Milk_Is_My_Drug
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Chapter 47: Ace's First Day
🕑 Added 2025-05-27 07:30:37 +0000 UTCEarly morning sunlight filtered through the trees that bordered Blue Valley High, casting long shadows across the sidewalk. Ace stood in front of the school's main gate, her back straight, arms at her sides, and her wide, unblinking eyes fixed on the building.
Next to her, Courtney Whitmore stood with crossed arms and a scowl etched on her face. The stiffness in her shoulders betrayed how utterly annoyed she was by the current situation. Behind them, wearing his usual calm and cheerful smile, was Ashborn.
“Courtney,” he said, the smile never wavering, “just a reminder, Ace is in your care.”
Courtney didn’t reply. She just glared at him before turning toward the school. “Let’s go,” she muttered and began walking forward. Ace silently followed, her footsteps light and measured.
“Have fun!” Ashborn called out cheerfully behind them, then turned and walked away without a care in the world.
As the two girls walked across the school grounds, students began to notice them. Some waved and greeted Courtney, but their eyes quickly drifted to the strange girl beside her. Ace’s unblinking gaze and her wide eyes drew attention like a magnet. Whispers followed in their wake.
Courtney leaned in slightly and muttered under her breath, “No powers inside the school. Got it?”
Ace didn’t respond but remained beside her. Courtney sighed and continued the informal tour, showing her the sports field, the playground, the swimming pool, and several of the student hubs and hangout spots. Her voice remained curt, serious. No warmth, no friendliness.
When the bell for first period rang, Courtney led Ace to her assigned classroom. She stopped at the door, glancing back at her one last time.
“I’ve got my own class. Just remember what I said, no powers.”
Ace nodded slowly, unblinking. “Thanks.”
Courtney didn’t say anything else and turned away.
Ace stepped inside the room.
Every head turned.
The students stared. Some whispering. Others blinking in confusion. And Ace? She simply stared right back.
She remained there for a moment before speaking in her monotone voice, “I am Ace Black. Where can I sit?”
The teacher, an elderly woman with short grey curls and round glasses, blinked in surprise before nodding. “Ah, yes, you must be the transfer student. Welcome.”
She gestured toward an empty seat in the middle row. Ace walked to the desk and sat down without a word. The murmurs in the room never stopped.
The first class passed without incident—at least on the surface. The students kept sneaking glances at her. Some whispered behind their hands. Some couldn’t stop staring at her wide, unblinking eyes. And some… were thinking back to a certain Joker show, their expressions turning increasingly uneasy.
The name. The look. The stare.
After class ended, a few curious students approached her.
“Hey, um… I’m Jason. Why don’t you blink?” one asked.
“I have always been like this,” Ace replied plainly.
Another student chimed in, “You… you kinda look like that girl from the Joker show. Y’know, that Ace. Same name and all. That ever cause you trouble?”
Ace turned her head slowly toward him. “I am that Ace. And no, it did not.”
The response hit them like a bombshell.
The students stepped back immediately. Some paled visibly. Others looked horrified.
“You’re her?!” someone whispered.
“The villain?!”
“She’s with the Joker?!”
The panic escalated quickly. Students scattered, some running for the teachers, others dashing into nearby classrooms to spread the word. Whispers turned into rumors. Rumors turned into declarations of alarm.
By the time the second class had even begun, every single student and staff member in the school knew who Ace Black was.
And panic spread like wildfire.
Fear took hold.
Students avoided the hallway she walked through. Teachers glanced at one another with concerned expressions. Some students cried. Others hid behind lockers or peeked around corners like they were avoiding a ticking time bomb.
Courtney, hearing the uproar from across the hall, pressed a hand to her forehead and groaned.
Her last year of high school was officially going to be more hectic than anything she'd ever imagined.
___________
The cafeteria was alive with noise, chatter, laughter, and the clatter of trays, until the moment Ace walked through the doors.
Silence swept the room like a cold wind.
Every student turned toward her. Eyes widened, forks froze mid-air, and conversations died instantly. The mix of fear and curiosity in their expressions was clear.
Ace didn’t flinch. She didn’t slow. Her face remained blank as ever. She simply walked toward the canteen line, her wide, unblinking eyes fixed forward. The students ahead of her looked once, then quickly backed away, almost tripping over themselves to clear a path.
Unbothered, Ace grabbed a tray, took her time picking out her food, then turned to scan the tables.
Everywhere her gaze landed, students either paled, flinched, or looked down at their trays in panic. No one dared meet her eyes.
After a few seconds of silent surveying, Ace walked to an empty table in the far corner and sat alone. She began eating, methodical and calm, while the entire cafeteria watched her like a wild animal that had wandered into a public park.
From a nearby table, Courtney sat surrounded by her friends, her eyes locked on Ace. She didn’t say a word at first. But after a moment, she sighed, grabbed her tray, and stood up.
“Courtney, where are you going?” one of her friends asked nervously.
Courtney ignored them. She walked across the cafeteria and sat directly across from Ace, wearing a forced, clearly fake smile.
“So…” she said, voice low. “What do you think you’re doing? I heard you actually admitted you were the Ace. The Joker’s Ace. Why the hell would you say that?”
Ace paused mid-bite and answered plainly, “My father said if I want to make friends, I should be sincere and share things about myself. I didn’t lie to them.”
Courtney blinked. For a moment, she was speechless. Then she scowled and cursed Ashborn in her head [What kind of messed-up advice is that?]
Before she could say anything more, several of her friends approached hesitantly.
“Courtney,” one of them called, “What are you doing sitting with her? She’s a villain! Dangerous!”
Courtney glanced at Ace, then back at her friends. There was a brief moment of hesitation, then she said, “She’s not evil. Just… a little strange.”
The girls didn’t look convinced. But one by one, they slowly came closer and cautiously sat down with them. One girl, visibly shaking, muttered, “We’re not leaving you alone next to her…”
Courtney felt something stir in her chest. She looked at her friends with mild surprise—and maybe even a little appreciation.
Ace, meanwhile, absorbed their words and actions with her usual stillness. Then she asked, “Do friends stand for each other always… even when afraid?”
The question caught them off guard.
Courtney blinked, then said, “Friends help each other. That’s what matters.”
Ace nodded slowly. “I will keep that in mind.”
One girl tilted her head. “You talk like friendship is a foreign thing. Don’t villains have friends?”
Ace looked at her. “The base I was raised in never introduced the concept of friendship.”
That answer shifted the mood.
The girls exchanged glances, their fear slightly replaced by curiosity. They remembered the brief glimpse of Ace from the Joker’s twisted show. A chilling girl with power in her eyes and madness in her stare.
But… what kind of life created someone like this?
Courtney couldn’t stop herself from asking, “What was your life like before you met the Joker?”
Without any emotion, Ace began to speak. She described her early years, the conditions she lived in, the training, the experiments, the games she was forced to play. She spoke of people who treated her like a tool or a weapon, of days without sunlight and nights without dreams.
She didn’t cry. She didn’t frown. She didn’t smile. It was like listening to a robot recite someone else's nightmares.
The girls were stunned.
Courtney’s lips pressed into a thin line. Even she, who had seen a lot, felt pity.
“I heard from the teachers,” another girl said hesitantly, “that you were adopted by Ashborn Black. The rich guy who beat up Batman. How did you meet him? Why would he adopt you?”
Ace replied calmly, “He heard about me from one of his contacts by coincidence. Since my life greatly resembled his, he came to help me and took me in.”
That answer sparked a wave of surprise. Even Courtney looked stunned.
“Wait, what?” she asked. “Did he tell you that? He must be lying. Ashborn Black was born rich. He doesn’t have powers. How could his life be anything like yours?”
Ace looked straight at her. “I saw his memories. The life he lived until this point… it was much worse than mine.”
Courtney stared, jaw slightly slack. She couldn’t believe what she just heard or what to say.
___________
Within the walls of Shadow Corp’s upper tower, Ashborn sat at his desk, elbows resting on the surface, fingers steepled before his mouth. His usual smile tugged faintly at his lips as his focus not on the room but elsewhere.
Through the shadows cast across Blue Valley’s school halls, cafeteria, and classrooms, he had watched Ace’s first day.
Her first day hadn’t exactly been normal, how could it be? But it was progress.
[A great start,] he mused. [Especially considering where she began.]
Across from him, Rex sat rigidly in one of the leather chairs, his face filled with restrained agitation. He was now filled with worry and for once, it was not for Ashborn’s safety.
“Do you think she’s doing okay?” Rex finally asked, voice tight. “What if she was bullied? Mocked? You know how kids are. You just threw her into that place.”
Ashborn’s eyes shifted toward him, amusement flickering across his face.
“Relax,” he said smoothly, “she is doing well. And who could possibly bully her?”
Rex’s eyes narrowed “Don’t tell me to relax! You adopted her. That’s not just some game, Ashborn. You have a responsibility now, a responsibility to her. She’s not ready for normal life! You know that. We both know that. And you’re just sitting here smiling like an idiot.”
Ashborn didn’t flinch. He tilted his head slightly, almost like he was studying Rex. The outburst didn’t rattle him, in fact, it made him smile a bit more.
“She wasn’t ready,” Ashborn said quietly, “but she needed it. It won’t be perfect. It will hurt. But that’s part of learning how to live.”
Rex scowled and said “You always do this. Act like you know what is going on, how everything will play out. What if something goes wrong, huh? What if she snaps? What if someone pushes her too far?”
Ashborn leaned back in his chair. Rex wasn’t wrong. And while Ace had made some progress, there were things, certain things, that still needed boundaries.
In his mind, a quiet note etched itself into his mental list.
Talk to Ace again. Explain to her what can and can’t be shared in more detail. What can’t be shared is not limited to his shadows or his past life.
His expression shifted slightly, less smile, more purpose.
“Don't worry, I am taking this seriously” he said.
Rex huffed, not fully satisfied but recognizing the seriousness in Ashborn’s voice. “Good. She needs guidance. If you're going to be her father, then be a proper one.”
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