Welcome to my first entry. I will be updating this story whenever my schedule allows me to, so sit back and enjoy the ride.

DISCLAIMER: CORPSE PARTY AND ITS CHARACTERS ARE OWNED BY TEAM GRISGRIS/GRINDHOUSE. MY ORIGINAL CHARACTER, PACKER, IS OWNED BY ME.

The theme song for Act One of this story will be My Demons by Starset.

ACT ONE

CHAPTER 1: FIRST CONTACT

(My Demons by Starset begins playing in the background)

There exists an organization, deep within the Presidio in the heart of San Francisco, that is said to house the best warriors in the world, warriors imbued with supernatural powers. An organization known as the Covenant.

Among these warriors, known as the Knights of the Covenant, is a young man known only as Packer, considered by his peers as the best Knight of the Covenant. He never knew who his parents were, as he was orphaned as a child. After many orphanages took him in, he was eventually taken in by the Covenant at a young age when it was discovered he possessed supernatural powers, which wasn't so unusual for the Covenant. What was unusual was the fact that the young boy seemed to be able to wield several different elements. A majority of the Knights each had one element they specialized in, but Packer was able to wield the powers of all eight elements: Fire, Ice, Lightning, Wind, Earth, Water, Darkness and Light, which no other Knight could do. In fact, Packer's supernatural abilities were so unusually powerful, he was given the nickname 'The Anomaly Among Anomalies'.

As he grew older, he would develop these abilities into powerful offensive attacks, such as his Fire-based Immolation, Pyro Punch and Sacred Fire, his Ice-based Ice Spreader, Zero Punch and Ice Beam, his Earth-based Earthquake, Fissure, and Stalagmite, his Darkness-based Dark Outburst, Arcane Punch, and Bloody Lance, which he could only use by going into his Arcane Knight form, a darker, more evil version of himself, and his Lightning-based Thunderbolt, Volt Punch and Lightning Knee. He could also combine certain elements to perform devastating combo attacks.

However, there was a catch. Packer's supernatural powers draw from a finite pool of mana stored within his body. If he uses his powers too much and exhausts his mana, he will begin to suffer from fatigue, as his powers would then have to draw from his own life force, forcing Packer to use his powers sparingly until his body can naturally reproduce the mana necessary to fuel his powers. To compensate for this, Packer would study various forms of martial arts, becoming a master of Shaolin Fist and Praying Mantis Kung Fu.

He also mastered two weapon arts: the throwing knives and the long sword. Hidden within Packer's uniform were sets of throwing knives made of tempered glass. Each knife was imbued with a spell, with different effects ranging from explosions to blinding light. His long sword, a diamond-bladed sword he forged himself, was imbued with the power of thunder and lightning, and he gave it the name Shiden.

He can also focus his supernatural powers into his sword, allowing him to use powerful elemental sword techniques, such as Fire Slash, Ice Slash, Lightning Slash, Metal Slash, Arcane Slash, Aqua Slash, Gust Slash, and Miracle Slash. In addition, he was also able to learn very powerful sword techniques that only those truly skilled with a sword could learn, such as Whirlwind, Astraea Lightning, Climhazzard and Gigaslash.

Packer also developed defensive supernatural abilities, such as his Wind-based Vortex Shield, which surrounds him in a tornado, blocking all incoming projectiles and sucking up his enemies into its vortex, and his Water-based Tidal Barrier, which acts as a massive wall between himself and his opponent, and Hydroblast, a powerful jet of water that he can use offensively and defensively. Offensively, it has the pushing power of a firehose, knocking opponents down with relative ease. Defensively, he can use the powerful jet streams to propel himself in any direction he desires at a high rate of speed. He also developed what he calls the Shining Sprint, which uses the element of Light to allow him to run at super speed, but it is a massive drain on his mana reserves. As a result, he only used the Shining Sprint for emergencies.

However, Packer's strongest and most developed element was Light, from which he developed some of his strongest attacks, such as the Miracle Punch, Angel Spark, and what he considers his most powerful attack, the Shining Helix.

Packer also possessed a rare psychic ability unrelated to his elemental powers. He had the ability to see flashes of the future, usually dangerous, life-threatening events moments before they took place. He dubbed this ability Future Sight, and considers this one of his most useful attributes. However, there were two main drawbacks to his Future Sight ability. He had no control over when it activated, usually when he least expects it, and usually a few seconds before the event actually occurred, although there were exceptions to this. Secondly, when he came out of Future Sight, it would leave him disoriented for a few seconds, giving opponents a chance to counter-attack.

In due time, Packer used these abilities to rise up through the ranks of the Covenant, eventually becoming an Elite Knight and its most prominent member by the age of seventeen. It was also around this time that his Future Sight ability developed an unexpected secondary effect, one that would lead Packer to his most dangerous mission to date.

(Corpse Party Theme begins playing in the background)

It was a rainy night in early August, when Packer had a very lucid dream, or so he thought. In this so-called dream, he witnessed a group of people, what he assumed to be Japanese high school students, become trapped in what appeared to be a rundown elementary school. There were nine people in all: seven high-schoolers, a junior high student, and a teacher's assistant. He watched as most of the group met with violent, gruesome deaths. In the end, none of the nine had survived the ordeal.

After experiencing this dream several times over, he learned that the reason the people in his dream, which he dubbed "the Nine", were sent to the Hellacious school was because they had failed some kind of ritual, but the details were still kind of vague. Eventually, he would bring up the matter to the head of the Knights of the Covenant, High Master Jericho. It was then he learned the true nature of his dreams.

According to Jericho, he was not experiencing dreams, like he first thought, but were in fact premonitions of the future, stemming from his Future Sight ability. Packer relayed that he also knew the name of the school that the Nine had been sent to after piecing together various portions of his dreams. Known as Heavenly Host Elementary, it was torn down several decades ago after many unfortunate accidents occurred there. Packer also informed Jericho that if the events he had been dreaming of were left unchecked, the dimensional fabric surrounding Earth would be stretched beyond its limits, resulting in the alternate dimension of Heavenly Host seeping through and encompassing the entire planet.

After learning of these horrific events, Jericho gave the young Elite Knight his orders for his new mission.

Packer's mission was to get all the members of the Nine out alive, at ALL COSTS.

In order to infiltrate the group, Packer would be sent to Japan under the guise of an American transfer student. Working in Packer's favor was the fact that he was able to speak almost perfect Japanese, and he had been studying Japanese culture since he was a kid. Jericho had bought a new home for Packer in the city of Tenjin, near where the Nine attended school at. They learned they were enrolled at a school known as Kisaragi Academy, and that is where Packer's search would begin. He was under orders to remain there until the mission was completed, since they had no idea when the actual event would occur, but Packer knew it was sometime in the next several months. He gathered his equipment and whatever else he needed and headed for the airport, bound for Tenjin, Japan.

Little did he know what he was about to face in the near future…

Sunday, August 24th, 2008, 11:30 A.M.

(Corpse Party's The Everyday begins playing in the background)

It was 11:30 A.M. in Tokyo, Japan. A young man, seventeen years of age, stepped out of the plane that had landed at Tokyo International Airport. He wore a dark green jacket, black pants, and green shoes with white trim. He had emerald green hair that matched his eyes, with a chinstrap beard of the same color.

KNIGHT OF THE COVENANT PROFILE

NAME: ?

CALLSIGN: Packer

AGE: 17

HEIGHT: 6' 1''

COVENANT RANK: Elite Knight

ELEMENT: Lightning, Fire, Ice, Water, Earth, Wind, and Light

MARTIAL ARTS STYLES: Shaolin Fist, Praying Mantis Kung Fu

WEAPON: Shiden (Long Sword with a diamond edged blade, imbued with the element of Lightning)

KNOWN SPELLS:

Immolation - A Level 1 Fire spell that is launched at an opponent in the shape of a giant X. Can catch an opponent on fire.

Pyro Punch - A Level 1 Fire spell in which the user engulfs their fist in a ball of fire and punches their opponent.

Sacred Fire - A Level 1 Fire spell in which the user charges up a giant fireball of great intensity and launches it at an opponent. Is capable of destroying weak wooden doors with ease and setting opponents on fire.

Ice Spreader - A Level 1 Ice spell in which the user charges up a giant ball of ice and launches it at an opponent, causing them to freeze in a block of ice.

Zero Punch - A Level 1 Ice spell in which the user engulfs their fist in jagged ice and punches their opponent.

Ice Beam - A Level 1 Ice spell that launches an icy cold beam of energy at an opponent. Can freeze opponents and solid objects in a layer of ice.

Earthquake - A Level 1 Earth spell in which the user slams their fist into the ground, causing massive tremors to erupt around them. Can discombobulate anyone within the spell's radius.

Stalagmite - A Level 1 Earth spell in which the user summons razor sharp stalagmites from the ground to impale their opponents.

Fissure - A Level 2 Earth Spell in which the user cracks open the earth, causing their opponents to fall into a deep crevice, killing them instantly.

Thunderbolt - A Level 1 Lightning spell in which the user launches a bolt of electricity at an opponent. Can kill ordinary humans instantly.

Volt Punch - A Level 1 Lightning spell in which the user engulfs their fist in electricity and punches their opponent.

Lightning Knee - A Level 1 Lightning spell in which the user powers the ball of their knee with electricity and attacks their opponent with a flying knee strike.

Vortex Shield - A Level 1 Wind spell in which the user engulfs themselves and anyone else within range inside a giant tornado, shielding them from oncoming attacks.

Mach Punch - A Level 1 Wind spell in which the user propels themselves at a high rate of speed using the element of Wind and punches their opponent.

Tidal Barrier - A Level 1 Water spell in which the user encases themselves in a water bubble, shielding them from oncoming attacks.

Hydroblast - A Level 1 Water spell in which the user blasts their opponent with a column of water that has the strength of a firehose. Can also be used to propel themselves in various ways.

First Aid - A Level 1 Light spell in which the user summons a green ball of energy in their hand and runs it across their allies, healing their wounds.

Shining Sprint - A Level 1 Light spell in which the user engulfs their body in pure Light energy, allowing them to dash at super speed. Is a massive drain on mana resources.

Miracle Punch - A Level 1 Light spell in which the user engulfs their fist in a holy energy and punches their opponent.

Angel Spark - A Level 1 Light spell in which the user powers up a ball of Light energy and launches it at their opponent.

Shining Helix - A Level 3 Light spell in which the user charges up two balls of holy energy and launches them both in the form of a double helix at their opponent. Only the most adept of Light users can master this powerful spell.

KNOWN WEAPON TECHNIQUES:

Fire Slash - A Level 2 Fire weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Fire and slashes at their opponent. Can catch opponents on fire.

Ice Slash - A Level 2 Ice weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Ice and slashes at their opponent. Can freeze opponents solid.

Lightning Slash - A Level 2 Lightning weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Lightning and slashes at their opponent. Can kill normal humans on impact.

Metal Slash - A Level 2 Earth weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Earth and slashes at their opponent. Can slice through rock and metal objects with ease.

Aqua Slash - A Level 2 Water weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Water and slashes at their opponent. Can dampen an opponent, leaving them vulnerable to Ice and Lightning spells.

Gust Slash - A Level 2 Wind weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Wind and slashes at their opponent. The speed of the slash is so fast, most opponents won't see it coming until it is too late.

Miracle Slash - A Level 2 Light weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Light and slashes at their opponent. The user can heal their wounds based on how much damage the spell inflicts.

Whirlwind - A Level 2 Wind weapon technique in which the user powers their weapon with the element of Wind and spins around like a cyclone, knocking back anything in its wake.

Astraea Lightning - A Level 3 Lightning weapon technique in which the user supercharges their weapon with Lightning. When fully charged, the user smashes their weapon against the ground, causing a massive vortex of electricity to erupt from it, electrocuting anything in its wake.

Climhazzard - A Level 4 non-elemental weapon technique in which the user supercharges their weapon with energy and smashes it against the ground, causing a powerful shockwave of energy to erupt from the point of impact.

Gigaslash - A Level 5 non-elemental weapon technique in which the user supercharges their weapon and begins furiously slashing at their opponent, before leaping into the air and coming down with one last powerful, vertical slash.

It had been a long flight from San Francisco, but Packer didn't seem to mind. After all, studying Japanese history was one of his favorite pastimes, and he was now going to get to experience it for himself. Of course, he hadn't forgotten why he was here in the first place. Three weeks prior to his arrival in Japan, Packer began having mind numbing nightmares about a group of nine people who were sent to a place called Heavenly Host Elementary, and how they were met with gruesome ends. In the end, none of the Nine survived the events that took place in that evil school.

In addition, not long after their deaths inside Heavenly Host, the dimensional fabric surrounding Earth began to weaken, until it was completely torn open, allowing the borders of Heavenly Host to encompass Earth.

Packer eventually informed his superiors about his so-called nightmares, only to find out that they were in fact premonitions, stemming from his Future Sight psychic ability. He also told his superiors that if these events were left unchecked, it could cause irreparable damage to the dimensional fabric separating Earth from Heavenly Host's demonic alternate dimension.

Packer shifted the backpack on his shoulder, and walked out of the airport. The Covenant had arranged for a taxi to wait for him at the airport to take him to his new house, bought for him and completely furnished courtesy of the Covenant, which would be within walking distance of the school he would be enrolling in, Kisaragi Academy, near the city of Tenjin.

"It'd be nice if I could've come here for something other than official business…" Packer said to himself. "But I'll have the chance to enjoy myself in due time. For now, I need to get set up at my new home, and prepare myself for tomorrow."

Ironically, tomorrow was the first day of the new school year, so enrolling wouldn't be as awkward as it would've been if it had been midway through the year. One small problem he might encounter was the fact that he was an American student enrolling in a Japanese school, but fortunately, he spoke almost perfect Japanese, another trait he gained from his fascination of Japanese culture.

After several hours, the taxi stopped in front of his new house. Packer got out his wallet to pay the driver for the ride.

"No worries, sir," the driver said. "Your organization has already covered the bill for your ride here."

Packer smiled. He could always count on the Covenant to take care of him.

"Thanks for the lift," he said.

"No problem. You take care of yourself, now," the driver replied. Packer nodded, retrieved his belongings from the trunk of the taxi, and walked up the stairs of the front porch to his new home.

After he had everything situated and set up, Packer sat down on the couch in the living room and opened up his laptop. He took a moment to think about what he should write in his report to the Covenant, and then began typing. It was going to be a recurring theme every Sunday until the mission was complete. He finished his report and clicked "send". Satisfied, he reached over and took hold of his sword, sitting comfortably in its sheath. He slid the sword out and examined the blade. A bit of electricity discharged from the blade as he ran his hand across it.

"Shiden, my trusty sword…" he whispered. "I might have to rely on you a little bit more than usual this time around. I don't know what exactly it is I'm gonna be facing, but whatever it is, I'll be ready."

Packer sheathed his sword and looked back at the laptop. On it were his instructions from his superiors, as well as the names of the individuals he was searching for, "the Nine" as he now calls them.

"Yui Shishido, Yuka and Satoshi Mochida, Naomi Nakashima, Yoshiki Kishinuma, Ayumi Shinozaki, Mayu Suzumoto, Sakutaro Morishige, and Seiko Shinohara," he said to himself. "If only I knew who you all looked like, it would certainly make my search a Helluva lot easier."

He closed the laptop and ran a hand through his emerald green hair with a sigh.

"But I'll probably run into them tomorrow, so it's not really a big deal. But I can't help but wonder what makes these nine so important, and besides, why would they perform such a dangerous ritual anyway? None of this makes any sense."

He looked out his window at the sun setting on the horizon.

"But I'm sure the pieces will begin to fall into place as time goes on. For now, I'll just focus on getting integrated into my new school, and I'll go from there."

He reached over and grabbed the remote to the T.V. He turned it on and began channel surfing.

'It's a good thing I understand Japanese, otherwise I'd never be able to watch anything on Japanese T.V.,' he thought silently to himself. 'Of course, some of these shows are weird as Hell anyways, so it hardly makes a difference.' He chuckled. 'I wonder what the Nine are like. Hopefully, they're friendly, otherwise this mission's gonna be a lot more complicated than I want it to be. If we're gonna survive this ordeal, we're gonna need to work together.'

He frowned as he thought back to his conversation with his superiors. He had suggested preventing the Nine from even performing the ritual in the first place, but he was told that it was an impossibility, due to the fact that they probably wouldn't believe his story that Heavenly Host was real, and even if they did believe it, preventing the ritual from taking place would also damage the fabric of the space-time continuum. He had to allow and even participate in the ritual, but once they were all inside Heavenly Host, everything was fair game. Packer shook his head.

"I should've known that nothing is ever that easy. But why would I need to perform the ritual as well? What is the purpose of it?" he asked himself. It was clear that Packer had more questions than answers at this point, and it was beginning to frustrate him a little.

'I need to relax. No use in getting frustrated over something that won't happen for some time, anyways,' the young Knight thought. He continued to channel surf until he eventually drifted off to sleep.

Monday, August 25th, 2008, 5:53 A.M.

Packer jerked from his sleep, sweating like a race horse. He looked over at the clock.

'5:53. It's about time for me to get ready for school,' he thought. He rubbed his eyes and wiped the sweat from his forehead. He knew why he was shaken from his sleep. He'd had another one of his nightmarish premonitions about Heavenly Host.

"These damn nightmares are getting worse with each passing day," he muttered to himself. He recalled one scene vividly, where he was standing in the middle of a restroom. In front of him, on their knees, was a girl. She was looking up at the same spot in front of them, in one of the stalls. Packer couldn't quite make out what her face looked like, but he could see she had tears in her eyes. After what seemed like an eternity of staring into the bathroom stall, the girl screamed, which woke Packer from his sleep.

"That last scene in my nightmare… it seems to have happened inside Heavenly Host, but what was she looking at? Did something terrible happen or something? Man, this shit is getting weirder by the second. Hopefully, I can get a sense of who I'm looking for today."

After shaking the cobwebs from his head, he headed into the restroom to take a shower. Today was his first day at Kisaragi Academy, and he wanted to make sure he gave a good first impression.

(Corpse Party's All Together begins playing in the background)

It was his first day at Kisaragi Academy, and Packer was a little nervous. It wasn't like it was his first time going to school, but he was an American enrolling in a Japanese school, so there would probably be some awkward moments, even though he spoke almost perfect Japanese. But he also knew that he had a job to do, and finding out who the Nine were was priority number one.

He stopped at one of the intersections. The light was red, so he had to wait for a moment. Packer adjusted his backpack and dark green sunglasses, waiting patiently for the light to change. After a few seconds, it changed to green, allowing Packer to continue on to school.

As Kisaragi Academy came into view, Packer could see many students, both male and female, walking through the front gate onto the school grounds. As he stepped through the gates himself, he moved off to the side so he wasn't in the way of everyone else and gazed up at the school he would now call his own. Pushing his sunglasses up onto his head, his eyes took in every detail, mesmerized by how well built and well kept the building and the school grounds seemed to be.

"Hi, there. We haven't seen you around here before," someone behind him said. Packer turned his head in the direction of the voice. There were two young boys around his height and age standing a few feet away, having just come in the front gate themselves. One was wearing a black jacket with black pants and a white and a red undershirt, with brown boots. He had platinum blonde hair and grey eyes. The other had short light brown hair and light brown eyes. He wore a white shirt with another blue shirt under it, gray pants, and white socks under blue and white sneakers.

'Hmmm… these two seem oddly familiar to me…' Packer thought silently to himself.

"I just moved here yesterday. I used to live in San Francisco, but I decided to come here to Japan, broaden my horizons," Packer replied with a smile. "The name's Packer. Pleased to meet you."

The blonde-haired boy extended his hand. Packer grasped it in a firm handshake.

"Yoshiki Kishinuma. This is Satoshi Mochida," Yoshiki greeted. Satoshi shook Packer's hand as well.

"Nice to meet you, Packer," he said with a smile.

"Likewise," Packer responded.

'So, these are two of the Nine. So far, so good, and we haven't even gone inside the school yet,' he thought.

"Do you have a last name?" Yoshiki asked.

"No. I was orphaned as an infant, so I was taken in by a local orphanage. I was sent to many foster homes, but I never really had a steady family to call my own, and besides, I didn't really get along with any of them, so I guess you could say I became my own man when I turned fifteen. Since I have no family or no way of knowing who my real parents are, I decided to go without a last name, and it suits me just fine," Packer explained, of course leaving out the part where he was a supernatural warrior for a secret organization.

"Wow. I'd say you've had it pretty hard, but you seem to be getting along fine," Satoshi replied, astonished by Packer's story.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that. Not bad for a seventeen year old, eh?" Packer replied with a shrug. Yoshiki and Satoshi nodded in response.

"So, you enrolling here at Kisaragi?" Yoshiki inquired.

"Yes, I am," Packer replied.

"No kidding? Well, that's pretty cool to hear. Looks like we'll be seeing a lot more of each other from now on," Satoshi exclaimed.

'A lot more than you think, Satoshi…' Packer thought to himself.

"Do you know what class you're in?" Satoshi asked.

"I think they told me it was class 2-9," Packer replied.

"No shit? That means you're in the same class as us. How ironic is that?" Yoshiki said with a laugh.

"Yeah, irony is pretty weird sometimes," Packer said with a shrug.

After talking for a minute, the three of them went inside Kisaragi Academy. Needless to say, Packer was impressed by what he had seen so far.

"So, this is Kisaragi Academy, eh? Not bad," he said with a whistle.

"Best school I've ever been to, and that's saying something," Yoshiki replied with a laugh. After walking down the hallway a bit, Packer stopped at the office.

"Well, I see you guys in a bit. I've gotta stop by and pick up my uniform." Packer said.

"Okeydokey. We'll see you in class." Satoshi replied, and he and Yoshiki headed to their homeroom. Packer smiled.

"I think I might like it here," he murmured to himself. With that, Packer turned and headed into the office to collect his uniform.

Packer walked into classroom 2-9, now decked out in his new uniform. Like Yoshiki's, Packer's uniform was a coal black color, complete with his name badge pinned to it. He took his seat next to Yoshiki and Satoshi. There were still a few minutes before the bell rang for class. He took a minute and looked around the class.

His eyes fell on a girl sitting behind Yoshiki. She had amber eyes and long brown hair that were styled into two curls on both sides of her head, just beneath her ears. She also wore a white barrette on the left side of her head. Like all the other girls in the school, she wore a tan-colored sailor outfit with a blue collar and lighter blue cuffs. Her uniform also consisted of a yellow bow held by a blue brooch to the top, and a blue pleated skirt. Packer found himself trying to hold back a blush.

'Wow, she's pretty,' Packer thought to himself. The girl looked over at him, and he quickly turned away, cheeks red from being caught staring. The girl tilted her head and smiled at him.

"I haven't seen you around here before. Are you new here?" she asked. Packer looked back at her and nodded.

"Yeah, this is my first day here," Packer replied a little shyly. The girl smiled even more broadly at him, causing Packer's face to heat up slightly.

"Well, I'll just have to do my best to make you feel comfortable around here," she beamed. Packer chuckled.

'She's certainly energetic, that's for damn sure…' Packer thought.

"The name's Packer. Pleased to meet you," he said.

"Seiko Shinohara. So, it's just Packer, huh?" the girl inquired.

The name struck a nerve with Packer.

'Seiko Shinohara… another one of the Nine…' the young Knight thought.

"Yeah, it's a long story…" he began.

Just then, a girl with short brown hair and brown eyes came into the classroom. Seiko shrieked at the person.

"Naomi! Over here!" she exclaimed. Packer looked over at the girl.

'Naomi… she must be Naomi Nakashima,' the green-haired Knight thought. 'Wait a second…' His eyes widened as he recalled one of his nightmares from last night, in particular, the one with the girl kneeling in front of the bathroom stall. 'She must be the girl in that particular part of my dream…'

Naomi walked over to where they were sitting.

"Jeez, Seiko, could you be any louder?" Naomi asked. Seiko just giggled in response.

"Sorry, Naomi. I'm just so excited to see you, that's all," the hyperactive girl replied.

"It hasn't been that long since we saw each other, Seiko…" Naomi sighed. Packer shook his head, trying to hold back a grin.

Naomi then noticed the green-haired, green eyed boy sitting in between Yoshiki and Satoshi.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't even notice you. My name is Naomi Nakashima. And you are?" she asked.

"The name is Packer. Pleased to meet you," Packer replied.

Naomi arched an eyebrow.

"What, you don't…" she began.

"Have a last name?" he finished. "No. It's a long story. I'm sure Kishinuma or Mochida will explain later if I don't." Seiko and Naomi looked at each other, eyebrows raised.

"Wow, so you guys just met and are already friends? How does that work?" Seiko asked.

"Let's just say, we became friends at light speed," Packer said with a shrug. The girls giggled at his response, while Satoshi and Yoshiki shook their heads while grinning.

"So, I'm a bit of a comedian. I like ribbing my friends from time to time," Packer explained.

"Really? You should see what Shinohara does with Nakashima on a regular basis," Yoshiki said with a laugh. Naomi blushed.

"Kishinuma, he doesn't need to know that," she replied.

"Yeah, but it's more fun if he does, Naomi," Seiko replied with a sinister giggle. Naomi just groaned.

'Yep, I think things are gonna be pretty interesting around here,' Packer thought with a smile.

"Hey, guys!"

Everybody looked up. Three students were walking toward them. One was a girl with dull green eyes, medium long brown hair styled into a small ponytail at the top right side of her head, held by a hair tie with two pink spheres. Her bangs were kept back with two orange barrettes.

Standing next to her was a tall boy with cobalt blue hair and green eyes, also wearing glasses. Like the other male students of Kisaragi Academy, he wore a black gakuran uniform, his student ID pinned to his left, blue uwabaki slippers and dark red socks. Next to him was a girl with blue eyes and long blue hair styled into two pigtails, held with red hair ties.

"Packer, this is Mayu Suzumoto, Sakutaro Morishige, and Ayumi Shinozaki," Naomi explained.

"Greetings, everyone. The name is Packer. Pleased to meet all of you," Packer responded.

"What, no last name?" Mayu asked.

Packer sighed.

"No last name. I'll explain later," he replied.

"Well, it was nice to meet you, Packer-kun. I'm the class representative of 2-9, so if you have any questions at all, feel free to ask," Ayumi said before taking her seat, along with Mayu and Morishige.

'Suzumoto, Morishige, and Shinozaki. That's seven of the Nine I've now met…' Packer thought. The bell rang, and into the classroom walked their homeroom teacher's assistant. She had brown, medium short hair and purple eyes. She is wearing cyan earrings, a light pink shirt with a darker one under it, an indigo skirt, black high-heels and a necklace with a panda ornament.

"Who's that?" Packer asked.

"That's Ms. Shishido, our homeroom teacher's assistant," Satoshi explained. "We usually call her Yui-sensei, though."

"I see…," Packer said.

'So, there's one more of the Nine I haven't met yet. Judging by her last name, I'm guessing Yuka Mochida is Satoshi's sister,' he thought. The classroom got quiet as the teacher walked up to the podium. 'Show time.'

(Corpse Party's Good Friends begins playing in the background)

It was a whirlwind first day for Packer at Kisaragi Academy. He recalled the day's events after school had let out for the day. After introducing himself to his new classmates, the teacher had asked Satoshi to show Packer around the campus to help him familiarize himself with it. He got his fair share of unusual looks, mostly due to the fact that he was an American, but he also got some winks from some of the girls as well.

"Seems like a few of the girls have taken notice of you," Satoshi laughed. Satoshi was walking home from school with Packer. Yoshiki had stayed behind to help their other friends with school projects, which was unusual considering Yoshiki's reputation. Packer just shrugged.

"I really don't see why. I'm not that handsome," he replied.

"Hey, I usually say that about myself. You trying to steal my material?" Satoshi laughed.

"If I did, I didn't mean to. I guess I'm just being modest again," Packer replied. Satoshi just chuckled.

"So, Packer, forgive me for prying a bit here, but I noticed you were a bit shy around Shinohara. Why is that?" Satoshi asked. Packer glanced over at Satoshi for a moment, and then turned away, his face slightly red. He rubbed the back of his neck nervously.

"Well… umm… I might have… a slight… crush on her… maybe…" he said nervously.

"Well, I have to warn you, Shinohara can be a bit… what's the word… flamboyant at times, especially around Naomi," Satoshi said with a chuckle.

"Yeah, I noticed. So, first name basis with Nakashima, eh? Looks like you're showing the same type of feelings toward Nakashima that I am towards Shinohara, Mochida," Packer replied with a sly smile. Now it was Satoshi's turn to be embarrassed.

"Ah, well… we've been friends since kindergarten, and… admittedly, I am kind of fond of Naomi," he replied, face red as a tomato. Packer chuckled.

"I thought as much. So, if you've known her this long, why haven't you asked her out yet?" he asked. Satoshi's face turned an even deeper shade of crimson.

"I'm…well, I'm just not… very good at that… sort of thing. I mean, how am I supposed to ask her? Do I just flat out tell her, or imply that I am interested or what? Besides that, what if she's not even interested in me? I don't know if I could take that kind of rejection," Satoshi admitted.

Packer ran his hand through his green hair, absorbing what Satoshi had told him.

"Well, you never know until you ask. Judging from what you've told me, I'd say you two would make a perfect match. I'd ask her out and see what she says," Packer suggested. Satoshi stopped and looked at Packer for a second.

"You know, Packer, you're making this all sound so easy. I just wish I wasn't so scared," he replied. Packer stopped as well, looked at Satoshi, and put his hand on his shoulder.

"Mochida, there's nothing to be scared of. All it takes is a little self-confidence. Trust me on this," he explained. Satoshi arched in eyebrow.

"Does that mean you're gonna ask Shinohara out as well?" Satoshi asked.

"Well, I have an excuse. I've only known you all for one day. You, on the other hand, have known Nakashima for years. I can't believe you feel this strongly for her, yet you haven't even made a move yet, and besides, I can't say I blame you for having a crush on her. Admittedly, she is a very attractive girl," Packer explained.

Satoshi stood there with eyes wide, taking in what Packer was saying.

'Man, he knows a lot more than I gave him credit for, and he seems like a cool guy. I think we may become really good friends…' he thought.

"You're right. I'll… think about it, okay?" he asked, cheeks still red. Packer chuckled.

"Sounds good to me," the green-haired boy replied. "So, why exactly did Kishinuma stay behind?"

"I think he said he's helping the girls with some class project. Wonder what got him motivated to do that," Satoshi wondered.

"Maybe he's got a crush on one of the girls," Packer said with a chuckle. Satoshi glanced at Packer worriedly.

"You don't think…" Satoshi began.

"Nah, I don't think it's our crushes. If I had to place a bet, I'd say he has his eyes set on our class representative," Packer replied with a smile. Satoshi's eyes widened.

"He has a crush on Shinozaki?! Really?!" Satoshi exclaimed. Packer shrugged.

"I'm not really sure, but considering that Suzumoto and Morishige seem to be tightly knit, it would make sense for Kishinuma to be head over heels for Shinozaki. I get the feeling there's a deep rooted friendship between them, although I'd say Yoshiki is wanting more than that. At least, that's the feeling I'm getting, anyway," Packer replied.

"Wow…" Satoshi said, astonished by what he just heard.

"So, what's Kishinuma's story, anyway?" Packer inquired. "I get the feeling he's had a bit of a troubled past."

"Well, you'd be right," Satoshi replied. "He and his parents got into a fight about two years ago, and as a result, they kicked him out. He's been forced to survive on his own ever since. He used to be a bit of a trouble maker at school, but ever since we managed to get him to join our friend group, he's changed his ways dramatically, and me and him became really good friends. In fact, I'm the only one he's on a first name basis with."

"Interesting," Packer replied. "Sounds like he's had a rough time, but at least he is trying to make the most of a bad situation."

"Pretty much," Satoshi agreed.

They stopped in front of Packer's new house.

"So this is where you live, huh?" Satoshi asked.

"Yep, and it's all taken care of, too," Packer replied.

"Nice. Well, I'll see you at school tomorrow, Packer," Satoshi said.

"Okeydokey. See you, Mochida," Packer replied.

Satoshi continued down the sidewalk toward his home, while Packer walked up the stairs to his apartment.

"Yep, my time here is gonna be very interesting, indeed," Packer said to himself. He walked up the stairs of his porch and into his home, shutting the door behind him.

Author's Note: I've decided to combine all of the first three chapters together and rewrite and rearrange a few things, which means the next two chapters will have all-new content. EXCITEMENT FTW!

Also, don't be surprised if you see some minor differences in all of the chapters currently in this story, as I'm in the process of proofreading and fixing minor errors, as well as moving and adding some things here and there.