Prologue 1-2


A/N:

Well, I'm pleasantly surprised that I managed to finish this chapter so fast! Special thanks to Arcana of the True Self and SDproductions for helping me with this chapter. Sadly, I doubt I'll update this fast very often, but I hope that you appreciated this chapter. If your character wasn't in this chapter, again, they will be in the next chapter.

And yeah, I should really give Sasha less attention, but she IS the comic relief. Don't worry, she won't be around for much of the next chapter. And please give me feedback, since I'm iffy on how I write some of the characters. Thanks for reading, anyhow!

Arcanote: Hi. I'm here too. So uh, yeah, you know me. An SYOC whore who just like, does things. I WASN'T VERY HELPFUL THIS CHAPTER OKAY. Wait for the murder, I'll be more helpful there. - Anyway, that's all from me I'll go and let SD do his thing now and like, go back to doing what I REALLY should be doing. Anyway bye from me.

SDnote: Special thanks to Khronomancer/DespairFrost for reaching out and beginning to create a visual student roster for us. We really, really, REALLY appreciate you crediting us, and hope to provide you with the visual indications you need to finish the other character art sprites. Cheers, mate.

I got nothing else to say, so on with the chapter. Allons-y!


There are weirder friends you can make on your first day of school.

"Ooh, ooh! Can I ask you a question?

"Oui, you have just asked one."

Certainly, you've got your freshmen, preps, jocks, nerds, unfriendly loners, girls who eat their feelings, girls who don't eat anything, desperate wannabes, geeks, the greatest people you will ever meet... and the worst.

"Ooh, can I ask another?"

"...You just did."

And then, there are my friends: Nico and Lucille.

"Okay, then, question! How you describe the sound your car makes when it's going fast?"

"...Um...Vroom?"

"That'll do! My next song's gonna be called, 'Vroom Vroom in the Jet Bridge!', featuring Lucy and Ashie of Heartfuls!"

...A collaboration effort? That actually sounds promising, maybe I should get the higher-ups to approve it.

In any case, our unlikely trio made it to the entrance to the plane without any further awkwardness, so that was a plus.

Entering the jet, we were greeted by a lavish lounge - the likes of which I'd seen only once in my life, and that was on the set of one of our music videos.

"Yo, Sash! Here's your ball back!" Nico whooped, tossing the sphere towards the Political Activist, was leaning back on a leather sofa.

"Thanks, di Angelo." She put it back into her bag, before turning around and resuming her conversation with a girl I hadn't seen quite yet.

From where they sat, the girl's height appeared to be just shorter than Sasha, and she wore a tight-fitted dark red v-neck, under a black leather jacket, and a white scarf with dark grey pants and black converses. Her black ponytail reached to the nape of her neck, and she had a fringe swept to the side.

"Who's your friend?" asked Nico.

Sasha turned back towards us. "Oh, this is Xiang Li, the SHSL Soldier."

XIANG LI - SHSL SOLDIER

I don't believe I've heard much about Xiang, since, well, war isn't an interest of mine, to be perfectly honest. She had to be pretty important, though, to get into Hope's Peak. I wondered what she had done to get in.

...Then again, considering her talent, part of me didn't want to know.

"Hello," said Xiang nonchalantly. Her black eyes bored into mine.

"Well, she seems cool," added Nico.

"...Xiang is a guy," said Sasha.

"Aw, crap! Twice in twenty minutes?! Sorry, man, my bad!"

"It's all right," he said, still completely neutral.

...Guess he wasn't much of a talker.

Then again, as I watched Sasha continue their conversation, perhaps he needed some time to open up to people, I decided.

In the meantime, Nico had left the premises, presumably for the back of the jet as evidenced by the double doors at the far end that now swung closed, and Lucille had gone over to talk to yet another girl. This one had messy shoulder-length black hair that skimmed her shoulders, and wore a tightly fitted grey shirt.

Sensing my presence, Lucille paused mid-sentence to greet me. "Bonjour, Ashley. It appears I am not ze only famous sportsperson here."

"I am not entirely surprised. We are, after all, the best of the best for our age." The other girl held out a hand, "Ava. Ava Tremblay. The Super High School Level Hockey Player."

AVA TREMBLAY - SHSL HOCKEY PLAYER

I'd heard of Ava Tremblay - her team had, very recently, won the Stanley Cup, with her at the head, breaking a twenty-year long dry streak for Canada. I heard she was going to try out for the next Olympics, but at this point that was mostly rumour.

"Do you tend to look at everyone a bit funny?" Ava queried, breaking me out of my stupor.

"Oui, she does." Lucille simpered, "Zis is not the first time for her."

Crimson flooded my face as I tried to defend myself. "I recognize people by their faces, you see, so I do take some time commit them to memory."

"...Hm. Fair enough." Ava raised an eyebrow, "You do seem rather familiar, though...Are you a singer of some sort?"

"Why, yes! I'm the Super High School Level K-Pop Idol."

"Ah. Then I must have seen you on my trip to Pyeongchang."

And with that, she turned back to Lucille, and began another conversation in hushed tones.

Guess I wasn't going to be part of it.

Leaving the two to talk it out, I went to the next duo, who were seated by the in-flight bar. Both looked to be the oldest of the students I'd encountered so far - one had white hair and wore a white tuxedo while the other had short, neat black hair and wore a white button-up coat with a stethoscope around his neck. He turned slightly, and I realized that he had an eye patch. I gasped - something terrible must have happened for him to lose his eye!

"Miss?"

I blinked. The two men were looking strangely at me.

"While I'm flattered to have captured your attention for so long, you're starting to slightly scare me…" the one in the butler outfit said, "Are you, perhaps, unwell?"

"N-No…" I responded, a little embarrassed I'd been caught staring again, "I'm just trying to take in my new classmates, and it's easier for me to remember one by their faces than anything else."

"I see…" the eyepatch-bearing one mused, "Well actually, only with one eye, but you get my point."

"Haha...I'm Ashley. The Super High School Level K-Pop Idol." I bowed to them, "It's a pleasure to meet you."

"Same to you, miss." The butler tilted his head towards me, "I am Faen Skylark, the Super High School Level Butler, and I shall be in your gracious services."

"Hideki Kenta. Super High School Level Surgeon. I know how odd it is to have a visually impaired surgeon," he rested his glass of wine on the table, "But know that I have had an almost one-hundred percent success rate, and I highly doubt I will end my streak.

FAEN SKYLARK - SHSL BUTLER

HIDEKI KENTA - SHSL SURGEON

I was, admittedly, unfamiliar with Faen. Sure, I had heard his name being passed around in social circles, that he was a prodigy in the field of...butler-ing, as it were. To be fair, I myself wanted very little to do with serving other people...Why, is a story for another time. He seemed like a nice person, though...

On the other hand, I'd heard quite a lot about Hideki. 'The Cyclops Surgeon', that's what the people I heard from called him. He had leapt blade-forward into the medical field a few years ago, hailed as yet another prodigy in the art of surgery. It was purported that he could pull off much more complicated procedures than your regular practitioner, all while wearing that enigmatic eyepatch that made you question whether it was a good decision to leave your life in his hands.

"You're still staring at me, y'know?"

Oops.

"Ah, I-I'm sorry..." I thumbed his eyepatch, "I'm just interested in how you...lost an eye, I suppose..."

"Oh, Ms. Jung, I would love to tell you..." His remaining eye glinted ominously, "But then, of course, I'd have to kill you."

...Meep.

"Ah, lay it off her, Mr. Kenta." Faen punched his shoulder playfully, "Don't scar the fine lady any more than she needs to be."

"Keh. Fine." He smirked, "If you must know, I lost an eye after looking directly at a laser for just a moment too long. It happens."

"Oh..." I pondered, "Wouldn't it be better if you got a replacement eye? I mean, I can't stand the thought of myself being only reduced to half-vision, so I'm not sure how you do."

"It's all fine. Aside from the reduced depth perception, it's fairly normal."

"You should take care not to lose your other eye, though," Faen chided him, "It would not do to have a blind surgeon - I may know a blind Chessmaster, but I am pretty sure chess requires much less skill than surgery."

"Meh." Hideki held his glass out towards me, "Care for a drink, Ashley?"

"I'm afraid not..." Unfortunately, the legal age to drink was higher in South Korea. Besides, it wouldn't be good for my image.

"Ah, it's okay, we understand." Faen smiled, "Have a pleasant day, Ms. Jung."

Sasha picked this moment to walk over. "So, uh...Faen, how did you get good at, uh...butler-ing? Is there like...a Royal Academy of Butlering or something? Did you have any classmates with the stereotypical butler names, like Cogsworth, or Alfred, or Jeeves? Uh…" she glanced around frantically, "Xiang wants to know."

"Don't bring me into this," muttered Xiang from where he sat..

She giggled. "Love ya too! Platonically, of course."

He sighed with relief. "Thank goodness."

In response, Sasha beamed. "Wouldn't have it any other way!"

"In response to your question, Miss...Um, or, uh, whichever title you prefer-"

"Mx," cut in Sasha, "Officially recognized gender-neutral honorific in the UK. 'Your Majesty' also works."

"Well, Mx. Sasha, to answer your question, yes, there is a private academy not unlike Hope's Peak, dedicated to the upbringing of men of class, not unlike myself." He clicked his heels, "Manners maketh man, that's our motto."

"I...wow. That was a joke, actually. But good on you, man. Follow your dreams. You do you, Skylark, you do you."

"As to you, your highness." He bowed, before offering up his decanter, "Would you care for a drink, then?"

"Sure thing. Nothing alcoholic, though. You got any tea or something?"

Faen smiled. "But of course. What kind of a butler would I be without tea?" He held out a cup to her, removed a teapot from the table next to her, and filled it. "Would you like milk or sugar?"

"Neither, thanks," said Sasha. "This butler thing is pret-ty sweet, though. Thanks for existing."

Faen bowed. "A pleasure."

"Y'know what, on second thought, maybe I WILL have sugar."

I supposed this was my cue to leave, and I took it, proceeding to the side of the lounge closer to the double doors.

"Who're those dorks?"

I turned around in shock. Sasha had followed me, cup in hand.

"What...are you doing here? Weren't you talking to Xiang?"

She sipped her tea. "He wanted some time to contemplate life or whatever. So, either way, look at that douchecanoe."

She pointed at a group of guys who appeared to be arguing. Unfortunately, I could tell which one she was referring to as the...douchecanoe. He was a ridiculously tall kid with a buzz cut, who wore sweat pants with a trench coat. He had a tattoo poking out from under his collar, but it was too far away for me to read. Perhaps that was a good thing.

The boy next to him was a skinny-looking guy in a navy sweater-vest, and a pair of suede loafers. As far as the stereotypical nerd went, he was...textbook. I almost felt sorry for him.

"IT'S A NINE, I TELL YOU!"

...If not for that outburst.

"Don't try to argue against me!" Buzz cut smirked, "You wouldn't possibly win an argument against me, not in this situation!"

"I don't need to argue! I know I'm right, because otherwise I would not be deserving of my title."

"Right, let's go settle their spat before they render the rest of us deaf." Sasha snarked, before dragging me towards the two boys.

Why does she insist on doing this to me? I thought to myself as she power-walked right into the storm.

"AND YOU ARE NOT EVEN COMPREHENDING A SINGLE WORD I'M SAYING," shrieked the nerdy one, his voice squeaky and his face bright red.

He was holding onto a piece of paper...with a sudoku challenge on it.

...What.

"Whoa there, slow down, tiger," said the douchecanoe.

"I will have you know that tigers are an endangered species, mister," deadpanned Sasha.

"S-she's joking," I assured them.

"Only half. More people do need to care about tigers."

The douchecanoe laughed. "What are you, some sort of Super High School Level Liberal Politician Wannabe or something?"

Sasha pouted. "Independant with liberal leanings, actually. And please don't say that like it leaves a bad taste in your mouth or something, Phoenix."

"Phoenix? What the hell?"

Sasha grimaced. "Oh my goodness you of all people should be well-versed in Ace Attorney. What kind of lawyer even are you?"

"The best kind, of course! And I don't care who you're even talking about, I'm the Super High School Level Lawyer, Jehovah Jackson, thank you very much!" He pompously bragged.

JEHOVAH "JONN" JACKSON - SHSL LAWYER

I...suppose I've heard of him? Maybe? He got that one guy acquitted a while ago, and he makes the headlines once every couple of months. Really, though, the only lawyer who'd ever mattered to me was that one unpleasant guy who wrote the contracts.

"How did you know his title?" Asked the nerd.

"Simple, Matthew," said Sasha, looking exceptionally proud of herself. "I googled the class roster."

Matthew deflated. "...Oh. Then I guess you know who I am."

"Yeah." She gave him a thumbs up. "Math is rad, dude. I'm happy for you, ya lil' Mcmath-Gooder-Person." She paused. "But seriously though, you're the Super High School Level Mathematician, Matthew Tanner."

MATTHEW TANNER - SHSL MATHEMATICIAN

Matthew had an incredible series of achievements in the his field. He had a flawless streak of first-place finishers in various mathematical competitions around the world, and was the genius mind behind Kjarposky, one of the most popular mathematical games in America. I don't remember anything about him before that, though...It seems like he had a fairly uneventful childhood of sorts.

In fact, that was what Sasha was discussing with him at lightning speed right then. It seemed she was a fan.

"Wow. Nerds," muttered Jehovah to me, "You get what I'm saying?"

"..."

I...did not want to respond. Either way, he was going to prattle on anyhow, and I couldn't think of a way to stop him.

"First of all how dare you."

Thankfully, Sasha's interruption saved me the trouble.

Jehovah looked at her. "Calm down, man."

"You come into MY house-"

He smirked. "Do we need to have a quick talk about property law?"

"Go fuck yourself," she growled.

"What?"

"You heard me. Use tubes or something, I dunno. You're a smart kid - you can figure it out."

"That's...uh..."

She grabbed me by the arm. "C'mon, Ashie, let's go meet some people who actually get my jokes." She waved to Matthew, "Tell Xiang I said hi!"

"Will do!" He said with an attempt at a salute.

I ended up walking...being dragged to the double-doors, which opened automatically to let us through.

...Well, maybe this year won't be quite so great. I guess I couldn't count on all my classmates being particularly friendly. Still, I guess I should be able to deal with them in my own way...

...Probably...


"And just how are you gonna deal with them...? Puhuhuhu!"

Prologue 1-2 FIN