The man continued charging, and Blair only had a few seconds to prepare herself. Even though this room is big, she didn't know how she didn't notice another person in here. Especially a big man like him who had a knife. He must have been in the room before and during the questioning, right? Blair wonder what the judges would have done if she had noticed his presence before.

But she didn't have time to contemplate that. Once the man came within arms reach, she dodged his attack and pushed him on the back, using his momentum against him. He came at her again. She tried to use the same trick as before, but he reacted differently.

Pivoting on his foot, he swerved in the younger girls' direction and used his weight to tackle her to the ground. With her under him, he had the perfect opportunity to thrust his knife into her. Holding the knife up with both hands, and with the blade down, the man prepared to do just that. But Blair was quicker. The upper half of her body was completely free, so she wrapped her arms around him and stuffed her head into his chest so that he couldn't stab her. At least anywhere fatal.

She then used her weight to knock both of them to the ground again, Blair still keeping her arms around him, so that she could trap his arms and legs so he couldn't struggle, and so that getting him onto his back would be easier.

The freckled girl used her whole body to flip him so that their roles were reversed, with her on top and him on the bottom. Then, instead of getting off of him, she gripped both of his wrists and positioned her arms in a way that would make it hard for him to escape her grasp. Though, he was still strong, especially with him struggling and yelling so much, so it was difficult to keep him down. Finally, in one fluid motion, she let go, and stomped on his gut with her foot. Having stunned him, she was preparing for a kick in the head, and if that didn't work, then an effective choke. But she never got the chance to do it.

"That's a wrap," a new voice said.

"Huh!?"

And, as if on cue, Blair began feeling light headed. And different from the kind you get when you exercise a lot.

Holding her head, she looked at the judges. Was that voice one of them? What were they thinking? Were they going to disqualify her because of this? The thought got to Blair's head for a second, before, just barely through her blurring vision, she caught the satisfied look on all the judges' faces.

The girl felt like she was going to pass out when she heard heels clicking on the floor, and the same thick, confident voice from before speaking. "Heh heh. Sorry about that. That was just a test to see how you would perform in a sudden situation like that."

Blair groaned, clutching her head.

"To be honest," the voice continued, "I wasn't sure if I wanted you in my little game. But now, I'm sure you're a good choice."

Out of dizziness, Blair fell on the ground, and just as she did she caught a glimpse of thick hair and a black and white tie, the woman the voice belonged too. She couldn't make out her other features due to her blurred vision.

Now on the ground, she was left staring at the woman's boots. They stopped in front of her.

"Especially since you're so obsessed with that little detective girl~" she cooed. "That's bound to make things interesting."

Detective girl?

"Kyoko?!" Blair managed to say. She had to mean Kyoko. But… Kyoko wasn't a detective. Was she? Did she succumb to her family's wishes?

"Wow, you just won't pass out, will you? You're a stubborn one, that's for sure."

The woman bent down to look her in the eye.

"Welcome to Hope's Peak Academy."

And Blair could have sworn the woman waved at her with a malicious grin on her face before she finally passed out.

**~**~**

First Person P.O.V - Shi-Shu

The light of my phone shined in my face as I scrolled through Lumine on Webtoon. I had nothing else better to do, considering Blair was still taking her exam. Even though it had been three and a half hours since she left. I squirmed a little in my seat. I glanced over at Daisy, who was snuggled up next to me sleeping. I cringed a bit internally at all the shedded fur that was now circling the tiny ferret. Blair would probably yell at me since I was sitting on her bed.

I had nothing else better to do, considering Blair was still taking her exam. Even though it had been three and a half hours since she left. I squirmed a little in my seat. Maybe I should call her.

Closing out of Webtoon, I called Blair and waited for her to pick up. But there was no answer. That worried me even more.

I glanced at Daisy. And that's when I realized that she seemed to be a little on edge too. She seemed alert and was moving her claws in odd ways. As if she sensed that something was wrong as well.

I sighed. Blair and I did have our doubts about how safe Tokyo was. Maybe she was in trouble. Maybe I should call her again...

No. Blair knew better than to head into secluded areas where attacks like that were common. Besides, even if she was in trouble, she knew how to handle herself. I was just overreacting.

I scratched Daisy on the chin to calm her down. She seemed to almost purr under my touch, and once she was calmed down, I calmed down a little too.

Yeah. Blair was fine.

•°~*{}*~•°

First person P.OV - Blair

I stood in pitch darkness. Nothing in sight. Just the black of my surroundings. The darkness grabbed at my feet, feeling like seaweed clinging to my ankles. But I didn't feel it. It was like my scenses were turned off. Nothing to see, no noise, no scents.

I was beginning to think that I might be in a coma or something when, suddenly, from the corner of my vision, a dim light appeared, illuminatimg through the blackness.

I wiped toward it, seeing a girl. She looked about nine or ten, with a white dress on that matched her hair. Her hands were clasped together in front of her, and her bangs were covering her face.

It looked like…

"Kyoko…" I tried to utter her name, but it was like my vocal cords were on hold too, not wanting to work. I tried to run to her, only to have the blackness grabbing at me with more force than before.

"Kyoko!" I tried again, but still nothing.

"Why did you leave me, Blair?" The girl asked, unveiling her eyes from the coverage her bangs provided. "I needed you. And you left me."

"I didn't!" I tried to say. "I was ten. I had no-"

Suddenly, the darkness began absorbing me, ignoring my cries of protest as I dissolved into it.

•°~*{}*~•°

Third person P.O.V - Blair

Blair woke up with a start, raising her hands into fists instinctively. Which caused her to accidently banged her elbow on the desk.

"Ow!" Pain shot through her arm for a second before it faded into an annoying tingle.

The girl stared daggers at the oak wood desk, even though she was fully aware that it was an inanimate object. She just always needed to be mad at something.

That was a weird dream, she thought, still a bit shaken by it. She wondered what it meant, but her attention drifted to her predicament.

Wait, a desk?

There were about 20 desks in the room.

Is this a classroom?

Blair circled her gaze around the room she had woken up in. The room was definitely a classroom, with the desks, books covering every shelf, even memes on the blackboard. She took a closer look at the memes. Looks like her classmates were people of culture as well.

The only things that weren't very school-like were the painfully noticable cameras at every angle, and the coverings on the windows. Weird…

Maybe the coverings are so that pedestrians passing by the school don't distract us by trying to wave at us through the window or something. This is a famous school, after all.

And every school needs security, right? So the cameras make sense.

But more importantly, how did she get here? She didn't remember anything that happened for her to end up here. She just remember walking into the school for the finalist exams, and then it all just became hazy...

She tried to find a logical explanation, but nothing came to mind.

Maybe I should see if anyone here can tell me.

The teen exited the room, walking down the currently lonely halls of Hope's Peak. She realized now that she wasn't exactly sure what she expected Hope's Peak to be like, but she had expected people to be here at least. This place seemed deserted. Was there really no one else here?

Just as that thought entered Blair's head, she turned a corner only for her to be stopped dead in her tracks. She bumped into someone, causing them to fall over.

"Oof! Sorry, you good?" Blair apologized, holding out her hand to the other person to help them up.

The person she bumped into was a girl. She had brown eyes and matching brown hair, with smooth tan skin. Lucky. Blair never tanned, only got sunburns and all these freckles. The girl was wearing a red jacket and shorts. She looked like she did something sports related. Maybe track.

"Yeah, I'm okay," she answered, taking the other girl's hand.

Blair lifted her up, and the other girl almost fell again from the force. "Wow, your pretty strong. Almost fell over again, there," she smiled at her. "Sorry about that. My name's Aoi Asahina. But my friends call me Hina. Ultimate Swimming Pro! But you can call me the Ultimate Donut Eater if you want," Aoi joked, which made Blair chuckle. Well, that was until she noticed that she actually had a donut in her pocket. How did it not get smashed yet?

"I'm Blair Hiriyama. Ultimate Jiu-jitsu Master."

"Jiu-jitsu? That's so cool! I bet you beat up all sorts of people!" Aoi punched the air to show her point. It was honestly really cute.

She felt her face grow a little hot as she averted her eyes in embarrassment. "It's not a beat-up-bad-guys type of martial art. It's mostly about getting away from your opponent…"

"Still! It's super cool!"

Blair laughed. Then changed the subject. "Hey… do you know where everyone else is? Is there a place we're supposed to meet up, or…" She decided not to tell Aoi about how she had no idea how she got here, and how she woke up in a classroom and all that jazz. She might get the wrong idea about her. Besides, it wasn't important anyway.

"I think we're supposed to meet up in the gym," she told her. "C'mon! I'll take you there!"

Aoi led Blair through the still deserted halls of Hope's Peak. Being in a new place with no one around had always been intimidating for Blair, but Aoi didn't seem to mind. She seemed like the 'unaware of the situation their in' type. She would probably be that one in a horror movie who survives from sheer luck.

When they arrived at two big doors, Aoi opened them to reveal the gym.

It was a big room with a red carpet that I assumed was rolled out just for the opening ceremony. There was a small stage at the front of the room too. It was all really fancy. But it wasn't what Blair was marveling at.

She gaped at the students that were already here. Including her and Aoi, there were 15 in total, so one more person to go. But the others that were here were pretty intimidating to say the least. They were all so different too, some short, some tall, some looking really unique, others more plain looking, some looking nice, others looking like they would bite her if she got anywhere close to them. She wasn't sure how to feel about them yet.

But she knew one thing for certain. This was the start of her new life at Hope's Peak.

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Random thing, but I've been trying really hard not to describe Blair as 'the orange-haired girl' lol