A/N: Hey gamers! Big project time and hopefully I won't abandon this one yaaaaay! So welcome to the Coroika High School AU! I'm trying to write this in a very episodic structure, focusing mainly on how the S4 met. We'll see how it goes! (haha trying to remember what school was like before pandemic go brrr)

Anyway, that's enough for now, enjoy the story!

Chapter 1- Skull

"The next project will be in groups of four, randomly assigned, so don't even start looking at your friends." The teacher called out. This was followed by many groans and attempts at protest by some of the rowdier students.

Skull eyed Aviators, Aloha, and Vintage with disappointment, as they all secretly hoped to be placed together. This was his one class with all three of his best friends, and now they might not be able to spend even this time together.

The teacher began rambling off the names on her list, as Skull only half listened for his own.

"Army, Aloha, Mask, and Skull."

His eyes shot back to Aloha, a cheeky grin on both their faces. At least they were together. The other two, though... Everyone knew Army, the stuck up class president, a complete nerd and control freak. And Mask, the quiet, ultra shy kid that was barely noticeable. He was constantly sick with something too, hay fever, was it? Either way, they were two complete joy kills. But at least they were smart. He and Aloha were almost guaranteed a good grade, which they needed.

Once the teacher had finished, they had the obligatory, and quite painful, group meet and greet.

Army was the first to speak, introducing himself, even though everyone knew who he was. He then went into a ramble about why the Great Turf War would be an excellent topic choice for their report.

Mask almost seemed to be invisible, and didn't make a sound aside from hesitant breathing noises. Skull was a bit irked, before he remembered that hay fever wasn't contagious. He'd have to tell Aloha that later, as he was already very obviously distancing himself from Mask.

Skull pretended to show a little initiative. Like always, he and Aloha would be doing the talking during the actual presentation. But he had to have some excuse that he at least did a little work. "I'll set up a group chat. Can I have your numbers?" he inquired.

They each pulled out their phones, except for Mask, who was already glued to his.

"We should arrange a time to meet at the library, where we can divide up the work evenly. Let's say, at 1600 hours?" Army stated, already taking charge of this project.

"Sure, whatever~" Aloha remarked sarcastically. Skull knew he had no idea what Army was talking about.

This report was going to be a hassle, he could already tell. He sighed. "Come on, nobody talks like that. Nobody uses military time anymore. Just say… uh, four o'clock?"

"Precisely." Army approved.

"Alright, four o'clock at the library."

The bell rang, signaling their temporary freedom from this terrible group.

"We won't be there~!" Aloha laughed as soon as he was out of Army's earshot.

"Who'd you get paired with, Avi?" Vintage asked, late to the lunch table as usual.

"Paisley and Stitch. The last guy is sick, apparently, but it's whatever. Who's in your group, Vin?"

He looked nervous. "Uh, two girls and that Double Egg jerk."

"Woah, that's rough." Aviators sympathized. He was right, Double Egg was the infamous school bully. He's huge, probably did steroids, and just plain mean. He was sent to the office about once a day, but never was punished severely. It was a common theory that even the staff was scared of him.

Skull then noticed a bit of smeared blood on his friend's ear, the same shade of his crimson eyes.

"Did he beat you up?"

"No! Just... shoved me against a locker."

"Why didn't you fight back?"

"Have you seen how big the guy is? I'd get killed."

"Yeah, but you have that crazy reaction time."

"In turf. I've never really used it outside of battle."

Vintage was right. He was the shortest and skinniest in their little friend group, and had yet to hit his growth spurt. And even with his weird ability, he wouldn't have stood a chance.

"Well, Aloha and I are with a couple of complete nerds, so at least-"

He was interrupted by a hug from behind. His girlfriend. Which was a bit odd, because she was rarely affectionate in public.

"Rough day?" Skull laughed.

"I hate my group." Omega responded.

"What happened? Eyes again?"

He felt her nod on his back. He really felt bad for the twins, their unique red eyes often got them tagged as monsters, demons, and freaks by so many students. Not having any eyebrows himself, he could somewhat empathize, though he was made fun of far less.

"Hey," he started, twisting around to face her. "Your eyes are beautiful, no matter what they say."

He brushed her long bangs back a bit, and let himself get lost in those sparkling ruby red eyes. "Beautiful, captivating, fierce, strong... just like you. They wish they could be as pretty."

Omega blushed a soft shade of cyan, and hugged him a little tighter, before pulling away.

"Next time someone makes fun of your eyes, you just tell me who and I'll snipe 'em."

She giggled at that. "Skull, you'd get kicked out of school, no!"

"Oh, not here. Just a little one-on-one challenge at Moray Towers. They'll never bother you again, trust me."

Vintage cleared his throat. Of course, you wouldn't want to mess with her twin brother's Mini Splatling skills either. Even Skull was wary around him, the only reason he was allowed to date his sister was because they were friends.

Omega suddenly touched her left ear, and the group noticed that Vintage just covered the cut on his, too.

"Vintage, what happened?" Omega demanded.

"Nothing."

"Let me see."

She inspected her brother's cut for just a moment, before dousing a napkin in hand sanitizer and wiping the blood away.

The relationship they shared as twins was quite breathtaking. It was sweet, but almost creepy. They always knew when something was up with the other. And they were always there for each other when something went wrong. Overall, it was refreshing to see siblings looking out for each other.

From then on, it was a pretty normal lunch hour. They discussed the new Kensa collection, Vintage was very enthusiastic about the Kensa Mini Splatling, they watched Gloves T-pose on top of a table until he got yelled at, they all tried to bribe Aviators into taking his sunglasses off, and failed again.

Aloha sauntered over just as lunch was about to end. "Guess who just got all you losers dates for tonight~"

Skull put his arm around Omega. "I'm good, thanks."

"Not you, dummy! These two!" He said, slapping Aviators and Vintage on the backs a little too hard.

Vintage glared at the party animal. "I'm fine also." He growled.

"Really, you sure? Even when it's Metry-chan and her gang?"

Skull choked on his soda. It went up his nose as he coughed out laughs. He couldn't stop. Vintage and Omega shared a quiet smirk, and Aviators chuckled softly.

"Huh? What's so funny?!"

"Dude," Skull attempted to speak through his hysterical laughter, still choking, "Metry and his friends are boys."

Aloha froze, pale. Skull only wheezed harder.

"O-oh... well, I guess, uh..."

Aviators grinned smugly. "They better still be coming though! It'll be fun having them at the party, then we can all make fun of you for this!" Vintage snorted as he couldn't hold back his laughter anymore, and Omega joined him in a fit of giggles.

Aloha's bright pink blush spread to his ears. He grinned sheepishly. "You're never gonna let me live this one down, are you."

"Nope!" They all replied in unison.