Chapter Text
As the group with Leticia makes their way back up the tunnels, something like an extremely close explosion sounds behind them.
"Huh?" Otoya tightens her grip on the unconscious Shiena on her back, held with a tied jacket, "What was that?"
"An explosion?" Tokaku frowns, "But why..."
"We need to move faster. Now," Leticia clicks her teeth.
Sure enough, as they ascend the treacherous pathways, the explosion sounds again and rumbling ensues, growing closer and closer. The tunnels themselves seem on the verge of shaking apart.
"T-The school's collapsing!!" Haru realizes with horror.
"We're almost to the first floor level!" Tokaku yells.
"Fucking shit!" Otoya growls as debris begins to rain down on them, "This place sucks more than Myoujou!!"
They arrive to where the passage should meet with an opening to the lobby. However, when Tokaku rams the secret door, it remains stuck fast. Behind them, the collapsing tunnels seem to be closing upon them imminently.
" Wha- hurry up!" Otoya clenches her teeth.
"Ugh...!" Tokaku jams her knife at the hinge to try and pry it.
"Is anyone there!?" Haru cries out, pounding on the door.
"Tsk..." Sweat beads Leticia's forehead as the debris dust begins to fill their lungs.
"Stand back!!"
A foot busts through the door, splintering it. The golden eyes of Haruki peer through and she proceeds to pummel the door into submission, breaking it down just as the debris and collapse blast Haru's group out amid a cloud of dust.
"Pthwa!!"
"Ugh..."
The outburst knocks Haruki and Isuke over as well. The pinkette looks down at her dirtied clothes in disgust, and then at the bunch deposited before her.
"Ara, what an unpleasant surprise ❤️."
"Ugh, could say the same for you," Otoya groans as she stands.
"T-thank you... Haruki-san..." Haru sits up.
"Whoa, seems I heard you guys just in time too!" Haruki gawks at the collapsed tunnel, "Wait, what were you guys doing?"
Before anyone can answer, there is another rumble and the school walls shudder.
"Eh, here too??" Haru looks around fearfully.
"The entire grounds are falling apart..."
"Let's chat once we're all outside!" Isuke scoffs and resumes her pace to escape with the others following.
At the first tremors in the main school building, Kouko and Suzu made their escape. As scant gunfire followed, Kouko clicks the switch to trigger minute explosions she planted in the school during her scouting. The hallways collapse with the shooters underneath.
"Hurry, I suspect the entire place will be sinking soon!" Suzu pants a bit as they race for the west exit.
Just before it seems as if a large slab of stone would block their exit, Kouko unconsciously makes a jumping lunge at Suzu. The two of them hit the floor and tumble out of the doorway just as the threshold collapses.
"Ugh..." Kouko groans and groggily moves to get off the other, as her glasses have fallen off, "A-are you alright... Shutou..."
"Ara, Kouko-chan, how bold of you!"
Kouko doesn't notice her hand on the other's breast. At Suzu's chiding, she withdraws, more pale than red.
"A... Ah..." She stutters.
Suzu merely chuckles, "It's fine! That was very forward of you..."
The groaning of collapse sounds from the school behind them.
"Ah, but we ought to get away first!"
Suzu stands and pulls the other up, holding her hand as they move to run to the rendezvous point where Jinme had maneuvered the copter deeper inland, away from the cove area. Kouko feels the first bits of flush on her cheeks as they run through the grassy expanse surrounding the academy. Everything is blurry, save this person leading her...
"You know, Kouko-chan," Suzu looks to her with a smile, "We make a good team."
"...!" Kouko turns a bit redder and mutters something incoherent under her breath, much to Suzu's amusement.
At that moment, nothing else mattered to her as the cove side academy crashed down behind them.
After Jinme's call using the helicopter signals to the nearest section of international law enforcement in the country, helicopters and armored trucks rushed to Tsukuyomi's location. While the main school building has all but largely collapsed, the dorms remained and were quickly evacuated. The Myoujou girls largely regroup near the barricade checkpoint set up with medical assistance and armed soldiers. A few stragglers mercenaries surrender and are taken in for questioning. A negotiator and human resources manager go to look over all the girls rescued. It isn't long before news hounds come poking around even.
Nio, Isuke, Tokaku, Haru, Leticia, Kouko, and Suzu sit around in the area for those ready to be evacuated. Sumireko and Otoya follow Mahiru and Shiena into the medical treatment area, where Haruki also reluctantly ends up. Chitaru and Kirigaya are still being checked up among the girls recovered from the dorms.
"Geez, you guys are sooo inconsiderate," Nio grumbles, munching on some melon bread provided by the rescue effort, "I had to save Mizorogi-sensei and drag him out all by myself! He would've been left for dead by you all! "
"It's your fault for making him count for anything," Isuke looks to her nails with a flippant attitude. Every now and then, her eyes glance to the medical tent where Haruki is getting her wound looked over by a nurse.
"So... You're Leticia," Nio looks to the captive sitting next to Haru, "Gotta say, didn't think you were aiming to kidnap our game captain."
Leticia doesn't answer, merely looking down at her treated arm and the handcuffs Nio slapped on her. She then looks to Suzu, seated across from them in the evac area.
"... I'll ask again. How did you find me out. "
" Oh, that's true...!" Haru pipes up, "I want to know too!"
"Well, it really was just a lucky guess," Suzu chuckles, "Haru-chan, I answered your call and overheard your conversation with Leticia as she was leading you away. The details just seemed to coincide with the circumstances of disappearance and her political history with her uncle and everything!"
"Ah, so... oh, right, you had heard everything...!" Haru recalls, then thinks a bit more, "But... that wasn't much to go on..."
"Ahaha, well, I wasn't entirely sure myself."
"... You really were just grasping at straws..." Kouko sighs, almost exasperated and still without glasses.
" It was more to confuse you at that moment, I will admit," Suzu shrugs, "After all you had the gun on us!"
"Wow, now we know you like mind games, I guess," Nio sighs, "Well, job finished. Close calls were made but we all came out alive. Ain't that swell!"
"No thanks to you!" Isuke bonks the blonde head.
"Owie!"
"I hope everyone else is OK..." Haru says quietly with a hopeful smile, "It's been... A very chaotic two weeks. Some quiet time after will be nice..."
"I'll second that!" Suzu sighs and sips her water, "That was enough excitement to get me through the year!"
The medical tent has a series of cots and some dividers. First aid is administered quickly, while more grievous wounds are arranged for medical evacuation ASAP.
Haruki winces as the nurse plugs the bullet wound. This is followed by a test for fractured bones and she is sent to a bed with a sling.
When she gets to her bed, she sees Sumireko sitting next to the cot for Mahiru. While not serious enough to warrant an evacuation, Mahiru is hooked up to some fluids and seems rather pained as she lays on her abused back. Her eyes remain closed, and one of her hands are gripping tightly on one of Sumireko's. The heiress herself had her ears treated lightly.
"Hey," Haruki says softly as she lays down in the allotted bed, "How is she?"
Mahiru lightly twitches at her voice.
"... Luckily, there was no concussion or permanent internal damage," Sumireko brushes those white bangs gently, "... I should have not brought you with me after all..."
"I... Idiot..."
Haruki and Sumireko both stare at Mahiru who just called the latter an idiot. The meek girl's voice sounds strained and halfway, but that is most definitely Shinya's tone.
"... Shinya... San?"
"It's not night yet..." Haruki breathes.
"Tsk... Can't see anything for a bit probably... Just as good as darkness," Shinya gives a pained smirk, eyes still closed, "Mahiru deserves a rest anyway."
"... I'm sorry, Shinya-san," Sumireko stands suddenly to leave, "I will leave you and Sagae-san alone."
"Hey, w-"
The heiress is gone without another word, pulling her hand out of Shinya's grasp. Haruki stares a bit, clueless. The white-haired girl scowls a little and groans, laying her arm across her face.
"... So... You get shot at?"
"Uh, just a little. I'll be fine after some R and R in Myoujou."
"Know if anyone else was hurt? No one was killed, or else we'd all have flunked."
"I saw Kenmochi. She looked pretty out of it, I think. Haru says she drowned or something," Haruki lays back in her cot, her good arm folded behind her head, "But yeah! We all made it. Whoo!"
"Huh... What happened... in the end? Sounded like explosions."
"That's kinda what they're trying to find out. The entire school just sorta fell down... Maybe bombs the terrorists set?"
"Nah..." Shinya sighs, "They were here fer money... No way they'd collapse the place like that. Doesn't make sense."
"That's what they were here for? Huh," Haruki thinks back to her father's acquaintance, "... Could've fooled me."
The Myoujou girls plus Leticia and Mizorogi are swiftly rounded up to return to their academy. Nio merely makes one call to silence the international authorities who insist they have to stay for further questioning. A spacious transport rolls up with room to transport the wounded back to the city. They all pile in there, with Mizorogi, Shiena, and Shinya bedridden. The doors close and the engine starts. Few look back to the ruins of Tsukuyomi.
As they ride, the adrenaline fades and many of them pass out. Isuke falls asleep inadvertently on Haruki, who passes out herself not long after. Suzu quietly closes her eyes, leaning on Kouko.
"Kouko-chan, humor me a little..."
"Just sleep, Shutou," Kouko sighs, "You... Don't need to ask."
Chitaru let's out a soft chuckle, seeing them all relax. She and Hitsugi came out of this with pretty much scrapes at most. The teal-haired girl snooze softly against her side.
"... Ichinose, don't push yourself," Tokaku says, seeing the redhead drooping here and there next to Leticia.
"Uah...!" Haru sits up straight, "N... I can still... Stay awake..."
Leticia and Tokaku both have the same look of exasperation at her tenacity.
Sumireko glances occasionally at where Shinya is asleep. She herself keeps a rigid posture, alone from everyone else. That is, until the arbiter skips over. Nio is the most energetic in the room.
"So, not a scratch on ya? Awesome, awesome!" Nio chuckles, "Might get a lawsuit from your dad if he knew, huh?"
"I wouldn't have him squander our legal powers on something so trivial," Sumireko gives a slight and token smile, "Though you had best keep your voice down with the wounded."
"Heeeh..." Nio plops down next to her, "So I hear Banba took a grenade for ya?"
Unlike Haru, Sumireko silences her tirade with a single glare of ice. The arbiter instantly claps her trap shut and resumes a friendly smile.
Otoya sits with a bored or just neutral expression on Shiena's bedside. She wasn't exactly tired so much as just winding down from the excitement. Her turquoise eyes gaze down at the sleeping brunette. She only hears the hiss of supplemental oxygen from the mask on Shiena's face as the other sleeps. Quietly, she brings the other's clammy hand to her lips.
Mizorogi rests like a rock, unattuned to the waking world.
Once Suzu is asleep, Kouko is about to call it a day as well. Her phone pings suddenly and near jolts her out of her seat. Thankfully, it doesn't wake Suzu.
Kouko takes out her phone and sees a text from an unknown number. It is a brief message, altered from Psalm 90:17.
The verse comes to mind almost instantly for the well-read Kouko.
"Let the eyes of the Lord our God be upon us, and establish the work of our hands upon us; yes, establish the work of our hands!"
The word "favor" had been changed to "eyes." God's eyes...
"Jinme-sensei...?"
They arrive back to Myoujou with the dying sun in sight on the horizon. The injured are moved to the infirmary while the rest of them are sent off to the dorms to rest. Nio pulls Leticia aside. School is to resume tomorrow.
"And keep an eye out for an online conference tonight!" Nio says with a grin.
"Ugh, great, more disruptions to my beauty sleep," Isuke scoffs.
"What about the injured who might not be able to attend?" Sumireko raises an eyebrow.
"You guys can fill them in," Nio waves dismissively, "Now, if you'll excuse me, I have to escort our VIP to their appropriate place...!"
"Nio, wait..." Haru steps forward, "I want to speak to the... Client."
Nio sneers a bit, "Just run along to bed. You're barely standing."
"But this is-" Tokaku halts Haru's words by grabbing her arm. She pauses and merely asks, "Please."
"No can do. Miss Leticia has a very special audience right now with the client," Nio snickers with a smile foretelling ill tidings.
"... I want to talk to Yuri-san," Haru blurts stubbornly.
Nio clicks her teeth dismissively, "Tough."
Haru wants to press further, but a strange fog of mental fatigue weighs on her. As she tries to find her tongue, Tokaku shakes her head. Nio smirks and turns to go, "Well, let's get going, Leticia."
Leticia looks to Haru with a bit of a small and wistful smile as Nio leads her away, "... Well, adiós."
Haru looks on helplessly. Her mind is utterly drained after everything such that she can barely utter a goodbye. In the end, why hadn't she just let Leticia go if she wanted to save her? It was because she herself needed to stay in this game... But wasn't she breaking her own rule of not stepping on others then?
"... There's nothing else we can do," Tokaku says quietly, "Let's go, Ichinose."
The two of them are the only ones left in the yard, as the others had left while Haru persisted. Haru hangs her head and drags her feet. Tokaku silently walks alongside her, protectively. Upon reaching their room, the redhead receives a silent ping to her bracelet.
Within the apex of the Hive tower in Myoujou, in the secret level only for the Queen and her trusted subjects, Nio brings Leticia into the meeting room. Rather than Yuri's personal office, this is the giant screen room where the assassins orientation was held.
"No need for these anymore," Nio unlocks the cuffs, "But I will kill you if you try anything."
Leticia looks up silently as the screen changes and shows Yuri sitting in her seat. She smiles as usual.
"Hello there, Leticia-san. I'm sure you know of me already."
"Yuri of Myoujou..." Leticia says quietly, "I would be stupid to work so long in the underworld and not know that name..."
"Hmm, and you know of Haru Ichinose's true identity. I see..." Yuri puts the tips of her fingers together, "You probably also know by now that I sent Black Class after you."
"... Why," Leticia narrows her eyes at the enigmatic woman.
"Tell me, who hired you to go after Haru?"
"I'm not at liberty to say," Leticia folds her arms.
Nio scoffs, "You think we don't know already? Yuri-san was just being nice."
"Now, now, Nio... She is still tense after being handled so roughly," Yuri giggles, "But yes... You were sent by Xanax, right? Or... What is that silly moniker of his... Xanathar?"
Leticia averts her eyes, "... You knew everything already then..."
"He is a very strange fellow. Fun to play with... But he lets his opponent in on more than his own pawns," Yuri sighs with amusement, "What was his reward to you?"
"..." Leticia sees no point in furthering the charade, "I would be able to 'become' Paola and leave the underworld without any trace."
"Would you still be interested in that reward?"
Leticia looks up at Yuri with a start. Her mixed expression betrays her hidden desire. Yuri sees through her like glass.
"We can arrange for that, no problem," Nio chuckles.
"... Why would you," Leticia eyes the blonde with suspicion, "After all, I am-"
"You are merely a pawn in the end, Leticia. I don't care what the underworld wants with you. That is trivial to me," Yuri chuckles, "My slightest concern was what you thought of Ichinose Haru. Everything else about you is boring to me."
"What I think of..." Leticia pauses, "She... Is a very strong person... Despite everything the Hive has done to her..."
"Strong, hm? Yes, that is a fair adjective for Haru..." Yuri closes her eyes with a pensive smile.
"Are you... Trying to break her?" Leticia asks with a slight edge to her voice.
"That is none of your concern."
"..." Leticia looks down to her bandaged wrist.
"Very well, then. Nio, arrange for our guest Paola to be sent back to the Americas in the morning."
"At once, my queen."
Leticia looks up and stares, stunned at the gesture, "... You... You're serious...?"
"Of course," Yuri continues smiling as the feed cuts, "From this day on, the infamous figure known as Leticia is dead."
On the other side of the screen, Yuri chuckles softly to herself. On another screen at her desk, unseen by Leticia, is Haru. The redhead seems to be in the school dormitory lobby alone.
"... Thank you... Yuri-san..." Haru says uneasily utters quietly with a small sigh of relief.
"You are very welcome, Haru," Yuri taps her desk a little, "Consider it a small reward for surviving Tsukuyomi."
"... Yuri-san... What you said to Leticia-san... you sent us there knowing she'd be after me, didn't you? And her client also knew..." Haru's voice grows a bitter edge, "In the end, you were just using us as pieces..."
"And? I told you... the role of a queen is to both play her pawns and also be controlled in turn," Yuri closes her eyes serenely, "Well, controlled to an extent... You are still being evaluated for your compatibility."
"... Haru won't be controlled by anyone... I won't play this game as you want me to...! I won't let you... or anyone use me..." Haru says with a determined light in her tired eyes before hanging up.
Yuri softly chuckles to herself in her office of darkened screens now. In her head, the words reawakened that old memory... with those same defiant eyes and a gun to her head...
"I won't... be controlled by you!!"
And then her brains went splattering all over the wall.
"Oh, look at the time," Yuri glances to the digital clock on the corner of her PC screen, "... Nio had better hurry or she'll have a full waiting room at this rate, haha..."
Deleted Scene:
