National Psychical Academy Chapter 13: Satan Tattoo: The Dream of Despair, a sailor moon fanfic

Satan Tattoo: The Dream of Despair

"This is your next mission." The man in specs handed a sealed paper folder to the five teenage who had their faces hidden behind a cast of shadow. The uniforms they wore however were made vivid against the dull surrounding; black ties and white blouses, with the renowned logo, 'NPA' imprinted at the very left-side pocket of the uniform top.

They nodded quietly before the girl in the middle took the concealed folder over, unwind the brown envelop by its string and took out a bunch of photographs. They peered silently at the individual pictures of their next targets while waiting for further instruction from their authority.

"They are the infamous Aces." The superior indicated. "For the time being, we want you to retrieve as much information about them as possible. Especially this three…" The man lifted three individual photographs, the images of two charming looking boys and a cheerful blonde. "They are Seiya Kou, Taiki Kou and Usagi Tsukino."

"Yes. Dr. Kuro-sama."

"Him." Kuro directed Seiya's photo instructed. "The Yonkou are interested to know the maximum value to his destructiveness. Make him use his telekinetic power to his limit."

"The Yonkou, literally Four Emperors, were the four most powerful psychics or magic users in the Satan Organization. They were the partners and associates of the Satan leader, Shinigami. Little was known about them, but presumably the mere existence of these powerful paranormal beings was enough to upset the World Government's authority." – Story facts.

"The Yonkou are intending to make the Nemesis as theirs?" One asked sounding a little envious.

"This, you don't have to know…" Kuro replied as he proceeded to Taiki's picture. "Next is…" He paused glaring at the photo of his Nemesis. Like Seiya and Usagi, Taiki was also on Satan top most wanted list. The Satan authority suspected the renowned genius of knowing a little too much about the Organization, seeing him as a threat because of his supreme intelligent. "As for him, we want you to find out exactly how much he really knows about us. But be very cautious when you are around this genius. If anyone is quick enough to uncover your secret identity, it's him. "

Kuro warned making the team sharpened their alertness as he picked up another photo. He paused in silent for a second directing the next target to the group. All the young Satan spies was seen focusing their attention on the picture of a sweet-looking blonde smiling cheerily straight at them.

"Cute…" One of the spy murmured under his breath.

"She's the most important." Kuro commented seriously. "A direct order from Saiga-kamisama, the Satan Organization wants her back."

The whole group was shock to know that this innocent-looking blonde held such essential to their organization, to the extent of even grabbing the all-great and powerful Satan's founder, Shinigami's attention. This was their first and most probably the last time to ever receive a direct order from the leader of Satan. Saiga was practically a god to all the young Satan spies. And wanting to impress god, they were very determined to succeed in this mission.

"Saiga-kamisama wants her back? Does it mean that Usagi Tsukino was part of us?" Another female spy standing at the extreme left quickly concluded.

"She was the first Satan Child ever to be granted with the Satan Tattoo." Kuro replied shortly, shocking the entire team. No one could believe what they had just heard. It was all Satan's followers' dream to obtain the Tattoo which signified the highest rank in the organization. The only paranormal beings powerful enough to be given the Satan Tattoo were namely members of the Great Powers of Satan.

"The Great Powers of Satan was a team of extremely powerful, young, unique paranormal beings who are believed to be the Crime Organization secret weapons. It was still unknown on whom or exactly how many members the Great Powers team actually held but they were believed to be the main keys aside from the Yonkou for Satan to achieve world domination." – Story Facts.

"What? She was once with the Great Powers?" One of the spies asked in shock.

"None of you need to know about this. All you need to know is your mission. Of course, we don't expect any of you to be capable enough to seize and bring her back to us. What we want you to achieve is to turn Usagi Tsukino back into a psychic weapon, meaning to lure her into using her power. Let her stay in that form long enough for us to identify her true ability. And after you have record it down, send an immediate copy back to base and we will follow up from there."

"Yes. Dr. Kuro-sama." The team bowed together.

"WAHHHHHH!! I can't take this anymore!!" Usagi yelled stressfully as she dropped dead on the table of books. "Minna(Everyone), please just let me die…"

"What are you saying, Usagi?" Taiki chuckled lightly at the grumbling blonde. The rest of the Aces were heard giggling under their breaths as they study through for the coming written exam. "The mid-final is only a week away. You can't just give up now…"

"I am not a genius like you, Taiki. Even if I work hard, I can never achieve good grades." Usagi with her chin still settled on her notebook muttered with a sigh.

"That's not true, Usagi. You don't have to be a genius to obtain good grades." Taiki pointed out with a smile. "Both Seiya and Yuki are not geniuses and yet they always excel in their studies."

"That's because we work hard for it." Seiya and Yuki answered together with a light grin.

"Liars." Usagi commented not believing their words. "You!" She pointed at Seiya. "You hardly write down any notes during lectures… and YOU…" She changed her target to Yuki. "Just today, during Mayu sensei's lecture, I caught you drawing a stick man without a head at the centre of your notebook."

"Usagi-san, you have a pretty powerful observation skill." Yuki stated in bewilderment.

"Instead of watching us, you should be paying more attention to the lesson." Seiya knocked Usagi on her head lightly. "You don't want to repeat a grade, do you?"

Usagi shook her head with a pout. "No."

Seiya smiled at her response and shifted his chair nearer to hers, "Don't worry, you are not repeating. I will help you out with your studies too."

"There's no need to trouble you, Seiya." Taiki forced a smile at the brunet who was seated directly opposite of him. "Usagi only needs me as her tutor."

"Take a rest, Taiki. You've been tutoring Odango for the past few hours…" Seiya argued back with a fake grin.

"I am not even a bit tired." Taiki claimed with a smirk. "Shouldn't you be studying too, Seiya? I'm sure Usagi will be disappointed if you fail to keep your result up in the top 10."

"You don't have to worry about me." Seiya spoke back directly. "I am confident enough to take the top 5 spot. Shouldn't you be worrying about yourself instead? Odango will be very upset if someone was to beat you off your first position."

"Don't worry. Unlike someone, I'll never make Usagi cry." Taiki answered still holding onto his fake smile.

"Can the two of you just quit it?!" Yaten exclaimed in agitation. "I am trying to teach Minako here!" The shaman glared angrily at his two friends before turning his attention back to his beloved Succubus.

The two rivals looked away at once, deciding to stop their argument. They glanced back at Usagi who had her upper-body rested on the table; napping away.

They sighed together pondering whether to wake her. Usagi had been through some pretty tiring weeks considering that the examination was just a few days away. Days were definitely dull and boring for her as all she did was tutoring and studying.

Taking off his jacket, Seiya thoughtfully rested it over the sleeping blonde, careful not to wake her. He would have secretly planted a kiss like always if he wasn't surrounded by his many comrades eyeing on him.

Taiki silently stood up, deciding to proceed to the kitchen for a refill. Walking passed the quiet Haruka, he caught him seriously sketching something in his empty notebook.

Weird. Unlike Usagi, Haruka took his studying and exams very seriously due to his interest, and to see him uncaringly doing some random drawings at a crucial time like this was definitely a strange sight.

The genius stopped his step and took another closer peep at his sketch. It was an awkward design of what seemed like a tattoo. Finding it familiar, he peered deeply at it. A second later, his eyes were seen widening and his jaw dropped with shock upon recognizing the whole symbol. "Haruka… This tattoo… Where did you…?"

Everyone except the sleeping Usagi lifted their heads, shifting their attention from their studies to the genius staring startlingly down at Haruka.

"I saw something like this in my dream. By the way, how did you know it was a tattoo?" Haruka asked.

"Dream?" Taiki paused for a second finally remembering that Haruka was a Precognition Sensor. "What else? What else did you see?! Besides this tattoo, what else did you see in your dream?!" The genius grabbing Haruka by his shoulders burst out, shocking everyone. This was their first time witnessing the all calm and intelligent Taiki acting so recklessly.

"Taiki…" Haruka blinked, shocked by his outrageous reaction.

For the next few seconds, the tense atmosphere was covered with pure silence till Taiki broke it with a soft apology.

"I'm sorry…" He looked down, feeling ashamed for losing his cool on Haruka.

"N-no… It's ok…" Haruka managed to give a reply despite his shock.

"Can you please tell me what else you saw in your dream besides that?" Taiki asked softly.

"Actually, it was very unclear." Haruka looking down at his sketch explained. "I only remembered seeing a girl with this tattoo standing in the middle of many dark unconscious bodies. Everyone faces were covered behind a shadow… I couldn't identify or get close to them. Then, a guy with his back against me will appear out of the darkness and embrace the girl. I couldn't catch what they were saying but it seemed like he was tearing. For some unknown reason, he lost his strength and landed on the black ground… but despite so he still reached out his hand hoping to hold onto her… but always… the girl would turned away and leave him…"

Seiya froze at the ending. Strangely, he felt sad and sorrow. But why? He couldn't understand. His body was trembling from an unknown fear. He glimpsed down at the sleeping Usagi feeling a sudden strong desire to hug her as tight as he could. Why? Why did he have this horrible feeling that she was going to leave him after hearing Haruka's vision?

"I've been repeatedly dreaming about this same scenario." Haruka continued. "I wonder if it's related to us."

"But, if Haruka is really seeing a premonition of our future…" Yaten spoke out seriously. "It only meant that…"

"It will really happen…" Yuki reactively continued.

"No." Taiki objected calmly. "Even if it's the vision from a Precognition Sensor or a highly trained Prophet, because it hadn't happen, the future is still not a 100 percent..."

"Guys, we really shouldn't be stressing over a trivial dream of mine." Haruka commented hoping to lighten the tension in the air. "It's very unclear with many missing pieces. Besides, there's no way of knowing whether it has anything to do with us. For all we knew, my dream might have no relation with our future at all."

"Yes." Yaten agreed. "Instead of worrying about this, we should be focusing our attention back to studies. Our mid-final is just a week away..."

Taiki remained silent. His body, mind and soul were buried with many uneasiness and worries as he glimpsed at the sleeping blonde. He knew very well that Haruka's dream was definitely related to them. Because that tattoo he saw was... it was…

"I need to talk to you."

Taiki looked up and found himself staring straight into Seiya's dim-blue eyes. The genius who clearly knew about Seiya's intention was feeling reluctant. But he understood that he can never avoid his questioning forever. Taiki spoke nothing as he quietly followed Seiya out of the study room.

"What are you hiding from us?" Seiya demanded after he had closed the door behind him.

"Not anything you need to know." Taiki answered simply and turned away from him. But before he could take another step further down the hallway, he felt himself being pulled back by a strong telekinetic force and the next thing he knew, Seiya was already grabbing onto his wrist firmly.

"Do you seriously think I will allow you to go just like that?" Seiya whispered sternly into Taiki's ear. "That tattoo design! I saw it before. It's on Usagi's upper left arm. You know something about it, don't you? Tell me! What are you hiding from us?!"

Taiki smirked with no intention of breaking loose from Seiya's tight hold, "Why don't you ask Usagi? If you really want to know so badly, why don't you just ask her?"

As expected, the genius words brought Seiya to loosen his grip. For a brief moment, he just stared wordlessly back at Taiki with a slight hint of sadness lingering through his midnight blue eyes.

"Because she will never tell you…" Taiki answered knowingly. "No matter how badly you desire to know, Usagi will never tell you."

"Why…?" Seiya muttered softly, his body shaking from the attacking jealousy and misery. He clenched his fists as he tried to fight off the painful emotions. Because it was hurting him inside. It hurts so much.

"Why?! Why is it you? Why isn't it me? Why is it always you that she chose to talk to?!"

Yes, why was it so? Why was it always Taiki who knew everything? Why can't she just talk to him as well? No matter how many times he asked, she would avoid opening up to him. She had no idea how excluded and unwanted he felt when she kept everything from him. Why? Was it because she trusted Taiki more or simply because he wasn't good enough in her eyes?

"Why?" Taiki lifted his face revealing his violet eyes of envious. "Why!? That's because she loves you! Damn it! She loves you!" The genius snapped. "There! Shouldn't you be satisfied now?! What's more do you want to know?!"

Seiya face shot up to Taiki's, completely in shock. What was he saying? Usagi loves him? He wasn't sure that he had heard him right, but he had no memories or whatsoever of Usagi telling him this. She hardly tole him anything, not her feelings for him or anything more about her.

"All this while, she was trying to protect you." Taiki struggled to regain his composure. "Do you know the consequences if you were caught knowing too much about Usagi?"

"Consequences?" Seiya stared perplexingly at Taiki still trying to absorb his words.

"If it's not death…" Taiki answered seriously, his eyed on Seiya for a second longer before turning away. "All your memories you had with her will be eradicated, waking up the very next day not even recognizing the name Usagi Tsukino. If you don't wish for such things to happen…" Taiki warned before disappearing down the stairs. "Avoid knowing too much…"

Taiki proceeded back into his room. Closing the door behind him, he dropped himself on his bed and closed his eyes. He kept them shut. His face gave none of his thoughts away. For years, he had trained himself to look cool, collected on the outside, but that was the complete opposite of what he really felt now. Inside, he suffered everyday from knowing too much about Usagi and her relationship with Satan. No, he wasn't exactly worried about his safety. He was afraid of losing her, scared to be capture and then forced to forget ever knowing her. He would rather choose death because he definitely didn't want to live a life without remembering her existence. She gave him this happy life. He would have ended his meaningless life nine years ago if it wasn't for her. And, to lose all his memories of her was like taking away his purpose to live, so what's the point of being alive then?

The genius knew that Satan will definitely take his existence into consideration and it wouldn't take them very long to finally set him under one of their wanted target. But instead of worrying about being targeted, Taiki was more concern over Haruka's vision. If that girl in his dream was Usagi, which most probably was due to the tattoo significant, then it only meant that she will be leaving the Aces in the future.

Taiki clenched his hands and placed his fist over his eyes. No! He's not allowing that to happen. No matter what, he'll change the future. But how? There are things even a genius like him can't do, and changing fate might be one of them. But, he couldn't just lie here and do nothing about it right?

Shifting his hand away, Taiki slowly lifted his lids and to his astonishment, he found himself looking straight up into a pair of black orbs.

"Boo!"

He startlingly shot up sitting upright in his bed. Turning his head, Taiki faced the giggling girl seated on his bed.

"Yeah! I've managed to scare you again." The brunette cheered, extending a 'V' fingering sign towards him.

"Yuu…mei…" Taiki murmured her name, his face still holding the expression of disbelief.

Yuumei pouted at his reaction and folded her arms, "I guess I am not wanted. You don't look very happy to see me."

"No! Of course not!" Taiki shot up onto his feet in great objection. "I-I was just surprise. It had been months since I last saw you and I didn't hear you coming in…"

"I'm a stealth assassin neh!" Yuumei replied half-jokingly. Taiki continued peering at the brunette who looked very much like Usagi. Not only in appearances, but the way they talk and smile were pretty much the same. Overall, it did look like the twins share the same personality though in Taiki's view, Yuumei seemed more mysterious compared to Usagi. Maybe it was due to the lack of knowledge about her.

Though Taiki got most of his source regarding Satan from Yuumei and his private investigation, he was near clueless about her preferences. Indeed, she was very unpredictable as the genius was never able to calculate anything about her; not what she's about to say or do next. And, he still couldn't figure out why she can suddenly appear out of nowhere, as if she was a spirit or some sort. But from his understanding of the dead, he was certain that she wasn't one. It must be her ability then. But, what sort of ability would allow someone to appear like a ghost? The knowledgeable genius definitely didn't come across such a paranormal aptitude. He, however, suspected her state as part of an astral projection, but was it even possible for one to control such paranormal activity so effortlessly?

"Astral projection or astral travel is a paranormal interpretation of an out-of-body experience. The concept assumes the existence of another body, separated from the physical body and capable of traveling to non-physical planes of existence." – Story facts.

"Neh Taiki…" Yuumei smiled the same grin as Usagi's making Taiki blush a little. "You are intending to continue investigating on the Satan spies despite my warning?"

Taiki nodded quietly and turned towards his desk. He picked up a stack of papers and began going through them. "According to my analysis, the possibility of the Satan spies being among the students of the academy is close to a 90 percent. There's a strange 30 percent increase of the newcomers in the 1st and 2nd years…"

"I'm confiscating this!" Yuumei effortlessly snatched the stack of documents over from Taiki. "Didn't you promise Akatsuki that you'll never get too involve with Satan? You should just trust the NPIF to deal with the spies."

"For the past two months, the NPIF seems to have no progression with identifying them." Taiki replied, his expression in deep thought. "And, I have this strong intuition that Haruka's vision is actually the aftermath of this, so…"

"Baka…" Yuumei interrupted knocking Taiki lightly on his head with her knuckles. He looked confusingly at her not getting why she always thought of him as silly or stupid.

"Even though you know that this is partially a trap set by Satan, you are still intending to step into it? Baka neh! Akatsuki will be very upset if she finds out about your secret investigation… "

"But, I can't just pretend that I knew nothing especially when Satan is targeting Usagi and maybe even the entire Aces." Taiki opposed.

"The high authority of Satan is never interested in the weak and incapable." Yuumei informed with a light smile. "You will be alerting the Yonkou if the spies were to identify your capabilities as significance. So, don't challenge them. You and the rest of the Aces will be fine as long as they don't note you as worthy."

"No…" Taiki clutched his fists showing his stubbornness. "What about Usagi? She will still be targeted…"

"I'll protect her." Yuumei interrupted with a soothing grin. "Besides, the last thing Satan will want to do is to harm Akatsuki."

"But Haruka's vision…"

Yuumei abruptly placed her finger over Taiki's lips, stopping his insistence.

"I guess no matter what I say, you'll still insist to get involve with this matters neh?" Yuumei asked almost in a whisper and smiled. She removed her finger not noticing the faint pink coating on Taiki's cheeks. "You are really a baka. No wonder Akatsuki requested me to watch over you. But even if she didn't…" She lifted her lids and smiled cheerily at Taiki. "I personally would too."

Taiki's jaw dropped open by an inch, surprised by her statement. After a brief moment of silence, he managed to response back with a gentle smile, "Thank you. But, instead of watching over us, shouldn't you be worrying about yourself? As Usagi's twin, I'm sure you are being targeted by Satan too."

"Me? Targeted?" Yuumei giggled lightly much to Taiki's surprise. Was he wrong? Like Usagi, she was an escapist from Satan too right? Don't they want her? Satan is definitely not careless enough to overlook her unique ability.

Finally, Yuumei stopped laughing and replied mysteriously, "They don't need to…"

Taiki blinked gazing at her trying to figure out what she meant. She looked back at him not giving him any clues or hints that would help him to understand what she was referring to.

"Hehe! You don't have to worry!" Yuumei broke the silence as she patted Taiki lightly on his shoulder and smiled. "Whatever happens, I'll be there… by Akatsuki's side… and yours too… like always…"

It was in the middle of the night when Usagi finally woke up from her nap. She awoke to a large dim room that she recognized as her own. Beside her, the adorable looking lamp on the nightstand was left on. She blinked as a yawn escaped her mouth. Attempting to raise her right hand to cover it, she found it restrained. Dumfounded, she glanced down at her hand and found it enveloped by a different hand. Her eyes followed the hand to the arm, then to the long black hair brushing over the shoulder, and then, finally to the young man kneeling beside the bed she was in. His face was turned away from her, but she knew who he was.

"Seiya?" Usagi breathed, using her other hand to shake his shoulder.

After a few seconds of calling his name, Seiya finally opened his eyes and stared at her until the sign of sleep faded from his face.

"Odango…" He murmured rubbing his eyes.

Usagi gazed innocently at him and smiled. "Seiya? What are you doing here? You will catch a cold if you sleep like this."

Seiya thought over this for a second before he remembered what had happened several hours ago. He had carried Usagi from the study room back to her bed and because he couldn't bear to leave her, he drowsily dozed off an hour later while holding onto her hand. Because of Haruka's vision and Taiki's words, the fear of losing her increased dramatically. He didn't want to leave her side, not even for a second. For all he knew, she might just vanish the second he wasn't looking. But, he can't possibly spend a night in her room since they weren't kids anymore right?

"What's wrong Seiya? Is there something bothering you?" Usagi peered at Seiya concernedly wondering why he wasn't responding to her previous question. He was still holding firmly onto her hand, unwilling to let it go. Usagi sat straight up and scooted to the edge of the bed, letting him rest his head on her lap.

"What happened? Did you have a bad dream?" She asked gently, letting her fingers get lost in his thick mop of hair as she stroked his back soothingly.

"Bad dream?" Seiya silently wished he was the one having the bad dream instead of Haruka. At the very least, he knew that whatever horrible dream he dreamt, it might never come true unlike one foreseen by a Sensor. If only she's willing to open up to him, maybe then, he won't have to suffer from all these worries and uncertainties.

Seiya wasn't sure whether he should be telling Usagi about Haruka's vision. He didn't wish to worry her. For all they knew, the girl in Haruka's dream might not even be Usagi at all. That was a positive thinking. So, what about the Tattoo then? Unless, there's another female with the same tattoo imprint, if not, he couldn't convince himself that she wasn't going to leave him somewhere in the dark future.

"Odango, there's something I would like to ask you." Seiya lifted his head, finally breaking the silence. "It's regarding the tattoo in your upper left arm... I saw it by accident…" He locked his dark blue eyes to her shocked ones.

Usagi froze at his statement. H-how did he know? She was sure she had never revealed her tattoo to him before as it had always been well-hidden behind a layer of cosmetic.

The room was consumed by still quietness. None of them said anything, each waiting for the others response.

"It's… It's a curse." Usagi glimpsed away from Seiya's stare as her right hand reactively flew to her left, slowly moving up to where the tattoo silently lay hidden. She bit her lips, hating the tattoo that reminded her about her ugly past and origin. Yes! It was a curse; a deadly curse which forbids her freedom, telling her she'll always belong to Satan no matter where she was or who she was with.

Usagi glanced up in surprise when she felt a hand gently placed over her right. She gazed quizzically at Seiya who lovingly took her hand into his, prying it away from its grip on the tattoo.

"Is there anything I can do to help ease your pain?" It didn't sound like a question, but more of a plea. After seeing the hurtful look etched on her face, Seiya regretted deeply for bringing the topic up. Rarely did she get upset over anything. The only time he had seen her holding such painful expression was during their first farewell. He didn't like it at all and he wasn't sure if he could handle anymore sadness from her. Frowns and tears just didn't suit her face.

Usagi didn't say anything. She just smiled lightly at him before leaning downwards and settled her forehead onto his left shoulder. A sniffing sound escaped her lips.

"Odango?" Seiya's face contorted with worry. Was she crying? He prayed she wasn't. Placing his hands on her shoulders, he attempted to pull her away from him so as to check on her.

"Don't move, please." Usagi requested softly. "Just stay like that. I just want to stay this way…"

Seiya gave in to her request, allowing her to rest on his shoulder. He couldn't say no to his angel. Even if she asked him to run the world ten times, he'd do it. It's impossible to refuse her.

But little did he knows, that Usagi was trying her hardest not to cry without an avail. The endless tears were sliding down her cheeks despite her effort to keep them in. Why? Why was she crying again? Was it because she didn't want to go back to Satan? Yes! She didn't want to! She wants to stay as an Ace and be with them forever. But can she? How long can she keep her promise to see the sunrise with him everyday? Maybe that's why she was hurt. Because she wasn't sure when she'll be leaving him…

If she was to break her promise he'll definitely be upset, won't he? Imagining his tears just made her heart throb terribly. She didn't want to hurt him in any ways. And that's the reason why she avoided telling him about Satan or anything about her true identity…

It was all because she didn't want Seiya to ever forget knowing her…

Keeping her face downcast on his shoulder, she tried to hide her tears away from him. For some reasons, she didn't want him to see her cry. It was mainly because she knew that it would only upset her further to see his grief due to hers.

Seiya leaned over her body, wrapping his arms around her. He laid his head down on the top of her shoulder in an awkward embrace. None of them spoke anything, each taking in the others warmth and comfort. It was a peculiar thing; they need no words or effort, just each others to lighten the many grief and sorrows buried in their hearts that night. If only they could stay like this forever, maybe they could avoid the predicted misery ahead; one that could break them apart forever.

It had been three long, rough and rigorous weeks for most of the students in the national psychical academy, especially Usagi. She can't recall a single day without burying herself with tons of books and notes. Many times, she would find herself playing hide and seek with Taiki as she tried to escape from his tutoring.

She hated revising for exams more than anything in the world and now that the mid-final was over, she feared knowing her result. She was totally clueless to how well she actually did despite Taiki's strenuous teaching. For all she knew, she might score terrible enough to be ranked in the last spot of the entire first years. How humiliating! How was she supposed to face Taiki who spent sleepless nights preparing her for the examinations then?

Usagi crouched at a dark corner, her finger drawing invisible circles on the floor as she prepared for the worse.

"Usagi, aren't you going over with us to check on your results?" Minako bending over to the gloomy blonde asked.

"You go ahead first, Minako-chan." Usagi responded still drawing circles. "I'll join all of you later."

"Minako! Usagi! Hurry over!" Yaten called out. He and the rest of the Aces were among the mass of noisy students crowded around the big announcement board.

"Hai! Coming!" Minako shouted back and grabbed Usagi by her arms dragging her along much to her reluctance. "Let's go, Usagi."

"Wait! Wait! Minako! I'm not mentally prepared yet…" Usagi opposed trying to break loose from Minako's pulls but to no avail since a succubus had physical strength much greater than a normal human.

Usagi eventually gave in, joining the many students who had their head craned up searching for their names under the academic results publication.

"Unbelievable! There are two first placing this semester..."

Usagi ears perked with interest at the statement as her eyes instinctively flew to the two names at the top spots. As usual, Taiki's name was bolded high up there. Usagi was sure that Taiki was smart enough to top not only the entire first year but the whole academy. But, she couldn't believe anyone in the world could be as brilliant as him. Scoring full marks for every paper and even ranked first with Taiki? Who was this person?

Usagi strained her eyes at the name, "Ami Mizuno from Class 1-D."

Was she a new student? Usagi wasn't sure since she wasn't in the same class with this Ami Mizuno person. But, one thing was for certain, she didn't like seeing the possibility of someone being better than Taiki.

"Guess whose result is ranked under 54th?"

Usagi's thought was pushed away by the light pat on her shoulder. She spun around only to find Taiki smiling down at her.

"Eh?" She cocked her head slightly to her right not getting his words. Taiki wordlessly grinned and targeted his index to the direction of the board. Following his point, Usagi's eyes widened with surprise when she found her name under the 54th spot. She couldn't believe her eyes. She passed?! What's more her result was among the top 60?!

"I-I passed! I passed!" Usagi burst out with joy. She happily flung herself and embraced Taiki much to everyone surprise. "Thank you, Taiki! I don't have to repeat a semester! Thank you, Taiki! Thank you!"

Taiki stiffened at the spot, taken aback by her warm embrace. A delighted smile etched across his lips as he adoringly hugged her back and whispered. "You're most welcome."

Immediately, another pair of hands slipped themselves under Usagi's armpits, snatching her away and breaking the embrace.

"Give her back to me." Seiya pulled Usagi into his chest possessively, glaring irately at Taiki at the same time.

Now, all attention was on the two Aces whose eyes were seen sending spiteful electrocuting waves into one another's.

"Wow! Yuki's in 4th place! Seiya's in the 5th!" Usagi exclaimed in excitement interrupting the two boys' glares.

Still embraced inside Seiya's arms, Usagi continued peering at the results publication board. Her eyes were seen scanning up and down every so often in search for her other friends' names. She found Haruka's name in the 9th placing, Yaten's in the 13th and Minako' in the 24th.

"Eh? My result is the worse in the team?!" Usagi cried dropping down to the ground and started drawing circles again. "I am the worse… I am the worse…" she began her low morale chanting.

"No, you are not." Seiya bended down and stroked her back as he murmured comforting words to her.

"Cheer up, Usagi! You did pretty well." The rest of the Aces encircled around the crouching blonde as they tried consoling her individually.

"Is there something wrong?" A stranger voice asked. Usagi craned her head up and stared at the young man with short, dark brown hair. He held out his hand to her, offering to help her up but was instantly interrupted by Seiya who arrogantly took a step forward, keeping himself between Usagi and the stranger.

"Who are you? And what do you want?" He demanded suspiciously.

"Oh, oh… I mean no harm." The boy took a step back from the Aces before introducing himself. "If I'm not mistaken, you are the infamous Aces Team right? I am the new vice-head of the Student Council for the 1st year, Souji Hachijou. Nice to meet you."

"Souji! What's taking you so long? The briefing is about to start soon!" A relatively tall girl ran forth and grabbed Souji by his arm. "What have you done?! Are you causing troubles to others again?!"

"Of course not! I was just trying to make some friends!" Souji exclaimed as he tried to break loose from the girl's strong grip.

"Souji, Makoto? What's the matter?" All eyes turned to the approaching girl with short, blue hair.

"Ami-chan! Souji is disturbing the Aces!" Makoto exclaimed immediately.

"No, I am not! I was just trying to be friendly!" Souji protested glaring annoyingly at Makoto and the two continue quarrelling among each other.

Ami shook her head at her friends' childish action before gazing over to the quiet Aces. "I'm sorry for their rudeness." She bow apologetically to the group and held out her hand to Taiki. "You must be Taiki-san. Nice to meet you. I am Ami Mizuno, the first years new branch chief of the student council."

"Nice to meet you." Taiki smiled and extended his hand out to hers. He had shaken her hand already before everyone shifted their attention to their locked hands. "Congratulations for doing so well in the mid-finals."

"Iiee... It's nothing compared to Taiki-san's past achievements." Ami replied humbly with a faint blush. "I've heard plenty of your amazing records from Chiba-senpai."

"Mamoru-san always exaggerates. They are nothing." Taiki smiled and someone pulling him by the sleeve. He looked down only to find Usagi frowning in disagreement, "No, no... Your achievements are incredible…"

After chuckling lightly at her compliment, everyone watched as Taiki bended over to Usagi's ear and whispered, "Thank you."

Usagi happily nodded. Then, she felt someone slipping his hand into hers, pulling her away from Taiki and the group. "Hai, hai… Let's get going, Odango! We will be late for the battle tournament briefing if we continue standing here."

Usagi didn't resist as she cheerily followed Seiya down the hallway.

"I'll see you later then." Taiki glimpsed at Ami for another short second before he dashed front, chasing after the couple. The rest of the Aces trailed behind leisurely chatting among themselves not bothering to turn back to check on the three student committees.

"They are nicer than I thought." Makoto commented.

"Usagi-san is cuter than I thought." Souji followed.

"Pervert." Makoto glaring at Souji asserted.

Ami giggled lightly as her two friends began their next argument. "We should get going too." She stated, walking down the long passageway that led them to the briefing hall.

All students of the first years to the third were assembled in the large hall as they waited for the battle examination briefing to begin.

"Hm? Have you finally found a nemesis?" Yaten signifying Ami with his pencil asked.

Taiki eyed shortly at Ami who was seated at the far end corner and shook his head. "No." He casually pointed his thumb to the brunet on his right. "He's the Nemesis."

"You mean I'm your Nemesis." Seiya corrected Taiki, glancing at him by the corner of his eyes.

"Eh?! But why?" Usagi exclaimed in surprise and confusion. "The two of you shouldn't be fighting over anything. It's always nice to share."

The whole team stared disbelievingly at Usagi for a moment and sighed. "Some things can't be shared, Usagi. Especially love…" Haruka stated with a hint.

"Eh? What do you mean?" Usagi asked for clarification, not quite understanding the meaning behind his words. Why can't love be shared? She loves all her friends and the Aces were like a family to her. In the end, she was still clueless to exactly what Seiya and Taiki were rivaling about.

"Never mind." The entire team said at once. "She's so dense."

"Eh?! Eh?!"

But before Usagi could question further, the vice-principal stepped up to the stage and started the briefing with an introduction, drawing everyone attention to him.

"Since the class battle examination was initially started by Seinagi Private High. We have invited Kenjiro-san, the chairman of the magical art at Seinagi High to explain the rules further." The vice-principal passed the microphone over to Kenjiro and headed down the stage. Instruction papers were being passed out to the students while Kenjiro began speaking clearly through the microphone.

"Everyone please read through the instruction sheets carefully and stick with the rules. As indicated, the battle examination is a tournament between classes of the same year. Each team selects 7 members to be soldiers for the fight. During the three hours of game play, the two versus teams will be positioned on the mount behind the school."

Upon obtaining the instruction papers, Usagi browsed through the indication with interest. She was very excited and couldn't wait for the class battle examination to begin. To Usagi, this form of assessment method was way more interesting compared to written examination.

Instruction notes for the first year:

"The Class battle examination is a tournament between the 4 classes: 1-A, 1-B, 1-C, and 1-D.

Team Formation:

Each team composed of 7 players: 2 Attackers, 2 Defenders, 2 Spies and 1 King.

Each player has a PaintBall(PB): inside pendant for Attackers, Defenders and Spies and Crown for King. When PB of a player is destroyed, they are disqualified (which means they must leave the battle ground immediately.) You can destroy the PB of an enemy either by physical or magical attacks. The inside of the PB is filled with a colored fluid: Red for Attackers, Yellow for Spies and Blue for Defenders.

The Players information:

Attackers: An attacker character pendant radiates when an enemy is within a radius of 5m, unless the enemy is a Spy. He gets 6 points when he destroys the PB of an enemy Attacker or Defender, but gets a penalty of 6 points if they destroy the PB of a Spy. Attackers are the only ones who can destroy the King PB.

Spies: A spy character pendant radiates when the enemy King is within a radius of 20m. However, he cannot attack the King but his power is required to find him. A spy gets 3 points if he destroys the PB of an enemy.

Defenders: A defender character is to protect the King. A defender pendant radiates when an enemy is within 5m radius. Defenders receive 2 points if they destroy the PB of an enemy.

King: The King character can attack enemy players, but will not receive any points for doing so.

Victory is achieved either if:

An attacker destroys the PB of enemy King or a team gets more than 25 points.

First Round: There are 4 teams for each class. The one winning team that shows the best fights quality will represent their respective class for round two.

Second Round: There are two matches. The two winning classes will proceed to final round.

Final Battle: Yet to be announced."

"However, causing injuries to an opponent to the extent that they need medical treatment and removing or hiding the PaintBall from your body are strictly forbidden! Also, exchanging PB after the beginning of the game and leaving the battle area are against the rule. There will be a referee ball which acts as a rely camera. It is used to verify and referee the battle between the students. So, be careful and follow the rules accordingly." Kenjiro added.

"This is so fun! Please remind me to thank Sofu for bringing in such a fun activity!" Usagi clapped happily. "I want to be a spy! I want to be a spy!" She insistently pulled Taiki by his sleeve.

"Attacker." Seiya requested shortly.

"Defenders…" Yaten and Yuki said together. "And Minako can be the King." Yaten holding onto Minako's hand smiled. She nodded happily, agreeing with whatever her master said.

"Everyone hold on for a second." Taiki drawing his team attention to him continued. "Unfortunately, I don't think we have a choice for the characters selection here."

"Eh?! Why?" Usagi was the first to burst out. She wanted to be the spy character! It was fun since she gets to be the one to travel about, locate the opponent King and battle at the same time.

Her question was answered immediately by Kenjiro, "There's one team with a combination of power gauges that outmatched the rest of the first years. In order to maintain the battle's fairness, after a discussion we came up with the foiling decision. The team will not get to choose freely the characters they will be playing as. Instead, a character rolling system is established specially for them to determine the pick of characters. That team is the Aces! Can the Aces please stand up and proceed to the supervision room with us? We will start the character rolling at this instant."

All eyes instantly flew to the infamous team seated at the very back.

"Eh?! We really don't get to choose?" Usagi shot up from her seat cried.

"It's expected, Usagi. With twp unique-leveled in our team, it's only fair that we don't get to pick." Taiki explained as he stood up. "It's like adding a little challenge to the battle, so we won't be able to win easily."

"What's the difference? We'll win anyway." Seiya asserted confidently as he led his team out of the briefing hall.

"We have specially designed this processor program to determine your individual character's pick." Kenjiro standing behind the operating desktop explained. The Aces craned their heads up, staring at the big, wide plasma screen which projected their respective passport sized photos and names.

"Let's start the characters rolling…"

All was quiet as Kenjiro hit the red button and the characters generating began linking all the individual photos with the respective character roles.

"…" A minute of awkward silence filled the room as they peered carefully at each other's roles.

Attackers: Yuki Sohma, Minako Aino

Spies: Haruka Tenoh, Yaten Kou

Defenders: Seiya Kou, Taiki Kou

King: Usagi Tsukino

Then, before anyone could grumble out of shock and dissatisfaction, Taiki declare a notification after flipping through the fourth page of the information sheet, "Guess who we are up against first?" He lifted his eyes to Yaten's and Minako's.

"It's Rei Hino's team."

Credit: Seinagi Private High School is from Mx0