Wow! How many years has it been? Too many, too many. I'm sorry, whoops? But oh well, here's an update! If you're still interested, thanks. If not, too bad, I guess. Now please enjoy this rare occasion!

"You…!" Natsumi's grip on the doorknob tightened. She was surprised to say the least. Desuta wasn't a student in this school that she was sure of. And he was even holding a… doll? What a peculiar choice of plaything for a male high school student—especially him. "How did you get up here? What's your purpose?!" she raised her voice, in hopes she would seem intimidating to the other.

What if he was here… because there was a Zaea in school? Remembering the hideous monster she had encountered yesterday, she cringed and felt a shiver down her spine.

He looked at her with amusement in his eyes. Desuta licked his lips, the Gothic Lolita doll in his hands was held very gently as if it meant so much to him. "Are you sure you want to know?" there was… something in his eyes. She couldn't point out what but there was definitely something in them. Before she realized what he was doing, he was standing next to her with his arms around her and they were instantly in the sky. She didn't have time to scream however because as soon as their feet left the ground they landed on the other side of the roof roughly.

If it wasn't for his arm on her shoulder, she would have stumbled to her knees. She was sure they're a strange sight. A demon, holding a doll in one hand, and the school's most popular girl in the other. In an instant he let her go and snapped his fingers. A piercing screech reached her ears and Natsumi had to cover them for it was a painful sound and she was sure her ears were going to bleed.

And there, on the school's courtyard, she could see it—a Zaea, larger and meaner than the one she had encountered yesterday. She yelped but Desuta hushed her. Natsumi gave him a look. "Did you summon it here?!" she accused. He could only let a chuckle out in response. "I thought we made it clear yesterday that we're here to destroy Zaeas, not make more of them."

"T-Then how come I didn't see it at all until you snapped your fingers?!"

"Cloaking spell."

"Huh?"

"Look down. What do you see?" Desuta pointed towards the student body that were having lunch outside. Natsumi didn't see anything strange at first but then she realized—none of them were running. No one was screaming. That one kid didn't even glance back when he ran past the Zaea's foot. The girl's eyes widened and she turned to Desuta, who had a proud smirk on his face.

"This is why the media are not panicking over Zaea attacks. It's because we conceal the battle sequences from the naked eye. When I snapped my fingers, I only gave you some magic so you wouldn't be affected by the cloaking spell." He explained. Natsumi was amazed at how calculated their actions were. If they had fought the Zaea publicly as if for show, everyone would be too afraid to go outside. There was a swish of fast movement from the corner of her eyes and when Natsumi turned around, she saw Haruna—the same orange light from yesterday glowing from her. And she was fighting the Zaea.

"Why are you standing here doing nothing?" her eyes narrowed suspiciously at him when she realized he wasn't helping his partner in crime. Was he the type who let others finish all the work while he stood in the sidelines? She wouldn't be surprised if that was the case. "Hey, hey don't give me that look," he looked uncomfortable all of a sudden. Desuta caressed the doll's hair with a troubled face. "There are a number of circumstances that don't allow me to help Haruka and Sein fight Zaeas directly."

"Directly?" she repeated but she was distracted when she heard a yell of pain. It was Haruna, and the Zaea had struck her with one of its claws. Natsumi gasped when Haruna crashed into a wall—luckily there was no crack. Does that mean the blow wasn't that hard?

"Watch." She heard Desuta say and before she could reply he had already jumped down the railings—heading straight for the ground. He landed with barely a sound made but from where she was Natsumi couldn't tell. The Zaea didn't notice his presence. Neither did any of the other Inazuma High students. Desuta walked past them as if he was an invisible being. Remembering the cloaking spell he told her about, he probably was.

The Gothic Lolita doll was set to stand a fair distance from the monster. Desuta straightened his body and with a quick movement of his arm—which by now was glowing a blue light—he made a cut in the air. Nothing happened at first and Natsumi was beginning to wonder if the movement meant anything at all—when she heard it.

Soft voices, singing to a tune she didn't recognize. They sounded like murmurs but gradually the voices grew clearer and she realized it wasn't just two or three voices singing—it sounded like a choir of young children. Was this part of whatever spell Desuta had cast? Everything seemed so scary and yet so safe. From afar she could see Desuta's lips moving—was he singing along or was he mumbling? She couldn't tell.

From the corner of her eye Natsumi saw movement from Haruna as the forgotten girl slowly rose to her feet. She was bleeding—a sign she was injured. Natsumi wanted to go down there and help her but she froze when Haruna sent her a piercing sideways glance as if to tell her to stay put.

The singing continued on until the monster screamed in agony. Natsumi narrowed her eyes for a better view. She thought she had seen something soft move around the Zaea—something small and invisible if one didn't pay attention. As she concentrated the soft movement turned into fine black threads that were slowly dancing, tangling around the Zaea. Soon, she realized they were the same black lines that Desuta had used yesterday—and she was right because when she turned to look at Desuta again, he had his hands up and the line came from the tips of his fingers.

Everything clicked into place for her almost immediately. Desuta was trying to hold the monster down. Or at least that's what she thought he was doing.

Until the strings tightened around the monster and sliced its limbs off.

Natsumi had to cover her ears again when the Zaea released another shrilling scream. The cut limbs fell to the ground, miraculously missing a student or two. But surely Haruna or Desuta wouldn't let any of it hit an innocent bystander, right?

The redhead watched as the limbs melted into sand, dust, and nothingness—blown away by the wind. That wasn't the most horrifying part of it all. No. Natsumi felt her body grow cold as she saw the shadow of an army of dolls appear in a circle around the beast.

It started off faint, with one or two dark shadows walking slowly, robotically towards the Zaea. The dolls then gradually increased in numbers and mass. They were dressed in various styles of Lolita, ranging from many bright to dark colours. There was one thing in common about them however—all of the dolls were old.

Their faces cracked, some of them missed an eye, the dresses were torn and their colours were diluted, washed-out. The conditions of said dolls were both creepy… and sad.

The Zaea shrieked again once it realized it didn't have its limbs anymore and there were things climbing all over it. But there was nothing it could do to stop the assault. Natsumi found her hand shook when she covered her mouth to close her gaping mouth. The scene was disturbing and she could feel the contents of her stomach lurching.

Soon enough, the Zaea was buried under a mountain of puppets controlled by Desuta. A black shadow loomed over the pile of dolls, and it melted away into the darkness, disappearing to who knows where.

The student body ambled about; still completely unaware of what had just occurred.

Natsumi dropped to her knees and held onto the bars on the sides of the school roof. The worse was over. She was just glad the school had a large yard to fit the Zaea. She was sure the area would've been even more of a mess than it was now.

When the redhead looked over the railings, she saw Desuta had passed out on the ground and she immediately perked up. What happened to him? Was he okay? Was he hurt? She clenched her fists. She almost moved from her spot on the roof, if she didn't catch Haruna's glare at her way.

She stayed put, frozen.

Haruna limped towards the unconscious Desuta, and Natsumi saw that her left sleeve was torn and stained with blood. She wanted to go down there and help her. She wanted to so badly. But she knew Haruna wouldn't be happy if she did. So she watched silently as Haruna hoisted Desuta's arm over her and an orange light began to wrap around them. Soon, they too disappeared into thin air.

Natsumi let out the breath she was holding. Her throat was dry and her hands still shook. But a thought came across her still… There must be something that she could do… right? There must be a way she could help them. Just some way… one way…

The girl took in a deep breath and turned on her heels.