The grey-brown walls that separated the normal world from the horror-like hell of school came up in Kaharu's view as he calmly walked towards school, there was no reason to rush either way. Not only did he have to endure the major annoyance of going to school every day, like normal, he now had the major issue of a sudden conquest to take care of.

It was all a pain.

But his usual pain was alleviated with the motivation he found in the task of saving the whole school from a threat. This task that could be considered to be a disaster gave Kaharu more intrigue and interest than his usual everyday.

More important matters came to mind as he actually approached the gates, that felt a lot taller than they were supposed to be. They might as well have been decorated with menacing decals to deter outsiders, a hellish atmosphere around it all.

- And we're through… -

Kaharu's first matter of business was to immediately turn to his right and the small space between the bicycle-filled stalls and those gates to hell. He squatted down, letting his feet sink into the fertile ground.

The device was around the size of his palm and Kaharu quickly accessed the information on it he wanted. But the reveal was disappointing, the camera in front of him had only captured footage that wouldn't be able to be of much use.

The plan to catch the person behind it as they entered school probably wouldn't succeed.

As he went through the recording, speeding through it very quickly, eventually catching the spot where a shadow made its entrance, he sighed at the view. It was way too dark to catch any significant details in the footage, and from what was seen, the figure walking towards the school seemed to wear a hoodie, making it impossible to look at the hair to get clues.

He could've probably tried to search for the hoodie at school, but given that it was very purposefully worn, it wasn't like the perpetrator would've just thrown it somewhere in sight of the students.

There wasn't any footage he could see either of the person leaving the school either, which proved to be confusing.

- It's useless, huh…

The damn bastard took some security precautions, does that mean he knows someone's after him? Maybe he knows I'm specifically after him. Or maybe he's just extra cautious…

Either way, he did this around 13 hours and 30 minutes into the recording, which means he got here around 5:30 AM…

Maybe I could catch him here, outside of school before he enters. He doesn't seem to have any powers outside of the school area, so it could work.

But what if he randomizes his arrival time, so he may come here at 6:00 AM tomorrow.

I guess I could wait outside for the whole morning until he comes, but then as soon as he is within the school grounds, he has the upper hand again.

AAH, WHAT A PAIN! -

Kaharu threw his camera at the ground in frustration, luckily the wet dirt made sure it survived the abuse. With a visible frown on his face, Kaharu entered the school building with a bad mood. A dread looming around him.

…

With his shoes squeaking against the floor in a more quiet manner than usual, Amatsuyu made his way through the school corridors in a flowing manner. He gritted his teeth once he stopped himself by a window peeking outside. He thought to himself

- Amatsuyu, you idiot!

You went too far this time…

Even though we made it out easily yesterday, you just had to do that today.

What if his power is related to cameras? What'd you do then, you pathetic loser? -

What followed was a fist that instantly tied itself together, like an unintentional response to what he'd just heard. The insult wouldn't be tolerated, but it was the truth so no punishment would follow.

He liked to see himself as a benevolent god, after all.

But he would still do what he wanted, to whoever he wanted and whenever he wanted.

To reinstall his feelings, Amatsuyu turned to his right and lightly kicked a passing student in its thigh, and said

"Get me an instant coffe--- actually, get me an orange juice"

The student lined up and flashed a proper stature before responding

"Yes Master"

Silence was left as the student went off to fetch the drink, and a satisfied Amatsuyu letting his hair hang in the air. A swelling sense of something was building up inside of him, he didn't know what, but it felt bad. Even though it was supposed to be the peak of his life…

- Kaharu… To think that you've affected me, and infected me, with something like this.

You have to take responsibility.

Luckily, I shall force it out of you today.-

With that being said, Amatsuyu Kougaku with his red hair poking out at every direction moved towards a place next to the first year vending machines and prepared himself for the oncoming mission.

…

A handbook not used since he first started class, with bad connotations to its existence. That's what Kaharu Kahari was wearing in his hand as he wandered around the school, very slowly. There wasn't anything particular about the book itself, but the context to it annoyed him. Kaharu practically saw it as a necessary evil to his long-winded plan.

Doubt came into his mind as he thought about the plan, it felt like there was a much more effective method staring him right at the face. It was alluring too, although he wanted to reject it harshly after his previous experiences. It came with the fact that his current plan would take a somewhat long time to pull through with, and his side-strategy with the camera had been a failure as well.

- What if I just beat everyone here down?

If I'd do that, then the perpetrator would be easy to find, and it'd only be a matter of time. That is the same with this one too, but the time difference is substantial.

It's not like I like anybody here ei…-

That prompted some thinking from Kaharu as he continued down the hallways, marking people with Xs when a new face was seen. His eyes shot open as he thought about it more, the faces of his classmates popping up in his mind. Like an antenna with a bad signal, he could barely understand what he was thinking.

Had he started liking people?

Even though he still held a negative view of most people, his idea of certain people in his life had changed. It was all sweeter.

Like getting better at baking, his baking had improved to deliver a more precise, likable and delicious sweetness. He didn't want that, he felt a strange clinginess to the before bitter and half-assed taste of his more amateur attempts. But they were raw, and sincere. They knew what they wanted, and tried hard to recreate that vision.

Like the sweetness of his current cake, what if it turned too sweet?

That was unthinkable, it was against one of his principles to something like that. His book of laws being violated because going against them suddenly felt satisfying. One of the reasons he ended up like that was because he violated that principle.

"Do not let people get too close to you, and never fall for such acts."

Was he violating them by thinking positively of them?

He didn't want to, but the crime was also alluring. Without wanting to admit it himself, he'd had more fun personally during the last couple of days than before that.

Where he'd usually respond to himself in conviction, he now faltered in confusion.

The blonde delinquent with chained jeans, a clean purple school uniform with decals, and brown eyes named Kaharu Kahari wasn't sure anymore of his position.

~ 9:00 ~

*SMASH*

Whether it was a blessing or a curse, he wasn't sure of. But his thinking was interrupted by books falling in front of him. He was about to make a mental note of the capabilities of the seemingly-dead students of Akumu High School, when his arm was grabbed quickly by a student in front of him.

Meeting their eye, something was wrong. Their usually dead pupils were now filled up an even darker shade of their eye color, making them visibly more depraved. A creepy stare that screamed of something being wrong.

Having pulled away his arm as a reflex, a punch flung by his face as he dodged that as well.

-What's going on!? -

Again, his thinking was interrupted by another swing from another student adjacent to the first. As much as it pained his heart, he turned around and ran a couple of paces until he realized more students were approaching him from the front. They all had a very menacing way of approaching Kaharu, not-quite-alive and not-quite-dead, they walked towards him like it was their sole task to do so.

Acting on his position of Student body protector, he quickly dodged the blows to escape in the only direction he could, right. But they persisted, following him through the short corridor leading to the other side.

Kaharu noticed his mistake as more students went after him, pacing themselves roughly with the speed of Kaharu. His heart dunked harder than it usually did, and his brain was racing like it never did. Actual fights carried less weight than this, especially after he'd gone out of his way to attain his position. He couldn't give that up now and punch his pursuers. But they were persistent, the followed him through all of his escapes, forming a clear path he was forced to run through.

His vision focused backward, Kaharu failed to stop himself after a dark, short hallway and ended up running into the wall vertical to it.

*BAM*

The damage from that wasn't the main problem, as he backed into the dead-end behind him, he saw something undesirable at the moment.

A row of his classmates and pseudo-friends stood there, forming an informal wall to the rest of the hallway. With their dark eyes, there was something that felt so morally wrong with their sudden betrayal. Like they'd turned against him as soon as the opportunity proposed itself, and that lit a fire. An unjustified assumption, but Kaharu wasn't in the position to think clearly, nor did he have the backbone to in the moment. His previous doubts about their relationships came to fruition in the flash of a second.

…

As the people I'd thought positively of started approaching me slowly, I flashed a smile. Not like the one I'd displayed earlier, when Naomi had shown me kindness, when Melliacci had shown a level of understanding for my situation, when Onata had intriguingly interacted with me.

This was reminiscent of the malicious, dark-around-the-edges smile flashed in my fight with Kosuto, who I hadn't even seen in school at all. He didn't even care to show up.

I understood how it was, everything must've been a persona. Even when I tried to change somewhat, my moment of weakness was your opportunity.

- Am I that weak?

Is caring about others a sign of weakness?

Then, I don't need it. -

My most dreaded feeling surfaced again,

Hopelessness.

I felt threatened by my situation, not only physically but emotionally. Even though I should've understood the situation, my insecurities and doubts bloomed to shadow everything underneath it.

A sudden and unprepared coup d'etat.

Deeply involved in my delusions, I looked at them and said

"So, you'd leave me when you get the chance?

You'd leave your 'friend' as soon as the right opportunity came around?

Speaking of protecting what you feel is important, are you Melliacci?

I'm not even important, then..."

*BAM*

Melliacci's body was flown back a couple of meters as Kaharu released his anger in one blow. The weight of the punch made considerations appear inside of me, but my momentary fire was still too large to be quelled in any way. An unneeded sentiment, I was swimming in it. What should've been a refreshing swim, only turned darker as the water swallowed me.

Prejudice.

My personal perception of who people were had taken over my sense of reason, a prejudice-full judgment had been delivered. My thoughts on how people were had staged the coup d'etat in my head.

They were the culprit, not me.

That's what I wanted to think as I walked by the rising body of Melliacci, standing up again with the same energy as before, witnessing his unintentional tenacity. His determination, and his lack of control.

The truth was that I had passed the legislation that gave my prejudice all of the power, I was the person who conspired with them.

I realized right then a fact that should've been clear already. The fact that Melliacci moved in such a way, despite me using one of my strongest punches could only mean one thing

-These aren't people…!

They must be controlled by someone, the perpetrator… -

Not having time to question myself yet, I quickly started running away.

They followed.

...