Yo. Wassup? Good to see you folks so often.

4 chapters in a little over a month. I'm proud of myself. I should have finished this in 2020 but hard to write when you've lost your mind, lmao.

Minato barely climbed the three small steps and leaned against the pillar to catch his breath, vision swimming in and out of focus due to the lack of oxygen in his lungs. The moment he stepped out from the monorail, some teenager knocked him to the side in a hurry and that little jolt threw his entire system out of order. All alone and on the very edge, it took Minato a couple of hours to make it back to the dorm and by now, night had descended and his already handicapped vision could barely make anything out.

This was getting harder. Desperately clinging onto what was left of his life was getting harder. The thoughts about just letting go were getting far more prominent and recurring and at times, he considered letting go. It was absolute torture to wake up every day, put pieces of his soul together, and outlast death for the rest of the day and now, without Hamuko by his side, he was just about done-

"No," Minato shook his head, drawing in a deep breath to pacify the burning in his lungs. He was not going to go out this way, not after what had happened between him and Hamuko. "I can't be thinking like that…"

Minato glanced up at the sky and located the moon, and his mind drifted to the promised day, what he had done, and what awaited him. He had already a lot of regrets in his 17-year-old life and there was no way he was going to add another one to the tally, not with a wretched eternity ahead of him, and not when it concerned Hamuko.

Arisato stood straight and checked his temperature; cold like a corpse as usual. He could feel his organs burning to cinders and yet not a single drop of sweat to cool down. The only remedy to the burn was to sleep the rest of the night but as he moved closer to the door, he heard a couple of voices. Junpei was there. Yukari was there but his innards churned when he heard Hamuko giggling along with them.

Minato really didn't want to face her right now. Ever since the little incident at school, Hamuko was actively hostile toward him. She didn't talk to him but she would glare at him, hiss, and one time, when he was catching his breath in the doorway, she shoved him to the side and hissed a curse at him for blocking the way. Despite the ill-treatment, Minato did not have an ounce of bitterness toward her. In fact, each time he would glance at her, his resolve was tested and he had stopped himself from blabbing a number of times.

That said, he could not combat the building fatigue any longer. He needed rest or the doorway was going to mark his early grave and after slapping himself on the cheek a few times, Minato hardened his resolve and pushed the door open-

As soon as the door creaked open and the juniors inside saw him, the chatter died down and total silence prevailed, marked with hostility and disgust. Minato winced at the silent yet brutal reception and gently closed the door behind him-

SMASH-

Hamuko was the first time to stand up and she kicked the chair backward to send a message to him; she did not want to be anywhere near him. The redhead quickly moved up the steps, muttering something about Minato being a moron and just like that, he had ruined yet another happy moment. Minato could only stare at her as she disappeared from view, once again not even sparing a dirty glance at him.

Junpei sighed as Hamuko went up. He scratched the back of his head and glanced over at Minato, and his face immediately scrunched up in disgust. Unlike Yukari and Fuuka who just ignored him, Junpei was repulsed at the sight of him and Minato was surprised that the cap-wearing teenager, his old friend, hadn't socked him in the face yet.

"Thanks a lot for that," Junpei spat at him, getting up from the table and only intensifying the scowl. Minato stumbled where he stood, looking away from the glare and lowering his head as another apology.

"S-Sorry…. My bad," Minato apologized but it fell on deaf ears. Junpei hissed at him and stalked towards the kitchen. Yukari moved up the steps and Fuuka followed her, and just like that, Minato was left alone and he felt like a loser, within 2 minutes of his arrival. He gave a weary sigh and braced himself for the trek up the stairs.

The first step was a stumble. On the second step, he almost fell back due to bad placement but with a few more tries, Minato started ascending the staircase, holding onto the railing for support. Walking was an issue ever since he performed the miracle but with the kick he suffered a few days ago, walking now was as difficult as fighting a horde of red shadows. Thankfully, he made it to the second floor and glanced at the steps that led to the third floor.

Minato had not encountered Aigis since she ran off and he knew he had to talk to her. She sat in the same classroom as him but with all the eyes of hatred on him, Minato avoided talking to her at school, not to mention, the mechanical girl avoided him at every turn. At the dorm, the third floor was usually occupied by Mitsuru and the blunet knew better not to walk into her sight. This time, however, the third floor was quiet and Minato gathered up the courage to climb another set of stairs.

Minato rested his hand on his knees as soon as he scaled the second floor and he took a minute to catch his breath. The lounge was empty but he made a mental note to keep as quiet as possible; Mitsuru was one concern but Hamuko was a resident of the third floor as well and he'd rather face Mitsuru and her execution than Hamuko. After making sure all was quiet, Minato moved towards Aigis' room and gently knocked twice.

There was definitely someone inside, as evident by the slow clicks of feet moving along the floor but the door didn't open and so Minato knocked again, this time accompanied by a soft call. "Aigis? Are you there?"

There was still no response and after looking left and right, Minato knocked a bit harder than before, requesting once again that she opened the door. "Aigis, it's me… Minato…" he whispered to make sure Hamuko or the other girls wouldn't hear him and gently rotated the doorknob, hoping that she would open-

Minato stopped twisting the knob and blinked upon hearing a… sob? That was definitely a sob coming from inside the room but the blunet was confused. Aigis had never ever sobbed, and she said it herself one day; she was incapable of shedding tears so what the heck was going on in there? Upon hearing that, Minato started knocking harder than before, banging on it loudly as he was now concerned.

"Aigis!?" Minato said out loud, not caring whether Hamuko was going to hear him or not. He was now worried about the blue-eyed android and he began to struggle against, trying to force it open even with his exhausted body. "A-Are you okay in there!?"

"What are you doing here?"

The hair on the back of his neck stood up and Minato gulped upon feeling a blast of cold hitting his back. He got a little too carried away and the ice queen was now trying to stare a hole into the back of his head, having emerged from the opposite room upon hearing the racket. Minato took a deep breath and turned around and Mitsuru was right there, a frown on her face, lip pursed and her arms crossed, expecting a damn good explanation as to why he was on the third floor.

"You are not allowed on this floor," Mitsuru said, and her voice was more irked than usual and Minato swallowed thickly, already advancing towards the steps but the redheaded senior followed him, arms still crossed and still expecting an explanation. "Why are you here?"

The look that she was giving him led Minato to believe that Mitsuru thought of him as a pervert who was out on the third floor to raid their wardrobes or something. She was certainly looking at him like that and the blunet knew he had to give an answer.

"Sorry, senpai," Minato said slowly, bowing his head a little. He gestured over to the Aigis' room and gulped. "I was just looking to meet Aigis, that's all."

"Prohibited," Mitsuru almost spat, and pointed towards the staircase, ordering him to head back down. Minato gave a nod and bowed once more, moving towards the staircase but he did stop after taking the first step down. He could hear Mitsuru growling next to him but this was his only chance and he was not sure he would get another chance-

"Um," Minato turned around to face his senior, and he gave a soft smile. "Congratulations on college admission, senpai."

Mitsuru was taken aback by this but she quickly composed herself, squinted just a little to gauge his expression and nodded at him slowly but she did not smile.

"Appreciated," the redhead said and retreated back into her room but not before ordering him to head back down. Minato stared at her door for a few more seconds and sighed. He almost blurted out that her father would be proud of her but restrained himself at the last second. Regardless, that was one thing off his chest and so he started climbing the steps down, on his last legs of consciousness.

Minato made it to his room and leaned against the door, his heart screaming at him for pushing so damn hard and he stood like that for the next couple of minutes, able to feel the beat in his stomach as his world spun around several times over. After what felt like an eternity, Minato was able to regain some control of his senses and he dragged himself over to the mirror.

Arisato was almost afraid to look himself in the mirror because day by day, he was resembling a patient with the highest grade of apathy syndrome, pale, gaunt, and lifeless. "Ugh…." He turned his face to the side and ran his fingers over the wound on his right cheek, the spot where Hamuko had slapped him a few days ago.

For some reason, his wound was not healing and it looked as nasty as the first minute. He kept it bandaged up the first few days but once it was clear that his body was not going to heal the gash, he just gave up. Most likely, this was another failure of his body, low platelets perhaps, or a total collapse of his coagulation system-

Another burning, stabbing cough almost made him collapse face-first onto the sink and the blunet wheezed, stumbling his way over to the bed and flopping down. Finally, after a while day of trying to keep it together, Minato allowed his weary body a bit of rest and he glanced at the calendar again, eyeing the current date.

"Just a few more days to go…"

What was left of his spirit screeched at him to just let go but Minato buried his head into the pillow and let out a deep breath. It was so easy; all he had to do was let go for one second. One second and it would all be over. One split-second lapse of concentration and willpower and he was gone and while he would get exactly two seconds of respite, those two seconds looked so very tempting right now-

"W-What the hell…" even though he could no longer shed tears, Minato let out a pitiful wail and crushed the front of his skull in an effort to numb the thoughts tearing through his already brittle psyche. "Saved the world and I'm still a goddamn weakling at heart…"

Minato was sure that his addled mind was making this a lot worse than usual. Willpower was hard to draw out and keep when he had a million other thoughts racing, and every single one was haunting, disgusting even-

Should have jumped off Tartarus.

Should have died against Ryoji.

Should have allowed Nyx to kill them all.

Should have allowed the world to burn-

Should have died along with Hamu-

That last vile thought jolted his heart and Minato rose a few inches off the bed, fearing that the organ was going to explode inside his chest but he settled down, swallowing the blood that had pooled up in his mouth and glancing up at the ceiling with half-lidded eyes, so exhausted but too tormented to sleep.

"That's what I get for being a hero…"

"Being a hero when you are not supposed to be one…"

He breathed out and his lower lip began to quiver.

"Being a hero when I knew I didn't have the gall to be one…"

"To hell with this all!" Minato cursed his own body, his own heart, and the last vestiges of his spirit that lingered on in the husk he called a body. Unable to cry, unable to scream, and unable to even punch without risking death, he was left with absolutely no way to vent out his frustration and all that just ate away at him, making the whole ordeal even more brutal. He was able to let some of it out when he met Elizabeth but a whole week had gone by and he was back to square one and now-

He did not have Hamuko by his side… and just like every night, as soon as he was on his bed, alone and afraid, Minato fell apart.

"Being a hero…"

Minato could almost taste the bitterness in his mouth. This was going to be another long and lonely night.

"How fucking stupid of me…"

Graduation day was just around the corner and there was a definite buzz of excitement in the halls of Gekkoukan High School. Seniors were making plans for college or applying for jobs. Juniors were giggling about the last year of high school coming up and every lunch break, there was a stampede of students as there was a lot of work to do, lots of preparations to be made, and a whole of celebrating to prepare for. The classrooms were deserted as soon as the final bell rang and each day, Minato would sit at his desk and watch with a good amount of jealousy as his classmates rushed out of the room to take care of business. Same thing today.

Minato scanned the crowd of departing students and sighed. Aigis was the first one to leave and he also saw Hamuko departing with Junpei and Yukari, once again, without a single glance in his direction. Within seconds, the classroom was emptied and Minato sat alone, rubbing at his eyes as he was not able to sleep properly the day before, just like the day before that… and the week before that.

After making sure he was healthy enough to take the monorail, the blunet stood up and blinked a few times to clear his failing vision. By this point, it was hard to even keep his eyes open and he was constantly drowsy and sleepy, his willpower to stay alive hanging on by a thread but a quick look at his cell phone reminded him that he only had to solider through a few more days.

Minato stepped out of the classroom and took another glance around the busy halls of Gekkoukan, worsening his already crippling anxiety. Smiling faces, excited chatter, and a lot of hope all around him. One year ago, he would have been disgusted but now, he was just bitter. Minato remembered, that after the Theodore battle, he had made a grand plan on how his life would proceed; Kill Takaya, end the Dark Hour, finish high school, get into the same college as Hamuko, buy an apartment so they could live together and be together for the rest of their lives-

Minato shook his head and started walking, trying not to pay attention to the chatter around him but goddamn it was so hard. He heard two classmates discussing the elective subjects in senior year, a group of students planning a farewell party for the last day of school, and a couple giggling about living together.

A group of guys was pointing and laughing at him from a distance, mocking him for the wound he had on his face but Minato paid little attention to them. He looked around and while he did not see Hamuko, he did see Fuuka who was talking to the club leader. A little farther, Yukari was surrounded by a bunch of girls, giggling about something and Junpei was nearby as well, laughing along with Kenji and Kazushi.

Minato looked away when he caught himself staring a bit too hard at his old friends. It hurt to see. In the past few days, even staying at school was taxing on his health and sanity because every excited whisper and cheerful yell reminded him of all that was taken away from him-

"N-Not again," Minato said, clenching a fistful of his own hair to divert his thoughts. One little thought like that and he would spiral and shatter in a matter of seconds. He was used to it happening in the dorm as it was home but now, misery was starting to follow him in the school hallways as well-

Minato opened his mouth to scream in frustration but the flicker of blindness warned him not to push his body needlessly and so he resorted to little pants, his mind focused on breathing properly so he wouldn't lose it in front of the school. Unable to find peace at the dorm, or at school, Minato didn't know what to do. He didn't have the health to stay outside because a couple of hours after the end of the school day, warning bells would start ringing in his head; demanding that he go rest or else.

"Hell with this…" Minato resigned to his luck and started taking short steps so he wouldn't collapse face-first and end up as a laughing stock again. During his walk, he could not help but look around for Hamuko once more but he didn't see her anywhere and Minato wondered if she had left school early… Maybe with some other guy on a date-

Upon that thought, Minato started walking faster, bumping into students as he hurried his way out of the school halls as fast as he could. He was expecting a fall anytime soon and a few steps later, he did collapse when his legs stopped functioning but the blunet was quick to pick himself up, shrug off the laughter and the jeering and get the hell away from the school.

That paranoia was a sure sign; he was crumbling faster than he could keep up with and Minato was horrified that he was experiencing such thoughts regarding Hamuko of all people. As soon as he stepped out of the building, he took a long, deep breath to calm himself down, shaking in disgust, anger, and shame because he was too pathetic to be a savior of a single person. Forget about the world, he sucked at being a messiah for the person he cared most about.

Minato glanced back one last time, half-hoping that Hamuko would be there but she was not. Not wanting to suffer any further, Minato limped towards the gates but as soon as he stepped out, his blood froze and a chill ran down his already mangled spine-

"T-That…" Minato scanned the area in a hurry, finding a crowd of normal people but he was sure he was not alone. The presence he sensed in the back alley was nearby and it was even more grating to endure than the last time. "W-Who is there?" he called out and the aura only intensified, shutting him up.

Minato disappeared into the crowd of people headed towards the station but he kept looking back, afraid that someone was going to gut him from behind and drag him away. He had an inkling about who was following him but given his rotten luck, he was not too sure.

"Tch," Minato checked his heartbeat on the monorail and had a hard time counting the instances where his heart did beat. Minute by minute, what was left of him was unraveling and still a few day to go.

The next series of coughs rocked his world but Minato stood up from his seat and bowed his head at the elderly lady, leaving his seat for her. The little smile and appreciation from her gave him some happiness but it was short-lived as the monorail jerked forward and Minato nearly emptied his stomach on the floor.

"G-God," Minato said with a mouthful of acid and he grabbed the pole just in case. The rest of the ride home was spent making sure he would not pass out.

The agony began all over again as soon as he entered the dorm. This time, the lounge was not occupied by his classmates and close (former) friends but by Akihiko, and the senior was talking to the youngest member of the team; Ken Amada.

As soon as Ken saw him, he ducked behind Akihiko and the boxing champion took note of him entering the dorm, already fixing a sharp glare on him. Minato gulped at the stare and scratched the back of his head, nervous and not exactly sure what to say. Akihiko, unlike Mitsuru, had yet to be accepted into college and so Minato was at a loss as to how to start a conversation.

"Um, good evening, senpai," the blunet said with a bow of his head. Akihiko kept a close eye on him and placed a hand on Ken's shoulder just in case the delinquent junior would try something. Minato offered a small greeting to Ken as well but the child didn't return it.

Akihiko deepened the frown at the unusual courtesy from the blue-haired bunk but the hostility didn't lessen one bit. "Yeah." was all that he said before he jerked his head towards the staircase, gesturing for Minato to get lost.

Minato gave another nod and did as his senior ordered, moving up the steps but midway through, his head started spinning because the second-floor lounge was not empty either, and that meant more trouble and heartache for him. He could hear Junpei trying to mess with Yukari, and the brunette girl yelling at him. Fuuka was also there but he could not hear Hamuko.

Minato wanted to head back and stay downstairs as he was not prepared to deal with more anxiety but Akihiko was still there and the former wild card was not keen on pissing off the boxing champion. One jab and he would be sent to hell. Gathering up the courage, Minato ascended the steps, hoping, praying to God he would be able to endure the impending scorn-

Yukari stopped talking as soon as she saw the head of blue hair. She looked over to her two friends and they quieted down as well, all three of them casting suspicious glances toward the blue haired student who climbed onto the floor and winced at the instant reception of contempt. Even Fuuka seemed to be wary of him and Minato didn't even recall mistreating her too badly back in the day.

Aigis was not there, as usual, but Minato found it a bit strange that Hamuko was not along with them. The paranoia from before came back to him and Minato gulped, mind drifting to places, choking him with despair as he began to wonder… Where was Hamuko?

Yukari rolled her eyes when Minato approached them and Junpei got up at once to make sure his two friends were safe from the blue haired bastard. Fuuka turned away, refusing to look at him and Minato was already regretting his choice but for the sake of his sanity, he just had to ask.

"Hello. Um…" Minato flashed an apologetic smile at Junpei, hoping that he would ease up but the capped teen did not trust him one bit and remained as a barrier between him and the two females. "I won't bother you. I just… have a question."

Yukari sighed and turned in his direction but she did not look pleased with the thought of interacting with him, even just for a minute. Minato winced again but he cleared his throat and spoke as softly as he was able to.

"Where is Hamuko?" Minato asked, lowering his voice as much as possible and hoping Yukari would answer-

"None of your business," the brunette snapped at once, a scowl forming on her face at the audacity of Minato to ask such a question, especially after what he had done. Minato took a step back upon the venomous snap but he didn't head back to his room just yet. He still had to try once again-

"Please, just tell me," Minato said, almost pleading with her. "I'll go away. Just tell me where she is…"

"Hey, you heard her," Junpei was the one to answer him and he advanced toward him, cutting off his entry towards Yukari and Fuuka. He was being nice but that wasn't going to fool Junpei. He was fully aware of how much of a bastard Minato really was.

"And let me warn you right now," Junpei scowled at him, staring Minato down with unmistakable hatred but what came next really put into perspective how disliked he was among the group. "If we ever see you stalking her… or raising a hand on her…"

"Hit?" Minato blinked. At the back of his mind, going to his room felt like a good idea but another part of him was horrified at what Junpei had said. He did stalk her once upon a time but hitting her? "Dude, it isn't like that-"

Foolishly, Minato put a hand on the taller male's shoulder in another attempt to calm him down. He often did this when the two became friends but now, Junpei couldn't stand the sight of him anymore and as soon as Minato touched him, his old friend lashed out-

"Get your hands off me!" the capped teen screamed at him, slapping his hand away as if he was burned by the touch but then he went one step ahead and shoved Minato as hard as he could. The impact evaporated the little bit of air present in his lungs and Minato has hurled a good distance away from Junpei, and for a second, he thought this was it-

"Gack!"

"Hey, Junpei!"

"Junpei-kun!"

Minato definitely heard the two females but he had trouble following the conversation. His borrowed life was flashing before his eyes and Minato couldn't feel his legs under him. Despite the bad fall and his current state, one second away from demise, Minato could still hear the three juniors talking to him-

"She won't take you back, you piece of crap!"

That was… Junpei? Definitely him and from the tone of his voice, it didn't seem like he had an ounce of remorse for knocking him on his ass.

"Just go away!"

Definitely Yukari. The venom in her voice hadn't lessened one bit-

"Please, just stop bothering us!"

That was Fuuka… and Minato couldn't tell if she was pleading him to go away or demanding it.

"What's going on here?"

A fourth voice blared into his head and Minato started to pick himself up, numb legs and double vision and all but he knew he had to go. The new voice belonged to Akihiko and even with his muddled senses, Minato could feel the senior trying to glare a hole through his head. Worst case scenario, Akihiko would bring the matter to Mitsuru and he would be kicked out of the dorm, and away from Hamuko-

"S-Sorry," Minato managed to gasp out as he gingerly rose to his feet, panting harder than he did all day. He could see the four of them standing together, standing against him and that brought back a torrent of painful memories as well. "To bother you…"

Arisato lumbered towards his room but before could step inside, his upperclassman called out to him, and he sounded as pissed as he did before. Minato rubbed his working eye and squinted to see Akihiko pointing at him from afar and while he could not see his face, the blunet was sure that Akihiko was scowling at him too.

"Do that again and I'll have to talk to Mitsuru, got that?"

Minato gave a shaky nod and stepped inside his room, but as he closed the door-

"I can't stand that fucking guy!" Junpei spat-

Minato heard that one loud and clear and closed the door. He was shaking and the words were still lingering in his head, refusing to leave. The shove from Junpei was bad and the fall was brutal but the conversation was a whole different ballgame of torment.

Stalk Hamuko?

He did that once upon a time.

Hit Hamuko?

Minato was horrified at that but-

She'll never take him back?

Did… Junpei say that out of spite?

Or…

Did Hamuko herself tell him that and Junpei was just relaying the message to him?

"…"

Minato kept staring at the ceiling, knowing that he was not going to get a single second of sleep tonight. With his heart in pieces and his willpower non-existent, Minato was not confident at all that he would wake up if he closed his eyes for a second and so he stayed awake the whole night, begging his body to shed a single tear, so he would feel just a little bit better and yet-

"Nothing…"

Minato said, rubbing at his eye and he stayed awake the whole night, his vacant stare still transfixed on the ceiling.

"…"

Hamuko yawned and trudged up the steps, massaging her right hand with her left as it had been aching for the past few days. Maybe she went too hard in practice? It was an annoyance on the first day but now it was becoming a bother, hampering her ability to do everyday tasks with her right hand, her dominant hand. Maybe a visit to the doctor would be good-

The redhead blinked when she realized where she was headed. Hamuko stood in the hallway of the second floor and she was facing the direction of Minato's room-

"What the?" Hamuko shook her head and glared at the door from afar. She had no reason to even see his face anymore so why was she heading there-?

His ill, grimy, grief-stricken face-

Hamuko turned in the opposite direction and hissed. Even after the official break-up they had in front of the whole student body, Hamuko often caught herself still clinging to their relationship. Upon waking up, she would catch in the middle of sending Minato a text or calling him. At school, with classes over, she would turn towards his desk and this…. This was not the first time she had ventured into the far end of the second-floor hallway. She had lost count of how many times this had happened and each time, she felt angry at herself because she was done with Minato. Hamuko had made up her mind; she was not going to waste one more second on his dumbass but at the same time… she was confused and shaken up, especially now.

Why did this keep happening?

It was like she was moving on auto-pilot. It made sense when it happened the first time but it was happening again and again now-

"Hey, Hamu-tan!"

Hamuko noticed her friends sitting on the couches behind her and began to walk toward them, still thinking over why she was still chasing him, despite having slapped him across the face a couple of days ago. She didn't even notice the three of them sitting on the side and went straight for Minato.

"Hey, welcome back," Yukari said with a smile as her friend took a seat next to her, still massaging and working on the ache in her right plaughing her right hand. "You took a while."

"Out on a date, Hamu-tan?" Junpei, as curious as ever, winked at her after the question. "Who's the lucky guy? Tell us!"

"Ah, come on," Hamuko said with a giggle, waving off her friend and wincing a bit as the pain intensified for a second. "I was just hanging out with Rio. She'll be gone to another school for her senior year so…"

"I've been trying to set her up with Kenji but…." Hamuko trailed off, looking a little annoyed.

"He's an idiot, yeah," Yukari rolled her eyes. "Even after the whole Miss Kanou scandal, he's still at it."

"Kenji-kun was almost expelled," Fuuka added in. "He even looks a little… broken."

"Speaking about idiot boys…" Yukari said with a small hiss, catching Hamuko's attention. "Minato came around a short while ago…"

"He did?" Hamuko said with a frown. She almost blurted a question about how he looked but stopped at the last second. Instead, she gestured for Yukari to go on and listened attentively.

"He was asking about you, Hamuko-chan," Fuuka supplied, briefly glancing at his door. Thank God he didn't come out after that, not with Akihiko-senpai warning him. "About where you were."

"Yeah," Yukari rolled her eyes. "He was pretty adamant about knowing and wasn't leaving until…"

"Until?" Hamuko said, biting her lower lip.

"Junpei shoved him and he finally went away," Yukari said. "And then Akihiko-senpai warned him to behave. Haven't seen him since, thankfully."

Hamuko glanced at Junpei, who actually looked a little proud of himself for putting that blue-haired bastard in his place. A little bit of anger flared up within Hamuko but she held it in and only gave Junpei a short glare from the corner of her eye and that was it. She was almost about to yell at him for pushing Minato but she said nothing and decided that staying quiet would be the best course of action… but at the same time… Was Minato hurt by the fall? He was already sick-

Junpei blew a raspberry, ready to go on another rant. After knocking Minato down, he wanted to let off some steam.

Hamuko winced. Oh god. Must. Not. Explode-

"The nerve of the guy, approaching us after all that he has done," the capped teen spat out, anger surging at the mere mention of Minato. "He kept on bugging Fuuka and Yuka-tan and just didn't leave so I had to."

Hamuko remained silent, glancing away from Junpei so he would just let go of the topic but-

"I don't even know why he's still in the dorm!" Junpei exclaimed loudly, hoping that Minato would hear him in his room. "He should have been kicked out long ago!"

"Y-Yeah," Hamuko nodded slowly. "Anyway, what are your plans-"

"And it felt really good to knock him on his ass like that," Junpei was still at it, louder than before and the other two girls were happy to listen to him curse out the blunet. "I've wanted to do that for a long, long time."

Hamuko clenched his fist.

"Screw that guy,"

The redhead exhaled.

"Hope he fucks off somewhere and never shows his face again,"

"Nobody is going to miss him anyway," Yukari added in with a shrug.

"Yeah, he's just a low-life," Junpei spat-

"Shut. Up,"

Hamuko finally spoke, startling her three friends because that voice was markedly different from usual, almost haunting and it lingered on in the air, corrupting the atmosphere itself. The amount of venom in her words left Junpei blinking and he automatically leaned away from the redhead, fearing that she was going to hit him or kill him where he sat-

"H-Hamu-tan?" the capped teen said slowly, now watching his words carefully because something was wrong-

"I said SHUT UP!" Hamuko rose to her feet when she screamed for the second time and a frigid outburst of dread followed her voice, rendering all three teenagers stock still and horrified. Junpei was always one to snap back at people when push came to shove but he said nothing, his jack slack in fear, and the two females beside him were just as terrified, not believing that Hamuko was capable of all that-

What did she even do? Where did all the fear come from?

The ache in her right hand now felt like a burning wound through the bone and the redhead hissed in irritation, nearly smashing it against the table because the pain was traveling along her limb. "Tch!" the female wild card waited for a response from the three, eyes darting left to right but after a couple of seconds of staring, she stormed up the steps and after a final scowl at the male behind her, disappeared from the second floor.

"W-What was that?" Junpei said, panting as his face was pale as a sheet. That surge of fear was unlike anything he had ever experienced before but deep down, in the bottom of his soul, he knew he had felt that same horror somewhere before in his life.

"Maybe she's still upset about the break up?" Yukari added, her entire frame quivering as the fear clung onto her skin, rendering her entire body ice cold and rigid. "I don't get why but!"

"Junpei-kun…" Fuuka said, on the verge of passing out but her eyes were wide open in horror. She cleared her throat and spoke slowly, voice layered with confusion and a tinge of guilt.

"Why do you hate him so much?"

Junpei just stared at her. He knew the answer. That bastard was responsible for so much but… he couldn't get the words out.

Yukari glanced at Fuuka and the teal-haired girl stared at her shoes.

"Why do we…?"

Hamuko slammed the door shut with an extra bit of force to send a message and immediately began massaging her head to calm down the building rage. She wanted to scream her soul because her very spirit was up in flames of hate and corruption. "T-That idiot!" She reached out for the doorknob to lock the door but one small twist, and it came off the door, broken in her hand-

Hamuko stared at the doorknob in her palm and gasped, backing off and nearly collapsing backwards at the abnormal burst of strength. She didn't even yank it that hard and yet it was crushed to bits in her hand.

"What is going on?" Hamuko wondered, still trying to pacify the pain in her right hand. Second by second, it was getting worse and she couldn't even begin to imagine what was wrong with her. At worst, she was hit by a tennis ball during practice but there was no way it would hurt this bad.

Hamuko tried to calm down and started taking deep breaths, relaxing her mind and body despite the beads of sweat cascading down her face and crushing pain that was spreading over to her spine. She removed her shoes, stripped out of her heavy jacket, and swiped her bangs backwards, trying to lighten up a little but it was not working. Her soul was still burning and her mind was all over the place-

"I need to calm down," Hamuko panted to herself and stepped towards the sink, hoping a good splash to the face would provide some comfort. Her vision was blurry ever since she came back to the dorm but after rubbing her eyes a few times, she was able to see clearly and Hamuko faced the mirror to take a look at herself-

"What the…?"

She took a closer look and saw tears running down cheeks. Her eyes were swollen and red and her make-up was screamed across, a sign that she had been crying but Hamuko did not remember sobbing even once during the whole day. Besides, if she was crying, her friends would have noticed it so when did-

Freaked out, Hamuko opened the tap and started washing her face, cleaning the stains while chanting to herself to calm down. After she was done, Hamuko grabbed the towel and started to dry her face.

"Okay… Calm down…" the wild card whispered to herself, running a damp hand along her head. After another deep breath, Hamuko rose to level her face with the mirror and-

"Gack!"

Instead of her own reflection, Hamuko saw a distorted, shadowy figure with one red eye staring right back at her and while it was visible for a split second, the gaze of the figure buckled her eyes and Hamuko lost the mobility in her legs, collapsing backwards as the sight was burned into her eyes, mind and soul.

Hamuko laid on the floor for the next couple of minutes, feeling the dread in her throat and she struggled to breath. What was that? It lasted for a split second but Hamuko had the feeling that she had across the same entity before.

Another sharp flash of pain across the same hand made her cry out and the redhead finally took a look, and further spiraled into confusion and unexplainable misery-

"W-What's happening to me?"

Her right hand was purple and blue. Internal bleeding was apparent and going by the amount of color, the hemorrhage was severe and definitely not caused by a tennis ball. Looking at it, Hamuko thought that her hand was crushed under a hydraulic press but she couldn't remember even hurting it in the past few days-

"W-Wait a minute…"

More searing pain tore through the nerves in her right arm, and wild card threw her head back, barely able to contain the scream as it kept building and building. Her jaw and neck were rigid but Hamuko took one more look at her arm, and her mind clicked.

"I…"

Her crimson eyes widened in horror, and the same hand started shaking when she remembered, and the memory flashed before her, intensifying the already brutal pain-

"I hurt Minato…."

She had slapped him with her right hand. No. She did more than that. She slapped him. Knocked him down, and gave him a nasty gash on the cheek. She did it all with her hand and now it was useless and mutilated from the inside.

But why...?

"Minato…"

One floor below her, Minato stirred out of his stupor and blinked at the ceiling before widening his eyes in disbelief. He had not moved at all in the past few hours but that surge from above… That surge of evil energy brought him back.

"Nyx…?"

Thank you for sticking by. I know I said 3 chapters but again, I just can't write those massive ones anymore so please bear with me.

codywhite162: Hope this was good as well. Cheers!

wow dude: Lmao, welcome to every high school ever. He should be glad he kept his lunch money.

Fuyuki365: Likewise. Cheers!

Guest: Thank you! I really think the past 10-15 chapters is the best work I've done ever. I know, less reviews but ya know what you know.

lolrus555: Ah man, thanks a lot for those long reviews, nothing better for an author. I want to write one back but... spoilers. I will say this tho.. it won't be maximum tragedy, it will be ultimate tragedy. Cheers.

hello: look out for the AN in the final chapter.

Thank you for the reviews everyone. See you on the next one. Massive, collective cheers.