"You did what?"

"Before you get angry, Master Juuna, let me just say it was all Wateru's fault!"

Kakeru shoved his younger twin in front of him to face off against the looming beast (aka Juuna Muramoto) before running back and shielding himself with a miniature tree in the garden.

"He's the one who started spouting the truth to Kasumi when that News Department girl overheard!"

"It's true," Wateru went along, bobbing his head vigorously. He offered her a rope. "Please do punish me! Some bondage sounds amazing!"

Juuna spared Wateru a baffled glance, then Kakeru. Then her eyes fell upon me, and Shuuhei who was fanning me with an extravagant fan. She quickly approached us.

"Shuuhei, those two idiots have been running their mouths since we came here. Are you comprehending what they're saying?"

But Shuuhei was too busy ogling me with dramatic hearts in his eyes. He stopped his fanning and went to grab a bowl of grapes. Falling onto one knee, he offered them to me. "Master."

"Not in the mood."

"I even peeled the skin because I heard of your preferences from Hikari." He extended them further. "If you're so reluctant, I can feed them to you. If you so desire, it can even be mouth-to-mouth—"

"Hell no," I snapped, folding my arms in my seat. "And that's hella creepy. I don't want you going anywhere near my friend."

"But... I desire to serve you thoroughly! To do so, I need to gather information—"

"I don't want you to serve me!" The air blowing through my hair rubbed me the wrong way and I slapped his hand. "And stop fanning me! I didn't ask you to!"

Despite the venom in my tone, a smile crossed Shuuhei's face. "Master, are you suggesting I stick even closer to you so that I may discover all your likes and dislikes firsthand?"

I sucked in a shaky breath to withhold the urge to sock him in the face. Then I turned the other cheek, giving a pressing stare to Koga who immediately avoided my eyes. I straightened myself in my seat. Oh yeah... he was still angry with me for snooping.

"Master Juuna," Koga spoke up out of nowhere, picking himself up from the doghouse he was forced in front of.

All gazes swivelled to him, mainly because Koga no longer carried his typical delinquent poise. In fact, his posture wasn't slouched at all, and now that I got a good look, his hair wasn't a dishevelled mess either.

Juuna stared at Koga, and all at once her frazzled exterior disappeared from her features entirely. Then, without warning, she breezed up her skirt and pulled out her whip from her holster.

A wide grin spread across her face, and other than Wateru who'd become a sparkly mess, the rest of us lost most of the colour in our complexions.

"Wh-what are you going to do with that, Master Juuna?" Kakeru demanded from his safe distance.

"Thank Kasumi, of course!" she responded.

Like a hawk to its prey, she snapped her head to me. I fumbled to get out of my chair in time but to my relief, Shuuhei took his position in front of me, guarding her away with a frown.

"There's no need for you to get so clos—"

Juuna didn't even bat an eyelash. "If you don't move, Shuuhei, I'll whip you."

His shoulders squared. I wasn't too sure why I was so shocked by the fact that his eyes gained a twinkle. "Is that a promise?"

I gaped at him as Juuna shoved him aside. I sent signals to Koga for help, but the said guy was ambling towards the sanctuary exit. What the hell? Just because I found his sister's secret he turned on me like that? What happened to having the other's back? This ass!

"Kasumi, it's all because of you," Juuna gushed, bringing her face to a dangerous proximity to mine. "I have you to thank for all this!"

Juuna's words were definite gibberish to my ears.

"I was apart of this psychotic group for three whole months but it's because of you that I finally gained what I needed!"

The whip she carried was in dangerous proximity, causing me to be sweating buckets in an unappealing manner.

"U-um, Master Juuna," I stuttered. "C-can you be keeping something like that on school property— I-I mean, not that I am talking against you for it, b-but... you know... I don't think it's a very humane weapon, so—"

"Aww, don't worry, Kasumi. It's only ever used for those who deserve it. In case I'm ever disobeyed by scum, they'll have to be punished thoroughly." Juuna's high pitch dropped to a lower octave as fast as her face lost her smile. "At least," she said, withdrawing and staring at the weapon with indifference, "that's what these idiots expected me to believe."

My heart's pulse was rocky in my chest, and even the other Student Council members were taken off guard. Juuna was a baffling case all right, and it was frightening how she could go sweet and innocent to murderous witch, but this was an all new. Ever since I'd encountered Juuna Muramoto, I'd never seen her show such a serious side. And considering the astonishment on the rest of their faces, I guessed the rest of the SC hadn't either.

Even her words...

"What a long three months, huh?" she drew out, lips quirking upwards into a smirk. "This committee has been active for two whole years now but I believe it's about time we put it out of service."

Shuuhei's eyebrows dipped into a glare. "What are you talking about, Juuna?"

"Eh, no 'Master'?" she whined, and broke out into a hysteric laugh. "Of course I'm talking about disbanding the Student Council, Shuuhei!"

Oxygen suddenly couldn't reach my lungs. Wateru had even snapped out of his typical submissive behaviour to take a bold step forward.

"Master Juuna, you're not acting like your beautifully sadistic self."

She stepped back to join Koga who had his back turned to us. Koga extended her something and Juuna gratefully accepted it. She pulled a strand of hair behind her ear before securing the piece with a butterfly shaped barrette—the same clip Koga had gotten in trouble for going into the girl's locker room for.

"Gullible, gullible, Wateru," Juuna drawled as he hand fell to her side. The broad smirk on her face represented near evil. "Gullible, gullible, Student Council members. Anyone can put on an act for that ludicrous ideology you all share. Even my cutie of a step-brother Koga can pretend to be a terrified masochist if he wanted."

"Step-brother?" Kakeru shouted.

"Flying horsefucks!" I cursed, hit in the face with a brick. The family picture I'd picked up—the girl with eerie resemblance to Juuna... My heartbeat escalated as everything came crashing down on me altogether.

The anonymous KA–JM... Koga Ashikaga and Juuna Muramoto.

"I heard you visited our house the other day," Juuna said to me. "And found the newspaper articles Koga and I worked on. Unveiling the truth no matter the sacrifices—that is our motto as journalists for the News Department. Even if it meant joining the very committee we had our eyes set on."

"We weren't getting anywhere from afar so obviously we had to take action," Koga chimed in, stuffing his hands into his pockets as he turned to us. "You luckily got the Vice President seat but because Shuuhei made someone a 'pet' you forced me to get in trouble so I could infiltrate also."

"Don't be too sour, Koga," Juuna tittered. "It worked out in the end didn't it? All because of our dear Kasumi, she opened up a realm of possibilities and more secrets than we ever could've discovered by ourselves."

"Now we can officially disband this corrupted committee," Koga agreed, jutting his chin. "The student population should already be aware of the circumstances by now."

I held out my finger towards them, beads of sweat trickling down my forehead. "Hold up! Slow down! You two are evil?"

Juuna guffawed, brushing the whip against her own cheek. "You make it sound like we're villainous, Kasumi! The Student Council is the one that's corrupted. I joined with extremely sincere intentions to unveil the secret of these perfect students. And you know what they showed me in return? A terrifying obsession! To sadism and masochism! And because the student population were so blinded by them—and the News Department doesn't hold the best reputation—nobody believed me. I tried taking pictures. I tried recording them. But it never worked out. But when Shuuhei recruited you, I realized what I could do. You allowed us to finally gain surefire dirt to have this committee demolished. We've officially liberated this school from the clutches of these tainted people! Aren't you overjoyed?"

I sweatdropped when her words fell into place like dominoes. Shuuhei might've been reduced to a pile of confused trash but Juuna was still the frightening monster she was, even with the truth out like this.

"All members of the Student Council!" The sudden blaring of raucous knocks against the sanctuary doors jolted all of us. But it was unmissable—that was the voice of the principal, Mr. Jael. I could even see his bald head glaring from where I was. "I'm on orders to search every place of this sanctuary for immoral weapons and materials. And if I find what I heard and read from the News Department to be true, this committee will disband!"

"Ah, the big man's here himself!" Juuna cried, gleefully sprinting towards the door. "Come on, idiots, act like yourselves! Koga, plead they're evil. And Kasumi, tell him the entire truth if he interrogates you!"

"W-wait..." Kakeru had paled. "W-Wateru and I can't get in trouble. We'll be disowned. Shuuhei!"

"Calm down, Kakeru," Shuuhei said as Juuna and Koga greeted Mr. Jael by the doors. "Let's try to get out of this as always."

"And if that doesn't work?" Wateru murmured. "Master Juuna won't be there to punish me..."

"Not the time, Wateru," Kakeru hissed.

"Kasumi." Shuuhei's call of my name and him facing me jolted me. I craned my neck, but there wasn't an ounce of dishonesty on his face. "It appears this farce has come to an end. I'll try to fight for our peace, but if, in the end, we disband, you can finally get what you always wanted."

"What I always wanted..." I echoed.

My eyes travelled to an appalled Mr. Jael.

Juuna was holding up her whip and rambling, and Koga was a teary-eyed mess beside her. And right now, it became evident to me that the future of this committee and my sentence, had reached its conclusion. They'd been caught. I could finally be free from them.

Free...

That was what I wanted, right?