Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Darkness, no sound and no memory. Only hollow emptiness where ones reflection would stand.

Featureless, faceless, thoughtless; the woman stood in the locker…

And then, a small part of it came flooding back-

THUMP

“Ow!”

The woman groaned as she fell out of the locker. She quickly lifted herself up off the ground, the pain in her head still fresh considering her continued groaning.

“Where am…” Her question trailed off as she looked around the room she found herself in. “...A classroom?”

Tables, chairs, a screen at the front, windows that were covered in barbed wire. This place had all the trappings of a normal… classroom.

“What the…? The woman moved towards the barbed wire, pricking her finger as she touched it.

Great, now there’s pain in two parts of your body! You use those fingers to play Piano why would you do that?

The woman shushed her inner thoughts with a sigh as she continued to look around: she only noticed a large monitor separate from the blackboard/screen, and a very obvious security camera turning from side to side.

“It’s on… someone’s watching me, but-”

THUMP

“Ah!” The woman made a quiet scream of shock as the locker next to hers opened, revealing a boy:

He wore a nice formal black shirt and pants, he had somewhat unkempt dark blue hair, a small bag on his back and a black hat utop his head.

“Ugh…” The man groaned. “Who-Where am I?”

“I-I’ve been trying to figure that out too,” The woman chuckled as she helped the man up.

“I guess that makes two of us,” The man looked nervously around as he checked out the woman in front of him, taking note of any important details:

Blonde hair with little note charms in them, pink eyes, pink vest over white shirt with a purple skirt decorated with yet more notes.

“Hey uhh… you’re staring,” The woman pointed out.

The man raised his hands. “Ahh, sorry! I uh, I stare a lot,”

“Well duh,” The girl giggled and shook her head making the hat wearing boy look down. “I’m Kaede by the way, Ultimate Pianist if you wanted to know that,”

“Ah, you’re an Ultimate too… I’m Shuichi Saihara, I get called the Ultimate Detective, but…” Shuichi trailed off. “I’m nowhere near worthy of that title,”

“Oh, c’mon if the Ultimate Initiative scouted you out then you’ve gotta be some kind of… supergenius detective!” Kaede smiled.

Shuichi looked down further, his cap obscuring most of his face as he refused to look at Kaede. “Well, I’m sure it’s not as impressive as you,”

“Oh… I just play Piano a lot, used to be called ‘Piano Freak’ back in middle school for it…” Kaede shivered a little as she reminisced; Aiko was probably still the biggest bitch she’d ever known, huh?

“Sometimes I’d forget to eat or sleep while playing, eventually I started doing concerts, and winning awards, and now I’m… here,” Kaede looked around the barren classroom some more.

Shuichi’s eyes widened like saucers. “That’s way more impressive than me! All I did was solve one case for my Uncle’s detective business…”

“Are you kidding me? That\s super impressive!” Kaede lightly jabbed the man on the shoulder, he looked up a little. “I mean an entire case all by yourself? Most cases take what like years to solve?”

“I-I guess…”

“Not ‘I guess’, yes!” Kaede pouted in frustration.

“Well, yeah then,” Kaede could tell from the tone that he didn’t mean it, but that could wait for later.

“Good, we should probably leave this classroom, maybe there’s other Ultimates around here?”

“Hopefully, they could help us work on finding an exit,”

“Yeah! Let’s go!”

The two walked out of the classroom and right into a hallway, the two walked up a woman, long, straight blue hair, dorky little glasses and a black blazer with a bunch of pins for shows she didn’t know stuck into it. In Kaede’s humble opinion, she looked adorable!

“Hey, we’re just walking around n’ wanted to know uh… anything about this place,” Kaede explained.

The woman continued to stand still, humming like a generator on the fritz.

“Helloooooo, you awake in there?” Kaede said, sounding a touch frustrated as she waved her hand in front of the Weebish looking girl; despite her efforts she continued to stand still and hum.

Shuichi chuckled uncomfortably. “Kaede… I don’t think she wants to talk,”

“Are we even sure she’s like a person… she’s acting kinda like a really detailed mannequin,” Kaede poked the “mannequin’s” cheek, and felt the soft skin squish under her finger. “…soft, fleshy mannequin,”

“Kaede I-”

Kaede smiled at her Detective Buddy. “C’mon Shu, squish it with me, it’s so soft-”

“A two front squish war… how tragic,” The glasses wearer suddenly spoke, Kaede yelped and jumped back a little in shock.

“Woah, you talk, what were you doing before?”

“I do a lot of things…” She trailed off as she faced the Pianist. “I was trying to look like I was thinking so you’d go away, but if I have to talk I guess I’ll get through it,”

Okay, not the best start to a conversation, Kaede, but you’ve gotten through awkwarder… more awkward? Nevermind that, just greet the cute girl.

“Well uh… sorry,” Kaede chuckled uncomfortable. “I’m Kaede Akamatsu, this is Shuichi Saihara, Ultimate Detective,” Kaede smiled as she motioned towards the man shuffling and looking down behind him.

“Y-Yeah,”

“Interesting… I’m Tsumugi Shirogane, the Ultimate Cosplayer!” Tsumugi smiled. “And now that I wanna talk, what do you wanna talk about?”

“Well-”

“What’s your favourite anime? You’re a musician, right? What’s your favourite song to play? Have you ever accidentally caused the theatre club at your school to stag a coup against the club president-”

“Woah, woah,” Kaede lightly waved her hands to slow the woman down. “I don’t really watch anime. Uhhh… there’s so many to pick from, but some of my favourites come from classical musicians like Bach, or Beethoven, and uh… no, I don’t think anyone’s ever done that,”

“Wow, you actually answered all my questions; a lot more than necessary for such a plain girl like myself,” Tsumugi sighed and looked dejectedly to the side.

Kaede huffed. “Oh, Mugi, you’re not plain at all you’ve actually got a pretty sexy aura about you,” The Pianist winked, Tsumugi’s cheeks got red as the compliment hit her.

“You sound like a pervy old man, Kaede,” Shuichi chuckled.

“Maybe, hehe,” Kaede put her fingers together. “Anyway, point it you’re not plain, c’mon, talk my ear off about cosplaying or something,” The woman shrugged as Tsumugi’s eyes lit up like flashlights.

“Oh, well if you insist I’ve been cosplaying since I was little, these days I have sponsors that let me use materials that are just plain expensive,”

Kaede nodded, smiling as Tsumugi continued to talk her ear off as requested. “…Some cosplayers have begun putting themselves before the characters, and I think it’s just plain to see that, that defeats the whole purpose of cosplaying! You’re meant to be putting the emotions and feelings of the character first not yourself!” Tsumugi huffed, pouting a little as she finished her rant.

Kaede smiled and looked the woman in the eyes. “See? You’re so passionate about your talent! That’s not plain at all!”

Tsumugi giggled and blushed. “Th-Thanks,”

“You’re welcome, we’ll get out of your hair for now, see you around Mugi!” Kaede smiled as she and Shuichi left for the classroom next to the one they originally came out of.

“Bai baii!”

“Wow, Kaede you did uh… r-really good back there,” Shuichi scratched the back of his neck nervously. “I mean I practically said nothing,”

“You literally said nothing,” Kaede pouted as she leaned against the door labelled “Classroom B”. “You should be more social with the next person we meet!”

“U-Uh well, I’m not the best at that sort of thing-”

“It’s like the piano, no way to learn without practice, y’know?” Kaede turned her head.

“I-I supposed, I’ll try my best…”

“That’s what I like to hear,” Kaede opened the door to the classroom.

“Yooohoooo, Ro-Boy, get over here!” The sight Kaede and Shuichi saw was… shocking to say the least.

A young boy with messy purple hair wearing what looked like a modified straightjacket was chasing a somehowstranger looking boy with white hair around the classroom, knocking over tables and chairs as he did so.

“Please stop! I haven’t charged myself fully yet, there’s no telling if I’ll-”

“What the, what’s going on in here?” Kaede stared at the scene with squinty eyed confusion, as opposed to Shuichi’s wide eyed confusion.

“Oh, well I’m chasing around this metal freak, because it’s fun!” Purple’s eyes shone. “And that’s about it!”

“Metal?”

“Right, it’s human custom to introduce oneself to new people,” The ‘Metal Freak’ said. “I am K1-B0, the Ultimate Robot, though I’d prefer to be called ‘Keebo’”

“A-A Robot?” Shuichi’s shoulders stiffened in shock.

“Hey! How come the: cold, heartless, unfeeling, probably not even sentient machine gets to go first?” The boy pouted as Kaede quirked an eyebrow at him. “I’m Kokichi Oma, the Ultimate Supreme Leader!”

“That’s even less believable than what Keebo said!” Kaede huffed.

“Nishishi~” Kokichi chuckled. “But it’s true! I’m the Evil Supreme Leader of a Seeeeecret Organisation, over 10’000 members too!”

Shuichi snapped out of his robot related confusion haze and looked at the boy. “That… can’t make sense, I would have heard about an organisation that big,”

Kokichi blinked twice, smile still on his face as he looked around the room. “Who knows? After all, I am a liar,”

“So you’re lying about being the Ultimate Supreme Leader then,” Shuichi said.

“Nope!” The boy chirped. “That’s the truth, but everything else… well that’s up to you to figure out,” He shrugged, smirking a smirk smug enough to make Kaede grumble in frustration.

“Ignore him, I’ve been dealing with his antics ever since I got here,” Keebo sighed.

“Oh yeah, you’re here,” Kaede said, Keebo felt a small, painless shock in his chest. “What about you Keebo, how are you… well a robot?”

“Yeah, you’re pretty humanlike for a machine,” Shuichi pondered.

“That’s actually quite an interesting story! My father, Professor Ibadashi created me to be exactly like a human boy; when I was first created I had the brain of a mere baby,” Keebo told his story with a monotone yet somewhat excited sounding voice.

“Hey Keeb!”

The robot sighed. “What is it Kokichi?”

“Do robots have dicks?”

Keebo blushed (Somehow). “Wh-What kind of question is that?”

“The kind any curious person is gonna ask, Ro-boy,” Kokichi chuckled as he sauntered over to the machine.

“I… think we should leave them here,” Kaede said as she grabbed her friend by the arm and left.

“Y-Yeah, sorry for not being particularly helpful back there,” Shuichi shifted the rim of his hat down further.

Kaede huffed. “You’re only starting out, practice, practice, practice,”

“I- yeah, I’ll try,”

“That’s the spirit Shuichi, let’s keep moving!”

The two moved back into the room connecting the two classrooms with a hallway and another room with a-

“Oh my God! Is that the music room!” Kaede yelped in excitement as she bolted towards the piano themed door.

“K-Kaede wait!”

Kaede nearly tore off the handle trying to open it, but no matter what it wouldn’t even get close to budging.

Kaede sighed, crossing her arms like a pouting child. “And here I thought I was gonna get to play piano today,”

“I know, it’s just plain disappointing,” Tsumugi sighed as she tiptoed near the door. “I- uh… I’m sure your piano playing would be… very nice?”

Tsumugi was getting weirdly red for some reason Kaede couldn’t put her finger on.

“Oh thanks, but uh… you don’t look so good, do you need an ice pack or something?”

“A-Ah I uh…” Tsumugi’s words stuttered and stumbled like a grandma trying to get down the stairs. “I-It’s just a little hot is all,”

Kaede stared blankly for a few moments. “Oh, okay! Try to cool off alright?”

“Y-Yeah,”

“Uh… Kaede I think…” Shuichi paused, as if contemplating to himself.

“Oh, what?”

Shuichi shook his head. “Ah, nevermind,”

“Oookayy…” Kaede mumbled. “Well if the music room is a bust we should probably go down that hallway,”

“That’s right,”

“Let’s go!”

The two walked down the hallway, which eventually lead to stairs that led to the lower floor of the… Kaede hadn’t really thought about the exact classification of the building they were in. She guess that it was probably some kind of school, but what kind of school has barbed wire over the windows?

Ignoring her thoughts, Kaede led Shuichi down the stairs, and into another, longer hallway with a classroom right at their side.

“Hello, anyone in here?” Kaede called out as she peeked into the classroom. “Anyone?”

“I… don’t think people are gonna appear in the classroom if you yell into it,” Shuichi chuckled as did Kaede.

“Anything can happen, Shuichi,” She shrugged as the duo continued to walk down the hallway, reaching a large, open, lobby area.

Two people stood before them: the first a boy with short, green hair with piercings on his ears, a fistfull of expensive looking rings, a stylish choice of clothing, and a calm looking demeanour to boot. The other man in contrast was freakishly tall, slender, pale and wearing a creepy, military style outfit, a creepy zip-up mask over the bottom of his face, he did have admittedly very pretty looking long, blue hair.

“Hey, you two,” The green haired man spoke. “What are you guys up to? Me and Kiyo over here were looking for other people around the school to introduce ourselves,”

So this is a school, but then why all the windows blocked off, and why do I keep stepping on plants? How long has this place been abandoned for?

“Hey, you’re starting,” The man chuckled.

“Ah!” Kaede yelped in surprise. “Sorry, just thinking is all. I’m Kaede, this is Shuichi, the Ultimate Detective”

“H-Hey,”

“A Detective, huh?” He smiled. “Sounds useful if this is what I think it is,”

“What you think it is?”

“Nevermind,” The man shook his head. “I’m Rantaro Amami, I’m having trouble remembering my Ultimate Talent right now, which… sucks, heh,”

“Awww… that does really suck,” Kaede puffed out her cheeks. “Maybe you’re the uhhhh…” Kaede looked lost in thought as she stared down the man. “Ultimate… guy with piercings?”

“That… wouldn’t be a talent,” Rantaro charmingly scratched the back of his neck.

“Y-Yeah, I don’t even know how you would measure that,” Shuichi said.

“Well…” Kaede pouted. “Nevermind,”

Rantaro chuckled again. “Heh, well I’ll be seeing you around, come on Kiyo,”

“Kehehe~” The tall man chuckled. “Ah, but should I not introduce myself first?”

“I guess,” Rantaro shrugged. “Go ahead,”

“Oh, hi I’m-”

The man interrupted Kaede’s introduction. “I heard you when you were talking to Rantaro, I am Korekiyo Shinguji, but please, call me Kiyo. I am the Ultimate Anthropologist,”

“Uh… okay, what’s that?” Kaede asked, shivering a little in Korekiyo’s presence.

“I study human culture, and society. I truly believe that all parts of humanity: even the ugliness, the war, the conflict are kehehe… absolutely beautiful,”

Okay very creepy, but at least he’s passionate?

“Uhhh… sounds interesting! Very interesting…” Kaede gave a thumbs up as she trailed off. “…But we really need to get going right now!”

“But of course, kehehe,” Kiyo chuckled as he shifted past Kaede and towards Rantaro. “I’ll be seeing you around, Kaede,”

“Mhm yup!” Kaede forced a smile.

Shuichi stayed quiet as he moved around the lobby until finding-

“Kaede look,” The Pianist turned her head towards the door leading… outside!

“An exit? C’mon Shuichi let’s go!” Kaede cheered as she bust open the door, Shuichi nervously trailing behind her.

As they exited the school building, they saw a courtyard, a couple buildings and…

A giant glass dome.

“Wh-What the Hell?” Kaede stepped back in shock, as Shuichi somehow got more silent than usual.

“I-I’m seeing what you’re seeing, Kaede,” Shuichi mumbled. “I… think we’re gonna need to look a bit harder for a way out,”

“Yeah, yeah maybe,” Kaede breathed heavily as she and Shuichi continued to start at the dome keeping them utterly trapped within the confines of the school.

Like lab rats, or prisoners, or-

“Hey!”

Kaede jumped back again, god that was the second time this has happened here, huh? Kaede thought about how she should get better at not getting completely jumpscared by random people walking up to her.

This random guy at least looked pretty slick: Gel spiked purple hair with a goatee, and a sweet looking jacket that he wore so Improperly that it let Kaede see the galaxy pattern on the inside of it.

“Sorry, did I scare ya?” The man chuckled as he scratched the back of his head. “I was gonna wait until you calmed down, but I decided that that’d take too long,”

Kaede chuckled too as her and Shuichi focused on the tall man in front of them. “You’re sure animated, what’s your name?”

“Hopin’ you’d ask!” The man smiled then stuck a pose. “I am Kaito Momota, Luminary of the Stars, even crying children can’t help but look up to the Ultimate Astronaut!”

Kaede chuckled at the man’s dramatic entrance. “You’re an astronaut?”

“H-Have you been to space before?” Shuichi turned his head a little.

“Ah well, no, I’m still in training,” Kaito cleared his throat. “But I managed to take the Entrance Exam for it early, got a buddy of mine to forge a bunch of stuff for me,”

Kaede blinked twice. “That’s so dangerous, and illegal and-”

“I know, got into deep shit for it,” Kaito smiled as he interrupted the Pianist’s mini rant. “But sometimes you gotta break the rules to make your dreams come true!”

Kaede sighed, his stupidity almost made him kinda charming. “I guess, still, you shouldn’t take stupid risks like that,”

“Well, it’s too late now ain’t it?”

Kaede pouted, Shuichi patted her on the arm.

“You kinda have to admit that he’s right,”

“That doesn’t make me any happier about doing so, ugh let’s just keep exploring,” Kaede grumbled as she and Shuichi continued to walk through the courtyard, they soon entered a huge circular building labelled “DORMITORY”

The room consisted of a bunch of doors encircling the area with pictures of each Ultimates face, 16 doors in total with half being utop a balcony with stairs leading up to them. In the Dorm area was a woman with pretty, short sage coloured hair that covered her left eye; she wore a maid outfit with the design of a spiderweb on the chest area.

“I don’t understand…” The maid mumbled to herself.

Kaede walked up to her. “Understand what?”

“If they wish to hold us for ransom, why set up these dorms, why all these theatrics if all they’re doing is kidnapping us?”

“Uhh… wait these are dorms?” Kaede asked.

She nodded. “Fully furnished, mine and probably the rest of them has a closet filled with the clothes we are currently wearing,”

“That’s… good I guess? I don’t plan to stay long enough to need a Dorm though,”

“That’s fair,” The maid suddenly realised something. “Oh, how rude, I forgot to introduce myself,”

“I am Kirumi Tojo, The Ultimate Maid,”

“Oh!” Shuichi said. “I’ve actually heard of you before; you’ve served some of the most powerful people in the country!”

Kirumi smiled “That I have, as a maid I am willing to completely devote myself to whomever I am working for. I shall do the same for the rest of the people here,”

“Wow, you’re like some kind of Supermaid!” Kaede beamed. “But remember, don’t let anyone take advantage of you,”

“It’s not taking advantage of me, it is my desire to serve,” Kirumi lightly frowned back, just as Kaede’s face formed into a pout. “At this rate, everyone you serve is gonna start calling you ‘Mom’, do you want that?”

“I highly doubt it,” Kirumi smiled. “I do appreciate your concern though,”

“Ugh- you… nevermind,” Kaede said as she prepared to leave the building. “See you around Kirumi!”

“Goodbye Kaede,”

Kaede and Shuichi exited back out into the courtyard, they moved down some stairs towards a tall building shaped like a cage, though they were stopped by hearing-

“Where Mr. Insects?” They saw an absolute titan of a man with incredibly unkempt, wild hair wearing a brown suit (without shoes) crouched down, seemingly looking for well… whoever Mr. Insects was. The man suddenly noticed the two people behind him and swiftly turned around, causing Kaede and Shuichi to jump in shock.

“Oh, sorry, did Gonta scare you? Gonta no mean to scare you,” The man waved his hands gently.

“No, no i-it’s my fault,” Kaede reassured with an uncomfortable giggle. “We got off on the wrong foot, what’s your name?”

“Oh, my name Gonta Gokuhara, the Ultimate Entomologist,” The man smiled warmly, softness present in his absolutely yolked stature.

“You… you study bugs?” Kaede turned her head.

Gonta nodded energetically. “Gonta love bugs! Bugs been Gonta’s best friends ever since he was little!”

“O-Oh that’s great…” Kaede felt herself gag a little as she thought about bugs, gross, gross bugs, eugh.

“You no like bugs? Gonta hate anyone who no like bugs!” Gonta’s face twisted into sheer anger.

Kaede waved her hands around in a panic “No no no, me and Shuichi uh- we love bugs!”

“Huh?” Shuichi looked up. “O-Oh yeah we’re uh… we’re real bug fanatics, y’know?”

“Oh okay,” Gonta smiled. “Sorry for getting upset at you, Gonta trying to become gentleman, but not very good at it yet,” The man looked down rather dejectedly.

“Oh, don’t worry about it, Gonta,” Kaede smiled as she patted the absolute titan on the back. “Stuff like that only takes practice, y’know? You’ll get better over time!”

“You promise?”

“I promise,”

Gonta’s smile got wider and his face got more intense. “Okay, Gonta go find people to be gentleman to!” She ran off, Kaede swears she felt the entire world shake as he excitedly stomped towards the school building.

“Uh… good luck!” Kaede nervously smiled back.

“That guy seems pretty nice,” Shuichi mumbled.

Kaede nodded. “Yeah, terrifyingly huge though,” The woman chuckled a little.

“I suppose… let’s go to that building at the end,” Shuichi pointed to the large, cage-esque building.

“Right, exploring!” Kaede smiled. “Lead the way Shuichi!”

“I-I, right, yeah!”

They walked towards the building at a leisurely pace, quickly opening the door and walking into it as when they reached a large, red door.

They entered into a large chamber, with the main feature of it being a fountain with what looked like an incredibly buff man with a cartoony bear head standing on top of it.

“What the hell is that?” Kaede said as she looked up at the statue.

“I-I dunno,” Shuichi shrugged as she pulled up his hat a little to look at it. “I’m getting a bad feeling from it-”

“Well that’s no good!” A voice with a heavy accent startled the two people from behind, Kaede jumped for the third or fourth time today (To her annoyance she had lost count) as she turned around to look at the woman.

A cute, dark skinned woman with white, ponytailed hair. She wore a white bikini top, a pretty white skirt with various art supplies strapped to it and a yellow overcoat that covered up her arms and sides.

She had a wide, unconcerned smile as she stared down the Pianist in front of her.

“J-Jeez, sorry, I keep getting crept up on, hehe,” Kaede let out another nervous laugh.

“I am terrible sorry,” The woman apologised, still smiling brightly. “I was praying to Atua in here when suddenly you walked in, I simply needed to introduce myself to ya!”

“Atua? Is that a God or something?” Shuichi asked.

“Of course, of course!” Her smile somehow grew, and her eyes shone like flashlights. “He’s the wondrous God of my Island, he ensures that me and my people have been able to live without worry or fear for years!”

Kaede smiled. “He sounds great,”

“He is, and all he asks in return are a couple offerings every now and again,” The Islander turned her head curiously. “Would you be willing to give up a pint of your blood for me?”

“Wh-Wha?”

“That’s uh… asking a little much of Kaede,” Shuichi chuckled nervously.

“Oh, well boy’s blood will suffice too in that case!”

“Uh I uh…”

Kaede cleared her throat. “We’d love to, but we’re both anemic,”

“Oh that’s unfortunate,” Angie didn’t even flinch, but her voice sounded a touch dejected. “You can’t win them all I suppose!”

“Yeah, I’m really sorry we can’t give anything… what was your name?”

“Oh, right!” Angie beamed. “I am Angie Yonaga, the Ultimate Artist,”

“Oh! Do you do painting, or sculpting, or-”

“I do all of them!” Angie said. “Though it’s really Atua doing all of the work, he merely uses my body as a vessel!”

“Kaede she kinda scares me…” Shuichi whispered to the Pianist, who lightly pouted in his general direction.

“Don’t be mean,” She whispered back.

“Yoo-hoo, what are we talking about over here?” Angie ran between the two.

“A-Ah nothing, we were just uhh… getting ready to keep exploring this place,”

“Y-Yeah, yeah,”

“Sounds divine!” Angie clasped her hands together. “Let me know if you find someone willing to give an offering of blood for Atua!”

“W-We definitely will!” Kaede gave a thumbs up as she and Shuichi left the building… well it was more Kaede lightly dragging Shuichi out.

“Okay maybe she is a little strange,” Kaede said, Shuichi felt a bit of pride as they walked their way back into the schoolbuilding, back into the lobby.

The two looked around, thinking of where to go when Kaede noticed a flight of stairs to the west of the lobby.

“Stairs!” Kaede pointed to them, Shuichi turned around to look. “You never know, could be a way out!” She smiled at the detective.

“I guess,” He shrugged. “Let’s get going then,”

Kaede walked with a bit more energy, while Shuichi trailed behind. They went down the stairs and into the basement of the school.

Another hallway, this one t shaped. The basement was darker and mustier than the other floors. The smell of dust made Kaede’s nose hurt a little.

It also made Shuichi cough really loudly.

“You okay?”

“Yeah I-I’m *cough* fine, pretty much fine,” Shuichi’s small coughing fit ended.

“It’s so dusty in here,” Kaede complained as she opened a door right in front of her.

“Combined with the plants in the upper floors, it makes me think that no one’s been here for awhile…” Shuichi mumbled.

“Huh, what did you say?”

“Oh, nothing… don’t worry about it, Kaede,” Shuichi scratched the back of his neck. Kaede side-eyed the detective, but didn’t press the issue any further. The two entered the room in front of them.

A library, featuring a bunch of shelves with books stacked neatly within and haphazardly on top, there were even messy piles of books scattered around the place.

Both Kaede and Shuichi coughed as they entered the room, this one was somehow more dusty than the basement! Kaede swore her lungs were gonna develop something that she wanted to do everything but think about right now.

Her thoughts were interrupted by an intensely disappointed sigh. Kaede looked over at the sighing woman.

Another cute girl! Kaede had to be really lucky to get in here, huh? She had dark brown hair tied into two pigtails with two red scrunchies. She wore a red school uniform with a black skirt.

Despite her cuteness, Kaede could sense an odd, threatening aura around her. She ignored it for now though, and walked up to the woman once her coughing fit was done.

“Hey there! We were just exploring this place and wanted to meet everyone, what’s your name?”

The woman sighed. “Maki Harukawa, Ultimate Child Caregiver,”

“Really?” Shuichi eyed the woman suspiciously. “No offense, but you don’t look like much of a caregiver,”

“Shuichi that’s rude!” Kaede crossed her arms.

“A-Ah, sorry!”

Maki looked at the blonde in front of her with a look of annoyance. “He’s not wrong, I don’t even like kids; they just seem to crowd around me,”

“Oh, that’s uh… childcare’s a good skill to have!” Kaede tried to find a silver lying, but the annoyed Maki wasn’t having it.

“You don’t need to make smalltalk with me. I’ve already said my name, you can go now,” Maki’s face went dark.

“Wha-”

“Do you want to die?” Maki’s face scrunched in hushed anger.

“N-No, bye bye!” Kaede grasped Shuichi’s wrist and ran out of the library out of the other door, which lead back to the t shaped hallway directly in front of a sliding door.

“Alright… I’m starting to see why you wanna stay quiet, heh,” Kaede chuckled uncomfortably.

“That and you’re better at talking and I am,”

“Oh, you’re too kind,” Kaede chuckled. She then tried to open the sliding door but…

“It won’t budge!” Kaede pouted as she desperately pulled on it, but it only ever opened an inch.

“I don’t think you can force it, Kaede,”

“Hmmph…” Kaede continued to pout as she walked down the hallway to the final door in the basement.

This door led to a room with colourful carpeting, gameboards, and arcade machines dotting the walls. Despite this place being a school it seemed to have a game room.

“Hey,”

Kaede managed to not get too shocked this time! (Hurray!). She looked down at the tiny man who had greeted her, he barely reached her thighs.

He wore a cool looking leather jacket, and a hat with two tennis rackets imprinted on it.

“Oh, wait, I know you! You’re uhh… Ryoma Hoshi right?” Kaede asked. “Ultimate Tennis Pro, I have a friend that’s a huge fan of yours-”

“Who I used to be still gets around, huh?” The man’s face fell to one of melancholy. “Ryoma Hoshi, the Ultimate Tennis Pro has been dead for awhile now,”

“What do you mean?”

Ryoma scoffed. “Nothing worth telling right now,” The tiny man left the room, leaving Kaede and Shuichi both speechless and really confused.

“I feel kinda bad for him…” Shuichi mumbled. “To see him so ready to reject his own talent,”

“Whatever bad happened isn’t a good excuse to be that mopey,” Kaede pouted. “C’mon, let’s just go back upstairs!”

“Y-Yeah, right,”

The two walked back up to the first floor, they then went north towards and found three doors.

A Store, a Dining Hall, and a Warehouse.

“Well the Store’s not gonna be particularly helpful right now so let’s…” Kaede puffed out her cheeks as she thought. “Go to the Warehouse… wait, why would a school have a warehouse?”

“I guess that is strange,” Shuichi agreed. “A storage closet would make sense, but an entire warehouse? That tells me this isn’t a regular school,”

“The vines growing around the hallways are also a clue,” Kaede giggled, Shuichi flushed as the two entered the warehouse.

It was… a warehouse, shelves stacked with all kinds of junk alongside the occasional box of miscellaneous stuff on the floor.

“BWAHAHAHAHA!”

Kaede suddenly heard the most grating laugh she had ever heard (besides maybe Natsuki from seventh grade). She turned her head to see the laugh coming from a girl with stawberry blonde hair. She wore mainly pink school uniform that revealed her cleavage alongside a pair of goggles and what looked like a leather bondage harness on her chest.

“Hey, you seem happy!” Kaede smiled as she walked up to the woman.

“’Course I am, titless, this place has all the materials a gorgeous girl genius like me needs to continue my work!” The woman laughed again as she turned around to look at Kaede.

“Titless?”

“Ya heard me!” She yelled. “And you, hat guy. You usin’ that to get yourself an eyeful without anyone noticin’?”

This woman is so rude!

Shuichi was visibly uncomfortable as he further pulled his hat over his eyes.

“Oop! I saw it, I bet you spend all your time usin’ that hat to hide the fact that you look up girl’s skirt-”

“Shut up!” Shuichi raised his voice.

Miu’s stiffened, and her face shifted into a scared expression. “Eeek!”

Kaede sighed. “What did you think was gonna happen?”

“I-It was just a joke, man, chill out!”

“I-” Kaede sighed. “Look, let’s… try to start from the top, I think we got off on the wrong foot,”

Kaede cleared her throat. “I’m Kaede Akamatsu, what’s your name?”

“Really? You don’t know?” Miu shook her head in disappointment, seemingly over Shuichi telling her to shut up (Which Kaede was very proud of by the way). “You’re only looking at the most gorgeous, smartest woman to ever live. The one, the only Ultimate Inventor, Miu Iruma!”

Kaede crossed her arms. “You sure think highly of yourself,”

“Why the fuck wouldn’t I? Have you seen this absolutely flawless body?” Miu shouted as she motioned towards her boobs. “Way better than your flatass,”

Kaede sighed. “I’m not even gonna bother, let’s go Shuichi,” Kaede said as she left the room. The Detective trailing behind her.

“God why is everyone so weird here?” Kaede complained.

“Well, I guess to be an Ultimate some level of eccentricity is to be expected…” Schuichi mumbled.

Kaede walked towards the Dining Hall door, leaning on it as she spoke. “I know, I’m pretty weird myself, but like…” Kaede let out a frustrated sigh. “Nevermind, let’s just keep exploring,”

She opened the Dining Hall, letting herself and Shuichi into the room.

It was a pretty standard Dining Hall all things considered, 16 chairs around a table with nice carpeting and a kitchen to the side.

Two people stood within the room, one had a short red bob and was dressed like a witch for some reason. The other wore a blue school uniform with a matching skirt, the shirt was a bit small letting some of her rather muscular abdomen show… Kaede quite appreciated that.

The woman also had very pretty hair. Green and tied into two ponytails that went down to her legs, sadly she wore socks and sandals though, though. Kaede was willing to look past the poor choice in footwear as long as she wasn’t a huge jerk, though!

“Nyeh…” The witch girl mumbled what sounded like a complaint, though it was way too quiet to really tell.

“Hey, you, what’s wrong?” Kaede asked as she bent down a little to be on the girl’s level.

“Standing up is a pain…”

“That’s… kind of concerning,” Kaede chuckled nervously. “Do you want like, coffee or something?”

“Nooooo… coffee messes with my mana…”

“Your what?” Shuichi asked.

“Didn’t you hear her, you degenerate!?” The skinny yet muscular woman shouted at Shuichi. “Her mana’s not gonna recharge if she has too much caffeine!”

“Oh, sorry…”

“We get that,” Kaede said. “But what do you mean by mana?”

“Mana, it’s what I use to cast my maaaaagic,”

“What are you talking about?” Kaede looked utterly confused, befuddled even.

The short girl’s expression shifted slightly to one of joy. “Well it’s obvious, but I’ll introduce myself anyway,” She cleared her throat. “Prepare to be amazed, fall to your knees; for I am Himiko Yumeno, the Ultimate Mage!”

The muscular woman cheered as Kaede and Shuichi looked at Himiko still utterly confused.

The mage frowned. “…But officially I’m called the Ultimate Magician…”

“Oh… you’re just playing a character!” Kaede nodded. “You don’t have to act for us, Himiko!”

“Makes sense that you’d be a magician, not a mage,” Shuichi nodded.

“But I am a mage! Everything I do is magic!”

Kaede nodded. “Uh huh, uh huh. Well could you try magic-ing all of us out of here then?”

The magician paused. “Magic isn’t all powerful, and plus my mana is totally drained,”

“Ah, but couldn’t you-”

“Are you still not listening?” The other woman shouted again. “Classic degenerate male, she’s all out of mana and doesn’t wanna talk anymore!”

“A-Ah, sorry!”

Kaede noticed the somewhat soft look Himiko gave the other woman, before going back to her usual tied gaze.

Kaede looked up at her. “He didn’t mean it! Who are you anyway?”

“Glad you asked!” Tenko smiled at the Pianist. “My name is Tenko Chabashira HIYAH! I’m the Ultimate Aikido Master!”

“A martial artist?” Kaede turned her head as she moved closer to Tenko. “Usually I think of big, burly guys, but you’re downright adorable!”

“Gahhh! I’m not adorable, my eyelids turn inside out when I blink! I shed my skin every month!” Tenko spat as she blushed profusely.

“Oh, don’t say that,” Kaede turned around towards the detective. “She’s cute, right Shuichi?”

“Uh, yeah, Tenko’s cute I guess…”

Tenko gave Shuichi an odd expression, a mix between offense and confusion.

“Ah, did I do something wrong?”

“I don’t accept compliments from degenerate males,” Tenko stated.

Kaede shook her head. “They’re not all bad, Shuichi’s really nice I swear!”

“Maybe to you, but the worst men pretend to be nice until you lower your guard…” Tenko grumbled. “Then BAM, they have their way with you, and you can’t even fight back!”

“Tenko that’s-”

DING DONG BING BONG

The four looked up as the bell rung around them.

“Hello students of the Ultimate Academy,” An innocent, feminine, childlike voice said over the intercom. “Please head down to the gym immediately for a very special announcement!”

“Come in thirty minutes or BAM BAM BAM, you’re DEAD!” A… strangely excited voice yelled over the intercom.

“Wha, are they serious?” Kaede asked.

“Who’s that kid over the intercom?” Shuichi scratched the back of his neck.

Tenko cleared her throat. “You heard her, we gotta head to the Gym now, now, now!” Tenko said as she ran out of the Dining Hall, practically dragging Himiko behind her.

“Nyeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeehhhhhhh-”

Kaede and Shuichi stared on at the now wide open door.

“Guess we should go too,” Kaede shrugged. “C’mon Shuichi,”

“Right!”

The duo walked down the final hallway of the first floor, walking past a checkered door and into the room at the end of the hallway labelled “GYM”

---

The other 14 students had already entered the large Gym, a pretty standard school Gym with the only decorations of note being a stage at the far end and a basketball court.

“Well, we’re all here,” Rantaro spoke up as he shrugged.

“That you are!” The whole group looked up, they heard the same innocent voice from over the intercom coming from above.

“Alright everyone, LET’S DO IT!!” The rambunctious other voice yelled from seemingly the same area as above.

“Wha-”

Before anyone could properly react, five differently coloured 10 foot tall machines fell from the sky, each one had a gun on their arm and a profile that threatened to tear each and every student in the Gym limb from limb.

“KYAAAAAAAAAAAAH-” Tsumugi screeched, Kaede took a defensive stance in front of her. Tenko, Gonta and Kaito all stood directly in front of the machines, doing what looked like very poor, very shaky combat poses everyone else stood behind them in utter fear; stunned in complete and utter terror from these hulking beasts.

“EVERYONE BEHIND GONTA!” The entomologist shouted.

“I’ll keep the girls safe!” Tenko shouted as she hit a combat pose.

“We’re all gonna die! We’re all gonna die! Take Keebo first, he probably can’t even feel pain!” Kokichi cried with all the emotion the tiny little liar could muster.

Keebo sighed. “If we survive this, I am going to sue you for your repeated Robophobia,”

“A-At least kill off all the uggos first!” Miu mumbled. “Th-The world needs my b-brains!”

“We can take on these things together, c’mon everyone!” Kaito cheered, fear very evident in his voice despite his bravado.

“Idiot…” Maki mumbled, seemingly only mildly perturbed by the sudden intrusion.

“Jeez… this is how you guys react to the Exisals?” The girl within the pink machine (which was an Exisal now). “Jataro spend seven consecutive months making these things!”

“I’m fine with them hating it…” The boy in the yellow Exisal chuckled. “I deserve it, my hard work has always been worthless…”

“Yeah! Completely worthless!” The red one yelled. “Just like all these demons we have gathered!”

The blue Exisal loudly sighed. “Masaru, stay on topic, as our leader you should’ve already told these people what they’re here for!”

“Yeah, well I’m the leader, and I make the rules!” The red one said with a sense of boyish pride bigger than… well… Kaede couldn’t think of any examples, but it was a large sense of boyish pride.

“Why do I even bother?” The blue one sighed again.

“Because you’ve got the world’s biggest crush on Monaca, don’tcha?” The pink one teased with a giggle.

“Sh-Shut up!!”

“Th-The hell are you talking about?” Kaito stuttered.

“Yeah, could you please hurry this along?” Rantaro suddenly spoke up, a sort of frustrated calmness in his voice. “If you’re doing what I think you’re doing, why do all these theatrics?”

“That’s what I’m saying,” The blue one chimed in.

“Monaca agrees with Mr. Amami,” The green one finally spoke. “Monaca thinks we should introduce ourselves properly, is Monaca wrong?”

“Of course not!”

“I guess…”

“You always make the best decisions, Monaca!”

“Thanks for agreeing with me, Monaca,”

The Green one sounded proud of managing to calm down the ruckus. “Well that settles it, without further ado. The Warriors of Hope shall now introduce themselves!”

Five people, each one about the same age as the rest of the Ultimate students jumped out of the Exisals and landed directly in front of them, each striking a pose except for the one sitting in an electric wheelchair. (God knows how she managed to land upright though.)

“Alright, I’m the leader, so let’s start with me!” A man with tanned skin dotted with bandages and spiky red hair stepped in front of the other Warriors of Hope. He wore athletic looking atire with a tanktop over a striped shirt, she also had a goofy looking pair of headphones over his ears.

“I’m Masaru Daimon, the Ultimate Athlete!” He yelled, proudly putting his hands on his hips. “I’m the leader of the Warriors of Hope, it doesn’t matter what anyone else says! I make all the rules!”

“And Monaca thinks he’s very good at making them!”

Masaru blushed. “R-Really? Well she better!”

Monaca, who the group now knew as the green haired girl in the wheelchair giggled. “Yep, and Monaca also thinks that Jataro should introduce himself now!”

“Really?” A man wearing a dirty brown apron, a dirty brown jacket with oversized sleeves, and an equally dirty, poorly stitched together brown soccer ball looking mask looked up at the sky. “I didn’t think someone as gross as me even deserved an introduction…”

“Monaca thinks you don’t, but all the students need to know who you are!”

“Oh okay then… I’m Jataro Kemuri, people call me the Ultimate Artist for some reason…” He mumbled as he looked around the room. “I’m sorry for stealing your talent Miss Yonaga, I’m so worthless…”

“Oh, it’s nothing real-”

“Ugh, seriously?” A girl with pretty pink hair tied off into two ponytails held by a headband with two demon horns walked towards Jataro. “Are you seriously like, that unoriginal Jataro?”

“I’m sorry… I disappointed everyone…” Jataro looked down, but still had a smile on his masked face.

“You did, now I have to introduce myself early to solve this.” The dusted off her fashionable black blazer as she stepped in front of everyone else. “I’m Kotoko Utsugi, the Ultimate Actress! I’m so excited for all of you to finally meet me, you all look so totally adorbs with your proper outfits!”

The final unknown sighed from behind the girl. He wore an overly formal white plaid shirt and shorts, and he had short, blue hair with two cowlicks that looked sort of like cat ears.

“Kotoko, I have to introduce myself now; you and Jataro have made us all go off of script,”

“Well do it then!” Kotoko put her hands on her hips and blew a raspberry at the blue haired boy.

The man sighed. “I’m going to,” He ushered the rest of the Warriors of Hope behind him, all followed except for Masaru.

“I am Nagisa Shingetsu, the Ultimate Sociologist,” He said. “I’m glad we managed to get everyone in here in such an orderly manner, I apologise for how long it’s taken for us to get this all together,”

“Thanks for keeping us on track, Nagisa! You’re the best Co Leader ever!” Monaca smiled as the blue haired boy began to flush, his cowlicks becoming limp.

“N-No problem, Monaca,”

The wheelchair bound girl smiled, everyone else moved out of the way as she moved herself to the centre of the rest of the Warriors of Hope.

“Monaca is named Monaca, Monaca is known as the Ultimate Socialite, Monaca hopes that everyone has fun during this very special Killing Game!”

“Wh-Wha?” Kaede stammered as she heard the last part of that sentence, the rest of the students within the Gym also looked fearfully at the five people in front of them.

“Do you not know what a Killing Game is?” Monaca turned her head.

Masaru pouted. “No fair, I was meant to introduce the Killing Game to them!”

“Well Monaca did it better than you!” Kotoko pouted towards the Athlete.

“Yeah, well… hmpph” Masaru crossed his arms. “Dammit,”

“O-Of course we don’t know what a Killing Game is!” Tenko yelped. “It sounds so messed up!”

“Yeah, whatever it is, we’re not going to-”

“Your next word is Participate,”

Kaede looked around in confusion, fear and frustration at being interrupted by an invisible voice in the sky for what felt like the thousandth time today.

“I was correct, I was so completely and utterly correct!” The voice let out a laugh as it finished speaking.

“Is that-”

“Headmaster?” Monaca smiled as she interrupted Masaru, who went back to pouting.

“It sounds like him, but he’s not scheduled to appear until-” Nagisa was interrupted.

“Oh, well, I saw that you were all doing such a good job, so I decided that my teachers deserved to see me just a chapter earlier!”

“Yay!” Kotoko cheered.

“Even me…?”

“Puhuhu, of course not!”

“Makes sense…”

Every student and “teacher” heard rumbling coming from behind the stage, all looked at it and saw the strangest sight they had seen yet.

A cartoonish bear, one half of its body black, and one half white jumped out from behind the stage and landed flawlessly on the floor in front of it.

“Ah… I am the God of this new world!” The bear loudly declared.

“The hell is that?” Kaito shouted when the thing landed.

“Looks like some kinda stuffed animal,” Ryoma said.

Kokichi feigned a fearful look. “It looks like some kind of cold, heartless machine like Keebo!”

“Hey, my emotion simulator is the most advanced on earth!”

“I am not a stuffed animal!” The bear bore claws from its cartoony, spherical “hand”. “I am Monokuma, the Headmaster of this here Ultimate Academy,”

Kaede raised an eyebrow. “Headmaster? You look like a weird, stuffed bear,”

“Nyahahahaha, sentient toys aren’t a thing!” Angie giggled.

“This is no ordinary toy,” Korekiyo said, fear evident in his deep voice. “The despair and madness swirling around this… thing is incomprehensible,”

“How many times do I gotta say it? I’m not a toy!”

Kokichi turned towards a certain inventor, who was staying shockingly quiet. “Miuuuuuu, did you make this thing?”

“Wh-What, Fuck no! Fuck no… are you the one who made it?” Miu shouted.

“Awww… that’s such a pathetic defense,” Kokichi sighed, then instantly shot up into a grin. “I say we keep Miu tied up in the girl’s bathroom!”

Kaede mostly ignored Miu’s loud, moany complaint about that as she focused on the bear in front of her.

Korekiyo wasn’t lying, that thing had such a… malicious aura around it, like it was going to squeeze out the intestines of every person here like toothpaste. Kaede shuddered at the thought.

“Are you guys done?” Monokuma asked. “Cause as your Headmaster I’ve got some really important stuff to tell you,”

“Monaca thinks they’re done, Mr. Monokuma!” Monaca beamed at the bear who nodded in response despite the lack of a neck.

“Alright then, time for the big reveal, the big announcement, you’ve been wondering why you’re all here for awhile now, huh?” Monokuma said. “Well I’m here to announce that each and every one of you are here to kill eachother!”

The Gym fell silent, completely silent, the loud, shouty panic had been replaced with silent dread at what the bear had just said.

“…Y-You’re not serious, right?” Kokichi stammered.

“Oh he’s serious, super serious, super duper one hundred percent serious!” Masaru shouted.

“There’s no way we’d do that!” Kaede argued. “We’re all-”

Monokuma loudly cleared his throat to interrupt the Pianist. “Maybe under normal circumstances, but… when it’s your only way out you might change your minds,”

“The hell?” Kaito went paler than he already was.

“That’s right, the only way to get out of here is to kill one of your fellow students, and survive the ensuing class trial, puhuhu!” Monokuma laughed.

“So…” Rantaro spoke up, his voice still completely and utterly calm in the middle of the panic. “Kill someone, survive the trial and we go free? Sounds kinda like real life,”

“Puhuhu, how very observant of you,” Monokuma said. “Here’s hoping that gets you far,”

“Oh, and before we forget,” Nagisa suddenly spoke up, still sounding unimpressed. “Take these,”

Exactly sixteen phone sized tablets flew into the air and directly into the hands of each and every student.

“What’s this?” Shuichi mumbled to himself.

“Those are Monpads, it’s got all the information you need for your Killing School Semester!” Monokuma sounded as excited as ever. “Your fellow student’s names, talents, personal notes on them, and most importantly of all, rules!”

“This killing game has rules? Booooooooooring!” Kokichi complained.

“That’s not the part I’d be complaining about,” Kirumi scolded the boy, who pouted in response.

Nagisa spoke up again. “Rules are the basis of a civilised society, if you do not follow them you will be-”

“Completely and utterly annihilated by these here Exisals!” Kotoko interrupted. “Speaking of them, did you notice how totally adorbs mine looks? It’s probably the only thing that Jataro has done that’s worth complimenting!”

“Aww… you’ll make me blush, I’m even grosser when that happens…”

Nagisa sighed. “Just read through them carefully, we don’t any of you dying prematurely,”

“Monaca and the rest of your teachers would hate that!”

Kaede turned on the tablet and skimmed through the rules:

Rule #1:  Students must live at the Ultimate Academy for the remainder of their foreseeable future.

Rule #2:  Once a murder takes place, all surviving students must participate in a class trial.

Rule #3:  If the blackened is exposed during the class trial, they alone will be executed.

Rule #4:  If the blackened is not exposed, all remaining students will be executed.

Rule #5:  If the blackened survives the class trial, they will graduate and re-enter the outside world.

Rule #6:  The killing game and class trials will continue until only two surviving students remain.

Rule #7:  "Nighttime" is from 10 p.m. to 8 a.m. The dining hall and gymnasium are off-limits at night.

Rule #8:  Violence toward Monokuma, the headmaster of the Ultimate Academy, is strictly prohibited.

Rule #9:  Monokuma will never directly commit a murder.

Rule #10:  Your Monopads are very important items. Please do not damage them.

Rule #11:  The "Body Discovery Announcement" will play when three or more students discover a body.

Rule #12:  With minimal restrictions, you are free to explore the campus at your discretion.

Rule #13:  Students who violate these rules will be immediately exterminated by the Exisals.

Rule #14:  Further, there may be new additions to the school rules according to the convenience of the headmaster.

“I… I will never participate in this,” Kaede said, conviction clear in her voice as she looked up from her Monopad. “None of us are going to participate in this stupid Killing Game!”

Monokuma laughed at her. “You say that now, but give it a couple days; you’ll be on an utter murder spree by then!”

Monokuma and the Warriors of Hope proceeded to laugh at Kaede, the look of determination never left her face however.

I am not going to be participating in a Killing Game.

She thought that as the rest of the students began to pour out of the Gym on Monokuma’s orders. It was getting late, and while she was determined she didn’t wanna get squashed by those robots just yet for simply being in the Gym too late.

Every student walked back to the dorms, it was near pitch black out and they all needed the sleep. Kaede entered her room.

A pretty generic dorm room, the walls, floor and her bedsheets were a muted pink.

“I guess I am tired…” Kaede yawned.

The Pianist tossed and turned for a bit, mind still racing from the events of today before she eventually fell into a dreamless sleep.

Tomorrow is another day