"Ai-chan, Mii and I did some did some digging about your whereabouts and found out that you were spotted walking around with Itsuka in a notoriously dirty neighborhood!" Mai opened up with that statement, which caught Ai totally off-guard. There were even pictures.

"W-well, I..." She had to come up with a fake explanation quickly, she thought. But, Ai's worries left her soon enough.

"-Don't worry, we know! He forced you didn't he!? He didn't do this and that to you did he!? I swear if he did anything to our friend, we'll pay him back tenfold..." Mai ranted, half expecting an answer and half expecting her friend to just keep quiet.

"He's so lame. Pervert." Mii added one more word than usual. That said way more about what she was feeling than one could think...

"No he didn't. Surprisingly, he defended me when some stranger tried to do... -gulp- you know."She didn't want to continue. This statement had adverse effects.

"It's worse than I thought! He's even scared her into such a submission that she'd lie to her best friends..." Mai was heartbroken. Mii's jaw dropped while emitting a malicious aura large enough to suffocate any bystander a half a mile away.

"No, guys, it's not like that. Shidou-k- I mean Itsuk-" Too late. They caught the way she was addressing him.

"SINCE WHEN DID YOU TWO GET ON A FIRST NAME BASIS!? That's it. Everything- tell us everything." Mai demanded, which was backed up by Mii's firm nod.

"He's actually not a bad guy. I was near the school, the one place that shared the important memories that I wanted to keep in case it really was my final hour." Ai was careful to pause, faking her fear so that she'd have time to think up a fabrication safe for the Itsuka siblings.

"Then, I saw a white spark off in the distance. It was a swirl of rainbow colors, swishing around like jello. Finally, it suddenly compressed, and exploded. No, the word explosion wouldn't even do the event justice. I was sure it was time, but then I saw Shidou... san... sprinting towards me. At the last second, he tackled me without warning behind a wall. I guess the explosive power lessened with distance to a point that the concrete could handle. If it weren't for him, I'd be dead." A lump in her throat formed, because the last sentence was entirely true. He'd saved her from that cannibalistic, evil, sadistic, heterochromatic, self-cloning virus of a girl... Ai held her shoulders and shivered at the thought of being so close to death, and her friends were there to comfort here, despite not truly knowing what went on.

"He walked me home, but I was too shocked by my close encounter with death to let him know that I usually went around to avoid the neighborhood, I just gave him the address I knew by instinct because my mind was in tatters... I enjoyed talking to him on the way there, so much so that I didn't even notice us entering the ghettos. Then, a bulky gym rat harassed me and tried to get me to come with him to do you know what. But Shidou-k, Shidou-san scared the guy off with a display of strength followed by a couple of threats. He'd started walking me home every day after that." Ai finished, surprised that the talkative gossip girls had remained totally silent the entire time.

"...I could think of a million things that you could be leaving out regarding that Itsuka's actions." Mai was in denial. There's no way that the person hated so passionately by the trio suddenly was Ai's knight in shining armor(though exaggerated, those were her thoughts).

"Ai..." Mai began again, with a murderous aura this time.

"What did he do." It was more of a command than a question somehow.

"I just explained everything. We're sisters, I'd never lie about something like that." Ai put her hands up to surrender.

"Liar."

"I'm telling you it's not-"

"Liar. I know he did something. It's Itsuka, we've seen what he does all the time."Mai restated through her gritted teeth.

"Why can't you just-"

"Why won't you tell us!?" Mai snapped. She was only worried about her best friend! Why must she be kept in the dark!?

"About what!? I've told you everything! There's nothing more to say! You're just in denial!" Ai defended, her patience slipping.

"I thought you trusted us. I mean, we've never kept a secret from you..." Ai was hurt by that statement. Because it was true. Ai couldn't risk trusting them in this situation, and it tore at her day and night. Ai had managed to keep those feeling suppressed, but Mai's outrage made all of the sadness flush out like water would from a splattered water balloon.

"I..." She had no defense. Aware of how her besties were beginning to find that what was said was true, Ai decided on a redirection tactic.

"You don't know Shidou-kun like I do. He's a good person, kind, smart, strong, and everything. You simply won't accept it because it'd hurt your gossiping credibility once word got out." Ai countered expertly at what Mai considered her profession. Mii even dropped her jaw for a couple of seconds.

"So that's how it is... Putting a boy we've collectively and justifiably hated for the entire school year before your best friends since childhood!? TRAITOR!" With that, Mai swung.

"Why does it have to be about choosing!? Why don't you just try to understan-" Ai ducked the right cross and took three back jumps while putting her fists up.

"I have all the evidence I need to hate that boy! Nothing's gonna change my mind about that scumbag of a person!" Mai charged again with a low kick fake. Ai crouched to block it, but was surprised to see Mai's swift uppercut. Ai just barely reacted in time, redirecting it and countering with a back kick to the brunette's abdomen. Then, Ai took the initiative, charging with a combination of jabs, knees, elbows, and fakes while Mai was staggering. Mai had only managed to dodge the first two or three due to being off balance, the rest –what seemed like 20 or so- of attacks hit their target(luckily, Ai knew the vital points and purposely avoided them). Before the fight escalated further, a pair of arms held Ai back. The same happened to Mai. The two girls didn't notice it, but during the altercation, a huge crowd of people gathered around. Two strangers had decided to stop it, knowing that one fighter was overpowering the other, which made the fight less exciting or suspenseful.

"You claimed that we were like sisters! If you want to prove it, you're gonna have to do a hell of a lot better than that!" Mai spat with both arms restrained, blood coming out instead of saliva. Mii sided with her on this one and followed her after sending Ai a death glare. The blonde was in shock, stricken with sadness, anger, regret, denial, and confusion. Just like that, Ai was shut out from her group of friends...

Then, she heard a voice inside her head, it sounded static, like a hacker who's digitally concealing their voice.

"You have nothing now, your best friends hate you, your image ruined, say goodbye to popularity. And you lost all credibility in class for the stunt you pulled with note passing yesterday."The voice stated. Obviously, it had its eye on Ai for a while now.

"Who are you!? Why are you inside of my head!?" Ai demanded in panic. All she could see was darkness at this point.

"My identity doesn't matter. More importantly, whose fault do you think it is that your life was ruined so quickly? What was the one thing that changed recently to cause your thoughts and actions to sway? To lead to this outcome?" Ai's questions were brushed to the side, and her emotions taken advantage of.

"...The one thing that changed me?...Shidou-kun...?"

"Yes. Shidou caused you to have to keep a precious secret. You and your friends were arguing over your thoughts on Shidou. Shidou was the one who led you into that terrible neighborhood. Shidou was the one that waited until you were inside the school and cornered by a clone to take action. Yes... It was all Shidou's fault..." The voice pressed. Despite how Ai hated it, the voice was getting to her. The teen's savior and only friend left... Ai began to doubt herself. Was her loyalty and truthfulness to herself that weak? To be so easily swayed by a complete stranger? This small weakness was all that was needed for the transformation.

"Shidou's the one who caused this doubt to come as well. If only he disappeared, or never existed... You'd be having fun with your best friends, enjoying talks about rumors, blissfully acing your classes..." The voice pressed. And it worked.

"Shidou-kun's fault... Shidou...-kun..." Ai ceased to feel, to think- or rather, lost the ability to do so.

Her consciousness faded, into a deeper and darker black than one ever thought possible...