Chapter 1

The world was in no less than a crisis. Every man, woman, and child on and off earth was in grave danger. Most of the moon was utterly decimated and the world's most powerful governments were at the end of their wits and might alike. Simultaneously, a war was just survival. With under a year's time and an insurmountable wall that was their enemy, a small group of people were tasked with saving the world against an invincible enemy. Yet somehow, with the combined efforts of the world's superpowers, the enemy of mankind was gone, and earth was no longer in danger. The panic settled and things returned to the normalcy it knew and loved

That was a lie. Most if not all of it was half truths and propaganda. A war for humanity's survival wasn't fought, but there were many fights. The earth wasn't in danger, but the future of many hung by a thread. The enemy wasn't invincible, it was hardly even an enemy. The governments were not responsible for protecting the world. When the problem was solved, they constructed a facade to calm the masses, to protect them from reality.

Reality was a pill difficult for anyone to swallow, but went down quickly. Reality was sometimes indirect and often something confusing, but it was honest and sincere.

Reality was death.

In the few months following Nagisa Shiota's graduation from junior high, there were complications. Due to some unforeseen circumstances, which he wasn't made aware of, he wasn't able to make it into his school of choice. Of course, he had a backup in case such a thing happened. However, the same thing happened with that school as well. To still enter either one of them, he'd either have to wait on the hope that someone would drop out, as if he would do such a thing.

The only option left was to another school, but there were few which would support his ambition, something he was equally reluctant against. Hope seemed lost, until he received a letter in the mail. It was an invitation to a school he'd never heard of before, a school named "Kuoh Academy". After a search online he discovered the academy turned out to be real, and even more than that it was a rather prestigious institution.

Some things didn't sit quite right. It was strange that he hadn't ever heard of the academy before, but it appeared to have everything he was looking for. Apparently, the school year had also already started a little under a month ago, It seemed like a mistake and the letter got sent to the wrong person, or maybe it was supposed to be delivered earlier but it was addressed to him specifically and the date was correct.

Whatever was going on, he didn't have any reason to complain or refuse. The invitation was accepted with haste.

And so with his dreaded pigtails finally cut, and his old junior high uniform cast off, Nagisa felt like a new person. With a very clearly male uniform, a black blazer and pants over a white dress shirt, Nagisa walked through the gates of his next step in life; High School.

Nagisa walked towards the school's main entrance, examining the school's buildings. The architecture was foreign to him, looking more like something from an older europe. The rooftops weren't flat and fenced, and resembled the kinds found atop mansions. It was like being in another country, except for the fellow japanese students that surrounded him. It didn't help his self-esteem that he was about as tall as most of the girls. Hopefully his growth spurt would hit some time soon.

"This is where it starts." Nagisa thought with a smile growing across his face. His hands clenched with excitement.

While he continued to walk he suddenly heard two shouts coming from behind, both male. He stopped and turned around to see a pair of dumbfounded faces. One of them was nearly bald and the other wore glasses. Both of them wore the same uniform he did, making them students of the same academy. Nagisa then noticed that two other people were walking towards them. Another third boy with the same uniform, with brown hair and green eyes. However the fourth stuck out like a sore thumb, and not because they were female, although she was wearing a different school's uniform.

Behind her smile and her eyes was something sinister. A dark cloud seeped out as if there was a fire inside of her. An authentic and genuine desire to kill, disguised under what amounted to wet tissue paper. It was a marvel that nobody else could see through the thin facade.

Nagisa's hand reached for the air behind his back grasping at nothing, which he ceased doing once he realized his mistake. "Right. This isn't Kunugigaoka." he thought, looking down at his clenched fist.

He looked back up at the four. The brown haired boy and the girl seemed to be in a relationship. Their arms were locked together. The other two were definitely jealous of his success, though their animosity was trivial at best. They were probably his friends and he wanted to show off.

A few seconds later, the boy with brown hair gave both of his friends a parting gift; a hand on their shoulders before he and his apparent girlfriend walked away. After putting some distance between them, he said something to the girl, and she ran off. Now alone, he made his way towards the school with an elated grin. His "friends" remained just outside of school grounds, seemingly frozen in place with exasperated looks on their faces. They seemed to have lost their very souls. Maybe he was getting revenge on them, or maybe they weren't actually friends.

Whatever the case was, it didn't matter to him all that much. He turned away and entered through the front doors of the main building.

Fortunately, the interiors betrayed his expectations by mirroring the faculties he expected of regular japanese high schools. He opened his bag and looked at a piece of paper, a map of the building, to find that his classroom was on the second floor. He didn't quite get why this was the case, but it couldn't be helped. A walk up and down a flight of stairs every day was nothing to him.

With his breath held and his heart pumping faster than usual, Nagisa stood in front of the door to his classroom. He imagined himself in this exact place, but older and more grown up. He would enter the classroom as the teacher and greet his class with a smile; just like they used to. But that was for the future. For now he was just a regular student in an academy.

He calmed himself down and reached for the door handle, but before he touched it, there was a sudden and surprised yelp followed immediately by a loud crash. Naturally, he froze stiff and stared at the door with a nervous look on his face. Amongst many memories from the previous year, some good and some indescribable, Nagisa remembered a question he asked himself days ago. It seemed more appropriate now than ever before.

"What kind of school is this?"

He slid the door to the side, mentally preparing himself to face whatever made that crashing noise. With it open he saw some boy lying against the wall with a chair knocked over next to them. The other male students were laughing their lungs out. On the opposite end, both figuratively and literally, were the girls. A particularly short one with white hair had one of her hands outstretched, though the rest of her body was upright and straightened. Unlike the other girls, whose reactions were visible as can be, her face was emotionless and cold. It didn't take an expert to see how little she cared for the guy on the receiving end, but more concerning was how little effort she seemed to have put into throwing a chair across a room.

It was then that he pulled out a small notepad and quickly scribbled out a few words on the front page.

#1 Don't anger the white haired girl.

He'd have to get her name some time soon. Being in the same class, that probably wouldn't be a problem. Although as he wrote his first note, he had a certain feeling grow in his chest, like his heart somehow gained weight and sunk lower. He sighed, put away the notepad and walked in.

END

Sorry for the short chapter. Wanted to keep certain scenes spaced apart. Next chapter will probably be longer.