Mended Branch (DR3 x OC)

Chapter 1: I'm Back, Hope's Peak

It had been two months since the 77th class entrance ceremony of Hope's Peak Academy. Katsumi was busy at work in the school lab, her focus razor-sharp as she adjusted the dials of her microscope.

"No good..." she muttered to herself. "There doesn't seem to be a significant change..."

She blinked a few times, realizing how tired her eyes felt from staring for so long. She looked away from the microscope at the ceiling, then took out a pen to jot down some notes. When she set down her pen and went back over to the microscope, there was the sound of approaching footsteps, but she was barely paying attention to it.

A muffled and unfamiliar voice was talking. "5th floor... bio lab... Right around... here!"

Just as the voice said that, the door opened. Several people walked in.

"Hey, it's way too cold in here!" someone complained.

Most of the people were audibly shivering.

"Hirata-san!" the unfamiliar voice called out.

There was silence. Katsumi was too focused to notice her.

"Hirata-san!" she called out again. This time, it snapped her back.

Katsumi's head perked up. She was annoyed for a second, but the feeling quickly disappeared into confusion after noticing almost all her classmates in the back.

She stared at the source of the voice, an unfamiliar lady, from head to toe. Upon closer inspection, she couldn't have been older than her by too much, like someone fresh out of graduating high school. She had bright green eyes and orange hair tied in a high ponytail. There was a frilly white apron on her light blue dress.

Katsumi furrowed her brows in confusion. "Um... Who...?"

"I'm Yukizome Chisa and starting today, I'm going to be your assistant homeroom teacher!" the lady said. "I know you're working hard, but class has already started, so it's about time you joined us. How about it, Hirata-san?"

I thought we didn't need to attend class? But if she managed to get almost our entire class...

After a few seconds, Katsumi cautiously nodded. "...Okay."

"Great! Just three more!" Chisa exclaimed. "Maybe let's try him next!"

Three more?  So we're really rounding up everybody...?

"I-I'm freezing..." Katsumi heard Hiyoko grumble.

"Huh?"

Some people were borderline passed out on the ground, freezing, while others stood, shivering.

Ibuki hugged her arms. "N-N-Not even Ibuki can handle the cold. It's too much... She can only handle personalities."

Gundham was standing with his arms crossed as he closed his eyes in disapproval. "Even my four dark devas of destruction are slowly succumbing to the freeze state of this cursed cavern of pitch blackness..." The tiny heads of his hamsters could be seen poking out of his scarf, shivering.

I thought you all knew what you were doing when you entered this room...

"You mustn't think of it that way!" Nekomaru shouted at everyone, being the only one looking enthusiastic. "This cold temperature is a form of training! The longer, the better! COME ON! THIRTY MINUTES! THIS WILL BUILD RESILIENCE!"