Bart smiled as he gave himself a proud nod. “See, don’t you feel better already.” Bart continued staring at D. “Hello? D, are you ok?” Bart leaned back and placed his hands on D’s shoulders. “You have been staring off into space for like a week!” Jace raised his hand into the air.

**SMACK**

“OUCH! What was that for Jace!”

Jace lifted his arm and ignored Bart. “I have a few things I want to check out. You two can go take a tour of the school or something.” Jace made his way to the door before turning back to Bart. “Please try to act somewhat normal when talking to others.” Jace let out a final sigh as he left.

D looked at his knife again before putting it away. Bart found his chance to continue. “So, what was with that whole, ‘I understand all’ vibe you were giving off?” Bart pulled out an old pipe and started blowing bubbles. “My detective skills are telling me that you thought something both rude and thoughtful at the same time.” Bart paused as his forehead wrinkled. “Thoughtful? Is that the right word.” He then closed his eyes as he rubbed his forehead. “Heartfelt? No, joyfu- Oh, heartfelt!” He then nodded to himself a proud look on his face. “You were thinking something both offensive and touching!” Bart snapped his fingers. “Dang, that was much better.” He then took out his notebook to add to his notes. “Touching fits much better, or should I have used heartfelt after all?” Bart continued to ponder what word choice would have sounded better while D only gave him a slight glance.

D pulled out his phone and touched an icon with a picture of a map. [Let’s see where I’m going first. How about a place to stretch my legs.] D typed ‘A place to exercise’ into his phone. A list of different gyms and colosseum looking places popped up. They seemed to be special areas to have mock battles and sanctioned duels. [The training hall looks interesting.] “Bart, get ready, we are heading to a training hall.”

“Oh.” Bart paused for a moment. “Hey, has anyone told you that you are unnaturally calm? I mean, you were literally abducted and brought to a school for ‘correctional’ purposes.” Bart looked to the side for a second before returning an awkward glance towards D. “My guides depicted more… Concerned reactions. Are you sure you’re fine.”

D shrugged before heading to the exit. “I woke up in my bed around a week ago with my memories sealed and an index card in my pocket. This could hardly be any worse than that.”

Bart's eyes narrowed as he raised to follow behind D. He made no attempts to hide his skepticism. “So, you naturally panicked when you first woke up that day?”

“No. I felt fine. Besides, I had an index card to explain my situation.”

Bart stopped and pulled out several different mangas. He quickly flipped through the pages of each one before running to catch up with D. “Yeah, I think that’s unusual.”

“Says the pot.”

“Pot?” Bart scratched his chin. “Have you seen a doctor recently? Some of the guides mentioned that friends like to pull pranks similar to this. However, they did more than leave an index card in order to actually trick them. Are you sure you’re fine?” Bart was starting to sweat a bit. Even Bart was having a hard time believing that waking up in your room without knowing who you were would be a very troubling experience.

“It’s fine. Besides, it was clearly my handwriting on that card. It looked a bit like a rush job, but apart from that, it checked out. Besides, I still have the knowledge of how to use my Template as well as all of the knowledge I accumulated throughout my life. It’s just the information regarding people and places that seem to be sealed.” D didn’t even look at Bart as he continued to traverse the halls. He checked his phone again to make sure he was going the right way. The school was massive. It was far larger than any of the universities that D had seen. [University, ha. I think I recall something.] D shrugged as he recalled visiting a university before, though it was a bit vague.

Bart on the other hand was trying his best to decipher the situation. “Ah! That’s right, I remember now!” Bart pulled out another manga as he flipped to a certain page. “Behold, the guides know all!” Bart jumped in front of D and shoved the manga in his face. “There is this thing called ‘8th grader syndrome’ or ‘chunibyo’. It seems to be a category used to describe people with unique powers and skillsets.” He flipped to another page excitedly. “However, they also talk about things like having their memories sealed from past lives and things like that.” D nodded to himself as he watched Bart put on a detective’s hat and trench coat. “Yes, it all makes sense.” He took a deep breath and blew into the pipe he previously used. “Ha, it is elementary my dear D.” He created more bubbles as he shut his eyes. “You see, your memories from your previous life likely awakened. With them, you acquired god like power. However!” Bart abruptly pointed at D’s face, causing D to lean back a bit. D was somewhat curious to see where Bart was taking this. “That power was far too great for your current mortal body. As a result, you had to seal your power with a holy relic. This then led to your memories being sealed. You likely didn’t have enough time to warn yourself, so you quickly wrote a message on an index card.” Bart started to shake his head. “How tragic, you probably wanted to live in peace. However, you just had to meet a detective of my caliber here. Truly tragic.”

D stared at Bart and nodded to his explanation while Bart continued to spew bubbles. D then grabbed Bart’s shoulder. “Bart, never change.”

Bart smiled as he grabbed D’s shoulder as well. “Worry not my friend. I may have exposed your secret, but I will do my best to help you.”

Bart and D continued their travel to the training hall.

***

**Burp**

“Ugh. My head.” A man clutched his head as clacking sounds filled the hallway. Students of various ages darted to the sides to avoid the man. “Fuck! Why do I have to apologize! The old man deserved it! He is both old and-” The man paused as he pulled out his phone. Unlike the other phones, it looked like a normal smart phone. He typed something in. His flushed face returned to normal as he read the message that appeared. “Yet another day ruined. Tch.” Maximum silently walked through the hallways.

After about five minutes, he turned a corner. “So, are we doing this here, or are you waiting for me to take a shit.” Maximum put his right hand on the handle of his sword. “Last chance. I won’t count.” Maximum waited for around 10 seconds before relaxing. “Hmm, I could have sworn someone was there.”

A shadow quickly appeared behind Maximum. “You BASTARD!” The shadow thrust a knife forward as Maximum effortlessly dodged to the side. Keeping his back to the perpetrator as he walked towards a water fountain. “You bastard! You killed my fiancé. We were going to get married next month.” The shadow was visibly shedding inky tears that stained the floor, causing black smoke to rise.

Maximum pulled out his wooden water bottle and started filling it. “I see. And?” Maximum continued to fill the water bottle as a knife passed where his head had been a second ago. His expression showed mild annoyance; however, his expression showed no hint of other emotions. “If you’re going to attack someone with a sneak attack, don’t shout as you do it. Also, you shouldn’t try to take on a hired-” The shadow crashed into the water fountain that Maximum was standing at. The shadow looked around for a second before his head hit the ground. His body followed shortly after. The shadowy appearance faded as the face of a plain looking man was revealed. “I hate killing for free, but it comes with the territory.” Maximum continued down the hallway as he took a drink from his bottle. “Haa. That makes this the third one this week. Honestly, this sucks. I wanted to relax for a few days.” Maximum paused at an intersection. “Maybe I can watch something interesting today.” He then turned right while rehydrating.

***

D looked at the macho man standing before him. The guy was a towering giant. He was easily over 9 feet tall and looked beyond just muscular. The man was bald and had green eyes that shined brightly with extreme flames. Oh, he was also wearing a maid dress. [This is definitely strange, right?]

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The giant flexed as the maid dress stretched to fit his frame. “The names Diana. You can also call me sugar if you would prefer sweet-stuff.” The man then blew a kiss at both D and Bart.

Bart grabbed the man’s hand. “I see, then nice to meet you, Sugar. My name is Bartholemue, but you can call me Bart.”

Diana crouched down while hiding his face from Bart. “Ahhhh. So forward.” Diana then gave a playful glace at Bart. The man’s voice was somewhat high pitch while responding.

D continued to watch with indifference on his face. [It is fine to feel disturbed right? This is not a normal situation. Also… No, this guy is a literal giant. This isn’t- Wait, is that a woman? The voice isn’t that deep. Actually, it might be a monster.] D continued to maintain his façade. [Yeah, I better not ask.]

Bart stared with a bit of confusion on his face. “Well then Sugar, can we use the field? Me and my second best-friend want to spar a bit.”

Diana stood up and fixed their clothes. “Of course, honey. Follow me.”

Bart looked around for a second. “Who is Honey?”

D squinted a bit as he looked at Bart’s face. He was 100% serious about that question. D grabbed Bart and dragged him after Diana.

***

The group paused in front of a strange machine. It looked like a mix between an arcade machine and a phone booth. There was also a familiar face drinking in front of said machine. Bart walked forward and extended his hand. “Hello, the name is Bart. You are Maximum right.”

Maximum looked at Bart and responded with a straight face. “No.”

Bart looked at Maximum for a second before he looked to the side and contemplated what was just said. He then turned to look at Maximum before showing a confused expression. D was about to jump in to help, but Bart stopped him. “No, it was my fault for assuming. Now then, what might be your name be, my good sir.” Bart’s face transformed to match more shoujo ascetic, as he looked at Maximum with giant upturned eyes that literally glistened.

Maximum looked at Bart, then decided to take an extra swig before giving his response. “Right, well nice to meet you, Bart. The name is Maximum Nefarious. The pleasure is all yours.”

Bart nodded as he shook Maximum’s hand. “Right, nice to meet you Maximum. Do you mind if I call you Max.” Bart stopped as he stared at Maximum. “Didn’t you say your name wasn’t Maximum?”

“I did.” Maximum looked into his bottle as he started shaking it upside down. “Looks like I’m out.”

“Wait a second. Why did you say your name wasn’t Maximum.”

Maximum looked at Bart, but now his face had a hint of confusion on it. “I lied. Was that not obvious?”

“GASP! How could this be?” Bart turned pale white as he stared at his hands. “How could I fall for such an obvious lie? No, this can’t be.”

Maximum looked at D and pointed at Bart. “Did this one say ‘gasp’ out loud.”

D decided to shrug. “I doubt he’ll change any time soon.”

Diana cut in. “So then, Maximum, what brings you here today?” Diana’s voice was deep and carried a bit of anger in it.

“Would you look at that. A child with an identity crisis is talking back to their elders.” Maximum’s focus was on his empty bottle. “I still have a hea-”

“Child?” Bart recovered as he raised an eyebrow to Maximum’s comment. “How is she a child.”

Maximum was shocked by Bart’s assumption. “Well, this one is 19, so they are still a bit young to be called an adult.”

D was the next person to jump in. “Doesn’t that make them an adult? 18 is the legal age.”

“I personally believe that 20 is a better number. Although, 20 is still a bit too young for my tastes.” Maximum gave his answer with full conviction. He pulled out a smaller flask and continued to drink.

“Then why did you strip Casandra during the finals in the tournament?” Diana was the one that jumped in.

***

*New

“Well-“

“I see!” Bart jumped in front of Maximum before he could react. He grabbed his chin as he answered Diana’s question. “He is clearly a lolicon.”

Maximum immediately fell back as he spit out his drink. “Wait a minute!” Diana burst into laughter while D stared at Bart starstruck.

Bart continued with absolute confidence. “Well, you said that you considered 20 to be the legal age. Cassandra looked to be 18, 19 at most. Therefore…” Bart paused as he dramatically pointed at Maximum. “You assaulted a child, and by extension, are a lolicon.”

Maximum shook his head, visibly disturbed. “Hold on, tha-”

“No butts! You are guilty!” Bart slicked his hair back and pointed again. “You are the murderer!”

“Murderer?! What!?” Maximum was visibly shaking and looking around in a panic. Dian collapsed and started hitting the ground while clutching their stomach.

“It’s too late. The evidence all points to you! It can be no one else.” A spark erupted next to Bart's eye. “Checkmate.”

“Objection!”

“Nani!?” Bart turned towards the source to find D pointing at him. “The defendant couldn’t be guilty, since the woman was over the legal age to give consent based on your own logic.”

Bart looked at D for a second before giving his answer. “Overruled.”

“On what grounds?”

“It is irrelevant and disproves my point. Therefore, I overruled it.” Bart nodded with satisfaction at his reasoning, but D was less willing to accept the ‘sound’ logic.

“That is unfair and completely biased.”

“Irrelevant. I didn’t ask.”

Maximum finally managed to recover a bit as he returned to his feet. “Wait a second, do you even know what you are talking about?”

Bart looked at him with a conceited look painting his face. “Of course, a lolicon is someone is some that does something sexual to someone younger than them.” Bart returned to his original posture as he pointed again. “Therefore, since she is likely 19 and you look at least 25, you are a lolicon.”

Maximum looked at Bart, then turned towards his flask before staring at Bart with wide eyes. “Are you drunk?”

“Haaa? Of course not.” Bart moved his hand to his chest as he held an offended expression. “I am stating facts my dear sir.”

“Tell me, where did you hear what a lolicon was. Because I assure you, you are using that word wrong.”

“The guides of course.”

Maximum stared at Bart, before downing the rest of the flask. “Let me stop you there. For starters, the old hag is already over 30. Her race looks like teenagers until they hit their 120s or 130s.” Maximum stored the empty flask and replaced it with an identical one. “Therefore, she is an adult. I may not have many morals, but even I have a limit.”

D jumped in to push Maximum further. “However, you did strip a woman in public. That seems like sexual harassment to me.”

Maximum shrugged before taking a swig of his new flask. “It’s not like little miss princess is one to talk. She literally tried to do the same thing to me.” Maximum had a smug look on his face as he focused on his flask. “The only difference was that I was faster. Although I did change my plans partway through. I was originally planning to shred her clothes with my sword, leaving her naked in front of everyone. It would have been ironic considering what she did. However, I was touch hesitant to expose children to such a sight.” The machine gave a loud ding, redirecting Maximums attention. Maximum grabbed Bart's shoulder and shoved him into the machine. It closed and hummed to life as he continued his explanation. “Stealing her underwear on the other hand, was just as easy, and allowed me to subtly block the naughty bits from showing to the cameras or anyone in the audience. Although she didn’t know that. It was amusing to watch her squirm. She even stopped using her Template. Talk about amateur.”

D narrowed his eyes as he listened to Maximum. “So, you stripped a woman in the final round of a major tournament and take pride in the fact that you made her quit.”

Maximum put his hand on his chin as if he were contemplating the question deeply. “You know, now that you, in particular, mentioned that question to me… Yes.” Maximum met D’s eyes and walked forward. D noticed that Maximum’s eyes seemed to give off a golden glow. “I take ‘pride’ in the fact that I beat a coward that quit after losing something as pointless as their underwear.” Maximum abruptly grabbed D’s shirt and tugged him forward. D was caught off guard as his face was mere inches away from Maximum’s. The smile fell from Maximum’s face. “Do you think I give two shits about something as worthless as that? I couldn’t give a SHIT about something as pointless as shame.”

D stared back into Maximum’s eyes. D’s eyes were burning with a red of their own. “That is hardly something to be proud of.”

“Pride?” Maximum’s teeth filled his face. His smile didn’t affect D at all. “Do you think something as worthless as pride matters to me. I have seen so many people die for it. However, I could never see the appeal. In life, you can achieve your goals using any means possible or lie to yourself. People who hide behind shame or pride are cowards.” Maximum released D and shoved him to the side of the machine. “Morals are different. They are lines you are not willing to cross. However, morals shouldn’t impede one’s goal. If they do…” Maximum glared at D, sending a slight shiver down D’s spine. “Then their goal is the problem.”

The machine gave a loud ding as Bart immerged from it. “Whoo. How refreshing. Hm.” Bart looked between Maximum and D. “Did I miss something?”

Diana finally managed to recover from their burst of laughter. “Alright, sorry. I haven’t laughed this hard in ages. Thanks for that. Care to enter the machine D?” Diana gestured for D to enter the machine.

D looked at the machine. He was a bit reluctant to enter it. Some part of him didn’t want others to know about his Template, but another part of him was curious. While he told himself he was fine, another part of him was a bit worried. Bart’s words resonated with him. He couldn’t say 100 percent certainty that he was the one that sealed his memories, nor could he say he say he was willing. [I should at least confirm that my Template is the same and Rank are the same as I remember. If they don’t line up…] D looked at his knife. It brought him comfort and security. “Sure.” D entered the machine as it snapped shut.