"Good news, Yuki-san. Starting tomorrow, you'll be attending high school," Master announces with a large grin on his face.
I stare at him blankly in disbelief. "Huh?" I mutter.
"Remember that school where you assassinated Yuto Fukudo last week? Starting tomorrow, you will become a student at that school, Sakurako Academy."
"Why?" I ask.
"You see, I have a mission for you," he says. "It seems there's another Crystal user out there, and it's running rampant. The target is a first-year at Sakurako Academy. The face has not been seen, but there are those who have seen the target wiled a deep red whip. There have been reports of people being set on fire, but the flames do not give off light .Right before their body disintegrates, the victims are eaten alive by vicious animals. Though, witnesses have said that they didn't see actual animals, but bite marks all over the victims' bodies proved to be that of wild beasts. Since all of these reports described the night sky, I'm assuming the animals must be dark enough to camouflage with shadows to run around unseen. After the body has been nearly completely consumed, the target would let out a hysterical, creepy laugh and 'vanish into the night.' So, Yuki-san, you're mission is to identify the target, kill it, and bring back the Crystal fragment. You will be working undercover under the name Miyu Kurobane. You have moved to Tokyo from America because your father got a new job here for a short while. Be mindful that you are working undercover, so you do not want to attract unnecessary attention. You've seen a lot of school animes, right? So you should know how to act in a high school."
"H-how did you know I watch a lot of anime? I thought I was doing a fine job hiding it from you," I ask, embarrassed.
"Ah, that's a secret," he says.
"You've set up security cameras in my room, didn't you?" I guess.
"Yes," he admits quietly.
Even though I am angered at the fact Master would spy on me, I choose not to bring up that irrelevant topic and just respond, "Alright. Understood."
The next day, I dress myself in my school uniform: a gray over coat, a white undershirt with a red ribbon, and a red skirt that matches my ribbon. I stare into the mirror at gaze at the uniform.
"Wow! It's like I'm cosplaying as a girl from a school anime!"
I take the elevator up to the first floor and head out the shaft. I walk towards the new school, which is packed with many other students. After obtaining my schedule, I carefully follow the map to Class 1A, where Sensei tells me to patiently wait in the hall until he cues me in.
The bell rings, and everyone sits in their seats. Sensei enters the classroom, and they perform their morning greetings.
"Everyone, we have a transfer student from America joining our class today," he announces.
I walk into the classroom and introduce myself, trying to show as little emotion as possible. "I'm Yu— er —Miyu Kurobane. Like Sensei said earlier, I moved here from America, so my Japanese is not that fluent. But, I'm glad to meet you all," I announce as I bow.
The other students stare at me.
"A transfer student this late in the year?" one student exclaims.
"Wow, she's hot!" another comments.
"Hey, do you have a boyfriend?" one guy asks.
The room fills with the ecstatic voices of the other students.
"That's enough!" Sensei yells. The class settles down surprisingly quickly. "Alright, Kurobane-san, you can take a seat behind Ishikawa-san by the window," he says.
I nod, taking my seat. A girl with long, blonde twin tails and blue eyes turns around to greet me. Is she a foreigner?
"Hi, Kurobane-chan. I'm Hikari Ishikawa. Just call me Hikari. I'm the class representative, so just ask me anything," she says, with a friendly smile.
I nod. For the rest of the class, I don't pay attention to any of the lectures. I think to myslelf over and over again. Who could the other Crystal user be? Is she in this class?
The Akuma Crystal responds to a specific gene only found in young girls. That is why Crystal users cannot be male. Any male who picks up the Crystal is easily possessed by it. Their bodies break down and turn to dust after a certain time period. Taking this into account, I've eliminated more than half of the class. But, is she even in this class? This is going to be difficult if I barely have anything to go off of.
"Kurobane-san!" Sensei yells.
I quickly stand up and answer, "Yes?"
"Please read for us the next page."
"Yes, sir." I frantically search the page where we left off. Hikari passes me a note from under the desk, indicating the page number and paragraph. I smile slightly and begin reading. It's an article on World War III, which ended almost 3 years ago.
"World War III was fought between 2024 and 2033. The United States of America, France, Germany, Iran, and Japan all engaged in warfare after the new French king wished to imitate Napolean and take over the Eurasian continent, and eventually, the entire world. The Fremch army took control of Iran within seveal months after the war began. France then used Iran's nuclear bombs to try to take over Germany and Japan. Ignoring their past relationships with the other countries from World War II, Germany and Japan formed an alliance and requested the assistance of the U.S. Army to defeat the French army in 2026. Even with the three nations banded together, the French army continued to be victorious with their advanced weaponry and superior soldiers. In 2030, Japan decided to replace the human soldiers with artificial intelligence, otherwise called androids. These androids were thought to become the ultimate fighting force, since they know no fear, and are able to take the best possible course of action in battle, thus reducing casualties. However, these androids cost the alliance too much money and almost drove them to bankruptcy. America insisted that Japan get rid of these artificial soldiers, but refused, arguing that they would eventually pay off in the future. Unfortunately, that day never happened. In 2032, the French army hacked into the database of these androids and took control of them. Since the alliance had no other means to defend themsleves, they suffered a major defeat, called 'The Battle of Lost Hope.' It didn't take long for the alliance to disband after that incident. Each blaming each other, they ignored the French army and went to war with each other. But, before they destroyed each other, a mysterious war hero from Japan appeared before them and wiped out many French soldiers within one night using a poisonous gas. She managed to convince the alliance to fight together to stop the French army, causing a major comeback. It is said she wielded a long katana that generated blue Lightning. She used that Lightning to destroy the androids' batteries (that were part of the French army) and wiped out all of their forces with the support of soldiers from the alliance. She possessed strength and speed unlike any other human being, with the ability to heal from any wound rather quickly. She possessed the miraculous ability to turn non living things into weapons she handled with ease. On March 21, 2033, she took the French king's head and declared the war was over. The war hero was then nicknamed, 'The Lightning Assassin.'"
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I sit back down after reading. That's the story that was released to the public, but it's not the whole truth. The war started because the meteorite that contains the fragments of the Akuma Crystal was discovered in France. The French king foolishly made contact with the Crystal and became possessed by the demon. That's when he rashly declared war to take over the two continents. However, when his time was up, a double took his place and sought the same goal. He was the one who led the army. Secondly, when I made my appearance, I didn't poison the soldiers. I infiltrated the base and used Raeden to kill them, then disintegrated their bodies using the Lightning.
After class, Hikari offers to show me around the school. "Hey, Kurobane-chan," she says suddenly.
"Miyu is fine," I interrupt.
"Miyu-chan, do you have a twin sister?" she asks.
I pause. Has she seen me before? I try to recall where she may have seen me. Wait, isn't she the girl who was held hostage by that one target in their class? Did she regain her memories? No, that can't be. And anyways, I covered half of my face with my mask and changed my hair color during that incident. "No," I answer. "I'm an only child. Why?"
"Oh it's nothing," she replies as she giggles quietly.
The bell rings.
"Oh, we should get going. What's your next class?" Hikari asks.
"Gym," I respond.
"What a coincidence! I have, too. C'mon, I'll show you where to go," she offers. She takes me by my hand and drags me with her to the gym.
After getting changed, the coach comes out to greet us. "Listen up!" she demands as she blows her whistle. "We're playing dodgeball. I'll split you off into two teams. The time limit is 20 minutes. The winning team gets to leave the class early, while the losing team runs the track."
"Seriously?" one guy asks.
Many of the guys cheer, while others sob at the fact they have the possibility of running.
"Alright! I won't lose," I declare.
We're then separated into teams. On my team, there are 6 females and 4 males. Hikari is the only other girl in the team that isn't standing in the corner talking out of disinterest in the game. The guys on my team have their eyes focused on the balls, determined to win. Hikari stares at a girl on the other team. She has long, blood red hair in a high ponytail that is tied up in a hair band with a small flower on it. She has fiery red eyes that shout "Like hell I'm going to lose to you!" The girl wears an extremely cocky smile on her face, like she's taunting Hikari.
The atmosphere is quiet, like the calm before the storm. After a few seconds of silence, the whistle blows.
"Start!" the coach yells.