“AHHHH HOLY SHIT WHERE AM I?!”

Rena Koboko jumped straight to her feet and got into a fighting stance of some sort, before her eyes finally focused, and took in familiar sights. The way light peered into the room, the two hospital beds, *Roma*; it took a moment, but she finally began to realize just where the hell she slept for the night.

“Oh, I’m still here?” She asked meekly.

“That you are.” She turned her head to see Light still in his office chair, tossing a small ball up and down with one hand, and tapping ash out of his cigarette with the other, “Also, I resowed your leg, so please don’t lose your head again.” He added on, raising an eyebrow ever so slightly as he shot her a glance.

And Rena herself exhaled a bit, “Will do.” She replied, sitting back down, and then rubbing her head a bit. That’s when she had an idea, and looked over in his direction again,

“Sooooo… you couldn’t possibly just be Arthur’s doctor, there’s no way. That just can’t be it. There’s gotta be something else to it, and I’m mildly curious… unless I’m wrong, and there isn’t…”

“...I’ve been his doctor to this point, ever since he was little. That much I can promise you.”

Rena tilted her head a little, taking a rubber band and tying back her messily strewn hair, though his words only made her all the more intrigued about this man, “Oh really? Didn’t he transfer from overseas or something? You his guardian or some shit? What about the other people you have to look after?”

Another puff of smoke from the doctor, and then he replied, “Guardian?.. Not a chance in hell. If I had a kid, I’d make sure they’re a lot smarter than he is. It *is* real coincidental that we both ended up here though. I will admit that much.”

From that point, Light finally broke into a half-chuckle and smile to match, “But as far as other patients, they’ve been few and far between. A bunch of pansies have gone on record to claim that I’m too vulgar and unprofessional to be relied on, so whenever someone comes to my office, they’re normally as trash as I am.”

“Hm. Interesting, I guess.” Rena muttered, while looking off to the side. That’s when for a second time her entire frame twitched, and her eyes widened, looking towards Light yet again,

“AHHHH HOLY SHIT, I NEED TO BE AT SCHOOL RIGHT NOW! CRAP! CRAP CRAP CRAP SHIT SHIT SHIT, THAT STUPID DIRECTOR, UGH!!!” Rena panicked, digging her nails into her scalp and scratching away in frustration, fearing that he may have made up his mind, and she wasn’t even present for it.

While she dealt with her attack however, Light was writing something on a sheet of paper rather nonchalantly. As her grunting subsided, he offered it to the girl. At just a single glance, Rena was able to tell that he had written her a doctor's note.

Strangely, it must’ve been random enough to shake her from her attack, coming to her feet, grabbing the note, and running out afterwards,

“THANKS OLD DUDE!!” She called out to him. If he responded, she wouldn’t have been able to hear it. Not at the speed that she was going… but, there was certainly pain in her thigh, though she did well to ignore it. All the way to the school.

After jumping the gate, and finishing her sprint up the stairs, it was only when she made it to just outside the Director’s office that she finally took a moment to breathe, hunched over to catch her breath.

“Jesus… Holy shit…” She wheezed, trying to fight the slight urge to drop to her knees. Adrenaline was the only thing keeping her upright, but the sweat cast on her forehead was plenty of proof in regards to how hard she ran.

But, even before she twisted the handle, she looked over her shoulder to see a familiar face…

*”You can’t kill what’s already dead. The name’s Yuutoshi Koboko.”

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

“You’re a pain in the ass, but that’s how I knew you were one of ours..”

“And him, your cousin.”*

Rena approached the seat. The seat in which ‘Yuuta Sarito’ patiently sat in, presumably waiting for her, and with the unimpressed expression he wore, likely had been waiting in for awhile. Rena gave him a look, and the hue of her eyes seemed to brighten, ever so slightly.

And Yuuta met her look with one of his own. Neither of them said a word, but since she had finally arrived, he exhaled and took a band, tying back his own shoulder-length black hair. Rena could tell something though. Aside from the fact that… they very likely *were* relatives… somehow, that he had a strangely unsettled look within his eyes. A far cry from what usually made his face so punchable.

She glanced at the door before looking at him again, “You shouldn’t have given him an ultimatum. I would’ve been fine. And even if he does choose me, I’ll still be fine.” She told him stoutly, fixing the strands of her hair that were affected by her mad-charge towards the school. Though after she did, her expression returned to the door, and she absentmindedly went pinching at her forearm again.

“The whole point of it is so that you don’t get chosen.” Yuuta finally spoke to her, coming to his feet and doing a bit of an exaggerated stretch, gulping quietly afterwards.

Or at least what he assumed would’ve been quiet, though the sound of it was rather loud in the quiet, almost abandoned lobby. Rena had watched him, before inhaling, hesitating, before finally, she slapped both of her hands onto his cheeks. Yuuta’s eye twitched, but he kept his comments to himself, especially since she stared him dead in the eyes, all while holding his head still.

“You’ll be fine. Stop being nervous. It makes me nervous, and then I get all stupid, and start to care and do all that dumb crap I was taught to forget.”

With that said, she let him go, and then turned away from him, taking a step towards the door. And Yuuta, after a slight pause, followed after her. He couldn’t help but exhale yet again, but Rena… The brat actually managed to calm him a bit.

“Hey.” He looked towards her before smirking a bit. Rena stopped in her tracks after hearing him call out to her, met by a smirk across his face. The expression she had come to expect from this troublesome individual, and his punchable face,

“We should have a match, me and you. First Seat vs First Seat. It’d be quite a show, don’t you think?” He prompted, standing right next to Rena, just in front of the office door.

Rena crossed her arms, eyes beginning to dullen when she heard movement from behind the door itself, “There is only one First Seat, and you’re talking to her. But if you’re offering a challenge, *Fourth-Seat*, then yes, I agree, we should battle.”

At the conclusion of her words, the door just before them swung open, and one of the Director’s attendants stood there, stepping aside and holding it open to the two stone-faced students.

“The Director will see you now.” He told them swiftly.

Rena pinched herself a number of times, keeping the dull expression along her face, before digging her hands into her pockets, slowly stepping inside. Yuuta was just behind her, hands in his pockets in a similar fashion.

It was bound to be a pain, whatever assignment they were about to be given.

The two stopped just before the Director’s desk, hardly reacting when his chair turned, and he faced the two of them. His blood red eyes proved sharper than Yuuta’s and Rena’s, but they shut when he began to speak,

“I have decided.”

Rena’s expression broke but for a moment, but she looked away, “Get on with it then..” She muttered with a grimace, glancing towards him, only to see those crimson eyes of his glowing despite their narrowed state, making her flinch and take a step or two away from him.

“I have put thought into it.” He continued, shutting them once again, “And I have decided that neither of you will go. That is all.”

From that point, he turned around in his chair once again, “You may go.”

Rena blinked. Over, and over, and over again.

“H-HUH???”

She hadn’t even noticed Yuuta next to her, pinching his arm, over and over again, leaving faint bruises along them with how rough he was. He hadn’t woken up. It was a real life miraculous situation. Rena did the same, though hers was out of habit more than shock, and out the corner of her eye, she could see him scurrying away, as quickly as he could.

She began to follow, but when she made it to the door, she stopped, looking back towards him again,

“...this family is full of surprises, isn’t it? So, I know this couldn’t be it. It can’t be-”

”Rena Koboko. Go. Right now.”

The tone of his voice made her flinch, and without a second thought, she rushed out of his office, and the attendant closed the door as soon as she did. The woman roughly dug her nails into her forearm, and noticed Yuuta by a trash can, losing his breakfast.

The anxiety he had masked so well had finally surfaced, and the moment that the opportunity to flee arose, he took it, like so… though he did look over at her, not wanting to be seen in a position like this.

“That was real, right? Not just a dream?” Rena asked him, sitting against the wall nearest to him, forearm now revealing several full droplets of blood trailing down to her hands from all the pinching.

“...we’ll know if we get home without getting murked on the way there.” Yuuta weakly replied, wiping at his mouth. From there, he glanced at her one final time, and then did the same with the office… before starting to walk away from it all, returning to the dormitories.

Rena herself came to her feet, and also had a turn with the trash can, sniffling after. She didn’t really know what the condition was called, so she just deemed it her being nervous. More nervous than usual. Regardless though, the strange feeling was worse than it was prior to her entering that office… but that chapter was closed it seemed.

So, she returned to whence she came. Walking to her room, with skin paler than a ghost’s.