Kill la College-Chapter One: Are you Ready for This?

It was hot muggy afternoon in September and the school year had barely started. Students were milling around campus, trying to get things done before it turned dark at eight. A particularly large group of students was making their way past the academic buildings, the dorms and the plaza on their journey to the street that housed the Honnouji fraternity. Freshmen, Ryuko and Mako, followed the crowd of young adults across the campus towards the legendary fraternity house. All of them had heard the wild tales of this frat; how they threw the best parties, gave boatloads of money to its members, and that those members had sway over faculty staff, meaning they basically could run this school; their word was law. College students of all ages were eager to become part of their ranks, but the process to get in was hard. Losers of the process told stories of horror of what had happened to them because they failed, yet this just caused more students to want to join. After all, what was a little pain in order to gain such riches?

Ryuko didn't hesitate to join the applicants. She wanted to live life and Honnouji could do just that for her. As for Mako, well Ryuko had forced her to do it. And by some miracle they had both been selected from the applicant pool. And now here they were, barely situated to the campus and already aiming for the highest frat. They both walked behind the crowd as the students in front of them were excitability chatting with one another, hypothesizing about what sorts of events they would get to partake in.

"I bet they'll make us fight lions," came a lanky boy's voice. His fat friend to the left responded, "Nah it'll be a fight between man and shark. Everyone knows that's way more challenging."

"Sharks, really?" scoffed the brown haired boy to the right of them. "They've got a lot of money so obviously, it'll be like lasers and shit."

"Nobody would spend money on that," responded the lanky boy.

"As if lions make more sense," the brown haired boy rolled his eyes.

"Well I say why not all three. Fighting sharks and lions, which have lasers on them. Now that would be cool!" the fat friend suggested to which his two friends groaned. "Shut up your so stupid," the brown haired boy muttered out.

No, you're all stupid, Ryuko thought to herself. A school can't legally do that and not get in trouble, but then again it is Honnouji they are talking about. They probably own the school. Ryuko couldn't be too sure. She had heard a lot of rumors, and as rumors go rarely any could be trusted. Take the ones they had spread about her in middle school, for example. They said she was the one responsible for bringing a plague of rats to the school, but really it was the science teachers fault for getting her interested in how fast rats breed in the right conditions. And it was the lab assistants fault for not locking the lab up at night. If he had Ryuko wouldn't have been able to sneak in, take some rats and breed them in the school basement. And if the janitor hadn't discovered them and panicked scaring the rodents, then they wouldn't have run away into classrooms full of kids, causing a full scale panic. Really it was only partially Ryuko's fault. She was just trying to learn about biology in an interesting way.

That's why Ryuko didn't know how much of the rumors about the members of this frat house she could trust. She had heard that they were the cream of the crop; merciless fighting machines with the verbal wit to match their death bringing hands. And that the leader especially was ferocious, tearing her victim's limb from limb in her secret chamber of torture- when she wasn't too busy being a party girl. That the members could get away with anything because the leader was the college president's daughter.

"Oh no, Ryuko, what will we do if sharks and lions with lasers attack us?" Mako's fretting broke Ryuko out of her thoughts and she watched as her friend put her hands to her face in her best Scream impersonation.

"Mako, don't listen to those idiots. They'll probably just make us drink some beer, and do some stupid dares at the frat." Ryuko reassured her friend who was gnawing on the front of her shirt in worry now. Surely the rumors of having to kill your best friend as a challenge were just fabricated, just like the other stupid scenarios these three idiots in front of them were coming up with now.

"But it's the biggest and most notorious frat on campus! I don't wanna fail. I heard for people who try the initiation and fail the rest of their college career is over. That the frat members will hunt you down!" Mako let out an agonized groan and grabbed her head in her hands and shook it violently.

"Mako sheesh stop stressing out. I'll be there to help you out, you can count on me." Ryuko patted her friend on her head, ruffling up her coconut haircut. Mako was fun to be around but she stressed over the weirdest things. Sure, it would be great to get into the frat, it was after all the most popular one on campus as they had outrageous amounts of money to throw at parties and other social events, but it wouldn't be the end of the world. She'd just join another one. She had heard Nudist Beach was a good one, although that it made members walk around naked during the meetings.

"But what if I cause you to not get accepted, I would feel so bad!" Mako said and Ryuko rolled her eyes. "Mako seriously, you can get a full night of sleep before an entrance test but you freak out over this. We'll be fine."

"But what about how they beat you up after you fail?" Mako pouted and Ryuko stopped walking, pulling on Mako's arm to do the same.

"Just a rumor."

"What about how they put you into eternal sleep if you yawn in front of them."

"Utterly impossible."

"What about the giant dog they send after you, so that it can take giant shits that you'll end up not seeing and stepping in?" Mako's voice rose in pitch after every question and she covered her mouth in horror. Ryuko tried to stifle a laugh at the last statement. "Mako, that's stupid. Where did you hear that from?"

"The girl behind me in Math class." Ryuko pulled Mako's hands away from her mouth and looked her friend in the eye. "Mako I'm pretty sure these are just stories people tell because their jealous that they didn't get picked from the applicant pool, and you did." A little bit of Mako's uncertainty seemed to drift away at this comment.

"But what about the giant dogs doodoo? I really don't wanna get any on my new shoes…"

Ryuko sighed. Really Mako was like a little child sometimes and Ryuko would've confused her for one, had it not been for her chest size. "I'll just beat the giant dog up. And anyone else that tries to hurt us, okay? So don't worry. We got this."

Mako looked at Ryuko and then nodded her head before fist pumping. "You're right, Ryuko. As always, you're right. I'll put my best hand forward from now on."

"You mean foot."

"Yea that too."

Ryuko shook her head in exasperation. "Come one let's catch up with the others." The two girls ran to find the crowd, which had proceeded to make its way down three blocks while they had their chat. The two girls were out of breath by the time they caught up, the crowd having finally reached its destination.

They had arrived in front of a gorgeous white house- no mansion would be the more appropriate term- and Ryuko craned over the heads of the students in front of her to see what was going on but she was too short. And being in the back of the crowd didn't help.

"Hey Mako, can you see?" Ryuko asked and turned around to see Mako wrapped around a tall guys head. "Yea I can, you should come up here too Ryuko."

"Mako get down from there," Ryuko scolded and the smaller girl shimmied down much to the relief of the guy whose face she had clung onto.

The students milled around outside of the house, shifting from foot to foot. Their voices had lowered as they mumbled now nervously amongst themselves. Ryuko had to admit she was feeling a bit nervous but also excited. She liked doing crazy and dangerous things. Ever since she was a little girl, she would always get into fights with others because of the simple fact that she was bored or tired of adhering to society's rules. She fought against people who she knew she had terrible odds against. Like a three hundred pound man, or a criminal fresh out of a robbery. She'd lose some, but it didn't matter. The trill of the possibility of outsmarting her opponents always incited her, and she'd picked up a couple of martial arts belts along the way: mixed martial arts, judo, kung-Fu, Tai Kwando and she'd dabbled in a few others. In fact for this initiation she wouldn't mind if they had lions.

Ryuko scuffed her ratty white sneakers against the well manicured grass of the giant lawn in front of the frat house. Seriously, this house was crazy pretty, all decked out in white and blue trim with roman arches over the doorway. Obviously the rumors about the frat having money were true if the status of the house said anything. Ryuko could see the lights were on inside but was nobody coming to open the door? The frat knew that this was the night of initiation ceremonies, unless this was the first test.

One of the students in the front, losing patience, was about to go knock on the door when it opened revealing an old butler inside. "You must be the applicants. Please come in," He moved aside to the let the students enter. Ryuko and Mako were the last ones in, and once they entered the mansion their jaws dropped.

Plush blue carpet led the way down the hall into a giant room with a high ceiling. There were two grand staircases there, connected to their respective pair of closed doors, that came from the left and right sides of the second floor of this room. There was another staircase in the middle of the room which led to a bigger pair of closed doors that seemed to be inlaid with gold. The whole room was decorated in blue; a blue couch was situated in the middle of the room with a coffee table in front of it, both facing the fireplace against the wall that Ryuko stood next to. Ryuko let her neck crane upwards to glance at the huge chandelier hanging from the ceiling right above the coffee table. It alone looked to be the most expensive item in the room, with white gold and clear crystals on it, an item worth more than a year of college tuition. It probably weighs more than a fucking elephant, Ryuko let out a low whistle as she caught her reflection in it. A sloppily dressed girl with unruly hair stared back at her wide eyed; her low matenience appearance seemed out of place amongst the grand décor of this room and she swallowed nervously.

The students were all murmuring in astonishment at the riches of this house as they walked around and looked at the stuff. One of the students approached the other end of the room which had an archway that lead to the rest of the house, but it was too dark to see past it.

"Please stay in one spot, everyone" the butler reappeared and everyone jolted out of their exploration to glance at him. "The frat members will be here soon." With that he left.

"Mako pick your jaw up from the floor," Ryuko reprimanded as she wiped some drool from Mako's open mouth with her sleeve.

"But it's so pretty, if only we could live in a house like this," Mako sighed wistfully. Ryuko felt a stab of sadness and jealously. Mako and her had come from a very poor family. They weren't actually sisters, as they had adopted Ryuko after her father died and she was left alone, but they got along great. However, the Mankanshoku's were very poor and this was the one time it worked to their advantage. The university they were at now, Revoc's University, would cover the girl's tuition costs full ride because of how ridiculously poor they were.

Being poor was also part of the reason Ryuko wanted to join this frat; because all of the members got personal allowances that they could spend on anything, and Ryuko had planned on sending it back to her family after she graduated so that she could pay them back for raising her.

The lights in the room dimmed into complete darkness and the students let out surprised gasps. "oo I sure hope this isn't like in the scary films where stuff pops out at you," Mako squealed next to Ryuko's ear before grabbing onto her.

A spotlight appeared on the staircase to the left of Ryuko, illuminating a blue haired boy who had not been there seconds ago. He was wearing a gray uniform complete with white fringe and three stars that glimmered in the light. The high collar around his mouth parted as he spoke.

"Greetings, students of Revoc's University. Today you have gathered here in the frat house of Lady Satsuki in order to partake in the long and rigorous initiation ritual that will grant you access to this house and all its benefits. You are the lucky fifty we have selected from the applicant pool of over five hundred students based on your skills, personality and academics. But just because you have made it in does not mean you will stay in. According to my calculations," at this he whipped out his phone and pushed up his glasses, "less than fifty percent of you will make it past the first round." There were shocked looks exchanged amongst the students.

"Hell no," came an indignant cry from the crowd. One student, sporting a bad haircut, was revealed as the crowd parted around him to give him more space to speak. "Who are you to tell us who'll make it and who won't, nerd. I'm Takaharu, and I don't let anyone dictate my future."

"I'm surprised dictate is in your repertoire of words, Mr. Takaharu."

"Well then, you clearly don't know me, four eyes." Takaharu snarled.

"Oh, I am quite familiar with you," the blue haired boys cool voice gained a dangerous edge, "and your internet history."

"Huh?" Takaharu asked, more in confusion than in need for repetition.

"That's right, user 223Take-a-dic-to-ate. I see you frequent websites such as , and ." The students in the crowd started laughing at this and Takaharu looked at them in horror, sweat visible on his face. "That's not true!" he screamed at them whipping his head back and forth in shock before letting his gaze fall on the boy in the staircase. "You liar! You snoop! You four eyed, good for nothing freak!" The blue haired boy just pushed up his glasses at the insults, hiding his smirk behind his collar. "I'll come up there and knock you right off of your pedestal!" Takaharu roared readying his fists before a loud voice drew the crowd's attention to the staircase on the right side of the room.

"How dare you disrespect one of the house!" a light was focused on a giant man, who stood with his back straight, hands behind it, on top of the stairs that were on the right side of the room. He was tanned with blonde hair and he too was clad in a gray outfit but his had three stars and huge shoulder spikes.

"Speak out of turn or interrupt us one more time and you'll be faced with something much worse than just having your internet history read in public." The man glared at Takaharu whose show of bravery had disappeared along with his dignity. The poor redhead was shaking in his boots. Message sent, the man let his gaze encompass the whole crowd. "Now before my colleague was so rudely interrupted, we were going to tell you about the stages of the process. And yes, most of you will not pass, and yes we do dictate your future." At this the giant man leaned towards the crowd causing the students closest to his staircase to stumble back. "You best believe that," he rumbled before straightening up.

"There are five stages, each meant to test different aspects of your skills in order to assess what you are capable of. You will be observed the whole time, so everything will be taken into account." The giant glared at the crowd as if daring them to speak out of turn again. When only silence greeted him he continued. "The benefits of joining this frat will be discussed in detail later, but to keep you motivated take into account that members have a personal allowance of more than three thousand a month."

Ryuko couldn't believe her ears. That much a month? Hell, she doubted the Mankanshoku's made that much in half a year. Mako who was still holding onto Ryuko's arm shook it. "Ryuko did ya here?" she asked dollar signs flashing in her eyes.

"Yea I did," Ryuko managed to croak out. She definitely needed to join this group. Now.

"Continuing onto the competition," at this the crowd turned to the fireplace where a pink haired small girl was sitting on top of it, one leg crossed over the next. She was wearing a gray dress complete with the three stars and a marching band hat that had a dead monkey skull on it. "For the first round you will be split up into ten groups of five, since there are fifty of you. You have already been preselected into the groups in order to make them as balanced as possible so that one will not have an advantage over another thereby eliminating the chance for you to claim that the trail was unfair. There is a sheet with items on it that you will use to complete this task," the girl pulled out a sheet from her pocket and held it out although it was hard to make out the writing with the spotlight on her directly. "The first round-"

"-is a scavenger hunt." This time a voice came from the bottom of the main staircase in the room. Sitting on the bottom step sprawled out and hands in the pocket of his gray uniform was a green haired boy with a smirk on his face. The spotlight glinted off of his teeth, and the spikes on his belt and he barely flinched as the pink haired girl yelled at him.

"Damn it you stupid monkey, you didn't let me finish."

The green haired boy stood up as the spotlight on the pink haired girl faded and shrugged, "you were taking too long. Anyways as I was saying the first round is a scavenger hunt. The objective is to get as many things done on it in five hours. Now this is not your typical scavenger hunt. There are fifty phrases on the list and it is up to you to come up with a meaning for them. And make sure the results are insane." Ryuko was a bit confused as to why they would do a hunt like this, but she got the gist of it. Basically, it was up to them to come up with the meaning of the phrase and then do it in the craziest way possible. She liked this.

"And if you don't understand the challenge, then you don't deserve to be here." The green haired boy smiled clapping his hands. "Now let's get this thing started shall we?" He held up a thick stack of papers in his hand. "On this paper is the list of groups as well as the items. There are fifty items on the list, get as many done as you can. If you come back to the house late, you are automatically disqualified." With that he threw the papers in the air. His spotlight went out and Ryuko heard the rustle of paper before all the lights returned in the house and she saw the pages coming down. The students made a mad grab for the papers before reading them and starting to form groups. Ryuko looked at her paper and let out a breath of relief. She and Mako were together.

"Alright, Ryuko! We're on the same team" Mako cheered.

"Hey I'm on your team" announced the lanky boy that Ryuko had seen from before.

Oh great not him, Ryuko mentally rolled her eyes. "Us too," came the voice of a guy and girl in unison. "We're the Norman twins," they said together. "I'm Kate," the girl said and then gestured at her brother "I'm Kent."

"And I'm Mako," Mako announced jumping up in joy before shaking the new team members hands. "I'm Devin," mumbled the lanky boy suddenly embarrassed by Mako shaking his hand.

"And what about you?" asked the twins as they turned to Ryuko.

"Are you gonna do that shit all the time?" Ryuko asked feeling creeped out and annoyed by them already.

"Do what?" they asked confused.

Ryuko wanted to facepalm herself. "Nothing, just nothing. My name's Ryuko."

"Alright we have the best super-duper team cause Ryuko's on it!" Mako exclaimed as she ran around the group in circles.

"Mako stop it." Ryuko grabbed Mako by the head, lifted her of the floor with one hand and then set her down next to her.

"Students," the old butler's voice rang out amongst the din of the crowd. "The clock is about to start so I suggest you all get ready to start. Each of you will leave in intervals of ten minutes so as not to cause a commotion. These stopwatches," he held up some yellow plastic stop watches before tossing them to the groups. Ryuko caught her's and looked at it. Her's said 5:00:00. "These are timed to count down how much time you have left remaining. You have to get here before it reaches zero. Now the first group to go is group A. Off you go," the butler made a shoo motion with his hand and the five students that were part of group A bolted out the door.

Ryuko felt sweat gather on her palms. So the real big deal was about to start. She clutched her stop watch and turned to appraise Mako, who was now calmly staring at her own device. Ryuko looked back at her's as the seconds digitally glared back at her. Was she ready for this? Only time would tell. Literally.

Ryuko snorted at her own joke.