Hanako woke up in Agil's guest bedroom to somebody knocking on the door, "Time to get up Hana, you've got enough time to get ready but don't dawdle. I'm not going to have you late on your first day back to school." Agil's voice is slightly muffled through the door.

Hanako groaned and tried her best to hide into her pillow. She remembers falling asleep on the couch last night so Agil must have carried her to bed at some point. Tiredness pulls at her mind, ugh what she wouldn't give to simply go back to sleep, "Can't I just skip?" she calls out to him grumpily.

Agil's fading laughter is a very clear no. with a tired groan she rolls out of bed and starts getting ready. She goes over to the overnight bag she packed and pulled out her dreaded school uniform, simply glaring at it for a while. A few weeks ago Silica had texted her a picture of the school uniform for the SAO survivors and Hanako is very jealous. Silica's uniform is so cute; a pretty blue with a cute red bow and their skirts are plenty long. Compared to Kunugigaoka's uniforms which are a boring beige with a dumb black tie, and a short skirt. Let's just say that Hana is not very happy with it. If she's being forced to go to a school she doesn't want to go to her dad could have at least picked one with a cute uniform. Deciding to be a bit rebellious she puts on the uniform to the bare minimum she's able to. A vindictive smirk appears on her face as she takes in her reflection in the mirror, oh yeah game on.

A few minutes later Hana comes out of the room, her hair still a complete and snarled mess. Her hair now falls slightly passed her shoulders. It's the longest she's allowed herself to keep it since she was eight. It felt weird, but a good weird. She had honestly forgotten what it felt like to have all of her hair in a single ponytail or even braids. She finds that she actually likes how she looks with long hair and she lightly wonders just how long she'll be able to grow it before it starts to annoy her. She had taken one look at the mass of snarls her hair was and had decided that she needs food in her before she even begins to attempt to tame it. Long hair may look nice, but short hair is definitely easier to take care of.

Agil looked up as he heard her coming down the hallway. An almost pained expression appears on his face as he takes in the appearance of the kid he's started thinking of as a daughter. Agil is originally from America, having moved to Japan to marry his wonderful wife. There are some Japanese traditions and normal ways of life that he will never get used to. School uniforms being one of them, why force people to wear specific outfits? Especially if it makes some of the kids uncomfortable. Hanako is clearly uncomfortable in her uniform, he can tell by the way she's unconsciously pulling at the hem of her skirt as if willing it to grow longer.

"Is that how you're planning to go to school?" he asks, knowing she doesn't want any pity about her situation. Her hair isn't brushed yet or put in the usual messy bun she's taken to wearing it in. She's technically wearing the uniform, just not nicely. He wonders if her teacher will allow her to keep the uniform as she currently has it on, or will they make her fix it? The jacket is simply tied around her waist and her tie is so loose he's surprised it's not falling apart. She'll easily be able to slip the tie off over her head. She's wearing black tights under her skirt as she's been complaining ever since her uniforms came in that the skirt was way too short. Hana is one of those girls that prefer pants over skirts, not that he blames her. But the school doesn't allow crossdressing so she's unfortunately stuck with the skirt. That's another thing he doesn't get, how is wearing pants crossdressing?

Hanako gives him a tired yet spiteful grin, "Well, I do plan on brushing my hair before I leave, but I require sustenance before I expend any more energy. Feed me Agil." She collapses into his kitchen chair and sent him a pitiful look, puppy dog eyes and all.

Agil booms out a laugh and places a plate of pancakes down in front of her. He knows he did something good when Hana's eyes light up at the sugary breakfast.

"Pancakes?" she exclaims happily.

"Figured you deserve a special breakfast today. Eat up, brush your hair, and then get your butt in my car. I'm driving you to school before I head to the bar."

Nearly half an hour later they pull up in front of the school. Dread and anxiety fill her as she sees all the kids flooding into the school. God, she doesn't want to be here.

Agil lets out a low whistle as he parks in the school's drop-off zone. He has seen pictures of the place from the brochure that Hanako had all but thrown at him at the bar a while ago. And while he knew that this is a higher-class school, but damn, seeing it in person is impressive. This school is massive.

"Not a bad place to go to school at least." He tries to placate her.

Hanako lets out a bitter snort, "Well, yeah, it's a nice building, but it's not where my class is going to be. I'm not that lucky, pretty sure fate has something against me at this point."

Agil frowned, "What do you mean, this is your school right?" he had read the brochure that she had thrown at him, eager to know about the school that her father thinks is so good he's forcing his daughter to be at an extreme disadvantage. Overall it does seem like a really nice school. There had been notes about class 3-E having some restrictions placed on them, to foster a quicker learning process apparently. But he hadn't read anything about 3-E not being on campus. He had planned on doing more research online, but things kept coming up and he hadn't gotten the chance. He has a sinking feeling that that had been a terrible mistake. The hard look the kid sends him only cemented the fact.

"You never looked past the shiny brochure, did you? Classes A through D uses that building and all of the amenities that come with it. E-Class, however, which is my class is forced to use a different building. Our building is separated from the rest so we don't bother the good studious children. We're pretty much just examples, do poorly enough children and you'll end up in E-Class so you better keep your grades up." Hana lazily points to the mountain behind the school, "Somewhere near the top of that is a completely run-down building. That will be my schoolroom for the rest of my middle school career. Every day will begin and end with a long-ass hike up and down a mountain. Yay me. At least it'll help me get my stamina back up quicker."

"Seriously? That is screwed up." Agil frowned in the direction of the mountain, slight anger for his friend building in him. He had thought Hanako had been exaggerating in all of the complainings she's been doing because she had really wanted to go to the school set up for the SAO survivors. That she was bitter about being separated from her friends and brother. The more he is actually learning about this school, however, the less he likes it as well. Hell, he wouldn't have wanted to go to this school either.

"Yup, that's Kanugigaoka for you. Bright and shiny on the outside, rotten on the inside. Not unlike the man who runs it." Hana drawls out. She falls silent without exiting the car. Maybe if she lingers long enough Agil will take pity on her and whisk her away while she's still free.

"Who is that." Agil gets her attention while gesturing to a figure standing at the gate, obviously staring that them intensely.

Hanako follows his gaze and a groan escapes her, "Speak of the devil and he'll appear. That would be the principle. Oh god, just shoot me now. It would be less painful."

Agil sends her an incredulous look, "Have you seriously gotten into trouble before school's even started?"

"No!" Hanako defends herself before a thoughtful look appears on her face, "But... that's not a terrible idea. Ti's not probable with how much my dad is probably paying him, but maybe he'll have a rare moment of humanity and take pity on me to expel me. Dad won't be able to do anything if I get expelled." Movement catches her eye and she lets out a groan and tries to shrink down in her seat to hide. Principle Asano is approaching their car, "Oh great, he saw that I saw him."

Hanako glances up as she hears Agil roll down the window and she glares at him. Traitor.

Principle Asano leans down and gives one of his famous fake smiles, "Ishii-chan, will you be joining us today? I was beginning to believe you might have been having thoughts of skipping." His tone is nice and friendly, teasing even, but Hanako knows the man well enough that she can easily hear the veiled threat.

She feels herself pale slightly, "Of course not, Sir." She blurts out quickly, praying that Agil stays silent about what they had just been talking about. As much as she wants to find a way to get out of this school she also doesn't want to get on Asano-san's bad side.

"Hmm, well that is reassuring Ishii-chan. Come along with me if you will, there are some things we must discuss before you make your way up to class." Asano tells her. He briefly turns his attention to Agil, "Thank you for making sure she makes it here safely." He then turns his attention back onto Hanako, "Better hurry Ishii-chan, if you don't want to be late for your first day of class." He turns and starts walking back towards the school without another word, expecting her to follow. His 'sincere' smile for Agil's sake switched back to blank instantly.

Agil catches a brief glimpse of the man's now blank face and finds that something about the man makes him uneasy. Agil's a big man and he does not scare easily, "I don't like him." He finds himself saying without meaning to.

A startled laugh escapes Hanako, "That just means that you have a very good sense of character. The man's a demon." Seeing Agil's troubled look she is quick to reassure him, "Don't worry about it, he's not going to be any trouble to me specifically. In his own weird way, he's on my side. He's... acquaintances with my father and has been since I've been little. He's an old demon I know how to deal with." Doesn't mean he's not still terrifying though she thinks to herself. With a sigh she grabs her bag and reaches for the door handle, "I'll see you later Agil, thanks for the ride."

"Hey, Berzerker. Klien's picking you up after school. No arguments. You live too far away to walk home and it's still too risky for you to take public transportation."

Hanako pouts at him. She wants to argue, to say she can take care of herself, but she knows that he's right. There are still hardcore reporters and angry family members of the SAO players who didn't make it that still want to talk(or yell) at her. Honestly, like she had any part of the scheme behind SAO. If she did why would she had played the game as well? She's a victim too! Not that anybody seems to recognize that fact. The family members want to blame her while the reporters want to tear her apart to get a good story. She takes a deep breath to calm herself and decides to shelf that whole thing for another time. However, "I thought I told you guys not to call me that." Berzerker. Ugh, it's such an ugly nickname.

"Yeah, that ain't going anywhere. You're stuck with that one. Now, get out and go to school. Good luck kiddo and do your best. At least try to enjoy yourself."

Hanako gave him a small nod before getting out of the car and started jogging after the principal to catch up with him. She had no idea what this sudden meeting is about and that worries her a bit. She also doesn't really want to think about how Asano-san knew what vehicle she'd be showing up in. For now, she'll just ignore his creepy stalkerish ways and simply go along with it. There really is no fighting the principle anyway, so why waste energy? She fidgets slightly with the scrunchie on her wrist as she falls into step behind him, finally catching up. She had decided to attempt to keep her hair down today, but if it starts bothering her she won't hesitate to throw it up in a messy bun.

She decides to try and check all of her bases before they arrive at the office. So, she digs into her bag and pulls out her phone. She had checked all of her messages last night and there hadn't been anything from him then, but maybe he had sent her something this morning and she had missed it? She almost always keeps her phone on vibrate so it doesn't bother her, so maybe she had just missed an alert. There is a hoard of messages from her SAO friends wishing her luck on her first day, which makes her feel good. Having friends is nice. There is also a message from Kirito asking her if she was going to meet up with him later at Asuna's hospital. She quickly answers an affirmative, putting away a mental note to tell her guard where she plans on going after Klien drops her off at home. She needs to keep her two guards in the loop at all times. The hospital is close enough to her house that they don't mind her walking there by herself, as long as she lets them know first. She moves on to the other texts she missed coming in on the drive here. Hazama is asking when she was going to get there or if she needs help finding the classroom. Yoshida had also sent a text asking if she'd be okay making it up the mountain by herself or if she'll need help. Even with how much physical therapy, and other activities she's been doing to get back to how she had been two years ago, there are still moments when all of her energy leaves her or she suddenly gets dizzy. She's getting better, those moments are getting further and further between, but she's still not fully recovered from her two-year coma. She answers the both of them that she has a meeting before school to attend and that she'll be there after she's done with it, and that she'll be fine getting there. Again, friends are amazing things to have.

With no more un-read texts showing up she switches over to her emails. She does her best to keep on top of her emails because that is usually how her father contacts her if he needs her to know something or do something. Like she's one of his underlings and not his daughter. Asano usually communicates through emails as well, though he does occasionally text. She hadn't even looked at her phone this morning until now, wanting to focus her energy on not freaking out about school, so maybe she had missed an email from him this morning? No. There are only a few junk emails that she deletes easily enough.

She bites her lip in worry as she tucks her phone away. She had joked with Agil in the car, but now she's actually questioning it. Has she somehow gotten in trouble with the principal before school has even officially started? Did she forget to hand in the practice packets that he had given her to work on? No, she had definitely finished all of them. They probably weren't all correct, but she had finished them. She clearly remembers giving the whole pile to Gakushu the last time he had come over and she knows that he wouldn't have forgotten to give them to his father. She unconsciously starts picking at her nails in stress as she follows the intimidating man into the building.

The side look she gets from Asano-san quickly makes her stop fidgeting, however. She does her best to center herself and hide her stress, bringing her heiress mask to the front. Fidgeting is a sign of weakness, and everyone knows how much Asano-san hates weakness. Hanako follows him closely all of the way to his office, doing her best to ignore the looks she's getting from the kids in the halls. She doesn't know if the looks are for her following the principal or her boldness in how she's wearing the uniform in front of said principal. She's honestly surprised that Asano-san hasn't commented yet about how she's wearing it. But, he knows how much she dislikes the uniform, so maybe this is one of his rare humanity moments in that he's allowing her to wear it how she pleases. Which is annoying as she's mainly wearing it like this to upset the man. But, oh well.

Asano-san opens up the door to his office, ushering her inside. There is already a worried-looking woman in there and curiosity burns at Hanako. Who is she? Hanako comes to a stop next to the mystery lady, keeping her heiress mask up and present. Asano-san breezes past them both to take his seat at his desk. Hanako side-eyes the lady, trying to figure out who she might be. She definitely isn't a government worker. There had been brief discussions about putting an additional guard on her at school as chatter about her mom surfacing had been heard. The government really wanted to get their hands on her mom as she is the only living person who knows about the specifics of the whole SAO ordeal. There is also a chance she might know why 300 people still haven't woken up after the game has ended. With how obsessed her mom is about her, not as her daughter but as an object she thinks she owns, there is a very good chance that her mom will eventually come to try and get her. That is the only reason she still has government official guards assigned to her instead of just bodyguards hired by her father. She had thought that the whole school guard idea had gotten shot down though, to her relief and Gov Man's chargen. She has a hard enough time making friends normally, she doesn't need to be the weird girl that has a bodyguard. She just really wants to be a normal kid here. Not an SAO survivor, not a rich heiress, not Kenji Ishii's daughter. Just Hanako. Thankfully she only has to take a single glance at the lady to know that she isn't a government official. The way that she holds herself is all wrong, too timid. There is also the T-shirt she's wearing under her business skirt suit-jacket. That is definitely not professional wear. It's funny and kinda cute, but definetly not something that would she would be allowed to wear during work hours if she was part of the government.

Asano-san gives a weary look at the T-shirt, which made Hanako like it more, before seemingly ignoring it, "I have called you both here to discuss a certain topic. Hanako Ishii this is your new teacher, Yukimura-sensei. I will be giving your full file to her so she'll know of your special circumstance." He did just that as he pulled a file out of his desk and held it out to her supposed teacher, "Read that as quickly as possible Yukimura-san, that file is not leaving this room."

Aguri glanced at her young student before nodding seriously and flipping it open to read. What is so special about this student that this meeting is necessary? That the principle is going out of his way to discuss a specific student? The girl doesn't seem like a trouble student. The kid is doing her best to hold herself together and seem calm and collected, but her eyes give away her nervousness. Aguri had received a list of her students this year and the reasons they have come to be in her class at the end of the last school year, she had it memorized by now. Most of them were for poor grades. There were a few odd cases like Akabane, who she won't see until a few weeks in due to suspension, and Isogai who had gotten caught having a part-time job. Ishii-chan was listed under poor grades like the majority of her class, though she had not been registered as a student of Kunugigaoka previously. It is very rare for people to transfer into Kunugigaoka, and even rarer that they get transferred straight into E-Class. Usually, they only take in the extremely bright students as transfer students. With one last look at the nervous girl, she started reading the file.