( Sword does not speak nor turn to look at you, not after that little stunt of yours that left him flustered.)
"sword?"
(you poke him, your teasing smile curling to something much softer as you try to get the embarrassed sword wielder to turn around.)
"swooord?"
(as you call out again, Sword only babbles something incoherent under his breath. You huff, poking him again.) "if you don't even look at me, I'll do it again."
(Sword whipped around so fast you almost jumped back, he was still covering his face with his glover hands, face as red as his horns.) "Not while we're outside! I.. wait till we're alone atleast!"
(you couldn't help but let out an amused sigh. Maybe spare him, he's already embarrassed enough.)
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creator's notes ; new chapter, new characters ! :]
"And then, I was like, what?" You made a face that Ivory proceeded to laugh at.
The both of you were now climbing the stairs after eating in the cafeteria, on the way to your Biology class. Thanks to the schedule, Biology was a double period. It meant that you could eat lunch after that class.
As you both were walking to the way of the assigned classroom, you glanced at the side. You could see another school board with different posters pinned on the cork.
In the middle of the board, you could see a list.
CONGRATULATIONS TO THE NEWLY ELECTED STUDENT GOVERNMENT OFFICERS!
PRESIDENT : BAN HAMMER
VICE PRESIDENT : MEDKIT
SECRETARY : KATANA
AUDITOR : VINE STAFF
TREASURER: SUBSPACE
At the bottom were now the details for volunteers who wanted to help in the student government.
"Ah, right. The officers were already elected last year." Ivory turned to you as you stated the fact, before looking back at the cork board.
"They do that here?" They questioned, scanning the list once more.
"Yeah. My friends who were first years last school year told me that student government elections start right before the year ends." You informed them.
"They say it's to carefully delegate the events at the start of school and to free up some time in the middle of the year."
Your gaze stayed on the cork board. You remember your friends telling you the elected officers were good, at least decent.
The friends who were old students here in question were Sword and Rocket…
Wait.
You had Biology class with them.
You internally grimaced as you remembered. How were you going to go about this? Shit.
You really wanted to spend time with Ivory—
Hold on.
Why were you worrying about this?
Why are you worrying about how they'll react?
You're the player. You're the one who decides what route you'll go through.
And it's none of them.
"[Name]?" Ivory called out, placing a hand on your shoulder and shaking you gently. "You've been staring for quite a while."
"Oh. So-sorry about that." You need to stop doing that, actually.
"Come on. We need to go already." Ivory urged you, before they started to tug on your sleeve and gently drag you to the way of the classroom. "The schedule says Room 304, right? It's around this floor."
Your eyes widened a bit, an indescribable feeling fluttering in your chest. It was warmth.
A smile slowly stretched on your lips, letting yourself be dragged by them. Shuffling students passed by the both of you in a colorful blur, Ivory guiding you through the crowd, sleeve in hand.
"Hey, do you wanna meet my friends later?" Ivory piped up, turning their head to glance at you. "They also just transferred to this school. Well, one of my friends also has an old student as his friend."
"Oh.. uh, su-sure!" You nodded, more focused on not bumping into other inphernals. You did not want to run into any more unexpected interests…
Oh, did the universe not like you at all.
As soon as you and Ivory got out of what seemed like an endless sea of students, you heard arguing at the opposite side of the corridor—and as always, nosy students were listening around.
"What's happening over there?" Ivory perked up, also drawn to the loud noise where the students seemed to be attracted to.
You looked to the side, and—oh.
Two suspiciously shaped teal and pink inphernals were in front of a classroom, quarreling about some… results.
You tried to lean a bit closer, but Ivory was way ahead of you. They dragged you to the source.
As you got closer, you can see now who were the two inphernals just hovering over the classroom.
It was Medkit and Subspace.
Medkit was the same as before—you just saw him earlier today, you suppose.
Beside Medkit was Subspace.
He wore a dark grey turtleneck under the white blouse, tucked inside light colored slacks paired with neat loafers. His hair was tied up to be neat, but loose hairs were sticking out as a testament to his frazzled state.
"Wait, Room 304 is also there!" Ivory whispered to you in a hushed tone, as students were still crowding around the arguing inphernals in a circle.
Oh, fuck my stupid baka life.
Aren't you lucky? Two love interests that are introduced way later in the game has appeared!
"It sounds like they're arguing about their test results…" They muttered. "Looks like that guy there," Ivory subtly pointed at Subspace. "isn't too happy about that other guy scoring higher."
Ah, yes. The academic rivals.
You looked back and forth as both were arguing; Medkit just wanting to get to his class, and Subspace not letting it go.
"I cannot believe you achieved that score authentically!" Subspace jabbed his finger into the middle of Medkit's chest, lessening the distance between them.
"So what if I scored higher than you? It's just the scholar test." Medkit refuted his words gruffly, getting irritated by the moment. Subspace wouldn't just stop bothering him. "We both got into the top scholars, anyway."
You looked closely behind to see yet another cork board behind the two. All you could only see in big, bold letters were "CONGRATULATIONS TO THE FOLLOWING TOP 250 SCHOLARS!"
"So that's what they're fighting about…" You muttered under your breath, as you continued to listen on. "…Typical."
"Were you mumbling about something, [Nickname]?" Ivory's voice made you jolt like a deer in headlights. You cannot let them find out.
"Nothing." You quickly said. "They're taking too much time… They're hovering over the damn door."
"Yeah. At least the others should make way for other inphernals," Ivory agreed. You both were just waiting for this commotion to stop just so you can get to class peacefully.
"What are you idiots gawking at?!" Subspace snapped, the spectators clearly getting to him. The students suddenly skittered away, acting like nothing ever happened.
"If you're done with your tantrum, let me be on my way." Medkit curtly stated, before he walked away, the heels of his shoes clicking on the tile floor.
"You—!!" Subspace stifled a yell, his hand clenching at his side. He pinched the bridge of his nose, before he noticed you and Ivory.
"The show's over." He growled, making Ivory wince at his aggressive tone. Until he squinted his eyes specifically at you, and then looking back at Ivory. And then you, then Ivory.
"Wait. You…" Subspace's eyes squinted in familiarity, tilting his head a bit.
He was about to approach, but the bell saved you both by blaring across the corridors. You cringed by how loud it was, but took the opportunity to slip away.
You tugged Ivory to Room 304, twisted the doorknob and went inside the classroom. There were already a lot of students seated.
Including both Rocket and Sword at the back.
Who were just staring at you. Quite eerily so.
"Let's take those seats," Ivory pointed at the vacant seats in the front. You wasted no time to pull them over and seated beside eachother.
You placed your bag down on the floor, zipping it open to rummage through your stuff and take your notebook out. They did the same, already setting it down on their desk.
Okay… time to endure another orientation and gain those social stats boosts.
⡞⠳⣄⣀⣠⠞⢷ ֹ۪
"They're just.." Sword could see you sitting at the front with that Ivory student. You looked… happy. With them.
"Just don't talk about them, Sword." Rocket grumbled, still jotting down the requirements and important projects in the future in his notebook. He didn't need to get irritated more than he should've. "Just don't."
Sword had barely even listened to the Biology teacher during the first hour of the orientation. He can see the way the corner of your eyes crinkled as you were snickering about something that they said.
He looked down at his desk, his hand fidgeting with his pen. He had barely written anything.
Why was this affecting him more than it should've?
Sensing that Sword was distracted by you, Rocket let out a quiet groan before setting his pen down, done with his notes.
"Okay, why are you so focused on them?" Rocket leaned back on his desk chair, his hands behind his head. "They're not bothering us anymore. For the first time after all those cycles."
Rocket did have a point. You weren't really following the simulator's main flow anymore, which meant the others aren't burdened anymore.
When there was no response from the red-horned inphernal, he just shook his head, his goggles glinting from the light. "…They'll come around. They always do."
"But even then, what's the point of that? Nobody's gonna tolerate them at this point." Rocket shrugged. "Maybe the others'll be happy actually. That they aren't being… y'know, forced?"
Sword thought about it more. It's true that the others were unhappy because of you, but it didn't mean that they all didn't have to… show it.
What if you were also like them? He had that thought for a while now; You appeared out of nowhere, after all.
But the others seemed to accept that you were the one who did all this.
Which made their resentment grow.
But that was what confused him. They weren't like that before.
It was only then that… you came.
"Hey. Why don't we meet up with Coil and the others for lunch, then?" Rocket patted his best friend's shoulder, wanting to direct his attention away to another topic. "He just texted me that they're having lunch in the cafeteria."
But even Sword could sense that Rocket's demeanor faltered when the topic of you came up.
"…Okay." Maybe talking to the others'll make him feel better. He felt horrible that he's a hypocrite.
But he can't just forget that lurching feeling that crawled beneath his skin when you confessed last cycle.
"Yeah… Yeah. That would be nice."
⡞⠳⣄⣀⣠⠞⢷ ֹ۪
"Soo.. what are your friends like?" You asked Ivory, the both of you still in your seats as you waited for the students to go out—the doorway was full of them.
Biology class was the same as you remembered; it was boring. But it didn't feel so boring now that you had a friend.
And soon to be more.
"Well… I think it'll be more better to meet them in person rather than explaining who they are," Ivory shrugged, putting their stuff back into their bag. The students seemed to lessen now, with most of them going to the cafeteria. "Actually, I did text them earlier that we're in the Biology classroom—"
"Yo! Ivory!" The door swung open, revealing a tall inphernal, and an even taller inphernal next to them.
The inphernal who greeted Ivory just now had a pair of long, red horns that curved into an S-shape, planted just above another pair of shorter horns that swooped up like crescents growing from the sides of his head. He had many layers of clothing that you wondered how he weren't overheating yet—he had a polo, then a blue hoodie with a star design in the middle, and then his navy blue blazer. He had two belts that were red and grey, paired with grey pants. There was a pin of the school logo at the side, with a clip-on ID at the opposite.
"Is this your new friend?" he walked closer, with the other inphernal behind him. "I'm Axe! It's nice to meetcha!" He held out his hand for a handshake, with a grin on his face. He seemed nice.
The inphernal behind him contrasted with the other's personality, though. He looked uptight, in a way. His uniform was clean and proper—his blazer was buttoned up, the white polo being tucked in underneath his slacks. His ID sling was tucked under the collar of his polo, adding on to his whole sophisticated look. Though he had a cool robotic arm—it wasn't entirely obvious.
"Auh, don't mind that guy in the back," Axe whispered, holding a hand over the side of his mouth while gesturing behind him with his thumb—provoking the other inphernal to glare holes into the back of his skull. "That's Cy. He's kind of a weirdo, but don't mind it."
"Oh… it's nice to meet you guys," You nodded, feeling the awkwardness settling into your body. Ivory's gaze landed on you, seeing your shoulders tense slightly.
It was awkward for you to meet other people, especially that they're already in a friend group. But you wanted to make friends, nonetheless.
"Yeah, this is [Name], my classmate," Ivory stepped closer to you a bit—though not too close that they were in your personal space—and placing a hand on your shoulder, gesturing towards their friends. "And [Name], this is Axe and Cy."
"They're my friends since middle school," Ivory looked at you, "don't mind their antics. That's just who they are."
"Whaddya mean antics?? I'm not that weird," Axe placed a hand on his chest, looking like he was offended. "At least I'm not that guy," he points to Cy again, "who's all broody and emo!"
"What did you say?" Cy's voice came out rough, his eyes narrowing at Axe.
"Yeah, you heard what I said!" Axe jabs his finger in the air to point at him again. "You're so emo! You didn't talk to anyone in our class!"
"At least I wasn't fooling around to the point the advisor got mad." Cy crossed his arms.
"Seriously? He did that?" Ivory looked at Cy, before looking back at Axe in disbelief.
"That's not true!" Axe waved his hands in the air, shaking his head in the negative.
Both you and Ivory proceeded to just watch them banter and quarrel back and forth. You glanced at Ivory, seeing them holding back a cackle by clamping their hand on their mouth shut.
This… was nice.
They reminded of your friends back in the real world.
You missed them. You wondered how were they doing?
Your phone buzzed in your bag, taking your attention away from the quarreling friends. It was InfoMeter.
> STATUS UPDATE + SUPPORTING INTERESTS MET!
ACADEMICS : 3 / 12 - RANK ONE
KINDNESS : 0 / 12 - RANK ONE
CONFIDENCE : 0 / 12 - RANK ONE
CHARISMA : 0 / 12 - RANK ONE
✐ Your introverted seatmate—some could even call them reclusive. They always keep to themselves, and only ever hangs out with their two best friends, Axe and Cy. They're always seen writing and doodling in their notebook in the classroom.
⋆.˚ Zombie "Axe" S. [2ND YEAR, PLAYGROUND CLUSTER]
✐ An outgoing student whose friendly to a fault—treats everyone like a friend he's known for years. Barely has any filter, and makes acquaintances easily almost anywhere he goes due to playful demeanor and charm. He's seen playing sports in the gymnasium.
⋆.˚ Cyborg G. [3RD YEAR, BLACKROCK CLUSTER]
✐ A reserved and timid student whose face seem to have only one expression, one mildly annoyed expression. But despite that, he keeps a calm demeanor and wouldn't care less about anyone looking at him. Just don't stare at his other arm for too long. He's always tinkering something in the labs, or studies in the library.
Huh. So they're supporting interests…
"Alright, stop it, you two," Ivory lets go of your shoulder to stand in between the two of them, pushing them away from eachother. "We're wasting lunch time. We only have an hour,"
"Well, I technically have two hours since I have free time after lunch—" Axe started again, before Ivory forcefully pressed a finger to his lips to shush him. Axe blinked, eyes wide.
"We don't." Ivory cut him off.
"Should we go now?" Ivory looked at you, seeing you slinging your bag already on your shoulder. You nodded, before letting them get their bag, and leave the classroom with all the four of you.
…You wished that this would be your whole year.
⡞⠳⣄⣀⣠⠞⢷ ֹ۪
The cafeteria was expectedly filled with students—long lines in front of stalls that seemed to stretch out to who knows where, and others laughing and seated with their friends.
Like typical NPCs do.
You're glad you have your headphones on to block out the noise.
At the corner of the cafeteria, you could see a long table with suspiciously vibrant and colorful inphernals—oh. Sword and Rocket are also there. Okay, there's no doubt about it.
Those were the love interests. Though they weren't complete…
You just looked back at Ivory and the others. They're not your focus anymore, it's the friends in front of you.
"Damnit, the lines are long as hell," Axe sighed, slumping visibly. Ivory placed a hand on their hips, skimming through the room if there was any available seats. There were none.
"Should we just go to the rooftop?" You piped up, in which the others nodded along.
"The rooftop is more peaceful, anyway." Cy added, already walking on the way to where the stairs were. Axe just yelled at Cy that he was going ahead way too quickly.
"Hah, those two." Ivory chuckled, before beckoning you to follow. You obliged. Thank god you had packed lunch, you didn't want to wait until lunch was over to even buy a single scrap of food.
Though, you see Axe stopped as he saw Cy talking to someone.
Ivory was just as curious as you, going to Axe to ask who's he talking to, before you went on a full stop behind Ivory.
Cy was talking to a student who had a helmet with anntenae, blue accents running down the helmet. He had a thick blazer with a turtleneck underneath it, covering most of his body. He had dark grey pants that were rolled up for his black boots.
Oh my god. You recalled what Ivory said earlier.
"Well, one of my friends also has an old student as his friend."
Cy is friends with fucking Hyperlaser.
Great! One of your friends is connected with a love interest! And why does it seem to always be the ones who were introduced later? You assumed it was like, you don't know, a random NPC? Just anyone else other than an interest?
You did hear events occuring like these in other players' games, albeit really rare.
Next to Hyperlaser was Subspace, tapping his foot impatiently—was he classmates with Subspace?
Was Cy classmates with both Subspace and Hyperlaser?
With the way how Cy talked to Hyperlaser seemed so casual and free, it wasn't hard to assume that they're friends.
You suddenly feel really nervous about this. It feels as if your stomach was churning out of anxiety—you don't know why. They don't remember the past cycles.
They don't… they don't—
Tap, tap. Pairs of boots heavily thumped on the polished concrete floors as the two interests passed by.
They were looking at you.
You pretended to not notice, and trail behind Axe and Ivory as they caught up with Cy. You couldn't shake off the feeling of gazes prickling behind your head.
"Cy, who were they?" Axe asked curiously, throwing an arm around Cy's shoulder and pulling him closer. Cy grimaced and tried to push Axe away, but just gave up.
"They're my classmates," Cy grumbled. Yep, your suspicions were confirmed.
"Oh really, now? You seemed pretty close with that helmet guy there." Axe poked at his cheek, making Cy grumble more.
"None of your business." Cy curtly replied. "Now, can we just go to the rooftop? I'd like to eat my lunch already."
"Alright, alright, whatever you say~" Axe shrugged with a sing-song voice, before letting him go. Ivory followed behind, but made sure that you didn't get left out.
⡞⠳⣄⣀⣠⠞⢷ ֹ۪
Hyperlaser's gaze lingered at your disappearing figure, just stalling in the hallway while Subspace went ahead. The black glass of his helmet reflected under the light, before Subspace called for his attention.
"Hyperlaser! What are you dawdling at?" Subspace's tone was irritated, his eye tracking every single movement.
He didn't say anything. He just went back to walking with Subspace side by side. He could sense that Subspace was still irritated with Medkit earlier—and now he was going to the cafeteria to sit with him.
"…They weren't with neither Sword or Rocket." Hyperlaser noted, breaking the silence between them.
"What about it?" Subspace snapped. "That annoying little worm is none of my business. Frankly, they're not worth my time."
"What are they even going to waste my time about? I could've been studying!" He hissed under his breath. Both Subspace and Hyperlaser were invited to the cafeteria by Katana, saying that the others had something to discuss about. "This is useless."
There was a slight tenseness to Subspace's shoulders, his eyebrows knitted tight in deep thought. Almost like he was recalling something and replaying it in his brain over, and over again.
Hyperlaser became silent after that.
He had been observing [Name] for quite a bit now. From the time where they were almost late, to where he saw them and.. this other student watching Medkit's and Subspace's quarreling.
And the main thing he got from it?
They weren't following the original story. Nor are they trying other strategies this cycle.
They hadn't went with Sword—instead opting for a random NPC.
And now, they were hanging out with his childhood friend, with the other students he briefly saw with [Name]?
Something is wrong.
But Hyperlaser can't say for sure. For now.
i would like to thank my friends (who are also the beta readers for this fanfic) for letting me add their phighting ocs in the fanfic !!
zombie "axe" s. = mikthias on twitter/x!
cyborg g. = gentle_penguin / Gentle Penguin!
Haha.. another design changes for the Reader again(sorry), I'm just asking if you guys you guys wouldn't mind being drawn with a tail, specifically a rabbit or a sharks tail...
Would you guys want Reader to have a tail? if so, what kind?
No tails!
Rabbit tail
Shark tail
Other: (demon, other animal, ect. comment it!)
any is okay (tails *will* be drawn differently for each artwork)
Haha.. another design changes for the Reader again(sorry), I'm just asking if you guys you guys wouldn't mind being drawn with a tail, specifically a rabbit or a sharks tail...
Would you guys want Reader to have a tail? if so, what kind?
No tails!
Rabbit tail
Shark tail
Other: (demon, other animal, ect. comment it!)
any is okay (tails *will* be drawn differently for each artwork)
Haha.. another design changes for the Reader again(sorry), I'm just asking if you guys you guys wouldn't mind being drawn with a tail, specifically a rabbit or a sharks tail...
Would you guys want Reader to have a tail? if so, what kind?
No tails!
Rabbit tail
Shark tail
Other: (demon, other animal, ect. comment it!)
any is okay (tails *will* be drawn differently for each artwork)
Oh. If you still want to you can, I just don't remember if I even requested right and felt really bad and anxious about it so I wanted to take it back. Sorry. I might want to re-request just because I felt really bad. Unless you already started on it. I would feel worse if you already started and ended up having to put away something you worked on :( I don't like having to restart or just trash something I worked on.
I've actually already started on it, if you want it finished, I'm already working on it don't worry! I'm reading the other asks, idk which ask you're referring to though so I'll just answer with this one!
hiiiii actually am I allowed to take back a request I think I got a little scared. Idk it might get rejected and I do not want that. Is it possible to ask if you could delete a request I sent in.
Ofcourse! I didn't plan to reject said request but if it makes you feel more comfortable, you're allowed to take it back.
