Author's Note

Sooooo I wrote a new fic. Superpower!AU here, hope you guys enjoy it!

News regarding The Transfer Student: So basically I kept thinking about how I could continue the story and end it and I realised that there was no realistic path somehow. It was completely my fault for not thinking ahead and planning for the future of the story so that's how I ended up with a huge writer's block. Therefore, The Transfer Student will now be on hiatus till I can magically think of how to continue with the story and all. If anyone has ideas, please PM me here or drop a message on my Tumblr!

Also, I've learnt from my mistake and I've planned this one out ^^ So sorry about what happened to The Transfer Student -grovels in apology-

Lastly, this is completely unbetaed and it's really super long. I really didn't expect this massive chapter length so I cut it shorter. As such, if you see mistakes and weird phrasings and all, I'm so sorry T_T (I wrote this fic in short spurts and mainly late at night so it may be crap)

They hid in the shadows, spread out and surrounding their latest prey. He was a middle aged man, drunk and pathetic, probably drinking his life away to forget about his mid life crisis. They didn't care about his back story. All that mattered was that he wasn't someone that would be able to expose them. No one would believe a drunkard anyway and that's what made these so easy for them. They waited, checking that their surroundings were clear.

"Nicochi, are we clear?"

"Sheesh, this thing is creepy. It's been a decade and I still haven't gotten used to this."

"Just answer Nozomi, seriously. We don't have all night."

"Technically we do, princess. Why, is someone scared?"

"N-no! It's just that we may get caught! I'm not going to get in trouble because you were being such a diva!"

Nozomi sighed. There was never once whereby she had opened her group telepathy and they hadn't bickered.

"Kids, please. Let's start? Is it clear, Nico?"

"Yeah yeah. Nearest person is almost 300m away."

"Alright, let's roll."

Nico was the one to start, naturally. After all, she did have super speed. She sped past him at the perfect speed such that all he saw was a blur of black hair past him.

"Wh-what..."

He was obviously spooked. Nozomi smirked. This is going to be so easy. She decided to bring up the game and transmitted thoughts to him.

"Why are you here... Return my child..."

"Wh-what are you talking about! I don't have anything!"

Bewildered, the man started frantically turning in circles, trying to spot where the voice in his head had come from. In his drunken state, however, his senses and movements were not up to par and he stumbled. Nico chose this moment to appear before him with her hair let down. Upon seeing her, he screamed.

"D-don't! I don't h-have anything! I didn't do anything!"

Oh, it was so hard not to laugh. Being the self-proclaimed top actress she was, Nico managed to stay in character and simply trudged forward eerily. With her red eyes and black hair, it was not difficult to mistake her for a ghost. She brought her hand up as if summoning something and Maki took that as her cue. She took out her lighter and sent balls of fire near Nico, keeping them near her and making it seem as though she had summoned them.

"Return my child or may the Flames of Hell consume you!"

The man screamed and passed out on the floor. At that, the fire extinguished and Nico tied up her hair, not before snapping a picture of him.

"Man, that ended way too early. Things were just getting fun too," their lead actress complained as she swept her fringe aside.

"I agree. That was boring," Maki twirled her hair, a usual telltale sign when she was bored.

"Now, now. Let's not get into more trouble than this," Nozomi chided, trying to reign the other two in.

She wasn't sure when they would move from simple pranks like these to bigger ones. They were definitely capable of bigger things but it was never good to draw attention to people like them. People that had super powers. If they drew the attention of the Protectors, the fragile semblance of normalcy in their lives would be ruined.

How they knew about the Protectors was easy. Everyone with super powers knows about them, either through their parents or direct contact with one. When someone's powers are activated, they know immediately and seek them out when the time is right. Protectors inform them of the rules of the separate reality whereby people like Nozomi exist. Never let anyone else know about your powers. Never abuse your powers. Two simple rules to live by, if not they would make their next visit and off they go, to some unknown place. That's all the information they were privy to. How the protectors even knew about them was a mystery. After all, the first time Nozomi activated her powers, she was four. When the protectors visited her at the age of six, all she had done was complain to her parents about the many voices in her head, warn them about certain things she just happened to know about the future and move things without contact. There was no one privy to the weird occurrences apart from her parents, who were both spooked.

Perhaps that's why they appeared. Maybe they knew that my parents couldn't take any more.

"Nozomi? You've been staring into space for a while. Are you okay?" Maki asked with concern in her voice, bringing Nozomi out from her thoughts.

"Sorry, I was just thinking. Anyway, we should be getting back before someone comes."

"You do know that if someone does come within my radar, I'd warn you all..."

"Yes, yes. But it's late so let's call it a day."

The other two heeded Nozomi's words. After all, she was like their mother and the voice of reason in the group. Nozomi closed her eyes and focused on the image of Maki's and her house. When she opened them, they were in the front porch.

"Same place, same time tomorrow?" Maki inquired.

"Sure. See you both tomorrow," Nico bade them farewell, probably rushing off to show the picture to her family.

Where Nozomi was abandoned by her parents because they couldn't handle having a child with super powers, Nico's family was the opposite. When they first found out about her powers when Nico was 9, they were amazed and ecstatic. Thinking that she would be famous and helping out with crime in the country, they thought it would be the solution to their precarious financial situation. However, the Protectors paid them a visit and burst their bubble. They had to remain silent about it and Nico couldn't do anything drastic with her powers, unless they were willing to let the Protectors take her away to a place meant for those with super powers. Naturally, they had refused, unwilling to part from their daughter. However, the damage was done on Nico's younger siblings as they fully believed that their older sister was a hero and would save not only their family but everyone else. Hence, she started going around earning money and playing pranks, taking the evidence from them and making it seem as though she was busting a criminal.

"She's probably going to show her younger sisters the passed out man, huh..." Maki guessed.

"I guess so. Sometimes I think she leads a much harder life than the both of us," Nozomi smiled sombrely.

It pained both of them to see Nico have to go to such lengths just to keep her siblings happy. It hurt even more when they knew that they could not do much to help them. Even though Maki's family was extremely rich, she did not actually have much of it for her own personal use. Whatever she could help Nico with, she would. However, it wasn't enough for a long term solution. The best she could do was alleviate some of their financial burden.

Maki was more of an ornament and heir in her family than a child of the Nishikino family. Her parents only viewed her as the heir to the family hospital and did not care about their daughter having special abilities at all. "As long as you take over the hospital and keep our family name thriving." That was the only phrase she knew from her parents. They had taken Nozomi in since Maki had pleaded for them to and also because Nozomi was known to be an intelligent child that could be of help to their daughter academically. Nozomi and Maki lived in the same neighbourhood and were childhood friends so it was a relief to both of them that Maki's parents had allowed such a thing. Nozomi had tried her best to take on the role of a family member for Maki, but rather than being a parent, she was more like an elder sister. What Maki really craved and needed was parental love and she sought that out by hoping to draw their attention to her. That was how they had started doing pranks and invited Nico along. Maki would intentionally leave traces for her parents to know that she had been out causing some trouble and after reading the papers the next day about a strange incident occurring, they would put the two together and know that it was her who committed those acts. However, all they would do is send more nannies or people to watch over her, tightening the security on her rather than actually disciplining her themselves.

"So, are you going to leave the traces?" Nozomi asked.

"I don't know. It never works. I don't think such a minor thing would actually draw their attention, so forget it."

The pair headed back into their respective rooms to get a good night's rest. Tomorrow, they would discuss the plans of possibly venturing out into bigger things.

Nozomi lay in bed, mindlessly moving the glow in the dark stars around her room. She wondered when their clockwork-like lifestyle would change. Each day, they woke up, went to school together, discussed their next prank, went out at night to do them and returned back to sleep. It was mundane and nothing seemed to change, as though they were repeating their days. The date never changed. Of course, it would be easy to look into the future and see what was in store for them, but she was wiser than that. She knew that there were times when knowing too much would ruin everything and this was one of those times. She stuck the stars on the ceiling once more without moving from her position on bed and went to sleep.

Something told her tomorrow would be a big day and Nozomi's predictions were hardly ever wrong. Perhaps the date would be different.

"Nishikino! Please bring your head down from the clouds and answer this question on the blackboard," Maki's substitute Math teacher ordered.

A murmur spread throughout the class. The teacher must be new. Everyone, including the teachers, knew not to pick on Nishikino Maki. It wasn't just that she was quite a rebel and did whatever she wanted. She also had the means to do whatever she wanted. Due to her being the top of her level, her teachers could never complain about her behaviour. If she ever did something drastic that required parental attention, such as getting into a fight, only her butler would come and nothing much would happen to her. In other words, no one could control Nishikino Maki so it was better to leave her alone.

Maki sauntered up to the board, wiping the smug smile on the substitute teacher's face off when she answered the question not just perfectly but also in a more advanced method than what they were currently being taught.

"All good, Sensei?" She drawled, twirling the piece of chalk with a bored expression on her face.

"...Great job," he reluctantly admitted. "Return to your seat and pay attention in class."

She went back and promptly started daydreaming once more.

"Got into trouble again, Nicochi?"

"I'm not the only one. Maki got sent to detention too!" Nico protested.

Nozomi was waiting outside the detention room for her two other friends. Both of them had a flair for getting into trouble, although Maki hardly got sent to detention because of her predicament.

New teacher, I suppose, Nozomi guessed the reason as to why Maki was there today.

Nico, on the other hand, had a temper and attitude that she couldn't control. She often got into fights not just with the students but also with the teachers. Since her grades weren't incredible like the other two, she was often an easy target for disciplinary actions. She did know when to stop so that her parents would not be bothered and teachers often used that card against her.

"I swear, I'm going to prank them more soon," Nico grumbled.

"Now, now. We wouldn't want more teachers quitting from the school because of us again."

"Don't you mean because of the two of us? Seriously, Nozomi, I don't understand how you can remain so friendly and nice to everyone," Maki inquired.

While Nico and Maki were always getting into trouble in school, Nozomi was a model student. Not only was she at the top of her grade, she was also pleasant and friendly to everyone. She had never gotten into trouble and was often asked to join the Disciplinary Committee. She was someone that everyone in school looked up to but apart from Maki and Nico, she did not have any friends, simply because she could not trust them. As compared to the other two that acted out because of the lack of trust in everyone else, she was smarter and knew not to draw attention to herself, hence the cordial acts. Everyone often wondered why Nozomi stuck around the other two when they were so different and they were dubbed as The Trio. They were, after all, the ones that stood out the most, much to their chagrin.

They turned the corner to a more deserted area and Nozomi teleported them to their usual hangout. It was just a treehouse that was built on one of the taller trees in the park and was definitely impossible to climb for any normal human. That was what made them have their privacy for almost ten years.

"So, did your parents do anything?" Nico directed the question at Maki.

She sighed. "No, whatever I do, it doesn't work. They just don't care. Seriously, what do I have to do in order for them to just notice me? Rob a bank?"

"That's actually a brilliant idea. We should do it."

Both Nozomi and Maki turned to look at Nico. They knew she wasn't serious, but the fact that she had even mentioned something like that meant something was up.

"Nicochi, did something happen?" Nozomi asked in concern that both Maki and her shared.

Nico panicked at being found out so easily. She thought she could hide better than that.

"N-Nico Nico Ni! With such a bright smile on my face, nothing could be wrong! Nico Nico Ni!"

Nozomi and Maki simply continued staring at her, unimpressed expressions on their face.

Seriously, I can't believe she still thinks that would work on us.

Nico looked away from her two friends with a conflicted expression on her face. She knew that if she told them what was really going on, they would definitely go all out to help her but she couldn't always rely on them. She knew it was stupid to think of something like pride when the situation was so dire but she couldn't help it. Who was she without her pride?

"We won't do anything to help that you're not comfortable with. I promise. And no, I didn't use my powers to read your mind," Nozomi answered in advance, knowing her friend too well.

Nico gave Nozomi a grateful look for knowing what she was thinking of, although she wasn't sure about her not using her powers. Nozomi was so perceptive that at times it seemed as though her ability to read minds wasn't really a super power but just her natural ability.

"My brother. He fell sick and the treatment requires a lot of money and for him to stay in the hospital. We can't afford it," she reluctantly admitted.

She knew that since Maki's family owned a hospital, she would definitely try to get her parents to help her out. However, Nico knew that the chances of that happening was unlikely. While Maki's parents usually didn't care much about their daughter's request and would usually just comply to them, when it came to the hospital, everything was different. She knew that Maki's parents would never allow a patient that had to pay that much have a full treatment for free. There was just too much of a loss. When it came to the hospital, Maki's parents only knew business. Sure, they cared for their patients but allowing Nico's brother to not pay for his treatment would mean the loss of a great amount of money. The treatment that was to be administered to him was a new and rarer type of treatment so it was only natural that it was expensive. To give it out for free would be too much to ask for.

"I could try asking my parents. It may work..." Maki tried but even she was unconvinced.

The trio fell into a troubled silence. They were all aware that Maki's offhanded suggestion or something else along those lines was quite possibly the only solution to their problem.

"What if we did something like Robin Hood?" Nozomi suggested.

The other two looked at her quizzically, not catching her drift.

"You mean stealing from someone rich?" Maki asked sceptically.

"Not just someone rich but someone suspicious too," Nozomi answered and held up her phone.

An article of their resident billionaire, Aoyama Koukai, was on her phone. It talked about his latest exhibition of jewels and how he was talking about the prices having gone down, so he bought many and had an exhibition. He was also planning on tiling his rooms with the jewels. However, it was also mentioned that there was no sign of him striking it rich and even for him, such a huge amount of jewels and him living completely comfortable as before should not be possible. Nozomi showed them more articles of many being suspicious of how he actually got the money as even his mega company should not have made that much money.

"Since he's probably earning all the money through underhanded means, it won't be too bad if we just took away a small amount, right? We just need a few of those thousands of jewels that he has," Nozomi reasoned.

"But still, it's stealing. It's completely different from what we've done before. We can't let anyone know about this at all. The Protectors could come," Nico voiced out.

It was true. Doing this meant taking their nightly activities to a whole new level. They knew that there was a lot at risk here.

"Nico, your brother needs this. If there's something we can do to help, we should. Besides, we've always carried out our pranks perfectly. This should be fine too. We just need to plan more carefully," Maki convinced Nico.

Nico stared at her two only friends' determined expressions. She couldn't help but feel so grateful to them now. They were putting everything on the line to help her out and nothing could make her feel more thankful to have them in her life.

"Thanks so much, you two."

"Everyone's clear of the plan, right?" Nozomi checked with the others one more.

They nodded in affirmation. The trio waited outside Aoyama Koukai's house for him to exit. It was a known fact that he would go out every Saturday night and even with people trying to track where he was going, they never knew. All that mattered to the trio was that he stayed out long, though. After a few minutes, their target finally moved out of the house and got into his white limousine which drove away speedily. Nico took that as her cue and scouted the area with her hearing.

"There's no one around that side of the house. We can infiltrate there."

"Got it. Nicochi, give me a visual."

Nico zoomed in on the spot where it was safe to carry out their mission with her sight and Nozomi read her mind. It was something they had discovered a year ago and it had served tremendously well for Nozomi's teleporting. More often than not, she couldn't get a clear mental image of the places where they wanted to go to unless they had been there recently or often. With Nico's enhanced sight and Nozomi reading her mind while she was seeing the location, Nozomi could get a clear vision of their destination. However, there were still some flaws to it as sometimes Nico would get distracted and focus on a part of the area. Like now.

They landed in the tree near the window of Aoyama's house and tumbled down.

"Geez, even with a clear destination, you can't teleport us properly..." Nico grumbled.

"Hey, it was your fault for getting distracted as usual," Maki countered, already knowing the real reason why they had landed in a strange place once more.

"Keep it down, guys. There are others at the other side, right?"

"Yeah. We have to act fast," Nico confirmed.

Maki decided to get to work and took her lighter out. She created a small but sooty flame that produced a lot of smoke. The plan was for them to flood the room they were going to infiltrate with smoke so as to cover any cameras that might be there. Nico jumped and caught sight of the lock on the window and with Nozomi reading her mind, she unlocked the window with her telekinesis. After that, Nico easily opened the window and Maki directed the fire near the window for the smoke to fill the room. Within a few minutes, the room looked smoky enough and Nico jumped in.

"All clear."

"Alright, I'm coming. Maki, stay here and watch out, okay?"

"Sure. Stay safe you two. Be careful."

Nozomi teleported to Nico and read her mind while she used her sight to see through the smoke. After a while of looking around, she located some jewels.

"Nicochi, I think you should get some too. We don't know if there are more sensors so just speed to it, grab them while I bring some over to me too and I'll teleport us back to Maki."

Nico agreed and did as Nozomi suggested. She easily swiped a couple of jewels and put them in her pockets as Nozomi lifted a few others that Nico saw and kept them too. Just as she did though, they heard Maki cry out in pain from outside.

"Maki!" Nico shouted as she moved to the window.

Nozomi teleported them both down to Maki, only to see her on the ground, clutching the back of her head in pain. Nico rushed to her side while Nozomi eyed their surroundings. They were surrounded by people in black suits and Aoyama was walking to them in his pristine white suit.

How cliché.

She seriously wondered if they were filming a movie now because this was too cliché, for a lack of better word.

"So, what are you three doing outside my house?"

They remained silent. None of them knew what to do now and all they could do now was to keep mum first.

"Not to mention that you three have powers. A fire user, teleporter and one more. What can you do, little girl?" He directed the question to Nico.

Nico ignored him, even though she really wanted to lash out. How dare he call her a little girl, she was turning 17 this year! Nozomi, on the other hand, was surprised at his reaction to their powers. Not only did he not seem surprised that they had them, he also seemed intrigued. There was a greedy expression on his face and it sent chills down her spine. She glanced down at Maki and knew that she was having similar thoughts too. Then, she had an idea.

"Maki, could you do that now? It may work. Since it's dark, maybe they can't see our faces that clearly," Nozomi suggested.

"But... I can't control it. What if something goes wrong? What if you guys get affected too?"

"We'll cover our ears. We trust you, Maki," Nico assured.

Maki glanced at them both sceptically. Nothing had ever gone right when she used her other power. However, she knew it was quite possibly their best chance now.

"Well? Are we just going to keep mum? Shall we start by grabbing you three first, then?"

Upon his words, the henchmen made a move to grab them. Two of them suddenly appeared beside Nico and captured her, since they weren't sure of what her powers were. Seeing Nico in even more danger was all Maki needed to use her other power. She had to try to save them.

Maki opened her mouth and started singing with a melodious voice. Nozomi and Nico immediately covered their ears and watched as everyone else faltered and stopped moving, entranced by Maki. Maki started imagining them attacking each other while she continued singing and the henchmen obeyed her wishes. Just as things were looking up, Aoyama hit Maki in the head with a stick nearby. The henchmen immediately fell out of their trance and looked around, confused.

"Well, that was unexpected. Such an interesting power you have. I'm sure that would be great for us," Aoyama chuckled with an evil glint in his eye.

Nozomi and Nico, who were crouching beside Maki on the ground, could do nothing but stare at the advancing henchmen hopelessly. They didn't know what would happen to them, but they did know that nothing good would come out of them being captured by Aoyama now. Just as they were about to resign to their fates, a bright light shone behind them.

Wow, we really are in a movie.

"Aoyama. What are you doing with these three girls?" A lady approached them with a group of others behind her.

"Ah, Miss Chief Protector. Fancy seeing you here. We were just having a peaceful discussion."

What shocked Nozomi was that whenever they thought of the protectors, they imaged stern people in formal wear with shades, carrying pocket sized devices to call upon huge army troops and weaponry to capture wayward people with super powers. Instead, they were dressed in simple daily clothes. The Chief Protector as Aoyama pointed out was clad in a simple white sleeveless dress and her blue long hair was flowing with the wind. Something about her made everyone drawn towards her and Nozomi was sure that if the lady had commanded something, she would follow her orders.

"It doesn't look very peaceful to me since the red haired one looks incredibly in pain. They're surrounded by all your men," a blonde haired girl in a school uniform stated.

"Well, if it isn't my favourite NPA student. How's my dear Arisa doing?" Aoyama taunted her with an evil grin.

The blonde took a threatening step forward and was held back by another girl in the same uniform with long blue hair. She evidently calmed down a little, even though she was still staring daggers at Aoyama. He simply smirked, knowing that she couldn't do anything to him.

"Don't change the subject. So, what are you doing to these three? There's a child amongst them too," the Chief Protector diverted the topic back.

This time, Nozomi had to hold Nico back from lashing out.

"Seriously! Twice in a day!"

"Calm down, Nicochi. The lady may just be able to save us."

"But what about all we've heard about the protectors?" Maki voiced out (or thought out) the unsaid question.

"I was just asking them what they were doing outside my house. Or rather inside for those two with dark hair. You see, I'm the victim here. I received a call from one of my security personnel about a strange red haired girl making fire just outside one of my rooms. The strange thing was that the fire was just floating near the window of the room. How suspicious! So I turned back and was met with the sight of this young lady evidently controlling the fire. We simply approached her and the other two appeared from nowhere. I'm certain that they were in the room where she was directing the fire's smoke towards. Why don't you search them?" His devious grin was not lost on everyone else.

The trio visibly paled and they knew that this was the end. Would they be forced into a special prison meant for individuals with powers? Aoyama certainly made himself look like the victim here and they were simply thieves receiving their punishment.

"If you have anything to declare, I suggest you do it now. We shouldn't have to do this the hard way, girls," the Chief Protector regarded them.

They hesitated. Giving them up would mean there was no chance for Nico's brother any longer but not giving them up would result in harsher punishment from them. Even though they knew that the protectors would search them and find them in the end, giving it up willingly meant more. It felt as though they had willingly given up Nico's brother's only chance for treatment.

"Nicochi, do you trust me?"

"Of course."

"Then give the jewels up. I promise we'll still be able to help your brother."

Nico hesitated, but one look at Nozomi and she knew that her best friend was not lying to her. She never would. Nico stood up and took the jewels out from her pockets and threw them towards Aoyama. Nozomi then followed suit but simply placed hers on the floor.

"Have your stinking jewels back," Nico couldn't help but snap at him with contempt.

"You see, Miss Chief? I was just punishing them; it's only right that I get to do so. This one doesn't even show remorse. Shouldn't I get to do something?"

"It's true that they are in the wrong. We will be taking them with us now. Thank you for helping out but we have no need for you to deal with them any further."

That being said, the rest of the protectors grabbed hold of them and ushered them towards a simple navy blue van. Nozomi knew they were in no position to resist, with Maki being injured and them officially deemed as criminals, but she couldn't help but have an urge to break free from the protectors. They had no idea what would happen to them now and the fleeting thought of going back to Aoyama crossed her mind, though milliseconds later she told herself that it would probably be worse. They took their seats in the van, all three of them seated in the middle with two protectors beside them. Nozomi was in the last row with the blonde girl on her left and she felt uneasy because she had a feeling the blonde protector sat beside her on purpose.

"So, are you going to hand it over?" The blonde whispered.

She knows.

Nozomi hesitated and opted to ignore her.

Shoots, she knows I kept one of them. Just play it cool.

"I can always call for a body search later. Would you prefer that?"

Nozomi didn't know what to do. The protector regarded her with her cold, blue eyes and even in her situation, Nozomi couldn't help but feel drawn to those eyes. She shook her thoughts away and simply put on her blank expression, the one that had gotten her out of so many tricky situations before. She would figure something out later when they reached wherever they were going.

"Eri, just let her be. They've had a long day," the blue haired one in the uniform spoke up from in front of them.

"But-"

She gave the blonde a look and she stopped. The blonde let out a frustrated sigh and looked out the window with her arms crossed. Nozomi gave the bluenette a grateful look and she returned with a smile.

Not long after, they reached a huge building that Nozomi recognised as the Ministry of Defence.

"No way, was what we did such a big deal? Why are we here?" Nico asked, dumbfounded.

"You'll find out soon enough. Let's go," the Chief stepped out of the van and the rest followed suit, taking the trio along with them.

The tall glass building stood in front of them, regal yet imposing. The glass structure made it look fragile, almost as though it was mocking their country's defence. However, everyone knew it was made of metallic glass and it was near impossible to bring it down. It was a silent taunt to their potential enemies, inviting them to attack yet knowing that they would never bring them down. A perfect defence.

The Chief led them into the building and blindfolded them shortly after. They all figured it was for security purposes and mutely followed. It would do them no good to retaliate now, anyway. After walking for a while, they entered a lift and went up.

"Where do you think we're going?" Maki asked with a strain in her voice.

"Ah, Maki. Are you feeling better?" Nozomi asked.

"My head hurts, but I'll manage."

"We're probably going to the some police station but run by the protectors." Nico replied Maki's question.

"It's the Ministry of Defence, though, so maybe it's their headquarters." Nozomi thought worriedly.

"I can hear you all, so there's no point in using telepathy," the Chief suddenly spoke up and the three startled. "Don't worry too much about everything. If you cooperate, we won't harm you."

The hidden message was not lost on them. They reached their destination moments after and the blindfolds were removed. The trio was seated in three seats and upon looking around, the place looked like a typical interview room. It was exactly as they had seen in the movies except a little less dramatic. There was a table in front of them and the Chief sat on the other side of the table. Behind them was a black wall but Nozomi figured it was probably a one way glass of some sort. Since the protectors had powers, though, it could be even more "high-tech".

"Okay, this is how everything's going to go from now. Just explain the situation to me while some of the other protectors do a check on you. If there are any questions for you, we'll ask. Don't bother lying because we can tell."

The three of them shared a look and Nico started explaining, seeing as Maki was still in pain. She told the whole story about how they needed money for a personal reason and had no choice but to resort to that, explaining their Robin Hood rationale. Halfway through, someone entered and gave ice to Maki and Nico went over to her side to help her soothe the pain. Nozomi then explained their plan in detail and recounted the events which led up to the arrival of the protectors. The Chief listened in silence most of the time, occasionally asking questions where the duo did not explain in depth enough. When Nozomi was done with retelling the events, the Chief brought up their past pranks. The background check was evidently done.

"The pranks were my fault. It's a personal reason involving my parents. It also gave Nico some material for her personal reasons too," Maki answered the unspoken question.

The Chief regarded them for a while.

"Very well. I believe you three are familiar with the fact that if you're caught using your powers inappropriately, we'll have to take action, yes?"

Their silence meant showed their answer and dread.

"Relax. You'll be going to a school for those with super powers starting the day after tomorrow. Your parents will be informed. We'll pick you up from your houses at 8am sharp."

It was evident that they had no say in this decision. The change was too abrupt and the trio couldn't process it just yet. Their never changing days would now be completely different from before.

"You can't just make us change schools just like that. How about all the administration?" Maki countered.

"The school year is coming to an end and our exams are coming soon. If we go to a new school, how are we able to adapt so quickly?" Nozomi continued.

"What about the school fees?" Nico asked hesitantly.

The other two faltered as they remembered that Nico had an even bigger problem than them. With the current public school they were going to, she was fully covered by a financial assistive program. A school for kids with super powers didn't seem like a government school that had such a program.

"Everything will be taken care of so you don't need to worry. The academic exam is the same as in normal schools so there won't be much of a change. As for school fees, you will be charged based on a debt. Clearing it shouldn't be a problem for you, though."

Nico wanted to ask what she meant by that last statement as if she had known of a way to earn money quickly, she would have already done it. However, they were dismissed and teleported back to the Nishikino Residence's front porch.

"Jeez, that was abrupt," Nico grumbled.

"Are we really going to a new school?" Maki worried.

"Who knows? It's late, let's catch some sleep and think through this tomorrow. It seems like it'll be our last day in our current school, so let's try to enjoy it," Nozomi, ever the voice of reason, convinced them. "Nicochi, you should just stay here."

Nico agreed and they all headed to the second floor where the bedrooms were. An unspoken consensus was for them to sleep in the same room, all of them not feeling safe enough to sleep alone. As they shared the king sized bed, Nico and Maki slowly drifted off to sleep while Nozomi let her thoughts run wild, recalling the day's events.

The clock had begun to tick once more but this time, she knew the date was different.

A/N

Phew! That was a whopping 6.2k words. I hope you guys enjoyed it (and that this may redeem my mistake for TTS).

Thanks for staying with me! Now to answer a few reviews from TTS.

hikarigranger: Sorry to disappoint you after that speedy update :( Hope this makes up for it though!

Aviel Elloy: That honestly never occurred to me while I was writing TTS but I did take that into account here ^^ Thanks for that tidbit of information!

To everyone that enjoyed The End of Ordinary Sorrow too, thank you so much for your kind words! I'm glad it had the desired effect -evil cackling-