Rosa Kuromaku's Story

"Listen here, young Ieharu."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"But—!"

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

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

I'm still a virgin!

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

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

**

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

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

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

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

The response was immediate.

SLAP!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

He screwed his eyes shut.

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

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

From under his breath, the boy mumbled something.

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

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

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

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

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

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

His body was cold before it even hit the ground.

... with a dying will.

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

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

"REBORN!!!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

You know, life wasn't worth living untill you had a group of people kneeling before you and your boots. That was a firm belief of Rosa's. Rosa smirked as she posed with her hands on her hips to a crowd of spectators in the courtyard of Namimori High. Crowd was a misleading term, however, as it merely consisted of the several girls closest to Rosa. They bowed before her feet in complete reverence and admiration. These girls were the loyal subjects of the school's Queen after all, her "Dolls".

"So, tell me, girls," Rosa requested with much haughtiness in her tone, "What do you think of my new boots?" Rosa turned and shuffled her feet this way and that to give her friends a more complete indulgence of the sight of the healed, thigh-high boots. They leather, but they had a very light color, giving them a very warm look. The sole was completely black with flat, trackless soles and thick, inch-high heals. Along the front were the crossing pattern of long red laces, weaved in very fine fibers and tied into long, portruding knots at the very top, much like the silloeuttes of very large butterflies. They certainly didn't look like the kind one would slip on in a rush.

Instantly, the four girls stood up from their crouched positions and began throwing all sorts of compliments at once, their words stressed for emphasis giving an altogether melodious yet chaotic tune to it all. It was music to Rosa's ears. Rosa could never be tired of being admired, even if it rhymed. "Girls, girls, calm down," Rosa told them, waving her hands, "I'm glad you love them. I thought that since it was raining last night, I'd buy these so I didn't get my shoes all ruined. Oh, they hardly cost much, at least not with my money. It goes perfect with the uniform, is that not true?"

"Boots?" Lyn pondered for a second as she placed her hand in a thinking pose. "But like...aren't they for the snow? It's only October. " she asked while missing the point of fashion. Lyn never really understood the culture of the Dolls while being a well known member of them. How she actually joined the group was through Rosa. When Lyn transferred to Namimori high school about a year ago, she really didn't really make an effort to make friends. Her long black hair, green eyes, and silky hair often caught the attention of the men around the school. She also carried an open umbrella above her head, almost at all times. People at first often asked, "Why do you carry an umbrella?" She always replied in a polite manner, "I don't know, I just feel compelled to." A strange answer, but mysterious in itself. Some students made rumors saying she's a princess, she's cursed, and she's allergic to sunlight which brought her a lot of attention. Shortly after, Rosa simply came up to her and said, "Hey, you should quit interacting with losers and hang out with some real friends!". Since then, she's just been a part of their group. Though, Rosa has treated Lyn as little more than accessory to her group than a reliable friend. Lyn didn't think she was being treated like that at all though.

"They look pretty fancy," the short, long-haired girl, Tomoe noted, "but how're going to get them in the shoe locker?" She giggled at that statement, although none of the other girls followed suit. Tomoe Tachibana was always energetic and fun-loving, no matter the situation, although she wasn't the most clever. "You know, yesterday I got my socks and shoes all soaking wet on the way home! It was really gross and I thought my feet were going to stink, so I decided I'd run the rest of the way home barefoot." She snickered at that statement. "The rain would clean my feet anyway, right?" Tomoe was also known to be very daring, always trying out different things regardless of how daunting they appeared. Everybody in second year the time she climbed over the chainlink fence on the school's rooftop and took a selfie while hanging on the other side. She got into a lot of trouble, but Tomoe's name was well known because of it. She was also the earliest of the girls in the group to get a boyfriend.

"That's no good," the taller, short-haired girl, Erin, chided Tomoe in a sleepy voice, "You could'a gotten sick or somethin'. Colds really suck, y'know?" Erin Saito was probably one of the most striking looking of the group and probably wasn't the prettiest among the girls either. She was certainly the tallest among them, slightly taller than Lyn even, and she had very short brown hair. It was very easy to mistaken her for a boy if she didn't wear such striking, black lipstick and eyeliner. Among the girls, she was definitely the toughest and her tomboyish nature was without question. "Even today, y'see, you should wear a jacket over your uniform." Erin spun halfway left and right with her hands in the pockets of her black leather jacket to display it. It had a gleam to it, making her look like a delinquent. "If it starts rainin' again, yer clothes'll get all wet and you gunna get sick. Getting sick's not a good thing, that's for sure." Despite her intimidating appearance, though, Erin tended to be quite compassionate toward her friends.

"Like hell anybody's going to wear something like that to school," the blonde-haired girl, Akako, harshly remarked, "I'm feeling sick looking at it. Same with you're shoes, they're nothing like Rosa's, nothing like them at all!" Akako put her hands on her hips and put a foot out like Rosa was doing earlier, obviously trying to show off her own boots. They were small, tan and looked soft and had fully tops–clearly they were winter boots–and they looked nice. Rosa recognized them as the cheaper Supermart kind, however. Akako Hayashi was probably the closest girl to Rosa of them all, and that didn't just refer to her loyalty. Akako looked as if she were Rosa's slightly shorter, long-lost, Japanese sister. Her hair was dyed blonde, although it was shoulder length and in pigtails. She had very striking red lipstick on, even if Rosa didn't wear it. Still, where Akako didn't imitate Rosa in fashion, she imitated her in mannerism. She was often just as hostile, if not moreso, than Rosa and often imitated not just her interests and her attitude, but also some of Rosa's manerisms and even the way Rosa walked or stood. Indeed, she was the spitting image of what embodied Rosa, if not an exaggerated version of her, and she was Rosa's well known (and almost equally infamous) 'underboss'.

"Aw, stuff it, 'Ako," Erin grumbled, "At least I'm warm-ish." Erin looked Akako up and down. "Bet you would walk around naked in this cold if Rosa told you to." Akako gave her a death stare, but Erin couldn't help but grin as she held in a laugh. Akako simply huffed and turned her head, much like Rosa did when she was being slandered. "I would do that if I could," Tomoe added mischeviously, giggling between her fingers. Erin, Akako and even Lyndis all looked at her with an incredulous expression when she said that.

Lyn mentally chimed out of the conversation about describing the boots and missed most of the conversation. She literally stood right in next to the girls, physically there, but her mind wandered once again to different topics. Why did they all still have to where student uniforms? What will she eat for lunch? She was the type of girl to overthink topics which typically made her seem like an airhead. Focus was a skill she sometimes lacked if she's not engaged. Why are the girls talking about being naked? Her train of thoughts continued to roam. "Naked?!" Lyn blurted out loud with a shocked look upon her face. Her face reddened a bit at the mere thought of anyone beside herself being naked. "Girls, we shouldn't talk about those types of things in public!" she continued, "Why would we go around naked?"

Rosa, on the other hand, wasn't too happy by the fact that the attention of the conversation was turned away from her boots. That was the problem with stupid girls, they were as fickle as rodents. "How obscene," she muttered, "What are you, middle school boys?" Rosa looked at her circle of friends up and down. Airheaded Lyndis, mischevious Tomoe, boyish Erin and unlikeable Akako. They were all just ordinary high school girls, living about every day aimlessly and without ambition. They were never destined for greatness, not like Rosa. The only way they could become anything better was to be in the subordination of true leaders, true human beings, like Rosa. That was just the way Rosa liked them, imperfect dolls that were destined to have their will oppressed for the greater, or rather, more deserving good. By both blood and will did Rosa have the right to become truly great. These girls couldn't possibly ever hope to grasp this notion, nor did they care to. They were happy like this, after all. Nothing made Rosa feel more proud than ridding the burden of free will from those that recognized her authority.

Rosa was about to clear her throat and begin speaking when she was suddenly interrupted. Akako called, "Wah–What is that?!" Something suddenly caught the attention of the girls. "Holy crap," Erin remarked, "That's Yoh and his twin–in his underwear!" "We were just talking about being naked too!" Lyn chuckled. "What?" Rosa looked in the direction that the girls were looking in, and indeed, it was just as Erin had described. Two first-years were fighting each other on the wet ground of the entrance, and one of them was indeed in naught but his underpants. Rosa was flabbergasted.

"What?!"

---

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❁█❁No matter what the conundrum was blooming within that head of hers, Lala was smitten undeniably by the melodic attachment calling of her name. Those vivid eyes of red landed without pause upon the image of what she had known as... "Mayu-chan!" Her eyes curved into that of delight as the rumble and tumble of the twins had been whisked away from her immediate reality. Yes, like that of the weather, she was fickle as a fly, and she was bit dizzy due to her watching the roll... roll... roll... That's why the appearance of Mayu was well-appreciated."Ohayo!" Her lips matched that brightness of her eyes with that cordial smile.

The pink-haired girl before her was a frequent tickle to her senses, which she had never gathered as anything logical, but a transient feeling, a haunting which makes her tremble within. There was like static running its course through her body. Usually, this would imply that she must make herself scarce. There was also the inkling that there was something treacherous behind that canary-like cheer being presented. Her instincts directed her to such signs, yet she does not listen. The only thing which makes her resistant, to what her inner voices say, is the fact that she likes Mayu and that alone is simply enough for her to let everything be swept under the rug.

In any case, the Megaman slide, or rather the lively event had been described to her in a very interesting manner. There was Haku being described as a runt and a fetus within one sentence. An image flashed inside her thoughts, combining those two traits. Somehow, the vision turned out to be a miniature Godzilla with an awesome top of hair of course with Haku's face plastered via scotch tape. There was also Yoh wearing Joker's suit with the head of the Colonel, while yelling, that he wants apple milk. Somehow, she could not help but allow her thoughts wander, just a bit more. Those red eyes lit as she mentally traveled into the landscape of her making as it was leading her to the sprinkle-topped mountain of paper flowers. Yes, she was getting further and further until, she was snapped into the firm grip of reality, by the sound of a gusting wind courtesy by Mayu.

Like a butterfly's wings, her eyes fluttered regaining the consciousness of her current environment. There she was again off to her personal, La-La Land. Thinking back on what was said, she started to comprehend it at a proper pace and showed light concern for the younger girl. "Are you all right, Mayu-chan? There's no need to rush! I'm not going anywhere." She stretched her arms forward and then placed both of her hands on Mayu's shoulders. "But, thank you for telling me!" She patted the younger girl's shoulders in a friendly manner, before turning her head to the direction where Haku and Yoh should be. There was quite a crowd around them, that it was somehow impossible to get a clear view unless she squeezes herself along the thin gaps, and really, she wasn't keen on getting her uniform crumpled in the struggle to assert her curiosity. She could just take a look later online since, she could hear snaps of cameras and some of the students waving their phones around. This was turning quite into a circus. It made her wonder where the teachers are at this moment or the school staff.

"Hmm, I think they'll be fine." She said in assurance as her gaze returned to pink-haired girl, accompanied by a cheerful smile. These were the Sawada twins after all and she had heard that they were strong in their own right. Then, she remembered the image of Haku in only his underwear. Well, they might not be strong on that aspect "Physically perhaps, not sure about mentally though." Her voice was wrapped with the hint of hesitation, but just a bit. That earned her concern as her face that was a perpetuity of carefree fun, altered into that of worry. Letting her emotions swirl around, she removed her hands on Mayu's shoulder and instead made a cross with the arms over her chest. She was in a moment of thought of what she must be done. "I think I should check on them in any case." Somehow, she has a bad feeling. What could it might be?

She took a couple of deep breaths as she readied herself to plunge into the throng of people. It was rather adorable as her arms were now positioned as a makeshift pump for air, a representation of her imagination of course. Once, she was able to make certain that she was prepared for the hurdle she was about to enter, she stood properly and even straightened her back as a reflection of her determination. "I'll see you later, Mayu-chan!" She stated with a smile and began to move away from Mayu.

Her lithe walk changed into that of a light jog while waving at Mayu with her evanescent brightness and once she was satisfied. Her attention returned to what was before her as she lowered her hand and made an assessment of how to enter the crowd. This also reminded her of something.... That's right! She has yet to see Rosa and the others. Somehow, she could not help but laugh inwardly with a tone awkwardness. She has this feeling that Rosa might not be in the best of moods. She stopped for a moment and looked at the sky above and then to the ground where there were still some puddles, a proof of the dreary rain yesterday. Rosa was not fond of such weather. Hopefully, there would be little things that would raise her irritation. Now, that makes her wonder what she should do first... Check the twins or go look for Rosa and the others, and while she does so...

There was this foreboding feeling as she managed to catch a sliver of what it could probably pertain to as her eyes zoned in. "O.. Oh.."

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...

"Unhappy!" The spiteful and highly irrated voice of Rosa echoed throughout the girl's restroom. "I do not like it when I am unhappy!" Rosa was in the midst of changing her clothes within the bathroom stall while doing so. After Rosa fell into the puddle, her entorage had quickly kicked into action, helping her recover and moving her indoors, her uniform all wet. Well, they were only somewhat wet, but they were as good as ruined to Rosa. Luckily, everybody was too busy taking "paparazzi pictures" of the twins to pay close attention to her. On the way inside, Rosa managed to catch the sight of Lala and brought her with them. Lala was the fifth member of their group after all, as difficult as it was to possibly imagine her getting along with Rosa.

So there Rosa and her entourage was, retreated to the girls restroom. Erin was standing outside in order to not allow anybody else in, as this restroom was reserved in the name of Rosa's divine right, at least for this moment. Rosa was in one of the stalls, unddressing all the parts of her uniform that had gotten dirty when she had fallen and pushing them to the adjacent stall, neatly folded. In there, It was not much of a surprise for Lala to find herself inside one of the stalls that was closest to Rosa's. She at least managed to find them amidst that crowd, though it was not in the most pleasant of situations. As a result of that, she was now also doing the same thing, being ordered to switch uniforms with Rosa. "It will be fine, Rosa-chan." Lala noted while removing her clothes in an orderly fashion and making sure that it was neatly present. "I''m sure they didn't mean it." Her tone held a sincere and encouraging tone, while sensing that Rosa was not really going to calm down anytime soon even how much she toned down what occurred. In the end, Rosa does have the right to be irritated, so she was allowing herself to at least ease that bubbling annoyance by removing a mark of that incident which was the wet and dirty uniform. The whole time, Rosa was complaining aloud, trying to vent out some anger. Patiently, Lala listened to Rosa's complaints while changing into the stained uniform. It was a good thing also to air out one's troubles, as said by her father. It puts everything into a perspective.

"Ugh, that little runt," she ranted, "has the gall to push into me? What a little upstart. Thinks he can ruin my beautiful uniform while he rolls around in the nude! My beautiful phone too!" Indeed, when she fell, the BluScreen had flown out of her hands and short-circuited in the water. It was just a clear plastic screen now.

"Hey, Rosie," Tomoe called from outside the stall, "Somebody just sent me an image of his brother's butt! He's got Batman underwear! Why the heck were they both stripping anyway?"[b] The three other girls, Akako, Tomoe and Lyndis were waiting outside the stalls, all looking at texts and images on the unfolded screen of Tomoe's phone.

[b]"It said, BATMAN BITCH on it. I think I like this kid," Lyn recalling the boys trousers. Oddly that's the most notable things she remembers from the whole fiasco "But Rosa, things aren't as bad as you think. Two boys in there underwear took all the attention from you," she continued in hopes to cheer her up, "we're the only ones who saw you fall." That was far from true, as far as Rosa could recall. All the attention was on her, at least for a moment. There was no way people didn't pay attention to such an unflattering moment on Rosa's part. She'd never fallen before, after all. It made Rosa feel so angry inside, or at least that was how she could cover up her shame in being dishonored.

"Well at least they don't have any pic---," A childlike ringtone started to sound. "We are living our lives~Abound with so much information," she continued to sing Persona 4's theme song along with her phone. "I've got a New In-Com-Ing Message!" she said as if she's an announcer. She pulled her phone out, "Hmm, it's not from a number I know...it's a mass text. Must be a random student." She moved her index finger on the phone and opened up the mesage. She paused for a brief moment. "Well Rosa, I stand corrected. Hey girls look at this!" she held out her phone to them. The two of Akako and Tomoe simultaneously 'Ohh-ed'. The content on the phone only consisted of two images a brief text. The first picture was the moment when Ieharu pushed over Rosa and the second was Rosa sitting in shame on the ground wet. The rest of message said...Lyn read it out loud, "Oh look, the Alpha Bitch Rosa, taking a dip in all of her elegance."

Somehow, Lala could feel that the fire deep inside Rosa would further be ignited at this point. She was not able to see what Lyndis was commenting about, but she does not need to sense that Rosa was in a steady increase of her displeasure. Lyndis' words or actually reading the statement was wnough to clarify her assessment. Really, it woud be helpful if Lyndis could learn to feint at times like these, but she does know the girl meant no harm, just stating the truth. "Rosa-chan, is everything fine with the uniform now?" She tried to change the subject to another, although she was pretty sure it won't be that effective. Still, she could try, right? Rosa didn't answer, however. In any case, she was now finished with her change of clothes. It was without doubt still wet and rather dirty, but she could manage it for now. There would be a spare of clothes at her club room later to pick up.

"Those punks," Erin grumbled from outside the restroom, "Gimme the word, Rosa, and I'll knuckl'em! 'Specially that kid Ieharu!" Rosa emerged from the changeroom, eyes closed and her composure strong. She appeared to be much calmer now, although nowhere near happy. She also looked much cleaner, of course. Lala's clothes fit her very well, or at least as far as any outside observer could tell. She looked toward the girls and their transparent screens, where she could easily see the picture of her pitiful appearance on the ground, especially on Tomoe's large screen. Tomoe immediately switched to a picture of both the twins in different stages of undress, apparently sharing their clothes. The girls looked nervously at Rosa. Rosa didn't change her expression, she just merely leaned on the wall.

Lala exited her stall as well, revealing that her earlier prim and clean uniform was now the opposite of it. One could say, there was not much of a difference in the fit except probably around the chest area. It was a bit tight. Beside that, the other thing that's getting tight around here is the atmosphere. Her eyes glanced towards Rosa and then back to the others. The eerie silence was like hands wrapped around her neck, suffocating her ever so slowly, because without a hinge of doubt, she could feel the ravaging anger, but also another feeling underneath, something she was familiar with. Through it, she remained still and soon, Rosa talked, breaking that smothering emptiness of the lull.

"I wanna hear it," Rosa ordered, "I wanna know what happened, and what's going on. I wanna hear about them, the... twins. I want names, and I wanna know where they are right now." Rosa and her group didn't stick around to see everything after all. Altogether, the girls described to her exactly what happened after they retreated, at least according to both what they themselves had seen and what they've been told through text. Akako actually had a whole video recording of the whole thing, from the beginning of the fight to when the twins left the scene, which the girls, including Erin, watched bits and pieces of, skipping through parts to save time. They definitely excluded the bit where Rosa fell from the parts they watched. Rosa exhaled and closed her eyes in order to think. The girls watched her patiently as they waited for her judgement.

"Indeed, Akako," Rosa told the blonde girl next to her, referring to a question asked much earlier, "It really does look like a disruption of the peace of the school." Rosa seemed to have recovered her composure completely, almost smirking as she spoke. "Of course, we all know what we do with first-year little upstarts that think they can control us through violence. Isn't that right, Akako? How's your boyfriend doing, by the way?"[/color] Rosa looked toward the girl. Akako grinned visibly.

"Oh, he's been really restless as of late," Akako explained, "I guess all that stress from being the student head of the Martial Arts Appreciation club must be getting to him. He says he and the club really wish they could put to use some of the new techniques they've been learning. Honestly, I don't really know what's so interesting about fighting... unless you're interested, Miss Rosa." The two blonde girls appeared to have some sort of an agreement between them.

"Why, I am quite interested," Rosa responded enthusiastically, as if she were reading off of a script, "Why don't you tell your boyfriend and his club that there just happens to be the perfect opponents for them to try out their new moves against? After school, at the parking lot way in the back. We could watch and see how amazing the Martial Arts Appreciate club really is in action." Rosa straightened herself up and addressed the rest of her circle. "Girls, take notes, and make sure everybody hears of this. I want everybody to see these kids humiliated for how truly insignificant they really are. In the meantime, I want to know as much about those brothers, Ieyoshi and Ieharu, as possibly. Give me names, family, friends, enemies, connections, reputations, rumors, stories, clubs, hobbies, schedules, fears, peeves, romantic interests, economic status, possessions, test marks, underwear brands and their flaws! I want it all!"

There it goes. Lala closed her eyes momentarily and opened them knowing that this was not going to end well, one way or another. Her red eyes landed on Rosa and somehow, she felt the need to tell this feeling of hers. There was that sense that perhaps it would be for the best that this event with the Sawada Twins be ignored. "Ah... Rosa-Chan, I thi--", but before she could complete her sentence, Lyndis spoke with her own personal cheer.

It sounded pretty fun to Lyndis. She looked forward into meeting the now infamous underwear twins. "I can't wait to do this!" she cheered.

Ah yes, Lala could not help but feel she was fighting a losing battle here. Hopefully, her feelings this time won't be spot on, but that was hard to be bright-eyed for. Releasing a soft sigh, she had a smile on her face, alighting her features. "Let's do our best on this one, okay?"

"And one more thing," Rosa declared, "I want someone to buy boquettes for them. They'll need them for their desks tommorrow!"

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

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

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

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

---

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

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

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

---

---

Roni slipped on a pair of spandex shorts and rolled up her skirt. Sure it was below the standard length but she had on shorts underneath. If no one could see her panties what was the problem? Really. It was as if people were just looking for a problem to complain about. Twisting her hair tightly, she maneuvered it into a bun and went to work on taming her bangs in front of the bathroom vanity. "Hun?" Her godmother's voice rang out through the small home. Roni hummed in response as she was busy holding her barrettes between her lips. "Ah, there you are." Tsubaki popped into the doorway of the bathroom and gave her goddaughter a hasty kiss on the cheek. "I'm heading out. Don't be late to school, and make sure Jett doesn't skip. Have a great day!" She told her before making a mad dash out of the door.

Finishing up her hair, Roni had just enough time to call out, "'Kay. Love you!" before the front door slammed shut. Sashaying into the kitchen she slid some waffles into the toaster and bacon onto the stove. "Jett! Syrup or powdered sugar?" She yelled as loudly as she could.

Jett was jolted from his sleep by the piercing sound and sat up groggily, his blanket sliding down his bare torso to his waist. He grumbled unintelligibly as he glanced at the time on his phone. They did not have to be at school for another hour and even then they would be early. So why the fuck was she screaming like a banshee to wake him up? It took him all of six minutes to get ready in the mornings anyways.

He had only been awake for two minutes and already found a reason to frown. With his brow furrowed, Jett stood up and threw his covers back onto the bed haphazardly. Making his way into the bathroom silently, another yell resounded from the kitchen. "Syrup or sugar?"

"Sugar." He answered curtly before shutting the door behind him. Running some cold water, he washed his face as a chill made him tense. Running his fingers through his hair he noncommittally tried to fix his bed head. Whatever, he gave up with a shrug. Heading back to his bedroom, he sloppily pulled on his school uniform. Still in the process of buttoning his shirt when he entered the kitchen and sat down at the table.

Spinning on the ball of her foot, Roni placed their small breakfast down as well as herself. "Good thing you're up. We need to head to school earlier today. I need to get help on this work before the test." Jett merely shrugged in acquiescence as he applied even more powdered sugar to his waffles.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

The walk to school was uneventful. At least until the end. As they approached the campus the rambunctious crowd of people before it was disconcerting. For Jett. Roni, on the other hand was extremely excited at the undoubted prospect that something awesome was happening. Trying to integrate herself into the crowd to see what was the heck happening she felt a tight grip on her elbow. "No Jett! Let me see!" She pleaded, her eyes wandered as all of the students whipped out their their BluScreens. Flashes going off here and there.

Though his little sister could not decipher what was going on just yet, Jett was a good deal taller than most of the crowd and could just make out the gist of what was taking place. The second he saw Rosa loose her footing, and her figure disappear below the mob, he knew nothing good was going to happen any time soon.

"Focus. You got shit to do." He reminded her shortly, dragging her out and away from the crowd. Shoving through students with a ferocity. Neither he nor his sister was going to be around to fall victim to any of Rosa's misplaced wrath.

"Fine." She mumbled under her breath as she stumbled to keep up with his long strides. Catching sight of one of her friends, she jabbed them with her hand and mouthed silently for them to text her whatever happens. Receiving an affirmative, Roni grinned. she absolutely hated it when she was out of the loop.

Finally in the school's indoor hallways, Jett released Roni's arm, pushing her forward. "Go. To. Class." He demanded. She glared at him and rubbed her arm in an exaggerated manner, but she could never out-glare her brother. With a huff she stormed down the hall into a nearby classroom and Jett left the opposite way to his own. Maybe he could fit in a nap.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

Roni muttered in annoyance about the overbearing sibling she had. Walking into the nearly empty room, she chose her usual seat near the front and dropped her belongings carelessly. Digging out her work as her BluScreen vibrated, indicating a text. Unlocking it without a second thought, she almost choked on the gum she was chewing as she skimmed through them. 'Oh my god.'

How could she have missed all of that? The batman boxers. The half-assed fight. Rosa taking a dip. Oh god. Her light laughter broke the silence of the room. Collecting herself after a minute or two, she finally took note of her surroundings.

The teacher was not even in there. She sighed in exasperation. Looking around, she noticed the kid sitting in the back of the classroom. A hood was tugged low and she tilted her head to get a better look at their face. Cotton candy blue hair jogged her memory and it took her a second more to recall their name. She had a class with him, but she had never actually interacted with him. Now was as good a time as any she figured.

“Chester?” Roni made her way to his desk. “Do you happen to know where the teacher is?”

Cross was watching until some kid showed up and told the other kids that some other person was in trouble. He noticed the name and thought that was enough info for one day. Any more and someone would have to pay him up front before the week was through. "Well, that was weird. I guess people do have woes in this school," he said, playing with one of his bangs. "Watching those guys made me hungry. We should get something to eat."

Akira tore his eyes away from the fight, which had stopped when the brown-haired kid with a serious look on his face ran with the other brown haired student - oh hey, it was Aobane! Akira wondered what was up for him to have that look on his face—it was probably something bad—and looked at the scene curiously, wondering what was going on. Maybe he should ask?

Well, it wasn't any of his business. Plus, Akira didn't think they'd be pleased if a complete stranger followed them. He watched neutrally as the blonde boy blocked the white-haired boy's kick and yell something that stopped the white-haired first year mid-punch, causing him to cock his head to the side like a confused bird. He wasn't close enough to hear what the blonde kid said, but evidently it had been serious enough to stop the fight, since the white-haired student dropped his fighting stance to run after him as the blonde-haired guy chased after Aobane and the brown-haired first year.

"Schools aren't normally like this, yeah," Akira said wryly. The third year flailed and followed the first years as he turned to face the two of them, face thoughtful. He was getting hungry, and eating alone at home was unappealing when compared with eating with his new found friends. "That reminds me, I guess there's a place we could stop by for dinner - oh, hi Luka!"

"Yo." Luka gave them a lazy wave from where he was, walking towards the gates. "What's up?"

"Nothing much." Akira shrugged. A thought occurred to him, and he smiled. "Hey, wanna come join us for dinner? We're going to the cafe. To scout out the lay of the land. Before the battle begins."

It wasn't often that Luka went out to eat; he often enjoyed having his meals alone at home. But having company once in a while wasn't too bad, he supposed. Besides, Akira can be a pretty persistent guy sometimes. He was off from work today anyway, so... "Why not?" Luka decided, shrugging. He could leave the "lay of the land' thing to Akira. He turned, waiting for them to catch up. "You can introduce me to your friends while we're walking. It'd be pretty rude if I just called them "new guys", after all," he teased, flashing a small grin at them.

Florence has yet to consider the thought of dinner, but eating out was probably better than whipping something up for herself. Making a mental note to go shopping soon, she followed Akira, Luka and Cross into the cafe. It was larger than she had expected, with several chairs and round tables in its interior. There was a stall there, with a menu board on top tilted slightly to make it easier to see. It seemed to be offering a variety of pastries, from muffins to croissants. Coffee was sold too, as well as several other varieties of soft drinks.

"Wow," a girl's voice exclaimed, "You're a genius, Rosa!" At a table in the middle of the cafe were a group of five girls, with their purses to their sides and a bunch of schoolwork on the table, as well as several beverages and muffins. In a clockwise order, they were Tomoe Tachibana, Rosa Kuromaku, Lala Wakahisa, Erin Saito and an unfamiliar third year student. Looking at Erin and the third year, one would have to wonder if they were all girls. They were in the process of doing their homework, or at least Tomoe was. All the other girls were pretty much finished (with the exception of Erin, who didn't seem too enthusiastic about her work) and Rosa was assisting Tomoe with some rather challenging math problems—only that Rosa was merely answering all the questions Tomoe would get stuck on, which was at least half of them, and wasn't doing anything to actually help Tomoe understand what she was doing. Tomoe wouldn't stop showering her with praise every time Rosa answered a question merely by glancing at it.

"Well, this stuff is really quite simple," Rosa told her, spreading her fingers and touching her own chest, "or at least they're rather simple for me. I just happen to have a gift for math." Rosa happened to have a gift for a lot of things, it seemed, and Rosa definitely wasn't humble about these 'gifts' either. Rosa talked a big talk, but no one could ever remember a time when Rosa didn't just meet expectations, but surpassed them.

"You need only remember the formulas." The third year - Neri Montavani - said, flicking a lock of wavy pink hair behind his shoulder. It fluttered down to rest against his back, ending at his waist. The teen was dressed in drag again, this time in the girl's school uniform. The only difference was that there was a smooth grey vest underneath the jacket, that flattered his lithe figure and gave it a more elegant look. He looked at Tomoe seriously, sipping a cup of black coffee. "It isn't hard, so long as you focus in class."

Tomoe pouted. "Yeah, but y'know, sometimes I just can't focus! Like, y'know when you have something on the tip of your tongue, but it's not something you're saying but it's something your thinking, but it's not all that important to you, but you can't help but think about it?" Tomoe received silence from every direction. "Well," she reiterated, "I was thinking about those boys in their underwear." Erin gave a sudden, curt chuckle. "You know," Tomoe continued "Those boys that ruined Rosa's clothes, and her phone!" An air of uneasiness had suddenly swept over the table as many eyes looked toward Rosa to see how she'd react. Rosa acted as if she didn't hear it, however. Tomoe leaned forward and asked Lala, "By the way, Lala, are you keeping those clothes?"

"Hmm..." Lala looked at Tomoe thoughtfully and then looked at the uniform she was wearing which is technically Rosa's. It's very notable to the eyes as well, though not in the manner of a fashion statement. More of, it was making a bold declaration due to the mud and dirt stains splattered about. At the very least, it was a good thing that it was dry now. "I don't think so. They're not mine to begin with. I'll just grab my gym clothes later and get changed." Lala added with a smile and then took a sip of her bottled water, before showcasing a slight pout on her lips due to remembering about Math, because of Tomoe asking about it to Rosa. Numbers do not mix well with Lala and that is simply that. "It would be best if Math just didn't exist..." Lala sighed after that as she knew that it was just wishful thinking in the end.

Rosa glanced at Lala. Then, with an air of dignity, she told her, "Perhaps you should return those clothes to me on the weekend. Clean, I'd expect. For now, I'll give you permission to keep them. Just treat them with the utmost care." Rosa brushed her hands through her hair as her eyes were shut, giving her a sort of aloof look as she was speaking to Lala. Rosa then gave a light smile. "Possibly, if you aren't busy," she offered, "you could stay over for a little bit when you return them." Tomoe seemed rather intrigued. Erin sucked loudly through her straw where there used to be an iced coffee. It wasn't often that Rosa invited her friends to her house.

Lala looked at Rosa with a bright smile on her face and somehow, it felt like there are invisible sparkles around her. "Of course, I'll return your clothes in pristine condition." Lala nodded her head visibly energetic to serve as assurance. It was already a given that Lala would return the uniform, but she did not expect the offer of staying at Rosa's house. Lala was aware that Rosa was not the kind to readily invite anyone to her abode, even them. Lala did not doubt Rosa of course, for she knew it was a nice gesture extended. To Lala, Rosa was a nice person and that was it. "That would be lovely indeed." Lala answered with that small yet gentle smile before glancing at Tomoe and Erin. There was something up and about, and Lala was about to speak of an idea to Rosa when Neri took her moment which she was not offended at all.

"Allow me to visit then." Everyone stared at him. Even if he looked convincingly like a girl, everyone around the table knew he was male, and the idea of him staying at Rosa's place for a sleepover, painting nails and talking about boys, was disturbing. Neri raised a perfectly arched eyebrow at them, placing his now empty cup of coffee back on the table with a sharp click. "Not for a sleepover," he said in disgust, as if he knew what they were thinking. He saw no point in joining in on girly activities. "I've made that dress you asked for last week, as well as a shirt for Lala. Going to your home to check on the both of you will allow me to save time. I do not think there will be any misjudgements in my measurements, but it is better to be safe than sorry."

"Oh! You made me a shirt, Neri-kun?" Lala asked with those eyes of hers twinkling in excitement, similar to the precious rubies found in jewels. "I can't wait to try it on! You always make very beautiful and cute pieces!" She clapped both of her hands before looking at Rosa. "Don't you think so, Rosa-chan? It would be nice. We can try Neri-kun's clothes."

Rosa glanced at Neri while stirring the last of her cappuccino at the bottom of the cup with her straw. With a slight pause beforehand, Rosa answered, "Fine, as long as it doesn't take as long as last time. Also, those measurements better be perfect this time." Rosa had a strange tendency to pause before answering people, as if she were either considering how to answer them or was reluctant to. It was this sort of aloofness, this lack of overfriendliness, that somehow attracted others toward her instead of repelled them. Many female students, both her age and younger, aspired to be as talented and mature as the glamorous idol Rosa was.

"Please," Neri's voice was full of contempt and distaste from the memory. He sat back against the chair, reaching up to tuck his hair neatly behind his ear. "I do not take as long as other tailors do. The only reason it even went that long was because you wouldn't let me near-"

The doors swung open with an extreme force. A silhouette of a figure carrying an umbrella stood at the door breathing a bit heavily. "Finally!" Lyn yelled being a tad loud compared to the fairly quiet coffee shop. She gazed around swinging her head left and right to scan the room. "Bingo!" she said out loud. Rosa was in her sights sitting next to Neri and the others. She walked over a bit fast in a silly manner still a bit tired. She approached the table, grabbed a chair from a different one and eased her way in. "Hey guys, sorry I'm late! You see, there was this guy that said girls can't play football so I put down my umbrella and," she continued her highly detailed story and how Lyn ended up performing better than the star players of the team. "..And then I headed here! Pretty fun day overall!"

"Ah, another person at the table?" Lilith said a bit sarcastically. "You need anything?"

"Nah, I'll be fine. Good to see you coffee lady!" Lyn happily replied.

"Good to see you also," she responded with a grin on her face.

Lala perked up in seeing Lyn as she smiled and spoke her welcome, "Hello Lyn-chan!" She even offered a small wave to emphasize her greeting before looking back at Erin, recalling her need to say that idea of hers, yet again the moment was taken, this time by Erin.

"How about a water, lady," Erin spoke up, sitting up from her slouched position, "Glass'a water, that is, if that's, uh, alright." Although Erin was never allowed to wear her black leather jacket in class, she sure enjoyed wearing it over her uniform everywhere else. Erin glanced at Rosa, who's gaze was fixed elsewhere. Erin called to her, "What's up, Rosa?" Erin looked in the direction Rosa seemed to be interested in, a quartet of students who entered the cafe recently. Erin recognized one of the students. "Hey, that's the new guy," she mentioned, "In my homeroom, he's, uh, new... Come to think of it, I think that girl's new too."

"New students, hmm?" Rosa seemed very interested in them. Understandably so. New students weren't completely familiar with the social order of the school, after all. Rosa had to make sure they knew who were the right friends to make and who were the wrong ones. "Lala, Lyn," Rosa ordered, "I think it would be best if we gave them a warm welcome to the school. What do you girls think?"

"Of course! It's wonderful to meet and have new friends! I'm up for it!" Lala said with a rather cheery smile on her face, and was sincerely concluding nothing but good intentions in what Rosa meant as warm. Her eyes looked towards the direction of the new students. Lala had a thoughtful look while biting her lower lip. There was something odd about those two new students. It was something she can't put into words, but it won't be nice to avoid them because of such a bias. Then, Lala had a flash of recognition when she recognized Akira. "Oh, Akira-kun is there! We should go and say hi."

"If you do, pass this to Shinsato." Neri said, reaching into his bag. He pulled out a brown paper package and passed It to Lala,. "It contains the outfit he asked me to make for him. I had intended to pass it to him tomorrow, but since he is here, I might as well hand it over now. Thank you."

Lala looked at the package on her hands thoughtfully before giving a enthusiastic nod. "No problem, Neri-kun! I'll give it to him!" She ended that with a smile and a thumb's up to prove the positivity of her answer and also the confidence that it will be done.

"I love giving warm welcomes! Hmm, but like...what if it's too hot today? Should we give them a cold one?" Lyn said as she began pondering. She placed her hand to the side of her face in a thinking pose. "That really would be a problem with this rising temperature with weather. How would we go about this," she continued rambling to herself in deep thought.

By this time, Lilith had already come back with the glass of water for Erin and the rest of the requested items. Lilith was pretty entertained by their commentary since they all had distinct personalities to say the least. Out of all of them, Lilith found Rosa the most interesting. As the coffee lady at school, she's heard countless stories about her influence, bullying, and rule over the school. Certainly doesn't effect Lilith though seeing as she isn't a student, but it was one of those things she's found intriguing.

Luka gave a yawn as they entered, covering his mouth with his hand. The place was alive with chatter, and both Akira and Luka noticed Rosa's crew as the source. The duo simultaneously chose to ignore them and look at the menu instead. Rosa and her 'minions' didn't target anyone who wasn't disrupting the peace or on their blacklist, but it was best to not attract their attention. Akira did shoot a friendly smile Towards Lala, Lynn and Neri before they took their seats around an empty table, though it was brief.

"Hmm..." Akira hummed under his breath thoughtfully, flipping through the menu. The chocolate milkshake was delicious, but the set meal A served fruit tea and would make a proper meal instead of just a drink. Well, he could always get the shake later. He turned to the others, an easy smile on his face as he rested his elbows against the table. "Alright, decided! Set meal A, passion fruit tea. What about you guys?"

"I'll get the same." Florence said after a brief study of the menu. She didn't know what the food here will taste like, not that it'd matter much to her supposed skewed sense of taste. Flavor was not something very important, as long as the meal was enough to fill her stomach she'd be fine with pretty much anything.

"Set B for me," Luka said lazily, closing the menu and placing it down on the table. He relaxed back against his chair, placing his hands behind his head. He had been about to declare the same set meal Akira and Florence had chosen until he'd spotted the drink choice for set B. It was a no-brainer after that. "Strawberry milkshake for the drink, please."

Staring at the menu intensely, Cross placed his fingers on line to read the smaller printing more easily. He was having a tough time trying to figure out who's idea it was not to put pictures on this menu, though the reason it was something he aimed for was unknown. "I'll get meals A through C. Ooooh, and maybe a side of the rich coffee."

"Great decision," Lilith said smiling. She memorizes the orders instead of jotting them down for practice on memorizing details of a heist. Doing these type of orders are child's play.

Meals A through C? “You can eat all that?” This guy must have an endless pit for a stomach. Luka leaned back against his seat when he caught movement from the corner of his eyes. He made the mistake of turning his head to look, a single brow rising when he saw that Rosa was walking towards their table. Wonderful…

"Why, hello guys," Rosa greeted with a grin. She tried her best to make her tone seem friendly, but she just managed to make herself sound somewhat sinister and vaguely condescending. "I wasn't interrupting anything was I?"

"Not much, really," Akira replied cordially, turning to face the girls. "We're just waiting for our meal, that's all." he smiled politely at Rosa, shooting a more friendly one towards Lyndis and Lala. "What brings you here?"

"Well, I've just heard that we had a few new students come to school," Rosa continued, glancing at Florence and Cross consecutively, "and I just thought that it was absolutely vital to introduce myself—ourselves—to them." No matter how hard Rosa was trying to give the impression that she was being friendly, she could never lose her hubris no matter how hard she tried. She looked at Florence. "My name," she put her spread fingertips on her chest, "is Kurokmaku, Rosa Kuromaku. Of course, you can always call me Rosa. I don't need formalities when speaking with friends, after all." Once again, Rosa's tone and her intentions were mismatched in her voice. "Of course, these girls," she gestured to Lyn and Lala on either side of her, "are my friends," her tone made her sound possessive of them, "Lala Wakahisa and Lyndis Kyori." 'Can't you see what pretty friends I have?' is what she might have will been saying with her pose.

"Yep yep! We're good ole friends," Lyn said reacting to Rosa's sudden kindness.

Lala smiled warmly at the group. "Hello there! It's a pleasure to meet you all!" She then looked at Akira. "Akira-kun! Here! Neri-kun wanted you to have this!" She handed the bag which contained the outfit. "I bet you would look good in it for sure." She made a thumb's up at that.

"Thanks. Lala! Sweet," Akira grinned, the appreciation at the gesture clear on his face as he took the package from her, placing it inside his bag gently. "I asked him to mend my stage clothes," he explained, turning back around to face them again. "They had a tear in them from one of the swords in the box that night. I had a spare, but I asked Neri to help me mend it since he does it for free."

"Glad to be some help! I can't wait to see you in it." There was not an ounce of insincerity in Lala's words as she truly believes that Akira would look good and the fact Neri makes wonderful ensembles.

Cross looked over his eyes widened slightly in surprise. He had seen some things throughout the day, but this confirmed it. Truthfully, he was more phased by the fact that it took him that long to realize, but he glad he did. No, he was glad he mad the choice to start talking to Akira. Boy, was he a pimp. He waited for Akira to get his shirt back, then nudged him and winked, giving him his proper kudos. He was relieved too. At first when those girls came out of nowhere he thought they had wanted something, especially when the one who seemed to be the main talker referred to them as "friends". However, he imagined that if they were cool with Akira then they were alright. When she finally finished talking, he looked over at her friends that she seemed to be presenting. More and more this was starting to look like a street affair even though he was sure these girls went to the same school that he did. He tossed it up to everyone having there types of people. Usually he wouldn't go for the floozy types, but he figured they'd be okay since they were dressed well.

Lala felt something nagging at the back of her head. It was not that idea which she had yet to say, but more of an instinct telling her to pull Rosa away. It was all due to her sights landing on one of the new students, specifically, the male one. "Ah... Rosa-chan, we -" Her sentence was not completed as once again, her best efforts were thwarted by the said new boy who did what was her gut feeling was probably warning her about.

Without a moments hesitation, Cross stood up and wrapped an arm around the girl who called herself Rosa. "Nice to meet you, Rosa," he said slyly. "My name's Cross. How about we get out of here and get something to drink eh?"

A girl approached them? "It is a pleasure to meet you, Rosa, Lala, Lyndis." Florence's eyes rested on Rosa disinterestedly as she introduced herself and her friends, not feigning her boredom one bit. She wasn't too interesting as far as Florence was concerned, they were new students, sure, but Florence saw no need to reply. All she wanted to do was to get her dinner, anything else was a slight hindrance. However, her interest was piqued when Cross wrapped his arm around the girl that seemed like she was the 'leader'. A mixture of surprise and amusement filled her eyes for a second as her mouth quirked into a half smile that faded as soon as it came. This was definitely something else. Was Cross trying to flirt with another girl? Her eyes looked a little confused as she turned to Akira, tilting her head as if in a question of what to do next.

Akira stared, eyes wide as Cross hugged Rosa, Queen of the school and its dictator, around the waist. His jaw dropped with shock, and only his stage training prevented him from dragging Cross to hide with him under the table or laughing at the colossal, massive blunder Cross had just made. The urge to laugh maniacally out of the sheer impact of Cross's social life ending on his first day (first day man, first day!) was suddenly overwhelming, and Akira made sure that any hint of even a smile was off his face and stuffed into a locked box into a closet where it would never see the light of day. If he laughed, it'd make things even worse for Cross than it was already, and Akira didn't want that. Distantly, Akira knew that he should be dragging Cross into apologizing so that Cross might get off Rosa's blacklist, but he was too stunned to do anything other than stare and gap like people who had seen his magic shows for the first time, only with the feeling of rapidly arriving doom instead of wonder.

With his chin resting against the palm of his hand, Luka watched with mild interest until Cross hugged Rosa. His eyes flickered over to look at Rosa’s face, just to see what kind of face expression the Queen will have. “Pfft—“ Oops. Luka cleared his throat and managed to hold back his laughter; but the smile on lips still lingered.

Rosa cried "Bletch!" It almost sounded as if she were giving a violent scold to a delinquent child. In that instant, whatever she called a friendly attitude turned into one of complete hostility as in one swift motion, Rosa swung around and smacked the boy, Cross, with the back of her hand. It was beyond audible and could be heard throughout the small cafe. Cross's face followed through with the smack, leaving his face turn to the side. He rubbed his cheek as if he were a boy who had just been smacked by his mother. "Wow. Here I thought we were being friendly," he grinned. "Either that or you're just a tease." He was beginning to think that maybe everyone was like this in school. Hard to understand by what they say, so he decided to be more focused on what he sees and not hears.

"Akira? Is this... normal greetings in Japanese Schools?" Florence was genuinely curious. Akira didn't seem too disturbed, so it must have been something commonly seen, right? Perhaps it was the norm in this country, to flirt with someone as a first meeting. Maybe Cross was more learned than her on that subject, and she's been doing things wrong ever since she got there. So many possibilities.

"...No, Florence, it's not." Akira said, speech suddenly coming back to him. Ahaha shit. Akira had a sinking feeling that Rosa wouldn't let this slide even if Cross apologized a thousand times. He shook himself back into closing his mouth before any flies got in and quickly made sure that the expression on his face was a neutral one that showed no emotion on what he was feeling - namely, the urge to laugh and never stop, which suddenly became a lot easier when Rosa slapped Cross. It was nice knowing you, Cross. See you in the afterlife... if Rosa or Akako doesn't eat your soul, that is.

But maybe the slap was all there would be to it. "Uh, dude," He said uneasily, getting up from his seat. "Sorry about him, he doesn't have much manners." he said apologetically to Rosa, pulling Cross away from her by the arm. He smiled at her, all charm and goodwill. He shot a meaningful look at Cross that said Don't talk and let me handle this, and continued to turn up the charm, hoping to defuse the situation, "Rosa, this is Cross, its his first day here. He's also not from Japan, so he doesn't really know the culture. What did you come here to talk about?"

"Rosa-chan, may be we should just leave it at that, okay?" Lala looked at Rosa with concern and then back at the group. "They're new and they're about to have dinner. We should let them have it, right, Lyn-chan?" Lala turned to Lyn to at least dissuade the tension she could definitely feel rising. It's unexplainable, but Lala knew that something from this point would only escalate into a bigger scene which she really didn't want to happen. "I bet Tomoe-chan needs help in math and you know, I'm no good at that. Okay, Rosa-chan?" The problem was... Rosa was set on her sights.

"He's certainly unenlightened," Rosa muttered with great contempt, "a typical woman-hungering creature, an inferior kind of a human, a man." The trio of guys frowned at that, displeased. Rosa shifted her glare away from the boy and looked toward the girl, who hadn't yet introduced herself. Rosa chuckled sardonically as she examined her own fingernails. "I'm sure you understand," she told the girl without addressing her, "how very unfortunate it is that somebody like yourself ended up with a crowd like this. Honestly, girl, I feel for you," Rosa grabbed Lyn's hand to examine her fingernails, "You're new, after all, so I suppose you don't really understand... how things work. You're deserving of better friends, ones that will teach you how things actually work." She let go of Lyn's hand to examine Lala's fingernails. Rosa then offered her hand out to Florence, in order to check her fingernails. "What do you say, girl...?"

Grab the hand girl, Rosa thought, and pledge your allegiance to your Queen. Offering to check Florence's nails may have been a way for them to be able to touch hands, a sign of friendship and trust, but Rosa's true intention was a different sort of bond. In having the girls allow Rosa to check their nails, a very small and insignificant gesture on its own, was a way to display that not only they were her friends, but that they were submissive to her and would bend to her will without Rosa having to say anything. They were her property, which like any curator of treasures or shepherd of a flock, she examined carefully to make sure they were in check. In a seemingly harmless gesture to check Florence's nails, without saying a single word, Rosa was checking to see if Florence wasn't only trusting of her as a friend, but was also ready to bend to her will, without a single word needed.

Florence observed the exchange with feelings mixed with confusion and amusement. That girl, Rosa checked their nails? It was perhaps some sort of ritual unknown to her, and as a hand was extended presumably to check her own Florence glanced at her hand before looking back to Akira, Cross and Luka quizzically. She never did like making decisions all by herself, this was a troublesome matter. However, she didn't agree to Rosa's words. "Firstly, I will not offer any excuse to your first statement for Cross, but Akira appears to be quite different from my observations. Secondly, I am certain that the friends I have now will teach me the ropes, or at least, I do not need anyone else to tell me which crowds I should stay with, or which friends I should make. And lastly... It's Florence. Florence Sterling. A pleasure to meet you as always, but I'd appreciate it if you could stay out of my business."

This made Lala worry. She wasn't offended by Florence's words. The new girl had the right to speak her mind, but it was a different matter when it comes to Rosa. Her ruby red eyes filled with trepidation as she reached out to Rosa by placing a hand on the shoulder. "Rosa-chan, we should just go. It's their first day after all. We can come back and talk to them, next time." Lala was doing her best to appease Rosa for she knew what was to follow. Her instincts were telling her that without fault. "Ro---" She was unable to continue her next words as Rosa, much like panther jumping on its prey, grabbed hold of Florence. This was bad!

There were hundreds of things you didn't do to Rosa, but no matter what Cross had done or could have done in that cafe to Rosa would have compared to the sort of action Florence had just preformed. Florence directly defied her. Many students had done things to displease or attempt to disgrace Rosa in the past, but not a single person was ever stupid enough to defy her, and speak up against her at that! Florence may have been careful with her words, but her tone said it all. You aren't the boss of me. Oh how little this naive little upstart even knew. Now, sure, accidentally defying her may have been slightly excusable because she was new, but Florence didn't even take her hand. One didn't refuse the hand of a Queen as if it was a dirty beggar's fingers. Rosa's face shifted into a look of sheer disappointment, one that made anybody want to shrivel up in shame, as she stared directly into Florence's eyes, her hand resting right in front of her, palm down. Did this girl even care? Then, with a sudden, violent jolt, Rosa snatched at Florence's wrist, like a toddler's. "Listen–!" Rosa caught herself suddenly as somebody approached, releasing Florence's wrist and holding her own elbow.

"Excuse me." It appears that she had offended Rosa for whatever convoluted reason. How was Florence to know why? She was just considering her options when the grip on her wrist loosened.

The clicking sound from plates and the refreshing smell of fresh food began to fill the area. The meals are ready accompanied by the drinks requested from the table. Lilith held it easily with one hand walking towards the table, then stopped right between Rosa and Florence. "Your food is ready," she directed towards the table. "But before you guys dig in, I have one thing to say," she paused for a brief moment as her face shifted to one with dire seriousness. The pleasant aura around her changed as she said, "This shop prides itself on having a peaceful atmosphere so if you're not willing to cooperate, then I'll have to ask or force you guys to leave. With that being said," she regained her waitresses smile, "please enjoy you meal!"[/color][/b] Her last line was said with almost an award winning actresses smile. She shifted to a complete different persona. She walked off and began to tend to other tables.

"A-Ah, thanks. Sorry," Akira turned around jerkily, his heart beating fast in his chest.The serious look that appeared on his face when Rosa grabbed Florence faded away into a thankful smile. The tension receded, and he reached out to help distribute the meals to their respective buyers, mentally bracing himself for impact. The tension was still there, and the wide-eyed stare of excitement and curiosity Cross had been shooting at Rosa like he'd been expecting a catfight had morphed into a frown after the waitress Lilith warned them, like the one he and Luka had (nd which Luka still had) only seconds ago.

"Ah, such a nice lady," Lyn replied misunderstanding the situation. She may have not pieced together that Rosa and Florence were arguing. "Florence and Cross seem pretty nice also, just weird." Forgetting they were right in front of her.

Lala felt that a big bone was pried out of her chest when the waitress entered the scene. The disaster was averted and she was really grateful for that. "Yes, she is really a nice lady, Lyn-chan." Lala agreed on that statement but on a different context than what Lyn was commenting about. "Lyn-chan, please it's not nice to say they're weird in front of them." Lala glanced at Lyn before looking back att the group. "Uhm, please enjoy your meals." She noted before looking back at Rosa.

Rosa was somewhat caught off guard by the sudden, stern warning the woman had, although she didn't show it. She waited untill the waitress had left before she gave off an indignant huff. She turned toward her girls, Lala and Lyn and looked at them up and down, as if she were trying to figure out what to do next. Rosa looked back at Florence, biting her lip, and then at Akira. "You understand," Rosa told him cryptically, "don't you? What happens them now, that is." Rosa sighed and turned her back toward the table. "Come on, girls," she declared, "we have no reason to associate with those two. We have things to chat about."

Lyn picks up her umbrella as she gets up from the table. She opens it elegantly and does a random spin. "Goodbye guys," she says with a wink. She does a slight bow with her right hand pulling up her dress only slightly as a formal farewell. "May we meet again," she says as she's quoting some movie she saw about the history of Japan culture. She began following Rosa as she skipped along.

Lala nodded at Rosa's words and then looked back at Akira and his companions. "Have a nice nice day, everyone." Her eyes landed on Akira as she silently mouthed an apology made of one word. 'Sorry...' Akira's lips twitched into a minuscule smile that meant it was okay, and she then smiled at all of them kindly. "I hope you do not close your doors for all of us being friends. Because you'll never know when that person after all will become a big part in you life, right?" She asked and the quickly added. "That is what Lucci-sensei said earlier. Well, I'll see you around!" She waved at them before turning her back at them going to where Rosa and the others are.

"Mm?" Florence sipped at her tea slowly, her mind already forgetting what events had just conspired. In her mind she had done nothing that notable, Rosa had tried to tell her to reconsider her choices, and Florence just disagreed. Why she had offended the other girl was frankly not a matter of interest to her at that point of time. Not to say that she wasn't curious to know more about Rosa, but it was none of her business what she does anyway, so as long that it didn't concern her.

"Well," Cross said as the ladies left the area. "That was sure something wasn't it? Not everyday you have some girls talk to you for no reason." He looked over at Akira and nudged and winked at him again. "I suppose that's what happens when you hang around someone with pick up skills like you, eh Aki?"

"Dude!" Akira said, sounding both scandalized and amused. Luka snickered as Akira shoved Cross away lightly, his cheeks pink tinted a faint pink at the implication. "I'm not a pimp man, look for someone else." He leaning back against his chair with a shudder, trying not to laugh himself. The idea of Rosa dating someone was both funny and disturbing, and now that the tension had died down Akira had the sudden urge to laugh with relief. "Especially not for them, I want to live a long life, thank you very much."

Cross nodded. "I see what you mean. Marrying someone who likes to play rough might breed for a short life."

"More like playing till their limbs break off instead of rough." Akira sighed, humor receding back into seriousness. The situation was really bad now that the two of them had gotten into Rosa's shitlist. On their first day too, what were the odds? Akira grabbed his cup and took a sip of the tea, wetting his lips. He had to explain what was going to happen next, and that wasn't something he liked doing. "They're not all that bad, but I guess I should start at the beginning. Luka, help me if I get anything wrong." Luka nodded as he drank his milkshake through a straw, and Akira leaned forward, resting his head on against his hands. "That girl Cross hugged just now was Rosa, and..."

"Hey Rosa!" Erin spoked up slightly above indoor voice. "Spot-on with that hit! I would have punched him in the mouth if I were you, or twisted his finger, maybe." Rosa gave Erin a wordless glare, which caused Erin to slink back a bit, looking to her side as she slurped away at her water. Tomoe fought the urge to snicker and just stared at her textbook like it was spilled milk. Rosa merely sat back down wordlessly, giving a sort of uneasy silence to the table. Erin broke it. "So, uh, I guess we're not talking with those two anymore, huh?"

"I personally don't care about the womanizer, Cross," Rosa said truthfully, "but the girl, Florence, is a moron." Rosa examined her own fingernails again. "She's also quite vicious, a person of the wicked sort. Perhaps we should tell people to avoid her, for their own good of course. Somebody text Akako."

"Yeah, uh," Tomoe spoke up, having given up on the homework, "Where's A-ko again?" Tomoe squinted, before lighting up in realization. "...Oh yeah! I remember. She's with those club boys, huh, doing you know what." Tomoe giggled at that while Erin clicked her tongue. "You know, just giving those twins a bit of a scare. They're not actually hurting them, right?" Rosa didn't answer. "And do we have to do anything about them as well?"

"No, not really," Rosa responded surprisingly suddenly, "we don't have to worry about those two upstarts, at least not anymore. The boys will have dealt with them and those two will be out of our hair. They will have learned their lesson. If they haven't, well, Akako is supposed to bring us their underwear." Tomoe giggled as she unwrapped her BluScreen from her wrist and began idly browsing. Erin chuckled before giving her water one big gulp to finish it. "Although, to be perfectly honest, I don't care too much about those boys anymore. They weren't really much of a threat anyway. Honestly, they probably don't even deserve whatever's coming to them, but whatever." Rosa glanced around the cafe and saw the clock. "Besides, they should be finishing up soon anyhow, so we should as well."

"Uh, Rosie?" Tomoe was reading text messages when she spoke up. "I think you should see this."

---

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Collaborative post between Lloyd999, Alle9009, moahi, Pandora's Melancholy, taigaxx and KumoriKitsune.

Wrong. It was just wrong. Okay, maybe it wasn't wrong, per say, but it wasn't entirely right either. It was fine, but it wasn't perfect. That was why it was unacceptable.

Rosa adjusted the bouquet, plucking the artificial roses from the plastic vase and placing it in a slightly different position, shifting leaves around and so forth. Rosa would then stand and stare, take a look at it from a different angle, and then pluck the rose again, repeating the process. Rosa was putting way more effort into this miniature bouquet than she needed to, but Rosa believed that she needed to convey her message perfectly; that the Sawada twins were dead.

"They really did die!" That's what Akako had apparently said yesterday, half-hysterical in her explanation. Akako's retelling of events was jumbled up, un-chronological, and mixed with delusions, but from what Rosa gathered was that after that suspicious-looking person made her stop recording, he proceeded to shoot seven different people with an AK-47, including the twins, but then they came back to life and proceeded to beat the school's elite fighter, Ishiki, close to death. Everything was on fire at that point, and then the world's military forces used kids in super-suits to fight off aliens. At least, that was what Rosa gathered from Tomoe after Akako told her. She might have been talking about an anime that watched one time midway through the explanation though.

What was true was that some time after the first supposed casualty, Akako had texted that the situation was getting out of hand. Naturally, Rosa told her just to get more backup, although apparently even that didn't work out. Somehow, these two boys that were tumbling on the wet ground in the morning managed to defeat Rosa's elite henchmen. Well, they were more like her grunts, her underling secret police and a big source of intimidation in the school. Still, it was quite a shock, but not something Rosa didn't act pragmatically about. The first step was to cut ties with Ishiki, which Akako handled quite succinctly. Of course, in order to make sure Ishiki wouldn't have become Rosa's problem again, she had to call somebody else to, well, console with him. A fellow senior, that is. Needless to say, Ishiki didn't come to school that day in order to reflect on his actions. Well, if reflection was done at the comforts of a hospital bed with a medical report which includes massive battering, confining Ishiki at an indefinite period. Then, it is perfect. Of course, Rosa needed to come up with a way to reaffirm her ties with the Martial Arts Appreciation club before they began to develop rancour toward her due to her rejection of the head. That would have to come later, however. For now, Rosa had a job to do.

That said, as much as Rosa was treating this as a serious chore, all the girls who had come with her to the room appeared to be treating it like a field trip. Besides the group, the only other person in the room was a pink-haired girl who seemed heedless to their presence, although the girls made sure she wouldn't rat on them. Akako was sitting on top of a desk to read her texts on her BluScreen while Erin was leaning by the doorway drinking an orange soda, despite the fact that it wasn't even nine in the morning yet. Tomoe, on the other hand, was going around sitting at desks as if she were a freshman again. Lala in her own part was reading a manga she brought with her, and she was enjoying herself, but took time to look at what was Rosa doing. "Rosa-chan, wouldn't it be more beautiful, if it was a real rose?"

"Because a natural rose," Rosa responded, not turning to face the girls, "isn't perfect. Almost nothing is perfect in its natural form." Rosa plucked the flower again, holding it high up and examining it. "Here's a rose that will never wilt, an everlasting image. Is it any less capable of beauty than a flower born from dirt and mud?" Rose twirled the flower in her fingers. "We can't control the fickle nature of ephemeral things not made by our own two hands... Are we not capable of making things more beautiful then they could ever be on their own?" Rosa placed the flower back in the vase and put her hand on her chin again.

That was a lot of complicated thought in Lala's understanding. She does understand Rosa's point of view, but to her things that are not within one's control, are at its most beauty incomparable to other things that stays for eternity. They have a life, a warmth, a light, which cannot be touched, cannot be copied even how much people try to comprehend. There are just things that were never meant to be understood and that was fine with her. It was at that period when her thoughts were only disturbed by the ever loud voice of Tomoe.

"Hey, Rosa!" Tomoe appeared to have no sense of indoor voice. She was taking a photo of the desks with her BluScreen. "Our seats were all together in the middle of the class, huh?" Tomoe tapped several different desks while calling off names. Rosa's desk certainly was in the nucleus of the room, with Tomoe's behind her and Akako next to her. Erin's seat was further toward the back corner of the room. "We all met in this room," Tomoe recalled, "all a bunch of friends in our first year! How nostalgic... Although, I guess Lala and Lyn weren't in our homeroom, huh?"

"You've been together since the beginning?" Lala looked at Tomoe with such child-like curiosity. [color=#6633ff][b]"That's so wonderful? How did you guys meet?" Her eyes of red like sparkling rubies as she put down her manga on her lap and waited for a response, in her head, she was already imagining such cliche imagies shown in those friendship movies.

[b]"I, uh..." Tomoe looked at the desk as if the answer were written there, "I guess we just all sat together and talked a lot. Oh, but Rosa always helped me with my work whenever I had troubles,"—Akako and Erin were snickering as if it were an understatement—"but Rosa was always so nice and smart and cool and smart and nice." Tomoe looked toward Akako. "Us three were BFFs until we met you, and then were were four BFFs. I, uh, kinda forget when we became friends with Erin, and I guess Rosa's good friends with Lyn as well, so... That's us now, right?" Tomoe pranced over toward Rosa and asked, "Is the flower done yet?"

Lala had a thoughtful expression on her face. [color=#CD5C5C]"I see..." Then, she looked back at Rosa who was still busy about the rose arrangement. She still has a bad feeling about all of this, but it does provide an outlet for Rosa. As her father would say, it was better out than in.

Rosa was bent over with her elbows on the desk and her hands on the sides of her face. She seemed to be getting frustrated. Rosa just couldn't feel that her message was getting across with this flower. It just wasn't matching her mental image, although she had only a vague idea of what that was. She made a low rumbling noise from the back of her throat. "How do I do this, how do I do this...?" Then it came to her, like a flash of enlightenment. She stood up and called, "Erin!" Erin was covering her mouth to try and cover up a repressed belch. She responded with a "Mmh-hm?" Rosa asked her, "Could you possibly help me out with this?" Erin nodded and quickly made her way across the room and stood right next to Rosa to look over the vase. She pressed her tongue to the side of her mouth where a small piercing was located. Then, with a subtle motion, Erin pushed the vase itself an inch to the right. Both girls then simultaneously brought their fists to their lips in a posture of consideration.

It was at this moment that Lala had the opportunity to ask what she had been meaning to, but never had the chance to. "Uhm, Tomoe-chan? Rosa-chan and Erin-chan are really in sync, aren't they?" She looked back at Tomoe and with a gentle smile. "Did all of you met just during freshmen year?" She really never had friends that hang out with like now. It is true that she was amiable to most, but connections with her are transient in nature, they never stick.

"Pretty much," Tomoe replied, "Although Rosa and Erin weren't always so agreeable. Would you believe it? Rosa and Erin used to fight all the time in the freshman year. Every time Erin opened her mouth, Rosa would be lecturing her or something. Oh, but then sometimes Erin would lecture, although normally she's kinda shy. I guess Erin's still a little shy, huh? I don't really have a clue as to why they didn't like each other so much, but apparently they knew each other from middle school, so maybe they had a misunderstanding or something? Either way, now that Rosa has tons of friends, Erin's become her friend as well. Erin doesn't talk much, but when she and Rosa are together—usually while all of us aren't around—they can go on for hours about the things they find cute or pretty. Erin might be a little scary, but she's an adorable little maiden on the inside, just like the rest of us!"

"Oohh..." Lala nodded her head in understanding as she listened to Tomoe's recount or more like opinion about Rosa and Erin. She looked at the said pair and even quirked her head to the side as she observed the two. The two looked really compatible with each other. Yes, as far as she was concerned, the group of them are friends, and she would like to consider them as good ones. This of course did not apply to Rosa and Erin in her honest gut-feeling. They were best of friends if both won't admit it or not. They know each other more than they would assume or admit to. It was endearing in her opinion. She was rather envious of that relationship and of course, she was also admiring it. "That's nice..."

Just as Tomoe was talking about it, Rosa and Erin were both in deep conversation, debating over whether the position of the vase or the orientation of the rose needed to be fixed. Both appeared to be putting in as much intellectual effort into their debate as possible, especially Erin, which was unusual for her, who rarely ever spoke much beyond a passing comment. Their debate was getting more heated, however, and Rosa was beginning to raise her voice and gesture wildly, while Erin was pounding her fist against the desk. Rosa stepped back and brought her hands out in the air. "Fine, you show me how its done." Erin shrugged as she shifted the vase to the center of the desk and adjusted it with the gentlest of motions. Then she stood back. Rosa stood and looked at it. "It's... It's good, it's very good. Thank you, Erin." Erin simply nodded her head and grabbed her soda from an adjacent desk to drink it, before placing it back down.

"A perfect message," Rosa announced, "to our dearest friends the Sawadas, who belong not in this life, but are better off to have passed on. Let us pray." Rosa brought her hands together, although as soon as she did, she brought her palms apart to consider something. "It's not finished, however..." Rosa approached the desk, and then with one swipe, knocked the plastic vase over. Erin was about to exclaim but she caught herself. "There," Rosa continued, "There's my message to the Sawadas. Screw them. They're presence, even in death, disgraces the very nature of our school morals and our disciplined, peaceful lives. They seek to cause nothing but chaos and anarchy in our school's perfect order. They are nothing but delinquents, rats among gerbils. If we do not exterminate them now, we will be swarmed by their impure kind. With this beautiful rose, I declare a war on imperfection!"

Erin was about to reach for her soda again when Rosa snatched it. Erin exclaimed, "Hey!" Rosa shook the can around, feeling how much of the fizzy, sticky drink was still in the can. It was a little over a quarter full. Rosa then proceeded to tip the can over and pour the contents of the drink on the desk and seat of Ieharu. Erin cried out, "I was drinking that!" After shaking the can out, Rosa then presented it back to Erin.

"Trash," Rosa told her. Erin stared at her. Rosa reiterated, "or rather, recycle." Erin appeared angry at first, but then her expression seemed to cool, turning into complete reservation. She didn't even grit her teeth or give an indignant sigh. Erin simply took the can and obediently walked to the corner of the room to throw it out.

Lala could not help but smile warmly at that before releasing a rather deep and thoughtful sigh. "Rosa-chan. Erin-chan, you two really get along well. It's refreshing to see." She was honestly giving her observation and a favorable one at her point of view. Then, she looked at what Rosa did to the desk and had a concerned expression. "But Rosa-chan, I still think this is a bad idea. It could have been just a misunderstanding." There was still the nagging feeling telling her that this whole skirmish might not do anyone good. She did already hear some rumors about how Ishiki was in the hospital and all. "Won't it be better, if we just talk to them. I know they would understand what wrong they did." She suggested then looked at Erin, it seems that they take each other's opinions into great consideration. "Don't you think so, Erin-chan? I just have this bad feeling."

"Screw 'em," Rosa and Erin said simultaneously. The girls shot glares at each other from across the room, although Erin's seemed to turn into a smirk, but then she averted Rosa's gaze. Tomoe giggled. "Well," Erin said, shrugging, "I guess Rosa should choose to do whatever she wants. She knows best, after all." The two girls appeared to have an unheard conversation as they stared at each other, consisting of side glances, lip pursing and eyebrow raising and furrowing. Rosa appeared to end it with a smirk.

"Well, clearly, our peaceful order is not upheld by violence," Rosa began to explain, the hypocrisy and blatant lies hanging over her like a swarm of yellowjacket wasps, "yet our enemies are still opaque to us. We do not know if they are capable of diplomacy, which is not worth the risk. After all, I don't know what I'd do if any of my girls..."–she narrowly avoided the word 'friends'–"...were hurt at all, like poor Ishiki. That said, Lala has a point. These boys just may be capable of intelligent thought, and the...direct approach in dealing with them may not be the most ideal one. More people are going to be hurt after all. We have a better method for dealing with their type."

And here it was, the Rosa-brand perfect solution for dealing with 'threats'. Step Number One was Stigmatisizing, or marking a target, which Rosa has accomplished with her lovely little flower. This message that she sent was less meant for the boys themselves and more for everybody else; that this person had become an enemy of Rosa. Even the most introverted student knew that being Rosa's enemy meant you became a public enemy. After all, who in their right mind would think they are more just than Rosa and not expect to be riddiculed by their friends. Likewise, those that didn't ridicule their friends for subverssive thoughts were bound to be riddiculed as well.

Step Number Two: Alienation; "First off, we should keep others informed, warn them of how dangerous these boys are. Perhaps we can minimalize the amount of incidents involving these boys by making sure nobody gets too close to them. Make sure to let your friends know that these boys are too dangerous. If they ever make any attempt to associate with them, be it talking, inclusion in activities or even just seemingly polite gestures, make sure to remind them of how troublesome the boys are, and also of the possible conesquences for such associations. After all, they might be in trouble with their own friends if they're also friends with such dangerous people."

Step Number Three: Humiliation; "Still, it's going to be so depressing to have these sorts of people around. I'm sure we're all feeling rather anxious with these big elephants in the school, but I'm sure that can be dealt with. After all, maybe Lala is right, and maybe we are capable of laughing with these boys. I'm sure with them being new to the school, they aren't aware of our... what should we call it? Prank culture?" Tomoe, Akako and Erin simultaneously giggled. "Yeah, our Namimori-styled jokes. We'll be sure to have all kinds of fun with these boys, and no doubt, everybody else will too. No prank is too far if it's all in good fun after all. Soon, we won't even have to be scared of the Sawadas anymore, we'll just laugh."

Step Number Four: Vilification; "Of course, we can't forget about how little we know of the true nature of these boys. That's why it's up to us to find out everything we can about them. We must track their every move and every previous step they've ever taken. If they have any dark hidden secrets, we must bring them to the light of day so that they may become common knowledge. In order to keep our shining crystal diamond clear, even the most disgusting of imperfections must be found."...in order to be cut out.

Rosa's multi-part method worked without failure. It was adaptable and worked on forces much more powerful than one person could muster alone, the power of socialogy. Sow the seeds of hate and beautiful flowers of perfection will bloom, like the one which lay on the desks of Ieyoshi and Ieharu. Rosa could see it now; Ieharu's desk covered in prayers, "Loser," "Delinquent," "Pervert," "Disgusting," "Go away, underwear pervert," "Go home," "Don't even come to school," "Nobody likes you," "Die," Die. That image hung in Rosa's head. She knew exactly how it looked on a desk with black marker. Rosa had seen it many times before. The image of being absolutely abhorred, Rosa loved and hated seeing it.

When it came to what must be done, Lala knew that Rosa had everything planned to her desires. Lala hadn't actually seen any decisions that Rosa had made turn into folly since they became friends. That was why Lala had no doubt when it cane to what Rosa wanted. Yet, there was this gnawing alarm inside of her that told her to warn Rosa or at the most just prevent this all from happening. There was something about this situation that was different from the previous ones. As if, something more than the everyday normal life can handle, like this reality of theirs would shatter and they won't be pleased about it. At the moment, Lala didn't want that. She was happy with everyone around her. It was true that their was some negativity coming from the other students when it came to Rosa's way of doing things. But, she knew there were far more positive outcomes for it. Still, she couldn't shake this feeling.

"In any case," Rosa continued, noticing she was being stared at during her pause, "Our current business in this here is finished. Come girls, let us depart from this..." Rosa looked toward the desk, where the flower lay, "...depressing environment. We have other important things after all, like our little plan for today's lunch." Instantly, all the other girls' expressions lit up in excitement. Rosa looked around at each of them, spread around the room, including the unfamiliar pink-haired one. She was quietly sitting at a desk, like she had been when she entered the room, with red earbuds on while she was dazing off, only now she was staring directly at Rosa. Was she listening the entire time? It was hard to tell seeing as she had earbuds on, but nonetheless, her eyes were trained on Rosa with an expression that seemed otherwise disinterested. Could she possibly have been a friend of the twins? "You," Rosa commanded, directed at the spectator who may or may not have been listening to her, "You better not repeat anything you may have heard here, got it?" If the girl was stupid and didn't know the consequences of disobeying her, well, Rosa wouldn't have to worry anyway. The pink-hair girl simply made a curt nod, before going back to her own devices.

"Rosa-chan, let's just be careful, okay?" Lala noted with a kind and gentle smile toward Rosa, before she looked toward the pink-haired girl and waved at her. "Thank you!" She then followed the rest while taking one final look at the flower on the desk then took a deep breath as she hoped everything would be fine... Yes, hopefully.

Upon the exit of the junior girls, the pink-haired girl stood up and began to search for paper towels.

---

tachythetabbycat: Hey, is any1 online yet?

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daft_E: ya im here
daft_E: but y do we have to use this when we r barley meters a way?

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MrsMachiavelli: Is everyone in their positions?

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daft_E: barely*
daft_E: stupid auto correct
daft_E: yea im ready

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Lyndis_theThird: I'm already, ready!

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tachythetabbycat: cant wait for the bread!
tachythetabbycat: lol, Akako's not answering us

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LADYROSE: I'm here!
LADYROSE: just telling this loser to gtfo, because he's compromising Rosa's plan

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MrsMachiavelli: Alright, everybody is accounted for.
MrsMachiavelli: Just to make sure you all remember the plan, please repeat it to me.

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tachythetabbycat: again?!

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LADYROSE: I'm with the MAA club at the very front, but it's sort of annoying how they're all surrounding me
LADYROSE: apparently they're doing whatever I say for the sake of consoling me over my loss of Ishiki
LADYROSE: but I know they all know I dumped his ass, lol

---

tachythetabbycat: lol

---

LADYROSE: so there going to get the Ares bread for me.

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MrsMachiavelli: They're*
MrsMachiavelli: Erin, I assume you are confident in your plan to obtain the Hera bread.

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daft_E: yea im good
daft_E: trust me that nobody is going 2 dare 2 touch that bread but me

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LADYROSE: We can barley even read your texts

---

daft_E: barely*
daft_E: Rosa thx for getting me cream soda

---

MrsMachiavelli: Indeed.
MrsMachiavelli: I made sure that Lyndis would be secured a seat near the Apollo bread.

---

Lyndis_theThird: Easy peasy to get. Last time was so simple!
Lyndis_theThird: Knock out everyone! Take the br3Ad!

---

MrsMachiavelli: Naturally, her victory was solely thanks to her luck, and her looks.
MrsMachiavelli: Not even a savage would dare lay a finger on her after all.

---

LADYROSE: What about them?
LADYROSE: those terrible twins
LADYROSE: what if they turn all crazy again?

---

tachythetabbycat: lol
tachythetabbycat: and strip to their underwear and catch their hair on fire wwwww

---

MrsMachiavelli: I know how to deal with them, but I doubt they'll matter in this conflict.
MrsMachiavelli: Tomoe, I hope you haven't forgotten your job.
MrsMachiavelli: Tomoe?

---

tachythetabbycat: I know! helping u setting up tripwires between the tables
tachythetabbycat: also u told me 2 show off my new pickpocketing skills on every1s wallets
tachythetabbycat: they cant buy bread w/o money lol

---

daft_E: hey rosa
daft_E: u ok?
daft_E: u look stiff

---

MrsMachiavelli: I'm perfectly fine.
MrsMachiavelli: Remember to look out for the Hokage, the Mad Hatter and the Ghost.

---

tachythetabbycat: hey look, its almost time!

---

LADYROSE: LMAO did you see that dumbass?

---

daft_E: he stole my idea
daft_E: but got rekt

---

MrsMachiavelli: Prepare yourselves, girls.
MrsMachiavelli: Let us enter this Battle Royale with the mandate of heaven on our side.
MrsMachiavelli: For the bread of the gods belongs to us alone, and we shall claim it all!

With that final proclamation fresh in the mind of the girls, they all pocketed their BluScreens and went straight to their intended destinations. They firmly believed that nothing would stop them. After all, Rosa had told them what to do, and as long as they followed Rosa's command, they would never fail as it almost never failed them before. Besides, Rosa wasn't so foolish as to not leave room for error. No, the girls were well aware of what their Plan B was, but whether they had to resort to it would depend on how well they did individually. Here was where Rosa's social network would shine.

As long as Rosa still held the mandate of heaven.

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

Interesting.

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

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

"Eeww," Ieyoshi muttered under his breath.

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

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

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

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

Ieyoshi shrugged. "I guess."

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"50. Half!"

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

"Then 30! Don't be unfair!"

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

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

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

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

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

"B-b-but—!"

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

"Wait!"

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

"Then fight me, ya lil' bitch!"

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

Dammit, Ieyoshi! Dammit dammit dammit!

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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

In this school, the Bread Wars had very little to do with bread. It was about dominance. Much like a sport, this 'war' was a show of one's greatness over their peers, regardless of standing. Kings and idiots fought on equal terms. Indeed, although the pristine Godbread was a prize to behold, there was much disgusting chaos that needed to be wreaked in order to get it. Rosa hated it, but in this case, she wasn't afraid to get her hands even a little dirty if it meant exacting dominance wherever it hadn't already been exacted.

Rosa glanced at her BluScreen Lite—that had been bought the evening before—which gave her a whole overview of the battlefield before her, including the locations of all her allies. She didn't stare at it too long, however. It was just a little guide to give her an overhead view, but Rosa trusted her own eyes the most. Standing close to the register, like a bird of prey on the watch, Rosa kept close tabs on everything in front of her and kept track of not only her allies locations and the locations of the bread, but precisely what every single student was doing at once, keeping close attention on them all. This wasn't a skill Rosa was born with, but it was what truly marked Rosa as a rightful ruler, for like the almost legendary Prince Shoutoku, Rosa had the ability to listen to over ten people at a time and deal with them all accordingly.

Among her immediate allies, it appeared many of them were highly occupied. Erin looked as if she had completely forgotten about her mission to get the bread, but Rosa was not offended in the least. She appeared to be making an effort to be especially showy, so she must have remembered Plan B. Besides, she had pretty much defeated a former winner's chances of winning again. Rosa had to make sure they weren't any more remarkable than herself and maintain the highest win rate. She would not be bested here.

Akako seemed nearly uncontested, albeit she wasn't doing much beyond cheering on the boys around her. It was almost scary how convincing her shallow guise could be. The guys of the MAA seemed to be tearing up anybody who contested them and almost nobody dared approach what appeared to be the strongest group in the room. Although they moved slowly as a group, it seemed they had nearly no issue in securing the Apollobread, likely by picking it off one of the other kids. Akako seemed almost disgustingly contented with the bread in her arms, which the boys fell for completely, and she appeared to be inspiring some sort of competition between the boys as she stuck closely to the shortest among them. They were eager to prove themselves by retrieving another bread, but something seemed to get between them.

Specifically, a white-haired first year student. Apparently caught up in her own character, Akako made a girly yelp in surprise. This had an almost immediate effect on the boys around her, as they were quick to push him away. However, the boy avoided them effortlessly with a large grin on his face. He seemed a little too happy to be fighting the large group of MMA members, weaving in and out with a bright gleam in his eyes as he took them on with ease that implied experience which belied his age, clearly heading towards Akako. Rosa gritted her teeth. A problem child, she thought. Rosa was definitely paying attention to his display of combat prowess, although bread didn't seem to be his immediate goal. Nonetheless, he went from being a neutral party to an obstacle. Perhaps she would need an intervention.

Meanwhile, Tomoe and Lala were both doing as instructed. Tomoe was everywhere, going this place and that, whereas Lala was making a valiant effort to get the bread. Rosa was debating whether or not those two should have changed tactics yet or not, but with a new obstacle appearing, Rosa knew exactly how to deal with it. Rosa whistled and immediately, a pig-tailed head popped out from between the desks, not unlike an excited puppy, and she awaited her order. Rosa gave out a very simple command: "Clean Akako's fingers!" With a nod, Tomoe sunk back under the desks and into the unknown.

Rosa also was paying close attention attention to the locations of the breads. The Herabread, which Erin was tasked to receive, seemingly disappeared. Nobody knew who had it. Okay, more like everybody knew who had it. The shouts about the Ghost from the amateur announcing corner still rung in Rosa's ears. Of course, nobody knew where the Ghost was. Like a ghost, he had disappeared from the public eye. Yet, Rosa was not to be played for the fool. She saw the blue-haired kid sneaking around, and knew fully-well what he was capable of. How he managed to sneak one of the breads in the last conflict was almost impressive to Rosa, but Rosa could easily observe what techniques he was using this time, looping this way and that much like a fox that was avoiding the hounds. This hawk's eyes were not to be deceived however. Rosa made sure she would be in the perfect position to intercept the boy.

Chester was heading toward the counter after circling in the crowd several times to make sure that he left all those that might be tailing him behind. It was always better to cover one's tracks first before directly going to the place where they might be waiting, the counter. He completely gave up reading the crowd then, the many 'wave lengths' of the people were distracting at best. As such, he noticed Rosa's attack far too late.

"Ah!" Much like a bird of prey, Rosa appeared to swoop toward Chester in an instant, her hand reaching out in an attempt to grab at his shirt. Chester took a step back and to the side, just enough for her to miss as he turned around, trying his best to look for a path back into the milling crowd of students. However, he was caught by surprise when he felt something sharp, like a few fishing lines, stopping him in his tracks and focusing his attention on Rosa again. It was the queen of the school, everyone knew and respected her. Well, the ones who actually have a social circle do. He had always watched with a kind of horrified fascination as she weeded out those who didn't agree with her, but he was certain that he had hidden himself well enough to be considered normal, if not weak. "Mine," was all Rosa bothered to say before closing in the distance between herself and the boy, her fingers splayed.

Trying to back away once again, Chester winced when he felt the sharp strings digging into his flesh. His eyes darted over the crowd toward Ryuu, for any help that he can get. However, Ryuu was still locked in battle. He needed to buy some time, at least enough to distract her. "What's yours?" He asked, feigning innocence. Rosa reached out to place her hand on Chester's chest, causing his eyes to widen as he crossed his arms defensively over the bread under his jacket. "You want my body?" Rosa didn't respond and forcibly reached toward the area Chester was protecting. As he resisted, Rosa closed her other hand into a fist and moved to backwards, causing him to feel that sharp feeling again on the back of his neck, causing him to weaken for a short second.

Forcibly, Rosa pushed Chester onto a table, bringing her clenched hand over Chester's neck to hold him as she struggled with Chester's arms. Biting his lip, Chester locked his arms in place, resistant to Rosa's pulling. He wasn't going to give up the bread that easily, not after Ryuu's efforts. Rosa frowned at Chester's resistance and with a stoic expression on her face, she brought both her hands around Chester's neck and began to apply force. Chester let out a short gasp, feeling his air supply cut short. "What are you... Doing?" He choked out, though his arms didn't move an inch. Rosa didn't respond, at least not verbally. What she did, however, was press further on Chester's wind pipe, gritting her teeth with effort as she did so, and even unconsciously smirking.

All Rosa had to do was weaken the boy and his ability to grip onto the bread and very soon, it would end up in the correct hands. Of course, she would have no interruptions. This kid did very well to completely lose everybody else who was trying to track him, so nobody would be paying anymore special attention to the two. All this chaos that Rosa disliked so much worked to her benefit, as everybody was either dead set on their goals or they were paying attention to where the real action was occuring. Erin was definitely contributing to that. After all, nobody would truly care for the well-being of a nobody. That was just the natural order of things, the order that Rosa had adapted to and learned to manipulate in her own favor, as if it were palpable.

Just as Rosa had intended, Chester's efforts at resisting her were becoming weaker. A sort of mania was in the back of her mind, a drive for the bread. Very soon, it would be hers, but truthfully, it had been fated to be hers from the beginning, and she was just going through the motions. Afterall, the mandate of Heaven was still on her side, correct?