Hi everyone! Here is my new fanfiction. It is a crossover between several Tales of (Graces, Vesperia, Symphonia, Abyss, Innocence, Destiny and Phantasia), but it is also an AU (high school context) taking place in the 21st century. It mainly focuses on Asbel and Yuri.

Please, do not mind the character's age, I need them to be about the same age so that they are from the same grade.

Anyway, I do not own the characters, which are properties of Namco but enjoy!

Chapter 1

"Mister Lhant... Mister Lhant! Are you sleeping?!"

A distant voice asked. That is when he realized he was slumped on his desk. He jumped and mumbled some quick apologies. How long had he been asleep? He didn't remember when his eyes closed nor when his head collided with the wooden table. He swiftly glanced at one of his classmate and saw that slumber took over him about two (endless) paragraphs earlier. He sighed and turned his head to the right. As expected, Sophie didn't take more notes than him... He knew she relied on him because she had difficulties to write – damn, she was so slow at it –, which meant she couldn't follow the teacher's pace when he was dictating. In other words, she was completely lost when Asbel wasn't listening and writing the teacher's explanations. He cursed himself for his nap that made both him and Sophie missing some important points of Miss Sage's history lesson. He would have to make up for the wasted time by borrowing one of his classmate's notes.

Who could he ask? Definitely not Hubert. His brother wasn't the type to help anyone with school matters – it was even worse when it came to homework –, and besides he would tell him off for his lack of seriousness, until his ears hurt. Cheria maybe? No way, he didn't like the pink ink she was writing with. He wondered how the teachers could read her work sometimes. Wait, he did know the perfect person: Richard.

Although he didn't know much about him, since he only enrolled in this high school this year, he was able to tell that Richard was a serious student. Asbel couldn't say they were getting on well, as they didn't speak much. They only did the few times they had to work by pair, and the thing he recalled the best was when he went to Richard's place, and more accurately, the awkward silence between them. But he could not say they were not getting on either. Actually, they rather looked like perfect stranger to each other, but Asbel thought Richard might not mind lending him his notes. However, the bell's ringing and the teacher saying "see you tomorrow" brought him back to reality: he couldn't borrow any class notes, for they had their next course of history on the day after. He would have to copy somebody's notes this evening. Was Richard the best choice then? He wasn't so sure anymore. Neither did he dare to ask him to stay at school at the end of the day until he was done copying, nor did he want to sound rude by asking him if he could drop by at his place in order to do it. And besides, the last option was off. He did remember the last time he went there, and it felt so weird that he promised himself never to come back again.

The students stood up and began packing their stuffs as it was the last class of the day. Asbel had to hurry if he wanted to catch up with Richard before he was gone. He was to call his name when his phone vibrated. He took it out of his pocket and listened.

"Asbel? I hope you didn't forget we have a training session today? This year is very important for us, so we need you to be there tonight. Understood?"

He didn't get the time to protest anyway since the person phoning had hung up already. He knew who she was, despite the masked number. He would always recognize the harsh tone. Asbel swore. To be honest, he had completely forgot he had extra activities tonight. Now, he had to find an alternative quickly. He frowned, lost in his mind, until someone pulled on his shirt. He turned his head to see a Sophie staring at him in wonder.

"What are you doing, Asbel?" She asked, tilting her head on the left, her pigtails falling with grace. She was so cute, he couldn't let her see his bad mood.

"... Well, you see, as I don't have all the notes of the history class, I need to copy them, since the next class is tomorrow. But I don't have time for it now, because I have a training session tonight, which I totally forgot. I was about to ask Richard if it was okay with him if I went to his place to copy his notes, but I won't be available anyway... So I've got little troubles..." Asbel answered.

"Me too... I couldn't write everything the teacher told us... Do you think Miss Sage will be angry at us tomorrow if we don't have our class notes?"

"She doesn't care much about it, but it is dangerous for us, since she's always asking questions at the beginning of the class. If she asks us, we won't have anything to say and she will give us a bad mark... And she would explain everything all over again, losing herself in some mental foreign ruins..." He replied, proud enough of the last part of his sentence. He would use it for a literature work.

"Oh, I see... Can I go to Richard's to copy the notes then?" Sophie asked.

Asbel was always amazed by Sophie's spontaneity. Her proposal didn't sound that bad to him and he was really tempted to send her in his stead.

"I can't decide it by myself, you'll have to ask him the permission first. In that case, you should hurry, I saw him crossing the high school entrance door." He replied.

She nodded and ran after Richard. She was soon out of Asbel's sight, and the latter was a bit relieved. He would copy Sophie's note after his training session.

"Mom, I'm home!" Asbel said. It was 8 pm already, and he had just finished his training. He went to the living room where he only found Cheria and Hubert.

"Hi you two, Sophie isn't back yet?" He asked.

"No she's not, and we thought she was with you!" Hubert answered, in a reproachful way.

"Has something happened?" Cheria inquired.

"No, nothing, it's just that she went at Richard's place, but I thought she'd be there before I returned." Asbel replied, putting his bag on the table.

"What, at Richard's? But why?" Cheria exclaimed, bewildered.

"Eer... That's a long story, you see... To put it simply, I didn't take all the history notes, so I wanted to copy Richard's ones, but something came up and I couldn't, so Sophie decided to help me." Asbel explained.

"How irresponsible of you! That's not like we knew Richard well, anything could have happened to Sophie!" Hubert harshly retorted.

"Hey, easy! I'll phone her right now!" Asbel said, trying to reach Sophie already. He was a bit worried by his brother's words. A few seconds later, they heard a familiar ringing: Sophie's phone one, playing White Wishes. She had forgotten it at home again. Asbel sighed. He didn't have Richard's number, and he was certain he wouldn't be on the phone book.

"I guess we just have to wait for her..." He stated, not so sure about what to do. He was really uneasy. Hubert was staring at him with a severe look whereas Cheria seemed rather concerned.

About ten minutes later, the entrance door opened and Sophie came in, as if nothing was wrong.

"Hello everyone, I'm home." She greeted, not aware of the wave of relief spreading across her friends.

"You're really late! You should be ashamed Asbel." Hubert said sharply.

"Yeah, yeah, I am. Are you alright Sophie? It took you so long!" Asbel asked.

"Yes, I'm fine. Richard is really kind. As I was too slow at writing, he helped me and offered me to stay for dinner." She naively replied.

"So that's why you are so late... We were worried, you know!" Asbel stated, a bit surprised by Richard's gesture.

"But Asbel, you're the one who said we had to go to Richard's to get his notes..." Sophie answered, obviously not understanding why they seemed so anxious.

"Huh... Well, anyway, it's late... And I still have to write my own notes now... Do you mind lending me yours?" Asbel finally asked.

"No, that's fine. Here they are." Sophie replied.

When Asbel took the paper sheet, he couldn't help but be slightly exasperated... She did it again, that's why she was so slow... She perfectly copied Richard's writing, for Asbel would recognize the calligraphic style... He was sure that he wouldn't have been able to tell Sophie wrote it if he hadn't sent her at Richard's himself.

"Thanks Sophie... Now, you should go to take a bath." He said.

He went upstairs to his bedroom and sat at his desk. Of course, he felt asleep on his work, and woke up because of an angry Hubert who, as he was sleeping in the same room, was telling him to hurry and switch off the light.

The day after was to be even worse.

Author's comment: This first chapter is rather short, but the next ones will be longer.

I'm quite sure you're wondering about Asbel's extra activities, but you won't know before a while ;)

I hope you like it, don't forget to add a comment =)