Volume 6's POV: Third Person POV

While Miyuki stood over the knocked out Light Guy, she would feel the gaze of someone from the corner of the bathroom. That gaze turned into a shriek, the student making a frantic flee down the hallway. Oh no, another chase! This time it was someone else fleeing than her, but at the glance of just who it happened to be, Miyuki found out that it was the last person she would ever want to run away from her.

"M-Manaka! Wait!" Miyuki shouted, trying to catch up. "P-please! I-I can explain, please don't run!" she kept her pace down the hallways. "It's too dangerous if you go any further!" Miyuki warned, hoping that Manaka would hear her cries and slow down. Just what was she doing here? How did Manaka just so happen to be in the same bathroom she fought Itoh in? Why is she at school so early?

Manaka didn't want to listen, the fear in her heart was far overpowering her wishes to stay. Was that really Miyuki? What is a boy doing knocked out in the girl's bathroom? Did Miyuki do that? She had so many questions that it was impossible to think straight, so she just kept going down the hall and around the corner.

"M-Manaka, please... give me a chance!" Miyuki cried while she kept pushing herself to chase after her. Miyuki couldn't let someone who she's fighting for just run away from her like she was a monster! Miyuki hoped that Manaka was just confused and didn't think of her as crazy, but the longer they ran, the closer Sekken was to getting that idea in her head.

After crossing a few hallways, Manaka would begin to run out of breath, her pace slowing down to a jog. What was the point of running? Manaka held her chest and took a deep breath in, then exhaled. The thought came back to her: She needed to get help for that kid! With that thought in mind, she began to run again.

"C-Careful, Manaka! You're gonna run into that desk!" Miyuki called out. It was too late though, Manaka wasn't paying attention to the desk that was in the middle of the hallway. She ran right into it, the edge of the desk sinking into her gut and knocking the remaining wind out of her.

"Gaaagh- my gut instincts told me to run, but now they just say 'AAAAAHHHHH'" Manaka whined to herself, then sitting on the ground, and taking another deep breath. Miyuki was quick to catch up, and wasn't hesitant to check on her:

"Manaka! Are you alright, there? W-why were you running from me?" Miyuki questioned.

"S-Sekken? Is that you?"

"Y-yeah? I-it's me!" ("Is she not convinced I am the same person? Oh no, how do I prove it?") she worried, noticing that doubt in her peer's voice.

"What happened in there? Why were you fighting a boy in the girl's bathroom?!" Manaka frantically asked, her mind struggling to connect the dots on how this awkward, vulnerable, and self-doubtful first year managed to get into another fight? "Were you the one that started the fight with Seijo?!"

"Woah woah woah! Hey! NO! Of course not! I didn't start either of the fights! I was trying to run away but they locked me in! I've had tons of people trying to ruin my life this past week and I've been doing nothing but hanging on by a thread!" Miyuki exclaimed. Her heart sank at the thought that the only one she looked forward to talking to had a broken trust with her. Miyuki was wrong, she did have one thing left to lose. Even if it was a girl she just met, it was the only one she's met here who treated her like a human while Miyuki so selfishly acted like a robot to everyone else. "Please, let me explain my story!"

"O-okay... but this doesn't change why I am so confused!" Manaka shouted, then went quiet to listen to what Miyuki had to say to her. Miyuki would go on to summarize everything that happened to her that past week. From the day she met Erin Seijo, to the class after that first PE, to the next math class, to getting mugged at the front office, and then that set-up fight with Seijo. It took minutes to explain just the smallest incidents, but Miyuki was intent on making sure Manaka understood her point of view. After it was finally explained, Miyuki sighed and sat down too to give her legs a break.

"Please, Manaka... I'm hanging by a thread here, and I have nothing left. I-35 took everything from me. My peace, my money, my house, my only parent who kept me safe... I don't even have a place to sleep, I've been using a bus stop this entire weekend!"

Manaka continued to stay silent. She couldn't do anything else but to sympathize with Miyuki's pain. She had no idea what kind of terror that must have felt like. Omo felt like responding to it with her lack of knowledge would end up make her sound too tone deaf, and only make Miyuki feel worse.

This entire week she's been haunted by these I-35 gang members? Is that even true? ...is that what happens when people 'drop out' here? There was one question that was on her mind which she felt the need to ask: "What are you doing here at school so early? Class doesn't start for another two hours. The only ones who should be here are the teachers and the Headmaster"

Miyuki sighed, reexplaining what had happened the weekend so she could connect it to her reason for being here: "These weird hooded guys burned my house down and left me to live on the streets. I thought that if this school-based gang functioned outside of school hours, then I could catch them in action then and report it to the police. There's a detective investigating those guys but he needs evidence for their existence inside the school before he can get people to search and arrest them. I want to stop I-35. I want to have a 'normal' high school experience... and getting the authorities is our only hope for saving the entire school district, or maybe even all of Japan from I-35's influence." Miyuki explains first, then adding onto why she was specifically here at school. "I came by to catch the gang members in action, like I already said. Turns out I did. This school is always unlocked so gang members can enter and hang out."

"Wait, so everyone in here is a part of I-35!? That's not good! I only came here to turn something in to the Headmaster before class started!" Manaka exclaimed, now feeling panic that she had come to a spot full of the very thugs she wished to avoid.

"Yeah, the leaders of the gang are here... and, Manaka, they're nothing like Seijo. You have to believe me when I say this: They have superpowers!"

"...superpowers?" Manaka confusedly repeats. She had a lot of doubt in her heart, there was no way someone could have a 'superpower'. It's real life, not Sailor Luna or Super Joe, there's no way that could be real! "What kind of superpowers? Did that kid have one?" she still asked out of curiosity, though she had become especially leery.

"That 'kid' was one of the leaders. He was able to glow like a light-bulb and summon balls of electricity. If I wasn't careful where I moved, I would've been stunned. Had I not gotten lucky, he would have easily killed me! I think only the leaders have these kinds of powers, which is how they keep their authority over the rest of the gang.

I heard him and some other captain talking about some 'necklace' that was missing."

Glowing like a lightbulb? Summoning stunning balls of electricity? It all sounded unreal to her. Manaka couldn't believe it. It all made sense but also made no sense at all at the same time. If superpowers are real, then why aren't there other people with superpowers fighting against these criminals? That was the big question on Manaka's mind. An even bigger question to her though was: can she get a superpower?

"Wait, a necklace? Like, what kind of necklace?" There was only one kind of necklace that Manaka knew of that was technically missing from the school. She would search her body for the one she brought, then revealing it to Miyuki. "Like this one?" Manaka asked, holding it out towards Miyuki.

"Woaaah! It's so pretty..." Miyuki gazed at it with awe. The thin golden lace, the small tube with a golden carving on its ends, it looked like it costed a fortune to buy. Looking at it did bring a good point though, why is there a tube? Inside that tube was a clear liquid substance that looked like water. "But what is the tube for? I don't look at jewelry often, but I find it hard to believe that a tube of water is the new fashion statement, unless it is. Fashion is always crazy so I can't really tell, heh"

"Huh? I-I don't really know, but I need to hand this to the Headmaster. I'm sure it's just decoration, everyone has their own unique tastes! I find it weird too, but I'm not going to judge people for what they like."

"If I recall, those leaders said that the necklace in question is 'the same one they use' and 'makes them unique'." Miyuki recalls back to when she was eavesdropping on their conversation. "There is something special about the necklace they're looking for. You think this is it?"

"I-it could be... it could not be. Whether it is or not, I-I won't let them have it! It's the Headmaster's! I'd rather not give it to those thugs who are gonna to sell it!" She gripped the piece of jewelry. "Superpowers or not, they can't beat the principal! Once he learns of our situation, he can expel them!"

"Uuuuhhhhhhhh...." Miyuki raised an eyebrow, not really believing what Manaka was hoping for. "I doubt the Headmaster would want to expel people who are way stronger than he is. Expulsion wouldn't stop I-35 anyways..."

"Miyuki, I know they work under the Headmaster's nose. Since Junior High I have seen these people in action and they pay off teachers to turn a blind eye to their activities. This is why the Headmaster of each school denies the gang's existence!" There was a sense of sureness in Manaka's tone. Her theory all made sense to her: The Headmaster was unaware because the teachers were protecting I-35 due to the financial benefits they were given. If he knew, the gang would have been stopped prematurely, and if he knows now, then there still was hope. Despite that logic, Miyuki still wasn't buying it.

"I doubt he'll be able to stop superpower wielding teens who aren't hesitant to shed blood. We need power. I need power. I now realized that if I get evidence for their existence and hand that info over to the police, who knows what law enforcement would be able to do? I don't want to put my money on the law enforcement alone when they might not have the strength to get past The Boss. I need to figure out how to get this power for myself so I can face them."

"I wondered about getting superpowers too. If I got one, maybe I could face them too. The idea of fighting is scary though. I could maybe get them back for what they did to you, me, and Megami." Manaka said, her tone lowering to express her sorrow.

"M-Megami?! What happened to her?!"

"Megami's been missing since last week. I can't find her... no one can! I checked all of her classrooms. I even went to the class she enjoys just as much as I do, orchestra, and the instructor said she was no where to be seen! She never skips out on orchestra... she's missing, Sekken! That's another reason why I want to find the Headmaster." Manaka tears up while explaining, rubbing her face with her hands.

Miyuki couldn't do anything but stand there as Omo was on the verge of tears. She never got to know Megami because Megami was always so distant with her. She didn't want to talk to her, she seemed to value her work above her own peers. Despite that, Miyuki couldn't help but feel sorry for Manaka, knowing that she had a close connection with the girl that Miyuki herself longed to understand. "It's... okay, Manaka... we'll find her!"Miyuki then held her hand out for Manaka. "The only chance we have is to find and use that necklace that they speak of. I'm assuming it is the one you are holding, because it has the clear tube with a fishy substance inside of it... it's our only shot at standing up to them, if you are willing to let me try it out."