Self-beta so if anyone finds an error, please do tell me about it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Guilty Crown or any of it's characters and story plot/arcs. What i do own is my ideas if any, that are incorporated into the fic and the few changes that I've made.

I'm starting to think that this story isn't interesting anymore considering the lack of comments/reviews concerning how bad/good a chapter is despite the amount of people actually viewing the chapter. Or perhaps were the changes not to your liking? If so, do comment and tell me about it rather than keep silent... But just to have a sense of accomplishment, I'll post the rest of the chapters just for the sake of it...

Enjoy~ R&R~

Guilty Crown - Sins of an Emperor

Phase 17: Confession

Previously on Guilty Crown – Sins of an Emperor

Quickly realizing the truth in my statement, we all made our way back to the vehicle only to be surprised to see another vehicle right next to it… the door opened and I tensed up before my eyes widened once more as I shouted, seeing the person who stepped out of the car.

"DARYL?!"

P.O.V: Shu

"What're you doing here?" I pointed Inori's Void right at him, ready to lop of his head at any given moment.

Daryl seemed to eye the sword with caution, not that I could blame him as he had been on the receiving end of this sword for god knows how many times.

He looked at me and placed his hands in placating gesture as he said, "Hey… I'm not here to cause any trouble; I'm just here because of-"

"Shu wait!" I snapped to the side and was surprised to see Tsugumi coming out of the same car that Daryl had come out of.

"Tsugumi?" Ayase also seemed to be surprised to see her here.

I quickly returned my attention to Daryl still keeping Inori's Void pointing at him even as Tsugumi went over to stand next to him, though I was extremely curious of why on earth was Tsugumi with Daryl Yan of all people and I was sure that Ayase beside me was feeling the same way… though I'm also sure the rest of our group was watching our interaction with wonderment and surprise.

Ayase began talking, " Tsugumi… You do who you're standing next to right? He's Daryl Yan, remember? He's been on the opposite side, fighting against us since the beginning."

I looked around and noticed that everyone was really tired and turned back to Tsugumi who was actually holding hands with Daryl… and was that a smile on his face.

I shook my head and let out a sigh as I looked at the both of them. "We don't have time for this right now, let's head back and ensure these guys are able to rest from what they just experienced… Then we'll talk about this, in the meantime… If you do anything suspicious, I won't hesitate and knock you out" I gave him a glare showing I was serious and he simply nodded before heading back into the car and we followed suit.

After everyone had gone in, we headed back to school…

Arriving there, I asked Nanba and Sudou to escort Souta's group to the infirmary which I had already asked Hare head for knowing that her Void would be able to help out most.

Though I did promise Souta and his group that we were going to have a talk after they had gotten cleaned up and gotten their check up.

Giving a resigned nod, Sudou and Nanba saluted playfully before beginning to escort them.

With that, our group headed for the Student Council Room and on our way there, I couldn't help but notice Tsugumi fussing over Daryl while he would argue that he didn't need to be told what to do, only to get whacked and be told to appreciate advice given.

Despite the argument they seemed to be having, it was all playful as they both had smiles on their faces that even I couldn't help but smile though it turned to a frown when I remembered what exactly Daryl did to make me dislike him.

This guy had murdered a woman in cold blood in front of her child… just because she touched him… I closed my eyes for a moment as my mind replayed that scene that I watched horrified…

Still… I wonder where did Tsugumi meet up with Daryl… and what was the relationship between both of them…

We eventually reached the Student Council Room and Yahiro was still there by the table looking at a status report it seems.

"Yo, Yahiro… How's it going?"

He just deadpanned, "What'd you think? It's been hectic here ever since, students chattering here and there about why our president had gone off with the military vehicle along with other students."

I laughed sheepishly as I rubbed the back of my head, Yahiro then noticed our new guest as he addressed Daryl, "And who are you?"

That greeting seemed to infuriate Daryl as he growled out, "What was that?"

Yahiro didn't seem to take that well as he stood up and made his way over to Daryl and smirked before saying, " I'm sorry, I hadn't realized you were deaf, I asked who are you."

Daryl wasn't one to back down as he shouted, "My name is Daryl Yan, a lieute-mfff"

Tsugumi covered his mouth before he could shout out something that would cause panic over the whole school.

"Calm down will you!"

Surprisingly that was what he did and with that Tsugumi faced Yahiro and said, "What the heck was that? I'm sure Daryl didn't do anything to you, so why are you so angry at him?"

I went over to stand beside Yahiro and asked the same thing, He just seemed to realized he indeed had been rude as he chuckled weakly before turning back to face Daryl and bowing slightly apologizing and stating that he just was stressed out.

With that episode done, we made our way to the table and sat down, Ayase sitting beside me, Daryl sitting beside Tsugumi, Arisa sitting over on the other end facing Yahiro and Kanon who had just come in as we began sitting.

After settling down, I addressed Daryl and Tsugumi, "So, would you mind sharing to everyone here, on how exactly did you two meet?"

Tsugumi laughed while Daryl seemed to blush in embarrassment.

"I met him on the day of our school's festival, I was bringing back everyone's costumes from a store when I bumped right into Daryl here…"

Daryl continued the tale with a playful annoyance, "And this runt here proceeded to give me all the load she was carrying all too suddenly nearly causing me to topple over."

Tsugumi pouted before sticking out her tongue at Daryl as she said, "It's not my fault that you're so weak."

Daryl placed his hand on top of Tsugumi's head and ruffled her hair as he retorted, "Well if you didn't give me all those things at once, I would've had an easier time and yet all I got was an apple?"

Tsugumi stood up and placed her hands on her hip as she said, "Hey! Didn't I tell you to just accept when someone does something good for you!

Daryl seemed to cower when Tsugumi was close to bursting and looked down as he mumbled out, "Yeah… Sorry about that."

Tsugumi then grinned as she too ruffled his hair as he struggled to get away. We were all laughing at their antics and as they mentioned, ever since then, they had been meeting up in secret spending time together…

The sincerity coupled with the look in his eyes, I couldn't help but feel that Daryl had changed… However I still had to ask… if only to ease my mind.

"Daryl, what exactly are your motives? Are you here to help us or are you here to trick us into trusting you and trick us in the end?"

We were all silent as we awaited Daryl's answer as I held onto Ayase's hand while Kanon and Yahiro looked on confused at what we were talking about.

Daryl seemed to hesitate… causing me to be even more suspicious but he then turned to look at Tsugumi who gave him a smile and a nod which brought a smile to his face… Wow… I really didn't think Daryl could smile that peacefully…

He then turned back to face all of us as he said, " I decided to desert the GHQ after finding out some information that would help, Tsugumi had lectured me and told me of the wrong things I was doing… I-I regret what I've done… I know that nothing I do could possibly bring back those I've killed in vain but at least with this, I can at least know that I've done something good with my life…"

While Yahiro and Kanon seemed surprised at his confession of murder, his eyes showed that he was telling no lies and I relaxed before giving Daryl a smile and said.

"I see, well I guess… I'll trust you for now, since Tsugumi is obviously vouching for you." I paused as Tsugumi nodded instantly without hesitating and then I continued as I held out a hand, "So for now, comrades?"

a glance to my side allowed me to see Ayase smiling at Tsugumi's obvious happiness, before I looked ahead and saw that Daryl had a slight stunned look before giving me a thankful smile and said, " Comrades…Though, don't expect me to listen to your orders."

When Tsugumi smacked him playfully on the arm saying, "Even if you ignore Shu's orders, I'll be sure to keep you in line and make sure you follow my orders instead"

To her surprise, Daryl smiled and said, " Sure, I'll follow only your orders then, runt" before leaning down and giving her a peck on the cheek causing Tsugumi to blush and smile bashfully when she wanted to retort,

Then, Ayase leaned towards me and whisper in my ear, "Don't you think they look cute together?" gesturing to the smiling couple in front of us.

I smiled as I whispered back, "I think we look even better, don't you?" ending with me blowing on her ear causing her to jump slightly, blushing. I chuckled and got a smack on my arm for it which I simply responded by bringing her into a hug as I softly said.

"I'm glad, you're legs are doing fine now."

"Shu…" and we leaned towards each other before hearing a cough and I froze… crap I can't believe I forgot we weren't alone!

We both turned and blushed as we saw the whole room smirking at our obvious embarrassment.

"Aya-Nee, I think you should wait until you two are alone before giving Shu kiss... and maybe even…" The sly grin on Tsugumi's face easily showed what she meant and we both blushed even further and when we glanced at each other, we quickly turned the other way.

A fake cough from our side diverted our attention and when we turned to face him, Yahiro began.

"So, would anyone mind explaining what exactly is going on?"

I looked around and saw that it wasn't only I that was feeling uncomfortable with answering that question…

I gripped Ayase's hand a little more firmly as I let out a sigh before beginning…

"Alright, Yahiro… I'll explain. First off, do you remember what I said in the gymnasium? Back then when the rumor about the Undertakers was being spread?" Daryl quirked a brow showing that he did not know about that event.

Yahiro seemed to think about it for a moment before coming into a realization, "You mean the time when you mentioned you were one of them and then show them that the rumor was simply a lie?"

"Exactly, me being part of the Undertakers was true, Daryl and the Undertakers have always been against each other."

Letting that fact sink in, I continued…" And apparently, Daryl deserted GHQ and the Undertakers are all broken up with all our other members all scattered around…."

"I see…"

And with that, I explained what we did, what we prevented, what we did… though I did exclude things like the Ooshima mission and the Cruiser mission… After that, Daryl then informed us of the information and it was really an important one…

When the bell rang, Yahiro informed that it was time to introduce the Void ranking system and with that we made our way to the Gymnasium after asking Tsugumi to inform the rest of the student body about the assembly.

Scene Change: In Shu's room.

Sigh..." That was hectic wasn't it?" I asked Ayase who was currently in my arms as we sat on my bed.

All I got in return was a smile as Ayase said, "Well, it all turned out okay didn't it?"

I replied, "I guess, you're right…" as I thought about what had happened during the assembly…

All the students were outraged at what the plan had been about as I explained it to them but then I added in the fact that we wouldn't need to prioritize anyone anymore. When asked why, I told them the information that Daryl had gotten before deserting GHQ.

The command centre for the Ghost units which were the Endlaves that were behind the red line was situated right at the top of Tokyo Tower, with that in mind. I announced… After two days, we would be heading to assault Tokyo Tower, and changed the Void ranking system there and then.

The ranks would be used as a guide for who would be leaders of each squad and those who have Voids that do not have any combat potential will be supporting those who do.

A student then asked why we had to wait for two days until we could begin our assault and I simply replied, "Can all of you actually fight against Endlaves and other machines that the GHQ would surely have placed there as a defensive mechanism?"

That instantly quieted them down and seeing the gloomy atmosphere, I told all of them. "This is why we're going to be training for these two days in preparation for the assault."

With that, I answered any other questions they had and after that was done, I dismissed all of them and said that we'd begin training the following day.

Now that I thought about it…

"Ayase, do you remember that time when we assaulted the Dam that had the Leucocyte's core in it?"

She nodded and I continued, "Did you see me holding that laser cannon of a Void?"

Ayase blinked and said, "Now that you mentioned that, whose Void was it?"

I smiled and said, "To tell the truth, that Void was a combination of Kenji's Void and Inori's… Though I think Mana had a hand in helping me with making it…"

My eyes then widened as I asked, "Hey, Ayase? Do remember the time that I was captured by GHQ?"

"Yeah, we went to rescue you along with Kenji that day…"

"About Kenji… I have to admit I am a bit curious, not that I suspect Gai or anything but what exactly was the Sky Tree Bombing incident that Segai spoke about?"

Surprisingly, Ayase's eyes widened in surprise as she said, "That?" She looked down as she continued, "Well that incident was actually the reason why I don't really get along with Kenji… That incident was when Kenji hadn't joined up with us yet and apparently he had planted a bomb in a skyscraper which had caused the deaths of a lot of people… Although his targets were the GHQ solders situated there, he still got innocent people killed…"

"What! But Gai told me…" I shook my head as I thought angrily… So I guess that was one more thing that Gai was hiding from me... I guess in a way Kenji was a person he needed… but still, he could've told me… then again I wouldn't have cooperated at all…

I closed my eyes remembering the kind best friend of mine who turned into a more manipulative person despite still being my best friend… Though now that I think about it… I guess this is nothing to get angry for… I mean Gai is dead so it'd be pointless…

With that settled, I asked about the main thing I had in my mind, "Anyways, got side-tracked… I was about to suggest, what If with the upgrade I got… I can actually combine Voids right now…"

Ayase then pointed out something I didn't take into account. "But, Shu… how would you know which Void can combine with whose…?"

I opened my mouth to answer but shut it as soon as I found that I didn't know as well which I then sulked knowing that my idea just got blown up in smoke.

Ayase giggled at my expression and patted my head in sympathy which caused me to smile eventually and I hugged her even closer before kissing her and with that, we continued to cuddle until we eventually slept on my bed.

The next day

I woke up to a beautiful sight; Ayase was right by my side as she snuggled right into me, sleeping while I had my arms around her.

I smiled at her peaceful sleeping face before glancing to see the clock I placed above my bed and saw that I needed to get out of bed since organizing the squads and support teams for the assault would begin after breakfast.

I carefully got out of bed but I was apparently not careful enough as I heard ruffling and a cute sound before Ayase woke up and blink blurrily as she stretched.

I looked at her apologetically, "Morning, Ayase… Sorry about waking you up."

Ayase returned the greeting before tilting her head as she asked, "What's wrong with waking me up?"

I leaned towards her as I said smiling, " I wanted to enjoy the sight of your sleeping face longer, is that wrong?"

I was surprised when she just leaned closer to me as she had a sly grin on her face, "Of course not, but wouldn't you rather be kissing me than simply watching me sleep?"

I cursed mentally when I felt a bit of heat reaching me cheeks and when Ayase began giggling at my expense… So much for teasing.

A bit miffed about my teasing backfiring, I kissed her and stopped her for giggling as she returned my kiss with equal passion.

We separated as I smirked at her flushed face, "Hey, you're right… Kissing you is a better idea."

I got a pillow in the face for that remark and as it slid down my face, Ayase was giggling once again and not one to be outdone, I took the same pillow and gave her a mischievous smirk as I said, " You know this means war... right?"

Her eyes widened before she jumped out of bed and ran around to dodge before heading into the bathroom to take shelter… I was chuckling as the last pillow I threw hit the door only to be hit by another pillow once more right in the face and to see Ayase winking and closing the door once more.

I stared out the window as I waited for Ayase to be done, I thought to myself… I wonder will anything unexpected happen today? I hope not… The last thing we need is some disaster to happen and turn this whole thing into chaos.

I was so deep in thought about what could and hopefully wouldn't happen that the time passed pretty quickly and soon enough, I heard the bathroom door open and Ayase came out dressed. As she went to comb her hair, I grabbed my change of clothes which were the same clothes I wore when I first trained to join the Undertakers and went in after giving Ayase a playful wave to which she smiled and returned.

As I turned on the showers and went in, letting the warm water splash on me… I continued my thoughts, this time I began thinking about the leaders and how the squads would have to be arranged…how many students would be on the frontlines while how many would be support just In case something happened.

As I began applying shampoo, I questioned myself… was there even a need for squads? I shook my head, of course there was, if there wasn't some sort of chain of command, the students would all be disorganized and probably wouldn't help at all…

After finishing up with my bath, I got out of the showers and began drying myself off, as I dried my face and stared at my reflection in the mirror, I wondered… Considering that I would probably be using Inori's Void for the battle, where should she go… I guess I'll ask her later, though it'd probably be best if she provided support or protected those in the support group…

I then proceeded to put on my clothes and after I was done, I gazed at my reflection once more and couldn't help but sigh in nostalgia, how short were those days where I spent my time with everyone back at the Undertakers… I wonder, are you all okay… or are you all gone like Gai…

I sighed as I looked at my right hand… the times where I loathed my power… the thought that I was wielding my friend's hearts in battle…then a thought struck me… If everyone had a Void… what was mine? I moved my hand over to my chest where my heart was and I gulped as I moved it closer only to look confused as nothing happened…

Shaking my head before I thought too much of it, I just chalked it off to being a Void Genome user; I then got out of the bathroom.

I received a surprise when I saw Ayase holding out Gai's coat with a smile on her face, probably wanting me to wear it.

I was stunned by the sight of the coat that I had hung next to my bed, and only came out of my stunned state when I felt Ayase putting the coat on me.

"Ayase?"

I felt her lean her head on my shoulders as she embraced me and whispered.

"I think Gai would be smiling, seeing you wearing his coat." She moved me so that we were both facing the mirror.

I couldn't help the smile that came on my face as I turned while taking her hands and placed them over my shoulders while I took my turn in holding her in my arms as I teased with a pout.

"Ayase… you wouldn't be trying to replace me with Gai now would you?"

I tried my hardest not to snicker or smile as Ayase began to sputter with widened eyes, her reaction was forever imprinted in my memories. She soon got out of her shock and was about to retort before I smiled and caught her off guard as I placed my finger on her lips, silencing her retort.

She looked cute… all confused and what not but that confusion soon turned into surprise as I pulled away my finger and pecked her on the lips before slyly smiling as I said.

"I'm just kidding."

Ayase gave me a brief half-hearted glare, evident by the small smile that adorned her face.

I faked a small grimace when Ayase smacked the back of my head lightly, saying.

"Baka…"

I just smiled at her as I replied, "Ahh, but I'm your baka."

We both leaned towards each other with our eyes half closed when we froze as we heard someone say.

"Don't they just look so cute together like that?"

We turned in sync towards the source of the voice which was by the door and saw Tsugumi, slyly grinning, standing next to Daryl who had his face in his palm.

Ayase seemed to unfreeze first as she exclaimed while blushing. "Tsugumi! How long have you two been standing there?!"

Tsugumi then adopted a look of innocence that was convincing no one as she answered, "Oh since the time where you put Gai's coat on Shu…"

Ayase then went over and began berating Tsugumi about eavesdropping on a private moment; all the while I couldn't help but smile at them thinking that how nice it would be if our lives were this simple…

However, my smile soon turned into a frown as I had an uneasy feeling all of a sudden…

Meanwhile…

Scene Change: somewhere behind the school building.

Alisa is seen walking, going on patrols to make sure nothing was going on when she suddenly encountered three students bullying another about his Void which he was holding.

They were asking him if they could borrow and see what his Void could do but the teen didn't want them to have it for some reason, Alisa was about to step in and stop them when suddenly the boy's Void broke due to their struggles.

Alisa's eyes widened as she placed her hands over her mouth in a silent gasp while the three bullies looked in fear as the boy they were bullying suddenly began crystallizing and soon enough broke into millions of pieces…

The three bullies ran off in fear while Alisa was about to run off and inform Shu about what she had just seen when suddenly she came face to face with Inori.

She jumped, not hearing that someone was behind as she quickly began to explain what she had just seen.

"And then when his Void bro-" At that point, Alisa noticed something was off with Inori… she seemed cold… it was then that Alisa noticed Inori's eyes…

Inori smiled a somewhat insane smile before blood spilled and Alisa screamed, all the while Yahiro was watching with widened eyes before running off when Inori looked at him, if he had stayed, he would've seen that Inori had a confused look on her face before noticing her right hand was bloody and looked down to see Alisa holding her side as blood pooled…

She back stepped once before breaking into a sprint as she ran off afraid of what had happened...

Scene Change: Back with Shu and the rest who were heading to the cafeteria.

I was having a conversation with Daryl about the specifics on how to disable the Ghost units, what I basically needed to do was just destroy the main power supply on the Tokyo Tower. When we all froze as we heard Alisa screaming and ran off to find her.

When we got there, we saw Yahiro already there with a group of students surrounding an area in which Hare was healing Alisa.

We ran over and I asked Yahiro, "What happened?"

He explained that when he got there, he saw Alisa lying on the ground bleeding and quickly applied first aid while calling for Hare to arrive, in that time students began noticing them and eventually formed this crowd.

As Hare finished healing Alisa, she asked help from a few students to bring over a stretcher and carry Alisa over to the infirmary to be placed on a bed since she was unconscious.

As we went over and asked Hare how Alisa was doing, we found that she was healed completely only that the shortage of blood made her lose consciousness After being reassured that Alisa was going to be alright, I announced the crowd of students around us.

"Security team, I want the school to be searched high and low for anyone who could've done this… Also all students are now required to move in pairs and are not to walk alone no matter where you are. "

Receiving nods from the security team's leaders, Sudou and Namba. I continued my announcement saying, "Also there will be a school meeting over at the auditorium after breakfast, all students are requested to attend."

With that done, all students began walking off, probably heading for the cafeteria for breakfast.

We then were about to head for the cafeteria and asked Yahiro if he wanted to follow but he declined and walked off, saying that he'd be there for the meeting.

P.O.V change: Yahiro

'I cannot allow that information to spread' were Yahiro's thoughts as he grimly thought that this would be the best course of action, knowing that if everyone knew that the Voids were literally their hearts and that if they broke, they would die…. would only lower their morale and cause Shu to stop acting so decisively.

Time Skip: 2 hours later

Scene Change: Auditorium

P.O.V: Shu

After finishing up with our breakfast, we all headed for the auditorium and I couldn't help notice some fearful looks that the students occasionally.

Time Skip" The meeting

Everyone were all afraid about the incident with Arisa and I had to reassure them that the security team would be on the lookout for anyone suspicious when they weren't busy with squad matters and that Arisa was alright.

I then began with the squads, the leaders that were decided were: Ayase and Nanba for the assault squad and Hare along with Alisa for the support squad.

I then gave the squad leaders, the list of each student's Voids and asked them to choose among themselves, which student they would want for their squad.

With that I left them to their devices, after telling the student body to obey the decisions made by the leaders unless an obvious abuse of authority was suspected, then they should come to me.

I then went off to check on Arisa and as I approached the infirmary's door, I heard the Alisa's voice speaking in whispers which stopped as soon as I knocked on the door.

I opened the door as I called out, "Arisa?"

The bed that she was placed in was silent and the curtains were drawn… I cautiously approached it, wondering if the culprit who stabbed Arisa was in this room.

I slowly parted the curtains only to be pushed to the ground and hit my head causing me to grunt.

I then felt some metal on my neck and froze, knowing that it was a knife of sorts when I heard Arisa exclaim.

"Shu?"

I opened my eyes which had shut due to the unexpected pain as I smile uneasily at Arisa who had a knife on my neck.

She quickly got up and helped me up as she apologized for what she almost did, saying. "I thought you were-"

I cut her off with a wave knowing that she was probably just scared, I asked her if she saw who did it to her but she seemed to space out before shaking her head telling me that it happened too suddenly...

I then received a call, waving good bye to Arisa who decided to get some rest as I answered the call to receive a pleasant surprise.

Ayase was on the other line and she excitingly informed me, "Shu! Arugo came, come over to the council room; we're all there right now."

Giving her my assurance that I'll be there, I hung up before quickly making my way over to council room.

Scene Change: Student Council Room

I entered the room to see Arugo talking about something with Tsugumi and Ayase, while Yahiro and Kanon just sat next to them and occasionally mention something.

I closed the door causing them to turn to face me and I greeted Arugo, "Yo" With a wave of my hand.

He did the same before giving me a look over and commented, "The coat looks good on you, and I guess you're our leader now? Also congrats on giving Ayase back her legs, but then again I'm sure she has already given you her thanks."

I rubbed the back of my neck bashfully as I smiled a bit, taking in the compliment before I answered.

"Thanks, I just hope Gai won't mind me using this for now and if no one has any complaints I guess I'm going to be the Undertaker's leader."

I replied as confidently as I could and Arugo seemed to notice that as he smirked, our pretty casual conversation had to be put away for now though as I asked something that I'm sure not only I was anxious to know about.

"Arugo… How are the rest of you guys? Where have you been hiding?"

Arugo seemed have bad news as he solemnly looked down before saying, "Oogumo and I hid at Kuhouin's mansion… I don't have a clue about the whereabouts of the rest of us, the only thing we could figure out was that Shibunji and Kenji are alive but who knows where they are…."

As soon as we heard that Arugo didn't know about the rest of our group, we all took a moment to allow the information to sink in…

I then looked at Arugo as I realized something, "Then Arugo, why did you decide to come here? I mean this is the place I least expected you to go to."

Arugo chuckled for a moment though it lacked enthusiasm before he began to say.

"I guess that's true huh? But then again, Shu didn't I tell you I'm also a student?"

"Ah!" I forgot about that, but still…

Arugo continued, "Kuhouin Arisa's grandfather asked Oogumo and me for a favour, we were to extract Alisa from this area…"

Eh? I asked, "But then what about the rest of the students here? Are they going to be brought out as well?"

Arugo frowned as he shook his head saying, "Kuhouin Okina had only asked us to take Arisa… I'm not sure about the rest of the students…"

Mirroring Arugo's frown, I replied, "I see… "I then stood as I said, "Then shall we go visit Arisa? Considering she was just attacked, this might be a better alternative to letting her stay in the infirmary…"

Arugo stood abruptly as he asked, "What happened?"

Ayase and the rest of the student council stood as well and together we began heading for the infirmary, as I informed Arugo of what was going on and what had just recently occurred.

Arriving at the hallway leading to the infirmary, I looked as Arugo rubbed his forehead before saying, " So let me get this straight, He " Arugo points to Daryl with a bit of hostility, "deserted GHQ and informed you all about the control unit for the Ghost units is located at the Tokyo tower and due to receiving that information, you and the rest of the student body are going to assault the tower tomorrow before dawn and just recently, Alisa was apparently stabbed by someone who might or might not be still on campus?"

I nodded as we reached the infirmary and went in just as Arugo shouted, "Shu! Don't you think that's a little reckless? Who knows if he just gave you false information and you all are just marching off to your deaths?!"

Tsugumi was about to explode when I put my hand in front of her, and told Arugo.

"I've decided to trust him, he genuinely seems to want to help us and besides what else have we got? The vaccine supply will not last long enough and GHQ's red line will eventually get closer and closer."

We approached Alisa's bed and parted the curtains to allow us in, my eyes narrowed when she seemed to franticly move around all of a sudden before laughing a bit uncomfortably.

I decided to put away my thoughts for now as I gestured for Arugo to go ahead.

Arugo went over to the side of Arisa's bed as he informed her about what was going on.

What she said... was unexpected.

"I'm sorry but please tell my grandfather that I declined the rescue, I will not leave my fellow students to fight while I stay safe in that mansion."

Arugo seemed to try and convince her to follow but in the end he gave up as Alisa really didn't let up with her decision.

With that we discussed what we should do now and I gave a suggestion.

"Arugo… what if you help us out? I mean in another way this would help you accomplish that favour of yours… so what do you say? "I held out my hand towards Arugo and he looked at it for a moment before letting out a sigh and smiled wryly as he took it and shook it, saying.

"Alright, I guess I don't really have a choice now do I? I follow you, Ouma Shu."

I smiled as Ayase came up next to me and grabbed my hand; this was mirrored by Tsugumi who grinned at Daryl. Daryl couldn't help but return with a smile, this caused Arugo to quirk a brow and looked at me with questions that were easily predictable.

I smiled and nodded to which Arugo let out a small chuckle and nodded as well.

With that we continued to discuss about the events that would happen tomorrow and finalized each and every part of the event that still needed to be done.

At one point, I excused myself and dragged Arugo and Inori off to a private location to test something I just thought of, Ayase wanted to follow and only after I promised that I would tell her about it later, she let me go with a kiss on my cheek telling me to be careful.

The result of my experiment… was successful and not really that surprising…

And as I lay on my bed next to Ayase who was already fast asleep, I could only pray that tomorrow would be okay.

The next day…

The students were heading into large vehicles that were provided by Arugo and Oogumo, and we all headed for Tokyo tower.

We reached about just a quarter ways more to the tower when suddenly; Tsugumi alerted all of us who were getting ready to head in.

"Everyone, there are hostiles heading for our location, they're Endlaves!"

I continued with drawing out their Voids when suddenly students began muttering loudly about some rumor they heard…

"Hey did you hear? Someone said that if your Void got destroyed, you would die as well!"

"EH? No way! Is that true?"

"I'm not sure but it makes me scared of what will happen if it is…"

Soon the muttering began spreading throughout the student body and even as Yahiro and Kanon tried to keep them calm, I was slightly afraid of the rumors myself… if it was true then wouldn't this be even more suicidal that it already was?

I was really having second thoughts about what were going to do when I felt hands grabbing hold of mine…

I looked at my sides and saw Inori and Ayase were the ones holding onto my hands that were shaking, Inori then said, "Shu, it's okay to be afraid but are you really going to back down now? Wouldn't retreating just lead to an even worst outcome?"

I retorted, "B-but I can't risk the rumors being true, what… what if something happened to anyone of you guys!"

I was about to continue when I suddenly found my lips being covered by Ayase's and as she parted she looked at me in the eye saying.

"Shu, it's going to be fine, you won't let anything happen to us and Inori and I have already decided, that even if it was only going to be the three of us, we would still lend you our hearts… so put your worries at ease."

I closed my eyes as I smiled, once again wondering what did I do to deserve Ayase… I turned to the students as Tsugumi informed us that the Endlaves were approaching.

I began to say, " Those who have lost their resolve to fight, you all should fall back and-" I was interrupted by Namba who began to say.

"Come now, president, do you really think that lowly of us?" He turned to face the rest of the students as he shouted, "Do all you really want to go hide and pray that some miracle happens? When we ourselves could be out there doing something? Are you all really that cowardly? Come on! Answer me! Students of Tennouzu High!"

Their screams were deafening, but they were all shouting about how they'd stand and fight… I smiled and gave Namba a thankful nod before narrowing my eyes as I asked Tsugumi while facing forward.

"Tsugumi how close are the Endlaves?"

She replied, "They'll reach our location in about two minutes."

"Alright thanks, alert us if there are any anomalies."

I glanced back and seeing all the students wielding their Voids as I approached Inori with Ayase right beside me, I was a bit more hopeful that today would end up with all of us going home…

I gave her a nod and Inori closed her eyes nodding, before I drew out her Void causing a pillar of light to shine, as her Void materialized, the first wave of Endlaves were spotted and I pointed at their direction with Inori's Void as I shouted.

"Let's go!"

With that the battle began, despite the Ghost Endlaves having better specs than the previous models, Inori's Void still made quick work of them. As I cut one of the Endlaves in half, I took a quick glance around me and was relieved to see that the battle was going well, the squads or were working together, parrying, slashing, hacking, pummeling the Endlaves in tandem with each other.

As I blocked a Endlave's blade, I noticed that their numbers were slowly dwindling, with that, my resolve was strengthened and slicing the Endlave's legs causing it fall to the ground, I heard Ayase and Namba giving out occasional orders to their respective groups. Despite how one-sided it may seem, our side did receive some injuries and some of those injuries would have been fatal if not for Alisa and Daryl using their Voids to protect us.

Just as I rushed past a few groups fighting off an Endlave or two, I saw a barrage of missiles heading for us… it seems that the Endlaves were getting desperate, their attempt proved to be useless as a huge holographic shield came up and deflected most of the barrage while some stray missiles that would've impacted the students were dematerialized by circular spinning shield.

As we advanced closer and closer to our goal, we encountered more and more Endlaves but despite their numbers, we weren't deterred and our success so far was what allowed us to push forward.

As I got close enough to the tower, I decided that this distance was enough and shifted Inori's Void to my left hand while calling out, "Arugo!"

Arugo, remembering what we had planned, fired off one more RPG rocket, nodded and came over. As he got close enough, I entered New King Mode and drew out his Void…

As it began materializing I pulled over the incomplete Void over to Inori's Void and proceeded with fusing both of them.

An even brighter pillar of light shone as the fusing process finished and I was holding a huge black colored rail gun of sorts that was easily as big as the combo Void which I first wielded.

Taking aim at the center of the tower after adjusting my stance due to the slightly heavier weapon I now held, I pressed the trigger causing a beam of concentrated black light to shoot towards the tower where Daryl had informed was the control unit for the Ghost Endlaves.

As the black rail gun pierced through the tower, nothing happened at first but then an explosion occurred and the tower began tilting to the side and slowly but eventually fell to the ground with a large crash causing a giant crater to form.

With the control unit taken out, the other Endlaves began stop functioning and the students cheered in delight while close friends hugged, thankful that everyone survived.

Arisa then announced, " Everyone, let's go before any reinforcements come!"

Not needing anymore convincing, everyone began moving with Alisa leading.

Ayase landed next to me and we embraced as we smiled at each other before Tsugumi, Inori along with Daryl came along.

Wondering where Arugo was, in the end I shrugged as I suggested, "Shall we go?" Receiving nods, we turned to follow the students who had gone ahead when we heard the sounds of guns clicking followed by the various screams that echoed from in front of us as gunfire cut through the happy scene like a hot knife through butter.

Taking in our surrounding, we were surrounded by soldiers wearing white uniforms and dark blue visors which were curiously similar to Da'at's follower's outfits.

Arisa surprisingly stood in front of them and a soldier came up to her and handed her a similar outfit which she said that she would wear it later.

I narrowed my eyes at the familiarity that she had when she spoke with the soldier and concluded that this was bad…

I asked, "Arisa… what is this? Who are they and why are you so friendly with them?"

I grimaced when I heard even more screams coming from the front and assumed that the students who had gone ahead were taken by surprise which was why they couldn't use their Voids… Without Daryl's or Arisa's Void to protect them… I gritted my teeth, trying to bear the sounds of anguish.

My hands twitched ever so slightly on the trigger of the rail gun Void which I hadn't dismissed yet when suddenly a gun fired and nearly hit me in the head, grazing my ear ever so slightly.

I snapped towards Arisa and saw her with a smug expression on her face as she taunted, "You won't be pulling out anymore Voids, and our king will be the only person along with his adviser to be the one who will wield that power."

King? Who on earth is she talking about…? Is it Yuu?"

As I continued to contemplate what Alisa meant, Arugo suddenly said through our earphones.

"Everyone close your eyes now!"

Not wanting to know what Arugo was up to, I quickly shut my eyes after making sure Ayase and Inori had theirs close. I then heard a huge bang that deafened my ears for a minute followed by a dimmed light that shone through my closed eyelids.

Knowing that Arugo was probably far enough not to be affected by the flash bang, I shouted.

"Arugo bring a vehicle over as fast as you can, we won't be able to escape on foot so at the very least we need to be on the move until I get out everyone's Voids."

Managing to hear Arugo give his affirmative, I defused the rail gun into their original forms and passed Inori, Arugo's Void which she immediately used on a group of soldiers while Ayase took off and began taking out more soldiers, using their crippled state and her speed.

I myself used Inori's Void and dispatched my own share of soldiers and eventually not even one of them was standing, leaving Arisa all on her own.

I was about to knock her out and head over to help the students that were probably in danger when suddenly a shadow loomed over me and Ayase shouted.

"Shu, behind you!"

I turned and brought up Inori's Void to block my attacker just in time as an equally huge sword slammed into Inori's Void, despite the size of the Void, its look was a whole lot simpler.

Behind me where Tsugumi was standing, I heard a gasp and only then I took a good look at my attacker only to feel as if hell had frozen over…

"Hello, Shu… We meet again…"

My eyes narrowed, "Gai…"

I got confused concerning Alisa/Arisa's Name, was wondering which I had used or if I mixed them up... Anyways if there are any inconsistencies with her name, please do help me by pointing it out, thanks... Chaoz out~