((Tio's POV))

I sighed heavily as Akane began sparring with Nekomaru. When will she learn? I thought. I looked at Midori who was looking deeply at one of her debate topics books. She was studying it intensely, as if her life depended on it. After trying to block out Nekomaru and Akane's grunts for so long, she grew frustrated, slammed her book shut, and snapped at them. "WILL YOU TWO JUST STOP IT?! UNLIKE YOU, SOMEBODY HAS TO STUDY FOR AN IMPORTANT DEBATE COMING UP!!!!" She yelled angrily. Nekomaru and Akane continued sparring and Midori turned on her heel and left. I looked at her, saddened, as she walked away. I felt bad for her. Her parents were pushing her too far! Poor girl. She's trying way too hard. I thought. She needs to learn to be a kid. This is the only time she's got to do it. 

Suddenly, Ms. Yukizome burst through the door, a concerned look on her face. "What the heck is going-?!" She barely had time to dodge as Akane was thrown into the wall beside her. "...On?" Ms. Yukizome said, her eyes wide. Nekomaru's eyes flashed, as if they were full of lightning. "Get up, weakling!" he yelled angrily. Akane stood and wiped the blood from her lip. "Oh, I ain't done yet!" she retorted as she charged at Nekomaru again. Ms. Yukizome looked at us, her eyes narrowed. "Anyone care to tell me what happened to the WALL?!" she said. "Amazing as this is, I guess we gotta stop 'em," Fuyuhiko said.

Sonia looked up at Ms. Yukizome. "Our substitute fainted dead away. All the excitement was too much for her," she said. Ms. Yukizome ran up to Nekomaru and Akane. "That's enough! Nidai, you can't destroy the classroom, just because you feel like roughhousing!" Nekomaru scowled. I cringed. "Roughhousing" was a bad word in Nekomaru's eyes. To him, it was all training. "What did you call it!? I'll have you know, we're training in real-life combat conditions!" Nekomaru yelled angrily. Ms. Yukizome smiled. "Oh. In that case, knock yourself out," she said, walking away. 

Fuyuhiko scowled. "So much for that," he said. Gundham looked down, his mouth buried deep into his wine-colored scarf. "And so the world fell...Room by room," he said. Akane punched the floor. "Damn it all! How am I supposed to DROP that gorilla?!" she said angrily. I watched as Teruteru came up to her with a case. From it, he took a vial of glowing green medicine. Akane smirked and chugged the entire bottle down. She gasped soon after and her muscles grew to a larger size than before. Ms. Yukizome looked at Akane, her eyes wide. "Umm...Owari?" she said, concerned. With that, Akane's skin turned a dark red, as if she were sunburnt, and she let out a loud war cry.

Nekomaru's eyes widened. "What the hell is this shit?!" he said. Kazuichi pulled his usual freak-out face and yelled, "Her power level is off the charts! She's hit her final form!" Teruteru smiled, satisfied with the results. "So my dear...How do you fancy my soup?" he asked. Akane smirked. "Unimaginable power is coursing through every inch of me. This is awesome! Suck it, Nidai!" She yelled, charging at him. They exchanged blow after blow after blow. After a while, Peko drew her bamboo sword bag from her back. "I'll put an end to it," she said. Fuyuhiko frowned. "I said we weren't doing that, so cut it out!" he yelled angrily. 

I looked from them to Chiaki who was, as usual, zoned out playing games. I walked beside her, careful to dodge Akane and Nekomaru's fighting, and watched her play. She was doing quite well and had even reached a boss fight, when she was struck by a bit of debris and got a Game Over. She frowned and walked outside. I frowned and followed her outside. "Chiaki, wait up!" I said. She opened the door and we both stepped outside. "Did you run away too?" Ryota asked as he looked up at us. Chiaki looked down and frowned. "The whole group is so aggro. No multiplayer vibe at all," she said sadly. "Well...Except for Tio." I blushed deeply, causing her to smile a bit.

Ryota sighed. "Not to be a downer, but team spirit is kinda wasted on us," he said. "We're a bunch of prodigies cherry-picked from across Japan. With talents like ours, we're all on easy street. Seriously, we're set for life as soon as we graduate. I'm just running down the clock until we reach that finish line. Not a whole lot of point in making friends, right?" Chiaki looked down. "Yeah, maybe you're right," she said. "Doesn't matter, because I can't make friends with gaming anyway..." I gasped. "That's not true, Chiaki!" I said. Ms. Yukizome appeared in front of us and grabbed Chiaki's shoulder's gently. "He's right! You bite your tongue! I don't ever want to hear you say you can't make friends!" She said. "Got it?" 

Chiaki blinked at her. "But I can't," she said. "Yes, you can. I made friends with you. You're part of the reason I enjoy games anyway," I said, smiling. Chiaki blushed a bit. "You think no one will like you cause you're a gamer?" Ms. Yukizome said. "What, so those titles you love so much are worthless? Is that what you're saying?" Chiaki's eyes widened and she shook her head vigorously. "No, they're great! I...!" Then she sighed. Ms. Yukizome smiled. "If you have that much fun playing them all by yourself, imagine the fun people will have playing them with you," she said. "Ms. Yukizome's right! And since everyone in the classroom is our friend..." I said. Chiaki's eyes widened. "We can play them...together," she said. I nodded. She was finally getting it. 

-Time Skip, Many hours later-

I smiled as Midori walked in the room. "Midori! You came!" She smiled. "I guess...I was a little rough on my friends earlier. All this debate stuff has got me on edge," She replied. I smiled and helped her inside. It was then that I saw her debate books. "What are those for?" I asked. "I told you, I have to study," she replied. She sat at her desk and pulled out a small flashlight, returning to her books. I sighed. Are your parents that strict, Midori? Are you not allowed to have any fun because of your talent? I thought. I turned away from her and back to the game Chiaki and I were playing. "So...How do I do this?" I asked. 

She smiled. "It's simple. You just shoot all of the other spaceships before they can damage yours," she explained. "And watch out for their bullets. They do a lot of damage." I nodded and did as she said. By the time everyone else arrived, I was as far on it as Chiaki was. Chiaki saw this and smiled brightly. "See? You're a natural at this, Tio!" she said. I smiled, saved the game, and turned it off as I helped Kazuichi make some adjustments to our classroom. We got a gaming system hooked up to the T.V. that Kazuichi had fixed and turned off the lights. We started with a few players and a few light games. But not too long after that, others stood up, begging to play too. And after a few hours, it turned into a full-on gaming party! Everyone was getting involved in it, even sour-faced Hiyoko and perverted Teruteru! And everyone was having fun! Well...Almost everyone. 

I looked back at Midori. She still had her page bookmarked, but she was watching the girls beating the guys at a super cool fighting game. I smiled and walked up to her. "Midori, why don't you go up there and ask Chiaki if you can play too? I'm sure she'd let you," I said. Midori shook her head and turned back to her books like nothing happened. "I can't. As much as I want to, I can't," she said. "This debate coming up...Means everything to me. I owe it to them...To my parents." I knew what she meant. Ever since Midori's little sister died, her parents have been pushing her to do this, saying it was the least she could do since she got her sister killed. What's the matter with them? I thought. First they say it's her fault...And now they've got her thinking she owes it to them!? That tears it!

I grabbed Midori's books, shut them, and put them high onto the shelf (Lucky for me, I was taller than her.). "What are you doing, Tio?! Give those back!" Midori yelled. I shook my head and hugged her gently. "Listen to me, Midori...You don't owe them anything!" I said. "What happened to your little sister wasn't your fault. Don't let what your parents want your future to be get in the way of you having fun with your friends!" Her eyes widened, then she nodded. "You're right," she said. "No more studying. Not today. It's time I had some fun for a change."  I smiled and lead her to where everyone was gathered. Nagito smiled at her. "Good to see you with us, Midori," he said. She blushed deeply and focused on the game.

So far, it looked like Chiaki and Akane were winning. Gundham and Nekomaru were too busy fighting with each other instead of helping each other out. I smiled. Akemi would love this, I thought. Suddenly, Ms. Yukizome came in the room. "What's going on?" she asked. Ibuki smiled. "Fighting game tournament! I've got winner!" she said, raising her hand high. Sonia smiled. "Nanami brought the controllers and the console. She's a gem!" she said. Teruteru nodded and smiled in agreement. "She's even provided us with the games with which we're whippin' up this joie de vivre (joy of life)!" Ms. Yukizome gasped. "Nanami did all that?" she said. 

We all watched as Nekomaru and Gundham were in a showdown. Nekomaru kept attacking while Gundham kept blocking. "You fool! If you insist on pressing this attack, we shall both fall to our doom!" Gundham yelled. Nekomaru growled. "You're not the boss of me!!!!!!!" he yelled. Sure enough, Gundham and Nekomaru both fell off the edge, losing the game. Akane smiled and cheered. Chiaki turned to Ms. Yukizome and I. "You were right," she said. "Both of you...were right. About gaming. It's a great way to make friends!" 

Akane smiled and wrapped her arm around Chiaki's shoulder. "Whaddya say, best of three? You know you wanna play again, am I right?" she said, smiling brightly.  Chiaki smiled and nodded. "And since the guys lost...How about Tio and I play next?" Midori suggested. "Of course. That sounds like fun," Chiaki said, smiling more. 

-Board Game-

We watched as Kazuichi, Fuyuhiko, Nagito, and Teruteru played a video game that looked an awful lot like a board game. Kazuichi smiled. "Yeah! This is way better than playing the AI!" he said. "Read 'em and weep! Ain't no stopping the Soda Train!" He turned to Nagito and smirked. "For a guy who's all luck, that poverty god is really raining on your parade!" Nagito simply smiled as he always did. "My luck was bound to run out sometime," he said. Midori came up behind him and threw her arms around his neck. "C'mon, Nagito! You can do it!" He smiled and rolled. 

To everyone's surprise, and to Soda's dismay, Nagito rolled exactly what he needed to reach the goal. A sixty. "How the hell did you roll a SIXTY?!" Kazuichi said, his eyes wide. Nagito smiled sadly and laughed. "I'm sorry. I guess my luck is still good for a while," he said. "Damn it all. He dropped the poverty god on Soda and beat him to the finish," Fuyuhiko said angrily. "No! My assets!" Kazuichi said as all of his money was taken away.

-Racing Game-

In the next game, Ms. Yukizome, Chiaki, Ibuki, and Hiyoko were racing with each other. Ibuki smirked. "Racing games are my jam! Try not to cry when I lap your asses!" she said. Chiaki immediately passed her. "On your left," she said as she zoomed by. "That was a fluke!" Ibuki said angrily. "On your right!" Ms. Yukizome said cheerfully. "Lotta flukes going on!" Ibuki said. "That's it, I'm shelling your asses!"Hiyoko laughed evilly as she ran over Ibuki with an invincibility item, knocking her into the water. "I hate you all so much!!!!!"Ibuki yelled angrily. Chiaki and Ms. Yukizome smiled as they finished. "Back on track!" Ibuki said as she continued the race. A few seconds after she was put back on, Hiyoko ran over her again.

-Bomber Guy-

Sonia, Mikan, Chiaki, and Mahiru smiled as they started a battle game called "Bomber Guy". "Kinda weird how it's called 'Bomber Guy' and yet all the girls are playing," she said. "It's almost like a girls' night out, isn't it?" Sonia said, smiling. "It's kinda explodey for a night out, Sonia," Mahiru said. Mikan kept placing bombs everywhere and Sonia and Chiaki gasped. "Okay Tsumiki, you can stop with the bombs anytime now!" Sonia said. Too late. Mikan began blowing everyone else up. Including herself. 

A few minutes after that, Teruteru stepped in with a giant pot of food. "Heya class! Who's down for some lunch?" he asked. He opened the pot to reveal a delicious looking stew. "Feast your eyes on my specialty, Versailles Style meat and potato stew!" Teruteru said. "What kinda style is it?" Mahiru asked, confused. "Versailles Style! Ah!" Teruteru said as he was tackled by Hiyoko. She smiled. "Don't be fooled. It's just Mikujaga! I helped him make it, so I know what's up!" She said. Ms. Yukizome's eyes widened as she looked over the food. "Oh my...This certainly looks Super High School Level," she said. 

Ibuki smiled and raised her hand. "Thank Nanami!" she said. "She's the one who told Teruteru that we needed to get our grub on!" "Really? Nanami?" Ms. Yukizome said, surprised. Peko nodded, smiling. "She did. We were so focused on repairing the classroom, we didn't have time to eat a proper meal," she said. Chiaki blushed slightly. "I didn't want you guys to be hungry while we were playing video games, that's all," she said. Sonia smiled and hugged her tightly. "You're the best, you know that?!" 

Suddenly, a loud rumbling noise was heard. Gundham gasped and stood up. "No! It can't be! Has the Demon King clawed his way up from the depths of the Nine Hells to wreak his chaos upon this fallen world!?" he said. Nekomaru picked Akane up by the collar of her shirt and shook his head. "Her stomach is rumbling, that's all," he said. Kazuichi scowled. "Hungry much?" he said. Teruteru smiled. "I made this giant pot of it, so have as much as your heart desires!" he said. Akane smirked and dove for the pot. 

After everyone got a plate, Ms. Yukizome smiled. "Everyone got a plate?" When everyone nodded she put her hands together. "Now, let's put our hands together!" she said. Everyone did so. "Thank you for the food!" we said in unison. After our short prayer, Akane gulped her piece of meat down and put her plate in front of Teruteru. "I want seconds!" she said. Teruteru gasped. "Already?!" I smiled and laughed to myself. She'll never change, I thought. 

Chiaki took a bite of her food and her eyes widened for a second, then she shrugged. "I've had better," she said. I laughed my head off as Teruteru freaked out about her reaction. Akane smiled and held her plate out again. "Thirds! Do it, man!" she said. Teruteru smiled sheepishly. "Maybe you should try this thing called chewing," he said. Sonia smiled. "It's great!" she said. "I can't keep this smile off of my face!" Soda grinned like mad and stood between her and Gundham. "Neither can I! We've got so much in common!" he said.

Midori looked at her food a while. It was as if she suspected something was up. "Teruteru...You didn't put anything in it that would drug us, did you?" she asked. Teruteru looked at her, his eyes widened at her statement. "N-No, of course not, mademoiselle! I'd never do such a horrific thing like that!" he assured her. She smiled. "Alright then." She took a bite and gasped. "Wow!!! This is so much better than anything I could ever cook! You're amazing! Simply amazing, Teruteru!" She said. Teruteru blushed slightly.

I looked over at Nagito to see him crying. Ryota frowned. "What are the tears for?" he asked. Nagito smiled. "Because after all these years of searching, I've finally found it! A fragment of hope!" he said. Teruteru smiled. "I have cooled soup if you prefer! Huh?" he said, offering it to us. Ibuki frowned. "Looks pretty sketchy," she said. "You can count me out." Nekomaru frowned. "Again with the doping? Give it a rest!" "Oh come on. They're not all full of steroids!" Teruteru assured us. "How dull would that be?" Teruteru examined the case again and gasped. "Hold the phone...There should be one more soup in here!" he said. Hiyoko smirked. "Yeah, about that...This the one you mean?" she said, holding up an empty bottle. Teruteru's eyes widened in horror. "Oh no! That bottle was the-!" He was interrupted as Akane immediately fell to the floor.

"I...I feel...So strange..." she said. Nekomaru immediately came to her aid. "What's wrong?" he asked, picking her up gently. When Akane looked up, her face had a slight blush on it, and she was sweating. "No. You can't...touch me the way you do," she said. "Huh? Oh! I'm sorry!" Nekomaru said, blushing as well. Then, Nekomaru started acting strange as well. "Oh...My heart...Why does it beat so fast when I look at you?" he said, staring at Akane. Akane blushed more. "Your grip is so strong...Yet tender," she said. "Swoon," Nekomaru said. "Swoon..." Akane said.  

One by one, everyone started doubling over. "You guys...I feel like I'm on fire! But not barbecue fire...More like sexy fire!" Ibuki said. Mahiru blushed, unbuttoning her top slightly and posing for her camera. "Sexy selfies? No, I can't! Maybe I'll snap a few, just to be artsy," she said. I gasped. "Guys, get a hold of yourselves!" I said. Then, it happened. I started feeling hot all of a sudden and I blushed, just like Akane had done minutes before. "What...the hell was in that soup?" I asked. 

Ms. Yukizome blushed just the same, as did Chiaki. "I don't feel right either! What did you do to us all?" She asked. Hiyoko smirked. "Nothing much. I just poured this soup into Hanamura's fancy-pants stew!" she said. Chiaki panted heavily, her chest bouncing slightly as she did so.  It's funny, really. I never noticed just how...attractive she was. Her hair, her eyes, everything about her. I blushed and walked over to her. "Chi..." I said. She blushed deeper and looked up at me as I loosened my tie. "T-Tio," she said. I blocked everyone else out and before I could stop myself, I kissed her. She blushed and kissed back. I pulled away and found myself spilling the words I never thought I'd be able to say. "Chiaki, I...I love you...I love you so much," I said. Chiaki blushed deeply and smiled. "I...I love you too, Tio," she said. I kissed her again. Even if it's like this, I thought, blushing more. I'm glad...I told her.

((Midori's POV))

I blushed deeply and panted heavily. I needed to fight my desires, no matter how strong they were. But the more I fought the urges, the stronger they became. D-Dammit! I thought angrily. A-at this rate, I'll-! I blushed deeply as I felt something poke my back. I turned and saw Nagito behind me. He was blushing just as deeply as I was and he was...holding me close to him. "N-Nagito..." I said, blushing more. It was then that I noticed his shirt was slightly unbuttoned and his tie was loosened. "Midori..." he said. "Hope feels awesome. And...You're just completely brimming with it. It's as if no amount of despair can touch you." I blushed deeply as I felt him grinding against my back. "N-Nagito, I...Mmph!" 

I gasped in surprise as I felt Nagito's lips on mine. He was...kissing me. He was finally kissing me. And I was enjoying every second of it.  Why fight this? I thought, blushing more. I'm with the man I love more than anything...And...we're finally showing our love for each other. This is...perfect. I kissed him back and I could feel his smile as he deepened it, rubbing his tongue gently against mine. He's...a really good kisser, I thought. Why haven't I...kissed him like this before? 

I blushed deeply as he pulled away, leaving me craving more of his kisses. Nagito licked his lips and smiled, pulling me closer to him. "Hope...Feels so awesome," he said. Then, his hand reached down and started rubbing my chest gently. He leaned in closer to me, whispering softly in my ear. "I could get used to this," he purred seductively. I blushed deeper and looked over at Hiyoko as she laughed. "You guys are so hilarious!" she said. "I-it's not funny...Hiyoko!" I said, blushing as Nagito began to lightly kiss and suck on my neck, leaving pink marks. Hiyoko continued to laugh. "You should be grateful to me, Midori! Thanks to my actions, you got the man you love!" she said. "Enjoy it while it lasts! Because you'll never experience it after this!"

I blushed more, yet tears poured down my face. She was right. In a few hours, the aphrodisiac would wear off, and Nagito and I would never gain this experience again. But...Even so...She didn't have to tell me that. Just leave us alone, Saionji, I thought. Let Nagito and I enjoy...what little time we have left of this feeling...

And that's just what I did. I let myself get lost in the bliss I felt with Nagito. And then, shortly afterwards, I passed out.

-Nurse's Office-

((Tio's POV))

I smiled as Chiaki woke up. "Hey Chi," I said, touching her face gently. "Tio...What happened?" she said. I explained everything to her, including how she knocked Teruteru out with a single punch. Sonia smiled. "You were amazing today, Nanami! Like something out of a Japanese manga! The way you told him not to touch your classmate!" Mahiru smiled sheepishly. "He's in our class too, though. So it kinda muddied the moral," she said. Mikan smiled. "Yeah, but that punch was one of a kind!" she said. "I agree. And I like the name. Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist. It's appropriate." Chiaki looked up at the ceiling. "In moments of darkest peril, I've always been able to count on the Heaven Slaying Dragon Fist," she said. Ms. Yukizome turned to us after tending to Nagito and Midori. "Oh. So this has come up before?" she asked, her eyes wide. 

Chiaki nodded. "Twenty years ago, there was this biker gang boss known as Willie. He had a machine gun, and he wasn't afraid to put it to use." She continued explaining and said that the punch she used to knock out Teruteru was the same punch she used to defeat Willie. I had a feeling that she was talking about a video game. "Chiaki...would this happen to be from a game?" I asked. She nodded. "Yep. From Twin Serpent Fight 2." Mahiru, Hiyoko, Sonia, and Mikan's eyes all widened. "The Beat 'Em Up?! You know it?!" they said in unison. I smiled. "I know that game. I was just making sure I heard your reference right," I said. Chiaki smiled and continued explaining the game to the girls. I smiled. This is what I love about Chiaki, I thought. Seeing her smile. 

Soon after, the girls left and returned to their dorms. Ms. Yukizome saw that Chiaki and I were finally alone together and smiled. "Well...I'll leave you two alone," she said. She turned to me and winked before she left. I blushed, knowing exactly what she meant. She wanted me to tell Chiaki how I felt. Without being drugged by an aphrodisiac. Chiaki turned to me and blushed deeply. "Tio... Did you really mean what you said before?" she asked. I blushed slightly. "About knowing the character you were talking about? Or...the other thing?" I asked. "What you said about loving me...Did you really mean it?" Chiaki asked. 

I blushed deeply. It was now or never. "Y-yes," I said. "It's true. And always has been." Chiaki blushed deeper than before. "I thought so," she said, smiling. "That's why I said I felt the same." My eyes widened. "Y-You do?" I said. She smiled and nodded. I blushed and hugged her tightly. She hugged back. I looked into her eyes, moving a stray hair from her face. She blushed and laid her head on my shoulder, closing her eyes.  I held her close to me and kissed her forehead gently. "I love you, Chiaki," I said. Chiaki smiled and fell asleep in my arms. I held her close to me, smiling as well.

((Midori's POV))

I slowly opened my eyes and woke up. At my side, I noticed Nagito doing the same. I looked away, blushing deeply. "Midori?" Nagito said, blushing as well. I blushed even more. "I...I'd better get going," I said as I began to walk to the door. Nagito stopped me, grabbing my wrist gently. "No. Stay for a bit longer," he said.  I sat beside him. "O-Okay..." I said. Nagito smiled, held me close, and kissed me gently. 

I blushed deeply. Why was Nagito doing this? Was it the effects of the aphrodisiac? Or was he really trying to kiss me? Did he really love me? Or not? With these questions plaguing my mind, along with what Hiyoko said before, I pulled away. Unwilling to let Nagito see me fall apart like this, I cried and looked down. "What's wrong?" Nagito asked, concerned. "I hate this...Why did Hiyoko have to do that? Give me hope just for it to come crashing down...That's a terrible thing to do!!!!" I said, sobbing into my hands. 

Nagito hugged me close to him. "I know...And you're right. It is a terrible thing," he said. I sobbed more. "And what hurts me the most...Is that we only acted like that...because of Hiyoko's actions...Not because...you love me," I said. Nagito's eyes filled with concern. "Midori..." he said softly. "What was I thinking? How could you ever love someone like me?" I said. I cried and began listing my flaws. "I'm not strong like Peko...Or beautiful like Sonia...Or athletic like Akane...All I do...is argue for a living. You could never love...someone like me." Nagito shook his head and lifted my face up to his. "No, you're wrong! I love you...for you," he said. 

After saying that, he leaned in and kissed me again. This time, instead of pulling away, I kissed him back. As I did so, I closed my eyes, letting any tears I had left out. Nagito, I thought. He really does love me... Nagito pulled away, hugged me close, and wiped away my tears. "Shhh...I'm here, Midori."  I laid my head on his chest and blushed deeply. "Nagito, I..." I said. He put his finger to my lips. "Shh. It's alright. I love you too," Nagito said. I blushed deeply. "You really mean that?" I said. He nodded. "Honest and truly," he said. I smiled and fell asleep in his arms.

-The next day-

((Tio's POV))

Everyone in class groaned as Miss Yukizome walked in the room. "Come on, you guys! Perk up!" she said, smiling. "How can you expect us to do that after what happened yesterday?" Kazuichi asked. "And anyway, why aren't you acting like this?" Ms. Yukizome smiled brightly. "Let's just say that this wasn't Ms. Yukizome's first rodeo!" Sonia nodded. "I guess that's why I feel somewhat refreshed as well," she said. I went beet red. Sonia...WAY too much info! I thought. "Wait, so...You've been to the rodeo?" Kazuichi asked. I facepalmed and shook my head. Sometimes Kazuichi could be such an idiot! 

"Listen up everybody! Before we begin, I have an announcement to make!" Ms. Yukizome said, smiling. "I should probably ask for volunteers and all that junk, but I think my way is going to be a lot more fun!" 

Nekomaru looked up at our teacher groggily. "What are you going on about?" he asked. "Our class needs an official representative. And who better to rep this homeroom than Chiaki Nanami!" Ms. Yukizome replied.

 Chiaki looked up from her game. "Huh? I don't wanna," she said. "You'll never know if you don't try!" Ms. Yukizome encouraged. 

Sonia smiled and nodded. "You'd be perfect for it, Nanami!" she said. Kazuichi smiled. "I second that because she said it!" Akane smiled in her usual way. "I got nothin' against it!" 

Nekomaru nodded in agreement. "Yeah! She'll rock that shit!" he said. One by one, everyone else agreed. And I couldn't blame them. The way Chiaki brought us all together yesterday, the way she protected Hiyoko from Teruteru...Everything she did was worthy of the title "Class Rep".

"Looks like you're the final vote, Tio!" Ibuki said energetically. I smiled and nodded. "I know Chiaki will be wonderful at it. She has my vote." Chiaki blushed lightly and smiled. Ms. Yukizome walked up to her and smiled. "So, what's the verdict, Nanami? Looks like your classmates are all on board. What do you say, Player 1?" She sighed and nodded. "Yeah, why not? I guess I'll do it," she said. "Great!" Ms. Yukizome said. "No take-backsies!" 

Ms. Yukizome turned as she heard clapping, and saw Nagito clapping his hands and smiling. "I'm sorry," he said. "But this moment is so beautiful! Ultimate talents, every one of you! With Nanami as our representative, ours is a bond that can never be shattered!" Midori smiled. "Nagito's right. As long as Chiaki keeps us together, there's nothing we can't do." 

Nagito smiled and took Midori's hands in his. "So you understand, Midori! So long as Nanami represents us, this hope room and its light...Will endure triumphant for the rest of forever!" he said. Midori blushed deeply and nodded. He then opened his eyes, saw what he was doing, and let go of her hands, laughing slightly. "Oh, my bad. I kinda turned it up to eleven there," he said. Everyone's groans at Nagito's statements soon turned into laughter.

I couldn't help but laugh as well. I looked beside me and saw Chiaki smiling brightly as she played her game. I blushed. Her smile is beautiful. No...Every inch of her is beautiful. I thought. I was pulled from my thoughts as the final bell rang. I followed Chiaki and helped her reach her destination. The Reserve Course building. Apparently, she had a friend there. That's my Chiaki, I thought. Always making friends.

We waited until a boy with brown hair walked out of the building. He walked up to the gate where we were standing and stopped when he saw Chiaki. "Hey," he said. Chiaki smiled. "Hey, Hinata. A brand new fighting game just hit the arcades. Tio and I were thinking of going. Wanna come with us to check it out?" she asked. Hinata laughed nervously. "I would, but I really suck at games like that!" he said. "That's okay," Chiaki said, taking his hand and pulling him towards us. He blushed. "Hey! What's the big idea?" he said. Chiaki smiled brightly at him. "It doesn't matter if you're good," she said. "When you play with friends."

Hinata looked at her for a while then smiled. "Alright, I'll give it a shot," he said. Then, he looked at me. "Oh! Where are my manners?" I said, smiling. "I'm Tio Minako." "Hajime Hinata," he said, smiling also. "Nice to meet you." I nodded. "Likewise." "Your last name sounds familiar," 

Hajime said, looking like he was struggling to remember. "Minako...Minako..." I shrugged. "Maybe because of my sister, Akemi," I said. "She's a famous singer." "Oh that's right! I totally forgot! Akemi Minako. She's a singer with a voice like an angel. Or so I've heard," Hajime said. I laughed a little. "If my sister were here right now, she'd hit you for saying that," I said. "She hates hearing that from everyone!"

"Wasn't she accepted to Hope's Peak Academy as well?" Hajime asked. I nodded. "Yep. As the Ultimate Singer. Our family was so proud of her when she was accepted," I replied. "And boy did she deserve it. She was working so hard with her CDs and everything else." Hajime nodded, then lowered his head. "It must be great being an Ultimate. Having a skill to be proud of. I wish I could be like that. I'd give anything to be like that. To walk through the gates of Hope's Peak Academy...Like I belong." 

I smiled. "Maybe you will someday. Maybe your talent has yet to show itself," I said. "Don't worry about that," Chiaki said. "Just focus on playing the games with your friends, okay?" Hajime smiled and nodded. I smiled as well. This must be what Nagito was talking about earlier, I thought. Chiaki...really does give people hope. I would know that for sure...

Because she did the same with me.

To be continued..!

AN:A huge thank-you to my amazing friend, TheSaiyanJedi5 for helping me with ideas and dialogue for this chapter!