Darkness... Death... Despair...

That was the way we were after that day. The day we lost our hope.

When we lost her...

We found a new hope. One that became the essence of our beings.

Despair was our new hope.

That day, the seeds of despair were planted in five areas.

The first: An energetic woman who used to teach us planted herself into the Future Foundation. Her seed grew into a man that vowed to eradicate despair. But instead, he only caused more.

The second: Five children who were saved by despair took the guise of hope and planted themselves into a town. Their seeds grew into a town full of death and ultra despair.

The third: This seed was special. Though this man was marked as despair, he was neither hope nor despair. He was a mere observer, watching to see which would win. Hope or despair. Little did he know, his seed had already grown. His seed grew inside him, yet he had no idea, because he could not feel it. He could not feel the despair of losing the most precious person to him, yet his body taunt him, crying for them, confusing this man when he stood over her body. Nevertheless, his seed had grown, so he observed the other seeds. The seeds of hope, and the seeds of despair.

The fourth: The embodiment of despair herself, and her sister. They were the seed themselves, and they were growing. Growing inside of a community built to preserve the hope of our lowerclassmen. Their seed would grow the fastest, but it would be the first to wilt.

The fifth: The fifth seed. This seed grew ever since that day. It grew the slowest, but it was the biggest seed. This seed spread despair all over the world, terrorizing the globe with its twisted roots.

We were that seed.

The 14 of us.

The Former Ultimates. The Former 77th Class of Hope's Peak Academy.

Well, most of it. There was another group, as well as a fifteenth of us, in that class, but they... well, let me say this.

The fifteenth of us ran. He ran away from the despair he caused. He was one of the key people in causing the Tragedy. Now he lives with that weight on his shoulders as he works for Future Foundation. Pitiful, really...

The first of the second group is the one closest to the embodiment of despair. Her boyfriend to be exact. She killed him. She killed him, plunging herself into more despair. Such an honor, to be a stepping stone for despair...

The second was an... acquaintance of those two. A small boy who enjoyed eating buns. He thought everything would be alright for him, but it wasn't. He died long before the Tragedy happened.

The third was the student council president. Oh, what a fate for him. He was the sole survivor of a killing game comprised of the student council. Though, that didn't spare him from his fate. The boyfriend of despair killed him. Ha. Pathetic.

And lastly, the fourth and final member of that group was a sister of one of our lowerclassmen. I heard she was part cyborg and considered herself a writing puppet. It didn't matter. The embodiment of despair wiped out her entire family, save our lowerclassmen. She was now dead.

But they did not matter to us. Us, the 14 official members of the Ultimate Despair.

The third seed, Izuru Kamukura, was simply an observer. The world labeled him despair, but we did not interact with him. We did not need to waste our time on such useless endeavors.

I suppose I should introduce us. Let me describe how we operate as well.

We are the Ultimate Despair. Our job... well, it's not really a job if we don't have to do it, but choose to do it, but our job is to spread despair.

Not many of us, such as Teruteru Hanamura, the Former Ultimate Chef, and a man only known as the Ultimate Imposter prefer to work alone, rarely speaking with us.

A select few have made alliances. The Former Ultimate Gymnast, Akane Owari, often paired with the Former Ultimate Team Manager, Nekomaru Nidai. Fuyuhiko Kuzuryu, the Former Ultimate Yakuza, is almost never seen without Peko Pekoyama, Former Ultimate Swordswoman, by his side. The two are nearly inseparable, and good luck if you try to step between them.

A small few follow the others. Mahiru Koizumi, Former Ultimate Photographer, frequently follows others to their deeds to take their picture. Most frequently Sonia Nevermind, Former Ultimate Princess, and Ibuki Mioda, Former Ultimate Musician, who is also often seen being joined by Hiyoko Saionji, Former Ultimate Traditional Dancer.

The other three don't always work alone, though. They sometimes work with the others by combining their talents. Gundam Tanaka, Former Ultimate Breeder, leads a dark army of animals. They sometimes assist Fuyuhiko and Peko in their battles. Kazuichi Souda, Former Ultimate Mechanic, helped build a camera for Mahiru that would brainwash those photographed by it into despair. Ah, putting the tactics of the embodiment of despair to use. Such a hopeful idea.

Then there was her... Former Ultimate Nurse, Mikan Tsumiki. Oh, she was overflowing with so much despair that it made my knees weak just watching her sometimes. She was no ordinary one. She was the first of us to become despair, and my how she has put her talent to use. Oh, I'm nearly drooling just thinking of all the things she has done...

And then there was me. Nagito Komaeda, Former Ultimate Lucky Student.

I'm a special case among the Ultimate Despair. Though despair does indeed flow through my veins, and oh how it feels so good, I have managed to keep a fragment of my old personality with me. That is why hope doesn't completely disgust me. Though it is a putrid concept, there is no hope without despair and no despair without hope. I can grasp that concept.

Consider this. Without despair, what reason is there to hope? Without despair, you can't hope to not experience it. Likewise, without hope, what reason is there to despair? If nothing will ever change for the better, why despair over it? The two are intertwined, never one without the other.

Take the Future Foundation for example. There is hope there. Makoto Naegi, the Ultimate Hope that defeated the embodiment of despair, Junko Enoshima. There is despair there too. Kyosuke Munakata. He believes in hope and eradicating despair, but he has no idea that deep inside, he is despairing for all that he's done.

There is more. Hope and despair, always together. The hope of Ruruka Ando and the despair of Seiko Kimura. The hope of Seiko Kimura and the despair of Ruruka Ando. The hope of Sonosuke Izayoi and the despair of Ruruka Ando. The hope of Koichi Kizakura. The despair of Ryota Mitarai. There is never only one.

Even now, at my current status, I am here, serving those who believe in hope, not knowing of the despair growing inside of them.

"Would you hurry up with our milkshakes already? You're the worst servant ever!" The pink haired girl and the red haired boy seemed to enjoy ridiculing me the most. This time the insult came from the girl.

"I'll be there in a moment," I said as I finished pouring the pink liquid into the glasses. Tray in hand, I ascended the steps to their meeting room.

Warriors of Hope. Ha. They know not of true hope or true despair.

But they will soon.