Well, that took longer than I had hoped. Sorry 'bout that. Anyway, hope you enjoy.

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It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair...

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

Oujou opened her eyes a little and blinked. A bare white ceiling loomed up in front of her, the image wavering in her eyes, then steadying in her view. Turning her head to the side with difficulty, Oujou saw the headmaster sleeping in a chair next to her bed. Flitting her gaze upward a little, she saw Kazu standing in the windowsill, staring at her.

Oujou moved head back so it was centered on her pillow. "Kazu," she whispered. The headmaster's eyes flitted open and he looked over at her. "Kazu," Oujou felt her body slump back against the bed and was asleep within seconds.

Kazu was gone.

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"She's in no condition to fight, but if she's just left alone here, she'll be taken. And if she's taken, we probably won't be able to get her back. I don't care how good the rescue of you went; that was just dumb luck." The voice swam drunkenly into Oujou's mind before fading away.

"If you're going to put anyone here, put Andou. I don't like him, but he's pretty good." That was Natsume's voice. What is he doing here?

"Hyuuga," Oujou rasped. Prying her eyes open, she saw Natsume and Headmaster Satsuto standing next to her bed. Oujou sat up and propped herself up against the wall. "I don't need anyone to protect me. I can fight."

The headmaster opened his mouth to say something but, before he could, the door swung open. A boy in a high school uniform walked in. "Hyuuga Natsume and Oujou Kanjouinyuu are to report to the Dangerous Ability room immediately," he announced before leaving.

Natsume walked out of the room as Oujou climbed out of bed. She was wearing a dark gray shirt and matching pants. The headmaster placed a hand on her shoulder. "You don't have to do this. I can get you an exemption from class for a while."

"I'm going to class and you can't stop me." Oujou pulled the headmaster's hand off of her and limped out of the room. Natsume was waiting for them and together they walked to the classroom.

"You've become too protective of me, Hyuuga," Oujou remarked lightly and they walked down the deserted hallway. "You can't stop me from becoming like you. Hyuuga, you of all people should know, sometimes people are just too far gone." Oujou stopped and pulled the door to the Dangerous Ability room open. They entered together.

"Good. Now everyone's here." Oujou barely glanced at Persona as she took a seat. "The AAO will be here inside an hour. All students are currently being moved to their central underground safe houses, divided up by grade. Kuro Neko and Shiro Kochou are to guard Priority One. Ibaragi is to guard Priority Two. Andou is to guard Priority Three. The rest of you are to guard your separate grades. Go." The class dispersed.

"Hyuuga, who's 'Priority One'?" Natsume glanced at Oujou before slipping his mask on and Oujou immediately knew the answer. "It's Mikan, isn't it? I hate that bastard."

"So do I."

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"Why do they care?" Oujou remembered asking that a long time ago, too long ago to matter when. It was after she had stopped being human but before she had died. But no one had answered and now she was dead. She was dead and it didn't matter anymore. Oujou didn't know when she had died, or how. All that mattered was that she was dead.

But why do they care about others? Why did she care? Or more importantly, why did she fight? Why did she fight for those she cared about? And did it change anything.

"There's no point in worrying about it now." Oujou looked up, started.

"You…too…" Natsume nodded, even though it hadn't been a question.

"We all think about it at some time. And we all get over it. You will too. It doesn't matter if you want to fight. They'll make you anyway. They'll find some way to make you. Even you."

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"Yuka-dono, what are you doing here?" Kazu stood up quickly when Yuka walked into the room. He had been instructed to pull out of Gakuen Alice and was now staying in a nearby hotel.

"I've been instructed to tell you that you will be participating in the invasion." She pulled a gun out of her pocket and handed it to him. "I have been…told to give this to you. I don't care what they tell you, you are not to shoot Oujou Kanjouinyuu or Sakura Mikan. Do you understand?"

"I understand. Don't worry, I won't. Thank you, Yuka-dono."

I could never hurt Kanjouinyuu.

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Hi again. I haven't talked to you since…the beginning of the chapter. Well, I hope you enjoyed it. The invasion is coming next. That should take a while. So, review please.