fairly mild, maybe studying?”
The fashionista inquired for them both, as she asked him, “So, what were you doing up so late?”
Despite Junko’s earlier joke of his situation, his face only became hot red at this question.
It was embarrassing to say that he had been up that late over a video game to others who probably didn’t play any…and he didn’t really want to admit it to them, but…
“I was just staying up late…playing a new game I’ve been waiting for, and-”
“Wait, I know! It was the new Highway Brawler 6, right!?” Junko blurted out.
Astonishment flooded his face for a moment, before he began chuckling, “Yeah, that’s exactly what I was playing!”
Junko gave a wide grin encompassing her whole face, “I knew it! But, I played it for only thirty minutes last night before going to sleep.”
Makoto ashamedly looked to his side, “Oh, I stayed up way later than that…”
Worry was infused into Chihiro’s voice, as she asked, “Did you get at least six hours of sleep?”
“Only two,” Makoto replied, as he rubbed his languished eyes.
Junko put her red-nailed hand on her hip, as her black and white uniform swayed in the cool breeze.
…how neither of them felt cold in their normal school uniforms he would never know…
The fashionista then clicked her tongue, “That’s not good. If I heard the teacher correctly yesterday, which I know I did, they said there’ll be a ton of work we’ll have to do today so that we can prepare for our upcoming finals. Lame, if you ask me.”
Makoto hung his head, wincing a little at the pain still issuing across his chest.
Now he’d really have to pay for his misdeeds last night, not just from the mild injury incurred when Junko’s arm halted him. And if he didn’t do well on his schoolwork then he could be expelled from his dream school, especially with finals fast approaching.
What would his family say? He didn’t want to disappoint them or let them down because of this. He had no idea how he was going to handle this situation now-
“Makoto, I can help you with our work today, if you want. I’ll even let you copy off my notes, so don’t worry about it,” Junko said, while wearing a reassuring smile.
Chihiro chimed in, “I’ll help you out, too, Makoto! If you want a study session, I can arrange one with you if you need it!”
The Ultimate Lucky Student’s dour demeanor turned a complete one-eighty as he beamed at their words, “You guys don’t really have to do any of that…but I’m glad you offered. I’ll be sure to ask you both for help, I promise.”
Junko patted him on the shoulder, “You better ask, cuz you look tired as shit!”
The group laughed at Junko’s crass humor, until they eventually all started talking about the new fighting game that had just come out, along with who their favorite characters were in them and which ones they planned on playing the most.
However, the morning bells soon tolled, silencing their niche video game discussion and making them hurry inside so as to not be tardy for class.