Chapter 6

Blood sheds across the battlefield. Two armies of equal strength constantly trying to overpower the other one. In this corner having a deck of sixty cards, the phantom of the night, the blood sucker. Give it up for the one the only, Jack the Ripper. In this corner, having a deck of forty-five cards. Master of the mind, fake but real. Give it up for the one, the only, White Demon!

The game is tied, both opponents having five life a piece. I have erdwal ripper with no +1/+1 counters on it. Markov Warlord, and Olivia Voldaren. Blanc has Phantasmal image as a lord of the unreal, phantasmal dragon, and phantom warrior out. My turn rolls around, I draw rush of blood. Doubling Olivia's power of four to eight, she has no flying to block. This next attack ends the game as a victory for the vampires.

"Grrr. My deck isn't good enough!" There's the angry Blanc that knocked me out.

"Hey, calm down, here, I actually want to help you get better. I helped your sisters as well when they lost." Reaching into my bag of wonders, poking my fingers around I find what I was looking for. Pulling out a card then placing it on the stand in front of her, she goes from angry to curious in an instant.

"Here, this is a gift, essence backlash and illusionary armor." She holds both cards in her hand then immediately put both in her deck. I can tell she already likes them and will be much stronger with those around.

"Th… thanks for the cards Jack." Even in her soft voice, I detect hints of happiness. What really came as a surprise was when she hugged me. Deciding to go with the flow, I return the hug. After a few seconds, I try to pull away… but Blanc had other plans. While I was letting go, she was holding on. The more I struggled the tighter she grasped. What is with girls hugging me today? Am I really that likable?

Whatever the case, she opened her eyes and looked directly into mine. The sudden glimpse of them caused me to jerk back a little bit. She's looking at me in much the same way Nepgear was looking at me back in the computer lab. This is really getting weird, who's next, Noire?

Two of these looks in one day are very disturbing. The worst part was that we've only known each other for a day. Have they already formed that kind of opinion about me? This already starting to cause me a headache from the thinking. All of this is a lot to take in at once. On the other hand I could just be being a whiney little bitch right now, but I digress.

"Jack…" Why is she calling my name in a soft manner?

"Blanc, you're nice and all, but could you please get off me.

With a simple nod, she releases her tight grip from my torso. It's cold now though, her body heat was rather nice in this frozen room. I wonder how the others are doing right now.

Meanwhile in another classroom, Neptune is making a finger painting. Singing some tune that's inaudible to most while doing it at that. Of course this is causing the other students ears to metaphorically bleed. It is Neptune we are talking about after all. This was her natural state.

Somewhere else in the room Ram had actually calmed down for the day. Without her twin sister, she was kind of depressed. It's like she is a soldier who lost his will to fight. Influencing Rom to do things with her was one of her favorite activities in the world and now she couldn't do that in sixth hour.

"Hmph, who needs her anyway." Ram said in an annoyed tone.

Not much was going on in culinary class, since it was the first day, there was nothing to cook. So what does Vert do? Take a nap. While the rest of the class was out and about, Vert managed to sleep like a baby during that chaos. She must have the ears of a goddess to sleep through all that noise. Her dreams are unknown, but they must be good on account of the smile on her face.

Finally in Creative writing class, Rom was in the back corner of the class. This is the first time all day she'd been without Ram. All of the other classmates being older than her made her uncomfortable. Her head between her arms while lying down on her desk indicated she didn't this feeling. Reflecting on the words of a friend though, she pulled herself up and picked up a notebook. Taking a pen out as well, she began to write something, something we may never know.

Back in the band room, I was taking a look through Nepgear's deck. For the most part, it was impressive. It focuses mainly on defense, but has great offensive capabilities. There was one card in there that her still couldn't forget. Ulamog, one of the three eldrazi titans. If she were to ever get that out on me, there's a 99.99999999% chance I'll lose. Oh well, that's for future Jack to worry about.

Noire also had a deck, it was a Black and White knight deck. It mainly focused on both offense and defense. There was one card in it though that caught his eye. It was an instant called lace ribbon dance. This was most strange since I've never heard of it before. Screw that, if she ever plays it, everyone on the field is screwed. Let's just hope that never happens.

Uni was the only one of us not to have a deck. It was strange, she seemed like she'd enjoy it a lot. She simply stated "I just haven't found time to build a deck." More like the money, she spends it all on guns and ammo. This has to change, so she can have fun with the rest of us.

"You know, if you want, I could build you a deck for free." A reasonable offer

"Re… Really, you'd do that for someone you met not too long ago?"

"Sure, you've been nice to me, and I want you to have fun with us. So… deal?" I hold out a hand for a handshake.

"Deal!" Unlike Rom, she actually takes my hand and we shake on it.

Getting what she wants in a deck which consists of range attacks and direct damage. I'm thinking a green and red deck. Even if I screw up the colors, I think she'll like what I can throw together. My first deck was exactly like that. Looking at the clock, I notice it's not too long before the day is over. We have three minutes, make that two left.

Packing everything up in the messenger back I put it over my shoulder. It appears the other four people with me are packing up as we speak. It's a good thing we are prepared to leave. Once that bell rings, it turns into all out war in the hall. Students trying to get to their buses by any means necessary. The bell rings, time to blow this popsicle stand.

I head to the front lobby, the others should be waiting for me there. Turns out my instinct was correct, the four that parted ways with us are there. All of them look generally happy to see us. Rom and Ram are holding each other like they haven't seen the other in ten years. As expected as well, Neptune and Vert are quietly talking about lord only knows what.

"Hey guys!" Neptune yells to us.

"Ok I guess." Better respond or she might get mad.

"Hello sis, we had a lot of fun in band today, how was art?"

"It was awesome, I did this amazing finger painting in there today. Here Jack, this is for you."

Being handed a painting of, is that a cat? I don't know what it is but I'll keep it. This means a lot to me, a gift from a friend. It's been too long since I've had any, so this is a nice change of pace. I think I'll put it on my desk when I get home. Now that I get a better look at it, it doesn't look so bad. I hate to admit it, but she's good at finger painting.

"Band was alright I guess, can't complain." It's nice to know Uni likes band.

"Why are you yawning?" Blanc asks a question towards Vert.

"Without anything to cook, I decided to take a nap." Wait, just because she didn't have anything to do she went to sleep? I admit the first day of school is tiring, but not that tiring. Perhaps she is good at hiding sleep deprivation.

"So, are we all gonna talk tonight?" Wait what?! I have to talk to these girls tonight? I just met them today.

"That reminds me jack, can I have your phone number?" Nepgear asked that, how could I say no. Saying my number, all eight of them put it in their phones and wait for someone to give a conversation topic. It was Vert who broke the silence.

"By the way, who's playing four goddess' online with me tonight?" Now I have to play MMO's? This is going to get exhausting. Might as well play it, sounds interesting to say the least.

The seven other girls say they'll join in, this comes as a surprise. I would've thought Noire and Uni would decline, gaming doesn't seem like their thing. Debating on this, I decide why the hell not and give it a go. Besides, it'll give me a chance to connect with them all more. And after the moments I had today, I think I should do that.

"Sure, I'll play with you guys, I'll just have to create an account."

"Splendid!" Vert says while putting her hands together and closing her eyes.

Looking at the digital clock in the lobby, I notice it's time for my brother Maurice to pick me up from school. Waving goodbye to my eight new friends, I exit the school. Seeing my brothers car, I walk over to it and get in the passenger side door.

"Hey bro, high school treating you well?" I think he's expecting me to say it's hell.

"It's the opposite of that thank you very much."

"You seem unusually happy, what happened?" When he asked this, Neptune began a texting spree on my phone. So many messages from her were coming that I thought it was just a hallucination. Turning my phone off, I turn to my brother and stare in his eyes.

"Well, there is this girl…"

"The start of every tragic story."