A long week passes after that incident. Tsukiko is angry at Bishamon-sensei for not being a good teacher, and she's mad at Chinatsu for not being a fucking decent spar partner.

They haven't done much but pointlessly sparring and going on runs with the other children in their group. They've already fought each other enough times that the spars are beginning to become very irrelevent.

Mamoru is dead, killed by Chinatsu only days after Tsukiko is knocked out cold by their sensei. The favoritism is so high towards her that Tsukiko's beginning to feels jealous. How is it that Chinatsu is able to kill a student but the mere thought of Tsukiko getting so close to stabbing Chinatsu sends him reeling off the edge?

And even when Chinatsu nearly kills Tsukiko the next day after their first spar he seems to be proud of her, the light in his eye unashamed and proud. Chinatsu was stabbed in the shoulder, but Tsukiko broke ribs and had a bone as thick as her big toe and as long as the entire length of her arm protruding out of her back, and Chinatsu's wounds were almost fatal?

She doesn't understand. She's not sure she'll ever understand.

The children are not only starving, dehydrated, and cold, but they are also sleep deprived. Their balance has been thrown out the window, and their capabilities to form a comprehensive sentence is also gone. Tsukiko doesn't know why, but Bishamon-sensei thinks that this is the greatest form of training.

Even Chinatsu is affected by this, his little prize could get sick and die.

He hasn't yet stated it, but Tsukiko can see how he likes to do this to them. Waking up with cold and dirty water is as dangerous as getting stabbed in the back. The sudden cold washing over their tiny, unexpecting and malnourished bodies can cause heart problems later, and if there are any open wounds they can become infected.

Do the other teachers do this to their students?

Are there any other teachers and students?

Days pass after Mamoru's sudden and unwarranted death and Chinatsu's pulled from their gang with little to no excuse.

She's pulled to a higher class, leaving Tsukiko, Kyoko, and Hotaka to their own devices with Bishamon-sensei. Their group seems so small and insignificant now, the lack of Mamoru's odd coughing fits, the lack of Chinatsu's constant killing spirit.

There are really no excuses to why Chinatsu could move up a class, what's wrong with theirs? Has she suddenly grown in strength that only their sensei see?

Is there something else that just can't be seen?

Two weeks after she's beaten out cold and Hotaka is dead.

Two weeks after she's beaten out cold and she's taken her first kill.

Bishamon-sensei isn't proud of her, and there's only Kyoko and herself left. That means that they need to find another team to morph with. When Bishamon-sensei saw Hotaka's profusely bleeding and broken body he screamed at Tsukiko.

'Why did you kill him? He was the last strand keeping this team together!'. He hit her again, this time breaking her nose.

They are standing still for almost three days, where the senseis had to arrange their groups so someone could fill in a spot for Bishamon-sensei's dwindling team. They don't seem to be happy about that, but they seem to make a compromise.

Iwao is a simple boy, only five years old. He's pretty blunt, and doesn't mind receiving the same kind of treatment, but he doesn't seem to talk much. Other than his no-shit's-given and fight-me-you-insolent-fool attitude, he doesn't seem to do anything other than listen to Bishamon-sensei.

They spend a week like that; Kyoko and Tsukiko getting used to the lack of Mamoru and Hotaka and Chinatsu, all the while Iwao getting used to the girls. For the same reason, Iwao doesn't speak until the third day of being on their team, and that skewed how they sparred and interacted with each other.

With Hotaka and Mamoru and Chinatsu there was this circle of words; where they spoke what they deemed necessary, words that would help them improve. Iwao didn't do that until later. Much later.

Tsukiko would've guessed that her own lack of talking stirred him on to not communicate with them and she can understand why. This is a new place, there are no familiar faces, and the reason why he's even here to begin with is because the girls keep on killing their teammates. She also guesses that it's also understandable since she was the one who killed Hotaka, and she's still here, a larger threat than Kyoko- who's yet to kill.

Their so called 'training' has yet to cease, as well.

They are only given a few hours of sleep a day, and that has certainly taken a toll on the children. Tsukiko can see that she and the others are slowly deteriorating, dizzyspells are a common occurrence, and so are the random bursts of anger coming from somewhere long rusted to its lack of use. Their balance and slurred speeches are enough to send off trigger warnings in Tsukiko's mind, but she can't remember what it is, and every time she tries to dig it up it just sends her off the roof with headaches and confusion.

Why would they be so dizzy and slow talking? There really is no answer coming to mind and it just feels like a thousand bombs are about to go off in her head every time Tsukiko tries talk to even Kyoko of all people.

It requires little to no brainpower to talk with someone as simple as Kyoko, but it feels like she's back in highschool, slaving over subjects that hold little to no meaning in Tsukiko's once-future life.

Another week passes, and Tsukiko can barely stand, nor can Iwao and Kyoko. The children are so violent towards each other that if it were not for their constant dizzyspells someone would surely be dead by now. They've gotten so used to their drenched wake-up call that they could sleep through it if it isn't for Bishamon-sensei kicking them to wake up.

They're told that this is how it's always been, that the lack of sleep and food and water is a good thing, to help them get stronger. Tsukiko knows it's bullshit, but she sees the hopeful gleam in Iwao's and Kyoko's eyes.

Iwao is constantly looking over his shoulder now, worried about the darkness haunting him for his soul. Kyoko begins to sleep in Tsukiko's nook, ignoring the younger girls minute surprise. While the paranoia is understandable, Tsukiko doesn't understand why Kyoko would want to share a nook. They are growing children, and growing children can't do this.

But she doesn't mind it much. It's comfortable knowing that there's a living, breathing, warm body against hers, knowing that she isn't going to wake up alone.

Tsukiko can barely keep her eyes open, the only thing keeping them wide is the fear of Bishamon-sensei's hand coming down on her or the fear of losing an appendage. She's become hyper aware of his presence, now, Bishamon-sensei is hash with their 'training', which mostly consist of spars and runs. Once in awhile he'll give them some good advice when they run or spar, like 'bring your legs up, you fool', or even 'stop putting so much damn force into your punches, you'll need that shit energy later'.

When he's not actually do a decent job of telling them on how they can approve, though, Bishamon-sensei snaps at them on what they need to do better with the same recycled words. He often times pulls them from where they stand and demonstrate, always breaking or opening something that they've never broken or opened before. At the end of the days they're always bloodied, bruised, and littered with fractured and broken bones.

If it weren't for their shikotsumyaku, Tsukiko's sure that they would be dead by now.

Their days are long, filled to the brim of spars and running and beating each other up until Bishamon-sensei sees something that could use work. Which is almost every time they do something.

Their lack of food and water and sleep makes them delusional, paranoid, and often times tired. But Bishamon-sensei doesn't seem to care, all he thinks is that they need to get better, they need to get stronger, they need to get faster and all of that without their natural source of energy.

Their shikotsumyaku seems to be their only saving grace.

Their shikotsumyaku seems to be getting stronger and faster every day.

Four weeks since Tsukiko is beaten down by Bishamon-sensei, after Mamoru and Hotaka dies and Chinatsu leaves.

Four weeks; and it feels like a year; a life time.

Bishamon-sensei doesn't show his face around them anymore. He doesn't show hide nor hair. He doesn't even leave a substitue for them.

He is just… gone. Gone.

Iwao spends this time picking on the girls, waking them up in Bishamon-sensei's place. He always asks to spar, to fight. To do what Bishamon-sensei always tells them to do.

Kyoko spends her time actively avoiding Iwao, trying to get more sleep, to scavenge for food in their desolate cave. She has yet to find anyone else, she has yet to find food. She is getting stronger every morning that she sleeps in.

Tsukiko spends her time thinking, doing what she always does. She wonders the vast cave extensions, looking through nooks and crannies for lost treasures. She's found sticks, blood, white and black hair, and scraps of clothing. She spends a lot of her time laying in a newly found nook. It's much deeper than her old one, and further away from Kyoko and Iwao's. Eventually Kyoko finds where Tsukiko sleeps and starts to rest there as well.

Bishamon-sensei isn't there for five days, and in those five days Kyoko has gained little weight, but the once crimson lines under her eyes now a deep mahogany. Tsukiko can see things a little more clearer now that she's slept in. Kyoko really doesn't seem all that different, her mostly indifferent personality has a little more spice to it, keeping everyone on their toes for the explosions of anger and lack of inhibitions. Iwao has lost a total of four fingers and five toes, but he should've expected it as he was just so trigger happy about fighting the girls.

When Bishamon-sensei does come back, though, his face is battered with angry red lines and he's missing an arm. He never changed, but Tsukiko could see the irritation in his eyes as he tries to hit them with his lost arm, as he tries to chase them down to only realise that he can't use his arm to capture them.

The children use this to their advantage, standing on his right side and slipping under his one-handed grasp. He doesn't seem to fully understand how much Tsukiko loves this new progress.

She abuses it like he abuses them, taking all of her strength to make him hurt.

A month later and he's finally decided to let them learn something new. He brings Chikichi-sempai over to their sparring arena(the same one that they first sparred in, the one where Mamoru and Hotaka were killed in), and the growing eight year old explained the basics on how to use their shikotsumyaku. Iwao is very impressed by the sempai's explanation on how to use it, saying that now he feels stronger that he finally knows how to properly use it.

Kyoko is less than impressed, but tries to mimic Chokichi-sempai the best she can. She doesn't even look like she's trying, but she manages through.

For Tsukiko, though, she's just glad to see a familiar face, glad that her favorite sempai is here to teach her thing that her incompetent sensei could never do. Tsukiko followed all of his instructions with ease, happy to see the progress that she never thought would happen.

Before he came and taught her these things, it was very hard for her to mold her chakra the right way to make the bones go, and it was even harder to do it in places that weren't her arms and parts of her legs. There was no way the Tsukiko could ever do this one her own, no way that she would ever make it out of this hell without knowing how to do this.

Although Chokichi-sempai is amazing at what he can do, Tsukiko wonders what it's like to be older, to have the ability to not have a sensei beat you down every time you do something wrong. Is it like being an adult in her old life, where you have responsibilities to do but yet none? Where she could just… leave?

That's ridiculous, though. If the Kaguya are like any other clan with a kekkei genkai, a rare one at that, they wouldn't ever let her go, they wouldn't let her leave or do what she wants. Tsukiko is still trying to get over how populous the shikotsumyaku is, too. It was so rare in canon that there was literally no knowledge about how to treat a sick person.

And even if she tried, Tsukiko's sure that they'll kill her.

Only days pass after Bishamon-sensei arrives again, and this time he's actually acting like the fucking sensei he should've been when he started. Instead of the constant spars and runs with his slowing ass, they're now practicing how to activate and use their shikotsumyaku. He tells them that he wants them to learn how to use it one every orifice on their body before using it actively in the spars.

Although Bishamon-sensei didn't change much(his abusive demeanor, his harsh beatings for not doing something the way he wants), Tsukiko can see clearly that he's now intensely trying to get the team to cover more ground in their training. If she didn't already knew that someone is behind this progression, she would've assumed that maybe his battered face and lost arm is a result of his previously poor training examples.

It's common knowledge that only a shikotsumyaku user organizes all of the groups, that there is almost a second clan head that can actually do their job properly. Tsukiko knows that the person must've done something to Bishamon-sensei to let him know that he's fucked up with favoriting Chinatsu the way he did, or how badly he organized their spars and other training.

And when he starts to not wake them up with his usual black water tactics, the children realize that they see him less and less during their waking time. Although he does tell them to do the shit that he wants, like training with their shikotsumyaku, running and the now occasional spars, he supervises for an hour before disappearing.

While the new changes in his actions are now an oddity the children are taking it in stride, using the time in which he is gone to sleep or scavenge for the scarce food. They are not the best at keeping fat stored in their bodies, and their lack of sleep and abuse makes it the more prominent. Their bodies are small and fragile, black and blue and their skin pale as snow and markings stark like blood on their alabaster skin.

Iwao doesn't really know how to handle the advancement. Tsukiko sees to it that he loses a portion of his left hand, and Kyoko makes sure to handle his screams of fury and pain.

When he stops, though, Tsukiko has already left to take a nap.

Another month passes like that before they get a new sensei, who is surprisingly Atsuko. She hasn't really changed much in the three and a half months that Tsukiko hasn't seen her.

It intimidates Tsukiko that it has almost been four months already. Four months since she has last seen her kaa-chan, four months since she's been outside, felt the wind push against her skin and clothing, since she's smelt the fresh and wet earthy air.

With Bishamon-sensei gone and Atsuko in his place things have been moving steadily. They don't do their spars anymore, but that has been replaced with vigorous running and physical activities that are similar to the ones Tsukiko did in her past life. Although they don't have the correct kind of equipment for it, they make do with what they have.

Atsuko-sensei is almost like a personal coach. She encourages them to do better, she tells them what they need to work on and actually helps one-on-one, unlike Bishamon-sensei who'd beat them black and blue for not listening to his directions. While it's unusual to see bruises heal away, for faces to not be black and yellow and blue and to finally have time to sleep in, it is a relief that Tsukiko thinks saved her life.

While the children gain a few pounds(courtesy to Atsuko-sensei actually knowing how to feed living creatures), they don't change much. They've gotten stronger, their attitudes are more stable, Iwao doesn't look over his shoulders as often, but the girls still share the same nook.

Tsukiko assumes that it's because of the connection they've made with each other.

Even though the children don't really talk to each other that often, they have a connection with each other that Tsukiko hasn't had it quite some time.

When Atsuko-sensei trains them, she does it so that they learn how to keep their young bodies sharp, how to stretch so they can prevent cramps and pulling muscles. While Tsukiko has never been so athletic or flexible in her life. The only kind of sports she's ever participated in was baseball and bowling, and even then they didn't require so much of anything.

Even with Bishamon-sensei they only worked to get stronger, to defeat what they can defeat and obliterate what they can't. It's like they're finally getting something good, becoming a rounded fighter.

Her body is always sore, be it from the malnutrition or the abuse Bishamon-sensei suffered her through or the new regime, she is sore. When she remembers his abuse she wonders why she didn't do anything about it. She's a grown ass woman in a child's body, surely he should've gotten the cues that she's not what she is?

But no, no one gets it and that makes her soreness hurt even more. It was a dull ache, but now it throbs and torments her in her daily activities.

Tsukiko hates the way it feels, and only to add insult to injury Atsuko-sensei is pretty expectant with the progress the children make. While Atsuko-sensei is by far a better sensei than Bishamon ever is, she is still rough around the edges and expects a lot out of them.

It's a different kind of punishment that they're not fully used to. While Bishamon-sensei would hit and break, Atsuko demands higher and higher burnout after a workout. She's like a typical gym teacher.

You get it done or I'll give you fifty push-ups. You're complaining? Fifty more pushups.

While it's relieving to have that kind of motivation again, Tsukiko's body still aches. She would like a break sometime soon.

A month passes after Atsuko become their sensei, and the only thing exciting to happen is that Iwao's mangled hands have become infected. While they healed up pretty nicely after they were attacked, that doesn't seem like an excuse for infections to begin to make them swell and ugly.

They are purple and yellow, swelling so much that they crack and blister everytime he tries to move his hand. He is immense pain.

When they began to swell Iwao didn't think much of it, brushing it off with no excuse. Atsuko-sensei and the girls originally thought that it was because of the must be changing seasons and that was agitating the old wounds. This has happened when they were first inflicted, so why else would they be swollen?

Eventually the skin does open up, and creamy yellow pus does somehow spread the infection to Atsuko-sensei's own wounded leg from an old and poorly healed injury. Tsukiko would've said that this is an epidemic, but that is a widespread disease, not an infection caused by the lack of care.

Those two are soon laid off and quarantined by the other senseis and concerned officials, like the clan head and the shikotsumyaku supervisor. That means they have left Tsukiko and Kyoko on their own. They aren't separated from each other to fill in some missing teams, but they are told to find themselves someone who would govern their training.

At first Tsukiko thought that that was a pointless order; who else do they go to? They know no one else other than Atsuko-sensei and Bishamon-sensei. One of those participants is currently in quarantine and the other has been told that they can no longer teach due to their 'controversial methods of teaching and handling of civil disobedience'.

While Tsukiko and Kyoko have been left to their own devices, ignorant of their sensei's and teammates conditions, ignorant to the outside world and politics, they search the vast cave systems that they were once too busy to explore. It is weird that they now have the freedom to do whatever they want to, but they aren't objecting to it.

Tsukiko finds an outlet of water. She is too scared to explore any further.

One day, though, Kyoko asks Tsukiko for a spar. Nothing too complex, just a relaxing spar that requires no winner or death, just a fun and friendly spar. She says that she would like to advance their relationship, but she doesn't know what else to do that both parties would like to participate in.

Tsukiko says yes and they find their old sparring ring. Kyoko looks apprehensive, but Tsukiko takes no notice of it. It has been a stressful few weeks, and she too is becoming wary of what might comes next. Their first sensei lost an arm due to unknown reasons to them and now their second sensei may just lose as well a leg.

They spar, and Tsukiko lets Kyoko go all out, letting her win the round. The five-soon-to-be-six year old is angered by the misshapes of their team's well-being. Mamoru is dead and so is Hotaka, Bishamon-sensei had been laid off almost two months ago, Iwao might die from that infection in his hand and Atsuko-sensei may follow the boy.

Kyoko is a very monotone but passionate person, although she doesn't show it she loves to have people and conversation around her, the signs of life and well-being. Tsukiko would've helped her heal more in the absence of Iwao's blunt answers to everything and Atsuko-sensei's extreme punishment that aren't beatings. Tsukiko would've done it, but she just doesn't know how to.

The duo spends most of their time like that. Spars, exploration of the tunnels, talking, sleeping.

Tsukiko is now apprehensive on exploring that water outlets. She sees the distant light in it, but hesitates. The light may be a lie and the water is a suffocating demon that always desires a sacrifice.

A week and a half after they received the new, the duo are assigned to a group with four other children. Since there is no other room with the other senseis to have any other children and the girls are reluctant to leave each other, they have been assigned to a groups with three boys and one other girl.

Anzu, Hirohito, Yasuo, Masato, and Chikako-sensei are their names. Tsukiko knows that she and Kyoko will have trouble remember the plethora of names. This is the first time in their short lives that they've had to memorize so many labels. Before, it was just meeting one person at a time and slowly getting to know them, but now it's just an explosion of hot molten to the face with all the names and personalities.

While Tsukiko's never had an issue with this kind of thing before in her past life, she doesn't quite trust herself now. She's forgotten a lot of things the last few months, and she guesses that it's only time before she forgets everything because her soul is growing old.

If she hadn't died she would be thirty three years old by now. It isn't an impressive feature to have, but it came with all the knowledge of this universe for the next hundred or so years.

Hirohito, for all of his scars and adorableness, is cool and collective. He isn't as loud and obnoxious as Yasuo or Masato, nor is he as quiet and reserved like Anzu. He just acts himself with some more respect.

If the other children weren't so… unique, Tsukiko would've tried to get to know them but not even the sensei seems worthwhile. Chikako is the round kind of sensei, where she'd rather you know a bit of everything than nothing at all. Like the jack of all trades, master of none she is. She even has the shikotsumyaku, which is a plus.

But with so many changes in their training leaves Kyoko and Tsukiko in a hold. They were just starting getting used to Atsuko-sensei's methods, and before that they were already used to Bishamon-sensei's abuse. But now with this? The hectic training with commotion, birds chatting around them?

It makes absolutely no sense as much as it's an assault to the sense. Chikako-sensei encourages them to talk, for them to interact with each other. Tsukiko and Kyoko are getting used to the children, but they are so weird and so, so different from what they're used to.

It's when Masato decides to get all touchy-feely when the children, Chikako-sensei's original gang, realize that they don't know what the duo has experienced before, that the duo are as real and frightening as the real world. That the original circle has been sheltered from the real world.

While Tsukiko can understand why Masato is the way he his, judging from his happy toned voice and innocently ignorant gaze, she still doesn't like it when he touches her. She doesn't like it when he touches Kyoko.

Yasuo is all for the vocals, too. He just never shuts up. He's like a talkative version of Iwao, only this time Tsukiko would rather he lose an arm instead of a few fingers or toes. There is absolutely nothing wrong with talking, it's an invitation to make friends, but Yasuo's talking requires a dense brain, one of which Tsukiko nor Kyoko has.

He doesn't understand the concept of respect either and the moment they show that he has none of theirs he throws a tantrum. Out of all of the other children, Tsukiko is positive that he will be dead the moment he steps outside for the first time in who knows how long. Or within the year.

Both are good.

Chikako-sensei, for all of her love and support for her mentally incapable children, is the greatest sensei Tsukiko has ever had. Not even her tenth grade algebra teacher can get to the level of Chikako-sensei. While there are some things that could be better in how she teaches, Tsukiko is perfectly fine with Chikako-sensei than Atsuko-sensei or Bishamon-sensei.

Like Tsukiko has said before, Chikako-sensei is a round teacher and wants round students. So it isn't hard for Tsukiko and Kyoko to get used to wildly different teaching methods, although they are getting sick of all the sudden changes.

"Tsukiko-kun, show me what you can do with you shikotsumyaku." Chikako-sensei says softly, her voice easy on the ears and not too scathing. "You too, Kyoko-kun. This is an assessment; I don't know why the officials didn't do that when you were still in their hands, so do your best. I want this to be as detailed as possible; make a comb or something with as many designs in it as possible."

The girls have never had assignments with their previous sensei's, it was always 'get this done as efficiently as possible and do it with little energy or chakra'. This is a relief from their stressing exposure of constant violence and general harassment that their previous sensei's placed on them.

Kyoko gets started almost immediately. But Tsukiko hangs back, unsure if she's supposed to start now or after Kyoko's finished with what she's doing. Tsukiko understands that she has to produce something with her bones, and that something could very well be a comb with as much inscriptions and designs as possible, but does she even want to do that? What else could she do?

In the end, in spite of Tsukiko's mind numbing thinking and awareness, Kyoko is finished. She produces and five toothed comb with this texture that reminds Tsukiko of the handles of a metal weight or barbell.

With an accomplished Kyoko and as expecting sensei, Tsukiko is already focusing her chakra to the back of her wrist. She starts off forming six little dots that grows slowly, taking extra care to make the edges as rounded as possible. Chikako-sensei wants designs, yes? As the dots form into longer sticks, she adds a grove into them to make them a little tasteful.

Once they are about the length of her pinky finger is when she makes the grip, reminding herself to be slow and deliberate, to be as skilled as possible in making the swirves and dots on it. Tsukiko has to be careful, concentrating on the thickness and thinness constantly as she eyes her project. It isn't too hard, she realizes, it just takes a little concentration here and there.

When it's finished, she hands the bloody and dampish comb over to Chikako-sensei. It's a work of art, Tsukiko thinks to herself, I'd like to have it back.

Pleased with her students work, Chikako-sensei smiles with a light in her eyes that the girls haven't seen on a sensei's face before. It awakens them to the possibilities to what they can now do, to what they can now say and think without the threat of bleeding or exhaustion.

"Well done, girls," She praises them, examining their works of art. "You've done better than I expected. Atsuko-san must've done some pretty good work with you two to get this good at controlling your chakra outputs."

Her singing praises to them does wonders that they've yet to experience. The warmth in Tsukiko's heart has only been felt on what must've been her first month or so of life, and yet here it is again, coming from a sensei that they'd just met.

"This places you on a higher category than the others, so once I test out your other strengths and weaknesses I can properly place you with a partner. Although knowing Bishamon-san and Atsuko-san I know you should be at a higher level than even Hirohito; my best student." Chikako-sensei says again, handing them their respective combs. "Keep those, they are yours. Be proud at what you can do and try to get better every time you use them. That can become really helpful later on in life."

Holding her comb to her chest, Tsukiko preens at the older women, satisfied that her work has pleased Chikako-sensei. A ghost of a smile appears on her lips, and she feels lighthearted and convenient again.

So much death and so much plot holes.

I'm not really proud of this work, but I feel absolutely positive on the future chapters. The next chapter should go over the relationship Tsukiko has with Kyoko and the rest of her groupmates and maybe covering any plot holes that I can find in this and the previous chapters.

Nothing is set in stone, so I'd like to thank Cat Beats for pointing out that little fact on the previous chapter, it has been fixed and replaced with something else. I'd also like to thank thanzitay.2000 for commenting :)

And please, if you find any grammatical mistakes/plot holes, please alert me, I'm open to all sorts of criticism and appreciate the help to make this story better for everyone who reads it.

Originally 5,496 words.