1.1
In a certain high school, there was a secret organisation that was masked and concealed from the general public, presumably hidden away in some deep, murky alcove of the school building. This organisation was no mere organisation by any means of normalcy, for it was comprised of enigmatic characters in Medieval Knight suits whose intentions and objectives are as good as anybody's guess. Never would it have occurred to the innocent Freid that he would soon be be caught up in the conspiracies revolving around the school and that his peaceful days were about to be taken away from him; It all started one day when he was in the 'Video Games' clubroom after school...
Freid was a pretty typical and all-rounded student at Inseki High, a relatively prestigious institute in the district. With his substandard grades in middle school, it was unthinkable that he would be admitted into a school as such. When the club was established two years ago, it was formed under the principle of research and development of Japanese video games, when in truth it was nothing more but a facade created to brazenly smuggle gaming consoles to school. In compliance with the school rules, a club needed to have a minimum member strength of five and more to be considered legitimate. Unfortunately the upperclassmen have since graduated last year, and the only members left in the club exclusive of himself are Terumi and Rozenne. It was only a matter of time before the cover gets blown and the faculty decides to shut the club down.
Freid scanned through the library of games on the towering, wooden shelf at the side of the room and settled with 'BlastBlue', a 2D anime fighter that was all the rage in the arcade scenes recently. Ten minutes later after brushing off the accumulated dust from the negligence of the machine, he was into the game.
Why do I always get to do the cleaning, anyway?
Hokuman, a cyborg ninja wielding a gargantuan two-handed sword sword was his character of choice. Expertly inputting the commands on the joystick with ease, the AI was sent flying into the air from a dash-uppercut and the enemy character on-screen started moaning in pain while being assaulted aerially.
"Help! Help me!"
...What the hell? That wasn't from the game.
Freid had the game on pause while he pricked up his ears. The fervent cry momentously grew louder by the second, adding only to the increasing suspense. He stood up and just as he was about to approach the door it swung open abruptly, catching him by complete shock.
WHAM!
The door slammed shut just as soon as it was opened and a girl stood before him, panting like an obese man who had just completed a marathon.
"Y-You've got to save me!", the girl cried while pausing to catch her own breath.
Freid simply stood there in a stupor, staring at her with unmoving eyes. It was as though someone had cast a mute spell on him, for he could not utter so much as a single word when he opened his mouth. This girl standing before him was stunningly beautiful. Her long, flowing hair was tied up in a high ponytail, and her shapely, crimson eyes glimmered in the tenebrosity of the room. The black stockings under the notably short skirt of hers assisted in exuding the image of an anime schoolgirl.
It was as if she were a character that had been brought to life into the 3D realm...!
In the midst of Freid's somewhat perverted thoughts, he felt someone shaking him on the shoulders.
"H-Hey! Get a hold of yourself!"
The girl's face was merely inches away from his when he regained his senses, her watery eyes an expression of concern.
"WHOA!"
Freid fell clumsily backwards from the surprise and stumbled on the chair he had been sitting on earlier, creating a huge commotion. In reaction of this, the gruff voices of a group of men could be vaguely heard in the vicinity outside of the clubroom.
"Shhh! They'll hear us! Isn't there somewhere to hide in here?!"
The girl glanced around hastily and then dashed behind a mountainous pile of empty video game boxes with the agility of a fox.
"I was never here, got that?"
Before Freid had the chance to reply in his stunned state, the door burst open once more and a group of male students swarmed in in seconds. It was reminiscent of a scene played out from some military film, where soldiers stormed into the building for an assault.
"Did Sakureno-sama pass by here?"
...So that's her name, but what's with the 'sama' prefix attached to it?
"I'm sorry, but no one has entered this room since classes ended. I was alone in this room all along."
Achoo~!
What the hell?!
"It came from behind those boxes, boss!"
"What was that?!"
"T-That was my stomache! Aha-hahaha!"
"You're hiding something from me alright!", the leader of the group barked as he marched towards the stack of boxes.
Shit! I've got to do something about this fast! Anything!
"YOU CAN'T GO NEAR THERE!", Freid yelled at the top of his voice like he was going to be castrated involuntarily.
The group of men flinched, their legs rooted to the spot for a brief couple of seconds before turning to look at him.
"And why not?"
"B-Because... that's... that's my hidden stash of... EROGES!"
I can't believe I just said that. Looks like I've gone ahead and tarnished whatever little reputation I've had in this school. Goodbye, my teenage life...
"E-Eroges?!"
"Y-Yes! Please don't tell anyone what you saw in here! I can't have the teachers knowing about this – they'll expel me!", I pleaded fervently.
"But I didn't see anything though..."
"Better yet! Now hurry along... the person you are searching for might get away even as we are speaking!"
"Duh... Y-You have a point! Retreat, troops!"
Leaving a trail of dust in their wake, the bright group of guys scurried away as expeditiously as they had entered through the entrance. Freid exhaled deeply in relief and then turned to look in the direction where the girl named Sakureno was hidden. The girl had now come out of hiding after sensing that the mob had departed. Brushing off the dust on her garments, she straightened her uniform and spoke.
"You saved me."
"Hey, couldn't you have suppressed that sneeze? I almost got done in back there!"
"Ehe, sorry I couldn't help it. This room is just waay too dusty. Ah, for the sake of introduction, my name's Sakureno of class 2-A."
"..."
Haven't I heard this name somewhere before...?
"Hey, is that BlastBlue you're playing?"
"Don't go touching the stuff in this room on your own now!"
"Hehe, well. I've got to run now. I'm sure we'll bump into each other again, umm..."
"The name is Freid. I'm from class 2-B."
"...Right. See ya!"
With an innocent smile, the girl made her exit as Freid watched her back disappear into the corridor.
Who were those guys chasing after her, and for what reason?
As Freid sat there pondering, trying to recall whence he had heard the name from before, the outside sky had turned dark without his realization.
He packed up and headed home promptly.
1.2
"Thanks for saving me earlier, though it was rather unneeded seeing as how I could've handled them by my own."
"Oh reaally. You were on the verge of wetting your pants just earlier ago, bwahaha!"
While en route to school this morning, Freid ran into a pack of yankees who attempted to extort from him. Being the full of justice do-gooder he thought he was from all the superhero shows like The Slime Rangers he had been exposed to, he put up a defiant stance and threw his yakisoba pan at the delinquents. Long story short, they were pissed. Just when the realization that he was about to get socked in the nose dawned upon him, a black, ominous figure whose features were shrouded in dark, misty clouds emerged from behind and shredded the delinquents into a bazillion pieces of flesh (that was the mental image Freid had). And now that demonic creature was sitting across the desk from Freid in the personification of a beautiful, high school girl.
"Hm, I expected no less from the Demon Queen.", the guy sitting beside her commented, calmly sipping his Oolong Tea in an old fashioned teacup.
Terumi and Rozenne were close childhood friends of Freid's. It was quite the contrasting sight, for while Terumi was composed and silent, Rozenne was of a more boisterous and rambunctious nature. She was every bit the looker, with her dark brown hair tied up in twintails and a face comparable to a model's. Had it not been for her crazy demeanor the boys would be fawning all over her.
"Violence doesn't solve everything, you know. Not everyone's a barbarian like you."
"W-W-What?! A barbarian, you say?!", Rozenne's face flushed into a bright red. The kind of red that was not of embarrassment, but rather if your dad was looking at your report book . She lunged forward and strangled Freid with one of her trademark armlocks, inciting a series of amusing expressions on his countenance.
"Oopphff... I... can't... breathe! Help me out Terumi, will you?!"
Terumi continued drinking his tea without the slightest hint of change in his expression. The exposed corners of his lips were ever so slightly arched upwards, and one would not have noticed it had he not observed in detail.
That bastard was clearly enjoying this...!
"Nice to see you both acting all lovey-dovey in the morning.", Terumi finally spoke.
"L-L-Lo... WHAT?!", Rozenne got all flustered and jerked even harder, tightening his grip on Freid's scrawny neck twofold.
"OOPPPHHHFF!"
"He's my... my... slave! That's right! My S-L-A-V-E, you got that?"
"Ah, the Demon Queen's subordinate. Of course. They always have one of those in fantasy novels, don't they?"
"Y-Yeah. So long as you understand!"
"Will... you...oophff... LET GO OF ME, YOU CRAZY BITCH! I'm dying here!"
With a grunt of dissatisfaction, Rozenne finally released her armlock on Freid as he collapsed flopping onto the floor as if he were a fish on dry land. Clasping his neck with both palms, he wriggled vigorously and started mumbling in incoherence.
"Looks like he's having a seizure or something.", Terumi said plainly without once turning to look at him.
"My windpipe... I-It's broken!"
It all seemed like the typical day for the trio, having fun together (well maybe only the two of them) in the classroom on a fine, sunny day. All was peaceful and harmonious, I mean, it was skeptical that anything bad could happen on a day as chirpy as this. No fights breaking out with any of the male students, no hurricanes or earthquakes...
*Drrrrr*
Then the ground trembled.
"Hey, did you guys feel that?", Freid inquired.
"Oh, god. Not again.", Rozenne rolled her eyes.
"W-What's going on?"
"I-It's Sakureno-sama!", one of the classmates blurted out finally, and the class broke out into a massive uproar. Everone rushed towards the front door in a stampede, abandoning all sense of rationale as they knocked over chairs and obstacles that stood in their way. For a moment Freid envisioned Armageddon, then he shook his head and came to his senses.
What on earth is going on?
"You're not about to tell me that you've become one of her fans, are you?", Rozenne shot him a spiteful glare.
"Huh? One of whose fans?"
"Oh, NOW you're playing dumb."
"I swear! I don't know who you're talking about!"
"Sakureno of class 2-A.", Terumi pushed up the rim of his spectacles with his index finger.
"The female idol and babe of our school. She has enough worshippers to build an army of her own – in fact, this entire school just may as well have been reconstructed into a shrine dedicated to her fandom!"
"Err, what?"
Was there someone of such status here in our school?
As much as it piqued his curiosity, Freid was unable to see anything across the frenzied mob who had every possible inch of the space area covered with their heads constantly bobbing back and forth. In the confusion of the crowd, a girl emerged from within, barely edging her way through.
"H-Hey! You're-"
"Ah, it's Freid, isn't it!"
The entire classroom fell into a dead silence. Mixed eyes of contempt, envy, and mostly perplexity darted across the room at Freid. It was one of those generic 'time-has-stopped' moments of awkwardness, before Sakureno broke the ice and spoke up.
"You do remember me, don't you?"
"S-Sakureno-san, was it?"
"That's right! You do remember me after all!"
"EHHHHH~?" The classroom exclaimed in unison.
"I happened to pass by and I thought I'd drop in, ehe. Oh, about what you were doing the other day - I wouldn't mind playing a game or two with you sometime when I'm free!"
"WHAAAAAAT? PLAY? PLAY WHAT? This is unforgivable!" The crowd grew hysterical, making a huge ruckus.
"It's not like that at all! Don't go saying such misleading things will you!"
"Well, see you after school then, Freid!", and with that parting sentence, Sakureno made her exit through the crowd.
"Who the hell is this guy? I'll fucking kill him!"
"S-Sakureno-sama's chastity is at stake! We have to protect her from this lustful beast!"
Damn, I've got to think of a way to calm the mob down!
"Frrrrreeeeeiiiiid... …." Rozenne hissed menacingly as she marched steadily towards him.
"I-In my defence-"
"Sooo, you 'don't know who i'm talking about', do you..."
"Arghhh, no! NOOO!"
The unspeakable horror that ensued would soon scar Freid's very soul for life, and bring shudders upon reminiscence for the many years to come.
1.3
The aftermath of the awkward encounter with Sakureno in the classroom stirred up nothing but misfortune for Freid. It all began during Japanese classes the next morning - Nadeshiko-sensei, the homeroom as well as Japanese language teacher had called him to read out a passage from the textbook. He rummaged through his school bag and took out the book, when he felt something gooey stick on his hands.
"What is this greenish, slimy crap?"
The interior of the book was smeared with a vicious goo which emanated an odour so foul and lethal it qualified to be a weapon of chemical warfare. Disgusted at the revelation, Freid attempted to separate the pages apart but succumbed to his patience and ripped one of the pages apart inadvertently.
"Freid, I believe I asked you the read the book, not tear it.", Nadeshiko-sensei said coldly while squinting his eyes at him.
"I-It's not like that at all!"
As a consequence of that he was made to read out the entire chapter from the book. Later during lunch, Freid was aghast to open up his bento box and find his food topped with a layer of pencil shavings on it. It was quite the humorous sight, at least for Rozenne, who was hammering the desk repeatedly and guffawing unreservedly like some deranged patient rejoicing at his successful attempt in sneaking out of the asylum.
"Bwahahaha! I have to commend you on the novelty in your cooking this time, hahaha!"
"Just can it before I decide to transfer my 'handiwork' to your lunchbox..."
"Oh, but you wouldn't dare.", Rozenne let out a giggle.
After gym classes in shorts that had a sizeable hole cut in the rear, a depressed Freid headed to the vending machine by the stairway and purchased a can of coffee to drink. Seriously, who could have done such vile and morbid pranks on him? He pondered over this, trying to recall if he had offended anyone lately while taking a sip of his coffee.
Who were the culprits? The only people who have demonstrated any hostility towards me as of late... wait, those avid fans of Sakureno? Would they really go that far?
"Excuse, would you happen to be Freid of class 2-B?"
Interrupted on his chain of thoughts, Freid was a little startled before he turned to look at the two male students standing behind him.
"Um, yes. Who might you guys be?"
"Great. Would you kindly follow us? There's something we want to show you."
"Huh? Uh... sure."
It was a pretty suspicious affair and Freid thought better than to follow a bunch of strangers, but curiosity got the better of him and he decided to follow them anyway. The trio proceeded up a series of stairs, and just as Freid was about to ask where they were headed to they had reached the final floor. One of the men opened the creaky metal door that led to the balcony, inviting in a transient flash of blinding light before they entered.
The infinite and azure sky was in full sight, unobstructed by any human constructions as the afternoon breeze comfortably swept past Freid's hair. From atop of the building he had a bird's-eye view of everything that was going on around in the academy, and it was quite the sight to behold.
"So, what's the big surprise?", Freid asked as he turned around.
But before he could completely, a dark cloth bag was draped over his head forcefully and instantaneously. His arms were restrained by one of the men, while the other worked on tightening the knot on the cloth bag.
"W-What the hell?"
Freid struggled in futility as he kicked his legs around, inciting one or two yelps of pain from the man restraining him. After that, it was all over. Freid was struck on the back of his head with what felt like a metal baseball bat that resounded with a *THKANG!l, before he collapsed onto the cold cement floor, still and unconscious.
When Freid regained his bearings, he found himself tied up in a dark room with walls that were painted a bleak black. The walls were decorated with an organised array of candlelights with a large, crimson curtain drawn over the windows that prevented the entrance of any sunlight, rendering the room to be even gloomier than it had originally been. It was kind of reminiscent of Dracula's castle, whatwith the eerie, gothic atmosphere that encompassed the surroundings. Freid was seated across a long, conference table on one end with the side seats occupied by a dozen men. Or a dozen men in dark, european knight suits.
What... the... hell?
K-Knights! Medieval Knights of the Middle Ages! Flabbergasted, overwhelmed and agape, his mind was blown. He didn't even know whether if he was still in Japan anymore. None of the recent events made any sense to him whatsoever. Not the sick pranks that he had been constantly assailed with, not the kidnapping nor the dozen of unknown men in knight suits seated before him, and most certainly not the enormous, gigantic portrait of Sakureno in a mizugi outfit hung on the wall right across the room.
"What the... fuck?"
"Hm, so you've noticed."
A deep, resounding voice boomed from across the conference table. Presumably the leader of this nonsensical charade, the man spun his armchair around to face Freid. His towering stature was clad fully in an ebony black armor that gleamed in the darkness of the room. A majestic, bright red cloak was draped across his broad, masculine shoulders, and his helmet was of a different design with an equally bright red crest resting on the top.
At this point of time, two possibilities occurred to Freid. One, these guys were just a bunch of goofy cosplayers. Two, he was in deep shit.
"That, is the wallpaper of the week." The man stood up as he shoved a gargantuan two-handed broadsword with a grisly-looking skull attached to the cross-guard to the ground, forming a crevice on the earth.
H-H-Hey, there's no way that could be a real sword, now could it? That's definitely a bona-fide weapon! Just what kind of illegal organisation did I get myself involved with?!
"W-Wallpaper?"
"Allow me to introduce myself. I am Crimson, the captain of the 'Hana no Yojinbo'.", the man said while advancing towards Freid.
Hana no Yojinbo? What kind of shady name is that? Freid contemplated the possibility of these guys being affiliated with the Yakuza while he stared intently at the knight named Crimson, waiting for him to continue.
"We are an organisation that serves to protect Sakureno-sama's... interests, you could say. All who seek to taint our great, immaculate idol shall be felled by my righteous blade!", Crimson bellowed, raising the humongous blade effortlessly with a single arm and swung it downwards, directing the tip at Freid.
"YOU!"
"Hiiii! Y-Y-Yes!"
"I know... what you did."
"I-I don't know what you're talking about!"
*KRASHHH!
The blade swooped down, landing merely inches away from where he was seated, inciting an explosion of debris that scattered in all directions. Freid was stunned beyond the ability of comprehension, thinking that he was well on his way to meet his maker. Slowly and gradually, some indication of change revivified his inanimate face, as his legs began to wobble uncontrollably at the trauma.
"W-W-What the hell!", he managed to sputter.
"Consider that... a warning. As much as the devil in me beckons to gut every single last one of your entrails for my mastication, the rules of this academy forbid me from doing so."
School rules? What school rules? Murder is a felony! Does this moron have any common sense at all?!
"I'm reporting all you madmen to the police!", Freid yelled in exasperation.
Just then he felt a tug coming from his arms that were tied up behind the chair. The ropes... were being undone!
"Hurhurhur, I hope my message has been clear to you... Freid.", Crimson chuckled in a deep tone.
As soon as the ropes were fully undone, Freid dispelled every other thought and sprinted towards the exit like his life depended on it. This was going to be the last he would see of these lunatics, or so he thought. Slamming the door shut behind him, his eyes registered familiarity in the new surroundings. Realization kicked in, and thereafter acceptance. He was in the hallways of the fifth floor of his very own school building. Blinking hard, he turned around to look at the sign hanging above the door.
It was written 'Student Council Room'.
1.4
School had ended the following day. As the beeline of students scurried through the school gates in the orange glow of the sunset, the furious clicking of joystick buttons could be heard in the still of the clubroom.
"You're finished!"
Rozenne burst out abruptly, jamming on the controls in rapidity. Freid's in-game character collapsed onto the floor with a moan as the words 'K.O' flashed across the screen. The two childhood friends were at it again, pitting against each other in the game of BlastBlue. However, that wasn't the main purpose of their gathering in the clubroom. Terumi had revealed that there would be a new member joining the club, and instructed them both to wait for him there after school.
"My, my, can't you do any better than that? Although, I must applaud you for lasting this long against an opponent as skilled as I... bwahaha!" Rozenne laughed tauntingly.
"You know, I would really appreciate it if you went easier on the controls... you're the reason everything in this room gets damaged and I always end up having to pay for them."
"Did you just say something?"
"N-Nothing."
Damn that bitch, always threatening me like that!
In the two years Freid had been acquainted with Rozenne, he had come to realize what outrageous and demented manner of a person she was. Once, she brazenly marched into the cafeteria kitchen and blew up the entire pot of stew just because the taste wasn't to her liking. The kitchen was left in a state of utter chaos after that, and just how exactly she managed to get away unpunished mystifies one til this very day. With this knowledge in mind together with the desire to survive (in the term's literal sense) through high school, Freid knew better than to cross her path.
"Sorry to make you guys wait."
The door opened and Terumi strolled in.
"Oohh, you're finally here! I had gotten so bored from thrashing Freid that I almost wanted to hang him upside down from the ceiling!"
"What...?"
"So where's this newbie you spoke of?", Rozenne grinned eagerly.
It was probably just Freid's imagination, but he thought there was a devious hint in that smile of hers, almost as if she had found someone new whom she could put her maniacal and torturous schemes to exercise.
"Right. You may come in now, Sakureno.", Terumi spoke in the direction of the door.
If this was a scene from a comic book, Freid's jaw would literally be touching the floor now. His expression turned into one of bewilderment and utter disbelief as the girl made her entrance slowly before stopping to flash a smile at Freid. It was indeed the Sakureno in person.
"Y-Y-You! YOU'RE the new member?!", Rozenne snapped.
"Hi, I'm Sakureno from class 2-A. It is my pleasure to make your acquaintance."
"What is the meaning of this?!", Rozenne turned and shot at Terumi.
"The more the merrier right? More importantly, the club will be disbanded should the faculty get wind of our shortage in member strength. We wouldn't want that now, would we?"
"I-I'm not approving of this!"
As Freid looked on wordlessly at the commotion going on, flashbacks of the encounter with the sinister organization known as the Hana no Yojinbo swirled in his mind. If word ever got out that Sakureno has gone and joined the same club as he did, god knows the degree of destruction it would entail! Having any sort of connection even in the remotest sense would be the last thing he would want to do.
"N-NO! I ABSOLUTELY FORBID IT!", Freid burst out unconsciously.
"Wha...?"
Everyone turned to look at Freid, shocked at the sudden outburst. Seconds passed as they waited for some kind of a response, before Freid finally came to realise with what he had just done.
"E...Eh? Uh, I mean..."
"Hmm. Is there something bothering you?", Terumi asked inquisitively, sensing that there was more to what it seemed.
There's no way I would consent to this! She's like a walking time-bomb that could detonate and explode anytime!
"Is it not... okay?", Sakureno asked, her pretty eyes staring right into Freid's. It was the kind of look that would melt the hearts of any man.
Ahh, to hell with it all...
"Y-Yeah, I guess..."
"Really?! Oh thank you, Freid!"
"There we have it. It's two against one, Rozenne!", Terumi declared victoriously.
"No! As long as I draw breath, I will not have things end this way!"
"Welcome to the club, Sakureno."
"HEY, don't ignore me!"
As Rozenne continued her vehement protests, Freid stood there grinning with a silly look on his face at Sakureno who was waving at him, oblivious to what fate had in store for him with the addition of this new member.