"Good morning, students," Nekouro's announcement greeted in his obnoxiously smug tone."It is now 7:00 AM, and all accessible areas of the institution have opened for the day. I hope everyone is ready to welcome the new day."

I had a bit of trouble getting up, but after some trying, I managed to get situated on my crutches so I could start my day. It was awkward having to use the crutches to help me walk, but I was just extremely grateful to be able to walk on my own.

As soon as I got to the door, I noticed something which was half-slid underneath it. It was a letter. It was enveloped and everything. It was a little bit difficult for me to pick it up, given my circumstance, but I managed. Leaning on my crutches for support, I curiously opened the letter. There was a pale pink ribbon wrapped around it, which I carefully undid before opening the envelope carefully so as to not rip the pleasant stationery.

I began to read what was written on the letter inside, on plain blue-lined ruled paper. "Dear Ishiki, I hope your foot is doing okay. I'm really grateful that we had you around for that class trial. I owe my innocence to you for believing in me when everything was stacked against me." I wondered who could have written this letter. I continued reading, hoping to find out. "As thanks, I had an idea, and I wanted you to be a part of it. Please come find me so that we can talk. Signed, Aki Nagatame."

Aki wanted to talk with me...? I didn't really have anything else to do, of course, so I decided that finding her was probably a good idea. I left my room and began to search for Aki to bring up the letter.

I checked the cafeteria, which is where I found her. She was working on some kind of sketch. I squinted my eyes to see what she was drawing, and it appeared to be some sort of dress. She looked up from her work. She must have heard the sound of the crutches.

"Oh hey!" she greeted with a wave. "Come, sit down."

"What's up?" I asked. "You wanted to see me?"

"I had a good idea!" Aki grinned. "At least, I think it is... And you're the guy I want to help me put it into action."

"Me?" I asked. "Why me? I'm the least talented out of everyone here."

Aki shook her head. "Just because you aren't recognized as a regular Ultimate Student, doesn't mean you aren't talented. Look how good you are at uniting all of us. And that's exactly the job I want you to do."

"Um..." I paused. "I'm gonna need to hear more."

"Of course!" Aki obliged. "I thought that a school event would be a great way to unite everyone."

"Ah, I see," I nodded. "Yeah, I think that would be a good way to keep us all together."

"I was thinking we could have a school dance!" Aki grinned.

"A school dance?" I shrugged. "I guess that would be a good way to get everyone to trust each other. And that is what we want."

"I'm really good at making decorations!" Aki exclaimed. "I'll turn the gymnasium into something that will inspire us!"

"And what about the music...?" I asked. "And the food? We don't have any professional cooks anymore..."

"Hmm..." Aki grunted and put a finger to her temple. "I didn't think of those parts... It's going to take me quite a while to make all the decorations, even with my talent... Oh, I know!"

I raised one eyebrow, silently asking her to elaborate.

"While I'm busy crafting the decorations, you can go around and ask who can contribute what to the school dance!" Aki explained, her excitement instantly refueled.

"Uh... sure," I answered somewhat indifferently. "I guess."

"I don't know anyone better to ask than you, Ultimate Underdog," Aki said, giving me a sweet smile.

"Can we not talk about my 'talent'?" I asked, still not sure how I felt about it.

"Oh, sorry... Is it a sore spot?" Aki asked sensitively.

"I don't know," I shrugged. "I'm not sure how I feel about it. It certainly doesn't make me look good in the context Nekouro has set up."

"I understand," Aki said with a nod. "You're already wearing a suit, huh...?"

"Uh, yeah," I answered. "I guess I'm all set for the dance."

"Hmm..." Aki put a thimble-tipped finger up to her chin as she took a moment to think deeply. "So we need music, and food, and... it probably wouldn't hurt to have someone working security. We don't have enough people to play live instruments... So we should focus on someone who might know how to sing. And for food, we should ask someone who is familiar with serving people."

"I'll see what I can do," I obliged. And with that, Aki had sent me on a mission. I watched her leave from the cafeteria and head towards the southern hallway of the Classroom Wing. I assumed she must have been on her way to the painting classroom.

Someone who might know how to sing, and someone who was familiar with serving people...? Well, the answer to the second question seemed quite obvious to me. Who is more familiar with serving people than the Ultimate Butler himself? But where would I find Shinyou at a time like this...? I suppose that was to be the first mission of my side-quest for Aki.

Perhaps it would be wise to look in the kitchen, considering I was looking for someone to make food for the school dance. I swung open the kitchen's swinging doors and hobbled inside, still not perfectly familiar with using crutches.

"Hello," someone greeted.

"Hey, it's Yuki," I chuckled. "What'cha doin'?"

"I was just making some egg noodles for lunch," she answered. "Busy?"

"Yeah... Aki has me trying to help her plan a school dance," I explained.

"A school dance!?" Yuki's eyes lit up at the mention. "I didn't think I'd get to have one while I was trapped here, but I love school dances! I used to help plan them all when I was in middle school."

"That sounds like it would be really handy right now," I chuckled. "It smells good..."

"I'm not a cook, though," Yuki sighed. "That's for sure... Thank goodness we have a lot of bottled soup stock and dehydrated noodles, or else I don't know what I'd do."

"Yeah," I chuckled. "I'm in the same boat. I could never really afford to learn how to cook well."

"Sounds rough..." she responded. "Well, anyway!" Her sympathy sure didn't last long... "I'm super excited for whenever this dance is going to be! I love when everybody can feel the rhythm and dance together!"

"Thanks for the chat," I chuckled. "I'm glad to hear you're excited. I won't let you down!"

I still had my sights set on finding Shinyou... He did spend a lot of time in the laundry room, doing laundry for the rest of us like the Ultimate Butler he was. It wasn't extremely far of a walk, so I decided to check there.

"Good morning, Master Sakamura," he greeted as I walked through the laundry room door. "How are you?"

"I'm kind of tired, heh," I chuckled. "But I actually have something to ask you."

"Please! Ask away," Shinyou said with a smile.

"Do you have any experience... cooking?" I asked.

"Certainly, Master!" Shinyou enthusiastically answered. "I've had to cover for many a tardy personal chef in my time as a butler... If it weren't for me, my Masters would starve at the hands of the lazy whelps..."

"You're always going above and beyond, Shinyou," I complimented. "I figured it would be a good idea to ask you."

"What is it you need me to cook for, Master Sakamura?" he asked quietly. "An event? Perhaps a date?"

"N-not a date!" I said, a little bit too loud.

"I see how it is," the Ultimate Butler chuckled. "Tell me what is needed and I will prepare it to the best of my ability!"

"You're always so eager to help," I said with a smile. "You deserve a lot of credit. Actually, Aki wanted to put together a school dance. She sent me to go ask people if they could contribute anything."

"I see!" Shinyou grinned. "I absolutely adore balls!"

"Yeah, I guess I can see the appeal of them," I shrugged. "I've never been to one. I think it's going to be fun, though."

"Just tell me when the dance will be, and I will not only cook a feast for royalty but also serve it!" Shinyou exclaimed, puffing up his chest.

"You sure do get excited at the idea of serving people, huh?" I wondered, out loud by accident.

"Of course!" Shinyou grinned. "It gives me a great sense of purpose to improve the lives of others, even in simple ways."

"Even selfish people?" I asked.

"A person's moral character matters not to me," Shinyou answered with confidence. "But regardless, you just worry about coordinating your ball! The food is now my responsibility!"

"Thank you, Shinyou," I smiled. "I'll see you later."

"Oh, before you go," Shinyou added as I was halfway through exiting the laundry room.

"Hm?"

"Do you have anything else I could do to help you?" he offered.

"You work so hard already, for everyone..." I sighed. "I can handle my own chores. But thank you."

"Of course, Master," Shinyou said while waving me farewell. "Anytime."

Now my mission was to find someone who could help with music... For that, I had no idea where to start... Maybe if I just wandered around I'd stumble across someone who could help with it. My fellow students were all quite studious... Maybe it would be worth checking the Classroom Wing...

As I was walking through the southern Classroom Wing hallway, I was alerted by someone shouting! "Augh!" It came from the painting classroom! That's where Aki was working on her decorations! I had to see what was going on! It was a slightly deeper voice than Aki's though...

Hurrying into the painting classroom and fumbling with my crutches, I took in what I found. Chiyasuke was covered in... blood-!?

"Hahah," he chuckled. "Be more careful next time, Nagatame."

"Oh my gosh, I'm so sorry!" she gasped, throwing her hands up to cover her agape mouth. "Please forgive me!"

Chiyasuke wiped the red substance off of his face. "It's all right. I don't mind. I have spare uniforms."

"I-is everyone okay!?" I shouted, mouth open wide from inside the doorway.

"It's no matter," Chiyasuke chuckled. "Aki dropped a can of paint and it splattered... quite dramatically, I should add– onto me."

"Oh..." I sighed, holding onto my thumping chest. "Paint..."

"I'm so sorry," Aki whimpered. "How can I make it up to you!?"

"You can make it up to me by not worrying about it," Yasuke said with a sensitive smile. "It's far from the first time I've been covered in paint. In fact, not even the first accidental time."

Yasuke unbuttoned the top button of his paint-covered uniform. Then the next one down, and so forth.

"W-wait!" Aki gasped. "There's a guy here!"

"Actually, there's two," Yasuke chuckled.

"Two!?" I chimed in.

Yasuke pulled off his uniform top and slid it down his shoulders. I covered my eyes, not wanting to let myself stare at a girl's body and not trusting myself not to. Out of pure curiosity, I looked between the cracks of my fingers to see... just what Yasuke looked like underneath that uniform.

"I-it's beautiful-" Aki stammered. "How did I not realize you were that toned!?"

"Oh, right..." I sighed, taking my hands away from my eyes and letting my shoulders slouch. "Yasuke's a guy..."

"I'm so sorry..." Aki apologized. "I keep forgetting you're a guy. This is so embarrassing!"

"You and everyone else on this planet," Yasuke chuckled. "I take no offence."

"You sure are chill..." I noted. "And... hot."

"Thank you, I suppose," Yasuke said with a smile. "It is kind of essential for my career that I maintain a good physique."

"You're the Ultimate Model," Aki commented. "What's that like, anyway?"

"Not to offend, but... you don't really look like what I would consider an ideal male model," I said, trying to be sensitive.

"I've explained this on talk shows before," Chiyasuke began. "But being the Ultimate Model means a lot more than just being a beautiful person. Ultimately, a model's job is not to be the face of a magazine, but to translate an artist's vision into a human form. I consider myself a canvas for designers and artists who wish to create art with my body."

"I see..." I mumbled as I took in this interesting new information.

Yasuke continued without being asked. Which was fine, because I was about to ask him to continue anyway. "Being... shall we say, in the middle of masculine and feminine, has been a blessing for me. It allows for the artists I work with to project onto me art of all points on the expression spectrum. Have you ever seen me wear a sailor girl uniform?"

"W-what-?" Aki stuttered.

"I look so good in it," Yasuke chuckled. "To put it simply, my androgyny makes me a bit of a blank canvas; whereas other models have intrinsic limitations to the art that an artist can project onto them."

"That's... kind of fascinating," I admitted. "I had no idea that modelling had so much to it..."

"You and Yuki were business partners before we got to Fate's Smile, right?" Aki added.

"Oh yes, indeed." Yasuke nodded. "Although I suppose it's only fitting that the Ultimate Makeup Artist and the Ultimate Model would have history together. Although, it goes a lot deeper than most people know. We're actually childhood friends."

"Yeah," I said with a chuckle. "You guys are seriously close. It's nice that there are people here who already have chemistry!"

"If I lost Yuki... I don't know what I'd do..." Chiyasuke let out a heavy sigh. "But... I know her. She's a strong girl. She'll be okay."

"Hey, let's all be strong," I encouraged. "Rin cracked under pressure, but... the rest of us won't. I believe in us!"

"You're right," Yasuke said, forcing his sombre frown into a slight smile. "Not committing murder is super easy."

"Yeah!" Aki chimed in. "That's like the easiest thing in the world!"

"Hey, Yasuke?"

"Yes, Sakamura?" he responded, wiping his face with his removed top.

"Do you know anyone here who can sing?" I asked.

"Well... why not try Alice?" he suggested. "She's been in her fair share of musicals, and most often as the lead actress."

"You're right! Why didn't I think of that!" I exclaimed. "Thanks! I'll see you guys later!"

Alice... Well, if she wasn't in the theatre classroom I didn't know where she'd be. Thankfully, it was right next door. With a hop, skip, and jump, and none of those things since I was walking with crutches, I opened the door and entered the classroom.

"Hey, Alice!" I greeted.

"Oh, hello, Ishiki."

"Huh? Miles?" I looked around, following his voice. "Are you in here?"

"I'm right down here," Miles explained.

I looked down into the in-the-round stage in the middle of the classroom, but the only person there was Alice.

"Alice, is Miles in here?" I asked.

"Nope!" she giggled. "But that sounded just like him, huh?"

"Y-yeah..." I sighed. "Are you practicing impressions or something?"

"Practicing?" Alice scoffed. "I'm the master of impressions!"

"Well, that did sound exactly like Miles. Can I hear another?" I asked, kind of amused.

"Fine... But this better not be a waste of my time," she said, sounding exactly like Lysandre.

"Bahaha!" I cackled. "It sounds just as annoying as the real thing!"

"Annoying..." Alice repeated quietly. "I don't know. He's a little overbearing but... I'm sure there's got to be more to him than that."

"Hm... maybe," I shrugged.

"Well, well, well, look who we have here... the Underdog..."

I spun around, shoulders raised in tension. "Nekouro!?"

"Heheh, calm down," Alice giggled again. "It's just me."

"D-don't do that..."

"What do you want from me?" Nekouro's voice asked from Alice's mouth.

"Do you have any experience with music?" I asked. "And can you stop with the Nekouro impression? He creeps me the Hell out."

"Sorry," Alice apologized, rubbing the back of her neck. "I can get carried away when I start acting. But yeah! I've got connections with the greatest idols, musicians, and singers the world has to offer! Unfortunately, I can't contact them because of that stupid cat!"

"That would be so awesome! Imagine having an idol come to our school dance!?" I exclaimed.

"Excuse me," Alice scoffed. "Is the Ultimate Actress not enough for you?"

"N-no!" I insisted. "That's not what I meant!" Wait, that gave me an idea... "What if you sang for the school dance?"

"Me? Sing?" Alice pondered. "Only for you, Ishiki-kins."

"Ishiki-kins...?" What a nickname. "Well... I'll take it. I heard you've been in lots of musical theatre!"

"Well, uh, yeah," Alice smiled, playing with her curly blonde hair. "Producers fight to the death to have me act in their productions!"

"To the death...!?" I gasped.

"Well... only one producer has ever actually died in a fight over me..." Alice recounted. "Actually... I never did hear from that one guy..."

I shook my head. "L-let's move on."

"Right," Alice obliged. "Men fighting over me is only fun when it's teen boys."

"So, you'll sing in the school dance?" I beamed. My mission was almost complete!

"Yeah, sure," Alice sighed, adjusting the bow on her blue dress. "I've got nothing better to do in this cage."

"It means a lot!" I smiled.

"It does...?" Alice asked, a slight blush appearing on her cheeks. "Well... I won't let you down."

I closed the door to the theater classroom, and set my course for the painting classroom to tell Aki that I had done everything she had asked me to. That's when I came across Marukyu, who was coming out from the classroom next to the stairwell at the same time I was exiting the theatre classroom.

"Hey, Marukyu," I said with a slight wave, balancing on my crutches. "How are you?"

"Oh, Ishiki!" she greeted. "I'm glad to see you're well. I was really concerned about you..."

"Aww, thanks for the concern," I smiled. "I'm doing much better now that I can walk on my own. What's up?"

"I was just... doing some reading in the classroom," she answered. "There's some interesting books in there that aren't in the library. I think it might have been a psychology classroom when the school was actually functioning properly."

"That sounds right up your alley!" I chuckled.

"Actually..." she sighed. "I think you should see it for yourself..."

"Huh? What's with the sudden shift in mood?" I asked.

"I took this book off the shelf in there, and... I think it might have something to do with... our situation." She pulled a thick textbook out of her cross-body bag and held it out to me face-up.

It read 'Neurocarving and the Science of Human Memory'.

"Huh? Neuro... -carving?" I inquired.

"It's kind of a long read, but..." Marukyu took a moment to think of how to summarize it. "The textbook explains a method in which a combination between electrode therapy and hypnotherapy can basically 'carve' a very specific sequence of memories out of a person's mind permanently. Almost like carving a slab of clay."

"That's... seriously creepy..." I said in a low, tense tone.

"It's not all bad," Marukyu went on. "It was apparently being researched as a method of mental trauma recovery. However, ethical complications forced all research on the procedure to be halted..."

"Well... it sure does sound like it could be used for evil, but..." I took a breath and shook my head, trying not to imagine such a cruel thing happening to myself. "What makes you think it's relevant to our situation?"

"Well..." Marukyu sighed, looking quite nervous. "Try asking Kagoro. He's the one who spearheaded the rally for its undoing."

"He never mentioned anything like that..." I was starting to get rather worried at the credibility of Marukyu's concerns. But... I kept trying to deny it. "He's done all kinds of stuff like that. Maybe it just got lost in all the other Symbol-of-Justice stuff he did."

"Well... I'm going to talk with him..." Marukyu resolved. "Are you coming?"

I looked back towards the door of the painting classroom... I was done with what Aki had asked me to do, but... this seemed more important.

"Let's go find Kagoro," I responded.

It was around lunch time by now, so Marukyu and I tried checking the cafeteria to see if Kagoro was there. Perhaps it was luck, or perhaps we just called it, but he was indeed in the cafeteria, munching on a delicious looking plate of sauce-dripping pork chop on rice.

"Kagoro?" I asked.

"Hm?" Kagoro responded, putting his chopsticks down gently on his plate. "Ah, Ishiki! And Marukyu! How can I help you?" he smiled.

"I was looking through the textbooks in the psychology classroom," Marukyu explained, stepping out from my shadow. "And... one of them has a section on you written in it."

"Me?" Kagoro asked. "I've been interviewed for research papers before, but... a psychology textbook? Please, go on."

She put the book on the cafeteria table, facing in the direction that Kagoro could read its cover properly.

"Neurocarving...?" he asked. "And this has a section on me written in it?"

"Is it familiar to you at all?" Marukyu asked, sitting down across from Kagoro. I sat on the side of the table between them.

"Neurocarving... No, I don't recall," Kagoro shrugged. "Would you explain it to me?"

"Like I told Ishiki, it's a procedure in which electrode therapy and hypnotherapy are used in combination to... remove memories from someone's mind," Marukyu explained.

"Remove memories!?" Kagoro gasped. "That sounds absolutely cruel and unusual!"

"Yes," Marukyu sighed, her hands starting to shake. "And the fact you don't remember the rally you allegedly spearheaded which ended all research on it..."

"I WAS BRAINWASHED!?" Kagoro shouted, standing up and nearly flipping the whole cafeteria table.

"I believe... we all were," Marukyu said timidly, noticing Kagoro's shock. "Remember the day we all met?"

"Yeah..." I interjected. "We all felt extremely lightheaded and everything went white, and then Nekouro appeared. Do you think...?"

"We were neurocarved...?" Marukyu finished my question for me. "Y-yeah... I think we were..."

I put my palms on the sides of my temples and closed my eyes, which were tearing up. "Who would do that!? Oh God!"

Kagoro bit down on his lip and crossed his arms, knuckles clenching. "I'll... I'll find them, and..."

"And bring them to justice?" Marukyu asked.

"How did you know that's what I was going to say?" he gasped. "Psychic!"

"Not a psychic," Marukyu reminded. "Just a psychologist."

"T-that's a lot to take in..." I said, slightly shaking. "I-I'm gonna go back to my room..."

"Y-yeah..." Marukyu sighed. "That sounds like a good idea." She shook her head and tried to recapture her Ultimate Emotional Support persona. "Get lots of rest, okay? We can figure this all out."

Who could I possibly talk to about this? On my tool-assisted walk back to my room, my mind raced with awful thoughts about the information I had just learned. Brainwashing? Extracting memories? It sounded like something out of a TV show, but... I was living it.

Miles. If anyone could get to the bottom of this, it was him. The Ultimate Journalist, who had despite all odds become somewhat of a symbol of justice separate from Kagoro Natsume, by exposing the unsavoury underbelly of many huge corporate and political facades. I wondered if he had already known about it, given how he always seemed to be a step ahead of the rest of us. It wouldn't hurt to discuss it with him. But letting my mind drift to a better place for a moment, I thought that Aki's plans to put on a school dance were even more for the better now than they were before. We needed to keep our minds off of our situation as best as we could, with our limited resources.

I entered my room and locked the door behind me. I collapsed into my bed, ignoring the pain my foot was in, and buried my face into my pillow. Holding onto my head, which felt weirdly in pain and empty now that I knew someone had 'neurocarved' it, I let out a long, loud scream into my pillow, for which I was glad the dorm rooms were so well soundproofed.