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Chapter Text

I wonder what the sky looks like.

Ever since I've read about the sky when I was in the White Room, I always wanted to know what it looked like. I always wondered how large and expansive it truly was compared to the confines of the space I had always been in.

I've also wondered why I always wanted to see the sky. I know what it is and what it contains. The vast and empty cosmos that houses many stars. Yet somehow, I still wanted to see it. It's why I always subconsciously look up when I was in that place, only to see the same white ceiling everytime.

I've always thought that the reason was because the sky symbolized the one thing I never had.

Freedom.

No matter how much knowledge, skill, and wisdom I acquire, I was never free. I never once thought of it as a bad thing before. I had just been used to the life being contained inside that place, learning, fighting, and completing my tasks as I always have. There was no reason to desire the outside world, so why should I? It was only simple curiosity that made me want to ask that question.

When I did see the sky, though, I was mesmerized. I felt so refreshed and satisfied like never before. Even when I was lacking emotions that time, I still appreciated looking at the sky and how limitless it was.

I'm sure that's how humanity's ancestors felt when they were looking out at the sky as well. Humans are naturally curious beings, so they probably also wanted to know about the sky and its secrets. Now, in the 21st century, humanity now knows what lies beyond the abyss that is the sky. I'm sure that when humanity conquered the skies, it felt liberating, like a weight has been lifted off your shoulders.

I was the same when I finally acquired my freedom, after all. It felt refreshing and exhilarating, emotions that I never thought I would feel in my lifetime.

It was incredible. Truly incredible.

However, just as lives had been sacrificed in pursuit of humanity's ambitions to conquer the skies, lives had also been snuffed out in order to achieve the freedom that I so desperately wanted.

I then found out the cost of me getting my emotions back. I can also feel negative emotions now. Anger, sadness, disgust, hate, and the one I feel the most:

Regret

All of the cruel things that I have done before, all of the cruel choices that I made, all of my selfish and inhuman thoughts, they all came crashing down on me. I felt all the immense guilt that I never knew I had until now. I still believed that everything I ever did was necessary, but that didn't stop the guilt and remorse from eating at me from the inside.

However, the one thing I regretted the most was that conflict.

I knew from the beginning there would be casualties when I first heard of its existence. That man is extraordinarily powerful, and I was sure that they would fail. Even if they didn't fail, many will die.

Against all odds, they won, and even she managed to the unthinkable. I managed to be freed from the shackles of my past, but at what cost?

Ruined lives. Broken dreams. Was it all worth it? Do I deserve all this happiness?

That's why when that... being appeared and offered us a chance to do it all over again, to give ourselves a better ending, I took it, conse

quences be damned.

Was there a chance that I would fail? No, there isn't. I'll win, guaranteed.

Because that was how I was raised.

I'm the masterpiece, and I would prove why I had that title.

Chapter Text

Kiyotaka's POV
April 5, 2037
Ayanokouji Residence

"Dad, wake up..."

"Ugh..."

"Dad, Mom says breakfast is ready."

"5 more minutes..."

"If you don't wake up, I'll eat all of the ice cream on the fridge."

"Fine, I'll wake up."

I got up from my bed and looked at my daughter. She had inherited my brown hair and golden eyes, as well as my expressionless face. Considering that she has emotions, I am now sure that this face is somehow genetic.

She also inherited my love for ice cream too, but honestly, who doesn't love ice cream?

"You're really weak to ice cream, aren't you, Dad?" she said with a small smirk on her face, although it was barely visible.

"As if you're not weak to ice cream yourself, Honami. You really shouldn't be the one saying that." I said.

"Touche." she chuckled. "Anyway, I'll be going down now, Dad. See you."

With that, she ran down the stairs, leaving me in my room to get ready.

"Good morning, Kiyotaka."

"Good morning, Kei."

I greeted my wife as I walked down the stairs to eat some breakfast.

"Where's Suzuki?" I asked, noting that my younger son was missing.

"I'm here Dad! Good morning!" Suzuki came out of his room energetically and he ran down the stairs quickly.

He had inherited his mother's looks, her blonde hair and purple eyes. He also had a small ponytail as well, as if emulating how a male version of Kei would have looked like when she was young.

"You're too excited again." Honami remarked as he entered the dining room.

"But Dad said we were going to that place he told us about!" he replied.

"You know Dad has bad memories of that place, right?" Honami said.

Memories, huh?

I then reminisced about how I got to this point in my life.

After I graduated from ANHS, I returned to the White Room, just as I had intended. I had experienced everything that the outside world had to offer, or so I thought at the time. I had ignored that feeling of emptiness inside of me, attributing it to the fact that I had returned to the persona that I had donned in the White Room. However, a few months afterwards, I had received shocking news.

Horikita Manabu had discovered the existence of the White Room.

I had been receiving news of the outside world in that place, and I heard that Horikita Manabu, who had grown influential in Japanese politics, discovered the existence of the White Room, and has exposed it to the public. Soon, I had also heard that many of my former classmates and schoolmates in ANHS had formed a group to help me break out of there.

I was apathetic about it at the time. I had thought that the whole conflict will end with that man winning. After all, he had firmly planted his roots deep in the Japanese government. There was no way a group of college aged students and a rising star in Japanese politics would be able to dethrone him.

And yet, somehow, they managed to defeat that man. They managed to destroy the White Room.

2 years after my graduation, the facility known as the White Room was raided by Horikita Manabu and Sakayanagi Shigemori's private military. I heard the explosions and the gunfire, but at the time, I was conflicted as to whether or not I should escape. However, I had made up my mind when I saw one person enter the room I was in.

It was Kei.

I had broken up with her during graduation. I knew that she would never be able to come with me, so I severed my connection with her in hopes that she can live a better life without me. When we had reunited at the time, she only said one sentence.

"Let's go home, Kiyotaka."

Immediately after that, I did escape. It turned out that a lot of my former friends came to the White Room raid to let me escape even though most of them weren't even good at combat. Horikita, Ichinose, Sudou, Hasebe, Yukimura, Akito, Nanase, even Ryuuen and Sakayanagi helped.

However, not all of them survived.

After the destruction of the White Room, many companies and universities tried to hire me. After all, I was the masterpiece of the White Room, and they wanted to have such a capable person working for them. Out of all of the offers, I accepted the job as a professor in Tokyo University. I was promoted very quickly, and soon, I became the Tokyo University's youngest dean in history.

At this time, I had married Kei, who became a successful fashion designer, and we had twins, Ayanokouji Honami and Ayanokouji Suzuki, with Honami being the older one.

Now, 19 years after my graduation, my kids are attending ANHS.

Time sure moves fast.

"Since tomorrow is your first day in ANHS, I wanted to take you there before you're gone for three years." I said.

"The White Room, huh?" Honami muttered. "This is going to be interesting."

"Yeah, so let's hurry, Honami-nee-san!" Suzuki said excitedly.

"Yeah, yeah." she replied.

"You're always so excited, aren't you?" Kei sighed, then she looked at me worriedly. "Are you going to be okay, Kiyotaka?"

"Yeah. They need to know about it." I said.

We then heard a knock on the door so I came to open it, and saw two people I wasn't expecting to see today.

One was a tall girl with medium-length magenta hair and a gentle smile on her face, while the other was a silver-haired boy with average height holding a cane.

It was Sakayanagi Shin and Ryuuen Miharu.

"Hm? Good morning, you two, why are you here so early?" I asked them.

"Good morning, Uncle Kiyotaka. Honami invited me here." Shin greeted me casually.

He is Sakayanagi Arisu's son, as well as Honami's boyfriend, though I'm still wondering how these two got together, considering how prideful both of them are. He is a natural genius just like his mother, and although he didn't inherit her heart condition, he still has a weak constitution that requires him to use a cane to be able to walk properly.

Due to the prestige of the Sakayanagi family, Arisu's husband actually married into her family, which is why Shin has her surname.

"Hello, Uncle Kiyotaka, Suzuki-kun invited me here as well." Miharu said while still having that gentle smile.

Ryuuen Miharu is the daughter of both Ryuuen Kakeru and Ibuki Mio, who was now Ryuuen Mio. She is a gentle and kind child who likes to help others, which is very unlike her two parents.

Honestly, I still can't believe that this girl is the daughter of Ryuuen  Kakeru  and Mio. I guess having Hiyori be a private tutor for the girl changed her attitude.

"So you're also coming with us, I see. Come in then."

"This is... what remains of the White Room, huh?" Honami commented as she looked at the destroyed ruins of what was once my cage.

After a long drive to the mountains, we had reached ruins of the White Room facility. I then narrated to them everything that had happened to me related to this place, since the information that was available to the public regarding the White Room was surprisingly very lacking.

"I would have thought that the Japanese government would have erased this off the map." Suzuki said, his expression being serious this time.

"Manabu didn't want anyone to forget about this place." I said. "That's why he didn't let anybody destroy this place completely."

"Prime Minister Horikita Manabu, huh?" Suzuki said. "You know, Dad, it's still weird that you can address the Prime Minister so casually."

"It's not really surprising, Suzuki." Honami spoke. "They've known each other since high school. Nothing strange about it at all."

"It is said that Uncle Kiyotaka is the only person that the Prime Minister ever respected, so no wonder they address each other casually." Miharu commented.

"Why would you bring us here? Did you just want to tell us about the White Room?" Honami asked me.

"No. I also wanted to give you some context for our next destination." I said. "However, we're done here already."

"No, let's wait for a little, Dad. We still want to explore some more." Suzuki told me.

"Yes. I am quite curious about this place, considering the stories Mother had told me about it." Shin said as he was staring at the ruins of the White Room.

"You know that there's basically nothing here, right?" Kei said. She probably didn't want to stay here for too long since she was being reminded of horrible memories.

"I know, but we still want to see more of the place, even if it was destroyed." Kei was about to dissuade them, but I stopped her.

"Leave it, Kei. You know that both of our children are stubborn." I said. "If they want to explore more even if there's basically nothing here, let them. Let's just make sure they don't get out of our sight."

The two nodded at her and she simply sighed in response.

"Fine, but don't take too long, okay?" she told them. Both of our kids nodded, and we followed closely behind as they looked around the ruins of the White Room.

"Why would you bring our kids to this place, Kiyotaka?" Kei asked reprovingly.

"Because they need to know about this. The true story. I don't want them to stay ignorant forever." I said. "Besides, they may hear something completely false about the White Room that may cause some misunderstandings, I don't want that."

"I see." Kei replied. "I don't really like to look at this place any longer than I already have, you know. I hate this place."

"We both do. We just have to make sure that our family remember this place that used to cause us so much pain."

"Where are we going next, Dad?" Honami asked. After a few minutes of exploring, we left the White Room ruins and are now headed somewhere else. The two came here with us, as well.

"The cemetery." I said. "I want to pay my respects."

"Why are you two still sticking around?" Kei asked.

"We just wanted to spend some time with our respective romantic partners before school starts, since we're in different classes." Shin said.

"While we wanted to go on a date together, we recognize just how important this trip is for you, so we decided to just come with you instead!" Miharu said cheerfully.

It didn't take long for us to reach our destination, though we did stop at some shops in order to buy some flowers that I will be using to pay respects. Once we got there, we walked towards her grave, only to see someone familiar already there.

"Hello, Hikari." I greeted the strawberry blond haired woman. She turned to me and bowed slightly.

"It's nice to see you again, Ayanokouji-senpai." she greeted me. "Are you here to visit my older sister?"

"Yes." I said as I looked at the grave in front of Hikari.

The grave had the name "Ichinose Honami" engraved on it.

"So this is the person I was named after, Dad?" Honami asked as she approached the grave.

"Yeah. The kindest woman I've ever known." I said, while putting bluebell flowers on her grave, representing kindness. Kei stayed silent, not refuting my statement, especially considering how true it is.

Miharu smiled sadly as she also offered flowers to her grave as well.

I distinctly remembered how she died. Just as me and Kei were escaping, she took a bullet to the chest that would have hit us if she didn't get in the way.

"I just... hope that you would be happy... with Karuizawa-san. I will always... love you..."

"It's an honor to be named after such a person." she smiled.

"Thank you, Honami." Hikari said to her.

"Hey Dad!" Suzuki waved at me, looking at another grave. "Is this the person I was named after?"

It was the grave of Horikita Suzune.

"Yes, Suzuki." I smiled as I approached her grave.

"It looks like you're visiting their graves before your children comes to the school, Kiyotaka." A voice spoke from behind us. It was Horikita Manabu and his wife, Horikita Akane.

"Manabu. It's nice to see you again." I said.

"That's Prime Minister Horikita to you!" Horikita Akane rebuked me. "Honestly, you've always been so rude!"

"I've allowed it, Akane. Don't worry about it." he said.

"Good morning, Prime Minister." both of my children greeted him, as well as the other two.

"At least your children are respectful." Mrs. Horikita smiled at the two.

"It's nice to meet you, Sakayanagi Shin, I have heard that you would be a classmate to my daughter." Manabu greeted him.

"Ah yes, Horikita Shizuku. I have heard great things about her. I am looking forward to meeting her in person." he said.

I then glanced at my daughter, who was smiling happily at the mention of Manabu's daughter. The two are actually close friends and rivals, though I have heard that Shizuku had an interest in another guy. I was just thankful that this wouldn't result in a love triangle, something that I am really sick of dealing with, after Kei and Ichinose.

"So what kind of person is Horikita Suzune, Dad?"

"She was quite the flawed individual in the beginning. Thankfully, she managed to grow as a person and become someone greater. She died before she managed to do something great, unfortunately." I said, putting Amaryllis flowers in her grave, which symbolizes pride and determination.

Her death was similar to Ichinose's except that she died in a hospital bed days after she had been shot.

"I'm glad that I fought alongside my brother like that. I hope you enjoy the rest of your peaceful life, Ayanokouji-kun."

I looked at all of the graves of the casualties of the White Room Raid, and remembered about all the ones I witnessed.

Sudou Ken

"Make sure that bastard pays for what he did to his son, Kiyotaka!"

Kanzaki Ryuuji

"You've helped our class a lot in ANHS, Ayanokouji. Let me repay the favor now."

Yamada Albert and Ishizaki Daichi

"We got you, bro. Go on now!"
"This is Ryuuen-san's orders!"

Amasawa Ichika

"I'm glad that I... fought alongside my beloved senpai..."

Nanase Tsubasa

"Don't worry... about me... Ayanokouji-senpai. I'm going to where... Eiichiro-kun is now..."

Even her...

"I'm sorry... for ruining your peaceful life for my... stupid dream..."

Chabashira Sae.

A small tear then formed in my eye as I stared at the graves of my fallen allies.

"Kiyotaka." Manabu spoke. "We don't blame you about all of this in the slightest."

He then approached me and touched my shoulders.

"We don't regret freeing you from that place back then. All of us believed that we did the right thing. We were all ready to risk our lives for this, so don't blame yourself. It was us who decided to do this." he said.

"None of us has regrets, so you shouldn't."

I was silent. I couldn't say anything. Regardless of everything they say about the situation, I couldn't help but feel that guilt inside of me.

I don't regret getting my emotions back, but this... is troublesome.

"Hello, Kiyopon!" Haruka waved at me as I entered the restaurant. Akito, Airi, Keisei, and Hiyori were also there.

Ever since I have gained my freedom, the former Ayanokouji Group reconnected with me, forgiving my cruel act against Airi during our second year. Hiyori had actually joined the group post-graduation, but did not join the raid, and simply elected to help expose the White Room further by writing a book about it, since she became a successful author who wrote several best-selling mystery novels.

The others also had very successful lives post-graduation. Airi had become a manager of an idol group after retiring as an idol herself, Keisei had become a successful lawyer, and Akito and Haruka marrying each other, with the former becoming a policeman, and the latter becoming an accountant.

"Why are you still calling me that, Haruka? We're all adults here." I asked, sighing tiredly at the nickname.

"Because Kiyopon is Kiyopon, no matter how old you get!" she said.

"Just leave it, Kiyotaka-kun." Airi giggled. "You know that Haruka-san's never going to change her mind about that."

"I know, but I still want to try."

Both me and Kei sat down and got our orders. After a while of speaking, Keisei spoke up.

"So your kids are attending ANHS tomorrow?" he asked.

"Yes." I said. "It's sad that we won't be able to see them for three years, but it's for their future."

"You're right. What class are they?"

"Class-D." I said. The others widened their eyes in surprise.

"Both of them?" Hiyori asked.

"Yes." Kei said. "I can understand, though. While both of them are geniuses and are really strong, they are both defective in some way."

She's right. Honami, while incredibly well-spoken, is shy around strangers and is incredibly socially inept around people that aren't family or friends. She is also... insane and sadistic, in a way. She was like Horikita Suzune in that regard except less harsh and more self-aware.

Suzuki, meanwhile, caused an entire class to collapse through his manipulation. Because some of the girls in that class had antagonized Honami, he decided to take revenge by seducing those same girls, who were quite influential in their class, and caused a chain reaction that led to that entire class collapsing. While he was caring to his loved ones, he is incredibly lacking in empathy when it comes to everyone else, though he always had a charming and kind exterior.

Now that I think about it, the two are extremely similar to Kushida and Horikita, except they're very friendly with one another.

"Well, they won't be Class-D for long." Akito noted. "Both of them can probably get to Class-A by the first or second special exam."

"I don't doubt it." Keisei agreed with him. "I just know those two are probably going to cause chaos in the school."

"It probably wouldn't be so easy though." I said. "Miharu is in Class-B, while Shin and Manabu's daughter, Shizuku, is in Class-A."

"Hm, yeah, that is some stiff competition." Akito muttered.

"For now, let's just enjoy hanging out together you guys!" Haruka said. "It's rare for us to all have free time like this, especially Kiyopon and Kei, so let's just all eat!"

"Yeah!"

I'm truly glad that I'm friends with all of them.

"What's going on here?"

Right now, something incredibly bizarre was happening.

When we have arrived at the house, my children said that some man had suddenly appeared inside the house. What was apparently weird about this man was the fact that...

"He looks like me."
"No, Honami-nee-san, he looks like me!"

They were either hallucinating or are lying to my face, because the man looks like me. However, he was wearing a three-piece suit like a butler. He was also smirking, watching us be confused by his appearance.

"You guys are lying, this guy looks like me." Kei remarked. "Although that suit doesn't fit me at all."

So the man's  wearing the same outfit regardless of who's looking, huh?

"Well, all joking aside, we know what your deal is." Suzuki said.

"You're casting an illusion on anyone that looks at you that will make you look like whatever the viewer looks like." Honami said.

"Correct!" The man spoke for the first time. "As expected of the Ayanokouji family, I guess. Although the fact that you went straight for a supernatural answer is quite baffling."

"We're quite open-minded. You suddenly appeared in front of us without warning and your appearance changes depending on who's looking at you. The answer has to be supernatural." Honami replied.

"You're not wrong."

"So who are you and what are you doing here?" I asked.

"No need to be so hostile." the man said. "As for who I am, just call me "Author"."

"What are you doing here, then?" Kei asked.

Suddenly, everything went black. The house we were in disappeared and our surroundings became pitch black. We can still see each other, though.

"Simple. I'm giving you all a second chance. A chance to do it all over again."

The being snapped his fingers, and the Ayanokouji Group appeared. Both Miharu and Shin also appeared.

"Eh? Where are we?"

"W-What's going on, Kiyotaka-kun?"

"Hello, Haruka-san, Keisei-san, Akito-san, Airi-san, and Hiyori-san!" Honami greeted then all. "You're also here too, Shin and Miharu-chan!"

"Hi, Honami-chan!" Haruka then proceeded to hug her. The others then greeted my two children. I simply turned to the man, who was still smirking.

"What is happening, Honami?" Shin asked.

"What do you mean, a second chance?" I asked.

"You know very well what I mean, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Time travel, huh?"

"Kiyopon, please explain." Haruka said nervously. I sighed, and began explaining.

"This being who calls himself "Author" suddenly appeared in my house and then put us all here." I said. "He's essentially offering us the the chance to time travel to the past in order to amend our mistakes."

"Is that even possible?" Keisei was skeptical.

"I mean, this guy put us in this weird black dimension of some sort. It's probably possible for him." Haruka replied to him.

"What's the catch?" I asked.

"Entertain me. That's all." he said.

"Entertain you?"

"Yes, that's the condition. Make your second chance as chaotic and unpredictable as possible. Though don't do things like ruin people's lives permanently or something like that, because that's not entertaining at all."

"So in what year are we going back to?" I asked.

"You'll figure it out when you arrive."

"What about my children, and these two? What about this life that I'm leading right now?"

"These children, huh?" he then turned to Honami, Suzuki, Shin, and Miharu. "First, let me explain how this time travel's going to work."

Two threads then appeared in front of the Author. One was colored white while one was colored light gray.

"Let's just say that this is your timeline." he gestured towards the white thread. "Normally, time travel is about reverting you back in time in your timeline. However, that would be way too boring. So instead, I'm putting you in this other timeline."

He pointed towards the light gray thread.

"Is that really time travel in that case?" Honami asked. "That's more like going to an alternate universe or something like that."

"You can say that." he said. "However, this other timeline is mostly similar to yours. Sakura Airi is still an idol, Yukimura... Teruhiko still has a horrible mother, Miyake Akito is still a delinquent, and Ayanokouji Kiyotaka is still the masterpiece of the White Room."

The others flinched at the mention of the White Room, but I narrowed my eyes.

"Mostly similar, huh?"

"As expected of you, you realized. There are some differences." he smirked. "Maybe some people will gain a sibling or two, maybe they'll have a different personality, maybe their fates will change a little bit, maybe there are people that will appear that wasn't there before. You'll just have to find out about those differences yourself."

"Differences, huh?" I sighed. "So? Answer my question. What happens to my life here and my kids if I accept your offer?"

"As for your life, it will still continue forward like normal, you just wouldn't be there to experience it." he said. "If any of you are confused, I won't explain it. Too complicated."

"As for the children, I'm giving them a choice. " he continued. "Either they stay in the present or they come with you. If you stay here, when you wake up tomorrow, you will be put in this alternate timeline, with all of the changes your parents and their friends have made. If you come with them, I'll have to adjust things a bit to make sure you're not both considered... ghosts that shouldn't exist, so to speak."

He then stared intently at the four. Considering their personalities, though, I already know their answer.

"We'll come."

"Great! Well then, are you all ready?!" he said with a smile.

"You already know we're not going to refuse, huh?" I remarked.

"You all want to get a second chance at this, so why would any of you refuse?" he asked.

"You're right." Kei sighed. "So, how are we time travelling?"

"You're essentially taking over the bodies of your younger selves at that time period, so if you're separated, that means you'll have to find each other! Pretty simple."

"That's going to make things incredibly difficult..."

"Don't worry. I'll be giving you all a little bit of a headstart."

"What do you mean?" Hiyori asked.

"You'll know when you get there." he answered. "So, once again, I'm going to ask, are you all ready?!"

"Yes!" All of us said. I then turned towards all of them.

"Everyone. This is going to be incredibly risky. Our victory here is not guaranteed." I said, but then I chuckled causing the others to be confused.

"Well, theoretically speaking, our victory isn't guaranteed." I continued. "However, I'm here. That's enough to change that, isn't it?"

They all chuckled at this remark.

"This time, we will save everyone." I said with determination.

"You've definitely changed, Kiyotaka." Kei commented. "If this was you from highschool saying that, I would have ran away in fear."

"That's rude, Kei. You know what?" I said, then I swiftly kissed her on the cheeks, causing her to blush massively.

"What the hell!" she said.

"Just felt like it." I responded, causing everyone to chuckle.

"I never thought that we would have an extended date." Shin joked, causing Honami to smile wryly.

"I wonder what Dad is like in the past." Miharu wondered.

"You'll be disappointed, Miharu-san." Kei shook her head, probably remembering the rooftop incident.

"Okay, that's enough for now." the Author said. "It's time for you to go."

"Good luck."

With that, my vision went white, as I lost consciousness.

March 17, 2014
Ayanokouji Mansion

Have I returned back?

I felt sluggish, as I had just woken up from a good sleep. When I looked around, I saw a familiar room.

I see, so I'm already staying at the mansion at this point. This means that I have at least one year before I attend ANHS. This is a headstart, alright.

I got up from my bed, and just as I did so, the door to my room opened up. At first, I thought it was Matsuo that was going to enter. Instead, it was a girl with medium-length black hair with golden eyes and a blank expression, like a female version of me.

(A/N: If you want to imagine what she looks like, just think of  Stelle  from  Honkai  Star Rail but instead of gray hair, she has black hair.)

"You're awake, Kiyotaka-nii-san." she said. My eyes slightly widened at what she said.

Differences, huh?

Chapter Text

Kiyotaka's POV

"Are you okay, Kiyotaka-nii-san?"

The girl looked at me worriedly. I later found out that her name was Ayanokouji Shinobu, and she was my younger twin sister in this timeline. Unfortunately, she was also placed in the White Room like I was.

Right now, we were having the most awkward breakfast I've ever experienced in my life.

"I'm fine." I said. However, Shinobu didn't believe me.

"You may still have that poker face, but I can sense it. There's something off about you." she was narrowing her eyes at me. She was pretty emotional and sincere which was incredibly different compared to how I was at this point in time.

"There's really nothing wrong with me. Don't worry about it, Shinobu." I said. Shinobu suddenly pointed at me.

"There! That's what's off! You'll never ask someone to not worry about you!" she shouted.

"It's rude to point at someone, Shinobu-sama." Matsuo suddenly entered the room as she brought two cups of tea for the both of us.

My guilt when it came to Matsuo's, and eventually, Eiichiro's death had reemerged to the surface. They were the earliest casualties to my pursuit of freedom. Now that I'm here, they're probably the first people that I'm going to save.

"Kiyotaka-nii-san is acting strange, Matsuo-san!" she said.

"That is still no reason to be rude." Matsuo admonished her gently. He then turned to me. "Kiyotaka-sama, you have guests."

"Guests?" both me and Shinobu said at the same time.

"How can Kiyotaka-nii-san have guests? We just got out of the White Room yesterday." Shinobu said.

I see, so that means we have a 1 year headstart.  Great.

"What did they say?" I asked.

"They just said they were looking for you. Their names are Honami, Suzuki, Shin, and Miharu."

So it's them. It seems they didn't say anything too suspicious, though them being here is already suspicious.

"I'll meet them, where are they?"

"They have been moved to one of the guest rooms for now, you can meet them there." he answered.

"You know who they are, Kiyotaka-nii-san?" Shinobu asked.

"I know who they are." I said. "I'll tell you about them later."

"You better." she said. "I don't like that you're keeping things from me right now. We... only have each other, right? You're acting so strange."

She is awfully attached to me. She... reminds me of someone.

"I'll tell you later." I said. Despite the fact that she was supposed to be my sister, I couldn't bring myself to care too much about her. We did only meet about an hour ago.

"Fine. But make sure to tell me what's going on later, okay?!"

"Yes, I will."

With that, I finished my breakfast and left to the guest room.

"Please leave the three of us alone, Matsuo." I requested. He simply bowed and agreed to my request.

"Dad!"

Both of them shouted and hugged me. Of course, I hugged them back in response.

"It's weird how you're smaller than us here, Dad." Honami said.

"Don't be so overexcited, it's only been an hour since we last saw each other."

"Yeah, we know." she replied.

"It's nice to see you again, Uncle Kiyotaka." Miharu said.

"Just... call me Kiyotaka-san instead." I said, not wanting to be called uncle by her considering my current age.

"Sure, Kiyotaka-san!" she said cheerfully. Shin also nodded along.

"Anyway, have you seen any of the differences that guy mentioned?" Suzuki spoke excitedly.

"I have a twin sister in this timeline, it seems." I said, surprising the both of them.

"Oh! So we have an aunt here! I wanna see her!" Suzuki shouted excitedly.

"Interesting. I wonder what she's like." Honami smiled serenely.

Now that I see it, Honami and Shinobu look very similar. The only difference that they have are the color of their hair as well as their... body shape, so to speak.

While Shinobu's body was average for her age, Honami was... as well-developed as her namesake.

I really shouldn't be saying that about my daughter, but I digress. It was simply a matter of comparing them, nothing else.

"She's quite overly emotional. The exact opposite of me at this period in time. She managed to figure out that something was off about me when I joined breakfast just now and had made me swear to tell her everything. Not that I wouldn't tell her anything anyway."

"You have no choice, Dad. There is no way you can explain away our appearance here in a logical fashion." Suzuki said. "Besides, you want to save Matsuo-san, too, right?"

"Matsuo and his son, yes." I nodded. "That would be easier said than done at this point, though."

"Why?" Suzuki asked.

"Both of them died when I was already at ANHS, and both of them died through suicide." I said.

Preventing Eiichiro's death might also prevent  Nanase's , since she wouldn't have any reason to be involved with my mess if he doesn't die.

"My act of entering ANHS itself is what caused their deaths, so the easier way would have been to not enter ANHS, but that would just result in me, and now Shinobu, going back to the White Room, and no one but my friends and your mother would be aware of its existence at this point in the timeline, and they would be powerless to stop it since they're only highschool students at this point. " I continued. "Besides, the reason why the White Room was destroyed in the first place was because of all the people I met at ANHS, including Manabu, who was the one to expose the White Room. In short-"

"You have to enroll at ANHS to destroy the White Room." Honami said. "This means that you have to prevent Matsuo-san's death while entering ANHS at the same time."

"Man, it's already difficult right off the bat, huh?" Suzuki remarked. "Well, no matter how we will solve this problem, we have to tell them, right?"

"Yes, we have to." I said.

While this was happening, both Shin and Miharu were silent, pondering all this information.

"We probably need to stay with you for now, right, Kiyotaka-san?" Shin said.

"I don't know what's happening with your parents right now, so it's better if you stay with us, at least until we get to ANHS."

"That's the best alternative right now, considering our situation." he nodded. "We are in your care, then."

This is going to be troublesome to explain, that's for sure.

"So let me get this straight." Shinobu said. "You time traveled from about 23 years in the future and these two are your... children?"

"Yes." I replied. There was no better way to describe the situation.

"So that's why you were acting off. You're mentally ill, Kiyotaka-nii-san."

Shinobu misunderstood me, though based on her tone, she wasn't making fun of me. She was genuinely worried about me, which warmed my heart.

"Do you want me to call that man to bring you to the mental hospital? That place must have affected your mind too much. You need help. And you two, stop taking advantage of Kiyotaka-nii-san! I'll kick your asses!"

"I'm glad that you're concerned about Dad, but he's telling the truth." Honami said. "Besides, no need to be so vague. We know about the White Room and how much a piece of trash our grandfather is."

Shinobu was genuinely surprised. I didn't include the White Room in my explanation because I wanted Honami to mention the place to prove to Shinobu that we were telling the truth.

"You.. know?" she said.

"Yeah, I can tell you where it's located on the map right now." Honami replied.

"Yes, we can even tell you how many rooms there are as well as the building's layout." Shin happily added. He has only visited the ruins of the White Room just a few hours ago from our perspective, so for him to claim to know that is impressive. He was probably more intelligent that Arisu was at his age.

"If you need more proof, Matsuo." I turned to our butler. "How's Eiichiro doing?"

Matsuo's composure broke a little as I said this, but he stayed silent for a few moments before speaking.

"I see. So you are telling the truth, Kiyotaka-sama."

"Eh? He really was?" Shinobu now understood that I wasn't mentally ill or joking. She was understandably stunned by this revelation.

"If this is all true, why would you do such a thing, Kiyotaka-sama?" Matsuo asked.

"Because I want to save everyone. That's all there is to it." I said. Shinobu, who was petrified with shock, spoke.

"Save... everyone? What happened to you, Kiyotaka-nii-san?"

I can understand her shock and confusion. After all, I was not the type of person to say such things. The White Room taught me to not care about everyone but myself, so for me to say something like this must have really surprised her.

"A lot has happened." I sighed. "I'll tell you everything that I can."

After that, I told them the summary of all the events that happened. Of course, it was just a general summary, but it was still quite long.

"I... really don't know what to say..." Shinobu was quite speechless. "Though, I'm really glad that you were finally freed from that place."

"I see." Matsuo said. "It seems that I meet such a tragic fate. However, that doesn't matter. I will still help you gain your freedom, Kiyotaka-sama."

"Thank you, Matsuo." I responded. "However, I will save you and your son, no matter what. "

"You have my gratitude." he bowed slightly.

"You need to meet with your... friends first, right?" Shinobu asked.

"Yes. I may need to ask permission from that man to be able to travel around the country." I said.

"I hope that man agrees." Shinobu said.

"It won't be easy." I replied.

I wonder what's going on with the others.

Kei's POV
Karuizawa Residence
April 19, 2014

"Onee-san? Are you okay?"

Right now, I was still bewildered and confused beyond belief.

"U-Uh, yeah, I'm fine, Yuuta." I reassured my younger brother that didn't exist before.

This is seriously not what I expected.

It's been a month since I traveled back in time, although almost everything else about my home was the same, the appearance of a sudden little brother really threw me off for a loop at first. I am still a bit weirded out by my own younger brother, which just made me feel bad about myself.

Right now, I'm eating breakfast with my mother and my younger brother.

"Did those bastards do something bad to you again?!" he asked. I can just feel the anger from him. He was clearly talking about my bullying.

I'm kinda touched that he cares so much, but I'm sorry that I can't bring myself to care about you that much. I've only just met you for a month, after all.

I really felt bad about that, but I just reasoned that I can't really do anything about that now.

"N-No, I'm fine, really." I answered

"I hope you're really fine, onee-san. You've been acting weird, somehow." he said.

"Kei!" My father called out from outside.

"What is it, dad?" I replied. He came in holding a white envelope in his hands.

"A letter addressed to you."

The table fell silent. During the month that I've been back here, I've been experiencing the bullying that I dreaded so much. I wasn't as affected as before, but that didn't stop me from being anxious.

The scar wasn't there yet, after all, and I was not looking forward to getting it again.

One of the ways I was bullied was that hate mail was being sent to me constantly. The family got so used to it that when we receive a letter like that, my dad or my mom reads it then throws it away. The fact that my dad gave it to me means this wasn't the usual hate mail.

"Who sent it?" my mom asked.

"Someone named Matsuo Eiichiro gave it to me. He said that it was from someone named Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." he said.

It's from Kiyotaka! Wait, Matsuo Eiichiro? That's Kiyotaka's butler's son! He made contact with him already?

"Huh? Who is that? Do you know him, onee-san?"

I ignored Yuuta's question for now, and proceeded to ask my dad more questions.

"Is there anyone with him?" I asked.

My family must have been so confused by the fact that I seemed to know these people, but I can't really explain anything right now.

"Yes, there's three girls and two boys with him. I think they're named Honami, Shinobu, Miharu, Shin and Suzuki?" my dad answered.

Both of them are  here, too? And wait, who's Shinobu? She must be one of the differences that being talked about.

"Can you let them in, dad? I want to see them." I asked. My family became even more confused by this.

"Sure, I'll let them in, then." my dad agreed to my request despite his obvious confusion. After a few moments, five people entered the room.

I only recognized the four among them and they didn't really change much. The guy, who I assume was Eiichiro, had a goofy smile on his face, while Shinobu looked eerily similar to Honami except for hair color and body shape. She must be related to Kiyotaka somehow.

"Have you said anything to dad yet, Matsuo-kun?" I asked.

"No. Aniki told me not to say anything until your family reads the letter." he says.

Pffft ! He calls Kiyotaka  aniki ?

"He knew we were going to read the letter?" Yuuta asked. "Isn't the letter specifically addressed to onee-san?"

"Yeah!" Eiichiro-kun said enthusiastically. "He somehow knew that you were all going to read it out loud. He said something about you receiving hate mail so the family wouldn't let you read the letter in private, or something like that."

As I expected, my family was taken aback by this. My bullying was a private matter, so the fact that someone, who is a stranger to them, knows all about this information must have been shocking to them.

"He knows....?" Yuuta whispered. "Onee-san, who is this guy?"

I peeked at Honami, and she was smiling slightly at her... uncle, I guess. Maybe it was fascinating for her to suddenly have an uncle in this timeline.

"Why don't you all read the letter first so you can all have an idea?"

Yuuta then snatched the letter from our dad's hand and decided to read.

Dear Kei,

How are you? Are you doing okay? It's been a month, hasn't it?

"A month?" Yuuta whispered before he continued reading on.

I'm sorry if I can't save you from your bullying right now. It seems that that man is not willing to let me go outside so easily like Shinobu. It may take a few months more before I can meet you again, but I will assure you, I'll never let you get that scar again.

I will personally make sure that those pieces of trash will suffer for what they did to you.

"Who is this boy...?" my dad muttered.

"Scar? What scar, onee-san?" Yuuta asked.

"I'll tell you later. Just continue with the letter."

Both of my children were a bit unsettled by Kiyotaka's words, but they didn't say anything.

"Oh, they incurred the wrath of the demon. I feel sorry for them." I heard Shin mutter

It does give me an opportunity to further plan things out without any interruptions, so I'm fine with being left alone for now. Go and talk to our kids later about the stuff that went on in my end, and make sure to talk to Shinobu too. She's my twin sister here, and she said that she's always wanted to meet you.

"Our kids?! W-What is he saying, Kei?" My mom said.

"I'll explain everything once the letter finishes." I said.

For now, I want you to relax as much as you can. Honami and Suzuki will stay there for some time if your family approves of it, since I don't want that man catching wind of their existence just yet. Take care, Kei, and I love you.

Yours truly,
Kiyotaka

"So you're the girl Aniki says is his future wife?!" Matsuo-kun suddenly screamed at me after Yuuta finished reading the letter. "Man, he really scored big with you!"

"Don't say that about my mother, Eiichiro-san!" Honami smacked him in the back of the head.

Before my family becomes even more confused about what's going on, I gave everyone an explanation as to what was going on.

"Time travel?!" Yuuta shouted excitedly, and I can swear that I see the stars in his eyes.

"Yes, Yuuta, time travel." I sighed. I then felt my mother hug me. I heard her sobbing afterwards.

"I-I'm so glad... t-that you finally managed to get a normal life... Y-You have a family that.... cares for you... and a... successful career... I'm s-so glad..."

"Thank you, mom. However, I.. no, we still have a mission to accomplish." I said.

"I want to meet this Ayanokouji Kiyotaka now." my mom wiped off her tears. "But considering that you two married, we must have given him our blessing, right?"

"He he, you gave it really easily." I giggled.

"It's nice to see you again, grandmother and grandfather." Suzuki greeted both of them. My dad scratched his head.

"You look like a male version of Kei!" My mom hugged Suzuki excitedly.

"Haha, that's kinda embarrassing, being called that already." my dad said.

"Hey, it's also going to be embarrassing for me, too, since these people that are older than me will call me uncle!" Yuuta pointed out, making the rest of us laugh.

"They've been calling me their aunt already." The other girl, Shinobu, said, then she turned to me. "It's nice to meet you, Karuizawa-san."

"Call me by my first name, it's fine." I said. "I mean, you are my sister-in-law after all, even if me and Kiyotaka aren't officially married in this timeline."

"So Kei-san, then." she said. "Honestly, I'm curious as to how you and my brother met in the previous timeline."

Instantly, me, Honami, and Suzuki averted our gazes, making the rest of them confused.

"Uh, let's not talk about that for now..." I said.

"Yeah, as much as we love our dad, he was not the nicest person in the beginning..." Honami added.

"Yeah, he was kinda horrible. Seriously, "spread your legs"...?" Suzuki muttered.

"E-Eh? What did Kiyotaka-san do, Suzuki-kun?" Miharu whispered to Suzuki.

"It wasn't great, Miharu-chan. That's all I can say for now." Suzuki replied.

"He did something truly deserving of his title." Shin said cryptically.

"I know that you know how Kiyotaka acted in the beginning, so I can tell you, but not here." I said seriously.

"Eh? What did he do, onee-san?" Yuuta asked.

"Kiyotaka was... dare I say it, very horrible when we first met. Of course, he is not that kind of person anymore, but let's just say there was a reason why I hated him in the beginning." I said. "Don't worry, though, I've forgiven him a long time ago for that."

My family was a bit unnerved by what I said, but decided not to pry since they knew I was not going to tell them the truth.

"So are you all going to stay here?" My dad asked them. Shinobu and Eiichiro shook their heads.

"Can't stay here for too long, my pops may get anxious." Eiichiro said.

"Same with me. I doubt that man will be pleased by me being gone for very long. Kiyotaka-nii-san also said that it would be better for only Honami, Suzuki, Shin, and Miharu to be here instead." Shinobu explained.

"Even if we did want to meet our respective parents, explaining as well as living with them would be difficult, especially to Miharu-san." Shin added.

"After all, at this point in the timeline, Uncle Ryuuen is an infamous delinquent. She won't be safe." Honami said.

"Hey! I know how to fight!" Miharu pouted.

"Yeah, I know, but that's not really the point." Suzuki said.

"I get it. I'll stay here for now."

"I see." my dad nodded then turned to my two kids. "Make yourselves at home, then, you four."

"Thank you, grandfather." Suzuki replied.

"I guess we'll have to talk about what happened on our end, then, mom." Honami said.

I smiled seeing my children again, the nodded.

"Yeah, I wanna hear all about it!"

Keisei's POV

No changes at all, huh? How annoying.

In the month that I've been back here, I had the naive wish that my situation will change somewhat, but I guess I was wrong.

I was alone in my room, studying as usual. Even if I have learned all this already, there was no harm in reviewing all of it.

I sighed, thinking about what I should do in the future.

While I'm no match for Kiyotaka in terms of intelligence, I still want to contribute in any way I can.

After a few hours of studying, I came down to the dining room. Everyone was either at work or are in school, and since my school finished early, I was alone in the house. Well, I won't be alone for long. I invited a new friend that would no doubt be an asset later with his academic skills, since he told me that he would be attending ANHS in the future as well.

I heard a knock on the door. I opened it, and it was him, a black haired man and his little sister.

"Uesugi Futarou-san and Uesugi Raiha-san." I smiled at the both of them. "Come in."

Hiyori's POV

"There's no changes on my end, huh? Somehow, that feels very disappointing." I couldn't help but mutter as I looked back on the one month I've lived in this new timeline.

It still didn't feel real to me. Time travel is a concept that has always fascinated me. After all, being capable of going back to the past or going forward in the future always had a certain allure to it that tickles a human's fantasies. It's such an intricate and captivating concept that exists. Being part of an experience like that was great, even if the context behind it was extremely depressing.

I always felt that Kiyotaka-kun was in pain, not only from all of the actions that he took in the past, but from the price that he paid for his freedom. While none of us ever regretted freeing him from that hell, I'm sure that the remorse he felt from all of that must have been immense, which is why as his friend and book buddy, as well as the man I... love, I must endeavor to be of help to him.

It's such a pity that I wasn't able to end up with him, but he and Kei-san are a wonderful couple, and I wouldn't want to ruin it. I'm satisfied with just being  Kiyotaka-kun's friend.

Since I cannot really do anything about the situation right now, all I'm going to do is to adapt to the situation at hand and do something that I love more than Kiyotaka-kun, reading books.

As I was reading my book, I heard shuffling from behind me, so I turned to see what was going on, and I saw what can only be described as a woman of true beauty.

Long flowing black hair, an elegant face, and a perfect body. There was no other way to describe her but beautiful. I was honestly really mesmerized.

She didn't see me, though. She was busy browsing through the books. I could see that she was struggling to pick one, so I decided to lend her a hand.

"Excuse me? Do you need some help?"

Instantly, she jumped at my words. It seems that she was startled by my presence.

"Ah, my apologies! I just thought that you needed help with choosing the books. I'm sorry if I bothered you..."

She quickly shook her head, then after a few seconds, she pulled a notebook out and wrote something on it.

"Please help me with picking a book. Thank you."

"Hm? What's your name?" I smiled at her to ease her anxiety. After another few seconds, she wrote something in her notebook again.

"My name is Komi Shoko. It's nice to meet you."

"Komi...-san?" I said. "Well then, what book do you want to pick?"

We then had a pleasant... conversation, I guess? I asked whether she was mute, but it simply turned out that she had a communication problem. I didn't mind, though. It didn't take long for us to become friends. I was overjoyed to hear that she was also going to ANHS.

Even if we came back here for quite the intense reason, this is... nice.

Haruka's POV

"I really want to see them all now..."

I couldn't help but whine as I lay on my bed. It's been a month since I've seen the group, after all. Can anyone really blame me?!

"I wonder what they're all doing."

My face hardened slightly when I remembered what Kiyopon was doing at this time, but I knew that I couldn't do anything about it for now.

Well at least I got to punch that bastard during the raid before Kei... Ah, well, never mind that.

Despite what Kiyopon had done to Airi all those years ago, we have all forgiven him for it. In hindsight, Kiyopon might have known that expelling Airi at that time would result in growth that allowed her to become more successful. I wouldn't put it past him. He is so good at things like that that it's almost creepy.

"He probably wouldn't have helped our class so much if he didn't have a growth fetish."

How right you were, Kei-san.

I got up out of my bed to eat some breakfast when my phone started to ring.

"It's her, huh?" I picked up the phone and answered the call.

"Hello,  Hasebe-san !"

"Hello, Yumeko-san."

"How are you doing today?"

"I'm doing fine. So, how much did you win this time?"

"About 17 million yen today. Those guys tried to only make me feel pain by cheating, so I punished them!"

"Don't be so cheerful while saying something so scary..."

"But they tried to ruin my fun!"

"Yeah, I know..."

I wonder why I am friends with this girl.

Yumeko Jabami. She was a transferee at my middle school, and after some talking, we became friends. However, it didn't take long for me to find out about her... obsession.

She is a compulsive gambler. A kakegurui. I always see her betting with other people with frankly ridiculous stakes, and somehow, she often wins these bets, gathering an impressive amount of money in the process. She became a bit infamous in our school not long after, and now people are very reluctant to gamble with her. She found a solution not long after, though.

She just began betting more money, and people accepted these bets even with her reputation due to how much money they were going to get if they did win. The fact that it isn't completely impossible for anyone to win against her also encouraged people to go for it.

If she ever manages to enter ANHS like she said she would, she would thrive there. She's incredibly cunning and intelligent, though not at Kiyopon's level, of course , which is practically a requirement if you want to survive in that school.

The call lasted only for a few minutes as we chatted about trivial things, then she hung up and the call ended.

"She's going to bleed people dry of points, that's for sure." I muttered. "She's definitely Class-D material, too. Glad I met a classmate this early."

I wonder what the others are doing...? Especially  Miyacchi ... I hope my dear husband isn't in any trouble.

Akito's POV

"Wake up, Akicchi."

That empty sounding voice could only belong to one person.

"Mikey...?" I groaned as I began to stand up from my position.

I saw both Sano Manjiro and Ryuguji Ken looking down at me, smirking.

"Ah, I'm sorry I overslept for the meetup today..." I said.

"It's fine." Ken, or Draken as he was called, said. "It's not like there was anything urgent with the meetup. We're just going to do the usual ride around the city."

"But still, it's not like you to oversleep, Akicchi." Mikey, Sano Manjiro, added.

"Ah, I just have things... to think about."

"That... Ayanokouji Group, right? And your wife?" Draken asked.

When I woke up in this timeline, I was surprised with how much my life changed. Previously, I was just a part of a group of small delinquents, not very well known at all. However, here, I was part of an incredibly famous gang in Tokyo, Tokyo Manji Gang. I was actually a close associate of these two, which are the leaders of the gang, and I was a member of the 1st Division, alongside this guy named Chifuyu and it was being led by a guy named Baji, who suspiciously sounds a lot like Ryuuen.

When I first came back, both of them told me that I was acting really weird, since I was usually so boisterous and loud, and considering that I am the opposite of that now, I can understand that they were suspicious. I did shrug it off as something minor at first, but eventually, I caved in and told them everything. Surprisingly, they believed me. They said that I was not the type of person to lie or make up stories, so if I said such a thing, it must have been real.

"Yeah. I just want to know how they're doing right now." I said

"I get that you're in a really weird situation, but it's not like you can do anything about it right now." Mikey said. "You're all currently separated and you aren't smart enough to plan things out."

"You're right, but I'm just worried, you know?"

"It's going to be fine." Draken reassured me. "As Mikey said, you can't really help right now, so you should just wait, live your life, and help them when the time comes."

"And we'll be there with you." Mikey put out a thumbs up. I just remembered that these guys will also attend ANHS in the future, so they can probably help out with Kiyotaka and his efforts.

"I guess I'll just have to live my life for now." I shrugged my shoulders.

"Just think of this as your last days as a bachelor before getting married." Draken patted me in the shoulders.

"I am married!"

"Not officially!"

"Besides, I doubt your wife will appreciate that you became a part of a gang." Draken smirked at me.

"She probably wouldn't mind..." I said. I remembered all the times that she talked about me being a former delinquent, and I noticed that she wasn't really disgusted by it. I smiled as I remembered those moments, and both of the guys will smirk at me like crazy.

"You're completely smitten, huh?" Draken remarked.

"You're one to talk when you're the same with my sister, Kenchin." Mikey retorted, causing Draken to glare at him.

Honestly, these guys are really fun to be around. I hope we can all see each other again.

Airi's POV

It honestly still doesn't feel real to me.
Everything still feels... like a dream, even after a month.

I was honestly excited when I heard that we were traveling back in time. I now have a chance to fix the mistakes that I made in the past due to my lack of growth.

Even if it may have been cruel at the time, right now, I was grateful to Kiyotaka-kun for expelling me. Without that final push, I wouldn't have been able to truly come out of my shell and become a better individual in the process. Now that I am back to the past, I will make sure to fix the mistakes that I had done in the past and lead a better life than before.

When I did come back though, all my plans were thrown off the window.
Instead of being the relatively obscure gravure idol that I was before, now I'm part of an extremely popular idol group, B-Komachi.

And I became friends with one of their most popular members...

"Hey, Ri-chan!"

"Hello, Ai-san."

Hoshino Ai. In all honesty, she was the definition of cute. I've never seen a person like that in my entire life before I met her. It was like she was born to become an idol.

"Are you okay?" she asked me.

"Ah, I'm fine, Ai-san." I answered.

"You were a bit spaced out there. We have practice later today, so I'm just worried about your performance." she said.

"Don't worry about me, Ai-san, I'm going to be fine." I assured her.

"I hope you are, Ri-chan." she said. "Or are you worried about them?"

"I'm not worried about them. They'll be fine, especially Kiyotaka-kun."

That's right, I told her everything. I felt guilty about not telling her, since I could see that we've been friends for a long time in this timeline. She felt like a big sister that I never had. That's why I told her about my situation.

Surprisingly, she believed me. When I asked why, she said, "If reincarnation exists, then why not time travel?"

When I asked her about it, she told me all about her kids, and how one day, when she came home early, she saw her kids, who were infants, talking like adults. After she confronted them about it, they told her that they were the reincarnation of the doctor that helped her give birth and one of his patients. It must have been an awkward situation for her.

I've also heard from her that she was going to ANHS, though she attended a year later than intended because of her kids so she was going to attend as a first year even though she was 16. I hope that we become classmates.

"Kiyotaka-kun, hm? I really want to meet your crush now." Ai-san teased me.

"He's not my crush anymore, Ai-san!" I said. "Besides, he has a wife!"

"I really wonder who his wife is considering that someone as cute as you was just right nearby him." she said.

"His wife is a better match for Kiyotaka-kun than I ever will." I said. While it hurts me a little to say that, I can confidently say that it was definitely true

"Well, before you go into this mission of yours, Ri-chan, why don't you live your life a little?" she smiled, but then her expression turned serious.

"I hope that you can live your life a little, and not live in fear like I do."

"What's going on, Ai-san?" I asked worriedly.

"I have a stalker, though I'd prefer it if you kept it between us." she whispered.

I was reminded of that time during our first year in the previous timeline when I had to suffer the same thing. I was hoping that nothing will happen to her like what happened to me, but I knew that it was foolish.

I hope that we can save her when the time comes.

Chapter Text

Kiyotaka's POV
March 18, 2018 (Original Timeline)
Karuizawa Kei's Dormitory

"I see..."

Kei's gloomy expression said it all.

"I wonder... why you were being so cold. I guess this is why..."

A break-up. It is a painful event that no one in a relationship would want to experience. After all, it is the act of separation to the one person you would have considered your other half. No matter how peaceful the process is, it would still be an absolutely depressing thing to experience by anyone.

And right now, me and Kei are going through this process.

"Why would you do this, Kiyotaka?" she asked. Tears were slowly running down her face, but she wasn't angry at all. She simply wanted to know why.

"Our relationship wasn't meant to last for a long time." I said. "Now that my time here in ANHS is close to its conclusion, so would our time together."

"W-What do you mean?"

"I came to this school to learn things about the outside world. Emotions, common sense, friendship, love. Things I never had before."

I could see the shock and confusion on her face.

"Were you simply... using me to learn about love?" she asked.

I didn't say anything. I simply nodded at her words. I could clearly see the pain in her expression, but instead of crying further, she chuckled.

"I have been so blind." she said. "You've always been like that, Kiyotaka. Always so cold, harsh, and ruthless. It was me who didn't realize it until it was too late. I was so stupid."

She sighed heavily.

"Still, despite this, I want to thank you, Kiyotaka." she continued. "My time with you had been the best I've ever had in my entire miserable life. It's a shame that it couldn't last long."

She really has grown. She's not a parasite clinging to anyone anymore. She has become capable of standing on her own two feet.

"Don't worry, Kei." I said, before approaching her and kissing her on the lips briefly. "I will never forget you until the day I died."

"Thank you." she smiled sadly. I then turned away from her and started walking at the direction of the school gates, to where a bunch of my father's men were waiting.

I turned around one last time to see her, and I smiled, catching her off-guard.

"Goodbye, Karuizawa Kei."

March 18, 2020 (Original Timeline)
Undisclosed Location, White Room

It's been two years.

Returning back to the White Room had always been an inevitability for me even when I had first stepped foot in ANHS. Despite this, I always have this feeling... of emptiness that I just couldn't remove from myself. I didn't know where it was coming from, but as I continued learning and doing my tasks, the feeling grew stronger and stronger, but I simply continued to ignore it.

Just then, as I was pondering all of this information, I heard a large explosion somewhere outside the facility. It didn't take long for the facility to descend into chaos afterwards, as hundreds of soldiers stormed the White Room.

This day, which would later be known in history as the "White Raid", was a turning point in my life that I would never ever forget. It was the day that I finally acquired my freedom.

When Kei escorted me out of my room that day, we ran as fast as we both could towards the exit. Both Ichinose and Horikita had been shot at this point, yet all we could really do was run, without stopping nor delaying along the way.

"Kiyopon!" A familiar female voice called out in front of us, and it was Haruka. She didn't say anything after that, and simply accompanied both me and Kei. I also noticed that Kei had a gun on her.

Is she going to...

The two then led me to a series if secret tunnels under the facility. I knew about its existence, but I had never properly seen it. I only knew that this was a way to escape the White Room if it was ever put into a situation like this.

If we're escaping here, then...

When we turned a corner, my predictions were proven right. We saw that man escaping alongside his guards.

Before they were able to react, I acted quickly. I quickly disarmed and incapacitated the guards, which left that man alone with the three of us

"Is this truly the path you're going to take, Kiyotaka?" Despite the  disadvantageous  situation, he isn't fazed at all.

"Now that my freedom is a possibility, I'll take it." I said. "Chabashira Sae once described my situation as something similar to Icarus. If that's the case, then I'll gladly get my wings burned down to attain my freedom because they were created by you."

"You are being foolish, Kiyotaka." he said, but before he can continue, someone interrupted him.

"You're the foolish one here, Ayanokouji Atsuomi." Kei glared at that man, unfazed by his cold, piercing gaze.

"A lowly woman like you-" Before he can continue, Haruka charged at him and punched him in the face.

"Someone like you who turned Kiyotaka into that has no right to speak." I could sense the absolute hatred in her voice. I noticed that he called by my first name instead of my nickname , which just indicated how truly mad she was.

"You called me a lowly woman, huh?" Kei whispered. She then pulled out her gun and aimed it at him. "Unfortunately for you, this lowly woman is about to  end everything. May you rot and wither in hell, you piece of shit."

BANG! BANG! BANG!

Three shots.

Three gunshots.

That was all it took for him to fall. The man who was only my father by blood and nothing else. The man who had molded me into the cold demon that I was. One of the most influential men in the country, dead by the hands of the girl who had once been my girlfriend, and will become my wife.

That spelled the end of the "White Raid".

May 17, 2014 (New Timeline)

"Kiyotaka-nii-san?" Shinobu called out to me. I was currently staring out the window of our car as we were about to visit Kei after I had been finally given permission to travel around the country.

"Ah, I'm just reminiscing some things." I said. Shinobu chuckled at me.

"Reminiscing, huh? It's honestly still odd that you're saying things like that." she said.

"Get used to it." I said.

"I guess I should. Why are we going there now? Do you want to see your wife that much?" she teased me.

"Why wouldn't I want to see my wife, Shinobu?" I said.

"Haha, you have a point, Kiyotaka-nii-san." she chuckled again. "So are you just going there to see her?"

"No, I have some things I need to do there." I said. "While I want to stay with my wife for the rest of our time here before we get to ANHS, I can't let that man become too suspicious."

"Some things you need to do?" Shinobu asked.

"Saving my wife from the nightmare that is currently plaguing her." I answered.

"Ah, the bullying, right?" she asked again and I just nodded. "Well, those guys are certainly done for."

"I'll have to meet up with Kei's family and my kids first." I said. "I do hope that she's been caught up with what I've done for the past couple of months."

"Your acting was really impeccable back there, by the way." Shinobu remarked. "You really made it look like you were your past self, or should I say, present self? Time travel makes everything so confusing."

"I managed to practice it, fortunately." I said. "If I acted like I did now, the bastard would probably think something was up."

"Haha, to think you would call that man a "bastard.", you really have changed, Kiyotaka-nii-san." she chuckled.

Meanwhile, I smiled while looking out of the window in our car, watching the scenery.

"I really have, huh?" I said.

"So what's the plan once you actually get to ANHS?" she asked.

"It's something that I can only properly explain once I've been reunited with everyone else." I said. "Besides, the plan is still incomplete. I have to account for all the changes that this timeline brought."

"For example, a chunk of the Moon got destroyed by some being, and now it's threatening to destroy the Earth or something in a year. That's certainly a massive change." I remarked. "I doubt the world's actually going to be destroyed, considering that the Author wouldn't send us in a timeline where the world is going to end in a year after we show up, so let's just hope for the best."

"Plus, there's this country, Britannia. It didn't exist in my original timeline. While I don't know the effect of the existence of that country would have in my time in ANHS, it doesn't hurt to get ready."

"I guess I'll just have to find out later, huh?" she mused.

"Yes."

"Oh yeah, what about those two?" Shinobu asked, referring to Shin and Miharu.

"I gave them explicit instructions to stay with Kei until further notice. " I said. "Right now, they're probably on standby in her house."

"Ho? I wonder how far they went already..." she said, implying that, since there are two couples in the house, there's a possibility that they have gone... all the way.

"I doubt it." I said. "Suzuki and Miharu likes to take things slow, while Shin and Honami... has some other problems."

"What do you mean?"

"Shin has a weak constitution, Honami's physical condition is almost superhuman. If they did do it at this age, then..." I trailed off, leaving the rest of my statement to the imagination.

"Yeah, I see why they wouldn't." Shinobu chuckled to herself. "Shin-kun wouldn't survive."

We continued to chat to ourselves as our car slowly approached our destination.

Shin's POV
May, 16, 2014
Karuizawa Residence

"It's so... peaceful." I muttered to myself as I stared at the night sky. I was currently in the guest room's balcony, as I began to reminisce about my childhood.

A natural genius.

That was how everyone had described me when I was younger. It was something that I had inherited from my beloved mother.

I was capable of incredible intellectual achievements even as a child. I was unrivaled, and nobody could touch me, despite my weak physical condition. Victory was a natural occurrence for me, and I knew that none of my peers can even come close to reaching me.

My mother told me to be proud of my genius, and I took that statement by heart. My pride then soon turned into arrogance, and I acted harshly to everyone. It was a period of my life that I regretted, and I hoped that I would never feel that way again.

This is why I am thankful to Honami for setting me straight.

Ayanokouji Honami. The daughter of the Demon of the 4th Generation and the Masterpiece of the White Room, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. In all honesty, I never knew how capable she was, but considering that her father was one of the only people that I acknowledged I would never be able to win against no matter how hard I tried, I figured that she may be the same.

However, I knew that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka wasn't a natural genius.

That doesn't make him any less capable, but his strength lies not in his intelligence or power. It lies in his monstrous adaptability. He is capable of mastering any sort of skill near instantaneously, which made him into the superhuman that he is.

Because of this, though, I foolishly believed that his children wouldn't be as impressive as him, since his abilities didn't come to him naturally.

I was wrong.

One academic semester later during my first year in middle school, it became clear to me that I was not unbeatable nor untouchable.

I was second place. To her.

It felt like my world had ended at that moment. Despair and rage came over me like a massive tidal wave. I was about ready to assault her with my cane, but I knew that, with her physical abilities, she will simply, pardon my crude language, kick my ass in a fight.

My pride was permanently scarred that day. I didn't let that hinder me, however, and I swore to myself that I will do something I never thought I would actually be doing all my life.

I'll work hard to beat her.

Soon, our relationship turned to that of a rivalry. There was never actually a clear winner between us, as we both gained victory over the other many times. Our competitiveness and our pride would actually never let us admit defeat to one another, and so, our rivalry never ended.

Yes, even now, when we are in a loving romantic relationship, we still consider ourselves rivals.

"Reminiscing, Shin?" Honami said while walking towards me, and eventually sitting beside me.

"Yes. I still wonder to this day how our relationship developed into this." I said. I heard Honami chuckle, and it is adorable.

"Stranger things have happened to the Ayanokouji family. I mean, look at Mom and Dad."

"You're not wrong." I nodded. "From. what I have heard, he did something horrible to her, and yet look at them now."

"I was looking forward to competing with you again, Shin." she said as she put her head on my shoulder.

"Yes, I know." I said, as I began patting her head. "Right now, though, we have a mission."

"Yeah, we do." she nodded. "We need to focus on it."

"Indeed."

A comfortable silence then befell us, as we quietly enjoyed each other's company.

Kei's PO V
May 17, 2014

"You know, mom, you look really small in this time period." Honami remarked while walking alongside me. She was currently accompanying me towards school.

"No, Honami, you're just really big for your age." I bluntly replied.

Like seriously, how? Why is her body so different from mine when I was at her age? I know for a fact that I gave birth to her, so why the hell does she have those massive... assets?! Wait, this is ridiculous! Why am I jealous of my own daughter?!

Is this Kiyotaka's genes at work? Are the Ayanokoujis always so naturally big when it comes to... these sorts of things?! Even Kiyotaka is the same with his... private part! I barely managed to survive it when we had our first time! I couldn't even believe that it managed to fit in me!

I started blushing remembering all the times me and Kiyotaka did it. Meanwhile, Honami sent me a deadpan look.

"Mom, are you thinking about Dad's dick again?" she said bluntly.

"W-What?! What are you saying, Honami?!"

"Your thoughts are way too obvious, Mom. You talked about my size, then you thought whether all of the Ayanokoujis have the same feature, which led you to think about Dad's massive weiner. It's not that hard to figure out, especially considering how down horrendous you are." she bluntly said again.

"Honestly, with a size like that, no wonder he had a harem when he was at school. Your daughter is so proud of you, Dad...." she said while shedding a nonexistent tear.

"Hey, don't say that! Besides, why are you even talking about such a thing so casually?!"

"Because I'm his daughter? I can talk about it casually whenever I want because we're not going to have a relationship like that." she said.

"Or do you want me to seduce Dad and have him cheat on you with me? I never thought my own mother would have a NTR and an incest fetish. Gross." she said.

"Wha- Honami!" I was flustered at this point. She just chuckled quietly.

"I was kidding, Mom."

"Seriously, you are just like your father. Saying jokes like that with a poker face is seriously bad for anyone's heart." I said

"Thank you, Mom."

"It's not a compliment!"

"Being considered similar to Dad is always a compliment, Mom."

"You're not wrong."

We both continued bantering like that, until we reached the school gates. Once we approached, I saw three familiar girls waiting for me. They were three of the many students that bullied me in the school.

(A/N: I am not going to give them names, because I can't really waste my time in thinking up names of characters that aren't going to be too important anyway.)

Instinctively, I started shaking, but Honami held my arm, and I started calming down. As I expected, one of the girls looked down on me with a sneer on her face.

"Hahahaha, oh look, Karuizawa's coming to school with another girl!" she said.

"I wonder how much money you paid just to get this girl to hang out with filth like you." another girl said, taunting me.

"Yeah! It's so funny seeing you so desperate, you bitch!"

I wasn't fazed by the insults at all. I've gone through far worse, plus I'm actually mentally an adult, so what they say to me has no effect whatsoever. Besides, this is seriously so tame compared to the bullying I received.

I've also killed someone before. There's no way a bunch of middle schoolers are going to affect me.

It's a different story for Honami, though. She was positively furious. Her golden eyes showed the familiar darkness that I've only ever seen in Kiyotaka. It was intimidating, to say the least. It seems that the girls didn't notice her, though, as they were too focused on me.

"Hey, what's with that look, huh? Trying to act all tough, you trash?!" one of the girls didn't like how I was looking at them.

"You need to learn your place right now!" Another one tried to slap me in the face, but before anyone can react, Honami instantly grabbed the wrist of the girl.

"You are the ones who need to learn your place. Don't you dare hurt Kei-san in front of me, or you'll pay."

She then started gripping her wrist harder, and I could see the girl's face pale at her grip strength.

Ah, from what I can remember, Honami's grip strength is about 100 kg. Yeah, that's going to hurt.

"Y-You-!"

"This isn't a threat." Honami then proceeded to completely break her wrist.

"AAAAAAHHHH!" the girl shouted loudly. Her two friends look at Honami, horrified.

"It's a promise."

This isn't the first time she did something like this, but she is scary. She definitely inherited this from Kiyotaka and his garbage of a father.

"L-Let's get out of here..." The girl who had her wrist broken told her two friends, and as I expected, they ran as fast as they can.

"Sorry, Kei-san. I wouldn't be able to protect you like that once you enter the school." she turned to me.

She called me by my first name instead of calling me Mom in case anyone was watching.  Ah, you're so smart. Your Mom is so proud of you!

"It's fine. This is nothing." I assured her. "The only thing I'm going to be worried about will be the scar. You need to watch over your brother for now. Who knows what kind of trouble he's already gotten himself into..."

"If you insist, Kei-san." she said. "When the time comes, we will save you."

"I know." I smiled, then I entered the school.

When I did, I experienced the usual bullying that I received at this time. At first, I acted the same way I did when I was being bullied like this in the original timeline. However, I didn't have to do that today, because on this day, these pieces of shit are going to get what they deserve.

I then remembered what we talked about a month ago when those four came to my house and Honami and Suzuki talked to me.

April 19, 2014
Karuizawa Kei's Bedroom

"So what did you do?" I asked the two of them.

"Well, first, we met both Eiichiro-san and Nanase-san." Suzuki began. "Dad made friends with them really fast, it was insane."

I chuckled at this information.

"If your Dad in his first year in highschool saw that, he would have died inside."

"Anyway, Dad also began to talk to that man about getting out of the house, but he's been unsuccessful so far. He said that it wouldn't take long before he succeeds, though, and he said that he would be able to persuade him before you get the... scar." he continued. I flinched a little at the thought of the scar. While I have mostly gotten over that incident, the scar still haunted me. I really do not want to get it again.

"Why didn't he ask you two to take care of it for him?" I asked. While that would normally be dangerous, these two are stronger than Housen when he were at their age. "He didn't have to put a time limit like that to himself."

"Dad is confident that he's going to be able to persuade that man, plus he also said that he didn't want us to stand out unnecessarily. At least, on our own." Honami said.

"Does he have a plan for once we get to ANHS?" I asked the two. They both nodded.

"He said that he did, but he also said that it was still a rough draft. He doesn't have a clear picture just yet." Honami answered. "He said that he had to account for all the possible differences in the timeline before formulating a complete plan, and even then, he said that the plan needed to be flexible to account for possible butterfly effect. For example, Airi-san."

"Oh yeah, she's a member of that idol group, B-Komachi, right?" I said, remembering that time I saw her on TV. Needless to say, it really shocked me.

"Yeah, Dad said he needed to account for those changes before making a plan." Suzuki chimed in. I clutched my head and sighed.

"This is all so complicated... Why can't Kiyotaka kill the bastard when he gets the chance? It's not like his guards are stronger than him." I asked, referring to that moment in the White Raid when Kiyotaka incapacitated his guards. "Or better yet, why can't he just let me kill the bastard again? That would make me feel a whole lot better."

"He said that it isn't going to solve anything right now." Suzuki answered my question. "The only reason why it worked in the original timeline, according to Dad, was that he was already losing everything when he had died. If we kill him now,  nothing would change. He would probably have a lot of contingency plans to continue with his ambitions. The only way we can take him down effectively is what Horikita Manabu and his allies did in the original timeline. That's what Dad said at least."

"But a lot of people died in the White Raid!" I said. "That's the major thing we want to prevent!"

"Dad also said that, which is why he's thinking of a way to reduce the casualties of the White Raid. Maybe to only people that he doesn't care about." Suzuki said.

"That's probably what he's doing..." I muttered.

While Kiyotaka had changed a lot from when he was at high school, that didn't mean that he became selfless and altruistic. Far from it.  He only started genuinely caring about his loved ones and his friends. However, that doesn't apply to everyone. He will still gladly sacrifice a complete stranger for the sake of his goals and the sake of the people he does care about.

When Kiyotaka said he'll save "everyone", it simply just meant he wants to save "everyone he cared about".

"This is all so complicated..." I muttered again. Both of my kids agreed.

"Basically, we are restricted to doing the exact same things you did in the original timeline, just with a much better ending for everyone." Honami summarized our predicament. "We can't change our approach here."

"So troublesome..." Suzuki muttered.

"Anyway, what are you two going to do here?" I asked.

"Well, we're going to stay here in the house for a month, then we'll accompany you to school afterwards." Honami answered.

"Is it because of the scar?"

"Partly. He said that he wanted us to lie low until he makes a move, and he estimates that he'll be making his move in the next month. And also because of the scar, since you told him that you got it about 10 months before ANHS, which is a month from now." Suzuki explained.

"I see..." I said wistfully. "I really want to see him again."

"Don't worry, Mom, you will." Honami smiled. "We'll just have to be patient."

"Hey, Mom, I have a plan on how to deal with the bullies, along with Dad's plan. You want to hear it?"

"Yeah."

I feel sorry for them already.

May 17, 2014

"Now that I see this from an adult's perspective, these middle schoolers are seriously really evil." I whispered to myself as I looked at my locker, which was filled with bird feces. It was the end of classes, and I'm now headed home.

"Oh well, they're all going to be gone by today, so I shouldn't really think too much about it."

After that, I cleaned my locker diligently and put all my stuff there. Normally, I wouldn't be doing it because these things would be damaged. But after today, nobody would ever dare to bully me, so why bother worrying?

When I got out of the school gates, I immediately noticed them. The group who gave me that scar.

"I should lure them there." I whispered. Immediately, I ran as fast as I can, and as expected, they all followed me, all while wearing sadistic smiles on their faces.

Seriously, these guys are really damn evil.

I noticed Honami following us from the corner of my eye. She was probably going to watch me for a bit while waiting for Kiyotaka.

I wonder if Suzuki succeeded in his own plan.

I continued to run as I thought about it, and I saw that the bullies were surprised by my running speed. Well, of course they would be. At this point in time, my physical ability is severely below average, so I shouldn't be able to run like this. However, in the original timeline, I had asked Kiyotaka to train me in martial arts as well as increase my physical ability. While I wasn't as strong as anyone in my family, I'm still strong enough to handle myself.

When I arrived here, I thought that I would have to train my body to adapt to my skills, but it seems that the being that brought us here also modified our bodies so that it would match our physical abilities in the future. That certainly made it easier for me.

However, I couldn't run forever.

"You really thought you can run away like that, do you, Karuizawa?" one of my bullies said as they finally caught up with me. It was an abandoned warehouse which, incidentally, was near a police station.

"Hahahahaha, this bitch really thought she can escape from us, hilarious!"

"Well, it's not going to change anything, we'll break this trash either way."

I glared at them, which they didn't like.

"Why the hell are you looking at us like that, huh?" one of them said while raising my chin.

"Feeling brave today, Karuizawa?" another one laughed. "Well, it's going to be much more fun to crush you, then!"

"I can't wait for this bitch to beg for mercy!"

They all then continued to laugh. Meanwhile, the guy who was holding me by the chin pulled out a knife, and smiled maniacally.

"Let's see if you can still look like that when I stab this through you!"

I can still distinctly remember the last time this happened. This guy stabbed me in the stomach even when I was begging for him to stop. He was actually going to stab me more, but he was almost caught by someone, so he had only stabbed me once.

However, I'm not going to let him stab me again.

As the blade approached my body, I caught the knife with my bare hands, causing it to bleed. I gritted my teeth as I felt the pain coursing throughout my hands. Everyone watching was shocked by this action.

"I won't... let you!" I then let go of the knife and immediately punched the guy on the solar plexus, causing him to be stunned and stumble backwards.

"Sorry I'm late."

It was the voice I've been waiting to hear today.

"I sure hope you weren't late on purpose like last time, Kiyotaka."

Everyone then turned to the person who spoke, and there stood my beloved husband. Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. Honami and Shinobu-san were standing beside him.

"No, don't worry. I'm actually late this time."

Instantly, the atmosphere changed. The bloodlust emanating from the three of them were so thick that even I could feel it, and it sure as hell wasn't directed at me. The bullies began shaking in terror. The color was gone from their faces, and from the looks of it, some of them started pissing their pants.

"W-Who the hell are you?!" the guy that was about to stab me shouted.

"None of your business." Kiyotaka said, his anger being extremely obvious. "All you really need to know is that Kei is the woman I love."

I blushed despite the situation we are in.

Stupid Kiyotaka! Saying things like that...

"Dad." I could hear Honami whisper to Kiyotaka. He simply nodded at her, and a feral smile appeared on her face.

(A/N: Something similar to this.)

"I promised, didn't I?"

She then charged at the bully who was about to stab me and tripped him, causing him to fall on his back.

Before he can even react, she lifted him up, and in a display that truly horrified everyone, she dropped him and kneed him in the back, breaking his spine.

(A/N: Imagine Bane breaking Batman's back in the Dark Knight Rises. Yeah, that's what it looks like.)

The bullies were all shocked at Honami's brutality to the point that none of them could move, which was a big mistake.

Without hesitation, both Shinobu-san and Kiyotaka ran towards my bullies and proceeded to attack them with brutal efficiency.

The kids had told me that Shinobu-san was also from the White Room, and it showed. She punched one in the face as she parried a punch from a guy in her right, before elbowing him in the stomach. She then glanced at the three people coming at her with quick succession, then she kicked one in the stomach, then struck the other two in the chest and the head with a quick jab.

Kiyotaka was as strong as ever. He wasn't even hit even once by anyone. In a few seconds, 6 guys were already collapsed on the floor, bleeding. He kicked a guy coming at him straight in the head, while he then choked another one and slammed them in the floor, the same way he did to Ibuki-san back then. He then broke the jaw of another person coming at him from behind, like he had eyes on the back of his head, before spinning around, elbowing another one in the chest. The look on his eyes was downright murderous.

One guy was brave enough to approach him while wielding a club, but that didn't work out for him. When he swung the club, Kiyotaka grabbed it, took it from him, then swiftly struck him in the ches, the knee, and then the head, leading to him collapsing to the floor. He then used that same club to dispatch two other people.

The same could also be said about my daughter. After she had broken the spine of that guy, she proceeded to decimate the guys that came her way. Every punch and kick that she sent dealt devastating blow to her enemies, or victims in this case. It was like a dance. A dance symbolizing despair and violence towards her enemies. It was sickening yet also beautiful sight.

Seriously, what's with all the poetic expressions all of a sudden? I guess all that book reading with Hiyori-san is now affecting me.

It didn't take long for all the bullies to be taken care of. They were now all on the ground, bloody and beaten. It honestly felt... unreal. I never thought that I would see the people who made me suffer in this state. While I had already moved on from this part of my life when I had married Kiyotaka, I'm glad that this all happened.

Maybe that's why that being gave us such a huge head start, it was to give us closure that we didn't know we needed.

"They're gone now, Kei. They would never lay hand on you again." Kiyotaka said while giving me a soft smile.

All I could do was to give my husband a teary smile in return.

"Thank you."

"I wonder how you all got away with that." Suzuki asked as he casually drank coffee in our living room.

"It's Dad, Suzuki. Of course, he can get away with it." Honami sighed.

After the battle, though it's more fitting to call it a massacre, Kiyotaka had called the police, asking them to come and arrest the bullies for both kidnapping and assault. he weaved a very compelling story to the police that the bullies had kidnapped me, and due to a dispute, the group was torn apart and fell into chaos. It ended with everyone collapsing due to their injuries, while he and his two friends tried to rescue me, and only managed to do it due to the chaotic nature of the battlefield.

Because of the fact that the three ha dreceived no injuries whatsoever, the tale they constructed were believable to the police, so they weren't even questioned so much.

"What I'm wondering is you. How the hell did you manage to get away with what you did to those girls?" Shinobu-san asked Suzuki.

"Unlike a fight, arson is much easier to frame as an accident." he smirked in satisfaction of his plan working.

Simply put, he had investigated all of the girls that tried to bully me, and in a similar act to what he did in the original timeline, he seduced those girls, then invited them into an empty house. Once they were all congregated there, Suzuki sprung his trap into action, causing an "accident" that led to the entire house burning down, leading to severe injuries and even death. Due to how cleverly he had set up the trap, nobody suspected arson.

Seriously, the entire Ayanokouji Family is terrifying.

"Well, they got what they deserved in the end. " I remarked.

"Agreed." Honami nodded.

While we were talking about it, I could see my family being terrified in the background. Considering that both of my kids had just been so casual about murder, I can definitely understand why.

Meanwhile, both Miharu and Shin were also extremely calm, just casually drinking tea. After all, they aren't exactly a stranger to what our children are capable of, so they have no reason to be unsettled.

"Kei." Kiyotaka then called out to me. He had only briefly interacted with my family at this point, with my mother thanking him for marrying me, while Yuuta had asked how we met, though Kiyotaka cleverly dodged the question.

"Let's talk." he said. "There's a balcony in your room, right? Let's go there."

Without any question, I went with him towards the balcony. Once I closed the door to the place, he immediately kissed me on the lips. It wasn't a very long kiss, though.

"I missed you."

I punched him in the chest in embarrassment.

"Why would you do that all of a sudden, Kiyotaka?! At least give me some time to prepare!"

"But your reaction is so adorable. How can I resist doing that?" he said with a smirk. This guy was definitely teasing me.

"Ahhh mou!" I pouted. "I... missed you too, Kiyotaka."

"It's only been two months, huh?" he the turned towards the sky, which was already setting at this point.

"Yeah, we still have quite the long time before we attend ANHS." I said.

"You know, Kiyotaka, even though it was scary, I was really glad that you got angry for my sake."

"Why?"

"Because that meant that you really have your emotions now."

"I've had my emotions a long time ago, Kei. Surely you know that already." he said.

"Ah, no, that's not what I meant!" I said. "I've always associated your younger self with how you acted in the White Room. Emotionless, cold, and calculating. The fact that you got your emotions even in that young body of yours means that we've really returned back!"

"Were you afraid that my personality would change to that of how I was at this time?"

"Yeah." I nodded sadly. "I don't want you returning to that state anymore. It would have been so painful and unbearable. "

"Don't worry, I'm Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, your beloved husband, and not the ruthless and cold Demon of the 4th Generation." he said with a confident gaze.

"Yeah, I'm really glad you're here, Kiyotaka. I love you."

"I love you too, Kei."

Chapter Text

Airi 's POV
June 14, 2014

"Good job, girls!" Our manager, Saitou Ichigo, shouted as he raised his drink.

We had just finished our concert earlier, and he was holding a party to celebrate our success.

After a few more words of congratulations to us, the party truly began. While everyone was either talking or having fun, Ai-san approached me.

"Ri-chan!" she waved at me. "You having fun?"

"Yes, I am." I smiled cheerfully at her. "Honestly, I'm just glad that it all went well."

"Yep! You were really great out there, Ri-chan!" she said while she took a large bite out of a donut. I took notice of the large amount of sweets she seemed to be eating, so I decided to talk about it.

"Why are you eating so many sweets, Ai-san?" I said. Instantly, she averted her eyes.

"I got... tempted." she said meekly. "They're all so delicious! You know that I can't live without sweets, Ri-chan!"

"You're an idol, Ai-san. You have to take care of your body." I gently admonished her. "If you continue doing that, I'll take all those sweets away from you!"

"Gah! I forgot you were an idol manager in your timeline!" she said. "Ugh, can you at least let me have all this for now, Ri-chan?"

"I guess I'll allow it, since we're in a party." I said. "But make sure to eat healthy, okay, Ai-san?"

"Roger that, Ri-chan!" she playfully saluted. We both giggled at her action, before turning to Ichigo-san, who was currently walking towards us.

"Are you having fun, you two?" he asked.

"Yes!" we both said at the same time.

"Haha, I'm glad." he said, then he spoke to me. "You said that you want to go somewhere tomorrow?"

"Yes." I answered. "It's time that I visit my friend, Kiyotaka-kun, tomorrow."

"Ho? So you'll finally meet with the legendary Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun." Ai-san said, teasing me.

"L-Legendary? What are you saying?!" I said, embarrassed, while Ai-san simply chuckled at my reaction.

"I'm just exaggerating, Ri-chan, though from how you describe him to me, he may as well be legendary to you." she said.

"In any case," Ichigo-san continued. "I'm going to allow you to meet with him tomorrow and take a leave."

"Ichigo-san." Ai-san spoke up. "Can I also take a leave tomorrow? I want to come with Ri-chan!"

"Eh?!" I was surprised by her sudden request. "You want to meet him?"

"Yeah!" she said. "I'm genuinely curious what he's like."

"I'll allow it, Ai." Ichigo-san said. "You also need rest, since you've been working hard."

"Thanks, Ichigo-san!" she exclaimed. Meanwhile, I just smiled gently at her behavior.

"Ai-san's presence is always so calming and enchanting." I muttered to myself. "I wonder what's going to happen."

Kiyotaka-kun, we'll be able to meet again. It's been so long.

Kiyotaka's POV
June 15, 2014
Ayanokouji Residence

"At least I won't be seeing that man until winter next year." I remarked as I looked into the retreating figure of the vehicle that man was on.

Nothing had changed about him. He was still as cruel and as ruthless as ever. I was actually surprised that he had been lenient enough to let me out of the house, but I guess he viewed being able to see how society functioned as a learning experience for me, so he let me be.

As for my twin sister, despite her being another survivor of the 4th generation, he had outright dismissed and neglected her. He sometimes acted as if she didn't even exist. From what I can tell, she was inferior to me in terms of abilities, even if she managed to survive the White Room. I guess this is why she was so attached to me. I was the only family member that was actually there for her.

That fact almost broke my heart. It made me hate that bastard even more. Now that I had my emotions back, I was able to understand how awful our situation was even more than in the past. I also now have a burning hatred for that man, one that, thankfully, I had managed to conceal perfectly to him.

In all honesty, I was really tempted to take Kei's advice and just kill him, but I knew how much of a bad idea that was, so I refrained.

Right now, I need to focus and saving the Matsuos' lives, as well as reuniting with the Ayanokouji Group.

"I need to continue preparing a plan, it seems." I remarked as I began to walk back to the mansion. After just a few steps, though, I heard a car arrive outside of the gate. Wondering who it was, I looked back to see them.

It was a car I've never seen before, and I didn't recognize the driver either when he came out of the car. He was a blonde, middle-aged man wearing sunglasses. As he opened the door to the backseat though, I recognized who came out.

It was Airi.

"Kiyotaka-kun!" she waved at me and started to run at me, hugging when she was close.

"It's you, Airi. It's nice to see you again." I told her.

"It's nice to see you, too!" she said as she released the hug. Now that I looked closer, she was wearing both glasses and a red cap, probably to hide her identity to others. Before we can talk though, another voice came from behind her.

"So this is Ayanokouji-kun. It's nice to meet you!" It was a purple haired girl wearing a bright smile. I knew who she was.

"It's also nice to meet you, Hoshino Ai." I greeted.

"Oohh, so formal!" she said. "And handsome too. It's a shame that you already have a wife."

"A-Ai-san!" Airi shouted at her.

This is Hoshino Ai, huh? Currently one of the most popular idols in Japan. I could see why. Even though I'm seeing her for the first time, her charisma is something else. It beats even Kushida's, and that is saying something.

"So you are friends with her. Thank you for taking care of Airi." I said.

"Oh, it's nothing, Ayanokouji-kun. Airi is a good friend of mine, you know."

"Also, it seems that you already know about our situation, Hoshino." I said.

"Ri-chan told me!" she said cheerfully. "I mean, I was curious why she started acting strangely, so I decided to ask her, she told me, and I believed her!"

"Why?" I was curious as to why she believed her story. Either she simply trusts Airi that much, or something supernatural also happened to her.

"Why don't we... come inside for now, Kiyotaka-kun?" Airi said.

"Yes, let's talk inside."

"Contact me when you girls are going to go home, okay?" the blond man told them, and they both said yes.

He must be their manager.

After that, he left, leaving the 3 of us outside. We all then agreed to enter the mansion soon after.

"Where are Kei-san, Suzuki-kun, and Miharu-san?" Airi asked as she looked around, only noticing Honami, Shin and Shinobu here in the house, along with Matsuo who was serving us some tea.

"I had them stay at Kei's house. Considering the situation, they wouldn't be safe at all if they were with me, so I decided to return only with Honami here."

"So this is your daughter, Ayanokouji-kun." Hoshino remarked. "She's very pretty."

"Thank you for the praise, Hoshino-san." she said.

"Mama's right, you really are beautiful!" another person, or rather a baby, praised my daughter. It was Hoshino's own daughter, Hoshino Ruby.

She, and her twin brother, Hoshino Aquamarine, were the reasons why Hoshino believed me so easily. Her children were actually reincarnated. She caught them talking one day and they admitted to her that they were reincarnated. It was quite the interesting story, and I was thankful for it, since it made it so much easier to make her believe in our situation.

Speaking of the twin brother, he was only silent, staring at us with a scrutinizing gaze.

"Thank you." Honami said.

"How did you explain their presence in the house, then?" Airi asked.

"I said that they were a homeless couple I found on the streets, and that I wanted to make her work as my personal servant. He agreed almost instantly to take her in." I said.

"Eh?! Why not just tell him that they're your friends that need help?" Hoshino asked.

"Because if I had said something like that, he would have refused instantly, saying that I don't need any friends." I said. This shocked the Hoshino family, while Airi only looked down sadly.

"He's horrible..." Hoshino Aquamarine finally spoke. "What a horrible father you have, Ayanokouji-nii-san."

(A/N: Oh, if only you knew how horrible your own father is, Aqua.)

"It really proves just how much of a piece of garbage our grandfather is." Honami said, contempt clear in her voice. Being forced to be called a servant to her own father really made her hate that man even more.

"Ayanokouji Atsuomi is a detestable man. To think my grandfather once worked for that monster." Shin muttered angrily.

Considering how prideful these two are, I'm not surprised by their reaction.

"When do you think you'll meet again?" Airi asked again.

"Once I reunite with the others, I guess." I answered.

"Ah, I have news regarding Akito-kun, Kiyotaka-kun. Do you want to hear it?" Airi said.

"You have? Go on then." I said, leaning forward to hear about Akito.

"From what I've heard, he's a part of the Tokyo Manji Gang."

"Eh?! Isn't that one of the most infamous gangs in Japan right now? Why is your friend a part of it?"

"During the previous timeline, he was a delinquent, though he wasn't very famous. I guess he has a similar situation to you, Airi."

"Yes, I guess so." she said. "I haven't heard anything regarding Haruka-san, Keisei-san, and Hiyori-san, so they're probably all doing well."

"I see."

"What about you, Kiyotaka-kun? What did you do when you stayed with Kei-san?" Airi asked.

I then narrated what happened when we stayed at Kei's house, including all the cleanup we did.

Even though we have basically guaranteed that no one will bully Kei anymore due to what we did, we still have to make sure that none of the survivors will ever tell anyone about us, so we had to do use "persuasion". Basically, we contacted each and every one of the survivors through various burner phones and threatened them, using the arson that Suzuki committed as proof that we are serious. That was enough to make it certain that they wouldn't touch Kei anymore.

"Uh, you really care about your wife, don't you, Ayanokouji-kun?" Hoshino Ai remarked as she chuckled nervously. "I mean, I don't feel bad for them since they bullied her, but was there really a need to go that far?"

"Yes." Both me and Honami said.

"These guys are kinda scary, onii-chan." Hoshino Ruby whispered to her brother, though I can hear her.

"I mean, they are also adults like me, and I'm sure that Ayanokouji-nii-san has had a rough life if his father's attitude is any indication. He, and his family by extension, is probably used to tactics like this to survive." Hoshino Aquamarine analyzed.

"But still, they readily tried to kill people... As a doctor, is this really acceptable to you?" she asked.

"I have long ago discarded my identity as Gorou Amamiya, Ruby. I've already told you this." he said exasperatedly.

"I'm sorry! It's just..."

"it's fine."

"Anyway, what are we going to do now, Kiyotaka-kun?" Airi asked me.

"For now, we wait." I said. "While I am allowed to go outside, my movements are limited. The only place where I can act with relative freedom right now would be ANHS, and we wouldn't be there until April next year. The only real silver lining in this situation would be the fact that the next time that I would meet that man would be winter next year, which means we can use the mansion as a temporary meeting place." I said.

"I see. We'll follow your instructions, then, Kiyotaka-kun." Airi said.

"Good. Now, I have a question for you, Airi." I turned my attention to Airi, and, with a very serious tone, I addressed something that bothered me earlier.

"Are you dealing with any stalkers right now?" Both of the idols' eyes widened at my question.

"N-No, I'm not!" Airi denied, then she looked over at Hoshino Ai. "She's the one dealing with the issue."

"Y-Yes, I'm currently dealing with a stalker issue, Ayanokouji-kun." she admitted. The baby twins looked surprised at this.

"A stalker? Why didn't you tell us, Mama?!" Ruby asked.

"I don't want to involve the both of you in this!" she said. The love that she has for her kids, even if they were reincarnations, were definitely real.

"How did you know that Mama was getting stalked, anyway?" Aquamarine asked.

"I saw him. He was hiding himself well, but I could still sense his presence." I said. The baby boy then stared at me intently.

"Did you see what he looked like?" he asked another question. I then described the stalker to the best of my ability, and by the end of my description, Aquamarine looked stunned.

"There's no mistaking it. That's the guy that killed me, or rather, killed Gorou Amamiya." he said, much to the shock of both Hoshino Ai and Hoshino Ruby.

"Really?!" Ruby shouted. "Are you sure?"

"Yes, I remember it clear as day. The day I had delivered Hoshino Ai's babies, he attacked me in the parking lot of the hospital and stabbed me, killing me in the process. After that, well, you both know what happened after that."

"Must have been a weird experience, huh?" Honami commented. "Helping give birth to a baby, and then becoming that baby. How old were you when you died, anyway?"

"Around 30, I guess." he answered.

"30? Gross. What a creepy old man. You must have enjoyed getting breastfed by one of the most popular idols in Japan." Honami said.

"W-What?! No! I didn't do such a thing! In fact, it was Ruby who enjoyed receiving breastfeeding from Mama!" he said, calling out Ruby in the process.

"Hey! That was unnecessary!" Ruby shouted.

"But Aqua, isn't breastfeeding healthy for babies?" Hoshino Ai turned to her son. "Shouldn't you be breastfeeding as well?"

Her smirk very much implied that she was simply teasing Aquamarine.

"P-Please don't tease me, Mama!"

"Ahem." Airi then cleared her throat, defusing the situation. "So what should we do about Ai-san's situation, Kiyotaka-kun?"

"We help her." I said. "After all, she had helped you so much, Airi. We need to return the favor somehow."

"You know, Dad, this is exactly why you had that harem in school. You just can't help yourself. You just have to solve the problem of every cute girl that you see. That's why Mom fell in love with you in the first place." Honami remarked.

"While I do believe that Hoshino Ai is cute, Kei will always be the cutest for me." I declared sincerely.

"Ooooohhh, a loyal husband. That's a great trait to have, Ayanokouji-kun." Hoshino Ai giggled, seemingly unfazed by my remark that someone was cuter than her. She then bowed to me. "Thank you for trying to help me, Ayanokouji-kun."

"Yeah, thanks, Ayanokouji-nii-san." the twins thanked me as well.

"No need to thank me, I haven't even done anything yet." I said.

Before the situation can continue. I saw Matsuo entering the room.

"What is it, Matsuo?" I asked him.

"Kiyotaka-sama. We have a guest." he informed me.

"Who is it?" I asked. I had already told them about the names of the members of the Ayanokouji Group, so he would have let them in if it was one of them.

"Two people. According to Professor Ayanokouji, he gave these two people protection, so they are staying in this mansion for now." he answered.

"So who are they?" Honami asked. Matsuo sighed, then he answered.

"Their names are Lelouch vi Britannia and Nunnally vi Britannia. Exiled Britannian royalty."

I see. Let's see how this turns out.

Haruka's POV

What the hell is she doing?

"Give us back that money now, you bitch!"

"Why should I? I won that money fair and square."

This was an exchange between Yumecchi and a gangster who just lost all of his money to her.

During the time that we hung out together, we actually got close enough that she began calling me by my first name while I began calling her by a nickname, Yumecchi. As her reputation began to grow, shady people began taking her bets and gambling with her, though they fail most of the time. Some gangsters, like this fellow, try to get their money back by intimidating her, but unfortunately for them, Yumecchi has a few screws loose.

No, actually, she has a lot of screws loose.  I mean, this girl looks like she's having an orgasm everytime she gambles with somebody, regardless of whether she was winning or losing. She is definitely 100% not normal.

"No! You must have cheated somehow! There's no way you actually won that fair and square!" the gangster said.

"But I did. You should really just accept reality, you know?" she said, still with that ever-present smile on her face.

"You...!"

"You should just accept it. It's not like we can't gamble like that again. I'll happily accept your challenge anytime."

Does she think of anything else other than gambling?

"Maybe I'll just beat the shit out of you and take your money." the gangster threatened her. However, Yumecchi isn't fazed at all. In fact, she spread her arms wide, as if inviting him to do so.

"Come on, then!" she said. The gangster was taken aback by her words.

"W-What?"

"Come on! You lost money to me, so you'll beat me up as payback!" A blush began to form on her face, and her expression contorted to that of ecstasy. "This is what gambling's all about! We have to share the pain together! Kakeguruimasho!"

(A/N: I honestly can't remember the English translation of Yumeko's famous line, so I just said it like that. If anyone of my dear readers know what it's English translation is, I'll highly appreciate it.)

Yep, she's crazy all right. I feel sorry for the people in ANHS that are going to be gambling with her.

"You freak...!" the gangster said, then he tried to punch her. Before that happened, though, a foot blocked the guy's punch. When I looked to see who saved us, it was someone I never saw before.

He was a blonde haired boy our age wearing a black coat over his school uniform. He had a blank expression on his face, and his eyes were dead. He had both of his hands in his pockets as he nonchalantly raised his leg to block the punch.

"Y-You're...! Sano Manjiro!"

"Oh, you recognize me." the guy said with a bored tone. "Well, that doesn't matter. You need to stop being such a sore loser, man. You lost to her in a gamble, and you need to accept it."

"No! This bitch must have cheated somehow!" the gangster said furiously.

"Didn't you just hear what this crazy girl said? She likes gambling to an almost unhealthy degree. Do you really think that someone like that would cheat? Just give it up. Or maybe you want me to force you to give up?"

Reluctantly, the gangster retreated, having a disgruntled expression on his face.

"Sorry about that. I just didn't want to see a girl get hurt." Sano-san said.

"So you knew I was going to accept that punch?" Yumecchi asked.

"The expression on your face told me that you were very willing to accept it." he replied. "Anyway, as that guy said, I'm Sano Manjiro, but you can just call me Mikey. Nice to meet you."

"Ah, my name is-"

"Yumeko Jabami." Mikey-kun said. "I know you. You're famous around here. It was hilarious seeing some of the members of my gang complain about being beaten by a girl in gambling."

He then laughed out loud. After that, he then turned to me.

"So, what about you? What's your name?" he asked me.

"H-Hasebe Haruka." I introduced myself. Before he could say anything more, a voice called out to him.

"Oi, Mikey! What the hell are you doing?" A tall blond guy with a braid called out to Mikey-kun.

"I was just protecting a girl." he replied. "And I also found Akicchi's wife!"

Akicchi? Don't tell me...

"You found Haruka?!" Another voice called out. An incredibly familiar one.

The moment I saw him, it was like time had stopped. I could feel my eyes tearing up from the joy of seeing him again.

"Akicchi!"
"Haruka!"

He then ran towards me at top speed, then, once he was near me, he hugged me tightly.

"Haruka, I missed you so much." he whispered.

"I missed you too, you delinquent." I replied, grinning.

"He really is smitten towards his wife, huh?" I could hear Mikey-kun say in the background.

"It's a heartwarming reunion." Yumecchi smiled genuinely, with the crazy gambling addict side of her earlier completely gone.

I had actually told her about our situation a month ago. Since she may get caught up in our conflict, I didn't want to leave her clueless about what was going on. Shockingly, not only did she believe me immediately, she was also excited about joining in. I guess her gambler instincts told her it was going to be fun.

"So, why are you now a part of a famous gang, Akicchi?" I asked him. He scratched his head in embarrassment.

"I don't know either. When I returned, I was already a member..." he said.

"Ehhhh... Now you're even more of a bad boy, Akicchi." I said, teasing him.

"Please don't say that, Haruka..." he answered. "So, why are you hanging out with a crazy gambler like her?"

"She's a nice girl. The only real problem she has is that gambling addiction she has. " I said, then I leaned in to whisper to him. "She's also incredibly clever. She's definitely going to be an asset to us if she becomes our ally."

"I see." he said. "Have you heard anything about Kiyotaka?"

"No." I shook my head. "I mean, it would be difficult for him to contact us right now considering his... situation."

"You're not wrong." he remarked. "It's just frustrating, not being able to know what he's doing or planning right now."

"He had probably taken care of Kei-san's problem already." I said.

"Yeah, they did." Akicchi said. "I've actually heard rumors of a gang member having their spine broken by a brown-haired girl."

Brown-haired girl? H-Honami, huh? She is as terrifying as ever.

"So, what do we do now?" he asked.

"What else? Catch up to what the other was doing over these past few months, you idiot!"

Both of us grinned. This is going to be long.

It's nice to see you again, my beloved husband.

Hiyori's POV

"It's nice to see you again, Keisei-kun." I greeted my bespectacled friend as he approached me inside the library.

"Yes, it's nice to see you again, Hiyori-san." he said with a slight smile.

"And who might this man be?" I asked, pointing at the boy behind him.

"Ah, I'm Uesugi Futarou, it's nice to meet you." he said, offering his hand for a handshake, which I took.

"And who are these two behind you? More book buddies, perhaps?" Keisei-kun asked, pointing to Shoko-san, who was currently fidgeting because of the presence of more than one person in the vicinity, and Tadano-kun, who was currently looking exhausted from reading the book I recommended to him.

"Ah yes, these two are my new friends, Komi Shoko-san and Hitohito Tadano-kun." I introduced them.

"I-it's nice to meet you two." Tadano-kun said to the two of them, clearly exhausted.

Meanwhile, Shoko-san quickly wrote in her notebook and showed the content to us.

"It's nice to meet you, Keisei-kun and Uesugi-kun."

"Is she mute?" Keisei-kun asked me.

"No, she simply has a communication disorder. Don't mind her too much." I said.

"Oh, don't worry about it." he said. "Let's just start studying, Futarou-san."

"Then we'll continue to read books, then!" I said happily while Shoko-san nodded excitedly and Tadano-kun groaned.

"Hiyori-san." he spoke to me. "Why are all the books you gave to me have such complicated language...?"

"I just wanted to have someone to read books with since Kiyotaka-kun, isn't here yet..." I said.

"Fine, I'll read them." he said. "I do want to thank you for befriending Komi-san."

"Hehe, it's nothing. Shoko-san is a good friend." I said. After that, we all continued reading.

After a while, Keisei-kun approached me.

"So, have you heard from Kiyotaka, Hiyori?" he asked. I shook my head.

"No. I don't think it's likely that we'll be hearing from him so soon. " I answered.

"You're not wrong." he said, then I saw him clenching his fists. "I don't like feeling so helpless..."

"It's unfortunate, but that's just the reality of our situation." I said. "We just need to assist Kiyotaka-kun when the time comes."

"You're right." he agreed with me. He then looked at my two new friends, and then asked a question. "Have you told them the truth yet?"

"No." I said. "I don't think... they're ready for the truth."

"Same here." he said, while glancing at Uesugi-kun. "They're just innocents, I don't want to involve them."

"Shoko-san told me that one of her goals in life was to have 100 friends." I said. "I don't want to involve someone like that in our conflict..."

"Indeed. It would be horrible of us to do so." Keisei-kun said. "However, there is still a possibility that they may get caught up in it regardless, because of that man."

"Ayanokouji Atsuomi." Instinctively, my hold on the book I was reading tightened considerably.

I consider myself a kind and patient person. Even after witnessing and hearing all the atrocities that Ryuuen-kun committed in ANHS, I never felt any hate towards him. I only thought that he was doing what was necessary for our class, even if the things he did were incredibly morally questionable.

However, my blood boiled when I thought about Kiyotaka-kun's father. I have never once, in my entire life, felt so much contempt towards one person like I have now. What he did to Kiyotaka-kun, and to the countless children in the White Room, were unforgivable. He was cruel and inhuman, and we will never forgive him.

Ayanokouji  Atsuomi , if you ever involve any of my new friends in this conflict and put them in danger, then I swear, neither Kiyotaka-kun nor Kei-san would have to do anything...

... because I will fucking kill you myself.

Eiichiro's POV

"Man, I hope they're all doing okay." I whispered to myself as I walked with Tsubasa back home from school.

"Are you talking about them, Eiichiro-kun?" she asked.

"Yeah. I really can't help but feel bad about Aniki and the others."

Hearing about everything that happened to Aniki and his friends, including what happened to me and Tsubasa in their timeline, made me really sad. While I am all for Aniki getting his freedom from that asshole that is his father, I'm also scared about my eventual death. I mean, who wouldn't be?

"Don't worry, Ayanokouji-senpai is doing everything he can to prevent our deaths, so all we have to do is have faith in them." she said.

"Yeah, we gotta trust them." I nodded in agreement. "I mean, Aniki's a genius, after all. There's no doubt that he's going to succeed."

We then continued walking without saying anything. About a few hundred meters from our home, something caught my eye.

"Did you see that, Tsubasa?" I asked her, and she merely nodded. We then ran towards what we saw, and it made our blood run cold.

It was a green haired woman wearing what looked like a white straitjacket suit. She was on the floor, unmoving.

"Hey, are you okay?!" I shouted, approaching the woman. When I did, I saw her breathing slightly, which made me sigh in relief. Before I can say anything more, she began to stir.

"Are you alright?" I asked.

"U-Uh, b-bring me... a-away from... h-here..." she whispered weakly.

"Okay, we'll bring you to Eiichiro-kun's house. What's your name?" Tsubasa asked. The woman opened her eyes, and her yellow eyes came into view.

"M-My name is... C.C...."

Chapter Text

???'s POV
June 22, 2014

Ugh, disgusting.

I was currently hanging out with some friends of mine here in the past, and I was totally disgusted by how they were acting.

Seriously, what was wrong with me? Was I that messed up back then? I can't believe I can stomach actually hanging out with these bitches.

Now that I think about it, this past obsession of mine was what made my life a living hell. It's what led me to be in the class of defects, and it's what led me to antagonize that man.

Of course, I don't have that obsession anymore, and I'm friendly with that monster now, but seeing all this just brings back all the bad memories. Memories of humiliation and suffering that I would rather just forget.

I then stared at the one girl that was in that group, and I was surprised.

Horikita-san... is acting so differently. That Author was telling the truth then, this is an alternate universe.

I just wonder why that guy put me here last week instead of letting me accompany them.

Right now, though, I need to meet him first before I can do anything else.

I wonder what my precious students are doing...

Honami's  POV
June 23, 2014
Ayanokouji Mansion

"Your food is really good, Matsuo-san!" I said as I ate my breakfast.

"I am flattered by the praise, Honami-sama."

"None of that, Matsuo-san, you're family." I smiled.

"Oh no, I am not. I am but a simple butler."

"No, you are someone important to my entire family, Matsuo-san." I said sincerely. "You are the sole reason why Dad was even able to meet Mom. You are the reason why he was able to attain his freedom. Even though you weren't the one who actually did it, I want to thank you."

Honestly, my hatred for my grandfather grew after I interacted more with this kind butler. Having such a caring man and a loving father burn himself to death was unforgivable.

Maybe I should also break his spine as well...

"You are welcome." he replied. "After hearing his story, I know that I would have done it, regardless of the consequences."

I smiled at the kindness of this man. Before our conversation can continue, we heard the doorbell ring. Curious to see who it is, I wanted to answer, but Matsuo-san got ahead of me.

When he answered the gate, he began talking to the person outside. I tried to peek at the person outside the gate, but I couldn't, so I simply waited for Matsuo-san to tell me who it could be.

I didn't have to wait long, as the kind butler quickly approached me.

"We have a guest, Honami-sama." he said. "She said that her name is Kushida Kikyou."

My eyes widened in surprise at the revelation.

K-Kikyou-sensei?! How? Why is she here? 

I was confused. She shouldn't be here. She didn't time travel with us in the past and considering that Matsuo-san didn't recognize her means that this isn't one of those differences that the Author spoke about.

Unless...

"Let her in." I said. The butler obliged, and she let Sensei in. As expected, she was there, looking just like how she looked like in the past. What was interesting though, was her expression.

She wasn't in her angel act like she did at this point in time, which means...

"You traveled back in time as well, Kikyou-sensei?" I asked. She chuckled softly.

"As expected of you, Honami-chan." she said. "Now then, where is my other precious student and that monster?" 

"Suzuki is in Mom's house currently, while Dad is in his room." I said. "Do you want me to call him?"

"Why is he in his room?"

"Planning." I simply stated. "For the future."

I saw Kikyou-sensei's expression darken as she heard this. Like Hiyori-san, she didn't participate in the White Raid. She had instead supported the efforts of the White Raid as a media influencer. In the future, she had actually become a professor at Kyoto University, teaching Science. Dad had also hired her to become the private tutor to both me and Suzuki. Suzuki had actually taken inspiration from her when it came to destroying his own class during middle school.

"I see... That's why you all are here in the first place, huh? Damn Author decided to put me here after you..." she mumbled. "What happened to Kei-san, then?" 

"Dad destroyed her bullies." I answered. "I also had the privilege of breaking the spine of one of those bastards. It was a healing experience."

"Tch, forgot that you kids are monsters as well..." she mumbled again.

"And who might this guest be?" a voice from behind us spoke. I turned to look around, and it was the exiled prince that was currently living in our house, Lelouch vi Britannia. He was currently pushing the wheelchair of his little sister, Nunnally.

"She is, well... a classmate of Dad's."  I said. The black-haired boy simply nodded.

"I see, so she comes from the future as well?"

"Yes."

Explaining things to Lelouch-san was necessary, considering that we were going to use the mansion as our base of operations until we attended ANHS. He had believed us rather easily, simply because he had a similar situation as Hoshino-san. That is, he had something supernatural surrounding him in the form of the Geass.

It was unsettling seeing him mind control Dad so easily to tap dance. It made us realize that, for as incredible as Dad is, he is still a human being.

It seemed that the exiled royalty had just acquired it recently, which meant he didn't know its full limitations yet, so he was plenty surprised to find out that he can only mind control a person once. Dad, seeing an opportunity, decided to help Lelouch-san with his experiments. This led to him and Dad forming an alliance. After all, they had very similar goals, which was taking down their own fathers, so they had resolved to help each other with their own goals.

These two are a terrifying pair.

"So you're here too, Kushida."

"This is the Kushida you were talking about, Kiyotaka-nii-san?"

Dad's blank voice came from above the stairs, and we saw him coming out of his room wearing that expression on his face that was very reminiscent of how he was during this period. Calm, cold, and emotionless. Aunt Shinobu were following closely behind him.

Despite all of the growth that he has shown, this was something that he had never lost. His cold ruthlessness when it comes to dealing with situations like this was something that was fully ingrained in his psyche. Whenever he was doing incredibly important work, or he was just being very focused on his work, this persona of his comes out. Of course, we are used to it now, but it was still very terrifying to see.

From the corner of my eye, I can see Kikyou-sensei flinch from seeing Dad. Considering that this reminds her so much of that day, I can see why.

"Damn it, you monster. Stop scaring me like that." she said.

"I just came out of my room. You're the one scared of me for no reason."

"No reason?! I can't believe you, you bastar-"

"I have a plan as for what we do in this timeline."

"Don't change the subject!" Sensei screamed, but Dad ignored her.

"Honami, now that that man is gone, can you call Kei, Suzuki, Miharu and the entire Ayanokouji Group here? I can now tell them about the plan. I had also managed to track down the others as well, so you can go and contact them."

Finally.

"You have just now made the plan?" Kikyou-sensei asked, surprised at the revelation. "Wait and who is this girl?"

"I had to account for changes in the timeline." Dad said. "Now then, once everyone is here, I will begin explaining everything. This girl is my younger twin sister in this timeline."

"I see. It's nice to meet you, then." she said.

"It's nice to meet you too, Kushida-san."

"How are they going to get here, though?" I asked. "Some of them live far away from here. "

"I sent them some funds discreetly, and I also sent the address." Dad answered. "All of them will be arriving here by today."

I'm looking forward to seeing all of them again.

The first ones to arrive, unsurprisingly, are Mom, Suzuki, and Miharu.

"E-Eh?! Why is Kushida-san here?" Mom asked as she saw her sitting at the living room drinking tea nonchalantly.

"Kikyou-sensei!" Suzuki excitedly approached her, and they hugged each other. 

These two really are so close.

"I got time traveled here about a week ago." she replied. "After adjusting to my new environment, I decided to come here, just in time for the monster to reveal his plan."

"Well at least we have one more ally. We need all that we can get." Mom answered. 

"Its's nice to see you, Kushida-san." Miharu greeted her pleasantly, and Kikyou-sensei did the same.

"It's also nice to see you, Miharu-chan." she said.

It was just a pleasant reunion all around. It had been a while since we last saw each other, and Kikyou-sensei was someone we weren't expecting to see here, so it is understandable why.

"So do we just wait for the rest of them to arrive?" Mom asked.

"Yes, though I expect them to come soon." Dad answered, and I'm sure that he was referring to Hoshino-san and Airi-san.

"Kiyotaka-kun!"

Speak of the devil, huh? The door to the living room opened, revealing the two mentioned, as well as both Ruby and Aquamarine.

"It's nice to see you again, Airi and Hoshino."

"It is nice to see you again, too, Ayanokouji-kun!" Hoshino-san exclaimed. "Oh, and is this Karuizawa-san, perhaps?"

"Y-Yes, I am." Mom probably felt a bit flustered in the presence of such an influential and popular idol. Her natural charisma also probably helped as well.

"Ooohhh, you're so beautiful! No wonder Ayanokouji-kun chose you as his wife!" she said excitedly, making Mom beet red from the insinuation.

"You're also... cute too, Hoshino-san." 

"Thank you!"

"It's nice to meet you, Hoshino-san!" Sensei approached Hoshino-san and greeted her pleasantly. While she was a lot more open to express her true personality out, she isn't the type to be rude to people, especially those who she had met for the first time.

"Are you another one of Ayanokouji-kun's friends that time traveled?" she asked. While Kikyou-sensei was surprised by the information, she didn't say anything and simply nodded.

"Yep, I just came here a week ago!" Sensei replied. As the two were talking, I could see that Aquamarine was staring at her intently, as if seeing through her. Sensei didn't pay it any mind, though.

After that, the people who haven't met yet, like Suzuki and Miharu with Hoshino-san began to introduce themselves to one another. It didn't take long for the next set of people to arrive.

"Airi!" A familiar voice called out from the door, and we all turned to see Haruka-san practically lunging at Airi-san.

"Haruka-san!" Airi-san hugged her back tightly, as the two shared a deep embrace of happiness after being separated for so long. 

"I'm happy for you, Haruka-san." An unfamiliar person stepped into the living room. It was a black haired girl with reddish eyes and a gentle smile on her face.

"Come here, Yumecchi! Why don't you introduce yourselves to everyone?" Haruka-san beckoned the girl to come over. The girl obliged, and introduced herself politely.

"My name is Yumeko Jabami, it's nice to meet you everyone!" she said. Even though there was nothing outwardly wrong with her, I can just sense that something was off about this girl.

Before anything else can happen though, someone tried to attack Dad. 

"Mikey!" I heard Akito-san's voice as a blonde young man tried to kick my Dad, and he blocked the kick with his hand calmly.

"You're good." the guy said as he lowered his leg.

"It would be best if you don't attack me out of nowhere, please." my Dad said blankly.

"Oi, what the hell are you doing, Mikey?!" Another guy our age, who also had blond hair, ran up and smacked him in the head.

"Ow, how mean, Kenchin." the other guy said, who was apparently called Mikey.

"It's becaue you were being stupid!" the person, who was probably named Ken, replied. He then turned to my Dad. "Sorry, man, Akicchi kept telling us how good you are at fighting, so Mikey here got really intrigued."

"It's fine." Dad replied. "So you're from the Tokyo Manji Gang, huh?"

"Yep!" the one nicknamed Mikey said. "Name's Sano Manjiro. It's nice to meet you, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

"Ryuguji Ken." the other guy also introduced himself. "We're basically the leader and the vice leader of the gang."

"I see. Why don't you sit down for now and relax while we wait for the others?" Dad suggested, and the two did indeed follow suit, sitting down and enjoying the snacks Matsuo-san gave them.

"Oh, I nearly forgot!" Yumeko-san said, then she pulled out a stack of money. "100,000 Yen."

"W-What's going on?" Mom asked as she began to pull out a deck of cards while looking straight at Dad, with a smile that was way too menacing.

"Why don't we play a game of Old Maid, Ayanokouji-san?"

I knew something was off about this girl.

"A kakegurui, huh?" I muttered as the game between my Dad and Yumeko-san ended. 

Of course, it was Dad who won, but Yumeko-san put up a good fight considering who she was fighting. She was clever enough to use psychological warfare against Dad, like pulling a card from the middle of the deck and then dropping a pair of cards, as if she insinuated that she knew the arrangement of the cards, and employing a lot of bluffing when they were pulling out each others' cards. It didn't help that she always kept a smile on her face regardless of whether she was winning or losing. If she was fighting against any other opponent, she would have been victorious, but unfortunately, she was fighting Dad.

Dad had won through a simple yet difficult tactic. Due to the fact that he knew that the cards, Yumeko-san brought were newly-bought, he was able to quickly memorize the arrangement of all the cards even when they were being shuffled, and so he was able to call Yumeko-san's bluffs and claim victory.

Despite the fact that she lost, though, she didn't look upset. In fact, it was the opposite. She was smiling widely, as if she was a kid in front of a candy store. She was blushing heavily, too.

She looks like she's... aroused. Damn it, Dad, is this another member of the harem I see?

"What a thrilling opponent you are, Ayanokouji-san! I look forward to playing with you again!"

"Is she always like this?" Mom asked Haruka-san.

"Unfortunately, yes." she sighed. "She is clever and cunning, but..."

"Yeah, she's definitely Class-D material." Mom said. "At least she's smart. That would be very useful in the future."

"Kiyotaka-kun!"

Just as the two were finished cleaning up the table, we heard Hiyori-san on the gate, so me and Miharu decided to greet them. We saw her being accompanied by two individuals, a black-haired girl that looked incredibly beautiful, and an average looking guy.

"Hiyori-sensei!" Miharu immediately greeted her, and she waved back while smiling.

"Uhh, sensei?" the boy asked, clearly confused as to what was going on.

"We'll just explain later." Keisei-san also entered the room, accompanied by another black-haired guy our age, as well as a group of five girls that look identical to one another.

Quintuplets, perhaps?

(A/N: So remember when I said that the Quints will meet Uesugi in ANHS? Yeah, forget about that. Here, the Quints met Uesugi so that he can tutor them in an attempt to make them smart enough so that they can enter ANHS. They've met around May.)

"What is going on, Futarou? Why are we here?" One of the girls, who was wearing headphones around her neck, asked the black-haired boy.

"I just wanted to meet Keisei's friends. Besides, I just wanted to know what the hell is going on with this guy."

"I told you to stop poking your nose at this, Futarou. You and the Nakano siblings. This is an important meeting!" he said.

"We're a bunch of middle schoolers. I don't see what's so important about a reunion between friends that you would want us out of it." Another girl, who has a star-shaped pin on her head, replied to him.

"Yeah, we just want to meet your friends, Yukimura-san!" A girl with a ribbon as a headband said. Her cheerful behavior sounded a lot like Kikyou-sensei's cheerful behavior, but maybe she's just naturally like that.

"What about these two, Hiyori-san?" I asked the two people that were with her when she came in. It was the girl who answered my question, but not in the way I expected.

Instead of saying anything, she simply wrote what she said on a whiteboard.

"I just wanted to meet Hiyori-chan's friends. Maybe I can friends with them, too."

I had one thought when I saw this.

Should we really involve someone so adorable into this mess?

"What's the problem with her, is she mute?" one of the siblings that had shorter hair asked Hiyori-san.

"She just has a communication problem, don't worry about it." she said softly.

"Why are they here, Hiyori-san? Are we really going to involve them into something so dangerous?"

"Dangerous?!" the others said.

"I just feel so... guilty in leaving them out of this. They're my friends now as well." she said. "I don't want to leave them out."

"This is your choice, Hiyori-san." Keisei-san said while sighing.

"I know. I'll just make sure to protect them."

Meanwhile, I could see that the rest are confused by what they were talking about. Before they can ask, though, Dad had called out to us.

"So you're all here."

The cold, blank expression on his face made both Hiyori-san and Keisei-san wince, being reminded of the horrible times. Meanwhile, the others looked terrified.

"That's Yukimura's friend? He looks terrifying..." one of the quintuplets said. Her voice was similar to Mom's, but that was probably just a coincidence.

Come to think of it, Hiyori-san and Hoshino-san sound very similar as well. 

"Come in. Everyone is waiting." he said. Before he entered the house again, Hiyori-san said something.

"It's nice to see you again, Kiyotaka-kun."

He then looked back, and smiled slightly.

"It's nice to see you again, you two."

(A/N: This is the layout of the members sitting down for the meeting regarding the plan for visualization purposes. Yes, the official name of this group is indeed the Anti-White Room Coalition or AWRC. The others that aren't included are sitting on the side of the room, watching the meeting. Yes, I put in Keisei instead of Teruhiko .)

"Why do they look so... intimidating?" one of the quintuplets, who I found out was named Nakano Nino, whispered, though I can hear her since they were near where I was sitting on the meeting table.

After everyone had greeted and properly introduce to one another, we were all led to a spacious area in the mansion where we can have our meeting. Dad made sure that the cameras in the house don't catch any of us, so he put convincing dummy footage in the cameras to prevent the meeting from being known.

"I know, right? Even the idol Hoshino Ai look so intimidating there, even with her kids." Nakano Itsuki replied, also whispering. "It was really surprising knowing that she even has kids."

"It is time for the Anti-White Room Coalition to begin their first meeting." Dad said.

"Seriously? Couldn't you think of a more creative name?" Kikyou-sensei asked.

"It's best to be practical. Now then." Dad stood up from his seat. "Before I officially start talking about the plan, I would like to review the current situation with all of you. For those that are currently uninformed about the situation, please do not interrupt the meeting."

When all of us nodded, Dad began reviewing the situation at hand.

"On March 17th of 2014, me, Kei, Hiyori, Haruka, Airi, Keisei, Akito, my children Honami and Suzuki, Miharu, and Shin had all traveled back from 23 years in the future in order to prevent the tragedy of the White Raid from occurring." 

I could distinctly see the Hiyori-san and Keisei-san's friends being shocked by the news. They were clearly not expecting this. Meanwhile, all of us just nodded.

"We were warned by the being who made this possible that this timeline is going to have some differences between the timeline we originated from and the timeline we are in right now. For example, I have a twin sister in this universe named Shinobu, and Kei has a younger brother named Yuuta. There are also major differences in the world as well, such as the existence of Britannia and the chunk of the moon being carved out. The reason why this plan took so long to create was due to how I needed to account for the difference in the timelines."

"As for recent developments, another one of our allies, Kushida Kikyou, had been travelled back a week earlier, and is now a part of our group."

She slightly bowed her head as everyone turned to look at her. 

"I should also tell you about the White Room." he said, and began explaining what the White Room is to everybody. By the end of the explanation, those who didn't know about the White Room initially wwere either upset or angry.

"I have a question. What happened during the White Raid?" Aqua asked as he sat on the table.

"T-The baby spoke!" I heard Nakano Yotsuba speak.

"And here I thought the time travel was already weird..." Nakano Miku replied to her.

"The White Raid was an attempt by Horikita Manabu and Sakayanagi Shigemori to free me from the clutches of my father and the White Room. " Dad said. "It was successful, but the attempt led to the death of many of my friends and allies, and I seek to prevent that here."

"I see. Thank you for answering my question, Ayanokouji-san." he said.

"Now that the situation has been made clear to everyone, I am going to explain what my plan is." Dad continued. "Before we do execute our plans, though, we need to prioritize something first."

"Saving Hoshino-san from her stalker. Isn't that right, Dad?" I asked. Everyone who wasn't in the know were all surprised about this, including Mom.

"That's not good." Nakano Ichika muttered.

"Are you alright, Hoshino-san?" Mom expressed her concern for her. Hoshino-san simply shook her head.

"I'm fine, Karuizawa-san!" she said. "Besides, Ayanokouji-kun already promised to help me, so I'll be alright."

"I see." she nodded. "You can ask anyone of us for help, okay? We're all allies here."

"Thank you."

"Why is saving her a priority?" Keisei-san asked.

"During the White Raid, both Hiyori and Kushida did a good job in using their public influence to expose the White Room. An influential idol like Hoshino would be essential in such a role. She would also be helpful in recruiting allies for our cause. Is this fine with you, Hoshino?"

"Of course, Ayanokouji-kun! I'll do my best!" she said cheerfully.

"Thank you." Dad replied. "Now then, Sano and Ryuguji, do you think you can spare some of your members to watch over Hoshino from a distance?"

"Sure, we can spare some."

"I'm sure those guys would be thrilled to be guarding an idol."

"Good. Next, Hoshino Aqua." Dad asked the baby. "Did the stalker say anything when he killed you?"

"No." Aquamarine shook his head. "I did hear him say something about being paid by a "nasty woman"."

"A nasty woman?" Suzuki said.

"Do you have any rival idols, Hoshino-san?" Aunt Shinobu asked.

"I don't think so... When I collaborated with other idols, I made sure to treat them kindly." she answered.

"A one-sided grudge then." I said. "Someone has an unjustified grudge against Hoshino-san."

(A/N: As I have stated before, I will be changing Hoshino Ai's story here, so please keep that in mind.)

"The flaw of being popular." Shin-kun remarked.

"We'll investigate that further later. For now, I need to explain the rest of the plan." Dad continued. "The next priority for us would be... saving the Matsuo family."

The mood for the people in the know turned somber. This... is something we HAVE to do.

"The Matsuo family?" Yumeko-san asked.

"They're the first people to ever show me kindness in my entire life." Dad answered. "I refuse to let them die."

"Fortunately, this would be easier than I initially expected." he said. The Ayanokouji Group was confused by this statement.

"How?" Keisei-san asked.

"Simple. The solution are the Sakayanagi Family." he answered as my father turned to Shin-kun. My boyfriend simply nodded, understanding what my Dad was talking about.

"I see." he said.

"Can you please explain to all of us that aren't as smart as you?" Haruka-san raised her hand and asked, causing some in the meeting to chuckle silently.

"The reason why that man punished Matsuo and his son is because the butler helped me enroll in ANHS." my father began to explain. "However, it was revealed to me during my first year that applicants are already accepted even before the entrance exams. The entrance exams are simply for show, and they already had a list of people that they are going to accept beforehand. The only reason I was ever accepted was because Chairman Sakayanagi showed me kindness and allowed me to enroll."

"In that case, all I need to do is to remove Matsuo from that equation. We will be directly approaching him and ask him to enroll us into ANHS ourselves."

Everyone was surprised by this, since they knew how my father was going to do it.

"You're going to reveal the time travel?" Mom asked.

"That is the easiest way." he replied. "It would be easy to prove it, as well. So long as I just tell him something that I shouldn't know, it will be easy enough. Once we succeed in this, not only will that man have no reason to punish Matsuo and his son, but Nanase would have no reason to get involved with this mess, saving her life in the process."

Everyone nodded, seeing the reasoning behind the action. Beside me, Shin-kun began to giggle.

"Fufufufufufufu, I will be seeing my mother earlier than I thought."

"Are we even sure that Sakayanagi Shigemori is the chairman of the school?" Lelouch-san asked a valid question.

"I searched the internet. Yes, he is still the chairman." Dad answered, and everyone nodded. "I also asked that man about him, and from what I can glean in our limited conversations, the man remains the same here as he was in the previous timeline."

"Now then, before we officially began discussing my plans regarding ANHS, I would like to ask my wife about something." Mom raised her eyebrows at Dad's word in confusion, but what he said next made it clear to her. 

"Do I abandon Yuki again?" he asked, causing me and Suzuki to widen our eyes.

That's right, Dad is going to meet Auntie Yuki about 6 months before he gets to ANHS.

I have only met Dad's former classmate in the White Room a few times in my life. It was due to the arrangement that both of them agreed upon where they made contact with each other extremely scarce, due to her trauma regarding the White Room. Every time they did meet though, it was always a pleasant time, though she made it a habit to smother both me and Suzuki in her bountiful chest.

Now that I have such a chest on my own, I can't wait to smother other people in it! Hehehehehehe, now you all shall experience my trauma! 

"That's... a difficult question." Mom said, bringing me out of my distracted thoughts. "I mean, it still is an effective tactic, and it worked well enough in the past, but... Aren't we here to change things for the better? Smooth talking her would be an effective tactic as well, you know?"

"Don't call it smooth talking, Kei..."

"I call it how I see it." she said. "She could be a great ally to us, considering that she was formerly a White Room student." 

"You're right. Thanks for the advice, Kei."

"You're welcome!"

"Since that's all been settled, it's time for us to discuss our plans regarding what we do in ANHS." Dad said. "First, I want to confirm something. Are you all going to attend ANHS?"

Everyone nodded, even the ones sitting on the side.

"Good, then I will explain how the school system of ANHS works." Dad then began to explain how the school system works. Even if it was unfair to the other students that will be attending the school, we couldn't bring ourselves to care. Lives are more important than fairness.

"So that's why you were saying I was fit to be in Class-D. Even with my excellent grades and physical abilities, my addiction to gambling is considered a defect." Yumeko-san remarked. 

Clever. She managed to realize what defect actually means when it comes to ANHS.

"Once all of us manage to enter, it is basically guaranteed that all of us are in Class-D. Hoshino with her lower than average grades as well as having children at such a young age, Sano and Ryuguji are both gang leaders, Yumeko with her aforementioned addiction to gambling, my kids are definitely going to be put in the same class as I am, and Komi with her communication problem, and of course, all of my friends will still be put in the same classes they were the last time."

"Keisei and Hiyori, what do you think about the others?"

"Tadano-kun is, to be frank, average. He may be placed in the same class as I am or Class D." Hiyori-san said.

"Uesugi has the same problem as I did, so he's Class D. The Nakano quintuplets have a combined score of 100 altogether when they were all given a 100-item practice test, so they will be in the same class." Keisei-san answered.

"Please don't expose us, Yukimura-san! Not to these geniuses!" Nakano Yotsuba said.

"None of them will care." Keisei-san reassured them.

"We're gang leaders. You can hardly call us a genius." Sano-san said.

"Now, the problem lies with you two." Dad ignored the interaction and pointed at Lelouch-san and Kikyou-sensei. "Lelouch is capable enough to be put in either Class-A or Class-B, depending on how much his physical capability actually hinder him. If we play our cards right, we could intentionally put him in Class-D the same as I was placed."

"I see. It would be best if I was put in the same class as you for convenience's sake, so I will try to convince the chairman as well."

"As for Kushida, her placement in Class-D hinges on whether her blog gets exposed." Dad then turned to Sensei, who sighed sadly at the reminder of one of the worst days of her life. "The blogs still exist, am I correct?"

"Yes, I checked." Kikyou-sensei answered. "The blog still exists, and if nothing changes, I'll be exposed within February of next year."

"Eh, blog?" Hoshino-san asked. Kikyou-sensei sighed again and gave her phone to Hoshino-san, showing her blog. When the idol skimmed through it along with her kids, she was shocked at what it contained.

"Oh wow." Hoshino-san simply whispered out loud and gave the phone back to Sensei, who blushed in embarrassment. "It would be bad if this gets out."

"I know that." she said while looking to the side.

"That's right. If it gets exposed, you'll end up like last time." Dad continued. "However, if you don't get exposed, then you're going to Class-B."

"Eh? Class-B? I'm pretty sure she would be in Class-A if she didn't destroy her class." Haruka-san said.

"No. The school examines the conduct of the students in their previous schools to determine where they initially get placed. The school will know of the blog regardless of if it were exposed or not. Therefore, the school will lower her ranking because of the contents of the blog. In that case, she's going to Class-B if she doesn't get exposed."

"True, so are you going to get me exposed or not?" Kikyou-sensei asked.

"Before I say the answer to that, I need to tell you my overall plan is in ANHS." Dad said, then he dropped the bombshell on us. "I plan on uniting our year by getting everyone to Class-A."

(A/N: So I said that this was inspired by The Returners by RiverAlpha, right? Yeah, here it is. It was honestly incredibly tragic that I didn't see this concept take shape in that fic so I decided to do it myself.)

Silence.

There was absolute silence.

Mom, Kikyou-sensei, Haruka-san, Airi-san, Hiyori-san, Akito-san, and Keisei-san were completely stunned by what he just said, while the rest are confused. The long silence was broken by Sensei slamming her hands on the table and standing up.

"Did I hear you correctly? Did you just say you're going to get everyone to Class-A? That's insanity!"

"I am aware." Dad said, perfectly calm.

"Are you even hearing yourself? You do remember what happened the last time Classes were tied for Class Points, right? The fucking Tiebreaker Special Exam!"

From what I've heard from them, during their third year at ANHS, all of the classes in Dad's year tied for Class Points, which led to the school invoking the Tiebreaker Special Exam for the first time in its history. It ended with Class-D, Horikita-san's Class, being victorious. Kikyou-sensei probably thought that Dad was aiming for a tie in Class Points as an outcome, but she was forgetting something crucial.

"That's not the only way to get everyone to Class-A, right?" I said, catching the attention of everyone. "There's one other way of doing it."

"What do you..." Kikyou-sensei trailed off, but she then figured out, what Dad meant. "No way, no way, right? Are you kidding me?"

"Are you going to transfer everyone to one class through privilege, Kiyotaka-kun?" Hiyori-san asked.

"You mean through 20 million points?" Keisei-san said. "If that's the case, if you want to transfer everyone, that would be... 2.4 billion points."

"Yes, I plan on collecting 2.4 billion private points to get everyone to Class-A." he confirmed.

"Kushida's right, Kiyotaka, you are insane."

"Maybe it is, but if we want to improve the outcome of the White Raid, this is the plan with the highest chance of success." Dad said, then he turned his attention to Mom once again. "Kei, as an active participant in the White Raid, what do you think was the biggest problem with it?"

Mom was silent, thinking about Dad's question, then she found her answer.

"We were too disorganized." she answered. "Everyone just did whatever they wanted to try and rescue you. We also lacked resources."

"By getting everyone to Class-A, we remove both of those problems." Dad explained. "Uniting the entire year will ensure that we will be more organized when the time comes, ad the resources will be solved by the fact that everyone will be getting better jobs than they did in the previous timeline."

"That's all well and good, but how the hell are you going to achieve that?" Sensei asked.

"I calculated how much private points the three other classes got during the first month of the first year, and overall, they get 8,320,000 private points, and that is the bare minimum." Dad explained again. "That isn't counting the points that we will get if we intervene, the points all the classes have saved over the month, as well as the additional points the other classes get if we manage to get them on our side. With conservative estimates, if 23 of us gets into Class-D and we manage to get no class on our side, that 8.3 million will jump up to around 9.9 million, since Class-D will approximately get at least 400 class points minimum."

"And that is the conservative estimate. A generous estimate, with at least two classes on our side which will increase their class points to around 50 at least, plus we get at least 800 class points, and that number will increase to around 11,920,000 private points that we will gain in the first month, which excludes all the points we have saved over the month. If we save around 75,000 private points between 23 of us, and if we remove 25% of those gained class points due to personal spending, the total we'll get would be around 10,665,000 for the first month alone, and that isn't including any miscellaneous gains we get."

"Miscellaneous gains?" Sensei asked.

"For example, Yumeko will most certainly create a gambling ring within the school. That would certainly increase our gained points depending on how much we win." Dad pointed out.

"You're right, Ayanokouji-san!" she didn't even deny it.

"Another important gain we'll have is if we manage to get Horikita Manabu on our side, and if he hasn't changed at all, I could convince him to give all of his class's private points to me once they graduate, since they really wouldn't need the points themselves."

"Then, there's also the class points and private points that we acquire through special exams as well as the points we can steal from the other years. That makes this plan feasible."

Everyone nodded, agreeing with Dad's assessment.

"There's another problem. Would Horikita Manabu really remain the same in this timeline?" Shin-kun asked.

"That's simple enough to figure out." Dad then turned to Kikyou-sensei again. "What's Horikita Suzune like here? Or another question, have you heard any rumors regarding Horikita Manabu in your school?"

I get it! If Horikita Suzune acts just like she did last time, that means that it is likely Horikita Manabu remains the same as well! If she doesn't remain the same, then the rumors about Horikita Manabu will be enough to glean whether or not he remained the same.

"Based on the rumors I've heard from the teachers as well as my memories, Horikita-senpai remains the same. He's just as impressive as ever." she answered, and I was sure that everyone who knew who Horikita Manabu was breathed an enormous sigh of relief.

"Then our plans now have an even better chance of success." Dad said, but before he could continue, Kikyou-sensei continued to speak.

"Ayanokouji, if we do end up exposing me during February, I... have to tell you something."

"What is it?" Dad asked.

"It's about Horikita-san." she said, then dropped a massive bombshell on us. "In this timeline, she's my best friend."

The Ayanokouji Group went silent again before sighing collectively.

"That is going to be a problem." Mom said.

"Did you say anything bad about her in your blog? How are you even friends with her?" Dad asked.

"I never said anything bad to her in the blog. In fact, I only said good things about her, but... if she ever finds out about my true self, she will consider it a betrayal." she said. "As for how we became friends, I honestly don't know. What I have figured out is that we are childhood friends who never really fell apart."

"If you were childhood friends, shouldn't she know about your... true self?" Haruka-san asked.

"I tried to figure out if she knew by acting like my friendly self even when I was alone with her, but she never questioned anything." Sensei answered. "It's possible that she was simply... afraid to question it."

"How did Horikita-san change in personality, anyway?" Mom was the one to ask, this time.

"Instead of a superiority complex, she has an inferiority complex." Kikyou-sensei explained. "Think Horikita-san with the personality of the Sakura-san from high school mixed in."

"That is completely different." Dad said. I could also swear him mutter, "I guess I wouldn't be seeing the deadly compass in this timeline."

"Is she still as clever as before?"

"Yes."

"That's good. Once she grows and improves, she will become a great asset." Dad said. "And I will not let her die."

"Let's go back to the original question, then. Are you going to expose me?" Sensei asked.

"We need all the assets we can get in Class-D, so I'm sorry, I may have to let you be exposed or expose you." Dad said. Kikyou-sensei, for her part, simply sighed.

"I guess I should come clean to Horikita-san." she said. "This is going to be so troublesome."

"Second to last question for this meeting." Dad said. "Have you ever heard of anyone named Ryuuen Kakeru, Sano and Ryuguji?"

I could see Miharu perking up at this.

"Yeah. He's a troublesome guy." Sano-san said.

"He's been uniting a lot of the gangs in the area. The guy's a massive pain in the ass." Ryuguji-san added.

"It's the same as he did in the original timeline, so it's more likely that the guy hasn't changed at all." Akito-san said.

"That's great, at least I know how to deal with him, no need for any additional planning." Dad said. "Next, Kei. How should I deal with Ichinose?"

That's right, the love triangle!

During the tail end of their 2nd year, a clash between Mom and Ichinose-san began for Dad's affections. While it never affected the class battles, it was still a conflict that became infamous throughout their year. Thankfully, they managed to end up on good terms after school, so much so that Mom let Dad name me after her. Still, I doubt that both Dad and Mom would want to deal with that again.

Mom looked deep in thought at the question, while the rest stayed quiet, wanting to see where this goes.

"Kiyotaka, I'm sure you remembered how Ichinose-san died, right?"

"Yeah, she died taking bullets that were meant for us."

"Yeah, she sacrificed herself, very typical of her." she said. "Didn't you find it strange, how she died?"

"I did. She could have pushed us away of the trajectory of the bullets without getting hit herself. It was an elaborate way of committing suicide for her since she couldn't be with me."

The Ayanokouji Group was shocked by this. They probably weren't expecting this at all. Mom simply nodded her head.

"I knew you would figure it out. Considering all that, saving Ichinose-san from dying wouldn't be as simple as we thought." Mom continued. "Unless..."

Since even if we save her from death in the White Raid, she may still commit suicide on her own because she wasn't able to be with Dad. That means... the only way to save her is...

My eyes widened at the idea.

"Mom, you aren't thinking of..."

"There's no other way." she said. "She is my friend, too. I can't just leave her to die. We swore to do better, so I can't let my selfishness get the better of me. It's enough that Kiyotaka will stay by my side."

"Okay, what are you guys talking about this time?" Haruka-san asked. 

"Are you saying... that you're going to allow me to have multiple girlfriends?"

"Yes."

"WHAT?!" everyone was shocked by this, including the people on the side.

"Are you sure about this?"

"I am sure. I already said my reasons, Kiyotaka."

"That's crazy!" I heard Uesugi Futarou-san say.

"You're a lucky guy, Kiyopon!" Haruka-san said.

"You are both insane..." Kikyou-sensei said, though I can almost see a blush on her cheeks and a smile on her face.

"Should you really be saying that, Kushida-san?" Mom said. "Do you think I didn't know that you're also in love with Kiyotaka?"

"W-W-W-What are you saying, Karuizawa?!" Sensei stuttered.

"Come on now, you immediately accepted Kiyotaka's offer to tutor our children. You accepted it because you wanted to see Kiyotaka everyday, didn't you?" The grin on Mom's face widened. She was probably teasing her.

"Of course not! I was just interested in teaching the monster's kids. It's not like I wanted to see him everyday and admire his handsome face! Hmph!" she said.

Isn't Mom supposed to be the tsundere?

"Anyway, that is all for now." Dad said, returning the serious tone of the meeting. "We will be meeting later once things have progressed smoothly. Honami, Shin, Shinobu, Lelouch, and Kei, you'll be coming with me tomorrow to the Sakayanagi Residence."

"Yeah!"

I hope this goes well.

Unbeknownst to us, an unexpected ally will make things easier for us.

An ally that I knew very well.

*****

Third Person's POV

"So, you wanted to meet with me and Horikita Manabu-kun?"

"Yes, sir. This is important."

Sakayanagi Shigemori and Horikita Manabu both observed the girl with interest. She was a tall girl with short purple hair. Her red piercing eyes contrasted with her gentle smile as she stood proudly in front of the two adults. Manabu reminded her of someone, but decided not to jump to conclusions.

"Important, you say? Considering that you appeared in front of the student council office out of thin air, I'm not sure if I should be trusting you."

"I do not blame you. My sudden appearance does look strange from an outsider's perspective. However, you do not need to worry, for I am not hostile against either of you."

The tone of her voice as well as the formality in which she spoke caused both men to calm down slightly. The two then decided to trust her for now.

"Why don't you introduce yourself, then?"

She cleared her throat, and began her introduction. Her introduction which shocked both of them.

"My name is Horikita Shizuku, the daughter of Horikita Manabu and Horikita Akane, and I have traveled here from the future to help Ayanokouji Kiyotaka destroy the White Room."

Chapter Text

Honami's POV
June 24, 2014

"I've never seen you look this excited, Shin-kun." I remarked.

Right now, me, Shin-kun, Dad, Mom, Auntie Shinobu, and Lelouch-san were all heading towards the Sakayanagi Residence after Dad had made contact with Chairman Sakayanagi yesterday after the meeting. Surprisingly, the Chairman accepted almost immediately, stating that he had a matter that he wished to talk about. It made me feel uneasy that there may be some unpredictable changes again, but Dad said that it may not be the case.

"Of course, Honami. I'll be meeting my mother in this timeline, after all." he said. I was also curious as to what Auntie Arisu would be like in this timeline as well. Has she changed at all, or will she remain the same?

"What do you think happened with the Chairman, Kiyotaka?" I heard Mom say from the front seat of the car.

"There's a possibility that another person had time traveled recently besides Kushida." Dad replied. "It would be fortuitous if it was Manabu who traveled back but that would be wishful thinking. We don't do that here."

"Maybe another one of the children, but who could it be? Yousuke-kun's son, perhaps? He's definitely an option." Mom mused.

"We'll know once we get there." Dad said, and our ride continued. Eventually, we reached the Sakayanagi Residence. Once we stepped foot inside the property, we were greeted by a group of maids who told us to wait for a few hours since Chairman Sakayanagi is still at ANHS. We didn't mind at all, so we were simply led to the living room to relax while we wait. Once we did arrive there, someone was already waiting for us.

Someone familiar yet unfamiliar at the same time.

"You must be my father's guests..." she began to speak before her eyes landed at Dad, and she was stunned.

Meanwhile, everyone on our side besides Lelouch-san were also shocked.

There were still some things familiar about her. She was still wearing her signature hat, and she was still holding on to a cane. She still had lilac hair that went down to her shoulders and her eyes were still the same.

Everything else was different.

She was as tall as I was currently, and her curves were much more pronounced. If I were to compare it, her body was very similar to Horikita Suzune in high school. She was also wearing very casual clothing, with a plain white shirt and pajamas. She exuded a very... casual demeanor that was unlike the authoritative presence that she exuded in the original timeline. She didn't feel intimidating at all, she just felt... unsettling.

"Fufufufufufu." she giggled with her familiar chuckle. "To think today would be the day I meet the masterpiece. Life truly works in unexpected ways, doesn't it?"

So she has visited the White Room before  in this timeline as well.

"Indeed it does. It's a pleasure to meet you..."

"Sakayanagi Arisu. It's indeed a pleasure to meet you truly in person, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka."

It must feel bizarre for Dad to have someone you know personally greet you like that.

"Now then, what brings you all here? Is this about the time travel matter, perhaps?" she asked as she sipped on her tea.

While we were expecting this outcome, it didn't stop us from being surprised at her knowing what was going on.

"Yes. Who informed you of this?" Dad asked calmly.

"Fufu, it's quite the story actually. The girl appeared out of nowhere in front of the Student Council President's office in ANHS. The security guards almost threw her off the school grounds if not for her quick thinking."

"Just like what happened to us, so it definitely wasn't someone who already exists at this point in time." I deduced.

"Yes, she said that she was from the future, and that she was there to assist you in destroying the White Room. She said her name was Horikita Shizuku."

Shizuku-chan?! She's here as well?!

"I did not expect her to be here." Mom muttered in surprise.

"Anyway, can you please introduce yourselves?" she asked. We then introduced ourselves one by one, with her showing a lot of fascination over me and Suzuki. Soon, it was her son's turn.

"It's a pleasure to meet you in this timeline, Mom. My name is Sakayanagi Shin." he introduced himself. Auntie Arisu looked pleasantly surprised before chuckling again.

"I see. It's nice to meet you, too, Shin-kun. I apologize for making you feel like a stranger to me, but..."

"It's fine, Mom. I expected this to happen." he said, though I noticed a slight sadness in his eyes. Seeing his mother not recognize him must have been painful. "It feels weird seeing you like this, though. You look different from what you looked like in the past in my timeline."

"Horikita Shizuku did say that you come from a different timeline. What did I look like?"

"You looked... smaller. That is all I can say without being rude." he said while blushing on the side.

"You don't want to say that she looked like a loli, Shin-kun?" I grinned and teased him.

"Please be quiet, Honami!" he said.

"Fufu, you two are quite close, I see. I'm glad that our families are closer in the future." she said, pointedly ignoring my comment.

"Where is Horikita Shizuku?" Dad asked.

"She is still at ANHS with my father. He mentioned that they would be arriving sometime today, so you came just in time."

"I guess we will be waiting here, then." Dad said, and all of us took our seats in the living room. The maids then began to serve us tea as well, and we began to drink as well.

"It is honestly a pleasure to see you experience human warmth, Ayanokouji-kun." Auntie Arisu remarked as she observed our interactions. "A result of being freed from your shackles, hm?"

"True. It feels liberating yet painful at the same time." Dad said. "It's better than seeing white all the time, though."

"Indeed." she responded. "I am glad that you finaly achieved a normal life, Ayanokouji-kun, and to be able to have such a wonderful family, too. "

"I'm surprised, though. I would have thought that you were going to try and compete with me almost immediately after we meet."

"You know what they say, Ayanokouji-kun. There is always a proper time and place for these situations." she said. "Trying to compete with you in such an important time would be incredibly inappropriate. I can wait. "

"I see, then I'll wait for that time then."

"I appreciate it. I do have a question for you, Ayanokouji-kun. Are you still looking for allies to take down the White Room?"

"Yes. I am in need of more capable allies at the moment."

"I see, then I have a certain individual, or individuals, that would pique your interest." Auntie Arisu said. "Ayanokouji-kun, have you heard of the urban legend of Blank?"

"Blank?" Dad raised his eyebrows, and me, Lelouch-san, Auntie Shinobu, and Mom were also the same. However, I could see Shin-kun's eyes widen.

"B-Blank? You know about them, Mom?" he replied.

"Yes. For the sake of everyone who hasn't heard of this urban legend, I will explain." she said. " You see, in the video game community, there exists an enigmatic group of player, or players, that are rumored to have never lost a game. Any game. Strategy games, RPGs, FPS games, you name it. Even against cheaters and hackers, without having to cheat themselves. "

"That's... interesting, but they're supposed to just be urban legends, right?" Mom said.

"You make a good point. However, I have actually played against them before. I lost every time I did."

All of us were immensely shocked by this. Based on all of our observations, this Sakayanagi Arisu was just as intelligent as the Auntie Arisu from our timeline, so the fact that she lost to this supposed urban legend was shocking.

Oh, and we spotted another difference this time. Auntie Arisu is a gamer. Interesting change.

"So they're real? What are their identities, then? Have you found out?" Lelouch-san asked.

"Yes, though they were exceptionally difficult to track, even with my proficiency with computers and technology and the like."

This is a major advantage for us!

Someone that is skilled in handling computers and technology like that would be extremely useful for our cause, and now someone like that has fallen into our laps. This is a fortunate turn of events.

"Their names are Sora and Shiro." Auntie Arisu revealed. "They are adoptive siblings who have no family names since they have discarded them. Sora is an 14-year-old male NEET who is exceptionally good at psychology and deductive reasoning, while Shiro is a 13-year-old who is a genius when it comes to pure logic. I'm sure that they will both be a great asset to our cause."

"Are we sure they're going to be willing to join in the first place?" Auntie Shinobu asked a good question.

"They would. After all..." she then revealed something massive. "Shiro-san is a 6th generation White Room dropout."

"WHAT?!" Mom and Auntie Shinobu exclaimed, while my Dad had a face of understanding. I was also stunned, but didn't say anything.

"Wait, if she really is a genius in pure logic, how is she a dropout?" Mom asked.

"While she is indeed a genius in pure logic, that is all that she is good at. Nothing else. That is what they told me at least. She also told me that she was dropped out relatively early, around 6-7 years old, for a reason they have not mentioned yet."

"I see. It's possible that her physical abilities are lacking." Dad theorized. "The White Room heavily discourages someone from only mastering one thing, after all."

"That is the most likely reason. Regardless, the siblings both have a burning hatred for the place, and they would most definitely want to join in the effort of bringing it down." she explained.

"That would be helpful." Dad commented. "For now, let us wait and relax, then."

And that is what we did. For about an hour, we did nothing but talk and drink some tea in order to pass the time. It seemed that Shin-kun and this Auntie Arisu got along very well due to their mutual love of video games, while Lelouch-san and Dad had intellectual conversations about various topics. Honestly, it's surprising to see them getting along very well too.

An hour later, we heard the door open. We were disappointed to learn that it wasn't Shizuku-chan and Chairman Sakayanagi. Instead, two teenagers entered the room. One was a tall, average looking guy who looked well-built. He had a sharp gaze, and the way he carried himself indicated that he had combat experience.

The other was an incredibly beautiful girl with a slim body. Her long straight black hair complemented her pale skin, and her posture was both graceful and smooth.

It seems that Auntie Arisu knew about them, as she smiled and waved at the two individuals.

"Tatsuya-san and Miyuki-san, it's a pleasure to see you two here."

"Yes, it has been a while, Arisu-san." The girl, who I assume was named Miyuki, replied.

"It is nice to see you again, Arisu." The guy, Tatsuya, did the same.

"Why don't you both take a seat and have some tea with me as well? I would like to introduce you to my guests." she said. And so they did. We introduced ourselves to the two siblings, who were named Shiba Tatsuya and Shiba Miyuki.

I noticed something odd, though. When Shiba Tatsuya-san was introduced to my Dad, his eyes widened, as if he recognized him.

"That's correct, Tatsuya-kun, the masterpiece is here." she said. Instantly, all of us were on guard.

These two know about the White Room!

"Do you know me?" Dad decided to ask. Tatsuya-san nodded, but before he could say how he knew him, Auntie Shinobu gasped in shock.

"I know you!" she exclaimed. "How the hell did I forgot you? You were a temporary student of the White Room!"

"Temporary student?"

"He was enrolled in the program for only a few years as training before he left. It seemed that his family had made a deal with that man to train him in the White Room."

"That is indeed accurate." Tatsuya-san said, while Miyuki-san looked gloomy upon the mention of the White Room. It seemed that she hated that place just as much as we did.

"So what are they doing here?" he asked. Dad sighed, probably thinking about whether he should tell him or not. In the end, he went for a vague reply, like he usually does.

"I am here to talk to Chairman Sakayanagi about something. That is all." he said in his emotionless voice. Thankfully, the siblings didn't pry any further, and just proceeded to introduce themselves to us and make some small talk.

Eventually, the man we've been waiting for has arrived.

"I hope we didn't make our guests wait for long." Chairman Sakayanagi said as he entered the living room. Shizuku-chan was also there, and I waved at her. She waved back, but we didn't do anything else. There's something far more important to prioritize here.

"No, we had a pleasant time." Dad mentioned. "Thank you for making time for this meeting."

"This is an important meeting, Ayanokouji-kun. There is no way I am going to miss this meeting."

"You have my gratitude."

"You are certainly welcome, Ayanokouji-kun. Now then, let us go somewhere private."

"I have been briefed on the situation." the Chairman began. "You and your allies want to enroll at ANHS directly to prevent the Matsuo family from drawing Sensei's ire, correct?"

Dad simply nodded.

"I see. Well, that can certainly be arranged, though I am sure that he would find such actions suspicious."

"I'm sure he will. However, by the time I am in ANHS, he would be unable to directly interfere with my actions, so for as long as I enter there, it doesn't really matter."

"I see. Well, for starters, every single student that you have said will enroll at ANHS were already on our list, so I don't need to pull any strings for them. Even Lelouch-kun would be easy enough. The problem is...

"The kids from the future."

"Indeed." he said. "I can take care of my own grandson, given that he looks almost identical to our family members. It would be easy to disguise him as a cousin of Arisu."

"The same could be said for my son, Suzuki. He looks much like Kei, so it's a trivial matter to disguise him as a twin sibling. The problem would be Honami."

It stings being called like that, but I knew exactly what he meant, anyway.

"Thankfully, he was not present when I told that man about her and Shin, and I was able to disguise them successfully. However, the moment I use our family name to disguise her, he'll find out."

"That is a problem. You two look so similar that it would be an uphill battle to prove that you are not related in some way."

"Honami wouldn't want to alter her appearance. She has a... complex about it."

Damn right I don't.

My resemblance to Dad was something that I am proud of. While I intended to carve out my own path, I also wanted to emulate the best qualities Dad had, like his intelligence and desire to make other people grow, while forging my own identity. Having the same appearance as Dad did feel like I was inheriting his... title in some way.

I wanted to be the next masterpiece, like Dad was, while still maintaining my humanity. It was my way of defying my grandfather posthumously and making my Dad proud.

"I see. I am glad that she loves and admires you greatly. It makes you a better father than Sensei ever was." the Chairman replied. "Now then, how should we deal with her situation?"

Dad fell silent, probably trying to think of a solution. A few seconds later, he found one.

"We can just pretend that we are half-siblings. I've heard before that that man had actually slept with other women besides our... mother in this timeline, unlike in my previous timeline. It is plausible that I actually had half-siblings in this timeline as well."

"Half-siblings... That reminds me." the Chairman said something shocking. "You do, in fact, have half-siblings in this timeline."

"Eh?!" Mom exclaimed.

"Yes. Ishida Kotone." he then showed a picture of her, a white-haired girl with eyes similar to Dad's. "According to her mother, Ishida Aiko, Sensei decided to discard her even before it was revealed that she was pregnant. Because of this, she decided to raise her alone, with some help from me and my wife, of course."

"What is she like?" Dad asked curiously.

"She is a very spirited and energetic individual who isn't afraid to speak her mind." he said. "She also has above average capabilities, but not at the level of you or your family."

"I see. What does she feel about that man?"

"They both hate him." the Chairman said bluntly.

"Well, that's convenient." I said.

"We can make them your family in your documentations, Honami." he said. "It would make it more plausible."

"I see. When do we meet them, then?" I said.

"Tomorrow. I can give them a call now then they'll come here tomorrow for more discussion."

"Ah, I see. I guess we should continue this discussion tomorrow, then." Dad said.

"Indeed."

"Thank you once again for accepting my requests, Chairman Sakayanagi."

"It is nothing, Kiyotaka-kun. I am simply glad that you finally managed to experience your peaceful life."

With that, the meeting was over for now. I the turned to Shizuku-chan, and lunged at her to hug her.

"I missed you, Shizuku-chan!" I said.

"It truly is." she said with a smile. "I am glad that I am able to help with my father's work, and also..."

"You'll be seeing Horikita Suzune-san, correct?"

"Yes, but not right now." she said.

"Then why don't I talk about what I've been up to, Shizuku-chan?"

"I would love to hear it."

Suzuki's POV

"Man, I really wanted to meet Auntie Arisu, or at least be with Miharu-chan! Now I'm here guarding an idol..."

I lamented my fate as I walked with Airi-san and Hoshino-san towards Hoshino-san's house.

"Wow, I haven't heard of anyone complaining about accompanying an idol before. It kind of hurts my feelings, Suzuki-kun." Hoshino-san said.

"Because I'm a loyal boyfriend, Hoshino-san." I said.

"A loyal boyfriend, hm?" the idol smirked. "Where is your girlfriend anyway?"

"She wanted to see what her Dad was like here, so she accompanied Mikey-san and Ryuguji-san. Ugh, I should have been there with her, but Dad insisted that someone in the family has to guard you, and I'm the only remaining one free to do so."

"Is she going to be okay?" Ruby-san asked.

"She can handle herself, but my love for her still makes me worry, you know." I said.

"You are way too dedicated to your girlfriend..." Aqua-san remarked.

"Of course I would be!" I said. "You probably don't know what it feels like because you never had a girlfriend in your previous life."

"That's rude, Suzuki-kun!" Hoshino-san reprimanded me.

"You got roasted, onii-chan." Ruby-san teased Aqua.

"Shut up, Ruby." he fired back.

"So, uhh, how long are you going to stay here?" Hoshino-san asked.

"Until you are guaranteed to be safe." I said. "You're basically defenseless, Hoshino-san. We need to protect you."

"Thank you. It really means a lot." she said while bowing.

"Don't worry about it!" I said, as if I wasn't complaining about her just a few seconds earlier.

"You were just complaining about mama earlier." Ruby-san rightfully pointed out.

"I was." I said, but I didn't elaborate. Ruby-san pouted in response and looked away from me.

Eventually, we reached the apartment they were living in. It was definitely small compared to all of the houses I've lived in before, but it looked comfortable enough. Hoshino-san checked if the door was locked, and it was, so she used their keys to open it.

Once we got inside, I immediately checked if someone had broken in or not. While I wouldn't know anything about what the house looked like originally if it had been broken into, with enough skill in observation, it's pretty easy to tell when a house had been broken into or not. Of course, I would have to look pretty thoroughly, considering that if someone did break in the house, they would be pretty skilled.

I looked around for signs of a person currently inside the room, and even checked the walls for any secret compartments. There were none.

"It's safe. No one's here." I said as they all sighed in relief and entered the apartment.

"To think that we would have to be nervous even at our own home..." Aqua-san muttered angrily.

Meanwhile, I glanced outside the apartment on the window, and noticed a man looking in from afar.

There's a valid reason for it. However...

I will make sure to protect this family.

And punish the one who is responsible for this mess.

Miharu's POV

"Are you sure you should be with us, Miharu?" Mikey-san asked me as we walked aimlessly throughout their... "territory".

"I want to meet my Dad, even if I can't really introduce myself as his child like Shin-san did." I answered.

"Miharu, Ryuuen is a violent jerk at this point in time. You really shouldn't be here." Akito-san said.

"That doesn't matter. I still want to meet him." I insisted. "Besides, I can handle myself in a fight just fine."

The three of them sighed in exasperation, as if giving up on trying to convince me.

They really needn't worry, though, because I was well aware of what Dad was like at this point in his life

The strange thing was, he never seemed remorseful about what he did in the past. He simply told me tales of his exploits so that I can know what a, pardon my language, piece of shit he was in the past. The rooftop incident was a prime example of this.

Still, I never hated him. Hiyori-sensei taught me all about the importance of tolerance. She taught me how important it was to be patient and tolerant of people like Dad, who did horrible things for the sake of a reasonable cause. Of course, that didn't mean condoning such behavior, it simply meant to be patient and not be so rash or impulsive about anything, which was good advice.

This is why they didn't need to be so concerned about me seeing a negative impression of my Dad. I am already aware of everything.

"Excuse me!"

It seems that I became to engrossed in my thoughts, because I couldn't manage to evade someone running at my direction. Thankfully, Ryuguji-san managed to pull me away before we crashed into each other, so neither of us were seriously harmed.

"Ah! I'm really sorry about that!" the boy said.

"Watch where you're going." Ryuguji-san reprimanded him.

"Yeah!"

"Hey, never seen you around here before, what's your name?" Mikey-san asked him.

"I just moved here." he answered. "My name's Katagiri Yuuichi. It's nice to meet you."

"Nice to meet you too. Make sure to be more careful next time!" Mikey-san said before we continued on our way.

Eventually though, we saw my Dad and a few of his goons harassing a member of the Tokyo Manji gang.

W-Wait, is that  Ishizaki -san ? He's already a subordinate of Dad's here?

"Oi, what the hell are you doing?" Mikey-san called out to him. My father simply turned around and smirked.

"If it isn't the leader of the Tokyo Manji Gang. Heh, didn't expect to see you here." he replied, though with the way he said it he was definitely taunting Mikey-san.

"If you don't stop doing that, I will kick your ass." Mikey-san threatened him, but of course, my Dad was simply unfazed.

"You can try it." he said, then he turned to look at me. "And what's the deal with this girl? She doesn't look like she belongs here."

"I do not, but is there a need to belong in somewhere to be in a place?" I asked. "And besides..."

I then swiftly attacked his followers. I kicked one in the shin, then I chopped the other one in the back with a hand chop, and finally, I used a powerful uppercut to knock out the remaining goon, which left Dad as the only one remaining.

"I can handle myself just fine."

I swear I could see Dad's eyes sparkling in that moment.

"Heh, you're interesting..."

Kikyou's POV

I'm nervous now.

After the meeting, I thought of contacting Horikita-san regarding the secrets that I hid in hopes that she can become a friend to me.

However, before I sent the message, Horikita-san beat me to it by contacting me instead. She said that she had something to tell me, and to meet her at the back of the gymnasium after class. She said that she had something she wanted to tell me in private.

Soon enough, Horikita-san appeared, looking nervous and scared.

Well, from her demeanor, this is certainly not a confession.

Imagining Horikita-san confessing to me is just plain creepy.

"So what do you want to talk to me, Suzune-san?"

"Well... did you know about all of those times I was out of contact from everyone?"

"Yes! Are you going to tell me about what happens when you do?"

She is going out of contact from everyone? Why?

Horikita-san then handed me a leather-bound notebook. She didn't say anything and simply had me read it.

What was written there was shocking.

"Let me out, Suzune. LET ME OUT."

"Come on, Suzune, let us break them... Let us destroy..."

"Your brother is nothing... We are the superior ones, Suzune!"

"Tear her apart! Rip that faker to shreds! Peel that mask off her damn face!"

"Let us break them! Let us break them!Let us break them!"

It was written in her handwriting.

Chapter Text

Kikyou's  POV

"A split personality...?"

This is ridiculous! This just makes it harder for us to deal with Horikita-san!

"Y-Yes, Kikyou-san." she replied. "She named herself Sumire. From what I can tell from her personality, she is power hungry and arrogant. She wants nothing more than to be at the top while everyone grovels at her feet."

Sounds like an even worse version of the Horikita-san I knew. This is troublesome.

I didn't expect this at all. We all thought that she would be easier to handle this time due to the change in her personality, but now this happened!

What am I going to do about this...?

"Is there an indication as when Sumire comes out? Or some sort of pattern?" I asked.

"W-Well, she comes out randomly, however, I get intense headaches whenever she is about to come out, and that's why I sometimes skip school. I don't want to subject you all to Sumire's personality." Horikita-san said.

"Suzune-san..."

This is Horikita-san. This?!

"That is all I want to tell you for now, Kikyou-san. I've told you my darkest secret. You can go now." she said meekly. However, I wasn't done here.

"No, Suzune-san. I still haven't told you mine." I said as I grabbed her hand as she was leaving.

"Y-Yours?" she asked.

"My darkest secret."

And I did tell her. I showed her the blog first then I told her everything. I never missed a single detail. The only secret I haven't told her now was the time travel.

However, instead of resenting me like I fully expected her to, she... looked at me with sympathy.

"It must have hurt, right, Kikyou-san? To pretend like someone you're not. It must have been eating away at you on the inside... It's going to be okay now... You don't have to carry this burden alone anymore. As your best friend, I'll support you the best I can!" she said while smiling cheerfully.

Why isn't this the Horikita-san I got in the original timeline?!

I was honestly touched by what she said. It seems that I really do like it when people accept my true self. It happened with that monster too.

Don't think about that moment,  Kikyou ! Pull yourself together!

"BE QUIET!" Horikita-san suddenly shouted, but she wasn't looking at me. She was looking at the ground while clutching her head in pain. I knew what was happening.

Sumire! What should I do?!

"Kikyou-san... please... run..!" Horikita-san said as she continued resisting Sumire.

Meanwhile, I began to think about what to do in this situation. Clearly, Sumire is arrogant and sadistic, and would have no trouble trying to put me down if necessary.

However, I've experienced far worse things than a malevolent 14- year old.

That's right. Far worse.

Truly, the White Raid has scarred all those who are involved in it.

"Let her come out, Suzune-san."

Even when in pain, she looked shocked at my statement.

"Sumire... is dangerous, and she hates you!"

"I know, but I want to talk to her. Besides, this isn't the first time I'll deal with someone that hates me."

"You ruined everything for my brother, Kushida  Kikyou !"

That was... a stressful part of my life.

"Are you... sure about this... Kikyou-san?"

"I am definitely sure. Let her out."

With that, her demeanor changed. Her pained expression changed, and she was now sporting a smug grin on her face. Her eyes also noticeably changed, from the soft pinkish-red color it originally had, it now became a deep blood red.

"To think a bitch like you would be cocky enough to actually try to talk to me." Sumire said, her disdain for me obvious.

"Talk about the pot calling the kettle black, Sumire." I fired back. "It's my first time seeing you, and I can already tell that your head is big enough to block the sun."

"It's perfectly natural for me to act like this, for the world revolves around me and only me!" she said.

This bitch's  ego is something else! How utterly laughable! I can't wait until that monster utterly destroys her! I feel sorry for Horikita-san for dealing with someone like this all day.

"What kind of delusion are you living under?" I asked in bewilderment.

"Delusion? No, Kushida, it's reality. Everyone is just an ant compared to me, including you, you fake angel."

"And yet you are making Suzune-san the same by existing, Sumire. You make me sick. You are defiling her with your mere presence alone."

"Defiling her? You are mistaken, Kushida. I am the perfect version of that pathetic girl."

This was a bad idea. Talking to this girl is draining me of my will to live, but how can I make Horikita-san return to  herself?

As I was just thinking that I saw Sumire's expression contort, as if she was in pain, and began to drop to the floor on one knee. After a few moments, her eyes turned back to what it originally was, and she began breathing heavily. I immediately ran and helped her up.

"Let's go, Suzune-san."

"Thank you, Kikyou-san..."

I need to tell everyone about this.

Miharu's POV

"You're good!"

Dad shouted this as he wiped the blood off of his lips. He stood up from his position and took a stance.

"Of course, it results in a fight..." I heard Akito-san mutter from behind us.

"I agree with that bastard, though, she is good." Sano-san remarked.

"She's trained." Akito-san simply replied.

After I had taken down Dad's goons, he immediately tried to attack me. Unfortunately for him, I was intimately familiar with his fighting style, given that he trained me with it almost every day, so I managed to swiftly evade his blow and strike him back in the chest.

He didn't let up, though, and immediately tried to follow it up with a headlock, but I grabbed his arms before they can close in, and I kicked him in the chest again, but he wasn't fazed by this, and instantly headbutted me, causing me to wince in pain. As a response, I pulled on his right arm and punched him straight in the jaw.

With that, he was knocked back a few meters and fell into the ground on his butt. He was still grinning, though, which was very typical of him.

"For such a sweet-looking girl, you sure pack a goddamn punch." Dad said as he stood up.

"Don't judge people by their appearances, Ryuuen Kakeru. It's going to bite you in the behind someday." I said, remembering the rooftop incident.

"Heh heh, I daresay it's biting me right now!" he said with a manic grin on his face as he charged at me with reckless abandon, or so he wants me to believe. Despite how he may look, Dad is very tactical when it comes to fighting. He doesn't charge in recklessly like one may be led to believe due to his demeanor.

Unfortunately for this version of my Dad, I've fought his future self who is much stronger and much more experienced when it comes to fighting, and I've beaten him a few times. This will be a cinch.

He tried to do a feint by trying to poke my eyes out using his fingers, but I immediately parried that attack, as well as block another one coming from his right arm. I tried to step back to try and lure him into a trap, but he didn't bite. Instead, he stopped and did a roundhouse kick to my jaw, which I blocked with my arm. We then exchanged a few more blows after that, with me being the winning one.

Of course, that did not deter my Dad one bit as he continued to relentlessly assault me. I noticed that his hits were getting a lot heavier as time progresses, likely as a result of Dad taking the fight more seriously than before.

"Man, she's scary. Miharu's kicking his ass." Ryuguji-san remarked as he watched our battle.

"I mean, she's been taught by those two. They are very good teachers in martial arts, so it isn't really too much of a surprise that she's that strong." Akito-san replied, referring to both of the twins. They did teach me how to fight alongside my Dad, which is why I was confident about my fighting skills.

Eventually, Dad was knocked down again by me as I kicked him in the chest with as much force as I can muster. It seemed to have worked as he spat out blood, but, as I expected, he simply laughed.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha! This is amazing! You're great! I can't wait to crush you!"

Somehow, his laughter resonated with me. I could feel it within the depths of my being. It's as if, right at this moment, nothing else mattered to me. That's right, I was enjoying this as well, and I didn't know why.

Actually, no, I did know why. Because despite everything that has been taught to me, I can never forget my roots.

"You're enjoying this too, aren't you?! Look at that damn grin on your face!"

That's right, I'm enjoying this too, Dad. Because I'm your daughter.

Suzuki's POV

"So.... here comes a rat scurrying around."

My voice echoed ominously throughout the dead of the night as I stared menacingly at one of them. The people that are after Hoshino's life.

I had cornered them at an isolated alleyway nearby the home, ready to get information out of him. I had already overpowered him and tied him to a pole using metal wires.

"You thought I wouldn't find you, hm? You were not as stealthy as you chose to believe."

"W-Who the hell are you, you're not Kamiki Hikaru!" the man said.

Interesting. From what Hoshino told me, Kamiki Hikaru is the twins' father. However, only she and the aforementioned Kamiki knows about this, besides me. It was an even bigger secret than the twins are. For him to know about it is truly fascinating.

"Who ordered you to come here?" I said blankly.

"I'm not telling you!" he roared.

"I see. Of course you wouldn't tell me." I sighed. "This just makes things simpler."

With that, I pulled out my first tool, or rather tools. It was a bunch of needles. Heated ones.

"Wha-" the man stared in horror at the needles, but before he could say anything, I gagged him using some cloth.

"I can't have you screaming now." I said flatly. I then started to insert the needles into his body, with his pained screams muffled by the gag. I then proceeded to insert another needle. And another. And another. Then another one again.

To add more pain, I decided to insert some on the crotch area as well.

"Blink twice if you want to talk." I said blankly as the man still refused and shook his head.

"You're the only one suffering in this situation, so why are you even resisting? Are you perhaps hoping that I have a change of heart? The answer is no."

I decided to pull out another tool in my disposal to assist with this task. It was a normal claw hammer.

"I supposed if you like suffering that much, I'll break your bones as well." I said, much to the horror of the man, as I began to strike at his bones with immense force.

I made sure that each strike I did completely shattered his bones. I started at the kneecap first, completely shattering it at first try, then I went on towards the humerus of both arms, shattering those as well. I completely ignored the muffled screams of the man as I began to strike at his feet next, then the ribs.

"Blink twice if you want to talk." I said again, but again, he didn't do it. Sighing, I decided to pull out my second to last tool.

A feather.

I could see the confusion on the man's face, but I didn't say anything as I began to use the feather to tickle the man. 

"Pffffttt..." The man began trying to laugh, only being muffled by the gag. However, he was still feeling the pain from his broken ribs and the hot needles, so the laughter was just intensifying the pain more. That, combined with the pleasure from the tickling, makes this an even worse version of torture than just pain, making it more effective.

"I'll say it again, blink twice if you want to talk." I said as I continued tickling him. His face was contorted in a mixed expression of pleasure and agony, but he still didn't give up.

"You know, I really don't want to use my last resort." I said. When the man was confused, I decided to give him a hint.

"Have you ever heard of sounding?"

Instantly, the man began blinking incessantly, practically begging me silently to not do it. I nodded and took off the gag.

"Well then, talk."

Kiyotaka's POV
June 25, 2014

Is this what it's like to feel awkward?

The living room was silent. Dead silent. In all of my life, I have never once experienced this much silence before. Even in the White Room, there were at least some noises whenever a test was being conducted, but this much silence is... a new experience to say the least.

And the cause of this was the two members of the Ishida family sitting right in front of me.

Ishida Kotone and Ishida Aiko, two people that were nonexistent in the lives of the Ayanokoujis during the previous timeline. I don't know how useful these two are going to be in our quest, but I'd at least hope that they wouldn't be incompetent. After all, an incompetent ally is worse than a competent enemy.

The reactions of the two when I entered were interesting, to say the least. Ishida Aiko glared at me resentfully, though it felt impersonal. I assume that I reminded her of that man too much. As for my half-sister, Ishida Kotone, she just stared at me with curiosity and a mild annoyance. I don't exactly know how she feels about that man or me, but given her reaction, she probably did not care, and were simply annoyed that she had to be here in the first place.

This meeting has one goal: to convince them to become Honami's "cover family" so that she can hide her tracks against that man.

However, this is easier said than done. Not only do I have to convince them to side with me, I have to convince them about time travel. Because of the fact that I had next to no information about them on the previous timeline that can help me with convincing them, this would be a difficult hurdle to cross.

But difficult does not mean impossible.

After all, if Chairman Sakayanagi has informed them of the situation, then this will be incredibly easy for me to accomplish.

"I would like to thank the both of you for allowing me the opportunity to meet you. My name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. It is a pleasure to meet you." I said.

This was the first step in convincing them to ally with me. Showing gratitude and polite introductions is not something that Ayanokouji Atsuomi would do. To him, both things are just a sign of submission, and he refuses to submit to anyone. If someone does something that benefits him, he is most likely to praise them on a job well done rather than thank them. It makes him the superior one in such an interaction. Doing things that that man would never do is a sign that I am completely different from him, and would therefore be easier for me to convince them to side with me.

Besides, I have found out that, in situations like this, sincerity is going to get you farther than any form of manipulation.

"Ha, you act so different from him, brat." Ishida Aiko said.

Brat, huh? That is the first time someone's called me that. Incredibly interesting, I must say.

"I despise him just as much as you do." I said as I offered them tea. "Tea?"

"Thank you." Ishida Aiko replied. I noticed Ishida Kotone looking at me strangely.

"Your poker face doesn't show that hatred, that's for sure." Kotone said.

"My poker face is something that is hard to remove, so unfortunately, you just have to deal with it."

"So why did you want to meet us?" Aiko leaned forward.

"I have a favor to ask from you."

Second, that man never asks for favors. He demands them. In fact, he never requests for anything. This is another way of making sure that these two view me as someone separate from my father.

"A favor?"

"I assume that Chairman Sakayanagi has informed you of the situation?"

This was the deciding factor as to whether negotiations would be difficult or a piece of cake.

"The time travel? I could still hardly believe it." Ishida Aiko said.

Acquiring Chairman Sakayanagi's assistance was much more of a boon than I initially expected. This expedites things to an incredible extent.

"It may be unbelievable, but trust me, it is very real." I said.

"We can hardly trust you either!" Kotone shouted.

"Fair enough." I said. "If I want to convince you, then I guess I should tell you about things I shouldn't know right now. For example, the name of my mother is Mika."

Aiko immediately stood up in shock as he grabbed my color.

"How did you know that name?!" the Ishida matriarch growled at the name.

"I found out in the future." I explained as she was still stunned to silence.

"Mika... that monster!"

"I am aware."

"Tch, if you really are from the future, then what to you want us to do?" Aiko asked.

"It's simple. I want you to take care of my daughter."

Both of them fell silent at this unexpected request.

"Your... daughter?"

"Her name is Ayanokouji Honami." I showed a picture of her, and they were shocked to see the resemblance. "As you can see, she looks identical to me, to the point that it would be extremely challenging to convince anyone that we're not related in any way. While we can just pretend to be twins, my concern is that man. If he finds out about Honami, he would be suspicious of the circumstances, and may do something to my daughter. I will not allow it."

My tone of voice caused the two to flinch. They probably did not expect such sheer anger from me, considering my apathetic appearance. This did bring about the effect of making Ishida Aiko relax.

"You really are different from him, or is that what you want us to believe?" she said very sharply, causing me to be impressed at her.

"Maybe, but sincerity is the best way to earn someone's trust." I said.

"I just hope that you wouldn't be giving your child a bunch of half-siblings." she said as she glanced at Kotone, who was still looking at us with curiosity.

Given Kei's proposal earlier, that will probably happen. However, what she meant was different.

"I would never cheat on my wife like that. Besides, if I did, she'll be angry." I said, while remembering the one time I saw her angry besides that time in the White Raid.

For the first time ever, I feared for my life that day. Hell hath no fury, huh?

"That sounded fucking ominous..." Kotone said.

"Language, young woman!" Aiko said. "So, you want me to take in your daughter or something like that?"

"No, I want your permission to use your family as cover for Honami, by pretending that she's your daughter."

"So that's it, huh? That's simple enough. I accept." Aiko said, much to the chagrin of Kotone.

"Why don't you ask for my opinion?!" she asked.

"So you're saying that you don't want us to do it?" Aiko said.

"Eh, uh, yeah, we're going to do it...", Kotone sheepishly muttered, leading to Aiko giving her a deadpan stare.

"Then why were you complaining?"

"Ahem." I cleared my throat. "Thank you for accepting the offer. We have a deal, then."

"Yes."

With that, me and Ishida Aiko shook hands.

I wonder how this relationship will evolve over time.

Tsubasa 's  POV

"I hope C.C.-san will be okay..."

I muttered sadly as I remembered the woman me and Eiichiro-kun rescued more than a week ago. After that event, she decided to lay low at our house for now, and let Ayanokouji-senpai deal with her later. For now, we should move one with our normal lives, just like how he wanted it

Just as I was walking down the corridor, I saw something I really didn't like.

I saw some of my classmates bullying someone. The sight made me angry

I have to stop them!

Before I was able to step forward to do something, someone beat me to it. Someone familiar.

"Oi! What the hell are you doing to that guy?!"

The bullies all froze hearing that voice, while I smiled, then turned around to face her.

She was still as pretty as ever. Her short strawberry blonde hair that reaches her shoulders. Her stern expression and captivating gaze. Every student in this school looks up to this girl.

"I-I-I-Ichinose-senpai!"

"I didn't think someone would be reckless enough to do something like this with me out here!" she bellowed. "Get off him right now!"

"Y-Yes, ma'am!" the bullies immediately released their hold on the man while shaking in fear.

"This is your last warning, you bastards. If I see any of you bullying anyone again, you should be prepared to feel my fists of righteous fury!" she said.

The three began to shake even more. While what she was saying was extremely ridiculous, the threat behind it was very real. I shuddered momentarily as I remembered that time she defeated around a dozen gangsters on her own.

"Y-YES, MA'AM!"

"Go on then! Scram!" she said.

With that, the bullies immediately hurried out of there. Meanwhile, Ichinose-senpai immediately went to check on the kid.

"Are you okay? Did they do anything too bad to hurt you?" she asked gently.

"I-I'm fine. T-Thank you, senpai..." he said.

"They're not going to hurt you again, okay? You'll be fine." she continued to comfort the boy. He just nodded, and moments later, he walked away.

"What are you doing here, Nanase-san?" she asked me as she noticed me looking on at the scene.

"I was just about to intervene against those bullies before you came in, senpai. Thank you for helping him."

"It was the right thing to do! I'm going to make sure that nobody hurts anybody in this school." she said with absolute conviction.

"Good luck, then, senpai! I'm rooting for you!"

With that, we parted ways.

Third Person POV

"The concert is on July 5, huh?"

"Yes, ma'am. B-Komachi's concert is on July 5."

Two unknown individuals were talking in an apartment.

"I see. That's 10 days from now, I believe. Is there any news from the one who I sent in that bitch's house?"

"We haven't heard from him, ma'am. Maybe he's slacking off again..."

"Pathetic. Useless." the woman sneered. "I can't believe I hired a failure like that."

"So what are we going to do next?"

"Before anything else, make sure to kill Kamiki Hikaru. That bastard has been getting in my way since the start."

"Are you sure? Kamiki Hikaru is much too crafty. I'm sure that he is aware that you may be targeting him."

"That doesn't matter. Surely he is much too worn down from protecting Hoshino Ai since the very beginning."

"Then I would implore you to be careful, ma'am."

"I know, there's no need for you to warn me."

That's right. I'll be taking the both of you down. I'll be making sure to punish you for stealing my spotlight!

Unfortunately for this unknown woman, things are about to get a lot harder for her.

Because, unknown to her, there are monsters guarding the cheerful yet lonely idol.

And these monsters are about to unleash their fury on those who try to harm her.

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Hoshino Aqua's  POV

As I sit in the couch, playing games in my phone, I heard the door to our house open.

"You're back." I said.

"I've dealt with the rat successfully." Suzuki coldly stated. "He will be found dead in a dumpster a week from now."

"I... see. Did you get any information from him?" I said. While I was terrified at how he casually talked about killing someone, I decided to simply ignore it for now. I have long since accepted that Ayanokouji Kiyotaka and his kids are a bunch of monsters in human skin.

"I learned a lot." he said. "We have 10 days to prepare for the assault on your mother."

"It's Ai's concert 10 days from now!" I said.

"Exactly, they're planning on attacking her on that day." he confirmed.

"Who's the culprit?" I asked, barely holding on to my anger.

"Shindo Kaori and Himekawa Airi."

Himekawa Airi... she was an actress, wasn't she? And Shindo Kaori is another idol...

"From what I can glean, those two are responsible for much of the suffering in Hoshino Ai's life, as well as your father's." he said.

I perked up at the mention of my father.

"You know about my father?" I said.

Ai had never mentioned his name to us, only stating that he was also a celebrity and that the two had a secret relationship. Considering their occupations, it was very much reasonable that things will end up that way.

"His name is Kamiki Hikaru." Suzuki said. "He had been protecting Hoshino-san from danger, but from what I've gathered, he is close to reaching his limit."

"I... see." I replied weakly. "So what do we do now?"

"We need to take stock of all the possible scenarios when it comes to Hoshino-san's assault, as well as all of the resources available to us." Suzuki said before he began pacing the room. "First, we need to assess how the assault may happen. Where is the concert taking place?"

"It was at the Dome, I think." I said, remembering the time when I overheard Ichigo-san and Ai talking about her upcoming concert.

"I see. In that case, we need to think of all the spots where Hoshino-san may be attacked."

"The parking lot? Backstage? It can't be during the concert itself..." I began to think.

"They could also do it on the way to the Dome, or before she comes there at this house, but to be honest, I don't think they'll try it." Suzuki remarked.

"Because of what you did to that fellow?" I guessed, and Suzuki nodded.

"Killing him will definitely make them more cautious of attacking Hoshino-san right at her house. They may think that Hikaru Kamiki may have gone... overboard with him. Doing it on the way to the Dome is also risky for them, since they risk the police interfering."

"That's true."

"It's either the parking lot or backstage, then. We need to have someone guarding her at all times just to be safe." Suzuki said. "As for the available assets we have, there's Mom, me, Honami-nee-san, Auntie Shinobu, Miharu-chan, Mikey-san, Draken-san, as well as Lelouch-san." 

"Why only them? What about Ayanokouji-san?" I asked. 

"Dad can't move around too much. We are certain that our grandfather is keeping tabs on him somehow, so we can't have him moving around too much, or else there is a distinct possibility that he will find out Dad has changed somehow, and that is the last thing we want to happen."

I nodded. In all honesty, Ayanokouji-san's father scared me. A cruel person with a lot of political influence, that's the kind of man we are going up against. Still, we are determined to do this. 

"Wait, why is Lelouch-san included?" I said as I noticed the detail of the Ayanokouji house guest being included among the available assets.

"We never actually told you, right? He has a power known as the Geass." Suzuki began to explain. "The power itself is still a complete mystery to us, but we do know what it can do. It allows him to bend someone to his will and follow his commands. In short, mind control. However, he can only command a person once."

"I... see." I said. "So he can be useful in this situation."

"Not only that, but he is also a tactical and strategic genius that is almost on par with Dad, so yeah." he remarked.

(A/N: Oh, and before anyone asks, this does  not  reflect my opinion on who is smarter between Lelouch and Kiyo. This is simply what Suzuki thinks.)

"So how are we going to do this?" I asked.

"I have some ideas, but it's better to run it by Dad first." he answered. It was then that he received a message on his phone.

He read the message on his phone before sighing heavily and putting a hand over his forehead.

"Damn it... we have a problem with Horikita-san..."

Kiyotaka's POV
June 26, 2014
Ayanokouji Residence

"This is a problem."

I sighed as I saw the message sent to me by Kushida.

Horikita has a split personality, huh?

I sighed at the prospects of extra work, especially considering that we have Hoshino's problems to consider right now.

From what Suzuki had told me, we have 9 days left before Hoshino Ai's concert, so we needed to be prepared for the assault that is about to come. Since we virtually have no information about our enemies besides their identity, we will essentially be going in blind here.

If we want to get the information I need, I have to contact  Kamiki   Hikaru . Unfortunately, he is an elusive individual.

Even though the father of the Hoshino twins is a decently popular actor, he is never seen in public outside of his celebrity appearances. He was extremely elusive, and Airi had even admitted that she rarely ever sees him, even though she was close to Hoshino Ai.

How should I go about doing this...

Before I can think of a further solution, my phone rang. When I checked the caller ID, it was an unknown number, so I answered it.

"Is this Ayanokouji Kiyotaka?"

"Who is this?"

"The father to an idol's children."

Kamiki Hikaru, huh?  I don't know if I should call this a stroke of luck or simply good timing.

"I see. Where did you get this number?"

"Sakura Airi. She made contact with me."

"I see..."

Good job, Airi. You made my job easier.

"Now then, you are aware of what I want?"

"Information regarding both Shindo and Himekawa, as well as the attack on Ai, correct?"

"Yes. I need information about them."

"I will be going straight to the point, then."

And he did. He relayed everything in a succinct and straightforward manner. Compared to Hoshino's cheerful and often silly disposition, Kamiki Hikaru felt the exact opposite of her.

They say opposites attract, but I have trouble figuring out how.

This is what Kamiki Hikaru told me:

(A/N: Once again, let me remind my dear readers that I have changed the story of Ai in this fic.)

According to him, he and Ai were both fostered by Himekawa Airi when they were children. Himekawa was planning to make them celebrities in order to extend her own influence in the showbiz world. She had the desire to make them the "perfect" celebrities, so she trained them as such, and punished them when they didn't do a good job in doing so. It was disturbingly similar to my experiences in the White Room.

However, due to Hoshino's desire to experience true love and Kamiki's desire for a normal life, both of them rebelled against Himekawa Airi by running away and starting a family. And thus, Hoshino Aqua and Ruby were born.

As expected, Himekawa didn't like this outcome, so she both ordered all four of them killed. As this happened, she discovered Shindo Kaori, an idol jealous of Hoshino's popularity. Considering her as the perfect puppet and scapegoat, she manipulated her into making the constant assaults against Hoshino which Kamiki protected her from.

I did wonder about something, though.

"Is she the one responsible for Gorou Amamiya's death?"

"Ai's doctor? Yes. He was a loose end that Himekawa wanted to tie up."

It made sense. Had the doctor lived, he would have been one of the few people who knew the existence of the Hoshino twins and would have probably taken action against her had she succeeded in her plans to take care of them. Disposing of him would prevent that possibility.

Speaking of him, I wondered whether or not Kamiki knew about the reincarnation. His demeanor indicated either option, but this really wasn't a priority as of right now, so I didn't ask.

He then continued his tale. Kamiki and Himekawa knew that, eventually, Kamiki would reach his limit in protecting Hoshino, and so she decided to go all-out in attacking the Hoshino family by launching an assault on her during her concert at the Dome. Shindou will try attacking her backstage with Himekawa's men. A group of hired assassins will try to ambush her in the parking lot, and more of Himekawa's men will try to attack her at her home.

"I was honestly quite lost on what I should do to protect her, but then Sakura Airi, of all people, contacted me about you."

The Airi of this timeline must have been similar to the previous Airi of my original timeline, then.

Kamiki had said that Airi had contacted him after persuading Hoshino Ai to let them meet. She then told him about me and our plans to protect Ai in exchange for her help in taking down that man. Not wanting to let this opportunity to finally put down Himekawa Airi, he agreed.

"You believed whatever she told you?"

"She was very vague about it. Since I am too focused on protecting Ai, I didn't ask about anything. For now, that is."

It was understandable. Kamiki simply didn't look at a gift horse in the mouth and decided to accept our help. This will make things easier for us.

"Very well then. Expect our assistance on July 5th."

"Thank you."

He hung up the phone, ending the call.

"So, Kiyotaka, I assume you're going to let me take care of Himekawa Airi?"

Kei had arrived at my room with an expectant look on her face. She looked absolutely furious.

"She reminds you of that man, doesn't she?" I asked.

"A bit too much." she said with a scowl. "It would be really unsatisfying if I wasn't the one putting her down."

"Who do you want to go with you? I can't let you go alone, and I can't come with you."

"Bring Suzuki with me." she said with a tone of finality on her voice.

"Just Suzuki?" I asked.

"He's enough firepower. The others will be needed on other areas." Kei answered.

"I see. I guess I should grant the request of my beloved wife, then." I said, earning me a punch on the shoulder.

".... Idiot." she muttered while blushing.

A. Honami's POV
July 5, 2014
Hoshino Ai's Apartment

Today is the day.

I honestly didn't know what to feel about the situation. I definitely wasn't nervous, but I wasn't feeling excited either. It was incredibly strange.

As for the division of labor today, me, Mom, and Suzuki will be coming with Hoshino Ai along with his kids and Ichigo Miyako to the venue. Airi-san, Hiyori-san, Shizuku-chan, and Miharu will be roaming around backstage, while Lelouch-san, Sano-san, Ryuguji-san, and Auntie Shinobu will all be waiting at the parking lot.

Once we arrive at the parking lot, I would be reinforcing Lelouch-san's group, then me and Mom with Suzuki are going to separate. I will come find Shindo Kaori, while Mom and Suzuki find Himekawa Airi. Of course, Dad will be coordinating things with us in the background.

Right now, Hoshino-san and her two kids are preparing for the concert, with the Hoshino matriarch making it clear to her two kids not to try and stand out too much.

"Maybe you guys should do an idol fan dance in support of your Mom!" Suzuki said while winking at the two kids.

"That won't do at all, Suzuki-kun!" Hoshino-san pouted. "They shouldn't stand out at all, people may suspect something."

I seriously doubt people are going to actually guess correctly, though.

People are more likely to give and believe rational conjectures over fantastical ones. Considering the bizarre situation of the Hoshino twins, I sincerely doubt that people are immediately going to accurately guess their situation.

Suzuki's advice struck me as interesting though. As I expected, he had already figured out the mental and emotional turmoil going on at Hoshino-san's mind as a result of her current way of life as an idol, and he is already taking steps to at least mitigate the problem. With her kids showing their sincere support and love for her, it would keep Hoshino-san from breaking under the weight of her role as an idol. 

We wouldn't want that to happen after working hard to save her, after all.

"Do you think they'll attack right now, Honami-nee-san?" Suzuki asked as he watched over Hoshino-san preparing.

"It's likely. As far as they know, she's defenseless right now. Even with what you did to that guy, they wouldn't think that it would have any connection to the idol." I answered. 

"Honami's right." Mom said. "They will come, and when they do, we end them."

We then began wearing gloves as to not leave fingerprints. Suzuki then reached for a duffel bag we had prepared earlier, and he pulled out a machete out of it.

"Here, nee-san. You're better at using this than I am." he said. I accepted and took the machete from him. I tried to familiarize myself with the weapon with a few experimental swings. Meanwhile, Suzuki pulled out a crowbar from the same duffel bag as well.

"Really, Suzuki? A crowbar?" I raised my eyebrow. "Why not use a baton if you're just going to beat the shit out of people?"

"You can use the hook of the crowbar to gouge people's eyes out." he explained calmly.

"Good point." I said, agreeing with his idea. I conveniently ignored the bewildered and horrified stares of the twins as well as Hoshino-san.

Yes, we're twisted psychopaths, and we are immensely proud of it.

"You know, you guys should really restrain yourselves from saying anything weird." Mom warned us as she pulled out the last weapon inside the duffel bag. All of our eyes widened as we saw the weapon.

It was a shotgun.

"What?" Mom asked as she cocked the shotgun.

"Where did you get that?!" Hoshino-san asked. Mom simply giggled.

"I thought you would know, Hoshino-san." she winked at her. "A woman is entitled to a few secrets of her own."

I really wonder how she got that thing, and I don't even know if she has the strength to handle that thing.  I know my mom, though, she'd never use a weapon she can't wield, so it'll probably be fine.

At this moment, we then heard a knock on the door of the apartment, and all of us fell dead silent. We didn't speak a single word, and all of us gestured at each other to approach the door slowly. Meanwhile, Hoshino-san went towards the door to answer it, as per the plan.

When she opened it, she was greeted by the sight of a hooded man wearing a face mask carrying a bouquet of flowers.

"For the idol, Hoshino Ai."

"Thank-"

The next sequence of events happened fast. The man pulled out a knife from behind the bouquet and moved in to stab Hoshino-san, but I was too fast for him, so I instinctively blocked the blade using my palm, letting the knife pierce through my palm to stop the assault. Suzuki then swung his crowbar on the guy's head in full force, then I slashed at his guts with my machete, causing him to collapse on the ground, with his knife still sticking out of my hand.

"Honami-chan!" Hoshino-san shouted as she looked concerned at my injured hand, as if she hadn't just been attacked a few seconds ago.

"Tis' but a scratch." I said. "Come on, there's probably more of them out there."

Just as I said that, more men tried to attack Hoshino-san, but having lost their nonexistent element of surprise, we easily managed to dispatch them. Suzuki even managed to actually gouge one of the goons' eyes out with the hook of the crowbar out of sight from the Hoshino family, then bashed his head in repeatedly with the crowbar, spreading blood everywhere.

I also took care of my own enemies with ease, slashing them in the throats or in the legs with my machete with a single clean stroke.

"You bastards are way too weak!" I shouted as their blood began to cover my face. "And you plan on killing Hoshino-san? You're wishing for the impossible!"

"They didn't expect us to be here, nee-san." Suzuki answered as he continued bludgeoning the others to death.

Meanwhile, Mom simply stayed silent, not wanting to waste her bullets on these guys when we're handling them just fine.

Eventually, everyone that attacked us are dead, and the hallway was covered with corpses. Immediately, all five of us rushed towards our vehicle, with Miyako-san waiting in the driver's seat.

"W-Why are you covered in blood?!" she shouted in surprise.

"Enemies. Nothing for you to worry about." I said. "Let's go!"

She didn't say anything more as all of us drove towards where Ai's concert was about to begin.

We didn't know this at the time, but this incident will be etched in the history of Japan, simply known as the "Tokyo Dome Incident."

Airi's POV
Backstage, Tokyo Dome

"Are you sure you're alright, Ryuuen-chan?" I asked worriedly as she walked with me towards the venue. "You still have your wounds from the fight with your father..."

When she first came to my home a few days earlier, I was shocked by her appearance. She had a few bruises and cuts all over her body, and she said that she had been in a fight with Ryuuen Kakeru-kun when she visited Sano-kun's territory.

"I'll be fine. These doesn't hurt that much anyway." she reassured me, but I couldn't help but feel worried about her. Unfortunately, my priority lies with someone else currently.

"Do you think Shindo Kaori will be easy to find?" Horikita-san asked me a question.

"I don't know, honestly. I have seen her a few times before, but we simply ignored each other back then, so I didn't know if she was commonly found like that or not." I answered. "Regardless, we are going to do everything in our power to end her."

All of them nodded, and before I could say anything more, I heard a voice call out from behind me.

"Airi-san!" the voice of a blond-haired girl called out to me. I turned around and saw a face familiar to me in this timeline.

"Nodoka-san!" I greeted her back, looking happy to see her.

"It's nice to see you again, Airi-san! Who are they?" she asked cheerfully.

"Ah, they're Shizuku-san, Miharu-chan, and Hiyori-san. They're my friends and assistants!" I replied. 

"Hello everyone, I'm Toyohama Nodoka, a member of the idol group "Sweet Bullet"!" she said. 

"Nice to meet you too, Toyohama-san!" Hiyori-san replied.

"Oh, Airi-san, do you know where Hoshino-san is?" she asked.

"No, I don't. Why?"

"Well... I heard that Shindo-san wants to find her..."

Our blood ran cold as we heard this. I didn't want to answer the question, but as far as I know, she is just an unfortunate bystander to all of this. 

Damn you, Shindo Kaori, involving an innocent girl in this mess...!

"Hoshino-san is not here yet. You'll just have to wait. Where is Shindou-san?" Ryuuen-chan asked. Nodoka-san shrugged.

"She said she was going towards her room backstage." she said. "She told me to find her there when I see Hoshino-san."

"Ah, thank you, Toyohama-san." Horikita-san said. With that, we all parted ways, and the rest of us nodded to each other.

"We found her." Ryuuen-chan said. "So what should we do now?"

"Kiyotaka-kun's plan said not to approach her until Honami-chan's here." Hiyori-san replied. "We have to wait. One of us needs to guard outside her room then."

"It can't be me, she'll recognize me, and my room is far away from hers, so she would know that something was off if I'm caught hanging around her room." I reasoned. "And if her guards are there..."

"Either me or Shizuku-san, then." Ryuuen-chan said. "Hiyori-sensei may have been trained, but she's not as good as either of us in a fight."

"Leave it to me. You're still injured, Miharu-san."

"As I said, it doesn't hurt that much." she assured us. "I'll be fine."

"I'm still worried about you, Ryuuen-chan..."

"Airi. What is the matter?" A male voice called out from behind us. I turned around, and saw someone I didn't expect.

"Kamiki-kun?" I asked, staring at the hooded figure before me. His deep voice had an ominous tone to it, sending chills to anyone who hears it. 

"That's...!" Ryuuen-chan was about to exclaim who he was, but he put his index finger on his mouth, gesturing her to be quiet.

"We've found Shindo Kaori." I informed him, and he simply nodded.

"She'll be easy to find, given that she doesn't know there are people hunting her down." he said. "Himekawa will be the real problem."

"Are you aware of the plan, Kamiki-kun?"

"Yes, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka told me. According to him, we only act once all of your allies are here." he said. "From what I can tell, this girl with purple hair should keep guard, the other viable one looks injured. Once Ai arrives here with her entourage, we execute the plan."

"Do you think we can find her? Himekawa?" I asked.

"It will be difficult, but I know how she acts." he said. "Once they get here, I'll tell you where she is normally located, then we can get her."

We all simply nodded in response.

Kei's POV
Parking Lot, Tokyo Dome

"It's strangely quiet..." I remarked as I observed the parking lot for any movement. As I had noticed, though, the parking lot was strangely quiet, a stark contrast to the unbelievable amount of noise coming from the main venue.

"Do you think they'll actually attack out here?" Hoshino-san asked as she also looked around the place, looking for any attacker.

"It's very likely. This place is secluded, a perfect place for an attack." Suzuki said.

"By the way, where are those three? Shouldn't they be here by now?" Honami asked.

Just as she asked this, though, we heard the unmistakable sound of motorcycles heading directly towards our direction. When we all turned to look, it was Sano, Ryuguji, and Lelouch riding in scooters, being chased by a bunch of men in motorcycles.

"They're here!" Ryuguiji shouted as they headed towards our direction. I grinned as I aimed my weapon at their direction.

"Get down. Ichigo-san, Hoshino-san, and Suzuki, get out of here and let's meet backstage. I'll meet you guys there later." I said. "Honami, with me."

They all nodded and the others ran away, leaving only me and Honami there. Just as our three allies passed by us on their scooters and our enemies got into range, I pulled the trigger.

BANG!

I have been desensitized to a lot of things now, courtesy of my slightly deranged family, but even then, I felt disgust at seeing what remained of the person I shot. Their torso was mangled beyond repair, and his head was hanging off by the skin. His blood and guts exploded everywhere, and the motorcycle they were riding on swerved away from us and crashed into a nearby pillar.

The sight was so brutal that our remaining enemies stopped driving and immediately pulled out their weapons, sporting expressions of shock, fear, and disgust. They were all aiming towards me, seeing me as the most threatening individual here. Unfortunately for them, though, they were wrong. He was more dangerous than I was.

"Lelouch! Go!" I then turned towards my allies. "Make sure to not look at him!"

"I, Lelouch Lamperouge, order you..." he revealed his left eye, which had a bird like pattern on it. "...to DIE!"

"Yes, your highness!"

The effect was immediate. The eyes of our enemies turned reddish, and they all gleefully shot their own heads, killing them instantly.

"Oh wow, now that I see it, this is terrifying." Honami remarked as she looked over the fallen corpses of our enemies. Without any hesitation, I immediately rushed over their bodies and grabbed a pistol and some magazines, then put them straight in a small bag I was carrying.

"We need to prepare, there will definitely be more of them coming." I turned to Lelouch. "What about you, Lelouch? Are you staying here? You're not capable of fighting like all of us. Once I'm out of here, you guys will be reduced in fighting prowess."

"Of course, I will stay here. After all..." he said as he also grabbed a gun from the corpses of the fallen. "The only ones who should kill..."

We looked on as more of them appeared, brandishing weapons.

"...are those who are prepared to be killed."

Ai's POV
Backstage, Tokyo Dome

"Ai-chan! You're here!" one of my bandmates said as I entered the room.

"Hm! Sorry I'm late, guys! Traffic was awful!"

"Don't worry, there's still some time left before the concert starts!"

I noticed Ri-chan across the room, looking at me with concern, but I simply smiled at her to let her know that I was okay.

Though I myself question the sincerity of this smile...

I decided to erase that thought in my mind for now since our performance was about to begin.

"And now, let us give it up for B-KOMACHI!"

"Guys, it's time!"

All of us went to the stage, prepared to give it our all. As we expected, we were met with cheers and adoring smiles from our fans, all holding those glow sticks. The spotlight was on us now, and we are ready.

"Everyone! Let's do this!"

Honestly, despite this being one of my biggest performances ever, I don't... really feel too excited.

The sight of my fans smiling and cheering for me, the spotlight beaming down on me, the colorful lights and cheerful music, I felt... nothing, empty, as I continued dancing.

This... isn't what I wanted. I wanted to show all my talent and love for everyone yet all of this... is fake. A lie.

As I continued dancing, everything that has happened came into my mind. The danger to my life, the AWRC, and news of Hikaru-kun all coalesced into an anxiety that I can never properly express. How could I? An idol should never lose her smile.

I am built on lies, so I can never express the truth. I didn't mind it too much, though. Lies are the most exquisite form of love, after all.

My desire with Hikaru-kun, to experience true love, was filled with risk. Running away from someone as dangerous as Himekawa-san was always going to be dangerous.

Yet, I didn't care. I wanted to know love. I wanted to know what it feels like. That's why I did what I did, and here's the result.

Is this all worth it? Everything?

As negative thoughts swirled in my head, I saw something... astonishing. Something I never thought would actually happen.

"Woah, what's up with those babies?"

"Yeah, their dance is so good!"

It was Aqua and Ruby in their stroller, holding small glowsticks and doing an, admittedly, fantastic and well-coordinated fan dance.

Wha-What are those idiots doing?

That was the first thought that came into my mind. The second, was...

My kids are so cuuuuuuuuteeee!

It was then that I realized something important.

Even if my life right now is built on a lie, my love for my children will always be true.

I didn't care at all who they were in their past lives. It didn't matter to me. They are my kids now, and that's never going to change.

With that, I continued with my performance with rekindled motivation.

Once our performance had ended, I ended up going backstage to take a rest. Before I managed to reach my room though, a few men in suits intercepted me.

"Hoshino Ai, someone wants to meet with you."

It's scary how much Ayanokouji-kun actually got right. Even this was within his expectations.

"I'll go." I said, and we walked.

It only took a few minutes for us to reach the room, and once we did, they opened the door, revealing Himekawa-san and who I assume to be Shindo-san inside the room, waiting for me.

"Did you really believe you can escape me for long, Ai-chan?"

Himekawa-san's smile grew eerie as she said this.

"I didn't." I admitted.

"In the end, Hikaru-kun couldn't protect you. Now you are alone and you will die defying me." she said.

"You're wrong about one thing, Himekawa-san." I said, as noises began to be heard from outside the door, startling the two.

"I'm not alone at all."

The door was then violently knocked open, revealing the unconscious bodies of her bodyguards, as well as both Kei-san, who were pointing her gun at them, and Suzuki-kun, who was brandishing his crowbar which was coated with blood. Both of them were wearing plain white masks.

"Who are you?!"

"My name is Ayanokouji Kei, and I am going to kill you."

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Kei's POV

"You never thought something like this would happen, did you?" I said as I pointed my gun at Hinekawa.

"Hm? How did you manage to get past the guards?" she asked, keeping her composure, but I can tell she was panicking on the inside. Shindo Kaori's panic was much more visible, though. She was looking around the location while visibly tense, looking for an exit.

Not that she would be able to escape in the first place.  It's  very  convenient that both of our targets are in the same place. Saves us the headache of looking for either of them.

"You really need to hire more competent guards. I don't know if you're just a cheapskate or you're incompetent yourself. Anyway, we killed them all." I said.

"Ayanokouji, you say? I didn't think Professor Ayanokouji would have any more children." she remarked.

Ew, what the fuck?

I didn't make my disgust known to her, but I was interested in what she said.

"You know that bastard?" I asked.

"Of course. Why do you think I tried to create perfect celebrities like Ai in the first place?" she said.

Don't tell me... Is what she did to Hoshino-san the result of her trying to replicate the White Room? Seriously, what the fuck?

"You...!"

"How did you manage to find this location in the first place?" she asked.

I smirked as I remember what happened.

*****
Before Ai's performance, Tokyo Dome Parking Lot

"Words to live by." I remarked as I heard what Lelouch had just said. The assassins were all charging at our location, but we weren't scared at all.

"Kei, what's the situation?"

"Hoshino-san is safe and is being escorted. Assassins in the dozens coming here."

"Make sure to hold them off. Kill them when necessary. That applies to everyone there."

You know Kiyotaka, that's not a good thing to say especially with our children here.

Since Kiyotaka personally coming here was too risky, he decided to coordinate our movements remotely. With the help of Arisu-san, we managed to establish secure communications that is impossible to trace or even tap into. She also helped us in planting a GPS tracker in everyone so that their locations can be tracked at any point during the operation.

Arisu-san being good with technology is definitely a surprise, but a welcome one.

"You basically just encouraged our children to go wild..."

"It's like you're calling our children feral, Kei..."

"Anyway, what should I do once we encounter either one of our targets?"

"I can't believe you're asking me that question.  You want to kill them, right?"

"I was asking just to make sure that we didn't need either of them for anything."

"Trying to pursue them in the court of law will just cause needless headaches and cost us a lot of time we have so little of. It's better if we dispose of them quickly. Besides, I know they have no connection whatsoever to our actual targets, so they're not useful in that department."

"I see. Then I'll do exactly that." I said as we ended the communications for now. When I looked up, I saw that the assassins were now very near our position, so I aimed my shotgun at them and pulled the trigger once more.

It was a lot less effective than last time, given that they had all spread out to avoid being hit by the pellets, but the shots were still enough to hurt some of them, giving my companions there enough time to counterattack. Shinobu, who I just noticed has come with the others was the first one to make her move.

"You guys are extremely unlucky." Shinobu said. "I am extremely good at fighting against groups of people."

Her speed was absolutely unreal. In one instant, she was behind me, and in the next, she was already punching one of the assassins straight in the jaw. Another one of the assassins tried to shoot her in the face but she just evaded it, and used her momentum to punch that one in the stomach then elbow him in the face.

That's right. She dodged a point-blank shot to the face.

You really are a survivor of the fourth generation, Shinobu.

I've only seen Kiyotaka achieve such superhuman feats before, so this just proves that Shinobu is a monster herself.

The assassins near her immediately turned their attention at her and tried to attack her, but they didn't stand a chance. One of them tried to stab her with a knife, but she dodged it, snatched it from the attacker, and immediately slashed him in the throat. Two of them tried to attack her from behind, but she sensed it and sidestepped the both of them. She then stabbed one of them at the top of her head, while she then grabbed the head of the other and smashed it on a car's windshield, shattering it.

Her cold eyes, emitting intense and suffocating bloodlust, turned to the other assassins and glared at them. They all flinched, but they continued their attack at us. She then charged at two more of them, and before they could even react, she grabbed one of their arms and broke it with a painful crack, then he punched the other at the back of his head, immediately knocking them out.

"This bitch!" one of them shouted as more of them attacked her. In an instant, she was onto him, wielding the same knife she had earlier, and stabbed him straight in the heart.

"That is a rude way to address a woman." she said coldly, before pulling the knife out and threw it at another one of them right in the eye.

"AAAAAARRRRRGGGHHHH!" 

"Don't hog in all the fun, Shinobu-san!" Honami shouted, a manic smile spread across her face as she charged into the fight, machete in hand. Some of our enemies tried to fire at her, but she simply dodged all of them, then began to cut them all up with her machete.

"Hahahahahahahahahahahahaha!" she laughed maniacally as her blade descended on one of their heads, splitting it in the process. Another one of them tried to shoot her, but she simply grabbed the barrel of the gun, threw the gun away from the assassin, and stabbed him straight in the throat.

"Come on now, you don't bring a gun to a machete fight! That spoils so much of the mood, you see!" she said as she drove the blade deeper into the guy's throat. 

More of them tried to charge at her, but she simply laughed at them all and ran at them with her machete coated with the blood of her enemies.

Meanwhile, I retreated to Lelouch's position, knowing that he is the weakest one out of all of us here in terms of fighting. He had already used his Geass on more of our enemies, making them either kill each other or kill themselves.

"Hey, are you okay?" I asked him.

"I'm fine." he said curtly. "It seems that there are more of them coming, though."

As he said it, a bunch of them arrived at the parking lot to attack us.

Seriously, how many of these guys are there?

I aimed at my pistol at them, ready to fight them, but out of nowhere, Shinobu charged at them, tackling one of them with her knife.

Shinobu continued decimating her enemies, as they couldn't react to her fast dismantling of their forces. She looked around quickly, as if analyzing them in a flash, and quickly proceeded with her beatdown. She grabbed one of them in their arm and stabbed them in the throat while dodging another point-blank shot. She then punched that guy twice in the ribs and once in the face, knocking him out in an instant, but then another one tried to stab her in the back. Unfortunately for them, she evaded that attack and shot them in the face with the pistol she stole from the other. She then used that pistol to kill the others by shooting them in the head. After she was done, she casually switched the pistol's magazines. 

"Kei-san, please help Honami-san with her fight. I'll protect Lelouch-san." Shinobu said.

"I really don't need your protection." Lelouch said.

"It's a shame, because I'm going to try anyway." she said. Lelouch simply sighed.

"Do whatever you want." he said.

As they had that conversation, I ran towards where my daughter was, and she was still beating the shit out of our enemies. There was really no other way to put it. Honami was just cutting them up with no trouble at all. As one of them tried to sneak attack my daughter, I took that chance to shoot him straight in the arms, then at his forehead.

"Thanks, but I already had that." she said as she pulled out her machete out of the guy.

"I know, but I will not let them hurt you." I said as I approached her side.

"Haha, of course, you wouldn't. We're all protective of each other, after all." she said with a smile. "Anyway, shall we continue destroying these guys?"

"Yeah. It's bonding for the family!" I said as I pointed my gun at them.

"Damn, you're all scary." Sano came up from behind us, dragging the unconscious (or maybe dead?) body of one of them. "You really call this a family bonding?"

"Don't say that while dragging someone's body, man." Ryuguji said, following him close behind.

"Anyway, do you want us to help?" Sano said.

"We're fine with it. Nothing wrong with a little help with this reverse jumping." she said with a smile.

"Please don't use slang at a time like this, Honami..." I said with a sigh.

With that, the fight, no, slaughter began.

I probably had the fewest enemies come at me, probably because of the shotgun I was holding. The few who did tried attacking me before I shot them down, but considering I was trained by the Masterpiece himself, there was no way they were going to be able to hit me.

I simply began shooting them down with my shotgun, killing them and mangling their bodies. It was honestly really gross, but I willed myself to not be affected by it. In the end, I was the first one to defeat all my enemies, and I began to observe the others.

I saw a glimpse of how impressive Sano Manjiro is when he managed to knock out one of the assassins with a kick in the head. He simply kicked him, knocking his head to the ground and making it bleed. He then continued using his kicks to defeat the assassins coming at him.

Ryuguji was no slouch either. While he wasn't doing anything too impressive, he was still managing to hold his own against multiple opponents, even incapacitating some of them. Still, he was probably the only one struggling mightily against our opponents.

My daughter, on the other hand, wasn't struggling one bit. She was just laughing as maniacally as ever, cutting up her opponents with the machete, slashing up their throats or splitting their heads open. 

"Damn you, you bitch! I was going to have a lot of fun with Hoshino Ai and you fucking spoiled it!" one of the assassins said as he retreated back to recover himself from Honami's relentless assault. His words made my blood boil, but seeing as how he's already fighting Honami, I just decided to stay back and watch to see how Honami punishes this piece of shit.

"Have fun with Hoshino Ai, huh?" she asked. "You know, if that's the case..."

In one swift motion, she instantly closed the distance between them and took of his pants, exposing his... private part, which was honestly quite small.

Seriously, Honami? That's what you're going to do?  Why am I not even surprised?

"...then I'm not going to let you have this."

Everyone watching had their eyes widened as they realized what she was about to do. She then swung down her machete and... severed the guy's important body part.

"AAAAAARRRRRRRGGGGHHH-" the guy shouted in absolute agony, but wanting to shut him up, Honami.... Do I even want to describe this? She basically shoved his newly severed body part into his mouth.

"So noisy." she said as she slashed his throat like many of the other before him.

Inevitably, all of our enemies there were dead, as the guys that were knocked out either died from bleeding to death or being finished off. We then regrouped to assess our next moves.

"Honami, we need to regroup with Suzuki and find those two!" I told her. She simply nodded and followed me. "You four, make sure to keep the premises secure."

With that, we entered Tokyo Dome.

*****
"Nice work, Suzuki." Honami said as we met up with Suzuki.

"This is really nothing, nee-san." he said as he looked down at the pile of bodies that littered the corridor. The bloody crowbar on his hands was the only indication on what actually happened here.

"You actually gouged someone's eye out..." I said as I saw a lone bloody eyeball on the floor.

"I was curious to see what would happen." he said.

"Of course you are..." I sighed. "Anyway, we need to find the two of them now. Did you get any news from your father?"

"He said that everything is proceeding as he predicted. Hoshino-san is currently conducting her performance, and both Shindo and Himekawa are nowhere to be found. Dad predicts that they're going to have security guards force her to enter the room Himekawa Airi is in to have her killed." he explained.

"I see..." I nodded my head in understanding. "Then we just have to follow Hoshino-san's tracker, then."

"So we just wait here?" Honami asked me.

"You go look for Shindo. Me and Suzuki are going to roam the back areas of the dome to hopefully find Himekawa Airi and kill her before she and Hoshino-san ever meet.

"I see. Let's meet later, Mom." she said, and she left. We went the opposite direction from her, hoping to find the woman before anything else happens. We also made sure to keep an eye on everyone's location on our tracker.

"Hey, Mom, why did you choose me to come with you instead of nee-san?" Suzuki asked. "I mean, isn't she a better fighter than I am?"

"I'm just considering what she wants. After all, like your father, she likes doing things by herself. She only ever asks for help when she knows she needs it or if it'll entertain her, like what happened back there in the parking lot."

"I don't think she's going to complain if you had called on her instead, though." Suzuki replied.

"I am very well aware of the fact that you two never complain." I said. "Even during that time, when you trained with Kiyotaka back when you two were children, you never once complained about the intense training. In fact, you two ask for it. It was exhausting being the only sane person in the family at the time."

"So you decided to join in on our insanity." Suzuki smirked.

"And it was the best decision I could have made at the time." I smiled wryly.

As we continued to move, I could hear Hoshino-san's performance from here, and it was honestly really good.

"Hoshino-san is really impressive." I remarked out loud.

"She is. I just wish that her talents hadn't come from such... vile origins." Suzuki said.

As insane as my family is, at the very least all of them are at least capable of empathy.

Eventually, we hear Hoshino-san's performance end, and we immediately checked our trackers to see where she was going. Fortunately for us, the room she was being led to was nearby, so we immediately followed her location, and as we expected, there are a few guards standing by outside.

"Let's go."

We then attacked the guards silently and swiftly, just as we heard Hoshino-san and Himekawa talking inside the room. As we took down the guards outside, we forcibly opened the door, and the rest is history.

*****
Present time, Himekawa Airi's room

"So that's how it is, hm?" she said as she still feigned calmness over the situation. I honestly didn't understand why. She has no guards, she is basically being held at gunpoint, and she definitely does not have the ability to fight off the two of us nor the ability to dodge point-blank pistol fire. Where could she possibly get her confidence from?

Does she have some sort of plan in hand to get out of this? There's no way. Himekawa Airi should not have known about us, and the attitude of her guards against us makes that fact more apparent, since they weren't prepared for our arrival. What is going on with her?

I wasn't really scared. I was more confused if anything. I didn't know what's going through her mind that makes her still relatively calm.

Shindo was a different story, though. The girl was sweating profusely, fidgeting and looking between us and the exit behind us, probably waiting for a chance to escape.

Not that she could.

"Calm down, Kaori." Himekawa decided to address the panicking girl.

"How can I calm down?! These two are about to kill us! I haven't even gotten my revenge on that purple-haired bitch yet!" Shindo said, glaring at Hoshino-san.

"W-What did I do to you?!" Hoshino-san asked.

"What else? You stole my spotlight! That popularity, those fans, all of them should have been mine! You should simply be eating dirt and groveling at my feet like the lowlife you are!" she said.

"Hoshino-san, please don't listen to her. You're a better idol than this girl will ever be. Besides, narcissistic assholes like these are just delusional, so you shouldn't listen to their rambling." I said.

"How dare you?!"

"No, how dare you? You really have the gall to talk like that when your life is in my hands right now?" I replied.

"You know, Ms. Ayanokouji, I'd like to applaud you for your impressive bluffing." Himekawa remarked. "Truly, it is a wonderful sight to see."

"Bluffing?"

"You were incredibly prepared, weren't you? You even brought an actual gun to maintain your bluff. However, am I really supposed to believe that a bunch of kids were able to kill trained assassins like that with ease? Am I supposed to believe that all of you are capable of taking the life of another person with such indifference and nonchalance?" she said. "Incapacitation I can still believe but killing them is another matter entirely."

Ah, so that's why she was calm. She thinks I'm bluffing when I said I killed people. Not that I can blame her. If I was in her position, I probably wouldn't be able to believe that myself.

"Really, now? Are you sure you should be taking a risk like that?" I asked her.

"What are you talking about? There is no risk involved here." she answered.

What am I even waiting for? I have her right here!

And so, I didn't even waste any time and fired straight at her face. Unfortunately, it didn't hit her brain, so she was simply stunned.

"Oh my, that was dangerou-"

I didn't let her speak again, and fired another shot, this time going straight through the forehead. She was killed almost instantly.

"Well, that's done." I said. We weren't done yet, however, as Shindo took this opportunity to run away. I was about to tell Suzuki to go after her, but Kiyotaka said something.

"Don't, Kei. She's already surrounded. She wouldn't be able to run away far."

"We'll still chase after her, though."

Making sure to shoot Himekawa in the head one more time just to make sure she's dead, I then ran towards the direction Shindo went.

*****
Third Person POV

Shindo Kaori was running.

She was scared. How could she not be? Her world, her picture-perfect world that was going to be formed after the death of Hoshino Ai was crumbling around her. She was now in danger of dying, with nobody around to help her.

Who were those people? How could this happen?! Why was this even happening?!

Questions began to incoherently form in her mind as she ran. She didn't even know where she was going to go nor what she's going to go. She just wanted to be out of there as far away as possible.

She didn't know how far she had been running or for how long, but eventually, she had encountered someone that gave her hope in escaping this situation.

It was another idol that she knew, Sakura Airi.

"S-Sakura-san!" she shouted.

"What's wrong, Shindo-san?" she asked, looking concerned about her disheveled state.

"It was Hoshino Ai! She hired assassins in order to have me and Himekawa-san killed! She's already had her killed, and I'm next! Please help me!" she said while tearing up.

"Eh?!"

"Yes! Please help me, Sakura-san!" she said as she approached her.

"I-I see, then please come her, Shindo-san. I'll call for help..." Airi said as Kaori did approach her. When she got close enough, she continued what she was saying.

"...so that we can finish the job."

Before she could even react, Airi punched Kaori hard in the face. She then kicked her in the gut, then pulled on her hair.

"W-Wha..."

"How dare you accuse Hoshino-san, you piece of trash. Sorry to burst your bubble, but the one who wanted you killed was me." I said, causing her eyes to widen.

"H-Huh?!" she gasped in shock.

"That's right. It's me. I'm going to make sure that this night will end with you dead." she said.

I can't believe I'm saying things like this. I've been influenced by Kiyotaka-kun and his family, huh?

Airi smiled internally at this, but then she was interrupted by Kaori trying to punch her to escape. She simply dodged the attack and countered by slapping her in the face, then punching her in the gut.

"Argh!" she screamed. Airi then let go of her and walked towards her menacingly.

"G-Get away from me!" she shouted as she charged at Airi. The two then fought, with Kaori losing horribly. After all, everyone in the Ayanokouji Group has some training in combat courtesy of Kiyotaka, and Airi is no exception. While they don't stand a chance against any of the powerhouses like Honami or Miharu, they are still more skilled than an average human. Their fighting capabilities were transferred to their younger selves when they time travelled, so they're stronger than their appearance suggests. Kaori was just an ordinary girl, so no matter how hard she tried, she would never win against her.

When Kaori tried to attack Airi, she simply dodged all of her attacks, then launched a mean right hook at her, causing her to stumble sidewards.

The fighting between them paused as Kaori retreated to collect herself. She glared at Airi as she wiped the blood off her mouth.

"Damn you!" she shouted once more, preparing to attack Airi once again, but before she can even move a step forward, someone grabbed her by the shoulder. Kaori turned around, and saw a silver-haired girl that she's never seen before.

It was Shiina Hiyori.

"Found you."

That's all she said before the girl punched her too, then Airi took advantage of this to punch her in the gut once more, sending her back towards the other girl, who kicked her in the back. The two of them rained down punches on Kaori, without even letting her a chance to fight back. Eventually, Kaori managed to avoid an attack, and swiftly retreated from the two before she got double-teamed again.

"I didn't you'd be the one nearest here, Hiyori-san." Airi said.

"It was simply a coincidence." Hiyori replied. "While I normally abhor violence, those reservations are out when it comes to my friends."

"Then we'll keep her here together." Airi said, just as Kaori began to run away. Unfortunately for the treacherous idol, the two were faster than her.

"That's right. You're staying here." Airi said as she launched another punch at her face, breaking the girl's jaw. Hiyori then attacked from below, sending a knee straight at her stomach as Airi went around her to block her way and smashed her head against the wall.

"Ngh!"

That was all the sound Kaori can muster up as she tried resisting against her two attackers. It was certainly futile though, as she couldn't even hit any of them. She tried to launch a strike at Airi, only for it to miss, and Airi countered with a combination of three punches, one at the stomach, one at the chest, and one straight at her face. Hiyori then toon that opportunity to attack her with an elbow straight at the side of her face.

Kaori's torment continued, as the two punched and kicked her all over her body, not even giving her the hope of counter attacking. It's like the two had decided that if their allies doesn't get there in time, they'll kill her themselves. Kaori couldn't even muster the strength to beg for mercy anymore. All she could do was hope for everything to end.

As if the universe decided to finally give her a form of twisted mercy, somebody had stabbed Kaori right in the heart with a machete, causing her life to finally be snuffed out.

"You've done enough, Airi-san and Hiyori-san." Ayanokouji Honami said. "Hoshino-san is safe now."

As she pulled out the blade from Kaori's heart, the idol dropped to the ground, dead.

As she said that, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka spoke to his allies through their earpieces.

"The first ever operation of the  AWRC  is a success. We have now saved Hoshino Ai."

Every single one of them sighed in relief right then and there, glad that this incident is now over.

*****
Kei's POV
Ayanokouji Residence
July 7, 2014

"People are going ballistic." I remarked as I browsed the news.

"Of course. After all, the incident caused an unprecedented loss of life, including that of two celebrities." Kiyotaka answered.

The Tokyo Dome Incident, as it is now called, had resulted in the deaths of around 60 people, including the actress Himekawa Airi and the idol Shindo Kaori. Japan had descended in a panic, not only because there were people brazen enough to do such a thing, but because nobody knew who was able to do it. The police had no leads at all.

Meanwhile, the culprits of the incident, us, were now casually eating dinner as if nothing ever happened.

"I'm sorry I had to kill someone in front of you, Hoshino-san. How are you holding up?" I asked the idol, who was currently interacting with her kids.

"I'm fine. It's still scary to think about, but I don't hold a grudge over it." she said. "I'm just glad that our family is safe now."

"We're glad too, Hoshino-san!" Honami said cheerfully said as she ate ice cream.

Wait, what the hell?! That's your seventh tub of ice cream, young lady!

I wanted to say that, but I know by now how futile it is to reprimand her for something like this.

"What about Kamiki-san?" Suzuki asked.

"He's gone into hiding for now." Hoshino-san said. "He said that Himekawa-san's allies probably suspect him of being the perpetrator for the incident, so he's afraid that he's going to get attacked by them. That's why he's trying not be seen by anyone right now..." she said sadly.

"Well, all of you are safe right now, and that's all that matters, right?" I said with a smile.

"Not quite, really. After all, there's still the White Room, right?" she remarked with a rare display of seriousness.

"It's not like we're going to make you a direct participant in our plans to destroy the White Room." Kiyotaka said, but she simply shook her head. "We just want to use your public influence."

"No. You guys helped me, so I'm helping you too. Properly." she then offered a handshake. "I'm a member of the Coalition too, Ayanokouji-kun! I may not be as badass as any of you are, but that doesn't mean I'm helpless, you know!"

"I see." Kiyotaka accepted the handshake. "Thank you for your help, Hoshino Ai."

"No problem, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka-kun!" she said.

That night, me and Kiyotaka talked about the events that happened today.

"You know, I'm happy that we managed to succeed today." I said. "It gives me hope for the future."

"It gives you hope that we may be able to have a better outcome for the White Raid this time?" he asked.

"Yeah."

"Unfortunately, with the changes in the timeline, things are going to be unpredictable. For example, there's Horikita." he said.

"Horikita-san? What happened to her?" I asked.

"She has a split personality that is a narcissist worse than Kouenji is." he answered.

"What the hell...? Ugh..." I said. "This is going to be so stressful for a while. Let's just forget about that for now and let our future selves think about it!"

"That's a good idea. Let us enjoy ourselves for now." he nodded.

Suddenly though, his words gave me an idea. I stared at Kiyotaka for a minute while looking at his handsome face and body.

"Kei?" he asked as he noticed my behavior. It was then that I gave him a smirk that should be very familiar to him.

"You know, Kiyotaka, why don't we go to your room tonight and celebrate our victory today?"

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Kei 's POV
October 19, 2020  (Original Timeline)

"Tomorrow is going to be the biggest day of your life, Kei-chan."

Maya looked at me with a warm smile as she helped with fixing my wedding dress.

"We've both come a long way." she continued, sighing wistfully.

"We did, didn't we? After all those hardships, trials, and tribulations, I finally stand here, ready to begin a new chapter of my life. A chapter where I spend my life with someone until I die."

"I'm really, truly happy for you, Kei-chan." she said.

"Thank you."  I said. "Hey, Maya-san, did you know? It's his birthday tomorrow. October  20th ."

"Really? That's a weird coincidence." she remarked.

"No, it wasn't a coincidence. I made sure that our wedding day would be his birthday. I planned it to happen."

"Why?"

"Because my vows to stay with him until my dying breath will be the greatest gift I can ever give him."

July 8, 2014 (New Timeline)
Ayanokouji Residence

"It's that day, huh? I can't believe I dreamed about that day..."

I yawned as I woke up from my deep slumber, only to find most of my body aching and being extremely sore.

"Urgh... I remember... me and Kiyotaka did it last night..."

I forgot that we don't exactly have adult bodies...

It slipped my mind that me and Kiyotaka are supposed to be in our young bodies, so let's just say last night was.... rougher than it should have been.

It's seriously.... too big... Oh well, this is the result of my own actions.

*****
"You were too loud last night, Mom." Honami deadpanned as I went down to the dining room for breakfast.

Shin was simply sighing, while Suzuki, Miharu, and Shizuku were all blushing. Hoshino Ai and Ruby were the same, while Aqua was simply staring blankly at us. Shinobu, meanwhile, looked like she couldn't hold her laughter. Lelouch and Nunnally simply looked indifferent.

"We couldn't sleep last night." Shin sighed again.

"You're all exaggerating. She wasn't that loud." Kiyotaka came from behind me, face blank as always.

"She wasn't, but with a house this quiet, her voice carried pretty far inside the mansion." Honami remarked. "Anyway, breakfast is ready, you're the last ones to wake up."

With that, both me and Kiyotaka went straight to the table as Matsuo-san served us breakfast.

"Are you guys going to be staying here for a while?" I asked the Hoshino family.

"Despite everything, I really don't feel safe in our apartment, so please let us stay here for a few weeks until we found a new one. I won't be here all the time, though. I still have idol work to do, after all!" she said.

It's impressive that she still has the will to go on even after what happened during the incident.

"It's fine! You guys will be safe here, don't worry!" I said. "With that being said, though... there are still problems to deal with."

"Horikita Sumire." Suzuki said the name simply as we continue to eat. "I can't believe we encounter something like this far into our time here."

"It's ridiculous." Honami said. "Still, we have to do something about this. Hey, Shizuku-chan, did your dad say something about this?"

"He did express concern for his sister, but he didn't say anything besides that. I assume it's a deeply concealed secret." she said. "I just feel deep sorrow for my aunt..."

"Kushida-san is currently watching the situation, but there's a possibility that it may spiral out of control." I said.

"According to what she said to me, she also knows about her secret, so if she wants, she can expose it at any time." Kiyotaka said. "It's deeply troublesome."

"What should we do, then?" Miharu asked.

"I'll handle it personally." Kiyotaka said. "This is a mission that requires delicacy. While I do not doubt your abilities, this is a problem that we need to solve properly." 

"Wait, Dad, I want to be the one making the plan." Honami said.

"Why do you want to?"

"Well, I've always been the one on the field, so I want to sit back, make a plan, and relax." she said.

"Really, nee-san?" Suzuki asked.

"Yeah!"

"So what's your plan?" Kiyotaka asked her.

"Well..." Honami then explained her plan.  It was fairly simple, but I think it would be effective nonetheless.

"This plan would also affect Horikita Suzune, nee-san." Suzuki said.

"I know, but unfortunately, with the situation as it is, it would be pretty difficult not to involve her. Dad said this would require delicacy, and he's right. This will definitely prevent Sumire from trying anything, though." she said. "Hey, Shizuku-chan, can you keep an eye on Kikyou-sensei and your aunt from afar before we can formulate and execute the plan?"

"Sure!" Shizuku replied.

"We have a week to formulate this plan of yours, Honami." Kiyotaka said.

"Because Sumire wouldn't be manifesting at that time?"

"Yes."

"Eh? Why do you think that?" Hoshino-san asked. It wasn't Kiyotaka who answered though, but Lelouch.

"Based on the pattern of appearances that Kushida sent us with regards to Horikita Sumire, the alternate personality generally doesn't appear for a week after her last appearance. After that week, the likelihood of her appearance increases drastically. Therefore, we have a week. Since Sumire wouldn't be likely to be wary of us, there is no need for her to try and break that pattern, and I have my doubts that Suzune will let her do such a thing." he explained.

"Indeed. Therefore, we have a week remaining. Anyway, Lelouch, have you tested out the hypothesis I have in regard to your Geass?" Kiyotaka asked.

"Indeed, I have. I tested it on Nakano Yotsuba the other day before the Tokyo Dome Incident. It worked... I think."  he said.

"You think?" Hoshino-san asked.

"It was not the problem of the Geass itself, but the person being commanded." Lelouch then sighed. "How can a person be so idiotic as to be incapable of following orders... under mind control?"

"Pfftt..." Honami snorted silently.

"It's not like she was resisting, either. She simply could not understand my orders properly." Lelouch continued. "I am simply amazed as to how a person could be so lacking in intelligence! I am seriously on the verge of going out there to find where all of her brain cells went!"

(A/N: As a Miku fan, I am indeed pouring a lot of my spite here.)

Poor Yotsuba-san...

"Anyway, yes, your hypothesis did indeed work. It is quite the fascinating hypothesis if I do say so myself. I guess I shall be trying it on Hoshino Ai now."

"I'm kinda nervous about this..." Hoshino-san said.

"Don't worry. It will be fine." Lelouch said, before using his Geass on her and issuing that command.

"With how things are going right now, it wouldn't hurt to be careful." Kiyotaka said.

"Hm, that's right!" Hoshino-san replied, then suddenly looked at her watch. "Oh, I nearly forgot the time! I'll be going now, or else I'll be super late!"

She then said her farewells to us and met up with Ichigo-san outside of the gate as she headed to work.

Meanwhile, we decided to sit back and take some rest after such a stressful week.

Kikyou's POV
July 10, 2014

"As an adult, I really missed waking up so refreshed in the morning like this." I sighed as I got up from my bed early in the morning. As I yawned and stretched my body, I glanced at the hairbrush I had, which was filled with my own hair. I grimaced at the sight.

"You know, they always say that seeing your hairs falling out and sticking to your hairbrush or comb is the sign of adulthood. Clearly, they were wrong." I remarked as I removed all the hairs from it. After this, I opened the curtains to my windows to let in the morning sun.

"Ahh, what a good start to my day!" I said. I then noticed all of the things I wrote on my window during the first night I was in this timeline.

"Scum"

"Filthy liar"

"Fake"

"Vermin"

"Bitch"

"Wretched"

There were many more words like that written in my windows, but I didn't mention them because, in the end, they all meant the same thing.

That I was a terrible, horrible person who committed a great sin.

"This isn't the best words to greet me right as I wake up, but I deserve all of this anyway." I laughed wryly at my own comment. "I guess I should get ready for school now."

*****
"That was a heavy sigh, Kikyou-san. Are you okay?" Suzune-san asked me as we were walking to school.

"Yeah, I'm fine. It's just... a lot, really."

"I see. If you want to talk about it, I'm here, okay?"

"Y-Yeah, thank you, Suzune-san."

Honestly, I can kiss Suzune right now for being here instead of Sumire... Wait, what am I saying?! You know what, screw it, yeah, I can kiss her for being here instead of that insufferable woman.

As we continued to walk toward the school, a classmate of ours greeted us.

"Good morning, Kushida-san and Horikita-san!" he said.

Ohnita Takehiko. He was one of my classmates back in junior high, and was definitely involved in that incident. While my former self would have definitely forgotten this guy, I unfortunately do not have the same luxury.

After all, due to my sin, I would never be able to forget him until I died.

"Ah, good morning, Ohnita-kun! How are you?" Suzune replied to him animatedly.

While the two greeted each other, I began to shiver slightly, and I was sure that my face had gone a little pale. When I had returned back to the past, this was the one person I didn't want to see again, but unfortunately, fate had been cruel to me this time.

No, fate had always been cruel to me.

Thankfully, it didn't seem that either of them noticed my predicament as the two continued to talk, then I heard Ohnita-kun speak.

"How about you, Kushida-san? How have you been doing?" he turned to me, and I composed myself as to not make my distress obvious.

"A-Ah, I'm doing fine as well!" I hurriedly answered. While Ohnita-kun didn't notice anything, I'm sure that Suzune definitely did. She just looked confused though, as she probably didn't know why I reacted like that towards Ohnita-kun.

This is a lot of stress right now. Is this how Kei-san felt with all of the bullying?

"...And those fucking bastards can die for all I care!"

I shouted this at the top of my lungs, ending my angry rant that lasted for what felt like hours, but probably too like thirty minutes or something. I then turned to see what Suzune's reaction was, and as I expected, she was a bit put off by my rant.

"You know, Kikyou-san, that was all a bit mean." she said as she crossed her arms and stared at me sternly, looking very similar to her previous version.

A bit mean? Suzune-san, I just cursed out almost all of our schoolmates for the past half-hour. 

It was extremely jarring seeing her like this. While I prefer this version of her by a fucking mile, this kindness of hers just feels a little... creepy, in my opinion.

"Well, since you volunteered to listen to all of my venting sessions, you'll just have to get used to it." I said.

After classes had ended for both of us,  Suzune had decided to come by our house, as my parents were still at work. There, I decided to vent my frustrations on her, something that she volunteered for the day after I had confessed the truth to her. In all honesty, I was reluctant to do so at first, but with some prompting from Suzune, I managed to pour my heart out. It was weird, I was more passionate about ranting all of my complaints and true feelings with her than I was on my own.

"Hehe, I guess I do, huh? Do you really want them to die, though?" she said, causing me to flinch a little.

"N-No! Of course not! I'm not that bad!" I instantly denied her statement. Deep down, though, I knew I could get that bad.

"Still though, I can't believe you know such colorful language..." she sighed.

"Haha, I guess this is me overcompensating for being so nice all the time." I answered her question.

"If that's the case, then why don't you try and reveal yourself more? I don't want to see you suffering in silence like this..." she said.

"It's... complicated." I replied. I couldn't tell her the full thing, especially the parts about time travel, because Sumire may catch of wind of it, and I don't want that happening at all costs.

I'm sorry for keeping this in secret from you, Suzune, but this is for the greater good.

"Anyway, did Ohnita-kun do something to you?" she asked. "You didn't look so good when he approached us this morning."

Yep, she indeed noticed it.

"Ah, it's really nothing! When Ohnita-kun greeted us, I just got reminded of something really awful when he came to greet the both of us! Don't worry about it." I said. This was a lie, but the truth is far too painful for her to know.

"A-Ah, I see. I was worried that he did something awful to you... I would have kicked his ass if he did!" she said while raising her fists in a mock fighting stance.

"N-No, I don't think Ohnita-kun is capable of something like that. He is far too kind, compared to those damn perverts. Seriously, I want to beat the shit out of those perverts for even staring!" I said. "After all, there's only one person that I will allow to touch my body like that..."

"Heeeeh, and who could that be, I wonder?" she asked with a smirk.

"I-I'm not telling you!"

"Come on, Kikyou-san!"

"No!"

July 11, 2014
School Rooftop

"So, what do you want to talk about, Ohnita-kun?"

This just had to happen like the original timeline, huh?

I sighed internally. When I saw him acting the same as he had been before, I knew this event would happen. I hoped that this wouldn't come to pass, but as I had already said, fate is very cruel to me.

He looked at me with tense eyes, as if trying to muster up courage in order to say the words he was about to say. I knew what was going to happen. There wasn't a shred of doubt about it. 

"K-Kushida-san, can you please go out with me?!"

"K-Kushida-san, can you please go out with me?!"

The same words, the same expression, everything was the same. I was almost shocked at how identical it was. It was like someone took a video of this moment and just replayed it in front of me. 

Of course, I remember what my answer was to him, and I sure as hell knew what I was thinking back then.

"Thank you, Ohnita-kun. I'm flattered, but I'm really sorry! I don't really have the time for a relationship right now!"

Who does this pathetic wimp think he is?! Did he really believe that he had a chance with me?! WITH ME?!

I almost let out a laugh as I remembered that.

Seriously, I was an absolute piece of shit back then. This is my chance to mend this entire thing, huh?

As I remembered this man's fate, I couldn't help but shed tears of guilt and sadness. This kind person really didn't deserve what happened to him.

"K-Kushida-san?!" he was startled to see me start crying.

Don't worry, Ohnita-kun. Your fate will change for the better right this instant.

"I-I'm sorry, Ohnita-kun. I..." 

I couldn't help but sob even harder. I couldn't help but remember the terrible sin that I committed against this man. 

"I'm truly sorry, Ohnita-kun, but I can't."

I then looked at him in the eyes.

"You don't deserve scum like me. You deserve someone better..."

"You actually told him?" Suzune asked me as we were leaving class that day.

"Yeah. I can trust him to keep it a secret. I didn't want him to persist any longer with his confessions, so I had to put a stop to it the best way I could."

Of course, that was a massive lie. I told him in the hopes of changing his fate for the better, but I can't really tell Suzune that.

"I'm sure that what you did probably made you both closer than before, hm?" she guessed, and I nodded.

"It probably did. He took the news well, surprisingly enough. Maybe it was just the love blinding him, or maybe he was just more open-minded than I initially thought." I said.

"He was probably just happy that he found out more about you than almost everyone else in the school. After all, it's a privilege in the school for students to grow closer to the girl that is Kushida Kikyou." Suzune speculated.

"That is definitely the case, and somehow, I don't like it very much." I replied to her statement.

Just as we left the school building, I saw Ohnita at the school gates, greeting his younger sister, Ohnita Hana. The sight of the two bonding in such a warm and loving manner made my guilt intensify, but I just kept quiet.

"I guess all's well that ends well, huh?" Suzune remarked. "Hey, Kikyou-san, are you going to vent today, as well?"

"No, today isn't as frustrating as yesterday. I still hope I can gouge those pervert's eyes out so that they can stop fucking staring at me." I said.

Maybe I can borrow Suzuki's crowbar...

"Ah, is that so? Then, I'll see you tomorrow, then!" she said cheerfully as she waved at me goodbye. I waved back, then proceeded to walk in the direction of my home. Halfway through the trip, someone decided to approach me. Someone I was incredibly familiar with.

"Shizuku-san?" I called out to the girl.

"It's a pleasure too see you again, Kushida-san." she greeted me back.

I wonder what's going on...

In the previous timeline, me and Horikita Shizuku got surprisingly close to one another. Ever since Honami started bringing her with her to our tutoring sessions, I managed to bond with Horikita Manabu's daughter, something I never actually expected. Fate is truly cruel towards me.

"What do you want with me?" I asked. Normally, if that monster wanted something from me, he would have just called me about it instead of having someone deliver news to me personally. Because Shizuku-san approached me like this, it is a lot more likely that Shizuku wanted something from me personally rather than her being a messenger from that guy.

"Ah, I guess I should explain!" she said. Turns out, Honami had requested Shizuku-san to keep an eye on us in case anything goes wrong. 

"Just as I had been doing what was requested of me, I caught sight of the Ohnita siblings. I've heard stories about the incident that happened in ANHS, so I wanted to ask you about it."

I sighed heavily once more. The incident had been on my mind lately, especially today since he confessed to me, so I wanted to talk to someone about it. Thank goodness Shizuku-san was here to ask me about it.

"What do you know about the entire incident?" I asked her.

"All I know is that your reputation in ANHS had been ruined until your graduation, and that it was the cause of your change as well as your association with Ayanokouji-san." she said. "I also know that the Ohnita siblings had something to do with it."

"Well, you're accurate on most of those, Shizuku-san. The only part where you're wrong is that only Ohnita Hana, the younger sister, is involved in it. It's impossible for Ohnita Takehiko to have been involved in it." I replied. "Let me start from the beginning, then."

"As you may have already known, I was an attention-seeking vulnerable narcissist. I wanted to be praised and validated, so I created a fake persona of being this saintly person that is always so kind and cheerful as to become friends with everyone and receive their overwhelming praise. However, I built my lies on a house of cards, and it was always going to fall at some point."

"When my secret had been exposed in our middle school in the original timeline, I exposed everyone's secrets, with added insults mixed in. I revealed who liked who, who hated who, their deepest, darkest desires and fears, everything. Every secret that they had confided with me on good faith, I exposed them all for the world to see. It was the only way I could defend myself, after all. Everything that I had worked for had crumbled to dust." I explained.

The girl was quiet throughout all of this, simply listening to me intently.

"During that event, I had been especially harsh on Takehiko, insulting and cursing him out, saying that I could not believe that he had the audacity to think he had a chance with me. It was terrible."

"What I did not know then was that this event caused Takehiko's mental health to decline drastically, resulting in him committing suicide in the end. He was found hanging from a noose in his neck." I explained. "He never blamed anyone though. His suicide note just said that he couldn't take it anymore."

"Still, you think that it was your fault, right?" Shizuku-san said, and I simply chuckled.

"That's right. This is my grave sin. I had, essentially, killed a man with my own two hands. It was a sin that I would bear forever."

I then looked down on my hands, and they were caked thick with blood. My imagination then wandered to what Ohnita-kun's corpse could have looked like. His entire body was hanging by the neck, and his empty, lifeless eyes stared directly at me.

I then dropped onto my knees, and my eyes began to tear up once more.

"K-Kushida-san?!" Shizuku-san helped me stand up, and I thanked her for it. After this, I continued my tale.

"When I entered ANHS, I did not know this information. It wasn't until our third year, when Ohnita Hana entered ANHS, when this information was spread in ANHS. After all, Ohnita Hana entered ANHS with the express purpose of getting revenge on me, and ruining my life the same way she ruined her brother's.

"You ruined everything for my brother, Kushida Kikyou!"

She glared at me with murder in her eyes.

"Because of you, Big Brother will never be able to hold me in his arms again! He would never be able to see me grow up! He wouldn't be able to grow up and have a successful life of his own! It's because of you and your selfishness! That's why I will make damn sure that you will wish that you were dead!"

I sighed as I remembered that vivid memory.

It's because of me that a sweet girl had turned so bitter.

"So, what happened next?" Shizuku-san urged me to continue, so I did.

"Well, since that monster had exposed my past to the class, my standing in the class wasn't really affected. The only real difference was that I had lost all of my usefulness. I had barely managed to survive within the skin of my teeth and graduate after that. This turn of events also resulted in my complete and total isolation, and a downwards spiral in my mental state. Of course, I deserved every single bit of it." 

"In the end, it was Kiyotaka-san and Suzune-san who saved me in the end, and I will be eternally grateful for it, but the scars resulting from this incident remains with me to this day, and I sincerely doubt that it would ever heal."

Once I finished my story, Shizuku-san looked at me with a contemplative expression.

"In the end, it was the shattering of your invincibility that made you change." Shizuku-san remarked, and I raised my eyebrows at her comment in confusion.

"The shattering of my invincibility?"

"Almost all teenagers has this sense of invincibility. They have this belief that no lasting harm could ever be dealt with them, either physically or mentally, as a result of their youth. You were the same back then. There were no proper consequences to your actions, so you didn't stop. It wasn't until Ayanokouji-san exposed you that your air of invulnerability cracked, then this incident caused it to shatter completely." she explained. "Ayanokouji-san made you realize that there are opponents that you can never defeat, while Ohnita-san made you realize that there are always drastic consequences to drastic actions. And so, you began to change."

I pondered her words, and nodded in agreement.

"You're right, that's probably what happened, huh?" I said. "At least, I managed to change that."

"Just like with Ayano– I mean, Karuizawa-san, you found your closure."

A  closure I never thought I needed nor deserved.

"Anyway, they actually contacted me earlier before I approached you." Shizuku-san said, and I nodded at her to continue. "They are now creating a plan to deal with Sumire. Come July 16th, the plan to destroy her will begin."

I imagined Suzune-san's cheerful and kind face, and I clenched my fists.

"I can't wait." I said. "That definitely needs to happen."

"Anyway, Kushida-san, I have another question for you. Something that Honami-chan said made me really curious."

"Go on, ask away."

"Do you... have feelings for Aunt Suzune?"

Third Person POV

"I can only clap my hands in awe of whoever was responsible for this."

A young man sighed in amazement as he stared at all of the documents scattered in front of him.

"I agree. If there was ever an example of a flawless crime, this is it."

"There is never a flawless crime. Still, I can't help but agree with your sentiment. I am genuinely impressed by these guys. Still, if what we had deduced is true, calling this a "crime" may be technically wrong."

"That is still up in the air. From the evidence we have collected is true, then  Himekawa  Airi and  Shindo  Kaori was targeting someone, and whoever  those men killed and them were protecting that someone. The only question now is: who?"

"We can definitely get those two and all the other dead individuals of the Tokyo Dome Incident posthumously convicted of their crimes."

"Indeed, but for now, we continue our investigation of the culprits of this incident. We need to find out who the culprits were protecting, then we can go from there."

"Well, we can do all of that tomorrow. After all, unlike you, I still need some sleep."

"I will be reviewing the files on my end. We will be continuing this investigation tomorrow."

The young man sighed as he stared on the computer screen in front of him, which showed nothing but the letter "L" emblazoned on a white background.

"It will be a true pleasure working with you, L."

"The pleasure is also mine,  Shinichi  Kudo."

Chapter Text

Ai's POV
July 12, 2014
Ayanokouji Residence

"Karuizawa-san, do you know where Ayanokouji-kun is?" I asked as I came to the living room and didn't find him anywhere. As a result, I came upon Karuizawa-san who was drinking coffee.

"Oh, Hoshino-san, you don't have any work today?" Karuizawa-san asked.

"Ah, well, Ichigo-san told me to skip some practice today so I can take care of my kids, but I know it's because of me." I sighed. "He really is so concerned for me. I'm doing just fine! Anyway, what about Ayanokouji-kun?"

"Both he and Matsuo went somewhere to meet two people." she answered.

"Two people?"

"I don't know. That dumbass can get really vague sometimes. No, scratch that, make that often." she said with an exhausted sigh. "He did say that he was going to try recruiting them to the Coalition."

"Really? There are more time travelers?" I asked.

"No. If they are time travelers, they would have approached us already or at least contacted us. Since Kiyotaka is the one having to actively recruit them, that actually limits who I think is going to be recruited..." she began to think about it as I sat down on the couch opposite to her, coffee cup in hand as well. 

"Do you have people in mind, Karuizawa-san?" 

"There's one person. Ishigami Kyou." she said as she drank her coffee. "I'm near certain that Kiyotaka is going to recruit that guy."

"Is he another genius?" I asked, and she chuckled.

"Yeah. The guy was a menace during our 3rd year and their 2nd year. I felt absolutely terrible to the other 2nd year classes back then. The only person who could even try to fight him was in his class, so everyone else was screwed. It was the widest gap of points I've ever seen between Class-A and Class-B. It was really sad. No wonder the guy resorted to competing with the likes of Kiyotaka, Sakayanagi-san, and Ryuuen." she said

"Wow, ANHS sounds really tough. Ugh, do I have to actually study before we actually get to the school?" I groaned at the thought of studying. "You guys are lucky, Karuizawa-san! You don't have to study since you all learned this already!"

"What do you mean, Hoshino-san? I was around 37 years old when I time traveled back to the past, you know? You really think I'm going to remember everything I've learned in high school?"

"But you still have a head start, unlike me!" I whined jokingly, then took a sip of my coffee as well. "Anyway, 37, huh? That was older than I thought..."

I then asked the question I wanted to ask her since we moved in here.

"Hey, Karuizawa-san, how did you manage to raise your twins?" I asked. She smiled gently, as if expecting me to ask that question for a while now.

"Haha, it took you long enough." she said. "Are you sure you should be asking me that question? I mean, our twins are wildly different in personality after all. Plus, your twins will be much easier to raise given their unique situation."

"I just... wanted to get some advice from you, based on your experience." I said. Before she can say anything, though, another person joined in on our conversation.

"What are you two discussing about?" we heard the sound of a wheelchair coming, and we turned to see Lelouch-san's sister, Nunnally, being towed towards us by their personal maid, Sayoko. 

"Oh, hello, Nunnally-chan." Karuizawa-san greeted her.

"Hello, Karuizawa-san." she greeted back. "I'm curious as to what the two of you were talking about."

"Ah, I was asking for advice from Karuizawa-san on how to raise kids..." I said almost shyly.

"Ah, I see. I suppose Karuizawa-san would be the perfect person to answer the question." Nunally chuckled.

From what I've heard from Karuizawa-san and Ayanokouji-kun, Lelouch-kun initially refused to involve Nunnally-san in their quest, preferring to keep her blissfully ignorant of what was going on. However, Ayanokouji-kun refuted by saying that since this mansion was going to be their base of operations until they came to ANHS, so Nunally not knowing about anything would make discussions of their plans and operations extremely difficult. So, Lelouch-kun told her.

I didn't know what happened then since I wasn't here when it happened, but I was sure that Nunnally-san showed a lot of concern for her dear brother.

"Where are your twins, Hoshino-san?" Nunnally-san asked.

"Ah, they're exploring around the mansion. What about Lelouch-kun? Where is he?"  

"He's with Honami-san and Suzuki-san. I think they're discussing some things." she said. Based on the pouting on her mouth, she probably didn't like what they were discussing, but we didn't pry.

"Anyway, you want my advice, right? I guess I should tell you what it was like to raise Honami and Suzuki." she then began to narrate her life as a parent to the two.

"Honami was a good kid. Believe it or not, she inherited most of her traits from me. The only things she inherited from her father is his adaptability, his tendency to like working alone, as well as his love of ice cream, everything else was from me." she said. "Suzuki was the one more like Kiyotaka. He was cold and unfeeling, and there was only the barest of emotions in there. He only inherited his appearance and his kindness from me."

"When they were four, me and Kiyotaka told them about his past, and the two immediately wanted to be trained to be like him since they admired him so much. Kiyotaka felt concern over this, but I reasoned that he was smart enough to adjust their training to make it more suitable for children and still keep it close to how he trained so that they will be pushed to his level."

"I then began to think about what to do to make them even more happy, and I realized that I didn't need to do anything special. All I needed was to give them as much love, affection, and support that I can give them. I needed to teach them about love, compassion, and kindness. I needed to teach them about how to be good people. That's all I needed. And so, that was the result."

"Hoshino-san, you don't need to do anything special, really. You just need to show them love and affection. You need to show your true self to them, not the lie that you proliferate to the public. You just need to make them happy. You need to show them that you love them so very dearly, regardless of whether they're the reincarnation of a twelve-year-old girl or a thirty-year-old man. Every child is different from one another, so this is all the advice I can provide you in your situation."

With that, she finished her advice. I teared up from her touching words, and bowed deeply.

"Thank you, Karuizawa-san."

As we continued talking about small things, I heard Karuizawa-san's phone ring. She looked surprised by who it was.

"Kushida-san?"

Aquamarine's POV

"Come on, onii-chan!" Ruby shouted as she crawled forward into the corridor of the second floor of the house.

"Yeah, yeah." I said. "Why are you even so excited to explore the mansion, Ruby?"

"We'll be staying here for a while! Of course I'm going to be curious! This the first time I'm exploring something as big as this mansion." she said with a childish wonder on her eyes.

Ah, I guess she never managed to experience anything like this when she was Sarina.

As I smiled internally seeing this girl finally experience all of this, we crawled our way deep into the mansion. Being a baby really sucks. Even climbing up the stairs is nigh-impossible with my weak body. It was frustrating.

Ruby didn't seem to mind though, probably seeing it as an improvement over her former self. She was just happily crawling around without a care in the world.

Suddenly though, she stopped in front of an open room. She stared at the room with a confused look on her face.

"Why are all these things in Ayanokouji-san's room?" she said. As I reached her position, I also stared towards the room and was momentarily stunned by what I saw.

The room looked relatively normal enough, and nothing was explicitly wrong with it. However, there were objects in there that were very questionable.

"A whip, chains, ropes, and a... ball gag?" I whispered, while Ruby was still confused.

"Onii-chan, what are those things in Ayanokouji-san's room for?" Ruby asked.

I'm sorry, Ruby, but I can't answer you just yet. I just want to keep your innocence a little longer.

I was absolutely bewildered by what I am seeing right now. I always thought that the Ayanokouji couple was above this sort of thing, but I guess I really cannot judge a book by its cover.

What kind of freaky things were they doing in there?

All I could do was blush as I imagined what the two were doing in that bedroom.

Honami's POV

"You know Lelouch-san, I think that your Geass has a lot of potential." I remarked as me, Lelouch-san, and Suzuki walked around the mansion.

"Of course I know that, but what kind of potential are you talking about here, Honami?" he asked.

"Don't you think that your commands can be permanently applied to someone?" I inquired the theory that had been burned to my mind since I found out about his Geass.

"Permanently applied?" 

"You know, like if you tell someone to live with your Geass, then it's possible that their brain will go into overdrive trying to make that person follow that order of living, and since it's an order that can be followed repeatedly, you can just repeatedly apply it to someone. It's a loophole to the one command rule of your Geass." I explained.

"You have a good point, nee-san. That idea can give so many applications to the Geass." Suzuki agreed with me.

"Indeed, that is something that I've never tried before, but I have thought of it." he said. "It is an interesting hypothesis, nevertheless."

"Actually, Lelouch-san, I have a question. How did you get that power?" Suzuki asked. 

"I guess there will be no harm in telling you, but it is quite the long story." he said.

"You see, before I took asylum under Ayanokouji Atsuomi, I was under the protection of a politician named Kururugi Genbu. There, I became friends with the man's son, Kururugi Suzaku. It was probably the best times of my life." 

Despite being a mostly rational and logical man, I could still sense a certain melancholy within him as he narrated his story.

"It was just me, him, and Nunnally together, enjoying the sights of Japan after having been exiled here by my father after the death of my mother. Nothing else mattered to us in that moment. Those moments didn't last forever, though. It had to end at some point."

"Did Kururugi die?" I asked rather bluntly. Lelouch, who was seemingly used to me at this point, just chuckled darkly.

"Why would I be here if he hadn't?" he said. "It was a few weeks ago, I believe. Kururugi Genbu had many enemies in Japanese politics, and they were more than eager to come after his throat when he showed any weakness. He did, and the result was an attack by a dozen assassins. Suzaku fought them off, since he is an excellent fighter, but it was not enough to save his father. He died with a gunshot to the head, and there was nothing we could do to stop them, at first that is."

"Just as I was escaping with my sister, I stumbled against a woman with green hair. She was shot to death by the assassins, but before she was killed, she bestowed a strange power upon me."

"The power of the Geass. So that's how you managed to eliminate your enemies, huh?" 

"Yes. With the power of the Geass, it was easy for us to kill them all. Suzaku took the blame for it, though, and he had just escaped criminal conviction due to him being a minor because another politician, who was an ally of Suzaku's father, took care of us. I don't remember his given name, but I know that his family name was Naoe. Soon enough, we were taken under the care of Ayanokouji Atsuomi, and the rest is history." he finished his story.

"What about Suzaku-kun? What happened to him?" I asked. "Why isn't he with you?"

"From what I've heard, he had been taken in by a woman named Shiba Maya. We promised each other that we will see each other in ANHS, and I will make good on that promise." he said.

"I see. Have you ever found out the name of the woman who gave you your power?" Suzuki asked and Lelouch nodded.

"I do not know her actual name, but her initials are C.C." Lelouch said. "I tried to find out who she could be, but finding her was very difficult."

"Well, she's... dead, so I don't really know if there's any point in finding her, isn't there?" Suzuki said.

"It's a shame, since I really wanted to know more about Geass. Maybe get one myself!" I said excitedly, causing Suzuki to shudder.

"I don't even want to think about you getting one, nee-san."

"Cut the crap, Suzuki. We both know very well that you're going to be the scarier one with the Geass." I remarked.

"You siblings... are certainly interesting. " Lelouch chuckled to himself. 

Unknowingly, all three of us had walked to Lelouch's bedroom, so as he opened the door, the two of us tried to leave. However, what we saw inside caused us to be shocked.

There was a young woman with green hair sitting on Lelouch's bed, nonchalantly eating pizza. She was wearing what looked to be a strait jacket, and her expression was nearly blank.

"It's a pleasure to meet you again."

Kikyou's POV

"Do you... have feelings for Aunt Suzune?"

"What the hell were you talking about, Shizuku? Of course not! I am perfectly straight!" I whispered to myself as I walked outside of my house, beginning my walk towards Suzune's house to visit her.

I can't believe she threw me that question out of nowhere! Seriously, Honami, what are you thinking? That monster had been letting her read too much yuri for her own good!

I was irritated, really irritated. I didn't think that Honami had thoughts like that in her head at all, and I was even more shocked that she shared them with a strait-laced girl like Shizuku. I'm sure that the girl was plenty flustered when she heard all of that from her.

I really just wanted to get that stupid question off my mind, so I decided to come to Suzune's house in order to hang out and prove to myself that I was not in love with her.

If Shizuku had asked that question to my younger self though, I'm sure that she would have actually vomited, and isn't that a funny thought?

I laughed internally at the image that came to my mind. In all honesty, just thinking about my younger self never fails to make me laugh really hard because I was just so, so stupid.

Just as I took a right turn on my walk, I saw a few students bullying a girl. I didn't recognize any of them, but I did recognize the school they were from, and I was shocked.

That school... was Hirata's middle school!

Every one of us knew the reason why Hirata was originally placed in Class-D. It was information that Hirata was more than happy to share with us when some time in our adult life. The story of his friend committing suicide which resulted in him trying to rule his class through fear so that the same thing wouldn't happen again. It was honestly fascinating that Hirata of all people tried a tactic Ryuuen would enjoy. It just didn't seem like him. No wonder the fucker acted so edgy during the latter part of our first year.

Now though, I have the opportunity to change that, but I have to consult with the monster first, so I tried to call him.

Unfortunately, it looked like the guy was calling someone else.

"Damn it, who the hell is he calling?" I whispered as I called on Karuizawa's number. Fortunately, she answered.

"Hello, Kushida-san?"

"Hello, Karuizawa! Who is the monster calling? I can't get to his phone!"

"Huh? I don't know! Kiyotaka is not here."

"Where is he?"

"He's going to recruit someone to the Coalition, though I don't know who he plans to recruit. Matsuo-san is with him."

"Then I'll just call him then. Thank you for informing me. 

"Okay then, Bye."

"Goodbye!"

I then hung up and called on Matsuo's number, which I fortunately did have since all of the Coalition members shared numbers with him in case of emergency.

"Hello, Matsuo-san?"

"What is it, Ms. Kushida?"

"I want to talk to Ayanokouji-kun, please. I heard that he was with you."

"Certainly."

After that, there was a moment of silence before Ayanokouji answered.

"Hello, what do you need from me, Kushida?"

"Do you still need Hirata for our class?"

A moment of silence prevailed before us until the monster told me his answer.

"We don't need him. Do whatever you want."

I hung up. No other words were needed to be exchanged at that moment.

I didn't say any word as I approached the bullies silently. It was time that I put my fighting skills to use. 

I opened with a surprise attack, as I punched on of the bullies on the back of the school before kicking his knees. The others didn't have time to react as I chopped on of their throats with my hand and elbowed them right in the gut. The other two tried attacking me, bewildered by my presence, but I simply evaded their attacks, then punched one in the gut before smacking him on the back of the head, then punching the last one in the stomach, in the chest, and in the face before knocking him out too with a hit on the back of the neck.

As the last bully got knocked out, I turned to the girl who was being bullied.

"T-Thank you." she said timidly.

"It's fine. It was only natural." I said blankly as I began to reach out to her to help her stand. Just as she was about to speak and take my offer, another voice, a very familiar one, called out from our left.

"Sachiko-san!"

It was Hirata Yousuke.

The boy was running frantically, and was looking disheveled. He stopped when he saw me reaching out my hand to help her, and he broke out into a smile.

"Thank you for helping her." he said.

"As I said, it was nothing." I replied, now helping Hirata's friend off the ground.

"Y-You're here, Yousuke-kun..." the girl said. They must have been really close friends if they called each other by their given names.

"I'm sorry, Sachiko-san, I was almost too late to save you again!"

"I-It's fine, Yousuke-kun, there's really nothing to apologize for."

Meanwhile, Hirata's words made my body go cold.

Shit, he isn't standing by and watching like in the last time! He's actively trying to help her this time!

In the original timeline, he was simply a bystander against all of his friend's suffering, but now? With him trying to actively help his friend, if things happen like last time, there's a possibility that Hirata may try to follow his friend to the grave.

That was bad. That was really bad. We wanted to save everyone that we really cared about, but with shit turning out like this, there's a possibility that they may die even before we meet them at school. This is unbelievable.

Wait, is this why the monster didn't object to me trying to change Hirata's future? Because he knew this would happen?

I was in actual disbelief. I knew how much of a monster the guy was, but considering all of this? It is insane just how meticulous the bastard is. Even with all of the changes in the timelines, he is still managing to cover all of his bases and consider every possibility. I wouldn't even be surprised if the guy had actual fucking clairvoyance with how much he can see even with limited information. I cannot even consider him a human anymore, he is a true bonafide monster. A monster who can see everything.

And I actually thought I could expel him. I was just an ant to him. I really wondered why I even tried to go against him, even with all the signs pointing to him being greater than me. I can't believe there was a time where I was that dumb and ignorant. I just wish I knew better, and my head wasn't so stuck up in my ass that I couldn't even see reality for what it is.

"I sincerely thank you for trying to save my friend." I was shaken out of my thoughts by Hirata bowing to thank me once more.

"As I said, it was nothing. Do you have any piece of paper I can write on and a pen?" I asked. Hirata scrambled for a piece of paper and a pen, then he gave it to me. I then wrote my phone number. "If you guys want more help, just call this number and we'll assist you. My name is Kushida Kikyou."

"Then I will. Thank you once again, Kushida-san." Hirata said before he and his friend left. I also decided to continue my walk towards Suzune's house.

After a few more minutes of walking, I managed to reach the Horikita residence. There, I was greeted by her parents, before I met with a smiling Suzune when I visited her bedroom.

"Kikyou-san!" she greeted me happily then hugged me tightly. I smiled and hugged her back.

"It's nice to see you again, Suzune-san." I said. "Anyway what were you doing?

"Oh, I was just reading some manga!" she said, momentarily stunning me.

Wait, Suzune-san reads manga, what the hell?!

"What are you reading?" I asked, then she showed me.

Vento Aureo?! Well, this girl isn't being subtle at all, huh? She truly hates  Sumire  just as much as we do.

"Anyway, what brings you here, Kikyou-san?" she asked.

"Well, I just wanted to talk about... what happened with Sumire, since you never told me how that actually happened." I said.

I did not want to tell her my actual reason for me being here, so I just told her that. I was actually curious about this, so it's not like it was a total lie.

"Ah... well, I guess I should tell you." she said meekly. "It started a few years ago, when I was around 11 or 12 years old. Onii-chan still hasn't attended ANHS at this point, and we were both still attending the same school."

It is... so bizarre hearing Suzune call her brother Onii-chan. It feels so weird.

"I just... began to hear her voice all of a sudden. Telling me that I needed to be perfect. I needed to be the best. She said that she was the key to this, and that she needed to give my body to her. It just grew stronger... and stronger.... She is SO LOUD!" she shouted as she clutched her head in pain. "She said a lot of mean things about everyone! She told me that you were fake, she told me that everyone else is trash, she told me that I am the only one who is perfect, and that the world revolves around us!"

Sumire is so damn annoying.

It was my honest feeling about the situation. I did not like that bitch one bit. If I ever see her again, I don't care if she's in Suzune's body, I am going to beat the shit out of her.

I do wonder, though. Is Sumire really a natural case of a split personality, or is there something more supernatural going on here?  This is not how split personalities usually work.

Normally, I would have dismissed such things, but with the existence of the Geass, as well as the reincarnators that is Aqua and Ruby, we can't dismiss the possibility of supernatural occurrences anymore. There is a distinct possibility that this is something supernatural.

This is... so stressful.

Airi's POV
Strawberry Productions Building

"I really want to thank Mr. Ichigo Saito for giving us this opportunity..." Nodoka-san said as she and I were talking in private after a practice session.

"Oh no, it's fine! A collaboration between idol groups like this is normally rare, so Ichigo-san simply took the opportunity!" I said.

The two idol groups, B-Komachi and Sweet Bullet, was actually going to do a collaboration together considering both had huge success during the concert at the Dome, which was thankfully not affected by our actions there.

"We're all really grateful for this. It's our big break after the performance at the Dome, after all! Anyway, do you know where Hoshino-san is?" she asked.

"Ah, she's currently sick, so Ichigo-san told her to take a leave just now." I said, lying about the actual reason, which was for her to take care of her kids.

"Ah, I see." she said. "You know, Airi-san, I've noticed that you've been really concerned lately. I wonder why."

I flinched, as I was sure she noticed my distressed expression because of the issue with Horikita Sumire. Not wanting to bottle up my concern, I decided to tell her the barest explanation about the issue, without mentioning anything else. By the end of it, she had a contemplating look on her face.

"A split personality... I feel sorry for your friend, Airi-san." she said. "However, I do have an idea as to what it could be."

"What do you mean?" I asked, curious about what she was saying.

"Airi-san, have you ever heard of Adolescence Syndrome?"

Kiyotaka's POV

"I didn't think that you were going recruiting, Ayanokouji-kun."

"The more people on our side when the time comes, the better our chances are of surviving. Still, I am still wondering what you actually want, Sakayanagi."

"What if I want just some small talk from you?"

"You're not that kind of person, Sakayanagi, you want something from me."

I sighed loudly as Matsuo continued to drive to our location. Since their locations were quite far away from here, I had to leave the mansion early in the morning. Especially since we are heading to Nagoya, then to Kyoto from our mansion at Yokohama, in order to recruit those two.

In the middle of my trip, I got a call from Sakayanagi, who tried to do some small talk with me at first, before Kushida then called by calling Matsuo's phone asking me about Yousuke.

Since there is a likely possibility that Hirata may do something even more drastic in this timeline, and possibly commit suicide, I had to let Kushida mitigate some of the harm done to him and his friends so that he'll come out of this unscathed until we get to ANHS. Since that is already handled, I need to focus on handling Sakayanagi.

"Fufu, it seems that you know me quite well. Very well, can you please join my team here in League? My team is losing quite badly even with me trying to carry them. My allies are, unfortunately, a bunch of feeders."

"Why don't you stop trying to be a feeder yourself, Sakayanagi, and actually try to carry your teammates before I try to help you? Or maybe you're not feeding at all, but it's just a skill issue?"

"How dare you?"

"Just stop beating around the bush and actually tell me what you want."

"I want a favor from you, but I cannot tell you about the details in a call, so I'll just talk with you for now. Anyway, who are you recruiting?"

"Two people. One is Ishigami."

"Oh? Ishigami Kyoko? Hm, she is indeed very capable, so I think she is a good choice for the Coalition."

She's a girl here? Unexpected, but not an issue. Thankfully, it seems that her capabilities is just the same as the one from our timeline, so it wouldn't be a waste of time.

"Who is the other one then?"

I sighed heavily as I remembered the girl who, despite being my staunch ally back in the original timeline, still caused a lot of trouble regardless during my third year. I just know that dealing with her would be exhausting and very troublesome.

"Yamashiro Harumi. A true menace."

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Kiyotaka's POV

"Yamashiro Harumi?"

I could only chuckle slightly.

"It really sounds strange for me that you don't know this girl at all."

"Really? Was I close to this girl in your original timeline?"

"I wouldn't say that. She was definitely one that annoyed you more than anyone else."

"Who is she, anyway?"

"Yamashiro Harumi was a first year in our third year. She thrives in chaos, simple as that. She likes messing with everyone, regardless of who they were. She was a nuisance to all of the classes, and she was considered public enemy number one. The only person that could ever thwart her in any meaningful capacity back then was me, and believe me, she was one of my toughest enemies. If I were to make a comparison, she's like the Joker to my Batman, though a lot less bloody, and she's a lot less evil."

"I can't believe you of all people is saying that."

"I'm saying it for a good reason. In all honesty, I am sure to get a lot of opposition from the time travelers in the Coalition with this."

"I never thought you would be making such a choice, then."

"Despite how troublesome she is, I cannot deny how grateful I am to her for her contributions during the Red Sunday, so that is why I can put aside all of my reservations about her and recruit her wholeheartedly."

"Red Sunday?"

"Don't ask."

"Then I won't. Besides recruitment, what are you up to, Ayanokouji-kun?"

"You're not even a formal member of the Coalition yet, Sakayanagi. Why should I tell you?"

"I can just ask my son about it."

"Shin does not know what I'm up to. In fact, none of them besides Lelouch knows. It's still in the developing phase, after all."

"It? What sort of plan are you and Lelouch-kun making?"

"I'll just tell you the name of our plan."

I heaved a deep sigh, then told her the name.

"Zero Genesis."

Ishigami Residence, Nagoya

"As I expected, it's quiet here. There's a temple nearby, after all."

I remarked as I observed the premises of the Ishigami compound. To be honest, I did not know whether I would be able to meet with Ishigami Kyoko today or I would just be refused at the door, but I suppose there is no harm in trying.

Fortunately, my fears are unfounded as a servant quickly opened the gate for me and Matsuo, allowing us to both enter the premises. Surprisingly enough, we were brought straight towards the room of Ishigami Kyoko. It was something that slightly confused me, given that we should be nothing more than passing acquaintances at best, or strangers at worst. There is no reason for her to let me get so close to her at this point.

I put myself on guard, thinking that something was off about the situation. When we reached the door to her room, the servant knocked and told the occupant about us, which prompted the girl inside to give us permission to enter.

The servant slightly moved her position from in front of us to behind me and in front of Matsuo. The moment the door opened, I said the word.

"Matsuo!"

The butler dutifully followed my command and restrained the servant who was about to stab me. Meanwhile, I immediately caught the arm of a girl that tried to stab me as the door opened. I then snatched the knife and aimed it coldly at her throat.

"Not the best first impression, Ishigami Kyoko." I said, and while her expression didn't change noticeably, I spotted a subtle smirk on her face.

"I didn't think that the Masterpiece of the White Room knew any form of snark." she remarked, calm and steady despite having a knife on her throat.

"There's a lot you don't know about me. Now then, what made you think it's a good idea to attack me? I expected a lot of things when I arrived here, but I didn't think you would go for attempted murder. I thought you were better than that." I said.

"Oh? I thought I would be beneath your notice. What could I have done to attract the attention of the great Masterpiece?" she said, her voice filled with sarcasm.

"If you find me so great, you wouldn't have tried stabbing me." I said, before releasing her from my grip. Matsuo also released his grip over the servant, and they both fixed themselves. "Now then, may I ask why you decided to try and kill me?"

After observing her tone of voice as well as her expression, I could safely assume that she holds no hostility to me, which made it odder that she attempted something like this.

Me and Ishigami Kyou had a... business-like relationship in the original timeline. He participated in the White Raid, but that was more him hating the White Room than him liking me. After that, we practically ignored one another, only ever speaking to one another when it comes to business.

That relationship remained that way mostly because of his distant and formal personality, which prevented us from getting friendly with one another.

As I look at Ishigami Kyoko now, I noticed that her personality was different than his. If Ishigami Kyou was cold as ice, Ishigami Kyoko burned like a hot flame. It was bizarre, to be frank, but I have seen weirder things in the world. Gender bending is nothing compared to that.

"I was simply satisfying my curiosity." she said as she began to sit down on a chair near the window and drank some tea. "Do you want some tea, Ayanokouji-san?"

Naturally, I was skeptical over this.

"You're going to try poisoning me next? I may be immune to most poisons, but that doesn't mean I enjoy consuming them for tea." I said, and while there was no change in her expression, I could practically feel her eyes rolling at my remark.

"This tea is harmless." she said, her voice dead serious. Sensing that it would do me no favors to joke around further, I decided to just sit down in front of her and drink the tea.

"To what do I owe the pleasure of your visit, then?" she asked, finally addressing the topic of my visit.

"You finally ask?" I sighed.

"Just answer the question." she said. "What do you want from me?"

"Ishigami Kyoko, what do you think of the White Room?" I asked, and she raised her eyebrows in confusion.

"Why are you asking me that question?" she said in bewilderment.

"I was hoping to recruit you in this little group I'm forming to help destroy the White Room." I said bluntly, causing her to drop the teacup she was holding, which was luckily only a few centimeters from the coaster which meant she didn't break the cup, only spilled some of the tea.

"What?!" she exclaimed, her face clearly pale from the shock. "You're... You're not joking."

"Of course, I don't plan on doing anything now, but in the future, I would hope that we could take down the White Room and destroy it forever."

"Why would you, of all people, want to destroy that place?" she asked.

"My secrets are mine to keep. If you want to know about it, then you should accept my offer." I said in return.

"I barely know you, and yet you want me to join?"

"I know enough about you to make such a decision like this."

She fell silent, contemplating the option in front of her. I had deduced that, despite all of the apparent differences, Ishigami Kyoko is more or less the same person as Ishigami Kyou. Her answer is clear as day.

"I have no idea why you would be acting this way, but... I'll join you." she said. "If it means destroying the White Room, then I will join your crusade."

"Right now though, we can't do anything." I said.

"Fine by me. My older brother had taught me the importance of patience." she answered, causing me to be curious.

An older brother? Who could it be?

"You have an older brother?" I asked, and she looked at me strangely.

"You did your research on me, but not my brother who'll become the same year as you? He's supposed to be more popular than me." she said.

"Who is your brother, then?"

She sighed, and provided me with an answer.

"Senku. Ishigami Senku."

Yamashiro Residence, Kyoto

"This one next." I heaved a very deep sigh as I got off our car and looked on at the surprisingly luxurious house. "I wish she is somehow different here."

Unlike the previous residence, I had a harder time entering the property (That makes me sound like a thief) since I had to talk with the guards. Fortunately, I managed to gain entry into the premises (Again, that makes me sound like I'm breaking into the place) and me and Matsuo began to enter the living room. There, I saw something... that I honestly should have seen coming.

Yamashiro Harumi was standing there, and she was still the same as I remember. She had long, flowing purple hair tied to a ponytail. She had a smile that was both bright and unsettling, making anyone uneasy when they see it. Her eyes were sharp, and her posture was steady, a stark contrast to her lackadaisical and chaotic personality.

She was also currently not wearing any clothes. She was buck naked.

"Hello, Ayanokouji-senpai! I just got off the bath so I'm not wearing any clothes right now. Do you like what you see~?" she said, while accentuating her chest, too large for her current age.

This is why I prefer medium. Large breasts have too much fat. Also, she is lying when she said that she had just gotten out of the bath. Her hair looks dry, which meant that she intentionally took off her clothes before greeting me, which is why I was delayed at the gate.

"No. I actually want to vomit seeing you naked." I said.

"That's a rude thing to say to a woman. Besides, you're already here now, I don't want to bother putting on clothes."

"Are we really going to talk to each other while you're naked?"

"Of course! It's a lot more fun this way! Why don't you try it?"

"No."

"Come on!"

"Fuck you."

"That's right, Ayanokouji-senpai! Fuck me!"

I didn't bother responding to that, and instead just sat down on one of the couches. During the conversation, one thing was made abundantly clear to me.

"You're a late time traveler like Kushida, huh?" I said.

"Hm? Time traveler? What are you talking about?" she tried playing dumb, because of course she would.

"Don't deny it, Yamashiro. You only called me senpai when I defeated you." I said, remembering that time. 

"Maybe this is a different timeline!" she said, playing dumb right until the end. She even said something so dumb intentionally.

"The fact that you said something about a timeline means that you did time travel."

"Tee-hee! You caught me!" she said, adopting that irritating cutesy expression of hers.

"While this would mean that it would be easy recruiting you, now I actually have to deal with your annoying ass." I said.

"My ass isn't annoying, though!" she said, while pointing at her buttocks. "Look at how pink it is! Isn't it beautiful?"

I sighed even harder.

"You can spank it, Ayanokouji-senpai. It's fine. I'm sure you spank Karuizawa-senpai's ass in the regular, after all. You're an expert!"

Not wanting to listen to her say these annoying things for the hundredth time again, I decided to get to the point.

"Yamashiro, I'm getting straight to the point. I assume that the Author have told you everything that has already happened?" I asked, looking at her with a cold hard stare in order to get her to be serious.

Fortunately, she got my message as she cleared her throat, and her smile dimmed a little. 

"He had informed me of everything that you have done so far. So I know stuff about the Tokyo Dome Incident and currently about Sumire, though I know nothing of your plans with her." she said. "I heard that Honami-chan cut off someone's dick during the TDI, that would have been hilarious to see! Actually, Ayanokouji-senpai, you never let me meet your two children! It's honestly a shame."

It's because you're a hazard around children, Yamashiro. I was not going to expose my two kids to a menace like you. They're already insane enough, I do not want them getting influenced by you.

"You wouldn't be involved with the Sumire debacle, so you needn't be informed of what we're going to do there. However, you are going to be involved with what we're going to do afterwards." I said.

"Afterwards? I assume that you want me to be involved with your cleanup of the Incident?" she asked.

"Yes." I affirmed. "Despite our efforts to hide our involvement, there would still be people sniffing around, so it's better if we do something about that before we enter ANHS." 

"Ho? And what kind of plan would that be?" she asked, leaning forward in interest.

"Let me tell you a little about Zero Genesis."

And so I did. I told her about the plan that me and Lelouch had cooked up, as well as told her about her part in it. By the end of it, she was laughing loudly.

"HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! I can't believe you would help come up with an insane plan like this! And I thought I was the crazy one." she remarked.

"You're still the crazier one between the two of us." 

"Oh my goodness! I can't believe this is happening!" she said. "Don't worry though, Ayanokouji-senpai, I'll gladly be a part of this plan! This is great!"

Despite her agreement with the plan, I didn't feel a single bit of relief whatsoever, because I know that I would have to deal with this insane woman for quite a while.

I'll regret this.

Lelouch's POV
Ayanokouji Residence, Lelouch's Room

"What are you doing here? Aren't you supposed to be dead?"

I said this as I beheld the woman who had bestowed me with this power, just casually eating pizza in my own bed inside someone else's house.

"Really? You're saying that to your girlfriend? You hurt my feelings." she said with a blank expression on her face, much to my exasperation.

"You-"

"Oh, we're very sorry, uhhh..." Honami spoke up, a smirk obvious on her face.

Of course she's going to jump into teasing me.

"C.C." she responded.

"Yes. We're sorry for interrupting your private time with Lelouch-san, C.C.-san!" Honami said, subtly telling the girl my name.

"Of course, thank you..."

"Ayanokouji Honami!"

"Yes, thank you, Honami-san, and I'm sorry for intruding in your home." she apologized to her.

"It's fine, you're just visiting your boyfriend!" Honami said, before turning to her brother. "Come, Suzuki, we're intruding on a private romantic moment!"

"Sure, nee-san!"

With that, the two left, leaving me to deal with this girl on my own.

Those siblings are something else.

Feeling truly exasperated, I closed the door behind me to deal with this troublesome woman.

"What are you doing here? How are you alive?" I asked.

"How did you like the gift I gave you?" she said, continuing to eat her pizza.

"This gift, huh?" I said, lightly activating my ability. "Why? Why did you give this to me?"

"Is it not what you wanted? The two of us made a contract, remember?" she said.

"A contract, huh? You really can't call it that when we both don't know what we are in for." I remarked. "Don't you think that's a bit strange?"

"Strange? Maybe it is." she said. "So why don't you tell me? What do you want to happen?"

"The destruction of Britannia." I spat out, which surprised the girl.

"Really? Do you think you can achieve that?" she asked.

"I was about to do it without this power." 

"Such lofty ambitions, Lelouch." she chuckled. "I wonder, are you doing it for yourself? Or are you doing it for someone else?"

"I won't tell you that. Not yet, anyway." I said. "What about you? What do you want?"

"Hm. You'll hate me, Lelouch. You'll hate me for being unfair." she replied.

She's not going to tell me?  Really? She is being unfair, huh?

After being surrounded with the Ayanokouji Family though, I can't say that this is the first time I've dealt with something like this, so I said nothing for now and decided to switch gears.

"Don't you think it's risky coming out here? What if those people see you again?" I asked.

"You say that like we don't plan on protecting each other."

"We? Why are you trying to protect me?"

"You are important to me." she said.

Important, huh?

"Speaking of importance, though, I wonder what you think of the people living in this house." she wondered aloud. "Are they your allies? Or are they your tools?"

"You say tools like they would let me use them." I commented. "Even with this power, I would never want them as an enemy."

"Oh really? I didn't think you would say something like that."  she said with a smirk on her face.

"I know how to pick my battles, C.C. If I'm going to fight anyone, I'm going to fight human beings, not monsters." I responded.

"Monsters, huh? Isn't that quite insulting?" she remarked.

"No, not at all. For me, it's the highest compliment."

Because that's what I'm trying to do, become a monster.

Isn't it ironic? We're trying to plan for a Genesis, and yet I'm already thinking about Requiem.

The only one who should kill are those who are prepared to be killed.

Tell me, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, are you prepared to die? Because I am.

Honami's POV

"I'm surprised you didn't ask for the Geass right there, nee-san." Suzuki remarked as we walked away from the room. 

"Time and place, Suzuki. Time and place." I reminded him. "The two of them were about to have a moment!'

"That's true." he said. "Anyway, what's the status on Sumire?"

"Well enough. Once July 16th comes, things are going down." I said ominously. "We will destroy Sumire, then Dad and Lelouch-san's plan is next."

"Huh? Dad and Lelouch's plan?" he asked. 

"Those two think they're being sneaky, but I'm onto them. That "Zero Genesis" plan of theirs." I said. "Unfortunately, that's as much as I know. They'll tell us when it's time, don't worry."

"Those two are planning something? I wonder what it could be." he wondered aloud.

"Maybe it's about more cleanup for the Tokyo Dome Incident?" I said.

"It could be. I mean, we may have covered our tracks well, but I think this is just the beginning of an even bigger incident." he agreed with me.

"That's right. We did something massive there, after all. Japan was in an uproar. I would be genuinely surprised if that was the end of it." 

"It's just like Sendai all over again, nee-san." he said.

"Sendai, huh? We really did make a mess in that place."

For now though, Sumire is about to die.

Kikyou's POV
July 16, 2014

This is not going to be fun.

As I walked to school on this day, I knew that shit was going to go down, and I'm dreading it.

Honami already told me about the plan. Damn it, you really are the monster's daughter, Honami. This is diabolical. Even Ryuuen can't come up with a plan this nasty.

 I should have honestly expected something like this from her. None of this family shows any form of mercy.

Sumire is about to be removed from the pedestal she falsely put herself on.

The Coalition is really not messing around here, and they haven't even met Suzune in person yet.

This is about to get unreal.

As I walked, I noticed a lot of my schoolmates looking worried about something. They were talking to each other, muttering about something. Something that I really knew about.

"Kushida-san." A familiar voice called out to me. It was Ohnita-kun, running towards me with a concerned look on her face. "Did you receive it too?"

Thankfully, despite my rejection, the guy seemed to be doing well enough for himself. Of course, I wouldn't stay calm until the reveal of my secret to everyone, but for now, I can at least judge him to be safe, currently.

"Yeah, I received a death threat, too. Did you?" I asked.

"I did. It was so scary..." he said while shivering. Considering the fragility of his mental state, he was probably a lot more afraid than everyone else was.

"That damn piece of shit..." I muttered, thinking about the message and the fact that Sumire really did what Honami predicted she would do. I noticed Ohnita-kun flinching at my remark, probably still not used to my actual self.

Yeah, he's probably not used to it still. I genuinely can't blame him. I wouldn't be used to me if I was him.

"K-Kushida-san, do you know who's behind this death threat?" he asked.

"Yeah. I hate that bitch with a passion. I can't believe she would actually do it. I'm genuinely sorry for what she did." I said.

"Don't worry, Kushida-san! There's no reason for you to apologize." he said.

But we're the indirect cause of this, so I really need to apologize to you, and to everyone else too.

"So... what are you going to do with whoever did this?" he asked.

My face turned absolutely serious as he said this.

"I am going to end this once and for all."

"Are you the one behind the messages?!"

That was the line that greeted me as I entered the room, and it was a dreadful scene. Suzune-san was currently being surrounded by her own classmates, being hounded about the death threats that was being sent around the student body last night. And they were hounding her for a good reason.

It was because she was the only one who didn't receive a death threat.

"I-I..." she stuttered.

"We know you're the one behind this, just fess up!"

"Yeah, that's right!"

"Wait, guys! What are you doing?" I spoke up, causing everyone to turn to me.

"Kushida-san! Horikita-san was probably behind the death threats!"

"Yeah, she never received a death threat herself. She's probably the one behind it!"

"Wait, wait, wait, are we really sure Suzune-san is the one behind it?!" I asked, trying to calm them down. Suzune-san was crying now.

"Kikyou-san... I..." she spoke up to me, tears in her eyes. "I..."

"Shhh! Shhh! It's okay, Suzune-san. You're not at fault. It's not your fault."

"But I..."

"No, no, no, it's not your fault. This is not you, okay?"

That's right. It's not you. It's HER!

It's time that I settle this.

"Come out of there." I said, my voice turning cold.

"Kushida-san?" One of my classmates tried to speak up, but I ignored them. This is the priority right now.

"Come out of there, Sumire. I know it's you who's behind this. Come out and let's settle this now!"

I'm sure people were terribly surprised by my tone, but I did not care. At this moment, I only cared about destroying Sumire right now.

Instantly, Suzune-san writhed in pain, and her expression changed. Her eyes became blood-red, and her face twisted with fury.

"You bitch! I know it was your fault, Kushida!" Sumire said.

She then pushed me away and stood up, but I walked away from her in time.

"Me? Me?! How fucking dare you!" I said. 

"You were the one harassing me and Suzune, Kushida! I know it was you, you fake angel."

"If you thought it was me, then why would you get them involved?!"

"Because they're scum that's below me! They all deserve to die like the pathetic insects that they are."

With that, I grabbed her uniform by the collar.

"I can't believe you, you self-centered, arrogant piece of shit! You are dirtying Suzune with every second that you breathe!"

"No! All of you are the ones defiling Suzune with your lowly presences. I can't believe that I'm breathing the same air as you worms!"

"You have no right to be saying that when you and your personality is lower than the filth and shit you should be kissing right now!"

"I cannot believe you have the audacity to even speak to me right now, you hot garbage!"

"No, I can't believe that you have the audacity to exist, Sumire! I'm going to have you give that body back to Suzune so that she doesn't suffer anymore with your presence. I am going to save her!"

I began walking towards her once more.

"You, Sumire, are a pest on this world! A flaw that shouldn't exist! It's about time that a false angel like me come and smite you where you stand! I am going to deliver judgement upon you! "Be not afraid"? Bitch, you should be afraid!"

I balled my fists and readied myself for what was about to come next. This is it. I am going to save Horikita Suzune from the girl that is plaguing her.

"We're going to settle this, Sumire! Right here! Right now!"

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Kikyou's  POV
March 26, 2024 (Original Timeline)
Cemetery, Horikita Suzune's Grave

"I didn't think I'd see you visiting today , Kushida."

As I laid down my flowers to Horikita's grave, I heard the monster speaking from behind me.

"Why wouldn't I be? It's the anniversary of her death today." I said, turning to him, who's also holding flowers in his hands. "I'm more surprised by you, though. Why isn't Kei with you?"

"She's busy with taking care of Honami and Suzuki, so she couldn't come. She simply asked me to send her regards." he said as he approached the grave himself, laying down the flowers he brought.

"Your kids, huh? How old are they again?" I asked.

"They're turning two this April 1st." he answered.

"I see. I wish them both a happy birthday." I nodded, before approaching her tombstone and tenderly caressing it. "Hey, Ayanokouji, I have a question for you."

"Ask away."

"Do you think it would have been better if I had joined in the White Raid?" I asked.

"You mean physically participate in it, like Horikita or Ichinose?" he clarified.

"Yeah. I'm satisfied with what I had achieved with  Shiina -san , but... I wanted to do so much more."

"There was nothing more you could have done there. What you did was more than enough. If you had come, there's a high likelihood that you would have joined the people resting here." he remarked. "Or maybe that's what you wanted?"

I winced at having been called out by him.

"Kushida, you..."

"I never thought that I would come to care about this girl the way that I have now. It's crazy." I chuckled bitterly. "Fate is truly fickle, isn't it? Shit turns out like this without us even knowing it."

He didn't say anything for a moment as he simply stared at her grave.

"Kushida, did you know that Horikita wanted to become a teacher, just like you?" he said, causing my eyes to widen with shock.

"When did you hear this?"

"Before graduation. She talked about what she wanted to do. She said she was going to apply to Kyoto University as a teacher there."

"Kyoto University..." I muttered.

"If you really want to do something for Horikita Suzune, your path forward is clear, Kushida Kikyou."

This was a turning point in my life, in more than one  way.

"Oh, and Kushida, I have a favor to ask from you as well."

"What is it?"

"After having a talk with Kei, we realized that  it wouldn't be advisable having only me be the one to teach my kids. They need another person to be their mentor besides their parents." he explained, causing me to be shocked once again.

"Ayanokouji! Does that mean...?"

"Kushida Kikyou, once my children are old enough, I want you to be their tutor."

July 16, 2014 (New Timeline)
Kushida's Classroom

I can't believe I'm remembering that now.

As I walked towards Sumire, the memory of the monster setting my path forward flashed before my mind. It was bizarre.

What kind of  shonen  bullshit is this? Having a flashback before a fight begins? I don't know if that is a good sign or a bad one.

"Settle this? Try me then, you filthy scum!" Sumire said, spreading her arms out.

"You shouldn't be saying that, you fucking egotistical maniac!" I said. "Ohnita-kun, get out of here and find someone named Horikita Shizuku outside of the school. She would be easy to find, she just looks like Suzune-san with purple hair. Tell her that I'm already fighting, she'll know what to do!"

"B-But, K-Kushida-san...!"

"If you're worried about the teachers, our teachers for first and second periods are both sick. They informed me."  I said.

Or rather, Honami made them sick, but I'm not going to tell them that.

"As for everyone else, RUN!"

Without warning, I charged at Sumire and opened up with a punch to her gut. Despite her provocation, it looked like she was still caught off-guard by my punch.

"Damn it, since when did you learn how to fight?!" she roared as she took on a fighting stance.

"I don't owe you shit." I spat.

The fight then began in earnest. I tried punching her again, but she was ready this time, and simply redirected the blow with her right arm. I didn't let up my assault on her and continued trying to punch her, backing her into a corner.

"You think I'd let you?!" she exclaimed, and as she dodged another punch, she grabbed my arm and punched me in the stomach, then kicked me to my right, colliding and knocking down some chairs.

"Shi–"

Before I can even recover, she lunged at me, trying to strike at me once again. Thankfully, I managed to block her strike, then countered by chopping at her throat, which she blocked. However, it distracted her from the real strike, another punch to the gut, then at the face.

"That fucki–" she was about to say something, but I just continued fighting her.

"Are you really going to speak in the middle of a fight, you dumb idiot?!" I said.

She simply growled at me, and we continued to clash. However...

...I can't just stay here. I need to change locations.

With the plan in mind, I needed to change tactics, and so did something I never dreamed of doing.

I charged at her again, and this time, I struck at her legs, literally swiping her off her feet. Sumire, caught off-guard again, couldn't prevent what was going to happen next.

Thankfully, the classrooms here have sliding glass windows.

I lifted Sumire up, and with all my strength, threw her out the window.

Kiyotaka's POV
Kushida's Middle School, Third Year Building Rooftop

"It will begin soon." I said, looking over what I could see of the middle school from here. In all honesty, I was impressed by the quality of the school from what I could see. It was clear how two smart students like Kushida and Horikita could come from here. It was probably very prestigious.

And that's probably why they could cover up what Kushida did so easily.

"Oohhh, look at you, Ayanokouji-senpai! You look just like those megalomaniacal overlords standing on a high place looking over his enemies like a bunch of puny ants while laughing! You're even standing on top of a rooftop and everything. Really digging that shadow leader look, eh? All you need now to look even more the part is a billowing black cloak as well as a stormy background! I see that you also like having fun!"

As I hear this voice speak to me, I turn to see Yamashiro smirking gleefully from behind me, Miharu standing right beside her.

I can already hear Ryuuen popping a vessel at having his daughter meet this woman after working so hard to make sure they avoided each other. Sorry about that. It was either her, Shin, or my kids, and I wouldn't dare bring Shin with me. If I did, I am sure that the Sakayanagi from my previous timeline will break through the fabric of time and space just to strangle me for doing such a thing.

"I said I wasn't going to involve you, Yamashiro, so what are you doing here?" I asked.

"Oh come on, what made you think that I wasn't going to watch something so entertaining? I mean, Kushida and Horikita beating the ever-loving crap out of each other? Sign me in!" she said cheerfully, while Miharu looked increasingly uncomfortable with her presence.

"Of course you would. Are you alright, Miharu? I told you that if she touches you, you're more than free to punch her in the face. Your father would have told you the same thing." I said, approaching the girl.

"I'm fine... I just never expected her to be like... that." she said.

"I told you. She adores younger-looking people, and not in a good way. When she tries to strike a chord, it's A-minor. " I said. "She's taking advantage of the fact that she's currently younger than all of us right now. It's why Sakayanagi despised her."

And considering that Miharu looks... young for her age is not giving her any favors.

"Oh, but Sakayanagi-chan was soooooo cute! I wanted to eat her up! I'm sure she would have-"

"I'm going to have to stop you right there. You don't need to corrupt Miharu any more with your filthy mouth." I said, making sure to stare at Yamashiro with a cold look.

"Fine, fine, I'll just going to be content to watch the chaos for now."

"Like usual."

"Uhmm, Kiyotaka-san?" Miharu approached me. "What do you think of Honami-san's plan?"

"I think it's a good plan, though it could use some improvement. I'm going to have to strangle Ryuuen when I see him for being a bad influence on my daughter. Honami's plan sounds like the kind of plan your father would employ." I said.

"Uh, please don't. I've... injured him enough already." she said, surprising me.

"You and your father already met and fought?" I asked, though I was not at all surprised that she actually did fight with her father. Despite her having been taught extensively by Hiyori, she was still Ryuuen Kakeru's daughter. This girl loved fighting just as much as he did, though she would never admit it out loud.

"Yes, me and Dad fought." she then blushed to the side. "It was... quite refreshing..."

"Oohhh, turns out Miharu-chan really is Ryuuen's daughter, huh? How adorable!" Yamashiro said.

"Don't make it sound like I love beating my father up! I love him from the bottom of my heart!" Miharu said.

In all honesty, Ryuuen would be disappointed if her daughter couldn't beat him up. No matter what he says about Kei, he is the true masochist of ANHS, not her.

I then noticed Miharu fidgeting, as if wanting to ask me about something, but is too shy to tell me. It was strange, to say the least, so I decided to get closer to her.

"Do you have anything more you wish to tell me, Miharu?" I asked.

"A-Ah! W-Well... uhmm... you see..." she began to fidget even more. She leaned in to whisper something to me. "A-After this is over, me and Suzuki-kun decided t-to... do... it... so I want to ask you for p-permission... K-Kiyotaka-san..."

It was indeed a delicate subject, and she probably didn't want Yamashiro hearing it. Still, I decided to be blunt.

"You're asking me for permission to have sex with my son, Miharu? Suzuki is your boyfriend. Whatever you decide to do, I won't interfere." I whispered, which made her blush profusely.

"K-Kiyotaka-san, please d-don't say that so bluntly!" she said. "W-We just wanted to warn you so that we don't disturb everyone in the house..."

I'm guessing that they realized this is a golden opportunity to do things like this since Ryuuen wouldn't be there to blow a gasket about it when he finds out. The guy loves his daughter so much that he was willing to be dressed up like a girl when she was a child. Honestly, I still have pictures of him dressed up like that for blackmail material. It's proven to be incredibly useful to me.

"Don't worry, I'll handle things so that nobody will be disturbed that night." I said. "Make sure to use protection, you two. We don't have the time or energy to raise a baby in this situation."

"K-Kiyotaka-san...!" Miharu blushed a deeper shade of crimson.

I'm not teasing you, though. I'm giving you a genuine warning because we can't raise a child right now. Admittedly, though, me and Kei want some grandchildren.

Fortunately, Yamashiro heard none of this. 

I turned back to observing the school grounds and saw someone run out of the building we were on. I didn't recognize him, but I can recognize who he resembles as.

So this is Ohnita Hana's older brother, huh? It looks like things are moving now.

"Miharu, prepare yourself." I said. "Things are about to move forward now."

She had stopped blushing now, but she didn't say anything. She just stayed quiet, nodded firmly, and exited the rooftop.

Good luck.

Kikyou's POV

"Damn it!"

The pained shout of Sumire was all I heard as she tried standing up, glaring at me murderously. I had just thrown her out of the room, and there were cuts all over her, courtesy of the broken glass shards of the window.

We're going to have to pay for damages. I really hope that he isn't monitoring where the monster's spending all his money to.

"You actually threw me, you bitch!" she shouted as she charged me again, preparing to continue the fight. She was actually faster this time, but I managed to block her attacks all the same and counter.

We then continued our brawl in the corridor with renewed intensity. Sumire was now taking me more seriously than last time, judging by her more furious demeanor. I wasn't really affected though, as the plan didn't change at all.

Wanting to change locations, I kicked her in the chest hard, causing her to stumble backwards into the corridor we were fighting in. She fought back fiercely, sending numerous jabs at my torso and head, intent on stunning me to prepare for a finishing blow, but I continuously parried and blocked her punches. My hands and palms were quite sore from the intensity of the strikes, though, forcing me to become more offensive with my approach.

After a fast jab right at her stomach, momentarily stunning her, I began launching a series of strikes at her, hoping to move her in a particular direction. However, it looks like she saw through this and began standing her ground. This did allow me to rain down punches on her as she blocked, pouring all of my fury and frustration on the girl.

"D-Damn you!" she shouted as she struggled against my barrage of blows.

She tried launching a counterattack at me by deflecting one of my punches, but as she did, I just grabbed that arm, pulled her closer to me, and began doing palm strikes at her gut, specifically right near her solar plexus. She did manage to wrestle her arm away from me, but this just put us right back to earlier, where she was blocking my attacks.

As she did this, I began trying to move us into a more advantageous location for me once more, but she tried desperately trying to not budge from her position, as she was aware that not doing so would result badly for her. As a result, I pushed her hard from there, causing her to stumble backwards again, which I quickly took advantage of, punching her straight in the solar plexus, since Ayanokouji taught me that it was a part of the body that could not be toughened up no matter how much you train.

Despite my success at hitting her in that spot, she immediately recovered from it and began evading my attacks instead. I began to be wary of her countering me and potentially losing my momentum in the fight, given that she's changed the way she's defending against my attacks. I just knew that she switched to dodging because I knew that it would be easier to begin a counterattack this way.

I was right in my suspicions as the moment I took a break from my attacks, she immediately tried to kick me in the head, which I barely evaded, but then she continued trying to pummel me. She was probably trying to get payback for being hit by my attacks repeatedly earlier. She even tried clawing at my eyes, which turned out to be a diversion as the moment I closed my eyes to prevent them from being damaged, she punched me hard in the stomach then struck me in the face with a powerful left hook, which I can already tell bruised my cheek. Her smug smirk as she managed to land those hits on me was seriously irritating.

I never want to see her giving me that smug smirk ever again. It is so fucking annoying.

Her advantage didn't last long, however, as the moment I saw an opening, I immediately elbowed her in the gut and launched an uppercut, making her stumble backwards once more. The satisfaction I felt when the smirk disappeared from her face was immense.

She was glaring hatefully at me, probably wishing me death a thousand times over, but I just ignored it. I attempted to launch another offensive at her, but she was ready this time. After dodging my punch, she countered with a knee to my stomach, then a punch to the chest, then she slapped me in the head so hard that I was sent backwards towards another room, finally getting off the corridor we were in, and into...

...a science lab? Damn it, of course this fight is about to become more brutal... and costly too. Sorry about this, Ayanokouji. Maybe we can at least use Lelouch's Geass to make these people forget about the fight so we can just quietly pay for the damages.

I knew there was no point in trying to move Sumire out of there at this point, so I simply retreated to a safer spot in the lab.

It was then that our battle entered into its next stage.

Kei's POV
Kushida's Middle School, School Grounds

"What is Kiyotaka thinking? What is the Author thinking?" I muttered out loud as we waited on a secluded part of Kushida-san's middle school. "Why did he try to recruit Yamashiro-san? Why the hell did the Author time travel her as well? What is wrong with those two?"

"Is she really that bad, Mom?" Honami asked from behind me.

"There's a reason why me and your father never let you meet her." I answered. "That girl is a menace. An absolute menace. The only reason I never hated her is because she helped both me and Kiyotaka out many times, but I can't say the same for everyone in the group."

"Yeah. I never saw Hiyori-san so annoyed." Suzuki commented. "I can tell that she was ready to punch her in the face if she got the opportunity. It was surprising that such a patient girl could get so irritated at someone. She didn't even bother hiding it."

"Yamashiro-san almost tried to expel her just to mess with Ryuuen, after all." I answered.  "It's one of the reasons why Ryuuen despised her, though his hatred is nothing compared to Sakayanagi-san's."

"How bad was it?" Honami asked, sounding almost amused.

"There was one time when they met, and it ended with Sakayanagi-san smacking her hard with her cane." I narrated.

"Really?!" both of them exclaimed, shocked that the calm woman they all knew could get that angry.

"Yeah, and you know how Yamashiro-san replied? She said "Oh please, Sakayanagi-chan, hit me harder!". I saw the scene myself. It made me so uncomfortable, and it wasn't even directed at me." I said, shuddering at the memory. 

"If she was that bad, then why did Dad try recruiting her?" Honami asked.

"Because for all her faults, she is loyal to Kiyotaka, plus she is resourceful and cunning. She was also a huge asset in the White Raid, as she was the reason why it was heavily destroyed. She managed to break into a military base before the Raid and steal a bunch of C4 explosives unnoticed. Then, once the raid began, she roamed around the facility, planted those bombs, and after everyone's escaped, she blew the place to kingdom come."

"H-Huh?!" Suzuki gasped in surprise, while Honami's jaw dropped.

"There's a reason why your father considers her one of his toughest opponents, you know?" I said matter-of-factly. "She is ridiculous. I complained earlier, but logically, I knew why Kiyotaka tried recruiting her. That girl is extremely capable. I'm sure he didn't like doing it."

"Dad sure didn't. I mean, I could just tell that Dad was so seriously annoyed by her. He couldn't even maintain his poker face when she was around her when we tried peeking at your interactions with Yamashiro-san. It's a serious achievement to get Dad that emotional." Honami said.

"For now, let's focus on what's happening with Kikyou-sensei and Sumire." Suzuki said. "From what I can tell, the fight already began."

"We could see the chaos happening here. Look, so many people are running away." I said, noticing the numerous students bolting away from a location at the school, which is presumably away from the fight between the two.

"It must be a really big deal, having the class angel brawl with her own best friend. Do you think that this will result in the same infamy in the school as Kikyou-sensei's... dismantling of her own class?" Suzuki said, then his eyes widened as he figured out another layer of her sister's plan. "Wait, is this how you're going to get Kikyou-sensei to Class-D, nee-san?!"

"I'm surprised it took you this long to figure it out, Suzuki." Honami said. "Or maybe you just didn't think about it until now?"

"It occurred to me just now." Suzuki shrugged. "Hey, it's a brilliant idea. This way, we don't need to worry about someone potentially replacing Ohnita Takehiko. We can't have Kikyou-sensei accidentally murdering someone again, after all."

"You didn't have to phrase it that way, Suzuki..." Honami said. "Anyway, when we get the signal from Shizuku-chan-"

Right as she said that, her phone rang, revealing Shizuku's number calling Honami, then it abruptly stopped.

"...there it is. Suzuki." 

My son's expression turned ice-cold at this, reminding me so much of him.

"Understood, nee-san."

Kikyou's POV
August 17, 2029 (Original Timeline)
Ayanokouji Residence

"And that is the end of our lesson! Do you kids have any more questions?" I asked the Ayanokouji twins.

"None, Kikyou-sensei."

"No questions, Sensei!"

"If that's the case, then our private lessons are finished for today!" 

"Yay!" the two kids cheered loudly, then proceeded to hug me. "Thank you, Kikyou-sensei!"

"You're welcome, kids." I said as I hugged them back.

I would have honestly been really touched by these two hugging me like this if I wasn't still reeling from the lesson just now. After all...

...Why and how the fuck am I already teaching these two quadratic functions?! They're seven! Seven years old! They shouldn't be learning this stuff at this point!

Yet somehow, the two of them absorbed the information like sponge. I can't believe it!

Well, they are Ayanokouji's children, so I can see why. Honestly, I can already hear that monster telling me that he was already learning the basics of trigonometry at this point in his life. Heh, pretentious bastard.

As I was thinking this, the two released their hugs, then Honami looked at me with a sad expression.

"Is there something wrong, Honami?" I asked, concerned for the child.

"Sensei... do you think I could be like Dad?"

Ah, this. I remember Kei-san telling me about Honami wanting to be like her Dad. 

"Why are you asking that? You're doing a good job with the lessons, aren't you?" I said. She was doing a good job with the lessons both me and Ayanokouji were giving her, so I didn't know why she looked so sad.

"But this isn't enough! I know Dad did better than this! He was learning harder lessons in the White Room than I am now! I want to be the masterpiece like he is! My father is an amazing man who can do anything he sets his mind to, and I want to be just like that!"

Suzuki simply looked at his sister with concern, though it wasn't very obvious considering that his expression looked blank, but I knew these children enough to know what they were feeling regardless of their expressions.

"And yet, the lessons I'm learning right now are easy compared to his! I can't fight as good as he was! I'm still not as strong, as fast, or as smart as he was when he was at my age! Can I... even be like him, or will I never reach the heights he did? Will I never prove my grandfather wrong...?"

Honami was beginning to tear up now, but I was having none of it.

"Honami, do you want to be happy?" I asked, causing her to be confused.

"Of course I do, Sensei." she answered.

"Do you want to be able to be happy?"

"Yeah, being happy is amazing!" she answered again.

"Do you think your father was happy when he was at your age?"

She stayed silent , slowly realizing what I was talking about.

"Honami, your father was indeed a lot better than you when he was at your age, but... he was never happy. He was never sad, angry, or scared. He was... nothing. He never felt anything. He wasn't... human."

She let me continue.

"This is why you're being taught this way. This is what your father came up with in order for you to not only just become like him, but for you to surpass him."

"Surpass... Dad...?"

"By becoming as capable as your Dad, while remaining happy, you would already be proving your grandfather wrong. You would already be able to become someone more than Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." I stated firmly.

As I said this, the determination and resolve in her eyes grew.

"Ayanokouji Honami, as your teacher, I have one request."

I held her shoulders firmly.

"Please, surpass your father, the Masterpiece of the White Room, Ayanokouji Kiyotaka. I want you to become someone more than he could ever be. I want you to both be a monster and a human."

Her sadness dissipated, and a huge smile appeared on her face.

"I will, Kikyou-sensei!"

As she said this, I turned to Suzuki, who seemed to be thinking deeply. After a few moments, he spoke up.

"Kikyou-sensei, I..."

July 16, 2014 (New Timeline)
Kushida's Middle School, 1st Floor Science Laboratory

I'm having flashbacks again, what the hell?

I shook the memory out of my mind once more as both me and Sumire prepared to clash once more in the room.

She made the first move, grabbing one of the Erlenmeyer flasks in the lab and swinging it at me, intent on smashing the thing at me. I evaded it, and proceeded to land a punch on her again, which worked due to her being slowed by her having just swung the object at me.

I tried to continue my attack like before, but she was prepared this time and dodged my subsequent attacks. It didn't deter me, though, and I pulled back to assess the situation.

Unfortunately, Sumire was not about to let me do that as she began to attack me instead. She kicked me in the side with such force that she managed to make me tumble and fall into one of the desks in the lab, forcing me to flip over the side and spill over the many glass equipments on the desk. The shards of the shattered glass pierced my back, making me yelp in pain, before I fell over to the other side of the desk and onto the ground.

Sumire quickly came over to my side, and before I was able to get up, she lifted my head and smashed in onto the desk. She smashed my head so hard that I was surprised I didn't get a concussion from it.

Still, I wasn't about to let this bitch beat me up. Before she was able to do anything else, I grabbed a broken test tube from my side and immediately stabbed it on her arm.

Sorry, Suzune-san.

She screamed in pain as she let me go, but I was not done. When I fell over earlier, there were a bunch of glass shards stuck into my hands and specifically in my palm. I raised my hand and slapped her right in the face, causing the shards embedded on my hand to get stabbed into her face.

"You bitch!" she shouted hatefully as she backed away, but it was my turn again to beat the shit out of her. I kicked her straight in the chest, then I lunged at her to grab her by the hair, pull her to me once more, and punch her in the face. I then continued with my assault, striking her with more and more punches.

As she deflected a punch of mine, she retaliated by grabbing a stirring rod, breaking it in half, then stabbing the half of the stirring rod she was holding right at my gut.

I think I'm going to faint if I ever read the cost of all the damages we incurred here.

As I winced in pain at the broken stirring rod stabbed in my gut, she then charged at me, preparing to get into the offense, but I weaved out of the way of her attack, punch her in the back, then when she turned around, I hit her again in the face with a vicious right hook.

After this, we continued fighting there, with me struggling to get out of the room in order to get to the necessary location. I knew that they were informed at this point of what was happening, so I need to make sure that the plan goes off without a hitch.

As the two of us took backed away from one another, I glanced at the window that had a view of the outside, and realized that we were right nearby the location that was indicated by the plan

I can't believe I get to be lucky this one time.

I knew what I had to do. As she approached me, prepared to strike again, I lifted her up and threw her out of the window again to the outside, then I jumped after her.

As I landed outside of the lab, I was surprised to see her running towards me to attack me, sending a quick but vicious jab right into my face, then another kick at my abdomen. She elbowed me right in the side, then I was slapped in the face.

When she tried to punch me again, I grabbed the arm and twisted it, causing her to howl in pain before I chopped at her right in the throat.

Knowing what to do next, I ran away from there, startling Sumire and prompting her to chase after me. The chase didn't last that long, as I managed to reach the destination I had in mind.

It was the field we used in our track and field competitions.

"What's the matter, Kushida? Running away?" she taunted me as she caught up to me.

"No, I was simply luring you right where I want you to be." I said, causing her to raise her eyebrows in confusion.

"Really? Here, in the middle of the track? What can you possibly achieve here?" she asked.

"I wonder, you pride yourself to be a perfect being, one that cannot be beaten and is above everyone else."

"Of course I am! Why state the obvious?" she asked.

"Well, if you really are such a perfect being, then you can totally win against us, right?" I asked, as her expression twisted once more in confusion.

"Us?"

I smiled, then without warning, two people appeared to join in the fight, coming from either side of Sumire. One had a cold blank look on his face, focused solely on the enemy before him, while the other had an ecstatic grin on her face, excited for the fight ahead of her.

It was Suzuki and Miharu.

The next phase of this fight, and of the plan, is about to begin.

=end of chapter=

Chapter Text

Suzuki's POV
July 18, 2036 (Original Timeline)

Why does it hurt to be kicked in the testicles?

It's a simple question to answer, really.

Because the testicles doesn't have any proper protection to them besides a thin layer of skin, as well as the fact that there is a high concentration of nerve endings in that region, leading to a lot of pain.

It doesn't help that the abdomen and the scrotum shares nerves, which is why when you get kicked in the groin, you feel the pain all the way to the abdominal area.

In short, it's not fun.

Which is why I decided to kick Ryuuen Kakeru in the balls when he was blocking my access to my girlfriend.

My initial relationship with Miharu-chan was different to nee-san's initial relationship with Shin-san. We were already very friendly when we first met each other, and we had none of the denial those two did when we were falling in love.

It was... a strange feeling at the time. As far as back as I could remember, my emotions were... muted. I could never feel any extreme emotion. I could never feel neither euphoria nor despair. It was something that deeply worried both of my parents, as they said that it was something that my Dad  initially  was as a child, and it wasn't a good thing.

They simply tried pouring their love and care for me, so I at least managed to gain my empathy because of them, something I'm deeply grateful for.

However, it was Miharu who gave me my emotions.

No, there was no dramatic incident where she did something to provide me with my emotions or anything like that. It was a slow, gradual process. I learnt to smile more, I learned to cry more, I learned to get angry more. All of that is because of her.

The first time I smiled was when I saw her smile for the first time. It's cheesy, yes, but that's how love works.

Ryuuen Miharu. From the bottom of my heart, I truly love you. You're the reason why I can even feel happiness. You're the reason why I can enjoy my life to the fullest. I don't care if your chest is flatter than a wall, or that you prefer wearing masculine clothes, or that you have violent tendencies, I love you all the same.

And that is why I am incredibly annoyed when her father decided to be very difficult.

I know how fathers are. The way Shin-san looked at Dad when he first came to introduce himself to him. It was like he was staring death in the face. That's why I can understand why he acted like that, but being on the receiving end of it was quite annoying.

In fact, it was the first time I ever got annoyed at something, and that didn't bode well with the man.

It was the reason why I had impulsively kicked Ryuuen Kakeru in the testicles to shut him up so I can fetch Miharu for our date. I can still hear Auntie  Mio  laughing loudly at her husband's misfortune, but I didn't  care.

Unfortunately, the man didn't let up at all after that, but truly, I did not care. I do not dislike him, and I do have respect for him, but that man has to stop.

Well, at least I can enjoy my time with Miharu-chan.

"Was that really necessary, Suzuki-kun?" she asked as we were on our way to the mall.

"It was the quickest method to get him out of my way." I said. "Don't worry, I made sure to minimize the damage so you can still have siblings."

"Pfftt!" she chuckled at that. "You can't just say that, Suzuki-kun!"

"He was being annoying." I said.

"He was just trying to protective of me." she replied.

"I know that, but I was still extremely bothered by his attitude."

"Anyway, I'm glad that we're doing this, Suzuki-kun..." she said.

"Of course. Anything for my Miharu-chan!" I said as I began patting her in the head, eliciting a blush from her.

"S-Suzuki-kun!"

Yes, I will really enjoy my time with you, my beloved.

July 16, 2014 (New Timeline)

What was that?  A flashback in the middle of the fight? How quaint.

I remarked as both me and Miharu-chan punched Sumire at the same time.

Before she could even react, though, my girlfriend wasted no time and pulled Sumire to her in order to punch her two more times in the gut, then immediately kick her in the side.

Sumire was sent stumbling back, but I was quick enough to get behind her and push her towards Kikyou-sensei this time, allowing her to punch her in the face.

"Where's your superiority now, bitch?!" Kikyou-sensei shouted, causing Sumire to growl.

"You really think this will stop me?!" she said. She lifted her right arm out to punch her, but I caught it and held onto it tightly.

She turned to me in surprise, and I stared at her coldly.

"Before you start barking, make sure to check if your bite is just as strong." I remarked before backhanding her. To her credit, she recovered quickly and charged at me with fury, but then Miharu-chan joined in and tackle her.

"Don't forget about me, Sumire! We're going to have a lot of fun together!" she shouted in excitement. Sumire tried landing a hook on her, but my girlfriend simply stepped back to dodge it, before countering with a jab of her own.

Sumire dodged it, and it was my cue to join in, and started attacking her as well. It looked like Sumire started truly concentrating as she evaded the attack I dished out.

All three of us then regrouped, and I glanced at the clearly exhausted Kikyou-sensei.

"Sensei, please rest. Let us handle this for now." I said. She sighed.

"Fine, but don't expect me to be out of the fight for long." she replied.

"I don't think you would." I said, then as one, me, Miharu-chan, and Sumire continued the fight.

Unexpectedly, Sumire was doing well in dodging our attacks. It seemed that she realized we were too strong for her to be able to effectively parry, so she decided to continuously evade our attacks. Every punch and kick that we throw was dodged by her, though barely.

Despite all of that, she couldn't hit us back effectively. When she tried a left hook at me, I blocked it then countered with a right jab that she evaded, but then Miharu comes in with a kick to the face that she had to step back from to dodge.

"Shit!" Sumire shouted.

"Come on, is dodging all you can do, Sumire?!" Miharu-chan taunted. "I thought the world is supposed to revolve around you! Pathetic!"

"Heh! You can't even hit me both! You have no right to talk!" she fired back, but that was a mistake.

Miharu-chan was not the kind of person to back down from a challenge like that.

"Oh, we'll see about that." Miharu-chan smirked, and I didn't intervene in the violence that was about to take place.

Just as Sumire dodged another jab from her, Miharu-chan quickly used the hand she had just jabbed with to pull on her hair. Sumire couldn't react as Miharu used this opportunity to pull her towards her and punch her in the jaw.

Miharu didn't let up, and with a bloodthirsty smile on her face, grabbed her with her other hand and started landing strike upon strike on her. She pulled on her arm, punched her hard, then when she was sent back, Miharu-chan pulled her towards her again to repeat the process.

Sumire managed to break free from the attack, but I came in a struck a knee to her side then kicked her at her chest.

"You truly are not good enough to spout such prideful words, Horikita Sumire." I said.

"Shut the fuck up!" she responded, the fury clear in her expression, but I wasn't a single bit fazed by her disdain.

She charged at me, and she was much faster than last time, but it didn't matter as I started blocking and evading every attack that she hits at me. I could already anticipate what she was going to do considering how easy to read she is.

A left hook, a right jab, another hook again, a couple of kicks, a slap, a chop with left hand, it was all so predictable.

Soon, I had enough, and I let one of her jabs hit my cheek, which surprised her, causing her to be caught off-guard by my next moves.

I slapped her on both of her ears, causing discombobulation on her, causing her to be dazed, then I hit her with two punches right in the gut before finally uppercutting her right in the jaw.

Miharu-chan joined in right afterwards, elbowing her right in the side before launching a jab right at her face. Sumire recovered quickly enough to evade it, but she couldn't evade Miharu's headbutt, which definitely broke Sumire's nose.

I ran in once again to the fray, blocking an attack from Sumire just as Miharu-chan came in with a right hook and another kick in the gut. She tried prying herself out of my grip, but she failed miserably, and only earned another punch in the jaw for me.

To be honest, it was highly impressive that she can still move and fight despite all of the injuries on her. She was bruised all over, had a stab wound on her arm, her nose was bleeding, and I'm sure that Kikyou-sensei had broken some of her bones. Despite that, she was still putting up a fight, even if it wasn't really all that effective.

Just as we were about to continue with out fight, a hand grabbed Sumire by the shoulder.

"I hope you haven't forgotten about me, Sumire. They may have joined in, but this is still between you and me."

A pissed off Kikyou-sensei had rejoined the battle.

Kikyou's POV
August 17, 2029 (Original Timeline)
Ayanokouji Residence

"What is it, Suzuki?"

After Honami had just gained a newfound resolve to surpass her own father, it was Suzuki who was in need of guidance this time.

"What do you think I should want with my life?"

That... is a really complicated question, Suzuki.

"Shouldn't you be the one to know what you want with yourself, Suzuki?" I asked pointedly, but he simply shook his head in confusion.

"I know that, Sensei, but... I don't know what I want. Nee-san wants to surpass Dad, but I don't have that desire myself. In fact, I don't find myself wanting anything, yet I'm not exactly satisfied either... What should I do?"

Honami was the one looking concerned for her brother this time, and I honestly can't blame her.

This was a different sort of problem than Honami's, really. He wasn't having doubts about his goals in life, he's having doubts about life himself.

This is troublesome...

Since I wanted to do what's best for my student, I decided to think deeply about Suzuki's problem.

His problem, according to him, was that he had no innate intense desire like his sister. He has no goal to surpass anybody, achieve something, or even fulfill a promise of some kind. He doesn't have a direction he wants to head to, he's essentially aimless.

It's an unexpected problem to that monster's approach to giving his children as much freedom as he could possibly give them, but to be fair to him, he pr obably didn't realize that his own son will become this aimless  in his life since even he had a goal when he ran away from the White Room, which is to...

...live a peaceful life...

"Hey, Suzuki, did you know that your father wanted to live a peaceful life when he was in highschool?"

"Dad did?"

"Yeah. He just wanted to live normally, you know? Have friends, learn about his emotions, fall in love, stuff like that. It was really sad that he had to go to a school like  ANHS  to achieve that." I said.

Then I had to just go and mess with him... Ugh.

"...A peaceful life..." Suzuki muttered, as if ruminating the meaning of the words.

"In truth, Suzuki, what you want in your life is something only you can know for yourself. It's not something that anyone else could or should dictate for you. If that's the case, why don't you start from following your father's footsteps in a different way? Your father may have already achieved this goal, but it's coated in too much blood for his own liking." I explained. "You can surpass your father in this regard. Make sure to live a normal life of your own, without all the burdens he holds. After all, Ayanokouji Suzuki..."

"I am free." he said quietly, then smiled. "Thank you for your guidance, Kikyou-sensei. I have found my answer. I will live a normal life and I will protect it at all costs."

Despite his seemingly innocent-sounding goal, I couldn't be fooled one bit. The intensity in his eyes were far too great for me to ignore.

"I'm sure you can do it, Suzuki!" Honami cheerfully said, though she too had the same intensity as her brother's.

In the end, you two really are his children.

The two of you will definitely achieve great things.

July 16, 2014 (New Timeline)

Flashbacks again... This time, though, I can understand why I'd remember that  time.

I smiled as I looked at Suzuki and Miharu continuing to fight Sumire.

Suzuki, you and Honami have grown so much. I can hardly believe you were the same child that doubted himself long ago. Now, you are assured of yourself, in control of your own fate, you even destroyed your class like I did! I'm so proud of you.

I wanted to shed a tear in sheer pride of my student.

However, this... is something that I must do for myself. I want to be the one to punch that bitch's face in! I never want to see that smug expression on her ever again!

I stood up, blood still flowing from whatever wounds I have. I began to walk towards the battle, intent on finishing it.

That's where I got to grab Sumire right in the shoulder, ready to show her hell!

"I hope you haven't forgotten about me, Sumire. They may have joined in, but this is still between you and me."

And the battle continued with me punching her hard in the face like she fucking deserves.

The punch definitely sent her reeling, as she stumbled for a few seconds before standing up again and staring at me with pure murder in her eyes.

"You really joined in again despite how weak you are compared to these two? You should have stayed down like the pathetic imbecile that you are." she snarled.

"Really? Why don't you look at the mirror first? Aren't you supposed to be perfect? Surely you can win a fight against three people!"

I don't want to say this, but that narcissist probably could defeat the three of us without issue. It's annoying that the bastard's bite matches his bark.

In short, I'm just fighting a vastly inferior version of him.

"Shut the fuck up!" she said, but before she can even approach me, Miharu came in from her right and kicked her in the head.

"You really keep forgetting there's three of us, don't you, Sumire!?" she said, sending her flying a few meters. Seeing my chance, once she had landed and was about to attempt standing up, I kicked her in the face to knock her down again.

Unfortunately, she evaded it, but she couldn't dodge the second kick, so there's that.

"I never feel bad kicking my enemy when it's down, and I certainly won't feel bad if it's you!" I said as my foot hit her head. Before she can react, I grabbed her by the hair and punched her in the face, but she blocked it and managed to punch me in the face instead.

I didn't let go of her hair, though, so I just continued attacking her. I did let go of her after a while, then the two converged in on her.

What followed was a complete brawl. There was no other way to put it. It didn't even look like any of us were using any proper martial arts, we were just trying to hurt each other as much as humanly possible.

Miharu scratched at her face...

Suzuki tried to poke her in the eyes...

I grabbed her hair again...

She bit me right in the arm so hard that it drew a lot of blood...

Honestly it was a mess. To make things worse, I see a lot of people gathering around to see what was going on. I can see why the rumor about me fighting with her will spread so quickly given my reputation, but I still didn't like it.

There's still the final phase of the plan to consider, but in all honesty, it's not really a big deal.

"Damn you, Kushida! DAMN YOU!" Sumire shouted. "I was this close to crushing all of these losers like the pathetic worms that they are!"

"I will not let someone like you do something like that to them!" I said, but then I stopped as I realized something crucial.

Why is she saying things like that?

At first, I thought it was just drivel from an arrogant individual like her, but then I realized that there should be no way she should be saying these things in the first place. Why was she talking about crushing our classmates? We framed her for the death threats! It was Hikaru who sent them!

Is there something more going on here than I thought?

Fortunately, the other two was assisting me in the fight enough for me to be able to be distracted by thoughts like these, but I couldn't be too distracted for too long, and I joined in, eager for blood.

However, I was also beginning to be more conscious of the plan.

Any minute now...

It seems that the two were aware of the plan shifting, so they both slowly eased up their attacks on Sumire. She thought that we were beginning to feel exhausted, which invigorated her and she "turned the tables" on us.

Sumire began to go on the offensive and proceeded to take advantage of our "exhaustion" landing more and more blows at us. Her smug face appeared again and she laughed.

"Hahahahahahahahahaha! You talked big earlier and now I managed to outlast all of you!" she said in delight. She "knocked down" Miharu first, then Suzuki tried to land more punches on her, which failed and he also "collapsed" on the ground in "exhaustion".

Eventually, I was the only one left to fight. I raised my arms up in a stance and prepared to continue the battle, but as if on cue, the plan reached its final stage.

"It looks like you're in trouble, Kikyou. Would you mind letting me lend a hand?"

The cold voice of the monster rang out through the immediate area, and of course, I recognized it. There was no way I wouldn't recognize it after so long.

Ayanokouji Kiyotaka has arrived.

Kiyotaka's POV
July 8, 2014 (New Timeline)
Ayanokouji Residence

"My plan is fairly simple, really." Honami said. "All we had to do to stop Sumire from doing anything is by breaking her spirit and her will."

Ryuuen, you really are a bad influence on my daughter.

"Break her will? How exactly are you going to do that?" Kei asked.

"Simple, Mom. We beat her up." she said. "She thinks that she's perfect in every single way according to Sensei, so physically beating it into her that she isn't perfect at all will be a good way for us to make her submit."

"Surely there are better ways to do it than just beating her up." Hoshino chimed in, and she had a point, but I can see where my daughter is coming from.

"We need to do this fast. Taking it too slow will run the risk of her doing something drastic. Violence isn't the first method that I'll use, but it gets the job done." I said. "The question is, how are we going to make her appear in the first place? Should we just wait?"

"Maybe, but I have a plan that can draw her out." she said with a smirk.

Essentially, she's planning on having Hikaru send some death threats to all of Kushida's classmates and herself excluding Horikita. By doing this, she can manage to draw her out.

"Why do you think this is going to draw her out, Honami?" Kei asked.

I think I know why Honami thinks this is going to work, but I'll let her explain.

"Based on the pattern that I have observed from her, Sumire  comes out whenever she's in some sort of trouble. In short, Sumire is her defense mechanism." Honami explained.

Nodding at her explanation, we put together a simple enough plan to deal with Sumire. Have Kushida fight her first, then two of us, preferably Suzuki and Miharu, join in the fight, then have the three of them "lose" to give her some semblance of hope then I come in to thoroughly crush it.

With the well-being of Horikita Suzune in mind, we moved forward with our plan.

And that is where we are right now. With Kushida standing tall despite her apparent loss, it was now time for me to shatter Sumire's will.

"And who might you be?" she asked disdainfully, but I was unfazed by her malicious attitude.

"I am Ayanokouji Kiyotaka, and I came here to help my friend." I said, and she sneered at me.

"Heh, you're too late. If you had joined in earlier you may have stood a chance, but now there's only two of you against me." she said. Her belief in herself must have skyrocketed when she "defeated" both Suzuki and Miharu.

I guess my job here is very clear.

"You sound awfully sure of yourself, Horikita Sumire." I said, then I raised both of my index fingers.

"What is that?"

"I'm only going to use both of these fingers to fight you. I have to make sure you get a fair fight after all." I said.

Her confident expression immediately twisted into one of anger.

"DON'T YOU DARE UNDERESTIMATE ME, YOU PIECE OF-"

Before she can continue speaking, I immediately ran towards her and put my finger on her forehead.

"See? I believe this is quite fair." I said.

She was stunned, to the point that she barely reacted when I started pushing her forehead with my finger. When I did, she growled loudly and began to fight me with an intensity unlike before.

Despite all of that, I was not fazed at all. I blocked her punches and kicks with my two fingers, even parrying some of them by pushing them to the side. 

"DAMN YOU! WHO THE HELL ARE YOU?!"

"I told you, my name is Ayanokouji Kiyotaka." I responded calmly as I decided to attack for the first time in the fight by jabbing my finger right at her stomach, causing her to gasp at the sudden pain in her abdomen. I then used my other finger to push her head to the side, like I had just punched her with a right hook.

Her anger was slowly fading as she became increasingly desperate, an expression previously unseen on her face.

"WHY CAN'T I HIT YOU?! YOU'RE USING ONLY YOUR FINGERS! HOW IS THIS POSSIBLE?! I'M SUPPOSED TO BE PERFECT! THE WORLD IS SUPPOSED TO REVOLVE AROUND ME!" the girl began shouting.

Despair was quickly overtaking her, but my job is not done. I have not broken her will yet.

As I continued deflecting all of her hits, she became more... feral in her fighting. She began doing whatever she could to defeat me. She tried scratching me and even biting me, but it did not work. I simply continued dismantling her piece by piece.

Eventually, after a lot of struggling, it looked like she mustered up enough strength in one final punch in order to defeat me, but it was meaningless. The jab that she put so much power into was stopped by my index finger. I did feel something from that punch, though, so it must have been powerful.

For the first time in the fight, there was a look of despair on Sumire's face.

"No... why...?"

Just as she stepped back to process everything, she began clutching her head in apparent pain.

"PLEASE, SUMIRE! STOP!"

Horikita Suzune has found enough strength to fight back, it seems.

With this, I glanced at Kushida, who had begun worriedly looking at her friend.

"Don't. Let her deal with this on her own." I said. "This is Horikita Suzune's test."

I wonder what will happen now.

Suzune's POV

"Why... why... why... WHY?!" Sumire began repeatedly shouting. "Who the hell was that monster?!"

I've been here a few times, but I still find it reassuring that the inside of my mind looks like my room. Is this because it looks the most familiar to me?

I always end up her whenever Sumire takes control of me, and now, with her being in a mental crisis, it was finally time for me to confront her.

"Sumire." I said, my voice a bit stern. "I want to talk to you."

"What is there to talk about?" she asked disdainfully. "This is what you wanted, isn't it? You've finally won. There's no way I'm coming out now, not with that monster around."

He really broke her, but I can't blame her for reacting this way. I would also feel despair if I couldn't win a fight with someone who's only using two of his fingers to fight.

"You see, I've always been wondering why you appeared." I said.

"What do you mean?"

"On that day, when your voice started whispering in my head, I find myself wondering why you appeared. I wanted to know what I had done to deserve it, to deserve you."

She didn't interrupt me, simply listening in to whatever I had to say because she wanted to know where I was going with this.

"I didn't want it to happen. I didn't want you to exist. Why did you have to appear into my life, Sumire?!" my voice began to get louder, so I calmed myself down.

"However, it wasn't until just now, when you were fighting all of them, that I realized what your role is." I said, before looking straight at her. "You wanted to protect me."

"...Huh?" she blurted out, but I didn't let her say more as I continued talking.

"When I felt envious of onii-chan because he's so much better then me, when I felt jealous of Kikyou-san's many friends, when I doubt myself too much, when those people accused me of sending those death threats, you appeared. You started telling me how perfect I am, how much better I am than them. You lifted me up, even if it was just in the guise of lifting yourself up.  All my fears and doubts twisted you into something like this, but in the end, you're just there to protect me and make me feel better. You were born to give me the strength to carry on."

Silence settled in between us as I made my conclusion about the reason for Sumire's existence. In the end, the silence was broken by Sumire's hollow laugh.

"Stupidly optimistic, aren't you?" she sighed. "Well, you're not wrong. I was born from your pride, Suzune. A part of you couldn't take all of the self-deprecation that you were always doing, so that part of you became me. I began to exist just so you wouldn't drown in such excessive self-pity. It was damn annoying when you tried pushing me down and rejecting me!"

"Well, if you weren't such saying mean things to everyone, I probably wouldn't have rejected you." I pointed out.

"You idiot, weren't you listening? I am the personification of your damn self-esteem. I think highly of ourselves and only ourselves. Of course, I'll be putting down everyone else!" she said, before slumping back down. "However, I failed. That monster has destroyed me now. You'll be doubting yourself forevermore."

"I don't think so." I said. "In fact, this whole event made me more sure of myself! After all, not only did I see proof of how far Kikyou-san is willing to help me, but the fact that she had to go this far just to destroy a facet of me means I'm actually quite good, hm?"

My alternate personality stared at me dumbly, before she started laughing loudly.

"Pfftt...! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA! Seriously? I can't believe you!" she said. "That's what you took from that!? You really are an idiot!"

"Hmph! I prefer being called an optimist!" I replied, before approaching her and holding her on her shoulders. "Sumire, it's fine to not be perfect. After all, if I'm perfect, then that means I can't go any higher. I can't improve, I can't become a better version of myself. I don't want to be perfect, I want to be better."

I swore that her eyes sparkled in that moment, as if she was proud of me.

"I didn't think it would take that long for you to grow, Suzune."

"Better late than never, right?" I said before holding out my hand to her. "Come to me, Sumire. Let's become one once more. After all, I have now become sure of myself. Don't worry about me.  I'll be fine from now on."

"The moment you found your resolve, I had already stopped worrying about you." she said. "Now that we're about to come together again, make sure to express your true feelings for her, okay? It's been too long."

"Sure!" I said with a smile. She also smiled, the first and last gentle smile she'll ever express, before she accepted my hand.

"Suzune, keep moving forward. I know you can do it."

*****
When I opened my eyes once more, I found myself back laying down on the field, with Kikyou-san's face looking over me with worry.

"Suzune-san?" she asked. I slowly sat up from my position, and looked at her.

"Kikyou-san, it's me." 

The moment I said that, she lunged at me, hugging me tightly.

"I'm so glad! I'm... so happy you're back!" she said. I just hugged her back and giggled.

"Yep, I'm really back, Kikyou-san." I responded.

It took a few seconds for her to release the hug, and she went back to staring at me with tears in her eyes. Not wanting to see her so sad, I wiped her tears.

"Don't cry, Kikyou-san. You don't want to spoil your beautiful face like that."

She gasped in shock before blushing to the side.

"D-Don't tease me!" she said.

S-She... she looks so cute like that!

She really is the most beautiful girl I have ever met.

And... I can't let go of that beautiful girl.

You're right, Sumire. It's time.

As she faced me again, I took a big step...

...and I kissed her on the lips.

Her lips was really soft, and despite all the fighting we just went through, it tasted sweet, like honey and caramel combined. It felt so warm and welcoming. Euphoria began seeping through my very veins as I felt her delectable lips touch mine with such a gentle and tender sensation.

It took a few seconds for me to let go, and I grinned brightly at her stunned face.

"Kushida Kikyou, I love you!"

=end of chapter=