Shad's face loomed in the darkness. "Ok," he growled dramatically, "Rule one."
"Shad, knock it off. We've been over this, like, a million times," whined Pipit's voice.
"Oh come on, Pipit. We can't ignore tradition," Ashei snickered, half-serious and half-joking.
Shad nodded, oblivious to her sarcasm. "Yes. I'm just following tradition."
Link huffed. "Follow it faster!"
Shad's face reddened. "Ok, ok! Rule one: each person has exactly one selfish act a year."
The group nodded. Next to her, Zelda heard Malon quietly breathe, "Duh."
"Rule two: Selfish acts must only affect those in the group."
Link looked around in the dim light of the flashlight Shad held under his face. In a circle sat Shad, obviously, as well as himself, Pipit, Ashei, Midna, Malon, Groose, Karane, and Zelda. He wasn't exactly a fan of all of them, but like it or not, he was stuck with them.
"Rule three: No secrets. All selfish acts must be recorded─that's my job─and made known to the entire group."
Midna didn't often side with Pipit; she thought he was arrogant and self-centered. It was a mystery what Zel saw in him. However, this time she begrudgingly agreed that going over the rules every single year was pointless.
"Rule four: A selfish act can be a favor asked of one person or the entire group, but you can't ask anyone outside of the group. Clearly."
"I've never understood why that was a rule," Karane chimed in. "Of course we aren't going to ask someone else! They'd think we were crazy." Her words seemed rude, but everyone in the group knew Karane well enough to know that her intention was anything but.
"Rule five: If a selfish act is something asked of the entire group, it must be voted on. The group has the right to refuse," Shad continued, and added, "For all voting, majority rules."
Link smiled to himself. He remembered the first year they did this, and his selfish act was asking all of the girls whether or not they had a crush on him. Goddesses, he thought. That was dumb. The group voted it down with all of the girls (and Shad) voting no and the guys voting yes. Truthfully, the only reason he had asked this was to see if Zelda liked him. He had the biggest crush on her at the time. That was the end of seventh grade, and he had yet to learn how annoying she really was.
"Rule six: If a selfish act directly involves money, it must be voted on─regardless of overall agreement or disagreement."
Pipit watched Malon pick at her fingernails across the circle. She had always been a mystery to him. She just had this bitchy vibe. Zelda was friends with her, though, which must count for something. His gaze drifted to Zelda, who sat next to Malon. She noticed him looking at her and gave an adorable small smile. His heart soared. After weeks of flirting and Get a room!'s from their friends, they had finally begun dating two months ago.
"Rule seven: If a selfish act is something asked of one person but they don't want to do it, the group must vote on whether or not the request is reasonable."
Collectively, the group's attention was drawn to Groose. He was the reason this rule was added. He shifted his eyes downward and grunted. The very night this game was started, Groose used his selfish act to ask Zelda to kiss him. Horrified, she refused. Midna quickly suggested rule seven to save her, and it was added immediately.
"Rule eight: If someone's selfish act is not used within the year, it cannot be carried over into the next year."
This time, the attention was on Link and Pipit. They were the reason for that rule. Zelda repressed a laugh as she remembered their indignance when it was added.
Shad took a breath. "And finally, rule nine: no new members in the group." He closed the battered notebook on his lap. He noticed Ashei looking at him. He met her gaze for a moment. Something unspoken seemed to pass between them, and the only other person to notice this was Midna.
Midna felt panic rise within her. Was there something happening between them? Her friends had joked about the two getting together, but if that was a real possibility...Midna didn't even want to think about it. She had kept it secret for so long and she knew it could never happen, but…
Karane glanced at her phone. "Eight minutes to midnight, everyone! New year, clean slate; we can all be selfish again," she giggled. Malon rolled her eyes.
Now that Shad had finished going over the rules, Zelda had broken the circle and crawled over to Pipit. She was now sitting in his lap. Link wrinkled his nose in disgust. He turned to Ashei, who was sitting next to them. "Goddesses, why. That's so gross."
"What is? Zelda and Pip?" Ashei responded, tilting her head slightly.
"Are you blind? Next thing they're going to be eating each other's faces on the floor," scowled Link. Ashei watched as Pipit booped Zelda's nose, which caused her to promptly hide her face in her hands.
"Dude. Look at them. It's so innocent!" Ashei said. Link ignored her. He openly stared at the couple, a brooding look on his face.
After a few moments, Ashei smirked. "Keep up being jealous like this, and Pipit will kick your ass to the moon."
Link gave her a scandalized look. "Jealous? I hate her! I'm just mad because of all the girls, Pipit falls for the shittiest person in all of Hyrule."
"So you're saying Pipit is too good for her?"
"Yes!"
"But that you're just shitty enough to be a perfect match?"
Link glared at her. He tried to shove her over, but she dodged and shoved him instead.
He was about to retort, but Karane's shout distracted him. "11:59!"
The group made a circle again and quieted. Pipit and Zelda still exchanged flirty looks, while Link gave Ashei murderous ones.
Midna still had a rock of worry sitting on her chest. She needed to talk to someone. The only people she would even consider going to would be Link, Ashei, or Zelda. Link was just...no, and she couldn't exactly talk to Ashei about Ashei. That left Zelda, who was currently lost in her new dreamy boyfriend's eyes. Fuck, I really am alone, she thought.
"10, 9, 8…" Karane began, and the rest of the group joined in. "7, 6, 5, 4…"
Midna didn't feel the usual excitement of New Year's Eve. All she felt was dread. This year was going to suck.
"3!"
Link ran his fingers through his messy, dark blond hair. He needed this year to be good.
"2!"
Zelda barely heard the countdown. All she registered was Pipit's bright blue eyes and perfect smile. She just knew this year was amazing already.
"1!"
"HAPPY NEW YEAR!" chimed the group in unison. Link tried not to gag as Zelda and Pipit shared a passionate New Year's kiss.
Ashei's voice rang out above the chatter. "Let the games begin."
I am so excited for this story! This is my first solo modern AU, so I'm very nervous as well. This was so short because it's just the prologue. That's also why some things (like what Midna is struggling with) are so vague. Everything will make sense soon. Thanks for reading!