"Hope's Peak Academy…" Ikusaba muses to herself. After receiving an invitation letter while at Fenrir, she had made plans to come here. While she was back in Japan, she had decided to visit her sister, Junko Enoshima. Surprisingly enough however, Junko had also been invited to this place… as the Ultimate Fashionista. Thinking back on it now, Ikusaba supposed that it made sense. Even when she was living in a constant battlefield at Fenrir, she had seen her sister appear from time to time. Her magazines seemed to be everywhere, somehow.

"Come onnnn sis!" Junko whines. "We're going to be too late!"

Ikusaba stares at her with mild surprise. Didn't you want to be fashionably late?"

Junko scoffs and rolls her eyes. "Yeah, but if we're too late, then we won't be fashionably late! We will just be late! God, just hurry up already!"

"Y-Yes Junko." Ikusaba lifts up a bunch of luggage - most of which belonged to Junko, and started towards the entrance. Even though she was carrying probably hundreds of sets of clothing, she was able to lift it all with little trouble, being the Ultimate Soldier and all.

While Junko had mainly packed cosmetic things such as makeup and clothes, Ikusaba opted to bring more… practical things. Things like various types of knives and guns, belts of grenades, bulletproof vests, thousands of bullet cases, and she had even ended up bringing a harpoon.

A fucking harpoon.

Before the entrance ceremony begins, they were to check out their assigned dorm dooms and get acquainted with their classmates. While Junko wanted to 'scout out' the other students, Ikusaba had little interest.

It's always the same thing anyways.

Whenever Ikusaba met someone knew, they always acted wary of her. Who could blame them? Ikusaba could probably think of thousands of ways to kill a person with her bare hands. It didn't help that she gave off a very cold aura either. Even those who try to be more understanding towards her eventually drift away. Ikusaba had little experience with social interactions after all. She couldn't hold a decent conversation even if her life depended on it (luckily, it never did).

She had no expectations of making any new friends while she was here and to be honest, she was fine with that. Junko was all she needed. Junko was the only one she loved and Junko was the only one who loved her .

Ikusaba looks around the gym - only two people really caught her attention.

One was a giant muscular girl. She was wearing a sailor uniform and had strands of long white hair. Obviously, she could pose a potential threat. According to some conversations she overheard, she was supposed to be the Ultimate Martial Artist. While Ikusaba had experience in hand to hand combat, she was more used to wielding weapons. This wasn't to say that Ikusaba was defenseless without a weapon - she had beaten men twice her size before. But against the Ultimate Martial Artist… well, she would probably have some trouble.

I should carry a backup knife in case I get disarmed.

The second person was also a girl - a small one with long dark purple hair, tied into braids. She was very obviously uncomfortable, surrounded by so many people. She was biting her nails and was looking around frantically. Her eyes glared at everyone who came near her through her round glasses. While physically, she seemed to not be a threat, Ikusaba couldn't help but feel a more sinister aura to her. She couldn't exactly place her finger on it, but whenever she looked at her, every instinct in her body screamed to be cautious.

Junko had separated herself from Ikusaba at the moment.

"I can't have you following me around like a lost puppy right now! I need to make a good first impression! If they saw your ugly face around me, their impressions would definitely be soured."

And so, she had left her behind to talk to everyone. As she had no real intentions of introducing herself, she just awkwardly stood near the corner, observing the room for any potential threats. Thankfully, she was mostly left alone. A couple of students tried to approach her, but her cold glare steered most of them away.

It wasn't really like she was purposefully driving them away though - it was just that she looked like she was glaring because she was analyzing each student. She couldn't forgive herself if someone were to happen to Junko. She needed to be able to protect her from any and all danger.

Eventually though, she came across one person who didn't back down from her glare. Instead, he approached her with a bright face. This person was an average looking boy. He was rather short and sported a green hoodie. The most prominent characteristic of him was an ahoge sticking up from the middle of his brown hair.

"Hey! I'm Makoto Naegi." He stretches his hand towards her, initiating a handshake.

"Mukuro Ikusaba/" Ikusaba didn't make any motion to take his hand.

"Nice to meet you!" Unperturbed, he takes his hand back. "I was invited here as the Ultimate Luckster."

Laughing awkwardly, he scratches the back of his head. "Not really much of a talent, but I'm still grateful to be here!"

"..."

"So, what's your talent?"

Here it is. The turning point where nearly everyone started avoiding her. Whenever she mentioned that she was a soldier, a killer, most people became wary of her.

"I'm the Ultimate Soldier."

Instead of backing away however, Naegi's eyes just light up. "THe Ultimate Soldier? That's pretty cool!"

Ikusaba blinks sluggishly. "Cool?"

"Yeah. Well, it was nice meeting you, Ikusaba!" At that, Naegi's face breaks into a bright smile.

"?!"

"I hope that we can get along this year!"

For some reason, Ikusaba's face immdiately turns beet red. Did this boy just… smile at her? Her, a stone cold killer who has been in several wars and could probably kill this guy in less then 10 seconds.

Despite all of that, Naegi had genuinely smiled at her. She had no idea how to respond to this.

"Ah… I-I hope that w-we can get along too." Ikusaba looks away. Why the hell was her face getting so red?

Did I just stammer? What's happening to me?

Naegi simply nods, oblivious to her thoughts and walks away to talk to the others, waving as he leaves. Even while walking away, that smile was still plastered onto his face.

…

I guess I need to be cautious of 3 people now.

It was the first day of classes. Their teacher, Kolkichi Kizakura, sits in his chair lazying about. He held a silver canteen in his hands and had his feet propped up onto his desk. On top of his messy blonde hair, a white fedora sat snugly.

"Alright, alright… So, I guess everyone's here. You guys h-"

"For a teacher to bring alcohol into a classroom… THIS IS UNACCEPTABLE IN A SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT!" Ishimaru loudly interrupts.

"Oh, it's just apple juice." Kizakura winks at him. "Anyway, you guys have already talked to each other in the gym, but for some reason you still gotta do introductions."

"For some reason?" Kuwata raises his eyebrows. "Aren't you supposed to be the teacher here?"

Kizakura shrugs. "I don't come up with this stuff. I'm just the messenger."

"What a shitty teacher." Owada mutters.

"Settle down." Kizakura sighs and waves his canteen around. "So, I'm just gonna call out all of your names. Then you just stand up and introduce yourself. Easy enough?"

…

"I'll take that as a yes. First up, Makoto Naegi."

At the mention of his name, Ikusaba stiffens slightly. For the whole morning, her mind had been stuck on him. This has never happened to her before. She could barely concentrate on anything…

Quickly, Naegi stands up. "Hey, I'm Makoto Naegi. I was invited as the Ultimate Luckster, though honestly, my luck is actually pretty bad most of the time."

After that, the other students introduce themselves one by one.

"Greetings! I am Kiyotaka Ishimaru, but please call me Taka! I am the Ultimate Moral Compass and I look forward to guiding all of us to a brighter educational future!"

"Kyoko Kirigiri, Ultimate Detective."

"I am Sakura Ogami, the Ultimate Martial Artist. Pleased to meet your acquaintance."

"Mondo Owada, Ultimate Bike Gang Leader. What a fuckin waste of time. I told this to everyone already."

"Hey hey! Junko Enoshima, Ultimate Fashionista! Charmed, I'm sure."

"Yo! I'm Yasohiro Hagakure, the Ultimate Clairvoyant! If any of you want your fortunes told, hit me up!"

"I-I'm Chihiro Fujisaki, the Ultimate Programmer."

"I am Celestia Ludenberg, the Ultimate Gambler. Feel free to call me Celeste."

"Yom I'm Leon Kuwata! I'm the Ultimate Baseball Star, but I'm gonna be the Ultimate Musician, just you watch!"

"T-Toko Fukawa… I-I'm the Ultimate Writing Prodigy…"

"I am Hifumi Yamada, the Ultimate Otaku… But feel free to call me by my true name, The Alpha and the Omega!"

"I am Byakuya Togami, the Ultimate Heir."

"Hi! I'm Sayaka Maizono, the Ultimate Pop Idol! Pleased to meet all of you!"

"Hello! I'm Aoi Asahina, but you can call me Hina. I'm the Ultimate Swimming Pro and I really like exercising and donuts!"

Finally, Ikusaba was called up. Most of the students here actually didn't talk to her at all. Only a couple of people, Like Naegi, even knew her name. So everyone actually paid some sort of attention to her introduction.

"I'm the Ultimate Soldier, Mukuro Ikusaba."

…

"Lame!" Junko shouts, breaking the silence. "Come on sis! Put a little more flair into it!"

"Woah, a soldier? So you kill people and stuff?" Hagakure asks bluntly.

"Hagakure!" Asahina scolds. "Don't be so insensitive!"

"Wait a sec." Kuwata puts her finger up. "Junko is your sister?"

It was a reasonable question. The two girls looked pretty much nothing alike. Junko was bright and held a large presence. Her large strawberry blonde hair and dramatic personality attracted the attention of nearly everyone in the room.

On the flip side, Ikusaba was completely plain in comparison. She had simple black hair in a bobbed hair cut and was fairly quiet. She only spoke when prompted and commanded much less attention.

"Yup! We're twins!" Junko hops up and stands next to Ikusaba, putting an arm around her shoulder. "Pretty surprising, huh?"

"Twins?" Owada questions. "But you two look nothing alike."

"Well, my sister is super plain and ugly." Junko snickers, jabbing at Ikusaba with her shoulder. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes, Junko." Ikusaba responds automatically. Whenever Junko insulted her, she pretty much just went along with it.

"... Why did you agree to that?" asahina stares at Ikusaba strangely.

"Well duh!" Junko exclaims. "Cuz it's true! She's got a trash face!"

"You shouldn't say those type of things to your own sister!" Naegi interjects. For some reason, seeing this scene really rubbed him the wrong way. Of course, he didn't like seeing someone get bullied like this in any situation, but this seemed worse. Probably because they were supposed to be family… and Junko was just insulting her, unprompted! It didn't seem like regular teasing either.

Junko blinks. "Huh?"

"I don't think you should be insulting your own sister like that. "It's just rude!"

"Chill out ahoge boy."

"Ahoge boy?"

"Calm down, the lot of you." Kizakura sighs. "The introductions are done and over with, so you guys can do whatever, but keep it down yeah? You're givin me a migraine."

Relculantly, both Naegi and Junko drop their argument, leaving a bewildered Ikusaba in their wake. Why was Naegi arguing with Junko? She had just described her to the class… it wasn't as if Junko had insulted Naegi or anything.

Later, after class ended, she decided to approach him to find his motives. When she walked up to him, for a moment they just stood there awkwardly.

…

"... Why?" Ikusaba asks, finally breaking the silence.

Naegi scratches his head, confused. "Why what?"

"Why did you argue with my sister?"

Naegi's face lights up as he realizes what she was talking about. "Oh, t just felt wrong, seeing you get insulted like that."

"Insulted?"

"Well, she called you plain and ugly! Siblings shouldn't bad-mouth each other."

"...?" Ikusaba could only stare at him with a confused expression. Ever since she had come back from Fenrir to be with Junko, she had said those types of things to her on a daily basis. She didn't really mind - in fact, she actually cherished the attention. But Naegi was saying that this was bad? "But it wasn't as if Junko was lying."

"Huh?"

"Compared to my sister, I really am quite ugly. I know this so-"

"No, that's wrong!" Naegi shouts. He had taken a dramatic stance and was pointing at Ikusaba for some reason.

"You aren't ugly at all! Inf act, you are just as pretty as your sister! In fact, you look even better than her! So don't beat yourself down like that!"

Ikusaba's face pales considerably. "Pretty?"

…

"Ah!" Naegi takes a step back. "I mean… that is to say…"

Sighing, the luckster sighs and puts his hands in his pockets. "Anyway… I just said those things to Junko without really thinking."

"I-Is that so?" For the second time today, Ikusaba begins to stutter. She was beginning to get tired of her own reactions. Ever since the gym, she had been thinking about Naegi. He was the only one besides Junko who had made her feel different… and she had no idea why.

"Yeah."

…

An awkward silence fills the room as the conversation quickly dies. This wasn't anything new to Ikusaba - she was always terrible at holding conversation. But for some reason, the atmosphere felt extremely dense this time.

Surprisingly, it was Ikusaba who decided to break the silence. "Anyway, that was all I wanted to talk to you about. So… I'll be taking my leave now."

As Ikusaba turns around, Naegi suddenly calls out to her - "Wait!"

She turns back with a questioning look. Naegi seemed to want to say something, but was clearly hesitant.

"Do…"

"?"

"Do you want to hang out somewhere together?" He finally asks.

He… asked her to hang out somewhere? Classes had ended, so they were free to go out… but she usually spent all of her free time with Junko.

While she was pondering this, Naegi continues.

"We're friends, right?" And friends usually have fun together… plus, I want to get to know you better."

Friends?

She had never even thought about having a friend in her entire life. Of course, Junko was the closest thing she had to a friend. But it was now the first day of school and someone was already calling themselves her friend.

What's with this kid? Well, I guess that this could provide some information…

Admittedly, Ikusaba was curious about what friends do together.

"Okay… I'll go with you."