UnLimited

The Unmatched Smiling Monster


Kazuya stood by the window in awe of what he had witnessed. Chiffon is amazing. I can see now why she's considered one of the best, if not the best Pandora alive.

Ticy looked over at him with a knowing smile. "Impressive, isn't she?"

He turned to face her. "Yes, though I feel like the word impressive doesn't do her justice. I've never seen anyone move so fast... that last move she did, it's almost as if she was, for the briefest moment, in two places at once."

"You mean her Illusion Turn ability? She invented that herself, you know." Ticy loved to boast about Chiffon, who was usually so very humble about her abilities. The Student Council President was also rather timid when she was not in a battle situation, which was pretty much most of the time.

"So is that what she calls it? Illusion Turn? Wow. And to have invented it herself..." he was starting to see Chiffon in a totally different light. Here was a shining example of what a Pandora should strive to be.

Chiffon and Eugene arrived then through the small lift and walked over to join them.

"Thank you, as usual, for manning the simulation controls, Tish," Chiffon said first, with Ticy responding with a "My pleasure." Chiffon then looked at Kazuya. "So what did you think?"

"That was unbelievable. Your speed and skill are phenomenal. Your strength and accuracy are spectacular. I would hate to be a Nova going against you," he replied honestly. "In short, I now understand why you're ranked first."

She blushed a little, both pleased and embarrassed by his words. "Well, these are only simulated dummy Nova. The real ones are a lot harder to take down than that, really." she was quick to say.

"Speaking of simulated, this simulation technology... it's amazing! How come this type of tech hasn't been released commercially. I know that some people would love to have some of their dreams and fantasies come true and this could make it all a reality, and I'm sure many would be willing to pay for such a chance," Kazuya looked at them all, curious to know.

"Well, Kazuya, this is extremely expensive technology you're talking about here. The only reason we were able to have and install this technology was because of the basically unlimited funding we have from world governments. Anything we need to advance the Pandora project, we simply ask for it," Chiffon informed him.

"Ah, I see." He wondered if he could somehow sneak in here and use one of the rooms to practice.

Kazuya then looked to Eugene, who had yet to say a word. He was looking at Kazuya with a strange expression that he could not read. "Hey Eugene. You were amazing out there too. You're a really talented Limiter!"

"Thanks. It helps to have someone as skilled as Chiffon as my partner," he responded, shrugging his shoulders a little and looking to the brunette.

"I was hoping you might be interested in teaching me a few tips on Freezing? You're so experienced with it and I'm only really beginning to understand my Freezing abilities. I would really appreciate any help you could give me," Kazuya said.

Chiffon liked the idea and chimed in, "That sounds like a great idea. How about we all have dinner together and you guys can talk about it then?"

Eugene looked at her for a second. "Alright, sure thing."

Chiffon gave a nod. "Right. Well you two go on ahead. I have a few things to talk about with Tish. We'll follow soon, okay?"

Kazuya and Eugene exited the Observation Deck and walked in silence through the corridors of the Simulation Hall. It was Kazuya who spoke first.

"So Eugene."

"Yes?"

"I was wondering... Have you faced a real Nova before?"

Eugene nodded slowly. "Once, last year."

"Last year? I didn't hear about any Nova incursions in the past year..." he trailed off, trying to recall any news of such an incident.

"That's because it appeared out in the middle of nowhere. And there was only one Nova, a Type-S. We were able to take it down before it reached any civilian areas," he explained.

"Ah... What was it like?"

"It was... a little scary... and nerve-wracking, to be honest," he said as they neared the front doors. "But as long as you have the will to fight, and with adrenaline in your veins, it makes it a little easier to stand there and do your part to fight against a true Nova. And when it was destroyed, it was one of the greatest feelings in the world. Let me tell you though, going up against the real thing... those Nova are tough."

Kazuya tried to imagine what it must have been like, and wondered how big of a difference there really was between the simulated Nova and the real ones. He remembered watching Chiffon as she fought, and while she made it look nearly effortless, he knew that the simulated Nova were tough.

They walked through the front doors, the cool night air greeting them as they made their way to the cafeteria. They unfortunately did not get very far.

Kazuya had this strange feeling that someone was watching them, and then suddenly his instincts kicked in and told him to drop to the ground. "GET DOWN!" he yelled as he fell into a very low crouch.

Several daggers flew directly over him, and had he not ducked he would have been impaled for sure.

Eugene was not so fortunate as he reacted too slowly and was actually confused at Kazuya's actions at first. Two daggers suddenly embedded themselves into him, one on his left quad and one on the left side of his torso. His eyes widened, looking down at his injuries, as he went into shock. There was already a lot of blood, and the daggers removed themselves of their own accord, with more blood gushing out. He fell to the ground, clutching at his wounds as he began to make pained grunting noises.

"Damnit!" Kazuya cursed as he glanced towards Eugene, but had no time to check on him or help him as the daggers came back and attacked him. His eyes narrowed instantly as he recognized the weapons flying through the air. He dove away, rolling on the ground as the daggers slammed into the spot where he was before. They cracked and broke the earth from the impact.

"Hang on, Eugene. Just hang on..." he said as he jumped away, the daggers missing by mere inches as they tore at his uniform.

"Miyabi! You'll pay for this!" he shouted with conviction. He was about to activate his Freezing at maximum possible power, which he had never done done before, in order to catch her since she might be further away but something slammed into him at such speed that he had hardly been able to see it. A mere flicker of motion in his peripherals was all he saw before he was hit.

"Agh!" he cried as he flew several feet, landing hard on his back and rolling over. He gathered his breath, getting on to his hands and knees when he felt hands roughly grab him and flung him into a tree. There was a cracking sound as part of the bark broke off, and the entire tree shook as some leaves and smaller branches fell to the ground from the impact. The hands grabbed him again and slammed him into the tree once more.

He gritted his teeth. He had had enough. When her hands grabbed him again, he quickly grabbed one of her wrists with his left hand and squeezed, using his enhanced strength. She let out a surprised cry, and that gave him enough time to know where the follow-up strike would go. In the next instant he had swung with his right arm and his fist slammed into her abdomen, the force of the blow sending her into the air and back.

"Miss Miyabi!" cried three voices in unison as her Limiters rushed out from their various hiding spots.

Miyabi was quick to get on her feet, wiping away a little blood that trickled from her mouth with the back of her hand. She waved them off, the look in her eyes still menacing, and they backed away. A small smile tugged at her lips.

"You're a lot more special than I thought, Kazuya Aoi." she said slowly, angrily.

Kazuya stood up, his fists clenched as he glared right back at her. "Why don't you let me show you just how special I really am?"

"Accel!" she cried and disappeared in a blur.

Kazuya reacted instantly, activating his Freezing.

Sure enough, Miyabi had sped to somewhere a few feet behind him, and her daggers were a foot away on either side of Kazuya, suspended in mid-air. He grinned, approaching her with his fists out. He was seriously contemplating calling forth Nova Vengeance, but he decided it was best to keep that a secret for as long as possible. Besides, he figured he could beat her without it.

"No, no, no." she said, "Not this time."

Kazuya was closing in when she suddenly began to glow, at which point he jumped back as he realized what she was doing. He had forgotten about this particular Pandora ability.

A second later and she had activated Pandora Mode, allowing her to move freely. She was surprised, however, at how strong the field was even in Pandora Mode. Her movements were not as quick as she had anticipated, but at least she and her weapons would be able to move around. It was time for her to teach Kazuya a lesson about messing with Miyabi Kannizuki.

-xxxxxx-

"Where's Abel at, Tish?" Chiffon asked after the two boys left. Ticy was usually with her Limiter, Abel, during this time because she would train after Chiffon was done.

"Oh, he said he wasn't feeling well so I told him to go get some rest. He's hopefully back in his dorm sleeping," she replied, a bit worried.

"Ah, I see. Well I hope he gets better then."

"Thank you. So what was the incident that delayed you earlier, Chiffon? Was it Kazuya?" now that they were alone, she felt comfortable calling her by her first name instead of 'Miss President' as she usually did in public.

Chiffon sighed. "No, it wasn't him. Ganessa Roland and Satellizer L. Bridget were fighting, trying to settle the score between them that was interrupted during the Carnival."

"Oh dear. Was it bad?"

The brunette nodded. "We were cutting through the middle of campus when we found them near the cafeteria. There was some property damage and they were injured, but thankfully no one else was hurt. The worst part was actually that they both activated Pandora Mode."

"Whoa, as sophomores? That's dangerous! Not to mention very difficult to do," Ticy said, shaking her head.

"Yes. Satellizer, I could understand... she's different. But Ganessa was a surprise. She is strong, but I did not think she was that strong, though I think her emotions on the matter had a lot to do with her activation," Chiffon said sadly. Pandora normally were able to activate Pandora Mode during their Third Year, though there were a few exceptions every now and again. Chiffon herself was able to activate Pandora Mode even earlier than the they did.

"Well, it looks like they'll have to be enrolled in the Pandora Mode Training class immediately," said Ticy, then she asked, "How did Kazuya Aoi end up joining you here, if I may ask?"

Chiffon intertwined her fingers together in front of her hips. "I happened to be walking and we saw each other. Then he asked if he could come along to observe, plus he said he wanted to see the Simulation Hall since he had never been before."

"Oh, I see. He's seems to be a nice boy, not to mention his amazing Freezing ability. I wonder who he'll pick as a partner..." Ticy trailed off, tucking her hands behind her. "Well, we shouldn't keep the boys waiting too long. Was there anything else you wanted to talk about?"

"Actually, Tish, there is... something I wanted to discuss with you," Chiffon hesitated a moment. "I-" she began but then she suddenly gasped, and turned her head to look away as if she were looking through the walls. "Eugene..." she whispered weakly.

-xxxxxx-

Kazuya was again tempted to go all out on Miyabi, but he was barely a week into enrolling and he knew his father would not approve. So he stayed more on the defensive, dodging and evading the crazed Junior's attacks with a skill and speed that stunned Miyabi and the Limiters who were watching. All this while keeping his Freezing field active, which the Limiters were quick to note.

"Damn you! Just die already!" Miyabi hissed as her daggers flew at him again, only to end up slicing through air as he dodged them easily.

He was about to finally attempt a counter-attack and go on the offensive when something flew by him so fast and so close that the wind displaced actually knocked him off his feet, cancelling his Freezing field as he lost focus completely. He landed on his back with a thud, hitting his head against the ground as well and rubbing where he had hit as he sat up.

"What the hell was that?" he said to himself as he checked to see what had occurred.

Chiffon Fairchild was standing, her Nova weapon activated, and was holding Miyabi up by her neck as her free hand clamped around it.

"Chiffon..." he whispered, surprised.

Miyabi was clearly choking and was grabbing at the hand around her neck, trying to free herself and failing at it. Even her Pandora Mode was not strong enough against Chiffon, particularly when she was angry.

Kazuya could see it in her body language. The way her whole body was rigid and tense. Her claw gauntlet was balled up into a fist. There was no smile on her face, where there always was one. And her eyes. They made Miyabi's eyes earlier look like they were affectionate. He shivered slightly as he saw her, completely different from before.

She slammed her gauntlet into the girl's torso, and Kazuya could hear the cracks from the bones breaking, while simultaneously releasing her neck. This sent her flying into the base of a building thirty feet away, leaving a small crater where she impacted as she slid down and fell to the ground. In a blink of an eye Chiffon was right next to Miyabi, taking a hold of her again, and then throwing her up into the air.

Kazuya watched with wide eyes, suddenly horrified and dumbfounded at the violence, as she proceeded to attack her while she was in mid-air. Chiffon was moving so fast and attacking her so many times consecutively that Miyabi seemingly was suspended in mid-air as she took the blows and slashes. Blood and clothing scattered everywhere. This was not like the battle she had seen before with Satellizer and Ganessa. This was brutal, mindless violence.

"Miss Miyabi!" cried the three Limiters, horrified as well. They fell to their knees after taking a few steps towards the two Pandoras.

Miyabi finally was allowed to fall to the ground, a broken, bloody heap. She was barely breathing.

Chiffon turned her attention to the three Limiters who looked on in horror. Then she attacked them too, mercilessly. She appeared next to each one, grabbing them by the collar, and punched them once with her gauntlet, which was enough to seriously hurt them with the force with which she was attacking.

When she was done with them, she turned back to Miyabi and slowly walked towards the defeated Pandora. Her wrists and ankles were no longer bound by glowing rings, indicating that Pandora Mode had worn off.

Kazuya realized then that she was not yet done. That she planned to go even further than she already had. He asked himself how she could commit such atrocious acts. Sure, he was all for avenging what she had done to Eugene, but not to this extent. Not to the point of killing a fellow Pandora. What had happened to the smiling, happy, and friendly Chiffon that he had come to know?

He needed to put a stop to this, before she did something that he knew she would ultimately regret.

"Chiffon! Chiffon! Stop this! Stop it now!" he began to yell as he ran towards her. "You've gone too far!"

She did not appear to hear him as she stepped closer to Miyabi's broken and battered body. She reached down to grab a handful of the girl's hair and pulled her up. There was blood everywhere. She raised her gauntlet, claw open and ready for the final blow.

"CHIFFON! NOO!" he yelled and concentrated hard, calling forth his Freezing.

The blue field of energy shot out and engulfed the two Pandoras.

Chiffon was still able to move, however, much to his surprise. Her claw started to come down, slower than normal.

"DON'T CHIFFON! DON'T DO IT!" he yelled again, intensifying the power he was putting into field to the point where she finally was immobilized. The claw was only inches away from Miyabi, but he had thankfully stopped her in time. He could feel her struggling mightily against the Freezing.

He walked slowly towards her, the effort he was putting into the Freezing field was more than he was used to. He was near or at maximum power output, and having never done it before he was not sure for how long he could hold it. He could already feel himself getting tired. He needed to get through to her and break her out of her wrathful and vengeful state.

"Chiffon, please. Listen to me!" he said pleadingly. "Please stop this. You've more than won already. You've paid her back for what she did to Eugene... but please... please stop this."

Suddenly, Chiffon began to glow.

That was a bad sign. Kazuya steeled himself as the brunette Pandora activated her Pandora Mode, blue rings circling her wrists and ankles as her hair turned white and her eyes began to glow. She raised her claw again.

"Agggghhhhh!" he yelled loudly as he pushed himself to the edge, pouring all his power out to his Freezing field to stop her. The field glowed brighter and he his own eyes began to glow blue. He knew that he needed to stop her at all costs.

She did not move after that. The temperature dropped considerably as frost began to appear everywhere.

He looked down at Miyabi, her limbs at odd angles and bone fragments jutting out on various parts of her body. There was a pool of blood that surrounded her, and her breathing was coming in wheezes. It was a wonder she was alive at all, in fact. He turned his gaze back to the unmoving Pandora standing before him.

He tried to speak to her again. "Please... This isn't like you... this fight is... is over now. You've made her pay... She's defenseless... Please... Let... her... go..." the last few words he had to say through gritted teeth as he strained to hold such a powerful field.

For a moment he thought he had failed to get through to her. Then he saw it, barely. The change in her eyes. Instead of blind rage, they were suddenly replaced with an awareness that was not there before. They softened. Her body relaxed, and he could no longer feel her struggling against his Freezing field.

It was at this point that he smiled and felt the warm liquid that had begun to come out of both his nostrils. He tasted the iron in his blood. He suddenly felt very weak and fell to his knees, the field still active. He was beginning to lose consciousness. The world around him started to spin. He could hear far off shouts, as if at a distance, while his vision began to fade to black. He was out before he hit the ground.

-xxxxxx-

Satellizer stood completely still as she saw him collapse, and the powerful Freezing field disappeared almost instantly. She gasped, hand to her mouth, before she ran towards them. When she had stumbled upon them, Chiffon had activated her Pandora Mode. She was not sure what had happened, but she had never seen the Student Council President be violent outside of a Carnival. She had never thought Chiffon Fairchild willing to go so far against an opponent other than a Nova.

She figured that something must have happened to have pushed her off the edge, and she knew exactly how that felt. As she ran to Kazuya, she noted the fallen Pandora's near-death state, but she did not care much for her. She knelt next to Kazuya, grabbing him and rolling him over. Blood was coming out of his nose and both of his ears, as well as his mouth.

Satellizer looked up in time to see Chiffon fall to her knees then, looking down at Miyabi and then at her upturned hands with tears in her eyes. She was sobbing, her Nova weapon deactivated.

Satellizer could hear shouting as faculty members ran towards them.

She did not understand why she felt so bad. How her chest tightened upon seeing Kazuya unconscious like that. She was feeling completely and utterly confused.

Accompanying them to the clinic, she did not even notice how quickly they were moving or how the staff barely registered that she was there. Given that the Untouchable Queen was there and not being noticed, this was incredibly serious indeed.

As she sat, waiting, outside of the room that Kazuya was being held in she had time to think. She wondered what about Kazuya was making her feel all these emotions for him. She had not spoken a single word to him and they had barely interacted, and yet she felt this way. She wondered if this was what love at first sight meant, but then decided that love was too strong a word to use for this. No, she did not think this was love. At least, not yet.

She knew that he cared for him in a way that she had never felt before. A similar feeling would have been how she felt about her mother, but it was not a feeling of care as family. This was different, but what it was she did not know. All she knew was that the emotions inside of her had brought her here.

She wondered what had happened to set off the Student Council President like that. She did not know Chiffon Fairchild personally, but from what she remembered of her she was nice, friendly, and non-confrontational. She was also the best Pandora at West Genetics, but she was careful not to brag about it or to use her position for her own selfish desires.

Elize Schmitz had come in earlier, the tall doctor checking on Kazuya, and had left promptly after that. She had cast a quick glance at Satellizer but said nothing as she passed her both times. No doubt she left to attend to Miyabi, who she vaguely recalled was said to be "critically injured" and was brought immediately into the surgical ward. Hopefully her quick visit also meant that Kazuya was in a stable and safe condition.

She did not even know why she was waiting on him. She should never have even accompanied them here. Again, she reiterated to herself that she hardly knew him and that she should not get involved in such things. Besides, she had better things to do than sit around and wait for someone to wake up. Still, she sat there in the hallway in silence.

Footsteps off to her right finally caught her attention. Ticy Phenyl was walking towards her, her waist-length black hair swaying a little behind her with each step.

The Vice President of the Student Council, Ticy seemed surprised and confused to see her there. She stopped by the door, standing about three feet away from the sitting Satellizer.

"Umm, Miss Satellizer...?" she said tentatively. There was a sadness that permeated her voice.

The blonde Pandora pushed her glasses up. "Y-Yes?"

"Ah, well... Are you here to visit Kazuya?"

Satellizer hesitated, though it was obvious that she was waiting to do just that it was another thing to actual verbally confirm it. "W-Well... yes.."

"I see. So why are you still outside and not in the room visiting..?"

"Uhhh..." Satellizer scratched the side of her head, "You mean... we can visit now?"

Ticy nodded. "Of course. Unless it says on the door 'no visitors', you can really walk right in to visit at any time."

Satellizer let out a short, nervous laugh as she looked away. "Oh.. yes... of course..." She felt extremely embarrassed and chided herself for being such an idiot. She had been sitting out there for who knew how long when she could have been inside already checking on Kazuya.

The Student Council Vice President reached for the handle and opened the door. "Are you coming?"

"I... I'll wait until you're done. If you don't mind."

Ticy nodded and went in, closing the door gently behind her.

How long she stayed in there, Satellizer did not know, but she eventually stepped out again. The blonde Pandora spoke up when she realized Ticy was leaving, already several steps down the hall.

"Excuse me!"

Ticy paused and half-turned back towards her.

"Umm.. H-How is he?"

Ticy smiled, though it did not quite reach her eyes, and tilted her head to the side. "Why don't you go see for yourself?" She then continued to walk away, hands tucked behind her back.

-xxxxxx-

"I honestly don't even know what to say to you, Miss Fairchild," Yumi Kim said as she sat down, drinking from a steaming cup of coffee.

They were in one of the holding rooms in the Detention Center where the delinquents waited before they were placed into cells.

Chiffon had not said a word since the faculty arrived at the scene and she was whisked away. Not only that, but she had yet to raise her head or look anyone in the eye. She had her head down and was staring at the top of the table. Her cheeks were still wet from the tears, and her uniform was still bloodied from the beating she put on Miyabi.

Yumi looked at her and wondered how she might be feeling. The tears and her demeanor indicated that she was sorrowful and regretful at least. The instructor took a sip of her coffee, eyeing the silent brunette closely.

"I want you to know that Dr. Schmitz managed to save Miyabi's life," she informed the girl. Though only barely, she did not add. Yumi was told that Miyabi may never fully recover, in which case she would be removed from the program. She figured that Chiffon did not need to know that just yet.

"Also, the Limiters are doing okay and will make full recoveries," she added, noting that Chiffon still had not moved a muscle.

There was a long silence, punctuated only by Yumi taking sips every now and again from her cup.

"Well, if you have nothing to say..." Yumi stood up, the chair making a slight grinding noise as she pushed it back.

Chiffon finally mumbled something.

Yumi leaned forward slightly. "What was that?"

"Eu... Eugene?" she managed to croak weakly, unable to meet the instructor's gaze.

Yumi did not want to tell her, but since she had asked she felt she had to say something. She did not tell her everything though, mostly because the last time she checked, Eugene was still in surgery. She simply said, "He's stable." At least she assumed him to be.

Chiffon nodded numbly at the news.

She left the room and told the guards to escort Chiffon to one of the solitary confinement cells. These cells were different from the regular ones used in that they were smaller, sound-proof, and they were often used for serious offenders. Never in her life would she have thought that she would send Chiffon Fairchild, the number one ranked Junior and the Student Council President, into one of these cells.

Moving quickly, and still holding her cup of coffee, she made her way over to the clinic to check with Elize about the recent patients.

The tall German doctor was in her office, looking over the patient reports when she arrived. The normally laid back and happy doctor was subdued, indicating how troubled she was of the events that had occurred. She barely even registered Yumi's arrival, giving her a half-hearted wave without even looking at her as she continued to scan the reports.

"How are they, Elize?"

She looked up at Yumi, putting the reports on her desk and leaning back in her chair as she rubbed her temples with her hands. She let out a long breath before she replied. "Kazuya woke briefly earlier for a few seconds before passing out again. He'll be fine, though I am surprised he actually managed to push himself over his limit so quickly. It usually takes some time to be able to focus your power enough to get to that level."

Yumi, a little shameful of it, was actually a little upset that she missed seeing his full-powered Freezing ability by a few seconds.

"As for Eugene... another minute later and he might have died... He is currently stable, but he lost a lot of blood and the wounds were big and pretty deep. While Limiters also have better healing than normal humans, their regeneration is nowhere near the level of the Pandoras," she continued, still rubbing her temples. "He hasn't regained consciousness, but I believe he should make a full recovery. How long that will take is anyone's guess right now, but I should know better in the coming days."

There was a pause.

"And Miyabi?" asked Yumi, torn between wanting to know and not wanting to know. She knew it was bad.

"I'll need to check on her regularly, but it looks like she'll survive. It will take a long while, but she should recover enough to at the very least walk and talk. Whether she can continue to be a Pandora is another issue..." she said as she reached for a clipboard and handed it to Yumi. "I'd prefer it if you looked at the report... instead of me detailing it all to you."

Yumi took the clipboard and looked it over, inwardly cringing at the injuries listed.

Every bone in her body had been broken, many of them in multiple places. Some were even completely shattered. Major ligament and muscle damage. Organ damage. Nerve damage. Severe blood loss. Anyone else in the world who received such injuries should be dead. Lucky for her she was a Pandora, and a strong one at that. She was on the edge when she was taken to emergency surgery, but the experience of the doctors and of course Elize as well as the technology and medicine made available to them helped to save her life.

Elize cleared her throat, adding, "When she does regain consciousness... I'm not sure how her mental state will be. As Pandora we are capable of handling an excessive amount of pain. But with what she's gone through tonight..."

Both women simply looked at each other.

-xxxxxx-

Kazuya groaned. His body felt achy, but the kind of ache that came from not having moved around much. His mind also felt sluggish, as if he had been sleeping for too long. The bed felt different. This was not his bed. Then the memories of what happened earlier came back to him.

"NO!" he yelled, bolting upright as his eyes fluttered open and he took in some quick breaths.

"Eek!" cried a feminine voice to his left.

He was not expecting to hear that. Turning to his left, he silently regarded the other occupant of the room - mostly because he was stunned to see her there.

Satellizer L. Bridget was sitting in a chair next to his bed, and she looked startled to see him awake. She adjusted the glasses that had skewed on her face from when she had jumped a little in her chair from his sudden yell and movement. Her expression turned into embarrassment as she realized he was wondering why she was there based on the way he was looking at her.

"Sa... tellizer?" he managed to say. Confused would have been an understatement when describing his thoughts at the moment. What was Satellizer doing here?

"H-Hello." she said timidly, her cheeks reddening. She sat rigidly, her hands together on her lap, fingers intertwined.

He found himself thinking that she looked quite cute, especially being all flustered like this. Hard to imagine she was nicknamed the Untouchable Queen for her ruthlessness and skill as a Pandora. He was wondering what in the world she was doing there, of all places. They hardly knew each other. Not that he did not want to meet her or get to know her, but it was simply strange to see her here visiting him at the infirmary when they were practically strangers.

"How are you f-feeling?" she asked suddenly, not looking him in the eye as she seemed to suddenly find her hands on her lap very interesting.

"A little sore, actually... but not bad, thanks for asking." He then worriedly thought about the others who were there last night. "How are the others? Are they okay?"

Satellizer shook her head slightly. "I... I don't know."

There was an uncomfortable silence between them, neither sure of what to say to the other.

"What happened last night?" she asked softly.

Kazuya scratched his head as he tried to remember, some of the drugs the doctors had given him finally wearing off, "Well, basically Miyabi Kannazuki tried to attack me and she accidentally hit Eugene, who is Chiffon's Limiter. That of course set her off and she beat Miyabi to within an inch of her life..." The last time he saw Miyabi, she had barely been breathing and, even after all she had done, he truly hoped she was okay.

She spoke again, changing the topic. "Why did you stand up for me... against Ganessa?"

"Isn't it obvious?"

She looked at him, and then looked away. "Would I be asking if... if it was?" She had a point.

"I did it because it was the right thing to do. And because I could not stand to see you continue to get hurt, especially when you could not fight back any longer..." he said.

"Well I didn't ask for your help you know," she said stubbornly, surprising Kazuya. As if realizing that she was being rude, she suddenly stood up, her cheeks flushed once again. "I'll go now." She moved towards the door when Kazuya interrupted her.

"Wait!"

She did not look back at him, her gaze on the floor, but she stopped to listen to what he had to say.

"I'm sorry. About the Carnival. I really am. I just... lost control..."

"It's okay." She gave him one last glance, then she left.

Kazuya took a deep breath. That turned out to be strangely pleasant. He wondered what this meant exactly about their relationship. Was there a relationship? Were they friends? Acquaintances? He debated whether this now meant he could go up to her and talk to her the next time he saw her, and decided that maybe he would try that.

He was still thinking about Satellizer's seemingly random visit when the door opened and Arthur and Kaho walked in with worried expressions. Arthur's worried expression turned to delight as he saw that his friend was awake.

"Kazuya! We just heard about what happened. Thank goodness you're alright buddy. Are you okay?" asked Arthur.

"I'm fine, Arthur. Thanks. It's the others I'm worried about."

His thoughts returned to the others who were no doubt recovering in the clinic too. Miyabi. The Limiters. Chiffon.

Kaho still looked worried and had yet to say a word. Arthur nudged her and she finally said something.

"Why do you always get into trouble like this, Kazuya? You haven't even been enrolled for a full week yet and already this is your second trip to the clinic.."

He grinned sheepishly, rubbing the back of his head. "Ahh.. I don't know..."

Arthur nudged her again.

"What?" she said, irritated, as she looked at Arthur, "I'm only being honest." She looked back at Kazuya. "At this rate, I wouldn't be surprised if a Nova warped right on top of you."

Kazuya continued to rub the back of his head, "Nice to see you too, Kaho." He then turned serious. "Do you happen to know how the others are doing?"

Arthur and Kaho both shook their heads.

"We came straight here after we heard that you were hurt again," explained Arthur.

"Speaking of others," said Kaho, "We saw Satellizer leaving the clinic as we walked in... was she involved in this somehow?" Her eyes narrowed.

Kazuya shook his head. "No, she wasn't. She came here to check up on me."

"She what?" his two friends said in unison.

He raised his hands and shrugged. "Hey, I don't know why either... so don't give me that look."

"That's strange, man," said Arthur.

"Very strange..." agreed Kaho. "I don't like it. Not one bit."

Arthur seemed to nod approvingly. "Anyway, what exactly happened last night?"

"I thought you heard about it?" Kazuya said as he leaned back down onto the bed, his back extra sore from last night and the strain of sitting upright.

"We heard there was a serious incident and some students were hurt, one of whom was you. That's all we know," replied Kaho.

Kazuya sighed and proceeded to explain to them what happened, expounding on certain details when they asked. By the end of his retelling, they both looked equally somber and astonished. They stayed quiet for a time, and Kazuya used this moment to think.

As much as he disliked Miyabi, he did not wish for her to die like that. Not when she could not fight back and was clearly, utterly defeated.

Rudolphe had taught him to respect his enemies, especially when they were down. Had she still been fighting and happened to die as a result of fighting, then perhaps that was acceptable. It would depend on the circumstances. But what he saw last night... it was not a fight. It was a beat down. It was torture. It was a giant squashing a bug with its heel, and then grinding its heel into the ground for good measure. To have inflicted so much pain and suffering on a defenseless and defeated opponent was dishonorable.

Not to say that what Miyabi did with her sneak attack was not deplorable on its own, of course.

He knew that Chiffon was blinded by her rage, that her emotions got the best of her. He knew that Chiffon and Eugene were paired, and thus had a close relationship. Given that information, the way she acted is somewhat understandable. He imagined that had Kazuha been alive and had it been Kazuha who was injured like that in a despicable sneak attack, there was no doubt in his mind that he would have exploded the way Chiffon did - only if that happened Miyabi would have surely died since no one would have been able to stop him short of killing him.

That was why he could not blame her. Because he could see himself doing exactly as she did in her situation. That was why he needed to help her. From what little he knew of Chiffon, that was not something she would normally do. She was happy and always smiling. She was friendly and understanding. She was not a monster.

As if she were reading his mind, Kaho commented to Arthur that Chiffon's nickname was the 'Unmatched Smiling Monster.'

Regardless of what people called her, he knew that Chiffon was not a monster. He refused to believe otherwise.

"Wasn't Miyabi Kannizuki ranked 15th in the Junior class?" Arthur asked Kaho, who confirmed that piece of information. "So that's the difference between number one and number fifteen."

"Elizabeth Mably, ranked second in the Junior class, wouldn't stand a chance against Chiffon at full strength, let alone the fifteenth ranked Miyabi," added Kaho. "After all, this is Chiffon Fairchild we're talking about here. She took out fifty of her fellow classmates in a row during her first Carnival. Without any breaks and all the while barely breaking a sweat. She's like the Untouchable Queen, only even better."

"What will happen to her? To Chiffon I mean," Kazuya asked them, suddenly worried for the Student Council President.

Arthur and Kaho shared a look.

"Well, it's hard to say..." said Arthur, uncertain.

"Part of what her fate will be depends on what happens to those she injured. The other part simply depends on the judgement of Sister Margaret, and even then the Chevalier might step in if it's particularly serious, and this might count as that," Kaho told him.

"At best she might stay in the Detention Center for a while and lose her position as Student Council President, at worst she'll be stripped of Pandora status, her stigmata removed, and she will he kicked out of the program," continued their class representative, crossing her arms. "One thing is for sure: she will be punished for this."

Kazuya sincerely hoped things turned out for the best.


Author's notes: Bet you didn't expect any of that. Oh, and if you're wondering... the Nova are coming soon enough.

I'm using the Manga as a sort of guide now, but there are a bunch of new and different things I have planned ahead... I hope you're still enjoying the journey. :) ALSO, for anyone wondering - the fight between Kazuya and Miyabi only lasted about three minutes from the opening salvo of daggers to the time Chiffon comes in, hence why he isn't too tired and why Eugene did not die even though he was grievously hurt.