Luciform

by TheRoseShadow21

This is a year that, for Kawaakari Academy, should be brighter than most. But the threads of change have been woven in the background for a long time, and the tapestry is almost complete. Here is the story of some of the students caught up in it, and how they face the resulting darkness. Fic combining various KACB entries. AU, rated M for difficult themes. Cross-posted to AO3.

7. 1-6

Asuka looked up as Headmistress Hades' class finally let out, watching keenly as the students streamed out looking relieved that the lesson had finally ended. Most of them, upon noticing that she was standing there, quickly averted their eyes but Lucy and Tate both nodded briefly at her and Yoyo gave a brief smile. Asuka simply nodded back at them. After all, if she had to be honest there was nothing she really had against them beyond the usual distance she was keeping. Finally though, she spotted Sainty, Michii and Yuu, all of whom grinned and waved at her. But it was only Sainty who went to join her, since the other two had lessons straightaway.

"I need to fix some scratches on my sword," Sainty said immediately upon joining her. "I'll need to oil my other one and my knives too."

"That's fine, I think I need to polish mine, actually." Asuka said. "Let me text Sasi to see if she wants to join us."

"Oh, she already texted," Sainty said. "She'll stick around with us for the first free, but in your second one she isn't."

"She managed to not get caught texting in class?" Asuka asked with a raised eyebrow, choosing to not address the issue of where Sasi was going for her second free.

"No, Professor Nyamai ended early. She's gone to check on Niwa."

"Again? Professor Nyamai's the worst one for it, isn't she?"

"You can say that one again. Except don't."

Asuka sighed.

"Alright, let's pick up your weapons and mine, then we can collect Sasi and head to one of the weapons' workshops."

There was nothing in particular to say as they went to do this, and so they didn't. They stopped off at Asuka's room first, where she selected the sword that she had in mind. She considered taking her knives to clean, but she'd done that the other day so she thought that she'd probably be alright. Tonight she'd rely on her sword and her throwing stars if necessary. And, of course, her fists and her magic. They then went to Sainty's room so she could grab her second sword and the two knives she wanted to clean before they then went to knock on Sasi and Niwa's door.

Sasi was the one who answered, already out of her school uniform and looking sharp in dark blue skinny jeans and a white cropped t-shirt with studs on the shoulders.

"Oh, look at you. Got another liaison planned?" Asuka teased.

Sasi simply raised an eyebrow which Asuka took as a yes. In that case, I'll save the talking about it for when we're busy with the weapons, then. She stepped into the room, with Sainty following.

"Anyway," Asuka continued. "We need to do stuff with our weapons, we're going down to one of the workshops. Do you want to come?"

"I suppose so, why not?"

"Can I come?"

Asuka, Sainty and Sasi all looked to the bed where the croaky voice came from and stared at Niwa, who was sitting up propped by pillows, some colour in her cheeks but looking smaller and thinner than usual, dark circles under her eyes.

"How are you feeling? You ate?" Sainty asked.

"Yeah," Niwa said. "It's not so bad, this time. I think I'll be over it in the next couple of days. But I'm bored alone all day. I want company."

This last bit came out as a childish whine, which Niwa tried to accentuate by pouting. She failed though as she sighed and shivered again. Asuka went over and patted her head-lightly as to not spark any further pain-and then ruffled her hair. She knew that Niwa was angling for Koda to come and see her, for them to eat sweets and tease each other, but that was a step too far for Asuka to allow, for any of them to allow.

"I'll carry you-Workshop A has those chairs and it's free today, we can set you up in one of them. If you feel worse though, we'll need to take you back. It's better than the infirmary, isn't it?" Sasi suggested.

"Mmmmm." Niwa pouted again, then closed her eyes momentarily. "Alright."

"Okay, then, let's go."

It turned out that Sasi didn't have any weapons that needed maintenance or fixing at the moment, so she simply carried Niwa and a couple of extra blankets on her back as the four of them left. While Asuka and Sainty decided to let go a little and slide down the Angel Tree, Sasi climbed down more carefully and took a few extra moments to get to the bottom before they then headed across the gardens, paying little heed to the freshman Gardening Club who seemed busy at work and heading to the back of the East Wing building, where the workshops were. Asuka tapped their names into the electronic sign-in pad at the front, and then opened the door.

Though plenty of sunlight came through the large skylight (apparently one of the only windows the building had 'allowed') Asuka immediately flicked the light switch for the electrical lights for good measure. Sainty went to get the tools and oils that they needed, while Sasi grabbed one of the comfortable chairs that for some reason lived in the corner of this workshop, took it over to the worktable that they were going to use, and then arranged the blankets over it before settling Niwa in it, making sure she was wrapped up.

"Comfortable?" Sasi checked.

"Y-yeah." Niwa croaked.

"Good, good. Sainty, you've got a few there-want help?"

"You're good at fixing scratches, do you think you could do that?"

"Sure."

Sainty unsheathed the sword that she had damaged during Headmistress Hades' class and laid it on the table. Sasi went to sit down and immediately reached for a coarse metal abrasive pad, having spotted some rust. Sainty tipped out some choji oil onto a lint cloth that was already on the table and started to oil her blade carefully, the smell of cloves already filling the air. Asuka needed an Uchiko ball and so went to one of the shelves to find one and brought it back so she could polish her own.

"So, you and that boy-" Sainty asked after a while.

"Tricker." Sasi interrupted immediately.

"Huh?" Sainty blinked.

"Tricker. That's his name."

Asuka raised an eyebrow, but with relief that finally the topic had been brought up, she jumped right in.

"You've been seeing him a lot-are you sure that's wise?"

Sasi's jaw clenched, but for a few seconds she simply continued rubbing away rust before putting down the abrasive pad and then looking for what Asuka assumed was a bottle of polish. Not seeing it, she then got up and crouched down to peer on a set of low shelves before grabbing a cluster of bottles and bringing them back. Selecting one, she then began to carefully apply it to the first scratch at the tip of the blade before she final responded:

"Why're you only asking now?"

"I think she's only just wrapped her head around it now, Sasi." Sainty said dryly.

Asuka made a rude gesture at Sainty but looked at Sasi, waiting for a proper answer. Yes, she had more or less just been going along with it these past few weeks, making sure that Sasi called whenever she arrived at wherever she and that boy were meeting, and whenever she left. Always vigilantly watching her for any signs that this was something like what had happened to them when they were all thirteen. They all protected each other in different ways, always had. They were all any of them could rely on in this world that hated them for being born.

Asuka wasn't about to stop that any time soon, so even though she wasn't sure she wanted to ask anything at all, she was doing so anyway.

"You're asking-do I want this? Correct?" Sasi responded.

"Of course I'm asking that."

"Honestly, Asuka. You were there. At the party."

"Oh, we sure were. My eyes were gonna fall out of my head, they were!" Niwa cackled before being caught in another coughing fit.

Automatically, Asuka leapt up and grabbed her bottle of water.

"I-I-have my own!" Niwa coughed, pulling the small bottle Sasi had tucked into her tunic pocket. "Relax."

Niwa swigged it, staring defiantly as the coughing subsided. Asuka watched her carefully until she was satisfied and then sat back down on the bench again and returned her attention to Sasi, whose mouth was set in a thin line.

"You were there." Sasi repeated. "You should know that it's not a situation like that. We were only pushed together by those damn freshmen."

"Yes, and I'd have throttled them if not for the fact that you were somehow happy to dance? But all this…even now…Sasi, you need to be careful."

"I am being careful."

"Sasi."

Sasi glared daggers at Asuka, but she didn't flinch. I have to ask, don't I? I have to. Tools pressing into her palm as she gripped them tightly, she stared at Sasi, beseeching her to answer and to understand. Wondering just how badly this boy had gotten his roots into her that she didn't understand in the first place.

"He says it like that, sometimes."

"I…you what?"

"My name," Sasi's expression had smoothed out, as did her voice. "He says it like that, sometimes. Not the annoyance, but the emphasis."

"Ok, that's too much information but also, damn." Sainty snorted, shaking her head as she started to oil one of her knives.

"That's the part I'm telling you to be careful about." Asuka burst out.

The glare returned in full force for a moment before unexpectedly, Sasi lowered her gaze. Staring down at the polish, she wiped a bit clean, then concentrated on another patch.

"I'm not expecting things to change for us, or anything like that, but…while I can, why can't I be happy? Niwa's friendship isn't going to last forever either, but I don't see you telling her off about that."

"Hey!" Niwa protested at the same time as Asuka said:

"I'm not telling you off, I just-"

"I know," Sasi sighed, still concentrating on Sainty's sword. "I know that's a little different, but…it will only ever be for a while. I know it will only ever be for a while…but why can't I enjoy it for that while? Why can't I just pretend for that time and just…have that experience? It's never going to happen otherwise, is it? No matter what Yuu hopes for, love isn't going to be for us, right?"

"Goddess on Earth, Sasi, are you in love?"

"Don't be ridiculous." Sasi returned straight away. "But…Niwa, he has scars like yours."

"Huh?"

Momentarily confused, Asuka looked over at Niwa, who blinked curiously at Sasi, who had now finally looked up as she hovered one hand over the polished sections, using a little of her magic to seal the polish in place and strengthen the metal.

"Invisible scars."

Asuka sucked in a breath. Whenever they talked about invisible scars, they were not talking metaphorically about emotional damage but literal invisible scars. These couldn't be seen by the naked eye, but they could be felt whenever someone touched the affected area, and magic healing responded differently to someone who had invisible scars upon their body. Most importantly, there was only one cause of such scars being inflicted on the body.

"Are you saying…are you saying this Tricker went through an exorcism, too?!" Asuka murmured.

"That's ridiculous," Niwa snorted. "What reason? He's not a girl, he can't possibly be one of us."

"Who knows?" Sasi gave a one-shouldered shrug. "Who knows what crackpot reason his parents or whoever had? But I know what I felt. Plus, that paired with the fact he clearly lost his arms at some point, including the shoulders…he survived an exorcism too."

"Where are these scars?" Sainty asked absently before suddenly blinking, head snapping up. "Actually, please don't tell me."

"Please do tell." Niwa croaked, grinning.

"Shut up, Niwa." Sainty retorted.

Sasi simply smirked for a moment before her expression drew slightly inward again. She studied the blade carefully, tapped one of the newly fixed scratches and then grabbed some of the choji oil that Sainty had just finished with to oil the blade.

"Anyway, there's that. If that even means anything."

"Have you got any idea about what sort of situation may have led to that?" Asuka asked curiously.

"No," Sasi snorted. "It's not like I'm there to talk, is it?"

This made Sainty choke and Niwa laugh (though thankfully not cough, this time around).

"Sasi! Seriously, please spill some details." Niwa shrieked.

"Please don't." Sainty said.

Asuka watched as Sasi pretended to ignore them, carefully oiling the sword, section by section, considering her work carefully. Every so often she paused and held the blade up to the skylight, allowing the sunshine streaming through to glint off of the silver of the main blade and the gold that filled in the cracks. She appeared fully focused on the task, but she was smirking again. Asuka thought of Niwa, who had been sleeping peacefully when not in the throes of a flare-up. The small girl absolutely lit up whenever she tussled or snapped at or giggled with Koda, so bright that Asuka couldn't understand how anyone could look at her and consider her dark. It seemed like though it was smaller and steadier, Sasi had a similar type of glow, and even though Niwa was still so much like a child and Sasi was decidedly well past such innocence surely it was all the same? The same type of happiness?

Maybe then, I should pray for this, too. She could hardly wish for one of them to be happy and not the other, it just wouldn't be fair. Yet, the stakes feel so much higher in such a situation. But even so…

"Look, as long as you keep checking in with us, don't do anything you yourself don't want to do and make sure you're taking precautions…okay, fine. I'll leave it for now."

"Don't worry, we haven't gone quite that far yet," Sasi smirked, eliciting predictable spluttery reactions from both Sainty and Niwa. "But…thanks for worrying, Asuka."

Asuka just nodded, suddenly not quite trusting her voice. She watched as Sasi finished oiling, and then fitted the blade back into the handle and held it up again as she had been. She turned it one way, then another, her smirk morphing into quiet satisfaction at the sight of the fixed sword.

"Here you go, Sainty."

"Oh, neat." Sainty took the sword. "Hey, did you use gold to remind me not to get it even more scratched up?"

"Oh, something like that." Sasi replied wryly. "Are you using it tonight?"

"Nah, using this one."

Sainty indicated the sword she was working on as she sheathed the one that Sasi had just handed over, before adding:

"Besides, nothing's been happening since we started. What's the chance of it actually getting used anyway?"

There was a moment of silence as they all considered the nights they'd been spending teamed up with what frankly was a pretty damn mixed bunch of students, although all with the same goal. They hadn't missed a night yet, with the exception of Niwa thanks to her recent flare-up, having turned down invitations to be on reserve rather than actively patrolling an area. They had to be there, had to be poised and ready on the frontline, because with everything around them so uncertain practically anything could happen.

"We really need something to happen, huh?" Niwa murmured, sounding tired.

"We do." Sasi said simply, stretching.

They did. They needed something to happen, to channel themselves into. To release the creeping, crawling urges that otherwise spilled out and caused trouble in combat lessons. To give a chance to let their raging bloodstreams to sing, let their impulses have free reign in the only way that would ever be approved. Because how could they ever be seen to be an embodiment of the dark if all they were doing was to protect the light?

"Maybe it will," Asuka said. "Maybe it will be tonight."

"Or maybe it won't." Sainty shrugged.

"At least we're there, though. We're there." Asuka replied.

Niwa yawned and shivered, and they all turned to her.

"I…I think I need to go back."

Niwa snuggled into her blankets, looking miserable and Sasi got up instantly to go and gather her and the blankets up.

"I'll take you back," she said. "I should be going soon, anyway."

"Where are you meeting?" Asuka asked immediately.

"The alcove in the old classroom block of the West Wing, garden side."

"Call." Asuka ordered. "When you get there, and after."

"We're in the same class afterwards-Professor Keno, remember?" Sasi asked. "But, always. Come, Niwa."

With Niwa all bundled up, Sasi gave a nod to Sainty and Asuka and then strode off, shoulders straight and head lifted up, strides confident and covering a lot of ground as Niwa clung to her like a tiny monkey. Asuka watched her open the door, step through it, then let it swing close behind her as she continued on. When they were gone she sighed heavily and turned back to her weapons. Whatever was going to happen to their hearts, or to them tonight, there were still weapons to fix.

And that was one thing she could control, at least.

…

Starri yawned, covering her mouth briefly before then reaching for one of the vials attached to her belt, still keeping an eye on the other two ends of the corridor. Tricker and Mist were her fellow corridor watchers tonight, each of them at the ends of the U shape by the respective staircases. It reminded her she needed to do a walk down to the ends of each corridor, just to check on them both. Tricker had just done the same for her a moment ago, though Mist hadn't. She tried not to read too much into that-Mist was taking this seriously after all, it was clear to see.

Yawning again, Starri tried to shake the thought off and tried to remember by touch which vial it was that had wintergreen and mint oil, her preferred concoction for energy. But instead her fingers found her hipflask. Tracing over the constellations engraved onto its surface, she took deep breaths over and over.

We promised, remember? We promised.

Not to never use the potents, that would of course be unrealistic, but they'd been starting to consider it after the five freshmen girls had gone missing altogether and then after Will and the others had seen Headmaster Cher faint in class they'd decided that enough was enough. They'd known all along that they were relying far too much on any drinks but it went without saying that anything potent-based was worse, and even though things were getting worse around them they owed it to everyone to try and pull back. How could they help if their own minds ended up stretched and weakened, unable to even function without drinks? So they filled their hip-flasks, but left it at that and tried to not empty them for as long as possible, making do only with taste samples from their potents and trying to go for non-potents wherever possible instead.

The wine in her hipflask was calling to her though. It was calling and she swore she could hear it, whispering sweet, velvety red words, promising that her worries and the tiredness that came with it would all be swept away. That the bereft feeling that had replaced the weird dreams she'd been having would abate, if only she would just take a sip. And that was something, because before, hadn't she been wishing those dreams to go away and stop teasing her about being memories? And yet, here she was, reaching for them anyway now that her sleep was nothing but a black void when she got it at all. But I can fix that, the wine murmured melodiously to her. I can make it all go away…

Starri gritted her teeth, tried to ground herself with the sensation of the engraved patterns on the flask instead and remembered that she wasn't the only one struggling. She reminded herself that the twins scooped up every last drop when samples had been poured out of the glasses, that Lidia tried to breathe in the scent of any bottle of mead they opened, that the bags under Wren's eyes seemed only to darken and deepen with every passing day. And that Will's drink of choice every time he had to fill his hipflask was vodka, every single time.

Slowly, carefully, she moved her fingers away, and felt along the rest of her belt, breathing a sigh of relief when she came upon the vial she needed. Quickly unhooking it and then taking off the small, fiddly lid she breathed it in, allowing herself to close her eyes for a moment. One sniff, two, three. There, there. Was it working so fast, or was that just wishful thinking? Regardless, there was a promise and she had to keep it. It'll have to be enough for now. Quietly, and making sure she had a good grip on her glowing star chain, she walked to the right side to check that particular leg.

"You okay, Mist?" she whispered when she reached the corridor end, peering around the corner.

Mist, who had been walking down the corridor herself, stared with a gaze that looked almost empty for a moment before she nodded.

"Yeah."

"You sure?" Starri checked.

"Yes."

Starri nodded, quickly. She wanted to suggest to Mist to take one of her oils to use, or maybe even offer her own, but she knew that Mist wouldn't accept it so she gave a brief smile and wave and headed back around the corner and down the corridor to Tricker's end.

"Are you-"

Before she could finish her greeting, the door to the staircase creaked. She met Tricker's eyes, which had widened. Immediately, he turned, tensing immediately as he got into a fighting stance. Starri held out her star chain, and prepared to get her knife out too if needed…only for Professor Lucifel to come out when the door opened, apparently oblivious to them. He barely even reacted to the fact that there were two teenagers apparently ready to go into battle staring at him, instead walking up to the wall and examining the light fixture before then putting his fingers against the metal. Tricker's posture relaxed slightly and he turned to Starri with a confused frown, and she shrugged back at him before looking over to see that slowly the light fixture was changing colour, though the light itself continued to be a soft yellow. When the professor finished, he then moved to touch the wallpaper, the pattern slowly changing from gold vines against a deep red background to red flowers against a creamy one. Starri watched as the colour crept across the wall, extending down the corridor, skilfully navigating around doorways and windows until the entire wall looked like the pattern had always been that way.

Hold on a minute, he'll need to do the other wall-

At the same time as she had this realisation, Professor Lucifel turned around and then stared. He blinked once, then twice before asking quietly.

"What are you two doing?"

Starri opened her mouth to answer, and then closed it again. Suddenly, she felt very awake. Professor Lucifel regarded her and Tricker coolly, his gaze assessing before he sighed.

"No need, I can guess."

"A-are you going to tell?" Starri whispered.

Professor Lucifel tilted his head slightly and put a gloved finger to his chin, tapping idly a couple of times.

"Sometimes the wrong thing can be done for the right reason, can it not?"

"That sounds like it applies more to you, than to us."

Starri startled, somehow not having expected Tricker to speak at all. But sure enough, he had, and he followed his statement up with an intense stare which Professor Lucifel couldn't quite meet. After a moment, the professor sighed and rubbed his head.

"Perhaps," he said in a voice that sounded oddly blank. "Perhaps. Love's a strength, don't doubt that at all. But it can be a drawback too, the greatest downfall of all."

"Greatest downfall, but only 'a strength'?" Tricker asked.

"What do you mean?" Starri enquired at almost the same time.

Lucifel gave a one-shouldered shrug, but did not give an actual answer to either question. Instead, he scrutinised them both once again, and Starri had to resist the urge to squirm.

"At the end of the day, what you do with what you learn and discover is up to you. I think your teachers will have told you this already."

Starri frowned, perplexed.

"D-does that mean you're not going to tell on us?"

"As long as you don't tell anyone who the 'redecorating ghost' really is."

At this, Professor Lucifel broke out into a smile, though it was a faint one, no more than the ends of his lips curving up very, very slightly as they pressed together thinly. He took a couple of steps, and Starri stepped aside so he could reach the wall, which he then leant his palm against, concentrating for a few moments before stepping away and walking back to the staircase door. Instead of slipping away though, he glanced over and added:

"I'm sure it's fair enough to be left just this one thing."

"S-sure! T-thanks, Professor."

Lucifel nodded.

"One more thing."

"Yeah?"

"Make sure that whatever happens, whether you come across it in your patrols here or it's a danger from elsewhere, you remember to shield your hearts, too. No matter how strong you are, that means nothing in the face of a broken heart. And…accept our apologies."

And with that, Lucifel did walk away. Starri stared after him, watching the door close. Hold on a minute, the wood colour's changed! Huh. Smiling despite herself, she shook her head and then turned to Tricker to ask him what he made of it all, only to see that there was an expression of such desolation on his face it was enough to wipe away any amusement at unwittingly solving a harmless school mystery.

"Tricker?" she whispered.

Slowly, slowly, he turned to look at her, unblinking.

"Are you alright?"

Tricker stared at her for a moment, then roughly stuffed his hands into his pockets before shrugging.

"What do you think is happening here, Starri-sempai?" he asked, hoarsely.

"I don't know," Starri said. "I really don't."

"I just…"

Tricker trailed off and bit his lip, suddenly looking softer. Starri looked at her belt and selected a vial before holding it out.

"You don't have allergies to vetiver, right?"

"Don't you need this?"

"Nah, I'm alright, really." Starri said. "Though, do you have any of your own?"

"I didn't think of…anything along those lines."

"Take it. Return the vial to me in the morning-you can come to my tutor room-Professor Shippa's my tutor."

Tricker stared for a moment, still seeming pained, but then he took one hand out of his pocket and took the vial from Starri carefully.

"Thanks." He murmured as he inhaled.

"If you need it, that particular solution can be rubbed across your forehead, too. I tested it myself, it helps a lot. "

Tricker nodded at her, and Starri decided to make her way back down to her corridor to continue keeping watch. And as she did, she noticed the new decorations had extended all the way along there, too. The same beautiful floral pattern, bright against the cream already under the soft corridor lighting, but sure to look better in the daylight. Flawlessly done, not a single trace of the old pattern left.

As if things had always been that way.

…

Will bit back a yawn as he stirred the potion a little more, considering the colour of it through the glass of the bottle. Then, he closed his eyes and leaned in to sniff it. Almost immediately he felt it, that sense of fog clearing, but not fully. Not properly. Just a faint tugging, a preview of what could be. He knew it would be the same even if he was to drink it himself, even if overall there were at least a few effects.

"Hey, Lily, come and see if this is alright."

"Huh, which one is it?" Lily asked, looking up from where she was decanting a potion into small bottles, each labelled with a name. "Give me a moment."

"It's alright, I'll do it."

Lidia came over and motioned to Will to step aside. He did so, leaning back against the shelves, and then changing his mind and stepping forward slightly, turning to make sure he hadn't knocked any bottles over. Thankfully, it turned out that he hadn't, but he found himself staring at the bottles that were immediately in his eye-line, including one bottle of vodka, clear liquid within a bottle as blue as the summer sky. Will swallowed, remembering having washed out a similar bottle just a couple of nights before, having taken the last of the contents for his flask. A flask that was still full, for now-

"Hey, Will?"

"Huh?"

Startling, Will turned back to see Lidia frowning quizzically at him, her head tilted slightly.

"The stuff's fine-want me to do the bottle filling?"

"No, that's okay-"

"Seriously, let her do it."

This came from Tate, who had come into the bar with a sheaf of papers. Will pointed at them.

"Oh, is that today's schedule?"

"Mmm, and tomorrow's as well."

"Seriously, one of these days someone's gonna see those and get us into trouble." Mica objected from where he was sitting with Wren and the twins. "I know you're printing in your room but still."

Tate blinked heavily.

"I know. I just like it on paper. But anyway, speaking of it…Will, you're patrolling by Kouki-san again."

Will looked curiously over at Tate, whose frown was deep as he crossed the room and came to the counter, leaning forward.

"You're at Kouki-san and you're here fixing things up?" Tate said. "Come on, Will."

"What's wrong with that?" Will asked, trying for innocent.

"I….you haven't taken a break since we've started. You've been on every single night. Every. Single. Night."

"He's right, you know." Lily called over. "You have been."

"So have you." Will pointed out mildly.

"Yeeeeeah, but…."

Lily puffed her cheeks out and then let the air out, shaking her head as she finished filling the last bottle. She screwed the lid onto it and then looked back up again.

"Like, I'm only on a dorm corridor tonight, and tomorrow I think I'm off-right, Tate?"

Tate looked at the sheets he had printed and then nodded in confirmation. Lily nodded back at him and then looked back at Will, who was trying to not think of the flask in his pocket, the bottle behind him.

"I mean, there's plenty of people who haven't had a break yet, right? Currently we're up to…ten on reserve?"

"Twelve, now, with those other friends of Ruby-sempai's." Gin spoke up.

"He does have a point though, the numbers don't exactly work with the amount of time we've been doing this for every single one of us to have been on reserve yet." Getsu added.

"I'm aware of that," Tate turned to roll his eyes cuttingly at Getsu. "The point is he isn't going to be on reserve any time soon, are you? Or at least take a break from making sure everyone's topped up each night."

Tate's voice rose with every word, ever so slightly but still enough such that by the time he'd finished any chatter had gone silent and everyone was looking at him. The flask, the bottle. Will needed that courage, he needed it because he couldn't find any of it within him anymore.

"I want to help, "he said simply. "I just…want to help."

"So do all of us, Will." Lidia reminded him. "I mean, I don't know whether it is helping but you know…"

Lidia trailed off, biting her lip. She had a point-there was no real way of knowing if they were helping in so many ways. None of the girls, from this year or the last, had been found. More of them were reporting nightmares and more were succumbing to a worse version of the clouds, even though they hadn't seen anything whenever they'd been on patrol.

And then there were the teachers. Headmaster Cher had been gone for five days after he had collapsed and when he'd come back, though he'd seemed as imposing and present as ever, Will had detected something different. Something thinner, almost and something about the angle of that usually charismatic smile that reminded Will of the unusual devastation that he'd seen on Headmistress Hades' face on that day too. A devastation that he'd not seen on her face since, even as lesson cancellations and unusual moods in the teachers just kept racking up and racking up. He knew.

He had been looking, after all.

He'd been looking and looking, and he'd seen it replicated on the faces of the other teachers and the staff, or at least he hoped that he had. He needed them to be scared, he wanted so badly for them to be scared too. No. No, he didn't. He didn't want them to be, but if they were scared…then that meant something, right? Meant that they still cared, that they didn't want things to be this way.

He didn't know how he'd go on if it turned out that they weren't scared at all.

"I mean, Ririsa and the others feel safer for it." Lucy piped up.

"Yeah, and I heard some freshmen taking about how they felt relieved that at least something was being done." Gin said.

"It's something," Will concluded, sighing. "It's something and…I need to be doing something."

He needed to find a way to feel brave again, to truly feel brave again and get back a little semblance of rest. And he knew he wouldn't be able to, not unless or until things got sorted out. He sighed and reached into his pocket despite knowing that they were all still watching, that he couldn't sneak it away. Just a sip, he told himself as his hands trembled and he pulled it out of his pocket.

"Will."

He looked up and met both Lidia and Tate's eyes.

"Put that away." Tate said, simply.

"I-"

"We'll make you something instead. What is it that you need?" Lidia asked.

"I….I'm alright, Liddy. Really."

Lidia's eyes became shiny and she pursed her lips before then forcibly taking his shoulders and making him sit on the stool they kept behind the counter just in case. He wanted to protest, but he was too tired, suddenly. No, not suddenly, always. He sat down heavily and looked around at all his friends.

"Look, even if you don't want to take a break from the Night Patrol in general…at least take a break here, alright?" Tate said as he came around to get a glass. "It's alright here."

"Yeah, so your only job right now is to sit back and enjoy whatever those two fix up for you and I will finish that up, alright?" Lily added.

Will sighed, then looked down at his flask. He turned it over once, weighed it up…and then he carefully put it back in his pocket. Once it was safely put away he looked back up, staunchly ignoring the bottle on the shelf and made himself smile at Lidia and Tate.

"Alright, then."

…

=Can you all hear me?=

=Yeah, we hear you, Theo! Everything alright with you?=

=Yeah, I'm fine. It's cold though.=

=I don't envy you, I'm glad to be inside today!=

=Stop boasting, Ezra. Though I do agree.=

=Oh honestly, you guys. The mountains aren't a fun one, but hang in there Theo.=

=I will, Ada. You all stay safe too, okay? Who's doing our next check in?=

=That'll be me…if I don't fall asleep!=

=Then I shall have to continually yell in your head to make sure you don't!=

=Haze, you meanieeeeeeeeeee=

Theodore laughed quietly to himself as he tuned out the chatter in his head, returning his focus to the surroundings. Currently, the vast grounds of the school were behind him, and he was looking up at the mountains. Even in the black of night with only the tree lights and their own lamps to illuminate the scenery, the jagged grey peaks glowed an eerie lava-orange and indeed Theodore thought that he could see a pool of lava, a bright red speck somewhere above and beyond. From his reading that he'd done as soon as the four of them had officially become part of the Night Patrol, he knew that there was a river over on the other side of the range, that some of the rocks had made natural bridges while someone had reportedly built a few more between parts of the mountain range. It was said that the river was part of the reason why the area around the mountains was always a little colder, even in the warmer parts of the year.

The other reasons, Theodore wasn't so sure of, but he'd been assigned to Kouki-san a few times now, sometimes with one of his friends but once or twice by himself with people whom he knew to varying degrees. Much like tonight, where he was patrolling with Robyn and Jae from his year, then Getsu, Asuka and Nysa from the second year and a person from the third year that he didn't know well enough to remember the name of. It had gotten a little easier to deal with being in a group without any of his friends, and had become more so when they had figured out they could use their new ability to communicate in their minds to check in with each other each night.

Even so, Theodore couldn't help but fear that one night, those shadows would come back again and take them all away from this moment, but this time from each other as well. He didn't know what he'd do if that was the case, how he'd endure it.

"Are you alright?"

Theodore startled and looked over at Robyn.

"I am, thanks," he said. "It's cold."

"This is only my second time doing Kouki-san, I'd forgotten about that." Robyn admitted.

"Oh, that's…"

"It's okay, I'm used to dealing with unpleasant weather…besides, it's not the winter, so it could be worse."

"Yeah."

Theodore nodded, and then as Robyn walked further down the path one way, he decided to go to the other, where Getsu and Nysa were standing when a sudden creeping dread made him pause and look over to the side in the direction of the mountains.

The shadows were there.

Theodore reached for his sword and held it out, planting his feet sturdily on the ground and waiting for them to come closer before slashing the air, chopping one shadow in half and then slashing at those bits as they writhed in the air.

"What the hell?" he heard Jae ask.

"This is…what are these?" Nysa asked.

"I have no idea but-oh!"

Getsu did a flip to avoid a black shadow snaking towards him, and then let out a stream of white-hot magic at it, causing it to dissipate and fade away. Theo stared at it, momentarily entranced before sensing another shadow sneaking up behind him and swinging around, slashing at it sideways.

The next few moments were frenetic and relentless as shadows swarmed and they all focused on trying to cut them down and keep them away. Theodore threw himself into the battle as easily as the others, the eight of them falling into a rhythm of sorts as gradually they beat the shadows back, and gradually they diminished and then finally, finally disappeared.

Catching his breath, Theodore smiled jubilantly as he lowered his sword, and he turned to Robyn to grin at her when suddenly, he remembered.

So, you think you've won, do you?

Theodore gasped, and turned around, looking this way and that. The memory echoed and echoed, but he didn't see anything, didn't see anyone.

"What? What's wrong? Is there another one?" Robyn asked.

"I don't see anything…hey, kid!" the third year girl asked. "Hey, what's wrong?"

"I…."

This happened before, didn't it? We thought that they'd gone and then suddenly the voice and…the hand…is there someone watching, waiting? Theodore held his sword out in front of him, hands trembling as he stared at the mountains.

"I…I'm still here, right?"

=Guys? Can you hear me?=

=Theo? It's a bit early for a check-in, isn't it?=

"Theodore-kouhai," Theodore heard Getsu said. "It's fine, come on, put it down. They're all gone now."

"Are you alright, Theo?" Robyn asked. "Do you need something? Have you got anything with you, for stress?"

=Oi, Theodore, what is it?= He heard Haze ask.

Theodore looked around him. He could still see them: Robyn and Getsu looking concerned; Jae and Nysa slightly confused; Asuka busy picking up remains of a broken star chain and the third year person just waiting. Beyond them all, he could still see the mountains, the lava and the hints of what was beyond, the grey glowing slightly orange. The same scenes that had been there moments ago, before the shadows. The same people. The same everything.

=I…we're still here, right?= Theodore started hesitantly. =That is…we haven't moved? Back to the beginning?=

=Noooooo, I'm right here where I was five seconds ago, bored outta my mind=

=We're all still here, Theo, it's okay. Did something happen?=

=I think so, A. But if we're here and safe, I'll tell you in the morning.=

=Y-yeah, that might be best.=

"Theodore?" Jae asked, frowning even more.

Theodore took a breath, slowly lowered his sword. He looked around at them again, moved his feet slightly to prove they were still on the same ground that they had been on. I'm still here, I'm still here. The relief was overwhelming, but he forced himself to not give into it in case it got snatched away.

"I'm sorry."

"You alright now?" Getsu checked.

"Y-yeah, I'm alright. I'm alright, sorry."

"No, no, there's no need." Getsu said. "Come on, you and I, we'll pair up and take patrol over there. The rest of you, if you want to pair up feel free, but let's spread back out."

"Pairing? No thanks."

Theodore startled as Asuka curled her lip, looking Getsu up and down before stalking down the path, clearly trying to get as far away from them as possible. No, from Getsu-sempai, Theo realised as he looked over at the boy, who was gritting his teeth, Seeing that he was being watched though, he shook his head and gave a smile that didn't quite reach his eyes but was clearly trying. Quickly, he steered Theodore away, while the others took up their spots once again.

We're still here. It happened again, and somehow, we're still here.

All Theodore could do, as he took up position once again, was to hope that things would remain that way for just a bit longer.

…

Hiraga froze for a moment before realising that the strange sensation was just a breeze. Dammit, get yourself together, he scolded himself as he looked to either side of him, mentally identifying the others in order to calm himself. There was Tricker and Sasi, standing there a few steps apart but very clearly together, though it didn't seem to be dimming their focus. No, as far as he could tell, they'd barely looked at each other in this night so far. They'd just kept their eyes closely trained on the forest outskirts and the school behind them, as if nothing else was there, and yet they always stayed in the same area.

Then on their other side was Ani, only her eyes gleaming all serpentine as she paced a short distance, seeming brighter from this distance thanks to the shadows her hood cast across her face. He knew that her claws and fangs and scales would come out the moment that they needed them, but for now they were concealed. She caught his gaze and nodded, earnest, before continuing her pacing and Hiraga smiled to himself before looking to his other side, because there, alongside the sweet (but seriously, seriously weird) Yara there was Quiet, the very same breeze that had freaked Hiraga out teasing at his ponytail.

Well, suppose I can't complain about Sado-kouhai's decision to put Tricker-kouhai and Sasi in the same group if Quiet here's too. Even if we're not actually a thing yet. Hiraga smiled at that, before shivering. It wasn't even cold, and yet there was something about out here that made it so. Perhaps because it was night-time, or perhaps it was because they were all still waiting for something to happen. Something that could actually explain what it was that was going on during the daylight hours.

Hiraga sighed and gazed into the forest. He didn't know why, but the place seriously creeped him out. Even the grounds by Kouki-san weren't as bad, though they were definitely a great deal colder. It looked completely dark, and even when he held up his lamp all he could see were shadows cast by the trees, and the remains of trees. He shivered again, and decided to wander over to Quiet.

"Hey," he whispered. "You alright?"

Quiet gave him a sideways glance, and then smiled slowly.

"Yeah, I am. You."

"Yeah, yeah."

Hiraga wanted to stay there, by his side, but he resisted the urge and decided to content himself with being a few steps away when suddenly, eh heard a feral hiss. Expecting it to be Ani, he whipped around and saw Sasi had taken a few steps forward, hackles rising as she held her sword in front of her.

"Sasi, what's wrong?" Hiraga whispered loudly.

"Shhhh!" Sasi glared. "Do you not hear it?"

"H-hear what?" Yara asked timidly from behind Hiraga.

Sasi whipped around, the intensity of her glare deepening, and Hiraga heard Yara give a slightly strangled noise before Sasi simply turned around and stared back into the forest. All of them stayed silent, waiting. Initially, Hiraga didn't hear anything, and he turned to Quiet with a questioning glance when suddenly, he heard it.

Something rustling.

Shuffling, rustling, something like…leaves. Hiraga's hand strayed towards his weapon, but in the same moment Sasi suddenly took off, straight into the forest itself.

"Sasi!"

Tricker, who had also been tensed but clearly watchful, sprung up into action and went after her.

"Oh, shit." Hiraga groaned.

"Right, how about you and I go in, and the freshmen can wait here. Re-douse your eyes with that stuff, Hiraga."

It took Hiraga a moment to realise what Ani was talking about, but then he nodded at Ani and quickly found the sage and citrus oil and rubbed it across his eyelids, taking a couple of sniffs for good measure and ignoring Ani's raised eyebrows.

"Alright," he told Quiet and Yara. "You two know what to do if we don't come back out, right?"

"Yeah." Quiet nodded. "We'll be fine."

Yara's eyes were wide but she nodded earnestly too. Hiraga let out a breath, and then gestured to Ani to lead the way.

Once he was amongst the trees, suddenly the noise around them increased-not just the strange shuffling, but insects and animals scrabbling, the breeze, even their own footsteps. The trees themselves loomed, swaying, and when he paused to turn he suddenly couldn't see the school anymore. He held up his lamp, then changed his mind, fumbling to hook it to his belt as he tried to keep sight of Ani before then releasing golden light bursts to float around them.

And then, the flowers bloomed.

Just like that, out of nowhere, the shuffling changed into little bursts, sounding oddly like fireworks as suddenly flowers sprung out of the ground, small blue and purple and white blossoms, clustering in balls, everywhere, the bushes billowing. One bloomed right in Hiraga's path and he could feel them properly as he tried to push past them.

"TRICKER-KOUHAI," he called out. "SASI!"

"SASI, TRICKER!"

Ani called out, echoing him as she struggled to keep her footing as the flowers kept blooming and blooming. Her claws came out and she attempted to slash at the flowers, but initially neither Sasi nor Tricker responded so they kept moving forward, pushing orbs of light forward to light their way-Ani's blue-grey tendrils mixing with Hiraga's golden blobs until finally, they heard the sounds of blades slashing at plants and turned yet another similar-looking corner to see Tricker and Sasi, each of them attempting to slash away at more of the flowers that were blooming and blooming. When a branch threatened to topple Sasi over, Tricker quickly stepped in front of her and cut it away, pulling her towards an area that wasn't so dense with the blossoms. As she ducked to safety, Sasi seemed to notice them and straightened, staring at them.

"Over here!" Ani called out. "We've cut some away but quickly, they seem to be regrowing-"

Ani was cut off by another bush of flowers proving her correct and she quickly turned and spun low, slashing them as quickly as she could. Sasi tapped Tricker on the arm and then indicated as they tried to go back through the way they'd come, having to slash their way through over and over just to reach Hiraga and Ani.

"We need to go back, we came this way…oh shit, shit, shit."

Hiraga groaned as he turned back to see that the haphazard path that he and Ani had managed to cut away had almost completely disappeared, the flowers blurring the way.

"This…is really not how hydrangeas are supposed to work, are they?" Ani said.

"These are hydrangeas?" Hiraga asked curiously.

"Yeah…"

"Oh who cares what type of flower they are, we need to get out!"

Sasi leapt forward and swung her sword around, making flowers scatter everywhere, but now this seemed to make things worse. The flowers grew right back, more than there had been previously, spreading out further and further. Hiraga couldn't see any ground for miles, only when he looked down at his feet. He gulped, took in a breath.

"I think we should have probably brought along Yara." Ani remarked, her voice going thin.

"Yeah, you might be right about that." Hiraga laughed awkwardly. "Have we got reception out here?"

"I don't know, I'll check." Tricker spoke up.

Tricker reached into the pockets of his trousers for his phone, his fingers apparently mistakenly pressing the power button and making the screen glow. The extra momentarily illumination was one that Hiraga welcomed-until it caught a pair of bright blue eyes glowing in the darkness, surrounded by flowers.

Ani screamed, and Hiraga stumbled back, flattening a few leaves while Sasi got into a fighting stance. Tricker frowned, his own eyes widening in response, but initially he was the calmest of them all as he unlocked his phone and held the screen up. The eyes glowed a little brighter and then the flowers rustled as the owner of the eyes stepped forward.

"I….you're Kaguya-san, aren't you?" Ani breathed.

The glorious looking panther shook itself, as if airing out its fur, and then lowered its head at Ani. Hiraga sighed, the relief suddenly exhausting him. If this was indeed Kaguya, then they were probably alright. From what he remembered, Kaguya was supposed to be on their side, essentially.

Before Hiraga could ask the black panther if they could help him, there was a sudden blur of movement as suddenly, Sasi appeared right in front of Kaguya, sword held out.

"Step back."

"Sasi, what the hell are you doing?" Hiraga yelped.

"That's Kaguya-san, Sasi, you know who Kaguya-san is." Ani tried to reason.

Sasi's grip on the sword tightened, though at least she did not swing it or aim any sort of strike at Kaguya. But all the same she was holding it out at him and showed no sign of backing down as she responded:

"Yes, but I'm not blind either."

"That doesn't even make sense."

"It's alright."

It took Hiraga an embarrassingly long moment to realise that the owner of this deep voice was Kaguya himself. The panther didn't seem particularly perturbed at being threatened by a feral girl who now had multiple flower petals stuck in her hair. Instead he blinked once, and then started to glow, changing from his animal form into that of a young, muscular, tanned man with a long brown plait and a soft, alluring appearance that weirdly reminded Hiraga of Quiet. Only the bright blue face markings and the similarly coloured bright eyes that were now looking over Sasi's shoulder gave away that this was still Kaguya.

Well that and the fact you watched him transform, dimwit.

"I cannot stay in this form for long so we shall have to hurry, but I trust you will manage better with me like this."

This was when Hiraga realised that through all this he'd not seen or heard Tricker react, though he was sure the boy hadn't moved. And sure enough, he hadn't. Instead, he seemed like he'd frozen to the spot, an owl-in-the-daylight look about him. His hand was still held up as though he had his phone, but the phone was nowhere to be seen as his fingers trembled. His face was paler than it usually was and his eyes widened, the pupils dilated and though his breathing was clearly starting to even out, it was raggedy, each breath fast and rattling. Now he was aware of it, the sound was unrelenting and sharp and Hiraga wondered how he had missed it, almost as much as he was wondering what on earth was happening with Tricker in the first place.

Sasi lowered her sword and turned to Tricker, kneeling down to pick up his phone from amongst the flowers before straightening up and carefully placing it in his hand and then putting her own hands either side of his face. Tricker blinked and blinked as his unfocused gaze settled on her. Sasi said nothing, simply gazing into his eyes with an expression that was softer than anything Hiraga had ever seen on her before, but somehow even more inexplicable than her default because of it. Tricker's breathing gradually became even calmer as he gazed right back at her and his eyes settled back to normal before he put his phone slowly into his pocket and nodded at her. Sasi let go of his face and turned around, but still remained close to him, slightly shielding him.

"Yes, I'm fine."

Tricker's shoulders were tensed, sharp angles and his voice came out slightly raspy but he was gradually returning to normal. Hiraga looked over at Ani, but the girl didn't seem to have a clue what had just happened either. Kaguya, for his part, remained unperturbed.

"Alright. As I said, we will need to hurry, so please, follow me."

"You're getting us out?" Hiraga asked.

"Yes," Kaguya's voice was patient. "I am."

In long, loose strides Kaguya pushed through the hydrangeas, whose growth was slowing but not stopping and still spreading further anyway. His boots, despite looking like they were soft, flattened them and kept them down and his entire form glowed. Ani stepped in behind him almost immediately, having to sprint slightly to keep up and Hiraga fell in behind her, finding himself having to do the same. He didn't look back to see if Sasi and Tricker were following but he could tell from the sounds of the footsteps that they were.

While the flowers continued to bloom, where Kaguya trampled on them they did not, or at least could not grow nearly as fast as they could. Hiraga mostly concentrated on keeping up as it turned out that Kaguya was extraordinarily fast-though he supposed that wasn't so surprising considering that he was actually a wild animal. Either way, it felt like forever before they finally reached a place that was not choked with hydrangeas and they were all able to walk a little easier.

"I cannot move further than this in this form at night, but I will light the rest of the way. If you follow the lights, you will be able to get back out. Whatever you hear or see for the rest of the night, keep to the path you've been on. You will not be able to protect anyone if you get lost in here again."

"Wait, you're leaving us?" Hiraga asked. "What is that that happened?"

Kaguya's smile was a gentle one.

"That is something best left unsaid."

"Did this happen to them, too? The five girls who disappeared here?" Tricker asked.

Something flickered on Kaguya's face and he lowered his head briefly.

"That was…that was a thread beyond my reach. But you….if you go, you are safe."

Kaguya lifted his arm and pointed, and a wave of magic sprayed out of his hands, looking like tiny purplish-blue fireflies as they streamed forward and created a path.

"Go now. I'll wait until your backs are turned before transforming."

This confused Hiraga until he remembered Tricker's reaction when Kaguya had first appeared. He wanted to ask more, but he could tell that whatever he asked they were simply going to be told to go, so he cleared his throat and nodded.

"Alright, we'll go. Thank you, Kaguya-san."

"My pleasure."

As with the hydrangeas, Ani led the way and Hiraga followed directly behind her with Tricker and Sasi taking up the rear. This time, following the lights, the journey was a lot quicker and they were soon out of the forest.

"Oh Goddess, are you guys okay?"

Yara ran over to them with Quiet close behind, both of them holding up their lamps, with the star chains Yara had around her neck providing further illumination.

"What happened?" she asked in a loud whisper. "And why are you….are those hydrangea petals in your hair?"

"Yes, they started blooming mysteriously in the forest!" Ani exclaimed back.

"What?" Quiet asked quizzically.

Hiraga looked over his shoulder, but the forest was completely quiet and dark again. If Kaguya was still there, he'd clearly transformed back into a panther and was now blended into the darkness. What on earth was that? Sighing, he turned back and between him, Ani and Sasi, the strange story of what had happened gradually came out. Only Tricker didn't say a word, and when the explanation had finished Quiet's first reaction was to look at him.

"Do you need some vetiver?"

"I have some." Tricker said quietly.

He reached slowly into his belt and carefully took out a vial. His fingers trembled slightly and almost immediately Sasi took it out of his hands and unscrewed the lid for him. Rather than simply hand it back though, she tipped some out into her hand and then carefully rubbed it across his forehead, each movement slow and careful and tender. Hiraga had to look away and found himself looking at Quiet instead, who was staring in concern at his friend.

"I don't know what it is, and I won't ask," Quiet said to Tricker. "But you won't be hurt anymore."

"Yeah, I know."

It was the type of response that clearly radiated I'm not talking about this anymore, and Quiet seemed to get this as he simply nodded and waited for Sasi to finish helping Tricker. When she did and stepped back, Quiet asked:

"How many more hours left?"

"Just a couple." Ani answered.

"Okay," Quiet nodded. "Shall we spread out in pairs for the final stretch, then?"

"Are we…are we not going to do anything about the hydrangeas?" Yara asked.

"It's too dangerous," Hiraga said bluntly. "If it wasn't for Kaguya-san, we wouldn't have managed to get out."

"Ah, okay."

"I wonder why hydrangeas…." Quiet mused. "I feel like there's something significant about the fact it's those flowers, there's something important about them…"

"They're supposed to be protective flowers, and can symbolise great emotions too…though I'm not sure how that makes sense for this situation…." Yara mused, biting her lip. "Maybe we should call a meeting about it or something. Or I'll ask my friends."

"That might be an idea but for now, I think pairing like Quiet said will be fine. Yara, want to pair with me?" Ani asked.

"Sure!"

Yara and Ani went over one end, while Tricker and Sasi inevitably loped off together to the other, leaving Hiraga with Quiet in the middle.

"Are you alright?" Quiet asked softly.

Hiraga felt his cheeks heat up slightly.

"Yeah, I guess so," he said, scratching his head. "I didn't get hurt or anything, it was mostly just weird."

Quiet nodded, studying Hiraga carefully before suddenly reaching out to his hair. Hiraga gawped until Quiet's hand pulled away and revealed a cluster of differently coloured hydrangea petals.

"Oh my goodness, they got everywhere, huh?"

Quiet chuckled, and let them scatter away. A moment or two passed in silence as they scanned the area, looking for any other disturbances, before Hiraga got over his momentary embarrassment and decided to ask something that had been niggling at him.

"That thing you said to Tricker about not knowing what something is…."

Quiet tilted his head slightly at Hiraga and appeared to consider this for a moment before he nodded, apparently coming to a decision of some sort.

"I have…I guess what you would call mild mind-reading abilities."

Whatever it was Hiraga had been expecting, it was not that. As he scrambled for a response, Quiet went on:

"Not a proper mind-reading, I cannot actually see another person's thoughts as they think them. It's more like the…basic emotion of the thoughts, the general gist. I call it their 'intent'. And it's a sensation I feel rather than something I see with my mind's eye, anyway, so it cannot rightly be called any sort of reading. It's also kind of compensatory, though not by much."

"Compensatory?" Hiraga asked.

"Yeah, I…"

Quiet paused, ducked his head slightly before looking up and meeting Hiraga's eyes with a surprising level of intensity.

"I can't read facial expressions, so well. I've learnt, over the years that a mouth going in a certain direction is a smile and that's usually happy while forehead creases are frowns and so forth but it's like…well, I guess learning a magic type that isn't your specialism, or a different region's specific language. It's easier when I know someone well, but apart from that I mostly have to rely on intent…even though sometimes I know face-emotions and intent-emotions don't match."

"So…my face, or Tricker's or any of your other friends."

"Tricker's a bad example, even though he's not actively shielding his thoughts he's good at locking them down, though the occasional thing crops up when he's struggling. Usually when it's noisy, or like now when Kaguya-san scared him. I think it's Kaguya-san, anyway-I got the image of the panther."

"I thought you didn't see actual thoughts?"

"If it's a single feeling, and intense enough, I can occasionally make out words and images. But it's very rare, only in cases of very, very strong feelings." Quiet said.

"Oh. Well, that explains a lot."

Unexpectedly, Quiet smiled.

"Like how it was I knew you were going to try and trick me during that first ever Mixed Melee Combat lesson?" he teased.

"I-that is…yeah," Hiraga sputtered, laughing a little. "Yeah, like that. But you know, knowing that is useful for me?"

Quiet's expression became quizzical.

"How?"

"Well, how shall I put it…there's something I think I'm going to tell you soon. Now doesn't feel a good time for it, for obvious reasons-"Hiraga paused to gesture at their surroundings. "But there is something, um, feelings related that I want to tell you one day so when I've worked up the courage for that I might want to think it at you. Intend it at you, so you can see without me trying to find the perfect words."

"Hmmmm…."

Quiet pondered on this, and then smiled again.

"You know, I think I may have a vague idea of what that might be."

"Oh?"

"Just a vague idea…there are little bits of emotion here and there I've picked up on…and if I'm interpreting those blushes right, I think I can be confident in that idea."

"Oh, are you now?" Hiraga tried for teasing. "Care to share?"

"Nah," Quiet said nonchantly as he stuck his hands in his pocket. "I'm going to wait for you to intend directly at me. But, for what it's worth…if I am right about the general gist of what you might telling me soon…the answer would be yes."

Now Hiraga's cheeks were flaming, but he couldn't help but grin ear to ear.

"Well then, I'll be sure to confirm your theory soon."

"I'll be looking forward to it."

Quiet's smile broadened for a moment, and Hiraga savoured the sight of it before the two of them returned to silence and resumed their watch.

…

"Negi would have wanted you to look for her."

Mist should have just walked off after saying No. She should have, but as always Julka's voice tugged at her and kept her there, annoyance spreading all over her, prickling. She had made it clear that she wasn't interested, had made it clear so many times but still Julka came. And she knew that Mist had been up all night, would most likely be up tonight too. Mist knew that she was aware of the Night Patrol, given that she'd stormed in on their founding meeting weeks ago and yet she had still come.

"How dare….how dare you?"

Mist had to count to ten, and then another ten just to make sure she didn't let loose. Not least because she didn't want to cause more of a scene. And because maybe she was right. Maybe Negi was somewhere, wondering why her friend didn't come for her if she…

No. No, don't think like that. She's dead, she's dead. That was the only thing that Mist could believe in order to be able to keep going at all. She had to believe that what was done was done, and that the only way was to look forward and try and prevent anything else horrible from happening. Just like she was doing now, with the Night Patrol.

But wouldn't it be good to know how it happened, at least? Even if she believed that there was no hope of finding any of their friends alive, or even those five poor freshmen, she had to admit she wanted whoever had been responsible to face some kind of justice and she knew that there was no way of getting justice without a culprit being found. And a culprit could not be found without an investigation.

This is so hard. She stared at Julka, her face creased and eyes so wide and beseeching behind her glasses. One lens had a smudge in the middle, yet Julka seemed oblivious.

"Milo." Mist found herself saying, eventually.

"Who?"

"Negi's cat…tiny little thing, runt of the litter. You remember, don't you, the sweetshop owner's cat, down the road?"

Julka nodded slowly.

"Anyway, nobody else would have this kitten so Negi adopted him and we kept him in our dorm room and they…became inseparable…wherever she went, Milo went too. I never liked cats, but he was sweet to her, and she loved cats, naturally, so I lived with it."

Julka kept nodding, though Mist couldn't tell if she fully remembered. That was fair, she supposed, since to Julka, Negi would have been more of a friend-of-a-friend. Mist waited for a response, and after a few moments the puzzlement turned into a deep frown.

"What about the cat?"

"It's still around on the grounds somewhere-"

"Wait, the cat's been around all this time and you didn't think-"

"I thought the cat had gone with Negi!" Mist snapped. "I told you, Milo went where Negi went so I thought they were both lost. But other students have seen him around recently so…clearly, he didn't."

"Oh."

Mist glowered, but remembered she was sharing this information for a reason and let out a breath.

"Anyway, if you find him, that girl Cookie, she's a diviner, right? If anyone knows what she was up to before she disappeared it will be him and Cookie should be able to get it out of him."

Mist sighed and looked down at her shoes, hating herself of resenting a cat, for Goddess' sake. But this was a cat who'd been around in Negi's final moments, who'd seen what could have happened. Mist had not. She had been her roommate and supposed to be able to look out for her, but she hadn't. She'd always hate that about herself.

Trying hard to hold herself together, she waited for Julka to absorb this information. She wondered, briefly, if she should mention the hydrangeas but decided against it. They weren't even there anymore, after all, so what would Julka gain from going in the forest alone and unguarded as she would no doubt do in response to such news? Nothing, that was what.

So, telling her about Milo would just have to be enough.

"Thank you." Julka said softly, simply.

Mist didn't know if Julka was going to say anything else, or even if she wanted to, but she made a point of nodding curtly and starting to walk away, though not without saying:

"Just don't come looking for me again. I'm done with this all, Julka. I'm done."

…

Having heard that Professor Shippa had apparently taken ill, Cookie decided to take the opportunity to see if she could get into the personal library once again. She wasn't sure quite how she was going to get into the space, considering that the door had apparently been re-magiced away again and she definitely didn't want to have any of the non-magical kids tag along either. She didn't want any company for this, which was why she was currently very glad that Julka and Frost were still in lessons.

Creeping down the corridor, despite the fact it was empty, she looked at the note attached to the door, calm and generic and apologising for the 'inconvenience' while directing students to independent reading depending on their year group and class. In other words, much the same as any of the teacher absences after Headmaster Cher had fainted and the absences had become a regular occurrence. Along with random renovations, mysterious clouds causing ailments of the mind, a random swamp and disappearances…to say nothing of mind-games and memory loss. It was a mess, is what it was, and the existence of this room was one of the first big leads she felt she had.

She'd been itching to get back to it for the past few weeks.

Inside the classroom, she stood in front of the wooden panelling, trying to remember what the door had looked like. I should have taken a photograph, shouldn't I? What did Kura do? In her mind, she pictured him kneeling down, poking into the lock…

"Okay, so…"

Cookie knelt down where she thought the lock had been, took out the toothpick and paperclip she had secreted away in her pockets for these purposes, then poked them where she thought the lock would be. To her surprise, she felt it scratch against something, so she moved it to the side a little, up and down a few times until she felt it slip in a hole. Yes. Concentrating, she poked it in and manoeuvred until she heard the tell-tale click and the door pushed open, slowly starting to appear as she stepped in. As she had the last time, she took off her shoes and used them to wedge the door before doing anything else.

Most of the books that had been on the table the last time had been put back on the shelves, and where there were still gaps, she couldn't see the corresponding books anywhere. Cookie remembered that the spines had been labelled with the years according to Sera, and that the majority had been within the 300 year span that the academy had been open. Sera hadn't been able to tell her any more, since it seemed like she'd looked through some of the earlier ones and the accounts had been fairly mundane. Though that didn't mean anything, necessarily. Cookie still hadn't got a grasp on precisely how long everything had been happening. The clouds, a few years as far as she could ascertain, and the disappearances only last year. But beyond, that, no clue.

But there'd been something she'd been thinking of looking at and so she crossed to the room where the labelled metal storage boxes were. She'd only got a glance at them the last time she was there, but she was sure that she had seen something important and sure enough, when she got there she saw that each one was labelled with a name. A staff member's name. The only one that didn't have a name was simply labelled Me instead, which was self-explanatory enough. Cookie immediately reached for Professor Arianna's, and though she was disappointed it was locked, she wasn't surprised. The paperclip came out of her pocket again, and she crouched down to fiddle with the lock. When she got it, she slid the drawer open.

A photo stared back at her.

Very quickly, she realised that it was a larger version of the same photograph that had been framed on the wall, but larger and with more detail. Clearly, the other copy had been a zoomed in one, but this one must have been the original. The young woman she knew to be Rielle smiled and danced, but now Cookie could see that her arm was extended out and that she hadn't been dancing on her own, but with a young man. It took Cookie a moment to recognise him as a somewhat younger Professor Kenta. There were other people in the background, but too indistinct for Cookie to be able to tell who they were.

Slowly, Cookie picked the photograph up, trying to understand what it meant. There were a sheaf of other papers, and underneath a book that was bound in a similar way to the one on the shelves. On the front, The Angel Tree was printed in silver, with the same words along the spine. No year.

"Hold on, wasn't this…yes, this might have been…"

Putting it down on the table, she sifted through the other papers, skimming as she knew this wasn't really what she needed to know. Or, it was possible it was relevant, but it wasn't the reason she was looking and she knew that wasn't good enough. But she had to know how it could be possible that this woman had existed as she had existed.

Okay, at least look through the book about the tree first. The tree is a part of the school, so it might not be completely irrelevant. Reluctantly, Cookie picked the book back up and sat down on the floor, momentarily admiring the fluffiness of the carpet before opening the book and carefully reading through it.

It turned out that the reason the tree was in the South Corridor as it was in the first place was…a total accident. The details weren't elaborated on in the book, but it did mention that the ashes were meant to be scattered in the garden, the same way Lowen's had allegedly been put in the stones of the courtyard and Eita's in the river. Once again though, the details weren't specified, but there was enough to make it clear that the choices were not just a memorial related to the magic the deceased fighters had had, but a way of harnessing what remained of their magic, potentially as some sort of protective charm.

So the school was built on necromancy, huh? I wonder why that's never mentioned…Cookie made a mental note to ask Julka whether she knew anything about this, and after jotting down a few things in the notepad she'd brought along with her, she kept reading through.

…bears some resemblance to alder, ash and larch trees with some features of the elm but is clearly none of these and does not appear to be any of the more esoteric tree species…

…tree appears to enjoy music, as Rielle herself did, responding by glowing brighter in the presence…also calms when tree gets accidentally gets injured…

…the leaves, once they have fallen, can be made into a powder that has protective properties similar to the common trees that the Angel Tree resembles and the tree itself appears to be a protective charm…

"The tree itself appears to be a protective charm…what?" Cookie frowned as she almost skipped over that section.

She flicked back and read more closely, and read that the presence of the Angel Tree had helped in certain Storm Moons where the usual storm defences woven into the building itself hadn't been effective enough. The part of the South Wing in which the tree grew had managed to remain completely untouched no matter how severe the damage had been, even back when the wings of the building had literally been the wings and not separate buildings altogether. Some leaf powder had apparently been mixed into the cement after a particularly bad Storm Moon had required renovations which had improved the resilience of the various parts of the building, but by and large any further modifications paled in comparison to that the Angel Tree offered.

Cookie considered this, and made a note of the dates that particular storms had prompted renovations with the intention of looking in the books relating to those years in particular.

Ah, hold on a minute…could this be why…? Cookie looked for any reference to taking cuttings from the tree, or planting it elsewhere but found nothing.

"That has to be what they're doing though, it has to be."

Cookie made to get up, to put everything away back into the Professor Arianna-labelled drawer, when she hesitated. Ah, I've already potentially found one thing out, let me just do this…Picking up one of the piles of papers which happened to be tied with an old sky-blue ribbon, she realised it was a series of letters, all of them written to Rielle although a number of them addressed her as 'Elly'. She glanced at the bottom to see that they were apparently from Professor Kenta. Cookie raised an eyebrow, looking at the photograph again, before then reading the letter on the top of the pile. She didn't dare to untie the ribbon, as it looked so delicate, but it didn't impede her ability to read it.

Elly,

I could probably wait until I get back to tell you this, but I don't want to wait, especially as things are so bad over here. But I think that we should get married the moment this war ends once and for all. The day itself, or even the day after. I would have liked the beautiful venue, the music and food and decorations and the works, just like you would have. But we don't need it. You're as beautiful in combat wear and messy hair as you are in your usual dresses, as you would be in a wedding gown.

And if we have your sister, and Cher and Hades and Mischa and Ryn and Shippa and everyone else, if we have your parents and above all if we have each other, who cares if we get married in a camp instead of the village temple? If the day is simply the ceremony and rushed paperwork and then food and laughter by the fire instead of a proper celebration, who cares? All we need are the only things that matter, and we don't need fanciness for that.

So let us wait until this war is over, and no longer than that. After all, I think we'll need a little light to remind us that there is still good in the world by the time that everything is done, and I don't care what the world says about twin sisters, you're as bright as Arianna. Brighter, to me.

You are my everything.

I will see you soon.

With love,

Kenta.

Cookie swallowed as she reached the end, then glanced at the date before flicking back. The letter turned out to be the most recent, and it was clearly the final one. Getting up, gathering all the materials but keeping the letter close, she wondered if the reply would be somewhere in Kenta's drawers, or if he himself kept them. If he pored over the words of his lost love all these centuries later, lamenting whatever it was that had killed her. Dreaming of that happy day that had never happened. She wanted to know more, understand everything.

See, Cookie, they cannot be that bad surely if they accepted a mirror sister so openly, a voice that sounded like Julka's said in her head.

"No, dammit, don't think like that. It doesn't excuse this, doesn't excuse any of this!" Cookie exclaimed. "Also, head-voice, stop sounding like Julka, she doesn't even know this place exists let alone that Profe-actually, no, that Rielle did!"

The head-voice didn't deign to reply, in Julka's voice and otherwise and briefly Cookie hoped that occasionally Julka's head voice would sound like her. With that semi-pleasant thought in mind Cookie took a breath, and then she quickly put the documents back in the drawer and went over to the bookshelf, referring to her notes to look at the various records relating to the Storm Moon damages. It didn't take her too long, with the records more or less confirming what had been documented in the book about the tree itself with some extra details about the things that had been damaged and how they had been fixed. The most recent storm had been four years prior though, and while in all the other books things had been resolved, Shippa had noted that the defences had weakened a lot more than would have otherwise been expected with the age that they are, even though they are the most powerful magic for buildings that we know of. It is more than likely we have reached the stage where Snow's deterioration is now having a direct impact on Kawaakari itself…

Cookie read, and the rest of the page went on in a similar vein, alluding to past events, something about pacts and lotuses and how these linked to 'losing mortality' as the Professors tended to call it, enough to make her head spin. She had no idea what any of those things had to do with each other, but she suspected that she wasn't supposed to. All the same she did her best to summarise the page in her notes, writing the date in particular before slipping the book back into place and wondering where to go from there.

Hold on a moment, the storms last year didn't cause such damage, did they? Cookie suddenly remembered. Of course, as she'd realised, Kawaakari were clearly capable of manipulating memory on a large scale and they may have done something with the newspapers too. But there had been no mention of the previous year in the book about the tree. She sighed and shook her head and went to the very end of the shelves, crouching down to get the most recent book only to see that Professor Shippa had started writing in it just last month. She put that one back, then got the one before and was pleased to see that this one began the year before, halfway through Dark Moon.

"Eve and Delilah came into Tutor Time with different outfits today. I'm used to the both of them making various creative modifications to their uniforms, especially Delilah. However, these were different clothes altogether, which isn't necessarily an issue as plenty of students wear their own clothes and always have. It is more so that these clothes would be too dark without their gold details, and that they seem like a uniform of their own. Though with that being said, when I saw the boys later in the day they had white trousers or part-white trousers as part of their new uniforms so the darkness may not be that much of an issue. But I suppose that's the thing, that it's a new uniform. And perhaps it could be seen as just a way for the club to bond, but although the outfits are impeccable, nothing wrong with them on the surface-certainly, Bin is over the moon as her work-study student is the one who designed them. I don't know, there's something that makes me feel a little unsettled. Certainly, none of them need more reason to gain admiring glances than they already do…"

Cookie raised an eyebrow, both at the fact Professor Shippa seemed so unsettled by clothes by all things, and the fact that apparently Ruby Reiko had designed the clothes that the Elite Chess Club members had taken to wearing. Professor Shippa went onto describe the clothes in a little more detail, as well as some of the reactions the six had gained as well as how those reactions had been responded to before then moving onto describing some other event that didn't seem that important to Cookie. She found herself pleased that there was further proof that those people had existed, and quickly slipped her phone out and took a photograph of the pages. She had a mind to send them to Ariadne, having got the sense that for some reason the Elite Chess Club had become particularly important to the little bluenette. But in the end she decided it'd be safer to simply try and show her, later. Cookie skimmed through the other couple pages dedicated to that day, and then flicked to the next one.

"We failed," the entry opened. "We thought that perhaps this would work but it did not. Another girl disappeared, this time -"

"Oh, so it's you who has managed to break in here."

Cookie whipped around, the book slipping out of her hands as she saw Headmistress Hades standing there, smirking. She felt her heart go to her throat but she did her best to stand tall, squaring her shoulders in a way similar to that photograph from three hundred years ago. Headmistress Hades raised an eyebrow and crossed the room.

"It seems like that you have some abilities we didn't know about. Or perhaps you had some help?"

Cookie, despite herself, thought immediately of Kura picking a lock that had seemed invisible to her until it was picked and crowing in jubilation. But almost immediately after she pushed it down, down as far as possible, burying it so that it wouldn't be seen.

"I could dig that out, you know." Headmistress Hades remarked, still smirking.

"I know you could, but technically that is illegal and I do not think my father'd be best pleased."

Headmistress Hades' eyebrow twitched again, and then she knelt down, her skirts pooling as she picked up the book. She didn't say anything, and didn't have to. To most people who actually had any knowledge of Cookie's family it was clear that there was no love lost between them. However, she also knew that he was all about maintaining face, and that even if he wouldn't care if she died from having her mind dug into he'd resent the slander to his family name that the deed would represent. It was one of the many things she hated, but she figured that she may as well use it while she was still stuck with her family.

"Well, I suppose you're not going to answer me, are you?"

Headmistress Hades stood up and with a flash of light, made the book disappear. Cookie startled, and then looked at the shelf to see that the book was now back where it had belonged. When she looked back at the headmistress, her smirk had faded away.

"This space is private, Professor Shippa isn't pleased that it has been broken into."

"What, afraid all your secrets are going to get out?" Cookie asked, reminding herself to stand steady.

"Ragna-"

"Cookie, it's Cookie."

The name instantly chopped at her defences, and she wrapped her arms around herself as if she could physically pull them back together again. There was no hiding that from Headmistress Hades but thankfully she did not mention it further.

"Cookie. You have no idea what you are talking about."

"Why do you think I'm here?" Cookie shot back. "To get an idea, to find out the truth about what you're doing to us!"

The moment she said it, she could have kicked herself as Headmistress Hades tilted her head slightly, the teardrop pendants on today's headdress moving and tinkling as she considered Cookie.

"As I said, you have no idea what you're talking about. There is so much…so much more at stake than you could possibly imagine, although I am sure that after rootling around a private space you imagine you already know everything. Adolescence is like that, I know. Despite how long ago it was for me, I remember it well. "

Cookie bristled, and the words spilled out of her before she could stop them:

"How is it you're getting away with all of this…nine girls, missing? Over the course of…when did Lunar disappear? Was it the Leaf Moon, or was it the month before? Either way, that's just over a year. Nine girls in just over a year. I don't know about you but literally any other school, even the ones who come close to Kawaakari, if nine girls disappeared in a year, if there-if there was a mysterious rise in ailments of the mind caused by an outside influence, if the teachers were gripped by a sickness…there'd be scandal. Everyone would be scrambling to pull their precious little darlings out of here, even if they aren't all that precious to them. And yet you're here, magicking it all away so…so what?"

In the nick of time, Cookie managed to hold back from mentioning the Elite Chess Club, sensing that perhaps that could be a step too far, a step too dangerous. Headmistress Hades' head straightened and her glare deepened, eyes flashing.

"You little…arrogant, aren't you?"

"That doesn't answer the question."

"And you think you are entitled to ask questions, do you? What is it that you are trying to tear apart this school for?"

"The truth."

Headmistress Hades laughed, tipping her head back, her headdress jangling again. Cookie stood there, rooted to the spot, watching her and waiting. To her surprise though, Headmistress Hades walked over to the window, and beckoned Cookie over. Cautiously, she obeyed, standing by the curtain so she wouldn't be seen by the window and watched Headmistress Hades as she gazed out of the window with a stony expression.

"This school was built in the wake of a war. Almost immediately, once our comrades were buried and avenged and the battlefields finally cleared of the corpses, we started. We didn't want anything like that to happen ever again, we wanted the world to be better equipped to battle the darknesses that life could throw at us. Kawaakari is more than a school for talented young magicians, it is a beacon."

"Comrades like Eita, Lowen…and Rielle." Cookie tested.

Headmistress Hades' head turned to Cookie, eyes flashing before just for a moment, they softened.

"Rielle was never an example of the darkness. I will give you that much, since you know about her. She would have been here, teaching if she had survived. We would have had her team-teaching with Yanovi, perhaps some counselling too. She was looking forward to being a mother, you see, despite..."

Cookie watched as Headmistress Hades' swallowed before turning back to the window, not finishing that thought. Despite everything, Cookie desperately wanted her to say more about Rielle, but it soon became clear that wasn't to be:

"In any case, what I really need to emphasise is that we would do anything for Kawaakari. For our legacy, our comrades' legacy and even the Goddess' herself. Anything, so-"

Now, the headmistress turned fully to face Cookie, her eyes seeking out Cookie's. Even though her mouth was grim, the sleepy lids suggested a taunt, a challenge.

"So," Headmistress Hades' continued. "I suggest that you take yourself and your meddling and your accusations out of here. However you managed to find this door, you will not find it again and I do not recommend you trying to do so, nor-"

Her words cut out abruptly, her gaze resting on something beyond Cookie's shoulder, but when Cookie whipped around she didn't see anything, just the shelves that she'd been standing at just moments before and when she looked back at Headmistress Hades again her eyes had become unfocused, glazed and her mouth slightly parted. She remained like that for a few seconds before abruptly, she spun back to the window, pressed up against the glass.

"No…"

Cookie frowned and peered through the window herself. For a moment, all she saw was a small slice of the school grounds, bordered by a portion of Aeternum. And then she blinked and found herself leaning closer, looking at the flash of purple and brown, half hidden by bushes but still very, very much there. Nearby, there were flowers blooming, and it took Cookie a moment to realise what type of flower they were and when it clicked, her stomach started to churn:

Hydrangeas.

"We need to deal with the situation before any of the students-"

"What, looking to cover this one up, too?" Cookie snapped, the churning momentarily suspended.

Headmistress Hades 'murmur abruptly stopped and she turned to look at Cookie. The unfocused glaze had disappeared, and as her mouth slowly curved into the smirk she'd worn at the beginning, the silver of her eyes seemed not so much a colour as they seemed to be a flash of a blade in the sunlight.

A blade, slicing cold into Cookie's mind.

As the fear slashed through every last fibre of her irritation, setting the churning off again, Cookie didn't need telling twice. She didn't press further, try to look back out of the window again to get a better sense of what was going on.

She just ran.

Scrambling to the door, she flung it open and then flung herself through it before tumbling out of the classroom itself and careening down the corridor, not caring that she almost bumped into multiple people on the way. Her only thought that was she needed to get to Julka, that at least Julka needed to know what had happened before it either reached her on the gossip vines or before it got erased from memory.

"Have you seen Julka?" she called to anyone she vaguely recognised as a second year. "Have you seen her? I need to talk to her?"

Each time though, the answer was just a 'no' or an odd look and so she kept going, along corridors, up the stairs, down the stairs, across the grounds. Have you seen Julka, have you seen her? Over and over and over, barely stopping for breath.

"Yo, Chocolate Chip, class is that way!"

That made Cookie skid to a stop, flailing to keep upright and not fully understanding why. She whipped around to see Kura, Mikelz, Char and Kay standing in a huddle in the corridor and all she could do was gawp at them.

"Hey, you okay?" Kay asked, frowning. "You're not even wearing shoes."

"I…what?"

Cookie looked down, and it took her a moment to comprehend that her toes were stripy-or, in other slightly less weird terms, that she was not wearing shoes.

"Oh…hold on, wait a minute, did one of you just call me Chocolate Chip?"

"Yeah, it was him." Kura said immediately, pointing to Mikelz.

"Hey!"

"I hate you, Kura." Cookie managed to deadpan.

"What? I'm not the one who said it."

Kura did a fake-sad look which Cookie rolled her eyes at.

"Yeah, but I bet you're the one who thought it so...anyway, that's not important!"

Well aware that she was leaving spluttering protests in her wake, Cookie spun around and continued running, barely managing to swerve the various students going to and from classes until all of a sudden she bumped into someone.

"Hey, watch where you're-oh, Cookie, where's the fire?"

"Reo!" Cookie gasped. "Reo, where's Julka? Have you seen her?"

"It's sempai to you, and also damn Julka is popular today huh? Meanwhile I'm just chopped liver."

Cookie gave Reo a look and the pigtailed girl sighed and relented.

"She went that way, but I should let you know she was chasing a cat so…yeah, I don't know if she'll even still be in that area."

Cookie had started running almost as soon as Reo had pointed, but the mention of the cat made her pause for a moment, long enough to remember to call out 'thank you!' before shaking her head and continuing on in the direction of the greenhouse. As she got closer, she heard two voices talking-one was Julka's and one she didn't know as such but she vaguely recognised. Her feet were starting to throb now, and there was a stitch in her side so Cookie had to slow down, feeling like she was dragging herself to the doorway but she somehow managed to get there.

Julka was indeed standing there, holding a small black cat in her arms as she frowned at Robyn, who looked incredibly nervous. Both of them turned to Cookie almost immediately.

"Cookie?" Julka exclaimed. "What is it…?"

"I…" Cookie gulped, trying to get her breath back. "I…."

Another pause, as she remembered Headmistress Hades' cold-blade eyes. But she also remembered the hydrangeas, the brown of a carelessly flung limb and the purple that had been Lunar's favourite colour to wear. I'm here to tell, remember? I'm here to tell. And then…I can't let being scared stop me. I just can't. She had been talked to of the stakes that she couldn't know of, but it seemed obvious that there was just as much as stake if she didn't do anything. So she recalled the photograph, made herself stand strong like that again and said:

"Lunar's dead."

---

And here we have it, the final chapter of Part 1, or the section of the story that roughly covers Round 1 based content. The next chapter is an interlude to kick off Part 2 (so, the Round 2 based chapters) but of course Part 2 will only really start in earnest once Round 2 is ended. I'm looking forward to it!