Sorry for the long wait guys! I've been really busy. Those in the Discord server would know that, so if you guys want to know what's going on and why things take so long, I'd suggest going there. The link will be at the end of the chapter as always. That's also the only way to submit a character for the SYOC aspect of the fanfic series.

With that being said, stay tuned for the end of the chapter to see my response to reviews/comments!

[-Chapter 4: The Best Laid Plans-]

"You are all fools. Every single last one of you who listens to the dogmatic words of those in power. You believe yourselves to be righteous when in reality the only thing you've ever contributed to this country is pain and suffering. You and yours will get your day. I know you will. For I pray to my Lord that you will. There is an adage that I and my people used to say before you all snuffed us out for believing in the wrong God. "Fear your shadow, for you never know when one day it will try to kill you." You may think it a wives' tale, but believe me, take these words to heart. As you hang me at the gallows tonight, all of you who stand before this contraption of death and pain, all of you shall die. So I smile now, knowing that you will all join me in the deepest, darkest pits of Hell!" – A Prisoner At [REDACTED] mere minutes before The Great Shadow Massacre of [REDACTED].

[Opening Song: Dance In The Game – By: ZAQ]

The sound of echoing footsteps thrummed throughout a mostly vacant warehouse. Boxes stacked atop boxes lined some of the walls and in small patches dotted throughout the mostly empty, dusty building.

Some of the boxes contained merchandise belonging to modern trends that never really kicked off, and others with old trends that had died years ago, and were finally laid to rest. A thin layer of dust had begun to form on those boxes, with trace amounts of dust scattering across the air in the room.

Faint light peered in through the high-up windows, casting down rays of gold to illuminate the mostly dark interior. Had it not been for the sun, the inside of the warehouse would've been drenched in darkness—think the void, but less ominous and more echoey.

Kokichi Oma paced from one side of the warehouse to another, his expression taut with annoyance and confusion. His hands were folded behind his back, with his left hand clasping his right wrist, his right index finger tapping against the small of his back. A frown took up his visage as his eyes gleamed with frustration.

The rest of DICE sat atop the boxes, the sole exception of which being Himiko, who was standing against one of the walls, staff in hand as she worriedly glanced at Kokichi. There was an air of anger dancing about him, and for good reason.

To say that he had been majorly offended was an understatement. He couldn't stop repeating the words that Jackson Fring had dared utter to him—HIM! Of all the people in the world to say those words to, he chooses him! What an absolute insult.

And yet, while it had been an insult, a part of Kokichi took what he had to say to heart. After all, considering what it was that he had said because he was merely a messenger for someone else, he had no real choice but to do that. Especially considering who the message was from.

That being said, that didn't mean that he was okay with it. It had royally pissed him off. It was why he had made a detour to a lake and fried the place, killing every fish and sea creature within it, the law be damned. He had to get his wrath out in such a way that no one would get accidentally killed.

After all, DICE had a no-killing rule.

Well, as much of a no-killing rule as one could have with magical powers. Sometimes it was impossible, so it was more correct to call it a "lessen the death toll" rule. The point still stood, if DICE could avoid causing as many casualties as possible, then that was preferred. But, in the event that it was impossible, then Kokichi wouldn't fret over it.

The only exception he had to that "lessen the death toll" rule were those who became enemies of DICE. Those people, the people who would make enemies of them, would receive no mercy from him or DICE. Especially if blood from his people was spilled. It was all fun and games until that happened, and when it did, the kid gloves were off.

He would not allow a repeat of what happened in Shinjuku with Fenrir to happen again. He underestimated the group. He knew he shouldn't have, but he did. And it cost him valuable people. He was smart to know when he was in over his head, and while he would admit that, at times, he was able to get a little in over his head, this was not one of those situations.

And so, because of that, he didn't much appreciate what it was that Jackson said, and had he not been leagues stronger than him just by a quick glance, he would've fried that nuisance the moment the chance arose.

And while Jackson more than likely hadn't meant it to come off the way that it had, there was a level of condescendence in his voice that just rubbed Kokichi the wrong way. Mixed with the demeaning tone of voice, the "I don't give a fuck" body language and to top it off with the "I know you're weaker than me so just try it" stare he had been giving Kokichi….

"Ichi? Are you alright?" Himiko's voice drew him out of his thoughts as Kokichi spared her a glance. She was still by the far side of the warehouse, the concern on her otherwise emotionless face signalled to him that he must've been more than a little angry.

Simply put, Kokichi had anger issues. He did not have disastrous anger issues like some people would immediately jump to assume he had. But the kind of anger issues that, if provoked enough, would probably cause him to beat said provoker black and blue. He looked away from Himiko, his expression softening, his arms drooping to his sides.

"I'm alright. Just annoyed, that's all," Kokichi muttered as Himiko walked over to him, the clacks of her shoes heels echoing throughout the warehouse. By the time she had come to stand next to him, she had already put her staff on the floor—"put" being read as noncommittally tossed to the floor—before wrapping him in a hug. "What are you doing?"

"Giving you a magical hug to make the anger go away…" Himiko muttered, her face buried in his arm as a small smile etched itself onto his face.

"You're a dork," Kokichi said, patting her shoulder as Himiko looked up at him, her eyes sparkling like the gems they were. Aromantic he might have been, but damn did those eyes make his heart pump a little hit harder than normal.

"I'm you're dork, so what does that say about?"

"Alright, ya two love birds, we get it you're smitten with each other," one of the grunts in the back said, his voice echoing out into the warehouse. "What I wanna know is what put the boss in such a bad mood." As the grunt spoke, Kokichi recognized who the voice belonged to.

It was one of the bigger ones, specifically the driver from the heist yesterday. Miguel if he remembered his name correctly. They had all met up back at their original drop-off point after Kokichi had made sure the coast was clear, hence why they were in this warehouse rather than the main base.

"Someone Chi sent to talk us out of our plan," Kokichi replied as Himiko let go of him, allowing him to cross his arms. "And why do you care?"

"Just curious," Miguel answered, shrugging. "I've never seen you this mad before. What'd he say?"

Kokichi sighed. Well, if he was going to insist… "Fine, he said—"

[Yesterday]

"It's in your best interest to leave The Kuzuzryu Clan alone," Jackson said, staring down at Kokichi, who in turn glared up at him.

"Excuse you?" Kokichi hissed, glaring up at Jackson, who stood across from him and glowered down at him. It was clear he was sensing the hostility that Kokichi was giving off, coupled with the sparks of golden electricity thrumming up and down his arms. Jackson's crystalline blue eyes gleamed with intrigue as if he wasn't taking him seriously.

"Do you need me to repeat myself?" Jackson questioned, causing Kokichi to grit his teeth, his expression drawn into a snarl. Not that Jackson was impressed or threatened by it. He kept calm, his body language never giving away any sense of concern or fear. "Leave the Kuzuryu Clan alone. As I said, it's in your best interest."

Who did this guy think he was? Telling him what to do? Kokichi was having a hard time putting together what this guy's angle was. Sure, Chi more than likely sent him after them, but that didn't explain why he was here.

Not to mention he was beginning to wonder just how Chinatsu knew this guy. Jackson sounded familiar. He didn't know why. Not until he thought back to one of the conversations that he and his sister had in the recent past.

It was regarding someone named "Big J." At first, he thought that was just the person's name, but now it was clear to Kokichi that this was the elusive "Big J." And if this was Big J… Now he understood the angle that he going with.

"Chinatsu put you up to this. Lemme guess you're her fuck buddy, right? You're Big J, right?" Kokichi spat as Jackson laughed, hard. The more he laughed, the more Kokichi's rage continued to spike. This guy thought he was a joke, didn't he!? "You fucker! Stop laughing!" Kokichi growled, as the golden electricity sparking around his arm jolted forward and singed the ground in front of Jackson's feet.

The moment that happened, Jackson stopped laughing, sobering immediately, and in the time it took for Kokichi to blink, an unbearable force slammed into his abdomen, forcing all of the air out of his lungs. Saliva splattered the ground beneath his feet as he was knocked into the air, before falling to the ground back first.

Pain seared throughout his body as Kokichi tried to collect himself, all the while Jackson loomed over him. Suddenly, he looked far more intimidating than he had when he had seen him the first time. There was a large contrast between staring up at a tall man when standing and then being laid out on the ground by said man.

There was a murderous aura that Kokichi hadn't been able to pick up on before, and had he not known that Chinatsu was the one who sent him here, he would've thought that he was going to die right here and now.

"For starters, Oma, we used to a thing. But now, she's found someone else and I couldn't care less," Jackson drawled, rolling his neck from side to side. "Chi was good to me, and I was good to her. We split on good terms so don't get snippy with me," Jackson said as he reached down to Kokichi, before pulling him to his feet by dragging him up collar first. His face was inches away from Kokichi's, and the frown on his face radiated the kind of silent aggression only someone of his stature could give off without it being a direct threat.

"Oh, and if I was you, I wouldn't push your luck. You're a little shrimp compared to me. Your little light show doesn't scare me. So keep your kiddie taser to yourself and don't test your luck. If Chi hadn't sent me, that would've been you signing a death warrant, you understand?" As Jackson said that, he shoved Kokichi back a few inches, creating a distance between them.

"And unlike me, The Kuzuryu Clan won't give you a chance to take your actions back. They'll pump you full of lead before you can conjure a single bolt of that golden stuff. I mean it, Oma. Leave them be. Let the professionals handle this."

Before Kokichi could fully come to his senses and respond, a powerful gust of wind that generated from where Jackson stood. Sand particles began to fling out from his body, before swirling around him like a tornado. The last thing that Kokichi saw of the man was his piercing eyes.

All Kokichi could do was stare as his form began to disappear underneath the sand. He stood there for a few minutes after Jackson left, with the only thought on his mind being who that man was. Sure, Chinatsu had been the one who sent him based on his admission, but that still didn't answer his question.

If Chinatsu was close enough to him to give him her body, then why had he never heard of him? Not that Kokichi particularly cared, but despite her demeanour Chinatsu was a girly girl. When she had found a boyfriend she would gush about it. It was certainly that way when she was in High School.

A part of Kokichi wondered what could've possibly gone wrong for Chinatsu to become so reclusive as of late. It had been almost a year since he had seen her, and he didn't have the guts to come speak to him in person. Instead, she sends an ex-boyfriend. Truth be told, that was what had angered him the most. The fact that Chinatsu hadn't been the one to have come to confront him.

Kokichi wanted to puke. The adrenaline that had filled his system when this encounter had begun was beginning to fade away, and as it did, pain unlike any he had the displeasure of feeling flooded through his body.

Kokichi heard sirens. He needed to leave, and so that was exactly what he did. He dipped out of the alleyway, using his scarf to cover his mouth and nose. Once he ran into Chinatsu, he was going to give her an earful. That way, she would know just how he felt about her sending someone else to talk him down rather than herself.

[Present]

"Sheesh, that's rough," Miquel said, scratching the back of his neck as Kokichi spared him a half-hearted glance.

"That Jackson guy sounds like a real piece of work," another one of the goons in the back muttered. However, due to the echo, everyone heard it loud and clear.

"Yeah, and he is. But now that he's said his peace, he won't come after us. Besides, I've already decided that we'll leave The Kuzuryu Clan to Chi and whoever she can scrouge together—not that she'll need it. She's more than strong enough to handle them herself," Kokichi said, before looking back at Himiko, who was staring at him with a raised eyebrow.

"But… I thought we were going to help her?"

"And risk your lives?" Kokichi rebutted, raising an eyebrow of his own. "Don't get me wrong, I want revenge against them more than anyone else here. They did something to me and Chi that we'll never forgive. No matter how many good deeds they've done to make their reputation with the rest of Japan a good one, their bad deeds will forever outweigh them," Kokichi said, turning to face everyone else, who had leapt off of the boxes and stood in a large line.

Kokichi was proud of DICE. Since the beginning, every member of DICE, with the exception of the new ones, has been around since its inception. It was a shame that its previous head, Chinatsu Oma, was no longer a part of DICE. She would smile seeing what's become now. Not that she'd smiled in a long time, but Kokichi knew that she would've.

Their oldest member, Tatsuya, had become a man of his own. Just like he said he wanted to. Tall, proud, and full of spunk and vigour. Juzo fought and won against the cancer he had been battling a month ago, and was now recovering. It was why he was at home and not here, but he was supporting them from the sidelines. He was an excellent hacker. He and his best friend who wanted to remain anonymous were the best hackers in the country, though his best friend was more so a regular old software developer who was also extremely good at hacking.

Gonta, another member, was nowhere to be seen. Unfortunate, but it made sense. He was more of the outdoorsy type and didn't appreciate the mischief they got up to. He probably quit DICE but never had the guts to say anything about it. Still, even with that being the case, he wasn't offended by it. Even if he would bug Gonta over his choice.

Then, finally, the last founding member outside of himself and his sister was Himiko. It was obvious why he was glad she was still here. It needn't be spelt out. He might not have had a thing for romantic or sexual desires, but Himiko was the love of his life. He knew it, deep down, even if he never expressed it.

Himiko was fully committed to their relationship. She knew his boundaries and knew what to do and what not to do. The same was with him. Himiko herself also fell into the category of being Asexual, so at least they shared that trait. She was, however, very romantical which had gotten him a little annoyed a few times. But they were still working out the kinks.

The rest of DICE had grown over the years. Both from individuals who wanted to follow in their footsteps and those who just wanted to cause chaos. DICE's goal was to become the largest underground crime syndicate to eliminate all Crime within Japan. To be a Trojan horse of sorts.

Originally, they were going to first start with the utter dismantle and take down of The Kuzuryu Clan. But, ever since his encounter with Jackson, Kokichi had begun to rethink that idea. Instead, he was going to shift gears.

There was a certain place that he had a bone to pick with. A certain school that he wanted to burn to the ground.

A certain school that promoted The Kuzuryu Clan.

A school he was going to make sure knew that they would not stand for their promotion of such a group. To accept two of their members into the school.

And this school was a very, very prominent school. One that everyone knew about.

"Besides, we have bigger fish to fry," Kokichi began as a smirk stretched across his face, flashing his teeth as confused mutterings filled the warehouse. Himiko knew exactly what he was talking about, and the smile on her face made it apparent.

"Bigger fish to fry?" Another grunt in the back asked, confusion in their slightly high-pitched tone as Kokichi's smirk grew tenfold.

"Yes, far bigger fish to fry than those Kuzuryu Clan shitheads," Kokichi said, as he chuckled to himself. "If any of you have been paying attention to the news, you'd know that a very powerful and influential school has recently, and by recently I mean the beginning of the last school year, accepted three very high-profile people that belong to The Kuzuryu Clan within their halls. The Yakuza Heir Fuyuhiko, his bitch Pekoyama Peko, and The Yakuza Princess Natsumi."

Oohs and awes filled the warehouse, as Kokichi brushed his bangs out of his face, his eyes gleaming with hatred and wrath, unlike anything he had felt before. A burning, searing wrath that could only quelled by the very thing he had been looking for for a long, long time. "For the longest time, I have adored Hope's Peak Academy. I'm sure many of you have as well. But now? Now they've made themselves an enemy of us!"

"They dare allow those wretched, disgusting, pieces of shit smear themselves on their halls, and for what!? Good relations with a domestic terrorist organization!? The very people who have killed and murdered en masse for the sake of "cleansing the country!?" Who do they think they are?!" Kokichi shouted, his chest burning with ambition, his words coated with venom and condemnation, as a sea of loud boos and shouts of agreement filled the warehouse.

Kokichi felt a swelling of pride in his chest, but he was not finished. "We, victims of those rancid, horrid, less-than-human scum, will not allow for such a thing to go unpunished! We are DICE! And while we may not be well known, by Friday next week, we shall be! We will make those in power aware of us! We will NOT let this transgression slide! To side with The Kuzuryu Clan is to paint a target on your back! And We, ladies, gentlemen, and those in between, have the bows and arrows drawn and ready to hit that target!"

More applause, and more agreement. Good, good! They were all on board. Now, all he had to do was—

"Hold on," A voice in the back spoke up, as everyone turned to face the individual in question. It was one of the larger members of DICE. The "Brutes" as he had mentally termed them. The ones that did all the heavy lifting and pulled the most weight on more hands-on operations. Kokichi blinked, confusion replacing his fiery passion.

"Is something the matter?" Kokichi asked, his voice carrying a hint of sarcasm as the Brute sighed.

"Not with the idea or what you're saying. Matter of fact, I agree with ya, but my problem is our choice of target," the Brute said, crossing his arms. "This is Hope's Peak we're talking about 'ere. Not just some shmucks without proper security! These guys have a massive security force, and they had the National Guard on speed dial! We could all die if we so much as step foot on their lawn without passes!"

Kokichi hummed, stroking his chin. The man had a point, and while he had every right to be concerned, Kokichi knew about that already. That was something hard to avoid when coming up with this specific plan. "Yeah, you're right. That would be a problem…. If we were attacking the main building."

"Huh?" The Brute blinked, confused. "Then what's the point?!"

"Because our target isn't Fuyuhiko," Himiko spoke up, as Kokichi gave her the floor, taking a step back. "Our goal is Natsumi Kuzuryu. And she attends The Reserve Course," Himiko continued, adjusting her hat—a fidget she did when she was getting in her element, which was something that Kokichi had been shocked by, especially considering the kind of person Himiko was.

It was no secret in DICE that Himiko wasn't exactly all that talkative. She preferred to remain silent and by Kokichi's side. It had to do with something that happened in her childhood, regarding an uncle of hers. An uncle who had called himself "her master" and "taught her magic."

Come to find out, a few years later, Himiko realized far too late that he wasn't teaching her magic. Kokichi didn't know the specifics, mostly because Himiko didn't like talking about it. Kokichi only learned about this because Himiko had been comfortable telling him that much. She rounded it off by running away.

Ever since then, she hadn't spoken to her family. For good reason, as they allowed it to happen. Kokichi believed it out of ignorance, but Himiko didn't think so. Whatever happened, however, was extremely traumatizing for her, and it resulted in her being very quiet. She was only talkative around the people whom she was comfortable with, which up to this point had been a few select members of DICE and himself.

To see her stepping out of her comfort zone…. It was good.

"I used to attend school at the Reserve Course before something happened that made it impossible for me to attend," Himiko began as she pulled out a piece of paper. It was rather large, and she had been hiding it behind her back—something that Kokichi had already seen after having taken a step back to give her the floor.

"So, I drew a map of the school based on my memory. And considering that they don't care about The Reserve Course, it's very likely the building hasn't changed much," Himiko said, holding out the map and showing it to everyone. Kokichi stepped forward to get a better look at it, and he had to admit, it was impressive just how detailed the map was.

The map was a detailed floor plan of the first and second floors of the building, along with the roof. Each classroom, the sizes of each classroom, where each other room was that wasn't a classroom, the stairs that took you to which part of the floor, and where people are most likely to barricade themselves in the event of an emergency.

It was a little chilling how Himiko had marked those specific locations, but it made sense. They weren't there to take prisoners, the sole exception being Natsumi to use as ransom. If Chinatsu were to ever find out about their current operation…

"But she won't, so don't worry about it," Kokichi thought, pushing the idea out of his mind. That didn't matter right now. Not even remotely. "On top of that," Kokichi spoke up, stepping up next to Himiko, who put away the map and slid it into one of her skirt pockets, "We have armoured vehicles that we were able to steal from The Kuzuryu Clan and label as our own. So we're covered on the transport aspect of things."

"Furthermore, once we capture Natsumi, The Kuzuryu Clan will have no choice but to bend to our whims! She's their princess, after all. We'll hide her in a remote location where no one will ever find her, and if they don't give us what we demand as ransom, we'll execute her on live TV for everyone to see!" Kokichi boomed as the crowd roared with excitement.

"We attack next Friday because the Main Course Building will be empty! The staff, security, and everything else will be out for holiday, but The Reserve Course won't be since it's open every day, the exception being during the semester change in September! That'll be our chance to strike! We will not allow them to get away with what they've done! We will make them pay, one way or another! WE SHALL HAVE OUR REVENGE!" Kokichi roared, a burning flame of ambition in his eyes as the crowd of DICE members continued to chant.

They were all saying one thing. "Victory!" Because in reality, they had already won. There was no way in hell anyone would stand in their way. Revenge would be his. For his family. For his mother and father. For the innocence that was lost that day.

For years, Kokichi and his sister had suffered, eating mouldy food and rats to get by. No home would take them, no one would try and help them. They were left to their own devices. And where his sister had hope, Kokichi had slowly fallen to Despair.

There was only one thing that had kept him from fully losing it. His sister and her support. Her guiding words and the love she gave to him. Their shared ambition was to take down the people who had wronged them.

Only for her to one day turn around and leave, telling him that she needed to take care of this herself and that she wouldn't endanger him. For all of his life growing up, he had only ever wanted one thing. To destroy the people who had wronged him. He had been devoted to hurting The Kuzuryu Clan. All for his sister to turn around and deny him his vengeance.

It drove him mad. When she left, he lashed out in a rage, scaring those around him. Even scaring Himiko. On that day, he doubled down on his promise. He promised to make sure those who harmed him and his friends would pay.

No matter what it cost him.

Himiko had devoted herself to him. She helped him collect himself, and on that day, she became his right-hand woman. She was going to help him through everything. She would not let him lose himself, or anything of himself. That was her promise to him.

Unfortunately, something of his was already taken. He and everyone else had been none the wiser to it.

It happened the moment he had let out the howl of rage at his sisters departing of DICE. He may not have known it, but that howl had summoned somethings presence.

Something Eldritch.

Something unthinkable.

Something unbelievable.

And it had already nestled itself within him.

For in the back of Kokichi's eyes, aside from the flame of ambition stirring within, another flame took root and sparked. In the embers of his mind, a bright, orange flame began to fester. It flickered with a sickly hiss, driving away the flames of ambition surrounding it, and attempted to consume it.

The flame of ambition stayed clear of it. Even it wanted nothing to do with the sickly orange flame.

It was in the nature of everything living to stay away from it. And for good reason too.

The golden orange embers of this particular flame have been written about time and time again.

For it was the flame of someone who had truly, irrevocably, lost their mind.

The Flame of Ambition, despite its attempts to stay away, ultimately was devoured. In its place, the orange flame grew and spread. If one squinted and stared into Kokichi Oma's eyes long enough, they would notice the sickly tint in his pupils.

For The Yellow Chaos Flame took its roots within him.

And it would never let go.

[XXXX]

Jolyne was not having a good day. One who was constantly on the verge of climaxing wouldn't be either, especially when brushing against her fucking desk caused her to twinge and squirm. When Mono had told her that her body was going to be hyper-sensitive, he wasn't kidding. She had been getting weird looks the whole day, even from Hajime, and it was fucking embarrassing.

No matter how hard she tried to think of anything else, no matter how hard she focused on her work, her body refused to move on. She had to bounce her foot on the ground to not fully melt into herself. It was annoying, and everyone else thought it was annoying. But, there was nothing that could be done about it.

And all of this—all of it—because she had accidentally overfed on blood. "What in the harem anime is this fucking drawback!?" Jolyne thought as she tried to ignore the slight shiver her body sent through itself. She drew into her thoughts, ignoring the topic of today's lesson with a gleam of annoyance in her eyes.

Why?

Because the class was Sexual Education.

She was convinced that the world was playing a massive joke on her at this point. And even if it wasn't, it sure as shit didn't seem like it! There were coincidences, and then there was whatever the fuck this was.

What made this even worse was that she had to endure another 108 hours of this bullshit. A part of her wanted to call in sick for the rest of the week, just so she could deal with this on her own. At least there she could whittle down the timer more, seeing as it appeared that any form of sexual touching decreased the timer.

If she had to masturbate for half the day to get the timer to go away, she'd do it. Anything to get her body to stop being so sensitive!

Alternatively, she could just pull some boy to the side and fuck them. Maybe that would get it to go away…. "The fuck am I thinking? I'm not some kind of porn protagonist for fucksake!" Jolyne chastised internally, shrinking into herself as her foot tapping accelerated. One of the side-effects of this whole overfeeding thing was that her libido was spiked, and further looking into it, not only did it make her body more prone to, as Mono so elegantly put it, bursting at the seams, it also made it so she constantly thought about it, too.

Not that she'd be so boarish to do that, mind you. If she was going to have her first time with anyone, for any reason, it would be on her terms. Not The Systems. Even if this whole bit was starting to really, really get on her nerves.

"Oi, half-and-half!" A voice cut through her thoughts as Jolyne glanced over to her immediate left. It was that blonde from yesterday—Kuzuryu, if she had remembered correctly. The one who had glared at her when she "came back" to school. Her voice was barely above a whisper, meaning she was trying to keep quiet. "Can you fucking stop with all the tapping? It's annoying enough I have to sit next to you, I don't need to hear the tippy-tapping!"

Jolyne shot her a glare that all but told her to keep her trap shut, which only made things worse. She shot up from her seat, and was about to say something, but stopped when the teacher cleared his throat. "Kuzuryu, do you mind explaining to the class why you've decided to suddenly stand up?"

"Takemura-sensei! I—"

"Never mind, I don't want to hear it. See me after class. I've had it with your disruptive behaviour. You've been nothing if not constantly causing fights and arguments while I'm in the middle of a lesson. Sit down, and be quiet," Takemura began, before shifting his attention to Jolyne. "And you, Brooks. I've already asked you once, so I'll ask you again. Stop fidgeting. If you need to go out for a walk to calm your mind, then that's fine. I—" Before Takemura could finish, the bell rang, causing him to grumble. "Class dismissed. Kuzuryu, stay behind. We need to discuss your behaviour."

Without so much as giving anyone a chance to look at her, Jolyne shot up from her chair and stormed out of the classroom as fast as she could. She needed to be anywhere else other than that room effectively immediately. Her whole body had been on fire for the whole morning and she needed to do something, anything to keep her mind off it.

"And I have to deal with five days of this crap! Fuck you, Mono…"

[I have done nothing wrong in this scenario.]

If she could scream, she would. But, because she couldn't, and because she didn't want to look like a maniac in the middle of the hallway, she instead picked up the pace. She eventually made her way to the roof, and when she got there, she paused, looked around, saw no one, and immediately made a bee-line for a bench.

"Then who can I blame?!"

[Only yourself, Jolyne. You were the one who partook too much. Though, I suppose, it more than likely would have been better if you initiated Transformation. However, there is a way to disperse the excess blood in your system.]

"And how can I do that?"

[Blood-Letting. But, I do not recommend it. It is dangerous for obvious reasons.]

Jolyne sighed, slumping forward as she placed her face in her hands, groaning all the while. When she looked up from her hands, she was greeted with a belted waist at her eye level. When she further looked up, she saw Hajime staring down at her with a raised eyebrow. "Jolyne?"

"Hajime!" Jolyne exclaimed, recoiling slightly Hajime chuckled, sitting next to her with a bento box in his lap. "Fuck, you scared me."

"Sorry about that," Hajime said, staring out toward the city. If it wasn't for the fact that Jolyne's mind was occupied for less than sanitary reasons, she would've said the view was beautiful. Hajime glanced at Jolyne, frowning. "You look… Uh, scatterbrained. Is everything alright?"

"Uh…" Jolyne began, pursing her lips as she frowned. She didn't even know what to say to that. Truthfully, she didn't have a logical answer for her actions in class. Hajime continued to stare at her, concern on his face as she tried and failed to come up with something.

At least, until she had an idea.

"Well, you know… it's that time of the month, and this month it's been incredibly irritating…" Jolyne lied through her teeth, as Hajime nodded, glancing away, an embarrassed flush taking up his cheeks.

"Oh… yeah, uh… okay that makes sense," Hajime muttered, rubbing the back of his neck as he stared at the ground. "Well, uh… yeah, that was always something with you." As Hajime said that, Jolyne raised an eyebrow.

"Huh?"

"Oh, uh… well, you'd always get especially fidgety around those times. You always said it was to help with the cramps…" Hajime said, chewing on his lower lip. "I always found it funny, and you'd always slap me up the back of the head for it."

"Well, this got depressing fast," Jolyne thought, sighing. "I…"

"Yeah, I know. It's pathetic. I should be reminiscing about those kinds of things," Hajime said, a sombre smile on his face. "It's always the little things, isn't it? It's never the big things that I pick up on. Not until it's too late…"

"Hajime…" Jolyne muttered, placing a hand on his shoulder. She knew—she knew—this was referring to "her" "attempted" suicide. God that felt weird to say. This whole situation had been bullshit from front to back, and it was unfair to everyone involved. The only reason Jolyne wasn't depressed right alongside Hajime was that she had been able to comprehend what happened.

Hajime couldn't. He didn't have enough information. Information she wasn't going to tell him based solely on the fact that to him, it wouldn't make a lick of sense. "Look…" She began, moving her hand from his shoulder back to herself, trying to formulate what to say. "The past… it's gone. It's dead and buried. Dragging it out of its grave is a bad idea. It won't go back to the way it used to be, whatever that was. The only thing we can do is move on. Start over again."

"Yeah…" Hajime said, looking back up from the ground and toward the city. Cars drove down the street, and people walked from work to wherever they were going to take their lunch break. "We're friends, right, Jolyne?"

"Yeah, duh? Why're you asking?"

"No reason, just making sure…" Hajime continued as he sighed. "I… wanted to apologize to Kuzuryu-san. She's always been a bit of a… well, you know—"

"A bitch?" Jolyne finished for him, as Hajime paled, before clearing his throat and running a hand through his hair.

"Y-Yeah, you could say that," Hajime said, chuckling quietly as he glanced at her. "Anyway, she's probably going to start bothering you again. I don't know why, but she's never liked you…. Though to be fair, she doesn't like anyone in the school. But for some reason she really hates you."

"Probably because I'm not native to Japan," Jolyne answered as Hajime slowly nodded.

"Well, she is Yakuza. They've always been incredibly Xenophobic toward anyone who comes from other countries. My parents are like that too," Hajime muttered, sighing as he shook his head. "It's honestly kind of depressing…"

"Well, I said I was going to deal with her at some point. If she doesn't stop fucking around, she'll find out," Jolyne said, and just as she did, something popped up in her peripheral vision. It was the same Quest from yesterday, but now, it had changed.

[Relationship Quests – Hajime Hinata]

[School House Woes]

[Difficulty: Normal]

[Kuzuryu Natsumi is pissed off at you for getting her in trouble. She's going to try and beat you up after school, but she doesn't know anything about you. Show her why you're better than her and everyone else around you.

[Rewards: 25 Relationship with Hajime, 3,000 Exp, 1,000 Yen, 3 Physical Strength Tokens, Negative 100 Relationship with Kuzuryu Clan.]

"Cute…" Jolyne frowned, slumping forward as she glanced over at Hajime. He was handing her something. She looked down and saw his bento box, which contained some sushi, a few rice balls, and strips of some kind of steak drizzled with what seemed like soy sauce. "Uh…?"

"You want some sushi? I heard your stomach growl," Hajime said as Jolyne blinked. Her thirst meter was still overloaded, and last she checked she didn't need to eat, so why…?

[You may not need to eat, Jolyne. But others around you perceive you as entirely human. So they can hear when your body would typically be hungry. They can feel and hear a heartbeat and all of the other things you lack. If you were to get X-rayed, they would see bones, organs, and other things. While that is not the case, it is to keep the masquerade going.]

"Well, that's convenient," Jolyne thought, as she took the extra pair of chopsticks, picked up a sushi roll, and stuffed it in her mouth. It didn't taste like anything, but it didn't matter. After a few seconds of chewing, she swallowed and smiled. "Thank you, Hajime."

"It's no problem, just save one for me."

With that, for the next few minutes, they ate lunch together in silence, keeping each other company as they watched people go to and from one place to another. Several other students hung out in the courtyard, and a few other students came up to the roof to talk with their friends and discuss things that Jolyne had no interest in.

As Hajime asked, she left one sushi roll alone for him, and as they ate, she found herself distracted from the other feeling she had been absorbed by lately. It was nice, not to have every thought being about someone pinning her down and doing ungodly things to her. Things that if she even began to describe it would just put her back in that same mindset, so for the sake of herself, she chose not to.

There was something about Hajime that distracted her entirely. It probably had something to do with her crush on him. Which was something that she was still reeling and dealing with. Was it her thoughts, or "her" thoughts that made her feel that way?

Jolyne didn't know, and it was slowly tearing her up inside. While she had been able to somewhat move on with the fact that she had taken over someone else's life, that didn't change the fact that she couldn't figure out what were her feelings, or the feelings of "her past self" taking root and messing with her mind.

A part of her wanted to believe this was her actual feelings, but it was more than likely more complicated than that. Which was just lovely, because she just loved that for herself. Being constantly confused about what's her and what's "her". It annoyed her to no end, and it frustrated her beyond belief.

But, such was her life. It was better to make peace with it than not.

Suddenly, the bell rang, and she hadn't noticed it, but she and Hajime had been holding hands, their fingers intertwined. He was gripping her tightly as if to say that he didn't want to let her go. He looked calm, relaxed, and almost nostalgic. She cleared her throat, snapping him out of whatever trance he had been in, which prompted him to let go, though he clearly didn't want to.

"Let's get back to class…" Hajime said, picking up his now empty bento box and heading toward the roof door, Jolyne following after him. Something was bothering Hajime, but he wasn't talking about it.

"Why won't he just talk about it?" Jolyne thought, frowning as she tried to catch up to him, but his long legs gave him the advantage of moving faster than her. As they walked down the hallway, Jolyne caught a glimpse of what looked like Natsumi and some green-haired girl arguing about something, with a redhead getting in between them.

"Huh… seems like she's picking fights with everyone. What an idiot…" Jolyne thought, passing the room that the argument was happening in and making it back to their classroom. Natsumi followed them in afterward, clearly pissed off about something or another as they took their seats.

Without further prompting, Science class began again as normal. This time, though, she wasn't tapping her foot or anything like that. While she was still being pestered by her body still being super sensitive, she wasn't all hot and bothered anymore. Talking to Hajime had done something to her. She didn't know what, but it did.

It was a trope fiction where a Vampire or something akin to a Vampire would calm their feelings down when they spoke to someone they deeply cared for. It was weird, and it was stupid, and she hadn't thought it applied to real life, but that seemed to be the case.

"Hey, Mono, is that normal for that to happen?"

[You have Overfed, so you should be feeling the full brunt of its effects. Although, strangely, the timer has been decreased somehow. It was once 112 hours and 30 minutes, but now, it has gone down to 6 hours and 10 minutes. I do not sense any changes within your hormonal structure to suggest anything has happened in that time. This is unprecedented. Are you sure you haven't done any "particular activities" in the last hour?]

"Fairly certain. I would remember doing that… unless…" That was when Jolyne realized something that wanted to make her laugh. "Mono, does "Handholding" count as a lewd act?"

[It does. Why?]

"Oh my fucking God! That's hilarious!" Jolyne thought, trying not to laugh as she looked up at her thirst meter. Sure enough, it had drained down to 109 out of 100. Six more hours and she'd be fine.

"What's so funny, Brooks?" Takemura-sensei spoke up, drawing Jolyne out of her thoughts as everyone looked at her. She tried to say something, only for Takemura to sigh. "It seems like you're going to have detention after school. Go to the office and wait until the bell rings." As Takemura went to say that, she was about to protest, only to give up. She knew she wasn't going to convince him, so, instead, she got up from her chair, and began to walk to the front of the class to exit the room.

As she made her way to the door, she was staring at the ground, dejected, only to catch something out of the corner of her eye as she was walking. It was Kuzuryu, and she had to admit, the balls this girl had were actually insane.

Why?

Because her foot had been outstretched past the legs on her desk. Jolyne had been lucky to have caught that as she had been walking toward the door rather than having already been tripped up by it. It was a gutsy move, all things considered, but not one that would go unnoticed.

Mid-stride, Jolyne raised her leg just a little bit higher than normal, but not so high that it would've caught Kuzuryu's attention. As soon as she rose her leg, she slammed her foot down on Kuzuryu's outstretched foot with enough force to potentially break one of her toes. A crack sounded out from where Kuzuryu sat, prompting her to hiss and curse under her breath, catching Takemura's attention.

"Kuzuryu, what did we just talk about at lunch?" Takemura said, annoyed as Kuzuryu went to say something, only to be interrupted by Takemura, who crossed his arms. "That's enough. I don't want to hear it. You too, detention after school! I can't believe I have to do this. You're a grown woman, so start acting like it. Both of you, to the office, now!"

With an annoyed growl, Natsumi got up from her chair, limping as she walked toward the door. But as she passed Jolyne, Natsumi whispered something to her. Her voice was low, so only she could hear, and had Jolyne not been who or what she was, she probably would've taken it seriously.

"I'm going to make you regret what you did, bitch. See me after detention."

Jolyne watched as Natsumi stormed out of the classroom. She waited a few seconds, then followed in her footsteps, gently sliding the classroom door shut to not disturb other classes nearby.

Back in the classroom, Hajime didn't know what to say. This whole thing was stupid for a myriad of reasons. He supposed after school was a better time than any to talk to Kuzuryu about her behaviour. However, given the kind of person Kuzuryu was, he wouldn't have been even remotely shocked if things turned to violence.

He had the misfortune of being in the same 8th class with her back in Elementary School. She was a disturbance and a nuisance. She was never told to stop because she was Yakuza, made worse by her being the daughter of the head of the Kuzuryu Clan. So if she ever got in trouble, all it took were a few words to be spoken for the whole thing to be swept under the rug.

He had endured her bullying for the last few years, but now it was starting to get annoying. When he met Jolyne, her bullying swapped to her.

And…

Hajime couldn't, nor would he ever forgive Natsumi Kuzuryu for what she said and did. For what her words caused, and the situation he was in. Stuck between a rock and a hard place. He was just glad Jolyne was alive.

She was different. That was obvious. There were still similarities, like her sense of humour and her bluntness. If he had to guess, she still played Dark Souls religiously. There were just some things that you couldn't forget. Her personality was mostly the same, with some differences, like her overall bravery and willingness to reach out.

It was why he had been slightly taken aback when she offered to help with Kuzuryu.

She didn't remember the horrible things she said. The things she did. What Hajime saw time and time again.

Natsumi was an awful, awful human being, and was only held by back her less-than-horrible older brother who had apologized to him for what had happened with Jolyne. So much so that he offered to pay for this year's school tuition and the next year's.

He accepted—because one didn't ignore a Yakuza man's apology. Especially when they were the next heir to the empire. But that didn't settle the anger and grief he had felt. The days of loneliness and despair he had felt when Jolyne was in that coma…

"Hinata, are you paying attention?" Takemura called out, clear annoyance in his voice as Hajime looked up at the chalkboard.

"Yes, Sensei."

"Then what did I just say?"

"Thanks to the horrors of Unit 731, we know one of the many ways to combat tumours and diseases that, at the time, we didn't have the know-how to counteract," Hajime replied cooly as Takemura nodded.

"Good. So you were paying attention. Be sure to act like it from now on, or you can join the others at the deputy headmaster's office," Takemura turned back to the board and continued his lesson. Hajime sat in bored silence, writing notes and doing the worksheets that were handed out. By the time it was all said and done, he had completed the assignment and handed it in early, just before the bell rang for school to break out for the day.

He was a little annoyed that his plans with Jolyne had been cancelled due to her not paying attention in class, but given everything that's been going on, he didn't blame her for spacing out and thinking about literally anything else. If he was in her position, he would've done the same thing.

Despite his nerdy appearance, Hajime wasn't exactly a fan of school. Especially The Reserve Course. Because of his placement, his dream to become an Ultimate was shattered. But then again, he was the definition of average. If there was an even more average person than him, he'd be genuinely shocked.

He had no outstanding talent. He was simply Hajime. Hajime Hinata—even his name was boring.

Hajime exited the classroom and went to his locker to collect his things. He was going to have to bus home since he had been too sore from the gym to ride his bike—yes, he went to the gym. It was a shocking thing, but he wasn't keen to let himself look ugly. Yesterday was leg day, and today was a break day.

He used to go to the gym with Jolyne every day, the exception being on Mondays and Wednesdays. Their schedule was two days of Arms, shoulders, and back, a break day, two more days of chest and core, a break day, a day for legs, and then another break day. Jolyne had decided to do it because, at the time, she had gained a lot of weight and she wanted to work it off.

It was why she looked the way she did now, give or take a few pounds due to her coma. Maybe next week he could continue that routine with her? If anything, it was more time to be with her and to rekindle their bond.

After collecting everything from his locker, and exiting the school, he was about to leave campus when he saw someone standing at the gates. He felt ashamed to admit it, but he had forgotten about his prior deal with her. Maybe it was for the better that Jolyne had gone to detention because otherwise, things would've been a little weird.

Standing at the front gates another girl. She was dressed in the same female school uniform as every other student at Hope's Peak Academy, though hers was a little different, as she had a badge signifying her as a member of the main course, making her an Ultimate. She had chin-length mauve hair, with pale purple eyes. In her bangs was a pin that belonged to the franchise Galaga, and in her offhand was a GameBoy Advanced.

She wasn't all that tall, maybe around 5'2 to 5'3, either or, he couldn't exactly remember. She had a pale complexion, and instead of regular stockings, she had on a pair of cat-themed stockings, with black ears poking out just next to her kneecaps, and pair of black loafers. On her back was a cat-themed backpack, and stitched onto her school blazer was a hood.

"Hinata-kun," her voice was soft, like cotton fresh out of the dryer. The way she smiled, too… It filled his heart with hope. And yet, while his heart burned, and his air stolen from his lungs, and as much as he found her attractive and cute, Chiaki Nanami wasn't, nor would she ever be his.

There were ample reasons for it, namely with her being an Ultimate Student, automatically putting her out of his league, it was the second thing that locked him away from ever even so much as fantasizing about the idea.

It was because he was already taken.

Even if she didn't remember it.

"Nanami-san. I'm sorry, I almost forgot about our meet-up," Hajime admitted as Chiaki shrugged.

"It happens. Don't worry. I forget a lot too, sometimes," Chiaki said, yawning. "Like this morning. I was so focused on my game that I forgot to breathe."

"That's… not a good thing."

"I was joking, Hinata-kun," Chiaki giggled, and it ripped his heart out of his chest. God, why was she like this? "We should get going."

"Y-yeah…" With that, they left the campus. He looked over his shoulder, back at the building, and frowned. He just hoped that Jolyne didn't do anything stupid. Though, given her recent personality change, he'd have to say it was more likely than he would've liked to admit…

[-To Be Continued-]

[Ending Song: Outsider – By: EVE]

So, there's that! A little shorter than the last few chapters, but it's worth it! More world-building and character dynamics, but considering just how much happens in the future—and boy oh boy is it a lot, stuff like this is needed. Also, drama is the best! A lot of people were thinking that someone was going to die in this chapter, and ya'll missed the mark entirely.

Anyway, now, onto my response to reviews/comments!

(FF) AidenJacksonSmithDSBB: Well, there won't be another one for a while. I'll only do that stuff when it fits the chapter and mood. And spoiler alert, that's not for a long, long time.

(Ao3) void_boi1: I've only now just noticed that there's a "1" in your name. Huh. Neat. Anyway, thank you! Have another!

(Ao3) fluffycuddlebug: Eh, sorta. She's not a complete vampire. She's just a blood drinker. She won't be a full-fledged vampire for a while now. But when she is…. Oh boy, that'll be fun to write! Also, I know who you are referring to, and she won't be making an appearance till a little later in the story. *Checks notes* Yeah, not for a little bit longer. As for DICE. Well, I won't say anything regarding that. You'll just have to wait and see.

(Ao3) TyMaddux: I already replied to you in the comments of the actual fic. I'm not going to repeat myself. 'Sides, we already settled it. Not going to bring it up again.

(Ao3) Kolt: Oh my god, that's happened to me more times than I can count. I pour my heart and soul into a review, and then I lose track of time, and something stupid happens and the review gets scrapped and somehow deleted. It's annoying, and I hate it, but what can you do?

Solo Levelling is a peak anime, a goated Manwha, and an even better novel. I don't blame you for the brain rot.

As for the zombie boss, yeah, that left 4 dead brute stuff is old hat. I'm glad you liked what I did! Anyway, see you next time, Kolt. Have a good day.

Anyway, that's all there is to it. See you all in the next chapter! Peace out!

Discord Link: https-:-/-/-dis-cord-.-gg-/-Pva9PNxAzh