Hello, everyone. I'll be on a trip with little computer access for around 2 weeks, so the update will likely be slow. Sorry. But I hope people continue to enjoy this story, even with my sluggish pace. You've all made me so much happier, so thank you.

Tokaku

"…san."

Her eyelids eased open slowly, sticking together as though she had cried herself to sleep. Above her was the round face of a pink haired girl, smiling sweetly. She almost seemed to glow under the white hospital light.

"Ichinose…" Tokaku coughed and winced. It felt like someone had taken a cheese grater to her throat.

The events of the first attempt slowly came back to her. The fire, being locked in that room, that unforgettable feeling of suffocation…

The fact that Takechi had saved their lives.

Tokaku didn't feel particularly thankful, mostly because she knew her nemesis had only done it for Ichinose. Still, there was no denying that she had rescued them from the jaws of death.

I'll probably have to thank her…

Above her, Ichinose pouted. Gauze had been taped to her cheek and forehead. "Don't look so grumpy. Just be happy that you're alive."

Ah, right. Taking a deep breath, Tokaku relished the sensation. It was as though she could feel every cell in her body absorbing that wonderful, cool oxygen.

She had a vague memory of wearing an oxygen mask, the plastic rubbing unpleasantly against the bridge of her nose. It was likely she'd woken up in delirium several times before this.

Ichinose leaned over her and touched the thin sheet over her hand. "Sorry, I didn't mean to be like that right when you just woke up. How do you feel?"

Her rosy eyes filled with concern. Tokaku gazed into them and felt calm.

"Fine," she said simply, too tired to lift her head from the pillow. "By the way, how come you're up and moving around while I'm still too sick to get out of bed?"

The pink haired girl rubbed her fluffy hair nervously. It was a fair bit shorter than before. "I didn't move in the fire as much as all of you, so I think I saved my lungs a lot of wear." Her lips paused half open before she continued quickly. "And they gave me the best treatment, since it would be a problem if I died…"

It would be very problematic if the target died here. Although, she supposed that would count as Kaminaga and Shutou winning. Their weapons would have killed her, after all.

She pushed those thoughts away. She didn't even want to think about Ichinose dying. It made her chest hurt more than it already did, and that was saying something.

Noticing her pained countenance, Ichinose lifted the covers ever so slightly and gently squeezed Tokaku's bandage-covered hand. "Take it easy. You need to recover."

"Then it's a good thing I recover faster than most people," the blue haired girl replied, managing a grin. The more she moved her face, the more she got the sense that there were bandages on it. "By the way, what do I look like right now?"

Ichinose seemed surprised by the question. "Well… your hair got burned, and they cut it to be even, so it's shorter now. And there's some bandaids on your face." She tilted her head. "I didn't think you cared about that kind of thing."

Tokaku shrugged. "Just curious," she grunted as pain lanced through her skin. "Feels like I just got pulled off a hot pot." Lifting her arm out from under the covers, she saw that the whole limb was swathed in gauze and bandages. "Grilled to perfection."

Shifting in her chair, Ichinose eyed her own tightly wrapped legs. "I still can't walk very well yet. I had Nio-chan help me in here."

Then was the first time Tokaku remembered the world beyond her and Ichinose. "Namatame," she said urgently, trying to sit up and groaning in pain. "What… ah…"

"Tokaku-san!" Ichinose moved her hand to the girl's chest and eased her back down. "Chitaru-san is just fine. Her burns aren't even as bad as ours. And Hitsugi-chan's been taking care of her."

The fear subsided like a a wave going back out to sea, leaving only the coolness of relief. Tokaku turned her head on its side and stared blankly at the IV stand beside the bed, bag half full of clear liquid. She put two and two together and glanced down at the inner side of her elbow. Sure enough, there was an IV drip surrounded by tape and oddly colored skin.

"What about… her?"

Ichinose bit her lip. "She's… all right. One of her ribs is broken in the back, and her lungs are weak. The doctor said she should wake up soon."

Tokaku frowned. "Not sure I'd call that 'all right'."

Swallowing, the pink haired girl rose with difficulty and sat on the edge of the hospital bed. "I know. I'm actually really scared, but don't tell anyone." She grinned, tears welling in her eyes. "Can't let them think I'm afraid of death, can I?"

Who would Tokaku tell? No one besides the two of them would care if Takechi lived or died. She didn't even like the asshole.

But she didn't say that. Rolling her head upward on her stiff neck, she laid her hand on top of Ichinose's, which still rested on the chest of her crisp white gown.

"I'm afraid of it too."

Her roommate watched her through misty eyes. The windows of her soul were guarded by her tears. She bowed her head.

"I've… lost… a lot of people. People I love." The words seemed desperate to escape her lips. "I know how quickly someone can be there… and then gone. What it's like to watch someone fight for their last breath. And the guilt that comes with survival. And…"

When she looked back up, there was a plea in her stained glass eyes. "You… seem like someone who won't die on me, Tokaku-san."

Before Tokaku could even think of answering, Ichinose blushed and wiped her eyes. "I'm sorry. I should be letting you rest." She placed her feet on the floor gingerly and slid out of bed, stiffening at the new weight on her roasted legs.

Tokaku looked on helplessly as the girl limped out the door. "There's a phone on your nightstand," she continued. "Press the button if you need anything, okay? "

She paused before leaving. "Please… don't read into what I said. I don't want you to pity me, or think about me differently, or anything. I just thought you should know."

Nodding, Tokaku rolled over in bed. "It's all right. I wouldn't think of you differently over something like that."

She said it as though Ichinose had revealed her favorite manga or something. The pink haired girl coughed.

"Thank you."

The door closed, and she was gone.

Tokaku exhaled and sank into the cheap bed with its paper-coated pillows. Everything hurt too much. It was bearable when she was thinking of other things, but sleeping would be impossible even for her.

She wasn't that numb.

Grumbling, she rolled back over and saw the button on the phone Ichinose had spoken of. It was a big red square, begging to be poked by an inquisitive finger. Maybe she could call to ask for a sleeping pill or something.

Normally she wouldn't have given into that kind of temptation. Her grandmother had taught her never to submit to the chemicals other people relied on. They would contaminate her pure blood.

That sounded even more like a load of shit now than it had when she was five. Tokaku jammed the button irritably and waited for the nurse to ask what she needed.

"Nee-san's up, I see?"

"Dammit Hashiri," she growled, her head aching just from that stupid voice. "I just want a sleeping pill."

"Yeah, yeah. Of course. I asked them to refer your very first call on this phone to me, since I have something important to tell you."

As annoying as Hashiri was, she did tend to be the carrier of relevant information. "Fine. Spit it out so I can get some shuteye."

The voice over the phone was that of a grinning imp. "Just thought you'd like to know that the game is being postponed until Haru's all healed up. It'd be unfair if someone got to attack the target while she's wounded, right?"

Thank God. Tokaku was actually glad Hashiri had decided to bother her. Maybe now she could relax enough to have a peaceful nap.

"Hmph." She grinned at no one in particular. "That was actually something I would've wanted to know, unlike plenty of the other things you blab about."

"Ooh, that smarts." Hashiri laughed. "I'm gonna tell Haru you said that."

The grin faded. "Don't. She's got enough to think about right now."

"I was just kidding. You think I haven't been paying any attention?"

So Hashiri was worried too. That made sense, her being Ichinose's old friend and all.

Something occurred to her. "Ichinose said she first met you at the hospital," Tokaku said slowly. "What was she there for?"

There was a long moment of silence. The squarish gray phone sat there emotionlessly, waiting for someone to speak life into it.

"She told you that?"

There was a marked change in the blonde girl's tone. For that one sentence, her voice lost it's distinctive bubbly quality that made it so unbearable. It was unnerving.

"She said she lost her family. I was… wondering if the two things could be related."

Never had she witnessed Hashiri so at a loss for words. Several more seconds passed before she answered.

"Ah, yep! They're related. But beyond that, I really shouldn't spill any details." Her bounciness had returned. "Haru should be the one to tell you those things, don'tcha think?"

"Yeah, yeah. I'm bored, is all." Tokaku stretched out as much as she could without making any more sounds of pain. "If you can't spill why she was there, how about you?"

"…you really wanna know?"

It was less a question and more of a warning. Tokaku suddenly felt exceedingly uncomfortable. "Well…"

"Cuz I'm not telling you that either."

The blue haired girl grimaced while Hashiri's laughs played over the speaker phone accompanied by extra static.

The laughter died down. "My history really isn't something you need to worry about, nee-san."

Click. The phone beeped a few times and fell silent like the dumb machine it was. Tokaku stared up at the ceiling and wondered why she'd felt the compulsion to ask all those questions.

There was a knock at the door, and she gasped. "Come in."

A pretty nurse walked in carrying a tray. "You requested a sleeping pill, Azuma-san?"

She helped Tokaku sit up and handed her a plastic cup of water from the tray. The little pill lay before her, an innocent thing that would send her swiftly into a dreamless sleep.

"Thanks," Tokaku said, picking up the pill. "I don't need anything else."

"All right. I'll be back later to refill the IV bag. By tomorrow you should be able to eat again."

As soon as the nurse left, Tokaku grasped each side of the pill between her thumb and forefinger and broke it in half along its center groove. A bit of white powder floated down into the cup.

She plunked one half into the water and let it dissolve. The other was slipped into her pocket, where it would remain in the event that she needed it. Hey, this was a killing game. A sleeping pill could be very useful in the future. She was already tired, so she doubted she'd need the whole thing.

Taking the flimsy cup into her trembling hands, she downed it in a heatbeat. She hadn't noticed her thirst before. Probably because of how awful the liquid felt sliding down her raw throat.

Exhaling, she closed her eyes and waited.

You… seem like someone who won't die on me, Tokaku-san.

Tokaku wondered if Takechi really would die. A few days ago, she might have wished for it. Now she was truly divided. If someone she hated had sacrificed her life to save her, then…

No. Takechi was going to live. She was sure of it.

It didn't feel like another lie. Somehow, she just knew.

She knew things couldn't be that easy.

The pill worked its magic, and she was soon fast asleep.

Hitsugi

Hitsugi had been so close to losing Chitaru. If not for Hanabusa, everyone in that basement would've died. The shock of what might have been had been taking a toll on her during the aftermath of the fire. She suspected the others were going through something similar.

Even harder was being forced to come to terms with her own helplessness. She had done nothing but stare terrified into that flaming pit, hugging her bear and praying for a miracle. As the ace of Datura, weakness wasn't a feeling she often had to deal with, and it left a bitter taste in her mouth.

I couldn't even join the fight, she thought, hooking her feet around the legs of her cheap plastic chair. I'm not tall or strong. I'm an assassin, not a warrior.

The others were different from her. Rather than relying on sneaky tactics or manipulation, they fought hard up front for what they wanted. That was the "good" way of fighting, after all. That was the difference between a criminal and a vigilante.

If Datura had never taken her in, she might be a very different person. Maybe someone others could look up to. Hell, she might even have been tall.

Someone like Chitaru.

A subtle noise brought her back to the present moment, where the redhead was stirring in her hospital bed. Hitsugi watched intently as she opened her eyes, her long lashes fluttering like black butterfly wings.

She smiled. "Welcome back, Chitaru-san."

Chitaru turned her head slowly. "Kirigaya? Ow." Her voice was like gravel. She winced and let her head rest at a three quarter turn. "Everything hurts."

Hitsugi could vividly recall sitting beside her stretcher in the ambulance. The doctors hadn't paid her any mind, so she'd sat there amidst the equipment watching the redhead breathe shakily into an oxygen mask, the sleeves and pant legs of her uniform nearly burned off. Her skin had looked something like the innards of a pomegranate.

"I'm not surprised," the tiny girl answered, swallowing. "There's a phone on the nightstand, I can call for some painkillers."

"No thank you." Chitaru began to shake her head, but quickly thought better of it. "The pain helps me focus. It's not so bad if I don't move."

"Focus? On what?"

Her roommate sighed. "On the fact that I'm alive. That we're all still alive." She stared blankly up at the ceiling as though she expected to float through it at any moment. "I can hardly believe it."

Hitsugi giggled. "What, can't you trust me?" She knew how ironic of a thing that was to say. "I told you when you woke up the first time. You asked me if you were dead then, too."

"Did I?" Chitaru glanced over at her. "I don't remember."

"You did. You started asking questions about where you were, where everyone else was, et cetera." She squeezed the stomach of her pink stuffed bear. "You also asked me if I was an angel."

"Really…" The redhead yawned and closed her eyes. She looked very peaceful, tucked under the thin hospital sheets. "I suppose that's how I knew the others were alive. I remembered that much, at least." She drummed her fingers against the mattress, unable to move anything else. "Speaking of which, how's Azuma?"

While Hitsugi didn't have much of a connection to the cold, blue haired girl, she had expected Chitaru would be concerned for her friend. "I spoke with Ichinose-san a few minutes ago," she answered. "She said Azuma-san is doing about as well as you are."

"And Kenmochi-san?"

That question caught the tiny girl off guard. "I… didn't check."

"Oh." Chitaru looked in the direction of the phone, clearly desperate to move. "I suppose I'll call and ask later."

Hitsugi decided to write off that bit of undue concern as Chitaru's general kindness. "Everyone should have woken up by now. Except for Takechi."

"Hm." Chitaru frowned, not happy but not quite sad either. More perturbed than anything. It was an understandable reaction to the events of the past few days.

She stopped her nervous drumming. "How did they get us out of the fire?"

Not for a second did Hitsugi consider telling her the truth on that one. For one, she owed Hanabusa for saving Chitaru. Secondly, if word somehow got around that Hanabusa was some… superhuman, spiderwoman thing, the tiny girl would be subject to her wrath. That was the kind of thing one kept a secret for as long as possible, after all.

She folded her arms. "Someone saw the fire and alerted the fire department. I think it was one of the regular students, actually."

"Then we owe that person quite a bit," Chitaru chuckled. "To think that some complete stranger ended up saving us all…"

Her quiet laughter died down into thoughtful silence. She watched the ceiling as though something were happening up there. "You know, I can see fire on the ceiling right now. I can still feel the heat."

Nodding, Hitsugi scooted her chair closer to the edge of the bed. "It must have been so awful." She had only seen it from the top, but it had been like standing on the edge of hell.

"It was. The pain never ends when you're burning. I can't imagine what it was like for Kenmochi and the others who weren't trapped in that room."

Hitsugi was a relative stranger to physical pain. She prided herself on avoiding those kinds of situations. "I'm sorry."

"Don't be. There was nothing you could have done."

Exactly the problem. "I wish I could have done something. I feel guilty for just standing there and watching-" She noticed her slip-up a second too late.

Chitaru blinked. "You were there?"

Fabulous. Now even Hitsugi couldn't hide what she wanted to anymore.

The tiny girl averted her eyes. "…yes. I ran after you. I was worried about you."

It was the first time she'd been caught out on a lie. A lie by omission, granted, but still a lie. And strangely, that didn't bother her.

Probably because of the calm smile lighting up Chitaru's gauze covered face.

"That alone means everything to me."

Hitugi blushed. "It shouldn't. Once I actually got there, I never tried to help. It's like you said. There was nothing I could do."

"I wouldn't have wanted you to… ah!"

The blanket shifted as the redhead strained to move her arm. A mass of bandages peeked out from under the covers, and Hitsugi didn't want to think about what was beneath them.

"What are you doing?" Hitsugi put a hand on her arm. "You need to keep still, or the burns won't heal."

"I…" Chitaru coughed and let out a moan of pain. "…was trying to hold your hand."

Hitsugi's breath caught in her throat. "I'm fine. You shouldn't push yourself."

"I'm not!"

Chitaru's voice snagged on whatever was stuck in her windpipe, and she coughed a few more times. Hitsugi felt terrible.

Her roommate struggled against her charred flesh and fading voice. "I want… I need it. Please."

She couldn't bear to watch Chitaru hurt herself any longer. She stood quickly and pushed the chair away, ignoring its squeaks of protest. The pink bear fell to the floor.

Carefully, she guided the young woman's arm back onto the bed. "In that case, let me do something for you this time around," she whispered into her ear. Her warm breath made roses bloom on Chitaru's already pink cheeks.

Hitsugi draped her arms around her roommate's slender neck. Then, ever so gently, she pulled Chitaru's tired head into her chest.

Sighing, Chitaru lay against her, one side of her face buried in the girl's gray dress. Hitsugi's small fingers combed through her thick red hair.

"I'm here for you right now," Hitsugi murmured, happy Chitaru couldn't see how embarrassed she was. "Everything is all right, Chitaru-san. You can rest."

Hurt and confusion mingled on Chitaru's injured face. She licked her lips slowly and relaxed into the embrace, pushing her nose into the soft fabric.

"I wanted you to be there."

The redhead shuddered as tears dripped out her tightly shut eyes and gathered on her lashes like dew. "When I thought I was going to die, I wished you were there with me." She bit her lip. "Even though it would have killed you too."

Hitsugi felt her heart begin to race. "You were feeling helpless and alone, so you wanted a friend there with you," she said quietly, laying her cheek on her soft mane. "That's the most human thing a person can want."

"I just…" Chitaru clenched her fist. "I just wanted… to be able to say goodbye no matter what, because… I didn't get to say it to them…"

Oh.. her parents. Her mentor's daughter.

Normally Hitsugi wasn't one for empathy. Now a tidal wave of emotion had crashed into her, and she had trouble keeping her footing. "I'm sorry," she whispered, holding her tighter. "I'm so sorry."

Hitsugi's parents had been killed when she was a baby. Datura had been seeking out various rogue assassins and inducting them into the organization. Those who refused- Hitsugi's mother and father, to name a few- had been dealt with accordingly. But because Hitsugi had the blood of two killers in her, she had been spared and raised as a loyal member of the organization.

At least, that was what they told her. They had no reason to lie about it, seeing as their goal had been to teach her what happened to those unfortunate few who stood against Datura. Hitsugi felt no remorse, since she had never known her parents, or any of the others who had died around her. In that sense, she had never "lost" anyone. Chitaru's case was different.

Within a few minutes the crying lessened, and Chitaru's shaking shoulders settled into a state of calm. Hitsugi twisted around and plucked a tissue from a box on the nightstand. "Close your eyes for a second."

"Thank you," the redhead answered as her eyes and cheeks were dabbed dry.

When she had finished, Hitsugi found herself unable to look away from her roommate's red face. If she hadn't known better, she might have leaned in a little closer, and…

"There was a fire then, too."

Chitaru opened her glossy eyes, and Hitsugi couldn't breathe. "The robbers set our old house on fire, and my parents burned to death. I really thought I would meet their fate. And now… it feels anticlimactic. Does that make any sense?"

Nodding dumbly, Hitsugi slid her arms out from around the young woman's shoulders. The bandages bulged a bit under her hospital gown, creating an odd texture as her hands ran over her shoulders and down to her collarbone. Even through all of that fabric, she felt distinctly warm and soft.

"You're very alive," she said resolutely, retracting her hand with more than a little reluctance. "And you have nothing to be ashamed of."

Not like me.

Since Chitaru was mostly sitting up now, Hitsugi adjusted her pillow accordingly. The redhead gave her a thankful smile and leaned into its softness.

"It amazes me," she said, now at perfect eye level with the blue-haired girl. "How much you've come to mean to me in so little time. I don't really understand it."

Those words sent a pang through Hitsugi's heart. "Neither do I. I understand why, but not how." The corners of her lips twitched upward. "You're such a wonderful person, Chitaru-san."

She wanted so much to break eye contact, to run away from the emotions running amok within her. And yet she couldn't.

Her most important person smiled back like the sun, radiating warmth. "So are you… Hitsugi."

She seemed surprised at her own words, which made Hitsugi laugh even in the midst of her embarrassment. Would she have to drop the honorifics now too? It just wouldn't sound right.

"Sorry," Chitaru said nervously, her finger twitching. "Do you mind?"

Hitsugi stilled the young woman's hand. "Not at all. I'm happy."

Relief spread throughout the redhead's features. "That's good." She paused for a moment before coughing a few times. She still sounded awful.

"Here," Hitsugi offered, stooping down to pick up her teddy and heading for the door. "I'll get you something to eat and drink. And some painkillers too, while I'm at it."

Chitaru was about to protest, but an over-the-shoulder glance from Hitsugi shut her up. Instead she grinned. "Thank you."

As soon as she was alone in the hallway, Hitsugi inhaled and exhaled deeply. Calm down, she thought as she made her way to the cafeteria. Numerous nurses passed her on the way, clad in white and blue uniforms and stethescopes. Did every one of them really need a stethoscope?

One of them opened a door right in front of her. She leapt out of the way and was about to say "Watch it!" when she caught a glimpse of the room's occupant.

It was Takechi, lying motionless in bed with an oxygen mask secured to her face.

The nurse shut the door behind her, and Hitsugi stood out in the hallway.

Shaking her head, she moved on to complete her mission. The cafeteria wasn't crowded at this time of day, so she quickly picked up some soup and watery tea. The lady running the kitchen asked how the students were doing, to which Hitsugi gave a noncommittal answer before she hurried back toward Chitaru's room.

And on her way back, of course she had to pass Takechi's room again.

Something was nagging at her. Groaning inwardly, she checked to make sure the coast was clear before slipping into the room.

Takechi looked similar to how everyone else had a day or so ago. She was hooked up to an IV and wrapped up tight like a bandage burrito. The only wound that hadn't been covered was her split lip, which had formed a nasty scab.

Without those wild turquoise eyes and high-pitched cackle, she was more like a shell than a person.

Hitsugi walked up to her bedside, arms folded. "C'mon. I know you're faking it."

No answer. She supposed her first instinct as a liar was to assume that others were lying as well.

She decided to continue talking for no particular reason. "You ran in headfirst to protect the target, and look where it got you. You're nothing but a dumbass."

The raven haired girl lay still as death. Only the various machines hooked into her revealed the force of life that sustained her. She was tough, Hitsugi had to admit.

"I could shoot you right now, y'know."

Unzipping the back of her bear, she pulled out her insidious little gun. Liquid sloshed back and forth in the vial as she placed its tip to the only bare skin she could find, which was under Takechi's arm. It was pink and scarred, like Chitaru's.

"It'd eliminate some competition," she said softly. "I just know you're gonna be a real pain in my ass down the road."

That lifeless, helpless face lay below her, its calmness belying the inner struggle happening beneath. The struggle for life.

Am I a criminal?

Her finger tightened around the trigger… and relaxed.

She lowered her arm, and the gun slid off Takechi's shoulder. It took everything she had to choke down her fear, to put the gun away, to step back.

On the way out the door, she paused and grinned irritably.

"You owe me for this."

Had she waited another moment to leave, she might have seen Takechi's lips curl upward beneath the oxygen mask.

"Thanks, pipsqueak."

Nio

Nio wasn't often surprised by things. She knew how people's minds worked, and she used that knowledge to steer conversations and make sure she was never caught off guard. More importantly, she always had something to say. That was what people hated most about her.

So naturally, being shocked speechless, in front of Tokaku of all people, made her unhappy. Not that she had been that happy to begin with.

It wasn't that much of a stretch, she thought, sauntering down the hall without her usual bounce. If the two of them are really that close, it makes sense Haru would tell her about that.

Maybe it wasn't the fact that Haru had told her, but the subject itself that made her so uncomfortable. No one save for the chairwoman knew the full extent of what Nio had gone through. Those were stories she kept stashed away in the attic of her mind, where they looked down on her present life and snickered.

And she's an Azuma.

Nio wasn't one of those people who tried to run away from her past. The past had sculpted her with its rough hands and sharp tools. In had tried to beat her flat countless times, only to see her rise up in defiance of her own worthlessness. No, she had no issues with her past.

But it was something she needed to carry by herself. It was the one thing in the world that belonged to her alone.

Her tablet beeped. Glad to have a distraction from her own thoughts, she unlocked it and tapped the green answer button. The chairwoman's face appeared on the screen.

"Good afternoon, Nio-san."

Nio saluted, her blonde hair bouncing around her shoulders. "Good afternoon, chairwoman!"

The chairwoman made her "you're not fooling anyone" face, and Nio sighed.

"It was something silly," she said, waving her hand. "I'll be fine in a minute, so give me something else to think about, okay?"

Smiling, the chairwoman leaned back in her leather big-shot chair. "Either you tell me, or I listen to the phone call myself."

Of course, all the phones were tapped. As someone who spent her days observing others, Nio tended to forget that she was being observed too.

"Apparently, Haru told nee-san that she and I met at the hospital," she said matter-of-factly. "And nee-san asked why I was there."

"Really?" the chairwoman raised her eyebrows. "I didn't think of Azuma as the curious type."

Nio grinned. "She started off asking why Haru was there, and when I wouldn't tell her, that's when she asked about me."

"Ah, I see." Chuckling, the chairwoman glanced up for a moment at what Nio assumed was another of her many surveillance screens. "Azuma certainly has gotten herself into a predicament, hasn't she?"

"You got that right." Nio leaned against the spotless wall of the corridor. "But I guess if she doesn't have a wish, she doesn't have much reason to kill the target. There's not even any fame involved."

The brunette nodded. "Part of me wonders why Kaiba-sensei sent her here in the first place. I suppose it must be something psychological, since he is her counselor."

"She got shipped off by her counselor?" Nio snorted. "I thought he must be her trainer, or her granddad or something."

She put her hand over her mouth to hide her shark teeth. "Seriously though, that's just great. In order to treat someone with 'zero personality disorder', just stick her in a class of insane, traumatized killers. That oughta stimulate emotional growth."

"Hm hm." The woman eyed her curiously. "You and Haru seem closer as of late. I was worried your friendship had been lost during your separation."

It nearly had been. "Nope, we salvaged it." Nio made a V for victory. "Tokaku and Otoya were being stupid, and they left me an opening to talk with her again."

"Those two…" the chairwoman sighed and typed something into her own keyboard. "I expected them to be a handful, but I thought there would be a bit more violence and a bit less drama."

"You put thirteen teenage girls in the same class and asked them to compete with each other," Nio pointed out with a cat smile. "What else was there to expect?"

The chairwoman fell silent. Their conversation settled for a moment, like sand in a glass of water.

After a few seconds, Nio's cat smile became a nervous grin. "Did I say something bad?"

"No. You included yourself, is all."

"Huh?"

"You said thirteen girls. Normally you keep yourself separate from them."

Nio shrugged. "I may be the arbitrator, but I'm still technically a student."

"Yes, that is true," the brunette answered, clicking on something. "A failing student, as it turns out."

Nio's eyes widened. "That's what you've been doing? Checking my grades?"

"As you've made clear to me, you are a student. Therefore, I'll treat you as such." Grinning, the chairwoman's eyes darted left and right. "My, it appears you've done no homework since the beginning of the year. I'm afraid you may not graduate, at this rate."

Shoulders sagging, Nio waited for the chairwoman to make her feel ashamed in the way only she could.

"Of course, I have the authority to make a few adjustments. And you do have a 5 in the subject 'Black Class Arbitrator', so I'll let it pass."

Nio let out a sigh of relief. "You had me worried for a second there. Even though I know you don't care about that sort of thing."

"Grades are nothing but appearances," the chairwoman answered with a smile. "If you're excelling at the things you need to be, you shouldn't be held back by a transcript."

The things Nio needed to be good at were certainly different from most people. She tapped her foot. "Thanks a bunch. Now, why did you call me in the first place?" They always went off on tangents before getting to the actual point. Nio suspected her own verbosity had been learned from the chairwoman.

"Oh, right. I needed you to check on Kenmochi-san for me. She woke up a while ago, and no one has visited her."

"No surprise there," Nio answered, glancing around the hall for Kenmochi's room. "We shipped off her only friends. I feel kinda bad for her."

"Well, it made no sense to keep them here if we didn't need to," the chairwoman replied in her blunt, brutally logical fashion. "Anyhow, I'd like you to explain the situation to her."

"Great!" Nio skipped up to the nerd's door. "Wish me luck, then."

The chairwoman waved, and Nio tapped the call end button. Smoothing her hair and straightening her red bow, she twisted the knob.

"Kenmochi-san? It's Nio."

The brunette was sitting upright in her bed, her normally braided hair resting atop her chest and shoulders in fluffy curls. In her lap sat an old computer, on which she was furiously typing. She ignored Nio's entrance.

Tiptoeing up to the bed, the blonde peered down at the computer screen. It displayed the homepage for the organization NPO.

"Kaminaga told you, huh?"

Kenmochi looked up irritably. Her eyes were predictably bloodshot, and her face was a mess of bandaids. "Could you please just leave me alone?"

Nio backed a way a little and secretly marveled at Kenmochi's typing speed. "An assassins' guild disguised as an orphanage. Now that's pretty sick."

Shutting the laptop, Kenmochi turned and glared at her head on. "Yes, it is! Y'know what else is sick? You people keeping me locked up here and refusing to tell me where you sent my friends!"

Holding up her hands, Nio appealed to her mercy despite her bedridden state. "Hey, that wasn't my decision. I just keep things organized, I don't make the rules."

"Then what are you doing on that damn tablet all the time?"

Spying on you, Nio was itching to say. "Work," she answered simply. "I think you have more pressing matters to deal with than my computer time."

"Hmm." Kenmochi scowled and returned to her searches. "Like what?"

"You know you're still in the class, right?"

The brunette's fingers stopped abruptly on several keys, creating a mess of nonsense in the search bar.

"What did you say?"

Here came the fun part. "You're still in the class. You haven't been expelled."

"What the hell!" Kenmochi cried, about to shove her computer off the bed before catching herself. "I was part of that attempt! I helped build the stuff, I lead her down there!"

"Did you ever hand in a notice?"

"Well, no, but-!"

"Did you ever attack the target?"

"But I helped make the bombs!" Shiena insisted, almost shaking with anger. "If my plan had worked, I would've pulled the notice and shot her!"

"Irrelevant," Nio answered for her, tapping her foot on the linoleum floor. "If somebody wins, do we track down the chump who manufactured her weapon and give him the win too?"

Bending down, she spoke quietly. "If I were in charge, I'd have you out of here like that. But I'm not, so there you have it."

Kenmochi slumped over in bed. All of her previous enthusiasm and rage had leaked out, leaving her empty for the time being. Nio was familiar with that feeling.

"Don't feel too bad," the blonde added, standing back up to her full height, which wasn't much. "Now you have a chance to avenge them. Your wish still counts for all three of you, right?"

Shaking her head, Kenmochi buried her face in her cloth covered hands. "I can't do it by myself," she whimpered. "I almost died this time! How could I ever…"

Folding her arms, Nio looked down on her. "So you're afraid."

"I'm fucking terrified!" Shiena blurted out, cringing as she tried to throw her arms out and jerked to a stop. "I never want to go through that again. If we couldn't do it together, I could never do it alone!"

"All right, all right." Nio patted her shoulder. "If you're really that scared, go ahead and drop out. Sometimes running away is the smart thing to do."

The brunette stiffened at the phrase "running away". Nio could tell her brain was hurting, so she decided to make it ache a little more.

"Although, Takechi never gave up."

Kenmochi's eyes widened.

"She had a broken rib, but she still kicked your ass." Nio grinned, baring her teeth. "And how much do you wanna bet that the second she's outta that bed, she'll go right back to what she was doing?"

"You're telling me to have the same kind of drive as a neurotic psychopath?"

"But you want to beat her, don't you?"

That shut Kenmochi up again. Nio took a second to enjoy the power she currently held before continuing.

"You hate her so much because she shows you your own weakness. Not only that, the project onto her your hatred for everyone who's ever bullied you."

"Shut up," Kenmochi hissed, blinking to clear out the shameful tears forming in her eyes. "How the hell do you know so much?"

Skipping to the end of the bed, Nio grinned. "It's my job to know. Or rather, to observe and draw conclusions." She leaned on the hollow metal bedpost. "Maybe I would be a little nicer to you if you hadn't denied us that opportunity."

Kenmochi raised her voice, coughing with the strain. "You're mad because I screwed with your stupid cameras? That's why you're doing this?"

"Now now, I'm just making a small point here. The rules are absolute, how I feel doesn't enter into it." Nio put her finger to her chin and paced back and forth. "Though, it was annoying to say the least. Those cameras are some state of the art tech, and I sure don't know how to fix them. We had to get the electrical guy to take them out, fix them somewhere else, and install them in the middle of the night. Did you know he almost fell off his ladder in the dark? He could've broken his back or something. We almost lost our electritian, and good ones are hard to find these days!"

Noticing that Kenmochi's brown eyes had glazed over, she decided to wrap things up. It was no fun messing with someone who was about to fall asleep. She felt pity for this girl, somewhere in the cockles of her shrunken heart.

"That's about it," she concluded, shrugging and bouncing over to the door. "It's your choice to make, I guess. I won't blame you if you chicken out." She smiled like a devil. "Mostly because I've made it impossible."

Kenmochi's bowed head was an admission of defeat. Pleased with her work, Nio flung open the door with a flourish and stepped out into the hall.

"Myojou's been missing some very important files," she said, twisting her neck so her red eyes were just visible behind her blonde hair. "You wouldn't happen to know about that, would you?"

Realization set in as the brunette's jaw dropped.

"Next time you try to hack a multi-million dollar organization," Nio said, her back to the girl, "be aware of the consequences."

She didn't wait to see Kenmochi's reaction before shutting the door.

I hope you liked this chapter, and I'll see you next time.