Game Changer

by Sekcoya

An AU where things happen... differently. Tokaku meets Namatame first, then finds a girl named Haru with a strange, dusty scent. Hitsugi meets Otoya on a train, and Haruki talks some sense into Isuke. All of these and more are the differences that throw our story out of whack, along with the biggest change of all- the black class rules themselves. Rating may change.

10. Chapter 10

Hey there! We're getting closer to the first attempt with each chapter, so please bear with me. I hope each chapter is entertaining on its own. :)

Suzu

Suzu woke up with her heart beating fast. Those images were still fresh in her mind, ones she thought she had forgotten long ago. Her dreams were a gallery of mixed-up memories, all tossed together like salad. Mother's smile, father's broad shoulders, the back of that boy's head in the distance… and the other girl next to him.

She touched her cheek and was surprised to find wetness there. Even though she had blocked out her emotions many times, her body didn't lie.

Blinking away her tears, she sat up in bed and saw that she had plenty of time to get ready for school. Naturally, Kouko had already been up for an hour at least. She was a punctual person with an inflexible routine. Suzu would have found that boring, but watching Kouko be so dignified was kind of cool.

Kouko noticed that she had woken up. "Good morning," she said blandly. Her hair was still down, a sign that she had been working on something. After what Nio had told them last night, they had been restless. No one was quite sure what would be the best strategy for winning the game.

The way I see it, Suzu thought, the best thing would be to team up.

By teaming up, they would have less opposition from the other assassins, not to mention more firepower and more brainpower. The problem was, of course, that only one person could win.

Hashiri had made it clear that there were ways around that, though. With that in mind, Suzu pushed herself out of bed and got her uniform. "Good morning."

As she was about to start changing, Kouko turned toward her and frowned. "Why are you crying?"

Was it that obvious? Suzu rubbed her face a little more vigorously. "I was remembering something very sad," she sighed. "Don't pay any attention to it." She had seen Kouko in tears as well, so now they were even.

Her roommate obeyed, but still looked concerned. It was the first time Suzu had seen that sort of expression on her.

Suzu was glad her classmates had started talking to her. Talking to other people had allowed her to escape from herself. She suspected Kouko and Shiena felt the same way.

They really were the odd ones out in the class. All of the other assassins were instantly recognizable for their appearances, personalities, or backgrounds. They, on the other hand, looked and acted far more normally.

She chuckled as she straightened the plaid collar of her uniform. She'd never thought of herself as normal by any stretch.

Kouko stood waiting by the door with a book in hand, like she did every morning. Since Kouko entered a world of her own when she was reading, it was pointless to try and chat with her. Suzu got herself looking nice for class and bided her time until seven forty-five.

Their walk to the cafeteria for breakfast felt different than it had a few days ago. Back then, everyone could pretend they were normal students. Now that the game had officially started, and thrown a wrench into everyone's plans in the process, all the assassins were on edge.

"Hey there, Harucchi!"

The shout came from a few paces to the left, where Takechi had run up to Haru and lifted her up in the air. The resulting giggles drew one nasty scowl from Azuma. That was no surprise, considering how Takechi had dragged her out of the meeting last night. She wondered what had happened out there. She knew that Shiena had snuck over to do something about it, against Suzu and Kouko's better judgement. They'd have to ask her at breakfast.

"Look at them," Kouko grumbled. "Azuma-san and Takechi-san both fawning over the target. It's a recipie for disaster."

"I have to agree," Suzu replied, putting her hands behind her head and stretching. "I wouldn't say Azuma is really fawning over her, but..."

"She glares," Kouko finished for her. "Affectionate glaring."

They looked at each other for a moment. "Wow," Suzu laughed. "That's just perfect. 'Affectionate glaring'. We'll have to tell Shiena-chan that one."

Suzu pulled open the door to the cafeteria and found the table where Shiena sat by herself, working on a laptop that looked nearly as old as she was.

"Morning," she said, sitting down across from the brunette. "What're you working on?"

"Oh! Morning." Shiena glanced up from the screen. "Just, uh, doing some digging around."

Pulling out her chair soundlessly, Kouko sat beside Suzu. "By which you mean hacking?"

"Shhh!" Shiena put her finger to her lips. "I'm used to having a manga café or something. Here, this is the best I can get. All the dorms have security cameras."

It was an odd feeling, being watched all the time. "What makes you think here would be better?" Suzu asked.

The brunette closed her laptop with a click. "My reasoning is that she expects us to do our secret business in our rooms, so this place won't be as thoroughly watched. Also," she gestured toward the dozens of other students, "plenty of sound pollution."

Kouko shrugged. "It's a fair point. Just be careful."

"Don't worry," Shiena grinned. "I'm used to this. Also, can you get me something to eat? I've been here since before they were serving, and I forgot to grab anything."

Nodding, Suzu stood up and pointed at the food counter. "I'll get everyone's. You want a traditional breakfast, right Kouko-san?"

"Yes, please. Thank you."

Always polite. Suzu smiled and went to get enough food for all of them. She probably looked like a big eater to the others in line, but she had long since learned to ignore others' impressions of her.

She was back in around seven minutes, according to the clock on the wall. Kouko and Shiena were talking about Carmen, and whether the book or the opera was better.

"I'm back," she announced, setting each plate in front of its recipient. Shiena grabbed a napkin and went to town, while Kouko picked up a fork and started on her vegetables like a good girl.

Now it was time to bring up the thing everyone was afraid to talk about. "Guys," Suzu said, "What happened last night was a big surprise for all of us, right?"

Swallowing a large bite of pancake, Shiena sighed. "I'll say. How's anyone ever going to succeed when all the others get a chance to stop them? The one thing to do would be a team up, but she said only one person can win. Where does that leave us?"

Suzu folded her arms. "It still leaves us with a team up. I think I know how we can get around the one person winning rule."

With that, she had their attention. Possibly the attention of the next table over as well, where Inukai and Sagae had gotten a bit quieter.

Her roommate stared down at her food. "I'm sure you have a good idea," Kouko said quietly. "But if I don't do this on my own, it won't mean anything."

"And if you lose," Shiena said, frowning, "it'll mean even less." She nodded toward Suzu. "Tell us your idea, Suzu-san."

Once she was positive the other two were not listening in on their conversation, Suzu lowered her voice. "If we find a way to combine our wishes," she whispered, "then we can each make a single wish that accounts for everybody. No matter who wins in the end, we'll all get what we wanted.

"That would mean we'd have to tell each other our wishes," she continued. "We'd have to be able to confide in each other. Can we do that?"

The other two glanced at each other. "We can try," Kouko said, adjusting her glasses. "If we're going to work together, we should have a meeting. How about after school in Shutou-san's and my room?"

"Sounds good." Suzu smiled. "This may not work, but we want to get started planning as soon as possible."

"Why?" Shiena asked, a glass of milk in her hand. "Going first is a disadvantage, isn't it?"

To their surprise, it was Kouko who answered. "Disadvantages are just obstacles to be maneuvered around," she answered. "There are also advantages to going first."

"Yes," Suzu replied. It was so nice to be on the same page. "Namely, the others have no clue what to expect. Going first means you get free reign."

"I get it," Shiena said. "Whatever we do, the target will be less prepared for it."

Their classmates began to file out of the cafeteria one by one, signifiying that it was time to go.

"All right," Kouko said, discarding most of her food in the trash can. "We'll meet later today."

Suzu could tell that her roommate was not looking forward to it. She tried not to think about her first day at the academy, where Kouko had cried herself to sleep. She felt like a bad person for listening in on it, but she couldn't help being curious.

Somehow she just knew that they had both gone through something similar.

On the way to class, Suzu tugged on Shiena's sleeve. "Shiena-chan? I just remembered something I wanted to ask."

"Hm?" Shiena turned around, her bookbag slung over her shoulder. "Yeah?"

"What happened when you went to stop Azuma and Takechi-san last night?"

The brunette shivered. "I'll tell you in the afternoon. It's not much, but I'd rather say it behind closed doors." She made sure no one else other than Kouko was listening. "Also, before we start our meeting, would you mind if I got rid of those security cameras?"

"Sure, if you want to." Suzu patted her shoulder. "Is it really that important? If we're being watched constantly and no one's stepped in yet, I think they're just observing."

"I know. I just… don't like having a camera on me."

Kouko had mentioned to her that she thought Shiena might have been bullied. Since she was part of Collective Dismissal, it made sense. Suzu hoped Shiena would trust them enough to reveal that sort of info.

Oh well. There was no way to know until it happened. She walked on, kicking her nightmares off to the side to make way for the matter at hand.

The game was beginning.

Isuke

The first thing that happened in class that day was unexpected. Mizorogi walked in with a cardboard box full of something. Unless it was full of free money, Isuke was perfectly content to sleep through its introduction.

Most people needed to pay attention in class. In order to get a job, they had to study hard and get into college. Isuke was plenty smart, she already had a job, and her parents, though they weren't rich, had more than enough to bail her out if the need arose.

Therefore, Isuke didn't need to study. If she had needed to, she would have. But what idiot would waste time and energy doing something they didn't need to do?

People just don't get that about me, she thought lazily. I'm not irresponsible, I'm logical.

Her clothing, for example. She wore it because she knew no one with half a brain would try to make her change it. Knowing that no one would ever confront her about her style made it a lot easier to wear.

Thanks to her sudden burst of thought, she was still awake when Mizorogi began the period. "Stand. Bow."

From what Isuke could hear, maybe three or four people had actually moved. Mizorogi was completely unfazed. "Welcome to class, everyone!" he said, his voice bubbling with joy like always. "Before we get started, I have something special for you all!"

"What, do we get commemorative erasers or something?" somebody asked. Somebody else chuckled.

There was a thud at the front of the room. "Close! You get official Myojou Academy Black Class wristbands!"

That was enough to make Isuke raise her head. Sensei was dangling several rubber wristbands from his fingers. They were black with what looked like the student's numbers on them. How boring.

"Please come up to get them in number order. Azuma, you're first!"

The Brainless Wonder got up and took her wristband from sensei's hand without a word. Isuke went up next. She hated the smell of the thing. It was so… cheap.

Once she was seated, she watched the others go up in turn and occupied herself by making up rude nicknames for them. The Unfun Nun, Lolicon Bait, Fluffy Nerdface, Idiot Haruki, Grandma, Grabby Hands, The Girl Prince, Sharky McTrash, Her Royal Dryness, and Pretty Little Psycho.

She didn't bother thinking of one for Haru, because she found herself stuck on Banba. The information Sharky had given them last night seemed to imply that the assassins would need to work together to have a chance, at least at first.

It's a good thing I was planning to work with someone from the beginning, she thought. Everyone else is having to change their plans, but I won't. That might give me a leg up on them. And I have pretty great legs.

She turned her attention to her wristband, which displayed her number and name in tiny red print. These were specifically for the black class, meaning they were somehow involved in the game.

Then it clicked. When an assassin made their move, there had to be a way to send the target's current location to the others. These wristbands were it.

Holding it up to the light, she caught sight of a few tiny LEDs beneath thin black plastic. They would spell out the general location.

Not a bad idea, she thought. But seriously, commemorative wristbands? They could've at least made it a ring or something, so she could walk around without looking dumb.

Haruki, of course, was already trying it on. To her, it was probably pretty cool. She doubted the doofus realized what it was for yet. Watching her play with it was kind of cute, though.

Ugh. Since when were stupid things cute? She turned away and laid down on her desk again. By the time Mizorogi announced what they would be doing in class that day, she had drifted off into dreamland.

She spent her day as usual, sleepwalking through class. Her body was beginning to get used to the school schedule, and she woke up for lunch all by herself. She and Haruki decided to eat on the roof, where they could get some fresh air.

After staying inside most of the week, the sky was really something. A few scattered cottonball clouds floated across the never-ending blueness, dotted with V's of tiny black dot-birds.

Beside her, Haruki had spent the last ten minutes making an earnest effort to keep her interested in a conversation.

"It was really funny," the redhead was saying, tearing into a package of bread. She had just finished a story about a little brother of hers getting into trouble. "We couldn't tell what was the compost and what was the food!"

"Mmm hmm," Isuke mumbled, chopsticks hovering over a very nice looking bento. "Your little brother sounds a bit like you."

"Really?" Haruki gasped. "I haven't gotten into trouble in a long time. When I was younger, maybe…" She paused, and her face darkened. "That's more of an insult to him, actually. He'd never kill for a living."

"Don't have pity party for yourself." Spotting the bread in Haruki's hand, she smacked it away. "And don't eat snack bread before you eat your actual food."

"Aw, c'mon. It's fine to indulge, so long as you exercise." Haruki held out the bread. "I think you're a little thin, Isuke-sama. You should have this."

Isuke's stomach lurched. "No thank you," she said sweetly, shrinking away from the horrible fluff-filled ball of sugar-crusted cookie crap. "I'd much rather eat that thing your brother made."

Haruki's eyes softened a bit. She plopped the bread beside Isuke and relaxed into the iron bars of the fence. "You were listening? I thought I was just talking at you like I always do."

Isuke always said more than she meant to around the redhead. "I can listen to something without giving a damn," she replied. "I guess if you can eat sweets and not gain weight, you might as well take advantage. Just don't come crying to me when you're an old, wrinkly blob of fat oozing out of a wheelchair."

That earned her some explosive laughter from Haruki. "So that's what's in store for me, huh?"

"Yeah, pretty much." Isuke smiled. "You'll need your little siblings to spoon-feed you creamed corn, because your teeth will be gone and you won't have the money for dentures."

"Wow…" Haruki sighed. "I've got a pretty crappy future."

Setting her bento to the side, Isuke leaned back as well. "We all get old and ugly eventually. It's the same for everyone." She pushed the snack bread toward Haruki. "Go ahead and eat it, I don't really care."

Her roommate didn't notice her offering. "If the future's gonna suck," she mumbled, "maybe this is for the best."

Isuke frowned. "What's for the best?"

"Nothing." Haruki leaned on one arm, her face just a little too close for comfort. "Let's see what you've got coming, Isuke-sama."

She moved her hands as though generating some spherical object. Her eyes narrowed, heavily concentrated on her task.

"What the hell are you doing?"

"I'm consulting my crystal ball," Haruki replied, lifting her hands out in front of her. "I used to do this for the little guys all the time. I'm starting to see your future! Get ready!"

"Don't be silly," Isuke replied. "I already know what I'm going to do in the future. I'll be an assassin at night and run a business on Mama and Papa's beach during the day."

Haruki rubbed her magic ball-thing. "Yeah, looks like it! From what I can see, you'll make a killing!"

Wincing, Isuke tried to take the crystal ball from her, then remembered that it didn't actually exist. "That was so lame," she snickered. "Maybe I'll buy you a decent joke book out of the goodness of my heart."

"The crystal ball is now peering into your heart!" Haruki leaned over and stared intently at Isuke's neck while holding her sphere in front of it. "What will be revealed?"

"That's not where my heart is, dumbass."

Her roommate grinned. "What, you want me to look there?"

Smiling back, Isuke slowly pushed her away. "No. I don't think you could handle it. Anyway, what's inside my heart?"

"Hold on… there." Haruki peered into her hands. "Your heart is full of love, but there seems to be something blocking it off."

"Me, full of love?" Laughing, Isuke wondered what her roommate saw in her. "I think you're mistaking my heart for somebody else's."

Haruki shook her head insistently, sending red curls flying to and fro. "Nope, it's your heart alright. Kinda murky, with plenty of nice things floating around. Like a good bowl of stew."

Isuke's eye twitched. "Did you just compare my heart to… stew?"

"Or, y'know, a healthy lake!" Haruki waved her hands. "A beautiful, healthy lake with all kinds of sea life." She threw out her arms. "If only the lake were allowed to become a river!"

This topic of conversation wa getting a tad annoying. "First of all," Isuke replied, "rivers run into lakes, not the other way around. Second, don't apply your own idealistic principles to somebody else's heart. It's rude."

"Well." Haruki picked up her feet and sat cross legged on the stone edge of the roof. "How would you describe your heart, Isuke-sama?"

Who ever thought about that? Isuke searched for some things that might describe her heart. All she could think of were very good things that she pretended to believe and very bad things she didn't want to believe.

"It's…" She shrugged. "A desert. Except there's one oasis in the middle of it where Mama and Papa are. Outside of that there's selfishness and greed and pure logic. Which is fine, because that's what human nature is."

It took a second for Haruki to respond, since she had ripped off a chunk of snack bread and was gobbling it down. "Now that we have two different versions of your heart," she said, "which one do you want to be true?"

You couldn't just… decide who you wanted to be. Isuke had been moulded into her current self a long time ago, back when she had learned about human nature the hard way.

People could go on and on about mercy and compassion, but the truth was always apparent wherever she looked. It was a dog-eat-dog world where the only way to survive was by making it to the top. And it wasn't about justice and hard work like some idiots made it seem. Survival was about being born lucky.

I was bigger and stronger. That's why I survived, and he didn't.

"I don't really care," she finally said. "Whatever's in my heart has gotten me this far, so I don't feel the need to change it." She glared at the sweet stuff Haruki was shoving into her mouth. "Like you don't feel the need to change your eating habits."

"Oh, so now you agree with me?" Haruki laughed. "It never gets boring with you, Isuke-sama."

"You're pretty interesting too," Isuke admitted. "I guess stupid people have always been entertaining."

Haruki was about to object to that when a small silver-haired girl emerged from the stairway leading to the roof, carrying some trash in a plastic bag.

Well, what do you know. My potential accomplice has just arrived. Isuke smiled and waved. "Hi, Banba-chan! Wanna come chat with us?"

Banba flinched away and turned to go back down the stairs. Before she could get through, Hanabusa appeared next to her.

"What's wrong, Banba-san?" she asked, frowning at Isuke and Haruki. "Was someone rude to you?"

"All I did was say hi," Isuke grumbled, standing up. With her heels, she stood much taller than the others. "Am I not allowed to talk to her?"

Hanabusa bowed. "I apologize for assuming. Please excuse us."

The two of them started for another spot. Rather than eating, they opted for gazing out over the landscape for reasons Isuke couldn't fathom. She elbowed Haruki in the ribs.

"Ow! Yes?"

"Go ask why Banba-chan wasn't at last night's meeting."

"Why do I have to ask?"

"Because they'll think I'm scheming or something and get all pissy. Everybody likes you. Go on."

"But you are scheming."

"Exactly! Now get your ass over there."

Sighing good-naturedly, Haruki went to do Isuke's bidding. Isuke had to admit, it was nice having someone who was kind and did whatever she asked. At the same time, she was angry at Haruki for letting herself get ordered around. Why don't you stand up to me? She thought. Have some self respect, for god's sake.

A minute later, Haruki returned. "Something about a bright light," she said. "Banba-chan got there a little late, and there was a bright light coming from inside the warehouse, so she went back to her dorm."

"Bright light, huh?" Isuke mumbled under her breath. "Interesting."

She ate a bit more of her bento and wrapped it back up to save for later. Her stomach growled in protest, but she ignored it as she had done a million times before. Isuke never let herself get completely full. It was a habit she had learned in her old household, where being full meant that he was off in a corner starving like the sniveling weakling he was.

Or, had been.

At any rate, she felt more secure knowing that she had food for later and that she could eat it whenever she wanted. Control was something she had to have, which meant she needed as much information as possible.

Hence, the need to find out about Banba's secret. Did Sumireko know it? If she did, she definitely wouldn't tell anyone else.

"Hello?" She found a hand waving in front of her face. "Earth to Isuke-sama. It's time to get back to class."

"Fine, I'm coming." She swatted Haruki's hand away with a smile. "You lead the way, Haruki-kun."

They made their way back to class with Her Royal Dryness and Psycho trailing behind. She wondered what could make Banba afraid of the light, and how she could kill with her crippling shyness. Maybe that was just a front for something far more sinister.

The other thing she thought about, to her chagrin, was her heart. Her stewy, sandy heart full of love and greed and fish.

Don't let Idiot Haruki get to you~ she thought in a singsong voice.

But Haruki was getting to her, in a big way. Everything that came out of the goofball's mouth seemed to have some deep meaning. Like she was constantly being asked to change herself.

On the contrary, nothing she said ever got through to Haruki. Isuke knew she wasn't right about everything, but she was right about some things, god dammit! Why didn't Haruki ever listen to her?

She dreamed about that question all next period while Asshat-sensei droned on in English.

Haru

Tokaku-san and Otoya-chan had been very distant all day. Moreso than usual, meaning that not only did they give each other nasty looks and refuse to talk to each other (with the exception of an occasional rude comment from Otoya), they wouldn't even go near each other.

Had something happened? Tokaku and all the others had left to do something late last night. She had heard the foot traffic in the hallway and figured it was some kind of assassin-only thing. She remembered Tokaku's only words from when she had returned to their dorm that night.

"The game started. Get some sleep."

It wasn't hard to imagine Tokaku and Otoya having a fight, and it was even easier to imagine the two of them hiding it from her. Haru sighed and leaned on her elbows. Why were they both so difficult?

She looked at Tokaku to find the blue-haired girl watching her intensely. Otoya's eyes were trained on her as well. When each of them noticed the other watching, they glared at each other and glanced down at their work in a half-hearted attempt to look like they were studying.

They hadn't been nearly this bad before. Haru would have to ask them some things after class and hope she got truthful answers.

The next couple that caught her eye was Chitaru-san and Hitsugi-chan. Those two were getting closer by the minute. They went nearly everywhere together, with Hitsugi holding Chitaru's hand or arm. Chitaru took it very well, so well that Haru wondered if maybe she was the one who liked being held onto as opposed to Hitsugi-chan.

She giggled. It was cute thinking of Chitaru-san being shy or holding a teddy bear like Hitsugi-chan was today. The little girl had walked into class that morning hugging a pink teddy so adorable that Haru had asked to hold it. She remembered Hitsugi's unhappy face when Chitaru had prompted her to let go of it for even a second. It must have been pretty special to her.

It was kind of heavy, she thought. But oh, so soft! Haru had owned a stuffed animal a while back, but it had been buried in the rubble of her old home. She had wished for one many times while she had been in the hospital. Having something to hold was nice.

Class ended in its own good time, leaving all the students to entertain themselves. Most went back in groups of roommates, except for Shiena-chan, who left with Kouko and Suzu-san. Otoya and Shiena really didn't get along, even though they shared a room.

She frowned. If Tokaku didn't like someone, that was one thing. Tokaku didn't get along easily with others, meaning that Haru could take her opinion with a grain of salt. But after several days in the black class, she could see that Tokaku was not alone in her view of Otoya.

Their conversation yesterday had revealed a lot of things about the girl, both good and bad. When Otoya had grabbed her arm like that, she had truly seemed like a ruthless killer. Once she calmed down though, she went back to her normal, cheerful self.

Back to normal and then some. She could still feel where Otoya had kissed her surprisingly gently.

It was hard. Otoya was nice to her, and really wanted to be friends with her. That was more than Haru had gotten from anyone else in the class. Tokaku insisted the girl was only pretending to be kind, but Otoya had shown some very real emotions. Someone who was faking wouldn't have revealed that kind of anger, right?

She wanted so much to believe that Otoya was kind at heart.

The raven-haired girl herself exited the classroom and skipped over to her. "Hey, Harucchi!" She hugged Haru around the shoulders. "Have a good day so far?"

"It's been good," Haru replied, smiling and noting not for the first time that Otoya gave very warm hugs. "You asked that me at lunch, too."

Otoya shrugged. "I just wanna make sure everything's all right. If anyone gives you trouble, let me know."

That's right. Haru knew Otoya wasn't going to kill her, and she hoped Tokaku wouldn't try. There were still plenty of others to worry about, though.

"About that…" Haru lowered her voice to a whisper. "Tokaku-san said the game starts today. Is there anything I should know?"

"Yeah, some rules and stuff." Otoya watched the other students attentively, waiting for them to leave. "I'll tell you on the way to the dorms."

"Tell her what?"

Tokaku had walked up behind her, looking sour as ever. There was something else though. She looked kind of hurt.

"Tell her about the show you made last night," Otoya grinned. "And how I had to drag you out of the building."

"You didn't have to drag me anywhere," Tokaku growled. "I was voicing a concern that everyone else here with a brain cared about."

Folding her arms, Haru backed away from Otoya so it wouldn't look like she was taking sides. "I thought you two had a fight, and it looks like I was right. What were you concerned about, Tokaku-san?"

The blue haired girl took a few deep breaths. "I asked Hashiri what her relationship was with you."

"That's right!" Otoya chimed in. "She wanted to know if Nio-chan was still available."

"Do you ever shut up?" Tokaku gave her a light push on the shoulder. "I just wanted to know why she's so familiar with you, and why you act the way you do around her. That, and she knows more about the black class than anyone else."

Haru could feel her palms getting sweaty. The only one who knew as much as Nio was herself. And Tokaku was right; they did know each other from elsewhere.

"Well…" she started, wondering how much would be safe to reveal. "We knew each other before the class."

"I knew it!" Tokaku took a step closer. "Then, do you know anything about what she does on that tablet?"

She didn't know for sure, but she could have guessed. Unfortunately, that was venturing into the realm of secrecy.

"It's nothing like that," she sighed, casting her eyes downward. "We met at the hospital, Tokaku-san."

Tokaku's eyes drooped instantly. "Oh. So that was all?"

The hospital had not been a fun time for Haru. It was after she had lost the rest of her family. Being all alone in the world wasn't the nicest thing to have on your mind while trying to recover from grievous wounds. She had stayed there for months without much progress until she had gotten a roommate.

That roommate had been Hashiri Nio.

Otoya elbowed Tokaku. "Nice going. You made her sad."

"Then I'll leave it to you to make her even sadder." Tokaku pushed her back. "Tell her about what you did last night."

Returning to reality, Haru looked at Otoya. "Did you start the fight?"

"Yeah, I guess I did." Otoya shrugged, like it was no big deal at all. "I asked her to do something reasonable, and she insulted me. So I got a little angry."

"That was a little angry?" Tokaku cried. "I'd love to see you when you're really angry, then."

Otoya giggled and smiled a bit wider than should have been possible. "No, I don't think you would."

Not knowing what was going on made these conversations so hard to follow. "Guys." She put a hand on both of their shoulders. "I want a play by play of what actually happened. No rude comments allowed." The "no rude comments" rule meant there would be about a third as much talking. Haru liked to be able to process things.

They glanced at each other. Otoya gestured toward Tokaku. "You first. You're more trustworthy than I am, anyways."

"So you'll just admit that openly?"

The raven-haired girl shrugged. "When I get angry, I don't remember much of what I do."

Nodding, Tokaku stood stiffly as though she were giving a military report. "I'll start with when she dragged me outside. I wanted her to let go, so I pulled out my knife. She threw me into a trashcan and said she wanted to team up with me. I said no, because I don't trust her, and put my weapon back."

"You knocked me down too," Otoya piped up. "You forgot that."

"Because you grabbed my hands like a creep. Anyway, she pulled some scissors out of her waistband and said she didn't actually want to team up with me."

Otoya ran around behind Haru. "I thought you'd want us to team up," she said, gripping the girl's shoulders. "But then Tokaku was all mean."

Tokaku put a hand to her chest. "Right, I was mean. You're the one who said I was going to end up in tiny pieces!"

"I meant you were gonna get creamed by the other assassins, stupid. That's why I wanted us to team up in the first place."

"No, I'm pretty damn sure that's not what you meant."

"Hold up!" Haru cried, exasperated. "What are you even talking about? Teaming up to do what?"

They blinked. "We, uh…" Otoya rubbed her neck. "We both agreed that we were gonna protect you from the others. Y'know, until the class is over."

Haru's face lit up like a lightbulb. "You guys…" She sighed and hugged them both, one with each arm. "You should've mentioned that first!" She could practically feel her stress evaporating. With them on her side, she'd have a much better chance of living through the class.

"You were so hyped up about graduating," Tokaku mumbled. "I didn't want you to be disappointed."

"I just didn't want you to die," Otoya laughed. "We should probably tell you the rules now."

It was hard to be mad at two people who cared about her so much. Haru let go of them reluctantly.

Far more comfortable outside someone's embrace, Tokaku closed her eyes. "Yeah, those're kind of important. The way this game is set up, the other assassins are gonna have a chance to protect you. The difference is that they'll still try to kill you in the end. In order to attack, an assassin has to send you an advance notice. Once they do that they can attack at any time for 48 hours."

"But," Otoya put a hand on her hip, "as soon as the notice goes out, we other assassins will be notified of your location. Not theirs, just yours."

How could they tell everyone where she was?

"Oh!" She held up her arm. "The wristbands."

"Bingo!" Otoya laughed. "Yours must be a tracker or something, but ours are recievers."

This was big. Haru had known about the advance notices, but not about the tracker. Having two permanent protectors and a bunch of temporary ones would make surviving much easier. On the other hand, it meant the assassins would be going all out.

The question was why. This was supposed to be a test for her primer powers. Why would they go out of their way to make things harder for the assassins?

Unless… this was also a test for them?

"Won't it be bad if the other assassins find out you aren't going to kill me?" she asked. "Won't they want to get rid of you?"

Tokaku tapped her foot. "At the moment, no. Eventually, yes. That's why I think we should keep it a secret."

That sounded like a good plan. There was no dissent from Otoya. "Chitaru-san might help too," Haru suggested. "She seems nice."

"We'll see." The blue-haired girl looked down the hallway toward the stairs, the direction Chitaru had left in minutes before. "She's got issues of her own, though."

Haru wondered what sorts of troubles a girl like Chitaru might have. Everyone here had their own story, after all. She had spent a lot of time wondering about Tokaku and Otoya, and what had happened to make them the people they were.

"There's one more thing," Otoya said. "After the fight, we saw Nio-chan talking to some lady on the big screen. She had a suit and she looked kinda old. I think she's probably important."

"An older woman…" Haru repeated. "In a suit?"

"Yep. She looked all greenish."

Her eyes widened. They had seen the chairwoman! That was definitely not supposed to happen, at least not this early in the competition. Nio was probably kicking herself right now.

"Wow," Haru gasped. "You think she might know something?"

"I think she's in charge of this whole game," Tokaku said. "They were having a conversation, but we couldn't really understand it."

Otoya laughed. "Either that, or Nio's into older women."

"That's as far as we ever need to go into that topic." Tokaku grimaced. "Now that we're done telling Ichinose about last night, we can cut ties for good."

"Sounds good." Otoya gave her a thumbs up and skipped down the hall. "I think I'll start protecting her right now!"

Haru called after her. "Otoya-chan! Where are you going?"

"She's going away from here, which is a good thing as far as I'm concerned." Tokaku's shoulders relaxed a little as soon as Otoya was out of sight. "Did you think we were going to make up after a fight like that?"

"But you're working toward the same goal!" Haru protested. "You can at least be around each other, right?"

The blue haired girl sighed. "I thought so too, but for her it's not that simple. Also, you have to see that we don't like each other."

But I like you both… Haru pouted and started down the hall. "If I can be friends with both of you, neither of you can be that bad. If you'd just give her a chance-"

"I don't give out infinite chances," Tokaku replied. "You're the only one who does that."

They passed by several school buildings on the way back to the dorms. The skyscraper in the center of the campus stood like a sentinel, watching everyone and everything that went on far below.

Haru wondered if the chairwoman found all of this amusing. She had been tracking the pink haired girl since her birth, though they had only met during the last few years.

She wished she could explain everything to Tokaku and Otoya. Having no one to confide in was already hard, and to have the two of them fighting on top of that… wasn't fun at all.

I shouldn't expect it to be fun, she thought, gazing up at the clouds and shielding her eyes from the burning sun. This is a game of death. All I can do is try my best.

She wanted to escape this without any of them dying. Even the ones she didn't like, she wanted them to live. If they could all be forgiven, and walk away from this place into a new life, it would be truly beautiful. That dream was all she had to believe in.

That was why she stopped Tokaku at the door to the dormitory building.

"What?" the blue haired girl asked impatiently, holding her phone. "I have to report to Kaiba."

Whenever Tokaku had to talk to Otoya, it put her on edge like this. "Instead of going straight to the dorms," she said, "I want to go somewhere beautiful. Do you know anywhere like that on campus?"

Tokaku folded her arms. "I'm not sure why you're asking now… how about the greenhouse?"

The greenhouse, though Haru was embarrassed to admit it, was a place where she thought of Otoya. Right now she wanted to focus on her other friend.

"The greenhouse is manmade," she replied. "Let's go somewhere natural."

"Jeez…isn't everything here manmade?" Tokaku slipped her phone back into her pocket. "All right, I can think of one place. Kaiba can wait."

Beaming, Haru held her arm. "Yay! Let's go!"

"I can't lead the way if you're grabbing onto me," Tokaku mumbled, shaking herself free. Haru thought she caught the tiniest bit of weakness in her voice.

After a few more minutes of walking, they had ended up in a large grass field with a baseball diamond. The grass was the deepest green Haru had ever seen, the kind that gets watered every day and graced with sunshine.

She picked something simple, Haru thought, rushing out into the field. That's just the way she is.

Laughing, she twirled like a top, making the grass flare up around her. On a day like this the sun set everything aflame.

Her roommate stood in the shade of the trees bordering the field. "Is this natural enough?"

"Yeah!" Haru stopped spinning for a second to face her. "When did you find this field? We never explored this side of the campus, did we?"

Tokaku leaned against one of the trees. "Remember when we tried out the elevator? I spotted it from one of the higher floors before they made us go back down. And yesterday I came here to work out with Namatame." Plunging a hand into her bangs, she pushed them back away from her forehead. "Why did you have to pick such a hot day to come out here? We could've come tomorrow."

Haru resumed her joyous dancing. "I'm feeling down, so I want to feel happy again! You can be kind of stifling, Tokaku-san."

"I'm not stifling," Tokaku muttered, pushing away from the tree and trudging toward Haru. "I'm realistic."

"More like pessimistic!" Throwing her arms to the side, Haru bent back to bask in the glowing heat. "Feel the sun on your skin! Don't you just love the sun?"

Cautiously, Tokaku glanced up toward the small ball of fire. She immediately jerked her head downward. "It hurts my eyes."

"Don't look at it directly," Haru giggled, moving the girl's hands away from her face. "Just feel it."

"All I feel is heat."

The sun brought life to so many things, yet it also brought death. The same with water, and with human beings. Although she had witnessed and felt plenty of terrible things, Haru had also experienced times of love and prosperity. She had come to realize that no matter how bad things got, life would move on, and good would come with time.

For someone like Tokaku, who's only known darkness, it must be difficult to feel the good side of things. Maybe even painful.

On the contrary, maybe Haru needed to pay more attention to the dark side of things. She couldn't keep on pretending that the rivalry between Tokaku and Otoya didn't exist. As confusing as it was, not everyone could get along in the end. That wasn't a bad thing in and of itself.

"What are you thinking about?" Tokaku asked, shoving her hands in her pockets. "You haven't said anything for a while. Am I really that stifling?"

Haru smiled over her shoulder. "Yes," she answered jokingly. "Yes, you really are."

Tokaku got that hurt look in her eyes again. "I was kidding!" Haru cried. "You're not stifling, Tokaku-san."

With a sigh, Tokaku turned away from her. "It's all right. I know I'm hard to talk to, and that I don't have passion for anything. I just don't really care."

"You do too care," Haru pouted and skipped into the shade where Tokaku was. "I saw that look you had a second ago. I hurt your feelings, right?" She chuckled. "Now you'll try to tell me that you don't have feelings."

"Nope, none to speak of."

"Liar." Taking Tokaku's hand, Haru pulled her further into the field. "If you don't have any feelings, you won't feel embarrassed dancing in this empty field."

"Wait, dancing?" Tokaku yanked her hand back. "I've never danced in my life."

She looked truly afraid. "Not a couple's dance, silly," Haru said. "Dance like I was a minute ago! Twirl like a dandelion seed on the wind!"

"I know that," Tokaku huffed, standing stiff as a board. "I meant I've never done any dancing, ever."

Haru gasped. "Not even in your room, by yourself?"

"Who dances in their room by themselves?"

"Everyone who's not repressed!" The pink haired girl hopped around from one foot to the other. "Normally I wouldn't do it out here, but I need a little fun, and I think you need it too."

So long as no one could see, they were free to be themselves. Yesterday she had wanted to see what Otoya would act like when no one else was around. Today she planned to do the same with Tokaku. Tokaku was more difficult, because even if no other person was watching her, she watched herself constantly. It would take a lot to make her let go.

Right now more than anything, Haru needed to prove to herself that everything would be all right. If she could make someone like Azuma Tokaku dance, then anything was possible.

"I don't need anything," Tokaku said bluntly. "I can take care of myself. The one who's endangering her health is you." She frowned. "Wait, I get it. I bet Takechi would've danced with you, right?"

"I think she would've come running and tackled me," Haru admitted, laughing a little. "You're not like her at all, and that's okay with me. Also, you don't have to worry about me all the time. I'm fine!"

"Are you kidding? You eat candy for dinner and hang out with murderers."

Haru's life involved a lot of running to burn off that candy. "I hang out with murderers who have sworn to protect my life. That's a little different."

"Oh yeah?" Tokaku slowly pulled a knife from her sleeve, revealing only about an inch of the blade. "How do you know I wouldn't give you a notice and kill you right now?"

Sunlight glinted off the metal. "Because you don't have a reason," Haru said softly. "Someone like you only does things for a reason. When you can't find one, you say the whole thing is stupid." Smiling, she stepped back and flung herself into another number. "That's why you won't dance!"

The other girl returned the knife to its place. "That is true," she grunted. "Are you saying you can give me a reason?"

"Nope." Haru grabbed her hands and pulled her around in a circle. "I'm saying that you'll find your own reason if you just do it!"

She whirled the girl around several times. Tokaku stared back at her without feeling, going through the motions like a machine.

"Haven't found one," Tokaku said, her eyes pointed at the center of the circle they were tracing in the grass. "This is making my head hurt."

Haru laughed and leaned back into the spin, admiring how Tokaku kept them stable with no difficulty. "Well, you know what they say! If at first you don't succeed…"

"What?"

"Spin faster!" Haru moved her feet more quickly, shouting happily as they hurtled around each other. Her heart sped up too, thumping against her ribcage as though it wanted to get out and join the fun. "Whee!"

After an initial gasp of surprise, Tokaku stayed silent. With every spin, Haru noticed her expression change from shocked to perturbed to accepting. The only ones present to bear witness to their dance were the trees and the skyscraper sentinel, ever attentively watching.

They continued to circle each other, letting all their thoughts fly out behind them. Then the most amazing thing happened; Tokaku began to look happy. Haru laughed and squeezed her hands tighter, wishing she didn't have to let go.

Spinning around like this, she thought, we're kind of like yin and yang. Interestingly, she wasn't sure which one of them would be which.

"Have you found your reason yet?" she yelled, out of breath.

Tokaku didn't answer. Her short blue hair flew to one side and her eyes glazed over as dizziness overtook them. Haru wondered what exactly was on her mind.

Her train of thought skidded to a halt when she stepped in a small rut. Her foot twisted out from under her.

"Jeez!" Tokaku cried, catching her roughly and almost falling over herself. It was no use, because Haru grabbed on to her dress shirt and pulled them both to the ground.

They lay there in the grass for a few seconds, shocked speechless. Haru was very aware that any passerby who saw them then would think they were sharing an intimate moment.

I should move off of her, Haru told herself, wishing her vocal cords would work. I really should move, right now.

She realized her elbow was pressed into the girl's diapraghm and pulled it away to let Tokaku breathe easier. Scooting back onto her knees, she helped her sit up.

"There was a rut," She explained, gripping the girl's arms. She could feel those knives in her sleeve. They made her feel nervous and safe at the same time. "Thanks for trying to catch me."

Now she really wished she had gotten off the girl. Their faces were far too close for comfort. Tokaku sat there frozen, or rather, partially defrosted, gazing blankly at Haru with beautiful blue eyes.

"Um…" Haru couldn't think of anything she wanted to say right then. If possible, she wanted to look into those eyes forever.

Her mouth moved, and Haru finally pulled back, with red cheeks that were no fault of the sun.

"Next time," Tokaku coughed, the corners of her mouth turning up. "I think I'll just let you fall down."

The grass did provide a nice cushion. It was nice and cool, especially after they had exerted themselves in the heat. Moving off her companion's stomach, Haru rolled onto her back. The tiny blades tickled her ears. "I think I could handle that."

Beside her, Tokaku sat with one knee pulled to her chest and the other leg extended. Either her roommate wasn't used to wearing skirts, or she was just that unconcerned with appearances.

"I think I might've found my reason," the girl said.

Haru smiled. "Really? What is it?"

Jumping to her feet with ease, Tokaku offered her a hand. "Not telling."

"I should've known," the pink haired girl sighed, accepting her sweaty hand with one of her own. "What are we going to do with you, Tokaku-san?"

They left for the dorms for real that time, each resolving to return to that field in the future. Haru felt much better than she had. Not only that, her hope had also been renewed.

I made Tokaku-san dance!

When she looked at her roommate, she could see a ghost of the smile that had spread across her face. Now that it had finally broken through the ice, Haru was sure she could bring it back.

She just knew that everything would be all right.

So, the way things are going, some of my characters are really deviating from the manga. Namely, Haru and Hitsugi, but especially the latter; I really can't imagine my Hitsugi saying some of her iconic lines in the manga. Is it all right with you guys that her character's different? Would love to here input on the characterization in general. Thanks!