Kayto pulled his sister into the council room. pointing a chair out for her to sit, and she could clearly tell he was displeased about something. "what's wrong oniichan?" "first off, let's not use that turn of phrase, it makes it sound like you're trying too hard, sis. and nothing is wrong, technically. I've had the interview earlier today as you know, i think i was able to lay out my plans, Sabrina is definitely a clever operator, come graduation she'll no doubt get a grip on fortune and make the most of it... in a word, basically my type." "oh... that also means she can at will cause you trouble." "not at will, there is nothing she can hold over me, not on attendance, not on behaviour, we're tokugawa and hideyoshi, both ambitious, but too near equal to really defeat one another, patience will win this one, or an alliance of sorts. much more interesting are some allegations i heard about you." "oh?" "tell me... how many candidates were there?"<br/>"only you." "aha... and now the real number." "... five, you, mike, and three others, a bookworm that looks like she walked out of a comic book herself, a kendo jock and some airheaded tennis girl. no competition for you... which i may or may not have told them to their faces..."<br/><br/>(flashback)<br/>"So see, my brother has the foreign charm, the accent, the golden locks, and the cyan eyes, a shrinking violet like yourself would only get ignored by everyone, as always."<br/>"oh yes, your swordplay is certainly a competition winner, but why would you even ride that into the position, it's like taking on extra homework AND making me not like you."<br/>"pretty sure the Tennis coach wouldn't like you slacking off in the student council room when that time could be spent training, you wouldn't slack off? well how would the coach know?"<br/><br/>(back to the present.)<br/>"did you do it in that, head tilted playing around with your hair while smiling with closed eyes, then glaring at them with emphasis on the last part?" "...i didn't say anything bad, honest."<br/>"you're doing exactly that right now... this is the kind of rumor that i don't like Jayde. This school is to be a feather on the cap for me, a proof that i can be a leader of people, a mark that i can turn coal into diamonds, and that works best if i don't have to deal with a rumor mill that claims i'm building up some kind of student yakuza." "well yakuza isn't really a bad-" "jayde... try to get along with Rose, alright? in fact i want you to take all that extra energy and become the sunny angel to rose's bloody thornbush of a personality, can you do that?" "hehe, being nicer than her, easy, being an idol... i'll get to practicing." With that the girl twin skipped out of the council rom as he sat back down at the desk, letting his head hit the tabletop. "great, what else can possibly inconvenience me today?"<br/><br/>-----<br/><br/>Elsewhere Nyria was pondering the strange, nebulous events that led her up the stairs to the roof, she had been in the opening assembly... and then... had she been in another place? why was her memory so fuzzy, it was as if something had been placed into her head like that one time her coworkers pranked her by switching out all the plates in the cafe when she wasn't looking... she hated that particular feeling... then it cleared up, the cyberspace surroundings, the angry men commanding them... the weird guns... Firis and her had agreed to talk to someone about it, someone they could hopefully trust to not ridicule them...<br/><br/>Finally she reached the top and stepped onto the roof, finding mike and Firis already there. "Oh, hello. i guess i took the wrong stairs then, has Firis already told you?"<br/>Upon hearing the negative she'd nod and begin. "Firis said it bore similarities to a video game but personally i've never played one... it was, an uneasy feeling, being in that strange place. it nearly made me lose my normal calm. one moment we were in the assembly, the next... everything had shifted, rather than bumping elbows with our seat neighbors we were in an open room, and held at gunpoint. i realize how, deeply unbelievable it all sounds... but i can promise it is the truth."