The next day…
As both Keiko and Mallory walked down the street toward the school, they once again overheard a conversation between 2 female students walking in front of them.
"I can't believe Suzui-senpai missed such an important meeting. I wonder what happened." asked the anxious volleyball female member.
"Kamoshida-sensei asked to see her… You know, I've been hearing rumors about how Kamoshida-sensei and Suzui-senpai stay late together… It's weird that she didn't come for the meeting yesterday…" replied the worried volleyball female member.
"I wonder what's going on… You don't think they're…" said the anxious volleyball female member.
"Nah, it couldn't be… Man, it's been nothing but bad news lately. I'm worried about the future…" said the worried volleyball female member.
"Oh, that reminds me. Apparently, a guest is coming to the school today. Some young guy I think…" said the anxious volleyball female member.
"…Oh? Tell me more." said the worried volleyball female member.
"Suzui-san? Isn't she Takamaki-san's best friend and Kamoshida has been asking to see her? Not only that, she's wasn't at the meeting yesterday? I've a really bad feeling about it but I also really hope that my bad feeling is wrong." thought Keiko worriedly in her mind about Shiho.
"Hm, there's a young male guest coming to Shujin today? I wonder why and what'll he be doing in Shujin?" thought Mallory curiously in her mind about the guest as she and Keiko kept on walking toward Shujin with the other students.
XXXX
A few minutes later, in class-D…
"So, I assume all of you know about the separation of powers? There are three branches in our government. The National Diet is legislative, the Cabinet is executive, and the Supreme Court is judiciary. This division of power provide checks and balances, which ensures no one branch becomes unstoppable." said Ushimaru-sensei to the students.
As both Keiko and Mallory is listening quietly and attentively to the lecture about politicians and government, a black and white head of a cat suddenly popped out from inside Keiko's desk, which caused her to jumped and raised her arms a little and had a freak out look on her face when she saw Morgana suddenly popped out.
"What the?" thought Mallory as she glance in disbelief at the cat.
"Have you made up your mind, Madame Keiko?" whispered Morgana quietly to Keiko (who's calm down and lowered her arms and glared down at Morgana for startling her while Mallory noticed Morgana lying inside her desk with a shock look on her face before she quickly turned her attention back to Ushimaru-sensei's lecture and to avoid drawing attention). "No matter how much thinking you or the others do, there's only one option. You three would be better off just listening to me." Morgana added quietly to Keiko.
"How did you get in there, Morgana?" whisper Keiko in annoyance at Morgana.
"Hm? Did I just hear a cat just now?" said Ushimaru-sensei as he and the students started looking around the classroom for Morgana while both Keiko and Mallory tensed a little in their seats and Morgana quickly hide himself back into Keiko's desk.
"M-Meow!" said Morgana.
"Oh yeah, real smooth, Morgana." thought Mallory sarcastically at Morgana's lame attempt to be a real cat.
"Could that rumoured cat be somewhere nearby…? Settle down! We're in the middle of an important lecture!" snapped Ushimaru-sensei quite loudly and fiercely to wherever Morgana's meowing was coming from before he turned around and pick up a chalk to write something on the blackboard.
After Ushimaru-sensei turned to the blackboard, both Keiko and Mallory felt their phones vibrating and they discreetly pull it out to see and read the messages under their desks.
RS: It's no use… I can't think of any other way…
KA: What are you doing messaging us during class time? Concentrate on class, Ryuji-kun.
MC: Yeah, Ryuji. You'll be in more big trouble if the teacher in your class caught you messaging us.
RS: I can't deal with that shit right now, girls! I mean, what're we gonna do about Kamoshida? Do we just gotta go along with what that cat say? Urgh, that damn furball…
"If he only knew I'm reading this too…" whispered Morgana slightly sad and hurtfully to Keiko.
"There, there, Morgana…" said Keiko in a comforting tone of voice to Morgana as she turned off and quickly put her phone back into her pocket before she and Mallory heard the sound of a chair skidding quite loudly to their far right and they turned to glance and saw that a male student had stood up from his seat and is staring out the hallway window now.
"Hey… What's that…!?" said the male student in a surprise tone of voice.
"Enough! This is a classroom!" scolded Ushimaru-sensei as he glared at the male student who stood up from his seat.
"Wait…! She's going to jump…!" said the female student sitting behind the male student (which caused the other students to begin chatting fervently).
"Suzui…?" said Mishima as he stood up with a shock look on his face after he heard what the female student just said.
"Shiho…?" said Ann fearfully as she stood up from her seat as well.
"Hey! Stay in your seats! Do not step foot outside of this room!" scolded Ushimaru-sensei even more to the students.
Ann ignored Ushimaru-sensei's warning as she quickly run out of the classroom toward the hallway windows and look up at the school's roof.
Both Keiko and Mallory stood up and exchange shock and fearful looks with each other before they run out of the classroom and stand behind Ann and look out the hallway windows up at the roof with her (and the other students from their class and other classrooms). Keiko, Mallory and Ann saw Shiho standing at the edge of the roof with a despair look on her face before she jumped down from the roof, fell and landed with a loud thud sound on the ground in the courtyard.
"Oh my god! W-Why would she do that!? What happened to her that make her want to jumped and killed herself!?" thought Keiko in horror in her mind at what she just saw happening to Shiho outside while the students and Ushimaru-sensei yelling around her, Mallory and Ann.
"No… Why…? Shiho…!" said Ann as she widened her eyes and covered her mouth with her hands in horror before she turned, pushed and run past Keiko, Mallory and the other students toward the courtyard.
"Takamaki-san!" Keiko yell out to her before she turned and run after Ann toward the courtyard as well.
"Hey, wait for me, Keiko!" Mallory yell out to Keiko before she and Ryuji (who's just arrived after he run out of his classroom) run after her and Ann toward the practice building.
Once Keiko, Mallory, Ryuji and Ann arrived in the practice building and pushed their way past the students (who's holding up their phones to take pictures and recording the grim scene before them) into the courtyard, they saw that an ambulance had already arrived and 2 paramedics were carefully lifting and putting Shiho down on a stretcher.
"Class is still in session!" a panic-looking teacher yell out to the students to no avail.
"Shiho…!" said Ann as she glance down in sorrow at Shiho.
"My god…" gasped Keiko with a shock and horrified look on her face.
"What the hell's wrong with these people…!?" said Ryuji as he glance around at the students with their phones out for taking pictures and video recordings with an angry look on his face.
"That's just how they are, Ryuji. They're like onlookers at a car crash. As long as it doesn't happened to them and they don't care at all." said Mallory in grim anger to Ryuji about the students around them.
"We need someone to go with her… Are there any teachers around?" asked one of the paramedics concernly to the crowd of students and teachers.
"I-I'm not in charge of her class though…" said the panicking teacher as he look away.
"We should leave this to Principal Kobayakawa…" said another teacher hesitantly.
"I'll go!" insisted Ann when she saw with a frustrated look on her face that none of the teachers volunteer to go with Shiho.
"Please hurry!" the paramedic urged Ann before he moved aside for her to approach and kneel down next to Shiho.
"Shiho… Why…?" whispered Ann sorrowfully at Shiho.
"A-Ann…?" said Shiho as she weakly opened her eyes and glance at Ann. "I'm sorry. I-I can't take this… anymore…" added Shiho sadly to Ann.
"Shiho…?" said Ann as she lowered her head closer to Shiho, listen to what she tell her before she suddenly lifted her head in shock after she heard what Shiho just told her. "…Huh? …Kamoshida!?"
"Ngh…" groaned Shiho as she closed her eyes and fell into unconsciousness.
"No… Shiho!?" said Ann in despair to Shiho's unconscious form before she stood up, let the paramedics lifted and put the stretcher holding Shiho into the ambulance before Ann quickly got into the ambulance with her while the paramedics went to the front of the ambulance and drove out of the school.
"Please let her be alright…" thought Keiko as she clasped her hands together in a praying manner for Shiho.
"Volleyball team…" said Ryuji to himself and to both Keiko and Mallory before they noticed Mishima started freaking out and he turned and run away past the students out of the courtyard. "That guy… Hey, wasn't Mishima acting weird?" asked Ryuji.
"Yeah, he does. He must know something about what happened to Shiho and why she killed herself." replied Keiko.
"In that case, let's go after and corner him to make him talk then, Keiko, Ryuji." said Mallory firmly to Keiko and Ryuji.
"Yeah. Come on." said Ryuji as they nodded to each other before they turned and run to pursuit Mishima. After a few minutes of searching the school for him, they caught and corner him inside an empty lockers room (while Morgana lie down at the top of the lockers and look down at them in silence).
"Ow! That hurts!" said Mishima as he winced and rubbed his sore hands.
"Why'd you run off like that? Huh!?" said Ryuji as he scowled at Mishima while both Keiko and Mallory glance at him in silence.
"I didn't run…" muttered Mishima as he lowered his head to look down on the floor.
"You clearly did, Mishima! We saw you run off!" snapped Mallory.
"She jumped and tried to kill herself!" yell Ryuji as he glared at Mishima and banged his fist against the lockers.
"…L-Leave me alone…" whimpered Mishima as he cowered away from Ryuji.
"Enough, Maly, Ryuji-kun! You two are scaring him so calm down!" snapped Keiko to them both.
"But…!" protested Ryuji as he and Mallory glance at Keiko.
"Stop protesting and calm down, you two." said Keiko firmly to them and they fell silent before she glance at Mishima. "Listen to me, Mishima-kun. If you know something about what happened and why Suzui-san wanted to kill herself, please tell us." added Keiko softly to Mishima.
"She's right! We ain't trying to get you busted. We won't say you talk either!" said Ryuji softly yet firmly to Mishima.
"Yeah, tell us." said Mallory.
"Suzui… She was called out by Kamoshida-sensei!" confessed Mishima despairingly to them as he grabbed his head with his two hands.
"Wait, what!?" said Ryuji as he, Keiko and Mallory gaped and widened their eyes in surprise at Mishima.
"He did!?" said Keiko.
"I was called by him a number of times too… to the teacher's room." Mishima resumed saying defeatedly to them. "It wasn't just me or Suzui either. He'd nominate someone when he was in a bad mood… and hit them."
"So the physical punishment thing was for real…" said Ryuji as he clench his fists angrily.
"But yesterday, he called Suzui out of the blue. She didn't make any mistakes or anything… Kamoshida-sensei seemed really irritated that day, so it must have been… worse than usual." said Mishima despairingly to them before he trailed off into silence.
"Yesterday he called her and it's worse than usual? Oh my god, don't tell me that he…" thought Mallory in horror than anger at Kamoshida in her mind.
"He didn't…! That sick son of a bitch…!" said Ryuji as he realised what Mishima meant before he turned around, let out an angry yell then run away from them out of the locker room.
Keiko, Mallory, Mishima and Morgana watched him run out of the locker room with surprise looks on their faces before they glance worriedly at each other then they run out of the room after Ryuji (while Morgana jumped down from the locker and landed safely on Keiko's shoulder).
Keiko (with Morgana hanging on her shoulder), Mallory, and Mishima run after Ryuji up to the second floor, saw him run down the hallway, angrily pushed open the PE faculty office door and run into the room and they quickly run into the opened room as well.
"…Huh?" said Kamoshida as he glance in confusion at them at his desk.
"You bastard! The hell did you do to that girl!?" yell Ryuji angrily at Kamoshida.
"What are you talking about?" asked Kamoshida as he briefly raised and waved his right arm and glance away from them.
"Don't you play dumb with me!" snapped Ryuji as he angrily kicked a nearby chair away from him.
"That is enough!" yell Kamoshida as he glared at Ryuji.
"What you did… wasn't coaching…!" said Mishima.
"What did you say?" said Kamoshida ominously to Mishima as Keiko, Mallory and Ryuji turned to glance at him.
"You… You ordered me to call Suzui here… I can only imagine what you did to her…!" said Mishima nervously to Kamoshida as he grabbed his head with his hands in despair.
"He's right! How could you do such a horrible thing to her!? And you dare to call yourself a teacher!?" snapped Keiko as she glared at Kamoshida.
"You're going on and on about things you have no proof of… Basically, you're simply making these claims because you can't be a regular on the team, right?" sneered Kamoshida at Mishima as he stood up from his chair and crossed his arms. "By the way, would you like to join the volleyball team now that there's an opening, Amamiya?" asked Kamoshida as he glance and smirk at Keiko.
"No, she doesn't, Kamoshida!" snapped Mallory as she quickly stand in front of Keiko.
"No, huh? Then what about you, Caelum?" said Kamoshida as he glance at Mallory now.
"Neither do I!" said Mallory as she shake her head.
"That's not what this is about and leave them alone…!" said Mishima as he glared defiantly at Kamoshida.
"Even if it is exactly as you imagine it to be, hypothetically speaking… what can you do? We just received a call from the hospital. Suzui's in a coma, and her chances of recovery are slim… How would someone like that make a statement?" said Kamoshida tauntingly and smugly to them (which shocked them).
"You… How could you be so callous about the life of a student? The life of Shiho?" snapped Mallory as she glared at Kamoshida.
"There's no chance of her getting better, I hear… The poor girl. And that's the reason why I want both Amamiya and Caelum to join the volleyball team even if they already refused to join." said Kamoshida in a mock-lament tone of voice to them as he raised and placed his hand dramatically on his forehead.
"What!? You can't just forced us to join the volleyball team like that!" snapped Mallory as she glared even more coldly at Kamoshida.
"Too bad because I just did, Caelum." said Kamoshida smugly at Mallory.
"No… That can't be…" said Mishima as he shook his head in despair.
"You goddamn…!" said Ryuji as his body started to shake in anger.
"This again? Does this mean we need to have yet another case of "self-defense"?" said Kamoshida as he scowled at Ryuji.
"You shut your mouth, you son of a bitch!" growled Ryuji as he glared hatefully at Kamoshida before he raised his fist in preparation to punch Kamoshida. But before he could do so, Keiko rushed forward and grabbed hold of his arm with her hands to stop him. "Why're you stoppin' me, Keiko…!?" demanded Ryuji in surprise at Keiko.
"Calm down, Ryuji-kun. Don't let yourself be provoke this easily by him." replied Keiko calmly to Ryuji.
"But still!" said Ryuji as he yanked his arm out of her hands and glared back at Kamoshida.
"Oh? You're stopping him? What a surprise, Amamiya." said Kamoshida as he glance at Keiko with a feigned surprise look on his face before he crossed his arms and smiled smugly at them. "There's no need for Sakamoto to hold back. Why not attack me?… Oh, you can't. Hahaha! But of course you can't!" said Kamoshida smugly to them before he turned and sat down in his chair. "Everyone present right now except for Amamiya and Caelum… will be expelled. I'm reporting you 2 scums at the next board meeting." added Kamoshida coldly to them (which shock them again).
"Wha-" said Ryuji.
"You can't make a decision like that…!" protested Mishima firmly to Kamoshida.
"Who would seriously consider what scum like you say?" scoffed Kamoshida as he glance coldly at Mishima. "You threatened me too, Mishima, so you're just as responsible."
"Huh…?" said Mishima with a confused look on his face.
"To think you didn't know why I kept someone as talentless as you on the team. You act like you're a victim, but you leaked their criminal records, didn't you? It's all over the internet, correct? What a terrible thing you did to Amamiya and Caelum." said Kamoshida as he glance in mock-pity at both Keiko and Mallory.
"Mishima…?" said Ryuji as he, Keiko and Mallory turned to glance at Mishima with disbelief looks on their faces.
"So you're the one who leaked our records for everyone to see and gossip about? It's you all along?" said Mallory as she glared at Mishima.
"He told me to do it. I had no choice… I'm sorry, Amamiya, Caelum." said Mishima as he got on his hands and knees in forgiveness to both Keiko (who sighed sadly at Mishima) and Mallory while Kamoshida laughed wickedly at them.
"Now, are we finished here? You scums are all expelled! You're done for; your futures are mine to take, now get out of my sight." said Kamoshida coldly to them. "Oh, and as for you two, I strongly suggest that you two don't involved yourselves and be seen with them anymore, unless you 2 don't care about yourselves." added Kamoshida in feigned concern to both Keiko and Mallory.
"Shut up!" snapped Mallory.
"I can't believe this asshole's getting' away with this…!" yell Ryuji angrily.
"Don't worry, Maly, Ryuji-kun. He'll eat his words and pay very dearly for his heinous actions." said Keiko calmly to them both.
"Huh…? Oh right, we have that!" said Ryuji as he and Mallory realised what Keiko meant.
"Huh? Have you all lost your minds? I don't understand what garbages like you all are thinking, but go ahead and try. All you can do is wait for your disposal though…" said Kamoshida coldly to them.
"My, is that so? Well then, thank you so much for your permission, Kamoshida-sensei." said Keiko very sweetly and coldly to Kamoshida (which make both Ryuji and Mishima gulped in fear at her while Mallory had a proud and sinister smirk on her face).
"Huh? What do you…" said Kamoshida as he turned to glance at Keiko before he fell silent and felt yet another chill went down his back when he saw Keiko giving him the coldest smirk ever before she, Mallory and Ryuji helped lifted Mishima up from the floor and leave the room together.
XXXX
In the courtyard…
"We can't waste any time. We gotta hurry up and go to that world and beat the shit outta that asshole!" snarled Ryuji as he banged his fist against the vending machine.
"… We're not beating him up. We're simply stealing his distorted desire." said Morgana coolly to Ryuji.
"Yes, we know, Morgana. We won't beat him up, we'll simply tear him apart." said Mallory calmly to Morgana (which make him, Keiko and Ryuji glance at her in surprise and fear). "What? You guys don't like it?"
"Isn't tearing him apart a little too much, Maly?" asked Keiko nervously to Mallory.
"After what he just did to you two, Mishima-kun, Suzui-san, Takamaki-san and others, I'd would say it's a fitting eye for an eye for a bastard like him." replied Mallory a little coldly to Keiko.
"Yeah, I know. But…" said Keiko before she trailed off into silence.
"Well then, can I assume that all 3 of you have made up your minds about this-about how he might suffer a mental shutdown?" said Morgana.
"…I have." said Ryuji as he turned to glance at Morgana. "Someone almost died because of him. I don't give a rat's ass what happens to him anymore!"
"And what about you two?" asked Morgana to both Keiko and Mallory.
"I'm definitely in." replied Keiko.
"So do I." said Mallory.
"…Then it's settled." said Morgana.
"By the way, is getting rid of a Palace hard…? You've tried it before, right?" asked Ryuji.
"…When did I ever say that?" replied Morgana innocently to Ryuji.
"You've never done it before?" asked Keiko.
"Nope, Madame Keiko." replied Morgana truthfully to Keiko.
"WHAT!? Were you just pretendin' to know!?" yell Ryuji in disbelief to Morgana (which make him, Keiko and Mallory quickly shushed and glared at him slightly for raising his voice).
"Is it true that you two are getting expelled?" asked Ann suddenly from behind them (which make them gasped in surprise before they turned to glance at her). "Everyone's talking about it…"
"That asshole's at it again…!" said Ryuji as he briefly look away in irritation then look back at Ann. "So you came all this way to tell us that?" added Ryuji.
"If you all are going to deal with Kamoshida… let me in on it too." said Ann firmly to them (which surprises them again). "I can't just sit back and do nothing after what happened to Shiho!"
"Takamaki-san…" said Keiko sadly to Ann.
"This has nothing to do with you… Don't butt your head into this…" said Ryuji gruffly to her.
"But it does! Shiho's my-" argued Ann.
"We're sorry, Ann. But it's better if you stay out of this." said Mallory firmly to Ann.
"No, I will not!" argued Ann even more to them.
"We said don't get in our way!" snapped Ryuji harshly to Ann (which make her flinch before she turned and run away).
"… That was harsh." said Morgana.
"Yeah, you shouldn't spoke so harshly to her like that, Ryuji-kun." said Keiko in a disappointed tone of voice to Ryuji.
"We can't take her somewhere like that with us…" said Ryuji guiltily to Keiko.
"I hope that she doesn't torment herself over this. When it comes down to it, women don't hesitate." said Morgana sadly to them.
"Yeah, we know, Morgana." said Keiko as she nodded to Morgana.
"We just gotta hurry up and deal with Kamoshida. Let's go already!" said Ryuji determinedly to Keiko, Mallory and Morgana before they left the school and head back into the alley in front of the school.
"The moment we cross over, we'll treat each other like phantom thieves, so I hope you 3 are ready." Morgana told them.
"Huh? Phantom Thieves?" asked Ryuji as he glance in confusion at Morgana.
"Those who covertly sneak in and stylishly steal Treasure-that is what we become!" replied Morgana happily to Ryuji.
"I see, not bad at all." said Keiko as she smirk at Morgana.
"I agreed." said Mallory with a nod of her head.
"That sounds kinda cool!" said Ryuji exuberantly to Morgana. "So we just gotta say the school, Kamoshida's name, and… castle? Then we end up in bizarro world." added Ryuji before he pull out his phone. "…How the hell all this work? Someone make it?" asked Ryuji.
"We don't know. But does it really matter, Ryuji-kun?" replied Keiko.
"That's kinda creepy, but eh, it seems useful enough. We'll show that effin' Kamoshida!" said Ryuji as he rolled and stretch his arms a little.
"Let's go!" said Morgana confidently as he watched Keiko pull out her phone and pressed the Metaverse Navigator. But unbeknownst to them, Ann is watching them from her hiding spot behind the corner.
"They really are going to do something… They're doing something on their phones? A name… School…? Huh…!?" said Ann before she widened her eyes and gasped in disbelief when she saw her surroundings started to turned purple, warped and change into a different place.