Before the Game

Chapter 1: First Impressions

Asami looked at her reflection in the mirror while trying to place her skirt nicely. Today would be a good one at school. She'd make sure of it. All she had to do was smile and make a good impression and hopefully new friends would gravitate towards her. She'd still talk to her old friends by phone, letters, and e-mail, but it'd be nice to make some friends here too. Grabbing her backpack and bento on the way out, she walked down the sunny street towards her new school, Mazawa High.

* * * * *

It was a perfect morning, mused Yokoya. Students bowing every corner he turned, teachers showing him their delightful corrupted natures...It'd taken a few weeks, but he'd finally squashed the rebellion out of everyone here. Now he was top of this school, and there was nothing anyone could do about it. There'd been struggles at first, oh yes. Students who didn't like his hierarchy, who had ethical issues with it. He smirked at this. The truth was, everyone here was weak. Saying they believed in equality one moment, and begging for forgiveness the next. It was all just so amusing, how much a person's 'issues' with him could disappear when threatened or bribed. Taking over Mazawa high school had been just too easy. As easy as breathing or blinking. Easier even. Yokoya took his usual seat at the back of the class surrounded by the Sasaki group. They were mindless buffoons, but a vital part of his plan. He needed them to keep a sense of fear in everyone. Fear. Probably his second favourite word after domination. He just loved seeing it in others, loved being the one to cause it. The bell rang and the teacher entered the classroom.

"Everyone settle down, homeroom has started," He announced. Quite needlessly, noted Yokoya, for everyone was already seated and it was completely silent. They had no more trusted friends to talk to. "Before I start the attendance, I'd like you all to meet a new student. Her name is Asami Koyama. Everyone please greet her." Yokoya's eyes turned towards the door as the girl walked in. She was a plain looking girl. Thin, average height, with long, light brown hair, brown eyes and the most disgusting bright smile. She seemed to be half Japanese, half something else...didn't really matter. The girl stopped in front of the class and, still smiling, said:

"Ohayo gozaimasu! My name is Asami Koyama, I'm 17-years-old and moved here just recently. I like flowers, dislike spiders and my favourite color is yellow. Please take care of me!" she stopped for a moment to give a polite bow, then continued. "Oh, by the way, it's really nice to meet you all. I'm hoping we can be good friends!" Well that won't last long, Yokoya thought absently. He wasn't too worried about this new girl. She looked weak and delicate. It wouldn't be long before she learned who was boss. The only thing left was to rank her...

While Yokoya was deciding what to rank her, Kikuzawa was staring at the girl...Asami was her name. His first thoughts were that she was kind of cute...she had really nice wavy hair. He especially liked her smile. It was so...beautiful. Not in a romantic way of course, more like something that's just nice to look at, like flowers. It'd been so long since anyone had smiled at school. Well, at least in a happy-to-be-here way. Suck-ups and backstabbing friends smiled all the time, but they just weren't the same. His next feelings were...pity, and sadness. Pity that such a nice girl had to come here and sadness at the thought that by the end of the week, he'd never see that smile again. His last thoughts however, took a more sinister route. The new girl looked naive and foolish. He could use this to his own advantage. If he became 'friends' with her and gained her trust, he could wait until she did something wrong and sell her out. It wouldn't be that difficult. After all, he'd already sold out Etsuya in order to get into rank C. Using this stranger couldn't be too difficult. Even if he didn't, someone else would right away, so it might as well be him, right? He just had to get to her before others did.

Meanwhile, the girl shifted nervously from foot to foot. Everyone was staring at her now and it was getting kind of embarrassing. She looked at Ishihara-sempei for instructions on what to do next but he ignored her questioning looks. She was about to ask him if maybe she should sit down, when a boy at the back of the class spoke.

"You're rank D." Asami's head snapped up to look at him. He was...peculiar. No eyebrows, mice in hand, and a smile that sent a few small shivers down her back. Actually, creepy was a better word for him, but Asami decided it was too early to judge. After all, you can't judge a book by it's cover.

"Rank D?" she asked, tilting her head slightly to show her puzzlement. "What's that?"

"Just where you'll be sitting," the boy replied, grinning evilly. As soon as he said that, all but one of the students in the third row immediately shifted their desks to right in order to make room for hers.

"Oh, thanks, um...." Ayami said, not sure what to call him, as she moved a desk and chair to her new spot.

"I'm Norihiko Yokoya" he replied, grin widening.

"Right, well, thanks Yokoya-kun. Pleasure to meet you. You can call me Asami." With that said, Asami sat in her seat. It was off to one side with only one other student to her left, and the others in her row to her right. Yokoya was far behind her. She was really happy about this because she didn't really feel like having to see that grin of his.

After sitting down, the teacher finally took attendance. While the names were being called, Asami heard someone whisper beside her.

"It's Yokoya-san." Asami turned to face the only boy to her left, a boy with blond hair. "He won't like it if you address him as kun."

"What?" Asami asked, extremely confused. "We're in the same class so using san doesn't really make sense."

"What class do you have before lunch?" the boy asked.

"Mathematics. Why?"

"I have math too. We can eat at the cafeteria together and I'll explain everything you need to know about this school to you," he whispered. "By the way, I'm Takahiro Kikuzawa. You can call me Kikuzawa."

"Asami Koyama. You can call me Asami. And sure, I guess we can eat together." Asami said uncertainly. Kikuzawa sent her a huge smile. She gave him one in return. He seemed pretty nice, but something was nagging the back of her mind. Just what did he mean by, 'I'll explain everything'? She stopped thinking about it thouh when Kikuzawa started speaking again.

"Well Asami-chan, looks like I'm your first friend.