The Kingmaker Game

Kingmaker - Day 1, Monday

Class 3D
Lisa Stone

"Alright, class, settle down," Miss Wright ordered, giving her blackboard a few knocks with her knuckles to catch all the students' attention. And sure enough, after a few seconds, the constant chatter of the morning had faded away into a few quiet mutterings, which were soon silenced by the stern glare of the rather tall teacher.

With the class finally quiet, Miss Wright sat down at her desk and started to call out names, prompting the students to check in.

"Sophia Ardent?"

"Present."

"Maxwell Black?"

"Here."

"William Boore?"

"..."

"William Boore?"

"Oh, uh, here!"

Amidst the subsequent giggling, one of the various sychopants who sucked up to Lisa, Jessica Turner, leaned over half-way through the roll, whispering.

"Hey, Lis, everything alright? Ya seemed... I dunno, a little different this morning."

---

Class 1A
Maria Night

New schools were always such a hassle for whoever arrived, even three weeks into the year. And when you have a class full of new students, things tended to be either very loud, or very quiet and awkward. And in Class 1A, it seemed to be the latter.

The teacher, Mister Dent, was an energetic man who seemed to either take his coffee concentrated or straight to the veins. Possibly both. He paced up and down the front of the classroom, gesturing wildly as he spoke.

"-and that is why I'm absolutely sure that you will all have such a wonderful time at this wonderful school and I know that the teachers here are oh my I really seem to be running out of time I know why don't you introduce yourself to a partner?"

Looking around, most of the students had immediately leapt for people next to them. There were a few unpaired students left for Maria, though. A nervous-looking boy with glasses, a girl leaning back on her chair, spinning a coin in between her fingers, and a short-haired girl fast asleep on her desk.

---

Infirmatry
Zacherie ???

Zacharie blinked awake on a soft bed, surrounded by curtains. The room was deathly quiet, almost impossibly so. Every sound Zacharie made as he moved would sound like a cacothany compared to the room's ambient sounds. Peeking his head through the curtains, he could see that the infirmatry was completely empty, not even the school nurse was on duty at the time. Completely alo-

"Up already, kiddo?"

The nurse seemed to come out of nowhere, appearing behind Zacharie in an instant. The man had a lazy grin on his face, hands in his pockets and slouched back.

"Well, if you're well enough to move, you're well enough to get back to class, alright?"

---

Class 2E
Edgar Amsel

"Melissa White?"

"Here, teach!"

"And Franklin Zackson?"

"Here..."

"Right!" Miss Walters stood up from her desk, reaching up and pulling out a sheet of papers. "Let's not waste any time. The more work you do now, the less you have to do when you could be having fun, after all."

She handed off half of the papers to Edgar, and to his desk neighbour. "Edgar, Rika, you two hand these out. Everyone else, get out your pens and your calculators." And with that, she headed back to the front of the class.

Rika picks up her half of the papers and starts quietly walking around half of the room, handing off the papers without really talking to anyone, and almost holding them in front of her like a shield.

---

Class 3A
Tori Kincaid

Work work work. First thing in the morning, work. Work this, work that. The teacher, Mister Edgars, was a complete hardass, already yelling at some boy who was on the brink of tears.

Besides Tori, some blonde girl leans over to her friend and whispers, "Hey, Mako, do you think-" And that's about as far as she gets before Mister Edgars whirs around and storms towards her, a dark look of fury on his face as he screams in her, and Tori's, ear.

"MISS JONES DO YOU THINK THIS IS A GAME?"

Mako winced, burying her head in her work as the blonde leaned back, stammering out an apology.

---

Class 2B
Mark Darby

It was hard to focus on Miss Vance's words as she droned on and on and on, about something to do with chemistry, presumably. Half the class was falling asleep, and the other half were playing on their phones or talking with each other.

From beside Mark, a blonde boy, Jason Roberts, turned to him, rolling his eyes.

"Hey, Mark, what's up? You hear about what happened to Luke last week?"

---

Class 1C
Kirino ???

...Yep, the teacher hadn't shown up.

At all.

The entire class was chatting among themselves, people finding new friends and talking with old ones. It had seperated off into groups, and a couple of girls - one tall and blonde, one short and brunette - had come over to Kirino to chat.

"Hey, what's up?" the blonde on opened up with cheerfully, spinning a chair around and sitting down. "I'm Koneko Takamouchi, call me T.K, works better if I say it in Japanese," she rambled, before pointing her thumb over at her friend. "That's Mina, she's grumpy and unfriendly-"

"Hey!"

"-Never mind her. What's your name?"

"as a Matter of fact mate, I didn't, what happened?" Mark asked, eager to distract himself from the dreary lecture

Kirino had just moved to this city thanks to her mom's job moving and by extension her part time job, Kirino's mom was the manger of a modeling agency and had helped her become a amateur model for a few magazines but her goal is to make it big time once she graduates from high school sadly she only just entered high school .

Kirino had arrived in the city late at night so she did not have time to unpack her things for school the next morning so it ends up being a big rush looking through all the box's for her thing's and the fact that there is a strange letter in one of them does not help.

"The Kingmaker .. game...what the heck is this* Kirino say's as she inspects the letter's front and back.

"there is no address on it "

"honey you're going to be late hurry up you don't want to miss your first day of high school" Kirino's mom yell's up to her.

"Coming!!... ahhh all deal with this later" she throws the letter on to her bed and quickly grab's her bag and run's down stairs and quickly sits down to put her shoes on.

Mom : Honey don't forget you have a shoot at 5 today so don't be late

"i won't don't worry now I am off"  as the door slams closed as she head's for school the walk take's about  15 minutes at a good pace before arriving at the front of the school she quickly look's up at before heading inside.

"class 1C ...Class 1C ah there it is" looks up at the sighing and walks to into the class seeing a bunch of 1st year's like herself chatting but can't seem to see the teacher any where she shrugs it off and set's off to find a seat she spot's one near the middle beside the window's and take's her seat when two girls come up to her.

"Hey, what's up?" the blonde on opened up with cheerfully, spinning a chair around and sitting down. "I'm Koneko Takamouchi, call me T.K, works better if I say it in Japanese," she rambled, before pointing her thumb over at her friend. "That's Mina, she's grumpy and unfriendly-"

"Hey!"

"-Never mind her. What's your name?

"Kirino Kirino Tohsaka nice to meet you two" Kirino says as she tilts her head to the side smiling and closing her eyes

(btw does this school have uniforms? )

Edgar frowned at the papers dumped in front of him, before picking them up and rising from his chair. As he milled around the classroom, handing people papers, he began to wonder why Rika seemed so defensive today, and resolved to ask her when he got the chance.

Lisa Stone

Kingmaker.

The letter had been on Lisa's nightstand when she woke up in the morning along with a thin black cigar.  Lisa's parents didn't know that their daughter smoked or, if they did, they didn't speak about it.  Lisa wore enough perfume to mostly mask the stench and she was careful to never leave a pack out in the open.  She was past the point in her life where mommy and daddy would make unexpected visits to her room but she took no chances.

Before leaving for school, she had went out back to the little forest area behind her family home with the letter.  There she had lit the cigar and taken her first puff of the magical item.  It was delicious.  She enjoyed the act of smoking more than the taste of it, but this cigar was different.  She felt like she could spend a whole afternoon puffing on it, savoring the taste, and breathing out the fragrant pink smoke.  She enjoyed it a bit longer while the letter burned.  Soon the letter was gone, as it had instructed, and it was time to go to school.  

Lisa and her girlfriends often smoked before or after class.  Sometimes they even cut class to have a cigarette.  The school administrators couldn't do anything to them as long as they were off school property.  There was a smoking area a couple blocks away, but recently Lisa had begun to favor a storage shed in the back of the school.  It had the advantage of being close to the school and no windows pointed at it making it unlikely that she and her friends would be spotted.  The shed was as often used for smoke breaks as a discrete lover's rendezvous.  More than once Lisa had heard a stifled moan from the back of the shed and smiled knowingly with her girlfriends.

Even now Lisa could feel the cigar sitting in her purse, almost calling to her to take another puff.  Game or no game, she was dying for a quick puff or two.  Those thoughts were on her mind when she heard a voice asking if she was alright.  She hadn't realized that she had been daydreaming mid-roll call.  She breathed a sigh of relief as Ms. Wright hadn't gotten to her name yet.

She turned to look at the girl speaking to her.  It was Jessica Turner.  Jessica, or Jess rather, was one of Lisa's girls.  She wore the same perfume Lisa did and was wearing her hair the same way Lisa had last month.  Some girls were leaders, setting trends and determining what was in or out, while others were sheep who followed whatever the latest trend was.  Lisa was a leader.  Jess was a sheep.  Many girls followed Lisa like Jess because Lisa was cool and hanging out with Lisa made them cool.  It didn't but Lisa could pretend.  She liked the attention.  Being the undisputed Queen of the Class D social circle had its perks.  She could get someone else to do her homework when she didn't feel like it and someone always knew someone that could get her a pack of cigarettes.

She was about to blow off Jess's question when an idea occurred to her.  The letter reappeared in her mind.  Her cigar had the power to control minds or so the letter had claimed.  Maybe it was time for a test.  She looked up to make sure Ms. Wright wasn't wasn't looking in her direction then over to Jess.

"I haven't had a cig in forever, let's cut period 2 and go for a smoke."

As Mister Edgars busied himself chastising the blonde girl, Tori expertly slid the wallet out of his back pocket and stuffed it into her purse.  She knew her classmates could see what she was doing, but she also knew that none of them would dare cross her.

"Mister Edgars?" said Tori, "Can I be excused?"

"What is it, Miss Kincaid?" growled the teacher.

"Girl problems, you know," she announced loudly, eliciting snickers from several students.

"Fine, go," he said, and turned his attention back to the blonde.

Tori made her way casually to the girls' restroom where she found one of the second year girls awkwardly attempting to light a cigarette.

"Give it," demanded Tori of the younger girl.

The girl handed over the cigarette without hesitation, and when Tori indicated she wanted the lighter and the rest of the pack, the girl handed those over as well.  Tori lit the cigarette, took a puff, and blew a cloud of smoke toward the ceiling.  The other girl looked at her, pathetically.

"Where are my manners?" said Tori, before taking a long drag from the cigarette.

She turned and pulled the other girl toward her, as if for a kiss.  The girl was startled, but she yielded to Tori, closing her eyes and leaning in, lips parted.  Tori stopped when their lips where half an inch apart, and blew the smoke into the other girl's mouth.

"There you go.  Now, get lost."

The girl nodded and exited the bathroom, coughing and flustered.

"What a loser," thought Tori.

Now that she was alone, Tori took out her cell phone and began snapping pictures of the front and back of each of the credit cards.  "These ought to be worth something," she thought to herself, and placed the wallet back inside her purse, next to the strange letter she'd received that morning.  She left the bathroom and was walking back to class when a familiar voice called out.

"Victoria Kincaid!"

Tori turned around to see a stout, balding man in a pit-stained uniform, followed closely by a younger man.

"Oh hi, Officer Bohannon.  Patrolling the girls' bathrooms as usual, huh?"

"How are your parents, girl?" the officer asked.  "You see, rookie, this is what you get when you cross a lowlife dirtbag with common street trash.  Is that cigarette smoke I smell, Miss Kincaid?"

"Yeah, it's from that girl who left a minute ago.  I told her Officer Bohannon doesn't want girls smoking in there, but she said you were just a fat sack of..."

"So," he interrupted, "if I told you to turn out your bag, I wouldn't find a pack of cigarettes inside?"

"That and a stolen wallet," she thought to herself.  Rather than risk being searched, Tori reached into her purse and produced the pack of cigarettes.

"Now, doesn't it feel good to tell the truth, young lady?" said Officer Bohannon, as he scribbled out a suspension note. "Rookie, take this... lovely young woman... down to the Vice Principal's office.  I've got other business to attend to."

"Let's go," commanded the young man, and Tori reluctantly followed.

Along the way, Tori stopped to answer a text message, and the young officer grabbed her arm to pull her along.  She wrenched free from his grasp and slapped him hard across the face.

"Don't ever touch me!" she growled and glared at him, half expecting to be hit back.

To Tori's surprise, the officer dropped his gaze to the floor.

"Y-yes, Victoria.  I'll never do it again!"

"What the hell?" she thought to herself, then remembered the letter.  She now had the power to slap people into submission, and this guy had been especially easy.  Tori's father was a career criminal, and she knew what an asset a compromised cop, even a lowly rookie, could be.  The way he was looking at her, with that mixture of desire and fear, she knew he'd do anything she asked.  She grinned.

"It's Tori--Miss Tori.  Now, here's how it's gonna work.  First, you're gonna tear up that suspension and give me back my cigarettes.  Then, you're going to work for me.  I'm putting you on my payroll, except with a twist.  You're going to pay *me* half of whatever pathetic salary you're getting, got it?"

The suspension note was torn to shreds, and he was offering Tori the pack of cigarettes before she had even finished speaking.  Noticing the young man's wedding ring, Tori added "And if your wife has a problem with our arrangement, you tell her exactly where she can find me."

Arriving back at the classroom, Tori slid Mister Edgars's wallet across the floor, underneath his chair, where he could find it later without arousing suspicion.  She returned to her seat and looked to Mako.

"So, what did I miss?"

With the Class starting, Maria took out the letter she had found on her pillow this morning.
Who ever had placed it there must have been a ninja. With only turning her back to her bed to dress, when she turned around it was suddenly there.

The letter seemed interesting, though totally fake. Her eyes now had magical powers to make people what ever she wanted to do?
Not that people really dared to refuse her much any way, but it would be fun to test it on one of her new class mates. She already knew most of them and the ones she didn't already know where already introducing themselves. The only three that didn't have a partner already where the nerd Lars, she hated him since he smelled terrible, as if he only took a bath every second month. The other was one of her friends, Nina that was asleep, like always. Then there was a girl she didn't know yet. She looked a little bit like a problem child, with her chair tilted backwards her legs on the table flipping a coin in her hand.
This girl should be a perfect testing subject.

When she went over to her, she saw her eyes meet hers, filled with disgust and hate. This girl was probably in her rebel phase, trying to look cool and show every one how much of a loser they are.
She even looked more than a boy rather than a girl, which could be improved if the letter was true!

"Hello, I am Maria, what is your name?" she said.
"Don't you fucking dare to speak to me fucking loser, I am only here because my fuckign mom wants
me to go to school! So piss off!" replied the little rebel.
"I wonder if it doesn't work?" but then she realised the girl was looking at her face but not directly into her eyes any more. She would need to make her look at her face directly but how could she accomplish that?

"I too don't wanna do this, but the teacher wants everyone to introduce themselves to each other. So can we just get it over with?", maybe this way she would get her attention.

"Just get it over with. I am Nina, so what is your name idiot?" was her cold and quick reply, but now she looked Maria into her eyes, this should be the perfect time to test her abilities!

"I am Maria, but you should call me Maria-chan! Since I am so cute right?"

"Ok, Maria-chan, but... you aren't cute at all!"

"I think you should really find me cute though! I mean look at my eyes, aren't they just beautiful?"

"Yeah... I think so... Really cute eyes, still you are a dopey idiot!"

"I think you should be much more friendly from now on to me Nina!"

"As you wish, Maria-chan!" said Nina with a much more honest and bright smile.

Maria was happy with this result and heared the chime for the break. She wondered how much further she could go but thought she might need to test her powers on other people more!

Having handed out the papers, Edgar returned to his seat and began to think on the events of the morning. Waking up to find a letter on his chest was one of the most startling things he had experienced in recent memory. Who had put it there, how did they get into his room, and what did it say? Reading the letter only filled him with more confusion, and a measure of fear. He had never applied to a "Kingmaker Game" just as much as he had never heard of a "Kingmaker Foundation". But despite these things, there was one statement in the letter that stood out to him.

"Refusal of acceptance is not permitted. You will play."

With that, Edgar knew he had no choice. Like it or not, he had to play this game. Shortly after, he found the mirror by his school bag. It looked so simple and unassuming, but Edgar knew its power, and it was confirmed by the fact that he had no reflection in this mirror. He had stuffed it into his bag and headed out, trying his hardest to forget about the thing and pretend it had never happened. Yet here he was, reliving the moments as though he was not allowed to forget.

People had started chattering around the classroom as Walters gave them leave to begin their work. Edgar worked on the questions on the paper for a little while, before turning to Rika and saying "Rika, are you okay? You seem a bit down about something."

She didn't reply. She didn't even look up, which didn't surprise Edgar too much. He would often ignore her in favour of his work, not really caring about the gossip she would usually try to talk to him about, so he figured this was just her way of getting revenge. He returned to his work, but couldn't help but dwell on the fact that something seemed off about Rika. "Maybe I could use the mirror on her to try and cheer her up?" he thought, before glancing around the classroom. "But not now..."

Zacherie found himself not to be in his classroom but the infirmary. "What had happened again? Oh yea he was almost to late and crashed into his desk. That sounded like him."
He was startled back into reality by the nurse who seemingly came out of nowhere. "Yes sir I'm fine. Thanks for asking. I'll go right back to the classroom." He readjusted his mask and set off.

In the hallway he came to remember the letter from this morning. Diving into the restroom and finding a empty stall he tried testing out his new powers. "So I can make strings now huh let's see how this works." He thought to himself. "Now let's test it." And the moment after thin but strong threads came out of the tips of his vingers. "This is going to be interesting to say the least" After a while the chime for first break went. And so Zacherie went to the cafeteria seeing what the kind of participants the game would bring.