Fortissimo EXS // Trigger: Verzweiflung-------
Oh, chosen ones!
Prepare your mind, body and soul for this war.
Sacrifice everything you hold dear for that wish which lies in the depths of your heart.
Its existence is something which you cannot deny.
Destroy anyone who stands in your way.
And reach out for an opportunity that shall never present itself again.
In this world, there is no room for justice, sadness or regret.
Kill them. Kill everything that is unnecessary. But make sure to keep your fantasy alive.
That is how you win in this game of betrayal.
Nakamura Akio (Airen)
Starlight Academy - Afternoon
It was a good thing that club activities had been suspended for the day.
All your football equipment was inside your locker which, by the way, was jammed. The last bell had rung over half an hour ago and you were still standing there, trying to force open the god damn thing. You were sure Rei could take care of it in a matter of seconds, but he had been summoned by student council president for reasons unknown to you, so it could be said that you were alone in this. Yeah, taking a look around, you realize there was no one there that would care enough to lend you a hand. Surprisingly, the school halls were not as empty as you had expected, and many students walked through them in groups, gossiping about stuff. The grand majority belonged to the 'popular side' of the student base and the only members you could say that you knew were those that belonged to your own class.
Tsukuyomi-jima was a small island, so it only had one school. Even though everyone went to the same place, the number of students wasn't noteworthy and it was unusual to see the halls crowded like this. If you had to guess, you'd say this was a gathering of some sort. And, in a way, you were right. Pretending to be busy with your locker, you overheard a group of students talking:
"So, what's the deal? I heard there were no clubs today cause pest control, but I don't really buy it. Fill me in, girls."
"Ah, haven't you heard? It's all Chisato's doing. She's going to host a party TODAY... HERE. I don't know how she does it, but that girl is magic. I am glad I am her friend."
"And since I didn't get the good news, I guess I am not invited, huh?"
"Yeah, sorry about that. Only those on top of the food chain were notified. Although, there is a rumor going on that Chisato is going to personally invite the boy she has a crush on... And you didn't hear it from me, but it seems he isn't one of us."
"Really? Hmmm, spit it out girl, I know that face. You are not letting out everything you know."
"You know me too well. Tell nobody, but my sources say that he is on the soccer team. No clue on who it is, I swear."
At the mention of that, your heart skipped a beat. That person they had been talking about could very well be you and, while a love confession should be something that would make you happy, the idea of dating Yoshiota Chisato frightened you to no end. Yes, without giving it a second thought you could say that Chisato and you were completely incompatible. She was the typical bitch who abused her influence and position as 'queen' to do whatever she wanted. No matter where you started looking, that girl was the devil, and the cause of many miserable student lives in Starlight Academy.
Even if you were invited personally, you were sure that you would simply say no.
As you tried not to think too much about it, the locker door slowly opened, as if enchanted. Finally! However, you quickly identified an object that did certainly not belong. It was a letter envelope. Without thinking, you took it out of your locker and opened it, only to find the letter had a neat handwriting that could only belong to a girl. You quickly skimmed its contents, fearing your worst nightmare might have come true:
'I cannot put in words how I feel about you when I see you walk by. These intense feelings will never go away until I can have you in my arms. Then you will realize that there is only one woman for you and that woman is me. I love you Nakamura Akio, and I do this because of love.
If you are willing to give me a chance to take your heart, meet me at the Sakura Tree after school.'
Not knowing what to think of it, you put the letter back in your locker and you close its door. At that instant... You realize there is someone standing next to you. Someone you know too well.
"Gooooood moorning Akio-niichaaaan~ I brought you luuunch~"
Natsume Raku, one of your neighbors and a friend of yours since you can remember. She, like her father, was a free spirit and seemed to live on her little own world. A world that did not abide by any rules. Because you knew her too well, it didn't take you more than a couple of seconds to determine what was wrong with the picture.
First... She was a little bit too late for lunch.
Second... She smelled like alcohol. And she was drunk. Not the first time she came to school like this.
Third... That lunchbox... It was addressed to somebody else! It even had 'For Keiji, with love' written on it!
"Eheheheheheeeee~"
Enter the drunk thief, Natsume Raku.
-------
Reynard Everheart (Mereo)
Starlight Academy - Afternoon
Hishikawa Nanako was perfect.
She had a beautiful face, an incredibly sexy body, the intelligence to score the highest grades on tests and the skills to be the figure in any sport. In short, she had the natural talent to surpass anybody at anything. As the student council president she had always been quite reserved and efficient, and it was a given that there would never be a better president. When you had been told that she had summoned for you in particular, you couldn't help but to feel alarmed. Maybe she had found out that you had accidentally broken that bench the past week?
"Sit down, please."
There could be only one reason why a student was called into this room. That reason being 'punishment'. When you heard her cold, distant voice, you knew. You knew that whatever was coming had to be bad. Really, really bad.
"Oh? Did I scare you? It's an old habit of mine, sorry." The girl let out an embarrassed laugh. "Relax, Rei. You haven't done anything wrong. In fact, from what I've read about you, your grades are quite outstanding."
Well, you didn't see that one coming. Maybe the reason she brought you here was to congratulate you instead?
"Still, nothing to brag about." Yeah, probably not the case. "Anyhow, Rei... There is someone I'd like you to meet."
With those words as a signal, the door opened and another person stepped into the room. Unlike you, he was not wearing a school uniform; his clothes resembling that of a jungle explorer. Bandages covered his right eye, probably as a result of an accident. But, for some reason, the thing that stood out the most was his cowboy hat. You could tell that this person was definitely a foreigner: An American.
"Yo, PARTNER!" The boy greeted you with a smile and insisted on shaking your hand. "I'm looking forward to having a FUN TIME with ya."
His Japanese was not the best, and he would often mix English words into his sentences. But, all in all, it wasn't that hard for you to understand what he meant. You accepted his handshake and gave the president another look, looking for answers on what the whole deal was. You could already predict what this was about, though.
"This is Johnie Gamble, a exchange student. He'll be in you class starting tomorrow. However, from what I've seen... He's quite... Ummm... airheaded and unreliable." Nanako said this fast enough for Johnie not to get what she meant. "So I thought that maybe you could, dunno, show him around town and then take him home? Sorry to ask you to be his babysitter, but school today is a mess, and you are one of the students I know I can trust for sure.
So, do me a favor, and I might be able to return it, mhm?"
-------
Nakamura Shinji (Neko)
Starlight Academy - Afternoon
Ah, just in time.
There, like a model walking down the catwalk, was Yoshiota Chisato and her two friends. The crowd that had previously been in there had moved elsewhere and you knew why. In a way, Chisato was a 'queen' with enough influence to do as she pleased. So, every time she went to the restroom with her friends to talk about private matters... Well, she liked to make sure there were no spies. Being aware that anyone found near the restrooms would be given a hell of a beating, most of the students tried to avoid being in the wrong place at the wrong time.
But not you. Not the Raven.
You would get that information today and you would leak it to the world as soon as possible. This was your job, this was what you did. Today's 'mission' was especially risky, but you had taken all the security measures you could think of. You hid a cell phone inside the meeting place and you had another one on you. So whatever happened inside, you would hear and record with you cell, which by the way was not yours. Neither of them was. If someone found out about this, they will probably have you killed.
"Hey hey, look at what I found."
Joshuya Ieshige quickly locked your arm behind your back, and pushed you out of your hideout. To think that the stupidest person ever would catch you. Ieshige was pretty good at soccer and quite popular with the girls, but he was one of those bullies that lacked a brain of their own. He 'worked' for Chisato and was often in charge of delivering the beatings. Worst case scenario, you would wake up in the hospital tomorrow.
"Huh? If it isn't Shinji 'four eyes' Nakamura. What the fuck are you doing here during 'Chisato time', huh?" The orange haired queen stared at you for a few seconds and then sighed in disgust. "Pervert. Ieshige, dear? Make sure to give this guy an eight. And make sure he fucks off after that."
Beatings went from one to twenty, the latter being the most dangerous. So, in this case, an eight wasn't that bad. Didn't mean it wouldn't hurt, though.
"Hah!"
An unexpected punch flew straight into your stomach and you fell to your knees from the pain. A kick made sure that you wouldn't stand up after that. Of course, nobody was there to see anything. When Chisato did the things she did, there were no witnesses, and no one could ever oppose her. The only person in the whole institution who had dared to stand against her was the student council president, Hishikawa Nanako, and even she had paid the price.
"Now fuck off, tard."
You made your way out of there in all fours, crippled by the pain. Or that is what you wanted them to believe. Unknown to them, you were a Magus, an existence which transcended humans; the next step in evolution. For you, it would be easy to beat the fuck out of Ieshige and his gang or endure a thousand of his beatings. But of course, that information was one that you kept to yourself. It was your one and only secret.
Checking your phone was okay, you hid in a safe place, far from the restrooms, knowing that distance won't be an issue.
"Party today is going to rock, Chisato-sama."
"Damn right it will. So, where were we?"
"Oh yes. Satomura and Arizuka received a 15 and a 10 respectively. You know, for trying to oppose you last week."
"I am glad that bitch got what was coming to her. Anything else?"
"Yeah~ Chisatooooo, tell us who your loved one is! We beg of you."
"What does this have to do with anything?! Agh, close the doors, the windows, everything!"
"So, tell us... We heard he is part of the soccer team. Is it Nakamura?"
"Shinji?"
"No, silly, Akio. Nakamura Akio."
"Oh, him? Nah. What made you think so? He's too generic for me. But you are not too far off~ The person I fell in love with at first sight is..."
"yeeeeeeeeeeesss~?"
"...Reynard Everheart"
"Kyaaaaaaaaaa! So... So... You are taking him to the Sakura Tree to confess you feelings?"
"Nah, that's too overrated. I'll simply intercept him on his way home and when I tell him about the party, he won't be able to say no!"
"Hahahahaha!"
"Hahahahaha!"
... It seemed the conversation had ended. It was a shame, they hadn't talked about the important dirty matters you thought they would, but at least you got a name. If Chisato had a crush with this boy... Maybe you could use this information as blackmail... No, she said she was going to confess to the guy today... Well, at least you would be the first to provide the news to the public!
Now there was just one thing more to take care of. The cell phone you had left inside the bathroom. Were the girls to find it, they would know someone had been spying on them. So you had to go back to retrieve the last piece of evidence against you. On the other hand, such a thing might be risky, and maybe you should leave it for a later time. Maybe upload the information first?
Whatever it would be, you had to make a decision.
-------
Fukami Mikoto (Sei)
Road 2 - Afternoon
Strange.
Tsukuyomi-jima had one rule that every Magi that lived there knew of: 'If something fishy is going on the island, you will know. You will feel it in the air'. And no wonder, this feeling of uneasiness had been with you for a week now. But today... Today you had noticed the first drastic change. This morning, when you had tried to activate your Magical Weapon, you had found yourself unable to. It was not as if you had lost your powers as a Magus -You were still capable of superhuman feats-, you simply couldn't summon the golden ring that unlocked your true, unique power.
So you had decided that you would investigate after school. There had to be some kind of lead as to what was preventing Magi from calling out their weapons. No, in the first place, you weren't even sure if this was something that went beyond you and your weapon. And, while your gut feeling told you that indeed that was the case, you needed to be sure.
That's why you were headed towards the Nakamura house. Although you had only seen her a couple of times, you were sure that Hitomi Nakamura was Magus, and if you had to guess, you would say that his younger brother Akio was one as well. You figured that at least the latter should be home by this time. After all, club activities had been suspended for the day. There was no reason for him to stay at the academy.
"FUUUUUUUUUUKAMIIIIIIIII MIKOTOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!"
As you tried to come up with a convincing speech to use with the Nakamuras, a sudden shout brought you back to your senses. Sensing danger coming from behind, you quickly spun 180 degrees and raised your arms to block the flying kick aimed at your face. The sheer power behind the blow forced you to take a couple of steps back and left your arms numb.
"As expected of you, sempai. You blocked my surprise attack with no sweat." The attacker commented, as he prudently retreated outside of your range. "Let's go again. I will make sure to show you the fruits of my training-!"
Shinozaki Tobei was no stranger. You had first met him the day you had set foot on this island and you had been friends since that day onwards, kind of. Back then, he had challenged you to a fight on a whim -He had claimed that he could 'sense' how strong you were- and he had lost. Now, he would show up every now and then with a new technique or tactic to try and defeat your 'creative' -as he called it- fighting style. So it was safe to say that these encounters, these fights, were the central point of the relationship between you two.
"Sempai! Come, or I will come for you...!"
Not the best timing for a fight... But could you really decline his challenge?
-------
Hisamatsu Kanko (Sunco)
Shopping District - Afternoon
After two long hours, you finally made it out of that hellish mall.
It had only been natural that such a big place would catch the attention of someone like you, who had just arrived at the island the past week. But you had certainly not expected to be that big, and you couldn't help but to get lost inside. Thankfully, a female blonde student from Starlight Academy had shown you the way out of the labyrinth.
Well, now you knew why they called it 'The Milky Way'.
Did you really have a reason to stay in Tsukuyomi-jima? Truth was that you didn't. It was just another stop in your journey as a 'hero of justice'. But you just couldn't let go of the premonition that something bad was going to happen soon. It was something that you couldn't explain; rather you just felt it. And while you had patrolled the island during the night and had seen no suspicious individuals, you couldn't shake that ominous feeling. You were starting to believe that you had gotten sick when suddenly, you spot trouble in a close by alley:
"Get her...!"
At first it seemed like a fight between two small gangs, but with a closer look you determine that, in fact, it's just a red haired girl against them all. From the looks of it, she was having the advantage. Even if she was outnumbered and punches came from every possible direction, she just gracefully stepped out of danger as if she were dancing. Her counterattacks, however, were brutal and did not resemble a dance at all. Once she kicked a guy in the face, he wouldn't stand up. But you had seen many fights and you knew that no matter how skilled she actually was...
... She was going to lose.
And you prediction came true. Taking advantage of a mistake she had made, the thugs cornered her and effectively restrained her. It was obvious, from what you could see, that they would hold her still for their boss to do the honors and give her a beating. Things changed drastically when you saw the man pull out a knife out of his pocket. That was the signal for you to act.
But, as if trying to ridiculize you, your weapon did not come out when called out its name. And, at nearly the same time, you saw a shop in the distance burst into flames. Both scenarios looked so bad, that it was easy to tell that if no one acted soon enough, someone would die.
If one tried to save everyone, one would end up saving no one. That was the harsh truth behind the word 'hero'.
So you had to make a decision. Who to save was up to you.
-------
Lucille Fairiday(KT)
Residential District 1 - Afternoon
The Fairiday had always been obscenely rich.
Probably the main reason why you were today on the back seat of this car with your hands and feet tied up, your mouth sealed with duck tape and a fucking headache from hearing these amateurs talk out loud. Yes, it wasn't hard to conclude that whoever had kidnapped you had not the slightest idea of what they were doing. For one, they had forgotten to cover their faces with a mask, or cover your eyes. Which meant you could see their faces and which meant that you would likely die for doing so. Second, what the hell? They had kidnapped you when there were the most witnesses around... Which leads us to point three:
"Speed up damn it!" One of them yelled in desperation. "Fuck fuck! Speed up, bro! The police is right behind us!"
Yeah.
To you this was nothing more than a pathetic act. Even if they had done things properly, you were out of their league. Because not only you were a fucking rich fag, you were also a Magus. And a Magus laughed at bullets. You could easily free yourself at any time, watch them as they shoot you in the leg or something, and enjoy the look on their faces when they realize that does nothing to someone like you. But so far, you had resisted your urges to do something of the sort.
At the time, you simply wondered if you should do anything at all.
You didn't care about the money, so it was okay if they took some cash away from your parents. They couldn't kill you either, not without a Magical Weapon. They wouldn't get to that anyways: The cops were catching up. So why bother? Why lift a finger?
But then you remembered.
That your fights with him were the only memory you treasured. And you realized... That maybe, right now and from up there, he just wanted to see yousmilelose it.
'Kill them' A voice inside your head told you that, without him, you were starting to go insane. 'Kill them' it said once again.
Fortunately, you still retained your sanity enough to make the call yourself.
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