Author's Note: I do not own this Japanese horror RPG.

Chapter 4: Vex

"I'm thinking of giving a petition to expel Sakamoto out of the school. If that doesn't work, at least I'll have a spare one to just put him in the lower classes."

A mixed reaction developed from all six of Ayumi Shinozaki's closest friends.

"All he's done is just skip several lessons." Satoshi muttered.

Ayumi stared at him. "He skips them without fail."

"Doesn't really ring to me as a hassling thing, Ayumi-chan." This was the voice of Seiko, who was somehow cheeky despite the seriousness present in her class representative. "That's practically the only school offence he ever does."

"Yeah. And has anyone else in the class ever did that continuously?" Ayumi didn't wanted to make her annoyance all too obvious sounding. However, everyone begged to differ after the way she started things off today when she was hanging out with her friends on lunch break, by once again being prone to speak about the various detriments that were present in the school she cared for.

What an understatement, she practically lived for this place.

Anyways, the current topic right now was badmouthing the newcomer Kenneth again, the one that nobody, okay, maybe not everyone, wanted to be interested about. It was just coming from only one person in the group. The other five were strictly out of the equation…more or less right?

"Kishinuma did." Seiko said, then a cat grin split across her face. "Once."

Ayumi was positively annoyed at the mention of the beach blonde. "And?"

"Someone made him possible to this group of misfits!" Seiko chuckled, spreading her arms gleefully to affirm her statement. Satoshi couldn't help but grin himself, being reminded of the earlier conversation he had with Yoshiki. Ayumi simply huffed in response. She didn't really do much besides keeping that punk in check…though his behavior has gotten better over time, admittedly.

A much shorter girl with a single pink hair ornament decorating her hair, who seated herself next to Morishige at the edge of the walkway, commented. "Sakamoto is a bad seed and all, I get that, but this petition thing seems kinda extreme…Ayumi-chan."

Ayumi responded bluntly. "He's a nerve wrecker for crying out loud Mayu. And I'm not the only one in the entire grade here wanting Sakamoto out."

"Yeah, but…" Mayu sounded unsure of herself. Like most of the students, she kept herself out of Sakamoto's way, opting to remain as anonymous as possible as to not incur the boy's annoyance. He was awfully annoyed of everything in particular actually, and Mayu herself was fine enough with not socializing much with the fellow. Which brought her to another point, he hardly talks to anyone unless he's asked to. That too depended on his mood for conversations, but the length of his sentences was never failingly short and curt.

As long as he gets reminded of the various events that were about to occur in the school so that he does not entirely seem ignorant of everything in particular, the acquaintanceship they shared was…well, it stayed at the passing classmate stage and it never progressed at all.

In truth, the timid girl was unnerved by the extremely closeted introvert. She wouldn't say this out loud though. Ayumi already has a plate full of complaints regarding him.

However, the undeniable fact remained that he was their classmate. Classmates weren't supposed to just try to eject one another from the class.

"Don't you any other solutions Ayumi-chan? I mean, can't you knock some sense into him like what you usually do to the 'jerks' present in our school?" Mayu asked with a hopeful tone. The stoic Morishige took a glance from sipping his drink, and raised an inquisitive eyebrow when he heard the timid girl next to him asking such a question.

Ayumi clutched her hands together on her lap, sighing. "It's not that simple. He's a darn fox, always managing to slip his way out of things."

"He managed to slip by you, our amazing class representative. Our boss of the class?!" Seiko's jaw comically dropped right in front of Ayumi's face. The bluenette then made a feeble attempt to push her friend's face off with her dainty hand.

"He doesn't slip by me, he..." Her mouth twisted to form a grimace. "He talks me down."

Seiko stopped her comical antics, her big amber eyes shining with interest. "Talks you out?"

Ayumi nodded. She didn't really wished to elaborate…for her pride has already been wounded enough.

"Sakamoto is a shrewd fellow." Morishige, who usually would leave the most uncommon remarks or comments in the group, spoke up for Ayumi. "Sharp witted and has the mouth to match. I'm willing to say he could talk down our high nosed prick of a P.E. teacher Tsubata."

Naomi, who was sitting opposite Morishige and Mayu, and somewhat at a moderate distance from Satoshi, provided a vivid reminder concerning Sakamoto. "Remember how he told off Tsubaki-senpai who caught him skipping class one day? Ogawa-sensei had to keep Tsubaki on a leash because Sakamoto took things too far with his words. Later on, things managed to cool off for everyone, but Tsubaki-senpai…he just wilted out."

"Wilted out?"

"He has been depressed since the incident." Ayumi answered Mayu in a matter-of-fact tone. Mayu's mouth formed a perfect O for a second, getting the fact through her head, before she decided dropped in the next curious query. She's been avoiding him so much, she hadn't really been aware of how many aspects had the school were affected since the day Kenneth had enrolled here.

"What happened?"

Ayumi gritted her teeth. "Sakamoto told him to keep the role as a monitor for a school corridor and shove it down in his uptight ass, and then shit out the rules on someone who actually gives a damn within their free will to abide by them or not, and in Sakamoto's case, of course not."

"Yikes…"

"That's not the worst part." The bluenette sighed. "He took it down to Tsubaki's life ambition to be a corporate leader, and his apparent fake persona he puts up in the public around him and patronized it just to get him out of his way."

Mayu chose not to ask further. It wouldn't do well anyway, Ayumi didn't know much more besides describing this small detail about what Sakamoto did to their once straight minded and dutiful hall monitor.

Tsubaki Hajime was an all rounded exemplary student, admittedly, and carried an aura of respect amongst his peers for he was a man of his job and possessed an authoritative figure that was uncommon among the student body. Many of the younger students had even aspired to become like him, and the girls adored him. Surprisingly all it took was one encounter with the newcomer of the school and the popular senior student everyone once knew was a different person in a blink of an eye. It was if the Tsubaki everyone knew disappeared off the face of the planet.

The hall monitor's position was still vacant up for two months in total. Whether it was because no one thought they could be fit to be anywhere remotely near Tsubaki's expertise of handling the job, or whether it was because the mental shock of seeing Tsubaki crying like a little kid still lingered on everyone's minds.

Ayumi knew better though. And she was still angry about why the matter had not been resolved yet.

"It's a shame Tsubaki became a hollow shell, but he was actually very insecure about himself. You put someone like that with someone like Sakamoto in a locked room with a topic to debate on as the only means to escape with your life…it's pretty obvious who's going to come out the survivor."

Morishige was the only one who made the otherwise blunt statement that no one else wanted to admit, and it was seriously not helping Ayumi's mood right now, however truthful it may sound.

"Shige…haven't you talked with Sakamoto?"

"Eh? About what?"

Ayumi crossed her arms, fixating a hard look at the bespectacled boy. "I think you know what Mayu really meant Sakutaro."

Morishige knew well enough what Mayu was really meaning behind her simple question, she…and perhaps everyone wanted to know if Morishige had ever spoken to Sakamoto regarding his attitude and whether or not Morishige had ever spoken against it, or even commented about it. Considering how nearly similar the two are, and that Sakamoto has only ever spoken to the bespectacled boy without disdain…at the moment the question seemed plausible.

He adjusted his glasses and returning an empty, lidless gaze at Ayumi. "Sakamoto is a private fellow. Too private. "

"What's that supposed to mean?"

"He doesn't talk much."

The whole group just seem to give Morishige the strangest of looks.

"C'mon, isn't there anything he might've voiced his disapproval of…"

Morishige clutched his forehead, rubbing his temples. His annoyance was clear. "Look, I hate to be the spoilsport class rep, but I'm not an inquisitive type. Even if I was, Sakamoto never speaks beyond three sentences and he keeps mostly to himself." He added, "Don't bother pressing on please."

"Yeah, but -."

If it wasn't for Seiko suddenly voicing her disapproval…things might have gotten slightly out of hand here.

"Ne…Ayumi-chan, you're being so tight right now. I thought we came here to have lunch and hang out like a good ol' bunch of friends."

Everyone had their unspoken agreement. Even Ayumi herself, who shouldn't have even brought the disruptive topic up in the first place. Kenneth Sakamoto had no place among this quaint group of friends, the student body, neither in the whole school for that matter. According to how the boy carried himself publicly with an aura of disposition, by staying out of everyone's way, and going about with his own matters without a care in the world…with a catch. He maintains this connection strictly with everyone he comes across. Ayumi deduced he treated everyone else around him as if they were half existent to his train of thought. They basically meant nothing to him. And his intention was to keep it that way.

Why does he want to behave and act in such a way with everyone around him? Was a born asshole or did he have a crappy family life and was he intensifying the cloth he was cut in?

Well…how the hell is she supposed to know when the jerk does not share a normal conversation with anyone?

He sure isn't that rich, he never drives here with a fancy car or gets driven here in a fancy car, nor did he have a cockney accent that indicated he was brought up with a higher culture. Or is he a racist? No! That was stupid. Racism was not tolerated in any schools around the world.

What Ayumi didn't understand is, despite all these obvious negative qualities, he remains an acer in classes…well the classes he actually was good at anyway, and he still attends to some curricular activities, though he never actually does anything relevantly important in them.

And why on Earth is she still thinking about that guy?!

Ayumi's face contorted, angry with herself. That boy was going to get a piece of her mind one of these days and she hoped he rue the day he messed with her.

"Ayumi-chan!" Seiko's voice resounded in her eardrums.

"What?!"

"You zoned out." Seiko giggled. This wasn't a habitual thing, but Ayumi did have the slight tendency to zone out if she was in really deep thought about something important.

And how could Seiko resist asking, "You still thinking about Sakamoto?"

"Eh?!" Ayumi's shaped jaw dropped. "Don't talk nonsense! Why would I ever think about that jerk?!"

A collective loud 'MMHMM' from everyone else only served to intensify her vain denial.

Seiko shrugged, a mischievous lopsided grin decorating her cute features. "C'mon, you're not the only one in the block with the on and off day dream!"

Naomi resisted the urge to facepalm. Satoshi just sat there, blankly wondering what Seiko is talking about. Mayu giggled lightly, and Morishige remained a nonchalant rock.

"Shinohara….what are you implying?"

Seiko giggled again. "Sakamoto might be a jerk to everyone, and everyone kinda hates him for being one…but you can't deny he's a hot piece."

(Ayumi has a vivid imagery of Kenneth smirking amidst a sunny background. The smirk happened to accentuate how handsome he was.)

The rush of blood on Ayumi's cheeks was hilarious. But not as hilarious as her reaction to Seiko's not-to-innocent question. Seiko and the others laughed as Ayumi struggled to form coherent words while trying to hide her face away from prying eyes. The question as expected by Seiko, caught her friend off guard. She couldn't resist the opportunity to tease her friend about the boy that caught everyone's attention in Kisaragi Academy. No one would dare come out stating this fact bravely, but Ken was a walking girl's fantasy of a bad boy who was imperfect, rebellious, and mysterious. A loose walking description more accurately put.

She didn't have to fantasize much. All it took was discerning the gossips around the corridors and the classes to figure it out.

Yet, she herself couldn't deny he was cute. Those focused black eyes and his stout, lean frame, with medium cut hair that sometimes would act as a fringe, and the way he walked gave everyone the impression that he was a walking rogue who didn't take shit yet dealt out more than everyone can account for.

"I missed something important here didn't I?" A new voice caught everyone's attention.

"Kishinuma-kun, took you long enough to get here!" Seiko made a childish pout directed at the approaching Yoshiki. "Ayumi-chan is going bonkers already."

(While Seiko's back is turned, Ayumi's face expands greatly, turns blood red and her ears started spewing out steam like an angry kettle pot, much to the rest of the gang's bewilderments.)

Yoshiki's right eye twitched. "Uh huh…"

"What took you man?" Satoshi asked. "Break's almost over."

"Sakamoto." His curt reply was already enough to incite a further debacle about the current topic he missed.

"Is that so?" Morishige asked. "We were just here talking about him."

Yoshiki snickered, his eyes and cross expression betraying nothing but disdain for the Eurasian he had encountered moments ago. "Doesn't anyone in here have anything better to talk about than just the bastard ruining our peace?"

He was keeping his anger pent up, lest he announced the same question in louder fashion so that the other groups of students present here would…okay would was a long shot, but maybe start paying attention to something more relevant to their once daily routine before Sakamoto came in screwing everyone with his presence alone.

Ayumi sighed. She knew better than to fall victim to the tantamount of gossip and turning it into a designated conversation with half assed rants with her friends. Ironically Yoshiki himself was made a target by Kenneth and judging by his not too obvious frustration…the event was recent and Yoshiki was ill prepared to handle it.

She felt like she should say some words of comfort for the gray eyed bleach blonde…but then she would be more hypocritical than she already was.

Oh no, she wasn't about to let Sakamoto get the best of her. Not today, not tomorrow, not ever.

"Excuse me guys." The bluenette got up and left the area before any of her friends could voice their concerns. Yoshiki especially, looked at her the longest.

Kiko Izuki was not usually someone who'd meddle in the affairs of others. He was an average twelfth grade student, trying to keep himself balance between the average categories with the rest of his friends and keeping himself respectable and nice amongst his peers, and his teachers. A straight minded, studious individual with headstrong views. A typical Japanese teen, simply put.

Today could mark a drastic change. He would never in his wildest thoughts have the balls needed to perform this task, but the temptation of sin just never seemed to fall off the minds of most people. He had spent countless hours debating whether or not this act he was about to do would have its pros and cons, and the end result weighed a lot of the cons and not a single beneficial reward.

What the others may think of his actions would have a severe impact on both him…and his friends. A negative or positive outcome wasn't certain, but the move itself was risky enough for public judgement.

That is if anyone ever found out.

He had a goal in mind today, and with two more of his other friends, who couldn't stop thinking and dwelling on the unresolved matter of Tsubaki Hajime quitting his job as hall monitor, and their respected best friend turned into a manic-depressive stranger.

Kiko's best friend, in fact.

The three of them had all agreed on a secluded area in the school, which was the unused classroom 3-7 of the third floor. Ren had kept close watch for the day and noted that, the coast was clear, and he had procured a set of keys for the classroom. Where he got the keys, even he did not reveal to Kiko.

Kiko led the way, his eyes prowled hungrily in the corridors with every step he took, while the othe two behind him like a pair of hunting dogs. The threesome hardly took notice the presence of the various younger students that offered gestures of respect, as it was somewhat customary to greet your seniors with respect. Kiko however, was all too focused, his hands were sweating and his mind was on a stress overdrive. If he did not confront and end this matter quickly, he would never forgive himself, and he knew for certain Ren and Nara here would berate him for chickening out and they could instead turn their hate riddled anger at him for not standing up for Tsubaki's sake.

Kiko had to be the one to do it after all. It's what a true friend would do anyway.

"You sure he was prowling around the rooftop?"

"That's what the janitor said man. Cockily resting if I might add." The flame haired youth Ren answered Kiko who stopped before the stairway leading to the rooftop.

"Alright, I'm trusting you two to keep the coast clear. Like we planned, no prying eyes and all in here."

The spiky haired Nara grunted fiercely. "Let's get it over with already huh? I didn't get these rings from the department store for a cheap jewelry collection."

"Just stay put here, I'll get him." Kiko was positive he could be shitting bricks right now, but they'd come too far already. His nervousness was being masked with hastily erected gray confidence that seemed to overtake the sensible part of him.

He looked back at the steps, swallowed a gulp, and started the first ascent.

The class representative had no real idea where she was going really. Her sudden instinct went as far to just walk away, recollect her thoughts after ranting out her stress induced mind in front of her friends. Then, blank, blank and blank.

A good walk might've been able to calm her thoughts. Being aimless about it though was actually more pointless than helpful actually. Besides, she wasn't getting any calmer anyway. New anger riddled thoughts crossed her head about how she was going to manhandle (womanhandle?) Kenneth and strap an electric collar on his neck so that he would never dare asshole his way in this school of hers.

The very idea was enticing actually. Though getting an electric collar is expensive…and probably illegal. Her elder sister would disapprove as well…

Man, Seiko was right. I need to cool off. Pocket…phew, nee-san, thanks for the extra change.

The vending machine was just a few more meters away. Regular ice lemon tea should do the trick, hopefully -.

What she saw next nearly made her heart stop.

Three twelfth grade seniors, cheery looking individuals, casually chatting while walking out of a corridor and into the courtyard. Twelve o'clock from her direction.

Ah, crap. Crap crap crap crap, don't panic Ayumi. Keep a straight face and they'll probably just ignore you…

She dared not take the risk of walking past them. Most seniors are pretty likely to shout at their juniors to veer off their way, and they are subjected to provide on and off teasing, mostly to belittle the younger ones for no apparent reason other that guilty fun.

Her eyes fell upon the boy at the middle. He seemed to stand out more than the other two present in her sight...so that meant he was the de facto leader of sorts. And it was pretty obvious what Ayumi tried to do. She stayed where she was, kept her head low, so that not one of them, him specifically, would notice her walking by their way -.

"Hey, aren't you a student from the lower grade?"

Damn.

Ayumi immediately stop trying to blend in the environment. She looked up at the much taller threesome, and trembled a little. They all looked rather intimidating, added with the fact he had rarely ever seen such a strange bunch huddled up together in one spot.

The redhead on the left chuckled. "Aw, she's scared." The spiky haired fellow just glowered at Ayumi, like she was fresh meat.

Then the one in the middle spoke up calmly. His voice was low and commanding. "Hey, give her a break. Both of you."

The redhead kept his cocky smirk directed at her, but the spiky haired fellow just snorted with derision.

The one in the middle, dirty blonde haired, though still displeased with how his friends were behaving, returned his attention on Ayumi, who started to fumble before he could speak first.

"Se-senpai, I should be going actually…sorry for being a bother."

Kiko half smiled, shaking his head at how uncomfortable the bluenette was in front of a bunch of fellows who were all just a grade above hers. He didn't really understand this whole rule that was made up about respecting and fearing your seniors in every Japanese school in the country. It was a bother actually in a societal communication aspect. He found the idea of being friendly with a younger student amusing...just that no one here made it easy for him.

Not everyone in a school can have similar ideals. A pity really.

"Oh no, you're not being a bother…Shinozaki." Ayumi stiffened when Kiko peered at her nametag. "Where are you off to?"

Ayumi answered almost immediately. "Just…wanted to get a drink." She gestured at the vending machine behind them.

"Thirsty?" She nodded meekly.

The blonde peered closer towards Ayumi. So close, Ayumi's face could feel traces of air escaping his nostrils, and she could smell the cologne of the guy. Oo-kay, this was seriously getting uncomfortable.

"You look familiar, have I seen you before?" The redhead inquired. When the blonde shot him a dirty look, the redhead laughed heartily.

And it took the fellow seven seconds to finally clutch his stomach and look at the confused Ayumi bemusedly. "A friend in need I am. So I just asked the question in his head." He gestured with a thumb at the blonde fellow. The menacing looking third character shook his head, as if wondering why he was present with an idiot like the redhead here.

The blonde pursed his lips. Ayumi caught that as a subtle sign of confirmation.

Oh no…don't tell me he's gonna flirt with me?!

"Ren here can be a hell of a loudmouth, please excuse him." The blonde's composure was intact and controlled, impressively. "Though…he did kinda asked the right question." He gave a hint of a smile at the short bluenette.

"Bingo!" Ren gave a finger gun gesture, and winked.

Ayumi blinked. Okay, a good looking, gentlemanly senior was in front of her and he's subtly asking for her credentials.

This would be a good time not to faint.

Don't faint! Just…just ahahahaha, just answer the tall handsome senior in front of you! Her mind was in a whirlwind of complexity, rushing into her brain like a flood. Her brain was the leaking dam, threatening to burst unless she found a suitable way to close the leak off.

"I-I-I-I'm ah…I'm…a member of the Student Council."

Seriously, Ayumi?! That's the best answer you could give?!

"Student Council? You?" Kiko asked simply.

Thankfully, her panicked mind did not prevent her ears from remaining audible. She managed a small nod.

"I'm sure you know Tsubaki Hajime right?" He asked kindly.

Her ears perked up, and she fully looked at him. No way.

The redhead laughed. "She's a close knit with our man!" Even Kiko seemed pleased to have met a member of the Student Council. He ran some uncommon errands for the group whenever Tsubaki asked him to, usually whenever his time was convenient.

Ayumi shuffled her feet with embarrassment. "Ah, I'm not that close with Tsubaki-senpai actually. We're just a…a pair of team players with the rest of the members."

Kiko lightly poked her forehead, much to her bafflement. "Well, any friend of Tsubaki is a friend of mine." He added, "He does infrequently mention a bluenette who's really committed and responsible with her duties, not just with the Student Council, but with her class…and that bluenette just happens to be you right?"

Ayumi had to restrain herself from letting her jaw drop. Tsubaki mentioned someone as insignificant as her to his cliques. That's…a pretty big accomplishment there. Who knew?

Kiko let a short laugh escape him. "We don't get a lot people like you a lot here. Most of the individuals we see are just arrogant, self-absorbed lazy pricks. But…I have to admit, meeting you in person lessens my doubts, Shinozaki."

Ayumi could only smile in response. She could relate in kind.

"Well, you should go get your drink and get back to your friends, we three here got some errands to run anyway." The other two fellows gave silent gestures of agreement.

He patted her head, giving yet another dazzling smile, "See you around, stay cool and stuff like that."

And she was just left staring at the direction where Kiko and his friends walked off into the empty corridor, absently wondering if she could remember what her name was and how badly she realized about needing another pat on the head from her senior.

A trill of laughter escaped her lips. Her once stressed mood as gone in the blink of an eye and was replaced with an unexpected, yet pleasing efect. Seiko might've been right about her being such a tight ass earlier, but heck, she can be a bundle of fun given the right time. This just happens to be one of those many moments.

And hell was she going to waste this good feeling right now.

The first few footsteps jarred her memory back. Ah yes, she wanted to get that drink of hers.

Now she couldn't wait to turn everyone's frowns upside down, and probably make Seiko incite a new gossip wave in this school, with that recent encounter she had with a senior student.

Heh, what a turn around huh Ayumi? She giggled to herself.

A turn around indeed.

No longer after procuring her canned drink, an ear shattering scream split the air across Kisaragi Academy, sending a shell shock effect that effectively silenced the random activities of the students present in the courtyard, and then inciting the immediacy of panicked questioning and fear among members of the crowd, while the birds perched in the tress flew wildly into the air, their hardwired genetic instinct screaming to flee at the sound of danger.

Ayumi stood stone cold where she was, her drink forgotten. The scream came from the third floor of the school building.

On a short note, I'm surprised you guys have been paying a lot of attention to this fic, while waiting for chapter 4 to pop up. 400+ views... (pupils dilate)

I apologize for uploading this after a month...but I'm not an all rounded free timer. I got college and life to deal with, thus updates may vary between slow to...very slow, but thank you all for showing your support so far. It really means a lot to an anonymous writer like myself. :)

If you have any questions regarding this fic BTW, do PM me and I'll answer them where I can. See you later!