PROLOGUE: END

Authors notes (I forgot to do this last chapter): This is the first story I have ever written! I sincerely hope you all enjoy this, as this does take a bit of time for me to do! And also, please don't feel worried about posting constructive criticism, as it helps me more than anything! With all that outta the way, have fun finding out who the first half of the new cast of students are!

-Xiornal

/CHAPTER 1: FLAMES OF DECEPTION\

BEGIN

1.1: Ultimate Friendships

After Takeo and Shoyo left, along with their Guardian Suits, everyone left the gym to start looking for a way out of this mess. I figured I may as well start searching, while talking to anyone I come across.

I started searching around the first floor. How do I know that there are more floors? I saw some stairs while running to the gym, but they were blocked off by a pretty sturdy gate. While looking in the library, which was opposite the gym, I noticed someone looking at all the books. He wore shades, had a brown shirt with a grey and beige scarf which was over his shoulders, had maroon leggings, with shiny black shoes and had bright, almost neon, blonde hair.

"Hm.. I don't think these books are organised right, it's as though they just put them wherever they could fit them. he pointed out, with a slightly deep, sad tone to his voice.

He seemed to have saw me, as he turned around once he said that.

"Oh, hello." I said, immediately nervous.

"..You want to introduce yourself to me, right?" he asked me, while holding one of the books.

"..Yeah? But how did you know?" I responded with curiosity.

"Let's just call it instinct."

"I see, okay, I'm Ieyasu Umemura, the Ultimate Drummer. And what about you?"

"Well, now it's my turn, I suppose, I'm Kioshi Takishima, the Ultimate Author. It's nice to meet you."

Kioshi Takishima - Ultimate Author

"Ultimate Author!? Wow! That's amazing!" a girl had just come running in with no warning, giving me a fright.

"Woah- Jeez, can you slow down a little? You gave me quite the scare!" I asked, still a little shaken up.

"Oh, I'm sorry! I didn't mean to, I'm just so used to it.." she apologised.

"Where are my manners? I gotta introduce myself! I'm Hakuseki Zakai, the Goddess of Speed herself, the Ultimate Marathon Runner!"

Hakuseki Zakai - Ultimate Marathon Runner

"You're Hakuseki? I've read about you before! You've gotten to the end first in over 100 marathons!" Kioshi exclaimed in suprise.

"Over 100!? That's a lot!" I, too, exclaimed in total suprise and amazement.

"Aw, ya guys, you're making me blush!" Hakuseki revealed, as she was actually blushing.

"Don't worry, it happens to everyone." I assured her.

"I'm actually gonna head to the cafeteria now, it's right next to here, wanna come?" Kioshi gestured to the both of us.

"Oh, sure!"

"Aw yeah! I'm in!"

"Okay, let's go!

We all heartily made up our minds, and were now headed to the cafeteria, which was named "Flourescence".

Flourescense - Cafeteria

Once we arrived, however, there seemed to be an argument.

"And I'm telling you, hacking is way better than robotics!"

"Says who!? Robotics is much, much more creative than-" the two people disagreed. The person talking about hacking wore a blue and purple striped sweater that had "Binary" written on it in green, gold trousers, pink sneakers, silver fingerless gloves, a dark cape, orange hair and bright yellow eyes. The other person wore some sort of mask covering only her eyes, an orange and black checkered shirt with maroon and magenta sleeves, light and dark blue baggy jeans, grey shoes, pink hair and a lightning bolt hair clip.

"Can you two stop bickering, please!?" Hakuseki shouted.

All of us stared at her.

The girl with pink hair sighed.

"You're right. That was quite childish behaviour."

"Yeah, I agree, I'm sorry."

"I forgive you. How about we introduce ourselves to them?"

"Great idea!"

They both turned back to us, ready to speak again.

"I'm Ieyasu Umemura, the Ultimate Drummer, it's a pleasure to meet you both!"

"Hakuseki Zakai, the Goddess of Speed, the Ultimate Marathon Runner!"

"And I'm Kioshi Takishima, the Ultimate Author."

"What amazing names and talents!"

The orange haired girl went before the other.

"I am Mayuko Minamoto, the Ultimate Hacker. But not the villainous kind, don't worry."

Mayuko Minamoto - Ultimate Hacker

"And I am Hanae Ueno, the Ultimate Robotics Engineer. I basically make robots and stuff like that."

Hanae Ueno - Ultimate Robotics Engineer

"Nice to meet you, Mayuko and Hanae!" I politely expressed.

"So.. both robotics and hacking are good?" Mayuko proposed, having slight worry in her voice.

"Both are good." Hanae accepted with no hesitation.

"I'll check the kitchen, come if ya want!" I waved to everyone.

"Well, Hanae and I were gonna head outside, so, see you later!" Mayuko waved back towards me, leaving with Hanae.

Flourescense - Kitchen

Kioshi, Hakuseki and I walked into the kitchen, where aside from the absoloute abundance of food, it seemed like a normal kitchen. Which meant it had..

"..Knives." I pointed out.

"Should we note this in case.. the worst case scenario happens? I will write it down." Kioshi recommended, fearing that someone may.. kill.

"That is a good idea. we should note all weapons that we find, along with floor plans of where each room is."

"I'm on it." he took out a notepad, and started writing.

"Oh yeah, there are floor plans in your Crystal Handbooks, just thought I'd let ya know."

"Oh, shoot, the Handbooks! I forgot to read the rules!" I quickly remembered, taking out my handbook.

Multiple options appeared:

PROFILES

ACADEMY

RULES

INVESTIGATION

SETTINGS

CHAT

HELP

Well, there's quite a few things here.

I selected Rules.

All rules were written by your Headmaster, Heizo!

Rule 1: All students must live in Marble Valley Academy for as long as their future shows.

Rule 2: Under no circumstance can any student harm or kill the Headmaster or his Helpers. (Takeo and Shoyo)

Rule 3: No trial will occur if the Headmaster or his Helpers kill anyone.

Rule 4: The Headmaster and his Helpers cannot harm or kill anyone unless it is due to motivation, being provoked, or a rule is broken.

Rule 5: These Crystal Handbooks are very crucial, as well as beneficial, to your school life. Do not destroy them.

Rule 6: No more than two people can be killed by the same person.

Rule 7: If two different murders are committed by two different people, only the first one will count.

Rule 8: If a student dies to natural circumstances, no trial will be held.

Rule 9: All remaining students must participate in the class trial after investigation.

Rule 10: If the students, otherwise known as the spotless, vote the killer, otherwise known as the blackened, then only the killer will be punished, which is just a light term for execution! And vice versa for if the spotless get it wrong!

Wait, execution!? People get EXECUTED after a trial!?

Rule 11: And additional rules can, and will, be added by Heizo, your Headmaster, if you have any further inquiries, please message Heizo using the "chat" option!

"This- this- this is madness.." I stuttered, not believing my eyes.

"And that's putting it lightly.." Kioshi mentioned in a whisper.

"Hey, there's a freezer room next to here, but it just has boxes of food and stuff."

Hakuseki pointed towards, breaking my gaze from the handbook.

"Well, where to next?" Kioshi asked.

"What about.. Aha! I saw a door with an outline of a badge on it, how about we head there?" I offered with adventurous intent.

"Sounds good to me."

"Okie dokie!" both Kioshi and Hakuseki agreed.

Lawyer's Lab

There was already a girl there, with a purple buttoned blazer, a white shirt, a red tie, an ice blue skirt, green heels, pink eyes and blonde hair in a bun when we got there, and she instantly declared:

"..Kata Shoji. The Ultimate Lawyer. I don't normally interact with other people."

Kata Shoji - Ultimate Lawyer

"Aren't you that one lawyer who has defended over 100 seemingly impossible cases, and not lose a single one?" Hakuseki asked.

"Yep." she replied.

"That must have been quite the task." Kioshi said.

"It sure was, alright." she agreed, with a bit of happiness.

"So.. is this your room?" I queried, which was answered by..

"Lab. It's my Ultimate Lab. You all have one somewhere in the school?"

"How do you know that?" Hakuseki pressed on.

"It was in the Academy section of the Handbook." Kioshi, surprisingly enough, responded.

"Yes, but it's locked, unfortunately." Kata sadly said.

As soon as she said that..

Boing! Boing!

Takeo and Heizo appeared in front of the door, making everyone jump back a little.

"Wha-!" I had begun, which was then interrupted.

"The Ultimate Labs are not ready yet.. Boohoo.." Heizo announced, with regret in his voice.

"But don't worry! Shoyo is doing the best he can to get them ready for all of you!" Takeo loudly claimed.

"Correct!" Heizo joyfully beamed.

"Happy killings!"

"Goodbye, have fun!" they both said, before disappearing again.

"That was.. something."

"..Yeah."

Everyone was silent for a few moments, then Hakuseki broke the silence.

"Well, there's only two more places in here we need to check. which are.."

"The pool, and the other Lab." Kioshi finished off.

"Well, we may as well head to the pool next. Farewell for now, Kata!" I decided.

"Have fun, you three." she said, wishing us the best of luck.

Pool

There was a boy in a yellow hoodie, green baggy pants, pink sneakers, brown eyes, and black hair with a bit of red in it.

"Well, well, well.. what have we here? A drummer, a marathon runner, and an author? Oh, I'm shaking in my sneakers!" he jokingly exclaimed.

"Yeah, yeah, alright. Name. Talent. Now." Hakuseki demanded.

"What?? She's forcing me to say something I don't wanna say.. so mean!"

"Come on, kid, we don't have all day!" she shouted.

"Okay! I'm Raicho Fujino! Ultimate Translator! Which means I can roast you in over 20 different languages! But it mainly means I know how to translate lots of languages." he boasted.

Raicho Fujino - Ultimate Translator

"..Okay. Ieyasu Umemura, Ultimate Drummer."

"Jeez, Hakuseki Zakai. Ultimate Marathon Runner."

"Kioshi Takishima, the Ultimate Author."

"We're just gonna head out." Hakuseki said hastily, before dragging both me and Kioshi out by the arm.

"Ow.. so.. the other lab?" Kioshi asked.

"The other lab." Hakuseki responded.

Forensic Scientist's Lab

Well, here we are. The last place that we need to check in here.

"Is that.. a test tube?" I wondered in confusion.

"Sure looks like i-"

"Indeed it is!" someone stepped out of it, it was someone in a lab coat, had brown trousers on, black shoes, a dust mask, lab goggles and brown hair.

"Wah- Please don't jumpscare us like that.." I responded while trying to get back up.

"Oh, you have my deepest apologies.." he muttered in sorrow.

"It's alright!" I swiftly reassured him.

"If it makes you any better, I'll introduce myself!" I politely offered.

"O-okay.."

"Im Ieyasu Umemura, the Ultimate Drummer.

"I am the Goddess of Speed herself, Hakuseki Zakai, the Ultimate Marathon Runner!"

"And I'm Kioshi Takishima, Ultimate Author."

"I am.. Ryobe Iida.. the Ultimate Forensic Scientist.."

Ryobe Iida - Ultimate Forensic Scientist

"So, you work with forensics?" Kioshi asked.

"Yeah.." Ryobe answered.

"Well, we were gonna head outside now, do you wanna come along?" I suggested.

"Really..? Thank you!" he graciously accepted.

"To the outside we go!" all four of us shouted, before we ran out.