Four's A Crowd

[Gamer50018]

Kiana Kaslana, known more widely as the White Ghost, one of Siberia's most renowned mercenaries (according to her), stared at the site of her latest job and wondered, not for the first time, if there hadn't been a mistake.

She checked her phone. Nope, definitely the right place.

She stared at the gate again. The gate to Chiba Academy, one of the most esteemed schools in all of Japan, stared back.

…. She really wished there had been a mistake.

Sighing, she went back to her phone, this time opening the message that had brought her here in the vain hope of finding an explanation that made sense.

"Kiana,

Your mission has been changed. You have been enrolled in Chiba Academy, Nagazora, as a transfer student. An ID and cover story for your background has been provided. Your task is to attend classes as normal while reconnoitering the area for any signs of unusual Honkai activity. Payment has been sent as per your normal rates for long term missions.

On a more personal note; Kiana, I know you have your reasons for being so single minded, but despite your condition and past, you are still very much a child, and you deserve to have a chance to act as one, and to get an education. I understand you will feel uncomfortable with spending so much time around others and in one place, but your readings have been stable for almost a year at this point, and one of my highest ranking associates sends his own daughter to Chiba Academy - I assure you, nobody will learn of your presence. If you choose to return to your usual wanderings, I will accept it, but please, try to attend class for at least one month before making your decision.

I will be in contact again in a month's time. Sincerely,

W.Y.

Ps: Do not worry about your previous assignment, it's been handled."

The explanation failed to make sense.

"What do you mean, 'it's been handled' you jerk!" she hissed to herself in frustration, shaking her fist in futile anger at the message's absent sender. "Do you have any idea how hard it is to get into Japan with no records!? I spent half my savings getting here!"

With a last explosive sigh, Kiana put her phone back in her pocket, before returning to her wary standoff with the school gate. She probably wasn't going to accomplish much by doing so, but she could totally win a staring contest with a gate! It didn't even have eyes! Her victory was assured!

…. In hindsight, Kiana supposed she should've expected something was up. The doctors had been super shifty at her last check up, and the job she'd taken that led her to Nagazora had been pretty light on details. But seriously, this whole thing was entirely unnecessary.

… Well, maybe. She supposed she probably wouldn't have gone for this idea if they told her ahead of time, but so what? Yeah, she didn't have any friends and the White Ghost's work hours were pretty high, but she was a mercenary! A Siberian mercenary! Who cared about her social life - she had work to do!

It didn't help that they had been all sneaky about it. As stated, the message had been accompanied by a fake ID that she knew without even checking was impeccable - cleanly explaining away all the questions anyone would have about a sudden mystery transfer. It even explained away her last name, establishing that she was from an unremarkable family that had lived in Siberia for generations before leaving after the Second Eruption - and which had no relation to the noble House Kaslana that were known among European history buffs for their long history as knights of renown in times past, and among some others as far, far more.

Even the enrollment itself had been handled, with transcripts of her "interview" and a copy of her entrance exam - barely above the pass mark, which was rude but, admittedly, probably true - so she wouldn't get caught out by any discrepancies. And even if she did, whoever it was her benefactor mentioned was apparently with AE and would cover for her. It was all set up - but did she really need school? S-sure, she hadn't gotten any kinda education since she was tiny, but what did someone like her need one of those for-

She… she was avoiding the issue again. She'd always been too good at doing that. She took a deep breath and sighed.

… This was absolutely her old man's doing. Making her go to school as a vacation sounded exactly like the sort of zany nonsense he'd come up with.

… She missed him.

Timidly, old, bone deep fear slowing her, Kiana reached within her mind to a sense few possessed. The Honkai flowed through her body, as it always did - but not much of it. Her stigmata glowed dully, but kept its power tightly leashed - the Core buried in her chest remained dormant, only a trickle escaping it. She was safe, or at least not an active bomb.

She took a deep, shuddering breath. One month. She would take one month to live a normal life, before she returned to her wanderings. She… she could handle that long. Her resolve firmed, she walked forward, entering the gates to the first day of school she had ever known -

"Huh?"

Kiana paused a few steps away from the door, frowning to herself. Slowly, she turned her head, scanning the area as her old man had taught her. There was nothing. No zombies hiding in dark alleys to ambush unsuspecting prey, no Beasts lurking as they waited for their chance.

"... So why is there so much Honkai in the air here?"

Quickly, making sure nobody was watching, Kiana grabbed her phone and opened an extremely unusual app. The tiny Honkai sensor backed up her own senses - there was ambient Honkai energy here. Not enough to hurt anyone, not yet, but noticeably higher than the average - and it wasn't fading away like it would if it was merely the remnants of some long ago incident. If anything, it felt like it was getting stronger.

Kiana checked her Core again. Still no signs of it leaving the dormant state it had been in for most of her life. She used her phone to double check, just in case. It said she was stable. So if it wasn't her, what was going on here?

Kiana frowned, troubled - before her gaze caught on the time. Why did something about it being 8:55 feel unnerving -

The realization hit her as hard as the Ganesha that had rammed her through a building a year ago. "OH CRAP I'M GONNA BE LATE!" She yelped in alarm, slamming open the door as she sprinted past a thoroughly surprised receptionist in the direction of her first class.

As she raced to avoid truancy, a small part of Kiana's mind kept a note of the strange Honkai spike. It looked like that excuse about "reconnoitering for unusual Honkai activity" was going to be more relevant than she'd thought.

---

Kiana stood outside her classroom, unable to ignore the nervous energy filling her. She had never been to a school before - would she do something wrong? She checked her uniform, a white sailor uniform in the style of the place she was allegedly transferring from. It didn't look dirty or anything, but she had lived on the road for years - what if it looked like crap? "Oh man, this is gonna go to hell- maybe it isn't too late for me to just - no! None of that Kiana. One month, that's all you gotta handle!" She rambled to herself internally, her stream of consciousness as fragmented as ever.

Finally, a voice drifted out from the room. ".... now, we will be receiving a transfer student today. She will be with us for the foreseeable future, and I expect you all to give her a warm and polite welcome, are we clear?" There was a chorus of "Yes, Sensei" from the class, before the door opened. "Hello there, Kaslana-san." The teacher greeted, a courteous smile on her face. "Would you like to introduce yourself to the class?"

She nodded. "Y-Yeah, Sensei. I can manage that for sure!" She said, making an effort to smile in feigned excitement.

The teacher's smile turned sad. "I'm glad to hear it. I know you went through quite a bit in Siberia before moving to Japan-" oh okay her cover story included that she wouldn't have to make something up, good "-and while we haven't told your classmates where you're from, your appearance might get some attention. If anyone starts making you uncomfortable or asks about something too personal, just tell me and I'll set them straight, alright?"

Kiana felt a little bad. The lady clearly sympathised pretty hard with the presumably traumatised war orphan her cover story made her out to be, but growing up in Siberia with her old man had been the happiest years of her life. Still, it was nice to know she had an explanation for if something caused her to freak out. "I will. Thanks, Sensei." She said, smiling gratefully - misplaced or not, the kindness was appreciated - before squaring her shoulders and walking into the classroom.

Sitting in the front row was the single prettiest girl Kiana had ever seen.

Mistakes had been made.

Kiana froze midstep, her eyes locked on the other girl. Silken black hair tied in a ponytail fell down to her back, over the dark uniform of the school. Purple eyes gazed back, a polite smile adorning her face. Her skin was utterly perfect, and her… yeah Kiana was feeling a little envy there.

Kiana was very aware she was gay, but if she somehow hadn't figured it out before, she definitely would have realised it now, because woah. Should… should she say something? Introduce herself? Wait, did the other girl even like girls? How would she tell? What was her old man's advice again - wait, no, bad idea, her old man's advice was awful. But then how was she supposed to - the girl was starting to frown, why - oh God she was staring like a creep crap no ABORT -

Desperately fighting not to blush, Kiana rapidly turned her head away from the pretty girl and walked towards the front of the class, praying her zone out hadn't been too weird looking to the others - she did not want to cement her status as a headcase on the first day. Arriving at the teacher's desk, she turned to face her new classmates.

That… was a lot of people. Not the most people she'd ever seen in one place, but definitely the most her own age. Kiana took a deep breath, going over her plan to introduce herself one final time. "Please, God, don't let me screw up my Japanese here. I will never live it down."

"Hi, everyone!" She announced cheerfully, smiling widely. "I'm Kiana, Kiana Kaslana! I just moved here to Nagazora, and I've transferred here for the year. I'll be with you from now on - pleased to meet you!" She finished, throwing a V sign with her hands and winking. "Nailed it."

Immediately, the class exploded into whispers. "Wow, talk about energetic!" "She seems pretty outgoing." "Geez, those looks… so unfair." "Did anyone recognise that accent?" "What kinda name is Kaslana? Is she a foreigner or something?" As the storm of muttered words continued, Kiana almost wilted, her confidence fading into embarrassment until the teacher strode up next to her and made a polite cough.

The silence was instant. This lady was good.

"Now, if you're all quite done..?" She said, eyebrow raised as she cast her eyes around the room. Nobody dared speak. "Good. Now then, Kaslana-san, please sit down - there is an empty seat over there -" she nodded towards the window - "so we can begin our lessons for the day. Our first class will be on mathematics, so if everyone would please get their texts and notebooks ready…"

As Kiana rushed to her seat, she suppressed the urge to wince at the idea of math - she had always struggled with it when her old man tried to teach her before. Still, that had been years ago, and her old man sucked at teaching. She could totally do this!

---

Kiana had never been less able to do something in her entire life.

She stared at the textbook. The textbook stared back. The problem had letters in it. Math wasn't meant to involve letters, Kiana was pretty sure, just numbers, but there were letters anyway. Everyone else seemed completely unsurprised by this, so apparently this was normal? The teacher had launched into an explanation of what the lesson was about, seemingly under the assumption that her students all understood the basics already, which was perfectly fine except for the fact Kiana didn't know what the letters were.

The young Kaslana could practically feel her brain frying itself inside of her skull. Should she speak up? No, it was obvious she was the only one who didn't know this - she'd just look like an idiot. Wait until after class? No, she'd be late for her next lesson then. Ask one of her classmates…? Kiana nervously glanced around at her peers, and immediately decided against that plan. Smacking her head on a brick wall it was.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity but was actually just an hour or so, the teacher put down her chalk. "And that concludes today's mathematics class. Now I'm sure you're all tired after that one just after summer break, so we'll have a ten minute break to talk among yourselves before the next class. Do behave yourselves now, yes?"

"Yes, Sensei!" the class answered en masse, Kiana joining a second late as her brain processed the end of it's suffering. "Very good." The teacher said, nodding in satisfaction. "Then I'll leave you to it for now." So saying, she stood, turned, and walked out the door.

The moment the door closed behind her, the class exploded in activity.

Kiana let her head fall onto her desk, groaning in exhaustion. That… had sucked. A lot. She was starting to understand why all the kids on tv or in books hated school so much - if it was all like this, she wasn't a fan herself. Maybe… maybe she should just take a nap. That'd be fine, right? She had ten minutes… just… let herself… drift… off…

"Ah, Kiana-san?"

"Bweh?" Kiana startled awake, her head snapping up. What - who woke her up - what had happened - oh God it was the pretty girl. "Ah - y-yes, that uh, is me! Kiana Kaslana, nice to meet you!" She babbled, sitting ramrod straight. "Wh-what can I do for you, pre - uh, new classmate?" She tried, desperately trying not to blush like a fool.

"Oh dear… did I wake you up?" The girl asked in concern, blessedly not mentioning Kiana's rambling. "I had been hoping to introduce myself properly while we had time, but I can wait if you're feeling drained -"

"No!" Kiana blurted. "I'm fine. Just. Didn't sleep great, that's all. I'm up for talking!"

The other girl blinked in confusion "I… see?" Shaking her head, she continued on. "Well, my name is Raiden Mei. I lead the Kendo club here at the Academy. I'm glad to meet you, Kiana-san… or… hmm…" she trailed off, seeming confused at something. Kiana stared back, blinking in bafflement, until she remembered that oh right, Asia.

"Oh! Uh, my last name is Kaslana." She clarified, waving her hand. "Sorry about that, I forgot it's the other way around here. I don't mind if you just call me Kiana, though!" She said cheerily.

"Oh, you're a foreigner then?" Mei asked curiously, borrowing the chair in front of Kiana (It's occupant having crossed the room to speak with someone else). "I was wondering about your looks, but I didn't want to assume…"

"Yep!" Kiana answered, leaning backwards with her hands behind her head. "This is my first time in Japan actually, I only moved here a bit ago. I travel a ton though, so I'm pretty used to being in new places." She averted her eyes for a second, momentarily embarrassed. "I uh, hope I'm speaking properly - Japanese is pretty complicated and I'm not sure how politely I should be talking right now."

"Really?" Mei said, astonished. "Your Japanese is excellent! I could barely hear an accent - I'd assumed you'd lived here for years." She shook her head. "You must've had an excellent tutor."

"Actually, I picked it up from my old man." Kiana said, grinning at the memories. "He's such a fanboy for anime and stuff…I think the word was otaku?" She shook her head. "I don't think I could not learn Japanese, after how many Arahato marathons he dragged me into watching."

"Oh my…" Mei giggled at the description, thankfully not noticing how Kiana's heart skipped a couple beats. "That's certainly an interesting way to learn a language."

"Yeah, no kidding…" Kiana agreed, smiling to herself. This was… fun. She couldn't really remember the last time she'd just sat down and talked with another person, not about something that wasn't super important. It was… nice. "Anyway, enough about me for now - what about you? Any languages you know? Uh, other than the obvious, I mean."

"Hmmm…" Mei answered, putting a finger to her chin. "Well, I'm a fair bit better at English than most, I suppose? I don't know if that really counts when everyone learns it in school, but my father happens to be a businessman, so I was exposed to it a fair amount more than usual whenever he would speak with associates from overseas… I suppose it must've rubbed off on me, given how often my friends ask for help with English homework."

"Wow, really?" Kiana blinked in surprise. "That's pretty impressive - English sucks if it's the second one you learn!"

"Oh, it's nothing that impressive." Mei denied. "I can hold a conversation, but that's really all."

"Still impressive!" Kiana stubbornly insisted. "God, when I started to learn English it was hell. There was this one time…"

As their conversation continued, Kiana felt more and more at ease. For years, she'd avoided other people for a multitude of reasons, never going beyond passing conversation with anyone around her. Yet now, talking to this girl, she felt more comfortable in her own skin than she had in years.

"Huh." She thought to herself absently as the teacher walked back in. "Maybe the docs had a point about me needing to talk more."

"Ah, looks like the break is over." Mei realised, getting to her feet. "Thank you for your time, Kaslana-san. I hope you'll enjoy your time here at Chiba - talk to me if anything comes up, alright?" She added, smiling. She had a really good smile.

"Got it" Kiana replied, grinning back. "See ya later, Raiden-senpai~!" "Wait, was that too forward? Oh shit it was wasn't it, oh no-"

But Mei just laughed to herself, seemingly almost embarrassed. "Thank you, but I don't think I deserve that much respect just yet. I'm just doing what anyone would, really." Before Kiana could reply - and point out nobody else had come to talk with her - the black haired girl was halfway back to her seat.

As Kiana quickly grabbed her books for the next lesson - English, ironically enough - she found, to her surprise, that she wasn't having to put effort into her usual, cheery smile. Even more strangely, she didn't feel like she could stop. For the first time in a long while, Kiana smiled not to reassure others, or to make herself seem harmless. She was smiling because she was happy.

All from one conversation with a pretty girl. She supposed her old man was right - girls really were amazing. Maybe this whole school thing wasn't such a bad idea after all.

---

As Kiana walked out of the classroom, she couldn't help but groan a little to herself. English had gone well enough, even if she had decided not to volunteer for any of the questions the teacher asked, but History… holy hell, History. Kiana had never cared about it much, and she certainly didn't now - the fact she had to remind herself not to interrupt when they talked about things that she knew were really paper-thin coverups of the Honkai doing something just made it worse.

Still, it was over for now. It was time for lunch! Or, well, a break anyway - Kiana was more or less broke at this point, and her cooking skills… were about average for a Kaslana, so she didn't have anything to eat. Still, a break was something she direly needed after banging her head against her own lack of knowledge for a couple hours, so she was more than willing to head to the cafeteria and take a breather.

If she knew where the cafeteria was.

Which she didn't.

"Ugh…. Where is it?" She muttered, looking around in confusion."It's gotta be around here somewhere, right? Maybe there's a map nearby…"

"Kaslana-san?" A voice called. Kiana jerked her head in surprise, only to relax as she saw who it was. "Ah, there you are." Mei said, sighing in relief. "Sorry to disturb you - I was just wondering if you knew where the cafeteria is, seeing as it's your first day."

"Hi, Raiden-senpai…" Kiana said sheepishly. "I was, uh, just trying to figure that out, actually, ehe…" She waved a hand dismissively. "Don't worry about me, though! I got this, just… need a second to figure out the directions." She assured, peering at the plaques on the nearby doors in the vain hope of ascertaining her location.

A sigh of fond exasperation was her only warning before she suddenly felt her hand being grabbed. "Honestly, Kaslana-san, there's no shame in needing help." Mei said wryly, thankfully missing how Kiana stiffened at the unexpected contact. "It's only your first day - it's perfectly understandable you don't know where everything is yet. Come on - I'll show you the way."

"W-wait, no need! I'll get there, no need to take time out of your day-" Kiana blurted out - and then instantly shut up as Mei turned and smiled.

"If you're going to call me your senior, it's only right that I act as such, isn't it?" She said, tugging Kiana along behind her. "Don't worry - it's no bother. Now, the stairs should be down this hallway…"

---

Kiana had thought she'd seen a lot of people in one room when she'd first gotten a look at her class, but apparently she'd had slightly more skewed standards than she'd thought, because when Mei opened the door to the cafeteria, the first thing that went through her head was "Holy SHIT that is a lot of people."

Still, even if the room was packed with teenagers like a can of sardines, they at least weren't focusing their attention on her this time. Kiana was proud to note that she only stumbled over her feet for a moment in surprise, rather than freezing up completely. Progress!

"Hmm, seems we're here on time." Mei noted absently, casting her gaze around. "Now, there should be - Ah, there we go." She walked forward, tugging on Kiana's hand as she went. "Come this way, there's a free table."

Sure enough, there was, a bit away from the main pack. Kiana couldn't quite stop the sigh of relief that escaped her as she sat down, collapsing halfway onto the table. "Hoo boy, there's a lot of people here… thanks, Raiden-senpai. I'd be completely lost without you."

Mei laughed politely, waving her off. "I told you, it's nothing. I know I wished someone showed me where to go on my first day of class - it wasn't a bother."

"Well, thanks anyway." Kiana said stubbornly, before lifting her head to look around. It was strange - the room had a lot of decorations and stuff, even a few paintings hanging on the walls. Those made a little more sense once she focused her eyes on the plaques declaring them to be the works of various students, but the place was still pretty fancy for what was ultimately a school cafeteria. "Then again, Chiba is apparently a pretty big deal." She mused to herself. "I guess if most of the students are rich kids and stuff, it makes sense the school is all ornamental and fancy. I'm probably the only one who thinks it's odd -"

"Mei-san! Hey!"

"Morning, Mei-san!"

"Mei-san, how was your summer?"

"What the-!?" Kiana blurted out, startled from her thoughts by the sudden barrage of greetings. Somehow, in the few moments she'd spent looking around the room, their isolated table had become surrounded by almost a dozen other girls. For a split second, Kiana tensed, but Mei simply smiled in happiness.

"Hello, everyone! I'm doing quite well - Father was on a business trip in America, so I got to spend some time overseas again. How about you, Hikari-san? I heard you were planning on visiting Greece?"

"Yeah, we did! It was great too - you have to go see the Pantheon one day, it's gorgeous-" And with that, the conversation exploded, a flurry of gossip, anecdotes and more than a little one upmanship passing between them. Mei stood, alone at the eye of the storm, demurely waving off the torrent of compliments and well wishes headed her way while simultaneously praising the others on their own accomplishments. Kiana, meanwhile, sank into her seat and desperately tried to disappear.

Mei, unfortunately, didn't seem to get the memo on Kiana not wanting to be in this mess. "Ah, I'm sorry, I forgot!" She said in shocked realisation. "Everyone, this is Kiana Kaslana-san - Kaslana is her last name - a new transfer student in my class." She explained, gesturing to Kiana to guide her fellow's attention towards her. "Kaslana-san, these are my friends. Sorry about that - we didn't see each other much over summer, so we got a little distracted…"

"No big deal…" Kiana said with a shake of her head, turning to face the new arrivals as she tried to bury her nerves under her usual cheery facade. "Hey! Uh, nice to meet you all. I'm sorry for interrupting your conversation, it's my first day so Raiden-senpai was just… showing me around and stuff…" she trailed off, under the other's stares. She knew it was wrong to assume, and these people were Mei's friends so they were probably alright people, but… Kiana couldn't shake the feeling they were judging her somehow. But for what? She hadn't done anything yet…

"Hello, Kaslana-san." One of them, the one Mei had called Hikari, replied evenly. "I hope you've been feeling welcome here. I assume from the order of your name that you're a foreigner?"

"Yep!" Kiana answered. "I, uh, only moved to Japan a little while ago. This place has been pretty neat so far, though"

Hikari hummed to herself non comitally. "I suppose that explains your accent. Where are you from, if I could ask?"

Kiana tensed, not particularly fond of the way she'd asked that, but she didn't exactly have any excuse not to answer either. "... Siberia." She said flatly, intentionally not looking directly at any of them. "I was from Siberia."

There was a moment of silence around the table, followed by what Kiana could've sworn was someone being kicked discretely under the table. Everyone, even sheltered rich kids, knew Siberia was a hellhole. "I'm sorry." Mei apologised softly, reaching a hand to rest on Kiana's own. "That can't have been easy. Do you want to…?"

Kiana shook her head quickly. "I'd really rather not, thanks." She said, continuing to keep her voice carefully blank. "I'm here, not there. No point going into it." In truth, Kiana had no real problem with where she was from, but the fewer questions about her past she had to answer, the better. If that meant pretending she was just another traumatised survivor of the hell Siberia had become after the Second Eruption, well, it wasn't that far from the truth.

"I understand." Mei said gently, unaware of the twinge of guilt Kiana felt at the deception. "I won't ask again -" and a quick glare at her friends that wasn't as subtle as she probably thought made it clear she expected them to do the same "- but, if you ever feel like talking about it, I'm willing to listen, okay?"

Kiana didn't need to fake the small smile on her face at that. "This girl is too damn kind, seriously." "I'll keep it in mind." She answered wryly. "Thanks, Raiden-senpai."

There was a moment of awkward silence, after the rather depressing subject they'd suddenly found themselves addressing. Kiana couldn't help but notice that Hikari and a few of the others seemed to be judging her even more now, even as some of the others shot her looks of sympathy. Finally, after shooting a Look at Hikari, one of Mei's other friends - Kiana thought she was called Kimiko - clapped her hands to attract attention. "Well then! That's enough of that, I'd say. Has anyone heard about that new branch that Yukimaru-san's family set up in the old city?"

"I had, actually!" Mei said, seizing the opportunity. "My father was saying that -" And with that, the gossip began once again. This time, it was the rest of their peers that were the focus of discussion, dozens of names and references flying to and fro. Kiana barely understood a word of it, but kept an ear on it nevertheless, quietly absorbing what she could. She'd been right, apparently - basically everyone was either the kid of some major business owner, or from some old money family. Kiana wasn't exactly judging - heck, she was old money technically, even if she and her old man had basically disowned most of the rest of House Kaslana after… everything - but it did mean a lot of the subject matter went right over her head.

And then, a question was asked that would have consequences nobody at that table could've considered.

"By the way, has anyone seen Miyuki-san lately?" One of the girls, Kaneko or something, asked. "I saw her this morning, but she ran off and wouldn't talk to me…" the girl trailed off, confused by the stares she was met with. "What?"

"You… didn't hear?" Yumi asked, suddenly subdued. She wasn't the only one. While a couple of others, Mei included, seemed just as baffled by the sudden drop in the mood as Kiana and Kaneko, most of the others had suddenly gone quiet, saddened expressions on their faces as they looked between each other. "I'm… surprised she was here today. I thought she might… well… want some time before coming back." She finished, her voice quiet.

"Hear what?" Mei asked, worry in her voice. "Did something happen to Asakura-san?"

All of the girls who seemed to know what was going on suddenly flinched. "Okay yeah something happened." Kiana thought, straightening. "Why does it seem like everyone knows about it though?"

"I'm… not sure it's my place to say." Kimiko, one of the few people at the table Kiana didn't have a bad feeling about, answered carefully, her voice shaking in a way Kiana suspected was very much out of character for the girl. "It was a… very personal incident. I don't feel like we should really speak of it behind Asakura-san's back like this -"

"Oh it was terrible!" One of the girls - Kiana hadn't caught her name - blurted out. "It was just a few weeks ago - one of Miyuki-san's friends was supposed to meet up with her, but she was late, so she went looking for her but it turned out she had run into some group of thugs on her way there, she had to call an ambulance!"

"What?" Mei jolted in her seat. "That's awful! Did the police find out who was responsible yet?"

"They did, Mei-san, don't worry, but we really shouldn't-" Kimiko tried to say, only to be interrupted. "Oh, the police found them alright." Hikari said coldly. "But apparently they were only charged with battery and theft. Not enough evidence, supposedly." She snorted in disdain.

"Not enough evidence of what?" Kaneko said, looking around sharply. Hikari's mouth clicked shut, seemingly realising she'd said too much. There was a tense silence, nobody seeming to want to be the one to answer, before Kimiko sighed.

"I suppose it's best you hear it now, since apparently nobody understands privacy…" She muttered, Yumi, Hikari and the other girl wincing at the callout. "There were… Well." She took a deep breath, putting a hand on Kaneko's. "There were reports that Asakura was… assaulted. During the incident."

The silence was deafening.

"...What?" Mei breathed in horror. Kaneko, face white, jumped to her feet and half walked, half ran off. Kiana gritted her teeth. The incident had already happened by the time she was in Japan. There was nothing she could do. "That…. that's horrific!" Mei said, her voice rising. "And you're saying those thugs weren't even convicted!?"

Kimiko shook her head. "The police apparently couldn't prove they were responsible. They were proven guilty of the theft and her injuries, but… I'd think we all know that's the least of her concerns right now." She finished quietly, a heavy silence falling over their group.

"Has anyone been checking in on her?" Kiana asked, looking around. But she was met with the sight of the others shaking their heads in denial.

"Asakura-san is something of a loner, you could say." Hikari explained. "She has few friends, and none especially close. Kaneko-san is actually one of her closer acquaintances, and as you saw, she didn't even know about all of this." The older girl shook her head. "I'd say she's mostly been dealing with it on her own."

"There are rumours going around too." Yumi noted quietly. "Some students haven't been seen in a couple days now, and people are saying nobody knows where they went. I hope they're okay…"

"We all do." Mei reassured her, having regathered her composure. "But right now, the best we can do is keep an eye out to make sure Asakura-san is okay. And I shouldn't have to remind you all to keep this to yourselves, yes?" She added in exasperation.

Kimiko scoffed. "Honestly, Mei-san, there's no need for concern. Most of us understand that privacy is supposed to be respected. Never fear - I'll make sure the rumour mongers show some tact for once."

"I'd expect nothing less." Mei said, nodding graciously. And that, it seemed, was that, for the little circle of popular kids - the table falling back into a subdued silence. Kiana, on the other hand, narrowed her eyes. An inkling of suspicion entered her thoughts.

---

As the final bell rang, Kiana couldn't help but yawn, stretching her arms over her head. "Man, what a day…" she muttered. "Here's hoping school isn't normally this crazy."

"Indeed." An equally exhausted voice rang out next to her. Kiana definitely did not jump out of her seat thank you. "Ah! Sorry, did I startle you?" Mei asked worriedly.

"Nah, it's fine!" Kiana hastily reassured, waving her hands in the air. "Just didn't hear you, that's all!" Mei didn't quite seem convinced, but after a moment, she nodded in acceptance.

"Very well… at any rate, I came over to apologize…" Mei winced. "Well. For what happened at lunch. I didn't expect your first day here to be overshadowed by such a tragedy…"

"No need - not like it's your fault or anything." Kiana said with a shrug, grabbing her bag as she walked to the door. "Really, I'm just hoping everyone will be alright."

"Still, I'm sorry your introduction to the campus got interrupted this way." Mei said sincerely. "Don't worry either way - with any luck, Asakura-san will be fine. We just have to make sure she doesn't feel alone."

Kiana stopped, then turned and smiled softly. "... you're a good person, Raiden-senpai."

"Eh?" Mei blinked in confusion, not entirely sure what she'd done to earn such praise - wouldn't anyone do what she did in her position?

"Thanks, for helping me out." Kiana continued, tracing a pattern absently on her shirt. "To be honest…" she hesitated a moment, trying to decide how much she was comfortable revealing, before she finished her sentence. "... I haven't been out of Siberia very long, y'know? This was my first time ever going to a normal school like this…" she admitted scuffing her heels on the floor.

"Really?" Mei asked, eyes wide. "I… I'm sorry. It can't have been easy."

"Eh, you'd be surprised." Kiana said, flashing a cheeky grin at her classmate before becoming serious again. "But… Really, thank you. I was nervous as hell today. You might think it was nothing, but coming over and talking to me… not a lot of people really bother, so it helped more than you know." Kiana bowed formally. "Thank you for the help, senpai!"

Kiana couldn't tell her how much it had really helped. She couldn't tell Mei just how grateful she was for the other girl, the first person in a very long time to see the young Kaslana and decide to help her simply because it was the right thing. It would put her in grave danger, to know anything of Kiana's past, and frankly, Kiana didn't know if she trusted her enough to tell her in the first place. But she could at the very least, thank her for this.

It was a good thing Kiana had lowered her head, because if she saw Mei blushing in embarrassment, she'd have had a heart attack. "I still really don't think I've done anything to earn such respect… but, consider your gratitude accepted." She managed, turning away to start walking again.

Kiana flashed another grin, before trailing off after her. Soon, they reached the exit, and Kiana turned to leave. Before she exited the gate however, Mei interrupted her one last time. "Kaslana-san?" Kiana turned, curiously gazing back. "I'll see you again tomorrow." Mei said simply, smiling.

Kiana's eyes widened for a single instant, before she smiled widely - the second real smile she'd had in a single day. "Yeah! See you!" she said happily, before heading off.

After a few minutes walking, Kiana grabbed her phone, humming to herself merrily as she went. Today had been a good one - the best in a while. "Maybe this whole vacation thing was a good idea after all." she mused to herself, tapping a long since memorised code into her phone to bring up the Mercnet. "Now then… aha, that's perfect!" She cried, seeing a job excellent for her skills - and for good pay to boot. "Time to build up some savings." She thought cheerily, heading in the indicated direction.

And so began the next stage in Kiana's life.

 

[Vojta]

Oh this is gonna cause so many butterflies. The funs gonna begin so quickly~

 

[DragonlordSyed101]

Well this is a thing. Good luck and welcome to the Cabal, you got noticed by your fellow Honkai fan fic authors. I look forward to how this version of Kiana will impact things.

 

[WielderOfFate01]

Ooh, an aware tuna and merc hired by Welt Yang....

Very interested in seeing how this goes.