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[fieldbox= Kyouko Himura, #3DA3C2, solid]
Kyouko_Ico.jpg

[ December 18th, Early Morning / Town of Hisakawa, Saionji Hot Springs, Front Lobby ]

While listening to Mana, Kyouko didn't care too much about the actual community voting or whatever fancy term it had the blonde simply went by whatever names Sagawa thought about sounded the most fancy without minding it too much.

What followed next however, was a sight to behold. 'Escalating quickly' was a rather mild description to the sudden exchange between Sagawa and Ishikawa. It hadn't even been all too abnormal if not for the fact that Rei got dragged into it. Somehow, Kyouko had a certain feeling of déjà vu ... a bad dream?... A prophecy? The girl couldn't quite tell, tot to mention that Sagawa... Sagawa...

S̢̛aG̸͟͢A̢͟ẁ͟҉a ͡wA̵͘͝s̵N̸'̢͏T͜͞ ̢l͏i̕Ke͘ ̷͘͜Th̸̶a͘͝T.̡

"Urgh..." The blonde stumbled a few steps back as she held onto her head as a sudden, very intense, headache assaulted her.

[glow=red]Reality was clashing with fiction.[/glow]

The harder Kyouko tried to make sense out of this the stronger the feeling of something trying to crack up her skull became. Though, the second the girl let go the intense pain vanished. Just... like that?

The pirate had never been too fond of thinking things through, though rather because she believed that whatever her heart desired was the right choice to make. And knowing what she truly? desired required no long scheming or calculations.

Sagawa wasn't like that. This, despite the pain, was an undeniable fact that Kyouko wouldn't let go off even if her limbs were to be chopped off. As to why Sagawa was behaving the way she was, Kyouko gave up thinking about that. Thus, the headache became nothing more but a minor nuisance at the back of her head.

There was only one option, really, that Kyouko's heart was telling her to do. First, she had to deal with Rei, than with the lovers-quarrel between the two ladies. Knowing instinctively that taking out the 'hacker' wouldn't do anything anyways. Just like how a virus would still run rampage even if the programmer was to die. And Kyouko really didn't want to be forced into the decision of punching Sagawa or not.

Moving one step ahead at a time the one-eye knew she had to be swift. Kyouko wasn't too familiar with Ishikawa but whatever she was about to do, the blonde couldn't let her do it. Not because she wanted to care that much but rather because Sagawa was directly involved.

"Enough is enough!" Kyouko declared in a rather calm, yet strong voice before her fast walk changed into a short sprint that aimed to punch her ex-childhood-friend K.O. or, if anything, make a declaration.

Kyouko's punch would...



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[/fieldbox]
 
[fieldbox=Kamei Mana, #ccffff, solid]
ManaIco_zps2i5hycel.jpg~original

[December 18th, Late-Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa, Front Lobby]

"Oh...."

Wow, Sagawa was fast. Well, then again it made sense for her to get it ready ahead of time. Either way, she didn't so much as manage to get Sagawa turning her head. Great...

"Wait Midori-san! Why don't we go finish talking somewhere else and relax a bit! I apologize on behalf of Sagawa, I don't know why she is acting like this, but please try to forgive her."

Yes, please....

"Sorry, Ishida-san. But... If you're not going straighten her out, then I'll say it as it is. No one likes you because of the way you treat everyone, Mizunohara!"

Come on, listen to the country boy....

"Oh? Really? These two are people I hang out with sometimes."

Mana awkwardly looked towards the ceiling, trying to avoid getting dragged into the argument.

"Yeah. Because they suck up to you since you're the president's personal hacker."

What? No, no, no. "That's not--"

"Indeed. That is correct. I am the president's personal hacker. And because I am, I can messs you up fifty times over by making your chip go haywire right now!"

Any sense of friendliness remaining in Mana's expression drained instantly. Between the threat and the overwhelming malice, Sagawa may as well have been a demon to her. It didn't even matter that it wasn't directed towards her: she was threatening people with hacking, and that alone crossed a line.

The next few minutes were a blur of unbelievable events: Saionji-san trying diffuse the situation. President Kokonoe apethetically walking away. But suddenly, Misunohara crossed her moral event horizon, and left Mana with nothing but shock, fear, and fury. Reducing Saionji-san to a zombie and standing there grinning at the idea of freezing them to death... Misunohara was truly evil.

"How dare you...." Mana's eyes were closed and her fists shook with rage as she accused the demon hacker. "So this is how you solve your arguments!? Treating people like puppets!?" Mana glared up directly into Misunohara's eyes, her face twisted by anger and disappointment.

"Ya know, I was really hoping to get to know you better tonight. I guess I got my wish! Now I know you're nothing but a sadistic hacker who's going to end up losing the few friends she has!" Mana turned on her heel and stalked off towards the changing rooms, calling behind her, "Sorry Kyoko, but I'm going home early."

Mana wasn't exactly ignoring Rei's plight; after all, it was impossible to totally ignore something like that. It was more that she was trying to shut it out of her mind. Terrifying. Absolutely terrifying.

"I'll make her pay for this.... somehow...."

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[fieldbox= , White, solid]
[ December 18th, Early Morning / Town of Hisakawa, Saionji Hot Springs, Front Lobby ]

Kyouko Himura took matters into her own hands. She aimed to stop Rei in the most straightforward way possible. Striking at her physically. If she hit hit the girl hard enough, she could even knock her out. Yes, since there was no one else able to counter Mizunohara's hacking - and with Rei herself fallen under control, the only sane way to go about it was to take an insane solution and go forward with it.

Kyouko had thought that striking out at a former friend would lead to her having some hesitation. However, she did not have to worry. The strike that the pirate delivered was at about 80% of her power. Against a girl like Rei, the result was to be devastating.

Nonetheless, Kyouko drove her first forward.

It connected.




"Yeah! Kyouko-chan! That's the way to do it!"


The way Rei's body twirled in the air for a moment before she clambered on to the ground was profoundly entertaining for Mizunohara. She laughed and clapped her hands in delight.

Everyone looked at Rei's twisted body mangled on the ground. Absolute brutality. Even Kyouko was surprised. She certainly meant to knock Rei out, but that swing felt like it had a death threat driving it. Did Mizunohara even playing her too?

No. This was something she wanted to do. Sagawa did things that made people misunderstand her but in truth she

w͂̏̑͛҉͚͇͇̟̤͚a̳̥̮͚͉͚̰̿̎ͯͣ͜n͍̻̦̺̬̣ͫͤͦ͟t̲̣͚ͥ̈́̊͟e͔̹̯͇̼̬ͦd̫̣͚͇̯̩͋̆ͮ ̫̖̽͆͗t̳̘̮o̘̜̪̝͡ͅ ̘͒ͦ̃̍̍͂̃͞hͦ̃̊̐̉̓͛͢a̢̜̍̽ͪv͓̩̉͒ͯͣͥ̽ę̱͌̓́̓̚ ̓ͮ͑͋ͮ̋f̮̻ͧȑ͈̬ͅi̵̝̜͓͐̾͒̚e̐ͯ̔̋͡n͒̈́̓̿d̦̫̹̣͕̥̫ͭ̏ͫͥ̌s͈͚̆̽̿ ̮̩̫̜̹̜̮m̟̠͙̹͂͗̅̅͆ô̜͈͈̆̉̒̄͟r̼̞͕̝̄͝e̖̬͗ͅͅ ͍͔͉ͯͥ̓̈̊t̒h̫̼͈͕͚̬ͪȁ̄̍ñ̴̰̻̘̍̌ ̳̻̭̜͔ͮ̄̅̔͂ͥ̈͘a͊́̍̈̓̈́n͇͔̣͖͔͙̬ͫͩͭ̔̏̀ỳ̥͉̼̘̆̇̏o̬͙̹n̩̰̜͜ͅe̡͙̜̮͙̟̰̻ͭͫͩ̒̄̉ ̯̻͎̃̂ͥ̾̚̚ȩ͕̹͇̦̞̳̪͛̌ls͉͈̜͑̿ͥ̾̐̽̑̀e̓͒ͫͯͫͦ͞.̸͎̺̪̞ͯ̅͗̅̇̉̇.̴̲̟͈̹̝͙ͫͯ.



That wasn't true. That statement was completely contradictory to the person that she was seeing now.
Why was she protecting this person?


"Idiot... you just have to be such an enabler for Mizunohara's sadistic side every time, do you?"


"Ya know, I was really hoping to get to know you better tonight. I guess I got my wish! Now I know you're nothing but a sadistic hacker who's going to end up losing the few friends she has!"
"Sorry Kyoko, but I'm going home early."



Against Mana's disavowing, Sagawa seemed to shrug it off. Waving her hand dismissively.

"Sure, Kamei-chan. Whatever...."
"Not that good of a reaction. Would've thought she'd freak out more if it was Kyouko doing it. Oh well, next time..."


Mana made her way towards the locker rooms. Visibly affected by what had happened.

This was a nightmare. With every student at school with a chip, and with Mizunohara being the only one of them knowledgeable about hacking, what could they do beyond being simply victimized? Hackers were the worst. Making other people their playthings and relishing upon the curious scenarios that come about when they fool their unsuspecting victims.

All just for the hell of it. There was no reason to it at all beyond amusement.
In this world, there was no one out out there to save them.

This was simply a dead end.


It was probably best for Mizunohara to just up and kill everyone here. End their misery. That was probably the most logical thing to do.

But for Midori, she just couldn't accept it. This sort of injustice where one person was holding all of the cards and making playthings out of everyone. There just had to be a way around it. There just had to be...!

If it weren't for those chips...!


"Ah... that's it. So it's come to that."


The clump of clothing that was in Midori's hand plopped onto the floor beside her. Everyone breathed a minor sigh of relief. With Midori abdicated, at least, now they could focus on tending to Rei. Right?

"Ishikawa. You know weapons weren't allowed. Still, even so. What, do you think you can take me out with a tazer? You won't even be able to get within range to use it before I mess you up."


A tazer. The one Midori kept with her at all times.
It was a dangerous world, but being in the Mikado, it was even more dangerous.
The possibility of having to use it against another Mikado was always there. It was expected even. But, if Kokonoe was going to be so apathetic, then she had no choice.

"Yes. It will. But first, I'm going to take care of that unfair advantage you have."


Midori, with tense arms, raised the taiser, putting it to the nape of her neck.

"Do it! You won't! You know that trying to destroy your own chip is more likely to lead you to killing yourself!"



Midori's entire body was shaking.
Even she wasn't sure about the prospect of tazing herself and destorying her chip.
Maybe she just took it too far?

"Heh...I'm getting bored, Ishikawa. Would you like me to help you with that, then?"

"Screw you Mizunohara!"


~.~~..~!

Ishikawa's attempt to disable her chip....



The tazer clattered onto the floor. As for Ishikawa...
She stood shaking.


"You couldn't do it, then?"


Ishikawa hugged her shoulders and kneeled onto the ground.


"Damn it... Damn!"


At the last second, she lost her nerve. She dropped the lazer before it's cracking sparks could touch her neck, and her chip.


"I... I can't! I...!"


She was crying at her own weakness. Mizunohara simply expressed how mundanely expected the result ended up being.


"Too bad. I kind of wanted to see what it looked like if you tazed yourself, Ishikawa-chan."

After securing the dropped tazer on the floor, Yuri approached behind Ishikawa, throwing her coat over her.


"Ishikawa-san. That's enough. Please come with me. Mizunohara, please see to Saionji-san."

Nozomi Yuri walked Ishikawa out of the room. With the girl's arm softly but firmly in tow.


"All according to plan I guess."

Sagawa mumbled to herself. As she again used her cousin as a leaning surface.


"You're lucky I'm your cousin instead of Kokonoe, Nao. As you'll see in a moment. Now, I'm way too delicate to handle Rei. Would someone please be kind enough to straighten her out of that disgusting posture, I already called for an ambulance so I did my part."


Sagawa brough the rest of the group's attention back to Rei. Whom appeared to have just been destroyed by the pirate.




"Kokonoe..."

Just a few paces away from the table. Towards the changing rooms where other conversations were going on among the others, Midori was lead towards the president. Turning her lofty expression towards her cousin, Kokonoe was able to express an air of dissatisfaction at Midori's actions. She saw the entire thing.


"What a rebellious little relative you are." She said as she put her phone away. "But in the end, you didn't even have enough courage to off yourself then? Still, I think this counts as gross insubordination. That requires punishment."

"What do you mean? I'm actually related to you, you know!"

"True, we are. But, even if Sagawa is just my underlining, she's still MY underlining. So she's higher on the pecking order than you are."


Kokonoe closed her eyes.


"Nozomi-chan. Dispose of her. Just clear out one of the baths and let the Saionji's clean up the mess after."


Yuri's face turned more grim, after hearing that. She replied in an uncertain voice.

"...Mam'."
"K...kokonoe! Why!?"

Konokoe Tenjo reached out both of her hands to Ishikawa's face. She contemplated her with a soft expression.


"You're just too much of a liability if you can get riled up that easy. Bye-bye. dearest cousin."

Withe everyone else in the baths, and the others so engrossed in their other conversations, it felt like the people gathered around at the tables were the only ones with any power to change the grim outcomes that were coming fourth.

[/fieldbox]



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[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, grey, solid]
taigiico-jpeg.123017

[ November 9th, Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa]


It was cold.

When he was some distance away from the school, Taigi felt his phone vibrate. He took it out to check what was on it. It was a reminder of a funeral this weekend he was compelled to go to; his friend’s (from middle school that moved) grandfather had passed away. Though it was unintended, it was then that he remembered about his verbal promise to leave if there were any more incidents.

“Damn I totally forgot. I guess that beach trip isn’t happening… And I should make preparations to leave…”

Taigi sighed then typed out responses to Michio and Ryuu. Once again he didn’t send a group text even if it would be faster. He sent the same text individually to both of his friends.

“I was planning on having some fun with you this weekend, but I remembered that I had a prior obligation. Sorry.”

Taigi purposely left out the part about the funeral: there were enough dreary events going on that he didn’t want to burden his friends with another.

As he neared his home, he could see a figure in the distance, seemingly waiting for someone. As he walked closer, the figure’s identity was revealed.

“Yo. How’s life?”
“A-kun.”

It was one of Taigi’s friends from another class, Eiichi. Taigi couldn’t remember what his family name was, since most of the time he called Eiichi “A-kun”. The reason being that Eiichi’s presence was akin to a background character, as in classmate A. He was normal that to Taigi, the name fit like a glove, despite Eiichi’s protests.

“I’m fine. How are you?”
“Good. Would be better if you stopped calling me that-“
“Not gonna happen.”
“Take this.”

Eiichi handed him a thick envelope. If Taigi had to guess, there was a magazine inside. He opened the flap and peeked inside. He was right. It was promptly returned to its owner. The boy was visibly distraught.

“Ehhh??? This is one of the fines-“
“Your voice is too loud.”

In a lowered voice, Taigi continued.

“Besides, I’ve already seen that one. But what’s the deal?”
“Oh as expected. The ORG would have loved to have you...”
“The ORG? What’s-nevermind. Just come on, get to the point.”

Though Taigi wasn’t in particularly a rush, this friend of his liked to have long meandering conversations that really didn’t go anywhere. Usually he didn’t mind, but today was not one of those days.

Prodded by Taigi’s impatience, Eiichi spoke.

“Well, I’m gonna be taking a break from school. Going back to my parents’ till this whole area calms down. It’s been crazy, you know? And hah, another situation happened today of all days! Just the final nail in the coffin.”
“When are you leaving?”
“Now.”

Taigi frowned. In response, his friend slammed his hand down on his shoulder.

“Hey.”
“Oooh, what’s this what’s this? You got bit of meat on ya, don’tcha? Keep in touch!”

Eiichi removed his hand and jogged off, looking back at Taigi while waving enthusiastically. Taigi waved back with not as much gusto.

With no further interruptions, Taigi continued on home. He touched the spot where his friend’s hand was.

It was cold.

[ November 12th, Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa]

He sent Kyouko a card for her birthday. Though he didn’t know her address, Taigi entrusted it to his teacher who told him to deliver coffee. The words were polite and nothing too special; the words were the sort that could be found preprinted and bought at a store. As they weren’t particularly close he didn’t give anything else. Initially Taigi was about to forego the notion, considering the incidents surrounding the school. But he decided that it was precisely because of these incidents that small actions were important.

(“How many more will vanish?”)

A familiar pain hurt his heart as he recalled Nyoko had apparently been arrested for a crime and was the leader of a gang called the Red Pandas. He never got that impression from her and suspected something was off about the official story.

(“Well, in the end I only knew so much…”)

He wrote a letter as soon as he found out and handed it over to the police department. Again, it contained polite words saying to hang in there and fight on. There was a niggling doubt that they would actually deliver the letter, but even they couldn’t be that incompetent, could they?

(“Oshiro too…”)

Kira was gone as well, and while it didn’t hurt as much as Nyoko, he never wished for her to disappear.

[November 13th, Elsewhere]

Taigi took the Shinkansen out of Hisakawa and attended the funeral. Though he planned for his visit to be a short one, after seeing how distraught his friend was, Taigi extended his stay to try and comfort her, missing the rest of school until the break started. But that wasn’t all he did.

[November 14th, Elsewhere]

“Ahh, I told you so. What a doozy.”
“…”

“And by the way, I looked more into that chip business. And the thing you told me about being ‘unable to remove it till you get older’, isn’t entirely accurate. It’s more like it will fuck up your spine if you get it removed at this point. Some guy did and his legs were crippled. Alternatively, you can hit the spot where the chip is real hard but it would probably damage the spine in the process. Magnets also allegedly can have an effect but it will cause hallucinations. Man I said it before but I’ll say it again: the chip is insane.”
“Right?”
“Man oh man… Fun fact, apparently the guy that got his chip removed and crippled said it was 100% worth it. Funny thing too, considering he was an athlete. Oh, there was a girl accused of raping a boy. She claimed she did, but that she wasn’t in control of her body. No dice. Trial is still ongoing. There’s a bunch of weird shit going on and it’s not pretty.”
“Hmm…”
“But still, to think not even the Faraday worked… I’m flabbergasted.”
“…? Fara what?”
“Yeah, Faraday cage suit. Didn’t we talk about it? Isn’t that why you’re talking about removing it or breaking it? Hello?”

Taigi used his chip to access the Internet; even though he didn’t like it, he still knew how to use it. After finding the information about a Faraday cage, his jaw dropped. He was so flustered that he didn’t respond for nearly a minute. Such a simple solution to the chip that he felt foolish that he didn’t think of it before. If it was infeasible to remove or destroy the chip, then why not block the incoming signals from possible hacking?

“Hello? I’m gonna hang up then you assho-“
“You’re a genius.”
“Hah?”
“How come I never thought of that?”
“Oh, so we didn’t?”
“No! Fuck! Fuck! That is such a simple solution! Ahhhh!”

He stomped around and pulled on his hair with one hand, the other still holding the phone to his ear.

“Puh. Wow. Well, I guess you’re welcome.”
“Thank you! God! Wow! Wowowowowowow!”
“I still think you should leave though. There is no guarantee that a Faraday cage suit will prevent you from being hacked.”
“Wait what? It’s a wireless signal isn’t it? As such, it should block any incoming wireless transmissions, if I got my science right…”
“I’m not a computer or science guy. And from what I could find from like 5 minutes of searching, a Faraday suit might not be a true Faraday cage. Maybe the chip uses a super special frequency that goes through? And maybe you can get hacked through sound. Like if someone says ‘shut down’ you get knocked out?”
“That sounds… Dumb as hell. I mean what. That’s a zero-day exploit or something then, isn’t it? Wouldn’t such a vulnerability have been widely reported? Or were the engineers behind the chip malicious or retarded? There’s really no defense if these chips...”
“Let me look it up…”

After a couple of minutes…

“Hey. So. Apparently it should block cellular and wireless signals. Again, could be wrong but that’s what it seems.”

His cousin snapped his fingers.

“I got it. Your chip is already infected with something like a worm and it’s near impossible to detect for casuals and get rid of even with a system reset. And you would need a team of specialists to fix it. So you’re fucked anyways.”
“…”

Taigi sighed.

“That can’t possib-“
“Stuxnet. And that was ages ago.”
“Stuxwhat?”
“Stuxnet. I’ll give you the short version. It was a worm that was super sophisticated and basically had the properties of what I told you your hypothetical infected chip has. It was designed to infiltrate a specific nuclear plant and fuck with it. If they had that back in 2010, it’s not much of a stretch to think that Japan can pump out a similar baby. Again though, flaw in that reasoning is that putting a spotlight on these playground trivial hacking incidents isn’t what you want to do when you create such a thing.”
“…”
“Like I said, safest option would be to leave but… Man you a homo?”
“No you fucker.”
“Calm calm. Only joke friend. It was because you said Michio-”
“Yeah I get it. And it’s not funny this is serious. My friend is involved in some bullshit succession game and even if his debt is paid he’s somehow fucked!”
“Wait, what? Did you ask for more details?”

Taigi snapped.

“I don’t know! I don’t know fucking shit! Apparently I was like the only fucking guy that didn’t know about the Red Pandas! Classmates are disappearing for no reason and the police aren’t saying shit! The press doesn’t even care that a fuckton of my classmates and friends have disappeared in a matter of weeks! People can turn fucking invisible and manipulate people and probably a lot of fuck more that I forgot to mention! Fuck it all! Why did things turn out like this! Why is nobody helping?! Why are they gone?! Why are they gone?! Why?! Where did they go?! Who’s next?! I-”

Taigi caught his breath in his throat. Though the urge to cry was strong, he managed to hold it back.

“…Sorry.”

Taigi didn’t respond to that, but merely tried to regain his composure. Only the faint sound of breathing could be heard.

“Fuck!”

Taigi threw a fist towards a wall, but stopped just short of making contact; he knew he would just regret it later. After several more minutes passed, Taigi spoke.

“Ok.”
“You ok?”
“No.”
“Figures. Dumb question, sorry.”
“No. No. I shouldn’t have blown up on you like that. That was immature of me.”
“Hey, don’t sweat it. I can’t even imagine how painful it must be. Sometimes it’s good to let it out. Preferably a little at a time than letting it out all at once like a volcano.”
“…Thanks.”
“Woah! You thanking m-“
“That has never been funny.”
“Everyone’s a critic.”

Despite what Taigi said, he was still smiling.

“Taigi. I get that I won’t be able to convince you. So let me try to give you directions on how to proceed from here, since apparently nobody is doing anything about it. First things first, how about hiring a bodyguard or something? Probably someone from outside Hisakawa, since I suspect if the Mikado has such influence any bodyguards in the area would be compromised. Petition the school to disable all VR environments at school besides a few key areas. The whole reason the attackers were able to turn invisible was because of that tech, wasn’t it? And while you’re at it, maybe petition the school to cover the cost of Faraday suits for the whole student body. Ask for psychiatrists or counselors for the students. Like jesus fucking Christ even in America middle schools provide free counseling when a kid offs himself. Fact that your school doesn’t even provide these services is appalling. Ask for a police officer present on campus till even club activities are over. Sons of bitches can afford to put one on there, I’m sure. 24 minutes to fucking settle the incident at school, how ridiculously incompetent. Having an officer on the premises should cut down on the response time. Ask the neighborhood or something for volunteers to escort kids when they walk to and from school. Preferably adults, so they can subdue any hacked kids. Hell, even fucking pay them if it’s needed. How Hisakawa is still operating despite all these fucking incidents is stupid, really… And fucking social morals kids patrolling the school with wooden swords despite them owning chips? Zeus almighty...”

He grumbled a bit more before continuing.

“Well that’s as much as I can think of right now. If you need help, ask me. And remember that your life doesn’t belong to you alone. Lots of people will be sad if you die. Now for a change of topic...”

The two of them continued their conversation talking about menial and trivial subjects.

[November 17th, Afternoon / A Certain Detective's Office]

“So whaddaya want kid?"

Taigi didn’t even frown at the belittling remark. He knew what the detective before him was like from his internet research and getting angry over such a comment would only waste time.

“I want you to find out what happened to my classmates. The police still haven’t released any information.”

Instead of responding, the man moved his fingers in a “come on” fashion. Ignoring the rudeness, Taigi dropped the photos of the three and their files onto the table. The man lazily picked them up and after looking at a document for two seconds, dropped it.

“Hisakawa, eh? I refuse kid. Why? That’s the Mikado’s playground. And if the police haven’t said anything yet at this point, then that’s just even a bigger sign it’s their work. And if the Mikado plays, ya don’t interrupt if ya know what’s good for ya.”
“You’re scared?"
“Kid, the only people that aren’t afraid of ‘em are monsters that can play ball on the same level as ‘em, fools, and ignorants. Ya can go ahead and ask around others, but nobody will take this job. Maybe a different country, you’ll have better luck.”

The man snorted and took another sip of his drink. Taigi didn’t move or say anything, but glared at the man. Time passed until the detective broke the silence.

“I know I’m handsome, but I’m gonna havta charge ya if you keep lookin’ at me like that.

Taigi collected the papers and moved to leave. The man’s voice stopped him just as he took a step out of the door.

“Oi, kid. If ya know what’s good for ya, leave Hisakawa. My gut tells me things are gonna get worse before they get better. Ya have good eyes kid, and I’d hate to see ya in the obituaries.”

Taigi paused and voiced his lie.

“I will take your advice into consideration.”

Then, he left.

[November / Elsewhere]

Taigi sent the government a letter through mail. The contents being that they wouldn’t have to worry about him when his chip’s signal would be obstructed, along with a subtle-not-subtle piece about how the government was being incompetent in Hisakawa. It was obviously not just a simple letter though; he had to get it notarized and other such tedious work. Fortunately having Kenta saved him a lot of headache and it was able to be done without much hassle.

Kenta Miyake. A friend of his father. Taigi had met him coincidentally while he was trying to procure a bodyguard. Ironically, Kenta was only passing by and not actually employed as a bodyguard. But Taigi asked for his help anyways, as his bodyguard search didn’t go well; whenever Hisakawa was brought up, the agencies would make up excuses. Such as none of them were available, or the prices were exorbitantly high for a inexperienced guard, and other such obvious refusals. Other than that, while Kenta himself did not have any bodyguard experience, he had participated in several Japan-wide MMA competitions, even placing quite high in some of them.

While sending the letter was simple, getting a suit that wasn’t cumbersome was a trying task. Still, Taigi was able to purchase one that didn’t impair his vision or movements though it took time. Taigi thought of purchasing one for every one of his classmates in advance without the school’s assistance, and did so. He ordered a few extra just in case some of them didn’t fit the sizes he guessed. Due to some issues on the supplier’s end though, those suits would be delivered to his place after the break was over. Other than helping his grieving friend, Taigi kept up his exercise and tried to find suitable dojos for sparring practice. Though there were few differences, Taigi felt like it was better than back at Hisakawa. It was a tad unfounded, but he felt safe from any would-be hackers and thus was able to move his body more freely.

[December 7th / Elsewhere, Clinic]

It took nearly a whole day for his chip’s system reboot. Taigi slowly got up from the operating table and stretched. The employee was still typing away on a computer. And Kenta, while holding a video recorder in one hand, waved at Taigi.

“So, is that all then?”

The employee adjusted his glasses.

“Yes, you’re all set. You might still feel tired but that will pass in a few days.”
“Oh, and while I’m here, do you know if a Faraday suit would block incoming wireless transmissions to my chip? Would my chip be adversely affected by it?”
“I don’t see why not. You would be unable to send calls either, but the rest of the chip’s functions that don’t rely on wireless signals should still work.”
“Would this suit prevent me from seeing VR holograms?”
“No, I don’t think so. But if you are concerned about people hiding in holograms, there is always thermal imaging.”
“Thermal imaging?”
“Yes. As it doesn’t require light but detects heat instead, it can prove useful for that purpose. If you don’t mind, I have other business to attend to…”
“I see… I’ll look more into it. Thank you.”

[December 11th, Evening / Taigi’s Home]

“Bocchan, I really don’t like this place.”
“What do you me-”
“It feels nasty on my skin. Air is bad. No good, bocchan. This area… Bocchan, you’re sure making me work my keep."
“I’m sorry, if-“
“Stop stoppuuu! It’s fine, bocchan. I’m just complaining, is all. I understand a man’s need to stand his ground, ok ok ok.”

Kenta rubbed the top of Taigi’s head affectionately, to the latter’s displeasure.

“Haha! Ok ok ok ok! Even though the pachinko machines are awful here too, I’ll do my best!“
“Still-“
“I told you before bocchan and I’ll repeat it as many times as it takes. I owe Hayato-chan my life. And if his son is troubled, I’m gonna help out. My honey knows that and in the end it’ll all work out, okay? Chin up!”

Taigi sighed.

“I just can’t, Miyake-sa-“

A quick chop to his head.

“Oww!”
“Bocchan, just call me Kenta. I’m not even that old!”
“Aren’t you like four-“

And another.

“Guh!”
“Bocchan, you wound me.”
“…”
“Awww, I’m sorry bocchan. Forgive me. And what are those papers?”

Instead of responding, Taigi just sighed and waved the papers in front of Kenta’s face.

“I’m planning on having a meeting with the principal to discuss and implement new measures for Hisakawa in light of the recent incidents. These are some of the proposals and my talking points. Want to see?”

Instead of saying anything, Kenta snatched the papers from Taigi’s hand and started to read.

“Ok ok ok ok! Interesting! Disabling VR at school, subsidizing the cost of those suits, free counseling… Not bad at all, bocchan. Haha!”

Kenta smacked Taigi’s back several times in jubilation.

“Ouch… There’s more you know?”
“Yeah, but I trust you. No way the principal is gonna refuse, believe me. And reading all this kanji is giving me a headache.”
“Hah…”
“Good going, council pres.”
“I’m not though?”

Kenta recoiled in shock.

“Wait, you’re not?”
“No, what gave you that impression?”
“You have these papers. If you’re not the pres, who the hell is and why are you doing it?”
“I-That’s a… Hmm…”

He could understand Kokoro being incompetent, that was made clear from the first hacking incident. But Michio and all the other Social Morals officers?

(“Michio was probably just too busy with other stuff. I should find out why he had those bandages that day though…”)

“Well, they weren’t doing it so I guess I’m just picking up the slack. Or maybe it’s they submitted it already but it’s been delayed…?”
“That was a long pause, bocchan. But I approve.”

[December 12th, Evening / Taigi’s Home]

“What’s that dour look for, bocchan?”

Taigi sighed.

“Ayama…”
“Ayama? Who?”
“She’s a childhood friend of mine, and is a problem…”
“That’s mean to say, bocchan.”

Ignoring Kenta, Taigi continued.

“She can be stubborn. If she has come back, she likely knows all about the situation. She probably won’t go back to America even if I beg her. But if I talk to her guardians about this, I think it’ll work out. A bit sly of me to go around her and to her guardians, but I’d rather have her be safe and hating me than dead and liking me.”
“Guardians, bocchan?”
“She’s being taken care of by her relatives.”
“I see…”
“Not going to ask for more details?”
“Not unless you want me to, bocchan. Even I have some sense of tact.”
“Thank you.”

Kenta nodded his head while Taigi sighed again.

“I… Want some time alone, Kenta.”

Kenta placed a hand on Taigi’s shoulder.

“Sure.”

Then, he left the room.

[December 15th, Evening / Okudera's Home]

"...So I will be in your care."

Taigi got up from the sofa and lightly bowed towards an elderly woman. Kenta, who was already standing didn't need to get up but mimicked the bow.

"No no, I'm the one that will be. I do hope you'll pull through."
"Thank you."
"Such a grand endeavor boy. To undertake it all by yourself..."

Taigi waved his hands in denial.

"Oh that's not it at all. I also have the support of the Behavioral Development Club members."
"My, is that so?"
"Yes ma'am."
"I wonder how you've managed to get them all on board."
"More or less the same way I managed to get you on my team ma'am."

The woman grinned, but that quickly turned into a grimace.

"Yukitani-kun was truly truly truly talented. Truly. How I miss that flute..."

An awkward silence lingered after those words. The faculty member shook her head.

"Well, young men let's do our best."

Two men simultaneously answered.

"Of course." "Yes."

As the two of them left the house, Kenta put his arms around his head and whistled.

"Behavioral Development Club?"
"...We just met them all yesterday. Were you not watching nearby?"
"Oh."
"...You're joking right?"
"Bocchan of course I'm joking. I'm taking this gig seriously."
"Name one of the members."
"Nokia Koizumi, Risa Taneda, Hiroshi Ikehata, Natsuko Takahashi, Kazuchika Kise, Noriyasu Yamauchi."

Taigi blinked several times while Kenta just responded with a grin. Taigi grumbled as he headed home.[/fieldbox]

[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, grey, solid]
taigiico-jpeg.123017

[December 18th, Late Afternoon / Town of Hisakawa - City Streets]

“Hah.”

Was all Taigi said as he walked to Ayama’s place.

[Taigi’s Home]

“Sighhhhhhhhhh…”

Taigi let out one of the biggest sighs of his life. It was almost 3 AM; it wasn’t totally unusual to play for that long but the issue was after. When Ayama was finally asleep was when he could take action. He had messaged her guardians earlier to be patient and listen to what he had to say. The purpose of this conversation was to bring Ayama back to America.

“Bocchan, why the long sigh? No good?”

A man stepped out from the shadow of a building. It was Kenta, looking as healthy as ever.

“No, it went well. I had to exaggerate some parts but they should be taking Ayama back to America tomorrow if things go well. It’s just…”
“Going behind her back about this?”
“Yeah…”

Kenta shrugged.

“Mah, it’s alright. Come on, lemme treat ya to some ramen.”
“I sorta watch what I eat…”
“It’s fine, fine! Don’t be so stubborn.”

The two walked side by side.[/fieldbox]
 
[fieldbox= Leo kane, #4169e1, solid]

Leo_Real_Ico.jpg


"Harhar, keep on with your jests Umeko. This body only brings Shining Confidence!~" Leo struck a pose to the sky, even though he was still in full school uniform.

"Sorry to disappoint, but there isn't a way I'd enter that sham of a contest. 'Tis a silly thing. As if I do anything held for the school president..."
He said with a sastified smile on his face. He had an 'fight the power' appearance to keep up. "Tch, body facets..." He muttered under his breath as he turned to Umeko.

Ú̸̸́s̵̨̀͘͟e͢͏́͝l̷̡͟ę̷̶͘s̡̕͝s҉̛͡͝

His smile faltered somewhat. Tilting his head, Leo couldn't help but feel like he was supposed to ask Umeko something. Along with that, there was something bigger...just out of his reach.

Leo felt restless, this whole place was starting to make him a little uneasy.

*scratchscratch*

His attention was caught by some drama going on by the photo shoot. "You think Ishikawa and Sagawa would learn to calm it...."

Mur̨̨d̷̛eŕe͠r͞
͝
There was something he had to say...

*scratchscratchscratch*

He looked at her again, and h
e could feel it. Sorrow and shame and regret and so much more. Deep inside him, a knot in his guts. In a way, it felt like that was all of him. Years of it, piled onto one another. Driven into his heart.

This was stupid, there was nothing to regret about Umeko. There was no source to these feelings. She was just his best friend. Which was stupid because he was planning on confessing to her when they graduated middle school.

Which, in retrospect, made him wonder why he hadn't. Still.

B́͞u̵̢͟͡t̡̀͠ ̸͟͟͡ḩ̀͡͝ę̷̷̕ ̴̷̧ḩ͡a̶̕d̴̡͟
̡̨͞
O̴͡h̵̛ ̛́he̸ ̴h̵͠͡a҉̀͠d̸̢̀

[/fieldbox]

*Zaaaaaaap*

[fieldbox= Leo Kane, #666699, solid]

Leo_Real_Ico.jpg


"Gah!" His right hand recoiled back in shock. Having, seeming without knowing. Reached out and grabbed Umeko's shoulder. He rubbed his wrist, "Sorry, sorry. I..." He stared at his hand.

Shame. Regret. Sorrow.

"I mean...I could have stopped it. " He uttered, barely above a whisper. "I could have prevented it." So easily, if he went back. Certainly. A simple action. That what someone else would say. "The blame is on me."

"But, you have to agree with me that it's not fair? Right? The odds were stacked against me? How was I supposed to forsee it? To adapt so perfectly? The consquences were not set up by me. And yet I am the one who caused it."

"Yet others will judge my pain not enough..."

"But it's just between me and you right? So no one else knows. No one else will care. But I'll remember. I still feel that shock. And that's all that matters right? That I felt it? That it caused pain to someone?"

"Some will view it as stupid. And troublesome and unwanted and greedy and selfish. But I have to try right? Because no else is giving a helping hend. Even others that get hurt will just avoid it! Or twist it into something fake and horrible! But I have to try! Because other wise, it'll be like it never happened!"

He looked at her. "Umeko, don't you agree?" Leo paused, "That Sagawa should pay for this stupid anti-creep system she created?"



"...What you doing?! You already know that's going to happen!"

Even Umeko couldn't believe he would go as far as to willingly shock himself again. Just what sort of...


He apologized.
Leo confirmed that the person in control was him.
Right now - in this place.

But this wasn't the blissful re-meeting that was promised. A warm ending that was waiting at the end. Right now, Leo Kane was still wrestling with what had happened, in the real world.

When he finished, Umeko slightly hung her head. Seeming to let out a silent sigh.

"...Didn't I tell you before not to worry about what happened? After all this time, I see you again, and he first thing you want to to say is asking me whether to pass judgement on her?"

"Mizunohara-san can only play the role that has been given to her. Whether it's here in this 'world', or as her brother's lackey, or outside. The skills that she has isn't something that she chose to have on her own."


Umeko looked off to the side, distantly.

"What good will it do to blame her for what happened now, Leo? Would it soothe how you feel if I told you I hated her?"




Leo stared as Umeko answered. Just what was she? The back of his mind screamed for answers.

But there was no point in wondering.He doubted he would be given an answer.

"Ye-" He opened his mouth to say something, before cutting himself off as a sense of eventuality washed over his face. "No, I guess it wouldn't."

It wouldn't bring her back. It wouldn't...solve anything. A hollow tune wouldn't make him feel better.

Was that how he was supposed to view Sagawa? As a tool? There was always a choice. She could have stopped it. She could have...

And yet, Leo knew there was no real point in attesting this.

"So I'm just supposed to...forgive? forget? move on? Surely we don't just move on without...." He clenched his hands together. "Something being done!?"

To not worry about it. Wouldn't that just spit in the face of everything?

But Umeko was fine with it....the terrible fate bestowed upon her.

He grimaced, clearly frustrated. "I just....want to do something"

He was stuck in a loop, and he knew he would keep running in it till eventually the floor would collapse underneath him.

"It's selfish...saying it's for you....but it can't just end like that."

He felt like there was something he was supposed to do. Something he was forgetting.

"It could have been great...." Leo raised his hands. "And it just ended like that."



"And I said it before... you should've not worried about that. We saved those boys. We saved Kokoro-chan! The possibility of an alternative conclusion was there... But, for that second chance, there was a price that had to be paid."

Solemnly, Umeko put a her hand over her heart.

"Because we wanted to save Kokoro-chan. Because we wanted to have a second chance... The events of that day made is so that someone else got hurt."


...

Leo didn't realize it. For a while now it seemed like time had... stopped. In the corner of his eyes, he could see the conversations of others and the ongoing spat between Midori and Sagawa going on.

But, here they were, both of them seemingly separated from reality.

....

"No one is going to be saved by dwelling on what has happened. Even now, there are still many things in the world that are out to get everyone. If you spent too much time being chained by something sad that has happened in the past, then you'll be defenseless when the challenges of tomorrow will come after you."


A gentle curve formed on Umeko's lips.

"I still believe in you. Even after what's happened, I still believe in you. Even when you've already convinced yourself that you can't do it, I'm still cheering you on from behind.

You're smart. You can think about the reasons why people do what they do. You're kind, getting yourself involved even when you don't want to. You're modest. Trying to say the right thing but trying to mask it to not seem to pushy."


Umeko nodded. Daintily.

"Even if you break yourself, I'll come back and put you back together. Because i know you can do the things that I can't. You're more sincere then anyone else I know. That's why... I know you can be the person who can help save everyone!"

"So please! Let all those sad things be put to rest, and find new people to care about! Everyone... everyone has a charming side if you give them enough time to let it show. I learned that by becoming friends with you."

"It doesn't have to end with what happened to me Leo. There's still tomorrow. Many different people, and many different possibilities where you can find new things to cherish. It's only a sad ending if you let it end that way..."



Something ticked inside of Leo's mind.

Middle school. The Kendo Club. There was a time when they were considered the tyrants of the school who bullied and extorted everyone. And Kokoro and her club was called out to help.

The first time, Leo was the meat shield, as always. He still could recall that distinct sensation of taking a direct strike to the shoulder. A force so strong that he felt it to his bones. That was the first time he actually met the kendo club captain.

"You must be a true idiot to think you can come in here uninvited!"


But, months later...

It was that same person and his club who saved him from being beaten to death that day.

"Amane-san told us these guys dragged you off somewhere. Looks like you're beat up, can you stand?"


How much of a fool did he look like right now? He was more worried about someone's death than the actual 'dead' person was. The girl who was supposed be gone forever was standing right here in front of him, but he only let his mind be filled with his regrets and sorrows. Wasn't there something more important than that?

Anyone can be charming if you give them a chance.
Leo mentally repeated it in his head. It was funny. Now that he thought about it, he did recall thinking something along those lines when he was saved that day. Amazed to think that the entire kendo club would go from gangbang to saving him from a tough situation. It was rather satisfying to see someone else getting thwacked about with Kendo sticks after having to go through that trauma.

He had forgotten about all that. Those Kendo club member, really did drastically change thanks to Kokoro... no, thanks to what he, Umeko, Kokoro, and everyone else in the club did.


Refocusing on Umeko, Leo felt like she was understanding his thoughts. Just by looking at him.

She nodded to acknowledge it.

"Right?"




"..." He looked down, solemn.

Move on and be something more, Umeko pleaded.

To let go....moving on.....after all this time?

No, that wording wasn't right.

His feelings still stayed, but the world showed him another path. In the end, it was possible to do both.

A small smile split across his face.

Fuck It

"Geez, what am I supposed to say to that speech? Is that what you do in your spare time now?"

Always lost, never understanding why something was happening. Just like the opportunity to talk to his friend right now.

The world was dangerous, and one had to watch their surroundings. Yet he stared back, chained to the past.

But he supposed...if the past gave him a key to unlock the chain. Told him to run forward. Telling him he could do it. He supposed the least he could do......was try.

To the girl that stood in front of him. He submitted defeat.

If she was still there,somewhere, in his heart. Then...he couldn't disappoint her. He couldn't disappoint those who they had once helped. Who had helped him.

Idiot. If he could still bring joy...still bring her joy. Then....it wasn't over yet.

"None of this makes sense..." Leo looked at Umeko. "But I must admit I can't be mad at what it gave me." To talk to her again, it was...in a way, lucky.

Why was he here again?

He sighed, "What an inopportune time to meet..." He couldn't even touch her.

He wished he...

"And you're vice president....taking my job..." He gave a small snort of laughter. "I'm vice president! Do you even know how crazy that it is! You wonder what Kokoro-"

Kokoro.

His slow idiotic mind finally clicked.

Umeko words. This scenario. His last memories.

He remembered standing there....scared. The look Kokoro had on her face. Then suddenly he was here.

Kokoro was-

"I-I need to help her." He paused, thinking about where he was. "Everyone..."

His face washed over with sadness again, "I have to wake up."

And depart, once again.

But how? He glanced around, everything 'looked' fine. He had no idea how to escape.

A sense of hopelessness threatened to settle into him again.

And it was at this point that Leo truely wished for something selfish. Once again...before, at least physically, she left once again. "Umeko." He looked back to her, with a pleading look.

"Help me."



Umeko nodded. She took a step towards Leo. She reached out for his hands. Remembering the shock, he instinctively started to pull away....

Surprisingly. The shock he was expecting didn't come.

Even knowing that this was... not exactly real he could still feel her small hands warmth. It was unfair that this sensation was only reminding him that this was likely due to end very soon.

"Let me start with this, Leo. Do you know what happens when someone with a chip dies? Did you ever think about the sorts of things it does before it's power goes out after your heart stops?"




He looked down, processing the revelations that had come through Umeko's words.

"Huh. That should probably give me an existential crisis." So, he was in some sort of virtual afterlife? Except most of them weren't dead. Their chips only thought they were dead.

And he technically wasn't himself. He tried to not to think about it too much. "As long as I remember this..."

Then it didn't really matter did it?

He looked back up, so Umeko was really Umeko. A digital form of right before she died. "So we're spooky virtu-ghosts." He smiled. "Neat."

At least, that was how he had to think about it.

Leo thought for a moment. "So...all I have to do is make my chip realize that I'm still alive?"

At that point, it should just kick himself back awake. "But wait, you said that the hacker put us here so that they could trap our real bodies."

He pondered, "Does that mean if...the, uh, Me in this world is 'deactivated', I would wake up in the real world?" He frowned for a second, would that mean...

But if he wasn't actually...himself. Then he didn't share his own...concious? Which meant he was fully knocked out and void in the real world and wasn't actually experiencing this? By that logic, he wouldn't 'wake up' because he wasn't 'asleep' in the first place.

"Or is there something else? I mean, technically the chips we have in our necks right now aren't actually real...right?...then again, people could change into swimsuits. So, it's...simulated at least." He groaned a little bit, this was a hard concept to wrap his head around.

"Could I restart my chip? Like turning a computer on and off." He smiled a little bit, it was a neat idea, but he didn't see a way in achieving it.

"Umeko, does everything with chips have to be so goddamn complicated?"



With a pleasant closed eyed smile, Umeko responded.

"Yes. They're about as complicated as the average teenager's mindset, really. But, for as to how to get you out of here..."



From their enclosed space, they saw the scene that had unfolded with Ishikawa. Whom tried to 'disable' her own chip, through the extreme method.

"Nostalgic, Isn't it? But she has the right idea."


"The hacker that brought you all here fooled your chips into thinking you had all died. When that happened, this 'you' became active. But you are correct in saying that the chips in this world are well simulated enough to have the same functions. So I had an idea."

Umeko's expression became more forlorn as she continued.

"But. You might not like it..."




"Suppose that the chip is a sort of gateway between the real world and this one. A 'Rule' states that only one person on either side can be active, provided they still exist. One one side: there's a real living version of you walking around. Plus, on the other side, there's a Digital Version of 'You' that gets updated on the night of your each birthday, as well as in the event that the real you 'dies'."

"...If the real you 'dying' was what it took to wake this 'you' up then... if we manage to 'die' on this side, then wouldn't it make sense that you'll be able to go back the other way?"


A simple concept.

If the gate between these two worlds were in each individual chip's.... then the key to opening it was to have that person die.

But of course! If the hacker in the real world was able to 'fool' their chips into thinking they had died. Then if their chips on this side were fooled, then they could return!

Umeko was able to hack too... from what he could tell! After umeko simplified it for him again, it made a little bit more sense. As bizzare of an abstracted idea as it was.

"But... there's a problem. It's possible to hack into all of these people's chips, easily. But I'm not the only hacker here. Nor am I the 'administrator' for this building's network we're all connected to. That person is Mizunohara, over there."


Umeko closed her eyes.

"I could hack into one, maybe even three people. But, it wouldn't be fast enough before Mizunohara notices. Even if she's just a doll as she is right now, the fact that she's in control over everything here means I'd be wiped out in a heartbeat."


The poignant memory of 'another' Mizunohara painfully played across Leo's mind. Even if he was fake... he could still remember that scene, and the sentiments behind the person that he lost from it. It would be making the same mistake.

"Right Now, I'm still under the radar. We're only hearing each other in this conversation just because we're set to a private voice channel. Nothing fancy, really. But, going beyond that, they might start noticing how much of an anomaly I am."


But this time.... if he made that same mistake, it would be game over for everyone in the school.

"But! I'm a bit better than I was before. I could try taking on Mizunohara... maybe. Oh and maybe I can try to throw some firewalls over your chip so you won't get hacked into too quickly..."



The possibility of having Umeko hack into everyone was still there. It was astoundingly risky. But still a possibility.

But then, if Umeko could hack into one or two people.

Suppose if she disabled the biggest physical threats in the room. Yuri. Ayame. The Muscle-head who was a blacksmith if rumors were to be believed.

And if Umeko could keep Sagawa occupied. Then... he could eliminate Mizunohara then, right? Umeko would have effective control at that point.

Umeko could try holding down Mizunohara.
Umeko could try hacking and/or disabling everyone before being singled out and eliminated.
But then, where did Leo stand?

Even as a meat shield, he couldn't help Umeko if she started to choke behind him again. Umeko could make him resistant to hacking from Mizunohara, but then what?

This was all just too complicated.




If he 'died' here, what would happen to him? He'd save the Real Leo and real Kokoro... or rather, give them a chance at being saved. But right now, he was here. And Umeko was here too. Even under Mizunohara's tyranny, at least he was finally able to be here with her.

This delusion could become his reality if he wished it to be. A happy ending.

Screw Reality.


He looked for an answer on Umeko's face.
She merely smiled back at him once noticing.

"Whatever way you choose to go about it, I'm with you one hundred and one percent, Leo."




So that was what they had to do...

It was all too like before, almost exactly. His stomach turned, it all went horribly when they tried last time. And cost him something precious.

It could all go wrong now. Just like then. He might just be repeating his past mistakes. He thought Umeko had it last time....how could this be any different?

He didn't want to hurt again.

Hell, it wasn't even himself who he was saving. But a different him! He would die...at least for now. Here he had Umeko....here 'he' was alive. Couldn't that just be enough?

"You're just lucky enough to have those few who do stand alongside you--people who actually care whether or not you were in a fight, or try to cheer you up when you feel down."
"Even when you've already convinced yourself that you can't do it, I'm still cheering you on from behind."


"I wont let you go this time around, Leo."

He grimaced, he hated promises. Especially when other people made them. They never came through. No, not once. He wished he could just make them go through with it.

But...

I'll make you smile. A warm beautiful smile.

He had his own promises.

Yes, he would make Leo Kane follow through. He would make the other Leo wake up. And he would make Leo save her and everyone else.

He would be somewhere, waiting.

He turned his hands so that Umeko's was clasped in his. "Err, since if we're successful. I'll kinda...be gone. I just want to say..." He looked away for a second, biting his lip. "Well..." He looked back, a smile on his lips. "Thank you."


And that was all to be said.

"Oh and it was me who kept stealing your drinks during lunch period." He coughed.

Who was he kidding, there was never enough time to say it all.

"Right... Let's save them."

....

Leo looked around.

"Well the only things I'm any use for is being a distraction or being a meat shield." It was, unfortunately true. He couldn't use the chip to save his life, and he wasn't actually that great of a fighter. "Oh, and bullshitting...."

"Can you turn me into a girl?" He snorted at the words that came out of his mouth. "I mean, in the eyes of the system. It would be annoying to get shocked, if you can do that. Please do so." If 'Sagawa' was gonna make a lazy system, then he might as well abuse it. Any male figure would be shocked by him...

"If we get Ayame, Yuri, Vitri and the other troublesomes out first before they realise what's going on. Realistically that would only leave Sagawa and that Kokonoe." He assumed she had something to do with all of this. But it seemed like she got others to do her bidding, and it didn't seem like she could hack. But still, if she was taking the place of Kokoro in this world then she was still probably dangerous. Though Sagawa was the main prioriority

He supposed he could go straight for Sagawa, but she would eventually hack to his chip, or some person would white knight and stop him from subduing her. No, he needed to take her out swiftly.

"Yuri has the tazer, so go for her chip first I guess. Otherwise she'll probably karate chop my head off." But was it possible to get to her to Sagawa in time? He supposed if he was discreet and fast. And maybe...

"Just need a small ruckus." Well, Leo had seen the trauma that Rei had gone through. Surely there was no way Yuuki could stand for that. Mana had seemed disgusted, Kyouko had brought her wraith to the wrong person. If he could just aim their anger at the right person. Those moments would be all he needed...

Maybe he just needed to believe his friend would find some fight in him.

"Rely on somebody having a spine to stand up to Sagawa, steal tazer, take down Sagawa...protect you...wake everbody up?" That seemed overly simple. But how else could he do it? "That's my job I guess."

"I suppose you just have to hack everyone...succesfully."

He supposed he would just have to improv if something went wrong. And there was of course whatever was facing them when they woke up.

"Now would be a great time to highlight any flaws..." He paused, "No?..Okay then."

It was gonna be okay. He had to tell himself that. They could do this.

He took a deep breath. "Time to meet our SM leader who had just sadly fainted I guess."


Leo smiled at Umeko one more time. Before pacing off.

This would probably be the time some tense heist music would start playing...

Operation I.D.L.T.W.A. (I Didn't Like This World Anyway) commences!



Umeko nodded.

"Yes! We'll definitely do it!"




Leo's virtual interface flickered for a moment. But he could easily tell, his chip was being modified by Umeko. Just for that one moment.

He wasn't afraid however. He was in on this plan completely. It was going to work this time. He'd make it happen!

...
..
.


"...Nozomi? What's wrong?"

Yuri's eyes seemed to be in a daze, staring off into some distant object. However, doing this in front of President Kokonoe was particularly odd.

Ishikawa pried her arm out of Yuri's arm with relative ease.

"Hey! Don't do that Midori! Nozomi! Hello? What's wrong with you!?"

"You need to shut up!"

Without her bodyguard, Kokonoe recieved a swift slap across the face.


"Kh...! How dare you do this to your superior!"


Kononoe's pouty expression glared at Ishikawa. The redhead simply flexed her fingers.

"You pretty much disowned me, right? I don't need to consider you my superior anymore right?"
"There'll be no mercy, Kononoe!"

"Mizunohara...!"



Sagawa threw a pile of photo papers at the aggressively incoming Leo. She had to answer Kokonoe's call for help. But she also had to stop Leo who seemed to be coming at her aggressively.

But something was wrong.
Stopping Leo was supposed be the easy part, but...

"Why...? You're supposed be convulsing on the ground...!? Damn it, a Hacker...? Where....? Damn it... someone's jamming me...?!"


Leo closed the distance between them. The table, the printer. Mizunohara's cousin Ishida... nothing was going to stop him. Eventually he was right before her.

Without her hacking, Mizunohara was just another schoolgirl. This particular one: rotten to the core by design.

"...Get away from me you freak!"

Sagawa clawed at Leo's face. But, the young man slapped her hand aside.

"...uuugh!"

Finally....
He had this murder's neck in his hands.

At that moment, Leo felt a surge of adrenaline. The memories... all the anguish that she caused. Even if those memories were made by someone else... these feelings were definitely his.

The girl who took away those possibilities.
The girl who was spoiled by fate even when everyone else was being left to suffer.
The girl who took away the precious bits of happiness he'd built up from nothing.

His club.
The Umeko he came to cherish.
The Kokoro he wanted to believe in.
Everything....!


He could do it.
Her neck felt so fragile, and at that moment he felt so strong. He could easily snap it in half if he wanted to. With the situation at hand, it made sense to just do it. To 'Stop' Mizunohara. This was a fake world anyway! If he was going to end up sacrificing himself for the real Leo, then that means he could go through his revenge without worrying about the repercussions!



"Leo..."


The voices telling him to go through with it barely let it through. He couldn't see her, but the mellowness of that girl's words cut through his passions like a knife.

He was holding onto Mizunohara's neck so hard that he could even feel the distinct square shape of her embedded chip against one of his nails clawing into her.

He could just end Mizunohara here. GIve in to the temptation and snap her neck. Or neutralize her by making her pass out - he already was in the process of doing that.

Leo Kane.
Will you take your revenge?



He could do it. He could end her life in this world. After all she took from him. Surely there was justice in that!?

"Leo..."


No.

He was better then that needless violence. He wasn't some sort of vigilante. He would not put the blood of someone else, no matter how vile, on his hands willingly.

Even if this Sagawa was near enough a psychopath, he was still Leo Kane. And he was not about to ruin that name.

No, he wasn't a murderer. Not when Umeko still believed in him.

"Kinda sucks being on the other side doesn't it?"


He put the tazer next to her neck. "Seriously."


So for all the things you've done to me, be a lamb and-

"Go to sleep."




"Damn you, Leo Ka-!"


*Zaaaaaaap!*

[/fieldbox]

@Everyone
 
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[fieldbox= , White, solid]
[ ??? ]
Leo stared at Leo from across the void. This world, the world within the chip where the real Leo was.

That was right, it was here that he 'existed'. Just an empty container meant to take a snapshot of Leo Kane's memory before he would die. So that even in death, someone could still 'exist', even if it was just as data. It was here that his purpose - relaying the details of the final protocols of his chip were meant to be relayed.

From there, the copy would load into another universe. For what purpose exactly, 'Leo' still wasn't sure.
That was what was meant to happen. But it didn't...

An unseen hand took hold of him and threw him into the false world were Kokonoe replaced Kokoro. To be trapped there indefinitely, just like all the others whom had been trapped there.

But now, it was time to reverse that notion. And return to the real world. To return to the real Leo Kane again.


'Leo Kane' hesitated. He had the power to free Leo Kane from this space. But he was also aware, that the moment that he did that, the currently running program where he existed would terminate.

What would happen to him if he did that?
Would he disappear? Those thoughts made his body freeze up. Unable to do anything against that fear of disappearing.

How appropriate.
The copy's heart was just as weak as the originals, it seemed.


Softly.
'Leo Kane' felt a pair of arms wrap around his waist.

"Let's save Koko-chan. I know you can do it."

"Whatever happens, I'm closer to you two than you think."

The frozen visage of the Real Leo Kane began to reanimate. Soon the real him would become conscious here, and ultimately in the real world. The frozen man was instantly drawn to the sight of himself and someone long lost standing opposite of him. He was just as confused as he was as he came in here.

.
..
...

Don't forget it:

Dreams are fragile things.
To make one come true, a thousand others must be shattered in the process.
Too see a dream come true, one must protect that dream to the very bitter end.

[/fieldbox]


"What the heck, he's reviving!?"
"No! Both of them are!"

"....L..leo... Help."

"Don't just stand there idiot! Take him down before he can fight back!"
"REEEAAAAAGH!"


....!




When everyone woke up, there was profound confusion as to how so many of them seemed to inexplicably have taken a nap at the hot springs they were supposed visit. Most of them were certain they had been attending a school sponsored day at the Saionji Hot Springs. The could mostly recall the crowding that had occurred. Some could even talk about several students becoming rambunctious and needing to be disciplined in a corner with nothing but their undergarments on soon after. Fewer still could recall some of the students taking people hostage.

However... to a select few in the Social Morals committee, there were those who remembered the deaths of several of their classmates as well as some of the intruders in the debacle that occurred in the main baths. Details of what happened exactly were hazy, but the understanding was that a hacker had tried to incapacitate everyone in the hot springs. But, this attempt failed. A struggle ensued between social morals officers and the intruding students, which lead to some students being killed.

All of this seemed to stem from a power struggle initiated by someone related to President Kokoro's powerful family.

The individual's grab for power ultimately lead to their demise however. And, as per preferred proceedings, the incident was wiped aside as a freak accident. The official explanation was that students unfamiliar with hot springs had fainted after attempting to get out of the baths too quickly. Due to the volume of students that were there, they were ignored, and ultimately some drowned as a result. Since the students whom had died were directly affiliated with the Mikado, there were no major efforts made for further exploring the matter for fear of repercussions.


Still, despite this, the misfortunes that plagued Hisakawa Academy that year, piled up so high, was eventually bound to make the establishment's continued operation implausible.

In the face of increasing notices of transfers and withdrawals, as well as the plunge of applicants to the school, it was decided that the doors of Hisakawa that closed that December would remain closed indefinitely. Thusly, Kokoro Amane and her staff. as well as her Social Morals team began the long and time consuming process of handling the movement of the now displaced students to other schools in the city. With only weeks until the start of the next school semester, the team worked at breakneck speed. Seeming to get barely any sleep.

The students were told to expect emails in regards to their transfers. They were told to await further updates, but were assured that the process would be as simple as going to their assigned replacement school the day before classes began.


Two weeks after the Saionji Hot Springs incident, Hisakawa academy appeared eerily empty. Even with the bustle of the social morals and registrars office, the place seemed deathly empty. The school buildings were being stripped of valuable VR Projectors as well as other fixtures of value. Regards to the school's appearance seemed to indicate little care for the future. The sight of the school turned those whom were skeptical about the sudden closure into firm believers of that fact. But in this wave of erasure and removal there was one thing that was not forgotten.

The students whom had passed.

At the shoe lockers, a peculiar thing happened. Small shrines to students whose fates had been censored and silenced were finally being recognized. At first, the practice seemed distasteful, but slowly, more and more of these shrines stated to pop up. Eventually, a couple of days before Christmas, the shoe locker area was almost like a holy ground. With students coming to pay final respects in the only place were they really could. To say goodby to their friends and the school that they had no choice but to leave behind.

The Social Morals, Student Council, and Staff that normally would've discouraged and removed these memorials kept silent about it. Soon, every student whom had gone missing were represented.


As of right now, there was rumors circulating among the students that the entire school was going to be fenced around and boarded up as if it were some type of bio-hazard.

Eventually, a Social Morals Member leaked that the entire property would be fenced off and closed to the public after Christmas.

Somehow... many students felt a desire to visit the school and the memorials one last time as a part of their Christmas plans. Maybe feeling like it would finally free them of the heavy air that Hisakawa Academy had brought upon them. Allowing them to start their new lives at other schools across the city.



[fieldbox= Mizunohara Sagawa, turquoise, solid]
Sagawa_Ico.jpg

[ December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Ramen Shop ]

Thank goodness Mizunohara said yes. Kyouko was so relived to finally receive that message back. It was a simple reply: to a question that Kyouko posed previously through text. The proposition to go out on Christmas to hang with Mana.

Hisakawa Academy was never to open it's doors again. After the things that had transpired up till now, keeping it open was no longer viable. Especially with Kokoro, having been pulled from her position from the school due to a sudden power vacuum that had occurred after what happened at the Saionji bath house. The threats to the school and students came and went, but the stigma that now surrounded the school was irredeemable at this point. At this point, it seemed better to let it be erased from existence.

So for that reason, the school was to close. As for it's students, they were to be moved to other schools across the district. This chaos has kept the student council and the social morals committee running around like beheaded chickens. And among those... included Mizunohara.

Kyouko wanted to see her the most out of all of them.

Michio's death at the bath house probably hurt Sagawa the most. She wouldn't even allow Kyouko to talk about it with her. All she could be seen doing was busily following Kokoro around as her 'personal assistant'. But it seemed she was just trying to keep herself busy. Keeping her mind off of what had happened to him, even as the fact tore her up inside.

Kyouko had to see her no matter what. But through the majority of this month Sagawa has been avoiding her.


But with this text message... Kyouko drags her friend Mana to the meeting place. She went, determined to see her friend.



The Ramen Shop by the train station. Affectionately referred to as Ramen-Ya. Kyouko could recall the shop owner talking about moving business with the news of Hisakawa's closure going about.

Despite that grim outlook of the upcoming closure looming, on this Christmas Eve the area was bustling with activity as people made their Christmas errands. Couples strolled along lazily, seeming ot want to keep in the area rather than going a couple of stops to what was bound to be a crowded city center. Kyouko just had to find that distinctive ponytail in the vicinity of the ramen shop where they agreed to meet.

Curiously enough, there were so many Hisakawa students walking around the area. It wasn't peculiar due to the area, it was just a stone's throw from the academy, but rather it was due to the fact that they blatantly were still in uniform. It was Christmas Eve, in yet most of the kids were walking around as if they had just got out of school. It was almost like an act of defiance. Against the school's closure and it's governing body's wishes to erase everything that had happened. There were even students openly talking about going to visit the shrines to their classmates whom had died or gone missing.

For the blonde, however, she was there to fine someone who was still most definitely there. To catch them before they dissipated from her life again.


"What? I'm sorry, you got the wrong person."

This wasn't her. strange.



"Ah! Hey I don't roll that way, Himura-chan."

Kyouko got scolded by one of her classmates.



"What? I don't even look like her!"

This was Frustrating!



Mizunohara_Xmas_Ver.jpg


"Ah. Kyou. Kamei-san. Merry Christmas."


Kyouko stood speechless at the stranger standing before her. This girl had the same eyes, the same hair color, the same voice as Sagawa Mizunohara. But her appearance was just... so completely different.

Sagawa looked like she had just picked up a christmas cake, based on the box in her hands.

"So. You two didn 't get any dates either then?"
Mizunohara said with a chuckle. "Don't feel too bad. It's the same for me too, obviously."

It was true that Mizunohara wanted to change her appearance to hide from the people who were after her. But, each time she heard this girl speak, the more wrong it felt for Kyouko. It almost felt like... she was too late.

"I don't particularly mind though. I've been helping with all the school transfers for everyone at Hisakawa. With how sudden this decision was, Amane-san and everyone need as much help as they can get. But, just taking a day off today if fine. It's Christmas Eve after all."


Sagawa took a step towards Mana.

"Here, Kamei-san." She said as she opened the box. "It's gbeen so hectic that I forgotten to return your toy to you. Sorry for taking so long."

Surely enough, instead of a christmas cake, it was Kazami. With a festive looking santa hat and a beard all made out of cut out colored paper.



Sagawa didn't just update Kazami's look. She also had updated her own her look it seemed. Kyouko felt like a part of Sagawa was lost in that process though.

"So, are you two planning to go to the school one more time like everyone's been talking about? I was planning to go there with Nao and some others later."


That pair of fake red glasses did a good job of complimenting her eyes. Her long hair and fringes that she let hang over her eyes gaver her a more bookish look that was a far cry from that childish ponytail she seemed to favor previously. Plus, that large hairband and all of those details did a good job of hiding the traces of all of Mizunohara's stress from her expression at first glance.

But, her eyes had bags underneath they were reddish too.

All this effort just to appear like things were normal. Kyouko and/or Mana could call it out on her right here, after noticing it. But, it was obvious that doing that wasn't what Mizunohara had wanted.


"Whoah. Kyouko calm down, would ya?"

Curses! She searched the entire Ramen Shop, but didn't find her!
No, Sagawa said she'd be here. She had to look back again!


@Skyswimsky
@Luma
@zane620
@LowDefinition
@Karyra
@darnerdemons

[/fieldbox]



[fieldbox=, white, solid]
[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

Kokoro Amane Lit the small candle next to Mischio Kamijou's picture in the shoe locker. She cupped her hands together, and asked for forgiveness in solemn silence.


Finished, she breathed out calmly. Standing by her was Leo Kane. Holding a box about half full of the same sort of candle. The inside of the school was so cold that both of them were wearing their outside clothes. There were ven some soft patches of snow in some of the windows that had been left open.

The entire school was like a completely different place now. Especially here, these shoe lockers that had become a memorial to the dead.

"...An entire room filled to testament all my failures. Ultimately, this was the best I could do for them. The schools going to be no more, and I'm off to become the next Effective Mikado Heir. Good Riddance to this school."


Kokoro looked at Leo Kane. Despite her negative voice, her face was adamant. She truly believed it. This had ultimately been a failure.

"Do you know Leo? At other schools in the country, it's normal for students' chips to be utilized in order to make them more receptive to learning and obedient. They could go for entire school days without realizing they're just on autopilot, learning and doing assignments. Some schools even take it a step further, automating them even outside of school, ensuring they do homework and study at allotted times each day out of school. It seems completely unfair to them, right?"

"But the reason for why they do that is entirely apparent from what we can see here. Hisakawa was like this too, until I took over with Nyoko. I fell for her beliefs in free spirit and free will, and used my powers to lift those automatic procedures out. Let people choose whether they wanted to learn or to goof off or learn like how it used be."


"But, look where it got us... There was no reason to doubt that doing it the 'normal' needed no contest or doubt. What a fool I was to belive in her." Kokoro said as she looked back to the lockers. "They're all gone. I tried to go about it the nice way thinking that I'd be the only one affected, but... other people suffered for it. Just like Umeko..."

Kokoro's voice cracked as she uttered Hayata Umeko's name.
In her heart, she could only see Umeko looking upon her judgementally for her foolishness. For failing to learn her lesson.

"Better for me to just be some love doll for the next head, I suppose.Or better yet, just be erased just like this school. This little war with Kokone and her hackers allowed me to take everything she wanted, but I ended up losing everything I wanted in the process. Damn it!"

....

In these couple of weeks spent as Kokoro's Vice President, Leo learned many things. But most important of all of those things was just one simple thing:

The Mikado did not play nicely.

The stress and weighty expectations, and the power struggles that went on in such a large organization were massive responsibilities Kokoro had undertaken.

These past two years since middle school, Kokoro had been trying to atone for what happened to Umeko that day, protecting as many students as she could. But, outside of school, she was waging her own war. A deceitful and heartbreaking war between other people like Kokonoe that occurred behind the scenes.

A lot of the school's deadliest woes could be directly attributed to the other heirs' meddling. Ultimately, they all got their dues.


"K-kokoro! I... I surrender! Please, just... don't make your bodyguard... please don't make them...!"
"For what you've done to your own cousin. You understand you've waived all rights to mercy, right?"
"No, Sister! Wait! I-!"



Kokoro's lofty position in the Mikado hierarchy wasn't just out of hereditary status. She was the most brilliant out of the direct descendants. Her opponents started to go after the students of Hisakawa in order to overwhelm her.

But that was ultimately their undoing. In that week, Sagawa dismantled and revealed everything that was needed. The opposition was wiped away systematically in that time frame.

But still, there were losses taken for such rapid successes.
The sizable social morals committee, many of whom Kokoro's loyal servants on the Mikado side were now gone. The row shrines that Kokoro had finished putting up was the last of them. 17 out of the 25 members were now gone.




Kokoro the Bloody


That was the title that Kokoro had earned for solving the problems that Hisakawa faced in such a short period of time. It was much faster to eliminate opponents rather than convince them into alliances.

The dream of stopping the hackers that were threatening the students was achieved. And the dream of ending the strife caused by the Mikado Descendants' power struggles was over. All it cost was Hisakawa Academy, and all of the lives of the students and Social Morals officers that were taken in the struggle.

It was a pyrric victory in every sense of the word.

The final part of that payment... would be given to the world if Leo allowed it to happen.

....


Kokoro Amane hung her head.
Taking off her President Armband, she tossed it into Leo's box of candles.

"Congratulations Leo. You're hereby promoted to president now. You don't really have to do anything at this point since Yuri's pretty much got everything covered for this last part of the transfer. So I've done everything the president needs to do now. I just... want to go be somewhere quiet on my own for now... maybe forever even."


Leo couldn't bear to look at Kokoro's face. Though her bangs were covering her face. He could see it in the tears streaming down her face and her cracking voice.

Kokoro looked up to him.

She was completely broken.

"I...I'm gonna go now and do something right for once, okay?"


Standing there, from Leo's heart. Kokoro looked between him and Kokoro with a sad and pleading expression.
Right now, there was something only he could do.

@Rithas

[/fieldbox]
 
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[fieldbox= Leo Kane, #666699, solid]

Leo_Real_Ico.jpg


[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

A candle lit for those lost. He simply stayed silent. They just had to pay their respects.

It was strange, standing there knowing this was the probable end of the school. After all the things that had happened here, the everyday life. The terrible events. It was strange that after everything. It was this that seemed to have finally downed the school's future. He supposed reality caught up to everything eventually. Hisakawa's tune had turned hollow.

The whispers had grown, and the news of deaths had spread further then just the students.

"Son, I think it's best you go back to-"

He sighed quietly.

"...An entire room filled to testament all my failures. Ultimately, this was the best I could do for them. The schools going to be no more, and I'm off to become the next Effective Mikado Heir. Good Riddance to this school."
And here Kokoro stood, to gaze at her percieved failures. So much loss in needless bloodshed.


"Do you know Leo? At other schools in the country, it's normal for students' chips to be utilized in order to make them more receptive to learning and obedient. They could go for entire school days without realizing they're just on autopilot, learning and doing assignments. Some schools even take it a step further, automating them even outside of school, ensuring they do homework and study at allotted times each day out of school. It seems completely unfair to them, right?"
"But the reason for why they do that is entirely apparent from what we can see here. Hisakawa was like this too, until I took over with Nyoko. I fell for her beliefs in free spirit and free will, and used my powers to lift those automatic procedures out. Let people choose whether they wanted to learn or to goof off or learn like how it used be."


Then, at least in Leo's mind she did the right thing. But she could only think about how this might of led to all of this.

"But, look where it got us... There was no reason to doubt that doing it the 'normal' needed no contest or doubt. What a fool I was to belive in her." Kokoro looked back to the lockers. Shrines to the departed. "They're all gone. I tried to go about it the nice way thinking that I'd be the only one affected, but... other people suffered for it. Just like Umeko..." Holding everything up, thinking it was okay to be the lone sufferer. For the better of everyone else...

So, this is what it was like.

"Better for me to just be some love doll for the next head, I suppose. Or better yet, just be erased just like this school.
" Leo cringed softly at her words. "This little war with Kokone and her hackers allowed me to take everything she wanted, but I ended up losing everything I wanted in the process. Damn it!"

And she had won. Yet lost the things precious to her. In th end, despite what was achieved. It was all just bitter. And that was all that would be remembered. That would be all that she would remember, everytime she looked back. The Mikado takes everything, no matter what it seemed.

Kokoro placed an armband, her armband into the box he was holding. Leo looked at her, realising what it meant. An ending of sorrow for Kokoro Amane. Leo put the box on the shelf next to him. The sad fact that the armband meant nothing now.


"Congratulations Leo. You're hereby promoted to president now. You don't really have to do anything at this point since Yuri's pretty much got everything covered for this last part of the transfer. So I've done everything the president needs to do now. I just... want to go be somewhere quiet on my own for now... maybe forever even." He felt his heart tighten even more then it already was.

She was crying.

Leo....

"I...I'm gonna go now and do something right for once, okay?

Before she could turn away to sorrow and regret. Before she could utter one more word. Before she would be lost forever.

"No!"

Leo embraced her in a hug. It was tight, as if he was scared to let Kokoro go.

"I won't let you go, Kokoro." He wouldn't let this happen. He would
never let this happen. All this suffering and grief, he had to ease it. Somehow. He didn't know what to say, but he had to say something.

"Don't you remember what I said? That I would be there to help?" That he would mend what was broken. "I reject your percieved future. With all of my heart. There is something better. Because you're still in my future." And he was damn well going to keep it that way. "There's a better path..."

So long looking down and submitting to his eventual fate. Just...waiting. It honestly felt like his soul was being sucked out. But what was the point in that. Just accepting it. That had just brought untold misery...fighting it....fighting it had at least gotten something good.

"Trying to do something in the name of Umeko..." He sighed. "It's pointless...She would want you to be happy...move on and...just...continue"

"These...deaths, this school closing...all of this....well, it's stupid. It's shitty and it's tearing you apart but it will ease, Kokoro. That pain will fade. Because it wasn't you who did it. It's..." The Mikado and the other shitheads of the world..Leo thought. If only he had realised where she was heading when Umeko died...

"It's possible to do more rights then just wallow in what you did wrong." Leo rested his head on hers. "Especially you Kokoro..." The one who orignally gave him belief in doing something. And for that, He believed in her. "Especially you..."

"Grieve, regret, feel it all. I'll be there with you. Because eventually you'll feel better. And we'll pave something better. Because I want to see you smile."

"Kokoro, I'm here for you, no matter what. Which, really means you've done a few things right."


"So please, just...stay with me."



@Ehb[/fieldbox]
 
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  • Bucket of Rainbows
Reactions: Karyra and Miya
[fieldbox=Rei Saionji, purple, solid]
SaionjiIco.jpg

[ December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Yuuki's House]

For Rei, it took some time to adjust. After all, Michio... Ayame... they were gone. Two major pillars of her life. Just. Gone. Drowned in her own business.

It wasn't really her fault, everyone took the time to let her know that. The police said a hacker did it and that was that. But the scars on her business, her family business, and her own psyche would probably never fade. She couldn't do anything. As time passed she wanted ever more desperately to remove the chip, damn the consequences. Every incident that piled up with those stupid things only made them all the more useless compared to what they could do.

The thought was too much to bear. Almost everything these days felt like that. One more piece of bad news would probably break her.

But for now she was waiting outside Yuuki's house. He'd wanted to do something for Christmas Eve, and in all chaos Rei had nearly forgotten about that sort of thing. The days passed with more and more news. Hisakawa was being shut down. They'd be moved to other schools and just scattered in the wind. Rei wondered if she and Yuuki would somehow stay together in spite of all that.

But she doubted it. It would be sad, for sure, but Rei was unlucky like that. She'd try and make this time fun, at least. She knocked on his door. Today would be fun, relaxing even. She just had to keep telling herself that.

@LowDefinition
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[December 19th, Morning / Taigi's Home]

Taigi woke up. Though he had plenty of sleep for some reason he was in a bad mood. The TV was on, with Kenta watching the news with an uncharacteristically solemn expression, chin resting on one hand as if deep in thought. Taigi focused his hearing as he slowly got up from his bed.

“…-cident at the Saionji Hot Springs has led to so much loss of life. A bright future for these children are no longer-“

The reporter was cut off, the screen turning black.

“Hey~~~ let’s get pancakes!”

As if it was a lie, the serious look on Kenta’s face vanished and was replaced with a goofy grin.

“Kenta, turn the TV back on. What happened?”

And once again Kenta’s grin turned into a frown.

“Bocchan…”
“What. Happened?”

Kenta looked away, closed his eyes, and sighed. After several seconds, he looked back at Taigi.

“Kids died at the hot springs. They’re claiming it’s a freak accident and kids fainted after getting out of the baths too quickly. Since there were a buncha students, they went unnoticed and some drowned and died. What a bunch of shit that is.”
“…There’s more, isn’t there?”

Kenta scratched his head, frustrated.

“…Bocchan. Michio Kamijou is...”

Kenta just closed his eyes. And with that, Taigi understood.

“Ah…”

To Taigi, it felt like the world stopped moving. Michio was not missing, but confirmed dead.

Gone.

Taigi tripped over his own feet and his vision grew hazy. His breathing grew ragged and he started to hyperventilate.

“Ah…”
“Oi, bocchan! Oi…!”

In his fleeting consciousness he heard someone call out to him.

[December 23rd, Afternoon / Taigi's Home]

Taigi spent the next few days not going out, spending that time on playing video games and getting drunk. Though Kenta tolerated it at first, when it became clear that Taigi was becoming worse, it was forcibly and violently put to a stop.

“Let’s go outside. Come on.”

Kenta dragged Taigi out of the house and they walked around town. Not a word was exchanged between the two.

Perhaps it was because he was in his home for so long that the town looked different even though its appearance didn’t change. Taigi struggled to put his finger on it, unable to find an answer until his feet found a way to a particular location.

[Himawari Park]

“Ah.”

Taigi made a sound after being mute for days; he didn’t even cry out in pain at Kenta’s attack, but just the sight of this area did.

Taigi was at a certain park. It was a spacious park with a large grassy place, and during the holidays, kids would come to play baseball. There was a little hill at a corner of the park, and at the center of that hill was a playground. Built with fading colored plastic and looking like some sort of avant-garde modern art was the playground children loved to play at.

This was a place filed with precious memories. The smell was the same; the dirt and grass, the plastic, everything was the same. Even the air was the same as it was more than a decade ago. Taigi once laughed and ran around with Michio here, losing himself in joy during the halcyon days of childhood.

Not only Michio.

The swings he was sitting on was one where he and Lisa often sat at while she recorded the scenery around her. That bench over there was one Ryuu often used to read a book while waiting for Taigi to be finished with the park. Gone.

Taigi stood up from the swings. He turned his back on the memory filled place, and walked off, his steps lethargic and lifeless.

[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

Taigi already paid his respects and was about to go home after using the restroom. But he heard voices near the shoe lockers, causing him to slow his steps.

(“More students?”)

Taigi specifically chose this date since he assumed most would be spending that time with family or lovers; it would be perfect for him to attend without meeting familiar faces. Did these students also have that in mind? He took a peek around the corner to see…

“…-eason for why they do that is entirely apparent from what we can see here. Hisakawa was like this too, until I took over with Nyoko. I fell for her beliefs in free spirit and free will, and used my powers to lift those automatic procedures out. Let people choose whether they wanted to learn or to goof off or learn like how it used be..."

(“Amane Kokoro and Leo Kane…”)

Instead of immediately announcing his presence, Taigi chose to wait and eavesdrop. And the more he listened and looked, the more the emotions he thought had died, returned. The most prominent one being anger. Taigi clenched his teeth so hard he could feel his back molars cracking under the pressure. It was painful, but it did little to quench his rage. From what Kokoro was saying, all of the suspicions he harbored towards her and the situation were almost certainly confirmed to be true. And what goodwill he had towards Leo, along with his composure, vanished.

(“Because of this bitch…!”)

He stepped out from the cover of his corner and walked towards the two, clapping his hands, a mocking smile throughout.

“Bravo, bravo. What a heartwarming scene. If hentai is anything to go on about, the next thing that happens is she says your name with a tearful tone to her voice. Then you have sex right here, in the classroom, or at one of your places. Then while basking in the afterglow, she says a few poignant words and you hold hands as you try to make a future together. Ah, but since I’m here I guess I sorta ruined the mood huh? My bad!”

Taigi didn’t even try to hide the sarcasm dripping from his words. The plastic smile was then replaced with a death glare.

“Fuck off. There’s a time and place for self-loathing but doing it in front of them is disgustingly inappropriate. And what’s with those clothes Leo? Either wear funeral garb or your uniform. What’s with that half-assedness? Didn’t have money for a suit? Come back from a date? And these pseudo-shrines are so goddamn distasteful as well. How fucking fake.”

Taigi in fact disliked these shoe locker shrines; he felt that the school didn't deserve the honor of hosting these shrines for the dead. Instead, he had went to pay respects in the classroom. He placed flowers on top of Michio and the other classmates who were missing or dead. He was not wearing funeral clothing, not out of disrespect, but because he felt that wearing it for Hisakawa, the school that was responsible for so many lives, was giving it more respect than it deserved. Also, that his deceased classmates would be more comfortable seeing Taigi in school uniform than dreary black clothing in this building. Perhaps Kokoro had the same idea as him due to her own school uniform, but to even entertain the idea that he and her shared similar thought processes was revolting. Taigi stubbornly reasoned that it was because she was too lazy to wear proper attire.

He glared at Kokoro.

“Stop crying you scum. You’re not allowed that luxury. You can prostrate yourself weeping in front of my friends’ ‘graves’ all you want, but I and others aren’t going to forgive you so easily. And I’m sure they wouldn’t as well.”

Taigi looked up at the ceiling, trying to see something that wasn’t there. People that would never come back. He resumed glaring at Kokoro.

“You’re not allowed to die. Death is too easy for you, it’s not even a punishment in your case. So don’t you dare fucking kill yourself you fucking bitch.”

He then sneered at Leo.

“And you. You think this bitch will ‘feel better’? You think she’ll be able to ‘smile’?”

Taigi turned and punched the wall on his left, leaving a sizable hole. He scoffed as he retrieved his fist.

“What a shitty wall. What a shitty school. What a shitty president. What shitty words. Kane-chan, the day that she feels better and can smile is the day she is allowed to, and will, die. I will promise that much.”

Taigi’s tone was as if he was stating the sky was blue, an indisputable fact.

“Now the two of you get the fuck out of my sight before I beat you both half to death.”

Taigi folded his arms behind his back, his hands clasped together just behind the waist.

@Ehb
@Rithas[/fieldbox]
 
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[fieldbox=, white, solid]
[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

...

For all of what Leo had said, the only response he got: A slide nudge in his direction. Kokoro didn't pry herself away from him. Anything Kokoro might've had to say to it was interjected by the appearance of a certain boy.

Kokoro looked at the young man.
He was furious. All the way to the core it seemed.

In this case, even without the VR systems active in the school anymore, she could still recall him just by memory. It was the student of interest for the Social Morals Department. Michio had insisted on handling his case for the most part... but that was from a different time. The beginning of the school year seemed like an eternity ago now.

He spat on Kororo, and everything she had done, before, and now.
He commanded she and Leo leave. Even going so far as to threaten violence.

This wasn't the first time she'd seen this scene play out. There were many a student that had come to play through the exact same thing, over and over. Even with their clothes in between them, Leo could feel Kokoro's heartbeat. It was as if all the stress she'd been accumulating was screaming.

However, Kokoro's face, though still soggy with tears, returned to the same cold expression. Nonetheless, Kokoro kept her hands gripped onto Leo's coat.

"I'm sorry that this happened."
She said, in a stuff led voice. She cleared her throat. "Because of the school's closure, all of the affected students were granted free transfers to any of the other schools in the city. I understand that isn't nearly enough to make up for all that's happened... But. As the former student council president. That's all I can do for you."

She turned away from Taigi.

"But, I won't leave here yet. Until the clock strikes midnight, this place is still Hisakawa Adcademy. I am still the Hisakawa Student Council President. My staff and I are not going anywhere until then."


@Illin
@Rithas

[/fieldbox]

 
[fieldbox=Vitri, #b35900, Solid]
[December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Vitri's apartment. ]
vitriico-jpg.139238

Failure. Complete failure. I couldn't even help my friends when it mattered most! What good am I?! Thoughts like these had been plaguing his mind since the recent event at the Saionji bath house. All he could remember was that their was a hacker attack, he was about to offer his chip as a way to try and truly help, before blacking out while Sagawa was in the middle of talking. People had been reported dead, multiple attacks, the whole thing being written off as a simple 'incident.' It was disgraceful to him that they would brush everything that happened under the rug. How many would have died if they decided to continue even further? A harsh slam of his fist into the apartment wall in frustration, and an immediate shout of complaint from his neighbors. He couldn't even bring himself to answer his phone calls when his friends called him, the beeping on his answering machine constantly reminding him that he failed in his self inscribed 'responsibilities.'

A groan passed him as he rest his back against the apartment wall, staring out the window towards the school building's direction. I should apologize, and pray for their safe departure at least. Though, would they even want prayers from someone like me? I guess that's all i can offer... A moment of silence as he stared at the other wall, the dumbbells slightly obscuring view of something and he got up to check with a sigh. Right, it's Christmas eve. The streets lit up really hide the sad truth well. Thus he went, opening the door to his 'home' and heading with one direction in mind.

[December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Road to Hisakawa academy ]
He stood there, staring at the academy soon to be shut down. It was now or never to at least atone somewhat, one foot in front of the other he moved towards the academy he had been so adamant on attending before, but now relented the thought of showing up. He hadn't shown up for a single day since the incident.. He wouldn't be able to come up with a topic if they approached him or questioned why he was gone. His face scrunched in a scowl as he moved closer to the academy and its shoe locker shrines.[/fieldbox]
 
[fieldbox= Leo Kane, #666699, solid]

Leo_Real_Ico.jpg


[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

Leo didn't get to hear a response from Kokoro before someone stepped out to seemingly confront the two. Taigi, someone who Leo was in generally ok with. Was furious at the two. His words were harsh and full of the rage that he was obviously feeling.

" And what’s with those clothes Leo? Either wear funeral garb or your uniform. What’s with that half-assedness?" Leo resisted sighing. There was a reason for that, as he had to rush to meet up here due to having to do something first. But He doubted Taigi was looking for an answer.

He continued on his tirade, spewing forth his feelings. Even threatening to get physically violent.

And it was all fair, really. He knew that Taigi was close to some of who were lost. A lot of people were. There was a lot of anger and sadness around.

Nobody won anything from this. There was nothing Leo could say to make him feel better. It was shit for everyone. There was no point in feeling anything towards his words because Taigi was right to feel this.

Still, he could feel that this sudden outburst from Taigi was only adding to Kokoro's stress.

"But, I won't leave here yet. Until the clock strikes midnight, this place is still Hisakawa Adcademy. I am still the Hisakawa Student Council President. My staff and I are not going anywhere until then."
Which was the truth, they at least had to do their part to the very end. Which made Taigi looking at them with that hatred a tad awkward. As he would have to be the one going. Unless, Taigi furthered this. He hoped that would not be the case.

@Ehb
@Illin

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[fieldbox= Iwasawa Yuuki, #339966, solid]
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[December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa , Yuuki's House]

For Yuuki, what happened two weeks ago was... Scary. Witnessing a murder, and then some more things that he couldn't remember clearly. Knowing some of his classmates are gone. And during this times, Yuuki stayed silent. Keeping things to himself and not talking to any of his classmates... Even Rei.

He haven't forgotten about the Christmas date with Rei as he looked at the surprise he made for her, even though he's not sure about going through with it after all the things that happened. But he have to do it, especially after what happened in her family's hot springs. Realizing that, Yuuki looked up and sighed. "Such boyfriend you are Yuuki..." He muttered to himself.

When he heard the knock on the door. Yuuki walked over to open it. Seeing that it was Rei who were waiting outside. Yuuki immediately let her in. "Sorry that I'm... not there for you these past few days..." He said regretfully as he lead her to the living room. "Hopefully our date could make up for it." He said as he let Rei take a seat on a couch as he also served her some drinks to wait. "What? You think I forgot about it? I'm the one with the plan you know..." He walked to his room to get himself ready for the date.

Some moments after, he returned to Rei. Wearing dark red jacket over his white shirt along with black pants. "Ready to head out?" He asked as he lend his hand to Rei.

@Karyra

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[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, grey, solid]
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“…?”

Taigi tilted his head.

“Did I hear that right? Ne, princess. Even though I’m going insane, even I heard you giving over your responsibilities over to Kane-chan over there.”

Taigi sighed...

And smashed the wall once again, causing another section of the wall to collapse.

“̴͘Ẁ̶H̵̀̕Y̷̢ ̸̡͢͟͡A̴҉̨R͏̨͟E̶̡͘͘͠ ҉̧͝Y̨͝͏O҉̸̴́҉U̵͘͜ ̢̛͡Ĺ̴̢͢͝Y̴̶͘͢ÍŅ̛̛̛̕G͢͢?҉̢!̕̕”͏͝

Taigi’s howl sounded more animal than human. It was a guttural sound, full of raw emotion.

“If you would lie about something as trivial as that, I wonder what else you’ve lied about?”

Taigi laughed and shook his head .

“Oh wait a second, I almost missed another piece of bullshit. ‘That’s all I can do’, was it?”

Taigi then turned to punch another section of the wall. At this point it resembled more like swiss cheese than an actual wall.

“҉̴̨͜Ą̢͢͢͞N̕͘O͘͢͝͡T̕͢͞͏H̷̡̢͜͞È͘͝R̵̀́͜͡ ͘Ļ̕͜͡I̕͢͡͝E̷̛͏!͏́̕”̸͡͏̶͟

Taigi’s eye started to twitch.

“I heard you were smart, but I guess that was horseshit too? Here, I’ll give you something to do. Go grovel around town and crawl on all fours like a dog, with a sign around your neck. Something along the lines of ‘worthless whore’, ‘incompetent bitch’, you get the idea. Apologize to each and every student in this school in person and their parents. Ahhh…”

Taigi scratched his head rapidly and roughly. When the hand returned to his side, faint drops of crimson liquid dripped onto the floor. Taigi didn’t pay any heed to it and continued, eye still twitching.

“In fact, are those tears lies too? Or are they the same as the Mikado’s bullshit?! As if anyone, let alone Michio and Ryuu, would die from something like that!”

Taigi grabbed a bunch of hair on his head and gripped it tightly.

“These shrines are awful, but you two don’t even deserve to be in the presence of these shitty shrines. That’s how bad you both are. Until midnight, was it...?"

Taigi turned his head slightly to look at the wall clock nearby. It was 5 minutes to midnight. Only 5 more minutes and they would leave.


But to Taigi, those five minutes were inexcusable.

"Ah… Am I being underestimated or something? Ah, it’s fine. If you want to stay here so badly then why not. Let’s see then, should I scar your faces? No, plastic surgery could cover that up…”


Taigi released the grip he had on his hair, letting some of the follicles drift slowly towards the ground. He held one hand out and tapped its palm with the other fist as if he got an idea. Taigi grinned so wide it resembled the Cheshire Cat’s.

“I’ll take each of your eyes! Not both of course, but one from each of you! That way every time you look in the mirror, you’ll be reminded of your stupidity while not interfering too much with your day to day functions! After all, if you became truly crippled it would be hard to be useful to society! Hahahahaha!”

Taigi cackled loudly as if he heard the funniest joke in the world.

And still, he had not blinked once throughout the whole conversation.

He scratched his head as he looked up at the ceiling. For a few seconds, there was only silence. Then, in an oddly mechanical motion, his head snapped back to looking at the two students. But there was no gaze filled with contempt; they were replaced with eyes that resembled voids. He was utterly expressionless, as if the earlier displays of emotion were all illusions. A dead, vacant stare that saw the two students before him not as people, but things to maim, fueled by a quiet rage to make it so.

(“Postures: amateur. Stances: amateur. Distances: amateur. Necks: amateur. Knuckles: amateur. Noses: amateur. Arms…”)

After analyzing his opponents, Taigi’s thought processes were devoted to swiftly and effectively defeating the two in front of him. He trudged toward them, arms dangling by his sides.

@darnerdemons
@Ehb
@Rithas[/fieldbox]
 
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[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

Vitri felt himself getting his shoulder grabbed and being pulled away from his peeking spot as a couple... actually several students in uniform armed with wooden swords rushed past him.

He distinctly saw their Social Morals Armbands. But already, it was too late for them to stop Taigi.



It was apparent that Taigi had no intention of holding back at this point. He moved forward, almost inhumanly. Telling him to stop was probably fruitless. Then...

...

The defensive countermeasure wasn't working. That meant... stopping him using his chip against him was meaningless. There was no use confirming it it was just running slow. At this rate, he was going to get his hands on Them. Kokoro tugged on Leo's clothing... pulled even. As she made her first step to get away...

"...Run!"

There was no way she could win against him. Kokoro's instincts told her to run. She tugged Leo along too, he seemed almost dazed.

But, if he sprinted now, wouldn't be be able to get both of them?
If one of those hands that was crumbling walls got a hold of them, what would happen?
At this point it really hit them, Taigi had become a monster.

Taigi's hands took a hold of the two's clothes. No good! Kokoro fumbled in her pocket for-

"....Haaaa!"


Taigi let go of Kokoro and Leo. He had to let the two go, to avoid whatever it was that had aimed to smash his arms at that moment. At that moment, a broom-handle wielding obstacle had made an appearance. The SM armband and student uniform made it apparent it was one of Kokoro's Cronies.

Of course she wasn't left on her own. The 'staff' she had stationed at this school was probably there to stop people just like him, trying to assassinate her.

But, this obstacle had gotten in the way. Tearing Kokoro and Leo from his grasp just when he had them. The SM officer was poised between them, but Kokoro and Leo continued to make their escape.

"Stop it right now! After making a show like that, everyone on staff wi-...!"



The obstacle was dealt with swiftly.
The SM officer's back slammed into the shoe lockers along with the knarled remains of her broomstick.

"Ngggh... Ow..."


But, she had done her job.


Staff stationed around the school who were already rushing over due to Taigi's disturbances, began to swarm in. Eventually, his persuit was stopped when two men flanking Nozomi Yuri came down from the hall they both had ran down. Taigi could instantly recognize the bandages and wrap on Yuri that seemed to have been used for injuries on her arm and some cuts to her face.

In other words, actual Yakuza henchmen, and a veteran who happened to be a student at the school.

"I've never seen a would-be assassin announce their presence so clearly before. I would suppose this finally explains why you never bothered to attend school at all."


Paris of footsteps stopped all around him. Upon quick inspection he was surrounded by seven people. But the possibility of more was certainly there. The catter coming off some of the Students and Men seemed to indicate he had kicked a proverbial hornet's nest.

"There he is! Take positions!"
"Nozomi and the guards are there, be sure to crouch down but keep ready!"


"Narita-san. Understand that if you do anything else save for surrendering, we won't show any mercy. So, please..."


Nozomi with her sword and the henchmen beside her stood at ready. The others around him were armed with wooden swords
But, the other four SM officers behind him were more or less redundant. The henchmen by Yuri already had their guns trained on him. That was already a checkmate on it's own.

The SM officers that blocked his exit had mentioned crouching down. Instantly, the vivid image of him being gunned down were he stood came to mind. But, it looked like Kokoro really was affiliated with Mikado. The two men by Nozomi were more well armed than they had any right to be. That must've meant they were among her dedicated bodyguards, or maybe their day job was as police officers.

In any case, there was a low chance he would get out of this alive if he continued to pursue Kokoro. He could live on, come back after her another day maybe in another way. But, a part of him felt like this was the closest he'd ever get to striking at this girl he'd ever get - despite how hopeless the odds now appeared.

One person versus all of these people.

Would Taigi go for that slimmest of chances?



[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Teacher's Office]


"This is Yoshida, we've secured Amane-san."
"He's at the show lockers, we have him surrounded!"


With the assistance of a couple of SM students, Leo and Kokoro were used into the Teacher's Office. Leo was flopped onto the floor like a wooden plank due to his cumbersome size and movement. The shadows of the patrols outside could be seen making their way to the entrance securing everything.

"Have any of the teams outside spotted anyone else?"
"No, he seems to be working on his own."
"Keep scanning the area. I want the school exit cleared."
"We've already contacted the Castle, they're sending someone to retrieve her now."
"Yes. Don't let any other students in and get the other ones already here out."

"They're treating him like he's another one of those assassins. But... I'm pretty sure from what he said, I don't think he was working with anyone else."


Kokoro let out a breath.


"I still can't believe he went off over something like that."
She said, Taigi's roaring about her being a liar was still mentally echoing in their heads. "But, I get the feeling that he would've probably found something to go off about even if I hadn't said that. Heh, there I was saying I want to off myself, and then somone conveniently comes up wanting to do the job for me."

The possibility to convince him otherwise become unlikely the moment he went after them. There was a whole spew of people who had come to yell at her for all that had happened. But, this was probably the only one who went so far. At that point, he wasn't any different from the other assassins that had been sent after her up to this point.

"But, Thank you."

Kokoro said, getting Leo's attention despite the chaotic scene outside.

"Hearing those words from both you.... and even some of what that person said, made me realize that I can't just end it yet. I have to move forward, and try to save as many people as I can. Even as a Mikado. It's not because I feel bad or guilty about what happened. It's not for something as empty as trying to make up for lives that are gone like each one has it's own set value. But, because I want to be that fool who wished for nothing but to help people again."

"There he is! Take positions!"
"Nozomi and the guards are there, be sure to crouch down but keep ready!"


...

Umeko and Leo listened to the radio chatter from the other SM guards quietly.

"Hey, Leo. When you were trying to explain what happened at the hot springs; about how you were able to see yourself and Umeko-chan when you 'died'... Do you suppose that the person out there would be able to find the same thing?"


"Narita-san. Understand that if you do anything else save for surrendering, we won't show any mercy. So, please..."


The inside of the school became eerily quiet. The air was thick, seeming to anticipate the pungent echoes that would come from Taigi's decision.

@Illin
@darnerdemons
@Rithas

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[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, grey, solid]
taigiico-jpeg.123017

[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Shoe Locker Shrine Area]

Taigi was surprised that the nameless mook remained conscious after his initial attack; was his hit too shallow? From what he saw, she was weak; he could only regret instinctively releasing his hold on Leo and Kokoro for such a weakling.

("Not a target.")

He made note of where the two were running to, and knocked out his opponent with one well-aimed strike to the solar plexus.

[Hallway]

Having taken care of the nuisance, he lumbered towards where he last saw the pair until he was interrupted once again. A girl he recognized as vaguely familiar spoke.

"I've never seen a would-be assassin announce their presence so clearly before. I would suppose this finally explains why you never bothered to attend school at all."


A cacophony of shouts and yells.

"Narita-san. Understand that if you do anything else save for surrendering, we won't show any mercy. So, please..."

(“Ah.”)

Taigi remembered her kicking a goon during that incident. But that wasn’t important right now. What was important was revenge. He barely registered her words, his mind being used to process the situation around him. He was surrounded by seven people. From a glance, he could tell Yuri was not an ordinary school girl. But, the difference between her and the lackeys was that she would merely take more time. Still, there was an important reason why Taigi let her keep talking and didn’t just engage in battle straight away.

("Guns.")

The guns were the most important factors; without them, he was confident that he would be able to plow through the remaining obstacles, even if it took a toll on his body. His rational mind was telling him to surrender, that there was nothing left to do at this junction. But his heart was shrieking, wailing for vengeance. Taigi spoke, his voice no louder than a whisper, the efforts of a mind to distract his raging heart.

“’Would-be assassin’…? I didn’t attend school because my best friends were killed and covered up. Why… Why was there no such response for Michio or Ryuu? No, not just for them. For everyone at the springs. You all came so quickly for these bastards, bu-”

There was a clamor in his surroundings.

“Sto-“
“He-“

Voices were cut off abruptly and the sound of bodies falling was readily apparent. The cause for all this soon revealed itself. Though the seven surrounding Taigi didn’t completely break formation, they created a hole where he could see…

“Huff… Huff…!”

Kenta, breathing heavily. There was a panicked look on his face, but as soon as he saw Taigi, it turned to relief, then changed to a solemn expression. Taigi’s turned-Naruto Uzumaki ate ramen and went to a look of horror.

“Hey, what are you doing here?”
“You’re not supposed to be here.”

Social Morals members questioned Kenta. Though he was still trying to catch his breath, he managed to respond.

“Hah… I… Give me a second…”

After several seconds passed, Kenta raised his hands in the air in an obvious surrender gesture as he looked around.

“I am this boy’s guardian. I can only blame myself for my negligence in my surveillance. To think he would also be hacked and going on a rampage in this school… I cannot apologize enough.”

Kenta glanced at Taigi, and with that brief look, Taigi could somehow understand.

Give up. Fight another day.

Taigi bit his bottom lip to the point that blood spilled out. His hands were balled into tight fists, his head looking down at the ground.

(“Why…?”)

Taigi wasn’t sure why or how Kenta was here; Taigi had snuck off while he made sure Kenta was asleep and didn't tell him where he was going since he wanted to mourn his friends' death alone, but here he was.

“I would like to take responsibility for this fiasco. So if you all could step back for a moment and let me incapacitate him…”

@Ehb
@Rithas
@darnerdemons

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[fieldbox= Leo Kane, #666699, solid]

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[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Teacher's Office]

They had basically been shoved into this room for their safety. Or maybe he was the only one 'shoved'. That sounded more right...

Taigi had basically snapped. He had to admit he had been caught off guard by the severity of his fellow's student mental breakdown. Who knew what would had happened if the SM students hadn't arrived. As he admitedly been flat-footed by the fact that Taigi had for a moment turned into the fucking terminator.

The quite well-recieved arrival of Kokoro's henchman seemed to stop Taigi as they were pushed into a different room. Where they stood now. Well, he was laying on the floor due to the rather rough touch of the SM. He put it as being concerned for his safery and not in general being assholes again. He fumbled up.

"They're treating him like he's another one of those assassins. But... I'm pretty sure from what he said, I don't think he was working with anyone else." Why, of course. Only one solo attempted murder and not a group project. That made it better.

Leo knew that Kokoro had guards around, especially for the case of an attempted assassination. And that various other students had been furious with her but it still made him rather uncomfortable, as it should really.


"But, Thank you."
Leo turned his head to her. "Hearing those words from both you.... and even some of what that person said, made me realize that I can't just end it yet. I have to move forward, and try to save as many people as I can. Even as a Mikado. It's not because I feel bad or guilty about what happened. It's not for something as empty as trying to make up for lives that are gone like each one has it's own set value. But, because I want to be that fool who wished for nothing but to help people again."

Leo gazed over her blankly for a few moments. Before smiling slightly, if perhaps forced. "Good."

The chatter through the radio continued as the details of the situation spilled through.

"Hey, Leo. When you were trying to explain what happened at the hot springs; about how you were able to see yourself and Umeko-chan when you 'died'... Do you suppose that the person out there would be able to find the same thing?"

His name is Taigi...

Leo thought for a moment, "Possibly? I suppose everyone could find...whatever it is." How was he supposed to really know. It seemed stupid to claim he knew the answer when he really didn't.

They could hear something about a relative of Taigi's rushing through.

"If samples of those who've passed are there then...sure." Though he didn't much understand what caused them to be there. He had already decided not to think much about it. If anything, Leo was acting dismissive.

"I can only hope that Taigi follows the path of sanity, that others can pick him up. I doubt he will accept anything from us." Leo spoke quietly, as if something else was on his mind.

"That's really just it, isn't it?" [/fieldbox]

@Ehb
@Illin
 
[fieldbox=Rei Saionji, purple, solid]
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[December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Yuuki's House]

"Sorry that I'm... not there for you these past few days... Hopefully our date could make up for it. What? You think I forgot about it? I'm the one with the plan you know..."

Rei still couldn't believe it was a date. Like, a date date. Thankfully, she managed to hide her blush with her drink as he talked. It also gave her time to think out an answer that didn't sound like a lovesick fool. Which she was -happily, mind you- but this answer needed a little more thought behind it than a one off comment on how it was fine, she didn't mind -which she didn't, and she herself had honestly ended up doing the same thing. Running to familiar ground in order to protect themselves, she and Yuuki just hadn't really known how to react to murder besides to run.

"Everyone has needed time. Alone, together... I think only you know what you need right now. So, I can't blame you for needing time to process what happened."

As he left, no doubt to get dressed for the weather outside, Rei finished her drink. Having come from the outside herself, it felt nice to hold something warm. Plus, she could quietly admire that she was going on a Christmas date. With Yuuki, no less. A lot of crazy things had happened this year, but at least she had something nice on the end of it. Months ago, she couldn't even see this ever happening.

Therefore she was going to enjoy the heck out of this date and use it to help move both their minds off the hot springs incident. It would be good not to dwell on terrible things and also boost the morale for them both.

"Ready to head out?"

"Yeah. Let's go have some fun. It'll be nice to see how they've decorated this year."

@LowDefinition
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[December 24th, Evening / Town of Hisakawa, Road to Hisakawa academy ]

"I'm sorry. Access to the school grounds is prohibited. The abandoned buildings are dangerous and the area is no longer a school property, so for your safety we cannot allow any more of you in."

Despite the unsettling ruckus going on in the school building, the police officers in construction vests calmly kept anyone else out. With their police batons leasurely at their side, the others whom wanted to visit were deterred. Though more than anything else it was the sounds coming from the school just now that was deterring them the most.

@darnerdemons
@_Anyone

[December 24th, Evening / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Teacher's Office]

"...You're right. One can only hope that."
Kokoro sighed. "...What am I even saying? He wouldn't accept any sort of sympathy from me or you at this point. But, it's true that just because we can't save him, that dosen't mean he's a completely lost cause."

"...Amane-sama. It's past midnight. Merry Christmas. But, more importantly, the school has officially ceased being as such, and has reverted to the clan's property. What should we do about the intruders?"
"That person just blasted through some of our men. He's dangerous, so please consider your safety. Should we dispatch of them?"


"Yes. Merry Cristmas you guys, and Leo. Anyway, I overheard what he said. Let's..."




[December 25th, Midnight / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, First Floor Hallways]

Yuri narrowed her eyes at the man's words. There wasn't any way that Taigi Narita's rampage was as a result of the hacking. If that had been the case, this 'rampage' would've been over the moment he began to assault Kokonoe. Yuri couldn't get a register on his chip. She couldn't confirm his identity as a student through her chip, even though she knew he was.

The logger information for Hisakawa Academy did not exist for this person. It was absent.

Being unable to communicate with his chip either meant that it was unable to take outside connections at all, or, it had been tampered with. Yuri remained distrustful of this man, but she still didn't want to see a student get gunned down at the school at the order of their former Morals Officer.

"Yes, quite a fiasco it has become. But, records show that despite the impeccable timing, you are indeed Taigi Narita's legal guardian."


Thus, following Kokoro's guidance on the situation she agreed with the man's proposition.

"I'll allow you to do what you have to in order incapacitate him. But, Please refrain from doing anything else beyond that."


The SM students around, following an order, backed off a little. But Yuri and her two guards remained spaced between Taigi and the way down the hallway. They remained alert. Outside, the crackling of snow and activity continued with individuals getting themselves off the ground and others running over to help them.



[December 25th, Midnight / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, Teacher's Office]

"...That man's either misinformed or lying about him being hacked. I'm certain of it."
Kokoro said as she hugged her knees. "...his chip didn't respond to mine at all. But I've definitely seen his face here at school, he's definitely a student."

Kokoro looked at Leo with a bemused expression.

"We also can't overlook the fact he just plowed through those guys whom had been patrolling out there. I don't like how well timed the appearance of this person's guardian is. But, if he really wants to end this peacefully, then he must certainly know that whatever else he might try to pull will have his face and that boy's attached to it now that we've seen him. So, we can hope it'll end peacefully, maybe."


Kokoro put her hand over her head and frowned.

"That sounded like something you would say actually. Gross."

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@Illin
@Rithas
 
[fieldbox= Narita Taigi, grey, solid]
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[December 25th, Midnight / Hisakawa Academy, Main School Building, First Floor Hallways]

Kenta tilted his head to the side when Yuri mentioned him being Taigi's legal guardian.

("That's new.")

His confusion was put to the side as Yuri continued to speak. He briefly narrowed his eyes and snorted while not taking his eyes off Taigi, understanding the girl’s implication. Without looking at her, he merely nodded at her words and walked towards Taigi.

And just a few feet before Taigi, he stopped walking and entered a combat stance.

Taigi spoke, his words a whisper.

“You too, will impede me?”
“Ah, as expected, this hacker can even make him speak! I’ll have you know though, that bocchan doesn’t use fancy words like ‘impede’!”

Taigi couldn’t tell if Kenta was serious or not, but before he could think more about that Kenta continued.

“Ok.”

Instantly, Taigi felt the atmosphere around Kenta change. It was almost suffocating to be under that disdainful gaze of his, almost as if he could peer into his soul.

Taigi grimaced. In the scant few spars he had with the man, he was always overwhelmingly crushed. His mind told him to run but his emotions wouldn’t allow that. No, he had to punish those two shameless kids, even if his opponent was this man…!

With an movement that resembled more of desperation of a cornered animal than any sort of martial arts, Taigi charged towards Kenta. He felt like it was his best attack yet, the fastest he had ever gone.

And it was effortlessly evaded and met with a counterattack.

A heavy blow to his solar plexus was enough for him to double over involuntarily, though he didn’t cry out in pain. Before he could regain his bearings, he was met with another attack, knocking him out cold.

Kenta took no joy in his victory, but only felt regret for not arriving sooner. If he had, this whole situation could have been avoided. He picked up Taigi’s body from the floor and flopped him over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes. Kenta yawned then turned to look over his shoulder at Yuri.

“Jou-chan, now what?”

@Ehb
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