Night has now fallen on Ignama, on the same day that Carie and Lera returned. At the indoor pool of Unimori, there are two students. One of them is swimming, while the other is standing a few feet away from the pool's edge. One of them is wearing swimming trunks and a pair of goggles. The other is wearing a thick jacket and blue jeans.

The individual that isn't swimming sighs and shivers before speaking to the person in the pool, who has come to a stop before he begins to talk “Hoshi, I know that you like swimming and all, but it's the middle of fall, the heat is off in the school, and you're still swimming around like you aren't getting hypothermia! Seriously, you can't tell me that you're not freezing right now!”

The tan student in the swimming pool shakes his head rapidly, getting the water off of his face. He then looks over at the the one at the pool's edge and says “Naoto, you have no idea how much this wake's me up! All I need is a quick swim in the cold water and I could go for hours! Honestly, you should try it sometime!”

Naoto laughs at Hoshi's comment. “Wow, you really think I would do something like that!? Which one do you think is better? Waking up, or getting hypothermia? Honestly Hoshi, do you really think I would do that just to wake up? Not on your life!”

Hoshi laughs at Naoto's comment. Without saying another word, he swims over to Naoto and stops at the pool's edge. When he stops, he swipes his white hair backward and takes off his goggles, showing his scarlet green eyes. He smiles at Naoto, saying “As long as you wipe off and warm up after a swim in cold water, you don't really have to worry about hypothermia. I know that you don't like swimming that much, so to each their own.”

Naoto says back to him “Damn straight! Anyway, you hear about those eldritch rune guys? There's been a lot of crap going around about them, like their popping up everywhere and some group's been killing them off.”

Hoshi, still in the swimming pool, has a quizzical look on his face “Wait, someone's been hunting them other than the Dusk Avenger?”

Naoto puts his hands in his pockets before continuing to speak “Yeah. It's a group of at least four people, from what I've heard.

Hoshi's eyes drift away upon Naoto confirming there is more than the Dusk Avenger fighting the cult. “Hmm, I wonder who they could be...?”

“Hey dude, don't think about it too hard! As long as we're on the school grounds, we'll be fine!” Naoto says, giving him a thumbs up. “Other than that, there have been a lot of people disappearing and showing back up later as cult members recently. Why anyone would ever join them, it makes no sense....”

Hoshi looks at Naoto while holding onto the edge of the pool and says “Beats the hell out of me.... Who knows, maybe they just want to be left in peace to worship their god or something....”

Naoto lets out a single laugh, looking down at Hoshi. “Don't you keep up with the news at least a little!? These eldritch rune guys are going after people for no reason! They are going after woman and children, Hoshi, woman and children! The last thing they want is peace!”

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Hoshi pushes away from the edge of the pool and begins floating on his back while he continues the conversation. “Yeah, you do have a point.... I've read some of those news reports and the stuff they've been doing does seem pretty evil, to say the least.... Have you heard anything about the Dusk Avenger recently?”

“Yeah, I read something yesterday about him taking on three cult members at once. It looked like he beat them all.” Naoto says, taping the heel of his shoe against the concrete.

Hoshi flips in the pool once he has gotten to the edge and swims up to Naoto. “From what I know, nobody knows who that guy is, and since he's a vigilante, it should stay that way!”

Naoto gives Hoshi a raised brow and then speaks. “Yeah, that may be a mystery, but there's an even bigger mystery that I've been wondering about since we got to this private school. Just how in the hell we were able to afford to go here! It's way too much a month for just one of us to go here, nonetheless both of us!”

Hoshi's eyes point to the side as he begins to think, regretting not being able to tell his friend exactly how he got both of them into the school. “I told you Naoto, I got a free pamphlet in the mail for me and a friend to get passes to Unimori High for about five thousand yen a year and it let us stay until we graduate. You know, it's like a promotional thing....”

Naoto sighs before waving his hand into the air. “Yeah, whatever. Listen, I'm going to go turn in for the night, so stay here and swim in thirty degree weather for as long as you want. I'll see ya tomorrow, Hoshi.”

Hoshi waves to Naoto as he leaves and says “Night, sweet dreams and all.”

“Yeah. Night man.” Naoto says while opening the exit door that leads to the courtyard and waving.

After Naoto has shut the exit door, Hoshi sighs to himself before swimming again. He floats on his back for a while as he thinks. “I really wish I didn't have to lie to Naoto. He's my best friend and everything, but I doubt that he would believe me if I told him the truth... hell, I barely can believe it myself....”

As Hoshi floats calmly through the water, a figure moves silently through the door that leads to the garden behind the main school building. Hoshi doesn't notice them as the figure moves closer, breathing heavily.

Hoshi flips around in the pool and dunks himself under the water as he thinks. “This group of four that Naoto told me about... maybe they have something to do with the UMA. Maybe they sent somebody out because of these cult members. That or they're mercenaries that just wanted to help out....”

The figure that has lurched into the pool room quietly moves closer to Hoshi, all the while he is drifting towards the edge of the pool.

“I'm gonna have to tell Naoto about who I really am at some point.... He deserves to know about what is happening as much as I need to know about that group of four that has been prowling around, killing cult members. Heh, I bet he'll be really surprised to know that I'm really... crap, I need to get some air....”

Hoshi lifts himself upward and breaks the surface, right in front of the figure that had stalked into the pool room.... Hoshi stares right into the face of evil. The woman's eyes are completely feral. Her clothes are torn. And lastly, on her forehead, made out of her skull bone, is the pushed out indentation of an eldritch rune.

Hoshi is only able to say “Oh sh-!” before the woman tackles him into the water. He attempts to resist her, but his muscles quickly begin to cramp, and her grip is too strong for him to break.

Hoshi barely hears another splash a few feet away from him right before the cultist headbutts him, knocking him unconscious....