Sunlight Under the Stars

One: Ultimate Detective

Getting accepted into Hope's Peak Academy was a complete shock, and even though it's a dream come true for most kids my age, I can't say I really know how to feel. It's not because people have been discouraging me or anything. My parents actually took me on one of their overseas trips to celebrate, and my few friends from middle school were really happy for me. And it's not like I'm ungrateful, either. This opportunity is more than I ever could've asked for. I shouldn't have anything to complain about. Once you get accepted into Hope's Peak, you're set for life. I should be the happiest teen in the world.

I just... don't deserve it. I mean, I'm supposed to be the Ultimate Detective, but I'm not even an actual detective! I'm just in training. Not to mention, the only somewhat important case I've ever solved completely ruined someone's life. All I can do is solve smaller, easier mysteries that any amateur could do like infidelity. If I try to do anything more, I just mess it up.

The title of Ultimate Detective shouldn't be going to me. It should be going to someone who doesn't destroy lives every time they try to find the truth. I don't deserve this spot. I'm stealing it from someone who could actually help people. I contacted Hope's Peak and tried to give the position back, but they insisted. Why can't they see what happens whenever I try to do the right thing?
As I make my way to class, it's obvious just from looking around that I don't belong here. All around me, there are people with completely harmless talents that they couldn't hurt people with if they tried, like Ultimate Cook or Ultimate Musician. There are people who could definitely hurt someone without much effort, like the Ultimate Gymnast or Ultimate Martial Artist, but are well-trained enough in their skill to never do it unless they actually want to. There are even talents like Ultimate Yakuza and Ultimate Biker Gang Leader that probably couldn't be used to help anyone, but that's okay because it wasn't their intention in the first place. All these talents, so overflowing with hope, can do exactly what they're supposed to do absolutely flawlessly. And then there's me. Me, Shuichi Saihara, the Ultimate Detective who can't solve a case without generating despair.

Almost walking into a wall makes me realize that I'm probably not even going the right way. I was so out of it while I was thinking that I completely forgot I was supposed to be headed to homeroom. Way to observe your surroundings, Mr. World's Greatest Detective. A few seconds later, the unmistakable sound of a school bell rings through the now empty hallways. Somehow, I've managed to be late on my first day.

Suddenly wishing that I had made any effort to exercise in middle school, I take off for the hallway the scrap of paper I'm frantically glancing back at tells me I need to get to. Naturally, my homeroom is all the way across the massive school. According to the map clutched in my other hand, I'm not even halfway there when I collapse on the ground. If there was actually a class schedule here, I'd probably be swept up in a crowd of students making their way to first period by now. Mortifying.

As I slowly get to my feet, I realize that I'm not the only one who's late for class. A feminine pant and rapid footsteps are increasing in volume, and I turn around to spot a beautiful girl with long blonde hair and a radiant pink uniform jogging down the hall towards me. When she spots me, she seems to relax a little and slows down to catch her breath. "Hey!" Her shout echoes down the hall, and she looks around, seeming a little embarrassed by how loud it was. With a nervous and yet somehow confident laugh, she starts walking again, stopping a few feet away from me. "Are you late for class too?"

"I know. What kind of idiot is late on their first day?" I try to play it off as a joke but probably just end up sounding angsty and depressed.

Thankfully, though, she doesn't ask me if I'm okay or anything. She just giggles. "Us, I guess." Almost reflexively, she pokes some protruding sheet music into her backpack. "The music room is all the way across the school from my homeroom, and I guess I just lost track of time."

"So, you're a musician, then?" As if that needed to be asked, what with her music note hairclip and sheet music and LOSING TRACK OF TIME IN THE MUSIC ROOM. Get it together, Shuichi. "What instrument do you play?"

Byher expression, it's obvious that she's passionate about it. Her face lights upa little and she smiles so brightly that I can't help but lift up the brim ofmy hat to look her in the eyes. "Piano," she says, almost but not quitedreamily. As if only just noticing the way she had sounded, a few secondslater, her enchanted smile dissolves into a slightly embarrassed one. "Yeah,I'm kind of a Piano Freak. Anyway, I'm Kaede Akamatsu, the Ultimate Pianist.Nice to meet you!"

(Author's Note: why the fuck did I publish this. Why do I do this to myself.)