Hope’s Peak Academy.

The place where the brightest talents of the nation come to study so they can be nurtured into the country’s future stars. Where those who will lead and drive our nation forward are placed and driven to improve their already vast array of abilities. Where the shining beacons of hope of our generation are made to shine even brighter.

This is the story of how such a place came to an end.

A story of hope and despair. 

Truth and lies.

Trust and betrayal.

A twisted tale of irony that can only end one way.

So let’s laugh and cry together, at the tragedy of Hope’s Peak.

///

“Beep~Beep”

The first noise that greets Izumi in a fine morning of spring is not the sound of chirping birds or the laughing of children, but the annoying familiar sound of his good ol’ friend: the alarm clock.

Out of every piece of technology ever conceived by the human mind, there’s none than the alarm clock. An invention made to wake you up right on the time you need it to, but never at the time you want. It’s a running gag in shows for students such as Izumi to punch and break their alarm clocks and pay dearly for it afterwards by being late to class. Of course, Izumi ain’t such a brute that would go around breaking clocks when waking up just so he could continue sleeping. He had standards.

Besides, alarm clocks cost money, money that he was not willing to waste stupidly by breaking his recently bought clock due to his other one breaking.

“Ugh.” With a groan, he awakens and sees the time. It’s about 6:15 AM. His new school entrance ceremony is set to start at 8:00 AM. He had spare time, more than enough to get ready and get to school without rushing. 

As he gets ready, allow me to introduce him. His name is Aozora Izumi.

Aozora Izumi - The Protagonist

Izumi is an ordinary student. His appearance was average in every sense of the word. Nothing remarkable, not what you could call pretty, but not in any way ugly. He had short black hair and silver eyes, his height was average as well, being about 5ft 8, the average height of a japanese man. He wasn’t athletic, but he also wasn’t unathletic. He didn’t have muscles but he did exercise occasionally, priding himself particularly on his running speed. 

His most distinctive feature was the double ahoge coming out of his head. Ever since his first few strands of hair grew, these two little devils would always stick out like a sore thumb, no matter how many hair products he tried to use. Many of his friends said it was his only remarkable characteristic, saying they might forget his name but never the double ahoge.

If anyone on his school was to be asked their impression off Izumi, they would answer with a resounding:

“He seems normal.”

What many never noticed about him, is that Izumi wasn’t just normal. 

He was incredibly normal. 

Izumi was humanity’s most mediocre. Almost as if he was chosen by God to demonstrate just how average a human being could be. His whole school life he always went unnoticed as the wind, no matter if he skipped multiple days of school, nobody missed him or was curious about what he had done. His teachers treated him with indifference, and his classmates even more so. He wasn’t bullied or friendless, just uninteresting. At least that was the consensus on him…Or so it was…until a few days ago.

Before spring break, as he was hanging out with some of the few friends he had in school, he suddenly received a call from his mother. Imagine the surprise on his face when she started talking, her voice inexplicably tense and high-pitched as if she was barely containing herself. She sounded completely desperate, like she wanted him to come back home that instant. At first he was scared, did something urgent happen? Was his father sick? Or worse, his sister?!

He quickly made his way towards his home using his bicycle. After ten minutes straight pedalling with all his strength he finally arrived. He was sweaty, tired and desperate to know what had happened due to the urgence of his mother’s tone. So imagine his surprise when she received him with an excited smile that just screamed happiness. He was weirded out, didn’t something bad happen?

His doubts were answered, when his father with a satisfied smile passed him a letter. The letter in itself was normal, nothing remarkable about it, except for one small detail. Its emblem.

The emblem was that of winged shield wearing a crown, in it were graved drawings of a fountain pen and a wing resembling a bat. There was no mistaking that symbol. All aspiring students and parents with big aspirations for their children knew about it. He himself didn’t believe in what he was seeing. 

It was none other than Hope’s Peak Academy emblem.

And it wasn’t just a simple letter, but an actual invitation. Hope’s Peak, the biggest school in the country, possibly one of the biggest in the whole world, had invited him. HIM. As one of its students.

He stood there frozen in place, trying to digest the information. He didn’t know what to say. Before he could even control himself, as his parents talked excitedly about the letter, he spoke the first two words that came to mind.

“Hell no.” 

The words weren’t spoken in a strange, ancient alien language which no human or sentient being couldn’t understand, but the way his parents looked at him made it seem as if he was speaking a mix of Ancient Greek, Latin, and gibberish, all in one.

That’s how weird the words that fell off his mouth felt to the parents, and to any other listener that lives in Japan. After all, we are talking about Hope’s Peak, Japan’s most prestigious and coveted high school. What kind of asinine moron would say no to such an opportunity?

The answer? Izumi.

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As stated before, Izumi is as normal as normal can be. Unremarkable and forgettable. What many people don’t know is that he actually likes that. He likes being the background character number 3. He likes that people don’t stick their nose into his business. He likes not having attention directed at him. He likes being normal. He not just likes it, he LOVES it.

So being picked by Hope’s peak Academy as a student is nothing short of nightmarish to him. A threat to his normal daily life. The last thing he ever wanted. A curse disguised as a gift. He had made up his mind the moment he read the letter, no matter what his parents said, no matter how much they protested it he wouldn’t accept it!

“If you don’t accept it we’ll kick you out of the house.”

He accepted. It’s just a school, right? How bad can it be?

…He just jinxed, didn’t he?

///

The last few days were hectic to say the least. Many of his classmates and teachers who previously ignored him now paid close attention to him, like some sort of zoo animal. His closest friends tried to stop the situation from escalating, but not even that was enough. Most were curious about how he cheated to get in. Offensive, but he couldn’t blame them. He probably…No. Actually he wouldn’t care if that happened to someone else.

He almost died of relief when spring break hit and he didn’t need to worry about his classmates annoying him over it. He spent his break with his sister and family as he prepared to move out of the house to the school’s dormitory. He said his goodbyes to his parents the day before and slept in a hotel owned by his uncle for the night. Which brings us back to him, now standing before the so-called greatest school in the country after his leisurely morning.

“So, this is the place, huh?”

Towering over every other building in the middle of the metropolitan area was a massive and imposing structure that looked like the mix of a normal school, to something that came straight from a sci-fi novel.

Izumi, however, couldn't help but look at the building not with awe but annoyance. He didn’t want to be here, he just wanted to be at his house with his precious younger sister, playing games together and laughing, but nooooo. He has to go into the equivalent of Harvard for highschoolers. Why is life so unfair? Couldn’t they have chosen another schmuck who actually gives a damn about the place?

‘sigh Whatever.’ It is what it is. No use crying over spilled milk. Besides, he would be lying if he said he wasn’t curious at all. 

The biggest school in the country, Hope’s Peak. A 

government funded academy known for its unique appliance process, which is to say, none. It’s impossible to apply to the school, instead, the school scouts its students themselves, searching far and wide for the country’s greatest talents so they can handpick them and put them into their school so they can foster their talent in order to create ‘hope’. 

These students are nicknamed ‘Ultimates’, and as their name suggests, they are the very best in what they do. Trumping those of the same age and even some adults in their respective areas. Izumi thought it was quite over-the-top, but he couldn’t deny the results. Last year an ex-student from the academy who was known as the Ultimate Physicist created an air-purifier that basically rid the world of air-pollution. According to the news, 'air was never fresher’, which is to say it felt the same. 

Izumi had to admit, the school had a pretty big history of accomplishments under its belt, and although he never wanted to be here, he had to at least look at it from the bright side. Graduating from Hope’s Peak makes it guaranteed that he could enter any college in the country, heck, maybe even the world. Something he would be dum- well, dumber to not make use of.

After all, Izumi was a boy of many dreams, ambitious dreams, dreams bigger than anyone else. For there was nothing more that Izumi wished for in his life than to be a freeloader. Someone who did not and wouldn’t work, for he didn’t need a job or pay for anything, be it food or taxes, as others would work and pay it for him. All he would need to do was stay in the comfort of his home, preferably a mansion, and play games, watch movies and read books until he died. Never having to step out or put any effort until his resting days. Now that would be the life.

Of course he knew such a dream was impossible, as he wasn’t rich nor would he ever be. But hey, there’s no cost to dreaming. And who knows, maybe Hope’s Peak might actually make it possible. Probably not? Probably not, but it’s the thought that counts. 

Izumi stepped inside the school, showing his ID to the burly security guard at the gate who was busy gruffing to himself. He couldn’t blame the guy, I mean, he is just the security guard for the biggest, and possibly, richest school in the country, it’s not like he has no reasons to gruff, especially if he has to take care of smelly, dirty walking hormone bombs that are teenagers.

In case you haven’t noticed, Izumi was being sarcastic.

“Geez, no matter where you are, there will always be those who hate their jobs. Even the well-paid ones.” He mused to himself, already far away from the guard and heading inside the school. Izumi wore a grey hoodie with orange details, large black jeans, and his signature black headphones hanging from his neck. 

Passing through the entrance he once again couldn’t help but internally remark on the size of the school. Grand didn’t even begin to cover the sheer enormity of the place. He was sure he would be lost the first few days, though nothing like some exploring wouldn’t help, especially since he would live here now. 

Hope’s Peak makes it obligatory for the students to live on campus. They could still get out and stroll through the city, but they would need to live and sleep here in what they called a ‘communal school life’. He wasn’t new to the concept, but he sure wasn’t happy with it.

He had a firm belief that if hell was real, it would be middle school camping trips. Especially if the students must make their own lunch. He still remembered the apocalyptic post-lunch, nicknamed jokingly as ‘Green Day’. The less said, the better.

As he moved through the empty corridors in the direction of the gym, Izumi noticed another detail of the school. How empty it was. Yes the place is big, but it also felt…desolate. He would even say it was off-putting. This didn’t surprise him, especially considering there were less than fifty students who were approved this year. Despite that, what made it all so unnerving was again, the place’s size. It was big, bigger than any school he ever laid his feet on, but it was also  remarkably devoid of life. 

Honestly, it was kind of depressing. It makes all the hype surrounding the place feel…meaningless.

‘Oh well, nothing that can be done. And hey! Maybe this place will surprise me!’

What he didn’t know is that indeed this place would surprise him. Just not in a positive way.

///

He arrived at the entrance ceremony at about 7:45 AM, he didn’t really rush as he wasn’t in a hurry like many others to arrive. The gym had multiple chairs around the place, each section separated between first years, second years and third years. He was surprised to see himself be one of the last students to arrive, as only a couple others seemed to take their time. He sat in one of the chairs in the last row. Normally he would sit up at a middle row and put on his headphones without being noticed, but since he was one of the last to arrive, he didn’t have much of a choice. As the staff started to come to the stage, he saw that like most staff from powerful and rich places, it’s entirely composed of old, white men with faces that screamed ‘we are superior to you’. 

‘Glad to see humanity not changing its core values, and sticking to them no matter how wrong they are.’

As the clock hit 8:00 AM, it was finally time for the opening speech of the school, aka, the time when old geezers come forward to spell flowery words of how different, unique and talented we all are. And would you look at that? That’s exactly what happens. Each one speaks for what felt like eternity, enough to make Izumi want to take a nap there and screw the consequences. He was very close, but something caught his eye. Well, not one, but two.

The first one was on his left. It was a tall, white haired boy wearing a hooded green overcoat with skin so pale you might as well have thought he came straight out of a morgue. And he was…crying?

“Sniff~sniff. Such a beautiful speech.” 

‘Hello? Did we hear the same person?’ The guy who just came off the stage was an old man with a pronounced belly who just gave one of the most offensively boring speeches he ever heard. He could probably win an award from how wonderfully boring his oratory was.

Deciding to observe the white haired boy, Izumi quickly concluded he was crazy. The way his eyes constantly shone with tears from every monotonous speech delivered on stage was a dead give away. All of them speaking of the greatness of us, Ultimates, and how we are the true hope of this world and our generation. Izumi had nothing against the speeches themselves, they were fine, albeit a bit offensive towards normal students, but since this was the top school of the country and they were mostly hyping them up, he could stomach it. What he could not fathom was how the boy stuck to every word they said as if they just recited a sermon comparable to a prophet. They, a Committee Board from a high school that was entirely composed of rich, old men.

‘I don’t know what he sees in them, and I sure as hell don’t want to know.’

That wasn’t the end though as the one on his right was just as weird, but for a whole different reason. He had pink hair covered by a beanie, a thuggish-looking face and wore a yellow jumpsuit that could only be described as offensive to the eyes, and he was stuck looking not at the stage or even paying attention to any speeches, but rather a girl. His gaze was solely focused on a girl with blonde hair a few rows ahead of them. Now, don’t get Izumi wrong, he could appreciate a fine beauty just like any other man, but gawking at a girl so hard to the point you were drooling without noticing, and with such overwhelming emotion in your gaze you could almost taste it? 

‘Someone needs to turn the creepo alert over here.’

“-and that’s all we have to say. Now, please welcome the esteemed headmaster of Hope’s Peak Academy. Kirigiri Jin.”

“Hm?” Izumi stopped paying attention to the lunatics to take a look at the man who entered the stage. He was a tall, composed man with eyes as sharp as a hawk. His short dark-purple hair was spiky, but not disorderly.

The man overlooked all first year students, his eyes scanning each and every one of us, and by the end his eyes settled on one person: me. 

He looked at Izumi for a couple of seconds as a small smirk formed on his face.

‘Why is he smiling at me like that? And why do I suddenly feel chills down my spine?’

“Talent. An interesting word. A simple word. A word that is used arbitrarily by many parents in their houses when praising their kids.” He paused.

“Talent is what defines Hope’s Peak. Its founder, Kamakura Izuru, created this academy close to a century ago with only one objective in mind: hope. He wanted to train and nurture the most talented and gifted of the younger generation, so they could take our country, and as a consequence humanity, to new heights. Talent for this institution is not just a mere word, it’s what defines it. It’s what makes this high school so special among all of them. And you students are the very definition of it. This school will test you all so you may reach your maximum potential and make your talents bloom even more. So, without further ado, I just have one last thing to say that to you new students.

“Welcome to Hope’s Peak.”