Disclaimer: I don't own Umineko no Naku Koro ni, that belongs to the genius Ryukishi07, but I own everything/every character in this fanfic that isn't in Umineko :)

This arc is dedicated to ThebloodyDevina, who is my "inspiration" for this arc ;) First chapter's finally up, Devina!

Arc 1: The Usuals

Chapter 1: The Side of St. Lucia Ange Never Saw

"Good morning!"

"Good morning~"

"…Good morni – "

"I wasn't talking to you."

Ushiromiya Ange flinched. Anyone could see that the girls' giggles cut through her like knives; she should've known better than to think someone was actually talking to her. The school loner. The girl with the weird hair bobbles that weren't right for her age, the person with absolutely no one to eat with during lunch. Who no one would even want to eat with for lunch.

The absolute outcast.

"Ushiromiya-san?"

Out of nowhere, a short, blue haired girl appeared in front of her.

(—I think I've seen her somewhere before, she looks kind of familiar—)

Why can't these people just leave Ushiromiya alone? What did they get out of being mean to her every single day? Or were they all really sadists?

"Do you want to eat with lunch with us today? My friends would ask too but they're too shy—they're afraid you'd flat out refuse." The girl grinned. An attempt at friendship, or a display of sadism?

"If you have friends then you don't need me there," said the loner, and quickly turned away. Poor girl. I wouldn't be mean to her if I ever came across her, but she would probably be mean to me. She's scary, that's why no one likes her. Or maybe she's scary because no one likes her…

Girls can go to great lengths to make someone's life miserable. Maybe that's why most of my friends are guys. They aren't nearly as confusing. I don't remember for the life of me why I chose to go to an all girls' school in the first place…

"I told you it would be hopeless. She'd make our lunchtime all gloomy anyway." A black haired girl had come up from behind Blue Girl and casually started talking with her as they meandered towards my direction. Oh, right, they were both in my first period class, no wonder Blue Girl seemed familiar.

Blue Girl pouted. "Oh well. I thought she'd want to eat with someone for once. She's always sitting at the back of the school reading that diary of hers like it's the only thing that matters, while she can hear the laughter from the cafeteria loud and clear; isn't that torture?"

"Ha, she probably thinks you were just feeling sorry for her. She's the kind of person who thinks everyone hates her, when really, most of us couldn't care less. Just leave her alone, Arisa. Life's better without pathetic, cynical people like her. "

"Look who's talking, Lee Mei! You're the most cynical person I know! And it was your suggestion to ask Ushiromiya-san in the first place! Then you backed down at the last second because you were scared—"

"I was being sarcastic! Who wants to hang out with such a depressed person?" Lee smirked, "Arisa, you're really gullible, you know."

"I'm not gullible!" Arisa laughed back, their casual banter sounding so similar to the hateful giggles that had driven Ushiromiya away in the first place. It's creepy how some girls are so good at blurring the line between friendliness and bitchiness—

BAM!

"Hey! Watch where you're going!"

It was a bad idea to listen to other people's conversations when walking in a crowded hallway, hurrying to your first class of the day.

"I'm sorry!" The response automatically slips from my lips and I'm already bending down and picking up the textbooks and binders and loose papers and pencils and pens and who knows what else, the floor's a mess and no one's stopping to help me.

No one's stopping to help me?

I look up, frowning, only to see one of the most beautiful girls I have ever seen in my life. The kind that literally makes you sick with self-consciousness. I know I'm not pretty at all, which makes it worse.

And she's not helping to pick up her stuff, either.

I open my mouth to rebuke her about making me do all the work, but it sounds like a childish complaint. For a moment I hesitate, and the words come out stuttered.

"H-how come...you…you're not…"

"Hurry up," she snapped, "If I'm late for class, it'll be all your fault!"

Shocked at the venomous tone, I wordlessly hand over her things. She isn't so pretty on the inside, I guess.

"That was mean! She made you pick up everything like a servant. You okay?"

Arisa is suddenly standing over me. If she cared, why didn't she help me when everything was scattered?

"Yeah, I'm fine," I mumbled.

"I was going to help you, but people were rushing everywhere and when I finally reached you, Reiko-san was gone, so…we better get to class anyway. We are in the same class, right? Heh, sorry, I have really bad memory but thought you looked familiar. I'm Rusoko Arisa. What's your name?"

I relaxed a bit under her upbeat, cheerful attitude. Maybe she wasn't so bad after all.

"I'm Hikaru Arisu..."

A/N: Been working on this fic for a loooooong time, just haven't had the chance to start uploading it until now. I was planning to start putting this up AFTER my other fanfic, but the impatient side of me had other ideas, so here you go :D Also, the "M" rating won't kick in for a while, at least until most/all of the main characters are introduced.