Won't You Remember Me?

by phantasmicPyromaniac

Summary: The class of Super Highschool Level students have just been admitted into the confines of Hope's Peak Academy following the most unnerving entrance ceremony anyone will ever face. Naegi makes a new friend who seems to know a good deal about what's happening around the Academy.

Part 1

Beautiful Morning

Naegi practically leapt off his front doorstep as he bolted into the streets. The faint calls of his mother urging him to be careful hardly kept up with him, and his schoolbag thrashed behind him in the wake of his pace. Hope's Peak, here I come! he whooped mentally, his mouth preoccupied with supplying his body with oxygen, I bet it looks even better than on the internet. The sky shone blue, with no cloud in sight, and the sun began its ascent unimpeded. Its brilliance washed over the city, the trees reaching out to it with open palms of green.

He skidded to a stop at the edge of an approaching curb, teetering briefly before he could pull himself back onto safety. He idly bobbed from one foot to another as cars slowly rumbled past, looking out to the school's unmistakable silhouette against the early morning's horizon. It seemed to beckon to him, its relatively immense stature a powerful presence on its own. Not until Naegi rounded the corner and approached the school's gate's did he get hit by the gravity of his situation.

He stood before them with the envelope in his white-knuckled grip. With a start, he smoothed it out with sweaty hands and left it looking more worn than before, albeit with fewer wrinkles. Delicately tearing the edge off, which explicitly read "WAIT UNTIL FIRST MORNING TO READ", he was shocked to see a mass of glitter, confetti, and streamers spill out unceremoniously from the opening, forming an unimpressive pile at his feet. He looked into the interior of the envelope, frowning as he saw a single leaf of lined paper sitting among a clump of more colored bits of paper. Naegi quickly flipped the item over, making sure it had Hope's Peak Academy's elegant insignia on the upper right corner before fishing out the message, which happened to be largely underwhelming as well. The note was ripped across the bottom edge, implying that this scrap was part of a larger sheet. In messy chicken-scratch, accompanied by a doodle of a weird looking teddy-bear on the margin, it read:

"Dear Makota Naegi - No doubt you are nervous about your first day! While this is totally justified, let me be the first to tell you: the following years at this school will all seem like a dream when you look back! I can personally guarantee you won't believe this life was yours. Hell, even I'm surprised such a bland boy like yourself made it into a school of elites! Of course, as you've no doubt heard, everyone's taken to calling you the Super Highschool Level "Good Luck", so I suppose your winning the lottery is a pretty telling accomp-"

The rest of the increasingly taunting message was cut off, where the messy rip made the sentence utterly illegible. At the edge of the page was a closing scribble: "With love, your homeroom teacher".

Naegi flinched at the blatant misspelling of his name, which pretty much set the tone for the rest of the note. Very little of it seemed to be motivational, and in fact the overall effect was the planting of a seed of doubt in the back of his head. The whole thing was so unprofessional, so half-assed, and the homeroom teacher had used such a fancy envelope to relay...this. It was nothing short of absurd for a welcome letter. Throwing his shoulders back, however, he looked back up at the towering spire that was the main building, and let himself be washed over with awe.

"I really ended up at an amazing place. Is this something I can really handle?" he found himself murmuring. He stood there like a statue, mulling over thoughts in his head. He shook his head, suddenly, deciding that plenty of other students remained relatively anonymous despite their undoubtedly fantastic abilities. As the letter said, Naegi came here on the graces of Luck, and as such he was one of the first to be recognized on a certain bulletin board on the web. With a start like that, he pondered further, I'm already two steps ahead of the game!

Taking a deep breath, and with melodramatic determination one wouldn't think is needed before stepping into a school for the first time, Naegi got his legs to work. The absurd trail of glitter and confetti followed him with each step forward - he didn't have the heart to toss away his first message from his homeroom teacher. She took the time to address him, he decided, and at the end of the day that counted for something. He came before the alarmingly empty entrance hall, and read the clock that hung overhead. Ten past seven...! He thought with a start, I came way too early!

Naegi reassumed his statue-like stance, nervously scanning the facade. It was nearly an hour until his classmates would arrive for the entrance ceremony, and simply waiting here at the entrance didn't seem very exciting. I know, I'll just explore the school, get my bearings! With a grin pulling at the edge of his mouth, he stepped into the depths of Hope's Peak Academy - once his foot slapped against the checkered floor of the hallway, his head was overtaken with a powerful nausea that threatened to send him toppling. He fell against a wall and slid down, his head spinning as his vision swirled into blackness.

And just as suddenly, he came to in a sitting position, gasping and breathing hard. He looked around himself, relieved to see that no one was around to witness the embarrassing display. He cautiously climbed up the wall with both hands, pausing twice on the way up to shake off the aftershocks of dizziness following his ascent. What happened...? I did eat enough, didn't I? I hope I don't have to go home on the first day!

He scanned the walls and located a clock, much less grandiose than the one at the entrance, but ostentatious in its own manner. An entire twenty minutes had passed. Naegi gaped at the reading and rushed to his bag to check on its contents. With a sigh of relief at his seemingly unmolested person, he shouldered it and strode around the dizzyingly lighted halls until it was time to join the unmistakable sound of footsteps emanating from where he entered. Excitement rushed through his head, and he ran out into the sunlight, where he was met with a small army of prodigies thronging within the boundaries of the school gates.

Students of every shape and size were present, some whose talents were more easily guessable, and others who he would have passed on the street without so much as an amiable smile. Naegi felt himself breathing more and more heavily as his eyes passed over familiar faces, almost all of them from magazines and articles broadcasting their contributions to mankind.

Hachime-sama, as he has come to be known, is a champion lumberjack. He's said to wield his axe like a golf club, and cuts down the mightiest trees in fewer than three strokes. With an incredibly large physique for a highschool freshman, he towered over the others, and was beaten in height only by one other white-haired person whom he didn't recognize.

Mamoto Tsetito, a fierce debater and widely-respected politician, was also easily identifiable in the crowd. Her clothes are always prim, simple, business-like and bright-red. Also recognized as the Flame-Tempered Tongue, she's famous for standing in front of several powerful CEO's at once for 12 hours, convincing each one to either drastically modify or shut down their harmful enterprises, such as power plants, certain tobacco brands, and many smaller companies which trailed in the shadow of the giants. She did not sit, drink, eat, or even pause to take a breath - the only time she requested a glass of water was to throw it in the face of a particularly disrespectful bastard who decided to try and take her head-on (very nearly literally).

Those kinds of people were all gathered here in front of him, ready to take on a rigorous education and skyrocket into success upon graduating! Best of all, Naegi would be there with them, an ant among trees, basking in their knowledge and perhaps even befriend his way into a circle. Who knows, maybe I'll even unlock a true talent while I'm here. One that isn't just being lucky.

He shouldered past a group of particularly chatty people, and made his way to the front of the crowd just as the clock chimed to signal that it was 8 o'clock. A familiar series of tones washed over the students from hidden surround speakers, causing an immediate hush broken only by excited whispers. Everything was silent for a moment, and suddenly a column of smoke erupted from within the entrance hall, causing everyone including Naegi to step back several paces in alarm. Someone behind him whooped loudly, but was quickly shut up by someone else, who seemed to represent the unnerved opinion of the majority. It billowed out in offensive crests, carrying with it the stench of fuel and burnt material.

Emerging out of the smoke was a girl who rang a bell in Naegi's head - he had seen her before...but where? He kept his eyes fixed on her as she strutted toward the front with a leisurely, meandering walk that eventually landed her a few paces away from the mass of students. Her gaze was blank as she scanned across those immediately in front of her, yet Naegi was certain that she paused for an instant when she passed by him, continuing on with her unimpressed demeanor. The air around her seemed condensed, almost suffocatingly so, and at the same time it was as if a void were enveloping her, stealing away all sound and connection to the physical world. Naegi knew immediately that she would be trouble, but didn't know how. His attempts to back away were foiled by a line of transfixed boys trying to get a better view of her.

"Whoa, she's hot!"

"Hey, take off that shirt! Toss it here!"

"You pigs, shut up and listen!"

"Boys are disgusting, I can't believe this school is co-ed!"

The girl snorted, clearly unfazed by the commentary that followed her appearance. She seemed lost in thought for a few moments, and then abruptly put the megaphone she had been holding behind her back up to her mouth. Swelling her chest with a dramatic inhale, the girl's voice boomed out, forcing Naegi to shield his ears as feedback resonated mercilessly.

"Hell-OOOOOOOO Hope's Peak Academy!" she called out, her teeth flashing bright and white. Her audience remained in stunned silence briefly, then cheers broke out, the cloud of uncertainty lifted from their collective spirits.

"Welcome to the nest of brilliance, hope and success!"

"No doubt you sorry lot are wondering, who the hell is this fine chick? Yeahhh, I see you whispering there," she continued with a pointed stare, eyebrow quirking up at a circle of girls who jumped in unison. She snickered nastily and dismissed them with a blink.

"You'll find out when the time comes for you to know. For now, let's play a quick game!" exclaimed the girl, her free hand resting on her hip casually as she blared out her announcements. She lowered the megaphone and made her wolfish smirk obvious as groans rang out from the crowd. She tapped her foot rapidly as though thinking about what to say on the spot, then continued.

"First off, let me disqualify everyone who received a letter from Hope's Peak Academy! These boys and girls don't get to play with the rest of you," she instructed as she strode toward Naegi, grabbing the front of his jacket and pulling him back with her with surprising strength for one with such a delicate body. Huh? How did she kno-...? His thoughts were interrupted as she threw him past her and dismissed him with a quick smack on the butt.

"Don't be shy, fess up to your indecency!"

Naegi couldn't help but blush at the intimate contact. Just who is this girl? Where's the headmaster? He regained his balance, turned around and noticed movement among the assembled students, from where quite a few distinguished individuals shouldered their way to the front to join his side. Quickly scanning, he didn't recognize any faces except for Tsetito's, and he avoided eye contact with her for the time being. He didn't want to be distracted while the rest of this weird fiasco played out.

"That everyone?" chirped the girl's voice, "I'm counting... sixty students out of the five hundred possible candidates." Confused outcries immediately followed this, and she covered her mouth as she giggled audibly into the speaker, "What's with that? We've not even started our game! Everybody, right hand up!"

Grudgingly complying to her prompts, all of those who were not "disqualified" from the game raised their hands, bobbed to and fro, and hummed along with a surprisingly pleasant tune the strange girl was singing. Once again, the students who were so wound up only minutes before had been put to ease by the soothing tones of her voice.

"Yeah, just like that... now sing with me..." she whispered softly, daintily fluttering her half-closed eyelids. Naegi noticed her quivering. She must be nervous. I know I'd be if I were talking to such a big group of people. He listened attentively as he heard her open her mouth and take a breath. Her voice came out silky: "Sayonaraaaa... sayoranaa..." and all eyes were on the disqualified students as they repeated her words back at her.

Her voice changed completely all of a sudden, losing its singsong lilt and taking on a sharp, unpleasant characteristic. "Now get the fuck out of here before I call security on your asses. You're now trespassing on private school grounds."

Everything stopped. Naegi's hands began sweating profusely, and he struggled to breathe. I... I'm trespassing...? What's going on? We just got here. He looked to his sides, and every student looked just as distressed as he felt, adding to his alarm. Only one girl remained collected, in fact tapping her foot impatiently as if awaiting another part of the performance that she already knew about and wanted to be over with.

He studied her face, trying to glean something from her annoyed expression, and she met his stare with a flicker of curiosity. He jumped faintly, and offered her a small smile, fighting his urge to look away in embarrassment. To his surprise, her expression softened and a smile played at her lips as well, accompanied by an amiable nod. She frowned as Naegi edged over next to her, however, tensing up and squaring her feet. He didn't notice, keeping his eyes on the slender, blonde-haired girl. His voice was at a hoarse whisper, making sure he wasn't heard by anyone else other than the black-haired, sturdy girl.

"Do you know what's going on here? Why are we being kicked out?" he asked sidelong at her, flinching as more sharp words erupted out of the megaphone. She shook her head, whispering back.

"You've got it backwards. She's not talking to us, so we're safe for now."

"How can you be sure? This girl is absolutely unpredictable. I hardly remember how we got into this situation."

"Relax and watch, call it a gut feeling." she muttered, "Stay here next to me and you'll be fine."

While he couldn't understand what her reassurance was based on, Naegi was grateful to be around a beacon of confidence. She reassumed her previous casual stance, and pointed her eyes away from him, crossing her arms as she spoke after a short pause:

"So what's your talent, anyway? Can't imagine you're much good at anything physical, with posture like that."

Her words stung, but Naegi chose to reply with civility, despite feeling more than a little flustered.

"I'm the Super Highschool Level 'Good Luck'. I was chosen by-"

She cut in, piercing him with a cool stare.

"Oh, the lottery? So you've no exceptional qualities, nor any skills that can be considered outstanding?"

His face flushed at the question, and turned away, annoyed and embarrassed now. She's doing this on purpose. This was a bad idea.

"That's one way of looking at it, I guess. I'll be over here."

He grit his teeth as he began walking away, but a firm hand caught his shoulder and kept him in place. Alarm rang out in his head, and he shut his eyes in anticipation of a punch to the face. I offended her, now I'm gonna get it...! Rather than forcefully wheeling him around, however, she tugged at him.

"The sooner you wear that fact like armor, the sooner you'll be invulnerable to offhand jabs. Sack up and stay by me. Things look like they're getting ugly."

Naegi stumbled behind her indignantly, and strained his voice to make himself heard over the angry voices of the students. He could feel his affection for this girl rapidly dwindling into nothing.

"What's your talent? I only have your mannerisms to go by."

"Mukuro Ikusaba, best damn soldier you'll ever have the pleasure of meeting! Couldn't you tell by looking at my body? Oh, and right now, we should be backing away."

Naegi's retort was cut off by a furious yell from the crowd. I wasn't looking at her body. The students were in an uproar, with voices and complaints cutting each other off. Little by little they advanced, step by step, and the aggression in the air only seemed to be accumulating.

"What are we going to do for school? This opening ceremony is three weeks later than all the others!"

"I chose Hope's Peak over a top-tier academy!"

"Is this some kind of sick joke!?"

"Where's the headmaster? You're not the headmaster! You can't do this!"

"I had the letter, but I left it at home! Let me go get it!"

Naegi felt afraid for his life for the first time, and he craned his neck to look for a safe route off of the school grounds. An opening down the right side of the crowd made itself obvious, and he started for it, but Ikusaba-san seized his wrist and whispered, with her lips brushing his ear.

"Trust me when I say you don't want to do that. Let's follow the others inside."

Despite his frantic struggles against her vice-like grip, Ikusaba-san dragged him into the main hallway without so much as a skip in her pace. Naegi didn't know at what point the main doors became clear of smoke, but the air was much cleaner than it was before. Those who were disqualified from the "game" were gathered here, filling the halls with echoes of concern and despair. The girl pushed him against a locker and held him there for a minute, letting him flail and yell until finally he got tired of resisting her seemingly limitless strength. She's nuts! I have to go home. This is borderline kidnapping. Ikusaba-san stared down into his eyes for a second and inclined her head, studying him before asking.

"Yes, I remember now," she started, her voice softening, "You're the Super Highschool Level 'Good Luck'. Makoto Naegi. People have been talking about y-"

Her head turned sharply at the sound of the main doors closing, breaking eye contact with him, yet not letting go of his shoulders. The blonde-haired girl was leaning against them, breathing heavily, with a look of blissful satisfaction painted on her face. Her chest rose and fell haphazardly until it regulated to a healthy pace. Straightening herself out, she sighed contentedly and looked straight at Ikusaba-san.

"Have you ever seen so much despair, all in one concentrated area?" she asked her, arms wrapping around herself amidst quivers. "It's highly unlikely that they'll have any successful careers at all, if they're wasting their talents at low-tier college-prep public schools. Ohhhh, I outdid myself this time...!"

She shot a look behind her, and Naegi followed her stare to a clock which read 08:20 AM. He was shocked, it felt like a full hour's worth of events had transpired.

"We're a bit ahead of schedule, but that's okay!" she called out to the attentive group, both hands on her hips. "The police will be here soon to clear out the rabble, and while that happens we're going to tour the school to familiarize ourselves. Welcome to Hope's Peak High Academy, boys and girls! I'm Junko Enoshima, and you are all the selected candidates who will be attending classes here for the next four years. Let's all shine bright with the hope-rich rays of the sun, and make the most of this beautiful morning!"

End of Part 1

Author Notes: If you've gotten this far, then congratulations, you've just read my very first entry to my very first fanfiction! This has been inspired by the Dangan Ronpa IF, and noticed a severe lack of Makoto Naegi/Mukuro Ikusaba on the internet, so now I've taken matters into my own hands.

Technically, this is only a writing exercise that got out of hand, but if this receives good feedback, then I'll happily upload the consecutive parts with regularity. This fanfic will be updated no matter how [un]popular it is.

And of course, suggestions and critique are much appreciated.