Prologue: Unexpected Turn of Events

I lived a life of solitude. I have a feeling that as soon as I was brought into this world, I was destined to go through life by myself. Darkness was my only friend, as well as the pain of being alone. I was seen as an outcast by those around me, shunned…

Ok, you know what? Screw this! If my fancy schmancy words weren't an indicator enough for you, I was a freaking loser with no friends, ok?! Laugh it up! Seriously, I don't understand how some of those assholes in anime could talk like that without cutting themselves from their own edge, I just don't get it!

Anyway, I'm writing in this journal because, well, as sappy as it might sound, I really needed to let out some steam. Ok, that was the right term. I needed some time to reflect on what's become of my stupid life. As much as preachers tell you that you need to tell someone, I don't have anyone to tell, nor do I think I would ever trust anyone enough to tell 'em all my problems.

I figured jotting down my words on paper would be a lot more effective for me. I don't intend to ever show this to anyone though, so I'm not sure why I'm writing this down as if anybody but me is going to read this. Maybe it's just my desperation for a friend…

Ok, where do I even begin…I guess it all started on that day, the day I went on my first date which was a week after I'd been confessed to. God, what a disaster that turned out to be…

(9:00am, Kuoh Academy Teacher's lounge)

"Unacceptable! Absolutely UNNACCEPTABLE!"

The balding man around his late 40s who appeared to be a teacher, slammed a piece of paper onto his desk as he faced the student standing in front of him. The young man didn't seem in the least bit intimidated by his teacher's glare, though he didn't return it as he kept his eyes to the floor, teeth grinding in annoyance.

The student was a young man of average height, his head was currently facing the floor, causing some of the bangs of his messy blonde hair to shadow over his sharp red eyes. He was wearing the standard Kuoh Academy male uniform, with the exception of the black ribbon as well as the first two buttons of his white button-down shirt being undone to reveal a black undershirt.

"Fuck's sake shut up, stop gabbing already!" he thought to himself in frustration as he so desperately wanted to voice it out but didn't want to risk the extra punishment. He was, in all honesty, completely tired of this lecture. Why couldn't this old man just give it up already?

"Junichiro Haruki! Are you even listening to me?!" The teacher slammed his fist onto the table once again, his face turning bright red with rage. His glare became even more intense as he continued to look at Kuoh Academy's biggest problem student, "Every day you arrive to school late and even then you have the audacity to sleep in your classes or just skip them all together! Not to mention, word has spread about you getting into scuffles with those brutes from Ishiyama High. Your tomfoolery will not be tolerated, do you hear me!?"

Haruki couldn't help but clench his fist in annoyance, "So what if I'm a little tardy? It's my damn life you old geezer! Not like I'm dragging anyone into my business…" he thought to himself, desperately holding back a sigh.

"What's with that face? Do you honestly think it's cool for you to misbehave like this?" The teacher ceased his yelling and instead let out an annoyed grunt. "Listen to me young man, acting like this isn't going to benefit you in any sort of way, especially not in a place like this. Kuoh Academy is a prestigious school for the best of the best! You should consider it a miracle that you even got in here."

Haruki clicked his tongue at what the old man said. Not because he was given a lecture, but because what he was saying was pretty much true. "Damn it, just give me my punishment and let me go already."

"When are you going to start getting your act together? Grow up. You should realize that people stop seeing this delinquent act as cool by the time they reach high school. Your peers have outgrown that. I'm saying this for your own good. Just for today, I'm going to leave it at that, but if you continue to act up like this I will send you to the principal's office. It would be a shame to get expelled after you've worked so hard to get accepted here."

Haruki left the room, practically slamming the door on his way out. Upon his exit, he noticed a few students looking his way, but overall just ignoring or staying clear from him. "Getting expelled… That don't sound too bad at this point really…" he thought to himself, shoving his hands into his pockets and stomping down the hallway.

"Hey man, check it out! It's Mr big bad delinquent himself."

"Hah! What a waste of space."

"Careful, don't make him mad or he might hit ya, since that's all he's good at. Hahaha!"

Haruki bit his lip as quite a number of students who noticed him started mocking him. He wanted to do something about it, he so desperately wanted to hit them or threaten them or something! But really, even he knew that was just going to prove their point. It wouldn't do anything, none of these people fear him, they're all just looking down on him.

"The only reason I came to this damn school was because no one knew me here. I wanted a fresh start, and I had to work so damn hard to get accepted because there were so many other guys applying, what with this school recently turning co-ed and all, bunch of horny bastards. Now look at me, spring semester of my second year and I still got no friends! This sucks."

RIIIIIIIINNNGGG!

The school bell rang, signaling the start of the next period. He let out a grumble as the thought of sitting in that classroom twiddling his thumbs was making nauseous. The sound made him feel as if a huge weight had landed right on top of his shoulders.

"Fuck it, I need to clear my head…"

He muttered to himself as he headed to the opposite direction of his class. It probably wasn't the smartest move to be ditching class after just being chewed out by the teacher but hey, he wasn't known for having superior intellect anyway.

(Student Council Office)

One of the things Kuoh Academy was known for, besides it's large population of female students of course, was the exceptional discipline of it's student body. This was all thanks to the work of it's student council, led by the one and only Shitori Sona.

Said young woman was currently in the office waiting for a certain someone while sorting through the various paperwork that needed to be dealt with. Sona was a beautiful, bespectacled young lady who carried an air of maturity around her. Her short, black hair was cleanly styled into a short bob cut and her violet eyes held a certain coldness to them.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

"Come in."

The door immediately opened at her invitation and in came another beautiful female into the room. The young woman seemed to be a third year as well, with green eyes and a buxom figure that would put most supermodels to shame. However, her most notable feature was definitely her long, beautiful crimson hair that seemed to shine from the light coming in through the window.

"Hello Rias, sorry to call you in on such short notice, but this is rather important."

The Gremory Heiress smiled at her old friend, "Not at all, I assumed it urgent otherwise you wouldn't have asked for me during school hours. What is it?"

"I suppose I'll just get straight to the point. While my peerage were doing their regular patrols, they stumbled upon quite the sight. Apparently, a few crows have entered into our territory, and they don't seem to have the best of intentions."

Rias's eyes narrowed, "Is that so? Interesting, how many? Do you have any clue as to what they're doing in a quiet town like this, or more importantly if they have authorization to be here?"

"Tsubaki spotted around 4 of them in total, they were blending in with the crowd but she had no doubt she sensed their true nature. She avoided direct confrontation of course, but I thought I'd inform you beforehand on the situation, this is your territory as well after all. Unfortunately, as for their intent, we currently have no clue as of yet, I was hoping I could leave that to your group."

"Say no more, thank you cluing me in. I'll have my peerage keep an extra eye out on the town, gather as much information on them as possible. In the meantime maybe we should contact the higher ups as well, I'm sure Onii-sama and Serafall-sama can help clear things up for us."

Sona sighed at the mention of her dear sister, "Perhaps, I'll have to see when Onee-sama is available."

"Come now, I think we both know that she'll pick up no matter what at any time if it's you calling in."

Rias couldn't help but tease, and smiled humorously when Sona leveled a mild glare of annoyance towards her. It was only at these rare moments when they were alone that Sona allowed herself to express any sort of emotion, as minimal as they may be. She just always had to part of a firm leader in front of her servants.

She didn't really have a problem with that though, it was part of Sona's charm. What she did have a problem with however, was the news she brought up. Just what were those darn crows up to? In the few years that Rias had been in this town, it had always remained a quiet and peaceful one, certainly nothing to catch the eyes of the other factions.

How peculiar…

(End of the School Day)

Beep! Beep! Beep!

Haruki was broken out of his slumber by the sound of his phone ringing. In an instant he sat up from his position and looked to his surroundings. He could feel a slight headache coming from the grogginess. When his eyes adjusted, he was graced with the sight of the school's rooftop, the place offering a wonderful view of the setting sun.

Rubbing his sore eyes, everything started coming back to him. "Right, I came up here for a nap."

"Fuck I overslept…" he muttered to himself as he quickly got up, answering his still ringing phone as he dusted some of the dust from his clothes. It honestly amazed him how convenient the rooftop was. You would think that this would be the most obvious place for the teachers to check for students playing hooky but that has yet to happen so far, "…Hello?"

[You sound groggy, you skipped class again didn't you?]

The voice on the other end was female, sounding like a girl maybe a couple of years younger than him. He knew exactly who this was as she only person who ever called him, along with being the only person who's number is saved in this damn phone. He couldn't help but sigh in exhaustion when she immediately started nagging him,

"Get off my case ya brat, why'd you call anyway? I was already about to head home."

[I'm sure you were…but before you do, I need you to stop by the convenience store and get some eggs.]

"Uh," using his free hand, he reached into his back pocket and pulled out his near empty wallet. He sweat dropped nervously, "Hey, if we're low on food, how about I just get you some cupped ramen, eh?"

[WHAT?! I'm a growing girl and you expect me to just eat that junk for dinner?! We already ate that crap for breakfast! The hell happened to your allowance this month?! You spent it all on trips to the internet café again, didn't you?!]

"Oh c'mon give me a break, could you really blame me? I got nothing else to do with the cash!"

[I'm not saying you can't spend it on stuff you want but using ALL of it on that damn place?! You fucking kidding me?! I thought you'd at least be smart enough to be a bit more responsible with your spending considering how fucking poor we are!]

"Well I'm sorry, ok! Look, what do you want me to do? No amount of whining is going to get back that money so would you rather have cupped ramen or go starving tonight?"

[…]

There was silence on the other line, and although he can't see her, he could very much tell she was probably pouting on the other side of the line. Rubbing the bridge of his nose, he couldn't help but sigh, what a troublesome girl…

"Just bear with it for now, alright? I'll make it up to you at some point so just eat whatever I get for you, deal?"

[…]

Still silence.

"Saki?"

[…ok…]

His lips formed a guilty smile, "There we go. I'll see you in a bit so hang tight." And with that he hung up and made his way out the door of the rooftop. Despite her acceptance, he still felt pretty bad. He was the older one, he was supposed to be responsible for her and yet here he was, messing things up as usual.

He'd promised to make it up to her, but how exactly was he supposed to do that? He checked the inside of his wallet once more, seeing he only had enough money for one cup of ramen, and probably only the cheapest one.

"Guess I'll treat her to some ice cream when I get my allowance next month."

He muttered to himself, clenching the chump change tightly in his hand.

As he walked through the halls of Kuoh Academy this late in the evening, he saw a few students having stayed back late. Some of them were carrying out extracurricular activities like club or some who have duties as class rep and the like. It wasn't the first time he'd seen this sight, having overslept quite a few times in the past.

A part of him did yearn to join a club, but his circumstances ruined any sort of opportunity to do so. It was out of the question now, being a second year, he felt pretty uncomfortable with joining a club this late. Plus, he'd already participated in a few clubs in his first year, but it was pretty clear he wasn't welcomed in them as everyone stayed clear from him.

It felt awkward, not to mention downright pathetic when he would just sit there quietly and watched everyone else drone on with their friends and completely ignoring him. He felt heat rising on his face at the memory in embarrassment. He probably looked like a complete loser to the rest of them, like an abandoned animal just looking at people, hoping someone would take notice of them.

Soon enough, he withdrew his admission and just stop showing up to meetings all together. Club activities were supposed to be fun, but it felt like life was just slapping him in the face every time he went there, reminding him his place in the social ladder.

"Tch, dammit, remembering that actually makes me feel like crying."

He sighed as he thought he'd thrown away all those desires a long time ago. Guess no matter how much he tried to deny it, he can't really just throw away his desire for companionship. He never really understood all those loner type characters in the animes he watched.

How could anyone be content with just being alone all their life? Wouldn't things be a lot more fun if you had friends to talk to, people to discuss your interests with or just hang around with? "Friendship is foolish" is a line those edgy douches would say. What a joke. Heh, come to think of it, if anyone here found out he was a giant otaku that'd probably just be another thing they'd mock him about wouldn't it?

""HARUKI!""

As he was walking through the courtyard, making his way to the school's front gate, two sudden voices yelled out his name. Turning to the direction from whence it came, he saw two other male students running towards him with a huge horde of angry looking girls with kendo sticks.

He instantly recognized who they were, and a look of dread crossed his face, "Oh Goddammit!" he braced himself for impact and as he thought, the two were unable to stop themselves and crashed right into him.

"Haruki, you gotta help us man! I don't wanna die a virgin!"

The first boy, a bald young man with a face that some would say oddly resembled a monkey, cried out in despair as he had a tight grip on Haruki collar. This was Matsuda, member of the photography club and former athlete. Unfortunately, he fell from grace and is now a self-proclaimed lolicon.

"Yes, yes, assist us, please! I bruise easy!"

The other, a young man with huge glasses that seemed to be hiding his eyes entirely, also started begging for help. This was Motohama, AKA, perverted glasses. Like his associate, he too was a pervert, with a special ability to measure a woman's three sizes with just one look.

Together, these two make the "Perverted Duo" of Kuoh. It's actually pretty impressive how these two haven't been downright expelled yet with all the things that they've done. Unfortunately, they're also the only people who talk to Haruki, having some sort of misconception that the three of them were actually friends.

"Get the hell off me you idiots!"

Haruki jumped to his feet while shoving the both of them to the side. Seriously, of all the people who chose to approach him it just had to be the two biggest rejects of the school. It really wasn't helping the already bad image the school had of him.

"Now we've got 'em!"

""AAAAAAHHHHHHH!""

The horde of girls made their own to their direction. This caused another round of horrified screaming from Matsuda and Motohama as the two of them scrambled to hide behind Haruki. The horde stopped as they reached them, their weapons at ready.

Two girls who looked to be the leaders stepped forward, one with dark brown hair in a ponytail and one with short pink hair. Both of them were noticeably attractive as well as having rather well developed bodies. Murayama and Katase, relatively popular girls, known for their good looks as well as being the stars of the kendo club, though Haruki only knew them by title.

As he scanned through them as well as all the other members, Haruki noticed that all of them had their clothes sloppily put on, as if they were in a hurry to get dressed. He knew the two perverts well enough to know what they're like so putting two and two together, he was able to pretty much guess the situation.

Murayama was the first to speak up,

"Move over, loser. We have business with those two perverts behind you."

Haruki couldn't help but sweat dropped at the way she spoke to him, "Sheesh, be any more aggressive why don't ya? She totally sees me as dirt…"

"Please don't let them get us…"

"Have mercy…"

He heard said two perverts mumble pathetically behind him in a crouching position, hands over their heads as if bracing to get hit at any moment. Haruki felt pity, as much as he hated their guts, this was too much of a sorry sight. Even he wasn't cruel enough to just leave to their fate.

He lifted both his hands in a gesture of surrender, "Look, just calm down. I get that they're scumbags, but don't you think beating with wooden swords is a bit much? They could actually get concussions y'know?" he tried to reason with them. In truth, he actually just wanted to sucker punch them and make a break for it but it didn't feel right to do that. They're technically the victims here after all.

Unfortunately, it seems like they weren't in any mood for being talking this out. Katase stepped up next, pointing her bokken at him, causing Haruki to flinch slightly at the quick motion. The fact of them being nationals athletes were truly showing with how fearsome they were. In all honesty, he wasn't quite sure if he could handle them if this got violent. Maybe if it was a fist fight he'd have a chance but with those wooden swords on them, even he wasn't so confident.

"What's it matter to you? Just stay out of other people's business and hand them over. Or are we going to have to get physical?"

"Shit, shit, shit! This is turning messy fast!" he internally panicked. He needed to find a compromise, and quick, "Now just wait here, I get it. You're the victims here, but this is a bit excessive. Why don't you just report him to the teachers or something? You have plenty of witnes-GAH!"

He felt pain coursing through his legs as Matsuda and Motohama pinched each one respectively. Tears were coming out of their eyes, and they seemed to be panicking as well,

"Are you crazy?!"

"You're going to get us expelled!"

The two of them hissed, and a vein popped on Haruki's temple. He could feel his temper rising, these ungrateful assholes! Here he was trying to save them from a beating and all they had were complains?!

"Fuck off! It's either this or a probable free trip to the hospital! This is your own faults to begin with!"

He hissed right back as he exchanged glares with the two. Ok, why was he trying so hard for these idiots again?! He could just walk away, this was none of his business to begin with!

"Hmm, that's not exactly a bad idea…" Katase spoke to her friend who seemed to nod in agreement. It probably had a higher chance of stopping the two from doing it again in the long term, "Still though, feels a bit of a waste to just let them get away unscathed."

"So you wanted to beat 'em no matter what!" Haruki started to grind his teeth in annoyance. This situation was absolutely ridiculous. "Oh c'mon, just let it go already. It makes you look a lot better if you just let them go and report it."

""Mm…""

The two hummed in thought, thinking a decision over. Eventually they turned to each and nodded before lowering their weapons. Sighing, Murayama gave one last glare,

"Fine, we'll let it go." the perverted duo let out a sigh of relief when she said that, but quickly flinched when she pointed her bokken at them one last time, "Do not think you're off the hook yet. We will be reporting this to the teachers, and if you somehow manage to not get expelled we're going to give you hell."

With that final statement, she, along with the other members of the kendo club all turned around and walked away, berating the three amongst themselves as they left. As soon as they were out of sight, the three of them let out a breath they didn't realize they were holding.

"Ah, fuck! Well isn't this just great!"

"We're going to have to try and avoid expulsion! Matsuda, I think if we negotiate it we can convince the teacher to just suspend us for a week or two."

"Dammit Haruki! Why'd you have to make that suggestion man!"

"Well excuse me for trying to help your sorry asses!" the delinquent's face turned visibly red with anger as he yelled indignantly. Letting out a frustrated growl, he started making his way towards the gate once more. "Next time you can just get your mugs kicked in!"

Realizing that they probably said too much, the two quickly followed after him.

"Hey, c'mon bro, we're just yanking your chain…"

"Yes, there's no need to get so upset about it."

Matsuda placed a hand on the boy's shoulder, "We're sorry alright? Look, how about the three of us go get something to eat, my treat for helping us."

"–!"

Haruki stopped in his track, completely frozen in place. Slowly, he turned his around to look at the bald male. He couldn't stop a stupid grin from spreading on his face.

"So, you sure you're okay with this?"

Haruki asked as they exited the convenience store. He looked into his grocery bag containing three bento box sets, all of them having been bought by Matsuda. To most people it would be considered just a normal meal, but this was going to be the most his family has eaten in a while. It was almost like a miracle. Saki was in for a big surprise tonight.

Said bald male waved off Haruki's concern, "Don't worry about. I already I'd pay, didn't I? Besides, I mostly just use my cash for porn anyway so this is honestly putting it to better use."

"Uh…" Despite the male's shameless admittance to his spending, Haruki couldn't help but smile in gratitude. "Well, thanks anyway Matsuda."

"Like I said, it's no problem. Anyway, we gotta go. I just got a new special DVD so Motohama and I have to get on that."

"You guys watch porn together…?"

"Hey, don't judge us, we're best bros. Anyway, see ya man."

"Yes, farewell Haruki."

They both waved as they ran off to Matsuda's house. Haruki couldn't help but look into his grocery bags again, nearly crying at the sight at the proper meal they were going to have tonight. Those two were as scummy as hell, but maybe they weren't as bad as he'd thought.

"Hm?"

As he was on his way home however, he couldn't help but notice a group of around maybe 5 gruff looking male students in an alleyway. All of them were facing the wall in a formation that he knew delinquents used to pit someone to the wall, having been the victim of them in the past.

"It's none of my business, it's none of my business, it's none of my busin-ah for fuck's sake." Despite knowing that it was probably best to just ignore it, he just couldn't just bring himself to do it. He knew how frightening the experience could be, especially for those who'd never really been in physical confrontation before, "It'd leave a bad taste in my mouth if didn't do something."

"So whaddya say babe, up for a night out on the town with me and my boys~?"

As he got closer to the confrontation, he saw the one who looked like the leader place a hand on the wall, towering over the victim that looked to be a girl and say those exact words. It honestly amazed him how cliché some of the things these guys said were. Come to think of it, this whole situation seems awfully cliché doesn't it?

"I'm no expert on women, but I don't think she's interested fellas."

He spoke up as he approached them, getting their attention away from the girl for a second. They didn't look too pleased with his interruption obviously. All of them looked just about ready to get violent, knowing full well they've got the number advantage.

The leader took his hand off the wall and stepped forward. He was rather tall male with spiky black hair, towering over Haruki by a few inches, as well as having the chiseled body of someone who worked out excessively. He got in Haruki's face with a glare,

"And what's it to you? Mind your own damn business and get out of here."

Haruki would be lying if he said he didn't contemplate taking that offer. The dude was built like a tank, and despite being in a fair share of fights himself, Haruki wasn't too confident he could take. Even if he did, he doubted he could fight off his other friends too. Maybe this was a mistake?

"No! No! Don't pussy out now!" he'd forcibly reminded himself. He didn't break eye contact with the muscular male. In situations like these it's best to not let them see your fear. "Here goes!" In a quick motion, Haruki swung his right fist towards the male in a right hook motion.

"Heh, really?" Unfortunately, his opponent had no trouble whatsoever blocking the strike despite their close proximity. The instant he blocked Haruki's attack, he raised his other hand simultaneously and made a fist.

"Bugh!"

Haruki felt a sting on his left cheek as the thug's fist made contact with his face, causing him to stumble back a bit. The boy had incredible strength, it felt like he was just hit with a damn brick. The sheer force of the strike caused mild dizziness but he was still able to raise both of his fist in defense for any following attacks.

"Heh, you didn't pass out, not bad. But you made a real big mistake challenging me." The boy took a few steps forward. "The name's Kenji, I'm the captain of the boxing club at Ishiyama."

"Of course, it just had to be Ishiyama. Change of plans, this isn't gonna fly." Haruki thought in disdain as he wiped some blood off his mouth. He shook his head, trying to get the dizziness out of his system. Cracking his knuckles, he stretched his neck in preparation, "Alright, guess I'll get serious." He glared at his opponent. He charged towards the male, once again going for a right hook.

"Oh c'mon." once again, his attack was stopped as the boxer caught his fist without so much as a flinch. "If it didn't work the first time, what makes you th–UGAH!"

Unfortunately, Kenji was cut off mid-sentence as he felt an incredible amount of force hitting him under the belt. Pain surged throughout his entire body as the full force of Haruki's kick to his crotch took effect. He fell to his knees, and the blonde boy took the chance to punch him square in the face, knocking him on his back.

"KENJI!"

"You okay man?!"

Instead of attacking as well, Kenji's group of friends quickly went to his aid, trying to make sure he was okay. As they were distracted, Haruki quickly ran to the girl and grabbed her hand.

"Let's get outta here!"

He picked up his grocery bag and with that they ran for who knows how long. Haruki wasn't even sure where he was going, all he knew was that they needed to get as far away from there as possible. Once he was sure they were safe, they stopped to catch their breath.

He was panting heavily, fatigue from this painfully long day quickly taking its toll on him, "What the actual hell am I doing? What the hell is up with this day? Could it get any wo-no! Don't jinx it. All I want to do now is just get home and-"

"Um, excuse me."

He was brought out his thought when he was reminded that there was another person with him. He looked up to the girl and got a better look at her. Now that he was properly paying attention, he was able to take notice of just how beautiful she was. Long, silky black hair, violet eyes, and a rocking bod. The only thing that was kind of weird to him was that he had no idea what uniform she was wearing.

He shook his head, quickly composing himself, "Oh, uh, sorry about that!" he let go of her hand. "My body just kinda…moved on it's own." Real smooth buddy, He berated himself internally.

The girl seemed to shy away when he let go, a bit of red coming onto her cheeks, "No, it's no problem. Thank you for your help…"

"Y-yeah…"

.

.

.

An awkward silent followed. Haruki rubbed the back of his head as he avoided eye contact. What exactly was he supposed to do now? He had just dragged a random girl off to who knows where, and now they had ran out of things to say.

"…so…uh, I guess I'll get going. Be careful on your way back."

"Wait!"

When he was about to walk away, the girl called out. He looked back to her, her head was facing the floor and she was shaking like a Chihuahua. It took a moment, but she looked up to him with a determined look on her face,

"Y-you're Junichiro Haruki, r-right?"

This caught his attention, and he all of a sudden he felt he had to be wary. He didn't show hostility yet, instead giving the girl a neutral look.

"Yeah, how do you-"

"My name is Yuuma Amano," she cut him off, putting a hand to her chest as her face got even redder. What she said next, would be itched into his mind for quite some time.

"W-will you please be my boyfriend!"

(Chapter End)

Whew, that's a wrap. I'll be honest, this is probably my best start to a story yet. So hello everybody, as you can see, I'm back. I think I'll be able to keep the updates…not frequent, but there WILL be updates. Anyway, yup, this is my new story.

Please correct me on any grammar or spelling errors or any sort of error to be honest. Let me know what you think and I'll see you all next time!