Chapter One
Who
I watched myself turn to brown ashes and everything I knew dissolved into blackness.
I felt something nudge at my subconscious and internally protested. Despite this, consciousness came with the help of something very uncomfortable digging into my back. I opened my eyes and saw... tree leaves? Above me was a canopy of leaves bathed in moonlight, and beyond that, a deep black sky full of stars and a beautiful full moon right in the middle of it. I sat up, or, tried to at least. I happened to be laying on a large branch and the act of sitting up almost sent me falling ten meters to the ground. How did I know I was ten meters above the ground? I had no idea how I knew, but I was positive. A gentle breeze rustled the large green leaves and I moved to a more stable position against the tree trunk. The same thing that had dug into my back earlier made itself known so I grabbed it and brought it in front of me to inspect it.
A sniper rifle. Why. On Earth. Was there a sniper rifle. Strapped to my back. It was cool, and I knew how to shoot one, I was proud to say. But why did I have one cradled in my gray-gloved hands. And why did I have a wardrobe change? I noticed that my clothes were not the shorts and loose t-shirt I was wearing before I... woke up here. Or whatever that was. I replaced the rifle in its spot on my back so I could examine my new outfit. I was wearing two layers now. A navy blue skin-tight long-sleeved shirt and matching leggings made up the bottom layer and a shorter but thicker layer of camo was on over it. The camo was gray and pale green. Ideal for my surroundings, I smiled at the thought. The camo top was a sleeveless and high-collared crop-top with two pockets on the front. And it had a hood for some reason, weird. The camo shorts were a bit short for my taste, but the shortest shorts I was used to wearing were Bermuda shorts. I liked how the top and bottoms were fitted too. Not loose and cumbersome like a normal soldier camo outfit, but not too tight and restricting either. The shin high boots were a nice touch, again, not loose but not too fitted. And super comfortable, I though. I then noticed the other weapons in my arsenal. A handgun in my belt and a knife strapped to my thigh. I knew how to use a knife and I was good at using one for long range and close combat attacks, but I had no clue how to use a handgun so I thought the addition was pretty much useless.
A random thought brought me back to the nudge I had felt earlier. I felt another little nudge and I decided to head in the direction it guided me to. But first, I didn't want my hair catching on anything. I tied my waist-length mass of brown waves back into a braid and started off. Thank goodness the trees were so close together, otherwise I might not have been able to traverse the branches without falling. After some time, I glimpsed an opening in the trees up ahead and climbed down a few meters before continuing on. If there were any hostile people, I didn't want them spotting me, and there was a higher chance of that if there was a lot of light shining on me. A.K.A: the higher up in the tree I was. Or if I was on the ground of course.
I paused when I reached the back of a tree on the edge of the clearing. In the tree line on the other side I saw a flash of movement. A patrol, judging by the dozen young people in the clearing. If there was a patrol on that side, then there would probably be one on this side. I looked around the treeline. No one. I looked down just in case I had missed someone. Yeah. I did, and I don't know how. A skinny boy with fiery red hair was leaning on the tree that I was in. He wasn't even concealing himself, apart from his camo gear, and I still managed to miss him. He reminded me of Karma, one of my favorite anime characters. The fire haired boy, along with everyone else I could see, had the same camo and weapons that I did. Other than the sniper rifle, I noticed. Only two of the people in the clearing had them.
The uniforms, because that is all they could have been, were divided by gender. The boys had t-shirt-like camo tops and full length pants that they had tucked into their boots instead of crop-tops and short shorts like the girls. There was one blue haired girl with a boy's uniform though. It was a little odd but she did have a boy-ish look so it fit her. Her blue hair was up in pigtails and she had blue eyes that matched her hair. She seemed to be one of the leaders, talking and giving feedback to the other members of the huddle on the left of the clearing.
The blue haired girl and the fire haired boy weren't the only ones sporting unnatural looking hair colors. One boy had badly cut baby blue hair and two boys had orange hair. The remaining three boys that I could see each had black hair in longer styles. Two of those boys carried sniper rifles, I filed away that info for later. Why did the girls have such brightly colored hair? At least it will be easier to tell them apart. I could see green pigtails and orange hair with pink streaks, one girl had dark purple hair and another had lavender colored hair pulled back in a matching headband.
I looked back down to the boy below me. He held his gun with ease, he looked dangerous and I didn't think it was just an act. I moved back out of view. I didn't want to let him out of my sight but me out of his sight unfortunately meant him out of mine. There seemed to be controversy between the group of ten on my left and the pair on my right. One of the boys with rifles stood half in front of the girl with spiky white tipped hair. He moved and I saw the black sword hanging from his belt. And then there's that. Can someone just tell me what is going on here, I thought. They were saying something but I couldn't quite make out what it was.
Fire hair shifted. I looked down at... a branch. I leaned over just enough to see him. Sure enough, he wasn't leaning against the tree anymore. I couldn't have seen him and I didn't hear anything so how did I know that? I frowned as I thought that through. That was a big mistake. He looked up. His orange eyes locked with mine.
"Hey there, I was wondering when you were gonna show yourself." Fire hair said in Japanese. My first thought was: What the heck, how did he know I was here? My second was that he even sounded like Karma. Calm and charismatic while still sounding slightly crazy. I was really glad I had grown up speaking Japanese to my grandmother, I was fluently bilingual because of it and now I could understand this guy. Maybe I'll find a use for the Latin lessons Mother has been teaching me, other than in chemistry, of course.
"Come on down, we can talk. Unless you're an enemy, then I think I'll just beat you up a little." Yeah, If Karma was a real person, this would be him. I didn't feel like being beaten up so I tried being diplomatic.
"Who are you?" I said. Ouch, yeah that's why I'm not a diplomat.
"It doesn't matter. If you were a friend, you would know. And if you're not a friend, then you're an enemy." He replied. Oh, no. He's getting excited, I didn't think that was a good sign for me. I tried to think fast. What would make him pause and think? I need something concrete!
"If we're not on the same side, then why do we have the same uniforms?" I retorted. He blinked.
"It seems we do" He conceded, "But if you're a friend, then why didn't you come down when I told you to?" I don't think he's gonna take my answer too well but hey, no better answer than the truth, right?
"Because you look half crazy and really dangerous." I said. He smiled and stepped back. I released a breath I didn't know I was holding. The fire haired boy jumped, grabbed my branch, and pulled himself up. Is there anything this boy can't do?
"Hi" he smiled, "I'm Karma." I blinked. Wait. What? "I said." He started again, "I'm Karma. What's your name?"
"Victoria" I said. Fire hair, Karma, made a move to jump down.
"Um..." I said. Wow, good job me, so eloquent of you, I thought. He stopped and looked back at me with a teasing smile.
"Yes?" This kid probably thought something was wrong in my brain. Oh, what the heck, I'll go for it.
"What's your last name?" I asked quietly.
"Who wants to know?" came the aggravating reply.
"Me."
"What's your last name?"
"Grace."
"You're English?"
I nodded.
"Akabane" he relinquished. I looked up, surprise and shock evident on my face. "My last name is Akabane."
"One last question" I said.
"My, you are quite the curious one aren't you." That smile was back and it was beginning to annoy me.
"How many students from class 3-E are here?" Now it was his turn to look shocked.
"How do you know about class 3-E?" He fired back.
"Not relevant"
"Says who?"
"Says me."
"Not good enough." His face hardened and he went to grab my arm. I was faster though so I jumped out of the tree before he could get me. I ran into the clearing and I knew he was gaining on me. How did I know that? Will he stop if I pull a gun on him? One way to find out. I snatched the gun, spun around and pointed it at him. Both hands on the gun and held away from my body. Wow, I watch too many crime shows. It worked! Karma stopped and watched me. All eyes were on me now actually.
"Put away the gun." Karma ordered, "It's clear you don't know how to use it. The thing's not even loaded." It's not? Brilliant. I don't know how to load a handgun.
"How would you know if it's not loaded?" I asked, not expecting an answer.
"Why would I tell you? Then you're gonna load it" Yeah, that's true. I turned and walked away from Karma. As I turned, he started moving. I'd started to get used to knowing things like this without knowing why, but it was still unsettling. I changed my grip on the gun. If I couldn't use it to shot, I figured I could at least use it to hit harder. Karma increased his pace. I kept going, acting like I didn't know. He ran at me. I spun on my toes and planted the back of the gun in the pale boy's side. I heard the bang of a shot fired at close range. Searing pain burned through my side and I gasped, shock keeping me from feeling the full force of the pain. Karma stood before me, wide eyed as the gun fell from my hand and I sunk to the ground, my hand hovering over my right side.
The lavender haired girl ran over and knelt next to me. I moved my hand away from my side as she lifted the undershirt. I hissed and gritted me teeth as a fresh wave of pain hit. I will not cry. I will not cry. I can handle this. I'll be fine. It's OK. I looked at the bloody hole and winced. That's not pretty, I thought. I decided to look at the lavender haired girl instead of hole through my body. She was wadding up a piece of dark cloth. I felt something warm trickle down my stomach and lower back. It must have gone all the way through. The other teens were gathering around us, watching. It was kind of weird. Yeah guys, just watch us silently while your friend patches up a stupid girl who shot herself. I cried out as the girl's dainty hands pressed the wads of cloth to the entry and exit wounds. I will NOT cry! Think of something else. Figure out who she is. Hey, that's a good idea, why don't I have more of those? I mused.
Lavender hair, bangs in the front, short in the back except for two waist-length sections. Big, baby-blue eyes staring in intense focus and a tiny figure. If the skinny fire head was Karma Akabane, then she must be Ritsu. I thought Ritsu was an AI though, oh well. We are in a different universe after all, anything could happen.
I looked at the blue haired girl who now stood next to Karma. Bright blue hair with bangs in the front and pigtails in the back. Blue eyes matched her hair and her skinny body had a bean-pole figure. Oh. OH. Oops. That must be Nagisa Shiota. A girl-ish looking guy. Now it makes sense that he's wearing the guy's camo.
I looked at the green haired girl. Does every anime character have bangs? Pigtails held her short hair back while neat bangs framed light hazel eyes. She must be Kaede Kayano, I thought.
My eyes fell on one of the orange haired boys standing away from the main group congregated around me. Burnt orange colored hair, violet eyes, pale skin, and perfect posture, that guy had to be Gakushu Asano. But what was he doing here? He wasn't in class 3-E. He was the #1 student in the year with all perfect marks, the top of class 3-A, and the principal's son. He stared judgmentally back at me throughout my assessment. Wow, someone's got issues, I thought. Moving on.
I looked at the dark purple haired girl. Her hair was feathered and cut in neat bangs just above her violet eyes. She looked deep in thought with one finger tapping her lip as she paced, just behind the others. She must be Yuzuki Fuwa, a big fan of detective manga and quite the detective herself.
I looked around for the snipers. There he was, standing in the shadow of a tree. His olive toned skin was pale, whether it was because of the moonlight or because he was sick, I didn't know. His black hair was shaggy, falling over his forehead and to the base of his neck in loose curls. Black eyes met mine and I looked down. His bony fingers held the grip of his black sword loosely, comfortably. If someone is holding any large or deadly weapon with that kind of ease, they either don't know the damage it is capable of, or they know exactly what their doing. I think he was the later. I had an idea who he was, but he wasn't from Assassination Classroom. How could he be here? Then again, none of us should be here so I shouldn't be surprised. If he was who I thought he was, then his name was Nico De Angelo and he was a demigod, son of Hades.
A thought popped into my head and I looked for the other sniper. He was standing half-concealed behind Yuzuki, hands in his pockets. How can someone be so casual in a situation like this? Right, sniper, cool headed and unaffected by emotions. Black hair covering his eyes and a blank face, of what I could see. He must be Chiba. I could never remember his first name. I'm going to have to work on remembering that, I thought. Who's left? Right, the two orange haired teens.
I turned to the boy, his hair was burnt orange at the roots and almost a yellow orange at the tips in an ombre style and orange-hazel eyes complemented the look. He was definitely Hiroto Maehara.
I shifted my gaze to the orange haired girl, the one with pink streaks. Green eyes contrasted quite nicely with her hair and her pale skin. She smiled at me and gave a small wave. That's when I realized that the entire group had been watching me watch them. I blushed and looked at the ground.
"Thank you, Ritsu" I said, earning more than a few surprised gasps and a chuckle from Karma.
"Victoria"
"Yeah, Karma?" I looked up.
"How many of us did you recognize?"
"You," I looked at each person and said their name. "Nagisa, Asano, Kayano, Itona, Chiba, Yuzuki, Maehara, Kurahashi,"-alright, I'm saying it-"and Nico." I finished and looked around the circle again. It briefly registered in me that Nico was coming towards us. I saw another boy,
"Oh, and you must be..." messy black hair with a navy tint and two pieces of hair sticking up in the middle of his head, paired with that easy going smile and he could only be "Yuma Isogai." I smiled at their reactions, I was used to knowing things that people didn't expect me to, like Trigonometry. Nico crouched next to me.
"How do you know who I am?" He questioned. In English.
"How did you know I spoke English? I responded, also in English.
"Your accent gives it away. How do you know who I am?"
"'Cause I do."
"Not good enough."
"Karma said the same thing" He stood and cursed in Latin. He was a lot taller than I pictured him, maybe 5'8".
"Ya know, you shouldn't be using such profanity, in any language." I said. He turned around so fast I was surprised he hadn't given himself whiplash. He responded with something I didn't understand, Greek or Italian most likely. Neither of those I could understand, sadly.
"How are you here?" I changed the subject.
"I'll tell you that when you tell me how you know who I am."
"I bet I could figure that out without you, it would just be easier if you told me."
"You'll find yourself in my father's company before you do."
"No, I won't." He looked at me, annoyance and confusion clearly written on his face. "I would know you were coming and run."
"If you know who I am, then you should know what I can do. Don't underestimate me."
"I'm not, Ghost King. You don't know what I'm capable of." That was true, but I didn't know what I could do either. As far as I knew, the only supernatural power I had was knowing something's distance away from me and/or if it was moving. Karma chuckled and I turned to glare at him. Why did he find this amusing? I meet his eyes and mine widened as I gasped.