Note: Hello there, this is my first proper fanfiction so please bear with me! This story is based on Homestuck, but there will be a few tweaks to the concept of Sburb and the likes. Worry not, I will do my best to adhere to keep the concept canon and not veer off into something indistinguishable!

That being said, this is a fan adventure, so there will not be any canon characters in this story.

Ok, without further ado...

Chapter 1: Off on a Tangent (Already?)

Your name is Steve Norwood, and unless you're still dreaming or your clock is screwing with you, you're going to be late for school if you stay in this bed any longer.

What a spectacular start to the day.

The covers fly off as if they were somehow repelled from the mattress, and you hastily fling open the cupboard and grab a set of uniform. Under your breath, you mutter at the stupidity of not setting the alarm the night before, and slam the toilet door shut. The alarm sits by your side table; unassumingly, innocently.

10 minutes later and you're hurtling down the stairs; hair still wild like an unkempt bush and with books haphazardly stuffed into your bag. Your mother arches her eyebrow as you stumble into the dining room with all the grace of a roller-skating elephant. "You forgot to set your alarm, didn't you."

You give her a clumsy smile and whisk a sandwich off the table as you make a beeline for the door. "I'm sorry I can't have breakfast at home today, I'm kind of pressed for time! See ya later!" you manage to blurt out, as she sighs and nods sagely in response. It doesn't take long for you to get your socks and shoes on, and you're out of the house in a jiffy.

Outside, the roads are jam-packed with cars, obviously in a hurry to drop off their passengers to school. Why don't they just get off and walk? You settle into a brisk walk, while still managing to duck in and out of the weaving motorbikes on the lane. Somewhere in the distance, you hear the ringing of the school bell, but it doesn't faze you in the slightest. A quick glance of the watch indicates that it is merely 7:50, and there is always a 5 minute grace period for getting to class, (plus an extra 3 due to the nature of your form teacher) which leaves plenty of time to get to school. Nothing to worry about.

Sure enough, your classmates are still waiting outside the homeroom as you finish ascending the last set of stairs. (Lucky break this year, your home-room's on the first floor.) Most of your classmates are chattering amongst themselves, save for one of them who notices you and waves a greeting. Said classmate is a tall, slender girl with inky-black hair and a chestnut brown complexion. Oh, and her name is Reyna Perez. She smiles cheerily as you walk up to her. "Hey there, Steve. Just in time again." You chuckle in response. "Honestly, she either spends 3 minutes pretending not to notice that we're out here, and then opens the door and and says 'What are you standing outside here for? Come in, come in!'" You mime a sassy hand gesture while slurring your words comme le Français, which elicits a laugh from Reyna."And it's either that, or she's not even inside and shows up late," she adds. Today it's the former, and the both of you steal knowing looks as she opens the door and says the exact same words. Honest to God.

Time seems to fly by as the first two lessons pass without a hitch. You find that you're the first one downstairs at the usual hangout corner, thanks to your prior lesson being on the first floor.

Grrrrrumble.

Oh yeah, you haven't had a chance to eat breakfast, thanks to the very wise decision of not setting an alarm clock. Thankfully, your sandwich is still stuffed in the side pocket of your bag, albeit slightly squashed. It doesn't matter, a slightly squashed sandwich is better than no sandwich. You've just taken a few bites when Reyna shows up as well, already tucking into a leafy green salad. There is a mutual and comforting silence as the both of you finish off your meals.

Ah yes, in the light of recent events, you haven't even had time to introduce yourself. Your name (in case it wasn't clear) is Steven Norwood, but almost nobody calls you that. It's always 'Steve', and the only exception to the rule is an angry mother. You like jogging and are also an adept and reluctant swimmer. You enjoy lounge music and electro swing, but in actual fact you don't give a damn about what you listen to, as long as it's not too intense. In your spare time you play loads of video games and write fanfics, and you've even dallied in computer building once. It was a perplexing task and sort of a failure; as to this day the monitor remains catatonic and you can't for the life of you figure out why.

A loud noise jolts you from your introspective musings. You turn around and realise that the source of this interruption has come from the other two girls of your little group, whom have just arrived. It really is a puzzling sight at first glance. One of them is clutching her sides and totally beside herself with uncontrollable laughter. This hysterical lass goes by the name of Sally Lim. Yukie Nakagawa is the name of the other girl. At this moment in time, her face is slightly red and she's stamping her foot, while repeatedly saying "That's not what I said!"

You arch an eyebrow. "What's going on?"

Yukie pauses in her fit of embarrassment to notice that you're casually observing the entire spectacle, and this serves to make her flush an even deeper red. "I-I didn't say anything wrong! Just… Sally's thinking dirty again!" You take a quick look in Sally's direction, only to notice that she's whispering into Reyna's ear. Oh my god, Reyna looks like she's about to burst in hysterics. Judging from the entire spectacle, and the fact that Reyna is now gasping for air between palpitations of mirth, you decide that it is best that you don't know what's going on. Once, your IT teacher busted an intercostal muscle trying to keep a sneeze in while invigilating in an exam hall, and you don't wish to suffer the same fate.

You sit down and polish off the last of your sandwich while the others are cooling off. Just as you get up and make for the water cooler, an arm comes out from nowhere and grips you in a bear-hug, while the other is poised at your throat. Surprise flickers in your conscience for all of half a second, and then you finally grin and say "Oh. Who else could it possibly be."

The assailant spins you around and regards you with a face of puzzlement and faint amusement, and replies "You know Steve, I'm not sure whether to be happy or sad about that."

Of course, it's this guy. Keita Kawaguchi; aspiring golfer, die-hard anime fan and collector of gunpla. He's around your height now, but there was a time where he was much shorter, and the tips of his spiky black hair had only reached your eyebrows back then. A little sigh escapes your lips, as you realise that your growing days are probably numbered. Yukie's shoulder-length hair bobs up and down as she starts to talk about the upcoming Physics test, which results in Sally yelping with surprise and scrabbling around for a nearby Physics book to read. A picture of a green house on one of the topics in the book reminds you of something. "Hey guys, when's your copy of Sburb coming?", you ask.

The mention of the game rings a few bells with the rest of the group, and Sally mentions that they'll all be receiving a downloadable copy from Steam later today. Just as quickly as it started, ringing of the school bell brings breaktime to a close. There's a general murmur of excitement as you climb the stairs, while discussing the fortuitous nature of being selected to try out the Beta version of the game.

Time seems to whiz right by, as day unfolds itself without further excitement. The teachers are unflappable as always, and you grimace when you end up doing absolutely nothing in Economics. Such is the way of school life. Fifteen minutes later, you arrive home and immediately check your computer. Yep, there it is, the Sburb Beta. You let it download in the background while you hastily finish the only assigned homework you were given, which happens to be from Economics. Geez, what a guy. The only work we ever do is homework. Dinner comes and goes. Today, it's a lovely bowl of bibimbap which leaves you stuffed and chuffed as well.

The guys ring the Skype call at 8pm to play a daily game of Dota 2. You've only played this game for a few weeks, but you're starting to get the hang of it. At least, that's what you think until Keita wipes the floor with your ass again. Interestingly, one of the first heroes you tried playing was a purple hammerhead bastard by the name of Faceless Void, whose main power is time control and is notorious for being hard to play, and for screwing up everyone (preferably the enemy, but in the hands of an unskilled player it's usually the allies). How hard could it be? You thought, until you found yourself on the receiving end of loss after loss. Yep, this guy was not your 'guy'. Since then, you've stuck to a choice few heroes that you can play half-decently on a good day. You're still learning, after all. After your daily game, you thank the gang for the match and check steam once again. Sburb's still going. Man, what a huge game. And it's only Beta! You decide to go onto 9gag while the game continues downloading.

You're pretty sure your clock is messing with you when you notice that both hands are pointing to the ceiling. A quick check of the computer dashboard, and the clock wins the legitimacy debate again. Man, you seriously have to stop questioning the clock, because 90% of the time it's right. No matter how innocent it looks. Instead of shutting it down, you lock the computer with every intention to leave Sburb downloading overnight. It's still on 42%. Gee, what impressive internet speed you have. You stumble off to brush your teeth in record time, and then flop onto the bed.

You fall asleep almost instantly.