
Posted originally on the Archive_of_Our_Own at https://archiveofourown.org/
works/13074687.
  Rating:
      Explicit
  Archive Warning:
      Graphic_Depictions_Of_Violence, Major_Character_Death, Rape/Non-Con,
      Underage
  Category:
      M/M, F/M, Gen
  Fandom:
      Dangan_Ronpa_-_All_Media_Types, New_Dangan_Ronpa_V3:_Everyone's_New
      Semester_of_Killing
  Relationship:
      Ouma_Kokichi/Saihara_Shuichi, Harukawa_Maki/Momota_Kaito, brief_Akamatsu
      Kaede/Saihara_Shuichi, one_sided_Chabashira_Tenko/Yumeno_Himiko,
      rarepairs_that_spoil_who_lives_and_dies
  Character:
      Saihara_Shuichi, Ouma_Kokichi, Akamatsu_Kaede, Tojo_Kirumi, Momota_Kaito,
      Amami_Rantaro
  Additional Tags:
      Alternate_Universe_-_Human_Experimentation, don't_look_at_me_like_that,
      Angst, Horror, Slow_Burn, Gore, Abuse, Unethical_Experimentation,
      Implied/Referenced_Suicide, Implied/Referenced_Self-Harm
  Stats:
      Published: 2017-12-24 Updated: 2018-01-04 Chapters: 5/30 Words: 15288
****** and the snakes start to sing ******
by tia37
Summary
     Talent is well known throughout the world. Those who develop talent
     are blessed with special powers, such as heightened physical prowess
     or the ability to influence luck around them, and have the ability to
     combat despair. Hope's Peak Academy is a school for those who have
     talent.
     The Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles is for those who don't.
Notes
     If you're under the legal age of consent in your resident country or
     the kind of person who's easily triggered by stuff (death, gore,
     violence, rape/noncon, suicide, abuse, self harm, mental illness,
     blahblahblahthislistisnonexhaustive), close this fic. Do not come
     back. 
     [20180103: changed rating from 'mature' to 'explicit', added rape/
     noncon and underage into tags]
     If Hope's Peak can give a high school kid a lobotomy, who says they
     can't kidnap a bunch of high school kids and give them all
     lobotomies?
See the end of the work for more notes
***** Chapter 1 *****
Chapter Notes
     Me, with 10 drafts and an incomplete work, finals looming over my
     shoulder: I should start a new project
     Vaguely based on NDRV3's Despair Dungeon mode.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Saihara woke up with a pounding headache.
He sat up and clutched his head, squeezing his eyes shut and breathing to tide
himself over the pain. His ragged breaths echoed throughout the room for a good
few minutes before the pain receded, allowing him to examine his surroundings
closely.
The first thing he realized was that he did not recognize where he was. The
second thing was that he did not have his hat.
He was sitting in a pristine, white room with no windows or decorations
whatsoever. There was a jug of water on a table by his bed and a stool for
someone to sit on, but that was all that was in the room. He shifted and looked
down at his clothing and saw that he was dressed not in his usual clothes but a
hospital gown.
A hospital? Did he get into an accident or some sort? He looked at the IV
inserted into the vein in his wrist. That was the only possibility for him to
be in a hospital right now. But no matter how much he tried to remember, it
eluded him. As soon as he grasped that memory in his hands, it slipped through
his fingers and disappeared. And if he tried too hard to hold on to it, his
head pounded and forced him to release his hold on it.
In between Saihara trying to recall what happened, a man with disheveled white
hair and a long green coat walked in. Despite his face lacking any wrinkles,
his hair was all white. He gave Saihara a cursive, condescending glance before
closing the door shut with a click and picking up the clipboard at the foot of
Saihara's bed. He hummed, dissatisfied. "Looks like this one survived the
procedure. Saihara Shuichi, male, age 16. Affinity for magic, hmm?"
"P-procedure?" Saihara stammered out.
The man shushed him. "Talentless trash like you doesn't get to ask questions.
You just sit back, relax, and let the talented imbue you with true hope!"
"T-talent? Hope? What are you talking about?" As soon as Saihara said that, he
felt a blinding pain around his neck, tightening, choking-
"If you disobey any of us Handlers, you'll get a shock via your collar." The
man explained absently, still flipping through Saihara's clipboard. "Though
each progressing shock gets worse, it resets one level after a week of good
behavior. Once you get to three strikes, a lethal poison is injected into your
veins that kills you slowly and painfully."
The physical pain of being electrocuted combined with the thought of death
pushed Saihara over the edge. He brought his knees to his chest and shivered
violently, fat tears rolling down his face. Embarrassed to be watched crying by
a complete stranger (who was also completely uncaring towards his plight),
Saihara buried his face into his knees and tried to drown out everything around
him.
The man hooked the clipboard back at foot of Saihara's bed and sat on the stool
beside his bed. He reached out to pet Saihara's hair soothingly. "Aww, don't
cry. The Ultimate Initiative has chosen you, talentless trash from nowhere in
particular, to receive talent! You should be proud to be a stepping stone for
the masses' hope!"
Because Saihara was afraid to be shocked again, he forced himself to calm down.
He took a deep, gulping breath and wiped his tears away frantically with his
sleeve, covering his eyes as he did so. The action of shielding his face
brought him some form of comfort and the mysterious man did not specifically
tell him not to do it, so he assumed it was allowed. 
Everyone had heard of the Ultimate Initiative. The Ultimate Initiative scouted
people with talent known as Ultimates. These talents manifested in many
different ways, from using their voice to charm people to the ability to
influence luck around them. Heightened physical prowess was the most common
talent, while magical powers were the rarest but most useful in the eyes of the
government. 
The Ultimate Initiative scouted people with talent for many reasons. Some
joined the military or police, some used their talent for research while some
worked in civil service. Most, however, worked solely to combat the
supernatural forces known only as Despair. Regardless of what they chose to do,
those with talents were highly regarded by society in general and received
numerous benefits from the government.
However, Saihara was just a normal, talentless boy. He wished he had talent
over the years, but he had never developed one. The Ultimate Initiative should
want nothing to do with him, yet here he was. The man claimed the Ultimate
Initiative 'chose him' to 'receive talent', but what did that mean? Talent was
not something that could be received or given freely. You had to be born with a
certain aptitude, and even then you needed to work hard to hone your talent.
There was no way he could receive talent in any way.
Before he could continue that thought, another person opened the door. Saihara
raised his head to take a look at the newcomer and was surprised to see that
the brown-haired man possessed heterochromia. One red and green eye, just like
the rumored Kamukura Izuru who possessed every single talent known to man.
Other than the heterochromia, the other man looked completely normal in a
simple button up T-shirt and black pants.
"Komaeda, stop terrorizing the newcomers," the other man intoned.
The white-haired man - Komaeda? - practically threw himself at the brown-haired
man with a starry-eyed expression, but to Saihara's shock the brown-haired man
just flung Komaeda out of the room with a flick of his wrist. Luckily, there
were some spare mattresses being moved right outside so Komaeda simply landed
face-first into them, sustaining minimal injuries.
The other man sighed and rubbed the bridge of his nose. He looked at a shell-
shocked Saihara then at his palm, concentrating to make it glow a soft green.
He placed the glowing palm on Saihara's forehead, pushing him back onto the bed
gently but firmly.
"Rest. Tomorrow, your training will begin."
Saihara wanted to protest, but the brown haired man obviously had some kind of
talent that allowed him to make other people fall asleep. He let sleep claim
him, but not before he saw the undeniable pity in the other man's eyes.
===============================================================================
When Saihara woke up, he was tied to a chair. His arms were handcuffed behind
him and his legs were tied to the legs of the chair. He tried to break free but
with his average strength, he was stuck. The room he was in reminded him of an
interrogation room, with its bleak walls and a one way mirror.
Opposite him sat a woman with long, lavender hair at a desk. She was dressed
like a crisp white button up and an office skirt, but the aura she gave off
told Saihara she was no mere office drone. She sat cross legged with her arms
crossed in front of her, obviously waiting for Saihara to notice her. "My name
is Kirigiri Kyoko. I am the Ultimate Detective and the leader of the 14th
Division of the Future Foundation." She gestured to Saihara with a gloved hand.
"You may ask a maximum of three questions before we proceed to the next phase
of testing."
He had heard of Kirigiri Kyoko. She was one of the more prominent members of
the Future Foundation, being the youngest leader of one of its divisions.
According to public government records, she started out as a detective at the
tender age of thirteen and only rose from there. Her supernatural ability,
surprisingly, was not related to deduction or analysis; it was psychokinesis,
the ability to move things from a distance.
"Is my uncle okay?" Saihara blurted out.
"He is worried, but ultimately unharmed and in good health. He filed a police
report after realizing you were missing, but you will likely not be 'found'
anytime soon Everyone with living relatives will get periodic updates on their
loved ones, so do not worry."
Saihara let out a huge sigh of relief. It put his mind at ease to know that his
uncle was alive and well. He hoped that his uncle would forget about him and
move on with his life soon. 
He had two questions left. What should he ask? Saihara thought hard. That
Komaeda guy mentioned something about the Ultimate Initiative and giving the
talentless talent, but Saihara had been electrocuted when he tried to ask about
it. Since Kirigiri was giving him the chance to ask questions, he decided to
take it. "What does the Ultimate Initiative want with me?" he asked.
"The Ultimate Initiative has selected you to be a part of their experiment. The
experiment involves cultivating talent in so-called 'talentless' individuals by
means of human experimentation. Fourteen other high school students - and a
robot - have survived the initial procedure so far. You are the last of their
numbers."
Saihara's blood ran cold. Human experimentation? That sounded like something
out of a horror novel. But the look on Kirigiri's face told him that she was
being serious, that every word that came out of her mouth was the truth. He
resisted the urge to break down and asked his final question.
"How do I get out?" Saihara whispered brokenly.
"Graduation. However, even after graduation, you will be tied to the Future
Foundation by a blood oath. You will be unable to tell any outsiders of your
years here, and should the Future Foundation require your abilities you are
oathbound to answer their call."
"So there's hope that I can get out. Right?" he asked pleadingly.
Kirigiri did not respond. She simply looked at him with an unchanging
expression. He had used up all his questions, after all. She was under no
obligation to respond to him.
He took in a deep breath after a few minutes. "I'm ready."
She closed her eyes and got up, flicking her hair as she did so. "Very well, we
shall start with the second phase of testing." She snapped her fingers and the
handcuffs fell apart, freeing Saihara from his shackles. She led him out of the
room and down a dimly lit hallway, Saihara stumbling to keep up. He considered
attacking her from behind now that he was free of his restraints but thought
better of it. She was an Ultimate, and he was just a normal boy. He would not
be able to defeat her even if he got the drop on her.
Saihara traced the black metal collar around his neck. He did not know what
would happen if he failed.
Eventually, they reached their destination. Saihara stepped into the room and
flinched as the door closed abruptly behind him. He turned around and touched
it with his palm. It was solid metal, nothing he could get through unless they
let him out. He turned to survey the room and found that it was like the
others; plain, white, bare, with a one-way mirror on the opposite side of the
room and a table in the middle. Saihara walked over to the table and saw a pile
of clothes on it. A white tracksuit with blue stripes running down the sides of
his sleeves and his pants. 
Kirigiri's voice echoed through the speakers in the room. "Get changed."
"I-in front of you?" Saihara squeaked.
"It's not just me, there are many other researchers watching. Get used to it."
Blushing furiously, Saihara turned around and hid behind the small table,
quickly stripping himself of the hospital gown and pulling on the tracksuit. He
did not want to get naked in front of a bunch of strangers, but he did not want
to get shocked either. The faster he got changed, the sooner his embarrassment
would end.
"Unlike Iruma Miu, this subject is rather shy."
Saihara could practically hear the distaste in Kirigiri's voice. "That one is
an outlier. It would be better to compare him to someone like Momota Kaito. His
reaction was comparatively normal for a teenage boy, and they're the same
gender."
Once Saihara was done changing, he turned around to face the one-way mirror,
unable to look at it directly. To think he had gotten changed in front of a
group of strangers, and that he had to face them now-
Saihara buried his face in his hands. Even his ears were burning.
"Yup, definitely one of the shyer ones." Unknown female voice.
"I'd rank him on the level of K1-B0 in terms of embarrassment. Any
disagreements?" Unknown male voice.
Apparently there were no objections because they proceeded to the next phase of
testing. The floor opened up and swallowed up the table, replacing it with
another table that had three ordinary rocks of three different sizes.
Again, Kirigiri's voice rang throughout the room. "Do not worry about
restraining your talent. This is a reinforced room. We are here to check if
your talent has manifested correctly."
"T-talent? I don't have a talent," Saihara protested.
"Try," Kirigiri urged. "You should know instinctively what to do." 
How could he try? It was not as if he could develop a talent overnight. But the
weight of the collar rested around his neck, so Saihara closed his eyes and
held his hand in front of him. Then he concentrated the feelings in his hands
and pulled.
"Success. He has the same talent as you, Kirigiri." Male voice.
Saihara opened one eye, curious at what success they were talking about, and
jolted back at the sight. The smallest rock was levitating. 
Because his focus broke, the rock collapsed to the ground, but it was
undeniable that for those few seconds the rock was floating above the air. Him,
a normal, talentless boy, had made an inanimate object levitate with his mind.
A rush of adrenaline flowed through him. He had always wished to be an
Ultimate, and now he had gotten a talent. It was everything he had dreamed
about and more.
"It seems to be much weaker than Kirigiri-san's abilities." Female voice. "What
can we do? He's not a true Ultimate. Just a normal human implanted with
Kirigiri-san's abilities."
That hurt. Saihara knew that Ultimates tended to look down on the talentless,
but to be told to his face that he was worthless... it stung more that he
wanted to admit. Regardless, he had gained some information over the course of
the testing (which, admittedly, was not as bad as he thought it would be).
If Saihara was correct, there were only three people behind the one-way mirror.
Kirigiri, an unknown male and an unknown female. There may be other people, but
they were not actively participating in the experimentation. Three people, all
of them likely Ultimates. If he did not trust himself to get away from Kirigiri
while she was alone, how could he trust himself to escape a reinforced room
with three Ultimates?
"I suggest you mentor him, Kirigiri-san. His abilities greatly mirror your own,
so you would be able to instruct him better than anyone else."
"Very well, Enoshima-san."
So the mysterious female voice was called Enoshima. Somehow that name sounded
familiar, like he should recognize it from somewhere, but like the memory of
how he got kidnapped it slipped through his fingers before he could fully grasp
it.
"Shall we proceed to the final phase?" the male researcher asked.
"Ooh, I can't wait!" Enoshima cooed. 
Saihara paled. "There's... more?" The effort of making the rock levitate for
those few seconds had already exhausted him completely. Sweat was dripping down
the sides of his face and soaking his tracksuit, and he was barely able to keep
standing.
"Tojo-san, after the last phase of testing, seal his wounds to stop the
bleeding but do not heal him completely. Gokuhara-kun, please carry him back to
his room after you are done," Kirigiri commanded. He did not hear a response
from his side of the room but he knew the two people - Tojo and Gokuhara - must
have given an affirmative because the last phase of testing started. 
Guns appeared out of nowhere - they must have been an ability because Saihara
did not see them pop up from the walls, but that was not the point - and
started shooting at him. Saihara knew what the researchers wanted him to do;
they wanted him to stop or at least dodge the bullets with his newfound talent,
but he did not know how to use his powers and even if he did, he would be too
tired to.
A bullet hit him in the thigh. He screamed and fell to one knee. "Stop! Please,
stop!" Saihara clawed at the ground, trying to find a platform that would allow
him to pull himself up, but to no avail. Another bullet pierced his stomach,
causing him to vomit blood from his mouth. He tried to speak again but all that
would come out were gurgles. He fell to the ground face first, consciousness
fading in and out.
"That's it? Laaaame," Enoshima sighed. 
"Break a bone for the healing data, please." Something hit Saihara in the arm,
causing a sickening crunch to echo throughout the room. "Want to take a pinky
finger for the blood pact, Kirigiri?"
"I want to do it with him conscious. Tojo-san, Gokuhara-kun, you may enter
now."
Saihara heard the door whistle open, but he could barely comprehend as the
world faded to black.
 
Chapter End Notes
     (Komaeda's Ultimate Bullshit)
     Unlike all my other fics, I don't have a particularly detailed plan
     for this (as you can see from the unknown number of chapters). I know
     vaguely where it's going, but this draft is not as detailed as the
     others. So. Forgive me if this comes across as self-indulgent trash,
     because in the end that's what it is.
***** Chapter 2 *****
Chapter Notes
     If you're under the legal age of consent in your resident country or
     the kind of person who's easily triggered by stuff (death, gore,
     violence, rape/noncon, suicide, abuse, self harm, mental illness,
     blahblahblahthislistisnonexhaustive), close this fic. Do not come
     back. No seriously. I planned the fic out and it turned out to be
     grosser than I initially thought it would be. This is your last
     chance to turn back.
     I was supposed to update 'vinegar and lemons', but I found a major
     plothole in the second chapter so :/ enjoy this piece of trash
     instead. Studying biomedical ethics inspires me to write this shit
     guys, you don't know how fucked up everything is.
     Also, happy new year fuckers
See the end of the chapter for more notes
As Saihara's eyes fluttered open, he set his eyes on an angel hovering above
him.
"Ah, you're awake!" The angel exclaimed. "Do you need anything? Water? Hold on,
I'll get Tojo-san." The angel left, leaving Saihara alone in the room. 
He stared at the unfamiliar ceiling, unable to find the energy to move. He
hoped that the past day was just a nightmare but he was not back in his room
with his uncle outside yelling at him to get ready for school. It was true, he
had been kidnapped and forced to be a human experiment by the Ultimate
Initiative. Maybe he had died in the last experiment and they were here to take
his soul.
The first angel came back with a second angel, who placed a gentle hand on his
forehead. "Akamatsu-san, I would like to request you leave Saihara-kun's room
for the moment. I need to change his bandages, and that means I have to take
off his pants."
If they needed to change his bandages, that meant he was still alive. And if he
was still alive, that meant they were not really angels. Saihara flushed as he
processed that thought, then he flushed harder as he realized what the second
girl said about taking off his pants.
The first girl colored. "O-oh. Yes, of course." She left, leaving him alone
with the second girl.
The second girl worked swiftly, first helping Saihara sit up in bed then
inspecting Saihara's broken arm and working her way down to his stomach wound.
He hissed in pain when she touched it, but she worked fast enough that he could
tolerate the pain. He tried to turn his head away when she pulled down his
pants and cleaned his wound, but he could still feel her cool touch on his bare
skin. 
When she was done, she pulled his pants back up and handed him a glass of
water. He took it with his good hand. "Are you feeling better, Saihara-kun?"
"W-who are you?" he croaked, still unable to face her. His throat was dry. He
took a sip, letting the cool liquid refresh his throat.
"Ah, my apologies. How rude of me. My name is Tojo Kirumi, and I am a student
in this facility."
Tojo. That name sounded familiar, but Saihara's head was still swimming
slightly and he could not concentrate enough to remember where he heard that
name from. Though one thing did stand out to him. "That means you're also- the
Ultimate Initiative-"
She nodded once. "Yes, we are in the same boat. My abilities are related to
healing, so I will be taking care of you until your wounds heal. I am
unfortunately not allowed to heal you with my magic because the researchers
want to study your baseline level of healing, but I will clean and dress your
wounds accordingly."
So this was the Tojo who had been asked to heal him back at the testing area.
Saihara assumed that those who were observing were all researchers and that
none of the students were allowed to step into the area unless they were the
ones being experimented on, but apparently he was wrong. She must be a reliable
person for even their captives to trust her with such a task. 
"T-then thank you, Tojo-san. I am in your care," he responded. 
Now that Saihara knew her name, he could look at her... somewhat. She had grey,
bobbed hair and matching eyes, and she was dressed in a simple, sleeveless
black dress that went down to her knees. The black collar around her neck stood
out the most, as did the matching bracelets around her wrists. Saihara saw that
there was a silver ring around her left pinky finger.
"Think nothing of it. I do this for every student in the facility." She stood
up, apparently done with dressing Saihara's wounds. "Would you like to meet
Akamatsu-san? If you're not feeling up to it I can tell her, but she does seem
rather eager to meet you."
Saihara shook his head. "I don't mind. I think I'd like to meet her."
Tojo's mouth twitched up a little. "Very well. I will send for her." She opened
the door and left, and almost immediately the first girl popped her head in.
She slid in and took a seat on the stool beside Saihara's bed.
"Hello, Saihara-kun," she introduced herself. "My name is Akamatsu Kaede."
Saihara blushed. She was very pretty, she was in the same room as him and they
were alone in said room. "Ah, hello, Akamatsu-san. It seems everyone already
knows who I am."
She nodded. "Tojo-san and Gonta-kun told us your name after they brought you to
the dorms."
He gestured to her own black collar. "So are you- I mean..."
Akamatsu nodded again, hand tracing her neck. "Yeah. I'm a human lab rat too. I
didn't have a talent before I came, but they did something to me and now I
can..." Akamatsu trailed off. "Anyway, you must be hungry. Do you want to go to
the dining hall? It's lunch now so everyone's there. Oh, or would you rather I
bring you some food?"
"I want to try and walk to the dining hall," Saihara said. If he spent too long
cooped up in bed, he would get restless. Besides, he did not think he could
stand staying in the same room as Akamatsu for much longer. Not that he did not
want to spend time with a beautiful girl, but he felt as if he would explode
from embarrassment if he stayed with her any longer.
"Tell me if you want to stop, alright?" Akamatsu said. He nodded as she passed
him the crutch leaning on the wall beside his bed and helped him up. He was a
little wobbly on his feet at first, but after a few steps he managed to find
his balance and managed without her help. The bullet wound in his thigh burned,
but he was able to grit his teeth through the pain and move, albeit slower than
if he was not injured.
Akamatsu lead the way, a few steps ahead of him at all times. She stopped to
give commentary to fill the silence between them - the dorms are where we all
stay, boys are on one side and girls on another, we're allowed to roam about
during our free time but curfew's at ten so make sure to be back by then - and
led him to the dining hall.
Akamatsu hopped a few steps in front of him, letting him take a better look at
her. She was dressed in a light pink, sleeveless top and a short skirt that was
a deeper pink. Her left pinky had a silver ring too, as were the black collar
and the matching bracelets on her wrists.
The black collar around her neck and wrists were not an uncommon sight now, but
what drew his attention was the deep bruise right above the shock collar. He
paused in his step. Since his uncle was a detective, he knew the basic forensic
pathology of that pattern of bruising. Maybe it was from the collar, but
because it was near her chin it was more likely from...
Akamatsu stopped and turned around. "Oh, you noticed, huh."
"N-noticed?" Saihara stammered.
She nodded, a sad smile on her face. "Yeah, I tried to hang myself a few days
ago."
Saihara looked away. He did not want to be right, but apparently he was. "Why?"
She hugged her elbows and looked away. "It hurts. Everything hurts. I keep
prying into everyone's thoughts and feeling what they feel and I just- I want
it to stop. I want to go home..."
"Akamatsu-san..." Saihara trailed off. He could not find words to comfort her.
He had never been good with words and now was no exception. The truth was that
they were stuck in this situation with no hope of escaping in the near future,
and even if they left they would still be bound to serve the Future Foundation.
There was no escape except death.
Akamatsu chuckled softly. "I'm sorry. I shouldn't be talking about my feelings
like that when you've just been beaten up in the name of science."
"It's okay!" Saihara exclaimed loudly, then blushed as he realized that he had
accidentally raised his voice. "J-Just because I'm injured doesn't mean you're
not hurting too." It was something that his uncle said before, and it seemed
appropriate to say now.
Akamatsu paused, then smiled brightly."Thank you, Saihara-kun. You're a very
gentle person."
Saihara blushed harder. "A-ah, you're welcome." His heart skipped a beat as
Akamatsu grabbed his hand and squeezed it, then led him to the back entrance of
the dining hall.
The moment Saihara stepped into the dining hall, the place went dead silent.
Everyone stared at Saihara for a long moment, and he reached to pull his hat
down before realizing that it was not there. He shifted his weight, fighting
the urge to run. He was not used to so many people giving him attention at
once, and it made him uncomfortable.
The dining hall exploded. "Yo, you're awake!"
"Hey, it's the new kid!"
"Quit shoving, I wanna take a look!"
"Everyone, calm down!" Akamatsu yelled over the noise. "Stop crowding him, he's
injured!" Immediately, everyone backed down and gave Saihara some much needed
space.
Saihara cleared his throat nervously. "U-um, I'm Saihara Shuichi. Nice to meet
you all. I hope we get along."
A dark skinned girl jumped up in front of him and swayed side to side.
"Shuichi! Atua demands we introduce ourselves in order! Ooh, and introduce our
talents as well!"
Akamatsu raised her pointer finger. "Then I'll start. You already know, but my
name is Akamatsu Kaede. I can read minds... well, sort of."
A green haired boy sitting at the far end of the room raised his hand in
greeting. "I'm Amami Rantaro, and my talent is to create portals."
"Too bad you can't create a portal out of here, huh?" The other blonde haired
girl sneered.
He laughed good-naturedly. "Hey, I resent that. It's not pleasant having that
many limiters on, you know." Indeed, while most people had only one band around
each wrist, Amami had multiple of the same band around his fingers, wrist and
neck. When his scratched the back of his head, the sleeves of his shirt slid
down a little and Saihara saw that the black bands went up all the way to his
shoulders. 
"Amami-kun was in the previous batch of students," Akamatsu explained. "He and
Shirogane-san both were, so their talents are stronger than ours."
"What happened to the rest?" Saihara asked.
"They died," Amami sighed.
Saihara gulped. The way Amami had said that his friend had died was so casual,
he could hardly believe it. Was it the fact that death was so commonplace in
this place that he had gotten used to seeing his friends dying?
The blonde haired girl from before cut in. "A-anyway, I'm the genius girl
inventor Iruma Miu! I make inanimate objects come to life! Pretty fucking
useful, huh?"
"If you used them for anything useful..." Someone mumbled, though Saihara could
not pinpoint who said that.
Iruma growled. "Shut the fuck up! I'm super fucking useful, alright?"
A robot stepped forward nervously. "Do I count? Um, I'm K1-B0, but please call
me Kiibo! As you can see, I'm a robot."
"So your talent is... being a robot?" Saihara asked, unsure.
Kiibo nodded. "Something like that. We're still working out the specifics." He
stepped back and let another boy take his place.
The boy was huge, towering over all the other students easily. "Gonta's name is
Gokuhara Gonta! Gonta's talent is talking to animals! Saihara-kun probably
don't remember, but Gonta carry Saihara-kun back to room!"
Saihara bowed as much as he could. "Thank you, Gokuhara-kun."
"Please, call Gonta Gonta!"
Akamatsu piped up. "Gonta-kun's being modest. He has two talents: talking to
animals and super strength."
Gonta shook his head furiously. "Gonta's strength is not talent! Gonta was born
with strength!"
A blue haired girl sighed dreamily. "Gonta-kun's so pure, isn't he? Oh, I'm
Shirogane Tsumugi. I can shapeshift into anyone with a 100% accuracy. Look!"
The moment she finished her sentence, everyone turned away and covered their
eyes and Saihara immediately understood why. Her face looked like it was
melting, skin and muscle and bone shifting and reforming. Saihara himself
fought the urge to throw up. But her bones and muscle and skin started
reforming, and when she was done her face looked like the popular anime
character Naruto.
Saihara's mouth dropped open. "Woah..." Her head was an exact replica of
Naruto's, down to the hair, eye color and even the scars on his cheek, though
it would be more convincing if she could shapeshift her body as well.
Her face deconstructed again, and this time Saihara was prepared to look away.
"Well, with the limiter on I can only hold it for a few seconds, and I can only
shapeshift my head. But it's still pretty cool!"
As Saihara looked away he realized that there was one person who was not
visibly disturbed by Shirogane's shapeshifting. That boy in the mask was the
next to speak. "Kukuku, my name is Shinguji Korekiyo. I can commune with
spirits of the dead, as long as they are female."
"Any female?" Saihara asked hopefully.
"I need a taglock if I do not know my target personally. Say, a lock of hair or
a treasured possession of that person."
Saihara's face fell. "O-oh. I see."
A girl with prominent hair ribbons went into a martial arts stance, hands in
front of her and feet braced on the ground. "My name is Chabashira Tenko! I can
beat you degenerate males up with my super strength and agility!"
"Chabashira-san, please leave him alone," Akamatsu placated. "He's injured,
remember?"
Chabashira relaxed and sniffed condescendingly. "Hmph. Just this once,
degenerate!"
Tojo stepped forward and bowed slightly. "We've met before, but just for
formality's sake I will introduce myself again. My name is Tojo Kirumi. I can
accelerate the healing speed of myself and other people."
Akamatsu piped up. "Tojo-san's like our mother! She cooks and cleans and does
everything for us!"
Tojo bowed again. "I am honored that you think so highly of me, Akamatsu-san." 
Next was a girl with twin pigtails that went down to her ankles. "...Harukawa
Maki. Chabashira and I have the exact same type of talent, strength and
agility. We use them for differently though."
"How differently?" Saihara asked.
"I kill. Chabashira doesn't."
"O-oh." That was not an answer Saihara was expecting. 
A boy that barely went up to Saihara's chest was next. If not for the aura the
boy gave off, Saihara would have written him off as an elementary or middle
school student. "You can call me Hoshi Ryoma, but I'm nothing more than an
empty shell. My 'talent', if you can call it that, is to kill anyone I touch
instantly." When he saw Saihara visibly recoil, he reassured, "Oh don't worry,
I have limiters on so if you touch me now you'll just get a little dizzy."
"I'm Momota Kaito, Luminary of the Stars!" The boy with one sleeve out of his
arm said. "My talent is my impenetrable skin!"
"Yeah, 'cause you're thick skinned," Harukawa muttered.
Momota recoiled in shock. "Harumaki, you wound me!"
She rolled her eyes. "No one can wound you, dumbass. That's the point." But
Saihara saw the way she threaded her fingers through his right after her words,
and he immediately understood. If he was not mistaken, Momota and Harukawa were
in a romantic relationship.
A tiny girl wearing a witch's hat spoke up. "Nyeh, I'm Yumeno Himiko. I...
create illusions and stuff."
Chabashira squealed in delight. "Kya! Yumeno-san's talent is so cool!"
Yumeno smiled slightly, apparently flattered by Chabashira's praise. "I would
do it now... but I'm tired. I need to restore my mana." 
"Himiko should rest! She just came out of testing, after all!" The dark skinned
girl said. "I'm Yonaga Angie! Atua sends me glimpses of the future."
"There is a pretty huge margin of error, though..." Momota mumbled.
Immediately, Angie's expression darkened. "Atua tells you to shut up or your
skin will be flayed in the next round of testing," she warned.
"Not as if they're not trying," he muttered under his breath. 
"Well, that's everyone!" Akamatsu said. "Wait, we don't know your talent,
Saihara-kun!"
Saihara shrunk back a little. "O-oh. I can move objects with my mind... sort
of? I'm still kinda bad at it though."
"Huh, that's pretty cool," Momota said. "Don't worry about not being good with
it, everyone here had to work for it."
"Except me, because I'm a fucking genius!"
"Iruma-san, shut up," Amami warned. Iruma shrunk back under his glare and sat
down at her place.
Saihara looked around the room, counting the number of people. Akamatsu said
that everyone would be in the dining hall, but no matter how much he counted it
seemed as if he was missing one person. "Is there a person missing? Kirigiri-
san said there were fifteen students and a robot, but there are only fourteen
students and a robot..."
"Hey, I'm a student too! That's robophobic!" Kiibo yelled.
Saihara laughed nervously. "S-Sorry, Kiibo-kun."
"Ouma's in solitary again," Hoshi said.
"Ouma... -kun? -san? Solitary?"
"Ouma Kokichi-kun," Tojo said. "He's in solitary confinement as punishment."
Momota rolled his eyes. "What did he do this time?"
"Replaced all of Ando's pens with crayons." "Blew up the Shrine of Judgement
with endless amounts of confetti." "Flooded his talent lab with tomato soup."
The three people who talked at once turned to face each other. Harukawa spoke
first. "He's the one who blew up the Shrine of Judgement?"
Iruma's eye twitched. "That little twink's the reason I had to clean up all the
tomato soup in the basement?"
Amami chuckled. "Hey, that's actually pretty good. He got one of the higher ups
this time."
"Um, what's his talent?" Saihara asked carefully. Ultimate or not, those
talents must have taken a lot of planning to do, especially since the targets
were high ranking Ultimates. He felt a modicum of respect for this Ouma
person's skills and the courage he had to pull all that off before being
caught.
"Nobody knows," Yumeno said slowly.
"That's not true. His team knows," Akamatsu said.
Momota groaned. "Aww, come on guys!"
Amami chuckled. "Sorry. Not telling."
Iruma cowered timidly. "W-well, Ouma may be annoying sometimes, but he'll kill
me if I tell. I- I can't die here!"
Gonta nodded seriously. "Ouma-kun asked Gonta to keep secret, so Gonta not tell
anyone but teammates!"
Angie hummed thoughtfully. "Atua says his talent is something different! Like,
hmm, being in three different places at once!"
"I think it's something degenerate and perverse, that's why he has to hide it,"
Chabashira sneered.
"I still think it's related to luck," Momota proposed. "Have you seen his
talent lab? It's filled with dice motifs. Plus he's being mentored by Komaeda."
"Speaking of mentors, I need to meet Maizono-san soon," Akamatsu said. "Sorry,
Saihara-kun, but I'll have to leave you here for a while."
"That's fine, Akamatsu. I'll take him around," Momota volunteered. "I've got
nothing else to do today anyway." He gave her a thumbs up after that, so
Akamatsu nodded hesitantly.
"Munakata-san's not around again?" Shirogane asked.
Momota shook his head. "He'll be overseas for the next two weeks."
"Izayoi-san's not here either, so let me join you too," Amami said. "If you
don't mind, Saihara-kun."
"N-no, of course not," Saihara denied vehemently. He was just glad that the
people here seemed nice and were willing to help him. If anything, it would
help him to survive living in the facility for god knows how long.
"Welp, the rest of us gotta meet with our mentors!" Angie exclaimed. "Bye-
onara!" Everyone cleared their plates and said their goodbyes, leaving Momota,
Amami and Saihara alone in the dining hall. Before Harukawa left, she squeezed
Momota's hand and whispered something into his ear, and he nodded seriously.
She spared him a lingering glance before she left.
When everyone left, Saihara blurted out, "I have so many questions," Meeting
fourteen other people and being overwhelmed with so much information suddenly
made him feel slightly dizzy from information overload.
Momota laughed heartily. "That's alright. We'll help you out, alright?" Amami
nodded in response to Momota's statement.
Saihara smiled. The other students here seemed rather nice and friendly. Maybe
life in the facility would not be that bad after all.
Chapter End Notes
     If I update rotting corpses (or any related fics), I'm probably
     taking a break from studying. If I update poem weaver, I'm probably
     drunk or high. If I update this fic, I'm studying for my exams and
     suddenly got inspired by the weird shit I study.
***** Chapter 3 *****
Chapter Notes
     If you're under the legal age of consent in your resident country or
     the kind of person who's easily triggered by stuff (death, gore,
     violence, rape/noncon, suicide, abuse, self harm, mental illness,
     blahblahblahthislistisnonexhaustive), close this fic. Do not come
     back.
      
     This was supposed to be combined with the previous chapter anyway so
     here, have a double update.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Amami had taken to make portals every few steps, allowing Saihara to walk less
and keep up with the other two boys at the same time. He was infinitely
thankful because there were a lot of stairs and Saihara was not sure he could
handle walking up and down stairs. The two boys showed him the important parts
of the facility; the dorms, dining hall, swimming pool, gaming room and
attached AV room and the library. They stopped at the library when they
realized Saihara was having trouble keeping up and started chatting a little. 
"So, you said you have a few questions?" Amami asked.
Saihara nodded. "Yeah. First of all, what is this place?"
"This is the Ultimate Academy for Gifted Juveniles," Amami said. "The Ultimate
Initiative 'gifted' us with our talents, you see, and we're kinda like
prisoners here. Thus, gifted juveniles."
Momota nodded in agreement. "The Ultimate Initiative started The Gofer Project
to try and cultivate talent in normal humans a long time ago. They take a bunch
of kids and stick 'em in here to experiment on them. We just happened to be the
unlucky ones."
So the Ultimate Initiative had been doing this for a long time, as evidenced by
Amami being one of the people in the previous batches. Saihara vaguely wondered
how many people had been experimented on. If there were fifteen or sixteen
people per batch, that would mean a minimum of thirty people being here. They
called this The Gofer Project, so that must be the official name of everything
that was happening in the Academy.
"You mentioned something about mentors," Saihara brought up. "What are they?"
"We're all personally mentored by an Ultimate. The Ultimate in question chooses
us after the initial testing," Amami explained. "That Ultimate is in charge of
developing our talents. I'm mentored by Izayoi Sonosuke, the Ultimate
Blacksmith."
"Mine's Munakata Kyosuke! Oh, and they come by every Sunday. Well, most Sundays
at least," Momota scratched the back of his head. "We meet them for about an
hour or two, depending on how long they want to meet us. We can do whatever we
want after that."
"I see. Then what do you do from Monday to Saturday?" Saihara asked.
"We have a timetable. Here, let me show you the bulletin board. It's on the
second floor, by the way. It tells you what your classes are." Amami opened a
portal that showed the bulletin board in clear view.
Monday - Saturday
0800: Breakfast
0900: Japanese 
1000: English 
1100: Math 
1200: Lunch
1300: Physical/Magical/Others
1500: Biology/Chemistry/Physics/Others
1700: Cleaning
1800: Dinner
1900: Talent/Experiment
2200: Curfew
Sunday
0800: Breakfast
1200: Lunch
1300: Mentor meeting
1800: Dinner
2200: Curfew
"So basically before lunch we just study normal things. After lunch we focus on
our talents and stuff. We're separated into groups for all our classes as
well," Momota explained. "You're meant to practice your talent in your talent
lab after dinner, but sometimes people get called for experiments. They'll tell
you if you got chosen at dinner."
Amami waved his hand, closing the first portal and opening another one. "Here's
the new class list. They added your name and shuffled some people around."
Japanese I
Chabashira Tenko
Iruma Miu
Gokuhara Gonta
Yonaga Angie
K1-B0
Japanese II
Akamatsu Kaede
Harukawa Maki
Shirogane Tsumugi
Yumeno Himiko
Hoshi Ryoma
Japanese III
Amami Rantaro
Saihara Shuichi
Shinguji Korekiyo
Ouma Kokichi
Tojo Kirumi
Momota Kaito
 
English I
Chabashira Tenko
Iruma Miu
Gokuhara Gonta
K1-B0
English II
Akamatsu Kaede
Saihara Shuichi
Harukawa Maki
Shirogane Tsumugi
Yumeno Himiko
Hoshi Ryoma
English III
Amami Rantaro
Shinguji Korekiyo
Ouma Kokichi
Tojo Kirumi
Momota Kaito
Yonaga Angie
 
Math I
Akamatsu Kaede
Saihara Shuichi
Harukawa Maki
K1-B0
Math II
Amami Rantaro
Chabashira Tenko
Shinguji Korekiyo
Shirogane Tsumugi
Yumeno Himiko
Gokuhara Gonta
Tojo Kirumi
Hoshi Ryoma
Yonaga Angie
Math III
Iruma Miu
Ouma Kokichi
Momota Kaito
 
Physical
Harukawa Maki
Chabashira Tenko
Gokuhara Gonta
Hoshi Ryoma
Momota Kaito
Magical
Akamatsu Kaede
Amami Rantaro
Saihara Shuichi
Iruma Miu
Shinguji Korekiyo
Shirogane Tsumugi
Yumeno Himiko
Ouma Kokichi
Tojo Kirumi
Yonaga Angie
Others
K1-B0
 
Biology
Saihara Shuichi
Chabashira Tenko
Gokuhara Gonta
Shirogane Tsumugi
Hoshi Ryoma
Chemistry
Iruma Miu
Harukawa Maki
Tojo Kirumi
K1-B0
Physics
Akamatsu Kaede
Amami Rantaro
Yumeno Himiko
Shinguji Korekiyo
Others
Ouma Kokichi
Momota Kaito
 
Momota groaned. "Ugh, you're kidding. I'm still stuck with Ouma for all my
classes?"
Amami laughed. "Hey, at least you're in physical and he's in magical. Besides,
if you don't like him that much, you could always fail a class and drop one
level."
Momota punched his fists together and yelled. "No way! I, Momota Kaito, will
never fail on purpose to run away from my problems!"
"So the classes are divided into grades?" Saihara asked.
"In a sense," Amami said. "Higher grades means a more advanced curriculum."
Saihara scanned the list and found his name in Japanese III, English II and
Math I. He flushed, math had never been his strong suit. He was also placed in
biology class and his talent class was filed under 'magical'. As he skimmed
through the list, he realized something. Two people were always in the highest
grade available: Ouma Kokichi and Momota Kaito. Saihara's eyes widened. "Wow,
Momota-kun. You're in the most advanced class for every single subject."
Momota scratched the back of his head. "Eh, it's nothing. I want to be an
astronaut when I get out of here, so I gotta put in effort into my studies."
"Momota-kun, why aren't you studying science?" Saihara asked.
"Oh, you mean why I'm placed under 'others'? Well... Ouma and I finished the
curriculum for all three sciences, so we gotta do our own thing."
"A-all of them?" Saihara stammered.
"Yeah," Momota grimaced. "Biology was the worst, I tell you, the worst. I'm
sorry you got stuck with it, Saihara."
"I-it's okay, I like biology." For some reason, blood and gore fascinated
rather than disgusted him, but most people found that odd so he kept that
little tidbit to himself. "How long have you been here, Momota-kun?" 
"Uh, I don't know. Three months? Ouma's been here for six, I think."
If Momota had said that he had been in the facility for an entire year, Saihara
would have understood. But he had apparently been trapped here for barely three
months, and he had climbed to the top of the class and finished three entire
subjects within that period of time. Saihara felt a newfound sense of respect
for Momota and Ouma.
"If you manage to get full marks in one science, you get moved to another
science of your choice," Amami explained. "For example, Iruma-san aced physics
and chose chemistry to study next. If you finish all of them, you end up with
free time like Momota-kun and Ouma-kun."
"It's not really free time. We gotta hone our talents unless we wanna get
zapped," Momota said, tapping the collar around his neck.
"That's still really amazing, Momota-kun," Saihara complimented. He doubted he
would be able to achieve that in three years.
"Better grades also means more concessions. The Handlers are more inclined to
be lenient to you if you show them that you're useful. I really think that's
the only reason Ouma-kun's not dead by now," Amami admitted. "Oh, good behavior
counts as well. As long as you keep your head down and follow orders, you'll be
fine. Otherwise, you'll end up like me." He pulled up his sleeves, showing off
the multiple black bands around his arms. Just when Saihara thought he saw all
the bands the other boy had, Amami leaned down to roll up his pants. There were
bands there too, up to half his shin.
"These are... limiters?"
"Yeah," Amami nodded. "As the name implies, they limit your abilities. If I
were at full strength, I could very easily create a portal home but... well."
"Does it hurt?" Momota asked, staring openly at the black bands that covered
Amami's limbs. "I mean, I got limiters too but not as many as you, man."
Amami shrugged nonchalantly. "You get used to it after a while. It's not that
bad, really. It does make showering a pain, though."
"Are those silver rings limiters as well?" Saihara asked.
"No, they're proof of the blood pact that binds us to this place. They cut off
your pinky finger and seal it back with this ring. You can't remove the ring,
ever. Not even after graduation. We're basically tied to the Ultimate
Initiative's orders for the rest of our lives."
That was right. Graduation. Kirigiri had mentioned that it was a way to get
out, but she had not mentioned how to get out. Maybe either of them knew the
answer. "How do you graduate?" he asked. Momota shrugged and turned to Amami
for an answer.
"Right, I never told you, did I?" Amami sighed and crossed his hands in front
of him, leaning back into his chair. "We have to clear out one of the nests
where Despair spawns in one sitting. Most people in my previous class passed
away from the experiments, and the remaining five died trying to graduate. Out
of the 52nd batch, only Shirogane and I survived."
Saihara's blood ran cold when he heard the number '52'. He had expected maybe
two or three batches before this, but not that many. That meant there were
hundreds of people who had died during the course of The Gofer Project, and
Amami had personally experienced fourteen of them.
Momota's voice softened. "Dude, I'm sorry man. I didn't think..."
"It's fine," Amami said, raising his hands in front of him. "That was a year
ago anyway."
"By the way, you mentioned a... talent lab?" Saihara asked to change the
subject. "What's that."
Amami's eyes lit up. "Right! I'll show you mine first. You can't get in through
the door, I've got to make you a portal. Here." He waved his hand and showed
the other two the inside of his talent lab. Saihara's eyes widened at how
complex the interior was; moving walls and glass panels and that shifted every
few seconds or so.
"W-wow, what's all of this?" Saihara asked, eyes still glued to the display.
"Puzzles, like the game Portal. Pretty cool, huh? I spend a lot of time inside
because it's the only place my limiters come off; because the room itself is
programmed to not allow me out without my limiters. So if you need to find me,
just find Iruma-san, Gonta-kun or Ouma-kun. They know how to contact me." Amami
grimaced a little. "Actually, can we step inside for a moment? The limiters are
killing me."
Since Saihara was rested enough, he managed to get into the portal without much
difficulty. Momota and Amami followed right behind. The moment the portal shut,
all the black bands around Amami's limbs fell off and revealed his bare skin.
Saihara stifled a gasp at the sight. Amami's arms looked as if they were
covered in a combination of first degree burns and deep bruises, and not a
single patch of his skin had been left untouched.
"That... looks horrible," Momota agreed.
Amami rubbed the back of his neck sheepishly. "It looks worse than it feels,
really."
"Shit man, I always thought you were unsociable but it was actually... holy
shit. If I were you, I'd never leave my talent lab." Momota swallowed. "I'm
sorry, Amami. I misjudged you."
"Hey, it's alright," Amami reassured. "I know I don't give off a good first
impression with the hair, piercings and fashion sense. But I promise, I'm not a
bad guy."
"How do the limiters work? Why do they hurt you so much?" Saihara asked
quietly.
"They actually don't limit you beyond a certain level, so most people only have
two; one on each wrist," Amami explained. "Mine are different. Momota-kun, roll
up your sleeves." Momota complied and revealed his own limiters. Amami picked
up his limiters and compared them to Momota's. "Most of mine aren't made of the
same material as yours. It's soft and pliable, unlike the collar and the
bracelets." Sure enough, the black bands that were on the ground looked closer
to cloth ribbons than metal.
"So... what do they do?" Momota asked, rolling down his sleeves.
"They're... hmm, discouragers?" Amami laughed. "I don't know what to call them.
Anyway, everytime I use my talent outside of training or being ordered to by a
Handler, I get burned and pinched by these things."
Saihara felt a horrible wave of guilt rush over him. Amami knew that he would
get hurt making portals, but he had been creating portals just to help Saihara
get around better. Suddenly, the bullet wounds and broken arm did not seem that
bad. "I'm sorry, Amami-kun," Saihara mumbled. "Because of me, you got hurt." He
felt a lump rise in his throat, but he forced himself to swallow it.
"I told you, it's fine," Amami reassured again. "I chose to do this." The boys
got themselves settled into Amami's talent lab, pulling out some chairs to sit.
"I keep these here for my team," Amami explained. 
"You and your team are pretty close, huh? I wish my team was as tight as yours.
My team is more like two groups of two," Momota lamented.
"Teams?" Saihara asked.
"Oh, right. We're a class of sixteen, right? So we're going to be split into
four groups of four. My team consists of myself, Harumaki, Hoshi and Tojo. I
serve as defense, Harumaki and Hoshi kill whatever targets we have, Tojo acts
as backup and healing."
"Mine is myself, Ouma-kun, Iruma-san and Gonta-kun. Unlike Momota-kun's group,
we specialize in long-range attacks with Gonta-kun to cover us physically."
"Mm, so Ouma's talent is long ranged?" Momota guessed.
Amami laughed nervously. "Oops, looks like I said too much."
"What about the rest?" Saihara asked.
"Their teams haven't been decided yet, but I'm pretty sure Shirogane,
Chabashira and Yumeno are gonna be in the same team," Momota said.
Amami nodded in agreement. "Makes sense. Shirogane-san and Yumeno-san have
illusion and infiltration skills, and Chabashira probably won't leave Yumeno's
side."
Momota continued. "Angie and Shinguji will probably be put together because
they're non-combatants and their talents are mostly used to gather information.
I think you'll be put with them, Saihara, because your talent can be used to
defend them and Shirogane's group already has a defender."
"So that leaves Akamatsu-san and Kiibo-kun," Saihara said.
Momota hummed thoughtfully. "I'm gonna go out on a limb and guess that Akamatsu
will be put with Shirogane and Kiibo will be put with Angie."
Amami nodded again. "Yeah, that makes sense too. Akamatsu-san can read minds so
she can extract information while Yumeno-san and Shirogane-san work. Kiibo can
possess machinery so he can hack computers and get intelligence from there, so
that counts as him being a non-combatant."
"O-oh, I see," Saihara tripped over his words.
"Are you... disappointed?" Amami asked, interested.
"Ooh, taken a liking to Akamatsu, eh?" Momota elbowed Saihara playfully (in his
good arm, of course).
Saihara recoiled. "W-what, no! I just think she's nice, and she's... pretty..."
He trailed off. He just could not explain the emotional connection he had with
Akamatsu. She was different from everyone else just by nature of being her. He
was definitely interested in her, but she was obviously out of his league.
Amami laughed. "Haha, it's alright. She does have that kind of effect on
people. Just... be careful, alright? She can read minds, after all."
Momota cut in. "Hey, I wanna show Saihara my lab!"
"Alright, hold on," Amami said, waving his hand to create another portal. This
time, it led to what looked like a black hole. "Viewing only portal, so I don't
have to put on my restraints."
"What's... this?" Saihara wondered.
"It's meant to stimulate the effects of being in space. My talent allows me to
survive in space because of my, ugh, my thick skin," Momota grimaced as he
said, glaring at Amami when he snickered. "As long as I have a source of
oxygen, I don't need an astronaut suit to go up into space."
"That's so cool!" Saihara exclaimed.
Even Amami looked surprised. "Woah, I didn't know that."
Momota scratched the back of his neck. "I also do some engineering. It's not as
advanced as Iruma's stuff, but it's still something. It's more of a hobby than
a talent, really."
"Um, what about my talent lab?" Saihara asked hesitantly.
"There's only one lab left unoccupied, so I think it's that one," Amami said,
changing the viewing portal to view Saihara's lab.
"This is... my lab?" It looked more like a cottage house than a place to hone
his talent, with bookshelves upon bookshelves and a fireplace at the end. There
were some cozy chairs near the fireplace, but that was it. All there was in the
talent lab were books and some bottles.
"I've got no idea what this is supposed to be," Amami admitted.
Momota squinted at the shelves. "Hey, those bottles are poison," he said as he
rolled his eyes. "What do they expect you to do, levitate poison into someone's
mouth?"
"There are a lot of books here," Amami commented. "I don't get it. What's all
this gotta do with psychokinesis?"
"I'll tell you myself." A familiar woman came into view, a woman Saihara was
not expecting to see that soon.
"K-Kirigiri-san?!" Saihara exclaimed.
Chapter End Notes
     I hate this chapter so much. It's just a bunch of worldbuilding and
     nothing else. Oh well, hope this answers all your questions about the
     world of this fic. The actual story starts in the next chapter.
     It is 5.30 am. My mother comes in. "Go and sleep," she whines, but I
     shake my head. Fanfiction compels. Fanfiction always wins.
***** Chapter 4 *****
Chapter Notes
     If you're under the legal age of consent in your resident country or
     the kind of person who's easily triggered by stuff (death, gore,
     violence, rape/noncon, suicide, abuse, self harm, mental illness,
     blahblahblahthislistisnonexhaustive), close this fic. Do not come
     back. 
     I changed the name of the fic because reversible campaign is too
     happy a song to name this fic after. I also changed the rating from
     mature to explicit. Don't sue me, alright?! I just don't want to get
     sued for underage sexual exploitation or whatfuckingever the internet
     is up to nowadays. I'm looking at you, tumblr.
     There won't be any explicit sex scenes even though it's rated
     explicit because I'm not comfortable writing them. So if you're
     looking for porn to have a date with rosie palms, I recommend a
     certain 53-chaptered masterpiece that is on this very archive, filed
     under this piece of shit of a fandom.
See the end of the chapter for more notes
"Kirigiri-san?!" Saihara exclaimed.
Her lips quirked up. "I see you're settling in well."
Amami got up from his chair and bowed deeply. "Kirigiri-san, I'm so sorry. I
didn't know you'd be here to meet Saihara-kun. Please don't blame Saihara-kun,
he didn't know. If you need to punish anyone, please punish me."
Momota stood up suddenly, knocking his chair over. He stepped between Amami and
the portal. "Bullshit, Amami! I'm the one who volunteered to take Saihara
around!"
"No one is getting punished." As soon as Kirigiri said that, everyone heaved a
sigh of relief. "Amami-kun, I give you authorization to use your talent without
putting on those things for the next five seconds. Saihara-kun, step through
the portal. I want to talk to you."
Amami looked at Saihara worriedly but complied while Momota helped Saihara
through the portal. He turned back and saw Momota and Amami waving at him.
Since one of Saihara's hands was in a sling and the other was holding his
crutch, he could not wave back, so he simply smiled at them as the portal
closed. Once it was fully closed, he turned back to face Kirigiri, who was
smiling slightly. "It's good that you're making friends," she said.
"T-thank you?" Saihara stammered, unsure of how to react. For some reason, she
seemed different from the Kirigiri he had first met in the testing area.
Somehow, she seemed softer and more approachable now.
"Sit down," she said as she gestured to the chair in front of her. There was a
metal canister on the table. "I brought some soup for you. I'm terrible at
cooking, so my fiancé made it."
"Fiancé?"
"Someone I met in Hope's Peak. He was in the same class as me."
So her fiancé was another Ultimate. It made sense that they would chose each
other as partners since they were on another level compared to normal humans.
It could even be argued that Ultimates were a different species altogether,
evolved from humans to replace them someday. 
"Thanks for the meal," Saihara said as he opened the canister with his good
hand and took a sip. His eyes widened in surprise; the soup was good. It tasted
vaguely like potatoes and carrots and... something? Whatever it was that was
inside, it made Saihara want more. Only after taking the first sip did he
realize how hungry he was. He did not get food back in the dining hall, and
hobbling around the school had made him ravenous. He downed the entire canister
of soup within a minute, letting the soup warm his body.
Kirigiri chuckled softly. "He's a good cook, isn't he? I sometimes think his
title should have been the Ultimate Cook."
"What's his title?" Saihara asked curiously.
"Officially, the Ultimate Lucky Student. Unofficially, the Ultimate Hope."
Luck related talents were actually not at all uncommon, so people who had the
talent of 'luck' needed to be extremely proficient or strong at their talent in
order to be called an Ultimate. But Saihara had never heard of a talent called
'hope'. Perhaps the Ultimate Initiative wanted to keep Kirigiri's fiancé's true
talent a secret for their own purposes, or maybe his luck transcended all
expectations and could only be called by another name. Either way, Saihara
could not be sure.
"How have you been so far?" Kirigiri asked.
Scared. Confused. A myriad of adjectives entered Saihara's mind, but none of
them seemed appropriate to say to Kirigiri. So, he decided to talk about what
had happened earlier in the day. "I met the other students. They're nice.
Momota-kun and Amami-kun showed me around and explained some things to me."
"Do you have any other questions?" Kirigiri asked.
"Is my uncle doing well?" Saihara blurted out.
Kirigiri sighed. "Your uncle is... persistent. He's dedicated all his time to
tracking you down now that he's realized the police won't help him."
"Please don't hurt him," he pleaded, although he did not expect Kirigiri to
listen to him. If his uncle was tracking him down, that meant that the Future
Foundation would have to deal with him to keep him off their tails. Saihara
sent a silent prayer to whatever gods existed. He just wanted his uncle, his
last living relative, to be safe.
"I won't," Kirigiri reassured, but Saihara noted how she said 'I' instead of
'we'. Of couse, she could not promise that the Future Foundation would not harm
Saihara's uncle. Despite being a leader of the Future Foundation, she probably
had limits to what she could do. 
Kirigiri slid a black-and-white pad across the table. Saihara held it in his
hand and examined it. "Keep this with you at all times. Do not lose it. This
electronic handbook consists of the rules of the Academy and a map for your
reference. Read them." Saihara fired up the electronic handbook and swiftly
tapped the rules tab, skimming through it as quickly as he could.
    * #1: Students are required to cohabitate at the Ultimate Academy for the
      remainder of the unforeseeable future.
    * #2: Students are required to follow all instructions given to them by a
      Handler.
    * #3: Students are not allowed to tamper with the restraining collar and
      bracelets, or other restraining equipment.
    * #4: Students are not allowed to enter areas for official personnel unless
      given prior authorization.
    * #5: Students are required to follow the designated schedule unless
      physically incapacitated or as instructed by a Handler.
    * #6: All acts of violence, unless directly supervised by a Handler, are
      strictly prohibited.
    * #7: All acts of vandalism and property damage are strictly prohibited.
    * #8: Students are required to wear the designated school uniform while
      attending classes. 
    * #9: Students are required to wear the designated sports attire while
      practicing their respective talents.
    * #10: "Nighttime" is officially designated as the hours between 2300 and
      0800. During this time, only students with prior authorization are
      allowed to leave their rooms. All other students are strictly prohibited
      from leaving their rooms. 
    * #11: Students who violate these rules will be punished according to the
      severity of their crimes.
    * #12: The headmaster may add additional regulations to this list at any
      time.
Logically, Saihara should have had many questions on his mind. But the only
thing that came out of his mouth was, "We have a headmaster?"
Kirigiri nodded. "Officially, the headmaster is Tengan Kazuo, the head of the
Future Foundation. But most of the time Munakata Kyosuke, head of the second
division, oversees the operations of this Academy." If Saihara was not
mistaken, Munakata was the name of Momota's mentor. Of course Momota would have
a mentor that high ranking; he was the top of the class after all.
"Am I going to start training now?" Saihara asked, secretly praying that he
would not have to. He wanted some down time before he did anything, courtesy of
the bullet wounds and broken arm.
"No, however there is one more thing I need to do." In response, Kirigiri
pulled out a familiar silver ring, causing Saihara to gasp. "Izayoi-san made
this enchanted ring for us. It seems you already know its purpose."
Saihara swallowed. "You're- you're going to cut off my pinky finger, right?"
Kirigiri shook her head. "No. I need you to cut off your own finger and hand it
to me on your own will."
"W-what?"
"I'm sorry to ask this of you, Saihara-kun. But this is the only way to..."
Kirigiri trailed off, looking off to the side.
On one hand, Saihara could refuse to take the blood oath, but she would
probably kill him easily. On another hand, if he did take the blood oath, he'd
practically be a slave to her desires. He was damned if he did and damned if he
didn't. But at the same time, he wanted to live. Even if it meant binding
himself to someone else for the rest of his life, he would be able to survive
this ordeal and hopefully get out one day. If he was dead, he would not even be
able to do that. He looked at Kirigiri in the eyes and nodded.
She slid a piece of paper across the table. "Once you cut off your finger, read
off the script. I will do the rest." She took out a knife adorned with magical
runes on its hilt and walked to the fireplace, heating up the blade of the
knife. 
First, Saihara took his injured hand out of its sling, then placed it palm side
down on the table. His good hand took the ritual knife from Kirigiri, careful
not to touch the heated blade. It hovered over his left hand, shaking
furiously. He squeezed his eyes shut and stabbed down as hard as he could,
letting out a pained cry as the knife hit his finger.
"Good. Now hand it to me."
Saihara opened one eye hesitantly. He had been successful, his finger was cut
cleanly at the joint and detached from his hand. Blood pooled on the table,
spreading further by the second. He resisted the urge to throw up as he put the
knife down and picked up his severed finger.
"Read off the script," she commanded.
"M-My true name is Saihara Shuichi. I offer you, you whose true name is
Kirigiri Kyoko, my undying loyalty. I offer to bind myself to your service for
as long as I live. I offer you a piece of myself as proof." He choked back a
sob as he read the next sentence. "I- I offer this in my own free will."
"My true name is Kirigiri Kyoko. I accept your offer, you whose true name is
Saihara Shuichi." 
Then she took Saihara's severed finger and swallowed it.
Saihara watched in horror as Kirigiri held a gloved hand over her mouth and
tried not to gag. She heaved once, twice, but forced herself to keep the finger
down. Eventually, she stopped heaving and composed herself. "Put on the ring,"
she commanded.
Saihara wanted to tell her that he did not have a finger to put the ring on,
but he did so anyway. To his amazement, bone and flesh started regenerating as
soon as the ring touch his stump, and his skin actually melded with the ring.
She took his hand to inspect the new finger and nodded to herself. "The
contract is sealed. We're done for today." Kirigiri stood up from her seat,
noticeably paler than before. "You're excused from classes for the next week to
get settled in. I'll come by next Sunday to check on you."
"Y-yes, Kirigiri-san. Thank you," Saihara said as he stood up and bowed. He
held the bow until Kirigiri left the room, then let himself slump onto his seat
and let his tears flow freely.
He had just sold his free will for good. There was no turning back.
===============================================================================
Eventually, Saihara found the will and energy to walk out of his talent lab. He
dried his tears and composed himself, straightening his clothes and making sure
that he was presentable. To his surprise, Akamatsu was waiting for him.
"Saihara-kun!" Akamatsu greeted as she stood from the ground. "Are you
alright?"
"Were you waiting here the entire time?" Saihara asked.
Akamatsu shook her head. "I just got here. Momota-kun told me you would be
here, so I came to help you down."
"Down?"
"Your lab is on the fourth floor, and I thought you'd have trouble going down
stairs with your injuries..." Akamatsu trailed off. Saihara did not even know
that his talent lab was that high up since he had gotten there by Amami's
portals, but he knew that he would probably take a very long time to get down
the stairs.
Saihara smiled softly. "Thank you, Akamatsu-san. I'm sorry for troubling you."
"O-oh, it's alright," Akamatsu faltered. "Amami-kun wanted to help you, but he
overused his talent and passed out."
"Is he alright?" Saihara asked, concerned. He felt even more guilty now because
Amami had been constantly using his talent to help Saihara get around earlier
in the day. Had he known this would be the consequence, he would have never let
Amami use his talent at all.
Akamatsu nodded. "It's not overuse of his talent that causes him to pass out,
it's the restraints. If they press too hard on his neck, he can't breathe and
he loses consciousness from lack of oxygen. Don't worry too much, Momota-kun
managed to get Tojo-san to him in time."
"I want to see Amami-kun," Saihara told her. She nodded and led him to the
first flight of stairs, supporting his weight whenever his bad leg had to take
a step down. He was hypersensitive to the way Akamatsu's arm gripped his
tightly, but he managed to suppress his rapidly beating heart and make it down
after a few minutes.
By the time he finished going down the second flight of stairs, he had still
not managed to get the thought of Akamatsu being in such close quarters with
him. The way she held his arm to support him, it made his upper arm brush
against her chest more than a few times. From the light touches, he could tell
they were softer than he expected. He gave in to his urge and looked down. They
were huge.
"You're staring," Akamatsu said, frowning.
Saihara blushed and forced himself to look away. "S-sorry."
"It's fine, Saihara-kun." Belatedly, Saihara realized she was blushing as well.
"If it's you, I don't mind." That statement made Saihara flush all the way to
his ears, especially since he realized Akamatsu was still pressing the side of
her breast into his arm to support him. By the time they got to the first
floor, they were both equally red. They broke contact at the same time,
stammering out excuses as they did so.
"I need to go-"
"It's fine, I know the way back-"
Akamatsu practically ran off, leaving Saihara alone. He took a moment to
compose himself, slapping his cheeks to try and erase the sight and feel of
Akamatsu's breasts on his arm but failing miserably. He opted to hobble over to
the dorms slowly, hoping that going about his day normally would erase the
thought of what had happened.
It dawned upon Saihara that he did not know which room was Amami's, but he soon
realized that the rooms were marked with pixelated sprites of themselves. As
Saihara approached Amami's room (which was coincidentally right beside his), he
heard voices coming from inside.
"I told you, I'm fine."
"Gonta think Amami-kun should stay in bed!"
"Yeah, you rotten avocado. You knew this would happen, and yet you still
overused your talent. What the fuck were you thinking?"
"I... wasn't?"
"Damn right you weren't, you overgrown grass-head!"
"Amami-kun!" Saihara wobbled in, causing everyone to turn their heads towards
him. He flushed, he was still not used to being in the center of attention.
Amami was sitting up in bed, flanked by Iruma and Gonta on either side. "Are
you alright? I heard you passed out."
"Saihara-kun," Amami greeted. "I'm fine now, really. Thanks for your concern."
"The fuck you're fine!" Iruma yelled. "Tojo already said she'll bring you
dinner later. So stay in bed, or I'll fucking tie you to it and drip wax all
over you!"
"I'm fine," Amami insisted. "I've been through much worse."
Saihara cleared his throat to get their attention. "Amami-kun, you overused
your talent because of me, right? I feel really guilty about it." Suddenly
every single thing that had happened over the past few days hit him, and he
could not control the tears that fell from his eyes. Being kidnapped and
experimented on, treated as less than human, surrendering his free will to
someone else and knowing that his uncle would likely be hunted down for trying
to save him. "I- I don't want to see anyone hurt because of me. Please."
For a moment, everyone did not move. Saihara stood leaning against the door
frame, crying uncontrollably as Amami, Iruma and Gonta looked on. Eventually,
Amami broke the silence. "Okay, I promise I won't get out of bed for today.
Alright?" he said gently. Saihara nodded, drying his tears with the sleeve of
his shirt.
"I- I'm sorry I started crying. I don't know what came over me."
"Come here," Amami said as he patted the space on the bed beside him. Saihara
almost collapsed on the bed and into Amami's arms. He heard the door shut
behind them. Amami's hands ran through his hair, calming Saihara a little.
"It's alright to feel scared and hurt. It's not healthy to hold back your
emotions. So feel free to let go, alright?"
So Saihara did. It started off with small, choking sobs, then gradually turned
into Saihara practically screaming into Amami's chest like a wounded animal.
Amami simply responded by murmuring reassurances in his ear while stroking his
head, telling Saihara that everything would be alright over and over again.
When Saihara finally calmed down, he sat up and rubbed his eyes. He knew he
looked like a mess, with tears and snot all over his face. "I'm sorry for being
such a burden. I came to check up on you, but I ended up relying on you
instead."
Amami laughed. "Don't be silly. As everyone's big brother, I'm inclined to take
care of all our classmates. I may not look like it, but I'm already twenty
one." Before Saihara could respond, someone knocked on the door. "Come in."
Tojo stepped in. "Amami-kun, I brought your dinner." She handed the plate of
food to Amami, a simple meal of fried rice and eggs. "Ah, Saihara-kun. Would
you like to join us for dinner? Or would you rather I bring food to your room?"
Saihara thought of the events earlier in the day and fought back the urge to
throw up. "I don't think I'm very hungry," he told her honestly.
Her eyes settled on the silver ring that now adorned his pinky finger. "I
understand. I'll make something light for you and bring it to you anyway. Try
and eat a little bit."
"Thank you, Tojo-san," Saihara said sincerely. He took Tojo's offered hand and
pulled himself up onto his feet. "Thank you, Amami-kun."
"It's fine. Feel free to approach me if you need anything, alright?" Amami
offered. Saihara nodded and exited the room with Tojo, who helped him get back
to his own room.
"You should be on strict bed rest too," Tojo chided softly. "I'll bring food to
you over the course of the next week." Saihara nodded in agreement, ashamed
that he had been walking around school for the entire day despite having to
stay in bed. He let Tojo change his bandages and waved as she exited his room,
closing the door behind him.
He stared at the ceiling and let exhaustion claim him.
Chapter End Notes
     The more I write this the more I start to hate it. Oh well.
***** Chapter 5 *****
Chapter Notes
     If you're under the legal age of consent in your resident country or
     the kind of person who's easily triggered by stuff (death, gore,
     violence, rape/noncon, suicide, abuse, self harm, mental illness,
     blahblahblahthislistisnonexhaustive), close this fic. Do not come
     back. 
     For the people who came from the oumasai/saiouma tag, here ya go.
     Take note you will have to suffer through a few chapters of saimatsu
     before Ouma even stands a chance with his beloved detective, hence
     the tag 'slow burn'.
     I promised at least three of you that Amami would not be tortured in
     this chapter, so here you go. I hope you enjoy this, you sick fucks.
     (But hey I'm the author I'm even worse than you guys-)
See the end of the chapter for more notes
Right after Saihara exited the bathroom, he heard a knock on his door. "Come
in," he called, unwrapping the plastic bag that was used to shield his broken
arm from water. It was probably Tojo with his breakfast, seeing as she was the
one to bring him food in the morning for the past two days. But when the door
opened, he was greeted by Gonta's imposing figure. Saihara gaped when he saw
that Gonta was wearing the school uniform.
He had seen the school uniform on a few people, namely Tojo, Akamatsu, Amami
and Momota when they came to visit. Both the boy's and girl's uniform consisted
of a white dress shirt and a black blazer with pockets on each side. The school
logo was emblazoned on the breast pocket of the blazer in silver, and the ties
were color coded in accordance to their talent classification; red for
physical, blue for magical combatants and green for magical non-combatants.
Boys wore long, matching pants while girls wore a pleated skirt and white knee-
length socks.
Saihara had also seen modifications being made to the school uniform. Momota,
in particular, never buttoned his blazer, wore his blazer with the right sleeve
out and the first button of his dress shirt undone, with the tie hanging
loosely around his neck. Amami rolled up the sleeves of his blazer and dress
shirt to his elbows. Akamatsu and Tojo both wore their school uniforms
properly, though he knew from experience there were probably one or two girls
rolling up their skirts to make them shorter.
Gonta, however, made the school uniform look completely different. It was
probably because of his sheer muscle mass that made the school uniform look
like it was about to explode, the buttons of his blazer looking like they were
about to pop at any second. Saihara absently wondered if the seams of his
clothes would hold. Notably, Gonta was not wearing the standard dark brown
shoes, instead opting to go barefoot. Maybe they just did not have his shoe
size.
Gonta scratched the back of his head nervously. "Um, Gonta come to carry
Saihara-kun to testing."
A cold dread settled in Saihara's stomach. "I- I have to go?" He knew it was
coming, logically; they wanted to test his healing speed and would have to
check up on him sooner or later, but he thought he would have at least a week
before he was called upon.
"Sorry!" Gonta cried. "Gonta no can protect you. If someone called by Handlers,
person must go no matter what!"
Saihara took in a deep breath. It was not something he could avoid, and he
would have to face it sooner or later. He forced a smile on his face. "It's
okay, Gonta-kun. I think I can walk there myself."
"Gonta insist! Saihara-kun not familiar with Academy, so it take him longer to
go! Gonta not want Saihara-kun to be late!"
Saihara nodded hesitantly. "Alright, then. Thank you, Gonta-kun. But, um...
could you let me get changed into my school uniform first?" He had been dressed
in the school tracksuit for the past few days because it was significantly more
comfortable than the school uniform, so that was what he got dressed in when he
came out of the shower.
"Gonta think Saihara-kun no need to change! Experiments use talent, and when
using talent students wear tracksuit." Without warning, Gonta swept Saihara off
his feet and carried him out of the room bridal style. Saihara squealed
involuntarily as Gonta hoisted him over.
To his surprise, Gonta was very careful with Saihara. He made sure not to
jostle Saihara in his hands while walking, taking extra care not to touch his
injuries. When he went down the stairs in the courtyard, he made sure to
observe Saihara with every step to make sure he was not accidentally hurting
the other boy. "You're a very gentle person, Gonta-kun," Saihara commented
after they stepped into the elevator in the Shrine of Judgement. 
Gonta smiled brightly. "Thank you, Saihara-kun. Gonta knows he looks big and
scary, so Gonta try to help people to make people less scared! That what true
gentleman do!"
Upon hearing Gonta's words, Saihara felt a pang of guilt. He had initially
thought that the bigger boy would be rough and would not be able to control his
strength, but he had obviously gotten the wrong impression. Because of people
like him who constantly judged others by their appearances, Gonta had to put in
more effort into proving that he was a good person.
Eventually, the elevator reached its destination. The doors opened, and a man
with unkempt dark hair stood in front of them. "Hmph. You're finally here.
Gokuhara, you can go." Gokuhara put Saihara down and went back up as
instructed. The man waved, obviously asking Saihara to follow him. Saihara then
realized something, Gonta did not take his crutch along with him, so he had to
limp awkwardly in an attempt to keep up with the impatient researcher.
The man ushered him into what looked like an operation room. There was an
operating table in the middle of the brightly lit room, and some scalpels and
other tools he did not recognize. His heart started beating faster.
"So, how have you been healing up?" The man asked.
"N-normally?"
"Let me see." He lifted up Saihara's shirt and tore off the bandages roughly,
eliciting a hiss of pain from Saihara. "Hmm, yeah. 72 hours after injury, the
tissue still looks... hmm." He snapped on some latex gloves and examined the
wound while Saihara clenched his teeth to try and stop his cries of pain from
escaping.
"Is there something wrong?" Saihara asked when the man was done.
"Shut up and don't talk unless spoken to," the man snapped. Saihara flinched
but did not utter a word.
"He's boring," the female researcher with pink hair said. Her voice sounded
vaguely familiar to Saihara. It then clicked in his head: these two were the
ones who was at the first session of testing. So her name must be Enoshima.
"He's just a normal human. How despair inducing."
"Not everyone has an elevated level of healing like Gokuhara, Tojo and Momota."
Enoshima shrugged casually. "Oh well, it was worth a shot. So we're testing his
pain tolerance today?"
"We are," the man said as he snapped off the gloves and dumped them into a
biohazard bin. "Tsumiki, strap him to the operating table and make
preparations. No anesthetic."
"Y-yes, Matsuda-sensei." The nurse - Tsumiki - rushed forward and started
taking off Saihara's clothes and unwrapping his bandages. She also started to
chip at his cast to take it off. He blushed at his nakedness but did not dare
comment lest he got shocked or worse, killed.
Enoshima cooed. "Ooh, this is the fun bit! Can I do the honors? Can I?
Pleeaase, Yasuke~"
Matsuda sighed. "Fine. I'll sit back and observe then."
"Yay! Yasuke, you're the best!" She skipped off happily, returning in a few
minutes in a surgeon's gown and a mask. Matsuda had relocated himself outside
the operating room and was watching from the outside via a one way mirror.
Tsumiki had finished taking off the cast and started strapping Saihara down
onto the table with leather restraints, making sure they were tight so that he
could not escape. When that was done, she placed two familiar bracelets on his
wrists and got changed into an operating gown herself.
Saihara stared at the ceiling and tried to think about something else.
Anything. But the clinking sound of tools always brought him back to reality.
"Oh, and don't worry about passing me any tools, Tsumiki-senpai. Just focus on
healing him and making sure he doesn't pass out."
"Y-yes! I'll do my best!"
Saihara felt a wave of relief as the healing magic knitted his flesh and bones
together, then screamed as Enoshima dug the scalpel into his arm. His limbs
strained against the restraints but he was not strong enough to break free. He
stared at the ceiling as the cycle of healing and wounding repeated, tried to
look anywhere but their masked faces and the bloody tools in their gloved
hands. He knew they were talking and recording data and taking notes because he
could hear their voices, but he could not understand a word they were saying.
Every part of his brain was focused on the pain, his primal instincts trying to
find a way to escape. 
Whenever he was on the edge of blacking out, the healing magic would bring him
back to consciousness, then another part of his body would have its flesh dug
out or bone shattered. He did not know how long he spent screaming for mercy,
but eventually his throat grew sore and he could not scream any more and was
simply reduced to whimpers and tears. He learnt that the more he begged, the
more the sadistic woman twisted her scalpel further into his abdomen.
"Junko, we've got more than enough data."
"Aww, but it was just getting fun. What time is it?"
"Three. Ouma should be here soon."
"I'm hungry. Yasuke, get lunch with me. Or is it dinner? Linner? Oh! The
British call it tea!"
"Tsumiki, get Ouma to carry Saihara back. I'm too lazy to tutor him today."
"Y-yes!"
"Shit, why can't I overwrite Kirigiri-san's medical leave? We healed him,
didn't we?"
"Technically, she's of a higher rank than us. We need to get a division leader
to cancel it."
"Aww. Oh well."
Saihara flinched violently as the healing magic washed over him. He learnt long
ago that as soon as the healing magic came, he would be hit with an even worse
pain. But this time the restraints clicked open, allowing Saihara to draw his
knees to his chest and curl up in a ball. He tried to ask if it was finally
over, but all that came out of his throat was a rasped cry.
The nurse, however, seemed to understand. "It's over. Y-you're free to go. I-
I'll help you put on your clothes, okay?" Without waiting for Saihara to
respond, she gently pried his limbs open and pulled his top on, then held his
legs down firmly as she wriggled his boxers and pants on. "D-do you need
anything?"
Saihara whimpered and curled up even more.
He was not sure when the nurse left or when someone else entered the room, but
it was certainly not the nurse who chirped happily, "Sorry for intruding!" The
voice sounded vaguely male and was not stammering continuously, so he was sure
it was not the nurse. "I'm Ouma Kokichi, the Ultimate Supreme Leader! I'm the
leader of a secret, evil organization consisting of ten thousand members!"
Saihara clutched the edge of the operating table tightly. Another Ultimate was
here. He would surely want to cut him open and leave him out to bleed. Maybe
repeat the process of healing and injuring him over and over again-
"That was a lie! I'm actually a student here."
After hearing that, Saihara found himself calming down a little. He lifted his
head slightly to look at the person talking and found that, yes, it was a
student he was talking to. The collar and bracelets marked him as a student of
the Academy. Saihara's eyes fell on the blue tie around his neck. Who among the
students wore a blue tie? Iruma, Shirogane, Shinguji, Tojo and himself. But
none of those people had purple tipped hair that seemed to fan out in every
direction. 
"Do you need water? Food? Sleep? Sex? Anything for my beloved Saihara-chan!"
Maybe he was still dreaming, but he thought he heard the other boy offer sex,
of all things. "B-beloved?" Saihara croaked.
"Did Saihara-chan really believe I hold him in such high regard? Amami-chan is
my true beloved."
That was right. Amami Rantaro, the boy who showed him around school on the
first day, who used his talent for Saihara's sake to the point of harming
himself. The boy who Saihara had slowly grown closer to over the past few days,
who he treated like an older brother. He remembered Amami. If Amami knew this
boy, then he could probably be trusted.
"Come on, let's get you outta here. You can sleep when you get to a bed. Nice,
comfy bed, right? Zzzzz..." The smaller boy mimicked snoring noises in a rather
dramatic fashion. Despite everything, Saihara found himself chuckling a little.
He let himself be pulled up from the operating table and led outside in a daze,
half leaning on the smaller boy for support on the way back. Only when they
reached the dorms did it hit Saihara. This boy was the elusive Ouma Kokichi,
the student he had not yet met because Ouma had been in solitary confinement. 
Ouma helped Saihara to his bed, then tucked him into bed. Just as Ouma was
about to leave, Saihara reached out instinctively and grabbed on to the hem of
Ouma's blazer. "C-can you stay for a while? I don't think I want to be alone,"
Saihara admitted.
Ouma turned around and nodded seriously. "Of course, of course! I told Saihara-
chan I would do anything for him, and that wasn't a lie!" He sat on the edge of
Saihara's bed, the bed dipping a little under his weight. "Does Saihara-chan
want me to talk about something, or do you just want me to sit with you?"
"Will you tell me what your talent is?" Saihara asked.
Ouma hummed thoughtfully. "Ooh, Saihara-chan wants to know? Very well. I can
tell you, but for a price."
"A price?"
He smiled brightly. "You have to kiss me on the lips."
"E-eh?" Saihara squeaked.
A glint of mischief appeared in Ouma's eyes. "And you have to do it willingly."
"I- I can't- aren't you- Amami-kun-" Saihara stammered. "Aren't you, you
know... together with Amami-kun?"
At first, Ouma looked at Saihara like he had grown a second head. Then, he
burst into an uncontrollable laughter. He fell on the bed beside Saihara,
laughing non stop. "Where did you get that idea?" Ouma got out in between fits
of laughter.
Saihara flushed. He had been so sure, and yet now that he thought about it he
could not pinpoint where he got the idea. He remembered something about Ouma
saying that he... liked Amami? Yes, that was it. "I thought you said Amami-kun
is your beloved."
Ouma smirked. "Is Saihara-chan jealous of Amami-chan? That's okay! I can make
Saihara-chan my beloved too!" His voice darkened, expression taking on a more
serious tone. "Unless Saihara-chan is actually homophobic?"
"No!" Saihara denied vehemently. "I- I'm actually bi myself." He flushed deeply
at the admission. Even though he had known for a long time that he was equally
attracted to both men and women, he had never openly admitted it to anyone
except his uncle. He never expect his first time coming out to be to defend
himself.
Slowly, a grin spread on Ouma's face. "Oh? This is interesting. So you should
have no qualms kissing me, right? Unless... you don't think I'm cute or worthy
of your kisses?" Upon saying that, Ouma's lower lip started to tremble and he
started to sniff dramatically.
As much as Saihara felt bad for making the other boy cry, he could not bring
himself to kiss him. He thought about Akamatsu, who visited him for an hour
after curfew every single day until she had to return to her room. "I'm sorry,
Ouma-kun. I think I like someone else," he replied honestly.
Almost immediately, Ouma's tears were gone, replaced with slight mirth. "Well,
at least you're not as dumb as Momota-chan. He actually kissed me."
"Huh?!" 
Ouma's eyes sparkled. "I know right? And he did it in front of Harukawa-chan
too. Unlike me and Amami-chan, they're an actual couple. Can you imagine
kissing another person in front of your significant other because they asked
you to? No wonder Harukawa-chan hates me so much." 
A portal opened in his room, and Amami was on the other side looking the most
furious he had even seen the other boy since he set foot in this Academy. "Ouma
Kokichi, I am sick of your shit. Get in the portal or you'll be late to talent
training."
"Eh?" Ouma cocked his head innocently, one hand on his chin. "I thought Amami-
chan isn't supposed to overuse his talent anymore."
"I wouldn't have to if you weren't such a pain in my ass," Amami said through
gritted teeth. Now that Saihara was aware of what the restraints did to Amami,
he could actually see them pulsing around Amami's arms and neck, as if they had
a life of their own. 
Not wanting Amami to be hurt even more, Saihara said, "Ouma-kun, go. Please."
Ouma held Saihara's gaze for a few seconds before nodding. "Well, if both my
beloveds are asking, I can't say no!" He leapt off Saihara's bed and stepped
into the portal, waving cheerily as the portal closed.
Saihara lay in bed, thinking about what happened earlier in the day. He could
still feel the phantom scalpels and hands digging around his insides, touching
him under his skin. But he forced those thoughts away from his mind with the
sound of Ouma's fake snoring and eventually fell asleep.
Chapter End Notes
     I'm going to downplay the gentleman aspect with Gonta because I find
     it annoying. I hate it. Gonta doesn't need to be a gentleman, he's
     pure enough as he is.
     The image of Momota being goaded into kissing Ouma is hilarious for
     some reason. "Why, Momota-chan, are you a chicken?" "I'LL SHOW YOU
     CHICKEN YOU LITTLE SHIT-"
End Notes
     [20180103: changed rating from 'mature' to 'explicit', added rape/
     noncon and underage into tags]
     [20180104: merged chapter 1 and chapter 2]
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