(3rd Person's POV)

Sora first went over to the raven-haired boy who scolded Makoto earlier.

"I'm Kiyotaka Ishimaru. I believe in bold simplicity! Let's work together on our educational crusade!" The man said in a voice too loud for Sora's liking.

Ah, so that's Kiyotaka. From what I saw on the thread, He went to a famous private school and won top honors every year. He's basically a flawless honor student... He's also known for the work he's done with his community's Public Morals Committee. They say he respects rules above all else, earning him the title of Ultimate Moral Compass.

"Anyway, you can call me Taka. Now, what is your name?" Kiyotaka, or Taka, asked.

The blonde took a deep breath as she looked at Taka.

"I'm...Sora Shirayuki." She put her hands in her hips. Her voice was pretty soft-spoken, like a little mouse.

"Ah, Sora Shirayuki! That's a good name, a strong name! You should thank your parents for giving you such an excellent name." Taka praised, but unbeknownst to him, Sora twitched her eyes at the mention of her parents. "And to keep that name from losing its value, you must devote yourself every single day! Life is worth putting every ounce of effort into it! Right? ...Right!"

...Mama mia... This guy makes my ears hurt... Sora groaned in her head.

---

She then went over to a girl with dark purple hair, glasses and braided pigtails.

"N-not that you'll remember my n-name anyway, but..." She stuttered as she looked at Sora. "I'm T-Toko... Toko Fukawa."

Right. She wrote a novel when she was ten that got everyone all excited that launched her literary career. A few years ago, she released "So Lingers the Ocean," a love story said to be her masterpiece. The book was such a hit with women that fishermen quickly shot to the top of every "Hottest Men" poll.

Despite her age, she's won countless literary prizes and all her books are instant best-sellers. Which is why she's come to be known as the Ultimate Writing Prodigy. Which makes sense. What else would you call her?

 "..."

"Wh-What? I-It's not polite to stare, you know." Toko pushed her fingers together in a nervous manner, before looking at Sora with paranoia. "Stop staring at me like I'm some filthy creature! Not everyone can be as b-beautiful as you, you b-big breasted weirdo!"

Sora rolled her eyes as she walked away. That's quite an inferiority complex she got there. Sora assumed that she was some sort of shy introvert. But...

Jeez... Jealous much? Sora lightlu smirked to herself while looking at her big breasts.

---

Sora then walked over to the blue-haired girl in a sailor uniform.

"Hi, I'm Sayaka Maizono. I look forward to getting to know you!" She smiled.

Sayaka Maizono. When Sora saw that she was going to Hope's Peak, she wasn't all that surprised. She in a pop group famous all around the country. In fact, she's the lead singer of the group... As the Ultimate Pop Sensation, she's in high demand to appear on TV and in magazines everywhere.

...She's also really pretty. Like a life sized doll or somethin'...

Sora heard Sayaka laugh a bit. "I'm not a doll, you know. I'm alive!" She said.

"...Eh?" Sora tilted her head in confusion. "You some sorta psychic or something?"

"Aw, how'd you know?" She teasingly asked.

"...What." Sora deadpanned.

"Kidding!" Sayaka beamed at her. "I just have really good intuition. ...Anyway, it's nice to meet you!"

This girl's a sharp one. Sora thought. Better watch what I say around her.

---

Sora then found herself in front of a redhead with a punk-like look.

"Yo! The name's Leon Kuwata. What's up?" He casually greeted.

That name... Sora thought. He played for the national high school champs as their cleanup hitter. The Ultimate Baseball Star... And that's...

Sora suddenly sighed. "Good grief..."

"Huh? What's wrong?" Leon asked

"I didn't expect you to be a baseball star..." Sora muttered, though it's loud enough for Leon to hear.

"What, were you expecting some kid with a shaved head?" Leon raised an eyebrow.

"I found a picture of you online. I expected you to look more like that..." Sora quietly explained.

"What!? Aw man, you found that picture of me playing baseball? Seriously!?" Leon groaned. "I hate that picture!"

Sora raised an eyebrow as Leon continued.

"This is not cool. This is SO not cool..." He sighed. "Seriously, I'm like, mega embarrassed right now. I didn't have a choice, okay? Shaving you head like that is part of national championship regulations! But now I refuse to cut my hair. And I'm not gonna dye it back to normal either!" He proclaimed.

Your hair's dyed...?

"Actually, can I be totally honest with you?" Seeing Sora's 'go ahead' shrug, Leon revealed. "I don't like baseball. Like, at all. I've never gone to a single practice."

Sora's face had a semblance of surprise on her face. He's never practiced before, and he was still the team's star player...?

He's a prodigy... Sora thought. Kinda like me...

"And as soon as I got accepted here, I quit baseball for good! I have my own dream for the future!" He said.

"...Which is...?"

"My only path in life is getting into music!" Leon said as he rubbed the back of his head. "You can feel that star-quality aura I have, right?"

Nope. Not at all.

"I'm gonna be a singer, so all I need is a songwriter and someone on guitar, and we're set!" Leon happily exclaimed. "This new version of me that's chasing after my dream is, like...super cool to the max!"

Huh. A famous baseball star who wants to be a musician... Never heard that one before...

---

Sora then went up to the next person. He was...pretty heavy-looking, to put it lightly.

" I...am Hifumi Yamada." The boy said, pushing up his glasses. "But if you want to call me by my nickname, "The Alpha and the Omega!" I don't mind."

I think I'll just stick with Hifumi Yamada...

This guy...

Well, to be honest, she doesn't exactly know who this guy is. She doesn't know that much about them. But since she's already facing him, she'll probably find out.

"By the way, how much do you know about the world of 2D art?" Hifumi randomly asked.

"...Mm?"

"Well, in that world, I am well known and supremely well regarded as the Ultimate Fanfic Creator." He proudly chuckled. "I once sold 10,000 copies of one of my fan comics at a school festival. The event has passed into legend... Some of them didn't get it, of course, saying I'd "tainted" the event. How stupid can you be!?"

Sucks to be them, I guess... Sora thought. But... selling 10,000 copies at a single event is pretty impressive.

"The words of such idiots mean nothing to me. I am like Van Gogh--utterly underappreciated in my time. " Hifumi sighed. "I am a soldier, serving night and day to destroy all mindless preconceptions about fan fiction. I'm sure if you were to observe my work, Ms. Shirayuki, you would comprehend its greatness immediately."

I'm...sure I will.

"For my work is filled with deepest meaning..."

"...Mm?" Sora tilted her head, clearly confused.

"It's about embracing our basest urges..."

Nope nope nope. Open pervertedness detected. Flee from current destination. I repeat, flee at all costs.

---

Alright, now there's these people...

She walked over to the vulgar-looking boy with the pompadour.

"Name's Mondo Owada. Nice to fuckin' meetcha." He said, though the boy wouldn't even look in Sora's direction.

Ah yes, Mondo Owada... Sora recalled in her mind. He's the current leader of the largest biker gang in Japan. He's earned respect, ever awe, from every gang in the country. He's the Ultimate Biker Gang Leader...

"Ciao. My name's Sora Shirayuki. Nice to meet you, I guess..." Sora softly said to him.

"Hell yeah." Was Mondo's only response as he put his arm behind his head.

Good thing I don't like speaking much. One wrong word and I might be close to pushing up daises...

---

Sora then went to the girl with the strawberry blonde hair. She can't tell whose hair is lighter between the two of them.

The girl noticed Sora and gave her a friendly v-sign.

"Hiii! I'm Junko Enoshima. Charmed, I'm sure!" She beamed at Sora, who felt her face heat up.

"...Y-You're...really pretty..." She meekly muttered.

"Aw, thank you! You're not too bad yourself, might I say!" Junko compliments, which only made Sora's face heat up more.

Junko Enoshima... Anyone would recognize her... Sora mentally monologued. She's got more charm and presence than any high school girl in the country. She's the Ultimate Fashionista. I've seen her on tons of magazine covers, but...

"There's something different about you..." Sora mumbled, loud enough for Junko to hear.

"Huh...? Oh, are you talking about my cover photos and junk? Ahaha, well of course! Those are totally photoshopped." Junko casually laughed.

"Photoshopped, eh...?"

"Yeah, you know--edited to hell and back. With like, computers and junk?" Junko said.

"...Oh, so their fake. Got it." Sora nodded.

"Come on, don't act so surprised! You're gonna make me all depressed." Junko sighed. "It's totally normal these days to photoshop the crap out of cover photos. If you're surprised by that, you'd be totally blown away by a certain dangerous little diva of ours..."

Is she talkin' about Sayaka...?

"They make the eyes and junk super big, and tweak the skin so it looks all ceramic and porcelain."

"Mm-hm... That makes sense."

Good grief... I can feel so many dreams getting crushed...so quickly.

---

Walking over, the blonde approached a young girl with lavender hair and purple eyes. Unlike the others, though, she didn't say immediately say anything. They just stood there...silently.

Glad to know that there's someone like me in here... Sora thought. She has this mysterious aura around her. I...kinda like it.

Eventually, Sora cleared her throat. "...What's your name?"

She turned to Sora and said "...My name is...Kyoko Kirigiri."

Oooh...She's pretty... Got another doll-face over here. Her legs aren't bad... Sora thought with a small blush on her face. But she didn't tell me her talent, and by the look on her face, I doubt she's telling my anytime soon. Not that I have a problem with it, of course. It would ruin the whole mysterious aura she has...

"Ciao. My name's Sora Shirayuki!" Sora introduced quite eagerly, making a small friendly smile, the first positive emotion she's shown since she got here. "It's nice to meet you! Hope we get along well..."

But... I shouldn't get my hopes up. She'd probably brush my off or something like tha-

"I hope we get along, too."

Sora raised an eyebrow when she heard Kyoko's quiet, but not as quiet as Sora's, voice. When she took a closer look, she saw a hint of a smile on her face.

She noticed me...

---

Sora then went up to the timid-looking girl. She seemed to be nervous, as she had a blush on her face when Sora approached her.

"Hello, nice to meet you. I'm Chihiro Fujisaki..." She said, avoiding eye contact before hesitantly looking at Sora. "Sorry, I get kinda embarrassed whenever I introduce myself like this..."

Daww, she's so cute... Sora thought.

"Anyway, I hope we can get along..."

"...Of course."

Chihiro Fujisaki is known for all the cutting-edge programs she's created. She's the Ultimate Programmer. She's also got that timid little bunny type thing going, which has endeared her to her legion of fans.

"Hey, so listen..." Sora was pulled out of her mental narration and looked down at Chihiro. " I-I'm really sorry." She randomly apologized, causing Sora to tilt her head.

"...What for?" The blonde asked.

"Well, just 'cuz...you seem upset. Your face looks so stone-cold..." Chihiro said, tears forming in the corner of her eyes. "You must be mad at me, right?"

"...Of course not. This is how I always am. Besides, I'm never upset. You didn't do anything wrong." Sora casually reassured the girl in her monotone voice. 

"R-Really...?" Chihiro looked up at her.

"Yep. For sure."

"Oh, that's good. I was afraid maybe you didn't like me." Chihiro smiled in relief. "Hehe... I'm glad!"

...I'm starting to see the appeal that her fans get from her...

---

Sora then walked over to the busty sporty girl.

"Heya! I'm Aoi Asahina! But my friends just call me Hina. 'Sup?" She cheerfully greeted.

Aoi Asahina... She's been breaking records in every competition she's been in since elementary school. She's even been chosen as an upcoming Olympic cadet. She is, without a doubt, the Ultimate Swimming Pro. The combination of her ability, appearance, and her...massive proportions has been widely discussed online.

"So uh...what was your name again?" Hina asked. "Sorry, totally forgot!"

"It's Sora Shirayuki."

"Oh yeah, I knew it was something like that!" Hina grinned.

It is that, actually... Sora thought.

"I'll hammer it into my brain right now! Sora...Shirayuki... Sora...Shirayuki..." Hina repeated as she moved her finger across her palm like she was writing something.

"Uh...Hina?" Sora suddenly called her.

"What's up?"

"...Your hair..."

"Huh? What about my hair?" Hina asked, tilting her head.

"...Your ponytail...it looks like it defies gravity itself..." Sora said.

"Well, what about you?" Hina asked, pointing to Sora's ahoge. "You have that little antenna thingy on your head."

Said "antenna" wiggled at its mention.

"Hm...good question... I've had this for as long as I can remember." Sora shrugged. "I dunno... I think I was just born with it..."

"Right..." Hina scratched the back of her neck. "By the way, how do you spell your last name? It's pretty hard to tell, what with that tone you've got there..."

"...Exactly how it sounds like...?" Sora confusingly answered.

"Umm... Well, I have no idea. Hahaha! I'll just figure it out later and write it down." Hina laughed. "Anyway, glad to meet ya!"

"Yup."

She's pretty energetic, that's for sure...

---

These four are the last ones... Sora thought. Thank Kami. All these introductions are giving me a headache...

With that, Sora headed over to a bulky young woman with white hair. If Sora didn't notice the sailor uniform, she'd assume that she was a boy.

"I am Sakura Ogami." The woman bluntly told her. 

Oh, now I remember. She competed in a martial arts tournament in America and won, despite being a girl. She's the Ultimate Martial Artist. She's fought in over 400 matches, and never lost a single one.

Hey, you." The blonde was pulled out of her thoughts to see Sakura intently looking at her.

"...Can I help you?" Sora rhetorically asked in an emotionless tone, before Sakura began to poke and prod her body.

Not gonna lie, she feels pretty violated.

"...Okay, so why did you do that?" Sora asked once she was done.

"Hm...muscular quality and quantity is right around that of a above-average athletic high school girl." Sakura said out of the blue, like she was some sort of scanner. "You seem pretty flexible and agile. If you want, you could be my sparring partner."

Sora's face began to lose its already pale skin. My jugs are sweating... Is that normal? She thought while she looked a bit apprehensive.

---

She then went up to a blonde guy with rectangular glasses. He had an arrogant and refined look to him. Plus, compared to Sora, he was pretty tall.

"Name's Byakuya Togami."

...That was the most half-assed introduction I've ever heard. Sora thought with a deadpan expression.

But that's to be expected. Even among ultimate students, Byakuya's truly something special. He's the heir apparent of his family's massive financial conglomerate. He's already started managing business operations, and his own personal assets are, well, vast. His title of Ultimate Affluent Progeny is completely accurate. He's the human embodiment of "exceptional."

"..."

"Hey...you look familiar..." Byakuya said.

"Really? That's probably 'cuz you met one of my parents before." Sora responded with an apathetic yawn.

"Really? What's your mother's name...?" He asked.

"Kasen Shirayuki." Sora quickly answered.

"I see..." Byakuya nodded. "That's why you looked so familiar. You're her spitting image."

Sora sighed. "...Yeah. See ya, Togami." She walked off.

"Sure..."

---

She then went up to the relaxed man with the SUPER big hair.

""I'm Yasuhiro Hagakure--Hiro for short! Take it easy, yeah? I know I will!" He laughed.

Yasuhiro Hagakure, known as "Supernova" in the psychic community. The trend-setting Ultimate Clairvoyant...To be honest, I don't really believe in all that fortune-telling stuff. But...since he got enrolled in Hope's Peak, maybe there's some truth to it.

"Ahh... Okay, I give up." Hiro suddenly said while sighing.

"...What is it?" Sora perked.

"I saw it. I looked right at it... Seriously, I totally saw it!" Hiro exclaimed.

"C'mon, spit it out. What'd you see?" Sora asked. I feel like I'm gonna regret asking that...

"A guardian angel with a crazy perm chasing after Bigfoot running off with a skyfish in its mouth. And that guardian angel...is YOUR guardian angel!" Hiro said, pointing at Sora while doing so.

"...What." Sora deadpanned.

"Nah, I'm just kiddin'." Hiro said, laughing it off. "But hey, we should grab some brewskis sometime and get real deep into Lemuria and its civilization."

"...I don't know what that is." Sora deadpanned again. "Also, we're not old enough to drink."

"Oh, I'm actually 21. I've been held back a few times, see, and...well, it's a long story." Hiro told her, looking a bit embarrassed while doing so.

That does sound like a long story...

---

Sora went to the goth girl with drill-like pigtails. She had black hair and red eyes. She gave off a very "deceitful" vibe.

"I do not think we have been introduced. I am Celestia Ludenburg." She curtly said.

Sora raised an eyebrow. "What?...Celestia Luden what now?" She asked.

"Ludenburg." Celestia repeated. "It is my name. But if you don't mind, I would prefer for you to call me Celeste."

Sora tilted her head. That weird name...and that ambiguous-sounding French accent...

"...You are Japanese, right?" Sora raised an eyebrow.

"Of course. Why do you ask?" Celeste asked.

"...You mind tellin' me your real name?" Sora requested, putting one of her hands on her hips.

"Heh-heh. I don't know what you are talking about." Celeste chuckled. "Celestia Ludenburg is my real name. But as I mentioned, I would much rather you call me Celeste."

She's polite, but forceful at the same time... She'll just drop it for now... But I guess the rumors were right about her. The self-styled "Celestia Ludenburg," she's the Ultimate Gambler who's never lost a bet. Other than her obvious love of gothic lolita clothes, everything about her is wrapped in a veil of lies. They say she entered an won an underground gambling tournament, earning the title "Queen of Liars." She totally cleaned out the other players there, and Sora bets she was laughing as she did it.

"I look forward to getting to know you better." Celeste said. "Heh-heh-heh..."

...That smile fires off red flags in every single direction. I better watch my back around her...

---

Alright...this is the last one. Sora thought as she walked over to the brown-haired normal-looking boy.

"O-Oh, hey. Look, I know I told you this before, but... I'm Makoto Naegi. I'm this year's Ultimate Lucky Student." He said.

Oh, right. In case you didn't know, Hope's Peak Academy holds a lottery every year and whoever gets chosen gets to attend Hope's Peak Academy as the Ultimate Lucky Student. To put it bluntly, they get in by pure luck.

"...I'm Sora Shirayuki." Sora quickly said.

"I-It's nice to meet you." Makoto said.

"Mm-hm." Sora nodded.

---

And with that, all the introductions are finished. Even though they're all "ultimate's", they're all pretty eccentric in their own way.

Thank Kami... Sora thought, her mental voice filled with relief.

"Okay, time to get down to business." Byakuya quickly spoke up. "This is no time to stand around making friends like a bunch of dull-eyed baboons."

"Oh, that's true. I think someone said something about a bigger problem or something? What was that about?" Makoto asked.

"Well, you see..." Sayaka started. "Naegi, you said a bunch of stuff happened and then you were "just asleep," right? Well, the same is true for all of us."

"What? Seriously!?" Makoto exclaimed.

"Just after each of us got to the main hall, we lost consciousness. And when we came to, we were somewhere here in the school!" Leon added. "That's what happened to you, right?"

"B-But that's just...weird!" Makoto stuttered. "That every one of us would get knocked out like that..."

"Exactly! That's why we're all freakin' out!" Mondo yelled.

"And that's not the only thing. You saw where all the windows in the classes and hallways were, right?" Taka chimed in. "But instead of normal glass windows, it was a bunch of big metal plates! What's that about!?"

"Plus, all my stuff's missing! Even my cellphone..." Junko mentioned, dejected.

"Yeah, you're right. I haven't seen my PDA anywhere, either..." Chihiro said.

"And then there's the main hall here." Taka said, looking at the hatch. "The front exit is completely blocked by some giant metal hatch. But there wasn't anything like that when I first got here...! What the heck!? What's it doing there!?" He yelled.

"Maybe we got caught up in some kinda, like, you know...crime or something?" Junko nervously asked, sweating at the thought.

"What, like...a kidnapping?" Leon gulped. "You think maybe someone grabbed us and hauled us off and we're not actually at school?"

"Come on, don't think like that." Hiro said. "Cheer up! I bet this is all just part of the school's orientation procedure. Yeah, I'm sure that's it! So I'm just gonna take it easy for a little bit."

"Oh... So you think they wanted to do something to surprise us?" Chihiro asked, believing Hiro's theory.

Sora subconsciously folded her arms. Knocking them out, picking them up from the main hall, and putting them in classrooms all around the floor?

And they did that all for some kind of joke? Is that really it...?

Still, she could feel everyone's tension evaporation. But then...

It began.

Prologue Part Two: End

To be continued...?