"Saiko, are you excited for the mission later?" The girl with short blonde hair questioned. Saiko had forgotten her name, but she remembered seeing the blonde because of her wide blue eyes and full lips. "It will be your first one... I know you don't know how to use a gun, but you'll be isolated by the bridge. She wouldn't go there."

Saiko, the blonde girl, the black haired girl with orange eyes named Brooklyn, Cana, and the black haired female named Sora all sat in class. Rin was also there, but they didn't say much and doodled in the back. Since they couldn't pay attention to class or else they would be obliterated, the four sat in the back, whispering to each other.

"Saiko sort of knows how to use a gun," Saiko frowned, holding up the small pistol they'd handed to her for a starter. Surprisingly to her and the others, she'd been a natural. "But yes, Saiko's excited. Saiko just wished she could watch the pom squad perform."

"I could ask them if they'd like to perform for you," The black haired girl offered, kindly clasping her hands together. Saiko thought her name was Brooklyn, and she hoped she wasn't wrong. She didn't want to forget everyone's names when they'd all been so nice to her. "I'm sure they would allow that. They love performing."

"E-Even if it doesn't seem like that, they do love i-it," Sora smiled, blinking her grey eyes. "They just enjoy being d-difficult."

"Well, you'll soon find out that most of us enjoy being difficult," The blonde giggled, and Saiko swore she was going to remember her name if it was the death of her. "It makes Akinari mad, and he just has the cutest face ever when he's angry."

"Cameron, we don't enjoy it," Brooklyn disagreed, revealing the blonde's name. Saiko sighed as she swore that she was just about to remember her name. "It just happens. We're all unique."

"Basically, we're all idiots," Cana interjected. "Literally."

"Yeah... l-Let me show you, Saiko," Sora sighed. "N-Nako?"

Brooklyn immediately shrieked as the boy turned around, and her eyes dulled as she stared at him.

"Hello, Nako. How are you doing today? The weather currently is sunny and warm, and-"

"It's always sunny and warm," The grey haired boy smiled kindly, and then narrowed his eyes. "Stop talking to me, and get a hold of yourself. You can't be this way with guys if you want to live."

He turned back around, and immediately Brooklyn shook her head, confused as she became lively once again.

"What just happened-"

"A boy," Cameron said simply, attempting to explain what happened to Saiko. "She freaks out around them and basically becomes... that. I don't even know how to explain it."

"Saiko is reminded of a robot."

"That's an excellent way to describe how I get," Brooklyn sighed in frustration at her own uselessness around the opposite gender. She didn't try to do it- she just froze. She could only manage to remain 'professional' and state obvious facts. "I wish I could speak to a guy without freezing. This is such a problem..."

"Yeah, no kidding," Cana huffed, staring out the window. The others stared at her hypocrisy. "What?"

"You h-hit Akinari whenever you're around him," Sora reminded Cana, who blushed.

"I don't know what you're talking about!" Cana's face grew redder as she turned away, her voice rising. The teacher carried on with the lesson as if nothing was wrong, but Akuma turned towards them with a glare on her face. Saiko smiled and waved, causing Akuma's jaw to drop as she shook her head and turned her attention back to the teacher.

"Wh-what??" Brooklyn glanced over at the redhead who was staring at the chalkboards, and then back to Saiko and the rest of her confused classmates. "Sh-she just- she didn't yell at us because you... you waved?"

"Don't be rude," Cameron scolded, but also looked skeptical. She bit her full bottom lip as she began to think of all the possible outcomes. "It is strange that she would ignore us because you smiled and waved. Did you know her beforehand?"

"Nope, Saiko's never known or seen Akuma before this Afterlife business!" Saiko chirped pleasantly, not quite understanding that it was a big deal that Akuma had done nothing. After all, the others knew exactly what Akuma was like through experience, while Saiko didn't. Akuma usually looked for any small detail that she could use in order to harm anyone, but... they were all unscathed.

It didn't add up.

Saiko didn't quite comprehend the situation they were all in, while the others glanced at each other in confusion before shrugging.

"We'll talk about it later," Cana whispered to everyone, and the others nodded. "It's not safe here."

"It's not safe?" Saiko questioned, confused. She still didn't understand a lot of things about the Afterlife. Her lack of knowledge regarding social skills didn't help either, since she didn't quite realize that people could actually be mean. "What-"

"We can't talk because Akuma might hear us," Cameron elaborated, subconsciously placing a strand of her hair behind her ear. Her hair was too short for it to stay, and it quickly fell back into her face, annoying the blonde.

"Oh..."

"Anyways, why don't we talk about you, Saiko?" Cana drew the attention back to the blue haired female. The girl in question turned towards the pink haired Cana, her eyes wide.

"About Saiko? What about Saiko?"

"Well, what happened before the Afterlife?" Cana attempted to pry into Saiko's past, but quickly realized her insensitivity to what could have happened. It was practically a prerequisite to make it into the Afterlife- everyone had a messed up life. "Sorry, you don't have to say-"

"Saiko's family didn't have money... so Saiko didn't go to school," Saiko shrugged, looking around once again at her surroundings. "This is like a dream! Saiko got hit in the head by a baseball while at a tournament..."

"I'm sorry about that," Brooklyn said earnestly, tapping her fingers against the desk. She blinked her orange eyes momentarily, before staring back at the blue haired girl. "Being sent here is really giving you another chance, yeah?"

"Mmhmm!" Saiko grinned, though her smile quickly faded. "But there's still one thing Saiko wanted to do, so badly... oh well. Can't be helped now!"

"...Well, i-it's good that you're living in the moment," Sora chuckled quietly. "The m-more optimistic people, the b-better."

"Well... if you think about my death in a positive light... I..." Cameron frowned, trying to become more optimistic. She raised a hand to her full lips subconsciously as she began to think. "Hmm. I...at least had a home? Barely, but it was something."

It was quiet for a moment as everyone else began trying to think of something positive from their previous life, and Saiko pondered on the regrets in her life. Finally, Sora spoke.

"I h-had...an education?" The grey haired girl said, more of a question than an answer as everyone struggled to think of something positive about their past life.

"So did I," Brooklyn piped up, glad that Sora had given a similar reason. "It was a good one, too..."

"I got out of stealing," Cana shrugged, and then looked out into the distance. Obviously the conversation had dulled as they remembered their horrible lives, and Saiko was curious, but didn't want to ruin their newfound friendship. While she definitely didn't understand social boundaries, Saiko wasn't stupid enough to not realize their discomfort.

"That sounds like a great positive," Saiko encouraged with a smile, and Cana nodded weakly. The pink haired girl attempted a smile, and turned her attention back to Saiko.

"Alright, anyways. I hope you've been liking it around here," Cana said sincerely, and everyone around her nodded. "I'm sorry that we're all kind of stupid, but... that's just how we are."

"If you are all stupid, then Saiko fits right in!" Saiko joked, and the group giggled quietly. "Saiko likes it here, so don't worry!"

"I'm glad to hear that..."

hey everyone! hope you enjoyed the chapter :) i know there's a lot of characters... which is why everything has been split up. i finished my character notes (finally). i had to make backstories and change some character's personalities...

so if your OC isn't 100% how you had it i'm sorry, i wanted to make them more interesting/fit better with the storyline.

the next chapter will delve into more characters (because it's needed... very badly)

thanks for reading!