The revelation was shocking, to say the least. As Kumagawa loomed over the nudist rat's unconscious body, Shinjiro scanned the young man's form for any signs of life fibers.

It's a lie, surely, he thought. There's no way a human can have that sort of power without life fibers.

"『 Ah, he blacked out.』"

"More importantly, you're completely fine," Shinjiro said, prompting Kumagawa to turn around.

"『 Well, that's also important, but I wouldn't define it as 'completely fine'.』" Kumagawa pulled several of the needles off of his arms and torso, causing blood to seep from his wounds. "『 These things do sting, but they're otherwise harmless to me. But, of course, you wouldn't know anything about that, Mr. Journalist.』"

"Obviously. The guy mentioned something about life fibers." Shinjiro took out a notepad and began scribbling. "This is all interesting information. Could it be possible that these so-called 'life fibers are what give Satsuki's Goku Uniforms their power?"

Suddenly, a flash grenade entered the scene, blinding everyone in the vicinity. As soon as he could see, Kumagawa witnessed an undisguised Aikuro carrying Tsumugu's unconscious body while holding onto the rope ladder of a helicopter (movie-style).

"You nearly got us, servant of Revocs," he yelled in a gloating manner. "Better luck next time!"

Kumagawa and the others merely watched as Aikuro fled the scene.

"『 ...so anyway, who wants Dunkin'?』"

"Oooo, I do, I do," said Mako.

Tsumugu Kinagase awoke with a start

"Did I seriously black out?"

"Welcome to the world of the living, old friend."

Aikuro had been standing above him, holding a towel, which Tsumugu immediately grabbed out of the other's hand and used to wipe his sweat-covered face.

"No need to be so dramatic, Aikuro. Wait, how long have you been standing there?"

"That doesn't matter. What matters is I managed to work out a deal with the so-called 'hybrid' you nearly died fighting."

"Oh, okay then… Wait, you talking about that boy!?"

Tsumugu winced. The memories started flooding in once more, the most pertinent one being when he failed to kill the being known as Kumagawa. He then remembered a very significant detail about his encounter.

"He… No, he's not-"

"A life-fiber hybrid? I know that already."

Tsumugu's eyes widened. "If not, then what is he exactly?"

"Let's just say that you lucked out. If I hadn't negotiated a deal with him prior to your rescue, then things would've gotten really ugly."

Tsumugu shook his head. "If his regeneration is caused by some other capability, then we just need to find out his weakness. If we can't kill him, then we can at least imprison him."

To this, Aikuro let out a burst of pained laughter. "I don't think anything can work on someone like Kumagawa Misogi. During our talk, he told me the secret about his power. Let's just say that it makes life fibers look like nothing by comparison."

"Seriously… So, what is it then?"

"Can't tell you?"

"Huh?"

"That was the deal we made. He lets you go, and I keep that part of our discussion between us." Aikuro leaned over and extended a hand. "All you need to know is that it's better if we keep our distance until this all settles over."

"Nothing like an entire box of donuts to hit that spot," Mako said, sitting on a desk while fiendishly devouring a pastry.

The three had retreated to an abandoned section of the school building.

"It's a good thing we found a place to hide," Shinjiro commented. "I was getting tired of running into faceless goons yelling out forgettable one-liners."

"『As was I,』" replied Kumagawa. "『Speaking of forgettable…』"

Shinjiro stared on as Kumagawa walked over to Mako, who perked her head in response.

"Hm?"

"『Mako. We are friends, yes?』"

Mako replied with a jovial smile. "Of course. Best buds forever!"

Suddenly, he lifted a finger to her temple. For a few seconds, Mako appeared to have a blank expression and dull eyes. She then shook her head and confusedly looked around.

"Where am I? Who are you?"

Shinjiro gazed on. Was he using some sort of memory manipulation ability, he thought?

"『I'm nobody special. You fell asleep in school. The disciplinary committee is doing sweeps, so you should probably get out before they catch you loitering.』"

"Oh crap, seriously." Mako rubbed her head. "If that's the case, I gotta get out before someone big and dangerous uses me as a punching bag. Thanks for the heads up, um…."

"『Yukiteru Amano.』"

"Right. Thanks, Amano. You look kind of weak, no offense, so you should probably do the same. Anyway, bye!"

And with that, Mako ran off, leaving a bewildered Shinjiro and content Kumagawa staring off.

"Are you sure that was wise?" Shinjiro asked. "She was your friend."

"『No. She was Yukiteru Amano's friend. Kumagawa Misogi has no friends. But in all seriousness…』" Kumagawa walked over to an empty desk. "『I just wanted some alone time between us.』"

As Kumagawa spoke, a shadow began to cast over Shinjiro.

"『Isn't it about time you shed that drab disguise of yours, Mr. Journalist?』"

A smile began to form on Shinjiro's lips. "How long have you known?"

"『I can smell a fake from a mile away. At first, I wanted to bring it up during our initial meeting, but I didn't feel that would be climactic enough. So I decided to ride that horse all the way to the stable. Problem was, I couldn't find any in the desert, so then I decided to build my ow-』"

Before he could complete his sentence, Kumagawa felt something stab into his back. Looking down, he could witness a giant purple blade jutting out of his chest. He then fell to his knees with blood seeping out of his mouth.

Shinjiro then walked around Kumagawa.

"Golly, you just don't when to shut up, do you? But that's okay. This scene is actually really good. Really, really good~!"

Getting in front of him, Shinjiro then began to chuckle. As the chuckling went on, it began to shed its deeply masculine tone until it sounded more girly. With life fibers stretching out from his fingertips, the being, who had been referred to as "Shinjiro Nagita", used them to cut apart his disguise in one fell swoop.

Appearing in the spot where Shinjiro previously existed had now been a petite girl adorned completely in pink.

"『So that's what you look like…』"

"A-yup," Nui replied. "What do you think? It's quite surprising, isn't it? Makes you question what else you think is true."

"『To think that such a cute girl was beside me all this time… And I couldn't even grope once!』"

To this, Nui's smile stretched further. "Mhm. My thoughts, exactly~!"

Somehow, the sword's handle had turned towards her despite having been stabbed from the back. Grabbing it, she ripped it out of Kumagawa's chest, causing the other to fall into a pool of his own blood.

"La vie est drôle~"

Life-fiber hybrid or not, no one could survive having their heart completely destroyed. It's a shame that things had to be this way, but orders were orders, and if they came from Ragyo herself, then she had no choice but to complete them.

Two hours ago…

Nui had managed to establish remote contact with headquarters.

"If he is not a life-fiber hybrid as, you say, but displays such abilities," Ragyo said, "then he is a threat. We must not let any possible allies to Nudist Beach live. Dispose of him when you get a chance."

"Yes, Maman," Nui replied. "As you wish."

Staring back at his lifeless body, Nui, strangely enough, lamented the outcome. Though she'd not care to admit it, the brief time the three had spent together actually felt… What was the word?

Aw well, it didn't matter. After burying this body, she'd have to think of something else to do with her time. Since she had come all the way over, she might as well have stayed a little longer to watch Satsuki conclude her silly little Naturals Election thing that'd be coming up soon. Heck, she might even appear in the middle of it just to give the heiress a quick spook.

Two beings occupied a spectral classroom.

One being, a noticeably beautiful girl with brown hair tied by a yellow headband, spoke.

"Life-fibers, huh? I do remember running into the original at some point in my life. It pissed me off, so I beat it up a little. It then begged for mercy, so I let it off with a warning."

The other being, a boy, remained silent.

"It appears that one of the chunks, that got thrown off during our fight, got all the way over to Earth. True to its arrogant nature, it pretended to be the one responsible for giving humanity its knowledge, going so far as to brainwash an entire lineage into doing its bidding. Honestly, such foolishness."

"『I never once held the illusion that such a meager thing could beat you,』" the boy spoke.

"Why, of course. I'd be insulted if you did. Though, given your deceitfulness, I can't tell if that's the truth or not, even if I read your mind."

The boy let out a chuckle. As the door opened, he got up.

"『Looks like my time is up.』"

"Do you seriously intend to return to Honnouji Academy? Even if it is a dead end."

"『Honestly, I don't know what to do. It feels like I've walked into something that has nothing to do with me. Still…』"

"Still…"

"『Might as well finish what I started. And besides…』" The boy turned to the other. "『Nothing would be more fun right now than playing with the pink thing.』"

It had been approximately three weeks since Kumagawa Misogi failed to show up for class. Due to this absence, it was well within Satsuki Kiryuin's rights to expel him. However, the fact that he simply disappeared bothered her to no end.

No one had reported his termination, so she had no choice but to assume he left on his own volition. Of course, she had Houka looking into any records of his current whereabouts, to no avail.

With the wild card finally neutralized, Satsuki could confidently begin the Naturals Election. And so, she did just that.

The Naturals Election went off without a hitch. During the whole event, the Elite Four pretty much swept the floor with whoever was dumb enough to challenge them. The original purpose of this event was to find extremely strong students among the rabble, so the ones that lasted the longest against the Elite Four would be appropriate candidates for promotion. However, because of Kumagawa's rampage, which lefts several one-stars and two-stars in the hospital, Satuski needed to pick as many bodies for her conquests as possible, so the standards for approval were admittedly less than ideal. Nevertheless, things going according to plan was a nice change of pace.

On the final day, most of the students had been eliminated, leaving the Elite Four and four two-star club presidents: Takaharu Fukuroda (Boxing), Maimu Okurahama (Folk Dance), Aizenbou Fuguhara (Ping Pong), and Masuyo Watari (Tight-Rope Walking).

"Four of us against the Elite Four, eh?" Masuyo commented. "So what do you think our odds are. Fukuroda? 'Cause I really do not want to be on the wrong end of the athletic regulator's shinai."

"I second that," added Aizenbou. "Right, Maimu… Maimu?"

If one looked closer, one could see some drool exiting the folk club captain's mouth. "…mm, Gamagori's whip."

"Maimu!?"

"Huh!" Maimu awoke from her daydream. "Yeah, I don't like our chances either. Dancing with the Elite Four would certainly be one to the death."

To all this Takaharu simply grunted. "We didn't come this far just to chicken out. They may have an unfair advantage over us due to being imbued with stronger uniforms, but at the end of the day, it's not about winning."

"It isn't?" replied Masuyo.

Takaharu shook his head. "It's about showing the whole school why we're club captains. If we can go toe to toe with even the Elite Four and give them a run for their money, it doesn't matter what the outcome is. All that matters is that we show the school our fighting spirit!"

"Yeah, and get whipped!" Maimu added in.

"Yeah, that too- Wait what?"

As the other two conversed, Masuyo leaned in and whispered to Aizenbou. "Is it me, or does Takaharu feel more mature than he used to be?"

"Oh, yeah," Aizenbou whispered back. "I think it has something to do with that incident that happened with the Tennis Club president. I heard they were quite close. Poor thing."

Even though the Ping Pong club and Tennis club often butted heads with one another, Aizenbou wouldn't wish what happened to Omiko on her worst enemies. Thank the stars that the culprit behind the incident was expelled.

Not soon after, a bright light shone at the top of Honnouji Academy's tower, signaling the beginning of Satsuki's speech. The entire event was being televised, so even the people living on the outskirts could watch it.

Nui Harime, who had shed her disguise while being amongst the bums, watched the television with delighted glee, waiting for the chance to make her Honnouji debut.

"Listen up, you pigs in human clothing. I, Satsuki Kiryuin, hereby announce the beginning of the end for the Naturals Election. Many have fought bravely for a chance to be here now. Many more have fought and died. Such is the nature of the Naturals Election. But that is now drawing to a close."

All of the students watched Satsuki's speech with admiration and bated breath. Even Nui had to admit that when it came to charisma, the apple didn't fall far from the tree.

Pillars suddenly rose. Each member of the Elite Four occupied their own pillar, while the club captains all shared the middle one, which appeared to be an arena.

Satuski continued. "I will admit, throughout the month, our academy had to contend with a very troublesome interloper. If not for the work of our three-star and two-star elites, we may have never been successful in expelling him."

As she said this, both Elite Four and club captains bowed out of respect.

"And with that out of the way, we can begin the final phase of the Naturals Election. Takaharu Fukuroda of the Boxing club, Maimu Okurahama of the Folk Dance club, Aizenbou Fuguhara of the Ping Pong club, and Masuyo Watari of the Tight-Rope Walking club. Through your efforts, you have proven your strength. And now, you face a test. You must fight amongst yourselves. The one left standing will have the honor of receiving the three-star jacket."

"So the three-stars won't be participating," murmured Masuyo. "Figures."

"It would be my honor, Lady Satsuki," Takaharu said, lifting his head. "Here and now, I will show the world the power of boxing."

"Very well," Satsuki replied. "Then, with that out of the way, let the final phase of the Naturals Election comenmphmphmph-"

"—!"

No one could accurately describe the emotions that collectively drenched the atmosphere of the whole school at that moment. Actually, shame was a fairly accurate word. Followed by distress. Then anger. Then disbelief. A whirlwind of negative emotions swirled around the theater.

Satsuki, in the meanwhile, didn't have to do much deduction to determine who had disrupted her speech mid-sentence. Only one individual would be so foolish to play this despicable prank on her. And again, no less!

Gripping her blade, Satsuki put all the strength she had in her body into twisting her core so that she could cut down the one behind her.

"You miscreant!"

However, there was nothing behind her but thin air. For a few seconds, Satsuki stared perplexedly at the scenery, but her muse was short-lived. Laughter and clapping emanated from the back of the arena, causing the two-stars, the three-stars, and Satsuki to turn their attention to its source.

"『Sorry, sorry. I know it's been done already, but I just couldn't resist doing it a second time. Especially with how serious you all looked.』"

Blood boiling by the second, all Satsuki could do was yell one incontrovertible word.

"Kumagawa!"