Yukino Kikukawa listened as other students gossiped.
"Hey, did you hear?" One asked.
"About what?" Another replied.
"What happened with Ishigami the art teacher and Sister Yukariko!"
"Yeah! I heard! A forbidden love that ended in a murder-suicide!"
"Did you also hear about Sugiuya-sensei? She got so drunk that she fell off a building!"
"Man, what's up with our teaching staff? They should really rethink their hiring policy!"
Yukino didn't believe the rumours. She knew the truth. She had been keeping watch on the other HiMEs with Diana. She knew about the man that was hunting them down.
And she was terrified.
This man had stood up to the HiMEs' special powers, and managed to get rid of three of them. Three that Yukino was aware of.
What kind of monster was he?
Yukino didn't know what to do. Who could she tell? Who would believe her? Would telling the others even do any good? To what lengths would this man go?
Would Haruka be in danger? Yukino knew she had to do something. This time she'd be the one to protect Haruka.
That night, she took action. She moved deep into the forest. Isolated, away from everyone else. She wasn't alone though. She had Diana with her. Some how, she knew he'd come for her. He was probably watching them all, waiting for the chance to strike.
But she'd be ready for him. Diana released her spores into the air and Yukino summoned her mirrors. She'd find where he was coming from, and when he got close enough, Diana would get him. She would capture him.
Her legs wouldn't stop shaking though. As Diana's spores searched the area, Yukino couldn't shake the feeling of terror knowing that he was out there, somewhere.
Then one of her mirrors went dead. Something had happened to the spore sending the video.
Yukino's blood ran cold.
Then she lost another, and another. How was this possible? Diana's spores were supposed to be cloaked, practically invisible to the naked eye.
Practically.
Yukino had Diana send out more spores. She had to find him. She had to know where he was coming from. The spores that had been destroyed were scattered around a wide area. How could an ordinary human cover such a large distance in such a short time? How could he hit small, nearly invisible, targets in the dead of night?
It should have been impossible, but it was happening.
Everything was still. Not even crickets were chirping. Yukino frantically looked around; all her mirrors were filled with static. Diana's tentacles were at the ready, prepared to strike out at anything that approached.
A few moments passed. Nothing. Yukino couldn't hold out any longer. She spun around and ran as fast as she could. Ran without paying attention to where she was going.
She ran right into something hard. She looked up and into the eyes of Golgo 13.
She didn't even have time to scream.
And then there were six.