Surprise! It's a double update! This is what happens when you get lucky enough to borrow a family friend's laptop while at their house and dying of boredom because the only person you can talk to went for a nap, and you end up bashing out an entire chapter during that time. Of course, I wasn't going to upload there, hence me waiting for today.

So, anyway, enjoy!

Keiko woke up, and for a moment she wasn't sure where she was. Blinking rapidly, trying to shake sleep from her eyes, she sat up, and looked around. When she was awake enough to finally take in her dorm room, she breathed a sigh of relief.

I'm back.

She took a look at the time-not even 5 in the morning-and briefly considered going to a lab. It was rare that anyone booked one this early in the morning, so she'd more than likely get lucky. But the yearning in her gut that was mixing with the relaxation of relief was tugging her towards something different. Keiko sighed, hesitating, before getting up completely, and starting to get ready for the day, the way she would have if it was a more reasonable time of the morning to begin the day. Once she was done, she made sure she had her phone, Electro-ID and the key to the roof, and set off.

As she padded up as quietly as possible, some of her relief leached away, and different thoughts filled her head. She could not help thinking back to the last meeting, and the words that had been exchanged. She was sure all of them were. They were such…radical things. Never in all her life as a dutiful eldest daughter would she have ever, ever imagined that one day she'd be a part of such a conversation. And on some level it horrified her.

She didn't want to think about how it felt on other levels. Because surely that would make her a bad person. Surely.

And I'm not…I'm not….

Getting to the door, she looked around cautiously (despite knowing nobody had followed her) before opening the door, and stepping out onto the roof again, all too ready to breathe a sigh of relief. But then, she noticed that someone was already there.

Before she could do or say anything, the person turned, and though it was still dark, she saw it was Sho. For some odd reason, that didn't make her feel as relieved as it should have. Sho, for his part, seemed pleased to see her.

"My oh my, it's sempai!" he laughed. "Didn't think I'd ever see you up here."

Keiko blushed furiously as she stepped away from the door and properly onto the roof.

"I, well, I don't come up very often. The views are nice, though."

"Man, they are, aren't they? Makes you feel like you're on top of the world! I'm surprised I don't bump into you more often. "

Keiko shrugged at that as tentatively, she joined Sho.

"Soooo, you're ready for the next term of this amazing centenary?" he asked, laughter in his voice, underlined by an edge of something. Keiko thought she knew what that edge was.

"We shall have to see what it brings. "

"True, true, but I'm thinking of what we could do." Sho said. "We already broke in to Mori's place, did you know?"

"I…yes, I saw the messages."

Keiko felt sick, just thinking of it. Yet, at the same time, her heart had soared a little at the daring of it all. It did seem like something out of a book. Something that she would never, ever dare to do. Yet, out here now, thinking about it, a part of her wondered, why not?

Why not?

"Maan, that was something a little different, for sure! It's a lot different breaking into an empty school just to mess around. Or getting the keys. It's kind of exciting."

"Weren't you worried?"

"Me, worried? Naaaah." Sho grinned. "I just had to follow Shino, they knew what they were doing. I just had to pick the locks and all that. To say nothing of providing muscle."

Sho flexed his arms at this, showing off some decidedly non-existent muscle. Keiko nodded obligingly, even managing to smile. But she couldn't hold it for long, and found herself looking back up towards the sky, trying to luxuriate in its boundlessness.

"But anyway, even if I was worried, I am not now. " Sho babbled on. "I mean, that's one down to the system, right, now we've got it!"

"Mhm." Keiko murmured.

"Yeah, I bet they're going to be quaking in their boots when they find out what we're all sitting on!"

Sho rambled on in this vein for a little while, and Keiko did her usual good job of pretending she was listening, all while looking out at the sky, remembering the calm she had felt the last time she was up here. Trying desperately to reclaim it.

Eventually, Sho quietened, and there was a momentary silence, before:

"Hey, Senpai?"

"What is it?"

"Doesn't it make you feel boundless, being up here?"

"I….why do you ask?"

"Well, it's like you're on top of the world. And it's not the same as flying-oh man, flying. There's nothing like the speed, or the wind in your hair. But still, up here, without any contraptions. You could touch all that sky, right? It feels like it."

All Keiko could do was stare at Sho, who seemed enraptured by his train of thought, looking to the sky with an expression that was no doubt just like hers had been just moments before. It was strange, seeing Sho-bouncy, irrepressible, always grinning and joking and waving Sho-so still like this.

"I wonder, senpai, what I might have to do, to feel like this on the ground."

"I…I don't really know, Nakajima-kun."

"Perhaps it's what we're doing now. I've never done anything quite so exciting, so maybe…." Sho said, as if she hadn't spoken. "Yes, perhaps it is. What do you think?"

"I…well, maybe. It is certainly quite different. But it's to help people, too, so-"

"Yeah, yeah, I know, senpai!" Sho groaned, pulling a face. "Finger up to the system and all that. But still…ehhh, whatever. You know what, I'm gonna grab my bike and take it for a spin before the world wakes up. You staying up here?"

"Huh? Oh….yeah. Stay safe, Nakajima-kun."

Sho simply grinned at her, before he made his way down. Keiko sighed, and wrapped her arms around herself as she looked to the sky. She wondered just how far Sho, or even the rest of them, would go to feel the same way here as they did on the ground-if excitement was truly what they were looking for.

How far would I go, though?

"I wouldn't. I can't." she tried to tell herself. "I can't. It's not right."

And yet….

And yet…

She thought of what she had promised her mother, that she would make the most of her time left, to make a difference. If she sat back now, as things kept happening, then she would not be doing that. Besides, as she'd thought before, they needed looking after, the rest of them, just to be sure they really didn't do anything too awful. She could let them have their excitement-even that was beyond her, anyway. But…she closed her eyes, felt the sudden breeze gently buffet her face. Allowed herself to fully luxuriate in it.

But I will stay. And if I can get some of that feeling too, then so be it.

…

Sosuke put his phone in his pocket with a heavy sigh. Dealing with the aftermath of the break-in was proving to be a hassle, but all in all was less of one than he had expected. Nobody so far had any idea that he could have provided the culprits with information. Or even that he had given his consent for them to do it. Of course, he'd made a point of knowing as little as possible, just in case Shino, Sho, Emiko and whoever else they'd had doing things for them were to be caught and one of them broke and admitted it. But so far, there was no reason for any of them to think that the break in was anything to do with Hope's Peak. They'd certainly done a good job of just making it seem like any old random hooligan.

Still, I need to be careful. The danger isn't over. And I need to see what is happening before deciding what to do next.

And he had to admit, the seeing was proving rather interesting. He had never expected that the centenary would see him step into the role of Deputy President, even if the circumstances were what could be described as unfortunate. Nor would he have imagined himself involved with the type of rebelliousness the likes of Shino Hisakawa seemed to indulge in. Yet, here he was. Waiting, and watching. And making my own moves, gradually. Because if I did play this right….well, it isn't on the same par as Prime Minister or anything like that, but even so. That's a lot of power to hold.

Walking into the Student Council office, Sosuke busied himself with admin work on the computer, preparing for the term ahead. As he was, of course, extremely early, nobody else arrived for a long time. From time to time, he checked his phone, and sent a couple of messages (to begin one of the moves that he had planned to make), but he worked almost continuously as the morning inched forward. Gradually, though, there were some arrivals. Mizuki was the first of them.

"Good morning." She greeted.

"Good morning." Sosuke said back.

"How are things?" Mizuki asked, giving him a look that made it clear this was not just a casual small-talk sort of question.

"Everything is fine. I think we will soon have things back in hand again, and hopefully there will not be any more unrest." Sosuke replied, carefully. "Ideally, things will settle back down and they will not take up so much space anymore."

He watched Mizuki's face for a moment, watched her absorb the information. But before she could respond, he continued on briskly.

"Speaking of unrest, I have talked with President Nomura and he is more than happy to go with a variant of your proposal to include the Reserve Course in the Student Council proper."

"Excuse me, did you just say have the Reserve Course up here?"

This came from Masao Kishitani, one of the Class Representatives. His face was twisted into a blend of disbelief and utter contempt. Naturally, Mizuki flared, her eyes flashing a little as she pulled herself up as best as she could to seem straighter and taller (though, in all fairness, she was hardly short).

"Is that something you have a problem with?" she asked. "They are part of the Student Body too."

"There will not be equivalent roles, as such." Sosuke interjected smoothly. "But the plan is to have a small group of Reserve Course Representatives, so that that portion of the school can say they are represented at the highest level of the school. Indeed-"

Masao's face twisted further, but he did not give a response that caused the interruption. Rather, that was caused by the doors abruptly swinging open, and three people almost stumbling through it. The first two were Anya Okikura and Taki Ishihara-the former looking annoyed, the later just the usual windswept, rumpled, amiable mess with a big dash of bewildered thrown in for good measure. The final person was precisely who he had hoped it to be-Mihoko. But he was not exactly as he had expected to see her. Rather, she seemed flushed and out of breath, and rumpled like Taki.

"What is this?" Sosuke asked, mildly.

"Look, did you actually call your TEP girl up here, or is she just making things up? She was saying some nonsensical thing about-"

"Hey, come on, that's a bit mean-Sakurai seems a good sort and all!" Taki interjected. "Besides, she was getting a lot of flack from my classmates and those first years!"

"You got harassed?" Mizuki asked Mihoko instantly.

Mihoko, for her part, had already started trying to neaten up her appearance. She looked over at Mizuki and blinked.

"Just some tussling and general intimidation attempts. Could've been worse."

This sentiment was rounded off with a shrug. Sosuke tried to make eye contact, to assess her mood, but she was studiously not looking at him. There was a part of him that thought that perhaps having Mihoko as one of the Reserve Course representatives wouldn't be such a good idea. On the other hand, like it or not, they were on the same side together. He just needed to make that clear enough so he could reap the benefits.

"Well, that is good," Sosuke said. "But to answer your question, Okikura-san, yes, she was speaking the truth. When President Nomura arrives, he will explain more. We spent the last couple of days before school started again discussing this and we think this might go some way to keeping things calm."

"But-"

"You heard him, we'll be talking about this when everyone is here." Mizuki said, steel in her voice. "But until then, I'll have you know that Sakurai-san should be treated with respect while she is here. And I would advise you to advise your sister to leave people alone."

"My sister is none of your buisness." Masao said, just as steely.

"Guys….." Taki hesitantly said, laughing awkwardly.

Thankfully, at that moment, Nomura arrived, and thus any further arguments about Sumi Kishitani were set aside as Nomura talked them through the Reserve Course representatives plan. Sosuke, of course, knew it, so he did not listen completely-though he did keep one ear open, just in case.

"I really don't see the point though," Masao objected. "The Reserve Course are over there, they don't really get involved. "

"Yes, well, the principals do want the two courses to integrate more, and we do already have the TEP." Nomura said.

"If we all complained about the TEP though, we could stop it and go back to normal." The 100B representative pointed out.

"But is there really a reason to do that?" Mizuki asked. "A real, true reason that isn't just because you have unfair prejudices towards them?"

This, of course, resulted in a momentary silence. Eventually, though, Nomura spoke up to move things along.

"That's not really an issue right now. What is more important that we choose Representatives correctly. They will be paired with Class Representatives, roughly speaking, so there will be six, one of which we already have here."

"If I may, I would like to have my TEPs here too. Or at least, one of them." Mizuki spoke. "If any of the others feel their TEPS would make good candidates, then they can also put them forward. With that being said, I think we should allow a chance for Reserve Course students to apply as well."

"Yeah, but we don't want to let any old person in." Anya pouted.

"But if we are making this as fair as possible, then applications are the best way forward. " Mizuki insisted.

"You say that, but you clearly want someone particular in." Anya retorted.

Mizuki opened her mouth to argue, but then she seemed to think better of it. She thought about it, and nodded. Sosuke wondered who it was out of her two TEPs that she was thinking of, or if perhaps she really wanted both in. But considering they were both part of the group, that made sense really. The more people on side, the easier things would be.

"That's fair."

"I believe I have a solution that is workable." Sosuke said slowly, the idea forming as he did.

"Go on." Nomura said.

"Increase the number to eight. Then, Teranaga-san and I can have our two choices, and two more people with good judgement can have theirs. We can then put forward a notice that we need four more, and give applications. We can shortlist the applications, then interview them. Then from there, we select four. "

"Oh, it's like proper job interview thing!" Taki exclaimed. "They could even have references from fellow classmates too."

"And TEPs, if they are part of one." Anya added thoughtfully.

"Perhaps we should interview our pre-chosen ones just as a formality, though." Nomura mused.

"I agree with that." Mizuki said. "We should really be trying to be as fair as possible with this process."

"I still don't see why we are giving them free access here." Masao grumbled.

A few others echoed similar sentiments, and Sosuke looked to Nomura for guidance. Nomura opened his mouth to talk, at the same time Mizuki also geared up to say something. But neither of them got the chance, as all of a sudden, the doors opened, and a small group of students stared at them, looking flustered and out of breath.

"You need to come quickly!" One of them said before anyone could ask. "There's a reporter outside, and she's looking for someone."

"One of us?" Nomura asked.

"Yes! No! I don't know!" another student said. "Just, come. The principals asked."

They didn't need to say any more than that.

…

The reporter in question was a woman roughly in her mid-thirties, and apparently on her own-no camera crew or anything like that. Instead, she had her own camera (though at the moment, she was just holding it by her side), and a bag which presumably contained a notebook or recorder, and whatever else she needed. She appraised their approach coolly.

"I take it you are the Student Council." She said.

Nomura stepped forward and held his hand out to shake.

"I'm Michiaki Nomura," he said smoothly. "Student Council President. It is very nice to meet you…"

"Ogawa. Satsuki Ogawa. I'm a freelance journalist."

"And what was it that you wanted to talk to us about?"

"I am actually supposed to be meeting a Reserve Course student about an incident that occurred recently."

"It has been the school holidays." Sosuke pointed out.

Ogawa gave him another cool, appraising stare, but Sosuke did not flinch. Ogawa did not either, but she was still the first to speak.

"Nonetheless, students do often go into school during the holidays, whether for study sessions or club activities or something else. I trust that this school is no exception here?"

"No, it isn't. What is the nature of this incident?" Nomura asked.

Again, another appraising stare.

"I am surprised you don't know already, considering. Now, if you don't mind, I would like someone to take me to the Reserve Course building."

So, probably another fight of some sort, or otherwise some sort of complaint. Whoever this person is is bold, though, inviting the reporter straight to campus.

"I'm afraid that won't be possible." Nomura said smoothly. "However, I can take you to our Principals if you want to talk to them about this. "

"That would be good, actually," Ogawa said. "I am surprised they have sent you out to deal with me, instead of coming out themselves."

"The Student Council takes great pride in helping with the responsibility of running the school."

"I'm sure they do." Ogawa said, in a tone that Sosuke frankly did not like. "May I use that as a quote?"

"Sure, sure." Nomura said smoothly. "Now, shall I take you over?"

"Please do."

"Alright, the rest of you can go back to your classes, or anything else you may need to do. We'll have another meeting after school today about the matter we were discussing."

Nomura did not leave enough time to discuss or debate this as he swiftly escorted the journalist away. Most of the others quickly left, but Mizuki lingered, watching the journalist and Nomura go, and thus Sosuke did too. Mihoko also remained.

"I am surprised the journalist did not attempt to talk to you." Sosuke commented to her.

"I didn't want her to." Mihoko retorted. "So I just stayed behind you. You probably didn't even notice I was still here."

"I presumed you would follow." Sosuke said after a beat.

"I'm worried." Mizuki said, still looking over.

Sosuke and Mihoko both stared at her. For a moment, nobody said anything, but then Sosuke asked the obvious question.

"Why would you be worried?"

"About what they are going to do, of course." Mizuki said. "Do you really think that they're going to just let the reporter report on whatever has happened over there?"

Mizuki gestured wildly in the direction of the West Building. Sosuke sighed patiently, but before he could ask what she was on about, Mihoko caught his eye, and gave him a cool gaze.

"Think, before you ask. Think."

"Whatever do you mean by that?" Sosuke asked her, just as coolly, doing his level best to pretend that he was not even vaguely rattled.

Mihoko rolled her eyes.

"I don't know if you're being dense on purpose or if you really are this block-headed, but you of all people should really know."

"If they went to such lengths to cover up things before…."

Hearing Mizuki's half-murmured words, Sosuke looked back over to the redhead, who had now turned slightly away, though he was still able to see that she was frowning thoughtfully at the main entrance. Watching her, Sosuke mulled over Mihoko's words, as well as hers. Of course the school was going to try and persuade people not to write badly of it. That seemed fairly logical to him. But of course, it was mildly disturbing how what had essentially been the biggest school-based mass tragedy in Japan's history had been pretty much supressed simply by the school. He was all for keeping things under the radar, but that seemed a bit much.

However, that just means we need to be careful when we do the same ourselves.

"I'm going after them. I'll see you later."

Sosuke barely had time to blink, let alone form a vaguely coherent response, before Mizuki had gone. He stared for a long moment, then beckoned to Mihoko, and began the journey back to the Student Council meeting room.

…

"Oh fuck, fuckety fuck."

Hana looked up from what she was sketching as the speaker of these words barrelled into her classroom all of a sudden. He was looking around wildly, looking slightly out of breath. He was a classmate of hers, though not one that she talked to. Himekawa, she remembered his surname to be.

"Are you okay?" she asked, even though she was a little afraid to.

Himekawa flailed, and then stared at her.

"You won't tell anyone I was here, will you? I mean, they'll figure it soon enough but-"

"No…." Hana shook her head, not really understanding. "But what do you mean?"

"I was meant to meet someone here, to tell them about….." Himekawa again looked around him furtively. "Something that happened. But they intercepted her."

"Something? You mean…."

Hana studied Himekawa's demeanour, and because she'd had enough of it on her mind, she was able to put it all together to understand that Himekawa was in possession of some sort of evidence of Hope's Peak's discrimination.

"I wanted it out there, I thought it'd help, but….yeah, it's not going to be now. And they're probably going to have it in for me big time. Oh man…."

"You could still get it out there."

Hana almost didn't realise she said it until Himekawa abruptly stilled and stared at her, bug-eyed.

"How, exactly? They'll straight up know it's me if I post it anywhere-that's why I wanted to tell the media…."

Hana blushed, and squirmed, but forced herself to follow through. If this is what I think it could be, then this is my chance to be a help, in a way that won't hurt people.

"I know people." She said, keeping her tone low just in case. "They want to help too. And they can get your thing out there. What is it?"

"Oh, uh, it's a fight….well, pretty one-sided, for a fight. A video of one." Himekawa stuttered. "But seriously, you know people? What's that meant to mean?"

"It's probably best you don't know…" Hana said.

"Holy fuck, wow. Okay, didn't expect that from you, Otsuki."

Himekawa hesitated, emotions of all sorts flickering over his face. Then, with a heavy sigh, he reached into his blazer pocket and pulled out a small USB stick. He held it out to her expectantly.

"Probably for the best if I no longer have it." he said, gruffly. "But will you really…?"

"I will."

Hana got up to get it, closing her fist around the small, innocuous USB and looking at him. Himekawa stared back, and then abruptly fled the classroom. For a moment, Hana stood there, her heart beating rapidly. Then, she put the USB into her own pocket, and went to sit back down again when suddenly, she heard the voice of one of the security guards booming out.

"Are you Arashi Himekawa?"

"What do you want?" she heard Arashi ask.

Cautiously, Hana crept over to the doorway of the classroom and watched as Himekawa looked up at the tall, intimidating guard. There were two others as well, standing just behind the one who had spoken.

"We need you to come with us." The main guard said. "The principals want to see you?"

"Oh, and what are you going to do if I refuse?"

The guards glared, and the main one stepped forward. Hana, despite her best intentions gasped, and all of them, as well as Himekawa, turned to look at her.

"Who are you?"

Hana opened her mouth to answer, but nothing came out. Himekawa looked at her for a moment, then turned back to the security guard and gave a derisive snort.

"Oh, that's Otsuki. She doodles a lot. Don't you?"

"Um…"

"So, you have nothing to do with what Arashi Himekawa has been doing?"

"Has been…doing?" Hana asked, almost in a squeak.

"Oh come on, she doesn't have a clue. Leave the little girl be." One of the other security guards said, before looking at Himekawa once again. "And you, you probably shouldn't refuse."

Himekawa's hands balled into fists, and he glared defiantly at them, before his shoulders sagged and he shrugged.

"Fine, whatever. Do your worst."

Hana did her best to not breathe a sigh of relief as Himekawa walked off with the security guard. Her heart was hammering again, and she took in a few breaths to try and calm it, hand on her chest. A part of her wished Himekawa would look back at her as he disappeared, but he did not. It was probably for the best, but even so, she wished it. But once he was gone, she went and sat back in the classroom. But as she attempted to draw again, all she could really do was keep asking herself one question:

What do I do now?

…

At lunchtime, Hana sat outside with Emiko, Shino and Mihoko. Naturally, they all wanted to talk about the announcement that had occurred just after their morning break, about the Reserve Course Representatives role.

"I don't really understand why you're so against it," Mihoko said. "Wouldn't this be right up your street? Being right there on the inside? It'd be a lot easier for you too."

"Yeeeah, but then I'd have to toe the line around them, wouldn't I?" Shino grinned. "Besides, it's more fun to be the rebel."

"Of course it is." Mihoko's voice dripped with sarcasm.

"Easy for you to say though, little Miss hand-picked." Emiko pointed out with an uproarious laugh.

Mihoko sighed, but didn't comment.

"Still, that'll be enough to have more people onside in power, so to speak, right?" Hana piped up.

"Oh yeah, Otsuki, are you gonna go for it?"

Hana hesitated, then nodded.

"I don't really want to, but…"

"Oh god, don't tell me, parents, right?" Emiko rolled her eyes. "I feel you girl. But you know what, just make it a joke application. Not too jokey, just in case, but the right level that it won't get picked. It'll get them off our backs a little while. "

Well, at least until I fail. But in truth, that wasn't worrying Hana the most right now. Somehow, her parents far too high expectations of her seemed to fade into the background considering what else was on her mind.

"Yamashita and Kurogane are definitely going for it, did you hear?" Shino added.

"So's Kagane-sempai." Mihoko added.

"Kurogane-san would be good at it." Hana observed.

"Oh yeah, he definitely would. Not sure about sempai though," Emiko considered. "I mean on the one hand he could be, on the other hand, he's probably going to scare the Student Council."

"Why?" Mihoko wanted to know. "He's just as weird as the rest of them."

This, for whatever reason, was something that all of them found hilarious and they spent the next few moments laughing, before eventually catching their breath, and then spending a few moments eating their food.

"I think Yamashita's definitely going for it." Mihoko said after a while.

"Really?" Emiko asked. "Why?"

"Um, hello, Teranaga?" Mihoko said, as if that explained everything.

"Oh, do you ship it?" Emiko asked.

Mihoko gave her a deadpan stare that could have meant absolutely anything.

"Ah, come on, they're not all lovey-dovey like Kurogane and Yorokobi-which I think is absolutely adorable, as it happens." Shino protested.

"I know, right?" Emiko grinned. "I'm looking forward to the day they actually hold hands without furiously blushing, mind you."

"Well, that's true." Mihoko said, somewhat cryptically.

For Hana's part, she just blinked. It was not so much that she didn't understand the subtext here, but more that she was wondering if it was true. She remembered seeing them under the willow tree at the beginning of the year, had observed how they had become more of a unit (enough that she'd wondered sometimes why Mizuki had even chosen to have a second TEP in the first place, let alone have her as that person) over the last term.

Does it matter, either way?

On an impulse, Hana found herself asking this question to the other three. They all stared at her for a moment, and then Mihoko nodded.

"You're right. Even so, I would be surprised if he didn't even apply."

"I suppose."

"Anyway, what's on your mind?" Mihoko asked.

"M-me?"

"Yes, you."

"I…um."

Hana blushed as now Emiko and Shino were staring at her quite closely.

"Is it boy trouble?" Emiko asked.

"What? No, no, no!" Hana spluttered, not expecting that. "No, Riku is fine. We're fine."

"Then…?" Shino asked.

"I, well…."

Hana looked around her, at all the other students enjoying their lunch in the September sun. Nobody was right near them, and those that were somewhat nearby were absorbed in their own conversations. She remembered what she had promised to Himekawa. And I have to follow through on that…

"Well…this morning…"

Hana lowered her voice, leaned in closer, and told them.