Damien Gokudera's Story

"Listen here, young Ieharu."

At the mentioning of his name, Ieharu's ears perked up, but he didn't turn to look at the source. He was too busy playing his video game, torso hunched to the side, shoulders scrunched in concentration, the clicks and clacks of his controller nearly as deafening as the sound of gunfire emanating from the massive flat screen before him. This wasn't the first time he had to multitask while an adult was talking.

"I probably shouldn't be telling you this–in fact I shouldn't be, but I believe honorable men like myself should show some good charity toward the families of their targets."

Ieharu's eyes narrowed slightly, but his concentration on his game didn't falter for a second. Though he was only halfway paying attention, he did recognize the voice. Male. Upbeat. Sanguine, but with a hint of danger. It was Godot, though his twin brother Ieyoshi always called the man "their new nanny".

"You might not believe me–I get it, it's a little sudden–but I am an assassin sent by an anonymous payer of mine to knock off an heir of the Vongola family."

From where he stood in the room, Godot took a few steps closer. Ieharu didn't notice, nor did he respond. On the TV, a rival's body exploded in a plume of blood and body parts. Presumably the boy's doing, because he snickered softly.

"Namely, that would be you, Ieharu Sawada." Outside, thunder boomed, ravaging the skies. It was several moments before Ieharu reacted, but then it was as if he'd been physically slapped. The clicking and clacking from the controller ceased immediately as he slowly turned his head, looking over his shoulder at the man who had just threatened his life in no uncertain terms. He was standing pretty close, too. Eyes wide, Ieharu moved his lips as if to form words, but nothing came out.

"Indeed," Godot continued, shrugging as if it were none of his business, his attitude cavalier. "Your Daddy-o's quite an important guy, and there are certain people who are quite concerned as to who takes his nice leather-padded throne."

Ieharu dropped the controller. The sound of an explosion erupted from the TV soon after, the flat screen flashing wildly before going black. There were only two words on the screen now: Game Over.

It was then that Ieharu found his voice, high pitched and wracked with incredulity. "Wait... what?!"

"I don't think you'd be all too interested in the details, seeing as you're going to die anyway." Godot took another step closer. He was within arm's reach of the boy now. "But just think of this as my diagnosis for you."

While gaming, Ieharu had been seated on the edge of a particularly comfortable reclining chair. Having closed the distance between them, Godot leaned on the chair's back, causing it to shift and Ieharu to slide backwards. Slowly. They were practically face to face now.

"I've decided that it's going to happen tomorrow." He said, matter-of-factly. "I can't delay it any further, please understand that I really wish I could."

Ieharu simply stared in horror, the weight of Godot's words imprinting themselves onto his psyche. Could it be true? Is he serious? He sounded pretty serious. Looked dead serious, in fact. But his father would never put an assassin so close, right? ... but what if he didn't, or he made a mistake? What if it was all part of the plan? What if he was going to die?!

"I've grown to like you, young Ieharu, so this is about all I can do for you."

"But—!"

"You've got one day to live, or at least until the next time I see you. I'm giving you the opportunity to clear up whatever remaining regrets you might have. It really hurts my conscience to think about good men dying with regrets..."

As Godot spoke, Ieharu brought his hands to the sides of his face, a sound like that of a dying animal escaping his lips. One day?! It wasn't fair! He had a math test tomorrow that he'd already studied for. He had so many people to meet... so many friends to make... all of it for nothing. His hands traversed his head, moving from the sides of his face to his forehead. Tears came to his eyes at his next thought.

I'm still a virgin!

"Regardless, that doesn't stop me from doing what I'm paid to, I just like to get an extra minute of sleep later on. So, I suggest spending the night to give it some thought, just make sure you sleep good, alright?" Ieharu didn't respond, his hands still plastered to his forehead. "... Oh, and make sure you don't tell anybody like your brother or something. You don't want to get your family involved, else I'll be forced to... Well, I'm sure your a smart kid–in fact, I know you are." Again, Ieharu didn't even respond. Didn't move. Didn't dare to. Never in his life was he so intimidated by the presence of another.

After a momentary silence, Godot turned, releasing the chair and nearly causing Ieharu to fly off it as it snapped forward. "Guess I'll be seeing you tomorrow." Almost as an afterthought, he added: "Oh, and good luck on the quadratics test."

**

"Yoh, I'm not kidding. I'm serious." Ieharu threw his hands up, a gesture meant to implore. "Didn't you hear me?! He's going to murder us all!"

The boy was sitting atop his bed, covers wrapped around himself like a burrito. Only his face and hands were exposed. He looked like an Eskimo, wrapped in his layers. Standing across from him was literally his mirror image save for their hair color. It was his twin brother, the self-proclaimed "older brother" Ieyoshi, casually slipping on a T-shirt while laughing his head off. When it came to someone as eternally relaxed and laid back as Ieyoshi, "laughing your head off" meant a few soft, curt chuckles. If you weren't actively listening for it, you might even miss it.

"Pfft. Murder you, maybe." Ieyoshi's voice was gruff, his tone sober, his face stoic. It was as if someone had turned his "energy" dial way down and then broke it off. "He did say only one of us would be offed, right?" He turned from sizing himself up in the mirror to look at his brother, who hadn't yet responded. "Right, Haku?"

Ieharu sighed, his big brunette bushel of hair poking out from under the covers. "Right," he mumbled, dejected. He cast his eyes downward before speaking again, this time in a hushed whisper. "You'd save me, right?"

The response was immediate.

SLAP!

Almost instantly, Ieharu brought both hands to his left cheek, where Ieyoshi has unceremoniously slapped him, a look of surprise and anger fresh upon his face. "Yoh! What the fuck?!"

Ieyoshi took a stance, leaning to the side, hand gripping lightly the base of his skull, a somewhat exasperated expression overcoming his otherwise neutral countenance. Ieharu recognized it as his brother's lecturing pose. He'd seen it a million times before. "Look," his brother began, pointing at Ieharu's face. "He's obviously not going to kill you. Think about it." Ieyoshi brought his hands together, marking off his points by counting his fingers. "A, that no-good Tsuna might be stupid, but do you think he's stupid enough to bring a killer into the house? To sleep in our beds? Eat our food?"

"Hey!" Ieharu interrupted, his voice shrill. "Dad's not no-good!" He said, referring to their father, Tsunayoshi.

Ieyoshi shrugged, continuing, his voice as low and monotonous as a boring college professor's. "Whatever. B, the guy's been here for, like, two weeks already. If he wanted to kill you, why not get it over with quickly? Why play buddy buddy with us for nearly a month? C, we don't have time for this. Get up. We have that math test, remember?"

Though he nodded at a couple of his brother's well-articulated points, when Ieyoshi told him to get up, he responded by pulling the covers over his head and rolling back into bed. "I think I'm gonna be sick..." He mumbled, peeking out from under the sheets after a moment.

Ieyoshi sighed, grabbing his backpack by the strap and swinging it onto his shoulder in one smooth fluid motion. He then sauntered out of the room as if the universe owed him a favor. Sauntering seemed to be his natural form of locomotion. From his mannerisms and personality to the way he picked up his bag and walked out of a room, in Ieharu's eyes, his brother was the pinnacle of cool.

After hearing the customary slam of the downstairs door, there were several moments of blissful uninterrupted peace, with Ieharu nearly falling back asleep. Before he could drift fully into unconsciousness, however, he heard someone at the window. He could tell without looking that it was Ieyoshi. Reluctantly, Ieharu rolled out of bed, the frigid air biting into his exposed skin. Slowly but surely he made his way to the window. After a moment, he opened it.

"Ieharu." Ieyoshi was standing on the grass outside of their home, looking up at their shared bedroom window. Their bedroom was on the second floor.

"What? I said I'm not going."

"Yeah, I know. I just remembered something."

Ieharu raised an eyebrow. Ieyoshi had that look on his face again. The one he always got several dozen turns before he won at Monopoly.

Ieyoshi's lips morphed into a slight grin. In response, Ieharu gulped involuntarily. That grin was never a good sign.

"I know something you think I don't know. And it'll make you come to class, too."

Ieharu ducked down so that only his eyes shown over the windowsill, as if his brother were going to start hurling rocks. "Wh... what are you talking about?!"

There was a moment of silence before Ieyoshi responded, but when he did, his brother's eyes grew wide with fright. "I know who Ieharu likes."

Ieharu shot up, his upper body practically leaning out the window at this point. "W-What are you talking about?! I don't l-like anyone!"
"Yes you do."
"No I don't!"
"Then you should have nothing to worry about when I confess to them on your behalf... unless you can catch me, of course."

And with that, Ieyoshi turned and began walking away with that slow measured pace of his.

"Wait! Yoh! Don't! Stop!" Ieharu pleaded, but if his brother heard his protests, he didn't act like it. His fears of being assassinated evaporated instantaneously, replaced instead by the terror of complete social doom at the hands of his brother. Ieharu brought his hands to his face. Unlike his brother, he didn't think of himself as very cool, or smart, or anything. He didn't have many friends. No one respected him, but at least they left him alone. If Ieyoshi was serious about telling, and he's always serious...

Well, he'd never be able to show his face at that school again.

Like a hurricane, Ieharu threw on whatever clothes were lying around. He and his brother shared a room, and they were the same in size and height, so they shared apparel too. In roughly eight minutes time, Ieharu had gone from half naked to mostly ready for school. Brushing his teeth would have only slowed him down anyway. As he rushed towards the door, open book bag swinging off his shoulder, it began to dawn on him that, even if he were to run his very hardest, his brother had an insurmountable lead. Immediately, he began to regret not stopping his brother while he had the chance. Still, maybe there was hop—

Upon bursting through his front door, Ieharu tripped over his own feet and face-planted on the stairs outside. Slowly but surely, he raised himself up off the ground, propping himself up with one arm and holding his injured face with the other. He was trying his very hardest to resist the urge to cry, but it was yet another fight he just wasn't winning. That same bitter thought that always hobbled him reared its ugly head once more: the loser Ieharu has failed.

Little did he know, a shadow slowly crept up behind his unprotected back.

"Buongiorno, young Ieharu," his terrifying home tutor greeted him as casually as ever, his hands buried in the pockets of his jacket, "I didn't think you'd be so eager to go to school today, especially on such a terrible day like this." Godot looked up toward the sky, of which was blanketed in thick clouds. The air was moist from the remains of the previous night's downpour, and water glistened on the soaked grass and wet concrete. For his part, Ieharu yelped audibly at the sound of his name being called. Godot's pleasant demeanor would have eased the boy, had their last conversation not ended so terribly. Instead, his stomach did a backflip and his chest turned to ice. Gradually, he turned his head, once again looking over his shoulder. The feeling of deja vu was practically nauseating. The man always seemed to approach from his blind spot.

"M-mi-uh-G-g-g-godot... h-hi..." He managed to stutter his tutor's name, eyes wide with fear as he suddenly remembered: he was going to die today.

"Oh, by the way, about our little agreement last night... I got word from my client that there's been a change of plans." Again, there was that peaceful smile, as if all was right in the world. "It's sort of exciting, I suppose."

Iehari inhaled sharply. Deep in the recesses of his gut sparked the faintest glimmer of hope. "A change?" The pitch of his voice inflected as he spoke, making his question come out as more of a plea.

Godot nodded. "Yes," he replied, "a pretty big change. You see, I'm not going to kill you later." At that very statement, in one swift motion, Godot brought his hand out of his pocket, a black pistol in hand. All so suddenly, Ieharu found himself staring down the barrel of Godot's Beretta. That flicker of hope in his gut disappeared just as swiftly. Too scared to move, too scared to even think, Ieharu did what came natural.

He screwed his eyes shut.

There was a delay, however. Godot hesitated, although he smirked when he did so. "Seeing as you've accepted your fate already," he said, "I guess that must mean you don't have any more regrets. There's no special person in your life? No unfinished business with somebody close, not even your family? Nothing, eh?"

After several moments of silence devoid of a bullet to the face, Ieharu gathered that the question hadn't been rhetorical. Still, he didn't dare open his eyes. Maybe this way, he still had the chance to wake up from this nightmare.

From under his breath, the boy mumbled something.

"Speak up, boy," Godot demanded, "You're only getting one chance to say it, so spit it out!"

Somewhat startled at the command, Ieharu repeated himself, this time with a bit more volume. His kept his eyes closed. "W-why do you care about what I regret, M-mr. Godot?" Ieharu could almost swear he heard Godot chuckle.

"You'll understand if you die." With that cryptic statement, Godot rotated his wrist sideways and squeezed the pistol's trigger.

And that was it. A loud pop!. A flash of pain. Pressure around his forehead. And then nothing. Ieharu Sawada, son of Tsunayoshi Sawada and Kyoko Sawada, brother to Ieyoshi, friend to few, and most of all, still a virgin, died at that moment.

However, while dying, Ieharu regretted. He regretted parting with the world. He regretted what a waste his life had been. He regretted spending the time studying for a math test he'd never take. But there was one thing he regretted more than anything else. One thing that, even as the bullet pierced his skull and robbed him of life, he wished he had accomplished with all his heart.

I should have stopped Ieharu from confessing for me... from saying something stupid... I could have stopped him...

His body was cold before it even hit the ground.

... with a dying will.

On the other side of the street, several passersby screamed in horror. One was even so bold as to yell, finger pointing in violent accusation: "That thug just shot that kid!"

Ieharu's body slumped on the ground, blood pooling under his head. One second, he was certainly dead. But then in the next...

"REBORN!!!"

Ieharu literally exploded, most of his clothes burning away to ashes, his then-dead body springing to life like round two in any good video game's boss battle. Though he was still scrawny and mostly naked, he sported a look that'd never crossed his face before. His eyes were wide and full of determination, his pupils dilated, his irises practically glowing. He was grinding his teeth in seething rage. Most noticeable was the massive orange flame located smack dab in the middle of his forehead, the blaze shifting and pulsing to some unknown rhythm.

His sudden re-emergence from death and accompanying roar of rebirth startled everyone in the area, excluding Godot. One of them—an old woman—fainted where she stood.

"I'M GOING TO STOP IEYOSHI FROM SAYING SOMETHING STUPID!" He shouted at the air. "WITH MY DYING WILL!"

And with that, Ieharu sped off, his feet carrying him as fast as an Olympic athlete as he raced with all his might towards Ieyoshi and Namimori High.

Godot watched as the half-naked boy sped off like hell on wheels, and so did the rest of the neighborhood. People looked at Godot, flabbergasted at what they had just witnessed. Godot smiled at them affably.

"Things are going to be a lot more interesting around here from now on."

Even after yesterday's storm, dew still topped the grass so early in the morning. Damien sighed, taking slow steps towards the entrance of the warehouse.

"Finally," he said, crumpling up the hand drawn map that lead him to this location. He sighed again as he felt the damp ground beneath his feet slip into his shoes and soak his socks like a sponge in water. Wet socks were a feeling that anyone could hate. He placed his hands upon the warehouse's large doors, felt the cold surface of it, savoring it for a second, then gave them a slight push. They slid open gradually, like the final level in some video game's boss battle, creaking with an unpleasant sound. The only thing he could see was darkness ahead of him; however, he knew that he had to continue forward. Be ready for anything raced through his mind as he entered this suspicious warehouse. This was an all too unfamiliar location without any guide as to what would happen next. He treaded forward cautiously, prepared for anything.

SLAM!

The doors behind him slammed shut, leaving him trapped in this abandoned warehouse. He merely stood there unamused as total darkness enveloped the room. Everything was pitch black and all remained silent. The echoes of his own breath rang through the air. A voice soon broke the silence.

"Are you ready, Damien?" An all too familiar voice rang from a higher plane.

"You know it," Damien replied confidently.

A flickering light came to life, accompanied by a slight buzzing sound. A second light followed this same procedure. The buzzing noise rang in his ears as the two lights flipped on and off. These two lights produced a beam shining down on two dolls. Both looked like the Vongola Decimo, Tsunayoshi Sawada. Upon further examining the dolls, he saw a large label hung around both of their necks. The one of his left said "Ieharu" while the one of the right said "Ieyoshi". With both of these lights on, he was able to examined some of his surrounding. The floors were wooden, these dolls both sat an equal amount of distance from him, each sitting in chairs, and they both had something sticking out of them. What protruded from the dolls was a long thin strip of material. He eyes widened as he figured out what this was about.

"Bombs!" He yelled.

"You have thirty seconds to save both, son," shouted the voice.

Pssssstttt!

He glanced down at the ground before him and saw two red sparks that were just lit. They darted in opposite directions, one to the left and the other to the right towards both of the dolls. Instead of going directly for the wires, Damien darted forward to get a gauge of the size of the room. Thirty seconds was plenty of time to prevent both of the explosions if he could get a good angel to--

As he moved forward, his right foot sunk into the ground. In that moment, a compartment opened up from the floor next to his foot. Four dynamite bombs shot up to the height of his face with lit wires about to explode.

"Sh--!" he exclaimed.

Instead of panicking, Damien quickly grabbed his two knives twice the size of his arm and pulled them up. He's faced this type of danger before and have learned the mistakes of overreaction. The best course of action would be to do what he can to lessen the impact of this upcoming blow as much as possible. He brought both of his arms in and crossed them to form an X directly in front of his face.

BOOM!

The heat and force of the explosion surged through his body, hurling him backwards. He slid on the ground, causing him a brief flash of pain in his back. Before he even came to a stop, he jumped back to his feet and immediately caught his balance. He pressed forward, accustomed to pain like this, especially since this wasn't his first time getting through one of his father's crazy training regimens.

"You have about twenty seconds," rang the voice while the sparks continued to move swiftly towards the dolls.

Once again, Damien ran ahead to the center of the room without heading in either direction. A normal man would have run straight towards one of the dolls, but his father said save both of them. There could be a variety of traps between the both of them. The center trap was triggered meaning that it was less likely to have another and would be a safer route to take. His father even said before: "Lightning never strikes in the same place twi--"

With an awareness honed by constant training, he noticed it. Right as his foot slid slowly down again without completely touching the ground. He prepped himself for his next move. Another trap; however, this time the small sticks of dynamite were much larger than before.

A normal person would have panicked. May have placed up defense or yelled in disbelief.

A normal person would be dead.

BOOM!

But Damien was not a normal person, and this too was something he had prepared for. With practiced elegance and quick reflexes, he dropped to the floor as soon as his right foot his the ground. He rolled to the right and dodged the majority of the explosion, skirting most of the damage. Without pause, he regained his footing and his composure.

"Tsk tsk tsk, you're wasting time going that way. Prioritize saving them first! Not yourself! Fifteen seconds left!"

"Fine then," Damien said to himself as he let out a sigh. Roughly twelve seconds remained. The amount of time left combined with the distance between the dolls would be impossible to reach them by foot. While remaining calm, Damien reached into both of the side pouched held by his jeans. It's always better to bring more gear you may need instead of not having it at all. He pulled out two kunais, one in each hand. A nearly impossible shot to take, but he was the type of guy that made the impossible possible.

"Seven... six... five," the voice rang out ominously.

He looked at both bomb wires gradually getting closer to both Ieyoshi's and Ieharu's dolls. It's now or never, life or death, victory or failure for them. Damien continued forward toward until he stood even between both dolls. Once he reached that spot, with all of his leg strength, he leaped into the air. Pulling his agile body up while using his arm strength to spin, he spun in a clockwise direction. Using his precise aim honed through practice, he threw the first Kunai towards Ieyoshi's doll. The kunai zipped through the air in the direction of the wire. Immediately, he shifted his gaze towards Ieharu's doll. As soon as he hit the ground, he spun counter clockwise once, and let go of the Kunai.

Ding!

The first Kunai gave a sound as it hit the ground right before Ieyoshi's doll. Damien turned his gaze and looked back. The Kunai cut the wire, separating the spark from actually reaching the doll. Success! He turned back around to admire having cut Ieharu's wire as well--

BOOM!

The fluffy cotton remains of Ieharu's doll came raining down while the Kunai he threw was forced to the side by the explosion. He failed at saving Ieharu. He failed, and he was all too familiar with what would happen next.

"One alive, one dead," said the approaching voice. All of the lights in the warehouse flipped on and Damien shifted his head in the direction of the voice. He saw his father, Hayato Gokudera, approaching him with an annoyed expression on his face. "I would've respected you more if you would've thrown both kunai simultaneously instead letting one of them die."

Damien frowned a bit, knowing full well he wouldn't get any praise from saving one of the future Vongola heads. He body was still a bit sore from the exercise; however, the years of explosions, battle, and pain allowed him to regard otherwise crippling pain such as this to be nothing more than a minor annoyance.

"Look son! I need you to understand this! You have to protect the future heads of the Vongola! Just as I have!" He continued, yelling his point. "Your job is as twice as hard as mine! I need you to be even better than I was! You have two tenths to protect! Save both, not just one!" Gokudera flicked a switch closer to the wall. The warehouse doors flung open. Without saying a word, Gokudera walked off and left Damien lying on the floor. Gokudera briefly stopped, looking back at his son. "Don't be late for school; it starts in a couple of hours. Be ready for another training session tomorrow."

**

"I got to find a way to save both," Damien mumbled under his breath, preoccupied, as if he were in a trance. Suddenly, his eyes snapped to the side, his brow furrowing. Before he could see it, before he could smell it or touch it, he could hear it. Hear... something. Whatever it was, it was approaching at a rather hurried pace. Though it wasn't trying to hide its presence, it was moving very lightly across the ground, as if to avoid detection. As if it didn't want to be heard.

Though his thoughts seemed to span entire minutes, adrenaline still pumping the morning's training session, his moment of realization was just that. A moment. A normal person might not have even noticed the brief pause in Damien's step, or the way he quickly scanned his surroundings before resuming his brisk pace.

As he thought, something really was coming. He could hear it plainly now. Though he didn't look backwards at his pursuer, he stuffed his hands in his pockets, preparing himself for a fight.

And he wasn't one to lose.

Making a fist in his pocket, Damien turned to meet his target, but caught himself at the last moment. "Yoh?!" He said, somewhat startled.

Approaching Damien with an uncharacteristically sprightly jog was none other than Ieyoshi Sawada, one arm moving back and forth in rhythm to his footfalls, the other stuffed hand-deep into his pocket. When Ieyoshi heard the familiar voice call his name, he slid in to a halt. The unintentional elegance of the move caught the eye of a trio of girls who were passing by, though Ieyoshi paid them no mind.

"Sup, Troy," he said, his voice as gruff and low-energy as always. Damien was perhaps Ieyoshi's closest friend. Ieyoshi was also one of the few people allowed to address Damien by his middle name without consequences.

Damien offered the back of his fist—their form of a greeting. With practiced timing, Ieyoshi met it with the back of his own. It was something they've been doing since grade school. Still, something seemed off about him. Damien knew Ieyoshi, and he seemed more... intense than usual, as if he were in a determined rush.

Ieyoshi threw a curt look over his shoulder before returning his eyes to Damien, his expression impenetrable. "Hey, do you mind running the rest of the way to the school with me?" Without waiting for confirmation, Ieyoshi took off. He was moving faster than before, probably in an attempt to make up for lost time. Plus, he knew his friend could easily keep up if he chose to.

It didn't even take Damien a second to react to Ieyoshi's request. It had become almost an instinct instilled by his father to react to the needs of both the twins. The importance of ensuring order, protection, and their overall well-being was an ideal pushed by his father since he was in diapers. Damien immediately bolted ahead to catch up to Ieyoshi . It took him only a quick second to match his friend's pace. This sure was an unusual way to start the day.

"What's the rush, Yoh?" Damien asked.

"Just a precautionary measure," he responded, thinking back on the morning's conversation with his brother. Though it was unlikely that Ieharu would stand much of a chance of catching up to him, he was fairly confident that his threat would at least motivate his brother to get out of bed and come to school, which was the goal in Ieyoshi's strategy.

"Where's Haku? Rare to see you two apart." He glanced around. "Did he oversleep again?"

Ieyoshi snorted in disdain. "Something like that." As they sprinted past other bleary-eyed bag-toting students, they neared the entrance to their destination. It was a school, of course. The place was huge, easily spanning two or three blocks. Past the ashen gunmetal gates was a miniature city of buildings, some of them a dozen stories high. Some of them sporting the school's logo. The largest of the buildings, flanked on either side by structures nearly as tall, sported the word "Namimori" across the top in a glorious golden font, subscripted by the words "Scholastic International High School". The place was an upscale private school, and for the longest time had been exclusively for privileged kids. However, in order to secure its next round of major funding in the form of a check from a firm known as "CEDEF Holdings Incorporated," they had to start awarding scholarships to... well, everyone else.

Ieyoshi cracked a smile. For anyone else, it may have been a rare sight, but around Damien, the boy always seemed to loosen up. "Haku's playing sick again."

Damien smirked in reaction. "Typical Haku," he chuckled as he thought of Ieharu pretending to be sick. He recalled a time earlier in the school year when Ieharu had to give a presentation. The kid tried to give his best impression of a sick man claiming to have the flu with marker chicken pox dots over his face. He mixed up the symptoms with chicken pox. Both Ieyoshi and Damien dragged him out of the bed to school, gave him a good pep talk and were able to encourage him to perform well. And he did. A real orator, that one.

Once they made it to the front entrance, they duo came to a stop simultaneously. "Where to next?" Damien asked. "Should we just run in?" He mused, chuckling. Although he didn't understand Ieyoshi was so intent on sprinting to school, he just went with it. Precautionary or not, he trusted him enough

His ears perked up suddenly. His senses were razor sharp, but none more so than his hearing. It started as something behind him, something far away and faint. Just like before when he detected Ieyoshi, there some sort of anomaly approaching. Judging by the steady increase in octave, this thing was coming at a very rapid speed and making quite a bit of noise. Was it a person? No, it was moving as fast as a car. Maybe an animal? Nah. Motorcycle made more sense, but it didn't sound like one. Nothing really could fit the profile of what was heading. What could possibly be coming this way at such an inhuman pace?"Hey Yoh," he said, turning to his companion. "you hear that?"

With one foot in past the school's front gate, Ieyoshi turned. All he could hear were the sounds of chattering students intermingled with the normal hustle and bustle of an urban city; however, he knew better than to doubt Damien's senses. His friend could certainly be paranoid at times, his senses were never outright wrong. "What is it?" Ieyoshi was genuinely concerned, though going from his voice alone, he just sounded bored.

"Something strange coming, I think. It's making sounds that don't fit in with everything else around here." He kept looking around, waiting for the source to show itself. "And it's coming really fast." He pointed down the road they'd just sprinted up from. He squinted, trying to get extend his sight range by just as much as possible. By now, students further down the road were taking notice of the "thing," whatever it was. And then, suddenly, it revealed itself over the horizon. Damien's jaw dropped as he realized he recognized the something. "Is that... Haku?!"

"What?!" Using his hand as a makeshift visor, Ieyoshi studied the area Damien was pointing towards. For a moment, he saw nothing. Just some parked cars, a few trees, and odd looks on the faces of some students in the distance. And then he saw him. He saw his brother.

"No way," Ieyoshi muttered, his voice dripping with incredulity. "No way."

Could it be? Did his eyes deceive him? Maybe, for running along the tops of parked cars, naked save for a flimsy pair of boxers, his face contorted, his eyes squinched like those of a rabid animal, was none other than his twin brother, Ieharu Sawada. He was moving like a bullet train in his approach, hopping from car roof to car roof with ultimate speed. When there were no more cars to jump on, Ieharu hopped to the ground unceremoniously, rolling about for a moment before coming to a stop on the other side of the street. Like a mad dog, his eyes scanned the faces of the people around him before he locked eyes with his brother. With Ieyoshi.

For Ieyoshi's part, the incredulity that was evident in his voice had already made its way onto his face. For lack of a better term, he looked dumbfounded. "What the fuck?"

With a mighty roar, Ieharu dashed across the street and halfway tripped, half-way lunged at his twin. This apparently caught both Ieyoshi and Damien by complete surprise, because neither reacted fast enough as Ieharu smashed into his brother at full force, sending them both rolling into the school courtyard.

Damien stood there in shock, his hands gripping one another as he overlooked the struggling brothers like an overly concerned parent. "H-h-haku?! What are you-- You can get hurt!" He yelled as the twins rolled along. No amount of bombs, battle training, or trap doors could have prepared him for this. These two were family. They shouldn't be fighting like this! He rushed towards the courtyard, following the both of them as they tumbled about. "Stop guys!" he yelled again. His heart raced as he followed the twins, hoping for their safety.

"Dude—" Despite being thrown to the ground, Ieyoshi still managed to maintain his serene state. His voice maintained its relaxed, sedated quality. "Haku—" Again, they rolled, another few revolutions, but this time, Ieyoshi ended up on top. He used the chance to pin his brother's neck to the ground with his forearm. "Are you insane? What are you doing?!"

"SHUT UP!" Ieharu roared, seizing his brother's shoulders and tugging with all his might. Ieyoshi's eyes grew large for but a moment, utterly surprised that his brother had strength enough to completely overpower him. The tug sent them both spiraling in a roll once again, this time past a few puddles and smack dab into a gaggle of frightened students.

"Whee!"

The few people walking on the street turned at the sound to see a fifteen year old boy wearing an unzipped blue hoodie skating casually past on a sleek blue skateboard, a wide grin on his face. A girl in pigtails texting on her phone didn't notice that he was headed her way, but a twist to the left and Enn was past her in an instant, leaving nothing behind but a shocked look on the girl's face and a few locks of her hair blowing in the wind.

Enn grinned and skated a little faster, enjoying the wind against his face and ruffling his white hair. Shou would have asked him to bring a helmet (they both knew he didn't really need one but Shou worried anyway), but he wasn't here since he'd gone to school earlier so Shou wouldn't mind so long as Enn stashed it somewhere safe and not tell him about it! And there wasn't any need to tell him about it, at least until the time they had to go home which would be too late since Enn hadn't brought a helmet with him. Sure, Shou would sigh a bit over it and warn him to bring one with him, but Enn could deal with that!

He really could deal with it. He'd dealt with it before, but that wasn't what Enn was worried about.

How would Shou react if I fail a math test? Enn bite his lip and moved to the right, dodging a trashcan. He hadn't exactly studied (it was so boring - well, maybe not angles but it was still boring, how was he suppose to remember all this stuff?!) and he knew that his studies weren't good. He didn't really cared if he failed since he didn't really care for it, but then Shou did and Enn really wasn't sure if he could pass the math test the teacher would set for them to-

Something was coming.

Enn spun around warily, coming to a stop as he looked around for whoever - it had to be a person, it sounded like running feet - was making the noise. The few shoppers around him did the same, their faces curious at who could be running so furiously.

One of the shoppers, an elderly man squinting into the horizon Enn had passed by a few minutes ago, was the first to spot it. His face turned to shock and surprise as the sound came nearer, and so did the rest of them as they saw what was a nearly naked young teenager with an orange flame right in the middle of his forehead as he charged furiously towards them like an express bullet train at full speed. Then the looks of surprised incredulity changed to panic when they realised that the boy was charging towards them with absolutely no intention of stopping and the shoppers scattered, leaving the path clear for the crazy maniac to pass through.

All except Enn, who remained smack dab on the middle of the street as he stared at the boxer-clad maniac charging towards him. His hands hung loose, and his eyes widened in surprise at what he was seeing. "Haku?!"

The figure grew larger and larger, and Enn quickly dodged to the side as Haku charged past, the backlash blowing his white hair back. For a moment, Enn continued to stare blankly, then a grin large enough to split his face formed and he was off, using his skateboard to catch up with Haku.

"Hahaha!" Enn had no idea what was going on, but it had to be fun, right?! Or else he wouldn't be moving so quickly. Leaning low, Enn sped up until he was a blur, leaning forwards to catch up to Haku. Spotting Chester on a bike, he gave the guy a quick wave and grin before moving forwards, easily keeping up with his friend as he dodged and jumped over obstacles. "Hey Haku," He called wildly, the wind whipping his hair back from his head and snatching away his words, "Haku this is fun why're we going so fast I'm kind of having trouble keeping up though where're we heading?"

Haku didn't respond and leapt on top of a car. Boo! Enn pouted and narrowed his eyes, forcing his speed to increase in order to keep up. On his right index finger, a ring with a small yellow stone sparked with a small flame, and Enn continued to chatter with a bright smile as they kept a healthy distance apart and headed towards what Enn knew was the school.

"-and that's why I think you're rushing, did I get it right Haku did I - oh, guys!" Spying two figures up ahead, Enn waved at them cheerily. "Hey!" Forgetting about the one-sided conversation he was holding with Haku, who was more than a mile to his right jumping on cars, Enn slowed down as Haku forged ahead of him. Completely ignoring the dumbfounded looks on Yoh and Damien's faces, he grinned and chattered excitedly "Guys did you know Haku can move faster than a car now this is awesome - whoa?!"

Haku jumped towards Yoh, and Enn stared in surprised interest as they tumbled their way through the entrance. For all the time Enn knew them, Haku had never tried to attack Yoh before. But then Haku had never gone out in just boxers before or had a flaming forehead either, so maybe it was a game? It might be an experiment, but Haku wouldn't be out if it was. Pushing off on his skateboard, Enn followed Damien towards the courtyard to see the twins scuffle on the ground, placing his hands casually in his pockets. He was about to ask them whether he could join in when a hand grabbed his shoulder.

"What the hell is going on?!"

"Oh, Ryuu-chan!" Enn turned and smiled brightly at the shorter man, who gave him a brief glance before going back to staring incredulously at the Sawada brothers like he couldn't believe his eyes. "I've no clue, but it was awesome! Haku was jumping on car roofs like a supervillian and everything shouting Reborn or something! I was too far away so I couldn't hear, haha. And then they started fighting." Enn's grin turned bloodthirsty. "Think I could join in?"

The words came out almost on automatic. "Don't call me- wait, nows not the time for that!" The grip on his shoulder tightened, and Enn pouted as he allowed himself to be dragged towards Damien, stepping on the ground and kicking his skateboard up into his arms as Ryuu tapped Damien once on the arm for acknowledgement.

"What happened?!" Ryuu asked the Sawada's lackey urgently, keeping his voice low. He readjusted the dark green bag on his shoulders, preparing to dump it on the ground in case he had to help. A little way behind him, Enn was cheering the both of them on with a manic glint in his eyes and looking like he wanted popcorn. "Did Haku lose it?! Why're the two fighting and more importantly, should we stop them?!"

Crostoph was trying to sleep in his bed since about eight at night on Sunday. He figured if he got a head start, he'd be able get to sleep in an hour or so. When his alarm rang nine hours later, he realized his plan had failed. Not only that, but he was finally tired enough to go to sleep. He grumbled while rolling back and forth, but the hours on the clock didn't reset. The boy exhaled a sigh and got out of bed. If this had been any other day, he would have slept until nightfall, but it was a Monday. Also being the day that he decided to start showing up for class again, he figured it to be a big deal. Worry hit him as he thought about how the teacher would react to him showing up. Worst yet, the students themselves. "Man this bites. How am I supposed to do anything during school hours. Just getting trapped in room with people who already know each other," he hissed as he packed his bag. Looking at the time, there was still an hour before he had to start walking. He took note to set his alarm to delay by an hour. There was nothing worst than having nothing but time in between him and doing something. He thought about going early, but that would probably make him stand out more than anything and he wasn't up for that. So he stood there staring at the clock as it ran from five-thirty to six-fifteen.

While walking down he thought about his job which seemed more like a minor task than he wanted. The timing couldn't have been worst. He sighed at the long days ahead. The scenery picked his spirits up a little bit. How long had been since he had seen an actual sunrise, or even went out for a morning stroll? More importantly, how soon would it be until he began regretting it.

He shook his head at the thought. There was no use complaining anymore. He felt a little worried once the school came into vision. For as big as it was, he was sure the school handed out maps. Though when he signed up he didn't get one. Maybe they forgot? Maybe you're not smart if you don't automatically know where your class was? Last time he checked that wasn't a thing. When did that become a thing?

He snapped his fingers in awe. 'I could just walk into a random classroom and set up there, but that's just one more thing I'd have to keep track of. I'd rather not do too much. Especially at school.' It was a hassle on both fronts, but he decided to go with the one he could relax with. Relax. That was a funny word to him. Who pays someone to relax and also adds a bonus at the end of the job. A dead man if he was hoodwinked. He was about to change his line of thought to a piece of gum that he stepped on when he heard heavy footsteps running towards him. Along with a few other pedestrians, he moved to the side and looked on at the pair of kids, looking around his age ran off towards the school. People thought they were able to walk again, but he stayed still as another boy, seemingly naked, ran past almost trampling everyone. It was an awesome sight to behold. One that brought a cheerful smile to his face. He didn't get good look at them, but if everyone else in the school was that entertaining, he knew he wouldn't have a problem.

When he walked up to the school grounds he saw a crowd gathered around, which was great for him. With this ruckus he'd hope for school to be delayed, giving him time to find out where his class was. He shuffled his way around the crowd to the inside of the school buildings lobby. Just as he figured a map was in there. He figured since he was only two years from graduating and the school only had three numbers he was the middle one. The only questioning was. "2-1. . . 2-2. . . or 2-3? What's this supposed to mean?"

He only had one resort left. It was unavoidable in the end as he knew it would be, but he didn't think he'd have to do it so soon. He'd have to ask someone for help. He knelled down on his knew raising one arm to no one in particular before returning to his feet. It was obvious. This was not going be relaxing. It was going to be a hassle. Just like every other job.

Ring ring ring!!!!

The sound of the alarm filled the small bedroom, successfully waking up Luka from his peaceful slumber. He cracked open a single eye and immediately regretted when he was greeted by a ray of sunshine that was peeping in from between the cracks of the window curtains. He slammed in his hand down onto his alarm clock to shut off its loud ringing before turning over onto his side and pulling the covers up to shelter himself from the sunlight. His room fell back into silence, aside from the quiet ticking of the clock. Luka felt himself slipping back into unconsciousness until he felt something soft pressing against his face--more like stepping on it.

"Kumo..." he groaned out, trying to swat away at his furry roommate. A black and white cat meowed at him, almost as if telling him to wake up before patting his face again with his paws.

"Stop it," Luka muttered. But the assault didn't stop, which really wasn't too surprising. For some reason, his cat enjoyed accompanying him to school. The feline will stick around the area until school ended and walked with back home or to work, depending on the day. "Alright, alright. I'm up," he sighed in defeat. Satisfied with his answer, Kumo gave him another small meow before hopping off the bed. Luka sat up and stretched before running his hand through his messy bed hair. He took one look at the clock, squinted his eyes at it, then finally got up to head into the bathroom to begin the day.

He washed up quickly and fixed his hair up a bit before entering his room again so he can change into his school uniform. He never understood why such thing was necessary. He slipped on the dress-shirt and buttoned it up except the last two at the top. Luka completely disregarded the tie because it was too much of a hassle to put on. He grabbed the black blazer then his bag, dragging them lazily to the living room and tossing them onto the couch so they can sit there while he fixed himself a quick breakfast. He looked into the fridge and stared at the contents inside for a moment before pulling out a strawberry milk carton for himself and a regular milk carton for his cat. Pouring the white creamy liquid into the cat bowl, he scratched behind Kumo's ears with a small grin as the feline lapped it up happily.

Luka took a sip of his drink while popping a slice of bread into the toaster; he had decided he'll have a simple breakfast of toast with jam. He kept note of the time as he ate and eventually dragged himself towards the door. Why did school have to exist...?

Kumo waited patiently while Luka put on his shoes and was the first to head out when the door opened. Luka chuckled softly, finding it funny how the cat was more enthusiastic about going to school than he was. Then again, Kumo wasn't the one who sat in a classroom for hours, listening to the teacher go on and on about things he really didn't care about.

Yawning into one hand and stuffing the other into the pocket of his pants, Luka headed down the road towards school. It seemed like a fairly normal morning--or at least until he saw the way his cat stopped in his tracks, body tensing as his pointy ears perked. Luka raised his brows, "What's wrong buddy?"

And then he heard it. A loud yelling from the distance that seemed to be getting closer and closer by the second. It was then he saw someone coming around from the corner and zooming past him. "What the--" The guy was gone before his brain can fully process what had just happened but the back of the guy's head seemed strangely familiar. He blinked, trying to figure out if he had just hallucinated. However, the yelling that grew faint was still audible, which told him he was most likely not imagining this. It looked like the was heading towards school so the only way to find out what exactly was happening, he would have to head over and see.

By the time he got to school, there was already a crowd of people gathered around. Kumo was settled on his shoulder, round green eyes blinking curiously. Luka hadn't been there to see the whole thing play out but it was easy to guess what happened when he saw two guys rolling around on the ground together. He sighed, thinking it was some stupid school fight at first, since that tend to happen once in a while. But as he got closer he noticed that the two males were the Sawada twins. Luka stopped in his tracks and looked over, noticing the bright orange flames on Ieharu's head. What the hell was going on..?

"Morning exercises complete!"

With a satisfied huff, Fujiki Makoto sheathed her sword and wiped the sweat from her brow. It was routine for Makoto to begin every morning by going through the sword stances she was taught without fail. Though she had been training for years now, there was still always room for improvement as she had yet to develop her own style of fighting. This morning's practice grounds was a small park located just across the street of the hotel Mako was staying at for the time being. As she had only arrived in Japan a few days prior, she hadn't had the time to find a more permanent place of residency in the town of Namimori. Mako turned her gaze to the sky and shivered. The sun was just rising and her body reminded her that mornings here at this time were a bit cooler than in Italy. "I'd better get inside and get ready."

Today was Mako's first day of school. Literally.... Never in her life had she attended a second of school in her life and Mako was both extremely nervous and excited to see what it was like. Was it like the mafia school Squalo had attended? Mako wondered how many, if any, mafiosi attended the school. What did they teach there? Were the teachers going to be as mean as Squalo? The endless thoughts swirled around in Mako's head as she returned to her hotel room. Setting her sword against the near wall, she shook her head as if to shake away the numerous questions she did not know the answer to. All of this was only second to the real reason she was here. Her first and foremost worry was to find the elusive Hitman Tutor Godot. It had been already three days since she arrived and yet she had zero leads to where he could be. And even if somehow she found him, would he even agree to teach her? Mako had decided that in order to gain recognition by someone that strong then one must defeat them and made it up in her mind that she would challenge him to show him her resolve to become a mafioso. Surely then he would take her as his student. But to do that she would have to track him down first. Mako glanced at the digital clock on the microwave in the small kitchen. It was almost time to leave.

It took some time for Mako to prepare herself for the day. The school uniform was troublesome to put on and more than once she had tried sticking her head into a sleeve more than once. But after a few desperate attempts, Mako had successfully dressed herself. Almost..... There was one piece of clothing that made no sense to her. The long red ribbon that came with the uniform was a complete mystery to the girl. Was it to tie her hair? Was it a belt of some sort? Or maybe even a wrist accessory? Whatever it was Mako decided that it would be best if she just left it out. The girl stepped in front of the tall mirror on the wall nearby. Good enough for now. Mako shifted uncomfortably in the new clothes. She had never worn a skirt before. Her attire mostly consisted of loose clothing for free movement as she trained and never was it required of her to wear a skirt. Though she thought she didn't look to bad. The uniform consisted of a simple short sleeved white button up shirt, a black miniskirt, a dark navy blue sweater vest and the mysterious red ribbon. It seemed like Mako had everything right but something seemed.... off.....

"Ahh...." Mako quickly ran to the bed where her familiar black trench coat lay and slipped it on. "Much better."

Mako had found the coat tucked away in the corner of her closet at the Varia base and when she asked around to whose it was no one had a clue so Mako claimed it for herself and always wore it wherever she went. She believed that a proper mafioso should have their own signature look. Mako quickly glance at the clock once again. It was time to go. Grabbing her new school bag and her sword which she quickly slung over her shoulder in its cloth carrying cover, Mako grabbed the leftover burnt toast that she had left over from her breakfast that morning and flew out the door. Having very little knowledge of making her own meals, Mako had attempted to use what she knew to make breakfast which ended up in badly burnt bread and under cooked eggs. It wasn't bad for a start.

The hotel Mako was staying at was very close to the school grounds and by trial and error, she finally arrived at the gates after taking a few detours as a result of a few wrong turns. Though when she arrived she found that there was a very large crowd that had gathered in front of the school. There was quite a commotion and as Mako approached she wedged herself through the crowd to get a better look at what the fuss was about. To her surprise, two boys who looked similar enough to be twins, were on the ground rolling around obviously in a brawl over something. Instinctively, Mako's had reached up and gripped the hilt of her sword through the cloth cover. Now this was something she could get used to. If this was the norm at school she was going to have a good time. Though as she observed closer she quickly noticed the orange flames on one of the boy's head. 'Sky flames? Isn't that boy in Dying Will mode?' Mako's excitement grew ten fold. If there were powerful opponents like this at this school then she would be able to grow stronger in no time! Mako quickly glanced around at the other students around her. Maybe after the boys were finished with their fight she would challenge the winner. Yes, that was what she was going to do....

When Ieharu came to his senses, several thoughts occurred to him nearly simultaneously. For one, he was virtually surrounded by a gaggle of students from his school. Some looked on with shock, others were shouting and screaming like fans at a sporting event, and others still were laughing uncontrollably. That tied directly into some other thoughts: he was at school. He was naked, save for his boxers—surely a gift of mercy from a higher power. He was also on top of Ieyoshi, his own traitorous fist raised into the air, though he didn't quite remember how it got there—

Suddenly, it all came flooding back to him. Godot! He'd shot him! Tried to kill him! And then he... he...

Elsewhere in the crowd, Enn stopped cheering. A disappointed look crossed his face, and he turned dejectedly towards Ryuu and Damien. "Aww, Haku's flame's gone out... that sucks!" The flame on Ieharu's head was disappearing now, and while it was going Ieharu looked less and less like he was going to murder his brother, which was boring. Though maybe Ieyoshi would kill Ieharu instead, and the fight would continue! Enn brightened up at the thought, his head turning back towards the fight. "Think Yoh'd kill Haku now?"

Damien was still awestruck by the events transpiring before his eyes. For the past couple of minutes his hands were locked tightly together while he remained standing, frozen in time, only able to watch. He didn't quite hear Enn's question. Ryuu, on the other hand, turned his head so fast it could have caused whiplash. "WHAT?!"

Ieharu's eyes widened as the last five minutes of his life replayed in his head in the span of a few seconds. Slowly, his gaze drooped until his eyes met his brother's, or at least would have met his brother's had Ieyoshi had his eyes open. Instead, the twin had his eyes closed, his upper lip twitching a bit, as if he were fighting to hold something back. Ieharu recognized that look all too well, gulping loudly. He didn't have much time to make this right.

"Uh, Y-Yoh... haha," his nervous chuckle only exaggerated his forced, toothy smile. When his brother didn't react, Ieharu continued, stuttering uncontrollably, abject terror having entered his expression. "Uh, n-now I know this is go-go..." He licked his lips, sweat beating atop his head. "... going to be hard to believe, but Godo—"

Ieyoshi exhaled loudly. To Ieharu, a dragon may as well have exhaled smoke from its nostrils, preparing itself for the coming barbeque. Just then, Ieyoshi opened his eyes. Very slowly. Very purposefully. His glowing amber-orange irises bored relentlessly into his brother's. Ieharu flinched involuntarily, his fist for some reason still in the air where he'd left it. Both boys eyes shifted to it at the same time. For his part, Ieyoshi still emanated a boring type of serenity. His expression was cold, even colder than usual. A typical person might mistake that for a calm mind. Ieharu knew much better, and he didn't have much longer to fix this before things got really bad. Perhaps he could continue to talk his way out of this?

"Uh—"

"Wow," called the jittery girl, Tomoe Tachibana, interrupting Ieharu in this most pivotal moment. "It's a fight!" The short second-year girl skipped toward the two, an unmistakable pink-colored BluScreen band in hand. "Mind looking over here, boys?" Slowly, Ieharu's gaze drifted over his shoulder and off a meter or so to the side. There always seemed to be some bad news to be had when he found himself looking over his shoulder. Not far behind him was something that he recognized as far more terrifying than just any ordinary highschool girl with a phone. It was them, that infamous group of second-years that everybody had come to know. Many thought of them with mixed feelings, but as far as Ieharu was concerned, they were the group to be feared most in life, bar none. Some knew them as the "Dolls," but many knew them as Queen Rosa and her most loyal subjects.

"Why, this looks like a disruption to the peace of the school," the lieutenant, Akako Hayashi, spoke aloud, "Isn't it, Rosa?" She had the look of a hyena, with a sneer that shook one in their shoes. The Queen, Rosa, appeared to hesitate for a second, frowning. Many eyes were on her, including Ieharu's, and her Dolls waited to see what she would say. Rosa swallowed, and then smirked. She chuckled, but this chuckle broke into a wretched laugh, one that seemed to drain any who heard it of all hope.

Rosa caught herself, putting her hand over her mouth and clearing her throat. Rosa took another step forward so she was in full attention, avoiding a puddle on the ground. "Oi, Rosa," an intimidating punk girl, Erin Saito, asked in a low voice "What are you gonna do?" Rosa merely opened up her handbag and took a long, flat device out. Then, she declared her intentions with one word:

"Paparazzi!"

All at once, several members of the crowd, loyal to Rosa or not, took out whatever mobile device they had and began taking pictures of the boys, mainly the half-nude Ieharu, from just about every angle. Rosa's girl, Tomoe, called out, "Say cheese!"

At first, Ieharu was confused. What, exactly, were they taking pictures of? That's when he looked down at himself. Right. He was naked, save his boxers. Okay.

It took a moment to click.

They were taking pictures of him!

The word "okay" just kept repeating in his head as he sit there, frozen, his fist still in the air, unable to decide what to do next. The thought of having his picture taken while he was in nothing but his boxers was too terrible a thought to contend with. He could almost feel the infinite flashes of the various cameras against his bare skin. After only a few seconds, he screwed his eyes shut. It was his default defensive maneuver, after all, when he was unsure how to move forward in a situation.

"Ieharu." When Ieyoshi spoke, his voice was much more grave than usual, emphasis on grave. Ieharu flinched again, forcing him to open one eye. For a moment, he'd almost forgotten about his brother, whom he was practically sitting on top of. The two shared an relatively comfortable silence then. "Comfortable" compared to the camera snaps and the laughing that surrounded them, anyhow. Though this entire situation confused him, the one thing he could count on to be familiar and predictable was his twin brother. Unfortunately, Ieharu had a feeling that what would come next would be anything but comfortable for him.

When Ieyoshi spoke, his next words came out very suddenly. It was undoubtedly a command, and it was absolute. "Get off of me."

Before he even finished his sentence, Ieyoshi brought his leg out from under Ieharu's lower body, cocked it at the knee, and smashed his heel into the boy's chest. From an outside perspective, it was a very clean maneuver. Succinct, orderly, with a professional delivery honed by several years of experience with back alley scrapping.

For Ieharu, of course, it was little more than pain incarnate, his momentary comfort shattered into a million pieces. Unable to control his trajectory, he practically flew backward, his skinny body colliding full force with the person standing not a meter away. With Rosa. The Rosa. The collision took the girl's legs out from under her, forcing her to fall backwards. She yelped in surprise. Unfortunately for them both, there was a shallow yet particularly large puddle of water waiting to catch her earthly plunge.

The result wasn't pretty. Rosa—Queen Rosa—flailed for a moment before falling straight into the puddle.

Ieharu avoided any water damage, landing on solid ground barely a few inches before the pool of dirty rainwater. Honestly? He saw stars. Fuzzy spherical blobs of light dotted his vision as the poor boy struggled to his feet, haggard coughs bursting violently from his throat, his small diaphragm struggling to catch a breath.

Yes, this is about what he expected. Ieyoshi never went anything but hard when it came to scuffles.

From where he lay, Ieyoshi blinked a couple of times, his instant of anger evaporating. As he did so, he also noticed that the sound of camera flashes, that incessant click click click, had ceased as well. A particularly annoying thought struck him at that moment, but he pushed it aside, to be dealt with later. For now, someone had their hand in his face, and he was too busy trying to calm himself to really pay attention to what they'd said, but after a moment it came back to him.

"Are you alright?"

Ieyoshi had never heard this voice before. Looking over, he realized he didn't recognize the face either. The person standing above him couldn't have been older than him. He looked petite, short, with tufts of uncharacteristically vivid blue hair poking out under a particularly large hood. It was obvious he was trying to hide his hair beneath the fabric, a choice Ieyoshi didn't particularly understand. Now, Ieyoshi had a good memory. At least, that's what he told himself. He may not remember people's names, but he could certainly recognize any face he'd seen before. This person didn't look like one of the second or third years, and he was fairly sure he'd at least seen all the first years once at the very least. So who was this kid?

Ieyoshi shook his head, dismissing the train of thought. Whatever. It didn't matter now anyway. He accepted the boy's outstretched hand, offering his thanks in the form of a nod. He could have gotten to his feet of his own accord, but this manner of kindness would not be forgotten.

At around the same time, the other twin, Ieharu, got to his feet, both hands holding his chest, where he'd been kicked. His soft amber-orange eyes darted up to meet Ieyoshi's for but a moment before darting to either side, eyeing the crowd of people. Ieyoshi knew better than anyone that his brother didn't do well in crowds. Without wasting another moment, Ieyoshi cleared the distance between them. After a second, the twins stood side-by-side. Unfortunately for them, the others had begun to snap pictures again. Some were even capturing video, holding their phones above their heads and laughing.

"I'm sorry, Yoh," Ieharu muttered, his eyes downcast. "I'm so sorry."

Ieyoshi didn't respond. Instead, he simply started unbuttoning his jacket. In an instant, the article of clothing found its way on top of Ieharu's head. "Put that on," Ieyoshi commanded, his hands moving now to his own belt buckle.

"Yoh, wait, what are you doing?!" Ieharu protested, but again Ieyoshi didn't respond. In a second, he'd slipped out of his shoes and pants, the latter of which also ended up on Ieharu's head.

"You take the shoes, I keep the socks," he began, "you take the pants, I keep the underwear. You take the jacket, I keep the shirt. Sound fair?"

Ieharu stared for a moment, completely nonplussed, as his brother somehow made standing in your underwear in front of a crowd of people look like a fashion shoot. How did he look so damn confident, even now? Even in this situation? The moment of shock didn't last long, however. Graciously accepting the gifts of clothing, Ieharu slipped on the articles and mashed his somewhat dirty feet into his brother's shoes.

Now it was Ieyoshi who was partially naked. His boxers were black with yellow letters that read "I'M BATMAN, BITCH" across the back. One of the so-called "paparazzi" of students saw this and decided to snap a picture with his phone. Unfortunately, he didn't realize he was well within arm's reach of Ieyoshi when he did.

Ah, that's right. The annoying thought from earlier. It was time to deal with it.

When Ieharu saw that grin part his brother's face, the one he called the "supervillain smirk," he looked over at the other boy, the one with the camera, a silent prayer running through his mind.

The boy seemed to notice it too, because he gave Ieyoshi a somewhat innocent look, his eyes growing wide, the Sawada twin seemingly towering over him. Suddenly, Ieyoshi sprung into action, grabbing the boy by the collar with one hand, pulling him close. As if executing a dance, Ieyoshi's other hand, fingers balled into a fist, were waiting right there to meet the boy's face. Again and again Ieyoshi punched him. His fist came back with blood after the first hit. After the third, it was clear that Ieyoshi had broken the boy's nose, his every fist fall met with a small misty plume of crimson. With the fifth, there were cries from the crowd for him to stop. And so he did. Not because they told him to, of course, but he'd planned to strike the boy five times. Not four. Not six. Five would do. Five would send a message.

The boy had gone limp in his hands, so Ieyoshi dropped him, his body crumpling to the ground. He then bent down and picked up the boy's phone. The beaten kid had dropped it after the second punch.

Ieyoshi eyed it for a moment. It was a fairly new model of the BluScreen. A very nice phone. Very expensive, especially on a high schooler's budget. Excellent. This would make for a perfect example.

Seeing the look on Ieyoshi's face, Ryuu's eyes widened. He dashed forwards, weaving through the crowd towards the Sawada twin and, more importantly, the student he'd just had in his death grip. "Oh Shit—"

A grin came on Damien's face after witnessing Ieyoshi's usual and heavily choreographed flare for the dramatic. It was truly tempting to wreak havoc on these students for laughing at the twins and taking pictures; however, if he started fighting, then he wouldn't be able to manage as much restraint as Ieyoshi just had. Breaking the bones of his entire class probably wouldn't look good on his student record, either.

A small gust of wind touched Damien's face, his hair swaying ominously in the breeze. He slowly shifted his gaze, realizing that the individual next to him, Ryuu, had started heading towards where Ieyoshi stood. Nope. That wasn't allowed. "You see, Yoh is pretty busy here," he said as he bent over in a track athlete's running stance. He visualized a track, a referee pointing a gun in the air counting down. "He doesn't need any interruptions." Three, two, one. Like an olympic sprinter, he surged forward and within a fraction of a second he expertly maneuvered through a space between Ryuu and another student that had just opened up. He shifted his weight to rotate his entire body, extending his right hand forward with his palm facing Ryuu. He felt the weight of the opposing boy's chest as Ryuu's momentum came to a grinding halt. He followed up by digging his feet into the ground, forcing Ryuu backwards. "Back off," he commanded.

"Fuck you, no," Ryuu snarled, eyes narrowing in a glare at the teen blocking him. His glare shifted towards Ieyoshi an instant later, and he attempted to shove Damien to the side, but it was too late. Ieyoshi chucked the phone across the school's perimeter fence with all of his might, said fence being located a dozen or so meters behind the crowd. He hurled it with such force that it smashed into the window of a parked car on the other side of the street. The small device exploded into pieces of metal, electronics, and graphene. In response, the car's alarm started blaring in the relative distance. It was like background music to Ieyoshi. Its chaotic qualities paralleled his mood quite well.

Ryuu cursed. One did not simply smash a phone like that, dammit! His glare shifted to Damien, angry at the teen for blocking him.

Ieyoshi turned his head to the left, the small bones in his neck shifting with it, emitting several soft crack!s in quick succession as the crowd looked on, some clearly in abject terror. Ieyoshi couldn't see a single phone pointed in his or Ieharu's direction any longer.

Good. He widened his grin into a sneer, none of its warmth or depth doing anything to defrost the chill emanating from his eyes and he stared at individual members of the crowd. When one of them dared to meet his eyes, he snapped, just as he'd rehearsed in the mirror. Ah yes, it was finally time for the coup de grace.

He shook his entire upper body with the force of his next word, spittle flying from his mouth, his expression ravenous. "FUCK—" It had the intended effect. The people closest to him literally jumped backwards, as if he were a ghoul. He didn't miss a beat, continuing his thought. "—you lookin' at?"

That's when people stopped looking at him. Good. Only a short blonde haired student continued to glare, eyes shifting from Damien to Ieyoshi and back, but the Sawada twin paid him little attention.

He looked down at the kid he'd accosted, his voice icy. "I better not see any fucking pictures, or I'll fucking break you." His words were simple. They weren't outlining a threat. They were explaining an inescapable reality. Without further ado, Ieyoshi turned on his heel, the move as elegant as a leaf twirling in the breeze, and began walking towards the main school building. Honestly, he didn't care if they kept taking pictures. He didn't care if they talked. He didn't care that he was in his favorite batman undies. These were all meaningless trivialities to him. But Ieharu cared. And if they were to make his brother feel inadequate or ashamed or embarrassed, they might as well be assaulting him, too. That's how it worked with twins, after all. They were bound by something thicker than friendship, or family, or even blood. Ieyoshi thought of his brother as an extension of himself, and a part of his core being. Attacks on the Sawada twins would simply not be tolerated. Not without swift and, if he had anything to do with it, very violent retaliation.

As he strolled, as leisurely as one would through a park, Ieyoshi lost interest in whatever schoolyard foolishness was transacting behind his back. People had gotten the message, certainly.

They'd think twice before acting foolish around his family.

With the tail ends of his black batman boxers picking up with the wind, he made his way to up the steps towards the large double doors that constituted the school's main entryway.

For his part, Damien took Ieyoshi walking away as his cue to leave as well. Ryuu's attempt to push past him was admirable, but it just wasn't gonna happen so long as Damien drew breath. He merely leaned into Ryuu's strength, overriding it with his own and forcing the other boy backwards, inch by inch. Damien couldn't help the smirk that creased his lower countenance. In this contest of toughness, it was clear who the victor was. "Step back." He ordered once again, his tone unyielding. He gave Ryuu a light shove. It was light by Damien's standards, but the other boy ended up shuffling backwards a few steps and colliding with another one of the students in the crowd. He hadn't meant to be so rough, but oh well. Losing interest, Damien turned ran up to join his friend, turning to face the opposite direction as he did, his eyes trained at the crowd. He was walking backwards up the stairs at this point, his balance excellent.

Ryuu growled under his breath and started to run towards them, but it was to no avail.

"That's all folks," Damien announced, reaching in a pouch alongside his jeans. He grabbed two circular gray balls the size of marbles from it, brought his arm up, and slammed the balls to the ground. A plume of smoke immediately sprung up and spread over the area, the coughs of the students ringing out through the air like the end of a rap album. Ryuu screeched to a halt, not wanting to enter the smokescreen.

Ieharu watched the two make their gaudy exit, half-way relieved, half-way horrified, and infinitely thankful to his brother for the gift of clothing. Without thinking, the now-clothed boy rushed over to the student that had the misfortune of crossing his brother's wrathful gaze. He better than anyone knew how bad things could get when his brother decided to play rough.

To be frank, there was blood everywhere, and Ieharu wasn't quite sure how to proceed. He began to panic, gnawing on his lower lip, wondering if the poor guy would die.

"Haku!" Aobane called, waving to his friend as he pushed through the crowd. Ieharu looked up at the sound of a familiar voice calling his name. When he saw who it was, he couldn't help but smile. With such a familiar face to help, things would be okay now. Aobane slowed his pace as he approached his friend, whom was now mostly clothed in his brother's uniform. Though Aobane couldn't see much from where he had stood behind the crowd that had accumulated around the scene, once he managed to place himself beside Ieharu, he narrowed his eyes slightly in the direction of the crowd that parted quickly to allow the other Sawada through. Clearly none of the other students wanted to be near him, and by the looks of Yoh's bloodied fist and the poor sap who lay on the ground with crimson liquid still flowing from his nose, they had good reason to.

Aobane continued to watch him with a frown for a few moments, but then turned his attention back to Ieharu and placed his hands on each of the boy's shoulders. "Are you okay? What was that all about? Or... well... I think more importantly right now..." Aobane began, his brows furrowed, with the concern in his voice rather clear. "We should get Chitose to the nurse. I mean, like right now."

He let out a small, nervous laugh as he removed one hand from Haku's shoulder and pointed in the direction of the so-called Queen whom Ieharu had crashed into only a short while ago. Ieharu got the message, nodding once in agreement. Aobane turned then, leaning down beside the injured Namimori student and lifting him into a sitting position, pulling one of the boy's arms over his shoulder. "Better get him to the nurse! Let's go, Haku!" he said with a small smile, though there was a slight but unmistakable tone of urgency in his voice as he looked up at his friend.

Ieharu followed Aobane's example, taking the injured boy's other arm over his shoulder and attempting to lift, but when he did so, pain exploded from his chest, nearly causing him to stumble and drop the already-injured student.

"Ow," Ieharu hissed, wincing. Aobane gave his friend a wide-eyed, worried expression. Had he gotten hurt when him and his brother were fighting? He hadn't been standing in the right spot to get a full view of brawl, but it wouldn't come as a shock to Aobane if Ieyoshi had gone a little too hard on his brother. "Sorry." Ieharu couldn't help but grin goofily, feeling somewhat dumb. "I think I might not be so okay."

Ryuu coughed away the last of the smoke, a dark scowl on his face. The rational part of his brain was wondering where the hell Damien got smoke bombs from, but the larger more angry part of his brain was threatening to take over to run after the disappearing duo in order to beat the shit out of them. The theatrics reminded him of memories from long ago, and when Sawada's lackey blocked Ryuu the feeling of helplessness and rage felt terribly similar to back then. He gritted his teeth at the feeling, angry with himself for not stopping it, although how could he, when it happened so fast? He hadn't felt that way for a long time.

Not that it mattered now. Ryuu closed his eyes and took in a deep breath, forcing rage and other disturbing thoughts away and locking them in the back of his mind, allowing rational thought to resume its reign. Running after them wouldn't help a damn thing, and he wasn't going to be able to win in a two on one battle, either. He also had no idea where they were anyway, and, like it or not, Ryuu knew that Ieyoshi had the right to retaliate. Breaking a phone and a car was going a bit far, though. Still, there were too many things to consider, like the fact that he'd been protecting his twin brother.

Ryuu forced his attention elsewhere, thinking about the injured student. Right now, he should just do whatever he could, like bring the student to the nurse's office and check if the kid's phone was salvageable.

Tension fading from his body, Ryuu let out what sounded like a sigh and moved towards the two students—Aobane and the younger Sawada twin, the who was pretty much the cause of the whole fucking mess—pausing on the way to collect his bag and hitch it over his shoulder. He was trying his very hardest to ignore the sour taste the whole ordeal left in his mouth as he approached.

Bring the student to the nurse's office, then check up on the phone before class starts. Right. He could do that.

"I can help," he offered gruffly, coming to a stop beside the three boys.

"Ryuu!" Aobane exclaimed a little louder than necessary, relieved to have his classmate come to the rescue. Ryuu gently took the injured boy's arm—Chitose, wasn't that his name?—from Ieharu and pulled it over his shoulders instead.

Ieharu was thankful for this, though the other student, Aobane called him "Ryuu," seemed to radiate an aura of anger that was a bit scary. All the while, he forgot about the person he'd accidentally rammed into. He'd forgot all about Queen Rosa...

Chester immediately stood after he helped Yoh up, moving back into the crowd of curious students and blending right in just like a chameleon changing its colors. Queen Rosa had just unleashed ‘Paparazzi’ on them, which resulted in flashes of light as many of her lackeys took photographs of them. He couldn’t help but feel a tinge of pity for Haku, the reign of Queen Rosa was something that he had grown accustomed to over his life in school. It was close to the bullying that he had encountered in his past, only this time much more organised and cruel. Not that it was any of his business though, and as long as it wasn’t Chester was going to keep as far away from the matter as he possibly could. Though it was terribly amusing when Rosa was knocked back into a puddle of water. It was honestly just what she deserved, and Chester fought hard to hide the small smile that was forming on his face. Japan was a place of infinite possibilities indeed.

However, that might be the climax of it all, but it wasn’t the end of the action. Before he knew it, Yoh had given his clothes to Haku and stripped down to only his shirt and underwear this time, and brutally assaulted a student trying to take pictures of them. The heck kind of school is this? It wasn’t the first time Chester had questioned it, but it wasn’t going to be the last. This wasn’t the kind of peaceful school life he was expecting from his mother’s description. This was too violent for a simple photo, and as much as he hated himself for it he wasn’t going to stop Yoh. Should he confront Yoh directly, it would bring attention to himself and risk his chances of going unnoticed most of the time, destroying the front that he had so painstakingly built. All he could do was to bite his lip and wait for the beating to stop. A student did try to approach him, but was blocked by Damien as Yoh flung the phone over the fence, causing it to smash and the sound of the car alarm making Chester wince. Yoh destroyed an expensive phone. From personal expereince, Chester had almost being killed for it once, though if anything Yoh was more likely to be the one doing the killing in this situation.

As Yoh finished threatening the crowd and marched off as dignified as can be in his batman boxers, Damien then reached into his pocket and threw smoke bombs onto the ground. Smoke bombs! What even is this school? Why was he still in it? It had already proven itself to be a dangerous place. If they allowed students to bring smoke bombs in, who knows what would happen if someone brought a gun. Chester pinched the bridge of his nose and sighed quietly. He felt surprisingly calm in this situation, more amused than appalled by what was happening in school. It was the first time that he had encountered a smoke bomb, but it might as well have been a daily occurrence from the calm way Chester dealt with it, holding his breath nonchalantly as he took the opportunity to sneak away from the crowd into the doors leading to the school. Not the best way most mornings could go, but oh well, things happen sometimes. All you need to do was to learn to deal with it. Now the most important thing at hand was class, and Chester wasn’t going to be late for it, smoke bomb or otherwise.

Halfway down the hallway, his phone beeped as a text notification appeared on it. It was a mass text message, and Chester prayed silently for it to be different from what he was expecting. Did someone have the gall to post the pictures of the twins in boxers after all? He really didn't want anymore people to get hurt in the process. However, upon opening the text, Chester wasn't sure if it was better or worse. 'Oh look, the Alpha Bitch Rosa, taking a dip in all of her elegance.' was apparently the caption for the two images depicting the humiliating situation the supposed 'queen' of the school had been in. This was just going to result in a full out war at this rate, but perhaps he was thinking a bit too deeply into this. Maybe it could just die down into a childish prank, but Chester had a feeling that expecting that was a bit too unrealistic. Rosa had never reacted very well to even the more minor incidents, and one could only pray for the people she unleashes her rage on. That said, it really was none of his business. Letting out a soft sigh, Chester tugged at the hood to position it more firmly as he walked down the halls and into the classroom, taking a seat quietly at the very back of the room. If he tried hard enough, the rest of the day should go peacefully, but after what happened prior to this the thought seemed a little ludicrous.

---

“Ah, I’m going to be late.” The words came with little more than a flat tone of apathy as Florence stepped before the school grounds, cold blue eyes landing disinterestedly on the crowd gathered just outside the school. A fight? It wasn’t something that interested her, Florence had seen worse before and this was only between children after all. Nothing important or worthy of any sort of involvement. She only stopped in her tracks momentarily as a phone of the latest technology flew over the fence she had just passed and broke a car window, causing her to pause momentarily in surprise. That was unexpected, she didn’t know that fighting in schools could escalate to such an extent, though it wasn’t something that she would know. After all, she had spent the majority of her life being homeschooled and killing people in the mafia, one rarely has time to lead a school life with those involvements. She had just transferred into the school the very day under special circumstances, and already there was something she did not foresee.

Since most of the students were in a state of panic, Florence decided to simply walk past the commotion and step into the school, just in time as plumes of smoke seemed to rise from outside, causing the sounds of coughing and gagging to rise behind her. A smoke bomb? Did she get herself into more trouble than she warranted? Still, Florence shrugged it off nonchalantly. It was nothing she couldn’t deal with, and above all her top priority was to find the principal’s office and get her classes allocated to her, after which she will embark on seeking out her brother. Everything else can and will come later. The fact that she had honestly no idea where to go in this building didn’t bother her the slightest, or rather Florence didn’t choose to acknowledge it. In the worst case, she would have to walk around the school all day or approach someone. There were only that many storeys and different rooms to a building after all.

She was halfway down the halls when she spotted another figure lingering there, looking lost. The student had pale blue hair, an oddity that made him stand out completely from the other students she had seen in the crowd. He probably won’t be of much help, seeing that he looked as confused and lost as she felt. Nevertheless Florence approached him carefully. “Good morning. You look as though you are lost, do you happen to require any assistance?” She spoke quickly, only realising after she had finished her question that she was still speaking in fluent Italian.

A fully clothed Ieyoshi sighed. It seemed to have become his default go-to reaction to events that weren't interesting enough to capture his attention. And precious few things were ever truly interesting to him nowadays. Perhaps this is what puberty feels like? Ieyoshi sighed again. How boring.

Currently, the elder-by-eight-seconds Sawada twin was making his way across the school's courtyard and towards the massive metalwork fence that marked its perimeter. He was accompanied by Damien, of course. Over the course of this, the first month of school, it'd become a sort of habit of the twins to meet up with Damien and Aobane at the outer gate after school and walk most of the way to their homes as a group. This day, Ieyoshi met up with Damien somewhat earlier, at the steps outside the main hall. Interestingly enough, Ieyoshi was not accompanied by his other half, which struck Damien as odd. The two were typically inseparable. If the morning taught him anything, it was that them being separated was an omen, if anything.

"Haku's not with you again? Don't tell me he's taking another run ahead of you," he asked while putting emphasis on another run. "He already got kids calling me the Hokage because of the smoke bombs."

Ieyoshi sighed again, this time in response to Damien's question. As they were walking, they'd passed by the area that several hours earlier had been the scene of their morning commotion. People had started calling him "batman" because of it, not that he cared—or, at least, that's what he told himself. "Yeah. And apparently I'm Batman." He felt like there was more he could say, but meh. The next order of business for him was making it home and questioning Godot about this nonsense Ieharu was spouting with guns and bullets and assassinations and all that. Knowing his younger twin, he was probably talking to a teacher about a book or a poem or something. Why he cared what they thought was beyond Ieyoshi's ability to fathom. "But if he comes running at me this time, I'll put him down."

Of course, he was joking. Maybe.

Damien did a fangirl pose jokingly. "Oh, my hero! Not the hero Namimori deserves, but the one we need!" He pretended to faint flinging his body towards the ground. Right before landing on his back, he caught himself with one hand with ease.

Despite himself, Ieyoshi laughed. His version of laughing was a curt smile followed by exhaling loudly. "Isn't your village missing you, bitch?" Ieyoshi's voice lightened considerably with his words. Joking around with Damien was always a welcome break in the grinding monotony that he called his daily existence.

Damien quickly popped up back to his feet. "Haha, you mean village full of bitches? Of course they are." He stood as if he were a Hokage with his hand on his invisible large hat. His other hand stood at his side. "Ladies," he paused for a brief moment, "I have returned." Ieyoshi made a face, rolling his eyes in dramatic dismissal. He always gave a slight performance with Ieyoshi and Ieharu for fun. They were close. "Anyways, I wonder what they're calling Haku?"

By now, they'd reached the ashen gunmetal gates that marked the entrance to and exit from the courtyard proper. Instead of going through the gates, Ieyoshi stopped, electing instead to turn and lean against the steel beam that made up part of the left gate's hinge, arms folded. His brother—typically accompanied by that Kuroiobashi kid—should have caught up to them by now, but he had yet to appear. "Pfft. Maybe they'll call him perv. Or idiot. Or crouching idiot, hidden perv fool."

"Haha, if only they knew how he really was. Poor Haku," Damien laughed.

"How about poor us," Ieyoshi responded, chuckling.

When five minutes turned to twenty, all the chattering first and second -years began evacuating the courtyard at a leisurely pace and heading home—long after the too-cool-to-hang third-years had swaggered their way through the front gates, of course. Still, there was no sign of Ieharu. Ieyoshi had long since closed his eyes, as if snoozing, though he was doing anything but. He was merely listening, taking in the sounds of the environment. Though his senses weren't nearly as sharp as Damien's, he could quite easily pick out some familiar voices amongst all the chitchat. Especially Ieharu's voice, which was like a lighter fluffier version of his own.

After several moments of hearing everything but his brother's voice, he sighed, opening his eyes.

He did hear someone interesting. Scanning over the various disparate cliques and courtyard gaggles that so poetically described high school life, his eyes landed upon a-a... a girl? Hmm. Ieyoshi frowned slightly, squinting. For some reason, the girl looked familiar. Like, really familiar. And though he forgot names fairly easily, he'd never forget a face he'd seen before. The girl was tall but sported a small figure, complete with intense blue eyes. Her smooth thin black hair somehow reminded him of one of his father's guardians. Lambo. That was his name. So, where had he seen her before?

He looked down at his folded arms, chewing through his own memories. Things like this really irked him. He'd seen her somewhere before, but where, damn it? After a few moments of pondering, Ieyoshi gave up, filing the question away somewhere in the back of his mind.

He looked up again, his eyes scanning the crowd for something else—anything else!—that would pique his interests and stave off the twin specters of boredom and annoyance.

He spotted Jett. Jett Hideaki. He was milling about along with his sister, though Ieyoshi didn't quite remember her name. He knew Jett, however. Though he personally abhorred watching sports, everyone knew the school's premier basketball champion and most valuable player, even the first-years. Ieyoshi wasn't quite sure how he felt about the Hideaki siblings. Jett especially. He was an imposing person, perhaps intimidating to some, but...

Ieyoshi began to chew on his lower lip.

Whenever he and Jett came within close proximity of each other, something inside of him... it was like he felt a sort of kinship with the guy. Like the two of them shared a relation on some sort of base fundamental level. It was strange, it was unexplainable, it was whatever.

He also spotted Izaya, who was running around the courtyard for reasons only Izaya was aware of. Like Jett, everyone in the school knew Izaya's name, but for less glorious reasons. Ieyoshi shook his head shortly after catching sight of the green-haired kid. Oh well. In any good action movie, the stupid ones always died first.

While following Izaya with his eyes, Ieyoshi crossed eyes with—

Again, Ieyoshi squinted. There were many unfamiliar faces in the crowd, but this one was quite... let's say odd. Red eyes, for a start. Blood red. Glasses. Hair slicked back, as if by hand. Average height. He looked like the type of person that turned out to be the crazy serial killer at the end of a horror flick, but for some reason Ieyoshi felt nothing when he looked him. Absolutely nothing. Not impressed. Not intimidated. Not scared. Not happy. Not even bored. He just felt nothing, a sense of no presence, as if he were staring at a whitewashed brick wall instead of a human being.

Certainly, the guy wasn't in his class. Ieyoshi would have remembered such a face. He didn't seem tall enough or cool enough to be a third-year, though, so he was probably part of the junior class. Interesting. Odd, but interesting.

He stared for a while longer before feigning a loss of interest, lest someone notice him glaring.

Full of unsated curiosity, Ieyoshi pondered asking Damien who the red-eyed guy was, or at least if he had an opinion about him. That's when something slipped by his left peripheral. Now typically, Ieyoshi would have paid it no mind, for such things always pass by one's peripheral vision without incident. This time, however, his body tensed up, the joints in his arms locking for a brief moment. It was a small panic reaction, a flinch, as if someone had tried to jump-scare him. This was a result of Ieyoshi's extremely acute intuition, which lent itself to a very hyper sense of awareness. It was a wholly passive perception and quasi- sixth sense, and one of the precious few areas that he had his friend Damien beat hands down—and that guy goes through Varia-style training regularly.

With a reaction spanning milliseconds, he snapped his head to the left, and saw what triggered his sense of danger.

Uncharacteristically vivid blue hair, like out of a cartoon, tufts of which stuck out from under his hood. A now-familiar face. A boy... at least, Ieyoshi was fairly sure he was a boy. The same one from this morning.

Ieyoshi followed the boy with his eyes as he passed through the gate and out the other side, walking between several others as he went. As far as he could tell, the blue-haired kid hadn't taken notice of him. On the other hand, no one else seemed to take notice of the kid, not even Damien. It was as if he were a ghost, or a rock, and people just seemed to move around him, passively acknowledging his existence. It was fascinating to observe, but eventually the kid moved out of view, and Ieyoshi didn't want to give off the impression that he was interested.

Ieyoshi sighed softly. There was something about that kid. Something about the red-eyed guy. Something about many of these so-called students. Something he couldn't quite put a finger on. One thing was for sure, though: he needed to hone his intuition. He got feelings all the time about places and people, but rarely did he know enough about what his instincts were telling him that he could act on them in an effective and efficient manner.

He did have one feeling he recognized: his intuition told him he'd be dealing with the blue-haired kid—dealing with all of these strange people—a lot more directly over the coming months. It was just his luck, after all. If he wasn't being tackled by crazy familial relations in the morning, it was gonna be something else.





Ieharu placed his hands under the one of the bathroom sinks' faucets. A stream of perfectly-warmed water met his hands instantaneously. His father always talked about how, "back in the day," water faucets always had "hot" and "cold" handles on them and you have to mix and match them manually to get it just right. Nowadays, they have faucets that have infrared thermometers attached to them. They set the water to the perfect temperature automatically, based on skin temperature. Honestly, Ieharu couldn't fathom having to twist little knobs to make water come out. It was dumb. If he wanted cold, he'd just say "colder" and the faucet would obey him. If he wanted warmer water, he'd just say "warmer". Why did it take people so long to think up such a basic idea?

The boy giggled at the thought. Living in the past must've really sucked.

The faucet automatically added the correct amount of soap to the water, so he didn't have to do anything but move his hands around a little before they were sufficiently clean.

Tucked under his arm was a book titled A Wrinkle in Time, by a long-dead American author named Madeleine L'Engle. Currently, it was Ieharu's favorite book, though the designation of "favorite" was doled out on a weekly basis to the works of prose that found their way into his hands, if that. He was truly a voracious reader.

The book itself, of course, wasn't any normal paper book. It was technically a paperback, sure. It wasn't one of those old-fashioned e-readers or anything—it was better. The book's "paper" pages were each a type of foldable hardware, and the pages themselves could switch text and content at the will of the reader. One moment, he could be reading A Wrinkle in Time, the next he could be perusing a newspaper or pretending to read his class's Social Studies book.

Gokudera—Damien's dad—always complained when Ieharu took it out. "You kids are spoiled rotten," he'd always say. "You don't need these all these newfangled toys! Isn't a smart phone and infinity internet enough for you brats?"

Haha, old people are funny.

Ieharu let his hands rest under the luxurious warmth of the running water for a while longer before removing them from the stream and moving towards the door. He waved his wet hands over a small silver plate on the wall, which unleashed a burst of air as his they passed, shearing the excess moisture from his skin like an air blade. The bathroom door opened for him shortly after, though Ieharu paid the automated marvel no mind. Such things were rudimentary at this point.

The school day had come to an end a while back, yet he'd gotten distracted talking to his teacher. They continued the class discussion about the nature of main characters in prose, with Ieharu relating what they'd discussed to A Wrinkle in Time.

Oh well, Ieyoshi would forgive him if he were just a little late.

Next order of business: go meet with Aobane and head down to meet Ieyoshi and Damien. He'd asked Aobane to wait by the elevators while he went to the bathroom, so he was probably still there. Hopefully. Ieharu's cheeks burned red with the thought of him having taken too long in the bathroom. Agh!

Turning on his heel, the boy began walking down the hall. The elevators where in a small niche on the right side at the end of the hall.

He made it about two-thirds of the way there before he was stopped.





"What is this guy doing?" Ieyoshi lamented, not bothering to hide his exasperation at his brother's absence. The courtyard was virtually empty at this point. Even some of the staff were beginning to head home. Creepy teacher Zenith-sensei had even passed him by, offering a creepy wave and generally being a creep. Ieyoshi wasn't quite sure why he didn't much care for the man, or why he seemed like such a creep, but...

Whatever. He'd give it five more minutes, max, and then Ieharu would be walking home without him. On second thought, maybe he should leave now. It'd do his brother some good to be independent for once. The elder twin looked over to Damien. "Wanna just go?"

Damien looked in the direction that Ieharu would walk in. Alone. He started to get a bit worried. "Eh, but shouldn't we wait a bit longer. I mean especially after today when he—"

"DAMIEEEEEENNNNN!" Enn charged forwards and leapt towards him with his arms outstretched, smiling widely. He completely ignored Ieyoshi. Behind him somewhere in the distance, a brown-haired third year with a jagged scar across his face watched in surprise, barely hiding anxiety as he walked towards the gate, green sweater slung over his shoulder. "Damien there you are I couldn't—"

Damien instinctively ducked on his knees and dodged Enn's charge. He knew in that instance, what this meant. Enn flew over him and rolled to a crouch a few feet away, continuing without pause. "—find you—" got up instantly and leant in low, sprinting towards Damien's back and lashing out with a punch. "—anywhere!" A grin fell on Damien's face as the punch flew in his direction. It was Enn's turn to be the attacker while he was the defender. He placed his right palm out and blocked the punch instantly.

"Mmm, close but not there yet," Damien replied. At this point his body was faced towards Enn and his eyes were fixed on his every move.

"Don't worry," Enn grinned happily, a wild look in his eyes. Ah, fighting Damien was fun! So much fun that Enn didn't want to think about even trying to kill him. He hadn't had this much fun ever after he left Italy and couldn't take part in hits as much as he liked anymore, since Shou didn't like it. Shou was right, high school was great! He grabbed hold of the wrist of the hand holding his own hand and pulled as he whirled and bent, hurling Damien over his shoulder. "I'm just getting started!" The game of attack and defense went on. Enn attacked furiously, sending flying kicks, punches, a flurry of blows were all thrown at Damien. To each, he merely blocked, ducked, and jumped back, and it was clear to those who knew them well that they were just playing around, albeit semi-seriously.

Ieyoshi merely looked on at the two, mouth slightly agape, a disturbed look fresh upon his face, as if someone had told him one plus one equaled fish with a zealous fervor. He wasn't really familiar with this kid who so cavalierly attacked Damien, though he knew his face, and knew his reputation. He was a fellow first-year, and one of the more annoying ones, too.

Great.

After a few moments of observation, he sighed and looked away, bored once more. Maybe he'd just go home anyway.

"Enn, why'd you run that fast—" the brown-haired third year came to a halt as he stared at the scene, panting a little. A group of emotions rapidly cycled over Shou's face before settling on a strange sort of resignation (and relief that his brother wasn't seriously trying to kill someone) and a mixture of worry and anxiety. "Oh no stop..." he straightened and turned to Ieyoshi, eyebrows creased in worry over the situation. "I'm so sorry, I'm so sorry I'm so so sorry," he apologised frantically, bowing a little in apology. "Enn was waiting for me to finish with club and then he ran off before I could stop him I'm sorry!"

Ieyoshi eyed the guy before him. Shou, was it? He wasn't in Ieyoshi's class, but he'd seen seen the guy around—primarily around Enn. Most likely a third-year, though he didn't have the air of one. If memory served, Shou and Enn were brothers.

Great.

Shou didn't seem as bombastic and frenetic as his brother, so that was a plus. "It's whatever," he said, shrugging in acknowledgement of Shou's apology. "Hey, you haven't happened to have seen my brother around, have you? He looks just like me, except his hair is dyed black for some reason." He shot a glance over at Damien and Enn. "And I'm about to leave him to walk home alone, too," he added, grumbling under his breath.

"O-Oh," Shou said, straightening up from his bow into a sort of relaxed posture, hooking a thumb around his bag-straps. He thought back throughout the day, trying to think about whether he saw—um, Iehaku? That was his name—going about his day, Eventually, he shook his head. "I don't think I saw him," he said regretfully, shaking his head. "Sorry."

Ieyoshi was about to sigh for the thousandth time this day, when his intuition pricked him. Looking away from Shou, a figure in the distance was approaching them, moving most expeditiously in their direction. Ieyoshi raised his eyebrows in expectation, frowning slightly at the realization that it certainly wasn't his twin brother.

Tapping the end of his thumb on the transparent enter button of the keyboard of his BluScreen which he had set on it's larger screen mode. He'd been standing for a short time by the elevators, waiting there as his spiky haired friend had asked him to, so he could catch Ieyoshi and Damien if they happened to not have already made their way to the front gates of the school. Personally he would've preferred it if Ieyoshi and Damien had left already. He wasn't very fond of the older twin already, but after watching him beat some poor kid to a pulp that morning he was even less in the mood to be in the same space as him.

A light flashed on the BluScreen in front of Aobane and he grinned slightly as he read the message from one of his many online friends. They were having a debate over whether or not a pair of characters from an anime would make a good pair or not. Aobane didn't think so, but his friend was putting out quite a reasonable argument as to why they would be, not that any of his words would change Aobane's mind. Those two characters were just not right for each other no matter how you looked at it. He was pretty focused on their debate, not really paying attention to the fact that Ieharu seemed to be taking a little more time in the restroom than usual, and quickly began typing up a counter argument.

Behind Aobane, the elevator dinged to a stop. The doors opened, revealing a group of kids who streamed out like a pack of fish in the sea, chattering to each other as they passed Aobane. He lifted his eyes from his BluScreen and smiled as a few of the students wished him a good evening. Aobane nodded in acknowledgement before he turned his attention back to his screen and continued typing until one of them bumped into Aobane. He swayed slightly from the weak impact, taking him a second to realize that another body had met his before he blinked a couple times, pulling his mind away from the conversation on the screen in front of him, and turned his head to see who had collided with him. His expression brightened when he recognized Ryuu, the fellow 1st year who had helped them with the injured Chitose that morning.

"Oh," Ryuu said, looking up at Aobane with the customary faint frown on his face. Today hadn't been a good day for him - Incident Underwear (which was what Ryuu had decided to call it) had been on his mind for most of the day, and club had ended earlier than usual. Practice had gotten it off his mind, but now that it was over Incident Underwear was back into the front of his mind like dried gum stuck to a chair, especially now that the classmate that had helped him bring Chitose to the nurse's office was in front of him. "Sorry."

"Ryuu!" Aobane exclaimed cheerfully, though his smile lessened slightly as he stared at his classmate. So he hadn't imagined it this morning, after all. After all the commotion in the courtyard, it was no surprise to be able to feel the tension in the air around all those students who had witness Ieyoshi and Ieharu fighting, but when Ryuu had stepped in to help carry the injured student to the nurse Aobane couldn't help but get a touchy vibe from the blond student in particular. He wrote it off as just the mixture of negative emotions from the gathering of students, but now that Ryuu was standing next to him alone, it was obvious that something was bothering him.

Aobane closed his BluScreen and wrapped the device around his wrist as he shook his head. "I'm kinda in the way of the elevator, so you're forgiven this time. Still recovering from the show this morning?" That may have been a little straightforward. "I mean I'm still surprised Yoh chose to wear those boxers!" he said, his words followed by a brief chuckle.

"Yoh?" Ryuu's eyebrows wrinkled for a moment, then his face cleared in recognition. "Oh, Ieyoshi," he muttered to himself. "A-Ah, yeah. Those boxers were pretty shocking, yeah," he said to Aobane. "Bet the girls loved it though," he added wryly, remembering how some of the girls had squealed as he pulled his pants off for his brother to wear. Though what happened after...

No point remembering that now. He'd deal with it later. Pushing the thought away from his mind (unsuccessfully, like the past hundred times he tried), Ryuu casted his brains around for another subject. He didn't really feel like going home yet. Changing the subject, Ryuu hooked his thumbs into his pockets and asked, "What's so interesting about your BluScreen that you forget to move out of the way of the elevator?"

It seemed like fireworks had exploded in Aobane's chestnut eyes as they widened excitedly in response Ryuu's question. The look of utter enthusiasm lasted just a few seconds before Aobane closed his eyes and raised a fist to his chin. He let out a couple short laughs and then opened his eyes slowly, his actions being rather dramatic. "I thought you'd never ask. Ever heard of [BLANK]? If so, then you should know that there's been an online debate, or some call it a battle, since the anime aired last year about who Hime-chan's soul mate really is."

"Oh, Markus and Ojito right?" Ryuu was currently watching it. What? Anime was pretty cool, no matter what his relatives might say. The story was about a princess trying to take back her land against the evil Kihou, the magistrate who was reigning on her place, with the help of her love interests Markus and Ojito. The princess wasn't a pushover when it came to battle, and the artstyle and character designs were visually stunning. "I think she'll end up with Ojito." he mused thoughtfully. "I mean, she's got good chemistry with him, and they've known each other for a long time now."

"So you're on OjiHime's side, huh? I can understand that, but there's another character that is supposed to have her own story in the second season coming out this year. Markus's second in command, Aneko! She hasn't had a lot of screen time but it's pretty obvious she's taken an interest in Ojito. She's related to Markus so giving her a major role in the second season would be pointless if it didn't lead anywhere with her only available love interest, Ojito." He ended his sentence with a confident grin, crossing his arms in front of his chest as he eagerly awaited Ryu's response. He'd once been on the side of Ojito and Hime too, but halfway through the anime he transitioned into the MarHime shipping zone. Not just because he liked Markus's serious, yet charming personality, but also because it was clearly obvious that that was the ship that would reach canon level by the end of the anime.

"Oh, please," Ryuu's back straightened and he raised his hands to readjust the fedora resting on his head. Somehow, the action made him look like he was gearing up for a fight. He smiled faintly, mustering his argument. "Aneko is there because she's the captain of the much-needed reinforcements, and although she showed signs of having a crush on Ojito in the trailers there wasn't much sign of him showing the same interest back, merely interest as a battle partner. Also, although Hime works better with Markus in battle and Ojito seems to be a playboy, he treats Hime specially and in episode seventeen, the duo were shown blushing like newly weds when they were hanging out in the sakura park. Newly weds." He crossed his arms and leaned back, sure of victory. "How could Hime and Ojito not be getting together?"

Aobane uncrossed his arms and placed his hands on his hips, shifting his weight to his right leg. "Trailers only show you what you want to see. It would spoil the surprise if they made their sure-to-be relationship obvious. Anyway, Akeno has way too much potential as a character to just be some side commander that gets brushed off at the end. Markus's character would also end up being a waste if Ojito and Hime end up together unless they introduce some random new character that Markus falls for which would once again lead to Akeno being brushed off and it wouldn't fit with the plot that the first season has created."

"Good points," Ryuu admitted semi-grudgingly, "but I still believe Hime is going to end up with Ojito. Also, you're forgetting Rinne, Markus's ex-girlfriend and the bad guy's female general who's still got a crush on Markus. Part of the reason Markus joined Hime in the first place was to show that she was in the wrong to believe in Kihou, who's an asshole."

Clicking his tongue a few times, Aobane crossed his arms in front of himself again and shook his head. "Using Rinne as a backup? Sure, her and Markus might've had something but she's one of those characters that will likely realize they're wrong and then sacrifices herself shortly afterwards."

"There are hints that Markus still has lingering feelings for her, so it's still a possibility that they could end up together." He said stubbornly, faint smile turning into a small grin. Then a thought crossed his mind and he frowned, puzzled. "Hey, not that I mind the shipping-talk, but why're you waiting outside the elevator this late? I thought you didn't have club?"

"Rinne's there to be the obstacle Hime-chan has to cross over to get closer to Markus. Anyway she's, oh--" Aobane looked a little confused for a second. He'd gotten so caught up in their debate that he pretty much completely forgot that he was waiting for Ieharu while he went to the bathroom. How long had it been since his friend first left him there to keep watch for Ieyoshi and Damien? He suddenly started feeling concerned, but didn't want to look too worried in front of Ryuu after they had been having such an interesting conversation.

"Excellent question!" Aobane gave Ryuu a mischievous grin and raised one of his index fingers in the air as if he was about to start conducting an orchestra. "I happen to be waiting for the infamous Mr. Raging Underpants himself! Also known as Haku."

Aobane lowered his pointing hand and shifted his weight onto his left leg, tilting his head slightly as he continued. "Actually he's been in the restroom for over fifteen minutes already. He must've had something bad for lunch."

Huh, who knew that Aobane was so great to talk to? Ryuu uncrossed his arms, tension down. Even Incident Underwear didn't seem that bad now, even though the memory of his helplessness came back when Aobane brought Ieharu's name up. Guess that meant that all he really needed was someone to talk to. Aobane seemed a bit worried for a moment, but that was replaced with cheer so quickly that Ryuu wasn't sure whether he'd imagine it.

"Must've been the mashed they were serving for lunch in the canteen," Ryuu agreed, wincing at the memory. Normally it was pretty good, but the mashed potato tasted like rotten bananas that had been pureed in mouldy potatoes. Ryuu had taken one bite and promptly spat it back out and refused to touch it. "That thing tastes mean. Whatever you do, don't eat it."

Aobane promptly shook his head. I never eat already-made meals." he said, then brought a thumb up to point at himself as he smiled proudly. "I'm the only chef I need! Plus, girls love a guy who can cook! Haku wouldn't want to eat school lunch anymore if he had one of my bentos!"

Aobane turned himself towards the hallway just beyond the elevators, placing one hand on his hip and scratching the hair on the back of his head with the other. "Not that I care much, but Yoh and Damien are going to take off if Haku takes any longer. Maybe he fell in?"

Further up the hallway was Ieharu, who'd found himself stalled, separated from his friends by a wall of sorts. Four burly intimidating dudes—no, six, counting the two that were leaning against the wall around the corner to the left. He'd been stopped at a small T-shaped intersection in the hall, a dozen or so meters before the hallway opened into the elevator niche on the right.

"Uh..." The guys, who Ieharu could only assume were seniors, all looked up at him at the same time, where before they were busy tapping away on their phones. They locked onto him like six laser-guided missiles, the intensity of their glares making Ieharu's voice stick in his throat. Along with his breath.

Something about this didn't feel quite right. In fact, it felt downright bad. Out of habit, Ieharu stepped to his right, and Ieyoshi stepped up in front of him— ... for a moment, that's how it went in Ieharu's mind. It took him entire seconds to remember that he was alone here. His brother, his inseparable twin, didn't have his back this time.

That's when the color drained from the boy's face, and the upperclassmen staring him down saw it happen, too.

A form of glee entered their expressions, like wolves spotting a limp buck.

The two that were closest to him pocketed their phones and took a step forward. And then another. And then another. Their shadows, long and ominous, crept upon Ieharu's comparatively small and frail body, eventually engulfing it entirely.

For his part, Ieharu summoned the courage to take a step back, but he could only manage that one step. He clasped his hands together and brought them to his chest so that they rested under his chin, as if in prayer. He was panicking, that much was obvious. Too many thoughts were occurring at the same time.

"Hey," one of the upperclassmen said. He was the closest one. His hands were in his pockets, his posture relaxed, as if he were taking a stroll through the park. It was his eyes that gave him away. "You're that Ieharu kid, right? That one from this morning?"

By now, the others had started advancing, flowing as water around him, yet Ieharu remained frozen in place, like a statue.

"No way, that's totally him," one of the others said, ribbing the first guy with his elbow.

"Yeah. Just imagine him in his wittle undies and it's impossible not to see it!" Ieharu flinched. This voice came from behind him, but he didn't dare turn his head, let alone move. He soon realized that he wasn't breathing, and so slowly, quietly exhaled. "You're him though, right? You're Ieharu Sawada." The guy who'd moved behind him asked offhandedly. His voice had a jovial quality to it. He sounded like a nice guy, and despite his better judgment, Ieharu clung to that sliver of hope, that chance for deliverance.

"Y-Yeah," he muttered.

"Speak up!" One of the others said, shouting, spittle flying from his mouth. That made Ieharu nearly jump out of his skin.

"Yeah!" he enunciated, speaking a little louder this time; "with your chest if you want respect!" like Ieyoshi always said.

"Good," the first one spoke this time, pulling out his phone as he did. After some awkward moments of silence while he tapped his fingers along its little screen, he leveled Ieharu with another look. "Hey. Wanna come with us?"

"Uhh... I'm kinda... m-meeting with... supposed to... um..." Ieharu trailed off.

"Whaaaat?!" he replied with mock confusion, leaning in, grinning. "I can't hear you, kid. Stop mumbling." At the same time, the guy who was standing behind him placed his hands on Ieharu's shoulders.

Unable to control himself, Ieharu screwed his eyes shut. It was his default go-to reaction when he was out of options. At this point, he was shaking pretty badly, which elicited chuckles from the group.

"You guys hear that? I think he said yes. You heard that?" After receiving several nods from his compatriots, the upperclassman's benign grin mutated into a sneer. "Good. Let's not keep the queen bitch waiting."

Aobane felt his shoulders tense, an involuntary action, and goosebumps formed under the sleeves of his uniform. He knew what ill intent felt like. He suspected something was itching at Ryuu's mind since that morning, but the somewhat disappointed and mostly upset sensations coming from Aobane's blond classmate was in a separate category from this one.

Without saying a word to Ryuu, Aobane stepped out of the niche where the elevator was located and turned the corner to stand in the hallway. It didn't even take him a second to find out why he had suddenly felt uncomfortable, and also what had been taking Ieharu so long when he usually would've tried to be quick since Aobane had been waiting for him.

He swiftly identified the six upperclassmen that had Ieharu surrounded. Aobane had said hi to each of them at least once, but preferred to keep his distance from the seniors of the Martial Arts Club after witnessing them discreetly harassing a couple other students from time to time, and now it looked like they had their sights set on Ieharu for some reason or other.

Aobane hesitated for a couple moments, trying to think of some way he could step in and safely drag his friend away without having to be too forceful. He wasn't sure what was going on exactly, so Aobane couldn't feel angry about them corning Ieharu just yet, but it wasn't like he'd stand a chance against a bunch of much larger upperclassmen anyway. He swallowed dryly and tried to put on his most convincing smile. Maybe he could try to laugh off the situation and walk off with Ieharu before it got too serious. However, before he could take a step forward, Ryuu brushed past him in a hurry.

"Oi." Ryuu's voice rang out loud and clear, almost like a shout. He sprinted up to them, jaw set, determined to stop what was obviously going on. "What's going on here—"

Ryuu's face turned confused as he caught sight of who it was. "... Senpai?" He hadn't expected to see the seniors that had missed practice hanging out in the hallways looking like they were ganging up on someone, and he definitely hadn't expected that person to be Ieharu, of all people. Aside from looking like a black-haired carbon copy of his brother, the kid looked scared, almost terrified. Ryuu looked at the upperclassmen suspiciously, hoping that he was wrong. "What are you doing?"

Ieharu opened his eyes and looked upon the fedora-wearing guy with naked terror, failing to remember that he'd seen him help an injured student earlier in the day. Without warning, the pain in his chest returned with a vengeance, causing him to wince. Yet another strong guy had joined their ranks, bringing the number of wolves to seven. And they probably didn't want to take him somewhere nice, either. What were they planning to do with him? Did they do something to Aobane? Could he maybe call Ieyoshi while they were talking amongst themselves? No. Being bullied wasn't something new for Ieharu, and he knew the rules. One didn't dare reach for one's phone or make any sudden movements, lest one anger one's assailants. And their anger would certainly lead to a bad outcome.

The upperclassmen turned to Ryuu, offering him a series of warm and disarming smiles. The darkness in their eyes receded, replaced with a genuine glow of compassion. Like a mob of wolves masquerading as sheep. They could have actually passed as a group of samaritans, too, save for one fatal oversight. The upperclassman who'd placed his hands on Ieharu's shoulders only tightened his grip, forcing another wince out of the boy.

"Ah, new guy! Um... Morimoto!" The upperclassman who had been sneering in Ieharu's direction up until a moment ago spoke with an affable tone, sounding relieved at remembering the name. He widened his smile, erasing any trace of menace from his expression as he walked towards Ryuu, slinging an arm around the kid. "Why, we were just asking this guy to hang out with us. What's up? Practice ended yet?"

"... Yes. We ended early today." Ryuu answered his seniors politely, although annoyance was sharp in his tone. He subtly shouldered the arm slung around him away. He didn't really like people touching him without his permission. He took a step forward as the guy stepped away, hands up in the air like he was training for the best getting arrested award. He glanced at the scene, his eyes lingering on the hands laid on Ieharu, seeing how they were clutching his shoulders, the wince he gave. His eyes narrowed. He turned to the guy who had done a one-armed hug on him instead, the curiosity and annoyance on his face overshadowing any suspicion he felt. "Ishiki-senpai, where were you guys? Minneguchi was asking everybody where you were, it was annoying. What're you doing with Ieyoshi's brother?"

At the mention of his name, Ieharu's ears perked up, the light of hope nipping at the shadowy malaise of inevitability that had settled over him like a heavy sweater. The guy had said his name with such concern... Oh! Suddenly, he remembered. Ryuu. Aobane had said his name earlier, in the morning. It was Ryuu! The guy that helped Chitose get to Nurse. Aobane knew him, so he had to be a good guy!

"Oh, here and there," the guy now known as Ishiki-senpai said airily, waving a hand around in a gesture that meant does it really matter? He gave a short laugh. "Minneguchi, huh? Yeah, I did promise him that I'd show him how to do that thing with the bokuto... he must be pissed." Mirth danced in his eyes. "I'll make it up to him later. As for what I'm doing with this kid..."

He looked back at Ieharu, and Ryuu and Aobane didn't miss the way his eyes narrowed menacingly, or how his grin gained an edge like a wolf baring his fangs. "We're just... showing him the ropes, you know? He's got potential to be in our group, especially with the incident that morning." Then his eyes light up with an idea, and he grinned again. Ieharu's hope wavered. "Hey, Morimoto," he said slowly, like he was savouring his words. "You're in the same class, right?"

Ryuu nodded, and Ishiki's grin grew wider. Ieharu's gut sank low as the upperclassman said cheerily, "why don't you help us convince him? You know him, he knows you, so on and so forth, what do you think? C'mon," he cajoled, "give it a go."

Aobane had taken only a few steps closer as Ryuu confronted the upperclassman, wanting to keep a safe distance so not to draw attention to himself. Wtih Ryuu's intervention, though, he felt less of a need to jump in. There would be no one to fetch help if Aobane also placed himself in the middle of the group with Ieharu. Even with Ryuu being a member of the same Martial Arts Club, he was still just a 1st year. The three of them up against six 3rd years would be a suicide match. Luckily, it seemed like Aobane was being mostly ignored by the upperclassmen since he wasn't much of a threat to a bunch of senior martial arts students, anyway. He took a couple steps back, moving his eyes from Ieharu to glance at Ryuu for a few second before he turned and hurried in the opposite direction.

"Stall them as much as you can, Ryuu!" Aobane thought to himself as he quickened his pace from a jog to a run. The stairs were further down the hall, but it would be faster than waiting for the elevator. There was only one thing he needed to focus on right now, and that was finding Ieyoshi and Damien and alerting them of Ieharu's situation. Aobane would be back for sure, though, whether Damien and Ieyoshi were still waiting by the gate or not.

Almost as if he'd heard Aobane's thoughts, Ryuu looked towards Ieharu, who had turned white as a sheet. Then he looked at his senpai. "Um, no," he said, striding forwards. He grabbed Ieharu's arm. "I don't think he wants to be here, and coercing someone to join the club isn't something I like to do unless he wants to." He brushed his senpai's hands off Ieharu and gently pulled at his arm, steering him towards the elevators. "Plus, his friend is looking for him. Sorry, Senpai." he said behind his shoulder, only sounding slightly apologetic.

The depth of Ishiki's grin didn't falter for even a moment, but the feigned warmth visibly drained from his eyes, leaving behind a steely frost that practically radiated malicious intent. He didn't step so much as slide over, like a ghost or a wraith, blocking Ryuu's path. Suddenly, the other upperclassmen were there as well, encircling them, as if activated by Ishiki's actions. The two first-years were completely surrounded, but that didn't seem to phase Ryuu, who refused to relent. This placed him on a collision course with Ishiki, looking as if he fully intended to push past him. Ieharu recognize this almost immediately, looking up at Ryuu's back as he was lead forth by the arm.

It felt strange, like a sort of deja vu. This wasn't the first time he'd been in a tumultuous situation. It wasn't the first time he'd succumbed to panic, unable to react, yet his brother had always been there to bail him out. To offer his hand, his warmth, the guarantee of his protection. This time, though, it wasn't Ieyoshi, even though it felt just like him. The air of confidence. The sense of purpose, of inevitability, of implacability. Tears burned at the corners of his eyes, threatening to breach the dam and stream down his cheeks, but he held them back, instead cursing himself for being so pathetic. Once again, it was Ieharu the failure, the loser Ieharu who was too scared to defend himself. Ryuu was going to fight for him, just like Ieyoshi would have, and he knew how that was going to end.

"Senpai." Ryuu's tone was cordial, but brook no argument and sounded like he was holding back a growl. He looked up, meeting Ishiki's eyes in a heated glare that threatened to melt the ice and promised a kick to the balls if he didn't move out of the way. For someone who was the shortest amongst all the people present, he painted a remarkably menacing picture, although nobody but Ieharu noticed the way his hand tightened on his wrist, like he was worried about what was to come. "Please move."

Ryuu didn't want to admit it, but he was worried. He knew he wouldn't be able to beat them, especially Ishiki-senpai. There was a reason Minneguchi wanted him to teach her. Plus he was unarmed, though maybe he could use his schoolbag. To top it off, he had someone else with him. He couldn't really drag other people into fights, especially not when it was six-on-one. Two-on-one sure, maybe even four-on-one if he were armed, sure, but not six. This wasn't an action movie. There were too many, and they didn't seem to be going anywhere.

There had to be something he could do. Ryuu didn't like the idea of Ieharu getting hurt because of him.

Oh, right. There was that. Hopefully it'd result in him being the only casualty. Ryuu scowled, his free hand tensing as he took a step forward. The plan was: he'd step forward, push Ishiki-senpai to the side, and give Ieharu the chance to escape before the upperclassmen pounced. At the back of his mind, Ryuu idly wondered if he'd get expelled from the club afterwards, but that could be dealt with later. He faced the upperclassmen and took in a deep breath, clearing his mind.

For now, he had people to fight.

A transient sort of zen-like calmness settled over Ieharu body, though his mind raced. He was still scared, that was for sure, but it suddenly took a back seat to something greater. With one curt motion, he twisted his arm out of Ryuu's grasp and took a step backward, to the surprise of everyone involved, himself included. Though his legs were shaking, he still dared to channel his brother. Ieyoshi would say: if you're gonna go down, best to go down alone, right? No use getting more people hurt just because you fucked up. Right. That was the logical thing to do... right?

Ryuu looked back at him, and Ieharu caught his eye. "What are you d-doing, Ryuu?" He asked, looking off to the side and wiping an eye with the back of his hand. "I..." He offered Ryuu his best smile without making further eye contact. "I want to go with them, so just go follow Aobane, okay?"

"W-What?" Startled, Ryuu took a step back, thrown by Ieharu's words. He stared at Ieharu in disbelief, then his mind connected the dots on what Ieharu was trying to do and his eyes narrowed. He'd be impressed if he wasn't so busy cursing Ieharu for being such an idiotic, self-sacrificial turd who had zero sense of self preservation. What the hell was he doing?! Who knew what Ishiki-senpai and the others had in store for the guy? Probably a beating, if Ryuu went by past experience, but did Ieharu really knew what he was getting into?!

"You—" His voice strucked dumb with sheer incredulity, Ryuu stared at Ieharu, his hands curling into fists, almost shaking from the mixture of rage and worry coursing through him. "Are you fucking serious?!"

Ieharu shoved his hands into his pockets, mostly to hide the fact that they, too, had begun to shake. He looked over Ryuu's shoulder and up at the upperclassman that stood before him. Ishiki. "Well?" He muttered, adding as much steel to his shaking voice as he could muster. "Let's go."

Ishiki grinned, and as if on cue the other club members closed in around Ieharu like a well-trained wolf pack and started to lead him away. "There, you see?" Ishiki said truimphantly, back to being non-menacing. Unpreturbed by the glare Ryuu was sending him, he turned to follow the others. "Well, see you tomorr—"

"Wait." Ryuu strode towards the upperclassmen in a way that was almost aggressive, maintaining his icy glare. "I'm coming too," he said grumpily, tone holding a note of finality as he came to a stop beside Ieharu. The boy threw Ryuu a look that was equal parts confusion and dismay, and Ryuu cursed himself for sticking around Ieharu when it was obviously going to end in tears and the apocalypse. Why couldn't he just not feel guilty whenever he thought about ditching the whole situation? God, he was such an idiot! Ignoring Ieharu, Ryuu looked at the others evenly, his jaw set. "Is that alright, Senpai?"

"Hmm," Ishiki tapped a finger against his chin thoughtfully, then smiled. "Why not?" One of the other members looked like they were about to protest, but Ishiki waved him off. "He's a part of the club, he's got to learn how things are run here sooner or later." He smiled at Ryuu, a nasty, not-entirely-friendly gleam in his eye. "Why not now?"

And so they went, Ryuu walking close to Haku as they were herded away.

On the floor below, Aobane kicked up dust as the bottom of his shoes met the dirt outside of the school's entrance. He'd already been scolded by a teacher once that day for wearing his indoor shoes outside, but now wasn't the time to be worrying about that. The courtyard was nearly empty and he was able to catch sight of Ieyoshi and Damien standing near the street on the other side of the gate, and they weren't by themselves either. "Heeyyy!!" Aobane shouted as he ran towards them, wanting to get their attention in case they were just about to give up waiting and start walking home before he could reach them. He cleared the distance fairly quickly, though, and skidded clumsily to a stop a few feet from their position.

Now that he was up close he recognized the other bodies that he'd seen standing with Damien and Ieyoshi. They were the brothers Enn and Shou. He would've greeted them cheerfully, but there was a more important matter at hand right now. Aobane let out a couple short breaths, trying to get his heartreat to slow as best he could, before taking a deep breath and saying rather loudly, "Haku's in trouble! Follow me!"

Before wasting a single second, Aobane spun on his heel and began sprinting back the way he came.

---

Collab between Xunmanius, Alle9009 and Karkastic Red for Haku, Ryuu and Aobane.

---

"Heeyyy!!"

Ieyoshi narrowed his eyes, recognizing his twin brother's friend. The kid skidded to a stop a few feet from where he stood, nearly tripping over his own feet as he did. Giving him a quick once-over with his eyes, Ieyoshi noted his haggard look, his rough expression, his gasps for breath. Obviously, he'd been running as fast as he could. Interesting.

Perhaps Ieharu was running with the track club again? That would explain why he was late. Ieyoshi sighed. He didn't understand sports, especially running track. Why would anyone waste the ti—

"Haku's in trouble!" Aobane declared, speaking between gasps. Follow me!" Without further ado, he turned and began running back from whence he came. Ieyoshi stared for a moment, mouth slightly agape, his expression incredulous, but again, that lasted for but a moment. Within an instant, his look of befuddlement was replaced by something else entirely. It was the type of look a seasoned veteran of war would don after hearing that he'd been deploy for a fourth tour of duty. It was a look not of fear, or anger, or even excitement. It was a look of expectation. A cool steely countenance that did nothing to hide the boy's willingness to commit abject violence in the name of his family. In the name of his brother.

Aobane had made it only a meter or two before Ieyoshi began running in his wake, surging forward like a mighty hurricane. With only a few footfalls, he caught up, running side by side with the panicked Aobane. As they ran, there were no words spoken. Nothing needed to be said. In this moment, side by side, Aobane had Ieyoshi's complete and unadulterated trust. It wasn't something that he gave out lightly, or easily.

The two burst in through the main school building's front doors, nearly giving a janitor a heart attack as they did. Cutting to the right, they ran down a hallway, lined on both sides by the skeletal remains of vacant lockers and doorways to empty void-like classrooms. Through a door. Up some stairs. Out into a new hallway. Past a niche that housed several elevators. It was eerily silent here, save for the footfalls of Aobane and company. It was as if they were running down an alley in a ghost town. For a moment, Aobane slowed, a confused look on his face. It was as if he expected something to be here, but it wasn't. Suddenly, his eyes snapped forward, and Ieyoshi could almost see the lightbulb go off above his head. Moving swiftly, Aobane took a curt turn down an adjoining hallway, and then another. Through yet another door. All the way down the stairs. Out through a featureless silver and gray gate that opened up into a small abandoned lot outside. Looking around, Ieyoshi recognized this as the hidden spot that some third years would talk about when they wanted to smoke or drink without the faculty bothering them. The fact that Aobane knew of its location shouldn't have been a surprise.

After several meters, the protected little inlet opened up into a vast parking lot. Save for a few cars here and there, it was largely abandoned since most of the teachers and staff had retired for the day.

And that's when Ieyoshi saw them, leaning against the side of the auxiliary building on the other end of the lot. Two guys dressed in the typical Namimori High school uniform, though it seemed like they had purposely ruffled their hair and donned generally disheveled appearances. Second years, by the look of them, trying to seem tough. Ieyoshi rolled his eyes. Hard.

When they got to within a few meters of the second years, the two upperclassmen turned nonchalantly, hands thrust into their pockets. When they saw Ieyoshi, they grinned. One of them deigned to hold out his hand, palm facing the incomers. The intent behind the gesture was clear.

Stop.

Ieyoshi came to an immediate halt, using his leading foot to catch himself. At this point, he was perhaps a meter away from the two second years.

"Hey, you're that underwear kid, right?" Said the one on the left, looking at Ieyoshi. "The brown-haired one, I mean."

"Where's my brother?" Ieyoshi muttered, the downright ominous tone in his voice carrying over the small gusts of wind that gently whipped his hair to and fro. His face was impassive, but his confrontational stance betray his underlying thoughts.

"Who?" Said the one on the right. Ieyoshi leveled him with a frosty glare but otherwise said nothing. After a few awkward moments, the upperclassman changed his answer. "Calm down, you kid." He coughed up phlegm and spit it out, the glob of spittle landing mere inches from Ieyoshi's feet. "Your bro wanted to hang with us." The guy looked over to his compatriot, grinning. The other one mirrored his expression. "So we were nice enough to let him."

Fists clenched, Ieyoshi took a step forward.

Immediately, the second year on the left raised his hands in surrender. "Chill bro, chill. We'll take you to him."

"Yeah," the one on the right agreed. At that, Ieyoshi relented, the tension draining out of his shoulders. However, the upperclassman hadn't finished speaking. "But if you wanna come onto club turf, you gotta come alone." He motioned at the others with his chin. "They can't come." With the way he said it, it was clearly and unequivocally a threat of sorts, though to what end Ieyoshi was not sure. Frankly, he wasn't sure why any of this was going on, or what the end game was here, but fine. He'd play their game for now.

The mere thought of the idea of Ieharu being around these two thugs made Damien's blood boil. "Oh, you want him to come alone?" He said, extending his left arm for a slight stretch. Two men might die tonight. Maybe more. "First of all," he paused as he held his index finger up, "I need you to tell me where Haku is. Second," he mentioned this with two fingers up, "I'm coming along." Now he bawled his fist and placed it into his palm, his very stance a threat. "Third, I dare you to try and stop me. Please try." The look on his face completely shifted to that of a apex predator about to smite its prey. Playtime was over.

Seeing Damien's face change, Enn's grin grew bloodthirsty as well. Their match had been interrupted, so maybe these people were going to make up for that? He grinned and looked towards them, his stance shifting into something looser, ready to move. "If you're going after them, let me join in~!" he said cheerfully, raising his hands up. Despite his face remaining light and jovial, a menacing aura settled around him. Shou spluttered a few steps behind him in response.

Ieyoshi tilted his head slightly, his eyes darting to the left, catching Enn in his peripheral vision. And then to the right, catching Damien just as he finished his response. He didn't need his intuition to know that these two were mere moments away from taking decisive action.

He sighed bitterly, closing his eyes. And what would a fight here mean for Haku?

With one outstretched arm, Ieyoshi placed his palm firmly against Damien's chest, preventing him from advancing. This was not a question of strength. The Sawada twin knew from experience that his mere hand was not enough to stop his childhood friend, yet either out of respect or friendship or maybe both, Damien did not force his way past him. At the same time, Shou frantically grabbed Enn's arm almost gingerly, like he was expecting his little brother to whirl around and attack him. He relaxed when Enn didn't move towards him, merely turning around to glance at him with a puzzled look in his eyes before facing the two goons in front of them with the same blood thirsty grin. Although the black aura surrounding Enn dissipated somewhat, the snarl that had adorned Damien's face did not abate.

For an instant, Ieyoshi's brow was cloaked in shadow, his head tilted downward in consideration. It didn't take him long to reach a conclusion.

"Damien," he started, his words little more than a susurration. He balled his outstretched hand into a fist and lightly tapped his friend's chest. It was a friendly gesture. Slowly, he tilted his head upwards, locking eyes with the two upperclassmen. All the while, a heinous grin was slowly worming its way onto his face. This must've been what his brother refered to as the supervillain smirk. "This one is mine." He dropped his arm and began walking forward. "Don't interfere."

Beside him, Shou pulled Enn back, leaving Ieyoshi and Damien to stand at the forefront. He breathed a sigh of relief when Enn complied. "Let them handle it," he whispered. He'd heard what Ieyoshi had said, and was more than happy for the both of them to stay in the shadows. "Please," he pleaded quietly, the sound barely making it past his lips. Enn didn't say anything, merely looking at the upperclassmen with an assessing look in his eye, like a gamer looking at his opponents stats.

The message was clear: if they proved to be weak, then Enn would ignore them, losing interest in them the way a child would do to old toys. If they were strong, then, he'd be like a child with new toys—completely ready to play rough even if it wrecked the toy, at least until he grew bored of it. Still, he stayed, and for Shou, that was good enough.

Ieyoshi walked right through the two upperclassmen, and they let him. Once he advanced a meter or so, one of them turned to follow the first year. The other stayed, leaning against the side of the auxiliary building, staring at the gaggle whom Ieyoshi had left behind, presumably to ensure that they did not follow. Despite Enn's menace and Damien's threats, the guy didn't seem phased. In fact, he pulled a cig from his pocket and lit up, blowing smoke from his nostrils a moment later.

He didn't take his eyes off the others for a second.

Further ahead, Ieyoshi followed the sidewalk that marked the perimeter of the auxiliary building, turning right and moving out of sight of Damien and the others. Even on this side of the building, the lot was still empty. Though he'd been coming to the school routinely for nearly a month, Ieyoshi had never been around this side of the school before, and so took in his surroundings with measured haste. Weeds grew in the grass alongside the auxiliary building, which was unusual. Most of the school's property was kept pristine at all times by the janitorial staff. This meant that this side of the school rarely saw much attention.

The perfect place for a trap, then.

The upperclassman that'd tailed him let out a bark of laughter as they walked. "I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to actually agree to come alone, kid."

So that confirmed it, then. They did have ill intentions.

"Well, you asked," Ieyoshi responded, his tone as measured as his pace.

"Yeah, but still. Kinda dumb, don'tcha think bro? You know what comes when you round that corner, right?"

Suddenly, Ieyoshi stopped walking, choosing instead to turn to the second year, who'd himself come to a stop right behind him. The twin had a somewhat confused look on his face. "But we didn't even—"

Suddenly and without warning, Ieyoshi smashed his heel into the guy's groin. The upperclassman responded with a yelp, crumpling to the ground in pain.

Ieyoshi waited for him to grab onto his groin—the customary male response to being kicked in that particularly sensitive spot. When he did, Ieyoshi took the opportunity to stomp on him a few more times, making sure to smash his heel into the guy's knuckles. With each kick, the second year let out an agonized yelp. When he tried to roll away, Ieyoshi stepped on his chest, preventing him from escaping. At this point, the twin let out a bark of laughter, a cartoonish imitation of the upperclassman's earlier laugh.

"I didn't think you'd be dumb enough to actually fall for that, kid." Ieyoshi said, mimicking the guy's voice. He gave him one more stomp for good measure. "And I'm not a kid, kid. Don't call me kid. Got it, kid? Or I'll make it so that you never have kids." From the tone in his voice, Ieyoshi was obviously not kidding around. The upperclassman nodded furiously in response, tears streaming down his face.

Ieyoshi closed his eyes, his expression morphing into that of one who was sleepy. "Whatever," he muttered, taking his foot off the guy's chest. Pivoting on his heel, he resuming his slow walk. If they wanted to trap him and fight him for whatever reason, then whatever, but Ieharu wasn't a fighter. He wasn't the type to start fights, either. Why would they pick on him? Was it because he looked weak or something? Ieyoshi picked up the pace. He was nearing the end of the auxiliary building. Perhaps it was because of that kid he punched in the morning. Perhaps that kid was someone important. Maybe he shouldn't have punched him. Ieyoshi recognized the two second years not by name or face, but by the way they wore their school uniforms. It was emblematic of the infamous Martial Arts Appreciation club. Maybe these club guys wanted revenge.

And so they used Ieharu to get to him, instead of approaching him on their own.

"Tch." Ieyoshi shook his head is utter disdain. Uncle Ryohei would call these types the "extreme losers".

As he prepared to round the corner and face this unknown threat, Ieyoshi realized that he hadn't really developed his plan of action any further than "beat up everyone and save Haku". He frowned. This wasn't like him. Not at all. Where were the tactics? The strategy? He hesitated in his step, looking around, taking stock of the tactical value of his surroundings for the first time. No weapons. Nothing that he could use to his advantage. Nothing to hide behind. Nowhere to retreat to that wasn't a wide open area where he wouldn't be surrounded. Plus he left an enemy—that second year he kicked in the balls—still potentially viable and in his wake. If this were a horror movie, that'd be the guy that pops up in the final scene and, to the complete dismay of the audience, cuts off his escape and stabs him in the side, sealing his fate.

Great. A total trap. Though it's not like he didn't see this coming, right?

Ieyoshi sighed for the umpteenth time.

Whenever his brother was involved, he always found himself rushing recklessly. It was annoying to be forced to acknowledge that he was so easily capable of acting illogically, but whatever. He shook his head, clearing his thoughts. Whatever indeed.

Ieyoshi rounded the corner, his gait confident, his visage menacing. It wasn't up to his usual standards, but it was the best he could do on such short notice.

The first thing he noted was the rundown ramshackle nature of this setting. An overturned trash bin. A pile of dusty tires. Weeds run amuck. The random discarded can or obligatory used condom every couple of meters.

The second thing he noticed were the four burly hulking seniors—third years—all sporting the Martial Arts club look. And they noticed him, too. All four of them turned in union, aligning their bodies to his like pit bulls or police dogs. All they needed was for their master to yell "Sic 'em!" Ieyoshi took a step backward, his foot sliding across the loose gravelly pavement.

He took care to note that the chunks of rock felt like sand under his feet.

These muscle bound upperclassmen made those two second years from before look like emaciated children. His first instinct was to run, to retreat to a spot where he could find some sort of tactical advantage, some way to split them up, fight them one at a time. This wasn't an action movie, and though he held himself and his skills in high regard, he wasn't an idiot. Even professional MMA fighters would have a hard time taking on four people at once in real life, and he wasn't even a professional. Not yet, at least.

Instead of retreating, however, Ieyoshi took a bold step forward. Though he was nervous, his hands didn't shake. Though he watched carefully for any sort of hostile movement from these four thugs in his peripheral vision, his arrogant visage did not crack. What kept him rooted in place, what kept him from running, was the same thing that caught his eye, that prevented him from averting his attention.

Several meters ahead of him, behind the four thugs and off to the left, was a first year. Ieyoshi wasn't sure of his name—he wasn't really good with names—but he remembered the face. Pale skin, bright blonde hair clipped behind his right ear by four red pins, annoyingly large blue eyes. He'd definitely seen this guy around before. Fairly recently, in fact. The guy was being restrained by two upperclassmen, and, by the looks of him, they'd roughed him up a bit.

Welp, that brought his number of enemies up to six. If the odds weren't in his favor before, they were approaching suicidal now.

Still, the blonde-haired first year was not the object of Ieyoshi's attention, for behind the wall of thugs and off to the right were two others: a particularly tall man and a girl.

The girl appeared out of place among the guys, dwarfing the tall man whom of which she stood next to. Probably the most striking detail about her was her long, sand-colored hair, which had somewhat large "drills" on it's sides. It appeared to be dyed that way as her hair was brown at the roots. Her BluScreen was activated on her wrist, making it easily visible. She stood quite close to the man, apparently affectionately. "Ishiki~!" She called playfully, seemingly rather giddy, "That's the other boy, no doubt. He's got that mean look in his eye. So terribly frightening." The girl's tone wasn't serious at all, bordering on sarcastic.

Ieyoshi's ears perked up. Ishiki. One of the few names around school that he had committed to memory. So this was him. Ishiki Kurorugi, captain of the Martial Arts Appreciation Club, Bokken combat artist, and the so-called "strongest third year".

Still, what Ieyoshi was staring at was not Ishiki per say. The guy had one hand balled into a fist, raised threateningly. He was using his other hand to press against Ieharu's chest, keeping the younger twin pinned to the side of the wall. That's what he was staring at.

Ieharu's face didn't look so good. One eye was blackened considerably. One cheek was somewhat swollen. There were traces of red around his nose and lips, and there was some dried up blood on the front of his school uniform.

They'd laid hands on his brother.

"HEY!" Ieyoshi roared. Now, a shout from him is akin to a normal person raising their voice somewhat. For Ieyoshi, such a thing was completely out of character. Still, it had the intended effect. Ishiki froze for a moment before finally turning his head to look at the newcomer.

Then he smiled. It looked disgusting on his face.

"Hey, what's up, kid?" He said, releasing Ieharu. The boy slid to the ground, unresponsive. "Good timing. You two look just alike, you know? Seriously, you're identical, besides the hair. It's pretty weird, actually." He curved his neck to the side, eliciting a series of cracks and pops as air escaped from between his joints. "Anyways. Now we can get this party started."

"Ishiki, do your best, okay?" The girl next to him said teasingly, giving him a smooching gesture before backing off. "You know, this is for Rosa's sake, and you know when Rosa's happy, I'm happy too." This girl's cheery attitude was close to nauseating in terms of how sweet she was trying to be. But then, her expression changed to one that was much more sinister and much more true to her character. She looked directly at Ieyoshi. "Indeed, disrupting school order and dishonoring our wonderful Ms. Rosa..." She leered at Ieharu, who sat on the ground behind her, bringing a finger to her lip. "... comes with rather heavy penalties."

This monster post is PART 1 of the team effort made by the following: KumoriKitsune, Lloyd999, Alle9009, Moahi, Pandora's Melancholy, Xunnamius. Wow!

---

"Then do it with your dying will!" Godot squeezed the trigger, and Ieharu screwed his eyes shut in anticipation.

BANG!

That familiar flash of pain. The pressure. The silence. It was all familiar to the young Ieharu. In his final moments of lucidity, he felt like his was floating, rising, higher and higher until—

"REBORN!!!"

The word tore through his throat, reverberating throughout the empty lot as forcefully as any gunshot. His body never hit the floor. It seemed to explode right then and there, his clothes burning away, eyes opening wide, irises glazed over as if he were in a trance. He caught himself with one hand, arresting his downward momentum.

"I'M GOING TO PROTECT EVERYONE!" He shouted at the air, springing back to his feet whilst he did so. "WITH MY DYING WILL!"

"Good luck," Godot told him, before leaning back against the wall.

"WHO NEEDS PROTECTING?!" Ryuu roared back at the naked boy as if what he'd said was an insult, snapping him out of his zombie-horror shock.

Some distance away, Ishiki muttered offhandedly, eyebrows raised, "This kid loves to get naked." The words were directed in Akako's direction, however she hadn't quite recovered from the shock of the whole situation yet and didn't make a cohesive response.

The upperclassmen, Ishiki's three henchmen—five now, counting the two whose attention had shifted from Ryuu following Ieharu's outburst—look at each other, their expressions full of worry.

Suddenly, those expressions morphed.

"Haha!" One of the upperclassmen laughed, pointing at the younger twin. "Is he naked? Again!" The other four bust out laughing as well, one of them holding his side in an attempt to contain his mirth. "We're so scared!" The upperclassman continued, howling in laughter.

"Why not do us a favor, kid," one of the others began, tears of merriment in his eyes. "Just throw us the underwear and run along." That suggestion spawned a new round of giggling and snickering from the other upperclassmen. "You can run all the way back hom—"

With the sheer speed in which Ieharu moved, it seemed even the universe itself needed a moment to catch up. There was no time to prepare, no time to react. One instant, Ieharu was standing several meters behind his brother's body. In the next, he'd buried his fist in the belly of the upperclassman who'd been speaking down to him, the one standing in the middle of the three. Spittle flew from the guy's mouth, his abdomen becoming convex as his body reacted to the physics of the blow. The eyes of the various bystanders had barely begun to shift towards Ieharu's new position when reality finally took over. The upperclassman reeled, his feet losing contact with the ground as he flew backwards, nearly colliding with Akako, his limp body meeting full force with the unforgiving asphalt several meters away.

He was finished.

Ieharu didn't afford the others much time to respond. Almost immediately after disabling the first of Ishiki's thugs, he delivered a calamitous backfist to the upperclassman on the right, smashing his solar plexus. The poor guy on the left only had enough time to bring his hands up before Ieharu spun on his heel, using the momentum of the move to deliver a mean hammer fist to his lower thigh. There was an audible pop! as the guy's knee was dislocated. Both men crumpled in on themselves like wobbly Jenga towers, their pain and surprise so great that their voices caught in their throats. Their crippling defeat took place over the course of a few seconds, but for those watching, it may as well have lasted for whole minutes.

Fists balled, eyes glazed over, Ieharu snapped his head to the side, towards the only two upperclassmen left standing. His face was an unequivocal and pure manifestation of his wrath, his propensity for violence in the name of his friends made corporeal. He lowered his chin, peering out at the two from under his brow, like a bull preparing to charge.

"AAAAAAHHHHHHH!" Ieharu roared with all his might. He looked positively insane.

The two third-years flinched at that, both raising their hands, their faces beaded with sweat. They began stepping backwards, their entire bodies shaking. "Woah there, man," one of them said, his voice nearly faltering. "You got it. You win. We don't want any of that."

"I didn't sign up for this shit!" The other one spat, hands still in the air. "I'm done!"

Without further ado, the two third-years took off running, cutting a wide swath around Godot and the others in an attempt to escape. They almost made it, too.

But then Ishiki was there, blocking their path. With one swift right hook, he sent both men to the ground. Ieharu turned to look at them, and then up at Ishiki, the flame atop his forehead waltzing as his neck swayed to and fro like a snake thusly charmed.

Ishiki sighed, cracking his knuckles in turn with his free hand. "Hard to find loyal friends, I guess."

"I'M GONNA PROTECT EVERYONE FROM YOU!" Ieharu blurted out, his fists balled so tightly that his wrists shook. "ISHIKI!"

"Protect everyone, he says," Ryuu grumbled aggrievedly under his breath as he looked keenly around at the abandoned lot. Nevermind that they'd been mobbed if Ieharu hadn't interrupted, Ryuu still felt that they could've dealt with it somehow. Behind him, Chester was dragging Ieyoshi away form the battle ground to where they were in an effort to get him uninvolved. The boy was still unconscious, and likely to remain so. Ieharu's words struck Ryuu at his deeply independent core, which—nope, his bag wasn't there. Ugh, and it'd contained his staff too. He groaned and glared at the lot like its entire existence offended him, a frustrated growl emitting from under his breath as he found nothing he could use. Why was it so empty?! Where on earth did his bag even go anywa—

Ah ha! Ryuu made his way to a particularly tall patch of grass, pulling out a wooden bat. It had seen better days and it was a bit too short for his taste, but it was solid and when the blonde swung it like he was hitting a home run it made a satisfying swishing sound. Ryuu gave a faintly satisfied grin that lasted only a few seconds before darkening into a scowl. "Think I can't stand up for myself does he, that pompous little..."

Ishiki glanced at Akako, and then at the so-called Godot, seeing if either were about to make a move he should be aware of. Akako appeared irate, although she was only just recovering her ability to speak. "I-SHI-KI!" Her voice definitely seemed irritated, but it sounded as if she were still restraining her temper. "You better get him already! He was just a bug earlier!" Ishiki nodded in affirmation. Akako's nasty tongue was beginning to present itself.

The one with the gun seemed content to sit back and didn't look like he was going to be shooting any more of those what he could only assume were high-tech steroid "bullets" at anyone. Maybe. Maybe not. It didn't really matter. Despite Akako's words, something had begun twisting in Ishiki's gut after witnessing the boy so effortlessly disable his compatriots. It was a feeling, of course. One that certainly wasn't unfamiliar, but completely unexpected in here of all places. Of all the members in his Martial Arts Appreciation Club, none were able to hold their own against him for more than a minute, but this kid...

Maybe he'd severely underestimated him.

For the first time, Ishiki genuinely grinned. Was it happiness he felt now? Fear, of being defeated? Excitement, to perhaps have met one who could offer him a little fun? "Ieharu Sawada, eh?" Ishiki stepped forward, rolling the sleeves of his uniform up past his elbows. When he was done, he raised his arms in an exaggerated shrug. "Come on, then. I'm right here, kid. You gonna protect 'em or what?"

Like a raging bull before a Matador, Ieharu surged forward, fist balled, screaming. He closed the distance between himself and Ishiki in an instant, throwing a punch with all his might and smashing the much taller third-year in the chest.

Or so he thought.

At the last moment, Ishiki pivoted to the side, deftly avoiding the blow. Simultaneously, he bent his knees, legs spread into a mid-low stance, his face coming to about eye-level with Ieharu, whose fist was still extended out in front of him. With all the grace of a svelte Broadway dancer, Ishiki flowed with the force of his initial pivot, grasping Ieharu's wrist with one hand as he slid his shoulder under the boy's arm. With his fist having failed to collide with Ishiki's body, Ieharu was still being carried forward by his initial momentum, and the upperclassman took full advantage of this. Pulling Ieharu's arm downward like a lever, Ishiki flipped him over his shoulder, using the boy's own velocity against him.

Ieharu went flying, windmilling through the air.

"Come on, Sawada," Ishiki purred as he reconfigured his footing. "I compete internationally. Did you think I got to be leader of this club because of my good looks?" He flexed like a bodybuilder, bringing his arms up at either side of his head, his uniform barely containing the sheer girth of his muscles. His girlfriend cheered him on, which made him grin. "Although you're certainly strong. Really strong, actually. And fast. I'll give you that." Ieharu had not only skipped across the ground a few times, but slid painfully on his back to a halt. He rebounded to his feet a moment later, though without clothes to protecting him, it was his skin that took the brunt of the damage. The broken asphalt had scratched his back and his sides, leaving noticeable lacerations. It was obvious from his expression that he didn't care, however. Ishiki assumed a boxer's stance, his fists open slightly, elbows down, arms up. "I see now how someone like you could have angered that cow Rosa." He began shifting his weight back and forth in his stance, ready to pivot again at a moment's notice. His was smiling now, unable to hide his merriment. "But just 'cause you can throw a punch doesn't mean you can hit me."

Without words, Ieharu accepted the challenge, rushing in, fists blazing. He swung once for what would have been an otherwise bone-shattering jab, but Ishiki easily predicted the move and responded by delivering his knuckles flush into the side of the twin's face. Immediately, Ieharu's mouth was bloodied, but if he noticed he sure as hell didn't show it. Again he swung, this time laterally. Unfortunately for him, Ishiki had used the previous maneuver to strategically position himself so that he was both between Ieharu's hands and a few centimeters away from his face. With such a short distance to work with, Ieharu wasn't able to muster as much force behind the attack as he could have otherwise.

Which was the plan.

With his forearm, Ishiki blocked the attack. And then, like Leonidas, he kicked Ieharu dead in his chest, sending him flying backwards a second time. The move looked positively vicious, and even in his current state it took Ieharu several seconds to get back to his feet.

"All strength and no skill, with those tiny little arms of yours." Ishiki shrugged again, huffing slightly. He hadn't even broken a sweat. "You're obviously overexerting yourself using them steroids or whatever that pedo over there did to you." He hooked a thumb in Godot's direction. "I wonder how long can you keep it up. Did he say five minutes?" Godot nodded in polite confirmation, smiling. "Though your brother over there didn't even last half that. Heh. You better hurry then, hero."

Ieharu growled in frustration yet failed to sufficiently alter his tactics. He launched himself at Ishiki once more, brandishing his fists. Like last time, he swung with all his might, the sheer force of it causing the sleeves of his uniform to crackle and snap as they resisted the air. Ishiki dodged it. Ieharu didn't give him a chance to counter and pressed forward with another equally devastating punch. And then another. And another. All in quick succession. With each punch, you could tell he was throwing his entire being into the maneuver, from the way he leaned in with his closed stance to the manner in which he cocked his arms back. He was also screaming his little heart out. Yet he still failed to make contact with Ishiki's body until the very end.

When Ishiki delivered a brutal knee to his chin.

Ieharu's neck snapped backwards with the force of the savage maneuver, his attempt at an assault utterly annihilated by his senior schoolmate. For his part, Ishiki pattered rearward, his feet gliding across the ground like those of a practiced fighter.

"Wow, you've, uh, got heart, Sawada," Ishiki began. He was being sincere. "No one's ever withstood my special move before, yet there you are, still standing." In response, Ieharu shook his head like a dog shaking the water out of its fur. "Steroids can only do so much for you, you feel? You have no upper body strength. Your fists aren't fast enough. Aren't strong enough to reach me." Ieharu spit a glob of red onto the ground and resumed growling at the upperclassman. "But if you come at me like that again..." Ishiki altered his stance, spreading his legs and leaning low, angling his body so that only his side was exposed to the raging Ieharu. His fists turned to palms, his fingers straight and parallel, his arms out in front of him. It was reminiscent of an action hero from one of those old kung fu movies. His joyful smile had long since departed from his face. "I'mma break you."

Ieharu responded with a single word—bellowed it, of course. "PROTECT!!!"

Again, he launched himself at Ishiki. This time, however, the third-year didn't move. Didn't sway. Only stared. The air about him changed from one of jubilance to something else. Something more dangerous. When Ieharu came within arm's reach, cocking his fist back for the umpteenth time, Ishiki shifted slightly, preparing to smite this poor boy. Ieharu threw an odd punch, striking downwards, towards the ground, missing Ishiki entirely and leaving himself open for desolation. "Ha!" Ishiki barked in triumph, bringing his palm forward to collide with where he knew Ieharu's chest would be.

Or should have been.

Ishiki realized it too late. Ieharu hadn't thrown a punch, and so he wasn't carried forward by the physics of it like he had expected. Instead, Ieharu had angled his upper body downwards, one arm on the ground as he transitioned into a one-handed front flip, his feet arcing through the air. Ishiki wasn't fast enough to recover, having extended himself a tad too far with that attempted attack, and Ieharu brought the full force and weight of his heel down upon the back of Ishiki's neck. Though the Sawada twin's maneuver was poorly executed and elementary in its composition, the raw force behind it was enough to break Ishiki's stance. He was nearly bowed, his hands coming up instinctively to catch himself, but the attack wasn't enough to make him touch the ground. He was a medalled athlete, an internationally recognized fighter! No way some steroid-brained novice and his tomato punches would be enough to—

Ieharu, revelling in the effectiveness of his lower body against this opponent, followed that initial kick with another, this time twisting in the air to gather sufficient angular momentum before driving the instep of his foot into the side of Ishiki's neck. Ieharu attacked with such force that the very air before him parted with a whistle.

THWACK!

Ishiki was forced to the ground, his hands slapping the rough asphalt, his face and neck bowed by the absolute physical power behind the attack. In this mode, Ieharu's punches may have been powerful, but his kicks were a whole order of magnitude more devastating.

Perhaps it was the pure shock of being forced to his knees for the first time in ages, or perhaps it was an anger so abysmal and all-consuming that it paralyzed him, but even after Ieharu stumbled backwards, Ishiki remained bowed, his hands flush with the pavement beneath them. He didn't move, his eyes wide, mouth held slightly agape.

Ieharu regained his footing, leaping backwards. "PROTECT!!!" He shouted once more, pumping his fists. And then, like before, he surged forward, this time cocking his leg back to deliver a kick that would have most likely broken Ishiki's neck. Unfortunately, Ieharu tripped, falling on his face. For those that were paying attention, the flame atop his head had gone out just moments before.

Ishiki turned his head to glare at the downed twin, a wonderful thought occurring to him. "Oh," he said, getting to his feet and dusting himself off. "Oh ho ho!" He pointed at Ieharu with one hand while rubbing his neck with the other. It was obvious by the way he moved that he had sustained some sort of injury. "Your time is up, hero. You lose." The joints in his neck popped as he angled his head. First left, then right. "Fuck Rosa. Fuck favors. Fuck it all." Ishiki frowned deeply, looking at his hands which had been dirtied by their time on the ground. His voice lost a few octaves with his next line. "I'm going to kill you for what you just did."

"As if, you megalomaniacal drama queen." Ryuu stepped in front of Ieharu with the bat held tight in his hands as he faced Ishiki, spreading his feet apart in a steady stance. He scowled angrily at Ishiki, waves of anger rolling off him like a heatwave. Dammit, following Ieharu really was the worst decision he'd ever made. He'd gotten beaten up, he'd seen people shot at and die and revive, and now he was getting into a fight with his national level club captain who was probably going to expel him after this. Which meant his scholarship was doomed, since one of the conditions was being in a club. Well, it wasn't like Ishiki would want people to know that he'd been beating up people, so it might not happen. Probably. He scowled, keeping his eyes on Ishiki. "I don't owe you anymore after this, got it?" he muttered behind him to Ieharu, frustration in his tone.

Why was he doing this again? Oh yeah, because he owed Ieharu and because Ishiki wanted him not to. And more importantly, because he was pissed off as all hell. Trying not to think about how screwed he probably was, Ryuu raised the bat, brandishing it at Ishiki. "You're the one who's going to die," he said surely, hiding the uncertainty he felt.

"Wow, really?" Ishiki let out a chuckle like Ryuu had just told a joke, his eyes creasing up with humor. "That was the best you could come up with? Man, and I thought no one could be worse then Jin when it comes to name calling." A cocky look came over his face, and it was obvious that he believed that Ryuu couldn't beat him. His eyes narrowed condescendingly down on the blonde. "Obviously I thought wrong." He slid into the same stance as before while Ryuu's eyes narrowed, the only sign that the words had gotten to him. "Well, even if you're going against me," and the look on his face said that he couldn't believe how dumb Ryuu was being "you're still my kouhai. I'll give you a chance to drop out so I can go back to killing that kid." It was obvious he meant Ieharu. "What do you say?"

Ryuu didn't say anything, merely raised the bat over his shoulder like he was going for a swing, setting his shoulders sturdily like he was made out of fluid rock. The answer was obvious.

Ishiki nodded like he'd expected it. "Alright then," he said, and darted forwards. He ducked low under the bat's swing and aimed a punch at Ryuu's face, which moved out of the way as he spun with the swing. The first year aimed a kick at Ishiki, who dodged out of the way, and they continued to exchange blows as Ieharu crawled over to his brother's side, his face contorting in pain as the weight of his injuries made itself known. He watched the battle worriedly. It was obvious that even though Ryuu was holding his ground, it wasn't enough. While he was more agile and had extra reach, Ishiki was able to get in under his guard and had more power to his blows. Ryuu was outclassed, and the smile on Ishiki's face and the relaxed, almost playful way he moved against Ryuu's harsh swings and the determined way Ryuu gritted his teeth said that they knew it too. It was only a matter of time before the fight was over.

Soon enough Ishiki had Ryuu cornered. He knocked the bat out of Ryuu's grip with a lazy swipe and smiled down at him, wiping blood away from the split lip on his mouth. "You're good, I admit that. But not good enough." Ryuu glared defiantly at him as Ishiki raised a bruised fist for the knockout, certain of his victory. "Any last words?"

"This ends here," muttered the words of an approaching figure. Ishiki started to turn his head towards the voice, but a sudden force sent Ishiki's body off balance. Izaya scored a clean hit across Ishiki's face. Izaya's body rolled across the ground briefly. He recovered shortly after, coming to his feet. He positioned himself directly inbetween Ishiki and Ryuu. Iz was a part of the back up they called in; however, this wasn't the kind of help they had in mind. The other members stood in shock realizing that Iz really had just attacked their captain of all people. The man who never loses or even gets hurt. He's doomed they thought. Ryuu's eyes widened in surprise at the unexpected help, but wasted no time in rolling to his feet as he snatched up the bat. Raising it warily, he glanced at the other newcomers before his head turned to see who had interrupted the beatdown.

Izaya was breathing hard as if he'd ran a marathon, but stood tall with a confident demeanor. His eyes fixated on Ishiki like a hawk staring at it's target. Please stay down. Izaya was terrified at what he'd just done being that the captain was no ordinary fighter, but he couldn't stand idle while someone was getting hurt. A hero would never back down regardless of the situation. This was the right action no matter how this works out. Ishiki regained his composure almost immediately. The look in his eyes were more demonic and his rage was completely evident. Izaya's blood boiled to the point where he felt he could burst. This is the man who's leading the martial arts club. This is the one he's been looking up towards. He seemed hero like being strong, cool and speaking on positive ideals, but he's really scum like this? Before he knew it, he was yelling at him. "Attacking your own club member Ishiki?! Ganging up on students!" he continued, "I thought you taught us about self defense! Protecting the weak and helping others! What are you doing?!"

"More like what are you doing?" Ishiki frowned at Izaya, rubbing his cheek absentmindedly. The captain looked surprised, and very frustrated. "I sent you here for backup! Not to punch my face in the moment I was just about to land a finishing blow!" His frown turned into a glare. Normally he would try being nice to get Izaya back on his side, but today had been a very long day. What had promised to be an easy job was turning into a freakishly difficult one, with weird shootings and crazy kids on steroids and his own club members not being up to snuff, and what with yet another club member going against him and robbing him of the satisfaction of showing his underclassman that he was nothing, Ishiki was at the end of his tether. "And obviously I was showing this stupid new club member of ours his place! He went against me!" He looked scornfully at Izaya. "And what, you thought I actually meant that bullshit?! Are you a retard?! It was just so the teachers wouldn't get rid of the club. Those who are weak deserve to be nothing but dust under the feet of the strong!"

"Finishing blow?! Bullshitting?! This is ridiculous!" He said while prepping himself in a defensive stance. He placed his left foot bent forward while his right slightly further back. His hands stood out slightly extended to deflect any incoming attack. Although he'd gotten a nice sucker punch in, Izaya knew that Ishiki was more skilled, stronger, and tougher than he was in every way. He could literally feel the killing intent from Ishiki and the pressure to defend the guys behind him building up. His body started trembling on his own, but he couldn't back down. A hero never back downs. He would never back down. Ryuu, the underwear kid and the others need an avenue to escape at least. What are the options? What can he do? What is the next best choice? Fear slowly surged through his mind as he thought of fighting a losing battle against Ishiki, but he began to quell his negative thoughts with only one word in mind, 'hero'. The others safety is more important than his own right now. He can get through this. This will all work out. Stand up, be confident, and do what you can. At the top of his lungs he once again yelled, "Your club is nothing but a sham! I refuse to stand for this villainy!"

"Yeah, you and what army?!" Theatrically, Ishiki snapped his fingers, and on cue the remaining club members surrounded Izaya and the other first years. Like a villain in a Shakespearean stage, Ishiki laughed, low and chilling. "These might be my second choice, but they're a thousand times better then you." Recollecting himself from his sudden fit, Ishiki smoothed a hand through his hair and snapped his fingers twice. The milling club members cracked their knuckles ominously, smirks on their faces as they moved closer towards Izaya and the others like wolves about to be released into a pasture.

"You're not even worth my time." Ishiki said scornfully, looking at them like they were insects under his shoe. "What, you don't like the way I run the club?" He said sarcastically, seeing the glares Ryuu and Iz were shooting his way. "Then join another club. In fact," Ishiki said slowly, smiling meanly as he savoured the words, "You don't need to turn up for the next session. The two of you are expelled from the club, starting today. I have no need for members who refuse to follow what I say."

A smirk came on Izaya's face. "Fine then! Forget your club! I'll make my own!" He dropped his stances and begun with his own theatrics as if he's giving a motivation speech. He held his hand at his chest while the other soared through the air, "A club that'll stand on real principles! One that will help the weak and protect the people!" He then removed his hand from his chest and slowly extended it own towards Ishiki. With a closed fist facing Ishiki, his index finger gradually moved out and pointed directly at him and Izaya said, "One that will stop people like you, everytime and anytime."

"I'll join that club, but only if I get to be vice-president." Ryuu said, trying not to sound too eager. The hope which had sunken deep down into his shoes suddenly found lift at Izaya's words. The ticket to his salvation! A chance to salvage his permanent living areas! Hiding his rising hope at salvaging his situation, he glared at the enemy. "Better than staying with these bunch of dogs anyway."

"Of course, you helped inspire this idea! Be my sidekick, Ryuu!" he says while imagining his hero club full of students with masks, temporarily forgetting the situation they were in.

"Sidekick?!" Temporarily aggrieved, Ryuu shot a scowl at Izaya that looked more insulted then anything else. "I'm no sidekick." Brandishing the bat in two hands like a club, Ryuu turned around to stand back to back with Izaya, scowling furiously at the other club members. There was no despair in his face, only determination and a cold sort of fury. "If anything we're partners, got it?!"

Ryuu looked a mess, with a rapidly blackening eye and a split lip and bruises everywhere, but his eyes were focused and he still moved with fluid grace as he steadied himself like a batter up at the plate. Everything hurt, and this vision kept getting blurry whenever he didn't concentrate, but fuck that! After everything that had happened, he wasn't going to let them win. Ignoring Izaya, Ryuu glared at the others, moving in front of Ieharu and the others like a bear ready to protect her cubs. Ieharu was still crying over his brother, who didn't even look like he was breathing. The two of them were in no shape to fight, let alone move. Ryuu's grip on his bat tightened at the sight, and he looked away towards the club members scornfully. Screw these guys, he wasn't going to let them win after all this. "Better than this lot of dogs anyway."

The upperclassmen scowled at the insult, and Ryuu channeled the urge to yell at Ieharu, who'd started crying after getting a good look at his brother's body, as well as the fear over the loss of his scholarship into rage, glaring at this former club compatriots. They replied with cocky smirks. After all, the battered boy hardly looked like he could put up a fight. Then for the first time a small smile, dark and vindictive, came over his face, teeth tinged red with blood as anger rolled off him in waves, and suddenly they weren't so sure. "What about you, Chester?"

There was a flash of movement behind Ishiki as Chester punched the back of his head as hard as he possibly could, focusing his entire weight on his fist. "Sorry..." He said apologetically as he seemed to vanish once more when Ishiki whirled around, his presence disappearing just outside of Ishiki's vision. Everyone but Ryuu jolted backwards, some yelling in shock as the blue haired boy, who had been forgotten until now, reappeared into their vision like a ghost apparating out of thin air. Joining a club was something he had yet to do, and the one Izaya called a 'hero club' seemed very ludicrous. Still, it was worth a try. "At this stage, I don't think I have much of a choice, do I?" Chester sighed softly as he backed away a few steps, stopping at Izaya's side.

Izaya smiled as he realized he'd already gotten his first two members. The trembling in his body stopped and the feigned confidence he portrayed towards Ishiki slowly began to become courage. This could be done. He was fired up. He shifted his gaze to the boy next to Ryuu once again in his underwear and asked, "What about you, Ie... Ie...haku?" He thought back to the fiasco this kid caused earlier, "Will you join us? Be the protector or the protected? I've seen what you can do." This kid could be a great asset, but without him, they could still charge in. They have a chance to take down Ishiki and his goons. Standing there, with Ryuu holding a bat determinedly at his left and Chester lounging cooly at his right, they were the picture of inspiration.

Ieharu looked up at Izaya and the others, tears in his eyes. Even after he managed to roll his elder brother onto his back, Ieyoshi still wasn't moving. He didn't even look like he was breathing. And Godot wouldn't help him for some reason! Worse, he could barely feel his body. He remembered everything he did while under the influence of Godot's... "dying will" or whatever he said, but he simply couldn't believe it. It was like a dream. A dream that really... really hurt. He could swear some of his teeth were loose, and the sour metallic taste of his own blood still filled his mouth. His arm hurt every time he moved it. To be honest, it was probably broken. Plus, he was naked again! Naked and surrounded by a bunch of people. Again. And Ieyoshi wouldn't wake up, no matter how many times he called his name.

Ieharu looked away from Izaya. "I'll protect my brother," he muttered through his own sniffling, looking sideways at Godot as he continued. "Someone has to." Though there wasn't much he'd be able to do anyway. With all the damage he'd taken from that monster Ishiki, it took everything that he had just to remain conscious.

"Thanks man, you're a natural born hero already. I'm Izaya, future hero!" He waved, then remembered that they still were in a dangerous situation. Good thing Ishiki and his members were pretty patient. The support received by these three gave Izaya a surge of overwhelming hope. Maybe he wasn't crazy for standing up to Ishiki alone. This is working out he muttered to himself. With his regained confidence he said boldly as he darted headfirst towards Ishiki, "This is the first task of the Hero Club! To take down the rest of the martial arts goon! Come on guys!"

"Hero Club?!" Ryuu said incredulously. The bat swung in a blur as the club members scattered out of the way, and he swished the bat above and behind him just in time to hit the face of the club member who had tried to sneak up on him from behind. There was a crunch of bone, and the teen stumbled backwards, his hand going up to cup a broken nose. Why heroes?! Heroes only existed in books, unlike villains. Any hero in real life were just fakes who were out for rewards and fame and self gratification. There was always an ulterior motive somewhere, it was just how people were. It was an awful name for the club he needed to join, but... "Agh, whatever. Let's get this over and done with already!" he muttered, jabbing his elbow into another club member's gut.

Chester's form flashed as a club member tried to land a blow on him, instead appearing behind him once again and landing a blow on his back. When the member regained his balance and spun around, Chester was no longer there, once again at his back without fail. He might not be good combat wise, but at stealth attacks there was hardly any that can best him, his eyes scanning the opponents for gaps in their peripheral vision and slipping through. "Wait a second, before I get myself into this club any deeper... Are all the activities beating people up? When? I can't stay back for that long."

"Probably not, since we're the 'heroes club'," Ryuu said dryly, connotations practically visible around the words. He dodged to the side as one of the goons smashed to where his head was and brought the bat up to deflect another hit, wincing at the sudden movement. Despite the fact that his body ached painfully, Ryuu forced himself to move as quickly as possible, hitting everybody who wasn't a first year in sight with precise, sharp blows. Screw it, he was hurting too much to hold back. At this stage he was just fed up with the whole thing. "That is a terrible name, why not we just make it the 'Odd Jobs Club'? It's a lot better then stupid heroes anyway."

"The Odd Jobs Club doesn't sound quite as appealing, but that's beside the point. Can we argue about this later?" Chester suggested as he ducked a flying punch inches away from his head, before disappearing again.

Izaya punched another martial arts goon who was luckily less skilled than he was. He received a few punches from him, but Izaya's previous painful escapades such as falling form a tree was much more painful. "We'll work out the meeting times, maybe even have hero masks! The possibilities are endless!" He says while hitting another goon.

"No way we're going to have hero masks. Too much attention." Chester sighed quietly. His luck wasn't the best today, it appears that he had involved himself once again in something quite troublesome. Beside him, Ryuu nodded vehemently in agreement. "Hero masks look dumb anyway," he added as he shoved the upperclassmen away. Even though they were putting up a good job fighting, they had to struggle to keep the upper hand, and they were slowly getting forced back into a small circle as the club members surrounded them, herding them towards each other.

A few shadowy figures started to form in the distance. "Is back up here? I know we called for another set," one of the goons said out loud.

Ishiki sighed, bringing his hand to his forehead and massaging his brow. None of this was going as planned. All of these little first years kept crawling out of the woodwork like cockroaches, and they wouldn't go away. It just kept getting worse. He glanced down briefly at his hands once more before taking another look around, assessing the situation. That steroid punk and his homicidal pedo friend had disabled his best members, and this backup B-team was getting handled. And Aka—

Ishiki swept the area with his eyes. Where was Akako? Did she leave him? When did she leave? Was it after that brat forced him to touch the ground? That's just like her, to bail at an inopportune moment. It was a wonder he even tolerated her crap. It must've been her, then, that called for the other members to come assist them as backup then, because he sure as hell didn't. That's when he noticed it. A familiar sort of pressure emanating from his right side. Slowly, he turned his head to glower at this new threat, holding back the urge to wince. It had to be slowly, because his neck, let alone his entire body, was still in a pretty serious amount of pain.

Step by step, Damien continued walking straight towards Ishiki still a slight distance away. His aura gave off an inhuman vibe while his eyes stood fixed upon the leader. In his right hand, he held the collar of one of Ishiki's martial arts members knocked out cold and dragged him across the ground with no concern of his injuries. A little way behind him, Enn was dragging another unconscious member carelessly by the foot with one hand, the older teen's face jerking whenever it hit a bump on the ground. The happy smile and cheerful bounce in his step contrasted Daimen's downturned scowl and jerky movements sharply, but his bloodthirsty aura and the battle-happy look in his eyes were on par with Damien's pitchblack vibe. Behind them, an uninjured but upset Shou carrying their bags kept up the rear guard with a worried look on his face, eyes widening with shock that rapidly turned to worry as he took in the scene before him.

"Take this!" A martial arts member ran towards Damien to hit him from his side.

Without changing his pace or gaze, Damien merely hit him once to the face sending him flying back and continued his path directly towards Ishiki. Two more men came charging in their direction. Damien stopped in his tracks for a brief second and said, "Enn, can you handle this for me? I need to have a word with the soon to be departed."

"Boo, I wanted to fight the tough one!" Enn pouted at Damien, the action more at home on a child then a fifteen year old male. The rest of them were so weak! Not fun at all. The look on Damien's face brooked no argument though, so Enn turned to face the remaining members sulkily, dropping the unconscious guy he'd been dragging onto the floor. "Only because you were the one asking, ok? And you owe me a fight tomorrow!"

Damien responded with a smirk at Enn, "Just don't get worn out today from these guys, and we'll see."

This monster post is PART 2 of the team effort made by the following: KumoriKitsune, Lloyd999, Alle9009, Moahi, Pandora's Melancholy, Xunnamius. Wow!

---

"Hahaha, good joke Damien!" Enn laughed brightly as he turned to face the other members, who looked like they weren't sure what to make of him. Looking at them, Enn felt himself brightening. More people to fight, and maybe they wouldn't be as weak as the one's him and Damien taken down earlier! The menacing aura around Enn grew larger as he raised his arms fluidly, and Shou closed his eyes in what looked like a prayer as a smile worthy of being in a slasher movie grew across Enn's face. The upperclassmen gulped nervously as one, sweat trickling down their backs.

Enn darted forwards so fast that he was almost a blur, eyes wide with maniacal glee. "Let's play~!"

Damien ignored the terrified screams, childish cackling and the sounds of flesh hitting flesh as he walked to the boss. Finally, he stood right in front of Ishiki looking him right into the eyes. He dropped the man he dragged previously.

Ishiki sighed, bringing his hand to his neck once more. Where were all of these people even coming from? They needed a new secret location after this. Suddenly, he realized his patience was at its end. Akako was gone, his best guys were on the floor, he was hurt, and stupid children kept jumping in. And who was this tough guy twerp who dared to stand up to him? "Hey kid," he muttered, rubbing his neck. Perhaps he was a bit more injured than he wanted to admit. "I've seen you around with that steroid brain over there," he said, thrusting his chin in Ieyoshi's direction. "Maybe you should go check on him, huh? My guys kicked his ass pretty goo—"

Damien grabbed him by the throat without giving him a second to finish his statement. "Next time, death," was all he muttered to him. He sent a highly precise kick at Ishiki's achilles heel. He won't be able to walk straight for at least a couple of weeks, but having crutches over losing your life seems like a fair deal. "Out of my sight," he said throwing him back. As soon as he hit the ground, Ishiki wasn't even a being in Damien sight. He became a ghost and so insignificant to not even be acknowledged. The twins were the focus of his gaze. Ieyoshi was knocked out but Ieharu was still conscious. Never again will they be let out of his sight. He went up to Ieharu, taking his own coat off and draping it around the twin's shoulders.

"Damien," Ieharu wheezed, trying his best to muster up a grin at the sight of so close a friend. He managed it for only a second. "Where ya been?" At this point, he was barely speaking at more than a whisper. Suddenly, he lost consciousness, falling backwards. Little spots of red began to seep through Damien's coat, from where Ieharu's unprotected back slid across the pavement earlier. His right arm was also beginning to turn a nasty shade of purple near the shoulder joint.

He quickly caught Ieharu with a soft grip. He was extremely light. He looked at Ieharu with a bit of grief on his face. He really did try hard. He didn't expect Ieharu to put up much of a fight, but the information he'd received from the martial arts members him and Enn took out together, he made a good amount of noise. "I'm sorry Haku. Next time, I'll be there regardless of roadblocks." Next time, he'd just have to go against Ieyoshi's wishes. He's been trained for moments like these and his first opportunity where he's needed, he'd failed. Never again. He picked up Ieharu and shifted his limp form away from Ieyoshi's.

"Hey you guys over there," he called, obviously referring to Izaya, Chester, and the mad hatter himself, Ryuu. "I just want to say thanks for helping out the twins." He went over Ieyoshi's side and bent down slightly without putting Ieharu in an uncomfortable position. He stood looking at his closest friend on the ground. Instead of shaming him, he gave him a chance to revive himself. He said in his casual manner, "Hey Batman, Gotham needs you. Get up, a Hokage can't protect this village alone."

"No problem sir, it's a heroes duty to protect others!" he said replying to Damien's gratitude. "We did it, we did it," Izaya chanted. "Hero club, Hero club!" He continued with his own theme song. He surprisingly had enough energy to continue and did his own seemingly cool hero poses. He was cut off with a yelp of pain as Ryuu punched him harshly in the shoulder, expression deadpan.

"What 'we'? We still needed help," he said tiredly, leaning on the bat the way an old man would use a cane. Scowling like he had no clue how to respond to the gratitude Damien was showing, he gave a grudging nod of thanks towards Damien. "And I still think Odd Jobs club is better then the Hero Club. Whoever heard of a club being called the Hero Club anyway?"

"Pssst, Ryuu," Izaya whispered quite loudly to him. "We'll be fine. We're the Heroooooo club," he said with an exaggerated title. "We shall recover, and fight another day!"

"Odd Jobs Club," Ryuu shot back, glowering childishly at Izaya. There wasn't much heat behind his glare, however. "And what fight another day, we'd have lost if they hadn't turned up - are you even listening to me?!"

"We?" Chester questioned wearily as he came to a stop. Enn and Damien seemed to finish it within a matter of minutes, why didn't he think of calling them earlier? It would have saved them so much time and trouble. At least someone was happy about this whole scenario however, and Chester was considerate enough not to rain on his parade.

"Yes! We! The Hero Club, hero club," he continued singing with Ryuu's rebuttal. New determination shown in Ryuu's eyes. and the duo started to chant "hero club" and "odd jobs club" like children saying "is too!" and "is not!" over something they believed to be truth until Chester tried to break into their argument with little to no success.

"Guys, guys! Can't we settle this by flipping a coin or something? This isn't particularly important, is it?"

Without warning, Ieyoshi inhaled sharply. In the next moment, he sat up, using his arm to balance himself. It didn't take him long to assess the situation. Damien was here, which meant Ieharu was safe. That's all that mattered. "Ugh," he groaned like the walking dead, running his hand through his hair. "Hero hero hero," he chimed in, doing his best Izaya impression. "So loud. Can't you just let me rest in peace?" He eyed Damien when he spoke his next line. "And did somebody call for Batman?"

Damien smiled and said, "Welcome back Bruce. All has been handled."

That's when it all came back to him, in a sudden wave of memory. "ISHIKI!" He hissed, the faintest whiff of panic underlining his voice, but it dissipated after noticing that Ishiki was nowhere in his immediate vicinity. "Guess you guys kicked his butt, huh." Something else had caught Ieyoshi's eye, however. Something annoying. Something unsatisfactory. Something that, if he weren't feeling so hung over, he'd have handled with much fire and brimstone.

"Oh, you're still here, nanny?" From his tone, it was obviously meant to be taken as an insult. "Gonna shoot me again?!"

Clap, clap, clap. A man—the one Ieyoshi had referred to as "nanny"—applauded.

"Congratulations, boys," the mysterious man said, "Today has been very productive. Haku," he smirked at Ieharu, "Looks like we were able to successfully bring out your resolve and use it for a useful purpose. We also got to see your brother's dying will, but it appears..." Godot approached Ieharu and Ieyoshi. He looked down at the twins. "... that his dying will is rather special. I'll tell you two about that later you later. Still, it appears we've accomplished a lot more than I intended for today's lesson." Godot looked around at the various students who were still around, those that had joined in the conflict against Ishiki. "Why, it appears you two have managed to start something. You've united your friends against a common enemy, good on you. You two are regular revolutionaries! What's your secret, hmm?"

"Fuck. You." Ieyoshi said flat out. "Really. Fuck you."

"Ah, nevermind that," Godot continued, "Let's head home now, I'm hungry..." Godot paused to think, looking toward his side. "Although, I suppose it would be best if we had your injuries healed and made sure your brother was alright." Godot scratched the back of his neck. "But... if you're up for it, I guess us three could go out for some ice cream, if that'll make you feel better. It'll be my treat." Godot didn't want to mention that this entire incident was practically his fault, from the first bullet he shot, and there was also the fact that he never stepped in to protect them.

Damien looked at the seemingly misplaced man, "Hey, who the hell is this guy? And don't be so casual with the twins." He didn't even notice him until he begun his spiel on the twins.

"He's our new nanny" Ieyoshi said, spitting out the words like they were venomous. "That no-good Tsuna brought him in like a week ago and ever since all this weird shit has been going on."

Izaya asked, "Ice cream does sound good, are you inviting all of us? No one who invites kids for ice cream could be that bad."

"No. No they might be very bad." Chester looked at Izaya with an air of disbelief.

As if on cue, Ryuu gave Izaya a (gentle) dope slap on the shoulder. "Have your parents never taught you not to listen to strangers? And are we just going to overlook the fact that he just SHOT someone?"

"Hmm, but strangers could be potential people that need help...and ice cream is so good," he said partly ignoring the shot part.

"Or they could be people looking to kidnap someone or worse, you dolt. And," Ryuu shrugged with one shoulder as he responded to Chester, "They're still alive. I say that counts as something. If we do go though, I want a strawberry vanilla chocolate combo." Ryuu muttered, mind drifting at the thought of ice cream, Mmmm, free icecream... maybe if it wasn't by Beretta McTrigger-happy though.

Godot shot a glare at Izaya. "You'll get ice cream from me when you beat me within an inch of my life, and then some!" Then, Godot's expression changed back to it's original friendly state as he chuckled. It was hard to tell if he was joking or not. Then he sighed in defeat. "I suppose I have no choice, heroes."

"Hmmm, I think that goes around my Hero code, might not be able to do that," he replied while putting himself in a thinking pose. "I'll have to think about how to do that. Hero club, organize."

"We're not heroes, and the club is Odd Jobs Club, not the hero club you idjit," Ryuu said defeatedly, but he stayed quiet and paid attention to Godot anyway. Finally, explanations! The only way this could've been weirder was if he'd waken up perfectly happy to his parent's cooking breakfast in his own house, and he wanted to know what the hell had been going on.

"Perhaps I should introduce myself formally," Godot put his hands in his pockets and stood awfully proudly, "I suppose I hadn't yet done that to my own little students yet." He chuckled. "I am the Hitman Tutor Godot and I am under the employment of the Sawadas. All that really means is that I'm these two little munchkins' home tutor, who carries a pretend gun around." Godot then brought his gun out of his pocket and pointed it at a wall. "As you can see, it's very well made." Godot then began to fire off several shots at the wall. They made a 'pop, pop, pop' sound, but they didn't sound anything like the shots Godot fired off earlier. Orange paint splattered onto the wall where it hit, the impacts creating 'smack' sounds that echoed off the walls. "It's an, uh... educational device."

Right, a TOY gun that nearly knocked Ieyoshi out and made him return like a zombie. Chester was beginning to wonder if he should start feeling insulted by the lack lustre explanation given. Besides, the thing that burned in Ieharu's head was definitely a flame. His eyes were keen, and there was a definite difference between paint and a flickering flame. Shou didn't look convinced either, and Ryuu raised an eyebrow skeptically, making it evident that they weren't quite believing Godot either.

"Nonetheless," Godot continued, "I guess you could call me a sort of special home tutor. I'm not the kind that just helps you shrimps with homework that'll never teach you anything. No, I teach essentials. A lot of good pythagorean theorem will do for you when you're fighting for other's lives." Godot glanced to the side. "I'm kind of expensive though."

"Home tutor," Damien said with a smile. "Oh, you're the guy!" He finally pieced it together, "I didn't know the details from my father, but he briefly mentioned someone like you coming soon." He fixed himself up to no longer hold an aggressive demeanor even though he was still carrying Ieharu. "Forgive my rudeness, I didn't know who you were. I'm Damien, Hayato's son, in case you didn't know." This was one of the few times Damien would actually be a bit respectful to authority, only when it is mafia related.

"Don't act all polite to him, Dam." Ieyoshi muttered, refusing to look Godot in the eye. "Just look at him. He doesn't deserve it." The elder twin grabbed his sibling's limp hand, stringing his fingers through his brother's and squeezing tight. After a moment, it seemed that Ieharu began to breathe a little easier.

Ah things were going just great. Damien knew him too apparently, and the stranger seemed to have something to do with his Father? Regardless, Chester was pretty eager to leave. "Well, if no one needs me now.. I'd be off thank you very much." He said, raising his hand slightly as if asking a question. Before he even got a reply however, Chester was off in a flash, nearly vanishing from view like he did in the fight, hiding in the blind spots of their vision as he made his exit. There was no point in staying when they seemed to solve their own problems, and he had his butterfly waiting for him at home.

Beside them, Enn piped up despite Shou's best efforts to keep him quiet. "That sounds awesome~!" He bounded cheerfully over to Godot, eyes shining with awe. It was pretty obvious that he didn't really care that his friends were injured - just one assessing glance at them like they were covered in water instead of blood and injuries and that was it. "Teach me too! I want to fight strong people too! Please?!" He moved around Godot like a puppy wagging its tail, directing his most pleading puppy eyes at Godot. "Please please please-"

"Enn!" Shou grabbed his brother and pulled him away from Godot, placing a hand over his mouth, "Sorry about him," he said apologetically, trying not to shake as Enn gradually stilled under his hold, still pulling off his most doggy eyes at Godot. Normal people didn't know about the Dying Will Flame, which meant that what had happened wasn't normal and was probably related to the mafia and that wasn't good; he'd had came to Japan to get away from anything related to the mafia, why was it turning up here of all places? Shou felt like crying as he felt his hope for a normal life shatter into dust, but gathered himself together enough to form a wavering smile. "Um, please don't pay any attention to what he said just now. We, uh, we can't afford it anyway."

"Just take 'em," Ieyoshi grumbled under his breath.

"Ah, that's alright," Godot replied, "just be careful. I might teach you boys something on accident. Wouldn't that be terrible?" Godot stared at something on the ground, apparently thinking about something. "Hey, heroes," he said to the group, "maybe you guys could perhaps demonstrate some good intentions by taking a look at the bad guy over there?" Godot nodded toward Ishiki, who was still on the ground and practically forgotten about.

"We're not heroes," Ryuu muttered automatically, but he went to check on Ishiki anyway, wincing as his body ached from the movement. Ugh, resting sounded like a really good idea now. Maybe he should skip school tomorrow... nah, his aunt'd murder him if he stayed in the house any longer than he did already. He made his way to Ishiki, limping a little. The guy was dangerous, he wasn't planning on letting someone else check on Ishiki just to get taken hostage or whatever. Keeping a healthy distance away, he looked over at the teen, whom had assumed a cross-legged position on the ground. "Nothing really wrong with him," he called out, bat still at the ready. Ishiki let out a low growl, pinching the bridge of his nose in frustration.

A girl's voice called out, "Get away from him!" Ishiki's girlfriend, Akako, was approaching quickly. For some reason, she was absent for a majority of Ishiki's fight. Akako didn't seem so threatening without anybody beside her, but expression seemed like that of pure fury. Akako quickly came to crouch by her boyfriend's side. "Ishiki, look at you," she said to him, almost soothingly, "You're hurt. They beat you bad. How awful. How terrible." Then, strangely, the tone of Akako's voice began to change, as she steadily spoke louder. "How awful! How terrible!" Then, Akako bent down to whisper one word to him; "Useless."

"You hear me?" Akako stood up and began to shout, "You're useless! You and your stupid martial arts! International, my foot! Can't even beat two first years? You couldn't even punch that wimp Ieharu down! You know what's going to happen to you now? Rosa's not going to associate herself with weaklings, but you? You disgrace me! You can't do a single thing I say right! Your terrible, awful! People just call you cool because they think you're all that, but you know what? Nobody likes you! Yeah, that's right. First chance they got, all these kids came here to beat your stupid face in! Kinda says something, don't you think? And, you know what? I don't even like martial arts! Do you think I enjoyed a single moment whenever I was in that same rancid-smelling room with you disgusting, sweaty guys? Hah! I never even liked you. You're always thinking about yourself, and you'd act like such a moron whenever you talked about yourself and your stupid club. Give me a little attention, you dumbass. Think you're so tough? Remember those guys that came for backup? Guess who told them to come here? Me! Why? Because you're an idiot who can't even look beyond himself even if their life depended on it. God, you don't even deserve to live, you..." Akako stalled a bit to find a word, "You bletch." Akako crossed her arms and didn't look at him anymore.

"And you call him self centered," Ryuu said, eyebrows raised high as he looked at her. Geez, he'd always thought of her as a bitch, but not this much of one. He almost felt sorry for Ishiki now. The guy looked shocked at Akako's outburst, like he'd never expected her to feel that way. "Talk about black pot and kettles. You're more self centered than he is, the way you use him. In fact, the two of you fit perfectly together considering how alike you dingbats are." He knew he was running his mouth, but Ryuu didn't like the way Akako behaved, like she was entitled to the world and nothing was her fault. He rested the bat lightly against his shoulder. "Although skank might be a better word for you instead," he muttered thoughtfully, not realizing that he was speaking loud enough for Akako to hear him.

"Bite me," was all that she responded with. She didn't need to waste her breath on unrelated parties. She wasn't told to pick on him, after all. Only Ishiki needed to be cut off, Rosa told Akako.

Ieyoshi squinted at the trio, all their shouting and barking and banter doing nothing for his splitting migraine. He wasn't allowed to drink, but this had to be what a hangover felt like. Ugh. He got to his feet, still grasping his brother's hand. He held out his other hand, making a "gimmie" motion to Damien, his intent obvious. When Damien let Ieharu down, Ieyoshi picked him up piggy-back style, wrapping his arms under the boy's legs and allowing his brother's body to lean against his back.

"Well, uh, we're outta here or whatever." He made sure to throw Godot his meanest glare before turning his back to the man. "Fucking toy gun my ass." He uttered, again under his breath. "We're gonna go, 'cause if we get there after my mom does and she sees Haku, well... it won't turn out well for anyone." Without further ado, Ieyoshi began walking towards the lot's exit.

"R-Right, we should probably get you guys to the hospital." Shou looked worriedly at them, as if he was only now registering the boys battered states. Ryuu shrugged like he didn't care about it and walked over to reach for the bags Shou was holding, grabbing his own with a small sigh of relief. The group turned to walk away from the scene of carnage behind them, forming an odd picture - Damien and Ieyoshi leading the way with Ieyoshi carrying the still mostly naked Ieharu, Izaya and Ryuu together at the left a little bit behind them looking completely battered and arguing about the name for their club again and searching for a coin, Enn and Shou a little to the right as Enn smiled like he'd just had a nice workout and Shou with a worried crease in his forehead like he was expecting the teachers to pop up at any moment. Behind all of them was the mysterious figure Godot. Almost every aspect about him seemed to be an indication that this was not a man to be trusted, yet in truth, he wasn't really looking to be trusted. He smirked as he watched the boys, talk and debate among themselves, like any group of boys would after a group effort. It was almost like they'd forgotten that there were people still beaten up behind them.

Shou did look back, anxious about the unconscious students, but his head snapped back forwards at the sight of a purple-haired man standing next to Akako, smiling and relaxed like he had been there the whole while. A shudder ran down his spine as he gently pushed Enn and the others forwards, and soon enough the group were at the gate, going their separate ways like it had just been any other normal school day.

The loud chatter of the cafeteria filled the room. The cafe was spacious and contained more than enough space for every student in the school as if they planned for another incoming class. Although it seemed like a normal day, there was a bit of 'tension' floating around in the air. It was Thursday, but not your average one. More specifically it was Godbread Thursday, the day where boys become men.

"Only a few more minutes to go," Lilith said watching the oven. She was still waiting to produce the gift from heaven and bring it to life on earth. The Godbread. Perfectly seasoned, buttered, and prepared with love. The ultimate bread that for today, was only one eighth of the regular price. Typically, only fully grown adults with a well-paying job could afford such a delicacy or a few students that came from rich families, but this special was made with the students in mind; however, there was a large catch with this. Only five were being made. In the spirit of competition, each Godbread will be placed separated and equal distance from the opposite side of the coffee shop. Whoever brings it to Lilith's cashier stand in the small coffee shop section located in the cafe, gets the sale. Once the Godbread container was handed to Lilith, then it is considered safe and no longer eligible for anyone to take. This was the honor rule in placed for all those who battle for it. This was a monthly affair and allows students to release any stress they have built up through school along with the chance to be blessed by the Godbread.

Today marked the second Godbread Thursday of the school year which tends to be the more popular one. By now, the nicknames of those who have participated have been given and more people would have garnered strategies in preparation for war. The first war was interesting to say the least. There five winners were the Hokage, the angry Mad Hatter, the Ghost, the Doll Queen, and the Still Reaper. This time, the fight will be more rigorous since more students have prepared their own strategies in preparation. You could see among the students that some have matching shirts to represent their factions, others have sat in certain positions closer to the Godbread locations where they would be placed. "This'll be a good show," Lilith said to herself. This was one of the few things that gave Lilith a slight rush other than stealing valuables. "I guess I'll check what's on TV then," she said as she motioned towards the remote. There was a slightly large television used to create ambiance with background music while the store ran. *Click* She flipped to the first channel, hah the news.

"This is AMAZING," the reporter obnoxiously yelled. "Tempest! From Blast of Tempest is rumored to be coming to Namimori to perform, SOON!" Her excitement was very apparent accompanied by the fans standing behind her trying to get their five seconds of fame. "I love you Tempest!" one of the teenagers shouted from behind the reporter. "Oh yeah! We love you Tempest," another fan shouted. "But that's not all folks!" the reporter could barely contain her excitement, "But Kunyo! Kunyo the model! He'll be accompanying her! Both of these idols together!"

"Her music is alright, but Kunyo is pretty attractive. Not my type though," Lilith muttered while changing to the next channel. Another news jingle came on again, "Oh great, more news."

A male reporter with a larger build stood there with a serious demeanor. "This is scary news folks. Last week, we went from covering the mysterious gamer N1E5—pronounced Nies— and his many achievements, but this week we have a notorious hacker attack...in NAMIMORI." "This man sounds like the conspiracy theorist that are on television....oh wait," she stopped midway realizing this in fact is the news. "But alas, we have hope! We have another hacker on our side!”

"Conspiracy, conspiracy, next," she clicked the remote again.

"Here we are live with the famous Wushu Master, Alois!" The reporter shifted the mic while the camera focused on Alois. "Hello Alois, I've heard you're coming to Namimori soon, why is that?" She continued to ask him probing questions on and on.

"Eh, that's cool I guess." *DING DING DING* The oven continuously beeped. It's time. Lilith pressed the power button on the remote to shut off the annoying news reporters. As she walked towards the oven, she could notice the shift in atmosphere in the cafeteria. The voices slowly began to fade as she went to open the oven. She grabbed her Namimori cafe specialized mittens with Bertha's image holding a coffee mug, then opened the oven. The irresistible aroma overwhelmed the cafe and overtook Lilith for a moment. The smell started to spread even further into the cafeteria causing an eerie silence to fill the area. "The God bread," one student muttered quietly, "Praise the gods. "The Pastry Goddess has finished the ritual," another student said while beginning to kneeling down in respect. Lilith somehow earned the title of Pastry Goddess as the legends of God Bread Thursdays began. The nicknames and different factions of students were always interesting to say the least.

Lilith pulled out the long strip of Godbread out of the oven and already prepped five durable sturdy containers out on a table. She carefully divided them up, spread butter, a bit more seasons, and finally completed the legendary God Bread by placing them in the containers. "It's time," she said while holding each container stacked on top of each other like a professional waitress. She walked slowly towards the first pedestal on the opposite side of the cafeteria. The pedestal was white and in the form of ancient Greek god. The five gods that had a pedestal design were Zeus, Hera, Athena, Ares, and Apollo and it is said that whichever bread you receive will cause you to earn a different blessing from the respective god. Each pedestal god held their hand out as if they were holding something up which conveniently could be filled with a God Bread. All five god pedestals that lie equal distance from each other while they all stand on the opposite side of the cafe. As Lilith placed the final God Bread, she began walking back like a model in all her beauty. She lived up to her title as the Pastry Goddess because as she slowly walked, her hair flew which helped show her natural allure. By this point, the entire cafeteria population was silent and watching Lilith head back to the cafe. The war doesn't start until she says those magic words. Students sat there with their fist clenched and ready.

The sound of running footsteps began near the Zeus Godbread statue. Someone tried to get a false start ahead of everything. "Sorry love," Lilith said as she quickly turned around. She reached for a small yen coin from her pocket, held it with two fingers with her left hand, and prepared her right hand to flick it. She closed one eye, then released the flick. The yen flew at a terrifying speed directly toward the student. BAM! It hit the child bulls eye on the back of the head. He fell down temporarily knocked out from the impact. Some students shook their heads, knowing that you should never try to get an early start. The Pastry Goddess is beautiful but merciless. Without saying any further words, Lilith turned around and continued walking towards the cafe. She finally reached the cashier with her back facing the wall opposite of the students and the Godbread. The tension in the air was more evident since it was about to be that time. She quickly turned around with the 'coffee lady girl' persona and smile and said, "Welcome to Namimori Cafe! We are Now Open!"

"To the Godbread!" "Ahhhh!" I'll get it!" A multitude of students had begun yelling while chasing their respective god pedestal. This was the beginning of the second bread wars.

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---

"The past is not always where you have left it..."

"Sakura-sama, do you really believe this is wise?" Eyes resembling the golden sheen of the sun showed no waver as it gazed at the fluttering pink petals entering the room through the opened window. "Wise, you ask." She looked at a lone petal that landed inside her tea. "It is a result I yet to know, if it would warrant that description." She reached for her tea and drank from it with elegance uniquely hers. An odd vision she was surrounded by Japanese tradition, for she was garbed in a dress of simplicity yet the regal definition of a noble woman of the western world.

"Despite it all, they are children." She placed down her tea on the nearby table and stood from her position. "Yet to bloom, we can only nourish and guide as to who they ought to be under their own volition." She made her way to the opened shoji doors as her trailed behind like silken curtain. "In the end, we only have hope. That it would be enough for their sake."

"Sometimes, it is in front of you hounding for the future..."

Yume walked along the rather quiet hallways of Namimori High. Her eyes looked towards the window panels lining up her path as they provided a reflection of a peaceful scenery. The light defined her form creating such a silhouette of graceful radiance. So, it was not far-fetched as why the passing students could not help but be captivated by her presence and yet her attention was taken by the view upon the glass. It portrayed the grounds and the sporadic flow of students coming in. This was rather explainable as she had heard the lunch bell rang as she entered the school earlier. Most of the students must be at the cafeteria now.

Apparently, she had arrived quite late for the morning classes and managed to attend by noon. It seemed that her duties had been taking much of her time. She did have to leave early yesterday. Though, she does regret that decision to do so. Hiroshi had informed her of the events which transpired after class had ended yesterday on the way here. It seemed her mother had sensed the anomaly, clearly presenting the difference between their abilities at the moment. Nevertheless if she was present, perhaps it would not have escalated to that point. It could have been avoided entirely and yet, what is done has already been done. All one could hope to do was to stand and gather the broken pieces in an effort to compensate for that error, if only possible.

That was probably reason why she has yet to make her appearance at the cafeteria where she had heard some event was about to happen. Just like so, her gaze was not meant to linger or to understand. It was to search for an individual, to know. Then again, she has already an answer. What she required was not it at all, but beyond what is clear and sure. Just like so, she continued her pace as she stumbled upon some of the maintenance staff installing a new window. She halted at that point and recalled another portion of what Hiroshi had spoken to her. It seemed that her Ani had been in an altercation with a fellow senior. The result, a broken window as the one who went up against her brother was thrown out of it. And of course, she had to pick up after him which she did.

Many had suggested for her to simply give up on her brother. It was the best solution for in the end, his problems should not be hers. They say that at some point, even family has limitations. Their belief that she was holding on due to blood ties was not even part of the reason. She is here for him, because, she is responsible and she wanted nothing more but to be... "Witch." That voice prevented anything else to be processed by her. Her eyes met with the same silver eyes that she was born with, the greatest difference was the emotion conveyed through it. Hers, it was of surprise, a pleasant one. On the other side, it was of pure contempt. "Onii-sama. Good morning." She smiled at Mamoru with such gentleness and was rather glad to see that he had come early, that meant he was interested attending school. "I see you--- "

"Get away." Effectively cutting anything else needed to be said at that point, he walked passed Yume as if she was nothing and also ending the conversation, if that was to be considered one. She maintained her ground as the smile much like crystalline drop of water vanished into a vapor under the sun. Still, she looked over her shoulder to see her brother's back moving away without interruptions as it faded out of her sights. There was sadness present upon her facade and also something deeper, yet not truly clear to anyone's eyes. She then faced forward once more and continued onto her path. This had been their relationship for quite some time, she should say that she is used to it, but really she couldn't.

It was at that point, she caught sight of the one she was looking for accompanied by two people quite dear without doubt. Her face lit up with such warmth and kindness, yet at the same time those silver eyes held an understanding deeper than any of them could ever understand. She knew most what he might be feeling at this moment, the condition of the boy now in the hospital. As such, she began her approach when a sudden feeling awash her, making her take a heed from having another step. From the corner of her eyes, she saw something ethereal. She turned to get a better look and indeed saw someone beyond the windows. As if certain, her attention was caught, this someone began to talk and she of course listened intently as much as she could. Her focus was absolute on her expression as her eyes locked on that someone without fail, only to be broken with...

"Yume-san?" Without a moment lost, she looked at the one who called her and it was one of her classmates. "Yes?" The concerned student answered that question. "Are you all right? Is there someone out there?" She then looked back only to see that there was no one there anymore, not even a trace. "A guardian angel..." Her fellow senior looked at her oddly in which she responded with a small smile. "Do not worry about it, thank you for your concern." It was better to not speak anything further about it. "...Okay, I'll see you later." She assured her classmate with a nod who then bid her a wave and left, seemingly satisfied that she was fine. As for her, she looked back at the window and then to corner of the corridor barely catching the one she had been seeking vanishing from her line of vision.

"I wonder what to do with one who is full to the brim and one who is infinitely empty." Her voice whispered it to the winds as she began to walk once more.

"So you're saying people fight over the pastries?" Ieyoshi walked along Damien's right side as he spoke, his tone as paced and even as ever. He had the voice of a old sage that had long since grown bored of his mortal coil. "Sounds dumb," he muttered almost offhandedly. "I already have a lunch from home anyway."

"No Yoh you don't understand!" He shook his head while moving slightly in front of the twins to face them. "Godbread wars is a way of life!" He said with an unnecessary loud voice. He shifted his pose as if he were a samurai holding his invisible long bamboo hat. After a dramatic pause, he gave a deep voiced chuckle as if he were the final boss in a video game. "Little did you know peons, I am," he quickly clasped both of his hands together then swiftly moved them in various positions like a ninja performing a jutsu. After reaching his final hand gesture, in a old Japanese man tone, he said, "The Hokage!"

Ieharu giggled in response, his grin big enough to brighten the whole hallway. Though soft, his laughter was rich and bubbly. Ieyoshi, on the other hand, narrowed his eyes and sighed.

"Godbread wars give you a chance to show your heart, valor, and soul. To battle all of the other warriors fighting their way to be blessed by the gods!" He clenched his fist and pounded it on his chest producing a slight thump noise. "Will you both not heed the call?! Will you both not join the ranks of the chosen few?" He looked up to the sky with a gleam shining in his eyes. His arm now extended upwards with one finger pointed to the stars. "The god's invitation stands before you both! Join me for this battle, for I shall have victory once again! Earn your own Godbread!" By this point, he was no longer looking at the twins, but towards the sky like a dreamer. He whispered with a loud voice, "Be Legendary," while providing his own recurring echo of the word 'Legendary' as if it were fading out. He maintained his pose pointing to the sky fixating his gaze on the same spot. He was awaiting a response from the twins and didn't move an inch like a statue.

"Well... I think it sounds pretty cool," Ieharu said, chiming in from Damien's left. For some reason, the older twin was maintaining a noticeable distance between himself and his younger counterpart, though Ieharu was not sure why. It'd been this way all morning, ever since they'd woken up. Maybe he had done something wrong? Or perhaps he'd angered his elder twin by dragging him into that fight yesterday? Just the thought of yesterday's antics with Ishiki made Ieharu's chest seize up, but the moment passed rather quickly. Though he remembered being bruised and bloodied before falling asleep that night, most of his injuries were healed by morning as if they hadn't even occurred in the first place. He looked past Damien and to his brother, shooting him a smile. "Not that I wanna fight again or anything," he continued. "I learned my lesson, huh!" The moment Ieharu looked towards Ieyoshi was the moment Ieyoshi looked away, his eyes trained in the opposite direction. Ieharu's smile melted into something resembling a frown, betraying for a moment his inner frustration with being ignored, but with his hand he wiped the expression from his face. He didn't dare ask Ieyoshi what was wrong. Not yet, anyway. He knew better than just about anyone that only way to fix a problem involving his brother was with extreme patience.

The trio walked in deafening silence for a few awkward moments before Damien spoke again.

Damien picked up on the unusual vibe in the air between the two. He typically performs something witty as comic relief between the two, but for once, he was at a loss of words. Well best to keep them on task. "Batman!" He suddenly blurted out. "Yoh, if you actually got a Godbread, you might be known as Batman throughout the school!" He shifted his gaze over to Ieharu and his eyes squinted a bit. A grin came upon his face as he said, "and you ole little you. You'll be Captain Underpants the hero." Damien chuckled as a look of horror raced across Ieharu's face.

Ieyoshi simply grunted in response. It was neither approving nor dismissive.

As they rounded the corner, they were greeted by the a large metal sign that hung from the ceiling: Namimori Cafe. Loud chatter overflowed from the room, nearly drowning out their conversation. As they stepped through the double doors, they were forced to raise their voices.

"Do it, Yoh! Do it!" Ieharu urged. Ieyoshi? Didn't want to fight? Truly, his brother was behaving strangely today.

Ieyoshi shrugged, turning back towards the entrance. He had no qualms with a little friendly sparring, but with all the crap that went down yesterday, he just felt tired of it all. In fact, he wanted to go back home and sleep more than anything. "Meh," he sighed, preparing to walk out of the room. "On second thought, I'll catch you guys later."

"Oh, come on, Yoh!" Ieharu groaned, "don't be like that."

Ieyoshi stopped in his tracks, seemingly at the behest of his brother.

"Oh jeeze," Ieyoshi muttered, his voice taking on an unusually high pitch, his shoulders slumping slightly. Literally a moment ago he was the image of cool, the posterboy for suave, the unshakable stale-face Ieyoshi, but now he looked like a kid who'd been caught with his hand in the cookie jar.

If he didn't know any better, Ieharu would describe his brother's strange behavior as bashful, but that was an impossible role reversal. The boy followed his brother's gaze towards the cafeteria's entrance. Standing there

"Woah!" Ieharu began. "Is that Yume-nee?!"

Damien shifted his head immediately at the name. "Did you say," without pause his eyes went from his normal expression to a love struck teen, "Yume?"

A smile that would even shatter the moon's gentle light in reverence decorated the lips of the Himemiya Princess as she stood at the entrance with those eyes of her gazing at the visage of three individuals though, it was clear her attention was commanded strongly by one. Words were not spoken as she took a step towards the group in her eloquent grace. A crown of starless obsidian trailed behind her with every elegance intrinsic in her being. It was like a vision of a lady meant for the greatest illusions of mankind had come to reality, as such it was clear as to why the onlookers of the cafeteria were attracted to her form.

True to that, a companion of the Sawada twins was obviously enamored with her. Ieharu glanced over to his left to see Damien looking as if he'd taken a shot of adrenaline to the chest. Ieyoshi, on the other hand, seemed to shrink backwards... though surely it only appeared that way.

"Good day to you." Yume started as she found herself now before the group. "Ieharu-kun. Damien-kun." Her sight then settled on one. "Ieyoshi."

At mention of his name, the elder Sawada twin flinched ever-so slightly. It was a nearly imperceptible micro-movement, though Ieharu honed in on it like a missile, eyebrows rising. He noted that, for as long as he could remember, his brother always acted... weird? in front of a small handful of people. Ieharu enumerated the list in his mind. There was Mom, Dad, uncle Ryohei, that actor that played Batman in that one movie, and then there's...

The smile on Yume's face did not relent, though her eyes held a deep understanding that none can decode, perhaps, only a selected few could hope to. "I am glad to see you all attending Namimori. I would like to apologize I had not welcomed you as early as I am able." To show her sincerity, her head lowered in a bow as her hands delicately placed at her front. "I also would like to extend my apologies if my Ani had done anything untoward to you all." She then lifted her head to look at them with an expression of sweet affection relating to her brother. "It would be a great favor if you would dismiss his disorderly conduct."

Haha, it's cool, Yume-nee," Ieharu said, smiling as he scratched the back of his head. "I don't think we've really seen him around, though I heard he threw someone out a window."

"She called me Damien-kun," an infatuated Damien muttered, causing Ieharu to snicker quietly. For his part, Ieyoshi simply stared at his shoes.

Then like so, Yume's emotion shifted to that of gentle joy. "I do hope that you three are enjoying your time here." She showed familiarity towards them and this was a natural course as her father after all serves as a Vongola Guardian and above reason, she had been her father's representative in the Annual Famiglia Meeting. Something she is only able to attend when her schedule would allow it or is endearingly asked by her Oji - Tetsuya. It was rather enjoyable even with the consistent questions and overfriendliness provided by Rokudo in which she is often protected by Sasagawa. Most of all, she was glad to meet the others as well, specifically the children of her father's friends, though she had been told many times that it was not that case. Though, there was one she had met far more than the rest.

In any case, she stopped her thoughts of before and focused at the now. "How have you been, Ieharu-kun? Damien-kun? Ieyoshi?" Each time she mentioned a name, she looked at them with her eyes filled with tenderness yet, held that profound meaning as if seeing through them. "It has been quite a while since I have seen you all." She had a thoughtful smile before continuing with her words. "How all of you have grown. Such handsome boys." And as swift as a wind passing, her lips pursed ever so slightly. "I do wonder. Have you boys been into trouble?" Just like so, she looked at each of them before fixing her gaze a bit longer on Ieyoshi's profile and then proceeded looking at them in equal light. In the end, the things needed to be tackled cannot be revealed in the light, for now.

Ieyoshi remained silent, and Damien just stared awkwardly, so it was up to Ieharu to respond. He'd turned a shade redder at Yume's compliment. "Pretty good, Yume-nee," he replied. "We haven't seen ya since Dad was last around. How's--"

Suddenly, the room grew silent, which gave Ieharu pause. Everyone looked towards the front of the cafeteria, where a woman began placing containers out along several pedestals.

Yume looked at the breads being placed in interest.. Her eyes seemed to be in trance as if observing it or rather seeing something more than that. She does recall that there had been mentioned of an event for the cafeteria during Thursdays. It was indeed interesting as she could see some of the students focused rather in an excited manner, yet with a predatory gleam in those faces. Though, she could understand why they appeared so invested on the breads being displayed. They do look exquisite, that much she could tell. "Those Godbreads do look rather appetizing." She noted and then looked back at the boys. "Now, I know why they seem eager for it, though, I do not think I would be able to get one myself." She smiles gently and it was just simply a good after thought for her as she take another look at the breads.

Ieyoshi stole a glance at Yume, then at Damien, then sighed, a smirk worming its way onto his face despite himself. "Fine, Hokage. I'm in." He raised a fist, pointing it towards the Godbread statues. "I just gotta punch my way to one of those, right?"

And then it happened. "Welcome to Namimori Cafe! We are Now Open!"

Slam!

"AGGGHHHH!" A muscular third year slammed against the table with a thud and dropped to the floor, groaning in pain as he clutched his side. Enn looked around gleefully at the rest of the equally muscular gang, a hand gripping another groaning boy by the collar of his shirt. He smiled at them, wide and happy like a child who had just gotten candy from Willy Wonka's.

Combined with the dark aura radiating out from him like smoke from a bonfire, chilling every person it touched to the bone like a serial killer was about to come up from behind with an axe, it felt like the smile from a devil.

The remaining Soccer Hounds shivered and made no move, cold sweat trickling down their faces as they stared at the albino boy, who gave the groaner one last punch that knocked him out. Despite the fact that there was only one of him and five of them, they had seen first hand how he had taken down one of their members, muscles rippling smoothly in his body as he took his opponents down fast and skilfully like he had done this many times before.

They met each others eyes, a silent message passed to each other. This boy wasn't someone they could take on one by one. They'd have to rush him and hope that numbers would help them do their jobs.

Enn smiled at them. "Come on!" He yelled cheerfully, dropping the unconscious student he was holding. His eyes sparkled with glee, and he straightened up, pose casual and waiting and ready to move at any second. "This is boooorrring, hurry u-"

Before Enn had finished, the five charged forwards and surrounded him, lashing out impossibly quick with their legs. They had to defeat him, for the High Queen's sake!

CRACK Thud smack BASH "Nnnngggghhh..."

"I DON"T BELIEVE IT!" Another announcer roared, slamming his hand on the table. Some looked his way while others focused on other battles, voices cheering and booing loudly in the air. "THE SOCCER HOUNDS ARE OUT OF THE RUNNING! Famous for their teamwork and deadly kicks, the Soccer Hounds have won the Godbread twice every year! They were taken out by a first year with white hair! WHO IS THAT KID?!"

Enn casually stepped off the battered soccer player and smiled sunnily at the announcer as if he had just been given free icecream. He moved away from the pile of groaning soccer players, flitting around the battle like a butterfly of chaos as he defeated everyone who came his way with a quick punch or kick. They wouldn't be able to beat him, they were too weak! Some were entertaining, but they fell too easily. They'd have died in the facility, hahaha! Where was Damien?! He still owed him a fight, haha!

A glimpse of gold caught the corner of his eye, and Enn whirled around with a large grin. There he was! Enn smiled happily, but his smile grew dimmer when he noticed Ieyoshi fighting Damien. Awww, they couldn't play anymore! Boorring. Looking away, Enn went back to bouncing around the battlefield until he came across a blonde girl who seemed familiar.

Where had he seen her before?

Enn frowned thoughtfully, then smiled as recognition hit. Ah right! It was that girl from yesterday! The one who had scolded the one Damien had fought, hahaha! Maybe she'd be a good fighter! Ducking around two girls doing their best to kick each other out, Enn spun and landed directly in front of the girl from yesterday, leaning in so close that his face was inches from hers.

"Hi!" He said sunnily, ignoring the atmosphere around her. "Want to play?!"

_______________________________________________________________

Leaning against the wall beside the announcers with a sigh, Shou crossed his legs neatly as he opened up the bento box he had brought from home, revealing a neatly packed lunch of rice, chicken and potato salad. Balancing the box on top of his knee, Shou paused and looked up at the battle.

Shou hadn't wanted to get involved in the breadwars, even though his brother took part the moment he figured out what was happening. He didn't want to take part in it at all! Normally he avoided the cafeteria whenever the Breadwars took place, but this was the first time Enn was taking part and Shou was worried. He knew he shouldn't be since Enn was a good fighter, but he was still worried about the people Enn might be facing. He had to see for himself that they wouldn't be hurt too badly.

He'd worried for nothing, as usual. Enn was happy, bouncing around here and there. Shou sighed and snapped open his chopsticks. Picking up the box. Japan had some really weird customs, eating rice with chopsticks. It had been three years, but Shou still had trouble with manoeuvring the chopsticks what he wanted them to pick up sometimes. Chopsticks in one hand and bento in the other, Shou looked down and dug in, filling his belly with food as he did his best to ignore all the screaming going on.

Things exploded into action immediately, with everyone jumping recklessly into a fray centered over the little boxes at the back of the room. Even Damien raced off, carving a path through some poor students and disappearing into the commotion. Ieyoshi simply stared, bewildered by his own past actions.

Why had he changed his mind so suddenly? He still didn't feel like being here, but...

Ieyoshi brought his thumb to his lips, kneading them as he engaged in a deeper level of introspection. What he'd just agreed to wasn't really logical. It didn't line up with his current goal of going back home. So why had he agreed to participate? What had derailed his train of thought? Was it Damien's prodding? Nah. He was fairly confident he wasn't susceptible to peer pressure, and he made sure to keep an eye out for that. Was it his brother?

Ieyoshi glanced sideways at Ieharu, whom simultaneously glanced at him. They met eyes for a moment, but Ieyoshi looked away before anything meaningful could be exchanged. Ieharu had a way of seeing through his twin brother like no one else, and that's not the type of exposure he desired right now.

Or maybe... hmm... maybe it was Yume?

Thinking of Yume-senpai always made Ieyoshi feel strange. She brought back into the forefront of his consciousness the precarious position is was in, the constant balancing act he was forced to play, and the delicate mask he was required to maintain. Not that he particularly minded, it was just—

A firm grip on his forearm pulled Ieyoshi back to reality. Snapping his head to the right, he noticed that Ieharu had snatched his forearm out of the air and was gripping it rather ferociously.

Ieyoshi raised an eyebrow, genuinely confused. "What?" He almost hissed, his tone indicating slight annoyance.

"Get out of your head, Yoh," Ieharu chided, looking his brother in the eye. "I know I f-ed up yesterday," he began, slowly casting his eyes downward as he did, "and I know you're mad at me for yesterday and I'm sorry, but don't just stand there." Ieharu flashed his brother one of his toothy grins. "Didn't you say you were gonna go get one? You're missing the fun!"

Ieyoshi twisted his way out of his brother's grip. Something seemed to shift in his demeanor, his aura, after coming into physical contact with Ieharu. His shoulders slumped slightly, his stance becoming less tense. With a sigh, Ieyoshi closed his eyes briefly. Yeah, his brother could see right through him sometimes. Kept him grounded. "I'm not mad, dummy." That was the truth. He wasn't mad at Ieharu. How could he be? None of it was his fault. "Anyone that messes with us gets their ass kicked. Period. Even upperclassmen. Even Godot." They hadn't seen much of Godot since yesterday's events. Ieyoshi still wanted to have some, er, words with that gun-slinging douche bag.

Ieyoshi swept his eyes over the scene before him a second time. The twins must've been standing there for a while, because the scene was already different. One or more of the so-called Godbreads had already been taken.

Interesting.

Ieyoshi wasn't particularly tall, so he couldn't see to the core of what amounted to the giant mosh pit, but relying on his intuition (and pointers from the familiar voices shouting out announcements), he was able to pinpoint several different people of interest.

The first thing he noticed was Erin. Initially, he'd mistaken her for an older male classmate, with the way she was throwing people around and—was she spitting at people?

"Eeww," Ieyoshi muttered under his breath.

Rosa's goons were to be avoided. He'd already had his fill of them yesterday.

Next he noticed Shou, leaning against the wall off to the side. Ieyoshi half-way wanted to join him, but... if Shou was here, that meant his brother was too. Enn. The bounce-off-the-walls one that would talk your ear off. Ieyoshi sighed again. Great.

Suddenly, Ieyoshi activated, moving forward at an expedient yet measured pace. Ieharu lagged behind for but a second before catching up to walk beside his twin.

"So you're gonna do it? You're fight for the bread?" Ieharu asked, voice filled to the brim with an otherworldly exuberance. His brother was excited for reasons Ieyoshi could only imagine.

Ieyoshi shrugged. "I guess."

As they walked forward, the crowd parted before them like the red sea. Those that were fighting in the immediate vicinity paused to gawk as they passed.

"Mad Hatter, however, is putting up a fight just as good," Came a familiar voice. It seemed to be projected over a loud speaker system of some kind. "As seen by the impossibly fast roundhouse kick to the face with his other leg, using her iron grip on his leg as an anchor to carry out the blow. But oh - The Spitter let go of him and he fell to the ground!"

"What is a 'Mad Hatter'?" Ieyoshi asked, curious.

"Damien tells me that's Ryuu!" Ieharu responded, grinning. "And Damien's the Hokage!"

Ieyoshi grunted in response, which amounted to an effective eye roll. "And if I get this bread, do you have the money to pay for it?"

Ieharu halted immediately, as if his feet had turned to stone. "What? Yoh! No! That's not fair!"

Ieyoshi turned to face his brother. Those that had paused their own battle to eye the twins tensed. Were they about to fight one-another?! "If I do the work, you pay for it." Ieyoshi pointed at his brother as he spoke.

Ieharu pointed a thumb at his chest. "I'll pay half."

"You pay all of it," Ieyoshi corrected, "and you can get..." He chewed a number over in his mouth for a moment. "20% of the bread."

"50. Half!"

"25. 40% of it goes to Yume."

"Then 30! Don't be unfair!"

Ieyoshi eyed his brother for a moment before cracking a short-lived smile. "Fine. We'll split it. But you're paying for it." Ieyoshi looked up towards the ceiling, scratching the side of his head. "I, uh, actually didn't bring my wallet anyway."

Ieharu shook his head, feigning a hurt expression. "So this was your plan all along?!"

"No," Ieyoshi responded, stepping closer to his brother and grabbing the boy's arm. "This was." Like a ringside announcer at a boxing match, Ieyoshi raised his brother's arm into the air and proudly declared in an eerily calm voice to all those watching: "This is my brother, Ieharu Sawada. He's the guy you saw kicking ass yesterday morning before school. You losers better not mess with him or he'll take all the Godbread, so watch out."

Mortified is not a strong enough word to describe the look on Ieharu's face. His eyes grew wide as he noticed everyone hone in on him like hungry wolves. "Wait, what?"

"You're gonna be the bait," Ieyoshi muttered offhandedly, as if his intentions were as clear as day.

"B-b-but—!"

Ieyoshi dropped his brother's hand and began walking away. "I'll catch you later."

"Wait!"

But it was too late. Ieyoshi had already melted away into the crowd, and though Ieharu tried to follow, his path was cut off by those around him. One tall and particularly portly fellow stepped out from the crowd to confront the younger twin.

"They call me B.O." The guy declared both to Ieharu and to all those around him.

"Yeah, cause you smell like shit!" Someone in the crowd laughed. Another student, a lanky blond girl, took that as an opportunity to attack, and lunged at another nearby student. Suddenly, the all-out brawl resumed in earnest, with Ieharu in the middle of it. He immediately raised his hands as if surrounded by police, the universal sign of surrender.

That's when B.O. stepped forward, literally bowling over several fighters like a bowling ball would a set of pins. Most of them slid across the floor to collide with others. Many held their noses, eyes scrunched. It seemed that there was something more terrible than his size: his odor!

B.O. turned his attention towards Ieharu, leveling him with an icy stare.

Ieharu scrunched his nose a bit, taking an unsteady step backwards, his hands still up. "Uh... um... I'm not, uh, playing this game. You see, I'm just a, er, well, I don't want any bread or anything so—"

As Ieharu stumbled backwards, B.O. pressed forward, matching the Sawada twin step for step. "You're that kid from yesterday, right? The one queen Rosa marked for death."

"Marked for what?!" Ieharu squeezed between two brawling first-years, hoping to escape his pursuer, but B.O. plowed through them, too. Was this guy unstoppable? And what was he even talking about? "I told you I'm not playing!"

"Then fight me, ya lil' bitch!"

Okay, this guy wasn't getting it. With a panicked squeal, Ieharu turned on his heels and began running through the crowd, though in which direction he wasn't quite sure. He just wanted to find the cashiers, the exit, and the relative safety they would give him. Several others noticed him and assumed he was making a play for one of the Godbreads. Though he was surprisingly agile and quick on his feet, it didn't take long for him to collect a gaggle of pursuers, and they were closing in fast. He knew B.O. was among them, thanks to the burning sensation that attacked his nose and eyes.

Dammit, Ieyoshi! Dammit dammit dammit!

Elsewhere, Ieyoshi walked with purpose, dodging and weaving through what amounted to different battlefields. Some people were slapping each other. Others were rolling around, laughing. Others still were in "serious-business" mode, engaging in epic combat with one another.

This whole thing seemed so chaotic and unorganized. It was surprising that a school would even allow something like this to occur... but then, this was Namimori High. Not only had crazier things happened, but they'd already happened within the last 24 hours.

Following his intuition alone, Ieyoshi slithered his way through the vortex of fists and kicks and shouts until his target came within view: one of the Godbread statues. It was the Hera statue, which held the "Herabread," or, rather, it used to. Someone had already nabbed that Godbread. Oh well.

Maybe it'd be fun to chase after the person who had the Herabread? For a moment, he seriously considered it, but then Ieyoshi slumped his shoulders, losing interest. Again, he wasn't quite sure why he was even participating in this thing. Plus, he wasn't really in the mood to work for his food. He'd already brought a lunch from home, after all. Ieyoshi sighed. "Whatever," he muttered, turning away from the Hera statue and resolving himself to leave the area. He'd fulfilled his piece of the social contract, right? This was enough interaction for today. Maybe he'd just ditch and go home early.

As he began walking away, Ieyoshi felt something—someone—lay their hand on his head. For a moment, just a split second, it felt like... well, like his father. Like Tsunayoshi.

Ieyoshi whipped his head to the side, eyes wide, his expression unusually animate, but when he swiveled on his heel in search of the source, there was no one there. No one was close enough to have done that.

Did he just imagine it? Blehk. Physical contact itself was already annoying enough, but he absolutely hated when people touched his hair!

Though the person that had laid their palm on his head was nowhere to be found, Ieyoshi noticed a familiar face in the distance over by one of the other Godbread statues. Without turning as he did, he would have missed it. Missed him.

It was Damien. He was single-handedly holding off what looked to be an entire army of zombie-like bodies reaching for the Godbread he protected.

Ieyoshi smirked, clenching and unclenching his fists a few times, as if testing them. That's right, Damien was in this game too. And when was the last time they'd gotten to spar one another? Ieyoshi couldn't stop his smirk from growing wider and wider until it overtook the entire bottom portion of his face. Those within the elder Sawada twin's vicinity noted the shift in atmosphere instantaneously and began putting distance between themselves and the enigmatic first-year.

News of what Ieyoshi had done to that one kid yesterday morning had spread like wildfire, and few in the vicinity wanted a piece of that action. This was supposed to be a game, after all, not a serious fight...

With re-purposed resolve, Ieyoshi stuffed his hands into his pockets and began walking towards Damien. Maybe this thing would turn out to be fun. But if anyone touched his head again, he'd kill them.

He wasn't sure if he was being serious or not.

(coloring comes later!)

"This is child's play!" Damien blurted out to the onslaught of students charging towards the Zeus Godbread. Damien stood between the mass of students with his back facing the Godbread. The students were sent flying back as if they were in a line to get punched. Damien swung his fists like a boxer and took out each approaching competitor. He could easily snatch the Godbread, then make a mad dash to the cafe, but practicing these 'legal' acts of violence against his peers was pretty appealing. The most entertainment he's had at this school thus far. His mind was made up that this time, he'd go for a slow and gradual win instead of merely securing the godbread in the optimal time.

"You're going down Hokage!" the student called Spartacus yelled. His cosplay of a spartan was fairly accurate although his armor plates were merely towels stuffed inside his t-shirt. He wore knee pads that were spray painted brown, held an empty lunch tray in his right hand with a bawled left fist. No weapons were allowed so of course he couldn't have a spear. "CHARGE!" he yelled running towards Damien.

BAM!

Spartacus suddenly tumbled forward, knocked off balance by some unknown force, to land painfully face-first at Damien's feet. Damien looked down at the student, eyeing him curiously for a moment before training his eyes forward. The gaggle of students vying for the Zeusbread paused in their attempts to snatch it, they themselves taking an interest in Spartacus's mysterious tumble. Damien hadn't touched him yet, so...?

"Yo," came a distinct voice from within the crowd. Quickly, the students separated, clearing a small circle around what turned out to be Ieyoshi Sawada, hands in his pockets, leg out. He'd tripped Spartacus, and there was another contender somewhere on the ground behind the elder twin. "Damien." Ieyoshi had a nefarious grin on his face, one so wide that it forced the skin around his eyes to crinkle. "What if I told you," he began, pointing at the Zeusbread, "that I want that bread?" Ieyoshi raised his chin, clearly challenging the other boy. "Wanna fight about it?" While speaking, he'd slowly closed the distance between himself and his friend. They were now standing a few feet apart, separated only by the downed body of Spartacus, whom was struggling to get to his feet.

"Ho ho ho," Damien obnoxiously laughed with an older man's tone. "Dearest Yoh, or shall I say 'Batman'," he walked backwards towards the Zeusbread with his back nearly touching the pedestal with his eyes remained fixed on Yoh. The grin on his face grew more menacing as he dwelled on the idea of fighting Yoh.

"Godbread is mine!" some approaching voice yelled. The kid had his fist raised and race directly towards Damien. Without releasing his gaze on Yoh, he swung his left hand at the kid's face for a clean hit. The momentum the he had was immediately reversed and sent him flying back. He was passed on the on ground while Damien slowly brought his bawled left fist to his chest. Meanwhile, he moved his right hand behind him to secure the Zeusbread. "You're looking death in the eye Batman. You'd best be on your way to secure another Godbread, for this one is mine!" He yelled loudly enough for nearby students to glance and him with the Zeusbread in hand.

Ieyoshi looked to his left, and then to his right, taking in the scene around him with a curious cavalierness. Without a word, he posed the question: can you believe this guy? Then he grinned again, his eyes returning to Damien.

"No."

Before the word had even passed his lips, Ieyoshi was off, surging forward like a hurricane, first with a feint to the left, then a quick switch to the right, followed by a ferocious right hook coming in like a meteor headed straight for Damien's face.

Damien held his position barely reacting towards the approaching Yoh. At the last possible second, he swiftly moved his left hand to grab hook and halt Yoh's momentum. They met each other's eyes but for a moment, but it might as well have lasted an eternity. It was Damien who spoke first. "Nice try, but you'll have to try much harder than that."

"My Godbread!" some random kid yelled approaching the two. Damien sent a quick kick to push Yoh backwards. He immediately shifted his body to face the kid, and threw the Zeusbread at the oncoming child's face. "Ow!" the kid yelled at the Zeusbread bounched off of his face. The child looked up and extended his hands to reach the Zeusbread in the air. "Gotcha!" Damien said as he sucker punched the kid flying back, jumped in the air to catch the Zeusbread and looked back towards Yoh's direction.

Ieyoshi was quick enough to react to the deft kick, throwing his weight backwards, but he was not fast enough to switch up his footing in time and fell towards the ground, somersaulting into a crouch. He took a moment to pound the floor with his fist, the small burst of pain cutting through the dizzying haze of the maneuver and allowing him to reorient himself. In the same instant, he brought his feet under his abdomen and lunged forward, taking a quick measured breath as he went, eyeing the preoccupied Damien, scanning for a weakness—a weak point.

He found nothing of course, and before he could get close Damien had already turned around to face him. The quickness with which he disabled the random kid caught Ieyoshi by surprise, causing his eyes to widen slightly, but he did not stop his advance. He opened up with a roundhouse kick, which was blocked very succinctly. Ieyoshi used the angular momentum from his kick to spin into a naive heel sweep, but Damien avoided that, too. It was like an intricate dance, with Ieyoshi struggling to control the tempo. This time with his left fist, he let loose the most powerful jab he could muster, aimed straight at Damien's face. Ieyoshi was too close for Damien to catch the move, so instead the boy ducked under it. Only then did Ieyoshi realize that his overextended left arm, having completely missed its mark, left the rest of his lower body exposed. Despite his best efforts, despite his hyper intuition, despite his drive, he found himself dancing to his opponent's tune.

Damn.

"Bad move," Damien said while his entire body stood lower than waist height. He stepped closer directly into Yoh's personal space and gave him three swift, but powerful punches in the abdomen area sending Yoh flying back. Damien stood with his fist out as Yoh flew back then began bawling and unbawling his fist to release the tension. Some students stood in awe of his strength while others shifted their target from the Zeusbread to the others. He completely forgot his original goal of securing the Zeusbread and locked in his mind he was in a fight. He gave Yoh a few seconds to react, then sprinted directly towards him.

Ieyoshi reeled from the blows, reflexively gripping his stomach. The pain, which would have been sharp and biting to anyone else, merely came as muted pulsations—dull aches—just like every other emotion or sensation that ever hit him. The attack had a strange effect on the elder twin. In the middle of the fight, time seemed to slow and his mind raced. Again, he couldn't help but drift into introspection. Why was he even doing this again? This godbread thing was stupid, and he didn't really care. Not that he had a problem fighting Damien. That was the only part of this that wasn't confusing. What was going on here? He couldn't help but reach a dead end.

Ieyoshi removed his hands from his chest, eyeing his open fists. He looked up and noticed Damien throwing him an odd look before breaking into a sprint. It wasn't an unfamiliar expression on his friend's face. It just wasn't one that was frequently aimed his way. Ieyoshi returned his eyes to his fists. He had to win the godbread. The question of "why" could come later. For now, he just needed to get it. It's what his gut was telling him. To win. Ieyoshi balled his fists. He'd win even if it meant doing something he promised everyone he wouldn't.

"I won't go down just like that," he muttered to no one, coming to his feet to meet his friend's advance.