A/N Hello, everyone. I kinda wish the Valvrave fandom was a little more abundant in stories, so I've decided to add one of my own. To keep this description short and to the point without boring you, I've decided to keep about half of the canonical details and add/change the other half as my own. I hope you enjoy my story. Happy reading~

The first hit knocked the wind out of me.

I felt pretty roughed up from the beating that was currently being performed on me. I was currently behind the school, in a blind spot a bit beyond the schoolyard. I could see no help in sight, only the looming images of the bullies in front of me.

"Awww poor baby," Mocked one of the assailants. There were three of them. Although we were all about the same age at 7 years old, they were more built than I was.

"Dance for us, faggot," Called out another one. I gritted my teeth and refused to give them the satisfaction.

Prior to this, I had stood up for a random classmate who was being bullied. She was being harassed, just for being herself. She was one of our top students, who was always energetic, optimistic, and a little bit overachieving. But I didn't even know her name, so why did I stand up for her?...

"I think he's done. Let's just finish him up with a few more hits," Said the 3rd bully, but this one I knew the name of.

Yamada Raizo. A red-headed boy with a hot temper that fit his hair color. The thing about me is, I usually don't take action or any kind of initiative, so I always noticed other people while they never noticed me. That was fine in my book. But for some reason, I couldn't keep quiet today. If I had, this wouldn't be happening.

Another kick surely cracked my ribs. I couldn't tell who it was. I just hoped it would be over soon.

A 'few' more hits, turned into an all-out, no holds barred beating. I had never felt physical pain like this before. I decided to at least fight back and save some dignity.

The next leg I saw come in swinging at me, I caught with my bruised chest and arms. It surprised everyone, including me by a little bit, and then I punched him in the gut, and with the last of my strength, I pounced and tackled him to the ground. He might've suffered a concussion from hitting his head too hard.

I only meant to get him to stop hitting me, but that prompted the other two to beat me even more mercilessly than before. This would be one of the worst days ever in my life. What a way to spend a Friday. The sunset seemed to mock my situation.

Suddenly, a ray of sunshine finally dawned on my fate.

"There they are! Teacher, teacher! Over here!"

My eyes were a bit too swollen to see what was happening, but I saw the bullies running away, dragging their partially unconscious friend with them. I could only make out bits of what was transpiring around me.

I felt my head being raised onto someone's lap and teardrops hitting my cheek. Okay, I might've felt pretty pathetic, but I'm pretty sure I wasn't crying. Whose tears were those?

"I'm so s-sorry, Haruto. This is all my fault..." Cried someone. It sounded like a girl. In a few moments, my vision returned to its regular 20/20 and I saw the girl who I defended.

"Ummm... are you?..." I muttered weakly, wondering who she was.

"I-I'm Shoko. Sashinami Shoko. It's nice to meet you... though I wish it wasn't like this..." She wept and spilled a few more tears. I looked away from her and saw three other people.

"Tokishima, are you okay?" Said a tall, black-haired boy who I recognized but didn't really know his name. The other two were girls who rushed over to inspect my injuries.

"Oh dear, he looks horrible. Marie, we should get him to the school nurse!" Said the brunette-haired girl with a slight tinge of orange. The other girl, Marie, nodded with obvious concern in her eyes. The black-haired boy kneeled down next to me.

"I was just walking from my after school program when Aina here begged me to come with her. She said that Sashinami ran into her, asking for help. I ran here as quickly as I could. Sorry, I couldn't stop them from beating you up..." He said regretfully.

"I-I tried to help y-you. Like you did for m-me... but I f-failed..." Shoko said gesturing to the late reinforcements. From there, I deduced that the black-haired boy must've fought them off and the other two bluffed in telling a teacher. It was a unsuccessful attempt at sending aid, but I felt touched nonetheless. Well, whatever part of me that wasn't aching in pain felt touched.

"It's-" I coughed. "It's okay. I mean, it was nothing. You're okay, right?" I asked Shoko with alleviated concern. However, right about now, I wondered whether I made the wiser choice.

She smiled endearingly at me, and I almost melted.

"You're amazing, you know that? How can you be so worried about me when you should be worried about yourself right now?" She said laughing a bit, wiping tears in her eyes. The black-haired boy offered his hand towards me. I took it gratefully.

"I'm Inuzuka Kyuma. Feel free to call me Kyuma. That's what my friends call me," He said introducing himself with a strong smile. "That took guts. I admire that," he added on. I gave a faint smile while trying to stand upright. I couldn't. The pain was too much, but before I fell, I felt Shoko and Inuzuka catch me. I was lifted up by their combined efforts and was moved to the nurse's office. On the way, we passed the greetings around.

"You've met Shoko and me. That's Sakurai Aina, and this is Nobi Marie. We're in the same grade as you," Inuzuka said and I nodded.

"I know. Well, I've noticed you all before, I just never actually met you," I explained and he laughed.

"Well, you know us now," He said and we reached the infirmary.

For the rest of the day, and a few more days, I was cared for and what I remember was that Shoko was always by my side. I told her that she didn't have to, but she stubbornly refused to listen anyway. She even fell asleep by my side. After I recovered, life went back to normal. The bullies were reported and expelled, and I gained four new friends. Over the course of 3 months, we all grew very close. I was afraid that Shoko was only hanging around because she felt that she owed me, but one rainy day, that suspicion was erased from my mind.

It was pouring hard outside. The rain and thunder was loud. I had grabbed Shoko's hand and we ran into a cave for shelter. I'm sure both of us felt a bit awkward, but we kept silent. Then, finally after a few tense moments, I spoke up.

"Shoko," I said out of the blue. "Do you really want to be my friend?"

She looked positively confused at me.

"Of course I do, why would you ask that?" She responded wondering why I would say such a thing.

"I mean... you don't have to feel sorry or like you owe me something. I'm fine really..." I said referencing that incident 3 months ago. Her face fell and I worried that I might've ruined our friendship. But then, surprisingly, she hugged me very tightly.

"Haruto... I really do wanna be your friend. And..." She trailed off looking quite embarrassed which was evident in her blushing face. Her red expression was cute, but at the time, I wasn't sure what I was feeling.

"...I wanna be more like you. More brave, and... a nicer person," She revealed dramatically and I'm pretty sure I felt equally as embarrassed by that comment.

"Haruto... promise we'll always be best friends?" Shoko asked me with eyes, sparkling with hope. I couldn't say 'no' to a face like that. Not with eyes like the stars, and a smile that was worth getting beat up for.

"I promise, Shoko," I said raising my pinkie as the cultural way to make a promise. She gladly linked our pinkies and to this day, I never forgot our secret promise.

But then I had to move away.

I remember Shoko and Aina crying for my departure. Dad had to move somewhere else to continue his research. Apparently, his job required this sudden geographical transfer.

My four closest friends, Kyuma, Aina, Marie and of course Shoko felt very sad that I had to leave. But I tried to keep a straight face to be strong for Shoko. I hoped with all my heart that we would meet again one day.

But it wouldn't happen until almost 10 years later.

Eventually, dad became too busy to take care of me. Since mom had died when I was really young, I couldn't really remember much about my childhood. I do remember being very passive and letting life pass by until I met my four friends though. I was transferred into Sakimori Academy on Module 77. By now, 70% of humanity had migrated from Earth in hopes of a better life. Since science and technology had advanced so much, that idea was made very possible.

Leaving behind junior high school, and going into senior high school, I entered Sakimori at the age of sixteen as a first year. And that one year, would be my last as a normal human being.

A/N So what'd you think? Good? Bad? A little in between? Well, you can tell me in the reviews if you'd like. Constructive criticism only please. I know this first chapter was pretty short, so I'll leave a question/poll for you all: Would you rather shorter (1500-5000 words) chapters that are consistent and often or longer (5000+ words) that may be sporadic in consistency? I just wonder what people would prefer, because I have a SAO fanfic called Alpha, Not Beta which has lengthy chapters overall but take a while to formulate. Anyhow, I hope you guys enjoyed this chapter and look forward to more. Please R & R~