Chapter Text

Another day in the Ultimate Talent Development Plan of Hope's Peak Academy means more time for students to connect. There doesn't seem to be a set pattern for most of the students, as they tend to just do whatever seems to be the best, which is why Himiko Yumeno's schedule is quite interesting. Because she's got a timetable, and it's impossible to see her outside of her room outside of it. According to her, it's because she needs to keep her MP as high as possible, but the savvier or just the less kindhearted students know it is laziness, pure unadulterated laziness.

One of the things that her timetable included was lunch and break times, and she usually kept quiet. However, one student would usually sit next to her, appreciating the quietness. This student's name is Chihiro Fujisaki who is known as the Ultimate Programmer. The two generally sat together, as Himiko liked his company, due to him not being pushy or overbearing and he wanted to get closer to her. The programmer spoke up. “Oh, you’re getting strawberry juice today?”

The two’s meals were both small, although Chihiro was piling on as much protein as possible, that wasn’t meat, which did give it some personality. The Ultimate Mage didn’t turn her head but did speak up. “Nyeh, I’ve got to keep my HP up, so I have to use a HP potion. HP is just as important as Mana you know.” Chihiro gave a small nod of understanding, as he had gotten used to the Mage’s odd habits.

He then turned towards her, pondering if he should ask her something. She peeked at him, although her hair did cover her eyes, so it was impossible for Chihiro to notice this small detail. Under the table, he was fumbling with his hands, but eventually managed to speak up. “Hey Himiko?” The mage made a small sound. “You like RPGs, right?” She then nodded her head while giving an approving, if not muffled noise. “So, I-I’m running a video gaming club, you know, with a few friends, and I was wondering, do you want to come?”

Chihiro could not hide his nervousness, compared to Himiko’s more subdued emotions, so it’s not obvious what she’s thinking at first glance, but she then spoke up. “Nyeh, I don’t mind. I’ll have to reorganize some parts of my schedule, but I think I could make some time” This response brought a giant smile to the programmer’s face.

Chihiro then giddily spoke up. “T-Thanks Himiko, I promise you’ll enjoy it!” Chihiro then explained when it was and where to meet him, so then they could go to the club, but for now, they had to finish their lunch, since food is very important.

Soon the two got together and Chihiro began to show her the way. Since there was some time before they got to the room Himiko decided to make some conversation. “Nyeh, so this is the second time you’ve invited me to a club you’re in. That’s kind of weird. If you want to hang out more, that’s cool, but I’m not into girls you know.” She put a finger to her chin, as if she was trying to figure something out.

However, Chihiro didn’t get the memo and innocently spoke up. “I mean, I just like hanging out with you, that’s all.” Himiko didn’t seem to respond to this, but Chihiro didn’t seem to care, as he was excited to go to the club.

Eventually the two arrived at the club, to see everyone sat down at a table. Everyone included Makoto, Hajime, Chiaki, Tsumugi and a student we haven’t seen before, although the others do know who she is. The girl’s outfit was loud to say the least, featuring blue and pink tights, horns upon her head and a big pink tie. This girl is the Ultimate Musician and her name is Ibuki Mioda! Chihiro got a chair and allowed Himiko to sit in it, therefore making the total number of students at 7. She was definitely confused, which was impressive since her subdued emotional state generally made it hard for everyone to tell most of the time. “So where are the games?”

Out of all the students, the first one to speak up was, fittingly enough, the Ultimate Gamer. “I wondered that on my first week as well, but Chihiro explained that the only way he could get this club authorized is by having a group project, so he decided we should try and make a game together. Otherwise, “video games aren’t useful to life”” The girl had a tone that indicated that she was sleepy, although it wasn’t to the level of outright yawning, or not caring, she’s just tried, although she did seem very annoyed when she quoted someone, most likely a teacher.

The next student to speak up was Makoto Naegi, who was just happy to be there. “Yeah, if the game is successful, all of us will get extra credit as well, depending on how much we contribute to the project, which I’m definitely going to need. But even then, working on a video game with friends, who are amazing at their craft? That’s the dream right there.” His smile was pleasant, and his overall aura just made everyone feel better, which by looking around the room, was no exaggeration.

“Yep, yep, yep! Ibuki gets to not only make music, but also play games that she made! It makes me want to yell out for joy, or even start to sing!” Ibuki spoke right after Makoto finished, which didn’t catch him off-guard, nor anyone else sans the new girl.

Hajime however began to sweat a bit. “I don’t think Himiko would want that too much. Besides, last time you started to sing, Chihiro was knocked out for 2 hours.” Despite his calm voice, this did get Ibuki to giggle sheepishly and for Chihiro to panic, which meant that Hajime had to think of a topic switch and fast. “Hey, why don’t we all explain our roles within the game making project, that way, maybe Himiko can try and fill a spot?” Everyone seemed excited at this prospect, and so Hajime took the lead. “Hello, I’m Hajime Hinata, and I’m working on the character designs in the project. I’m no ultimate artist, but I like to think myself as pretty decent. We were going to get Hifumi to do that, but he has other projects he needs to work on.”

The next person to speak up was the only other male looking student, Makoto. “Hi, I’m Makoto Naegi, and I’m working on the sprite work, since we had no one else in the role, so it doesn’t look too great. Plus, me and Hajime just like to help out wherever possible, in fact, Hajime even helps out me, cuz I’m not that great...” Chiaki gave a soft smile to Makoto, who was looking at Himiko at the moment.

“Don’t be so hard on yourself Makoto. Your sprite work is very good, really brings out the 16-bit vibe of old RPGs. Besides, what you’re doing is just as important as everyone else. Anyway, *yawn* I’m Chiaki Nanami and I work on playtesting the game.” The girl couldn’t finish her sentence before falling asleep, which she did on Hajime’s elbow, who was accepting of this.

The next person to speak was her complete opposite, in activity anyway. “Maaaan, sometimes Ibuki wishes she had Chiaki’s awesome job! Then she remembers the stories that were so scary, I thought Chiaki was trapped in a horror film, and a shoddy one at that! Anyway, the name’s Ib-uki Mi-oda! I work on the music of the game, to give it the retro feel while pumping some of Ibuki’s super awesome secret sauce!” Somehow Chiaki managed to sleep though this, which was countered by Himiko’s disoriented state, which most of the students didn’t seem to notice, but Tsumugi, a fellow member of her class, did notice, and began to sympathize with her.

She in fact looked saddened for some reason. “Listen, Ibuki, I know you love being excited and all, but Himiko struggles with situations like this, so I’m sorry to ask, but could you just hold yourself back for now?” Her voice was saddened, and quiet, clearly unsure if she wanted to do this.

Ibuki simply made a pose and winked. “Will do ‘Smoo!”

Tsumugi’s reaction to this was pure joy as she basically began to squeal. “Oh, that’s why Ultimates are awesome! Anyway, I’m Tsumugi Shirogane and I’m the head writer for the project, so I’m in charge of all of the character’s story and personality, as well as where they’ll go. It’s not easy but I’ve had practice with juggling lots of characters at once!” She had a look of confidence when she explained her role, which impressed pretty much everyone there. However, she just had a look of realization. “Oh wait, I’m also getting Hifumi to draw us some Manga to promote our game. I think the more it sells and the better it is, the more extra credit we earn, which will be incredibly helpful in the future. Plus, I get to say I helped in creating a game!”

The last student to speak up was the de-facto leader of the group, even if he really didn’t consider himself one. “And lastly, I’m Chihiro Fujisaki and I’m the lead programmer on the game, even if that revelation isn’t a surprise to anyone. I’m usually the one people go to if there’s any issue with the development, and me and Chiaki have open communications to see what’s going on with the game and if there’s any problem. It’s really fun!” There was a small giggle coming out of the programmer’s mouth, which was nice for everyone else to hear, simply because it sounded sweet. Then everyone turned to look at Himiko, with Chihiro speaking up. “Hey, what do you want to do Himiko?” The girl didn’t seem to be phased the attention was on her, just looking away thinking.

It took a while, but she finally got her question out, although lazily. “Nyeh, what’s the genre of game?” Everyone was caught a little off-guard by this, but Makoto was the first one to speak up.

“An RPG, why?”

“Hrmmm.” That sound was the only thing to escape from her body for a minute or two, leaving everyone conflicted on what exactly they should do, but thankfully Himiko spoke up. “I know Chiaki is play testing, but I have a question. Is anyone keeping an eye on class, or character balance, or what kind of spells they’re using?”

Now Tsumugi was getting worried. “I mean, I’ve got the basics of the character combat abilities but nothing major…” Himiko then nodded along.

She then got a flash of inspiration. “I’ve DMed a lot of tabletop games. I know how to make the game balanced, so the players feel stronger and it gets harder on a fair balance curve. Plus, I seen lots of magic and skills from other Mages and other inferior classes, I could make them all balanced and interesting, so the player would have more replay value.” Chihiro looked incredibly impressed and everyone else was also nodding along. Tsumugi then spoke up.

“Yeah, I think we could work together on this part then! Plus, characters in Role Play have backstories, and I could use your advice, but having an extra view on the story would be nice. So, I say yeah!”

Everyone was pretty pleased with the turn of events, and now they were trying to figure out where to go from there, and then Ibuki slammed her hands on the table and then stood up on the table, causing the male students to look away in a panic. “WEE-WOO-WEE-WOO! The time for planning is over. Now, it’s time for the reason we’re all here today! Game night!” This brought looks of pure joy to everyone’s face as they stood up and began to stretch.

The newcomer was shocked at everyone’s rapid movements, so Makoto began to explain. “While we had to create the game in order to allow this club to even exist, we do most of the creation in our own time, by ourselves, since we work better that way. If we want to cooperate on it, we use the library you know. The main reason why most of us are here is because we get to play games with friends! This is a computer lab, so we do have enough if you want to play with us!” This started to get the Mage excited, and so she rushed to one of the free computers, to get it set up.

She sat in a free slot, which was near Chiaki, whom handed a USB to Himiko, and allowing Chihiro to speak up. “That USB has all the games we have, plus we can use the school account to play games together. If you have any games you think would be cool to play, then feel free to bring them in. Don’t worry, it’s all legal, I think, that’s what the higher ups at school told me anyway.” He began to look worried, but was calmed down by Chiaki, who gave a soft smile. He then spoke up. “This week it’s Ibuki’s turn to pick the game. If it’s alright with everyone, Himiko gets next week, just so then she gets a chance to show us what she likes doing.”

The Ultimate Musician then raised her hands in joy! “A-W-E-S-O-M-E! Alright, Ibuki has picked this game so then we can all play together!” The game turned out to be a colourful shooter, which had mixed reactions from everyone.

“A shooter… Sorry everyone, I’m not very good at this type of game…” Chihiro seemed to be disappointed, although in a way, it was towards himself.

Chiaki then placed her hand on the smaller student’s shoulder. “Hey, it doesn’t matter. All that matters is that we have fun, right? Besides, I think you’ll do better than you’d expect.” The Chihiro smiled at her and nodded his head.

Everyone got their preferred method of play ready and were getting on their game faces, apart from one. “How are the teams going to work? We have an odd number of players today?” Hajime was clearly confused and that caused mumbles within the group, which were interrupted by Ibuki once again.

“Easy! We’ll just have a jam session to decide who gets to have four members!”

The fear on everyone’s face grew with every moment that passed. They needed a new idea, and no one was willing to step up, until Makoto did so. “Hey, how about two people flip a coin? Not me, due to my talent, but maybe two captains?” The boy was sheepish but knew that it was the only way.

Ibuki looked disappointed but regained her confidence. “Cool, me and Chihiro, we’re the captains then, any objections?” No one raised their voice, although Chihiro was nervous. “Makoto, can you do the honors?” She got a coin out and threw it at him, who had a look of pure confusion on his face. He flipped the coin and pointed towards Chihiro.

“Tails!” Makoto pulled it out, and it was in fact tails, causing Chihiro to sigh in relief. Now he knew what he had to do. “I pick, Chiaki as my first team member!” Chiaki selected Chihiro’s team on the game.

Ibuki then giggled. “Stealing the Ultimate Gamer right away? Didn’t realize you were that shifty! Well, I’ll take the next best thing. Hajime, you’re up!” He nodded, if not a little disappointed and selected his team.

“O-Oh yeah, that’s why I picked her… Anyway, I’ll take Himiko!” She didn’t react and selected her team.

“Alright, alright! My last team member will be ‘Smoo! So, then I don’t ‘Smooze on the watch!” Nobody knew the right response to the pun, so the Ultimate Cosplayer picked her team, as did the neglected Ultimate Luck.

Chihiro looked pretty saddened, but Makoto gave him a thumbs up to let him know it was OK. The teams were set, and they all set their computers up so no peeking at the other players computers was allowed.

Then the game was intense, with everyone firing their ammo everywhere they could, in hopes that would give them a tactical advantage. Players were taken out left and right, and soon it came down to the last two members of each team. Chiaki’s avatar was cornered and couldn’t take out both Hajime and Ibuki, so she took out Hajime and took the bullet, therefore leaving it a 1v1. The last member alive was clearly panicking, frantically moving and not being able to hold still. Then they felt a pat on their shoulder, indicating that they should breath and slowdown, which they did. They then came up with a new plan, instead of following their prey, they should wait for it, then strike, so the gun’s line of fire changed location and when Ibuki lined up perfectly, the shot was fired, giving Chihiro’s team the victory, with the team captain being the sole survivor.

Back in the real world, Chihiro was stunned silent, unable to comprehend what had just happened to him. However, it soon clicked for him and the smile on his face got bigger and bigger. Chiaki then got him in a one-armed hug. “See, I told you. You’d do better than you think, I think?” She somehow forgot what she said, and now was pondering that, but Chihiro didn’t seem to mind as he was beginning to giggle with joy.

“I… I can’t believe it, I did it! That was so intense I don’t know what happened!” His improved mood made everyone happy, although one student was confused at something.

“Aren’t Hajime and Chiaki dating?” That was Tsumugi, who got confused looked from everyone. “I don’t want to sound rude at all, but those two are dating, and yet somehow you two are just as close, no I’d say even closer than that?” She then paused, while everyone else was thinking. “Are you two related?”

Hajime was about to counter this point, but Chihiro spoke up first. “Y-You can tell?” Everyone turned in shock, causing the poor boy to cover his mouth in shock, before tears began to fall.

The blue haired girl realized her mistake and was beginning to panic. “I-I didn’t realize it was a touchy subject! I was just confused!”

Chiaki however, simply stood up at the front of the table, before nodding to Chihiro, once again with a soft smile, as if to say it was alright. “I think I should be honest with everyone. We are sisters, although not related by blood.” She was calm, if not melancholy about the whole situation. Makoto then to raise his hand, as if he were a school student and Chiaki, completing the Teacher-Student Allegory, pointed at him to answer, or ask.

“You’re adopted then? I’ve met Chihiro’s parents once before, because she thought she lost something when in fact she only left it at home by accident, and they look closer to her than you. No offence Chiaki.”

She put her hand over her heart and smiled. “None taken, I am adopted. I was young when they died, although not young enough so then I didn’t remember. I’d say about pre-school year.” This caused Hajime to react, majorly.

“Oh my god.” That voice was as quiet as a whisper, and yet it echoed around the room as if it was as loud as a rock band. Everyone turned towards him, as he was doing mental calculations. He then got the answer he was looking for, although he looked like he didn’t want that answer. Hajime knew he had to answer, otherwise people would question him about why he had that reaction. He took a deep breath before opening his mouth. “Wait, so when we first met Chiaki… Did that have anything to do with what’s going on now?” The boy was shaken up over this, and nobody seemed to truly understand why, apart from the person who he met before.

Chiaki meanwhile didn’t seem too broken up about it, almost as if she predicted this outcome. “Yeah, that day you saw me crying, was my reaction to the news.” This caused an awkward silence to go on within the group, with nobody knowing what exactly to say. She didn’t look too bothered about all of this though. “Listen, Hajime? Don’t worry about my past, OK? What matters is that we’re happy now. I think?” This did seem to calm everyone down, although now questions were raised.

Mainly from the person who started this all in the first place. Tsumugi simply looked onwards, with a plain thinking face stuck to her. “But why hide the connection?”

Chihiro looked like he wanted to answer, but was simply unable to, pushing him into thought. Chiaki, however, was able to answer for him. “To be honest, I just wanted us two to go off on our own paths sometimes. We’re still sisters at heart, even if it’s not blood, but I just didn’t want people constantly asking us about each other, y’know. We’re our own people and we have different goals and dreams. Plus, both me and her have the right to self, and sibling privacy. So, I asked her to keep it quiet, and she did so.”

“Woah! Ibuki is getting a crash course on a history racetrack. Vroom Vroom! But, Ibuki knows how important bonds are, so if you don’t want me to speak, I’ll zip-zip-zip!” Ibuki once again didn’t give much time for Chiaki to finish, but that was ok.

Chiaki then began to yawn, before finishing her thoughts. “Nah, it’s OK. Now that you guys know, it’ll most likely spread somehow either way. I’ll let Kaede know at the student council meeting. From there, we can decide what to do.” Chiaki then fell asleep, and according to the flop Chihiro felt on his shoulder, Himiko wasn’t too far behind.

The Ultimate Musician raced to grab her before she fell on the floor, and Tsumugi assisted Chihiro with his Mage problem. Even if he didn’t see it as much of an issue. “Let’s end the club here for now. I’ll log everyone out and lock the room door. Then I’ll just head to bed. From there, you guys can have fun.” Everyone nodded and said their farewells, carrying the two students who couldn’t assist much, while Makoto remained in the room to finish the job.

Quickly enough, he ended up back in his room, simply deciding to get on with some homework for a few minutes, until it was a good time to sleep, as Chihiro came walking in. “Welcome back!” The Ultimate Luck didn’t look at Chihiro, but waved towards his direction, continuing with his work.

Meanwhile Chihiro was focused on getting his gym equipment ready, although he did look a little sad. “Sorry about not telling you about Chiaki before.”

Makoto calmly put down a pencil and turned towards him. “Listen, it’s no big deal. You two had your reasons, and I can respect that. Still, I’m assuming Chiaki knows about your gender?” Makoto’s voice was calm and polite, and this all got responded with a nod. “Makes sense, would be kind of weird to keep that from her. Still, Himiko has to have some thoughts about this.”

This dry response caused the Programmer to chuckle. “Me, Tsumugi and Himko were talking about that! Himiko asked “Nyeh, are all the weeks going to reveal family secrets”, in a cute voice.” Chihiro realized what he said and had a nervous giggle, before continuing. “All Tsumugi could say to that, “No, sometimes it gets strange.” For some reason, she did it in the most American accent you could possibly imagine, but I think that made it even funnier!” Then this was all cut off by an alarm. “I’m going to be late! Sorry Makoto, I’ve got to go!” He darted out of the room, forgetting to close the door, which the boy did for him, before falling on his bed, to sleep.