A/N: Well readers, I've finally caught up enough where I don't have to update every other week. So I'm going to go back to a weekly update for this fic, at least for the arc starting this chapter. After that, I'll see how things are going, since I do have college work to do, plus Fatal Bullet is coming out in a month.

But enough about that. Time for a brand new arc to start for this story.

The cold winds of January blew through the air around the Hiryo home. A time where heat was extremely appreciated. But even though the coldness of winter made things uncomfortable outside, there was one reason for the family to be excited. Finally it was time for Luna to start her first day of school.

"Alright, there you go Luna." Alicia said as she took one last look over of her youngest daughter. She was dressed in a pink coat, and her short black hair was combed straight by her mother.

"I'm so excited Mama!" Luna said with a big grin on her face. "I finally get to go to school! It's going to be so much fun!"

Alicia smiled at her daughter. "I know you'll do great Luna. Just be yourself and you'll be sure to make lots of friends."

"Good luck Luna." Lilly said as she and Rin headed to the front door, ready to go to school themselves.

"We're rooting for you." Rin added.

Luna nodded her head and waved goodbye to her sisters as they walked out of the house. "Alright then. We should get going too." Alicia said. "You have your bag Luna?"

In response, Luna showed her schoolbag to her mother. "Right here Mama."

"Good. Let's hurry up before you're late." Alicia said. She walked with Luna outside and got into her car. Once she made sure Luna had her seat belt on, the mother began the drive to the elementary school Luna would be attending.

It was a few weeks ago that Alicia had received a letter from the school. It had said that they would be willing to have Luna start attending earlier than intended, though she would be starting off in the winter trimester a week and a half late. After consulting with Luna and Dan, they had decided to take the school up on its offer.

Throughout the ride to the school, Luna hummed happily to herself. Alicia recalled back when Rin and Lilly had both started school. With how shy Lilly tended to be, the thought of being in a room full of people put her on edge. Luckily, her teacher had been able to help her open up and she ended up loving school. Rin had no such problems, always tackling new experiences head on.

After a short drive, Alicia pulled up next to the school. "Alright Luna, this is it." she said. "Are you ready?"

"Mhm." Luna nodded.

"You know where to go?"

"Straight to class."

"And your classroom is?"

"2-B"

"Good." Alicia said as she patted her daughter on the head. Unable to hold back her emotions as a mother any longer, she leaned over and hugged her daughter. "Make sure to listen to your teacher and be really good. And try to make some friends."

"I will Mama."

"Ok." Alicia said as she let go of Luna. "Off you go."

Luna opened the car door and got out. She waved goodbye to her mother before running into the building. It was only when she was out of sight that Alicia allowed herself to shed a tear before driving away.

Luna walked through the halls of the school. There were kids all around her, talking to each other. A lot of them seemed to know each other while she didn't know a single one of them. Perhaps this was the "new kid feeling" that her family had told her about.

'I wonder if any of them play VR games.' Luna thought. 'Papa said the first step to making friends is to find something in common.'

Taking a look at the map of the school provided to her, Luna navigated her way through the halls as she made her way to her assigned classroom. Compared to the complex layouts of dungeon maps in ALO, the map of the school seemed simplistic in the young girl's eyes.

After a few minutes, Luna finally saw the sign for her classroom. She walked up to it and was greeted by a woman with brown hair tied up in a neat ponytail.

"Hello." Luna greeted, walking up to the woman. "You're Ms. Yasanagi, right?"

The woman nodded her head while showing a warm smile. "Yes I am. You must be Luna, correct?"

"Mhm." Luna said.

"It's very nice to meet you." Ms. Yasanagi said. "I'll be your teacher for the rest of the trimester. I've already been informed about your… past." It was a first for the woman, having to teach an AI student. But Luna seemed human enough so perhaps it wouldn't be so hard after all. "Now Luna, I'm sure you family already told you this, but you can't go revealing the fact that you're an AI to the other students."

Luna nodded her head. "I understand."

"Good. Now then, I'll introduce you to the rest of the class once the bell rings."

As the time before class started ticked away, Luna saw more and more students enter the classroom. Each of them glanced at her before walking in, wondering who the new girl was. Once the bell finally rang, the teacher led Luna inside.

As she walked into the classroom, Luna noticed all eyes fall on her almost instantly. She had never really been shy, but having so much attention on her was such a first that she couldn't help but stiffen a bit.

"Before we begin class, I'd like to introduce you to a new student." Ms. Yasanagi told the class. "Everyone, this is Luna."

Luna followed up with a bow. "My name is Luna Hiryo. It's very nice to meet you all."

Whispers amongst the students were heard around the room as they all talked curiously about the new student. The teacher quickly hushed them. "Now then Luna, there's an open seat over there. Take a seat and we'll begin class."

Luna obeyed the teacher's instructions and sat down at the desk pointed out to her. Even as she sat down, she could still sense a few stares coming her way.

Time went on as Luna attentively listened to the teacher. The first part of consisted of reading and writing. While Luna was caught up with her writing skills thanks to her mother's tutoring, there were a few things she had some difficulty in. But she had done a lot of reading in her spare time at home, so when it came time for her to read aloud to the class Luna spoke out the words with ease. Next up was math, where Luna acceled in. She had been able to do complex calculations with ease back before she had acquired her human body, even checking Rin's work sometimes for her math homework. Even though she wasn't able to calculate to the same degree as a human, elementary school math was childsplay to her. She demonstrated her ability as she quickly answered almost every problem, shocking most of her classmates. It got to the point where the teacher had to directly ask other students to answer.

When it finally came time for lunch, Luna saw most of the kids go into their own groups of friends. She couldn't help but feel a little isolated, having no friends to speak of yet.

Just as Luna was about to consider eating lunch alone, another student motioned for her to come sit with her. Luna walked over and took a seat across from her on the table.

"Hey. Your name's Luna, right?" the student asked. It was a girl with light brown hair and hazel eyes. "My name's Hana."

"Hello Hana." Luna said.

"So what's your story Luna? Did you transfer here from another school."

Her parents had already predicted that students would ask the reason for Luna being a transfer student. They had given Luna a story to tell if the question ever came up. "Yes. I used to go to another school but my family moved recently and this school was much closer."

"Well wherever you went, you sure seemed to learn a lot." Hana said. "You were amazing before, answering all those math problems. I was barely halfway through some of them before you gave an answer."

"R-Really?" Luna asked with a small smile. "Thanks."

"Hmph! Well someone sure thinks highly of themselves." Both Luna and Hana turned to another female student, this one a tan-haired girl with two pigtails. "Don't go thinking your special, new kid."

Luna shrunk back, not understanding why this girl was acting so mean to her. Hana rolled her eyes. "Don't mind her, Luna. That's just Fukka. She's a bully that thinks everyone is beneath her. I think it's just because no one likes her."

"I heard that!" Fukka said with a glare.

Hana responded by sticking out her tongue before turning back to Luna. Fukka simply turned her head with a scowl. As lunch period continued, Luna glanced over towards the table Fukka was sitting at, seeing the girl glare at her each time they made eye contact.

Once lunch was over, there was a short recess. Hana brought Luna over to a few other students. "Alright Luna, you know how to play tag right?"

Luna tilted her head. "No, I've never heard of it." She hadn't really done any research on any games kids often played together outside. All of this was a new experience to her.

Multiple kids eyed Luna strangely, finding it odd that she had never even heard of such a common game. Hana didn't seem to mind at all however. "It's alright, the rules are really simple. One person chases everyone around and tries to touch them. If they touch you, then you become "it" and have to run around trying to tag someone else. Simple, right?"

Luna gave a nod of her head. "I think I get it."

"Alright then. Yusuke, you can be it first." Hana said, pointing to one of the boys.

"Got it." Yusuke said. "You've got ten seconds. One… Two… Three…"

As Yusuke counted, the others in the group quickly split up and ran in multiple directions. Luna followed Hana as they ran up the jungle gym to a higher area. "He'll never get us here. If he runs towards us, we can escape down the slide."

Luna understood Hana's logic. She seemed to really know her stuff when it came to this game called tag. It was a game of running away and not letting the other touch you.

"Ten! Ready or not, here I come!" Yusuke called out. He quickly looked around the playground for kids running from him. His eyes caught sight of one and the chase was on.

Luna and Hana watched as the game of tag went about below while they stayed safe and up high. But after a bit, they soon saw the current person chasing others run up their way.

"Quick! This way!" Hana said as she went down the slide. Luna quickly followed after the girl. It wasn't long before their pursuer chased down the slide after them. Luna and Hana ran with all their might to avoid being tagged.

It was a first for Luna, running this much with her human body. It had a different feeling than all of the times she would play with her family in the virtual world. Perhaps that wasn't just because of the exhaustion her body was feeling but also Hana. Was it that Hana might be the first friend she had made at this school?

Luna managed to keep her pace ahead of Hana as they ran. Even still though, she gasped in shock as she suddenly felt someone touch her back from behind.

"Tag! You're it, Luna!"

Turning around in surprise, Luna gasped when she saw that the person had tagged her was actually Hana. The brown haired girl giggled at her. "Sorry Luna. I got tagged just a few seconds ago and you were too close of a target. And remember, no tagbacks."

Luna pouted at her friend, but quickly went to looking for others to tag. When she saw one, she quickly took off running.

This was fun. It was so much fun. Luna didn't really get why but this was the most fun she had felt in a long time.


When recess was finally over, Luna was exhausted. But at the same time, she also felt refreshed. She was already starting to be accepted by some of her classmates. Though that one girl called Fukka didn't seem to like her too much.

One of the subjects after lunch was history, something Luna made sure to pay close attention to. She had read a few books regarding history due to her curiosity about the real world. But her knowledge on it was still limited and she was excited to know more.

A few more hours ticked away before school was finally over. Everyone left the room, saying goodbye to each other as they walked toward the school gate. Hana walked next to Luna as they made their way through the halls.

"So what do you think of the school, Luna?" Hana asked.

"I really like it." Luna answered with a smile. "Everything's so cool. And I love learning so many new things."

"Oh is that so?" Both Luna and Hana turned around to see Fukka glaring at them with her hands on her hips. "You can't fool me. You just like to show off in front of the rest of the class with how smart you are."

"Leave her alone Fukka." Hana told her. "Why do you have to go and bully everyone?"

"I'm just making sure little miss show off knows her place." Fukka said. "I'm the most popular kid in school, and don't you forget it."

"More like the most obnoxious." Hana muttered under her breath.

Luna held out her hand towards Fukka. "There's no need to be mean to each other. Why don't you walk with us, Fukka?"

Fukka widened her eyes in surprise for a moment at Luna's gesture of kindness, but quickly went back to her scowl. "Like I'd want to waste my time with a loser like you. Just remember to know your place." With that said, Fukka stormed off on her own.

As Luna frowned while Fukka walked away, Hana looked at her. "Why are you acting so nice to Fukka when she's being so mean to you?"

Luna thought to herself for a moment before answering. "Well… it's what you said before. I feel like Fukka doesn't have a lot of friends. So I thought if she and I became friends she'd be a bit nicer."

"... You're pretty strange Luna." Hana said. "But you're also really nice. I'm glad we got to meet each other."

Luna smiled as she nodded. "Hana, we're friends right?"

"Of course silly." Hana said. The two of them continued their walk to the front of the school. "So are you walking home? Or are your parents picking you up?"

Luna shook her head. "My big sisters are coming to pick me up and walk me home."

"Really? How old are they?" Hana asked.

"Hmm… My first sister Lilly is 15, and my other sister Rin is 16." Luna said. "They're both in high school."

As the two girls walked out the front gate of the school, Luna caught sight of Rin and Lilly in the distance with Lilly waving over to her.

"There they are." Luna said. "Come on. I want to introduce you to them." She led Hana over to her two sisters, who both greeted her with a smile. "Hi Rin. Hi Lilly."

"Hey Luna." Lilly said. "Did you have fun at your first day of school?"

"Mhm." Luna nodded. "Rin! Lilly! This is my new friend, Hana." Luna gestured to her friend next to her.

"It's very nice to meet you Hana." Rin said. "Looks like you made a cute little friend Luna."

"Hana!" the voice of a woman sounded in the distance as they four girls looked over and saw a middle aged woman in a car calling over to Hana.

"That's my mom. I gotta go." Hana said, running off towards the car while waving goodbye to the three sisters. "See you tomorrow, Luna!"

"Bye!" Luna said, waving goodbye.

As Hana got in the car with her mother and drove off, Rin and Lilly began to walk home with Luna. "So did anything else exciting happen for your first day?" Lilly asked.

"We played a really fun game during recess! It's called tag! You run around and try to chase people and tag them then run away from them!" Luna explained.

Rin and Lilly both giggled at their little sister getting so excited over something as simple as tag. It was good to see Luna was having a lot of new experiences.

The rest of the walk home, Luna talked all about her first day at school and everything that happened. She had also mentioned how excited she was to go back tomorrow. Even when they got home, school was all she could talk about. Her family was happy to see how much Luna was enjoying her life as an ordinary student.


The building of one of the biggest newspapers in Japan was bustling with people. Workers walked around left and right, some writers, others editors. There was one man however waiting in the lobby that was neither.

"Sorry to keep you waiting." a female secretary said, walking up to him. "The chief will see you now."

"Thank you." he said as he got up and followed the woman to the office where the chief of the newspaper was waiting for them.

The man took a seat across from the chief, who was dressed sharp and had a stern look to him. The intimidating presence probably put some of his staff on edge whenever they talked with him.

"I hope this is important, and not some stupid sales gimmick." the chief said. "I am a very busy man, and I don't like it when my time is wasted on silly garbage."

"Of course. I wouldn't dream of wasting your precious time." the man said. "In fact, I have some juicy info that I think will make the front page of your paper. For the right price that is."

"So you're trying to sell me this info?" the chief questioned. "I get a lot of people like you. Always thinking you have "headline news" when it's barely anything newsworthy."

"Would you call an artificial intelligence program turned human "barely newsworthy"?" the man asked. A smirk came to his lips when he saw the chief look more attentively at him. "Like I said, I wouldn't dream of wasting your time sir."

"You better not be trying to pull my leg." the chief said with narrowed eyes.

"Believe me, I am quite serious." he said. "I can give you all the details you want. But for now, I think this will suffice as proof." He grabbed a few papers from the folder he was holding and slid them across the desk to the chief. "I can give you the rest of the information once we reach an agreement on how much this is worth."

"Project Luna." the chief said, looking at the papers. He glanced over them. It all looked official to him, and the fact that RECT was behind the project seemed believable too, considering the reputation of the electronics company. He rubbed his chin as he thought about this. It could very well be the story of the century.

"One more thing." the man added. "I'd appreciate it if my name isn't brought up in this. You can say you got it from an… anonymous source."

"Hmm…" the chief contemplated to himself for a moment. "Alright then, I'm listening. However, if any of this proves to be untrue, I can promise you will regret it dearly."

"Then I have nothing to worry about." he said.

A small grin came to the newspaper chief. "Very well. Let's talk business then."

A/N: So what did you all think of Luna's first day at school? Hope you enjoyed the chapter. As I'm sure you can tell, a lot is about to happen, so be ready for some drama.