"That's her—the last one. We'll need her, too."

"Her? Seriously?"

"Yeah. You've seen her on TV before, haven't you?"

"Yes, but… she looks different. It's because she's wearing the school uniform and she's not on camera, isn't it?"

"Mmhmm."

"It's strange to think of her as a normal high school girl. But I guess it's strange to think of any of these people as normal high schoolers."

"But it doesn't matter if they're normal or not. Remember why we're here. Don't start thinking of them as kids."

"Right, right. Just talents. Not kids. Not him, or her, or him, or her."

In the crowd watching the opening ceremony for Hope's Peak Academy, these whispers were just one conversation lost along the sea of many others.

The school auditorium was huge, especially compared to the cramped one in her local high school. Huge enough to fit teachers, parents, students, and a small army of reporters and other onlookers—you didn't need to be related to a student at Hope's Peak to be interested in their stories. Indeed, the audience for the commencement ceremony of the newest class numbered in the hundreds for a group of sixteen students...

Fortunately, large crowds like this were something she was already used to. The last one, she took her place at the center of the auditorium stage, head and shoulders just barely poking over the podium and microphone. A tall, middle-aged man stood next to her, giving an approving smile.

"Good afternoon. My name is Mochizuki Nanako." Her voice was surprisingly low-pitched for her small body, and she enunciated every word. "I'm sixteen years old, and this will be my first year at Hope's Peak. And I must say, this school is one of the most incredible things I've ever laid my eyes on—at least, in the realm of the living!"

That last line was delivered with everything short of an obvious wink, and the audience laughed politely. Nanako walked out from behind the podium, bowed deeply to them, then took her seat at the end of the row of chairs onstage, next to her classmates. No, this certainly hadn't been the largest crowd she'd ever addressed, nor the longest or most difficult thing she'd ever said in front of one-not by far. Still, though, she felt a bit frazzled… she was at Hope's Peak! After everything, she'd never imagined she would be here.

"Thank you, thank you. It's a privilege and an honor to be hosting the academy's very first Super High School Level Ghost Whisperer! Now, that concludes the end of our introductions. Let's hear it for our sixteen new students one last time!"

While she was calming her nerves, it seemed the tall man-the school's headmaster- taken the spot behind the podium. He beamed as the audience gave one last round of applause. "Thank you, thank you for coming! I have the privilege today of introducing not only these bright young minds, but myself as well. I graduated from this very academy seventeen years ago with my own bright future in robotics, and joined the teaching staff soon afterwards. Then, after working as an administrator up until last year, I was given the privilege to lead all the gifted students and staff members here…"

The headmaster was charismatic enough, and his excitement was undeniable, but Nanako could already tell this wasn't going to be a short or especially exciting commencement speech. That was fine-she didn't mind a little bit of time to look around. The hundreds of people filling the seats of the auditorium were the hardest to ignore, but she managed to sneak a few glances down the row of her classmates. Some were paying rapt attention, others were trying to, and at least one seemed to be losing a battle to sleep. Nanako couldn't blame them-between the wall of thank-you's and the well-meaning but awfully generic hopes for the future of this upcoming class, she couldn't help but tune the speech out herself.

That was, until the headmaster used the phrase field trip. Nanako-and many of her classmates, she noticed-suddenly perked up at this relevant and far more interesting information.

"...About an hour north of our fine school, it's one of the oldest educational institutions in Japan. In fact, it dates back to the Heian Period! We hope this trip will give our students the opportunity to appreciate the vast history and importance of education in this country. And afterwards, we'll be visiting the city's flower park for a cherry blossom viewing, to help the class form the important bonds of friendship that will be guiding them throughout their own education here." At that, the headmaster turned back to the row of students, nearly all of whom showed their approval in some polite way that very much hinted a field trip sounded far better than sitting up here for much longer.

And he seemed to realize that. The headmaster gave his final round of congratulations to the students, their families, the staff, and just about everyone else in the auditorium, then moved to the back of the stage as the audience began to pour out of the auditorium.

"Thank you for your patience. We're going to wait until security has cleared out most of the audience," the headmaster said, addressing the restless group of students. "A simple measure to make sure we aren't mobbed by fans and reporters, that's all. In the meantime, you can all stand up and stretch your legs before being escorted to the living spaces."

Chatter broke out among the students. A few jumped to their feet the second they were allowed to do so, while others lounged in their chairs, finally free of most of the prying eyes of the audience.

Nanako still sat in her chair, swinging her short legs as she continued to look around. Hope's Peak, Hope's Peak... if nothing else, the school surely lived up to its name in size, something that became even clearer as the auditorium emptied and the few stragglers near the back of the room were left stark against the sea of empty chairs.

"Hey, Mochizuki-san?" The classmate sitting next to her nudged her shoulder and nodded towards a pair of people moving rapidly down the main aisle of the auditorium, straight towards the stage. "Who do you think those people are?"

"Reporters, I guess. The headmaster did warn us about them." They were something she was used to, given the nature of her own life spent on TV. "They're a little weird, though. Usually they'd have cameras or something to record our voices with, or... something to write with...?" Weird was coming unprepared. Sketchy was slipping past crowd-controlling security and walking towards the stage. Concerning was doing both, while the headmaster didn't even seem to realize they were approaching. The student next to her stood up, and she did the same, and... then, she wasn't quite sure.

Nanako didn't remember much after that.

Gone, but Not Forgotten Cast List

Asami Kurogane, SHSL Roller Derby Skater (Crimson Spider Lily)
Asuka Shimizu, SHSL Tutor (AnonChan1)
Henry Wilson, SHSL Historian (aidanator800)
Hinawa Hikaru, SHSL Sniper (irwegwert)
Hyun-ki Kennedy, SHSL Chemist (Monokenny and Benji)
Ichika Watari, SHSL Stained Glass Artist (Crimson Spider Lily)
Musubu Kaminaga, SHSL Sleuth (TheRoseShadow21)
Nanako Mochizuki, SHSL Ghost Whisperer (Treeja)
Nelly Hitotsuki, SHSL Antiquarian (mayurie)
Nozomi Tachibana, SHSL Shrine Maiden (Lupus Overkill)
Saito Himitsu, SHSL Conspiracy Theorist (liammarklh88)
Shin'ichi Katou, SHSL Showrunner (Richard Conway)
Tsumugu Kaminaga, SHSL Science Journalist (TheRoseShadow21)
Viktoriya Vikhrov, SHSL Podpolkóvnik/Lieutenant Colonel (vixo)
Yuki Tempura, SHSL Itamae (Abitat Eco)
Yusei Shiroma, SHSL Thanatologist (Maestro Infinite)

Thank you so much to everybody who sent in characters, whether they ended up in the story or not! There were a lot of close decisions to make, especially near the end of the submission period—I genuinely enjoyed every character I received!