Fire Drill (Celeste Ludenberg x Hifumi Yamada)

The invitation

꧁ℍ𝕚𝕗𝕦𝕞𝕚꧂

I woke up at 4 am, as always. Even if I'm tired I needed to keep going for my fans, get this weeks chapter drawn and looking amazing as always. I set up my drawing tablet, one of the expensive ones with a screen, and worked on the poses for this shot. Despite my tiredness I needed to do whatever I could to keep going so I ate some chips and drank some soda, I know its bad for me but its easily accessible and any time spent cooking is time which I could be drawing my comics.

When 6 am strikes I put on my tie and cardigan, dusting off my figures before I leave for school. With the size of my tablet I can't bring it to school so usually I bring a sketchbook instead. Before I left the house I checked the mailbox for a paycheck or something and end up finding a sealed letter which I stuffed in my bag.

To be honest, I don't really like school. The classes themselves are find but the people are so catty and judgemental, which I guess some people are into but not me. Just because I'm an otaku and I draw doujins everyone makes so many assumptions about me, making me out to be a total creep. But my parents say fanfiction isn't a real career so here I am.

I pulled out my smartphone and took pictures of people on the street around me when I got onto the school bus. You can get a lot of good crowd shots that way and imitate them later while drawing. Nothing like people watching to get a better sense of the people around you.

"Ew look at that ugly pervert, probably taking lewd photographs of random girls on the street" I didn't have to turn around to know they were talking about me. Whoever said that probably doesn't even know how angles work, as you can't even see that kind of thing from this elevated position.

"Wow, is that a real vampire?" Another voice had said. I looked outside the window to see who they could have been talking about. A pretty girl in a gothic lolita outfit, having just exited a gambling house and looking satisfied, like she just won big. I snapped a quick picture and took some mental notes 'A vampire gambler would be an interesting story character'. But I couldn't think about her for too long, as the bus was almost at school.

I don't have many friends so I go straight to my class and open the letter I saw earlier. I pull out a letter with a pamphlet and neat handwriting.
"Hifumi Yamada, as the ultimate doujin artist, you have been cordially invited to spend your next year at the prestigious Hope's Peak Academy"
Maybe people will leave me alone now that they know I'm guaranteed success in life.

☾︎𝕮𝖊𝖑𝖊𝖘𝖙𝖊☽︎
Another day, another win for me. During the 17 years that I've been alive, I have never lost a game against others. Today was relatively low stakes with merely 1000 dollars on the line. I'd gamble anything between a piece of candy and my life. No matter what I bet doesn't matter, I always win in the end.

Just as I left the casino I saw a schoolbus go past. I wonder if anybody saw me. In the bright of the daylight my metamorphose temps fille coord stands out like a sharp black shadow. Earning so much from gambling has its perks, and for me that's a wardrobe that makes me look like a porcelain doll. Truthfully its an investment as well because people assume the doll girl doesn't know a thing about gambling, which I can use to my advantage easily.

Once you know what kind of assumptions people make about you, life gets a lot easier to navigate. If somebody makes a positive assumption about you, you don't have a reason to correct it. I don't understand how somebody can be the same person inside and out or wear their heart on their sleeve. How can someone so weak or vulnerable even exist?

I walked to a nearby cafe and ordered milk iced tea, one of my favorite drinks, and a croissant, before returning to my apartment. I don't live in the wealthiest of areas, but at least I live on my own. I did my school work virtually, on a laptop, the average school environment isn't for me and I wouldn't be able to attend all of my tournaments if I were to also attend highschool.

I spent extra time on french and german lessons so that I could perfect the accent. Truthfully I'm from a small japanese town but I prefer people to believe I'm a european noble. I guess its technically a lie, but nobody has called my bluff yet. If people assume my western name is my birth name that is on them.

After finishing some of my lessons I heard a letter being delivered to my mailbox. Putting on my extensions before anybody saw me I made it to the door and picked up the letter.

It had an elaborately designed wax seal. Using a dagger as a letter opener I pulled out the piece of paper and stared at the words on the page.

"I simply cannot believe it"
I was selected, as the ultimate gambler, to attend the elite high school Hope's Peak Academy. Now among the average population of students I would be an outcast, but among the best of the best, everybody is eccentric, everybody special in this world also has quirks that ostracize them from their peers.

After all, society could never be changed by somebody merely trying to fit in. And anybody attending a school like this would certainly be able to change society.
I put the letter into a drawer. I may dislike public school but with a private school like this I will most definitely attend.