Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

“Does anyone need water? Food?”

Akane looked behind her as her companions finally reached the top of the hill with her. The past few weeks have not been kind to her, or them. Traveling an entire country on foot would do that to you, especially if you’ve spent most of that time marching near-tirelessly to get away from what you could only really describe as a living hell. Akane gripped her kneecaps-sweat and dirt all over her-as she took a breather.

Make no mistake, Akane Mizaguchi was a born leader - tough, smart, does whatever she can to see her team through. It’s not something you’d expect from an adolescent girl like her with the short brunette hair, but that’s who Akane is. Unfortunately, even she was reaching her limits, tirelessly marching the road and forests to just get away from that wretched hive of a city called Tsukinomiya. “Ayami, are you okay?”

Ayami Mizaguchi - the little sister always full of life, love, and laughter with a little prank or two - was definitely not okay. She felt out of it, out of shape, out of energy, out of strength, out of…well, everything, really. But despite all of that, she smiled through the pain. She had to, really, there was no better option out there. “O-Of course, Akane! You know me - nothing can bring me down that easily!”

“Sure, Ayami.”

Ayami’s smile faded as she went right back to having to catch her breath. She turned towards two silver-haired girls, twins to each other, as they joined Akane and Ayami, both of them equally drained, but soldiering on no less.

“How…much…longer…”

Akane rushed to the elder twin’s side. “It’s going to be okay, Shino. Stay with me.”

Shino Mizusaki - the elder of her and Kano, with long silver hair and a height comparable to that of a primary schooler - looked up to Akane, her red eyes lit with agony and mortality, and wearily tried to wrap herself around Akane. Her strength was below zero - not that she’s particularly strong to begin with - but she knew that there was no other option. They all knew, really. Because the only other options left were either go back to Tsukinomiya and die, or die here.

“Akane…” Shino let slip from her mouth. “Stay with me…”

Akane’s sigh barely sounded like a sigh; it was breathless and almost a wheeze, as if the act of sighing was painful to her. Still, she held tight to Shino, her heart burdened. Like a moth to the flame, Kano too joined them.

“Big Sis…how much longer do we have…?”

Kano - whom you could say was the splitting image of Shino - was even more broken. It’s amazing she and anyone in the group were able to withstand the elements for so long. Seeing her in pain always brought out the protective, loving instincts in Shino. But now, only further pain and grief could be felt from Shino. She opened her arm and welcomed Kano into the hug.

And Akane…Akane felt every last burden. The broken smile of Ayami, the weariness and tiredness of Shino and Kano…and her own pain.

As Akane caught herself to take a breather, she closed her eyes and remembered how it all began.

It was just another routine mission for the merc gang Akane “worked” for.

Fingers on the trigger, Akane and her crew of gangsters were preparing for the heist of a lifetime: they’d infiltrate infamous religious group Saint Ines - a cult that had been a thorn on the underworld’s side for far too long - and rob them in the name of obtaining power in Tsukinomiya. It was to be one hell of a heist, and if it went successfully, they would become kingpins of Tsukinomiya, or in their case, they would become queenpins.

Plus, it was personal. A little payback for all the reciting drills she had to do while under their orphanage…and much more that she’d rather not talk about.

It was a long and brutal gang war, and if they could win it, they’d be at the hands of the future they so long desired. Akane was ready. This was her moment, to finally ascend from darkness and reach the light.

Or at least, that was what the initial plan was.

“Time to earn your bread, brats,” the voice commanded through the phone. “Mission’s a go.”

“Yes,” Akane simply said through the phone. “Alright, let’s make this clean and quick. You all know she won’t accept shit.”

The girls followed Akane as they snuck into the giant church. It was pretty routine, disturbing as it was for an adolescent like her, but Akane was pretty good at covertly taking out targets, running infiltrations, and how weapons work and everything about being a gangster. She had to be anyway, because she wouldn't get her sweet shelter or food if she just played nice in a city where only the quickest draw survives.

Yet, disaster always seems to find a way with Akane. Almost as soon as they breached the church and got in, company was already waiting and itching for a fight. It was as soon as the first of her team was struck in the head that Akane changed course. “Fuck! Go loud!” Akane shouted.

The firefight quickly tore up the church as both gangs traded bullets, casualties piling on both sides, and plenty of dehumanizing words thrown around that made it clear just how human each gang saw each other.

Akane fired her gun - one line, two lines, three down - and quickly rushed up ahead. More of the rivals quickly piled in, to which Akane responded by just stealing one of their rifles and shooting them all dead on the spot. Her team was still alive, though they certainly took plenty of heavy losses. Yet, it didn’t faze Akane - not a single bit, who had seen those she called friends come and die so much it’d be special if her squad came back alive with her. Anyway, there was a mission to uphold.

“On me!” Akane exclaimed. “Those pieces of shit will be getting more of their little shits over here; take whatever you can and let's go!”

The group nodded and quickly started looting the entire church from top to bottom, from the cellars and dungeons to the ceiling. While getting some prisoners to take home with them, Akane heard the cries of two girls, two girls who didn’t sound hostile, but rather…heartbroken. Nonetheless, Akane kept her rifle in hand, knowing full well that she could be very well walking into an ambush.

Akane walked up to a standing closet and tore it open. However, before she even had a chance to aim her rifle, she saw that the two crying girls were barely even enemies at all. “What the…?”

“W-who are you?!” said the first girl, a silver-haired.

“Don’t hurt us!” said the other, who looked a lot like the first.

“Who the fuck are you?” Akane commanded. “Give me one good reason why I shouldn’t shoot you right now!” 

“We have nothing against you!” the first girl said in fear. “We just want to be safe, me and my sister!”

The second girl nodded. “Are you here to rescue us?”

Akane looked shellshocked. That being said, she was no stranger to being deceived. She held onto her rifle, just in case she was being set up again. “What do I look like to you, a guardian angel? I’m not here for you.”

The two girls looked to each other, and held onto each other in fear, not of Akane, but of…something else. She could certainly see it in their eyes, they’re not afraid of her, but of something else. What it was, she never understood or knew that time. All she could figure was that they had some serious guts to not fear her. Her!

Akane Mizaguchi, an Empress?

Maybe Queen Bitch of the Underworld? 

Who in the right mind would not fear her?

In any case, Akane could not bring herself to execute them right then and there…nor could she bring it upon herself to capture these two alive. “Okay,” Akane had changed her mind, “what the hell are you two doing here and why should I help you both?”

The first girl looked at Akane. “Our mom…” the first girl said, “she…she is evil incarnate…”

Akane rolled her eyes. Next thing they’ll tell her is that water is wet and the floor is made out of floor. “Yeah, and so is everyone in this wretched city; tell me something I don’t know.”

The second girl looked at Akane. “We don’t have anywhere else to go…our own mom sees us as nothing more than…than…” It looked as though those words were paining this girl. “She sees us as nothing more than tools!”

“Again, so does everybody else in this city,” Akane repeated. Although, she couldn’t help but admit that that is messed up, even by her own standards. Nevertheless, she was getting exhausted just talking - she had just come out of a gunfight, after all. “What are you two doing here?”

“We’re trying to find salvation…” the first girl said. “All we want is to just be twin sisters who love each other…not…this…”

“Twin sisters? You two are twins?”

“Yes,” the second girl asked. “She’s all I have too…I don’t want to lose her…”

Akane wanted to roll her eyes. She really did. But she couldn’t help but see herself in these two. A missing mother, a last sister, and in the midst of a field of violence and destruction. That sounds all too familiar. Akane couldn’t push it out of her mind: is this what she would have looked like? Akane thought about maybe bringing these two into her gang, maybe help them rule this city with her, maybe they’d all get a shot at making something for themselves in this world. But what use is trust in a world built on convenient theories? It’d be easier to just leave them be, set them free, or…actually, how could that even be justified?

Akane finally sighed and reached out her hand. “Goddammit… Come on,” Akane said.

“But…” the first girl said, “are you sure…?”

“Look, you either come with me or die in this shithole, now come on,” Akane demanded.

The two girls - wincing from the harsh language - finally reached out from the closet and lend into Akane’s hand, together. Their eyes, although still full of fear and despair, had something in them Akane hadn’t seen in a long time: hope, and trust.

“Names,” Akane said. “What’s your names?”

“Shino Mizusaki,” the first girl said.

“Kano,” said the other.

Akane nodded. “Akane Mizaguchi. Stick with me; don’t do anything stupid.”

The two girls nodded as they hurdled close to Akane. She then reached for her phone. “Team, make for a package x2 for extraction.”

“Package x2?” said one voice over the phone.

“Two hostages.”

“Hostages? What the hell, you’re supposed to be robbing this place!” said another. “We don’t take prisoners unless they’re enemies.”

“Watch it,” Akane commanded. “You forget who it is you’re bossing around.”

The voice was silent, before responding irritated: “...fine, just get you and their asses back to your squad, the cultists are coming to get their little hideout back.”

Akane looked at her new hostages. “Don’t do anything stupid.”

Shino and Kano looked at each other and nodded.

Akane wasn't the optimistic type, but she hoped that the situation at the church wouldn't get even worse than it was before. Unfortunately, it did.

The church was in flames; the cultists knew they were losing, and so they brought out everything in hopes that their enemies would go down with it. By now, the church was burning, and much, much of Akane’s squad was dead. By this point, Akane was fighting her hardest to protect Shino and Kano, the remnants of her crew giving everything-including their lives-to help protect the Mizusaki sisters as well.

“This better be worth it, Akane!” one of Akane’s squadmates called.

“It will be!” Akane shouted. “Now shut up and shoot!”

More bullets whizzed by as the merc gang and the cultists traded gunfire. The whole place was coming down and it was down to Akane and three of her initial allies to carry everything they’ve stolen back to the hideout. However, it started becoming painfully obvious to Akane that these cultists wanted Shino and Kano as well, and so Akane found herself using her brutality for a less-than-selfish purpose.

One line, two lines, three down - Akane made sure to keep her enemies at distance from Shino and Kano, since the flames clearly can’t be bothered not to. Thankfully, fighting to get out of the church was easy, and once there was an opening, Akane booked it, tugging Shino and Kano with her, while her squad followed in tandem.

Unfortunately, fighting a way out of the church was easy, fighting to get away from here was when things really went wrong. Almost as soon as they got out of the church and the flames, the cultists arrived with more firepower. Two of her squadmates went down in the flurry of bullets that came out from the forest, and Akane held on tight to her newfound companions as lead blitzed by everywhere.

“You! Come on!” Akane yelled at the top of her lungs to Shino and Kano. “Not much of us left so you two better listen to me!”

Shino and Kano nodded as a bullet sped by them. Akane couldn’t believe it, but she was starting to grow some empathy for these two. These are supposed to be people she got out of a bad place at a bad time and never see again afterwards. Now…she oddly wants to bring these two home with her. Anyhow and in any way she could, though she had a reputation she needs to keep up as well, she’s empress of the underworld, after all. And everyone knows that you should never cross someone like the Empress of the Underworld.

But the more she killed, the more she fired upon…the more Akane started feeling dissatisfied with this life, this endless cycle of wake up, kill, repeat…Akane wanted out. She really did.

Everything after that seemed like a blur. But she did remember coming back home with the two sisters - scratched but alive - and hugging Ayami. She wasn't about to admit it at that time, but tears ran rampant after that mission.

It was as if something had opened within her. A light that she had not seen for a long time. And this time, she won't miss the opportunity to go forward towards the horizon where that light shone.

A few months would pass after that, and her partner would arrive with good news.

“Marianne.”

“Akane.”

Akane would take a seat in front of her only other partner she could trust - Marianne. There was silence between them for a short moment before Akane spoke up.

“So…I heard you found a way out.”

“Yes.”

Akane looked bewildered. “When do you plan on going?”

“As soon as the heat’s low again.”

Akane was about to lift a finger. “Why are you leaving?”

Marianne stood still, almost offended by the question. Yet, she could feel the desperation and hopelessness from Akane’s voice. “I mean, why else would you want to high tail it from this city?”

Any other Tuesday, Akane would be acting all tough and fierce, and nothing and no one could get past her. But this wasn’t “any other Tuesday.” Not anymore. For tonight, Akane was just…

“...I want to get out of here too,” Akane finally let out.

Marianne raised an eyebrow. “You? Leaving? Why would the Reine Chienne want to leave too?”

Yet, she could see the sheer frustration and grief in Akane’s eyes. “Because I’m done.”

“Done with what?”

“I’m done with being Queen Bitch of the Underworld,” Akane snapped. “I hate this shitty place and I hate this repetitive cycle of kill and loot and I hate this life!”

Marianne was taken aback by Akane’s sudden outburst. For the first time in her life, she had never seen Akane become so emotional, so sudden, so… human. Silence filled the room as she and Akane just stared into the endless vale of space in each other’s eyes and souls. When they could finally speak again…

“Now, I’m not going to criticize you,” Marianne began, “but that doesn’t sound like the Akane I knew.”

“Is it?” Akane responded. “Or were you just…looking at a mask I had all along?”

“And here I thought that Akane was willing to fight her damndest any day to get a job done.”

Akane herself was just overwhelmed with emotions. She never expected to have an outburst like that in her entire life, and thank goodness no one besides Marianne was here to see it, they would never let her live it down. “Yeah, well…that Akane is getting tired, and so am I.”

Marianne couldn’t lift a finger. She too hated this hellhole just as Akane does, and she too wants to just run away as much–she’s not telling Akane about this news for nothing now, after all–but Akane? Queen Bitch of the Underworld? Leaving? That’s bigger news than anything Marianne could ever process.

But she understood quite well what Akane wanted. She was her partner, after all, she’d never deny her a chance to make a wish come true. Marianne was always there for Akane then, and she’ll make sure these last few times count.

“Quelle douleur dans le cul… I understand.” Marianne sighed, then sat down and faced Akane personally.

“I’ve been searching for a way out of Tsukinomiya, and…” Marianne began after a moment of silence. “...I think you’ll love hearing this, but I found it.”

Akane listened attentively. This just indeed may be the best news she’s heard all her life.

The conversation that ensued was long, but it was informative. Akane learned about the countryside, the other provinces, the world beyond this hellhole…it all sounded so enticing. She was almost drooling at the sound of just getting out of this place. But then, as it always is with life, there was a catch.

“We will what?”

Ayami was shocked by what Akane had proposed. She never thought the day would come.

“Yeah,” Akane reiterated, “we’re going to leave this hellhole, go to another city and hopefully find jobs that involve shitting less on others.”

For the first time in her life, Ayami looked…doubtful. “But…don’t you want an end to all this nonsense too? I’d say we should run away to the countryside and get a peaceful life for ourselves-” She looked at the sleeping Shino and Kano on the makeshift “bed” by the candle. “And the girls too. I don’t want to live in this endless cycle of pain and hurt anymore…and I’m sure neither do they.”

Akane was so used to Ayami being the eternal optimist who would never stop smiling that seeing her so distressed now broke her heart. She wrapped her arms around Ayami and tried to squeeze her tight, hoping, praying, that it would bring back even a little bit of a smile to Ayami’s now battered face.

“Ayami,” Akane said, “I promise, I don’t want to live like this anymore either.” She sighed. “But we’re on our own now. There’s no one coming to save us, not Buddha or some god that could give less than two shits about us. We’re on our own and we have to sustain ourselves too.”

But Ayami didn’t look convinced, not one bit. “But…Big Sis…aren’t you tired of looking over your shoulder all the time?”

Akane looked shocked. “I mean, what’s a little more looking over the shoulder-” She was stuttering. “You can never be too cautious out there and-”

“Aren’t you tired of spilling people’s blood and hoping it would wash away what we did?” Ayami fired back, her voice reaching yelling levels in frustration.

Akane was frustrated too. “Well, there’s a line between people we can trust and obvious assholes, I’ll always make sure we keep the latter at bay-” Akane couldn’t notice it, but the violence she had committed so much became a part of her. She almost couldn’t let it go - ironically, the killer had become Akane.

Ayami had reached a breaking point. “Aren’t you tired of living this life?!”

And then she broke down sobbing.

Akane rushed to try to hug her sister, but she had ultimately lost it altogether. “Ayami!” Akane shouted. “Talk to me! Seriously!”

Pain and despair overwhelmed Ayami’s heart that she could not speak properly. The few words she could conjure, however, were straight to the point: “Sis…the reason why we’re talking about this at all was because you wanted to leave! You wanted to stop everything - the killing, the stealing, the looting, the backstabbing, the…the goddamn favors , all just to have enough money to live - and you’re telling me to go back to that life?!”

Akane tried to reassure Ayami, although rather pathetically. “Ayami, I swear, it’s not as complicated as it sounds, I-I can explain-”

“So what you said before was a fucking lie?!” Ayami screamed at the top of her lungs. “Tell me!”

And then it was all silence.

Painful, suffocating, silence.

Akane wanted to say something. She really did. She couldn’t see any other way through this. This was all she knew – this repetitive cycle where she’d wake up and do the same favors, in the same places, for the same kind of people – and she grew so accustomed to it that at some point, it just… felt so good to live this kind of life. But now, seeing Ayami like this, seeing what has become of this conversation…Akane could only let go of Ayami and look at her own hands, the same hands that have much, much blood on them. She is not innocent. No one here is. Not anymore. She did what she could to survive, and she was good at it.

But as Akane got to reflect on what has been, she could no longer help but wonder…has she robbed herself of her humanity doing this? Is this really as feel - good as it should’ve been? Is Akane a monster? No, no, certainly not, she is no monster, she’s just doing what everyone else here in this wretched hive does, it is perfectly okay for tween girls to be holding guns and shoot others, it is perfectly okay it is perfectly okay is it perfectly okay it totally is it really really is I swear-

No.

It wasn’t okay.

Not anymore.

Akane was a fierce fighter. Nothing could get past her.

Except this.

Akane broke down into a massive sobbing mess, even moreso than Ayami. And as Ayami tried to see what happened to her sister, Akane threw her arms around Ayami, and they both cried massive streams of tears together, their hearts overwhelmed with sorrow and exhausted rage.

“Ayami…” Akane tried to say, her words now a garbled mess underneath the tears and sorrow. “I’m… I’m sorry!!!!!”

“Sis…” Ayami tried to say, her own words too now messed up. “I…w-want…I want to…”

But neither could finish a sentence before they both lost it and cried together.

Footsteps approached from the candlelit bed as two smaller girls checked in on their new guardians. “Is…” Shino said, concerned, “is something okay…?”

“Ayami…” Kano whispered. “Are you-”

And they both stopped at the sight at their now broken down guardians. The most particular shocking sight, to Shino especially, was Akane.

The same no-nonsense foul-mouthed soldier who months earlier saved her and Kano was now a sobbing mess, holding on tight to Ayami like it was the end of the world and she was ready to just meet her end.

“Akane!” Shino shouted in worry. “Are-are you okay?!” She tried to hug her newfound savior–and instead found herself being pulled to the hug.

“Ayami!” Kano shouted as well. “What is going on, why are you two crying?!”

Ayami looked at Kano and tried to smile. “It’s…” she tried to say. Yet, against the odds, she tried to muster her sweet and positive voice. “It’s-it’s nothing. We’re going to be okay now.” 

Akane tried to smile through the pain as well. “Yeah…no need to worry now, Shino,” Akane said, even though she was absolutely not okay at this very moment. And yet, despite that, Akane had a few choice words that finally stirred newfound motivation in her.

“We’re going home.”

“...Shino!”

Akane found herself brought back down to Earth as she heard Ayami cry out for Shino. “Ayami, what’s wrong!?” Akane exclaimed.

Ayami pointed to the collapsed girl on the ground. “Oh no…no…” Akane said, her composure losing itself. “Shino!”

Ayami was still beat to the max, but she tried her best to explain the situation. “Shino…she collapsed…and I…I don’t…know if she…she’s…still…breath-”

Not a lot more could be said before another girl collapsed. This time, it was Kano. “Shit…” Akane let out. “Not…Kano too…” She tried extending her arm out, but by this point, there was literally nothing left in Akane’s strength. None of them.

It was as though they were finally going to die.

Akane examined her surroundings. Endless grassland and valleys around them, trees, nice mountains, what looks like a school up ahead…maybe this isn’t such a bad place to die in, after all. It’s the middle of nowhere, yes, and no one will probably find either Akane or her companions’ decaying bodies; but it sure as hell beats dying in that wretched city they called Tsukinomiya. By a country mile.

But instead, Akane had another idea. She quickly dispatched her last water bottle from her bag–now terribly beat up and torn–and handed it to Ayami. “Wait, Akane?!” Ayami shouted, before coughing many times.

Akane looked back at Ayami. “Take…care of them…for me…” Akane managed to speak in-between the breathlessness. “I’m…going to…get a better…look at…” She pointed to the mysterious building. “That…place…”

Ayami wanted to lift a finger, but by this point, she was a hair strand’s length away from passing out too. She simply nodded and tended to Shino and Kano to the best of her ability while Akane pushed forward, using the last of her non-existent strength to try to get to the building.

Akane could feel the blistering heat, blood, sweat, and tears on her face–it was a gang war all over again. Akane almost expected the cultists to come out, open fire on her and her squad, burn a few places down, stuff to explode…instead, her vision got blurrier, and blurrier, and true to what she expected, two people came out for her, although they didn’t look hostile…not that Akane would be able to tell anymore. The world got blurrier and blurrier, Akane’s vision and hearing slowly gave out to nothing, and all Akane could hear was two voices trying to help her.

“There’s…three more…just…over there…” was all Akane could say as her vision finally went dark and her head hit the dirt. All she could feel through the ear ringing was people picking her up, cries of panic, and the soft collision of another human being.

The world never felt more colder.

It felt like forever since she was last in this place.

This endless vale in the middle of space and time.

This would be the starting point of many of Akane’s dreams, good, bad, and somewhere in the middle.

So it was no surprise that she was back here. Now as to what kind of dream, that was to be seen.

Akane saw herself, felt herself, checked her surroundings…and saw that she was in nothing more than this long white dress that was somehow flowing with the wind. Even though this…place, almost had no wind. And once more, Akane was alone. Alone in an endless void, with only a sole shining light upon her. Akane simply closed her eyes and awaited for whatever heaven or hell was to be thrown at her.

But instead…nothing happened. Nothing, at all.

What was this dream to be about?

Akane shut her eyes even more, and kept them closed, waiting for whatever dream may come, something, anything.

“Open your eyes."

Akane opened her eyes. That sounded like…herself.

“Listen closely to the sound of my voice.”

Akane listened closely…to herself.

“With every word, and every number, you move faster and faster.”

Akane took her first few steps as she followed a spark that finally appeared in front of her in this endless vale.

“On the count of ten, you will be in a new world.”

Akane saw a light shine in the distance. Illuminated in it was the same building she was crawling to in the waking world. She reached her hand towards it.

“You will be here at Roubai.”

Akane gave up trying to comprehend this voice and instead followed its directions, starting with…

“I say…one.”

Akane saw the path light up ahead, and she dashed through it, seeing what looked like museum exhibits of people–people who looked Akane’s own age–behind desks and raising hands at Akane herself.

“Your pulse begins to quicken.”

Akane raced her way down the hallway of light to see what looked like a girl in a sailor uniform and her friends racing through a field.

“Two. Your friends run alongside you, laughing in joy.”

One girl who looked like Ayami stopped and turned towards Akane, reaching her hand towards her. Akane tried to back away but found that the path behind her was now shrouded in darkness–she could not go back. Akane simply took the hand of this mysterious spirit and ran along with her to…somewhere.

“Three. You’re moving faster and faster.”

Akane’s new spirit friends then picked up their pace, and so did Akane in tandem–she wasn’t starving somehow here nor was she thirsty…or even drained. Akane took advantage of her newly restored strength and did as the voice said–moving faster and faster as she could hear the voices of these strange new girls. Laughing, applause, cheer…what are these sounds?

“Four. Your thoughts begin to wash away in a cloud of wind and dust.”

Akane saw replicas of Tsukinomiya, the cultists, the gangsters, all the blood she spilled–and as she raced through this replica, as her anger of the past arose, she suddenly saw these replicas turn into sand and be dusted away behind her, as the Ayami-lookalike girl looked back at her, still wearing the same smile. Akane continued to hold on and move faster and faster.

“Five. Colored lights flurry in the distance.”

Akane saw what looked like a festival ahead on her left, filled with laughing girls and smiling faces. Those faces made Akane sick…but also relieved at the same time. Jealous…and yet intrigued. Hateful…yet longing. Those same girls looked at each other, smiling, hugging, waving to one another. Then, on Akane’s right, as she and her spirit group raced by it, a stage, with a girl in a sailor uniform dancing on top of it and a girl in pigtails playing a violin. The swoon of the violin, the roar and cheer of the crowd…Akane couldn’t help but feel awed. It was the greatest thing she had ever seen in her life until now.

“Six. The lights shutter…”

A starting gun was fired as Akane saw two girls in swimsuits dive into a giant pool beside her, swimming like dolphins and speeding towards infinity, while up in the sky, fireworks exploded everywhere, colors filling the atmosphere and shooting stars flying in Akane’s direction.

“Everything lost in a thin blue haze.”

Akane looked at the church she had robbed with her merc squad months ago as it too crumbled into sand and dusted away. This one, however, revealed itself to be something else: a dorm room, with girls like the others Akane had seen so far, all enjoying a cookie dinner together while an aurora borealis–or what looked like one, anyway–shone outside.

This dream…it had to be screwing with Akane’s head. Is this what the afterlife finally looks like? Is this the golden country Hamlet spoke of for so long? Hell? Heaven? What Akane’s life could’ve looked like?

“Seven. You hurtle faster and faster into infinity.”

Akane’s new friends grabbed her by both hands, and from there, their shapes and faces were made clearer. Akane then saw that she and her new friends weren’t alone, they were joined by a army of other girls like them, all of them with the same smile and cheer, all of them following Akane as they all sped through the replica of a campus, decorated in color and light, all of it forming around Akane as she raced towards…whatever this infinity looked like.

“Eight. The crowd thunders.”

Crowds of students formed all around Akane as they cheered on several scenes: the swimmers from earlier, a group of fencers, a volleyball match, a cheerleading squad, so many scenes Akane is unfamiliar with that it started to twist her mind, where are the guns where are the gangsters whereisthedeathwhereisthedestructionwhereisthe-

“Nine. You cross into a larger, more colorful world.”

Suddenly, everyone stopped running. Akane’s friends made way for her as someone stood face to face with her. It was too hard to tell, but the girl was wearing some sort of sailor uniform–those are popular still? --and smiling as she lent a hand towards Akane.

And for the first time in her entire life, Akane was…scared. Genuinely scared. She could fight her way out of this, but clearly that’s not what the confident and optimistic mysterious voice that sounds like her wants her to do. No, that…that’s supposed to be a sign of friendship.

Akane could almost hear that girl’s voice. “Thanks for being a friend, Akane!”

Akane wanted to turn away. She wanted this dream–or nightmare–to end right now. For her to finally just die so that this pitiful life can be finished. So that Akane can finally be free of this pain and agony that was her life. But the girls surrounded her and that sailor girl ahead. They all wanted Akane to shake the sailor girl’s hand. As Akane tried to turn away one more time…

She found herself hugged by someone. Someone who looked an awful lot like Shino, having her face, hair, and… voice.

“I love you, Akane!” the spirit of Shino said. “So, so much!”

Akane went through a rollercoaster of emotions thus far–acceptance, confusion, anger, denial, loneliness, pain…but now…she felt strangely warm in the heart. Those three words…who is putting her through this?

Then it made sense.

Herself.

“On the count of ten, everything you know fades away.”

Akane tightened her hug around Shino anyway. She looked up to Ayami and Kano’s spirits looking up to her with warm smiles. Ayami hugged Akane as well, with no sign of that pain or lifelessness that Akane remembered of her earlier.

“You will be here at Roubai.”

Akane finally regained some resolve. So, this must be what this dream is. A foretelling. An introduction. A prologue.

A hope for the future.

Akane finally turned towards the sailor girl. She looked feisty, almost upset that Akane didn’t want to be her friend.

But when that smile finally formed on Akane’s face–one that said she was willing to give her a chance–a smile returned to the girl’s face too.

Akane finally walked up to the girl and looked at her hand.

“I say…”

Akane took one last look at everyone around her and the world that now surrounds her. Perhaps this is what salvation looks like. This…is her second chance at life.

Akane turned to shake the girl’s hand.

“Ten.”

Akane’s eyes slowly but surely opened.

On any other Tuesday, Akane would bounce back from weird happenings like this and be back on her feet–or at least, pretend to be.

But this wasn’t any other Tuesday. Not anymore.

And especially not after the first thing that granted Akane was a ceiling…and a blanket.

The first thing that came to Akane’s mind was…”where am I?” And it was understandable for her to think that, it felt like centuries since…what happened? The last thing Akane could remember was literally crawling towards two blurry people in the middle of a countryside in front of a large building and…then it was a blur.

Then there was also that dream that happened, of Akane speaking to herself and taking her on a museum exhibit of crazy. “What was that in my…dream…” Akane pinched herself to see if she was still dreaming, and then tried knocking on her head a few times to ensure she’s seeing things right.

She was. That was a ceiling above her head, a blanket on top of her, and…new clothes.

“Am I…am I dead…?” Akane thought. “Was that dream just me finally entering the afterlife…?” She looked at her arms and saw that every scrape and tear was cleaned up. She wasn’t bleeding, she wasn’t starving, she wasn’t dirty…

Akane sneezed. Yep, she’s definitely still in reality, and all this is absolutely real. And to cement that it was all real, a door opened as three–no, four –figures walked into the room. And then, there was a familiar voice…

“Goooooooood morning Sis!!!!!!” Ayami screamed at the top of her lungs, albeit not in sorrow or lament this time around, but rather…joy. Familiar, loving joy.

“A-Ayami?!” Akane shouted defensively. “W-what’s going on?! What happened to you-” She saw that Ayami was wearing a strange new uniform, as was Shino and Kano, and there was an old lady behind all of them… “What is that, and who is that lady!? Holy shit, have we been dragged into another cult?!”

“Woah woah!” Ayami shouted defensively. “No no, it’s okay! Nothing is wrong here!”

Akane thought she was going crazy again. Certainly, she did not have good memories of old ladies (or old people in general) or the favors she’d take from them, but even Shino and Kano stopped Akane from getting ready for a fight. “Akane!!!!” Shino said. “Calm down, okay? We’re safe now!”

Akane stopped fighting when she saw even Shino stopping her. She readjusted her eyes to the new surroundings. “W-what’s going on…?”

Ayami smiled. “See this, Sis?” She showed off what looked like a blazer uniform, not unlike the ones Akane saw in the dream. “Isn’t it cute?!”

Akane looked dumbfounded. She turned to Shino for her opinion, but it seemed like she already read Akane’s mind. “No, really, this blazer uniform is so wonderful! Even Kano loves it!”

Kano smiled and bowed with her new uniform, leaving Akane as the only one of the four confused out of her mind…and without a blazer.

“So this is Akane Mizaguchi, I take?” the old lady said to Ayami in a rather friendly voice.

“Yeah!” Ayami happily responded. “My big, weird, but so amazing sister!”

Akane was dizzy. “How do…how does she know who I am…Ayami?”

The old lady smiled warmly. “Oh, it was simple, she told me about you when we were getting you four registered to Roubai Academy!”

“Rou…bai Academy?” Akane said.

“Yes!” the old lady responded. “You are here at Roubai Academy, Amatsumikomi’s most prestigious all-girls academy. You and your friends…” She suddenly had a more downbeat mood. “You and your friends were right outside our gates and were in such rough shape! It broke my heart seeing what happened to you girls…”

And out came from her eyes something Akane never thought she’d see: genuine tears of sadness. This lady…feels bad for her? Sympathy? What in the world is going on here?

“H-how long was I out…?” Akane responded.

“For a week!” Shino said, pouting and upset. “I– ahem –we were so worried you wouldn’t make it…”

Akane looked at her arms. Damn, these Roubai people got Akane and her friends cleaned up, brought inside, and registered at this place all in a week? That…sounds suspicious.

“Now, I know that sounds hard to believe,” the old lady said, “and considering your… background, you have every right to be cautious.” But then she took on a more optimistic tone. “But I promise you, there is nothing wrong here. We helped you because you deserve a second chance, and a safe haven to be a girl again.”

Akane looked at her hands. “But…how do I know you’re not just baiting us into a trick? Who are you, anyway?”

The old lady smiled. “Why, I’m the director of this very school! And I was there when you were crawling up at the gates.”

Akane wondered whether she should be shocked or not that she brought herself into this. She decided not to speak.

“So, this said…” the school director began, “I hope you don’t mind being here as a student of Roubai. I know it’s going to sound hard to believe, but you will be safe here. You, your sister, and your friends will have a home here, in this dorm room and throughout the academy.”

Ayami smiled. “And the director will take care of us!”

Shino and Kano hugged. “We are safe now, Akane!”

Akane still found it hard to believe. She was actually here, at Roubai Academy, the same place her dream talked of, and that this isn’t some twisted afterlife or simulation, but true, genuine reality. Akane finally pulled herself off the bed and found out that she could walk on two feet again, at least before she collapsed once more, but not without being supported by Ayami and Shino, who were now fully capable of carrying their friend.

“You okay there, Sis?” Ayami said.

Akane smiled. “Yeah…I’m fine…” she said. Her stomach then grumbled.

“I guess I’m just hungry.”

Chapter Text

“Man…that was de-licious!”

Ayami was thoroughly satisfied by the lunch she and the girls got to have. The salad that was on the cafeteria menu was just fantastic, and she never imagined crisp, fresh greens would feel so delicious to eat. Shino and Kano had some beautifully made sandwiches that tasted so good, Kano wanted to have more and more (she said they were like biting into heaven).

And Akane…Akane just had pancakes. Which apparently, she “hates,” but the obvious positive emotion from her body language says otherwise.

“Are those pancakes good?” Kano asked Akane.

Akane seemed a bit too lost in her own world to notice the question. Her mouth was…very visibly drooling.

“Yeah…I think she is enjoying them,” Ayami quickly replied. “Then again, I’d be enjoying pancakes a ton too if I were out for a week with nothing to eat until after we were picked up at the front of an entire school.”

Shino giggled. “Feeding Akane with a spoon was fun.”

Akane took a double take as she swallowed her pancake fast and dropped her fork. “I’m sorry, you all fed me like I was a baby?!”

Ayami looked nervous. “What else could we have done? You were going to die of starvation if you didn’t eat and waking you up had completely failed…”

Akane looked offended. “I could feed myself, thank you. What’s one more week of not eating going to do to us?”

Ayami, Shino, and Kano all had stone-faces as they looked at Akane with moods that expressed just how unfunny that was.

Akane sighed. “Right…” She picked up her fork and continued to eat. “Well, I said I hated pancakes, but…” She let herself smile a bit, her cheeks turning slightly red. “This…does taste really good.”

“I knew that already,” Ayami added on, “but I’m happy to see it’s official!”

Shino and Kano clapped their hands as they applauded Akane for liking pancakes for real. Akane quickly got a bit flustered. “I-Is it that noteworthy? Are you two mocking me?”

Shino and Kano giggled. “No no, I would never!” Shino said. “It was just…” She blushed a little. “I thought it was funny seeing how you went from hating pancakes to liking them so quickly.”

Akane scuffed it off. “Well, anything tastes good when you have nothing to eat.” She finished her pancakes in earnest. “Besides, that director lady more or less put this on me.”

Ayami giggled. “Well, she sure does have nice tastes in food!”

Akane rolled her eyes. “But pancakes? For lunch? Is that how low the world is going now?”

Kano looked shy. “Well, we were on the road – on foot, no less – for weeks with nothing much to eat or drink…”

Akane opted to stay silent for a moment before speaking up. She looked downbeat. “Did I…worry you all too much when I was out?”

Ayami nodded; her mood having taken a downturn when ‘I was out’ was spoken. “I didn’t want to imagine a world without you…” It seems as though the reminder of that was enough to get Ayami to tear up a bit, leading Akane to give her a hug.

“Ayami,” Akane began. “I’m here now; I’m not going anywhere.”

Ayami let herself be hugged by her ever-loving big sister. The two stood there for a bit to take in the moment before Ayami quickly smiled a bit too gleefully.

“Except for when we go tour the school again,” Ayami said.

“...we’re going to what?” Akane said.

The school director’s office was certainly a very pleasing place to be in, and Akane swore she could’ve lived in here if it could be her bedroom. Nonetheless, she and the girls were here to help Akane finally get equipped for being a student of Roubai.

“So you three all went around exploring the school already?” Akane asked.

Shino smiled. “We did! And there was this kind girl who showed us around!”

“She’ll be our class president too!” Kano added.

Akane seemed intrigued. Class president? “So…like the captains of the gangs back at Tsukinomiya?”

Ayami deadpanned. “Akane, this isn't Tsukinomiya.”

Akane played with her new shorts. “So I guess there's no girls roaming the streets wielding guns and going on a killing spree?”

Shino seemed concerned for her guardian’s well-being. “Do you regret coming here, Akane?”

Akane shook her head. “Not at all. This place already seems miles better than that piss hole.” She looked down. “I guess I still haven’t come to terms with this new reality yet. It feels…unreal; I can't believe that we’re being rewarded so much for just…existing.”

Shino placed her hand on Akane’s lap. “Me too. But…Roubai is a great place. We are going to have so much fun here.”

Akane looked away. “Well, at least I’m sure you three will find lots of fun here.”

The door opened as the school director walked in along with a girl in a blazer not unlike Ayami and the others’, and had rather short hair, like a boy’s. Akane certainly never had seen anything like that before, at least not from what she could remember. Some of the people she took bribes and favors from back in the day had some interesting hairstyles, but…not like this.

The girl seemed to exhibit a well-mannered and professional atmosphere, but laying eyes on Akane quickly made her do a double-take. She had worked with quite a few shy and introverted people before, but…not like this. This girl with the PE clothes–she’ll be receiving her uniform in a bit–looked so reserved and…cautious. Like she’s expecting something bad to happen. Kei felt taken aback. Nonetheless, she set down the boxes she and the director were carrying, cleared her throat and made herself known.

“Greetings, new students of Roubai Academy!” Kei announced. “My name is Kei Tanigawa, and I will be your class president in Classroom 1-3.”

Akane focused her attention on Kei, still exhibiting a cautious and vigilant attitude, while Shino and Kano leaned forward in joy and Ayami smiled.

“Now, I believe I already know some of you and introduced you all to the school,” Kei continued, “but due to the special circumstances regarding your friend…” She looked towards Akane, still taken aback by the vaguely hostile atmosphere, but pressed on. “May I have your name, please?”

Akane stood up. “Akane Mizaguchi,” so she spoke as quickly as possible. And then she sat back down.

Kei had a clipboard that she wrote Akane’s name down on. “Akane Mizaguchi, I assume you are related to the other three here?”

Akane nodded.

Kei noted it down on her clipboard. “Now, I do not have the full details, but I believe you four are here under special orders?”

Ayami was about to lift a finger before Akane interrupted her. “Yes, we did the entrance exams at home due to medical emergencies.”

Kei wrote it down, although the way Akane interrupted Ayami there was rather…odd. “I won’t put it on you for now, but interrupting others like that is rude, y’know.”

Akane simply stayed silent, watching on with a stern and observant face. It was…unnerving.

“Now,” Kei began, “as part of your registrations to Roubai and due to the special circumstances, we prepared a recent set of school supplies to help you four start your first year of Roubai on the right foot.”

The school director handed three boxes to Ayami, Shino, and Kano in that order, while the fourth box was given to Akane with her new blazer uniform on top of it. Akane thoroughly examined the new uniform as well as the box now on her lap.

“Inside your welcome kits,” Kei said, “you will find books for the class: a schoolbag you can wear on your backs, pencils and erasers, a calculator, some reading material, and a smartphone donated by the electronics store in Tokyo. These are being provided to you by Roubai itself and are completely yours to keep.”

Akane found her new phone in the welcome kit. She took it out and marveled at how it looked. “Finally, something to replace that crappy flip phone,” Akane remarked.

“Your phones all come equipped with SIM cards paid for by the school, an assortment of essential apps to help you navigate Roubai Academy and the wider Amatsumikomi region,” Kei said, “and a preinstalled Roubai Radio app so you can listen to the new Roubai Radio service as provided by the broadcasting club. The service is currently being tested, and will properly begin broadcasting on the first day of the school year-”

But Ayami let curiosity get the better of her and already launched the new app. Without knowing, music loudly blared in the room due to the maximum volume, and a loud boom of “Party to the death! Party to your last breath! Finger in the air-” filled the room quickly.

“Can you turn that off?!” Akane shouted loudly.

Ayami instead pressed a button that changed the music. Suddenly the blaring changed to “I took a walk; take a walk-” filling the room instead, much to the amusement of Shino, the school director, and Kano, the sheer annoyance of Akane, and the confusion of Kei.

“Who the hell designed this shit?!” Akane shouted.

More blaring occurred as Ayami tried figuring out what was the off button, from “Our summer has started! Its signals have been given-” to “Acting like I’m too old for this sh-” to finally “No matter how much I run, my feelings by no means reaches you-” before Kei simply grabbed Ayami’s phone and closed the app herself.

Akane facepalmed herself while Shino and Kano broke out laughing and Ayami let out a nervous sweat as Kei handed her back her phone. “My apologies,” Kei said. “The broadcasting club is still working on it as we speak.”

“No no, it’s my fault…” Ayami said nervously, “I’ve actually never really used anything like this before…”

“You haven’t?” Kei questioned. “Then how did you-”

“Special circumstances!” Akane suddenly blurted out to shut down Ayami. “We used… uhhh… rotary phones! Yeah, we’ve grown up on those dang things all our lives, heheheh…”

Kei was even more puzzled. “But…rotary dials aren’t in usage anymore…”

Akane was laughing even more nervously. “I mean… what do you know… heheheh…”

Kei decided to let it go for now. “Well, that aside, your welcome kits provide everything you need to start your journey here at Roubai. Alongside that, we will also take your photos–all four of you–for your student identification cards. You will need those for Roubai-affiliated events as well as for free bus rides. Lastly, if you need anything to enrich your Roubai journey, student services is able to help you any time during school hours.”

The girls nodded as the school director spoke. “I think that sounds wonderful, don’t you think?”

Ayami, Shino, and Kano nodded in agreement and joy, while Akane scuffed. “Okay, but when’s the school tour? I kinda just want to go back to that comfy dorm room.”

“We were actually just getting to that,” Kei responded. “I am aware that Ms. Mizaguchi…or, ahem , Akane here…has not been able to take part in our last tour of the school due to having been passed out for the week that has been.” She looked at Ayami, Kano, and Shino. “I’ve already introduced you three to the school grounds, but you are welcome to retake the tour if you wish.”

Ayami raised her hand very enthusiastically. “Me, me! Can I go again, pleeeeeeaase?” Ayami shouted with joy. It was as though she had just been on an amusement park ride and wanted to get back in line to go on it again. Not to be outdone, Shino and Kano raised their hands up high too.

Akane wanted to roll her eyes, but instead, the enthusiasm from her friends in just wanting to tour the school again made Akane more curious. She turned towards Kei as she had the most confused face in response to the enthusiasm of Akane’s friends, but she remained steadfast no less. “It is settled. Allow me to guide you three once more through Roubai,” Kei said. She then turned towards Akane in particular. “And for you, this shall be your first time exploring Roubai. Ready?”

Akane looked at the blazer uniform that came with her welcome kit. “Sure, just let me put on my blazer uniform first. Somewhere I can put this thing on?”

“But we’re all girls-“ Ayami tried to say.

Akane made her stance clear. “I would like some privacy for when I change clothes.”

Kei thought to herself. “We can start the tour at the dorms if you’d like.”

Akane looked at Kei. “I guess…”

Alone in the dorm room, Akane looked at the blazer now in her hands. This very thing that Ayami flaunted with pride just earlier. This very thing that Shino and Kano fell in love with. This very thing that just about everyone except that sailor girl had in Akane’s dream.

The same thing that Akane herself now had in her very hands.

Akane had goosebumps having this thing in her hands for real. On one hand, it was nice to have her own blazer to wear and feel a part of Roubai with.

But on the other hand…Akane had not forgotten that she is a killer, with a blood trail the size of a strip mall. These hands that now hold this uniform are the same ones that killed so many people and did so many more endless suffering and misery. Akane is not innocent, and neither were her friends and sister, and yet…for all that death and destruction, Akane gets to have this? How mad are these people to not only just forgive Akane of her crimes and let her live in this school, but give her all this stuff?

Akane pulled out the phone that came with the welcome kit. She scrolled through the rows of apps that now made up what was called a home screen. It was still so surreal having this thing…and what it could do. And then there was that Roubai Radio app, the one that annoyed the shit out of her when Ayami blasted it on loud.

And yet, Akane pressed it.

The noise began coming from the phone—and Akane made sure it wasn’t ear-damagingly loud this time unlike Ayami—as what sounded like other girls like her spoke through the phone: “You’re tuned to Roubai Radio! The official station of Roubai Academy, serving girls big and small just like you!”

And then some music began. Ugh, this pop crap, this is what’s popular in Roubai? And amongst girls? Where the hell is Akane, in hell itself?

Akane shook her head and let it happen as she put the phone down and focused attention back on the uniform. Well, no use keeping everyone held up. Akane took off her shirt first and shorts…and never felt so naked. Thank goodness no one else is in here.

Akane’s mind took her back to Tsukinomiya in such a vivid scene like dressing up in bulletproof armor to prepare for war. Akane expected to be given the vests, the masks, the big rifle that she’d use to kill yet more people. But…instead, what happened was Akane first put on the shirt that came before the blazer jacket. It felt nice, a bit weird and not as dynamic or comfy as the gym shirt, but it’ll do, certainly it’s better than those dirty vests and bloodied-up clothes she used to have. Akane then grabbed the skirt and fastened it around her waist…and felt a sort of freedom rush into her mind. The skirt felt, looked, and was so…oh god, Akane never thought she’d think it: it was cute!

“Maybe Ayami was right about the uniform being cute…” Akane whispered to herself. “Goddammit…little sis, you’re starting to have something over me.” She chuckled before grabbing the blazer jacket itself and putting it on.

The music continued in the background. “And it’s a long way forward, so trust in me…”

The blazer jacket itself felt great, even moreso than the shirt, and Akane almost wanted to keep this thing on forever. She then grabbed the tie that the uniform came with and started forming a bowtie—Akane was confident this was supposed to be taught by Kei or that director lady, but Akane’s been experienced with so many things already, she knew this like the back of her hand. The bowtie then nicely came together to complete Akane’s look as she nicely placed the bowtie around the blazer collar, and then…

Akane saw a nearby mirror and finally checked herself. When she got to see herself, Akane could’ve sworn she wasn’t looking at herself.

The Akane in the mirror looked so unbelievably different from the Akane in reality, at least in her own mind. She saw in the mirror someone she could possibly never be: lovely, studious, confident, popular, fun-loving…

It almost felt like she was looking at a parody of herself.

Akane felt her face, felt her new clothes, felt everything. She felt the skirt, the soft fabric of it. She then twirled, feeling the wind and liking the euphoric freedom that the uniform gave her. It was as if they made her feel liberated - dare she say, made her feel younger.

And she didn't know that she felt that way: feeling old. Which was a small revelation for her.

Nevertheless, it was still hard to believe this was really happening. Not so long ago, the Akane she knew was a killer; the Queen of the Underworld. Now the Akane she sees is…not Akane. But she did remember saying that Akane was tired of being a killer.

Perhaps…it is time that Killer Akane should retire for good?

Akane shook her head. No. She may be safe now, but that doesn't mean she shouldn't be cautious. Still, Akane swallowed her pride and slipped into the new shoes that came with the uniform. She would finally step out of the dorm room to a very patiently waiting Ayami, Shino, Kano, and Kei.

“Took you long enough, Sis!” Ayami said. She immediately gave Akane one big hug, ever the sisterly cuddlebug. “Then again, with a uniform like that, I could see why you took your time! Oh my gosh…Akane, you are so cute!!!!”

While Ayami was squealing to no end over nothing, Shino and Kano were amused. “It looks so lovely on you, Akane,” Shino answered. “I was hoping you would love it.”

Akane was nervous, but she was able to muster an answer. “Yeah…I guess I do.”

Kei smiled. “I’m glad you love it, Akane.” She cleared her throat. “So, that said…I say we should start our tour here then, at the dorms.”

Akane nodded in approval. “Sure, let’s go.”

And thus the tour began at the dorms.

“And here,” Kei began, “is where visitors to the dorms sign in and out when they enter and leave. Nothing personal, this is just to ensure the school knows where they are and is able to ensure your safety.”

Akane rolled her eyes internally. “Shit, they’re spying on us now,” Akane whispered to Ayami.

Ayami’s eyes rolled, then narrowed to a half-lidded stare at Akane. “Oh come on, it’s not like that…”

Akane shrugged as the group got to meet the kind receptionist lady. “If you four have any visitors who aren’t dorm residents, be sure they sign in and out here, okay?”

The girls nodded. “Absolutely!” Ayami exclaimed.

The receptionist enjoyed Ayami’s spirit in particular. “I like your attitude there, sweetie,” she said. “Don’t ever let that go away.”

Ayami smiled as Akane looked down. Kei smiled as the tour began to continue. “Right, follow my lead, now we’re headed back onto the main campus grounds.”

Strolling back to the main campus, Akane felt wondered by all the…greenery, that was the countryside Roubai was built upon. Whoever lives out here must really either hate other people or love nature to want to live out here, though she does have to admit, the peacefulness is very welcoming. Having lived in that wretched hive of a city months earlier meant waking up to the same exact scenes of people walking by, cars driving, shopping, traffic, someone getting executed or a building blowing up, all that usual stuff. So this place and all its natural emptiness was very much welcomed.

Finally, the group returned to the main campus grounds of Roubai, and they started out at the entrance to Roubai, the same place that a week earlier Akane and her friends were practically dying at. “So, to start us off,” Kei began, “welcome to Roubai Academy, Amatsumikomi’s prestigious all-girls academy. You four are…” She seemed unsure what to say. “You four are very lucky to be here.”

“This place…I like it.” Shino said, albeit somewhat cautiously. “It's great to be here.”

“I agree,” Kano replied, rather shyly.

“I’m just glad we even found a place…” Akane said with an almost-defeated tone.

“You sure are,” Kei said. “A lot of people usually don’t make it in. Most girls who come here are from the Tokyo area.”

Right, the place where the wealthy girls all come from, how could Akane forget Tokyo. If only she could talk about Tsukinomiya and how… messy that place is. Oh well, that can wait. She simply shrugged and went along with Kei. “I guess we were lucky.”

Kei nodded in return. “Come with me.”

The group followed Kei to the front doors of Roubai itself, and sure enough, the tour was truly underway. “Welcome to the main entrance,” Kei began, “here is where you will store your casual and formal shoewear, and are to be changed between as you enter or leave school grounds.”

She then handed the girls some keys. “Those are these lockers. Your keys’ numbers correspond to one of the lockers here. Be sure you remember to switch between your footwear as you enter and leave the school grounds.”

Akane looked at her key and then slipped it into her skirt’s pocket. That’ll be useful to have for later, maybe.

Kei gestured to the group to continue the tour, leading the girls down the hall to see all the classrooms and facilities while Akane stuck around at a notice board. There were all sorts of announcements, mostly for those who were probably here for a summer school, as well as advertisements for what was to come, school clubs, events, that Roubai Radio thing…

“These people have it good,” Akane thought to herself. “So much better than in Tsukinomiya, that's for damn sure.”

Another girl then approached with paper and tack pins, seeming to be putting up another announcement for all who enter the academy in the coming days to see. Akane watched her going about her duty, the girl looking very focused and very collected, a sense of seriousness radiated from her like some sort of commander. She wore her hair in a pigtail and had glasses, and when she was finished tacking on the paper to the notice board, she turned and was about to be on her way.

“What’s that you put up?” Akane asked.

“Aren’t you on a campus tour?” the girl asked. She didn’t seem to be looking. “Go catch up with Tanigawa.”

“How do you know that?” Akane said, getting vigilant and a bit hostile.

“What do you mean ‘how do I know that,’ I’m your class vice-president!” the girl responded in return.

“You are?” Akane said. “Okay, what’s my name?”

“Akane Mizaguchi, isn’t it?” the girl said.

Akane was shocked. Either Kei told this girl about her, the school is spying on Akane, or something else or a mix of everything. Rather than raise her voice however, Akane decided to try to solve this peacefully. “...that's my name, yeah. Yours?”

“Ai Tatsumori,” the girl finally answered.

“You’re very commanding, you know that?” Akane suddenly asked.

Ai blushed. “What part of me gave you any sort of idea to say that-” She stopped once she and Akane finally met eye-to-eye. Immediately, she froze in place. Akane raised an eyebrow.

“Uh, hello? You okay?” Akane asked.

Ai looked terrified, as though she saw something she should not have. “You know what, I-I got other matters to tend to! Get back to your campus tour! See you on the first day!” And with that comment, Ai rushed out of Akane’s way.

“God, what an asshole…” Akane thought. Although, the experience made her chuckle. She then rushed towards the stairs to join Kei and the others back on the tour, who were already previewing the classroom they’d be in.

“Finally you came back,” Ayami said, pouting. “I was wondering where you were, Sis!”

Akane sniffed in amusement. “Got distracted by that nice notice board downstairs. Real fun stuff. But enough of me; what the hell is this place?”

Kei was confused, but she continued on. “Well, I was describing how this will be you and your friends’ classroom,” Kei said. “Classroom 1-3. Have a look around.”

Akane never expected to be in a classroom for the first time in her entire life. Up until this point, she had to teach herself everything (or at least just taught the basics) and then was given a gun and went off from there. The classroom, Akane would be told, was essentially what paradise would sound like: a haven and a sacred place. Yet…she never imagined being in one herself, and standing here, she realized…it really is as amazing as the stories foretold.

The open windows, the flowing curtains, the desks, the nice hardwood floor…and the breeze! Oh goodness the breeze, it all felt so wonderful! Akane fell in love with the setting almost right away, and quickly sat by the window to finally feel that legendary moment: of sitting beside the window to watch the world from here. Finally, Akane was in euphoria.

Kei could feel the enthusiasm of Akane, which was strange since…no one usually reacts that strongly to just being in a classroom. “I don’t mean to be rude, but…aren’t you getting a bit sentimental over being in a classroom?”

Akane was already tapping her fingers on the desk when Kei called for her and quickly snapped out from her dreamlike state to respond. “Oh! Sorry, uhhh…no? I think classrooms are… nice!”

The girls giggled while Kei was just straight up confused. “Uhhh…okay…well…I hope you’re not getting too comfy there, because these seats are going to be assigned to you.”

“HUH?!” Akane shouted loudly. “Not here?!”

The sudden scream caught everyone off-guard. Afterwards, Kei sighed, seemingly getting the gist of what she meant. “I’ll see if I can make an arrangement for you to get that desk come the first day…”

Akane smugly smiled. Meanwhile, Shino and Kano were more interested in what was in the back of the room. “Are these…also lockers?” Shino asked, curiously.

“Just general storage,” Kei said. “Though it’s not against the rules to put any belongings in them for while you’re in class.”

Shino was intrigued and nodded. “Thank you, Tanigawa.”

Kei smiled. “You’re welcome, Ms. Mizusaki.” She checked her clipboard. “Well, let’s go visit some of the other rooms here in the main building, shall we?”

The girls rejoined Kei as the ventured down the hall of the second floor once more to see the library (Shino confessed to feeling very peaceful and relaxed in the library, and that all the books fascinated her, she wants to study some religious texts if no one minds), the band room and the big piano that was there (Akane is gonna wanna come back here, that piano really caught her eye), and finally all of the club rooms that were available, from the literary club, the chess club, the speech club, the broadcasting club (“what the fuck, how did you guys fit all that radio station shit in here?!” Akane said in reaction to seeing the broadcasting club room), and many others. So many clubs, so little time…

And then there was the drama club. “Come on in,” Kei told the girls.

Akane and the girls stepped into what they confused for an almost empty room, at least until they saw the mat on the floor, the giant boxes of stuff behind a sitting girl, and a sitting girl with a laptop typing away.

“Uhhh…what the hell is going on here?” Akane said.

“Didn’t Tanigawa tell you?” the sitting girl said. She looked up from her laptop and Akane was immediately taken aback. The girl’s hair was pink, her face looked stoned, and…is Akane dealing with a stoner? She looks like she deals with drugs. What the hell is this? “This is the drama club.”

“Is that so?” Akane scuffed. “Doesn’t really look like one to me.”

Ayami punched her sister in the arm. “Don’t be rude!”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Sorry, I guess.”

The pink-haired girl cleared her voice. “Well, yes, this is the drama club room. It doesn’t look like it yet, but you’ll be surprised. I will put your sorry butts through rigorous training so you can deliver the best performances you can. Pleased to meet you, you can call me Hoko.”

“Hoko Chiarashi,” Kei finished. “Just try not to let her… mannerisms… distract you.”

Akane was a bit concerned when she heard that. “So is she sto-”

Ayami's sister senses must have acted up, because she immediately shut her sister up by slapping her hand into Akane's mouth. “Okay, I think that’s enough words from you!” she had to say quickly. “I think we’ll be on our way now, thank you Chiarashi!”

Hoko smiled and waved to Ayami. “Come by any time!”

Kei sighed. “Well, follow me now, girls. We will see the rest of the main building before we visit the nearby facilities.”

And sure enough, they got to see the rest of the main building.

Akane particularly liked the very big field that made up Roubai’s open air areas. The air was nice, the nature was pretty and that river stream of water won Akane’s heart. This place was definitely one of the more beautiful spots in Roubai. Maybe living out in the countryside ain’t so bad after all.

“Like it?” Ayami said. “This is all ours to enjoy now, Sis.”

“You could say that,” Kei responded. “This outdoor area is completely accessible any time of day for recreation, exercise, meditation, and hanging out with your friends.”

Akane dipped her face into the river stream and felt very pleased. Damn this felt great! “I gotta say,” Akane said, “This place…not too bad.”

Kei was rather pleased with Akane’s attempt to tone down her reactions. “I see you’re enjoying yourself quite a lot.”

Akane wiped her face, not saying anything.

Kei smiled. “Onwards with the tour, shall we? I must introduce you four to the sporting facilities.”

The group moved on to the gym, the first of the available sports facilities on campus, where they were introduced to two girls practicing volleyball together. As the tour group entered, an upbeat melody coming from a speaker got louder: “I’ve got life, I’ve got style, I’ve got nothing on my mind…”

Okkkkay, Akane thought, this place is definitely weird too.

“This place was empty when we took the tour…” Kano whispered to Shino.

“This is the school gymnasium,” Kei introduced. “We have multiple courts open and a ball cart in the locker for basketball, volleyball, street football, kickball, and dodgeball, as well as general equipment storages for any physical activity you wish to do.” She noticed the two girls that were practicing volleyball to the music. “Oh, hello! Are we disturbing you two?”

The tall girl–dark brunette hair, aloof and very stoic–caught the ball as it landed in her hands and turned her attention to the tour group. She was quite imposing for sure, but she didn’t seem to mean any bad blood. “Oh, hey there,” the tall girl spoke. “Not really.”

Kei nodded. “I see. I’m guiding these four around and I didn’t expect to see you here today. What was your name again?”

The tall girl didn’t seem too interested in the conversation, but she was willing to answer anyway. “Hitomi Washio, Class 1-3. Here to play volleyball, not much else.”

The other girl Hitomi was playing with–a head shorter than her–turned towards the tour group and smiled, her dirty blonde hair shining as she waved to the other girls. “And I’m Yasuko Nawashiro, Hitomi’s friend. It’s nice to meet you four!”

Ayami, Shino, and Kano were all happy to make some new friends. “Helloooooooooooooo my people!” Ayami shouted at the top of her lungs.

“G-Greetings!” Kano and Shino shouted together, feeling compelled to do so.

And Akane looked Hitomi in the eyes and simply waved as she analyzed her person. Hitomi, however, immediately stared back, and the two were locked into some sort of impromptu staring contest, one that got very awkward very fast.

“I’m so cool and I’m so groovy, when I go-“ were the last sounds coming from Hitomi’s wireless speaker before Yasuko shut it off. Akane and Hitomi were staring into each other for quite a while, Akane’s expression growing vaguely hostile.

Finally, the tense atmosphere was broken with Ayami pushing Akane out of the gym, seemingly not wanting any sort of mess to break out. “Uhh, apologies for that! Hahaha…” Ayami exclaimed nervously. “We’ll, uh…be on our way now!”

And with that, Kei and the tour group left the gym, while Hitomi and Yasuko remained, Hitomi visibly shaken by the encounter.

“Are you okay, Hitomi?” Yasuko said.

Hitomi was somewhat sweating. “Who the hell was that girl…?”

The tour continued around the athletic facilities.

By now, they had covered just about all the ball facilities to Roubai, like the baseball field, or the international football field, and the archery facility. Akane almost thought she was in a firing range when she saw the place, at least until she saw the bows and arrows.

And then had to resist the urge of taking them at that.

There was one facility Kei wanted to show the girls before they go, and the “last stop” of the sports facilities tour as well: an equestrian field. Akane was…confused on why and how that happened. “Wait…you have horses? Why?”

Kei nodded. “For those who aspire to be horse riders.”

Akane rolled her eyes. Who the hell would want to do that?

Nonetheless, the tour’s next and final stop was to be the equestrian field, but before they moved in, Ayami seemed to need Akane aside for a moment. “Hey, excuse me, Tanigawa?”

“Yes, Ayami?” Kei began. “Something I can do for you?”

“Can I…” Ayami looked at Akane. “Can we stop for a bit? I need to talk to Akane about something.”

Shino and Kano were confused at what their big friends were doing, but they paid no mind. Kei simply nodded. “Sure, take as much time as you need.”

Ayami started pulling Akane with her to the side as she nervously smiled. “I won't take long!”

Akane was objecting. “Wait, Ayami-where the hell are we going?!”

When Ayami decided they were a safe distance away from the rest of the group, she tore Akane a new one. “What the hell was that back at the gym?!”

Akane got flustered. “What do you mean ‘what was that back at the gym’?!”

“That staring contest with Washio,” Ayami began, “what was all that about?!”

Akane simply turned her head and kept her eyes off of Ayami. “Nothing.”

“Nothing?!”

Ayami grabbed Akane’s face and pointed it back at her. “Look at me! Do not dodge the question; what the hell was that about!?”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Okay, fine, that Washio girl, didn’t something feel off about her to you?!”

Ayami looked bewildered. “Uhhh, no? She was pretty ordinary to me!”

“I’m telling you, something was up with that Washio girl,” Akane countered, “and I could see it in her eyes!”

“She was literally just playing volleyball with her friend!” Ayami counter-countered. “Akane, I swear to god, if you’re thinking she’s leading some sort of army, she’s not.”

“That’s what we said last time,” Akane shouted, “and look where that got us!”

While the two sisters were bickering, someone was darting about in the bushes, watching and observing them. The only way Akane and Ayami knew was because they heard bush shuffling and a voice. “What a mysterious creature!” the voice shouted.

“Goddammit Akane, I swear,” Ayami shouted, “What’s next? That our new classmates are some sort of sleeper agents and-” She stopped as the bushes were shuffling. “I’m not the only one who’s hearing that, right?”

Ayami saw that Akane’s attention was already on the perpetrator. Standing in shock in the middle of yet another staring contest was a small girl, boy-like messy short hair, and about as small as Shino and Kano, with an admittedly adorable face that Ayami wanted to hug. Unfortunately, from where she was standing, it seemed like a 18-carat run of bad luck between her and Akane, who was very much giving out her oh-so-famous death glare.

“Who the hell are you?” Akane said, commanding authority.

The small girl was shivering, wrestling for even the strength to write down in her notebook this whole thing. “Uhhh…” the girl began, “I’ve been caught! The subject has detected I am here, I cannot let her notice me any longer!” And thus she escaped the scene, before Akane could even grab her.

“The hell is with this place?” Akane said. “What kind of people does this school attract?”

Ayami shrugged. “Well, a lot of the people here are from the Tokyo area according to Tanigawa-”

“Of course they’re from the Tokyo area, I mean more like what kind of people are in Tokyo to come here,” Akane clarified. She huffed with a pouting mouth, conceding defeat. “Well, apologies for bickering at you, Ayami.”

Ayami sighed - ignoring the obvious sarcastic intonation - and hugged Akane. “No more staring at people out of suspicion, okay?”

“You know I can’t guarantee that,” Akane said.

“But in time you will,” Ayami added. “In time.”

“Somehow, I highly doubt that.”

“It will happen. Just…not now.”

A voice could be heard cutting through the wind. “Uhhh, how long are you two girls going to need?” Kei shouted.

“Just a second!” Ayami shouted back. Then back to Akane. “No matter what happens, we’re leaving our old lives behind in Tsukinomiya, okay?”

Akane rolled her eyes but simply nodded. “Fine.”

“Good.” Ayami took Akane’s hand and ran with her back to the tour group.

“Sounds like you two had quite a discussion…” Kei said.

“It’s common for them to do that,” Kano added. Shino nodded, adding, “Very.”

“No, it isn't?!” Ayami and Akane shouted at the same time, their faces red in embarrassment.

“You know what,” Akane nervously added, gesturing with her hands, “how about we just head to this equestrian field right now and forget that this embarrassing incident ever happened?”

Kei was just confused even more. “O-Okay…follow me now, girls…”

The tour group finally progressed to the equestrian field, this wide and spacious field where horses were kept in the shack and were just about ready to accept new riders onto their fabled saddles. For Akane and friends however, they were just here to check out the place. As they stepped onto the field, there was…an oddly empty feeling to it. Akane was at least expecting something to be happening here.

“Yeah…not much to see here just yet,” Kei stated. “We are still gearing up for the school year, after all.”

“I’m sure it will be so lively when the year gets into full gear!” Ayami exclaimed.

Shino looked at the stalls. There were definitely horses there, waiting and ready. “I can only imagine those horses have waited so long to see new girls be their friends.”

“What kind of people still use horses in today’s world?” Akane said. “I can’t see the appeal.”

Kei looked at Akane. “Try it sometime when you join the equestrian club, you just might like it.”

Akane simply stood silent.

Kei checked off the equestrian field off her tour checklist before finally declaring the words: “And that’s it!” in that order.

“Wait, that’s it?” Akane suddenly spoke.

“That’s all of Roubai,” Kei reaffirmed. “I hope you found this tour very enlightening.”

Akane suddenly found herself surprised. The place was big enough already, Akane had since settled for expecting more and more around every corner. On the other hand…that meant this tour was finally over. “Whew…” Akane said with a sigh. “How long has it been?”

Kano checked her new phone. “It’s been three hours, Akane…” spoke the shyly voice.

“Three?!” Akane shouted.

Kei giggled. “I’m sure you figured out by now that Roubai is quite a big place with so many things to do.”

“It really is!” Ayami said in agreement. “Though I’m sure it would’ve been faster if there weren’t some…” Ayami glared at Akane. “Mishaps, along the way.”

Akane looked away in contempt and a wanting to not engage in that topic any further, while Shino and Kano giggled. Kei simply took it all in stride and completed her checklist. “Well,” Kei said, “now the last thing we need to do is get your pictures taken for your student identification cards.”

“... oh.” Akane had realized that she forgot about the whole identification card thing. Part of her was hoping that everyone else and Kei would forget about it too, but damn. “Right, uhh…” Akane was nervously stuttering. “Yeah, the identification cards, how could I forget about them, hahaha…”

Kei didn’t seem to catch onto the deeper sarcasm. “Well, if there are no other complications or questions about what you four have seen here today,” she said, “then follow me to the photography club room. It’ll be time to take your photos.”

The girls followed Kei back to the main Roubai building and to the photography club room to get photos taken for their identification cards at long last. As they entered the hallway, Akane examined her surroundings. Sure, she hadn’t shown it much on the tour as the other three did, but…as much as she hated to admit it, Akane really did take a liking to this place already. It felt like she had finally found a home and a place she could really call her own. Or at least, a place that wasn’t decorated with burning gunpowder and dead bodies every week. She sure as hell would pick Roubai over Tsukinomiya any day if she had to choose where to live, and this place has enough to back up Akane’s choice too, what with the natural countryside setting, the beautiful facilities, the spacious freedom…it finally feels like Akane could do anything; be herself, whatever that “self” looked like.

Akane was lost in her imagination enough that she didn’t seem to notice that she was about to crash into someone until she did. “Ooof!” Akane and the new girl exclaimed together as they crashed into one another.

While thankfully neither of them fell to the ground, Akane got really embarrassed. “Hey, what the hell was that for?!” Akane shouted.

“What?” the new girl said. “Who are you, exactly?”

“I said, what the hell was that for-” Akane tried to say. She then suddenly stopped once she got a clear view of who she crashed head first into. Suddenly, Akane felt very, very, very terrified. “Wait a minute, what the…?”

The girl Akane saw looked like a splitting image of herself. If the Akane that was in the mirror earlier was a parody, then this girl was…what’s that word…an imposter? This lookalike… faker… looked like Akane, albeit with black hair and light gray eyes. In short, she looked like everything Akane was not. And, pettily, she looked cuter than Akane.

“Umm…” the girl began, “my name is Mai Togano. Yours?”

Mai…Mai oh Mai…perhaps a better name would be imposter, because she looked so much like Akane that it was uncanny. For the first time ever, Akane actually felt scared of another person, this time now Mai. No one else-before or in the distant past-has been able to terrorize Akane this much. Akane could picture a cloud of smoke coming up around her, and vanishing from the scene, sprinting as fast as she could.

But before her thoughts could travel any further, her hair was savagely grabbed by a familiar hand and she found herself yelling.

“OOOOOOWWW! Owowowowowowow, stop it-”

“You come back here, you idiot.”

She opened her eyes in the midst of her painful interruption. It was Ayami.

“W-What the hell are you-”

Ayami placed her in front of the imposter that is Mai, and Akane wouldn't last three seconds before she quickly dove behind the one cover that she could find: Ayami herself.

“Why are you hiding from her, sis?” Ayami asked, clearly annoyed.

“What the hell is that thing?” Akane hissed, pointing at Mai, whose face couldn't properly show the absolute confusion she was feeling.

“Why are you- That's Mai Togano - she's a student here! And for the record, she's not a ‘thing!’” Ayami stressed.

“That…thing…is an imposter wearing my skin, Ayami!” Akane declared, ignoring Ayami's reprimanding statement.

Ayami scoffed. “Don’t be ridiculous, sis - she's not some creature in a video game. Plus, if she's wearing your skin, you wouldn't be here right now.

"Humans are creatures!"

"Dammit, sis; it's not like she's a dog with rabies - she's not an animal!"

Akane was still stubborn. "But what if she is?'

Ayami was starting to lose her patience. "For fuck's sake, Akane - now you're just being rude! How would I feel if you called me that?!"

"You'll brush it off anyway!"

"That's not the point!"

Mai was utterly confused by the scene that had unfolded, this strange girl she had never met before who looked like she would’ve been Mai’s long lost twin sister getting so scared of her for almost no reason and calling her a thing and whatnot. She wondered if she was that intimidating, which surely couldn’t be the case, no one was running away from her during the entrance exams…that said, this girl and her sister certainly looked more like the intimidating kind, especially given their…bad words.

Kei was outright horrified by the cursing and swearing coming from both Akane and Ayami, while Shino and Kano just looked utterly unfazed. “Do they do this a lot?!” Kei questioned.

Shino simply nodded. “Yes, and over the pettiest things at that.”

All parties could only watch in confusion, horror, and unfazement as Akane and Ayami bickered over what seemed like nothing. Then, finally, Mai placed her hand on Akane, which abruptly stopped the bickering but made Akane jump in fear.

“You’re not exactly looking tough, if that’s the kind of image you’re putting up,” Mai simply said.

Akane got defensive. “Get back from me, creature!”

But Mai was oddly calm and confident. “Your energy is better spent on just being who you really are.”

“You don’t know me!” Akane barked.

But Mai still kept her cool. “I’m looking forward to spending the year with you.” A smile formed on her face, one that showed she was sincere, yet Akane could not see it, not yet at least.

Ayami simply grabbed Akane by the collar and started dragging her. “Yes, don’t worry, she’s a lot nicer than she looks!” Ayami started, nervously. “See you on the first day, Togano!”

Mai simply waved as the tour group moved away. “See you soon!” She simply headed out the door, presumably to go back home.

Akane finally stopped flailing her arms around when Mai disappeared. “That creature!” Akane shouted.

Ayami sighed. “We have a lot to catch up on, you see…” she simply said to Kei, almost anticipating the post-action question.

Kei simply focused back on the path to the photography club room with the girls in tow, all of them ready to take their pictures for their identification cards and complete their Roubai registrations for real.

“Well, I guess the picture isn’t too bad…”

Akane looked at her identification card, and in particular the image of her that was now embedded onto it. The neutral expression of her face made it clear that Akane made no attempt to smile for the camera, not that she felt it was really needed. Despite that, though, she liked what ultimately came out.

“You know, you’d have looked cuter if you smiled,” Ayami said. “At least even a little bit?”

Kano chipped in. “Indeed, I always pictured you better with a smile.”

Akane shook her head. “Why would I need to smile for something so insignificant as an identification card?”

Ayami pouted. “At least it makes it look as though you’re happy to be here?”

Shino simply stood silent, contemplating everything. “I think the fact that we’re not in a dangerous place at all is good enough for me, too.”

The four girls were pretty drained from the day’s events. By the time they were able to return to the dorms proper, it was already long since it was getting dark outside. “Wasn’t today fun though?” Ayami began. “We got to explore Roubai and meet so many fun people– twice!”

“Indeed,” Kano added on, “and Tanigawa was so kind!”

“I wouldn’t say ‘fun’ myself if I were you, Ayami,” Akane began. “A lot of those girls we met should’ve set off some red flags in you all, that imposter of me in particular.”

Ayami rolled her eyes. “Are we still on about that, Sis?”

“Imposter?” Shino asked. “There was someone who looked like Akane?”

The topic clearly still stung with Akane. “Yes, and she was wearing my skin!”

Ayami sighed. “No she wasn’t, Sis, you’re just imagining things!”

Akane and Ayami were about to get right back to bickering before Kano cut in. “But nonetheless, the trip around Roubai was great! I had so much fun exploring the school.” She smiled softly. “I think…we finally found a home.”

Ayami applauded Kano. “See? She gets it, this place is just utterly awesome! We’re gonna have it so good here, and the future will be better for it!”

But Shino looked pensive. “What’s wrong, Sister?” Kano said, worried for her twin’s well-being.

Shino looked away. “This place is surely promising,” she began, “but how long do you think this good will really last? How long before we’ll have to leave and find somewhere else to be safe?”

Akane pointed to Shino. “Finally, someone who understands,” Akane started. “Look, these people treated us really kindly and gave us some supplies, but remember that we’re strangers to this place, to this new world around us. None of you know for certain that nothing shady will appear or get in our way…” She looked frustrated. “And we got lucky here, being found by people who wanted to give us a second chance. But what if we weren’t? What of the off-chance that we may not be so lucky again?”

The down-bringing words seem to have stuck chords within Ayami and the other girls. 

Akane continued. “We need to stay on alert and not blow our cover or our chances,” Akane said. “Because if either happens, we might not ever be allowed to come back here, or even at all.”

The atmosphere became heavy with silence, though thankfully not as heavy as back at the den a few months ago. However, it could still be felt as two mini-factions had formed in the room: one who believed that the future was going to be great, and the other who believed the opposite.

“Akane,” Kano said, “how long will we keep seeing the worst in others?”

Akane stood silent. “Until the day we die.”

Ayami looked upset. “But… Sis-” she began.

“No buts, Ayami,” Akane simply responded. “We don’t even know if this will be our dorm room when the first day of school happens. Nor if we’ll all even be together.”

Ayami looked down. “But…didn’t we say we were tired of living life like soldiers?”

Akane looked at the identification card in her hands. “That doesn’t mean we should be letting our guards down. Don't forget what happened the last time we did that.”

Shino nodded. “And we don’t even know if the other girls will accept us…the four of us, strangers from a faraway city.”

But Ayami looked unconvinced. “But you heard the school director. She came through for us to give us a second chance. We were given these supplies, shown around the whole school twice, and not once did Tanigawa feel threatened by us nor did those girls have any bad intentions.” She cleared her throat. “Sis, I know I’m not in any position to say this, but…you’re living in the past. For god’s sake, Akane, we’re not in Tsukinomiya anymore. This…this is a place we can all finally belong.”

Silence.

“Can you honestly say that can be guaranteed?” Akane simply responded.

Ayami simply looked her sister in the eye.

“If I don’t guarantee it,” Ayami said, “someone else will. Trust me.”

Akane looked at her own hands. She had some points, they were given these resources and welcome kits without asking for anything in return and Tanigawa was being rather friendly and so was Nawashiro, but…Akane had seen these same tricks before, back in her mercenary life. She knew the difference between an ally and a scammer. Yet…she couldn’t say anyone here at Roubai fell into the category of the latter. As with anything here though, it was more or less too early to tell. In either case…Akane made her choice answer clear and succinct.

“We’ll see.”

Chapter Text

“If I can be like Miki…”

A long straight dirt road right in-between two large lakes was all that stood in front of an energetic girl, pink sweatshirt and blue shorts for outerwear and pink sneakers so used to the dirt it’s as though they were made for this. The girl herself had long hair, blue eyes like a seal, and a determined and resolute look as she examined the stretch of road ahead of her.

She thought to herself as she took in the scene and began again. “If I can be like my favorite idol Miki; cool and successful, and carefree…”

The girl then assumed a running position, as though she was a sprinter preparing to dash at the firing of the starting gun, and with energy on overdrive and her heart full of life, the girl launched herself into a dash as she raced across this long stretch of dirt, her mind piecing together a dream she has so long wanted to accomplish.

“Then hopefully,” she said to herself, “when I start at my new school…”

Her arms extended from her as she let herself dive to the dirt, only to stand upside down on top of it before quickly backflipping in quick succession among the road, gravity and the wind unable to lift a single finger to her. With every successful backflip–from launch to landing and back again–the girl’s confidence built itself up more and more in preparation for the big leap to come.

“I can make lots…” she said in-between each backflip, “and lots, and lots…”

FInally, on the last landing, the girl pressed her shoes into the dirt, swelled her breath, compressed her legs as close together as she could, and then let go as she launched into the air once more, gravity having lost the battle to keep her down to Earth, and millions and millions of molecules in the air being cut through by the soaring girl, filled with positivity, energy, and love for a world that long awaited for a presence like her. Floating so briefly in the sky, the girl had a chance to look down at the earth she stood upon, her body huddled together so as to brace for impact upon landing, and as she felt the wind all around her, two words completed the objective she repeated to herself.

“...of friends!” The girl finally exclaimed to herself. The satisfaction allowed her to smile, and one more thought ran through her head. “Yes… I did it!”

But sadly, no one human has been capable of anti-gravity just yet, and so that meant this girl was coming back down to earth once more, and of all places she could stick the landing, it was in the middle of a small stream of water. Yet, as though nature and the universe itself was kind to her (and understandably so), the moment the girl returned to earth and splashed in the river flow was greeted by a small rainbow formed within the burst of river rain that emitted from the girl upon landing.

“Wow, that’s cold…” the girl said to herself as she took in the fallout of her landing. Indeed, the river stream was rather cold, and it wasn’t helping that the girl was still in clothing upon landing, meaning she was soaking wet. She could feel the drenched fabric of her sweatshirt collide against her skin, bringing a cold touch she never was planning for. Simply put it, she was wet.

“I wondered who I just saw fall down there!” said the driver of a truck that had just pulled up to the riverside. The man had a kind manner, and seemed both impressed and amused at the situation the girl was in. “Should’ve known it was you, Komichi!”

The girl felt awkward about the stunt she had pulled. “Yeah, I was just…” Komichi Akebi began, “practicing swimming while fully clothed!”

The man had a chance to laugh it off with Komichi. “Well, c’mon, I’ll give ya a lift home, hop in the back!” the man–Taida–offered.

Riding on the bed of the truck, Komichi had a chance to enjoy the view of the wonderful countryside she gets to live and play in every day, and in an energetic mood, whipped her feet up in the air in a periodic loop, letting out remaining contingents of water droplets fly free. She sang to herself a song, one of her favorites from Miki: “You got me under your control…giving me everything I need to let go…”

Taida could hear the very excited and happy Komichi singing and decided to strike up a chat with her. “I hear you got into the school you tested for!” Taida congratulated Komichi.

Komichi recognized the words and smiled. “Yeah! Roubai Academy!” she affirmed. “It’s a private school!”

Taida was pleased with the response. “I heard it’s pretty tough too! Didn’t your mother go there?”

“Yep!” Komichi exclaimed in response. Her voice indicated she was especially proud of that one. “That’s why I’m so happy I got in!”

“Heh, are you now?” Taida challenged, pretending to be in disbelief of Komichi’s pride.

“Yeah! And guess what?!” Komichi exclaimed, fully affirming her response. “Each class has more than 10 students! I can hardly even imagine it!”

“Not like Futaba Elementary, huh?” Taida responded. “You were the only kid in your class!” His tone then changed once more to a congratulatory tone, for he knew just how much this meant to Komichi. “Well, I’m happy for you!”

Smiling, full of life, and brimming with hope for the future, Komichi Akebi spread her arms and legs out in cheer and let out a heartfelt giggle.

“You know, I didn't expect to like this uniform that much…”

Akane once more fastened the skirt around her waist as she dressed into her blazer uniform. It had only been a week since the tour and yet she still couldn’t get enough of the freedom and euphoria that came from just wearing this skirt and the whole blazer set-up. She’d never admit it to anyone, but Akane thought this was the first time in a long time she truly felt anything resembling what people call happiness. Well, not happiness to be surrounded by all sorts of strange people– that’s another problem altogether –but happiness as in, just how liberating this blazer uniform feels. At one point over the course of the past week, Akane had even tried wearing this blazer to sleep…at least until she found out the hard way that it’s actually not all that comfortable for bed wear. Phooey.

And although Akane was still on high alert about the people that she and her friends will soon be surrounded with, Roubai itself had long since become Akane’s habitat. She had become so used to being here by now that it didn’t feel as weird as it was just not long ago. In either case, she had to admit, they were all right, Roubai is indeed a fantastic place.

Now if only today could just be over with already.

“Ready for the welcoming ceremony?” Ayami said to Akane, hugging her from behind like the sisterly cuddlebug she is.

Akane’s mood was in a state of indifference and also internal panic. “No way I’m dealing with that imposter again! Not. At. All!” Akane thought to herself.

Ayami then started caressing her hands on Akane’s cheeks, trying to drag her back into reality. “Oh Big Sis~” Ayami sang in a sweet voice. “Earth to Big Sis~” She then put her head on Akane’s back to try to rub herself gently on Akane.

Akane’s thoughts were now a mix of dreading the incoming welcome ceremony and both wanting to indulge in Ayami’s nonsense and also wanting to murder her for trying this stunt. “Ayami, I have no time for this shit right now, can I please just be left alone to my thoughts? Do you wanna die?” Akane thought to herself.

Finally, Ayami went right for pinching Akane’s cheeks to forcibly bring her back to reality. “Oh BIG SIS!” Ayami exclaimed in the most mischievous voice ever. “Your people need you, sleepyhead!”

That was all it took to finally get Akane out of her head and back to reality, and violently. “Ow, Ayami!” Akane screamed. “What the fuck!?”

Ayami laughed. “Big Sis, you were up in your ass for so long, I thought you’d never respond!”

Akane was annoyed out of her mind. “Could you have not done that? I’m already stressing out with the welcoming ceremony coming up!”

Ayami giggled. “Silly, it’s just a welcoming ceremony! We’re finally going to begin our first year of junior high ever!”

Akane was about to lunge at Ayami, but then surrounding the room as well was Shino and Kano, also similarly ready and in high spirits (well…mostly, on Kano’s end anyway). “Our first day of school… ever!” Kano said, excited. “Sister, we are going to live the greatest days of our lives!”

Shino looked shy and pensive. “I’m still unsure…” she began, looking at Akane as well, “if we’ll be okay…”

Kano hugged her sister. “It’s going to be,” Kano said with confidence. “After all, Tanigawa and Yawashiro were so kind!”

It did nothing to shake off that pensive mood on Shino’s face. “But that doesn’t account for all the other girls we’ll soon meet along the way…”

Akane couldn’t help but immediately hug Shino, comforting her and keeping her close. “Shino…” Akane said, her voice filled with a loving protectiveness, “no matter what happens, stick with me and you’ll always be safe.”

Shino could feel the protection Akane gave her from the hug alone, and returned the feeling. “Thank you, Akane…”

Akane smiled.

Before all of this happened, she would've never thought of being this protective over someone, let alone be protective over someone other than her sister. Nowadays, the thought of not seeing Shino made her feel slightly on the edge - much more than usual. She couldn't pinpoint when she started feeling this way, but she concluded that it must have been during their journey. The close-calls, the constant watching over the Mizusaki siblings…now that she had time to settle down, she had the luxury to think of things that she wouldn't normally consider.

She then turned towards Ayami and Kano with a serious look on her face once more. “And you two, no matter what happens, we are going to keep as low a profile as we possibly can. We are not getting ourselves tangled up in other peoples’ problems when we already have enough of that ourselves.”

Ayami rolled her eyes at Akane. “Well, whatever you say, sissy.”

“Okay, you bitch.”

“Hey, ruuuuuuude~!”

“Says the one who pinched my cheeks.”

Ayami then made a pout at Akane. “Only because you were asleep while standing up! My beautiful sister can’t experience all of life’s joys if she’s not awake, can she?~”

What an asshole , Akane thought to herself internally. But you’re my asshole at least. “Well, we’re wasting daylight if we’re gonna be sitting here on our asses. Let’s…do this, I guess.”

“Aw yeah!” Ayami exclaimed, throwing her fist into the air. “Let’s rock!”

Shino and Kano moved along in tandem with Ayami and Akane. “Here we go…” Shino said to herself.

Thus the crew began their long walk from the dorms to Roubai, the nice spring breeze and morning sun welcoming them as they signed out of the dorms and stepped out into the new frontier they now call home, this Amatsumikomi the director said they all were. Akane couldn’t hide it: she’s relishing in the nice breezes and weather here. She likes that the winds are nice, crisp, and cool here. That the weather is fair and lovely. That the sun is shining bright upon the earth like everything was in full bloom. That there wasn’t endless smoke clogging the sky for the first time in forever.

It felt like Akane could finally take a breath, and as she did, she realized she never felt so alive.

“You seem to be enjoying yourself.” 

Akane returned from her dreamy state as Kano finally called attention to her. “...so?”

Kano examined Akane as the four were in motion. “So much for being worried about today.”

“I-I’m just enjoying the scenery!” Akane fired back. “If we’re not gonna be here long, might as well enjoy what we got while it’s here.”

“Dunno,” Ayami said, joining the conversation. “Being so careful about everything doesn’t include staring so lovingly at the forest and feeling your cheeks, does it?~”

Akane glared at Ayami. “Hey, fuck off.”

“Alright, I’ll do just that!~” Ayami said, all too cheerfully. She winked and flashed a peace sign in Akane’s face before going in the opposite direction.

“N-Not literally, you idiot!” Akane exclaimed. “Ugh…you’re seriously going to be the death of me…”

Though the conversation was horrible in every sense of the word, Akane couldn’t help but sniff in amusement. She continued to enjoy the breeze and the world around her as the crew walked all the way to Roubai, where their new journeys were finally set to begin.

“Is it just me or are the dorms so far away from the school?”

As Akane and company finally arrived at Roubai, Shino’s question caught everyone off-guard. No one quite thought about that at all. It was a very chilled out walk, and everyone was just having too much fun amongst themselves to think about how far they were walking. Though it certainly felt much shorter than their downright hike from hell a long time back, it does feel like they were on foot for a while, surrounded by nothing but plenty of forest and rivers and the shining sun until just now.

“...huh.” Akane agreed. “I didn’t think about it much myself.”

“How long were we walking?” Kano had brought up. “Did we time that…?”

“Something like 9 or 10 minutes at most?” Ayami suggested. “Didn’t feel too long to me though!”

“Feels like it was shorter,” Akane thought. “Well, let’s time it next time, who knows how late we’re running…” She eyeballed Ayami. “Might’ve been shorter if it weren't for you.”

Ayami, rather than taking the insult head-on, simply stood like a champion in front of Akane’s face. “I regret nothing.”

“You’re lucky you’re my sister,” Akane simply replied. “Otherwise I’d bury you alive.”

“Gee, wouldn't hurt you to be less threatening,” Ayami simply brushed off Akane’s comments while Akane rolled her eyes. “Well, as for how late we are…” Ayami immediately took notice of the other students entering the main building. “We’re not late at all! Right on time!”

Akane sighed in relief. “Never thought I’d be glad to see other people.” Would be more ideal if it was just us four, but beggars can’t be choosers I guess, Akane thought to herself.

The other girls walking in to the building all had blazers like Akane and her friends did, but amongst other things, they all had family members with them as well. “Look at all those girls…” Shino began sadly. “They must live wonderful lives with their families…”

Akane instantly came to Shino’s aid. “Hey, we got each other. That’s good enough for me.”

Being encapsulated in Akane’s warmth, Shino reciprocated the embrace. She huddled close to her guardian angel and wanted to never let go, while Akane, Kano, and Ayami did the scouting. They surveyed the scene as it progressed–more and more girls were appearing and entering, this school must be quite popular if it’s got this many people attending–while Akane began taking as many as 478 mental notes on how to approach all this and how to navigate this new world and keep her friends safe.

In the midst of all this surveying and mental note taking, a particularly noteworthy sight crossed Akane’s eyes: another girl, obviously, and her mom, except unlike all the others that had matching–dare even say, identical –blazer uniforms, this girl…had a sailor uniform?

“Hey, that girl…she’s wearing a sailor uniform.”

Akane caught herself as Ayami pointed out the sight as well. “Huh?”

Ayami kept her finger and sight focused on the girl in the sailor uniform, visibly in a panic as she looked at the school map, her mom also seemingly in panic. “Look. That girl actually has a sailor uniform.”

Once Akane was able to pay attention again, she couldn’t help but comment. “Who the hell wears sailor uniforms in this day and age? Nowadays, it’s all about blazers.”

Ayami looked offended. “You don’t remember Tsukinomiya? People back there still wear them.”

“I don’t remember you being in school,” Akane simply responded. “How would you know that?”

“Forgetting our missions and adventures too, huh? You know as well as I do that plenty of students wear sailor uniforms.”

Akane simply relented. “Sure, fine…but who knows? Point being, as far as I’m concerned, that shit’s been out of the fashion trend for quite a while.”

Ayami bumped her sister on the shoulder. “‘Quite a while?’ People still wear ‘em at cosplay events too, y’know!”

Akane rolled her eyes. “You’re starting to sound like an otaku.”

“At least I’m not a shut-in yet!”

“Sounds to me like you’re planning to.”

Ayami got offended. “Oho, are you asking me to prove you wrong? ”

Akane simply raised her hand in front of Ayami’s face in dismissal. “Too late, otaku detected, I win.”

Ayami simply rolled her eyes at the gesture. “Have it your way then. I’ll prove you so wrong you’ll be shaking in your boots.”

“That’s not even what I said anyway,” Akane simply suggested. “And even if it was, I know for a fact you won’t make it past five seconds.”

“Pardon me,” Kano simply cut in. “Can we perhaps debate this sometime later in the future? The girl in the sailor uniform you two were so fixated on is gone.”

Ayami and Akane snapped out of their duel of wits to notice that the girl was indeed gone, and so was her mother. Presumably, they were all already inside the building waiting for the opening ceremony to commence. It was at that moment Akane and the crew knew that they were definitely wasting time.

“Right…” Akane responded. “C’mon, let's go.”

Hand in hand, the four stepped forth into the ceremonial hall together, one filled with anxiety for the future, one filled with hope, one filled with excitement, and one filled with indifference.

Approximately 25% to 40% of the world’s population is introverted, meaning it’s just as likely to find an introverted person as it is to find an extravert.

Akane and her friends will absolutely say they are introverted. Neither of the four were good with crowds–Akane and Shino even moreso–but nothing could have possibly prepared them for the sea of voices and the mass occupation of hundreds of other girls in this one small room known as the ceremonial hall. Yes, chatter and talking was everywhere in Tsukinomiya, anywhere in civilization in general, but the hall being so enclosed and stuffed to the brim with girls and girls and girls was a whole different feeling altogether. Sounds of conversation, excitement, and anxiety bounced off walls like pinball, and a loud atmosphere made up the entirety of the hall’s empty space. There was no such thing as tuning out the noise, because even if the girls wanted to, the noise of civilization and other people had become the room itself.

Nevertheless, the four took their seats, for while they may not like having to be around others or loud environments like this, this was still their new home, and their first time actually being in a civilized environment like this after living in a dog-eat-dog sprawl like Tsukinomiya all their lives. When the worst thing one would have to deal with is lots and lots of noise versus living in danger 24/7, the lesser of two evils becomes much more clearer.

The loud chatter continued until the school director herself appeared at the podium and made the gestures that indicated it was time to pipe down. As that was done, every conversation every girl was having and every noise that was emitting throughout the hall came to a screeching halt and all eyes turned towards the podium, with only Akane’s own still focusing on the environment around her, or at least, the sudden end to the roaring noises around her. She scanned the environment one last time, just to be familiar with the scenery, before seeing…

Her.

Sailor uniform girl.

Who on earth are you? Akane thought.

She couldn’t quite stop looking. Not yet. Not while this stranger in a strange land was here.

The girl had beautiful long hair (even Akane admitted to herself she liked the girl’s hair), that sailor uniform with the long sleeves and blue collars, a very big blue ribbon, that long dark blue skirt, footwear not unlike what everyone else has, and when she’d finally look around and show her face, her eyes were as blue as a seal’s. She had probably one of the cutest faces Akane had ever seen in her life, second only to Shino’s and Ayami’s own. And how shy she was looking now, standing as the only sailor uniform in this sea of blazers, reminded Akane so much of Shino that it hurt a little. Heck, dare say, she even looked familiar to someone Akane used to know, but this girl probably looks much nicer in comparison. Probably.

Akane had only so much time to imagine how this girl will fit in with the rest of Roubai, but she was able to come down to one conclusion: If you’re gonna stand out, you better step up, Akane concluded. And get out of my way.

And that was the last thing Akane was able to think of before it was time to turn full attention to the school director as she began to welcome all to Roubai Academy.

Though, somewhere in the audience, Akane could sense that girl’s mom being anxious for her child.

“Well, wasn’t that a fun ceremony?!”

So said Ayami as everyone was heading home. The ceremony went about as much as everyone figured it would: it was a welcoming of everyone to Roubai, that this is a prestigious academy to attend, that every student here would have everything they need to foster and grow and become whatever they want to be in their future, the basic etiquette for how to behave in class and on campus, all this and that…after a while, Akane mostly stopped paying much attention, though she had noticed that the sailor uniform girl was getting eyes on her, from several other girls, and not the “she’s cute” kind of eyes, the suspicious kind. The kind that either tips something’s off with them or something they find off with her.

Akane has gotten used to those stares. At some point during her commissions, she had gotten used to the fact that she was always going to have eyes on her. Most of the time, it was an act of observation - to see whether or not the target of their directed suspicions is capable of beating their asses in several different ways.

Sometimes, it was an act of intimidation. One can see the kind of person they are by watching their movement, their actions. If they do not feel uncomfortable by the amount of stares, then logic dictates that they have a soul of steel. If they waver, then it's a sign of an easy target.

But in any case, that girl had a lot of eyes on her, and not a lot of them friendly…well, from what Akane got to see anyway.

Ayami and the others chattered away while Akane was in the middle of her thoughts.

“It…was okay,” Shino simply said, shy. “I guess…”

“I thought that was really cool,” Ayami said, enthusiastically. “You three have no idea what good times we’re all in for now!”

“Indeed,” Kano agreed. “I do like where things are going here.”

Everyone turned to Akane. “And you, Akane?”

“That sailor uniform girl got eyeballed a lot,” Akane simply brought up.

“Are you still fixated on her?” Kano replied.

“I guess? She stood out like a needle in a haystack. You can’t tell me you didn’t find the one girl not wearing a blazer like the rest of us an unusual sight?”

Ayami smirked. “Oh? Is that my sister already crushing on a new girl? Am I not good enough for you now~?”

To which Akane responded by punching her in the arm. “Ayami, please shut the hell up. I’m serious here.”

Ayami blew a raspberry. “Sure you are.”

Akane rolled her eyes. “Look, that girl got a lot of stares from people. I saw some of their faces…they’re probably wondering the same thing I was.”

“And that would be?”

“What the hell is she doing here?” Akane simply answered.

Everyone stopped and faced Akane. “What do you mean ‘what is she doing here?’” Ayami responded.

Akane gave her an incredulous look. “Um, ‘What’s with the sailor uniform?’”

The sarcastic intonation was not lost on Ayami, who simply shrugged. “I imagine she’s just like you and me,” Ayami said. “Also attending this school just like we are. Simple as it gets.”

“Do you think she knows that’s not the correct uniform?” Kano added.

“Who knows,” Akane said. “I can’t blame her if she doesn’t. Rookie mistake.”

“Then I see no issue,” Ayami said. “She’s just like the rest of us.”

“I doubt it,” Akane cut in. “She’s the only one with the sailor uniform, either she doesn't know we all wear blazers, or she’s in the wrong place…or something else.” Something else had been nagging Akane since the ceremony. “And she looks a lot like a certain someone I do not want to name.”

Ayami’s mood quickly soured, her expression quickly shifting into one of disgust. “Oh. That fucking bitch.”

Shino and Kano were surprised by the sudden turn. The last time they heard her be this angry was when she was arguing with Akane about leaving Tsukinomiya. “U-Um, who is this…’bitch’ you're talking about-”

Akane glared at Kano with a mix of disappointment and shock etched on her face. “I do not want to hear those words coming out of you or your sister’s mouth. Understood?”

Shino and Kano quickly nodded, feeling Akane's anger crawling on their back.

“Y-Yeah, that…doesn’t sound right coming out of you, ehehehe…” Ayami scratched the back of her neck subconsciously. “It's an adult thing.”

“But you're not adults…” Shino pointed out.

“T-The point is,” Ayami exclaimed. “don't say that word. Or maybe just a little bit. But not all the time.”

Akane sighed exasperatedly. “Sis, stop corrupting the kids.”

“Hello? You swear all the time in front of these two!”

Akane struggled with her words before scoffing in defeat. There was no point in arguing over that when both of them had cursed plenty of times in front of Shino and Kano. And it probably won't be the last time - it was hard to kill a habit, after all.

“So…who is this…girl?” Shino cautiously asked again.

Akane crossed her arms. “She…was a lot of things. She was smart, charismatic, charming...she can get anybody to like her. But if you asked me to describe her with one word…it would be ‘bitch.’”

Akane remembered the times she met and even worked with her. Akane thought she was a patient person until she met Kanade. Then Akane realized she needed more of that patience plus a bottle of water to calm her heart down.

“She knows people. Too much, in fact. She can get you to hate her and like her in less time than a person rushing to the restroom. Playing with emotions is like a game to her. Hell, it might as well have been, considering how easy it is for her to get on anyone's good side. Or their nerves.”

Shino and Kano looked to each other worryingly. “Did she know you?” Kano dared asked.

Akane nodded as though it was nothing at all. “Sure did. Hated every second she was in my head and near me. She’s a bitch, and she knows it. I have more pity for the people that fall for her whims than I ever will for her.”

“Did she know Ayami?”

Akane eyeballed Ayami the moment Shino asked that. Ayami simply shook her head to signify “no.”

“And I have no interest in ever meeting that…whore. Again.” Ayami couldn’t help but slip. “I hope one day that she enjoys a special place in hell, reserved just for her.”

Shino and Kano looked very disturbed by Akane and Ayami’s tone and choices of words. “This girl must really be that evil if she makes you two speak like this…” Shino said, fearfully.

It was then that both Akane and Ayami realized just how badly the girl they called Kanade made them feel. They both agreed to step it back. “I'm not gonna lie, the very thought of that girl pisses me off. But…” Akane took a deep breath. “She’s gone now. We’re not in her grasp anymore. I’m not gonna worry or think about her any longer than I need to.”

Ayami simply nodded.

Yet, Akane couldn’t help but look right back at Roubai, halfway on the crew’s trip back to the dorms, and think. “But with that girl in the sailor uniform reminding me too much about that…person, I have a feeling I’m gonna need at least a while before I can let the image go out of my head.” And for all her cynicism, Akane couldn’t admit that she did have hopes that the new sailor uniform girl would be a country mile better than Kanade. She was never an optimist nor a positive thinker, but for once, and just for this once, Akane hoped for– wanted –the best out of this new girl. “I just hope the new girl’s not going to be like her.”

Ayami, Shino, and Kano all felt a somber mood sweep over them as soon as Akane was done talking. Thanks to her injecting the idea into their heads, they felt just as anxious and doubtful of the girl in the sailor uniform as Akane is.

“And if she is?” was all Shino asked.

The somber mood Akane had placed on everyone was placed right back on her. Part of her felt conflicted: the new girl looked innocent enough, but on the other hand, anyone could be anything than whatever their initial image said. The reminders of Kanade’s face and wickedness continued to haunt Akane’s thoughts, and it was all she could think of the more the new girl in the sailor uniform was in her focus, even though it was just as plausible that maybe that new girl isn’t so bad. Nonetheless, Akane simply shrugged. Time will tell after all who this girl really is, but until then…

“Then I’ll do what I must,” Akane simply said.

The implication was not lost on any one of her friends, but they simply agreed. When Akane puts her mind to something, it was hard–sometimes even just downright impossible–to stop her. However, it was clear from Akane’s tone that even she hopes that won’t be what comes to pass.

“I guess we’ll have to wait and see,” Ayami simply added on. She looked at her phone. “We’ve been standing here for a while. Let’s head home to the dorms now, yes?”

After that particularly heavy conversation, everyone nodded to Ayami’s proposal. “I guess we’re going to all be running late back to the dorms.”

“At least I’m late with you all,” Akane said. “Let’s go.”

Komichi could hear the conversation replay in her head all over again as she dropped herself onto her bed.

“I didn’t think to confirm the uniform!” her mom said in panic. “Please forgive me!”

Komichi was more anxious. In just that welcoming ceremony alone, Komichi got more eyes on her than the director. She could feel it, sense it, that there were eyes from all over the hall targeting her, and they were all eyes of confusion, question, and judgment, most definitely about the sailor uniform. Seeing more blazers than sailors was already a bad enough sign, but then came the stares, the whispers, and on top of that, there was…whatever that brown-haired girl and her quintet was talking about. But they had their eyes on her too, and the same kind of eyes as everyone else.

Komichi’s confidence took a nosedive so fast. After so many years of being alone in school, Komichi would finally have a chance to have friends…and she blew it. No doubt was everyone thinking she was weird. No doubt was everyone thinking they were going to do all they could to not associate with someone like Komichi. No doubt did Komichi feel that her dreams were crushed before they even took shape. Now, all she could do was face away from the school director and the kind lady who introduced herself as Komichi’s homeroom teacher, let Mom do the talking, and try to salvage what was left of her dignity heading into Roubai for the first time.

Yet, instead, as though she understood the gravity of the situation, the school director began to assuage those thoughts. “Well, they did wear sailor uniforms when you were here,” the director spoke to Yuwa, “it’s quite understandable. Besides, we’ve known ever since that first interview with Komichi that one of her dreams is to wear a sailor uniform!” She was rather understanding and even cheerful about it, a stark contrast to Komichi’s own anxious and doubtful mood. “Honestly, this is our fault for not informing her of the change at that time!”

While the words were comforting, they could not change the troubled mood that made up Komichi’s current expression. She simply stared at the ground, contemplating, thinking over everything, considering all possible futures…awaiting something. Awaiting what fate held in store now.

Seeing the saddened face Komichi had, the school director threw a curveball and asked a whole new question. “I understand Yuwa made your uniform for you herself?”

Komichi had perked up when the question entered her ears. “Yes! We picked out the fabrics too…” She trailed off after that initial burst of excitement. “It was fun…”

And right afterwards again Komichi was saddened about the predicament she was now in. However, the school director was pleased with the response she had gotten. “I see…” she had begun. “I remember my mother making my own uniform, and it made me so incredibly happy!” It just so happened that remembering that memory gave cheer and happiness to the director herself. With that in mind, she reached her conclusion.

“Under the circumstances, we will make an exception and permit Komichi to wear her sailor uniform,” the school director announced.

Komichi’s homeroom teacher was the first to object. “But principal-” she was about to start with.

But the school director quickly backed up her statement. “It is an accepted uniform of this school, albeit one from the past, so we have no reason to forbid it,” she made clear. She then faced Komichi and Yuwa, and made one last part of it very clearer than the rest: “But I will leave the final decision to Komichi and her family.”

When the conversation finally finished replaying in Komichi’s head, she couldn’t help but bury herself in her pillow and sob a little. It’s one thing to have the wrong uniform. It’s another to have one that’s not in use by your favorite school anymore. It’s also another to have your dream of wearing said uniform be invalidated because it’s no longer the main uniform. But on top of all that, it was a much different thing altogether to be…

“It’ll only be me…” Komichi realized in her sorrow. She was at a loss for words at the one-two punch she sustained today. “That’s just…”

What started as little sobs evolved to full-on crying as Komichi was forced to take in all that’s happened. All her efforts in wearing that sailor uniform, being one with a community, having friends, being cool and successful like Miki…all now for nothing. Whatever happened between her mom’s days at Roubai and now, something was made clear: the sailor uniform of then has gone away; Komichi was born too late. And now, all she has is just the silence and shadow of her dream.

As Komichi let her tears run their course, a very unaware Kao opened the door to check in on her big sister. “Your congratulatory dinner is ready,” Kao sweetly said. “You get two egg yolks..”

But the very heartbroken Komichi couldn’t find the strength to get up. “Did you hear what happened…?” Komichi asked, her voice muffled.

Kao nodded in understanding. For someone her age, she could tell just how badly today’s events got to Komichi. She elected to walk forward to her big sister, try and comfort her however she could, remind her loving big sister that she still has her cool little sister by her side…and then heard a very triggering set of words that changed her mind big time.

“I guess blazers are cute too…” Komichi said, defeated.

Kao instantly had a change of plans right then and there. She could hear the words through the pillow Komichi had put to herself, and immediately was angry. Instead of comforting, she elected to walk right up to her big sister, raise her arm to the sky, aim at Komichi’s rear, and get the message across the best way she knew how.

“OW!” Komichi exclaimed. She snapped right out of her sadness to respond to Kao’s little attack, immediately eyeing her in the wake of it. “What was that for?!”

Kao sensed that that would get a reaction out of Komichi–it always does–and hid herself behind the room curtains, only peeking out to face Komichi and tell it as it is to her face. “So now you hate the sailor uniform Mom made for you!?”

“No I never said that!” Komichi responded, hopelessly confused.

Kao still stood her ground. “And I thought you were cool…” she began, heartbroken. “Stupid Sister!” She fully enclosed herself behind the curtains and spoke no more words afterwards, leaving Komichi all by her lonesome.

And Komichi was forced to process this encounter on top of everything else. “I swear it’s not like that though!” she screamed futilely.

Silence overtook the room’s atmosphere just as quickly as the noise had. Komichi simply sat on her bed as she thought about all that’s happened, and all that hasn’t. “I love my uniform,” she thought to herself. “I don’t hate it…” Yet, the realization of earlier came back, and with it, so was Komichi’s sadness about the situation. “But…I don’t want everyone to think I’m weird…”

She thought back to Kao’s words last night when the two took a bath, when they were thinking about the future to come and how Kao would be alone again at Futaba, as well as how Komichi was unsubtly nervous of the future herself. That was a deep night the two shared, Kao about entering a lonely new era in elementary school, and Komichi, about being a stranger in a strange land, where anything could happen and everything will happen. Kao was heartbroken that night too about the idea of being alone in elementary school, but it was also in that moment of need, when Komichi herself felt uncertain about the journey to come, that Kao said to her words that she’d reference again now.

“I don’t know if I’ll be able to make friends,” Komichi remembered saying that night. “A lot of kids from Tokyo go to Roubai. I can’t help wondering if I’ll be able to keep up.”

Kao stared Komichi in the eyes that night.

“You don’t have to worry about that…” Kao had said. “Really, you don’t, because you’re super cool!”

Komichi’s heart was touched by Kao’s kind words, but the latter could sense the former not fully grasping the message. “You don’t even believe me, do you?” Kao enforced. “Believe that!”

Thinking back to that night, and this gone-wrong encounter, Komichi felt conflicted. “I want to be seen as cool,” she thought to herself now. “But…I also want to be able to make lots of friends early on…”

The stares she got that day clouded her vision all over again. No doubt there were eyes on her.

Hundreds of them.

Thousands.

“If I’m the only one in a sailor uniform, I know I’ll stand out…” Komichi thought.

But then one more memory came back.

It was right before Taida dropped her off back at her house after her little stunt splashing into the river last month.

“Hey, Taida?” Komichi paused her singing to ask.

“Something on your mind, Komichi?” Taida responded.

“What would you say to someone going to a new school?” Komichi suddenly asked.

That question had caught Taida off-guard. He never imagined someone like Komichi of all people asking this question, but hearing the genuinity in her voice and knowing the excitement she has to be going to Roubai made Taida want to respond. He thought hard about it–what would someone say to a girl like Komichi preparing for a new adventure like that?–and then simply said two words.

“Be brave,” Taida simply said.

Komichi was confused, so Taida explained it even further. “Well, I mean that if you want the kind of exciting life you always dreamed of having, you gotta get out there and do it! You won’t just see it handed to you, and though it may look scary and overwhelming at first, if you just go in with the same smile and confidence you always have, you’ll make it through all okay!”

Komichi could understand where it was going.

“Basically,” Taida concluded, “what I mean is to seize the day, and every moment. And to do that…you must first be brave.”

Komichi finished recounting that conversation as she reviewed her newfound situation in a new light.

“Be brave?” Komichi thought. “So…maybe I will stand out, maybe I will be different from others, maybe I won’t be seen as cool…but, maybe that’ll be my chance.”

Komichi got her sailor uniform from where it was hanging from the top of her window. She examined it one more time.

“And remember,” Taida had said. “It’s not going to matter who you are, only…what you’ll become.”

Komichi had made up her mind right then and there. “I’ll do it,” she said to herself.

“I will be brave.”

“...I’m not brave enough for this.”

Akane was having a mini-panic attack as she continuously stared out the window and into the morning world beyond. The day she had been dreading had finally arrived.

‘Judgment Day’ was here.

Or at least, in Akane’s imagination, it was.

“Oh my fucking god…” Ayami had exclaimed, exasperated. “For the last time, sis , it’s not ‘Judgment Day’ or ‘the end of the world as we know it’, it’s our first day of school! I swear, those stolen disaster movies you’ve been streaming under the covers at night have finally gotten into your head…but considering your paranoia I’m almost not surprised.”

Akane was having the most worked up expression possible. “L-Listen, Ayami! We have the imposter in our class! What if she’s going to go inside an air vent and stalk me, or-or even kill me!?”

Ayami rolled her eyes and pinched Akane’s cheeks, pulling on them. “Fine! Go to bed, then.”

“A-Am not goying tuu!”

“If you're really so adamant at not going, then go back to sleep!”

While Akane and Ayami were having yet another one of their small brawls, Kano and Shino looked into the mirror, helping each other get adjusted and looking their best.

“It’s a new beginning,” Kano said, optimistically. “Are you ready, Sister?”

Shino looked to Kano with an expression that said exactly the opposite.

“I see,” Kano said, understanding her twin perfectly well. She still took the honor of straightening out her hair and bowtie. “Well, regardless of what comes now…I’ll be here with you, every step of the way.”

“I am worried still,” Shino was finally able to confess. “Not just for all of us, not just for what’s to come…but for you, Kano.”

Kano could sense the fear and anxiety in Shino’s voice–and she could feel those same emotions too–but by now, she had long accepted what was to come. And she was still convinced that they were in good hands–you can never go wrong with someone like Tanigawa, or Togano, or the Washio lady and her Nawashiro friend–and looking forward to meeting everyone all the same.

Plus, Ayami had a good eye - or rather a good heart - for these things. The younger Mizugachi sibling had that ability, it seems.

Rather than submit to her fear, Kano hugged her sister. “You don’t have to worry about anything, Sister,” Kano reaffirmed. “If anything were to happen, know that I will be right behind you.”

“I know you will,” Shino answered. “I just hope you always will be.”

“I will,” Kano promised.

While the two Mizusaki sisters pooled together their resolve, Akane and Ayami were still having their small brawl.

“Ayami, I swear,” Akane was exclaiming, “it really is Judgement Day!”

“You’re just saying that because you don’t want to see Ms. Imposter-Even-Though-She-Looks-Barely-Anything-Like-Me and Washio. Get over yourself, Akane.”

“B-but the imposter-”

“And stop calling Togano an imposter,” Ayami said. “Otherwise I’ll take away that phone you like so much.”

That got Akane to finally shut up. She stopped putting up a fight as she grabbed her uniform and prepared to gear up. She was the only one who still wasn’t dressed—even Ayami was already ready and raring to roll—and spent more time dreading the journey to come than preparing. Before Akane could speak another word, however, Ayami stopped her again.

“Well then, Big Sis!” Ayami started all too cheerfully, a far cry from how she was just acting not even a minute ago. “Shall I help dress you up~?”

Akane immediately burst into the biggest laugh she’s had in years. “ Hahahahahaha - NO.” Akane quickly snapped onto. “Everyone get out, I’m suiting up.”

Shino, Kano, and Ayami all took the cue as they exited the room to give Akane her space. All by her lonesome once more and just like before she set out on the tour with Tanigawa, Akane began to suit up, first taking off the PE clothes she’s been sleeping in, and then grabbing her new uniform and getting to work.

Before she did, Akane had a chance to see herself in the mirror, and at her own body; more specifically all the bruises and scars and cuts she’s picked up over the years, a lot of which haven’t really fully healed. She wondered if anyone had ever noticed them.

It’s amazing that her own face managed to remain unscraped after all this time and all that chaos she’s waged back in Tsukinomiya. Akane had a split-second last chance to see what kind of girl she once was, the kind of girl she began as, and the kind of girl she will soon be leaving behind, for better or worse. Her eyes darkened as her memories of that old life returned, running through her mind as she recapped, one last time, what came before…and what will come now.

“For better or worse,” Akane tells herself.

As soon as her last chance dissipated, Akane immediately fastened the blazer skirt around, still getting used to the new sense of freedom and lightness it has, and shook herself around a bit to really get a feel for it. She then put on the inner shirt, the one that would be behind the jacket itself, and still couldn’t get used to how thicker the shirt felt than the skirt. Finally, Akane shot her arms through the sleeves of the blazer jacket itself and brought it closer to her before it was fully on her person, buttoning it up quickly afterwards. She then grabbed the ribbon tie and fastened it together, before getting her shoes and slipping her feet into them. When that was done, Akane tapped her feet into the floor, getting herself equipped with the feel of the shoes and ensuring her feet were fully secure in them. When all was done, Akane saw herself in the mirror again, into that new self she couldn’t help but be disgusted with, just like she was the first time she saw herself in the mirror. She still couldn’t fully appreciate who the girl in the mirror was, the girl that Akane swore she could never be, not even in a million years. And yet, seeing there was no other way to go now but forward, Akane simply faced herself in the mirror and began to accept the new self into her psyche.

“I don’t like you,” Akane softly spoke. “But I guess …we can work something out together.”

And with that, Akane finally stepped out of the dorm room to her friends and sibling, all of whom were anxiously awaiting for her to appear.

“Are you starting to admire yourself in the mirror or what?” Ayami teased. “Didn’t know you were a narcissist~”

Akane shot an unamused glare at Ayami and gave her a middle finger while Shino and Kano simply nodded amongst themselves. “Are you feeling okay, Akane?” Shino simply asked.

“Yeah, I’m fine,” Akane said. “Hurt and tired, but maybe that’s okay.”

“Nice poetic,” Ayami simply interrupted, “but I'm tired of waiting! Our newest adventure is upon us and you’re out here talking about imposters and getting murdered! Are we going now or what?”

Akane analyzed the environment around her: three people in front of her, a hallway going left or right, somewhere is the stairs, and then a bottom floor door leading out to these new frontiers. After having a mental grudge match in her head about going and not going, Akane, with a mischievous grin, took a new initiative: grabbing Ayami’s hand suddenly in one hand, grabbing Shino’s in another, and smiling all throughout as she suddenly bolted forward like a breath exalted from the earth. “Oh, we’re going now alright!” Akane suddenly exclaimed, with an energy she hasn’t had in years. “Hang on~!”

Ayami and Shino both felt the sudden force of Akane’s random enthusiasm as they held on tight for dear life and scrambled to get a pace and motion going to keep up with Akane, with Kano holding onto her sister equally tightly and getting into pace as quickly as could be.

“Whoa, what the heck are you running on, a solar battery!?” Ayami exclaimed. “Since when were you this excitable?!”

Akane simply smiled in Ayami’s direction as the four raced down the stairs to the main floor and were about to dash out the door when the dormitory lady stopped them. “Hey, wait!” the dormitory lady said. “Don’t forget to sign out!”

Like a record player suddenly stopping, Akane and friends were halted in their tracks. The mad dash was put on a brief pause as the four signed themselves out of the dorm, one by one, Akane having an awkward look on her face as she signed out of the dorms. Before the mad dash could resume, the dormitory lady left one last message for the four.

“Have fun today,” the lady said kindly. “Seize the day.”

Ayami and Kano smiled at the comment, Shino looked away, and Akane processed the message before nodding. Taking her friends’ hands again, Akane was preparing to burst right through the door, except Kano was missing…until she saw her open the door for the group.

“I don’t think we’re in a rush, Akane, but…” Kano said. “Why don’t we just open the door first before going fast?”

Akane shrugged. She then immediately changed moods as she grabbed her friends’ hands again and rushed out the door with them, ready to take on this world with open eyes.

“G-Geez, aren't you pumped up?!” Ayami exclaimed. “Where the hell did you get this kind of energy?!”

Akane simply looked in Ayami’s direction and flashed a smile–not exactly genuine, but Ayami could feel some effort and earnesty put into it at least–and said not another word as she dragged her friends along through the woodland and forests that stood between them and Roubai now–it was looking to be a short trip at the pace Akane and everyone was going.

“A-Akane!?” Kano exclaimed as well. “Akane, wait - HOLD ON!”

Though the new behavior and enthusiasm was very clearly out of character for everyone who knew Akane, to Shino at least, seeing her guardian angel taking the lead like this while holding her hand brought back a little bit of a smile to her. She clenched her hand tighter with Akane’s as the four raced through the world together, cherry blossoms blowing in the wind around them.

A new frontier was waiting for them all.

At the gate to Roubai itself, stood a girl in a sailor uniform.

Tired out from her own little race across the land but still with plenty of energy left in her, Komichi whipped out her handkerchief and wiped her forehead with it, her face drenched in sweat from the nonstop running she just committed to. As she cleared the sweat, her eyes focused upon the majestic building not that far from her now: Roubai Academy itself. Her pupils widened in awe of the sight in front of her, helped by the free-flowing cherry blossoms that decorated the spring morning atmosphere.

“It’s so big…” Komichi began, astonished. “It looks like a castle!”

Komichi couldn’t help but stay still and admire the sight in front of her for awhile longer. This was the school of her dreams, the same place her mother attended so long ago, and now it was Komichi’s turn to be here– she was finally here. The time had finally come for her to live out her dream junior high life herself too. All she had to do now was be brave…and take the first step.

So when Komichi was done admiring the sight in front of her, she took her first steps and made the closing stretch to the front doors of Roubai. Entering the footwear locker area, Komichi found her locker and immediately traded in her classroom shoes for this white-colored shoe pair and quickly put it on. That task complete, Komichi began to explore her new school’s hallways, noticing how…empty, it was, a far cry from the packed opening ceremony she had seen just a day ago.

“Am I the first one here…?” Komichi said to herself, analyzing the situation.

The notice board was updated with class arrangements and names of everyone that’s going to what classroom and their year. Komichi saw her own name on the poster listing Class 3–that must be her class now, she thinks–as well as the helpful context at the top of the arrangement lists: “New First-Years Class List.”

Taking out her notebook and copying the details as she saw them, Komichi began to take note of her arrangement. “Okay…so I’m seat number 1, Class 3…” Komichi said to herself. She promptly then explored her new surroundings, searching for Class 3…wherever that might be.

Some searching later, Komichi hit the jackpot: a sign posted up on the second floor of the school reading 1-3 , it didn’t take rocket science to know what that could mean. “This is it!” Komichi exclaimed. Now that she found her classroom, the last thing that needed to be done was to open the door, and…

The sudden noise that emitted from somewhere inside the room quickly made Komichi pull her hand away from the door and get out of sight from the window. She found herself curled up as she suddenly had to process the realization that she wasn’t alone after all. “Someone’s already here!” Komichi realized in shock. “Oh gosh…what if she’s really scary…?”

In about the span of seconds, Komichi promptly made up a mock-encounter of how she thought running into this new girl would go: the new girl would probably call the outfit weird, Komichi would stand in defense of her outfit, and then try to get along with…fists and kicks. “Why is my first instinct to fight them!?” Komichi thought to herself. “No, no, no! I can’t be fighting people on my first day! Remember what Taida would say, Komichi! Be brave!”

She then swallowed all her pride, put on her bravest face possible, and entered the door…only to be greeted with a very interesting sight.

Standing opposite of Komichi was a blonde girl with dual pigtails and admittedly beautiful long hair–that descriptor matches someone from the opening ceremony–all by her lonesome, all dressed up in the blazer uniform, shoewear and socks interestingly off, and…a nail clipper? She seemed to be at peace with herself, with every click the clipper made seeming to bring calm and serenity to her, and even moreso, when she would bring that same nail clipper to her nose to smell it. Was this some sort of calming exercise Tokyo girls do? Komichi didn’t know, but it didn’t really matter much to her–it made her wonder if her own feet smell too, but also…that’s her first new friend to make right there. It was time to say hello and make an impression.

There would also be a time for answers, of course, but obviously someone needs to take the first steps. Komichi approached the blonde girl, little by little, keeping her eyes focused on the scene unfolding before her, her curiosity building the more she saw it, before finally opening her mouth. “Uhh…” Komichi began, trying to greet the girl.

The greeting immediately sent the girl into a panic attack–she was not expecting the sudden surprise guest. “Wait what?!” the new girl immediately thought. “H-how long have you been there?!”

“Just wanted to say good morning…” Komichi began, softly, clearly intending no harm.

“O-oh hey…” the new girl said, still in shock from the sudden entrance. “Good morning…”

The two girls were in a state of awkwardness from this initial encounter–Komichi did not have this in mind for her first introduction to a new classmate–but the other girl wasted no time in breaking the stalemate. “Please promise to forget you saw that!” the new girl shouted in panic. When that didn’t seem to faze Komichi, she accepted she was at a loss here; there was no denying she was caught red-handed. “You saw it, didn’t you…? I mean, when I was smelling my own feet on the nail clippers…”

“Is that what she was doing…?” Komichi simply thought. She didn’t seem to find it weird at all though, and immediately agreed to the new girl’s request. “I won’t tell anyone!” Komichi then said aloud. “But…do your feet really smell that much-”

“No, don't ask about it!” the new girl instantly responded with. She couldn’t face Komichi at all and was even more panicked than prior. “I’m embarrassed enough!”

Komichi decided that now was a good time for answers. “Well, now you got me curious!” she promptly exclaimed. She promptly removed her shoes and socks and did as the new girl did as the latter saw exactly what she hoped wouldn’t happen: Komichi smelling her own feet too.

“I ran here, so they might be a little sweaty…” Komichi sheepishly said as she held her own foot to the even more embarrassed face of the new girl. “I can feel why you’d get into it though!”

The situation had crossed the line twice and back again so much that by this point, the new girl couldn’t help but laugh, and alongside Komichi as well–she was starting to enjoy this small, awkward, yet amusing moment, and that this strange girl in a strange land saw her little habit and thought nothing of it. “You’re kind of interesting, aren’t you?” the new girl spoke, smiling.

That energized Komichi a ton, as she turned away from the new girl to process the compliment. “No way…I did it Kao! Someone just called your sister interesting!”

Though she was confused by the sudden act, seeing the happy energy radiating from Komichi made the new girl want to know her even more. “Hey, would you mind hanging out and talking with me for a little bit more?” the new girl offered.

Hearing that offer brought out another big smile from Komichi–and something else. “No way…” she thought to herself. “Is this…is this where I make my first ever friend…?”

And the two girls would go on to talk for a long time, from who they are–Komichi would learn this new girl’s name: Erika Kizaki–to their hobbies to their favorite foods and colors and seasons and favorite movies–at least until Erika learned Komichi doesn’t know what movies are–and all sorts of other things leading up to the sailor uniform, a gutsy move in Erika’s eyes. Komichi would learn that Erika is one such Tokyo girl coming to Roubai, Erika would learn Komichi’s diligence, and the two would laugh and smile along to all sorts of fun facts about each other. Amongst other things, however, was Erika’s nail clipper.

“Your nail clippers are pretty cute…” Komichi said, nervously. “Do you carry them around all the time?”

“Not really. It’s the first time,” Erika answered. “Back home in my room, whenever I’d get nervous or anxious, I’d just clip my nails. There’s something about that clipping sound–I dunno-that relaxes me somehow.” As if to demonstrate, Erika was clipping her fingernails with that same clipper as well, the clipping noise clearly bringing ease to her as it did earlier–not that talking to Komichi was stressing her out, but it was clear from her expression that she was also feeling first day jitters.

But rather, Komichi found it interesting. She quickly put two and two together and asked Erika a pointed question: “Earlier,” she began, “you were anxious?”

Erika nodded. “I knew that today would be a big deal, so I couldn’t sleep.”

As Erika spoke, Komichi suddenly remembered her own experiences from yesterday to this morning to right now: that anxious, restless sleep, her mind dominated by visions and thoughts of the future to come, the first day and it’s happenings, of what Komichi’s own junior high journey would look like and all her worries and hopes and wishes for the future…and as fate would have it, she wasn’t alone.

Erika continued. “I came early because I couldn’t stand sitting around anymore, but…I just kept getting more nervous.”

“I’m not alone…” a voice in Komichi’s head said. “I’m…not alone…”

The realization–as well as Erika’s story–made Komichi giggle. “It’s that funny…?” Erika asked.

“No-no, that’s not it…” Komichi began, catching herself. “I guess I was just surprised that someone as pretty as you would get so stressed out like that…”

“Well, yeah!” Erika began. “Of course I do! And my looks have nothing to do with it!” Erika swore she caught a blush or two on Komichi in the wake of that response.

Komichi took the response well. “Yeah, I know you’re right…” she sheepishly said. She began to tap her feet to the floor beneath her. “I guess I was kinda scared though…I’ve never really talked to someone my own age before…and I didn’t know what I’d do if I didn’t think the same way everyone else does…”

Erika could feel Komichi’s words as she spoke them, and no doubt she could see it for and in herself too. “Am I not alone…?” Erika thought as well.

Komichi continued. “So now I’m happy!” She tilted her head to her left slightly and her smile was one of warmth and love answered. “Because I felt the same!”

Both Komichi and Erika felt relieved, happy, satisfied, and wonderful from the conversation as they shared giggles and cheers together. “You know…” Erika began. “I think this is going to be a fun class.”

“Hmm? Komichi began.

Erika did what Komichi did just a moment ago as a symbol of understanding and beginning their newfound friendship. “Because you’re here.”

The two girls got up and found themselves sharing a hug, a warm hug in particular as the two were proud to have gotten to know each other. 

“I’m excited to be here with you too,” Komichi said.

The two had shared a hug for a while before the clock indicated that it wasn’t long before everyone else would appear.

 “I guess everyone else will be coming soon,” Komichi noted, beginning to look for her own desk.

And it was at that same point in time that Erika realized she should find her own too. “Oh, right…” Erika began, “I’ve just sat down at a random desk…”

After she found her own desk, Komichi analyzed what sitting at this particular desk–front of the class, but closest to the classroom doors–meant. “It’s the closest spot to greet everyone coming in…”

“I’m number five!” Erika said as she took a seat next to Komichi.

It was already a good indicator of things to come, making a new friend coming to class for the first day, but now even getting to sit next to her made Komichi’s morning even better. She took her seat as well and began to pull out her textbooks from her schoolbag as the image of Erika clipping her nails replayed in her mind, which ended up soothing her too and bringing an end to most of whatever first day jitters Komichi still had left.

“I think I’ve calmed down now…at least a little,” Komichi thought to herself as she finally let her hair free from its ponytail. Gravity held her hair momentarily up for a while longer before giving in and letting it settle to even stillness. “I’ll be okay now…”

Meanwhile, approaching the doors, two small girls with long white hair were finally on approach to their classroom. Shino and Kano stared up to the sliding door in front of them as they put all their doubts to rest and prepared to start anew.

“Big Sis,” Kano began. “It’s time.”

Shino nodded dutifully as she opened the door and allowed herself and Kano passage to Class 3, to the attention and sight of an eagerly awaiting Komichi and Erika. “Good morning…” Shino finally spoke, shyfully.

“Good morning, you two!” Kano spoke as well.

Komichi took a moment to analyze the two new students, before smiling and greeting them warmly as well. “Good morning!” Komichi responded back, cheerfully.

Approaching not too far behind, and with the sound of bickering getting louder in conjunction, Akane and Ayami were somehow having yet another small brawl even while in motion.

“I’m gonna win!”

“No, you aren't! This isn’t a race!”

“Well, it is now!”

Akane tapped the frame of the door with the tip of her fingers and was about to boast when Ayami, trying to skid to a halt, found her foot strike a protruding part of the floor, and she found herself hurling herself towards her elder sister, crashing into her and causing both of them to tumble on the floor.

“Oof!”

The commotion caught the attention of all four girls now in the classroom: Komichi, Erika, Shino, and Kano altogether. Komichi was intrigued by the sudden crash, Erika was horrified, Shino chuckled, and Kano simply sighed and facepalmed. “They’re gonna do this everywhere they go…” Kano said to herself.

The first to arise from the crash was Ayami. She saw Akane smashed into the ground and blew a raspberry. “Serves you right,” Ayami smirked before helping Akane back up. “And for the record, by your rules, I win.” She turned towards the girls in the classroom and quickly swapped manners. “Gooooood morning everyone!” Ayami shouted with as much enthusiasm as a human being could possibly put into a shout.

“Uh…good morning…?” Erika simply said, still horrified from the crash that took place.

But Komichi didn’t seem to mind at all. “Good morning!” she said, with equal enthusiasm.

Ayami simply walked by Komichi and smiled as she performed a gentleman’s bow. “Good morning to you too, m’lady!” She giggled and went to find her desk, with one Akane tugged right behind her.

Akane, from behind, pulled on Ayami’s hair as she gave her the most chilling smile she had ever given since her time as a fixer. “When did I say you won, sister? And for the record, I touched the door first~”

Her tone was full of malicious annoyance, completely the opposite of her expression. Ayami quickly lost her polite manners and gave Akane a similarly chilling smirk of her own.

“But you said~”

“Oh, I said? Tell me, what did I say-”

“We arrived first.” Shino’s deadpan statement broke the tension between the two sisters. “You can stop this debacle now, and quit making fools of yourselves on the first day for that matter.”

With a blank stare, Ayami and Akane’s small brawl came to an end in that instant as Ayami went to find her desk, which happened to be next to Akane’s at the window. As the two took their seats, Akane took a look at the world beyond, the cherry blossom forest that decorated the world right now, and the two other girls in the room besides her and her friends. The one that greeted Ayami earlier was of course the stranger in a strange land herself: the girl in the sailor uniform.

But rather than get angry, Akane simply looked at the girl, and how carefree, happy, and perfect she looked. A flash of Kanade’s face appeared in Akane’s memory, but she just as quickly attempted to push it out, determined to see to it that this new girl will be different.

And Komichi, innocent and free-spirited, looked behind her to new classmates at the window and smiled to them. “Good morning!” she said to them both.

Ayami smiled as Akane simply waved. She knew that the journey ahead was going to be long, full of annoyances, full of crap, full of…well, anything and everything, really. But who knows, it could also be the best days of Akane’s life ahead. Maybe the director was right all along and this will be where Akane gets to be something other than a throwaway soldier at last, be a girl, be a human being again. In any case, Akane could only swear she and that girl in the sailor uniform were thinking the same thing.

And Komichi simply looked back towards the door again, enthusiastically awaiting the next arrival. It was going to be a long journey ahead, she will very much stand out and be different from others. But of course, if she wants that junior high life she’s always dreamed of, it was time to take that next step and seize the day. She closed her eyes and smiled, thinking the same thing that the new girl by the window was thinking.

“I will be brave,” Komichi and Akane both thought to themselves.

Together.

Our four main girls are downtrodden as they walk down a road, until a bright light suddenly shines down upon them, nearly blinding them. Akane's eyes adjust and, as if drawn to it, starts trudging forward towards the light until she is practically running towards it. The others soon followed, and both Akane and Shino dash forward to reach for the light that pierced the darkness.

-----

The bright light dims, and the camera shows the school of Roubai in all its glory as it ascends. It then cuts to several places of the countryside; from a farm, to a beautiful view taken from a hill, and then the nearby city. It fades back to the school as the camera descends and rapidly passes by several students before slowing down in front of the principal and her assistant. It quickly ascends to the sky, showing the title of the "anime:"

Re:Life

-----

Suzushii kaze fuku

Aozora no nioi

Kyou wa daratto sugoshite miyou ka

-

The summer wind is blowing high

The scent of that big blue sky

Why do we not just spend the day simply idling by?

The camera cuts to Akane waking up in her dorm room, gently rubbing her eyes before scooting out of the bed. Ayami happily hops over to her, flaunting her new blazer school uniform.

The camera then shifts to the side into a wall before exiting through the other side, revealing Shino looking out of the window. The camera cuts to the front of her face, looking curiously and happily at the outside before Kano excitedly taps her shoulder. The camera cuts again - inside the room this time - and Kano drags Shino towards the camera, Shino slightly protesting but not resisting.

-----

Fuurin ga chirin

Himawari no kiiro

-

The ringing wind chime so noisy,

The sunflower's color, blinding,

The scene shifts to a side view of them walking in one of the school's hallways. It is split into four cuts:

• Kei showing/touring the four girls around, with Akane leading, Ayami fearlessly walking, and the Mizusaki sisters behind Ayami, still shy.
• Komichi excitingly talking to the four girls, with Ayami this time taking the lead, as well as the Mizusaki sisters being slightly comfortable around her and Akane following close behind, seemingly not wanting to converse.
• Oshizu and Ayami talking quite passionately about music, with Akane following the two close behind and silently tuning in to their conversation, while the Mizusaki sisters - albeit somewhat reserved - were talking to Hotaru. Minoru was stalking from behind, and Akane turned to glare at the observant girl, who shudders.
• Mai, Touko, and the Mizusaki sisters looking on with intrigue as Ayami attempts to pull Akane back while the elder sister in question is flailing her arms wildly, wanting to flee.

-----

Watashi ni wa kankeinai to

Omotte itan da

-

Has not ever been related to me

Or I thought initially

Komichi greets Akane, but she ignores her completely and passes by her. Ayami, however, holds Akane's shoulder and Akane turns around. Komichi was waiting for Akane with an outstretched hand offering a formal greeting, and Ayami, as well as Shino and Kano, urged Akane to shake her hand. Sighing, Akane relents and shakes her hand. The camera suddenly becomes bright like a flash bang.

-----

Natsu ga hajimatta

Aizu ga shita

"Kizutsuki tsukareru" kedo mo iin da

-

Our summer has started!

Its signals have been given!

"I’m tired of being hurt" yet I am still alright

The camera cuts to a few scenes: 

• Akane and the others bowing in front of their classmates before they all clapped for her
• Akane and Ayami casually outrunning everyone in the field track, with Komichi right behind them
• Shino directing people in what to do to prepare for the festival as Kano draws on the paper, presumably a list of things to do. Kei and Ai watched the two Mizusaki sisters closely, impressed by their ability to lead and plan ahead as they took notes.

Akane and Shino look around, back to back. They are in awe of the colors and vibrant atmosphere around them as the camera pans around them before abruptly stopping on their side. Everything suddenly turns black and red, with a red outline of a broken heart between them, filled with nothing but black. There are white cracks on the broken heart, however.

-----

Tsugi no koi no yukue wa doko da

Eiga ja nai

Shuyaku wa dare da

-

I wonder to myself where would my next love arrive?

It is not a movie,

Who is the main character?

The camera cuts to more scenes again:

• Akane masterfully playing the piano, much to everyone's surprise and amazement
• Ayami about to pull a prank with Touko, who seemed more or less concerned. Akane then appears out of nowhere and slaps Ayami hard before dragging her away, much to her dismay and much to Touko's confusion.
• Akane and Shino's eyes open in synchronization

Several pictures of Akane and the other three hanging out with other girls in rapid succession to the beat of the drums.

It suddenly cuts to Shino looking over the railings, and Akane arrives after slowing down from sprinting. Shino turns around with tears in her eyes, and she nods at Akane.

-----

Eiga ja nai

Bokura no ban da

-----

Since it’s not a movie,

Maybe it is our turn?

Akane, as if realizing what Shino meant, begins to cry as well. She rapidly began running towards Shino and nearly tackles her as she hugs her tightly, burying her face into the crook of Shino's neck as she wailed. Shino begins crying hard as well as she returns the tight yet loving embrace.

The broken heart appears once again, this time reconnecting together. The blackness in the heart explodes into a white light.

-----

Akane is looking at her phone before she pockets it in her jacket, seeing Ayami hanging out with most of the classmates, as well as Komichi. Ayami waved at her to come closer, to which Akane smiled and quickly hurried over to their place.

An invisible, bloody red string attached to her back was cut off at that very moment as she ran forward towards the happy group.

-----

Several flashbacks of both the Mizaguchi and Mizusaki sisters' past lives are shown on the screen before it cuts back to Kei getting the four girls' attention. Shino and Kano stood in the front while Akane and Ayami stood behind them. The classmates stepped to the side as Kei took a picture of the four girls standing in front of Roubai with smiling faces.

A caption was shown in the middle of the screen:

Directed by Alchemy and Eri