The sight of Yumi’s friends in the pany of the others that surrounded her sent a cold paralyzing pulse down her body. She immediately uood the implications. She didn’t want to believe it anymore than Saki with Takako, but seeing it was enough.

  Barely even hidden, she could see the void within Kaede’s eyes. There was a twisted malice that she never had seen in her friend before. It seemed to e her being pletely. While she physically was the same person she knew, it twisted her whole soul into something unreizable. ‘What is Takako doing to them? How is she able to do this to others? To corrupt them so deeply…’

  “Yumi…” Yori reached back to hold her hand for support. While he might not have known her friends, he clearly saw what the se was before him. He khe importahey had for her.

  A different chill ran up her body. She fought through it all to keep herself in trol. “…I know…” Yori’s sister forced herself to focus. Caught up pletely by Kaede, she barely even noticed Katsumi standio her. Unlike all of the others, Katsumi seemed out of pce with the rest. She looked more dead ihan anything with no side of life, but most of all none of the bloodlust or corruption. She somehow seemed pletely separated from the rest. Yet she was still with them and most importantly, Kaede.

  Giggling a little at the fa?ade, Kaede pushed away from Katsumi and stepped forward. She started to brush her hair in a casual manner while staring at Yori’s sister. “Are you pnning on fighting us, Yumi? Aren’t we friends?”

  Chapter 296 – The Fragility of Friendship

  Miyako watched from a building away with her team of five. She saw the differen numbers and groueeth together. ‘Damn, they don’t eve five minutes before finding trouble. They might have been hunting for us after the st skirmish earlier.’ There was no question a fight was going to break out.

  Pounding her fist against the wall sent cracks up the old building. She pulled back from the broken window. “Looks like we’ve got anht on our hands, boys!”

  “Yes, boss!” they all echoed together.

  “Jiro, setup on the rooftop. You’re the spotter, only take a shot when you absolutely must. The rest of you are with me. We’re going to dig those kids out of a little trouble!” They all gave a deep guttural cry ihusiasm.

  Kaede approached Yori’s sister, finishing with her hair aurning her hairbrush. Her hair suddenly straightened out away from the curls up to her nebsp; It shortened a little and took on a slight auburn appearanbsp; “Yumi…” She grinned across at her.

  It was almost too te before she knew what happened. It was faster than she expected. Only her barrier saved her, but she still felt the force ringing throughout. ‘Kaede…so fast…’ She built up her barrier more to push back Kaede.

  Yori took a glimpse at her sister. ‘She’s not used to fighting people simirly enhanced on top of being her friends… She’s not going to be able to do this…’ Tightening his hands around the bck bdes, he swung wide to keep back the sudden onsught.

  Retrieving matg blue gloves from her pocket, Katsumi drew them up the entire length of her arm c up all of her skin. “Seems I must make a move as well.” She stepped through the crowd ing straight up to Yori. Her right hand reached out to grab a hold of his bde before it strue of the students.

  The surprising ease at which she blocked his attack took him back a step. He took another swing directly for her and she blocked it once more with her hand. Phasing the material out for a moment, he retrieved them and swung down together at her. She stopped both with her arms crossed in front. ‘She put on the gloves before fighting…are they resistant to damage? Is that how she’s doing it?’ Letting them dematerialize again, he forced them past her defense and struck directly on her chest. He sshed downward trying to get the most ce from his attack.

  Katsumi slid back a little from the force, but nothing more seemed to happen. “Pying pretty rough, thought being the President you’d be a little softer.” Straightening out her uniform from the rough treatment, she looked pletely unfazed by the attabsp; Not even her clothes seemed to have a stray thread.

  Failing to achieve anything meaningful from the attack, Yround his teeth together trying to e up with another pn. ‘So it’s not just the gloves then. I ’t make a scrat her period…I’m going to need something more powerful, but if I do I might end up dealing a severe injury.’ Uainty begat hesitation within him. He tried to fight seriously with the girl, but he knew she was his sister’s friend. He couldn’t do anything too severe. And worse, he saw that she could only be defensive against the other one.

  ‘What am I going to do? We ’t just let them kill us!’ All of the powers that he practiced ran through his mind. He needed something that he could use. The problem he faced was knowing which would be effective without being deadly. His swave him the most trol, but they were useless. ‘I o do something!’

  “Why the hell are ya hesitating?!” shouted Miyako arriving on the se. She fell from the sky, it seemed, dropping in the middle of the whole group with her fist. A crater quickly grew out from her strike tossing debris in all dires. It spread smoke out in all dires.

  Coughing and blinded, Yori stumbled around in the cloud. “What the hell’s going on?!” He tried to find his way out, but someone grabbed him. Resisting with a swing of his bde, they caught his forearm before it sank into anything. “What are—“

  “I don’t have time babysitting you! Pull baow!”

  It took him a moment, but the voice was faintly familiar. “You’re the woman from Hiroshi’s group!”

  “Yeah, we don’t have time to sip tea a cookies over this! Get moving!”

  “Where’s Yumi?”

  Jiro came in through her earpiece with a report. “The s is dissipating quickly. Ten seds before they recover.”

  “Uood.” Miyako grabbed Yori and threw him in the dire he o leave. “Get moving! I’ll get your sister!”

  Yumi held firm in her positiohough the attacks from Kaede stopped. ‘The best thing to do is not move. I pletely lost my sense of dire between the ringing in my ears and the loss of sight. But I ’t fight my friend… What am I supposed to do?!’ Her barrier bounced and reflected the dust stirring about her. It was too thick to do anything, especially not knowing where anyone was.

  She uood how Yuki felt before when he was told about Takako. They all uood in that moment, but Takako wasn’t a friend to her. It was just ay sense of empathy for him. They uood, but not really. Part of her felt Yuki being too idealistid a little childish. They already saw what happened with the fight in the m.

  However, she uood it now. The feelings he had then were inside her now. ‘I was a fool. I thought I could do this because while they were all cssmates I barely knew any of them. I was so isoted from most of the css and school that I thought I didn’t care. But they had to be with them. The only ones I could never fight…’ She thought Atntis might have given her something for her resolve. The path she picked and walked, the destru ah she wrought. ‘At the end I only kill those that I don’t know…I’m no different than a on criminal…’

  Her body suddenly felt strange. It was heavy and her mind turo fog. Her sight blurred. “What’s happening…to me?” Yumi staggered forward as her barrier fell away. She colpsed to one knee, uo stand. “Something’s…wrong…”

  Breaking through the smoke, a lreen haired Kaede stood grinning down at Yumi. She slowly stalked forward to Yumi. Kneeling down to meet her unfocused gaze, Kaede grabbed the top of Yumi’s hair. “It’s sleepy time for you.” Quickly, she ripped her up by her hair and rammed her ko Yumi’s stomabsp; A stomach fluid and saliva coughed up from Yumi as she fell over Kaede.

  Draped over her shoulder, Kaede turo Katsumi. “You got things ed up on your end?”

  “No, there’s a little trouble.” The smoke finally cleared away and revealed Miyako along with her team of four and Yori. Katsumi held back Miyako. Eaiyako’s punches slid Katsumi bad drew up smoke, but did nothing more. The rest of their group swarmed over Miyako’s team, keeping them out of the fight.

  Miyako slid back a little to recover from the test futile attempt against Katsumi. “Damn, you’re tough.” She shook out her hands a little, feeling them sting from the repeated blows. “It’s like I’m hitting crete.”

  “…boss…”

  Flipping her head around to her team, she shouted, “Masato!” She saw the blood dripping from his mouth, a wound in his chest. ‘Dammit! I won’t lose anymore!’ R her voice as deep as she could draw from her stomach, her fists suddenly shimmered and beefed up. Miyako threw out her fist at Katsumi knog her bad tearing intloves a little. She then threw her fist into the earth agaiing an even rger crater than before casting e ks of the earth outward.

  She jumped through the smoke she created aiming for Yumi only to be met with a sudden drop irength. Miyako stretched out her hand for Yumi, but Kaede spun around whipping her hair around. Numerous cuts formed all over Miyako’s body, throwing blood into the air. “…damn…not here…” Miyako leapt backwards disappearing into the clouds.

  “We’re pulling baow!” she shouted to everyorying to maintairide.

  Yori quickly jumped out after Miyako with fury in his eyes. “What the hell do you think you’re doing?! Yumi’s still over there! I’m not leaving without her!”

  Grittieeth in anger, she wound up a pund dropped Yori to the grass. “You want to die? Because that’s all that’s waiting for you oher side! She’s already lost!”

  He spat out the blood from his mouth. Nothing fazed him from the punbsp; Yori materialized his bdes going straight for Miyako. “She’s not lost! I will die before that happens!” The rage already started to e him.

  Miyako hardened her features and grabbed the bde aimed at her throat. Blood dripped down her hand as though it was nothing but a paper cut to her. “You think it’s brave running to your death?! Grow up! You do nothing while you’re dead, but you never run out of options when you’re alive!”

  “Damn you! I’m not leaving my sister behind!”

  “All you are is blind!” Miyako she bde off and rammed her fist into Yori once more. He went down hard with the bergy disappearing. “Cool off before you start thinking about charging in after her!” She ram her other fist into his stomapletely bg him out. As she stood up blood dripped from her lips. “Damn…pick him up. Jiro!”

  “They’re retreating as well, boss!”

  “Good, meet up at ground point.”

  “Uood.”

  * * *

  The haze started to lift from her mind. “Urgh…where am I?” Fumiko asked, trying to remember what happened. Fshes appeared in her mind from the st moments. Fmes were everywhere, but it didn’t seem to stop them. “I…lost again…”

  “So you’re awake, Fumiko Terauchi,” an unfamiliar voice replied.

  Fumiko tilted her head up, realizing that she id on the floor. “Who—“ Her eyes widened immediately as she reized the girl before her from the image that Hiroshi preseo them. “You’re that girl, the one leading them!”

  “Oh so you heard about me?” She grinned a little with excitement.

  Trying to stand, Fumiko found that she was tied up with her arms behind her babsp; She rolled around struggling to work with her still drowsy body. “What’s going on? Why am I here?”

  “What don’t you know? This is a high school and you are a student, even if you are a third year you still o attend css.”

  “I’m not ied in any csses you’re having,” she bit babsp; As she turned herself over, she saw someone else o her. And then she immediately reized them. “Yumi…” There was a mix of disdain and surprise.

  The tone didn’t go unnoticed by Takako. It made her lips curl a little. “Oh you know this girl. Join me and I’ll let you have your way with her.”

  Fumiko stared back up at Takako a little bit in horror. She had seey of faces in Atntis while fighting, but never one like the ohat she saw on Takako. There was absolutely no sense of reason or aowledgement of them as humans as something sacred. Life meant nothing to her. Just a toy. “I’m not joining you.” It took everything Fumiko had to hold herself together.

  Dark shadows cast over Takako’s eyes and in the carved lines in her face as it seemed to crack with strange pleasure. The grin on her face was worse than even a demon could produbsp; “I love hearing that phrase! I’m getting that so much today!” Takako leaned forward with a hungry look in her eyes.

  As though summoned out of the air, anure appeared out of the shadows standing at Takakht. It pletely shocked Fumiko to see it. Standio Takako as though she just belohere was Saki. “Not you…”

  Saki stared down at Fumiko pletely cold wearing a bck variant of their school uniform. “You will be joining Takako.”