On top of Myojo Academy's rooftop, a confrontation was taking place. Two girls were facing each other, wind in their hair, as they kept staring at their opponent with intensity.

"Hanabusa-san...Haru doesn't understand. Why are you doing this? Why did you hurt Tokaku-san!?"

This situation was the result of another event. Sumireko had asked to meet Haru on the last school's floor. Haru went and of course, Tokaku tag along, finding the lady's behaviour suspicious. And she had been right. As soon as they had arrived, they had been welcomed by a cybernetic Sumireko who attacked them. Tokaku had tried to protect her, but she wasn't at the same level as Sumireko and ended up being knocked down. Haru, knowing that she was the cyborg's target, ran away so she would leave Tokaku alone. This is how they both ended up on the rooftop.

"Hurt Azuma-san? She is only unconscious. It is her own fault to have foolishly tried to protect you. Being a shield for a queen is the fate of a worker bee!"

Haru immediately understood what Sumireko meant and wondered how she knew about it. But still, she highly disliked what she was insinuating.

"You're wrong! Tokaku-san isn't a worker bee, she's my friend! Haru isn't a queen!"

"You are right about one thing. You are no queen. I am the true queen."

"What...what do you mean? And why are you trying to kill Haru!? What I've done to you? Is it related...to Class Black's initial purpose?"

"Ah, so many questions. Very well, I suppose I can answer them before killing you. You see, we both have a similar past. I too, was victim of multiple assassination attempts. This is why...my body ended up like this. Well, rather, I chose to have this body in order to become stronger. That is the difference between you and me. I survived on my own, sacrificed part of my own body, while you...you only used others to protect you. This is why I came to Class Black, to prove once and for all that I am the strongest queen! But for a reason I do not know, the real event of Class Black did not happen. I tried to wait, but it seems it will not happen. It does not really matter to me, I do not care about this, all I want is to kill you!

Haru's body became stiff and she put herself in a defensive position. Now that she was sure Sumireko won't give up on killing her, Haru had entered her self-defense mode. All she could care about now was to survive. She didn't view Sumireko as her classmate and friend, but as someone who not only wanted to kill her, but also had hurt Tokaku. Even the lady's behaviour was completely different. Haru was used to see her with such an elegant vibe, always smiling calmly, with a distinguish attitude. Right now Sumireko looked fierce, she was smirking in a way that almost seemed insane, similar to the way Shinya smiled. This complete change of attitude helped Haru to stop viewing her as the Sumireko she knew, to view her as an enemy to defeat.

"Hanabusa-san, I'm warning you. Haru won't die easily. If you tried to kill me, then I won't have any scruples towards you!"

"Oh my, but you have some guts. But it is useless against me. You cannot possibly defeat me. A bee cannot defeat a spider. I am the true queen, I am the strongest! There may have two SMSL Survivors, but they can only be one SHSL Survivor. And it will be me. Now, let's fight as queens!"

Since recently, they both learned that they weren't truly the SMSL Lucky Student and SMSL Lady, that they were both in fact the SMSL Survivor. It was something that Haru wasn't happy to learn, since it reminded her of her tragic past. But it seemed that it was also what triggered Sumireko to stop waiting for the Class Black event and tried to kill Haru regardless.

Suddenly, the lady stretched her robotic arm and wires came from her fingertips, heading in direction of Haru. The latter managed to barely dodge the attack. Sumireko's wires hit the rooftop's fence and got stuck there. The cyborg looked panicked and tried to free herself, in vain. Haru took advantage of the situation and rushed towards her opponent. She grabbed Sumireko and brought her to the rooftop's edge and jump, still holding Sumireko. The two survivors fell, only hanging at the roof thanks to the cyborg's wires.

"Give up! Otherwise, I'll make you fall!" Haru warned.

"Never! I will never give up until I have killed you!" Sumireko shouted.

Haru didn't want to kill her. She didn't want to kill. But she knew she had no choice. It wasn't only her life that was in danger, but Tokaku's too. The blue haired girl would most likely fight the cyborg again, and probably died. Making Sumireko fall was the only way to protect her own life, as well as Tokaku's one too.

Reluctantly, while still holding Sumireko's robotic arm that was connected to the wires, Haru began to kick the cyborg's shoulder, until it detached from the arm. The two survivors glanced at each other briefly. Sumireko's expression was now stoic, like she had somehow accepted her fate. Haru could only feel sadness, but not regret. She knew it was the only way, but still, she never wished for this. All she wanted was to be friend with all her classmates and have a normal life.

As Sumireko fall from the rooftop, Haru remained hanging, still holding the cybernetic arm.


"Why are you defending her!? She doesn't deserve this, she's not worthy of you!"

The girl who said that was a senpai from the high school division of Myojo Academy. She was with two others girls, two kouhais of hers, who were silently giving her their support.

"I told you to leave her alone. She's not just my roommate, she's my friend. I won't let you bully her."

Shiena could barely believe what she had just heard. The brunette was currently sitting on the ground in the gardening club. Between her and the three bullies was Otoya, who was apparently defending her. Shiena only went to the gardening club because it was late and her roommate didn't come back to their dorm room. Somewhat worried, Shiena had gone to her club to see if everything was okay, and ended up being bullied by three members of the club, as well as Otoya's fans.

"Urgh, why are you so into that plain-looking girl!? Someone as beautiful as you is way out of her league! You could have a way prettier girl...like me!" the bully declared.

Otoya suddenly let out a mocking giggle, which seemed to have infuriated the high school girl.

"What's funny!?"

"You, prettier than Shiena-chan...how funny. Were you talking about your face? Perhaps. But you know, a pretty face is only an ephemeral beauty. Outer beauty is only temporary. Like those blooming flowers," Otoya began to say, as she pointed some beautiful flowers. Then, she pointed faded ones. "You're ugly in the inside, and one day, like those flowers, your beauty will fade, and you'll become as ugly as you are in your heart. Unlike you, Shiena-chan is beautiful in the inside, her heart is pure, and that kind of beauty can be eternal. So I don't care if you're 'prettier' than her, at least her beauty won't fade away like yours!"

Her senpai looked utterly offended. She raised her fist and violently punched Otoya right in the face. Otoya staggered a little, but managed to stay on her feet. The high school girl looked somewhat regretful to have hit her, while her kouhais looked shocked.

"Takechi-san, I…" the bully began to say, before she suddenly went quiet.

Otoya had pulled out her scissors. Shiena couldn't see her face, but she could see that her roommate's posture was aggressive. Otoya than approached from the blooming flowers.

"Senpai, you're like those flowers. Your beauty is blooming. And personally, when I see something at the pinnacle of their beauty, knowing that it will eventually fade, it only makes me want to do this…" Otoya said, as she suddenly cut one of the flowers.

The three bullies looked scared of Otoya's insinuated threat and began to recoil, before running away from the garden.

Shiena couldn't help but feeling happy. What Otoya told to the high school girl really pleased her. It was the first time someone came to her help to defend her from bullies, and it was kind of ironic that it was Otoya. But right now, Shiena was too grateful to care about who helped her, all that matter was that someone protected her.

"Takechi…" Shiena mumbled.

Otoya turned back, and Shiena could see that both her nose and lips were bleeding. The brunette couldn't help but feeling bad, thinking that it was her fault if Otoya had been hurt. Her roommate approached her and crouched near her.

"Shiena-chan, are you alright? Did they hurt you?" she asked with was seemed to be a concerned look.

"Yes, I'm okay. They just pushed me…"

"Your knee, it's bleeding!"

Shiena did feel a slight pain on her knee. She looked at it and discovered that there was a scratch on it that was lightly bleeding.

"Oh, that must be when I'd fallen, I must have scratched my knee on the ground. It's nothing, well compared to what happened to your face. Here, is a…"

When Shiena was about to take a tissue from her pocket, Otoya suddenly went between her legs. She delicately grabbed Shiena's injured leg and, to Shiena's astonishment, she suddenly licked her wound. The brunette remained speechless as she witnessed Otoya licking her knee. That was just too weird for her to process, even for Otoya's standards.

"What...what are you doing!?" Shiena finally managed to say.

When Otoya had finished licking her knee clean, she raised her head and looked at Shiena with a lustful gaze.

"Disinfection," her roommate simply replied.

Both Shiena and Otoya raised up, and the latter suddenly put the flower she had cut into the brunette's hair.

"Don't listen to those bitches. They know nothing about beauty. Those kinds of people who are only pretty on the outside are worthless. They are just pleasant to the eyes, not the heart. You're different. You're not worthless. You're cute, as well as beautiful in the inside. You're like...an eternal blooming flower. That's why...I love you."

Shiena didn't have the time to properly reacted to Otoya's confession that the latter suddenly grabbed her, to kiss her right on the lips. Then, she introduced her tongue inside her mouth, and Shiena could taste the metallic taste of her roommate's blood. Otoya eventually broke the kiss and gazed at Shiena with a seductive look.

"Now my wound is also disinfected," Otoya declared cheerfully. "And we taste each others blood, how romantic ~."

Shiena didn't know how to react. She was feeling too many conflicted emotions. A part of her liked the kiss, was happy about Otoya's confession and even felt touched by her words. But another part of her was angry at her to have stolen her first kiss, disgusted by how it happened, as well as creeped out by her roommate's behaviours.

Not able to make up her mind about how she should feel, Shiena simply gave the tissue to Otoya. She then ran away, troubled by her own feelings.


Sumireko's entire body hurt. Well, the part who were still made of flesh and bones. What could be more normal when one had just fallen from a building. Well, any ordinary human would have died from this fall. But Sumireko was no ordinary human. She was a cyborg, as well as a queen.

Sumireko managed to survive by using her remaining arm to slow down her fall, and landed on her cybernetic legs. But because of that, all her limbs were out of order. Haru had taken one of her arms, the other had been damaged because of the friction against the building when she used it to slow her fall, and both legs had been destroyed when she landed on them. Fortunately, her legs absorbed the hit and the rest of her body was fatally injured. Only some scratches and bruises, and at worst maybe some lesions, when after she fell on her back.

She was somewhat grateful that it was the evening. This way, there was no ordinary students near the main building. No one could assist to the humiliating defeat of the fallen queen she had become. Sumireko may be a competitive person who was obsessed by being the strongest, she was not a sore loser either. Whining because of losing was something she judged to be undignified, She considered that if one lost, even herself, it was entirely their fault, because they were too weak.

" In the end, I was too weak to defeat Ichinose-san. A spider being defeated by a bee, how pathetic. "

Since the beginning of the school years, Sumireko had eagerly waited for the Class Black event to begin, so she could finally face and defeat the other queen with a similar past as hers she had always wanted to vanquish since she was a child. But months had passed and nothing happened. When she had discovered that both Haru and she were the SMSL Survivor and in competition for the SHSL Survivor title, it was the straw that broke the camel's back. She couldn't wait anymore, she had to kill her, she had to prove that she was the strongest queen.

Prove it to whom? The world? Those who were trying to kill her? Haru? Herself? She wasn't sure anymore. It didn't matter anymore. She had lost. She had no more purpose in life, no reason to stay at Myojo…

Then she remembered why she had been able to wait so long before losing patience, why she had an interest in staying at Myojo Academy, and perhaps go to Hope's Peak Academy. There was something, or rather, someone, that made her wanted to stay for another reason than killing Haru.

"Yo."

Sumireko came out from her thought and realized that she was no longer alone. The first thing she noticed was a huge sledgehammer and immediately know who it was.

"Good evening, Shinya-san."

"Looks like you got your ass kicked, Sumireko. Do ya want me to finish the job?"

"No thank you, I am fine."

"Uh? I was just tryin' to be a nice person...Ya'd rather have Mahiru to do it?"

"Neither."

Somehow, talking to Shinya and thinking about Mahiru comforted Sumireko. She knew that what she felt towards Banba was most likely love. But as a queen, she needed to be alone, she couldn't open her heart to someone…

" But I'd been defeated by another queen. "

Did that mean that she was no longer the queen? Or just a queen? Sumireko wasn't sure. She didn't want to give up on the title she had been given herself and worked so hard to obtain. But on the other hand, what was the purpose to keep acting like a queen if she had been defeated? What would be the point of refrain herself from loving someone over something she had lost? To preserve her pride? She knew it was a childish reason.

Well, it didn't matter anymore. With her defeat by the hand of Haru, she had no reason to stay at Myojo Academy. How could she stay at the same place of the girl who vanquished her? Not only her pride wouldn't take it, but she was convinced that there was no way Haru would allow her to stay. After all, she was from the same clan as the chairwoman, she must have enough influence to get her expelled.

" This is the end. I will remain alone, but not as the queen, rather as a fallen queen… "

Sumireko closed her eyes, ready to just let herself be swallowed by the darkness of unconsciousness.

"Hanabusa-san!"

Sumireko immediately opened her eyes when she recognized the voice. Painfully, she turned her head to see the person who was now next to her.

"Ichinose-san...have you come to give me the coup de grace? Or just to mock me?"

"What? Of course not! Haru was worried about you!"

Sumireko was surprised to hear that. Haru didn't seem to be lying. She genuinely seemed concern about her. Sumireko wasn't sure if she felt insulted because the girl who defeated her had pity of her of if she was relieved to know she wasn't there to finish her off.

"I do not want your pity."

"That's not pity! You're my classmate, it's normal that I'm worried about you. And...Haru didn't really want you to die...Haru just did what she had to do to survive, and to protect Tokaku-san."

Sumireko couldn't help but be amazed. Haru's behaviour was more unpredictable that she thought. She always had thought that Haru was either a ruthless queen ready to do anything in order to survive, or a foolish queen who didn't want to harm others. It seemed that she had been both right and wrong. Haru was both a ruthless and foolish queen, or rather, a determined queen with a heart. Haru was truly a good person, but who could go against her sweet nature if it was to protect her life or someone she cared about. She was able to put a defined line between her regular life and her life as a queen, something that Sumireko couldn't. Sumireko's only life was the one of a queen, she didn't know how to live another type of life. Without her title as a queen, Sumireko felt like she had no more purpose, while Haru would be perfectly fine to not be a queen anymore. She wasn't sure if it made her or Haru the best queen. Well, in their situation, it was Haru who managed to win.

"You won, Ichinose-san. I give up. You can be the queen now, as well as the SHSL Survivor. I will leave Myojo Academy so you could be the SMSL Survivor…"

"No!" Haru suddenly protested. "Haru doesn't want you to leave!"

"The decision is mine, not yours. I have no interest in staying in the same class as the queen how defeated me."

"Stop with that! Haru isn't a queen! Haru is your classmate! All Haru wants...is to be your friend."

"Well, no offence, but I never see you as a friend. To me, you were just a rival to eliminate."

"Perhaps you don't see Haru as a friend, but what about Mahiru-chan? She views you as her friend, she...she's a troubled girl, and she's counting on you. You can't leave her!"

Sumireko wanted to protest, but when she heard Banba's name, she immediately began to have doubt. Recently Mahiru was closer to her and even began to trust her, it would be a waste to leave her after all the progress they made together.

"Then I will bring her with me," Sumireko replied. " I will take her home…"

"Oy, ya can't do dat!" Shinya suddenly protested. "Mahiru finally begins to enjoy her school life, ya can't take her away like that. And ya can't leave either, she really likes you ya know...And me too. I...I just want Mahiru to be happy."

Sumireko didn't really care about what Haru told her, but what Sinya had said really affected her. She didn't want to be the cause of Mahiru's unhappiness. And to hear that both Banba's persona liked didn't leave her indifferent. Maybe she did have another reason to stay in Class Black other than defeating Haru. Maybe there was something she could do with her life than being a lonely queen. A dream perhaps, a dream she had as a child that she had long forgotten, thinking that it was impossible. Well, perhaps now it was possible…

"Well, I guess it would be unladylike for me to cause pain to Mahiru-san. If you insist, then I suppose I should stay. I may not be able to go to Hope's Peak anymore, but I can still graduate from Myojo." Sumireko said with a soft expression.

"Maybe you will still be accepted at Hope's Peak, even if it isn't as the SHSL Survivor. Maybe you have another talent…" Haru proposed.

"I doubt it. The only thing I am good at is surviving. But thanks for the concern."

"Then just be good to Mahiru and make her happy. If you're able to do that, then you're truly talented," Shinya said.

Sumireko thought about it. If she had failed to be a queen, then perhaps she was now allowed to love, to not be alone anymore. And if it was the case, she wanted to be with Banba.

"Hey, what are you doing here...Uh? Hanabusa-san? You..what? Were you the noise I heard sooner? Did you fall? Your limbs..."

Sumireko recognized the voice. It belonged to one of her classmates.

"Ah, Takechi-san...what happened to your face? Did someone hit you?" Haru asked with concern.

"Someone finally gives you what ya deserve?" Shinya commented.

"Oh, no, nothing serious, just a fight. I was searching for Shiena-chan when it happens. Did one of you saw her?"

"Yeah, I saw her go in the dormitory," Shinya replied.

"Ichinose! Are you alright!?"

Once again, a voice that Sumireko recognized.

"Tokaku-san, I'm fine...but Hanabusa-san…"

The blue haired girl put herself in front of Haru and glanced at Sumireko.

"Calm down you useless rabbit, I cannot hurt your queen in my current state. And I do not want anymore."

"What...what happened? Ichinose, did you…?"

Haru nodded. Tokaku looked at her with shock, probably surprised to discover that Haru was the one who did this to Sumireko. Tokaku than glanced at Otoya with disdain.

"What are you doing here...and what happened to your face?" Tokaku said.

"I was just talking with Haru-chi ~. I heard a loud noise and came to see what it was, no need to be so wary of me."

"Why did you fight?" Haru suddenly asked.

"Well, let's say I broke some girl's heart and she didn't take it well…" Otoya replied.

"Takechi-san...Haru warned you about that. Acting like a player would get you hurt."

"Haha, I personally saw that! Don't worry, I'd learn my lesson. I'll properly deal with that girl later."

"Hey, what're all those noises here...uh? Hanabusa-san?! What the...you're a robot!?"

Sumireko signed. It seemed that most of her classmates had decided to go for a walk this specific evening.

"Haruki-san, Isuke-san!" Haru exclaimed. "What are you doing here?"

"We were just taking a walk together," Haruki replied.

"Um? Hanabusa-san? A robot? That explains a lot," Isuke commented.

"Get your facts right. I am a cyborg, not a robot." Sumireko replied, slightly annoyed.

"Is that so? Anyway, Isuke always knew you were some rich weirdo, and now I've got the proof."

Sumireko decided to ignore her. She didn't care about Isuke's opinion. She then noticed that there was another classmate who approached them, looking at the scene with what seemed to be exasperation.

"You guys...you really can't help but destroy things uh...Well, I guess I'll have to call an ambulance," Nio said.

"Try a mechanic instead," Isuke mocked.

Once again, Sumireko just ignored Isuke's insensitive comment. She sighed again and close her eyes, she didn't have enough strength to keep trying to remain conscious. After a certain moment, she heard an ambulance buzzer. It seemed that she was about to end up where all her obsession for strength began: in a hospital.


It had been a while since Otoya hadn't done that. The sweet aroma of blood, the scream of pain that sounded like music to her ears, the taste of blood and tears, the sensation of mutilated flesh, and the sight of a freshly killed corpse. Not so long ago, Otoya only swore by that. It was the thing that brought her the most pleasure, brutally killing someone by cruelly and sadistically mutilating them with scissors.

But today's hunt hadn't been as fun as the others. Even though everything was the same as before. So why Otoya hadn't enjoyed it like she always does?

The answer was simple. She had found another source of pleasure, something that she found even more beautiful, something that she could enjoy differently than killing. A beauty that could remain eternal and never fade away. It was something that felt so precious that it makes those killings feel empty.

"...really? You really did that...today? After that I'd to call an ambulance, now I'll have to call the morgue...you're really a pain in the ass Takechi-san."

Otoya slowly turned back to see Nio, who was looking at her with a mix of annoyance and anger. Not that Otoya cared, but still, she knew that Nio had some influence in Myojo Academy.

"They asked for it. They attacked Shiena-chan even if I'd told them to leave her alone."

"From what I'd seen with the security camera, only one of them directly harm her, the one who had punched you. Why did you kill the two others?"

They were currently in the gardening club behind the school, in the middle of the night. Otoya had texted the bully to "apologize" and asked her to come meet her so they could talk. She did the same thing with her two kouhais. Of course, they all came. They might have been mad at Otoya, but they still remained her stupid fangirls, and that's what caused their death.

"They had witnessed me threatened their leader, they could have talk against me. And they help that bitch bullied Shiena-chan. They were guilty too."

"Is that so? I thought that you were the one who orchestrated everything just to look like a hero in front of Kenmochi-san."

"What? Of course not! I would never orchestrate something that could damage my property."

"Property? Kenmochi-san is yours? Since when?"

"Since I decided it. She might not know it, but she's mine now. I might have been to soon with my confession, but it doesn't matter. She'll belong to me, whether she likes it or not. And I won't let anyone try to dirty her pure heart, or hurt her. Only I has the right to hurt her."

"I see...well that's a problem for me. You see, I can't have you killing Myojo's students. And it's not the first time. Remember that guy you killed last month? It was bothersome for the chairwoman to deal with it."

"That jerk tried to flirt with Shiena-chan…"

"Kenmochi-san is clearly not interested in boys, you had nothing to worry about."

"Well he was interested in her, who knows what he could have done to her, that bastard. No one touches my stuff!"

"Takechi-san, no more killing. Not only you killed Myojo's students, but if someone from the outside learns the truth, it could ruin the school reputation. I won't let that happen. Understood?"

"Why should I listen to you?"

"Because if you don't, you'll be expelled and go to jail. And if it happens, you can say goodbye to Kenmochi-san."

"...Fine. I'll behave. But that's only because being with Shiena-chan is more fun than killing."

"What's so great with Kenmochi-san? I don't understand."

"Shiena-chan, she...she's really beautiful, in the inside. Her heart is so pure and pretty, just like a blooming flower. But that kind of beauty can never fade, so she's like an eternal blooming flower. There's no way that I can let such a beauty in the hands of someone else, or let someone dirty her. She'll be mine and only mine!"

"Pure you said...I'm pretty sure it can also describe Haru-chan perfectly."

"Oh, Haru-chi. Of course. But you see, she's already taken by Azuma-san. I'm not into used stuff. And with that pretty face of hers, all I want to do with her is to stick my scissors in her heart. But with Shiena-chan, it's something else I want to stick in her…"

"...right. Well, this time I'll clean your mess, but next time you go to jail. Got it?"

"Yes!" Otoya replied cheerfully.

"Great. Now go back to your room and clean yourself."

Otoya left the gardening club, heading towards the dormitory. Now that she knew killing didn't bring her the same amount of pleasure as before and that she had been prohibited to kill, she was even more determined to substitute that pleasure with the one she had with Shiena. And how her roommate felt about that was not a part of the equation.


Once again, Haru used the magic of friendship.

Shiena's kokoro just doesn't know what to think anymore. So I'll say it once again: Run Shiena run!

I feel like it's a waste to have put work on Sumireko in this fic, especially since how things end with Banba later. So I was thinking about eventually do a SumiBanba fic, in the AnR original universe. Because keeping that only for that fic who's only read by both AnR/DR fan would be a waste of potential.

Once again, run Shiena run! And Otoya, I don't want to break it out to you, but there's already someone who wants to dirty her pure heart.