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Makoto Fujiki

"Don't underestimate me and my blade! I might just cut you down before you realize it."

0 · 1,054 views · located in Namimori High

a character in “Katekyo Hitman REBORN!: Undying Will”, as played by Mat_z6

Description



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"Anything can be solved with a little sharp steel and resolve."



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PERSONAL INFORMATION





ImageFULL NAME
      Makoto Fujiki

ALIAS
      "Mako" only to her closest friends.
      She is known in the mafia world as "Xana" as that was the name her father Xanxus gave to her but she has long done away with it.

AGE
      15

GENDER
      Female

FLAME TYPE
      Sky and Storm / "Flame of Wrath"

OCCUPATION
      High School Student / Aspiring Hitwoman

GENERAL APPEARANCE
      Mako has a very petite build. Standing to be only 4'8", she looks very fragile despite her harsh training under Squalo. Naturally she has long flowing black hair and deep hazel eyes though when she enters her own form of "Dying Will Mode" her hair ignites with sky flames and turns a deep scarlet. You'll usually see her in her school uniform and when she is not in class she dons a long, black high collared trench coat over her uniform.



PERSONALITY TRAITS




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PERSONALITY
      Brash, reckless, and rude. Mako is a very active individual who does things her way, not letting anything stop her. She's single-minded, always trying to get stronger, and loves a good fight, oftentimes picking one just because she can. She doesn't seem like she really recognizes how other people feel about things, and thus acts bossy a lot of the time, doing what she wants and ignoring everybody else. Her preferred method of resolving a situation is to rush headlong into it, guns blazing, and fight until she makes her way through whatever problems are in her way. She doesn't often think about the consequences of things, nor does she really care all that much about ways things could go wrong. She takes a random swing and aims for success, and if it's possible for her to grasp victory, then she'll keep going until she does so. Brutally honest, she has very little in the way of tact, and has a very fiery temper. She's selfish, and if you do something that inconveniences her, then she'll surely get angry at you for it, and generally let you know how low exactly her opinion of you is. As weakness is the thing she hates above all else, she always strives to never expose any sort of weakness in herself. This, though, ends up making her demeanor very aloof and distant, as she tries not to talk to others much so as not to open herself to betrayal. Because of these traits, though, she's a very disagreeable person to most, and usually left out by most of her peers. She's a loner, essentially, and to most people, it seems like that's all she is.

      Despite all these things, though, if one gets to know her, they'll find that she's actually not as bad as she seems. She's very amicable, friendly, and fun-loving, and will always do her best to cheer up someone who's feeling down. Even if it doesn't seem like it given her nonchalant, somewhat dismissive attitude, she cares about those who she considers her friends, in her own weird way.

      Probably her biggest oddity is that weakness, the thing she hates above all else, is also something she cherishes in others. If she thinks you need her help, then she'll give it to you freely, always trying to get others to stand on their own two feet. She's surprisingly understanding about it, too, which makes it very odd compared to her usual distant demeanor. And, to those under her protectorate, she's unshakably loyal, even kind, to the point that it's almost like she's a completely different person. Generally, those people she helps usually fall into the same category as friends, and get the same rough yet caring treatment.

LIKES
      Food ~ Mako has a monstrous appetite like no other and is the polar opposite of a picky eater. When she is hungry, no matter what it is as long as it's food, she wolf down it in an instant.

      Fighting ~ Who wouldn't like the thing your best at? Mako believes the only way she can truly improve her techniques is by learning through her opponents and is always looking for a good fight to hone her skills.

      Learning ~ Being cooped up at the Varia base for most of her life, Mako rarely got to see the world outside as she was growing up. Now able to go off on her own, Mako is both extremely scared and excited to learn about the world she never got to see.

DISLIKES
      Crowds ~ Mako is extremely socially awkward and isn't used to dealing with people. To compensate for this she acts aloof and bossy to hide her extreme discomfort talking to people.

      School Work ~ With the little knowledge she has, Mako struggles with academics. Barely even able to read properly she finds classes boring and difficult.

      Weakness ~ As stated before, Mako despises weakness in herself and in others. She believes people should try their hardest to overcome their obstacles and to do that one must learn to grow strong and have the determination to keep plowing ahead no matter what.

FEARS
      Water ~ Though she was trained by Squalo, whose name literally means "shark" in Italian, Mako does not know how to swim and every time she tries to teach herself her body locks up and she is unable to move.

SKILLS
      Athletic ~ One of the few things Mako is skilled at besides swordplay. Her torturous training has honed her body strength and reflexes and has made her quite skilled in any sort of sport besides swimming.

HOBBIES
      Otaku ~ Since Mako has arrived in Japan, she has been captivated by anime and manga especially ones of the Shounen genre for obvious reasons. The extensive plots of characters who overcome impossible outcomes with their resolve motivates the girl to become even stronger herself. She blows obscene amounts of her money on various articles of anime and manga on a daily basis.

SEXUALITY
      Bisexual

ODDITIES
      Stutter ~ Mako has a very bad stutter whenever she is embarrassed or confused.



COMBAT ABILITIES




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ABILITIES
      "Flame of Wrath" ~Mako is able to manifest and manipulate this rare flame type only used by her father and the Second Vongola Boss. Unlike the regular Dying Will Flames, Mako's flame can be ignited without the use of a ring allowing her to fully use it in combat even though she does not posses a ring. The flame is extremely destructive as it has both sky and storm flame characteristics.

      Dying Will Mode ~Mako is able to enter Dying Will Mode with the help of Dying Will Pills supplied to her by the Varia. Though instead of a single flame igniting on her forehead, her hair ignites with sky flames and turns a deep scarlet red. Squalo made her go into this mode very often when she was to exhausted to continue her training. Also taking two pills at once induces Hyper Dying Will Mode which heightens Mako's fighting ability even further.

WEAPONS/TOOLS
      "ç‡ƒăˆé‹Œ" ~ Mako's Japanese katana which was an unnamed blade Squalo had given to her when she left for Japan. She had been using this blade during her training but it had belonged to Squalo and he claims that it was owned by an opponent he killed long ago but he had forgotten the name of the blade. So Mako decided to name it herself calling it Moe-kƍ which literally translates from Japanese to "Burning Steel" for she was able to channel her flames through it during combat.

BOX WEAPONS
      None

TECHNIQUES
      "Attacco di Fenice" - A shock wave attack which turns a powerful blow into an oscillating wave that rings throughout the opponent's body, paralyzing them for a short period of time.

      "Artiglio di Fenice" - Mako thrusts forward with her sword multiple times, rapidly bombarding her opponent with a flurry of fiery stabs.

      "Sontro di Fenice" - Mako slices diagonally in front of herself, tearing away anything in her path as she charges forward engulfed in sky flames.

STRENGTHS
      Swordsmanship ~ Having former training under the Sword Emperor Superbi Squalo, Makoto is extremely skilled in the way of the sword. Though her training is far from complete, Mako has already mastered many of Squalo's techniques and is well on her way of discovering her own style herself. Since her master's own style is a mixed form of all of the techniques he's seen and learned through his opponents Mako also learns through experience, absorbing her enemies styles to further improve hers. Unfortunately Swordsmanship is the only thing Mako excels at.

WEAKNESSES
      Anything other than swordplay ~ Since her whole life was dedicated to her training under Squalo, Mako never had the time to develop any other sort of basic skills. She has never done a touch of school work in her life and everyday things such as cooking, doing laundry or studying are foreign to her.



BACKGROUND




ROMANTIC INTEREST
      None (YET)

FAMILY
      Father ~Xanxus

ImageHISTORY
      Xanxus: the ruthless and cruel boss of the Varia, the Vongola's independent assassination squad. Showing no mercy to enemies and allies alike, it was downright near impossible that he had some sort of heart. Though when a woman whom he had never seen before appeared at the door of the Varia base with a little girl at her side, Xanxus could not help but feel a sense of déjà vu. The woman claimed that her daughter was Xanxus' child as she possessed the rare "Flame of Wrath" and begged for him to take her in as it was apparent by her clothing that they not doing well in terms of food or money. Xanxus' subordinates as well as the other Varia turned their backs and told the annoying woman to leave or they would have both of them killed right then and there. But to their surprise, Xanxus impulsively agreed to take the girl in as he was reminded of his own past when he was taken in as the Ninth Vongola Boss' adoptive son. The girl's mother was overjoyed and thanked Xanxus over and over but in the moment her daughter stepped from her mother's arms, Xanxus drew his gun and put a bullet through the woman's head right before the girl's eyes. As the horrified girl stared in complete terror and shock, Xanxus looked down at her and told her, "This is the kind of world you live in now. Either accept this gruesome fate or go die with your mother." Still shaking from the sight of her mother's death, the young girl defiantly looked up at Xanxus with hate burning in her eyes. "That's good, I like that look." Xanxus mocked. That was the first and final complement her new father would ever give her. She was only seven years old.

      A short time after she arrived at the Varia base Xanxus decided to do away with the young girl's old name, Makoto Fujiki, and name her Xana after his own name. He told her that if she dared call herself his daughter then he had every right to name her and from then on she was known to everyone as Xana. Mako was immediately forced to undergo training under the Varia's strategist, Superbi Squalo as Xanxus told her the only way she was going to be allowed to stay was if she learned how to fight and become useful. Of course, Squalo was against the idea of teaching "this brat", but decided to see how much she could take before she broke. Training was a living hell for Mako as Squalo's method of teaching was to literally beat it into you until you learned. And beat it in he did. To Squalo's surprise, Mako was unshakable and her desire and passion to learn inspired him to work her even harder. Squalo once asked her how she was able to keep going despite the intense pain and exhaustion she went through day in and day out. Mako simply answered, "If I need to become strong to live, that's exactly what I'm going to do."

      It was around age 10 when she began to grasp how to control her extremely volatile "Flame of Wrath" which was the same type of rare flame her father wielded. Before her training she was only able to fully manifest a small ball of it in her palm when she was very angry but under Squalo's rigorous training, she was able to bring forth her flames at will as he began to teach her how to incorporate them into her swordplay.

      By the age of 14 Squalo had passed down all of his techniques of the sword to Mako and due to her fierce dedication to the sword, had become a frightening swordsman. Unfortunately all of these past years, Mako spent training in the ways of the sword and nothing else meaning her knowledge of basic things such as simple arithmetic became dull. Though she was already recognized among the Varia to be a fearsome swordsman, Squalo told her she still had and extremely long ways to go to become a proper mafioso and the only one who could truly teach her properly in a short amount of time was a Hitman Tutor. When she asked where such a person could be Squalo simply laughed at her telling her, "I can tell you where he might be but don't expect him to teach someone like you just because you ask nicely. You've got to get his attention before he even thinks about looking your way."

      By this time, Mako had made it her goal to find her place within the Mafia world and she believed that her place was with the Varia and the only way she was going to accomplish that was to surpass her father and take his place as the leader of the independent assassination squad. Though she knew Squalo was correct. She had no clue what it meant to be a true Mafioso and if finding this so called "Hitman Tutor" was the only way she could properly learn then she had to find him and somehow get him to teach her. When Mako told her father of her plans, Xanxus coldly replied, "I don't care what you do, but if you disgrace my name I'll come kill you myself."

      So after learning of this "Hitman Tutor's" supposed whereabouts, Mako set off to Japan for a small town called Namimori where her journey will begin. Through her connections, she was admitted into Namimori high as a first year transfer student with her past name Xanxus threw out long ago as a fake identification as well as fake transcripts but having spent all her life training under Squalo, Mako had never been to school before. Thus begin's Mako's new life as an unofficial High School student in search of the legendary Hitman Tutor, Godot.



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So begins...

Makoto Fujiki's Story

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Izaya Ryujin Character Portrait: Nami Gokudera Character Portrait: Roni Hideaki Character Portrait: Fia Leone Character Portrait: Enon Nakada Character Portrait: Chester Sterling
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"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."

The setting changes from The Sawada Household to Japan

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chester Sterling Character Portrait: Ryuu Morimoto Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Ieyoshi Sawada Character Portrait: Enn Arasaka Character Portrait: Ieharu Sawada
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#, as written by Mat_z6
"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....

The setting changes from Japan to Namimori High

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Chester Sterling Character Portrait: Mayu Kojima Character Portrait: Ryuu Morimoto Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Rosa Kuromaku Character Portrait: Ieyoshi Sawada
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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...

The setting changes from Namimori High to Japan

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Ieyoshi Sawada Character Portrait: Ieharu Sawada
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#, as written by Mat_z6
It all happened so fast. The fight between the two boys had ended as fast as it had started but while the fighting may have ended, the crowd showed no sign of dying down as the students were scrambling to get a picture of the two boys especially the one half naked in his boxers. Unfortunately for Makoto, she quickly found herself swallowed up by the surging bodies of the students. 'Why were there so many of them?!' Mako found herself being pushed out of the crowd and she struggled in vain to stay within a reasonable distance of the boys. Though it seemed quite impossible with all the students, Mako wanted to challenge at least one of them to a fight. The one with the flame sparked her interest the most. If there were more students with Dying Will Flames like that then Mako had definitely come to the right place. But as the small girl struggled to wriggle herself closer a loud explosion rang out and a cloud of smoke quickly came over the crowd. 'A smoke bomb?' Mako covered her eyes and darted out of the crowd. Finally breaking free she found herself close to the school gate. Frowning with disappointment Mako shifted the strap of her katana case which was surprisingly still slung over her shoulder. It seemed as though the boys had escaped from the crowd as the students began to scatter to get away from the smoke.

"Tch.... Lost em." Mako shrugged. "Ahh well. I'll find them eventually. We DO go to the same school after all!"

As Mako entered the school building, she began walking down the first hallway that led from the entrance. Her destination was the school office room but to her dismay she realized she had no clue where it was. Sure there were many students nearby that probably knew exactly where the office was but..... 'What would I say to them?' Upon arriving in Japan, she really hadn't had a conversation with anyone new in this country yet at all. How does one ask a stranger for directions? What if she said something wrong? Would they laugh at her? Mako shook her head violently. 'Who needs them anyway?! I'll find the damn office myself!' And so Mako set off in the direction she was previously walking with certainty that the school office was just ahead when in reality she was walking in the complete opposite direction of where it was really located...

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Izaya Ryujin Character Portrait: Lilith Dusk Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Mikhail Sergeyevich
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"Well that was anticlimactic," Lilith muttered after witnessing the Ieharu and Ieyoshi fiasco. The smoke bombs were a good escape mechanic, she's used them on several occasions, but having a chase was more breathtaking. She pulled out her new iPod she nabbed from bumping into a student. He stared at her 'nice personality' so she tapped him on the shoulder and said have a nice day. What he didn't know, is that his fancy device is already gone. "This playlist is pretty lame," she said as she scrolled through it.

A burst of wind flew briefly causing Lilith's hair to flutter with it. Her long orange hair calmly waved as if it were a maiden beckoning those around. She slowly moved her hand on her head to keep her hair intact, and said, "Blast it!" The newly open empty space on her head caused her to turn around. Her Namimori coffee shop hat was gliding with the wind. It drifted gently down onto a tall tree on top of a branch. "Really, cmon..." she blurted out. She sighed, and began rolling up her sleeves. This isn't really a hard task, but it's annoying to do. Showing off that she's actually very athletic isn't really ladylike. "Ah, my shoes aren't tightened," she said as she kneeled down on one knee to tie her shoes.

"I'll save it for you fair coffee lady!" an approaching voice blurts out.

She merely said, "Don't worry I got it kid," without looking up as she switched shoestrings. She finished, slowly got up all prepared to climb this tree. To her surprised, the boy was three fourths of the way already. He was short, had black wild hair with a few green highlights. He was literally almost there. He had both of his feet hanging on a large branch with the hat at the end. He moved closer... and closer... and...

"I got it!" he yelled out loud.

He flung the hat to Lilith. Surprisingly not bad aim. She caught the hat with ease, placed it back on her head and replied, "Thanks...now get down!"

"Sure! One second, I'll just—"

CRACK

The tree branch at that exact moment broke. As if she watched it in slow motion, she saw the boy seamlessly falling unable to react. She ran directly to him after he fell down on his back. Her heart started racing. Is he alive? Is he hurt? Her thoughts continued frantically as she approached him. She bent down next to the boy placed her hand on his chest to see if he was breathing.

"Hahaha... that was all... a part of my hero plan... the great... Izaya," he muttered out in spurts, then passed out.

Lilith let out a slight sigh. This would've been way easier if she had done it herself. Now there's an inconvenience before work. She picked up the boy. He was surprisingly light and easy to carry for such a little tough guy. She's performed heists with diamonds and gems weighing much more than this fickle, but sturdy kid. She began making her way to the nurse's office.

**


Lilith walked inside of the nurse's office carrying the boy. The nurse's name was Mikhail Sergeyevich, but she always called herself Mika. Everyone else lovingly refers to her as "nurse," even though she had enough degrees, certifications, and research background to perform neurosurgery as a full fledged doctor if she felt the urge.

Currently, Mika was in the process of bandaging a student's face. His nose to be exact. By her expert prognosis, and it was truly expert, the boy's nose had been fractured in at least two places. Nothing too serious, but it would hurt for a while. The poor thing had apparently gotten involved in some sort of schoolyard tussle this morning, and didn't come out of it the victor. He'd been brought in by a couple of good samaritans—two first years, Ryuu Morimoto and Aobane Kuroiobashi—some time ago.

When he heard the door slide open, Mika's patient, in the middle of having his face bandaged, looked over to see Lilith the "bread lady" walk in with the unconscious Izaya. Mika promptly grabbed the boy by the chin, forcing his head back into position. "Stop squirming or I'll have to start over, Sammy," she chided gently. "Then you'll be late for your next class." She offered him a warm smile. "We wouldn't want that, right?" He nodded slightly in response.

Without looking away from her patient, Mika addressed Lilith. "Don't tell me Izaya's back!" She said, laughing, her voice fluffy with a musical quality to it. Now, to most people, her uncanny ability to recognize people without even looking at them was somewhat uncanny. One student even swore he saw a pair of eyes in the back of her head.

Lilith, on the other hand, seemed to shrug it off. "Yeah. He saved this fair coffee lady's hat from the tree villain." She had a somewhat agitated expression as she spoke. Pausing for a second, she glanced over to one of the unoccupied beds and slowly eased the unconscious Izaya onto it. She gave him a slight kiss on the cheek, "thanks little hero." Even though this inconvenienced her a bit, and possibly caused her to lose an hour of pay, she still appreciated the fact that he went through the trouble to get the had. "Anyways," she turned her head back to the nurse, "Nurse, I have to get to work. I'm sure you've got it from here," she said as she ran off. She was late.

"Thanks for bringing him in!" Mika called out, turning her head as Lilith left the room. "Hmm." She turned back to her current ward, meeting the boy's eyes. "Looks like this'll have to do. When you get home, tell your parents what happened, but don't let them remove the bandage." The boy, Sammy, nodded in affirmation. "You don't need to go to a hospital over something as insignificant as this, but if your folks have any questions, they can call the school, alright?"

Sammy nodded again, hopping off the bed. "Okay. Thanks nurse," he said, smiling.

"And no more fighting!"

"Tell that to the other guy," he muttered in jest, rubbing the side of his face as he left the room.

With that handled, Mika turned towards her next project. The indubitable young hero of Namimori, the superman without the super, the resident daredevil: Izaya Ryujin. As Mika made her way over towards where he rested, his posture peaceful, thumb near his mouth, she began taking stock of his most recent visits to her little clinic. Counting the time he fell out the second story window, the time he tried to "save" a first year student from that parked car, and the incident with the popcorn and the staircase, this would make visit number eight. First-year classes had just started not a month ago, and the boy had already required her attention eight times. Surely it was a record.

Suddenly, Izaya's upper body sprang up from his bed, fully revived and reborn. He proudly said, "I'm great lady! I'm going to be a great," his voice on the next word cracked, "hero." He had a slightly embarrassed look on his face because his voice squeaked. A second later, he then looked around at his surroundings and realized that he no longer stood in front of the coffee lady maiden, but instead, the nurse's office... again. "Awww, I didn't get to be a cool hero," he said realizing he somehow ended up here again. "Hey Nurse Mika, how'd I get up here? You brought me here?"

Mika chuckled, pulling a stethoscope from her pocket. "Lilith carried you here, fair hero," she began, her voice jovial. Jokingly, she made a flexing motion with one of her arms. "Do I look strong enough to carry a big boy like you?"

"Awwwww!" he muttered this time louder than before. "A hero can't be saved by the victim! That's embarrassing... oh well," he recovered so quickly. "And of course you'd be able to bring me up here Nurse Mika. You have healing super powers," he said with a large smile on his face.

Mika grinned at that. "Yeah," she began, putting the stethoscope earpieces to her ears. "I am pretty badass, eh?" Suddenly, her expression got a bit more serious, a tinge of worry entering her voice. "Now, I hear you fell out of a tree this time." She took the sound-detecting part of the stethoscope into her hand. "You know the drill."

"Alright," he said with a sigh. He took off his dirty shirt from falling on the ground and extended one arm up leaving his chest exposed.

Mika placed the cool metal to the front of his chest. After a moment, she moved it over his heart, and then transitioned to his upper back. After listening for a moment and hearing no irregularities, she sighed in relief. "Looks like you got lucky... again," she said, stuffing the stethoscope back into her pocket.

"Great! Nothing can ever keep me down!" He hopped off the bed and put threw his shirt back on. Another successful nurse visit, and another day to be a bit late for class.

"Just promise me that you'll be more careful in the future," she said in soft rebuke. This was the seventh time she's said those exact words. After a second, her tone returned to its typical affable buoyancy. "And have a nice day, hero!"

Fully clothed and prepared for another day, started to run out. "Of course Nurse Mika! I'll be careful!" He gave his own hero's salute as he exited the door. He turned around for a second and peeked his head inside of the doctor's office. "Oh yea, I'll see you tomorrow! I can't wait! The Bread Wars!" He ran off back to class.

Mika saw him off with a wave, knowing for sure that, like he promised, she'd be seeing him again fairly soon. In fact, his mere mention of the so-called Bread Wars—the weekly tradition of unsanctioned student combat over discounted foodstuff that'd started back up last week—meant her little clinic would be filled to the brim come tomorrow after lunchtime.

Speaking of lunch, it was about time for her break. Technically, it'd be called a breakfast break, but paperwork is paperwork.

Closing the door to her clinic, Mika began strolling up the hallway. Every now and then, a student would wave to her or shout out a greeting to "Nurse," and she'd wave back. The kids here were truly very fond of her. It brought a smile to her face as she rounded the corner, still unsure if she wanted to visit Lilith's coffee shop or take her chances at the food court upstairs. That's when Mika's eyes fell upon a completely unexpected sight.

Oh? Surely she was mistaken, for this couldn't be... "Fujiki? Makoto Fujiki?" Though Mika's expression was completely amiable, her eyes had narrowed slightly. She hadn't meant to say the girl's name out loud. "Ah. Never mind. Er, are you a new student here, girl?" She said, softening her tone. It was just as well, too, for the campus's obnoxious bell system exploded to life, the ear-splitting chime sounding for a good five seconds, signaling the commencement of the day's activities. "You seem lost."

Setting

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Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Mikhail Sergeyevich
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#, as written by Mat_z6
"OOOIIIII!!! Where is this damn office!???" Mako huffed as she ferociously strode down the third hallway.

The students around her stared uncomfortably at the small girl and began to whisper. "Who's that?" "Is she new?" "Geez... Scary." "Whats with the trench coat? A delinquent?" It was obvious that they were a bit hesitant to approach her even when she had loudly exclaimed that she was lost. No one really wanted anything to do with the strange new student who had a sword case slung over her shoulder. Mako, who had an extremely bad sense of direction felt like she had been going in circles for the past 10 minutes and she could feel that class was going to start soon which further fueled her frustration. Reaching the end of the hallway with no success Mako stopped to think. "Calm down, Mako. You just have to retrace your steps. Maybe you missed it back at the entrance." A few students stood nearby and they two stared at Mako with the same reaction as everyone else. One of the female students in this particular group mustered up the courage to help the girl with the encouragement of some of her friends and slowly approached Mako.

"Umm.... A-are you lost? If your looking for the school office its-"

"Ehhhh? You got a problem??!!!" Mako, who had been in deep thought turned towards the girl and gave her a death glare for breaking her concentration. The girl leaped back with fear and quickly bowed her head.

"EEP! I-I'm sorry!!! It's nothing!"

She turned tail and fled for the comfort of her friends who also shared her feelings of fear of Mako. "Let's just go..."

"Tch... What's their problem?" Mako ignored the obvious fact that she had scared the living daylights out of a innocent student and began retracing her steps. "It's got to be around here somewhere..."

But as Mako began to head back to the entrance of the school she heard her name being called out to her. ""Fujiki? Makoto Fujiki?"

Having her name spoken out loud startled the young girl. This was actually the first time someone had called her by her real name instead of the one Xanxus gave her and it took her by surprise. "Ah. Never mind. Er, are you a new student here, girl?"

Mako turned around to see who could possibly know her name. A tall lady with long, pure white hair stood behind her. She didn't look like a student was she one of the staff? If she was, then she probably had seen Mako's student registration forms and that could explain why she knew her name. "You seem lost."

Mako's frustration had died down somewhat and she decided that maybe it was time that she asked for help. But the fact that this woman knew her name still intrigued her. "That's my name. Who are you and how do you know it?"

Setting

Characters Present

Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Ieyoshi Sawada Character Portrait: Ieharu Sawada Character Portrait: Mikhail Sergeyevich
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"Yoh, I'm sorry, okay?!"

If Ieyoshi heard his brother, he didn't act like it. He sauntered along instead, like a conquering hero, infinitely proud and bigger than life, his every footfall one of authority and import, his face the epitome of equipoise, his fluffy brown hair gently bouncing back and forth as if being blown by winds from the lips of Zephyr himself.

From the waist up he was a total badass. Too bad that image was utterly shattered by his lack of pants and shoes. It's hard to look tough while walking down a hallway in cotton-white socks and your favorite batman undies.

There were some muffled giggles coming from a group of girls that were approaching from the opposite direction down the hall. They were making eyes at Ieyoshi, glancing in his direction—perhaps at his pantsless region—and then looking back at each other with such frequency that you could set your watch to it. Again, if Ieyoshi was privy to this, he didn't show it. His eyes remained forward, his pace never faltering.

Ieharu sighed. Even fully clothed and wholly unlike his brother, he hobbled about, clutching the straps of his backpack, his artificially-blackened hair swaying erratically, somehow managing to exude self-consciousness and a general lack of confidence. He sighed.

"Yoh, come on." Ieharu struggled to increase his pace, moving from a staggered gait in his brother's shadow to treading along beside him, his shoulder brushing up against the lockers that lined the wall. "I said I'm sorry." His voice had upped an octave higher, making him sound like he was about to cry. It was his big gun. It made him sound innocent and believable to adults, made his mother melt like butter on the stove, and it was the thing that always got Ieyoshi to pay attention to him. "I don't know what happened back there, I swear. It was like, one minute I was running down the stairs at home, and then I tripped, and it hurt, and then the front door, and then Godot shot me in the face—"

Ieyoshi pivoted on his heel rather suddenly, swivelling to face Ieharu, and smashed his palm into the locker several inches from the boy's face. The resulting bang! reverberated up the hall.

Of course, Ieharu was startled. "HEEEE!" Ieyoshi had him virtually pinned between his angled body on the left and his arm on the right, resting palm-flat against the locker.

"And on top of everything," Ieyoshi began, his expression as steely and unyielding as his voice. "Everything. You're gonna lie to me, too?"

Ieharu pressed his back into the locker door, though it refused to give him any more room to maneuver. At this point, their faces were close enough that he could feel his brother literally breathing down his neck. This was quite the unexpected development. "Lie?"

"Do you think I'm dumb, Haku? Do you think I'm stupid enough to believe you got shot in the face? With no wounds or nothing? Oh yeah? You'd be dead. Dead, Haku."

"But—"

"But you're not." Ieyoshi was staring Ieharu dead in the eyes. "So shut the fuck up trying to talk to me, okay?"

The words weren't underpinned with a tone of malice or anger, though Ieharu knew better than to judge his brother by appearances and expressions alone. More than anyone, he was in tune with his twin. He knew what he was thinking, how he was feeling. Even now, as they stared each other down—faces mere inches apart, Ieyoshi composed but adversarial, Ieharu with his hands up in surrender like a wolf pup before an alpha—Ieharu knew that all the extra attention of the day was beginning to irk his twin. He could feel it. Even though it hadn't even been an hour since the events of the morning, all the stares and gossiping and laughs and picture sharing was getting under his skin.

Ieharu relented first, turning his head slightly, averting his eyes. Ieyoshi acknowledged this as a win, sighing, exhaling from his nose and closing his eyes for a brief moment, internally reigning himself back in.

"If you want your pants back, you can have them," Ieharu muttered, blurting it out suddenly. His eyes were still focused off to the side. Immediately, his hands went to his belt. Proof that he was serious.

With that, Ieyoshi relented, taking a step back. Though they were the same height, he always seemed to tower over his twin in situations like these. It was at times baffling. Maybe it was because Ieharu always buckled at the knees. "Obviously, I don't care," he muttered in return, scratching at the back of his neck sheepishly. Now it was his turn to look away, perhaps realizing he'd been read like a book by the other other person on Earth capable of such a feat. Well, besides their mother, of course. "Godot dropped off a new uniform anyway or whatever, so whatever." He looked at Ieharu once again. "Keep them."

Ieharu looked forward as well, once again meeting his brother's eyes, but this time he had a huge goofy grin on his face.

"What?" Ieyoshi asked, puzzled by his brother's toothy smile. Did he perhaps have something on his face? "What?"

"Th-..." A streak of peachy pinkish red invaded the younger twin's face, starting from his left cheek, right under the eye, crossing the bridge of his nose, and ending at the other cheek. It was very faint, but noticeable at close range. "Thanks, Yoh. Really. For everything, I mean."

A particularly rare expression dashed across Ieyoshi's face. With the way he reacted, he may has well have been stabbed. But not a moment later the expression vanished, replaced with rolled eyes and pursed lips. "Yeah yeah. Whatever." He turned, smoothing his hair with his hand in a single curt motion. "Nobody messes with us, bro. Now let's just pick up this crap from the office and move before the next bell."

And so they did just that, side by side. Still the ever inseparable Sawada twins.


**



Quite a ways further up the first floor hall, back towards where the doctor's clinic was located—and in the complete opposite direction of the administrative offices, which were at this point in an entirely different building—a particularly tall woman in a white lab coat with matching sweater and slacks was conversing with a somewhat petite young girl with long black hair. Most distressing to the surrounding students, who were quickly filing out of the area in one way or another, was what looked like a sheathed blade slung across her back.

"That's my name. Who are you and how do you know it?"

Nurse frowned, her grimace deep, reaching across her face all the way to her brows, which furrowed immensely, eyes narrowed, her face catching shade as it contorted with what looked like the onset of a wrathful retort.

"Who...?" She began, her voice low and menacing. She almost sounded offended. "Who am I?!"

Suddenly, Nurse lept forward! ... only a single step, barely moving more than an inch, and literally tore her outfit apart with her bare hands in one fell swoop, as if her garments were breakaway stage clothes and she had planned for this all along. Underneath her outfit was a bedazzling silver and white bikini. Swimwear! In October.

"Why, I am the indubitable Nurse!" She announced, or, rather, declared, her voice firm but bubbly, like a sovereign throwing bread to her starving people. One would not be faulted if the claimed to hear epic music start playing in the background.

As would a model of the highest caliber strutting her stuff at the most regal of fashion shows, Nurse, now sporting a sparse two-piece bikini, her white gloves, and matching white lab coat, struck a pose. It was like something you'd see on the cover of one of those raunchy magazines. It certainly rested on the upper border of PG-13, that's for sure.

Several very-male students who happened to be around despite Makoto's intimidating presence immediately fell backwards onto the floor, their noses bleeding profusely after catching sight of Nurse in her getup. Some of the female onlookers cheered, shouting out "Go Nurse!" and "Yeah, Nurse!"

After doing a short 70's disco dance, which consisted of moving her arms in a circular fashion like a cat while percolating her shoulders, she ended by pointing—with her foot, no less—over Makoto's shoulder and in the opposing direction.

"Girl, you seem very lost. Classes are already beginning, yet you've reached the end of the hall. You must not be registered." Nurse switched legs, putting her first one down and resumed pointing with the other. Honestly, her dexterity and balance were quite phenomenal, though that wasn't what caught most people's attention. "If you're looking for the administrative offices, they're that-a-way. Far faaaaar that-a-way." She emphasized this by flexing her pointing leg, making a jabbing motion with her heeled foot. "Follow the hall into the next building and I assure you you'll find where you're trying to go!"

And with that, she ended with a penultimate pose along a nearby wall that accentuated the exposed skin along her legs. Out from under her perfectly manicured eyebrows, she eyed the girl—Makoto. "You should get going before you cause a scene, though—OOOOHH!"

What? Did someone just shoot her or something? Because that's how she reacted, her body reverberating from the imaginary blow, her arms and torso flowing backwards with all the drama and poise of a Broadway ballerina.

She'd punctuated her finale with that genuine cry of passion, lifting one leg into the air and freezing, becoming statuesque. The surrounding students, most of them males now, began clapping in earnest. Eventually, a few roses even found their way onto the floor at Nurse's feet. How some of the students acquired roses shall remain a mystery for the ages. Nurse certainly didn't mind, frozen in her pose, like a female rendition of Michelangelo's David but several thousand times more beautiful and breathtaking to behold.

One would not be faulted if they claimed to see literal sparkles and dazzling glints of light emanating from Nurse's body, as if the surrounding light had caught her at the perfect moment and held her there for an eternity.

Seems students in this school were used to Nurse's random clothing explosions and regression into swimsuit laden interpretive dance...

The setting changes from Japan to Namimori High

Setting

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Character Portrait: Makoto Fujiki Character Portrait: Ai Shaji
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#, as written by Mat_z6
....out...into this world...this world...tiny little thing...before its time...in a godfor–...what?..girl?..yes...tiny little girl...into this...out into this...before her time...godforsaken hole called...called-

Ai shut her eyes and then opened them. Thought! What a sublime experience! No matter how quickly one was thrust into this world. One thought at a speed yet to be calculated by so-called 'modern' science. Thought was not a scientific thing, or maybe it was, but one could not deny that there was no conceivable way to track one's thoughts, tiny little things that they were, like one would track movement. All movements were tracked nowadays, not just by the quick lens of the camera, cameras of which, even before its time, were feared, but imagine! Tracked by living people, people with gifts in this godforsaken hole called the 'real world' and 'existence'. Ai closed her eyes.

...found herself in the dark...and if not exactly...insentient...insentient...for she could still hear the buzzing...so-called...in the ears...

The eyes opened. Something was on Ai's mind. Something occurred at an earlier point in time. So vague! If she could not remember what small point in time a particular event occurred, she would have found herself in the dark, at all times, nor what position she was in! Before her time! Ai's mind always wandered after all. That's how minds like hers were made. She was not some insentient computer, she had a human brain and body, but the brain always wandered and thus, was effective. Ai squinted her eyes.

...she did not know...what position she was in...imagine!..what position she was in!..whether standing...or sitting...but the brain–...

Her eyes fluttered open. Ai couldn't get the sight of two of her classmates off her mind. She did not know why they were fighting, but it first occurred to her at that time that one of them, Ieharu, was in a different state of mind. She then dismissed the notion as foolish, being disrobed in the chilly temperatures, but later she had a flash. A possibility presented itself to Ai that was perhaps not so foolish. There was a burning, a burning will. Ai didn't remember when the thought came to her but she knew, whether standing or sitting, it was far too late for her to have realized it. It was a burning, a burning will. Ai had witnessed the creation of a new destiny. Even if at any subsequent stage in time more destinies would be made, Ai knew that this was not so typical affair, but quite miraculous. Ai shut her eyes again, gently.

...first occurred to her...then dismissed...as foolish...was perhaps not so foolish...after all...

Open. The future was became the past again, or perhaps it was probabilities becoming certainties. Shut.

...at any subsequent stage ...so typical affair ...nothing of any note till coming up to sixty when–

Ai opened her eyes to look at the time, for she could still hear the buzzing of her headphones. The digital clock on the library's wall read 16:00 precisely. So it really was coming up to sixty... Ai looked around her to find that she still wasn't alone in the library. There were still a couple students studying or doing homework at the various tables. Ai herself was sitting in the corner, appearing as if the tiny little girl had dozed off. Ai did have her homework in front of her, all of it closed as she finished it a long time ago. Ai merely wanted to sit somewhere quietly so she could listen to her thoughts as well as her music.

It was necessary she gave herself the chance to let her mind wander every now and then. If she restricted it, Ai wouldn't be able to come up with any creativity, and creativity was necessary for survival, at least in the school setting. Creativity seemed like such a strange notion. Ai was told what creativity was actually like, although as understanding as Ai was, she couldn't make a lick of sense out of that man's ramblings. Still, as necessary as it was for one to think creatively, it wasn't something Ai was wholly comfortable with, letting her mind wander aimlessly like that. For example, what if she came across a particularly distressing thought? Would the possibility not exist then that Ai would lose some control over her own thoughts, even if it was temporary? After all, hysteria was human instinct and Ai sought to suppress that by any means.

Still, Ai was told to 'take a break every now and then' and allow her mind to enter a state of logic without aim, and Ai would never defy those that told her what to do. Perhaps she needed a change of pace. After all, she was told she was 'far too stiff' and needed to 'relax' sometimes. But as far as Ai could tell, she was always relaxed, at least as far as she understood the definition of the word. Yet, it appeared that these thinking sessions weren't helping her in the least to rid herself of her 'stiffness', whatever they meant by that.

Maybe she just needed a new environment. The school library might have been too cramped to think clearly. It simply a lot of stuff, which could have become a distraction. Distractions to thought created biases. Ai needed somewhere emptier, where nobody would be likely to be around. Somewhere clear, perhaps with fresh air.

"...I should seek sky..."




"Who knew school would be so hard?"

Slumping against the high fence atop the school roof, Mako let out a loud sigh. Her first day of school had been eventful to say the least and to say that she'd rather be training with Squalo right now really showed how much of a toll the day took on her. First there was the strange nurse that directed her to the school's office. Were all the staff here that...... different? Second was the issue of her sword. Apparently one could not take real weapons to school and she was forced to leave her katana behind in the school office. What kind of school was this? What if she needed to defend herself? She would have to find some sort of weapon for herself that wasn't so obvious. True, she did stand out with her katana strapped to her back but she'd never experience a place where weapons weren't allowed.

Mako stared down at her empty hands, cupping them as if she were wrapping them around the image of her sword. How she felt empty without it. Mako felt so weak and helpless when she was unarmed but as uncomfortable as it made her, she would have to deal with it if she was going to attend this school.

"I'm already so close to Godot! I can't give up now! Its only the first day, damn it!"

Mako slapped both palms to her cheek to clear her mind. It was time to strategize. She had seen many strong students today and tomorrow she would begin to challange them one by one. First off, she would have to find a weapon that wouldn't be confiscated by the school staff. Surely if she defeated a few of the top strongest here, Godot would show up. But then what? Would he even take her as his student? By what she knew, this so called "Hitman Tutor" didn't just take on anybody to be his student. Though it was no use worrying about what he would say if she couldn't even find him. As much as Mako hated to admit it, she knew she couldn't do this alone. She needed someone who knew anything about the elusive man. Looking blind was not the way to approach this but who would Mako ask? She felt like her thoughts were running in circles in her head. She had come here unprepared and without a plan and already on the first day she was suffering the consequences of it.

As if her thoughts were wearing down on her body, Mako had to sit down. Staring up at the blue sky she sighed once more.

"Who knew school would be so hard?.."

Just then, Mako jumped at the sound of a door open. Who would be up here at this time? Shouldn't have most of the students be headed home? Mako got to her feet. Perhaps it was a teacher who noticed her and they were coming up here to tell her to head home. Though to her surprise, it was not a teacher who came through the door. Or if she was a teacher, she was extremely short for one. From what she had experienced with the nurse that morning, it would not surprise Mako if this small, pink haired girl was the custodian or something. There was something off about this girl. She didn't seem to notice Mako and it was if she was deep in thought, not really paying attention to her surroundings in general.

"Um..... I'll leave if that was what you came up here for..."

Still unsure if she was part of the staff or not, Mako decided to open with a polite comment just to be safe. A few moments of silence passed.....

"Oi...... Did you hear me?"

Silence....

"I'm talking to you pipsqueak!!" Mako was starting to loose her temper.

...tiny little girl...

"It's fine," the girl said suddenly. Mako stared confused at the girl's short, simple answer. It didn't seem like the girl was even looking at her and she approached the pink haired figure and brought her face right in front of her's.

"Hello?? What are you staring at? I'm right here."

"Nothing," the girl responded, appearing unphased. She paused. "I'm currently staring at you."

"Tch.... Whatever..." Mako spun around, satisfied with the answer she got. "So... What are you doing up here pipsqueak? Your not a teacher are you?"

Silence....

Mako turned to face the girl again, her temper again on the rise when she didn't get an answer to her question yet again. The girl was simply adjusting something in her ear, acting as if she didn't hear her. Mako noticed the earbuds that were plugged into the girl's ears. So that was why she wasn't answering.

"Hey, isn't that kind of rude to have those things in your ear when someones talking to you?" The girl stared at Mako for a bit, as if considering something, and then reached for her ear.

"I apologise," she said, before removing them and letting them hang over her shoulder. "I was listening to my thoughts."

"Your thoughts? What do you record yourself or something?"

"No..." the girl lowered her gaze slightly, before bringing them back up. "Would that help?"

"Huh? Recording yourself? How would I know? Maybe if you wanted to remember something or if you wanted to hear it later maybe it would help..... Or maybe like.... GAH I don't know!!! Maybe it would?!!"

Mako stumbled upon her own words as she tried to answer the girl's question.

"I want to remember something," the girl told Mako, "from the future. That isn't the right term. I'm looking for something. Someone... I understand that recording others is a common practice, but I had not realized that recording onself could be used to their own benefit." The girl blinked and glanced off to the side. Standing there, she didn't appear shy nor bold. "I'd like to record you," the girl declared listlessly, "What is your name?"

"Ehhh??? Wh-What? Re-Record me?"

The girl's words had Mako's mind spinning. The future? Looking for someone? Just who had she run into here atop the school roof?

"Fujiki Makoto. That's my name." Mako said as if she were confirming it to herself. She still hadn't gotten used to the fact that she was calling herself that from now on. "Who are you?"

"My name is Ai," Ai told her, "Shaji Ai." Ai scanned the girl. "To my recollection, you are new to this school. I am under the assumption that for that reason, you would be unable to assist me. Am I allowed to ask as to why you are up here as well? Are you thinking?"

Despite her complicated words and strange subjects, Mako smiled at the girl. Though she seemed a bit mysterious, Mako was enjoying this small talk.

"I guess you could say that. Hey, didn't you say you were looking for someone? Well that's what I'm thinking about. I'm trying to find someone as well. Mako put her hands behind her head and turned to face the school yard below. "Who are you looking for?"

"I'm not allowed to say," Ai responded curtly, "unless circumstances change." Ai paused. "But I'm not thinking about that. Looking for isn't the right term, I realize. I think it was 'looking out for', which has a different meaning, I believe. I am, however, looking for an answer to a pressing matter, which is why I am thinking." Ai paused again. "I had come here to think and so have you, meaning you must have an issue that requires thought. Am I correct?"

Mako turned to face Ai once again and shook her head. "Boy, you sure say some strange things don't you? But I like you so I'll tell you. The person I'm looking for is very hard to find. You could say he won't show up unless he wants to. And as of now I have no clue on how to find him." As she explained her situation, Mako again realized how her plan was lacking. She locked her gaze with Ai's. This was probably the first time she had held a real conversation with someone since she left home. Maybe this girl could help her somehow. Should she ask? Gaining allies couldn't hurt even if she knew nothing about Godot or the mafia.

"Hey, Ai." Mako paused. "Oh wait, do you mind if I call you by your given name? I heard that's a thing here where it was impolite to call someone by their given name." Ai shook her head. "Ok good! Now, I mentioned before that I needed to find someone. And since your also looking for someone, or 'looking out for' or whatever why don't we help each other out? I mean it couldn't hurt right? You help me and I help you? Whadaya say?"

Oh boy.... Was that how to ask someone for help? Mako wasn't to sure. Besides, she had just met this girl. It was probably best if she didn't get her hopes up. Ai was silent again. Was she thinking? Ai seemed to have a tendency to make as few movements as possible whenever she was in a conversation, and she was as still as a statue whenever she was thinking. Still, the chances of her actually agreeing seemed slim at best. What could this girl possibly want out of Mako?

"Alright," Ai finally responded, "I, too, feel we could mutually benefit from each other for the foreseeable future. I have information on several notable students throughout the school of which you might want to take note of. I imagine you, as a new student, would find that very helpful. Likewise, I feel you can help me, but I do not think that I would be capable of explaining to you why at this point in time. There is one thing, however, that I am wondering about." Ai paused. Was she hesitating? Ai finished her statement. "I am looking for somebody to protect me. Are you capable of that?"

Mako blinked in disbelief. Had this girl just agree to help her? She could hardly believe it but it seemed like it was true. She had just gained her first ally. Mako could feel her excitement rising. Things were starting to look a little better and if things were to progress as they just had then she just might have a chance. And to think that this girl had information that Mako could use. Ai's last statement put a glint in her eye. If anyone needed protection from anything, Mako was probably the best fit for that job. As she was unable to hold in her excitement any longer, Mako suddenly slung her arm around Ai and laughed.

"Am I capable? You've asked the best person for that kind of job." To make her statement clear Mako reached to draw her sword.... Or she would have if it was there. "Tch..... First I need to get my hands on a weapon of course. But putting that aside I think we're gonna make a great duo you and I."

Sure it was only one small girl who Mako found to be a bit strange but it was a start. Maybe she could even find more allies with Ai's help. The thought of even forming her own "Family" crossed her mind but she quickly shook those thoughts away. It was WAY to early for that. She'd have to find Godot first before she could even begin to call herself a mafioso.

"You are useful then," Ai told her. Then she said nothing. Maybe she was lost in thought again, but Ai appeared very aloof to everything around her, not caring about whether she was standing or sitting or talking to somebody when she became lost in thought. She simply froze up and stared. It was unnerving and even awkward in a way.

"Its settled then!" Mako let go of Ai and for the third time approached the tall fence of the school roof. Mako's head was filling with ideas of how to put her plan into action. If Ai had the information she needed, she would be able to find that boy with the flames she saw this morning. Yes, he would be her first target. Surely Ai had caught wind of this mornings spectacle since the whole school was talking about it already. "Ai, did you see what happened this morning? The fight that happened right at the entrance?"

"If you are referring to the event in which the Sawada twins, Ieyoshi and Ieharu, engaged in reckless behaviour with one another," Ai answered, "then yes, I did witness it."

"Yes yes! That one!" Mako spun around and put her hands on Ai's shoulders. "So you were there! Sawada, huh? No wonder they looked so similar. Do you know which one of them had the flames coming out of his head?" Mako had no idea if Ai knew about the Dying Will Flames but at least she could tell her which one she needed to look for. "They were coming out of his forehead like this all bright and stuff!" Mako made wavy gestures with her hands right in front of her forehead to imitate how they would look.

"Ieharu," Ai answered suddenly, as if she were fully confident about her answer. She didn't elaborate, however.

"Ieharu..... He is the one I have to fight!" Mako began pacing the roof back and forth in front of Ai. "I wonder if he is still at school? Ahh... Its already getting late but maybe he might have some sort of club activity or something. There might be a chance! But.... should I do this today? Maybe I need time to prepare myself. I don't even have a weapon I can use on the school grounds."

"I would recommend against fighting him," Ai mentioned. This time, she did elaborate; "Contrary to what presumably you had witnessed this morning, violence between students isn't considered to be a behavior ideal. Still, even if I am mistaken in that regard, I am of the belief that you would not be able to win against Ieharu in combat."

Mako stopped pacing and shot an icy glare at Ai suddenly becoming very serious. Even though she knew Ai didn't know any better, the sudden comment of her abilities made Mako even more determined to prove herself. "That so?" Mako decided to ignore Ai's words for now. It was only a matter of time before she would make a name for herself here at this school but what Ai said was right. Mako could not forget that she was no longer dealing with the Mafia world alone. This was a normal school out in the world with real laws and even Mako knew that out of the place violence would only warrant unwanted conflict with the staff and even the authorities if she wasn't careful. The confiscation of her katana was already the first strike. Next time she might not be so lucky.

"Anyways, I believe it would be to early for me to start anything now. Preparation is key due to my circumstances but I'll be sure to make you take back what you just said."

"I did not intend to undermine you by my judgments," Ai explained carefully, "because although I am not entirely aware of what you are capable of, I believe regardless that your abilities would not be able to compare with his. Ieharu is an extremely powerful unit of potentially limitless capabilities. If one were to challenge him, one can only expect to have the strength of their attacks be returned against them two-fold." Ai blinked. Somehow, it seemed as if that was an uncommon occurrence for her. "It is indeed in our best interests to analyze him further and make great preparations if you are to challenge him. If you retain interest in him, perhaps he may be a lead toward the person you are looking for. I am of the understanding that human intuition is more effective than expected."

Mako's eyes widened at Ai's words.Was this kid really that strong? If so, then beating him would definitely lead her to Godot. Mako could feel the adrenaline coursing through her at the thought of such a strong opponent. She wanted to fight and she wanted to do it NOW. "AARRRGGHHHH Just talking about this makes my blood boil!!!" With that statement Mako suddenly leaped atop the towering fence with little effort at all and looked down at the school yard below her. Thankfully since most of the students were occupied with club activities or went home, no one noticed the absurd sight of the short girl standing atop the roof fence. Forget training and preparation. This was her ticket to accomplishing her goal. She had to find him now and even if she would not be able to fight at this very moment, the least she could do was to challenge him. Mako made a graceful leap back down off the fence and landed directly in front of Ai.

"I need to find this Sawada kid right now! Do you know where he is?" Ai shook her head.

"Tch.... We've got no choice but to go looking for him. Hes still got to be around here somewhere but where do we start? Maybe a place with more students around. Then we could ask them if they've seen him!" Mako began pacing once more. A place with a lot of students. A popular place. "Ahh.... Ai do we have some sort of place where everyone goes to eat? I heard schools have those!"

"At this time," Ai responded, "Namimori Café is the closest of such places."

"Oi Oi!!! Then what the hell are we standing around here for? Lets get going!!" And with that, Mako sprinted towards the door that led back down into the school building. Ai, however, was standing still.

Ai turned to face Mako and asked, "Was I intended to follow you there?"

Mako stopped in front of the door and turned back to face Ai and grinned mischievously. "Didn't you say you needed me to protect you, Pipsqueak? Well, if you want my protection then your gonna have to go where I go. That's how it works!"

"My name is Ai," was all she said, before she began to trail behind Mako. Maybe Mako was just what Ai needed, somebody ordinary to look toward in desperate situations. After all, one never knew what to expect in this school, where without warning, one's life could crash when one made just one wrong turn. At least Ai would have an ally, a friend, to assist her.

But then Ai remembered how foolish that notion truly was. It was inconceivable to think that Mako could truly protect Ai. Not against them.


Collaborative post between Lloyd999 & Mat_z6