Chapter 11: Akira Aoi's Return

Both Tokaku and Haru walked back to the homeroom and the teacher has not showed up yet. "Where is Kominato?" asked Tokaku. "Mizorogi-sensei told Ruko to find Kenmochi," said Nio, "It's strange, you know? It shouldn't take too long for her to come back as long as she knows her way around the campus." "Did you even give her a map?" asked Haru. "Come off it," Nio laughed, "Ruko doesn't need a map, she just knows how to get back to the homeroom." "And you think a helpless little girl like her can handle things by herself?" Tokaku coldly asked. Nio does not take that question lightly and pouted, "Hey, she's not like you, Tokaku-san! So, zip it!"

While Tokaku and Nio argues between Haru, Mahiru stands next to Sumireko's desk. "How can I help you?" Sumireko asked. Mahiru timidly replied to Sumireko, "Umm…For helping me earlier…Than—Than—" Sumireko blushes as slowly turns her head from Mahiru. "My, don't mention it," she said, "Anyway…If it's alright with you, how about we have lunch together?" "Ah, about that…it's impossible…" Mahiru says softly. Sumireko widens her eyes all of a sudden and coldly said, "I see. Excuse me." Mahiru shivered after hearing Sumireko's cold response. "Ah…no…I mean…"

Hitsugi reads a book while Chitaru stands next to her. "Looks like Takechi went for it first," said Chitaru. "It does, Chitaru-san" said Hitsugi. Chitaru turns to Hitsugi and asked, "Is it fine with you?" Hitsugi answered as she clasps the book to her chest, "I'll just wait and see." Chitaru calmly stares at Hitsugi as she wonders. "But I don't understand why someone like you is here." Hitsugi politely replies, "I have my reasons. What about you, Chitaru-san?"

Chitaru sits on Hitsuhi's desk as she is about to give her friend her answer. "Angel Trumpet." Hitsugi curiously shook her head. "…Angel Trum…?" "I'm looking for her," Chitaru says determinedly, "From the beginning, my goal wasn't Ichinose. That's why…I have no intention of laying a hand on her." She turns her head towards Nio and Haru. "People like you, Ichinose, and Kominato being around here worries me…" Hitsugi lowers her head after hearing Chitaru's words, "Thank you, Chitaru-san. I'll be okay, and Ruko-san too." She raises her head towards Chitaru and smiles at her. "I'll help you, Chitaru-san…"

The classroom door opens and the students turned to the doorway and saw something unexpected. Ruko and Shiena came into the classroom, all soaked and wet from the fountain. "Sorry we're late, everyone," said Ruko before she sneezes. "Thank you, Ruko, for saving me from drowning in that fountain," Shiena says gratefully to Ruko, "If only I could learn some swimming lessons and move my glasses in a safe spot, none of this would have happened." Shiena sneezed as she gets dizzy from getting out of the fountain. Most of the students widened their eyes when they see the two soaked students entered the room.

"Ruko, what happened to you?!" Nio cried, "You didn't get pranked on, did you?!" Ruko sneezed again and answered, "I found Shiena-san in the fountain and she told me it was Otoya-san who smashed her glasses." Everyone turned to Otoya and stares at her. "Oh, come on, everybody! I didn't really mean to do it on purpose!" Otoya nervously laughs. Ruko turns to Kouko as she noticed her glasses. "Kouko-san, do you have an extra pair of—" "No, I do not," Kouko answered quickly and stoically before Ruko can finish her question, "I only have one pair of glasses. I do not have a spare for anyone who lost theirs. If you want to help Kenmochi-san to give her a new pair, you should try to purchase one for her."

Ruko pouted before she sneezed again. "I think you two need to take a quick shower and change your clothes before you catch a cold," said Haruki. "Can I help change Ruki and Shiena-chan's clothing?" Otoya asked innocently. Tokaku, Nio and Haruki turned to the purple-haired girl and angrily yelled, "NO!" Otoya pouted after getting instantly denied. "I think you may have been thinking too much," Suzu said to Otoya. Nio informed Mizorogi about Ruko and Shiena. Ruko and Shiena went to their dorm room and took a quick shower. They put their clothes in the wash, wore gym tracksuits from their closets, and hurried back to the school tower.


Both of them made it to the homeroom just in time for computer class. "Kenmochi-san, are you okay even without your glasses?" asked Mizorogi. "Things are a little blurry, but I'm fine," Shiena answered. "So the repairs are going to take until tomorrow?" Otoya asked her roommate, "I'm really sorry!" "Shut up," Shiena reacted coldly. Mizorogi sits in the front desk of the classroom as the students put on their headphones attached to their laptops. "If any of you don't understand anything, please ask me."

Haru took small notes from the laptop she was staring at. She turns her head to her left as she glances at Isuke and Nio, who're sleeping during class. She then sees Hitsugi and Chitaru taking the class seriously. Tokaku continuously watches Haru behind her back to check on anyone who would make a move on her. Ruko used a laptop before as she once used her brother's to look for the location of Iona's fan event. She looks at the Wixoss web page while listening to music.

Otoya taps Ruko in the back as she passes a note to her. "Hey, Ruki, can you give this to Haruchii?" she whispered to Ruko. Ruko passes the note to Haru as the latter reads the small note Otoya wrote to her. 'Haruchi~ When is your birthday? Tell me!' Haru wrote in the note and have Ruko pass it to Otoya. 'January 1st' The purple-haired girl wrote on a different piece of paper and taps on Ruko's shoulder again to pass another note to Haru. 'Seriously?! We're one day apart! 12/31' Haru wrote on the note again and tells Ruko to pass it to Otoya. 'Amazing, right? It must be fate.'

Otoya writes on another small piece of paper and taps Ruko on the other shoulder. "This one's for you this time, Ruki," Otoya whispers quietly. Ruko opens the note and reads it, 'When's your birthday, Ruki?' Ruko looks around before she writes on the paper and passes it to Otoya. 'I don't remember my birthday.' Otoya widens her eyes towards Ruko's note and she wrote on the paper again. 'What?! What do you mean you don't remember your birthday?! Everybody should know their birthdays!' Ruko read what Otoya has written and writes done, 'It's true. I never made any other friends before and I didn't receive any gifts.' After reading Ruko's note, Otoya writes, 'Can I give you a bear hug, instead?' Ruko feels disturbed when she read the note and writes done, 'No.'

"Those three…what are they doing…" Tokaku asks herself in her thoughts. While Ruko and Haru are looking at their laptops, an envelope icon appears on the screen. The message next to the envelope icon was read, 'You have received a new e-mail by Tokaku-san.' They both clicked on the envelope and a message from Tokaku appears on the screen. 'Don't talk with Takechi.' After reading the e-mail, Ruko and Haru turns at Tokaku, only to see her give them a very cold stare. Haru feels unnerved while Ruko shivers at the sight of the blue-haired girl's blue eyes.

Isuke and Nio woke up from their small nap during class time. "How boring," Isuke says drearily as she looks at her hand, "Hey, Nio, do you have hand cream? My hand is dry." "Sorry, I don't have any," Nio answered. "Oh my~ you're useless." Isuke remarked as she flicks her finger at Nio's forehead. "Hey, Isuke-sama, I've got hand cream!" Haruki calls out as she takes a tube of cream out of her school bag. Kouko grabs Haruki by the wrist before the latter could toss it. "Wait! What are you doing?! We're in the middle of class!"

As Ruko endures the rambling in the classroom, she looks at the web articles and wrote down notes in her notebook. She scrolls down until she sees an article labeled 'new' and clicks on it. By the time the article appears, Ruko widens her eyes in disbelief. She sees the image of a girl with tangerine-colored hair with small pink balls on it. She has blue eyes and she is holding a Wixoss card in her hand. Ruko instantly recognizes her. It was an image of Akira Aoi, without the scar on her right cheek! "No way…Akira-san? Why is she…?"

Ruko suddenly felt the vibration of her phone in her school bag. She takes it out of the bag without anyone seeing her and unlocks it. It's a text message from Hitoe. Ruko hides the phone in the desk while holding on to it and looks at the text message.

'Ruko, did you see that article? –Hitoe'

'Yeah, I did. Why is Akira-san back as a model?'

'Isn't it obvious? She's trying to look for Selectors! –Yuzuki'

'What's going on? I thought she has that scar the last time we saw her!'

'I don't know either, but I think someone must have brought her career back. –Yuzuki'

'You think it was Ulith?'

'It could be possible. Since Ulith is in Iona's body, she can do whatever she pleases. –Yuzuki'

'Ruko, are you still in Myojo Academy? –Hitoe'

'I'm in the middle of class right now.'

'Whatever you do, do not leave Myojo Academy without Nio. Who knows what kind of trick she can pull off? –Yuzuki'

'Okay.'

"Kominato, you're not allowed to text in the middle of class!" Kouko's words made Ruko jump as she puts her phone back into her bag. Kouko walks to Ruko and takes the phone out of her bag. "I'll be confiscating this until class time is over, understood?" Ruko lowers her head in disbelief as Kouko puts her new phone in her desk. Otoya stares at the article in Ruko's laptop while tossing some notes at Haru's desk. "Ooooh, what's this? I didn't know you're into modeling," said Otoya. Ruko shook her head. "N…no! It's not like that, really!"

Haruki stands up from her desk and drags Otoya by the back of the collar. "Didn't I already tell you not to bother Ruko-chan?" Otoya pouted, "Aw, you're such a party pooper." Haruki then sees the image of Akira in Ruko's laptop. "Well, what do you know," said Haruki, "Looks like Akira got her job back. And here I thought she was fired." Ruko turns her head to Haruki. "Do you...know her?" she asked. Haruki nodded, "Of course I know her. She's from my neighborhood." At that time, Ruko instantly stood up from her desk. "She's your neighbor?!" Everyone turned to Ruko for her sudden outburst. Ruko blushes and covers her mouth when she realized she caught people's attention…again. "You sure like to make a scene, don't you, Ruko?" Nio said to Ruko.


By the time computer class is over, Mizorogi collected everyone's laptops, except Ruko's and went out of the homeroom to return them to the computer room. All of the students of Class Black gathered around Ruko's desk as they look at Akira's picture. "So, who's that we're looking at?" asked Nio. "Akira Aoi, a model from Ikebukuro and a Wixoss player," Haruki informed. "She looks beautiful," said Haru. Tokaku shook her head. "That ridiculous look on her face must be some kind of facade."

"You're right, Tokaku-san," said Haruki, "She may look cute on the outside, but on the inside she's more of a devil." The student turned to Haruki after listening to her comment. "What makes you think of that?" asked Chitaru. Haruki took a deep breath as she begins to explain. "Every time as I walk by, I can see another Wixoss player sit on their knees in front of her. They looked down on the ground, apologizing for no reason and she walks away like nothing happens."

Haruki tightens her fist as she continues. "I am so sick of her, breaking her opponents one way or another. 'Aki-lucky' my ass! I don't even give a damn how popular she is! I just wanna hit her good and hard!" The students were astonished by Haruki's anger. "You sure have a violent side inside you, Haruki-san," said Isuke. "But how were you neighbors with Akira-san?" asked Ruko.

"DON'T EVER CALL THAT BITCH 'SAN!'" Haruki roared. Ruko trembles after hearing Haruki's loud, angry voice while the other students were shocked. After calming down, Haruki took a step back after realizing how loud she was. "Sorry, I just couldn't stand someone like her, that's all," she said calmly. Haruki sits on a chair before she tells the other students.

"I lived in an apartment right behind Akira's with my younger siblings. Unlike the Akira the public knows, she's loud, vicious, and mostly ungrateful to her mother. Every time I hear her call her mother 'an old hag,' I'd just close the windows to stop hearing that shrilling voice of hers. On top of that, I heard Akira is jealous of another model who has the same agency as hers. What was her name again? Iona?"

Suzu brightens her mind as she lands the bottom of her fist to her palm lightly. "Oh yeah, that's right. They're both players of this Wixoss game. So it's possible that Iona is more popular and a better player than her." "When was the last time you saw this Akira person?" asked Kouko. Haruki take out another Pocky stick from her box. "The last time I saw her in person was when she was heading back to her apartment in a hurry. She was covering her face for some reason. Before she went in, I saw a few blood drops on the ground. She must have been attacked on her way home."

"You didn't do anything, did you, Haruki-san?" Isuke asked shrewdly. Haruki shook her head. "Of course not! I haven't done anything to her yet!" She then turns to Ruko. "Alright, I told you about my relationship with Akira. So, how about you tell us your relationship with her? Were you and any of your friends victims to her?"

Ruko took a deep breath as she knew that explaining her relationship with Akira would not be an easy one to talk about. "Seeing Akira for the first time was also seeing my other friend Hitoe. During a game of Wixoss, Akira made some mean words about Hitoe's wish about making friends and won against her. She then won against Yuzuki the day after that." "What a jerk!" Shiena says angrily. "Did you lost against her, too?" asked Hitsugi.

Ruko slowly shook her head. "Actually, there was one time that I took Wixoss seriously. When she made fun of Hitoe, I got mad and played against her. And then…I won." Haruki raised her eyebrows. "You won against Akira? Whoa, that was awesome!" "What makes you think that was awesome?" cried Ruko. Haruki scratches her head. "Well, I thought it would be satisfying about paying her back for your friends after the hell she gave them." Ruko looks down on the floor in gloom. "Before she left…there was something she said to me that hits me really hard." 'Beating me until I groveled…you were enjoying it!'

"'Beating her until she groveled?' What a sore loser," Otoya says bitterly. "Sound like the words of being a sadist to me," said Nio. Isuke puts her arm around Nio's neck and chokes her. "Excuse me, but do you really have to say that…out loud?" Isuke asks in irritation. "I…wasn't trying to…talk about you, Isuke-san," Nio says as she is barely breathing. "Was that the last time you saw Akira, Ruko-san?" asked Hitsugi. "No," Ruko replied, "One night, I bumped into Yuzuki and Akira wanted to see us in an abandoned warehouse. When we got there, we saw her with a scar on her face. She told us that she wanted to have Iona-san's life ruined, but now she lost her career as a model. Akira tried to attack us with a knife, but a police guard came by and she ran away."

Nio broke free from Isuke's hold and widens her eyes. "She tried to attack you with a knife?! Has she gone too far?!" "That would explain why I began to hear her more often from the apartment room," Haruki growled angrily, "Another reason why I can't stand her." "This is what happens when envy consumes her," Sumireko noted. Ruko keeps looking down as her body shakes. "Hey…do you really think that Wixoss is enjoyable for me?" Ruko asked. "Why are you asking us?" Tokaku asked stoically, "Didn't you say that you enjoyed this card game yourself?" Ruko widens her eyes as she remembers what she said when Yuzuki asked her the same question before becoming an Lrig.

She puts her palm to her face and lands her head on the desk. "I can't believe I just said that!" she lamented. "Don't try to hurt yourself, Ruko-san," cried Haru as she and Hitsugi comforts Ruko. "You know I'm curious," said Nio as she looks at the image, "You said that this Akira Aoi has a scar on her face, right? Then, how come it's not shown in this picture?" Ruko raised her head and said, "I was wondering the same thing. I remembered seeing a scar on her right cheek the last time I saw her. But, I don't know what happened to it."

Isuke leans towards Ruko's desk to see Akira's picture. She looks at it closely until she notices something abnormal on the right cheek. "Hey, grandma's girl, could you zoom in on that cheek?" Isuke demanded. Ruko holds the shift key on the laptop and moves her finger up on the mouse pad to enlarge the webpage. Isuke stares at Akira's cheek in the image as she sees what was not shown in public eyes. There were small, clear drops partly sliding down the model's cheek. Behind the sliding drops shows small red lines, none of the readers can spectate.

"Just as I thought," Isuke says promptly, "She's wearing make over." Ruko feels surprised at Isuke's sudden inspection. "How were you able to figure that out?" she asked. Isuke pointed at the drops in the image. "Look closely," she told Ruko, "Those drops on her cheek mean that the makeup is slowly wearing off. My guess is that she must be using some kind of lotion and mix it with powder that covers blemishes to hide that scar of hers." Most of the students feel amazed at Isuke's little checkup. "Wow, that was amazing," said Ruko as she begins to smile at Isuke, "Thanks for pointing it out for me, Isuke-san."

Isuke slowly blushes and quickly turns away from her. "Hey, it's not like I'm doing it for you…idiot." Kouko turns to Ruko. "Was that text message you received earlier about Akira?" she asked. Ruko nodded. "If she is back into modeling, she might come after me." Kouko takes Ruko's phone out of her desk and gives it back to her. "You should have said so before I have to take it away from you." Ruko puts the phone back in her bag. She then logs out from the internet and closes the laptop. "I'm going to return this to Mizorogi-sensei," said Ruko as she carries the laptop from her desk. "Haru wants to help," said Haru. "Me three," exclaimed Otoya. Haruki quickly grabs the purple-haired girl by the back of the collar, "Uh-uh. No, not you." Otoya pouts as she watches the two girls walk out of the classroom to return the laptop, with Tokaku accompanying them.

Nio walks in front of the front desk and turns to the students of Class Black. "Alright, everyone! Listen up!" Nio said straightforwardly as the students turned to her, "If any of you have seen this Akira Aoi character, do not go near her. Don't let her provoke you, don't try to make any killing attempts on her, don't try to taunt her, and do not let her go near Ruko! Just stay cool and don't let her set foot in Myojo Academy!" "Why not?" asked Haruki. Nio turns to Haruki and answered, "We're no allowed to have a third-party outside of Class Black involved, remember? If we did make a move on her, who knows what kind of riot is gonna stir up in the modeling agency she's in?"

Mahiru slowly raises her hand before everyone is able to notice her. "What if we…chase her…out of the school?" she asked softly. The white-haired girl's question entered Nio's mind. "Actually…I haven't thought of such a thing."


After several hours have passed, the students began to walk back to the dorms. "Hey, Haruchi, what do you prefer, bread or rice?" Otoya asked Haru. "Haru loves rice," Haru answered. "Really? I love rice too!" Otoya said energetically. "Takechi, stop talking to Ichiose!" Tokaku coldly says to Otoya before turning to Haru, "Same goes for you, Ichinose. Didn't you and Kominato read my e-mail?" Otoya grins and clings into Haru's arm. "Why? We're only talking. Haru and I are the perfect match for each other."

"'Haru and I' she says?!" Tokaku angrily said in her thoughts. "That's right, Tokaku-san! Listen to this, Haru's birthday and Takechi-san's birthday are only one day apart," Haru says excitedly, "Amazing, right? This is the first time Haru had such a coincidence!" Tokaku grips her fist out of anger. "What are you saying? You know she's lying, right?" Haru begins to feel unsettled towards her roommate. "What's up with you all of a sudden?"

Tokaku begins to communicate with her without moving her mouth. "Are you an idiot, Haru? Are you an idiot? How on earth could such a convenient coincidence exist? She's making it up to fool you! Get a hold of yourself! She's after your life, how can you let her get to you so easily?!" "That's mean, Tokaku-san," cried Haru, "There's no reason to lie about something like that." Tokaku scolds at Haru without speaking, "You idiot, she's only playing friends to get closer to you!" "Saying something like that is really terrible," Otoya sang, "You're mean." "Anyways, listen to what I'm saying," Tokaku coldly demanded, "Kominato is fine listening to me, but you need to think before Takechi gets to you." Haru shook her head. "Tokaku-san, Haru refuse." Tokaku coolly stares at Haru while Otoya is still clinging to her.

"What's going on between them?" Ruko asked. "Just ignore them, Ruko. Azuma-san is always acting hostile to everyone here," said Nio. "I still don't feel comfortable with Otoya-san," said Ruko, "I mean what if all of this is a lie?" "It must be the 'Similarity-Attraction' Effect," says Hitsugi as she and Chitaru walks next to Ruko and Nio. Ruko tilts her head. "What's that?" she asked. "People feel closer to those who have a lot in common with them," said Hitsugi. "Kirigaya, do you think Takechi is lying too?" Chitaru asked her roommate. "Yes," Hitsugi answered, "Whenever I looked at her eyes, it makes me think it's a ploy. By the way, I like white rice too…" "Me too…" Chitaru replied.

"Which reminds me," says Nio, "Wasn't Iona supposed to be with you?" Ruko stopped when she realized that something almost slipped out of her mind. "Oh, no! I completely forgot about Iona-san while we were discussing about Akira! I've got to get back to the homeroom!" Ruko starts to run back to the school tower, until…"Wait a minute, Ruko," Shiena stops Ruko by the shoulder, "The school tower is closed right now and it's already getting late. You should come back tomorrow to look for whatever you just lost." "Are you going to the glasses repair tomorrow, Shiena-san?" asked Ruko. Shiena nodded, "Yeah, I'm not gonna be around the campus until I get a new pair. Anyway, you don't need to be formal. Just call me Shiena. Since you saved my butt back there, we should be friends." Ruko nods back at Shiena. "Yeah…friends."

In Haru's skirt, Iona remains tranquil as she suspects the girl clinging on Haru's arm. "Otoya Takechi, correct?" she said in her thoughts, "What a deceptive girl...I'm going to make sure that she won't lay a finger on Ru or this Ichinose girl…even if she's a murderer…"


*Note: For those who are reading this, I do not own Selector Infected/Spread Wixoss and Riddle Story of Devil. Both of these shows belong to their respective owners.