black and white and red all over

Chapter 1

Byleth's last first day of school is also her first day at Garreg Mach, a private academy she'd never heard of before she was enrolled. But her father's work has taken her to this area, and because he previously knew the headmistress, some strings were pulled to get Byleth in on scholarship.

"I know it's not ideal, transferring your last year of school," her father had said, looking every bit as apologetic as he sounded, "and if I could avoid it, I would. But you know how work is..."

Byleth doesn't actually know how work is, because she's never been completely clear on what it is her father does, but they've moved a few times in her life, and she's never taken the time to get close enough to anyone that she really minds moving. Even for her senior year, it doesn't matter much to her either way. She still has no idea what she's going to do once she graduates, and she wonders if that might be a negative side effect from moving so much.

Her father isn't home to see her off on her last first day of school, but this isn't uncommon. Whatever his job entails, it keeps him away most of the time, and Byleth is used to fending for herself. There are times when she gets lonely, but it's manageable, and she's very used to.

She isn't expecting to or planning to make any friends here. Starting so late, when it's an academy where most people have known each other all through high school, most even before that, means that there probably won't be much room for a new girl. She gets there early to get her locker assignment and schedule, and is able to find her way around without much incident.

Her first class is a study hall, overseen by a teacher with a planning period that hour. The teacher, introducing herself as Miss Casagranda, tells them, "You all can talk or do whatever else you want as long you don't get too rowdy. It's the first day, I know none of you have homework yet," before sitting down at her desk and spacing out.

"It's so lame having study hall first thing in the morning! Like, what are we supposed to do?" asks the boy sitting next to Byleth. It takes her a moment to realize that he's talking to her.

"Oh, I...well, I guess if you forgot to do homework the night before, maybe? Or if you've got a big project to work on," she says. "I didn't have a study hall at my last school, so I don't know."

"At your last school? Oh, are you new here? I thought I hadn't seen you around before!" He smiles. "My name's Caspar! What's yours? What year are you? Where are you from?"

By the time Byleth has finished answering his questions, Caspar has decided that it's his personal mission to be her first friend, and to talk her through how things are at Garreg Mach.

"For the most part, everyone's been here since at least middle school, some elementary school. There are a few who started in high school, and a few exchange students, but I think you're the first senior I've ever met starting new," he says. "You said it was cos your dad had a job transfer?"

She nods. "We've moved a few times before, so I'm used to it."

"Still, it's gotta be hard coming to a place like this! Well, anyway, we may be in different grades, but you can count on me for anything," he says. Caspar is a sophomore, and talks to her about the student government, the extracurriculars, what classes he's heard are interesting for seniors and what senior teachers to watch out for, and it is in the middle of one of his tangents that another student enters the classroom.

Miss Casagranda doesn't even react to the student, arriving twenty minutes after class has started, but Byleth looks up. The student in question is a fairly tall young man, with sharp eyes that look a little sunken in; all of their uniforms are the same, but the black outfit looks somehow darker on him, and he seems almost menacing. Byleth doesn't realize that she's staring at him until he's sat at an empty desk and her eyes are still on him, but she has a hard time looking away.

"Wonder what made Hubert so late," Caspar says, following her gaze.

"Hubert?"

"Yeah, the guy who walked in. Hubert von Vestra, he's a senior like you. He's kinda creepy, I don't really know how to explain it, but you just kinda get weird vibes from him, you know?" Caspar says all of this in a low voice, probably so Hubert won't overhear them.

Byleth can see what he means, but at the same time, something about him has caught her interest. For reasons she can't quite explain, she finds herself wanting to talk to Hubert, maybe get to know him, and maybe even make friends with him. It's out of character for her, and she looks down at her desk to stop herself from staring at him.

"I really don't know that much about him, except he's always hanging out with this junior. I guess they've been friends since they were kids or something," Caspar continues. "Actually, she's the one I was telling you about before, the junior class president. Hubert doesn't do student council though. Honestly, I don't know that he does anything other than hang out with her."

"So who else is in student council?" she asks, mostly to move the subject away from Hubert.

"There's the senior class president, Claude, and his vice president is this guy Lorenz. He's kinda snobby, which is the complete opposite of Claude. I'm pretty sure he only won cos he throws the best parties," he replies. "Edelgard is the junior president, and it's the second year in a row she beat out Ferdinand, who got stuck as her vice president."

Before, he'd told her that elections take place at the end of the school year, determining officers for the next year. The freshman class doesn't have officers, but sophomores, juniors, and seniors do. He talks about Annette, his class president, for a little while after that, and then the subject changes again while he talks about transfer students.

"My grade has this girl named Petra, I think she stays with one of the teachers," he says. "Dedue is in your grade, and he lives with this one junior, Dimitri. Actually, come to think of it, I'm surprised he isn't doing student council. Dimitri, I mean. His family's full of politicians, but maybe he's so busy with the real world that he doesn't have time for student government."

Byleth is ashamed that she only pays attention halfway, stealing glances at Hubert from time to time. When class ends, she says goodbye to Caspar and quickly gets up, wanting plenty of time to look for her next class, just in case. But as she exits the classroom, someone touches her arm to stop her, and she turns around, suddenly faced with none other than Hubert.

"I...can I help you?" she asks.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" he replies. "You kept looking at me during class. If you don't actually need anything, might I suggest taking a picture?"

"I-I..." Byleth finds herself completely frozen, unable to think of anything to say in response. He hadn't reacted to her staring at all, so she thought she had gone completely unnoticed. Apparently, that's not the case at all, and she can't think of a way to defend herself.

"Nothing to say?" he teases, and before she can think of anything to say, he turns down the hall, and would have disappeared in the crowd if he didn't tower over more than a few students.

Byleth snaps out of it then, and hurries to find her next class.