This is not like anything I've ever experienced before.

For the first time, I'm tasting defeat.

I cannot believe how foolish I once was, thinking that nothing could touch me after killing Kokona and Osana, I honestly thought that I had won.

I hadn't won anything.

Ever since that day, Senpai's little sister has been sticking close to him no matter where he goes, probably out of fear for what has been happening at school with all the deaths. I've been attending school normally, watching Senpai and his little sister from a far distance, but I can never seem to understand how that little sister operates.

Kokona and Osana were far easier, I could get into their foolish little heads in a matter of seconds, but I cannot do the same for Senpai's sister.

One of the biggest problems, however, is that Senpai's sister seems to know about me, or at least to a certain extent. She always takes Senpai to areas where I'm not at. If I'm in the cafeteria, she'll make sure that Senpai goes to the library instead, for example. Perhaps she has spotted me watching Senpai from afar, or perhaps it's just a coincidence, I truly don't know.

Another problem is that I'm constantly being watched myself. I hadn't taken the Journalist seriously when I had first met him, but it seems he's becoming a difficult opponent as well. Every time I pay attention and stare at my surroundings, there's always a shadow glaring at me from a long distance, and by the time I've noticed the shadow, it leave me before I can confront it. It must be the Journalist doing this, there's no doubt.

And now, for the very first time, I do not know what to do.

That's right, I'm admitting it. I have no idea what to do next.

How can I? Just look at this situation. I cannot get rid of Senpai's little sister because she's stuck to his side like glue at all times, and there's no way I could do something murderous in front of Senpai, and I cannot operate normally because the Journalist always has his sights on me. For the first time since I've been trying to make Senpai mine, I'm locked down in a position where everything I attempt will do nothing.

I can't believe I actually thought that Kokona and Osana were a challenge. They're nothing compared to my new opponents. At the moment, my hands are completely tied and I cannot do anything. I called Info-chan a few hours ago, asking her to find out more about Senpai's little sister in exchange for another panty shot, but waiting until I receive more information is excruciating. Senpai would be in my hands by now if that damned little sister and that damned Journalist weren't in my way.

I walk down the first floor hallways of the school, listening to the bell ring. Our first lesson for the day has finally passed and I have free time. If this was any other day, I'd be admiring Senpai and his perfected face, but with his little sister in the way, I can't do that anymore. I have nothing to do.

Instead, I decide to walk past the club rooms. There's a lot of them, but none of them have ever been able to interest me. Still, I take another look at them while walking past. There's many different kinds of clubs, such as the gardening, occult, martial arts, and others that I haven't bothered to find out. The only one that has slightly caught my attention is the martial arts club, since it can come in handy if things go south during one of my killings. Also, potential targets might be a part of that club, which means they'll be aware of moves that I am not. Something like that cannot be allowed to happen, I have to be the strongest and the most capable student in this school if I want to win Senpai.

And being unable to do anything else, joining a club that can benefit me seems like a good hand to play this turn.

So instead of passing the martial arts room, I decide to enter it. Stepping in, I can already feel the vibe of strength and resilience emitting from the atmosphere. I've never been in a club room before, but it's quite expansive, and four students are already practicing what seems to be punches. I raise an eyebrow, this is becoming less and less like a good idea, I need to learn how to kill, not how to punch.

Either way, I walk over to the black-haired guy commanding the people on the training mats. He's constantly shouting out commands and the four students are doing as he says, he must be the leader of this club.

"Hey," I say normally as I approach him. "This is the martial arts club, right?"

The black-haired boy pauses and looks at me for a moment, his arms folded, and he nods enthusiastically.

"That's right! My name is Budo Masuta, welcome to our club. Are you here to spar or do you wish to join us?"

"I'd like to join, if that's no trouble."

"Alright then! I'll register you in." He cheers back as he holds out a clipboard with around fifteen names written on it. I eye the names carefully, there are some I recognize but most of the names are new to me.

Budo pulls out a black pen and places the end of it on the paper attached to the clipboard and looks up at me again.

"Okay, what's your name?"

I hesitate. I do not enjoy saying my name out loud, though I'm unsure why. It's just something that leaves a bad taste in my mouth after speaking it, but I don't really have much of a choice, do I?

"Ayano Aishi."

"Ayano…Aishi…" Budo repeats back slowly, writing my name at the bottom of the list, an excited smile on his face. "There. Your name is now on the list. Congratulations."

"Thanks."

"No problem! Okay, so all you need to know is that you can practice sparring or training during lunch breaks, but real sessions begin after school. As you can see, only a few people show up during lunch breaks. After school is when everyone is here."

"Okay," I nod, taking in all of the information given to me. "I understand."

"Great! So, do you want to start now or once the school day is finished?"

Usually, I would never give up precious school time when I could be plotting against my opponents, but with no options being presented to me until Info-chan gives me a call, this is all I can do now. I nod to Budo again, trying my best to look just as enthusiastic as he is.

"I'll start now, just to get the hang of things."

"Awesome! Okay, there are sparring clothes in that booth over there." Budo explains to me while pointing at a small wooden booth at the end of the room. "You can start the moment you get changed."

Without the need for further exchanges of words, I leave Budo and walk over to the other end of the room and enter the small booth.

It's quite small in here, only enough space for one person to be in it at a time, so I decide to be quick with my changing. I glance around the booth, trying to see where the clothing for the martial arts are, and it's in a drawer at the top left corner of the booth. I open up the drawer and see the clothes that I have to wear. It's white, traditional fighting clothing, like the ones I've seen people practicing Karate wearing. Though, from what I've heard, this club focuses on mixed martial arts, so there will be a little bit of everything that I'll be learning.

I slide my school clothes off, not feeling the slightest bit embarrassed, and put the martial arts clothes on. It's a little small for me, and it's quite tight around the hips, but except from that it's soft and comfortable. I step out of the booth again, making sure to keep my school clothes in the drawer I left empty, and see Budo standing outside.

"All dressed? Okay then, we'll begin right away."

"What will we be doing first?"

"Well, firstly, I need to know just how capable you are before I can teach you. So, you'll be sparring against whomever you want."

"I can choose?"

"Yeah, go ahead."

I remain silent and start thinking, he's right. I need to show just what I can and cannot do. I stare out to the four students in the room, except for Budo, and start judging. Two of them are males and two of them are females.

The first male student looks rather skinny, having spiked purple hair and a feeble-like figure overall. I need someone tougher than that, something that will show Budo what I can actually do.

I glance at the other three students but they do not seem to peak my interest either. They're all skinny and wimpy-looking, and by sparring against people like that, it will simply make me weak too.

I picture Senpai's face in my mind. He's quite skinny and feeble too, but that is what makes him so utterly adorable. He'll need someone, me, to be strong enough to protect him from all harm. I can be that person for him, I'll make sure I'm strong enough to give him whatever he desires, even if I have to tear someone apart in order for that to happen.

Budo Masuta sees my hesitation and lack of an answer and grins knowingly.

"Don't think these newbies can challenge you? Well, how about sparring against me?"

I stare at Budo. Now he seems like a challenge. He's largely built and you can feel the aura of toughness projecting from him, but perhaps it is far too much of a leap for me to fight against him just yet. Being the leader and owner of this club, he must have plenty of years of experience with hand-to-hand combat. I never understood hand-to-hand combat, I mean, a simple knife has done the job for me, though I suppose it's still useful to know what to do if I do not have my knife for any reason.

"Okay, I'll spar against-" I begin to answer, deciding that fighting against Budo is better than fighting against the four weaklings in the room with us.

But I pause and turn my head instinctively as the door to the room opens up again, and someone else enters the martial arts room. I glare at the person and my eyes widen.

At first, I'm frustrated to see this person, but after a few seconds, I realize just how wonderful of an opportunity this will actually be for me.

A short girl steps through the door and smiles calmly at Budo, she has short black hair put into pigtails. She has a similar look in her eyes like her brother, but everything else about her disgusts me.

It's Senpai's little sister.

"Ah," Budo claps his hands together, smiling at Senpai's little sister. "Hanako, it's so great you could make it. We've got a newcomer here that needs a sparring partner, do you want to try?"

Hanako, huh?

That's Senpai's little sister's name. Interesting, very interesting.

I have to do my very best in front of Budo and the rest of the students not to leap forward and attack Hanako right here and now. No matter how good I am at killing, doing so in front of so many people will be the end of me.

Hanako sees me and I see something flash in her eyes. Fear? Hate? Boredom? There's no way for me to tell since it happened so fast, but I know that she's unwilling.

"I'm not sure…I'm not really in the mood for sparring and-"

But I cut in. This is exactly what I've been needing. Firstly, I now know of one of the times during school when Hanako will leave Senpai's side, which gives me a window of time to do whatever I wish to her as long as I'm careful.

And secondly, I can pummel her to a pulp now that we're both in the martial arts club.

"No, it's fine." I say, interrupting Hanako before she can say no. "I want to spar against her."

"Are you sure? She hasn't changed into her uniform or stretched yet." Budo says to me, a sign of confusion on his face. He has no idea why I'm suddenly so ready to fight against her.

"Oh," I smile happily, my hands clenching into fists behind me. "I can wait."

It takes around five minutes for Senpai's little sister, Hanako, to get changed and ready, and every second of those five minutes are agonizing, but I sigh in relief as she finally exits the changing booth.

There's a tingling sensation rushing throughout my entire body, these few days since she's become an enemy of mine, I've imagined doing so many torturous things to her. And now, being able to hit her as much as I want, this is going to be very enjoyable.

Of course, I know I'll have to limit how much I hit her, considering how the rest of the class are going to be watching us.

I step onto the purple mat in the middle of the room, taking a deep breath as the four students and Budo stand around the mat, observing carefully. Hanako appears in the same white uniform and I'm able to see her properly. She's incredibly short even though she's not that younger than Senpai, and she's clearly flat. She holds out her arms in front of her chest, but I'm not sure if that's because she's embarrassed about her flat chest or if she's in a ready pose. Either way, I get into my own ready pose. I spread my legs out, hold my fists out in front of me, and shut down everything else around me.

It's one of the things I've always been able to do since I've been younger.

With this ability, everything I do not need to pay attention to disappears into absolute darkness and the person I want to focus on is the only one I can see. While using this concentration ability of mine, everything also seems to slow down slightly. I've used this ability many times as a child, such as when I went to an amusement park with my Father, with my natural ability I could never lose him in the crowds and waves of other adults.

Budo holds out his right arm in front of himself and positions it between us, beginning the countdown to the spar.

"Are you ready?" He asks to Hanako first, and Hanako gives a simple nod, her pigtails swaying through the air. Then Budo looks at me and repeats himself again. "Are you ready?"

I also nod, trying my best not to look happy about having to fight Hanako. He nods back to the both of us and swings his hand downwards, signalling our start.

"Okay then, fight!"

The moment I hear the words of confirmation from Budo that our sparring has started, I lung forward towards Hanako, sliding across the mat.

It's difficult to move around on a mat. You can slip very easily and you'll have to adapt to the fact that your feet will sink into it with every step. Still, I move swiftly across the mat and throw a left hook at Hanako, hoping to hit that stupid jaw of hers that allowed her to talk to my Senpai.

The left hook doesn't connect though.

Hanako catches it in her right palm and uses my own force to push me backwards, it works.

I do not fall back very far and I retain my balance, but it makes me unable to properly block her next move.

This time she decides to attack, trying to kick me in the stomach. I don't want that happening, I got kicked in the gut back when I strangling Mei Mio to death, and I can confidently say that I'm not fond of the pain it brings. I lean to the left, but I don't completely dodge the kick and it still grazes against the side of my stomach. Still, I'd choose getting hit in the side of my stomach than the centre any day. I pant as I take a few steps back and wait for Hanako's next move. The good news is that I haven't been forced to use my concentration ability yet, but the bad news is that so far I don't think I've impressed Budo and the rest.

Hanako remains still, just holding out her arms, and I realize that she's waiting for me to make the next move. Very well, I'll do just that.

I rush towards her and attempt to tackle her, like those bulky men do on television, but Hanako clearly sees that coming.

She grabs me by the waist and throws me.

No joke, she throws me.

I remain in the air for a few moments, unable to fathom what just happened. But when my face and back meets the softness of the mat, I realize what just occurred and I quickly scramble to my feet.

But I'm thrown back onto to the mat as her fist meets with the side of my face.

I don't feel pain, I don't feel the force behind the punch, I don't feel anything like that.

I only feel rage.

As I get to my feet this time, I see Hanako try to punch my face the same way she did before, but this time things are different.

I didn't want to use it, but I'm using my ability now.

Everything moves in slow motion and there's only darkness between Hanako and I. I watch casually as her fist slowly moves towards me, and I smile happily at it, though most of that smile is seething with rage.

I don't understand why or how I can do this when no one else cannot, but I don't question it. It makes things a hell of a lot easier for me, so I guess it's just a bonus.

Once I've had my fun staring at Hanako's fist gradually reaching my face, I stop the punch by forcing my fist into her face first. The collision is incredibly satisfying, finally being able to land a hit on her, and I giggle under my breath as she loses balance and falls onto her backside.

I blink for a second and I see Budo and the others again. They're all grinning, glad to have watched such a short yet thrilling sparring match. I have to admit it, even though I couldn't care less for these people, it's fun to have them admire my strength and capability.

However, as I glance to Hanako, who is still sitting on the mat, I see her staring me with horror as she rubs her jaw with her hand. It's not the sad eyes of defeat or the angered eyes that are hungry for revenge, but the eyes of someone who has seen a ghost. She frantically forces herself onto her feet and points at me with her other hand.

"Did you…did you all see that?!" She screams out, her voice very high-pitched.

"See what?" Budo asks back, a raised eyebrow on his face.

And then Hanako says something that surprises me to the point where I quickly grab my things and leave the martial arts club's room.

"Her eyes were glowing!"

I quickly walk down the steps, heading to the ground floor of the school.

After my little training session in the martial arts club, I've been on edge.

No one in the club believed what Hanako had said about me, about my eyes, and they simply chuckled at her and called her a sore loser.

But not me, I couldn't stand being there anymore and I left in a hurry. Do my eyes really glow when I use my concentration ability? I know that my ability isn't normally but to think that my eyes can physically glow is terrifying. Whatever happened, Hanako is starting to suspect that I'm not an ordinary student anymore, and that's very problematic. Now I know that she's not always besides Senpai's side, I can eliminate her with a good enough plan, but if she starts spreading rumours about me beforehand then things might become even more difficult.

Not to mention, I still have the Journalist to worry about. Every time I leave school through the front gates, I can see an outline of him in the distance within the car park, with an object in his hands looking like a camera.

He's waiting for me to slip up, that's his strategy. He knows I still have a target to eliminate and he's waiting for the perfect opportunity for me to make a mistake so he can show the world who I really am. Just one slip-up is all that's needed for the police to want my head, thanks to the Journalist. I'm still unsure of how I'm supposed to kill someone like them. Killing people the same age or younger than me is easy and I do not hesitate, but a fully grown adult? That's something completely new. I have no idea just how capable an adult is supposed to be and I do not really want to try and find out.

Still, if he's going to continue to be such a difficult obstacle to get past, he'll have to disappear.

I picture his face, the way he looked when we met in the interrogation room. He had dry skin and a thin layer of a beard on his face. His hair was brown and his eyes looked tired, as though he had experienced enough for a lifetime already. He possessed an incredibly deep voice as well, the one that would naturally strike terror into the hearts of those who crossed him, or perhaps he's wearing façade like me and he's actually weak. There's no way to be sure.

Either way, I don't want to be within his line of sight, so this time I'll leave through the doors on the left side of the school.

I walk through the empty hallways, my bag hanging on my back, and reach the side exits. I place my hand onto the handle and open it slowly, seeing the bright light outside.

But something else catches my attention and refuses to let go of it.

The classroom to my right, the one right beside the exit, has a light coming out of it and I hear a voice. The voice is far too quiet to hear properly but I know I'm hearing something.

School has ended, no one else should be here.

I cannot explain accurately what I'm feeling, but I feel something like an instinct, as though I have to enter that room and see who is inside. A gut feeling, something that needs to be done. I'm sure that it's nothing, perhaps someone is simply staying behind after school to read a book or something stupid like that, but my instincts are telling me something very different.

In the end, I cannot say no to my instincts and I let go of the door handle to head towards the classroom.

Placing my hand on the door to the classroom, I press my ear against its rough surface and listen to the supposed voice I had heard.

And this time, I can hear what the voice is saying.

"There's no need to be shy, come in." A soft, female voice whispers ominously to me. This seems dangerous, but if the person already knows I'm here, I don't see why not.

I push the doors open and enter the classroom, expecting to see a girl standing there, waiting for me.

Instead, all that's waiting for me is a laptop and a table.

Both the light and the voice I had heard is coming from this laptop. Its screen does not display anything but a distorted image of a black figure. The image is so distorted that I cannot make out the shape of the person nor anything about them, but the voice I'm hearing is definitely a girl.

"I knew you would come." The voice says after a long pause of utter silence. I readjust the bag on my back and stare at the laptop, wondering who is at the other end.

"Who are you?"

"Someone that detests your existence. I know about everything you've done and about all of the sins you have committed. I cannot allow you to continue."

No matter how hard I try I cannot recognize the voice. It's not the voice of anyone I know or have met, neither is it the voice of the girls I listen to in the hallways. I continue to stare at the laptop, deciding whether or not punching it would seem mature.

"You do not know me."

"Oh, I know exactly who you are, Aishi-chan."

I pause and my eyes widen. I take a few steps back from the laptop, glaring at it hatefully, and the voice continues, sounding more smug than either.

"Or do prefer the name…Yandere-chan?"