Prologue: Willow Lake

"Hey all you gaming fanatics!" Three girls sat in a high school club room, listening to the internet news report on the gaming channel as they waited for a few others to arrive. "I hear there's a new secret that everyone's psyched up about in the gaming world~! Wanna hear what it is~?"

"Of course it's the beta of Willow Lake." A girl with pale brown hair smiled, her long bangs pinned back with a bow hairclip and an ever-present smile plastered on her face. Her skin was pale but flawless, like a porcelain doll. Her body type was fairly thin, and well proportioned, her chest relatively small. Her eyes were closed at the moment.

"That's right~! Willow Lake's Beta is finally out of development, and anyone who's been selected to be a part of this closed beta gets their copy tomorrow!"

"It's technically tonight at 11:45, but whatever." Sitting across from the first was a girl with shoulder-length black hair that sat in a princess cut with softly fringed bangs. Her slightly tanned skin and hazel eyes setting her apart from her two companions. Leaning her chin on her hand as she looked at her phone, the girl could only sigh in annoyance. "Exactly 8 hours from now… where the hell are they? We were supposed to start club already."

"Calm down… they'll be here…"the girl who sat farthest away from the television had freshly cut plum-colored hair that came up relatively short in the back, but her front fringes fell slightly past her shoulders, her bangs falling into her face. She had relatively pale skin, much like her first friend, but was not quite as thin and ha much larger chest. Her glasses caught the light as she adjusted them, her expression remaining blank with lavender orbs stared at the monitor as the door opened. "There, see?" she stated.

"Sorry we're late~!" two boys walked in, carrying boxes of what looked like old computer parts and circuit boards. "Here you go, Akemi." The boy with dark brown hair grinned, placing the box he was carrying in front of the glasses girl. "Hopefully Makoto can make use of these scraps." He winked at the plum haired girl with his reddish-brown eyes.

"You know he will, Hibiya." She stated. "And stop flirting, go wink at Hiwa." She added, causing the other boy in the room to laugh, Hiwa's face to turn bright red, and Hibiya to back up, covering his mouth with the heel of his hand. "See? Just go do it. I want to see her faint."

"I won't faint from that~" Hiwa chuckled, trying to hide her embarrassment. "He'd need to steal a kiss and be much more explicit~"

"Oi oi, don't talk about this in front of me." The second boy was older by a few years. He had pale brown hair to match the girl he stood next to, his captivating blue eyes a real stunning feature. "I'm her brother, you know."

"You're also the only one who's a legal adult, Taku-chi." Hibiya slapped the brunette's back, grinning.

"Oh, a brotherly romance going on between you two?" Hiwa grinned. "Don't steal all the boy's hearts, Takuto~" Hiwa giggled. "Neee, Hana~?" she turned to her friend across the table from her as Akemi continued to stare at the screen.

"Why are you asking me?" Hana asked, quirking an eyebrow.

"Because I hear you have a fanclub~!"

"Wh-whaa-?!" Hana fell out of her chair. "When did you hear about tha-!?"

"Shh." Akemi silenced her two friends when the woman on screen began announcing something.

"The character design for this game is pretty complex, right?" she was interviewing one of the team members from Willow Lake's character development crew. "And many of the special class items are only attainable via quest completion?"

"That's correct. And stats of said items are dependent on completion percentage."

"Seems almost unfair doesn't it?"

"No, not at all. The stats feature will be modified if it is too difficult for the beta players. This is simply a test run to see if we made it too complicated. If all runs smoothly, we will release the feature with the open server sometime next year."

"Thinking ahead, aren't they…" Hibiya said, snapping Akemi out of her daze. "Well, let's get club started, then we can go home!"

"Even though it's still hours before we're sent our copies?" Akemi asked, Hibiya nodding. She sighed a little, the group all sitting down in their proper seats.

"Alright, so let's start with overview of the semester's events." Hibiya stated, Hiwa handing him the papers that he almost forgot to look at. Once they'd gone over everything else that they had to, including things such as how to keep in contact after the year was over, he turned to Akemi. "Finances are…?" he seemed almost afraid of the answer.

"Finances are stable, everything remains in the black, and if we're lucky we will be able to fund pizza and drinks for the entirety of next year, so long as the person who takes over after me doesn't blow everything." The girl replied. You could see Hibiya visually relax at her words, a look of relief crossing his face now that he knew he hadn't depleted the year's money.

"Good, take note and give it to the advisor for next year. Oh, and give Hiwa a copy too, since she's next year's president."

"Ehehe, yes I am, aren't I~?" the girl opened her eyes to look over at Akemi. "Please make it easy to understand, Ake~"

"You're smarter than me with numbers, if you weren't the only one younger you'd have my position." The glasses girl sighed. "Don't let the club die, okay?" she said, glancing back up at Hiwa after placing the papers down.

"I promise I'll do everything I can to keep it going~"

"Alright, then that concludes the meeting~!" Hibiya cheered, standing on his chair and putting his foot up on the table, ending up falling backwards and almost knocking Takuto down with him. "Owwwww…" he complained, sitting up.

"You alright?" Akemi had stood up from her seat to check on him. Despite this happening almost every time, Akemi always checked on him after a fall. Hiwa seemed a little bit miffed, but her ever present smile masked it to everyone except Akemi. The group cleared out of the room, Hiwa walking in the same direction as Akemi to the grocery store.

"You know you know." Hiwa smiled, linking arms with Akemi. "You're so mothering, people might start mistaking you for Hibiya's girlfriend~"

"Don't pull that bull with me, Hiwa." Akemi grumbled, letting the girl cling to her. "If you want him, go make a move on him." She stated. "You know Hibiya's not my type… besides, in case you hadn't noticed, he's got a MASSIVE crush on you…" the glasses girl added. "Not to mention, if anyone is getting mistaken for a couple, it's because you insist on walking like this." She stated sternly, Hiwa grinning at her friend's expression.

"Averted eyes and a slight rosy blush~ Do you have a crush on me, Ake~?"

"Don't start that again." Akemi grumbled as they made it to the grocery store. "We go online tonight, so make sure you sleep before we log on."

"Don't worry, Ake~ I have my email notification on so I'll wake up when the copy comes in~ And I'll be ready to dive~"

"Riiight…" Akemi sighed, going to get some veggies and cream for cream stew as Hiwa picked out some of their favorite drinks to add to the basket. "Just don't forget that we're going for the Chi-user class. So no screw ups, right?"

"Right~" Hiwa grinned. "Ake-nee is sooo cool when she gets into a game~"

"There you go again…" the girl smiled as she let her friend put the drinks into the basket. "Just another ploy to get your dinner."

"Ehehe, well we are a pair of foxes~" Hiwa chuckled. "One of us a cunning trickster with a cute smile and a knack for playing mind games, and the other a hottie with the biggest boobs and cutest face in school, hiding that sharp wit and a dangerous set of claws~" Hiwa grabbed Akemi's chest, causing the girl to blush before she swatted her friend's hands away. "Awww, Akeeeemiiiii." She giggled and chased her friend to the register.

"Having fun you two?" The old woman at the register laughed. "Always behaving like this, it's almost like a puppy trying to get the attention of an old hound."

"Yay~! I'm the puppy~!" Hiwa smiled as she latched herself onto Akemi's waist. "Ake-nee is the oooold hound~"

"Yeah yeah, get off. I need my wallet." Akemi said, tapping Hiwa's head before she let go, retrieving her wallet and paying for the groceries. "Have a nice night." She called to the old woman, who waved with a smile as the girls left.

The pair arrived at Akemi's apartment, no one home. "Aww, no cutie pie Mako-kun to play with?"

"Oi oi." Akemi growled. "Don't talk like that about my kid brother."

"Ooooh, scary scary~ Ake-nee is so angry~"

"Shut up. Go after your man and leave Makoto out of it." Akemi stated, placing the groceries on the counter and beginning to furiously make their meal, Hiwa chuckling at just how protective Akemi was over her little brother.

"Aww, I'm sorry… I was just poking fun." Hiwa pouted cutely, but it didn't phase Akemi at all. "Aww, Ake don't be mad. You know I don't go for younger boys…"

"I'm annoyed, not mad." She replied simply, working on the stew. "Just sit down, would you? And check the news."

"Yes, of course~" she nodded, smiling cheerfully. Once the two were done with dinner and Takuto came to take Hiwa home, it was about 6:30pm. Akemi laid down for a nap… in a few hours, it would be time for the Willow Lake Beta to come online.

((For those of you who read Ryuuko - Fallen Blade, here's the prequel~

This will only be a 5 or so chapter thing I will be doing to give more background for the characters and relationships from the Beta.

Please look forward to it~ ; v ;

-Winter Cheshire))