A/N: Hello and welcome to my new story, SURVIVE! Originally, I wasn't going to upload this onto , but hey. No harm in spreading the yuri and drama love. Because of that though, updates may be slow or erratic, and so I will apologise in advance.

Now, as stated earlier. The pairings are NicoMaki with a side EliUmi and possibly NozoEli? This is a pretty mature piece too, so if things get too gruesome, I might bump this up to M. But anyway, warnings aside, I present to you the first chapter of this AU.

Chapter 1: Beginnings

Thursday September 24th 2:51pm: Nico POV

"...and lastly, if you substitute x with -17, you can see that..." I yawned, leaning my elbow on my desk. Just a few more minutes, I reminded myself. A few more minutes before this horrible lesson would end, and I could go back home after another exhausting day. My eyes trailed along the side-walk, right outside the window I sat beside. There were already a few students walking out there. I always wondered what business people had, roaming around the school freely during class time, but it was never my business anyway.

As my head filled with more and more useless thoughts, the male teacher in the room continued yapping away. As if anyone was paying attention. "...and that should be about the gist of it. You all got that?" He didn't give any time to respond. "Good. Exercises 10A and 10B should be completed for homework, in preparation for tomorrow's lesson." Another yawn. Teachers knew how to preach boredom pretty well, if you asked me. "You may pack up."

The last of his word's barely caught my attention, as the classroom was filled with shuffling and quiet chatter soon afterwards. I grinned. Hah. Even my third-year classmates were so low as to wait for the teacher's instruction before packing up. Holding my chin up a little higher, I quickly glanced at my empty desk. All clean.

"But, before you are dismissed, there is one last message." The teacher's monotone voice somehow brought upon a silence upon the room. I didn't bother looking over. "In fact, no. None of you are allowed to... leave the school anyway. Not yet, no. Not just yet."

'...huh? What's this guy up to now?' Pulling my lazy eyes across the room, I stared at the teacher. He was looking up at the ceiling, though somehow not; he looked more dazed and dreamy more than anything. Probably fantasizing about some of the 'wonders of maths', or something.

"I have a present for you - I hope you all enjoy it." A present! Great! I couldn't have cared less, so I glanced back out the window.

Well, that's what I thought, before a large gasp reached my ears; a sound from every person in the room, that rung of terror. Gee, can't you let a girl space out every once in a while...? This class was always full of dramas. Raising an eyebrow, I turned my head back towards the front of the classroom. That's when I stopped.

Chills, that's what I first felt as my eyes widened on the front board of the class - or rather, the item now stuck in the middle of it. Seemingly glued in place was a rectangular box, it's sides painted in a metallic black. The lid of the box however was glass, revealing the contents inside. Whether it was organised or not, I couldn't tell. All I could see was that there was an array of multi-coloured wires sticking out in all directions, and in the centre sat an LED timer.

1:00 was the time it displayed. Did it mean one hour? One minute? One second? I had no idea what it meant, or what the box even was. The only thing I was sure of was, well... the fact that it looked kinda like a bomb.

'Nice one, sensei... didn't know you were the joking type.' I sighed, leaning back in my seat as the initial sense of shock wore off. Everyone else had such stunned looks on their faces, of course the emotion was going to shift onto me at first. But now that I concluded that this was a simple prank, I had nothing to worry about.

The teacher reached over and pressed a button on the side of the box, setting off the timer with a click. It now displayed 0:59, then 0:58. It was counting down in seconds, nonetheless. It continued to beep as he spoke, voice booming in comparison. "Now everyone, I hope you've had a lovely day, because I'm doing you a favour and making it your last." Despite his absurd words, they had a playful ring to them. He clasped his hands together. "If everyone could join in on the countdown for me, that would be great."

And with a charming smile, he began counting down out loud, along with the replica bomb. He was the only one doing so for a solid 10 seconds or so. By the time the counter reached it's thirties, a few others had joined in with hesitant voices. Then, by the time it had hit 20 seconds, everyone was quietly chanting along. Except for me. Crossing my arms, I waited in amusement.

20, 19, 18...

"Nico-cchi!" Body jolting, I snapped my head in the direction of the call.

"Nozomi? What, what is it?" She looked almost as panicked as everyone else. In an instant, she shot up from her seat, rushing over towards me.

15, 14, 13...

I barely noticed that Eli had also stood up behind her, before the pigtailed girl grabbed me by the wrist, and tugged me out of my own seat. "W-Woah...! What's the big deal? Where are we going...?" Towing me along as she followed Eli's lead, the girl pulled me through the classroom. And no one seemed to notice.

10, 9, 8...

"No time...!" That was all she shouted before their fast walking pace turned into a sprint, heading straight past the teacher and out the door. Scrambling for my feet beneath me, I barely managed to keep myself upright as I followed behind. My wrist throbbed from how hard Nozomi was squeezing it.

5, 4, 3...

"Can somebody please tell me what's going on here!? It's the end of the day, for crying out loud...!" Although no matter how much I protested, I didn't get any answers. Met with silence, I finally gave up, watching my step as I was pulled down the closest flight of stairs. "We're heading down to the lower levels...? Hey, can you at least slow down while we-!"

2, 1.

And that's when the explosion came.

The noise seemed to shatter through my ear drums as the hallways rattled and rumbled. I didn't notice we'd stopped running halfway down the stairs, too focused on the bone-chilling sound of people screaming. I was frozen. I didn't bother turning around to look at what just happened. The ground beneath me felt like it was vibrating still, and my ears were ringing.

And yet somehow, I still managed to hear the piercing sound of someone's maniacal laughter in the distance, no matter how quickly it was drowned out by the ringing of the school's emergency bell.

The throbbing in my arm didn't even matter any more. "...what... the hell..."

All three of us said nothing; merely waited until the buzzing in our ears had quietened before we took another breath. Shaking in my stance, my eyes slowly made their way up to meet the others' gazes. Terrified, confused, and hurt - I assumed the same expression was what I wore, too.

"...what the hell just happened!?" I had to raise my voice for the other's to hear me over the bell, and over the stampede of footsteps from nearby students. The once empty hallways were quickly becoming flooded with more and more panicking figures.

"I don't know..." I barely heard Eli's mutter back, before I combated with a louder tone of my own.

"What do you mean, 'you don't know'?"

"I don't know, okay!?" She took a step closer to me, as she stared me down. The look of fear in her eyes... somehow, that seemed more painful than the buzzing in my head.

"There's no time to discuss this. Hurry, we have to get outside!" Although I was glad Nozomi interrupted, she could of at least given me another warning before bolting off and dragging me along. My feet slipped beneath me, and I barely caught myself before my head met the edge of the stairs. Heart thudding from the falling sensation and the sense of panic, I clenched my teeth, and ran with all the strength I could.

What was happening? How was this even happening? Was this seriously real? Doubts flooded through me as I pushed through the crowds of people, along with the other two girls. What were we supposed to do in an emergency like this? Wasn't there supposed to be a drill to follow; an orderly way to do this? So then why was everyone in the school, including the teachers we passed by, looking so lost?

"Are you kidding me? Are you serious? Can someone please explain to me what just happened back there?!" Starting to feel frustration mix in with my fear, my breaths became rigid. My feet were numb from how hard I drove them into the ground.

"That was, most likely, not a fake bomb, Nico-cchi! Put two and two together...!" I barely processed the answer I got in return. I didn't even think before I replied.

"So that was a real bomb? Just then? Things literally just exploded and people could have died?"

"Well, why do you think we're running, Nico?" I only glanced over at Eli for a moment, before my gaze returned to the hallway in front of us. Everything was a blur, and I knew I didn't say anything more until we had passed through the main doors of the school building.

It seemed we weren't the first ones to even make it out. A small crowd of students had already congregated outside the front gates, just as we were. Huffing and heaving for breath, I turned my head towards the school building as I walked in the opposite direction.

"Oh... this is just..."

Flames. Smoke. Parts of the upper building were on fire. "...great."

Becoming lost in the sight, my body gave in to the exhaustion, and I fell onto my knees. My fingers shook, and felt numb. Had I been squeezing them as I ran? I couldn't really remember. That didn't matter now. What did matter was the fact that, yes - an explosion had clearly been set off in our classroom. And Nozomi, Eli and I were lucky to have been prepared and escaped before getting caught up in it.

"That's fire... ooh, that's fire... t-that's really..." Muttering to myself, I felt a hand press against my shoulder.

"...what was that teacher doing?" When I turned my head, I noticed it was Nozomi, although she was speaking to herself, really. Behind her, Eli had already turned on her phone, and was shouting through the noise to the receivers on the other side. I assumed she was getting some kind of help. Only when I turned back to the building did I realise that my eyes, too, were burning, though from tears.

"Nozo...mi...?" The question came out before I'd realised I said it. "How did you even know... that was going to happen...?"

"Nico-cchi..."

"...why didn't you stop it?" The girl's grip on my shoulder suddenly tightened. I held back a wince, already feeling weakness through my body.

"I didn't." she snapped back. "I didn't, okay? It was an assumption. A risk I took, and look where it lead. We're safe, and that's enough." She sounded impatient, though that went over my head. I was too focused on trying to stop myself from crumbling on the spot. "'A tragedy will unfold when you least expect it', that's what I made of my card's prediction today. So I acted on it, and we're alive."

"...we put so much effort into saving the school, with Honoka and the others, and yet... this has to happen? Seriously, this? I don't even-!"

"Nico-cchi." Struck by the firm tone, I backed off. "...as if anyone would be pleased this happened. I am not heartless, I just did what I could." My eyes fell onto the floor. When had I started crying...? This wasn't good. Wiping at my eyes furiously to get rid of them, I hoped Nozomi hadn't noticed. Or anyone, really.

Hearing the shuffling of footsteps behind me, I made sure there were no signs of tears on my face before I looked up. Eli.

"The fire brigade is on it's way." she informed, with a wavering expression. Nozomi gave her a small nod of appreciation. However, they said nothing more, as the amount of students rushing from the building steadily increased. It had become quite loud and packed now.

Trying to regain some composure like the other pair, I quickly stood on my shaky feet, and brushed off my knees. I was certain they had a few scratches on them now, and my feet had a bruise or two. Jumping down staircases and running through the school wasn't exactly the best thing for my body to take, but anyway. Nozomi was right; I was safe, so I should be happy... right?

But...

"Hey, wait!" Suddenly exclaiming my worries, I stepped in closer to the other two. "What about the others? Every one else? Are they safe? Do you guys know what classes they had and where they would be...!?" I wasn't going to sit tight and twiddle my thumbs, just because I was safe. Despite how much I wanted to, I couldn't stop myself from worrying.

One of them could have been injured, or worse, could have died in that explosion. I might not be able to see them again, whoever it may have been. Hanayo, Honoka, Maki...

"Nozomi-chan! Eli-chan! Nico-chan! A little help...!?" A familiar voice. Wiping away the constant dampness at my eyes, I glanced over in the direction of the call. It was towards the corner of the building, the side that was burning. My chest throbbed.

"Honoka...!" And before I could react, Eli had bolted over to the trio that emerged from the corner - the second years. Honoka and Kotori were walking as fast as they could, towing a slumped Umi along with them. She looked half-awake. As the two carefully slid out from under the blue-haired girl's arms and she clung onto Eli's neck instead, she let out a dry cough.

"I'll be right back! Take care of Umi-chan while I check on the first-years...!"

"Honoka-chan...!" Kotori's objection went unnoticed, as Honoka had already run off and back into the building without hesitation.

'What an idiotic move, getting into more danger like that..'. But, I kept my thoughts and frustration to myself as I watched the others rejoin Nozomi and I. Up close, Kotori seemed 100% okay, besides the huffing from exhaustion.

My eyes shifted onto the other pair, who had now taken to the ground. Umi was resting up against the fence of the school, taking shallow breaths, while the blonde crouched beside her. The latter girl wore an almost devastated expression as she asked quiet questions, to which the other responded with nods or shakes of the head.

"What exactly happened to you three?" Nozomi was the first to speak up to Kotori, who looked back at her with surprised eyes.

"We, well... Honoka and I were together on the bottom floor. Umi was in a different class for once, on the top. We just, we heard the explosion and got really worried so we ran up there, but it was full of smoke, and, and..."

"Hey, take it easy and slow, alright? Breathe a little bit, Kotori-chan..." I kept quiet the whole time, watching the smaller girl nod her head with teary eyes. "There you go. It's fine now, relax..."

Then, she continued. She went on to explain, in detail, how everything near the staircase and first classroom was covered in smoke. It had only been a minute or so after the explosion went off, and yet it smelt of fire. The two found Umi staggering out of the fumes however, and they brought her down here as soon as possible - so really, they were lucky, and for the most part, unharmed.

"That's a relief, I guess... as long as she didn't inhale too much smoke." I briefly said. It was only then, after those words came out, that Honoka had indeed returned. This time, she came rushing out of the front of the building as quickly as she went, the three first-years sprinting to keep up behind her.

I let out a long breath as they joined us. "Alright, is everyone okay?" Honoka immediately asked as she stopped running, before regaining her breath. Everyone sort of gave their own "okay" - which was relieving enough. It wasn't long before sirens echoed in the distance, too, meaning our help had finally arrived.

Before anyone could say much more, groups of people poured out from the fire brigade's vehicles, dressed in vibrant colours and wearing helmets. While most rushed into the building to do their main job, others stayed behind and lead Umi - along with a few other weak students - just outside the school gates. I'm assuming they were medics or something, checking up on them.

After 10 minutes or so of idle chatting, comforting and standing around, Umi was back, anyway. Meaning all nine members of Muse had assembled together now, all safe and mostly unharmed. Once I came to accept that fact, my stress had begun to wear away. I could relax - at least, for now.

I sighed, resting my arms on my neck. "Alright, so now what should we-"

"Ooh, oh, would you look at that!? I'm not actually dead yet! You haven't killed me yet...!" And following that sudden outburst, was the familiar sound of maniacal laughter.

My heart thudded to a halt. Had I just jinxed everything?

Everyone whipped around in the direction of the building, facing the male teacher standing in the doorway. As soon as I looked up, I felt my stomach churn and my throat grew heavy. I shuddered. This wasn't the teacher I knew at all. No...

Instead, half of his body had been burnt to a crisp. What was left behind was dry, exposed skin, oozing with crimson liquid and covering most of his body. As if that wasn't bad enough, his face was torched in black, and his clothing was torn in all places. His eyes shone through the ash like glowing lightbulbs, though shimmering in a way that made them look like they were about to fizzle out. But yet again, that was only half of the reason I was terrified.

Both of his arms were dripping with blood, making his grip weak, but his body stood upright and firm. Aimed right in our direction was the muzzle of some kind of assault rifle, covered in camo print. It looked just like something stolen from the army, with a million different buttons and switches covering it. However, with a simple click, the teacher set the rifle, ready to fire.

"Why didn't you enjoy my present? Everyone should of had fun!" And as he screamed and screeched at the top of his lungs, his fingers pulled down on the trigger. Snapping again and again, one after another, a series of bullets unleashed from the weapon, bringing about another wave of horror and panic.

Thump, thump. "No way..." The crowd in front of the school had dispersed completely, most fleeing down the street and anywhere away from the attacker. "...t-this is... freaking insane...!" Before I knew it, everyone had begun fleeing, also. I found myself running with them, adrenaline pumping through my veins like blood. It was because of this overwhelming feeling that I barely noticed a bullet graze past my shoulder.

It stung for a moment.

I kept on running.