In the subway station, the girls sat in rows of chairs to wait for their ride. Bored, Kotori watched the news blaring on the TV. "Breaking news, a string of murders has taken place under the Kerole District. Anyone that's in this area is advised to exercise caution and stay in crowded areas while police investigate these murders." Kotori paid close attention to the news outlet, worried about Chad who went to school a little earlier. On the other hand, the girls from the After-School Study Club were busy arguing about lions versus bears. Kotori sighed, seeing how careless they were. "They are way too calm about their situation..."
Meanwhile, Chad entered the school gates where hundreds of other students entered Kerole High School. His head had fallen down in exhaustion after his first day of school led to him nearly being killed. "Hopefully today will be a peaceful day..." he wished. Not only seconds later though, that wish did not come true. Many students started piling up at the entrance of the school, forming a circle. As flares erupted in the middle of that circle, Chad rushed to see what was going on.
Darts being thrown and deflected, it was two students fighting. One of them was conjuring darts made of flames and firing them at the other student who created walls out of the earth below. "You think I had forgotten about yesterday?" The dart-shooting student roared. His barrage wasn't relentless but when up against a person who can only make walls, the job was light work. Slowly, the walls that were summoned started breaking down one by one and the battle seemed to be near a close. People in the crowd screamed in excitement, seeing the thrilling battle that was about to climax.
Chad sighed, knowing that he was going to have to stop this fight first thing in the morning. He didn't want to engage in any conflicts today and just wanted to lay his head down and rest. Beginning to groan, he began walking into the circle like he was working a 9-5. "I don't even get paid for this position..." Stopping him in his place was someone else's presence entering the battle. It was a girl who had a small figure and long, silky smooth black hair. Her serene golden eyes that accompanied her cold stare and the wings she dawned had blackened out feathers. What stood out to Chad was that she wore a completely black outfit, unlike the other students who were only allowed to dress in white. "She seems to be part of the angel species, but why are her feathers black?"
While crossing her arms, she snapped her fingers, causing a massive pillar of light to smash into the two students who were clashing. It came at incredible speeds, having an explosion that delayed by seconds on impact. The explosion let out a tremendous gust of wind that knocked every student back. After the dust settled, the two students who were ferociously fighting each other were both unconscious. The little lady turned to the crowd, her arms still crossed. "This isn't a show, scram." she said. All of the students dispersed, scared by the sheer power of one person. Everyone left but not one person, that person was Chad. Noticing that he was the last person, she gave him a mean glare, only to stop moments later. "You must be Chad Brinkston, the new student council president, am I correct?"
"Yeah, I am the student council president. How do you already recognize me? It's only my second day here."
"Don't underestimate my informants. We know everything that goes on in the Kerole District." Her words scared Chad, recalling the embarrassing moments that happened in the past. "E-Everything? Does that mean she knows that I got scared of that puppy from a week ago?" he swore that he wasn't paying attention that day, he swore. With two other students wearing the black uniform running over and carrying the unconscious students away, she looks up at Chad as she stands in front of him. "My name is Isolde Ludenberg and I am the leader of the Disciplinary Committee. Nice to meet you, President." she extended her hand to shake, and Chad did the same. "Nice to meet you too, Isolde!"
"The Disciplinary Committee is a faction that branches off of the Student Council, so that would make you my boss. I hope you understand your position, President." Hearing this, it sparked an idea within Chad. "If that's the case Isolde, I want you to do something for me."
[A FEW HOURS EARLIER]
In unison, all of the girls fell in despair. "W-We're screwed." they all said.
Kotori, baffled by their reactions, screamed out loud. "Eh?! Why do you say that? I'm a very reliable person, right, Chad?" she looked over at Chad to which he also held a very guilty face.
After a few minutes of Kotori pouting, Chad grabbed Kotori by the hand and stared deeply into her eyes, making her face a bright tomato red. "C-Chad, w-what are you doing?" she asked. Without delay, he dragged her by the hand to the outside of their apartment, telling her that he needed to talk to her privately.
"Kotori, I want you to try and squeeze out information from the girls." he demanded.
"Squeeze out information? What kind of information do you want me to get?"
"Well, those girls are hiding something. Last night, I tried questioning them about that Cecil guy and they all avoided the question entirely. Not to mention, they are very transparent about their past." They also took my bedroom...
"It could be something traumatizing, don't you think that they might not be comfortable speaking about it?"
"Yeah, it probably is, but if someone is able to nearly kill me, our opponents might be more dangerous than what I expected. Not to mention, they managed to silence the school and the local police force about this. We need answers quick or this situation could get ugly."
"Alright, I'll do it, okay? Only because you asked, darling." Kotori said with a bright smile.
"Just a reminder, the guy that attacked me had a crow mask so keep that in mind, okay?"
Kotori nodded, understanding the instructions clearly. "Then maybe we can have our date right after!"
"I never agreed to a date."
Skipping to the present, Kotori has made no progress so far. The girls were still arguing about lions versus bears. It was an exhausting morning, so not many spoke. The noises of the subway rushing through the tunnels would be all that you could hear. In contrast with the morning dwellers, the After-School Study Club members were overbearing in the subway. "Elmira, according to Google, bears have a major size difference!" Shoka shouted. "If a lion managed to surprise attack a bear, then it could easily kill a bear!" Elmira replied. Shoka seeing Keisha cowering behind Niantha from the argument, called her out. "Keisha, don't just sit there, what do you think?!"
"I-I... think that a bear is stronger than a lion!" Keisha expressed her opinion with all her might, only to meet the cruel gaze of Elmira. She retracted her statement, quivering behind Niantha. "Nevermind!" she squealed, still hiding behind Niantha. By the time it got to this point, the subway got to their destination. "We're at the Kerole District, let's go." Kotori said, standing up from her seat. Leaving the subway, the group emerged from the metro, only to be met with a group of people forming a circle around a scene. Pushing through the front of the crowd, Kotori eavesdropped on the other people chatting.
"I heard there were two killers..."
"How could anyone do such a thing?!"
"How could the police be so powerless against this?!"
"That's it, I'm moving out of this motherfuckin' city 'cause ain't no way am I tryna' get my shit rocked."
Finally seeing the scene, horrified Kotori. It was the bodies of a young couple, a man who attempted to shield his wife, only to be stabbed and pierced right through the body. The woman was also stabbed but from behind. "It was a coordinated attack to target this innocent couple, but, why?" Kotori thought. The stab markings were formed as claw marks as if they had a large claw that could pierce right through somebody. The police haven't arrived yet, and the blood is still flowing out from their bodies; the attackers must be close. Due to the fact that they must be close, Kotori decided to confront the attackers herself. She closed her eyes and focused hard, closing off all outside noises.
She activated Aura, channeling it throughout the city. She could feel the mana of everything, and sense the position of where the mana was at as well. The birds, the trees, the people roaming around the streets, all living organisms contained mana. And the ones that stuck out were the ones staring right at her in a building. She opened her eyes and darted them to the building. The building was an abandoned hotel that was under renovation and currently restricted to the public. So it was very suspicious that when she made eye contact with the presence within, it was two men wearing a crow mask. They wore a black cloak and had a dark helmet underneath their crow mask. "Jeez, their color scheme is quite basic..."
Kotori dashed out of the crowd in haste, even knocking some people over in the process. Keisha noticed this action and realized that Kotori dropped her purse in the process. It was an expensive-looking purse, one that was velvet red; matching her outfit perfectly. "Kotori shouldn't be losing such a high-quality purse!" she thought as she picked up her purse and began tailing her.
As Kotori reached the hotel, she took note of the amount of people that were barren from the area. It appeared that almost everyone was fixated on the murder that just happened recently, recording it all on their phones. The entrance of the hotel had been boarded up, but the window was shattered open. "Welp, it should be fine, I hope..." Creeping into the hotel, she made slow and steady steps, trying to hide her presence. "Should I take the elevator?" she says to herself, only to see the sorry state it was in. The doors were rusted and bent and the buttons were smashed wide open. "I'll just take the stairs."
Keisha on the other hand hurried over to the hotel and took a pause. "S-She went inside of this scary hotel?!" Keisha couldn't take a step further, the sheer aura of the worn-down hotel frightened her to the core. "Maybe I could just hand this to her later..." she said, slowly edging away from the hotel. A feeling inside of her was a concern for Kotori, but the immense amounts of fear consumed her. "I-I can't go inside... it's too much for me to do!"
On the other hand, Kotori is ascending the stairs, going to the second floor. Walking down the hallway, she noticed two figures standing at the very end of the hall. It was the two people with the crow masks, ominously staring at her.