Now Reap the Whirlwinds . . ..

Takano Akira is scarred from her previous encounter, in more ways than one, and she must face her friends and classmates and deal with aftershock of her previous encounter.

CLASS 3A – Yagami High School. – Monday - 0900 hours.

"T….T….Takano!" Yelled a stunned Eri as Akira sat down behind her in class. The look on Eri's face was enough to make her regret coming to school today. The entire class was shocked when the usual steadfast, emotionless, and damn near invulnerable Akira, walked into the classroom half limping with a partially bruised and bandaged face.

"Akira! What happened to you?" Eri said slamming her hands down on the desk and standing up. The whole class looked at Akira as she slowly turned around and looked at Eri with serious but steady eyes. The entire class leaned in expectantly

"I fell."

The entire class fell backwards with a collective "crash" and Akira simply placed her bag on the desk and shuffled through some papers. Eri picks herself up off the ground and faces Akira. "Oh come on! Do you expect us to believe that?

"You're my friend aren't you?" Akira replied with a cold undertone.

Eri recoiled her finger and looked at Akira and slowly nodded. "Yes Akira I'm your friend, but what kind of fall would give you a mark on your neck like that?" She asked pointing to it.

Akira snapped her book bag shut and replied coolly. "It was an accident at work. I fell."

Eri relaxed and sat back down. "Ok then. But you know Akira, you don't have to be a tough girl all the time…"

"That's interesting, coming from you…" replied Akira, taking out a notebook for class.

Eri leaned over her desk. "What is that supposed to mean! What's with you today?"

Just then, Yoshidayama and Nara walk up to Akira's desk. "Yo Takano-san! Nara-kun and I, just wanted to make sure that your al…." Yoshidayama froze in mid sentence as the emanating dark aura from Takano threatened to engulf both of them.

Nara's voice cracked. "She looks fine! Yes she's fine! She's totally, totally fine!"

"I agree Nara-kun!" Replied Yoshidayama. "Lets go over there and talk about manliness!"

"Good idea Yoshidayama-kun! You lead the way!"

The duo trotted off to sit on a desk at the opposite end of the room and began to arm wrestle.

The door slid open as a gorgeous woman in a white lab coat walked in. At the raise of her hand the entire classroom went silent. "Good morning everyone. You all know me as Itoko-sensei and since Professor Hidoki's retirement, I have been assigned as your homeroom teacher for your third year at Yagami high-school." The entire class cheered, but the boys did more so than the girls.

"Heaven has blessed us!" Cried a boy from the back.

Itoko took a deep breath and sighed. Then began her introduction making a point to look every one of her students in the eye as she took roll call. One by one the students raised their hands shouting "present" or "here." As she ran her fingers down the list she read a name that made her frown. But she wasn't one to skip procedure.

"Harima Kenji." She said not even bothering to look up. An annoyed sounding Eri broke a pencil in half, indicating his continued absense.

"As I thought." Itoko said flipping to the next page. Several more names were called before she announced Akira's name.

"Present." Akira said raising her hand fighting the sharp pain in her right arm. Itoko paused and looked at her. "What happened to you?"

"I fell, at work." Akira said, and the class collectively nodded. Itoko paused for a little before saying. "See me after the school day."

TEA CLUB – Yagami High School. – Monday - 1700 hours.

Steaming hot ginseng tea poured into a wooden cup.

"I see then." Itoko said blowing on her hot drink. "So the men guarding the merchandise were no ordinary hired thugs." She blew at her drink again before taking a small sip of it.

"These men were not thugs." Akira was sitting on the floor wearing a lavender Yuukata and ceremoniouslly poured her own cup of tea. "These men were not just any terrorists either, they were well trained, well organized and well equipped." An image flashed in her mind. Something she saw before she jumped through the window.

"…For some reason one of them carried a riot shield."

Itoko took another sip from her teacup and crossed her legs. "They must have acquired weapons from the local area as well as from the black market."

Akira nodded and took a sip of her own tea. Itoko examined Akira closely, from the bruised and slightly swollen side of her face to the red mark around her neck. She took a bigger sip of the hot drink before setting it down on a wooden table. "Have you delivered the merchandise yet?"

Akira shook her head no and Itoko leaned forward placing her hands together. "When you're done with this, I don't want you taking any more jobs from this employer. Do you understand me?"

Akira raised her eyes to look at Itoko. "There was no misinformation on my clients part. I knew what I was walking into…"

"But you were still surprised Takano-san, and these men had almost killed you…"

Akira was silent and covered for her having nothing to say by focusing on her tea.

"In every mission you've been in, you've always escaped with nothing more than a scratch. Obviously last night turned out a little differently."

"It was a fluke." Akira filled up her teacup with a fresh batch of tea. "It wont happen again Itoko sensei."

"As a teacher, you're my first responsibility, and I cannot…"

Silent knocking coming from the clubroom door interrupted Itoko. A quiet and timid voice sounded from the other side.

"Ano…Takano-sempai, may I come in?"

After straightening her Yuukata, Akira stood up and walked up to the door of the tea club and opened revealing a very concerned and shy looking Yakumo, with her hand up as if to knock again. She held a plastic bag in her hands. Akira mentally sighed.

"You know this is your clubroom too. You don't have to knock." She opened the door wider and stepped aside to let Yakumo into the room.

"Thank you sempai, good afternoon Itoko-sensei." She said bowing courteously toward her teacher. Itoko nodded "Good afternoon Tsukamoto-san. Is your sister doing well?"

Yakumo nodded. "Yes, she's finishing her schooling at a local American public school. She says she's getting straight A's…" Itoko blinked twice at that and Akira's jaw dropped at least half its length.

Itoko was the first one to speak. "Well, well…I heard the overall education quality in America was lower than ours but I didn't know it would be this low."

Yakumo's voice was a little more forceful than usual in her response. Her grip around the plastic bag began to tighten. "Ano…No disrespect Itoko-sensei, but my sister is trying extremely hard for the one she loves. I believe in my sisters resolve to become a doctor. And to help Karasuma-kun."

Itoko looked Yakumo over; it was rare that she ever peeked out of her usually shy and quiet self. It made her curious to know what she would be like angry. But today was not a day to mess with a young girls heart.

"I apologize for my lack of faith in your sister. I have to go and check on something outside."

Akira nodded and Itoko opened the door.

"Itoko-sensei. " Called Yakumo, stopping the teacher in her tracks. "Uhm…is there any word from…him?"

Itoko stood by the door and simply responded with a quick. "No." before shutting the door behind her. Yakumo turned to Akira and she just shook her head.

A few minutes later, Yakumo was being poured her own cup of tea.

Akira broke the silence. "So. This is why you keep coming to our classroom every lunch period. Its because of Harima-san, is it not?"

Yakumo turned her gaze to the floor. "I haven't seen him all throughout the break period…I just want to know if he's ok." Akira nodded and Yakumo raised her head back up lifting up a bag with medicinal herbs. Akira raised an eyebrow.
"When I stopped by today at lunch, I saw that you were injured, so I got you this at the mart."

Akira stared at the bag with a cup of tea halfway to her mouth.

"These herbs do wonders for the pain, right sempai? You told me this a long time ago." Continued Yakumo wondering what the odd look was about. Finally Akira brought the tea to her lips and finished the entire cup in one shot. With her throat blistering she put the cup down and told Yakumo. "I appreciate your concern but this is not…ne…."

Takano Akira's eyes grew wide as a faint whistling noise could be heard followed by a sensation of burning air, within a nano second, the teacup shattered into hundreds of tiny pieces.

SHRUBBERY – Yagami High School Grounds. – Monday - 1710 hours.

"This is Alpha…tea cup is destroyed, I think she got the message."