008

by Dyx42069

Contrary to appearances, Sobu High is governed by a corrupt administration that enforces rigid social stratification. Hikigaya Hachiman, an established loner at the bottom of the school caste, finds himself enlisted by The Service Club, a group that wishes to set the school on the right path. However, Hachiman isn't who they think he is...

9. Chapter 9

[Hikigaya Hachiman, Approximately 1 year ago]

Every muscle in my body was screaming.

I hadn't felt the signs of overexertion in such a long time; if I recalled correctly, the last time had been my first time cycling to middle school. The body goes past simple exhaustion to pain, adrenaline-induced vigour, numbness and finally death. As it was, I was currently nearing the last stage.

The voice in my head that would be keeping me occupied with wisecracks and taunts at this point seemed to have left. Maybe it had taken over my psyche, true to its word. Or perhaps it had never existed to begin with. Either way, I doubted it would ever come back again.

...why did I do something so stupid?

With barely enough energy left to pant, I had dragged my insolent body all the way back home. My feet felt like they were sticking to the ground. In fact, they were.

All of those goons had been heavily armed. Their vests, which I had assumed were for decoration, had turned out to be shockproof. And to top it off, they were well versed in all sorts of martial arts. Even in a frenzied state, a fresh middle school graduate who hadn't exercised properly in months would meet his limit...

...No. Forget fighting, even getting out of the hospital corridor had taken an abnormal amount of effort.

Stumbling the final few steps and clutching onto the doorknob for support, I took a few shallow breaths as a sort of reprieve. The lock had been broken and the door was slightly ajar.

For formality's sake, I knocked.

Silence, as expected.

I knocked again. "Kondo-san? It's me. I've come to repay my debt."

From the inside of the house, muffled shuffling and clicking reached my ears. Finally, a raspy voice hoarsely whispered: "Come in, then. It's unlocked. But you knew that already, didn't you? Heh heh."

Ignoring the lactic acid that had long saturated my flesh, I pushed the door to my home open.

Kondo-san was not a handsome man: that was all I could say with certainty. Most of his facial features were artificial (face swaps were common in this particular line of work) and therefore not worth committing to memory. He wore a flimsy suit made of a material similar to sandpaper, ostensibly for ease of replacement and to avoid leaving fingerprints. He was also holding a pistol that was aimed straight at me.

Going by Kondo-san's line of work, he had many clients but few of them actually paid him back. Willingly. And no sane person would knock on the door of his own house and ask to come in. He had a right to be suspicious.

He surveyed my appearance within seconds, which wasn't too hard; the lower half of my body was caked in fresh blood.

"Don't worry," I said. "It's not mine."

"I know. That makes it worse, doesn't it?" His eyes swept across my figure again, searching for concealed weapons, and he gave a satisfied grunt when he found none. "What happened? Civilians pissed you off?"

"Armed civilians wearing shades and shockproof suits, yeah."

His gaze seemed to sharpen. "Those guys? They're no joke. But it looks like you're no joke either."

"They're over at the hospital just down the road, so if you sell the organs you should more or less get the sum my family owes you. That's all I came here to say."

A long pause. "I killed your parents."

"Yes, you did."

"And now you come here dripping with blood, primed with killing intent, and you want to pay back your debt?"

"Yep."

Kondo-san's eyes narrowed. "Your bloodlust is fresh, boy. Fresh and wild. I can sense it from over here, and I think I would sense it from half a mile away. But there is no way you would be able to touch anyone from the Winter faction, let alone kill a few of them."

I shrugged. "It was hard."

He didn't look convinced. "How many?"

"Twenty-something. Lost count along the way."

A thunderous boom split my eardrums and the window to my left exploded, glass shards whizzing past millimeters from my head. Kondo-san calmly reloaded.

"Don't mess with me. You mess with patient people. Parents, teachers, whatever. But I am not a patient person. You think I can't see a trap as obvious as that?"

I smiled. "You think they'll be waiting to jump you? I killed them all."

The window to my right exploded in similar fashion. A piece of glass sliced my cheek.

"It will be your head next," Kondo-san snarled, his voice crackling like static. His eyes were bloodshot, and the hands that reloaded his pistol were sluggish in their movement. "You're telling me that you killed an entire squad of Winter faction members, all by yourself, and got out of it completely unscathed?"

"Like I said, it was hard," I repeated patiently. "Getting out was hard too, y'know. There was just so much blood to wade through, not to mention all the sticky and stringy body bits... Horrible, honestly. Do you guys do this kind of thing all the time?"

A splintering sound erupted from the door behind me and a line of white hot pain registered on my cheek a second later. Kondo-san must have aimed for my head. Given the way his hands were shaking it was no wonder he missed.

Even if he didn't believe me, was there really a need to be so violent about it?

Then, it hit me.

Kondo-san was used to killing and killing intent, sure. But only for the sake of money. He was an economical person: someone who had been driven to such a murderous state by pure emotion had to be new to him. An unstable element that could blow up in his face any moment.

An unstable element who was claiming to have killed twenty-odd members of the legendary Winter faction, whoever they were.

Kondo-san was afraid of me.

Shakily, Kondo-san reloaded. Despite my greatly weakened state, I felt the sudden urge to rush him and slam his skull into the wall. But I was a civilised person, at least for now.

Cold sweat was forming on Kondo-san's brow. "You... you hate me, right?"

"Of course," I replied, my voice even. "I've been waiting for this moment."

He sneered, but the hand that gripped the pistol trembled ever-so-slightly. "I see. So it was for revenge, after all. Strangely enough, it's a little relieving to hear you finally come out and say it."

"It's not about the revenge," I muttered. "It's about... sending a message."

"...Superm*n?"

"The D*rk Kn*ght, dumbass."

Kondo-san took a deep breath and shifted his weight into a more comfortable position. His grip on his gun remained the same. "So, how are we doing this? I don't care how fast you are: you're not gonna take me by surprise in this state. And this old man may not be at the top of his game right now, but I'm pretty sure I'll get you if it's point blank."

"You won't hit me from over there, though. You have an eighty percent chance of missing."

"A stalemate, then?"

I let out a short bark of laughter, even though my lungs protested. "You're misunderstanding something. I'm not here to kill you, Kondo-san."

Kondo-san said nothing. His face was ashen but his expression was firm.

"But you're right, I was lying. I'll leave the job of killing you to the Winter faction."

Kondo-san's face transitioned from white to purple. "You-"

"-couldn't win against them, of course. So instead, I made a deal. Your head for one more hour of life."

Shivering as though in the middle of a blizzard, Kondo-san set his pistol down. I knew better than to charge at him there, though; his guard was still up. "You crazy bastard..."

"They'll be coming any minute now. But hey, I was gonna die anyway. Might as well bring you down with me."

"You... heh. Aha. Ho ho. Ahahaha!"

Kondo-san was laughing. He was laughing boldly in the face of certain death, with cold sweat on his brow and the blood drained from his face. Compared to the look of horror and despair that I had expected, this was so much more...

Beautiful.

"Good one, kid. You got me, you really did. I used to be quite a fox back in my day, but all the precautions I took... looks like they weren't enough in the end."

He looked at me like he was staring at a grim reaper. And he grinned.

"Well. Occupational hazard, I guess! I've lived a rotten life with no regrets. But I won't let you have the satisfaction of seeing me beg for my life-"

"Kondo-san. There is a way to prevent this, so let's talk business."

He had been prepared to die a dog's death just a moment ago, so my proposal threw him off; possibly even more than my threat had. "...Say what?"

"You have superiors, right? I'm sure they have enough power to get us both out of-"

I was cut short by a reedy peal of laughter. "For little ol' me? Give it up and die with the satisfaction of having avenged your parents. That being said..."

He lifted the pistol again, and this time his hand was steady. This was a man with nothing left to lose. "I don't really buy the bit where you said they'll be killing you afterwards. For all I know, you could have bartered your life for mine! So yeah, you're gonna have to die a little earlier than expected, eh? No hard feelings, kid."

"The names of the ones who are alive. I know them."

His finger paused. "Say what, now?"

"It's valuable information, right? The one I attacked first seemed like a big-shot. And they dropped the name of one of their top secret head honchos. Surely your superiors would want that?"

Kondo-san's gaze sharpened. But even as he kept up that farce, we both knew there were a lot of things he didn't understand. "Y'know, kid. I don't know what you're planning, but you're biting off way more than you can chew. We've come this far without getting caught for a reason. Anything you do won't change that."

"Whether you believe me is up to you," I replied. "But if you want to accept my offer, you'll have to do it quick."

It didn't take too much contemplation: this was a man with nothing to lose, after all. "Alright, gimme a second."

As Kondo-san turned around to contact his superior, I felt my legs giving out and I slumped forward. I felt so weak... the adrenaline was finally beginning to wear off.

Kondo-san grinned as he turned back around, walking forward to hand me his cellphone. "Finally out of steam, eh? Here you go."

"Thanks."

I took a deep breath. With great difficulty, my left hand latched on and gripped tightly.

"Hello?"

The speaker on the other end was using a voice distorter, but I could tell it was a man, and that he was amused. "Oh, a kid. Can I trust you?"

"From one scumbag to another, yes."

My mysterious contact roared with laughter. "Good, good. I like that spunk. You can call me John Smith, kid. It's not my real name, so use it all you want. I've heard my boy's side of the deal, but I haven't heard yours. What is it you want?"

"I want to join you."

The dull buzz of static betrayed John Smith's silence.

"You sure about this, kid? I'm sure there are many nice orphanages that-"

"I want to make my mark on society, sir. And there is no better place for that than where you are."

"No, there is no worse place. You don't seem to understand. We're not evil dictators or brilliant criminal masterminds. We're just living our lives the way we know how, and that happens to be at the expense of others. This is not the place for you, kid."

"Then I suppose you don't want the information?"

More static.

"...I was warning you out of goodwill."

"Much appreciated. But I've made up my mind."

"Well, then." Over the phone line and through the voice distorter, John Smith's reluctant voice sounded like a rumble of thunder. "Welcome to the Autumn faction.

"What's up with the four seasons, by the way? Some Yakuza code?"

John Smith coughed. "Weeeell... two seasons, actually. The Autumn faction isn't an actual faction, see. We're just a bunch of backstabbers who don't belong in either."

"Oh. I thought debt collectors usually come from the Yakuza..."

"Hell no, kid. Your parents were involved in some pretty nasty stuff. Ah... also, about that guy."

"That guy?"

"What do people call him these days... Ah, yes! Kondo! Kondo-san. Is he still... uh... alive?"

I gazed at my left hand which was fastened around Kondo-san's throat. His face was already blue from asphyxiation, so I dropped his corpse onto the carpet.

"No, I don't think so."

"Ahhhh... pity. Welp. Occupational hazard, I guess! These things happen. And I suppose that means you've got the right attitude for the job. You'll be taking his place, then."

"Thank you very much. About my debt..."

"Ah, yes. We'll have to collect the bodies before they do. How many did you leave?"

"Fourteen. Some of the organs are kind of... unfit for sale, but I did the math and the remaining ones should cover-"

"Organs? Oh, no. Just the fingerprints alone will cost a bomb. You've raked in a gold mine for us, really. Consider your debt overpaid."

"Thank you very much."

From the other end of the phone line I heard a rush of air. Was John Smith taking a deep breath or was he sighing? "I won't ask how you managed to kill so many members of the Winter faction, but... I do have a question. What are you doing all this for? Angry at us for killing your parents?"

Yes, I was angry. At my parents, at myself, at society, at everything. But anger was part of my humanity: the very thing that caused people to kill, manipulate and ruin. And the thought of conforming to this essence, this construct, pissed me off much more than everything that had happened to me thus far. It was like falling into a bottomless pit. A vicious cycle.

How could I be angry at humans for doing what humans did best? How should I? All I wanted, from the bottom of my heart, was to show them what I had seen. Show every single human being that I had ever met -and would meet in time to come- just how rotten they were.

"It's not about the revenge," I muttered. "It's about... sending a message."

"Ooh, is that an adapted line from The D*rk Kn*ght Ris*s? That movie was the best!"

"Damn straight."

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2030 hours]

"Saki-chan, Saki-chan."

"Yes?"

"I know I said a lot of stuff about wanting to fight and taking responsibility, but I think I can't do it after all."

"...It's a little too late to say that, don't you think?"

Satou and his friend had entered a warehouse on the outskirts of the Downtown area that looked like it hadn't been used in years. Naturally, we had followed them and were peering in through a crack in a rotting wood wall.

There was a sizeable number of people lazing around inside the warehouse. A bunch of vans were parked outside.

"It's never too late to quit, Saki-chan."

"We're at their HQ already! Get a grip!"

Must be tough being a criminal; you can't even choose a decently clean place to be your HQ.

After my rush of emotions had rolled off, I had realised how out of my element I was trying to be. This was a large-scale kind of war, involving gangs and firefights, backstabbers and warriors...

...And me. Mama would flip if she found out.

In any case, I had to properly think of how to make this chance count. I wanted to stop this whole mess, of course, but that was a huge goal that Saki-chan and I would not be able to achieve alone. Then there was the issue of Yukinon: just where was she, and was she safe?

Satou clapped his hands and the entire warehouse fell silent. The scene reminded me of a teacher dealing with a classroom of noisy students.

"Alright, brethren. This is our big day, the day we topple the forces of oppression that have stripped us of our power! In a world of shadows and betrayal, the ones who are crafty come out on top, and we are the ones who have been cast away. But does that mean we should simply allow ourselves to be trampled underfoot?"

A roar arose among Satou's brethren.

"Surely I tell you, no! We will end the foxes who have kept us at bay in one fell swoop this very night, starting with the pride and joy of the Autumn faction... the Big Eight!"

A cheer arose among Satou's brethren.

"Tonight, we will strike at every major establishment in the Downtown area, rousing the Underworld to take action. Without a doubt, this will serve to lure the Big Eight out of their holes: and that is when we will end their reign once and for all!"

Silence arose from among Satou's brethren. Then one man slowly rose his hand.

"Satou-san! Don't you think that plan is a bit unreliable? We don't know half of those guys and the other half are confident enough to risk assassination!"

"Wrong, my brother!" declared Satou, as if he was leading a crusade. "For we have a powerful ally. Behold, our key to victory, {Moral Compass}!"

He stepped aside to reveal a chair. On the chair was... a laptop with a cracked screen. To me the laptop looked just as old as the warehouse, if that was even possible.

Ignoring the unimpressed looks of his audience, Satou pressed on. "{Moral Compass} only contacts us through this laptop, but my trusted companions have verified that the man does indeed exist!"

Satou's brethren looked like they were beginning to regret the decision of showing up.

"That sounds... shady as hell, Satou-san. You contact him with that... thing?"

"No," came the reply. "He only contacts me when he desires."

A collective groan arose from among Satou's brethren. Within seconds, that groan had transitioned into unhappy murmuring.

Beside me, Saki-chan scoffed. "Airheads. I can't believe they've been following him so blindly all this time."

I peered through the crack again: at the discontented crowd and Satou who was staying silent. "Is it that strange?"

"Huh? Of course it is. This is the Autumn faction, for goodness' sake. These are guys smart enough to pull strings in the criminal world, but here they are, getting pulled along by some idiot who can't get his act together. I feel embarrassed just looking at them."

"Well... Satou does have something they don't." I let out a hum, leading Saki-chan to shoot me a strange look.

"He's the dumbest of them all, actually. When the New Age arrived he was one of the first to be thrown aside."

"Yeah? But he knows what he wants."

"Huh?"

"Being smart and knowing how to lead people on isn't everything, see. Those guys in there should have been happy enough leading normal lives, so why did they become criminals and go so far to betray their friends in the world of crime? I betcha they betrayed their gangs and whatnot because they had no idea what they wanted."

"Uh... money? Influence?"

"Yeah, but what comes after that? What did they need the extra money and influence for?"

Saki-chan looked like she was thinking hard; this was the first time she ever had this train of thought. "To... feel good about themselves... I guess? I dunno, honestly."

"Neither did they, probably. It's just like how normal people work their whole lives to earn money without knowing what for."

Saki-chan stroked her chin thoughtfully. "So you're saying they followed Satou because they thought he would lead them somewhere?" Saki-chan, you're so smart! Marry me!

"It makes sense, right? I mean, he looks like he has a dream. It's a pretty big one, too."

We stared at the chaotic scene happening inside the warehouse. Satou didn't seem to be making any move to calm his brethren down, but was instead staring expectantly at the laptop. He placed absolute hope in this {Moral Compass} person; this level of trust was rare, even in civilian society. If not for whatever brought him to a life of crime, he would have lived a happy life surrounded by loved ones... I felt my heart go out to him.

Beside me, Saki-chan bit her lip. "You're pretty amazing, Yuigahama. To be able to figure all that out in one glance..."

"I like you too, Saki-chan. Go out with me!"

"...if only you didn't say stuff like that."

Beeeeep

The entire warehouse fell silent in an instant: the laptop had lit up. On the white cracked screen was a single line of text.

[Sorry for the wait, internet connection was bad. Y'all ready?]

Thick silence. Then the crowd exploded.

"Don't screw with us!"

"Bad internet connection? You're one of the Big Eight and you let yourself get held up by bad internet connection?"

"Satou-san, what the hell is this!"

Satou raised his hands in a calming manner. "Now, now. It's not easy to manipulate servers and send messages undetected. All of you know that, right? So let's just focus on our big goal for now and wait for {Moral Compass}-san's instructions."

The crowd's protests died down. They waited expectantly, until the laptop let out another beep around half a minute later.

[The bad internet connection was on YOUR end, by the way.]

They exploded again.

"Who cares about that? Give us our orders, our orders!"

"Well, sorry for having such a run-down base!"

"Satou-san, what the hell is this? Hurry him up!"

"Calm down!" Satou commanded, though he was starting to get impatient too. "I can't send anything to him even if I want to, so relax and wait! We'll be getting instructions soon!"

Beep

[Wait, this is the right number, right? Cos it would be pretty bad if it wasn't. Lol.]

Satou's brethren stayed silent. Most likely, they were too dumbfounded to get angry. On the laptop screen, words continued to flow.

Beep

[Just kidding, just kidding. Anyway. {Lion's Heart} and his squad will be tapping into the power grid as part of a covert operation.]

Beep

[{Dead Eye} is in the area though I don't know what for; there's some party going on at the government office building, so probably another assassination.]

Beep

[{Parallel Vein} will be taking the subway home and should pass by the Hon-Chiba station at around 2130.]

Beep

[{Sixth Finger} will be doing their weekly patrol in the area. Deal with them as you see fit.]

Beep

[I will handle {Sentient Shadow} and {Tarnished Soul} personally, and I was unable to get a hold of {Fleeting Mind}. Any questions?]

This was game-changing information. Stuff that could change the shape of society. And this {Moral Compass} guy was throwing them around, line by line, hindered only by the size of a laptop screen. Did he even understand how many lives could be changed with this? What kind of person was he, to bear such a great burden?

...How could he do it so easily?

Beside me, Saki-chan inhaled sharply. "This guy... he's the real deal. There's no way anyone outside the Big Eight would be so accurate."

"He isn't just spouting nonsense, then?"

She breathed out, slowly but shakily. "I think so. At least, I know the bits about Hayama and the Prez are correct."

Beep

[Not that I would know if you had any questions, lol.]

Beep

[Of course, you'll still have to carry out your raids on all the major establishments in the Downtown area as planned. {Sentient Shadow} is a crafty one, so we need a big enough incident for him to show his face.]

I turned to face Saki-chan. "I'm a bit confused here."

"{Sentient Shadow} is the guy in charge of our entire intelligence network," Saki-chan replied, cutely biting her thumbnail. "If such a large incident happens out of nowhere, he'll have to look all over the deep web to track its sources, so the traces he leaves will be more obvious."

"So... this {Moral Compass} guy thinks he can win in a game of hide-and-seek across the internet with the guy in charge of your intelligence network?"

"It's possible, actually. I don't know much about this guy, but I've heard he's pretty damn good at pretty much anything- hold on."

Clamping her hand over my mouth for the second time that day, Saki-chan brought both of us to a crouch, allowing the inky darkness to cover us. It took me half a second to see why: About five black jeeps, barely visible in the dim lighting, had driven up beside the entrance of the warehouse.

Inside said warehouse, Satou clapped his hands. "Alright, comrades. We'll proceed as planned. Grab your arms and move to the transport units outside-"

The fragile wooden warehouse door exploded. An instant later, armed men in black suits and shades rushed in and opened fire on the crowd.

Orderly was the only way to describe it. There were fifteen of them, but only five did the shooting at one time while another five waited behind them and the last five watched their backs. When the ones doing the shooting were out of ammunition, the five behind them would take over, like a conveyor belt.

A mechanical, nightmarish kind of orderliness.

The Winter faction had arrived, and they were just slaughtering all these people without any form of hesitation.

Saki-chan forced my head down again, and now I could only hear the screams. Smell the blood. Light flickered behind my eyelids, and only then did I realise they were squeezed shut.

Saki-chan grabbed my shoulder. "Come on. It's just one squad, but we have to leave too before they find us."

Slowly, I turned towards her. To my shock and hers, warm tears were spilling out of the corners of my eyes. "Saki-chan, you... see this sort of... thing... all the time?"

The urgency in her eyes died out, and all that was left in there was sympathy. "Welcome to the underworld, Yuigahama. I used to be like you once, so I can't say I don't understand. But we need to move, alright? Come on."

Nodding and drying my tears, I picked my nearly-frozen body up and stumbled after her. "B-but, what about Satou and his friends? Is that it? They won't be carrying out the raids anymore?"

"You wish." Saki-chan's eyes were set in steel and her jaw was firm. "Don't underestimate the Autumn faction. We have our own way of doing things."

As Saki-chan and I weaved through the rows of warehouses and office buildings, away from the area of conflict, I heard a loud crack and the sounds of gunfire stopped suddenly.

"Retreat!"

As the men from the Winter faction beat their sudden, unexpected retreat, another crack reached my ears and about three of them fell over as they piled out of the warehouse.

I stopped running to stare at the incredible sight. "Wait, what just happened?"

"The shooters got sniped, obviously," Saki-chan snapped. "Move it, will you?"

"What, all at once?"

"Of course, dummy. Gives them less time to react."

"But doesn't this kind of thing take time to... to coordinate and all that? Wouldn't just firing at will be faster?"

Saki-chan sighed and stared at me blankly. "And what good would that do?"

"I mean, their friends were getting killed left and right! Wouldn't the snipers want to... I dunno... start firing immediately or something, if they were ready from the start?"

Saki-chan stared at me as if I had just said something really stupid. "...We have different priorities from normal people, Yuigahama. Getting rid of enemies takes precedence over saving our own, alright? Now move it, before they find us on their way out!"

Saki-chan and I made our way towards safety with not a word between us. I tended to stay silent when I was thinking, and I had a lot to think about.

[Yukinoshita Yukino, 29th June, 2100 hours]

"Squad 1 reporting, Ojou-sama. Eight of our members are now unfit for combat, but the raid was successful. We managed to tamper with all their transport units."

I hummed as I watched the orange blip that indicated squad 1's position move across the digital map. "Good. Rendezvous with squad 2 and proceed to the hospital."

Spread across my laptop screen, several blips were stationed at all of the major establishments of Chiba's downtown area. We were ready for war.

...or so I would say if our opponents were normal terrorists. This amount of preparation was not nearly enough.

Our first move had been to disable their vehicles to limit their options and gain a vast advantage in terms of movement speed. The most obvious reason for this was to enable us to react to anything they pulled off, but there was another reason: To herd them into a trap.

Their vehicles were disabled. Most of their members had scattered from their headquarters in the confusion of the raid, and to launch a coordinated attack they would have to travel in their allocated groups. In that case, only one plausible option was left: Public transport.

The high-pitched sound of strained rubber invaded my ears and interrupted my train of thought. My family's personal limousine had screeched to a halt in the empty parking lot designated to be my base of operations. The heavily-enforced car door swung open to reveal the Yukinoshita family's one and only butler.

I nodded as he approached. "Yashiro-san."

"Yukino-sama. It is refreshing to see you in such good spirits."

"Did mother send you here?"

Yashiro-san executed a perfect ninety-degree bow. "Only to ensure that no harm comes to you. Where the handling of this operation is concerned, I have been strictly instructed to take a back seat."

Yashiro-san was a senior member of the Winter faction and a highly regarded pseudo-member of the Yukinoshita family. He was cherished to the point that my parents resolved to keep his identity a secret from the general public for his safety. This had caused the Winter faction no small amount of trouble and had even gotten civilians involved at some point, but when asked my family would unflinchingly declare that it was all worth it. Naturally, I was no exception.

My transceiver crackled.

"Squads four through six reporting from the subway station, Ojou-sama. Our facial-recognition AI programme has detected seven targets among the crowd."

"That should be enough," I replied. "Seal the entrance the station and open fire."

"Ah... I seek your understanding, but the probability of success isn't high. They're experienced at hiding in crowds, after all."

"You misunderstood me," I said. "Open fire on every personnel in the station, be they criminal or civilian."

"Ah. Roger that."

Another crackle signalled the end of our conversation, and I took solace in the fact that I could not hear the gunshots and screams of what could be hundreds.

Behind me, Yashiro-san hummed thoughtfully. "You conducted a massacre on an entire station's worth of civilians just to secure seven enemies, Yukino-sama?"

I turned back to face him; he had a strange gleam in his eye. With Yashiro-san, you could never quite tell what he was thinking. "Securing all their means of transport takes precedence over everything else, Yashiro-san."

Yashiro-san's silver hair shone under the light of the nearby street lamps. "Of course, Yukino-sama. In this humble servant's opinion, you have made the right choice. Of course, there will be some sort of backlash."

"All I have done is inconvenience the general public, Yashiro-san."

"Killing off a few hundred innocents does not classify as 'inconvenience', Yukino-sama."

"I didn't kill them," I hissed. "The three squads are using tranquilizer darts as ammunition."

"I imagine deciding on the dosage must have been challenging," Yashiro-san continued, unfazed. "Too little and it wouldn't work on these trained militants; too much and the civilians involved could die from overdose. Am I correct to infer that you decided to place your bets on 'Too much', Yukino-sama?"

"Well. Yes, but that was the best-"

"Of course, that was the right choice. But you gave that order fully prepared to have several civilians die by your hands."

Few people could rile me up so much, and coincidentally all of them were from the Yukinoshita family. Gritting my teeth, I whirled around to glare at the man who had been my mentor and caretaker since my birth. "What are you saying?"

Adorning his expression were not the taunting eyes of a challenger or the disappointed eyes of a mentor, but two grey chips of stone. The idea that he could distress me so while barely feeling a thing was, frankly, infuriating. "You should have put the protests of your conscience aside and accepted the full reality of what you were doing. If you are prepared to commit an unforgivable sin, you should go all the way. You gave the order for your men to open fire, fully prepared to kill. What this lowly servant is saying, Yukino-sama, is that their rifles should have been loaded with real bullets."

"That would have been completely unnecessary!" I shouted. The few guards that I had kept around me averted their gazes, abashed. "What I wanted was to take them alive-"

"Those thugs won't die from a few bullets to the abdomen; you know this, Yukino-sama," Yashiro-san smoothly rebutted. "If it could have decreased the chance of them escaping, you should have done it."

"We're talking about innocent lives here! And you're the one who mentioned backlash-"

"Nothing we cannot handle. We have the government backing us, after all. And like you said, the loss of these few innocent lives could lead to the salvation of many more, correct?"

"All I want to do," I snarled, "is to obtain maximum gain with minimal loss!"

"A commendable policy, Yukino-sama. But your definitions of 'gain' and 'loss' require revision."

There was a forced lull in our conversation. I was set in my ways and so was he. There was nothing left to say.

Yashiro-san dipped his head.

"...Haruno-sama would not have hesitated."

I flicked my head back to face my laptop screen. "I know. But Nee-san is not the one heading this operation."

I sensed Yashiro-san bow again behind my back, either out of respect or resignation. With Yashiro-san, you could never quite tell.

[Hikigaya Hachiman, 29th June, 2110 hours]

...

...

...What's the point of keeping a diary when you're going to write the exact same thing every day?

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2115 hours]

At Saki-chan's suggestion, both of us had gone around the area to shake off anyone who could be following us. I wasn't too comfortable about wasting time, but Saki-chan was right; there was no way the raids would start that quickly. After walking around in circles for what seemed like ages, we had finally reached the nearest subway station, with no idea of what awaited us inside.

Stepping through the gantry, I walked towards Saki-chan, who was standing stock still in front of the escalator that led to the platform below. "What's up... oh."

The platform floor was littered with bodies. There was no trace of blood, so I supposed they were knocked out rather than dead. Going by how the trail of bodies stopped at the escalator, they must have been running for the station entrance before being blocked on their way up and struck down very quickly.

This was the work of experts.

Saki-chan was already running down the escalator to inspect the unconscious people. I followed her.

"Saki-chan! This was done by Satou and his friends, right? That means the raids have already started!"

"Are you kidding me?" Saki-chan retorted. "If it was them they wouldn't have used these!"

Without hesitation, Saki-chan pulled out a dart-like projectile that had been stuck to the neck of a nearby salaryman.

"Ah... is that a peacefulizer?"

"Tranquilizer."

Blankly, I scanned the pool of sleeping people. "Right... Satou's guys would have used real bullets. Who did this, then... Eh?"

Is that... a Sobu High uniform?

Ignoring Saki-chan's (adorable) squeak of surprise, I rushed towards the centre of the sea of bodies to an unconscious student, squatted down and held him up by the shoulders. It didn't look like anyone I knew: straight black hair framing an ordinary-looking face. If we were in an anime this guy's face would be given to an extra.

A soft moan escaped the boy's slightly parted lips.

"Saki-chan, this one's alive!"

"None of them are dead, dummy," Saki-chan sighed, squatting down beside me and briefly inspecting the boy's body. "None of the darts hit him, but there's a scratch on his neck, so he probably got grazed by one. Honestly, how drugged are those things? The hearts of all the people I've checked so far are barely beating."

Eyes still shut, the boy squirmed. His mouth opened with difficulty, bringing forth a few barely-audible words: "Enough to bring down a cow, I'd reckon."

"Saki-chan, he's awake! It must have been the power of true love's kiss!"

"Whose?!"

The boy seemed to frown in irritation before groggily opening his eyes. His eyes were two pools of soulless black. Just looking at his face, I felt like I was staring into an abyss.

The abyss stared back at me.

Those eyes... "Wait, I know you."

He squinted. "You've got the wrong guy."

Memories flowed into my head. Memories from just a few weeks prior, about chain mails and creepy cults and Hayato-kun almost being killed.

"Ahhhhh! You're that guy who tried to kill me!"

Saki-chan jolted. "What?"

The boy cast his gaze to the side. "Damn. The eyes gave me away again, didn't they."

"Um... what was your name again... Lance!"

"That's from Shogi," he sighed. "Nice to see you as airheaded as ever, Yuigahama Yui-san."

"H-hold on," Saki-chan stammered. "You're from that weird group, aren't you. The one that caused a ruckus in the gym just a while back."

"I would say it was more than a ruckus," he grunted, easing himself into a sitting position. "The name's Bishop. Nice to meet you."

Ever since Hayato-kun's attempted assassination attempt a few weeks back, the school management had taken in the Group C students involved for heavy questioning. However, the students had not provided any useful or solid information. Those who could have done so, such as the boy sleepily rubbing his eyes in front of me, had disappeared right after the assassination failed.

If that was the case, what on earth was he doing here? No, before that...

"Silver General! Do you know who did this to you and attacked all the people in the station?"

"I don't know what's up with your Shogi obsession, but my name is Bishop. And all the people in the station were already down when I arrived, courtesy of some guys from the Winter faction. I got here in the 21:08 train, but they had not cleaned up everything by that time, so they shot everyone in the train just to be sure."

Ah, so he knows about the factions! Does that mean he came from the criminal underworld?

That's... not very surprising, actually.

Saki-chan's eyes narrowed. "So you're saying you came over to the Downtown area during such a crucial time after disappearing from society for a few weeks? What's your endgame?"

"According to Ou-sama, this rebellion has been in the works for quite a while. Anyhow, this is the time when the Autumn faction's defenses are the lowest, right? I'm just taking the opportunity to fetch my comrade."

My memories were still catching up, but vague images of a chestnut-haired, baseball bat-wielding beast rushed through my mind. "You mean Rook, right? Do you know where he is?"

"Our information isn't so certain on this one," Bishop sighed. "But when you consider the possibilities, the Autumn faction's underground hospital seems to be the most likely."

"Underground hospital?"

"A hospital hidden from the public. Right underneath Chiba Bank."

"That's so cool!"

Bishop gave me a weirded-out look. "Perhaps. I am clutching at straws here, but you wouldn't happen to be able to confirm this assumption, would you?"

"I can," said Saki-chan. "I was the one who put him there."

Bishop's soulless eyes darted sideways and he stared at her testily. "Pretty high up the ranks, are you?"

"Maybe. But I'm not just gonna let you waltz in there and do whatever you want-"

I stopped her by placing a hand on her shoulder. "Hang on, Saki-chan. If Bishop was willing to tell us this much, it means he thinks we can work together, right?"

"That explanation is a tad too simplified, but yes," grunted Bishop. "I assume both of you are on the side trying to stop the rebellion. In that case, our objectives align."

Saki-chan did not look convinced. "In what way?"

"I wish to retrieve one person from the hospital, and both of you wish to ensure the safety of all those in the hospital. If we break in together, accomplishing both tasks will be significantly easier-"

"Hold up," Saki-chan commanded. "What's this about the safety of all those in the hospital?"

Bishop looked mildly surprised; come to think of it, that was the largest display of emotion I had ever seen from him. "You didn't know? Satou-san is aware that the Autumn faction only assigns important personnel to the hospital. Killing all the patients within is the main part of his scheme to lure out the Big Eight. If my intel isn't wrong, he should be leading that particular raid himself..."

It all made sense now. That was why Satou was so confident that he could lure the Big Eight out of hiding; if these patients needed to be treated at a top-secret hospital strictly for Autumn faction use, there was a high chance that at least some of them were important to members of the Big Eight.

Even so... that kind of method is just... horrible.

Beside me, Saki-chan's face was white.

"Come," Bishop urged, somehow without a single sliver of urgency in his voice. "We'll make it there in five minutes if we run."

Wordlessly, we sprinted back up the escalator.

As we darted out of the station, Bishop turned to me with an expression resembling smugness on his face. "That being said, Yuigahama-san, I wouldn't have expected you to be part of the Autumn faction. Would this happen to be the reason why you were accepted into Group S?"

"She's actually a civilian," Saki-chan replied. "She's just tagging along."

"...what."

"Not everything is always as it seems, Gold General!"

"I swear you're doing it on purpose."

[Yukinoshita Yukino, 29th June, 2120 hours]

Even as an adolescent, I had never once quarrelled with my parents. This had nothing to do with good behaviour and instead hinted toward negligent parenting, not that I had minded. Instead, my upbringing had been largely facilitated by my various subordinates of my father, legal or otherwise; naturally, Yashiro-san was one of them.

This heavy atmosphere... so this is what quarreling with one's parental figure feels like.

I stared at the laptop screen and hammered the keyboard with my fingers almost desperately, clutching onto any excuse that could stop me from looking back at Yashiro-san's unmoving form. Undoubtedly, he was standing at attention quietly, waiting for me to break the silence.

My hammering persisted, yet the silence between us seemed to grow.

"Yukino-sama. The raids should be starting soon. Are all your preparations complete?"

What was he playing at this time? Of course my preparations were ready, he'd seen me making them all this while! Perhaps he wanted me to elaborate on them.

"Yes," I replied, keeping my tone even. "There are eighteen establishments that are assumed to be targeted, so I split the six squads into teams of five men each, one for each location."

"Ah. You have left one squad unoccupied, then?"

"As buffer, yes."

There was a short pause. Yashiro-san seemed to be composing himself.

"Right. Ah... Yukino-sama."

"Yes?"

Even an amateur would be able to tell he was choosing his words carefully. "Do you... require any assistance? I am not allowed to handle the operation, but your mother never said anything about assisting."

For a moment, I let my guard down. What do you know, he wanted to help after all. Even all this time when he was trying my patience-

Wait, no. This goes against my mother's orders. He's testing me!

"Do you doubt my capability, Yashiro-san?"

A hint of panic flared up in his frigid eyes. "Not at all, Yukino-sama. But this is the first mission of such a large scale that you have been entrusted with, and-"

If he thought he was going to trap me so easily, he was mistaken. "Not at all, Yashiro-san. The preparation I have made is sufficient, and I have memorized the layout of all eighteen locations. Rest assured I will be able to manage all the teams at once. Mother gave you that order because she wanted me to handle this independently, did she not? You should not disobey her wishes."

"Yes, but I..."

"But you what, Yashiro-san?"

You want to help? Is that what you wanted to say? Using this kind of childish emotional appeal, all so that I can slip up and you can report to Mother. When will you ever be satisfied?

I was tired of being treated like a child.

In an attempt to vent my inner frustration, I glared at him. Our gazes met for a fraction of a second, and he dipped his head immediately after. A few seconds of awkward silence followed.

It seemed that I would never really win against Yashiro-san; I could not even vent my frustrations properly in front of him. Slowly, I turned back to my laptop, and my mother's teachings flowed through my head without warning.

Never trust anyone more than yourself. Always use what is available to you: Opportunities, relationships, resources, unless explicitly instructed otherwise. Human life is a resource; its value differs with each person and is ultimately decided by our superiors.

Most importantly, Yukino. We are agents of the government. The hidden arm of society. Be it ideals, identity or ability, it does not belong to us as individuals, but to the state. Do not allow emotions to cloud your work.

Especially not your... absurd sense of justice. Use it only when it aligns with your objective. There is a right place and a right time for everything. Am I understood?

I clenched my fist.

Am I understood, Yukino?

Somewhere along the line my molars had started grinding against each other. I ground them harder.

Yukino.

...Yes, Mother.

Behind me, I sensed Yashiro-san bow again. "You... have really grown up, Yukino-sama."

His voice was glazed with a tinge of regret.

[Hikigaya Hachiman, 29th June, 2125 hours]

Oooh, bear-themed panties. Even highschool girls have these, huh.

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2130 hours]

A bird that happened to be passing by would have seen three blurs speed along the streets of Chiba's Downtown area. It would also have seen the pink blur slow down to take a break.

Bishop stared at my hunched, panting form with distaste.

Saki-chan, on the other hand, was used to it. "Want me to carry you?"

My head shot up immediately. "Yes please!"

An adorable cunning smile graced Saki-chan's face. "You look lively enough, though. Let's continue."

Curse you and your charms!

Fighting had already begun to break out in the nearby Prefectural Government Offices, as could be seen by the huge crowds of workers that had been evacuated out of said establishment and were milling around the roads in a confused haze. Squeezing through the sea of people, we entered the bank.

Chiba Bank seemed to be in the process of being evacuated; the Winter faction had probably gotten in touch with the government before the fighting started. However, it seemed that the Winter Faction agents themselves had not arrived yet.

The three of us strode across the empty marble hallways and approached an elevator. Upon entering, Saki-chan produced a card from the depths of her bag and tapped the card reader underneath the button panel with it. Almost immediately, the elevator's left wall swung open to reveal a stairway.

Bishop nodded, impressed. "Good placement. Nobody expects the secret entrance of a facility to be in an elevator."

"Don't move!" Saki-chan barked as Bishop prepared to step out. "That one's a trap."

Around half a minute later, the left wall swung back and the right wall swung open to reveal another staircase. Carefully following Saki-chan's lead, we climbed downwards into the murky darkness.

The Autumn faction sure is full of surprises...

"You don't need to worry about your identities being leaked from this hospital," Saki-chan explained as we headed down. "Each patient is confined to one room. One doctor and nurse is assigned to each, and their identities are classified. The remaining research staff live here and have no contact with the outside world. This airtight environment is also the reason why abducting patients is extremely hard, but you have a plan, right?"

"Not at all!" declared Bishop. "I figured I'd sneak him out while Satou and his boys kept the staff busy."

"Have fun with that, then," sighed Saki-chan. "But we'll be coming for you right after we settle the mess here, so watch out for that."

Ahhhhh. I had been wondering why Saki-chan was okay with Bishop walking in and stealing a patient, but it all made sense now. She wanted to capture him too, and his movement would be slower with Rook's unconscious body to slow him down.

Still, to warn him beforehand... Saki-chan really was a nice person.

We proceeded to a compact hallway, completely empty save for the numerous doors lining its sides. The occasional beep of heart monitors rippled through the stale yet sterile air.

"So!" I said. "How're we gonna do this? Do you have any booby traps, or..."

"None, but I've sent out a call," Saki-chan replied, her face steely. "Reinforcements should be coming in a little while. In the meantime, I guess we'll barricade the stairwell." Cracking the nearest door open, she peered inside. "This one seems to be unoccupied, so help me bring the bed out."

"Yes ma'am! Come on, Bishop... Bishop?"

The dark-haired boy had disappeared. Dang, here I was thinking we had free help...

In any case, it seemed this was my chance to make myself useful! Saki-chan and I took one end of the bed each and heaved.

"Saki-chan! Since we have time, why don't we talk a bit?"

Her head was hidden from my vision because of the large bed, but I could imagine her expression anyway. "Fine, but no flirting."

"Awwww."

"So, what do you wanna know?"

"The Big Eight, of course! Are Hayato-kun and Shiromeguri-senpai really that great, to be called the leading figures of the Autumn faction?"

"Of course. Very few members have their identities made public knowledge."

The two of us placed the bed down right in front of the stairway. Saki-chan repeated her scouting process on the next room, and the both of us entered to carry another bed. "But what do both of them do?"

"Hayama is the... figurehead of the Big Eight, so to speak. He's managed many important Autumn faction related operations along with his elite squad. Openly. The courage to do stuff like that can't be found anywhere else, so people call him {Lion's Heart}."

"His elite squad?"

"I think you know them pretty well."

Oh. "So... everybody in Group S except for me? Even Tobe-kun and Yumiko?"

"Miura's a civilian, I think. Hayama mixed in some normal students to avoid suspicion. You were one of them, I guess. You entered Group S because of someone's recommendation, right?"

We set the second bed on top of the first. Rinse and repeat. "At Yumiko's recommendation, yeah. She said it was cos I was cute or something..."

Of course, Saki-chan wouldn't quite know just how much effort I had put in to give Yumiko that impression. Entering Group S had just been the start of my plans.

But, as it turned out, most of my friends in Group S were elite criminals that performed illegal and backstabby operations regularly.

Cool.

"Meguri-senpai is commonly known as the Big Eight's multi-purpose unit," Saki-chan continued. "She's a prodigy who can supposedly complete any kind of job. Specialisation for certain jobs usually takes a lifetime to cultivate, but she can change her entire skillset in weeks. At least, that's how the rumours go. She never confronts danger head-on, instead choosing to change herself and operate alongside. Hence the nickname {Parallel Vein}."

"I see," I said absentmindedly. So all the nicknames had something to do with each member's role and ability. I quickly ran through the list of nicknames in my head. Tarnished Soul, Sixth Finger, Dead Eye...

Hmm.

My thoughts drifted to a certain someone I knew. Someone with Dead Eyes. It couldn't be... right?

"Saki-chan, what about {Dead Eye}?"

I could sense her confusion from the other side of the bed. "Huh? What's that all of a sudden? Uh... well, {Dead Eye} is an assassin. He's been rumoured to have killed all the big-shots who stood in the way of the New Age, so in a sense he paved the way for the revolution like no other. He's a cold-blooded brute who doesn't think twice before killing, and he will stoop to the level of murdering infants en masse if that would boost his chance of success by even a tiny percentage. That's what the rumours say, anyway."

"Oh? You sound like you know a lot about this guy, Saki-chan."

"I hate him," Saki-chan said simply.

Hmmmm.

Man, the only information about these guys lay in rumours; they sure were secretive. "Where did his nickname come from, then?"

"Well... he uses firearms, see. And he shoots with-"

Saki-chan's explanation was interrupted by the sudden blare of an alarm.

Just when it was getting to the good part... couldn't they wait a little longer?

Moments later, I heard Satou's muffled voice through the pile of beds: "The ingenious thing about that entrance mechanism, see, is that only a handful of people can access the stairway in intervals of around a minute or so. Therefore we had no choice but to destroy it- oh? A barricade of beds. Lovely!"

We had pushed nine beds against the entrance and had placed one more further down the corridor behind us (for cover, Saki-chan said). Surely that would hold them there until backup came... right?

"Don't even bother trying," Saki-chan shouted. "Reinforcements are arriving shortly and we have prepared for your arrival!"

"I know, dear," chucked Satou, from the other side of the wall of beds. "But we came prepared to deal with an entire army. This is a fairly important section of our operation, after all. Bring it down, gentlemen."

The barricade exploded.

[Yukinoshita Yukino, 29th June, 2135 hours]

"Squad 5 reporting from Chiba Bank, Ojou-sama! We disregarded the aforementioned set of instructions as a massive armed force of Autumn faction members has entered the bank. We cannot do significant damage to their unit with our numbers!"

I frowned. The Autumn faction using this kind of tactic was not unheard of, but why were they using so many people to raid a fully evacuated establishment?

"Can you report on their activity?"

"Um, they appear to have disappeared into the elevator. We suspect some sort of hidden passageway is in use here."

Ah, so they had some sort of secret passageway. Naturally, this could change the entire course of the battle, depending on the number of locations this passageway led to.

"Follow them discreetly. I'm sending backup."

"At your command!"

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2135 hours]

The shockwave blew me back, and pain jolted my brain into numbness. The searing heat and blinding light was too much for my senses, and for a few terrifying seconds I could only grope around.

Saki-chan... where was she?

When I came to, Satou and a bunch of armed men were right in front of me.

"Ah, could this be the first line of defense?" Satou quipped as he grabbed my arm with an iron grip. His followers sniggered.

Satou's eyes swept across the empty corridor, and landed on the bed that we had placed as cover. "Completely empty, eh? So you really weren't prepared, how wonderful. Or perhaps your friends are waiting for us in ambush behind all those doors? Hospital warfare is the best form of warfare, honestly."

"Don't," I croaked. "The patients here... they've done nothing wrong."

Satou's followers sniggered again.

"Of course I know that, young lady," said Satou. There was a hint of surprise in his voice. "Conversely, we are about to do something very wrong. But that doesn't matter, does it? Not on the grand scale. With that attitude you shouldn't be in the Autumn faction, seriously."

Desperately, I ran all my possible options through in my head. There wasn't a lot, honestly. I was trapped, Saki-chan was missing, and reinforcements were a long way away. These guys were going to kill every single person in this hospital. All I could do...

...was stall for time!

I screamed as loudly as I could and jerked my shoulder out of Satou's grip.

"What the fu-"

"Oi! She's pullin' something off!"

"Pump her full of lead!"

As it turned out, Autumn faction people like to shoot first and read the situation later. Come to think about it, that made sense. In a world where a quick reaction could be the difference between life and death, shooting the moment things seemed dangerous was probably a way of life.

Maybe I should have thought this through. I'm sorry, Saki-chan. I could only buy us a few seconds-

There was a series of short, crisp gunshots. A moment later, the three men who had pulled their rifles out the fastest dropped to the floor.

"Wait, what did she do?"

"Not her, idiot. There are other people here!"

Shocked, I whipped around. Reinforcements?

"Continue!" Satou commanded. "This girl needs to die either way."

I could see where the firing was coming from now; from behind the bed that Saki-chan and I had set in the corridor, the barrel of a pistol was peeking out. Another series of six gunshots rang out, and the six men closest to me crumpled like six decks of cards. Somehow, Satou had slipped to the back of the crowd in all the confusion.

"T-that backup is too strong!"

"He's hitting every single target right in the middle of their foreheads! That's insane accuracy!"

"Keep firing!" Satou yelled. "And some of you keep that sniper at bay!"

I flattened myself against the wall as a hail of bullets whizzed past me, peppering the bed and the air above it.

"Take this, you bastard!"

"You may be a good shot, but you can't shoot without exposing your head- ugh!"

Another man was down.

"Wha- but how? We've got him completely pinned- urg!"

"The wall! His bullets are ricocheting off the wall on the other side- gahhh!"

Actually, men were dropping like flies.

The general atmosphere among Satou's friends was not that of a raiding party, but instead that of a fearful group of mice trapped in a corner. In a way, they were.

"Satou-san!" screamed one of the men who had stopped firing out of despair. "It's that guy, isn't it! It can't be anyone else!" A single gunshot rang out, and he was dead as well.

"That guy... that's right! This may be a blessing!" I could hear Satou's annoying voice even though he was all the way at the back. "Cease fire! He's tracing your locations with the sounds of your gunshots!"

"Yeah, but if we're not shooting he can just use his eyes- argh!"

I closed my eyes and took a moment to silently offer my condolences for these poor guys who were dying left and right due to their leader's lack of intelligence. When I opened them, they were all staring at me.

"Wait, she's not dead yet? What are you guys doing?"

Oh, right. I should probably run.

I heard a few more gunshots and dying screams as I dashed behind the bed. Sure enough, my mystery saviour was there, wielding a gun and reloading with incredible speed...

"Wait, Saki-chan?!"

"It was a good move you pulled back there," Saki-chan said. Her eyes were set straight ahead. "A few seconds of distraction was all I needed."

"Saki-chan..."

"What's up?"

"You're so cool! You should have told me you were good at this kind of thing!"

She sighed, effortlessly firing another volley of bullets. Just how many did she have? "No flirting, I said."

The men resumed fire. We both ducked behind the bed as bullets whizzed past, just above our heads.

"What a big catch!" I heard Satou say from his hiding spot. "To think that our objective has come to us... come, men! Overwhelm him with cover fire and blast him into next week!"

...What is this guy talking about?

Saki-chan's eyes narrowed. Within my limited field of vision, I could roughly see one of the men palm a grenade, and horror struck me.

Saki-chan may be a sharpshooter, but we were trapped behind a flimsy layer of cover. Going by her pattern of attack, her gun could hold six bullets at a time, but there were more than ten people currently firing at us. It was a hopeless situation.

The grenade sailed across the air. Time seemed to slow...

Calmly, Saki-chan closed her eyes, took a deep breath and fired. One, two, three, four. The shooting stopped abruptly; without missing a beat, she rolled over to take aim at the flying projectile and fired. Five. Barely grazed, the grenade jerked to a stop in midair, sluggishly falling back as if pulled gently by gravity, floating back towards the group of stunned faces.

Saki-chan exhaled. Her fingers tightened-

Six.

The grenade exploded.

"Come on," she urged, amidst the yells of confusion and screams of pain. In the orange firelight coming from the end of the corridor, her face did not belong to the Saki-chan I knew. "This is our only chance to get out of here."

Groggily, I picked myself up and stumbled after her as she ran further in.

Six bullets had pulled us out of an impossible situation. Using the wall for rebound, she had shot more than ten people dead, which meant more than one target per bullet. With the fifth shot, she had clipped the grenade to change its path of motion without setting it off somehow, and the sixth had been a straight-on shot to trigger it.

Even I could tell this was no ordinary level of skill.

Not to mention, Satou had seemed so excited, even though his men were dropping left and right... and all that about meeting an objective... the Big Eight?

As we ran past the two endless rows of doors, Saki-chan's words flowed through my mind:

He's a cold-blooded brute who doesn't think twice before killing... that's what the rumours say, anyway.

I hate him.

Well... he uses firearms, see. And he shoots with...

Dead-eyed accuracy.

{Dead Eye, Kawasaki Saki}

[Hikigaya Hachiman, 29th June, 2145 hours]

Nope, nothing at all.

Exasperated, I plopped onto Yuigahama's bed. It was large and fluffy, just like what you'd expect a typical highschool girl's bed to be. Comfortable as it was, it only served to fill my head with even more confusion.

How could this be? Yuigahama was an ordinary girl with extraordinary ambition. Setting aside the issue of her ideology contradicting her actions, her motives for joining Group S and betraying it to join the Service Club were puzzling. Yet, after a full search of her entire room I had not found a single sliver of evidence that hinted at anything resembling answers. A pink, fluffy bed. Stuffed toy pandas on shelves. A diary full of mind-numbing entries, concealed by a secret compartment in her drawer.

She's... just a normal girl, isn't she.

Yes. Much as it damaged my ego, it was high time I considered that possibility. Yuigahama Yui was a normal high school girl who was naturally sociable and popular. For this reason, she had been selected by Hayama to be one of the decoy normal students in Group S. Seeing how Group S lorded over the student population, she had decided it was wrong and hence had decided to join a rebellious organisation to fell the school administration.

No. That part doesn't add up.

Say she had a sense of justice, or anything remotely similar, which spurred her to take action. The most sensible (and plausible) way to do it would be to change the system from the inside. With her position of authority, surely she could take small actions behind Hayama's back to undermine his authority or decisions. Why go so far to join a club which had no credibility and only two unreliable-looking members? Just what was in the club that made her join?

What was the bait?

My senses tingled, and I instinctively dove under the bed. Seconds later, a messy series of barks punctuated the quiet night air.

"What is it, Sablé?"

Soft footsteps padded up the stairs, then the door opened. The Yuigahama matriarch peered into the room and frowned lightly.

"What is it? Is there something in the room? You're not usually like this."

The source of the barking, a light-brown dachshund, had ceased its fit and was staring at me with a look of abject confusion. Of course, Yuigahama's mother could not see this.

"Hm? Why are the sheets so messy? Didn't I tidy them up this morning...?"

Oh, crap!

Hastily, I made a few hand signs and the daschund ran off barking merrily.

"Ah, wait!"

Swiftly, Yuigahama's mother made her exit. As soon as the door had shut, I hastily crawled out of my hiding place.

Conditioning (rated 5 out of 108) was a skill for dealing with both humans and animals alike. On the days prior to this one, I had secretly made periodic trips to the Yuigahama household, training their watchdog to react in certain ways to certain hand signs. Thankfully, that had come in handy here.

No matter how troublesome it was, if it helped boost my chances of success by even a tiny percentage, it was worth doing.

On a side note, were all dogs this carefree? The way that dachshund barked so happily reminded me of the last time I saw a dog. A dog... also dachshund, come to think of it. And its fur was the exact same shade of light brown. The way it ran across the road was so similar to this one, too...

Dachshund that ran across the road... Komachi... limousine...

Wait.

WAIT

In an instant, I was furiously ploughing through Yuigahama's drawers, cupboards, shelves, everything. Even though I knew I wouldn't find anything. Just to find something, anything that could calm the rising feeling of horror in my heart.

It couldn't be the same dog, right? Right? All dachshunds looked the same, after all. Yeah, that was it. I was just overreacting. Yep.

Like hell!

Frantically, I scrabbled at the fragments of my memory, desperately trying to bring up the face of the dog's owner. She was female, yes. Did she have pink hair? Maybe she did, maybe she didn't...?

No, no. Focus. Remember. Not her face, then. Her personality. Surely there was some sort of trait that could set her aside from others. Please, please just tell me it wasn't Yuigahama.

Nothing's coming up. Nothing at all! She apologised a lot, that's all I remember. She had such a generic personality, how would you expect me to remember?! She was around the same age as me, yes. I remember that. But other than that she was just a normal highschool girl...

...oh, God.

Stunned, I lowered myself onto Yuigahama's bed.

Nothing was set in stone. There was no solid evidence that whatever connections I'd just made in my head actually connected. It was a little too coincidental, honestly.

But... with all the stuff I was involved in, coincidences were few and far between. And if it really was that way, it all made sense.

My sister had saved her dog from being hit by a car, and had gotten hit in its place. She had followed me to the hospital. Minutes before the Winter faction goons attacked me, she had gone to... the toilet. Yes, the toilet.

And I had cleanly forgotten about this, but what was the sight that awaited her upon her return?

While I was dragging myself over to Kondo-san, before anybody from the Autumn or Winter faction came along to clean up, said Dog Owner had seen the corpses of twenty-odd men in shades and suits, bathed in a sea of blood.

And the boy that had been curled up in the corner had conveniently disappeared.

Did I mess up?

No, wait, wait. I was getting ahead of myself again. Even upon stumbling this kind of scene, the conclusion that an unarmed high school boy had single-handedly killed everybody and escaped was still too fantastic to be true. She probably had assumed that there had been a firefight in the hospital, and that I had been kidnapped for silence.

Yep, all cool. So assuming it was actually Yuigahama, where did that leave us now?

Contrary to her expectation, the boy had turned up in the same school as her a few weeks later. Naturally, this had commanded bafflement and no small amount of curiosity. How had this boy gotten out of that sticky situation? She had probably tried to approach him, which was extremely hard because of the newly-implemented caste system causing conflict between her desire to talk to him and her fear of being ostracised.

A year later, she was in Group S and saw that he had joined a club out of nowhere. She then proceeded to volunteer to inspect the club...

What had her request been, again? Something about baking cookies to show her gratitude to a person for... helping her out...

Right under my very own nose, too. Right under!

Sitting on a highschool girl's bed, with serene moonlight drifting in through the window and the soft blare of television coming from downstairs, a sigh escaped my lips.

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2145 hours]

The corridor ended with a blank white wall. Without missing a beat, Saki-chan strode into the room closest to the dead end to pick up the patient lying on the bed within. Grunting, she lifted the unconscious, sickly-looking girl onto her shoulder.

"Saki-chan, who's that- wait, Komachi-chan?"

Saki-chan lifted an eyebrow. "You know her?"

"Oh, well, uh..."

Not that I minded telling Saki-chan, but it was a long story. The last time I'd seen Komachi-chan had been outside an operating room, amidst a scene filled with corpses and blood. Back then I had turned tail and run, of course.

Whoever had done all that had somehow left Komachi-chan and Hikki alone, which was still a mystery to me. One that I was going to figure out.

"For starters, is she okay-"

"She's been in a coma for the past year or so now," Saki-chan shot me a glance, trying to guage just how much I knew. "Got into an accident."

"Oh. R-right."

"At any rate, you knowing her makes it easier," Saki-chan huffed, gingerly lifting Komachi-chan's slender form and placing it upon my shoulders. "Carry her out of here. I'll catch up with you later."

The sleeping girl on my shoulders was almost weightless.

Striding back out into the hallway, Saki-chan pressed a palm onto the large wall at the end of the hallway. There was a soft beep, and it soundlessly swung back to reveal another upward-leading staircase. "Go out and hide. We'll carry her back in after I've cleared this place up."

Komachi-chan was Hikki's little sister. Her room was placed right next to the emergency exit of a top-secret hospital. And Saki-chan was putting her safety above all the other important patients in this hospital.

At least three members of the legendary group that had changed society were studying at my school. Saki-chan, a member of this group, was taking effort to save the little girl on my back.

Deep down in my gut, I knew that this was a turning point in the progress of my mission. There were just so many dots that I could connect and so many conclusions I could make. About Hikki, about Komachi-chan, about all my friends, maybe even how they were all connected to Sobu High's mastermind.

But all I thought about in that moment was how Saki-chan trusted me so much to place Komachi-chan in my arms without thinking twice. Even though she was a criminal. Even though she lived alongside backstabbing traitors.

It felt... nice.

I felt my throat tighten, but I forced my words out anyway: "Saki-chan!"

Cocking her pistol, she flicked her faze back. "Yeah?"

"Don't die!"

For the briefest of moments, a smile flashed across her face. "No flirting, I said."

It was the first time I'd seen her smile, come to think of it.

Hefting Komachi-chan's light body up the stairs, I forced myself not to look back.

[Yukinoshita Yukino, 29th June, 2145 hours]

It was a battleground. Observing the situation safely within my armoured car, I could describe it as such.

Impatiently clicking my tongue, I stared at the huge party of gunmen who currently had my entire squad cornered. Of course, I had expected a welcoming party of sorts when I ordered my squad to move to Chiba Bank, but this was basically an armada. What on earth was going on?

Yashiro-san pulled me back from the window as yet another hail of bullets pelted the vehicle's reinforced surface. "Tempered glass is not unbreakable, Yukino-sama," he chided. As it was, my mood was not so good as to allow me to listen to his unnecessary advice. Ignoring him, I turned to the agent closest to me.

"Intel. Now."

"Y-yes!" he yelped. "U-um, this group is definitely from the Autumn faction, but they don't appear to be from the group that entered the bank earlier. Our guess is that there is an important facility underneath the bank, and that they were sent to protect it."

So we were not their main objective. That made sense; despite amassing such a huge force they had brought no weapons that were effective against our armoured vehicles. The fact that the Autumn faction was having an internal feud was no surprise to me either.

"In that case, drive up and have the whole squad block the entrance to the bank."

"O...ojou-sama?"

"Do it."

"Y-yes!"

The firing intensified as the five armoured vehicles obstructed the entrance, which was reassuring in a sense. Regardless of whether we had a common enemy or not, my mission was to exterminate all those from the Autumn who were planning to disrupt public order. I would have to start by preventing them from reaching their objective, whatever it was.

They were trying to overwhelm us with pure firepower. Solid as the reinforcement on each vehicle was, they would eventually be overwhelmed by the sheer number of bullets in the bombardment we were currently caught in. Desperately, my subordinates returned fire to the best of their ability. It was not an unmanageable situation by any definition, but I now had no more manpower to spare. Who, then, was going to take care of the enemy forces inside the bank?

"Yukino-sama."

Was there really no other option?

"Yukino-sama."

Was there really no other option?

"Yukino-sama, this humble-"

"I get it already!" I snapped, wheeling around to glare at Yashiro-san. Somehow, given the cramped space inside the vehicle, he was executing a perfect ninety-degree bow. "But I've told you time and time again, Yashiro-san, that I don't need your help!"

"Your esteemed mother allowed me to assist you where combat is concerned. Enlisting my help here shouldn't be a problem, should it?" He returned my glare with a perfectly blank stare, and I found myself looking into a pair of emotionless grey irises. Really, I could never tell what he was thinking.

Whether my mother allowed it was not the problem, of course. This was a test to determine my aptitude as a leader and strategian, and being forced to use the Yukinoshita family's trump card would no doubt reflect badly on my performance.

Getting Yashiro-san to clear out a single facility was like breaking an egg with a hammer. This was the monster who had once wiped six Yakuza bases off the map with his bare hands for spreading slanderous information about my Father to the media. In a single day.

"Yukino-sama. I understand that we have our differences, but our objectives do align here. To the very end, this humble servant asserts that he only wants to be of use to you."

Even now, he was playing to my emotional weakness. How unfair. Though, I supposed, at the root of our relationship lay my trust in Yashiro-san to have my back. There was no harm in allowing myself to be deceived, was there?

...In the first place, I did not have much of a choice.

"Fine," I sighed. "Go for it."

Yashiro-san beamed. It was an extremely annoying smile that completely contrasted his usual stoic expression. For some reason, however, I could not muster any irritation in response.

"I will not disappoint you, Yukino-sama. I shall be out in less than twenty minutes."

"I expect no less from you. Go on, then."

Sighing, I turned back to my laptop. I had an operation to manage and two schoolmates to find; now that this location was practically secured, all that was left was-

"Yukino-sama."

My fingers resumed their furious typing. "Yes?"

"...You really have grown."

He's still at it? Internally, I rolled my eyes. "I do not recall doing anything to merit your respect, Yashiro-san."

A pregnant pause.

The voice that broke this silence was not that of a calculating old man or a seasoned killer. It was... quavering. Hesitant. Raw with emotion. Whatever it was, I could not quite describe it, and it was this uncertainty that made my mouth dry abruptly.

"Call it... a father's intuition, Yukino-sama."

A sarcastic retort about Yashiro-san's bachelorhood stopped short on its way up my throat. Something in me had realised, even faster than my brain, that I would have regretted making that joke.

...I had never heard him sound like this before.

I stayed in this dumbfounded state for what felt like quite a while, staring blankly at the blips on my laptop screen and daring myself to look back. In that moment, if I tilted my head backwards just a little, what kind of expression would I see on Yashiro-san's face?

When I finally turned around, he was gone.

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2200 hours]

Saki-chan stumbled out of the hospital's hidden back exit. Despite what had happened in the past fifteen minutes, her uniform blazer was completely unwrinkled. Even though her schoolbag was holding a weapon that had most likely ended the lives of twenty-plus people, it was casually slung over her shoulder, just like she was walking out of class. As the stench of iron wafted out of the hole in the wall that she exited from, I could not even see a hint of blood on her clothes.

So that's what the Big Eight is like. Scary efficient. Without realising it, a shiver had gone down my spine.

"Good work," she huffed as I wordlessly handed Komachi-chan over to her. "I got distracted and let Satou and a couple of his goons get away, but other than that I got the job done."

The most amazing thing, I realised, was how okay I was with this whole thing. I was by no means an angel, but helping a trained killer like this was on a whole new level. Even if the trained killer was Saki-chan.

In the first place, Saki-chan didn't need any of my help, did she?

Sure, I had agreed to help out because I wanted a clearer picture of what had been going around me all this while. About Hayato-kun, Meguri-senpai and even Hikki. But this... this picture was way too clear. And now I was in the thick of it.

Is this... really okay?

"Alright," Saki-chan grunted, repositioning her school bag into a more comfortable position. She looked so... relaxed, even more so than usual. "I'll have to ask you to hold on to her for a little while longer, actually. As troublesome as it is, I need to finish the job properly."

It took me a second to process her words. "Saki-chan, you can't mean-"

"I'm following them to finish them off, yes."

I held onto Komachi-chan's unconscious body just a bit more tightly.

"T-that's not really needed, right? You chased them out of the hospital, and-"

"What are you talking about?" Saki-chan's expression was one of sincere confusion, almost as if she wasn't talking about killing a bunch of people in cold blood. "They've seen our faces. Aren't you worried that your life will be targeted after this?"

I knew that. I knew what I had signed up for, when I chose Sobu High as my high school and got into Group S and joined the Service Club and agreed to help Saki-chan. I knew I was always going to be the shallow figure, the one who just floated around doing her own thing. I knew I was going to have to get my hands dirty. I knew that, but still...

Still...!

"It's not like I don't understand how you feel," Saki-chan continued, "but some things just need to be done. It's not an issue of morals or whatnot."

"...no."

"No?"

Steadily, I stared straight into Saki-chan's eyes. "I'm not helping you anymore, Saki-chan. It may have been different back there when it was self defense, but killing people who can't fight back is wrong."

She looked frustrated. "Look, Yuigahama. Like I said, the issue isn't whether it's right or not-"

"It is to me," I said. "And I'm not blind enough to think that I know everything that's going on, or even that I'm completely right. But these are my values, and I'm sticking by them. If you're going to do stuff like this, I can't stand by you anymore."

It wasn't that I was angry or disgusted at Saki-chan. It really wasn't. But different people made different choices. I wasn't going to pretend I knew what she was going through, but this was the life she had picked. And in the same way I would follow my own set of values, however flimsy they were.

We stayed in that position for a while.

Finally, she looked away. "...Fine. I can see why you'd want to part ways. You should've done it sooner, honestly. Hand her over to me, then."

I paused. "You're going to carry her into enemy territory?"

"What choice do I have? I can't just leave her here. Anyway, you've seen my skills. She'll be just fine, even if she is in the middle of a bullet storm."

I looked everywhere but at Saki-chan's face. Somehow I just knew that if I did, I would see an expression of finely concealed sadness. And somehow I also knew that seeing that face would cause my already jumbled emotions to overflow.

It wasn't fair. Why did I have to be the one to notice these things? Why did I have to be the soft one? Why did I have to feel like the bad guy, especially in this situation?

Komachi-chan's limp body felt like a doll in my hands. My ticket to freedom. Hand her over, go home, wash up, sleep. It was so funny I wanted to cry.

Forget doing what was right, I didn't even know what I wanted to do. I was supposed to trust that all people had some good in them. But even with Saki-chan, with all her sweet and loveable sides that I had just seen, I was having so much trouble believing in her. All those times I had convinced myself that I was on the right track, even that time on the tennis court when I forced my ideals on Hayato-kun... I was just a big hypocrite, in the end.

Maybe, just maybe, I had been jealous of Hikki and Yukinon all along. Of how they could do what they thought was right without flinching, not caring about what others thought. Of how they knew what they wanted to do, even if wanting it meant making the whole world their enemy.

The two of them... what would they do?

I hugged the unconscious Komachi-chan closer. "...I changed my mind."

"You're coming?"

"Yes," I said. "Because someone needs to tell you that what you're doing is wrong."

"You told me that already."

"Well, someone needs to tell you that multiple times!" With great difficulty, I hefted Komachi-chan's body onto my back. She was as light as feather, but I was the kind of girl who only did weight lifting with my handphone. "No matter what it takes."

"...Alright."

Wordlessly, we set off.

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2230 hours]

My breathing was nice and stable. My shoulders were fine. And most importantly, my legs were not in pain at all.

Not... at all...

"Want me to carry her?"

"No," I wheezed. "You'll just run off without me if I do!"

Saki-chan looked hurt when I said that, but only slightly. "If I wanted to do that sort of thing I would've done so a long while back. Can you speed up a bit? At this rate they'll have gone home by the time we reach."

"Definitely... gonna... stop you..."

"I don't get why you're going through all this trouble, really. Especially for someone like me."

Me neither.

"You're causing me quite a bit of trouble, actually. I've never exactly done any face reveals these few years, but you kinda ruined that in one night."

I was doing what I thought was right. And I will continue to do just that.

"Also, you know too much now. I might have to erase you after all this, you know?"

Maybe I'm a hypocrite. Probably. Just a couple minutes ago I was looking down on you for the life you chose, Saki-chan. But I think something in me still feels that you're worth the effort.

...Wait. Didn't she say something really scary just now?

But sometimes actions speak louder than words. Propping Komachi-chan's limp form up until I could feel her faint breaths on my cheek, I picked up the pace.

"...I see," sighed Saki-chan. "I don't know a thing about you, Yuigahama. For a normal civilian to do stuff like this, you're just... just... weird. Yeah, you're weird. That's what you are."

Going by the way she phrased this, she was treating it like a conclusion rather than a passing remark. This meant that nothing I said at this point would change her mind, which was slightly annoying. But maybe she was right.

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2245 hours]

The air around the warehouse reeked of blood and sweat. They may as well have painted a skull on the door or posted their location on social media. It was amazing how the police hadn't found this area yet. Or perhaps they didn't want to?

Saki-chan followed me into the dark corner behind the warehouse which we had hid in earlier, but I kept my eyes on her anyway; there was no telling when she would make her move, but when she did, I had to be ready to stop her.

How to stop her was another question altogether, though. If worse came to worst...

I glanced at the sleeping girl in my hands.

I did not want to do this. I didn't want to betray Saki-chan and Hikki's trust in me, and I really didn't want to reach a new low by using innocent people as hostages. But it seemed to be the only option.

Or, maybe I could tackle Saki-chan in a bear hug before she moves and use the chance to feel her up. Hmmm...

A nudge from Saki-chan's elbow drove all lewd thoughts from my mind. Satou had stood up in a clear call for attention.

"My fellows! How are you faring?"

A couple of unsatisfied-sounding murmurs along the lines of "yeah, just peachy" drifted from the crowd and reached my ears. The raid as a whole hadn't gone very well.

"As expected," continued Satou who just couldn't be put down, "the first wave of invasion has borne little fruit! However, fret not! As per the guidance of {Moral Compass}, our campaign has just begun! From this point until dawn tomorrow, the second shift shall take charge!"

Wait. Just begun? Second shift?

"Look," Saki-chan murmured. "To the left."

On the left side of the warehouse stood a group of militants. Unlike their ragged counterparts that filled the rest of the warehouse, these were squeaky clean and completely prepped for war.

"A standard tactic," Saki-chan whispered. "He split the entire group into two so that they could take turns to invade."

I nodded mutely. It was the exact strategy that the Winter Faction troops had used to attack the warehouse earlier, only on a larger scale. Just how far were they willing to go...

How far were we willing to go?

I tugged on Saki-chan's sleeve.

"We don't have to wipe them out, right? We can just go in there and hold Satou at gunpoint or something. I'm sure they'll listen-"

"And expose our faces for everyone to remember?" she snorted. "Just face it, Yuigahama. We'll have to do this the old fashioned way."

Inside the warehouse, Satou was giving a rousing speech to his men. I vaguely caught a point about ideals and how only strength can change the world.

"We can always hide our faces," I offered desperately. "Look, I have a few paper bags in my schoolbag-"

"Are you retarded?!" Saki-chan whisper-shouted. "What, you think this is some manga where a bunch of masked vigilantes save the world? These aren't comic book villains. They won't listen to anything you say!"

"It's worth a try!" I shot back. "Look, I'm sure you don't want to kill either-"

"Take this seriously, Yuigahama!" Saki-chan grabbed both my shoulders and hissed straight into my face. "It's them or us, do you understand? Villains or not, they die or we do! That's just the way this world works!"

"Well, I hate it!"

Satou's speech stopped abruptly. There was a general craning of necks in our direction.

"I know that's the way things are, and I don't like it!" I shouted hotly into Saki-chan's stunned face. "Everywhere! In school, in society, in the criminal underworld! Why do people have to act this way when they are capable of being kind? Because everyone else is doing it, that's why!"

"And more so than the people who do stupid stuff like this," I continued, jabbing a finger through the hole in the wooden wall and ignoring the timid noises of protest that followed, "it's the people who just stand there and don't do a single thing to change it that make it worse! The people who take the easy way out! The people like you!"

Saki-chan glared at me, but her heart wasn't in it.

"People always come up with excuses. Why does it have to start with me, what could I possibly do to change society, I'm just a normal guy, all kinds of nonsense. A society is made of people! Of normal guys! Of you! If enough people do it, society is doing it! And if it doesn't start with everybody, then it has to start with somebody. And that somebody is gonna be me, and if I can damn well help it that somebody is gonna be you!"

I bent double and wheezed. An awkward smattering of applause travelled from within the warehouse.

"Er, jolly good," said Satou, sounding a bit unsure of himself. "We still have to kill you, though."

There was a mass clicking of firearms.

I stared triumphantly at Saki-chan. I was going to die in less than ten seconds, but after that massive outpouring of emotion, I was amazed at how little I cared. "That's right. The moment they start shooting they'll hit Komachi-chan over here. Unless you can stop them all at once?"

Saki-chan sighed.

"Let's try things my way, Saki-chan."

"Yuigahama... I'm sorry."

A stone settled at the bottom of my gut. Something wasn't right.

"Saki-chan? You never... planned to raid them from the start?"

"No," she replied, looking away. "I'm here under orders. To confirm their deaths."

Which means... any convincing I did on her wouldn't have worked...?

"I'm sorry, Yuigahama. But this is something that even you can't change. I... really hoped it could be that simple."

Hastily, I glanced around. There weren't any vehicles or people in sight. Just how...

"Alright," declared Satou. "For the glory of our operation, we will put you to death!"

Saki-chan wordlessly picked up Komachi-chan's sleeping body and placed it behind hers, away from the warehouse. Shielding her from the bullets? No...

Orders from above? Who could possibly...

Oh.

"Get out of that warehouse!" I screamed, pounding the wall. "Your leader or trusted ally or whatever! He's tricked you!"

"Begging for your life would have been less tasteless, my dear," sighed Satou. "Now, on my mark, fire at wi-"

"Do you really want those to be your last words?!" I shrieked. My voice was cracking under the tremendous pressure, but the rising tension in my stomach was greater. "Calling a girl you don't even know 'my dear'? Hurry up and get out!"

"Of course not," snapped Satou. "I decided on that a long time ago. My last words will be something cool-sounding about my late wife-"

"Ten seconds to Eleven," Saki-chan said to the world in general. "Yuigahama, you should step back too."

My mind a blur, I sprinted over to the door of the warehouse. Through the corner of my eye I saw Saki-chan dive for my side, then felt the impact throw me off my feet and into the grass.

The warehouse exploded.

[Hikigaya Hachiman, 29th June, 2305 hours]

The curtains were drawn, leaving just enough space for a sliver of light from adjacent streetlights to penetrate the thick darkness. I lay comfortably in my bed facing the door, body concealed by sheets and shadows. Exactly three and a half metres away, a desktop computer hummed in noncommittal fashion.

The time now was five minutes past eleven. My bedroom had no need for a clock, as the crows that hung around the power cables outside every night screeched in precise twenty-second intervals. I had spent one evening patiently ensuring that this should be so.

I was alone with my thoughts.

So, Yuigahama had feelings for me. Fascination, mainly. And a sense of guilty obligation for getting Komachi involved in the accident. The rest, I supposed, was hormonal. Manipulating emotions was as natural as breathing to me and amorous feelings were the easiest to toy with, but this was the first time such feelings were being directed at myself. In short, it was a pain.

I had shaken Yukinoshita off my trail and had conducted an investigation into Yuigahama's background that had turned out to be fruitless. Was there no victory awaiting me at the end of this long day of tireless labour?

My cell phone vibrated. It was a text from Kawasaki.

"Your jailbait is safe."

I frowned.

"My what"

"The shrimp. Bringing her to my house"

"Ok thx I'll pick her up tmr"

"Also, detonation successful. Zero survivors."

"Gr8. I'll hear ur full report soon."

A caw from outside my window indicated that it was seven minutes past eleven on the dot. Tossing my phone aside, I snuggled into my bed's covers, allowing the inky blackness of night to conceal all traces of my presence. Against my subconscious will, a smile of considerable proportion and oozing with malice crept onto my face.

...Well, this was a small victory.

{Moral Compass, Hikigaya Hachiman}

[Yuigahama Yui, 29th June, 2315 hours]

When I came to, I was embraced by warmth. There was orange firelight coming from my left, so I supposed the warehouse was still burning. The stench of burning wood and flesh filled the air... it should have, but instead my nose was filled with the aroma of shampoo. Saki-chan sat stock still with my head on her lap, strands of bluish-white hair hiding her expression from my blurry vision.

We stayed in this position for quite a while.

"Saki-chan..."

"Myeah?"

"You look like crap."

A finger delicately traced my brow, brushing off something that felt like grime. "So do you."

We fell silent. Somewhere nearby, the remains of the warehouse crackled.

"Your thighs feel really nice, actually. What's your diet like?"

"Same as yours, more or less. I think the key is exercise."

"Oh."

A hundred bodies or so were burning in there somewhere. The thought made my skin break out into goosebumps. Either that or the chilly night air.

"Um, you know..."

I started. How often did Saki-chan start a conversation with me? Not very often, that was for sure.

"Yeah?"

"I'm sorry. I know our views don't match and all that, but seeing you try so hard to save those guys was... well. It really got me thinking about what you said."

I blinked. "About changing society and whatnot?"

She nodded. The white wisps of hair framing her face bobbed along, but my vision was still too blurred for me to catch her expression: I must have hit my head. "Yeah. Maybe I just haven't been trying hard enough, yknow? To change this shitty situation. I'm sorry for what I said, Yuigahama. And I'm sorry for everything you saw today."

I stared blankly into the night sky. The Yuigahama Yui that everyone knew was a pushover who hated conflict and was always quick to apologise, but I didn't want to pretend in front of Saki-chan. I didn't see anything to apologise for, so I didn't.

The shock and desperation from just minutes ago had already drained away, like a childhood memory that would never come back. Sure, I had gotten all angry at Saki-chan and had preached all that stuff, but right now I just wanted to tell her not to worry about it. Everything: the bodies burning a few metres away, the people who had died at our hands, the civilians we could have saved... I had forgotten them all.

That was just the kind of horrible person I was.

I blinked. My vision was clearing now. "Why did you save me, Saki-chan?"

"Huh?"

"I've been nothing but trouble to you. I'm sure nobody would be too mad at you for letting me die after doing something so stupid. In the end I... I'm just a dumb girl living by a naive set of values, and those values would have killed me. Why did you risk your life to... to... Saki-chan?"

A drop of rain had landed on my cheek, but the sky was clear.

"I don't know," Saki-chan said, her voice cracking slightly. "Maybe I should have, right? I mean, it's not like I haven't left innocent people to die before. I've always gone with the flow. That's all I've done. You'd probably wait for me in the afterlife just to say 'I told you so' or something..."

The drop had led to a light drizzle. Saki-chan's voice crackled like lightning, her hidden expression like a dark cloud threatening to overflow.

"...but even so!"

My vision sharpened, and I took a sharp breath. Saki-chan's face had come into focus...

"Even so, I just couldn't let you die!" she choked.

The downpour began.

Stunned, I lifted a hand and pressed it against her face, feeling the tears roll down my fingers and drip onto my blazer. They looked like gemstones, the way they reflected the amber light.

Saki-chan's crying face was not, by any stretch of the word, beautiful. Her sobs sounded pretty unnatural too. Not cute at all. And her emotion was so raw. Did she not feel embarrassed?

My eyes stung. Trailing down my already-wet face were two trails of hot tears. I must have hit my head really hard.

Ah.

A certain feeling welled up in my chest. More than the anger towards my own hypocrisy, or the fear for my life, or the uncertainty at my actions. Because more importantly than anything, I wanted to help her.

So much more than me, on a level that I couldn't even begin to understand...

This girl was a really, really kind person.

[Yukinoshita Yukino, 29th June, 2350 hours]

The Yukinoshita family's butler had been lacking a family name for as long as I'd known, but to me, Yashiro-san was Yashiro-san. For the most part my household had felt the same way, which was why my father had offered for Yashiro-san to use the Yukinoshita name. He had basically been family, after all.

"...Ojou-sama. We're ready to leave."

Family. A father figure. A mentor.

An indestructible force.

To express myself in words in this moment was simply impossible. My hands felt... cold.

"Ojou-sama."

Yukinoshita Yashiro lay on the backseat of the combat vehicle. Except that it was not Yukinoshita Yashiro anymore, but a piece of meat shaped like Yukinoshita Yashiro. My brain was still processing this massive contrast.

Right in the centre of his forehead, a bullet was embedded. Death had been instant.

I stared.

"He... wasn't taken by surprise, Ojou-sama," said the agent beside me, in a pitiful attempt at consolation. "Yashiro-san would never have lost to a sneak attack. This was done by somebody with considerable skill."

I considered opening my mouth to tell the lackey that he was fired, but couldn't. My mouth was apparently glued shut. Like my fists. My throat. My everything.

I knew that this was the moment for the heir of the Winter Faction to say something appropriate. A pseudo-eulogy, perhaps. Or maybe something simpler like "Rest in peace". Even shedding a few tears would be acceptable.

But.

Wordlessly, I got into the vehicle. Taking the hint, my subordinate started the engine.

"You're... pretty calm about this, Ojou-sama. As expected of the... uh... oh."

I did not answer.

"Do you... need a handkerchief?"

I did not answer. He fumbled around in his pocket.

"Here you go. Um, if you permit me to speak freely, Ojou-sama..."

I swiped at my face, but did not answer.

"We're all as lost as you are without him. He was a great leader. That's why... we'll help you."

I did not answer.

"You're going to avenge him, right? Yukino-sama."

I did not answer. There was no need.

END OF CHAPTER 9