(P.S A NEW BLACK! But with a battle for one's fate on the line, we can't delay you all any further! So hang on for the ride!)

Bold = English Conversations

Bold + Italics = Japanese Conversations

BLACK 36

Previously on BLACK Rebellion

When Sora woke up one day while trying to nurse his sickness, he woke up to see his best friend Makoto Nanaya suffering a big bout of depression that he doesn't know the reason or source of. To make matters worse, The school plans to expel our favorite squirrel girl by stripping her off her scholarship. Unable to stand by and let this happen to his friend, he willingly accepted the principal's challenge to face off against Estella Mckenzie, someone who he and the rest of the school doesn't know is the Former Head of Intelligence in the NOL! We well know what is Sora's capabilities... But what about Estella's? What kind of tricks does she have?

And now, the continuation of BLACK Rebellion...

It was the scene of what you would get in any war film, the smell of gunpowder lingered in the air as she stood right deep in the middle of it, her boots firmly placed on the blood soaked mud as she gripped her weapons tightly. Her eyes were closed as her ears could only hear the gentle humming of a mid summer's breeze. She has seen this scene many times and experienced this same sensation so much it made her numb to the sight of people dying... of guns being fired... of Ars magus raining down from the sky.

"Miss Mckenzie... what are your orders?" A soldier walked up to her, Estella Mckenzie, clad not in her white professor's coat but in a jet black long coat that she wore over her body. The coat itself was adorned with multiple pins and badges as she wore her black NOL engraved hat to face the soldier. "You know what we have to do... check the scenery ahead for any ambush parties and deal with them before the main group heads there." She ordered as the soldier saluted her and left. She turned back to look at the sight of the carnage that she had caused.

The sight of blood spilled around the trees, the limbs of their foes brutally decapitated from the artillery barrage she had ordered for. Men. And women alike were massacred as the place she was staring at...the location that she had ordered for the barrage was a small village being used by militants who were against the NOL. Skeletons dissolving as the dissolving properties of White Phosphorus did it's duty as she simply turned away from the sight, disgusted at what she had done but knew...she was doing what she musts for the safety of everyone else.

"Hehe...to think I will be fighting again?.." Miss Emma said as she stared at a small glass case that she had in her bedroom. Inside it was the picture of the scene that she had painted and remembered in her mind, a grim reminder of what she had done years before she became the school teacher she is today. Beside it were the tools that she used for her job as she opened the glass case, releasing the dust that had accumulated from there as she picked up said items and stared at them. "I'm Sorry Mr Minakaze... but for your set of skills... It looks like I will have to use these old ancient relics of my past." Miss Mckenzie said as she looked at the setting sun before staring at the arena...the location that was determined by the principal as she mumbled to herself the start of her thoughts.

"Today's the 30th of August. 5 Minutes to 6PM..."

As we cut away from Estella's own preparations for the fight, Sora Minakaze himself was staring at his Arm Blades and Tonfas. This was the first time that he was facing a faculty member...a teacher of the Academy and he didn't know what to expect as Makoto stared at him, almost all of the life in her eyes gone as she didn't have the same excitement she had when asking questions. "What are you doing Sora?.." Makoto said a bit drearily as Sora looked at her a bit worried and then looked back at the arm blades.

Sora: Oh you know...making sure that my weapons are always in tip top shape.

Makoto: Oh...I see... That's good to hear I guess...

Sora:...Do you want to eat something Makoto?.. You're looking quite thin.

Makoto:... Nah... Going on a diet you know. The others have been saying I have been getting fat lately.

Sora:... The others huh... Still, you need to make sure you eat at least a little.

Makoto:...I guess. Anything else you want to ask of me?

Sora:... Yeah, want to go out for some fresh air? You have been cooped up in here for the past three days and I think you could use the stretching.

Makoto:...It's alright. I don't really need to walk right now.

Sora:... I insist Makoto. Please join me for a bit. I promise we won't take long.

Makoto looked to the ground droopy as Sora secretly bit his lips, hoping that she will accept. "I guess...if you insist Sora... fine." The moment Makoto said it in a depressed manner, Sora couldn't help but silently breathe a breath of relief as Makoto stood up slowly, Shaking a little as three days of just sitting down at the couch have made her legs quite weak. Sora had to rush to Makoto's aid as he grabbed her in time as she chuckled lightly. "It's alright Sora. I just lost my footing and tripped that's all."

It pained him to see her lie like that, he knew that there was something wrong with her inside and she knew that too... yet she still chooses to lie. "It's alright Makoto, Just go and get ready." Sora said, not wanting to pressure her into telling him what happened. As she slowly walked to the bathroom without the usual perkiness that she had. Sora then sighed heavily as Marcus and Chikacho walked up to him. "Makoto isn't recovering or opening up to you yet?" Marcus asked as Sora nodded his head sadly.

"Are you still certain that you shouldn't try to press Makoto for the reasons why she might be suffering?" Chikacho asked as Sora kept quiet a little bit before closing his eyes for a bit as well. "I.. I am certain. I know the others have told you two what happened to her, but unless I hear the truth from her own mouth...her own words, then I won't feel like I had opened her up to me." As Sora soon as Sora said that, Marcus and Chikacho looked at each other before nodding their heads, understanding his reasoning and respecting it at the same time.

"Still...besides that, are you really ready to fight against Miss Mckenzie?" Chikacho asked quietly as Sora kept his eyes closed and pressed his hands gently on his face. "To be honest... Not really. Miss Mckenzie is probably a former soldier and all of the students I have been facing while strong don't have that battlefield experience." Sora said with light worry present in his voice. Was this doubt that he had inside? Did he doubt that he couldn't defeat Estella Mckenzie? Doubt may not be the correct word to describe what he was feeling at this point.

"Well it doesn't matter, I have to fight against Miss Mckenzie and I will need to do everything in my power to win against her, that's all." Sora said as he went to check on Makoto who was still trying to prepare herself to go out for the first time in three days. Marcus and Chikacho looked at each other worried as soon, both Sora and Makoto were walking towards the arena. Makoto struggling a little as Sora just walked behind her to make sure she wasn't going to collapse at any moment.

"You don't need to baby that much you know. I am alright really." Makoto said as she made a small smile that felt detached as Sora simply nodded his head. "I know Makoto, I'm just making sure that your back is protected that's all." Sora lied, Makoto catching on to it as he noticed the slight pang of pain in her eyes. Deciding to walk in front of her, he suddenly came face to face with two individuals as Makoto herself soon noticed the figures of Estella Mckenzie and the principal of the whole Academy.

"O-Oi.. Sora, we're walking towards Miss Mckenzie and the Principal, we should turn around you know." Makoto asked, hoping that he wasn't trying to rat her out to the two of them. "There you are Mr Minakaze...and I see you invited Miss Nanaya with you as well." The principal said as this only served to confuse Makoto as Sora walked towards the two teachers. "Yeah... So are we ready to do this?" Sora said as Makoto could only continue to look confused as Sora's eyes then focused right at Estella.

"Well Mr Minakaze...have you readied yourself for what is to come?" Estella asked as Sora nodded his head slowly. He wasn't shaking his head in a reluctant manner, but in a way that showed that he was ready for what was going to come on his way, regardless of who he was going to fight. Estella was familar with this kind of bravado, the face that one puts to show that they are not afraid at all, genuinely, the face of indifference.

"I wonder why you brought Makoto though... you didn't have to bring her here to see us fight." Emma wondered as Makoto's eyes raised when she heard the words us and fight. "Wait a minute... fight? What are you going to do Sora?" Makoto questioned but before she could question any further, she felt her shoulders being touched by the hands of someone with quite a bit of wrinkles in them. "Come on now Miss Nanaya, follow me. We should watch from a location that will not bother these two." The Principal said as Makoto could only look at her with more questions as Makoto simply nodded her head.

Usually when Sora would see the arena, it was with the basking light of the sun, illuminating the whole arena and it's old splendor. Now with the dark moon's light, small light ars maguses came into the air as the dim lights emitted by the ars magus gave the arena an eerie chill. It didn't help that when he looked at Estella Mckenzie's facial expression, it was rather menacing despite knowing she wasn't making any such expressions.

"Are you ready Mr Minakaze?" Estella asked as Sora looked at her, wondering why she was asking him again if he was ready to face her when he had already answered her question. "A person's determination can change between time, even if it's just minutes ago." Emma answered as Sora couldn't help but feel even more puzzled at her choice of words. "...If you're trying to intimidate me from this fight, then just stop. I refuse to back down from this fight when something important to me is on the line."

The moment Estella heard those words, she knew that she couldn't persuade Sora Minakaze away from facing her in battle. She will have to face and defeat him, that's her objective. "Alright Sora...I only have one piece of advice for you. Survive." The moment that she said that, Sora couldn't help but tense up a little as Makoto watched from the sidelines alongside the principal. '...This. This is for you Makoto.' Sora thought as he silently raised his hand into the air, pointing his finger directly at said person in his mind.

"That boy really cares for you Miss Nanaya. You are one really lucky girl." The principal said as Makoto looked at her, the confusion was finally gone from her eyes as she wanted to know what was the purpose of her being here to watch a battle against teacher and student. "I know there must be many questions running through your mind...but please save them at least until those two have started fighting." The Principal continued as Makoto turned around, wondering what was going to happen next as she heard the automated announcer take over.

THE WHEEL OF FATE IS TURNING...

Sora quickly pulled out his arm blades, giving his entire focus directly at Miss Mckenzie while Makoto watched from the sidelines.

REBEL 1...

The principal watched with curious amusement as Miss Mckenzie pulled out what looked to be an old book of some sorts with a mysterious ensignia engraved into it

ACTION!

The moment Sora heard the call for action, he charged forward as he normally would. He didn't know what to expect against Miss Mckenzie but that wasn't going to stop him from using his main strategy, finish the fight as fast as possible. As soon as he did this though, Miss Mckenzie simply tossed her book into the air as it actually began to float right in front of her. Before he could think even further, the book suddenly began to flip through it's pages rapidly as he got floored to the ground without knowing what had happened.

"Wha..." Was the only word he could say as he crashed to the ground hard. He tried to quickly stand up but as he did so, he felt another vicious blow land right into his stomach, violently expelling all the air and some vomit in his body in the process as he looked at Estella bewildered. She had not budged an inch the entire time as all she did was simply toss her book into the air and now it was floating right beside her harmlessly, no longer flipping through it's pages as violently as it was before.

'What kind of sorcery was Estella using here? Could it be ars magus? No, Ars Magus required some sort of seal or activation to be used. It was near instantaneous and...' Sora was forced violently away from his thoughts as Estella herself charged, brandishing an intricately white and violet bullwhip on her left hand as she cracked it violently towards Sora. His first instinct was to try and block it but immediately leap back as soon as he realized how much it was going to hurt if it collides with skin, hearing the vicious sound of wind cracking near his ear.

It was a brief showdown but Sora immediately felt his legs about to give way as he was struggling desperately for breath from Emma's sudden and vicious attacks. Even the very act of dodging to the left was proving to be a rather strenuous task as he felt the rush of adrenaline he felt all those years ago when faced with a dangerous adversary. He immediately mounted on some offense by doing a fast and vicious tornado spin while his back was faced against Estella.

His move successfully landed, however it didn't land in the way that he was expecting as he noticed that Estella had managed to wrap her whip around one of his arm blades as the violet and white intertwined ropes that were the design of the whip actually were two smaller whips as they entangled themselves around said arm blade, entangling around the handle and breaking the arm blade from there, forcing the blade to land to the ground without any protective covering while breaking it in half in the process.

If that wasn't bad enough, Before Sora could attempt a counter attack, he was yet again struck by a mysterious force as he flew right into one of the four corners of the arena, forcibly stripping him of his other arm blade in the process as it flew right into the stands. As Sora stood up shakily, he looked directly at Estella and noticed her face. He felt a sense of fear strike his heart as the cold deathly stare she gave matched with her cold expressionless face as he felt a chill freeze all over his back. He was very familiar with this feeling as he had felt this fear multiple times...but this was the first time in a long time so his senses nearly got overwhelmed in the process.

'C...Calm down... don't let the fear you feel inside you...' Estella then viciously cracked her whip, Forcing Sora to dodge as he quickly activated his drive, ignoring the words he would normally say as he did that as a way to get his opponent psyched out and distracted. Miss Emma was not even fearing him the least, making that tactic completely useless as he began to dash towards her, finally able to land some offense with a swift punch towards her stomach. As he did however, he felt something hard hit his knuckles instead of soft flesh as before he could look down to see what it was, He was already forced to defend himself by dashing away from an attempted restrain from Estella's whip.

'This...This is just way too shitty!' Sora thought as he charged once more to attack Estella from behind using Corona Whirling, doing a fast spinning motion as he did so. As he catapulted himself toward's Estella's jaw, he immediately felt something swat him back to the cold ground as Sora's body began to form cracks at where it laid. The fear that he felt before began to magnify as Estella didn't even have a single scratch on her body, not one bit.

"Is this all you got Mr Minakaze? After watching you in all of those fights is this the power you can muster against me?" Miss Mckenzie questioned as Sora got up to his feet and was shocked to see the silver lines around him already dissipating as he realized that the attacks she did before and their purpose. "Your Drive is linked with the amount of air you have inside you. Which tells me already that you must not breathe while you're using your drive in order to maintain it." She continued as Sora simply dashed right for her, desperate to land a hit using...whatever at this point.

"Just like how an marathon runner is trained to hold their breath as long as possible before needing to breathe once more." The moment Emma said those words, Sora felt something blunt and heavy slam right into his stomach, forcibly expelling all of the air within him while shattering the silver lines that were around him. As he crashed into a brick wall, Makoto couldn't help but look on in extreme worry as she stayed glued on her seat.

Principal: You must be wondering to yourself... Why is Sora fighting against Miss Mckenzie at this very moment... Aren't you dear?

Makoto could only nod her head nervously. Unsure of what to make out this rather one sided fight so far.

Principal: ...It's because that boy is currently fighting to keep you here in the Academy Miss Nanaya.

Makoto: ...? Keep... me here in the academy?

Principal: My... you must have not heard the news... Your current performance in the Academy has been rather lackluster lately. If he didn't step in for your sake, you were going to get expelled with your scholarship revoked.

Makoto:...! He's...he's doing this for me?.. for...My sake?..

Principal: Yet...you look so defeated dear... How can a cheerful girl like you suddenly change like this?.. You're not even showing a sign of worry or remorse for the poor boy while he's getting massacred by Miss Mckenzie.

the moment the Principal said that, Makoto raised her voice wanting to retort back but realize...she couldn't. What the principal was speaking at that moment was the truth, why wasn't she until this point worried for Sora's well being?.. What was preventing her from doing so until now as she saw Sora fly by her eyes, crashing at the opposite wall as she immediately stood up and stared at the scene that was in front of her.

This was a view of Sora Minakaze she wasn't used to seeing before. Usually when she saw Sora fight, he looked confident, brimming with power and even felt powerful even. Right now the person that was in front of her right now had none of that, in fact, for the first time he emitted a weak aura around him as Miss Mckenzie herself didn't even look like she had a single scratch on her face or clothes. Her clothes even looked perfectly normal as Sora stood up shakily. Makoto was simply unable to register the fact that Sora was losing...horribly.

"Oh dear...at the rate that this is going, I may have to call off the match and declare to Sora that he lost." the principal said as she slowly stood up, just about to declare what she had just said. Makoto just wanted it to end, after seeing what she had seen, she didn't want to see Sora literally suffer just because of her. But something in here...ached in pain when she thought like that. For some reason something inside her...didn't want her to let it end there.

"P-Please don't stop it..." Makoto weakly said as she grabbed the principal's wrist to stop her from fully standing up. It was through that grip that the principal could feel something within Makoto as she turned to see her face to face as she pushed her glasses to reveal the sharp green eyes that laid beneath the lenses. "I...I refuse to believe that this is the end..." Makoto said, her words sounding defeated but her hand telling her something completely different. It was at that moment she turned around to face Makoto in the eyes.

"I know what had happened to you Miss Nanaya...I understand why you are like this right now and all I can say at this moment is that what happened in that alley wasn't your fault. It was just a series of coincidences." The principal said as Makoto looked away the moment she spoke that sentence, the scenery began to form in her head as she shook her head greatly as she stared back at Sora who was getting hammered.

Sora himself was trying his best to combat against Miss Mckenzie, not expecting to get this sudden of a wall as he tried to use his drive's other skill as he quickly notice Miss Mckenzie's whip cracking towards his whipped right arm. He quickly turned to the left as he raised his left elbow to slam into Emma's stomach. Unfortunately for him, Sora felt his left arm suddenly get wrapped around as he was bewildered by the fact the rope still managed to ensnare his attacking arm even when he changed the attacking arm.

"Too predictable!" the moment Emma said that, she pulled Sora towards her as a lariat is what she performed, sending the youth into the air as he crashed into the ground, panting heavily as she couldn't help but feel a sense of disappointment inside her. "Let me tell you the reason why your attack didn't work even though you changed it with your drive. It's simple really, I simply figured it out." Emma said as Sora attempted to stand up but she sent a wave of Thunder ars directly into his body, making him scream as Mckenzie stared at him.

"For the past few months I have been observing you and your drive. I have been examining carefully the way you fight and how it can be countered... Your drive may bewilder most people but to my eyes, I have seen all I need to see from them." the way Emma spoke was as if she knew everything about him at this point, as if to her, he was nothing but an open book in her eyes. "Your drive is not just speed...but possibility control. You can see whatever possibility is in front of you and because of your speed, it looks like you are moving backwards. Once someone figures it out, all they simply have to do to counter your drive is simply limit your possibilites."

It was at that very moment Sora tried to stand up again but Miss Mckenzie wasn't going to let this fight be prolonged anymore...as it was simply painful for her to watch it keep on going like this. "I'm Sorry Mr Minakaze...but the moment you chose to fight against me, You already lost." Emma apologized as she soon sent Sora flying towards the wall, striking him in the temple with her fists and the stomach with the unknown force as the wall crumbled all around him, leaving only just his resting body on top of it as Emma turned towards the principal, hoping that she had seen enough of Sora's potential, allowing her to stop this madness.

Silence...all she got was silence. 'Why?.. Why aren't you stopping the match?.. I have already beaten him to what resembled a pulp! I even factored in his second wind and made sure he was truly knocked out! Just declare this match over so you can stop trying to make me torture him over and over again!' Estella thought as the arm blade that was embedded on the wall slipped out of it's crack and stabbed right around the rubble as that made Estella turn to see to her horror, Sora's twitching body.

'No...Impossible...Stay down...' Estella thought, worry flowing to her neck as Makoto herself was holding her hands on the railing, her thoughts an extreme mess as Sora began to stand up once more, his whole body trembling as he looked towards the ground with an expression of extreme pain painted all around his face as his uniform was a complete mess, wrinkled, covered in dust and blood as Estella looked at him with a serious tone in her voice. "Mr Minakaze...Please, Stop trying to get up and stay down." She said as she figured that she didn't hit him hard enough to knock him out and thus, needed to do it even harder for everyone's sake in the arena to end the madness that was happening in front of her.

Sora...paid no heed to her as he shakily went towards the arm blade, it's handle undone revealing nothing but bare metal as he grabbed it with both hands, making the blade tremble as Estella cleared her voice. "SORA! STOP WHAT YOU'RE ABOUT TO DO FOR MAKOTO'S SAKE! YOU HAVE DONE ENOUGH!" Emma shouted as she was sure those words will reach Sora's mind as she didn't enjoy what she was doing to him. She might have been the former head of intelligence but she is a teacher right now and the safety of her students take higher priority.

Sora remained still for a moment, Estella sure that her words had reached him as he shakily tried to raise his head to face Makoto and the principal. Estella looked at the two people as well as she had hoped the Principal would finally stop this pointless fight. The expressions she saw weren't faces of pity and remorse...but of a sad acceptance as before she knew it, a violent unruly scream echoed in her ears, making her turn as she saw...something unprecedented.

Sora had somehow managed to find the strength within himself to grab what appeared to be a knife that he must have been keeping somewhere in his person and literally stab it at his left thigh, the blood literally flowing itself out of the wounded thigh as Sora's scream was the loudest and most violent she ever heard in her life. Sora then began to pant heavily, head high in the air as she was soon greeted with the sight of eyes that still brimmed with life. Those eyes simply told her everything that Sora would have said at that moment.

"I am not going to stop. I am not going to accept defeat. I refuse to surrender even by the inch of my life. I don't need to be pitied right now. You're standing in my way and what I wish to achieve...and because of that I will win...EVEN IF IT COSTS ME MY LIFE!"

Suddenly, a sharp intake of air was heard as Sora charged for Estella, pulling out the blade he used to stab his thigh with to reveal the blood that was coated all over it at the moment, turning it blood red as the pain he felt inside was simply excruciating. It simply ached to even move his leg at that moment as he used all of that pain to fuel his brain and give him even more adrenaline then he had at that moment.

He felt like a rocket, blasting forward with intense speed as Estella quickly brought up a barrier to block an attack that was aimed towards her chest. He quickly followed with it a barrage of slashes, forcibly pushing his body beyond breaking point as the buttons around his shirt began to loosen revealing a portion of his horribly scarred ridden chest to Estella's eyes. The wounds causing great bewilderment as she was forced to use her whip to get to safety the moment her barrier broke, making her avoid injury.

It was after Sora whiffed his attack that he tore off his shirt clean off his body, revealing the massive number of scars that were present all over. Some of them were pretty shallow while others looked really crude like a huge x scar that is formed by many little scars of the past as the x wasn't a perfect x but more of a jagged and cracked form as Estella couldn't help but gasp a little at the horrific sight. 'Those wounds... Those wounds can only be caused by...'

This time, finally, it was Estella's turn to be caught off guard as Sora began to sprint at full speed, making even more blood spread at the ground as he actually bit on his lips, making even more blood flow into and out of his mouth as tears of pain began to form, mixing with the blood and making it resemble tears of blood. His scream was violent and inhuman as he began to deliver a barrage of dual handed attacks, swinging in various angles which Estella managed to just guard with her barrier.

'This force!...This ferocity!' Estella thought as she tried to use her book to try and do something, using it to send a series of blows directly at Sora which landed at key spots. More blood was spilled as Estella was astonished to see Sora actually just continue attacking while the invisible force attacking him before still continued to attack him. Her attacks were connecting and that was clear from the marks that were appearing all around Sora's body, but he was either blatantly ignoring the pain or his pain tolerance was through the roof, even more than what the fights before had shown.

'Has...Has Sora been hiding his full strength till now?.. No this isn't strength...this!' Before she can even think about it, she was surprised to hear a small chip as she noticed that a portion of her barrier was already chipping away. This was bad... if Sora continued his furious assault like that, the barrier will crumble away and she will get hit. She needed to stop him somehow...and pronto. 'I have no choice...I have got to use it!' As soon as she thought that, she quickly called the book to her side, holding it on her hands as suddenly, the whip began to levitate instead.

As if being given a life of it's own, the whip charged for Sora's behind and managed to wrap itself around one of Sora's arms. As soon as it did this though, the whip began to thrash around heavily, being flung around violently left and right, unable to restrain Sora at all. In fact, it acted as a flail as Estella managed to bring up another set of barriers before the end of the whip could whack her in the face. Sweat began to drop down her head as she felt like this wasn't a fight anymore as she felt a malicious aura emerge from Sora.

She had to end this fight...she had to end it now, that's all there is to it. "BARRIER BURST!" The moment she shouted that, the barriers that were in front of her immediately shattered, with the force of a massive truck. It would have blasted Sora away...but there he was, still standing there as if he had paused his attack. 'W-What!? Impossible!? That should have pushed him away!' Estella thought as what happened a few seconds ago for Sora to let him do something like this?

What happens in a few minutes can often feel very slow so sometimes, seconds is usually better when you need it. And in this case, Sora really needed every second he could get as he felt the pushing force of the barrier act on his body. His arms were tossed into the air slowly as his eyes widened, his breathing even more shallow. If his momentum stopped now, he will lose all the remaining strength he had within himself, he couldn't allow that, he couldn't allow all of the effort he had made to keep attacking going to waste, he could allow...he refused to allow Makoto's scholarship and her education to be revoked.

He was going to end this...and he was going to bet everything on one strike...no...this wasn't a bet, he was going to finish this with one strike. His mind wasn't thinking as straight as he would have liked as he saw the seithr in the air wrap around his body from the barrier burst. It was then he saw what he had to do as he closed his eyes and began to picture...a possibility, a possibility that only he can make happen. The possibility...that the burst never happened.

And then...just like that, the world froze around him. For some reason it had turned black as he looked at Estella with determined eyes ready to strike again. At this point, Sora's head was so fuzzy from the pain quickly catching up to his system as he didn't care what was going on at this point. All he could think off sounded more like a mantra in his head. 'Makoto...Makoto...Makoto...Makoto!..' as he charged and tackled Miss Emma to the ground, dropping his arm blade as he quickly went behind Miss Estella, the bloody knife in hand as he aimed for the neck and thrusted...it was then came back into reality with the sound of one voice.

"THAT IS ENOUGH..."

The moment that they heard that voice, Sora had stopped his knife just at Estella's throat, the very tip of the knife already touching the vein of her neck. "I have seen enough Mr Minakaze...please Release Miss Estella slowly." the Principal said as Sora felt his mind snap back as the pain suddenly ringed all over his body. As soon as he released his hold on Estella, he went into a fetal position as before Miss Estella could look at him, Marcus and Chikacho came rushing towards him out of pure worry.

"Nii-san...Nii-san, Hold still." Marcus asked as they had brought with them a first aid kit, as if they were prepared for this just in case. They checked his body for wounds while swiftly opening the kit and grabbing what appeared to be an old piece of equipment that is rarely used due to the introduction of healing ars magus, fire patches. It was then they placed them on various open spots, the searing sound made by the clear in her ears as Sora simply endured the pain silently, trying his best not to scream.

"SORA! OH GOD SORA!" Estella heard as from behind her, she heard the sound of footsteps running towards her as Makoto ran past her and immediately went up to Sora, worry plastered all over her face as Sora winced in pain a little. "Hey there Makoto...did I win?" Sora asked but she didn't answer, she merely placed her head on his chest, gently pounding her fists to the ground. "Oh god...I am so sorry... I should have stopped it... I should have stopped you from fighitng... if I did...if I did!..." Makoto was going to cry at this point as Sora found the strength within himself to gently raise his hand over Makoto's face and gently rub her cheeks.

"It's alright Makoto...You are my friend Makoto... it doesn't matter what happens to me, I don't care about that. I am just glad that you are still here." Sora said as he tried to smile only to feel the pain once more, gritting his teeth a little before smiling once more. Makoto at this point couldn't help but cry as she hugged him and buried her face on his chest, crying like a baby as Sora only could slowly rub her back, allowing her to cry as Estella felt a tap to the shouder.

"Let us go Miss Mckenzie, I need to confirm a few things with you." The Principal whispered as Miss Mckenzie nodded her head and went to grab her whip which had fallen off the ground when she was caught off guard by Sora's sudden action. As soon as the adults walked far enough away from the group, the principal turned her head towards Miss Emma. "Still Miss Mckenzie...to think you would use your drive like that. That was vicious of you even for your standards." The Principal as unknown to both Sora and Makoto, they couldn't see what was going on before but to the principal, her eyes had seen it all clearly.

"You told me to test Mr Minakaze... and I had decided that this was the best way to do so." As soon as she said that, Miss Mckenzie held her book as the principal clearly saw the energy build around it as soon, a clear mirror image of Estella Mckenzie manifested, standing right next to her which resembled floating. "My drive allows me to attach a piece of "Myself" onto objects, allowing me full control to whatever it is. It's Ars Aptitude dependent for the opponent on line of sight so what would have been terrible for people with even the most average of Ars Aptitude, is nothing but a mere ghost for those without it." Miss Mckenzie said as she grabbed the book once more, allowing the shadow to enter into her once more.

"Still...that is rather cold of you Miss Mckenzie. Using such an ability against Mr Minakaze like that until he was a bloody pulp." The principal said as Miss Mckenzie touched her throat. A small nick present on it as it has been a long while since she had that close of an encounter to death. "...You didn't stop the fight because you wanted to see what was Sora holding back from all of us...am I correct?" Emma deduced as the principal simply nodded.

"To think that a child like him can hold such blood lust...it is most concerning indeed... especially his combat potential." The Principal said as Emma looked at her, "Please...allow me to do a background check on Mr Minakaze... the file that we received of him beforehand will not suffice." Emma begged as the principal looked at her curious. Has this student reignited something within Emma's heart?.. "Of course...in fact, you should get started on that immediately, unlike Mr Minakaze you aren't as heavily injured."

The moment the principal gave her the permission to do so, Miss Estella nodded her head as she ran off quickly, keeping the book and whip inside her coat as the principal smiled a little bit. 'It's nice to see the flame reignited within you Miss Mckenzie... we will need that for what is to come.' The principal thought as she looked at the sky with a bit of a nervous breath. The unease she feels within her heart resonated all around her body as she could only think about it.

How much longer before they make their first move.

last known date: 30th August 2196

last known time: 17.55

GREETINGS LOST SHEEP OF FANFICTION!? HOW ARE YOU ALL DOING!? I am doing fine if you are all wondering. One month has already passed by us so quickly and it's just amazing how quickly a month goes by. At the rate the months go by we would have reach the end of the year once more. Regardless, I hope to bring you all great stories and chapters in the months to come and keep things entertaining for you all.

SO!? WHAT IS GOING TO HAPPEN TO SORA AND MAKOTO NEXT!? WHEN WILL THE BLACK LOTUS MAKE THEIR MOVE ON TORIFUNE!? AND WILL ANYBODY BE READY FOR IT WHEN IT DOES HAPPEN!? Well, I am so sorry that you all are either anxious for the Black Lotus to appear or getting annoyed that the Black Lotus have yet to arrive. Just be careful for what you wish for because they may come in a time that you least expect, So read on if you dare...