One week later...

Ichika and Rin were having a practice match before school officially restarted. Ichika had the upper hand, but he lost by relying on surprise tactics, which cost shield energy to execute correctly.

"Cripes...lost again," Ichika said while he and Lincoln were walking to home room.

"And you were so close to winning that rouse," Lincoln muttered.

"I have to do something about the Byakushiki's fuel consumption."

"I have a suggestion..." Lincoln grinned, "...how about not relying on your hand cannon, Ignition Boost, and the Instant Death light saber so much?"

"Don't call it that!" Ichika griped.

Then they were suddenly blinded by a pair of ribbons.

"Guess who?"

"Huh? Guh-Huh?!" Ichika flinched at the sound of that playful female voice, "Who the heck is that?!"

But Lincoln didn't, "Uh-Tatenashi?"

"Ding ding ding! That's corre~ect!"

"He-hey!" Once the blindfolds came down, Lincoln turned around and greeted her, "Morning to you!"

"Same to you too, Lincoln," Tatenashi greeted, then turned a sharp eye to Ichika, "And you as well, Mr. Hot and Bothered."

"Hot and-" Ichika twitched, "What kind of hit-on is that?"

"Hahah, I got ya, didn't I?" Tatenashi giggled.

"Uh... yeah..." Ichika didn't seem the least bit amused.

"Well, I'll be seeing you two," Tatenashi waved.

"Um, see you," Lincoln waved back while she walked away.

Ichika was still dumbstruck at that brief but impactful interaction, "Um, Lincoln... you do realize who you just talked to, right?"

"Yeah, I know," Lincoln quipped back.

"Good," Ichika pulled up his bracelet clock, "because that..." and it showed 08:30, "...cost us."

"Dangidgits..." Lincoln suddenly let uneasy in his stomach.

That feeling reached his bowels when the boys were confronted by Chifuyu, "So...that's your excuse for being late?..."

"Yeah, there was this blue-haired girl, and she stopped us in the hallway!" Ichika rushed as fast as he could, "And I-we-uh-um..." but he was stopped dead cold.

Chifuyu gave them the death glare, "So, you two were late to my class because you prioritized a conversation with another girl ahead of your own education?"

And then Lincoln spoke up, "That's not what he said at all!" Sealing their fate.

Chifuyu turned to Charlotte, "Dunois, please demonstrate the rapid switch."

Like a puppet forced to swing its arms at its own people, Charlotte stood up and confronted Lincoln and Ichika. "Well," she said, "I'm sorry it came to this," as she deployed her IS and towered over the boys

"Whoa, nelly!" Lincoln freaked.

"Uh, hold on..." Ichika made a last ditch effort to appeal to Charlotte, "...Can we talk about this, Charlotte-buddy-old pal-" he was silenced by the gun barrel aimed at his mouth.

"I'm afraid not, Orimura," Charlotte said with a smile.

Ichika and Lincoln prepared for the worst.

"Now, observe! The Rapid Switch!"

And the boys went "WAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAUGH~~~"

Meanwhile, in Class 1-2, the teacher pulled a big one, "Everyone...I would like to introduce our new student... but I think we already know her..." the door opened, "If you don't mind..."

The entire room tensed up. No one knew what to make of this sudden shake up. The new student didn't make things any easier, only making a single statement, "My name is Lori Loud, and I come from America. It is...nice to meet you..."

That got the entire room whispering:

"Did she just say Loud?"

"Oh no, another one..."

"We already have one headache in the other room!"

"Isn't she the one who-"

"What's she going to do to us?!"

"Everyone, please pay attention!" The teacher called, and the classroom went silent. "Now that we have attendance out of the way, it's time to go to the gymnasium. The faculty, staff, and student council have an announcement for us all."

It didn't help that Lincoln's class went directly ahead of hers; he could sense her at any time. Lori had to stay hidden, at least until the lunch period. During the assembly, She stayed near the back of the student body, trying to figure out what to say to Lincoln, if the early morning rumors were indicative enough of her tenure. She was caught in the weight of the words coming down on her, when she felt another weight come down on her shoulders. She turned around...

...it was Laura, "Shh."

... and Lingyin, "I see you."

Two familiar faces, the ones that allowed her to come to the Academy. Lori was relieved to see them again after the mind scrambling she went through.

After the assembly, Lincoln and Ichika were having a small discussion with each other, "Dang. Two culture festivals?"

"And that Tatenashi...she's the student council president...is she the one that orchestrated this?"

"Gotta be... I don't know who else has the balls to disrupt normalities like that."

"So...best be on our guard then. With everything that happened in the past six months-"

"Haha, yeah. For all we know, we could be flattened next week!"

"Thanks for jinxing my mood, bro."

"Anytime, grandpa!"

"Hey! Watch the hair!"

Lori was also relieved to see Lincoln relaxing around another man like him. Maybe she would have an easier time than she thought.

"Don't let your guard down."

Lori jolted.

"Relax," Laura suddenly popped up in front of her, "You have nothing to fear."

"Uh, yeah she does," Lingyin entered the conversation, "Have you seen the way you freakishly pop up in front of people now?"

"Hey, Lingyin," Lori said, "Long time no see."

"Glad you could make it," Lingyin smiled, "But everyone calls me Rin."

"Eyes forward," Laura said, "We have work to do."

She was right. Lori might be thinking that this was her chance to reconcile with Lincoln. But Laura and Rin had bigger plans in mind. Having witnessed multiple pasts collide with each other, they're determined to prevent them from causing any more chaos. And they're going to start with the Louds.

If they graduated without redemption, there would be no end to the cycle. That day marks the first day of work, setting up the framework for ending it all.

But like all construction work, their grand plan requires clearing the field. No matter how much it would aggravate them, they're not going to move forward unless it's completely cleared.