Korolev Senior Secondary. Approximately 0740 hours.

“Kato, I wanna sleep~”

Teto grabbed Kato from behind as she laid her head on his back and closed her eyes.

“No, Teto. Stay awake. There, there.”

Kato brought his sister to his side, tucked her underneath his arm and patted her head. He himself was not a morning person, so it was only natural that his sister was not one either. Usually, though, Teto handles mornings better than Kato.

They were leaning on their lockers, idling there, while people were slowly trickling into the atrium and filling in the open space with chatter. Kato had already equipped himself with the radio set and had his earphones in. Teto too had a radio set, but she also held onto her bag with a portable camcorder in it.

“It’s been more than thirty minutes since we idled here, but let’s stay strong. We might take action today.”

Kato reassured his tired little sister and kissed her forehead. Teto let out a cute sound as he did so, and turned around to wrap her arms around him. To any unsuspecting onlookers, they looked like a couple who didn’t care about showing public displays of affection. Even to suspecting onlookers who knew who they were, it was just as aggravating and embarrassing to see, no matter how many times this happens.

“That was a very wholesome view from up here.”

Eon commented over the radio as he leaned over the second floor railings with a pair of binoculars. As the mastermind of the operation, he was idling on the upper level, overlooking the atrium below.

“C’mon guys, just ignore those two. I’m on sentry duty so it’s really boring here, but I don’t want to hear any of that.”

“Yeah, just ignore them and talk about something else.”

Franco and Caius’s voices also came over the radio. Franco was sitting on the wide steps outside of the main entrance of the school, schoolbag and notebook in hand. The main entrance to the building was very wide, almost as wide as a vehicle road, and multiple glass doors lined it that led right into the atrium. Sitting down on a far side of the steps, Franco watched on as people flowed into the school. Caius, like Eon, was a non-combatant, so his role was lying in wait in the faculty staff room with Sisi next to him.

“Well, we can’t expect something incriminating to happen every day. Today’s vigilance can very well end up as a dud, and we try again tomorrow.”

Evie said with her usual calm voice over the comms. Evie was situated on the ground floor along with her siblings too, but was squatting behind the steps of the spiral staircase instead. From the spiral staircase’s vantage point, the main entrances on one side, the classrooms on the opposing side, and the four corridors on both ends of the atrium were within her vision.

“Only a half hour to go, boys and girls. Let’s go!”

A sweet voice rang through the open channel. It was no doubt Mirabelle’s, and it was her first time speaking into the channel today, surprising the people listening. Mirabelle didn’t join them in the morning, so they assumed that she was not observing them today.

“Mira, you’re watching us, then? Where are you?”

“Student council room. Not watching in detail, just observing.”

“Attention all. Yui is entering the school grounds.”

Franco interrupted the idle chit-chat between Evie and Mira. There was a chance that the plan might take off.

Yui walked up the steps and through the already busy main entrance. Her expression seemed content as she waded past the crowds, oblivious to the elaborate setup around her.

“The VIP is in the building. The targets are also already in the building. Prepare for stage two.”

Eon said as he watched Yui enter the school from his aerial viewpoint. It took a bit of time, but Yui made it to her locker and began changing her shoes. Her locker was several rows down from where the Elites’ lockers were, right around the corner from the scene of the crime from yesterday.

“Eon, can you see the targets?”

“Two of them, including the boss, are still loitering by the art room trash can, but the other two has begun making their way to Yui’s locker. Even with no boss, Kato and Teto, you’re up.”

“Got it.” “Okay.”

The two siblings said in unison. They left their lockers to covertly make their way closer to Yui’s position, skipping a few rows of lockers over.

“Hold the phone. The boss is making his way to the black market. Take caution.”

The black market. On the opposite end of the atrium from the Elites’ lockers, the lockers were not placed in neat columns. Instead, it was a maze-like setup that created several dead-ends and hard-to-reach corners. Not only that, but that end of the atrium was actually tucked beneath the second floor while the rest of the atrium was open to the glass rooftop several floors up. This shadowy part of the atrium, together with its maze of lockers and its tendency to draw in the bad kids, was colloquially named the “black market”.

“Well, that was unexpected.”

Evie commented as she peeked from behind the spiral stairs at their targets. A tall and handsome man with facial hair passed by with a shorter, chubbier man who was obviously the tall man’s subordinate. Ethan Henderson made his way towards the black market with a sinister sneer on his face as his underling trotted behind him.

“Geh. That fake lying scummy salesman face makes me want to barf. How can people like these exist?”

“Evie, I don’t think we have the right or the time to question if certain people are allowed to exist. Not to mention dangerous.”

“I’m pretty sure I can make him disappear for good. I can do that, right?”

“Are you sure you’re not a death machine disguised as a human?!”

Franco exclaimed in futility as Evie ignored his point.

“The two minions have made contact with Yui. It looks like we are at stage three. Ready your weapons.”

The two underlings stood on either side of Yui, surrounding her. With the smirks on their faces along with Yui’s despondent expression, one can only surmise that whatever they were talking about was not good for Yui.

“This doesn’t look good.”

Kato breathed as he and Teto observed from behind a pillar. The conversation only lasted tens of seconds before the minions began to make their way out and towards the black market. Looking forlorn and dejected, she clutched onto her schoolbag tightly as she followed them obediently.

“It’s my turn now. Just watch me, Kato.”

Teto flashed a big smile at her dear brother as she, in an instant, whipped out Evie’s pair of sunglasses, a scarf and a hooded sweater from her schoolbag.

“Displays of inhuman reflexes are forbidden.”

“Rrrrrrrh~”

Kato pinched her cheek as she quickly put on her disguise.

“Let’s get going.”

The two of them made their way across the atrium, approaching the black market that Yui had already entered. As they passed by the spiral staircase in the centre of the atrium, they spotted both Evie and Eon.

“As planned, I’ll stay right here. Teto, Kato: Yui followed the targets onto the S-path of the black market.”

“That’s right. I can confirm that she went on the S-path. But from here on out, none of us will have a good view of what’s going on, so we’re counting on you guys.”

So the secret agent Teto slipped inside the confines of the black market. As she infiltrated the dark crevices of the feared realm, Kato, without a better disguise, waited just outside the maze of lockers, lying in wait for his chance to enter. From the size of the black market, it probably housed around six classes worth of students.

The moment Teto entered the shadow of the second floor, she felt the air around her turn heavy and humid. The students that hung around here were much more dubious in character. From the conversation pieces she could pick up, they were dark and dangerous-sounding, almost as if stepping into the mafia’s world. In some respects, it wasn’t too far from the truth; gangs did exist in this school, and delinquency, traditionally, was tolerated to a great extent.

The students that existed here were from the lower level classes, especially those from below Class F. The hierarchy of classes in this school was defined by their alphabetical rankings: Class A housed the most talented and promising group of students, and with each passing letter, the quality of the students was lower. The assignment of your class was crucial to your social standing within the school. To up-rate your status, you could advance up the ladder by passing your previous year’s examinations with enough points to be “promoted” to the next class; a system defined, in theory, by merit. Historically, entering Class A had a 90-point average requirement, while Class B was 85 points. Ultimately, the final go-ahead was made by the teachers involved.

Class F was the break-off point for any prestige that the class ranks gave. At the very least, Class F enjoyed exactly one seat in the Assembly as well as the Council of Six, the legislative and judicial branches of student government respectively. In addition, Class F’s academics were traditionally considered the “average” of the school. From A to F, they were the privileged six class ranks of the school. For any aspiring first- and second-year students, their first priority would be securing their place in one of these class ranks by their third year, with Class 3-A on top of the student hierarchy.

Beyond Class F, those classes do not have a voice in the school’s everyday operations, and many of their students were marginalized as the unprivileged of the school. On top of their poor academic records, students from these classes tend to fall into the greyer areas of society, possibly even crime. The historical average number of unprivileged classes was around four, from G to J.

That was not to say that criminals could not be smart. Definitely, there would be some individuals from the privileged classes that had questionable attitudes regarding their morals and respect for the law. It would seem that this Ethan character and his followers were such examples.

With her camcorder in her schoolbag slung over her shoulder, Teto walked along the same path into the black market as Yui and the other two did. This particular path, walled up by rows of lockers, formed a large orthogonal S-shaped path like the number five on a digital readout. The ceiling was low, as the second floor was just above it, and dimly lit fluorescent lights lined it. Some of the lockers were left opened, their contents disorganized and messy. Behind her, she could see the well-lit part of the atrium, and of course at the mouth of the path was Kato in wait. In front of her was the first corner, and once she turns around that corner, the light from the atrium would be lost.

Because it was still well into summer, Teto’s wrapped up get-up should have drawn in curious eyes, but it didn’t in this part of the school. Though the school had a uniform policy, the delinquents of this particular sector of the school took it a bit far. For example, she could see some of the burlier guys had their sleeves cut off, some had their ties ripped in a variety of patterns, and some wore their trousers hanging way lower than they should, a practice called “low-riding”; anything to make themselves look cool. The girls were not much better: super-short skirts, excessive makeup, and unfeminine posture.

On top of the evil-spirited mood that these people gave off, the air smelled interesting and unnatural. It undoubtedly had a tinge of cigarette smell in it, but Teto could smell other, more vile and potent substances in the air too. There was a constant drone of white noise on top of the buzz of conversations from the fairly densely packed black market, forcing Teto to continually weave in and out of people’s ways if she did not want to make any fuss.

Upon the second turn she made on this S-shaped path, she saw Yui and the other four men quite a distance further along the path in front of her, out of her earshot. Besides them, the corridor was pretty much clear of other people, so this must be the terminal destination for her infiltration mission. The four vultures surrounded Yui, who remained frozen in place while under verbal assault. Perfect positioning: the locker behind her faced down this path, with the entire scene of the crime in full view. Making a one-eighty turn to face that locker behind her, she reached for her schoolbag.

“Hey, what do you think you’re doing here?”

Suddenly, a short, unruly boy with dyed-green hair from behind Teto reached out and grabbed her by the arm as she reached inside of her schoolbag. He squinted at her under the dim lighting as he tried to recognize the Elite in front of him.

“Henderson has business here right now, so people are not allowed in the den. You’re gonna have to get the fuck out. And what’s with this get-up?”

Hearing the midget’s demands, Teto scowled from underneath her scarf. She hoped that she didn’t have to be confronted by the denizens of darkness, but while she still needed to fulfill her mission, she had to find a way to deal with it quick.

“Fuck off. This is my locker. Do you have a problem? And we’re right at the end of the den anyway, so don’t be such a prick.”

Teto gave him the same attitude the short kid gave her. The den that they referred to was the middle stretch of the S-shaped path; the third, middle segment in the number five on a digital readout. It was referred to as such because it was hidden from view of either ends of the path, requiring somebody to walk past two full rows of lockers before being able to peer into the den. The two of them were situated at a corner that turned into the den.

Teto took out a master key from her schoolbag that Mirabelle lent out to her. Of course, the master key looked like any old key, but it opened all the lockers in this school. She shoved the key into the lock and opened it with ease.

Startled by Teto’s terse response as well as the opening of the locker, which confirmed all her assertions, the green-haired boy dropped the arm that he was holding onto. He faltered a bit, but he still tried to go back on the offensive.

“So what? I told you, Henderson has business here, and you’re gonna have to get out. Who the hell are you anyway? Take off your shitter sunglasses and scarf.”

Teto quickly stuffed her schoolbag deep into the conveniently empty locker. Inside the bag was Caius’ military VHS camcorder, turned on to record since the start of the operation. In classic fashion, the lenses pointed out of the partially unzipped schoolbag, essentially a hidden camera snooping on a delicious target. Since the locker faced down the stretch of corridor that was the den, the military machine had full view of Yui and her oppressors.

“The cam is set.”

After muttering it under her breath, hoping that her microphone would pick it up, she turned to the little dweeb in her way and spat (words) in his face.

“And I told you, I don’t care. Henderson can do what he wants, and I can use my locker like I’m supposed to. Capiche? And do you want to get sick? I go through the trouble of wearing a scarf and this is what I get? Being nice sucks, eh?”

Teto turned on him as she forcefully poked at his chest, pushing him backward and out of the den’s sight. By this time, the green kid was definitely taken aback by Teto’s aggressiveness and suddenly, instead of being the bouncer for this end of the den, he ended up getting bounced. Unfortunately for the bouncer, Teto was a trained nearly-superhuman soldier that would be impossible for him to overcome if it became a physical contest.

As Teto was busy with the puny bouncer and the camcorder in place, Kato prepared to enter the S-path as well. Unlike Teto, Kato did not need as many pieces for a disguise, sporting only his baseball cap and a pair of sunglasses that also belonged to Evie. In fact, his disguise was not much of a disguise, but he need not to stay undercover for too long anyway. If he encountered any opposition before he could make it to the den, he intended to scare them away by giving off a strong killing intent, an aura he and his siblings learned to breathe and live by, day in and day out, in order to become deities.

“Teto’s mission is almost complete. It seems like she’s having a field day with the bouncer too. Kato, it’s time for you to go inside.”

Eon said warily as a bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face. Kato nodded at Evie, who was still standing by the spiral stairs, and bravely turned onto the dark path. Without blinking an eye, he walked past the ominous creatures that lived inside the black market, and headed straight for the den.

“…!”

The sound of a slap across the face was followed by a shrill cry.

“I know you have money, Tereshkova. I don’t care where you get it from, but it’s nice to have a reliable source of income, don’t you think? Reliable for me that is.”

Ethan sneered at Yui. His three other lackeys hollered at Ethan’s remark; a typical response from the betas of the animal pack to prop up the alpha’s standing and ego. They surrounded her like a pack of hyenas, watching her every move, making sure she remained in place and obedient.

“And what d’ya know, I’ve found something very interesting yesterday, by pure chance. Your name’s on a list of afternoon classes. Now, why’s that?”

Again, he sneered at his cornered victim, who found the perfect blackmail to squeeze more cash out of her. He continued to play with his food.

“A ward orphan who goes to this school has no choice but to be part of the People’s assistance program. But the program prevents you from taking the afternoon classes. So what’s going on?”

“Oh I know, boss! This girl is not on the assistance program! That’s why her name’s on that attendance slip!”

The short minion jeered wildly in Yui’s direction.

“But if she’s not on the program, then she has to be paying the full tuition, somehow.”

The tall minion surmised calmly.

“And if she’s able to pay for her own tuition, that means she’s got lots of money to spare!”

The chubby minion exclaimed in conclusion.

“Isn’t that it?”

Ethan shrugged condescendingly at Yui. She continued to keep her head down, speechless. Only yesterday that she revealed her secret to the Elites, and today her life was about to be turned upside down. Just briefly, she wondered if the Elites, and Kato, sold her out, but she banished the thought immediately. They were friends, and at the very least on good terms with each other, so she could not believe it was them.

Oh, how quick I start doubting the people I thought I trusted, just from a mere coincidence.

It was a very convincing coincidence. Like the dark days of living in the main orphanage building as a child, a sense of despair crept on her consciousness like an infectious disease. Potential foster parents passed by without sparing a single glance at her. The bitterness of betrayal when another orphan she placed her little bit of trust in outed her to the custodians. The punishments for the wrongdoings she never did and was framed for. That kind of pain and misery resurfaced in her mind and locked her whole body in place, unable to make any reply.

Ethan waited another two seconds before he grabbed Yui by the chin and forcefully lifted her head up to face him. He realized that Yui’s face was a face of anguish, and he grinned. He relished in belittling those below him.

“So, you know what to do, right?”

Bringing his face close to hers, he spoke softly into her ear. It sent a shiver down Yui’s spine, shaking her to her very core. However, the fear she felt did not break her out of her stupor either. She remained motionless as Ethan continued.

“If my dad’s business finds out that you’re secretly taking afternoon classes, then it’s only fair that we have to null and void the ward arrangement. You wouldn’t want that to happen, right?”

Homelessness in the ghetto was suicide. No one in their right minds would risk it. In fact, the situation was even worse because homelessness in Livia now only existed within the ghetto; most of the city was gentrified enough to push the homeless out and into the ghetto. Tears formed at the corner of her eyes as the prospect of homelessness loomed over her.

“I’m a generous person, so it won’t be too often that I ask this from you. In fact, it doesn’t even have to be in cash.”

Ethan smiled, probably maniacally, as his carnivorous gaze lapped up Yui’s delicate body. With his free hand, he gave Yui’s left breast an aggressive grope that matched the lust in his eyes.

“Ahh~”

Yui let slip through her lips a sensual moan. Set off by that erotic cry, just like the patrons of Shamshuipo, the complexions of the four men around her changed into something more primal and animalistic. Their hands made contact with Yui, crudely feeling up her breasts, her waist, her butt, and her thighs. Their putrid breaths got heavier as they molested her and the passion raced through their minds and bodies. Though Yui’s body moved together with their lustful movements, her mind was a million miles away.

Will I… survive?

Futility and hopelessness continued to overwhelm her thoughts. Tears flowed from her eyes as she remained numb to the four men forcefully putting themselves onto her. Yui felt a hand reach under her skirt and played with the panties under it. She knew this feeling all too well. The fingers stroked lecherously at the fabric that wrapped her pussy, already moist from the sexual stimulation.

Again, this sensation…

Another hand slipped into her now-unbuttoned shirt and under her bra, rabidly fondling the bare breast that it held. There was no longer any more distance between her and the four men. On her butt, she could feel a certain familiar hot, solid thing poking at it from under her skirt and voraciously stroking along it back and forth. The intense carnal desires emanating from them were overwhelming, and she was suffocated by the heavy air around her.

I can’t…

As Ethan slowly leaned in for a mouth-to-mouth kiss, Yui squeezed her eyes shut and prayed silently.

“Please, Kato. Save me.”

Kato reached his arm inside the crowd of men and forcefully pulled Yui out, putting her off balance and causing her to stumble onto the floor behind him. Though abruptly tossed onto the ground by Kato, she was catching her breath from not the fall, but from being freed from the prison she was in. Kato was still wearing his ridiculous disguise, but at least it worked as Yui did not recognize Kato until he spoke.

“Hey, boss. My friend here is needed elsewhere, and it’s an emergency. Do you think you can lend her to me for the time being?”

Kato asked nicely of Ethan and put on a big smile. Perhaps under the dim lighting of the den, where there were no lights lined on the ceiling and only the ambient light filtering from above the lockers illuminated the area, the grin seemed as sinister as Ethan’s own.

“Who the fuck’re you and what the fuck do you think you’re doing here?”

Reflecting Kato’s smile, he advanced towards Kato, grabbed him by the lapel and almost hoisted him off the ground. Despite the cheery expression, the tone of his voice made it clear that he did not appreciate the intrusion. In fact, Ethan was unmistakably bleeding his killing intent.

“Hey now, don’t be so rude. I only needed to borrow Yui here.”

Kato patted the hand that dug into his dress shirt, which was stretching out the cotton fibres that made it. Ethan did not let go.

“You guys were doing some weird shit here though. Are you a half-wit? I don’t think the teaching staff will be too kind about what happened here.”

“What are you even talking about? I was just having a conversation with the kind lady other there.”

Ethan continued to grin at Kato. There was no change in the malevolent ambience around them. Ethan’s lackeys stayed back, spooked by both their boss and the new challenger.

“A conversation that leaves the girl crying, her shirt open and bra exposed? All right then. That’s kinky. Then I take it that you’re done with her then? I really need her to do something for me, so wanna let me go? Or are you just a whiney kid who cries when their toys get taken away?”

Kato challenged him again. Though their smiles were still on their faces, any traces of amiability, if there were any, were long gone. Ethan’s veins were popping off his skin, that was for sure.

“Again, what are you even talking about? Nothing’s going on around here. If you have a problem, say it straight to my face.”

Ethan dodged the first point for the second time.

“The problem is obvious, isn’t it? You’re an eyesore. Sexual harassment is something a scum of the earth would do. If I could, I would turn you over to the police and have society deal with you, but alas, dealing with your existence is such a pain in the ass.”

Kato shrugged, still playing the banter game with Ethan.

“If you think I’m such an eyesore, then just leave. There’s no place for you here.”

Ethan said through gritted teeth, avoiding speaking on anything about Yui. The standoff was stiff, and he had no desire to let this random person do as he pleased, who just waltzed past the bouncers and came in here.

“Then let go of me.”

“…”

Ethan paused as he thought for a moment. He, surprisingly, let go of Kato and snapped his fingers to motion for his minions.

“All right, then. You can leave, but not intact.”

The other three men crowded around Kato, already forgetting that Yui was still there on the floor, her clothes a mess. They grabbed Kato by the arms and prepared to drag him out to the other end of the den but unexpectedly, Kato did not budge. Using his superior strength, he stood his ground and did not let those guys drag him out.

“What the hell…”

Ethan noticed that Kato was able to resist being manhandled by three men, and his fake corporate smile finally faltered. The surprise turned into fear as the scene in front of him unfolded. As hard as his lackeys tried, Kato remained locked in place. They tried grabbing other body parts too, but they struggled to no avail. It was pitiful as it was comical that no matter how hard they tried, nothing happened to Kato.

“This fucking bastard!”

Frustrated that things were not going his way, Ethan snarled at Kato. With his blood rushing to his head in this moment of panic, he aimed a kick with his right leg at Kato’s stomach to vent his anger. However, before his kick was able to connect, Kato broke free from the three minions in an instant and countered. Just as Ethan’s leg was about to connect with his stomach, Kato sidestepped the swing of the leg and responded with a duck and a sweep of his leg at Ethan’s left ankle. Losing his balance and missing his kick, Ethan was knocked over and landed flat on his back.

“Who... who are you?!”

Ethan stuttered. It was the first time he experienced this kind of powerlessness. Usually, he had the muscle as well as the influence to ward off potential challengers against his selfish desires, but Kato was a challenger that was immune to both. Still on the ground, he reared backwards from Kato in a panic, trying to get away from this abomination of a human being.

“I’m Kato Danubius; about to be your worst nightmare.”

In contrast to Ethan, Kato’s grin remained on his face throughout the entire encounter. The minions that were pushed back by Kato already scurried their way behind their boss.

Ethan’s face was twitching in terror as he internally fought his instincts to flee. His pride did not want him to run away, but his minions already backed off of Kato, and he himself already witnessed first-hand Kato’s physical superiority.

“You’ll… you’ll regret messing with me!”

Ethan could only utter this weak accusation as he continued to rear backwards and climb back onto his feet. The killing intent that Kato did not give off until now, was so overwhelming that his legs shook vigorously in fear and almost fell back down. Ethan finally capitulated, and turned tail and tumbled towards the opposite end of the den, away from the direction that Kato and Teto came from. Similarly, his minions cowered in fear and followed behind him, leaving Kato and Yui to their own devices.

“How did you…”

Yui said, dumbfounded. She was still in the same state as she was when she was thrown out of the ring: her shirt untied and exposing her chest; her skirt pulled up to an awkward position; her hair dishevelled from the rough handling she was subject to. Tears still welled up from her eyes, blurring her vision. A swirl of emotions raged in her heart, a mix of happiness, relief, incredulity and regret.

“Let’s get you out of here, Yui. Your days of suffering are over. Everything’ll be all right now.”

Kato kneeled down and spoke softly to Yui. He expertly tucked in her bra and buttoned up Yui’s uniform, to which Yui made no response to, other than the reddening of her cheeks. Kato wiped the tears away from her face the same way he did yesterday and ruffled her hair in reassurance.

“I told you. I will come and take you away. And I’ll still do. Now, hold your hands around my neck.”

Kato smiled at her and picked her entire person up off the ground and into his arms. Like carrying a new bride, Kato turned around and jogged back in the direction he came from. Yui, who still remained silent, could only bury her face in Kato to hide her own smile and scarlet face. With Kato now here, she felt her worries and fears slip away from her body, and in this moment of physical contact, she also felt warmth that was not from the touch, but from the happiness that Kato was able to give her.

“Let’s go, Kato! I’ve got my stuff.”

Teto was waiting for the two of them at the end of the den, very visibly forcing her will on the bouncer that was on her case. She had already zipped up her schoolbag, camcorder tucked away, and slung over her shoulder.

“Let me go! What the fuck!”

The bouncer continued to complain as Teto held him up against the lockers by the neck with one arm. This was how Kato was able to dodge the bouncer initially to enter the den.

“Right, Teto!”

Kato ran past the two of them and along the path back outside to the atrium. Teto immediately let go of the poor bouncer to follow behind Kato. With Yui clutching tightly onto Kato’s person and Teto holding onto her schoolbag, the three of them re-emerged in the light of the atrium, where Eon was waiting to meet them.

“Here ya go!”

Teto chucked her bag wildly at Eon, who just barely caught its arms in his grasp, leaping off the ground to do so.

“Hey! You can’t expect me to catch that!”

“I made sure that it was just enough for you to catch it~”

Teto winked and saluted at Eon, who comically pretended to be heart-struck.

“All right, let’s regroup for a bit here. Evie’s in position, then?”

“In position.”

Evie replied to Kato’s question over the radio.

“Then let’s get everyone to where Evie is. The end of the operation is near.”

Evie stood at the other end of the S-shaped path that snaked through the black market, after receiving info from Teto that the crooks took flight in that direction. She was disappointed that her role in this operation was being the mop-up guy, but she understood she could not replace Kato in his role, and she did not have the impromptu creativeness like Teto to go undercover inside the black market. Her way of thinking was too linear and predictable for that kind of a nuanced role.

This particular entrance was right at the end of the atrium: to her front was the S-shaped path; to her left was a wide path that traced the boundaries of the black market, leading to the open part of the atrium that was the spiral staircase; to her right was the hallway to the classrooms.

Evie saw the perpetrators approaching her from the path in front of her. Like a routed band of soldiers, they limbered their way towards the exit where Evie was waiting in plain sight.

As the first two minions tried to run past her, Evie swiftly knocked them down to the floor without breaking a sweat. Dumbstruck, the chubby minion and Ethan behind them were visibly spooked.

“What’s going on?!”

Exasperated, he did not expect the situation to go out of control like it did. A simple, textbook case of extortion turned into a fiasco that jeopardized his standing within the black market, was what he thought. But unbeknownst to him, it was about to get a lot worse.

“Nothing. I just need you to stay honest for a short while.”

Evie said emotionlessly. The other two were still grovelling on the floor in agony. No doubt Evie had struck their vitals. Her form was impressive as it was intimidating. She rubbed her hands together before delivering the final blow.

“Our classmate is not one you can bully around. I’ll come back and knock you out, every single time.”

Evie quickly dispatched the boss and his right-hand man, giving them both a good strike at the solar plexus, bringing them down to the ground like the other two. Though some onlookers gathered to watch the spectacle, there weren’t many due to the fact that it was the black market. Most normal students steer clear of whatever happens in there.

She idled there for a short while, but the cavalry arrived soon enough. From behind Evie, her troops arrived in quick succession. The first to the scene was Franco, followed by Kato’s platoon minus Teto, and then their trump card, Caius and Sisi.

“This looks like the end of the road for Ethan Henderson.”

Eon quipped from behind his army.

“Evianna, what did you do to them? This is the atrium! They’re just normal people!”

Sisi said in disbelief as she saw the four men still crawling on the ground. There was no protection from injury in the atrium during peacetime.

“It was probably necessary.”

“Agh, as long as you remembered not to do any lasting damage, okay?”

Sisi sighed, but patted Evie’s back all the same, who nodded at Sisi in obedience.

“Oi, you guys on the ground! Listen up!”

Sisi shouted loudly at the struggling bullies. Though they were still in pain, they complied nonetheless. Looking up at the source of the voice, they saw it belonged to this short blonde girl who they recognized as the new teacher of Class 3-F, meaning that the teacher from their victim’s class has intervened at long last.

“This shall be an official statement on behalf of Class 3-F.”

Sisi cleared her voice as she approached aggressively towards the men on the floor, who instinctively flinched back a bit despite the small stature of the little girl in front of her.

“From the evidence gathered, there is good reason to believe that the four of you intended to make physical harm to students from mine class.”

Sisi took out a videocassette tape from the camcorder that Teto had been holding onto before.

“In addition to video evidence, a partial recording was obtained as well, detailing the exchange between you and mine student.”

Out of Caius’ radio set was a cassette tape. His radio set was the central hub for the other sets, and he recorded the entire conversation that occurred between Kato and Ethan. To be fair, it wasn’t as incriminating as the video that Teto captured, but it was an adequate supplement nonetheless.

“Though the evidence is not enough to effect immediate expulsion without appeal, it is more than enough for a settlement on the battlefield. In other words, this is a valid casus belli for a Class War.”

Ethan was stone-faced while his minions were quivering in fear. A Class War started solely due to their misjudgement was as fatal to Ethan’s reputation in the underground as it was to his entire class. It would label him as a failure of an up and coming mafia boss.

“With a valid casus belli, Class F will declare war on Class E.”

Kato emerged from behind Sisi and pointed his finger at Ethan. The die was cast.