Yamikuro saw himself in the middle of a battlefield, and the ground seemed to have blown up, with building rubble surrounding them.
His hands were trembling.
Yamikuro's movements weren't his own, along with the following words he spoke.
"By this sacred power I, _____, the son of _____, will kill all of you six ________!"
He couldn't hear the details clearly. Or perhaps he couldn't.
He felt his hand being moved in front of him and--
"Hey, Yamikuro..."
The world shattered.
"Wake up or you'll be late."
Yamikuro opened his eyes to the white ceiling of his dorm room.
He slowly looked around in confusion, but it didn't take long to see Kaminari, Rye, and even Kazuhiko standing at the door.
'Huh?'
Yamikuro's immediate response was to sit up, lean onto the wall next to his bed, and cover himself with a blanket.
"W-what are you all doing here?!" He nervously asked.
Kazuhiko grinned. Yamikuro could tell he was excited.
"I had a talk with Kendra Monroe, the Head of The Hideout's Capital, and she pardoned you and Kaminari."
Yamikuro's eyes widened from both shock and happiness.
"Pardoned us...?" He asked.
Kazuhiko didn't answer directly; instead, he turned to the hallway.
"Dress up and come downstairs, we can talk then."
He took one step before stopping.
"Oh, and class begins in roughly half an hour from now."
As everyone turned away from the door, Yamikuro got out of bed and hurried to his closet.
He grabbed his gold-and-black school uniform.
'I wonder if it still fits.' Yamikuro thought to himself.
As Yamikuro caught Kazuhiko downstairs in the lounge, he decided to ask about the situation.
"Why'd I get released so suddenly?"
Kazuhiko started laughing, patting Yamikuro's head and messing up his hair.
"Don't worry about it. You need to smile more, Yamikuro."
Yamikuro fixed his hair, not laughing with Kazuhiko.
"You may be right, but I'd still like to know why this decision was made."
Kazuhiko tried to keep up his smile.
"I talked about your situation, about the Darkness, gods, and that someone must've kidnapped you."
Yamikuro's eyes widened from shock.
"...You knew about all this?"
"I used to be the Head of Intelligence, so I know the hidden truths about this world. Gods do exist, along with the Darkness that they want. One day, I do hope to meet one of them..."
Yamikuro's eyes almost shone.
'The Head of Intelligence...? And he knows about gods?'
In that moment, Yamikuro didn't feel helpless. For the first time, someone knew more than he did about these things.
Before Yamikuro could ask questions, Kazuhiko looked away from him.
"Alright, I think it's time we start going."
Cedar had just stepped out of a steaming hot shower, his lower half wrapped in a white towel.
He froze for a second, looking at everyone in the lounge.
"What time is it?"
Kazuhiko looked at his watch.
"15 minutes until classes begin."
Cedar's feet immediately took off, storming past everyone and running up the creaking stairs.
Kaminari clenched his fists, feeling rage build up.
"So that's why the bathroom was occupied the entire morning?!"
Yamikuro and Kazuhiko stepped outside without Kaminari noticing, with the door shutting with a bang.
"H-hey wait...! Don't go without me!" He yelled as he vaulted over the kitchen counter.
Rye wasn't with them, as usual; he went ahead by himself.
Yamikuro had gotten used to the fact that Rye could disappear and reappear in the school building.
The air felt different that morning, and Yamikuro felt free.
Kazuhiko didn't say anything; he knew what Yamikuro felt. In a way, their paths paralleled each other, but that was something Kazuhiko planned on talking about later. Perhaps over a few drinks in the coming years.
Their moment was interrupted by the panting coming from behind them.
"Jeez... You guys didn't need to take off like this." Kaminari complained as he caught up to Yamikuro and Kazuhiko, who had walked past the dorm gates.
Kazuhiko looked over his shoulder.
"What were you doing in there for that long? I thought you were running after us."
Kaminari shook his head in disappointment.
"...I realized I forgot my school bag in my room before I stepped out."
Kazuhiko chuckled at that.
"You know, you two really are something special."
Yamikuro's and Kaminari's eyes turned to Kazuhiko, both of them confused by that statement.
"What's with those looks?" He couldn't help but smile.
"Don't let anyone tell you you're less than special. I'm sure you two will bring Lucian down someday; it was just a little too early for that."
Yamikuro's hair stood up; it was as if he got chills over that statement.
"You want us to take him down...?"
They passed by a loud group of students, and Kazuhiko didn't want to talk over their voices.
But after they were at a quiet enough distance, Kazuhiko responded.
"If it weren't you two, then I'd doubt that you'd be able to. That's because you're nothing less than amazing; all you need is training. I believe in you."
Kaminari couldn't hide the grin that appeared on his face.
'That old man...'
Yamikuro also smiled, not knowing how to properly act in a situation like this.
Kazuhiko looked up at the sky, reminiscing.
"You know... You guys remind me of myself and another person from long ago."
But he quickly stopped this conversation from evolving as they got close to the school courtyard.
"...That's something I'll tell you more about another day."
After the walk, Kazuhiko split off from Yamikuro and Kaminari as usual.
The scent of the school hit Yamikuro almost immediately.
He had started to miss the little things about the school life, like the lively hallways and chats with his friends.
"Hold on for a second." Kaminari stopped next to his locker.
That was the first time Yamikuro saw Kaminari's locker as he opened it with his small key.
Kaminari struggled to twist the key for a few seconds, but once he succeeded, he looked back at Yamikuro with an awkward smile.
'Seriously...? Just how lazy can he be?" Yamikuro thought to himself.
Yamikuro got used to Kaminari's messy room, but even his locker was like that, which made Yamikuro question stuff about Kaminari.
"Ignore the mess." He said, his head halfway in the locker as he searched for something.
Yamikuro blinked.
"What are you looking for anyway?"
Kaminari didn't respond as he kept digging around.
"Aaaand... Found it!" He suddenly yelled.
Before Kaminari could reveal what he found, a group near them started talking.
"Hey, aren't those two over there..."
The other gasped.
"They are...! They're the ones who almost caused a war here."
"Why are they letting criminals like that walk around freely?"
"Kaminari... And Yami was it? In any case, I'm not surprised Kaminari would pull off something like that, but to think the new guy was just like him."
Yamikuro tried to ignore the words spoken about them. But he couldn't help glancing at them with an annoyed look.
"H-he wants to kill us!" One of them yelled.
Kaminari took his head out of the locker, staring confusedly at Yamikuro.
"Hm? Everything alright?"
Yamikuro snapped out of it, nodding at Kaminari.
Kaminari held another small key in his hand.
"Here."
Yamikuro raised an eyebrow, grabbing the key from Kaminari's hand.
"Is this your locker key?"
Kaminari nodded with a wide smile.
"This is the start of our real friendship. I felt like it was the right thing to do, considering how much we have already gone through together."
Yamikuro's grip tightened, holding the key.
He didn't know what to say.
"I know you don't have a locker, and I just recently remembered I threw a spare key there years ago, so no need to thank me."
BRRRRING! The bell suddenly rang, interrupting them.
"Crap!" Kaminari yelled, shutting his locker with a bang.
"Already? We're late!" Yamikuro also panicked.
They both took off, with Kaminari accidentally running into people.
As they reached the classroom on the second floor, Kaminari kicked the classroom door open.
"Sorry, we're late!"
Yamikuro awkwardly stood behind him.
Kazuhiko only sighed as a response. He didn't try to act professional, he got scared someone invaded the classroom and sighed with relief.
The whole class fell silent.
"It's fine, sit down, you two."
Deia smiled slightly, feeling relieved that Yamikuro and Kaminari felt better.
Isabella only eyed them, and Yamikuro noticed that.
The class itself was boring, with Kazuhiko teaching them maths. Kaminari fell asleep in the first few minutes, Yamikuro tried his hardest to keep up, and Isabella and Deia copied the notes and completed every assignment with ease.
Once class was over, Isabella spoke first.
They had another maths lesson coming up in the same classroom, so they had a chance to easily talk.
"How are you keeping up?"
Kaminari raised an eyebrow, leaning back on his chair.
"What do you mean?"
"You haven't heard people talk behind your back?"
Kaminari shook his head.
"Actually..." Yamikuro spoke up.
"I figured you did. You two are the most talked about currently, some are even scared of you two."
"Whaaat?!" Kaminari slammed his desk and stood up, looking around the classroom to see if anyone was scared of them or looked at them weirdly.
Isabella sighed.
"Calm down, Kaminari."
Kaminari sat back down quietly.
"S-sorry..."
"In any case, there's another thing I've heard. A new girl is supposedly joining our class, but I'm not sure where she is."
Yamikuro tilted his head.
"A new girl?"
Deia at first stuttered at her own words, but managed to speak clearly.
"She comes from the other world."
Kaminari smirked.
"Ooh, can't wait to see what she looks like!"
Isabella rolled her eyes at that.
After that, the second class rolled in quickly, along with the third one.
It went as usual, with Kaminari slacking off, Yamikuro trying to keep up, and Isabella and Deia doing well.
Once it was lunchtime, at around noon, Kazuhiko sat in the faculty office, grading paperwork.
"Excuse me, are you Kazuhiko Ryoti?"
Kazuhiko looked up from his desk at a girl standing near the door.
She had short, dark hair and blue eyes. She also wore small earrings and the gold and black school uniform.
She had a fixed posture and held the school bag in her hands.
"That's me, and you must be..."
She smiled a little.
"Elara Wintervale. It's a pleasure to meet you, Sir Ryoti."
Kazuhiko's eyes crinkled with a slight laugh.
"You don't have to be so polite with me, call me Kazuhiko."
Elara nodded.
"Understood, Kazuhiko."
Kazuhiko stood up from his chair and stretched.
"Alright, I'll introduce you to your homeroom class and assign you a seat."
Kazuhiko walked beside Elara to the classroom, class B201.
But as they walked, Elara kept hearing whispers every step they took.
She could've sworn to have heard the name Yamikuro.
"Who are they all talking about, Kazuhiko?" Elara eventually decided to ask.
Kazuhiko thought it was strange she hadn't heard anything, but perhaps Lucian had silenced as much information on it as possible.
"Well, there was an... incident. Two of our students fought Lucian Daichi, and this has people talking."
"Two of the students?"
"I suppose there isn't much harm in telling you this, since you'll be in the same class. Their names are Asaki and Indy."
Elara froze.
Her eyes widened.
"Asaki...? As in Yamikuro Asaki?"
Kazuhiko looked over his shoulder, tilting his head.
"I'm sorry," Elara said as she took a step back.
"I have to find him."
Kazuhiko raised an eyebrow.
"He'll be back once class starts, though."
Elara shook her head in a hurry.
"There are thirty minutes until then."
Kazuhiko shrugged. He didn't understand what was going on, but he guessed that Yamikuro and Elara shared a history.
Elara took off, running through corridors.
Meanwhile, Yamikuro had just left the bathroom, walking alone back to class.
He tried to ignore all the whispers and looks surrounding him.
"Two more hours..." He said to himself, looking at one of the clocks on the walls.
Yamikuro suddenly heard running that got louder.
'What's going on?'
The running stopped.
Yamikuro's eyes widened.
Before him stood Elara.
"You... Elara?!"
"Yami?!"
They both yelled at each other and walked closer.
"What're you doing here?" Yamikuro asked.
"Wait... Does that mean you have powers?"
Elara nodded, wanting to ask questions of Yamikuro as well.
Just as Yamikuro tried to settle into this new lifestyle, his middle-school friend from the other world showed up out of nowhere, who had originally been a Graceless.