Chapter 1 – Reunions, New Kids, and Crumpled Paper-Wads

The school was about a 20-minute drive from the subdivision of small houses in which they lived. About one-third of the trip consisted of slow turns within the intricate intersections of the housing development; with some of the streets' corners occupied by either one, two, or small groups of fellow utauloids. Those were the young unfortunate ones that had to ride one of the many crowded, chaotic buses to school.

Virtual High: a vast school of 3 floors, holding well over 4000 students with plenty of room for more. It was the only school in their district of the virtual world, and it had the best of pretty much everything; 2 auditoriums, a gymnasium with an all-around balcony overlooking the entire court from above, a library occupying all 3 floors, recording studios, and so much more, all within the same building. It was more so a heaven than a school for the utau.

The giant metal doors swung open, and almost by instinct, Ron, Poiyo, Ura Ron, and Poine, navigated through the maze of white hallways to the library where most of their friends gather before the morning-bell.

A familiar greeting echoed from a perpendicular hallway on the left.

"Hey! Poiyo!~"

The group stopped and turned their heads to the source of the sound, finding two famous siblings of long, wine-red drill-hair and dark gray outfits. Poiyo smiled.

"Ted!"

The two quickly exchanged a casual hug and did their routine secret handshake, practiced and perfected.

"Long time, no see, right?"

"I know! What happened to you?"

"Ah, you know, everyone is the VIPPER-mansion was always keeping me busy, especially this crazy party-girl here..." Ted nudged Teto with his elbow in his harsh brotherly manner; soft enough not to hurt her or totally knock her over, but hard enough to throw off Teto's balance for a moment. Teto playfully responded with a punch to his shoulder.

"Hehehe... Anyway," Ted gives some attention to the look-alikes, "I assume by the lack of bandages on your faces, you two Rons behaved well for Poine?". Ura Ron smirked upon hearing the question.

"I sure did, I don't know about Ron-Ron, though~" The blonde obnoxiously put an arm around the other's shoulder. "You should have seen the shenanigans he got involved in~"

"Aahhhh... Shut up." Ron smirked back and pushed Ura Ron away. "You know the whole 'Nyan-Cat shopping-cart-thing' was all your idea."

"That was you guys!? I thought that was Rook and Sora!"

"No, it was just Ura Ron! I tried to stop him, but he pulled me in with him!"

"Admit it, you wanted in on the fun."

"No!"

"Mm-hm~"

"You have no idea how incredibly stupid all that was. I'm surprised I didn't—"

"Ah, quit your whining, you weren't going to die. Besides, everyone needs an adrenaline-rush every once in awhile."

"Not from something like that!"

"I thought you two promised me you'd behave for Poine!"

"I did, Ura Ron didn't!"

"Did too!"

"Did not!"

"Did, too!"

"Did, not!"

A sissy, long-distance slap-fight ensued, with Ted in the middle trying to intervene.

"Poiyo, help me out here! These two are a worse than before!". Poiyo couldn't help but laugh at the minor diddling chaos the three of them were creating.

Meanwhile, Teto and Poine were already walking down the hallway on their way to the library, taking a step every two or three seconds with excited words running out of their mouths at a hundred miles an hour.

"So have you talked to Defoko lately? Had my hands full with Ura Ron getting into trouble, you know."

"Yeah, we've talked. She told me she's going to try out some Advanced Placement classes, like... um... what was it? AP Psych, I think?"

Poine gasped, "No way!"

"Yes way!"

"I heard that class was, like, impossible! No one's walked out of that class with an 'A' yet!"

"I know, I know, but this is Defoko we're talking about! She might be the first to earn such a grade!"

"Hmm... Good point."

"Hey, did you get your schedule?"

"Yeah."

"Let me see! Let me see!"

"Okay, okay! Just gotta get it out of my Narnia-of-a-backpack here... a-ha!"

"Alright! Let's see if we have any classes together!"

"Hmm... Hey! You ended up in Gym with me!"

"Yeah... and with Kaito as the instructor."

"Uuuuuugh! That pervert! We're screwed! So totally screwed!"

"Yeah, literally and metaphorically."

"Hahaha, good one."

"Hey, look, we ended up in two more classes together."

"And they're the boring ones, too, yes! Now they won't be as boring!"

"Alriiiiiiight!~". Teto and Poine high-fived.

Poiyo had overheard fragments of the girls' conversation over the noise from the two Rons and Ted, making him wonder what the others' schedules for school looked like. His curiosity, along with having his fun in watching the three of them bicker and struggle, was enough to finally help Ted with breaking up Ron and Ura Ron's little quarrel. After letting out a small sigh, he casually walked around the constantly shuffling sibling-brawl until he was right behind Ura Ron. Knowing the blonde long enough to know where exactly his weak points are, Poiyo does nothing more than pinch the commonly-known pressure-point between the blonde's shoulder and neck.

The blonde barely managed to squeak a response, "Aaaaahahaha... Dammit, Poiyo..." his urge to playfully execute another hit had disappeared almost instantly.

"Come on, Teto and Poine are already halfway there to the library" Poiyo pointed out. The mentioning of the library put an end to the remainder of the small action, also reminding Ted of something related to the sort.

"Oh! I almost forgot to tell you," He said, "We found a new table to sit at. Come, follow me, I'll show you..."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, wait a minute..." Ura Ron began to complain, "So you're telling me, that we're giving up our awesome spot on the first floor of the library..." He carelessly threw his backpack onto the large, unfamiliar table. "...For some other spot up here on the second floor with all these isles of giant, dusty books!?"

He was immediately shushed by the remainder of the clique, which included Ted, Teto, Rook, Ruko, and Sora.

"Can you just chill, for like, five minutes?" Sora hushed the quirkier blonde, "I'm sure Ted has a good explanation as to why he picked this spot, am I right?". Ura Ron turned his attention toward him, with one eyebrow raised, waiting for said explanation in slight curiosity.

Ted sighed, not wanting to explain a reason that the quirky blonde may or may not understand. "I chose this table here mainly for convenience; in case someone started their day with a class on the first floor and others had their starting class on the third floor. That and... Too many Oversea UTAU on the first floor... All the stupid shit that happened last year, I was just tired of it."

"So... Basically, you moved us so we could get to our classes faster and so you don't have as bad of a headache each morning?"

"Pretty much."

Ura Ron pouted slightly upon hearing this, only to come up with an idea that can win his favorite table back: "I bet a majority of us don't even have classes on the third floor."

Ted adjusted his glasses and leaned forward somewhat in interest: "How much do you wanna bet?"

"My favorite table versus this one. If I win, we move back to our old spot. If you win, we stay here."

Ted smiled, knowing this was an easy victory, "Deal. Alright everyone, you heard us, pull out your schedules."

The whole group began unzipping their backpacks, reaching into them to find their schedules, excited to compare them to those of their peers'. Some were more—or less—organized than others, causing some slight delay. When a majority of the sheets of paper were taken out, they were passed around from one utauloid to another in every possible combination, followed by the schedules from the less-organized few. Schedules were held side-by-side, classes were announced with excitement, awe, and sometimes, confusion; ultimately creating a miniature cacophony within the group.

"I've got Piko's Intro to MIDIs class with Teto, third floor!"

"Aiyaaaa, I start the day with English this semester... and with Ura Ron, on top of that..."

"Shut up, Ron-Ron."

"Hey, come on, it's your last required English class, don't go complaining so soon."

"Poiyo's in the MIDI-class first period, too. Looks like you're losing."

"Oooohhh, Poiyoooo~ Look who ended up in AP Psych with Defokooooo~"

"What!? But how?"

"I have no idea, but just know, you're probably not getting much sleep this year."

"Sora's in Gym first period with Kaito! First floor!"

"Oh, hell no..."

"Studio-Recording, yes!"

"Well, well, well, look who finally made it into Meiko's Culinary Arts class after signing up for it two years in a row~"

"What?"

"Yeah! See for yourself!"

"Hey, Show-Choir taught by both Miku and IA... That class is going to be huge..."

"Poiyo, Ron, you two have Spanish together. Clara's teaching it, too."

"Oh! I've got Big Al teaching… Analytical Mechanics? The hell's that!?"

"I think it has something to do with engineering... like... gear-work and stuff."

"Yeah, you'll be fixing wind-up toys and things of the sort."

"Hey, I got that class, too."

"Me, three!"

"I did, too."

"Oh my God, so it's me, Rook, Ruko, Sora, and Ura Ron... all in Mechanics?"

"Ooohohohoho, that's the perfect class right there!"

"No, it's not, especially with both you and Rook together..."

"Come on, Ted, what's the worst that can happen?"

"Don't even go there, you know what happened with you two and Gumi in Algebra last year..."

"Bah, that was nothing."

"Nothing...? Okay, I'll be honest, I'm a bit concerned now..."

"Teto has Weight-Lifting! What the hell?"

"That's second semester, moron."

"Thank whatever-God-is-out-there you have it, though; you need some place to let out all that spare energy of yours... Make you less crazy before next summer starts..."

"Psh, yeah, whatever... I'll get that switched out to Show-Choir or something, should be an easy fix."

Ted figured the group was getting distracted, and decided to take a quick role-call.

"Alright, so how many of us have their first class on the third floor?"

"I do!"

"Me, too!"

"Alright, that's two."

"I think we do, too, and I have another class on the third floor second semester."

"That's five. Ura Ron, what's your standing?"

"Um... Hold on, I'm trying to remember... um... There's Sora first semester, and... um... Poiyo's in AP Psych..."

"That's second floor, that doesn't count."

"Dammit, um... Ron's got Culinary whatever, that's third floor... um..."

"Is that all?"

"Wait! I think there's... Um... Hold on, I think I might have lost count..." Ura Ron tried to delay his defeat, but found no point in doing so. The blonde pouted again, "Fine... You win".

The drill-haired man smiled slightly and took his seat at the newly-claimed table, putting an elbow on it and resting his head on his hand, "I hope you learned not to make stupid bets like that with me anymore~"

"Yeah, yeah, whatever." Ura Ron pulled out a chair and sat down at the fairly large table.

Rook walked over to where Ura Ron was sitting and put an arm around the blonde's shoulder, with a smirk on his face indicating he had an idea.

"Hey, Ura… You know what's great about this spot?"

A short groan in question was his response.

"Wait here, I'll show ya". Rook opened his backpack once more and pulled out a few sheets of loose-leaf paper, crumpling it into a compact, handful-sized wad. He nudged his quirky buddy to stand up and walk with him to the edge of the balcony, overlooking the massive first floor of the library from all angles.

"Look at all the Oversea UTAU down there..." Rook began.

"There's some Locals down there, too—"

"No, no, no, that's not the point, just look..."

"Okay..." They gazed upon the first floor of the library, all tables down there were occupied—some overfull. The isles of shelves all the way out in the back were nearly empty—save a few individuals that enjoyed reading.

"Now, listen, if you play your cards right, you can put on a show down there, and be safe from all the way up here, get what I'm saying?"

A similar smirk grew on Ura Ron's face, along with an eyebrow raised: "Show me an example~"

Keine Ron withdrew his attention temporarily from the main group at the table and noticed the smirks and the paper-wad held between Rook's index finger and thumb. "Oh, no... This can't be good" he whispered to himself.

Meanwhile, the blonde and his shorter companion scanned the floor below them for a perfect, unsuspecting target.

"There." Ura Ron pointed out.

"Where?"

"With the blue hair and the blackish dress... Sitting between that green-haired dude and that blonde with the wolf-ears."

"Playing the video-game, right?"

"Yeah, her."

"Dude, that's Aiko. I heard she's got a short temper."

"Exactly. The thing is, no one knows we're up here, and with a short temper like hers..."

"...We can cause a metaphoric Doomsday for everyone within a five-meter radius of her!"

Mischievous laughter ensued, drawing attention from the others at the table. The moment Ted had noticed, he immediately knew what was going to happen, eyes widening from the foreseen devastation. He stood up from his seat, putting a hand out to try and stop them; "Rook, Ura, no...". It was no use, no stopping those two when they already had a plan, even Ted knew that.

Rook shut one eye tight as he aimed carefully, while mischievous smiles grew wider by the moment on both of their faces. With a little force behind the push, he let the paper-wad fly. It successfully headed on its intended path. The ball of paper bounced off the back of her head, surprising her and causing her to jump in her seat a little. As predicted, her anger built up rather quickly as she paused her game and turned around to find what had hit her, noticing the paper-wad on the floor and picking it up. Another table of Oversea UTAU nearby happened to laugh right at the time the paper-wad had hit her—more than likely at a joke that was told, but no, no, no, she wasn't going to be that gullible. The blonde utauloid with wolf-ears that went by the name of Kenji Baionoto noticed that Aiko got up out of her seat.

"Aiko, what happened? Are you okay?"

"Yeah, I'm fine" She muttered, tossing the ball of paper up and down in her right hand, "but those idiots at that table over there are going to pay for what they did!" She took on an all-out throwing position.

"Aiko, I don't it's necessary to—" too late. The blue-eyed girl launched the paper-wad at full-speed, missing by a few inches due to her temper. It zoomed past the shoulder of another girl with a white jacket and dark brown shoulder-length hair, Utaune Nami.

Nami then flinched in surprise, quickly turning around with spontaneous annoyance in her sparkling brown eyes.

"H-hey! What was that for!?" She called out.

"Don't play stupid, Nami!" Aiko retorted, "You're the idiot that threw this at me!"

"I did no such thing!"

"Liar!"

"I'm serious!"

Meanwhile, Rook and Ura Ron exchanged a high-five as they tried to repress their laughter by biting their lower-lip and repeatedly hitting the chrome railing of the balcony. Ura Ron's strength to stand was beginning to subside. As the action below began to unfold, the other Ron shook his head slowly in disapproval and covered his face. Poine and Teto covered their mouths in shock, exchanging glances, and then looking on over the balcony from the table they were sitting at to continue watching the action. Sora and Poiyo were smiling, but not laughing like Rook and Ura Ron were. Ted's simply shot the mischievous duo a look that said "Did you seriously just do that?".

Down below, the argument was intensifying for every passing moment.

"...How about a taste of your own medicine!" Nami threw the ball of paper back at Aiko, nailing it in the center of her forehead.

"Oh. No. You. Didn't." Without even thinking, Aiko took that same ball of paper and threw it once again, trying to hit Nami's face. The ball flew past her and hit one of Nami's friends, Wakana Ayane.

"Ha! You couldn't even hit the ocean with a beach-ball if you tried!" Nami laughed, "Come on, Wakana, let's show her how aiming carefully is really done~".

"I'd be more than happy to." She nods, already have taken out about a dozen sheets of paper and crumpled them while Nami bickered with Aiko. Before anything could be done to avoid it or stop it, the wads of paper flew through the air, hitting Aiko and her table of friends.

"Hey! S-stop!" Kenji jolted out of his seat and stood protectively in front of Aiko, "We don't have to start the school-year this—" A second attempt to prevent chaos was interrupted by a short-lived rain of a dozen crumpled balls of paper, most of them hitting Kenji with a decent accuracy. Matheiu Rosaire, though not approving of what was happening to his fellow utau, wanted in on the fun, taking some of the stationary wads from the floor and sending them flying through the air as well. Within seconds, the two neighboring tables at paper-war, either throwing the projectiles or supplying more ammunition.

Plenty of attention was drawn from everyone else in the library; some giggling and exchanging glances at one another, others not knowing what to do or think. Then, from another area in the crowd of the library, the one and only Namine Ritsu stood up on a table and shouted at the top of his Kire-voice:

"SNOWBALL-FIIIIIIIIIIIIIGHT!"

All hell broke loose; all hope for compromise was gone. The adrenaline was rising in everyone. Tables and chairs were dragged around and over-turned all over the first floor. Oversea UTAU scrambled, diving behind tables, afraid of being pummeled and ultimately covered in a mountain of paper-wads. Three or four of the smarter individuals, in the midst of the excitement, played the more strategic role, urging neighboring utauloids to combine and stack tables, creating little forts across the wide-open library floor.

At this time, both Rook and 'Ura' were completely down on the floor, unable to stand, and crying from laughing so much. Not expecting the whole library to go into chaos the way it did, Poiyo—and even Ted—could no longer resist laughing. Ron sighed, slowly looking up from his hands; halfway afraid to see how the festivity simply exploded and how his group was reacting to it.

"Oh my God..." Sora's own voice was a bit broken up from holding back laughter, "Those Oversea UTAU... They're making little forts, like... Ahahaha... Oh my God!"

"Are they all just stupid or what!?" Ted poked fun at all the formerly unsuspecting utauloids.

Upon hearing that comment, Poine and Teto busted in a restricted laugh with a "PFFFFFT-". The stereotype gets them almost every time it's mentioned. Poine, too, had a difficult time standing, and began leaning on Teto beside her for support. Teto was unable to keep balance, causing the both of them to slowly fall onto the table in front of them for minimal support—not that they cared, the show below them was just making their day.

Tables below were mostly being combined into one of four major forts, but some were scooted against the walls by tiny independent teams of two or three. The first fort was lead by none other than 'mathloid' Yoshi Kazune, with Aiko as co-captain.

"Aiko, status report. How's the fort looking?"

"Assembly's pretty much complete, sir. We are currently preparing our first attack on Enemy Fort Nami while it's still vulnerable in its building process." She even did a salute. They've absolutely lost it.

"Perfect... At this rate, Fort Aiko should be able to prevail. Tell the others to keep up the good work."

"Yes, sir!~"

Three minutes have passed; within that time-frame, the library went from a peaceful environment to a make-believe wartime guided by role-playing major-generals.

The other two playing along—aside from the "Enemy Fort", lead by Nami and Wakana—were independent opposing forts, Fort Kenta and Fort Ritsu. All forts—big, small, or up against a wall—were sending paper projectiles out in all directions.

Kenji the Brave dashes out from behind a small, independent table and into the open, trying to escape the madness.

"FREE-WANDERER! HEADING THIS WAY FROM 25 PACES AT 10-O'CLOCK!"

"OPEN FIRE!"

Paper wads fly in a chaotic frenzy as he ran straight into the crossfire of all four major forts, being somewhat obstructed by the red jacket he had pulled over his head. He made a leap for what appeared to be an abandoned table, tipped over like all the others, acting as a barricade between the isles of bookshelves and the paper-warfare raging on behind him. Over he went, landing harshly on his right shoulder as he tumbled a little on impact.

Meanwhile, up on the second-floor balcony, the laughter from Ura Ron and the gang was gradually fading, and a majority of the group was finally able to breathe again. An unfamiliar voice chuckles lightly from the edge of the balcony some distance away from the table.

"Hehehe... Good job."

Somewhat simultaneously, the group turned toward the familiar sound, still halfway smiling. They lay sight upon a boy standing between Ron and Poiyo's height, his red hair tied back into a short, loose ponytail; wearing a spiked collar around his neck; and a black jacket with a white fluffy inside and ridiculously huge sleeves. He appeared to be about 16 years of age, a slight nodding of approval as he gazed upon the revelry below for another brief time. The boy appeared to be a calm, laid-back kind of guy, either from personality or a perfect disguise for sleepiness on the first day of school. He left such a first impression that made Ura Ron sit up to try and talk to him upon first sight.

"Whoa... Who the hell are you?" He asked in slight bewilderment.

A slight pause, followed by an undistinguished smile; he seems to like the attitude in the quirky blonde kid sitting on the floor.

"You can call me Shou... Kaneyama Shou."

More silence, aside from the cacophony of shouts, giggles, and crumpled paper bouncing off of tables and Oversea utauloids. Nothing awkward, but more so a minor interest and curiosity that leaves some speechless. Ted smiles now.

"I don't recall seeing you around last year, I assume you're newcomer?"

"Yeah, I think so."

"So tell me, what part of the internet are you from?"

"Um... The Korean one...?"

"hmm..." Ted nods, raising an eyebrow in interest, "A Korean UTAU. That's a first."

Shou simply shrugs, taking—again—another glance down upon the raging paper-war. He smiles again, this time not just for show.

"That's definitely something down there..." He nods, pulling out a small remote from a pocket on his jacket, "...but personally, I think there's one more thing that would make all of this perfect."

He pushes a button, and within seconds, an infamous—and rather annoying—beat begins to play loudly on the school-intercom. Some in the group turned attention between the nearest speaker in the ceiling and Shou; opening their mouths slightly in surprise, and not expecting the new kid to be able to hack into the intercom-system before school even started.

The song that is absolutely dreaded to all Oversea UTAU: Somebody That I Used to Know.

"Now, watch..." He then says, pointing out to the revelry below.

Paper projectiles came to a standstill; the Oversea UTAU slowly looked up at the intercom speakers from above in horror. A panic caused by the unexpected irony of it all slowly took them from the inside out—and they thought hearing it twenty times during the summer was enough. Of all times, after they thought the terror was finally over, it begins again, That Song...

Overseas UTAU begin to scream, covering their ears, trying to deny the horridly annoying song that blasts through the ceiling-intercom. Oh, how they all hated that song. Armies from Fort Aiko and Fort Nami alike are losing their concentration.

"DON'T STAND DOWN, SOLDIERS!" Aiko shouts, energetically pointing out in front of her for emphasis, "WE MUST PREVAAAAAIL!". The fellow UTAUloids from Aiko's fort shouted, with the will to resist, as they launched a wave of crumpled papers at all possible targets.

"Oh... My... God..." Ura Ron and Rook crawled over to the edge of the balcony again, looking through the clear glass safety-barrier down. Smiles grew on their faces again. It couldn't get better, it simply could not get any better than this.

"WE MUST RESIST!" Nami yells to her make-believe troops, "WHATEVER YOU DO, DON'T GIVE IN!". Both of the opposing sides were struggling, some from each fort began shouting along to the lyrics, thus weakening fellow "soldiers" that were still trying to resist. Fort Ritsu had taken notice, and sends out a brave UTAU to dash out into the open.

"FREE-WANDERER! COMING FROM FORT RITSU!"

"OPEN FIRRRRRRRE!"

The rain of paper-wads—thankfully—wasn't as harsh as it was on Kenji just minutes before. The brave individual ran, as if it was for her life, to Fort Kenta all the way across the room, holding a sheet of paper with writing on it. After making a dive to avoid the projectiles behind her, she holds the message up high for Kenta and his "troops" to see. The members of Fort Kenta kindly take her in as Kenta reads Ritsu's written message. In approval, he nods, looking up to Ritsu—who was looking on anxiously for a response—and salutes to him. An alliance has been formed, and they already had a plan to take down the other two forts.

Kenta—who also temporarily lost his common sense playing major-general—then turns to his well-organized soldiers: "Sections 1A through 1F, go out and collect ammunition within a 3-meter radius of the base. Section 2B and 3E, cover the front and take in collected ammunition, and Section 5, assist the back-ups in excess ammunition-production. All other soldiers, lend the front-lines your jackets, we're going to need all the defense we can use. Does everyone copy?"

"Sir, yes, sir!" They say.

"Alright, let's do this!"

UTAUloids by the few-dozen switched positions as ordered, and those in Fort Ritsu followed suit. The plan was brilliant, especially coming from a 6-year-old. Unfortunately for Fort Aiko and Enemy Fort Nami, the obnoxious music playing from the intercom above them made them all oblivious to the gradually decreasing amount of paper-wads flying through the air—at least until there were only about two dozen in circulation. Fort Kenta's minions took their original positions and waited, just as Fort Ritsu did. Yoshi was among the first to notice that something was up.

"Captain Aiko…" He mumbled, leaning slightly toward Aiko's ear so that other soldiers—or forts—wouldn't hear, "There's been a significant decrease in airborne projectiles. Do you suppose it's a proposition for a peace-treaty?"

"Nah," She smiles slightly with confidence in her answer, eying Fort Nami in suspicion, "When someone pushes Nami this far, there's no turning back. She'll keep up with this 'till she can't keep up no more."

"But what if that's just a stubborn front? She could be plotting something tremendous, you know. It could be the end of all of us."

"I'm well aware, Captain, but what kind of plan would require a cease-fire?"

"A brilliant one, most likely."

"Hm… Could you calculate some statistics really quick? What're the odds of a cease-fire plan like this flunking?"

"Depends on how it's executed, I suppose. Surprises work the best, but we already know something is up; and since this is Nami we're talking about, I can guarantee you at least 45%, Captain."

"45% assuming their ammunition is lacking as ours is, am I right?"

"Right you are, Captain."

A slight pause; then came a sudden actualization.

"Yoshi, sir, There were thousands, if not, at least a million units of ammunition in circulation, yes?"

"Affirmative. Your point?"

"Assuming both forts are lacking projectiles, where could it all be?"

He glanced quickly to his left and right and noticed the severe lack of activity in Fort Kenta and Fort Ritsu. Slight fearfulness came upon Yoshi as he realized what exactly has happened.

"Oh, no..." He whispers, eyes widening, wanting to deny it, "We're doomed".

"What?" Aiko asks, dumbfounded.

By then, it was too late.

"FIRE AT WILL!" Ritsu's KIRE voice rang through the library, and a vast rain of paper-wads fell upon Fort Aiko and Fort Nami. There was so much balled-up paper launched simultaneously, it seemed to form four temporarily-airborne clouds, unable to see completely through them. UTAUloids from the smaller forts could do nothing but shout and duck for cover. Both forts were pummeled harshly, the sound of thousands of paper-balls hitting tables—and fellow utau—halfway drowned out their obnoxious, giggle-filled screams. It was too much for them; being almost completely covered in mounds of crumpled paper within a half-minute. Rising out of the giant heap, the leaders of Fort Aiko and Fort Nami raise their arms into the air, surrendering to an epic defeat.

By the time the paper-snowball-war came to its conclusions, the entire group was standing at the balcony's edge, smiling in awe. The terrible song playing on the intercom finally came to a close. Wow, what a show.

"I think I'm going to like it, here… This school…" Shou laughed, "The kids here know how to have fun, the intercom-system's easy to hack—" He then looked up at one of thousands of clocks mounted on the school-walls. 8:15 A.M. Shou turns toward the group to warn them of the time.

"Better get a head-start and find your class" He says, "You've got, what? 10, 15 minutes maybe… To get to where you need to be?"

Ron and the others look up at the clock to confirm his answer; yes, about 15 minutes to get to their first class. Perfect timing, so it seems. One last look at the massive mess, Shou smiles his mysterious smile once again.

"Then again, you can still stick around… Next song's going to be the Benny Hill Theme, that'll drive them up the wall just as much. Your choice." And with that, he left to board an elevator, going up. The others stared at each other, coming to the silent decision to follow suit and find their classes. For the time-being, they parted with the mindset of how fantastic of a school-year this was going to be.

Author's Note: Finally, I managed to complete this chapter… phew… **passes out and falls into a pile of blankets**

Hahaha… Anyway, for a start, I'd like to thank you all that have read and enjoyed this so far, and to let you all know that this story (novel) is only going to get better. I'll try to make updates more often, but with me being in 2 AP-classes myself this year… Eh… I'll see what I can do. Hey, there's a bright side to this: the longer I'm gone, the more time I have to think about what exactly I'm going to do to keep you (awesome) readers on your toes.

Okay… so… Some things I'd like to point out in this story as things to keep in mind while you're still here; first off, you may have noticed Rook and Ted call Ura Ron just "Ura". Just know the "Ura" in "Ura Ron" means "reverse" and it's just functioning as Ura Ron's nickname (it's also based on a hilarious role-play a friend and I did of Ron and Ura Ron).

Second thing: Since I'll probably be spending most of my time thinking about this story rather than writing it, there's a good chance I'll come back here to edit a few things; mainly dialogue, minor concepts, and even all their classes (yes, I actually arranged a vast majority of their school-schedules).

Third thing: Yes, that paper-snow-ball-war was all a huge reference to the "Dog Fort" internet meme. Dog Fort is probably one of my favorite memes of all time. Don't ask why, because it's a difficult thing to explain. p

So until next time, I'll see you all later~

~ It-Nerd