---

---

---

The ringing bell and reddening sky announced the end of yet another school day at Kaname Academy. The students who didn't have any other club or council activities to do, where mostly free until the dinner time and subsequent curfew and the ones that had something else to do, would probably be shackled for a couple extra hours at the most.

However, a certain group of girls had a whole different set of after-school activities to perform, even if they still weren't aware of that...

---

"I knew that extra class wouldn't be easy, but the actual level is just insane. Is it because I'm a bishoujo heroine that I must struggle against such hardships?" A somewhat small glasses wearing girl, who usually was acknowledged as one of the Kaname Academy's poster-children when it comes to academic achievements, said to herself as she walked through the red-stained corridors of one of the school's trio of main buildings. Before long, she stopped dead in her tracks as a flabbergasted look found its way to her face.

"Wait a moment," the girl said, cocking her head pensively, "There's no prince on this story, so it means that I... unlocked the yuri route already? Ah~ if only they had a mismatched eyed imouto around here. That would literally make my day." The girl continued to talk to herself just as she finally arrived at her destination, a rather nondescript place that was otherwise known as the Student Council Room. Truth be said, the girl was as much a member of the faction dedicated to uphold morals and zeal for the students well-being as she was of any other clubs. Nevertheless, she made a habit of coming to this place pretty much everyday during both lunch and after school, if for no other reason, just to have some of the high-grade tea and snacks that they had.

Actually, there was also the fact that at least one member of council shared a very peculiar secret with the girl. And this member was no one other than the President herself, the very same person that was already there, standing in the desolate room.

"Yo, Kuro-shin! Is everything going well?" The girl greeted the Student Council President just as she trespassed into the room without any reservation and darted straight to the refreshments table. "Am I too early? Usually this place has more people around this time." She wondered out loud, before saying a small 'itadakimasu' under her breath and proceeding to down a couple cookies before she poured some tea for herself. "Actually, that's good, 'cause I'm not here just to have some snacks today. I came to ask if you are feeling it too? That sense of inquietude, as if the very atmosphere is shaking with power? I can bet all my lunch money that something is about to happen. Something that will change our lives forever and I'm not talking about the mid terms. Actually, Owari-san must have felt it too and I bet that she'll drop by anytime." The girl said pretty much all of that in one go, before gulping down a cup of tea and immediately going for a refill.

"So, while we wait for her, what do you say of telling me what kind of tea is this? 'cause it certainly doesn't taste like something that you can buy with the budget that your club has." After saying all that she had to, the girl fell silent, waiting for Reika's reply, while partaking of even more of the Council's five-star treats.

Kabeyama Chikage

"Are you ready? Please make sure to steer this away from any walls!"

It was sometime during the afternoon and Chikage was on her way back home. She took her usual route: A fairly empty street that went down a steep hill, crossing a railroad track, going over a bridge, and then it was a five minute bike to an apartment complex. Her home. Not her family's home, but the one she lived in with a couple of other girls. They were also daughters of those who worked for Chikage's family. Her home was a bit too far away to walk, and she didn't know how to drive, and so she was sent to live with the other girls. They were nice enough, though they don't really interact with one another.

Chikage would have already been home if she didn't come across an old man and his truck. He came back from a fishing trip it seems, but his truck also broke down. It was a shame, too, because there was a car shop just up the hill. Not one to leave her elders in distress Chikage offered her assistance. Of course the old man didn't think she could help, but she wasn't exactly a soft and pretty flower. The old man put his truck into neutral while Chikage used her strength to push the truck up the hill. For any other girl this would be a foolish, if not suicidal thing to do. But for Chikage it was a good workout. "Doriyaaaaaaaaah!"

Panting for breath the old man started looking through his wallet as his truck was being taken inside the garage. Chikage reached out and clasped her hand around the old man's. "It's okay, Jiisan. I had to help." The old man wouldn't relent however, demanding he pay back Chikage somehow. So he gave her some saury. Three fishes wrapped in newspaper inside a paper bag. Chikage wasn't really certain if she could accept this either, but the old man wouldn't let her go unless she took it. Giving him a wry smile she thanked him for the gift, got back on her bike, and headed back home.

"I'm home." Slamming the door shut it didn't look like anyone was home at the moment. No sound of the TV being watched, no water flowing, no footsteps. Chikage went straight to her room and dropped off her school supplies first before heading to the kitchen. She needed to figure out how to cook saury. "You usually just grill them, right...?" Taking out her phone Chikage looked up a guide for cooking saury for dinner.

The brown-haired girl didn't speak to anyone. Even her friends didn't receive much today. In truth, Chiharu didn't want to talk to anyone today. Seeing those who went to their clubs after classes had made her feel... well, it wasn't as if anyone would want her in a club, would they? No-one would. So there was no point in trying to sign up for one, even if she felt no small amount of longing to join one of them. She didn't have any skills they'd find useful or interesting... And so Chiharu wanted to go home. Maybe she could read her new volume of Buster Climax. Sumiko had just blown up the Arch-King's walking fortress, things were getting really good... maybe she could try that new recipe, too... It wasn't as if anyone wanted her here, so she should just get home as soon as possible.

Quietly, Chiharu made her way towards the lockers, getting out her shoes. To say the least, there was nothing for her to do here right now. Idly, her mind wandered to other subjects. What if... what if she actually was able to help people? Like the protagonists out of one of her favorite manga. What if she could do something like that? The idea of it at once filled her with excitement and crushing disappointment. It would be amazing, yes... But that kind of thing was impossible. Chiharu quietly changed her shoes and rose to her feet.

She had to get home, and stop thinking about ridiculous things.

Reiko Kimura

"Reiko!" A student called. She ran towards one specific table where another weary-looking girl sat. "Wanna go out with us tonight?"

The weary girl looked up in surprise. She had just finished packing her things and she looked like she was about to leave.

"Ah! Um, I was going to go to the library to study..." She stammered out, "I'm falling a little behind on my homework so I need to catch up..."

"You could always borrow just copy mine you know," The other student said with a huff. "It's not like sensei woould notice."

"But I'd feel guilty..." She replied "I can't just steal someone else's work..."

The other student looked at her for a second and let out a resigned sigh.

"Alright... I guess we'll have to go without you." She said. She turned and exited the classroom, while Reiko stared down at her desk for a while.

She always had a hard time keeping friends. She could make them, and she would never treat them badly, it's just they'd eventually find out she never went anywhere with them. Of course, that was mostly the fault of... it. She reached into her pocket and pulled it out.

She never let the Hanged Man card out of her possession. A little pointless, because it always found its way into her hands anyway. The main reason she never went out with friends was that she was never sure what would happen if she did. There was the potential her black outs wouldn't be so benign if there were other people besides her family around, so she made sure to be cautious. Sometimes she would find herself drawing it out without meaning to and she would black out before she knew what had happened.

"I should get going, I suppose... She said, getting up for her chair.

At least she never really lied to her friends. She really was falling behind a little, and she really had been going to do homework. She would have taken the opportunity to copy her friend's work really, she really would've liked to go out with friends for once. But if she told them her real reason for not going, they definitely wouldn't believe her.

She wished there could be someone that would.

Delia Lin

Delia was draped across her desk, dreaming of a world where she didn’t have to get up early in the morning to be imprisoned in a room where she was babbled at. This earned her the ire of some teachers who tried to ambush her with questions. Delia managed to pick up enough context clues be right about 60-70% of the time, however that just made the teachers all that more confident.

Ughh! Why can’t they just leave me alone! I’m right more often than wrong. Don't they get board! as the bell rang Delia was shocked out of her thoughts and was up and out of the classroom like a bolt of lightning before the teacher had a chance to yell at her. Unable to contain herself Delia laughed as she ran, almost falling down the stairs in her haste to get away from her prison.

Getting her things in order Delia burst out the school front door, but didn’t particularly feel like going home. Pulling out her wallet Delia checked how many tokens she still had from yesterday.
Yes~! Another afternoon to hit the arcade~ and shot into town. Changing in a public restroom Delia exited now wearing a sleeveless shirt and shorts instead of that insufferable uniform. Stopping by a vending machine, Delia grabbed a can of some foreign sounding passion fruit soft-drink to have on the way.

Entering the arcade Delia she let the sound block off the rest of the worlds and immersed herself in this little pocket of heaven. She noticed some students from school, but didn’t call out to them. She was here to enjoy herself and play some games, not talk to others she knew only in passing. Heading to the back Delia found her favourite pinball machine and inserted a token, almost glad that pinball was going out of fashion leaving the machine all to herself. As she relaxed into a wide stance, Delia launched the ball a devilish grin on her face as she decided today was the day she beat her high score. Today's the day, I can feel it~! I will not panic on the multi-ball and be totally defensive this time!

Yamamoto Rika had been slow to exit to exit the school today.

She had not been in any particular rush to leave, especially since she lived only twenty minutes away. While it may be easy to imagine someone like her having a personal driver to ferry her to and from school, such a thing felt... cliche. Besides, the simple act of walking home seemed to gain her respect points with a lot of classmates, so why not milk that for all its worth?

And besides, she could stop on the way home for some art supplies. Rika had a hunch that she could almost eyes symmetrically, now!

And during her slow exit, the homeroom teacher had pulled her into a conversation regarding her scores. The usual spiel; 'I know you can perform better, if there's anything you're having trouble on, you have the makings of top student'... Rika could understand it was all meant in good faith, but damn it, what was the point of trying, when her current scores were enough?

When she was finally able to escape the conversation, Rika walked to the exit, which contained very few students by now. A few moments later, having changed her shoes, her gaze turned to the nearest student - probably a first year, with dark hair tied into small twintails, who was just leaving, as well.

Rika gave the girl a bright smile, and figured she should give the girl a polite greeting/farewell, "I hope you enjoyed your day! See you tomorrow!"

And with that, Rika was stepping towards the main entrance, expecting no more than a simple courtesy reply as she exited the building.

Mura sat in class, tapping away on the desk with her finger out of sheer boredom. She had already given up listening to whatever the teacher was saying and instead was reciting some arbitrary poem she had read.

We Are The Seven Deadly Sins,
Be Careful Or We Shall Win.
We Come And Go, But We Are Strong
Ignoring Us Will Do You Wrong.

only to stop as the bell rang, snapping her back to reality. She packed her things away and made her way out, headed for her locker for her shoes. Today was one of her chosen days; a day where she would actually come to school. Even if it was a waste of time, it was good to come once in a while. Some people were kinda surprised that today she had actually showed up, but that was to be expected. She hadn't been around for a couple of days due to some studies, but she felt that today was good a day as any to drop in.

Making her way out, she pulled out her phone and began writing a couple notes down from what she had actually picked up during her lessons. With this Mura began to walk home, looking very, very bored. Since she was in no real rush, she decided to make her way into town. The orphanage people wouldn't be making dinner for a while longer so she had to do something to pass the time. She could grab a drink, head to the arcade, do some shopping, whatever. The arcade did sound appealing, but she didn't exactly have enough money to waste on machines that would return to her nothing. But it could come to profit if she was lucky... That did sound goo- Like hell that was gonna happen. That was just greedy, and that was something she couldn't afford to be. Mura pulled out her wallet and checked how much money she actually had. Huh, there was some left over from yesterday; which meant she could go to the arcade if she actually wanted to. Well, it was good to indulge oneself at some points in time, so she began to walk there.

Arriving, there was already quiet a few people around; most notably some girl furiously going at it on the pinball machine. Some people really had no control of their desires, and by the looks of it hers were running rampant. Getting some arcade tokens, Mura walked over to a grabber machine with some stuffed cats inside. These are kinda cool. I think I'll try my luck. she thought, inserting a coin and attempting it; failing, but getting kinda close. Once more and we'll try something different. trying it again, she actually did it; to her surprise. That was a first. She picked up the cat and smiled, looking at it and wondering.

My Name Is Greed, How Do You Do?
I'm Deadly Sin Number Two.
I Make You Want All That You See.
Those Desires You Have Come From Me.
I'll Take What's Mine, I'll Take What's Not.
No Matter What, I Will Not Stop.
I Will Never Leave Your Side
Because I'm Never Satisfied.

~Reika Kuroke~

---

Reika should have slapped her. In fact, she should have slapped the girl five times over. No, it had to be much more than that. How many times had the feckless otaku waltzed into her Council room just to freeload and sample her snacks? Better yet, how many times had the girl claimed to help out when everyone knew she was just here to read and eat.

Yes, the Student Council President should have kicked the glasses-bearing girl out of her office a long time ago. But these days-actually everyday-she just couldn’t find the energy or the motivation to enact these thoughts. So she beckoned Akane with yet more silence as she ate her own meal in relative peace.

Said meal consisted of raw fished packed into little cubes to which she bit into gingerly while taking the occasional sip of tea. Seriously, where were the other Council members? They didn’t all call in sick again, did they? That left Reika alone with the overeager otaku and suddenly the raw fish didn’t sit well with that prospect in mind. At last though, she suppressed a deep sigh before turning her blank and probably uncaring gaze onto the other girl.

“Inquietude? That word seems a bit large to fit into your vocabulary Chinatsu-san,” the President said with little emotion, making it hard for one to decipher if her words were compliment or insult. “As for the tea, I really can’t say. Someone added honey, I think, to the brew earlier today.”

Looking up from her meager meal, Reika began to play with a few strands of her white hair. She took her time in answering Akane’s second question, the third member to their happy little trio. That girl was always late to everything so she wondered why Akane was surprised about it now.

“I have no idea. You know how Owari-san is so there’s no use in invoking her arrival. Now, can you please quiet down? Your droning is becoming more intense than this so called sense of inquietude that has you intrigued. And yes, I can feel it too. It’s probably the birds again.”

Reika hoped it was the birds. Otherwise she would be forced to actually do something about it. A pity really. And she was having such a good meal. For now though, she appreciated the calm before the storm and went back to chewing on her fish in peace. At least, until Akane decided to open her mouth again.

Kabeyama Chikage

"Itadakimasu..." Clapping her hands together in a quite and quick prayer Chikage ate her dinner in silence. Grilled saury with a bowl of rice and some left over curry from this morning. As she ate Chikage looked at a deck of cards sitting on one of the coffee tables. One of her roommates won a pack of tarot cards from the arcade, and then started thinking she was some sort of fortune teller. Chikage humored her once and had some fortune of "Mysterious change that will impact your life". As if that wasn't going to happen: Chikage could think of ten "Mysterious" things off the top of her head that will impact her life, and none of them were things that would surprise her. A different fortune she had did stick in her mind though. It was "Soon you'll get to chose a normal life", which confused her. Wasn't she already living a normal life? But the way she worded it... It was as if she had a choice of doing some more. Something greater.

Which was also obvious, but it wasn't as though Chikage was going to start looking for it now. She was doing decent enough in school and if she continues her training at the Wrestling Club she may compete for a scolarship and University recommendations. Decidedly mundane desires, but what other options did Chikage have? She had no other talents beyond her education. She was no artist, didn't know a lot of powerful people. She wasn't really interested in taking up the family business either. As Chikage ate her dinner she slowly realize that she really doesn't know what she's doing with her life. She's just drifting and drifting until she hits something. "Well... Story of my life I guess."

After Chikage finished eating her dinner she laid back and thought about what she should be doing. She did have homework she had to do... Though she could probably finish it at school before class. She had a few chapters she needed to read from a book, but she figured she could do that before bed. She needed to check her allowances since she recently just used a lot of money buying Cash-Shop Vouncers for an MMO she plays. She was actually thinking of playing games right now, or maybe taking a nap. "Pheeew... What do the cards say I wonder..." Reaching out for the deck of tarot cards Chikage shuffled them around before drawing five, like how her roommate showed her. Picking these cards at random Chikage ended up with the 6 of Wands, 2 of Swords, 8 of Cups, Judgement, and The Empress. What this meant Chikage had no clue. This seemed fairly bogus to her anyways.

In the end Chikage chose to head out. She didn't change her clothes though she did take her bag, though not her Bag of Holding. This one contained different papers and information, mostly stuff for the local arcade. Her membership card, Game ID's, stat sheets, that sort of thing. She wasn't really sure what she'd do once she hit the arcade aside from maybe play a few games, grab a drink, and head back home to read and sleep.

---

---

---

The time passed by and soon the sun was about to take its leave for the day. Just darkness crept upon the land, the girls would find that their misadventures were about to begin.

The first sign of that was the unnatural shift in the world around them. One moment the world was perfectly normal, with the soft reds of the dusk giving space to the dark blue of the early evening sky, however, as soon as the sun went bellow the mountains that kept Miso City isolate from most of the outside world, the sky turned red...

---

It was a deep, rich hue of red, as fresh looking as the blood pulsating through the girls' very veins and hanging ominously on it was moon several times larger than the one they were used to. It was clear that they weren't in their known world anymore, but what was it then? A nightmare? A delusion provoked by their nearly dying minds? Or had they truly entered a world of magic and wonder?

The answer to these questions would have to wait, however, as all of them would have a meeting with a pretty peculiar individual that would change their fates forever...


"I see that you seem to be lost, young one. Would you care to draw a card and reveal what fortune smiles upon thee?"

A voice that echoed within the heads of the girls' said and before they could notice a strong compulsion assailed them, and they would feel as if drawing a card from the tarot deck owned by the woman that appeared out of nowhere before them would be the best thing to do. Even then, their actual decision was still left to themselves.

However, right at that moment, a group of three other girls had a completely different problem at hand...





"Ouch, Kuro-shin! Your words hurt me more than a Thousand Needles." Akane said when Reika rebutted her commentaries with a rather cold remark. Seriously, where was the respect that she deserved as the Academy's top student? Akane closed one eye and looked all too hurt because of Reika's coldness, though it was obvious that it was nothing but a play when she stuck her tongue out like a little girl.

"Anyway, I guess that you are right 'bout that. Owarin is always the one to arrive after everything is over. At least you can say that her name fits her character, right?"

However, Akane's random chatter was bound to end as the main event of the night finally began "I guess that's our cue. Let's flip'em, Kuro-shin!" Akane yelled just as she dashed out of the Student Council's room, heading towards the place that was most natural for one to go on times such as this, the roof, obviously.

Owari Mubarak

Owari's day was as almost like it always was a group of boys hounding her every move, girls and a handful of guys asking for autographs on items they had and some creepy girls and guys that constantly asked to go on dates with her, and Owari's only response was the same as always." Sadly I'll have to refuse your offer, my heart belongs to another unfortunately, hopefully your looks will catch the eye of someone that's better then me." She spoke as if she was a princess with high intelligence.

The darker skinned girl tried to have the rest of her day be kinda boring like a regular highschooler's day, but more people kept annoying her and even teachers were annoying her as well, they asked if she knew if there were any movies that were coming out with her in it, or if any movies were getting sequels that she would know about as if she knew what movies directors were and weren't putting out.

She hated being used as an information source, it made her angry, but she didn't unload her anger on her teachers, she just bottled it up and answered them."Apologies, I do not know if any of the directors that I know, are making sequels."

When it was time for Lunch, Owari ate a lunch that looked as if someone took years to craft it into perfection and make it into a piece of art work that could be loved by dozens, and Owari, messed up their artwork by using a fork to eat her lunch and took it apart piece by piece, but she saved half of it and closed the bento box.

She left part of the fish, rice and a number of other pickled foods inside of her black Lacquered box with a beetle symbol on it, she was saving the food for later, the day was coming to an end and Owari was glad that the day was over and she could get away from the annoying people.

Out of nowhere she sneezed twice feeling as if someone was speaking of her close by, she headed to the boring student council room at the right moment to catch Chinatsu, and the stoic Reika." Hmm, greetings morsels." She told them while still holding her small bento box in hand, she made her way over to Chinatsu and Reika." Now what is this talk of feelings ?" Owari asked as Chinatsu ran out of the room to head towards the roof.

Owari stared at the four-eyed girl as she started heading off. Owari looked at Reika." Soooo, have an emotion yet ? Or do you know what the meaning of love is yet ? " Owari asked." It's an emotion that others feel towards another that they've been around for a period of time."

After a long moment of awkward silence, Owari sighed while she looked at Reika." Your a tedious conversationalist Reika." Owari felt bored of the not conversation that they were having with Only Owari speaking." I'm gonna go find Chinatsu and feed her some of my traditional Egyptian lunch." Owari told the stoic like girl before she headed out for Chinatsu.

She caught up to the four eyed girl on the roof with her bento box, the food inside of it now was probably jumbled around the box, she made it to the top of the stairs to see Chinatsu." Well Well, Chinatsu, your almost a difficult girl to keep up with." Owari told her cohort.

Chiharu froze for a moment, hearing a voice from behind her... shakily, she turned to face the source of the voice. There... Chiharu didn't entirely know her name. She had to be honest... but she recognized her upperclassmen, the pretty black-haired second year. It was... Yamamoto...? She didn't know much about her at all, beyond that she was apparently quite accomplished in class. Why had she decided to speak to her? Chiharu hadn't the slightest idea. Most of the time, since her penultimate year of elementary school, not many people spoke to her. Aside from her few friends... That, truthfully, was it.

"... A-ah, er... h-hello!" she said, awkwardly waving her hand before realizing that was quite possibly the most nonsensical response she could have had to the older girl's farewell. "A-ah, er, sorry, I... I meant... thank you? Er, and goodbye, of course, um... ah-hah..."

Chiharu rubbed the back of her head awkwardly, letting out a nervous laugh. She was sounding like some kind of weirdo, wasn't she? She supposed that was what she got for trying to talk casually with a stranger, it was something else on the long list of things that she simply couldn't handle. But... she'd... said something, right? Didn't that...

Count for...

...

...

The world around her, in that moment, changed.

The sky was red. The moon hung high in it. A woman at a table with a deck of cards. The world she had been in moments before and somehow given way to this. Chiharu stood before the table, and the woman in it, as she made her offer. Her hands shook. Her eyes were wide. Words caught in her throat. What was this? How had this happened? Where was this?

Her questions died before they could leave her mouth, and she stood in dumbfounded silence.

At some point during her moment of fear and incomprehension, she found her eyes drifting to the table.

... Her card. What... what did that mean? Was... was this a fortune teller? Chiharu felt as if she had stumbled into some wide-awake dream, a delusion brought on by who knew what kind of situation. And yet... part of her felt somehow at ease, as if something here was right. As if it was what she was meant to be doing.

One of Chiharu's hands slowly curled into a fist. Her hand moved out, fingers gripping one of the cards as she pulled it out, raising it. That's right... if this was some wide awake delusion, then maybe just once... maybe, since it wasn't real...

She could be strong.

The word on the card was |Strength|.

Reiko Kimura

Reiko stifled a yawn as she entered the library at last. She was getting a bit sleepy, she didn't want to spend too much time in here before heading home. She walked past rows of bookshelves, trying to find a good desk to sit at before starting on her homework. But then she turned back.

Sitting at a table she had just passed was an odd looking woman with a deck of cards...

"I see that you seem to be lost, young one. Would you care to draw a card and reveal what fortune smiles upon thee?" She said.

A strange feeling washed over her but she couldn't describe it. She wanted to step forward but the feeling held her back. Then she noticed that the sky had turned blood red. There weren't many windows in the library so she hadn't noticed immediately. An ominous feeling started growing inside of her.

"What happened...?" She asked aloud.

"Nothing yet." The woman said. Reiko's attention flicked back towards her, but she jumped back in surprise. Somehow she had moved right in front of her while she was looking out the window. "But something will happen soon. Would you care to draw a card?"

Reiko was puzzled, but regardless she felt like the woman was saying things she needed to hear. Almost instinctively she reached out to draw a card, but she realized the deck had dissappeared.

"Well? Are you going to draw a card?" The woman said again.

No, she couldn't possibly know... Still, Reiko's hand reached into her pocket and drew it out.

"Ah yes, the Hanged Man. Place it before me." The woman instructed.

Reiko did as she was told and put the card on the table. The woman looked into the card, the same way as Reiko did, as if searching for a meaning inside of it.

"You are aware of all the Hanged Man stands for, correct?" The woman said.

"Self-sacrifice, martyrdom, and reversal." Reiko replied, almost reflexively.

"Very good. But I am sure you are not aware, that the Hanged Man is the only card that can bring a reversal that is neither inherently advantageous, nor inherently harmful." The woman said. "This is because the Hanged Man does not discriminate, the Hanged Man affects enemies and allies alike. It is only through the enlightenment of the self that 'good' and 'evil' can be defined."

Reiko nodded. She felt as if she understood, even though she had no idea what she was really talking about.

"You should find the others who share your fate. You are powerful alone, but your true strength lies with others." The woman said.

She nodded to Reiko, and gave back the card. Reiko dutifully got up and walked out of the library. The strange feeling then suddenly faded, and Reiko stumbled forward a little.

"Huh? What was that...?" She said. She felt slightly light-headed and stopped to catch her breath for a second. She leant against the wall to support herself. "Why am I... tired..?"

Something like this had never happened before. Even with all the weirdness around her Hanged Man card she thought that it wouldn't get any weirder.

"I should... go find someone." She said, shakily getting onto her feet.

The first place she had in mind was the student council. The school was pretty empty because school had already ended, but she was sure there would still be people in the student council. They tended to be the last to leave, hopefully she could get some answers or at least some support.

The corners of Rika's lips rose slightly as she heard the younger girl try and respond to her. Evidently, she was not too comfortable with talking to others. An apology would probably make the girl feel worse, so Rika opted to simply continue walking, making a mental note to try and not disturb this particular girl in the future.

Finally stepping outside the building, Rika came to a stop, realising that something was slightly different from the norm. The sky was a great deal more red than usual, it made her feel uneasy. The moon, which the young student was pretty sure wasn't even supposed to be out yet, was way too large. Did she just step out into an apocalypse? Weird, it seemed like the kind of thing that would've been noticed a little earlier...

Rika jumped slightly at the words of a mysterious woman she had only just noticed was sitting there before her, a table separating them. Normally, a stranger that his their eyes and spoke in a cryptic manner were supposed to be avoided, but Rika, despite her apprehension, didn't feel as if this woman was dangerous in any way. As if this fortune teller was her sole ally in this world of... uh, redness.

Casting a nervous glance around her empty surroundings, Rika stepped forward, hand raised towards the deck of cards - well, card. For some reason, there was only one.
Gulping down her nervousness, Rika flipped the card over, raising it to her face and staring at it for a few moments, eyebrow raised.

"...This is a tarot card, right? Magician... that was the first or second one, I think..." Rika muttered, half to herself. She wasn't overly-familiar with tarot readings, so it was hard to guess what it meant to draw this card, but it was a good thing for it to not be upside-down, right? And it didn't exactly scream "you will die in the next two seconds", either. Even so, Rika wasn't quite sure to make of this, and cast another wary glance at the fortune teller.

Light footsteps tapped after the broom around the classroom. A small girl that went with the name of Hirasawa Enju had week duty and had to clean up the classroom for the whole week. Enju had already done most of her tasks but still stopped for a moment to look at the sun slowly descending into the sea. Enju ran another round around the classroom to get rid of all the dirt on the floor and scooped it up and tossed it into a nearby trashcan. The girl gave a wryly smile at the well done job she did and sat down at her own seat in the back of the classroom. Enju slowly opened up the 3ds and flicked it on. She opened up one of her favorite games, animal crossing and played for a few minutes. Enju went up in trance and played yet another few minutes before shaking her head and realising she had to get home before dusk. Enju's feet lightly tapped against the shiny floor as she made her way out of the classroom and locked it.

She quickly passed by the teacher room with only a sole teacher sitting there and shyly handed in the key. The teacher thanked her for a moment and she quickly left. Enju hopped along the hallways towards the shoe lockers and pulled on her outdoor shoes. Enju passed by several left over girls but could only avert her eyes away from them and quickly walked past them. Once she left the school grounds she began to grow calmer and more relaxed. Still, Enju tried to avoid contact with others as much as possible when she had to walk home for about 10 minutes straight. The sun was already setting behind the mountains making the sky a beautiful blue color.

Enju knew she had to hurry to get home otherwise she would be to late to do her tasks at home too. It was expected that the sky would be getting darker but redder? Enju stared up at the sky and noticed the way larger moon in the sky surrounded by the crimson red sky. Enju stopped and panicky gazed around the street with her bag clutched close to her chest. Enju staggered backwards and dropped with her butt onto the floor and her back against the wall. The sky turned crimson and Enju certainly knew something was not right here. The people around Enju had disappeared into nothingness and the streets was completely quiet. Enju gulped once more before closing her eyes and slowly began sobbing with her face glued onto her bag. What was happening, was this some sort of new phenomena that wasn't written in books yet? The silence in the street made it able to hear the quiet sobbing of the young girl. Suddenly a woman's voice sounded. Enju slowly looked up with her eyes a little red and slowly gazed around her to find the person that was speaking. Once Enju had looked around twice the woman had suddenly appeared in front of her with a table. Enju gasped while pushing herself more towards the wall. She lightly put her hand on her chest and tried calming her breathing.

Enju's voice softly sounded "K-konbanwa." It didn't appear that the woman was speaking with her mouth but she could still hear the woman her voice inside of her own head. Enju lightly tilted her head as she stood up and looked closely at the woman. She didn't seem hostile and she even had agony for the young girl all alone on the streets. Enju gave a small quiet nod at the woman and picked out one of the cards that the woman offered. Enju carefully looked at the card and reddened a bit by the picture as her voice sounded "T-the lovers." Despites she had never seen the card she did know the name for some reason. Enju's head began to feel fuzzy, she stared for about 10 seconds blankly to the front of her and shook her head lightly afterwards. The woman in front of her had disappeared, maybe it was just a dream? Enju look at her hand that still had the card in it and the sky was still red. Maybe her thoughts were just a little weird and it'll eventually end so Enju continued her way home all alone.

Delia Lin

Delia was intensely focused, unaware of any of the changes around her. Focused to the point that she was in a zen like state, blankly staring at the machine in front of her her fingers twitching, flicking the paddles, acting on instinct.

I was right! Today I’ll beat my highscore and fill out the leader board~! Okay, okay calm down. Getting ahead of myself, I’ll fail if like that. I don't wanna tilt it like last time, that was a disaster! as these thoughts crossed her mind Delia could see herself losing the ball, but she could save it if she just-

"I see that you seem to be lost, young one. Would you care to draw a care and reveal what fortune smiles upon thee?"

Crack, like shattered glass her concentration was broken and time seemed to slow as her last shot drained away. For a long moment Delia was staring uncomprehendingly at the pinball machine, as if she thought she could just will the ball back up. When it finally sunk in she turned her head to the lady who interrupted her.

“Lady... I thought my fortune was already smiling on me. I thought that I was doing pretty well. Then this lady, this freak dressed as a fortune teller interrupted me. Now I don’t know what your problem is, but it was obvious that I was in the middle of something. So, I am going to take a card and leave before I do something I regret so much my intestines turn green!” snatching a card from the fortune teller she flipped it over and saw the Wheel of Fortune.

“Ha! Fortune? Lady meeting you was the worst thing that’s happened to me today!” turning to give a final glare at her only to find this fortune teller was nowhere in sight. Confused, Delia slid the card into her wallet and walked out into the street, noting the red sky, but missing the moon altogether. Shouldn’t sunset have passes a little while ago? Oh well ‘red sky at night, sailor’s delight’ or however that rhyme goes... wait does that mean it's going to rain? Or that it's going to be clear? I should get an umbrella anyway. Maybe if it rains it'll wash away my annoyance! turning on her heel Delia walked up the street looking for a store that sells them cheep.

Mura stroked her new cat a little and recited some more of the poem. Looking around, she walked to some other machines; like the fighting games. There were some people on them, and she watched for a couple minutes as they battled with the computer characters. Becoming relatively bored and still holding her cat, she went to exit the arcade; but only to see a new revelation in the stars. The sky had turned a mysterious shade of bloody red, and the moon had enlarged past its normal diameter. And then she heard the voice; a woman of unknown intent asking for Mura to draw a card from her deck. Maybe even to reveal her fortune; which sounded like a cop out, but it was always worth a shot.
"These are tarot cards, correct? I have seen some before..." she said, walking up to the woman now sat behind a table in the middle of the arcade; but the arcade could not be seen. Then she walked forwards, stretching out her hand and drawing the top card of the deck.

The Hermit

But of course; what other card would she receive? Flicking the card between her fingers, she propped her cat atop her head and bowed to the woman. It was a nice gesture for a stranger to give you a card from their deck to keep, but that wasn't quite right as the woman had disappeared almost as soon as she had appeared. If Mura was correct, mysterious women sat at tables with decks of cards apparating out of thin air and disappearing almost immediately wasn't a very common occurrence in Miso City; it must have been her lucky day. Now that she was stood from her bow, she placed the card into her bag and took the cat into her hands before leaving the arcade finally. She looked up to the skies, seeing the blood tinted hue of the atmosphere and the abnormally large moon that hung above Earth. Then she turned and made her way out of town and to the orphanage she lived in, cradling and stroking her toy cat as she went; reciting another part of the poem she remembered for unknown reasons.

Hello, I'm Pride And I'm Amazing.
Some Think I'm Vain, But They're Just Hating.
I Am The Best Of All The Sins.
When I'm Around, You'll Always Win.
I Stand Before You, So Unseen
And Only Come When You Succeed.
I'm Everything You Need And More.
I'm Deadly Sin Number Four.

~Reika Kuroke~

---

Reika sighed as Owari finally arrived to their meeting spot before she then proceeded to barrage her with talk of emotion, or the lack of it. Honestly, everyone knew that the pompous little Egyptian had a thing a thing for the Student President. Flaunt all she wanted in school, not even the luxurious Owari could dream of catching the President’s interest. That being said, Reika still considered the other girl a friend, as much she didn’t like to show it.

“That’s quite a decrease in word choice Mubarak-san. Usually you waste more than asingle breath in trying to persuade me in following pursuit of your underhanded tactics. Are you really Owari Mubarak? Or did someone finally catch your fancy for an autograph?”

The President’s own words held little emotion to the air of which she spoke. Love was a complicated thing and something that she neither cared nor had the time for. But at least Owari was trying and that always amused Reika to an extent. Before the white-haired girl could reveal her own smirk, Owari turned away and headed in the direction of their third companion.

“…must we always be so daring?” she muttered, regretfully putting away her mid-afternoon lunch to calmly walk towards the roof. She took her time, unlike the others, before finally standing beside the other two students. A quick glance up confirmed the reddening of the sky, an obvious sign of things yet to come.

“So now what oh fearless leader?” she asked, glancing at Akane with a stoic face.

Kabeyama Chikage

Mounting her bike Chikage rode down to the arcade with some haste. She didn't like staying out after dark even though she knew a perfectly safe way back home. That and it wasn't as if Chikage had a lot of money to spend for games either: she had a budget of 1000 yen, plus whatever she had left over on her arcade card. If she ran out of money either she was going to go head back home, or maybe visit the bookstore to read manga. She heard there may be a new chapter of Berserk.

"Just master race things... Just master race things... Just master race things... You know Just master race things! OI M8!" Singing some American rap song she found from the internet Chikage rode down a hill and through an alley, over a bridge and past a park. A well worn path that she was very familiar with, and Chikage knew this path well enough to walk it blind. The lights here were bright and blue, and there were two police kiosk on this route. There was a railroad track that Chikage was going to have to go over, or even stop by if she was unlucky. And sure enough she could hear the train's whistle in the distance, signaling the inevitable wait. Chikage began to bike faster, singing harder as if she could make herself more efficient if she kept singing.

Unfortunately Chikage did not beat the train, and soon found herself waiting by the railroad tracks as the train ran before her. Sighing Chikage was content with waiting when suddenly there was a strange hooded woman next o her. "Kya!" Falling off her bike Chikage got defensive until she saw the woman was just some sort of fortune teller and not say, a mugger. She still seemed very shady. "More tarot cards? You're not friends with Midoki are you?" Picking up her bike Chikage was hesitant to accept the strange woman's deal. While there probably wasn't any harm in doing so, she didn't suspect this woman was here by chance. Something about this woman seemed... Off. Unnatural. Chikage would almost dare say magical. But perhaps that's just the sort of charm such a street performer would want to make, wouldn't it?

But if this woman really was more than just a fortune teller, did Chikage really want to risk getting involved? After all she just wanted to go to the arcade. She didn't want to get involved in some grand conspiracy just because she didn't know better. But then again, if her father taught her anything, it's there there's no such thing as chance or coincidences: Only destiny and opportunity. Perhaps this was an opprotunity to do something great with her life. Unbelievable even. "What am I thinking? It's just picking cards." Without much fanfare Chikage reached out and picked up a card. Judgement. "I seem to be getting this card a lot... What does this mean?" Chikage showed the woman her tarot card.

All the while Chikage was blissfully unaware of the changes going on around her. The red skies, the enlarged moon, the never-ending train, Chikage did not know that she truly did step away from her reality into this new, horrifying experience.

"Let us pass, let us pass~" A soft voice could be heard signing gently, along with the sound of a violin being played. Nadeshiko, eyes half closed, her movement gentle and graceful. "Where does this narrow path lead~?"

Almost as if deliberately cue, when suddenly the strange hooded woman was almost waiting in front of her right after the second line of the song. Glancing down at the card, Shiko slowly placed her hand on it, before picking it up. Counting to five, she quickly flip the card around. "The Temperance..." Looking at the card in surprise, she turned her gaze towards the hooded woman. At least, she had attempted to. What was once the mysterious lady, was now nothing but an empty space, as if this had been nothing but a dream. However, Shiko knew it wasn't a dream. After all, she could still feel the air lightly brushing past her, the smoothness of the card held in her hand, and the weight of the violin in her other.

Shifting her eyes down to the card once more, the girl smiled bitterly. "Temperance...a very fitting card, it seems." With a sigh, she pocketed the card, and left her seat.