(Some spoilers for November and December. No significant names are named, but tread carefully.)
On April 15th, 2016, deep in a lab beneath Tokyo, two scientists were plotting an evil scheme.
“Do you ever feel guilty about this, Hoshi-san?” one of them asked the other.
“Of course not, Homura-san,” Hoshi replied. “If you are beginning to feel guilt, you are not in the correct line of work.” Hoshi sipped his coffee, checking the settings on their orbital satellite. “Every sin we are committing will be worth it once he becomes Prime Minister and ushers Japan into a new Golden Age.”
“But so many are going to die,” Homura sighed. “Even our most conservative estimates are...”
“It is a necessary sacrifice,” Hoshi insisted. “Their deaths will unite the rest of Japan against a common enemy that our benefactor will rally the government and military against. He believes- and I agree- that this is a much more effective strategy than the mental shutdown plan. The boy in charge of that is... unstable at best.” Hoshi shook his head and focused on the task at hand. “Now, is the device primed and ready?”
“Yes sir,” Homura confirmed. “We should be ready to fire on Osaka in precisely one hour.”
“Excellent. Not long now...”
---
Ann Takamaki stared down her former friend from middle school Ryuji Sakomoto and the new transfer student Akira Kurusu.
“Whatever you two are planning to do to Kamoshida, I want in.”
Earlier that day, Ann watched as her best friend Shiho Suzui try to kill herself by jumping off the roof of the school. She knew that the school's bastard of a volleyball coach, Suguru Kamoshida, was responsible. Whatever he'd done to Shiho was at least partially to retaliate against Ann after she started turning down his lecherous advances, a fact that racked Ann with guilt.
She knew that Ryuji and Akira had been asking around about Kamoshida's activities. Whatever they had dug up must have been a threat to the wicked teacher, as she'd heard he was now planning to have the two boys expelled.
If these two had some plan to get rid of Kamoshida, Ann owed it to Shiho to help them however she could.
“Hell no!” Ryuji objected loudly. “You'd just get in the way!”
“Excuse me?” Ann growled.
“Takamaki-san,” Akira interjected. “While Ryuji could have been more... tactful, I'm afraid he does have a point. We'll be happy to keep you up to date on our progress, and I'll tell you the whole story once everything's done. But honestly, right now, the less you know, the better.”
“But I want to help,” Ann insisted. “You're GOING to let me help.”
“Ann, listen,” Ryuji sighed. “Akira 'n me, we're gonna be expelled in two weeks. I don't got any other school that'll take me. Hell, if Akira's expelled, he's gotta go to jail, 'cause of his probation. We got nothin' to lose at this point.” He looked Ann over. “You're hot, and you're bilingling.”
“Bilingual,” Akira automatically corrected.
“Yeah, that,” Ryuji waved him off. “Even if this whole thing goes tits up, you still got a chance of gettin' out from Kamoshida's thumb and livin' a real life. We ain't lettin' ya risk that.”
Obviously considering the discussion over, Akira and Ryuji turned to leave the school, a black and white cat following them for some reason. Ann sighed and thought back to yesterday after school, when Akira chased her throughout the train station and learned of everything Kamoshida had done to her in exchange for Shiho having a place on the volleyball team. In fact, it was Akira himself that gave her the courage to stand up to him. If only she had known what would happen to Shiho as a result.
“Akira-san,” she said softly. “If you had listened to me at all yesterday, you'd know what Ryuji said isn't true anymore.”
She started to follow them.
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