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The Academy of Hope 2.0

Chapter 8: Too Grand For Me

Summary:

Makoto finds himself in a pretty stressful situation, only to be saved by the most unexpected of individuals.

Notes:

Hello again, everyone! Here is the eighth chapter of this story! I hope you like it!

(See the end of the chapter for more notes.)

Chapter Text

 

Chapter Eight: Too Grand For Me

12th of March, 2011

"Naegi-kun?"

The Ultimate Lucky Student turned around.

"H-Huh?"

A middle-aged man approached Makoto, followed by a few of his peers. "I hope we aren't bothering you, Naegi-kun. We are from TBS News, and we were wondering if you could grant us a few minutes of your time for a quick interview?"

Makoto's eyes immediately widened in terror, and his face turned as white as a sheet. "W-What...?" He noticed the camera pointed right at him. He panicked when he saw his own reflection in the lens. A-Am I being filmed right now?!

"I promise, it won't be long. We would just like to hear from this year's Ultimate Lucky Student, that's all," the journalist said, obviously trying to win Makoto over. At this moment, though, the boy only cared to understand what was happening. "Oh, and if this is what you are worried about, you are not being filmed right now. We are currently on a commercial break."

His sigh of relief was heard throughout the entire gym. Makoto thought his heart was about to burst out of his chest for a moment! Putting him through this was nothing short of cruel.

"O-Oh, um..." How do I say this without being rude...? He wondered, trying to find a nice way to turn the journalist down. After all, he had approached him pretty nicely, and Makoto didn't have it in him to downright tell him to go away. Not that it was in his nature, anyway. The poor man was just doing his job. He had just happened not to choose the best guest inside the room. "I-I'm not sure my opi-"

The man laughed. "Do not worry, Naegi-kun! Your opinion does matter! Perhaps more than anyone else's! The general public doesn't know you, so they're curious to hear your thoughts! Your story is likely to be more relatable!"

Hey, if you're not going to give me a choice, then there was no need to ask in the first place! Makoto thought, wanting to roll his eyes. Honestly, the only reason he didn't was to not look impolite. He took a deep breath, hesitantly saying, "A-Alright, then... I, uh... guess I don't mind..." What am I doing...?

"Excellent! Filming team, we're live in five... four... three..."

W-Woah, hold on! Makoto waved his hands around. A-At least give me time to get ready!

"...two... one..." With that, the journalist's face did a sort of reset as he extended his microphone toward Makoto. "Thank you for joining us on TBS News. We have a special guest in this hourly news report with Makoto Naegi-kun, Hope's Peak Academy's new Ultimate Lucky Student. Good morning, Naegi-kun!"

I-I'm on freaking TV! What *is* happening?! "G-Good morning..." Makoto answered, incapable of neither not stuttering nor calming himself down. He knew he looked like a mess in front of possibly thousands of people, and there was nothing he could do about it! And, well... it was too late to run away now, wasn't it...?

"So, Naegi-kun... What are your first thoughts about Hope's Peak Academy? Any surprises so far?"

"U-Um... Y-Yes, plenty, actually," he replied. Ending up on a news channel being the biggest of them all... He thought wryly, trying to hide his gulp.

The journalist nodded with a level of enthusiasm that was far from being matched on the boy's side. "Were you perhaps surprised to meet some of the absolute celebrities who'll be your classmates here? I assume anyone would be, correct?"

"Y-Yes..."

Makoto thought that if he kept his answers brief and to the point, he could save himself a good deal of embarrassment. After all, it lowered his odds of saying something dumb, so his reasoning was sound. It broke his heart to give the journalist such poor material to work with, but it was also his fault for not allowing him some time to prepare!

"Oh, Naegi-kun! There you are!"

The Ultimate Lucky Student couldn't help but turn around as he heard his name being called from behind him. Whoever it was, they were being pretty passionate about it, too. His eyes widened once again as he noticed a familiar blue-haired girl walking in his direction, waving at him.

"Hello, Mister Journalist! I'm sure you don't mind if I take a little bit of screentime, do you?"

"W-What the...?" Makoto stared at the girl, gaping as he realized just who was standing next to him. "M-Maizono-san?!"

"I-I can't believe it...! V-Viewers at home watching TBS News... t-this is truly the one and only Sayaka Maizono! Sayaka Maizono has just joined us!"

The journalist looked even more surprised than Makoto, freaking out for all the viewers to see. Makoto figured this was a pretty big deal for a TV channel. After all, the Ultimate Pop Sensation, of all people, had casually joined him in front of the camera, showing the viewers an angelic smile.

Who wouldn't freak out?

"Hello, everyone!" Sayaka greeted, waving at the camera. "I have come here to answer a few questions for TBS News! I'm sure you don't mind, Mister Journalist?"

W-What is she doing?! Makoto wondered bewilderedly. Then, Sayaka briefly looked at him and gave him a quick wink. W-Wait, is she covering for me?! Before he could find an answer to this question, the cameras were pointed away from him and exclusively at the pop star. Quite a relief. D-Did Maizono-san... just save me from a TV interview...?

Standing there in disbelief, Makoto watched as Sayaka took over him, answering the journalist's questions with more ease than he could ever hope to have. Her voice didn't waver even once. Meanwhile, the boy still couldn't move, unable to comprehend what had just happened.

Well, whatever it was... I'm 10,000% grateful! He thought, watching as his new classmate wholly captured the media team's attention. Makoto guessed the channel was observing a spike in viewers just about now. She's so comfortable; no surprises there... He chuckled.

The boy had to admit it made him feel slightly honored that she remembered who he was from when the Headmaster did his roll call. She had called him Naegi-kun, after all. His name wasn't yet quite as well-known as hers – and Makoto wasn't exactly complaining about that.

I should really wait for her and thank her... The Ultimate Lucky Student thought, nervous at the mere thought of talking to such a bright star. Honestly, he did feel a little inferior to her. 'Little' may have been the understatement of the century, too.

He looked around, noticing some of his classmates were starting to leave the gymnasium. For instance, Kyoko was nowhere to be seen. Now that he knew she was a detective, Makoto wasn't as surprised she gave off such mysterious vibes. It reminded him of the detectives in movies.

"And this concludes our interview with Sayaka Maizono-san, the one and only Ultimate Pop Sensation! Thank you so much for granting us some of your precious time, Maizono-san!"

"Oh, this is nothing!" Sayaka flashed a peace sign at the camera. "Have a nice day, everyone!"

With those final words, she stepped out of the camera's range, scratching her temple. She flashed Makoto a sheepish smile, walking over to him.

"Talk about a surprise interview!" she said, giggling. "Hello, Naegi-kun!"

"M-Maizono-san...! I-I... T-Thank you!"

Makoto bowed, making the girl gasp. "N-No need to bow to me, Naegi-kun! I helped because I saw you looked a little uncomfortable out there!" She giggled again, putting her hand in front of her mouth. "Anything for a former student of Blackroot Junior High!"

"W-What...? D-Did you just...?" He had to make sure he had heard that right. For a moment, Makoto thought his ears were playing tricks on him.

"Yeah, I remember you went to Blackroot Junior High, Naegi-kun!"

"Y-You do?!"

"Of course! You were in Class 2! I remember that day when you rescued that crane that got lost! This was so kind of you, Naegi-kun!"

Makoto's brain had to browse through his memories to remember that. Eventually, though, it came back to him. With Sayaka's words came a subtle blush on the boy's cheeks. "I... can't believe you remembered that, Maizono-san..." She sure has a great memory...

"Indeed! My memory's one of my greatest strengths!"

"W-Wait..." I... didn't say that last part aloud, did I...?

"Nope, you didn't! I'm just psychic, Naegi-kun!"

Makoto said nothing for a moment. He had to make sure he got his thoughts in order. First off, he was currently chatting with the Sayaka Maizono, one of Japan's brightest young stars. Komaru adored her, and Makoto would be lying to himself if he denied having had a tiny little crush on her back in middle school.

Second, said star remembered him from something random he had done years ago! Of the thousands of people she had probably met since then, she recalled who he was – him, Makoto Naegi! The average Joe personified!

Last but not least, she was reading his thoughts!

"I am so confused right now..."

"No, I'm just kidding! I just have great intuition!"

Y-You do, huh...? Here's something that wasn't written all over the web... Makoto thought, unwilling to admit he had spent more than his fair share of time trying to learn more about the pop star. She was undoubtedly the person he had looked into the most out of his fifteen classmates.

"Anyway, I'm happy to meet you again, Naegi-kun!" Sayaka said, showing Makoto her smile. "I didn't know you would be attending Hope's Peak! And as the Ultimate Lucky Student, no less! Having such great luck must be sooooo nice!"

Makoto sweatdropped. "I, uh... I don't mean to disappoint you, Maizono-san, but I don't actually possess any type of Ultimate Luck..." he admitted, his voice a tad shameful. Excellent way of being reminded of why I'm not in Maizono-san's category... "I'm just an average person. My optimism is my only remarkable trait, and that's it."

"Aw, don't say that Naegi-kun!" the blue-haired gently scolded. "I'm sure you have plenty of great qualities, even if luck is not one of them! Your kindness, for one!"

"Y-You..." The boy felt more blood rise to his cheeks. "Y-You mean that...?"

"Well, that's the first impression I'm getting, anyway," Sayaka said with a shrug. "And I'm never wrong with my first impressions, mind you, Makoto!"

W-Wait, first-name basis already?! Makoto's eyes widened. "W-Well, um... t-thanks, Maizono-san..."

"You're welcome, Makoto!" She giggled, realizing what had the boy so worked up. "Oh, sorry, should have asked before calling you by your first name, Naegi-kun!"

"I-It's alright, Maizono-san... I-I don't mind..." Sayaka Maizono is talking to me so casually... She's so approachable even though I'm a complete nobody...

"You shouldn't think that about yourself, Makoto! You're not a nobody! At least, not anymore! After all, you're a student of Hope's Peak Academy!"

Oh, right, the mindreading thing... "I-I appreciate that, Maizono-san..." Suddenly, a lightbulb lit up above Makoto's head. "O-Oh, by the way! I-I absolutely need to ask you something, Maizono-san!"

Sayaka rolled her eyes amusingly. "I'll sign you one later, don't worry."

"H-Huh?"

"Trust me, I don't need any psychic abilities to figure out when someone wants an autograph, Makoto," she carried on. "I'll sign you as many as you need."

Yeah, I guess that makes sense. Maizono-san must have signed at least a million autographs since she started her career... "Thanks a lot! My sister is a huge fan of your idol group and collects all the merchandise she can find! She'd be the happiest girl in the world!"

The Ultimate Pop Sensation smiled, and so did Makoto. When he had told Komaru that he would get her an autograph from her favorite idol, the Ultimate Lucky Student had yet to come up with how he would do this. After all, he was nervous about stepping inside Hope's Peak, let alone talking to the most famous student.

It seemed things had decided to go his way for once. Maybe he was a little lucky in the end.

"Hey, Sayaka!"

To be continued...

Notes:

I hope you enjoyed this chapter! Of course, the end of Chapter Seven was slightly misleading and was meant to let the reader suppose that it was Sayaka who had called out to Makoto. Well, she did appear in the same chapter, so I suppose it was pretty close. Who do you think spoke that last line, though? I'd be curious to hear your guesses. Until the next chapter, please leave a comment, and I hope you all have a nice day!