Location: Shirohana High School — First Day of TransferCondition: Mission cover active / Academy trackers unknown
The hallway smells like chalk dust and anxiety.Ren looks calm; I look like a malfunctioning robot wearing a school uniform.The blazer feels wrong. The bow sits crooked. The stares feel lethal.
REN: "Just… smile. Act normal."KANA: "Define 'normal.'"REN: "Not scanning everyone for weak points."KANA: "…I see six weak points already."REN: "We're gonna get detention before homeroom."
Internal Channel — Persona Comms
TACTICAL ANGEL: "Maintain composure. Avoid eye contact."CRIMSON DOLL: "Eye contact is how flirting works."HEARTBREAKER: "We should wink at someone."ANGEL: "Denied."SHADOW GHOST: "I'll delete the wink."DOLLMAKER: "Please don't hurt anyone on the first day."SCARLET SAINT: "If anyone bullies him, we crucify."KANA (murmuring): "No crucifixion before lunch."REN: "…What did you just say?"KANA: "Grammar practice."
Scene — Classroom Roll Call
Teacher: "Haruno Kana?"
KANA: "Present and potentially unstable."(The class snickers.)REN (whispering): "Just 'present' next time."KANA: "Understood. Threat neutralized."
A girl passes her a welcome sheet decorated with hearts.Crimson Doll sighs dreamily inside her.
CRIMSON DOLL: "Friendship invitation! Say yes!"TACTICAL ANGEL: "Friendship is operational risk."HEARTBREAKER: "It's cute. We like cute now."
Kana hesitates too long; the girl blushes and runs off.
DOLLMAKER: "We terrified her."SCARLET SAINT: "Another soul for the ledger."REN: "You're talking to the air again."KANA: "The air started it."
Scene — Lunch Break Surveillance
They eat on the rooftop.Below them, the city glimmers like a mirror of normalcy.Kana's head buzzes with static —The Academy's drones still search, pinging her neural signature.
REN: "You feel it, don't you?"KANA: "Yes. Eyes in the sky."REN: "We'll stay out of sight."KANA: "I don't hide. I redecorate the shadows."
He laughs; she almost smiles.Then a tiny dot glints above the rail — a drone.
REN: "Please tell me that's a bird."KANA: "Birds don't have laser targets."REN: "Oh, good."
Before he can blink, Shadow Ghost takes over —a blur of motion, one precise throw with a chopstick.The drone bursts into harmless sparkles.Half the school below cheers, thinking it's fireworks.
HEARTBREAKER: "You see? We can be fun!"TACTICAL ANGEL: "You exposed our position."CRIMSON DOLL: "But with style."SCARLET SAINT: "Amen."REN: "…Did you just get applauded for espionage?"KANA: "Public relations."
Scene — Evening Downtime
They walk home through lantern-lit streets.Ren carries groceries; Kana scans rooftops.
REN: "You think they'll find us?"KANA: "Eventually."REN: "And you'll fight again?"KANA: "Only if they touch what's mine."REN: "You mean you?"KANA: "No. You."
He stops walking, heart stuttering.She keeps going — expression unchanged, ears a little too red.
Diary Fragment
[Fragment Log #17 — Hearts Under Surveillance]Status: Cover established.Drones: 3 neutralized.Emotional noise: constant.
Handwritten note:Acting normal is harder than killing.He laughs, and I forget to breathe.They watch from above; I watch him.
Mindspace Epilogue
Inside her head, the six sit around a school desk littered with sticky notes and half-erased plans.
HEARTBREAKER: "Step one: join a club!"ANGEL: "No extracurriculars."DOLLMAKER: "Maybe art class."GHOST: "Assassination club."CRIMSON DOLL: "Drama club — lots of costumes."SCARLET SAINT: "Church choir."KANA: "Stop planning my life like a schedule."ALL: "We already did."
Her laughter rings through the mental cathedral like bells —real, bright, and unapologetically alive.
End of Diary #17 — "Hearts Under Surveillance."