Author's Note: Well, here is another update from me. Hope you do enjoy as we delve more into Chapter 6. The action should be starting in the next two chapters.

Arc II - Chp. 6 ; 21 - Dark Settling

Neshinbara entered his dark room and kicked the door behind so him casually from habit. He grabbed his right hand, still cackling from the spell and leaned back against the closed door. He started to slide against it and finally sat down on the floor and let his hands fall between his spread legs. The boy looked down and stared at the floor with almost empty eyes. He thought about how he not only lost the battle against the TRUMP, but crashed a ship, put Musashi under siege of England, the curse he was given by Shakespeare, and now of that heinous act he committed.

"Under no circumstances is spying ever good..." He clenched his bandaged fist, thinking about how he must have destroyed the others' image of him, their head strategist. Would they follow his suggestions now? At once, he slammed his bandaged hand into the wall, causing various shelf ornaments to fall, some crashing into pieces upon collapsing on the floor. The bandages began to turn red as he pulled his hurting hand back. Neshinbara squinted at the pain and gritted his teeth in anger at himself. He clenched his injured fist and his other, just wishing he could take it all back, all of the failures, the disappointments he had made.

Masazumi and the others sat outside on the steps of the academy. She thought about what life would be like once they finally finished collecting all of the Armors of Deadly Sins. Would everything be better? Would they be worse? Would the other nations all wage war against them for the power? The politician sighed and looked over at Kiyonari, who was looking at a magazine with Tenzou, who seemed to have something else on his mind, half-way paying attention to the dirty material.

Tomo carelessly threw a pebble down the steps and watched it bounce down to the next long platform before stopping. She sighed grievously. Adele glanced at her before resuming to watch Toori trying to enter Remorse Way with Horizon. He was apparently still afraid, even though Horizon was with him, but he appeared to be having fun as well. Margot tapped onto a signframe in front of Malga.

"It's ready, Ga'chan. Here you go."

Malga hesitantly hit a button saying "accept" and received a file edited by Margot. "Thank you..." Malga looked way with her eyes toward the green pastures behind the city on the city-state.

Masazumi sat next to the knight, Neito Mitotsudaira, who was leaning her chin on her crossed arms which were supported by her knees. She looked straight over the trees, leaves being blown in the wind. The rays of the sun cast an orange light over the area, evening was closing in. Makiko stayed in her classroom to prepare tomorrow's lesson. Masazumi then stood up.

"Well, I'm going home, guys."

The group of students said their various "bye's to her as the politician walked down the steps.

"Masazumi!" Toori yelled out from below. "Have a good night!"

Masazumi only nodded. "Jud." She continued down when the secretary hit her mind. Masazumi stopped and stood in thought, then she turned around to face Tomo.

"Tomo, may I have some of Neshinbara's bandages?"

"Huh?" Tomo perked her head up in surprise. "Sure, but why?"

Masazumi looked to her feet, trying to think. "Maybe I should... apologize."

"What?" Tomo stood up and walked down to her. "Apologize? But there is nothing for you to apologize for, Seijun! He was the one who did something wrong, something I'd expect from Toori, Tenzou, or Kiyonari, but never from him. That doesn't make him any less special from them, but if he wants to shut himself away and mope about a little scolding, the let him."

Masazumi's eyes narrowed to her slightly. "I'm surprised you'd say something like that."

Tomo's eyebrows furrowed slightly. "He's the one shutting us out. I've tried to help him, but he won't accept it... If he's going to act like a little child, then I want no business with him."

Masazumi's eyes trailed Tomo's. She seemed pretty serious, but she could tell she was hurting on the inside. "I don't get it... Shouldn't it have been Margot mad at him?"

"I'm not mad about what he did, it's how he is acting that gets to me." Tomo turned towards the sunset. "Neshinbara is a great guy, and a good friend. It saddens me he is always turning away from us... even when there is nothing wrong."

Masazumi faced Tomo, extending her hand. "May I please have those bandages, Tomo?" Masazumi's hand expected the package as Tomo eyed them thoughtfully before sighing.

"Give me a minute..." The shrine maiden proceeded slowly up the steps to the classroom. Masazumi sat down to wait for her as Naomasa walked past her with two other girls. The engineer put a hand up stating "bye" to the politician, who only waved in return. The orange glare of the sun began to cast dark shadows, creating beautiful contrasts between the lights and the darks for various figures and flora.

The next second, Masazumi could hear numerous footsteps coming down. She turned around to see most of her friends going down the steps, each acknowledging her in their own way.

"Masazumi." Kiyonari said, stopping next to her. "It's getting late, you should head home..."

"I'll do so later. I've got somewhere I need to go first."

"Would you like me to accompany you?"

The politician lightly shook her head with a smile. "No. Don't worry, I'll be fine."

"Well..." Tenzou said, stopping behind her. "Where is it?"

Masazumi smirked up at him. "Why are you concerned?"

"Well..." Tenzou looked up. "We are at war with other countries, and we are under England's capture for the moment. Any one of their spies or other things along those lines could be around here waiting to ambush our only political advantage. We can't have that..."

Masazumi smiled and laughed lightly. "Don't you worry, Tenzou. I'm going to be just fine, I'm just going over to Neshinbara's place."

"Ah, well... I guess I'll see you later then."

"Bye bye." Masazumi waved them bye as the soldier and ninja walked down. She smiled more and then turned to the sunset and rested her head on her hands. She thought about what Tomo said and how it made so much sense. "Boy, this is really troublesome..." Masazumi lightly grabbed her forehead and shook it lightly. Then, another pair of footsteps could be heard. She turned to see Tomo carrying a packed brown envelope.

"Here..." Tomo handed the weighty package to Masazumi as she stood up.

"Thanks."

"Good luck... That's the best that can be said." Tomo turned away. "I'm going home..."

"You seem rather stressed about this more than the others."

Tomo sharply turned to the politician. "Neshinbara, he..." Her shoulders slumped down as she turned her eyes downward. "He's kind of important to me..."

"Kind of?"

"He helped me back in Grade 4, when they were still around... The teacher gave us this really hard book report to see if we were ready to pass to this academy. He helped me and a bunch of others get ours done. It was obvious he loved doing what he did. But he... always seemed so distant."

"Yeah, even now too, huh?"

"He never talks about his past or anything like that. The only person he ever really talked to was an old friend who migrated to Mikawa."

"Mikawa? Well, who was he, maybe we could get some information?"

"His name is Hituro Ikanakou. A short kid, but strong personality. His physique was pretty weak, so the authorities forcively transferred him down to Mikawa along with five others of our old friends. I don't really know if they are here now since we've picked up so many immigrants from Mikawa, but there is no way to really tell. Any immigrant is not required to insert themselves into the system, so... the rest should speak for itself."

"If they are on, maybe we'll see them around. Any others?"

"Well... A really good friend of mine was named Tsukasa."

Masazumi's eyes opened in surprise. "Tsukasa? Wha- what was his last name."

"Well, it was... It was..." She then smiled and lightly hit her head. "You know what, I don't know, it's been too long."

Masazumi blinked. "I see..."

"Yeah, but it doesn't really matter now." Tomo turned her head up to the darkening orange sky. "It's been five years, it is not like they will really remember us. They were all pretty great guys. It'd be nice to see how they've all grown up now."

Masazumi turned her head forward. "I guess it would be... You know, I ran into somebody named Tsukasa not long ago."

"Not like it really makes a difference. There are so many people named Tsukasa."

Masazumi merely sighed. "Alright, alright... Well, listen, I'm going to head over to the dorms to give this to Neshinbara."

"I'm going to go home." Tomo's cheerful voice was much lower now. Masazumi began to wonder if she had caused some sort of emotional stress in her spirit.

"Asama, you sound like you are in pain. Everything okay?"

Tomo shook her head. "Let's just say times are getting rougher, okay?"

"Everything okay at home?"

Tomo stopped in her tracks with a soft, but painful smile on her face. "Y-yeah. Father's just a bit... rough lately."

"Care to talk about it?" Masazumi walked down a couple of steps towards Tomo, but Tomo immediately continued down.

"I'm already doing that with Makiko, I'd rather not repeat myself. G-go help Neshinbara, okay. Bring him back to us."

Masazumi only blinked as Tomo went down. "Y-yeah... Sure." As Tomo finally left Masazumi's range of sight, the young girl traversed down the steps only to find a shorter boy with brown hair and in Musashi's male student uniform walking by. He seemed to be watching Tomo. The only thing that really stood out was his black track jacket.

"Hey, you."

The boy turned around sharply to Masazumi, he seemed surprise. "Huh?"

"Hey, what are you doing? You some sort of fan for my friend?"

The boy looked around to see if the girl could have been talking to someone else. His eyes fell on no one. He then turned to Masazumi and pointed at himself. With a soft voice, he asked, "Are you talking to me?"

"Yeah, I am." Masazumi nodded, planting her hands on her hips. "What are you up to?"

"Oh, um..." The short boy scratched his head. "Nothing really, just headed home."

Masazumi looked him up and down. The boy looked pretty short, practically reaching up to Azuma's height. "Are you a student here, I don't think we've met."

"Well, I don't see why that would matter."

"I am the Vice President of Ariadust Academy, I think I should at least have met every student who goes to this school. Are you new here?"

"Oh, uh..." The boy looked to Masazumi's green armband. "Well, you really are the Vice President... Hey, wait a minute!" The boy looked amazed and shocked at the same time. "Are you that girl who debated against that pope guy not long ago!?"

Masazumi froze in her spot, pretty embarrassed as she recalled the memory of what that man said to knock her down a peg. "Th-that ha-has no real importance!"

"You are, I recognize you!" The boy smiled. "You were really brave out there..."

Masazumi's posture relaxed a bit in surprise. "Huh?"

"Yeah." The boy seemed a little excited. "Not many people could continue like you did after what happened out there. You were amazing." The boy smiled at her as Masazumi blushed and looked away.

"Well, if you say so... I think..."

The boy's smile slowly faded away, and his eyes widened slightly. "Wait a minute... Aren't you with 3-Plum?"

"Oh, uh." Masazumi turned to him. "Yeah, I am."

The boy merely blinked. "I... see..." He sighed. "Well, I better get going."

"Wait a minute, you have not answered my questions." Masazumi stepped in front of the boy. "What were you doing spying on Tomo."

"That's Tomo?" The boy turned her direction obviously surprised. "Wow... she's grown a lot."

Masazumi blinked, surprised by his comment. "Wait, what did you say?"

"Oh, uh." The boy bowed to her. "Nothing, I'll be going now."

"Wait." Masazumi grabbed the sleeve of his jacket. It was made of a soft polyester. "Answer MY question."

"Which one, the one about me being a student, or about her?"

"Both of them. Are you some sort of spy."

"That's the farthest thing I am. I am just a short kid who's late for curfew."

Masazumi's face sterned. "If you are late for curfew, then why were you interested in my friend."

"Wow..." The boy looked at Masazumi. "Do you always dig so deep like this? I was just walking that direction, I'm not interested in that girl in the way you think I am."

"But you are interested, aren't you?"

The boy sighed. His brown bangs moved slightly as he let his head down. Then he looked at Masazumi with grief. "A little, alright? Look, I have to get going, so could our school's fourth highest representative let her prisoner go?"

Masazumi blinked, confused slightly by his comment. "Okay... But please, tell me, do you go to school here."

"In a way..." The boy backed away, facing Masazumi. The two then stood staring at each other. "It was good to meet you, Vice-President. I hope you have a good night. Just take my word as true, I am not your enemy."

"Alright, but what is your name."

The boy blinked, then looked away. "That's better left for later."

"Oh, no you don't. If you don't tell me your name, then I'll just have to assume you are some sort of criminal."

The boy slyly smirked at Masazumi. "Alright. Do that then. Well, I guess I'll be seeing you around then. Bye bye." The boy's figure became that of a rainbow haze and then he vanished from sight. Masazumi stood in awe. Did he just teleport? Teleportation!? Masazumi shook her head, then looked back to see that the boy was actually gone. If he is against us, teleportation would be very bad for us to face against. Masazumi turned around to head for Blue Thunder. She had to speak with Tsukasa again before she saw Neshinbara.