A/N: All right you little mind bunnies settle down...Okay guys, let's try out a brand new idea. Hopefully this'll be good, enjoy!

Disclaimer: I do not own any of the characters except my own. Chrome Shelled Regios belongs to the rightful owner.

Chapter 1: Starting life anew

Slums...

"Catch her! Don't let her escape!"

"God damn it! This is the tenth time that sneaky bitch stole from my food stand this week! There's no way I'm letting her go!" People around quickly moved out of the way as I jump rooftop to rooftop with a brown bag in my arms. Down below two men roughly pushed aside others with their eyes pinned on my fleeing form. Taking a risk, I jumped off the roof and used the different alleyways to my advantage. Spotting my ideal hiding place, I propped open the sewer drain and slid in, feeling the wet surface beneath my toes. Placing the bag on the ground I held my breath as my pursuers stopped just above my hiding spot.

"Where the hell did that little punk go? Shit! She's always one step ahead of us!" One of the guys snapped, kicking a trashcan as a means to vent.

"Don't waste your energy on her. She isn't worth your time." The other replied hotly.

"You're right...once a slum rat always a slum rat." They walked away, their footsteps fading till I could hear no more. Noticing a puddle of dirty water next to me I stared at my own reflection; shoulder length scarlet hair with spiky ends and one emerald eye, my other eye was covered by an eye-patch. Tucking a strand behind an ear I rummaged through the brown sack and took out a delicious red apple. Huffing and wiping it on my sleeve I took a bite, savoring the fresh flavor of real food. After I finished, core and all, I carefully scurried through the tunnels and popped up in another part of the slums. Hoisting myself out of the sewer hole I returned home and found a pile of papers on my table. It's unusual for someone of my social status to receive mail. Flipping through the junk my eyes caught a small envelope with my name written in perfect handwriting. I turned the envelope over to see that there wasn't a return address so my curiosity got the better of me. I carefully ripped the top off and pulled out a neatly folded piece of paper, another folded blank piece of paper and what looks like a questionnaire. Unfolding the first piece I began to read my eyes honing in on the words that would change my life for the better. As I read towards the bottom I realized that I had to give my answer by the end of today. Checking the clock I had less than two hours to decide my course of action. I settled on a decision and, finding a broken pencil, scribbled my answers on the blank sheet of paper. I hurried off to the designated meeting place where an anonymous person lingered in the shadows.

"Have you decided?" Definitely a female's voice. I gripped the parchment in my hand awhile longer before handing it to her. "Very well." She took the paper from my hands. "Once you are of age, a package will be shipped to you with everything you need to know. Farewell." Giving me a small nod she disappeared into the dark.

Few years later...

I stared at myself in the mirror as I buttoned up my new student uniform; an orange shirt with a matching skirt. I dismissively tossed the skirt over my shoulder and settled with khaki shorts. Putting my hair up in a ponytail, I calmly entered my kitchen to cook breakfast, noticing the mail on the table. I received the mail a long time ago, the one that was addressed to me personally from a guy named Kalian Loss who worked at Academic City Zuellni. I laced up my combat boots and grabbed my bag. The sun blazed from above as I trekked to my new school, already anticipating my new environment.

"New students, please assemble at the main auditorium." The woman's voice stated calmly over the intercom as lots of people made their way inside the building. Tugging at my collar I shouldered my bag and walked through the door. Weaving my way through the crowds I found the president's room, the school's map in my hand. Tentatively, I lifted a hand and knocked three times.

"Come in." A voice spoke from within. Taking a deep breath I steeled my resolve and stepped through. A man with shoulder-length silver hair and grey eyes looked up at her from behind his round glasses. "How may I help you miss?"

"I was ordered to register at this school...Sir." I answered.

"I see." He nodded his head and snapped his finger, "May I have this young lady's record file?"

"Here you go sir." Another man walked up with a file in hand. Propping it open he cleared his throat and proceeded to read off the parchment. "Rias Wolframite, 16 years old. She lived in the slums by herself so we don't know much about her parents; in fact we can't even assume that they are still alive. Nothing else is known about her."

"Hmm...interesting." The man mused and held out his hand. "My name is Kalian Loss, head of the student council."

"It's a pleasure sir." I reached across the table and shook his hand.

"As you know Zuellni Academic City is operated solely by students. Thus, I essentially control everything. The power of final authority lies with me. Since there is so little information about you I don't know how to proceed with scholarship or jobs." Kalian sat on his couch with a sigh trying to think of a solution. Suddenly he snapped his fingers, a grin appearing on his face. "I got it. For now I assign you to work at the machinery department since it pays well and grant you some scholarship money. Of course your tuition will take most of what you earn."

"I understand sir."

"Six years of this will be quite demanding...I am thinking of moving you to the Military Arts Department. Your stipend would become an A ranking and your tuition would be waived. I don't think these are unfavorable conditions."

"Yes sir...thank you very much."

"Hmm...those clothes aren't appropriate for work. Girls, would you please help our guest? Please treat her well." Kalian snapped his fingers and I was surrounded by the rest of the student council. Stripping me of my attire I now sported the traditional blue and white Military Arts top, a cream shirt beneath and red tie. Luckily he allowed me to keep my khaki shorts because I loathe skirts.

"Wow..." I admired myself as the student council members clapped their approval.

"Perfect. Now off you go. Have a lovely day." Kalian nodded and practically shooed me out the door.

Machinery department...

The spacious halls were daunting as I changed out of my uniform and wore the required work clothes in the locker room. Immediately I was handed a broom and a bucket of water from one of the superiors when I stepped out adjusting the cuffs. I gave him a blank stare with a broom in one hand and the bucket in the other.

"All you have to do is scrub the floor, nothing hard just a little physical labor. Well I need to get back to work, good luck." He shouted over his shoulder as he walked away. Knowing that I had a lot to do I dipped the broom into the bucket to get it wet and started cleaning. I was about half-way done when I felt my hair being pulled and stopped cleaning, glancing behind me to see who was there. This light blue skinned girl was hovering right over my shoulder, watching me with interest.

"Well aren't you a cutie...may I?" I asked and reached out a hand to touch her. She giggled and held my hand with hers a smile on her face.

"Zuellni?! Where did you go? Don't just leave the core whenever you feel like it." A voice shouted and this woman ran up on the scene, looking around frantically. Noticing that I was standing there with the midget she stormed over and stared at me with impassive eyes. We stared at each other for a few minutes before she started to interrogate me.

"Newbie?"

"Yes Ma'am."

"Name?"

"Rias Wolframite."

"Age?"

"16."

"Where do you live?"

"Sorry Ma'am that's a personal question that I refuse to answer." Somewhere in my mind I knew she came from a well-off family, probably born as a princess. There was no way in hell I'm telling her I'm from the slums.

"Do you have any combat experience?"

"...Not really." I replied meekly.

"...I see. Let's go Zuellni." The woman stated and turned on her heels with the small girl in tow. She looked back and gave me one last smiling before disappearing. I stood there like an idiot before getting back to work scrubbing before I get scolded on the first day. Luckily I managed to wash the entire floor, my hands rubbed raw from gripping the broom too tight.

"Well done." The man praised me as I stood before him, sweat on my face. "Not bad for your first time so keep up the good work. Dismissed."

"Thank you very much." I bowed my head and proceeded to the locker room to change. As I was adjusting the tie the woman I met earlier walked in. We didn't talk much so I quietly excused myself and left. Walking to the girls dorms I was assigned a room and given a key by the lady at the desk. After finding my room and shutting the door behind me, I walked into the bathroom to wash my hands. Looking around to make sure no one was around I took off the eye-patch and stared at my reflection. While one of my eyes looked like a human's eye the other one was an actual dragon's eye.

No one needs to know about my condition...no one will ever know. I'm starting a brand new life. I solemnly promised myself as I covered up the dragon eye and left the restroom and ran into someone. I yelped and fell on my butt before looking up at the person.

"Oh I'm sorry, didn't see you there." She apologized and helped me up. "I'm Mifi Lotton, a first year. I work part-time in the editorial department for Weekly Look-On magazine so people usually regard me as the gossip girl. When I heard that we were having a new student rooming a few doors down I just had meet and greet."

"Uh nice to meet you too." I rubbed the back of my neck in nervousness, no one has ever been this nice to me before so this was a new experience for me. " My name is Rias Wolframite."

"Such an exotic name...thrilling!" She whipped out a little notepad and started to scratch notes. "As part of my job I also do photography." She took a picture with her camera that I never noticed until there was a click followed by a flash. I blinked before realizing that she took one. "This one is good, you are really good in front of cameras."

"Well I didn't know you did photography so I just acted like I normally would." I replied before there was a knock on the door. "Come in."

"Mifi are you in here?" A tall girl with shoulder-length violet hair walked in She was wearing the same uniform as I but with a short blue skirt. "Hmm? Are you the new student?"

"Nakki!" Mifi sauntered over to her friend with a smile. "I found my next scoop. I mean Lay-ton is still hot stuff but I know that the school might be interested with this mysterious red-head."

"Anyways, I'm Naruki Gerni, first year of the Military Arts Department." We shook hands before she noticed my uniform. "Oh you're in the same department as I. Nice!"

"I guess. Would you like to sit?" I gestured to my bed since I didn't have a round table or anything in the room and I felt bad that they were standing. Thanking me they made themselves comfortable while I got them some water with cups I found in the pantry.

"Have you figured out what platoon you were assigned to?" Mifi asked and I shook my head no.

"That's okay they'll probably put up the list tomorrow." Naruki said nonchalantly. "Some of the first years got scouted before arriving, others will be separated based on skill or knowledge. You are not alone though I have met some of the newer faces that hasn't been assigned platoons yet."

"I hope I get put into a good platoon but in all honesty any platoon would do." I replied.

"Mmhmm. You shouldn't judge any platoon until you've seen them in action." Mifi nodded with excitement. "Let's do our best tomorrow."

"Yeah!"

Next morning...

I woke up early so that I could have time to figure out what classes I had as well as looking for the platoon list. Luckily I was put in the same class as Naruki and Mifi so I didn't have to worry about getting lost.

"Platoon...17?" I looked at the paper on the board. There were a couple of papers pinned around campus and I found my name alongside the number 17.

"Ahaha! Did you hear that?!" Some of the boys behind me snickered. "That pipsqueak got placed in the loser platoon."

"There's no way they'll win this year...what a pity." All around me I heard either scorn, pity or down-right cruel comments about this platoon. Brushing off any dark thoughts I hurried to my designated training area. Arriving at the gym I tentatively opened the door and peeked around hoping to sneak in without a sound.

"You're late!" A voice snapped and I cringed, this was also the first time anyone had scolded me. I stood there with my head bowed before summoning the courage to lift my head. There were three guys present and they were staring at me with grins on their faces. I noticed that the woman with short spiky blonde hair and a cowlick was glaring daggers at me. Wait she was the one I met at the Machinery Department however it seems like she hasn't realized it yet. "Alright since you were late you will have to train with me, no exceptions."

"Nina don't be so hard on her." A boy with green hair said as he approached me. "Hi there I'm Harley Sutton, DITE-mechanic for the 17th platoon but don't worry about that. Here, you're gonna need this." He pulled out a box full of devices and held it up to me. "Go on, pick whichever one you want."

"These are...DITEs?" I took one out and looked at it carefully. "They look like regular rectangle-shaped objects."

"Those things are weapons that Kei users can use." Harley explained it to me. "They can morph into a weapon when its user says 'Restoration'. Why don't you try it out?" I didn't get to voice my opinion before he shoved me to the middle of the room. Glancing around I noticed that all eyes were on me. Gripping the device in my hand I closed my eye in concentration, in focus.

"Restoration." There was silence and when I opened my eye I was still staring at the same small device like it didn't even move an inch...Nothing happened.

"She...can't even use a DITE..." The man next to Harley shook his head in pity. I stared at the device in my hand before looking at them, their expressions said it all.

"You got to be shitting me. She can't even perform a simple task. Why the hell is she even on our platoon?!" Nina growled before calling forth her own weapons. "Fine let's see your combat skills!" She ran forward with a killer intention before I could even think.

"No Nina! You can't do that, she's still new!" Harley's voice fell on deaf ears as I watched her approach me with her weapons. Something inside was telling me to run but I couldn't. I watched as the blades got nearer and lifted my arms in the shape of an X in front of my face in hopes of protection. I was scared and totally afraid of getting hurt, I wasn't ready.

I'm gonna die. I'm gonna die. I shut my eye tightly and prayed hard, hoping for some miracle. Suddenly my right eye pulsated and Nina's swords struck my arms but didn't cut through. I heard gasps and I open my eye to see that my arms transformed into dragon arms, my skin was replaced with black scales that stopped at my elbows and on each arm there were silver gauntlets which blocked the blades. My hands turned into full-blown ivory claws and as I flexed my fingers I watched how they glistened due to the lighting.

"What is...she?!" The boys breathed as Nina stepped back and I looked at my arms in worry. All of my past memories entered my mind from my childhood and I darted out of the training grounds as fast as I could. I continued running until my legs gave out and I slumped to my knees gasping for air. My arms still haven't changed back and I just banged them against the ground in frustration creating giant holes with each punch.

What the hell am I doing? I can't even use a DITE properly. Instead...I stopped hitting the ground and looked at my transformed arms. The dormant blood within my body surfaced once more, the blood of a dragon. I told myself that I would be able to live another life...there is no place in this city for me. The members of the 17th platoon...they know my secret...

"There you are." I looked to see Nina standing there behind me. I quickly dried my tears and stood up with my head slightly lowered. "Leaving in the middle of training results in punishment however..." She approached me slowly until she stood right in front of me and I tensed up in fear of what she was about to do. What I didn't expect was her to flick my forehead.

"Eh?" I gaped at her in confusion. She just smiled in return.

"Well it did startle me when you pulled that need trick but I sense potential so I'll let this slide. Come." She held out her hand. "I'll try to train you the best I can."

"...Yes Ma'am!"