Mondays always sucked. Monday's meant having to deal with stupid people. Normally Tatsuya wouldn't be bothered, but he was staying with his brother and therefore had to behave himself. Tatsuya only went to school when he stayed with his brother.

The scores from last weeks midterms were posted by lunch time. He didn't know why everyone was so surprised that he scored the highest. He'd had the best scores on all of his tests since his first year at Sevens. Not that he ever let his family know. His unwillingness to complete his homework was what kept him from being top of the class. He might be a slacker, but he wasn't stupid.

This week was also Career Evaluations Week. Tatsuya was scheduled to meet with Saeko Sensei on Friday.

Tatsuya stopped by his locker to grab his book for Literature. He didn't have to turn around to know that there was a group of guys flanking him.

"What do you dumbasses want?" Tatsuya asked as he retrieved his book and shut his locker door. He turned to the group and observed them. There were five of them. Tatsuya noted their poor attempt to look menacing.

"3 o' clock, outside. Near the flag pole. Be there!" The largest one demanded.

"Ooh, sorry, I'm a bit busy at 3. How about we reschedule to, oh, 7 o' clock at Aoba Park?" Tatsuya said. The largest boy's face started turning red.

"Oh Hell No, you will be outside at 3." The Ring Leader growled. Like a bunch of lemmings the other four boys followed the Ring Leader to wherever their next class was. Tatsuya was not impressed by their attempt to be cool. He just shrugged it off and headed toward his next class.

…

They were ten minutes late. Tatsuya stood with his back resting on the flag pole. Almost everyone was gone now. Only a few students remained. The teachers were in a meeting, so he knew he wouldn't have to worry about adult interference.

"Ready to get your face smashed in pretty boy?!" The Ring Leader asked as he and his buddies approached. Tatsuya examined his finger nails. They were trimmed and well cared for. Satisfied that his cuticles weren't too dry, Tatsuya looked up to the group.

"You're late." He stated. The group circled around him, closing him off from escape. Not that he needed to escape. His grandfather had told him that the most inexperienced fighters will do the most obvious things. Which is exactly what happened.

The guy who positioned himself directly behind him moved in for an attack. Tatsuya side stepped. His assailant didn't expect this and overcompensated, landing onto his friend who, up until that point, had stood in front of him. The two who stood on opposite sides of him, attempted to attack him at once. He dodged them with little effort. Their attacks, both of them aiming a punch for his head, met with epic failure as they ended up knocking each other out.

Two down, three to go…Scratch that three down, two to go. Tatsuya observed that the guy who had attacked him first had inadvertently knocked his friend out. That left his first attacker and the Ring Leader.

What happened next could only be described as similar to watching a train wreck. The large one had thrown a kick his way. Tatsuya artfully dodged it, but he noticed that the other guy wasn't so lucky. It all seemed to happen in slow motion. His first attacker had tripped over one of his fallen buddies. As Tatsuya regained sure footing, he witnessed the first attacker's head and the Ring Leader's foot impact in the space he used to occupy. The smaller guy dropped to the ground out cold. It was just him and Big Boy now.

A small crowd consisting of the remaining students had formed. Tatsuya noted that most of them were cheering him on. The ones that weren't cheering him on, he noticed, were the teachers' pets he had out scored on the midterm.

Oh well, can't please everyone.

Big Boy was trying to decide how to attack. Tatsuya noted that the flag pole was behind him. Big Boy bull rushed his target. Tatsuya tumbled out of the way of the larger boy. Having too much momentum behind his charge to stop, Big Boy ran head long into the flag pole. He didn't hit hard enough to knock himself out, but he would definitely have a headache for awhile.

The fight, if it could be called that, was abruptly broken up by Principal Hannya. "Hardy" or "Hard ass" as Tatsuya liked to call him, looked upon him and the fallen boys sternly. He was flanked by two of the more academically adept students.

…

Katsuya was fuming as he sped toward Seven Sisters High School. He was sorely regretting allowing himself to be listed as an emergency contact for his little brother. He had received a call from Principal Hannya advising him that Tatsuya had beaten up a group of boys.

Katsuya pulled into a free parking space and turned the engine off. He took a few minutes to compose himself. It wouldn't do any good to walk into the Principal's office in a rage. After cooling off a bit, he exited his car and headed toward Principal Hannya's office. Though classes had ended some time ago, there were still students in the hallway. Katsuya guessed they were going to or leaving their various club meetings.

"You're here because of what happened to Tatsuya huh?" Katsuya stopped in response to the female student who addressed him.

"You listen here! Tatsuya didn't do anything wrong. Those boys ganged up on him. He didn't even lay a hand on them. They ended up beating the shit out of each other! Principal Hannya's just being an asshole. If you need my name for a report or anything it's Noriko Katayama." Noriko exclaimed. Katsuya was stunned by the brazen attitude of the girl in front of him. He wondered a bit about what she meant by "for a report" when he remembered he was till wearing his badge. She didn't know that the two of them were brothers.

"She's right. Tatsuya didn't do anything. In fact, those five bozos started it by calling him out to fight earlier today." A blonde gaijin girl retorted. "Anyway, my name is Lisa Silverman if you need it."

Both girls walked off leaving Katsuya in a stunned silence. He had two conflicting stories. One in which Tatsuya had openly attacked five boys, the other in which Tatsuya had been attacked by five boys. As a detective, Katsuya strove to be objective in all matters. He was still more inclined to believe the story Principal Hannya told him due to his objective position. These girls were probably just friends and were trying to protect Tatsuya.

"You're Tatsuya's brother aren't you?" Katsuya turned to face an average height, though portly girl. "I can tell. You two look very much alike. Anyway my name is Miyabi Hanakouji, and I work for the school newspaper. Myself, and a few others in the newspaper saw what happened. One of my journalists just so happened to bring his camera to school and filmed the whole thing. I have it here if you would like to see it."

"Actually that would be great. I have two conflicting stories, so actual footage would help me out a lot." Katsuya said. He observed the scene on the camera's screen. It happened just as the two girls had said. Tatsuya never laid a hand on any of the boys, though Katsuya noted that he subtly directed the other boys' movements with his own. Each step was meant to direct the other boys into each other. Their grandfather would be pleased. Though Tatsuya wasn't quite fighting as honorably as an heir to a long line of samurai warriors should.

"Thank you very much for this Miss Hanakouji. This helps me out greatly." Katusya said. He made his way to the Principal's Office. He knew all he needed to know. His brother wasn't the instigator of the incident, but the victim.

When Katsuya entered the office, Tatsuya and Principal Hannya were in a heated argument. Tatsuya was defending his stance of self defense, while Principal Hannya was making wild accusations about how he started the fight.

"Excuse me. Am I interrupting anything?" Katsuya asked. Tatsuya sat down in his chair with a huff. Katsuya didn't like the devious smirk that the Principal wore.

"Not at all Officer. Please have a seat." Principal Hannya said. Katsuya took a seat next to Tatsuya. He kept a poker face so as not to let on that he knew more than the two others thought he knew. He was a little irritated that Tatsuya didn't seem to have faith in his judgment. As an investigator, he had to be able to read people's body language in order to see the truth. Tatsuya's exaggerated slouch, crossed arms, and pouty facial expression screamed, "I'm fucked."

"Although I've already apprised you of the situation over the phone, I'd like to go into a bit more detail. It would seem that young Mr. Suou here is suffering from a bout of teenage rebellion that has gotten too far out of hand. He purposefully initiated the fight with those five boys to make himself look, as kids call it these days, "badass." I've already drawn the paperwork to have him transferred to Kasugayama High School for delinquent boys. All I would need is your signature on the documents." Principal Hannya explained.

Katsuya listened in stone silence as the man in front of him defamed his brother. He silently seethed as this man threatened to transfer him based on a single incident, with no evidence to back his case. The man's body language was also clear to Katsuya. He was arrogant. Katsuya liked arrogant people. He liked to knock them down a few pegs.

"Do you have any evidence to support your claim that Tatsuya was the instigator of this incident?" Interrogation was one of Katsuya's stronger skills as an officer. The man in front of him had weak character. It wouldn't take too much to get to the heart of the matter.

"I have two credible witnesses who say they saw young Mr. Tatsuya actively fight all five of the boys. They said that their injuries were caused by him kicking and punching them." Principal Hannya stated. Katsuya knew that therein lay the lie. Aside from observing actual footage of the event himself, he also knew that if Tatsuya had fought them as the Principal implied he did, those boys would need a lot more care than the school nurse could provide.

"I'm sorry, but I don't believe that version of events. I've already seen evidence to the contrary. I have received witness statements that indicate Tatsuya was indeed defending himself during the incident. Not only that, but I have also witnessed video footage of the incident in which it is plainly shown that not only was he defending himself, but he never laid so much as a finger on any of the five boys." Katsuya kept up his poker face, but inwardly smiled as the arrogant smirk disappeared from Principal Hannya's face. "I won't be signing those documents seeing as the accusations against Tatsuya are unfounded. Have a good day Principal Hannya."

Katsuya beckoned his brother to follow him as he made his way to the door.

"Oh, I would advise against harassing students based on circumstantial evidence in the future. Though they are students, they also have rights under the law." Katsuya warned. He followed his brother outside. He didn't even have to look at the man's face to tell that he was not pleased with how this meeting played out.

"You're lucky that you have friends you don't even know you have. If it weren't for Miss Hanakouji, Miss Katayama, and Miss Silverman, I would not have known what really happened and you would have ended up at KasuKou." Katsuya said. The brothers made their way through the barren halls. As they passed a set of lockers, Katsuya noticed Tatsuya slip a piece of paper into one of them. He decided give his brother the benefit of the doubt and considered it harmless.

"Jun warned me about them. He mentioned that you broke up a fight between him and them. He also mentioned they had made a threat to take it out on me. You knew they were going to call me out to fight didn't you?" Tatsuya asked. It had taken him a few minutes to calm down enough to respond to his brother. He was still furious with Hannya and his bullshit. The elder Suou stopped and turned to his younger brother.

"I had an idea that they might, but I can't do anything based on an idea. I also can't fight all of your battles for you. You have to deal with your own problems sometimes." Katsuya noticed the flicker of anger cross his brother's eyes.

" You have no right to be giving me advice on fighting my own battles. I have no problem with dealing with my own problems. He is the one that needs to be told to fight his own fucking battles!" Tatsuya exclaimed. Katsuya clenched his fists. Tatsuya was treading into dangerous territory.

"Hey, did everything go alright?" Both brother's turned to see Miyabi walking toward them. Grateful for the distraction, Tatsuya smiled.

"Yeah it did. I heard that you helped me out. Thank you." Tatsuya said. Miyabi smiled and took something out of her pocket.

"Here, I made a copy of the video footage. I didn't want anything to happen to it." Miyabi said. She handed the tape to Katsuya.

"Thank you, that was very thoughtful. Oh, before I go, let me know if anyone tries to harass you or anyone regarding this incident. Even if it's Principal Hannya. I trust you to be objective in this." Katsuya said as he handed Miyabi one of his cards. He turned to his younger brother, "Will you be home later?"

"I probably won't be home until about 8 o' clock." Tatsuya fingered the lighter in his pocket. Whenever he was nervous or upset he would usually flick the flint, but he didn't want his brother to know he had it.

Katsuya nodded in acknowledgment. He decided to head back to work now that this mess was taken care of.

"Is he alright?" Miyabi asked.

"He'll be alright. That's why I'm not going home immediately. I brought up a painful subject and he just needs some time to cool down. Hey, thanks again for helping me." Tatsuya said.

"It was nothing, besides, what kind of journalist would I be if I didn't seek the truth and rubbed it in everyone's face." Both teenagers laughed at her statement.

"Good one. Hey, I gotta go. I have some things I need to do today. I'll see you tomorrow." Tatsuya said. He and Miyabi bade each other farewell and went their separate ways.

….

Eikichi ducked into a bathroom stall in the men's room at the bus station. He took his make up and jewelry out of his backpack and began applying his face. He had about ten minutes before the bus to school would get there. He only needed five. Satisfied that his image was perfect, Eikichi closed his compact with a snap and headed out to meet the world. He lamented having to put on his face in a public bathroom, but he felt it was much safer to do it there than at home.

The bus arrived on schedule. Ken and Takeshi had already saved a seat for him.

"Hey, Eikichi did you hear about this stupid rumor going around? Apparently our school badges are considered good luck charms." Ken said. Eikichi gave Ken a skeptical look.

"Dude, it's true. Not only that but Seven's badges are supposed to be major bad luck too." Takeshi commented. Eikichi shook his head in dismay.

"Don't tell me you believe that crap. I still can't believe you believed the one about calling yourself and having a wish granted." Eikichi said. Ken furrowed his eyebrows.

"Dude, if had believed it, I would have done it." Ken exclaimed. Eikichi sighed. The rest of the bus trip was spent talking about their band, Gas Chamber.

When the bus reached the school, the trio immediately became aware of an unusual amount of students hanging around the flag pole. As the self proclaimed Captain of the school, Eikichi had to investigate.

Ken and Takeshi managed to get to the flag pole ahead of him. Eikichi couldn't believe it. Flying full mast were five pairs of boxer shorts.

"What the hell is this all about?!" Eikichi asked. Takeshi handed him a note he had found taped to the pole. Eikichi Unfolded the piece of paper and read the contents of the note.

To Captain Death

I know right now you're wondering why there are five pairs of shorts flying on the flag pole. These shorts come from five Sevens boys whom I felt needed to atone for crimes committed against a student of your school as well as myself. I assure you these five pairs of shorts were given to me by them of their own free will. After I convinced them they needed to atone for their crimes of course. Last Friday, they were about to accost one of your students when a police officer interfered and broke up the confrontation. Do not worry, your student did not get into any trouble that night. Yesterday, these same boys saw fit to call me out to a fight. Five against one, can you believe that? They were outnumbered, poor saps. Anyway, after they ganged up on me, in which case they ended up beating the shit out of each other, I almost got in deep shit because our dumbass principal thought I had started the whole thing. I'm fine, and I didn't get into any trouble myself. It was of course after this I collected these five pairs of shorts, and set them to fly on your flag pole as a tribute to you and your dedication to protecting others who can't always protect themselves.

Your Sevens Partner Against Crime

Tatsuya Suou

p.s. By the way if you ever want to see video footage, ask Hanaji.

Eikichi had barely finished the note when an annoying voice broke his thoughts.

"What is all of this. As President of the Student Body, I demand these shorts be removed!" Yauou demanded. Eikichi rolled his eyes at the "President".

"Oh shove it Yasuo. The shorts stay until the end of the day!" Eikichi ordered. Yasuo was officially the President of the Student Body, though Eikichi had no clue how that happened, the Captain had more sway with the students. No one touched the flag pole for the entire day. Eikichi even noticed that when students would walk by it, they would even salute the five pairs of shorts.

…..

Fridays were okay. Fridays meant that it was only a few short hours before freedom. Tatsuya was beginning to wonder if something was wrong with his head. He had attended school the whole week. He attributed it to living with his brother for the week. He'd have to crash some where else for a night or two to remain sane. He loved his brother dearly, and Katsuya was a good man, but too much of Katsuya Suou is not good for one's mental health.

'Not until he can see what he's done to himself and fix it.'

Tatsuya stopped by the library to send an email to his new history partner. Okamura Sensei had decided to pair everyone up with a student from KasuKou for their current History project.

After sending the email, he checked his inbox. He noticed an email from Eikichi Mishina.

Suou, Meet me at Sumaru Prison for a showdown after school.

Captain Death.

Great. Just what he needed. Another fight in the same school week. Tatsuya gathered his things and headed toward his first class. Today was going to be a long day.

…

Today had been ridiculously long. People wouldn't stop bugging him about facing off with KasuKou's Captain Death. Okamura Sensei weirded out during History. Someone had mentioned Hitler. She freaked out, started babbling about something called the Last Battalion, then ran out of the room. Tatsuya would have thought that since their projects were focused on World War II that Hitler's name would obviously come up. He began to wonder if the school did psych evaluations before hiring their teachers...or principals for that matter.

Tatsuya was glad that classes were finally over, but annoyed at the same time because his day hadn't gotten any better. Some dumbass had taken the battery to his bike. Luckily he had a spare hiding in his locker. His bike had a tendency to suck the life out of the battery. He hoped he could find out what was causing that soon, since batteries weren't cheap.

"That piece of shit isn't going anywhere without this!" The thief was holding the battery in his hand. He noted that there was a crack in the casing. The dumbass holding it probably caused it trying to figure out how to remove it.

'Crap, there goes another battery.'

Tatsuya decided to play it cool and just get the spare from his locker. He didn't bother acknowledging the thief, or his friend. He really didn't want to get into another fight. Especially on Sevens grounds.

"You gonna ignore us? That dead expression of yours really pisses me off. Don't get so cocky!" the Thief warned. Cocky? Tatsuya never thought of himself as cocky. Confident, yes, but cocky? Oh well.

Remember…

Tatsuya began to feel dizzy, and his vision began to blur. He started to feel hot, almost like he was on fire. He began to feel vertigo and fell to one knee in order to stabilize himself. The voice called out again.

Take my hand…

Tatsuya looked up to see a very faded apparition standing in front of him. Heat waves emanated from the ghostly figure. Its shoulders seemed to be made of fire.

Do not fear…I am thou…thou art I…

Take my hand…

Remember…

"Hey! What are you retards still doing here. School ended a long time ago!" Principal Hannya exclaimed. Principal Asshat strikes again. The vertigo Tatsuya felt began to dissipate. Slowly, he stood up, taking care not to worsen his condition. He noted that he had been sweating pretty bad during his ordeal.

"Uh, Principal Hannya! We were…uh…just going home." The lackey said before running off. The thief dropped the battery on the ground.

"Here take it." The thief said as he ran off.

"Suou, I might have known you would be causing trouble." Principal Hannya said. Great, Hardass though he started this one too.

"For the record, they stole my battery to my bike, and I was walking toward the door. Which, by the way, is in the opposite direction from where they were standing. Do I need to draw a diagram to help you understand?" Tatsuya was not in the mood to deal with this bullshit. His head was pounding, and he was starting to feel a bit nauseous. He held it in because he knew if he threw up, he would find a way to "accidentally" throw up all over Principal Hardass.

"Don't be a smart ass Suou. I'm watching you. One slip up, and your ass is going to KasuKou." Principal Hannya stated. Tatsuya wondered if that was the best threat Hardass could come up with. Transferring to KasuKou wouldn't be too bad. He'd get to see Jun more often. Tatsuya worried about Jun. Neither he nor Katsuya had heard from him since they had dinner on Sunday.

"Hey, Saeko Sensei wants to see you Tatsu…Oh Principal Hannya. Good to see you sir." A student, whose name Tatsuya never bothered to learn, said. Tatsuya raised an eyebrow to that last statement. As far as he knew, everybody hated Hardass.

"It's nice to know there are some students who show respect to their superiors." Principal Hannya praised the random student. Hardass sneared at him before going back inside.

"Hey tough break. Principal Hannya is great. You should follow his example. Oh, I came to tell you, Saeko Sensei said you had an appointment with her, so you better get to it." said random Student. Tatsuya's eyebrow was still raised. His face now had a look of horror etched onto it. Before he could question if his fellow student was feeling alright, the other guy left.

After spending a good half an hour trying to track down Saeko Sensei, Tatsuya decided to head to his other appointment. He was a bit freaked out by all of the students wearing bandages on their face. He was even more terrified by the fact that all of his fellow classmates were praising Hardass. He half jokingly wondered if the student body had been taken over by aliens or parasites, or something. He decided to quicken his pace before he became affected. He could always talk to Saeko Sensei on Monday.

"I knew you'd come here, Suou. I thought this would be the best place to find you since your bike was here." Figures, he spent half an hour trying to look for her, and couldn't find her. Yet after deciding to leave, she's standing between him and freedom.

"Okay, let's get started. Don't worry this isn't anything formal. I would just like an idea of where you want to go, so I can guide you to your goals." Saeko Sensei said. Tatsuya sighed and took a seat on a planter.

"Okay. My plans are to enroll into college when I graduate here. I've already picked a few out and sent applications. I even have a test scheduled for the University of Tokyo in the next couple of months." Tatsuya wanted to make this meeting as short as possible.

"That's great. I'm impressed. To be honest young man I was worried about you. Your attendance is poor, your homework his hardly ever turned in, but your test scores are phenomenal. Suou san, I know you're a very bright young man, but you can't keep doing things the way you are. I know your scores are good now, but if you become too arrogant and don't study, then someday they might not turn out so good. That can really affect your future outcome. Do you even know what you want to study in college?" Saeko Sensei asked? Tatsuya gave her a knowing smirk.

"I know exactly what I want to do, but…it's a secret. However, if you can guess what it is…" Tatsuya knew his playing coy was going to irritate her. He was tired of people prying into his life. Especially his family. Tatsuya was aware of his older brother's tendency to bother his teachers for progress reports. Saeko Sensei sighed.

"This isn't a game Suou san." Saeko Sensei huffed. Tatsuya lost his smirk, and replaced it with a deadpan look.

"I'm not playing games. There's a reason I keep my secrets. Just trust that I want to go to college, I know what I want to do, and no one is going to stand in my way. Not Hardass, not my brother, not my father, no one! I know you want to help me, but if I'm to succeed, I have to do this on my own." Tatsuya hated seeing the pity in Saeko Sensei's eyes, but he couldn't trust her. Not completely anyway.

"No Tatsuya, you don't." Saeko Sensei muttered. She moved away from the bike, allowing Tatsuya to install the spare battery.

"There you are! I've been looking all over for you Ching yan!" a shrill voice called out. Tatsuya shuddered at being called "ching yan" by this girl. He barely knew her, but she strutted around like he was her property.

"Lisa, what's with the shouting. Is everything okay?" Saeko Sensei asked. Tatsuya silently straddled his bike and moved to turn the ignition key. He hoped Saeko Sensei could keep Lisa distracted long enough to allow him to escape.

"Uh…everything's okay. I was just looking for Tatsuya. Can I borrow him for awhile?" Lisa asked. Tatsuya shook his head as Saeko Sensei looked his way. Unfortunately, luck wasn't with him today.

"Well, since we're all done here, go ahead. Have a good weekend." Saeko Sensei said before leaving the two students. Lisa was on his arm in a flash. She reached for his jacket and ripped his school patch off.

"Aiya! Why are you still wearing this?! You know it's cursed! Oh, I have a note here for you. It's from Captain Underwear over at KasuKou." Lisa practically shoved the note into Tatsuya's face.

Suou,

We have a Seven's girl being held hostage over at Sumaru Prison. Come alone if you value her life.

Kasugayama High Captain Michel Eikichi

"Michel?" Tatsuya shrugged, then folded the note and stuck it in his jacket pocket.

"Aiya! Don't just stand there like a lemon. What are you going to do about it. I heard a rumor that the guy's pretty strong. Do you think you can handle him Ching yan?" Lisa asked. Tatsuya cringed at being called "Ching yan."

"Strength isn't everything. Besides, this note doesn't sound like him. I'll go over and see what's going on." Tatsuya took out his cell phone and began searching for a phone number.

"What are you doing?" Lisa asked. She folded her arms and waited for Tatsuya to respond.

"I'm calling my brother to get directions. I don't really know how to get there. HEY!" Tatsuya yelled as Lisa took the phone from his hand, then hopped onto the back of his bike.

"I know the way. Go straight then make a left…" Lisa guided Tatsuya to Sumaru Prison. He really didn't want her to come along, but she was insanely persistent. Maybe he could get Katsuya to talk to her sometime and tell her that stalking is a crime. Tatsuya shook his head at the thought. For all he knew, Lisa could be one of the senior members of the Katsuya Suou Fan Club. He felt like retching just thinking about it.

….

"That was great!" Miyabi congratulated the group's practice session.

"That was horrible. Come on you guys, we gotta get it together." Eikichi held his head in his hands.

"It doesn't help us that absolutely none of us have any musical training. Are you even taking voice classes this semester Eikichi?" Ken asked. Eikichi's shoulder's sank.

"The class was closed before I could get in. I'm sorry guys. I just want this to work out." Eikichi said. Shogo put a hand on his friend's shoulder.

"It will work out, just you see. Hey, are guest should be here any minute." Shogo comforted his friend. Eikichi lifted his head.

"guest?" The entrance door opened. Two figures made their way down the spiral stairs. Eikichi didn't get a clear view of the two until they got to the base of the stairs.

"Suou? What's going on?" Eikichi asked. Tatsuya took the note out of his pocket.

"I got your email and your note. Hi Hanaji." Tatsuya said. Eikichi was confused. He didn't send a note or an email to Suou.

"What note? What email?" Eikichi asked. Ken, Takeshi, and Shogo began to fidget.

"You're Eikichi aren't you?" Lisa asked. Eikichi looked to the gaijin girl. She wasn't bad looking. Blonde hair, sparkling blue eyes. She stood out. Definitely possible girlfriend material.

"I am. Are you a fan of mine too, baby? That's right, I AM Eikichi Michel, the genius artist who all the ladies love to love!" Eikichi started posing as sexily as he could. Lisa wrinkled her nose in disgust at Eikichi's poor attempt to seduce her. Besides, her heart belonged to her Ching yan.

"We're sorry for calling you out here Suou, and saying that we held Hanaji hostage. We did it for Eikichi." Shogo cried. Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi bowed their heads in unison.

"You're so cool. Hanaji showed us the footage of your fight. Very nice. Where did you learn how to do that?" Takeshi asked. Tatsuya was starting to feel a bit uncomfortable with all of the attention he was getting.

"Eikichi, you're always trying to get the band off the ground, but one vocalist can't do it alone. We figured, since Suou is so cool, if he joined the band that would be one member closer to getting Gas Chamber into the lime light. That's why we borrowed your email and pretended to be you to get him over here." Ken explained. The three boys still had their heads bowed down. Suou felt bad for these three. He didn't quite condone the method they used to get him here, but he admired their devotion to their friend.

"You guys are good friends, but I would suggest using more legal means to get my attention next time. The note was fine, but don't let my brother find out you "borrowed" someone else's email to send a "threat." Eikichi, don't be too hard on them." Tatsuya flashed his most disarming smile.

"You guys said that you were going to tell me about the curse on our school badges. If you're not then, I have to go." Miyabi began gathering her things.

"Tatsuya, let's go. There's nothing but a bunch of losers here." Lisa tugged on Tatsuya's arm, but he refused to move. Tatsuya gave her a stern look that told her he was not leaving.

"Hey, wait a minute now. Guys you know what happens when you break the law, but by your request Suou, all I will say guys is, thank you. Suou, on my honor as Captain Death, I would like to invite you to be a band member." Eikichi extended his hand to Tatsuya.

"Sure." Tatsuya took Eikichi's hand. "You guys are lucky. I actually know how to play guitar." Tatsuya felt an unusually warm feeling come over him as he say the faces of Eikichi, Ken, Shogo, and Takeshi light up at his statement. Lisa had to go and ruin it as usual.

"Captain Death? Don't you mean Captain Underwear! Yeah, now that I remember I heard that you were the one who always pantsed his enemies." Lisa exclaimed. Ken, Miyabi, Shogo, and Takeshi gasped. Eikichi's eye twitched.

"She didn't."

"She did."

"Oh Shit!"

"Eikichi, calm down!"

"Underwear…" Eikichi's eye twitched again. "No one calls ME Captain UNDERWEAR! DEATH COME FORTH!" Eikichi screamed. Tatsuya grabbed Lisa and threw her out of the way of the oncoming attack. He noted that it wasn't Eikichi who attacked, but an apparition that floated above him.

I am Rhadamanthus…with my sword of judgment, I try the accused, as the magistrate of the Underworld. Now, I will judge the sins of your enemy!

"Eh…fuck and lie?" Tatsuya started to feel faint. He realized that his symptoms were like the ones he felt earlier in the day.

"HAIME, NO WAY!" Lisa screamed. Another apparition appeared. This one floating over Lisa.

I am Eros… I am one who lights the fire of love with the golden arrows I hold… I am a personification of you. I will become your strength.

"No way! You guys can call up Death too?" Eikichi was stunned. He though he was the only one who could call upon Death.

Tatsuya felt like his skin was on fire. The world around him begin to fade. The cries of his friends were muffled as an ethereal voice filled his mind.

Take my hand…

That voice again. Tatsuya felt like something was trying to tear itself from his skin.

Remember…

The pain suddenly stopped. Tatsuya could see everything clearly again. There was now an apparition floating over him. He didn't feel afraid of it, or of the other apparitions in the room.

I am thou… thou art I… I cometh from the sea of thy heart… I will wipe away the impurity in everything. I am Vulcanus, the one who carries hellfire in his hand!

Tatsuya's vision began to blur again as darkness swept over him.