After much blood, sweat, tears, sleeplessness and resisting the temptation to put 'my sanity' on the risk assessment of my lesson plans, I finally present to you the next chapter! I hope you enjoy!

Kumori surveyed the group of students assembled in front of him-classmates, year-mates, seniors and juniors alike. Some looked nervous, others excited, others yet again staring at him just as intently. A number of them were holding hand-made signs, much like the one he had made with the help of Riko, which was currently resting against the wall. WE WANT FAIR TREATMENT, his one read, and many of the others had similar messages.

Because that was what they were there for, after all. To demand fair treatment, because the past week had been anything but fair.

"Alright," he said. "So we're ready and know what we are to do next, I presume?"

"Just marching, right?" one of the students Kumori had assigned to watch the classroom door asked.

"Yes, that's right," he told them. "We begin when we exit the building-I'll lead the way. We go around, past the willow tree, and keep going in a straight line. Rows of three and four, ideally. We also need to make sure to go past the site of the statues."

"Former statues, more like!" someone called out.

Kumori shook his head slightly, but let it go. It was understandable to be nervous. Even he was nervous, and he was the one who had arranged this peaceful protest, essentially. The idea had not come from him, exactly-many in his class and beyond had been talking about the idea of fighting back. He had just seen an opportunity to do something. But organising the school festival, taking the lead on class projects and arranging surprise birthday parties and end-of-year celebrations, they were a completely different beast to that of a protest. Once he'd been shaken out of himself and started to become confident here, his approach to making things better had been these small things, working from the inside with what little they had, to make the best of things.

And it had worked. It had really worked, he was sure of it. But the centenary had changed everything, it seemed. It's no longer enough, is it? At least, it didn't seem so. But he had a role in this school now, a niche he occupied, and he would have fallen short if he had not taken the opportunity to step up to the plate. Even though Riko had helped him come up with the plan, she thought it was ludicrous. But, what else could he do? Looking at the situation, it was either this, or nothing. And he knew which one he'd rather.

And so, here I am, for better or worse.

"What else do we need to remember?" he asked the assembled group.

"To be peaceful." A girl from his class offered, swinging her legs nervously as she sat on the desk.

"Yes, that's right, Minami-sama, well done," he praised, making her beam sunnily for a brief moment. "We must remember this is a peaceful protest, right, Hisakawa-san?"

"Oh my goodness, I was joking!" Shino said, rolling her eyes and elbowing the pink-haired girl (whose name shamefully evaded Kumori in that mo-oh no, wait, it's Shishikane-sama) next to her, earning a smile.

"Be that as it may," Kumori said carefully. "We do need to remember that this is not a riot."

He gave Shino-and, for that matter, Emiko-another careful look, just to be sure. Joke or no, it would be remiss of him to not be cautious about this. Then, he cleared his throat and continued on.

"If a member of staff or any other student not taking part in the protest approaches us, what do we do?"

"Stop and politely explain what we are doing?" a boy asked.

"Indeed, indeed. And it may be necessary to put our hands up or at least hold our hands out to demonstrate we come peacefully." Kumori said. "And we should be sure that though we are chanting, we do not shout, or yell, or throw things, or break away from the line."

"People can join us if they want to, on the way, right?"

"Yes, of course. The more people we have, the stronger our message. I am also aware that some of us who couldn't come here to start off will be joining us. Oh! And before I forget, our final destination will be the front entrance of the Main Course building. And…I believe that covers everything. Any questions?"

The students all looked at each other. A few whispers floated in the air, but disappeared quickly as they turned to him. This is it, he thought. The moment of truth. I wonder, is this what being a Ringleader will be like? Because this was like a performance, in a way, and he was the one leading the way, coordinating every last movement, making sure it would all go well.

If it fails, it's on me. But I can't think like that. I can't. It will be fine. I've thought of everything. It won't go wrong.

"Very well then-so, what do we say?"

"WE WANT FAIR TREATMENT!"

The chorus was resounding, and some of the students held up their signs and grinned, while others simply punched their fists into the air. Kumori didn't know all of them, particularly some of the boys, but in this moment he was proud of every single one of them. We will be making a difference. He smiled, confidently, and went to pick up his sign.

"Alright everyone, Get into fours, and follow me! We will now be beginning our peaceful protest."

…

Sho was bored.

He had finished his practice-honestly, writing a birthday message in the sky was easy-and he'd tinkered with some vehicles, and now there was nothing to do. Well, he could study, but really he couldn't be bothered. He wanted to be out, and around. He'd bumped into a few people he knew on the way, and exchanged words, but they'd all been doing this and that and he hadn't been able to wheedle his way into hanging out with them. His buddies Hiro and Teruya hadn't arrived yet, and Hiro had a lab session so he'd probably head straight there rather than opting to hang out the moment he arrived. So, at a loss, Sho ended up outside, randomly wandering and debating whether he should just skip school for the morning and hit the town. He did have classes for the morning, but, much like with the roof, there were never any real consequences for skipping. A slap on the wrist, nothing more.

Truth be told, he thought with a sigh as he strolled meaninglessly through the grounds, it takes some of the fun away. Could something be considered forbidden if it didn't come with consequences? It seemed to him that he could possibly get away with a lot, all by dint of his Ultimate (as Shino had told him they called it in some of the Western versions of Hope's Peak) talent. In some way, his questions about what rules and restrictions Reserve Course students had had been answered and then some, not just as a result of the statues destruction the week before (the culprit of which still hadn't been found despite the punishments the school had chosen to enforce), but from meeting Emiko and Shino. He was surprised about just how cool they both were. It certainly didn't hurt that both of them were also quite easy on the eye, either. While it may have only been early days, he was having a whale of a time with them, and he wanted it to continue. But they hadn't arrived in school yet, either.

Hmm, perhaps I should text them.

On an impulse, he sat down on the grass right where he had been standing, and whipped out his phone.

Hey, he texted each of them, you on your way to school let? Let's hang out

Five, ten, twenty minutes went by as he then idly played a couple of games, but there was no answer. Helloooo? Helloooo? He texted this a couple of times, but again, no response. Ah, maybe I should just go out instead….Sho sighed as he locked his phone screen, and got up again, looking around him. Then, he spotted a crowd.

"Oh?" he muttered, intrigued. "Has something else happened?"

Rather than moving towards it, he surveyed it for a moment, and realised that it was not a crowd like the one that had gathered around the destroyed statues, but a procession. And, more unusually, they were chanting. What are they saying? We want….we were….? Hmmm? Sho started to amble over, and as he got closer, details in the picture became clearer to him. The people in the procession were all Reserve Course students, and some of them were holding placards and signs, all of them demanding that they were treated fairer, or complaining about the punishments put in place. And indeed, they were chanting 'we demand fair treatment'. Fairly calmly, but it looked to Sho that there were a good number of the Reserve Course student body in the procession, and so the chants reached quite the volume, especially as he kept getting closer.

It was with some surprise that he noticed that the student that Riko Izumi tutored was leading the way, eyes blazing with passion and face resolute. Funny, I always thought he was such a mouse, but Sho didn't dwell on it as something occurred to him and he started to scan the procession-a procession which was rapidly growing in size as more and more student started to trickle into school and join in.

This is…his heart started to race. This is….

"Hey, morning there!" he kept calling out, still searching the faces. "What's up?!"

He was met with bemused looks and some greetings, most of them hesitant but some friendly, but none from faces he recognised. But still, he kept walking down the line-a harder feat than it sounded, considering that none of them hesitated in their march. Maybe they're….yes….he grinned as he spotted a flash of plaid brown and a swish of pink hair, and he zoned in.

"Yo!" he called out. "What are you guys doing?"

Shino and Emiko, almost as if as one, stepped out of the line and stopped, as the procession continued. Emiko gave a radiant reassuring smile to a girl next to them who regarded them with concern before shrugging and moving on, before turning that smile onto Sho, who returned it.

"Protesting, obviously! I thought you were bright." Shino teased.

"Yeah, yeah, just asking. Whose idea was it?"

"Kurogane in the second year," Shino replied. "We were all complaining and he just pulled everyone together and planned it. Apparently he's kinda the go-to person for things like this, from what I've heard. We've been planning it over chat for days-you didn't notice?"

Sho thought back, but had to confess that he had not.

"Shino, that's a Reserve Course chat you're thinking of." Emiko reminded her.

"Oh, yeah. Anyway, wanna join us?"

"I don't have a placard." Sho said, though it was not a real objection. Of course I want in on the thrill. Does the question even need to be asked?

"Oh, who cares?" Shino asked flippantly.

"Yeah, do come and join us." Emiko fluttered her eyelashes and pouted coquettishly. "We'd love to have you."

"Oh, I'm sure you would." Sho teased right back. "But sure-"

Sho's deliberate step into the crowd was halted by a piercing shout, and he stopped. More shouts followed, and he felt a ripple emanate through the crowd. He put his foot down, and whipped around to see what looked like at least two dozen security guards and a couple of Main Course class teachers rushing towards them, most of them yelling:

"STOP THIS RIGHT NOW!"

Next to him, Shino swore, and Emiko let out a shriek. Screams pierced the air, the crowd started to scatter, and placards dropped to the ground. Later, when thinking back, Sho would swear he'd heard Kumori plead 'We come in peace!' just before everything happened. But in that moment, Sho did not realise he had noticed any such thing.

All he saw was all hell breaking loose.