DISCLAIMER:Rival Schools/Project Justice & it's characters are owned by CAPCOM and possibly UDON studios.

Chapter I: Rise from the Ashes

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Kyosuke sat at the table and poured himself some orange juice. Everyone fell silent. For the better part of the year, Kyosuke had sunk into a deep depression. Everyone had nearly gotten accustomed to it. Now, he appeared at the table as if nothing was wrong.

"Please stop acting like I'm a ghost." He took a swig from his cup.

They were all at a loss for words. Kyosuke gave a frustrated sigh. Just then, Ayane barged in.

"Mornin', just seeing if you were ready to go..." Her word trailed off at the sight of Kyosuke. A large grin spread on her face. "Kyosuke-kun!"

Ayane was a distant cousin of the Imawano-ryu. Raizo had inherited custody of her when her parents passed away. When the first wave of trouble started, she was sent away to Seiyuun Jyuugakuen to keep out trouble. She was a short, muscular girl with gold-colored eyes and dark hair she kept tied in a single braid. She also liked to keep her skin tanned like most troublemakers.

"Back from the dead, huh?" Ayane ruffled his hair. "That's good! I was almost worried that I'd never get to see you outside your room!"

Ayane's jovial attitude served to break the silence. Everyone relaxed and a normal conversation started up about today's events.

"So today is Fugashokimaya University's spotlight day," she explained. "Most of us are going to attend it because it's close to home."

"Who is 'most of us'?" Kyosuke asked.

"Hinata-chan, Aya-kun, and me for starters." Batsu chewed on a lump of food while ticking off their names in the air with his chopsticks.

"I would like to go...if I could even get into college." Sullen, he toyed with his food.

"You could take correspondence courses." Batsu offered. "They usually have that sort of thing...I dunno..." He buried himself in his food.

"That's a good idea." Shizuru seemed to agree. "Right, dear."

"Sure." Raizo took a sip of his tea. "If Kyosuke thinks he's ready. Do you think you're ready, Kyosuke?"

Kyosuke smiled. "I think I can handle it."

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Hinata's sister, Asaka, was a junior at this university. She gladly volunteered to be both chaffer and tour guide for the potential classmates. Having both her and Hinata around was physically taxing. They both had so much energy that just listening to them talk was draining.

Kyosuke broke off from the group and headed to the admissions office. He had missed so much school that he wasn't even sure if he could attend college. Fortunately, he snagged an appointment with a guidance counselor fairly early. Hopefully there was a chance.

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"Kagami Kyosuke." The older woman rustled papers. "I remember that you applied earlier this year. You were doing so well..." Her eyes moved over the young man's file. Kyosuke shifted in his seat.

"I understand that you experienced a loss in the family. Your time off was legitimate. I can't make it so that you are immediately accepted but you can take correspondence courses." The counselor folded her fingers together and flexed them. "If you score well enough, then you will be accepted in as a full student."

"I understand." Kyosuke nodded. "Thank you."

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A girl stood in front of the railing. At first, Kyosuke thought nothing of it. Then she climbed over the railing and stood on the other side of it. She readied herself, preparing to push off the edge. The redhead jumped up and ran after her.

He managed to grab her just as she let go. Her footing slipped and he increased his grip. Kyosuke stepped back, pulling her up with him. She thrashed about, screaming and clawing at him. Despite this, he managed to pull her onto the sidewalk where he promptly received an elbow to the gut. His grip loosened. The girl slipped away while Kyosuke doubled over in pain.

"What the hell?" He growled. He almost hoped that the girl went on ahead and jumped at this point.

"You..." The girl sounded surprised.

He stood up. He was about to say something else but stopped. He knew this girl. He could tell exactly who she was from her ornate curls.

"Kirishima...Yurika....?" He was fuzzy on names beyond his close circle of friends and family.

"So you've returned." Yurika stepped back, putting a hand on her chest. "You've come to finish me off?!"

"No! No, that's not it at all!" Kyosuke waved his hands in protest. "I saw you jumping and I thought it was a good idea to save you...starting to doubt it though-"

Yurika swung her bow at him. Kyosuke jumped back, barely dodging in. Confused, he looked her over. Did she have that violin the whole time?

"Why else would you save me..." She sneered. "...if not to finish me off yourself!"

She readied her violin to play. Kyosuke swore and backpedaled just at the column of note rose up from the ground. He raised his arm and summoned a wave of energy that headed towards the girl. He ran after it. Yurika blocked and the wave dissolved. Before she could recover, Kyosuke grabbed both of her hands and pulled them apart. Her wide eyes were filled with fear.

"I'm going to let you go." Kyosuke stated. "I'm not going to attack you and you're not going to attack me, okay?"

Yurika turned away from him. He leaned in closer. "Okay?"

"Okay." She muttered.

His grip loosened and she jerked her hands away from him. She rubbed her wrists while Kyosuke smoothed out his pants. He glanced at his watch.

"Listen, I'm sorry for whatever I did to make you so angry...but I have somewhere to be."

Yurika said nothing. She continued to look at her wrists. Deep down, the redhead was hoping that he didn't bruise her. She looked delicate enough to bruise easily. He wanted to ask but felt that his inquiry would only make things worse. With that, he walked off.

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As he drew closer, Kyosuke could see Batsu, Hinata, and Ayane with a few other familiar faces in tow. Apparently, they had run into Ran and Iincyo. Both of them were equally surprised to see Kyosuke out at about. Ran assaulted him with a barrage of superficial questions while Iincyo only gave a quiet welcome.

"I mean, it's really great to see you, Kyosuke-san!" Ran beamed. "We have to sit down and do a full one-on-one interview—I can see it now: Taiyo's Seventh Wonder Returns! It'll be my last big scoop before heading to college!"

"Speaking of which," said Hinata. "How did it go over at admissions?"

"Technically, I'm in." He muttered. "I'm pretty sure I'll do well in the classes, though I'll be behind all of you."

"That's wonderful!" Hinata wrapped her arms around him. "You'll still be going to school with us!"

"G-great." Kyosuke winced. "Hinata...you're hurting me..."

"Sorry." She let him go. "I just get so excited! It's great to have you back, Kyosuke-kun!"

"Yeah," Batsu put an arm around Hinata. "We're here for you if you need us, okay?"

"Thanks." Kyosuke slipped his hands into his pockets. "I appreciate it."

They all piled back into Asaka's car and headed home. He decided to keep quiet about the incident between him and Yurika. That would probably serve to alarm the others and he was sure that he handled it well. He mulled over Yurika's response in the back of his mind. She was Kurow's sister. Perhaps she felt guilty about the whole incident...maybe she blamed herself for...

A lump rose in his throat. He didn't want to think about this anymore.

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Author's Notes: Well, this was actually a revamp of an older fanfic I had. Since then, I've gotten sweet writing sk1llz so I decided to flex my muscles and give this another try. I hope you enjoy this as much as I did writing it. I'll try and keep my O/Cs in check. :D