After the one-day suspension, the class began as usual. In a series of coincidences, Ryo, Airi, Haruto, and Arata coincidentally stumbled together at the school entrance.
"Good Morning, Kyosuke-san." Airi greeted with her usual grace and elegance. Behind her, Arata and Takahashi waved their hands in greetings.
"Oh, yeah, morning." Ryo nonchalantly replied, his eyes voided of emotions, and half-awake.
"What's wrong? Didn't you get any sleep?" Airi asked as she began walking inside.
Ryo followed beside her, holding his bag in his left hand, and the other in his pocket. "Not really."
"Oh, doesn't seem like it."
"Yeah."
Their individual conversation died out. Meanwhile, Arata and Haruto were talking about something behind them.
It was something related to the recent suspension.
"I've heard rumors, but the 2nd-year students who stayed up for club activities said that there was an attack on the council building," Arata said in a whispering voice.
Ryo happened to overhear this and looked around.
As they approached the stairs, and onto their floor level, Ryo noticed that the atmosphere was tense. 1st-year students were scattered around the hallway, with their own individual conversations with each other.
The air was heavy and cold. Even the expressions of the students were nervous.
I wonder when the council will tell us what is happening.
He thought to himself.
When they arrived at their classroom, Ryo slid the door open, revealing the few students already inside.
Hina, who was talking to someone, was in front. She noticed their arrival and immediately waved happily.
Ryo remained impassive, as he instead went directly to his seat, while Airi and the boys behind her greeted Hina.
As he placed his bag on the floor and sat down, the person Hina was talking to earlier approached him.
"Good Morning, Kyosuke-san." The person, Tsubasa Rin greeted.
"Morning." He nonchalantly replied, turning his gaze outside the window.
"Atmosphere seems cold, doesn't it?"
"Hmm? Somewhat."
"Do you think this is related to the suspension yesterday?"
Ryo glanced at her briefly, before returning his gaze outside. "Probably. I don't know."
Tsubasa nodded in response, fidgeting her fingers. The tension was present in her chest, as unease loomed over her.
Then, the door slid open, and entering was Asahi-Sensei. Though he wore the same tired and grumpy expression on his face, it was clear that it carried something else.
Ryo turns his attention towards Asahi, who gave his students a glance before speaking.
"Good Morning. We'll be starting off the day quite negatively. I have announcements." He paused for a moment before continuing. "You won't be allowed to leave your classrooms during lunchtime, though trays of food will be delivered to them."
Murmurs of unease and confusion echoed like a buzz, filling their room.
Could this protocol be related to the recent incident, and to yesterday's suspension?
"When you are to go to the bathroom, do tell the teacher first. As for club activities, they are all canceled in the meantime."
The room felt colder, the air heavier. Rumors had been spreading since the morning, but now, they seemed to solidify into something darker.
The possessed student incident, and this. It all adds up.
...
The classes continued, though coldness lingered in the air. The teachers continued teaching, yet something felt off. It's like they're much more cautious than usual.
A quiet student, specifically Agatha, felt the need to go to the restroom.
She didn't know how to speak Japanese properly, so she decided to stand up and tug on Asahi's sleeves.
Noticing it, Asahi turned around and noticed her. She held a paper on her left arm, and a brown, teddy bear in the other. In the paper, written in English was the message that she needed to go to the restroom.
"Oh. Okay. Go on." Asahi replied, nodding.
Agatha smiled in response, as she slowly walked towards the door.
She slid the door closed behind her and walked toward the female restroom.
Her magic senses are excellent and almost inhuman. She is ever-so-sensitive to magic and can detect magic, even from miles away. However, this could sometimes cause discomfort. Similar to a person with extraordinary hearing, they would hear even the slightest sound.
Her face and expression are stoic, she glances around as if she's waiting for something to pop out.
"Интересно, где ты."(I wonder where you are now.), She whispers in an intrigued tone.
However, nothing happened. She walked past the female restroom, her footsteps deliberate. Her eyes darted around cautiously until she arrived at the storage warehouse behind the first-year building.
She stood in front, staring at it intently as if scrutinizing it.
Then, she threw her still teddy bear on the ground. Soon, as if given life, it stood on its two soft legs and began walking towards the warehouse.
Using its two, soft arms, it touched the facade of the warehouse. After a few seconds, it turned around and jumped back onto Agatha's hands.
The Teddy Bear reported its findings to Agatha in Russian. Upon hearing the report, her eyebrows curled in annoyance, and her expression turned cold.
Then, a swirling purplish energy appeared behind her, turning into a dark, small, portal. This portal is connected to another inside the warehouse. Through that portal, she summoned a ball of purplish energy, and launched it towards the portal inside, sending an attack all the way inside the warehouse.
The explosion rippled inside as purplish smoke seeped through the cracks and gaps. She stood cautiously, yet her expression was calm. Her inhuman senses caught flickering movements inside.
And just like she anticipated, the door opened and a figure emerged.
It was wearing an all-black, and white mask, quite similar to what Yasuna encountered.
"Интересный." She murmured, the coldness of her aura flourishing.
She prepared herself to fight, cautiously watching each of the enemy's movements.
"How did you trace this warehouse?" The figure spoke in a robotic voice. Although it was robotic, it carried a hint of shock and disbelief.
Instead of replying directly, Agatha turns her teddy bear forward, and in a small, light, and high-tuned cartoonish voice, her teddy bear uttered words.
"You little ninnyhammer! Of course, Agatha can easily detect your lousy magic!" It taunted in an annoyed manner, frowning its eyebrows at the figure.
The figure was surprised not just because it could talk, but because it realized Agatha's insane ability. Their machinations are covered in a high-level concealment magic. But Agatha easily penetrated through it.
Just from Agatha's menacing aura alone, the figure could easily tell that Agatha is someone unique. "We've heard of this. You are the culprit of this ongoing dreaming incident, aren't you?!" The teddy bear scolded. However, the figure only stood silent.
"Silence means affirmative! Agatha will judge and condemn you!" The teddy bear yelled out fiercely, before jumping in the air, and puffing out of thin air, disappearing immediately.
The figure entered a defensive stance, expecting an incoming attack from the bear. "Calm down, what you fear won't happen," Agatha said in English, her tone light. "What my bear did was simply a teleportation technique to call the authorities."
"Call the authorities, you say?" Behind its mask, the figure pondered. The council would catch them if it couldn't quickly eliminate Agatha and possess her. It was too risky.
"That is if you can catch me." The figure quickly dispersed into a flock of crows, just the same as before.
"это не будет работать." (That won't work.) She mumbled, a faint smile appearing on her lips.
In the next second, multiple portals instantly appeared behind her and began shooting a flurry of razor-sharp shards, each accurately taking down each crow.
As the last shard hits the last crow, the fallen crow turns back into the black-cloaked figure.
This time, blood was leaking through its black cloak, as it struggled even to stand up.
"I think it's game over," Agatha said in English, her smile sharp and taunting. She walked towards the figure, preparing to tie and apprehend it.
However, before she could come closer, the figure released a powerful shockwave, forcing her to brace the force. She raised her arms against it, and strongly held her ground, trying her best not to be swept away.
"Did you think that I was finished? Wrong. I will make a great puppet out of you." The figure stood up slowly as if nothing happened.
Agatha gritted her teeth in annoyance. She summoned several portals behind him that shot out sharp shards. However, the figure was easily able to dodge without even looking behind. Agatha managed to balance herself and continue launching deadly shards.
The figure twisted and turned all around as if it hadn't been injured. Each shard shattered upon impact, leaving a deep, crater on its land.
"Playtime's over," Agatha whispered as a faint smile appeared on her lips. Confidently, she launched a shard toward the figure, and as she predicted, it dodged to the side. Simultaneously, as she predicted its path, she launched a shard on that spot in advance.
The figure, realizing that its moves had been predicted, could only click its tongue as the sharp shard emerged below it and penetrated through it, splattering blood all over.
Its body went limp, hanging from the penetrated shard on its body.
Agatha walked towards it, her lips sharp with mockery. "Dreaming Incident, but for what? What can you gain from this?" Agatha asked in English, her tone taunting. However, the figure remained unresponsive.
"I won't let you die. You haven't tasted hell yet." She walked towards it and was prepared to subdue it completely when suddenly, it began releasing an ominous magic power. Agatha raised her guard up and prepared herself for an incoming attack.
In desperation, and its last resort, it released a final shockwave, attempting to push Agatha back in order to escape. The concrete ground crackled, as dust slowly formed to the shockwave. Agatha steadied herself, raising her arms so as not to be swept away.
As the dust slowly settled, the figure used its final energy to turn into a flock of crows to attempt an escape. Agatha was about to attack once more, but, out of nowhere, Kyouko appeared, her sword covered in purplish lightning. In lightning speed, it decapitated all the crows in a matter of a second.
"Разве ты не опаздываешь?" (Aren't you late?), she whispered, as a sigh of relief escaped her lips.
The crows have fallen and returned all to the human form of the cloaked enemy. Kyouko turned around and glanced at Agatha with serious eyes.
"Thank you for keeping this guy here. I'm with the council." Kyouko thanked and bowed.
"Don't worry, Ms. CouncilWoman," Agatha spoke in English, smiling in response.
"We have a couple of questions for you," Kyouko responded in English too.
"Sure, why not?"
"But first..." Kyouko turned towards the unmoving figure lying on its back. She wastes no time and removes the white mask hiding the culprit's true identity.
...
Kyouko's eyes widened as she saw who was behind the mask. Her eyes screamed in disbelief, as she looked at it in confusion. What they saw was unexpected,
...
No matter what they do, they'll always be too late. Soon, they'll be left with no choice, but to succumb to defeat. I hope they all have a sweet, sweet, dream.
A crow, from afar, with its eyes glowing crimson, unnatural, and sinister, watches Kyouko and Agatha carefully. Its gaze was devoid of life, and it seemed to leech all life around it. Warmth was non-existent, but cold, was very prominent, as it is the crow, the bringer of death.