Sergei is marching towards the entrance of the school. He isn't just an ordinary student.
He has to breath through his mask which filters the air for him since he can't breathe normally. One of his eyes is totally blind, and the other is colorblind. He can't really see into the distance very well either. Every step Sergei makes, you can hear his combat boots stepping on the ground. You can also clearly hear his breathing under his mask, it sounds like he has issues breathing.

Sergei stands in front of the school as he starts to look up.
"So this is where it begins... my first day of school..." He thought to himself, as he walked in.
Sergei looked around as he started to think out loud.
"Nobody here to welcome me.... Guess I'll just look around myself hmm.." Sergei thought to himself, as he started to walk around.

After walking for a while, Sergei noticed somebody standing in the doorway of a classroom wearing some kind of mask.
"A mask... Perhaps she had an accident like me?" He thought to himself,as he started to walk towards her.
He approached her, making no sound besides his very loud breathing, ready to touch her shoulder to ask if this is where they have classes.


Lilith is walking towards the school feeling quite excited.
"Today will be awesome.. I will meet lots of cool people for sure!" She thought to herself, as she continued on walking.
Even though Lilith is a shy person, she likes to meet new people.
"I have to remember my mission..." She thought to herself, as she finally entered the school.
She looked around, but she didn't see anyone to pick her up.

"Strange... usually there is somebody to pick you up..." She thought to herself, as she decided to sit down, looking around, checking if she can see anyone special, or if somebody is coming to pick her up.

"Hmph!" Addie puffed her cheeks, mad that she had been ignored again. "Wh... why everyone makes fun of me?" She tried to yell, but the words never left her throat.

Instead, Addie soon found herself dragged into a surprise indoors picnic, promoted by Izumi and couldn't avoid joining in when Sayaka and Rei did so. "Hmm..." Nevertheless, her humor didn't got much better, even when Izumi tried to compliment her, despite the fact that she also grabbed some food and began to nibble on it.

Just as Addie was considering going back to her room and get a goth loli dress and tons of hair gel, to showcase her inner rage to the world, she noticed a masked couple standing by the door and immediately recalled yesterday's occurrence, which happened right around the lunch time as well and quickly jumped closer to Rei. "The... they are here again, Rei. What are we gonna do?" Addie said as she pointed towards the doors while trying to remain calm.

---

"I'm thankful for your appreciation, actually I feel the same as you in regards to you being one of the few that won't get scared, or hate me, for what I'm." Kaede said as they walked the corridors, after Kyoko told her how she felt. "Like I said before, we are not unlike each other, Kyoko Akera, and, that's why I chose to help, despite you having broken the rules on many occasions." As Kaede finished her speech, they finally arrived at the staff locker room and went in a section reserved for the Black Class, where Kaede promptly began to undress herself (despite being with Kyoko).

Though, just as Kaede finished unbuttoning her shirt, revealing her snow white skin and a beautiful red bra covering her chest. Kyoko's vision would fade to black, thanks to Kaede messing with Kyoko's senses, just as the scarf wearing girl was removing her skirt. It was all too obvious that Kaede had made this on purpose, just to tease Kyoko, and when the riflegirl's perception returned, she was greeted by a, rarely seen, amused Kaede, already dressed in her characteristic maid outfit.

"And, that's also why, you'll be working under my supervision from today onward." Kaede said with an almost sadistic grin on her face as she handed a maid uniform that would fit Kyoko's more shapely curves to her "I have a few things to do now, but you can go forward and change before going to the cafeteria. The staff there will give you instructions, if you need them... I'll met you up with you as soon as I'm able to."

However, just before she left the locker room for Kyoko alone, Kaede hung her sword around her waist and turned back to the other girl "By the way, if you do well, I'll give you a reward worthy of your time, Kyoko Akera."



A couple minutes later, Kaede was already patrolling the corridors, searching for the new arrivals that Donna mentioned on her telepathic call, actually more like a mental scream.

The first ones that the assassin maid would find were the ones of the group right in front of Saya's office door, since they were literally on her path, back from the staff-only area. "Saya-sama can not meet with you now, since she's on an important reunion." Kaede said to them while pushing her scarf up.

Next, Kaede addressed Nuo. "As for you, Nuo Aoi... there have been reports of you skipping classes again. I suggest that you do not repeat this behavior, lest you want to be on Saya-sama's bad side. Now, go on the the cafeteria and have some lunch, everyone of you. The next teacher will explain everything that you might want to know. Now, if you'll excuse me, I have more students to round up." Kaede instructed the girls on how to reach the cafeteria, before bowing courteously to the girls and leaving.



Then, Kaede arrived in front of Izumi's classroom where she noticed that her colleague was having her precious time with Saya's sister's team.

"You would do well to not bother them. It's rare for Izumi to show anything but indifference, so I won't let anyone ruin her moment." Kaede said to the masked students as she came from around the hallway corner with a steely glare in her eyes.

"I'm a member of the black class, Riddle Academy's elites, just as Izumi, the long haired woman in there. Sometimes we double up as part of the faculty, or staff, but our main job is to direct the students and be Saya-sama's proxies. Thus, I have to say, that you should join the others in the cafeteria, to reach it just go two lefts and one right on this direction. Now, if you'll excuse, I have more work to do." Kaede said, after bowing to them and sending a message to Izumi, saying that she didn't needed o bother with the masked students and leaving to deal with the last of the newcomers.



Lastly, Kaede arrived at the entrance hall, and met the last of new arrivals, taking the time to appreciate the smaller girl's choice of clothes.

Nevertheless, she came to the standing girl and said "You must be the last of the newcomers of today, right? I'm Asamiya Kaede of the Black class. Since we are supposed to be going to the same location, please allow me to escort you to the cafeteria."

Following that, Kaede curtsied and beckoned Lilith to follow her as she went to the cafeteria to see if her newest... coworker, was doing well.

---

"Yeah, I was, but you guys made me wait for ages and never showed up, so I went out to find some fun on my own." Itsuko said to Donna casually as she walked towards the toilet. "Anyway, say to me, are you always this creepy, or you're just like that when around someone new?" The blond brawler asked.

However, without waiting for Donna's answer, Itsuko kicked the door open and walked in. "He- hey! You can't be here this is the boy's toilet!" One of the boys that were reunited in a circle around some capsule-like objects

"Oh, really? I guess that I haven't noticed with all those pussies around." Itsuko said while reclining against a wall that didn't looked like it was covered in filth. A second later, the same boy lunged at Itsuko, yelling profanities until his solar plexus met Itsuko's knee and he fell to the floor, frothing from the mouth.

"Ok, now let's see who else wants to have a piece of me... Not you, Fish Sticks, I already know that you do." Itsuko said, before waiting for Donna's reaction.

---

@Ploxerdon @KoL



Maven stood in the doorway quietly, watching the interaction between the occupants with curiousity as Sergei approached from behind her. She seemed absorbed by the conversation. Maven seemed startled at Sergei’s rather rough touch and was stunned at first, only a small click resonating through the small alcove they were in.

Kaede approached. "No....not yet Maven...patience." she thought, waiting for the monitor to finish her little speech before watching her walk off around the corner. The footsteps slowly became quieter and quieter...

Then with an incredible speed, Maven launched herself back at him before sidestepping and appearing behind him somehow. The cold steel barrel of her FNX-45 could be felt on Sergei’s back as Maven went to put him in an armbar, pushing him into the wall.

Then, all was silent except for the rapid and heavy hissing of Maven’s breather. It sounded strained and weak at the same time, her grasp on his arm weakening by the second.

She quickly released him and shoved him with the intent to put him on the ground before ejecting yet another Cyanothane cartridge from her wrist and fumbling for a new one, gasping at the lack of the gas. In normal circumstances those cartridges should've lasted 48 hours, under exertion however they were depleted very rapidly as the gas exchange of Cyanothane was horribly inefficient compared to Oxygen. Maven looked panicked as she struggled to insert a new cartridge into the slot embedded in her wrist and fell to her knees, looking weaker every minute she was deprived of her life source.

--------------------------------------

@Shikaru @Unfortunately

Safira nodded to Nuo as Kaede approached. She seemed to lecture Nuo on skipping classes but Safira didn’t seem to care either way. This was a school full of potential criminals, it was entertaining to see that one was still chastised for not going to class. Safira looked to Nuo and Natalie, grabbing her things and beginning to walk off towards the cafeteria “I don’t know about you two, but I’m absolutely starving.”

Upon arrival at the cafeteria, Safira already felt crowded. She looked around at the mass of students-- well… assassins, future assassins. Whatever. She shook her head and dumped her stuff at a table before proceeding towards the food counter, following her growling stomach.

After obtaining a sandwich and a carton of milk she returned to her claimed spot and began to chow down, putting her new found friends out of her mind, food always trumped friends. Besides, could she really trust anyone in here knowing that each and every one of them had probably killed someone in the past?

Why on earth is she content with being tortured? Where a childish grin was usually stretched widely was only a solemn expression. His gaze darted over to the container of water, then back at the girl, already outfitted as if she was about to be interrogated. Which, hopefully, would be an experience she would never have to go through in the future. Amy was a bright girl, albeit a bit on the taciturn side, Zephyr could sense a percipient mind under that blond hair. He was about to pour out the contents of the keg when Izumi-sensei suddenly barked at all of them. The boy instantly froze, the jar halfway from spilling the water inside, his slim arms barely meager to support the container’s weight. A sigh of relief and freeing sensation overcame him as the senpais began to unbind his classmates. He simultaneously fell to the floor with the keg, making sure to not spill any of the water inside, taking a moment to catch his breath. ”That was way too close of a call.”

Then, a bright red suddenly traversed the distance between one cheek to the other, effortlessly crossing over the bridge of his nose. ”Just, promise me when I’m punished, which will probably be a lot, you’ll always be there as my arbiter- WHAT THE HELL AM I, AN ANIME PROTAGONIST!?” The boy internally berated himself and began to roll around on the wooden floor, obviously drawing the gazes of a few of his classmates. But, at least Izumi-sensei let them off easy. The boy finished his criticizing session and set himself up, then glanced up at his friend. ”...Let’s go to lunch. I’m starting. Oh, what’cha fancy more? Tea or coffee?” Already, the boy fell back into his usual demeanor. Happiness and ebullience began to radiate from his formal attire, along with that gleaming smile and unkempt hair.

A certain few students had been specifically discern from the main flock by their teacher and were ordered to stay behind. Zeph didn’t want to stay another second in that classroom and unconsciously took the girl by the hand then led her out through the door they had just entered a couple of minutes ago. He followed the flow of classmates, even though there were only a sparse few given the class’ overall size, it was easy to narrow down the location of the lunchroom. The place was packed, as expected of the only source of food for rumbling stomachs, but by some struck of luck he had managed to find an empty table. Following etiquette drilled into his skull over the years, he first pulled out a chair for Amy then for himself, and took a seat while letting the air out of his lungs.

”Jeeze, I’m beat.” The boy loosened up his figure, which had been somewhat apprehensive after that whole shebang. He leaned back in his chair and glanced out the window, rays of light gently caressed his face. Zeph, the kid known for never being able to stay in one place, was stagnate for once in his life. Almost melancholic, even. He then turned to face the European and smiled, ”It’s only going to get harder from here on out. I’m not sure what the future holds, but there’ll surely be nothing easy to overcome in our paths. So, you got my back?” The boy stretched out a hand. It was small for his age, consisting of delicate phalanges and a complimentary palm. He still had his iconic smile on his face. A part of his mind, only a very minute portion, was also wondering what his other classmates were like. Surely there were more arriving late. But he didn’t want to ruin the moment by abruptly changing the subject.
@liferusher

Sergei nodded towards Kaede.
"Alright miss." Sergei said.
Sergei was about to walk away towards the cafetaria, when he suddenly felt a gun barrel in his back.
"What the hell?!"Sergei said softly to himself, trying to turn around, only to be put in an armbar against the wall.
Sergei panicked and started to breathe in and out really loud.
"Is this where I die... was all my effort for nothing?!"He thought to himself, as he tried to escape.
Maven suddenly released Sergei and shoved him, allowing him some breathing room.
He didn't hesitate for a second, and pulled out his Katana from under his clothes.
"Really... I wasn't planning on killing anyone so soon!" He shouted in anger, still having trouble breathing, ready to attack Maven.
Sergei noticed that Maven had trouble breathing too, and he started to observe Maven's behavior.
Sergei realized that he might have scared her a bit too much when he gripped her shoulder a few minutes ago.
Suddenly, Maven dropped down onto her knees while gasping, trying to put something into her wrist.
Sergei dropped the katana onto the floor as he rushed towards Maven, realizing that she is probably putting some kind of oxygen supplements into her arm.
Sergei quickly snatched the cartridge from Maven's hand, who barely resisted in her current situation, and he rapidly jammed it into the slot on Maven, hoping it would help her situation, as he walked a bit backwards, observing Maven's reaction, readying himself for a possible next attack.



Lilith quickly jumped up in response to Kaede.
"You are right miss Kaede, the name is Lilith. Lilith Hatanaka." Lilith states with a bright smile on her face.
"What is the black class?" Lilith asked, before following Kaede.

@Ploxerdon

Maven’s heartbeat pounded in her ears as she gasped at the lack of breathable gas in the mask, coughing weakly as she lay on her side, the cold tile floor underneath her. Her hands shook as she struggled to place a cartridge of Cyanothane into her wrist, until Sergei approached and took it from her. She couldn’t resist, not in this state. “...This is how I die….what have I done to deserve this..” she thought, her vision foggy as the odd colors faded in front of her. Sergei was going to let her die, not even an hour after she had arrived.

A slight hiss and Maven gasped sharply, coughing violently for a minute. She laid on the floor unmoving, allowing her body to recover from the deprivation of gas. She then reached down to a pouch on her hip, digging out a small aluminum injector labeled “Adrenaline” and placed it on her neck, gritting her teeth as she pushed it in and pressed the button. She waited until the injection was complete before tossing it aside, shattering the glass panel on it. Maven rolled onto her back, drawing in deep breaths to slow her heart-rate down to a barely detectable level, to where it usually sat around six beats per minute.

Maven moved and pushed herself up onto all fours, before she staggered to her feet with assistance from the wall. She leaned against it for a second, looking at Sergei with her sad, demon-like eyes, the slow hiss of breather resonating through the hallway. She grabbed her pistol, dropping the mag from it onto the floor as a sign of peace, holstering the weapon. After picking up the magazine, she looked around to see if anyone had noticed the little brawl before the doctor that had accompanied her to the school came flying around the corner, coming to Maven’s side.

“Miss Leigh, are you alright..?” He asked, looking to the supposed assailant. “What the hell happened here?” he almost shouted at Sergei before pulling up Maven’s right wrist, inserting a syringe into the IV-esque slot and injecting yet another chemical into her. He looked expectantly at Sergei, his hand on Maven’s neck feeling for her pulse “She’s extremely delicate, despite her attitude. If you had killed her you’d have had every single Prophet after you until you lay dead on the street.”

@ChaoticFox


Sergei rapidly picked up his katana, as he put it back under his jacket.
He tried to observe what Maven was doing, still having issues breathing from the little fight.
Sergei saw Maven grab some kind of injector from some pouch, but he was unable to read what was written on it due to his poor eyesight.
He quietly observed the steps Maven was making, so he could perhaps assist if such a situation were to happen again.
He noticed that Maven had trouble standing back up, and was considering out to help her up, as he is partly to blame for what happened, but he decided not to, as that might ruin her selfrespect.

Sergei noticed that Maven's look in her eyes looked to be sad.
As soon as Maven picked up the gun, he gripped his claw from under his sleeve, but he soon noticed that she dropped the mag, realizing its a sign of peace.

As Sergei was about to introduce himself and apologize what happened, a doctor interrupted him.
As soon as the doctor shouted at Sergei, he drew his katana from under his hoodie, and he was ready to kill the doctor right there, right here.
"Whats with that attitude, immediately thinking of me as an enemy?!" He shouted at the doctor.
As soon as the doctor mentioned the name Prophet, Sergei had a flashback. He saw how got rescued from the burning house.
"This again... Why now?" He thought to himself, as his vision started to blur.

"Damnit... Who are those Phrophets?!" He shouted, this time at the wall, before he started to hyperventilate.
He started to remember details from his accident, how he got burned, how he saw all the other people died...

Sergei fell down on his knees, as he started shouting "Make it stop! Make it stop!", still hyperventilating.
He kept seeing images of his former friends being burned alive.

@Ploxerdon

Maven looked to Sergei, then back to the doctor before shoving him to floor. The doctor quickly got the message and scampered off while Maven moved over to Sergei and stood there, unsure what to do about his situation. She then placed a hand on his shoulder and gently turned him so that he was facing her. She dug out a small journal and flipped through a few pages until arriving at a page about halfway through. It was labelled Prophet mission log, and mentioned details that were very close to what Sergei had experienced. Maven then pointed towards herself before scribbling down “New Leader of Prophets” on the page.

She remembered every moment of the day that she had killed the man that had caused her so much pain, the man that had authorized the experiments that had been done on her. Michael Baptist, old leader of the criminal organization known as the Prophets, died by asphyxiation of Cyanothane gas. Maven remembered the smile on her face as he clawed at the door, coughing and wheezing as she beat him senseless.

Maven came back to reality, looking at Sergei, her hand still on his shoulder. She looked at him, her eyes filled with empathy, showing that she never wished any of it on him and that she probably wasn't involved.

"Oh," she replied. "Okay then."

Nuo already knew that she was, or might be, in for a bad moment with Saya given all the skipping she did recently, but barely afforded to care. Besides, even if the headmistress were to dish out the worst of her stern punishments, Nuo believed that for as long as her sins didn't involve directly harming Riddle Academy itself, Saya might, and probably might never bring herself to mete out a sanction so severe Nuo would see as being worse than what she had personally experienced in childhood, lest come close to fatally injuring someone. But, who is she even talking about? The headmistress is an enigmatic woman, and at any moment she could exceed Nuo's expectations.

However, she did in fact, think of actually attending her next classes more often. After all, she has never taken one yet ever since she came here. It'll be a waste if she came here just to cut and cut again, having come here for nothing.

Like the others, Nuo headed to the cafeteria to have some lunch. Or maybe just a little for some who had already eaten recently, which is what she's grabbing for today. A measly slice of bread, folded in half and sandwiching a slice of ham and lettuce, served with a glass of juice should do. The girl proceeded to plop down beside the same lass that she met earlier.

"So, uh... heya." Nuo said, pausing a bit afterwards to take a bite out of her sandwich. "I've got a question to ask. TWO questions to ask, actually. If you don't like to answer either, that's fine with me. First off, well... weird. You never told me your name. What's yours?

Second, uhh, this is a bit more touchy, but then just like I said, you're free not to answer. Why did you come here to Riddle Academy? Was it revenge? Obligation by parents? Gang? Or, heh, you just want to know how to shred your enemies without the law finding out? I won't really judge you badly, but I'm curious to find out, and maybe I'll give some help."

@Unfortunately

Safira looked up from her sandwich, finishing what was in her mouth before looking up to Nuo with a curious look. She thought for a moment, as if giving Nuo her name was a complicated task, before looking back to her partner. "Meu nome é ... oh, você não fala Português....Sorry, bad habit. My name's Safira...Safire's fine though if you want." her struggle with English was evident, though comprehensible.

At the second question, Safira paused for a moment to try and form her answer. After deciding that pictures were worth a thousand words, she pulled back her hair to reveal the symbol of the gang she was in, burned into the back of her neck. "I was in a gang back in Portugal...forced into it per say..." She looked down and took another large mouthful of her sandwich. She was exposing more than she would've liked to, but she was safe here, wasn't she? I mean, it was literally a building filled with assassins.

Safira looked back up to Nuo, mostly to see if she was satisfied with her answer, but partially to see her reaction to the brand mark she'd revealed.

Collab post between me and @ChaoticFox.

As soon as Maven touched Sergei's shoulder, the images in his head faded.
Maven showed some kind of notebook, Sergei vaguely read some stuff, until reading something about what seemed to be what happened to his old house.
"So it was the prophets... Those bastards..." He said out loud, slowly returning back to a normal pace of breathing.
As Maven wrote down that she was the new leader, Sergei stared thinking again.
"I don't remember seeing her there... new leader?" Sergei looked at Maven once again.
"Wait.... what do you mean with new leader?! Don't tell me you did this to me?!" Sergei said, tears suddenly coming from his still functioning eye. Sergei rarely showed emotion, but during this little mental breakdown he couldn't resist crying.

"So... are you here to take care of me? You guys took everything I had from me... My friends... The hosts of the home who were close to parents..." Sergei said to himself out loud again.
Sergei noticed that Maven was looking at him, with a look of empathy in her eyes.
"Wait... you said previous leader... Don't tell me that bastard was responsible for this?" Sergei said, looking Maven straight into the eyes.
"Please tell me everything you know.. I need to know what happened that day... My only purpose in life is to get rid of those who did this to me... who made me this monster..." Sergei said to Maven, as he removed his mask, showing a face full of scars, burn marks, one eye which looked empty as veins ran all over his face.
"They... they made me a monster..." He said, as he put it back on.
"I can't even breath without this.. I look like a monster..." Sergei said, looking at Maven.
"Please... Tell me you weren't responsible for this!" He cried out to Maven.

Maven looked at Sergei with sad eyes. She couldn't speak to tell him it wasn't her, she wouldn't have been old enough to lead the Prophets when his home was attacked, let alone was she heartless to do such a thing. Only one thing could prove to him that she wasn't responsible for the death of all he knew before.

Maven pulled back her hair revealing the bolts that attached the mask to her face: two on each side drilled directly into her skull. What she did next would've shocked everyone who knew her. She began to unscrew the bolts, taking one last breath of the gas before shutting the valve and removing the mask with a slight whimper "...I n-never would've wished that on y-you...They turned me into this.." she gasped and opened the valve, taking another breath "Michael Baptist....ex-leader of the Prophets... I killed him." She gasped for another breath and put her mask back on, screwing in the four bolts.

Maven looked up at him after covering the bolts with her long blonde hair. Tears were slightly evident on her face as well, she remembered the pain as if it were yesterday.

As Maven pulled her hair back, Sergei noticed the bolts that attached the mask to Maven's face.
"My god... are those.. bolts?!" He said, shocked at how... strange they looked.
Sergei was shocked when Maven removed the mask.
"Wait... are you sure you can.." Sergei wanted to say, but he noticed Maven wanted to say something.

"What?! They turned you into this?!" Sergei said a bit loud, as yet another tear from his eye.
"I thought I had it bad..." Sergei thought to himself, unable to keep his tears back hearing the tragic story of the girl.
Sergei let Maven finish the rest of her sentence before continuing to talk.
"Wait.. you killed the previous leader of the Prophets?!" Sergei asked the girl, with a really sad look on his face as he didn't expect to ever meet somebody who had it worse than him.

"It must have been painful for you.. Being made like this..." Sergei said, as he looked Maven straight into her eyes.
He noticed Maven started crying too, and he couldn't help but offer the girl a hug.
"I thought I had it bad... But it seems you had it even worse than I had... Those bastards from Prophets will pay for this..." Sergei said to Maven, anger now showing in his face.
"Messing up such a pretty girl... how dare they!" He said to himself out loud.
Sergei started to realize that the one he wanted to kill was already dead.

"I honestly don't know how to feel.. The reason I came to this school in the first place was to get rid of the one who did to me... but it seems you already did it for me.. Is there anyway I can pay you back?" Sergei asked the girl as he calmed down a bit more.

Maven just shook her head at his final question, unzipping her jacket slowly and letting it slide to the ground. Underneath, she wore a borderline skin-tight, long sleeve sport shirt, but that was the least interesting part. She rolled up her sleeves, revealing the frankenstein-esque patchwork they had done to make her breathing apparatus possible. From her wrists, small tubes were visible under the skin running the length of her arms and into her torso where they disappeared. The devices on her wrists were quite literally part of her, drilled into the bone and replacing the skin of that area. Just above her wrists were matching tattoos of the standard medical info: Date of Birth, Gender, Name, and the Serums given to her currently.

Maven looked up to him as if to say "Well, what do you think?", when in reality she remained silent. The bolts in her jaw prevented speech when the mask was on, a method for the Prophets to control their creation's thoughts and freedom.

Other than the extremely obvious, her body was fairly normal despite the black/green veins in place of blue ones. Partnered with her unnerving eyes and almost unreal muscle tone, she was what most would think as normal. Her arms held other tattoos apart from the ones described, these more artistic, as if abstract. Drawn in black and red ink, they lined both arms and from the faint silhouettes, her stomach as well. Her neck had matching ones running up either side, stopping at her jawbone. "I am a monster.." she thought to herself, taking her own appearance in.

To drive the appearance home, two larger tubes ran from the mask and dug into her neck, running along her spine under the skin to her lungs. While the procedure looked to have been done cleanly, it looked painful just to have them there.

Maven could be described as a machine in a human body, mechanical in her nature and methodical in her actions, yet executed with more precision than a machine could provide. She wrote one thing in the notebook before handing it to him after he was done examining her "I was awake for every procedure."

As Maven started to undress, Sergei observed.
"Poor girl.. I thought I had it bad with my situation.." Sergei thought to himself.
"I... I... I..." Sergei had to take a breather, before being able to continue to talk.
"I just don't know what to say.. How could they do this to you?" Sergei said, as yet another tear rolled out his eye.
Sergei continued to inspect Maven.
"Damn.. even with those things she looks kinda cute.. How can they do this to a human being.." Sergei though to himself.

"Why did they do this? I mean... I have my mask because I need it to survive, but I believe you said they did this to you? What happened" Sergei asked.
Sergei still had to take everything he just saw in.

When he finally came to a realization what they actually did to her, Maven passed him her notebook.
"I was awake for every procedure?!" Sergei shouted in anger.
Sergei started to remember how hard it hurt when he got burned alive, and he could only imagine this as being worse.
"I just... I just... I don't know what to say..." Sergei stuttered, before offering a hug to Maven.
"I'm afraid I can't do much to improve your situation... If I could I would.."Sergei said afterwards, with a sad look in his face.
Sergei removed his hoodie, and all that was visible was that his entire body was covered in bandages, like a mummy.
"After all these years, my body hasn't recovered..." He said, before temporarily removing some of the bandages.
Under it you could see veins running all over his body, as his skin looked dark, black at some parts, with some open wounds here and there.
"As far as I know I will never recover from this.." Sergei stated, as he removed his mask once again.
"My left eye is completely blind, my right eye can see a little bit, and only in black and white.. I have become fully colorblind after what happened..." Sergei said before putting his mask back on, taking a few long breathers.

"Anyways... The name is Sergei... Sergei Golovanov.." He said, offering his hand to Maven.

Maven looked at the hand outstretched in front of her, she took it gently. With barely a whisper from under her mask, she managed "Maven.." without too much pain, before drawing in a deep breath. She looked up to Sergei, looking him right in the eyes after looking over his bandaged and burnt body. To her, it looked just as painful to live with that as it did to live in her condition and while she couldn't voice it, her eyes told the whole story like an open book.

She hugged him tightly at his offer. Never. Never had she been attached to someone. It was a new feeling. Maven wasn't sure if she liked this feeling yet, but she let it linger in her brain. The feeling of actual contact was a nice thing to have as well, she felt safer in his arms for some reason, despite being able to defend herself perfectly well.

Maven let go and looked to him as she asked about the reasoning behind her transformation and strained herself to whisper out an answer, her jaw screaming with pain in protest "Q-quieter area....I'll e-explain......everything.." She closed her eyes, letting the pain simmer down to a dull roar, something tolerable at least. While she acted and presented herself as tough and indifferent, inside she was still a teenage girl. Delicate despite the attitude, just as the doctor had said.

"Nice to meet you miss Maven." Sergei said, bowing down a bit.
Even though Sergei's memory is all over the place, he still had some manners teached to him by his adoptive parents from the foster home that he still remembered.
Sergei noticed that Maven had to take a deep breath after saying her name.
"Damn... in that condition it must hurt to even talk.." Sergei thought to himself, feeling really bad for the poor girl.

Sergei noticed the expression in Maven's eyes as he looked at her.
"At first, I thought I had it the worst. I felt like I was in hell when I first looked in the mirror. I couldn't even look at myself. I decided to walk the path of revenge, I would make sure that whoever did this to me would pay. My entire life for the past few years was based on revenge... I was foolish.." Sergei said, before hugging Maven.

It had been a while since Sergei hugged somebody, or even felt attached to somebody. It made him rethink his situation. Does he really need to take revenge? Isn't it possible to just live normally like this? Lots of questions rushed to Sergei, but instead he just took a moment to appreciate the comfort in Maven's hug.

As Maven started to whisper, Sergei couldn't help but notice how much it hurt Maven.
"As much as it hurts.. She is doing her best to talk to me..." Sergei thought, only being able to see how much pain Maven had.

Sergei put one of his fingers in front of Maven's mask.
"Stop talking... You don't have to pretend against me, I can see the strain it is putting on your body." Sergei said, trying to smile under his mask.

Sergei grabbed his notebook, and wrote down the following:
"If we were to be in a room filled with whatever gas that is in those cartridges, would you be able to breathe and talk without mask? Y/N?" as he handed over the notebook and a pen.

Maven gave him an odd look after reading the message. Yes, in theory she'd be able to breathe in such a room but the amount of gas required would be astronomical, let alone the fact that they'd need a place to actually put it all and that Sergei would need a full face mask so his eyes wouldn't burn out. She shook her head lightly. Inside she knew how much he wanted to help her, but to recreate a room like the one she'd been in before was quite the task. She took the book and wrote a reply before shaking her head at Sergei. The message read "You don't have to do this for me. If you want me to talk I will find a way."

She pondered the message for a moment before scribbling down an additional part to it, then handing it to Sergei "Impossible to obtain enough gas without reservoir."

Maven reached over to take his hand, straining herself one last time to utter a few words no louder than a whisper "Let's...g-go somewhere....q-quieter.." She looked to him, her eyes slightly begging him to follow her. After picking up her large hardcase she began to lead him on, moving towards a quieter area, specifically the music room. In theory there shouldn't be anyone there during lunch, right?

Sergei saw the look in her eyes, and realized that it probably wasn't possible.
Maven handed him back the notebook as she shook her read.
"You don't have to do this for me. If you want me to talk I will find a way..." Sergei read to himself, before looking back to Maven.
"If there is a way, I will do my best to make it happen.. I promise.." Sergei says, trying his best to smile, even though its close to impossible to see under his mask.

Sergei wanted to continue, but Maven whispered a few words as she extended her hand.
"Ofcourse, if thats what you want... We shall go somewhere quite, even though I have no idea where..." Sergei says, gently accepting Maven's hand.
As he followed Maven, he kept looking around, scouting the area. Sergei has a visual memory, seeing things makes him remember more.
"When we reach the place you want to go, could you explain me how your mask works?" Sergei asked, remembering that it almost went wrong a short while ago.

Maven led him on down the hallways of the Academy, her boots clicking on the hard tile floor. "It should be around here somewhere...." she thought to herself. The halls seemed endless, the flourescent lights humming in the silence of the empty corridors. Maven gently squeezed Sergei's hand and looked over with a small smile, hoping to lighten the mood a bit.

Finally, after what had seemed like an eternity, the door to the music room appeared in front of them as they turned a corner and Maven stopped in front of it. She reached forwards slowly, silently praying that it was unlocked and to her surprise, it was. She flicked on the lights as they entered and closed the door behind them, looking to Sergei. Maven grabbed a few chairs from the front and brought them over to the side of the room, gesturing to Sergei to sit down while she sat in the other.

She looked over to him and began to undo the bolts once again, taking a deep breath of the gas before shutting the valve. "The l-little cylinder....it g-goes in the slot..h-here.." she gestured to her wrist, taking another breath from the mask. "That's w-what holds....the gas....Cyanothane, a sssynthesis between Hydrogen C-cyanide.....and Mmmmethane.." she struggled a bit with the words before taking another breath. "It t-travels up....I breathe....it goes down into lungs...excess is brought back up through...t-tubes...reused.." she said, tapping the large tubes that entered the back of her neck. "T-they tried..to kill me with the s-same gas....I adapted. B-but....killed my digestive t-tract...in the process.." she finished, gasping at her mask for a breath.

"Needles to eat...to drink...to stay alive."

It took quite a while to reach their destination, but Sergei didn't mind it during a bit longer, as he felt good being around Maven.
As they walked to their destination, Maven squeezed his hand gently, and he could notice Maven was smiling, so he tried his best to smile back.

As Maven tried to open the door, Sergei was ready to grab his katana to force it open if needed, but luckily enough it was already open.
As they entered the room, he studied the room once again, trying to remember as much of the room as possible, until he noticed Maven was gesturing for him to sit down on one of chairs.
"Thanks miss Maven." He said, showing something resembling happiness on his face.

Sergei patiently listened to Maven's explanation on how her breathing system worked, nodding now and then.
"I see.. Now it makes sense why you need those cartridges..." Sergei said.
Sergei removed his mask, and showed the front to Maven.
"This.. this basically.. filters the air.." Sergei stated, before coughing a bit.
"Apparently.. some stuff in normal oxygen.." Sergei tried to get out, before coughing a couple of times again.
"Is poisonous to me, and can actually destroy my lungs..." Sergei said before coughing a few times again, putting his mask back on.
"According to the doctor who treated me, if I remove this mask for too long, my lungs will start to slowly fail, and I would end up having one of the most painful deaths imaginable..." Sergei said with an agonizing look in his face, before listening to the rest of what Maven had to say.

"Wait.. You can't eat at all? How do you get the necessary nutrients into your body then?" Sergei said with a shocked look on his face.
"Unable to eat and drink.. What kind of monster did this to her?!" Sergei said to himself.
"I understand it completely if you don't want to think of your past.. But would it be possible to tell me exactly what happened that made you like this?" Sergei said, looking Maven into the eyes, showing sympathy in his own eyes.
Sergei at times can almost feel what happened that night again, the feeling of being burned alive, just by seeing all those flashbacks, and it seemed to him that Maven had it even worse.

Izumi looked Rei in the eye as the thin blue haired girl spoke to her, when Rei was finished speaking Izumi karate chopped Rei in the top of her head before telling her."No." She reeled her arm back to look at Rei." It's not my goal to make any of the students feel scared, or to be a..Jerk as you call it. I only try to remind them mentally that things can, and some times will change, so expect the unexpected. Also don't give your Oneechan sarcasm because it will earn you disrespect." Izumi told the young Momoko. The moment when Addie jumped and gotten scared by something in the door and then asked what would they do, Izumi almost lazily turned towards the door to see nothing and turned back to the girls.

Izumi quickly delivered a heavy karate chop to the top of Addie's head for making her think there was threat nearby, she held back half her normal strength in the chop hoping she wouldn't hurt Addie too much." Rei, do you consider yourself the leader of this little group you have here ? " Izumi asked her." Because if you do then you need to take in the ideas of the others your working with and not just give them orders, and give them task to do, there is much more to being a leader than just giving orders." She told Rei hoping the blue haired Momoko would listen." And look out for the weakest in your group." She spoke about Addie.

She then crossed her arms and closed her eyes, sunlight began to beam into the room and Izumi almost seemed to glow and sparkle before she spoke to Rei." Your not your sister Rei, there's no need for you to keep thinking you are, and you don't need to be better than her, your different than her so be your own person and try not to....Lose your way when you find it Rei." Izumi told her. The Stoic third year looked to all three of them and noticed something about Sayaka, she pulled on one of the bandages on Sayaka's face and noticed more of her pale skin around her chin before Sayaka leaned back and pulled the bandages up onto her chin not saying anything feeling as if she'd get karate chopped like Rei and Addie, but sadly like the two Izumi still karate chopped Sayaka." Have Sympathy for your team, and you'll go a long way."

Amy tightly closed her eyes and held her breath as she could see the vague figure of Zephyr above her head through the bag that had been placed upon her small head. The stop word of oppai ringed through her ears as a drip of water landed on her nose. She bald up her fist and prepared for the worst but nothing more seemed to be happening. A surprised blink went over the girls face as she shook her head a little "Huh?" Izumi sensei explained what they were actually doing and began rattling over their slacking. They were dismissed soon after as Amy was let loose again by one of the black class members. Amy let out another growl as the black class member was close and stepped closer to Zephyr. She shyly looked over at him with a small pout on her face as she covered the front of her skirt with both her hands but Zephyr did seem to ignore the fact that that was exposed just now which made her happy, just slightly.

Zephyr sounded serious when he told her to be his torturer if it ever was to happen in which Amy gave a soundless nod. It felt somewhat safer to be tortured by your friends instead of some random person who only cares about him or herself. Amy looked up at the taller boy as he requested to go lunch in the cantine. It wasn't like Amy had anything else to do anyway so she would just be tagging along. Zephyr had the casual question on liking tea or coffee more. Amy looked down at his shoes and began pondering about that question for a moment. Yes tea was good and she was born in the country of the tea lovers but coffee was good too since it kept her awake. Amy quietly replied back to the white haired "I like both, but tea is sweeter so it's easier to drink." Short after she replied another trigger occured. Zephyr took her hand and dragged her along out of the classroom in a hurry. Amy was shocked for a moment by the sudden coldness of his hand yet they were ferm and soft. Amy dropped her other hand onto her katana to make sure it wouldn't fall out and skipped along behind him. Her hand slowly dropped from her katana next to her body as she got used to the pace. Her skirt bobbing lightly as her golden hairs trailed behind her. Not much later they entered the cantine. Zephyr let go of the smaller girl her hand as she almost walked against his back.

Amy looked up at him again and gave another nod to have his back while they were together and shook his hand with a very light grip. Her hand dropped along sides her body again with her sleeve dropping over a part of her hand displaying that the uniform was a little to big for the small girl. A loud growl escaped from Amy her stomach just as she looked over at the food court. Amy's eyes trailed down at her own belly and back at Zephyr "I'll get us food." Amy immediatly walked off towards the line in front of the food court without asking what Zephyr wanted to eat or anything. Amy passed by a few tables and got caught up in one of the conversations between the students that she had just met. Her gaze fell upon the two as the girl was talking about what size bra she had and asked the boy in front of her to quess what kind of underwear she was wearing.

Amy was so distracted by the two that she bumped one of her legs against the bench one of them was sitting on. Amy bounched up and down on the other leg before falling sideways onto the ground "Ittai!" She squealed out before rolling on the ground a few times and got up again. She blankly looked around her to see if anyone had seen it and quietly continued further with a little tick in her walking. Amy made it to the waiting line and stood behind the few people. She got closer to the end and encountered her good friend Kyoko on the end. Amy took a step back from the girl with a cautioness look on her face. She already had seen what the girl was capable off and didn't want to see it again "H-hi, two curry please." She wonkly spoke in Japanese and awaited for her lunch.

Miles was secretly shocked at Minako’s forwardness, but refused to let it show. How could he, a gentleman, let such a simple matter fluster him to such an extent, still the fact that he was being called Onii-chan while being questioned did make Miles face blush very slightly. Why is my little sister so forward with me? The words coming out of her mouth are occasionally at odds with her appearance Pushing the question to the back of his mind Miles smiled gently and coughed into his free hand as she asked him to guess the colour of her underwear.

“Well, Minako, if I were to guess I’d say that someone as sweet and pure as my little sister would choose blue undergarments. Probably a light blue, possibly matching your hair ribbons? However, there is no appropriate way for this to be confirmed, so I guess it will remain a mystery of my little sister~” with a chuckle Miles set about delicately cutting the piece of steak.

“As for me? Well I like music and actually play an instrument. How about you guess what I play? I know it’s not as... risque as your question, but I’m currently unable to think of an equivalent question to ask. If you do think of one, Minako, it would only be fair that I answer~” having finished cutting her stabbed a piece with his fork and offered it to Minako to eat.

"Actually a more appropriate question for the moment will be what is your favourite food? I will gladly prepare it for my little sister next time~"

~Rei~

Rei glanced over at the hallway entrance but apparently didn’t catch what Addie had seen. Well then, wasn’t that a waste of time? Izumi must have thought so too because she gave the meek a girl hefty chop on the head. To this, Rei smirked just a little in seeing Addie finally settling down before she too winced once Izumi had chopped her.

Rubbing her head, she glared at the older student, muttering to herself that Izumi wasn’t even her real older sister. But then again, their experience could have been infinitely worse than just having a picnic so she supposed she should be grateful Izumi wasn’t actually punishing her.

“Yeah I consider myself the leader,” she said when Izumi questioned her on the subject. “Compared to a pervert and someone who can’t stand the site of a toilet, I think I’m more than capable of this group. And it’s not like I give them orders. They just don’t know how to listen,” she protested, giving a look to both Addie and Sayaka.

Honestly, out of all the other First Years, why was she stuck with these two? Ok, sure, she was being actively paid to keep Addie safe from…something. But Sayaka she could deal without or at least have the bandaged girl think for once. Rei suddenly narrowed her eyes at Izumi when she mentioned protecting the weakest member, once again looking at Addie.

“Gee thanks. I think,” she said once Izumi had finished, not sure if she was to take this advice to heart when it was obvious her teammates didn’t seem to.

---

~Donna~

Unfortunately for Itsuko, Donna didn’t her complaints nor was she there to witness retribution and justice on her part. That was because the shark-toothed girl had mad dashed off to the cafeteria, immediately spotting both Miles and Minako. Taking some wet paper towels and slicking it up with soap from the restroom, Donna hurled the sticky thing right at the back of Minako’s head.

The mass of towels made instant contact, sticking in place to the younger girl’s hair. Donna stayed long enough to grin at Miles before disappearing once again. Did she have some way of tracking the Third Year boy? Who knew. One thing was certain though and that was the shark would devour anyone who got in her way.

Luckily, she had only been gone for a short time, appearing again by Itsuko’s side as she wrestled what appeared to be capsules from the boy’s grip. Smirking at the pathetic sight, she waltzed up to Itsuko and wrapped an arm around her as if they were suddenly best buddies.

“Oh ho, you know I would Thunder Thighs! I bet you have enough meat in there to feed a whole ocean of me! What you got there? Stuff to confiscate? Ah hah, so spicy!”

---

"I'm sorry... I know that I'm useless, perhaps..." Addie said after being hit over the head and hearing everyone talking about how much of a burden she was "I should just give up like everyone says."

"Even if I meet the person who killed my family, what will I do?"

Suddenly, Addie got up from the place she was sitting at and ran out of the room, without a certain destination, as if her life depended on it. "I'm sorry, Rei, Sayaka-san..."





Just as Kaede finished escorting Lilith to the lunch hall, she stopped and looked around. The place was considerably less hectic than she thought that it would be, given the fact that usually the Academy's students were a lot more active around this time of the day, when lesson weren't being drilled on their skulls.

However, considering the events of yesterday that was quite understandable, still Kaede picked some very... undesirable thoughts, amidst the psychic cacophony. "All of you, listen up!" Kaede yelled, addressing every one present at once, "This may be your break from classes, but unless you want the disciplinary committee to break you into obedience, avoid any irregular conduct while within the school premises! That was just a general reminder, continue your lunch, but be aware!"

After she delivered her mandatory speech (as anyone who was here on their second year, onward could confirm), Kaede walked to Kyoko while ignoring Donna's childishness, which was likely to cause her a lot of trouble if it sparked a food war, and stopped by her side "Keep up the good work, and that which you're thinking is most likely to come true." Kaede said, confirming that she had been spying at Kyoko's mind again, before falling silent, waiting for the riflegirl's reply.





Itsuko didn't even notice when Donna slipped off, however she did noticed when the dark-skinned shark-girl, slipped her fins around her and asked about what she retrieved from the sorry excuse for a man before her. "This seems to be what the BB wanted to check. If you ask me, it looks like some kind of drug, just what you'd expect from sods like these ones."

Itsuko took the time to nail the face of one of the boys, before turning to Donna again, as if she had forgotten to ask something "By the way, Fish Sticks, you are not hitting on me, are you? 'cause, you know, doing that here is kinda too hardcore for me."

A moment later, Itsuko's phone began to ring and she punched another guy before excusing herself to answer it "I'm sorry, this will take just a minute", Itsuko said turning her back to Donna.



"Men, this sucks harder than... whatever is the suckiest thing that exists." Itsuko sulked as she turned back to Donna "Sorry, Fish Sticks, where were we again?"

As Itsuko said so, she fell really silent perhaps for the first time since she arrived on Riddle Academy, surely the contents of the mysterious phone call were dire for her. But the question is, what was it that made even the Rampaging Tiger silence her roaring?

---

@TheWindel@Spriggs27@WaddleDaisy

Izumi looked down to Rei, Addie, and Sayaka, then she closed her eyes and sighed listening to Rei." Consider your allies voices when your in a tough situation, don't always try to control your friends, if you do, they will end up ignoring you, care for your friends." Izumi told Rei, she looked Rei in the eye as she spoke to show that she ment what she said to the first year." I'm not trying to make you mad nor am I trying to make you into something, I just want you to be your own person and have a great team, I only want for you to have greatness." Izumi told her Imouto.

Almost out of nowhere Addie got up and ran out the room with almost no word really, Izumi watched as Addie sprinted out of the room for some reason and felt disrespected in a way, but to add more to the shockingness, Izumi put a hand on Rei's head and nearly gave the blue haired first year a smile, but instead of a smile she gave her a positive gaze to show that she cared for Rei.

" If you need anything, then just ask me and I'll always do my best to help you with it." Izumi soon stood up and looked to the door." I'm gonna go find Donna, I need to return one of her several hats. Take what you want from the picnic I'll send some one to clean up later." She pulled out a hat from behind her and showed it to the two before she left out of the room and left the two alone.

Izumi focused on the hat in her hands and thought about where Donna would be, she began walking down the the hall wandering around without much direction knowing that Donna doesn't have much direction when she goes around the school, she wandered around the school at a fast pace and soon found her with Itsuko, she approached Donna from behind without revealing her self and put a hand on Donna's shoulder." I remembered to give your hat back." Izumi told the dark skinned blonde girl.

Izumi soon walked around in front of the two and looked at them both, Izumi put a hand onto Donna's head and rubbed her head like she was petting a pup." Kaede may need help with something, go to her and tell her I sent you or continue your patrol of the halls." Izumi gave the shorter dark blonde girl orders. " I'll take your position here."



Sayaka was silent in the whole situation she didn't feel like she could add anything to the conversation, whether she could add to Izumi's speech to Rei or talk to Izumi about anything at all, she just took tiny bites out of the sandwich that she had and took small sips from a can of juice, and after taking her first sip she spilled the juice all over herself and the can rolled across the picnic blanket.

Luckily most of the juice just got on her and the can seemed more than less empty with only a small stream of juice trailing from can trailing to her Sayaka on the other hand was petrified, she couldn't move, she looked down to her hands and saw the juice stain the bandages on her hands and soon be absorbed into her clothes and soon soak into her bandages, Sayaka just stared at the can silently and her hands began to shake violently.

The mummy girl quickly patted the baggy pockets on her pants and shirt as if she was looking for something in her pockets." Rei ! Help me !" Sayaka was just still on her knees." I-I hate to pull an Addie, b-but, I need more bandages to change these ones here." Sayaka told Rei, she almost had tears well up in her eyes.

" I-I just need extra bandages to change the ones that are wet, I just need them, if I start walking around the place they could just unravel and come undone, maybe there's, there's a medkit in the closet, come on help me out." She asked Rei with her hands still shaking like she was scared. And like the mummy said, the bandages on her hands began to unravel and show her bare pale hands and Sayaka stared at them like she was holding back screams." M-my hands, their, their burning, I'm-I'm on fire."

"Wow. That's a tough life you're having..." she said, voicing her apparent pity, although Nuo wasn't really that sympathetic. "...just like almost everyone else here! Look, I know you think you have it hard, and I do feel bad for you, but it's not actually surprising. This is an academy for assassins, and, well, a teen better be having terrible days to be a killer, hired or serial. I can tell by the looks of some guys at this place that they had it rough. Even the less obvious-faced people might be dealing with something."

Nuo paused, releasing a despondent sigh, and muttered under it, "Just like me." From then on, she told Safira her own little bit of story.

"So it's a bit of the same gang thing as yours. You might have heard of a kidnapping incident in China... or not. So while the victims were rounded up, a few of them got raped. One of them was my dad. 'fcourse, nobody made it alive, so I was raised in the gang by my mum. Treated like shit because they believed they made me more prepared for pain, got me nearly killed too many times to count. At least I got to watch action movies and, uh, get trained, which is good.

I don't like being pushed near dying every once in a while, though, so it just had to stop. Got away, tried to live a life alone, realized I needed to make money, and I put up my own hitman business and then doing what normal people do whenever I had enough pay. Except that I was being chased around now, so I got out of China and landed here. Tried to look for my dad's family, but couldn't resist going here first. And that's how I'm here.

At this point, realizing her story won't make much sense to Safira, Nuo decided to stop.

"Oops, I'm rambling so much, everything I've said would probably take many paragraphs on print. I'm just trading my own story, but, well, I'll just get to the point. I don't mean to belittle your situation. What I'm trying to say is that there are many people here that, you know, you could sympathize with and be happy with...

except total psychos. Don't go near them if you think they're too creepy.

As was coming to close her lengthy speech, the girl stood up and smiled invitingly to Safira, wrapping it up with a request. "So whaddya think of sparring, Saf? Let's have it when you have the time!"