[48G, 46G, and IZONE] しぇからしか！ - Chapter 5 (181228)

[masyho17]

Author's note: I originally wrote this back in 2015 on wattpad and tumblr and neglected it until now so the difference in writing style is really obvious.

Prologue

July 16, 2015...

‘WHEE-WOO! WHEE-WOO! WHEE-WOO!'

Police sirens sounded everywhere in the building. The streets filled with police cars which refuse to turn off their sirens, the lights blinding the night sky. In the roof of the said building, you can see a Detective holding his trusty gun, trying to chase a masked individual wearing a customized tuxedo that shows off her figure, holding a small gilded chest decorated with diamonds and emeralds. Their goose chase led to the Female Phantom Thief being cornered to a nearby pedestal.

“Thtop light thele, Phanthom Theif!"

Oops, the Detective didn’t pronounce that line quite well. The Phantom Thief only gave him a smile as she jumped to the said pedestal.

“I-I said… STOP LIGHT THELE!” the Detective repeated his line, only to fail once more.

The Female Phantom Thief, trying to hold herself together, replied in a deep voice, “Interesting. I would like to see you try, Detective. That is… If you still can.”

On his receiver, his subordinates sent their reassurance. “Chief Kodama, we’ve got the place covered, over! Even if the Phantom Thief decides to jump off, we can catch her, over!”

‘HAH! I got you now, Thief!’ He thought as he readied his reply. “You think you can ethcape me? Well, today’th not your lucky day!” The Detective then smirked and aimed at the foot of the Phantom Thief, missing horribly only to give the latter an opening to escape.

“Fare thee well, Detective.” The Female Phantom Thief jumped off, spread her cape, and then flew off to a building several meters away with a billboard which turned out to be a disguise for the latter’s true escape vehicle, a helicopter.

“AHA! I knew you would do that” Shouted the male Detective. “BLAVO INDIA INDIA, the target is coming your way, over!” he shouted on the receiver.

There was no response from the receiver. Of course, who would answer to somebody who missed on saying your squad’s name? Well, apart from that, only a long static could be heard from the receiver.

“BRAVO INDIA INDIA, CONFIRM YOUR THTATUTH, OVER!” he impatiently shouted over the receiver. He then thought of the nearby squad and shouted on the receiver, “NOVEMBER Thquadlon, what’s happening to the Bravo India India Thquadlon, over?”

“C-chief, we don’t know for sure, over!” the police officer on the other line said. “They haven’t been responding to us for half an hour now, over!” the police officer added.

While a ruckus was happening on the Detective’s side, the Female Phantom Thief successfully escaped the premises, her helicopter heading to an unknown location.

5 minutes after the escape, the Detective’s receiver suddenly received a transmission from the supposedly idle Bravo India India Squadron, “Chief, we were knocked down by an unknown enemy and we’ve only woken up, over!”

“THITH!” shouted the Detective as he stomped on the floor.

The operation failed.

-=To be Continued=-

[masyho17]

Chapter 1 - The Hakata Private Academy

July 17, 2015…
Hakata Private Academy...

Hakata Private Academy, an exclusive school for the smart and talented. Only students with average grades of 80 and above may enroll and take classes in this very school unless you’re someone with an outrageous amount of talent. The school is heavily influenced by British culture, hence its Victorian style of Architecture. Its walls were made of reinforced concrete and the floors were made of white marble. There are 3 Dormitories in the school. 1 of them belongs to Class H, the class of the Talented; and 1 of them belongs to Class KIV, the class of the smart people who ALWAYS have average grades of 85 percent and above. The last dormitory belongs to the Trainee Students who are still developing their minds and talents but are still obliged to meet the 80 percent average grade in reference of the school policy.

“Ah, the sweet sweet sound of 85% average grade. I thought I wouldn’t make it!” cried Tomonaga Rui, the class goat of Class KIV, who was wearing an unbuttoned gray blazer and a cerulean and white coloured trousers as he sat down on his seat inside the School’s Student Council Room. He is also the Public Relations Officer of the school’s Student Council.

“If you didn’t pass the test, you would transfer to Class H anyway thanks to your talent in playing the Clarinet so no worries.” said Motomura Aoi, one of the middle-rankers in the class. Like Rui, she could transfer to Class H if she ends up under the class average.

“Wouldn’t you miss me if I transferred to the other Class?” asked Rui, now pouting.

“Miss what? We attend the same class as Class H anyway so what’s the difference?” Aoi answered as she flicked Rui’s head.

“Besides, the love of your ass, Meru, is on the other Class. Wouldn’t you be thrilled?” added Moriyasu Maki, the tall Auditor of the school while reading his playboy magazine, disguised behind a newspaper.

Aoi-tan then stood up a little and tried peeking on Moriyasu’s ‘newspaper’ when she saw Sakura-tan standing behind Moriyasu, signaling both Aoi-tan and Rui to just pretend that she’s not behind him. Playboy Magazines were strictly not allowed in the school premises and Moriyasu is in for a little surprise.

Moriyasu peered through the pages of the magazine, looking at the precious assets of his favorite models, he raised his feet on the table as he lied down the chair. “Woot! Kojiharu’s assets are on point as usual.”

“I know, right?” said a familiar voice behind him. He was too focused on the magazine that he didn’t notice who owned the voice. He conversed with the voice, without knowing that it was in fact, Miyawaki Sakura, from Class KIV, President of Student Council and of course, the smartest in their whole batch.

Another voice, different from the former then joined the conversation. “Kojiharu-san’s still looking good! I wanna have those breasts too!” said the second voice, whose identity was Anai Chihiro, Treasurer of the Student Council. She belonged to Class H and her special talent is playing guitar. Her stature makes her look fragile which is proven by her average to low grades in their Physical Education Class. Moriyasu also didn’t notice her at all and conversed with her as if it’s normal.

“If Chihiron had these breasts, I’d grope her every day!” Moriyasu puffed his chest, proclaiming these words without shame.

“Ara, how bold of you, Moriyasu.” replied Sakura-tan while glaring at him.

“Kyaa~! I might charge you every day for sexual harassment, Moriyasu-kun!” said Chihiron, glaring at Moriyasu who hasn’t realized that the jig is up.

“Yeah~! And additional charge for bringing illegal articles inside the school premises, Moriyasu~!” added Sakura-tan who obviously conspired with Chihiron at this moment to actually rip Moriyasu off his money.

Moriyasu then replied mindlessly, “Ehh~? Stop talking about fines all the time, Kaichou and Chihiron~!” He then stopped for a while and just realized what has been happening in the background. He then slowly turned around and saw the Student Council President and Treasurer, glaring at him. He slowly and silently screamed as the Treasurer went to get her tools of the trade, a small wheel-of-fortune; which contained numbers starting from x1 to x10, and a notepad which contained slips for fines. 1,000 is the base of their fines.

Sakura-tan then looked at Chihiron as she signalled her to roll the wheel, which started turning to the right. Moriyasu, now nervous about the results, swayed both of his hands repeatedly to the left, begging the gods that the roulette stops at x1. Aoi-tan on the other hand, clasped both of her hands and wiggled side to side, wishing that the roulette stops at the highest numbers so the whole Student Council could enjoy a pizza from the fine. As they did this, Fuchigami Mai, their Homeroom teacher, saw this outside through the window. Mai-chan, thinking that the whole thing the two were doing were dance steps, called her friend for a favor and decided to imitate Moriyasu’s movements. Students saw Mai-chan doing it and thus decided to imitate the teacher, thinking that doing it would give them bonus grades or would help their brains process information easier. This ultimately led to a dance mob outside the Student Council Room which was the talk of the school, some days later. Some seconds later, the roulette started losing its momentum. Thus, the two who accidentally started a dance mob, prayed to their gods further, hoping that their wishes are granted.
And thus came the moment of truth. The wheel completely stopped at x10. It was Aoitan’s victory. Chihiron then issued a fine slip. The slip contained the words:

“Fine for bringing illegal article inside school grounds: 10,000.
Fine for sexually harassing a schoolmate: 10,000.
Total fine: 20,000.
Signed by: Anai Chihiro, Treasurer”

Moriyasu’s world stopped. Now almost lifeless, he opened his wallet and paid his dues to Chihiron, who was more than happy to receive such a huge fine. The accidentally formed dance mob dissolved and went back to their respective classes.

Rui then pat Moriyasu’s back and said, “Thanks for the pizza. I like Manager’s choice. Thin crust.”

“SHUT UP!” hissed Moriyasu.

***

Hakata Police Department…

“WHAAAAT!?” shouted a familiar looking detective. He was 6 foot tall, his hair looked similar to a bob cut but longer and looked boyish. His name, if you didn’t read the previous chapter, is Kodama Haruto. He was a Detective, an ace detective in the city and a Chief of his department too.

“Now, now. You have to do this, Kodama-kun.” said his immediate superior, Assistant Commissioner Umemoto Izumi, as he patted Haruto’s back. He then glanced on his other subordinates. “Men, strip him off his clothing."

“NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!”

Haruto’s terrified voice filled the room.

-=To be Continued=-

[masyho17]

Author's Note: Warning. The Fic's author totally messed up the timeline of the real world. I know most of the songs mentioned in the fic were released on 2016. However, for the convenience of the fic, the Author still wrote them as they represent the characters well or at least think that it is so. Just think of it as a random mishap of someone who can't do research and probably hasn't encountered good songs because they didn't exist yet.

Chapter 2 - "Nice to meet you... Perhaps?"

July 18, 2015
Hakata Private Academy…
1 hour before the first class…
In front of the School gates…

An abnormally long limousine promptly stopped in front of the School gates. Its right rear window opened slightly, revealing a black-haired petite young girl looking at the surroundings of the school gates.

"Sheesh. Why did they have to flock near the school gates today? Why not just tomorrow? Ihh." the petite young girl said in an annoyed tone.

"Geez. Just get out already. Why is this school so big? We wouldn't be using a limousine on our way to school if it wasn't so huge. I mean… The garden looks really good and all but… Ah, never mind. Just get out, Aoi." a taller girl said beside the small young girl she just called 'Aoi'.

"Ihh… But Sakura… I want to play my background mu--"

"No. Not that Imperial March again." Sakura retorted before Aoi could finish her sentence.

"Yes, Sakura. YES." Aoi eagerly replied, her hands obviously gripping on the portable radio.

Sakura, now really annoyed, then swiftly took away the radio from Aoi's hands.

Hakata Private Academy has this very unique way of announcing that a certain Student Council member has arrived in the school. Instead of sounding warning bells, the previous students of the school got creative and instead chose several songs, spanning from current to part and from local to foreign songs to signify a certain member.

"Seriously though. Why do we have to walk separately on our way to school? Damn that song policy." Sakura said in a bored tune.

"Oh come on. Didn't you like Pristin's Wee Woo? It's your song, mah man~!" Aoi said, doing an annoying finger-gun pose at Sakura.

"Where did you learn that annoying pose?" Sakura asked, face-palming at Aoi's pose.

"The interwebs. People from Nihonjin Trashposting sure are funny!" Aoi answered.

"Don't show that in public or your image will be destroyed." Sakura said then got out of the limousine. As Sakura went out, a red carpet welcomed her to the school gates. She stepped on the carpet, making her way. As she was walking, every student had their eyes on her, while the school's megaphones played Pristin's Wee Woo.

"We are Pristin~! Annyeong!"

"Miyawaki-sama sure is pretty. I wish I could be like her."

"Me too! Smart, pretty, and kind! Not to mention but she's as elegant as a swan as well! She's the epitome of perfection!"

Everyone showered Sakura praises as she walked gracefully to the school building.

Several seconds later, Aoi went out of the car and walked to the same red carpet. As she did so, i.o.i.'s Crush started playing in the background. Every male student in the school grounds looked at her as she elegantly walked to the school building.

"Oh my gosh~ Jigeum nae simjangeun crush~ Ontong gyakgyakgyak bimeyongsori gadukhae~!"

"Ah~ Motomura-sama looks cute today as well!"

"Cute, chic, and pretty! I wish I was her boyfriend!"

"Both Motomura-sama and Miyawaki-sama are Class KIV, right? Then they're not only pretty but also intelligent! Perfect people do exist!"

Several minutes later, a boy who was dressed roughly started running past the school gates. This boy was the Public Relations Officer, Tomonaga Rui. A song then played in the school's megaphones, specifically Beast's 'Beautiful'.

"So beautiful my girl! My beautiful my girl and I… So beautiful my girl-- In the cube! Haha girl! This is my confession. Drop. That. Beat."

Aoi and Sakura heard the said song from inside the school building while both were changing to their school shoes and then looked behind them.

"Ah. He did it again." They both said in unison.

Rui then tripped on the sliding door and fell to the ground, leaving Aoi and Sakura weirded out.

Aoi then approached him and said, "Just stop already. The song will play unless you're Moriyasu."

"Aoi got that right." Moriyasu answered, closing his shoe locker.

Sakura then sighed and whispered, "When will you actually use the school gates as an entrance to school, Moriyasu?"

"Oh come on. I know the trick for that song system. That's why I exploit it by using my talents." Moriyasu answered as he went on his way to class. He opened his phone to take his daily selfie.

Rui then ran to Moriyasu's side. "HOW DO I STOP THE SONG FROM PLAYING!? TEACH ME--"

Before he could finish his sentence, a girl, who was slightly taller than Aoi, kicked him in the side. Moriyasu accidentally tapped the capture button as the girl was beating Rui. Moriyasu's face in the photo was smiling awkwardly with his left hand doing a thumbs up as Rui was being beaten by the girl in the background.

"Meru, stop! PLEASE! AHHHHH!" Rui begged for his dear life.

"I already told you several times to stop running to school, didn't I!?"

"Yes! YES! STOP IT! NO MORE!"

As they entered the classroom, the song "Chameleon Joshikousei" could be heard in the background.

"Anai-san has arrived, I see." Sakura muttered.

First Period…
2nd Year Class…

Fuchigami-sensei entered the room then asked the person behind her to stay outside. As usual, the class was uninterested. She then went in front of the whole class and gently put down her books on the desk in front of the blackboard. She then gleefully told them the news. “Class, we have 2 new students!”

Everyone in the class then looked at her.

She then went back to the door, opened it and asked the transferees to go inside and introduce themselves. The first transferee who went in front of the class, was quite flashy, and wore quite a serious face but suddenly smiled when he saw the ever so nerdy Treasurer, Anai Chihiro who was wearing the school’s uniform, a white blouse under a vest, concealed inside the school’s official blazer. Fuchigami-sensei then told him to introduce himself. This transferee also bore a familiar face according to the students.

The student then wrote his name on the board and faced the class with a stern look on his face.

Inoue Yuriya, a student sorted to Class H then whispered to Okamoto Naoko, her seatmate, “Isn’t he the guy in the fashion magazines? The one beside Yuizou-kun in this month’s Hakata Fineboys Magazine, right?”

“KYAA! He is the one! He looks so much better in personal!” answered Naopon who squealed after seeing one of her dream guys in real life.

The flashy transferee student nodded and said, “My name’s Matsuoka Natsu. From Fukuoka Commercial High School. I was sorted into Class H. My talent is dancing, acting, and modelling. And oh, playing the Saxophone.” He then smiled at Chihiron.

The students saw that Natsu was interested at Chihiron and thus gossiped about the two of them. “That Anai! Not only did she bewitch Maki-kun to be interested at her, she also bewitched Matsuoka-kun! What a flirt.”

However, Chihiron was rather avoidant of Natsu the whole time, averting her gaze from him, sticking to her hopefully correctly stated trial balance for Moriyasu’s audit after school hours.
Fuchigami then noticed this and said, “Oh, are you acquainted with Ms. Anai here?”

Natsu then confidently replied, “Of course. We even slept together.” This caused an uproar in the class.

His statement made Anai stand up and retaliate in return. “N-natsu, that was 10 years ago! When we were children!” Those words coupled with Chihiron’s deadly glare made Natsu apologise instantly.
“Oh come on. I’m sorry, okay? I just missed you, that’s all.” said Natsu, sweating profusely.

“Well, that’s that so to make matters easier, Mr. Matsuoka, please sit beside Ms. Anai. Ms. Anai, please tour him around the school later when you have the time.” she then signalled the next student, and then looked somehow at Sakura, Aoi, and Maki.

The transferee then made his way inside the room, wrote his name on the board and faced his classmates. He was wearing an orange hoodie inside his blazer, his hair disorderly but disorderly in a somehow fashionably rebellious manner.

Sakura, unfazed by both transferees, then listened to what the 2nd transferee has to say.

The transferee then inhaled and exhaled loudly as he puffed his chest, gathering his courage. “Good morning, my name ish Kodama Haruto. Naish to meet you!”

The whole class then snickered as they heard the transferee’s lisp. The first transferee however, gave a disappointed expression.

This made Haruto embarrassed. “What’sh with you guysh and lishpsh?! Are you guysh picking up a fight!?” Haruto dared his classmates.

Fuchigami then thought that the 2nd transferee is a rebel so she texted the ever-so-mischievous principal about it. The reply from the Principal came in faster than expected, its words implying that the rebellious transferee be guarded by the Student Council President. Fuchigami, with a somewhat troubled face then signalled Sakura to step forward and read the Principal’s message. Sakura, upon reading the text then obeyed without question.

“Mr. Kodama, please sit beside Ms. Miyawaki. And please tour him later as well, Ms. President.” Fuchigami then concluded the homeroom by starting their Science Class. Haruto sat beside Sakura, the latter who greeted the former with a cold and distant smile. Haruto then took this as a sign that the President was within his reach. He thought that the youth these days were all about partying and having drugs and fun so he decided to try acting like the cool guy that he's not. After the class, Sakura then interrupted his thoughts by giving him her phone number, which she gave to almost everyone in the campus because of her duty as the Student Council President. Haruto gave his in exchange then decided to try his luck by sending her a kinda idiotic message.

To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan
Hey Pres! Want to have
sex with me?
--END OF MESSAGE—

Sakura instantly received this message. To which she gave a neutral reply.

To: Kodama Haruto (2nd Year Class H)
Sexual harassment in the Campus is
not allowed. You have been warned.
Your next attempt would deem it
necessary for me to call the attention
of the Student Council Treasurer to
issue you a fine slip. Have a good day.
--END OF MESSAGE—

Haruto has been cockblocked by school rules. However, being the pushy person that he is, he wouldn’t allow such petty rules to get in the way. He then replied:

To: Miyawaki Sakura-chan
Eh? Just an hour would be
fine!
—END OF MESSAGE—

After Sakura received it, she looked at the direction of Chihiron, who blushed after seeing the transferee beside Sakura. Upon noticing Chihiron’s behavior, she snapped her fingers to call her attention. Chihiron then stood up from her chair, and went to in front of Sakura’s chair with her mini wheel of fortune.

“What is it, Ms. Miyawaki?” Chihiron asked, avoiding Haruto’s gaze.

“Fine slip. Sexual Harassment.” Sakura answered as she showed the conversation on her phone between her and Haruto.

“S-sorry, Kodama-san. You just transferred and now, I’m issuing you a fine slip…” Chihiron apologized and then spun the wheel. In the background, specifically on the chairs of Motomura and Moriyasu, Aoitan could be seen chanting prayers which could be lip synched to ‘Pizza, pizza, pizza, pizza…’ After a few seconds, the wheel lost its momentum and it stopped to 5. Chihiron wrote the slip and gave it to Sakura.

“You didn’t listen. Now, you owe us 5,000 yen.” Sakura said then passed the gray piece of paper to the poor transferee. The poor transferee, defeated, paid the fine.

Natsu was still facepalming after seeing Haruto pay his first fine to his Childhood friend.

Fuchigami continued her lecture as if the whole fine-collecting thing was normal. Miyawaki’s Student Council is known to be so profit-oriented to the point that fines are collected before its members solve the underlying problem. As Fuchigami was walking around the room, she then remembered something important. She then returned in front of the blackboard. “I just remembered, by the way.” The whole class then looked at her. “Ms. Anai, Ms. Miyawaki, and Mr. Moriyasu all passed the 2 Licensure Examinations they took just this May. Namely, the Certified Bookkeeper Examination and the Certified Tax Technician Examination with Ms. Miyawaki getting into the top 10 of both exams.” The whole class applauded.

The three of them stood up and bowed in front of their classmates. Fuchigami then looked at Aoi. “And Ms. Motomura, thanks for your participation.”

Aoi then confidently answered as if she was the topnotcher, “Sure thing. Any time, Professah.” She said these words with matching actions from her right hand as if hitting an imaginary friend in front of her.

Sakura just facepalmed internally as she remembered what Aoi did in the first day of their review.

Flashback…
March 2015…

4 students were originally invited by the Principal to undergo the course. Miyawaki Sakura for being Class KIV’s Topnotcher and of course, because she’s the current Student Council President. Moriyasu Maki for being the Student Council’s Auditor, and also because he’s one of the top students of Class KIV. Anai Chihiro due to her status as Student Council’s Treasurer and also because of her, being the Class H’s Topnotcher. Motomura Aoi because well… She’s the Vice President and because the Principal wasn’t really thinking.

Fuchigami-sensei went in front of the 4 students and said, "Welcome to my Advanced Accounting Review Class. We only have 3 months to prepare you guys. The Licensure Tests would be at the end of May. Blame our Principal for being the incompetent fool that she is for making you guys suffer in this 3 month course just because she needs a slave accountant-slash-bookkeeper to keep the school’s accounts.”

The four students then sighed. Fuchigami-sensei then passed around a thick 1000 pages worth of handout for them to scan. Sakura scanned the handout and started understanding the basics as she tried the theories on the short problems. Moriyasu doesn’t seem to have problems with the handouts due to his background in Accounting, thanks to his Cram School. A few minutes later, Sakura and Moriyasu could be seen comparing their answers, with either of them correcting the other. Chihiron, on the other hand, tried grasping the gist of every paragraph in her own words but couldn’t seem to understand anything. And finally, Aoitan, who only got into the program due to her status as Student Council Vice President, was silently browsing through the pages of the handout.

Sakura stopped momentarily to watch a serious Aoi who looked like she was really studying. Sakura was shocked to see her like that for the first time. ‘I think this is her calling. She’s going to excel at this sort of stuff. I can feel it. I’ll be expecting a lot from Aoi-chan from now on.’ Sakura thought then nodded a little. She then looked at Moriyasu and whispered, “Look at her, Moriyasu. She looks so cute when she’s studying seriously like that.” Sakura then smiled.

Moriyasu then sighed and replied, “I wouldn’t be so sure.” He then moved away from Aoi’s chair.

Sakura wondered as to why Moriyasu did that. She then looked at Aoitan who was reading the middlemost page of the handout. Aoitan then closed the handout, sighed, then pushed the handout a bit away from her. Aoi then closed her eyes and suddenly… scattered her handout in the air and then ran as fast as she could to the door. “FREEDOM!” Aoi shouted as she opened the door and then scurried away from the plague that is, the subject itself.
Sakura’s mouth was left agape. Moriyasu then rolled his eyes and closed Sakura's mouth. “I told you, didn’t I?”

End of Flashback…

Fuchigami then sighed and said, "Well anyway, let's congratulate our 3 passers!"

All of the students in the class gave them a round of applause. After the class ended, Chihiron and Sakura started touring the students assigned to them.

"This is the library. The librarian is a really strict woman so it's best you keep quiet." Chihiron then looked at Natsu. "Are you still listening?" she asked.

"Yeah." Natsu answered then smiled sadly. "It's been so long since we last talked. I just feel that you've really grown into such a good looking woman." he added.

"Stop with the flattery, Natsu. And I agree. The last time I saw you, you were still a snotty nosed brat who liked annoying me together with Aoi. Now, you're in the magazines, and Aoi is still annoying me in class." Chihiron replied, smiling sadly.

"Aoi? The cheerful girl we used to play with was Aoi? She's also the Aoi in the classroom?" Natsu was perplexed with the sudden development.

"Uhh… Yeah? What's wrong?" Chihiron asked in return.

"Didn't she die with the whole Motomura clan in the Motomura Massacre?" Natsu, hearing Chihiron's answer, is now getting scared.

"Yeah… However, she survived. And even managed to get the clan ring so that everyone would recognize her as the sole heir of the fortune or so I was told but let's not talk about it here." Chihiron then pulled Natsu to the rooftop.

Rooftop…

"Phew. Let's talk about it here. Nobody in the school knows that the Motomura in the school is the survivor to the Motomura Clan massacre. They just know that she was overseas or something when it happened." Chihiron was panting heavily.

"I see. Is she… Still the same person we were friends with?" Natsu asked nervously.

"Yeah… I guess? But for some reason she's really hard on me these days. Could it be…? That she…" Chihiron was thinking deeply.

"That she what?" Natsu then interrupted her thoughts.

"Ah, nothing! Enough of the gory talk. I was asked to tour you around the school, not tell you about some sad event." Chihiron then smiled at him. "Alright, let's go to the Cafeteria, shall we?" Chihiron then went down the stairs, leaving Natsu for a few seconds in the rooftop.

"Nothing… Has changed…" Natsu said as he looked at the back of his childhood friend. 'Or did something change?' he then followed Chihiron.

Meanwhile…

"Kodama-san, this is the Cafeteria. It has set themes daily and the themes may vary from Local to Foreign menus. If you don't like the theme for the day, the Local dishes can be ordered in the leftmost stall. Now, let's go to the other parts of the school. Let's start with the bookstore, shall we?" Sakura was explaining the facilities of the school as fast as she could to Haruto who wrote everything in a pocket-sized notebook diligently.

"Ma'am, yes, ma'am." Haruto answered as he followed Sakura to the Bookstore.

"For someone who asked me to have sex with him in first message, you sure are obedient." Sakura said, not even batting an eye on him.

"I was trying to imitate what boys my age would say." Haruto sighed then looked at the bookstore.

"Anyway, if you need to buy school supplies or books, this is the place for that." Sakura said then looked at Haruto. "My first impression of you was bad enough but you're not that bad of a person. Let's get along well." she then smiled at him and offered her hand for a handshake.

Haruto then smiled back. "Nice to meet you." he then shook her hand.

"Oops, it's time for class. Let's go back. In the afternoon, I might attend a separate class due to our class statuses." Sakura then turned her back on Haruto, showing him the way back to the classroom.

"Oh, so that whole Class KIV and H thing isn't just about class scores?" Haruto wondered as Sakura started walking back to their classroom.

"Yeah. Students from Class KIV are expected to study more about Science as students from Class H are expected to hone their talents more. What was your talent again?" Sakura kept walking.

"I can play the piano." Haruto replied shyly.

"That was unexpected. So they handed you an application sheet for the Orchestra?" Sakura didn't even turn around and looked unfazed by Haruto's surprising talent.

"Yeah. I signed up and I was immediately taken to a special audition. I guess the Maestro and the student jury were satisfied since they gave me a pass to the practice area?"

Sakura raised an eyebrow. 'The orchestra did that? Then he must be a prodigy of some sorts.'

The tour concluded without anything noteworthy. The classes went the same way as well. They all went home afterwards.

6 o'clock pm…
School Gates…

Sakura was walking out of the gates when Haruto called out to her.

"Miyawaki-shan!"

Sakura turned around nonchalantly. "Yes, Kodama-san?"

"Thanks for showing me around today. And sorry for my behavior earlier again." Haruto bowed his head slightly.

"It was nothing. Please do your best in your studies." Sakura then looked back at where she was headed and walked away. A limousine then stopped several meters away from her, its rear right door opening as she headed to it. "Have a good day." She said as she entered the car and closed the door. The car drove away and Haruto could only look at it.

'That concludes the day one of my infiltration in school. Hopefully, clues will start appearing in the following days.' He then took the bus directly to the student dorms.

7 o'clock pm…
Hakata Private Academy Shrine…

A humbly dressed man in his 20s entered the shrine. He was only wearing a white shirt inside a black blazer. His trousers obviously used every day to the point where one could see its wear and tear. "I… am Iriyama Arthur. I'm here now. Are you here?" He shouted.

"Silence." A deep voice muttered from the covered center part of the temple. "I am h're." The voice added. "What doth thee wanteth?"

"Ah, good. Good. I-I… am here to request the retrieval of my family heirloom. It is currently being shown in the Sakaguchi Museum of Art." He replied. "It's the sword in the stone in the British Legends."

"The Excalibur?" The deep voice showed curiosity.

"No. Contrary to the legends where Excalibur and the Sword in the Stone were one and the same, it is not the same. The sword in the stone just proves one's ancestry."

"I seeth. How didst t endeth up into the museum?" The deep voice asked.

"My ancestors who were British were far relatives of the man who once wielded the Excalibur. When he died, the sword was found by my ancestors whose descendants descended to migrate to Japan in the 1950s. In the first year of the new millennia, while me and my family were in a vacation, an assassin broke into our house, killed most of our servants and stole it." The man answered.

"I thought it was 'sitting atop of a stone'?" the dark voice's interest has been piqued.

"It was but since they were relatives, my ancestors pulled it out and hid it." The man gently answered. " I really want the sword back. It's the family's proof of identity. I beg of you… Please…!" The man knelt and lowered his head, trying to stop his tears.

"Thou art wary of the cost of what thou art currently asking this god to do, art thee not?"

"Yes…! Please help me… I want my family's honor to be restored… I am willing to give anything at the end of our bargain…" the man was in tears.

"I seeth. Well then.  Sign the contract in front of thee and ent'r the cost thee has't to payeth.  I shall taketh nay petty change."

The man crawled as quick as he could to the area near the center of the shrine's interior. He signed the contract almost instantly, putting himself as the collateral.

"What's this? Thee hath made yourself a collateral?"

"Yes."

"V'ry well then.  Thee may leaveth."

The man then stood up. "I… Am a Tactician in the Police Force so if ever you need the floor plans and even the formation of the Police in the night of your heist, please tell me. I'll leave my card on the floor." He then left a silver plated card on the floor.

The man left the shrine interior and the shrine after bowing in front of it. Several minutes after leaving, a shadow emerged from the interior of the shrine.

"The famed sword in the stone? That Sakaguchi sure knows what she wants." a small silhouette appeared beside a nearby tree. "This heist will be interesting, don't you two think?"

A taller silhouette appeared beside the shrine arc. "A Police Officer asking us to steal something. How ironic."

"Only proves how messed up this situation is. The museums have become so untouchable the original owners couldn't do anything when their artifacts are forcibly taken or stolen from them either directly or indirectly by the museums." A voice inside the shrine answered. The voice wasn't deep  but rather belonged to a younger person. "But this client would be a huge asset for us. An informant inside the Police force could make our heists easier." the voice added.

Meanwhile, somewhere in the school building, a female school staff who was working on some research paper was distracted by the sudden vibration on her left pocket. She then froze for a second and then a small grin formed on her lips. "I see. Time to go home." she turned off her personal computer and headed to the door, closing the lights and locking the door on her way out.

-=To be continued=-

[masyho17]

Author's note: I thought the chapter was too long and thus split it into 2 parts instead.

Chapter 2.5 - "Time is up."

7 o' clock pm…
Hakata Private Academy Dormitory…

Haruto was walking to the front of the 3 Dormitories when Natsu came out of the Class H Dormitory's veranda in the 2nd floor.

"Hey! Kodama, was it? It seems they only prepared for 1 person here. Try asking if you were assigned to a different dormitory." Natsu then went back inside the room.

Haruto was confused as to why he said that. He then walked towards the door to the Class H dormitory when he heard a voice from the opposite direction: The Student Council Dormitory, which is surprisingly a part of the Class KIV Dormitory. He turned around and saw Motomura Aoi and Miyawaki Sakura in the door way of the said building.

"Your room is here. The Principal was quite wary of class goats like -cough-Rui-cough- and you so he thought that if class goats stayed in the same building as Class KIV, they'd excel a bit." Aoi said as a matter-of-factly.

Sakura walked to his direction. "I'll help you with that." She tried carrying Haruto's luggage but couldn't due to her being pale and looking almost anemic and weak.

Haruto was weirded out by her attempts to carry the luggages but sighed and did it himself. "I'll do it myshelf."

Aoi tried looking inside their dormitory but couldn't find anyone who could help. "Where is Moriyasu-kun when you need him?"

"Probably in his room, looking at some soon-to-be-confiscated articles." Sakura was still attempting to lift a luggage when Natsu jumped off from the 2nd floor veranda and carried the luggage himself.

"I'll do it. Geez. You should've brought a guy with you." Natsu started walking to the direction of Class KIV dormitory.

"Thank you." Sakura then showed them the way to Haruto's room which was in the third floor of the building.

Haruto's Room…

Sakura then opened the door. "I'm really sorry I couldn't help. I'm not really good at carrying things."

Natsu dropped the luggages beside the wooden desk in the room. The room was surprisingly modern despite the Victorian era architecture theme that the exterior of the building shows. The bed frame was of metal, the sheets were comfortable to the touch and the cushion was so soft you'd be tempted to sleep immediately. The windows open outwards and the desk was made of wood and has compartments where one could store their study materials. The bathroom was a standard bathroom for dormitories. It has a shower area and even has a bathtub, separated by a shower curtain. The toilet bowl has a bidet installed with a music timer to hide one's hardships on their business inside the toilet.

"This would be your room. If you need any help, please don't hesitate to knock on our door. Aoi and I are in the room directly in front of yours and Moriyasu and Tomonaga's room is the room to the right of ours. Any questions so far, Kodama-san?" Sakura smiled to both of the boys.

"N-nothing. Thank you very mush!" Haruto bowed his head, thanking the girl in front of him. He then raised his head and bowed in front of Natsu. "Thank you for helping as well, Matsuoka-shan!"

"For the guy who acted rashly on his first day, you sure are polite. Hope we get along." Natsu then patted his shoulder. He then left the room. While he was walking, he stopped for a second in front of the room to the right of Sakura and Aoi's room, but continued walking and returned to his dormitory.

"Well then, I'll be leaving you now." Sakura then walked to the door and closed it on her way out. She continued to her room and locked the door as well.

Aoi and Sakura's room…

Aoi was watching an animated show on TV when Sakura went in. "STARRRRRR FINGERRRRRRRR!!!" Aoi shouted as she rose from her seat.

"You should be studying instead of doing that, don't you think?" Sakura crossed her arms while glaring at Aoi who seemed to be too much into the show.

"Aish, who cares? Jotaro matters more than studying." Aoi dismissed Sakura's warning. "ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORA ORAAAAAA!" She tried imitating how a certain animated spirit in the animated show punches the enemy in front of Sakura. Sakura sighed and only deflected Aoi's playful punches with precision.

"You already rewatched that show for so many times now. And it only ended this year. Aren't you getting tired of it?" Sakura rolled her eyes as Aoi enthusiastically continued pretending to be the main character.

"Ihh. I really love the show. Though my favorite is really Dio." Aoitan stopped her playful punches. "ZA WARUDO! Toki wo tomare!" As Sakura was going to speak, Aoi then muttered, "Toki wa ugoki hajimeta."

Sakura then sighed. "I really hope your Chuuni phase would come to an end soon. I'm running out of patience."

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!"

"I'm going to sleep." Sakura rolled her eyes and went to her bed.

"You're not doing your homework?" Aoi tilted her head slightly.

"I finished it before Kodama-san arrived in the dorms." Sakura answered without facing Aoi.

"Okie then. I'll just finish this episode before going to sleep." Aoi turned around and went back to her activity that is not even a little bit related to studying.

July 19, 2015…
The next day…
5 o' clock in the morning…
Aoi and Sakura's room…

Sakura was still sleeping when Aoi started waking her up. "Sakura, wakey-wakey now." She puffed her cheeks and continued pushing the sleepyhead who was hugging her pillow on the bed to wake up.

"Just… 5… more… minutes…" That was all Sakura could manage to mutter.

"Geez. There's no helping it then." Aoi inhaled then exhaled. "ZA WARUDO!" She then looked at Sakura. "The time has stopped." She then walked around Sakura, annoying her. "1 second has passed." Several seconds later, she was still revolving around Sakura's bed, trying to get her to wake up. "Road roller da!" Aoi slammed a pillow to her back.

Sakura was getting annoyed now but all she could say was "Ora… ora… ora…" while lying on her bed.

"Time is up! There is no escape! Muda muda muda muda!"

"Ora… ora… ora… ora…" Sakura was still not moving from her bed, eyes closed.

The two exchanged these awkward conversations for a few seconds. Aoi was totally trying to get Sakura to be active so she would stop clinging to her bed.

"WRYYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!" Aoi was repeatedly poking Sakura's sides now. "I'll smash you to the ground!"

"Ora…" Sakura was unmovable.

"Nine seconds has passed. I've done it. It's over. Star Platinum has been defeated by The World. Immortality… Eternal life… and Stand Power! Fuhahaha… Here lies proof that none shall pass the mighty Aoi! Pathetic humans! I will rule you all! Bow before my knowledge and might! Ten seconds have passed! My ability to stop time has reached 10 seconds! Now then, I shall find Sakura's lifeless body and drink her blood! If she has any left, that is!" Seemingly caught in her anime dialogue, Aoi noticed that Sakura was not on the bed anymore. She felt an enormous scary aura behind her. "Uh… What's this? My body is… slowing down…" She then feigned being unable to move. "N-no… It is not slowing down… I-I cannot move! I-Impossible! M-my body is frozen in place…"

"Aoi. It's been eleven seconds. I guess that's your limit." Sakura was glaring at Aoi's soul from behind.

"NYANYIII?!" Aoi answered, shocked.

"I stopped time at the 9 second mark. That's how I escaped. Yare yare daze." She then pointed her finger at Aoi. Aoi was looking nervous now. "And now… I'll use my last second to defeat you for good!" Sakura was now in sync with Aoi in this nonsensical reproduction of the final scene of the show Aoi was watching last night.

"S-sakura! I-Impossible! You stopped time?" Aoi was still pretending to be frozen in place. "S-somehow… you did it right as I reached my nine second limit…"

Sakura then walked a step near Aoi. "How does it feel, Aoi?" Sakura looked at Aoi's back. "Having someone come at you from behind while you can't move a muscle…" She then breathe a little. "In a way, it's like if you were holding your breath underwater, and just as you came up for air…" She then clutched at Aoi's left shoulder. "… Someone suddenly grabbed you, dragging you back into the depths below. Sound familiar?" Sakura then tilted her head slightly forward to her left. "But I can't say I feel sorry for you." She then poked the left side of Aoi's body. "Toki wa ugoki hajimeta--"

Before she could finish her line, the door in the bathroom opened, revealing a now disgusted Moriyasu. "How long are you guys going to do that? We're going to be late, you know?"

"Ihh! And we were in such a good part too!" Aoi stopped pretending to be frozen in time and walked to the bathroom. "I'll use the bathtub. I woke up first~" She smiled innocently as she pushed Moriyasu out of the bathroom and locked the door.

Moriyasu then stared at Sakura. "I never knew you watched that show with Aoi."

Sakura sighed. "She has been rewatching that at least 5 times now. It'd be a miracle if I didn't memorize the lines and movements when I've seen it several times already. And besides, it was a good way to take control of myself in the morning. And probably enhance my acting skills as well." Sakura then started making her bed. "More importantly…" she added.

"Hmm?"

Moriyasu was eating his bread with butter when Sakura asked, "How did you get inside our room?" Moriyasu started feeling nervous. "I thought I locked the door when I went in last night." Sakura wasn't looking at Moriyasu but he could feel the terror in her aura. It's as if Sakura was a dragon and he was a mere rat.

"I-I…" Moriyasu was trying to think of an excuse that would not relate to 'picking a lock'.

"You picked our lock, didn't you?" Sakura was still not looking at him, her voice still emotionless as she made her bed.

"I… I didn't! It was open!" Moriyasu was lying. Obviously lying.

Sakura then looked at him, still smiling. "Oh really?" She finished making her bed and was now slowly getting close to Moriyasu.

Moriyasu then tried running out of the room but Sakura clutched to his left hand's wrist.

"You tried getting these, huh?" Sakura immediately took out the magazines hidden in Moriyasu's shirt.

"I'M SORRYYYYYYYYYYYYYY!!!" Moriyasu's voice could be heard in the whole dormitory.

End of the First period…
Hakata Private Academy Class 2-A…

Fuchigami-sensei started packing her things to her bag when she remembered something. "Oh yeah, Student Council members, the Principal wants to meet you after the First Period. Please come with me."

Sakura, Aoi, Moriyasu, Chihiro, and Rui stood up. Sakura then looked for another person and sighed. "Yuizou's still absent?" She looked at Moriyasu.

Moriyasu then gestured his hands, telling Sakura that he is, as always.

Sakura then frowned slightly. "We really need to find a replacement for him." She then went beside Fuchigami. "Anyway, let's go."

Fuchigami then led the group to the Principal's Office. The doors were huge and made of ebony, at least 10 foot long by 4 foot long, its handles were plated with gold. It was decorated with the Principal's seal on the middle of both doors.

Fuchigami pressed the button on the intercom and waited for a response which came quickly in the said intercom. "The doors are open." A voice from the intercom said. Fuchigami then pushed the door and let the students in before she herself went inside.

Principal's Office…

The room was spacious and had a huge rack containing books on each side. There were 2 black colored couches facing each other several feet away from the Principal's desk with a small table in between of them.

The Principal's swivel chair that wasn't facing the desk suddenly turned around, revealing a Middle-aged woman with her medium length hair let down. The woman was wearing a white blouse, covered by a carnation pink colored blazer with its sleeves rolled up. Although hidden from view, she was wearing a pair of pink trousers, its color was lighter than the blazer. The woman, who was now unhidden from view, was crossing her fingers while slouching on her seat.

Sakura sighed. "Sashihara-san, what is this all about now? I believe the last time you needed help, we passed a series of examinations for Accounting Majors." She knew that it was going to be related to the school once more.

"S-sakura-chan! Let me look cool just a little!" She pouted then fixed her posture. "A-anyway, the French investors of the school are coming next week! I need help on making them impressed!" Sashihara, or as some students call her, 'Sasshi', really looked troubled.

"For additional investments, I presume?" Sakura rolled her eyes.

"Yeah... You know I can't do these without showing them how good the school had become." Sasshi pouted once more.

"I guess we could entertain them." Sakura then took out a small notebook and a pen from her pocket. "So what's the plan?"

"We could show them how smart the students are!" Sasshi rose excitedly from her seat while saying these words. "… I guess." Then sat down back again looking depressed.

Aoi then stepped forward. "Say no more, Sasshi. We shall make you proud!" Aoi was burning with determination. Probably.

"A-anyway, Fuchigami-san will teach you guys French to converse with the investors." Sasshi said as she started typing on her laptop.

The group left the room with Fuchigami leaving them for a while to get her teaching materials in the Faculty Office.

"Oh god. Why French?" Rui was sulking in the corner of the corridor. "It would've been easier if it were English…"

Moriyasu then looked at Sakura. "Rui's got a point. The buildings are Victorian style so why French?" Moriyasu raised an eyebrow.

Sakura was too drained after the sudden revelation that they would be studying another series of advanced lessons again. "Ugh, I don't even know. Maybe the French wanted Harry Potter-esque thing to happen here? I mean… We've been doing shit to save the Headmaster's ass like Harry. The only difference is that we don't make trouble…" She then saw Aoi who was making fun of Rui. "Save for one of us." Sakura added.

Moriyasu gasped. "Sakura, language!"

Sakura sighed. She was too tired to function like she cared. "We hath been doing some shi-"

"Doing what?" Fuchigami returned with several thick handouts and some books as well.

Sakura then smiled uncomfortably. "N-nothing! Ahahaha…"

Fuchigami was weirded out but dismissed it altogether. "Anyway, follow me. You're all going to be excused from your afternoon classes so don't worry. I'll also ask the teachers to give you the handouts for lessons you'll be missing." She treaded her path quickly but slow enough so the students could follow.

Several minutes of walking later, they arrived at an unused classroom. They then saw a student wearing his necktie loosely, sitting on the teacher's desk. "I've been waiting for a while now." the student grinned confidently.

"Matsuoka-san?" Sakura wondered as to why Natsu was waiting in the classroom.

Fuchigami then dropped the handouts on the teacher's table and pushed Natsu away from it. "He would be joining us in the lesson. He has studied several languages to aid in his work as a model. I hope you guys get along." She then started handing their handouts.

While the lesson was ongoing, Sakura was steadily improving in the language. However, she also noticed a unprecedented rivalry in between her Student Council's Auditor who was known as a Jack of All Trades and the new student who joined them in the lessons.

Chihiron then sat beside Sakura. "Both of them are getting weird. What's wrong with them?" She whispered to Sakura.

"I don't really know what's happening. I just want to get this over with." Sakura didn't even bat an eye at Chihiron. "You should too." she added.

"I had French classes back as a child so these are no brainer for me." Chihiron smiled shyly as she looked at Aoi who was staring blankly on the front page of the handout.

Sakura then closed her eyes and remembered what happened to their review months ago. She then stood up and sat beside Aoi. "You told Sasshi you'd make her proud." She then smiled gently at her. "Let's do our best."

Aoi then sobbed a little. "Sakura…!"

Sakura then frantically gave Aoi her handkerchief. "Geez. Imagine impressing the investors with your newfound skill."

Fuchigami then stopped writing on the board and looked at Aoi. "That's right, Motomura-san." She then went in front of the Teacher's desk and managed to get a lollipop from one of the drawers. "You'll get a candy if you manage to pass." she added.

"What am I? Five?" Aoi stared at Fuchigami.

Natsu then looked at Aoi after hearing her scowl at the teacher. 'Ah… Even after all this time, she’s still so cute!' He then slowly touched his chest. 'Why… Why did she have to be so cute?!'

Moriyasu then noticed Natsu's behavior. 'D-does he… Have the hots for Aoi? Like how? And why?' He irked at the idea and went back to studying.

Several hours later…
8 o'clock pm…
Student Council Dormitory…
Haruto's Room…

Haruto was checking his notes when his phone rang. He checked it to see a message from a certain 'AC Umemoto'. The message was as follows:

From: AC Umemoto
Subj: She Will Strike Again

We received a new card
just now. It says she will
strike on the 25th, 2
hours before the day
ends.

Any clues over there?

Her target is the famed
Sword in the Stone.

—END OF MESSAGE—

"W-what!?" Haruto was shocked. He was carefully observing the students in his class and was sure that nobody has had enough time to send the said card to the Police, let alone produce one. "H-how did it--? And under my noshe too?!" He then smirked. "Well, I guess I underestimated my enemies." He then revealed a notebook with the word "Phantom Thief" written on it in his table's drawer. "The sword in the stone? How did it even end up in Japan?” he was deep in his thoughts.

July 25, 2015…
Unknown Location…
6 o'clock pm…

A woman who was wearing a customized tuxedo received a message from her informant. Her face was covered with a masquerade mask, sans the feather. She was wearing a black shirt inside a white tailcoat. She donned a bob cut for a hairstyle and was wearing a really skimpy white colored short shorts which revealed her soft skin. Her shirt was adorned by a ribbon tied around the collar, and a decorative crest distinct to her adorned the left breast pocket of her coat. The two-pronged tails of her coat reached her the middle-most part of her legs.

"What if the client was trying to trap us?" A male wearing a dark blue ninja gi asked. The only difference he had from the normal full body gi was his exposed well-toned arms. He was also equipped with 2 kodachis hanging from his back, with a chokuto suspended horizontally on his back thanks to the ties that bind the sheathes of the 2 kodachis to his back. His face was covered by a Tengu mask, albeit with a shorter nose for ease of mobility.

"He wasn't." the woman replied almost instantaneously.

"How do you say so?" the man was not as trusting as she was.

"I researched about the matter. The massacre, the stealing, and the sale in the black market, it's all true. And his family has been deprived of its former glory and were forced to work in poverty until that man entered the Military." she then revealed the client's card in her breastpocket. "And this card? Is a metal card, covered with silver. Meaning, he only has the sword left to restore his honor." She then returned it to her breastpocket. "How is Hephaestus doing?" she asked, looking at the man this time.

"Hephaestus has successfully infiltrated the lineup of personnel. She also studied all the required information to fool the security." the man answered. "Also, God of Ignorance already prepared our escape vehicle."

"I see. We still have 4 hours before show time, Fuujin." She then sat down and crossed her legs on the Red and Black colored checkered seat a few steps away from her.

Fuujin sighed. "That's my chair, Azrael." he then stared at the woman who was now sweating profusely.

-=To be Continued=-

[kuro808]

My best advice for now is to not worry too much about it yet make a transition to tie it up 

[masyho17]

My best advice for now is to not worry too much about it yet make a transition to tie it up 

eh?? omg thanks for the advice!! i'll try improving on it!! 

[kuro808]

My best advice for now is to not worry too much about it yet make a transition to tie it up 

eh?? omg thanks for the advice!! i'll try improving on it!! 

I would try and do that to help with the story. Most people would redo the whole story so I'm not sure what to expect (Please PM me more details) It'll help you to modify along the way as well

[masyho17]

My best advice for now is to not worry too much about it yet make a transition to tie it up 

eh?? omg thanks for the advice!! i'll try improving on it!! 

I would try and do that to help with the story. Most people would redo the whole story so I'm not sure what to expect (Please PM me more details) It'll help you to modify along the way as well

thanks!! i'll send a pm nau 

[masyho17]

Chapter 3 - "Old dogs can still learn new tricks."

Sakaguchi Museum for Arts…
8 o'clock pm…
West wing end…

A group of young men were stationed in the room. Their platoon leader arrived shortly, making them stand in attention.

"2 more hours before the allotted time but we should not let our guards down. Am I clear?" his stern gaze was immediately answered by the platoon.

"SIR! YES, SIR!" all of them shouted.

He soon exited the room. As soon as he did, one of his subordinates smiled wryly for a second. All of them kept silent.

In the main exhibit area in the South Wing of the Museum, a sword was shown to be lying inside a cube-shaped thick metallic glass. 4 guards were stationed around it, paying attention to their surroundings.

2 hours later…
Museum Main Entrance…

The masked woman wearing her customized tuxedo appeared in front of the museum. She then slowly entered the building. As she arrived inside the ground floor of the building, a group of police welcomed her. Most of them covering the exits she might take. Her usual enemy wasn't around, the noisy detective with a lisp.

All of the police charged to her, thinking that 1 person won't stand a chance against them. She just smirked as she vanished in the sea of policemen. All of them thought they got her but was shocked to see that she was nowhere to be found.

"Where is she?"

"Damn! She's really good at this!"

"Let's find her!"

Amongst the confusion, a police officer then went to the highest ranking officer among them. "Sir! I'll report to the people inside that she has arrived! They have to know!"

"Alright! Make it quick!" the police officer didn't even bat an eye on the lower ranking officer and was thinking how the woman got away from all of them.

In the East wing end, a ninja whose gi had no sleeves could be found standing upside down on the ceiling. His arms were crossed, seemingly finished in his mission. Around him, numerous policemen had been knocked out. In the speakers of the museum, the 2nd movement of Dmitri Shostakovich's Symphony 11 was playing, seemingly not helping with the current situation.

Meanwhile, in the west wing, all the guards were lying on the ground. A smirking police officer was standing in the middle, holding a stun gun on each hand. He then vanished from sight.

In the South Wing of the Museum, the Police Officer who was from the Main Entrance was still running to reach the Main Exhibit room. When he did reach the room, he was greeted by 2 stern looking guards who looked heavy and were buffed to the point where one would fear their life. He saluted both of them and stated his rank and file.

"She has arrived! She came through the main entrance!" the police officer was panting.

"I see. You may leave now. We'll tell the Detective instead." The guard on the left wasn't going to budge with the message. "That's all?" he added.

"Y-yeah…" He was out of breath. "I'll come back now." He then turned around. As he was going to withdraw, the guard on the right then raised an eyebrow when he saw the police officer's uniform.

"Hey, wait a sec." the guard from the right side of the door then came forward. "Why did you come all the way here when you have the receiver?" he asked with a stern gaze. "From which platoon did you come from again?" he added.

The police officer was at a loss for words. He then smirked as his voice changed into a deeper voice of a woman's. "I guess I've been found out, eh?" She smirked as she removed her police officer disguise.

"Heh." The guard on the left side said. "I guess we'll have a raise after this." He then cracked the joints of his right hand fingers and then left hand fingers as he wore a pair of brass knuckles.

"It's all thanks to me anyway." The guard on the right said, removing his police officer shirt, revealing his ripped body. He then cracked the joints on his neck, loosening up his neck muscles.

The woman in front of them was barehanded. The left guard then charged at her, releasing accurate punches from his left arm and right arm as the woman dodged effortlessly. His right leg then released a kick which was aiming for her chest which she blocked with both of her hands as she skid backwards by the sheer amount of force, the friction given by her shoes stopping its momentum.

"Not bad." The left guard said.

"Likewise." she said in return as she removed her hands from blocking her chest. He then charged once more, putting his whole body into the right hand punch. The woman who was facing him then smoothly caught his right hand, turned around, matching the man's velocity and used the momentum of the man's body to throw the man to the ground.

"Gakh…!" The left guard then turned around, trying to stand up while lying on his stomach. The woman then walked to his side and incapacitated him by the neck.

The woman then looked at the right guard and taunted him to attack her with her finger signaling him to come for her. He then charged at her, giving extreme blows from his left and right fists. The woman was dodging his attacks rather easily and even yawned, igniting him further.

"You little--!" He launched his punches faster, not letting the woman come close to him. He launched multiple left and right hooks in succession, however, the woman came close and was dodging them fairly easily. She was now inside his box and when he realized this, it was too late. She gave him a right uppercut to his jaw. It looked weak but it was more than enough to knock the right guard out. The guard staggered for a bit and then collapsed on his back.

She then shook her right hand. "Oww…" She then rotated her right hand, biting her lip for a bit. "I'm really getting rusty. Or they're just too heavy." She then wore her disguise once more as she opened the door to the room. She entered the room, all 4 guards were now looking at her. She then panted. "I just got here! When I looked, both of them were knocked out!" she added, successfully imitating a deep man's voice once more.

All the guards were silent. They then pointed all of their pistols at her.

The door behind her then closed. Behind her was the Detective. He then clapped as he walked in front of her. "You thought that wash the lasht of me, didn't you?" He then looked at her intently. "You're not fooling anyone here, Phantom Thief."

She then sighed. 'I guess old dogs do learn new tricks, after all.' She then kicked him the groin as the place suddenly became covered by a thick smoke.

Haruto then knelt down in pain. "Agh… Shit!" He then turned around and ordered his men. "Protect the sword!" He wanted to puke due to the stimulus of being kicked in the groin but it wasn't the right time and place for such a thing.

As the thick smoke dissipated, the men found the metal glass case still intact, but the sword wasn't inside the case anymore.

"Sir! The sword has been taken!" one of them shouted in agony.

"Dang it!" Haruto punched the floor in anger. The fact that he couldn't move and that they lost once more was haunting him.

Meanwhile on top of museum, the woman was walking slowly on top of the roof. The police lights were all following her every move. "I have won once more. And I will be back for more. Museums that have claimed the liberty of common people, your end is nigh." she then jumped off on top of a group of policemen below her and vanished, a rain of poker cards greeting the expecting police officers instead.

Meanwhile, inside a white Toyota HI-ACE, 4 people were chatting.

"Such flashy speech. Much flex. Is it steal? Wowe." a smirking man wearing a police officer uniform muttered. He was holding the sword in the stone, a gilded sword with diamonds on its hilt and a blood colored ruby on its pommel. His voice or her voice sounded really distorted.

"Hephaestus, shut it." Azrael hissed at the teasing individual.

"Oh shut it. I just want to sleep." the guy named Fuujin stretched his arms. "God of Ignorance, why is it that only your getaway vehicle wasn't spotted?" he asked. "The dudes were totally coming for me a while ago. Good thing Hef's disguise was perfect." he added.

"Old dogs can still learn new tricks. Right, Az?" the person called God of Ignorance looked at her. Hephaestus's voice could be heard in the background, saying the words 'Much disguise. Very infiltrate.'

Their driver was eerily silent.

As this was happening, on the center of the roof of the museum, a man wearing a ninja gi could be seen, the gi was also sleeveless, but his arms were covered with mesh. His eyes were stern, the lower part of his face covered by a mask. He only had 1 sheathed kodachi tied behind him. "At this pace, the police will never win." he muttered as he disappeared into the night.

11 o'clock pm…
Hakata Private Academy Shrine…

Iriyama Arthur was waiting in the shrine, looking at the night sky when he heard the offering box's contents clattering. He was only a few steps away as he was only standing beside the wall for the wishes of the students in that area. Curious, he then moved closer to check the offering box. He then saw the famed sword, humbly presented on top of it. He then cried and bowed in front of the shrine, offering all the coins inside his purse. "Thank you…" he then raised his head. "If you need anything, I'll send it." He smiled gently then went his way down the shrine and rode his car home.

The next day…
July 26, 2015…

Sakura woke up by herself this time. Her eyes looked really tired. She glanced at the girl on the bed several steps away from hers. She saw that the girl's eyes were almost lifeless and the smile she was giving off started to become creepy. "A-aoi… Are you alright?" she asked.

"Non." she answered. Her voice almost sounded robotic.

A moment of silence took over the room after that certain response.

Several minutes later, both of them were now in the school grounds. Preparing themselves because today is the day that the French Visitors have chosen to visit their school.

Several minutes later, Fuchigami-sensei who stayed up all night to prepare for this moment was now orienting them outside a vacant room about the program when a certain duo walked up to them. It was a priest and a nun.

"Ah… Err… 'cuse me but, where's the toilet?" The priest asked them. He spoke in such a funny dialect that Sakura immediately recognized that the man was from Osaka.

"Uhm… It’s to the right of the room you're currently in front of right now."

"Ah. Ah. Okay. Okay. Thanks." He then rushed to the toilet as the nun bowed in front of them and left, waiting in front of the toilet.

Sakura then looked outside of the window and saw a group of policemen who looked foreign to the city. She squinted her eyes, looking at the emblems of their uniforms. "Kansai Police? What are they doing here?"

"When it comes to security, Kansai people top everyone in the country. That's why they're here." Fuchigami then looked outside and was weirded out. "Why is the Senior Commissioner for Kansai Region here?" she added.

"Senior Commissioner? That really charismatic Yamamoto Sakuya?" Sakura looked outside and saw the renowned 'Phantom Thief Killer'. Yamamoto Sakuya was one of the only 2 known Police Officials to reportedly catch a Phantom Thief and execute them. The other one to do so was Takahashi Minato of the Police Headquarters in the Kanto region. Despite his kind aura and handsome face, he was feared by criminals.

Aoi was looking outside the window, admiring the face of the said official.

They then saw him laughing to a Military Official, the Chief of Staff of the Ground Self-Defense Force, Fukumoto Akio. "Why is a High-ranking official here?" Sakura raised an eyebrow.

"That's what I was wondering about. Maybe one of the investors is a bigshot?" Fuchigami's eyes were focused on them. Sakuya noticed them and winked gently as he continued walking.

Aoi then knelt down, remembering Sakuya's wink. "Sakura, I think he's the one." She said, now lovestruck.

Sakura sighed. "Sorry to burst your bubble but he's already married." she glared at Aoi.

"¡No!" Aoi's dreams were shattered.

"Hey, we're going to speak in French, not Spanish." Sakura's glare intensified.

"Now, now. Let's continue where we left off. There's this mass that will occur before the reception. Now, please don't sleep on the Father's sermon." Fuchigami warned them.

"I'm fine but I don't know about Sakura." Aoi confidently answered, crossing her arms.

"You’re the one to talk, Aoi. You slept through one of the lectures last week." Sakura glared at her.

"Ihh... I was tired that time, okay? It doesn't count." Aoi pouted. "At least appreciate my efforts." she added, staring at Sakura.

"This is why the older generations think we all want entitlement, Aoi." Sakura was not having her excuse now.

Hakata Private Academy Great Hall…
8 o'clock am…

A mass started in the Great Hall. Everyone was required to attend, majorly to encourage investors that the school respects their religion.

The Priest was a baby-faced man in his 30s. He had a strange accent coupled with his Kansai dialect which made him sound funny and not even serious about what he was preaching. The priest's name is Ogasawara Masaru.

"Everyone… Let's raise our hands to the Lord!" He said, charismatically raising his hands to the air. He walked to the center of the aisle. "Come! Everybody, stand and raise your hands." he added, his eyes closed as if feeling an invisible entity.

Yamamoto Sakuya who stood guard and had his back against the wall felt weird about his sermons. 'I thought he was preaching in an Orthodox Catholic style. Why the heck is he doing a Protestant way of interacting with the churchgoers?' he thought, glaring at Masaru.

Everyone who sat in the pews stood up and raised their hands.

"Let's all throw away our sorrows, problems, worries, and anxieties to the Lord, our God!" he then looked at everyone. "Let's hold hands and celebrate this mass!" he added.

A male student then came and held his hand which earned an automatic response. "DON'T TOUCH MY HAND!" he angrily exclaimed, shocking the student as if his words were electricity. The student was shaking on the ground. He then walked back to the front of the aisle and continued preaching 'God's words'. The nun looked really dead inside while the service was ongoing.

Sakura saw what just happened and was shocked herself. 'What the actual…?' she then felt weird throughout the entire mass. She then looked beside her, seeing that her friend, Aoi, was so absorbed in the mass it wanted to make her laugh.

After the mass had ended, the church pews were removed by the Janitors of the school and were replaced by tables and chairs. The guests were asked to wait in the lounge connected to the sides of the Great Hall as the school staff prepared the banquet for their special visitors.

The Student Council save for Chihiron were busy cramming French phrases to the last minute. Sakura however had to multi-task by studying and keeping Aoi functioning at the same time.

Several minutes later, the guests were called back to the Great Hall. A huge feast was before them. The chairs and tables looked fancy, and a large empty space was at the center, possibly for dancing.

The Student Council members plus Natsu were all wearing their respective outfits for the party.

Natsu was wearing a light blue and black vertically striped vest over his white shirt, its cuff links buttoned while wearing his standard black pair of trousers and shiny black leather shoes. His hair was his usual hair: messy and wavy.

Rui was wearing a white shirt that has its top button unbuttoned under a black blazer, its sleeves rolled up which earned the ire of the Student Council President. He was also wearing a standard black pair of trousers with a shiny brown leather shoes. His hair was his usual hair as well; middle length and messy.

Moriyasu was an eye catcher for he was wearing a black shirt under a white blazer, paired with a white pair of trousers. He was wearing a shiny black leather shoes as well. His hair was short and slicked back.

For the girls' side, Sakura was wearing a shirt which was transparent yet had a bluish hue on the area above the chest and a non-transparent black on the area of the chest down to her waist, its collar was a non-transparent white, and the area where the buttons are looked more opaque than the rest of the shirt. She was wearing a vibrant red-violet skirt adorned by rose patterns which appeared to be made of silk, reaching up to the area above her knee. Her simple 2-inch sandals were not to be under-estimated for it makes her stylish by covering her ankle. Her hair was styled like a model's, the back portion was braided, a few of her fringes in the side were curled. Her makeup was simple yet made her look fierce and her lips has a glossy brown tint to it. For accessories, she was wearing a pair of black triangle earrings.

Aoi's image changed from a cutesy image to an adult one simply by looking at her outfit. She was wearing a sando vest which showed the area above her chest. It was covered by a blue green and black checkered blazer that was just the right size for her. She was also wearing dark blue denim jeans. Her shoes was an open black faux suede loafer. For accessories, she has a heart-shaped pendant on her neck. Her hair was simply let down. She was also wearing a pair of round glasses. Her pink lips completed her simple and rebellious outfit.

Chihiron's outfit took a break from making her look nerdy and instead made her look a fashionable adult. She was wearing a long black one piece dress which had a white dot pattern upon closer inspection. The dress had buttons on the chest area, apparently for the convenience of the person wearing it. The sleeves of the said dress reached her wrists. However, she was wearing a black cashmere trench coat over it. She wore a simple open black faux suede loafer with a ribbon on top of it for her footwear. Her hair was simply let down. Her makeup was her usual makeup for everyday attendance to school.

When they looked at each other, Sakura was good to see that the boys followed the dress code but was staring down at Rui due to his rolled sleeves, making him sweat bullets. Sakura then checked the outfits of the girls, looking at Chihiron first who seemed to be looking fine for the party. Not too formal, and not too casual either. She then looked at Aoi who was basically rebelling against the dress code, wearing casual wear.

Natsu looked at Aoi as well, and was impressed with how she looks mature despite being cute at the same time.

She then dragged Aoi to a corner. "What are you wearing, Aoi!? I thought we told you that it was supposed to be formal!" Sakura was mad.

"Ihh…! But I like my clothes better." Aoi pouted.

"No buts!" Sakura silently scolded Aoi then dragged her to the nearest dressing room. Natsu could only look at her as she was being dragged away by Sakura.

Several minutes later, Aoi came out with Sakura but she was wearing something else entirely. She was now wearing a frilly gothic white shirt, with a black ribbon tied around the collar and a long black skirt which reached up to her ankles. Her shoes were a pair of closed black boots which covered her feet up to her ankles. Her hair was now curled slightly and the frilly cuffs of her shirt was not undone.

Natsu was amazed once more. Moriyasu then went to the left of Natsu and told him, "You like that kind of girl?"

Natsu just glared at him. "What's wrong with admiring such a cute girl?" He then went back to admiring Aoi. Moriyasu's eyes widened, weirded out and shocked at the same time.

She watched the crowd as she enjoyed the music and atmosphere. She then noticed her friend, Aoi, who had been conversing with some of the French investors. She then heard a weird but overly familiar piece of music coming from the same direction. "D-don't tell me…" She then walked swiftly to Aoi's direction. And her hunch was right.

The Imperial March was playing in Aoi's background and she conversed with the investors. Sakura then listened to their conversation.

"Mademoiselle, do you mind if you repeat what you said earlier?" one of them said. It was a blonde French man in his 30s. He was chuckling gently as he looked at Aoi.

Aoi then closed her eyes and calmly looked at the said investor. "Bonjour." She then did a finger gun pose at him. "Laissez faire. Merci."

He then laughed. "Tu est belle!" he smiled at Aoi.

Aoi then looked at Sakura. Aoi felt scared after seeing Sakura's gaze at her. But instead of showing said fear, she did a finger gun pose at Sakura. "Pew pew." she muttered.

Sakura's jaw dropped but she remembered what the investor said. She thought that they probably think she's a cute kid and that she's the pet of the current Student Council.

Before the party ended, the guests and some of the staff had the chance to dance waltz in the center of the great hall.

Natsu knelt in front of Aoi, which shocked the said girl, as he offered his right hand, asking her to dance. "Mademoiselle, would you be my first dance?" he smiled at her.

"Certainly." Aoi answered as elegantly as she could. She then gave him her right hand. Natsu was delighted with her answer as he stood up and guided her to the center.

Moriyasu went to Chihiron's seat, bowed slightly, and with an uneasy smile, offered to take her on a dance. Chihiron, though doubtful, removed her trench coat, revealing her black dress, and took his hand. His uneasy smile changed to that of a kid's as he walked with Chihiron to the center.

Sakura, who was watching gleefully, noticed a certain hand at the corner of her right eye. It was Rui, albeit nervous and was scratching the back of his head, and he was quite brave enough to ask her for a dance. "Too bad I'm not Meru but… Would I really suffice?" she smiled, letting him get off the hook for once.

"Why won't you be? You're one of the most popular girls in school. And the boys would literally kill for a dance with you." Rui smiled bitterly.

She then felt a familiar presence near them which made her grin. She stood up and buttoned the top button of Rui's shirt. "A smart and talented man like you should act finer. Come with me." She then pulled him to the center.

"Sakura-san, I'm not really good at dancing but please bear with me." Rui frowned.

"Don't worry, I'll guide you." She then placed Rui's right hand on her waist and placed her left hand on his shoulder. She then guided him. "A clue to dancing this style is to lead. How would you get her heart when all you could do is whimper at the sight of her?" Sakura helped him maneuver around the center part of the room.

"You're right, Sakura-san!" He had some sort of a confidence boost after hearing her words.

She then removed his hand from her waist and let go of his hand. "Now go and ask her to dance. She's watching near the door in the lounge." She smiled once more and walked back to her seat.

Meanwhile, Aoi and Natsu finished theirs as well. Aoi was walking back to her chair then looked at Moriyasu and Chihiron and saw that they're almost finished as well. The moment Chihiron and Moriyasu went their own ways, Aoi stood up and ran to Moriyasu. "Maki~ Let's dance!" She pouted.

Maki glared at her. 'Is she for real?'

"Oh come on, just a friendly dance! Sorry I'm not Sakura or Chihiron." she pouted once more.

He sighed. "Sure. Sure." He then bowed slightly and offered his hand.

"Yay!" Aoi took his hand and both of them danced to the music.

Rui ran to Meru who was hiding in the door separating the Lounge and the Great Hall. "Meru! I… I…" Before he could finish his sentence, Natsu came to their direction. "Oh. What's up?" Natsu asked.

Meru then clung to Natsu's left arm. "Matsuoka-san! Dance with me!" she was lovestruck. And Rui? Devastated. Natsu who was weirded out, nodded and Meru immediately pulled him to dance.

Sakura saw all of it happened. She then stood up and ran to Rui's side. "Ah…" She didn't know what to say. "I'm… Sorry for your loss." She then patted his back.

A popular female model who attended the party saw what happened as well and went to comfort Rui. "Hi. I saw what happened." She smiled bitterly. "It's alright. You can take a photo with me if you want." She then stared evilly at Rui. "And then brag to her that I tried hitting on you." she added.

Sakura then went in between them. "No thank you." she said as she felt weirded out with the model's words.

July 23, 2015…
3 days before the French Investor Visit…
Conference Room in an Unknown Location…

A conference of several masked individuals was taking place. There were 12 people in total. Their masks were simple white masks which covered the upper area of their face, from nose to eyes, even eyebrows. They were all seated around a huge round table. Only one of them is really sitting in that room for all of them were hologram projections. A video played on the hologram on the center of the round table.

It was the video of the Phantom Thief named Azrael.

“Fare thee well, Detective.” The Female Phantom Thief jumped off, spread her cape, and then flew off to a building several meters away with a billboard which turned out to be a disguise for the latter’s true escape vehicle, a helicopter. The Helicopter quickly took off, leading to an unknown location.

Silence followed after the video finished playing. A highly censored voice broke it, however. "So what do you think?"

"She's good. At least better than the current generation of our Organization." a voice of an unknown gender answered. His hologram was wearing a blazer, with a white shirt under it, together with a black necktie.

"Oh come on, they're still trainees. They haven't even debuted, Perfection." a seductive female voice retorted. It belonged to someone wearing a white coat. Her cleavage could be seen.

"Porn mag, I do not care. They suck." the masked guy called Perfection then groaned.

"It's Seduction, not Porn mag. Don't make me go there. I know where you live." the woman threatened.

"Fine, fine. I'm sorry. According to reports, the Police have been speculating that she has at least 2 to 3 accomplices? Not bad." he then rested his head on his right hand. "At least they don't go stealing like they're on a fieldtrip." he added sarcastically.

"Perfection!" the woman called Seduction retorted angrily.

A man wearing a black trench coat then intervened. "Now, now. We are here to discuss about our first heist after retiring for at least 7 years now. We don't want it to end with all of us behind bars, right?" He was quite buffed for his age.

"Whatever, Gentleman. Why are we even doing this?" the man called Perfection was steadily losing interest.

"I don't know what you guys are talking about." a deep emotionless voice answered. It belonged to a slender man with a long hair. His hologram was wearing a white shirt under an apron. "I mean, nobody has seen me or even caught a glimpse of me in my 7 years in service." he's basically flexing his stealth abilities now.

"Oh sorry, Joker. I was really bad at doing my job, no?" Seduction stared him down.

The guy called 'Gentleman' and a man wearing a full collar black shirt were snickering upon hearing Seduction's words.

"Shut it. I'll kill you both, Gentleman and Wizard." Seduction threatened.

The man called Wizard then stopped. "Okay, okay. Let's get to the matter at hand. Since Perfection and Perfect Girl's wedding anniversary are almost around the corner, why don't we help with Cameron's clients and whatnot?" he then stood up. "That's right. A special collaboration between all of us!" he added.

"Yeah! Let's do it! Let's do it!" An enthusiastic female voice answered. "Perfect girl wants a collab!" the woman was sitting on the armrest of Perfection's chair.

Seduction then sighed. "Perfect Girl isn't a member of our group though. Are you sure it's fine? I mean… She was under a different Organization." She then looked at a woman with a slightly curled middle length hair. "What do you think, Chaos?" Perfect Girl frowned upon hearing this.

The woman then played with her hair. "I guess it's fine. She did become our temp when we were near retirement. Seducting Hag should really just retire though." this statement just now earned the ire of Seduction.

"Who the heck is Seducting Hag? It's Seduction!" she retorted.

"Whatever." Chaos then remembered something. "Wait a second, what's going to be our target then?"

A masked woman who moved timidly then answered. "U-uhm… It's not target but targets."

"Why thank you, technically-correct man-- I mean… Ghost." Chaos answered. "Eh? Targets? What are those then?" she added.

"Cameron's lost paintings." a woman who sported a bob cut tilted her head a little.

A rowdy man then leaned forward. "Somebody actually stole those, Reverie?"

"Yeah, Madness. According to Cameron, he wanted to reclaim them but he couldn't do anything because they were museums."

"So when? I mean… Sakaguchi's Museum for Arts is obviously the place so… When are we doing it?" Chaos was getting impatient.

"Let's do it on the 26th."

"I have a photoshoot that day. Make it 28th!"

"I have host duties that day. Let's go 27th!"

"Guys, I have a cooking class that day. 29th is the day, I swear."

The timid woman called 'Ghost' by her peers then broke her silence. "I…! I checked all of our schedules and 31st seems to be a good day…"

They then all nodded to her idea.

"Then it's set. The 31st shall mark the day we wreak havoc in the town of Hakata." Perfection said as he ended the meeting. His smirk was the last thing they saw before all of the hologram apparatuses turned off. Only the man called Joker remain seated.

July 26, 2015…
8 o'clock pm…

The party ended up with no casualties. At least on the outside. Rui was so depressed Sakura had to ask Moriyasu to make sure he keeps Rui company. The guests left already and so were they. Sasshi was granted more funds and was happy with the Student Council's help.

***

Several days after the party, specifically the 31st, Sakura was sitting on the couch, watching television due to Aoi trying to catch up with her lessons. The sky was already dark and the sun had already set. As she was wasting the fragile thing she calls life while watching the obviously boring TV shows, the channel immediately changed to one stating 'Emergency Broadcast'. This made her raise one of her eyebrows.

Aoi heard the announcement on TV as well and stopped studying or at least pretending to study. She joined Sakura on the couch and watched the news.

A certain group of men and women clad in white tuxedoes decorated the screen. The background was dark and they were all wearing white masks. "Attention to all citizens of Hakata: We, the Original Naniwa Phantom Thieves are going to start a show tonight! You are all invited to watch us amaze and outperform the heroic people you all call Security. Life is all about the little things they say. And thus, tonight, we would be taking the 24 paintings of Kaneko. Be amazed in the little performance that we have organized for this show tonight."

A following footage then showed a group of men and women clad in white tuxedoes who were running left and right in the museum. They ran as fast as the wind and the security guards couldn't do anything but watch.

Two of them were confronted by a group of the security guards. A man and a woman. The duo then started a comedy skit which bewildered the guards. Several minutes later, all of them were already laughing so hard, they couldn't do anything. Both of them then smirked. The woman made several hand gestures which made the water from a nearby fountain rise and move to the feet of all the guards and then freeze, rendering them immobile. They then ran to the next area, the man making several hand signals which made wood from the walls cover the path.

Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. "Are they…" she muttered. Aoi then looked at her. "The Original Naniwa Phantom Thieves?" she added. Aoi had no idea what she was saying. However, she moved closer to the TV set, expressing her admiration for the group of thieves that are currently doing an exhibition.

Meanwhile, a certain woman clad in red, who joined the several men and women clad in white, captured Sakura's eyes. Sakura was really shocked now. The woman was elegantly dodging capture from guards left and right. "P-perfect girl…?" was the only words Sakura could manage to mutter.

The woman clad in red was efficiently moving, not wasting time as she dodged, evaded, and escaped from her pursuers. "At this rate, you'll never catch me, Guard-kun~!" She playfully said as she disappeared from their sight.

In the right wing of the Museum, the guards were distracted by a certain woman with a middle length hair slightly curled and was clad in white. She ran all around the guards, her hands containing a needle. She then reappeared in front of them. "I just pricked all of you with this needle. And this needle is covered with a poisonous venom I got from a huge selection of venomous snakes."

The guards were now scared of what she just said. They then slowly felt paralyzed and were weakening. One of them was even turning red.

"You won't feel them immediately but you won't wake up again." She smirked. The guards then slowly lost consciousness one by one.

The woman then sighed after the last of them fainted. "That was a lie. I used a Sleeping Draught." She then slowly walked away from them. "And a weak one at that too." She added as she went for the paintings. "The power of human mind is really amazing."

Meanwhile, in the left wing of the Museum, the guards cornered a certain airhead looking woman who was also clad in white.

"You're not getting away now, Phantom Thief!" said one of them.

"If we turn her in, we'd be famous!" said another.

The woman then tilted her head as all of the guards looked directly into her eyes. They then froze as if they were robots who were out of battery. She then ordered, "Prevent the Police from getting inside the Museum. Thank you! Please do your best, okay?" she then walked away as if the guards were nothing but her pawns.

"Yes, my Lord." the guards answered in chorus. The guards then moved in a robot-like motion and stood guard outside the Museum.

In the blink of an eye, the leader of the group appeared on top of the museum roof together with the woman clad in red. He then smirked at the police below who were having a hard time getting in due to the museum staff who are currently stopping their tracks. He then spoke, carrying a really charismatic voice. "The show has officially ended. Thank you to all who participated in this night's performance." He then bowed his head with his right hand on the left part of his chest. He then raised his head as all of his comrades appear beside him, now carrying all 24 paintings. They then vanished into thin air as it rained gilded cards containing the words 'Naniwa Phantom Thieves'. The TV then returned to its original broadcast.

The theft happened so fast Sakura couldn't believe what she was seeing. It was faster. No. They were faster. Faster than the group of thieves that usually steals from that museum. Faster than Sakura's own group of Phantom Thieves.

Meanwhile, in a mansion several kilometers away from the said Museum, a young woman, who was seated on a gold throne and holding a glass of red wine, clenched her teeth and threw her wineglass near the 24-inch flat screen television screen. The interior of the mansion was dyed in red, the floor covered by red carpet. A certain memory suddenly took over her mind. The young woman then regained her composure. Her eyes were now cold and indifferent after seeing the moves of the Phantom Thieves on screen, she then muttered. "The Hidden Village of Hakata needs to rest."

A butler then bowed slightly and raised his head with his right hand gently placed on the left part of his chest. “Yes, your highness.” He then vanished into the darkness.

-=To be Continued=-

[masyho17]

Author's Note: Thanks to Christmas season, I was able to finish this. I changed the things inside the [] because I realized I suck at romance and might not even do much of romance in the fict. But I'll try my best anyway.

Chapter 4

July 27, 2015…
1 o'clock am…

In a study inside a mansion, a young woman was playing the violin. Outside the window, a huge fire could be seen growing and consuming an entire forest in the mountains. Inside the study room, her butler could also be seen, but he was wearing a pair of ear plugs. It was clear that his master was playing in such a bad way his ears would bleed from her performance. The butler's suit was tainted with blood.

Several minutes later, the young woman stopped playing the violin. She then cackled crazily. "Naoki, did I imitate Nero well?" she asked.

"Ojou-sama, I wish you'd refrain from trying to hurt my ears with your superb performance." He then took out a dirty pair of glasses from his right breast pocket and cleaned the lenses with his handkerchief. "Anyway, I already  took care of the Hidden Village of Hakata. Rest assured, they won't be producing any more Shinobi or Assassin." he added as he wore his glasses.

"I see. I'm quite sad I won't be getting new assassins anymore but if that means my competitors would not as well then I do not see any problems with it." she then smiled as the moon's light revealed her face, the Student Council Treasurer, Anai Chihiro. "Also, prepare my outfit. I'm going to make a huge explosion to destroy our only enemy now." she added.

"If that's the case, then so be it, Ojousama." replied the butler whose face was also revealed by the moon's light, 2nd year Class H's Okamoto Naoki.

A few hours later…
Class KIV Dorms…

Sakura was still sleeping. Aoi was again the first person to wake up. She then went to look at her still sleeping roommate. Aoi's attention was caught by a certain brown teddy bear on Sakura's bed. It was one of Sakura's priceless stuffed toys, Brownie. Aoi has been contemplating whether or not she'll steal Sakura's stuffed toy because she really wanted Brownie ever since Sakura met her. It turns out that Brownie was a limited edition stuffed toy bought by Sakura's parents for her when they were still alive.

'She won't really notice if I take it now. I'll go for it!' thought Aoi. 'Ih…! But this maybe a trap! I shan't fall for it!' she thought further. 'Ih… But maybe this'll be a good chance!' Aoi kept on thinking. She then decided to take the chance. She slowly moved to the left side of Sakura's bed where the stuffed toy is. Sakura was facing the right side of the bed and thus won't see her. She then slowly picked up Brownie. The mere activity was making her feel evil. As she was going to withdraw, she heard a deep voice. One that belongs to her teammate in heists, Azrael.

"You sure have the guts to steal from me right now, Hephaestus."

"Ihh…" Aoi slowly turned around. Sakura was sitting up on her bed, her eyes as sharp as a hawk's. "I… I want Brownie. May I have him?"

"No." Sakura then swiped him back from Aoi's grasp.

Aoi then pouted after the ordeal. "Calling me Hephaestus at the dorms… Are you half awake--" the moment she looked at the one she was talking to, Sakura was already sleeping, hugging Brownie this time. "Nice talking." She then poked Sakura repeatedly. "Please wake up, Sakura!"

***

A young man woke up to the sound of his phone ringing, it was an alarm clock tone. He then saw a barrage of messages on his smart phone.

'Master, the whole village is in chaos! A group of assassins is killing us!'
'It was identified that there were only 3 of them. And they're slaughtering the villagers! Help us, Master!'
'Master, I might be gone once you read this message. The three of them overpowered even your father, as well as the father of the other clan. It is only a matter of time until they kill the last of us. Please don't forget us, Master. Don't attempt to save us.'

This greatly enraged the reader of the text message. "This is all his fault." he muttered under his breath.

Hakata Private Academy…
8:30 am…

It was the day of the results of their quiz. Fuchigami entered the room and everyone seemed to be present. Fuchigami then sighed. "Good morning, class." she greeted.

Sakura then lead the class. "Kiritsu." All of them stood. "Ki wo tsukete." She then continued. "Rei." The whole class then bowed. "Chakuseki." The whole class then sat down.

Fuchigami then placed her bag on the teacher's seat and the test papers on the table. "Almost all of you managed to pass on the quiz. Save for Mr. Kodama." she then lazily looked at Haruto.

Haruto was then being stared at by everyone in the class.

"Seriously? He didn't pass?"

"Well, that's to be expected. He's quite the rowdy boy with a lisp."

"Geez… Our class average will go down again."

Fuchigami then cut in between their dialogues. "Well, he's a new kid and probably is not really that attentive due to the new environment. You guys still have the midterm exams to show improvement. Err… Mr. Kodama, come with me and Ms. Miyawaki to the Principal's office after class." Fuchigami then distributed the papers. After distributing them, she proceeded to her lecture.

After the class concluded, Fuchigami led Sakura and Haruto to the Principal's Office.

The moment the three of them arrived at the Principal's office, Sasshi was calmly waiting for both students.

"Good. The two of you are here. Now, I'll keep this brief." Sasshi then stood from her seat and faced the window. "You two will be roommates to raise Haruto's grades. His grades might tarnish the trust we got from our investors. The investors are expecting our average scores to increase, not decrease, after all."

Sakura then sighed. "Do I really have to? He's a guy. Who knows what he'll--" she was interrupted by Sasshi.

"Don't worry. I trust that Haruto-kun here is already through his bad boy phase and is ready to help out. Unless he wants to leave the school. Right, Haruto-kun?" she then faced Haruto with a stern look.

"Y-yesh, ma'am. I'll do my best to catch up." Haruto nervously answered.

Sakura then butted in. "So I just need to increase his grades and I'll be back to my room, right?"

"Of course." Sasshi smiled. But the smile once again turned into a frown. "However, if he doesn't improve, I'm afraid you guys have to stick with each other until he does." she then faced Sakura directly. "Are we clear, Sakura-san?" It was the first time Sakura felt Sasshi was scary. Sakura had been helping the school out with the investors since her first year under the condition that her tuition be reduced to 50%. However, it also means her grades can't fall.

Sakura then sighed in defeat. "Yes, ma'am."

"Now don't worry. Haruto will transfer to your room after a week. For the meantime, please tutor him in the library." Sasshi then dismissed both of them.

Outside the Principal's office, Sakura faced Haruto. "Let's do our best, Kodama-san." She then offered her hand for a handshake. Haruto then extended his arm as well. "Let'sh do our besht." he replied.

***

Sakura was on her way home when she went to her school locker to get her leather shoes. As she opened it, letters came flooding down, some were love letters, and some were challenge letters. Love letters were automatically ignored as she was least interested in romance. She then came across a ninja scroll of some sorts. This piqued her interest and so she opened it.

'Miyawaki-dono. I know of thy secret. Come face me in the school's gymnasium at 7:00pm.

-Summer'

'Ugh. A typical secret love letter someone turned into a challenge letter. I am not falling for that.' Sakura thought as she sighed. She then threw the scroll, together with the other letters to the trash bin. "Time to go home now then." she did not even think the least suspicious about the ninja scroll she just threw into the trash bin.

The gymnasium of the school is a really large place. It could be as large as 5 full basketball courts to cater to students' different sport needs just in case they happen to have overlapping schedules. It had a classic hardwood flooring, basically hard maple which was a dense wood which made it resistant to splintering. Doors need to be shut tight however, as rain and sun can damage or warp the surface.

***

At the gymnasium, the moon shines bright outside the window as a silhouette of a man waited for another person's presence. However, it never came. It was already 9:00pm. The man, now angry, vanished from the gymnasium.

"You will regret not taking my letter seriously, Miyawaki." his voice echoed inside the now vacant gymnasium.

The next day, Sakura was silently doing her tasks when she heard someone groaning outside the student council office. She checked who it was. It was Moriyasu, who was now covered in bruises and scars. Sakura was shocked and worried at the same time. She immediately rushed to his side.

"Maki! What happened?! Who did this to you!?"

"I was… ambushed… on my way here…"

Sakura then saw several hidden articles inside Moriyasu's shirt. She then felt weirded out. She then sighed and asked, "Okay… So tell me in detail what happened and I'll try my best not to give you any punishments."

Moriyasu then looked away as he sweat bullets. "I kinda saw several pictures of who I thought was Chihiron when she was still a toddler… Then I was attacked at all directions. And it was not your ordinary attack… It was… You know what." Moriyasu sounded like he was on his last legs which made Sakura help him to the infirmary.

After helping Moriyasu get to the Infirmary, Sakura went to her school locker to check its contents. 'Seriously? A shinobi attacking a successor to a Shinobi Clan? This is new.' Sakura then came across a new Ninja scroll.

'You did not listen. I already took down one of your men. I will strike again. If you do not want this to happen, meet me at the same place at the same time tonight.

-Summer'

Sakura was irritated. 'Huh… Fuchigami has been making me test all these sorts of mechanisms and this punk dares to add to my workload? Must be a shinobi who thinks he's tough.' At the back of her mind, she was worried but at the same time, she thinks Moriyasu was only caught off-guard. Doubtingly, she dumped the scroll to the trash bin.

Several hours later, as she walked down the corridor, she forgot about some of her paperwork in the Student Council Office and thus ran back to their room. Upon entry, she saw Aoi collapsing from her chair. Remembering about the letter, she immediately rushed to Aoi's side.

"Aoi, what happened!?" she was ready to jump the gun any moment now.

"Sakura… Somebody… poisoned my… food…" Aoi was trying to speak in between breaths. "Sakura…?" Aoi's voice was weakening.

"Yes?"

"Am I gonna die…?" something then flashed at the back of Aoi's mind. Aoi then fainted. Sakura took her to the Infirmary as she prepared herself mentally to defeat the felon who endangered the lives of her friends. Sakura felt that she forgot something at the back of her mind but paid no mind as she focused on finishing her current foe, Matsuoka Natsu.

***

It was 7:00pm to be exact. Sakura confidently marched to the gymnasium. Her killer intent could be felt in the area. As she opened the door, the tone of her voice went from her usual nonchalant one to a low wrathful one. Her anger could be felt on every word coming out of her mouth. "You've really done it now, Natsu!"

The silhouette was there, waiting for her. It then moved, walking to the center of the stage. "Amazing. You knew it was me? What gave it away?" Natsu smirked.

"If you're going to think of a codename, make it less obvious. Now prepare to taste my wrath, Natsu!" Sakura then vanished on her position. She reappeared behind Natsu. However, Natsu predicted it already and faded away, only to reappear to the opposite side of the gymnasium.

"You must think I'm easy if you're going to attack like that." Natsu removed his school shirt as he revealed his ninja gi. It was sleeveless. However, his arms were covered by mesh.

"I knew it. Another shinobi. You had the nerve to attack Moriyasu? He's the next head of his clan, the Moriyasu Clan of the Hidden Village of Hakata." Sakura looked at him sternly.

"Clan? What clan? An organization massacred the whole Hidden Village of Hakata. There is no one left for him to lead." he replied, annoyed by Sakura's words.

"What do you mean?"

"Everyone in my village is dead. There is no one left for him to lead. And even if there is, I'll never acknowledge him. He left us for some rookie who was trained in our village and now you claim him to be the successor? Don't make me laugh. I will make sure I finish you and then him." Natsu then revealed an unsheathed kodachi on his right hand. He wielded it with a reverse grip. Natsu then charged at Sakura as he struck her with his kodachi.

Sakura blocked it with a hidden blade. Natsu then looked at the blade which was revealed to be hidden in Sakura's hand, its exit point being Sakura's wrist. The blade was a gold titanium alloy with the number 2 engraved on it.

"That hidden blade… Gold Titanium!? That blade is only given to the batch Salutatorian of the Assassin Program… As I expected… You're the assassin he left us for! The Batch Salutatorian of the 12th Assassin Program…!" Natsu then jumped back, now 30 paces away from Sakura.

"That's right. I'm the 2nd rank. I never knew someone was still familiar with my batch." Sakura then removed her school blazer and threw it to Natsu's direction. As the blazer covered her from sight, she changed from her school uniform to a black suit. A black blazer paired with a white polo shirt, with a black thin ribbon tied around the collar. From her school skirt, she is now wearing a black pair of trousers. "Let me reintroduce myself." Sakura then revealed her hidden blade once more. "Sakura Miyawaki. 2nd rank of the 12th Batch. I hope you're ready to die now, Matsuoka."

"Oh, so that's the uniform in your batch?" Natsu then sliced through Sakura's school blazer which revealed the woman clad in black, now going for the kill. Sakura then infused lightning into her blade. This made Natsu smirk. 'Nature release? Let's see what the Batch Salutatorian can do with her skills…' Natsu then watched Sakura try to hit him with her hidden blade. Sakura tried to hit his vitals. Natsu parried every attack with his blade. When Natsu saw an opening, he then struck back by slashing her chest. However, Sakura evaded and moved away but was too late to get her whole body out of the picture. Natsu managed to slice the sleeve of Sakura's uniform. He smirked once more. He and Sakura were now several meters away from each other.

Sakura then noticed the severed sleeve of her uniform. She then sighed. 'I still have at least 6 more of this outfit. But he managed to damage this uniform? I thought the fibers were hard enough to withstand sword slashes or bullets. He's good.' She then removed the sleeve. "Managing to damage your own village's craft with ease… You're good. At least at a Senior Shinobi's level, huh?"

Natsu then stretched the joints on his neck. "Well, I am the Head of my clan, the Matsuoka Clan in the same village. Of course, I'd be good enough to sever even your head." He arrogantly answered. The battle then ensued. Sakura aimed for Natsu's head for her first strike as Natsu simply moved his head out of the blade's way while motioning his sword to match Sakura's distance as to sever Sakura's head at the perfect moment. Sakura noticed this however and kicked Natsu on his right shoulder and torso to propel herself backwards. Her shoes then skid backwards as she once again launched herself, this time disappearing in the blink of an eye as Natsu regained his momentum and launched himself as well, disappearing. The gymnasium was silent, except for the sword clashing sounds that could be heard as the exchange of two swords clashing produced sparks everywhere. The two then rested for a second as the two of them are away from each other.

Sakura then wanted a change of pace and imbued fire on her blade now. Before she could attack though, Natsu outpaced her and punched her in the abdomen, his left fist covered with fire as he burned the part of her uniform that was protecting her abdomen. Sakura coughed out blood for the first time in 3 years.

"Nice punch…" Sakura wiped the blood off her lips.

"You need to step up, Assassin." Natsu then vanished as Sakura defended herself. Natsu took this as an opportunity to give as much damage to Sakura as possible. He then vanished and struck Sakura and then disappeared again. This tactic happened a lot of times in the next 5 minutes to a point where Sakura's clothing looked like some tattered rug covering her back and at least her chest and the lower parts of her body. Natsu was confident that he would win but Sakura also started using his tactic against him by outpacing him, his clothes now getting slashed by Sakura as he shifted from offensive to defensive.

Several minutes later, Natsu only managed to injure Sakura's shoulder and Sakura managed to wound Natsu's chest and both of his arms. Both of their clothing were all tattered up. Both weren't giving each other chances. They were trying to beat each other while suppressing their real monstrosity due to the gymnasium being owned by the school. They both knew their limits.

Even with the odds stacked against him, Natsu managed to smirk. "As expected from the 2nd rank of the 12th batch… I never knew what you did… But you got faster and faster…"

"As expected from a Head of a clan…" Sakura returned. "If we met under different circumstances, I wouldn't have to take your life." Sakura then prepared to finish Natsu. "I won't forgive you for injuring Moriyasu…" Hearing this made Natsu's smirk even more confident. "And poisoning Aoi!" Natsu's confident smirk then turned into a confused facial expression. Sakura then launched herself to finish Natsu who was dumbfounded with her words as both of his legs gave up on him.

"Ugh… What?" Natsu asked, dumbfounded as he sat on the floor.

Sakura, whose blade was inches away from Natsu's neck, suddenly stopped the blade from going its course. "You… Poisoned Aoi, right?"

"What do you mean? I only injured Moriyasu so far as a warning. I was going for that guy from Class H tomorrow if you didn't turn up today as well." Natsu answered.

"Huh? But… Aoi said… She was poisoned." Sakura's statement immediately made Natsu retort wildly. 'That Aoi…!' Sakura thought.

"Who poisoned her!?"

"Ugh… I thought it was you."

"What? Me? I did not! I cannot even think of anything vile to do to her! She's an angel!" Natsu was trying to stand up but couldn't.

Sakura then sighed. "Well, I guess you didn't poison Aoi." She then hid her blade.

She then sighed as her expression turned into a sorrowful one. "Now, I think you're only sad because your whole village died. I trained there for months so I am sad to hear about it as well. But… You don't really had to take it out on us." She then turned and faced Natsu. "Your attacks tonight were all weak. You were holding yourself back. Because you subconsciously know we did nothing wrong and you were taking it all out on the wrong people." Sakura then offered her hand to help him up. "Now let's go to the infirmary. I'll have to squeeze out from Aoi what poisoned her and you need to have that chest patched up." Natsu then took her hand unwillingly as Sakura added one more thing. "Since you lost to me tonight and I'm not one to forgive you for injuring the school's auditor..." Natsu could feel the evil aura behind Sakura's smile. "I'm going to fire the current Secretary who is always away and I need a replacement." Natsu gulped. "You'll replace him, right?"

"Y-yes, ma'am…" Natsu muttered as Sakura pulled him up and accompanied her to the infirmary.

***

Meanwhile, from a faraway prefecture, a high school student who just wrapped up his photoshoot sneezed. "Achoo! Somebody must be thinking of me. Well, who wouldn't be? I'm really handsome."

***

As both of them left the gymnasium, a tall tree outside revealed a short girl sitting on its branches, watching the events unfold. The girl then muttered, "Sakura, you've gone soft." A girl then appeared beside her.

"Is she really that batchmate you told me about? She looks really weak. And I thought that Shinobi was enough to finish her." The other girl said.

"Well, Sakura's a really persistent weed even when we were still trainees." The girl then smirked. "And that's what makes it more fun." Both of them then vanished.

While Sakura and Natsu were on their way to the infirmary, the school was silent due to everyone going home before 6:30pm, thanks to School curfew. The infirmary was the only one that's open as the Doctor was busy tending to two students that day.

"The next time we face each other, I won't go easy on you." Natsu muttered.

"I hope we do. I want to test my abilities on you. Moriyasu takes it easy so he never goes all out." Sakura retorted.

"What am I? A guinea pig?" Natsu glared at her.

"You should thank yourself that I didn't even finish your pitiful life, Natsu."

"Shut up."

They then reached the infirmary. Sakura then opened the door. "Fuchigami, good thing you're here."

Fuchigami then sighed. "Oh, you must be the Matsuoka guy from the other Shinobi clan Moriyasu talked to us about." She then looked at both Sakura and Natsu. Fuchigami then bowed her head in front of Natsu. "Thanks for going easy on our frail President--"

 "Enough of the formalities." Sakura cut her dialogue short as she tossed Natsu to the third bed and went beside Aoi's bed. "Hey, Aoi. Good thing we meet again."

Aoi was now sweating bullets. "Yes, Sakura?" she kindly answered.

"Natsu didn't even try to attack you. Now… What made you sick?" Sakura glared at Aoi.

Aoi then averted her eyes from Sakura. "I… I don't know."

Sakura then looked at Fuchigami. "Aoi, do you want me to ask Fuchigami or would you come clean instead?"

Aoi frantically looked at Sakura. "Okay! Okay! I'll tell."

Sakura then glared at Aoi. "What did you eat this morning?"

"Cereals."

"The one from last month?"

"Yes."

"Did you mix anything with the cereals?"

"Yes."

"What did you put?"

"That Milk in the fridge that looks like yogurt."

Sakura facepalmed. "I told you to throw those out, didn't I?"

"Yes." Aoi gulped.

"And what did you do instead?"

"Ate them."

"Why?"

"I thought they were still fine."

Sakura then looked at Natsu. "I am very sorry for thinking you could poison this… This moron."

"HEY!" Aoi instantly retorted.

Moriyasu then looked at Matsuoka. "Know what? I tried rushing to the place that night. But I was already too late." Moriyasu then looked down. "If only I were faster…"

Sakura then looked at Moriyasu's direction. "So you knew but didn't tell us?"

"Yeah. I felt that I didn't have the right to feel sad. I betrayed the villagers' trust anyway..." Moriyasu smiled, his smile looking bittersweet.

"You're wrong though. The village still admires you. They wanted to see you again. Everyone did." Natsu looked at Moriyasu's direction as well and then looked down. "I was the one who betrayed their trust... If only I weren't sleeping…" Natsu muttered.

This made Moriyasu annoyed. "You were sleeping!? We're supposed to be always ready to strike! That's why you're a freaking head! And you call yourself a shinobi!? Disgrace!"

"Yeah. I know. I really regret everything that happened last night." Natsu felt worse hearing every word coming out of Moriyasu's mouth.

"Enough with the depressing news, people." Fuchigami broke the shinobi talk between the two. "So… Who do you work for?" She then gave Natsu a hot cup of cocoa.

"Well… I'm only grateful to the police for giving me insights about the massacre as I am supposed to be one of the last villagers remaining but…" Natsu looked at the cup given to him.

"Oh, you work for the police?" Sakura asked him.

"Nah." Natsu said coolly. "I'm a free agent. Though I am going to tell you the organization that apparently gave the order to the massacre." Natsu then gritted his teeth.

Sakura had a bad feeling about his next revelation. "Hold up." Sakura then looked at Moriyasu. "Can you stand?"

Moriyasu then shook his head. "Natsu kicked me too hard. Thanks a lot, Natsu."

"Any time." Natsu answered coolly.

"HEY!" Moriyasu hissed.

Sakura then looked at Fuchigami. "Please accompany Aoi outside."

Aoi then looked at Sakura. "But why? I'm an adult now."

Sakura shook her head. "This is a classified information. Your mouth's way of keeping secrets can't be trusted."

Aoi then pouted. "Hmph!" Aoi then angrily crossed her arms.

Fuchigami then helped Aoi to stand. "Come on, come on. I will buy you Haagen-Dazs."

Aoi then got distracted by Fuchigami's sweet prize. "YAY! Let's go!" Fuchigami and Aoi left the room as Sakura watched them walk away from the infirmary.

Natsu then looked at Sakura. "What's the deal with that?"

'She doesn't need to remember that incident. Everything's going well in her life now. If I need to protect her from the truth forever, then so be it.' She then looked at Natsu. "Now spill the beans."

He then hesitantly muttered, "The Anai Household."

Sakura then sighed. "As expected."

"As you expected? You knew about Anai Household?" Natsu glared suspiciously at Sakura. "I thought only really important people knew about it."

Sakura then lifted the polo shirt a bit and revealed a scar on her spinal column.

Natsu then averted his eyes. "Hey! I'm saving my eyes for Aoi's body only!"

Sakura then stared at him. "Look at the scar, you idiot."

Natsu then looked at it. He saw a several stitches on the area that connects her spine and pelvic bone. "How did you get that?" he asked, horrified.

"I got this trying to escape Anai Household when I was still an assassin under them." Sakura muttered. "Their assassins are expected to serve them until death, y'know. They install poison mechanisms on their assassins to make sure they won't betray the organization until they die."

"Oh, so that's where the vibrator's located?" Moriyasu tried recalling what Sakura told him on their first weeks of partnership in crime.

"It's not a vibrator, for pete's sake!" Sakura retorted angrily. "It's a vibrating poison-containing capsule." she added as she hid her scar.

"Vibrating capsule." Moriyasu muttered. "Yeah, the long term for Vibrator. Nice one, Sakura." he added. Natsu was drinking his cocoa when he heard this and thus, spewed out what he was drinking.

"Ugh." Sakura rolled her eyes and looked at Natsu once more. "We may not look like it but… We are trying to correct the mistakes done by the Anai Household. And so… I guess I'll have to ask you to keep our identities a secret." Sakura then glared at Natsu. "We can trust you to do it, yeah?"

"Does Chihiron know about her family's nefarious activities?" Natsu looked down at the now empty cup of cocoa on his hands.

"I don't think so. She hasn't been hostile to us, has she?" She was now gripping her right arm.

"Yeah… She's gotta be a good actress to not want to behead Sakura while she's defenseless." Moriyasu answered.

"You're right." Natsu then looked at Sakura. "Since I'm also not allowed to tell everyone about my identity, I guess I'll have to keep quiet about your group. But I won't be joining your party, alright." Natsu smiled at Sakura. "But I can protect Aoi." he added.

"That's all I wanted to hear. To keep you under surveillance though, you will be our new Secretary in the Student Council. Also because out current one is always out of school." Sakura then saw Aoi and Fuchigami walking back in the corridor with a plastic full of Ice cream. "Oh, they're back."

Fuchigami then opened the door. "Kids, it's a few minutes past curfew now. We need to go home. Natsu, Moriyasu, and Sakura, I'll tend to your wounds. Just plan an excuse tomorrow by coordinating your stories. Please, don't mess up." She commanded.

Natsu nodded. "Well, there's that detective in the dorms, right? We really need to be careful." He looked at Sakura. "While I am indebted to the Police for the help they gave me, getting that Detective out of your trail is hard. Good luck, Phantom Thief."

Fuchigami then looked at Sakura as well. "You accompany Moriyasu back to the dorms. Don't make a sound, alright? I'll try briefing Haruto about you transferring to his room next week to distract him. Aoi, help Natsu go back to his room. Make an excuse. Let's go, team." She added further to her commands.

Sakura then thought of a perfect excuse. "Well, a good story would be Natsu and Moriyasu fighting due to Natsu telling us about Moriyasu's books and then I stop them and got injured in the process. Sounds about right?" she looked at both of the boys.

"Sure."

"Alright."

"You got it as well, Aoi?" Sakura leered at her.

"Sí."

The night ended as they carefully followed their plans.

The next day, Sakura went to school in bandages. Haruto saw her from the red carpet which made the student body worry about their tyrant, well, President. He then came running to Sakura. "Sakura, you alright?"

Sakura was then puzzled. 'This guy is worried? He must be investigating…' "Ah, yeah. I'm fine. Some fight happened yesterday but I'm fine now."

Haruto offered to carry her bag to the room.

Several hours later, in Sakura's classroom, Fuchigami entered the room as 2 students waited outside. Fuchigami then announced the apparently good news. "Good morning, class. As you can see, we are getting 2 new comrades starting today."

Aoi could be seen on her chair muttering the words, "Hail our Supreme Leader, Miyawaki Sakura--" She then felt Sakura's killer aura from her seat which made her stop what she was doing.

"Without further ado, let's welcome Yabuki Nako and Tanaka Miku!" Fuchigami then opened the door as the 2 new student stepped in. One of them was so small, she immediately became the smallest in the class. The second one looked kind of mature but still acted her age.

As both of them entered, Sakura's eyes were fixated on the smaller girl as she wrote her name on the board. She then introduced herself. "Hello. I'm Yabuki Nako, a high school detective working for the Police. I'm 13 years old! Nice to meet you all!" She cheerfully said as the whole class save for Sakura's group, Haruppi, and Natsu talked about her being a detective at such a young age.

'What the!? I didn't know about them coming to school!' Haruto thought as he received a message from the Personnel Documentation Department on his phone.

'Personnel change advisory: Detective Kodama Haruto is now an assistant Detective to the Phantom Thief Case. The case will now be transferred to the custody of Detective Yabuki and Detective Tanaka. Thank you and have a nice day.

-Fukuoka Prefecture Police, Personnel Documentation Department'

Nako then looked at Sakura's direction. "It's been so long, Sakura. Hope we get along like the old days."

'I see. So she now works for the Police? As expected. She's too good to be an assassin anyway.' Sakura then smiled at her. "Nice to see you again, Nako."

The whole class save for Sakura were now talking about Sakura knowing Nako.

"Eh!? Pres knows the transfer student?"

"Well, they're both smart. Must be cram school or their previous schools."

"Tsk, alright, we get it. You're smart."

"If only I were blessed to be even half as smart as Pres or them…"

Fuchigami as usual went between them. "Alright, alright. Let's listen to the next one."

The taller transferee then wrote her name on the board. She then introduced herself. "Good morning. I'm Tanaka Miku. Likewise, I'm also a high school detective working for the Police. Nice to be of your acquaintance." The girl called Miku then gently smiled in front of everyone.

Sakura then sighed. 'Give me a break.' she thought as the class started with the two new girls joining them.

-=To be Continued=-

[masyho17]

Author's Note: I'm still trying to improve my writing style as usual so it will appear to be different to my initial writings this year.

Chapter 5

It was after the school's 1st period and thus Sakura was obligated by Fuchigami to tour the new students around the area. The three of them were touring in an empty part of the school area due to the students going to the cafeteria to grab a bite or to their lockers to get their food. Nako and Miku were flirting around and Sakura was weirded out as usual due to her lack of love life. The Broadcasting Club announced personnel changes in the Student council while the three were walking.

'Student Council Advisory: Rarely present Student Council Secretary Kojina Yuizou is now going to be replaced by Matsuoka Natsu. This advisory is again from the Student Council.'

"Hey, Sakura." Nako successfully caught her attention.

"Hmm?" Sakura's guard was lower than usual. After all, Nako was one of her closest friends in the 12th Batch. But she couldn't afford to be caught now and thus, still had to keep her guard up. Nako is still a trained assassin and a really charismatic one at that.

"Why are you pretending to be fra-" Sakura hurriedly covered her mouth before Nako could finish her question.

"Shush, Nako! I am trying to live a simple life here!" Sakura whispered to her.

Nako then looked at Sakura. "Simple life? You were an ass--" Sakura again covered her mouth.

"Watch your mouth! I already told you guys in the chat years ago that I already quit being one! Sheesh!" Sakura glared at Nako. "Does your partner know?" She then removed both of her hands from Nako.

"Of course. I mean, it was kinda an open secret in our department in my case so I could tell her about my batchmates." Nako said confidently.

"Wow. How convenient for you then. I couldn't tell anyone about my past since well, I did some of that kind of work." Sakura then sighed as she continued walking. "No one would accept me if they ever find out." Sakura kept walking.

Nako then felt sad for Sakura. "W-well…" She tried finding the right words.

Miku then interfered. "At least you have your batchmates. And if not, people who will accept you regardless of what you did in the past." Miku has always been the more enthusiastic between the two.

Sakura then smiled. "I hope so."

Nako then texted Miku.

'Do you really think she's that Phantom Thief?' - Nako

'Yeah. Don’t be fooled by her exterior, Nako. She's still capable of outrunning the Police to get the artifacts.' - Miku

'I know. If only the Phantom Thief would perform for us, I could sense their similarities in the flesh.' - Nako

'What similarity are you searching for? The job just got transferred to us and they immediately expect results. And I have no idea about that Phantom Thief.' - Miku

'The killer intent. Sakura can't fake that.' - Nako

'Killer intent? How?' - Miku

'Last night's killer intent. It was Sakura's signature Killer intent. One of the scariest in our batch to be honest. It even made a strong trainee cower in fear and retire from the course.' - Nako

'I see. We could try.' - Miku

Sakura then got a text message.

'Ms. Miyawaki, we got a report that improper reading materials are being kept in class 1-A, the class for Trainees for Class H.

-Anai Chihiro'

Sakura then replied.

'I will conduct a surprise inspection after break time.' Sakura sent the message to Chihiron. She then sent a message to the new Secretary. 'Memorize the Punishable acts by the Student Council as well as allowed items and other rules of the school. Be on standby outside Class 1-A after 15 minutes as well.'

Nako noticed a change in Sakura's behavior. "Sakura, what's that?" she asked as she stole Sakura's phone.

Sakura then sighed. "Where I apply that 1 year I presumably wasted in our Training Camp."

Nako and Miku looked at each other, curious about what Sakura was talking about.

15 minutes later, in the peaceful class of 1-A, the first 5 seconds of a certain song played in the room's speakers, it was Red Velvet's 'Peek-a-boo'. This made everyone wonder what was going on as two boys nodded to each other and decided to check the situation outside by looking at both of the doors in the left part of the front of the class and the left part of the back of the class, if someone was going to come or something like that but was stopped by Natsu and Moriyasu at both doors as Sakura went in and wrote on the following words on the board: Surprise Inspection. She then looked at the whole class as her 'killer intent' sort of flowed out.

Miku and Nako watched from outside the classroom as Sakura looked at the students in the class. 'So that's where you apply 'that' killer intent?! What a waste!' Nako thought as she wished she never saw the whole thing.

"It's going to end up faster if you just hand me the magazines. I'm going to give you a minute to put everything on the teacher's desk." Sakura then sat on the Teacher's table elegantly as she crossed her legs. However, no one moved from their seat. This made Sakura sigh. "Don't make me extract the magazines from your bags or your classroom lockers. I want them out, now."

Miku then whispered to Nako, "What is she doing and how does she know they have that sort of thing?"

Nako then answered back to Miku, "You'll see." Nako looked smug as an impatient Sakura stood up from the Teacher's table.

Sakura then called Natsu to do the deed. "Natsu, that boy's desk compartment. Hidden inside the bag's inner zipper." Natsu then went to get the boy's bag and unzipped it as per Sakura's order. It contained an improper magazine which Natsu confiscated. This went on for several minutes until almost all of the boys' bags were inspected and even the lockers in the classroom were not spared from Sakura's eyes.

Miku was surprised to see that Sakura knew where each item was located. "How did she know the locations, Nako?" she asked.

"Level 3 Clairvoyance." Nako muttered.

Sakura then glanced at Chihiron for a second as Chihiron walked into the room. Sakura then decided to interview the offenders one by one. Natsu would tell Sakura the name of the offender and Sakura would interview them by asking if they knew what they did was wrong and etcetera. The fifth offender was a boy who had a weird hairstyle with its bangs included. "Vivien Murakawa." Natsu muttered to Sakura. The boy was a meter away from Sakura who was sitting in front of the Teacher's table. "You know what you did wrong, right Vivien-kun?" said Sakura, looking at the boy's face.

"No." Vivien said as he shook his head.

Sakura's emotionless stare sent shivers to everyone's spine but Vivien. "You brought-"

Before Sakura could finish her sentence, Vivien spoke. "It's Vivi-en."

Sakura was speechless. 'This isn't the time to worry about how one pronounces your name, damn it!' "Okay, Vivi-ehn-kun. Now-"

"No. It's Vivi-en." Vivien said as a matter-of-factly.

Sakura then glared at Natsu as Natsu took charge. "Okay, Vivi-en-kun. Do you know what you did wrong now?" Natsu looked at Vivien's personal data.

"Eh? I don't know to be honest."

His reply made Natsu lose his balance for a bit. "You brought improper reading materials to school." Natsu then held the magazine with his left hand for the whole class to see. The front of the magazine had a bikini-clad woman posing in a seducing manner. The back, however, was a random advertisement from Hakata Police about a certain Forest Fire.

"But I was only reading the manga there. I don't want to see the bikini-clad girls anyway." Vivien replied.

Natsu then hid the magazine. "We're still confiscating the magazine."

"Aww, bumblebutts!" Vivien wasn't happy with the decision.

Several minutes later, the inspection ended with the Student Council imposing fines for every magazine confiscated.

Aoi beamed when she saw Chihiron's collection for today's surprise inspection. The Student Council members who were present in that inspection all went to their separate talent development classes for Class H and additional academic classes for Class KIV in the afternoon.

On Sakura, Aoi, and Moriyasu's way to their chosen classes, Aoi was anything but excited to go to class.

"I wish I just became Class H. I hate these additional Academic Classes." Aoi looked so dead inside.

"Well, isn't it your fault in the first place when you took the entrance examinations and had a wager against Chihiron?" Sakura was not really empathetic.

***

More than 1 and a half year ago, Aoi was just instated as the new head of the Motomura Clan that was rumored to be extinct that month. She wore the clan's head ring on her thumb as it was still too big to be worn on her index finger. She walked haughtily, being followed by a woman who could be recognized as Fuchigami to her left and Sakura to her right. They were walking to Hakata Private Academy's Admissions Office. They were welcomed by staff who was surprised to see Aoi's appearance in the office as her establishment as Motomura Clan's head was still hot news in the media. Sakura and Aoi filled up their forms and submitted it. The staff in the room then handed them an admissions kit where the dates for the examination and results as well as where to see the results were written. The two then walked to the exit. On their way out, Aoi locked eyes with a frail-looking applicant, it was Anai Chihiro, of course.

"A-aoi-chan?" Chihiron muttered.

"Oh my, if it isn't Chiichan?" Aoi replied. She smiled sweetly to Chihiron who was quite happy to see her. "You're also applying for the school?" she asked her.

"Oh yes. Are you aiming for Class H?" asked Chihiron. "I'm aiming for Class KIV, by the way."

"Oh no, I'm aiming for Class KIV as well." Aoi answered confidently.

Chihiron then giggled slightly. "Are you sure? The last time we took exams, you were falling behind the class. Class KIV has a maintaining grade, you see." replied Chihiron.

"Grades are nothing to a Clan Head, Chiichan. Getting an 85% should be easy for me." Aoi retorted.

Sakura was staring at Aoi in disbelief. She can't believe what Aoi was saying in that moment but decided to just keep quiet to avoid embarrassing her. Sakura was hesitant to look at Chihiron however, as if there was something wrong between the two of them.

"Well, let's have a bet then." Chihiron smiled at Aoi. "If you get into Class KIV, then I'll treat you to lunch in our first week. If not, then you treat me to lunch."

"Hmm? What about you? What if you don't get into Class KIV?" Aoi asked, her eyes were serious.

"Hmm… Is there even a possibility? If there is, I'll treat you to lunch for the whole month." Chihiron smiled at her.

"Deal."

Both of them shook hands. Aoi, Sakura, and Fuchigami then left the room as Chihiron went to the counter.

After the three got into the car, Sakura then glared at Aoi. "Picking a fight with Anai Chihiro this early? You sure are full of yourself considering that you cannot even reach 20 points in a Math exam I gave you last night."

"Ihh… But I wanted to show her that I'm different now, Sakura." Aoi pouted. "You can do something, right Sakura?" Aoi showed Sakura her signature cute face.

Sakura then rolled her eyes. "I am not Doraemon, Aoi."

Aoi then tugged Sakura's sleeves. "Come on, Sakura. I want to get into Class KIV. I want to show Chiichan that I'm not an idiot." Aoi then looked down.

Sakura then sighed. "Fine. We'll be studying for the rest of the month. There's still at least 2 months before the Entrance exam."

Aoi then sobbed and then hugged Sakura. "Thank you, Sakura!"

"Don't thank me yet. There will be no excuses as well as time to play your video games. Do you understand?" Sakura patted Aoi's head.

"Yes, Sakura." Aoi smiled sweetly at her.

'I wish she'd stay like this and not like the usual bum that she is.' Sakura thought. And thus, Aoi's trials in studying started that day.

Fast forward to the results date. Aoi and Sakura were waiting for the staff to open the results board. Chihiron arrived shortly afterwards and waited in the Class KIV results board as well.

When the time for the results arrived, the cloth covering the results boards were opened and the applicants started finding their names in the two boards. As usual, the boards for Class KIV and Class H contained less than 20 names each and the board for the 'Trainee Students' contained at least 90 names, as if mocking them for their inability to reach the 2 elite boards. A saying in the school goes: "if you are not smart enough, just improve your talents", foreshadowing Class H's inferiority to Class KIV when it comes to school average. Even if that were the case, the Trainee Students are still the bottom of the food chain in the school as they're not talented enough or smart enough to get into the 2 classes. Class KIV's board had the names of each passer engraved on a gold metal plate with blue ribbons below while Class H's board had the passers' names engraved on gold metal plates with red ribbons below. The Trainee Student boards however, was only a list printed from a computer and held by thumbtacks.

Aoi and Sakura searched for their names in the Class KIV. Sakura need not search for her name as her name was on the top of the boards. Aoi also found her name on the board, the middlemost name in the list. Aoi and Sakura then proceeded to search for Chihiron's name. Several seconds later, they were looking at the bottom of the list, still unable to see Chihiron's name.

"Did we somehow skip her name?" Aoi looked at Sakura.

"I don't think so. Should we look at Class H's board?" Sakura had an uneasy smile on her face.

Aoi then looked at Class H's board. "No need. She topped Class H." Aoi answered with a smug look on her face. Aoi then waltzed her way beside Chihiron who was not that happy to see her name topping Class H's board. "Oh, look at that. Congratulations on topping Class H's examination." Aoi then patted Chihiron's back. "See you in a month." Aoi then smiled confidently as she walked away with Sakura to their limousine.

Chihiron then sighed and smiled bitterly as she walked back to her family's service car. "At least I topped. That's what matters." Before getting in, she then remembered their bet. "I guess I'll save some money for her lunch starting today." As she got in, she then smirked as her butler poured her some wine at the wine glass on the table. "Glad to see she has improved."

***

Sakura then looked at Aoi. "Included in the privilege of being included in Class KIV, you also have to maintain at least 85% percentage in any and all of your subjects. I sure hope you could still remember that and not just the fact that you have bested Chihiron."

Moriyasu then snickered. "Man, it's easy if you're not watching Anime all the time, Aoi."

"Hey! At least JoJo helps me cope up with the fact that I am a useless human being. And that I don't matter!" Aoi was glaring daggers at Moriyasu.

"Please keep your negative thoughts to yourself, Aoi. They might hear you and you might end up tarnishing your own reputation." Sakura continued walking.

The three of them arrived on their classes. Aoi and Sakura chose Marketing Management & Business Calculus for their Advanced Classes, both being taught by Fuchigami Mai while Moriyasu chose Financial Accounting 1 & 2, which is taught by a certain Shinoda Mario.

Meanwhile, Natsu and Chihiron headed towards the Music Theory Class which was being taught by a pianist-slash-soldier. So being late was never an option unless it's about the Student Council.

Only a few steps from the door, Natsu stopped walking and held Chihiron's right wrist, "Hey, Chihiro."

Chihiron thought it was another pointless thing and thus looked at Natsu, expecting another pointless question. "Yes, Natsu?"

"Do you know anything about the forest fire?" Natsu asked, expecting Chihiron to either lie or say something he would not expect.

"Oh? That really huge forest fire the other night? I don't really know anything other than what the newspapers say." Chihiron answered, trying to recall the newspapers that she read. "Is something the matter?"

"Oh. It's nothing." Natsu smiled as he let go of Chihiron's hand. They then entered the room.

***

Sakura and Haruto were in the library, as today was the start of their tutorials. Their tutorials were to occur at least twice a week. Haruto sat dejectedly on his seat as Sakura started giving him sample questions to answer to test his academic knowledge. Several minutes of answering and checking later, Sakura found out he was more or less a talented dolt and looked for books to start fixing Haruto's mistakes. She also noticed how sad Haruto was.

"You seem to be under the weather. Is something the matter? Got fired on a part-time job, perhaps?" Sakura was trying to avoid to hit the words 'police', 'transfer', and 'demote' so as to hide her identity and knowledge as to who he really was.

"Well, something like that. They kinda gave me beginners' jobs again. I know I was under-performing but placing me back on basic jobs just made me sad." He answered with a frown.

Sakura then patted his back. "Well, it can't be helped. You just have to try again." She then handed him a book with a set of basic problems to answer. "Now, focus on this. You got into Class H, a class for the most talented people in the school. People would pay millions for your status. You have to try harder." Sakura was reading a book when she told him that.

Haruto then smiled at her. "Thank you, Miyawaki-san." This made Sakura look at him.

Sakura smiled slightly. "Now please answer those."

The lesson went without much problems. Other than Sakura's constant corrections on Haruto's answers.

After the lesson for today had wrapped up, Sakura went straight back to the dorms, parting ways with Haruto in front of the dormitories. When Sakura arrived in her room, she was surprised to see that the tiny ball of energy she normally calls Aoi has not arrived at the dorms yet. She took this as a chance to view her Album and Single collections of the group that she likes but couldn't admit to like, Red Velvet. Half an hour later, Sakura was looking at her Irene merch when she felt the door's handle move. She then quickly hid her collection behind fake book covers which were placed on the middlemost shelf. Sakura then ran to her bed and pretended to do nothing.

The door handle then turned as the door opened, revealing her roommate, Aoi. Aoi then closed the door and walked to her bed then sat on it.

"You sure have the guts to come home late, Aoi." said Sakura. "What kept you from going home early?" she asked.

"Oh, I was looking for figurines to buy." Aoi said confidently as she motioned towards the bookshelf to find a certain book for her homework.

"Not that JoJo thing again. Anyway, were you not aware of certain dangers at this time of the night? What if someone abducted you?" Sakura was worried.

"Oh please, just now, when I was on my way home, thugs kept on making way for me as if they were scared as heck when they saw me. They must know the power of the Motomura Clan."

Sakura then stood up and looked at Class H's Dormitory. She saw Natsu looking at their window. He was still on the doorway when Sakura saw him. Natsu then saw Sakura and waved at her as he went inside the Dorms. "Oh." She muttered.

Aoi then saw a certain book for Business Calculus. As she motioned to get the book, the cover then collapsed and revealed hidden collections of Red Velvet albums and merchandise. "Ay. It fell." She said as the supposed owner of the merchandise was alarmed of her discovery of the supposed hidden collection. "Wow, Red Velvet merchandise. I wonder how these got here? These are yours. Right, Sakura?"

"N-no. Those are not mine." Sakura defensively replied.

"Oh. Then who owns these? It's not me." Aoi told Sakura with a smug look on her face.

Sakura then sighed. "You know too much. I guess I have no choice." Sakura then glared at Aoi as Aoi ran for her life to Moriyasu and Rui's door.

"HELP! SAKURA PLANS TO KILL ME!" Aoi kept banging the door as Sakura slowly made her way outside their room.

Rui then opened the door. "Oh, it's a lil' banger." He then looked at Moriyasu who was not even worried at Aoi. "Maki, this midget says Pres is planning to kill her. What a laugh." Moriyasu just looked back on what he was doing, an Advanced Accounting reviewer that would probably help him get through the next semesters.

Sakura then appeared next to Aoi. "For the love of god, Aoi. I was just kidding. Let's get back to our room." Sakura then dragged Aoi back to their room.

"NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!" Aoi's childish screams could be heard in the whole floor that night.

A CCTV Camera that captured the incident as well was accessed by Nako and Miku that night, leading to them laughing at Aoi's unexpected change of character when she's with Sakura.

***

It was a windy night when somebody let out a bloodcurdling scream inside an old Gothic Mansion. A 10 year old boy was wearing a white shirt under his black blazer. He wore a black pair of shorts and knee-high black socks. He wielded a Heckler and Koch MK23, equipped with silencer and a laser aiming module. He shot the now horrified visitors and the servants one by one. After the 12 rounds had ran out, he then revealed an M10 hidden inside his blazer as he shot the remaining people in the party. He thought everyone was dead until he heard the sobs of a young girl near him. He went and found her. She was hidden under a table in the dining area, which was also filled by the dead bodies of the young girl's relatives and acquaintances.

A 15 year old girl's voice could be heard from behind the door in the dining area. "Don't do it! Don't kill her! Stop following them!"

The boy couldn't hear the voice. "Sorry. I am only under orders. Don't take it personally." He then shot the girl's forehead with a SIG-Sauer P229. The girl's lifeless body collapsed to the floor as the boy vanished and the 15 year old now managed to open the door to the dining area. She searched for the boy. And then she felt something behind her. A gun was hidden behind her. She then took the gun. It was a SIG-Sauer P229. She then saw a mirror. She saw the boy's reflection instead of hers.

The girl then woke up from her dream. She was sweating cold. She then muttered, "It was only a dream. Calm down. You did not kill her."

***

The morning of the following day, Haruto was jogging around Hakata on the early hours of the morning when he saw a girl running to his direction. The girl then tripped which prompted Haruto to run to her side.

"Are you alright?" Haruto asked.

"Ah… Y-yeah… Thank you." The girl then looked at Haruto's face. Her face certainly looked familiar to Haruto until he remembered that it was, in fact, the Student Council's Treasurer.

"Anai… Chihiro-san, right? What brings you here?" Haruto offered his hand to help her.

'He knows me?' She thought. "A-ah… Yeah… From where did we get acquainted again?" She asked as she took his hand as he helped her stand up.

"You forgot me already? I'm your classmate." Haruto smiled brightly at her. "So what's the matter?"

'Is he not one of them? Can I tell him?' She thought. 'I'll… Take this chance, I guess…' "Ah… I'm currently being he--"

"Chihiro-ojou-sama, it's time to go back to the mansion. Please come with me." A young man dressed in a butler's suit appeared a few steps behind her. It was of course, Okada Naoki, Haruto's classmate who is also from Class H.

"I… I don't know him. Help me." Chiichan muttered as she pleaded to Haruto.

"Looks like you got the wrong chick, Okamoto-shan." Haruto said as he hid Chiichan behind him.

Naoki sighed as he suddenly disappeared in front of Haruto. He then reappeared behind him as he struck the back of his neck.

"Resistance is futile, Chihiro-ojou-sama." These were the last words Haruto heard before he lost consciousness.

The moment he came to, he was already an hour late to his classes and he was in a hospital as people claimed to have found him slouched in the streets. He of course rushed to school as he thanked everyone who helped him that day. He arrived to school and the first period was over. He checked his phone and he received messages from Sakura, which would obviously come as she was the Class Representative for their classes in the first period, and from Chihiron, which would come as she is the Class Representative for Class H due to her status as the highest in Class H. As much as he didn't doubt the former's messages, he doubted the latter after remembering what happened that morning.

As he ran to rush to the Talent Development Classes, he ran to Sakura who was annoyed as he was not present in the first period.

"Kodama-san, where were you this morning and why weren't you answering our messages?" Sakura was glaring at him.

"Err… There's a shtory for that but I need to rush to my classh." He answered with such an uneasy smile on his face.

"I guess I'll wait for that later." Sakura then rushed to her class as well.

Haruto made it to the start of his Talent Development Classes, which would be Music Theory as well, so he sat down on the second row.

The class desks were different from the Trainee Student Classes' desks which featured your normal Japanese desks for High School Students for those taking Academic track or the normal University joint desks for those taking the Arts track. For Class H students taking the Talent Development classes or their version of the Arts Curriculum, they use reclining seats and high technology desks for maximum comfort and efficiency in class. They also have a snack bar for when they get hungry. Apart from that, they also have instruments on standby just in case they need demonstration from the professor or a trial exam for themselves. Furthermore, it is almost already a requirement for the Class H Talent Development Classes (for those taking the Music track to be exact) that they have relative pitch or perfect pitch.

As he sat down to his seat, he glanced on the back of the Representative of Class H, Anai Chihiro. Remembering what happened that morning, he then thought to himself, 'Just what is happening in the Anai Household?'

Earlier, while Sakura was walking to her class, she felt a piece of paper flying her way. She caught the paper by hand and then viewed its contents. She then smiled and muttered, "You never change."

The paper contained the following words:

'Wanna spar?

-75'

-=To Be Continued=-